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diff --git a/old/69068-0.txt b/old/69068-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index cd2fe27..0000000 --- a/old/69068-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3050 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The country Christmas, by Frances -Margaret Fox - -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: The country Christmas - -Author: Frances Margaret Fox - -Illustrator: Etheldred B. Barry - -Release Date: September 30, 2022 [eBook #69068] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Charlene Taylor, Brian Wilsden 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 THE COUNTRY CHRISTMAS *** - -Transcriber's Note: Italic text is denoted by _underscores_ -and bold text by =equal signs=. - - - - -THE COUNTRY CHRISTMAS - - - - -Works of - -Frances Margaret Fox - -[Illustration] - - - Farmer Brown and the Birds $.50 - The Little Giant's Neighbours .50 - Mother Nature's Little Ones .50 - Betty of Old Mackinaw .50 - Brother Billy .50 - How Christmas Came to the Mulvaneys .50 - The Country Christmas .50 - Little Lady Marjorie 1.50 - - - L. C. PAGE & COMPANY - New England Building, Boston, Mass. - -[Illustration: CHOOSING THE CHRISTMAS TREE. - - (_See page 99_)] - - - - - Cosy Corner Series - - THE COUNTRY - CHRISTMAS - - By - Frances Margaret Fox - - Author of - "Farmer Brown and the Birds," "Little Lady - Marjorie," "Betty of Old Mackinaw," "How Christmas - Came to the Mulvaneys," etc. - - _Illustrated by_ - Etheldred B. Barry - - [Illustration] - - - _Boston_ - - [Illustration] - - _L. C. Page & Company_ - - [Illustration] - - _1907_ - - - - - _Copyright, 1907_ - BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY - (INCORPORATED) - - _All rights reserved_ - - - First Impression, June, 1907 - - - _COLONIAL PRESS_ - _Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co. - Boston, U. S. A._ - - - - -[Illustration: CONTENTS] - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I. HOPE FOR THE MULVANEYS 1 - - II. SALLY BROWN'S NEW IDEA 11 - - III. HOUSE-HUNTING 18 - - IV. TOM MAKES A SUGGESTION 28 - - V. SOMETHING HAPPENED 35 - - VI. HOW STUBBINS WENT TO SEE MR. HODGKINS 46 - - VII. PIGS IN THE ATTIC 54 - - VIII. STUBBINS AND CHINKY LEARN THEIR NAMES 63 - - IX. HANNAH'S PINK DRESS 69 - - X. THE HOME THAT WAS LOST ON CHRISTMAS DAY 77 - - XI. MRS. MULVANEY'S AIR CASTLE 86 - - XII. WELCOME HODGKINS CHOOSES THE CHRISTMAS TREE 93 - - XIII. ON THE TRAIL OF SANTA CLAUS 101 - - XIV. THE HOME THAT WAS FOUND ON CHRISTMAS DAY 107 - - - - -[Illustration: ILLVSTRATIONS] - - - PAGE - - CHOOSING THE CHRISTMAS TREE (_See page 99_) _Frontispiece_ - - "'HE PUT ON ONE OF HER NEW DRESSES'" 7 - - "POINTING TO A DILAPIDATED WEATHER-BEATEN - STRUCTURE ALMOST HIDDEN FROM VIEW" 19 - - "WHEREUPON HE WAS TAKEN IN HAND" 42 - - "THEN BEGAN A WILD RIDE" 52 - - "A CLEANER IF NOT A BETTER BOY" 59 - - "JOINED HER FAMILY BENEATH AN APPLE-TREE" 73 - - "LAUGHING SOFTLY AS SHE ROCKED" 90 - - "THE NEXT DAY CHINKY SHARPENED HIS HATCHET" 103 - - "THE SEVEN STOOD IN A ROW" 107 - - - - -THE COUNTRY CHRISTMAS - - - - -CHAPTER I - -HOPE FOR THE MULVANEYS - - -Sally Brown remembered the Mulvaneys. It was no wonder the child talked -of them at first; but, when she had lived in the country two months, -her mother and brother Alfred begged her to change the subject. - -"Give us a rest," was Alfred's repeated command. - -"Really, Sally," her mother remonstrated one morning, "what is the -use of thinking of the Mulvaneys all the time? If it did any good I -wouldn't say a word, but you only make us uncomfortable without helping -them in the least." - -"Well, mamma," was the reply, "you see I can't help hoping." - -"Hoping," mocked Alfred, "hoping for what, I'd like to know?" - -"If your name was Chinky Mulvaney you'd guess quick enough," was -Sally's retort. "I am hoping the Mulvaneys will get out of the city -same as we did." - -"Hoping won't get them out," said Alfred. - -"Maybe it won't and maybe it will," Sally remarked. "I notice that when -you hope for things hard enough, you're pretty sure to get them. That -is," she added, "if you do some squirming too. Don't you know, Alfred, -you can help things happen if you try. I've discovered there's more'n -one way of hoping." - -Mrs. Brown was ready to go out. "Sally, my child," was her parting -advice, "hope all you wish, but please don't mention the Mulvaneys to -Alfred or me for one week." - -"She'd never live," Alfred said, as he grabbed his cap and followed his -mother. - -Sally flew to the kitchen. "I can talk to you about the Mulvaneys, -can't I, Mrs. Turner? Now I am ready to wash the dishes. Alfred's gone -to the post-office, and mamma has gone to sew for Mrs. Reuben Smith; -that's why I didn't get out here sooner; I had to see them off. Mamma -says,—what do you think?—that I mustn't say Mulvaney to her for a -week. I can talk to you, though, can't I?" - -"Indeed you may," laughed Mrs. Isaac Turner. "I feel as if I had known -the Mulvaneys all my life. Talk about them, of course you may. Is Mrs. -Mulvaney a nice looking woman?" - -"Dear me, no," laughed Sally, playing with the soapsuds in the dishpan. -"She's about as unpretty as any one you ever saw. She's cross as a -bear, too, but who wouldn't be? Just 'magine, Mrs. Turner, if you lived -in a horrid little pig-pen house, and you had seven acting children -and your Mr. Mulvaney was dead, and you had to take in washing? I do -wish they could come out in the country. I wish they could live in this -very village. Why, Mrs. Turner, they are the most discouraging children -you ever saw. There's Hannah and Chinky and Nora and Dora and Mike and -Johnnie and Stubbins, and they all look worse'n they act." - -"Yes," agreed Mrs. Turner, "I know them every one, Sally, just as well -as if I had seen their photographs. Hannah is tall and thin; Chinky is -red-headed and freckled; Mike is full of mischief; and Johnnie's always -getting into trouble; and Stubbins is a terror. Now why do you want -such a family turned loose in our pretty village?" - -"Don't laugh, Mrs. Turner, because it is dreadful for children not -to have better things. They live down by the railroad tracks and the -river, in mud and dirt. I think it is worse for them because they have -always lived there, and they don't know anything different. They are -not so very bad yet, but you just wait and see what'll happen if they -stay there." - -"How is it, Sally, that you like such children?" - -"Because," was the instant response, "I got acquainted with them. I've -discovered that you're pretty sure to like every one if you only get -well enough acquainted. I never knew how good Mrs. Mulvaney was until -mamma was taken to the hospital, and Mrs. Mulvaney took me and Alfred -in. Of course she was cross and everything, but I'll never forget -how good she was to us, nor how she cried for joy,—that's what mamma -said,—because they had a gay Christmas for once in their lives. She -was glad mamma and Alfred and I could come here to live, too; and now -I'll tell you something, Mrs. Turner. I'm not the only one that's -hoping. This is exactly what Mrs. Mulvaney said when we talked it over. -'We'll put for the country, too, Sally, if we ever get a chance!' So -you see, she wants to come." - -Nothing more was said about the Mulvaneys for a week, which doesn't -mean that Sally forgot them. It happened this way: Alfred brought a -letter from the post-office that Saturday morning addressed to Mrs. -Elizabeth Brown, and as Mrs. Elizabeth Brown was away all day, the -children passed their spare time wondering about its contents. At night -their curiosity was satisfied. A farmer's daughter needed the help of a -dressmaker for two weeks. Better than that she wrote, "Come as soon as -possible, and bring both your children. They can walk to school every -day with my brother." - -"That lets me out," declared Alfred; "but you may go, Sally, just the -same." To show how little he cared, Alfred whistled "Yankee Doodle." - -"Perhaps Mr. Turner would give you a vacation," suggested Sally. - -"Wouldn't ask him," was the reply. "When they take a feller to work -for his board in a grocery store after school hours, and to do chores -around the house, he's got to tend to business or lose his job." - -Alfred sometimes put on airs. Sally always felt humiliated when her -brother talked about working for his board, and how fortunate it was -that one of his mother's children happened to be a boy. "What if we'd -both been girls?" he used to ask in tones of scorn. Instead of feeling -sorry for Alfred, when she and her mother were driven to the Randall -farm, Sally envied him because of his importance at home. - -"How do you like it out there?" asked the boy at recess a few days -later. - -[Illustration: "'HE PUT ON ONE OF HER NEW DRESSES'"] - -"The only thing I don't like," was the reply, "is coming to school with -Tom Randall. I am glad he isn't my brother. He's the worst tease I -ever saw. Why Alfred, you are a perfect angel beside of him. He made -Cornelia Mary cry last night, and she's sixteen." - -"Who's Cornelia Mary?" - -"She's his sister. He put on one of her new dresses mamma is making, -and said he was going to wear it out to milk the cows." - -"Did he do it?" inquired Alfred. - -"No, his mother made him take it off. He's fourteen and he thinks he -knows it all." - -"The boys all like him, Sally. If girls weren't so silly they wouldn't -have so much trouble." - -"You needn't think that bothers me," laughed Sally, "because I want to -tell you about the Randalls. They're the nicest people ever, all but -Tom. They live in a great big white house with green blinds and wide -verandas. It must be lovely in the summer. You ought to see their cows -and their horses and their chickens, and when I say chickens I mean -everything with feathers; pigeons, ducks, and geese, turkeys, and even -guinea hens. Oh, but it's nice. I can't begin to tell you. Cornelia -Randall is the sweetest girl you ever saw, too. She told me to call -her Cornelia Mary except when I go visiting her school next summer, -then I must say 'Miss Randall,' to set the country children a good -example." - -"Is she going to be a school teacher?" - -"Yes, Alfred, and she says she can hardly wait for summer. She's passed -her examination and got her certificate, and she's going to teach over -in the Hodgkins district. Tom declares he'll visit her school and make -speeches to the children. It would be just like him, and she couldn't -put him out either, if she tried. Cornelia Mary says sometimes she -wishes she was an only child." - -"Nice and selfish," suggested Alfred. - -"You never lived with Tom Randall," observed Sally. "There he comes -now, and don't you dare tell what I told you." - -"Won't I though?" - -"Oh, no, you won't, Alfred. Wait a minute," she called, "I want to tell -you something. I'm still hoping about the Mulvaneys; they would have -such a good time in the country!" - - - - -CHAPTER II - -SALLY BROWN'S NEW IDEA - - -The following Saturday Tom Randall heard some news. - -"You can't guess the latest!" he shouted, as he ran up the stairs three -steps at a time, reaching the door of the sewing-room out of breath, -and beaming with smiles. - -"It must be something good," ventured Sally, forgetting to pull basting -threads in her eagerness to hear more. - -Cornelia Mary looked doubtfully at her brother. "Well, what is it?" she -asked. - -"Get your camphor bottle ready. I'm going to let you down easy, but you -had better be prepared. Corny, your school's gone. You won't teach in -the Hodgkins district this year, I can tell you right now." - -"What do you mean?" - -"Just what I said." - -"Did the schoolhouse burn up?" - -"Worse'n that." - -"Have they hired another teacher?" - -"Worse yet." - -"Come, Tom, tell us," besought Mrs. Brown. - -"He's fooling!" declared Sally. - -"No, sir, I mean what I say," insisted Tom. "Corny's school has gone, -bag and baggage." - -"Well, how could it?" demanded Cornelia Mary. - -Tom shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know how it could be so cruel," -he said, "but maybe it didn't like to have you for a teacher. Fact is, -it's gone. The Beans and the Kilpatricks have got work in the sugar -factory, and they moved to town. There goes your A Class and your B -Class and—" - -"Well, the Chart Class isn't gone," interrupted Cornelia Mary, laughing -in spite of herself at Tom's antics. "You can have a school if there's -only one child in the whole district and little Willie Jessup begins -this summer. Poor little fellow, he'll be lonesome." - -"No, little Willie won't be lonesome," mocked Tom, "because little -Willie's going too. I tell you, Corny, your school's gone. Cheer up, -you've got me