Eager to be of use , she pounded up the herbs and scattered the mixture with a liberal hand into the bowl . `` It does n't smell just right , but I suppose it will when it is cooked , '' said Tilly , as she filled the empty stomach , that seemed aching for food , and sewed it up with the blue yarn , which happened to be handy . She forgot to tie down his legs and wings , but she set him by till his hour came , well satisfied with her work . `` Shall we roast the little pig , too ? I think he 'd look nice with a necklace of sausages , as Ma fixed one last Christmas , '' asked Prue , elated with their success . `` I could n't do it . I loved that little pig , and cried when he was killed . I should feel as if I was roasting the baby , '' answered Tilly , glancing toward the buttery where piggy hung , looking so pink and pretty it certainly did seem cruel to eat him . It took a long time to get all the vegetables ready , for , as the cellar was full , the girls thought they would have every sort . Eph helped , and by noon all was ready for cooking , and the cranberry-sauce , a good deal scorched , was cooling in the lean-to . Luncheon was a lively meal , and doughnuts and cheese vanished in such quantities that Tilly feared no one would have an appetite for her sumptuous dinner . The boys assured her they would be starving by five o'clock , and Sol mourned bitterly over the little pig that was not to be served up . `` Now you all go and coast , while Prue and I set the table and get out the best chiny , '' said Tilly , bent on having her dinner look well , no matter what its other failings might be . Out came the rough sleds , on went the round hoods , old hats , red cloaks , and moccasins , and away trudged the four younger Bassetts , to disport themselves in the snow , and try the ice down by the old mill , where the great wheel turned and splashed so merrily in the summer-time . Eph took his fiddle and scraped away to his heart 's content in the parlor , while the girls , after a short rest , set the table and made all ready to dish up the dinner when that exciting moment came . It was not at all the sort of table we see now , but would look very plain and countrified to us , with its green-handled knives and two-pronged steel forks ; its red-and-white china , and pewter platters , scoured till they shone , with mugs and spoons to match , and a brown jug for the cider . The cloth was coarse , but white as snow , and the little maids had seen the blue-eyed flax grow , out of which their mother wove the linen they had watched and watered while it bleached in the green meadow . They had no napkins and little silver ; but the best tankard and Ma 's few wedding spoons were set forth in state . Nuts and apples at the corners gave an air , and the place of honor was left in the middle for the oranges yet to come . `` Do n't it look beautiful ? ''
said XXXXX , when they paused to admire the general effect .
Bassetts Eph Prue Sol Tilly cranberry-sauce doughnuts liberal noon o'clock