Our Little Canadian Cousin

  CHAPTER VII.

  NOW there came, warming the frosty heart of December, that delightfulatmosphere of mystery and expectation which forms one pleasure of thegreat Yule-tide festival. The Big Brick House seemed particularly fullof this happy spirit of the season. There were many mysterious shoppingexcursions, and much whispering in corners,--a thing not usual in thisunited family. Jackie showed a sudden and severe self-denial in thematter of sticks of pure chocolate, and was soon, therefore, able toproudly flourish a purse containing, he told his mother, "a dollar allbut eighty-five cents," saved toward buying his presents for the family.He also spent much time at a little table in his own room, cutting outpictures and pasting them into a scrap-book for a little lame boy ofhis acquaintance.

  Mrs. Merrithew and Kathie had each, besides innumerable other matters, awater-colour painting on hand. Each picture, strange to say, was of ahouse. Mrs. Merrithew's, the Big Brick House itself, with its trees andvines, was clearly intended for Daddy; but for whom, the childrenwondered, was Aunt Kathie's? It was a spirited little view of the oldstone house on Saunder's Island; not so pretty a subject as Mrs.Merrithew's, but set in such a delicate atmosphere of early morninglight that even the sombre gray of the stone seemed etherialized andmade poetic. While Marjorie and Dora wondered for whom it was meant,Jackie promptly inquired,--but she, his dear Aunt Kathie, who had neverrefused to answer question of his before, only laughed and shook herhead, and said that every one had secrets at Christmas-time.

  Marjorie and Dora did not, as was their wont, spend all of their timetogether, for each was making a present for the other. Marjorie wasworking hard over a portfolio, which she knew was one of the things Dorawanted. She had carefully constructed and joined the stiff cardboardcovers, and plentifully provided them with blotting-paper, and now shewas embroidering the linen cover with autumnal maple-leaves in Dora'sfavourite colour, a rich, vivid red. As for Dora, though she had no lovefor needlework, she was laboriously making a cushion of soft, old-bluefelt for Marjorie's cosey-corner, working it with a griffin pattern ingolden-brown silks. Marjorie had a particular fancy forgriffins,--partly, perhaps, because a griffin was the chief feature ofthe family crest.

  As the long-looked-for day drew nearer, there was other work to do,almost the pleasantest Christmas work of all, Dora thought,--the makingwreaths out of fir and hemlock and fragrant spruce. They worked two orthree hours of each day at the decorations for the beautiful littleparish church which they all attended, and which, being very small, wasmuch easier than the cathedral or the other large churches to transforminto a sweet-smelling tabernacle of green. Then they trimmed the BigBrick House almost from attic to cellar. The drawing-rooms were hungwith heavy wreaths, with bunches of red cranberries here and there,making a beautiful contrast to the green. In the other rooms there wereboughs over every picture, and autumn leaves, ferns, and dried grasseshere and there. Mr. Merrithew was sure to buy some holly and mistletoeat the florist's on Christmas Eve, so places of honour were reserved forthese two plants, which have become so closely entwined with all ourthoughts of Christmas and its festivities. The holly would adorn theold oil-painting of Mrs. Merrithew's great-aunt, Lady LovedayGostwycke, which hung over the mantelpiece in the front drawing-room. Asfor the pearly white berries of the mistletoe, they were to hang fromthe chandelier in the hall, where people might be expected forgetfullyto pass beneath them. Jackie, who was very useful in breaking twigs forthe wreath-making, begged a few fine wreaths as a reward, and carriedthem off to decorate little lame Philip's room. These lengths ofaromatic greenery gave the greatest pleasure to the invalid, andscarcely less to his mother, who spent the greater part of her time inthat one room.

