"Girls, this is the chance of your lives," said Laura. "If you can only please Aunt Susanna with this dinner it will convince her that you are good cooks in spite of your nefarious bent for music and literature. I consider the illness of Miranda Mary"s mother a Providential interposition--that is, if she isn"t too sick."
"It"s all very well for you to be pleased, Lolla," I said dolefully.
"But I don"t feel jubilant over the prospect at all. Something will probably go wrong. And then there"s our own nice little Thanksgiving celebration we"ve planned, and pinched and economized for weeks to provide. That is half spoiled now."
"Oh, what is that compared to Margaret"s chance of going to college?"
exclaimed Kate. "Cheer up, Aggie. You know we can cook. I feel that it is now or never with Aunt Susanna."
I cheered up accordingly. We are not given to pessimism which is fortunate. Ever since father died four years ago we have struggled on here, content to give up a good deal just to keep our home and be together. This little gray house--oh, how we do love it and its apple trees--is ours and we have, as aforesaid, a tiny income and our ambitions; not very big ambitions but big enough to give zest to our lives and hope to the future. We"ve been very happy as a rule. Aunt Susanna has a big house and lots of money but she isn"t as happy as we are. She nags us a good deal--just as she used to nag father--but we don"t mind it very much after all. Indeed, I sometimes suspect that we really like Aunt Susanna tremendously if she"d only leave us alone long enough to find it out.
Thursday morning was an ideal Thanksgiving morning--bright, crisp and sparkling. There had been a white frost in the night, and the orchard and the white birch wood behind it looked like fairyland. We were all up early. None of us had slept well, and both Kate and I had had the most fearful dreams of spoiling Aunt Susanna"s Thanksgiving dinner.
"Never mind, dreams always go by contraries, you know," said Laura cheerfully. "You"d better go up to the Pinery early and get the fires on, for the house will be cold. Remember the McGinnises and the dog.
Weigh the turkey so that you"ll know exactly how long to cook it. Put the pies in the oven in time to get piping hot--lukewarm mince pies are an abomination. Be sure--"
"Laura, don"t confuse us with any more cautions," I groaned, "or we shall get hopelessly fuddled. Come on, Kate, before she has time to."
[Ill.u.s.tration]
It wasn"t very far up to the Pinery--just ten minutes" walk, and such a delightful walk on that delightful morning. We went through the orchard and then through the white birch wood where the loveliness of the frosted boughs awed us. Beyond that there was a lane between ranks of young, balsamy, white-misted firs and then an open pasture field, sere and crispy. Just across it was the Pinery, a lovely old house with dormer windows in the roof, surrounded by pines that were dark and glorious against the silvery morning sky.
The McGinnis dog was sitting on the back-door steps when we arrived.
He wagged his tail ingratiatingly, but we ruthlessly pushed him off, went in and shut the door in his face. All the little McGinnises were sitting in a row on their fence, and they whooped derisively. The McGinnis manners are not those which appertain to the caste of Vere de Vere; but we rather like the urchins--there are eight of them--and we would probably have gone over to talk to them if we had not had the fear of Aunt Susanna before our eyes.
We kindled the fires, weighed the turkey, put it in the oven and prepared the vegetables. Then we set the dining-room table and decorated it with Aunt Susanna"s potted ferns and dishes of lovely red apples. Everything went so smoothly that we soon forgot to be nervous.
When the turkey was done, we took it out, set it on the back of the range to keep warm and put the mince pies in. The potatoes, cabbage and turnips were bubbling away cheerfully, and everything was going as merrily as a marriage bell. Then, all at once, things happened.
In an evil hour we went to the yard window and looked out. We saw a quiet scene. The McGinnis dog was still sitting on his haunches by the steps, just as he had been sitting all the morning. Down in the McGinnis yard everything wore an unusually peaceful aspect. Only one McGinnis was in sight--Tony, aged eight, who was perched up on the edge of the well box, swinging his legs and singing at the top of his melodious Irish voice. All at once, just as we were looking at him, Tony went over backward and apparently tumbled head foremost down his father"s well.
