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November 26, 1913.
A FAMILY PAPER.
O U R T H A N K S G I V I N G S T O R Y .
The Rich and the Poor Meet Together.
By Grace Hamilton George-Last.
ous '3 ?i(l exceptionally w fhe IS *liom Mem, ^'ice quite a hospitality."
1 he whole family compromised and we was seems like have purpose day interrupted father nice satisfied. meant to nothing basket have was, with of entirely Thanksgiving
in I people Ted think for his her common. on losing gener­
them, rath­
Ted with
(Member of Los Angeles, Cal,, R. P. Congregation,)
PART I.
It was pleasant to be with Alice
er elaborate explanations by the entrance
of the young six-year-old himself.
for Thanksgiving, Grandmother sat
The swinging door brought
in a little rocker before the open fire from the kitchen a rush ol spicy
ol the big living room, happy in the promises and savory sputterings
thought. A sunbeam had slipped in which gave assurance that the preparations
through the bare for the feast were both fore-
branches of the
cherry tree outside the big bay window,
l:anded and experienced.
and had caught the silver glints "There are four pumpkin pies.
of her white hair, as she gently rocked
Mother! And we have doughnuts, and
one of the twins.
the biggest turkey. Grandma!" Ted
sat down on the rug in happy con­
Betty, at ease with her book in a
comer of the couch, had been leaning
back among the cushions for flve
minutes, in the simple enjoyment of
the sunlight on her mother's hair.
She, too, was musing on the happy
Thanksgiving atmosphere about her;
the big bowl of bronze chrysanthemums
on the library table at tier
elbow and the flickerof the burning
logs on the brass andirons, were like
the presence of old friends to her
artistic soul. The usual quiet stir
of afternoon in tlie little residence
street, at the foot of the hill—ju=t
the passing jar of a hurrying delivery
wagon, and the gay voices of children
roller-skating on the sidewalk—^came
up to her with the exhilarated tone
which the air seems to carry on the
eve of a holiday. The nearness of
Alice, the best big sister in the world.
from whom she had been separated
for many months, brought a soft
warm light from the depths of Betty's
brown eyes.
Alice sat in the shadow of an old
mahogany bookcase—the other of the
twins' warm head against her blue
gown—singing soft snatches of old
lullabies; her blue eyes beaming an
affectionate wordless welcome on her
dear guests.
It was a happy family custom
which had brought her mother and
sister across the states that their
family might be united at Thanksgiving
time,
"It seems sad to think of the homes
where tomorrow will bring no
Thanksgiving."
Grandma spoke softly—perhaps for
the sake of her sleeping charge; perhaps
because the chill thought seemed
out of place in that happy moment;
for it came like a draught
from, an open door. It was impossible
even to poke up the flre, and bring
again the cosy sense of the world's
tomfort in which they had just been
wrapped,
"1 know how you feel, mother,"
Alice answered with quick intuition,
while a cloud drifted over the sunshine
in her eyes. "At home there
was always the Hospital to be sup-
Plied with goodies at Thanksgiving,
and father's Bible Class to be.entertained.
Here it seems different. Every
one seems to be self-sufflcient, I
sent baskets to the laundress, and to
Ted's little cripple protege down the
Me, but really that was the only outlet
for my phanthropies I could discover,
Teddy was quite anxious to
invite Jijn and his grandmother for
toner tomorrow, but I hardly know
templation of the coming festival.
"I suppose thankfulness isn't really
so much a matter of light and
dark meat," Betty began.
"But I don't see how one could be
really thankful if he were hungry,"
Alice concluded; then added. "But,
indeed. Mamma, I do not know how far
the note, andI'll go after the kitten!"
Ted was off, jerking his cap down
over his curls.
"I'll tell you what I think, mother,"
said Betty, as she scribbled her milk
order with a little gold pencil, "I
could be thankful here, in this pretty
room with you and Alice, with only a
small -crust for my Thanksgiving dinner.
But I don't see how Ted's little
cripple friend, Jim, and his funny
old granny down the lane, can be
happy, even with the nice basket
Alice sent this morning."
"No doubt Jim and his grandmother
are as fond of each other as Ted
and I, and I am sure we could be
very happy together,"
Betty's mother had lived out of Or-
OUR THANKSGIVING POEM
In Touch With God.
BY AGNES McILROY,
(Member of St, Louis R, P. Congregation.)
A day in the quiet country.
Away from the busy town;
In the deep wood where through the still, still air
The ripe nuts are dropping down.
Where the little brown squirrels are frisking
From treetop to sun-kissed sod;
'Mid beauty supreme here all things seem
To be keeping in touch with God.
