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Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e2f75ca --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #68151 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/68151) diff --git a/old/68151-0.txt b/old/68151-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index c12151b..0000000 --- a/old/68151-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5363 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Early candlelight stories, by Stella -C. Shetter - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Early candlelight stories - -Author: Stella C. Shetter - -Illustrator: Dorothy Lake Gregory - -Release Date: May 22, 2022 [eBook #68151] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed Proofreading - Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from - images generously made available by The Internet - Archive/American Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EARLY CANDLELIGHT -STORIES *** - - - - - - -[Illustration: _Bobby and Alice and Pink drew their stools closer and -waited eagerly for Grandma to begin_] - - - - - EARLY CANDLELIGHT - STORIES - - _By_ - STELLA C. SHETTER - - _Illustrated by_ - DOROTHY LAKE GREGORY - - [Illustration] - - RAND McNALLY & COMPANY - CHICAGO NEW YORK - - _Copyright, 1922, by_ - RAND MCNALLY & COMPANY - - _Copyright, 1924, by_ - RAND MCNALLY & COMPANY - - [Illustration] - - Made in U.S.A. - - - - -THE CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - Grandma Arrives 9 - - A Whistling Girl 16 - - Chased by Wolves 23 - - The Yellow Gown 30 - - A War Story 37 - - Easter 45 - - At a Sugar Camp 52 - - The New Church Organ 60 - - School Days 68 - - A Birthday Party 76 - - The Locusts 83 - - The Fourth of July 92 - - The Bee Tree 99 - - Brain Against Brawn 106 - - A Wish That Came True 114 - - Joe’s Infare 122 - - Pumpkin Seed 130 - - A School for Sister Belle 138 - - Andy’s Monument 146 - - Memory Verses 155 - - The Courting of Polly Ann 163 - - Earning a Violin 171 - - At the Fair 179 - - Hallowe’en 187 - - Measles 195 - - Something to be Thankful for 203 - - Taking a Dare 210 - - Dogs 218 - - The Last Indian 226 - - A Present for Mother 234 - - A Christmas Barring Out 243 - - _A Vocabulary_ 251 - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration: _Grandma’s Room ready for the housewarming_] - - - - -EARLY CANDLELIGHT STORIES - - - - -GRANDMA ARRIVES - - -Grandma had come to spend the winter, and Bobby and Alice and Pink were -watching her fix up her room. It was the guest room, and the children -had always thought it a beautiful room, with its soft blue rug, wicker -chairs, and pretty cretonne draperies. But Grandma had had all the -furniture taken out, and the rug, carefully rolled up and wrapped in -thick paper to keep the moths out, had been carried to the attic. - -Then Grandma—but Mother called Bobby and Alice and Pink to come and get -their wraps and go out to play a while. - -Grandma, seeing them edge reluctantly toward the head of the stairs, said -cheerfully, as she bustled about unpacking the great box that held her -“things,” “Never mind, dears. Run out and play now, and tonight we’ll -have a regular housewarming. Come to my room at seven o’clock and we -will have a little party.” - -Just as the clock in the hall downstairs struck the first stroke of -seven, Alice rapped loudly on Grandma’s door. - -Grandma opened the door immediately and the children stepped in—then -stared in astonishment. They had never seen a room like this before. -In place of the blue rug was a gayly colored rag carpet. The bed, to -which had been added a feather tick, was twice as high as any they had -ever seen. It was covered with a handmade coverlet of blue and white. -Patchwork cushions were on the chairs, and crocheted covers on bureau -and chiffonier. The windows were filled with blooming geraniums, and in -one window hung a canary in a gilt cage. On a round braided rug before -the fire lay a gray cat, asleep. By a low rocker stood a little table -that held a work basket running over with bright-colored patches, bits of -lace, balls of scarlet yarn, knitting needles, pieces of velvet, silk, -and wool. On the chiffonier stood a basket filled with big, red apples, -polished till they shone, and beside the apples was a plate covered with -a napkin. - -“Well, well,” said Grandma, “here you are, every one of you! Just on -time, too. Come right in and see my house and meet my family. This is -Betsy.” She touched the cat gently and Betsy lifted her head and started -to purr. “I raised her from a kitten and brought her here in a basket all -the way on the train. One conductor wouldn’t let me keep her in the coach -with me, so I went out and rode in the baggage car with Betsy.” - -“Did you bring the bird, too?” asked Pink, smoothing Betsy’s fur. - -“No, I just got the bird a little while ago. He hasn’t even a name yet. -I thought maybe I’d call him Dicky. That’s a nice name for a bird, don’t -you think so? My baby sent me the bird and the flowers, too. Aren’t they -lovely?” - -“Have you a baby, Grandma?” asked Alice, looking around the room -wonderingly. - -“Yes, I have a baby, but he isn’t little any more. Still he is my baby -all the same, the youngest of my ten children. Wasn’t it thoughtful of -him to send me the bird and the flowers?” - -Alice and Bobby and Pink looked at one another. They knew their daddy -had sent the flowers, for they had heard Grandma thank him for them. -The idea of their big, broad-shouldered daddy being anyone’s baby seemed -funny to them, and they giggled. - -“Say, Grandma, he’s some baby, all right,” Bobby remarked. - -“You can’t rock him to sleep the way I do my baby,” observed Pink. - -“Not now, but I used to,” said Grandma. Then she brought three stools -from the corner—low, round stools covered with carpet. “You children sit -on these stools and I’ll sit in this chair and we’ll spend the evening -getting acquainted. You must tell me all about yourselves.” - -The children told Grandma about their school and their playmates, their -dog and their playhouse, about how they went camping in summer time and -what they did on Christmas and Easter, and about the flying machine -that flew over the town on the Fourth of July, and about the Sunday -school picnic. When they finally stopped, breathless, Grandma looked so -impressed that Bobby said pityingly, “You didn’t have so many things to -do when you were little, did you, Grandma?” - -“Well, now, I don’t know about that,” Grandma answered slowly. “We didn’t -have the same things to do, but we had good times, too.” - -“Tell us about them,” Alice begged. - -“When I was a little girl,” Grandma began, “I lived in the country on -a large farm. All around our house were fields and woods. You might -think I would have been lonely, but I never was. You see, I had always -lived there. Then I had six older brothers and sisters, and one brother, -Charlie, was just two years older than I was. And there were so many -things to do! The horses to ride to water and the cows to bring from the -pasture field. On cool mornings Charlie and I would stand on the spots -where the cows had lain all night, to get our feet warm before starting -back home. I had a pet lamb that followed me wherever I went, and we had -a dog—old Duke. He helped us get the cows and kept the chickens out of -the yard and barked when a stranger came in sight. And when the dinner -bell by the kitchen door rang, how he did howl! - -“And the cats! You never saw such cats, they were so fat and round and -sleek. No wonder, for they had milk twice a day out of a hollow rock -that stood by the barnyard gate. - -“And birds were everywhere. Near the well, high in the air, fastened to a -long pole, was a bird house. Truman and Joe had made it, and it was just -like a little house, with tiny windows and doors and a wee bit of a porch -where the birds would sit to sun themselves. - -“Then there were the chickens to look after, often a hundred baby chicks -to feed and put in their coops at night. And in the spring what fun we -had hunting turkey hens’ nests! In February we tapped the sugar trees and -boiled down the sap into maple sugar and sirup. We had Easter egg hunts -and school Christmas treats, and in the fall we gathered in the nuts for -winter—chestnuts, hickory nuts, walnuts.” - -Grandma paused a moment and glanced at the clock on the mantel. - -“Dear me,” she exclaimed in surprise, “see what time it is! We must have -our refreshments right away. Bobby, will you pass the apples? And, Alice, -under the napkin are some ginger cookies that I brought with me. You may -pass them, please, and Pink and I will be the company. - -“These apples,” went on Grandma, helping herself to one, “are out of my -orchard. I sent two barrels of them to your daddy, and every night before -we go to bed we will each eat one. ‘An apple a day,’ you know, ‘keeps the -doctor away.’” - -When they had finished and were saying good night, Bobby said, “Lots of -things did happen when you were a little girl, Grandma. I wish you’d tell -us more.” - -“Not tonight,” said Grandma, “It’s bedtime now, but come back some other -night. If you still want me to tell you more about when I was a little -girl, tap on my door three times, like this, but if you only come to -call, tap once, like this.” - -Next time we’ll see how often they tapped on Grandma’s door. Can you -guess? - - - - -A WHISTLING GIRL - - -The next evening as Grandma sat before the fire knitting on a red mitten, -she was startled by three sharp knocks on her door. - -“Why, good evening,” she said, when she had opened the door to admit -Bobby and Alice and Pink. “Here you are wanting a story, and I haven’t -thought of a thing to tell you. Now you tell me what happened at school -today, and by that time I shall have thought of something to tell you.” - -So Alice told Grandma about chapel that morning. She told her about the -recitations and songs by the children and of a lady who had whistled “The -Star-Spangled Banner” and “America.” - -“Well, well, wasn’t that nice!” Grandma said. “I should have liked to -hear that. I always admired to hear any one whistle. I believe I’ll tell -you tonight about the time I whistled in meeting.” - -The children drew their stools a little closer, and Grandma began: - -“When I was a little girl, I wanted more than anything else to be able -to whistle. I kept this ambition to myself because it wasn’t considered -ladylike for girls to whistle. My mother often said, - - “A whistling girl and a crowing hen - Always come to some bad end.” - -“So I never told anyone, not even my brother Charlie, that I wanted to -whistle. But when I hunted turkey hens’ nests, or went after the cows, or -picked berries, I had my lips pursed all the time trying to whistle as my -brothers did. But, though I tried and tried, I never succeeded in making -a sound. - -“One Sunday in meeting I got awfully tired. To a little girl the sermons -were very long and tiresome in those days. For a while I sat still and -quiet, watching Preacher Hill’s beard jerk up and down as he talked and -looking at the queer shadows his long coat tails made on the wall. But it -was warm and close in the church, and after a while I grew drowsy. - -“‘Oh, dear!’ I thought to myself, ‘I mustn’t go to sleep. I must keep -awake somehow.’ Then I thought about whistling. I would practice -whistling to myself—under my breath. - -“The seats were high-backed and we sat far to the front. I could not -see any one except the preacher and John Strang, who kept company with -sister Belle. John sat in a chair at the end of the choir facing the -congregation, and several times I noticed him looking curiously at me as -if he wondered what I was doing. I would draw in my breath very slowly -and then let it out again. Of course I never dreamed of making a sound, -and no one could have been more surprised than I was when there came from -my lips a loud clear whistle as sweet as a bird note. - -“The preacher stopped talking. Mother looked embarrassed. Father’s face -turned red with mortification. Sister Belle put her handkerchief up to -her face, and Charlie sat up as straight and stiff as if he had swallowed -a ramrod. - -“As for me, I wished I could sink through the floor and disappear. -I thought everybody was looking right at me. I was sorry and I was -frightened, too. What would Father and Mother say to me? - -“When preaching was over, all of us except Mother went right out to the -sled and wrapped up in comforts and robes for the cold ride home. Mother -stayed behind to visit and invite people home to dinner just as she -always did. I was glad when we started. It was a dreary ride. Father -drove, and he sat so stern and silent that no one dared to speak. - -[Illustration: “_I drew in my breath very slowly and then let it out -again_”] - -“I hurried right upstairs to change my dress as I always did. Then, -because I was so miserable, I threw myself across my bed and cried. I -had disgraced Father and Mother. Nothing that they could do would be bad -enough for me. I was aroused by sister Belle’s voice. She was complaining -to sister Aggie, who had stayed at home to get dinner. - -“‘I don’t see why Charlie can’t behave himself once in a while. Now our -whole day is spoiled, and I had asked John and Isabel for dinner, too. -You know how sad it always makes Father if he has to punish one of the -boys, and the worst of it is that Charlie denies doing it. I could shake -Charlie good myself. You can’t believe, Aggie, how everyone looked at us. -I was that ashamed!’ - -“Charlie being accused in place of me! This was something that I had -never dreamed of. I jumped up and rushed past the two girls downstairs, -through the empty sitting room into the kitchen, where Mother stood -looking out a window, still in her gray silk dress. I caught her hand. - -“‘Charlie didn’t do it, Mother,’ I said. ‘I did it.’ - -“‘Oh, Sarah, you cannot whistle, dear,’ said Mother reproachfully. She -drew me to her and smoothed my hair and tried to comfort me, but I -broke away from her and ran into the kitchen chamber where Father sat -talking to Charlie. Father looked stern and Charlie sulky and cross, and -no wonder, poor boy, for he was guilty of enough things without being -accused of something he did not do. - -“‘Father!’ I cried wildly. ‘Charlie did not whistle in meeting. I did -it.’ - -“Mother and the girls had followed me, and they all, even Charlie, stared -at me in amazement. It was plain they did not believe me. They thought I -was trying to shield Charlie. - -“‘I did whistle,’ I said, crying. ‘I can whistle. I tell you I can -whistle.’ - -“‘Then whistle,’ said Father sternly. - -“And how I did try to whistle! I puffed my cheeks and twisted and turned -my mouth and blew and blew, but I couldn’t make a sound, not a single -sound. - -“Father looked so hurt and sorry that I longed to throw myself into his -arms and make him believe me. You see, it looked to Father as if Charlie -and I were both telling stories. Father said we were only making things -worse and ordered us all out of the room. - -“In the sitting room we found Truman and Joe, who had been tending the -horses, and John and Isabel Strang, who had come around past their house -to let their family out of the sled before coming on to our house for -dinner. - -“The minute I saw John I drew Mother’s head down and whispered to her, -‘Ask John. He knows, he saw me do it;’ and Mother in a hesitating way -said, ‘John, do you know who whistled in meeting this morning?’ - -“John turned as red as our old turkey gobbler and looked at me. - -“‘Why, I feel pretty sure,’ he said, ‘but I’d hate to say.’ - -“‘Oh, never mind that!’ I burst out. ‘I’ve told, and they won’t believe I -can whistle. They think it was Charlie.’ - -“Then, of course, John told all he knew. He had been watching me all the -time, as I had thought, and was looking right at me when I whistled. -Father was called in, and you may be sure he was glad to find that both -his children had been telling the truth. - -“‘It’s all right, Sarah,’ he said, ‘if you didn’t mean to.’ But Mother -made me promise not to try to whistle any more. - -“Well, I declare! I finished just on time. Mother’s calling you to bed. -Here, don’t forget your ‘apple a day.’ Now run along like good children, -and some other time I’ll tell you another story.” - - - - -CHASED BY WOLVES - - -“Seems to me you kiddies go to bed earlier than you used to,” their -father remarked one evening when Bobby and Alice and Pink interrupted his -reading to kiss him good night. - -“We don’t go to bed,” Pink explained. “We go to Grandma’s room. She tells -us a story every night.” - -“Why, of course, I remember now. Isn’t that fine, though? A story every -night! Did she ever tell you a wolf story? Grandma knows a pippin of a -wolf story. She used to tell it to me when I was a little boy. Ask her to -tell you about the time she was chased by wolves.” - -And a few minutes later Grandma began the story. - -“It was in the spring. Father was making garden, and he broke the hoe -handle. All the boys were away from home helping a neighbor, so Father -wanted Aggie or Belle to take the hoe to have a handle put in at the -blacksmith shop at Nebo Cross Roads a mile away. But the girls were -getting ready to go to a quilting, and I begged to be allowed to take -the hoe to the blacksmith shop. - -“Mother was afraid at first, but Father said there was nothing to hurt -me, and Mother finally gave in. So right after dinner, carrying the hoe -and a poke of cookies to eat if I got hungry, I started out. - -“I was to leave the hoe at the shop and go on down the road to Strangs’ -to wait till the hoe was mended. I can remember yet how important I felt -going off alone like that. I picked wild flowers and munched cookies and -sang all the songs I knew. - -“Mr. Carson, the blacksmith, said it would be a couple of hours before -the hoe would be ready, and I went down to Strangs’ to wait. But when I -got there I found the house all locked up and no one at home. I sat down -on the steps to wait for some one to come, but the heat and the quiet -made me sleepy so I got up and moved around the yard. I was lonely there -by myself. I walked around looking at the flowers and the garden and the -chickens and played a while with a kitten I found sleeping in the sun. -I thought that afternoon would never end. Surely I had been there two -hours. I started for the blacksmith shop. Maybe it would be closed. I -ran all the way. Mr. Carson looked surprised when I asked for the hoe. - -[Illustration: _I played a while with a kitten_] - -“‘Why, it’s only been a half-hour since you went away,’ he said. - -“I went back to Strangs’, and this time I was determined to wait a -long time. After a while Isabel Strang came home. She had been at the -quilting, but all the rest of the family had gone away to stay several -days. Isabel was going to our house to spend the night if she got through -the evening’s work in time. She had come past our house, and Mother had -told her to keep me all night with her for company if she could not get -back before dark and to send me home early in the morning. - -“Isabel hurried, and while she milked the cows and fed the pigs and -chickens and got supper I went after the hoe. - -“It was growing late when we were ready to start home, but Isabel said we -could make it before dark. - -“We followed the road half a mile and then took a short cut through the -woods up Sugar Creek. We had come out of the woods and were halfway -across a big pasture field when from behind us we heard a sound that made -us stop in terror. We listened. It came again. It was the cry of a wolf! -I had often heard a wolf howl, but I had always been safe at home, and -even then it had scared me. - -“Again and again came the long drawn-out howl from the woods we had just -left. - -“Isabel took my hand and we ran as fast as we could toward the little -creek that ran through the field. It had been years and years since a -pack of wolves had been seen in our neighborhood, but before we reached -the foot-log another howl and another and another had been added to the -first. - -“Looking back over my shoulder as I ran, I saw a skulking form come out -of the woods and start across the field. Isabel saw it, too. - -“‘We’ll have to stop, Sarah,’ she said. ‘We’ll have to climb a tree.’ - -“There was a slender young hickory a little this side of the run. Isabel -lifted me as high as she could and I caught a branch and pulled myself up -into the tree. I turned to help Isabel when, to my horror, I saw that she -could never make it. A whole pack of wolves loping across the field were -almost upon her. - -“Catching up the hoe, Isabel ran for the foot-log. She had barely reached -the middle of it when the wolves halted at the creek bank. A few of them -had stopped at my tree and were howling up at me. If all had stopped, -it would have given Isabel a chance to get into one of the trees on the -other side of the creek. - -“But she couldn’t do it now. She walked back and forth on the log, -brandishing the hoe in the cruel eyes of the wolves. The wolves that had -stopped under my tree soon joined their friends on the bank, and Isabel -called out to me, ‘Do not make any noise, Sarah, and they will forget you -are there.’ I remembered hearing my father tell about some wolves that -had gnawed a young tree in two, and I clung there in fear and trembling. - -“Isabel held her own all right until one of the bolder wolves swam across -the creek and was soon followed by others. Then Isabel had to fight them -at both ends of the foot-log. It was dark now, and Isabel, striking at -the wolves from first one side and then the other, tried to cheer me up -all the time. - -“‘Help will soon come, don’t be afraid,’ she said over and over again. -She even tried to make me laugh by saying, ‘Now watch me hit this saucy -old fellow on the nose. There, that surprised you, didn’t it, Mr. Wolf?’ -as she hit him a sharp blow and he fell back. - -“What if the wolves should leap on Isabel? Or she might get dizzy -and fall in the water. When would help come to us in this lonely, -out-of-the-way place? My folks would think I had stayed the night with -Isabel, and there was no one at home at Isabel’s. - -“Dared I get down and go for help? I peered through the darkness and -shook all over when I thought that more wolves might be hidden there. -Hardly knowing what I did, I let myself down to the lower limb and then -dropped with a soft thud to the ground. - -“Without waiting a second I started back the way we had come. How I ran -and ran! I was nearly through the woods when I heard something running -behind me. I went faster and it went faster, too. Suddenly I tripped and -fell and I heard a friendly little whinny at my side. It was our pet -colt that had been running behind me. I put my arm around his neck for -a second until I got my breath. Then I climbed the fence and was on the -road. - -“I wasn’t quite so afraid here as I had been in the woods, but I never -stopped running till I got home. I was so worn out that I fell panting on -the kitchen floor, but I made them understand Isabel’s danger. Father and -the boys caught up their guns and went hurrying across the hill to her -aid. - -“They drove the wolves away and brought Isabel home in safety, and that -was the last pack of wolves ever seen around there. - -“Well, well, see what time it is! Now run along to bed and go right to -sleep without talking the least little bit, or I’m afraid Mother won’t -let you come to see me tomorrow evening. That would be a pity, for I’ve -got the best story for tomorrow evening about—well, you just wait and -see.” - - - - -THE YELLOW GOWN - - -The next evening when the children came to Grandma’s room Bobby brought -his new sweater—black with broad yellow stripes—to show her. - -“Yellow,” said Grandma admiringly. “I always did like yellow, it’s such a -cheerful color. The first really pretty dress I ever had was yellow. - -“It was just about this shade, maybe a mite deeper—more of an orange -color. It was worsted—a very fine piece of all-wool cashmere. Until then -I had never had anything but dark wool dresses—browns or blues made from -the older girls’ dresses—and I did love bright colors. - -“Sister Belle was to be married in the spring and all winter Mother and -Belle and Aggie had sewed on her new clothes. Nearly everything was ready -but the wedding gown, and it was to be a present from Father’s younger -sister, Aunt Louisa, who lived in Clayville. - -“Belle was delighted, because she said Aunt Louisa would be sure to pick -something new and stylish. - -“My big brother, Stanley, went to Clayville one cold, snowy day in -February, and Aunt Louisa sent the dress goods out by him. I remember we -were at supper when he came. I had the toothache and was holding a bag of -hot salt to my face and trying to eat at the same time. - -“Mother ran to take Stanley’s bundles and help him off with his -great-coat, and Aggie set a place at the table for him. But before he sat -down he tossed a package to Belle. ‘From Aunt Louisa,’ he said. - -“Belle gave a cry of delight and tore the package open. Then suddenly the -happy look faded from her face. She pushed the package aside and, laying -her head right down on the table among the dishes, she burst into tears. - -“Aunt Louisa had sent Belle a yellow wedding dress! - -“When Mother held it up for us to see, I thought it was the most -beautiful color I had ever seen and wondered why Belle cried. I soon -learned. - -“Belle had light brown hair and freckles, and yellow was not becoming to -her. To prove it, she held the goods up to her face. - -“‘It does make your hair look dead and sort of colorless,’ Aggie agreed. - -“‘And your freckles stand out as if they were starting to meet a fellow,’ -Charlie put in. - -“At this Belle began to cry again, and Father said that she did not have -to wear a yellow dress to be married in if she didn’t want to. She should -have a white dress. But this didn’t seem to comfort Belle a bit, for she -declared that she wouldn’t hurt Aunt Louisa’s feelings by not wearing the -yellow. - -“My tooth got worse, and for the next few days I could think of nothing -else. Mother poulticed my jaw and put medicine in my tooth, but nothing -helped it. I cried and cried and couldn’t sleep at night, and Mother -couldn’t sleep. At last she told Father that he would have to take me to -Clayville to have the tooth pulled. There was fine sledding, and early -the next morning Father and I set out. The last thing Mother said to -Father, as she put a hot brick to my feet and wrapped me, head and all, -in a thick comfort, was, ‘As soon as the tooth is out, John, take her -over to Louisa’s till you get ready to start home.’ - -“The roads were smooth as glass, Father was a fast driver, and it didn’t -seem long till we got to town. My tooth was soon out—it hardly hurt at -all—and then Father took me to Aunt Louisa’s. We all liked Aunt Louisa. -She was very fond of children and had none of her own. - -[Illustration: _The roads were smooth as glass, Father was a fast driver_] - -“After dinner we sat by the sitting-room fire and Aunt Louisa cut paper -dolls out of stiff writing paper for me and made pink tissue paper -dresses for them. The dresses were pasted on. I could not take them off -and put them on as Alice and Pink do theirs. - -“As she worked, Aunt Louisa asked me about everything at home and about -Belle’s clothes and the wedding. - -“‘Has she got her wedding dress made yet?’ she asked. - -“‘No, ma’am’, I replied, ‘she says she can’t bear to cut into it. She -hates the very sight of it.’ - -“‘Well, I declare!’ exclaimed Aunt Louisa in surprise. - -“‘It doesn’t become her,’ I explained carefully. ‘She says it makes her -look a sickly green.’ And then I went on to tell Aunt Louisa everything -they had all said, and ended up with, ‘Belle says she won’t hold John to -his promise to marry her until he has seen her in that yellow dress.’ - -“‘What does she wear it for if she doesn’t like it?’ asked Aunt Louisa -tartly. - -“‘Father said she didn’t have to wear it if she didn’t want to, that if -she wanted to be married in white, he’d get her a white dress. But Belle -said she wouldn’t hurt your feelings by not wearing it for anything in -the world.’ - -“Suddenly Aunt Louisa began to laugh. She threw her head back and laughed -and laughed and laughed. I didn’t know what to make of her. - -“‘I think it’s a beautiful color,’ I said consolingly. - -“‘And you could wear it, too, with your dark hair and eyes and fair skin. -What was I thinking about to send a color like that to poor Belle? I’ll -tell you!’ she cried, jumping up and letting my paper dolls fall to the -floor. ‘I’ll buy another dress for Belle, and you shall have the yellow -one, Sarah.’ - -“She left me in the kitchen with Mettie, the hired girl, while she went -over town. Mettie was baking cookies, and she let me dust the sugar on -and put the raisins in the middle and I had a real nice time. - -“The second dress was white cashmere with bands of pearl trimming and -wide silk lace for the neck and wrists. - -“When Aunt Louisa kissed me good-by, she whispered in my ear, ‘Tell Belle -the trimming is because she was so thoughtful about hurting my feelings -and I want her to look her best on her wedding day. And, Sarah, tell your -mother to make up the yellow for you with a high shirred waist and low -round neck. That is the newest style for children. And be sure to tell -her I said not to dare put it in the dye pot.’ - -“As soon as we got home I gave the new dress to Belle. Mother was -astonished, and Belle looked ready to cry again, till Father told them -Aunt Louisa wasn’t offended at all. Then Mother was pleased, and Belle -was simply wild about the new dress. - -“‘Take the yellow and welcome to it, Sarah,’ she said to me when I had -told her Aunt Louisa wanted me to have it. - -“‘I’ll have to color it,’ Mother said, ‘She couldn’t wear that ridiculous -shade.’ - -“‘No, no, Mother, please don’t!’ I cried. ‘Aunt Louisa said not to dye -it. She said it would become me the way it is.’ - -“‘Tush, tush!’ said Mother severely, ‘You are too little to talk of -things becoming you.’ But she didn’t dye it, and a few weeks later at -sister Belle’s wedding I wore the yellow dress made just the way Aunt -Louisa said to make it. - -“And now, ‘To bed, to bed, says sleepy head,’ and we’ll have another -story some other night.” - - - - -A WAR STORY - - -“Well, well,” said Grandma one evening when Bobby and Alice and Pink came -to her room for their usual bedtime story, “I don’t know what to tell you -about tonight.” - -“Tell us a war story,” suggested Bobby eagerly. - -“Maybe I might tell you a war story,” agreed Grandma, “a war story of a -time long ago.” And she picked up her knitting and began slowly: - -“When the Civil War broke out I was a very little girl. Of course there -had been lots of talk of war, but the first thing I remember about it -was when we heard that Fort Sumter had been fired on. It was a bright, -sunshiny morning in the spring. I was helping Father rake the dead leaves -off the garden when I saw a man coming up the road on horseback. I told -Father, and he dropped his rake and went over to the fence. In those days -it wasn’t as it is now. News traveled slowly—no telephones, no trains, -no buggies. And this young man, who had been to Clayville to get his -marriage license, brought us the news that Fort Sumter had been fired on. - -“Father went straight into the house to tell Mother, and after a while he -and my big brother, Joe, saddled their horses and rode away. I thought -they were going right off to war and started to cry, and then I laughed -instead when our big Dominique rooster flew up on the hen-house roof, -flapped his wings, and crowed and crowed. A great many men and boys rode -by our house that day on their way to Clayville, and when Father and Joe -came back next day Joe had volunteered and been accepted and he stayed at -home only long enough to pack his clothes and say good-by to us. - -“There wasn’t much sleep in our house that night, and I lay in my -trundle-bed, beside Father’s and Mother’s bed, and listened to them -talking, talking, until I thought it must surely be morning. I went to -sleep and wakened again and they were still talking. Finally I could hear -Father’s regular breathing and knew that he had gone to sleep at last. In -a little bit Mother slipped out of bed and went into the hall. I thought -she was going for a drink and followed her, but she went into Stanley’s -room, which had been Joe’s room, too, until that night. - -“Mother bent over Stanley and spoke his name softly and he wakened and -started up in bed. - -“‘What is it, Mother?’ he whispered, frightened. - -“‘Stanley,’ Mother said slowly, ‘I want you to promise me that you won’t -go to war without my consent.’ - -“Stanley laughed out loud in relief. - -“‘Gee, Mother, you gave me a scare!’ he said. ‘I thought some one was -sick or something. The war’ll be over long before I’m old enough to go.’ -He was going on sixteen then. - -“‘It won’t do any harm to promise then,’ Mother persisted, and Stanley -promised. - -“I crept back to bed and pulled the covers up over my head. - -“But Stanley was mistaken about the war being over soon. The war didn’t -stop. It went on and on. Two years and more passed, and Stanley was -eighteen. Boys of that age were being accepted for service, but Stanley -never said a word about volunteering. - -“Shortly after his eighteenth birthday there came a change in him. He -was not like himself at all. He had always been a lively boy, full of -fun and mischief, but now he was very quiet. He never mentioned the war -any more, and often dashed out of the room when every one was talking -excitedly about the latest news from the battlefield. He avoided the -soldiers home on furlough, didn’t seem to care to read Joe’s letters, and -as more and more of his friends enlisted he became gloomy and downhearted. - -“We could all see as time went on that Father was disappointed in -Stanley. He was always saying how much better it was for a young man to -enlist than to wait for the draft. The very word ‘draft’ had for Father a -disgraceful sound. - -“I think Mother must have thought it was Stanley’s promise to her that -was worrying him, for one day she came out to the barn where Stanley was -shelling corn and I was picking out the biggest grains to play ‘Fox and -Geese’ with. Mother told Stanley she released him from his promise, but -he didn’t seem glad at all. He only said, ‘Don’t you worry, Mother, I’m -not going to war.’ - -“‘I was troubled about Joe that night,’ Mother said. ‘I thought I -couldn’t bear for you to go, too. But you are older now and you must do -what you think best.’ - -[Illustration: _One day two recruiting officers came out to Nebo Cross -Roads_] - -“As Mother went out of the barn there were tears in her eyes and I knew -in that moment that she would rather have Stanley go to war than have him -afraid to go. - -“They were forming a new company in Clayville, and one day two recruiting -officers came out to Nebo Cross Roads. Father let Truman take Charlie -and me over to see them. It was raining, and I can see those two men yet -standing there in the rain. One had a flute and the other had a drum. -They played reveille and taps and guard mount and ‘The Star-Spangled -Banner’ and a new song we had never heard before, ‘Tenting on the Old -Camp Ground.’ And how that music stirred the folks! They had to use two -wagons to haul the recruits into Clayville that night. - -“That evening when I was hunting eggs in the barn I found Stanley lying -face down in the hay. He was crying! I could hardly believe my eyes. I -went a little nearer and I saw for sure that his shoulders were shaking -with sobs. But even while I watched him he got to his feet and began -rubbing his right arm. I often saw Stanley working with his arm. He would -rub it and swing it backward and forward and strike out with his fist -as if he were going to hit some one a blow. He didn’t mind me watching -him, and I never told anyone about it. He had broken that arm the winter -before, and I had often seen him working with it after he had stopped -wearing it in a sling. - -“I wondered to myself why, if Father and Mother thought Stanley was -afraid to fight, they did not ask him and find out. He knew why he didn’t -enlist—he could tell them. At last I decided if they wouldn’t do it -themselves I’d do it for them. So the next time I was alone with Stanley, -I said, ‘Stanley, are you afraid to go to war?’ - -“‘Afraid!’ he cried angrily, ‘Who said I was afraid?’ Then his tone -changed. ‘They don’t want me. They won’t have me. It’s this arm,’ and he -held his right arm out and looked at it in a disgusted sort of way. ‘They -claim it’s stiff, but I could shoot if they would only give me a chance. -I’ve tried three times to get in, but there’s no use worrying Mother -about it since I can’t go. But my arm is getting better. It’s not nearly -as stiff as it was. I’ll get in yet.’ Then he looked at me scornfully and -said, ‘Afraid! Afraid nothing!’ - -“I ran as fast as ever I could to find Father and Mother and tell them. -Mother hugged me and laughed and cried at the same time and said she -always knew it, and Father made me tell over to him three times, word for -word, every single thing Stanley had said. - -“‘He must never know,’ Mother said. ‘He must never suspect for a minute -that we thought he didn’t want to go, the poor dear boy, keeping his -trouble to himself for fear of worrying us.’ And she told me to get -Charlie and catch a couple of chickens to fry for supper. Then I knew she -was happy again, for whenever Mother was happy or specially pleased with -one of us she always had something extra good to eat. - -“Pass the apples, Alice, please, and tomorrow night if you’re real good -and don’t get kept in at school I’ll tell you—well, you just be real good -and you’ll see what I’ll tell you about.” - - - - -EASTER - - -It was the night before Easter. Grandma had told Bobby and Alice and Pink -of the first Easter, and had explained about the egg being the symbol of -life because it contains everything necessary for the awakening of new -life. - -“When I was a little girl,” she said, “we had lots of chickens and of -course we had lots of eggs. We got so many eggs that we could not use -them all—not even if Mother made custards and omelets and angel cake -every day. - -“Father or the boys would take the eggs we did not need to the store and -trade them for sugar or coffee or pepper or rice. But for quite a while -before Easter they did not take any eggs to the store. - -“It was a custom for the children to hide all the eggs that were laid -for a couple of weeks before Easter. Father and Mother had done it when -they were little, and all the boys and girls who went to our school did -it, too. We would bring them in Easter morning and count them. Each -of us might keep the eggs we found to sell, and Father always gave a -fifty-cent piece to the one who had the most eggs. Even the big boys and -Aggie and Belle hid eggs, for money was scarce and sometimes the egg -money amounted to a good deal. We were allowed to keep all the eggs we -found, no matter to whom they belonged and how we hunted. - -“We searched in the hen house, the barn, the haymow, in old barrels and -boxes, in fence corners, and even in the wood-box behind the kitchen -stove. One spring a brown leghorn hen slipped into the kitchen every -other day and laid in the wood-box. You never could tell where a hen -might lay, so we looked every place we could think of. - -“It was an early spring. The trees were bursting into leaf, the grass -was green, the beautiful yellow Easter flowers in the front yard were in -bloom. Best of all, the hens had never been known to lay so many eggs -before. - -“It seemed that every one of us wanted something that the egg money -would buy. Truman was going away to school, and he wanted books. Belle -was going to be married, and she wanted all the money she could get for -pretty clothes. Stanley wanted a new saddle for his courting colt. When -the boys turned eighteen, Father gave each one of them a colt to tame and -break and have for his own, and they were called the courting colts. I -wanted the egg money for a lovely wax doll like one I had seen in a store -in Clayville, and if Charlie got it he meant to spend it for a gun. Aggie -wanted to buy a pair of long lace mitts to wear to Belle’s wedding. So we -all hunted and hunted, each one thinking of what he would buy with the -money. - -“Once for three days I didn’t have an egg. Then I found a great basketful -that was so heavy I could hardly carry it to a new hiding place, and the -next day it was gone. So it went on till Easter. - -“Charlie and I were up bright and early on Easter morning—not as early -as on Christmas, of course. As we all brought in our eggs Father counted -them. The kitchen floor was covered with baskets and buckets and boxes -of eggs. You never saw so many eggs. Charlie had the most, and he was as -happy as happy could be. - -“While Mother and the girls finished getting breakfast, Charlie and I -hunted for the colored eggs. Under beds, behind doors, in the cupboards, -all over the house we hunted. - -“‘Here they are!’ shouted Charlie from the spare chamber. And there they -were behind the bureau—red eggs, blue eggs, green eggs, big sugar eggs, -and eggs with pretty pictures pasted on them and tied with gay ribbons. -And there were white eggs that looked just like common hen’s eggs, but -when you broke a tiny bit of the shell and put your tongue to it, my, oh -my! but that maple sugar was delicious! - -“After breakfast there was a rush to get the work done and get ready for -meeting. Dear knows how many people would come home to dinner with us. -Mother always asked everyone home to dinner. - -“We were nearly ready. Mother had picked the lovely, yellow Easter -flowers and was wrapping the stems in wet paper to keep them from wilting -till we got to the church—she meant to put them in a vase on the pulpit -stand—when Father came in and said that the widow Spear’s new house -had burned down in the night. There was something the matter with the -chimney, no one knew just what. - -“Mr. Abraham Harvey had told Father. The Spear family had taken refuge -in a little old house that they had lived in before they built the new -house. But of course they had nothing to keep house with, and Mr. Harvey -was going around in a big wagon collecting things. There were some pieces -of old furniture in the wagon, and several bundles of bedclothes and a -box of dishes. - -“Father gave flour and meat and potatoes and a ham. Mother emptied the -shelves of our Easter pies and took the chicken in the pot right off the -stove, besides giving bread and a crock of apple butter. - -“Then she wrapped up a pair of blankets she had woven herself and sent -Charlie and Truman to carry out some chairs and a bedstead that were up -in the meathouse loft. Belle and Aggie were sorting out some old clothes -to send, and I wanted to do something, too. - -“As I was going through the kitchen on an errand for Mother, I noticed -the eggs. Such a lot of them—nearly fifty dozen, and they brought ten -cents a dozen. Just then Charlie passed the door carrying a chair, and I -called to him. - -“‘Charlie,’ I said, ‘would you give your egg money if I gave mine?’ - -“‘No,’ he said at once, ‘I won’t give my egg money. Not on your life, I -won’t! Father and Mother’ll give enough,’ and he went out. - -“I didn’t say any more about the egg money. I didn’t think it would be -fair to Charlie, since he was the one who had the most eggs. I went -upstairs to Mother’s room and took my gold breastpin out of the fat -pincushion on her bureau. - -“‘Here is my breastpin, Mother,’ I said. ‘Send it to Millie. Everything -she’ll get will be so plain and ugly.’ - -“Aggie and Belle laughed. - -“‘A breastpin,’ said Aggie, ‘when very likely she has no dress!’ - -“‘It’s all right, Sarah,’ said Mother, and she went to her bureau drawer -and took out a fine linen handkerchief and laid it on the bed beside the -breastpin. When she came to get them, Aggie had given a carved back comb -and Belle a pretty lace collar. - -“Mr. Harvey was starting his horses and Father had come inside the gate -when Charlie ran around the house. - -“‘Give them my egg money, Father!’ he called and ran out of sight again. -Then all the rest of us said we would give our egg money, too, and it -made a lot—over five dollars. - -“‘I’m proud of you,’ Mother said when she had hunted Charlie up and was -tying his necktie. ‘I’m proud of every one of my children.’ - -“We were a little late to meeting, and when we got home Belle had dinner -ready—ham meat and cream gravy and mashed potatoes and hot biscuits. -Mother brought out a plate of fruit cake that she kept in a big stone jar -for special occasions—the longer she kept it the better it got—and a dish -of pickled peaches for dessert.” - -“Mm! mm! Wish I’d been there,” sighed Bobby. - -“And next time,” Grandma went on, “I think—yes, I’m pretty sure—that I’ll -tell you how the maple sugar got in the Easter eggs.” - - - - -AT A SUGAR CAMP - - -“Grandma,” said Alice the next evening, “you said you’d tell us how the -sugar got in the Easter egg.” - -“And so I will,” answered Grandma. “I’ll tell you about that this very -evening. Where’s my knitting? I can talk so much better when I knit. -There now, are you all ready?” - -Bobby and Alice and Pink drew their stools closer and Grandma began: - -“On my father’s farm, about half a mile from our house, was a grove of -maple trees. We always called them sugar trees. In the spring, you know, -the sweet juice or sap comes up from the roots into the trees, and it is -from this sap that maple sirup and sugar are made. In the spring Father -and the boys would tap our sugar trees. They would take elder branches -and make spouts by removing the pithy centers. Then they would bore holes -in the trees and put the spouts in the holes and place buckets underneath -to catch the sap. These buckets would have to be emptied several times a -day into the big brass kettle, where it was boiled down into sirup and -sugar. - -“Truman tended to the sap buckets and kept a supply of firewood on hand, -and Stanley watched the boiling of the sap. He knew just when it was -thick enough and sweet enough to take off for sirup and how much longer -to cook it for sugar. One of the girls was always there to help, and -Father or Mother would oversee it all. - -“There was a one-roomed log cabin with a great fireplace in the maple -grove. It had been built years and years before by some early settler -and was never occupied except during sugar-making time. The girls would -go up the week before and clean it out, and Mother would send dishes and -bedclothes for the two rough beds built against the wall. The ones making -and tending the sirup would camp up there. - -“Mother would send butter and bread and pies, and the girls would boil -meat or beans in a black iron pot that hung over the fire. In the -evenings they would have lots of fun sitting in front of the fire, -telling stories and popping corn. Sister Aggie could make the best -popcorn balls that were put together with maple sirup. They would often -have visitors, too, neighboring boys and girls who would come in to stay -until bedtime. And there would be songs and games. - -“And they would make the sugar eggs for Easter. Before sugar time came we -would blow the contents out of eggs by making little holes in each end. -Then we would dry the shells and put them away. When they were taking -off the maple sugar, Mother or Belle or Aggie would fill the egg shells -and set them aside for the sugar to cool and harden. They would fill -goose-egg shells with the maple sugar, too, and when the sugar hardened -they would pick the shell off, and by and by the girls would paste pretty -pictures of birds or flowers on them and tie them with gay-colored -ribbons for Easter. - -“Neither Charlie nor I had ever been allowed to stay all night at the -sugar camp, and when Mother said we could stay one night with Stanley and -Truman and Belle we were wild with joy. - -“Truman had shot and cleaned three squirrels that morning, and Belle -cooked them in the big black pot with a piece of fat pork until the -water boiled off and they sizzled and browned in the bottom of the pot. -We had little flat corn cakes baked on the hearth and maple sirup, and, -my, but that supper tasted good to me! - -“I dried the dishes for Belle, and we had just settled down for the -evening when one of the Strang boys came in. He didn’t know we children -were there, and he had come up to see if Stanley and Truman and Belle -would go home with him to a little frolic. His sister Esther had been -married a few days before and had come home that afternoon, and they were -going to have a serenade for them. Belle and the boys wanted Charlie and -me to go down to the house so they could go, but we wouldn’t do it. We -declared we were not afraid to stay by ourselves and told them to go on. -Finally they did. - -“Charlie and I didn’t mind being left alone at all. We thought it was -great fun. For a while we played we were pioneers. Then Charlie got -tired of that and wanted to play Indian, so we played Indian for a long -time. But we had been out all day in the cold, and after a while we got -sleepy and decided to go to bed. I went to the window to see if Belle and -the boys were coming. There was a moon, and I could see the trees with -their spouts and the buckets under them. I looked closely. At one of the -buckets was a black shadow. I looked and looked at it and just then it -moved a little. - -“‘Charlie,’ I cried excitedly, ‘Brierly’s old black dog is out there -drinking up our sap!’ - -“Charlie gave one hurried glance out the window, then he picked up a -stick of firewood and opened the door. - -“‘I bet I give that dog a good scare,’ he said, and rushed out the door -and made straight for the black shadow. He raised the stick and brought -it down ker-plunk on the back of what we thought was Brierly’s dog. But -it wasn’t Brierly’s dog at all, nor anybody’s dog. It was a bear! I don’t -know which was the most surprised, Charlie or the bear. Charlie darted -back to the cabin, and when he reached the door he threw his stick with -all his might and hit the bear on the nose. The nose is the bear’s -tenderest point, you know. Charlie must have hurt him, for he gave a -growl, backed away from the sap bucket, and scampered up the nearest -tree. Maybe he meant to wait a while and come back for more sap, I don’t -know. Anyway, up the tree he stayed while Charlie and I watched him -through the window. - -[Illustration: _Up the tree the bear stayed while Charlie and I watched -him_] - -“‘If we could only keep him up the tree till the boys come home from -Strangs’ one of them could get a gun and kill him,’ said Charlie, ‘and -we’d get the money for his pelt.’ - -“‘Father says wolves won’t come near a fire,’ I remarked, and that gave -Charlie an idea. He would build a fire and keep the bear treed until the -boys came. - -“At first I wouldn’t agree to help him. I was too afraid. But Charlie -coaxed and threatened and was getting ready to do it himself. So I helped -him carry out the first burning log from the fireplace in the cabin. -After that my part was to watch the bear and warn Charlie if he moved -while Charlie built up the fire. Once as the fire grew warmer and the -smoke got thicker and thicker the bear snorted and moved to a limb higher -up. - -“Charlie kept a roaring fire going, and it wasn’t long until Belle and -the boys came rushing up all out of breath from running. They were nearly -scared to death because they had seen the smoke and thought the cabin was -on fire. - -“At first they wouldn’t believe we had a bear treed. Truman said, -‘Whoever heard of a bear climbing a tree like that?’ But Stanley said -nobody knew what a bear might do, and Charlie said that there was the -bear all right, they could see for themselves. - -“Truman went home and got his gun and shot the bear. It turned out to be -a young bear. Father sold the pelt and divided the money between Charlie -and me. - -“Now, let me see, what shall I tell you about tomorrow night? Oh, I know! -I’ve thought of something, but I won’t tell. No, indeed, not a word till -tomorrow night.” - - - - -THE NEW CHURCH ORGAN - - -Grandma had been to church Sunday morning and heard for the first time -the wonderful new pipe organ, and in the evening she was talking about -it—how beautiful the music was, how solemn, how sacred. - -“And when I think,” she said, “of the opposition there was to the first -little organ we had in our church and of the trouble we had getting -it—well, well, times certainly have changed. - -“It was like this. Some of our people were bitterly opposed to organ -music in church and right up till the last minute did everything they -could to keep us from getting an organ. This made it very hard to raise -money for the organ, but after a long time we got enough—all but about -forty dollars. It was decided to have a box social to raise this. - -“At a box social each girl or woman took a box containing enough supper -for two people. Then the boxes were auctioned off, and the men and boys -bought them and ate supper with the girl whose box they got. - -“Aggie and Belle trimmed their boxes with colored tissue paper and -flowers and ribbon, but Mother just wrapped hers in plain white tissue -paper and fastened a bunch of pinks out of the garden on top so Father -would know it when it was put up to be sold. Father was going to buy -Mother’s box, and I was going to eat with them. Charlie had money to buy -a box for himself, and he said he meant to buy Aunt Livvy Orbison’s box -because she always had so much to eat. - -“Every one in the family was going, and there was a great rush and bustle -to get ready. Mother cut Charlie’s hair and oiled it and curled mine. She -scrubbed us till we shone, and at last, dressed in our best clothes, we -started. - -“Father and Mother and Belle and Aggie and I went in the surrey. All -the boys walked over the hill, except Joe, who had gone to Clayville on -business for Father that morning and was to stop at the church on his way -home. - -“It was a lovely warm evening, and there was a large crowd at the church -when we got there, though it was early. The girls took their boxes in and -then came right out again. Every one was having a splendid time, talking -and laughing and visiting around. - -“I was with Father. After a while I got tired hearing the men talk about -the crops and the price of wool and the election, and I went to hunt -Mother. I looked all around and I couldn’t find her. I thought maybe she -had gone into the church, so I went in there to look for her, but there -was no one in the church at all. The boxes had been piled on the pulpit -and covered with a sheet so that no one could see them. Just as I was -going out the door I noticed that the sheet was lying on the floor and -the boxes were nowhere to be seen. I went on out and presently I found -sister Belle. She was talking to John and Isabel Strang and Will Orbison. - -“I tugged at Belle’s dress and pulled her to one side. - -“‘What did they do with the boxes?’ I asked her. - -“‘Why, they put them in the church, and after a while they will sell -them,’ she said. ‘You run and find Mother now, like a good girl.’ - -“‘But the boxes aren’t on the pulpit,’ I whispered. ‘I was in the church -hunting Mother, and the boxes are all gone and the sheet is lying on the -floor.’ - -“Belle told the others, and they all went hurrying into the church, I -following after. The boxes were gone, sure enough. The pulpit windows, -which faced a strip of woods, were open. The boys said the boxes could -have been taken out that way as the crowd was in front of the church. -There was no place in the church to hide them. There was a loft, but it -was entered through a hole in the ceiling and there was no ladder. Belle -placed two chairs with their seats touching and covered them with the -sheet so that no one could tell the boxes were not there. - -“‘It looks as if some of the people who don’t want the organ have spoiled -this box supper,’ said John Strang, ‘and they will keep us from having -our organ for a while, too.’ - -“‘But that isn’t the worst of it,’ put in Isabel. ‘It’ll cause no end of -trouble and hard feelings.’ - -“‘It may have been some of the boys who did it for a joke,’ said Belle. -‘Let us raise the money anyway and get ahead of them.’ - -“‘But how,’ Isabel asked anxiously, ‘with no boxes?’ - -“Then they thought out their plan. It was that John and Will were to -go out and explain quietly to the boys in favor of the organ what had -happened and get them to give the money they meant to spend on their -boxes to John. Brother Joe had bought a new pair of shoes in town. They -would put his shoe box up for sale just as if all the rest of the boxes -were still under the sheet. Will was to bid against John and run the box -up to the amount they had collected. - -“Isabel stayed in the church to see that no one disturbed the sheet, and -John and Will and Belle went outside to carry out their plan. I found -Mother, and pretty soon we went into the church. The lamps had been -lit, and I thought how nice it looked. The girls had come up the day -before and swept the floor and dusted the benches and shined the tin -reflectors on the lamps, and put great bunches of flowers and ferns over -the doors and windows and covered the two big round stoves with boughs of -evergreen. There was a short program first, and then Stanley, who was to -auction off the boxes, stepped to the front of the pulpit and held up a -plain white box tied with stout string. - -“‘How much am I offered for this box?’ he said. - -“The bidding started at twenty-five cents. At first there were lots of -bids, but finally every one dropped out but John and Will. There wasn’t a -sound in the church as the bidding went higher and higher—thirty dollars -for that plain, white box, thirty-five dollars, forty dollars, forty-one -dollars. Will stopped bidding and the box went to John for forty-one -dollars. - -“Some one called out, ‘Open the box!’ and that started things. ‘Open the -box!’ they shouted. ‘Open it!’ ‘Let’s see what’s in it!’ ‘Open, open, -open!’ - -“When they quieted down a little, Stanley explained about the boxes -disappearing and everything. Then he untied the string, took the lid off -the box, and held up a pair of men’s shoes number ten. Then that crowd -went wild. They clapped and shouted and yelled. Stanley said he thought -the boxes had been taken for a joke and suggested that they be returned. - -[Illustration: _Stanley held up a pair of men’s shoes_] - -“‘We have enough money for the organ,’ he said. ‘Now let us have our -suppers and some fun.’ - -“One of the boys on the side opposing the organ got up and said that the -boxes had been taken for a joke and would immediately be returned. And -you couldn’t guess where those boxes were hidden! Right in the big round -stoves there in the church! Of course everybody laughed again and laughed -and laughed. Such a good-humored crowd you never saw. - -“They handed out the boxes first to the people who had paid in their -money, and sold the others. There weren’t enough boxes to go around, but -each had plenty in it for three or four people. Every one divided, and -there was not a person in the church who did not get something to eat. -People who had been in favor of the organ ate out of the same boxes with -those who had been against it and forgot that they had ever disagreed. -And when the organ came and sister Aggie played it that first Sunday, -why, it sounded sweeter to me than that beautiful big organ in your -church did this morning. - -“And now, ‘’night, ’night,’ everybody, and next time I think—yes. I’m -pretty sure—next time we’ll have something about my school.” - - - - -SCHOOL DAYS - - -“All my brothers and sisters had liked to go to school,” Grandma began -the next evening, “and in the sitting room, after supper, Father would -hear their lessons while Mother knitted or sewed or darned. Father had -read books and papers aloud to us as long as I could remember, and he -always told us how important education was. So as soon as I got to be six -years old I was anxious to start to school. - -“I was small for my age, and as we lived two miles from the schoolhouse -and the snow in winter was often two or three feet deep, Mother did not -want me to go until I was seven or eight years old. She said she and -Father could teach me at home for a couple of years yet, but I coaxed and -coaxed to go. At last Mother said I could go as long as the weather was -good. - -“So on the very first day—it was along toward the last of October—I -started down the road with a brand new primer under my arm and a lunch -basket of my very own and shiny new shoes. Mother stood at the front -gate to watch me out of sight and wave when I came to the turn in the -road. - -“Our schoolhouse wasn’t like yours. It was just a little frame building -painted red. There were no globes or books or maps or pictures to make -learning interesting. Just rough, scarred benches, a water bucket and a -dipper on a shelf in one corner, and a big round stove in the center of -the room, and of course the teacher’s desk and chair on the platform up -in front. - -“The teacher was usually a man, but that winter it was a woman—Miss Amma -Morton. Miss Amma was a tall, bony woman with snapping, black eyes that -saw everything, and thin gray hair combed straight back from her face. -She wore a brown alpaca dress with a very full gathered skirt and black -and white calico aprons and a little black shoulder shawl fastened with a -gold brooch. - -“She lived with a married sister who had a very large family. In those -days all the stockings and socks were knitted at home, and Miss Amma did -the knitting for her sister’s family. She did it in school. She would sit -at the stove or at her desk and knit and knit on long gray stockings or -on red mittens. She would knit all day while she heard our lessons. The -only time she couldn’t knit was when she set our copies. We had no copy -books, and the teacher had to write the copies out for us. - -[Illustration: _Miss Amma would knit all day while she heard our lessons_] - -“I liked to go to school. It was fun to peep into my lunch basket at -recess to see what Mother had put in and maybe slip out a piece of pie or -cake to eat. I liked to make playhouses on the big flat rocks with Annie -Brierly and the other little girls, and hunt soft, green moss to furnish -them with, and smooth pebbles down at the run. I loved to learn my A -B C’s and listen to the older children recite, and at noon and recess -to play ‘Prisoners’ Base’ and ‘Copenhagen.’ But school wasn’t always so -pleasant. - -“One day not long after I started there was a heavy wind and rain storm. -We couldn’t recite our lessons, the rain made so much noise on the roof. -Through the windows we could see the trees swaying this way and that in -the wind. - -“At afternoon recess Annie and I ran out to see if our playhouses had -been spoiled by the rain. When we came back the girls were standing -around in little excited groups. They told us that the roof had blown off -Bowser’s house—they lived about half a mile down the road—and that most -of the boys had gone to see it. - -“‘Did Charlie go?’ I asked eagerly. - -“‘I reckon he did,’ one of the girls answered. ‘He was with the other -boys and they went that way. I wouldn’t be in their boots for anything. -They won’t be back before books, and Teacher’ll whip them if they’re -late.’ - -“I drew Annie away. ‘I’m going after Charlie,’ I told her. ‘I’m going to -take the short cut across the hill and catch up to him and bring him -back.’ - -“Annie said she would go with me, and we started. The ground was wet and -it was hard walking. We slipped at every step. After I thought about it -a little, I was not at all sure that Charlie would thank me for coming. -Maybe he’d sooner take a whipping than miss seeing a house without a -roof. Boys are so different from girls that way. - -“We got clear to Bowser’s without seeing a sign of a single boy, and the -roof wasn’t off at all—just a little corner of it. Mr. Bowser was nailing -it up as fast as ever he could. He said none of the boys had been there, -so we started back. - -“That was the longest walk I ever took. I thought we’d never get to the -schoolhouse. My feet were wet and my legs ached and I was so tired I -could hardly move. When we got to the top of the hill and looked down at -the schoolhouse, there was no one in sight. Recess was over! We reached -the door at last and stood trembling outside, afraid to open it and go in -and afraid not to. Annie had been to school the winter before and was -not so scared as I was. She took my hand reassuringly. - -“‘Don’t let on you’re frightened,’ she whispered. ‘Maybe Miss Amma hasn’t -missed us and we can slip into our seats without being seen.’ - -“Annie opened the door just as easy, and we slid in without a sound. But -alas! alas! Miss Amma was hearing the advanced arithmetic class and she -stood facing the door, so the second we stepped in she saw us. - -“She stopped explaining a problem long enough to order Annie and me to -stand in opposite corners up on the platform where everybody could see us. - -“No one had had to stand in the corner since I had started to school, so -instead of facing the corner as I should have done I stood with my face -toward the school. I looked to see if Charlie was in his place. When -he saw me looking at him, he began making motions. I thought he meant -for me to stand tight in the corner, so I pushed as close as I could to -the wall. All over the room pupils were smiling at me and pointing and -shaking their heads. I wondered what they meant. I looked across at -Annie. She was laughing and she made a motion, too. Then I thought of -what she had said—not to let on I was frightened. Maybe I looked scared. -I looked at Annie again. She stuck her head into the corner, looked at -me, frowned, put her head in the corner again. What did she mean? It was -too funny the way they were all acting. Then I laughed, too, right out -loud, before I knew it. I laughed and laughed. I couldn’t stop. - -“Teacher gave me a long, severe look. - -“‘Turn around and face the corner, Sarah,’ she said, ‘and you may remain -after school.’ - -“Then I knew what Charlie and Annie and the others had been trying to -tell me. I stood there in the corner until the scholars had all gone home -and Miss Amma had swept the floor and cleaned the blackboard and emptied -the water bucket. - -“Finally she called me, and I went over to her desk. When she asked -me why I had run off at recess and then disturbed the whole school by -laughing, I told her all about it, and she said she would forgive me that -time and helped me on with my cape and hood. - -“Charlie was waiting for me down the road a piece. He hadn’t even thought -of going to see Bowser’s house, but had been down in the meadow watching -the big boys dig out a woodchuck. - -“And, now, an apple all around and good night.” - - - - -A BIRTHDAY PARTY - - -“Mm! Isn’t it beautiful?” exclaimed Grandma as she stood with Bobby and -Alice and Pink admiring the table decorated for Pink’s birthday party. -Everything was pink and white. The lovely white-frosted cake had pink -candles in pink rose-holders—seven, one for each year and one to grow on. -There were pink candies and pink flowers and pink caps for the little -girls and boys to wear. - -“‘And the ice cream is to be pink,’ Alice explained, ‘pink ice cream -shaped like animals—dogs and bunnies and kittens.’ - -“My, but isn’t that fine!” said Grandma. “Now my first party wasn’t a bit -like this. Maybe tonight if you are not too tired I’ll tell you about my -party.” - -And that night after they had told Grandma about Pink’s party she told -them about hers. - -“We didn’t have many parties when I was little,” Grandma began, “and we -never had regular little girls’ parties. Everyone, big and little, came, -and they were generally surprise parties and the guests would bring the -refreshments with them. One evening going home from school, the girls -were wishing that some one would get up a surprise party, when suddenly -Annie Brierly said, ‘Why don’t we get up a party for Sarah, girls? Friday -is her birthday. Do you think your Mother would care, Sarah?’ - -“‘We’d both help her,’ Callie Orbison put in before I could answer. ‘You -don’t need to do much getting ready for a surprise party. We could have -it Friday night, and Saturday we’d both come over and help clean up the -house.’ - -“‘Not a soul but Callie and me would know you knew anything about it,’ -urged Annie, ‘and we could have just loads of fun.’ - -“I promised to think about it, and the more I thought about it the -better I liked the idea of having a party of my very own. It didn’t take -much persuasion the next day to make me consent. Annie and Callie were -delighted and immediately fell to making plans, but they agreed that -nothing should be said to Mother until Thursday evening, the date set for -the party being Friday night. - -“The days that followed were full of mingled pleasure and pain for me. I -was happy at the idea of having a real party, but it didn’t seem fair to -deceive Mother. Once I thought of telling her all about it just as I told -her about everything else. But I was afraid she would say I was too young -to have a party, and I had never been to a party in my life. Sister Aggie -was visiting Aunt Louisa in Clayville, and Mother had no one to help her -except for what I could do mornings and evenings. But I would be at home -all day Saturday, and Annie and Callie had said that they would help. - -“Thursday morning Annie told me that she had baked a cake and put my -initials on top in little red candies, and Callie said her mother was -going to bake an election cake with spices and raisins in it. All day -Thursday I kept thinking about the party. It wasn’t off my mind a -minute. I couldn’t study for thinking about it, and I missed a word in -spelling—the first word I’d missed that term—and had to go to the foot of -the class. - -“But by the time we had started home I had made up my mind to one thing, -that if I could not have a party with everything open and above board I -did not want one at all. And so I told the girls that I had changed my -mind and did not want them to have a surprise party for me. They coaxed -and argued and teased, but I was firm. I was sorry that Annie had baked -a cake and I hated to disappoint them, but I did not want a party. The -girls were cross with me, and I felt miserable when Annie turned in her -gate without saying good-by. - -“Aggie had come home from Clayville that afternoon, and she was so busy -telling Mother the news and describing the latest fashions, and showing -the things she had bought, that no one noticed me much. Not a word was -said all evening about my birthday being so near. Even Charlie didn’t -tease me about what he would do, such as ducking me in the rain barrel, -as he always did, and I thought everyone had forgotten all about my -birthday. - -“But Friday morning just before I started to school Aggie gave me a plain -little handkerchief that she had hemstitched before she went away, and -then I knew for sure that she had not brought me anything from Clayville. -And when Mother gave me a pair of common home-knit stockings, I thought -I should cry right out before everybody instead of waiting until I got -started to school. - -“Annie and Callie were in a good humor again and as pleasant as could -be, but I felt so unhappy that day that I didn’t notice that the girls -at school seemed unusually happy and excited. When I finally did notice -it, I was afraid that Annie and Callie had gone ahead with plans for the -party. I accused them of this, but they denied it. - -“‘No, no, we didn’t do another thing about the party,’ they declared. But -they looked at each other and laughed when they said it, and I didn’t -believe them. - -“‘You did,’ I said, ‘you know you did.’ - -“‘Cross my heart and hope to die if we did,’ Callie insisted. - -“‘Here’s some of the cake that I baked for your party that we didn’t -have,’ said Annie. ‘Now will you believe us? I brought you girls each a -piece, but it was a sin to cut that cake—it was such a beautiful cake.’ -And she handed us each a slice of delicious, yellow sponge cake decorated -with red candies. - -“Mother had given me an errand to do at the store on my way home, so it -was later than usual when, hungry and tired, I opened the kitchen door. -Mother met me and took my bundles and books. - -[Illustration: _Out from the hall rushed Annie and Callie and seven other -little girls_] - -“‘Take your wraps off here, Sarah,’ she said. ‘Aggie has company in the -sitting room.’ I didn’t hear anyone talking, but I took off my coat. -Then Aggie called me and I went into the sitting room, but I stopped in -amazement just inside the door. - -“In the center of the room was a table set with Mother’s best linen and -china and silver, and while I gazed at it, out from the hall rushed Annie -and Callie and seven other little girls all near my own age dressed up in -their Sunday frocks and each one thrusting some sort of package toward -me. - -“I couldn’t say a word—I just burst into tears. I went upstairs with -Mother to wash my face and put on my best dress. She told me Aggie had -written invitations on cards she had bought in Clayville, and Charlie had -carried them to the girls that morning. Then I told Mother all about the -party we had planned to have, and she said not to think any more about it -but that she was glad I had told her. - -“We played games—‘Pussy wants a corner’ and ‘Button, button, who’s got -the button’ and ‘Hide the thimble’—and asked riddles and had a good time. - -“Then we had supper. There were cold roast chicken, tiny hot biscuits and -peach preserves, three kinds of cake, and hot chocolate that Aggie had -learned to make in Clayville and none of us had ever tasted before. - -“Mother and Aggie had given me those presents in the morning just to fool -me. Aggie had brought me a lovely story book, and Mother had a string of -pretty pink beads for me. Charlie gave me a little basket he had whittled -out of a peach seed, and from Father I got a silver dollar. - -“And now good night, pleasant dreams.” - - - - -THE LOCUSTS - - -“Grandma,” said Bobby one evening, “did you ever see a locust—a -seventeen-year locust? And why are they called seventeen-year locusts?” - -“Oh, yes, I’ve seen locusts and heard them, too,” answered Grandma, -taking up her knitting. “They are called seventeen-year locusts because -they come every seventeen years. They lay their eggs in a tree. These -eggs hatch tiny worms, called larvae, which fall to the ground and stay -there for seventeen years changing slowly until they have turned into -locusts. They live only about thirty days, but they often do a great deal -of damage in this time. One year when I was a little girl all our fruit -was eaten by the locusts and many of the trees were killed. They ate the -garden stuff, the potato tops, and even the flowers, so it must have been -somewhat as it was in Pharaoh’s time. - -“You remember Pharaoh was the king of Egypt who refused to let the -children of Israel go. For this God sent the plagues on Pharaoh and the -people of Egypt. One of these plagues was the locusts. God caused a -strong east wind to blow all day and all night, and this wind brought the -locusts. They were every place—all over the ground, in Pharaoh’s house, -and in the houses of his people. They ate all the vegetables and fruits, -even the leaves on the trees, so there was nothing green left in all the -land. The noise they made must have been awful. When Pharaoh repented, -the Lord sent a strong west wind which blew the locusts away, and they -were drowned in the Red Sea. Ever since that time people have thought the -locusts say ‘Pharaoh.’ - -“I believe I’ll tell you tonight about the first time I ever heard -a locust. Mother wondered one day at dinner whether there were any -blackberries ripe yet. She said she wished she had enough for a few pies. -So that afternoon I took a pail and started for the blackberry field. I -didn’t tell anyone where I was going, for I wanted to surprise Mother. -I was afraid that if she knew she mightn’t let me go alone, for she was -timid about snakes. Sure enough, I saw a snake nearly the first thing, -but it was a harmless little garter snake and scuttled away into the -bushes as soon as it heard me. - -“There were lots and lots of red berries, but only a few ripe ones here -and there. I wandered on and on, thinking every minute I should come to -a patch of ripe berries where I could fill my pail in a few minutes. It -wasn’t much fun blackberrying all by myself. I scratched my hands and -face and tore my dress on the briars and wished many times that I was -back home, but I kept on picking until my pail was full. - -“I did not realize how far I had gone nor how long I had been out until I -noticed that the sun was going down. Then I started to hurry home as fast -as I could. But I was tired and my bucket grew heavier with every step, -so I often sat down to rest. I rested a long time under a chestnut tree, -and then after I had walked miles, it seemed to me, I found myself back -under this same tree. I knew it was the same tree because Charlie had cut -my initials on it the summer before. I had been going around in a circle! -I started out again. I looked to the right and to the left and straight -ahead, but I couldn’t find the path. - -“I was lost—lost in that great blackberry patch over a mile from home. -Night was coming on, and no one knew where I had gone. I wondered where -I should sleep if no one found me before it got dark, and what I should -eat. Of course I could climb a tree, but I might go to sleep and fall out -of it. I shouldn’t starve, for I could eat blackberries, but the very -thought of eating any more blackberries made me feel sick. - -“I hurried this way and that, trying to find my way out and growing more -frightened every minute. - -“Then suddenly I heard some one calling to me. - -“‘Sa—rah! Sa—rah!’ I heard as plain as plain could be, and I answered -them. I screamed at the top of my voice, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’ But the -voices—there seemed to be a great many of them—only kept on saying over -and over again, ‘Sa—rah! Sa—rah!’ - -“I ran, stumbling and falling through the bushes, still holding to my -precious pail of berries, but I didn’t seem to get any nearer to the -folks who were calling me. All the neighbors must be out helping hunt for -me, I thought to myself. That was queer, too, for it wasn’t really dark -and Mother was used to having me play for hours at a time down by the -run or on the hill under the oak trees. - -“Presently I came to an open space. There was a group of trees at the far -edge, and there under those trees, to my great surprise, stood Mother’s -little Jersey cow. I ran toward her, and when she saw me she gave a weak -‘moo.’ But when she tried to move I saw that she was caught fast by the -horns in a wild grapevine that grew around the tree. I tried to free her, -but I couldn’t. The wild grapevine is very tough and strong, and Jersey -was securely fastened by it. I petted her and talked to her and forgot to -be afraid any more. Then I happened to think that if she had been there -very long she must be thirsty. She was not giving any milk and had been -turned out to graze in the pasture field that joined the berry patch and -had probably come through a bad place in the fence. I remembered having -passed a spring a little way back, and I emptied my berries carefully in -a pile on the ground and ran back and filled my bucket with water. But I -couldn’t reach Jersey’s mouth, and though she tried frantically to get -at the water she couldn’t get her head down to it. I dragged two pieces -of old log over and built up a platform. Then I climbed up on it with my -bucket of water, and my, how glad Jersey was to get that cool drink! - -“Then I sat down on a log to wait for some one to come. To keep from -getting lonely I began to say over my memory verses for the next Sunday. -I was committing the Twenty-third Psalm and I had just reached the line -beginning, ‘He restoreth my soul,’ when I heard them calling again. - -“‘Sa—rah! Sa—rah!’ they said just as before. I jumped up and cried out as -loud as I could, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’ I was determined to make them -hear me this time, and I said it over and over until I was hoarse, and -the more I answered the louder the voices seemed to call. - -“Then to my joy came a voice I knew. ‘Where are you and what are you -doing here?’ it said, and crashing through the bushes came my big brother -Stanley. I rushed crying into his arms, and the funny part was that -Stanley did not know I was lost. He was on his way home from work on the -upper place and had come down to see if the berries were ripe so he could -tell Mother. He had heard me calling and had come to find me. - -[Illustration: _How glad Jersey was to get that cool drink!_] - -“With his pocket knife he cut the vines that held Jersey, and we drove -her slowly back to the pasture field after he had helped me pick up the -berries. - -“When Stanley and I got home Mother was just starting Charlie out to look -for me. She was pleased to get the berries and glad I had found Jersey. -Father said Jersey might have starved before he would have missed her, -but Mother made a rule that I was never again to go farther away than the -oak trees or the run without asking her. - -“‘Who was calling me?’ I asked. ‘Some one was calling me. They still are. -Listen!’ and there it was again. - -“‘Sa—rah! Sa—rah!’ - -“They all looked puzzled. Then Mother laughed. - -“‘Oh,’ she said, ‘I know what she means. Why, that isn’t anyone calling -you, dear. That’s the locusts and they say, ‘Pha—raoh! Pha—raoh!’ But it -does sound like ‘Sa—rah,’ doesn’t it? And I am very glad you thought they -said ‘Sa—rah’ and answered them or Stanley wouldn’t have found you and -you might have been up in the berry patch all night.’ - -“There, that was a long story, wasn’t it? Hurry to bed now, for you know, - - “Early to bed and early to rise, - Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” - - - - -ONE FOURTH OF JULY - - -Grandma had promised the children a Fourth of July story, and Bobby and -Alice and Pink drew up their stools and waited eagerly for her to begin. - -“Father was going to take us to Clayville to the Fourth of July -celebration,” Grandma began. “We were all going except Mother and Nanny -Dodds, who was helping us over hay harvest. I had been to Clayville once -before. - -“‘But that time it was on just a common everyday day,’ as I told Nanny. -‘This will be different.’ - -“We were to start early—early in the morning—for Clayville was twelve -miles away and we did not want to miss a single thing. - -“First there would be a parade with two brass bands, then ‘speaking’ -on the courthouse steps, and after that an ox roast. In the afternoon -there were to be horse races and games. Father promised that we should -have supper at the hotel and stay for the fireworks in the evening. I -had never seen even a firecracker, and I looked forward to seeing the -skyrockets most of all. - -“I was to wear a new light calico dress with a little blue flower in it -and a blue sash and my ruffled white sunbonnet that was kept for Sundays. -I talked so much about going that Mother and my sisters and every one -else except Nanny grew dreadfully tired listening to me and begged me to -talk of something else. - -“Nanny was twenty and bashful and as homely as could be, but I loved her -very much. When she made cookies she put a raisin in the center of some -of them, and others she sprinkled with sugar. And she made gingerbread -men with currant eyes and baked saucer pies and let me scrape the cake -bowl. She sewed for my doll and bound up my hurt fingers tenderly and -told the nicest stories. There was no end to the things Nanny did for me, -but I liked the stories best of all. - -“The day before the Fourth, when I sat on the edge of the kitchen table -watching Nanny beat eggs for the sponge cake and talking about what I -should see the next day, Nanny said in a wistful voice, ‘I’ve never been -to Clayville. I always thought I’d like to go, but I never had a chance.’ - -[Illustration: _“I’ve never been to Clayville,” said Nanny, wistfully_] - -“This set me thinking. Soon I slid off the table and went in search of -Mother. I found her at the spring-house churning. - -“‘Mother,’ I said, ‘let’s take Nanny with us tomorrow.’ - -“‘I’m afraid there isn’t room,’ Mother answered regretfully. ‘There are -already five of you, and the surrey is old and not strong.’ - -“‘Nanny doesn’t weigh much,’ I argued. - -“‘I know, dear, but Father is afraid to load the surrey any heavier for -fear you’d break down and not get to town at all. I have told Nanny she -may go home to see her mother tomorrow.’ - -“All the rest of the morning I sat under the apple tree in the side yard, -thinking. Once when Charlie came through the yard with a jug to fill with -water for the men in the hayfield I called him over. Maybe he might offer -to let Nanny go in his place. To be sure, I hadn’t much hope of this, but -still it was worth trying. - -“‘Charlie,’ I said, ‘I think Nanny would like to go to the Fourth of July -celebration.’ - -“‘Sure, who wouldn’t?’ he replied easily. ‘I want to go myself,’ and he -went on to the well. - -“I tried sister Belle next. I found her picking chickens in the orchard -and offered to help. Then presently I suggested to her that she could -go to Clayville with the Strangs’, since their surrey would not be -crowded as ours would, and then Nanny could go with us. She only laughed -scornfully and made me finish picking the chicken I had started. - -“I went sadly back to the apple tree. - -“‘Nanny wants to go,’ I thought to myself, ‘and I want to go, too, but if -I stay at home Nanny could go in my place. It would be a sacrifice,’ I -sighed deeply. ‘Preacher Hill says a sacrifice is giving up something you -want yourself. I want to go more than I ever wanted anything, but I have -lots of things Nanny doesn’t have. I have curly hair and Nanny’s hair -is straight. I can read and Nanny can’t. I’ve seen the train and had my -dinner at a hotel. I’ve traveled and Nanny’s never been farther from home -than Mt. Zion Church.’ - -“That night after I had said my prayers I put my arms around my Mother’s -neck and whispered, ‘Mother, I want Nanny to go in my place tomorrow.’ - -“‘Why, dear!’ Mother started to protest. But after looking earnestly into -my face she said, ‘Do you really want to stay at home and let Nanny go in -your place? You must be very, very sure, you know.’ - -“‘I’m sure, Mother,’ I declared solemnly. ‘Yes, I’m sure I want her to -go.’ - -“‘Well, sleep on it, and if you feel the same in the morning you shall -stay with Mother and Nanny may go.’ - -“I wakened at daylight to find Mother standing beside my bed. - -“‘Are you awake, Sarah?’ she asked. ‘They are all up but you.’ - -“I sat up in bed dazed. I could hear the girls rushing around in their -room. From the kitchen came the rattle of dishes and out in the barn the -boys were whistling. Suddenly I remembered. It was the Fourth of July! - -“‘I haven’t changed my mind, Mother,’ I said yawning sleepily. - -“Mother bent down and kissed me before going to tell Nanny. At first -Nanny would not hear of it and left off getting breakfast to come and -tell me so. I pretended to be too sleepy to talk, so Nanny, urged by -Mother, finally went away to get ready, and Mother went down to finish -getting the breakfast. - -“But I wasn’t a bit sleepy a little later when I jumped out of bed to -watch them start. - -“Father and Aggie sat on the front seat of the surrey, and Belle, Nanny, -and Charlie on the back seat, while Joe, Stanley, and Truman rode -horseback. They all looked very fine and grand to me dressed in their -best clothes, and I choked back a sob as they drove down the road and out -of sight. - -“All morning I helped Mother. I did lots of things the girls wouldn’t -let me do when they were doing the work. I dried the dishes and fed the -chickens and dusted the sitting room and scrubbed the walks. - -“Then Mother and I had our lunch out under the apple tree in the side -yard—some of everything the girls had put in their lunch basket—fried -chicken and sponge cake and green-apple pie. My, but it tasted good! In -the afternoon Mother made my doll a new dress, and we went together to -hunt the little turkeys and get the cows. - -“It was awfully late when the folks got back, but I sat up in bed to see -them. Every one of them had brought me something. Spread out on the bed -were a flag and a bag of peanuts, a pewter tea set from Father, a sticky -popcorn ball, and a sack of peppermint lozenges, but the nicest of all -was when Nanny gave me a hug and whispered, ‘I had the grandest time of -my life, Sarah, and I reckon it’ll take me a month to tell you about all -the things I saw.’ - -“Now, let me think! What in the world will I tell you about tomorrow -night? Oh, I know, but I won’t tell.” - - - - -THE BEE TREE - - -There had been honey for supper, and afterward, before the cozy fire in -her room, Grandma was telling Bobby and Alice and Pink about how the bees -live in little wooden houses called hives and make the honey from a fluid -taken from the heart of the flowers. - -“But I knew of some bees once that did not live in a hive but in a hollow -tree.” Grandma reached for her work basket and drew out her knitting. -“While I put the thumb in Bobby’s mitten I’ll tell you about those bees.” - -“When I was a little girl,” she began, “not many people kept bees and we -could not buy honey at the store, so honey was considered a great treat. -The first beehive I ever saw belonged to Mr. Brierly. The Brierly’s lived -on the next farm to us, but between them and us, in a little house on -Mr. Brierly’s place, lived a family named Henlen. They were very lazy -and hunted and fished and worked just enough to get what money they must -have. Mr. Brierly had given them a swarm of bees and helped them make a -hive for it, and the Brierlys and the Henlens were the only people in our -neighborhood who kept bees. - -[Illustration: _Early in the summer one of Mr. Brierly’s hives swarmed_] - -“Then early in the summer one of Mr. Brierly’s hives swarmed. That is, -a swarm of bees left the old hive and wanted to set up in a hive of its -own. Usually when a young swarm left the old hive Mr. Brierly gave them -a new hive and they settled down contentedly and went to making honey. -But this swarm flew away and lighted in a hollow tree on the edge of our -woods. - -“Mr. Brierly did not find them for several days. Then he told Father he -would just leave them where they were, if Father did not care, and when -he took the honey he would divide with us. Father told him he was welcome -to leave the bees as long as he wanted to and to keep the honey. But Mr. -Brierly said Father must take half of the honey or he would not leave the -bees. So Father agreed and Mr. Brierly left the bees. - -“Every morning when Charlie and I took the cows to pasture we would skip -across the field to take a long look at the bee tree. We would watch -the bees as they flew in and out the hole in the side of the tree and -wondered how much honey they had made and talked about how good it would -taste on hot biscuits. - -“So all summer the bees worked away, and one day in the fall Mr. Brierly -sent Father word that he would be over that week to take the honey. A -few mornings later when I came in sight of the bee tree I stopped in -amazement. The bee tree was gone! Instead of standing straight and tall -like a soldier on guard, it lay flat on the ground. Chips of wood were -scattered all around. The bee tree had been cut down. - -“I started for home as fast as I could go to tell Father. He wasn’t at -the barn, and I went to the house. Back of the house, under a sugar tree, -the girls were washing and Charlie was carrying water for them. As I came -up Aggie was scolding because one of the washtubs was missing. When I -told them about the bee tree they were as excited as I was. Charlie ran -to the wheat field where Father was ploughing to tell him, and we girls -went in to find Mother. - -“Belle declared that whoever stole the honey must have taken the tub to -carry it away in. And since the honey was on our land and we knew it was -ready to take away and the tub was ours, it would look to Mr. Brierly as -if we had had something to do with it. Aggie laughed at her and said, -‘The very idea of anyone thinking we would steal!’ But Mother looked -serious. - -“Father came right to the house, got on a horse, and rode over to Mr. -Brierly’s. Mr. Brierly came back with him, and they examined the fallen -bee tree carefully. It had been chopped down. Mr. Brierly said he -thought we would have heard the blows down at the house. Father replied -coldly that we had heard nothing and knew nothing about it until I had -taken the cows to pasture, and wouldn’t have known then if I had not run -across to look at the bees. He told him about our tub being gone, too. -Aggie said it wasn’t at all necessary to tell that, but Belle said Father -was too honest to keep anything back. - -“Father imagined that Mr. Brierly thought we knew something about the -disappearance of the honey. Of course Father resented this, so the -Brierlys and we ceased to be friendly. Mrs. Brierly and Mother had always -helped each other to quilt and make apple butter and had exchanged -recipes and loaned patterns back and forth, but all this stopped now. - -“School started, and Tom and Annie Brierly did not wait for Charlie and -me as they had always done. If they had not gone to school before we came -along, they waited until we had passed by before they started. - -“Charlie and I worried a great deal about the coldness between the two -families and the unhappiness it was causing. We were always making plans -to discover who took the honey and so clear things up. - -“One day when Charlie was eating his dinner at school he noticed that -Flora May Henlen had something on her bread that looked like honey. He -told me to watch her, and the next day at noon I took my dinner and sat -down near Flora May to eat it. Sure enough, it was honey she had on her -bread. But then I remembered that they had bees and she had a right to -have honey. Still I watched Flora May for several days, and she always -had honey on her bread. - -“‘Did your bees make lots of honey this year, Flora May?’ I asked her one -day. - -“‘Oh, yes,’ she answered, ‘every few days the boys bring in a pan of -honey.’ - -“That evening Charlie made an excuse to stop a while with one of the -Henlen boys, and in the orchard back of the house he saw their bee hive -lying on the ground among some rubbish and rotting leaves. - -“We told our discovery at home, and my brother Truman said the Henlens -had had no bees at all for months. They had been starved or frozen out -the winter before. - -“The next morning Father stopped Asa and Longford Henlen as they were -passing our house on the way home from mill and told them he knew they -had taken the honey. At first they denied all knowledge of the honey, but -when they found that in some way Father had found out about it they were -scared and admitted that they had chopped down the tree and, finding more -honey than they had expected, had taken our tub to carry it away in. - -“Mr. Brierly and Father decided that if the boys would work out the pay -for the honey and promise not to steal any more they would not tell -anyone. - -“Mr. Brierly apologized to Father, and Mrs. Brierly and Mother kissed the -next time they met, and Tom and Annie began waiting for Charlie and me -again, so that everything was all right once more. - -“Get the apples, Bobby, please, and tomorrow night, if you say your -prayers and go right to sleep tonight, I’ll tell you about—well, it’s an -awfully good story I have for tomorrow night.” - - - - -BRAIN AGAINST BRAWN - - -Bobby was feeling his muscle and telling his sisters how strong he wanted -to be, and Grandma, hearing him, said, “Of course it’s nice to be strong, -Bobby, but strength won’t get anyone very far unless it is combined with -brains. I knew a delicate looking boy once who got ahead of half a dozen -big strong fellows, not because he was strong, but because he had brains -and used them. - -“It was long, long ago—the winter my brother Truman taught our home -school. Mother didn’t want Truman to take the school, for, though he was -eighteen years old, he was a slender, little fellow and his blue eyes and -light hair made him look even younger than he really was. But Father said -for him to go ahead and see what he could do. - -“There were several bad boys in school. The year before they had run the -teacher out before the term was half over, and we had no more school that -winter. When they heard that Truman was going to teach, they made all -sorts of boasts about what they meant to do. - -“Truman got along all right the first few weeks until the older boys, who -had been working at a sawmill, started in. Nearly all of these boys were -bigger than Truman, and Bud McGill, the leader, was a year older. He had -broken up several schools and bragged that he would run Truman out in -short order. - -“From the day he started he did everything he could to make trouble. -Because he had started to school late in the term he did not get the seat -he wanted. One morning he came early and took this seat and refused to -give it up when Truman asked him to. Truman couldn’t force him to give -it up, because Bud was so much larger and stronger. All day long Bud sat -there in the corner seat talking and laughing and throwing paper wads at -girls—disturbing all the rest of us so we could not study. At dismissing -time Truman told him to take his books with him and not come back to -school until he could behave himself, but Bud walked out as bold as you -please without a single book. - -“I don’t know just how it would have come out if Bud’s father had not -heard about the trouble. But he did, and he told Bud he would have to -give up the seat unless he got the teacher’s permission to keep it. - -“Bud said he’d get Truman’s permission all right. - -“The next morning I went to school early with Truman because Charlie was -sick and couldn’t go. As soon as we came in sight of the schoolhouse and -saw a thick column of smoke rising from the chimney we knew something had -happened, for Truman always built the fire himself. - -“When we got within hearing distance, Bud McGill opened the door a tiny -bit and called out to Truman, ‘Have I your say-so to keep the seat in the -corner?’ - -“‘No, you haven’t,’ Truman said shortly, and Bud slammed the door in his -face and bolted it. Bud’s plan was to keep Truman out of the schoolhouse -until he agreed to Bud’s taking the seat he wanted. Then Truman could -come in and take up books as usual, but if he did this he would be -admitting that Bud was the real authority in the school and the other -pupils would cease to respect him. - -“As the children came to school Bud opened the door and let them in. They -offered to let me in, too, but I wouldn’t go. Truman wanted me to go -back home, but I wouldn’t do that either. Several of the boys stopped to -talk to Truman and offered to help him. Bud’s crowd saw the boys talking -to Truman and thought they were going to combine and try to enter the -schoolhouse by force. Bud dared them to come ahead. He went so far as to -say that if the teacher got in he would do whatever he said. But Truman -urged the boys who were eager to help him to go on in and not make any -trouble. He said it was his problem and he would have to settle it alone -as best he could. So they went in, and Truman and I were left alone. - -“Truman brought some kindling from the coal house and built a fire, and -we stood around it to keep warm. - -“‘I’ve got to get ahead of them some way,’ Truman said, as much to -himself as to me. ‘I’ll have to beat them or I’m done for. And if I give -up the school, that means no spring term at the academy. I’ve either got -to outwit Bud and his crowd or give up the school.’ Just then a strong -wind blew the smoke in our eyes and started them to smarting. This gave -Truman an idea. - -“‘I might smoke them out,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘If I could only get to -the roof, I could stuff this old coat down the chimney. You wait here, -Sarah, while I look around for a ladder.’ - -“He strolled to the back of the building where there were no windows, -got down on his hands and knees, and crawled under the house to look for -a ladder that had been there. But the ladder was gone. He examined the -walls of the schoolhouse, but they were smoothly weather-boarded and gave -no foothold. - -“He got an armful of kindling to build up the fire, and presently, though -it wasn’t noon, we opened our lunch basket and ate our dinner. A cold -wind had risen and the fire was getting low. Whatever Truman did must be -done quickly, for the short winter afternoon would soon be over. - -“I shivered and edged nearer to the fire. - -“‘I wish I had Belle’s new cape,’ I said. ‘It would keep me good and -warm. Did you see Belle’s new dolman and hat that she got while she was -at Clayville yesterday, Truman?’ I asked idly, just for something to say. - -“He didn’t answer me at once. Then, ‘Has anyone else seen them?’ he asked -quietly. ‘I mean anyone else except our own folks.’ - -“‘No, not a soul,’ I said. ‘No one knows she even went to town.’ - -“Truman stared at me blankly. ‘I wonder if I could do it,’ he murmured. - -“‘Why I’m sure you could,’ I said, not in the least knowing what he was -talking about, but eager to encourage him in any way I could. - -“‘I’ll try it!’ he cried. ‘You go in, Sarah, and tell them I’ll be back -in an hour.’ With that he started down the road, and I went in and gave -them his message. Some of the boys hooted and laughed and said they might -as well go home, but finally decided to wait. - -“Less than an hour from the time Truman left some of the scholars -impatiently watching the road for his return were surprised to see a -lady approaching on horseback from the opposite direction. She got off -her horse in front of the schoolhouse and looked helplessly around. Bud -McGill dashed out and tied her horse to the fence. The girls said she -must be a stranger, for none of them had ever seen her before. - -[Illustration: _“The teacher is out just now. Won’t you have a chair?” -said Bud_] - -“A plaid dolman of the newest style, trimmed with fringe, fell nearly to -her knees, and she wore a wide black beaver hat with a thick veil and -glasses. She walked with mincing steps to the door, daintily holding up -her long black riding skirt. Just inside she turned to Bud. - -“‘Are you the teacher?’ she asked softly. - -“‘No, ma’am,’ Bud said politely, ‘the teacher is out just now. Won’t you -have a chair?’ - -“The lady sat down at the teacher’s desk and began to fumble with her -veil. One of the girls came forward and deftly removed the pins that held -it in place. The veil slipped off, and there sat Truman dressed in sister -Belle’s new clothes! There were shouts and shouts of laughter in which -even Bud was forced to join. He came forward and offered Truman his hand. - -“‘You beat,’ he said. He never made any more trouble and we had a good -school the rest of the winter. - -“See who gets to sleep first and we’ll have another story real, real -soon.” - - - - -A WISH THAT CAME TRUE - - -“Grandma,” said Alice one evening when she and Bobby and Pink had come -into Grandma’s room, “do you believe that if you look over your right -shoulder at the new moon and make a wish that it will come true?” - -“Naw,” jeered Bobby, “course not.” - -“Well, I don’t know,” Grandma answered thoughtfully. “A wish made -that way could come true. I made a wish once over a white horse and a -red-haired girl that came true.” - -“Tell us about it Grandma. Please tell us,” coaxed Alice. - -Grandma found her knitting and began. - -“The red-haired girl,” she said, “was Betty Bard, our preacher’s -granddaughter. She had lived at the parsonage with her grandparents for -nearly a year, and next to Annie Brierly she was my best friend. The -white horse belonged to old Mrs. Orbison, who with several other women -had come to help sister Belle quilt her ‘Rose of Sharon.’ - -“Betty and I were playing under the apple tree in the side yard. That -is, we were trying to play. We couldn’t find any game we liked. We -kept thinking that this might be our last afternoon together. You see, -conference was to meet the next week, and Betty didn’t seem to think her -grandfather would be sent back to preach on Redding circuit. I didn’t -think so either. Redding circuit was very hard to please, and though -Father never found fault with any of our preachers and always paid his -tithes, still I knew that Brother Bard was not popular. Betty said it was -because he did good by stealth and no one ever found it out. - -“‘If I move away,’ said Betty as we sat under the apple tree talking that -afternoon, ‘you may have my playhouse rock at school, Sarah, and all my -dahlia roots, and the black kitten. The kitten’s name is Bad Boy because -he jumps on the table when no one is looking. And you must be sure to dig -the dahlias up before frost.’ - -“Just then Mrs. Orbison’s voice floated out through the open sitting-room -window. - -“‘It all depends on the sermon he preaches tomorrow,’ she said. ‘If they -don’t like it, a letter goes to the Presiding Elder saying we will not -tolerate Brother Bard another year and that in case he is sent back -against our wishes we will not pay him anything.’ - -“I looked quickly at Betty to see if she had heard, and I knew by the -flush on her cheeks that she had. I put my arm through hers and we walked -slowly toward the front gate. It was then I made my wish. I looked at -Mrs. Orbison’s white horse turned out to graze in the orchard across the -road and at Betty’s red head, and I said to myself, ‘I wish for Betty not -to move away.’ Out loud I said to Betty, ‘Can’t you tell your grandpa to -preach a sermon they’ll like, Betty, so you won’t have to go away?’ - -“‘But how would he know what they’d like?’ she asked in a puzzled tone. - -“‘Oh, just something pleasant,’ I answered cheerfully, ‘something nice -and pleasant.’ - -“‘I’ll tell him what Mrs. Orbison said,’ she promised before she went -home, ‘and he can do what he thinks best.’ - -“We stopped at the parsonage the next morning to take Betty into the -surrey with us because her grandma seldom went to meeting, not being very -strong. I could hardly wait till Betty and I got around a corner of the -church to ourselves. - -“‘What did your grandpa say?’ I asked eagerly. - -“‘He said he’d do his duty as he saw it, and grandma said he stayed up -all night. She crept downstairs three times to beg him to come to bed.’ - -“This did not sound very encouraging, but when I heard the text I -breathed a sigh of relief. It was, ‘Now if Timotheus come, see that he -may be with you without fear, for he worketh the work of the Lord as I -also do.’ I didn’t know what it meant, but it sounded like a safe text, -and I became so interested in watching a robin hopping on the window sill -that I did not notice what Preacher Bard was saying until I felt Betty -straighten up and clutch my hand. - -“I looked around to see what had happened, and I knew in a minute that -he had not preached a sermon to please them. Amazement, indignation, -surprise, showed plainly in the upturned faces. I won’t try to tell you -what was in that sermon, only this—that, in the hope of making things -easier for his successor, Reverend Bard had undertaken in a kindly way to -open the eyes of the Mt. Zion people to some of their faults. They had -found fault with all the preachers. Now he pointed out a few of their own -shortcomings, and they didn’t like it—no, indeed, not a bit. - -“When it was over, the congregation poured out of the church, filled the -little yard, and overflowed into the graveyard beyond. No one offered -to leave. They stood around in groups—whispering, shaking their heads -gravely, pressing their lips in grim lines. - -“As soon as the preacher left for his afternoon appointment the storm -broke. No one paid any attention to Betty as she stood at the horseblock -with me waiting for Father to come round with the surrey. Everybody -talked at once. - -“‘He doesn’t preach the straight gospel—he tells too many tales.’ - -“‘He doesn’t visit enough.’ - -“‘He favors pouring, when we’ve always stood for immersion.’ - -“These remarks and many others Betty and I heard as we waited there for -Father. Betty must have stood it just as long as she possibly could. Then -suddenly she jerked away from me and climbed to the horseblock. I can see -her now—her red hair flying in the breeze, her eyes shining, her cheeks -flushed. - -“‘My grandfather’s the best man in the world,’ she cried, and stamped her -foot angrily. ‘He’s the best man in the world, I tell you. I don’t care -what you say, he’s the best man in the world,’ and she crumpled down in a -little sobbing heap. - -[Illustration: _The congregation stood around in groups—whispering and -shaking their heads gravely_] - -“Father came up then and, putting an arm around Betty, he said, ‘Let us -pray,’ and everybody bowed his head and Father prayed. He prayed a long -time, and at the last there were lots of ‘Amens’ and ‘Praise the Lords’ -just as in big meeting. - -“The second Father finished, an old man stepped out in front and said in -a halting way that he would like every one to know that when his cow died -in the winter Preacher Bard had bought him another. That started things. -A young man said the preacher had sat up with him every other night for -six weeks when he had typhoid fever. A boy said the preacher had bought -him school books, and the Widow Spears said he had given her twenty -dollars when her house burned. An old lady told how he read one afternoon -a week to her husband who was blind, and so on and on and on. Everybody -wanted to tell something good about Preacher Bard. - -“Before the meeting broke up a big donation party was planned for Monday -night, and Mother got Mrs. Bard to let Betty come home with us so she -wouldn’t give it away. Monday was a busy day. While the women baked and -cooked for the party, the men raised money to put a new roof on the -parsonage, to buy a suit of clothes for Brother Bard, a black silk dress -for Mrs. Bard, so stiff it would stand alone, and a blue delaine for -Betty. - -“How we surprised the Bards that night when we all went in, and what a -good time we had! But the best part was when Deacon Orbison, who had -been opposed to the preacher from the first, got up on a chair and made a -speech. He said it seemed to him Redding circuit could not afford to lose -a man like Reverend Bard, that his salary and benevolences had been made -up in full, and that a letter would be sent the Presiding Elder asking -that he be returned for another year. He was returned, and Betty and I -sat together at school that winter, so you see I got my wish. - -“Well, well, if it isn’t bedtime for three little children I know. Pass -the apples, Bobby, please, and next time I’ll tell you—well, I just don’t -know what I shall tell you next time, but I’ll have something for you.” - - - - -JOE’S INFARE - - -“I think tonight I’ll tell you about my brother Joe’s infare,” said -Grandma one evening when Bobby and Alice and Pink had come to her room -for their usual good-night story. “But first,” she went on, before the -children had time to ask any questions, “I’d better tell you what an -infare was. It was a sort of wedding reception which took place at the -bridegroom’s home, usually the day after the wedding. It was the faring -or going of the bride into her husband’s home and was celebrated with -great rejoicing and a big feast. - -“Joe had married Sally Garvin, who lived four miles from us by the road -but only two miles through the fields. They had been married the day -before, and we were to have the infare. - -“Mother and the girls and Nanny Dodds had baked and cooked for a solid -week. And before that they had cleaned the house from top to bottom, -and we had mowed and raked and swept the big front yard and the orchard -across the road and the pasture lot by the house. Now the great day had -arrived. - -“Stanley had gone in our surrey to drive the bridal couple home, and -Truman and the girls had ridden horseback to meet them. Charlie had -brought Hunter, Stanley’s colt, down to the barn lot so he could go with -them. But Mother was afraid to have him ride the colt, not knowing that -he practiced riding him every day in the pasture field. - -“From my lookout on the rail of the front portico I saw the first of the -guests come over the top of two-mile hill. There was a number of young -men and girls on horseback, followed by our surrey with Stanley driving. -On the back seat I knew the bride and groom sat. - -“I waited for nothing more. I jumped down and rushed off to the kitchen -to tell Mother. Mother gave Nanny some instructions about the dinner, -slipped off the big gingham apron that covered her gray silk dress, -patted her hair before the mirror in the hall, and, taking Father’s arm, -went down the path between the rows of bachelor’s buttons, foxglove, -Canterbury bells, and ribbon grass to welcome her first daughter-in-law. - -“When Sally and Joe had left Sally’s home, a number of friends and -relatives had started with them. These had been added to all along the -way by other friends, so that there was quite a crowd of folks when they -reached our house, besides lots of people who had already come. - -“As soon as Mother and Father had greeted Sally, Belle and Aggie hurried -her upstairs to the spare chamber to put on her wedding dress. Sally was -little, with pink cheeks, and brown curls which she wore caught at the -top of her head and hanging down her back very much as the little girls -wear their hair now, only the young ladies of that day wore a high-backed -comb instead of a ribbon. She wore a new gray alpaca trimmed in narrow -silk fluting, very pretty, but nothing like what the wedding dress would -be. The wedding dress had been made in Clayville, and Belle and Aggie and -everybody else were eager to see it. - -“Joe brought up the telescope which held Sally’s things and went back -downstairs. The girls were going to help Sally dress, and I kept as much -out of sight as possible so I could see and yet not be seen. - -“‘Open it up, Aggie, please,’ said Sally, pointing to the telescope, ‘and -lay my dress on the bed. I do hope it’s not wrinkled.’ - -“Aggie lifted the telescope from the floor to a chair. - -“‘My goodness, but it’s heavy!’ she cried. ‘What in the world is in it, -Sally?’ - -“Sally turned from the mirror. - -“‘Heavy?’ she said surprised. ‘Why, there’s hardly anything in it. I -packed it myself. I wanted to be sure my dress wouldn’t be wrinkled, so I -just put in the dress and a few other things to do until tomorrow.’ - -“Aggie rapidly unbuckled the straps and lifted up the lid. Sally gave a -smothered cry and caught Belle’s arm. - -“‘Somebody has made a mistake,’ she gasped. ‘It is the wrong telescope!’ -and she threw herself across the bed and burst into tears. - -“The telescope was packed tight full with towels, pillow slips, -tablecloths, and sheets and was to have been brought over the next day -with the rest of Sally’s things. In the excitement of leaving, some -one had carried it down and placed it in the surrey instead of the one -containing the wedding dress. - -“‘You look awfully sweet in this little gray dress, Sally,’ Aggie tried -to console her. But it was no use, for Sally knew quite well that -waiting downstairs were girls in dresses that looked much more bridelike -than the gray alpaca. To be outshone at one’s own infare—well, it was no -wonder she cried! - -“Belle suggested that Stanley or Truman go back for the wedding dress, -but Sally objected to this. She said people would laugh at her and never -forget that she had gone to her infare and left her wedding dress at home. - -“Suddenly a thought came to me. Hunter was still in the barn lot. Charlie -could ride him, and he went like a streak. It was only two miles through -the fields to Sally’s home. I never stopped to think that Mother would -be frightened if she knew Charlie was on Hunter, or that Father would -probably forbid it, or that Charlie might ruin his new Sunday suit. I -slipped out of the room and went in search of Charlie. I found him out -front pitching horseshoes, and in no time at all he was off to Sally’s -home without a soul knowing about it. Then I went upstairs to tell the -girls what I had done. - -“They were not very hopeful. It didn’t seem possible that Sally could -stay upstairs till Charlie got back with the dress, but she said she -would wait a little while anyway. She got up and bathed her face, and -Belle and Aggie went down to entertain the guests. Belle started several -games, such as ‘Strip-the-Willow’ and ‘Copenhagen,’ and Aggie played the -piano. - -“I was everywhere—in the kitchen begging Nanny to hold the dinner back -as long as she could (I had let her into the secret), on the hill behind -the house watching for Charlie, and in the spare chamber trying to cheer -Sally up, for at the end of an hour there was no sign of Charlie. - -“What could have happened? He had said he could make it in less than an -hour. He had been gone an hour and twenty minutes! People were wondering -why Sally did not appear. They had lost interest in the games and were -dropping out and sauntering toward the house. Aggie had played everything -she knew over and over. Belle had run up to tell Sally she would have -to put on the gray dress and come right down, but Sally had coaxed for -five minutes more. Belle went back and started the folks singing ‘The -Star-Spangled Banner.’ The five minutes were up and Sally was putting on -the gray alpaca dress when Charlie came. - -“The people who had begun to wonder what was keeping the bride forgot -about it when Sally came down and stood with Joe to receive their good -wishes and congratulations. Her dress was heavy cream-colored silk with -tiny pink rosebuds scattered all over it, and the full skirt was ruffled -clear to the waist. The round neck and elbow sleeves were finished with -filmy white ruching, and she wore white satin slippers. With her pink -cheeks and shiny brown curls I thought she was the very prettiest bride -any one ever saw. - -“When they had gone into the dining room, where Annie Brierly and some -other little girls were waving peach switches over the tables to keep the -flies and bees away and Sally was saying who should sit at the bride’s -table, Charlie told me what had kept him. He had found the Garvins’ house -locked up and had had to climb in a window to get the telescope. The dog -had seen him as he had gotten in and wouldn’t let him come out until -Charlie had fed him and made friends with him. - -“Then some one called us and said that Sally wanted Charlie and me to -sit at the bride’s table. No one could have been more surprised than -we were, for we hadn’t expected to eat till the third table at the very -soonest, and here we were invited to sit at the bride’s table and have -our pick of the choicest food! - -“There! I hear Mother calling. Good night, good night, good night.” - - - - -PUMPKIN SEED - - -“Well, well,” said Grandma one evening when Bobby and Alice and Pink -asked for a story. “I wonder if I can think of anything tonight.” She -found her knitting and went on in a puzzled tone. “I thought of something -today to tell you about. Let me see, what was it? Oh, I remember now. It -was the pumpkin pie at dinner that set me thinking about the pumpkin seed -that Father gave brother Charlie and me to plant.” - -“It was in the spring. The fish were biting fine, and one afternoon -Charlie and I were all ready to go down to the deep hole under the -willows to fish. Charlie had cut new poles and hunted up hooks and lines, -and I had packed a lunch, for you do get awfully hungry sitting on the -creek bank all afternoon. We were out behind the barn digging bait when -Father came around the corner and saw us. - -“‘I’ve just been looking for you children,’ he said. ‘I want you to take -these pumpkin seeds down to the cornfield in the bottom and plant them.’ -Then, seeing our fishing tackle, he added, ‘It won’t take long, and when -you finish you may go fishing.’ - -“Of course Charlie and I were disappointed. We hadn’t been fishing that -year yet. It had been a late spring, with lots of rain, and on the bright -days there had been so many things that we could do around the house and -garden that we couldn’t be spared to go fishing. And now, with everything -all ready, to give it up even for an hour or two was a trial. - -“We started for the cornfield, Charlie carrying the poles and the can of -bait and I the lunch and the paper sack of pumpkin seed. The pumpkins we -were to plant were to be used to feed the stock—cow pumpkins they were -called, and they were big and coarse-grained and not good for pies. - -“Well, Charlie and I started down at the lower end of the field and we -planted a few seeds. But there was such a lot of the seed and the field -was so big and the lure of the creek with the shade under the willows -and the fish biting was so great that we could think of nothing else. We -stopped to examine our bait to see if the worms were still living. When -we went back to work Charlie wondered what was the use of planting so -many old pumpkins, anyhow, when Father had already planted as many as -usual in the upper cornfield. - -“‘We might plant a whole lot of seed at once,’ he said, ‘but still it -would take us a long time.’ - -“‘I know what to do!’ I cried, ‘Let’s hide the sack of seed in this old -stump and come back tomorrow and plant them.’ After a few half-hearted -protests from Charlie, this was what we did. We buried the sack of seed -in an old, rotten stump, covered it deep with the soft, rich loam, and -away we went to the creek to fish. - -“Charlie baited both our hooks with the fishworms, and we would spit on -our bait each time for luck. The charm must have worked, for when it -was time to go home we had caught a nice lot of sunfish, tobacco boxes, -silversides, and suckers. Truman cleaned them for us, and Mother dipped -them in corn meal and fried them a golden brown. We had them for supper, -and every one said how good they were and no one thought to ask us -anything about the pumpkin seeds. - -“I thought about them that night after I had gone to bed and wished that -we had stayed and planted them as Father had told us to. But then Charlie -and I would go down first thing in the morning, dig the sack out of the -stump, plant the seeds, and everything would be all right. - -“But it began to rain in the night, and it rained all the next day. The -day after, it was too wet, and the day after that Charlie was busy. Then -it rained again, and after a while I forgot all about the pumpkin seeds. -It was several weeks before I thought of them again. You couldn’t guess -what made me think of them then, so I will tell you. - -“When we went to meeting on Sundays, Charlie and I always tried to -remember the text of the sermon to say when we got home, for Mother was -almost sure to ask us what it was. One Sunday I was saying it over and -over to myself so that I could remember it, when suddenly the meaning -of it came to me and I was surprised to find that it had something to -do with me. The text was ‘Be sure your sin will find you out,’ and in a -flash I knew it meant that if you did anything wrong you couldn’t keep -people from knowing about it. Then I thought of the buried pumpkin seed -which Charlie and I had meant to go back and plant. - -“Father had never said a word about the pumpkins not coming up, though he -must surely have noticed it long before this. Perhaps he thought the seed -had been bad, but still it was queer he had never mentioned it. - -“That night I couldn’t sleep for thinking how wrong it had been for -Charlie and me to deceive Father about the pumpkin seed. Even the fact -that we had meant to go back and plant them didn’t make me feel any less -guilty. When I did fall asleep, I dreamed that the room was full of -pumpkins with ugly grinning faces like jack-o’-lanterns. They laughed -and mocked at me and pressed closer and closer until I wakened with a -frightened cry, and when Mother asked me what had scared me I couldn’t -tell her. - -“In the morning I talked it over with Charlie. We agreed to go to Father -immediately and tell him that we had not planted the pumpkin seeds. - -[Illustration: _I dreamed the room was full of pumpkins with ugly -grinning faces_] - -“But Father had gone to Clayville on business for a couple of days. -When he came back, before we had a chance to see him alone he told us -at dinner before all the others that the pumpkin crop in the bottom -cornfield was to be Charlie’s and mine. He said that we could keep as -many as we wanted to for jack-o’-lanterns on Hallowe’en and he would pay -us ten cents apiece for all the rest. Think of that! Ten cents apiece -for all the pumpkins we raised, and we knew that there wouldn’t be any -pumpkins! I looked across the table at Charlie, and his face was very -red. I couldn’t say a word, but when Father left the table we both -followed him and told him all about the pumpkin seeds, and how the text -had started us thinking, and everything. Father listened without a word -till we had finished. Then much to our surprise he said, ‘I’ve known for -a good while what you did with the pumpkin seed. When I saw the number -of fish you caught that afternoon, I wondered how you had planted the -pumpkin seed so quickly. I had told Mother they were to belong to you -two to do with as you pleased, but I did not intend to tell you until -later. Then when I found out that you had not planted the seeds I waited -for you to come to me. I believe you have learned a lesson from this -experience which you will not forget. Come along with me. I want to show -you something.’ - -“Wonderingly, without a word, we followed Father to the cornfield and -straight to where the old rotten stump in the lower end of the field had -been. But when we got there we could not see the stump, for coming out of -it and all over it and completely covering it, were myriads of pumpkin -vines—not big strong vines like the ones that grew in the fields, but -thin, sickly vines crowding each other for space. - -“The soil in the stump had been so rich and light that, though the sack -of seeds had been deeply covered, when soaked with rain the seeds had -sprouted and forced their way through the sack and up to the light and -air. The vines told Father where the pumpkin seeds were as plainly as if -they could have spoken. - -“And now, good night, my dears, and don’t forget to say your prayers, and -I’ll try to think up a good story for next time.” - - - - -A SCHOOL FOR SISTER BELLE - - -“It was during the third year of the war that sister Belle got her -certificate to teach. Our school had been closed for a year, first -because there were no teachers, all the young men having enlisted, and -secondly because there was no money to pay a teacher. The few schools in -the county had been given out before Belle got her certificate. She was -awfully disappointed, for she wanted to go to the academy in the spring -and she didn’t think Father could spare the money to send her, times -being so hard. - -“But since she couldn’t get a school she would make the best of it. She -would help Aggie and Truman and Charlie and me at home, and she promised -to teach the Brierly children, too. Then the Orbisons wanted to come, -and to save Mother the fuss and dirt so many children would make in the -house, Belle said she would hold school in the schoolhouse and let any -one attend who wanted to. - -“‘It will give me experience, anyway,’ she said, ‘and dear knows the -children need some one to teach them!’ - -“‘Why don’t you let them pay you?’ Aggie suggested. ‘A dollar apiece a -month for each pupil wouldn’t be a bit too much.’ - -“But Belle said some of them couldn’t pay and they were the ones who -needed schooling the most. And the ones who could pay probably wouldn’t, -because the county should pay for a teacher. - -“So one Saturday in October, armed with brooms and buckets, window cloths -and scrubbing brushes and a can of soft soap, we set out to clean the -schoolhouse. We scrubbed the floor and the desks and polished the stove -and cleaned the windows, and on the next Monday, the date set for the -opening of all the schools in the district, sister Belle took her place -at the teacher’s old desk. - -“It wasn’t a very different opening from the one she had planned and -looked forward to so eagerly. The only difference was that there would be -no payment for Belle at the end of the term. - -“The last pupil to start in was Joe Slater. He was a tall, strong boy -of seventeen, but was not considered very bright. He was a fine hand -to work, though, and from ploughing time in the spring until the corn -husking was over in the fall, he was always busy. During the winter -months he did odd jobs and went to school, but he had never got beyond -the first-reader class. Because he had nothing to do he had always been -more or less troublesome in school, and the very first day he came he -threw paper wads and whispered and teased the younger children. - -“Belle found that he knew the first reader ‘by heart.’ More to encourage -Joe than for any other reason, she promoted him to the second reader. It -was hard to tell whether pupil or teacher was the most astonished to find -that Joe was actually learning to read. Belle helped him before and after -school, and Joe became a model pupil and refused to do any work that -would make him miss a day of school. He always came early in the morning -and had the fire going and wood enough in for all day by the time Belle -got there. - -“So Belle was surprised to find Joe’s seat empty one snowy morning in -December. His sister Nancy said he had gone to the railroad in a sled -to get some freight for Mr. Grove. They lived on Mr. Grove’s place, and -Joe could not well refuse to do this for him. Nancy did say, though, -that Joe had wanted to wait until Saturday, but Mr. Grove was afraid the -sledding snow would go off before that time. So Joe had started long -before daylight, hoping to get back to school in time for the afternoon -session. - -[Illustration: _On the steps a big man was stamping his feet and shaking -the snow from a fur-collared great-coat_] - -“About half-past eleven there was a loud knock on the door. It was -snowing and blowing, and we all turned around to look when Belle went -to open the door. On the steps a big man in a fur cap was stamping -his feet and shaking the snow from a fur-collared great-coat. Belle -said afterward that she knew him instantly—it was the new county -superintendent—but she couldn’t imagine why he had come. She had seen -him at institute in Clayville, but none of us children had ever seen him -before. - -“Belle soon found from his talk that he thought he was in the Cherry Flat -school. When she told him where he was and the peculiar circumstances of -our school, he was very much surprised. - -“‘Why, I can’t understand it at all,’ he said. ‘I was talking to the -station agent this morning, asking how to get to Cherry Flat school, and -a boy who was warming himself at the stove spoke up and offered to take -me there. He was on a sled and of course I jumped at the chance. He let -me out at the forks of the road, and here I am, three miles from the -Cherry Flat school, you say.’ - -“‘I bet it was Joe,’ Betty Bard whispered to me. - -“Now that the superintendent was there and couldn’t get away until the -storm let up, he made a speech. Then he listened to our recitations and -asked Belle a great many questions, such as how many pupils she had, -where they lived, and whether she received any pay at all for teaching. -She told him about her certificate and her failure to get a school, and -he wrote it all down in a little notebook. - -“The storm grew worse and worse. The wind whistled around the schoolhouse -and rattled the windows, and the falling snow looked like a thick white -blanket. - -“Belle asked us to share our dinners with the superintendent, and we did. -He sat on one of the desks and told us stories while he ate everything -we gave him—bread and apple butter, hard-boiled eggs, ham sandwiches, -pickles, doughnuts, mince and apple pies, and cup cakes. When he left we -were all good friends and we filled his pockets with apples. He said he -would eat them as he walked along to Cherry Flat school, but he didn’t -have to walk. Truman took him in our sled, and we all stood in the door -and waved until he was out of sight. - -“No one could get Joe to say a word about the superintendent’s visit, but -everybody thought he had brought him there on purpose, hoping in this way -to help Belle. He was a great deal smarter than people gave him credit -for, and Belle had helped him and he wanted to do something for her. - -“But if sister Belle nourished any secret hopes that the unexpected visit -would help her in any way, she gave them up as the weeks went by and she -heard nothing from the superintendent. - -“School went on just as usual, though. Christmas came, and Belle didn’t -have money for the usual treat. But we had lots of sorghum molasses, and -Mother let her have a taffy pulling in our kitchen and we had lots of fun. - -“Everybody got along well in their books and we were going to have last -day exercises, as we always did, with recitations and songs and games. -Belle staid late at the schoolhouse the evening before and reached home -just as Truman came in from the postoffice. He handed her a long, thin -envelope and she tore it open and read the letter it contained. Before -she got through she was dancing all around the kitchen, laughing and -crying at the same time, and Mother took the letter from her hand and -read it aloud. - -“I can’t remember how that letter read, but it was from the board of -education. They said they had decided to put our school back on the -pay roll and that they understood that Belle had taught it in a very -satisfactory manner since the opening of the term. She was to send her -record of attendance and they would forward the five salary vouchers of -thirty dollars each, which were due her. There was some more about its -being unusual, but that they felt she deserved it. It was no wonder Belle -was so happy, was it?” - - - - -ANDY’S MONUMENT - - -Bobby and Alice and Pink had been telling Grandma about the soldiers’ -monument that was to be placed in the courthouse yard. - -“It is to be made of granite,” said Bobby, “and the names of all the -soldiers from this county who died or were killed in the war will be cut -on one side of it.” - -“Well, well,” said Grandma thoughtfully, “that makes me think of a -monument I knew about long ago, but this monument wasn’t made of granite.” - -“Marble, may be,”suggested Alice. - -“No, not marble, either. You never heard of a monument like this. But, -there, I might as well tell you about it,” and Grandma polished her -spectacles, found her knitting, and began: - -“This monument was for a soldier, too. Andy Carson was his name. He was -a very young soldier, only fifteen years old, but large for his age, and -he ran away from home and enlisted. Three times he ran away and twice his -father brought him back, but the third time he let him go. - -“But poor Andy never wore a uniform or saw a battle. He died in camp two -weeks after he had enlisted and he was buried in our cemetery, with only -Father to read a chapter out of the Bible and say a prayer, because the -preacher was clear at the other end of the circuit. - -“Right away Mrs. Carson began to plan for a monument for Andy. At first -it was to be just an ordinary monument, but the more she thought about -it the grander she wanted it to be. Nothing could be too good for Andy. -He should have the biggest monument in the cemetery—a life-size figure. -But she couldn’t decide whether to have the figure draped in a robe with -a dove perched on the shoulder or to have it wearing a uniform and cap. -Mrs. Carson finally settled on the uniform, though she couldn’t give up -the idea of the dove, so there was to be a dove in one outstretched hand. - -“But the Carsons had no money and they didn’t like to work. If anyone -mentioned work to Mr. Carson, he would begin always to talk about the -misery in his back. When brother Charlie had a job he didn’t want to do, -he would bend over with his hand on his back, screw up his face as if he -were in great pain, and say, ‘Oh, that misery in my back!’ - -“Mother said Mrs. Carson had not been lazy as a girl, but that she had -grown discouraged from having so many to do for and nothing to do with. -Sometimes she came to visit Mother, because Mother was always nice to -everybody. She was very tall and thin, with a short waist, and she wore -the longest skirts I ever saw and a black slat sunbonnet. - -“There was a big family of children—a girl, Maggie, older than Andy, and -Willie, a boy a year younger, and four or five smaller children. The -older ones came to school part of the time, but none of them ever came to -church—partly because they had no proper clothes, I suppose. - -“They lived on a farm left them by Mrs. Carson’s father. The land was -all run down and worn out. It was covered with briars and broom sage -and a stubby growth of trees. Fences were down, and the buildings were -unpainted and old. - -“So, though the Carsons talked a great deal about Andy’s monument, no one -ever thought they would get one. But Mother said it was the first thing -Mrs. Carson had really wanted for years and years and people generally -got the things they wanted most if they were willing to work hard for -them. And it turned out that all the Carsons were willing to work hard -for Andy’s monument. It was astonishing the way they worked. - -“Mrs. Carson and the children started with the house and yard. They -cleaned the rubbish off the yard and raked and swept it and planted -flowers. They made the stove wood into a neat pile and swept up the chips -and patched the fence and whitewashed it. By this time Mr. Carson had the -fever, too. He started to clear off the land, all the family helping him. -All summer long they worked, early and late, cutting out the briars and -underbrush, burning broom sage, building fences, and by fall you wouldn’t -have known it for the same place. They worked for a number of other -people, too, and made a little money, besides taking seed corn and a pair -of little pigs and other things they needed in payment. - -“Well, it took a lot of money for a monument like Andy’s was to be, but -the Carsons worked and saved for it. It seemed as if they had set a -new standard for themselves and were trying hard to live up to Andy’s -monument. - -“They painted the house and repaired and whitewashed the outbuildings and -put a paling fence around the front yard. They got lace curtains and a -store carpet for their best room, and when Father got us a piano, Mrs. -Carson bought our organ for a trifle. They got new clothes and dishes and -tablecloths, and every Sunday they all came to meeting and asked folks -home with them to dinner just as anybody else did. - -“Dave Orbison was courting Maggie, and Willie was ready to go to the -academy. He wanted an education and came to our house every week to get -Truman to help him with his studies or to borrow books. If it hadn’t been -for the monument, people would have forgotten that the Carsons had ever -been considered lazy or shiftless. - -“But Mrs. Carson was always talking about the monument. She had never -had Andy’s funeral sermon preached, and she planned to have it preached -the Sunday after the monument was set up. - -“And at the end of three years they had enough money, but for some reason -they didn’t get the monument. Everybody wondered about it. Weeks went by, -and still no news of the monument. Willie often came to our house, but he -never mentioned it. Then one day Mrs. Carson came. She had a horse now, -and she looked longer and thinner than ever in her black calico riding -skirt. - -“Mother was fitting a dress on me—a red wool delaine for Sundays—but Mrs. -Carson dropped into a chair without even glancing at it. - -“‘Mrs. Purviance,’ she began immediately, ‘I want your honest opinion -about something. For over three years now we’ve been saving for Andy’s -monument, and until a few weeks ago I never had a thought but that that -was the right thing to do with the money. But one night I got to thinking -that here was Willie wanting an education, and Maggie getting ready to -be married and no money to help her set up housekeeping, and Lissy -longing for music lessons, and I couldn’t sleep for thinking. And, Mrs. -Purviance, I haven’t had a minute’s peace since. That’s why I haven’t -ordered the monument. I can’t make up my mind to it. It’ll be a long time -before we can help Willie much if we spend the monument money. It looks -as if he ought to have his chance. And of course the money won’t help -Andy any, but I had set my heart on a fine monument for him. I don’t know -what to do,” and she started to cry. - -[Illustration: _“Mrs. Carson,” said Mother, “you have given Andy a better -monument than you can ever set up in the cemetery”_] - -“‘Mrs. Carson,’ Mother said gently, and there were tears in her eyes, -too, ‘if you want to know what I really think, I’ll tell you. I think -that as far as honoring Andy is concerned you and your family have -already given him a much better monument than any you can ever set up in -the cemetery.’ - -“Mother ran a pin straight into me and I jumped, and Mother said she was -done with me for a while. I went out, and that was the last I heard of -the monument until the Sunday Andy’s funeral sermon was to be preached. - -“There had been so much talk about the monument and the long put-off -funeral sermon that there was an unusually large crowd at the church that -day. - -“And some of them were disappointed, for when the service was over and -we filed out, the Carsons first, past the flower-decked graves to the -corner where Andy was buried, there was Andy’s grave adorned with only a -plain little head stone. But grouped around it stood his family, and the -way that family had improved in the three years since Andy’s death—well, -as my mother said, that was a pretty fine monument for Andy, don’t you -think so? - -“And now don’t forget your ‘apple a day,’ and good night to everybody.” - - - - -MEMORY VERSES - - -Grandma had been reading aloud from Pink’s Sunday-school paper and when -she finished she said: - -“We didn’t have anything like this when I was a little girl. We didn’t -even have any Sunday school. The nearest thing to Sunday school was when -we recited our memory verses on meeting day. Every week we learned so -many verses from the Bible, and on meeting day the preacher heard us -recite them. - -“I remember one year—it was Reverend Bard’s second year—that in order -to get the children to take more interest in learning the verses, the -preacher offered a Testament to the one who could say the most verses by -a certain time. We were all eager to get the Testament, and we did study -harder than usual. - -“The contest was to take place on Sunday afternoon. There was to be -preaching in the morning, dinner on the grounds, and in the afternoon -a prayer meeting and the memory-verse contest. There would be a large -crowd, and anyone who wanted to could try for the Testament. Even the -smallest children would say what verses they knew. - -“Charlie was always hunting for the shortest verses, and he hadn’t -learned very many of any kind till toward the last. Then he learned five -or six a day and carried a Bible around in his pocket wherever he went -and studied every spare minute. - -“I had been getting my verses regularly every week and I had a good -memory. So I wasn’t much afraid of anyone beating me except Charlie or -Annie Brierly or maybe Betty Bard, the preacher’s granddaughter. Betty -knew a lot of verses, but at the last minute she was likely to get to -thinking of something else and forget them. - -“On Saturday Betty and Annie came to see me, and Betty said that Lissy -Carson was going to try for the Testament, too. The Carsons hadn’t been -coming to meeting very long, but Betty, when she had been there to call -with her grandfather a few days before, said Lissy knew fifty-one verses. - -“‘And I think she ought to have the Testament,’ announced Betty. -‘Grandfather said it would encourage the whole family. If you two girls -and Charlie and I let her say more verses than we do, she would get it.’ - -“‘But if we knew more verses and just let her get the Testament on -purpose,’ put in Annie, ‘it wouldn’t be right, would it?’ - -“‘But see how hard she’s trying,’ argued Betty. ‘The Carsons have nothing -but the big family Bible, and Lissy has to stand by the table and learn -her verses out of it. If she works so hard and doesn’t get anything, she -might think there’s no use in trying.’ - -“Annie looked stubborn. - -“‘My Father said he would give me a dollar if I get the Testament,’ she -said, ‘and I mean to try for it. You can do as you like, Betty, but I -will say all the verses I know.’ - -“‘I should hate to have Lissy get ahead of me,’ I explained, ‘when I’ve -always gone to meeting and she hasn’t and I am in the fifth reader and -she is only in the third. It would look as if she was so much smarter -than I am and Mother hates to have us thought a bit backward.’ - -“At these arguments Betty herself looked uncertain. - -“‘Well, maybe you’re right,’ she remarked. ‘I know it would disappoint -Grandfather if I only said a few verses, for he says I should be an -example to the other children.’ Then she saw Charlie picking up some -early apples in the orchard. ‘Let’s see what Charlie says,’ she cried, -and was off across the road with Annie and me following. - -“When we had explained the matter to Charlie, he looked at us scornfully. -‘I never saw such sillies,’ he said. ‘If you girls pull out, though, it -will make it that much easier for the rest of us. I’m for the Testament.’ -Then he pretended he was reading from a book he held in his hand, -‘Presented to Charles Purviance by his pastor for excellence—.’ Betty -started after him, and then Annie and I chased him, too, and we got to -playing ‘tag’ and forgot all about Lissy and the Testament. - -“Sunday was a beautiful day, bright and sunshiny. From miles around -people came to attend the all-day service. There were many strangers. -With the Orbisons came Mr. Orbison’s sister and her granddaughter, a -little girl about my age named Mary Lou, who was visiting away from -California. Mary Lou wore a silk dress and lace mitts and a hat with -long velvet streamers and she carried a pink parasol. - -[Illustration: _Mary Lou wore a silk dress and lace mitts and carried a -pink parasol_] - -“Tables had been set up in the grove across from the church, and at noon, -after the morning sermon, dinner was served. There was fried chicken and -boiled ham and pickles and pie and cake and everything good you could -think of, and the people had all they could eat. - -“After dinner Mrs. Orbison brought Mary Lou over to where Annie and Betty -and I were sitting and left her to get acquainted, so she said. But Mary -Lou didn’t want to get acquainted with us. She just wanted to talk about -herself. She told us that she had three silk dresses and eleven dolls and -a string of red beads and a pony not much larger than a dog and ever so -many other things. - -“‘Don’t you have a silk dress for Sunday?’ she asked, looking at my blue -sprigged lawn, which until then I had thought very nice. - -“‘No,’ I replied. And I added crossly, ‘My mother says it’s not what -you’ve got that counts but what you are,’ though I’m free to confess I -didn’t get much consolation from this thought, then. - -“Pretty soon we went into the church, and after a prayer and some songs -the smaller children began to go up one by one to say their verses. -Brother Bard kept count and as they finished each verse he would call out -the number of it. - -“After a while he came to Lissy Carson, and every one was surprised when -she kept on until at last she had recited sixty-one verses, two more than -anyone else had given so far. - -“I looked at Betty, but she sat with downcast eyes and flushed cheeks. -Annie looked scared, and I couldn’t see Charlie. Then Betty was called -on and she said fifty-eight verses and quit. - -“‘Are you sure that is all, Betty?’ her grandfather said in a puzzled -tone. - -“‘Yes, sir,’ Betty replied and took her seat. - -“I came next and I had made up my mind by then that I wouldn’t keep Lissy -from getting the Testament, so I recited fifty-nine verses. I can still -see the amazement in Mother’s face when I sat down. - -“Annie Brierly gave fifty-nine and Charlie sixty, though of course, like -Betty and me, they each knew many more verses than that. Lissy would get -the Testament, and I was glad of it when I saw her sitting there so proud -and happy. Why didn’t Reverend Bard give it to her at once and be done -with it? Whatever was he waiting for? Then I saw. Mary Lou, the strange -little girl, was tripping up front in all her finery as self-possessed as -you please. - -“And what do you think? She said sixty-three verses and got the Testament! - -“Well, you can imagine how Annie and Betty and Charlie and I felt, though -Charlie wouldn’t talk about it even to me. He never admitted but what -he’d said all the verses he knew, though I knew better. Hadn’t I heard -him at home reciting chapter after chapter when he thought no one was -listening? - -“We girls went around behind the church to talk it over, and Annie cried -a little, and Betty stamped her foot and said she wasn’t an example any -more and she wished Mary Lou would tear her parasol and lose her mitts -and get caught in a rain and spoil her hat. And we all got to laughing -and forgot our disappointment. - -“And now it’s bedtime for three little children I know.” - - - - -THE COURTING OF POLLY ANN - - -One evening when Bobby and Alice and Pink came to Grandma’s room they -found her sitting before the fire rocking gently to and fro and looking -thoughtfully at something she held in her hand. When they had drawn up -their stools and sat down, she handed the object to them and they passed -it from one to the other, examining it eagerly. - -It was a button—a pearl button of a peculiar shape, fancifully carved. -The holes were filled with silk thread, attaching to the button a bit of -faded flannel as if it had been forcibly torn from a garment. - -“I found that button today,” Grandma began, “when I was looking for -something else, in a little box in the bottom of my trunk. I had -forgotten I had it. It came off my brother Stanley’s fancy waistcoat, and -the way of it was this: - -“Stanley had been away at school all year, and when he came home he had -some stylish new clothes—among other things a pair of lavender trousers -and a waistcoat to match and a ruffled shirt and some gay silk cravats. - -“Every Sunday he dressed up as fine as could be, and all the girls were -nice to him. But he didn’t pay any attention to any of them except Polly -Ann Nesbit, who was the prettiest girl in all the country round about. -Some people called Polly Ann’s hair red, but it wasn’t. It was a deep -rich auburn, and she had brown eyes and a fair creamy skin. Besides being -pretty she was sweet-tempered, though lively and gay. - -“Polly Ann had so many beaux that when she was sixteen every one thought -she would be married before the year was out, and her father—Polly Ann -was his only child—said that he wouldn’t give Polly Ann to any man. He -needn’t have worried, for Polly Ann was so hard to please that she was -still unwed at twenty when Stanley came home from school. By that time -her father was telling every one how much land he meant to give Polly Ann -when she married. - -“Stanley hadn’t been home very long until he, like all the other boys, -was crazy about Polly Ann, and she favored him more than any of the -others. Stanley went to see her every week and escorted her home from -parties and singings and took her to ride on Sunday afternoons in his -new top buggy. Father suspected he would be wanting to get married, and -told him he could have the wheat field on what we called the upper place, -to put in a winter crop for himself. - -“Then one night at a party at Orbison’s Stanley wore his new lavender -waistcoat. Polly Ann wagered the other girls that she could have a -button off the waistcoat for her button string, and they wagered her she -couldn’t. - -“That night when Stanley asked Polly Ann if he might see her home she -said he could if he would give her a button off his waistcoat. It must -have been hard for Stanley, for he knew he could never wear the waistcoat -again if he did as she asked and that he couldn’t go with Polly Ann any -more if he refused. He had no knife and he wouldn’t borrow one, so he -just wrenched a button off and gave it to Polly Ann. - -“When the girls went upstairs to put on their wraps, Polly Ann showed the -button to them and they had lots of fun about it. The next morning Aggie -told Stanley what Polly Ann had done and how every one was laughing at -him. - -“Stanley was at breakfast. There was no one in the kitchen but Stanley -and Aggie and me, and they didn’t pay any attention to me. I remember how -red Stanley’s face got when Aggie told him, and his chin, which had a -dimple, seemed suddenly to get square like Father’s. I thought to myself -that Polly Ann Nesbit had better look out, for, as Father often told us, -‘he who laughs last, laughs best.’ Stanley did get even with Polly Ann, -though not in the way we thought he would. - -“Before he went to work that morning he wrote her a letter and paid -Charlie a quarter for taking it to her. Charlie told me that Polly Ann -was in the front yard by herself when he gave her the letter and when she -read it she just laughed and laughed, but that she put it in her pocket -for safekeeping. - -“Stanley was as nice as ever to her when they met, but he didn’t go to -see her any more or take her buggy riding on Sunday afternoons. He took -Mother or me instead, and I thought it very nice. Stanley went right -ahead ploughing up his wheat field just as if nothing had happened, and -when he got through with that he began to fix up a little cottage where -brother Joe had lived for two years after he was married. - -[Illustration: _Polly Ann was in the front yard when Charlie gave her the -letter_] - -“He built a new kitchen, at the side instead of at the back where most -people built their kitchens, so his wife could see the road when she -was working, he said. And he added a front porch with railings and a -seat at each end and painted the house white and set out rose bushes and -honeysuckle vines and began to buy the furniture. - -“Of course it caused a great deal of talk, and every one wondered whom -Stanley was going to marry. The girls would laugh about Stanley’s house -and say they wouldn’t marry a man who wouldn’t let them furnish their own -house. And often they would tease Polly Ann, but she would only toss her -head and say nothing. - -“And all the time Stanley worked away, singing and whistling as happy -as could be. When any one questioned him, he would say he meant to keep -bachelor’s hall, or that he hadn’t decided what he would do, or that he -planned to marry the sweetest girl he knew. Belle and Aggie were wild to -know what girl he meant. They tried in every way to find out, but they -couldn’t. - -“Stanley often talked in his sleep, and they would listen to hear whether -he mentioned a girl’s name, but they could never understand what he said. -Some one told the girls to tie a string around Stanley’s great toe and -when he talked to pull the string gently and he would repeat clearly what -he had just said. - -“One night Belle and Aggie did this, but instead of a string they used -a piece of red yarn. When they were pulling it, it snapped in two, and -Stanley woke up and found the yarn on his toe and jumped out of bed and -chased the girls squealing and giggling into their room, and Father came -out to see what was the matter. - -“But finally the house was done, even to the last shining pan, and Mother -had given Stanley so many quilts and blankets and things that Charlie -grumbled and said there would be nothing left for the rest of us. - -“One afternoon I was up at the cottage with Stanley planting some of -Mother’s wonderful yellow chrysanthemums by the garden fence. Stanley -was building a lattice at the end of the porch for a climbing rose which -he had only just set out, when the front gate clicked and there, coming -up the path, was Polly Ann Nesbit. Her cheeks were rosy and she was -laughing. - -“‘I’ve brought it myself, Stanley,’ she cried gaily. ‘You said in your -letter to send you the button when I was ready to marry you, but I’ve -brought it instead. Do you—do you still want it?’ and she held out this -little button, the very one Stanley had pulled off his lavender waistcoat -to please her. - -“I looked at Stanley, so straight and tall and handsome though he was in -his everyday clothes, to see what he would do. - -“‘Do I want it?’ he cried starting toward her. ‘Why, Polly Ann, I’ve just -been longing for that button. I never wanted anything so much in my life. -I was only afraid you wouldn’t give it to me.’ He put his arms around her -and they went in to look at the house. When they had gone in, I saw this -little button lying on the path almost at my feet, and I picked it up and -skipped home to tell Mother and the girls that Stanley was going to marry -Polly Ann after all. - -“And now, ‘’night, ’night,’ and pleasant dreams.” - - - - -EARNING A VIOLIN - - -“And you don’t like to practice!” Grandma exclaimed in surprise when -Bobby told her why he did not like to take violin lessons. “But you’ll -have to practice, you know, or you will never learn to play. I knew a -boy once, who dearly liked to practice. I think I’ll tell you about him. -It was my brother Charlie. Charlie had wanted a violin ever since he was -just a little bit of a fellow and had first heard old Mr. Potter play on -his violin. - -“Mr. Potter was a traveling tailor who went around the country making and -mending men’s clothing. He carried his goods from place to place in pack -saddles, and he always brought his violin along. - -“In the evenings he would play, and we all loved to hear him. He played -beautifully. All Charlie and I had ever heard before were things like -‘Pop goes the Weasel,’ or ‘Turkey in the Straw.’ There was such a -difference between these tunes and what Mr. Potter played that the first -time Charlie heard him play—‘Annie Laurie,’ I think it was—he walked up -to him and said very solemnly, ‘I like a violin better than a fiddle,’ -and everybody laughed. - -“Years before, Mr. Potter had had a thriving trade, but when I knew him -he did not get much to do because store suits for men had become common. -Mother always found some work for him, though, and in his spare time he -gave violin lessons. - -“He was in our neighborhood several weeks each spring, and one winter -Charlie determined to have a violin and be ready to take lessons when he -came next time. - -“So right away he began to save money for a violin. But there wasn’t much -Charlie could do to earn money, and it looked as though he would never -get enough for a violin, let alone enough for an instruction book and -lessons. But he did get the violin, and this is how it came about. - -“It was one of the coldest winters anyone remembered in years. A deep -snow lay on the ground for weeks and weeks, and the roads were frozen -hard and as smooth as glass. - -“There was a sawmill about eight miles down the road from our house, and -every day we could see men passing on their way to the mill with logs. -Big iron hooks called ‘dogs’ would be driven into the logs and fastened -to a heavy chain which would be hitched to a single-tree, and the log -would be dragged over the smooth road by one horse. It was an easy way -to get logs to the mill, and every one was hurrying to haul as many as -possible before the thaw came. - -[Illustration: _“I like a violin better than a fiddle,” said Charlie to -Mr. Potter_] - -“Father had cut one big walnut log when he had been called to serve on -jury duty and had gone to Clayville to attend court. Before he went, -Charlie asked him what he would do with that one log and Father told -Charlie he could have it. Charlie could hardly believe his ears and he -asked Father whether he really meant that he could have the money for the -log if he could get it to the mill. Father said that was what he meant, -but afterward he told Mother he never dreamed Charlie would try to do it. - -“But from the first Charlie intended to move that walnut log to the mill. -He thought of nothing else. He made plan after plan. He found out from -the storekeeper that the man who owned the sawmill came to the store -Saturday afternoons to buy supplies for the next week. So when Charlie -and I went to the store for Mother on the next Saturday we sat by the -stove to warm ourselves and wait for the sawmill man. When he came, -Charlie asked him whether he would buy the walnut log. - -“‘Well, that depends,’ said the man, looking Charlie over good-naturedly. -‘I’m not anxious to lay in any more logs than we’ve bargained for. -We’re going to move Wednesday.’ Then when he saw the disappointment on -Charlie’s face he asked, ‘Pretty good log, is it?’ - -“‘Oh, yes, sir,’ said Charlie eagerly. ‘My father said when he cut it -that it was first grade—woods-grown, ten or twelve feet long.’ - -“‘Well, if that’s the case, I reckon I could use it,’ said the man. ‘Be -sure to have it in by Tuesday, though.’ - -“We went home by way of Mr. Brierly’s, and Charlie got permission to -borrow his logging chain and ‘dogs,’ as they were called. We stopped to -look at the log, and Charlie declared he could get it to the mill without -any trouble. He could have, too, if it hadn’t been for the thaw. - -“Sunday was the longest day Charlie ever put in. Sometimes he would get -discouraged and think he couldn’t do it at all. Then the next minute he -would be talking about the kind of violin he would get with the money the -log would bring. Father had come home for over Sunday and he would help -him get started, the older boys being away from home. - -“Sunday, after dinner, the weather turned slightly warmer, and by four -o’clock a gentle rain was falling. When Charlie got up long before -daylight Monday morning, Mother told him that it had rained hard all -night. He fed the horse and ate his breakfast, and Father helped him -drive the hooks or dogs into the log. Then Charlie was off. - -“He got the log as far as Sugar Creek without any trouble, and there -what a sight met his eyes! Sugar Creek was out of bank, and the shallow -stream, easily forded the year round, was like an angry, rushing little -river filled with cakes of ice. To ford it was clearly impossible till -the ice went out, and even then the current would be rapid and dangerous. -There was nothing to do but wait, and Charlie unhitched the horse and -came back home. It was still raining and thawing and it didn’t get any -better all that day. The next morning, though, the creek was clear of -ice, which was some advantage. - -“I went with Charlie and sat on the log, feeling very helpless while he -walked up and down the creek bank trying to think of some way to get the -log across. The current was so strong that, though the horse could swim -it, he could not swim and drag the heavy log along. - -“Charlie examined the foot-log carefully and found that it had not been -moved by the high water, being chained at each bank to a big tree. Then -he made his plan. He fastened some strong rope he had brought along to -the chain which went around the walnut log. Holding the other end of the -rope, he got on the horse and made him swim to the opposite bank. Then he -fastened the rope at that side to the single-tree and urged the horse up -the bank. - -“The horse tugged and pulled and finally the log moved slowly down into -the water. Now came the test of Charlie’s plan. If the foot-log proved -strong enough to withstand the jar it would get when the walnut log hit -it, everything would be all right; but if the foot-log gave way, Charlie -would have to cut the rope quickly to keep the horse from being drawn -back into the water, and the walnut log would float down stream and be -lost. - -“I almost held my breath when the walnut log, sucked rapidly down the -stream by the swift current, struck the foot-log. I shut my eyes tight -and did not open them until I heard Charlie shouting for joy. The -foot-log hadn’t budged! Because of the high water Charlie thought it -would be easy for the horse to pull the log out on the ground, but the -log stuck on something under the water. Charlie couldn’t raise the log -up, and he had to let it slide back into the water. It slid back several -times before it finally came out on the road. - -“It was nearly noon and Charlie was wet to the waist, so he went back -home to change his clothes and get a fresh horse. After dinner he started -out again. He got to the mill all right and sold the log, and when he -reached home late that night he had money enough for a violin. - -“When Father heard about it, he was so proud of him that he doubled -the money. So Charlie had more than enough for his lessons and his -instruction book, too.” - -“And did he really like to practice?” asked Bobby unbelievingly. - -“Yes, indeed, and he came to be a fine violinist and owned a violin that -cost a great deal of money, but he always kept that first one, too. - -“There! Mother’s calling you to bed.” - - - - -AT THE FAIR - - -“We’re going to the fair tomorrow, Grandma. It’s childrens’ day,” -announced Bobby one evening when he and Alice and Pink came to Grandma’s -room for their usual evening call and story. - -“Are you going, Grandma?” inquired Pink. - -“Why, I may go. I don’t know yet. Do you like to go to the fair?” - -“Yeh, boy!” interrupted Bobby eagerly. “And this year they’re going to -give a pony away. I wish I’d get that pony.” - -“That would be nice,” agreed Grandma. “I think I’ll tell you tonight -about the time we took our horse, Prince, to the fair at Clayville. I had -been to the fair several times before, and I always loved to go. To get -up early in the morning, and dress and eat breakfast and start before -daylight with a big basket of dinner tucked away in the back of the -surrey; to take the long pleasant drive through the cool of the morning -and at last go through the gates into the fair grounds and see all the -people and hear the noise of the sideshow barkers and the bands and -the balloon whistles and the lowing of cattle, uneasy because of their -strange quarters, was every bit of it a joy to me—usually. - -“But this particular year it wasn’t a pleasure to look forward to the -fair at all, even though there was to be a balloon ascension. For when we -went to the fair Father was going to take Prince along and sell him to a -horse dealer. Father had raised Prince, and we all loved him, especially -Charlie and I. He was nine years old, but he still looked like a colt. -His coat was brown and glossy, and he was as playful and active as he had -ever been. When he had been a colt, the older children had petted him and -fed him sugar. Charlie and I had taken it up when they left off, so that -he had always been used to children and loved them. - -“But Prince had a bad habit, and that was the reason he was to be sold. -He balked whenever a grown person rode or drove him. The only thing he -was any good for at all was carrying Charlie and me to the store for -Mother. He would take us both at once or one at a time wherever we wanted -to go and never balk once while we were on his back. Father said that if -Charlie and I had been older he would have kept Prince, but by the time -we would need a horse Prince would be too old to be of much use. If he -could even have been trusted to take Mother to church and back when the -roads were too rough to drive, Father would not have sold him. But he was -sure to stop some place or other, no matter how cold the day, and refuse -to budge until he got ready. So Father said he could not afford to keep -him any longer, and as none of our neighbors would want him he would sell -him to the horse dealer for what he could get. This wouldn’t be much, for -of course Father would tell the man that Prince balked. - -“So we went to the fair as usual, except that Prince went along and was -hitched with the other horses to the fence until Father should get ready -to see the horse dealer some time after dinner. - -“I went with Mother to Floral Hall, which was just a little, whitewashed -building, and looked at quilts and fancy work and cakes and pies and -pianos and stoves and pumpkins and potatoes until I got tired and -wandered on ahead of Mother—who was busily talking to some people she -knew—to the door, and there was Charlie waiting for us. - -“He had been out to see the cattle and poultry. He said our white-faced -steer and Mother’s bronze turkeys had taken blue ribbons and he wanted me -to come and see them. - -“As we passed our horses, Prince whinnied, and I suggested that we say -good-by to Prince again. So we went over to where he was hitched to the -fence. We petted him and fed him an apple that Charlie had in his pocket, -and then Charlie said we would take a last ride. So he got on first and -I climbed up behind him and put my arms around his waist and we were -off. For a while Prince trotted about on the grass, and then we came to -an opening that led into the race track. Before we realized what he was -doing, Prince had turned through this opening into the circular track. - -“Two men were standing at the entrance talking. One of them was an old -man. The other, a big man with a wide-rimmed felt hat and high-topped -boots, waved a riding whip at us and called out something that we did -not hear as we passed, but Prince kept right on. Charlie could have -turned him around, but he wouldn’t, though I begged him to. The trainers -were exercising their horses on the track, but Prince paid no attention -to anything, looking neither to right nor to left. We must have been -a queer sight—two children riding bareback on a big farm horse around -the race track. By the time we got to the grandstand quite a crowd had -gathered and they cheered us loudly as we passed. Charlie, not to be -outdone, waved his hat in return. - -[Illustration: _Prince turned through the opening that led to the race -track_] - -“When we got back to the gate we had come through, Charlie pulled -Prince’s mane and he turned out into the grass again. - -“The men were still talking, and the one who had called to us patted -Prince’s head and asked us if we had enjoyed our ride. Then, because it -looked so silly, we told him how we happened to be on Prince at a place -like that and how Father was going to sell him because he balked and -wouldn’t work and how sorry we were and afraid some one would buy Prince -from the horse dealer because he was so handsome and then beat him when -he found he balked. - -“The old gentleman seemed greatly interested and asked us Father’s name -and a great many questions about Prince. We told him how he would do -anything for us and was as safe as safe could be. Then we hitched Prince -to the fence and said good-by to him and went to dinner. My dress was all -wrinkled and my hair was mussed and my face burned from being in the sun, -and Mother was not at all pleased that Charlie and I had made ourselves -so conspicuous. - -“But we had lots of fun that afternoon watching the races and eating -peanuts and drinking pink lemonade. There was the balloon ascension, and -Father took us into some of the shows and bought us ice cream, molded -into cakes and wrapped in paper, which was called ‘hokie-pokie.’ - -“We had balloons and peanuts and canes to take home with us, and when we -got in the surrey to go home Prince was gone and no one mentioned him. -But when we were well out of town Father said, ‘Well, children, you may -rest easy about Prince. He has a good home where he will be well treated, -and it is largely due to Charlie and Sarah.’ And then he told us all -about it. - -“The man at the gate with the wide felt hat and high-topped boots was the -horse dealer, and the old man with him was hunting a horse that would be -safe for his little granddaughter, who had been sick and was not strong, -to ride and drive. When he saw Charlie and me on Prince and heard what we -said, he knew that Prince was the very horse he wanted. - -“So he had bought him from Father and paid a hundred dollars, when Father -had only expected to get fifty dollars at the most. He didn’t care a bit -because Prince balked, for no one would use him but the little girl and -he would be quite as much a pet as when we owned him. - -“‘And that extra fifty dollars shall go to Charlie and Sarah,’ said -Father, ‘for their very own.’ - -“The next time Father went to Clayville, sure enough, he put twenty-five -dollars in the bank for Charlie and twenty-five dollars for me, and he -gave us each a brand new bank book with our names on the backs. We never -saw Prince again, but the man who bought him took care of him and was -good to him until Prince died a few years later. - -“Now what shall I tell you tomorrow night? Oh, I know—a Hallowe’en -story!” - - - - -HALLOWE’EN - - -“Grandma, tomorrow night is Hallowe’en,” said Pink one evening when she -and Alice and Bobby had drawn their stools close to Grandma’s knee for -their usual good-night story. - -“Mother makes candy on Hallowe’en,” Alice added, “and we have nuts and -apples and false faces and witches on broomsticks and black cats and -everything.” - -“And last year we had a party,” said Pink. - -“And this year,” put in Bobby eagerly, “we’re going to have a great, big -pumpkin to make a jack-o’-lantern of. I know how to do it. Daddy told me, -and he’s going to help. You hollow out the insides of the pumpkin and cut -round holes for the eyes and make a nose and a mouth with teeth and put a -candle inside, and I’ll say he’ll look scary.” - -“Won’t he though!” exclaimed Grandma. “To meet a jack-o’-lantern like -that on a dark night would make a body shiver. I just know it would. -Brother Charlie and I used to save the biggest pumpkins for Hallowe’en. -In the summer we would pick out certain pumpkin vines in the cornfield -and take special care of them so that the pumpkins would grow extra large -for jack-o’-lanterns. We would keep the dirt loosened around the roots, -and when the weather was dry we would carry water from the creek to water -them. We would watch to keep the worms and bugs off the vines, and then -when the pumpkins began to get big we’d measure around them every few -days to see which was growing the fastest. Father said we did everything -but sleep with the pumpkins.” - -“Oh!” exclaimed Pink in surprise, “did you have Hallowe’en, too, Grandma?” - -“Yes, indeed,” answered Grandma, “but we generally called it Hallow Eve -in those days.” - -And she went on to tell them how the evening of October thirty-first has -for years and years in many different countries been celebrated as the -eve of All-hallows or All Saints’ Day and is called Halloweven or, as we -most often say, Hallowe’en, and how on this particular evening fairies, -witches, and imps are supposed to be especially active. - -“The young people in our neighborhood used to have parties,” said -Grandma, “and they would make taffy and play games and perform tricks -intended to reveal to them their future husbands and wives. - -“Sometimes these parties would be broken up by a crowd of rough boys who -had not been invited, for if there was a lot of fun on Hallowe’en there -was also a lot of mischief done. Nothing that could be moved was safe if -left outside. Gates were carried away, wheels removed from wagons, farm -machinery hidden, well buckets stolen, and roads barricaded with great -logs. Some people took this time to vent their spite on anyone they did -not like. - -“But these rough, mischievous boys had never bothered us, for between -the settlement where they lived and our farm was a strip of woods in -which an old woman known as Mother Girty had been buried years and years -before—in pioneer times, in fact. It was said she had been a witch, and -even when I was a little girl ignorant or superstitious folks did not -like to pass these woods by night. On Hallowe’en they were more afraid -than ever, since on this night witches are supposed to roam at will over -the country. - -“One year Mother said we could have a Hallowe’en party at our house. -Charlie and I gave our biggest pumpkins, and Truman made jack-o’-lanterns -out of them. Belle and Aggie decorated the sitting room with autumn -leaves and bunches of yellow chrysanthemums and draped orange-colored -cloth, which they had dyed by boiling old sheets in sassafras bark and -water, around the walls. For lights they had the jack-o’-lanterns and -just common lanterns with the orange cloth wrapped about the globes, -and they put out baskets of apples and nuts. In the cellar were rows of -pumpkin pies and pans of gingerbread for refreshment, when the guests -should get tired of playing games and pulling taffy. - -“When every one had come, Aggie made the taffy. But she didn’t cook the -first batch long enough and it wouldn’t harden. They tried to pull it, -but the way it stuck to their hands was awful, and such squealing and -laughing you never heard. It kept Charlie and me busy bringing water for -them to wash off the taffy. - -“The girls put another kettle of molasses on right away, and while the -taffy was being made Charlie and I slipped around the house to put a -tick-tack on Mother’s window. When we had got the tick-tack to working -and Mother and Father had both come to the window to see what it was, -though I reckon they both knew very well, we started back to the kitchen. - -“But we didn’t go in, for there, spread out on the porch to cool, were -pans and pans of taffy. Charlie said we had better take a pan for -ourselves for fear there mightn’t be enough to go around and we’d have to -do without. So he grabbed a pan quickly and we ran around to the front of -the house with it. We meant to go on the front portico, but just as we -turned the corner we heard a noise as if some one were opening the door. -So we crouched down close to the house for a little bit and then ran out -to the lilac bush by the front gate. - -“We sat down on the ground and began to work the cooler part of the taffy -around the edge of the pan toward the center, but we had no butter to put -on our hands to keep the taffy from sticking and I offered to go to the -kitchen to get some. We would then start pulling our taffy and quietly -slip into the house where everyone else would be pulling taffy and no one -would notice that we had not been there all the time. - -“I stood up. It was a pitch dark night, but as I started toward the house -I thought I could see something moving in the side yard under the apple -tree. I told Charlie. He saw it, too, as plainly as could be. It was -white and it moved about in the most terrible way. Oh, to be safe back -in the house! I clutched Charlie’s arm and trembled all over, I was so -afraid. It seemed to be coming toward us, and suddenly I couldn’t stand -it any longer and I screamed—the most awful, blood-curdling yells—and, -pulling Charlie with all my might, I ran for the house. - -“The kitchen was filled with frightened young people, for no one knew -what had happened. Just as we tumbled into one door three or four white -clad figures burst into the other door, and it was hard to tell which was -the worst scared. - -“‘Ghosts!’ sputtered Charlie, gasping for breath. ‘Ghosts under the apple -tree!’ Then everybody saw the joke and laughed. The ghosts turned out to -be some of the big boys who had wrapped themselves in sheets to frighten -the folks. The opening of the front door that Charlie and I had heard had -been Truman bringing out the sheets, but my yells had scared them and -they looked right sheepish and didn’t say anything when Isabel Strang -asked them whether they thought Mother Girty was after them. - -[Illustration: _I screamed the most awful blood-curdling yells_] - -“In the excitement and confusion, sister Belle, who was going down the -cellar stairs backward with a mirror in her hand, in which she was -supposed to see the face of the man she would marry, fell halfway down -the stairs, and John Strang picked her up and sure enough he was the man -she married later. - -“After that Charlie and I didn’t say much, for the pan of taffy was still -under the lilac bush by the front gate and we didn’t want to go into any -explanations about why we happened to be out there too. - -“Here, here, don’t forget your ‘apple a day.’ There now, good night, -dears.” - - - - -MEASLES - - -Bobby and Alice and Pink had the measles. First Bobby had taken it with a -headache and a sick stomach. Then Alice had got sick with what seemed to -be a cold, and at last Pink took it. She just wakened up one morning all -covered with tiny red spots, and of course she knew right away that she -had the measles, too. - -They had all been awfully sick, but now they were better, though they -still had to stay in a darkened room, which they didn’t like a bit. - -“It’s the worst part of the measles,” complained Bobby bitterly. “Just -like night all the time.” - -“Well, then,” said Grandma, who was making them a call, “let us pretend -that it is night and I will tell you a story about when I had the measles -a long, long time ago. - -“In those days measles was considered a necessary evil for children. That -is, people thought that all children must have it one time or another, -and the younger you were when you had it the less it would hurt you. All -our family had had the measles except Charlie and me. We had never had -the measles, and Mother was quite worried about it. She said she wouldn’t -expose us on purpose, but she did wish we’d get it before we got much -older and have it over with. There had been no measles epidemic in our -neighborhood for several years, and this is how one came about. - -“One Saturday, late in June, Father took Charlie and me to Clayville with -him. We were to visit with Aunt Louisa while he attended to his business. -He let us out at Aunt Louisa’s street and said when he got ready to go -home he would come after us. - -“Charlie and I started up the street, but neither of us had ever been -there alone and all the houses looked alike to us. We couldn’t decide -which was Aunt Louisa’s. - -“Finally we selected one that we were sure was hers and went around to -the side door and knocked. Instead of Aunt Louisa or Mettie, a little -girl opened the door and told us to come in. This was queer, because Aunt -Louisa had no children. But I supposed she had company and stepped into -a sitting room that was so dark I could hardly see a thing at first. We -sat very still for a while, and I wished that Aunt Louisa would come. In -the dim light I made out a bed in one corner, but I didn’t know there -was anyone in it until a boy, who had evidently been asleep, raised up -his head and looked at us in surprise. And we looked at him, too, for he -certainly was funny looking with his face all covered with little red -spots. - -“‘By, golly!’ he said. ‘What you doin’ in here?’ - -“I replied with dignity that we were waiting for Aunt Louisa. - -“‘She doesn’t live here,’ he said crossly, and lay down again. ‘She lives -in the next house. Must have been my little sister let you in. This is -our house and I got the measles.’ - -“Charlie and I got out as quickly as we could and hurried to Aunt -Louisa’s, but we decided that we would not tell her or anyone else we had -had such a glorious, accidental chance for the measles. - -“‘We mightn’t take the measles after all,’ Charlie pointed out, ‘and then -Mother would be disappointed.’ - -“‘I hope we don’t take them on the way home,’ I said anxiously. I didn’t -know then that it takes the measles germ nine days to mature and that we -were in little danger of taking it before that time. - -“The next day, being tired from my trip to town, I imagined I was sick -and I was sure I was taking the measles. Charlie examined my face -carefully, though, and said he couldn’t see any red spots. In a day or -two Charlie thought he was taking the disease, but there were no red -spots on his face, either. - -“‘And if they’re in you Mother says they’ve got to come out,’ I told him -wisely. ‘So as long as it doesn’t show on the outside we haven’t got it.’ - -“A week passed, and after several more false alarms we came to the -conclusion that we were not going to take the measles after all. - -“Sunday the Presiding Elder was to be at our church and there were to -be two sermons, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, with a -basket dinner in between. Mother and the girls were very busy cooking and -baking, or maybe some of them would have seen that Charlie and I were -not well on Saturday. I ached all over, my head most of all, and Charlie -said he felt sick from his head to his toes. We slipped out to the barn -and crawled up in the hay loft and lay down on the hay. Nanny Dodds -almost found us there when she came out to hunt some eggs for an extra -cake—Mother had already baked three cakes, but she said she had better -bake four to make sure there’d be plenty. - -“Charlie and I had been eating green apples. Mother always allowed us to -eat green apples if we put salt on them. But we had been in the orchard -and the salt was at the house, so we hadn’t bothered to wait, but had -eaten the apples without salt. We thought it was the green apples that -were making us sick. As we didn’t want to be dosed with castor oil and -maybe have to stay home from preaching next day, we didn’t tell a soul we -felt sick. - -“Anyway, we were both better by Sunday morning, for who wouldn’t have -been better with a new white dress to wear and a leghorn hat with a -wreath of daisies around the crown? - -“But in church even my new clothes couldn’t help me. The sermon seemed -very, very long, the air was hot and close, and I felt terribly sick. I -wanted more than anything else in the world to take off my hat and lay my -head in Mother’s gray silk lap, but of course I was much too big to do -that. I looked across to the men’s side where Charlie sat beside Father, -and there he was all slumped down in his seat, holding his head in his -hands. - -“Neither of us ate much dinner, but there were so many people eating with -us that Mother didn’t notice. And right after dinner we went down to the -surrey and climbed in, Charlie on the front seat, I on the back. - -“We covered ourselves, heads and all, with the lap robes, and there we -lay and slept the live-long afternoon, until Father came to hitch the -horses up to go home. - -“‘These youngsters must be all tired out,’ Father said when Mother and -Aggie and Belle came out to get in the surrey. I raised my head up, but I -was so dizzy I lay right down again, but not before Mother had seen me. - -“‘Let me see in your throat, Sarah,’ she demanded, and then to Father she -said solemnly, ‘I knew it! The second I saw her I knew it. Sarah has the -measles.’ Father thought surely she must be mistaken, but she examined -Charlie, and would you believe it? He had the measles, too. - -[Illustration: _I looked across to Charlie and he was holding his head in -his hands_] - -“On the way home, with my head in Mother’s lap and Charlie leaning on -Belle, we told them all about going to the wrong house when we went to -see Aunt Louisa, and the boy who had the measles, and everything. - -“‘Just exactly nine days ago today,’ Mother fairly groaned. - -“‘Aren’t you glad, Mother, that we surprised you with the measles?’ I -asked, puzzled, for she didn’t seem a bit glad that we had them, though -she had always talked as if she would be. - -“At this Father and Belle and Aggie and even Mother laughed. - -“‘If I don’t miss my guess,’ said Father, ‘you’ve surprised a good many -other people with the measles, too, and I bet a lot of them won’t be very -glad.’ - -“Of course a lot of folks did take the measles from Charlie and me, but -the weather was warm and they all got along nicely, so there was no great -harm done. - -“Some of the folks wondered where in the world Charlie and I could have -caught the measles. But old Mrs. Orbison, who came to see us right away, -settled that by announcing, ‘I always say that things like that are in -the air. No one knows where they get them or how.’” - - - - -SOMETHING TO BE THANKFUL FOR - - -It was the evening before Thanksgiving. Grandma had told Bobby and Alice -and Pink about the first Thanksgiving, celebrated so long ago by the -Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony to show their gratitude because their lives -had been spared in spite of many hardships and because their crops had -been plentiful enough to support them through the coming winter. - -And she had told them how that now, on recommendation of the President, -the last Thursday of November is set apart by proclamation of the -governors of the different states as an annual Thanksgiving Day. - -“Thanksgiving at our house was a wonderful time,” Grandma said -thoughtfully. “Next to Christmas, it was the best day of all the year, I -think. And it always began weeks before the real Thanksgiving Day—when -Mother made the mincemeat and the plum pudding and the fruit cakes. - -“All day Mother and the girls would work, crumbing bread for the -puddings, washing currants, slicing citron, beating eggs, measuring -sugar and spices, chopping suet and meat in the big wooden chopping bowl, -and seeding raisins. I helped seed the raisins. I liked to seed raisins -until I got all I wanted to eat. Then after that I didn’t like the sticky -things a bit. - -“When everything was all mixed and ready, the pudding would be packed in -muslin bags and the cake put in pans lined with writing paper and they -would be steamed for hours and hours. When they were done and cool they -would be put away, beside the big stone jar of mincemeat, to ripen for -Thanksgiving. - -“Father said that Thanksgiving came at just the right time of the year. -All the fall work was done by then, the corn husked, lots of wood cut, -and the butchering was over. The meathouse was filled with hams and -sausage and side meat, and there was always a jar of pickled pigs’ feet. -The apples had been picked and the potatoes dug and both buried out in -the garden alongside the cabbage and beets. The nuts had been gathered -in, and the popcorn was ready to pop. The finest pumpkin had been set -aside for the pies, and the biggest, proudest, young turkey gobbler was -fattened for the Thanksgiving dinner. - -“And then, on Thanksgiving morning, what delicious smells came out of -our kitchen! You know what they were! You’ve all smelled the very same -kind of smells coming out of your kitchen, I know you have. Mm! mm! and -the dinner! And every one of the family at home to enjoy it and lots of -company, too. - -“But we didn’t think of just things to eat, either. Father said folks -were likely to do that. We seldom had services at our church on -Thanksgiving because the minister was usually off in another part of the -circuit holding a meeting. But at the breakfast table, after Father had -asked the blessing, to preserve and foster, as he said, the real spirit -of the day, each one of us would tell something we had to be thankful for. - -“And one Thanksgiving morning Charlie said he couldn’t think of anything -to be thankful for except, of course, Father and Mother and good health -and Sport, but nothing special, he said. I knew what was the matter with -Charlie. He had asked Truman to lend him his gun to take along when he -went to look at his traps. Truman had refused because he had just cleaned -it, and Father had said Charlie could carry a gun when he was twelve -years old and not before. - -“Afterward when I went with him to his traps he told me he was tired -being thankful for ordinary things like those everybody else had. He -wanted something different, such as a silver watch, or a Wild West pony, -or a magic lantern. - -“He said he could be the thankfulest boy on Sugar Creek if he had any of -those things, and he thought Thanksgiving ought to come after Christmas -anyhow—then a fellow would have more to be thankful for. - -“We were down at the hole under the willows where we fished in summer and -the boys set traps for muskrats in winter. It was getting colder, and I -told Charlie I thought I’d go on to the house instead of going with him -to the cabin in the sugar grove where he and Truman were keeping their -skins that winter. The cabin was convenient to the traps, and Truman had -put a good lock on the door and he and Charlie each had a key. I wanted -to go to the house to play with brother Joe’s baby and see whether -anyone else had come and to find out how the dinner was coming on. So -Charlie told me to go ahead and he would come as soon as he skinned a -couple of muskrats he had caught in his traps. - -“There were so many of us and so much confusion that I did not notice -until dinner was nearly over that Charlie was not there. When I called -Mother’s attention to it, she said he was probably around somewhere and -would eat presently. It took a long time to serve dinner that day, and -afterward a sled load of neighboring young folks came in and there were -games and music and a general good time. No one missed Charlie but me, -and I didn’t miss him all the time, either. - -“But about four o’clock in the afternoon Mother came out to the kitchen -where some of the girls were popping corn and asked anxiously if anyone -had seen Charlie. Belle said he hadn’t come in for any dinner. - -“‘I can’t imagine where he is,’ Mother said. ‘He never did a thing like -this before. He may have met the Orbison boys and gone home with them, -but I can’t understand it at all. It isn’t like Charlie.’ - -“Just then Truman came up from the cellar with a big basket of apples we -had polished the previous day. - -“‘What about Charlie?’ he asked. ‘Where is he? What’s the trouble?’ - -“Mother explained that Charlie had gone to his traps early that morning -and hadn’t been at the house since, nor been seen by any one since he had -started for the cabin with two muskrats to skin. - -“Truman just stared at Mother. - -“‘You say Charlie went to the cabin this morning?’ he repeated slowly as -if he couldn’t believe it. ‘Well, then, by jingoes, Mother, that’s where -he is right now!’ And he went on to tell how when he was coming from -feeding the stock on the upper place he had noticed that the door of the -cabin was shut, but the lock was not snapped. He supposed Charlie had -forgotten to tend to it as he had one other night, and so he had snapped -it shut and come along home. Charlie had evidently been busy and had not -heard the lock click. - -“‘Oh, the poor boy!’ cried Mother. ‘Go see about him at once, Truman.’ -And she began putting things in the oven to heat. - -“And, sure enough, that was where they found Charlie—he had been locked -up in the cabin all day. When he found he was locked in, he had tried to -pry the windows open, but they were securely nailed down. He had shouted -himself hoarse and had even attempted to climb up the chimney and get out -that way. - -“A little later, when he was thoroughly warmed and had had a good wash -and sat at the kitchen table eating his dinner, with Mother piling up -good things on his plate and Charlie eating as if he were afraid some one -would snatch it away before he got enough, Father came out of the sitting -room and stood looking down at him. - -“‘Well, son,’ he said, ‘have you thought of anything special to be -thankful for yet?’ - -“‘Yes, sir,’ Charlie answered, grinning. ‘I’m thankful for something to -eat and a fire.’ - -“Well, well, if it isn’t bedtime already!” - - - - -TAKING A DARE - - -The next evening when Bobby and Alice and Pink came to Grandma’s room, -she was astonished to behold an ugly black-and-blue lump on Bobby’s -forehead, right over his eye. - -“Why, what’s this?” Grandma asked, laying down her knitting and examining -the bruise. “Wait till I get the arnica, and then you can tell me all -about it.” - -And while she bathed Bobby’s swollen forehead with the arnica, Bobby -told her how another boy had dared him to hang by his toes from the -scaffolding of a half-finished house and how his feet had slipped and he -had had a fall. - -“He said I was afraid to try,” said Bobby, “but I showed him!” - -“And you got hurt into the bargain,” remarked Grandma, taking up her -knitting again. “Don’t you know, my dear, that it is sometimes braver to -take a dare than not? There is a time to say ‘no,’ and the boy or girl -who doesn’t know when to say ‘no’ is often foolhardy rather than brave. -I didn’t always know that, though, and I’ll tell you how I learned it. -When I was little I played so much with brother Charlie that in many ways -I was like a boy. One of Charlie’s codes was that he would never take a -dare, and so of course it became my code, too. - -“One Friday night Betty Bard came home from school with me to stay until -Saturday afternoon. It was in the fall, and the nuts were ripe. On the -meathouse floor, spread out to dry, were chestnuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, -hickory nuts, and butternuts. Betty’s grandfather was our preacher. There -were no nuts of any kind on the ground belonging to the parsonage, so we -had been giving Betty some of our nuts. She had already gotten hickory -nuts and chestnuts, and this evening we had gathered a bag of walnuts and -we were out in the wood lot shelling them. - -“We each had a flat stone to lay the nut on and another stone to hit it -with. We wore old leather gloves to protect our hands, for the walnut -juice makes an ugly brown stain. We would lay a nut on the flat stone, -hit it hard with the other stone, and the green outer covering or shell -would come off easily, leaving the walnut, which would then have to be -dried. - -“Not far from us Charlie sat cracking walnuts, left over from the year -before, for the chickens. He would crack a nut and throw it to the -chickens and they would pick the meat out with their beaks. Mother said -walnut meats were good for the chickens and made the hens lay, and we -often had to crack walnuts for the chickens. But this evening Charlie -did not want to do it. He wanted to go on the hill to look at some traps -he had set for rabbits, and he offered to give me his new slate pencil -if I would crack the walnuts. Any other time I should have jumped at -the chance of getting a new slate pencil so easily. But this evening, I -wanted to help Betty shell her nuts so we would have time the next day to -play and go down to the persimmon tree. - -“‘Very well,’ declared Charlie. He said that if I wouldn’t help him, -he wouldn’t go with us to the persimmon tree. And without him to shake -the tree, how would we get the persimmons? We had an especially fine -persimmon tree that my great-grandfather had planted, and Betty and -I wanted to get the fruit that was in the top branches. Charlie had -promised to climb the tree for us, but now he said he wouldn’t do it -unless I would finish cracking the walnuts. - -“‘All right, you needn’t,’ I replied. ‘We don’t want you. I’ll climb -the tree myself. But really I did not think for a moment I would do any -such thing, for, of all the trees around, grandfather’s persimmon, as we -called it, was the hardest to climb. - -“Charlie laughed mockingly. - -“‘I dare you!’ he cried. ‘I double dare you!’ - -“I jumped up, and so did Betty, and we threw our gloves to the ground and -started for the persimmon tree. - -“‘Are you sure you can do it?’ whispered Betty. - -“I had my doubts myself by this time, for, though I could go all over -the gnarled old apple tree in the side yard and climb the cherry trees -and the peach trees and any reasonably high tree, to climb to the top of -grandfather’s persimmon was a different undertaking. - -“Charlie saw us talking and thought I was weakening. - -“‘If you can’t do it, Sarah,’ he said, ‘of course I’ll let you off.’ - -“‘I can do it all right,’ I answered grimly, but I wished with all my -heart I hadn’t said I would do it in the first place. - -“The lower limbs of the persimmon were so high from the ground that for a -while it looked as if I shouldn’t even get into the tree at all. Charlie -offered to boost me, but I scorned his help. When finally, with the aid -of a fence rail and by ‘cooning,’ I reached the lowest branch, my hands -were scratched and swollen and hurting dreadfully. But after that it -wasn’t as hard. As I went up, slowly and carefully, Betty and Charlie, -under the tree, watched me. - -“‘Be careful, Sarah,’ Betty cautioned every little bit. ‘Do be careful.’ - -“‘Higher, higher!’ Charlie kept calling. - -“At last I reached the top and looked down, and then the most dreadful -thing happened: I got awfully sick—sick and dizzy. I closed my eyes -tight and held to the trunk of the tree and felt as if I should fall any -minute. If I should fall to the ground and be killed, then every one -would say it was Charlie’s fault. And it wouldn’t be at all, for I should -have known better than to try to climb the old tree. I thought about -the new blue delaine dress which I had never worn—they could bury me -in that. And then I tried to say my prayers, but I was so dizzy, oh, so -dizzy, that I couldn’t remember a single word of them. - -[Illustration: _I tried to say my prayers but I was so dizzy that I -couldn’t remember a single word of them_] - -“I told Charlie and Betty I was dizzy and that I was afraid I’d fall. - -“At first they thought I was fooling, but they soon saw I was in earnest. - -“‘Hold on tight!’ Betty screamed. ‘Keep your eyes shut. Don’t be afraid, -Sarah, we’ll save you.’ - -“Charlie ran around as if he were crazy, crying and shouting, ‘It’s my -fault, it’s all my fault! Hold on tight, Sarah. I’ll bring Stanley. He’ll -get you down. Hold on!’ - -“‘No, no!’ cried Betty when Charlie started off at a run. ‘Come back, -Charlie. We mustn’t leave her that way, she might fall. You’ll have to -tie her in the tree.’ - -“Betty had on a new pinafore made out of strong gingham. She took it off -and with Charlie’s knife they slit it into strips from neck to hem and -knotted them together and Charlie climbed the tree and tied the gingham -around my waist and to the trunk of the tree so that I couldn’t fall out. - -“Then Charlie ran to the house for help, and it didn’t take Father and -Stanley long to get there. Stanley carried me down to the lower branches -and handed me to Father, and in a little while I felt all right again. - -“I thought Father would think I was brave, but he didn’t at all. He was -cross because Charlie had urged me to do such a foolish thing and because -I hadn’t had courage to say I was afraid. He said we would have to take -our own money to buy gingham for another apron for Betty. We did, and -Aggie made it, and it was prettier than the one she had torn up, for -Aggie worked a cross-stitch pattern in red around the hem. - -“For a long time I could not bear to go near grandfather’s persimmon -tree, and I have never forgotten the lesson I learned that day.” - - - - -DOGS - - -Bobby wanted a dog. He never remembered having wanted anything so -much in all his life before. If he had his choice, he would prefer a -mahogany-colored bull terrier, he told Grandma, but would gladly take any -kind of a dog—even a common yellow dog. - -“It’s a shame you can’t have a dog,” said Grandma sympathetically. Every -boy should have a dog, I say. We always had dogs—collies and hounds and -ordinary dogs, and once we had a wonderful fox terrier. He belonged to -brother Charlie, who loved dogs as much as any one I ever knew, though -I had some claim on him, too. The way we got Sport, that was his name, -well—you might like to hear about that. - -“Mother was going to the city to visit Uncle John, and Charlie and I were -going along. Neither of us had ever been on the steam cars before, and we -were all excited about it. We talked of nothing else for days. I hardly -noticed my new buttoned shoes or my velvet bonnet. Mother was excited, -too, at the last. She wore a brown dress with a great many buttons up -the front and a bonnet with a plume. I thought she looked beautiful, and -I think Father did, too, for when he had put us in the train at Clayville -it seemed as if he couldn’t leave us. He took us into the train and found -us seats, and told Mother over and over where she was to change cars and -what to do if Uncle John shouldn’t be there to meet us, and gave her so -many directions that Mother got nervous. - -“‘Yes, yes, dear, I know. Do go now or the train will start before you -get out.’ - -“Father laughed and got off. Then he came rushing back all out of breath -just as the train was starting because, after all he had forgotten to -give Mother the tickets. - -“With a ringing of bells and a puffing of the engine we were off, -and Charlie and I settled down to a day of solid enjoyment. We had a -nice lunch that the girls had packed—chicken and pickles and election -cake, with apples and cookies to eat between times. Everything seemed -wonderful! The fine red plush seats, the conductor in his blue uniform -and brass buttons, the rushing at such a swift pace through the -country—it was like fairyland to me. - -“But I got car-sick, and then pretty soon Charlie got a cinder in his -eye. Poor Mother had her hands full. She made a pillow for me with the -wraps and I lay down, but I didn’t get any better. A lady across the -aisle handed Mother a piece of stiff writing paper and told her to pin it -inside my dress. Mother did, but it only scratched my chest and didn’t -help me. Mother got a flaxseed out of her bag and put it in Charlie’s -eye. It worked the cinder out, but his eye was red and swollen, and we -were all glad when we came to the city. Uncle John was waiting for us, -and we got on a horse car and rode to within a short distance of his home. - -“The next morning we felt fine and started out to explore with -our cousins, Lily and Tom. The street was lined on each side with -horse-chestnut trees, and children were picking up the glossy, brown nuts -in baskets. But Charlie and I didn’t think much of picking up nuts we -couldn’t eat. Charlie didn’t like the city at all. The houses were too -tall and dark to suit him and the back yards too little and the grass not -meant to be trodden on. A fellow couldn’t whistle or make a bit of noise -without annoying some one, and there were no dogs, except an occasional -fat pug or a curly poodle. - -“Lily and Tom took us to the park at the end of the street for a walk. -Charlie said it wasn’t as big as our cow pasture, and Tom said he knew it -was and that anyhow we had no seats in our cow pasture. Just then a horse -car went along, and after that Charlie wouldn’t do anything but sit on -a bench and watch the horse cars come and go. He had found one thing he -liked in the city, though he said that if he owned the cars he would have -nice, sleek, well-fed horses like Father’s instead of such skinny ones. - -“Sometimes Lily and I would play in the park with our dolls. One -afternoon, a couple of days before we were to start for home, I was -sitting on the bench beside Charlie when what should come running around -the corner but a dirty, little, white dog with black spots! Not that we -could see the black spots then. He was too dirty for that, all covered -with mud and blood. His tongue was hanging out, and he ran as if he were -exhausted, in a zigzag line, blindly. He was limping, too. - -“I think Charlie would have run right out and picked the poor dog up, -but he saw us almost as soon as we saw him. And when Charlie gave a low -whistle, he ran over and crawled under the bench we were sitting on. He -was hardly out of sight when around the same corner came a crowd of boys -and men, waving sticks and clubs, and led by a policeman, brandishing a -revolver, all of them yelling, ‘Mad dog! Mad dog! Mad dog!’ - -“There was some shrubbery behind the bench, but still if they came over -they would be sure to see the dog. I was so frightened that I hardly -breathed while they poked with their sticks around the low bushes that -grew in clumps here and there. The fact that we sat so quietly saved the -dog’s life, for they thought we had not even seen the dog. They went -hurrying on and were soon all out of sight—or we thought they were. But -it happened that a boy had fallen behind and turned back home just in -time to see Charlie get poor Sport out from under the bench. - -“He gave the alarm, and Charlie and I, with the dog wrapped in Charlie’s -coat, had hardly reached the kitchen and explained things to Tom, who -was making a kite in the back yard, when we could hear shouting down the -street. - -[Illustration: _Charlie and I with the dog reached the kitchen_] - -“We looked around for a hiding place. There was none. Then Tom thought -of the attic. He and Charlie and the dog would hide in the attic. Up -the back stairs they rushed and on up to the attic. I slipped into the -sitting room where Lily was practicing and picked up a book just as there -came a loud knocking at the front door. - -“Aunt Mary went to the door, and she was very indignant and cross when a -policeman asked her to give up a mad dog. Whoever heard of such a thing? -A mad dog, indeed! She had no dog at all, nor ever had had a dog, she -said. He was welcome to come in if he wanted to and look for himself. But -Aunt Mary was so sincere that the officer apologized for troubling her -and went away, taking the crowd with him. - -“When the boys came down from the attic and brought the dog, Mother and -Aunt Mary were frightened and didn’t know what to do with him. But Tom -found a big box and they put him in that until Uncle John came home. - -“‘Is he really mad, John?’ asked Aunt Mary anxiously as Uncle John -examined the little dog. - -“‘No more mad than I am,’ Uncle John answered, and he declared that he -was a valuable little dog, too, but that if he were turned over to the -police he would be shot. He didn’t know what to do with him, as they had -no room for a dog. - -“Charlie begged so hard to take the dog home with us, and he was so -pretty and cute after he had had a bath and a rest, licking our hands and -wagging his stubby tail, that Mother finally consented. Charlie named him -Sport because he said that name suited him. - -“And going home Charlie and I rode most of the time in the baggage car -with Sport, and we were so busy taking care of him that we were not sick -a bit and didn’t get any cinders in our eyes.” - - - - -THE LAST INDIAN - - -“Last summer,” began Alice one evening when the children came to -Grandma’s room, “when we were in the country we went to the valley where -the last Indians in this county were seen—the last wild Indians, I mean.” - -“Were there any wild Indians around when you were a little girl, -Grandma?” asked Bobby eagerly. - -“Well, no,” said Grandma thoughtfully. “But my Father remembered -very well when bands of Indians went through the country on hunting -expeditions. They were thought to be of the Delaware tribe, but were -called Cornplanter Indians, probably because they cultivated large fields -of corn as well as hunted and fished for their living. It was customary, -during the winter, for bands of these Indians to hunt deer and other game -in the forests. They would follow the chase for weeks at a time. Father -said that as each deer was killed it was carefully dressed and hung high -in some near-by tree, beyond the reach of wolves and dogs. At the close -of the hunting season the carcasses were gathered together and taken to -the Indian camp. - -“But though the Indians were gone when I was a little girl, there were -many things left to remind us of them. Old trees, blazed to mark Indian -trails, still stood, and arrowheads and darts were often ploughed up in -the fields. My brothers had quite a collection of them, and they also had -a tomahawk that looked very much like a hatchet. - -“And there was one Indian left, too. I almost forgot about him—old John -Cornplanter. He was supposed to have belonged to the Cornplanter Indians, -but no one knew much about him. He lived alone on an unsurveyed piece of -land and was seldom seen except when he brought his skins to sell or came -to the store for occasional supplies. He lived as his forbears had lived, -by hunting and fishing, and, like them, he had a cornfield. - -“He made few friends because he was gruff and short of speech and surly -in manner. He had a quick temper which flared up at the least thing, and -some of the men and boys teased him on purpose to make him angry. Father -said it wasn’t right. - -“One day when Father and my brother Stanley were coming through our woods -they heard a noise like that of some one groaning. Hunting around, they -presently found the Indian, John Cornplanter, helpless and unconscious, -with what turned out to be a broken leg. They carried him into the cabin -in the sugar grove and Stanley went for the doctor. The doctor set his -leg. For a time they thought he would die, for he had been exposed to -the weather for hours before Father found him. But he got better, though -slowly, and for weeks he lay on one of the bunks in the cabin, and Father -took care of him and Mother sent him things he liked to eat. - -“At first I was afraid to go near the cabin, but after a while I got -brave enough to venture in with Father. Then it wasn’t long till Charlie -and I were visiting Cornplanter every day, carrying him food and cool -drinks. - -“When he got better, he wove pretty baskets and carved things out of wood -and made Charlie a bow and arrow. After he got well and went home, he -often came back to see us, bringing presents of fish or game, or maybe -a basket of wild strawberries or early greens. Charlie and I liked to -walk back with him through the woods as far as the edge of our farm, and -sometimes he would build a fire and we would have a meal of some kind of -game, cornbread baked on a stone heated in the fire, and wild honey. - -“He taught Charlie new ways to set traps and cure skins, and he showed me -where the first trailing arbutus was to be found, hiding, fragrant and -pink, under the brown leaves. He knew where the mistletoe grew and where -the cardinal built her nest, and he could mimic any kind of a bird or -animal. - -“But no one knew John as we did. As he grew older his manner became -gruffer and his temper shorter. People were afraid of him, and there was -some talk of making him leave the country. - -“In the winter he would go for miles and miles hunting and trapping, -for even then game was not so plentiful as it had been. One winter -Cornplanter brought a deer he had shot and dressed to Orbison’s woods -and hung it in a tree, just as his people before him had done, until he -should be ready to take it the rest of the way home. - -“That night there was a light fall of snow. The next morning some boys on -their way to school spied the deer hanging in the tree and, thinking to -tease John, they moved the deer to the very top of the tree and fastened -it there. Then they went on to school, not thinking but that the Indian -would immediately discover the deer. - -“But Cornplanter was old and his sight was poor. When he came along a -little later, he saw only that the deer was not where he had left it, -and, thinking that it had been stolen, he set out to follow the tracks -the boys had made in the snow. - -“Mr. Carson, on his way to the store, saw John stalking along, head down, -in the direction of the schoolhouse, but thought nothing of it. When he -got to the store he would not have mentioned the fact had he not found -the men there gravely shaking their heads over the joke the boys had -played on John Cornplanter. It wasn’t safe to joke with John, they said. -Bud McGill, who had helped move the deer, had gone around to the store -and told about it. So when Mr. Carson said he had seen John going in the -direction of the schoolhouse, they were all greatly disturbed. Several -men started immediately for the schoolhouse. No telling what John might -do! - -[Illustration: _Mr. Carson saw John going in the direction of the -schoolhouse_] - -“In the meantime John had arrived at the schoolhouse and opening the door -without knocking, stepped inside, closed the door, and leaned against it. -He was a forbidding figure, dressed in furs from head to foot, a gun at -his side, a dark frown on his face. He looked at the teacher. - -“‘Where deer?’ he demanded. ‘Where deer?’ - -“He thought his deer had been stolen. He had followed the tracks to the -schoolhouse and now he wanted the deer. - -“We all knew what the boys had done. We looked at each other, waiting for -some one to speak. - -“John Cornplanter waited, too, his back to the door. - -“I thought about Charlie, at home sick. If he had been there, he might -have straightened things out. I was the only other person who knew John -Cornplanter well and did not fear him. I went over to him and explained -as well as I could about the deer just being moved and not stolen, and -that the boys were only in fun and meant no harm. When I finished, it was -so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. Cornplanter did not like to -be teased. Would he think it a joke on himself that he had not seen the -deer, or would he be furious? - -“Suddenly he smiled, and the teacher with a sigh of relief announced -morning intermission. - -“A few minutes later when a group of anxious men came in sight of the -schoolhouse they stopped to listen in amazement to a series of unusual -sounds—a bull frog croaking hoarsely, an owl calling to its mate, a -cardinal singing sweetly, the long-drawn-out wail of the whip-poor-will, -the joyful note of the lark, the sharp barking of a squirrel. - -“And what they saw surprised them even more, for there was the Indian, -surrounded by children, as he mimicked for their amusement one after -another of the animals and birds he knew so well. - -“It’s bedtime now, so run along and we’ll have another story soon.” - - - - -A PRESENT FOR MOTHER - - -“Goody, goody!” sang Pink, dancing into Grandma’s room one evening, “It’s -only four weeks till Christmas.” - -“And I’m saving all my allowance for Christmas presents,” Bobby -announced. “I’m going to get Mother an umbrella—hers is slit and it has a -long handle—or a sparkly comb for her hair or some silk stockings.” - -“Why!” exclaimed Grandma in surprise. “How did a little boy ever think of -such nice, appropriate things?” - -“Oh, Mother always makes a list,” Alice explained carefully. “She puts -down all the things she’d like to have, and we pick from that. You -see, the first year we bought our own presents to give, Bobby got her -an iron-handle at the five-and-ten-cent store and she always uses an -electric iron, and I gave her a book that she already had, so after that -she made us a list. But Bobby won’t have money enough for any of the -things he named,” she said, with scorn for her brother’s idea of prices. -“I know very well he won’t.” - -“Well, you might all three go together,” Grandma suggested, “just as -brother Charlie and I did once for a present we got for our mother. Her -birthday came in November, and we wanted to give her something nice—a -real store present—so we put our money together. Of course there was -nothing at our store, but twice a year, in the spring and again in the -fall, Mr. Simon, the peddler, came straight from the city, and it was -from him that we planned to buy Mother’s present. - -“Mr. Simon was no common peddler, no, indeed. He was little and round and -fat and bald-headed—not handsome at all, but one of those people whose -looks you never think about after you know them. He always staid over -night with us, and because Father would take no money for keeping him he -left tucked away some place a little present that Mother said more than -paid his bill. - -“We all liked to see Mr. Simon come. He brought Father the latest news -from the city and told Mother and the girls about the newest fashions and -customs. I remember when he told Mother how some people were putting wire -screens over their windows to keep the flies out, and how she laughed -and said, ‘The very idea of shutting out the fresh air like that!’ - -“He would tell stories to us children and recite poetry, and when he -opened up his packs in the evening, how we all crowded around! - -“He didn’t show everything at all the houses, but he did at ours—fine -Irish linens, velvets and satins, beads and brooches and wonderful shawls. - -“It was a shawl that Charlie and I meant to buy for Mother—a soft, -creamy, silk shoulder shawl. Aunt Louisa had just such a shawl, and when -Mr. Simon was showing his things that spring we decided on that shawl the -minute we saw it. We coaxed Mother to try it on, and she threw it around -her shoulders to please us. It was so soft and lovely and the creamy tint -was so becoming to Mother that we would have bought it immediately, but, -alas! when we slipped out to count our money we didn’t have enough—not -nearly enough. - -“‘But we don’t need it till fall,’ said Charlie. ‘Let’s get Mr. Simon -to keep it for us till he comes next time, and then we’ll have enough -money.’ - -[Illustration: _Mother threw the shawl around her shoulders to please -us_] - -“When we went back to the sitting room the shawl had been put away in its -flat little box. At the first opportunity we asked Mr. Simon if he would -save it for us, and he said he would. - -“‘It won’t be too much trouble, carrying it around so long?’ I asked as -an after-thought. - -“‘Not a bit of trouble,’ he answered cheerfully. ‘’Tis no heavier than -one of your own black curls.’ - -“But the next day we forgot all about the shawl, for Mother had lost her -best brooch. It was a cameo with a carved gold border set around with -pearls. It had been Father’s wedding present to Mother, and she always -wore it even with her everyday print dresses. That brooch looked as well -on a common gown as it did on a fine silk. Mother said it was like some -people, they were so fine and wonderful that they were at home in any -company. - -“Mother missed the brooch that night when she went to take it off. She -had gone back downstairs and searched carefully all over the sitting-room -floor, but she hadn’t found it. She didn’t mention losing it until after -Mr. Simon had gone. Then we hunted all over the house and the yard and -the garden, and Charlie kept on hunting when everyone else had given up. -He climbed the trees and looked in all the bird nests around, because he -had heard that sometimes, when birds are building, they carry valuable -things to their nests. And he searched in every other unlikely place you -could think of, but he didn’t find the brooch. - -“We were very busy that summer, for besides our regular work we had to -earn enough money to pay for Mother’s shawl. I weeded in the garden -for five cents a day, and Charlie picked potato bugs, and we sold -blackberries and did all sorts of things. When it was time for Mr. Simon -to come again we had our reward, for safely hidden away under a loose -board in the attic floor, was enough money to pay for Mother’s present. - -“But by this time we had changed our minds about what we wanted to give -her—instead of the shawl we thought we would give her a brooch. We met -Mr. Simon at the gate and asked him anxiously if he had saved the shawl, -for we were afraid that maybe he wouldn’t like our not taking it in the -spring. - -“‘Indeed, I did,’ he answered. ‘I haven’t so much as opened that box -since I was here before.’ - -“Then Charlie and I told him that if he could sell the shawl to someone -else we would like to buy instead a brooch for Mother. He said he could -sell the shawl, but why buy our mother a brooch when she already had one -so much finer than anything he had to offer? We told him about Mother’s -brooch being lost, and he was awfully sorry. We selected a new brooch, -and Mother was pleased with it and fastened it into her collar right away. - -“The next morning I came into the sitting room, after seeing Mr. Simon -off, to find Father and Mother talking seriously together. - -“‘I can’t understand it,’ Father was saying. And I saw that Mother held -in one hand the cream-colored shawl that Charlie and I had meant to buy -for her. - -“‘Oh, is that what Mr. Simon left this time?’ cried Belle, coming in just -behind me. ‘Who gets it, Mother, Aggie or me? I think I ought to have -it because I am going to be married, but Aggie will say it’s her turn -because I got the lace collar last time.’ - -“But Mother did not answer, and we saw with surprise that in her other -hand she held her brooch—not her new brooch, but the one that had been -lost. - -“‘It was in the box with the shawl,’ she said quietly, and looked at -Father. How had the brooch come into Mr. Simon’s possession, they were -wondering, and why had he returned it in this mysterious way? Had he -found it the night Mother lost it and had he now repented of having kept -it? - -“‘You had the shawl around your shoulders the night you lost the brooch, -Mother,’ Belle said. ‘Maybe the brooch got fastened in it then.’ - -“‘That would be perfectly possible,’ said Father gravely, ‘but how many -times do you think Simon has showed that shawl in the last six months?’ - -“Then I found my voice. - -“‘Oh, not once, Father!’ I cried. ‘He never even opened the box since -he was here last time. He said so himself.’ And I told them how he had -been saving the shawl all that time for Charlie and me. Mother laughed -happily and said we were dear children, and Father picked up the county -paper with an air of relief. - -“Next time I think, yes, I know that next time we shall have a Christmas -story.” - - - - -A CHRISTMAS BARRING OUT - - - ’Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house - Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. - -Bobby and Alice and Pink had hung their stockings by the living-room -mantle and, though it was very, very early, they decided to go to bed. -They always wanted to go to bed early on Christmas Eve. Morning seemed to -come so much more quickly when they went to bed early. They wouldn’t even -wait for a story. They would just say good night to Grandma and go right -to bed. - -“Why!” exclaimed Grandma in surprise, when they had explained their -intentions to her, “you mustn’t go to bed so soon. You’d be awake in the -morning before daylight! Come in and visit with me a while and I’ll see -if I can’t think up a story to tell you, the same as on other nights.” - -So they went in and sat down on their stools in front of the fire. -Grandma put on her spectacles, but, instead of her knitting, she took -up her Bible. The children were very still while she read the story of -the first Christmas—how in a stable in Bethlehem the baby Christ was -born, and how an angel appeared to the shepherds, who were watching their -flocks, and told them about the Savior’s birth, and then a host of angels -came and praised God, saying, “Glory be to God on high, and on earth -peace, good will toward men,” just as we sing today on Christmas. - -“I think,” said Grandma, “that I will tell you tonight about a Christmas -treat at our school. When I was a little girl we had a custom, handed -down from pioneer times, called ‘barring out.’ A few days before -Christmas the teacher would arrive to find the schoolhouse door securely -fastened. Before he was admitted he would have to sign a paper promising -to ‘treat’ his pupils. - -“In those days we didn’t have much ‘store’ candy, and we looked forward -for weeks to the Christmas treat we got at school. You wouldn’t think -much of it today—six sticks of red and white striped candy apiece, -wintergreen and sassafras and clove and maybe one of horehound. My, -but it tasted good to us! We didn’t eat it all up at once, either. No, -indeed! - -“But one year we didn’t know whether to look for a treat or not. The -teacher, a Mr. Hazen, was from Clayville, and he had been heard to say -that he did not believe in ‘barring out’ or in being forced to treat his -pupils. Nevertheless we all came early to school one morning and locked -him out. - -“While we all cried ‘Treat! Treat!’ at the tops of our voices, William -Orbison opened the window a tiny bit and thrust out the paper they had -prepared for the teacher to sign, but he refused to touch it. - -“This was not alarming, as most all of the teachers stayed out for an -hour or two just for fun. We played games and had a good time. But by -time for morning intermission the older pupils had begun to get anxious. -Could it be possible that the teacher really did not mean to treat? At -noon he was still out, walking up and down the playground, clapping his -hands together, stamping his feet, and rubbing his ears to keep warm. -We were anxious in earnest now. The wood box was empty and the fire was -getting low. There was no water in the water bucket, and some of the -younger children were coaxing for drinks. - -“No teacher in our recollection had ever refused to treat. There was an -old rule that if the teacher persisted in refusing to treat he was to be -ducked in the nearest stream of water. We had heard of instances when -this had been done, but no one wanted to try it. The older pupils stood -around in frightened little groups, and some of the smaller children were -crying openly, when the teacher knocked loudly on the door and asked that -the paper be handed out to him. - -“But the paper had disappeared! We searched all over the room, but it -was nowhere to be found. Again the teacher knocked and asked rather -impatiently for the paper. - -“Then William Orbison sat down at his desk and hurriedly prepared another -paper and handed it out the window to the teacher. He looked at it in a -puzzled way for a little bit, smiled a queer smile, and without a word -signed the paper and handed it back to William. Then he was admitted and -took up books, but all afternoon he kept smiling to himself as if he knew -a joke on some one. We felt uneasy, though we didn’t know why. - -“After school that evening my brother Truman asked William Orbison to -let him see the paper the teacher had signed. When he read it, he gave -a long whistle of astonishment. And what do you think William had done? -In the fuss and excitement of writing out the second paper he had omitted -the word ‘treat.’ The teacher had promised nothing! That explained his -smiles. We were a disappointed lot of children, I can tell you. - -[Illustration: _The teacher looked at the paper in a puzzled way_] - -“We shouldn’t have any Christmas treat, for after the way the teacher had -talked about treating, no one thought he would treat if he could help it, -and here was a way out for him. The next day we were perfectly sure he -did not intend to treat, for when William Orbison left out a word in his -reading lesson the teacher said, ‘Watch yourself, William. Leaving out -words is getting to be quite a habit with you.’ - -“Other years we could hardly wait till the day before Christmas. We wore -our best clothes, and right after dinner we would speak pieces, have -spelling and ciphering matches, sing songs, have our treat, and play -games the rest of the afternoon. Lots of the older brothers and sisters -would come to visit, and they would play with us and the teacher would -play, too, and we would have lots of fun. - -“But this year I should rather have stayed at home and watched the -Christmas preparations at our house, for there wouldn’t be much fun at -school without any treat. - -“It was a cold, windy morning, and Father took us to school in the sled. -We had lessons in the morning as usual, and in the afternoon recitations -and songs and a little play that the teacher had helped us get up. Truman -gave ‘Hamlet’s Soliloquy,’ and did it very well, too. And Charlie had a -piece, but he forgot all but the first verse. We were so interested that -we didn’t think about the treat, and you can imagine how surprised we -were when the teacher, instead of dismissing us, said that we would now -have an unexpected but very welcome visitor. The door opened, and in came -old Santa Claus with a white beard and a red coat and on his back the -biggest bag! You should have seen our eyes pop! Of course it wasn’t the -really, truly Santa Claus who comes in the night and fills the stockings. -Oh, no, this was just a pretend Santa. - -“He put his bag down on the teacher’s platform, and after he had made a -little speech he opened it up. - -“And what do you suppose was in that bag? Candy! Cream candy and -chocolate drops and clear candy, red and yellow, shaped like animals and -horns and baskets, such candy as we had never seen before. A sack for -each pupil. - -“As we went up, one by one, the smallest first, to get our treat, Santa -asked each one of us to recite something for him. The smaller children -knew verses out of their readers, and some of us recited the pieces we -had said earlier in the afternoon. But how we all laughed when Longford -Henlen, who was the tallest boy in school, couldn’t think of anything to -say but, - - “I had a little dog, his name was Jack, - Put him in the barn, he jumped through a crack. - -“And now to bed, to bed, and go right to sleep. I’ve heard that if Santa -Claus comes and finds children awake he goes away and comes back later. -That is, he means to come back later, but he has been known to get so -busy he forgot to come back at all. So say your prayers and go to sleep.” - - - - -A VOCABULARY - - -(This vocabulary contains only words of unusual difficulty in spelling, -pronunciation, and meaning.) - -Transcriber’s Note: To make the most of this pronunciation guide, you’ll -need a font that supports the characters used to indicate the different -sounds. U+1DF5 COMBINING UP TACK ABOVE (᷵) is probably the least commonly -supported character: if you can’t see this, find and install a font that -can display it, and you should be covered for everything else as well. - - -KEY TO PRONUNCIATION - - ā _as in_ āle - a᷵ _as in_ senʹa᷵te - ă _as in_ ăm - ă _as in_ fiʹnăl - ȧ _as in_ ȧsk - ä _as in_ ärm - â _as in_ câre - ē _as in_ ēve - e᷵ _as in_ e᷵vent - ĕ _as in_ ĕnd - ẽ _as in_ hẽr - ī _as in_ īce - ĭ _as in_ ĭll - ō _as in_ ōld - o᷵ _as in_ o᷵bey - ô _as in_ ôrb - ŏ _as in_ ŏdd - ŏ _as in_ cŏn-nectʹ - o͞o _as in_ fo͞od - o͝o _as in_ fo͝ot - ū _as in_ ūse - ŭ _as in_ ŭp - u᷵ _as in_ u᷵nite - û _as in_ ûrn - -_alpaca_ (ăl păkʹ_ȧ_). A kind of cloth made from the hair of the alpaca, -an animal of the sheep family. - -_arbutus_ (ärʹbū tŭs). A plant having small, sweet-smelling pink and -white blossoms; known also as the Mayflower, and ground laurel. - -_ascension_ (_ă_ sĕnʹsh_ŭ_n). Rising in the air, as a balloon. - -_auction_ (ôkʹsh_ŭ_n). A public sale, where each article is sold to the -one offering the most money for it. - -_barricaded_ (bărʹĭ kādʹĕd). Filled with materials making it difficult -for one to pass. - -_beaux_ (bōz). Men paying special attention to certain young women. - -_Bethlehem_ (bĕthʹle᷵ hĕm). The village where Christ was born. - -_brooch_ (brōch). An ornamental clasp; a breastpin. - -_calico_ (kălʹĭ kō). A kind of cotton cloth. - -_cameo_ (kămʹe᷵ ō). A gem containing a carving, usually in the shape of a -head. - -_Canterbury_ (kănʹtẽr bĕr ĭ) _bell_. A plant having lovely bell-shaped -blossoms. - -_carcasses_ (kärʹk_ȧ_s ĕz). Dear bodies. - -_cardinal_ (kārʹdĭ n_ă_l). A small red bird. - -_cashmere_ (kăshʹmēr). A cloth made of fine woolen material. - -_chiffonier_ (shĭfʹo᷵ nērʹ). A high chest of drawers, with mirror. - -_ciphering_ (sīʹfẽr ĭng). Doing arithmetic examples. - -_circuit_ (sûrʹkĭt). When a minister was pastor of several churches at -the same time, the circuit was his regular journeying around the whole -number. - -_code_ (kōd). A system of rules governing one’s own conduct. - -_colony_ (kŏlʹo᷵ nĭ). A company of people going to a new place to make -their home. - -_conference_ (kŏnʹfẽr _ĕ_ns). A meeting for the purpose of deciding some -question. - -_conspicuous_ (k_ŏ_n spĭkʹū _ŭ_s). In plain sight. - -_Copenhagen_ (kōʹp_ĕ_n hāʹg_ĕ_n). A children’s game. - -_cravat_ (kr_ȧ_ vătʹ). A man’s necktie. - -_cretonne_ (kre᷵ tŏnʹ). A strong cotton cloth, prettily colored. - -_crocheted_ (kro᷵ shādʹ). Made out of thread woven together by means of a -hook. - -_dahlia_ (dälʹy_ȧ_). A plant with showy blossoms. - -_delaine_ (de᷵ lānʹ). A kind of light woolen cloth. - -_Delaware_ (dĕlʹ_ȧ_ wâr). Name of an early tribe of Indians; name of a -state of the United States. - -_dolman_ (dŏlʹm_ă_n). A woman’s cloak with cape-like pieces instead of -sleeves. - -_Dominique_ (dŏmʹĭ nēkʹ). A variety of fowl something like the Plymouth -Rock. - -_Egypt_ (ēʹjĭpt). A country in Africa. - -_election_ (e᷵ lĕkʹsh_ŭ_n). The choosing of one to hold some public -office. - -_embarrassed_ (ĕm bărʹr_ă_st). Ashamed; mortified. - -_epidemic_ (ĕpʹĭ dĕmʹĭk). Spreading to many people in a community, as a -disease. - -_fluting_ (flo͞otʹĭng). Ruffles so made as to have a wavy appearance. - -_furlough_ (fûrʹlō). A soldier’s vacation from the army. - -_gnarled_ (närld). Twisted or rugged. - -_gnawed_ (nôd). Bitten apart, little by little with effort. - -_gospel_ (gŏsʹp_ĕ_l). The story of the life of Christ. - -_husking_ (hŭskʹĭng). Taking the husks from ears of corn. - -_immersion_ (ĭ mûrʹsh_ŭ_n). Baptism by dipping the person into the water -all over. - -_infare_ (ĭnʹfâr). A party given by the husband’s family as a welcome to -the new wife. - -_institute_ (ĭnʹstĭ tūt). A meeting of school teachers. - -_Israel_ (ĭzʹra᷵ ĕl). Ancient kingdom of Palestine, the scene of the -stories of the Bible. - -_larvae_ (lärʹvē). The tiny worms hatched from insect eggs. - -_leghorn_ (lĕgʹhôrn). A variety of fowl that gets its name from Leghorn, -a city in Italy. - -_loam_ (lōm). Clayey earth or soil. - -_lozenge_ (lŏzʹĕnj). A kind of candy. - -_mahogany_ (m_ȧ_ hŏgʹ_ȧ_ nĭ). A tree having a reddish brown wood. - -_mature_ (m_ȧ_ tūrʹ). To become ripe. - -_mincemeat_ (mĭnsʹmētʹ). A mixture of meat, apples, raisins, etc., to be -used as a pie filling. - -_mistletoe_ (mĭsʹ ʹl tō). A vine having waxy white berries. - -_muskrat_ (mŭskʹrătʹ). A small fur-bearing animal living in holes in the -banks of streams or lakes. - -_myriads_ (mĭrʹĭ _ă_dz). Large numbers. - -_parsonage_ (pär ʹs’na᷵j). The house occupied by the minister of a church. - -_persimmon_ (pẽr sĭmʹ_ŭ_n). A plum-like fruit. - -_Pharaoh_ (fāʹrō). The name of the kings of Egypt in the long-ago time. - -_pioneer_ (pīʹo᷵ nērʹ). One who goes first to make a home in an unsettled -country. - -_pippin_ (pĭpʹĭn). A general name for apple. Here means “something extra -good.” - -_pithy_ (pĭthʹĭ). Soft and spongy. - -_plagues_ (plāgz). Great troubles. - -_plaid_ (plăd). Woven in the form of squares. - -_Plymouth_ (plĭmʹ_ŭ_th). The town settled by the Pilgrims. - -_portico_ (pōrʹtĭ kō). A porch or piazza. - -_preserve_ (pre᷵ zûrvʹ). To make to last. - -_proclamation_ (prŏkʹl_ȧ_ māʹsh_ŭ_n). A public announcement. - -_Psalm_ (säm). One of the verses from the Book of Psalms in the Bible. - -_quilting_ (kwĭltʹĭng). A meeting of women for the purpose of making a -bedquilt. - -_recollection_ (rĕkʹ_ŏ_ lĕkʹsh_ŭ_n). That which is called to mind; a -memory. - -_recommendation_ (rĕkʹ_ŏ_ mĕn dāʹsh_ŭ_n). Expression in favor of -something. - -_recruiting_ (re᷵ kro͞otʹĭng). Persuading new men to join the army or -navy. - -_recruits_ (re᷵ kro͞otzʹ). Men who had recently joined the army or navy. - -_reveille_ (re᷵ vālʹya᷵). The bugle call awakening the soldiers in the -morning. - -_Reverend_ (rĕvʹẽr _ĕ_nd). A clergyman’s title; one who is to be honored. - -_ruching_ (ro͞oshʹĭng). A plaited strip of lace or net. - -_sassafras_ (săsʹ_ȧ_ frăs). A kind of tree, from the root bark of which a -flavoring extract is made. - -_Savior_ (sāvʹyẽr). Christ. - -_scarred_ (skārd). Having the marks of old cuts. - -_serenade_ (sĕrʹe᷵ nādʹ). Singing or playing outside a house as a -greeting to one or more within the house. - -_shirred_ (shûrd). Sewed in such a way as to make the material hang full -and loose. - -_soliloquy_ (so᷵ lĭlʹo᷵ kwĭ). A talking to oneself. - -_sorghum_ (sôrʹgŭm). A sirup made from a variety of corn plant. - -_stealth_ (stĕlth). In secret. - -_suet_ (sūʹĕt). A hard fat. - -_superstitious_ (sūʹpẽr stĭsh_ŭ_s). Having fear of what is unknown; -believing in signs. - -_symbol_ (sĭmʹb_ŏ_l). A sign. - -_telescope_ (tĕlʹe᷵ skōp). A kind of traveling bag. - -_Timotheus_ (tĭ mōʹthe᷵ ŭs). A man spoken of in the Bible. - -_tithes_ (tīthz). Tenths. What one gives toward the support of a church. - -_unsurveyed_ (ŭnʹs_ŭ_r vādʹ). Not measured. - -_vouchers_ (vouchʹẽrz). Papers showing money is due one. - -_wagered_ (wāʹjẽrd). Bet. - -_waistcoat_ (wāstʹkōt). A man’s garment worn under the coat; a vest. - -_whinny_ (hwĭnʹĭ). The sound made by a horse; a neighing. - -_worsted_ (wo͝osʹtĕd). A cloth made of soft woolen yarn. - -_wrenched_ (rĕncht). Twisted or pulled off by force. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EARLY CANDLELIGHT STORIES *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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Shetter. - </title> - - <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover" /> - - <style> /* <![CDATA[ */ - -a { - text-decoration: none; -} - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - -h1,h2,h3 { - text-align: center; - clear: both; -} - -h2.nobreak { - page-break-before: avoid; -} - -hr.chap { - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - clear: both; - width: 65%; - margin-left: 17.5%; - margin-right: 17.5%; -} - -div.chapter { - page-break-before: always; -} - -ul { - list-style-type: none; - text-align: left; -} - -li { - margin-top: .5em; - padding-left: 2em; - text-indent: -2em; -} - -p { - margin-top: 0.5em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: 0.5em; - text-indent: 1em; -} - -table { - margin: 1em auto 1em auto; - max-width: 40em; - border-collapse: collapse; -} - -td { - padding-left: 0.25em; - padding-right: 0.25em; - vertical-align: top; -} - -.tdpg { - vertical-align: bottom; - text-align: right; -} - -.caption { - text-align: center; - margin-bottom: 1em; - font-size: 90%; - text-indent: 0em; -} - -.center { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em; -} - -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -div.hanging p { - padding-left: 2em; - text-indent: -2em; -} - -.larger { - font-size: 150%; -} - -.pagenum { - position: absolute; - right: 4%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; - font-style: normal; -} - -.poetry-container { - text-align: center; - margin: 1em; -} - -.poetry { - display: inline-block; - text-align: left; -} - -.poetry .stanza { - margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em; -} - -.poetry .verse { - padding-left: 3em; -} - -.poetry .indent0 { - text-indent: -3em; -} - -.smaller { - font-size: 80%; -} - -.smcap { - font-variant: small-caps; - font-style: normal; -} - -.spacer { - margin-left: 10em; -} - -.titlepage { - text-align: center; - margin-top: 3em; - text-indent: 0em; -} - -.transnote { - background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - text-align: center; - font-size: smaller; - padding: 0.5em; -} - -.x-ebookmaker img { - max-width: 100%; - width: auto; - height: auto; -} - -.x-ebookmaker .poetry { - display: block; - margin-left: 1.5em; -} - - /* ]]> */ </style> - </head> -<body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Early candlelight stories, by Stella C. Shetter</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Early candlelight stories</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Stella C. Shetter</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Illustrator: Dorothy Lake Gregory</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: May 22, 2022 [eBook #68151]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EARLY CANDLELIGHT STORIES ***</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_1"></a>[1]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 475px;"> -<img src="images/illus1.jpg" width="475" height="700" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>Bobby and Alice and Pink drew their stools closer and waited -eagerly for Grandma to begin</i></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_2"></a>[2]</span></p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_3"></a>[3]</span></p> - -<p class="titlepage larger">EARLY CANDLELIGHT<br /> -STORIES</p> - -<p class="titlepage"><span class="smaller"><i>By</i></span><br /> -STELLA C. SHETTER</p> - -<p class="titlepage"><span class="smaller"><i>Illustrated by</i></span><br /> -DOROTHY LAKE GREGORY</p> - -<div class="figcenter titlepage" style="width: 225px;"> -<img src="images/titlepage.jpg" width="225" height="300" alt="" /> -</div> - -<p class="titlepage">RAND McNALLY & COMPANY<br /> -<span class="smaller">CHICAGO <span class="spacer">NEW YORK</span></span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_4"></a>[4]</span></p> - -<p class="titlepage smaller"><i>Copyright, 1922, by</i><br /> -<span class="smcap">Rand McNally & Company</span></p> - -<p class="center smaller"><i>Copyright, 1924, by</i><br /> -<span class="smcap">Rand McNally & Company</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter titlepage" style="width: 150px;"> -<img src="images/rand-mcnally.jpg" width="150" height="140" alt="" /> -</div> - -<p class="center smaller">Made in U.S.A.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_5"></a>[5]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak">THE CONTENTS</h2> - -</div> - -<table> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td class="tdpg smaller">PAGE</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Grandma Arrives</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#GRANDMA_ARRIVES">9</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>A Whistling Girl</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#A_WHISTLING_GIRL">16</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Chased by Wolves</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHASED_BY_WOLVES">23</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Yellow Gown</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#THE_YELLOW_GOWN">30</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>A War Story</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#A_WAR_STORY">37</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Easter</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#EASTER">45</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>At a Sugar Camp</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#AT_A_SUGAR_CAMP">52</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The New Church Organ</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#THE_NEW_CHURCH_ORGAN">60</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>School Days</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#SCHOOL_DAYS">68</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>A Birthday Party</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#A_BIRTHDAY_PARTY">76</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Locusts</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#THE_LOCUSTS">83</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Fourth of July</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#ONE_FOURTH_OF_JULY">92</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Bee Tree</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#THE_BEE_TREE">99</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Brain Against Brawn</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#BRAIN_AGAINST_BRAWN">106</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>A Wish That Came True</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#A_WISH_THAT_CAME_TRUE">114</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Joe’s Infare</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#JOES_INFARE">122</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Pumpkin Seed</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#PUMPKIN_SEED">130</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>A School for Sister Belle</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#A_SCHOOL_FOR_SISTER_BELLE">138</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Andy’s Monument</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#ANDYS_MONUMENT">146</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Memory Verses</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#MEMORY_VERSES">155</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Courting of Polly Ann</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#THE_COURTING_OF_POLLY_ANN">163</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Earning a Violin</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#EARNING_A_VIOLIN">171</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>At the Fair</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#AT_THE_FAIR">179</a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6"></a>[6]</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Hallowe’en</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#HALLOWEEN">187</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Measles</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#MEASLES">195</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Something to be Thankful for</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#SOMETHING_TO_BE_THANKFUL_FOR">203</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Taking a Dare</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#TAKING_A_DARE">210</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Dogs</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#DOGS">218</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Last Indian</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#THE_LAST_INDIAN">226</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>A Present for Mother</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#A_PRESENT_FOR_MOTHER">234</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>A Christmas Barring Out</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#A_CHRISTMAS_BARRING_OUT">243</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><i>A Vocabulary</i></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#A_VOCABULARY">251</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7"></a>[7]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> -<img src="images/verso.jpg" width="300" height="300" alt="" /> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8"></a>[8]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 475px;"> -<img src="images/illus2.jpg" width="475" height="700" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>Grandma’s Room ready for the housewarming</i></p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9"></a>[9]</span></p> - -<h1>EARLY CANDLELIGHT STORIES</h1> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="GRANDMA_ARRIVES">GRANDMA ARRIVES</h2> - -</div> - -<p>Grandma had come to spend the winter, -and Bobby and Alice and Pink were watching -her fix up her room. It was the guest room, -and the children had always thought it a -beautiful room, with its soft blue rug, wicker -chairs, and pretty cretonne draperies. But -Grandma had had all the furniture taken out, -and the rug, carefully rolled up and wrapped -in thick paper to keep the moths out, had -been carried to the attic.</p> - -<p>Then Grandma—but Mother called Bobby -and Alice and Pink to come and get their -wraps and go out to play a while.</p> - -<p>Grandma, seeing them edge reluctantly -toward the head of the stairs, said cheerfully, -as she bustled about unpacking the great box -that held her “things,” “Never mind, dears. -Run out and play now, and tonight we’ll -have a regular housewarming. Come to my<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10"></a>[10]</span> -room at seven o’clock and we will have a -little party.”</p> - -<p>Just as the clock in the hall downstairs -struck the first stroke of seven, Alice rapped -loudly on Grandma’s door.</p> - -<p>Grandma opened the door immediately and -the children stepped in—then stared in astonishment. -They had never seen a room like -this before. In place of the blue rug was a -gayly colored rag carpet. The bed, to which -had been added a feather tick, was twice as -high as any they had ever seen. It was covered -with a handmade coverlet of blue and -white. Patchwork cushions were on the -chairs, and crocheted covers on bureau and -chiffonier. The windows were filled with -blooming geraniums, and in one window hung -a canary in a gilt cage. On a round braided -rug before the fire lay a gray cat, asleep. By -a low rocker stood a little table that held a -work basket running over with bright-colored -patches, bits of lace, balls of scarlet yarn, -knitting needles, pieces of velvet, silk, and -wool. On the chiffonier stood a basket filled -with big, red apples, polished till they shone, -and beside the apples was a plate covered with -a napkin.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11"></a>[11]</span></p> - -<p>“Well, well,” said Grandma, “here you are, -every one of you! Just on time, too. Come -right in and see my house and meet my family. -This is Betsy.” She touched the cat gently -and Betsy lifted her head and started to purr. -“I raised her from a kitten and brought her -here in a basket all the way on the train. One -conductor wouldn’t let me keep her in the -coach with me, so I went out and rode in the -baggage car with Betsy.”</p> - -<p>“Did you bring the bird, too?” asked Pink, -smoothing Betsy’s fur.</p> - -<p>“No, I just got the bird a little while ago. -He hasn’t even a name yet. I thought maybe -I’d call him Dicky. That’s a nice name for -a bird, don’t you think so? My baby sent -me the bird and the flowers, too. Aren’t -they lovely?”</p> - -<p>“Have you a baby, Grandma?” asked -Alice, looking around the room wonderingly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I have a baby, but he isn’t little -any more. Still he is my baby all the same, -the youngest of my ten children. Wasn’t it -thoughtful of him to send me the bird and the -flowers?”</p> - -<p>Alice and Bobby and Pink looked at one -another. They knew their daddy had sent<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12"></a>[12]</span> -the flowers, for they had heard Grandma -thank him for them. The idea of their big, -broad-shouldered daddy being anyone’s baby -seemed funny to them, and they giggled.</p> - -<p>“Say, Grandma, he’s some baby, all right,” -Bobby remarked.</p> - -<p>“You can’t rock him to sleep the way I do -my baby,” observed Pink.</p> - -<p>“Not now, but I used to,” said Grandma. -Then she brought three stools from the corner—low, -round stools covered with carpet. -“You children sit on these stools and I’ll sit -in this chair and we’ll spend the evening getting -acquainted. You must tell me all about -yourselves.”</p> - -<p>The children told Grandma about their -school and their playmates, their dog and -their playhouse, about how they went camping -in summer time and what they did on -Christmas and Easter, and about the flying -machine that flew over the town on the -Fourth of July, and about the Sunday school -picnic. When they finally stopped, breathless, -Grandma looked so impressed that -Bobby said pityingly, “You didn’t have so -many things to do when you were little, did -you, Grandma?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13"></a>[13]</span></p> - -<p>“Well, now, I don’t know about that,” -Grandma answered slowly. “We didn’t have -the same things to do, but we had good times, -too.”</p> - -<p>“Tell us about them,” Alice begged.</p> - -<p>“When I was a little girl,” Grandma began, -“I lived in the country on a large farm. All -around our house were fields and woods. -You might think I would have been lonely, -but I never was. You see, I had always lived -there. Then I had six older brothers and -sisters, and one brother, Charlie, was just -two years older than I was. And there were -so many things to do! The horses to ride to -water and the cows to bring from the pasture -field. On cool mornings Charlie and I would -stand on the spots where the cows had lain -all night, to get our feet warm before starting -back home. I had a pet lamb that followed -me wherever I went, and we had a dog—old -Duke. He helped us get the cows and kept -the chickens out of the yard and barked when -a stranger came in sight. And when the -dinner bell by the kitchen door rang, how he -did howl!</p> - -<p>“And the cats! You never saw such cats, -they were so fat and round and sleek. No<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14"></a>[14]</span> -wonder, for they had milk twice a day out of -a hollow rock that stood by the barnyard gate.</p> - -<p>“And birds were everywhere. Near the -well, high in the air, fastened to a long pole, -was a bird house. Truman and Joe had made -it, and it was just like a little house, with tiny -windows and doors and a wee bit of a porch -where the birds would sit to sun themselves.</p> - -<p>“Then there were the chickens to look after, -often a hundred baby chicks to feed and -put in their coops at night. And in the spring -what fun we had hunting turkey hens’ nests! -In February we tapped the sugar trees and -boiled down the sap into maple sugar and -sirup. We had Easter egg hunts and school -Christmas treats, and in the fall we gathered -in the nuts for winter—chestnuts, hickory -nuts, walnuts.”</p> - -<p>Grandma paused a moment and glanced at -the clock on the mantel.</p> - -<p>“Dear me,” she exclaimed in surprise, “see -what time it is! We must have our refreshments -right away. Bobby, will you pass the -apples? And, Alice, under the napkin are -some ginger cookies that I brought with me. -You may pass them, please, and Pink and I -will be the company.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15"></a>[15]</span></p> - -<p>“These apples,” went on Grandma, helping -herself to one, “are out of my orchard. I sent -two barrels of them to your daddy, and every -night before we go to bed we will each eat one. -‘An apple a day,’ you know, ‘keeps the doctor -away.’”</p> - -<p>When they had finished and were saying -good night, Bobby said, “Lots of things did -happen when you were a little girl, Grandma. -I wish you’d tell us more.”</p> - -<p>“Not tonight,” said Grandma, “It’s bedtime -now, but come back some other night. -If you still want me to tell you more about -when I was a little girl, tap on my door three -times, like this, but if you only come to call, -tap once, like this.”</p> - -<p>Next time we’ll see how often they tapped -on Grandma’s door. Can you guess?</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16"></a>[16]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_WHISTLING_GIRL">A WHISTLING GIRL</h2> - -</div> - -<p>The next evening as Grandma sat before -the fire knitting on a red mitten, she was -startled by three sharp knocks on her door.</p> - -<p>“Why, good evening,” she said, when she -had opened the door to admit Bobby and -Alice and Pink. “Here you are wanting a -story, and I haven’t thought of a thing to -tell you. Now you tell me what happened at -school today, and by that time I shall have -thought of something to tell you.”</p> - -<p>So Alice told Grandma about chapel that -morning. She told her about the recitations -and songs by the children and of a lady who -had whistled “The Star-Spangled Banner” -and “America.”</p> - -<p>“Well, well, wasn’t that nice!” Grandma -said. “I should have liked to hear that. -I always admired to hear any one whistle. I -believe I’ll tell you tonight about the time I -whistled in meeting.”</p> - -<p>The children drew their stools a little closer, -and Grandma began:</p> - -<p>“When I was a little girl, I wanted more -than anything else to be able to whistle. I<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17"></a>[17]</span> -kept this ambition to myself because it wasn’t -considered ladylike for girls to whistle. My -mother often said,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“A whistling girl and a crowing hen</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Always come to some bad end.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>“So I never told anyone, not even my -brother Charlie, that I wanted to whistle. -But when I hunted turkey hens’ nests, or went -after the cows, or picked berries, I had my -lips pursed all the time trying to whistle as -my brothers did. But, though I tried and -tried, I never succeeded in making a sound.</p> - -<p>“One Sunday in meeting I got awfully -tired. To a little girl the sermons were very -long and tiresome in those days. For a while -I sat still and quiet, watching Preacher Hill’s -beard jerk up and down as he talked and looking -at the queer shadows his long coat tails -made on the wall. But it was warm and close -in the church, and after a while I grew drowsy.</p> - -<p>“‘Oh, dear!’ I thought to myself, ‘I -mustn’t go to sleep. I must keep awake -somehow.’ Then I thought about whistling. -I would practice whistling to myself—under -my breath.</p> - -<p>“The seats were high-backed and we sat -far to the front. I could not see any one<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18"></a>[18]</span> -except the preacher and John Strang, who -kept company with sister Belle. John sat -in a chair at the end of the choir facing the -congregation, and several times I noticed him -looking curiously at me as if he wondered -what I was doing. I would draw in my -breath very slowly and then let it out again. -Of course I never dreamed of making a sound, -and no one could have been more surprised -than I was when there came from my lips a -loud clear whistle as sweet as a bird note.