Kate and I screamed simultaneously. We tore across the kitchen, flung open the door, plunged down over Aunt Susanna"s yard, scrambled over the fence and flew to the well. Just as we reached it, Tony"s red head appeared as he climbed serenely out over the box. I don"t know whether I felt more relieved or furious. He had merely fallen on the blank guard inside the box: and there are times when I am tempted to think he fell on purpose because he saw Kate and me looking out at the window. At least he didn"t seem at all frightened, and grinned most impishly at us.
Kate and I turned on our heels and marched back in as dignified a manner as was possible under the circ.u.mstances. Half way up Aunt Susanna"s yard we forgot dignity and broke into a run. We had left the door open and the McGinnis dog had disappeared.
Never shall I forget the sight we saw or the smell we smelled when we burst into that kitchen. There on the floor was the McGinnis dog and what was left of Aunt Susanna"s Thanksgiving turkey. As for the smell, imagine a commingled odor of scorching turnips and burning mince pies, and you have it.
The dog fled out with a guilty yelp. I groaned and s.n.a.t.c.hed the turnips off. Kate threw open the oven door and dragged out the pies.
Pies and turnips were ruined as irretrievably as the turkey.
"Oh, what shall we do?" I cried miserably. I knew Margaret"s chance of college was gone forever.
"Do!" Kate was superb. She didn"t lose her wits for a second. "We"ll go home and borrow the girls" dinner. Quick--there"s just ten minutes before train time. Throw those pies and turnips into this basket--the turkey too--we"ll carry them with us to hide them."
I might not be able to evolve an idea like that on the spur of the moment, but I can at least act up to it when it is presented. Without a moment"s delay we shut the door and ran. As we went I saw the McGinnis dog licking his chops over in their yard. I have been ashamed ever since of my feelings toward that dog. They were murderous.
Fortunately I had no time to indulge them.
It is ten minutes walk from the Pinery to our house, but you can run it in five. Kate and I burst into the kitchen just as Laura and Margaret were sitting down to dinner. We had neither time nor breath for explanations. Without a word I grasped the turkey platter and the turnip tureen. Kate caught one hot mince pie from the oven and whisked a cold one out of the pantry.
"We"ve--got--to have--them," was all she said.
I"ve always said that Laura and Magsie would rise to any occasion.
They saw us carry their Thanksgiving dinner off under their very eyes and they never interfered by word or motion. They didn"t even worry us with questions. They realized that something desperate had happened and that the emergency called for deed not words.
"Aggie," gasped Kate behind me as we tore through the birch wood, "the border--of these pies--is crimped--differently--from Aunt Susanna"s."
"She--won"t know--the difference," I panted. "Miranda--Mary--crimps them."
We got back to the Pinery just as the train whistle blew. We had ten minutes to transfer turkey and turnips to Aunt Susanna"s dishes, hide our own, air the kitchen, and get back our breath. We accomplished it.
When Aunt Susanna and her guests came we were prepared for them: we were calm--outwardly--and the second mince pie was getting hot in the oven. It was ready by the time it was needed. Fortunately our turkey was the same size as Aunt Susanna"s, and Laura had cooked a double supply of turnips, intending to warm them up the next day. Still, all things considered, Kate and I didn"t enjoy that dinner much. We kept thinking of poor Laura and Magsie at home, dining off potatoes on Thanksgiving!
But at least Aunt Susanna was satisfied. When Kate and I were washing the dishes she came out quite beamingly.
"Well, my dears, I must admit that you made a very good job of the dinner, indeed. The turkey was done to perfection. As for the mince pies--well, of course Miranda Mary made them, but she must have had extra good luck with them, for they were excellent and heated to just the right degree. You didn"t give anything to the McGinnis dog, I hope?"
