CHAPTER VI
THANKSGIVING.
With the happier outlook resulting from Constance's success in hercandy-making, it had been deemed advisable to send Jean to the privateschool from which Eleanor had graduated. Consequently, that autumn Jeanhad been enrolled among its pupils, and her place in the public schoolat which she and Constance had been pupils knew her no more, and Jeanwas much divided in her mind as to whether she was made happier orotherwise by the change. In the old school were many friends whom sheloved dearly, and whom she missed out of her daily life. In the new onewas her boon companion, Amy Fletcher, and also a number of the girlswhom she constantly met in the homes of her mother's friends. But Jeanwas a loyal little soul, and her interest in her fellow-beings a livelyone. She could hardly have been her mother's daughter otherwise.Naturally in the public school were many children from the lesswell-to-do families of Riveredge, and not a few from those in verystraitened circumstances. Among the latter were three girls very nearJean's own age. They were sisters, and were ambitious to complete thegrammar school course, in order to fit themselves for some employment.There were other children older and other children younger; in fact,there seemed to be no end to the children in the Hodgeson family, a newone arriving upon the scene with the punctuality of clockwork. This facthad always disturbed Jean greatly.
"If there only _would_ come an end to the Hodgesons," she lamented toher mother. "The trouble is, we no sooner get settled down and thinkwe've reached the end than we have to begin all over again. Those babieskeep things terribly stirred up. Don't you think you could make Mrs.Hodgeson understand that she could get on with fewer of them, Mother?You see, the clothes never do hold out, and as for that last babycarriage you managed to get for her, why, it's just a wreck already. Theother day, when I went by there on my way to the Irving School, I sawBilly Hodgeson riding the newest and the next newest, and the _third_newest in it, and the third newest had a puppy in his arms. No carriagecould stand all that, could it?"
"I'm afraid not, dear. Perhaps we had better ask some other friends ifthey have a carriage they no longer need."
"Oh, no, don't! Please, don't! If you do, Mrs. Hodgeson will think she'sgot to get a brand new baby to put into it, for the old babies wouldn'tmatch, you know. No, please, don't."
"Very well; we must let them get on with the old ones, both babies andcarriage, I see," Mrs. Carruth answered, much amused.
"Yes, I really would; but here is something that's bothering me," andJean snuggled close into the encircling arms of the big chair in whichshe and her mother sat for this twilight hour conference.
"What are they going to do when Thanksgiving Day comes? No turkey onearth would be big enough to go 'round, even if they could buy one,which I don't believe they can. I was talking to Mrs. Hodgeson about itjust the other day, and she said she was afeered her man couldna buy onenohow this year; they was so terrible intortionate in the prices,"concluded Jean, lapsing unconsciously into the slipshod Mrs. Hodgeson'svernacular.
"I think she must have meant extortionate," corrected Mrs. Carruth.
"Perhaps she did; I don't know. But I'll bet five cents they won't havea thing when the day comes around, and I think that's awful."
"We are sending out a number of baskets from the church, and I haveasked that one be sent to the Hodgesons," was Mrs. Carruth's hopefulreply. It was not welcomed as she anticipated.
"That won't do a bit of good," answered Jean, with a dubious shake ofher copper-tinted head. "Not a _single bit_, for when Mrs. Hodgeson saidshe reckoned they'd have to get along without a turkey I said right offthat I thought I could manage one all right, 'cause you could get onesent to her. My, but she got mad! And she told me she guessed she couldget along without no charity turkey; that Hodgeson always _had_ managedto fill up the young ones somehow, and if he couldn't do it on turkeythis year he could do it on salt pork. Ugh! Wouldn't that be awful? Why,Mammy won't have salt pork near her except for seasoning use, as shecalls it. No, we've got to do something else for those everlastingHodgesons."
Mrs. Carruth thought the term well applied, even though she did not sayso; they were everlasting. But she was hardly prepared for Jean'ssolution of the problem with which she had seen fit to burden heryouthful shoulders.
Mrs. Carruth's Thanksgiving guests were Hadyn Stuyvesant and HomerForbes. Her table was laid for six, and a pretty table it was,suggestive in its decorations of the day. According to her Southerntraditions, the meal was ordered for two o'clock instead of the morefashionable hour favored by her Northern friends. Her guests hadarrived, and Charles, the very personification of the old familyservitor, had just announced with all the elegance and mannerism ofwhich he was capable:
"De Madam is sarved."
