CHAPTER XIV.
THE CONCERT.
WITHIN the church wonderful things were going on. Jerry had caughtsight of Norm as he slipped up the gallery stairs, and laid his plansaccordingly. He whispered to Nettie during the singing of the closinghymn, thereby shocking her a little. Jerry did not often whisper inchurch.
This was what he said: "Don't you need those lilies to help trim theroom to-morrow night? Let's take them home."
The moment the "amen" was spoken, he dashed out, and was at the stairdoor as Norm came down.
"Norm," he said, "won't you help me carry home that tray? We want theflowers for something special to-morrow."
Said Norm, "O bother! I can't help tote that heavy thing through thestreets."
"What's that?" asked Rick; and when the explanation was briefly made,he added the little word of advice which so often turns the scales.
"Ho! that isn't much to do when you are going that very road. I'd doas much as that, any day, for the little chap who gave us such a tallrow." This last was in undertone.
"Well," said Norm, "I don't care; I'll help; but how are we going toget the things out here?"
"Come inside," answered Jerry; "we can wait in the back seat. They willall be gone in a few minutes, then we can step up and get the salver."
Once inside the church, the rest followed easily. Mr. Sherrill who hadeyes for all that was going on, came forward swiftly and held a cordialhand to Norm.
"Good-evening," he said; "I am glad to see you accepted my invitation.How did our work look by gaslight?"
"It looked," said Norm, a roguish twinkle in his eye, "it lookedjust as I expected it would; crooked. That there arch at the left ofthe pulpit wants to be hung as much as two inches lower to match theother."
"You don't say so!" said the minister, in good-humored surprise. "Doesit appear so from the gallery? Are my eyes as crooked as that? Let usgo up gallery and see if I can discover it."
So to the gallery they went, Norm clearing the space with a few bounds,and taking a triumphant station where he could point out the defect tothe minister.
"That is true," Mr. Sherrill said, with hearty frankness. "You areright and I was wrong. If I had taken your word last night the wreathswould have looked better, wouldn't they? Well, perhaps wreaths are notthe only things which show crooked when we get higher up and look downon them. Eh, my friend?"
Norm laughed a good-humored, rather embarrassed laugh. It wasremarkable that he should be up here holding a chatty, almost gay,conversation with the minister. There came over him the wish thathe had behaved himself better during the service. That he had notwhispered so much, nor nudged Rick's elbow to make him laugh, justat the moment that the minister's eye was fixed on them. He had ahalf-fancy that if the evening were to be lived over again, he wouldgo down below and sit up straight and show this man that he couldbehave as well as anybody if he were a mind to.
Not a word about the laughing and whispering said the minister. But hesaid a thing which startled Norm.
"My sister has a fancy for having the church adorned with wreaths orstrings of asters in contrasting colors for next Sabbath; will you makean appointment with me to help hang them on Saturday evening? I'llpromise to follow your eye to the half-inch."
Norm started, flushed, looked into the frank face and laughed a little,then seeing that the answer was waited for said: "Why, I don't care ifI do, if you honestly want it."
"I honestly want it," said the minister in great satisfaction. Thenthey went downstairs.
Job Smith and his wife were gone.
"I will wait for my brother," said Nettie, and her heart swelled withpride as she said it.
How nice to have a brother to wait for, just as Miss Sherrill wasdoing. At that moment the "beautiful lady" as Sate and Susie calledher, came to Nettie's side.
"Good-evening," she said pleasantly. "I hope the little girls arewell; I met your brother last night; he helped my brother to hang theflowers. I see they are upstairs together now, admiring their work. Mybrother said he was a very intelligent helper. You do not know how muchI thank you for those flowers. They helped me to sing to-night."
"I thought," said Nettie, raising her great truthful eyes to the lady'sface and speaking with an earnestness that showed she felt what shesaid, "I thought you sang as though the angels were helping you. Idon't think they can sing any sweeter."
"Thank you," said Miss Sherrill; she smiled as she spoke, yet therewere tears in her eyes; the honest, earnest tribute seemed very unlikea little girl, and very unlike the usual way of complimenting herwonderful voice. "I saw that you liked music," she said, "I noticed youwhile I was singing. Will you let me give you a couple of tickets forthe concert to-morrow evening; and will you and your brother come tohear me sing? I am going to sing something that I think you will like."