</p> - -<p>“The preacher stopped talking. Mother -looked embarrassed. Father’s face turned -red with mortification. Sister Belle put her -handkerchief up to her face, and Charlie sat -up as straight and stiff as if he had swallowed -a ramrod.</p> - -<p>“As for me, I wished I could sink through -the floor and disappear. I thought everybody -was looking right at me. I was sorry -and I was frightened, too. What would -Father and Mother say to me?</p> - -<p>“When preaching was over, all of us except -Mother went right out to the sled and -wrapped up in comforts and robes for the cold -ride home. Mother stayed behind to visit -and invite people home to dinner just as she<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19"></a>[19]</span> -always did. I was glad when we started. It -was a dreary ride. Father drove, and he sat -so stern and silent that no one dared to speak.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/illus3.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">“<i>I drew in my breath very slowly and then let it out again</i>”</p> -</div> - -<p>“I hurried right upstairs to change my -dress as I always did. Then, because I was so -miserable, I threw myself across my bed and -cried. I had disgraced Father and Mother. -Nothing that they could do would be bad -enough for me. I was aroused by sister Belle’s -voice. She was complaining to sister Aggie, -who had stayed at home to get dinner.</p> - -<p>“‘I don’t see why Charlie can’t behave -himself once in a while. Now our whole day<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20"></a>[20]</span> -is spoiled, and I had asked John and Isabel -for dinner, too. You know how sad it always -makes Father if he has to punish one of the -boys, and the worst of it is that Charlie denies -doing it. I could shake Charlie good myself. -You can’t believe, Aggie, how everyone looked -at us. I was that ashamed!’</p> - -<p>“Charlie being accused in place of me! -This was something that I had never dreamed -of. I jumped up and rushed past the two -girls downstairs, through the empty sitting -room into the kitchen, where Mother stood -looking out a window, still in her gray silk -dress. I caught her hand.</p> - -<p>“‘Charlie didn’t do it, Mother,’ I said. -‘I did it.’</p> - -<p>“‘Oh, Sarah, you cannot whistle, dear,’ -said Mother reproachfully. She drew me to -her and smoothed my hair and tried to comfort -me, but I broke away from her and ran -into the kitchen chamber where Father sat -talking to Charlie. Father looked stern and -Charlie sulky and cross, and no wonder, poor -boy, for he was guilty of enough things without -being accused of something he did not do.</p> - -<p>“‘Father!’ I cried wildly. ‘Charlie did -not whistle in meeting. I did it.’</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21"></a>[21]</span></p> - -<p>“Mother and the girls had followed me, and -they all, even Charlie, stared at me in amazement. -It was plain they did not believe -me. They thought I was trying to shield -Charlie.</p> - -<p>“‘I did whistle,’ I said, crying. ‘I can -whistle. I tell you I can whistle.’</p> - -<p>“‘Then whistle,’ said Father sternly.</p> - -<p>“And how I did try to whistle! I puffed -my cheeks and twisted and turned my mouth -and blew and blew, but I couldn’t make a -sound, not a single sound.</p> - -<p>“Father looked so hurt and sorry that I -longed to throw myself into his arms and make -him believe me. You see, it looked to Father -as if Charlie and I were both telling stories. -Father said we were only making things worse -and ordered us all out of the room.</p> - -<p>“In the sitting room we found Truman and -Joe, who had been tending the horses, and -John and Isabel Strang, who had come -around past their house to let their family -out of the sled before coming on to our house -for dinner.</p> - -<p>“The minute I saw John I drew Mother’s -head down and whispered to her, ‘Ask John. -He knows, he saw me do it;’ and Mother in a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22"></a>[22]</span> -hesitating way said, ‘John, do you know who -whistled in meeting this morning?’</p> - -<p>“John turned as red as our old turkey -gobbler and looked at me.</p> - -<p>“‘Why, I feel pretty sure,’ he said, ‘but -I’d hate to say.’</p> - -<p>“‘Oh, never mind that!’ I burst out. -‘I’ve told, and they won’t believe I can -whistle. They think it was Charlie.’</p> - -<p>“Then, of course, John told all he knew. -He had been watching me all the time, as I -had thought, and was looking right at me when -I whistled. Father was called in, and you -may be sure he was glad to find that both his -children had been telling the truth.</p> - -<p>“‘It’s all right, Sarah,’ he said, ‘if you -didn’t mean to.’ But Mother made me -promise not to try to whistle any more.</p> - -<p>“Well, I declare! I finished just on time. -Mother’s calling you to bed. Here, don’t -forget your ‘apple a day.’ Now run along -like good children, and some other time I’ll -tell you another story.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23"></a>[23]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHASED_BY_WOLVES">CHASED BY WOLVES</h2> - -</div> - -<p>“Seems to me you kiddies go to bed earlier -than you used to,” their father remarked -one evening when Bobby and Alice and -Pink interrupted his reading to kiss him -good night.</p> - -<p>“We don’t go to bed,” Pink explained. -“We go to Grandma’s room. She tells us a -story every night.”</p> - -<p>“Why, of course, I remember now. Isn’t -that fine, though? A story every night! Did -she ever tell you a wolf story? Grandma -knows a pippin of a wolf story. She used -to tell it to me when I was a little boy. Ask -her to tell you about the time she was chased -by wolves.”</p> - -<p>And a few minutes later Grandma began -the story.</p> - -<p>“It was in the spring. Father was making -garden, and he broke the hoe handle. All -the boys were away from home helping a -neighbor, so Father wanted Aggie or Belle -to take the hoe to have a handle put in at the -blacksmith shop at Nebo Cross Roads a mile -away. But the girls were getting ready to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24"></a>[24]</span> -go to a quilting, and I begged to be allowed -to take the hoe to the blacksmith shop.</p> - -<p>“Mother was afraid at first, but Father -said there was nothing to hurt me, and Mother -finally gave in. So right after dinner, carrying -the hoe and a poke of cookies to eat if I -got hungry, I started out.</p> - -<p>“I was to leave the hoe at the shop and go -on down the road to Strangs’ to wait till the -hoe was mended. I can remember yet how -important I felt going off alone like that. I -picked wild flowers and munched cookies and -sang all the songs I knew.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Carson, the blacksmith, said it would -be a couple of hours before the hoe would be -ready, and I went down to Strangs’ to wait. -But when I got there I found the house all -locked up and no one at home. I sat down on -the steps to wait for some one to come, but the -heat and the quiet made me sleepy so I got -up and moved around the yard. I was lonely -there by myself. I walked around looking at -the flowers and the garden and the chickens and -played a while with a kitten I found sleeping -in the sun. I thought that afternoon would -never end. Surely I had been there two hours. -I started for the blacksmith shop. Maybe it<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25"></a>[25]</span> -would be closed. I ran all the way. Mr. Carson -looked surprised when I asked for the hoe.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/illus4.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>I played a while with a kitten</i></p> -</div> - -<p>“‘Why, it’s only been a half-hour since -you went away,’ he said.</p> - -<p>“I went back to Strangs’, and this time I -was determined to wait a long time. After a -while Isabel Strang came home. She had -been at the quilting, but all the rest of the -family had gone away to stay several days. -Isabel was going to our house to spend the -night if she got through the evening’s work in -time. She had come past our house, and -Mother had told her to keep me all night<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26"></a>[26]</span> -with her for company if she could not get -back before dark and to send me home early -in the morning.</p> - -<p>“Isabel hurried, and while she milked the -cows and fed the pigs and chickens and got -supper I went after the hoe.</p> - -<p>“It was growing late when we were ready to -start home, but Isabel said we could make it -before dark.</p> - -<p>“We followed the road half a mile and then -took a short cut through the woods up Sugar -Creek. We had come out of the woods and -were halfway across a big pasture field when -from behind us we heard a sound that made -us stop in terror. We listened. It came -again. It was the cry of a wolf! I had often -heard a wolf howl, but I had always been safe -at home, and even then it had scared me.</p> - -<p>“Again and again came the long drawn-out -howl from the woods we had just left.</p> - -<p>“Isabel took my hand and we ran as fast -as we could toward the little creek that ran -through the field. It had been years and -years since a pack of wolves had been seen in -our neighborhood, but before we reached the -foot-log another howl and another and another -had been added to the first.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27"></a>[27]</span></p> - -<p>“Looking back over my shoulder as I ran, -I saw a skulking form come out of the woods -and start across the field. Isabel saw it, too.</p> - -<p>“‘We’ll have to stop, Sarah,’ she said. -‘We’ll have to climb a tree.’</p> - -<p>“There was a slender young hickory a little -this side of the run. Isabel lifted me as high -as she could and I caught a branch and pulled -myself up into the tree. I turned to help -Isabel when, to my horror, I saw that she -could never make it. A whole pack of wolves -loping across the field were almost upon her.</p> - -<p>“Catching up the hoe, Isabel ran for the -foot-log. She had barely reached the middle -of it when the wolves halted at the creek bank. -A few of them had stopped at my tree and -were howling up at me. If all had stopped, it -would have given Isabel a chance to get into -one of the trees on the other side of the creek.</p> - -<p>“But she couldn’t do it now. She walked -back and forth on the log, brandishing the hoe -in the cruel eyes of the wolves. The wolves -that had stopped under my tree soon joined -their friends on the bank, and Isabel called -out to me, ‘Do not make any noise, Sarah, -and they will forget you are there.’ I remembered -hearing my father tell about some<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28"></a>[28]</span> -wolves that had gnawed a young tree in two, -and I clung there in fear and trembling.</p> - -<p>“Isabel held her own all right until one of -the bolder wolves swam across the creek and -was soon followed by others. Then Isabel -had to fight them at both ends of the foot-log. -It was dark now, and Isabel, striking at the -wolves from first one side and then the other, -tried to cheer me up all the time.</p> - -<p>“‘Help will soon come, don’t be afraid,’ she -said over and over again. She even tried to -make me laugh by saying, ‘Now watch me -hit this saucy old fellow on the nose. There, -that surprised you, didn’t it, Mr. Wolf?’ as -she hit him a sharp blow and he fell back.</p> - -<p>“What if the wolves should leap on Isabel? -Or she might get dizzy and fall in the water. -When would help come to us in this lonely, -out-of-the-way place? My folks would think -I had stayed the night with Isabel, and there -was no one at home at Isabel’s.</p> - -<p>“Dared I get down and go for help? I -peered through the darkness and shook all -over when I thought that more wolves might -be hidden there. Hardly knowing what I -did, I let myself down to the lower limb and -then dropped with a soft thud to the ground.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29"></a>[29]</span></p> - -<p>“Without waiting a second I started back -the way we had come. How I ran and ran! -I was nearly through the woods when I heard -something running behind me. I went faster -and it went faster, too. Suddenly I tripped -and fell and I heard a friendly little whinny -at my side. It was our pet colt that had been -running behind me. I put my arm around -his neck for a second until I got my breath. -Then I climbed the fence and was on the road.</p> - -<p>“I wasn’t quite so afraid here as I had been -in the woods, but I never stopped running -till I got home. I was so worn out that I -fell panting on the kitchen floor, but I made -them understand Isabel’s danger. Father -and the boys caught up their guns and went -hurrying across the hill to her aid.</p> - -<p>“They drove the wolves away and brought -Isabel home in safety, and that was the last -pack of wolves ever seen around there.</p> - -<p>“Well, well, see what time it is! Now run -along to bed and go right to sleep without talking -the least little bit, or I’m afraid Mother -won’t let you come to see me tomorrow evening. -That would be a pity, for I’ve got the -best story for tomorrow evening about—well, -you just wait and see.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30"></a>[30]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_YELLOW_GOWN">THE YELLOW GOWN</h2> - -</div> - -<p>The next evening when the children came -to Grandma’s room Bobby brought his new -sweater—black with broad yellow stripes—to -show her.</p> - -<p>“Yellow,” said Grandma admiringly. “I -always did like yellow, it’s such a cheerful -color. The first really pretty dress I ever had -was yellow.</p> - -<p>“It was just about this shade, maybe a -mite deeper—more of an orange color. It -was worsted—a very fine piece of all-wool -cashmere. Until then I had never had anything -but dark wool dresses—browns or blues -made from the older girls’ dresses—and I did -love bright colors.</p> - -<p>“Sister Belle was to be married in the spring -and all winter Mother and Belle and Aggie -had sewed on her new clothes. Nearly everything -was ready but the wedding gown, and -it was to be a present from Father’s younger -sister, Aunt Louisa, who lived in Clayville.</p> - -<p>“Belle was delighted, because she said -Aunt Louisa would be sure to pick something -new and stylish.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31"></a>[31]</span></p> - -<p>“My big brother, Stanley, went to Clayville -one cold, snowy day in February, and -Aunt Louisa sent the dress goods out by him. -I remember we were at supper when he came. -I had the toothache and was holding a bag of -hot salt to my face and trying to eat at the -same time.</p> - -<p>“Mother ran to take Stanley’s bundles and -help him off with his great-coat, and Aggie -set a place at the table for him. But before -he sat down he tossed a package to Belle. -‘From Aunt Louisa,’ he said.</p> - -<p>“Belle gave a cry of delight and tore the -package open. Then suddenly the happy -look faded from her face. She pushed the -package aside and, laying her head right down -on the table among the dishes, she burst into -tears.</p> - -<p>“Aunt Louisa had sent Belle a yellow wedding -dress!</p> - -<p>“When Mother held it up for us to see, I -thought it was the most beautiful color I had -ever seen and wondered why Belle cried. I -soon learned.</p> - -<p>“Belle had light brown hair and freckles, -and yellow was not becoming to her. To -prove it, she held the goods up to her face.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32"></a>[32]</span></p> - -<p>“‘It does make your hair look dead and -sort of colorless,’ Aggie agreed.</p> - -<p>“‘And your freckles stand out as if they -were starting to meet a fellow,’ Charlie put in.</p> - -<p>“At this Belle began to cry again, and -Father said that she did not have to wear a -yellow dress to be married in if she didn’t -want to. She should have a white dress. -But this didn’t seem to comfort Belle a -bit, for she declared that she wouldn’t hurt -Aunt Louisa’s feelings by not wearing the -yellow.</p> - -<p>“My tooth got worse, and for the next few -days I could think of nothing else. Mother -poulticed my jaw and put medicine in my -tooth, but nothing helped it. I cried and -cried and couldn’t sleep at night, and Mother -couldn’t sleep. At last she told Father that -he would have to take me to Clayville to have -the tooth pulled. There was fine sledding, -and early the next morning Father and I set -out. The last thing Mother said to Father, -as she put a hot brick to my feet and wrapped -me, head and all, in a thick comfort, was, -‘As soon as the tooth is out, John, take -her over to Louisa’s till you get ready to -start home.’</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33"></a>[33]</span></p> - -<p>“The roads were smooth as glass, Father -was a fast driver, and it didn’t seem long till -we got to town. My tooth was soon out—it -hardly hurt at all—and then Father took -me to Aunt Louisa’s. We all liked Aunt -Louisa. She was very fond of children and -had none of her own.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/illus5.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>The roads were smooth as glass, Father was a fast driver</i></p> -</div> - -<p>“After dinner we sat by the sitting-room -fire and Aunt Louisa cut paper dolls out of -stiff writing paper for me and made pink -tissue paper dresses for them. The dresses -were pasted on. I could not take them off -and put them on as Alice and Pink do theirs.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34"></a>[34]</span></p> - -<p>“As she worked, Aunt Louisa asked me -about everything at home and about Belle’s -clothes and the wedding.</p> - -<p>“‘Has she got her wedding dress made -yet?’ she asked.</p> - -<p>“‘No, ma’am’, I replied, ‘she says she -can’t bear to cut into it. She hates the -very sight of it.’</p> - -<p>“‘Well, I declare!’ exclaimed Aunt Louisa -in surprise.</p> - -<p>“‘It doesn’t become her,’ I explained -carefully. ‘She says it makes her look a -sickly green.’ And then I went on to tell -Aunt Louisa everything they had all said, -and ended up with, ‘Belle says she won’t -hold John to his promise to marry her until -he has seen her in that yellow dress.’</p> - -<p>“‘What does she wear it for if she doesn’t -like it?’ asked Aunt Louisa tartly.</p> - -<p>“‘Father said she didn’t have to wear it -if she didn’t want to, that if she wanted to -be married in white, he’d get her a white -dress. But Belle said she wouldn’t hurt -your feelings by not wearing it for anything -in the world.’</p> - -<p>“Suddenly Aunt Louisa began to laugh. -She threw her head back and laughed and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35"></a>[35]</span> -laughed and laughed. I didn’t know what -to make of her.</p> - -<p>“‘I think it’s a beautiful color,’ I said -consolingly.</p> - -<p>“‘And you could wear it, too, with your -dark hair and eyes and fair skin. What was -I thinking about to send a color like that to -poor Belle? I’ll tell you!’ she cried, jumping -up and letting my paper dolls fall to -the floor. ‘I’ll buy another dress for Belle, -and you shall have the yellow one, Sarah.’</p> - -<p>“She left me in the kitchen with Mettie, -the hired girl, while she went over town. -Mettie was baking cookies, and she let me -dust the sugar on and put the raisins in the -middle and I had a real nice time.</p> - -<p>“The second dress was white cashmere -with bands of pearl trimming and wide -silk lace for the neck and wrists.</p> - -<p>“When Aunt Louisa kissed me good-by, -she whispered in my ear, ‘Tell Belle the -trimming is because she was so thoughtful -about hurting my feelings and I want her -to look her best on her wedding day. And, -Sarah, tell your mother to make up the -yellow for you with a high shirred waist and -low round neck. That is the newest style for<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36"></a>[36]</span> -children. And be sure to tell her I said not -to dare put it in the dye pot.’</p> - -<p>“As soon as we got home I gave the new -dress to Belle. Mother was astonished, and -Belle looked ready to cry again, till Father -told them Aunt Louisa wasn’t offended at -all. Then Mother was pleased, and Belle -was simply wild about the new dress.</p> - -<p>“‘Take the yellow and welcome to it, -Sarah,’ she said to me when I had told her -Aunt Louisa wanted me to have it.</p> - -<p>“‘I’ll have to color it,’ Mother said, -‘She couldn’t wear that ridiculous shade.’</p> - -<p>“‘No, no, Mother, please don’t!’ I cried. -‘Aunt Louisa said not to dye it. She said -it would become me the way it is.’</p> - -<p>“‘Tush, tush!’ said Mother severely, ‘You -are too little to talk of things becoming -you.’ But she didn’t dye it, and a few -weeks later at sister Belle’s wedding I wore -the yellow dress made just the way Aunt -Louisa said to make it.</p> - -<p>“And now, ‘To bed, to bed, says sleepy -head,’ and we’ll have another story some -other night.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37"></a>[37]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_WAR_STORY">A WAR STORY</h2> - -</div> - -<p>“Well, well,” said Grandma one evening -when Bobby and Alice and Pink came to -her room for their usual bedtime story, “I -don’t know what to tell you about tonight.”</p> - -<p>“Tell us a war story,” suggested Bobby -eagerly.</p> - -<p>“Maybe I might tell you a war story,” -agreed Grandma, “a war story of a time -long ago.” And she picked up her knitting -and began slowly:</p> - -<p>“When the Civil War broke out I was a -very little girl. Of course there had been -lots of talk of war, but the first thing I -remember about it was when we heard that -Fort Sumter had been fired on. It was a -bright, sunshiny morning in the spring. I -was helping Father rake the dead leaves off -the garden when I saw a man coming up the -road on horseback. I told Father, and he -dropped his rake and went over to the fence. -In those days it wasn’t as it is now. News -traveled slowly—no telephones, no trains, -no buggies. And this young man, who had -been to Clayville to get his marriage license,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38"></a>[38]</span> -brought us the news that Fort Sumter had -been fired on.</p> - -<p>“Father went straight into the house to -tell Mother, and after a while he and my -big brother, Joe, saddled their horses and -rode away. I thought they were going right -off to war and started to cry, and then I -laughed instead when our big Dominique -rooster flew up on the hen-house roof, flapped -his wings, and crowed and crowed. A great -many men and boys rode by our house that -day on their way to Clayville, and when -Father and Joe came back next day Joe -had volunteered and been accepted and he -stayed at home only long enough to pack -his clothes and say good-by to us.</p> - -<p>“There wasn’t much sleep in our house -that night, and I lay in my trundle-bed, -beside Father’s and Mother’s bed, and listened -to them talking, talking, until I thought -it must surely be morning. I went to sleep -and wakened again and they were still talking. -Finally I could hear Father’s regular -breathing and knew that he had gone to -sleep at last. In a little bit Mother slipped -out of bed and went into the hall. I thought -she was going for a drink and followed her,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39"></a>[39]</span> -but she went into Stanley’s room, which -had been Joe’s room, too, until that night.</p> - -<p>“Mother bent over Stanley and spoke his -name softly and he wakened and started up -in bed.</p> - -<p>“‘What is it, Mother?’ he whispered, -frightened.</p> - -<p>“‘Stanley,’ Mother said slowly, ‘I want -you to promise me that you won’t go to war -without my consent.’</p> - -<p>“Stanley laughed out loud in relief.</p> - -<p>“‘Gee, Mother, you gave me a scare!’ he -said. ‘I thought some one was sick or something. -The war’ll be over long before I’m old -enough to go.’ He was going on sixteen then.</p> - -<p>“‘It won’t do any harm to promise then,’ -Mother persisted, and Stanley promised.</p> - -<p>“I crept back to bed and pulled the covers -up over my head.</p> - -<p>“But Stanley was mistaken about the war -being over soon. The war didn’t stop. It -went on and on. Two years and more passed, -and Stanley was eighteen. Boys of that age -were being accepted for service, but Stanley -never said a word about volunteering.</p> - -<p>“Shortly after his eighteenth birthday -there came a change in him. He was not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40"></a>[40]</span> -like himself at all. He had always been a -lively boy, full of fun and mischief, but now -he was very quiet. He never mentioned the -war any more, and often dashed out of the -room when every one was talking excitedly -about the latest news from the battlefield. -He avoided the soldiers home on furlough, -didn’t seem to care to read Joe’s letters, and -as more and more of his friends enlisted he -became gloomy and downhearted.</p> - -<p>“We could all see as time went on that -Father was disappointed in Stanley. He -was always saying how much better it was -for a young man to enlist than to wait for -the draft. The very word ‘draft’ had for -Father a disgraceful sound.</p> - -<p>“I think Mother must have thought it -was Stanley’s promise to her that was worrying -him, for one day she came out to the barn -where Stanley was shelling corn and I was -picking out the biggest grains to play ‘Fox -and Geese’ with. Mother told Stanley she -released him from his promise, but he didn’t -seem glad at all. He only said, ‘Don’t you -worry, Mother, I’m not going to war.’</p> - -<p>“‘I was troubled about Joe that night,’ -Mother said. ‘I thought I couldn’t bear<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41"></a>[41]</span> -for you to go, too. But you are older now -and you must do what you think best.’</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/illus6.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>One day two recruiting officers came out to Nebo Cross Roads</i></p> -</div> - -<p>“As Mother went out of the barn there -were tears in her eyes and I knew in that -moment that she would rather have Stanley -go to war than have him afraid to go.</p> - -<p>“They were forming a new company in -Clayville, and one day two recruiting officers -came out to Nebo Cross Roads. Father let -Truman take Charlie and me over to see -them. It was raining, and I can see those -two men yet standing there in the rain. One -had a flute and the other had a drum. They<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42"></a>[42]</span> -played reveille and taps and guard mount -and ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ and a new -song we had never heard before, ‘Tenting -on the Old Camp Ground.’ And how that -music stirred the folks! They had to use -two wagons to haul the recruits into Clayville -that night.</p> - -<p>“That evening when I was hunting eggs -in the barn I found Stanley lying face down -in the hay. He was crying! I could hardly -believe my eyes. I went a little nearer and -I saw for sure that his shoulders were shaking -with sobs. But even while I watched him -he got to his feet and began rubbing his -right arm. I often saw Stanley working -with his arm. He would rub it and swing -it backward and forward and strike out with -his fist as if he were going to hit some one -a blow. He didn’t mind me watching him, -and I never told anyone about it. He had -broken that arm the winter before, and I -had often seen him working with it after he -had stopped wearing it in a sling.</p> - -<p>“I wondered to myself why, if Father and -Mother thought Stanley was afraid to fight, -they did not ask him and find out. He -knew why he didn’t enlist—he could tell<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43"></a>[43]</span> -them. At last I decided if they wouldn’t -do it themselves I’d do it for them. So the -next time I was alone with Stanley, I said, -‘Stanley, are you afraid to go to war?’</p> - -<p>“‘Afraid!’ he cried angrily, ‘Who said I -was afraid?’ Then his tone changed. ‘They -don’t want me. They won’t have me. It’s -this arm,’ and he held his right arm out and -looked at it in a disgusted sort of way. -‘They claim it’s stiff, but I could shoot if -they would only give me a chance. I’ve -tried three times to get in, but there’s no use -worrying Mother about it since I can’t go. -But my arm is getting better. It’s not -nearly as stiff as it was. I’ll get in yet.’ -Then he looked at me scornfully and said, -‘Afraid! Afraid nothing!’</p> - -<p>“I ran as fast as ever I could to find -Father and Mother and tell them. Mother -hugged me and laughed and cried at the same -time and said she always knew it, and Father -made me tell over to him three times, word -for word, every single thing Stanley had said.</p> - -<p>“‘He must never know,’ Mother said. -‘He must never suspect for a minute that -we thought he didn’t want to go, the poor -dear boy, keeping his trouble to himself for<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44"></a>[44]</span> -fear of worrying us.’ And she told me to -get Charlie and catch a couple of chickens -to fry for supper. Then I knew she was -happy again, for whenever Mother was -happy or specially pleased with one of us -she always had something extra good to eat.</p> - -<p>“Pass the apples, Alice, please, and tomorrow -night if you’re real good and don’t get -kept in at school I’ll tell you—well, you -just be real good and you’ll see what I’ll -tell you about.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45"></a>[45]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="EASTER">EASTER</h2> - -</div> - -<p>It was the night before Easter. Grandma -had told Bobby and Alice and Pink of the -first Easter, and had explained about the -egg being the symbol of life because it contains -everything necessary for the awakening -of new life.</p> - -<p>“When I was a little girl,” she said, “we -had lots of chickens and of course we had -lots of eggs. We got so many eggs that we -could not use them all—not even if Mother -made custards and omelets and angel cake -every day.</p> - -<p>“Father or the boys would take the eggs -we did not need to the store and trade them -for sugar or coffee or pepper or rice. But -for quite a while before Easter they did not -take any eggs to the store.</p> - -<p>“It was a custom for the children to hide -all the eggs that were laid for a couple of -weeks before Easter. Father and Mother -had done it when they were little, and all -the boys and girls who went to our school -did it, too. We would bring them in Easter -morning and count them. Each of us might<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46"></a>[46]</span> -keep the eggs we found to sell, and Father -always gave a fifty-cent piece to the one -who had the most eggs. Even the big boys -and Aggie and Belle hid eggs, for money -was scarce and sometimes the egg money -amounted to a good deal. We were allowed -to keep all the eggs we found, no matter to -whom they belonged and how we hunted.</p> - -<p>“We searched in the hen house, the barn, -the haymow, in old barrels and boxes, in -fence corners, and even in the wood-box -behind the kitchen stove. One spring a -brown leghorn hen slipped into the kitchen -every other day and laid in the wood-box. -You never could tell where a hen might -lay, so we looked every place we could -think of.</p> - -<p>“It was an early spring. The trees were -bursting into leaf, the grass was green, the -beautiful yellow Easter flowers in the front -yard were in bloom. Best of all, the hens -had never been known to lay so many eggs -before.</p> - -<p>“It seemed that every one of us wanted -something that the egg money would buy. -Truman was going away to school, and -he wanted books. Belle was going to be<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47"></a>[47]</span> -married, and she wanted all the money she -could get for pretty clothes. Stanley wanted -a new saddle for his courting colt. When the -boys turned eighteen, Father gave each one -of them a colt to tame and break and have -for his own, and they were called the courting -colts. I wanted the egg money for a -lovely wax doll like one I had seen in a store -in Clayville, and if Charlie got it he meant -to spend it for a gun. Aggie wanted to buy -a pair of long lace mitts to wear to Belle’s -wedding. So we all hunted and hunted, -each one thinking of what he would buy -with the money.</p> - -<p>“Once for three days I didn’t have an -egg. Then I found a great basketful that -was so heavy I could hardly carry it to a new -hiding place, and the next day it was gone. -So it went on till Easter.</p> - -<p>“Charlie and I were up bright and early -on Easter morning—not as early as on -Christmas, of course. As we all brought in -our eggs Father counted them. The kitchen -floor was covered with baskets and buckets -and boxes of eggs. You never saw so many -eggs. Charlie had the most, and he was as -happy as happy could be.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48"></a>[48]</span></p> - -<p>“While Mother and the girls finished -getting breakfast, Charlie and I hunted for -the colored eggs. Under beds, behind doors, -in the cupboards, all over the house we -hunted.</p> - -<p>“‘Here they are!’ shouted Charlie from -the spare chamber. And there they were -behind the bureau—red eggs, blue eggs, -green eggs, big sugar eggs, and eggs with -pretty pictures pasted on them and tied -with gay ribbons. And there were white -eggs that looked just like common hen’s -eggs, but when you broke a tiny bit of the -shell and put your tongue to it, my, oh my! -but that maple sugar was delicious!</p> - -<p>“After breakfast there was a rush to get -the work done and get ready for meeting. -Dear knows how many people would come -home to dinner with us. Mother always -asked everyone home to dinner.</p> - -<p>“We were nearly ready. Mother had -picked the lovely, yellow Easter flowers and -was wrapping the stems in wet paper to keep -them from wilting till we got to the church—she -meant to put them in a vase on the -pulpit stand—when Father came in and -said that the widow Spear’s new house had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49"></a>[49]</span> -burned down in the night. There was something -the matter with the chimney, no one -knew just what.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Abraham Harvey had told Father. -The Spear family had taken refuge in a little -old house that they had lived in before they -built the new house. But of course they had -nothing to keep house with, and Mr. Harvey -was going around in a big wagon collecting -things. There were some pieces of old furniture -in the wagon, and several bundles of -bedclothes and a box of dishes.</p> - -<p>“Father gave flour and meat and potatoes -and a ham. Mother emptied the shelves of -our Easter pies and took the chicken in the -pot right off the stove, besides giving bread -and a crock of apple butter.</p> - -<p>“Then she wrapped up a pair of blankets -she had woven herself and sent Charlie and -Truman to carry out some chairs and a -bedstead that were up in the meathouse -loft. Belle and Aggie were sorting out some -old clothes to send, and I wanted to do -something, too.</p> - -<p>“As I was going through the kitchen on -an errand for Mother, I noticed the eggs. -Such a lot of them—nearly fifty dozen, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50"></a>[50]</span> -they brought ten cents a dozen. Just then -Charlie passed the door carrying a chair, -and I called to him.</p> - -<p>“‘Charlie,’ I said, ‘would you give your -egg money if I gave mine?’</p> - -<p>“‘No,’ he said at once, ‘I won’t give my -egg money. Not on your life, I won’t! -Father and Mother’ll give enough,’ and he -went out.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t say any more about the egg -money. I didn’t think it would be fair to -Charlie, since he was the one who had the -most eggs. I went upstairs to Mother’s -room and took my gold breastpin out of -the fat pincushion on her bureau.</p> - -<p>“‘Here is my breastpin, Mother,’ I said. -‘Send it to Millie. Everything she’ll get -will be so plain and ugly.’</p> - -<p>“Aggie and Belle laughed.</p> - -<p>“‘A breastpin,’ said Aggie, ‘when very -likely she has no dress!’</p> - -<p>“‘It’s all right, Sarah,’ said Mother, and -she went to her bureau drawer and took out -a fine linen handkerchief and laid it on the -bed beside the breastpin. When she came -to get them, Aggie had given a carved back -comb and Belle a pretty lace collar.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51"></a>[51]</span></p> - -<p>“Mr. Harvey was starting his horses and -Father had come inside the gate when -Charlie ran around the house.</p> - -<p>“‘Give them my egg money, Father!’ he -called and ran out of sight again. Then all -the rest of us said we would give our egg -money, too, and it made a lot—over five -dollars.</p> - -<p>“‘I’m proud of you,’ Mother said when -she had hunted Charlie up and was tying -his necktie. ‘I’m proud of every one of -my children.’</p> - -<p>“We were a little late to meeting, and -when we got home Belle had dinner ready—ham -meat and cream gravy and mashed -potatoes and hot biscuits. Mother brought -out a plate of fruit cake that she kept in -a big stone jar for special occasions—the -longer she kept it the better it got—and a -dish of pickled peaches for dessert.”</p> - -<p>“Mm! mm! Wish I’d been there,” sighed -Bobby.</p> - -<p>“And next time,” Grandma went on, “I -think—yes, I’m pretty sure—that I’ll tell -you how the maple sugar got in the Easter -eggs.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52"></a>[52]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="AT_A_SUGAR_CAMP">AT A SUGAR CAMP</h2> - -</div> - -<p>“Grandma,” said Alice the next evening, -“you said you’d tell us how the sugar got -in the Easter egg.”</p> - -<p>“And so I will,” answered Grandma. -“I’ll tell you about that this very evening. -Where’s my knitting? I can talk so much -better when I knit. There now, are you all -ready?”</p> - -<p>Bobby and Alice and Pink drew their stools -closer and Grandma began:</p> - -<p>“On my father’s farm, about half a mile -from our house, was a grove of maple trees. -We always called them sugar trees. In the -spring, you know, the sweet juice or sap -comes up from the roots into the trees, and -it is from this sap that maple sirup and -sugar are made. In the spring Father and -the boys would tap our sugar trees. They -would take elder branches and make spouts -by removing the pithy centers. Then they -would bore holes in the trees and put the -spouts in the holes and place buckets underneath -to catch the sap. These buckets would -have to be emptied several times a day<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53"></a>[53]</span> -into the big brass kettle, where it was boiled -down into sirup and sugar.</p> - -<p>“Truman tended to the sap buckets and -kept a supply of firewood on hand, and -Stanley watched the boiling of the sap. He -knew just when it was thick enough and -sweet enough to take off for sirup and how -much longer to cook it for sugar. One of -the girls was always there to help, and -Father or Mother would oversee it all.</p> - -<p>“There was a one-roomed log cabin with -a great fireplace in the maple grove. It -had been built years and years before by -some early settler and was never occupied -except during sugar-making time. The girls -would go up the week before and clean it -out, and Mother would send dishes and bedclothes -for the two rough beds built against -the wall. The ones making and tending the -sirup would camp up there.</p> - -<p>“Mother would send butter and bread -and pies, and the girls would boil meat or -beans in a black iron pot that hung over -the fire. In the evenings they would have -lots of fun sitting in front of the fire, telling -stories and popping corn. Sister Aggie could -make the best popcorn balls that were put<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54"></a>[54]</span> -together with maple sirup. They would -often have visitors, too, neighboring boys -and girls who would come in to stay until -bedtime. And there would be songs and -games.</p> - -<p>“And they would make the sugar eggs for -Easter. Before sugar time came we would -blow the contents out of eggs by making -little holes in each end. Then we would dry -the shells and put them away. When they -were taking off the maple sugar, Mother or -Belle or Aggie would fill the egg shells and -set them aside for the sugar to cool and -harden. They would fill goose-egg shells -with the maple sugar, too, and when the -sugar hardened they would pick the shell -off, and by and by the girls would paste -pretty pictures of birds or flowers on them -and tie them with gay-colored ribbons for -Easter.</p> - -<p>“Neither Charlie nor I had ever been -allowed to stay all night at the sugar camp, -and when Mother said we could stay one -night with Stanley and Truman and Belle -we were wild with joy.</p> - -<p>“Truman had shot and cleaned three -squirrels that morning, and Belle cooked<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55"></a>[55]</span> -them in the big black pot with a piece of -fat pork until the water boiled off and they -sizzled and browned in the bottom of the -pot. We had little flat corn cakes baked -on the hearth and maple sirup, and, my, -but that supper tasted good to me!</p> - -<p>“I dried the dishes for Belle, and we had -just settled down for the evening when one -of the Strang boys came in. He didn’t -know we children were there, and he had -come up to see if Stanley and Truman and -Belle would go home with him to a little -frolic. His sister Esther had been married -a few days before and had come home that -afternoon, and they were going to have a -serenade for them. Belle and the boys wanted -Charlie and me to go down to the house so -they could go, but we wouldn’t do it. We -declared we were not afraid to stay by -ourselves and told them to go on. Finally -they did.</p> - -<p>“Charlie and I didn’t mind being left -alone at all. We thought it was great fun. -For a while we played we were pioneers. -Then Charlie got tired of that and wanted -to play Indian, so we played Indian for a -long time. But we had been out all day in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56"></a>[56]</span> -the cold, and after a while we got sleepy -and decided to go to bed. I went to the -window to see if Belle and the boys were -coming. There was a moon, and I could -see the trees with their spouts and the -buckets under them. I looked closely. At -one of the buckets was a black shadow. I -looked and looked at it and just then it -moved a little.</p> - -<p>“‘Charlie,’ I cried excitedly, ‘Brierly’s -old black dog is out there drinking up our -sap!’</p> - -<p>“Charlie gave one hurried glance out the -window, then he picked up a stick of firewood -and opened the door.</p> - -<p>“‘I bet I give that dog a good scare,’ he -said, and rushed out the door and made -straight for the black shadow. He raised -the stick and brought it down ker-plunk on -the back of what we thought was Brierly’s -dog. But it wasn’t Brierly’s dog at all, nor -anybody’s dog. It was a bear! I don’t -know which was the most surprised, Charlie -or the bear. Charlie darted back to the -cabin, and when he reached the door he -threw his stick with all his might and hit -the bear on the nose. The nose is the bear’s<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57"></a>[57]</span> -tenderest point, you know. Charlie must -have hurt him, for he gave a growl, backed -away from the sap bucket, and scampered -up the nearest tree. Maybe he meant to -wait a while and come back for more sap, -I don’t know. Anyway, up the tree he -stayed while Charlie and I watched him -through the window.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/illus7.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>Up the tree the bear stayed while Charlie and I watched him</i></p> -</div> - -<p>“‘If we could only keep him up the tree -till the boys come home from Strangs’ one -of them could get a gun and kill him,’ -said Charlie, ‘and we’d get the money for -his pelt.’</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58"></a>[58]</span></p> - -<p>“‘Father says wolves won’t come near a -fire,’ I remarked, and that gave Charlie an -idea. He would build a fire and keep the -bear treed until the boys came.</p> - -<p>“At first I wouldn’t agree to help him. -I was too afraid. But Charlie coaxed and -threatened and was getting ready to do it -himself. So I helped him carry out the first -burning log from the fireplace in the cabin. -After that my part was to watch the bear -and warn Charlie if he moved while Charlie -built up the fire. Once as the fire grew -warmer and the smoke got thicker and -thicker the bear snorted and moved to a -limb higher up.</p> - -<p>“Charlie kept a roaring fire going, and it -wasn’t long until Belle and the boys came -rushing up all out of breath from running. -They were nearly scared to death because -they had seen the smoke and thought the -cabin was on fire.</p> - -<p>“At first they wouldn’t believe we had a -bear treed. Truman said, ‘Whoever heard -of a bear climbing a tree like that?’ But -Stanley said nobody knew what a bear -might do, and Charlie said that there was the -bear all right, they could see for themselves.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59"></a>[59]</span></p> - -<p>“Truman went home and got his gun and -shot the bear. It turned out to be a young -bear. Father sold the pelt and divided the -money between Charlie and me.</p> - -<p>“Now, let me see, what shall I tell you -about tomorrow night? Oh, I know! I’ve -thought of something, but I won’t tell. No, -indeed, not a word till tomorrow night.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60"></a>[60]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_NEW_CHURCH_ORGAN">THE NEW CHURCH ORGAN</h2> - -</div> - -<p>Grandma had been to church Sunday -morning and heard for the first time the -wonderful new pipe organ, and in the -evening she was talking about it—how -beautiful the music was, how solemn, how -sacred.</p> - -<p>“And when I think,” she said, “of the -opposition there was to the first little organ -we had in our church and of the trouble -we had getting it—well, well, times certainly -have changed.</p> - -<p>“It was like this. Some of our people -were bitterly opposed to organ music in -church and right up till the last minute did -everything they could to keep us from getting -an organ. This made it very hard to -raise money for the organ, but after a long -time we got enough—all but about forty -dollars. It was decided to have a box -social to raise this.</p> - -<p>“At a box social each girl or woman -took a box containing enough supper for -two people. Then the boxes were auctioned<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61"></a>[61]</span> -off, and the men and boys bought them -and ate supper with the girl whose box -they got.</p> - -<p>“Aggie and Belle trimmed their boxes -with colored tissue paper and flowers and -ribbon, but Mother just wrapped hers in -plain white tissue paper and fastened a bunch -of pinks out of the garden on top so Father -would know it when it was put up to be -sold. Father was going to buy Mother’s -box, and I was going to eat with them. -Charlie had money to buy a box for himself, -and he said he meant to buy Aunt Livvy -Orbison’s box because she always had so -much to eat.</p> - -<p>“Every one in the family was going, and -there was a great rush and bustle to get -ready. Mother cut Charlie’s hair and oiled -it and curled mine. She scrubbed us till -we shone, and at last, dressed in our best -clothes, we started.</p> - -<p>“Father and Mother and Belle and Aggie -and I went in the surrey. All the boys -walked over the hill, except Joe, who had -gone to Clayville on business for Father -that morning and was to stop at the church -on his way home.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62"></a>[62]</span></p> - -<p>“It was a lovely warm evening, and there -was a large crowd at the church when -we got there, though it was early. The -girls took their boxes in and then came right -out again. Every one was having a splendid -time, talking and laughing and visiting -around.</p> - -<p>“I was with Father. After a while I got -tired hearing the men talk about the crops -and the price of wool and the election, and -I went to hunt Mother. I looked all around -and I couldn’t find her. I thought maybe -she had gone into the church, so I went in -there to look for her, but there was no one -in the church at all. The boxes had been -piled on the pulpit and covered with a sheet -so that no one could see them. Just as I -was going out the door I noticed that the -sheet was lying on the floor and the boxes -were nowhere to be seen. I went on out -and presently I found sister Belle. She was -talking to John and Isabel Strang and Will -Orbison.</p> - -<p>“I tugged at Belle’s dress and pulled her -to one side.</p> - -<p>“‘What did they do with the boxes?’ I -asked her.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63"></a>[63]</span></p> - -<p>“‘Why, they put them in the church, and -after a while they will sell them,’ she said. -‘You run and find Mother now, like a good -girl.’</p> - -<p>“‘But the boxes aren’t on the pulpit,’ I -whispered. ‘I was in the church hunting -Mother, and the boxes are all gone and the -sheet is lying on the floor.’</p> - -<p>“Belle told the others, and they all went -hurrying into the church, I following after. -The boxes were gone, sure enough. The -pulpit windows, which faced a strip of woods, -were open. The boys said the boxes could -have been taken out that way as the crowd -was in front of the church. There was no -place in the church to hide them. There -was a loft, but it was entered through a hole -in the ceiling and there was no ladder. -Belle placed two chairs with their seats -touching and covered them with the sheet -so that no one could tell the boxes were not -there.</p> - -<p>“‘It looks as if some of the people who -don’t want the organ have spoiled this box -supper,’ said John Strang, ‘and they will -keep us from having our organ for a while, -too.’</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64"></a>[64]</span></p> - -<p>“‘But that isn’t the worst of it,’ put in -Isabel. ‘It’ll cause no end of trouble and -hard feelings.’</p> - -<p>“‘It may have been some of the boys who -did it for a joke,’ said Belle. ‘Let us raise -the money anyway and get ahead of them.’</p> - -<p>“‘But how,’ Isabel asked anxiously, ‘with -no boxes?’</p> - -<p>“Then they thought out their plan. It -was that John and Will were to go out and -explain quietly to the boys in favor of the -organ what had happened and get them to -give the money they meant to spend on -their boxes to John. Brother Joe had bought -a new pair of shoes in town. They would -put his shoe box up for sale just as if all -the rest of the boxes were still under the -sheet. Will was to bid against John and -run the box up to the amount they had -collected.</p> - -<p>“Isabel stayed in the church to see that -no one disturbed the sheet, and John and -Will and Belle went outside to carry out -their plan. I found Mother, and pretty soon -we went into the church. The lamps had -been lit, and I thought how nice it looked. -The girls had come up the day before and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_65"></a>[65]</span> -swept the floor and dusted the benches and -shined the tin reflectors on the lamps, and -put great bunches of flowers and ferns over -the doors and windows and covered the two -big round stoves with boughs of evergreen. -There was a short program first, and then -Stanley, who was to auction off the boxes, -stepped to the front of the pulpit and -held up a plain white box tied with stout -string.</p> - -<p>“‘How much am I offered for this box?’ -he said.</p> - -<p>“The bidding started at twenty-five cents. -At first there were lots of bids, but finally -every one dropped out but John and Will. -There wasn’t a sound in the church as the -bidding went higher and higher—thirty dollars -for that plain, white box, thirty-five -dollars, forty dollars, forty-one dollars. Will -stopped bidding and the box went to John -for forty-one dollars.</p> - -<p>“Some one called out, ‘Open the box!’ -and that started things. ‘Open the box!’ -they shouted. ‘Open it!’ ‘Let’s see what’s -in it!’ ‘Open, open, open!’</p> - -<p>“When they quieted down a little, Stanley -explained about the boxes disappearing and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_66"></a>[66]</span> -everything. Then he untied the string, took -the lid off the box, and held up a pair of -men’s shoes number ten. Then that crowd -went wild. They clapped and shouted and -yelled. Stanley said he thought the boxes -had been taken for a joke and suggested that -they be returned.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/illus8.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>Stanley held up a pair of men’s shoes</i></p> -</div> - -<p>“‘We have enough money for the organ,’ -he said. ‘Now let us have our suppers and -some fun.’</p> - -<p>“One of the boys on the side opposing the -organ got up and said that the boxes had -been taken for a joke and would immediately<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_67"></a>[67]</span> -be returned. And you couldn’t guess where -those boxes were hidden! Right in the big -round stoves there in the church! Of course -everybody laughed again and laughed and -laughed. Such a good-humored crowd you -never saw.</p> - -<p>“They handed out the boxes first to the -people who had paid in their money, and -sold the others. There weren’t enough boxes -to go around, but each had plenty in it for -three or four people. Every one divided, -and there was not a person in the church -who did not get something to eat. People -who had been in favor of the organ ate out -of the same boxes with those who had been -against it and forgot that they had ever -disagreed. And when the organ came and -sister Aggie played it that first Sunday, why, -it sounded sweeter to me than that beautiful -big organ in your church did this morning.</p> - -<p>“And now, ‘’night, ’night,’ everybody, -and next time I think—yes. I’m pretty -sure—next time we’ll have something -about my school.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_68"></a>[68]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="SCHOOL_DAYS">SCHOOL DAYS</h2> - -</div> - -<p>“All my brothers and sisters had liked to -go to school,” Grandma began the next -evening, “and in the sitting room, after -supper, Father would hear their lessons while -Mother knitted or sewed or darned. Father -had read books and papers aloud to us as -long as I could remember, and he always -told us how important education was. So -as soon as I got to be six years old I was -anxious to start to school.</p> - -<p>“I was small for my age, and as we lived -two miles from the schoolhouse and the -snow in winter was often two or three feet -deep, Mother did not want me to go until -I was seven or eight years old. She said -she and Father could teach me at home for -a couple of years yet, but I coaxed and -coaxed to go. At last Mother said I could -go as long as the weather was good.</p> - -<p>“So on the very first day—it was along -toward the last of October—I started down -the road with a brand new primer under -my arm and a lunch basket of my very own -and shiny new shoes. Mother stood at the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69"></a>[69]</span> -front gate to watch me out of sight and -wave when I came to the turn in the road.</p> - -<p>“Our schoolhouse wasn’t like yours. It -was just a little frame building painted red. -There were no globes or books or maps or -pictures to make learning interesting. Just -rough, scarred benches, a water bucket and -a dipper on a shelf in one corner, and a big -round stove in the center of the room, and -of course the teacher’s desk and chair on -the platform up in front.</p> - -<p>“The teacher was usually a man, but that -winter it was a woman—Miss Amma Morton. -Miss Amma was a tall, bony woman with -snapping, black eyes that saw everything, -and thin gray hair combed straight back -from her face. She wore a brown alpaca -dress with a very full gathered skirt and -black and white calico aprons and a little -black shoulder shawl fastened with a gold -brooch.</p> - -<p>“She lived with a married sister who -had a very large family. In those days -all the stockings and socks were knitted -at home, and Miss Amma did the knitting -for her sister’s family. She did it in school. -She would sit at the stove or at her desk and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70"></a>[70]</span> -knit and knit on long gray stockings or -on red mittens. She would knit all day -while she heard our lessons. The only time -she couldn’t knit was when she set our -copies. We had no copy books, and the -teacher had to write the copies out for us.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/illus9.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>Miss Amma would knit all day while she heard our lessons</i></p> -</div> - -<p>“I liked to go to school. It was fun to -peep into my lunch basket at recess to see -what Mother had put in and maybe slip -out a piece of pie or cake to eat. I liked to -make playhouses on the big flat rocks with -Annie Brierly and the other little girls, and -hunt soft, green moss to furnish them with,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_71"></a>[71]</span> -and smooth pebbles down at the run. I -loved to learn my A B C’s and listen to the -older children recite, and at noon and recess -to play ‘Prisoners’ Base’ and ‘Copenhagen.’ -But school wasn’t always so pleasant.</p> - -<p>“One day not long after I started there -was a heavy wind and rain storm. We -couldn’t recite our lessons, the rain made -so much noise on the roof. Through the -windows we could see the trees swaying -this way and that in the wind.</p> - -<p>“At afternoon recess Annie and I ran out -to see if our playhouses had been spoiled by -the rain. When we came back the girls -were standing around in little excited groups. -They told us that the roof had blown off -Bowser’s house—they lived about half a -mile down the road—and that most of the -boys had gone to see it.</p> - -<p>“‘Did Charlie go?’ I asked eagerly.</p> - -<p>“‘I reckon he did,’ one of the girls answered. -‘He was with the other boys and they went -that way. I wouldn’t be in their boots for -anything. They won’t be back before books, -and Teacher’ll whip them if they’re late.’</p> - -<p>“I drew Annie away. ‘I’m going after -Charlie,’ I told her. ‘I’m going to take the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_72"></a>[72]</span> -short cut across the hill and catch up to him -and bring him back.’</p> - -<p>“Annie said she would go with me, and -we started. The ground was wet and it -was hard walking. We slipped at every -step. After I thought about it a little, I -was not at all sure that Charlie would thank -me for coming. Maybe he’d sooner take a -whipping than miss seeing a house without -a roof. Boys are so different from girls -that way.</p> - -<p>“We got clear to Bowser’s without seeing -a sign of a single boy, and the roof wasn’t -off at all—just a little corner of it. Mr. -Bowser was nailing it up as fast as ever he -could. He said none of the boys had been -there, so we started back.</p> - -<p>“That was the longest walk I ever took. -I thought we’d never get to the schoolhouse. -My feet were wet and my legs -ached and I was so tired I could hardly -move. When we got to the top of the hill -and looked down at the schoolhouse, there -was no one in sight. Recess was over! -We reached the door at last and stood -trembling outside, afraid to open it and go -in and afraid not to. Annie had been<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_73"></a>[73]</span> -to school the winter before and was not -so scared as I was. She took my hand -reassuringly.</p> - -<p>“‘Don’t let on you’re frightened,’ she -whispered. ‘Maybe Miss Amma hasn’t -missed us and we can slip into our seats -without being seen.’</p> - -<p>“Annie opened the door just as easy, -and we slid in without a sound. But alas! -alas! Miss Amma was hearing the advanced -arithmetic class and she stood facing the -door, so the second we stepped in she saw us.</p> - -<p>“She stopped explaining a problem long -enough to order Annie and me to stand in -opposite corners up on the platform where -everybody could see us.</p> - -<p>“No one had had to stand in the corner -since I had started to school, so instead of -facing the corner as I should have done I -stood with my face toward the school. I -looked to see if Charlie was in his place. -When he saw me looking at him, he began -making motions. I thought he meant for -me to stand tight in the corner, so I pushed -as close as I could to the wall. All over the -room pupils were smiling at me and pointing -and shaking their heads. I wondered what<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_74"></a>[74]</span> -they meant. I looked across at Annie. She -was laughing and she made a motion, too. -Then I thought of what she had said—not -to let on I was frightened. Maybe I looked -scared. I looked at Annie again. She stuck -her head into the corner, looked at me, -frowned, put her head in the corner again. -What did she mean? It was too funny the -way they were all acting. Then I laughed, -too, right out loud, before I knew it. I -laughed and laughed. I couldn’t stop.</p> - -<p>“Teacher gave me a long, severe look.</p> - -<p>“‘Turn around and face the corner, Sarah,’ -she said, ‘and you may remain after school.’</p> - -<p>“Then I knew what Charlie and Annie -and the others had been trying to tell me. -I stood there in the corner until the scholars -had all gone home and Miss Amma had -swept the floor and cleaned the blackboard -and emptied the water bucket.</p> - -<p>“Finally she called me, and I went over -to her desk. When she asked me why I -had run off at recess and then disturbed the -whole school by laughing, I told her all -about it, and she said she would forgive me -that time and helped me on with my cape -and hood.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_75"></a>[75]</span></p> - -<p>“Charlie was waiting for me down the -road a piece. He hadn’t even thought of -going to see Bowser’s house, but had been -down in the meadow watching the big boys -dig out a woodchuck.</p> - -<p>“And, now, an apple all around and good -night.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_76"></a>[76]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_BIRTHDAY_PARTY">A BIRTHDAY PARTY</h2> - -</div> - -<p>“Mm! Isn’t it beautiful?” exclaimed -Grandma as she stood with Bobby and Alice -and Pink admiring the table decorated for -Pink’s birthday party. Everything was pink -and white. The lovely white-frosted cake -had pink candles in pink rose-holders—seven, -one for each year and one to grow on. There -were pink candies and pink flowers and pink -caps for the little girls and boys to wear.</p> - -<p>“‘And the ice cream is to be pink,’ Alice -explained, ‘pink ice cream shaped like animals—dogs -and bunnies and kittens.’</p> - -<p>“My, but isn’t that fine!” said Grandma. -“Now my first party wasn’t a bit like this. -Maybe tonight if you are not too tired I’ll -tell you about my party.”</p> - -<p>And that night after they had told Grandma -about Pink’s party she told them about hers.</p> - -<p>“We didn’t have many parties when I -was little,” Grandma began, “and we never -had regular little girls’ parties. Everyone, -big and little, came, and they were generally -surprise parties and the guests would bring -the refreshments with them. One evening<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_77"></a>[77]</span> -going home from school, the girls were wishing -that some one would get up a surprise -party, when suddenly Annie Brierly said, -‘Why don’t we get up a party for Sarah, -girls? Friday is her birthday. Do you think -your Mother would care, Sarah?’</p> - -<p>“‘We’d both help her,’ Callie Orbison put -in before I could answer. ‘You don’t need -to do much getting ready for a surprise -party. We could have it Friday night, and -Saturday we’d both come over and help -clean up the house.’</p> - -<p>“‘Not a soul but Callie and me would -know you knew anything about it,’ urged -Annie, ‘and we could have just loads of fun.’</p> - -<p>“I promised to think about it, and the more -I thought about it the better I liked the idea -of having a party of my very own. It didn’t -take much persuasion the next day to make -me consent. Annie and Callie were delighted -and immediately fell to making plans, but they -agreed that nothing should be said to Mother -until Thursday evening, the date set for the -party being Friday night.</p> - -<p>“The days that followed were full of mingled -pleasure and pain for me. I was happy -at the idea of having a real party, but it didn’t<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78"></a>[78]</span> -seem fair to deceive Mother. Once I thought -of telling her all about it just as I told her -about everything else. But I was afraid she -would say I was too young to have a party, -and I had never been to a party in my life. -Sister Aggie was visiting Aunt Louisa in Clayville, -and Mother had no one to help her except -for what I could do mornings and evenings. -But I would be at home all day Saturday, and -Annie and Callie had said that they would -help.