left. I'll be home all summer. Never mind the Hodgkins -district, let it go." - -"You go away," retorted Cornelia Mary, struggling with tears, "you're a -comfort, aren't you?" - -"It was my painful duty, Corny, to tell you before the neighbours did -and this is all the thanks I get, just 'go away.' What an ungrateful -world it is. Never mind, Corny, if you ever need a friend, you come -back to your sweet brother. He'll forgive you." - -"Will you go away!" repeated Cornelia Mary. - -"Oh, yes," was the reply, "I mustn't stay in a damp place for fear of -rheumatism. Better get up your umbrella, Sally," and Tom went away -whistling. - -Cornelia Mary did cry, at least she cried until Sally Brown appeared to -be very much excited about something. - -"What is the matter?" asked Mrs. Brown, while Cornelia Mary wiped her -eyes and stared. - -"Why—why the Mulvaneys!" exclaimed Sally. "Why can't they move out -here and go to school?" - -"Who are the Mulvaneys?" asked Cornelia Mary. - -"Well, they're the Mulvaneys," Sally insisted, "and—" - -"Can it be," interrupted Mrs. Brown, "that Sally has never mentioned -them to you?" - -"Never," replied Cornelia Mary. "Do tell me about them." - -"You, mamma, you will tell it so much better than I could." - -"It is a dismal story," began Mrs. Brown, "and one I would gladly have -forgotten." - -"Why Mamma Brown!" - -"Don't misunderstand me, Sally; I shall never forget Mrs. Mulvaney's -kindness, but as I have said a dozen times, we cannot help the family -and there is no use in continually dwelling upon their misery." - -"Only I can't help hoping," murmured Sally. "Go on, mamma." - -When the story was finished, Cornelia Mary turned to Sally with a -puzzled look on her face. - -"How do you think we could get that family into the Hodgkins district?" -she asked. "What would they do? I mean, where would they live, and what -could Mrs. Mulvaney do to earn their bread and butter, I'd like to -know?" - -"Couldn't she take in washing?" demanded Sally. - -Cornelia Mary shook her head. "I'm afraid not in the country." - -"Oh, but she could," Sally declared. "Mrs. Turner says she could -get more washing to do in the village than five women could manage, -especially when the summer boarders are there. Mrs. Turner says too -she's even wondered why some one doesn't start a laundry." - -"But that's in the village and wouldn't help my school any." - -"Maybe that's true," agreed Sally, "but couldn't they live in the -country, and couldn't Chinky and Hannah go after the washings and take -them home? The worst trouble is finding a place for the Mulvaneys to -live. There isn't a house they could get in the village." - -"How do you know?" asked Mrs. Brown. - -Sally smiled. "Oh, Mrs. Turner and I went house-hunting only last -Saturday. We thought maybe we could find a cheap little house, but -we couldn't on account of the new sugar factory. Houses are scarce -and rents are high. We found out a few things. That's the way I do my -hoping, mamma." - -"Would they come?" inquired Cornelia Mary, growing interested. - -"Come!" echoed Sally, "they'd come flying!" - -"Yes, they would," agreed her mother. "There's no doubt of it. But how -could we manage, Cornelia Mary? Where could they get a house, and how -could they furnish it?" - -"Of course they would have to bring their furniture," suggested -Cornelia Mary. - -"But they haven't anything worth mentioning, even if they could afford -the expense. I doubt if Mrs. Mulvaney ever had money enough ahead to -buy tickets for the whole family, and their clothes are unthinkable. -No, it is hopeless." - -"Don't say that, Mrs. Brown, on account of my school. If there is a -way to get them here, Sally and I must do it. Father will help us, I -know. Come on, Sally, we'll go and find him. If what Tom says is true, -and I'm sure it is because I heard something about it last week, why, -there'll be three houses empty and perhaps we may be able to get one of -them cheap." - -"You never can tell until you try," added Sally. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -HOUSE-HUNTING - - -The Beans, the Kilpatricks, and the Jessups might as well have taken -their houses with them so far as the Mulvaneys were concerned. Mr. -Bean's father and mother were to live in their vacant house. The -Kilpatrick home was rented to an old couple related to the Beans, while -the residence of the Jessups was to be torn down. - -Cornelia Mary and Sally drove slowly homeward after their first -experience in country house-hunting. - -"Now what do you think?" inquired Cornelia Mary, giving the reins an -impatient jerk. - -"I think—" began Sally, "well, I think we got left." - -That remark made the girls laugh. Having laughed the prospect seemed -less dismal. - -[Illustration: "POINTING TO A DILAPIDATED WEATHER-BEATEN STRUCTURE -ALMOST HIDDEN FROM VIEW"] - -"Wasn't it too bad about the Jessup house?" Cornelia Mary resumed. "It -was so tumbled down the rent couldn't be much and they might have got -along somehow. Was it a great deal worse than the house they live in?" - -"Worse," echoed Sally, "it was sixty hundred times better. Why, the -Mulvaneys live in a little bit of a black old shanty—" Sally stopped -suddenly, then exclaimed in excited tones, "A house! A house! Whoa!" - -"A house?" questioned Cornelia Mary, looking into the sky as if -expecting to see it drop from the clouds. - -"Right there!" continued Sally, pointing to a dilapidated -weather-beaten structure almost hidden from view by overgrown bushes -and old weed stalks. - -"Giddap," laughed Cornelia Mary, "trot along. Why, Sally, you gave me -such a start. I am sure I know now how Columbus felt when the mariners -shouted land." - -"But it's a house," insisted Sally, "and no one is living in it. Whoa, -horse! Make him stop, Cornelia Mary, I want to get out. Who owns that -house and why is it empty?" - -"All right, whoa, Bess! Climb out, Sally, you shall see the house, that -is if you can reach it without tearing your dress. Wait a minute while -I tie the horse to this tree." - -"But it's deserted!" Sally exclaimed, "and the windows are all boarded -up; we can't see much. Who owns it? Let's go for the key?" - -"No one will ever live in that house again," declared Cornelia Mary. -"To begin with, it's the oldest house in the country and the man who -built it lived in it for a long time. Then he built a new house and -his hired man lived here. After that a great many different families -rented it; then for years it was empty. One time a crazy man, whose -folks owned the mill, broke in the house and said he was going to stay -there until he died. The owner said let him have his own way as he was -harmless, and if the family would supply his wants he might have the -house rent free." - -"And did he live here all alone way back from the road?" asked Sally, -gazing curiously about the place. - -"Yes, and they say he was happier than he ever was in his life before; -he kept chickens and pigs and had gardens—why, Sally, there is a -regular wild flower garden here every summer to this day, and the man's -been dead since long before I was born." - -"And hasn't anybody lived here since?" asked Sally. - -"Of course not." - -"Why?" - -Cornelia Mary shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, folks are queer about some -things, Sally. I wouldn't stay all night in this house for anything, -myself, not for anything." - -"Why not?" - -"Well, don't you see, the old fellow was crazy, and sometimes he used -to sing and howl all night long." - -"But, Cornelia Mary, he's dead now, and this is a good, big house. It -would be a palace for the Mulvaneys. Who owns it?" - -"The same man who allowed the poor old lunatic to have it for a home. -He's queer, too. I never said anything but 'good morning,' or 'how do -you do' to him in my life." - -"Where does he live?" - -"Oh, just a little way from here around the next corner on the Bay -Shore road." - -"What's his name?" - -"Welcome Hodgkins." - -"Oh, he's the Hodgkins district, is he?" - -"No," laughed Cornelia, "not exactly, although his ancestors gave -the district its name. I tell you he's a queer old fellow—the only -Hodgkins left in the country. I really shouldn't like to call on him, -but we'll do it if you think the Mulvaneys would live here, and if -you'll do the talking." - -"Well, come on then," said Sally. - -"Oh, Sally, but my heart is set on teaching school this summer; I do -hope they'll come. Yes, I'll go with you to see Mr. Hodgkins. We'll -walk. He has the best farm in the country but I tell you he's queer; -nobody ever goes to see him. He lives in that large white house -straight ahead." - -"But, Cornelia Mary, the blinds are all closed. I don't believe he's at -home." - -"That's nothing, Sally, he lives alone in the back of his house. I told -you he was queer." - -"Where's his wife?" - -"Dead, years ago." - -"Glad to see you, come in," said Mr. Hodgkins, opening wide his kitchen -door, at the girls' timid knock. - -The man's eyes were so kind and he smiled so pleasantly Sally liked him. - -"We've come on an important errand, Mr. Hodgkins," she began. "It's -about Cornelia's school. Unless you will help us, Cornelia Mary can't -teach school this summer." - -"Indeed?" questioned Mr. Hodgkins. "I shall certainly be pleased to do -all in my power to assist the young lady." - -Sally told him the story of the Mulvaneys. When she finished speaking -there was silence for a moment. "Guess he is queer," thought Sally. Mr. -Hodgkins's first remark was unsatisfactory, to say the least. - -"Oom—um—I dunno," he murmured. - -"Is it about the rent?" Sally inquired. - -"Ooom—um," replied Mr. Hodgkins. - -"Unless you wanted too much money," continued the child, "I think she -could manage it. She has to pay rent where they live now." - -At that Welcome Hodgkins found his voice. "It's the children," he -confessed. "They could have the house and welcome, but I can't say as I -relish having the young savages raising Cain on my farm." - -"It seems to me they could be trained," faltered Sally. - -Something in her tone troubled Welcome Hodgkins. "Come with me and see -the house," he suggested, "and we'll consider the matter." - -For the first time in years spring sunshine streamed across the -threshold of the lonely dwelling among the bushes. Once more the old -rooms echoed a childish voice and footsteps from the outside world. - -"It's not a bad sort of a house after all," remarked the owner, having -lighted the lamp he carried. "Musty and damp now to be sure, but it's -roomy and might easily be repaired. Well, I dunno, let them come and if -they misbehave, we'll train them." - -"Mr. Hodgkins, you're an awful nice man, and Mrs. Mulvaney'll say so -too, when she gets my letter." - -"I don't know how to thank you," added Cornelia Mary. - -"Well, children, here's the key. I'll unboard the windows any time you -give the word. I'm thinking, Miss Cornelia Mary, that you and I will -have our hands full this summer. Good day." - -"Isn't he a nice man?" whispered Sally, as Welcome Hodgkins sauntered -homeward. - -"Oom—um—I dunno," was the response. "I still think he's queer." - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -TOM MAKES A SUGGESTION - - -Every one in the Randall family became interested in the fortunes of -the Mulvaneys. Even the hired man offered his services in getting the -house ready for the new tenants. - -"Like enough a little fresh paint'd be a good thing," he remarked. - -"Fresh paint," repeated Tom, "yes, sir, that's just the thing to -furnish a house with. If I couldn't have but one piece of furniture, -I'd take fresh paint. I wouldn't say give me a bed, or a table, or a -chair, or a small article like a kitchen stove; no, sir, I'd say, fresh -paint for me, if you please, fresh paint or nothing." - -"Tom, you are the most consoling mortal," interrupted Cornelia Mary. -"We completely forgot about the furniture." - -"Jake didn't, though; he knew that as long as the Mulvaneys had fresh -paint they'd be all right. Now, who'll give the paint? Corny, you ought -to do it, because think of the salary you'll earn teaching that school." - -"Hold on, young man," said Mr. Randall, "Jake's idea is good, and I'll -donate all the paint he'll put on." - -"Father has a lot left from painting the barn," Cornelia Mary whispered -to Mrs. Brown. - -"They may have our old kitchen stove, too," added Mrs. Randall. "It's -a nice little stove, but we've had no use for it since we bought the -range, and it's in the woodshed covered with rust. I should be glad to -get it out of the way." - -Without warning Tom stood on his head and waved his feet in the air. - -"Tom Randall, what possesses you?" asked his mother, giving the pillows -on the sitting-room couch a vigorous shake. - -"I wish to speak