The Little Colonel at Boarding-School

by Annie F. Johnston

  CHAPTER XV.

  THANKSGIVING DAY

  ONE might have thought, watching the pillow-fight which went on thatnight at bedtime, that the fairy-tale had been told too soon. The fivegirls, romping and shrieking through halls and bedrooms as the sportwent on, fast and furious, seemed too young for its grave lessons. But"the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts," even when its actionsare most childish and careless, and the little tale made a deeperimpression than the teller of it realized.

  For one thing, Betty laid aside the book she was writing, although shehad secretly cherished the hope of having the story of Gladys and Eugenepublished sometime during the coming year.

  "I might be ashamed of it when I am grown," she explained, quoting oldHildgardmar: "''Tis but a little mantle thou couldst weave this year, atbest, fit but to clothe the shoulders of yon curly shepherd lad.' If Iam to outgrow my ideals as I do my dresses, I ought to wait. I want thecritics to say of me 'Thou waitedst till thy woman's fingers wrought thebest that lay within thy woman's heart.' So I'll lay the book aside fora few years, till I've learned more about people. But I'll write it someday."

  It was that same night, while they were getting ready for bed, that theShadow Club was disbanded.

  "I nevah want to heah that name again," exclaimed Lloyd, shaking out herhair and beginning to brush it. "It was so disgraced by being draggedinto the newspapahs with such a lie, that it almost makes me illwhenevah I think of it."

  "Oh, you don't want to give up the work for the mountain people, doyou?" asked Allison, in dismay.

  "No, but I'd like to stop until aftah the holidays. We have so much todo getting ready for Christmas. Besides, I'd like to be able to tell thegirls that there wasn't such a club any moah. The next term we couldmake a fresh start with a new name, just the five of us."

  "Oh, let's call it 'The Order of Hildegarde!'" cried Betty,enthusiastically. "And all the time we are doing 'broidery and fairneedlework' to sell for the mountain people, we can be trying to weaveour ideals as Hildegarde did, so that we may not miss the happiness thatis written for us in the stars."

  "I'd like that," exclaimed Allison, entering into the new plan eagerly."We could have club colours this time, gold and rose, the colour of thewarp and woof, you know."

  "Yes, yes! That's it!" assented Kitty, with equal enthusiasm. "Streamersof narrow gold and rose ribbon, pinned by a tiny gilt star, to remind usof what is written in the stars. Don't you think that would be lovely,Katie?"

  "Yes," answered Katie, "but I think if we want to keep the order asecret we oughtn't to wear such a badge in public. It would be safer tokeep them in our 'inner rooms.' But we could use them in all sorts ofways, the ribbons crossed on our pincushions, or streamers of them totie back our curtains, or broad bands on our work-baskets andembroidery-bags."

  Lloyd gave ready assent. "That would suit me, for my room at home isalready furnished in rose colah. All I would have to do is to add thegold and the sta'hs."

  "And mine is a white and gold room," said Betty. "I'll only have to giveit a few touches of rose colour."

  A few more words settled the matter, as the girls hovered around thefire in their night-dresses, and then the establishment of the new Orderof Hildegarde was celebrated by a pillow fight, the like of which fornoise and vigour had never before been known at The Beeches.

  In the hard work that followed after their return to school, timeslipped by so fast that Thanksgiving Day came surprisingly soon. Nearlyall the pupils and teachers went home for the short vacation, or visitedfriends in Louisville. Even the president and his wife went away. Onlysix girls besides Lloyd and Betty were left to follow the matron tochurch on Thanksgiving morning.

  It was a lonesome walk. A Sabbath-like stillness pervaded the quietValley, and the ringing of the bell in the ivy-grown belfry of thelittle stone church, and the closed doors at the post-office, gave thegirls the feeling that Sunday had somehow come in the middle of theweek. As they crossed the road toward the iron gate leading into thechurchyard, Lloyd looked up past the manse toward The Beeches, hopingfor a glimpse of the Walton girls. Then she remembered that Allison hadtold her that they were all going to town to celebrate the day with herAunt Elise, and the feeling of being left out of everybody's good timesbegan to weigh heavily upon her.