Upon this day Mammy had taken affairs strictly into her own hands. Noone except herself should prepare her Miss Jinny's Thanksgiving dinner.The other servants might assist Charles in serving it, but the actualpreparation and cooking must be done by her own faithful hands.Consequently all the marketing for this occasion had been personallylooked to by Mammy and Charles. In their chariot of state, drawn byBaltie, they had driven to South Riveredge, selected every article, andcarried it home in their own baskets. Once that lordly turkey had beenscientifically poked and pinched by her and met with approval, she wasnot going to let it out of her sight "an' have no secon'-rater sont upto de house instid." Mammy had small faith in Northern tradesmen. So toher cabin all had been sent, there to be prepared and cooked by her on"de fines' range in de worl'!" as she confidently believed her own tobe, and truly it was a wondrous feast which now stood ready for Charles'serving, the two maids to dart like shuttles between Mammy's cabin andthe great house.
It was Hadyn Stuyvesant who with graceful bow offered his arm to Mrs.Carruth, while Homer Forbes turned to the two girls. As she rose toaccept Hadyn's arm Mrs. Carruth paused a moment, doubt and indecision inher eyes, and asked:
"Where is Jean?"
"She left the room just a short time ago, mother. Shall I call her?"asked Constance.
"Yes, do, dear. We will wait just a moment for you."
Constance left the room, to return in two minutes with consternationwritten upon her face.
"Where is she and what--?" asked Mrs. Carruth, resignation to anypossibility descending upon her.
"She has just come in, mother, and--and--" the words ended in a laugh asConstance collapsed upon a chair.
"What is it, Connie?" demanded Eleanor. "What has Jean done now?"
"Where's my little sister?" asked Hadyn. "You can't make me believe shehas broken all the laws of the Medes and Persians."
"No, not those old fogies, but, oh, dear, what do you suppose she hasdone?--invited, sans ceremony, Victoria Regina, Mary Stuart, and AdelaideElizabeth Hodgeson to dine with her!"
"Constance! Never!" cried Mrs. Carruth.
"She has. They are up in her room this very minute putting the finishingtouches to their very unique toilets."
"Go get 'em. Fetch 'em on. We'll entertain 'em right royally! I knowthat National bird is a bouncer, and big enough to feed a dozenHodgesons as well as all present," was Hadyn's laughing command.
"Oh, Hadyn, we can't," protested Eleanor, whose dignity and sense ofpropriety were continually receiving slight jars from this friend of thehousehold.
"Why not? It will be the experience of their lives--an education bypractical illustration of manners polite. How can you hesitate, Eleanor?I thought you were a strong advocate of settlement work, and here youare overlooking an opportunity sent to your very door. Who was it Iheard talking about 'neglected opportunities' not long since? A mostedifying dissertation, if I recollect aright, too."
"I second the motion. Such a zest to a meal may never again be offered.Yes, Mrs. Carruth, you've got it to do. It is clearly a duty brought toyour door," added Homer Forbes. "Moreover, it will give me a wonderfulopportunity to pursue my psychological studies. Didn't know I wasknee-deep in them, did you, Eleanor? Fact, however. Human emotions asthe direct re
sult of unsuspected mental suggestion, etc. Bring on yoursubjects, Constance."
"I give in. Do as you've a mind to, you incorrigible children, only bearthis in mind--you are _not_ to tease those girls and make them miserable.Jean has made one wild break, but there shall be no more if I canprevent it. Since she has brought them here, and you _will_ dine withthem, so be it; but you are not to tease them, you madcap men," was Mrs.Carruth's final dictum.
"Not a tease, not a smile out of order," agreed Hadyn, though histwinkling eyes half belied his words.
"You just watch us entertain 'em," insisted Homer.
"I'll watch, you may be sure of that," laughed Mrs. Carruth. "Now fly,Connie, and summon our unexpected guests."
We will pass over the oysters, which were disposed of as never beforeoysters had been, and the soup, which disappeared audibly. That dinnerwas a genuine Southern one, and no item was lacking. At length arrivedthe critical moment when the bird of national fame should have appeared,but--didn't. There was a long, ominous delay. Charles bustled and fussedabout, one eye upon his mistress, the other upon the pantry. No onenoticed that Jean's conversational powers, never mediocre, were nowphenomenal. She talked incessantly and as rapidly as a talking machine,albeit her listeners seemed to offer small encouragement for such aceaseless flow of language. They sat with their eyes fastened to theirplates--plates which would require very little scraping before washing.To and from pantry and dining room vibrated Charles. The vegetables,relishes, jellies--in short, everything to be served with the turkey--wasplaced in tempting array upon the sideboard; but still no sign of thefestive bird itself, and Charles' perturbation was increasing by thesecond. As on many another occasion it was Mammy who supplied theclimax. At this crucial moment she appeared in the doorway of thepantry, her eyes blazing, her face a thundercloud, as she stammered:
"Miss Jin-n-n-ninny! M-m-iss Jinny! Please, ma'am, fergive me fer'trudin' in 'pon yo' when yo' is entertainin'; but 'tain't lak dey wasstrangers, dey's all ob de family, so to speak, ma'am" (Mammy was tooexcited to notice that the cheeks of two individuals seated at thatboard had turned a rosy, rosy pink), "an' I jes' natchelly _got_ tospeak ma min' or bus'--"
"Why, Mammy, what has happened?" interrupted Mrs. Carruth, quite awarethat Mammy managed to find mares' nests when others were unable to doso, but surprised by this one, nevertheless. Mammy did not oftenoverstep the lines set by convention; but on this occasion she certainlyseemed tottery.
