The Corner House Girls Snowbound

by Grace Brooks Hill

  CHAPTER V

  MERRY TIMES

  Uncle Peter Stower, in dying and leaving his four grandnieces theMilton property, had left them, in addition (or so Ruth Kenway and hersisters concluded), the duty of overlooking the welfare of certainpoor people who occupied the Stower tenements on Meadow Street, overtoward the canal.

  These tenants were mostly poor people; but Mrs. Kranz, who kept adelicatessen store and grocery, and Joe Maroni, whom Dot said was"both an ice man and a nice man" were two of the tenants who werewell-to-do.

  Joe Maroni, whose family lived in the corner cellar under Mrs. Kranz'sstore, sold coal and wood, as well as ice, and had a vegetable andfruit stand on the sidewalk. Mrs. Kranz, the large German woman, wasone of the Kenway girls' staunchest friends. Both these shopkeeperswere sure to aid the Corner House sisters in their plans forChristmas.

  The year before the children of the Stower estate tenants had appearedunder the bedroom windows of the old Corner House early on Christmasmorning and sung Christmas chants.

  "Agnes said, just as though it was in old fuel times," Dot eagerlytold Cecile Shepard. "And Aggie wanted to throw large yeast cakesamong 'em. You know, like Lady Bountiful did, and--"

  "Oh! _Oh!_ OH!" gasped Tess, in horror and amazement. "Why will you,Dot, mix up your words so? It wasn't fuel times, it was feudal times."

  "And why throw away the yeast cakes?" demanded Cecile, in amusedwonder.

  "Dear me!" exclaimed Tess, with vast disdain. "She means _largess_.That means gifts. Dot thought it was 'large yeast.' I never did hearof such a child!"

  "Well, I don't care!" wailed Dot, who did not like to be taken to taskfor mispronouncing words, or for other mistakes in English. "I don'tthink you are at all polite, Tessie Kenway, and I'm going to tellRuth--so now!"

  Which proved that even the little Corner House girls had their littlespats. Everything did not always go smoothly.

  However, the plans for the entertainment of the Meadow Street familieswere made without any trouble. It was decided to have a great tree forthe whole crowd, and to set it up in a small hall on Meadow Street,where certain lodges held their meetings, the date set for theentertainment being a week in advance of Christmas Eve--the nightbefore the Corner House party was to start for Red Deer Lodge.

  Mrs. Kranz took charge of the dressing of the tree, for when she was achild in the old country a Christmas tree was the great annual feast.Not a child among those belonging in the Stower tenements wasforgotten--nor the grown folk, either, for that matter.

  Tess and Dot did their share in the purchasing of the presents andpreparing them for the tree. They both delighted in shopping, andtheir favorite mart of trade was the five and ten cent store on MainStreet.

  Such a jumble of things as they bought! The beauty of buying in thefive and ten cent store is (or so the children declared) that one canget so much for a dollar.

  Every afternoon for a week before the day set for the pre-Christmascelebration, the little folks trudged down to their favorite emporiumand came back with their arms laden with a variety of articles todelight the hearts and eyes of the Meadow Street children.

  Dolls and dolls' toys were of course Dot's favorite purchases. Tesswent in for the more practical things--some to be hung on the treemarked with her own private card for the grown-up members of theexpected audience.

  In any case, and altogether, there was gathered at the old CornerHouse to be hung on the Christmas tree for the Meadow Street people atwo-bushel basket of little packages, mostly from the five and tencent store.

  Ruth and Agnes saw to it that there were plenty of practical thingsfor the poor children, too: warm coats, caps, leggings, shoes,mittens--a dozen other useful things which would be needed by theyounger Goronofskys, the Pedermans, the O'Harras, and all the rest ofthe conglomerate crew occupying the Stower tenements.

  And they had _four_ "Santa Clauses"! Although, more properly speaking,they were "the Misses Santa Claus." The Kenway sisters, in theprescribed uniforms of the good St. Nicholas, presided over thedistribution of the presents from the illuminated tree.

  Dot had every faith in the reality of Santa Claus, nor would hersisters disabuse her of that cheerful belief.

  "But, of course," the smallest Corner House girl said, "I know Santacan't be everywhere at once. And this is a week too early for him,anyway. And on Christmas Eve he does have to rush around so to get toeverybody's house!

  "We're just going to make believe be Santa, Sammy," she explained tothat small boy. "And we're not going to be like you were lastChristmas, Sammy, and fall down the chimney and frighten everybodyso."

  "Huh!" grumbled Sammy, to whom his fiasco as a Santa Claus in the oldCorner House chimney was a sore subject. "If that old brick hadn'tfallen I wouldn't have come down so sudden. And my mom burned my SantaClaus suit up in the furnace because it was all over soot."

  This night in the Meadow Street hall was long to be remembered. Mr.Howbridge made a speech. It was a winter when work was hard to get,and at Ruth's personal request he announced that a dollar a monthwould be taken off every tenant's rent during the "hard times."

  Mrs. Kranz and Joe Maroni, being in so much better circumstances thanthe majority of the Stower estate tenants, gave many things for theChristmas tree, too. There was candy, and cakes, and popcorn, and nutsfor the little folk, and hot drinks and cake and sandwiches for theadults.

  Altogether it was a night long to be remembered by the Corner Housegirls. Even the little ones had begun to understand their duty towardthese poor people who helped swell the Kenway family bank account. Theestate might not now draw down the fifteen per cent. that Uncle PeterStower always demanded; but the income from the Meadow Streettenements was considerable, and the tenants were now happier and morecontent.