  No smoke was coming out of any of the chimneys, either at The Beeches orEdgewood. When she thought of Locust, also cold and empty, with no fireon its hospitable hearths, no feast on its ample table, no cheeranywhere within its walls, and her family far away, a wave ofhomesickness swept over her that brought a mist over her eyes. She couldscarcely see as they went up the steps.

  Mrs. Bond, with her usual dread of being late, had hurried them awayfrom the seminary much too soon. Not more than half a dozen carriageshad driven into the grove around the little country church when theyreached the door, and only a few people were waiting inside. As Lloydsat in the solemn silence that was broken only now and then by a stifledcough or the rustle of a turning leaf, she had hard work to battle backthe tears. But with a sudden determination to overcome such a feeling,she sat up very straight in the end of the pew, and pressed her lipstogether hard.

  "It's almost wicked of me," she thought, "to feel so bad about the onething I can't have when there are a thousand other things that ought tomake me happy. It's only a pah't of my bo'ding-school experiences, andwill be ovah in a little while. I don't suppose anybody in church hasmoah to be thankful for than I have."

  She glanced furtively across the aisle. "I'm thankful that I'm not thatold Mistah Saxon with his wooden leg, or that poah little Mrs. Crisp inthe cawnah, with five children to suppo't, and one of them a baby thathas fits."

  Her gaze wandered down the opposite aisle. "And I'm suah it's somethingto be thankful for not to have a nose like Libbie Simms, or such a fussyold fathah as Sue Bell Wade has to put up with. And I'm glad I haven'tsuch poah taste as to make a rainbow out of myself, wearing so manydifferent colahs at once as Miss McGill does. Five different shades ofred on the same hat are enough to set one's teeth on edge. I believe Icould go on all day, counting the things I'm glad I haven't got; and asfor the things I have--" She began checking them off on her finger-tips.There was a handful before she had fairly begun to count; home, family,perfect health, the love of many friends, the opportunities that filledevery day to the brim.

  The organist pulled out the stops and began playing an old familiarchant as a voluntary. As the full, sweet chords filled the church Lloydcould almost hear the words rising with the music:

  "My cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life."

  As the music swelled louder, her counting was interrupted by the openingof the door and the entrance of several generations of the Moore family,who had come back to Oaklea for a Thanksgiving reunion. It seemed goodto Lloyd to see the old judge's white head gleaming like silver in itsaccustomed pew. His benign face fairly radiated cheerfulness andgood-will as he took his place once more among his old neighbours.

  Rob walked just behind him, so tall and erect, it seemed to Lloyd thathe must have grown several inches in the three short months since theyhad cut the last notches in the measuring-tree. As he turned to throwhis overcoat across the back of the seat, his quick glance spied Lloydand Betty several pews in the rear, and he flashed them a smile ofgreeting. At the same time, so quickly and deftly that Mrs. Bond did notsee the motion, he held up a package that he had carried in under hisovercoat, and instantly dropped it out of sight again on the seat. Thenhe straightened himself up beside his grandfather, as if he were a modelof decorum.

  "'IT'S LIKE A BIT OF HOME TO SEE YOU AGAIN.'"]

  Lloyd and Betty exchanged a meaning glance which seemed to say, "Thatfive-pound box of Huyler's best he promised us;" and Lloyd found herselfwondering several times during the long service how he would manage topresent it. That problem did not worry Rob, however. As the congregationslowly moved down the aisles and out into the vestibule, he elbowed
hisway to Mrs. Bond, standing beside her eight charges like a motherly oldhen.

  "Good morning, Mrs. Bond," he exclaimed, in his straightforward, boyishway. "You're going to take me under your wing and let me walk to thegate with Betty and Lloyd, aren't you! I'll be as good as grandfather ifyou will, and I'll even take him along if it's necessary to have anybodyto vouch for me."

