CHAPTER XV.
GRETCHEN'S KAFFEEKLATCH.
Another year of Gretta's life had rolled around and brought with it herthirteenth birthday. The little club of "warriors" had not been withoutits influence upon her behavior, and she had become so ready to enterupon her duties, so cheerful in performing them, and so much lessresentful in accepting the reproof which was perhaps too frequent inthat busy and overworked household, that her elder sister--whom shehad so complained of when the subject of forming their club was firstmentioned--had decided that Gretta must have a little birthday party,and asked her whom she wished to invite.
Gretta was greatly delighted, for she had long been wishing to have ameeting of the club at her home, but had hardly known how to broach thesubject. She immediately gave her sister the list, and while the latterwas somewhat surprised that it should be so small, it was something ofa relief to find what she had thought would be quite an undertaking sogreatly simplified. It was decided that the girls should be invited tocome at four o'clock and that supper should be served at half past five.
Promptly at the hour named Winnifred and Miriam appeared, followedsoon after by Fannie, and then by Ernestine. The door was opened by thesmiling-faced, German maid-of-all-work, and the girls were met at thefoot of the stairs by Gretta, who took them up to the library on thesecond floor. "Here we will have no one to bother us," said Gretta. "Mymother is out of the city on a visit to my uncle, and my sister has amusic pupil in the parlor, so we'll have the library all to ourselves."
"How jolly!" said Miriam, looking around. "Oh, here is a bigreclining-chair! We'll call it the president's chair, and Winnifredshall occupy it, because she was the first one to think of this club."
"Yes! yes!" they all insisted, so Winnifred climbed into the big chair,and the other girls ranged themselves in various attitudes around her.
"Do you know," said Miriam, with a half laugh and a half sigh, "I don'tfind fighting such easy work as I thought I would. I like to dress up my'little observations,' as my brother calls them, just as much as I everdid, and I almost got into a temper this morning because my hair pulledwhen I began to comb it out."
"And I have been wishing we were richer," said Ernestine, whose greatambition it was to be contented with all that came to her. "You know wehad such a hot spell last week, and mamma ought to go away this summer.She is getting thinner and thinner, and she has those awful headachesmore and more often lately."
"I don't see why everybody can't have the things they want," saidFannie, feeling guilty to think she ever had a cross minute.
"I said that to mamma last week," said Ernestine, "when I felt uneasyabout her, and she said it all comes from something in ourselves. Thatdidn't make it any easier for me; nothing did, until I thought of theOne who had not where to lay His head. Then I felt ashamed."
For a minute the girls were silent. Then Winnie said, "Well, I, for one,don't think I have quite killed that ugly old Hate. I can't bear to stopdoing what I like, to please other people. I was reading 'Grandfather'sChair' last night, and I just hated to stop and tell Ralph his storybefore he went to bed. You know he always expects a story from some oneof us, and last night nobody had the time but me."
"I'll tell you what upsets me more than anything else," said theirlittle hostess; "that is, to have to jump up from the piano to answerthe bell. And there's never a day that I don't have to do it; sometimesthree or four times."
"What is your bugaboo, Fannie?" said Miriam; "or don't you have any?"
"Don't I? I believe I have more than any of you," was the answer. "Butthe thing that grieves me most is that I can't wear prettier and moreexpensive dresses to school. You know, lots of the girls who haven'thalf as much money as we dress a great deal better. Mamma would not careso much, but papa won't hear of such a thing."
"What awful troubles we all do have!" said Miriam, laughing.
"Miss Embry would say you shouldn't use 'awful,'" said Winnie from thedepths of the big chair.
"There, you've hit it exactly!" said Miriam. "There is my bugaboo in anut shell, and it really is an awful one. You know I like to make thingssound strong, so I use all the strong-sounding words I can find; and Isuppose I do exaggerate. Although I am reproved on all sides, it hasn'tthe slightest effect on me, except to make me wish that all the peoplewho reprove me, or remind me of someone who does reprove,"--here shemade big eyes at Winnie--"were hard of hearing when I am about. No, no;my motto is:
"'Tameness and slowness can't stay with me; They and I will never agree.'"
"And yet," said Ernestine, "there are a great many very interestingthings told in very simple language and without getting away from thewhite truth."
"Well," said Miriam, "to tell the white truth myself just this once. Idon't know whether I want to conquer this or not. I don't believe it isreally much relation to the Giant Untruth. I think it's only a littledwarfish imp, a Brownie, who simply 'growed,' like Topsy, and to me isjust about as interesting."
"And yet even you couldn't call Topsy beautiful," said Ernestinereadily.
"Hardly," laughed Miriam. "But now we've all owned up, let's paraderest, as we say in our broom drills;" and she threw herself back on thesofa, where she sat as if indeed resting from a hard-fought battle.
