Christmas with Grandma Elsie

by Martha Finley

  CHAPTER XI.

  In all the homes of the Dinsmore connection Sunday was always apeacefully quiet day--kept as a sacred time of rest from toil andworldly cares and pleasures.

  The quiet and leisure for thought were particularly grateful to GrandmaElsie, in her pleasant home at Ion, on this last Sunday of the old year.

  She had enjoyed having her friends about her and seeing the hilarity ofthe children and youth. She was still youthful in her feelings and fullof an ever ready sympathy with the young, none of whom could knowwithout loving her, while to all who could claim kin withher--especially her children and grandchildren, she was an object ofdevoted affection; affection fully reciprocated by her.

  And so the frequent reunions at Ion were a source of delight to both herand them.

  Yet there were times when her spirit craved exclusive companionship withher nearest and dearest; other seasons when she would be alone with Himwhom her "soul desired above all earthly joy and earthly love."

  An hour had been spent in secret communion with Him ere Rosie andWalter came for the half hour of Bible study and prayer in mamma'sdressing room, before breakfast, to which they had been accustomed sincetheir earliest recollection.

  And not they only but their older brothers and sisters before them,every one of whom had very tender memories connected with that shortservice; memories that had been a safeguard to them in times oftemptation, a comfort and support in the dark hours that sooner or latercome to all the sons and daughters of Adam, and made them feel it evenyet a privilege to participate, when circumstances would permit.

  Sometimes Edward and Zoe joined the little circle, and Harold andHerbert seldom failed to do so when at home. They all did so thismorning and with an enjoyment that made the allotted time seem far tooshort.

  Their mother had always been able to interest her children in Biblelessons.

  Breakfast and family worship followed; then attendance upon the morningservice of the sanctuary.

  After that Sunday school for the blacks in the school house on theestate, the mother and all her children acting as teachers.

  The afternoon and evening were given to reading, conversation and musicsuited to the sacredness of the day; then all retired to peacefulslumbers, from which they rose in the morning rested and refreshed inbody and mind, and ready to enter with zest upon the labors andpleasures of the new week.

  According to the arrangements made the previous week the whole Ionfamily, and all who had been guests there at that time, repaired toFairview at an early hour, where they spent the day together in socialfestivities similar to those with which they had enlivened their staywith Grandma Elsie.

  Harold and Herbert gave a magic lantern exhibition, some charades wereacted, and Cousin Ronald contrived to add not a little to the fun bytimely efforts in his own peculiar line; the very little ones weredelighted to hear their toy dogs bark, roosters crow, hens and geesecackle, ducks quack, horses neigh and donkeys bray.

  They could hardly believe that the sounds which seemed to come from themouths of the toy animals were really made by Cousin Ronald, and whenassured that such was the case, thought him a most wonderful man.

  Some of the guests departed that evening, but others remained overnight; among them the Raymonds.

  On Tuesday morning they went home to Woodburn taking Grandma Elsie,Rosie, Walter and Evelyn Leland with them.

  Lulu had been sharing Evelyn's room at Fairview, and now was to have thepleasure of returning the hospitality.

  There were some preparations to be made for the entertainment ofto-morrow's guests, and the children were in a flutter of pleasurableexcitement.

  I could not tell you how much they enjoyed their share of the planningand arranging, and the consultations together and with the older people,or how kindly indulgent the captain was to their wishes and fancies,never saying them nay when it was within his power to grant theirrequest.

  Evelyn Leland loved to watch Lulu and Grace as they hung affectionatelyabout their father, giving and receiving caresses and endearments; yetthe sight often brought tears to her eyes--calling up tender memories ofthe past. She had not forgotten--she never could forget the dear parentwho had been won't to lavish such caresses and endearments upon her, andat times her young heart ached with its longing to hear again the soundof his voice and feel the clasp of his arm, and his kisses upon cheekand lip and brow.

  Yet life was gliding along very peacefully and happily with her,brightened by the love of kindred and friends, and she could join veryheartily in the diversions and merriment of her companions.

  Tea was over, the babies had had their romp with papa, brothers andsisters, and been carried off to the nursery, leaving the rest of thefamily--the guests included--in the pleasant library.

  "Well, my dears, it has been a busy day with you," remarked GrandmaElsie, smiling pleasantly upon the group of children, "but I presumeyour preparations for to-morrow's sports are quite completed?"

  "Yes, ma'am," said Lulu.

  "And we have some very good charades, mamma," said Rosie, "and havearranged for some nice tableaux."

  "New ones?"

  "New and old both," answered Rosie and Lulu together. "And oh, GrandmaElsie, we want another with you in it," added Lulu, with eager entreatyin her tones.