  Besides all these pleasant doings, there were great things going on inthe kitchen. Such baking and steaming and frying as Debby revelled in!Such spicy and savoury odours as pervaded the house when the kitchendoor was opened! Marjorie and Dora liked to help, whenever Debby wouldlet them, with these proceedings. It was great fun to shred citron andturn the raisin-stoner, and help chop the mince-meat, in the bigkitchen, with its shining tins, and general air of comfort. Jackie likedto take a share in the cooking, too, and as he was Deborah's pet, hegenerally got the wherewithal to make a tiny cake or pudding of his own.When it came to the making of the big plum pudding, all the family byturns had to stir it, according to a time-honoured institution. Then Mr.Merrithew would make his expected contribution to its ingredients,--fiveshining five-cent pieces, to be stirred through the mixture and left toform an element of special interest to the children at the Christmasdinner. Besides this big pudding, there were always three or foursmaller ones (without any silver plums, but very rich and good), fordistribution among some of Mrs. Merrithew's proteges.

  On Christmas day all the old customs were faithfully observed. It wasthe rule that whoever woke first in the morning should call the others,and on this occasion it was Jackie who, as the great clock in the hallstruck six, came running from room to room in his moccasin slippers andlittle blue dressing-gown, shouting "Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas,"at the top of his voice.

  Every one tumbled out of bed, as in duty bound, and soon a wrappered andslippered group, all exchanging Christmas wishes, met in Mrs.Merrithew's den. Here a fire glowed in the grate, and here, too,mysterious and delightful, hung a long row of very fat whitepillow-cases! These were hung by long cords from hooks on thecurtain-pole. Each pillow-case bore a paper with the name of its ownerwritten on it in large letters, and they were arranged in order of age,from Jackie up to Mr. Merrithew. This had been the invariable method ofgiving the Christmas presents in this particular family for as long asany of them could remember.

  Armchairs and sofas were drawn near the fire, and the party groupedthemselves comfortably; then Mr. Merrithew lifted down Jackie'spillow-case and laid it beside him, as he sat with his mother in thelargest of the chairs. Every one looked on with intensest interestwhile, with shining eyes, and cheeks red with excitement, he opened hisparcels, and exclaimed over their contents. Truly a fortunate little boywas Jack! There were books--the very books he wanted,--games, a top, thedearest little snow-shoes, a great box of blocks,--evidently Santa Clausknew what a tireless architect this small boy was,--a bugle, drum, andsword, a dainty cup and saucer, a picture for his room, and, too largefor the pillow-case, but carefully propped beneath it, a fine sled, allpainted in blue and gold and crimson, beautiful to behold!

  When Jackie had looked at every one of his presents, it was Marjorie'sturn, and she was just as fortunate as her brother. So it went on up thescale, till they had all enjoyed their gifts to the very last of Mr.Merrithew's, and every box of candy had been sampled. And still AuntKathie's picture of the little stone house had not appeared!

  When at last, a merry party, they went down to breakfast, Deborah andSusan came forward with Christmas greetings, and thanks for thewell-filled pillow-cases which they had found beside their beds. Thedining-room in its festal array looked even cheerier than was its wont.By every plate there lay a spray of holly, to be worn during the rest ofthe day. The breakfast-set was a wonderful one of blue and gold, anheirloom, which was only used on very special occasions. In the centreof the table stood a large pot of white and purple hyacinths in fullbloom, the fourth or fifth of Mr. Merrithew's presents that morning tohis wife.

  At eleven o'clock there was the beautiful Christmas service, which allthe family attended, with the exception of Jackie. He was considered tooyoung to be kept still for so long a time; so he stayed at home withSusan, trying all the new toys and having samples read aloud from eachnew book. Kitty Grey, decorated with a blue ribbon and a tiny gilt bell,also kept him company, and seemed to take great pleasure in knocking hisblock castles down with her soft silvery paws.