in meeting," explained Tom. "It's no circus -performance. Cheer up, Corny, I'll teach the Mulvaneys how to raise -their feet instead of their hands when they have to ask questions in -school." - -"I'll give you a new lesson in shingling if you try it," observed -his father, laughing with the rest of the family at the change of -expression on Tom's face. - -"I was about to make a suggestion," Tom continued. "Now don't giggle, -Corny and Sally, I'm serious. I say let's go furniture-hunting all -through the country." - -"Oh, Tom, you dear!" exclaimed Cornelia Mary. "The very thing! I -suppose every one of our neighbours has old furniture in their -woodsheds and attics they would be glad to get rid of." - -Sally clapped her hands and tried to speak. She had barely time to open -her mouth before Cornelia Mary had finished a request. - -"Oh, Tom, will you go with us? We'll hitch Bess to the lumber wagon and -you drive. Will you?" - -Tom considered a moment, as became his dignity, before replying. "I'll -go on one condition. If mother and father and Mrs. Brown will let us -all stay home from school, we'll begin to-morrow morning." - -"Oh, let them," begged Cornelia Mary, "do say yes." - -Permission was given, to the great surprise of Master Tom. - -"But he's such a tease," objected Sally. - -"You're only half-acquainted with Tom," declared his sister. "He has -streaks of real goodness, and when he says he'll help, he always does -it." - -Bess must have thought picnics had begun early when Tom, Cornelia Mary, -and Sally scrambled into the lumber wagon the following morning. They -laughed so much, and acted so generally foolish, the old horse turned -her head several times, as if she couldn't understand the occasion for -such hilarity. - -"We must ask for left over rolls of wall paper," suggested Cornelia -Mary. "Jake and father promised to open the house to-day. They are -going to put up the stove and build a fire. Mother says that old crazy -man was neat as wax, and that the relatives left the house in perfect -order after the funeral." - -"How many rooms in the shebang?" questioned Tom. - -"Let me think; there's a sitting-room, a bedroom, a dining-room, and -a kitchen downstairs. I think Mr. Hodgkins said there were three rooms -upstairs, didn't he, Sally?" - -"Yes, three rooms, and kind of an attic over the kitchen. Oh, what will -the Mulvaneys think? They have only two little rooms and a place above -for the children to sleep, where they live, and the children were never -in a decent house in their lives. They are not used to furniture, let -me tell you. They didn't own but one real bed." - -The first donation was a what-not, given by Mrs. George Saunders. - -"That thing'll be a comfort," commented Tom. - -"It'll help fix up the sitting-room," commented Cornelia Mary. - -"What's it for?" asked Sally. - -"To stand in the corner," was the reply. "You're supposed to put pretty -things on the shelves." - -"Hope nobody'll give us another," faltered Sally. - -Deacon Trowbridge happened to be thinking of buying new furniture. -He was glad to help load his old lounge, two arm-chairs, and a -marble-topped table upon the lumber wagon. - -"Furniture's picking up," remarked Tom as he drove on. - -Before the day was done the old horse was resting her feet in the barn, -while the Randall family, including grandfather and the hired man were -examining second-hand furniture in the woodshed. - -"I wouldn't have believed it possible," said Mrs. Brown. - -"Nor I," Mrs. Randall added. "Do you see the lace curtains! And if -there isn't Mrs. Moses Pendleton's old sewing-machine! I didn't suppose -she'd give a thing. How did it happen, Cornelia Mary?" - -"You see, mamma, I knew that woman had two machines because I was there -the day the new one was brought home, and I suppose she guessed what I -was thinking about when Sally told the story." - -"Oh, but I'm getting sick of telling that old story," laughed Sally. -"I'll be glad when we get through collecting furniture." - -The hired man kept his word. With a great deal of advice and more or -less help from the children, he painted, papered, and got the house in -order inside and out. Many of the neighbours assisted with the work of -settling, then went home to ransack their attics afresh to supply newly -discovered needs. - -In the village Mrs. Isaac Turner used her influence. Through her -efforts a barrel of flour and a box of groceries found their way to the -Mulvaney pantry. Tubs and a wash-boiler were purchased by the future -school teacher. Inspired by her example Tom made a wash-bench. It was -a good one, too, strong and heavy. Mrs. Brown bought the material and -Sally hemmed towels. Mrs. Randall provided sheets while Mr. Randall -gave a generous load of wood. - -At last, when all was ready, Sally wrote to Mrs. Mulvaney. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -SOMETHING HAPPENED - - -It would be hard to say who was more surprised by Sally's letter, the -postman or Mrs. Mulvaney. Both stared doubtfully at the envelope, the -postman appearing unwilling to leave the letter, while Mrs. Mulvaney -was equally uncertain of her right to it. The children were out. When -the postman was gone their mother put a stick of wood in the kitchen -stove, poked the clothes in the boiler, glanced at the wash-tubs, then -went in the Other Room. - -"Well, I never!" she remarked, turning the envelope over and over -before opening it. "I wonder what Mulvaney would think!" - -Three times while Mrs. Mulvaney was reading the letter she opened and -closed her mouth without uttering a sound. The fourth time she managed -to say, "Well I never!" At last she returned to the wash-boiler and -poked the clothes so vigorously it is a wonder she didn't punch holes -through them. Next she made an attack on the wash-tub. She flipped, -flapped, and jerked the clothes over the board, pounded on the soap, -and worked with such energy Johnnie didn't dare enter the kitchen. He -always peeped in the window before venturing further. - -"She'd spank us," he murmured, running to warn his brothers and sisters -to "keep back." - -It was well that he did so. His mother was in no mood to be trifled -with. In the shortest possible time the washing was finished and hung -on the line. - -"Now then," said Mrs. Mulvaney, going in the Other Room and searching -under the bed for an old stocking which she dragged forth quickly, -"we'll see." - -"More in it than I thought," she went on, pouring the contents in -her lap, then rapidly counting the money. "Eight tickets! It won't -take long to find out what they'll cost. I'll go to the Grand Central -Station and price them. Where's my good skirt?" - -The garment was easily found. It was on the floor in the corner with -soiled clothes and various other articles. Mrs. Mulvaney slipped it -over her working-dress unmindful of apron strings sticking through the -placket hole in the back. - -"Now my bonnet," she continued. Mrs. Mulvaney owned a bonnet, but where -to look for it was perplexing. She found it under the bed, then twisted -her hair in a tighter knot before putting it on. Finding her shawl was -a harder matter, until Mrs. Mulvaney recalled having placed it over the -dishpan in which the bread was rising, or trying to rise. - -"Now I'm ready; I wonder where the young ones are? Hannah, Hannah -Mulvaney?" she called from the kitchen door, "step lively, you're all -to come in this minute." - -Obedience was a shining virtue in the Mulvaney family. The children -came. - -"Why, ma," protested Mike, "you ain't going to leave us, I hope." - -By way of reply Mrs. Mulvaney jerked Mike through the doorway, knocking -him against Johnnie with such force the little fellow sat down in the -dishpan containing the uncovered bread dough. - -"Don't stir out of this house while I'm gone," commanded Mrs. Mulvaney, -sailing away without looking behind, which was a fortunate thing for -Johnnie. Before his mother's return he had scraped off most of the -dough from his trousers, with the help of the twins. - -"Kind o' sthicky, ain't it?" commented Stubbins, tasting of the dough. -"Thay! I'd give a thent to know where ma went." - -"Maybe she ain't never coming back," suggested Hannah, after a long -silence. - -"Yes she is; look alive, kids," shouted Chinky, "she's coming like the -fire engine. Watch out!" - -"I bet she's been after a policeman, and we'll all get took to jail," -whispered Johnnie, looking for a place to hide and finding none. - -When Mrs. Mulvaney returned she said nothing at first, and the children -were too frightened by her behaviour to dare speak. They didn't know -what to think as they watched their mother count eight green slips -of paper which she afterward pinned inside her dress. The next -astonishing performance was the writing of a postal card which the -woman straightway mailed. - -"Whath going to happen?" questioned Stubbins. No one knew. - -"My thaketh!" was a later exclamation from Stubbins. "My thaketh alive! -Here cometh the thecond-hand man with ma!" - -Even his errand was a mystery to the seven, as before he was invited -in, the children were turned out. - -That night when Chinky carried the washing home, he told the customer -that it was the last work his mother would ever do for her. - -"Why?" demanded the woman. - -"Can't prove it by me," was the reply, "I dunno no more about it'n you -do." - -The next morning the second-hand man called at eight, and carried away -the stove, the wash-boiler, the tubs, Mrs. Mulvaney's bed and bureau, -the few chairs, in fact everything that he could possibly sell. By this -time the children were absolutely terrified. - -"We're going to move!" announced their mother. "What's more, we're -going to have a ride on the cars. You must all wash up and I'll tidy -your hair. Then we'll get ready to start. We ain't got a trunk to pack -things in, but we've got pa's satchel. Eight of us ought to carry -what's left here in our hands." - -"How'll we take all the clothes that was give to us Christmas?" asked -Hannah. - -"You'll wear 'em," was the reply. "You ain't got but three dresses to -your name, and if you can't get 'em all on, you ain't good for much. -Thin as you be, I don't know but you'll hold more clothes than just -your own. We'll see." - -Mrs. Mulvaney began on poor Stubbins. He was plump and given to -stumbling anyway, but by the time his mother had squeezed him into two -suits and three overcoats of various sizes, he could scarcely wiggle, -nor could he bend his arms. - -"I'll tie up a little bundle of stuff for you to carry in one hand," -said Mrs. Mulvaney, "and you can take the clothes-stick in the other. -It's too good to leave behind. Now don't you stir," she continued, -"until the others are ready." - -"Well, ma," grumbled Stubbins, "I couldn't sthir if I wanted to. I -sthick out all around ith like a pig. I thay! I'm too warm!" - -Mike laughed at Stubbins, so Mrs. Mulvaney chose him for the next -victim. He quickly felt and looked like his little brother. - -"You can take the kerosene can in one hand, and the dishpan in the -other," said Mrs. Mulvaney. Then Mike felt worse than Stubbins, but -protest was useless. He had to carry the kerosene can and the old -dishpan. - -Johnnie looked too pleased, whereupon he was taken in hand,—"rigged -out," as his mother said. "You can carry the wash-board," she went on, -"it's almost as good as new; I don't care what the second-hand man had -to say." - -"Oh, ma," besought Johnnie, "let Chinky carry the wash-board, he's -bigger. I might fall and break it." - -Mrs. Mulvaney was so in the habit of spanking Johnnie she began as -usual, before she thought how well padded he was. - -"Thay, ma, you'll have to thlap him," advised Stubbins. "He ith only -got hith fathe." - -"Lucky for once," chuckled Mike. Even Mrs. Mulvaney laughed. - -[Illustration] - -In the meantime Hannah made clothes-racks of Nora and Dora. Fearing she -might have to carry the rusty tin pails herself, she asked her mother -what she wished to put in them for the twins to take. - -"Provisions," was the reply, "you can pack up the bread and whatever's -left in the cupboards. Get your own extra clothes on right lively now. -You're to carry pa's picture. The frame ain't heavy and you know how to -be careful." - -"Maybe I better take the pails an' you carry the picture," objected -Hannah. "I'm afraid I might spoil it. It's all I can do to manage my -arms on 'count of so many sleeves." - -"I'll take the picture," offered Chinky, trying to evade the mop, -broom, clothes-line, pole, and clothes-pin basket his mother thrust -upon him. - -"You'll carry what I say," declared Mrs. Mulvaney, putting on all the -garments she owned. Then she packed Mr. Mulvaney's old satchel so full -the sides burst. - -"I can tie