  His mischievous smile was so irresistible that she gave him a motherlypat on the shoulder. "Run along," she exclaimed, laughingly. "I'llfollow presently. There are several people I want to speak to first."

  "Oh, Rob," exclaimed Lloyd, as he started down the avenue beside herand Betty. "It's like a bit of home to see you again. Talk fast and tellus everything. Do you think you'll pass in Latin? Is it decided whethahyou're to go East to school aftah Christmas? Did you see that awfulpiece in the papah about our club?"

  She poured out her questions so rapidly that they were half-way to theseminary before he could answer all her catechism, and then he had somany to ask her that she almost forgot to tell him about the box theyhad received from Locust that morning.

  "A suah enough Thanksgiving-box!" she exclaimed gleefully. "Just as ifwe'd really been away off from home at school, with all the good thingsthat Mom Beck could think of or Aunt Cindy could cook, from a turkey toa monstrous big fruit-cake. Mothah planned the surprise before she wentaway. Think of the gay midnight suppahs we could have if we hadn'tturned ovah a new leaf and refawmed."

  "So you've reformed!" he repeated. "Then boarding-school life can't seemas funny to you as you thought last September it was going to be."

  "Yes, it does," protested Betty. "I'll be glad when the next four weeksare over so that we can go back to Locust, but excepting only two orthree things that happened, I've enjoyed every minute that we've beenat the seminary. I'll always be glad that we had this experience."

  "And it wasn't at all like you said it would be," added Lloyd,laughingly, "'scorched oatmeal and dried apples and old cats watching atevery keyhole.' There was some eavesdropping, but it wasn't the teachahswho did it, and we had moah fun getting even with the girl who did thanI could tell in a week. I'll tell you about our playing ghost, and allthe rest, when you come out Christmas."

  "Then I'll have to hand over the candy," he said. "You've earned it, ifyou've stood the strain this long and kept as hale and hearty as youlook."

  They had reached the high green picket gate by this time, and,delivering the box to the girls, with a few more words he left them.Dinner was to be early at Oaklea, he said, as they were all going homeon the five o'clock train.

  "Oh, it was just like having a piece of home to see him again,"exclaimed Lloyd, looking after him wistfully as he lifted his cap andwalked rapidly away. "I can hardly wait to get back now. Wouldn't youlike to walk up to Locust aftah dinnah, Betty?"

  "No, I believe not," was the hesitating reply. "It would make me feelmore homesick than if I stayed away altogether. Mom Beck will be offkeeping holiday somewhere, and everything will be shut up anddesolate-looking. Probably all we'd see would be Lad and Tarbaby out inthe pasture. Let's walk over to Rollington instead, after dinner, andtake a lot of things to that poor little Mrs. Crisp out of our box fromhome."

  "How funny for you to think of the same thing that I did this mawning inchurch!" exclaimed Lloyd. "The text made me think of it, and when Ilooked across at her in that pitiful old wispy crape veil, and thoughtof the washing she has to do, and the baby with the fits, I was sothankful that I was not in her place that I felt as if I ought to giveher every penny I possess."

  It was a very quiet day. A better dinner than usual, and the long walkover to Rollington late in the afternoon was all that made it differfrom the Sundays that they had spent at the seminary. But as the twolittle Good Samaritans trudged homeward over the frozen pike, swingingtheir empty basket between them, Lloyd exclaimed, "I've had a good timeto-day, aftah all, and I would have been perfectly misah'ble if I'd goneon the way I stah'ted out to do--thinking about the one thing I wantedand couldn't have. I just _made_ myself stop, and go to thinking of thethings I did have, and then I forgot to feel homesick. Counting yoahblessings and carrying turkey to poah folks doesn't sound like a veryexciting way to spend yoah holidays, but it makes you feel mighty goodinside, doesn't it! Especially when you think how pleased Mrs. Crispwas."

  "Yes," answered Betty. "I don't know how to express the way the day hasmade me feel. Not happy, exactly, for when I'm that way I always want tosing." She held her muff against her cold face. "It's more like a big,soft, furry kind of contentment. If I were a cat I'd be purring."