CHAPTER XXIII.
THE CROWNING WONDER.
AND they did have the Thanksgiving supper!
It seemed wonderful to Nettie, even then, and long afterwards thewonder grew, that so many things occurred about that time to help thescheme along. At first it was to be a very simple little affair; two ofthe boys, Rick for instance, and Alf, invited to come in an hour or sobefore the room was open for the evening, and have a little supper bythemselves--a chicken, and possibly some cranberry sauce if she couldcompass it, though cranberries were very expensive at that season, andbesides, they ate sugar in a way which was perfectly alarming! A pieof some sort she had quite set her heart on, but whether it would bepumpkin or not, depended on how they succeeded in saving up for extramilk. The circumstances of the Deckers were changing steadily, butwhen a man has tumbled to the foot of a hill, and lain there quiteawhile, it is generally a slow process to get up and climb back towhere he was before.
Mr. Decker's wages were good, and in time he expected to be able tosupport his family in at least ordinary comfort; but when he came fullyto his senses, he stood for awhile appalled before the number of thingswhich had been sold to pay his bill at the saloon, and the number ofthings which in the meantime had worn out, and not been replaced by newones; then the rent was two months back, and Job Smith had been allthat stood between him and a home. There was a great deal to do if theDeckers were to get back to the place from which they began to rolldown hill; so extra expenses for cranberries, or even milk, were not tobe thought of, if they must be drawn from the family funds.
The business of the firm was flourishing; but you must remember thatthe central feature of the enterprise was to keep prices very low,lower than beer and bad cigars, and the enterprise of the dealers inthese things is so great, that if you are willing to put up with themeanest sorts you can always get them very low indeed. To compete withthem, Jerry and Nettie had to study the most rigid economy to keeptheir shelves supplied, and even to sometimes "shut their eyes and makea reckless dash at apples or peanuts, regardless of expense." This wasthe way in which Jerry occasionally apologized for an extra quantity ofthese luxuries.
Still, in the most interesting ways the Thanksgiving supper grew.Mrs. Decker secured within a week of the time, an unexpected ironingwhich she could do in two evenings, and she it was who proposed thewild scheme of having two chickens and having them hot, and stuffingthem with bread crumbs as she used to do years ago, and having gravyand some baked potatoes. She agreed to furnish the extra potatoes,and a few turnips, just to make it feel like Thanksgiving. Nettie wasastonished, but pleased. It would be more work, but what of that?Think of being able to make a real supper for Norm's birthday! ThenMrs. Smith at just the right moment had a present of two pumpkins fromher country friends; as they could never make away with two pumpkinsbefore they would spoil, of course the Deckers must take part of one,at least. About that time the minister bought a cow, and what did hedo but come himself one night to know if Mrs. Decker had any use forskimmed milk; they were very fond of cream at their house, and skimmedmilk gathered faster than they knew what to do with it.
"Any use for skim milk!" Mrs. Decker could only repeat the words ina kind of ecstasy at her good luck, and she almost wondered that theyellow pumpkin standing behind the door in the closet did not laughoutright.
But the crowning wonder came, after all, on the morning before theeventful day. Jake, the Farleys' man of all work, brought it in abasket which was large and closely covered, and very heavy looking. Itwas left at the door with Susie, who went to answer the knock, "ForMiss Nettie." Susie repeated the name with a lingering tone as thoughshe liked the sound of the unusual prefix. Then they gathered about thebasket. A great solemn-looking turkey with a note in his mouth, whichsaid: "A Thanksgiving token for Nettie, from her friend ERMINA FARLEY."
A turkey in the Decker oven! Mr. Decker surveyed the great fellow insilence for a few minutes, then said impressively, "If we don't have anew cook stove before another Thanksgiving day comes around, my name isnot Decker."
Mrs. Job Smith left her pies half-made, and ran in, in a friendlyway, to see the wonder; and at once remarked that he would exactlyfit into their oven, and she wasn't going to cook their turkey tillthe day afterwards, because they had got to go to Job's uncle's forThanksgiving; so that matter was settled. It was then that the Deckersdecided to make a reckless plunge into society and invite every boy inNorm's shop to a three o'clock dinner, with turkey and cranberry sauceand pumpkin pie and turnip, and all the rest.