  "And why with me, my dear?" asked Mrs. Travilla, with a pleased littlelaugh, "are there not more than enough younger people to take part?"

  "Oh there are plenty of us such as we are!" laughed Evelyn, "but we wantall the beautiful people, so that the pictures will be beautiful."

  "You are coming out in a new character, Eva--that of an adroitflatterer," returned Grandma Elsie, with a look of amusement; "but I amnot at all displeased, my dear child, because I credit it entirely toyour affection, which I prize very highly," she hastened to add, seeingthat her words had called up a blush of painful embarrassment on Eva'susually placid face.

  "Grandma Elsie, we all love you dearly," said Lulu, "but you _are_beautiful. I'm sure everybody thinks so. Don't they, papa?"

  "As far as my knowledge goes," he answered, smiling and pinching hercheek--for as usual she was close at his side--"and indeed I don't knowhow any one could think otherwise."

  "Mamma will, I'm sure," said Walter, "because we want her to, and she'salways kind."

  "Will what?" asked Violet coming in at that moment.

  "Be one in a tableau," replied Walter.

  "Yes, of course," said Violet. "Oh we'll make a group with mamma,grandpa, Sister Elsie and her little Ned, and call it a picture of fourgenerations. If dear old grandpa were with us still we could make itfive."

  "A very nice idea, my dear," the captain remarked with a glance ofaffectionate admiration at his young wife, as he rose and handed her achair; "and I think we must have the group photographed."

  "Oh yes, Lester can do it beautifully! We'll send him word to bring hisapparatus with him."

  "Yes," said her mother, "and we will ask him to take us all in familygroups. The pictures will be pleasant mementoes of this holiday season."

  "Mamma," said Walter, "I think if you would tell us all about all theNew Years days you can remember, it would be a very interesting way ofspending the evening."

  "Yes, mamma, we would all be charmed to hear your story," said Violet,the others chiming in with, "Oh yes, mamma," "Yes, Grandma Elsie, pleasedo tell it."

  "Since you all seem to desire it, I will try," she answered kindly, "butI fear my reminiscences will hardly deserve the name of story.

  "The first Christmas and New Years of which I retain a vividremembrance, were those of the first winter after I had made theacquaintance of my dear father; for, as I believe you all know, I neversaw him till I was eight years old.

  "The occurrences of that Christmas are too familiar to most, if not allof you, to bear repetition."

  "And you hadn't at all a nice New Year's that time, mamma," said Rosie,softly stroking and patting the hand she held, then lifting it to herlips; for she was sitting on a stool a
t her mother's feet, while theothers had grouped themselves around her, "suffering so with thatsprained ankle."

  "Ah there you are mistaken, my child," Grandma Elsie answered with herown sweet smile, "for I had a most enjoyable day in spite of the injurythat kept me a prisoner in my room; my father brought me a beautifuldoll-baby, quite as large as some live ones that I have seen, and aquantity of pretty things to be used in its adornment. My little friendsand I had a merry, happy time cutting out garments and making them up.

  "The next Christmas and New Year's Day were spent in our sweet new homeat the Oaks, which my papa had bought and furnished in the mean time.

  "My Christmas gifts were beautiful; from papa books and a pearl necklaceand bracelets--now the property of my daughter Rosie"--smiling down atRosie as she spoke--"and a ring to match from him who was afterward mybeloved husband; also books from his mother and my Aunt Adelaide. Theywere our guests at dinner that day.

  "Between breakfast and dinner I had the pleasure of distributing giftsamong the house servants and the negroes at the quarter; then a ridewith papa; and the evening, till my early bedtime, was spent sitting onhis knee."

  "But you are going to tell us about that New Year's, too, mamma, aren'tyou?" asked Walter, as she paused in her narrative, sitting quietly witha pensive, far off look in her soft brown eyes.

  "Yes," she said, rousing from her reverie, "I remember it was on the dayafter Christmas that papa asked me if I was going to make a New Year'spresent to each of my little friends.

  "Of course I was delighted with the idea, especially as he allowed megreat latitude in regard to the amount to be spent."

  "And did he take you to the stores and let yon choose the presents,Grandma Elsie?" asked Lulu. "That would be half the fun, I think."

  "My dear, indulgent father would have done so, had I been able to bearthe fatigue," Grandma Elsie replied, "but at that time I was quitefeeble from a severe illness. He did not think me strong enough to visitthe stores, but ordered goods sent out to the Oaks for me to selectfrom, which gave me nearly as much enjoyment us I could have found ingoing to the city in search of them."

