Around the World with Josiah Allen's Wife Part 53

It wuz a lovely day when we see the towers of Jonesville loom up above the billows of environin' green.

(I mean the M. E. steeple showin' up beyend Grout Nickleson's pine woods.)

As the cars drew into the station they tooted their delight agin and agin at our safe return as the train stopped.

As we walked up the platform I see Josiah furtively on-b.u.t.ton his stiff linen cuffs as if preparin' to throw 'em off for life. His face radiant, and hummin' _sotey vosey_ his favorite ballad:

"Hum agin, hum agin, from a furren sh.o.r.e."

Arvilly looked happy to agin touch the sile of home, and be able, as she said, to "tend to her things." And wuz not I happy? I who loved my country with the jealous love that makes a ma spank her boy for cuttin' up. Is it love that makes a ma stand by, and see her boy turn summer sets and warhoop in meetin'-houses? Nay, verily, every spank that makes him behave is a touching evidence of her warm devotion.

I felt as I stood on the beloved sile of home (better sile and richer than any other), beneath its bright suns.h.i.+ne (warmer and brighter than any other suns.h.i.+ne) I felt that I loved my country with that pa.s.sionate, jealous love that could never be contented till she rises up to the full glory she might and will have. When she sweeps her long strong arms round and brushes off vile politicians and time-servers, and uses a pure free ballot to elect good men and good wimmen to make good laws, then will come the Golden Age that I look for, and that will come, when Justice will take her bandages off, and look out with both eyes over a prosperous and happy land. G.o.d speed the day!

We parted with the children here, they goin' to their own homes, after promisin' to come and see me and their pa very soon. Tommy throwed his arms round my neck and said he should stay with us half the time. We want him to.

Well, Ury met us with the mair and warm smiles of welcome, and Philury greeted us with joyous smiles and a good warm meat supper.

They set store by us, lots of store, and when we gin 'em the presents we had brung for 'em from foreign sh.o.r.es, happiness seemed to radiate from 'em like light and warmth from the sun. Josiah enjoyed his supper--yes, indeed--his liniment shone with satisfaction as he sot at the table in his stockin' feet and s.h.i.+rt sleeves, and eat more than wuz good for him, fur more. He had begun to onbend, and I knew that for days I couldn't keep clothes enough on him to be hardly decent, but knew also that that would wear away in time.

Feelin' first-rate when we got home, it only took us a short time to rest and recooperate from our tower, and receive calls from the children and grandchildren and Jonesvillians. And the children helped Philury and me to git the house all in order, and prepare for Thanksgiving. I sent out invitations for a party; I laid out to invite all my own dear ones, old and young, Elder Minkley and his wife, Arvilly, and how I did want to invite Ernest White and Waitstill Webb, but he wuz away on a long vacation, and Waitstill I hadn't hearn from for weeks, she wuz in the Philippines the last I hearn.

I wanted to invite all the brethern and sistern in the meetin'-house, but Philury thought she couldn't wait on 'em all, and we compromised on the plan of havin' 'em all here to a evenin' social the week after, when we'd pa.s.s round things and not have so many dishes to wash.

I laid out to be dretful thankful Thanksgivin' day. I felt that my heart would keep the holiday with drums beatin' and flags wavin', to speak in metafor. For how much, how much I had to be thankful for! My beloved pardner and I had reached our own home in safety. The Lord had watched over us in perils by water, perils by land, perils by fatigue, perils by Josiah's strange, strange plans.

Tommy wuz as well as ever a child wuz; the doctor said his lungs wuz sound as a bell. All our dear ones at home had been kep' in safety and our home seemed more like a blissful oasis in a desert world than it ever did before.

I always like to be up to the mark in everything, and I felt that I had so much to be thankful for Thanksgivin' day that I laid out to git up early so's to begin to be thankful as soon as daylight anyway, and keep it up all day till long after candle light. But as it turned out I begun to keep the glorious holiday of Thanksgivin' three days ahead and had to, for I couldn't help it.

I believe in makin' preparations ahead; I believe in takin' time by the forelock and leadin' it along peaceable and stiddy by my side, instead of time's drivin' me, rough shod and pantin' for breath over a household path, rocky and rough with belated duties. And it wuz three days before Thanksgivin' I sot in my clean, cheerful-lookin' kitchen seedin' some raisins for the fruit cake, Josiah bein' out to the barn killin' two fat pullets for the chicken pie. Ury wuz down in the swamp gittin' some evergreens and holly berries to decorate with, and Philury dressin' the turkey and ducks in the back kitchen, when I heard a rap at the settin' room door and I wiped my hands on the roller towel and smoothed back my hair and went to the door.