What a day it was! They grew nearly wild in their efforts to keep allthe secrets from Norm, and act as though nothing unusual was happening.Especially was this the case after the morning express brought apackage for Nettie from her dear old home, with two mince pies, and abox of Auntie Marshall's doughnuts, and a bag of nuts, and as much astwo pounds of the loveliest candy she ever saw; sent by the young manof the home who was clerk in a wholesale confectioner's. It took Mrs.Decker and Nettie not five minutes to resolve, looking curiously intoeach other's faces the while to see if they really had become insane,that they would have a regular dessert following the dinner!
"It is only once a year," said Nettie apologetically.
"It is only once in five years!" said Mrs. Decker solemnly. "I haven'thad a Thanksgiving in five years, child; and I never expected to haveanother."
Everybody was busy all day long. Mrs. Smith was in and out, helping asfaithfully as though Norm was her boy, and Sarah Ann just gave herselfup to the importance of the occasion, and did not go to her uncle's atall. "I can go there any time," she said good naturedly, "or no time;they always forget that we are alive till Thanksgiving Day, and thenthey ask us because they kind of think they've got to. Uncle Jed isa clerk, and his wife makes dresses for the folks on Belmont street,and they feel stuck up four feet above us; I'd rather eat cold porkand potatoes at home than to go there any day. I'm dreadful glad of anexcuse that father thinks is worth giving."
Susie was a young woman of importance that day. Nettie, who haddiscovered exactly how to manage her, gave her work to do which suitedher ideas of what a grown person like herself ought to be about; andwhen she wanted the table cleared from the picture papers of the nightbefore, instead of telling Miss Susie to fold them away, said, "What doyou think, Susie, would it be best for us to fold these papers away inthe closet for to-day, and have this table left clear for the nuts andthe candies?"
"Yes," said Susie, with her grown-up air, "I think it would; I'llattend to it." And she did it beautifully.
"It is well we have no little bits of folks around," said Nettie, whenthe nuts were being cracked, "they would be tempted to eat some, andthen I'm afraid we would not have enough to go around." And Susie,gravely assenting to this theory, arranged the nuts in Mrs. Smith'sblue saucers, an equal number in each, and ate not one!
Little Sate went with Jerry to give the invitations to the boys, and tocharge them to keep the whole thing a profound secret from Norm; theycame home by way of the Farley woods, and little Sate appeared at thedoor with her arms laden with such lovely branches of autumn leaves,that Nettie exclaimed in wild delight, and left her turnips half-peeledto help adorn the walls of the front room. This suggested the idea,and by three o'clock that room was a bower of beauty. Red and goldenand lovely brown leaves mixed in with the evergreen tassels of thepines, with here and there pine cones, and red berries peeping out fromeverywhere. "You little darling," said Nettie, kissing Sate, "you havemade a picture of it, like what they paint on canvas, only a thousandtimes lovelier."
And Sate, looking on, with her wide sweet eyes aglow with feeling,fitted the picture well.
So the feast was spread, and the astonished and hungry boys came,and feasted. And Norm, too astonished at first to take it in, beganpresently to understand that all this preparation and delight were inhonor of his birthday! And though he said not a word, aloud, he kept upin his soul a steady line of thought; the centre of which was this:
"I don't deserve it
, that's a fact; there's mother doing everything forme, and Nettie working like a slave, and the children going withoutthings to give me a treat. I'll be in a better fix to keep a birthdaybefore it gets around again, see if I'm not!"
His was not the only thinking which was done that day. Rick, merryenough all the afternoon, and enjoying his dinner as well as it waspossible for a hungry fellow to do, nevertheless had a sober look onhis face more than once, and said as he shook hands with Norm at night:"I'll tell you what it is, my boy, if I had your kind of a home, andfolks, I'd be worth something in the world; I would, so. I ain't sure,between you and me, but I shall, anyhow; just for the sake of gettinginto such Thanksgiving houses once in awhile. By and by a fellow willhave to carry himself pretty straight, or that sister of yours won'thave nothing to do with him; I can see that in her eyes."