  "It must be lovely," Cecile Shepard confessed to Ruth and Agnes, "tohave so many folks to look out for, and be kind to, and who like you.And Ruthie has such a way with her. I can see the women all admireher."

  Agnes began to giggle. "Who wouldn't admire her?" she said. "Ruthbelieves in helping folks just the way they want to be helped. Shedoesn't furnish only flannels and cough sirup to the poor. Oh, no!"

  "Now, Agnes!" admonished the older girl, blushing.

  "I don't care! It's too good a joke, and it shows just why thosepeople over on Meadow Street worship Ruth," went on the youngersister. "Did you see that biggest Pederman girl? Olga, the one withthe white eyebrows and no lashes?"

  "Yes," said Cecile. "Her face looks almost like a blank wall."

  "And a white-washed wall at that," went on Agnes. "She's a grownwoman, but she hasn't any too much intelligence. She was awfully sickwith diphtheria last spring, and Ruth went to see her--carrying gifts,of course."

  "Things to eat don't much appeal to you when you have diphtheria andcan't swallow," put in Ruth.

  "I know that," chuckled Agnes. "And what do you think, Cecile? Ruthieasked Olga what she would like to have--if she could get her anythingspecial?

  "'Yes, Miss Wuth,' she croaked. Olga can't pronounce her 'R's' verywell. 'Yes, Miss Wuth, I've been wantin' a pair of them dangly jeteawin's for so long!' And what do you suppose?" Agnes exploded inconclusion. "Ruth went and bought them for her! She had them ontonight."

  "I don't care," Ruth said, with conviction. "The earrings came nearerto curing Olga than all Dr. Forsyth's medicine. He said so himself."

  "What do you think of that?" giggled Agnes.

  "I think it was awfully sweet of our Ruth," declared Cecile, huggingthe oldest Kenway sister.

  Mrs. MacCall, for her part, was not at all sure that the Kenwaysisters did not "encourage pauperism" in thus helping their tenants.Mrs. MacCall was conservative in the extreme.

  "No," Ruth said earnestly, "the dear little babies, and the littlefolks with empty 'tummies,' are not paupers, Mrs. MacCall. Nor aretheir parents such. We haven't a lazy tenant family in the Stowerhouses."

  "That may be as may be," said the housekeeper, shaking her head. "Butthey are too frequently out
o' work to suit me. And guidness knowsthere's plenty to do in the world."

  "They're just unfortunate," reiterated Ruth. "We have been lucky. Wenever did a thing, we Kenways, to get Uncle Peter's wealth. We've hadbetter luck than the Pedermans and Goronofskys."

  "Hush, my lassie! If you undertake to level things in this world forall, you've a big job cut out for you. Nae doot of that."

  Although the housekeeper was often opposed both in opinion andpractice to Ruth and her sisters, the latter were eager to have Mrs.MacCall go with the vacation party as chaperone and manager. And,indeed, had Mrs. MacCall not agreed, it is doubtful if Ruth would haveaccepted Mr. Howbridge's invitation to go into the North Woods to RedDeer Lodge.

  Mrs. MacCall sacrificed her own desires and some comfort to accompanythe young folks; but she did it cheerfully because of her love for theCorner House girls.

  Aunt Sarah Maltby would remain at home to oversee things at the CornerHouse; and of course Linda and Uncle Rufus would be with her.

  Trunks had been packed the day before the early celebration ofChristmas in the Meadow Street lodge room, and had been sent on bytrain with the serving people that Hedden, Mr. Howbridge's butler andfactotum, had engaged to go ahead of the vacation party and prepareRed Deer Lodge for occupancy over the holidays.

  Of course, Neale O'Neil and the older girls had their bags to carrywith them, and Sammy Pinkney came over to the old Corner House brightand early on the morning of departure, lugging his bulging suitcase.

  "And I hope," Agnes said with severity, "that you haven't worms inthat suitcase, with a lot of other worthless truck, as you had whenyou went on our automobile tour, Sammy."

  "Huh! where'd I dig fishworms this time of year?" responded the boywith scorn. "Besides, mom packed this bag, and she's left out a wholelot of things I'll need up there in the woods. She won't even let metake my bow-arrer and a steel trap I got down at the blacksmith shopby the canal. Of course, the latch of the trap was broke, but we mighthave fixed it and used it to catch wolves with."

  "Oh, my!" squealed Dot. "_Wolves?_ Why, they are savage!"

  "Course they are savage," said Sammy.

  "But--but Mr. Howbridge, our guardian, wouldn't let any wolves stayaround that Darling Lodge. They might eat my Alice-doll!"

  "Sure," agreed the boy, as Agnes was not within hearing. "Like enoughthe wolf pack will chase us when we are sleighing, and you'll have tothrow that doll over to pacificate 'em so we can escape with ourlives. They do that in Russia. Throw the babies away to save folks'lives."

  "Well!" exclaimed Tess, half doubting this bold statement. "Babiesmust be awful cheap in Russia. Cheaper than they are here. You know wecan't get a baby in this house, and we all would like to have one."

  But Dot had been stricken dumb by Sammy's wild statement. She huggedthe Alice-doll to her breast, and her eyes were wide with fear.

  "Do you suppose that may happen, Tess?" she whispered.

  "What may happen?"

  "That we get chased by wolfs and--and have to throw somebody overboardto 'em?"

  "I don't believe so," said Tess, after all somewhat impressed bySammy's assurance.

  "Well, anyway," said Dot, "I was only going to take Alice up there tothat Lodge; but I'll take the sailor-doll, too. He can stand beingthrown to the wolves better than Alice. He's tougher."

  If it had not already been decided to take Tom Jonah, the bigNewfoundland, along on this winter trip, Dot might really have balkedat going.