Chapter 10: Sawyer Island, Marbella, and Royalton in 1847 and 1848


   On the third Saturday of each September, Sawyer Island held its annual harvest festival.  It differed from the harvest festivals of today only in that it also features coming-of-age competitions.  Young people who would turn fifteen years of age at any time from that date through the following year were invited to participate.  In 1847, Emily McAllister was the right age to participate.
     The harvest festival was held near Moultrieville, at the other end of Sawyer Island.
   The coming-of-age competitions included a pentathlon for boys, a pentathlon for girls, and a sack race for pairs of boys and girls.  The five events in the boys’ pentathlon included chewing tobacco spitting, arm wrestling and jaw punching, undershirt sniffing, hog calling, and telling tall tales (otherwise known as lying). The pentathlon for girls included cooking (both fresh and leftovers), a clabber hauling race, cat bathing, handicraft making, a sack race, and pretending to believe a boy’s tall tales.
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     The following winter, another mermaid sister (Makki) came of age and was allowed to explore the surface on her own.  She sat on a large rock and enjoyed the feeling of the winter storm blowing against her.  As a pirate ship approached, Makki waved at the helmsman. The helmsman, desperately trying to steer clear of the rocks, tried to ignore Makki.  Let's just say that Makki unintentionally contributed to the legend that mermaids lure seamen to their doom.
     In December of each year, Royalton celebrates its annual bacchanalia with unbridled gluttony, drinking copious amounts of alcohol, expressions of cheer (real or feigned), and indebtedness for the purpose of giving gifts to people they may or may not like.
       To capitalize on the practice of giving gifts to people you barely remember and may not like, there's a store called Harvey's Obligatory Cards and Gifts.  Unlike most stores, Harvey's is open only during obligatory gift-giving occasions and specializes in generic greeting cards and such perfunctory gifts as mass-produced fruitcakes and men's ties.
     From time to time, some people try to dampen the holiday cheer by inserting religion into it.
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      The following spring, Prince Arthur seriously considers going to college.  When he asks Bastiat what kind of fraternity he should join, Bastiat recommends that not join one and that he should spend more time getting to know average people.  Furthermore, he advises him to get to know people on their own terms rather than expecting them to adjust to his expectations.    
    

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