Christmas stories; Families -- Juvenile fiction; Young women -- Juvenile fiction
"I mean if you truly loved her, and longed to get her to Boston and to
the surgeons, and the school there, it seems to me you'd be willing to
work hard to that end."
"You show me--" he began, wrathfully, but she interrupted with:
"Now, wait! Let me have my way for an hour here, will you? I want you
to go back to Lottie and do up the housework; I see your breakfast
dishes are still unwashed. Leave me alone here and let me do as I like
for an hour."
"You mean to clean up?" he asked, gazing about the store hopelessly.
"Something like that. It rains so hard I can't get to school. I'll
visit with you, Mr. Drugg," said Janice smiling and her voice cheerful
again. "And instead of helping about the housework, I'll help in the
store. _Do_ let me, sir!"
"Why--yes--I don't mind. I guess you mean right enough, Miss Janice.
But you don't understand----"
"Give me an hour," she cried.
"Why, yes, Miss," he said, in his old, gentle, polite way. "If you
want to mess about I won't mind. Come in and I'll give you a big long
apron that will cover your frock all over. It--it's dreadful dusty in
here."
Janice would not be discouraged. She smiled cheerfully at him, found
brush, pan, broom, pail, and cloths, and with some hot water and
soap-powder went back to the store. The rain continued to fall
heavily. There was no likelihood of her being disturbed at her work.
She chose the more littered of the two show windows and almost threw
everything out of it in her hurry. Then she swept down the cobwebs and
dead flies, and brushed away all the dust. It was no small task to
scrub the panes of glass clean, and all the woodwork; but Janice knew
how to work. The old black Mammy who had kept house for her and Daddy
so many years had taught the girl domestic tasks, and had taught her
well.
Within an hour the work was done. More light came through the panes of
that window than usually ventured in upon a sunshiny day!
The balance of the task was a pleasure. Her bright eyes had noted the
newer goods upon Mr. Drugg's shelves. She selected samples of the more
recent canned goods--those of which the labels on the cans were fresh
and bright. She arranged these with package goods--breakfast foods,
and the like--so as to make a goodly display. She found colored tissue
papers, too, and she brightened the window shelf with these. She
festooned the fly-specked, T-arm light bracket in the window, and
carried twisted strings of the pink and green paper to the four corners
of the window shelf from the bottom of this bracket.
She went out upon the porch at last to look in at the display. From
the outside the window was pretty and bright--it was like the windows
she was used to seeing in the Greensboro stores.
"One thing about it," she declared, with confidence. "There's nothing
like this in the whole of Poketown. There isn't another store window
that looks so fresh and--yes!--dainty."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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