Families -- Juvenile fiction; New England -- Juvenile fiction
“You see it, don’t you, dear?” asked Miss Chandler. “Now, we will put on
the light.”
When the room was bright with electricity, Miss Chandler took Dora over
to the wall where the eye had shone. There was an electric switch with
two push-buttons. One was white and one was black.
“It is this button, Dora,” said Miss Chandler. “The top has been painted
with something which shines in the dark. It isn’t an evil eye at all,
little Dora, but a nice friendly eye that says, ‘Did you want to put on
the electric light? Here am I, showing you just where to touch your
finger and snap it on in a jiffy!’”
Miss Chandler turned out the light and Dora saw the button begin to
shine. She pushed it in and out and saw how nice it was to have a bright
eye to tell her where to find the switch.
“And the streak by the table?” she asked.
“That is a bit of radium paint enclosed in a glass pendant. When you pull
the pendant, the lamp on the table lights.”
Dora gave a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Aunt Margaret,” she said. “We
have gas at home, and after Mother turns it off, nothing shines.”
Miss Chandler tucked Dora again into bed. When Dora was alone in the
dark, she could smile at the friendly eye on the wall.
On Sunday morning the children had the fun of getting breakfast in the
kitchenette. First, the folding-bed had to be whisked out of the way,
and the room aired and straightened.
There was a wee refrigerator about as large as Mother’s cake-box. In
it were butter and milk, a jar of cream, and a comb of honey. A paper
bag held crisp half-moon rolls, and there was also a tumbler of orange
marmalade. Miss Chandler made coffee for herself, and Lucy proudly boiled
three eggs exactly four minutes. She knew just how, because she often
cooked them for Mother.
After breakfast they went to church, wearing the white dresses. It was
fortunate that Mother thought to send an extra dress apiece, for though
the gingham dresses were still clean, they were rumpled after all the
exciting things that happened on Saturday.
It was a wonderful church to which Miss Chandler took them, big and dark,
with windows like rainbows, and an organ which sounded like heaven. The
service was like that in the Westmore church. Dora wished Uncle Dan were
with her, for he liked music and the Westmore choir could not sing like
this one.
After service, Miss Chandler showed the children the statue of Bishop
Brooks outside the church and told them how good a man he was, and how
people loved him so much that the whole city of Boston mourned for him
when he died, even people who didn’t go to his church. Long years ago he
used to preach there in Trinity Church.
“We are going to do a very interesting thing this afternoon,” Miss
Chandler said while they were eating dinner at the College Club. The Club
was only a pleasant house, and there was ice-cream for dessert, which was
important.
“Will it be a surprise?” asked Dora.
“I think you will be much surprised,” said Miss Chandler.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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