CHAPTER XI Gifts
"Oh come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant; Oh come ye, oh come ye to Bethlehem; Come and behold Him born the King of angels; Oh come, let us adore Him, Oh come, let us adore Him, Oh come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord."
Esther sang the first few lines of the beautiful Christmas hymn in a lowvoice but with gathering strength until when she had reached the refrainSunrise cabin was filled with melody.
She had awakened before any one else on this Christmas morning and afterthinking over more quietly the events of yesterday, had slipped into herclothes and then stolen into the living room hoping that her hymn mightbe the first sound that her friends should hear.
It was a perfect winter day. From the window Esther could see thesnow-crowned peak of Sunrise Hill from which the dawn colors were nowslowly fading and beyond a long line of the crystal hills. Wherever theSunrise Camp Fire girls should go in after years, to whatever placestheir destinies should call them, the scene surrounding their camp couldnever be forgotten, nor could there be found many places in the worldmore beautiful.
Of course Esther had until now seen nothing beyond the New Hampshirehills and so this morning, with a little only half-defined fear tuggingat her heart, she gazed at the landscape until the eternal peace of themountains rested and soothed her. Then, turning away, she went first tobuilding up their great log fire until its flames roared up the chimneyand then to the singing of her song.
By and by, with a blue dressing gown wrapped about her, Betty came intothe room, and stood resting an elbow on the piano. Polly and Molliefollowed, and soon after Meg and Eleanor with Miss McMurtry between them,until finally every member of the Sunrise club had gathered in the room,including the little probation girl who entered last holding tight toRose's hand. She looked like a pale little Christmas angel with her bigblue eyes set in a colorless face and her soft rings of light yellowhair, which had been cut close on account of recent fever, curling like afringe about her high forehead. When Esther came to the last verse of herhymn, there were many other voices to join in with hers, and somehow alltheir eyes turned instinctively toward the great pine tree which stoodundecorated upon the farthest corner of their stage with the great silverstar overhead.
"Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning; Jesu, to Thee be glory given; Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing; Oh come, let us adore Him, Oh come, let us adore Him, Oh come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord."
There was an instant's hush after this and then a surprising amount ofnoise. Surely Esther's idea had been a very lovely one, for there waslittle Christmas peace and quiet at the cabin for the rest of thewonderful and eventful day.
Some weeks before the girls had decided that there would be no presentgiving among themselves except the merest trifles, since all their moneyand energy must be spent in making a success of their Camp Fire play, butthis did not forbid the receiving of gifts from the outside. So beforebreakfast was over offerings began to arrive, some of them for individualgirls but more for the camp. Mr. and Mrs. Webster sent from the farm agreat roasted goose stuffed with chestnuts, a baked ham and two immensemince pies, while Billy Webster, who drove over to bring the gifts, shylytucked into Mollie's hands a bouquet of pink geraniums and lemon verbenafrom his mother's little indoor garden. To Polly, with a perfectlyserious expression, he presented a bunch of thistles grown on themountains that fall and made very brilliant and effective by having theircenters dyed scarlet and being tied with a bright red ribbon. They werebeautiful enough to have been bestowed on any one and would be anornament for the cabin living room all winter, and yet Polly, though shewas far too clever to betray herself, could not but wonder if there werenot a double meaning attached to Billy's gift.
Dick Ashton gave no individual presents, not even one to Betty, but tothe club he gave a reading lamp so brilliant that half a dozen girlsmight do their studying around it at night. If it were placed on thepiano Esther might be able to read her most intricate music withoutdifficulty.
Then there were other more valuable gifts, Mr. Wharton, Sylvia's father,who had unexpectedly gone to Europe for a few weeks, left a check tosupply the winter's coal bill, while Mrs. O'Neill from over in Irelandsent a set of kitchen aprons, which she had made during that winter, foreach member of the Sunrise club including Mammy.
There was a mysterious communication received by Betty Ashton, however,of which she did not speak to any one, not even to Polly. She was not atall sure from whom it came, but naturally there was but one person whomshe could suspect. The post-mark was a near-by town, and it was a commonlooking gift--just a card with the picture of a ladder rising in the air,apparently by its own volition, and very slowly ascending it the figureof a young man. Yet the words written below were of far finersignificance than the picture and Betty really wondered how they had evermade their appeal.
"And men may rise on stepping-stones of their dead selves to higher things."
At four o'clock, when the girls were resting for an hour before gettingready for the evening's entertainment, convinced that there was nothingmore to come for any one of them, there appeared at the cabin doorcertainly the most unlooked-for gift.
Rose happened for the moment to be alone in the living room, havingfirmly ordered the girls off to their bedrooms to lie down while sheattended to some final arrangements, such as finding space for a few morechairs for their audience than had been sent out from town an hourbefore.
So the sounds outside did not at first attract her attention, though theywere most unusual. But suddenly, when a large form apparently flungitself against the door and there followed a low muffled cry, Rose,without a thought of Christmas, ran hastily to the rescue. Fortunatelyshe was not nervous, else she might have been frightened when anunexpected object leapt up to her shoulders and a warm wet tonguecaressed her cheek. Straightway her cry of surprise and admirationbrought half a dozen girls to her side, who had found sleep at socritical a time quite out of the question. Imagine their surprise atfinding their new guardian being embraced by a cream and brown and goldSt. Bernard dog, already a tremendous fellow and yet still in hispuppyhood.
Polly, who was ever a lover of dogs, got down on her knees before him.
"Whose ever can he be and how has he found his way to our cabin?" shecried, but before her question was ended Polly herself discovered a smallenvelope attached to the dog's collar and tearing it off hastilypresented it to Rose with an eastern salaam, as she happened to bealready seated on the floor.
"From an unknown admirer, Rose? Isn't this like a story book?" Bettycommented with an unnecessary expression of demureness, for she hadnoticed an evident though faint blush touching their guardian's cheeks.But Rose answered with a dignity that somehow made Betty feel ashamed ofherself.
"No, Betty, the dog is for our club if you girls wish to keep him. Dr.Barton writes that he feels we are too much alone in these woods in thewinter and that if we will forgive his solicitude he has sent us a thirdCamp Fire guardian." And Rose slipped the stiff little note she had justreceived inside her pocket, realizing that it was as near an apology asthe severe young doctor could bring himself to make.