it up," said she, tearing a strip from a ragged blanket for -the purpose. "I'll have to carry pa's satchel and make these quilts and -things into a bundle. There now! there are two of your pa's old coats. -Who'll take 'em? Can't carry 'em, you say, got your hands full? I'll -fix it, Chinky, you can wear one and Hannah can wear the other. Hold -still and I'll button them around you. They're just short enough so -they won't drag." - -"Look here, ma?" offered Chinky, "you roll 'em up in a tight bundle and -I guess I can carry 'em after all." - -"I thought you could manage," agreed Mrs. Mulvaney. "You see we're -going where I may get some time to do fancy work, and I'm thinking of -making rugs of pa's old coats to remember him by." - -"Oh, ma, look at us!" wailed Hannah when the procession was ready to -start. "Have we got to go looking like this?" - -"I don't see no other way and you needn't feel bad, Hannah, because we -don't look stylish. You may be a school teacher some day," predicted -her mother. "Fact is we're all going to have a chance to be folks, and -if I was you young ones, I'd try and forget what we look like now, and -think hard about how fine we'll look next time we go on the cars with -our trunks and umbrells and land knows what; and when we all get set -down in the Grand Central Station to wait for the cars, I'll tell you -where we're going and all about it." - -"Thaketh alive, ma! it don't theem ath if I could ever get there with -tho many thingth on, and thay! but you look—" - -"You start your boots," interrupted the mother of Stubbins, "or you'll -feel worse'n you look." - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -HOW STUBBINS WENT TO SEE MR. HODGKINS - - -Tom Randall, Cornelia Mary, and Sally met the Mulvaneys with a lumber -wagon. In spite of all Cornelia Mary could do to prevent such actions, -Tom fairly shouted when he saw the family lifted from the train by -the grinning brakeman, while Sally's face was the colour of a poppy -as she went forward to greet her friends. It wasn't easy to claim the -Mulvaneys in the presence of the amused passengers, whose faces filled -the car windows. It was a relief to hear the engine whistle and see the -train start. - -"We're going right straight to your house," Sally told Mrs. Mulvaney. -"Mamma is there this morning waiting for you. Why won't the children -talk? What's the matter? Have they lost their tongues?" - -"They never was on the cars before," explained Mrs. Mulvaney, "and -they behaved real well. They act kind of bashful now." Whereupon the -seven looked foolish, and wouldn't speak to Sally. Even Stubbins was -dumb. - -"This is your new teacher," Sally continued by way of introducing the -family, "and that boy on the front seat is her brother Tom. Climb in, -children. Where will you sit, Mrs. Mulvaney?" - -"I'll just hist myself on to the front seat with the boy," was the -reply, and that must have been the reason Tom drove home by way of -Park's Corner instead of through the village. - -"Why, Tom," remonstrated Cornelia Mary, "it's three miles farther the -road you've started on!" - -"Want to give your school a chance to see the country," was the -response. "Geddap, geddap!" - -"This spring air won't hurt anybody," Sally put in. "Oh, Hannah, isn't -it lovely? Aren't you ever going to talk again, Hannah?" - -Not a word from Hannah. Stubbins was the first to find his voice. "Oh, -pigth, pigth, thop the horthe!" he cried. "Thay, boy, I want to thee -the pigth!" - -"Whoa!" said Tom. "Didn't you ever see pigs before, Stubbins?" - -"Yeth, but I never thaw pigth in the country, did I?" - -"Do you like pigs?" - -"I geth I do! Are they pigth where we are going?" - -"Giddap," repeated Tom, pulling at the reins, and then turning so that -he could look at Stubbins he said this: - -"Pigs? Why, I should say yes! Look here, Stubbins, there are so many -pigs in the country they run wild—wild, I say, and if any little kid -is a pig catcher all he's got to do is catch a pig and keep it if he -can. You can even take pigs to school here, ride 'em right into the -schoolhouse if the door's open." - -Stubbins glanced inquiringly at Cornelia Mary, but she and Sally were -busy talking with Mike and Johnnie, while Chinky and Hannah were busy -listening to them. Mrs. Mulvaney was thinking, and paid no attention to -Tom's nonsense. - -"Thay, boy," suggested Stubbins, "leth thop the horthe and go back and -get thome pigth now." - -"Haven't time," was the reply, "plenty of wild pigs all through the -country; you'll want something to do when you get home." - -During the rest of the drive, Stubbins hugged his bundle and dreamed of -pigs, and after a few minutes' silence Tom entertained Mrs. Mulvaney -with stories of the house in which she was to live. - -"I wouldn't stay in that house over night for one thousand dollars!" he -remarked. - -"Land sake, why not?" asked the woman. - -In low tones lest Cornelia Mary should overhear, Tom did his best to -scare Mrs. Mulvaney. He told nothing but the truth, but he handled the -truth in such a way Mrs. Mulvaney felt cold chills going up and down -her back in spite of all the clothes she had on. At last she spoke. - -"Now that's enough, young man," she said, "and if I ever catch you -telling my young ones any of that stuff, I'll shake some sense into -you. You'll be more rattled-headed than you are now, if I ever lay -hands on you." - -"Giddap," remarked Tom, astonished for once in his life. - -If Heaven had opened to receive the Mulvaneys, they could scarcely have -been more pleased than when the new home was reached. - -Early in the afternoon Stubbins slipped away from the family and went -in search of wild pigs. Tom was right. Back of the house was a field -of small pigs. Stubbins gave a shout of joy and started in pursuit. He -caught a little pig easily, and carried it, kicking and squealing, to -his new home. - -The family were in the sitting-room and didn't hear Stubbins when -he carried the pig through the kitchen, the dining-room, and up the -stairs. Into the attic over the kitchen he thrust the pig, then -returned to the field for another. In less than an hour, five pigs were -in that attic and Stubbins was happy. - -"Now I think I thaw a nithe big pig thomewhere," he remarked, climbing -a fence, and looking carefully over the fields of his neighbour. -Welcome Hodgkins. Sure enough! Beyond the field in which he caught the -five was one big pig. Away flew Stubbins. It wouldn't be so easy to -get that pig home because it was too big to carry. - -"Come, pig, pig, pig," called Stubbins, "nithe piggie, come pig." - -The nice pig looked up, and said, "Ooof—oof—oof! Ugh—ugh—ugh!" - -Stubbins ventured nearer, but the pig took alarm and trotted grunting -across the field. The pig had four legs and Stubbins only two rather -uncertain ones; nevertheless, after rather an exciting chase, the pig -was caught. - -"Now, mithter, how will I get you home? Hold sthill; here, I geth I'll -have to get on and ride the way that boy thed. Geddap over to the gate. -Hold sthill till I get hold of your ear. Wait, I thay!" - -The pig wouldn't wait, and Stubbins wouldn't let go. Clinging to the -creature's ears, he somehow managed to scramble on its back. Then began -a wild ride. - -"I didn't know a pig could go tho fatht," gasped Stubbins, hanging on -for dear life, while the pig squealed and squealed and squealed. "Why, -thay! What you trying to do, pig?" grumbled Stubbins, as the animal -began rubbing him against the fence corner. "Oh, I thay, get out of -thith!" - -The pig got out, but he made straight for the barnyard where Welcome -Hodgkins was feeding the chickens. There was a scattering of poultry -as the pig dashed beneath a wagon in the middle of the yard, landing -Stubbins—bump—swish! on his back in the mud. - -[Illustration] - -"Sthop the pig," cried Stubbins, struggling to his feet, "sthop my pig -I thay!" - -"See here, youngster, that's my pig!" declared Welcome Hodgkins. "Who -are you, anyway, and what are you trying to do with my pig?" - -"I'm Thubbinth, and I wath taking the pig to my houthe. I didn't know -it wath your pig, and I didn't come to thee you, tho there!" - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -PIGS IN THE ATTIC - - -Stubbins Mulvaney was naturally honest. Mr. Welcome Hodgkins was kind. -So it came about that when the man talked pleasantly to the muddy boy -about the rights of farmers and the ownership of pigs in particular, -the child grew red in the face and looked uncomfortable. - -"Thay!" he burst out, "I geth I thole five pigth. That boy thed pigth -wath wild, tho I took thome home. I put 'em up sthairth, where they'd -keep thafe. Do you th'pothe they wath your pigth?" - -"Of course they were my pigs," replied the man, "and you must take them -carefully back to the field. Wait a minute! If you go to your mother -all covered with mud I'll warrant you'll get spanked." - -"Thath nothing," was the reply, "ma ith uthed to mud and if I get -thpanked I ith uthed to that, tho ith all right. Thay! I like pigs. Do -you care if I thee you feed your pigth?" - -"Certainly you may, and I'll tell you what, youngster," said Mr. -Hodgkins, "I believe you're a pretty good boy. After you put the five -pigs where they belong, you come over and have a talk with me, will -you?" - -"Yeth, thir," and Stubbins left the barnyard fast as he could go, -except by riding a pig bareback. - -In the meantime the five pigs in the attic had been playing Pussy -Wants a Corner, or Tag, or some other game that kept their twenty feet -continually pattering. Sally noticed them first. - -"Hush, everybody," she cautioned. "I thought I heard something go -trot—trot—trot right here in the house." - -Sure enough. When the children stopped their merry chatter, the sound -of many feet could not be mistaken. - -"Stubbins is up to something," said Mrs. Mulvaney. "Go call him, -Hannah." - -The child obeyed, but no Stubbins responded inside or outside of the -house. - -"It ain't Stubbins," declared Hannah, her eyes wide with fear. "What -can it be?" - -Mrs. Mulvaney, Cornelia Mary, and Sally remembered the stories they had -heard, stories that had kept the house empty so many years. - -"It must—must be imagination," declared Cornelia Mary, whose lower -teeth seemed trying to break her upper teeth. - -"We've all got ears," remonstrated Chinky. - -"It's Stubbins," insisted Mrs. Mulvaney, "and I'll give it to him for -being so smart and not answering Hannah." - -Upstairs went Mrs. Mulvaney, but she came down faster than she went -up. "It beats all," she declared, "there ain't nobody in the house but -us—and do you hear that noise again? I ain't afraid, but when I opened -the attic door I heard some one cough, and then he laughed, though it -sounded more like a squeal." - -"Listen, now," faltered Sally, "hear that trot—trot—trot, again?" - -Being a woman of action, Mrs. Mulvaney lighted a lamp. "I'm going in -that attic and look around," said she. "I don't care if you all come -along." - -"I ain't afraid," bragged Chinky. - -"Hold your tongue," said his mother, leading the way toward the attic. - -Neither Cornelia Mary nor Sally could have spoken had they tried. Their -jaws wouldn't work. As for their knees, one minute they were stiff as -the joints of a Dutch doll, the next the poor girls could scarcely -stand. Johnnie was whimpering. Hannah and the twins clung together. -Only Mike and Chinky pretended not to be afraid, as Mrs. Mulvaney -climbed steadily upward. By the attic door she paused, surrounded by -her followers. - -"Trot—trot—trot—patter—patter—patter," a shuffling sound, then all -was still. - -"Open the door, Chinky, and step in," whispered Mrs. Mulvaney. - -"You go first, ma, 'cause you got the light," begged Chinky. Mrs. -Mulvaney boxed his ears, and as the sound was repeated in the attic, it -didn't make it easier for Chinky to open the door. His mother pushed -him in. - -"Now what do you see?" she said. - -"Nothing," chattered the boy, his very freckles growing pale beneath -the lamp light. - -It happened that the pigs were hiding behind a box back of the chimney. -One gave a little thin squeal just as the light was blown out. Another -said "Oof—oof!" Mike and Chinky bolted down the stairs. They thought -the pig said, "Boo—boo!" only of course they didn't know they fled -from the voice of a pig. - -When Stubbins reached home the house was still. The family were -shivering in the sitting-room, talking in whispers. - -"Let's keep still and see what Stubbins says," suggested Sally. "Why, -he's going upstairs!" - -Mrs. Mulvaney and the children ran into the dining-room, but scarcely -had they crossed the threshold before the pigs began to squeal, and -Stubbins was heard shouting: - -"Hold sthill, pig, hold sthill! Thay! Wait! Ith tho dark you make me -bump my head." - -"I'll bump your head," called Mrs. Mulvaney. "What are you doing with -pigs in this nice, new house, you bad boy?" - -[Illustration: "A CLEANER IF NOT A BETTER BOY."] - -"Oh, ma, don't sthpank me, I thought they wath wild pigth, and I put -'em here tho they'd be thafe, but I thed I'd take 'em back." - -After much squealing and kicking the five pigs were caught and carried -to the field by Hannah, Chinky, Nora, Dora and Johnnie. Stubbins was -needed in the kitchen where he was given what you might call a double -spanking; one for taking the pigs, the second for scaring his mother. - -The spanking finished, Stubbins was asked to tell about his meeting -with Welcome Hodgkins. The child repeated every word. Mrs. Mulvaney -listened quietly until her young son confessed that he said his mother -was used to dirt. Then she spanked him until the dishes rattled in the -cupboard. After that Mrs. Mulvaney put different clothes on Stubbins, -scrubbed his hands and face until the skin was raw, brushed his hair so -hard his head swam, and sent him a cleaner if not a better boy, to call -on Welcome Hodgkins. - -"You can't be folks unless you keep looking decent," declared Mrs. -Mulvaney, "and don't you ever let me know of your telling the -neighbours that your mother's used to dirt, or I may put you in the -boiler and boil you clean next time." - -That is the way Mr. Hodgkins was led to believe that Mrs. Mulvaney was -an uncommonly neat woman, the day he and Stubbins became friends. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -STUBBINS AND CHINKY LEARN THEIR NAMES - - -Little by little Mrs. Mulvaney remembered her old country home. Little -by little the springtime breezes, sweet and fresh, smoothed the -wrinkles from her brow, and softened her voice. - -"Thay, ma," declared Stubbins one Sunday morning, when the birds were -singing from every swaying branch, and the green world seemed bursting -with joy, "Thay, do you know I think you're motht ath pretty ath -Mitheth Brown, and Mr. Hodgkinth he thay—" - -Here Hannah put in a few words. "Ma, I do wish you had a best dress. We -live in such a nice house and everything, I wish—" - -"Go on, Stubbins," interrupted Mrs. Mulvaney, "what did Mr. Hodgkins -say?" - -"He thay he thinkth I've got a awful nithe ma." - -"Pshaw, now, what makes him think so?" - -"Well, he thay that ever thinthe he thed he'd give uth milk, if we'd -come after it, he can't help but notithe that uth kidth ith alwayth -clean when we come over there, and he thay it sthpeakth well for our -ma." - -"There now, is that all he says?" - -"Oh, no, he thay he likth to have uth live here. He thed he wath afraid -uth kidth would be a nuithanth and he ith 'greeably thurprithed. He -thayth we do what he tellth uth to and he thinkth we'll all be farmerth -we learn thingth tho quick. I think we're pretty nithe kidth mythelf." - -"You are improving," admitted Mrs. Mulvaney. "What does Mr. Hodgkins -think of our garden?" - -"Oh, he thayth he thinkth ith fine. He thayth the way our ma keepth -tho many kidth bithy ith wonderful. He thays too when he theeth the -clotheth on the line after you hang them up, they ith tho white, ith -like thnow, and he thay no wonder you get work to do. I thed uth kidth -help a lot." - -"Stubbins," questioned Mrs. Mulvaney with a curious look in her eyes as -she gazed over the broad fields and orchards belonging to Mr. Welcome -Hodgkins, "What does he say when you young ones tell him that I'm—that -I'm apt to be cross, and that you get all the spankings you deserve, -hey?" - -Stubbins laughed. "Thay, ma, do you th'pothe uth kidth ever tell about -our lickunth? Well, I geth not! You mutht think we're thilly! But thay, -ma, thereth one thing Mithter Hodgkinth thay he can't understand?" - -"Well, what is it?" - -"He thayth he thinkth ith queer a thivilithed woman like you couldn't -get nameth for all of uth kidth. He thayth Thubbinth ithn't a name and -he thay how did I come by it?" - -Mrs. Mulvaney caught Stubbins by the shoulders and shook him. "You -simpleton!" said she, "why didn't you know enough to tell him your real -name slipped your memory, that your folks called you Stubbins when you -were little because you were always stubbing your unlucky toes." - -"Why, ma!" protested Hannah, "He never was named; you know Stubbins is -the only name he's got." - -Mrs. Mulvaney threw her slipper at Hannah. "You know a lot, don't you, -Miss? Now listen, all of you. Johnnie, Mike, come here. You seem to -have forgotten this boy's name." - -"He ain't never had no name," declared Johnnie, dodging behind Chinky -to escape the spanking he seemed to expect when his mother looked at -him as she did at that moment. - -"You donkeys!" exclaimed Mrs. Mulvaney. "Dust out your ears now and -you'll hear something. Stubbins's real name is Moses Aaron Mulvaney. Do -you hear, Stubbins? Your meetin'-house name is Moses. When you start -school, your name is Moses. When a man asks who you are, answer Moses. -Do you understand?" - -"Oh, oh," wailed Stubbins, "Oh, thaketh alive, my name ith Motheth! Oh, -thay, ma, I don't want Motheth for my name. Motheth, Motheth, Motheth!" - -"Oh, ma," besought Hannah, "think up another. Don't let's have that for -his name. Let's call him Willie or—" - -"Hannah," insisted Mrs. Mulvaney, "that boy's name is Moses Aaron -Mulvaney. You can't change names. Maybe now you'd like to be called -Aribella or Fiddle-de-dee, but you're Hannah and he's Moses!" - -"Oh. Motheth, Motheth, Motheth!" grumbled Stubbins. "Oh, thaketh alive, -Motheth!" - -"What's Chink's name, ma?" demanded Mike, with a gleeful grin which -lasted but a minute, owing to a pinch from Chinky which changed the -expression of his face. "Ouw—" he began. - -"Shut up!" warned Chinky, "don't you know enough to keep your mouth -shut?" - -"Yeth," said Stubbins, "if I've got to be Motheth, who ith he?" - -"Don't you remember?" asked Mrs. Mulvaney, "why, Chinky's name is Ezra -Jonathan." - -"Ezra Jonathan!" groaned Chinky, his red hair and freckles looking -startled. "Oh, ma!" - -"The idea of trying to be folks and not knowing your own names. I guess -you'll remember 'em now, Moses Aaron and Ezra Jonathan. Not's I care -what Mr. Hodgkins thinks, 'cause it's none of his business what your -names are. But just the same you want to do everything you can to keep -on the right side of him on account of our living in his house. You -make yourselves useful to him and don't never be sassy or he might turn -us out. Mind that. You show him what a comfort children can be, don't -never do what he don't want you to, and always do what he tells you to." - -Five children cheerfully promised to do as their mother advised, but -poor Chinky and Stubbins simply grunted an assent, followed a minute -later by two exclamations. - -"Ezra Jonathan!" - -"Oh, Motheth!" - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -HANNAH'S PINK DRESS - - -Summer came, and the Mulvaneys prospered. Their garden grew and the -neglected fruit-trees flourished. Mr. Hodgkins gave Stubbins two pigs, -and the twins were given a flock of hens, whereupon Chinky earned some -money, bought two turkeys, and by the time three of the hens were ready -to set, his turkeys did the same thing; and the curious part of it is -that each one of the eggs hatched, and every little chicken and little -turkey lived. - -Often when Chinky was tired of weeding the garden or hoeing corn, -he sat upon the fence and counted the money he hoped to possess in -the autumn when he took his turkeys to market. If his mother saw him -wasting his time, he was obliged to continue his thinking while he -worked. - -"Ma's getting so she won't let a feller stop to wink," Johnnie -grumbled one morning, when he was Chairman of the Committee on Potato -Bugs. - -"She's a regular general," added Chinky, hoeing corn with all his -might, "and you young ones'll get cured of being so lazy." - -"Lazy, is it?" retorted Mike. "You go look at the front yard, mister, -and say lazy if you dare, and you ain't afraid of getting your nose -punched." - -"That's what," agreed Johnnie, "the minute we get home from school, -it's 'have you done this,' and 'have you done that,' and 'start your -boots!'" - -"You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Johnnie Mulvaney!" began Hannah, -but she stopped for a minute because seeing her open mouth, Mike threw -a potato bug into the cavern. - -"You horrid boy," she sputtered, "I'd make you work harder'n ma does if -I could, and you'll be sorry next week when I ain't here!" - -"Why, thay, Hannah, where you going?" asked Stubbins. - -"I'm going away, and you boys'll have to make the beds and tidy up, -and wash the dishes, and I'm glad of it. Wish I was never coming back. -You're such a ungrateful set." - -At the end of this speech Hannah was so pelted with potato bugs she -fled from the field. The next day the little girl left home to earn -fifty cents a week for two months helping in Mrs. Randall's kitchen. - -As a matter of fact the Randalls had all the help they needed, but from -the first day of school, Cornelia Mary had taken a fancy to Hannah, -and had begged her mother to give the child a chance to learn how -their neighbours lived. So, while Hannah washed dishes for fifty cents -a week, she learned how to wash dishes properly. When she helped set -the table and get the meals, she saw how such things should be done. -When she made the beds with Cornelia Mary, she began to understand how -sheets were used. - -As the days went by, even the five little Mulvaneys who met Hannah -in school every day, noticed a change in their sister. She outgrew -her rude way of speaking, and looked and acted like a different girl. -She kept her hair combed prettily, proud of the bright ribbons given -her by Cornelia Mary. She learned to sew on buttons, and to keep her -clothes in order. - -"Straight, plain dresses aren't meant for thin little girls," observed -Mrs. Randall, "so we'll make over some of Cornelia Mary's old ones for -Hannah." - -The first Sunday Hannah wore one of the new dresses she blossomed out -like a full blown rose. - -"Run home and show your mother, child," said Mrs. Randall. - -"Well, I never!" exclaimed Mrs. Mulvaney, as the pink blossom joined -her family beneath an apple-tree. "If she don't look like a posy with -the pink bow on her hair, and such a splendiferous dress. Well, there -now! I suppose you won't never want to come back to live with your poor -old ma." - -"Won't I, though?" For the first time in her life Hannah Mulvaney threw -both arms around her mother's neck, giving her a regular bear hug. - -At that moment Welcome Hodgkins was returning across the fields to his -lonely home. "A happy family," he muttered, knocking blooms from the -clover with his stick. - -[Illustration] - -"When are you coming home, Hannah?" asked Chinky. "It's awful lonesome -without you." - -"Well I geth it ith," added Stubbins. - -"I'm going to stay three weeks more," Hannah replied, "and, oh, ma, -does table clothing cost much?" - -"There's some that's dear, and some that ain't,—why?" - -"Can't we buy some, ma, and do things the way other folks do?" - -Mrs. Mulvaney sighed. "When I was a girl at home," she said, "we had -things right, and after I married your pa I tried to do as my mother -did, but children, it was no use. Your pa was out of work so much, and -his health wasn't good,"—Mrs. Mulvaney never referred to the fact -that Mr. Mulvaney was a drunkard,—"and somehow I got discouraged, and -I ain't brought you young ones up right. Now I feel glad and thankful -we've got enough to eat and wear and a good house to live in, but it's -too late for tablecloths." - -"Why?" - -"Because, Hannah, Stubbins wouldn't know no more how to act up against -a tablecloth than one of his own pigs." - -"We could learn," ventured Chinky. - -Hannah took courage. "Listen, ma," said she, "Miss Randall says she -never saw such bright children as we are. She says it's 'mazing the -way we learn, only she hopes that when Stubbins gets old enough to go -to school he won't keep his pockets loaded full of frogs and toads, -the way he does now. Well, if we can learn geography and figures and -history things and birds, why can't we learn tablecloths?" - -Mrs. Mulvaney shook her head. "You have to be born to tablecloths," -said she. - -"Hannah wasn't born to big, wide, pink dresses and bows on her hair," -announced Chinky, "but look at her, ma, you'd think she'd worn 'em all -her life. Not as you need to think you're so smart, Hannah, but I'm -talking about tablecloths and being like other folks. Guess I use my -eyes when I take home washings, and go after 'em." - -"Now, ma, look here. Let's vote about it with grass. All that wants -to be