"De bird! De tuckey! It's gone! It's done been stole right out ob mawamin oven yonder. I done had it all cook to a tu'n, an' set up in maoven fer ter keep it jes' ter de true livin' p'int ob sarvin', an den Irun inter Miss Connie's kitchen fer ter git some ob dem little frillypapers I need fer its laigs, an--an' it mus' 'a' been stole whilst I wasin dar, er else de very debbil hisself done fly away wid it right fromunner ma nose, kase I ain't been outer dat kitchen one single minnitsince--not one!" emphasized Mammy, with a wag of her turbaned head, hertalking machine running down simply because her breath had given out.
If poor Mammy had needed anything to further outrage her feelings andput a climax to her very real distress, the roar which at that instantarose from two masculine throats would have been more than enough; butwhen Homer Forbes turned a reproachful face toward her and asked, "MammyBlairsdale, do you mean to tell me that our goose--"
"No, sah! No, sah! de _tuckey_!" corrected Mammy instantly.
"Well, then, our turkey is cooked--"
"Cooked! Cooked! Ef it was only de _cookin'_ dat pestered me I wouldn'tbe pestered," was Mammy's Hibernian reply. "It's done been _stole_, sah!Clean, cl'ar stole out ob ma kitchen."
"Let's go find the thief, Forbes!" cried Hadyn, casting his napkin uponthe table and springing to his feet. "Come on. Mammy, whom do yoususpect? Which way shall we run? What must we do with him when weoverhaul him?"
"Oh, yo' jes' a-projeckin, I knows dat all right, but I tells you datbird ain' got no ekal in dis town. I done supervise his p'ints masef,an' he's de best to be had. If yo' wants to know who I thinks is gothim, I thinks it's a man what done stop at ma door when I was a-stuffin'dat tucky early dis mawnin'. He was a tromp, an' he ax me fer somethin'ter eat. I ain't ginnerly got no use fer tromps, but dis hyer was deThanksgivin' mawnin', an' seem lak I couldn't turn him away hungry."
"We'll find him! Come on, Forbes! Where's that stout walking-stick, Mrs.Carruth? Bring along the wheelbarrow for the remains, Charles--of theturkey, I mean."
Haydn was making for the door, Forbes hard upon his heels, when Jeandarted to her mother's side to draw her head toward her and whispersomething into the listening ear. Jean's guests sat like graven images.Constance and Eleanor were ready to shriek at the absurdity of thesituation.
"Hadyn, Homer, come back! Mammy, send in the quail pie and all the othergood things you've prepared; we shall not starve. Ladies and gentlemen,circumstances render explanations somewhat embarrassing at this moment.Don't be distressed, Mammy. On with the feast, Charles.
"Why? what? where? who?" were the words which rattled about Mrs.Carruth's ears.
Mammy gave one glance at Jean, who had returned to her seat. She had notbeen in this family sixty-eight years without arrogating a fewprerogatives. Then, but for Mrs. Carruth's upraised hand, Etna wouldhave broken forth. But Jean knew her hour of reckoning would come later.Her conversational powers seemed to have suffered a reaction. Her chairwas next Hadyn's. As he returned to his place he bent low, slipped hisarm about the subdued little figure, and asked in a tone which it wouldhave been hard to resist:
"Little Sister, what did you do with that turkey?"
"Rolled it in a big towel, put it in a basket, and carried it to theHodgesons' with mother's Thanksgiving compliments, when I went after thegirls. They wouldn't eat a _charity_ turkey, but a compliment turkey wasdifferent," was whispered back in a voice suspiciously charged withtears.
"I call you a trump!" Then in a lower tone he turned to Constance, whosat at the other side, and said: "Who gives himself with his gift,serves three."