CHAPTER IV.--A BARREL FROM HOME.
Christmas was upon our girls almost before they had unpacked and settleddown to work. Mid-year exams. had no terrors for our two post-graduates,but they were working just as hard as they ever had in their collegiatecourse.
"I don't know what it is that drives us so, Nance, unless it is that weare getting ready for the final examination at Judgment Day," saidMolly. "I am so interested, I never seem to get tired these days; and Idon't even mind the tutoring that has been thrust upon me. Now that Ishall not have to teach for a living, I really believe I should not mindit very much."
Otoyo Sen was safely sailing under Molly's tutelage through her senioryear. She spoke the most correct and precise English unless she wasembarrassed or upset in some way, and then, like Melissa Hathaway, shespoke from the heart, and little Otoyo's heart seemed to beat in adverbsand participles. She and Melissa had struck up the closest friendship.
"We might have known they would," said the analytical Nance. "They arestrangely alike to be so different."
"Now, Nance, how Bostonesque we are becoming! I have never asked aBostonian a question that I have not been answered in this way, 'It isand it isn't,'" teased Molly.
"Well, they are alike in being foreign, for Melissa is as foreign fromus as is Otoyo. Then they are both scrupulously courteous until theiramour propre is stepped on, and then you realize that they are bothmedieval. They are certainly alike in pride and in fortitude andperseverance and family feeling. You know perfectly well that the realMelissa that is so covered up by this educated Melissa would take a gunand shoot every living Sydney she could get at if her grandmother toldher to! I hope to goodness modernism will never get to the old woman andshe will learn that women can do anything men can, or she will makeMelissa take the place of the sons she mourns. On the other hand, littleOtoyo would commit hara-kiri without winking an eyelash ifhonorable-father told her to."
"You have so convinced me of their similarity that I see no room fordifference. They will look to me exactly like twins after this," laughedMolly; and both the girls could hardly restrain their merriment, for atthat moment the so-called twins came in to call: Melissa, tall andstately as "the lonesome pine," with all doubts as to her fine figureremoved now, thanks to Nance's skillful reformation of the bluehomespun; and little Otoyo looking more like a mechanical toy than ever,since she had taken on a little more of the desirable flesh, accordingto the taste of her countrymen.
"Melissa and I have determined to move into a suite together," saidOtoyo, as they entered. "Miss Walker said it is not usually for aFreshman and Senior to be so intimately, but since there is a suitevacant in the Quadrangle and more visits for singletons than suites, sheis willing."
"You are excited over it, I know, you dear little Otoyo," said hertutor, "or you would not be so adverbial, and you must mean 'calls forsingletons' instead of 'visits.'"
"Oh, you English and your language, made for what you call puns!"
"I am glad you call them puns instead of visiting them on us," saidNance, dodging a soft cushion hurled by Molly. "Did you girls hear thenews? I am to stay at Wellington for Christmas and my father is comingdown here to spend it with me. I can't think when father has taken aholiday before, and I am as excited about it as can be. He needs a rest,and he needs some fun. I wish he could have come last year before theold guard disbanded."
"But listen to me," put in Molly. "I have some news, too, that I wastrying to keep for a surprise, but I am a sieve where news is concerned:Judy Kean is to be here for Christmas, too. She writes that as hermother and father are in Turkey she will have to have some turkey inher, and she can think of no place that she would rather have thatturkey than at Wellington with us. Dear old Judy, won't it be fun? Andshe will help to whoop things up for your father, Nance. She expected tobe studying art in Paris by now, but Mr. Kean insisted on a year ofdrawing in New York before Paris, and that makes her in easy reach ofus. We shall have to stop work and go to playing. I declare I have grownso used to work--I don't believe I know how to play."
"Mees Grace Green is going to have an astonishment party for herbrother, the young student medical," said Otoyo, the ever-ready newsmonger.
"A surprise party for Dodo," shrieked the girls with delight. "Otoyo,Otoyo, you are too delicious."
"Also, Mr. Andy McLean will be home with his honorable parents formaking holiday, having done much proud work in the law school at HarvardUniversity."
Nance smiled. Her private opinion was that Mr. Andrew McLean and hisproud work were the cause of Otoyo's very mixed English.
"Also," continued Otoyo, "Mr. Andrew McLean will bring with himhonorable young Japanese gentleman, who has hugged the Christian faithand is muchly studying to live in this country, whereas his honorablefather has a wonderful shop of beautiful Japanese prints in Boston. Myhonorable father is familiar with his honorable father, namely, Mr.Seshu."
"Oh ho, and that is the reason of the many mistakes," said Molly, in anaside to Nance. "I thought at first it was Andy's return, but I bet thelittle thing is contemplating something in connection with the honorableMr. Seshu. I wonder if her father has written her about this young Jap."