Nettie went home behind the lilies and the boys, her heart all ina flutter of delight. What a wonderful thing had come to her! Theconcert for which the best singers in town had been so long practising,and for which the tickets were fifty cents apiece, and which she had nomore expected to attend than she had expected to hear the real angelssing that week, was to take place to-morrow evening, and she had twotickets in her pocket!
Mrs. Decker was waiting for them, her nose pressed against the glass;she started forward to open the door for the boys, before Nettie couldreach it. There was such a look of relief on her face when she saw Normas ought to have gone to his very heart; but he did not see it; he wasbusy settling the salver in a safe place.
"Has father come in?" Nettie asked, as she followed her mother to theback step, where she went for the dipper at Norm's call.
"Yes, child, he has, and went straight to bed. He didn't say two words;but he wasn't cross; and he hadn't drank a drop, I believe."
"Mother," said Nettie, standing on tiptoe to reach the tall woman'sear, and speaking in an awe-stricken whisper, "father was in church!"
"For the land of pity!" said Mrs. Decker, speaking low and solemnly.
And all through the next morning's meal, which was an unusually quietone, she waited on her husband with a kind of respectful reverence,which if he had noticed, might have bewildered him. It seemed to herthat the event of the evening before had lifted him into a higher worldthan hers, and that she could not tell now, what might happen.
The event of the day was the concert; all other plans were set asidefor that. At first Norm scoffed and declared that his ticket might beused to light the fire with, for all he cared; he didn't want to goto one of their "swell" concerts. But this talk Nettie laughed overgood-naturedly, as though it were intended for a joke, and continuedher planning as to when to have supper, and just when she and Norm muststart.
In the course of the day, that young man discovered it to be a finething to own tickets for this special concert. Before noon tickets wereat a premium, and several of Norm's fellow-workmen gayly advised him tomake an honest penny by selling his. During the early morning it hadbeen delicately hinted by one young fellow that Norm Decker's ticketswere made of tissue paper, which was his way of saying, that he didnot believe that Norm had any; but, thanks to Nettie's thoughtful tact,the tickets were at that very moment reposing in her brother's pocket,and he drew them forth in triumph, wanting to know if anybody saw anytissue paper about those. Good stiff green pasteboard with the magicwords on them which would admit two people to what was consideredon all sides the finest entertainment of the sort the town had everenjoyed.
"Where did you get 'em, Norm? Come, tell us, that's a good fellow.You was never so green as to go and pay a dollar for two pieces ofpasteboard."
"They are complimentaries," said Norm, tossing off a shaving with acareless air, as though complimentary tickets to first-class concertswere every-day affairs with him.
"Complimentary? My eyes, aren't we big!" (I am very sorry that the boysin Norm's shop used these slang phrases; but I want to say this forthem: it was because they had never been taught better. Not one of themhad mother or father
who were grieved by such words; some of them wereso truly good-hearted that I believe if such had been the case, theywould never have used them again; and I wish the same might be said ofall boys with cultured and careful mothers.)
"How did you get 'em? Been selling tickets for the show, or pilingchairs, or what?"
"I haven't done a living thing for one of them," said Norm composedly;and Ben Halleck came to his rescue.
"That's so, boys; or, at least if he had, it wouldn't done him no good.They don't pay for this show in any such way. The fellows that carriedaround bills were paid in money because they said they expected seatswould be scarce; and they didn't sell no tickets around the streets.Them that wanted them had to go to the book-store and buy them. Oh, Itell you, it's a big thing. I wouldn't mind going myself if I could becomplimented through. You see that Sherrill girl who lives at the newminister's is a most amazing singer, and they say everybody wants tohear her."