"No, we didn"t give him anything," said Kate.
Aunt Susanna did not notice the emphasis.
When we had finished the dishes we smuggled our platter and tureen out of the house and went home. Laura and Margaret were busy painting and studying and were just as sweet-tempered as if we hadn"t robbed them of their dinner. But we had to tell them the whole story before we even took off our hats.
"There is a special Providence for children and idiots," said Laura gently. We didn"t ask her whether she meant us or Tony McGinnis or both. There are some things better left in obscurity. I"d have probably said something much sharper than that if anybody had made off with my Thanksgiving turkey so unceremoniously.
Aunt Susanna came down the next day and told Margaret that she would send her to college. Also she commissioned Laura to paint her a water-color for her dining-room and said she"d pay her five dollars for it.
Kate and I were rather left out in the cold in this distribution of favors, but when you come to reflect that Laura and Magsie had really cooked that dinner, it was only just.
Anyway, Aunt Susanna has never since insinuated that we can"t cook, and that is as much as we deserve.
By Grace of Julius Caesar
Melissa sent word on Monday evening that she thought we had better go round with the subscription list for cushioning the church pews on Tuesday. I sent back word that I thought we had better go on Thursday.
I had no particular objection to Tuesday, but Melissa is rather fond of settling things without consulting anyone else, and I don"t believe in always letting her have her own way. Melissa is my cousin and we have always been good friends, and I am really very fond of her; but there"s no sense in lying down and letting yourself be walked over. We finally compromised on Wednesday.
I always have a feeling of dread when I hear of any new church-project for which money will be needed, because I know perfectly well that Melissa and I will be sent round to collect for it. People say we seem to be able to get more than anybody else; and they appear to think that because Melissa is an unenc.u.mbered old maid, and I am an unenc.u.mbered widow, we can spare the time without any inconvenience to ourselves. Well, we have been canva.s.sing for building funds, and socials, and suppers for years, but it is needed now; at least, I have had enough of it, and I should think Melissa has, too.
We started out bright and early on Wednesday morning, for Jersey Cove is a big place and we knew we should need the whole day. We had to walk because neither of us owned a horse, and anyway it"s more nuisance getting out to open and shut gates than it is worth while. It was a lovely day then, though promising to be hot, and our hearts were as light as could be expected, considering the disagreeable expedition we were on.
I was waiting at my gate for Melissa when she came, and she looked me over with wonder and disapproval. I could see she thought I was a fool to dress up in my second best flowered muslin and my very best hat with the pale pink roses in it to walk about in the heat and dust; but I wasn"t. All my experience in canva.s.sing goes to show that the better dressed and better looking you are the more money you"ll get--that is, when it"s the men you have to tackle, as in this case. If it had been the women, however, I would have put on the oldest and ugliest things, consistent with decency, I had. This was what Melissa had done, as it was, and she did look fearfully prim and dowdy, except for her front hair, which was as soft and fluffy and elaborate as usual. I never could understand how Melissa always got it arranged so beautifully.
Nothing particular happened the first part of the day. Some few growled and wouldn"t subscribe anything, but on the whole we did pretty well. If it had been a missionary subscription we should have fared worse; but when it was something touching their own comfort, like cushioning the pews, they came down handsomely. We reached Daniel Wilson"s by noon, and had to have dinner there. We didn"t eat much, although we were hungry enough--Mary Wilson"s cooking is a by-word in Jersey Cove. No wonder Daniel is dyspeptic; but dyspeptic or not, he gave us a big subscription for our cushions and told us we looked younger than ever. Daniel is always very complimentary, and they say Mary is jealous.
When we left the Wilson"s Melissa said, with an air of a woman nerving herself to a disagreeable duty:
"I suppose we might as well go to Isaac Appleby"s now and get it over."
I agreed with her. I had been dreading that call all day. It isn"t a very pleasant thing to go to a man you have recently refused to marry and ask him for money; and Melissa and I were both in that predicament.