During all this chit-chat Melissa had sat perfectly quiet, but her quietwas never heavy nor depressing. She looked calmly and interestedly onand listened and smiled and sometimes gave a low laugh, showing that herhumor was keen and ready. Otoyo was a never-failing source of delight toher, and when the little thing spoke of hugging the Christian faith areal hearty laugh came bubbling up. But she put her arm affectionatelyaround her little friend and smothered her laugh in Otoyo's smooth blackhair, that always had a look of having just been brushed, no matter howmodern and American was the arrangement.
And very modern and American were all of Otoyo's arrangements now. Herclothes bore the stamp of the best New York shops, with the mostup-to-date shoes and hats, and she endeavored in every way to be asAmerican as possible. She even tried to use the slang she heard aroundher, but her attempts in that direction were very laughable.
In due time the holidays arrived, and with them came our own Judy fullof enthusiasm for her work at the art school; came young Andy with hisJapanese friend from the law school. Andy looking older and broader andmore robust, not half so raw-boned as he used to be, and the youngJapanese gentleman, on first sight, so like Otoyo that it was funny--but,on further acquaintance, it proved to be a racial likeness only; cameNance's father, a staid, quiet gentleman with his daughter's merry browneyes and a general look of one to be depended on; came George TheodoreGreen, familiarly known as Dodo, no longer so shy, but with much moreassurance of manner, as befitted a medical student from Johns Hopkins.
Miss Grace Green had secretly sent out invitations for the surpriseparty for Christmas Eve, and all the girls were very busy getting theirbest bibs and tuckers in order to do honor to the occasion. Molly hadseen a good deal of Miss Green since she came to Wellington to keephouse for her brother, and they had become fast friends. Miss Greenoften asked her to come in to afternoon tea, and then they would havethe most delightful talks in the professor's study, and he would read tothem. Sometimes Molly would be prevailed upon to read some of hersketches, always of Kentucky and the familiar things of her childhood.She lost her shyness in doing this, and felt that it rather helped herand gave her new ideas for more things to write about.
"Judy, please help me unpack this barrel from home," called Molly theday before Christmas. "I know you will want to help carry some of thethings to the Greens for me. I almost wish I had sent the barrel there,as so many of the things are to go to them. We shall be laden down, I amsure."
Judy, all excitement, began to knock off the top hoop and then with muchhacking and prying they finally got off the head of theformidable-looking barrel and began to unpack the goodies: a ham for theprofessor of English cooked by Aunt Mary; a fruit cake for Molly, blackand rich, with an odor to it that Judy said reminded her of the feast inSt. Agnes Eve; a jar of Rosemary pickles; one of bra
ndy peaches; a boxof beaten biscuit; a roasted turkey, stuffed with chestnuts, and awonderful bunch of mistletoe full of berries, growing to a knobbystunted branch of a walnut tree, which Kent had sawed off with greatcare and then packed so well with tissue paper that not one berry orleaf was misplaced.
"This is for Miss Green's party. I asked Kent to get it for me. You knowher party is to be an old English one, and it would not be completewithout mistletoe. What is this little note hitched to it?
"'Dearest Molly:
"'I almost broke my neck getting this, and hope it is what you want. Tell Miss Judy Kean, who, I hear, is to spend Christmas with you, not to get under this until I get there.
"'Kent.'
"What can he mean? Judy Kean, is Kent coming here for Christmas? Answerme."
But Judy only buried her crimson face in the big turkey's bosom andgiggled.
"Answer me, Judy Kean."
"How do I know? Am I your brother's keeper?"
"He couldn't be coming or mother would have written me! I see he meansfor you to wait for him until he 'arrives' in his profession. Oh, Judy,Judy, I do hope you will! But come on now, we must take these things tothe Greens. Miss Grace is very busy with her preparations, while Dodo isoff for the day with young Andy and his Jap friend, revisiting their oldcollege, Exmoor. We must get the mistletoe hung; and the ham is to bepart of the party, I fancy. I am going to take them some of thesepickles, too, and half of my fruit cake. It is so big that it will takeus months to devour it, besides ruining our complexions."
The girls, weighed down with their heavy contributions--ham, pickle,fruit cake and mistletoe--rang the bell at Professor Green's house,fronting on the campus. The door was quickly opened by Miss Alice Fern.She eyed them haughtily and coldly, hardly responding to Molly'sgreeting and barely acknowledging the introduction to Judy, whom shealready knew, but refused to remember.
"My cousin, Miss Green, is very busy and regrets she cannot speak to youjust now."
"Oh, I am sorry not to see her! I have some mistletoe that my brothersent her from Kentucky, and Miss Kean and I were going to ask her to letus hang it for her."
"You are very kind, but I am decorating the house for my cousins, andcan do it very well without any assistance from outside."