By this time Norm's mind was fully made up that he would go to theconcert. It is a pity Nettie could not have known it. For despitethe cheerful courage with which she received Norm's disagreeablestatements in the morning, she was secretly very much afraid that hewould not go. This would have been a great trial to her, for her littlesoul was as full of music as possible; and the thought of hearing thatwonderful voice so soon again filled her with delight; but she was atimid little girl so far as appearing among strangers was concerned,and the idea of going alone to a concert was not to be thought of. Hermother proposed Jerry for company, but he had gone with Job Smith intothe country and was not likely to return until too late. So Nettie madeher little preparations with a troubled heart. There was something moreto it than simply hearing fine music; it would be so like other girlswhom she knew, so like the dreams of home she had indulged in while atAuntie Marshall's--this going out in the evening attended and cared forby her brother.
Norm ate his dinner in haste, and was silent and almost gruff; nobodyknows why. I have often wondered why even well brought up boys, seemsometimes to like to appear more disagreeable than at heart they are.
But by six o'clock the much-thought-about brother appeared, his facepleasant enough.
"Well, Nannie," he said, "got your fusses and fixings all ready?"
And Nettie with beating heart and laughing eyes assured him that shewould be all ready in good time, and that she had laid his clean shirton his bed, and a clean handkerchief, and brushed his coat.
"Yes; and she ironed your shirt with her own hands," explained hismother, "and the bosom shines like a glass bottle."
"O bother!" said Norm. "I don't want a clean shirt."
But he went to his attic directly after supper and put on the shirt,and combed his hair, and rubbed his boots with Jerry's brush which hewent around the back way and borrowed of Mrs. Job Smith before he camein to supper.
He had noticed how very neat and pretty Nettie looked as she walkeddown the church isle beside him the night before; and he had alsonoticed Jerry's shining boots.
His mother noticed his the moment he came down stairs. "How nice youtwo do look!" she said admiringly; and then the two walked away wellpleased. It was a wonderful concert. Norm had not known that he wasparticularly fond of music, but he owned to Rick the next day, thatthere was something in that Sherrill girl's voice which almost lifted afellow out of his boots.
They had excellent seats! Nettie learned to her intense surprise thattheir tickets called for reserved seats. She had studied over certainmysterious numbers on the tickets, but had not understood them. Itappeared also that the usher was surprised.
"Can't give you any seats," was his greeting as they presented theirtickets. "Everything is full now except the reserves; you'll have tostand in the aisle; there's a good place under the gallery. Halloo!What's this? Reserved! Why, bless us, I didn't see these numbers. Comedown this way; you have as nice seats as there are in the hall."
It was all delightful. Lorena Barstow and two others of theSabbath-school class were a few seats behind them; Nettie couldhear them whispering and giggling, and for a few minutes she had anuncomfortable feeling that they were laughing at her; as I am sorry tosay they were.
But neither this nor anything else troubled her long, for Norm'sunusual toilet having taken much longer than was planned for, they werereally among the late comers; and in a very little while the musicbegan. Oh! how wonderful it was. Neither Nettie nor Norm had ever heardreally fine concert music before, and even Norm who did not know thathe cared for music, felt his nerves thrill to his fingers' ends. Then,when after the first two or three pieces Miss Sherrill appeared, shewas so beautiful and her voice was so wonderful that Nettie, try ashard as she did, could not keep the tears from her foolish happy eyes.I will not venture to say how much the beautiful silk dress with itslong train, and the mass of soft white lace at her throat had to dowith Miss Sherrill's loveliness, though I daresay if she had appearedin a twelve-cent gingham like Nettie's, she might have sang just assweetly. Norm, however, did not believe that.
"Half of it is the fuss and feathers," he declared to Rick, next day,looking wise. And Rick made a wise answer.
"Well, when you add the handsome voice to the fuss and feathers, Is'pose they help, but I don't believe folks would go and rave so muchjust over a blue silk dress, and some gloves, and things. They all hadto match, you see." So Rick, without knowing it, became a philosopher.
As for Nettie, she told her mother that the dress was just lovely, andher voice was as sweet as any angel's could possibly be; but there wasa look in her eyes which was better than all the rest; and that whenshe sang, "Oh that I had wings, had wings like a dove!" she, Nettie,could not help feeling that they were hidden about her somewhere, andthat before the song was over, she might unfold them and soar away.