College stories; Women college students -- Juvenile fiction
The church was old and severe in every line, evidently built in the
early days when worship did not demand comfortable surroundings. The
pews were high and narrow, with faded red cushions and stools. By
a quarter of eleven every pew was filled and the old white-haired
preacher began the service. Jean watched Elizabeth at the organ and
marveled at the melody she seemed to be getting out of the wheezy
old instrument, which was pumped intermittently by a rosy-cheeked
youngster whose mind may have been more on the feast awaiting him at
home than on the hymns of praise. When it came Elizabeth's turn to
sing, she left the organ and stood in the center of the choir-loft and
waited for Jean to strike the opening chords on the piano. Although
Jean was a skilled performer on the piano it must be confessed that
she trembled a little as she began to play, but when Elizabeth's sweet
voice broke into song it gave her confidence, and it seemed the most
natural thing in the world for Elizabeth to be singing and she to be
playing in the little village church at Newburgh.
She never remembered much that the old preacher said in his eloquent
sermon, for during it all she seemed to be in somewhat of a haze, but
afterward she summed it up in three thoughts: the blessedness of home;
the joy of the home-coming; and the satisfaction of the parents in
knowing that their children have found life worth while and are making
something out of it.
There was a general handshaking after the benediction, and before she
left Jean thought she knew every person in the church. It did not take
her long to see how interested every one was in Elizabeth, and how glad
they were to have her with them again. She had a pleasant greeting for
them all, and never forgot to ask about the ones left at home.
As they drew up into the Fairfax yard again they found sleighs, single
and double, already there and more following them.
"You see, Jean, it's our turn this year to have the relatives at our
house," said Dr. Fairfax. "Ours is a pretty big family, and we're
counting on twenty or thereabouts to-day. Everybody helps and 'many
hands make light work,' you know. You must feel that you're one of the
family to-day, Jean, for we're always glad of one more."
There were twenty-six to sit down to the Thanksgiving dinner, nineteen
at the large table and seven children at a little one placed in the
kitchen. Jean decided that she had never before seen such quantities of
food, for in addition to the preparations Mrs. Fairfax had made, every
one of the guests had contributed what he thought to be his share.
There were turkeys and chickens, vegetables of all kinds, puddings,
pies, cakes, fruit, nuts, and candy passed and repassed until all
declared they could eat no more.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account