pigs and never know nothing go and put a long blade of grass in -ma's lap. All what wants to learn manners, put a little, teenty, weenty -piece of grass in her lap." - -The voting began before Mrs. Mulvaney had time to say a word. - -"It's for tablecloths and manners," said Mrs. Mulvaney, pretending that -the bits of grass were too small to be seen. "And if we use tablecloths -the first one that spills anything may get his head knocked off." - -Mrs. Mulvaney had seen her neighbour go home across the fields. Turning -to Hannah she changed the subject. "Since you're all dressed up," she -said, "I suppose you wouldn't mind going over to Mr. Hodgkins's on an -errand. I bet he'd like a loaf of gingerbread. I made some yesterday -for the boys. Now remember, Hannah, be nice and polite, and you, too, -Stubbins, for you can go along seeing's you are all fixed up for -Sunday. That man could turn us out of our good home if he wanted to, -and you young ones must get on the right side of him. Mind that." - - - - -CHAPTER X - -THE HOME THAT WAS LOST ON CHRISTMAS DAY - - -"What is going to happen?" asked Hannah pausing at Mr. Hodgkins's front -gate and speaking to Stubbins. "I guess he's going to have company. The -front door's open, and the window's open, and the side door's open! -What shall we do, Stubbins?" - -"Do what ma thed, and give him the cake, and leth get a look at the -company." - -"Shall we go to the front door or the back door?" - -"Leth go to the front door, and get a look at hith houthe, too." - -One glance at the long, gloomy hall and Hannah turned away. "You can -stay there and knock if you want to," she said, "but it's too lonesome -for me. I am going to the kitchen door." - -"Well, thay, wait, tho I am too. There he ith, Hannah, ther ith -Mithter Hodgkinth thanding by the well." - -"What's he looking at?" - -The man greeted the children with a smile. "Good morning," he said, -"come here and see my brother." - -"Why, thath a mud turtle," exclaimed Stubbins, plainly disappointed in -the brother. "Thath a mud turtle 'cauth Mith Randall thed tho." - -"Now, watch," continued Mr. Hodgkins. "You see, children, this old mud -turtle is going on about his business just as all the creatures around -here are doing, only he moves a little slowly, to be sure. Now I am -going to give this brown hen over here a touch with my stick and you'll -see what will happen." - -"It'll thquawk!" predicted Stubbins, and he was right. The brown hen -made herself heard all over the yard as she flew away. - -"Made the feathers fly, didn't she?" laughed the man. "Now we'll see -what the mud turtle will do. I won't hit him a bit harder than I did -the hen." - -A knock on the mud turtle's back; he stopped crawling and in went his -head. - -"You'd think he was killed!" Hannah exclaimed. - -"Well, he ith a queer one," commented Stubbins. - -"Now you know why I call the mud turtle my brother," declared Mr. -Hodgkins. "Most people are like hens. When something strikes them hard -they make a big fuss about it, and after they flutter around a while -they go about their business exactly as they did before. I'm like the -mud turtle. I crawled into my shell, and now they say I'm a queer one, -as Stubbins says of the turtle." - -Hannah turned red. How did Mr. Hodgkins know that the neighbours called -him queer, and why was he a friendless man? - -"Did something strike you hard, Mr. Hodgkins?" she asked, in tones of -sympathy. - -"I should like to tell you and your little brother about it if you care -to listen," was the reply. "You children seem like old friends. I've -stayed so long in my shell I seem to have forgotten who my friends -were, and I once had plenty of them. I suppose I have myself to thank, -but do you know I don't suppose there's any one left in the world who -ever gives me a kindly thought." - -Hannah suddenly remembered her errand. "Ain't there, though?" she -cried. "Didn't ma go and bake this gingerbread yesterday for you, and -don't she say you're the best man that ever breathed?" - -"Yeth, thath what," added Stubbins. - -Mr. Hodgkins looked pleased. "Did she do that for me?" he asked, taking -the gingerbread from Hannah, "well, your mother is a good woman." - -"Thath what," assented Stubbins, "and uth kidth are nithe kidth too." - -"You ought to be ashamed of yourself," chided Hannah, but the three -laughed and the sunlight danced among the leaves. It was a bright -Sunday. - -"To-day," began Mr. Hodgkins, "I have opened my house for the first -time in many a long year. Come with me and see what a big pleasant home -I used to have." - -"Ain't you got it now?" demanded Stubbins. - -"No," was the response, "I have the house, my boy, but the home was -lost one Christmas day." - -"Lotht your home on Chrithmuth?" questioned the child. - -"Come, I will show you a room that the sunlight has never shone upon -since that same Christmas." - -Silently the children followed Mr. Hodgkins in the house, through the -kitchen, into the hall. - -"This was my home when I was a boy," he went on, "and here I brought my -wife before my father and mother died. We'll go in the parlour first -and I'll show you a picture. You see, I've opened the parlour." - -By this time even Stubbins was speechless with wonder, and clung to -Hannah as though he feared to lose her in the strange man's house. -Everything in the parlour was covered with dust. In spite of the -feeling of awe that stole over her, Hannah noticed the good furniture -and all that the room contained. - -"Here's the picture, children," said Mr. Hodgkins, opening an album. - -Without speaking, Hannah and Stubbins gazed at the photograph. - -"They were mine," said the man, softly, "my little girl, my little boy, -and their mother." - -It seemed to Hannah that if her life had depended upon it, she could -not have said a word. - -"Come," suggested Mr. Hodgkins at last, as he closed the door and -left the parlour, closely followed by the children. "This was our -sitting-room," he continued, pausing before a locked door. "This is the -first time in ten years that I have ever turned the key." - -Hannah's impulse was to run, but when the door was opened she felt -as if her feet were growing into the floor. As for Stubbins his eyes -came so near popping out of his head they really ached for an hour -afterward. What the children saw was a Christmas tree yellow with age. -It was a pitiful sight and belonged in a darkened room where Santa -Claus might not stumble upon it. - -"We'll have some air and light," said Mr. Hodgkins, raising the shades -and opening the windows. - -The tree looked ghastly in the sunshine as it stood revealed with all -its faded, dusty trimmings. Here and there among the branches were -children's treasures, a small china doll, a tin horn, a drum and a -calico elephant. Beside the tree were two small rocking-chairs and on -the floor were books. - -"Oh, dear," whispered Hannah. - -"There, child," sympathized Mr. Hodgkins, "I didn't bring you in here -to make you sad, but this is my secret, and I thought if you could see -this room perhaps we might be better friends. I thought perhaps you -would understand your queer neighbour." - -"How did it happen?" asked the child, crossing the threshold and -standing near the tree, still clinging to Stubbins. - -"This room is just as we left it that Christmas Day. We drove to a -neighbour's in the afternoon, and while there our little ones went on -the ice to play and were drowned. I came into the house before their -mother, and the first thing I did was to close this door. The piano -was left open just as you see it now. We sang a Christmas hymn that -morning. Two months later the children's mother died, and I was left -alone. - -"All this our neighbours know, but Hannah and Stubbins, no one ever -knew we had a Christmas tree. At first I couldn't take it down nor -touch a thing and so the months went by, and at last the years, until -like the turtle I have crawled more and more into my shell." - -"Oh, dear, dear!" repeated Hannah, no longer trying to keep back the -tears. - -"Don't cry, Hannah, don't cry, or I shall be sorry you know my secret. -Now we'll shut the room again and forget it." - -"Don't—don't shut the room up again, Mr. Hodgkins. I wouldn't, if I -were you," declared Hannah. "Do you know what I'd do?" she continued, -brushing away the tears and speaking earnestly. - -"No, what would you do?" - -"I'd take away the tree, and then I'd clean the room and use it." - -"I've often thought of it, Hannah, but some way I can't do it; and here -the old tree stands just as we left it. It's no use, and yet—see here, -children, tell your mother I'll give her five dollars if she'll come -over to-morrow when I've gone to town, and—and tend to this room. You -may come with her and go all over the house if you choose." - -"And then," agreed Hannah, "you and us'll go visiting. Sometimes you -come over to our house to see us in our sitting-room, and next day or -the next we'll all come over here and visit you in your sitting-room, -and we'll be folks. And Mr. Hodgkins, don't you think you're the only -man that's had to get along without Christmases, because us kids never -had a Christmas in our lives until last year." - -"You mean you never had a Christmas tree before, don't you, Hannah?" - -"No, I mean we never had a Christmas. We never even knew folks had -trees in their houses until now, but you just wait! This year we're -going to have one of our own." - -"Yeth, and I geth you better come and help uth get it ready," put in -Stubbins, "becauthe you know about the way to fixth 'em." - -"Thank you," said Mr. Hodgkins, "I'll think about it." - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -MRS. MULVANEY'S AIR CASTLE - - -When Mrs. Mulvaney saw the Christmas tree she shook her head. "I'm glad -you're with me, Chinky," she began, "I'd hate to be here alone, and -what's more, I hate to touch that tree. Poor man! To think how he's -missed his folks and him so good. I'd no more take any money for doing -a neighbourly act like this than I'd fly." - -"Well, ma," observed Chinky, "I'd rather see you with the money than -trying to fly with wings. Only think how you'd look! I bet your feet'd -drag." - -"Young man, if you'd use your eyes more and your tongue less, why then -instead of making fun of your poor old mother you'd be learning a -lesson from this tree before we take it out." - -"What'd I learn?" - -"You'd learn how Christmas trees is trimmed. I think we ought to take -pattern by this so's we'd know how to get up our own." - -"Sure enough, ma, I'll run home and get a pencil and a piece of paper -and I'll draw that tree just as it stands, so we'll know where to hook -up the strings of pop-corn, and the paper trimmings, and have a tree -that is a tree." - -Chinky was gone but a short time and soon finished three remarkable -sketches which he put in his pocket for future use. - -"We'll have a Christmas this year that'll make up for lost time," said -Mrs. Mulvaney, smiling at Chinky through clouds of dust. "I believe we -shall have to take everything in this room out-doors if we ever expect -to get this place clean. How it all comes back to me the way my mother -used to do things. We better shut up the piano, though I don't know so -much about this kind as I do about another." - -"You used to call your wash-board a piano, didn't you, ma?" Chinky -remarked. - -"So I did, and that ain't saying's I liked the music of it, either, -still, who knows but our Hannah'll be learning to play this—I mean, -to play a sure enough piano some day. And Chinky, how'd you like to go -to college?" - -"Why, Ma Mulvaney!" - -"Well, how'd you like it?" - -"Not for me, ma, I'm going to raise hens and turkeys, and I don't want -to take on any more schooling than I have to. What I'm going to be is a -rich farmer. Hannah, she can go to college," and Chinky grinned. - -"I shouldn't be a mite surprised," added Mrs. Mulvaney, "if it all -happens." - -"What's getting into you, ma?" asked the boy. "You're talking just like -Sally Brown. I know she thinks that smarty brother of hers'll be the -President of the United States." - -"Hoping," agreed Mrs. Mulvaney, wiping the dust from two little rockers -that she decided would fit Nora and Dora, "hoping is just as Sally -Brown says; it won't do one mite of harm, and I hope to see my seven -children amounting to something in the world. My! This is a pleasant -room. Just see the view from the bay-window. That poor man, to be -living here all alone! What are you laughing at, Chinky?" - -"Well, ma, let me tell you. The other night Stubbins and I were -over here helping Mr. Hodgkins feed the pigs,—you know he has about -twenty-five,—and of course Stubbins he loves the pigs. Well, Mr. -Hodgkins said 'Stubbins, you'd better