  "Did you find gifts to suit, mamma?" queried Walter. "And oh won't youtell us how many and what they were?"

  "Beside the Roselands little people," replied his mother, "there wereLucy and Herbert Carrington, Carrie Howard, Isabel Carleton, MaryLeslie, and Flora Arnott to be remembered.

  "For the last named, who was also the youngest, I selected a beautifulwax doll and a complete wardrobe of ready made clothes for it, allneatly packed in a tiny trunk.

  "To Mary Leslie I gave a ring, and to each of the other girls a handsomebracelet; to Herbert, who was a great reader, a set of handsomely boundbooks.

  "All these little friends of mine were spending the Christmas holidaysat Pinegrove--the home of the Howards.

  "Papa and I had been invited too, but had declined because of my feeblestate. When my gifts were ready I asked him if they should be sent toPinegrove.

  "'We will see about it,' he answered; 'we have plenty of time; there aretwo days yet, and it will not take a messenger half an hour to travelfrom here to Pinegrove.'

  "So I said no more, for I never was allowed to tease.

  "But when New Year's morning came and the presents had not been sent, Ibegan to feel decidedly uneasy, and papa evidently perceived it; thoughneither of us said a word on the subject that was uppermost in my mind.

  "Papa had some beautiful books and pictures for me which he gave mebefore breakfast, saying he hoped they would help me pass the daypleasantly; he would be glad to make it the happiest New Year I hadknown yet.

  "He smiled tenderly upon me as he said it, then held me close in hisarms and kissed me over and over again; and I returned his kisses,putting my arms about his neck and hugging him as tight as I could.

  "After that we had breakfast and family worship, and then he took me onhis knee again and asked how I would like to spend the day?

  "I answered that I would be glad to have a drive if he did not think ittoo cold. He said he thought it was not if I were well wrapped up.

  "There was no snow to make sleighing, so the carriage was ordered, I wasbundled up in furs, and we drove several miles.

  "As we were about starting I ventured to ask, 'Papa, haven't youforgotten to send my presents to Pinegrove?' He smiled and said, 'No, mydarling,' in a very pleasant tone, but that was all, and when we cameback I noticed that the presents were still in a closet in my dressingroom where they had lain ever since they were bought.

  "I was quite puzzled to understand it, but I asked no questions.

  "Mammy arranged my hair and dress, and I went back to the parlor wherepapa was sitting reading. He laid aside his book as soon as I enteredthe room, took me on his knee, and began telling me funny stories thatkept me laughing till a carriage drove up to the door.

  "'There, some one has come!' he said; 'it seems we are not to spend theday alone after all.'

  "Then in another minute or two, the door opened and in came my sixlittle friends for whom I had bought the presents."

  Grace clapped her hands in delight. "Oh how nice! and didn't you have agood time, Grandma Elsie?"

  "Yes, very; they had all come to spend the day; I had the pleasure ofpresenting my gifts in person and of seeing that they were fullyappreciated; we played quiet games and papa told us lovely stories.There was no fretting or quarrelling, everybody was in high good humor,and when the time came to separate, my guests all bade good bye, saying,'they had never had a more enjoyable day.'"

  "Now please tell about the next Christmas and New Year's, mamma," urgedWalter, as she paused, as though feeling that her tale was ended.

  "Let mamma have time to breathe and to think what comes next, Walter,"said Rosie. "Don't you see that's what she is doing?"

  "I am thinking of those little friends of mine," sighed their mother;"asking myself 'Where are they now?' Ah what changes life brings! howshort and hasty it is, and how soon it will be over! I mean the life inthis world.

  "It is likened in the Bible to a pilgrimage, a tale that is told, aflower that soon withers or is cut down by the mower's scythe, a dream,a sleep, a vapor, a shadow, a handbreadth; a thread cut by the weaver."

  "Mamma, are those friends of yours all dead?" asked Walter.

  "I will tell you about them," she answered. "Herbert Carrington diedyoung--he was barely sixteen."

  With the words a look of pain swept across the still fair, sweet face ofthe speaker, and she paused for a moment as if almost overcome by somesad recollection.

  Violet, who had heard the story from Grandma Rose, understood it.

  "Mamma, dear," she said softly, "what a happy thing it was for him--poorsufferer that he was--to be taken so early to the Father's house on highwhere pain and sin and sorrow are unknown!"

  "Yes," returned her mother, furtively wiping away a tear, "and callingto mind the dreadful scenes of the war that followed some years later,and the sore trials that resulted in the Carrington family--I feel thathe was taken away from the evil to come.