And who do you spoze stood there? His eyes s.h.i.+nin' brighter than the sky did, though that wuz clear blue, lit by a warm suns.h.i.+ne. It wuz Ernest White, and guess who wuz by his side; I'll tell you, for you never could think who it wuz--it wuz Waitstill Webb. I had thought her face wuz as sweet as it could be in sorrow, but I had never seen it in gladness before. She looked like a sweet white rose just blowed out under the warm sun of a perfect June day.

"Ernest White!" sez I, "how glad I am to see you! And Waitstill Webb!

can I believe my eyes?" sez I, "is it you?" And I took both their hands in mine at one time.

"Waitstill Webb!" sez I agin, "is it you?"

"No," sez Ernest White, "it is Waitstill White."

You could have knocked me down with a hair-pin. I kissed 'em both smilin' and weepin', laughin' and cryin', we all on us wuz like three fools, or three wise ones, I d'no which. And that's how I begun to keep Thanksgivin' more'n three days ahead.

They come right into the kitchen and made me keep on with my work, which I did after a little, they takin' holt and helpin' me like two happy children. They stayed most all the forenoon, but had promised to go back to Arvilly's to dinner.

Well! Well! I hadn't been so tickled in matrimonial ways and riz up and routed and dumb foundered since Thomas J. and Maggie Snow got engaged. It seems that Ernest White had gone way out to the Philippines after her, and they wuz married in a little American chapel by a missionary of the M. E. meetin'-house.

They wuz goin' right to housekeeping in the widder Pooler's, where he had boarded. The widder had gone to live with her daughter, Mahala, in Michigan, and Ernest White has bought it. It stands in a pretty place near a evergreen grove, just on the edge of Loontown near his people that he loves, and has gin his life work to make better.

And, oh, what a sweet love-guarded home Waitstill White is goin' to make for her pardner, and how happy Ernest White is goin' to be with the woman he loves. For besides bein' so congenial and beloved, Waitstill is as good a cook as I ever see, and no matter how much a man's soul soars up to the heavens, whilst his body is on earth he will always appreciate good vittles. Love never did nor never will thrive on a empty stummick. Harmony of soul is delightful, and perfect congeniality is sweet, and so is good yeast emtin' bread if it is made right, kneaded three times, riz in a cool place and baked to a turn. And tender broiled chops and chicken, and hot m.u.f.fins and fragrant coffee has some the effect on the manly breast of love's young dream.

Waitstill is a real home lover and homemaker. And it seems that by her advice Ernest White had had alterations in the house made that I approved highly on when I see 'em, and they had ordered lots of things to be sent from the city to make it pleasant, all put in first-rate order by the man left in charge, and they invited Josiah and me to take tea with 'em the very next evenin' and go to meetin' with 'em, which we gladly accepted, seein' we had got our preparations so fur along; Arvilly wuz goin' to be there they said. And, of course, I invited 'em to my Thanksgivin' dinner, which they accepted with the same pleasure that we had theirn.

CHAPTER x.x.xVI

Well, the next day, or ruther that night I begun to make preparations to go to Waitstill White's. I got a early supper that night so's to git to bed early so's to git up in good season; so's to git a early breakfast the next mornin', so's to git a early dinner, so's to start in good season for Ernest and Waitstill White's. And I kep' sayin'

that over and over the next mornin', "Ernest and Waitstill White's,"

it sounded dretful good to me, dretful.

I sez to Philury, "We must have dinner early, for we are invited to Ernest and Waitstill White's."

And I sez the same to Josiah. And he sez, "You've said that to me a dozen times already."

"Well," sez I cheerfully, "mebby I shall say it a dozen times more."

I felt well, dretful well in my mind. It had come out just as I had hoped and prayed for, and why shouldn't I feel good.

Well, they greeted us with warm affection. And you don't know how pretty their home looked. It had been fixed up in their absence and Waitstill had put the finis.h.i.+n' touches to it when she come. It wuz a gloomy spot under the Pooler regeem. But Waitstill wuz a true homemaker and could make a barn seem home like, as folks can that have that gift. You often see folks who think, or say they think, that one set of faculties henders another set from workin'. But it hain't no such thing. Miss Pooler wuz nothin' but a housekeeper, and as poor a one at that as you would be apt to find in a day's travel, whilst Waitstill wuz a philanthropist, a missionary, an angel on earth if ever there wuz one, and a homemaker and a home lover added to it, just as the Bible sez: "Seek first the kingdom of heaven and all these things shall be added unto you," or words to that effect.