come over here, and live with me. -I'll give you all the pigs if you will,' but Stubbins wouldn't do it; -he said, 'even with the pigth it would be too lonethome." - -"And Mr. Hodgkins," inquired Mrs. Mulvaney, putting the tin horn in a -box, and wondering if Mike would ever have a chance to blow it, "what -did he say?" - -"Oh, nothing much, he laughed and said something about our being lucky -kids, and he didn't blame Stubbins for wanting to stay with his ma." - -Mrs. Mulvaney, with her back to Chinky, nodded her head and squinted -her eyes curiously, then turned a big rocking-chair around and sat down -for a moment. - -"Well, ma, thinking of buying the chair, are you?" - -"Why, Chinky?" - -"Because anybody'd think you was in a store picking out chairs to take -home the way you try 'em all. Which are you going to keep?" - -[Illustration] - -"All of 'em, like enough, since you're so bright," admitted the woman, -laughing softly as she rocked. "And now say, you get to work and no -more fooling. We'll make a bonfire of that tree. That poor man to be -coming home from town this noon, and no family here to meet him and -no dinner ready. Come, Chinky, fly around and we'll get his dinner, -pudding and all before we leave. What if we was all dead and 'twas your -pa?" - -Mr. Hodgkins was surprised and pleased when he reached home. Not for -years had any one taken the least interest in him. With the coming of -the Mulvaneys he began to realize what he had missed. It was pleasant -to be on friendly terms with one's neighbours. He was glad the children -liked to visit him. They were good children, too; never made him any -trouble and were always well behaved. He wondered why Sally Brown had -called them quarrelsome, and why she had said Mrs. Mulvaney was cross. - -Mr. Hodgkins never saw the little shanty in the city down by the -railroad-tracks and the river, where the seven children were packed in -like sardines. He never knew how hard was Mrs. Mulvaney's life when she -washed clothes from morning until night, merely to keep the seven from -starving, so of course he didn't realize that after a few months in the -country, a great change had come over the family. At last they were -folks. - -While Mr. Hodgkins ate his dinner that day, the Mulvaneys gathered for -the first time in their lives around a tablecloth, and if the cloth -happened to be one of the new sheets folded in half what difference did -it make? - -"We've got to begin to practise putting on style without losing no -more time," declared Mrs. Mulvaney, "and, Chinky, you tell Hannah to -ask Sally Brown to come over first chance she gets, and show you young -ones table manners. You've got to learn 'em. I may want to ask company -in to tea before long, and we don't want no pigs to the table. Watch -out, there, Stubbins, you've got your elbow in the butter. If you want -something you can't reach, don't climb up on the table after it, that -ain't manners. Take your fork and reach over for it this way, do you -see?" - -"Thay, ma, what if I wath after thyrup! Th'pothe I could hook into that -with a fork? Oh, ouw, oh, thay, don't thlap me again. Oh, ouw, thay! -I'll be good, I'll be good!" - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -WELCOME HODGKINS CHOOSES THE CHRISTMAS TREE - - -It isn't so easy as you might think to choose a Christmas tree. Many -a day early as November the seven little Mulvaneys trooped forth in -search of one. The woods belonged to Mr. Hodgkins, who by this time had -become their much loved ideal. Even Cornelia Mary had changed her mind -about the man. - -"He doesn't seem half so queer when you really get acquainted with -him," she often remarked to her mother. Mrs. Brown and Sally were -delighted by the many acts of kindness he showered upon the Mulvaneys, -and their friends the Turners began to like him. - -It so happened that the reason the seven children were so careful in -their choice of a tree, was because Mr. Hodgkins, the Randalls, the -Turners, Mrs. Brown, Alfred and Sally were to share in its joy. The -idea of having a Christmas tree was suggested by Mrs. Mulvaney to the -unbounded satisfaction of the children. - -"Who'll speak the pieces and sing the songs?" demanded Chinky. - -"All of us, of course," Hannah replied. - -"Catch me speaking a piece to a tree!" sniffed Chinky. "Johnnie and -Mike and Stubbins, they can do that." - -"Think you're awful smart, don't you?" began Mike, but his mother cut -him short with her slipper. - -Johnnie was the boy who best knew how easily that slipper came off and -should have known better than to laugh at Mike. - -"I'll paddle you next," warned Mrs. Mulvaney. "You think you're so -cunning. Be quiet, children, and we'll settle about how things is to be -done Christmas Eve. We'll have the speaking and the singing first, that -being the way it was fixed at the Christmas tree you all went to at the -church last year, though land's sake that seems ten years ago, times -has changed so much. - -"We can sing some hymn tunes together, company and all, and we'll get -Sally and Alfred to speak the stylish pieces, as you might say, and -maybe they'll do what Nora and Dora did the last day of school, and -speak a Christmas catalogue together." - -"Oh, ma," corrected Hannah, "you mean a dialogue." - -"Take that," continued Mrs. Mulvaney, boxing Hannah's ears, "and don't -be so free with your book learning as to forget your manners to your -ma. Nora and Dora, they can speak their old catalogue," this with a -severe look at Hannah, who was rubbing her ears, "and Stubbins can -speak his piece, and Mike and Johnnie can learn new ones to keep 'em -out of mischief." - -"Aw," began Mike, but he went no further as the loose slipper showed -signs of dropping off his mother's foot. - -"And you said, as I remember it," went on Mrs. Mulvaney, "that a church -man did some speechifying in front of the tree. Mr. Hodgkins, he's the -man that can do that, and when he gets to the end of it we'll all clap -our hands." - -"Will Thanta Clauth come netht?" inquired Stubbins, resting his chin -in both hands with his elbows upon his knees. - -"Aren't you ashamed," replied Mrs. Mulvaney. "Now don't you s'pose -Santa Claus knows we can take care of ourselves this year? He better go -where they's poor folks. Moses Aaron, I'm ashamed of you." - -"Well, but thay, ma, how about Chrithmuth prethenth?" - -"That's where the real fun of Christmas comes in," explained Mrs. -Mulvaney; "we make presents for each other. When I was a girl at home -my sisters and I used to begin making Christmas presents for our mother -and father and aunts and uncles and cousins and for each other, way -back in the summer, and then we hid 'em till the time came." - -At this point Chinky winked at his mother and nodded his head as much -as to say, "You and I know a thing or two." - -"Well, Ezra Jonathan," asked his mother, "what are you making a fool of -yourself for?" - -More winks and shaking of the head this time. - -"Well, speak out, Ezra, and don't set there acting like a dumb idiot." - -"You see, ma," stammered the boy, still trying the effect of winks, "I -thought Santa Claus he wouldn't mind putting the presents on the tree -for us if we left 'em all on the what-not where he could see 'em easy." - -Stubbins caught at the suggestion. "Oh, thay, ma," he begged, "leth do -it, I tell you uth kidth like that old Thanta Clauth. He ith all right. -I don't think Chrithmuth would be half tho nithe if he couldn't thee -our tree and put thome prethents on it." - -"All right," consented Mrs. Mulvaney returning Chinky's wink to the -best of her ability. Not being used to winking she had to screw up -one corner of her mouth to do it. "Now then, after Mr. Hodgkins has -his say, Chinky, I mean Ezra Jonathan, can take the presents off the -tree and give 'em to Hannah and she can read out the names and Moses -Aaron can carry the presents around and if he stubs his toes and breaks -anything, I'll warm his jacket right in front of the company. After -that'll come the Christmas dinner." - -"Dinner at night?" asked Hannah. - -"Yes, dinner at night," was the reply. "That's when we're going to -have Chink—Ezra's big turkey. Now ain't you glad you know manners, -and ain't you little boys glad you picked blackberries enough to pay -for our fine company tablecloth and napkins, and ain't you glad our -cellar's full of vegetables we raised ourselves? And think of the -currant jelly Hannah made that's awaiting for Christmas." - -"We must pick out our tree," Johnnie broke in, "I think that one I -showed you kids last night was the best in the whole bunch." - -"But I don't," objected Hannah, "it's too tall." - -"And the one I got, you say is too short," pouted Mike. - -"And mine was lop-sided," added Chinky. - -"And I can't decide on any of them," laughed Hannah. - -"Oh, I thay!" cried Stubbins, "I know a man what'll know a good -Chrithmuth tree when he theeth it." - -"That's a fact," approved Mrs. Mulvaney, "trot right over and ask Mr. -Hodgkins for his advice." - -Appealed to by the seven, Mr. Hodgkins went to the woods with his young -neighbours one bright December day and chose a large, perfectly shaped -spruce. - -"It won't do," declared Hannah. - -"Why?" - -"It's too big, Mr. Hodgkins, we'd have to cut a hole through the -ceiling to make it stand in our sitting-room." - -Mr. Hodgkins laughed aloud. - -"It's too big," protested the seven. - -Mr. Hodgkins laughed again. "I'll go over and talk to your mother about -it," said he. "We won't cut the spruce down until Christmas week so it -will be fresh and green. If I can make your mother believe this tree is -just right, we'll most surely have a Merry Christmas." - -The seven were disappointed. - -"I think he's crazy," sputtered Chinky on the way home. - -"I know he is," grumbled Johnnie, "that tree's high as our chimney." - -"Never mind," said Hannah, "ma's got some sense if he ain't. She won't -have that great big tree, don't you fret." - -"That's right, ma knows what's what," added Chinky, kicking the bright -snow from his path and straightening his shoulders. "She's got a lot of -sense." - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -ON THE TRAIL OF SANTA CLAUS - - -Mrs. Mulvaney failed the seven. - -"What do you think, anyway?" whispered Chinky when the children were -gathered in Hannah's room at bed-time. "What ails ma?" - -Hannah shook her head gloomily. "Does anybody know?" she asked. - -"Not me," declared Mike. "How'll we ever get such a whoppering tree in -the house? She won't even go to look at it." - -"Nope," added Johnnie, "ma said first thing that if Mr. Hodgkins -thought it was right, it was right, and since he's been over here to -talk to her about it you dassn't hardly say tree." - -"She—she's getting a new dress made," offered Nora. - -"Yes," agreed Dora, "and she says this—this Christmas party is -something we won't never forget." - -"I bet we won't, if we have that tree," grumbled Chinky. "We might as -well begin chopping holes through the floor and the roof, and I don't -know but we'll have to cut a little chunk out of the clouds to make -room for our Christmas tree." - -"Oh, thay," put in Stubbins, "make the hole in the floor big, Chinky, -tho we can look down and thee Thanta Clauth." - -"That shows how much little kids know," explained Chinky. "You'll have -to get out on the roof, Stubbins, to see Santa Claus, because I suppose -when he catches sight of so much tree sticking through the roof he'll -think it's the whole thing and he'll hang all the presents up on top of -the house." - -This speech was greeted by laughter so loud Mrs. Mulvaney opened the -stair door and spoke. - -"If you young ones don't get in bed inside of five minutes," said -she, "you'll be sorry. Now I don't want to hear another sound. How do -you suppose I can sew up your Christmas clothes if you make such an -uproar?" - -The next day Chinky sharpened his hatchet on Mr. Randall's grindstone. -In the afternoon, accompanied by his brothers and sisters he went to -the woods to cut down the tree. - -[Illustration] - -"Now you all want to stand back far enough," cautioned Chinky, "so as -to give me enough room to swing my arms." - -"Let me chop some," begged Mike. - -"Me, too," added Johnnie. - -"Look a-here," declared Chinky. "No little shavers allowed on this job. -You ought to be glad to have a chance to see me do the chopping." - -"Oh, thay," cried Stubbins when the children reached the edge of the -woods. "Who'th took our tree? Ith gone." - -"It's that Randall kid," sputtered Chinky, scarcely able to believe -his eyes. "Look at the stump, will you, all hacked to pieces—he said -he bet he knew more about cutting down trees than me. That looks like -it! I'll fix him. Come on, don't stand here like ninnies