</p> - -<p>“Thursday morning Annie told me that she -had baked a cake and put my initials on top -in little red candies, and Callie said her -mother was going to bake an election cake -with spices and raisins in it. All day Thursday -I kept thinking about the party. It -wasn’t off my mind a minute. I couldn’t -study for thinking about it, and I missed a -word in spelling—the first word I’d missed -that term—and had to go to the foot of the -class.</p> - -<p>“But by the time we had started home I -had made up my mind to one thing, that if I -could not have a party with everything open -and above board I did not want one at all. -And so I told the girls that I had changed my<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_79"></a>[79]</span> -mind and did not want them to have a surprise -party for me. They coaxed and argued -and teased, but I was firm. I was sorry -that Annie had baked a cake and I hated to -disappoint them, but I did not want a party. -The girls were cross with me, and I felt miserable -when Annie turned in her gate without -saying good-by.</p> - -<p>“Aggie had come home from Clayville that -afternoon, and she was so busy telling Mother -the news and describing the latest fashions, -and showing the things she had bought, that -no one noticed me much. Not a word was -said all evening about my birthday being so -near. Even Charlie didn’t tease me about -what he would do, such as ducking me in the -rain barrel, as he always did, and I thought -everyone had forgotten all about my birthday.</p> - -<p>“But Friday morning just before I started -to school Aggie gave me a plain little handkerchief -that she had hemstitched before she went -away, and then I knew for sure that she had -not brought me anything from Clayville. -And when Mother gave me a pair of common -home-knit stockings, I thought I should cry -right out before everybody instead of waiting -until I got started to school.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_80"></a>[80]</span></p> - -<p>“Annie and Callie were in a good humor -again and as pleasant as could be, but I felt -so unhappy that day that I didn’t notice -that the girls at school seemed unusually -happy and excited. When I finally did notice -it, I was afraid that Annie and Callie had gone -ahead with plans for the party. I accused -them of this, but they denied it.</p> - -<p>“‘No, no, we didn’t do another thing about -the party,’ they declared. But they looked at -each other and laughed when they said it, -and I didn’t believe them.</p> - -<p>“‘You did,’ I said, ‘you know you did.’</p> - -<p>“‘Cross my heart and hope to die if we -did,’ Callie insisted.</p> - -<p>“‘Here’s some of the cake that I baked for -your party that we didn’t have,’ said Annie. -‘Now will you believe us? I brought you -girls each a piece, but it was a sin to cut that -cake—it was such a beautiful cake.’ And -she handed us each a slice of delicious, yellow -sponge cake decorated with red candies.</p> - -<p>“Mother had given me an errand to do at -the store on my way home, so it was later than -usual when, hungry and tired, I opened the -kitchen door. Mother met me and took my -bundles and books.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_81"></a>[81]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/illus10.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>Out from the hall rushed Annie and Callie and seven other little girls</i></p> -</div> - -<p>“‘Take your wraps off here, Sarah,’ she -said. ‘Aggie has company in the sitting -room.’ I didn’t hear anyone talking, but I -took off my coat. Then Aggie called me and -I went into the sitting room, but I stopped in -amazement just inside the door.</p> - -<p>“In the center of the room was a table set -with Mother’s best linen and china and silver, -and while I gazed at it, out from the hall -rushed Annie and Callie and seven other little -girls all near my own age dressed up in their -Sunday frocks and each one thrusting some -sort of package toward me.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_82"></a>[82]</span></p> - -<p>“I couldn’t say a word—I just burst into -tears. I went upstairs with Mother to wash -my face and put on my best dress. She -told me Aggie had written invitations on cards -she had bought in Clayville, and Charlie had -carried them to the girls that morning. Then -I told Mother all about the party we had -planned to have, and she said not to think -any more about it but that she was glad I -had told her.</p> - -<p>“We played games—‘Pussy wants a corner’ -and ‘Button, button, who’s got the -button’ and ‘Hide the thimble’—and asked -riddles and had a good time.</p> - -<p>“Then we had supper. There were cold -roast chicken, tiny hot biscuits and peach preserves, -three kinds of cake, and hot chocolate -that Aggie had learned to make in Clayville -and none of us had ever tasted before.</p> - -<p>“Mother and Aggie had given me those -presents in the morning just to fool me. Aggie -had brought me a lovely story book, and -Mother had a string of pretty pink beads for -me. Charlie gave me a little basket he had -whittled out of a peach seed, and from Father -I got a silver dollar.</p> - -<p>“And now good night, pleasant dreams.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_83"></a>[83]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_LOCUSTS">THE LOCUSTS</h2> - -</div> - -<p>“Grandma,” said Bobby one evening, “did -you ever see a locust—a seventeen-year -locust? And why are they called seventeen-year -locusts?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, I’ve seen locusts and heard them, -too,” answered Grandma, taking up her knitting. -“They are called seventeen-year locusts -because they come every seventeen years. -They lay their eggs in a tree. These eggs -hatch tiny worms, called larvae, which fall to -the ground and stay there for seventeen -years changing slowly until they have turned -into locusts. They live only about thirty days, -but they often do a great deal of damage in -this time. One year when I was a little girl -all our fruit was eaten by the locusts and -many of the trees were killed. They ate the -garden stuff, the potato tops, and even the -flowers, so it must have been somewhat as -it was in Pharaoh’s time.</p> - -<p>“You remember Pharaoh was the king of -Egypt who refused to let the children of -Israel go. For this God sent the plagues on -Pharaoh and the people of Egypt. One of these<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_84"></a>[84]</span> -plagues was the locusts. God caused a strong -east wind to blow all day and all night, and -this wind brought the locusts. They were -every place—all over the ground, in Pharaoh’s -house, and in the houses of his people. They -ate all the vegetables and fruits, even the -leaves on the trees, so there was nothing green -left in all the land. The noise they made must -have been awful. When Pharaoh repented, -the Lord sent a strong west wind which blew -the locusts away, and they were drowned in -the Red Sea. Ever since that time people -have thought the locusts say ‘Pharaoh.’</p> - -<p>“I believe I’ll tell you tonight about the -first time I ever heard a locust. Mother wondered -one day at dinner whether there were -any blackberries ripe yet. She said she -wished she had enough for a few pies. So that -afternoon I took a pail and started for the -blackberry field. I didn’t tell anyone where -I was going, for I wanted to surprise Mother. -I was afraid that if she knew she mightn’t -let me go alone, for she was timid about -snakes. Sure enough, I saw a snake nearly -the first thing, but it was a harmless little -garter snake and scuttled away into the bushes -as soon as it heard me.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_85"></a>[85]</span></p> - -<p>“There were lots and lots of red berries, -but only a few ripe ones here and there. I -wandered on and on, thinking every minute -I should come to a patch of ripe berries where -I could fill my pail in a few minutes. It -wasn’t much fun blackberrying all by myself. -I scratched my hands and face and tore my -dress on the briars and wished many times -that I was back home, but I kept on picking -until my pail was full.</p> - -<p>“I did not realize how far I had gone nor -how long I had been out until I noticed that -the sun was going down. Then I started to -hurry home as fast as I could. But I was -tired and my bucket grew heavier with every -step, so I often sat down to rest. I rested a -long time under a chestnut tree, and then -after I had walked miles, it seemed to me, I -found myself back under this same tree. I -knew it was the same tree because Charlie -had cut my initials on it the summer before. -I had been going around in a circle! I -started out again. I looked to the right and -to the left and straight ahead, but I couldn’t -find the path.</p> - -<p>“I was lost—lost in that great blackberry -patch over a mile from home. Night was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_86"></a>[86]</span> -coming on, and no one knew where I had gone. -I wondered where I should sleep if no one -found me before it got dark, and what I should -eat. Of course I could climb a tree, but -I might go to sleep and fall out of it. I -shouldn’t starve, for I could eat blackberries, -but the very thought of eating any more -blackberries made me feel sick.</p> - -<p>“I hurried this way and that, trying to -find my way out and growing more frightened -every minute.</p> - -<p>“Then suddenly I heard some one calling -to me.</p> - -<p>“‘Sa—rah! Sa—rah!’ I heard as plain -as plain could be, and I answered them. I -screamed at the top of my voice, ‘Here I am! -Here I am!’ But the voices—there seemed -to be a great many of them—only kept on -saying over and over again, ‘Sa—rah! -Sa—rah!’</p> - -<p>“I ran, stumbling and falling through the -bushes, still holding to my precious pail of -berries, but I didn’t seem to get any nearer -to the folks who were calling me. All the -neighbors must be out helping hunt for me, -I thought to myself. That was queer, too, -for it wasn’t really dark and Mother was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87"></a>[87]</span> -used to having me play for hours at a time -down by the run or on the hill under the -oak trees.</p> - -<p>“Presently I came to an open space. There -was a group of trees at the far edge, and there -under those trees, to my great surprise, stood -Mother’s little Jersey cow. I ran toward her, -and when she saw me she gave a weak ‘moo.’ -But when she tried to move I saw that she -was caught fast by the horns in a wild grapevine -that grew around the tree. I tried to -free her, but I couldn’t. The wild grapevine -is very tough and strong, and Jersey was -securely fastened by it. I petted her and -talked to her and forgot to be afraid any more. -Then I happened to think that if she had been -there very long she must be thirsty. She was -not giving any milk and had been turned out -to graze in the pasture field that joined the -berry patch and had probably come through -a bad place in the fence. I remembered having -passed a spring a little way back, and I -emptied my berries carefully in a pile on the -ground and ran back and filled my bucket -with water. But I couldn’t reach Jersey’s -mouth, and though she tried frantically to -get at the water she couldn’t get her head<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_88"></a>[88]</span> -down to it. I dragged two pieces of old log -over and built up a platform. Then I -climbed up on it with my bucket of water, -and my, how glad Jersey was to get that -cool drink!</p> - -<p>“Then I sat down on a log to wait for some -one to come. To keep from getting lonely I -began to say over my memory verses for the -next Sunday. I was committing the Twenty-third -Psalm and I had just reached the line -beginning, ‘He restoreth my soul,’ when I -heard them calling again.</p> - -<p>“‘Sa—rah! Sa—rah!’ they said just as -before. I jumped up and cried out as loud -as I could, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’ I was -determined to make them hear me this time, -and I said it over and over until I was hoarse, -and the more I answered the louder the voices -seemed to call.</p> - -<p>“Then to my joy came a voice I knew. -‘Where are you and what are you doing here?’ -it said, and crashing through the bushes came -my big brother Stanley. I rushed crying -into his arms, and the funny part was that -Stanley did not know I was lost. He was on -his way home from work on the upper place -and had come down to see if the berries were -ripe so he could tell Mother. He had heard -me calling and had come to find me.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_89"></a>[89]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 475px;"> -<img src="images/illus11.jpg" width="475" height="700" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>How glad Jersey was to get that cool drink!</i></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_90"></a>[90]</span></p> - -<p>“With his pocket knife he cut the vines -that held Jersey, and we drove her slowly -back to the pasture field after he had helped -me pick up the berries.</p> - -<p>“When Stanley and I got home Mother -was just starting Charlie out to look for me. -She was pleased to get the berries and glad -I had found Jersey. Father said Jersey might -have starved before he would have missed -her, but Mother made a rule that I was never -again to go farther away than the oak trees -or the run without asking her.</p> - -<p>“‘Who was calling me?’ I asked. ‘Some -one was calling me. They still are. Listen!’ -and there it was again.</p> - -<p>“‘Sa—rah! Sa—rah!’</p> - -<p>“They all looked puzzled. Then Mother -laughed.</p> - -<p>“‘Oh,’ she said, ‘I know what she means. -Why, that isn’t anyone calling you, dear. -That’s the locusts and they say, ‘Pha—raoh! -Pha—raoh!’ But it does sound like -‘Sa—rah,’ doesn’t it? And I am very -glad you thought they said ‘Sa—rah’ and -answered them or Stanley wouldn’t have<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_91"></a>[91]</span> -found you and you might have been up in -the berry patch all night.’</p> - -<p>“There, that was a long story, wasn’t -it? Hurry to bed now, for you know,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Early to bed and early to rise,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_92"></a>[92]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="ONE_FOURTH_OF_JULY">ONE FOURTH OF JULY</h2> - -</div> - -<p>Grandma had promised the children a -Fourth of July story, and Bobby and Alice -and Pink drew up their stools and waited -eagerly for her to begin.</p> - -<p>“Father was going to take us to Clayville -to the Fourth of July celebration,” Grandma -began. “We were all going except Mother -and Nanny Dodds, who was helping us over -hay harvest. I had been to Clayville once -before.</p> - -<p>“‘But that time it was on just a common -everyday day,’ as I told Nanny. ‘This -will be different.’</p> - -<p>“We were to start early—early in the -morning—for Clayville was twelve miles -away and we did not want to miss a single -thing.</p> - -<p>“First there would be a parade with two -brass bands, then ‘speaking’ on the courthouse -steps, and after that an ox roast. In -the afternoon there were to be horse races -and games. Father promised that we should -have supper at the hotel and stay for the -fireworks in the evening. I had never seen<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_93"></a>[93]</span> -even a firecracker, and I looked forward to -seeing the skyrockets most of all.</p> - -<p>“I was to wear a new light calico dress -with a little blue flower in it and a blue sash -and my ruffled white sunbonnet that was -kept for Sundays. I talked so much about -going that Mother and my sisters and every -one else except Nanny grew dreadfully tired -listening to me and begged me to talk of -something else.</p> - -<p>“Nanny was twenty and bashful and as -homely as could be, but I loved her very -much. When she made cookies she put a -raisin in the center of some of them, and -others she sprinkled with sugar. And she -made gingerbread men with currant eyes and -baked saucer pies and let me scrape the cake -bowl. She sewed for my doll and bound up -my hurt fingers tenderly and told the nicest -stories. There was no end to the things -Nanny did for me, but I liked the stories -best of all.</p> - -<p>“The day before the Fourth, when I sat -on the edge of the kitchen table watching -Nanny beat eggs for the sponge cake and -talking about what I should see the next -day, Nanny said in a wistful voice, ‘I’ve<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_94"></a>[94]</span> -never been to Clayville. I always thought -I’d like to go, but I never had a chance.’</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/illus12.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>“I’ve never been to Clayville,” said Nanny, wistfully</i></p> -</div> - -<p>“This set me thinking. Soon I slid off the -table and went in search of Mother. I found -her at the spring-house churning.</p> - -<p>“‘Mother,’ I said, ‘let’s take Nanny with -us tomorrow.’</p> - -<p>“‘I’m afraid there isn’t room,’ Mother -answered regretfully. ‘There are already five -of you, and the surrey is old and not strong.’</p> - -<p>“‘Nanny doesn’t weigh much,’ I argued.</p> - -<p>“‘I know, dear, but Father is afraid to -load the surrey any heavier for fear you’d<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_95"></a>[95]</span> -break down and not get to town at all. I -have told Nanny she may go home to see -her mother tomorrow.’</p> - -<p>“All the rest of the morning I sat under -the apple tree in the side yard, thinking. -Once when Charlie came through the yard -with a jug to fill with water for the men in -the hayfield I called him over. Maybe he -might offer to let Nanny go in his place. -To be sure, I hadn’t much hope of this, but -still it was worth trying.</p> - -<p>“‘Charlie,’ I said, ‘I think Nanny would -like to go to the Fourth of July celebration.’</p> - -<p>“‘Sure, who wouldn’t?’ he replied easily. -‘I want to go myself,’ and he went on to the -well.</p> - -<p>“I tried sister Belle next. I found her -picking chickens in the orchard and offered to -help. Then presently I suggested to her that -she could go to Clayville with the Strangs’, -since their surrey would not be crowded as -ours would, and then Nanny could go with -us. She only laughed scornfully and made -me finish picking the chicken I had started.</p> - -<p>“I went sadly back to the apple tree.</p> - -<p>“‘Nanny wants to go,’ I thought to -myself, ‘and I want to go, too, but if I stay<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_96"></a>[96]</span> -at home Nanny could go in my place. It -would be a sacrifice,’ I sighed deeply. -‘Preacher Hill says a sacrifice is giving up -something you want yourself. I want to -go more than I ever wanted anything, but -I have lots of things Nanny doesn’t have. -I have curly hair and Nanny’s hair is straight. -I can read and Nanny can’t. I’ve seen the -train and had my dinner at a hotel. I’ve -traveled and Nanny’s never been farther -from home than Mt. Zion Church.’</p> - -<p>“That night after I had said my prayers -I put my arms around my Mother’s neck -and whispered, ‘Mother, I want Nanny to -go in my place tomorrow.’</p> - -<p>“‘Why, dear!’ Mother started to protest. -But after looking earnestly into my face she -said, ‘Do you really want to stay at home -and let Nanny go in your place? You must -be very, very sure, you know.’</p> - -<p>“‘I’m sure, Mother,’ I declared solemnly. -‘Yes, I’m sure I want her to go.’</p> - -<p>“‘Well, sleep on it, and if you feel the -same in the morning you shall stay with -Mother and Nanny may go.’</p> - -<p>“I wakened at daylight to find Mother -standing beside my bed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_97"></a>[97]</span></p> - -<p>“‘Are you awake, Sarah?’ she asked. -‘They are all up but you.’</p> - -<p>“I sat up in bed dazed. I could hear the -girls rushing around in their room. From -the kitchen came the rattle of dishes and -out in the barn the boys were whistling. -Suddenly I remembered. It was the Fourth -of July!</p> - -<p>“‘I haven’t changed my mind, Mother,’ -I said yawning sleepily.</p> - -<p>“Mother bent down and kissed me before -going to tell Nanny. At first Nanny would -not hear of it and left off getting breakfast to -come and tell me so. I pretended to be too -sleepy to talk, so Nanny, urged by Mother, -finally went away to get ready, and Mother -went down to finish getting the breakfast.</p> - -<p>“But I wasn’t a bit sleepy a little later -when I jumped out of bed to watch them -start.</p> - -<p>“Father and Aggie sat on the front seat -of the surrey, and Belle, Nanny, and Charlie -on the back seat, while Joe, Stanley, and -Truman rode horseback. They all looked -very fine and grand to me dressed in their -best clothes, and I choked back a sob as -they drove down the road and out of sight.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98"></a>[98]</span></p> - -<p>“All morning I helped Mother. I did -lots of things the girls wouldn’t let me do -when they were doing the work. I dried -the dishes and fed the chickens and dusted -the sitting room and scrubbed the walks.</p> - -<p>“Then Mother and I had our lunch out -under the apple tree in the side yard—some -of everything the girls had put in their lunch -basket—fried chicken and sponge cake and -green-apple pie. My, but it tasted good! -In the afternoon Mother made my doll a -new dress, and we went together to hunt the -little turkeys and get the cows.</p> - -<p>“It was awfully late when the folks got -back, but I sat up in bed to see them. Every -one of them had brought me something. -Spread out on the bed were a flag and a bag -of peanuts, a pewter tea set from Father, a -sticky popcorn ball, and a sack of peppermint -lozenges, but the nicest of all was when -Nanny gave me a hug and whispered, ‘I -had the grandest time of my life, Sarah, and -I reckon it’ll take me a month to tell you -about all the things I saw.’</p> - -<p>“Now, let me think! What in the world -will I tell you about tomorrow night? Oh, -I know, but I won’t tell.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_99"></a>[99]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_BEE_TREE">THE BEE TREE</h2> - -</div> - -<p>There had been honey for supper, and -afterward, before the cozy fire in her room, -Grandma was telling Bobby and Alice and -Pink about how the bees live in little wooden -houses called hives and make the honey -from a fluid taken from the heart of the -flowers.</p> - -<p>“But I knew of some bees once that did -not live in a hive but in a hollow tree.” -Grandma reached for her work basket and -drew out her knitting. “While I put the -thumb in Bobby’s mitten I’ll tell you about -those bees.”</p> - -<p>“When I was a little girl,” she began, -“not many people kept bees and we could -not buy honey at the store, so honey was -considered a great treat. The first beehive -I ever saw belonged to Mr. Brierly. The -Brierly’s lived on the next farm to us, but -between them and us, in a little house on -Mr. Brierly’s place, lived a family named -Henlen. They were very lazy and hunted -and fished and worked just enough to get -what money they must have. Mr. Brierly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_100"></a>[100]</span> -had given them a swarm of bees and helped -them make a hive for it, and the Brierlys -and the Henlens were the only people in our -neighborhood who kept bees.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/illus13.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>Early in the summer one of Mr. Brierly’s hives swarmed</i></p> -</div> - -<p>“Then early in the summer one of Mr. -Brierly’s hives swarmed. That is, a swarm -of bees left the old hive and wanted to set -up in a hive of its own. Usually when a -young swarm left the old hive Mr. Brierly -gave them a new hive and they settled down -contentedly and went to making honey. But -this swarm flew away and lighted in a hollow -tree on the edge of our woods.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101"></a>[101]</span></p> - -<p>“Mr. Brierly did not find them for several -days. Then he told Father he would just -leave them where they were, if Father did -not care, and when he took the honey he -would divide with us. Father told him he -was welcome to leave the bees as long as -he wanted to and to keep the honey. But -Mr. Brierly said Father must take half of -the honey or he would not leave the bees. -So Father agreed and Mr. Brierly left the -bees.</p> - -<p>“Every morning when Charlie and I took -the cows to pasture we would skip across -the field to take a long look at the bee tree. -We would watch the bees as they flew in -and out the hole in the side of the tree and -wondered how much honey they had made -and talked about how good it would taste -on hot biscuits.</p> - -<p>“So all summer the bees worked away, -and one day in the fall Mr. Brierly sent -Father word that he would be over that week -to take the honey. A few mornings later -when I came in sight of the bee tree I stopped -in amazement. The bee tree was gone! -Instead of standing straight and tall like a -soldier on guard, it lay flat on the ground.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_102"></a>[102]</span> -Chips of wood were scattered all around. -The bee tree had been cut down.</p> - -<p>“I started for home as fast as I could -go to tell Father. He wasn’t at the barn, -and I went to the house. Back of the house, -under a sugar tree, the girls were washing -and Charlie was carrying water for them. -As I came up Aggie was scolding because -one of the washtubs was missing. When I -told them about the bee tree they were as -excited as I was. Charlie ran to the wheat -field where Father was ploughing to tell -him, and we girls went in to find Mother.</p> - -<p>“Belle declared that whoever stole the -honey must have taken the tub to carry it -away in. And since the honey was on our -land and we knew it was ready to take -away and the tub was ours, it would look to -Mr. Brierly as if we had had something to -do with it. Aggie laughed at her and said, -‘The very idea of anyone thinking we would -steal!’ But Mother looked serious.</p> - -<p>“Father came right to the house, got on -a horse, and rode over to Mr. Brierly’s. -Mr. Brierly came back with him, and they -examined the fallen bee tree carefully. It -had been chopped down. Mr. Brierly said<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_103"></a>[103]</span> -he thought we would have heard the blows -down at the house. Father replied coldly -that we had heard nothing and knew nothing -about it until I had taken the cows to pasture, -and wouldn’t have known then if I had not -run across to look at the bees. He told him -about our tub being gone, too. Aggie said -it wasn’t at all necessary to tell that, but -Belle said Father was too honest to keep -anything back.</p> - -<p>“Father imagined that Mr. Brierly -thought we knew something about the disappearance -of the honey. Of course Father -resented this, so the Brierlys and we ceased -to be friendly. Mrs. Brierly and Mother -had always helped each other to quilt and -make apple butter and had exchanged recipes -and loaned patterns back and forth, but all -this stopped now.</p> - -<p>“School started, and Tom and Annie -Brierly did not wait for Charlie and me -as they had always done. If they had not -gone to school before we came along, they -waited until we had passed by before they -started.</p> - -<p>“Charlie and I worried a great deal about -the coldness between the two families and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_104"></a>[104]</span> -the unhappiness it was causing. We were -always making plans to discover who took -the honey and so clear things up.</p> - -<p>“One day when Charlie was eating his -dinner at school he noticed that Flora May -Henlen had something on her bread that -looked like honey. He told me to watch -her, and the next day at noon I took my -dinner and sat down near Flora May to eat -it. Sure enough, it was honey she had -on her bread. But then I remembered that -they had bees and she had a right to have -honey. Still I watched Flora May for several -days, and she always had honey on her bread.</p> - -<p>“‘Did your bees make lots of honey this -year, Flora May?’ I asked her one day.</p> - -<p>“‘Oh, yes,’ she answered, ‘every few days -the boys bring in a pan of honey.’</p> - -<p>“That evening Charlie made an excuse -to stop a while with one of the Henlen boys, -and in the orchard back of the house he saw -their bee hive lying on the ground among -some rubbish and rotting leaves.</p> - -<p>“We told our discovery at home, and my -brother Truman said the Henlens had had -no bees at all for months. They had been -starved or frozen out the winter before.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105"></a>[105]</span></p> - -<p>“The next morning Father stopped Asa -and Longford Henlen as they were passing -our house on the way home from mill and -told them he knew they had taken the honey. -At first they denied all knowledge of the -honey, but when they found that in some -way Father had found out about it they were -scared and admitted that they had chopped -down the tree and, finding more honey than -they had expected, had taken our tub to -carry it away in.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Brierly and Father decided that if -the boys would work out the pay for the -honey and promise not to steal any more -they would not tell anyone.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Brierly apologized to Father, and -Mrs. Brierly and Mother kissed the next -time they met, and Tom and Annie began -waiting for Charlie and me again, so that -everything was all right once more.</p> - -<p>“Get the apples, Bobby, please, and tomorrow -night, if you say your prayers and go -right to sleep tonight, I’ll tell you about—well, -it’s an awfully good story I have for -tomorrow night.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_106"></a>[106]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="BRAIN_AGAINST_BRAWN">BRAIN AGAINST BRAWN</h2> - -</div> - -<p>Bobby was feeling his muscle and telling -his sisters how strong he wanted to be, and -Grandma, hearing him, said, “Of course -it’s nice to be strong, Bobby, but strength -won’t get anyone very far unless it is -combined with brains. I knew a delicate -looking boy once who got ahead of half -a dozen big strong fellows, not because he -was strong, but because he had brains and -used them.</p> - -<p>“It was long, long ago—the winter my -brother Truman taught our home school. -Mother didn’t want Truman to take the -school, for, though he was eighteen years -old, he was a slender, little fellow and his -blue eyes and light hair made him look -even younger than he really was. But Father -said for him to go ahead and see what he -could do.</p> - -<p>“There were several bad boys in school. -The year before they had run the teacher -out before the term was half over, and we -had no more school that winter. When -they heard that Truman was going to teach,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_107"></a>[107]</span> -they made all sorts of boasts about what -they meant to do.</p> - -<p>“Truman got along all right the first few -weeks until the older boys, who had been -working at a sawmill, started in. Nearly -all of these boys were bigger than Truman, -and Bud McGill, the leader, was a year -older. He had broken up several schools -and bragged that he would run Truman -out in short order.</p> - -<p>“From the day he started he did everything -he could to make trouble. Because -he had started to school late in the term -he did not get the seat he wanted. One -morning he came early and took this seat -and refused to give it up when Truman asked -him to. Truman couldn’t force him to give -it up, because Bud was so much larger and -stronger. All day long Bud sat there in the -corner seat talking and laughing and throwing -paper wads at girls—disturbing all the -rest of us so we could not study. At dismissing -time Truman told him to take his -books with him and not come back to school -until he could behave himself, but Bud -walked out as bold as you please without -a single book.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_108"></a>[108]</span></p> - -<p>“I don’t know just how it would have -come out if Bud’s father had not heard -about the trouble. But he did, and he -told Bud he would have to give up the seat -unless he got the teacher’s permission to -keep it.</p> - -<p>“Bud said he’d get Truman’s permission -all right.</p> - -<p>“The next morning I went to school early -with Truman because Charlie was sick and -couldn’t go. As soon as we came in sight -of the schoolhouse and saw a thick column -of smoke rising from the chimney we knew -something had happened, for Truman always -built the fire himself.</p> - -<p>“When we got within hearing distance, -Bud McGill opened the door a tiny bit and -called out to Truman, ‘Have I your say-so -to keep the seat in the corner?’</p> - -<p>“‘No, you haven’t,’ Truman said shortly, -and Bud slammed the door in his face and -bolted it. Bud’s plan was to keep Truman -out of the schoolhouse until he agreed to -Bud’s taking the seat he wanted. Then -Truman could come in and take up books -as usual, but if he did this he would be -admitting that Bud was the real authority in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_109"></a>[109]</span> -the school and the other pupils would cease -to respect him.</p> - -<p>“As the children came to school Bud -opened the door and let them in. They -offered to let me in, too, but I wouldn’t -go. Truman wanted me to go back home, -but I wouldn’t do that either. Several of -the boys stopped to talk to Truman and -offered to help him. Bud’s crowd saw the -boys talking to Truman and thought they -were going to combine and try to enter the -schoolhouse by force. Bud dared them to -come ahead. He went so far as to say that -if the teacher got in he would do whatever -he said. But Truman urged the boys who -were eager to help him to go on in and not -make any trouble. He said it was his problem -and he would have to settle it alone as -best he could. So they went in, and Truman -and I were left alone.</p> - -<p>“Truman brought some kindling from -the coal house and built a fire, and we stood -around it to keep warm.</p> - -<p>“‘I’ve got to get ahead of them some -way,’ Truman said, as much to himself as -to me. ‘I’ll have to beat them or I’m done -for. And if I give up the school, that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_110"></a>[110]</span> -means no spring term at the academy. I’ve -either got to outwit Bud and his crowd -or give up the school.’ Just then a strong -wind blew the smoke in our eyes and -started them to smarting. This gave Truman -an idea.</p> - -<p>“‘I might smoke them out,’ he said -thoughtfully. ‘If I could only get to the -roof, I could stuff this old coat down the -chimney. You wait here, Sarah, while I -look around for a ladder.’</p> - -<p>“He strolled to the back of the building -where there were no windows, got down on -his hands and knees, and crawled under -the house to look for a ladder that had -been there. But the ladder was gone. He -examined the walls of the schoolhouse, but -they were smoothly weather-boarded and -gave no foothold.</p> - -<p>“He got an armful of kindling to build -up the fire, and presently, though it wasn’t -noon, we opened our lunch basket and ate -our dinner. A cold wind had risen and the -fire was getting low. Whatever Truman did -must be done quickly, for the short winter -afternoon would soon be over.</p> - -<p>“I shivered and edged nearer to the fire.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_111"></a>[111]</span></p> - -<p>“‘I wish I had Belle’s new cape,’ I said. -‘It would keep me good and warm. Did -you see Belle’s new dolman and hat that -she got while she was at Clayville yesterday, -Truman?’ I asked idly, just for something -to say.</p> - -<p>“He didn’t answer me at once. Then, -‘Has anyone else seen them?’ he asked -quietly. ‘I mean anyone else except our -own folks.’</p> - -<p>“‘No, not a soul,’ I said. ‘No one knows -she even went to town.’</p> - -<p>“Truman stared at me blankly. ‘I wonder -if I could do it,’ he murmured.</p> - -<p>“‘Why I’m sure you could,’ I said, not -in the least knowing what he was talking -about, but eager to encourage him in any -way I could.</p> - -<p>“‘I’ll try it!’ he cried. ‘You go in, Sarah, -and tell them I’ll be back in an hour.’ With -that he started down the road, and I went -in and gave them his message. Some of the -boys hooted and laughed and said they -might as well go home, but finally decided to -wait.</p> - -<p>“Less than an hour from the time Truman -left some of the scholars impatiently watching<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_112"></a>[112]</span> -the road for his return were surprised to see -a lady approaching on horseback from the -opposite direction. She got off her horse -in front of the schoolhouse and looked helplessly -around. Bud McGill dashed out and -tied her horse to the fence. The girls said -she must be a stranger, for none of them -had ever seen her before.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/illus14.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>“The teacher is out just now. Won’t you have a chair?” said Bud</i></p> -</div> - -<p>“A plaid dolman of the newest style, -trimmed with fringe, fell nearly to her knees, -and she wore a wide black beaver hat with -a thick veil and glasses. She walked with -mincing steps to the door, daintily holding<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_113"></a>[113]</span> -up her long black riding skirt. Just inside -she turned to Bud.</p> - -<p>“‘Are you the teacher?’ she asked softly.</p> - -<p>“‘No, ma’am,’ Bud said politely, ‘the -teacher is out just now. Won’t you have -a chair?’</p> - -<p>“The lady sat down at the teacher’s desk -and began to fumble with her veil. One of -the girls came forward and deftly removed -the pins that held it in place. The veil -slipped off, and there sat Truman dressed -in sister Belle’s new clothes! There were -shouts and shouts of laughter in which -even Bud was forced to join. He came -forward and offered Truman his hand.</p> - -<p>“‘You beat,’ he said. He never made -any more trouble and we had a good school -the rest of the winter.</p> - -<p>“See who gets to sleep first and we’ll have -another story real, real soon.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114"></a>[114]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_WISH_THAT_CAME_TRUE">A WISH THAT CAME TRUE</h2> - -</div> - -<p>“Grandma,” said Alice one evening when -she and Bobby and Pink had come into -Grandma’s room, “do you believe that if -you look over your right shoulder at the -new moon and make a wish that it will come -true?”</p> - -<p>“Naw,” jeered Bobby, “course not.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I don’t know,” Grandma answered -thoughtfully. “A wish made that way could -come true. I made a wish once over a white -horse and a red-haired girl that came true.”</p> - -<p>“Tell us about it Grandma. Please tell -us,” coaxed Alice.</p> - -<p>Grandma found her knitting and began.</p> - -<p>“The red-haired girl,” she said, “was -Betty Bard, our preacher’s granddaughter. -She had lived at the parsonage with her -grandparents for nearly a year, and next -to Annie Brierly she was my best friend. -The white horse belonged to old Mrs. Orbison, -who with several other women had come to -help sister Belle quilt her ‘Rose of Sharon.’</p> - -<p>“Betty and I were playing under the apple -tree in the side yard. That is, we were trying<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115"></a>[115]</span> -to play. We couldn’t find any game we -liked. We kept thinking that this might be -our last afternoon together. You see, conference -was to meet the next week, and -Betty didn’t seem to think her grandfather -would be sent back to preach on Redding -circuit. I didn’t think so either. Redding -circuit was very hard to please, and though -Father never found fault with any of our -preachers and always paid his tithes, still I -knew that Brother Bard was not popular. -Betty said it was because he did good by -stealth and no one ever found it out.</p> - -<p>“‘If I move away,’ said Betty as we -sat under the apple tree talking that afternoon, -‘you may have my playhouse rock -at school, Sarah, and all my dahlia roots, -and the black kitten. The kitten’s name is -Bad Boy because he jumps on the table -when no one is looking. And you must be -sure to dig the dahlias up before frost.’</p> - -<p>“Just then Mrs. Orbison’s voice floated -out through the open sitting-room window.</p> - -<p>“‘It all depends on the sermon he preaches -tomorrow,’ she said. ‘If they don’t like it, -a letter goes to the Presiding Elder saying -we will not tolerate Brother Bard another<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116"></a>[116]</span> -year and that in case he is sent back against -our wishes we will not pay him anything.’</p> - -<p>“I looked quickly at Betty to see if she -had heard, and I knew by the flush on her -cheeks that she had. I put my arm through -hers and we walked slowly toward the front -gate. It was then I made my wish. I looked -at Mrs. Orbison’s white horse turned out to -graze in the orchard across the road and at -Betty’s red head, and I said to myself, ‘I -wish for Betty not to move away.’ Out -loud I said to Betty, ‘Can’t you tell your -grandpa to preach a sermon they’ll like, -Betty, so you won’t have to go away?’</p> - -<p>“‘But how would he know what they’d -like?’ she asked in a puzzled tone.</p> - -<p>“‘Oh, just something pleasant,’ I answered -cheerfully, ‘something nice and pleasant.’</p> - -<p>“‘I’ll tell him what Mrs. Orbison said,’ -she promised before she went home, ‘and he -can do what he thinks best.’</p> - -<p>“We stopped at the parsonage the next -morning to take Betty into the surrey with -us because her grandma seldom went to -meeting, not being very strong. I could hardly -wait till Betty and I got around a corner of -the church to ourselves.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117"></a>[117]</span></p> - -<p>“‘What did your grandpa say?’ I asked -eagerly.</p> - -<p>“‘He said he’d do his duty as he saw it, -and grandma said he stayed up all night. -She crept downstairs three times to beg him -to come to bed.’</p> - -<p>“This did not sound very encouraging, but -when I heard the text I breathed a sigh of -relief. It was, ‘Now if Timotheus come, see -that he may be with you without fear, for he -worketh the work of the Lord as I also do.’ -I didn’t know what it meant, but it sounded -like a safe text, and I became so interested in -watching a robin hopping on the window sill -that I did not notice what Preacher Bard was -saying until I felt Betty straighten up and -clutch my hand.</p> - -<p>“I looked around to see what had happened, -and I knew in a minute that he had not -preached a sermon to please them. Amazement, -indignation, surprise, showed plainly -in the upturned faces. I won’t try to tell you -what was in that sermon, only this—that, in -the hope of making things easier for his successor, -Reverend Bard had undertaken in a -kindly way to open the eyes of the Mt. Zion -people to some of their faults. They had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_118"></a>[118]</span> -found fault with all the preachers. Now he -pointed out a few of their own shortcomings, -and they didn’t like it—no, indeed, not a bit.</p> - -<p>“When it was over, the congregation -poured out of the church, filled the little yard, -and overflowed into the graveyard beyond. -No one offered to leave. They stood around -in groups—whispering, shaking their heads -gravely, pressing their lips in grim lines.</p> - -<p>“As soon as the preacher left for his afternoon -appointment the storm broke. No one -paid any attention to Betty as she stood at -the horseblock with me waiting for Father to -come round with the surrey. Everybody -talked at once.</p> - -<p>“‘He doesn’t preach the straight gospel—he -tells too many tales.’</p> - -<p>“‘He doesn’t visit enough.’</p> - -<p>“‘He favors pouring, when we’ve always -stood for immersion.’</p> - -<p>“These remarks and many others Betty -and I heard as we waited there for Father. -Betty must have stood it just as long as she -possibly could. Then suddenly she jerked -away from me and climbed to the horseblock. -I can see her now—her red hair flying in the -breeze, her eyes shining, her cheeks flushed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119"></a>[119]</span></p> - -<p>“‘My grandfather’s the best man in the -world,’ she cried, and stamped her foot angrily. -‘He’s the best man in the world, I tell you. -I don’t care what you say, he’s the best man -in the world,’ and she crumpled down in a -little sobbing heap.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/illus15.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>The congregation stood around in groups—whispering -and shaking their heads gravely</i></p> -</div> - -<p>“Father came up then and, putting an arm -around Betty, he said, ‘Let us pray,’ and -everybody bowed his head and Father prayed. -He prayed a long time, and at the last there -were lots of ‘Amens’ and ‘Praise the Lords’ -just as in big meeting.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120"></a>[120]</span></p> - -<p>“The second Father finished, an old man -stepped out in front and said in a halting way -that he would like every one to know that -when his cow died in the winter Preacher -Bard had bought him another. That started -things. A young man said the preacher had -sat up with him every other night for six weeks -when he had typhoid fever. A boy said the -preacher had bought him school books, and -the Widow Spears said he had given her -twenty dollars when her house burned. An -old lady told how he read one afternoon a -week to her husband who was blind, and so on -and on and on. Everybody wanted to tell -something good about Preacher Bard.</p> - -<p>“Before the meeting broke up a big donation -party was planned for Monday night, -and Mother got Mrs. Bard to let Betty come -home with us so she wouldn’t give it away. -Monday was a busy day. While the women -baked and cooked for the party, the men -raised money to put a new roof on the parsonage, -to buy a suit of clothes for Brother Bard, a -black silk dress for Mrs. Bard, so stiff it would -stand alone, and a blue delaine for Betty.</p> - -<p>“How we surprised the Bards that night -when we all went in, and what a good time we<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_121"></a>[121]</span> -had! But the best part was when Deacon -Orbison, who had been opposed to the preacher -from the first, got up on a chair and made a -speech. He said it seemed to him Redding -circuit could not afford to lose a man like -Reverend Bard, that his salary and benevolences -had been made up in full, and that a -letter would be sent the Presiding Elder asking -that he be returned for another year. He was -returned, and Betty and I sat together at -school that winter, so you see I got my wish.</p> - -<p>“Well, well, if it isn’t bedtime for three -little children I know. Pass the apples, -Bobby, please, and next time I’ll tell you—well, -I just don’t know what I shall tell you -next time, but I’ll have something for you.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_122"></a>[122]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="JOES_INFARE">JOE’S INFARE</h2> - -</div> - -<p>“I think tonight I’ll tell you about my -brother Joe’s infare,” said Grandma one evening -when Bobby and Alice and Pink had -come to her room for their usual good-night -story. “But first,” she went on, before the -children had time to ask any questions, “I’d -better tell you what an infare was. It was a -sort of wedding reception which took place at -the bridegroom’s home, usually the day after -the wedding. It was the faring or going of the -bride into her husband’s home and was celebrated -with great rejoicing and a big feast.</p> - -<p>“Joe had married Sally Garvin, who lived -four miles from us by the road but only two -miles through the fields. They had been -married the day before, and we were to have -the infare.</p> - -<p>“Mother and the girls and Nanny Dodds -had baked and cooked for a solid week. -And before that they had cleaned the house -from top to bottom, and we had mowed and -raked and swept the big front yard and the -orchard across the road and the pasture lot by -the house. Now the great day had arrived.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123"></a>[123]</span></p> - -<p>“Stanley had gone in our surrey to drive -the bridal couple home, and Truman and the -girls had ridden horseback to meet them. -Charlie had brought Hunter, Stanley’s colt, -down to the barn lot so he could go with them. -But Mother was afraid to have him ride the -colt, not knowing that he practiced riding -him every day in the pasture field.</p> - -<p>“From my lookout on the rail of the front -portico I saw the first of the guests come over -the top of two-mile hill. There was a number -of young men and girls on horseback, followed -by our surrey with Stanley driving. On the -back seat I knew the bride and groom sat.</p> - -<p>“I waited for nothing more. I jumped -down and rushed off to the kitchen to tell -Mother. Mother gave Nanny some instructions -about the dinner, slipped off the big -gingham apron that covered her gray silk -dress, patted her hair before the mirror in the -hall, and, taking Father’s arm, went down the -path between the rows of bachelor’s buttons, -foxglove, Canterbury bells, and ribbon grass -to welcome her first daughter-in-law.</p> - -<p>“When Sally and Joe had left Sally’s home, -a number of friends and relatives had started -with them. These had been added to all<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_124"></a>[124]</span> -along the way by other friends, so that there -was quite a crowd of folks when they reached -our house, besides lots of people who had -already come.</p> - -<p>“As soon as Mother and Father had greeted -Sally, Belle and Aggie hurried her upstairs to -the spare chamber to put on her wedding -dress. Sally was little, with pink cheeks, and -brown curls which she wore caught at the top -of her head and hanging down her back very -much as the little girls wear their hair now, -only the young ladies of that day wore a -high-backed comb instead of a ribbon. She -wore a new gray alpaca trimmed in narrow -silk fluting, very pretty, but nothing like -what the wedding dress would be. The -wedding dress had been made in Clayville, -and Belle and Aggie and everybody else were -eager to see it.</p> - -<p>“Joe brought up the telescope which held -Sally’s things and went back downstairs. The -girls were going to help Sally dress, and I -kept as much out of sight as possible so I -could see and yet not be seen.</p> - -<p>“‘Open it up, Aggie, please,’ said Sally, -pointing to the telescope, ‘and lay my dress -on the bed. I do hope it’s not wrinkled.’</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_125"></a>[125]</span></p> - -<p>“Aggie lifted the telescope from the floor -to a chair.</p> - -<p>“‘My goodness, but it’s heavy!’ she cried. -‘What in the world is in it, Sally?’</p> - -<p>“Sally turned from the mirror.</p> - -<p>“‘Heavy?’ she said surprised. ‘Why, -there’s hardly anything in it. I packed -it myself. I wanted to be sure my dress -wouldn’t be wrinkled, so I just put in the -dress and a few other things to do until -tomorrow.’</p> - -<p>“Aggie rapidly unbuckled the straps and -lifted up the lid. Sally gave a smothered cry -and caught Belle’s arm.</p> - -<p>“‘Somebody has made a mistake,’ she -gasped. ‘It is the wrong telescope!’ and she -threw herself across the bed and burst into -tears.</p> - -<p>“The telescope was packed tight full with -towels, pillow slips, tablecloths, and sheets -and was to have been brought over the next -day with the rest of Sally’s things. In the -excitement of leaving, some one had carried it -down and placed it in the surrey instead of -the one containing the wedding dress.</p> - -<p>“‘You look awfully sweet in this little gray -dress, Sally,’ Aggie tried to console her. But<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_126"></a>[126]</span> -it was no use, for Sally knew quite well that -waiting downstairs were girls in dresses -that looked much more bridelike than the -gray alpaca. To be outshone at one’s own -infare—well, it was no wonder she cried!</p> - -<p>“Belle suggested that Stanley or Truman -go back for the wedding dress, but Sally -objected to this. She said people would -laugh at her and never forget that she had -gone to her infare and left her wedding dress -at home.</p> - -<p>“Suddenly a thought came to me. Hunter -was still in the barn lot. Charlie could ride -him, and he went like a streak. It was only -two miles through the fields to Sally’s home. -I never stopped to think that Mother would -be frightened if she knew Charlie was on -Hunter, or that Father would probably forbid -it, or that Charlie might ruin his new Sunday -suit. I slipped out of the room and went in -search of Charlie. I found him out front -pitching horseshoes, and in no time at all he -was off to Sally’s home without a soul knowing -about it. Then I went upstairs to tell the -girls what I had done.</p> - -<p>“They were not very hopeful. It didn’t -seem possible that Sally could stay upstairs<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_127"></a>[127]</span> -till Charlie got back with the dress, but she -said she would wait a little while anyway. -She got up and bathed her face, and Belle and -Aggie went down to entertain the guests. -Belle started several games, such as ‘Strip-the-Willow’ -and ‘Copenhagen,’ and Aggie -played the piano.</p> - -<p>“I was everywhere—in the kitchen begging -Nanny to hold the dinner back as long as she -could (I had let her into the secret), on the -hill behind the house watching for Charlie, -and in the spare chamber trying to cheer -Sally up, for at the end of an hour there was -no sign of Charlie.</p> - -<p>“What could have happened? He had said -he could make it in less than an hour. He had -been gone an hour and twenty minutes! -People were wondering why Sally did not -appear. They had lost interest in the games -and were dropping out and sauntering toward -the house. Aggie had played everything she -knew over and over. Belle had run up to tell -Sally she would have to put on the gray dress -and come right down, but Sally had coaxed -for five minutes more. Belle went back and -started the folks singing ‘The Star-Spangled -Banner.’ The five minutes were up and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_128"></a>[128]</span> -Sally was putting on the gray alpaca dress -when Charlie came.</p> - -<p>“The people who had begun to wonder what -was keeping the bride forgot about it when -Sally came down and stood with Joe to receive -their good wishes and congratulations. Her -dress was heavy cream-colored silk with tiny -pink rosebuds scattered all over it, and the -full skirt was ruffled clear to the waist. The -round neck and elbow sleeves were finished -with filmy white ruching, and she wore white -satin slippers. With her pink cheeks and -shiny brown curls I thought she was the very -prettiest bride any one ever saw.</p> - -<p>“When they had gone into the dining room, -where Annie Brierly and some other little -girls were waving peach switches over the -tables to keep the flies and bees away and -Sally was saying who should sit at the bride’s -table, Charlie told me what had kept him. -He had found the Garvins’ house locked up -and had had to climb in a window to get the -telescope. The dog had seen him as he had -gotten in and wouldn’t let him come out until -Charlie had fed him and made friends with him.</p> - -<p>“Then some one called us and said that -Sally wanted Charlie and me to sit at the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_129"></a>[129]</span> -bride’s table. No one could have been more -surprised than we were, for we hadn’t -expected to eat till the third table at the very -soonest, and here we were invited to sit at -the bride’s table and have our pick of the -choicest food!</p> - -<p>“There! I hear Mother calling. Good -night, good night, good night.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_130"></a>[130]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="PUMPKIN_SEED">PUMPKIN SEED</h2> - -</div> - -<p>“Well, well,” said Grandma one evening -when Bobby and Alice and Pink asked for -a story. “I wonder if I can think of anything -tonight.” She found her knitting and -went on in a puzzled tone. “I thought of -something today to tell you about. Let me -see, what was it? Oh, I remember now. -It was the pumpkin pie at dinner that set -me thinking about the pumpkin seed that -Father gave brother Charlie and me to plant.”</p> - -<p>“It was in the spring. The fish were -biting fine, and one afternoon Charlie and -I were all ready to go down to the deep hole -under the willows to fish. Charlie had cut -new poles and hunted up hooks and lines, -and I had packed a lunch, for you do get -awfully hungry sitting on the creek bank -all afternoon. We were out behind the barn -digging bait when Father came around the -corner and saw us.</p> - -<p>“‘I’ve just been looking for you children,’ -he said. ‘I want you to take these pumpkin -seeds down to the cornfield in the bottom and -plant them.’ Then, seeing our fishing tackle,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_131"></a>[131]</span> -he added, ‘It won’t take long, and when -you finish you may go fishing.’</p> - -<p>“Of course Charlie and I were disappointed. -We hadn’t been fishing that year -yet. It had been a late spring, with lots of -rain, and on the bright days there had been -so many things that we could do around the -house and garden that we couldn’t be spared -to go fishing. And now, with everything all -ready, to give it up even for an hour or two -was a trial.</p> - -<p>“We started for the cornfield, Charlie -carrying the poles and the can of bait and I -the lunch and the paper sack of pumpkin -seed. The pumpkins we were to plant were -to be used to feed the stock—cow pumpkins -they were called, and they were big and -coarse-grained and not good for pies.</p> - -<p>“Well, Charlie and I started down at the -lower end of the field and we planted a few -seeds. But there was such a lot of the seed -and the field was so big and the lure of the -creek with the shade under the willows and -the fish biting was so great that we could -think of nothing else. We stopped to examine -our bait to see if the worms were still living. -When we went back to work Charlie wondered<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_132"></a>[132]</span> -what was the use of planting so many old -pumpkins, anyhow, when Father had already -planted as many as usual in the upper -cornfield.</p> - -<p>“‘We might plant a whole lot of seed -at once,’ he said, ‘but still it would take us -a long time.’</p> - -<p>“‘I know what to do!’ I cried, ‘Let’s -hide the sack of seed in this old stump and -come back tomorrow and plant them.’ After -a few half-hearted protests from Charlie, -this was what we did. We buried the sack -of seed in an old, rotten stump, covered it -deep with the soft, rich loam, and away we -went to the creek to fish.</p> - -<p>“Charlie baited both our hooks with the -fishworms, and we would spit on our bait -each time for luck. The charm must have -worked, for when it was time to go home -we had caught a nice lot of sunfish, tobacco -boxes, silversides, and suckers. Truman -cleaned them for us, and Mother dipped -them in corn meal and fried them a golden -brown. We had them for supper, and -every one said how good they were and no -one thought to ask us anything about the -pumpkin seeds.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_133"></a>[133]</span></p> - -<p>“I thought about them that night after -I had gone to bed and wished that we had -stayed and planted them as Father had told -us to. But then Charlie and I would go -down first thing in the morning, dig the -sack out of the stump, plant the seeds, and -everything would be all right.</p> - -<p>“But it began to rain in the night, and it -rained all the next day. The day after, it -was too wet, and the day after that Charlie -was busy. Then it rained again, and after -a while I forgot all about the pumpkin seeds. -It was several weeks before I thought of them -again. You couldn’t guess what made me -think of them then, so I will tell you.</p> - -<p>“When we went to meeting on Sundays, -Charlie and I always tried to remember the -text of the sermon to say when we got home, -for Mother was almost sure to ask us what -it was. One Sunday I was saying it over -and over to myself so that I could remember -it, when suddenly the meaning of it came to -me and I was surprised to find that it had -something to do with me. The text was -‘Be sure your sin will find you out,’ and in -a flash I knew it meant that if you did anything -wrong you couldn’t keep people from<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_134"></a>[134]</span> -knowing about it. Then I thought of the -buried pumpkin seed which Charlie and I -had meant to go back and plant.</p> - -<p>“Father had never said a word about the -pumpkins not coming up, though he must -surely have noticed it long before this. Perhaps -he thought the seed had been bad, but -still it was queer he had never mentioned it.</p> - -<p>“That night I couldn’t sleep for thinking -how wrong it had been for Charlie and me -to deceive Father about the pumpkin seed. -Even the fact that we had meant to go back -and plant them didn’t make me feel any -less guilty. When I did fall asleep, I dreamed -that the room was full of pumpkins with ugly -grinning faces like jack-o’-lanterns. They -laughed and mocked at me and pressed closer -and closer until I wakened with a frightened -cry, and when Mother asked me what had -scared me I couldn’t tell her.</p> - -<p>“In the morning I talked it over with -Charlie. We agreed to go to Father immediately -and tell him that we had not planted -the pumpkin seeds.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/illus16.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>I dreamed the room was full of pumpkins with ugly grinning faces</i></p> -</div> - -<p>“But Father had gone to Clayville on -business for a couple of days. When he -came back, before we had a chance to see<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_135"></a>[135]</span> -him alone he told us at dinner before all the -others that the pumpkin crop in the bottom -cornfield was to be Charlie’s and mine. He -said that we could keep as many as we -wanted to for jack-o’-lanterns on Hallowe’en -and he would pay us ten cents apiece -for all the rest. Think of that! Ten cents -apiece for all the pumpkins we raised, and -we knew that there wouldn’t be any pumpkins! -I looked across the table at Charlie, -and his face was very red. I couldn’t say -a word, but when Father left the table we -both followed him and told him all about<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_136"></a>[136]</span> -the pumpkin seeds, and how the text had -started us thinking, and everything. Father -listened without a word till we had finished. -Then much to our surprise he said, ‘I’ve -known for a good while what you did with -the pumpkin seed. When I saw the number -of fish you caught that afternoon, I -wondered how you had planted the pumpkin -seed so quickly. I had told Mother they -were to belong to you two to do with as you -pleased, but I did not intend to tell you -until later. Then when I found out that -you had not planted the seeds I waited -for you to come to me. I believe you have -learned a lesson from this experience which -you will not forget. Come along with me. -I want to show you something.’</p> - -<p>“Wonderingly, without a word, we followed -Father to the cornfield and straight -to where the old rotten stump in the lower -end of the field had been. But when we -got there we could not see the stump, for -coming out of it and all over it and completely -covering it, were myriads of pumpkin -vines—not big strong vines like the ones -that grew in the fields, but thin, sickly -vines crowding each other for space.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_137"></a>[137]</span></p> - -<p>“The soil in the stump had been so rich -and light that, though the sack of seeds had -been deeply covered, when soaked with rain -the seeds had sprouted and forced their way -through the sack and up to the light and -air. The vines told Father where the pumpkin -seeds were as plainly as if they could -have spoken.</p> - -<p>“And now, good night, my dears, and -don’t forget to say your prayers, and I’ll -try to think up a good story for next time.