  "Of the others forming that little company Flora Arnott too died young.Mary Leslie married and moved away, and I have lost sight of her formany years. Carrie Howard lived to become a wife and mother, but wascalled away from earth years ago. The same words would tell IsabelCarleton's story.

  "Lucy Carrington and I are the only ones left, and she, like myself, haschildren and grandchildren. I hear from her now and then, and we meetoccasionally when I go North or she pays a visit to the old home atAshlands."

  "Mrs. Ross," said Rosie half in assertion, half inquiringly.

  "Yes, that is her married name."

  "And Aunt Sophy who lives at Ashlands now, is--"

  "The widow of Lucy's older brother Harry, and also your Grandma Rose'ssister; as you all know."

  "Mamma," said Walter, "you didn't mention Grandma Rose at all in tellingyour story of that Christmas and New Year's. Wasn't she there?"

  "No, my son; my
father--your grandpa--and I were living alone togetherat that time. The next summer we went North, and while there visited atElmgrove, Mr. Allison's country seat, which gave papa and Miss Rose anopportunity to become quite well acquainted.

  "I had known and loved Miss Rose before, and was very glad when papatold me she had consented to become his wife and my mother.

  "They were married in the fall and when we returned to the Oaks she waswith us.

  "That made my next Christmas and New Year still happier than the last,and when yet another came round my treasures had been increased innumber by the advent of a darling little brother."

  "Uncle Horace," said Walter. "Mamma, were you very glad when God gavehim to you?"

  "Indeed I was!" she answered with a smile. "I had never had a brother orsister and had often been hungry for one.

  "And he has always been a dear, loving brother to me," she went on, "andyour Aunt Rose, who came to us while we were in Europe some eight yearslater, as sweet a sister as any one could desire."

  "But about those holidays, mamma, the first when you had a brother?"persisted Walter; "aren't you going to tell about them?"

  "Yes," she answered; "it was a particularly enjoyable time, for we hadour cousins--Mildred and Annis Keith--with us. Mildred, though, hadbecome Mrs. Landreth, and had her husband and baby boy with her.

  "Annis was a dear, lovable little girl just about my own age. They spentthe winter at the Oaks, Annis sharing both my studies and my sports. Wehad a Christmas party, our guests remaining through the rest of theweek."

  "Oh mamma, do please go on and tell the whole story of that Christmas,and all the good times you had that winter," pleaded Rosie. "I havealways enjoyed it so much, and I'm sure Eva and Lulu and Gracie will."

  Rosie's request was seconded by several other voices in the littlecrowd, and Grandma Elsie, ever willing to give pleasure, kindlycomplied.

  But as my young readers have already had the story in Mildred's MarriedLife, I shall not repeat it here. Suffice it to say it seemed to greatlyinterest all her listeners, and Lulu gathered from it a far differentimpression of Mr. Dinsmore, as a father, from that she had derived fromtales told her by some of the old servants in the family connection.

  They had given her the idea that he was exceedingly stern andtyrannical, but his daughter painted him as a most loving and indulgentparent. Mayhap the truth lay somewhere between the two pictures, for ashe himself had often said, Elsie was ever won't to look upon him throughrose colored glasses.

  "You did have a very nice time, Grandma Elsie! I could almost wish I'dbeen in your place," exclaimed Lulu, when the tale had come to an end."But no I don't, either, for then I couldn't be my father's child,"putting her arm round the captain's neck and laying her cheek to his,"and to belong to him is better than anything else!"

  "My little Lulu being the judge," laughed the captain, tightening theclasp of his arm about her waist.

  "Or any other of your children, papa," added Grace from her seat on hisknee, affectionately stroking his face with her small white hand as shespoke. "Grandma Elsie, won't you please go on and tell about otherChristmases that you remember?"

  "I think, my dear, I have done my full share of story telling for oneevening," replied Mrs. Travilla pleasantly. "It is your father's turnnow, as the next in age. Captain, will you not favor us with some ofyour reminiscences of former holiday experiences? or of something elseif you prefer. I know you are a famous story teller."

  "Oh yes, captain!" "Oh yes, papa do, please," urged the others.

  "Some other time, perhaps," he said. "Do you know how late it is? timeto call the servants in to prayers, and then for the little folks toseek their nests. Max, my son, ring the bell."

  "Then you don't mean to let us stay up to watch the old year out and thenew year in, papa?" queried the lad, as he rose and obeyed the order.

  "Hardly," his father answered with a slight smile; "You are all tooyoung to be allowed to lose so large a portion of your night's rest. Todo so would spoil all the anticipated pleasure of to-morrow."

  "Then I am sure we don't want to, captain," said Evelyn, "for we arelooking forward to a great deal of pleasure."