The five formed a group of American girls good to look upon in theirsweet springtime. Ernestine, with serious gray eyes, fair, slender,and tall for her fifteen years, sat erect but graceful in a straight,high-backed chair, her very pose denoting a peaceful courage. Fannie,with skin soft and rosy and eyes of a rare violet hue, occupied alow seat, her arms resting on the sofa against which she was leaning.Miriam, with dark, sparkling eyes and long, thick hair, looking brimfulof life in spite of her present lazy attitude, sat just behind Fannie.Next came Winnie, small even for her twelve years, brown-eyed anddainty, looking fond of luxury, as she undoubtedly was and always wouldbe, and yet good and high-minded. Last Gretta herself, a true German,with blue eyes and thick, light braids, a trim and compact littlemaiden. She sat near a table, her chin in her hand, with its flexible,square-tipped fingers--the fingers of the born and made pianist--forGretta had "begun," as her mates used to tell, at the age of four.
It was a pleasant room in which they sat; it had many books, German andEnglish and a few in other languages, and where no book-cases rested,the walls were hung with pictures of musicians--Mozart and Bach andMendelssohn and many others as companions; and on a pedestal stooda bust of Beethoven, whom--so Gretta told the girls as they lookedaround--her father considered the greatest of them all.
Just then Winnie glanced up at the clock and saw that it was fifteenminutes past five. She made a motion to the girls, at which they alljumped up, and, joining hands, formed a circle around Gretta. Before shehad had time to do anything but look astonished, Miriam stopped behindher, and, holding something over her head, said, "Heavy, heavy hangsover your head. What shall the owner do to redeem it?"
Before Gretta had a chance to answer, Miriam had dropped into her lapa box of pretty note-paper, and replied to her own question by saying,"The owner shall redeem it by writing to the giver this summer a letterfor each week they are separated."
Then the girls circled about again, and this time Winnifred stoppedbehind Gretta, saying:
"Open your mouth and shut your eyes, And I'll give you something to make you wise."
Gretta did as she was bidden, and Winnie popped a big marshmallow intoher mouth, depositing the remainder of the box in her lap.
They circled about her for the third time, and Fannie stopped behindher, saying, as Miriam had done, "Heavy, heavy hangs over your head.What shall the owner do to redeem it?" and continued, "Read every wordof it and enjoy it," and placed in Gretta's hand a copy of "Little LordFauntleroy."
Yet again they circled about her, singing:
"A rosy wreath I twine for thee, Of Flora's richest treasures; Take, oh, take, this rosy, rosy crown, Flora's richest treasures, Flora's richest treasures,"--
and Ernestine
placed a crown of flowers on Gretta's brow.
Gretta was quite overcome with pleasure and surprise, for the girls hadso skillfully hidden their little gifts that she had not even caught aglimpse of them.
Just then the door opened, and the hostess' sister appeared at the door,saying, "Tea is ready, Gretta." Before they did anything else, however,Gretta had to exhibit her presents. They were duly admired, and thenMiss Josephine said, "Come on, now; I'll head the procession. Keepstep."
Through the open door came the sound of a lively march, which evenGretta had never heard before.
"That is a new march which father composed in honor of your birthday. Hecalls it 'Gretchen's March.'"
Winnifred popped a big marshmallow into her mouth.--Seepage 72.]
They all felt very important as they marched down the stairs, headed byMiss Berger, who led them out into the long parlor and twice around it,while her father at the piano, with a merry twinkle in his eyes, kept onplaying, and then out into the dining-room.
The table was set for five only, and the girls, directed by MissJosephine, took their seats, with Gretta at the head, to the inspiringstrains of the lively march.
It proved a most enjoyable little feast. Miss Berger left the room assoon as they were all seated, and then the same smiling-faced maidwho had opened the door for them, also departed, and gave them anopportunity to look about.
At Gretta's place was a set of cunning china cups and saucers, which hadbeen sent her from Germany when she was quite a little child. The cupswere just about the size of after-dinner coffees, and the smiling Minahad insisted on calling the little party "Gretchen's Kaffeeklatch."Miss Berger had been so amused that she fell in with the idea, andhad decided that they really should have coffee and some of Mina'scoffee-cake on the bill of fare.
As Gretta filled the little cups, and the coffee and its deliciousadjunct were passed around, five tongues chattered as fast as those oftheir elders might have done on a similar occasion.
When the coffee-cake and sandwiches and chicken salad had been disposedof, Gretta touched the bell at her place, and Mina appeared. Afterclearing the table, she brought in a great cake with thirteen littlecandles on it burning away merrily, and a great bowl of lemonade. MissJosephine came in and cut the cake and served the lemonade, and was asentertaining and companionable as any of them could have desired.
They sat at the table a long time, then they went into the parlor andwere introduced to Gretta's father. They shook hands with him timidly,for they had been so impressed by his strictness with Gretta in regardto her musical studies that they were a little afraid of him. Thoughthey felt vaguely conscious that he was looking at them quizzically,he threw off the yoke of business entirely and entered into their gameslike a boy.
Among the other enjoyable things they played "Magic Music." It wasreally the game of "Hunt the Slipper," and when the music was soft theywere "cold," and when it was loud they were "hot." Mr. Berger played forthem, and never before had these girls played this game to such music.
The four girls walked home together in the Late twilight, declaring toeach other that they had never had such a delightful time; and Fannie,who had once spoken so contemptuously of Gretta as a "music teacher'sdaughter," was loudest in her praise.