Then he went home. And cold though his room was he sat down, even afterhe had pulled off his coat, as a memory of some thoughtful word ofNettie's came over him, and went all over it again; then he brought hishard hand down with a thud on the rickety table, on which he leaned andsaid: "As sure as you live, and breathe the breath of life, old fellow,you've got to turn over a new leaf; and you've got to begin to-night."
It was less than a week after the Thanksgiving excitements that thetown got itself roused over something which reached even to thechildren. Jerry came home from school with it, and came directly toNettie, his cheeks aglow with the news. "There's to be the biggestkind of a time here next Thursday, Nettie; don't you think GeneralMcClintock is coming, to give a lecture, and they are going to givehim a reception at Judge Bentley's and I don't know what all, and theschools are all going to dismiss and go down to the train in processionto meet him, and they are going to sing, _Hail to the Chief_, and theband is to play, _See, the conquering Hero comes_, and I don't knowwhat isn't going to be done."
"Who is General McClintock?" said ignorant Nettie, composedly dryingher plate as though all the generals in the world were nothing toher. Then did Jerry come the nearest impatience that Nettie had everseen in him; and he launched forth in such a wild praise of GeneralMcClintock and such an excited account of the things which he had doneand said, and prevented, and pushed, that Nettie was half bewilderedand delightfully excited when he paused for breath. Henceforth the talkof the town was General McClintock.
"It is a wonder they asked him to speak on temperance," said Nettie,disdain in her voice; she had not a high opinion of the temperanceenthusiasm of the town in which she lived.
"They didn't," said Jerry. "He asked himself; they wanted him totalk about the war, or the tariff, or the great West, or some otherstupid thing, but he said, 'No, sir! the great question of the day istemperance, and I shall speak on that, or nothing!'"
"How do you happen to know so much about him?" Nettie questioned oneday when Jerry was at his highest pitch of excitement.
"Ho!" he said, almost in scorn, "I have known about him ever since Iwas born; everybody knows General McClintock." Then Nettie felt meekand ignorant.
Nothing had ever so excited Jerry as the coming of the hero; and indeedthe town generally seemed to have caught fire. General McClintockseemed to be the theme of every tongue. Connected with these days,Nettie had her perplexities and her sorrows. In the first place, Jerrywas obstinately determined that she should join the procession withhim to meet General McClintock. In vain she protested that she did notbelong to the public schools. He did, he said, and that was enough.
Then when Nettie urged and almost cried, he had another plan: "Well,then, we won't go as scholars. We'll go ahead, as private individuals;I'm only a kind of a scholar, anyhow, just holding on for a few weekstill my father comes; we'll go up there early and get a good placebefore the procession forms and see the whole of it. I know the marshalreal well; he's a good friend of mine, and I know he will give us aplace."
It was of no use for Nettie to protest; to remind him that the girlswould think she was putting herself forward, to say that she hadnothing to wear to such a gathering. She might as well have talked toa stone for all the impression she made. She had never seen him soresolute to have his own way. He did not care what she wore, it madenot the slightest difference to him what the girls said, and he _did_ask it of her as a kindness to him, and he should be hurt so thathe could never get over it if she refused to go; he had never wantedanything so much in his life, and he _could_ not give it up. So Nettie,reluctant, sorrowful, promised, and cried over it in her room thatnight. She wanted to please Jerry, for his father was coming now in afew weeks perhaps, and Jerry would go away with him, and she shouldnever see him again; and what in the world would she do without him?And here she cried harder than ever.
Then came up that dreadful question of clothes; her one winter dresswas too short and too narrow and a good deal worn. Auntie Marshall hadthought last winter that it would hardly do for a church dress, andhere it was still her best. There was no such thing as a new one forthe present; for mother had not had anything in so long, she must beclothed, and Nettie was willing to wait; but she was not willing totake a conspicuous place on a public day and be stared at and talkedabout.
However, Jerry continued merciless to the very last; nothing else wouldsatisfy him. He hurried her in a breathless state down the hill to theplatform, smiled and nodded to his friend the marshal, who nodded backin the most confidential manner, and perched them on the corner of thetemporary platform, right behind the reception committee! It was everywhit as disagreeable as Nettie had planned that it should be. Of courseLorena Barstow was among the leaders in the young people's procession,and of course she contrived to get enough to be heard, and to say in amost unnecessarily loud voice:
"Do look at that Decker girl perched up there on the platform. If shedoesn't contrive to make herself a laughing stock everywhere! Girls,look at her hat; she must have worn it ever since they came out ofthe ark. What business is she here, anyway? She doesn't belong to theschools?"
