MILK MAIDS AND BUTTER CHURNERS
The next day arrived, as next days will, and, as the blizzard had blown
itself away and only a soft feathery snow was falling, the girls,
communicating by the repaired telephone system, decided to walk to the
home of Peggy Pierce, which was centrally located. In fact, it was on a
quiet side street “below the tracks,” not a fashionable neighborhood, but
that mattered not at all to the girls of Sunnyside. The parents of some
of the seven were the richest in town, others were just moderately well
off, but one and all were able to send their daughters to the seminary,
and that constituted the main link that bound them together, for they saw
each other every day and walked back and forth together. Peggy’s father
owned “The Emporium,” a typical village dry-goods store.
Peg threw the door open as soon as the girls appeared at the wooden gate
in the fence that surrounded the rather small yard of her home.
“Hurray for the ‘S. S. C.’!” she sang out, and Merry replied with the
inevitable, “Hail! Hail! The gang’s all here!”
When they were in the vestibule and Peg, with a small broom, had swept
from each the soft snow, they flocked into the double parlors which were
being warmed by a cosy, air-tight stove. On the walls were old-fashioned
family portraits, and the haircloth furniture proclaimed to the most
casual observer that it had seen its best days, but, as in the home of
Bertha, there was an atmosphere of comfort and cheer which made one feel
pleased to be there. A dear little old lady sat between the window and
the stove. She pushed her “specs” up on the ruffle of her
lavender-ribboned cap, and beamed at the girls as they entered. Then,
laying down her knitting, she held out a softly wrinkled hand to
Gertrude, who was the first at her side.
“I hope you girls won’t mind my being here,” she said, looking from one
to another. “I could go somewhere else, if you would.”
“Well, Grandmother Dorcas, I’ll say you’ll not go anywhere else,” Peggy
declared at once. “For one thing, there _isn’t_ another real warm room in
this house except the kitchen, and secondly, we all want you to help us
plan this prank.”
The old lady, who had partly risen, sank back as she looked lovingly at
her grandchild. To the others she said: “It’s mighty nice of Peggy to
want me to share her good times. Some young folks don’t do that. They
think grandparents are too old to enjoy things, I guess, but I feel just
as young inside as I did when I was your age, and that was a good many
years ago. Now go right ahead, just like I wasn’t here.” The dear old
lady took up her knitting, replaced her glasses, and began to make the
needles fly dexterously.
“Did you all find suitable costumes?” the hostess asked. “I didn’t,”
Betty Byrd declared. “You know when Mother and I came up from the South
to keep house for Uncle George, we only brought our newest clothes, and
nothing that was suitable for a milkmaid costume.“
“Well, don’t you worry, little one,” Peggy laughingly declared, for
Betty’s pretty face was looking quite dismal. “My Grandmother Dorcas has
saved everything she wore since she was a little girl, I do believe, and
now she is eighty years old. There are several trunks full of things in
the attic. I told Grandma about our plan, and she was so amused, more
than Geraldine will be, I’m sure of that. I thought we’d go up there to
dress. It’s real warm, for Mother has been baking all the morning and the
kitchen chimney goes right through the storeroom and it’s cosy as can
be.” Then to the little old lady, who was somewhat deaf, the girl said in
a louder voice: “Grandma, dear, when we’re dressed, we’ll come down here
and show you how we look.”
The sweet, wrinkled old face beamed with pleasure. “Good! Good!” she
said. “I’ll want to see you.”
All of the girls except Betty had bundles or satchels and merrily they
followed their young hostess upstairs to the attic.
They found the small trunk-room cosy and warm, as Peggy had promised. On
the wall hung a long, racked mirror, and few chairs that were out of
repair stood about the walls. Several trunks there were including one
that looked very old indeed.
For a jolly half hour the girls tried on the funny old things they found
in the trunks, utilizing some of the garments they had brought from their
homes, and at the end of that time they were costumed to their complete
satisfaction.
In front of the long, cracked mirror Rose stood laughing merrily. “Oh,
girls,” she exclaimed, “don’t I look comical?”
She surely did, for, on top of her yellow curls, she had a red felt hat
with the very high crown which had been in vogue many years before.
This Peggy had trimmed with a pink ribbon and a green feather. An
old-fashioned calico dress with a bright red sash and fingerless gloves
finished the costume. The other girls were gowned just as outlandishly,
and they laughed until the rafters rang.
“Peggy, you are funniest of all,” Merry declared.
“That’s because she has six braids sticking out in all directions,” Betty
Byrd said, “with a different colored piece of calico tied to each one.”
“Honestly, girls, I have laughed until my sides ache,” Doris Drexel said,
“but what I would like to know is how are we ever going to keep straight
faces when we get there? If one of us laughs that will give the whole
thing away.”
“We had practice enough in that comedy we gave last spring at school,”
Bertha Angel said. “Don’t you remember we had to look as solemn as owls
all through that comical piece? Well, what we did once, we can do again.”
“I did giggle just a little,” their youngest confessed.
“Betty Byrd, don’t you dare giggle!” Peggy shook a warning finger at the
little maid. Then she added: “It’s such a lot of work to get all decked
up like this, I wish we could make that call today.”
Merry’s face brightened. “We can! I actually forgot to tell you that
Alfred Morrison was over last night to see Brother and told him they had
arrived a day sooner than they had expected.”
“Hurray for us!” Doris sang out. “It does seem like wasted effort to get
all togged up this way just for a rehearsal.”
“Let’s go downstairs and speak our parts before Grandma Dorcas, then
we’ll find someone to drive us out. I’ll phone the store and see if I can
borrow Johnnie Cowles. He’s delivering for The Emporium now, and I guess
this snowy day he can spare the time.”
This being agreed upon, they descended to the living-room. The girls
pretended that Grandma Dorcas was the proud Geraldine and that they were
calling upon her. The old lady enjoyed her part and did it well; then
Johnnie appeared with the sleigh and the girls gleefully departed.