  When the churchgoers returned there was lunch; then, for the children, along, cosey afternoon with their presents. Mrs. Merrithew and Katherineearly disappeared into the regions of the kitchen and dining-room, forthe six o'clock dinner was to have several guests, and there was much
tobe arranged and overseen. But by half-past five the whole family wasassembled in the big drawing-room, and neither Mrs. Merrithew nor Kathielooked as if they had ever seen the inside of a kitchen. Mrs. Merrithewwore her loveliest gown, a shimmering silver-gray silk with lace sleevesand fichu, and lilies-of-the-valley at her neck and in her abundanthair. As for Katherine, in her fawn-coloured dress with trimmings ofyellow beads, and deep yellow roses, Jackie said she looked like a fairylady,--and on the subject of fairies he was an authority. The littlegirls were in pure white, with sashes of their favourite colours, andthe gold and coral necklaces which had been among their gifts; whileJackie, in his red velvet suit and broad lace collar, looked not unlikethe picture of Leonard in "The Story of a Short Life."

  Presently the guests began to arrive. First came Miss Bell, a secondcousin of Mr. Merrithew's, and the nearest relative he had inFredericton. She was very tall, very thin, quite on the shady side offifty, and a little deaf. Nevertheless, she was decidedly handsome, withher white hair, bright, dark eyes, and beautifully arched brows. She wasa great favourite with the children, and always carried some littlesurprise for them in her pocket. A little later came a widowed aunt ofMrs. Merrithew's, fair, fat, and frivolous; and a bachelor uncle, whocame next in the esteem of the children to Cousin Sophia Bell. Two youngnormal school students, sisters, who were not able to go home for theholidays, soon swelled the party, and last, but not least, came Mr. WillGraham, looking very handsome in his evening clothes.

  When they went out to dinner Jackie escorted Cousin Sophia, and Marjorieoverheard him saying, in urgent tones:

  "I _wish_ that you and Uncle Bob would come and live with us,--but I_don't_ want Aunt Fairley; she is too funny all the time!"

  The Christmas dinner was much like other Christmas dinners, except thatDebby's cooking was unsurpassable. After every one had tastedeverything, and three of the five-cent pieces had come to light, thechairs were pushed back a little, and while nuts and raisins were beingdiscussed, they had also catches, rounds, and choruses. Each person withany pretence to a voice was expected to give one solo at least. Jackie,who had a very sweet little voice, sang "God Save the King," with greatfervour. But the favourite of the evening was the beautiful "Under theHolly Bough," with the words of which they were all familiar.

  Presently, Jackie, who had been promised that he should choose his ownbedtime that night, was found to be fast asleep with his head on hisgreen-leaf dessert plate, and a bunch of raisins clasped tightly in onehand. He was tenderly carried away, undressed, and tucked into bed,without once opening an eye. As Kathie turned to leave him, she pickedup one of his best-beloved new books,--"Off to Fairyland," in blue andgold covers, with daintily coloured pictures,--and laid it beside himfor a pleasant waking sight the next morning. Down-stairs she found therest of the party gathered around the fire, telling stories of Auld LangSyne. As almost every one had been up early that morning, no very livelygames seemed to appeal to them; but the children thought no game couldbe so interesting as these sprightly anecdotes and rose-leaf-scentedromances that were being recalled and recounted to-night. "Do youremember--" Cousin Sophia would say; then would follow some entrancingmemories, to which Mr. and Mrs. Merrithew, Uncle Bob, and Mrs. Fairleywould contribute a running comment of "Yes, yes! she was a lovely girl!""He never held up his head after she died!" and so on. Then Mrs.Fairley would hum an old-time waltz, and branch off into reminiscencesof balls,--and of one in particular at Government House, where she hadlost her satin slipper, and the governor's son had brought it to her,and called her Cinderella. She put out a satin-shod foot as she talked,and Marjorie thought that, though it certainly was tiny, it was not atall a pretty shape, and began to understand why her mother made her wearher boots so loose.

  About ten, Susan brought tea and plum-cake, and when this had beendisposed of, they all, according to another time-honoured custom,gathered around the piano, and sang the grand old words that unnumberedthousands of voices had sung that day:

  "Oh, come, all ye faithful, Joyful and triumphant; Oh, come ye, oh, come ye To Bethlehem!

  Come and behold him Born the King of angels; Oh, come let us adore him, Christ the Lord!"

  "NOTHING, DORA THOUGHT, COULD BE MORE BEAUTIFUL THANTHOSE WOODS IN WINTER"]