There was much more in the same vein; much pushing and crowding, andlaughing and hateful speeches about folks who crowded in where theydidn't belong, and poor Nettie, the tears only kept back by forceof will, looked in vain for sympathy into Jerry's fairly dancingeyes. What ailed the boy? She had never seen him so almost wild witheager excitement before. Judge Barstow and Dr. Lewis were both onthe reception committee, of course, and under cover of this, theirdaughters wedged their way to the front, and whispered to the fathers.Loud whispers:
"Papa, that ridiculous Decker girl and the little Irish boy with herought not to be perched up there in that conspicuous place. She doesn'tbelong here, anyway; she isn't a scholar."
Then Judge Barstow in good-humored tones to Jerry: "My boy, don't youthink you would find it quite as pleasant down there among the others?This little girl doesn't want to be up here, I am sure; suppose youboth go down and fall behind the procession? You can see the Generalwhen the carriage passes; it is to be thrown open so every one can see."
Then the marshal: "If you please, Judge Barstow, it won't do for themto try to get through now. The crowd is so great they might be hurt;there is plenty of room where they stand. They will do no harm."
_Now_ the tears must come from the indignant eyes. No, they shall not.Jerry doesn't even wink. He only laughs, in the highest good humor. HasJerry gone wild with excitement? "It will all be over in two minutes,"explains Judge Barstow. "He wished to drive directly to his hotel, andhave perfect quiet for two hours. He declined to be entertained at aprivate house, or to say a word at the depot. I suppose he is fatigued,and doesn't like to trust his voice to speak in the open air; so thecommittee are to shake hands with him as rapidly as possible, and showhim to his carriage, and not wait on him for two hours. He has ordereda private dinner at the Keppler House."
Suddenly there is the whistle of the train, the band plays _See, theconquering Hero comes!_ With the second strain the train comes toa halt, and a tall, broad-shouldered man with iron gray hair and amilitary air all about him steps from the platform amid th
e cheersof thousands. Now indeed there was some excuse for Lorena Barstow'sloud exclamations of disapproval! There was Jerry, pushing his wayamong the throng, holding so firmly all the while to Nettie's handthat escape was impossible--pushing even past the reception committee,notwithstanding the detaining hand of Judge Barstow, who says,
"See here, my boy, you are impudent, did you know it?"
"I beg pardon," says Jerry respectfully, but he slips past him, justas General McClintock with courteous words is thanking the committeeof reception, declining their pressing personal invitations, his eyesmeantime roving over the crowd in search of something or somebody.Suddenly they melt with a tenderness which does not belong to thesoldier, and the firm lips quiver as his voice says: "O my boy!" andJerry the Irish boy flings himself into General McClintock's arms, andthe world stands agape!
Just a second, and his hand holds firmly to the sack which coversNettie's startled frightened form, then he releases himself and turnsto her: "Father, this is Nettie!"
"Sure enough!" said the General, and his tall head bends and themustached lips of the old soldier touch Nettie's cheek, and thecheering, hushed for a second, breaks forth afresh! It is a momentof the wildest excitement. Even then Nettie tries to break away andis held fast. And an officer of the day advances with the militarysalute and assures the General that his carriage is in waiting. And theGeneral himself hands the bewildered Nettie in, with a friendly smileand an assuring: "Of course you must go. My boy planned this wholething three months ago; and you and I must carry out his programme tothe letter." Then Jerry springs like a cat into the carriage, and thescholars sing, _Hail to the Chief_, and the carriage, drawn by fourhorses, rolls down the road made wide for it by the homeguard in fulluniform, and the General lifts his hat and bows right and left, andsmiles on Nettie Decker sitting by his side, and almost devours withhis hungry, fatherly eyes, her friend the Irish boy on the oppositeseat. And the scholars almost forget to sing, in their great andever-increasing amazement.