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_138"></a>[138]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_SCHOOL_FOR_SISTER_BELLE">A SCHOOL FOR SISTER BELLE</h2> - -</div> - -<p>“It was during the third year of the war -that sister Belle got her certificate to teach. -Our school had been closed for a year, first -because there were no teachers, all the -young men having enlisted, and secondly -because there was no money to pay a teacher. -The few schools in the county had been -given out before Belle got her certificate. -She was awfully disappointed, for she wanted -to go to the academy in the spring and she -didn’t think Father could spare the money -to send her, times being so hard.</p> - -<p>“But since she couldn’t get a school she -would make the best of it. She would help -Aggie and Truman and Charlie and me at -home, and she promised to teach the Brierly -children, too. Then the Orbisons wanted to -come, and to save Mother the fuss and dirt -so many children would make in the house, -Belle said she would hold school in the schoolhouse -and let any one attend who wanted to.</p> - -<p>“‘It will give me experience, anyway,’ -she said, ‘and dear knows the children need -some one to teach them!’</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_139"></a>[139]</span></p> - -<p>“‘Why don’t you let them pay you?’ -Aggie suggested. ‘A dollar apiece a month -for each pupil wouldn’t be a bit too much.’</p> - -<p>“But Belle said some of them couldn’t -pay and they were the ones who needed -schooling the most. And the ones who -could pay probably wouldn’t, because the -county should pay for a teacher.</p> - -<p>“So one Saturday in October, armed with -brooms and buckets, window cloths and -scrubbing brushes and a can of soft soap, -we set out to clean the schoolhouse. We -scrubbed the floor and the desks and polished -the stove and cleaned the windows, and on -the next Monday, the date set for the opening -of all the schools in the district, sister -Belle took her place at the teacher’s old desk.</p> - -<p>“It wasn’t a very different opening from -the one she had planned and looked forward -to so eagerly. The only difference was that -there would be no payment for Belle at the -end of the term.</p> - -<p>“The last pupil to start in was Joe Slater. -He was a tall, strong boy of seventeen, but -was not considered very bright. He was a -fine hand to work, though, and from ploughing -time in the spring until the corn husking<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_140"></a>[140]</span> -was over in the fall, he was always busy. -During the winter months he did odd jobs -and went to school, but he had never got -beyond the first-reader class. Because he -had nothing to do he had always been more -or less troublesome in school, and the very -first day he came he threw paper wads and -whispered and teased the younger children.</p> - -<p>“Belle found that he knew the first reader -‘by heart.’ More to encourage Joe than -for any other reason, she promoted him to -the second reader. It was hard to tell -whether pupil or teacher was the most -astonished to find that Joe was actually -learning to read. Belle helped him before -and after school, and Joe became a model -pupil and refused to do any work that would -make him miss a day of school. He always -came early in the morning and had the fire -going and wood enough in for all day by the -time Belle got there.</p> - -<p>“So Belle was surprised to find Joe’s seat -empty one snowy morning in December. -His sister Nancy said he had gone to the -railroad in a sled to get some freight for Mr. -Grove. They lived on Mr. Grove’s place, -and Joe could not well refuse to do this for<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_141"></a>[141]</span> -him. Nancy did say, though, that Joe had -wanted to wait until Saturday, but Mr. -Grove was afraid the sledding snow would -go off before that time. So Joe had started -long before daylight, hoping to get back to -school in time for the afternoon session.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/illus17.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>On the steps a big man was stamping his feet and shaking -the snow from a fur-collared great-coat</i></p> -</div> - -<p>“About half-past eleven there was a loud -knock on the door. It was snowing and -blowing, and we all turned around to look -when Belle went to open the door. On the -steps a big man in a fur cap was stamping -his feet and shaking the snow from a fur-collared -great-coat. Belle said afterward<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_142"></a>[142]</span> -that she knew him instantly—it was -the new county superintendent—but she -couldn’t imagine why he had come. She -had seen him at institute in Clayville, but -none of us children had ever seen him before.</p> - -<p>“Belle soon found from his talk that he -thought he was in the Cherry Flat school. -When she told him where he was and the -peculiar circumstances of our school, he was -very much surprised.</p> - -<p>“‘Why, I can’t understand it at all,’ he -said. ‘I was talking to the station agent -this morning, asking how to get to Cherry -Flat school, and a boy who was warming -himself at the stove spoke up and offered to -take me there. He was on a sled and of -course I jumped at the chance. He let -me out at the forks of the road, and here I -am, three miles from the Cherry Flat school, -you say.’</p> - -<p>“‘I bet it was Joe,’ Betty Bard whispered -to me.</p> - -<p>“Now that the superintendent was there -and couldn’t get away until the storm let -up, he made a speech. Then he listened to -our recitations and asked Belle a great many -questions, such as how many pupils she had,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_143"></a>[143]</span> -where they lived, and whether she received -any pay at all for teaching. She told him -about her certificate and her failure to get -a school, and he wrote it all down in a little -notebook.</p> - -<p>“The storm grew worse and worse. The -wind whistled around the schoolhouse and -rattled the windows, and the falling snow -looked like a thick white blanket.</p> - -<p>“Belle asked us to share our dinners with -the superintendent, and we did. He sat on -one of the desks and told us stories while he -ate everything we gave him—bread and -apple butter, hard-boiled eggs, ham sandwiches, -pickles, doughnuts, mince and apple -pies, and cup cakes. When he left we were -all good friends and we filled his pockets -with apples. He said he would eat them as -he walked along to Cherry Flat school, but he -didn’t have to walk. Truman took him in -our sled, and we all stood in the door and -waved until he was out of sight.</p> - -<p>“No one could get Joe to say a word -about the superintendent’s visit, but everybody -thought he had brought him there on -purpose, hoping in this way to help Belle. -He was a great deal smarter than people<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_144"></a>[144]</span> -gave him credit for, and Belle had helped -him and he wanted to do something for her.</p> - -<p>“But if sister Belle nourished any secret -hopes that the unexpected visit would help -her in any way, she gave them up as the -weeks went by and she heard nothing from -the superintendent.</p> - -<p>“School went on just as usual, though. -Christmas came, and Belle didn’t have -money for the usual treat. But we had -lots of sorghum molasses, and Mother let -her have a taffy pulling in our kitchen and -we had lots of fun.</p> - -<p>“Everybody got along well in their books -and we were going to have last day exercises, -as we always did, with recitations and songs -and games. Belle staid late at the schoolhouse -the evening before and reached home -just as Truman came in from the postoffice. -He handed her a long, thin envelope and -she tore it open and read the letter it contained. -Before she got through she was -dancing all around the kitchen, laughing and -crying at the same time, and Mother took -the letter from her hand and read it aloud.</p> - -<p>“I can’t remember how that letter read, -but it was from the board of education.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_145"></a>[145]</span> -They said they had decided to put our school -back on the pay roll and that they understood -that Belle had taught it in a very satisfactory -manner since the opening of the term. She -was to send her record of attendance and -they would forward the five salary vouchers -of thirty dollars each, which were due her. -There was some more about its being unusual, -but that they felt she deserved it. It was no -wonder Belle was so happy, was it?”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_146"></a>[146]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="ANDYS_MONUMENT">ANDY’S MONUMENT</h2> - -</div> - -<p>Bobby and Alice and Pink had been telling -Grandma about the soldiers’ monument that -was to be placed in the courthouse yard.</p> - -<p>“It is to be made of granite,” said Bobby, -“and the names of all the soldiers from this -county who died or were killed in the war -will be cut on one side of it.”</p> - -<p>“Well, well,” said Grandma thoughtfully, -“that makes me think of a monument I -knew about long ago, but this monument -wasn’t made of granite.”</p> - -<p>“Marble, may be,”suggested Alice.</p> - -<p>“No, not marble, either. You never heard -of a monument like this. But, there, I -might as well tell you about it,” and Grandma -polished her spectacles, found her knitting, -and began:</p> - -<p>“This monument was for a soldier, too. -Andy Carson was his name. He was a very -young soldier, only fifteen years old, but -large for his age, and he ran away from -home and enlisted. Three times he ran -away and twice his father brought him back, -but the third time he let him go.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_147"></a>[147]</span></p> - -<p>“But poor Andy never wore a uniform or -saw a battle. He died in camp two weeks -after he had enlisted and he was buried in -our cemetery, with only Father to read a -chapter out of the Bible and say a prayer, -because the preacher was clear at the other -end of the circuit.</p> - -<p>“Right away Mrs. Carson began to plan -for a monument for Andy. At first it was -to be just an ordinary monument, but the -more she thought about it the grander she -wanted it to be. Nothing could be too good -for Andy. He should have the biggest monument -in the cemetery—a life-size figure. -But she couldn’t decide whether to have -the figure draped in a robe with a dove -perched on the shoulder or to have it wearing -a uniform and cap. Mrs. Carson finally -settled on the uniform, though she couldn’t -give up the idea of the dove, so there was -to be a dove in one outstretched hand.</p> - -<p>“But the Carsons had no money and they -didn’t like to work. If anyone mentioned -work to Mr. Carson, he would begin always -to talk about the misery in his back. When -brother Charlie had a job he didn’t want -to do, he would bend over with his hand<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_148"></a>[148]</span> -on his back, screw up his face as if he were -in great pain, and say, ‘Oh, that misery in -my back!’</p> - -<p>“Mother said Mrs. Carson had not been -lazy as a girl, but that she had grown discouraged -from having so many to do for and -nothing to do with. Sometimes she came to -visit Mother, because Mother was always -nice to everybody. She was very tall and -thin, with a short waist, and she wore the -longest skirts I ever saw and a black slat -sunbonnet.</p> - -<p>“There was a big family of children—a -girl, Maggie, older than Andy, and Willie, a -boy a year younger, and four or five smaller -children. The older ones came to school -part of the time, but none of them ever came -to church—partly because they had no proper -clothes, I suppose.</p> - -<p>“They lived on a farm left them by Mrs. -Carson’s father. The land was all run down -and worn out. It was covered with briars -and broom sage and a stubby growth of trees. -Fences were down, and the buildings were -unpainted and old.</p> - -<p>“So, though the Carsons talked a great -deal about Andy’s monument, no one ever<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_149"></a>[149]</span> -thought they would get one. But Mother -said it was the first thing Mrs. Carson had -really wanted for years and years and people -generally got the things they wanted most -if they were willing to work hard for -them. And it turned out that all the Carsons -were willing to work hard for Andy’s monument. -It was astonishing the way they -worked.</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Carson and the children started -with the house and yard. They cleaned the -rubbish off the yard and raked and swept it -and planted flowers. They made the stove -wood into a neat pile and swept up the -chips and patched the fence and whitewashed -it. By this time Mr. Carson had -the fever, too. He started to clear off -the land, all the family helping him. All -summer long they worked, early and late, -cutting out the briars and underbrush, -burning broom sage, building fences, and -by fall you wouldn’t have known it for -the same place. They worked for a number -of other people, too, and made a little -money, besides taking seed corn and a pair -of little pigs and other things they needed in -payment.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_150"></a>[150]</span></p> - -<p>“Well, it took a lot of money for a monument -like Andy’s was to be, but the Carsons -worked and saved for it. It seemed as if -they had set a new standard for themselves -and were trying hard to live up to Andy’s -monument.</p> - -<p>“They painted the house and repaired -and whitewashed the outbuildings and put -a paling fence around the front yard. They -got lace curtains and a store carpet for -their best room, and when Father got us a -piano, Mrs. Carson bought our organ for -a trifle. They got new clothes and dishes -and tablecloths, and every Sunday they -all came to meeting and asked folks home -with them to dinner just as anybody -else did.</p> - -<p>“Dave Orbison was courting Maggie, and -Willie was ready to go to the academy. He -wanted an education and came to our house -every week to get Truman to help him with -his studies or to borrow books. If it hadn’t -been for the monument, people would have -forgotten that the Carsons had ever been -considered lazy or shiftless.</p> - -<p>“But Mrs. Carson was always talking -about the monument. She had never had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_151"></a>[151]</span> -Andy’s funeral sermon preached, and she -planned to have it preached the Sunday -after the monument was set up.</p> - -<p>“And at the end of three years they had -enough money, but for some reason they -didn’t get the monument. Everybody wondered -about it. Weeks went by, and still -no news of the monument. Willie often -came to our house, but he never mentioned -it. Then one day Mrs. Carson came. She -had a horse now, and she looked longer -and thinner than ever in her black calico -riding skirt.</p> - -<p>“Mother was fitting a dress on me—a red -wool delaine for Sundays—but Mrs. Carson -dropped into a chair without even glancing -at it.</p> - -<p>“‘Mrs. Purviance,’ she began immediately, -‘I want your honest opinion about something. -For over three years now we’ve been saving -for Andy’s monument, and until a few weeks -ago I never had a thought but that that -was the right thing to do with the money. -But one night I got to thinking that here -was Willie wanting an education, and Maggie -getting ready to be married and no money -to help her set up housekeeping, and Lissy<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_152"></a>[152]</span> -longing for music lessons, and I couldn’t -sleep for thinking. And, Mrs. Purviance, I -haven’t had a minute’s peace since. That’s -why I haven’t ordered the monument. I -can’t make up my mind to it. It’ll be a -long time before we can help Willie much -if we spend the monument money. It looks -as if he ought to have his chance. And of -course the money won’t help Andy any, -but I had set my heart on a fine monument -for him. I don’t know what to do,” and she -started to cry.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/illus18.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>“Mrs. Carson,” said Mother, “you have given Andy a better -monument than you can ever set up in the cemetery”</i></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_153"></a>[153]</span></p> - -<p>“‘Mrs. Carson,’ Mother said gently, and -there were tears in her eyes, too, ‘if you -want to know what I really think, I’ll tell -you. I think that as far as honoring Andy -is concerned you and your family have -already given him a much better monument -than any you can ever set up in the -cemetery.’</p> - -<p>“Mother ran a pin straight into me and -I jumped, and Mother said she was done -with me for a while. I went out, and that -was the last I heard of the monument until -the Sunday Andy’s funeral sermon was to be -preached.</p> - -<p>“There had been so much talk about the -monument and the long put-off funeral sermon -that there was an unusually large crowd at -the church that day.</p> - -<p>“And some of them were disappointed, -for when the service was over and we filed -out, the Carsons first, past the flower-decked -graves to the corner where Andy was buried, -there was Andy’s grave adorned with only a -plain little head stone. But grouped around -it stood his family, and the way that family -had improved in the three years since Andy’s -death—well, as my mother said, that was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_154"></a>[154]</span> -a pretty fine monument for Andy, don’t -you think so?</p> - -<p>“And now don’t forget your ‘apple a day,’ -and good night to everybody.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_155"></a>[155]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="MEMORY_VERSES">MEMORY VERSES</h2> - -</div> - -<p>Grandma had been reading aloud from -Pink’s Sunday-school paper and when she -finished she said:</p> - -<p>“We didn’t have anything like this when -I was a little girl. We didn’t even have -any Sunday school. The nearest thing to -Sunday school was when we recited our -memory verses on meeting day. Every week -we learned so many verses from the Bible, -and on meeting day the preacher heard us -recite them.</p> - -<p>“I remember one year—it was Reverend -Bard’s second year—that in order to get -the children to take more interest in learning -the verses, the preacher offered a Testament -to the one who could say the most -verses by a certain time. We were all eager -to get the Testament, and we did study -harder than usual.</p> - -<p>“The contest was to take place on Sunday -afternoon. There was to be preaching in -the morning, dinner on the grounds, and in -the afternoon a prayer meeting and the -memory-verse contest. There would be a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_156"></a>[156]</span> -large crowd, and anyone who wanted to -could try for the Testament. Even the -smallest children would say what verses -they knew.</p> - -<p>“Charlie was always hunting for the shortest -verses, and he hadn’t learned very many -of any kind till toward the last. Then he -learned five or six a day and carried a Bible -around in his pocket wherever he went and -studied every spare minute.</p> - -<p>“I had been getting my verses regularly -every week and I had a good memory. So -I wasn’t much afraid of anyone beating me -except Charlie or Annie Brierly or maybe -Betty Bard, the preacher’s granddaughter. -Betty knew a lot of verses, but at the last -minute she was likely to get to thinking of -something else and forget them.</p> - -<p>“On Saturday Betty and Annie came to -see me, and Betty said that Lissy Carson -was going to try for the Testament, too. -The Carsons hadn’t been coming to meeting -very long, but Betty, when she had been -there to call with her grandfather a few days -before, said Lissy knew fifty-one verses.</p> - -<p>“‘And I think she ought to have the -Testament,’ announced Betty. ‘Grandfather<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_157"></a>[157]</span> -said it would encourage the whole family. -If you two girls and Charlie and I let -her say more verses than we do, she would -get it.’</p> - -<p>“‘But if we knew more verses and just -let her get the Testament on purpose,’ put -in Annie, ‘it wouldn’t be right, would it?’</p> - -<p>“‘But see how hard she’s trying,’ argued -Betty. ‘The Carsons have nothing but the -big family Bible, and Lissy has to stand by -the table and learn her verses out of it. If -she works so hard and doesn’t get anything, -she might think there’s no use in trying.’</p> - -<p>“Annie looked stubborn.</p> - -<p>“‘My Father said he would give me a dollar -if I get the Testament,’ she said, ‘and I -mean to try for it. You can do as you like, -Betty, but I will say all the verses I know.’</p> - -<p>“‘I should hate to have Lissy get ahead -of me,’ I explained, ‘when I’ve always gone to -meeting and she hasn’t and I am in the -fifth reader and she is only in the third. It -would look as if she was so much smarter -than I am and Mother hates to have us -thought a bit backward.’</p> - -<p>“At these arguments Betty herself looked -uncertain.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_158"></a>[158]</span></p> - -<p>“‘Well, maybe you’re right,’ she remarked. -‘I know it would disappoint Grandfather if -I only said a few verses, for he says I should -be an example to the other children.’ Then -she saw Charlie picking up some early -apples in the orchard. ‘Let’s see what -Charlie says,’ she cried, and was off across -the road with Annie and me following.</p> - -<p>“When we had explained the matter to -Charlie, he looked at us scornfully. ‘I never -saw such sillies,’ he said. ‘If you girls pull -out, though, it will make it that much easier -for the rest of us. I’m for the Testament.’ -Then he pretended he was reading from -a book he held in his hand, ‘Presented to -Charles Purviance by his pastor for excellence—.’ -Betty started after him, and then -Annie and I chased him, too, and we got -to playing ‘tag’ and forgot all about Lissy -and the Testament.</p> - -<p>“Sunday was a beautiful day, bright and -sunshiny. From miles around people came -to attend the all-day service. There were -many strangers. With the Orbisons came -Mr. Orbison’s sister and her granddaughter, -a little girl about my age named Mary Lou, -who was visiting away from California.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_159"></a>[159]</span> -Mary Lou wore a silk dress and lace mitts -and a hat with long velvet streamers and she -carried a pink parasol.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/illus19.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>Mary Lou wore a silk dress and lace mitts and carried a pink parasol</i></p> -</div> - -<p>“Tables had been set up in the grove across -from the church, and at noon, after the morning -sermon, dinner was served. There was -fried chicken and boiled ham and pickles and -pie and cake and everything good you could -think of, and the people had all they could eat.</p> - -<p>“After dinner Mrs. Orbison brought Mary -Lou over to where Annie and Betty and I -were sitting and left her to get acquainted, so -she said. But Mary Lou didn’t want to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_160"></a>[160]</span> -get acquainted with us. She just wanted -to talk about herself. She told us that she -had three silk dresses and eleven dolls and a -string of red beads and a pony not much -larger than a dog and ever so many other -things.</p> - -<p>“‘Don’t you have a silk dress for Sunday?’ -she asked, looking at my blue sprigged lawn, -which until then I had thought very nice.</p> - -<p>“‘No,’ I replied. And I added crossly, -‘My mother says it’s not what you’ve got -that counts but what you are,’ though I’m -free to confess I didn’t get much consolation -from this thought, then.</p> - -<p>“Pretty soon we went into the church, and -after a prayer and some songs the smaller -children began to go up one by one to say -their verses. Brother Bard kept count and -as they finished each verse he would call out -the number of it.</p> - -<p>“After a while he came to Lissy Carson, -and every one was surprised when she kept -on until at last she had recited sixty-one verses, -two more than anyone else had given so far.</p> - -<p>“I looked at Betty, but she sat with downcast -eyes and flushed cheeks. Annie looked -scared, and I couldn’t see Charlie. Then<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_161"></a>[161]</span> -Betty was called on and she said fifty-eight -verses and quit.</p> - -<p>“‘Are you sure that is all, Betty?’ her -grandfather said in a puzzled tone.</p> - -<p>“‘Yes, sir,’ Betty replied and took her seat.</p> - -<p>“I came next and I had made up my mind -by then that I wouldn’t keep Lissy from -getting the Testament, so I recited fifty-nine -verses. I can still see the amazement in -Mother’s face when I sat down.</p> - -<p>“Annie Brierly gave fifty-nine and Charlie -sixty, though of course, like Betty and me, -they each knew many more verses than that. -Lissy would get the Testament, and I was -glad of it when I saw her sitting there so -proud and happy. Why didn’t Reverend -Bard give it to her at once and be done with -it? Whatever was he waiting for? Then I -saw. Mary Lou, the strange little girl, was -tripping up front in all her finery as self-possessed -as you please.</p> - -<p>“And what do you think? She said sixty-three -verses and got the Testament!</p> - -<p>“Well, you can imagine how Annie and -Betty and Charlie and I felt, though Charlie -wouldn’t talk about it even to me. He -never admitted but what he’d said all the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_162"></a>[162]</span> -verses he knew, though I knew better. -Hadn’t I heard him at home reciting chapter -after chapter when he thought no one was -listening?</p> - -<p>“We girls went around behind the church to -talk it over, and Annie cried a little, and -Betty stamped her foot and said she wasn’t -an example any more and she wished Mary -Lou would tear her parasol and lose her -mitts and get caught in a rain and spoil her -hat. And we all got to laughing and forgot -our disappointment.</p> - -<p>“And now it’s bedtime for three little -children I know.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_163"></a>[163]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_COURTING_OF_POLLY_ANN">THE COURTING OF POLLY ANN</h2> - -</div> - -<p>One evening when Bobby and Alice and -Pink came to Grandma’s room they found -her sitting before the fire rocking gently to -and fro and looking thoughtfully at something -she held in her hand. When they had -drawn up their stools and sat down, she -handed the object to them and they passed -it from one to the other, examining it eagerly.</p> - -<p>It was a button—a pearl button of a peculiar -shape, fancifully carved. The holes -were filled with silk thread, attaching to -the button a bit of faded flannel as if it had -been forcibly torn from a garment.</p> - -<p>“I found that button today,” Grandma -began, “when I was looking for something -else, in a little box in the bottom of my -trunk. I had forgotten I had it. It came -off my brother Stanley’s fancy waistcoat, and -the way of it was this:</p> - -<p>“Stanley had been away at school all year, -and when he came home he had some stylish -new clothes—among other things a pair of -lavender trousers and a waistcoat to match -and a ruffled shirt and some gay silk cravats.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_164"></a>[164]</span></p> - -<p>“Every Sunday he dressed up as fine as -could be, and all the girls were nice to him. -But he didn’t pay any attention to any of -them except Polly Ann Nesbit, who was the -prettiest girl in all the country round about. -Some people called Polly Ann’s hair red, but -it wasn’t. It was a deep rich auburn, and -she had brown eyes and a fair creamy skin. -Besides being pretty she was sweet-tempered, -though lively and gay.</p> - -<p>“Polly Ann had so many beaux that when -she was sixteen every one thought she would -be married before the year was out, and her -father—Polly Ann was his only child—said -that he wouldn’t give Polly Ann to any man. -He needn’t have worried, for Polly Ann was -so hard to please that she was still unwed at -twenty when Stanley came home from school. -By that time her father was telling every -one how much land he meant to give Polly -Ann when she married.</p> - -<p>“Stanley hadn’t been home very long until -he, like all the other boys, was crazy about -Polly Ann, and she favored him more than -any of the others. Stanley went to see her -every week and escorted her home from -parties and singings and took her to ride on<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_165"></a>[165]</span> -Sunday afternoons in his new top buggy. -Father suspected he would be wanting to get -married, and told him he could have the wheat -field on what we called the upper place, to -put in a winter crop for himself.</p> - -<p>“Then one night at a party at Orbison’s -Stanley wore his new lavender waistcoat. -Polly Ann wagered the other girls that she -could have a button off the waistcoat for -her button string, and they wagered her -she couldn’t.</p> - -<p>“That night when Stanley asked Polly Ann -if he might see her home she said he could if -he would give her a button off his waistcoat. -It must have been hard for Stanley, for he -knew he could never wear the waistcoat again -if he did as she asked and that he couldn’t -go with Polly Ann any more if he refused. -He had no knife and he wouldn’t borrow one, -so he just wrenched a button off and gave it -to Polly Ann.</p> - -<p>“When the girls went upstairs to put on -their wraps, Polly Ann showed the button -to them and they had lots of fun about it. -The next morning Aggie told Stanley what -Polly Ann had done and how every one was -laughing at him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_166"></a>[166]</span></p> - -<p>“Stanley was at breakfast. There was no -one in the kitchen but Stanley and Aggie and -me, and they didn’t pay any attention to me. -I remember how red Stanley’s face got when -Aggie told him, and his chin, which had a -dimple, seemed suddenly to get square like -Father’s. I thought to myself that Polly -Ann Nesbit had better look out, for, as -Father often told us, ‘he who laughs last, -laughs best.’ Stanley did get even with -Polly Ann, though not in the way we thought -he would.</p> - -<p>“Before he went to work that morning he -wrote her a letter and paid Charlie a quarter -for taking it to her. Charlie told me that -Polly Ann was in the front yard by herself -when he gave her the letter and when she -read it she just laughed and laughed, but that -she put it in her pocket for safekeeping.</p> - -<p>“Stanley was as nice as ever to her when -they met, but he didn’t go to see her any -more or take her buggy riding on Sunday -afternoons. He took Mother or me instead, -and I thought it very nice. Stanley went -right ahead ploughing up his wheat field just -as if nothing had happened, and when he got -through with that he began to fix up a little -cottage where brother Joe had lived for two -years after he was married.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_167"></a>[167]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 475px;"> -<img src="images/illus20.jpg" width="475" height="700" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>Polly Ann was in the front yard when Charlie gave her the letter</i></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_168"></a>[168]</span></p> - -<p>“He built a new kitchen, at the side instead -of at the back where most people built their -kitchens, so his wife could see the road when -she was working, he said. And he added a -front porch with railings and a seat at each -end and painted the house white and set out -rose bushes and honeysuckle vines and began -to buy the furniture.</p> - -<p>“Of course it caused a great deal of talk, -and every one wondered whom Stanley was -going to marry. The girls would laugh about -Stanley’s house and say they wouldn’t marry -a man who wouldn’t let them furnish their -own house. And often they would tease -Polly Ann, but she would only toss her head -and say nothing.</p> - -<p>“And all the time Stanley worked away, -singing and whistling as happy as could be. -When any one questioned him, he would say -he meant to keep bachelor’s hall, or that he -hadn’t decided what he would do, or that he -planned to marry the sweetest girl he knew. -Belle and Aggie were wild to know what girl -he meant. They tried in every way to find -out, but they couldn’t.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_169"></a>[169]</span></p> - -<p>“Stanley often talked in his sleep, and they -would listen to hear whether he mentioned a -girl’s name, but they could never understand -what he said. Some one told the girls to tie -a string around Stanley’s great toe and when -he talked to pull the string gently and he -would repeat clearly what he had just said.</p> - -<p>“One night Belle and Aggie did this, but -instead of a string they used a piece of red -yarn. When they were pulling it, it snapped -in two, and Stanley woke up and found the -yarn on his toe and jumped out of bed and -chased the girls squealing and giggling into -their room, and Father came out to see what -was the matter.</p> - -<p>“But finally the house was done, even to -the last shining pan, and Mother had given -Stanley so many quilts and blankets and -things that Charlie grumbled and said there -would be nothing left for the rest of us.</p> - -<p>“One afternoon I was up at the cottage with -Stanley planting some of Mother’s wonderful -yellow chrysanthemums by the garden fence. -Stanley was building a lattice at the end of -the porch for a climbing rose which he had -only just set out, when the front gate clicked -and there, coming up the path, was Polly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_170"></a>[170]</span> -Ann Nesbit. Her cheeks were rosy and she -was laughing.</p> - -<p>“‘I’ve brought it myself, Stanley,’ she -cried gaily. ‘You said in your letter to send -you the button when I was ready to marry -you, but I’ve brought it instead. Do you—do -you still want it?’ and she held out this -little button, the very one Stanley had pulled -off his lavender waistcoat to please her.</p> - -<p>“I looked at Stanley, so straight and tall -and handsome though he was in his everyday -clothes, to see what he would do.</p> - -<p>“‘Do I want it?’ he cried starting toward -her. ‘Why, Polly Ann, I’ve just been longing -for that button. I never wanted anything so -much in my life. I was only afraid you -wouldn’t give it to me.’ He put his arms -around her and they went in to look at the -house. When they had gone in, I saw this -little button lying on the path almost at my -feet, and I picked it up and skipped home -to tell Mother and the girls that Stanley was -going to marry Polly Ann after all.</p> - -<p>“And now, ‘’night, ’night,’ and pleasant -dreams.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_171"></a>[171]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="EARNING_A_VIOLIN">EARNING A VIOLIN</h2> - -</div> - -<p>“And you don’t like to practice!” Grandma -exclaimed in surprise when Bobby told her -why he did not like to take violin lessons. -“But you’ll have to practice, you know, or -you will never learn to play. I knew a boy -once, who dearly liked to practice. I think -I’ll tell you about him. It was my brother -Charlie. Charlie had wanted a violin ever -since he was just a little bit of a fellow and -had first heard old Mr. Potter play on his -violin.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Potter was a traveling tailor who went -around the country making and mending -men’s clothing. He carried his goods from -place to place in pack saddles, and he always -brought his violin along.</p> - -<p>“In the evenings he would play, and we all -loved to hear him. He played beautifully. -All Charlie and I had ever heard before were -things like ‘Pop goes the Weasel,’ or ‘Turkey -in the Straw.’ There was such a difference -between these tunes and what Mr. Potter -played that the first time Charlie heard him -play—‘Annie Laurie,’ I think it was—he<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_172"></a>[172]</span> -walked up to him and said very solemnly, -‘I like a violin better than a fiddle,’ and -everybody laughed.</p> - -<p>“Years before, Mr. Potter had had a thriving -trade, but when I knew him he did not -get much to do because store suits for men -had become common. Mother always found -some work for him, though, and in his spare -time he gave violin lessons.</p> - -<p>“He was in our neighborhood several weeks -each spring, and one winter Charlie determined -to have a violin and be ready to take -lessons when he came next time.</p> - -<p>“So right away he began to save money for -a violin. But there wasn’t much Charlie -could do to earn money, and it looked as -though he would never get enough for a violin, -let alone enough for an instruction book and -lessons. But he did get the violin, and this -is how it came about.</p> - -<p>“It was one of the coldest winters anyone -remembered in years. A deep snow lay on -the ground for weeks and weeks, and the -roads were frozen hard and as smooth as -glass.</p> - -<p>“There was a sawmill about eight miles -down the road from our house, and every<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_173"></a>[173]</span> -day we could see men passing on their way -to the mill with logs. Big iron hooks called -‘dogs’ would be driven into the logs and -fastened to a heavy chain which would be -hitched to a single-tree, and the log would -be dragged over the smooth road by one -horse. It was an easy way to get logs to -the mill, and every one was hurrying to -haul as many as possible before the thaw -came.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/illus21.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>“I like a violin better than a fiddle,” said Charlie to Mr. Potter</i></p> -</div> - -<p>“Father had cut one big walnut log when -he had been called to serve on jury duty -and had gone to Clayville to attend court. -Before he went, Charlie asked him what he<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_174"></a>[174]</span> -would do with that one log and Father told -Charlie he could have it. Charlie could -hardly believe his ears and he asked Father -whether he really meant that he could have -the money for the log if he could get it to -the mill. Father said that was what he -meant, but afterward he told Mother he -never dreamed Charlie would try to do it.</p> - -<p>“But from the first Charlie intended to -move that walnut log to the mill. He thought -of nothing else. He made plan after plan. -He found out from the storekeeper that the -man who owned the sawmill came to the -store Saturday afternoons to buy supplies -for the next week. So when Charlie and I -went to the store for Mother on the next -Saturday we sat by the stove to warm -ourselves and wait for the sawmill man. -When he came, Charlie asked him whether -he would buy the walnut log.</p> - -<p>“‘Well, that depends,’ said the man, -looking Charlie over good-naturedly. ‘I’m -not anxious to lay in any more logs than -we’ve bargained for. We’re going to move -Wednesday.’ Then when he saw the disappointment -on Charlie’s face he asked, -‘Pretty good log, is it?’</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_175"></a>[175]</span></p> - -<p>“‘Oh, yes, sir,’ said Charlie eagerly. ‘My -father said when he cut it that it was first -grade—woods-grown, ten or twelve feet long.’</p> - -<p>“‘Well, if that’s the case, I reckon I could -use it,’ said the man. ‘Be sure to have it -in by Tuesday, though.’</p> - -<p>“We went home by way of Mr. Brierly’s, -and Charlie got permission to borrow his -logging chain and ‘dogs,’ as they were called. -We stopped to look at the log, and Charlie -declared he could get it to the mill without -any trouble. He could have, too, if it -hadn’t been for the thaw.</p> - -<p>“Sunday was the longest day Charlie ever -put in. Sometimes he would get discouraged -and think he couldn’t do it at all. -Then the next minute he would be talking -about the kind of violin he would get with -the money the log would bring. Father had -come home for over Sunday and he would -help him get started, the older boys being -away from home.</p> - -<p>“Sunday, after dinner, the weather turned -slightly warmer, and by four o’clock a gentle -rain was falling. When Charlie got up long -before daylight Monday morning, Mother -told him that it had rained hard all night.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_176"></a>[176]</span> -He fed the horse and ate his breakfast, and -Father helped him drive the hooks or dogs -into the log. Then Charlie was off.</p> - -<p>“He got the log as far as Sugar Creek -without any trouble, and there what a sight -met his eyes! Sugar Creek was out of bank, -and the shallow stream, easily forded the -year round, was like an angry, rushing little -river filled with cakes of ice. To ford it -was clearly impossible till the ice went out, -and even then the current would be rapid -and dangerous. There was nothing to do -but wait, and Charlie unhitched the horse -and came back home. It was still raining -and thawing and it didn’t get any better -all that day. The next morning, though, -the creek was clear of ice, which was some -advantage.</p> - -<p>“I went with Charlie and sat on the log, -feeling very helpless while he walked up -and down the creek bank trying to think of -some way to get the log across. The current -was so strong that, though the horse could -swim it, he could not swim and drag the -heavy log along.</p> - -<p>“Charlie examined the foot-log carefully -and found that it had not been moved by<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_177"></a>[177]</span> -the high water, being chained at each bank -to a big tree. Then he made his plan. He -fastened some strong rope he had brought -along to the chain which went around the -walnut log. Holding the other end of the -rope, he got on the horse and made him -swim to the opposite bank. Then he fastened -the rope at that side to the single-tree and -urged the horse up the bank.</p> - -<p>“The horse tugged and pulled and finally -the log moved slowly down into the water. -Now came the test of Charlie’s plan. If -the foot-log proved strong enough to withstand -the jar it would get when the walnut -log hit it, everything would be all right; -but if the foot-log gave way, Charlie would -have to cut the rope quickly to keep the -horse from being drawn back into the water, -and the walnut log would float down stream -and be lost.</p> - -<p>“I almost held my breath when the walnut -log, sucked rapidly down the stream by the -swift current, struck the foot-log. I shut -my eyes tight and did not open them until -I heard Charlie shouting for joy. The foot-log -hadn’t budged! Because of the high -water Charlie thought it would be easy for<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_178"></a>[178]</span> -the horse to pull the log out on the ground, -but the log stuck on something under the -water. Charlie couldn’t raise the log up, -and he had to let it slide back into the water. -It slid back several times before it finally -came out on the road.</p> - -<p>“It was nearly noon and Charlie was wet -to the waist, so he went back home to change -his clothes and get a fresh horse. After -dinner he started out again. He got to the -mill all right and sold the log, and when he -reached home late that night he had money -enough for a violin.</p> - -<p>“When Father heard about it, he was so -proud of him that he doubled the money. -So Charlie had more than enough for his -lessons and his instruction book, too.”</p> - -<p>“And did he really like to practice?” -asked Bobby unbelievingly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed, and he came to be a fine -violinist and owned a violin that cost a great -deal of money, but he always kept that first -one, too.</p> - -<p>“There! Mother’s calling you to bed.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_179"></a>[179]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="AT_THE_FAIR">AT THE FAIR</h2> - -</div> - -<p>“We’re going to the fair tomorrow, -Grandma. It’s childrens’ day,” announced -Bobby one evening when he and Alice and -Pink came to Grandma’s room for their -usual evening call and story.</p> - -<p>“Are you going, Grandma?” inquired Pink.</p> - -<p>“Why, I may go. I don’t know yet. Do -you like to go to the fair?”</p> - -<p>“Yeh, boy!” interrupted Bobby eagerly. -“And this year they’re going to give a pony -away. I wish I’d get that pony.”</p> - -<p>“That would be nice,” agreed Grandma. -“I think I’ll tell you tonight about the time -we took our horse, Prince, to the fair at -Clayville. I had been to the fair several -times before, and I always loved to go. To -get up early in the morning, and dress and -eat breakfast and start before daylight with -a big basket of dinner tucked away in the -back of the surrey; to take the long pleasant -drive through the cool of the morning and -at last go through the gates into the fair -grounds and see all the people and hear the -noise of the sideshow barkers and the bands<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_180"></a>[180]</span> -and the balloon whistles and the lowing -of cattle, uneasy because of their strange -quarters, was every bit of it a joy to me—usually.</p> - -<p>“But this particular year it wasn’t a -pleasure to look forward to the fair at all, -even though there was to be a balloon ascension. -For when we went to the fair Father -was going to take Prince along and sell him -to a horse dealer. Father had raised Prince, -and we all loved him, especially Charlie and -I. He was nine years old, but he still looked -like a colt. His coat was brown and glossy, -and he was as playful and active as he had -ever been. When he had been a colt, the -older children had petted him and fed him -sugar. Charlie and I had taken it up when -they left off, so that he had always been -used to children and loved them.</p> - -<p>“But Prince had a bad habit, and that -was the reason he was to be sold. He balked -whenever a grown person rode or drove him. -The only thing he was any good for at all -was carrying Charlie and me to the store -for Mother. He would take us both at once -or one at a time wherever we wanted to go -and never balk once while we were on his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_181"></a>[181]</span> -back. Father said that if Charlie and I had -been older he would have kept Prince, but -by the time we would need a horse Prince -would be too old to be of much use. If he -could even have been trusted to take Mother -to church and back when the roads were too -rough to drive, Father would not have sold -him. But he was sure to stop some place -or other, no matter how cold the day, and -refuse to budge until he got ready. So -Father said he could not afford to keep him -any longer, and as none of our neighbors -would want him he would sell him to the -horse dealer for what he could get. This -wouldn’t be much, for of course Father -would tell the man that Prince balked.</p> - -<p>“So we went to the fair as usual, except -that Prince went along and was hitched -with the other horses to the fence until -Father should get ready to see the horse -dealer some time after dinner.</p> - -<p>“I went with Mother to Floral Hall, -which was just a little, whitewashed building, -and looked at quilts and fancy work and -cakes and pies and pianos and stoves and -pumpkins and potatoes until I got tired and -wandered on ahead of Mother—who was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_182"></a>[182]</span> -busily talking to some people she knew—to -the door, and there was Charlie waiting -for us.</p> - -<p>“He had been out to see the cattle and -poultry. He said our white-faced steer and -Mother’s bronze turkeys had taken blue -ribbons and he wanted me to come and -see them.</p> - -<p>“As we passed our horses, Prince whinnied, -and I suggested that we say good-by to -Prince again. So we went over to where he -was hitched to the fence. We petted him -and fed him an apple that Charlie had in -his pocket, and then Charlie said we would -take a last ride. So he got on first and I -climbed up behind him and put my arms -around his waist and we were off. For a -while Prince trotted about on the grass, and -then we came to an opening that led into -the race track. Before we realized what he -was doing, Prince had turned through this -opening into the circular track.</p> - -<p>“Two men were standing at the entrance -talking. One of them was an old man. -The other, a big man with a wide-rimmed -felt hat and high-topped boots, waved a -riding whip at us and called out something<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_183"></a>[183]</span> -that we did not hear as we passed, but -Prince kept right on. Charlie could have -turned him around, but he wouldn’t, though -I begged him to. The trainers were exercising -their horses on the track, but Prince paid -no attention to anything, looking neither to -right nor to left. We must have been a -queer sight—two children riding bareback -on a big farm horse around the race track. -By the time we got to the grandstand quite -a crowd had gathered and they cheered us -loudly as we passed. Charlie, not to be -outdone, waved his hat in return.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/illus22.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>Prince turned through the opening that led to the race track</i></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_184"></a>[184]</span></p> - -<p>“When we got back to the gate we had -come through, Charlie pulled Prince’s mane -and he turned out into the grass again.</p> - -<p>“The men were still talking, and the one -who had called to us patted Prince’s head -and asked us if we had enjoyed our ride. -Then, because it looked so silly, we told -him how we happened to be on Prince at -a place like that and how Father was going -to sell him because he balked and wouldn’t -work and how sorry we were and afraid -some one would buy Prince from the horse -dealer because he was so handsome and then -beat him when he found he balked.</p> - -<p>“The old gentleman seemed greatly interested -and asked us Father’s name and a -great many questions about Prince. We -told him how he would do anything for us -and was as safe as safe could be. Then we -hitched Prince to the fence and said good-by -to him and went to dinner. My dress was -all wrinkled and my hair was mussed and -my face burned from being in the sun, and -Mother was not at all pleased that Charlie -and I had made ourselves so conspicuous.</p> - -<p>“But we had lots of fun that afternoon -watching the races and eating peanuts and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_185"></a>[185]</span> -drinking pink lemonade. There was the -balloon ascension, and Father took us into -some of the shows and bought us ice cream, -molded into cakes and wrapped in paper, -which was called ‘hokie-pokie.’</p> - -<p>“We had balloons and peanuts and canes -to take home with us, and when we got in -the surrey to go home Prince was gone and -no one mentioned him. But when we were -well out of town Father said, ‘Well, children, -you may rest easy about Prince. He has a -good home where he will be well treated, and -it is largely due to Charlie and Sarah.’ And -then he told us all about it.</p> - -<p>“The man at the gate with the wide felt -hat and high-topped boots was the horse -dealer, and the old man with him was hunting -a horse that would be safe for his little -granddaughter, who had been sick and was -not strong, to ride and drive. When he saw -Charlie and me on Prince and heard what -we said, he knew that Prince was the very -horse he wanted.</p> - -<p>“So he had bought him from Father and -paid a hundred dollars, when Father had -only expected to get fifty dollars at the most. -He didn’t care a bit because Prince balked,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_186"></a>[186]</span> -for no one would use him but the little girl -and he would be quite as much a pet as -when we owned him.</p> - -<p>“‘And that extra fifty dollars shall go to -Charlie and Sarah,’ said Father, ‘for their -very own.’</p> - -<p>“The next time Father went to Clayville, -sure enough, he put twenty-five dollars in -the bank for Charlie and twenty-five dollars -for me, and he gave us each a brand new -bank book with our names on the backs. -We never saw Prince again, but the man who -bought him took care of him and was good -to him until Prince died a few years later.</p> - -<p>“Now what shall I tell you tomorrow -night? Oh, I know—a Hallowe’en story!”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_187"></a>[187]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="HALLOWEEN">HALLOWE’EN</h2> - -</div> - -<p>“Grandma, tomorrow night is Hallowe’en,” -said Pink one evening when she and Alice -and Bobby had drawn their stools close -to Grandma’s knee for their usual good-night -story.</p> - -<p>“Mother makes candy on Hallowe’en,” -Alice added, “and we have nuts and apples -and false faces and witches on broomsticks -and black cats and everything.”</p> - -<p>“And last year we had a party,” said -Pink.</p> - -<p>“And this year,” put in Bobby eagerly, -“we’re going to have a great, big pumpkin -to make a jack-o’-lantern of. I know how -to do it. Daddy told me, and he’s going -to help. You hollow out the insides of the -pumpkin and cut round holes for the eyes -and make a nose and a mouth with teeth -and put a candle inside, and I’ll say he’ll -look scary.”</p> - -<p>“Won’t he though!” exclaimed Grandma. -“To meet a jack-o’-lantern like that on a -dark night would make a body shiver. I -just know it would. Brother Charlie and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_188"></a>[188]</span> -I used to save the biggest pumpkins for -Hallowe’en. In the summer we would pick -out certain pumpkin vines in the cornfield -and take special care of them so that the -pumpkins would grow extra large for jack-o’-lanterns. -We would keep the dirt loosened -around the roots, and when the weather was -dry we would carry water from the creek to -water them. We would watch to keep the -worms and bugs off the vines, and then when -the pumpkins began to get big we’d measure -around them every few days to see which -was growing the fastest. Father said we -did everything but sleep with the pumpkins.”</p> - -<p>“Oh!” exclaimed Pink in surprise, “did you -have Hallowe’en, too, Grandma?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed,” answered Grandma, “but -we generally called it Hallow Eve in those -days.”</p> - -<p>And she went on to tell them how the -evening of October thirty-first has for years -and years in many different countries been -celebrated as the eve of All-hallows or All -Saints’ Day and is called Halloweven or, as -we most often say, Hallowe’en, and how on -this particular evening fairies, witches, and -imps are supposed to be especially active.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_189"></a>[189]</span></p> - -<p>“The young people in our neighborhood -used to have parties,” said Grandma, “and -they would make taffy and play games and -perform tricks intended to reveal to them -their future husbands and wives.</p> - -<p>“Sometimes these parties would be broken -up by a crowd of rough boys who had not -been invited, for if there was a lot of fun -on Hallowe’en there was also a lot of mischief -done. Nothing that could be moved was -safe if left outside. Gates were carried away, -wheels removed from wagons, farm machinery -hidden, well buckets stolen, and roads -barricaded with great logs. Some people -took this time to vent their spite on anyone -they did not like.</p> - -<p>“But these rough, mischievous boys had -never bothered us, for between the settlement -where they lived and our farm was a -strip of woods in which an old woman known -as Mother Girty had been buried years and -years before—in pioneer times, in fact. It -was said she had been a witch, and even -when I was a little girl ignorant or superstitious -folks did not like to pass these -woods by night. On Hallowe’en they were -more afraid than ever, since on this night<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_190"></a>[190]</span> -witches are supposed to roam at will over -the country.</p> - -<p>“One year Mother said we could have a -Hallowe’en party at our house. Charlie and -I gave our biggest pumpkins, and Truman -made jack-o’-lanterns out of them. Belle -and Aggie decorated the sitting room with -autumn leaves and bunches of yellow chrysanthemums -and draped orange-colored cloth, -which they had dyed by boiling old sheets -in sassafras bark and water, around the -walls. For lights they had the jack-o’-lanterns -and just common lanterns with the -orange cloth wrapped about the globes, and -they put out baskets of apples and nuts. -In the cellar were rows of pumpkin pies and -pans of gingerbread for refreshment, when -the guests should get tired of playing games -and pulling taffy.</p> - -<p>“When every one had come, Aggie made -the taffy. But she didn’t cook the first -batch long enough and it wouldn’t harden. -They tried to pull it, but the way it stuck -to their hands was awful, and such squealing -and laughing you never heard. It kept -Charlie and me busy bringing water for -them to wash off the taffy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_191"></a>[191]</span></p> - -<p>“The girls put another kettle of molasses -on right away, and while the taffy was being -made Charlie and I slipped around the house -to put a tick-tack on Mother’s window. -When we had got the tick-tack to working -and Mother and Father had both come to -the window to see what it was, though I -reckon they both knew very well, we started -back to the kitchen.</p> - -<p>“But we didn’t go in, for there, spread out -on the porch to cool, were pans and pans of -taffy. Charlie said we had better take a pan -for ourselves for fear there mightn’t be -enough to go around and we’d have to do -without. So he grabbed a pan quickly and -we ran around to the front of the house with -it. We meant to go on the front portico, -but just as we turned the corner we heard a -noise as if some one were opening the door. -So we crouched down close to the house for -a little bit and then ran out to the lilac bush -by the front gate.</p> - -<p>“We sat down on the ground and began to -work the cooler part of the taffy around the -edge of the pan toward the center, but we -had no butter to put on our hands to keep -the taffy from sticking and I offered to go<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_192"></a>[192]</span> -to the kitchen to get some. We would then -start pulling our taffy and quietly slip into -the house where everyone else would be -pulling taffy and no one would notice that -we had not been there all the time.</p> - -<p>“I stood up. It was a pitch dark night, -but as I started toward the house I thought -I could see something moving in the side -yard under the apple tree. I told Charlie. -He saw it, too, as plainly as could be. It -was white and it moved about in the most -terrible way. Oh, to be safe back in the -house! I clutched Charlie’s arm and trembled -all over, I was so afraid. It seemed to -be coming toward us, and suddenly I couldn’t -stand it any longer and I screamed—the -most awful, blood-curdling yells—and, pulling -Charlie with all my might, I ran for the -house.</p> - -<p>“The kitchen was filled with frightened -young people, for no one knew what had -happened. Just as we tumbled into one -door three or four white clad figures burst -into the other door, and it was hard to tell -which was the worst scared.</p> - -<p>“‘Ghosts!’ sputtered Charlie, gasping -for breath. ‘Ghosts under the apple tree!’<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_193"></a>[193]</span> -Then everybody saw the joke and laughed. -The ghosts turned out to be some of the big -boys who had wrapped themselves in sheets -to frighten the folks. The opening of the -front door that Charlie and I had heard -had been Truman bringing out the sheets, -but my yells had scared them and they looked -right sheepish and didn’t say anything -when Isabel Strang asked them whether -they thought Mother Girty was after them.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/illus23.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>I screamed the most awful blood-curdling yells</i></p> -</div> - -<p>“In the excitement and confusion, sister -Belle, who was going down the cellar stairs -backward with a mirror in her hand, in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_194"></a>[194]</span> -which she was supposed to see the face of the -man she would marry, fell halfway down the -stairs, and John Strang picked her up and -sure enough he was the man she married -later.</p> - -<p>“After that Charlie and I didn’t say -much, for the pan of taffy was still under the -lilac bush by the front gate and we didn’t -want to go into any explanations about why -we happened to be out there too.</p> - -<p>“Here, here, don’t forget your ‘apple a -day.’ There now, good night, dears.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_195"></a>[195]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="MEASLES">MEASLES</h2> - -</div> - -<p>Bobby and Alice and Pink had the measles. -First Bobby had taken it with a headache -and a sick stomach. Then Alice had got -sick with what seemed to be a cold, and at -last Pink took it. She just wakened up one -morning all covered with tiny red spots, and -of course she knew right away that she had -the measles, too.</p> - -<p>They had all been awfully sick, but now -they were better, though they still had to -stay in a darkened room, which they didn’t -like a bit.</p> - -<p>“It’s the worst part of the measles,” -complained Bobby bitterly. “Just like night -all the time.”</p> - -<p>“Well, then,” said Grandma, who was -making them a call, “let us pretend that it -is night and I will tell you a story about -when I had the measles a long, long time -ago.</p> - -<p>“In those days measles was considered a -necessary evil for children. That is, people -thought that all children must have it one -time or another, and the younger you were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_196"></a>[196]</span> -when you had it the less it would hurt you. -All our family had had the measles except -Charlie and me. We had never had the -measles, and Mother was quite worried about -it. She said she wouldn’t expose us on -purpose, but she did wish we’d get it before -we got much older and have it over with. -There had been no measles epidemic in our -neighborhood for several years, and this is -how one came about.</p> - -<p>“One Saturday, late in June, Father took -Charlie and me to Clayville with him. We -were to visit with Aunt Louisa while he -attended to his business. He let us out at -Aunt Louisa’s street and said when he got -ready to go home he would come after us.</p> - -<p>“Charlie and I started up the street, but -neither of us had ever been there alone and -all the houses looked alike to us. We -couldn’t decide which was Aunt Louisa’s.</p> - -<p>“Finally we selected one that we were -sure was hers and went around to the side -door and knocked. Instead of Aunt Louisa -or Mettie, a little girl opened the door and -told us to come in. This was queer, because -Aunt Louisa had no children. But I supposed -she had company and stepped into a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_197"></a>[197]</span> -sitting room that was so dark I could hardly -see a thing at first. We sat very still for a -while, and I wished that Aunt Louisa would -come. In the dim light I made out a bed -in one corner, but I didn’t know there was -anyone in it until a boy, who had evidently -been asleep, raised up his head and looked -at us in surprise. And we looked at him, -too, for he certainly was funny looking with -his face all covered with little red spots.</p> - -<p>“‘By, golly!’ he said. ‘What you doin’ -in here?’</p> - -<p>“I replied with dignity that we were -waiting for Aunt Louisa.</p> - -<p>“‘She doesn’t live here,’ he said crossly, -and lay down again. ‘She lives in the next -house. Must have been my little sister let -you in. This is our house and I got the -measles.’</p> - -<p>“Charlie and I got out as quickly as we -could and hurried to Aunt Louisa’s, but we -decided that we would not tell her or anyone -else we had had such a glorious, accidental -chance for the measles.</p> - -<p>“‘We mightn’t take the measles after all,’ -Charlie pointed out, ‘and then Mother would -be disappointed.’</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_198"></a>[198]</span></p> - -<p>“‘I hope we don’t take them on the way -home,’ I said anxiously. I didn’t know -then that it takes the measles germ nine -days to mature and that we were in little -danger of taking it before that time.</p> - -<p>“The next day, being tired from my trip -to town, I imagined I was sick and I was -sure I was taking the measles. Charlie -examined my face carefully, though, and -said he couldn’t see any red spots. In a -day or two Charlie thought he was taking -the disease, but there were no red spots on -his face, either.</p> - -<p>“‘And if they’re in you Mother says -they’ve got to come out,’ I told him wisely. -‘So as long as it doesn’t show on the outside -we haven’t got it.’