The settin'-room and parlor that used to seem like a dark-green curtained mausoleum, sacred to the mournin' pieces on the wall, and the hair wreaths of defunct Poolers wuz now the suns.h.i.+nny hant of Beauty and Cheerfulness. Bay windows bordered with soft-colored gla.s.s, and curtained with fleecy white, let the suns.h.i.+ne stream into the pretty, freshly-decorated room, where it seemed to love to stay and s.h.i.+ne. A conservatory full of blossoming plants made the settin' and dinin'-rooms full of cheer and perfume.

One good stout German girl bore willin'ly the heaviest burdens of housekeeping, but Waitstill and Love and Good Judgment wuz to the h.e.l.lum, and the result wuz beautiful. A happier household I don't want to see, a better supper I don't want to eat. Waitstill had some briled chicken, tender and toothsome, some creamed potatoes, fixed just right, light white rolls, yellow sweet b.u.t.ter made from their own Jersey cow's milk, clear amber honey from their own beehives, sliced peaches from their own peach trees (it wuz a late kind, each one rolled up in newspapers, and put in a box in the suller and kep' and purple and white grapes kep' in the same way). Some pound cake made from my own reseet, a n.o.ble one that fell onto me from Mother Allen, and improved on by me, and some angel cake, made by Waitstill herself, and as snowy and delicious as if it wuz made by a real angel with wings, some fragrant coffee with rich cream to make it delicious, and chocolate for them that preferred it. A big gla.s.s bowl of roses and carnations wuz in the centre, and the table wuz spread with a snowy linen cloth, and sot with beautiful china, white with a gold and pink sprig on it, part of a big quant.i.ty sent by his rich folks, who wuz delighted to have him marry such a sweet girl and settle down, and the heavy s.h.i.+nin' silver marked "W. W. W.," lookin' some like a runnin'

vine, and the glossy linen tablecloths and napkins looking like satin covered with posies, come from the same source, also marked with her initials. Enough, Waitstill told me, to last 'em all their lives if they should live to be as old as Methusaler and his wife.

Well, I wuz glad enough to see their prosperity and happiness and when Ernest White sot to his own table by the side of Waitstill White and in a few short, eloquent, heart-felt words asked the Lord's blessing on this new home consecrated to his service, and on his dear friends happily returned home agin, my heart echoed every word and there wuzn't a dry eye in my head, not one.

After supper wuz over we sot out to go to the meetin' he had spoke on.

It wuz the openin' night of the new library, which wuz in a pretty little buildin' jined onto the meetin'-house and only a few minutes'

walk from Ernest and Waitstill White's.

There wuz a good, large room for the library filled with good books helpful and inspirin', bought partly by Ernest White and partly by voluntary contributions by his people, a reading-room filled with magazines and newspapers and which with the library wuz to be opened every evening and two afternoons in the weeks. And there wuz a cozy little settin'-room and bed-room with a kitchen back out for the librarian. And who do you spoze wuz to be librarian and live here clost to her idol? Oh, shaw! I might just as well told you right out as to have said that; it wuz Arvilly. It wuz congenial work to her and left her plenty of time to go round canva.s.sin' if she wanted to.

We wuz a little late for the meetin', for a man come to see the Elder just as we wuz startin', about marryin' him the next day, and as anybody knows that has to be tended to 'tennyrate.

As we drawed nigh the library and meetin'-house we see they wuz lighted up in as friendly and pleasant a way as if they wuz two beacons set up to light our footsteps. And as we went in we see a group of happy faced young people gathered round the organ practicin'

a piece they wuz learnin' for Thanksgivin'.

It wuz a sweet song of thankfulness and peace, filled with grat.i.tude for all the blessin's of the year. A sweet song full of love to G.o.d and man and that would be apt to inspire the singers and hearers with forbearance, justice, mercy, sane living and thinking. In another part of the hall they wuz practicing some pretty pieces to speak at this celebration, but when Elder White went in they all met him joyfully as a beloved father is met by his children, and they bestowed a loving greeting on Waitstill too.

These young men and women wuz ready to look through the magnifyin'

gla.s.s of love at any lesson Ernest White should set before them to fit 'em for life's battle.

The meeting that night wuz a sort of a social, where the young and older folks met to get better acquainted with each other, and had a good time visitin' back and forth and comparin' notes and bein'

introduced to Waitstill and the new library. One attracted just about as much attention as the other, both wuz exceedingly interestin' to 'em and beloved.

Elder Cross wuz there, he sets store by Ernest White, though he is so different from him. He is good natered and a Christian, I believe, though Arvilly said he would have to be fixed over quite a good deal before he got into the Kingdom.