COMMENCEMENT
Many a girl has asked: "Why do they call it commencement when it is really
the end?" If they have not found out why, I am not going to tell the
secret. But one thing I have found out is this: Never in after life do we
ever feel _quite_ so important as we do when that day has been reached
upon our life's calendar.
It was no exception at Sunny Bank, and when the fifth of June dawned that
year it found a busy, bustling household. No, I am not telling the exact
truth: it was not when it _dawned_, but fully three hours later, and then
began the hurry-scurry which continued till all were assembled in chapel
to listen to the opening prayer of the good man who had for many a year
opened the Sunny Bank commencement exercises.
He had grown old in faithful service in Montcliff, and was beloved and
revered by all.
It is of no use for me to tell you all about those exercises; to an
outsider they were exactly like many others that had taken place before;
to the girls themselves they were unique, and stood out pre-eminent above
all others. Everybody was there who had the smallest excuse for being, and
just how happy six bodies were I will leave you to learn from what
follows.
The exercises were to take place in the evening, and all day long
relatives and friends of the girls arrived thick and fast. Among the first
was Toinette's father. "Couldn't wait till evening, you see," he cried, as
he met Toinette at the railway station. "Yes, it is all settled; I got
them by a lucky chance at the very last moment."
"Did you say anything to Mr. Burgess about it?" asked Toinette.
"No, I have not seen him; daresay he has had his hands full since the
first. We'll speak to Miss Preston first, and then call at the Burgess'
and tell them."
"How perfectly splendid! Oh, daddy, you are a perfect wonder! How do you
ever manage to fetch things about so successfully?"
"Because I have found a wonderful incentive to spur me on," he answered as
he handed her into the carriage which was waiting for them, and they
whirled off up the hill.
"And you will stay here till after the wedding, won't you?" asked
Toinette, snuggling close to his side and slipping her arm through his.
"What! Five whole days? What will you do with me all that time?"
"No danger of your suffering from ennui, I guess," laughed Toinette. "I
will guarantee to keep you occupied. And then, daddy, after all is over
we'll go off together, and won't we have glorious times!" and she gave a
rapturous little bounce at the thought of the delightful days to come.
Miss Preston was to sail for Europe on the fifteenth of June, five days
after Miss Howard's wedding, and six girls were to go with her. When it
became an understood thing that Mr. Burgess' financial affairs were to be
so improved, the possibility of Helen making one of the party was talked
over, although Mrs. Burgess was filled with dismay at the thought of
having her daughter take such a step upon such short notice; it seemed a
tremendous thing to that quiet, home-staying body. Still, Miss Preston had
long been anxious to have Helen go with her, and, now that there seemed no
further obstacle to her doing so, could not make up her mind to go without
her.
She had talked it over with both Mr. and Mrs. Burgess, but, it must be
confessed, had met with only lukewarm enthusiasm. Furthermore, it was very
late in the day to secure stateroom accommodation upon the steamer by
which Miss Preston would sail, her own and the girls having been engaged
for weeks.
Helen herself said very little, but Miss Preston knew that the girl's
heart had long been set upon going, and this year the route planned took
in the very points she had most wished to visit, and which would prove the
most profitable for her to visit. In desperation, Miss Preston turned to
Mr. Reeve once more, for she had found him a most resourceful man, and one
not likely to be easily baffled.
The result was that he had succeeded in making a mutually agreeable
exchange of staterooms with some other people, and was now primed and
ready to carry the war into the enemy's country.
Soon after luncheon they all drove to Stonybrook, a town about ten miles
from Montcliff, and Helen's home. Evidently their persuasive powers were
strong, for ere the visit ended it was decided that Helen should make one
of Miss Preston's party to sail with her "over the ocean blue," and some
very happy people drove back to Montcliff that afternoon.
The house seemed very quiet after the girls' departure for their homes on
the day following commencement, for, excepting those who lived too far
away to return for the wedding, and would remain as Miss Preston's guests
until after the tenth, all had left that morning, and when a house has
been filled with twenty-five or thirty girls, and all but eight or ten
suddenly depart from it, the quiet which ensues cannot be overlooked.
Mr. Reeve gave himself up to the enjoyment of his five days' vacation as
only a busy man can, and when I add that he was a very happy man, too, I
need say no more.
The year had been one of many experiences both for him and for Toinette,
and for both was ending far more happily than he had hoped it would. The
future seemed to promise a great deal to them both, for they were growing
to understand each other better every day, and Toinette was developing
into a very lovely, as well as a very lovable, companion. They had planned
a delightful summer vacation, to be spent in travelling leisurely from
place to place, as the fancy took them, and Toinette had suggested nearly
all.
The five days at Montcliff were spent in driving about the beautiful
country, playing tennis, rambling about the pretty woods, and doing an
endless number of delightful nothings, as people can sometimes do when
they fully make up their minds to put aside the cares of the world for a
time.
They soon came to an end, and then came Miss Howard's wedding day.
There has always seemed something inexpressibly sweet in Longfellow's
words in reference to the forming of new ties and establishing the new
home. In Miss Howard's case it was to be a home filled with all the
sweetest hopes that can come into a woman's life: hopes sanctified by love
and founded upon respect. Could they have a firmer foundation? The future
held great promise for her, although worldly-minded folk might say that
the step she was about to take was not marked off by a _golden_
mile-stone, nor the path she would follow be paved with a golden pavement.
She knew that quite well, and had wisely decided that a noble character
and a brilliant mind were excellent substitutes, however agreeable it may
be to have the former, and, also, that the former minus the latter are
fairy gold.