</p> - -<p>“A week passed, and after several more -false alarms we came to the conclusion -that we were not going to take the measles -after all.</p> - -<p>“Sunday the Presiding Elder was to be at -our church and there were to be two sermons, -one in the morning and one in the afternoon, -with a basket dinner in between. Mother -and the girls were very busy cooking and -baking, or maybe some of them would have<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_199"></a>[199]</span> -seen that Charlie and I were not well on -Saturday. I ached all over, my head most -of all, and Charlie said he felt sick from his -head to his toes. We slipped out to the barn -and crawled up in the hay loft and lay down -on the hay. Nanny Dodds almost found -us there when she came out to hunt some -eggs for an extra cake—Mother had already -baked three cakes, but she said she had -better bake four to make sure there’d be -plenty.</p> - -<p>“Charlie and I had been eating green -apples. Mother always allowed us to eat -green apples if we put salt on them. But -we had been in the orchard and the salt -was at the house, so we hadn’t bothered to -wait, but had eaten the apples without salt. -We thought it was the green apples that -were making us sick. As we didn’t want -to be dosed with castor oil and maybe have -to stay home from preaching next day, we -didn’t tell a soul we felt sick.</p> - -<p>“Anyway, we were both better by Sunday -morning, for who wouldn’t have been better -with a new white dress to wear and a leghorn -hat with a wreath of daisies around the -crown?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_200"></a>[200]</span></p> - -<p>“But in church even my new clothes -couldn’t help me. The sermon seemed very, -very long, the air was hot and close, and I -felt terribly sick. I wanted more than anything -else in the world to take off my hat -and lay my head in Mother’s gray silk lap, -but of course I was much too big to do that. -I looked across to the men’s side where -Charlie sat beside Father, and there he was -all slumped down in his seat, holding his -head in his hands.</p> - -<p>“Neither of us ate much dinner, but there -were so many people eating with us that -Mother didn’t notice. And right after dinner -we went down to the surrey and climbed -in, Charlie on the front seat, I on the back.</p> - -<p>“We covered ourselves, heads and all, -with the lap robes, and there we lay and slept -the live-long afternoon, until Father came -to hitch the horses up to go home.</p> - -<p>“‘These youngsters must be all tired out,’ -Father said when Mother and Aggie and Belle -came out to get in the surrey. I raised my -head up, but I was so dizzy I lay right down -again, but not before Mother had seen me.</p> - -<p>“‘Let me see in your throat, Sarah,’ she -demanded, and then to Father she said<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_201"></a>[201]</span> -solemnly, ‘I knew it! The second I saw her I -knew it. Sarah has the measles.’ Father -thought surely she must be mistaken, but she -examined Charlie, and would you believe it? -He had the measles, too.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/illus24.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>I looked across to Charlie and he was holding his head in his hands</i></p> -</div> - -<p>“On the way home, with my head in -Mother’s lap and Charlie leaning on Belle, -we told them all about going to the wrong -house when we went to see Aunt Louisa, -and the boy who had the measles, and everything.</p> - -<p>“‘Just exactly nine days ago today,’ -Mother fairly groaned.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_202"></a>[202]</span></p> - -<p>“‘Aren’t you glad, Mother, that we surprised -you with the measles?’ I asked, puzzled, -for she didn’t seem a bit glad that we -had them, though she had always talked as if -she would be.</p> - -<p>“At this Father and Belle and Aggie and -even Mother laughed.</p> - -<p>“‘If I don’t miss my guess,’ said Father, -‘you’ve surprised a good many other people -with the measles, too, and I bet a lot of them -won’t be very glad.’</p> - -<p>“Of course a lot of folks did take the measles -from Charlie and me, but the weather -was warm and they all got along nicely, so -there was no great harm done.</p> - -<p>“Some of the folks wondered where in the -world Charlie and I could have caught the -measles. But old Mrs. Orbison, who came -to see us right away, settled that by announcing, -‘I always say that things like that are in -the air. No one knows where they get them -or how.’”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_203"></a>[203]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="SOMETHING_TO_BE_THANKFUL_FOR">SOMETHING TO BE THANKFUL FOR</h2> - -</div> - -<p>It was the evening before Thanksgiving. -Grandma had told Bobby and Alice and Pink -about the first Thanksgiving, celebrated so -long ago by the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony -to show their gratitude because their lives -had been spared in spite of many hardships -and because their crops had been plentiful -enough to support them through the coming -winter.</p> - -<p>And she had told them how that now, on -recommendation of the President, the last -Thursday of November is set apart by proclamation -of the governors of the different states -as an annual Thanksgiving Day.</p> - -<p>“Thanksgiving at our house was a wonderful -time,” Grandma said thoughtfully. “Next -to Christmas, it was the best day of all the -year, I think. And it always began weeks -before the real Thanksgiving Day—when -Mother made the mincemeat and the plum -pudding and the fruit cakes.</p> - -<p>“All day Mother and the girls would work, -crumbing bread for the puddings, washing currants, -slicing citron, beating eggs, measuring<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_204"></a>[204]</span> -sugar and spices, chopping suet and meat in -the big wooden chopping bowl, and seeding -raisins. I helped seed the raisins. I liked to -seed raisins until I got all I wanted to eat. -Then after that I didn’t like the sticky things -a bit.</p> - -<p>“When everything was all mixed and -ready, the pudding would be packed in muslin -bags and the cake put in pans lined with -writing paper and they would be steamed -for hours and hours. When they were done -and cool they would be put away, beside the -big stone jar of mincemeat, to ripen for -Thanksgiving.</p> - -<p>“Father said that Thanksgiving came at -just the right time of the year. All the fall -work was done by then, the corn husked, -lots of wood cut, and the butchering was -over. The meathouse was filled with hams -and sausage and side meat, and there was -always a jar of pickled pigs’ feet. The apples -had been picked and the potatoes dug and -both buried out in the garden alongside the -cabbage and beets. The nuts had been -gathered in, and the popcorn was ready to -pop. The finest pumpkin had been set -aside for the pies, and the biggest, proudest,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_205"></a>[205]</span> -young turkey gobbler was fattened for the -Thanksgiving dinner.</p> - -<p>“And then, on Thanksgiving morning, -what delicious smells came out of our kitchen! -You know what they were! You’ve all -smelled the very same kind of smells coming -out of your kitchen, I know you have. Mm! -mm! and the dinner! And every one of -the family at home to enjoy it and lots -of company, too.</p> - -<p>“But we didn’t think of just things to eat, -either. Father said folks were likely to do -that. We seldom had services at our church -on Thanksgiving because the minister was -usually off in another part of the circuit holding -a meeting. But at the breakfast table, -after Father had asked the blessing, to -preserve and foster, as he said, the real -spirit of the day, each one of us would tell -something we had to be thankful for.</p> - -<p>“And one Thanksgiving morning Charlie -said he couldn’t think of anything to be -thankful for except, of course, Father and -Mother and good health and Sport, but -nothing special, he said. I knew what was -the matter with Charlie. He had asked -Truman to lend him his gun to take along<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_206"></a>[206]</span> -when he went to look at his traps. Truman -had refused because he had just cleaned it, -and Father had said Charlie could carry a -gun when he was twelve years old and not -before.</p> - -<p>“Afterward when I went with him to his -traps he told me he was tired being thankful -for ordinary things like those everybody else -had. He wanted something different, such -as a silver watch, or a Wild West pony, or -a magic lantern.</p> - -<p>“He said he could be the thankfulest boy -on Sugar Creek if he had any of those things, -and he thought Thanksgiving ought to come -after Christmas anyhow—then a fellow would -have more to be thankful for.</p> - -<p>“We were down at the hole under the -willows where we fished in summer and the -boys set traps for muskrats in winter. It was -getting colder, and I told Charlie I thought -I’d go on to the house instead of going with -him to the cabin in the sugar grove where he -and Truman were keeping their skins that -winter. The cabin was convenient to the -traps, and Truman had put a good lock on -the door and he and Charlie each had a key. -I wanted to go to the house to play with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_207"></a>[207]</span> -brother Joe’s baby and see whether anyone -else had come and to find out how the dinner -was coming on. So Charlie told me to go ahead -and he would come as soon as he skinned a -couple of muskrats he had caught in his -traps.</p> - -<p>“There were so many of us and so much -confusion that I did not notice until dinner -was nearly over that Charlie was not there. -When I called Mother’s attention to it, she -said he was probably around somewhere and -would eat presently. It took a long time to -serve dinner that day, and afterward a sled -load of neighboring young folks came in and -there were games and music and a general -good time. No one missed Charlie but me, -and I didn’t miss him all the time, either.</p> - -<p>“But about four o’clock in the afternoon -Mother came out to the kitchen where some -of the girls were popping corn and asked -anxiously if anyone had seen Charlie. Belle -said he hadn’t come in for any dinner.</p> - -<p>“‘I can’t imagine where he is,’ Mother -said. ‘He never did a thing like this before. -He may have met the Orbison boys and gone -home with them, but I can’t understand it at -all. It isn’t like Charlie.’</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_208"></a>[208]</span></p> - -<p>“Just then Truman came up from the -cellar with a big basket of apples we had -polished the previous day.</p> - -<p>“‘What about Charlie?’ he asked. ‘Where -is he? What’s the trouble?’</p> - -<p>“Mother explained that Charlie had gone -to his traps early that morning and hadn’t -been at the house since, nor been seen by any -one since he had started for the cabin with -two muskrats to skin.</p> - -<p>“Truman just stared at Mother.</p> - -<p>“‘You say Charlie went to the cabin this -morning?’ he repeated slowly as if he couldn’t -believe it. ‘Well, then, by jingoes, Mother, -that’s where he is right now!’ And he went -on to tell how when he was coming from feeding -the stock on the upper place he had -noticed that the door of the cabin was shut, -but the lock was not snapped. He supposed -Charlie had forgotten to tend to it as he -had one other night, and so he had snapped -it shut and come along home. Charlie had -evidently been busy and had not heard the -lock click.</p> - -<p>“‘Oh, the poor boy!’ cried Mother. ‘Go -see about him at once, Truman.’ And she -began putting things in the oven to heat.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_209"></a>[209]</span></p> - -<p>“And, sure enough, that was where they -found Charlie—he had been locked up in the -cabin all day. When he found he was locked -in, he had tried to pry the windows open, -but they were securely nailed down. He -had shouted himself hoarse and had even -attempted to climb up the chimney and get -out that way.</p> - -<p>“A little later, when he was thoroughly -warmed and had had a good wash and sat at -the kitchen table eating his dinner, with -Mother piling up good things on his plate and -Charlie eating as if he were afraid some one -would snatch it away before he got enough, -Father came out of the sitting room and -stood looking down at him.</p> - -<p>“‘Well, son,’ he said, ‘have you thought of -anything special to be thankful for yet?’</p> - -<p>“‘Yes, sir,’ Charlie answered, grinning. -‘I’m thankful for something to eat and a fire.’</p> - -<p>“Well, well, if it isn’t bedtime already!”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_210"></a>[210]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="TAKING_A_DARE">TAKING A DARE</h2> - -</div> - -<p>The next evening when Bobby and Alice -and Pink came to Grandma’s room, she was -astonished to behold an ugly black-and-blue -lump on Bobby’s forehead, right over his eye.</p> - -<p>“Why, what’s this?” Grandma asked, laying -down her knitting and examining the -bruise. “Wait till I get the arnica, and then -you can tell me all about it.”</p> - -<p>And while she bathed Bobby’s swollen forehead -with the arnica, Bobby told her how -another boy had dared him to hang by his -toes from the scaffolding of a half-finished -house and how his feet had slipped and he -had had a fall.</p> - -<p>“He said I was afraid to try,” said Bobby, -“but I showed him!”</p> - -<p>“And you got hurt into the bargain,” -remarked Grandma, taking up her knitting -again. “Don’t you know, my dear, that it -is sometimes braver to take a dare than not? -There is a time to say ‘no,’ and the boy or -girl who doesn’t know when to say ‘no’ is -often foolhardy rather than brave. I didn’t -always know that, though, and I’ll tell you<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_211"></a>[211]</span> -how I learned it. When I was little I played -so much with brother Charlie that in many -ways I was like a boy. One of Charlie’s codes -was that he would never take a dare, and so -of course it became my code, too.</p> - -<p>“One Friday night Betty Bard came home -from school with me to stay until Saturday -afternoon. It was in the fall, and the nuts -were ripe. On the meathouse floor, spread -out to dry, were chestnuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, -hickory nuts, and butternuts. Betty’s grandfather -was our preacher. There were no nuts -of any kind on the ground belonging to the -parsonage, so we had been giving Betty some -of our nuts. She had already gotten hickory -nuts and chestnuts, and this evening we had -gathered a bag of walnuts and we were out in -the wood lot shelling them.</p> - -<p>“We each had a flat stone to lay the nut on -and another stone to hit it with. We wore -old leather gloves to protect our hands, for -the walnut juice makes an ugly brown stain. -We would lay a nut on the flat stone, hit it -hard with the other stone, and the green -outer covering or shell would come off easily, -leaving the walnut, which would then have -to be dried.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_212"></a>[212]</span></p> - -<p>“Not far from us Charlie sat cracking walnuts, -left over from the year before, for the -chickens. He would crack a nut and throw -it to the chickens and they would pick the -meat out with their beaks. Mother said walnut -meats were good for the chickens and -made the hens lay, and we often had to crack -walnuts for the chickens. But this evening -Charlie did not want to do it. He wanted to -go on the hill to look at some traps he had set -for rabbits, and he offered to give me his new -slate pencil if I would crack the walnuts. -Any other time I should have jumped at the -chance of getting a new slate pencil so -easily. But this evening, I wanted to help -Betty shell her nuts so we would have time -the next day to play and go down to the -persimmon tree.</p> - -<p>“‘Very well,’ declared Charlie. He said -that if I wouldn’t help him, he wouldn’t -go with us to the persimmon tree. And -without him to shake the tree, how would we -get the persimmons? We had an especially -fine persimmon tree that my great-grandfather -had planted, and Betty and I wanted -to get the fruit that was in the top branches. -Charlie had promised to climb the tree for<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_213"></a>[213]</span> -us, but now he said he wouldn’t do it unless -I would finish cracking the walnuts.</p> - -<p>“‘All right, you needn’t,’ I replied. ‘We -don’t want you. I’ll climb the tree myself. -But really I did not think for a moment I -would do any such thing, for, of all the trees -around, grandfather’s persimmon, as we called -it, was the hardest to climb.</p> - -<p>“Charlie laughed mockingly.</p> - -<p>“‘I dare you!’ he cried. ‘I double dare -you!’</p> - -<p>“I jumped up, and so did Betty, and we -threw our gloves to the ground and started -for the persimmon tree.</p> - -<p>“‘Are you sure you can do it?’ whispered -Betty.</p> - -<p>“I had my doubts myself by this time, for, -though I could go all over the gnarled old -apple tree in the side yard and climb the -cherry trees and the peach trees and any -reasonably high tree, to climb to the top of -grandfather’s persimmon was a different -undertaking.</p> - -<p>“Charlie saw us talking and thought I was -weakening.</p> - -<p>“‘If you can’t do it, Sarah,’ he said, ‘of -course I’ll let you off.’</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_214"></a>[214]</span></p> - -<p>“‘I can do it all right,’ I answered grimly, -but I wished with all my heart I hadn’t said -I would do it in the first place.</p> - -<p>“The lower limbs of the persimmon were -so high from the ground that for a while it -looked as if I shouldn’t even get into the tree -at all. Charlie offered to boost me, but I -scorned his help. When finally, with the aid -of a fence rail and by ‘cooning,’ I reached the -lowest branch, my hands were scratched and -swollen and hurting dreadfully. But after -that it wasn’t as hard. As I went up, slowly -and carefully, Betty and Charlie, under the -tree, watched me.</p> - -<p>“‘Be careful, Sarah,’ Betty cautioned -every little bit. ‘Do be careful.’</p> - -<p>“‘Higher, higher!’ Charlie kept calling.</p> - -<p>“At last I reached the top and looked down, -and then the most dreadful thing happened: -I got awfully sick—sick and dizzy. I closed -my eyes tight and held to the trunk of the -tree and felt as if I should fall any minute. -If I should fall to the ground and be killed, -then every one would say it was Charlie’s -fault. And it wouldn’t be at all, for I should -have known better than to try to climb the -old tree. I thought about the new blue<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_215"></a>[215]</span> -delaine dress which I had never worn—they -could bury me in that. And then I tried to -say my prayers, but I was so dizzy, oh, so -dizzy, that I couldn’t remember a single -word of them.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/illus25.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>I tried to say my prayers but I was so dizzy that I -couldn’t remember a single word of them</i></p> -</div> - -<p>“I told Charlie and Betty I was dizzy and -that I was afraid I’d fall.</p> - -<p>“At first they thought I was fooling, but -they soon saw I was in earnest.</p> - -<p>“‘Hold on tight!’ Betty screamed. ‘Keep -your eyes shut. Don’t be afraid, Sarah, -we’ll save you.’</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_216"></a>[216]</span></p> - -<p>“Charlie ran around as if he were crazy, -crying and shouting, ‘It’s my fault, it’s all -my fault! Hold on tight, Sarah. I’ll bring -Stanley. He’ll get you down. Hold on!’</p> - -<p>“‘No, no!’ cried Betty when Charlie -started off at a run. ‘Come back, Charlie. -We mustn’t leave her that way, she might -fall. You’ll have to tie her in the tree.’</p> - -<p>“Betty had on a new pinafore made out of -strong gingham. She took it off and with -Charlie’s knife they slit it into strips from -neck to hem and knotted them together and -Charlie climbed the tree and tied the gingham -around my waist and to the trunk of the tree -so that I couldn’t fall out.</p> - -<p>“Then Charlie ran to the house for help, -and it didn’t take Father and Stanley long -to get there. Stanley carried me down to the -lower branches and handed me to Father, and -in a little while I felt all right again.</p> - -<p>“I thought Father would think I was brave, -but he didn’t at all. He was cross because -Charlie had urged me to do such a foolish -thing and because I hadn’t had courage to -say I was afraid. He said we would have to -take our own money to buy gingham for -another apron for Betty. We did, and Aggie<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_217"></a>[217]</span> -made it, and it was prettier than the one she -had torn up, for Aggie worked a cross-stitch -pattern in red around the hem.</p> - -<p>“For a long time I could not bear to go -near grandfather’s persimmon tree, and I -have never forgotten the lesson I learned -that day.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_218"></a>[218]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="DOGS">DOGS</h2> - -</div> - -<p>Bobby wanted a dog. He never remembered -having wanted anything so much in all -his life before. If he had his choice, he would -prefer a mahogany-colored bull terrier, he -told Grandma, but would gladly take any -kind of a dog—even a common yellow dog.</p> - -<p>“It’s a shame you can’t have a dog,” said -Grandma sympathetically. Every boy should -have a dog, I say. We always had dogs—collies -and hounds and ordinary dogs, and -once we had a wonderful fox terrier. He -belonged to brother Charlie, who loved dogs -as much as any one I ever knew, though I -had some claim on him, too. The way we -got Sport, that was his name, well—you might -like to hear about that.</p> - -<p>“Mother was going to the city to visit -Uncle John, and Charlie and I were going -along. Neither of us had ever been on the -steam cars before, and we were all excited -about it. We talked of nothing else for days. -I hardly noticed my new buttoned shoes or -my velvet bonnet. Mother was excited, too, -at the last. She wore a brown dress with a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_219"></a>[219]</span> -great many buttons up the front and a bonnet -with a plume. I thought she looked beautiful, -and I think Father did, too, for when he -had put us in the train at Clayville it seemed -as if he couldn’t leave us. He took us into -the train and found us seats, and told Mother -over and over where she was to change cars -and what to do if Uncle John shouldn’t be -there to meet us, and gave her so many -directions that Mother got nervous.</p> - -<p>“‘Yes, yes, dear, I know. Do go now or -the train will start before you get out.’</p> - -<p>“Father laughed and got off. Then he -came rushing back all out of breath just as -the train was starting because, after all he -had forgotten to give Mother the tickets.</p> - -<p>“With a ringing of bells and a puffing of -the engine we were off, and Charlie and I settled -down to a day of solid enjoyment. We -had a nice lunch that the girls had packed—chicken -and pickles and election cake, with -apples and cookies to eat between times. -Everything seemed wonderful! The fine red -plush seats, the conductor in his blue uniform -and brass buttons, the rushing at such -a swift pace through the country—it was -like fairyland to me.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_220"></a>[220]</span></p> - -<p>“But I got car-sick, and then pretty soon -Charlie got a cinder in his eye. Poor Mother -had her hands full. She made a pillow for -me with the wraps and I lay down, but I -didn’t get any better. A lady across the -aisle handed Mother a piece of stiff writing -paper and told her to pin it inside my dress. -Mother did, but it only scratched my chest -and didn’t help me. Mother got a flaxseed -out of her bag and put it in Charlie’s eye. -It worked the cinder out, but his eye was red -and swollen, and we were all glad when we -came to the city. Uncle John was waiting -for us, and we got on a horse car and rode to -within a short distance of his home.</p> - -<p>“The next morning we felt fine and started -out to explore with our cousins, Lily and Tom. -The street was lined on each side with horse-chestnut -trees, and children were picking up -the glossy, brown nuts in baskets. But -Charlie and I didn’t think much of picking -up nuts we couldn’t eat. Charlie didn’t -like the city at all. The houses were too tall -and dark to suit him and the back yards too -little and the grass not meant to be trodden -on. A fellow couldn’t whistle or make -a bit of noise without annoying some one,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_221"></a>[221]</span> -and there were no dogs, except an occasional -fat pug or a curly poodle.</p> - -<p>“Lily and Tom took us to the park at the -end of the street for a walk. Charlie said -it wasn’t as big as our cow pasture, and Tom -said he knew it was and that anyhow we had -no seats in our cow pasture. Just then a -horse car went along, and after that Charlie -wouldn’t do anything but sit on a bench and -watch the horse cars come and go. He had -found one thing he liked in the city, though -he said that if he owned the cars he would -have nice, sleek, well-fed horses like Father’s -instead of such skinny ones.</p> - -<p>“Sometimes Lily and I would play in the -park with our dolls. One afternoon, a couple -of days before we were to start for home, I -was sitting on the bench beside Charlie when -what should come running around the corner -but a dirty, little, white dog with black spots! -Not that we could see the black spots then. -He was too dirty for that, all covered with -mud and blood. His tongue was hanging -out, and he ran as if he were exhausted, in a -zigzag line, blindly. He was limping, too.</p> - -<p>“I think Charlie would have run right out -and picked the poor dog up, but he saw us<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_222"></a>[222]</span> -almost as soon as we saw him. And when -Charlie gave a low whistle, he ran over and -crawled under the bench we were sitting on. -He was hardly out of sight when around the -same corner came a crowd of boys and men, -waving sticks and clubs, and led by a policeman, -brandishing a revolver, all of them -yelling, ‘Mad dog! Mad dog! Mad dog!’</p> - -<p>“There was some shrubbery behind the -bench, but still if they came over they would -be sure to see the dog. I was so frightened -that I hardly breathed while they poked with -their sticks around the low bushes that grew -in clumps here and there. The fact that we -sat so quietly saved the dog’s life, for they -thought we had not even seen the dog. They -went hurrying on and were soon all out of -sight—or we thought they were. But it -happened that a boy had fallen behind and -turned back home just in time to see Charlie -get poor Sport out from under the bench.</p> - -<p>“He gave the alarm, and Charlie and I, -with the dog wrapped in Charlie’s coat, had -hardly reached the kitchen and explained -things to Tom, who was making a kite in the -back yard, when we could hear shouting down -the street.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_223"></a>[223]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/illus26.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>Charlie and I with the dog reached the kitchen</i></p> -</div> - -<p>“We looked around for a hiding place. -There was none. Then Tom thought of the -attic. He and Charlie and the dog would -hide in the attic. Up the back stairs they -rushed and on up to the attic. I slipped into -the sitting room where Lily was practicing -and picked up a book just as there came a -loud knocking at the front door.</p> - -<p>“Aunt Mary went to the door, and she was -very indignant and cross when a policeman -asked her to give up a mad dog. Whoever -heard of such a thing? A mad dog, indeed! -She had no dog at all, nor ever had had a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_224"></a>[224]</span> -dog, she said. He was welcome to come in if -he wanted to and look for himself. But -Aunt Mary was so sincere that the officer -apologized for troubling her and went away, -taking the crowd with him.</p> - -<p>“When the boys came down from the attic -and brought the dog, Mother and Aunt -Mary were frightened and didn’t know what -to do with him. But Tom found a big box -and they put him in that until Uncle John -came home.</p> - -<p>“‘Is he really mad, John?’ asked Aunt -Mary anxiously as Uncle John examined the -little dog.</p> - -<p>“‘No more mad than I am,’ Uncle John -answered, and he declared that he was a valuable -little dog, too, but that if he were turned -over to the police he would be shot. He -didn’t know what to do with him, as they -had no room for a dog.</p> - -<p>“Charlie begged so hard to take the dog -home with us, and he was so pretty and cute -after he had had a bath and a rest, licking -our hands and wagging his stubby tail, that -Mother finally consented. Charlie named -him Sport because he said that name suited -him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_225"></a>[225]</span></p> - -<p>“And going home Charlie and I rode most -of the time in the baggage car with Sport, -and we were so busy taking care of him that -we were not sick a bit and didn’t get any -cinders in our eyes.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_226"></a>[226]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_LAST_INDIAN">THE LAST INDIAN</h2> - -</div> - -<p>“Last summer,” began Alice one evening -when the children came to Grandma’s room, -“when we were in the country we went to -the valley where the last Indians in this -county were seen—the last wild Indians, I -mean.”</p> - -<p>“Were there any wild Indians around when -you were a little girl, Grandma?” asked Bobby -eagerly.</p> - -<p>“Well, no,” said Grandma thoughtfully. -“But my Father remembered very well when -bands of Indians went through the country -on hunting expeditions. They were thought -to be of the Delaware tribe, but were called -Cornplanter Indians, probably because they -cultivated large fields of corn as well as hunted -and fished for their living. It was customary, -during the winter, for bands of these Indians -to hunt deer and other game in the forests. -They would follow the chase for weeks at a -time. Father said that as each deer was -killed it was carefully dressed and hung high -in some near-by tree, beyond the reach of -wolves and dogs. At the close of the hunting<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_227"></a>[227]</span> -season the carcasses were gathered together -and taken to the Indian camp.</p> - -<p>“But though the Indians were gone when I -was a little girl, there were many things left -to remind us of them. Old trees, blazed to -mark Indian trails, still stood, and arrowheads -and darts were often ploughed up in the fields. -My brothers had quite a collection of them, -and they also had a tomahawk that looked -very much like a hatchet.</p> - -<p>“And there was one Indian left, too. I -almost forgot about him—old John Cornplanter. -He was supposed to have belonged -to the Cornplanter Indians, but no one knew -much about him. He lived alone on an -unsurveyed piece of land and was seldom -seen except when he brought his skins to -sell or came to the store for occasional supplies. -He lived as his forbears had lived, -by hunting and fishing, and, like them, he -had a cornfield.</p> - -<p>“He made few friends because he was -gruff and short of speech and surly in manner. -He had a quick temper which flared -up at the least thing, and some of the men -and boys teased him on purpose to make -him angry. Father said it wasn’t right.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_228"></a>[228]</span></p> - -<p>“One day when Father and my brother -Stanley were coming through our woods -they heard a noise like that of some one -groaning. Hunting around, they presently -found the Indian, John Cornplanter, helpless -and unconscious, with what turned out -to be a broken leg. They carried him into -the cabin in the sugar grove and Stanley -went for the doctor. The doctor set his -leg. For a time they thought he would -die, for he had been exposed to the weather -for hours before Father found him. But he -got better, though slowly, and for weeks he -lay on one of the bunks in the cabin, and -Father took care of him and Mother sent -him things he liked to eat.</p> - -<p>“At first I was afraid to go near the cabin, -but after a while I got brave enough to venture -in with Father. Then it wasn’t long -till Charlie and I were visiting Cornplanter -every day, carrying him food and cool -drinks.</p> - -<p>“When he got better, he wove pretty -baskets and carved things out of wood and -made Charlie a bow and arrow. After he -got well and went home, he often came back -to see us, bringing presents of fish or game,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_229"></a>[229]</span> -or maybe a basket of wild strawberries or -early greens. Charlie and I liked to walk -back with him through the woods as far as -the edge of our farm, and sometimes he would -build a fire and we would have a meal of -some kind of game, cornbread baked on a -stone heated in the fire, and wild honey.</p> - -<p>“He taught Charlie new ways to set traps -and cure skins, and he showed me where the -first trailing arbutus was to be found, hiding, -fragrant and pink, under the brown leaves. -He knew where the mistletoe grew and -where the cardinal built her nest, and he -could mimic any kind of a bird or animal.</p> - -<p>“But no one knew John as we did. As -he grew older his manner became gruffer -and his temper shorter. People were afraid -of him, and there was some talk of making -him leave the country.</p> - -<p>“In the winter he would go for miles and -miles hunting and trapping, for even then -game was not so plentiful as it had been. -One winter Cornplanter brought a deer he -had shot and dressed to Orbison’s woods -and hung it in a tree, just as his people before -him had done, until he should be ready to -take it the rest of the way home.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_230"></a>[230]</span></p> - -<p>“That night there was a light fall of -snow. The next morning some boys on -their way to school spied the deer hanging -in the tree and, thinking to tease John, they -moved the deer to the very top of the tree -and fastened it there. Then they went on -to school, not thinking but that the Indian -would immediately discover the deer.</p> - -<p>“But Cornplanter was old and his sight -was poor. When he came along a little -later, he saw only that the deer was not -where he had left it, and, thinking that it -had been stolen, he set out to follow the -tracks the boys had made in the snow.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Carson, on his way to the store, saw -John stalking along, head down, in the direction -of the schoolhouse, but thought nothing -of it. When he got to the store he would -not have mentioned the fact had he not -found the men there gravely shaking their -heads over the joke the boys had played on -John Cornplanter. It wasn’t safe to joke -with John, they said. Bud McGill, who -had helped move the deer, had gone around -to the store and told about it. So when -Mr. Carson said he had seen John going in -the direction of the schoolhouse, they were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_231"></a>[231]</span> -all greatly disturbed. Several men started -immediately for the schoolhouse. No telling -what John might do!</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/illus27.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>Mr. Carson saw John going in the direction of the schoolhouse</i></p> -</div> - -<p>“In the meantime John had arrived at -the schoolhouse and opening the door without -knocking, stepped inside, closed the -door, and leaned against it. He was a -forbidding figure, dressed in furs from head -to foot, a gun at his side, a dark frown on -his face. He looked at the teacher.</p> - -<p>“‘Where deer?’ he demanded. ‘Where -deer?’</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_232"></a>[232]</span></p> - -<p>“He thought his deer had been stolen. -He had followed the tracks to the schoolhouse -and now he wanted the deer.</p> - -<p>“We all knew what the boys had done. -We looked at each other, waiting for some -one to speak.</p> - -<p>“John Cornplanter waited, too, his back -to the door.</p> - -<p>“I thought about Charlie, at home sick. -If he had been there, he might have straightened -things out. I was the only other person -who knew John Cornplanter well and did not -fear him. I went over to him and explained -as well as I could about the deer just being -moved and not stolen, and that the boys -were only in fun and meant no harm. When -I finished, it was so quiet you could have -heard a pin drop. Cornplanter did not like -to be teased. Would he think it a joke on -himself that he had not seen the deer, or -would he be furious?</p> - -<p>“Suddenly he smiled, and the teacher with -a sigh of relief announced morning intermission.</p> - -<p>“A few minutes later when a group of -anxious men came in sight of the schoolhouse -they stopped to listen in amazement<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_233"></a>[233]</span> -to a series of unusual sounds—a bull frog -croaking hoarsely, an owl calling to its mate, -a cardinal singing sweetly, the long-drawn-out -wail of the whip-poor-will, the joyful -note of the lark, the sharp barking of a -squirrel.</p> - -<p>“And what they saw surprised them even -more, for there was the Indian, surrounded -by children, as he mimicked for their amusement -one after another of the animals and -birds he knew so well.</p> - -<p>“It’s bedtime now, so run along and we’ll -have another story soon.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_234"></a>[234]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_PRESENT_FOR_MOTHER">A PRESENT FOR MOTHER</h2> - -</div> - -<p>“Goody, goody!” sang Pink, dancing into -Grandma’s room one evening, “It’s only -four weeks till Christmas.”</p> - -<p>“And I’m saving all my allowance for -Christmas presents,” Bobby announced. -“I’m going to get Mother an umbrella—hers -is slit and it has a long handle—or a sparkly -comb for her hair or some silk stockings.”</p> - -<p>“Why!” exclaimed Grandma in surprise. -“How did a little boy ever think of such -nice, appropriate things?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Mother always makes a list,” Alice -explained carefully. “She puts down all -the things she’d like to have, and we pick -from that. You see, the first year we bought -our own presents to give, Bobby got her an -iron-handle at the five-and-ten-cent store -and she always uses an electric iron, and I -gave her a book that she already had, so -after that she made us a list. But Bobby -won’t have money enough for any of the -things he named,” she said, with scorn for -her brother’s idea of prices. “I know very -well he won’t.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_235"></a>[235]</span></p> - -<p>“Well, you might all three go together,” -Grandma suggested, “just as brother Charlie -and I did once for a present we got for our -mother. Her birthday came in November, -and we wanted to give her something nice—a -real store present—so we put our money -together. Of course there was nothing at -our store, but twice a year, in the spring and -again in the fall, Mr. Simon, the peddler, -came straight from the city, and it was from -him that we planned to buy Mother’s present.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Simon was no common peddler, no, -indeed. He was little and round and fat -and bald-headed—not handsome at all, but -one of those people whose looks you never -think about after you know them. He -always staid over night with us, and because -Father would take no money for keeping him -he left tucked away some place a little present -that Mother said more than paid his bill.</p> - -<p>“We all liked to see Mr. Simon come. -He brought Father the latest news from -the city and told Mother and the girls about -the newest fashions and customs. I remember -when he told Mother how some people -were putting wire screens over their windows -to keep the flies out, and how she laughed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_236"></a>[236]</span> -and said, ‘The very idea of shutting out the -fresh air like that!’</p> - -<p>“He would tell stories to us children and -recite poetry, and when he opened up his -packs in the evening, how we all crowded -around!</p> - -<p>“He didn’t show everything at all the -houses, but he did at ours—fine Irish linens, -velvets and satins, beads and brooches and -wonderful shawls.</p> - -<p>“It was a shawl that Charlie and I meant -to buy for Mother—a soft, creamy, silk -shoulder shawl. Aunt Louisa had just such -a shawl, and when Mr. Simon was showing -his things that spring we decided on that -shawl the minute we saw it. We coaxed -Mother to try it on, and she threw it around -her shoulders to please us. It was so soft -and lovely and the creamy tint was so becoming -to Mother that we would have bought -it immediately, but, alas! when we slipped -out to count our money we didn’t have -enough—not nearly enough.</p> - -<p>“‘But we don’t need it till fall,’ said -Charlie. ‘Let’s get Mr. Simon to keep it -for us till he comes next time, and then we’ll -have enough money.’</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_237"></a>[237]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 475px;"> -<img src="images/illus28.jpg" width="475" height="700" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>Mother threw the shawl around her shoulders to please us</i></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_238"></a>[238]</span></p> - -<p>“When we went back to the sitting room -the shawl had been put away in its flat -little box. At the first opportunity we asked -Mr. Simon if he would save it for us, and he -said he would.</p> - -<p>“‘It won’t be too much trouble, carrying -it around so long?’ I asked as an after-thought.</p> - -<p>“‘Not a bit of trouble,’ he answered cheerfully. -‘’Tis no heavier than one of your -own black curls.’</p> - -<p>“But the next day we forgot all about the -shawl, for Mother had lost her best brooch. -It was a cameo with a carved gold border -set around with pearls. It had been Father’s -wedding present to Mother, and she always -wore it even with her everyday print dresses. -That brooch looked as well on a common -gown as it did on a fine silk. Mother said -it was like some people, they were so fine -and wonderful that they were at home in -any company.</p> - -<p>“Mother missed the brooch that night -when she went to take it off. She had gone -back downstairs and searched carefully all -over the sitting-room floor, but she hadn’t -found it. She didn’t mention losing it until<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_239"></a>[239]</span> -after Mr. Simon had gone. Then we hunted -all over the house and the yard and the -garden, and Charlie kept on hunting when -everyone else had given up. He climbed the -trees and looked in all the bird nests around, -because he had heard that sometimes, when -birds are building, they carry valuable things -to their nests. And he searched in every -other unlikely place you could think of, but -he didn’t find the brooch.</p> - -<p>“We were very busy that summer, for -besides our regular work we had to earn -enough money to pay for Mother’s shawl. -I weeded in the garden for five cents a day, -and Charlie picked potato bugs, and we sold -blackberries and did all sorts of things. -When it was time for Mr. Simon to come -again we had our reward, for safely hidden -away under a loose board in the attic floor, -was enough money to pay for Mother’s -present.</p> - -<p>“But by this time we had changed our -minds about what we wanted to give her—instead -of the shawl we thought we would -give her a brooch. We met Mr. Simon at -the gate and asked him anxiously if he had -saved the shawl, for we were afraid that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_240"></a>[240]</span> -maybe he wouldn’t like our not taking it -in the spring.</p> - -<p>“‘Indeed, I did,’ he answered. ‘I haven’t -so much as opened that box since I was -here before.’</p> - -<p>“Then Charlie and I told him that if he -could sell the shawl to someone else we -would like to buy instead a brooch for -Mother. He said he could sell the shawl, -but why buy our mother a brooch when she -already had one so much finer than anything -he had to offer? We told him about -Mother’s brooch being lost, and he was -awfully sorry. We selected a new brooch, -and Mother was pleased with it and fastened -it into her collar right away.</p> - -<p>“The next morning I came into the sitting -room, after seeing Mr. Simon off, to find -Father and Mother talking seriously together.</p> - -<p>“‘I can’t understand it,’ Father was saying. -And I saw that Mother held in one hand the -cream-colored shawl that Charlie and I had -meant to buy for her.</p> - -<p>“‘Oh, is that what Mr. Simon left this -time?’ cried Belle, coming in just behind -me. ‘Who gets it, Mother, Aggie or me? -I think I ought to have it because I am going<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_241"></a>[241]</span> -to be married, but Aggie will say it’s her -turn because I got the lace collar last time.’</p> - -<p>“But Mother did not answer, and we saw -with surprise that in her other hand she held -her brooch—not her new brooch, but the -one that had been lost.</p> - -<p>“‘It was in the box with the shawl,’ she -said quietly, and looked at Father. How -had the brooch come into Mr. Simon’s -possession, they were wondering, and why -had he returned it in this mysterious -way? Had he found it the night Mother -lost it and had he now repented of having -kept it?</p> - -<p>“‘You had the shawl around your shoulders -the night you lost the brooch, Mother,’ -Belle said. ‘Maybe the brooch got fastened -in it then.’</p> - -<p>“‘That would be perfectly possible,’ said -Father gravely, ‘but how many times do -you think Simon has showed that shawl in -the last six months?’</p> - -<p>“Then I found my voice.</p> - -<p>“‘Oh, not once, Father!’ I cried. ‘He -never even opened the box since he was -here last time. He said so himself.’ And -I told them how he had been saving the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_242"></a>[242]</span> -shawl all that time for Charlie and me. -Mother laughed happily and said we were -dear children, and Father picked up the -county paper with an air of relief.</p> - -<p>“Next time I think, yes, I know that -next time we shall have a Christmas story.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_243"></a>[243]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_CHRISTMAS_BARRING_OUT">A CHRISTMAS BARRING OUT</h2> -</div> - - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">’Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Bobby and Alice and Pink had hung their -stockings by the living-room mantle and, -though it was very, very early, they decided -to go to bed. They always wanted to go -to bed early on Christmas Eve. Morning -seemed to come so much more quickly when -they went to bed early. They wouldn’t -even wait for a story. They would just say -good night to Grandma and go right to bed.</p> - -<p>“Why!” exclaimed Grandma in surprise, -when they had explained their intentions to -her, “you mustn’t go to bed so soon. You’d -be awake in the morning before daylight! -Come in and visit with me a while and I’ll -see if I can’t think up a story to tell you, the -same as on other nights.”</p> - -<p>So they went in and sat down on their -stools in front of the fire. Grandma put on -her spectacles, but, instead of her knitting, -she took up her Bible. The children were -very still while she read the story of the first<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_244"></a>[244]</span> -Christmas—how in a stable in Bethlehem -the baby Christ was born, and how an -angel appeared to the shepherds, who were -watching their flocks, and told them about -the Savior’s birth, and then a host of angels -came and praised God, saying, “Glory be -to God on high, and on earth peace, good -will toward men,” just as we sing today on -Christmas.</p> - -<p>“I think,” said Grandma, “that I will -tell you tonight about a Christmas treat at -our school. When I was a little girl we had -a custom, handed down from pioneer times, -called ‘barring out.’ A few days before -Christmas the teacher would arrive to find -the schoolhouse door securely fastened. Before -he was admitted he would have to sign a -paper promising to ‘treat’ his pupils.</p> - -<p>“In those days we didn’t have much -‘store’ candy, and we looked forward for -weeks to the Christmas treat we got at -school. You wouldn’t think much of it -today—six sticks of red and white striped -candy apiece, wintergreen and sassafras and -clove and maybe one of horehound. My, -but it tasted good to us! We didn’t eat it -all up at once, either. No, indeed!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_245"></a>[245]</span></p> - -<p>“But one year we didn’t know whether -to look for a treat or not. The teacher, a -Mr. Hazen, was from Clayville, and he had -been heard to say that he did not believe in -‘barring out’ or in being forced to treat his -pupils. Nevertheless we all came early to -school one morning and locked him out.</p> - -<p>“While we all cried ‘Treat! Treat!’ at the -tops of our voices, William Orbison opened -the window a tiny bit and thrust out the -paper they had prepared for the teacher to -sign, but he refused to touch it.</p> - -<p>“This was not alarming, as most all of the -teachers stayed out for an hour or two just -for fun. We played games and had a good -time. But by time for morning intermission -the older pupils had begun to get anxious. -Could it be possible that the teacher really -did not mean to treat? At noon he was still -out, walking up and down the playground, -clapping his hands together, stamping his -feet, and rubbing his ears to keep warm. We -were anxious in earnest now. The wood box -was empty and the fire was getting low. -There was no water in the water bucket, and -some of the younger children were coaxing -for drinks.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_246"></a>[246]</span></p> - -<p>“No teacher in our recollection had ever -refused to treat. There was an old rule that -if the teacher persisted in refusing to treat he -was to be ducked in the nearest stream of -water. We had heard of instances when this -had been done, but no one wanted to try it. -The older pupils stood around in frightened -little groups, and some of the smaller children -were crying openly, when the teacher knocked -loudly on the door and asked that the paper -be handed out to him.</p> - -<p>“But the paper had disappeared! We -searched all over the room, but it was nowhere -to be found. Again the teacher knocked and -asked rather impatiently for the paper.</p> - -<p>“Then William Orbison sat down at his -desk and hurriedly prepared another paper -and handed it out the window to the teacher. -He looked at it in a puzzled way for a little -bit, smiled a queer smile, and without a word -signed the paper and handed it back to -William. Then he was admitted and took -up books, but all afternoon he kept smiling -to himself as if he knew a joke on some one. -We felt uneasy, though we didn’t know why.</p> - -<p>“After school that evening my brother -Truman asked William Orbison to let him see<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_247"></a>[247]</span> -the paper the teacher had signed. When he -read it, he gave a long whistle of astonishment. -And what do you think William had done? -In the fuss and excitement of writing out the -second paper he had omitted the word ‘treat.’ -The teacher had promised nothing! That -explained his smiles. We were a disappointed -lot of children, I can tell you.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/illus29.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><i>The teacher looked at the paper in a puzzled way</i></p> -</div> - -<p>“We shouldn’t have any Christmas treat, -for after the way the teacher had talked -about treating, no one thought he would -treat if he could help it, and here was a way -out for him. The next day we were perfectly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_248"></a>[248]</span> -sure he did not intend to treat, for when -William Orbison left out a word in his reading -lesson the teacher said, ‘Watch yourself, -William. Leaving out words is getting to be -quite a habit with you.’</p> - -<p>“Other years we could hardly wait till the -day before Christmas. We wore our best -clothes, and right after dinner we would speak -pieces, have spelling and ciphering matches, -sing songs, have our treat, and play games -the rest of the afternoon. Lots of the older -brothers and sisters would come to visit, and -they would play with us and the teacher would -play, too, and we would have lots of fun.</p> - -<p>“But this year I should rather have stayed -at home and watched the Christmas preparations -at our house, for there wouldn’t be much -fun at school without any treat.</p> - -<p>“It was a cold, windy morning, and Father -took us to school in the sled. We had lessons -in the morning as usual, and in the afternoon -recitations and songs and a little play that the -teacher had helped us get up. Truman gave -‘Hamlet’s Soliloquy,’ and did it very well, -too. And Charlie had a piece, but he forgot -all but the first verse. We were so interested -that we didn’t think about the treat, and you<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_249"></a>[249]</span> -can imagine how surprised we were when the -teacher, instead of dismissing us, said that -we would now have an unexpected but very -welcome visitor. The door opened, and in -came old Santa Claus with a white beard -and a red coat and on his back the biggest -bag! You should have seen our eyes pop! -Of course it wasn’t the really, truly Santa -Claus who comes in the night and fills the -stockings. Oh, no, this was just a pretend -Santa.</p> - -<p>“He put his bag down on the teacher’s -platform, and after he had made a little -speech he opened it up.</p> - -<p>“And what do you suppose was in that bag? -Candy! Cream candy and chocolate drops -and clear candy, red and yellow, shaped like -animals and horns and baskets, such candy -as we had never seen before. A sack for each -pupil.</p> - -<p>“As we went up, one by one, the smallest -first, to get our treat, Santa asked each one -of us to recite something for him. The -smaller children knew verses out of their -readers, and some of us recited the pieces we -had said earlier in the afternoon. But how -we all laughed when Longford Henlen, who<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_250"></a>[250]</span> -was the tallest boy in school, couldn’t think -of anything to say but,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I had a little dog, his name was Jack,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Put him in the barn, he jumped through a crack.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>“And now to bed, to bed, and go right to -sleep. I’ve heard that if Santa Claus comes -and finds children awake he goes away and -comes back later. That is, he means to come -back later, but he has been known to get so -busy he forgot to come back at all. So say -your prayers and go to sleep.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_251"></a>[251]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_VOCABULARY">A VOCABULARY</h2> - -</div> - -<p>(This vocabulary contains only words of unusual difficulty in -spelling, pronunciation, and meaning.)</p> - -<div class="transnote"> - -<p><b>Transcriber’s Note:</b> To make the most of this pronunciation guide, you’ll -need a font that supports the characters used to indicate the different -sounds. U+1DF5 COMBINING UP TACK ABOVE (᷵) is probably the least commonly -supported character: if you can’t see this, find and install a font that -can display it, and you should be covered for everything else as well.</p> - -</div> - -<h3>KEY TO PRONUNCIATION</h3> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 15em;"> - -<ul> -<li>ā <i>as in</i> āle</li> -<li>a᷵ <i>as in</i> senʹa᷵te</li> -<li>ă <i>as in</i> ăm</li> -<li>ă <i>as in</i> fiʹnăl</li> -<li>ȧ <i>as in</i> ȧsk</li> -<li>ä <i>as in</i> ärm</li> -<li>â <i>as in</i> câre</li> -<li>ē <i>as in</i> ēve</li> -<li>e᷵ <i>as in</i> e᷵vent</li> -<li>ĕ <i>as in</i> ĕnd</li> -<li>ẽ <i>as in</i> hẽr</li> -<li>ī <i>as in</i> īce</li> -<li>ĭ <i>as in</i> ĭll</li> -<li>ō <i>as in</i> ōld</li> -<li>o᷵ <i>as in</i> o᷵bey</li> -<li>ô <i>as in</i> ôrb</li> -<li>ŏ <i>as in</i> ŏdd</li> -<li>ŏ <i>as in</i> cŏn-nectʹ</li> -<li>o͞o <i>as in</i> fo͞od</li> -<li>o͝o <i>as in</i> fo͝ot</li> -<li>ū <i>as in</i> ūse</li> -<li>ŭ <i>as in</i> ŭp</li> -<li>u᷵ <i>as in</i> u᷵nite</li> -<li>û <i>as in</i> ûrn</li> -</ul> - -</div> - -<div class="hanging"> - -<p><i>alpaca</i> (ăl păkʹ<i>ȧ</i>). A kind of cloth made from the hair -of the alpaca, an animal of the sheep family.</p> - -<p><i>arbutus</i> (ärʹbū tŭs). A plant having small, sweet-smelling -pink and white blossoms; known also as the Mayflower, -and ground laurel.</p> - -<p><i>ascension</i> (<i>ă</i> sĕnʹsh<i>ŭ</i>n). Rising in the air, as a balloon.</p> - -<p><i>auction</i> (ôkʹsh<i>ŭ</i>n). A public sale, where each article -is sold to the one offering the most money for it.</p> - -<p><i>barricaded</i> (bărʹĭ kādʹĕd). Filled with materials making -it difficult for one to pass.</p> - -<p><i>beaux</i> (bōz). Men paying special attention to certain -young women.</p> - -<p><i>Bethlehem</i> (bĕthʹle᷵ hĕm). The village where Christ -was born.</p> - -<p><i>brooch</i> (brōch). An ornamental clasp; a breastpin.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_252"></a>[252]</span></p> - -<p><i>calico</i> (kălʹĭ kō). A kind of cotton cloth.</p> - -<p><i>cameo</i> (kămʹe᷵ ō). A gem containing a carving, usually -in the shape of a head.</p> - -<p><i>Canterbury</i> (kănʹtẽr bĕr ĭ) <i>bell</i>. A plant having lovely -bell-shaped blossoms.</p> - -<p><i>carcasses</i> (kärʹk<i>ȧ</i>s ĕz). Dear bodies.</p> - -<p><i>cardinal</i> (kārʹdĭ n<i>ă</i>l). A small red bird.</p> - -<p><i>cashmere</i> (kăshʹmēr). A cloth made of fine woolen -material.</p> - -<p><i>chiffonier</i> (shĭfʹo᷵ nērʹ). A high chest of drawers, with -mirror.</p> - -<p><i>ciphering</i> (sīʹfẽr ĭng). Doing arithmetic examples.</p> - -<p><i>circuit</i> (sûrʹkĭt). When a minister was pastor of several -churches at the same time, the circuit was his -regular journeying around the whole number.</p> - -<p><i>code</i> (kōd). A system of rules governing one’s own -conduct.</p> - -<p><i>colony</i> (kŏlʹo᷵ nĭ). A company of people going to a -new place to make their home.</p> - -<p><i>conference</i> (kŏnʹfẽr <i>ĕ</i>ns). A meeting for the purpose of -deciding some question.</p> - -<p><i>conspicuous</i> (k<i>ŏ</i>n spĭkʹū <i>ŭ</i>s). In plain sight.</p> - -<p><i>Copenhagen</i> (kōʹp<i>ĕ</i>n hāʹg<i>ĕ</i>n). A children’s game.</p> - -<p><i>cravat</i> (kr<i>ȧ</i> vătʹ). A man’s necktie.</p> - -<p><i>cretonne</i> (kre᷵ tŏnʹ). A strong cotton cloth, prettily -colored.</p> - -<p><i>crocheted</i> (kro᷵ shādʹ). Made out of thread woven -together by means of a hook.</p> - -<p><i>dahlia</i> (dälʹy<i>ȧ</i>). A plant with showy blossoms.</p> - -<p><i>delaine</i> (de᷵ lānʹ). A kind of light woolen cloth.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_253"></a>[253]</span></p> - -<p><i>Delaware</i> (dĕlʹ<i>ȧ</i> wâr). Name of an early tribe of -Indians; name of a state of the United States.</p> - -<p><i>dolman</i> (dŏlʹm<i>ă</i>n). A woman’s cloak with cape-like -pieces instead of sleeves.</p> - -<p><i>Dominique</i> (dŏmʹĭ nēkʹ). A variety of fowl something -like the Plymouth Rock.</p> - -<p><i>Egypt</i> (ēʹjĭpt). A country in Africa.</p> - -<p><i>election</i> (e᷵ lĕkʹsh<i>ŭ</i>n). The choosing of one to hold some -public office.</p> - -<p><i>embarrassed</i> (ĕm bărʹr<i>ă</i>st). Ashamed; mortified.</p> - -<p><i>epidemic</i> (ĕpʹĭ dĕmʹĭk). Spreading to many people in -a community, as a disease.</p> - -<p><i>fluting</i> (flo͞otʹĭng). Ruffles so made as to have a wavy -appearance.</p> - -<p><i>furlough</i> (fûrʹlō). A soldier’s vacation from the army.</p> - -<p><i>gnarled</i> (närld). Twisted or rugged.</p> - -<p><i>gnawed</i> (nôd). Bitten apart, little by little with effort.</p> - -<p><i>gospel</i> (gŏsʹp<i>ĕ</i>l). The story of the life of Christ.</p> - -<p><i>husking</i> (hŭskʹĭng). Taking the husks from ears of -corn.</p> - -<p><i>immersion</i> (ĭ mûrʹsh<i>ŭ</i>n). Baptism by dipping the -person into the water all over.</p> - -<p><i>infare</i> (ĭnʹfâr). A party given by the husband’s -family as a welcome to the new wife.</p> - -<p><i>institute</i> (ĭnʹstĭ tūt). A meeting of school teachers.</p> - -<p><i>Israel</i> (ĭzʹra᷵ ĕl). Ancient kingdom of Palestine, the -scene of the stories of the Bible.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_254"></a>[254]</span></p> - -<p><i>larvae</i> (lärʹvē). The tiny worms hatched from insect -eggs.</p> - -<p><i>leghorn</i> (lĕgʹhôrn). A variety of fowl that gets its -name from Leghorn, a city in Italy.</p> - -<p><i>loam</i> (lōm). Clayey earth or soil.</p> - -<p><i>lozenge</i> (lŏzʹĕnj). A kind of candy.</p> - -<p><i>mahogany</i> (m<i>ȧ</i> hŏgʹ<i>ȧ</i> nĭ). A tree having a reddish -brown wood.</p> - -<p><i>mature</i> (m<i>ȧ</i> tūrʹ). To become ripe.</p> - -<p><i>mincemeat</i> (mĭnsʹmētʹ). A mixture of meat, apples, -raisins, etc., to be used as a pie filling.</p> - -<p><i>mistletoe</i> (mĭsʹ ʹl tō). A vine having waxy white berries.</p> - -<p><i>muskrat</i> (mŭskʹrătʹ). A small fur-bearing animal living -in holes in the banks of streams or lakes.</p> - -<p><i>myriads</i> (mĭrʹĭ <i>ă</i>dz). Large numbers.</p> - -<p><i>parsonage</i> (pär ʹs’na᷵j). The house occupied by the -minister of a church.</p> - -<p><i>persimmon</i> (pẽr sĭmʹ<i>ŭ</i>n). A plum-like fruit.</p> - -<p><i>Pharaoh</i> (fāʹrō). The name of the kings of Egypt in -the long-ago time.</p> - -<p><i>pioneer</i> (pīʹo᷵ nērʹ). One who goes first to make a -home in an unsettled country.</p> - -<p><i>pippin</i> (pĭpʹĭn). A general name for apple. Here -means “something extra good.”</p> - -<p><i>pithy</i> (pĭthʹĭ). Soft and spongy.</p> - -<p><i>plagues</i> (plāgz). Great troubles.</p> - -<p><i>plaid</i> (plăd). Woven in the form of squares.</p> - -<p><i>Plymouth</i> (plĭmʹ<i>ŭ</i>th). The town settled by the Pilgrims.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_255"></a>[255]</span></p> - -<p><i>portico</i> (pōrʹtĭ kō). A porch or piazza.</p> - -<p><i>preserve</i> (pre᷵ zûrvʹ). To make to last.</p> - -<p><i>proclamation</i> (prŏkʹl<i>ȧ</i> māʹsh<i>ŭ</i>n). A public announcement.</p> - -<p><i>Psalm</i> (säm). One of the verses from the Book of -Psalms in the Bible.</p> - -<p><i>quilting</i> (kwĭltʹĭng). A meeting of women for the -purpose of making a bedquilt.</p> - -<p><i>recollection</i> (rĕkʹ<i>ŏ</i> lĕkʹsh<i>ŭ</i>n). That which is called to -mind; a memory.</p> - -<p><i>recommendation</i> (rĕkʹ<i>ŏ</i> mĕn dāʹsh<i>ŭ</i>n). Expression in -favor of something.</p> - -<p><i>recruiting</i> (re᷵ kro͞otʹĭng). Persuading new men to join -the army or navy.</p> - -<p><i>recruits</i> (re᷵ kro͞otzʹ). Men who had recently joined -the army or navy.</p> - -<p><i>reveille</i> (re᷵ vālʹya᷵). The bugle call awakening the -soldiers in the morning.</p> - -<p><i>Reverend</i> (rĕvʹẽr <i>ĕ</i>nd). A clergyman’s title; one who -is to be honored.</p> - -<p><i>ruching</i> (ro͞oshʹĭng). A plaited strip of lace or net.</p> - -<p><i>sassafras</i> (săsʹ<i>ȧ</i> frăs). A kind of tree, from the root -bark of which a flavoring extract is made.</p> - -<p><i>Savior</i> (sāvʹyẽr). Christ.</p> - -<p><i>scarred</i> (skārd). Having the marks of old cuts.</p> - -<p><i>serenade</i> (sĕrʹe᷵ nādʹ). Singing or playing outside a -house as a greeting to one or more within the house.</p> - -<p><i>shirred</i> (shûrd). Sewed in such a way as to make the -material hang full and loose.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_256"></a>[256]</span></p> - -<p><i>soliloquy</i> (so᷵ lĭlʹo᷵ kwĭ). A talking to oneself.</p> - -<p><i>sorghum</i> (sôrʹgŭm). A sirup made from a variety of -corn plant.</p> - -<p><i>stealth</i> (stĕlth). In secret.</p> - -<p><i>suet</i> (sūʹĕt). A hard fat.</p> - -<p><i>superstitious</i> (sūʹpẽr stĭsh<i>ŭ</i>s). Having fear of what is -unknown; believing in signs.</p> - -<p><i>symbol</i> (sĭmʹb<i>ŏ</i>l). A sign.</p> - -<p><i>telescope</i> (tĕlʹe᷵ skōp). A kind of traveling bag.</p> - -<p><i>Timotheus</i> (tĭ mōʹthe᷵ ŭs). A man spoken of in the -Bible.</p> - -<p><i>tithes</i> (tīthz). Tenths. What one gives toward the -support of a church.</p> - -<p><i>unsurveyed</i> (ŭnʹs<i>ŭ</i>r vādʹ). Not measured.</p> - -<p><i>vouchers</i> (vouchʹẽrz). Papers showing money is due -one.</p> - -<p><i>wagered</i> (wāʹjẽrd). Bet.</p> - -<p><i>waistcoat</i> (wāstʹkōt). A man’s garment worn under -the coat; a vest.</p> - -<p><i>whinny</i> (hwĭnʹĭ). The sound made by a horse; a -neighing.</p> - -<p><i>worsted</i> (wo͝osʹtĕd). A cloth made of soft woolen yarn.</p> - -<p><i>wrenched</i> (rĕncht). 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