looking at the -place where our tree stood." - -"Leth—leth tell Mithter Hodgkinth," sobbed Stubbins. - -"All right," assented the angry brother, "and then I'll give Smarty -Randall a taste of my fist." - -"Your tree is gone!" repeated Mr. Hodgkins when the seven burst upon -him. "Well, there! I know who took it!" - -"Who?" demanded Mike. - -"Santa Claus, sir, the rascal! I thought that tree he brought in looked -extremely familiar!" - -"What tree?" asked Stubbins. - -"You come in my sitting-room and see, children." - -"It's our tree, sure enough," said Johnnie, "and did he put it up, too?" - -"You better believe he did, and what's more, you look in this closet." - -Mr. Hodgkins opened a door, allowing the children one brief glimpse of -Christmas packages, dolls, books, sleds, and toys of all kinds. - -"Oh, oh, oh!" cried the seven. - -"They are all for you and every one who comes to the Christmas party," -declared the man. "Santa Claus says this house is the place for your -party because it's bigger than yours and he brought these presents -ahead of time because he is so busy he was afraid he might miss us on -Christmas Eve." - -"Aw," began Chinky, but checked himself and laughed. "Won't it be -jolly," said he, "that is if you don't mind." - -"Oh, I'm delighted," insisted Mr. Hodgkins, "only I've asked the -minister to come and"— - -"The minister," groaned Chinky, "what did you go and invite him for?" - -"That's all right," interrupted Hannah. "You ought to have the minister -to a Christmas tree, don't you remember?" - -"It was like this, children," said Mr. Hodgkins. "Your mother said I -was to make the speech, but I persuaded her that the minister could do -it better." - -"Bother the minister," whispered Mike. - -"I thay tho, too," echoed Stubbins. - -[Illustration: "THE SEVEN STOOD IN A ROW"] - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -THE HOME THAT WAS FOUND ON CHRISTMAS DAY - - -Gaily passed the week before Christmas. Every one was busy, every one -was happy. Mrs. Mulvaney swept and dusted the house of Welcome Hodgkins -from top to bottom. Not a corner escaped her broom. - -In the sitting-room the Christmas tree glittered and shone. Frost -sparkled on the windows, while outside in the winter sunshine sang the -chickadees. - -Early Christmas Eve the company arrived, smiling and joyous. Mrs. -Mulvaney greeted them in her new gown. The seven stood in a row to -welcome Sally and Alfred. The little girls' dresses and the boys' -waists were made from the same piece of bright pink chambray, whereat -Tom Randall grinned and punched Cornelia Mary. - -Everything passed off as Mrs. Mulvaney planned. Stubbins spoke his -piece beautifully, the singing was good, and the dialogues were -perfect. Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Turner, Mr. and Mrs. Randall, and Sally's -mother, having no other part on the program, clapped their hands -vigorously at the close of each performance. - -Finally, at a signal from Mrs. Mulvaney, the minister rose. "Friends," -said he, "my presence here to-night shall no longer be a mystery to -you. If Mrs. Mulvaney and Mr. Hodgkins will please step forward, we -will give these seven fatherless children a Christmas present." - -Stubbins bent forward with his mouth open, and listened in amazement -while the minister married his mother to Welcome Hodgkins. He was the -first to speak at the close of the ceremony. - -"Well, thay! that wath a thurprithe, but ith a good one." - -Every one seemed to agree with Stubbins, and for awhile the Christmas -tree was entirely forgotten. Poor Chinky was so astonished and dazed, -he could scarcely cut the gifts from the tree when reminded of his -duty. At last his mother brought him to his senses by a more or less -gentle shake. - -"Well, ma," laughed Chinky, "it's you, ain't it? I almost didn't know -you for a minute." - -"Don't you be sassy," chided his mother, "or you'll get something -besides Christmas presents right here in front of your second pa and -the company." - -Chinky didn't look a bit alarmed, and in the midst of fun and -excitement did his part in the distribution of the gifts. - -At the dinner-table Stubbins snuggled close beside his new father. -"Well," said he, and all the children agreed with him, "I thay this ith -thertainly a Merry Chrithmuth!" - - -THE END. - - - - -COSY CORNER SERIES - - - It is the intention of the publishers that this series shall contain - only the very highest and purest literature,—stories that shall not - only appeal to the children themselves, but be appreciated by all - those who feel with them in their joys and sorrows. - - The numerous illustrations in each book are by well-known artists, and - each volume has a separate attractive cover design. - - Each 1 vol., 16mo, cloth . . . $0.50 - - -_By ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON_ - - -=The Little Colonel=. (Trade Mark.) - -The scene of this story is laid in Kentucky. Its heroine is a small -girl, who is known as the Little Colonel, on account of her fancied -resemblance to an old-school Southern gentleman, whose fine estate and -old family are famous in the region. - - -=The Giant Scissors=. - -This is the story of Joyce and of her adventures in France. Joyce is a -great friend of the Little Colonel, and in later volumes shares with -her the delightful experiences of the "House Party" and the "Holidays." - - -=Two Little Knights of Kentucky=. - -WHO WERE THE LITTLE COLONEL'S NEIGHBORS. - -In this volume the Little Colonel returns to us like an old friend, but -with added grace and charm. She is not, however, the central figure of -the story, that place being taken by the "two little knights." - - -=Mildred's Inheritance=. - -A delightful little story of a lonely English girl who comes to America -and is befriended by a sympathetic American family who are attracted by -her beautiful speaking voice. By means of this one gift she is enabled -to help a school-girl who has temporarily lost the use of her eyes, and -thus finally her life becomes a busy, happy one. - - -=Cicely and Other Stories for Girls=. - -The readers of Mrs. Johnston's charming juveniles will be glad to learn -of the issue of this volume for young people. - - -=Aunt 'Liza's Hero and Other Stories=. - -A collection of six bright little stories, which will appeal to all -boys and most girls. - - -=Big Brother=. - -A story of two boys. The devotion and care of Steven, himself a small -boy, for his baby brother, is the theme of the simple tale. - - -=Ole Mammy's Torment=. - -"Ole Mammy's Torment" has been fitly called "a classic of Southern -life." It relates the haps and mishaps of a small negro lad, and tells -how he was led by love and kindness to a knowledge of the right. - - -=The Story of Dago=. - -In this story Mrs. Johnston relates the story of Dago, a pet monkey, -owned jointly by two brothers. Dago tells his own story, and the -account of his haps and mishaps is both interesting and amusing. - - -=The Quilt That Jack Built=. - -A pleasant little story of a boy's labor of love, and how it changed -the course of his life many years after it was accomplished. - - -=Flip's Islands of Providence=. - -A story of a boy's life battle, his early defeat, and his final -triumph, well worth the reading. - - -_By EDITH ROBINSON_ - - -=A Little Puritan's First Christmas=. - -A Story of Colonial times in Boston, telling how Christmas was invented -by Betty Sewall, a typical child of the Puritans, aided by her brother -Sam. - - -=A Little Daughter of Liberty=. - -The author introduces this story as follows: - -"One ride is memorable in the early history of the American Revolution, -the well-known ride of Paul Revere. Equally deserving of commendation -is another ride,—the ride of Anthony Severn,—which was no less -historic in its action or memorable in its consequences." - - -=A Loyal Little Maid=. - -A delightful and interesting story of Revolutionary days, in which the -child heroine, Betsey Schuyler, renders important services to George -Washington. - - -=A Little Puritan Rebel=. - -This is an historical tale of a real girl, during the time when the -gallant Sir Harry Vane was governor of Massachusetts. - - -=A Little Puritan Pioneer=. - -The scene of this story is laid in the Puritan settlement at -Charlestown. - - -=A Little Puritan Bound Girl=. - -A story of Boston in Puritan days, which is of great interest to -youthful readers. - - -=A Little Puritan Cavalier=. - -The story of a "Little Puritan Cavalier" who tried with all his boyish -enthusiasm to emulate the spirit and ideals of the dead Crusaders. - - -=A Puritan Knight Errant=. - -The story tells of a young lad in Colonial times who endeavored to -carry out the high ideals of the knights of olden days. - - -_By OUIDA_ (_Louise de la Ramée_) - - -=A Dog of Flanders=: A CHRISTMAS STORY. - -Too well and favorably known to require description. - - -=The Nurnberg Stove=. - -This beautiful story has never before been published at a popular price. - - -_By FRANCES MARGARET FOX_ - - -=The Little Giant's Neighbours=. - -A charming nature story of a "little giant" whose neighbours were the -creatures of the field and garden. - - -=Farmer Brown and the Birds=. - -A little story which teaches children that the birds are man's best -friends. - - -=Betty of Old Mackinaw=. - -A charming story of child-life, appealing especially to the little -readers who like stories of "real people." - - -=Brother Billy=. - -The story of Betty's brother, and some further adventures of Betty -herself. - - -=Mother Nature's Little Ones=. - -Curious little sketches describing the early lifetime, or "childhood," -of the little creatures out-of-doors. - - -=How Christmas Came to the Mulvaneys=. - -A bright, lifelike little story of a family of poor children, with an -unlimited capacity for fun and mischief. The wonderful never-to-be -forgotten Christmas that came to them is the climax of a series of -exciting incidents. - - -_By MISS MULOCK_ - - -=The Little Lame Prince=. - -A delightful story of a little boy who has many adventures by means of -the magic gifts of his fairy godmother. - - -=Adventures of a Brownie=. - -The story of a household elf who torments the cook and gardener, but is -a constant joy and delight to the children who love and trust him. - - -=His Little Mother=. - -Miss Mulock's short stories for children are a constant source of -delight to them, and "His Little Mother," in this new and attractive -dress, will be welcomed by hosts of youthful readers. - - -=Little Sunshine's Holiday=. - -An attractive story of a summer outing. "Little Sunshine" is another -of those beautiful child-characters for which Miss Mulock is so justly -famous. - - -_By MARSHALL SAUNDERS_ - - -=For His Country=. - -A sweet and graceful story of a little boy who loved his country; -written with that charm which has endeared Miss Saunders to hosts of -readers. - - -=Nita, the Story of an Irish Setter=. - -In this touching little book, Miss Saunders shows how dear to her heart -are all of God's dumb creatures. - - -=Alpatok, the Story of an Eskimo Dog=. - -Alpatok, an Eskimo dog from the far north, was stolen from his master -and left to starve in a strange city, but was befriended and cared for, -until he was able to return to his owner. - - -_By WILL ALLEN DROMGOOLE_ - - -=The Farrier's Dog and His Fellow=. - -This story, written by the gifted young Southern woman, will appeal to -all that is best in the natures of the many admirers of her graceful -and piquant style. - - -=The Fortunes of the Fellow=. - -Those who read and enjoyed the pathos and charm of "The Farrier's Dog -and His Fellow" will welcome the further account of the adventures of -Baydaw and the Fellow at the home of the kindly smith. - - -=The Best of Friends=. - -This continues the experiences of the Farrier's dog and his Fellow, -written in Miss Dromgoole's well-known charming style. - - -=Down in Dixie=. - -A fascinating story for boys and girls, of a family of Alabama children -who move to Florida and grow up in the South. - - -_By MARIAN W. WILDMAN_ - - -=Loyalty Island=. - -An account of the adventures of four children and their pet dog on -an island, and how they cleared their brother from the suspicion of -dishonesty. - - -=Theodore and Theodora=. - -This is a story of the exploits and mishaps of two mischievous twins, -and continues the adventures of the interesting group of children in -"Loyalty Island." - - - - -Transcriber's Notes. - -1. Silently corrected simple spelling, grammar, and typographical -errors. - -2. Retained non-standard spellings as printed. - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COUNTRY CHRISTMAS *** - -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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