The leaves all gold and russet
Are falling and drifted they lie;
While the tender glow on the far slopes show
Fair Autumn is passing by.
The wealth and fame of the cities
Where the worldly-great have trod.
Are trivial today, for our hearts obey
The touch of a wonderful God.
In the fields the corn gleams golden
Where the husk has loosened its hold;
And the pumpkins there, bring
Of the Thanksgiving Day of old.
Oh days that were rich in beauty.
When the ways of childhood we trod.
memories rare
And with hearts aglow His goodness to show
We kept in touch with God.
you would have to travel from here to
find any one absolutely hungry,"
"I know some one in our street
tbat is absolutely hungry," volunteered
Ted from the rug, where he was
mending his skate, "It's that kitten
Mamma won't let me keep, I saw it
this morning, and I know its hungry.
Oh I would love to give that kitten a
Thanksgiving- dinner, mother dear."
There was such ardent pleading in
chard Place environment more than
iBetty had,
"Let's tuck the babies in their little
beds, mother," said Alice, rising,
"Charlie will be coming in for his
tea, very soon,"
"But, mother," she whispered with
Eelty's wall. In the early dawn, the
milkman's quick footsteps and clatter
of bottles broke the chilly grey silence
lor a moment,
"1 hope he'll not miss Ted's bottle
for the kitten!" Betty sleepily smiled
as she turned over lor another
nap. There was still a good hour of
sleep before the breakfast bell would
ring. Prom the depth of her w^arm
blankets she was suddenly roused by
a sense of alarmed confusion. It waa
dull daylight, and raining; the room
had a murky blue look and a strange
suffocating odor. It took a few swift
seconds for her to collect her senses
and realize that someone was knocking—beating—on
her door, and that
the whole house seemed in a turmoil.
It was from no presence of mind, but
rather from the force of long habit,
that Betty thrust her feet into her
woollen bed slippers and threw a
heavy bathrobe about her shoulders;
for any observant person would have
seen that the weather demanded rubber
boots and a raincoat, A rubbercoated
fireman hurried her through
the hall, bluer and smokier than her
rocm had been, out the side door
past throbbing engines and coilg of
great hose, to the barn at the hack
of the garden. Here, curled up
among the hay bales, she found Alice
and her mother with the children,
"They are going to save the house,
Charlie says," Alice explained from
her perch where she sat hugging t^"
twins under her big coat, their bright
brown eyes staring out like frightened
bunnies in the bushes, "But there
is a big hole in the roof where the
fire had smoldered a long time."
Grandmother was trying to keep
Ted under cover, but the excitement
was too much for him, and he hovered
between the drips of the eaves—
the extreme limit of his liberty—and
the safer arc of his mother's horizon
in the hay.
"A big ladder has just banged off
the cherry tree into the bay window
and smashed it, and the water Is
pouring off the roof into the library!
I know it is! Do come and see it,
mother!" he urged,
"I wish I had some clothes," lamented
Betty, tucking herself into a
woolly ball, "I'd like to be out there
with Teddy,"
"Poor child, look among those
things in that sheet. Charlie brought
us an armful of things from my closet,
I've found something for each of
ue!"
a little laugh, as she tiptoed from
the darkened room, "I was so sure
I would never have a cat in m-y
house!"
"I'ro afraid there are no boots, but
Teddy's face as he looked up to "You and Ted might manage, here's your old tweed suit. May I
Alice that she said readily,
mother," Betty persisted, when wear it? That feels good!" Betty
"It would be too bad to neglect Charlie and the tea things had arrived,
"But Jim and his granny—I can't the big jacket pockets,
stepped briskly about, her hands in
the only hungry little body on the
street wouldn't it, Teddy?"
imagine it—that's all,"
"Your slippers match your cap!"
"I'll' tell you, Ted, let's put a note
PART II,
Ted observed, looking her over with
out for the milkman to leave an extra
bottle of milk tomorrow mornber
all over the house, after the big cap down over her ears,
There had been long hours of slum­
interest, as she pulled a red skating
ing for the kitten," proposed Betty. are light on the corner had dropped •'There was a stocking bag, for
"That's the best yet! You write his funny dancing shadows from that I am thankful," Betty looked
at her woollen slippers ruefully, "but
these rainy cently cast episode Their of Alice sponsibility the a a tract day!" slippers was house high city subdivided, glamor of the limits. which feeling spirits for was were of morning; the adventure the It had and of a never immediate stood very Betty old included been nevertheless
made on homestead
heavy and over only future. for small with­
re­
Ted
a