"Molly, we had better leave our packages and make a chasteneddeparture," said Judy, the irrepressible. "We have some interiordecorations besides the mistletoe, Miss Fern, in the way of an old hamand a fruit cake, and some Rosemary pickles. Are you also chairman ofthe committee on that kind of interior decorations? If you are not, Ishould think it were best for us to interview the secretary of theinterior, if we are not allowed to see the head of the department."
At that moment who should come bounding up the steps but Edwin Greenhimself.
"Good morning to both of you! I am so glad to see you back inWellington, Miss Kean. I have just come from the Quadrangle, where Iwent to call on you, but saw Miss Oldham, who told me you and Miss Mollywere on your way to see my sister. Why don't you come in? Grace is inthe pantry, preparing for the 'astonishment party,' as I am told MissSen calls it. I will call her directly."
"Grace has asked to be excused to callers, Edwin," said the stately MissFern.
"Nonsense, Alice, she was expecting Miss Brown to decorate the parlors,and Miss Kean is not a stranger to any of us. Come in, come in," and theindignant professor ushered them into the parlor and went to call hissister, confiding to her, as she hastened to greet the girls, that ifAlice Fern did not stop trying to run their affairs he was going to dosomething desperate.
"I am afraid you brought it on us by being too nice to her two years agowhen she first came home from abroad," teased his sister; and heremembered that he had been rather attentive to his fair cousin at atime when Miss Molly Brown of Kentucky had had a little misunderstandingwith him.
"How good of you, you dear, sweet girl, to have this mistletoe sent allthe way from Kentucky for our party, and what a wonderful piece ofwalnut it is growing to, this great, knotted, knobby branch! But, Alice,don't break any of it off! You will ruin it." Miss Green stopped Alicejust in time, as she had begun with rapid tugs to pull the mistletoefrom the branch that Kent had sawed off with such care, and to stick itin vases among the holly, where it did not show to any advantage. "Ofcourse, it must be hung from the chandelier just as it is."
"Oh, very well, Cousin Grace; but it seems to me to be a very heavylooking decoration." And the young woman flounced off, leaving Molly andJudy feeling very much mystified, to say the least.
"Aunt Mary sent you a ham, Professor Green. I brought it to-day,thinking maybe your sister would like it for part of the night'sfestivities."
"Not a bit of it. That ham is to be brought out when there are not somany to devour it. I am not usually a greedy glutton, but beech-nut fed,home-cured ham is too good for the rabble, and I am going to hide itbefore Grace casts her eagle eye on it." He accordingly picked it up andpretended to conceal it from his smiling sister.
"Well, anyhow, Miss Green, you will use my fruit cake for the party,will you not?" begged Molly.
"Oh, please don't ask me to. I know there is nothing in the world sogood as fruit cake, and Edwin has told me of the wonders that come fromAunt Mary's kitchen. So if you don't mind, Molly, I am going to keep mycake for our private consumption. It would disappear like magic beforethe young people to-night, and Edwin and I could have it for many nightsto come. Do you think I am as greedy as Edwin is with his ham?"
Molly was very much amused, but her amusement was turned toembarrassment when she heard Miss Fern say to her Cousin Edwin: "MissBrown seems to be trying very hard to give the party."
She did not hear Edwin's answer, but noticed that he hugged his ham evenmore fervently, it being, fortunately for him and his coat, well wrappedin waxed paper. She also noticed that he went around and took out of thevases the few pieces of mistletoe that his cousin had pulled from thebig bunch, and carefully wired them where they belonged on the walnutbranch, and then got a step ladder and tied the beautiful decoration tothe chandelier, while Judy, ignoring the stately Alice, bossed the job.
"Miss Molly, did you know that Dicky Blount will be here to-night?"asked the professor. "We can have some good music, which will be awelcome addition to the program, I think."
"That is fine; but please give him a slice of ham. I feel as though somewere coming to him. Five pounds of Huyler's was too much for the old hambone he got that memorable evening at Judith's dinner. By the way,Professor Green, I want to ask a favor of you and your sister."
"Granted before asked, as far as I am concerned, and Grace is usuallyvery amiable where you are in question," said the eager Edwin.
"Oh, it isn't so much of a favor, and I have an idea I am doing you oneto ask it of you. My dear friend Melissa Hathaway has a most wonderfulvoice, but no one ever knows it, as she is so reserved. I thought, maybeto-night, you might persuade her to sing. She has some ballads that aresplendid for an Old English celebration."
"I should say we will ask her, and be too glad to! I am so pleased thatshe is coming. She seemed rather doubtful whether she could or not."
"Oh, that was just clothes, and clever Nance solved the problem for herjust as she often has for me by making something out of nothing. Whenyou see our Melissa and realize that her dress is made of eight yards ofSeco silk at twenty cents a yard, you will think Nance is prettyclever."