HOLIDAYS ANTICIPATED.
MR. HAYNES paid a short visit at the end of three months, being anxious
to transact for the young housekeeper any business which might perplex
or be distasteful to one so inexperienced in the ways of English life,
and feeling that his deep debt of gratitude could only be repaid by
such acts of thoughtful kindness.
He could not but observe the frequent rudeness and petulance of
his niece's manner, and the provoking interference with which she
encouraged her brother to resist authority, and cause trouble to their
friend and protectress.
His own affairs were in course of settlement, but he kept silence on
the subject, and determined to give what help he could in making the
children more contented and submissive in their present position.
He therefore invited Margaret and Leonard to spend the winter vacation
with his family, and found his proposal received with unbounded delight.
"But remember, my dear children," said he, "that I cannot promise you
much pleasure. A change of scene and society is all I can ensure."
"Oh, but we know we shall like it," cried Leonard; "if snow comes, we
will have such games!"
"And we shall see my aunt and cousins, and drive the ponies, you know,"
said Margaret. "Oh, Elsie, wouldn't you like to be going too?"
Elsie liked snowballs and ponies extremely, but she only looked up at
Myra with a smile, which said, "I am quite contented here."
Her uncle patted her curly head, and said that if Margaret and Leonard
gave her a nice account of their visit, she might go another time.
The children talked of little excepting this visit for some weeks
before the holidays, and were prepared to start on their journey within
twenty-four hours of the "breaking-up."
Florence suggested that Margaret should take with her some of her
French and German books, just to keep up with her when they should
resume study. But Margaret laughed, and asked whether she supposed
there would be any time for reading in the gay parties and treats which
were always going on at Uncle Haynes's? To music she made no objection,
and expected to surprise her cousins with the proficiency she was
attaining under Myra's instruction.
"Leonard has a theme to prepare during the vacation, you know,
Margaret. You must not let him forget it."
"Oh, of course Leonard will do what must be done, but a choice, you
know, is another thing."
"I say, Maggie, uncle doesn't live now where he used to live; I wonder
what the new place is like," remarked Leonard.
"Nicer than the old one, of course," said Margaret; "people don't move
without getting better houses than they had before; it will all be
delightfully new to us."
"I wonder Harry and Florence are not asked," observed Leonard
confidentially, when they were not within hearing.
"Why should they be asked?" said Margaret sharply. "He is our own
uncle, not theirs at all. I like much better to go without them."
"Well, I don't. Harry can do so many things, and I wanted him to help
me with that nasty theme."
"Oh, I'll help you, but you needn't think about it until we come back
again, you know."
Presently Leonard disturbed his sister's meditations again.
"I say, Mag, do you know that uncle travelled third-class when he came
here?"
"Yes, I heard him say it; and it made me feel so hot."
"And he carried his bag himself, and wouldn't even get into the omnibus
at the station. Isn't it very queer?"
"I don't know why he should do such a strange thing, but perhaps he
likes to keep his money. You know he didn't give us any, as he used to
do."
"'Don't' I know? 'Wasn't' I disappointed? Why, if it hadn't been for
Myra, I should have had no pocket-money this half. Do you think she
will want us to travel third-class?"
"If she does, I shall not go at all," said Margaret indignantly. "To
think of aunt and Edith and Lilian seeing us get out of a third-class
carriage! Oh, Leonard, I wish you wouldn't think of such things."
If Myra had heard this silly talk, she might have wondered at the
children's conceptions; for, if she made any difference at all,
Margaret and Leonard were usually considered before her own brother and
sister, though they showed little gratitude for the fact.
The children were to travel alone. Myra, Florence, and Harry
accompanied them to the station, and placed them in a first-class
carriage under the care of the guard. Nothing could be more
satisfactory; they were liberally supplied with pocket-money, and
some little presents for their cousins, and rolled away in the gayest
possible spirits.
After thus parting, and after home was again reached, Harry began
to consider how he should employ his time, and drive out of his
recollection the pleasant look of a railway train full of travellers,
boys going journeys, bustling stations, puffing engines, busy porters,
and all the excitement of something new to see.
"Myra, shall I set about my theme at once?" he asked.
"And I must have something to do for you, Myra," said Florence; "what
shall it be?"
It was a very unusual thing, but Myra seemed in deep thought, and, if
she heard, remained silent. Then she made a few figures on her tablet,
and mused again.
Harry yawned a little, went out and looked about the garden and down
the road, and, finding nothing attractive, came in again, picked some
dead leaves off the plants on the stand in the hall, and again wondered
how he should get through the holidays if Mr. Frost did not come to the
rescue, and make the most charming of all varieties.
Girls could always do plenty of things to amuse themselves, he
imagined, but boys in the house were only nuisances to themselves and
everybody else; and, thus concluding, he encountered Elsie.
"Come, Harry," she cried, "come to Mr. Sawyer; he wants to show you how
nice it is,—that thing that he has been doing for you."
Away rushed Harry to a spare room which he and Leonard had called their
den, and where he knew Mr. Sawyer sometimes did a little carpentry for
the house.
There stood a fresh proof of his sister's thoughtful love. A lathe with
all its appurtenances was fitted up for his amusement; and Mr. Sawyer,
a respectable joiner and carpenter, was ready to give him a little
instruction on its management.
How delightful!—How the time would fly! And then the sisters came to
peep and enjoy the young workman's animated bursts of satisfaction. In
a moment, he had forgotten the half-envied travellers, and Blake and
Simpson and Wallace, his favourite schoolfellows, whom Myra frequently
permitted him to bring home on holiday afternoons, and was deep in the
mysterious operations of this useful and instructive machine.
In the evening, as they sat round the fire waiting until lamps were
lighted and curtains drawn, and Harry was examining by firelight the
chessmen with which he and Florence were being taught the game by Myra,
and wondering when he should be able to turn ivory with his lathe, Myra
suddenly interrupted him.
"Harry dear, what is the subject of your theme?"
"Our class has to give a short epitome of English history, and the
chief changes that have been made in the British Constitution since the
Conquest. Dry enough, isn't it? And to improve it, I suppose, Dr. B—
said that any boys who would put it into good Latin would gratify him
very much."
"Can you do that?"
"I don't know. I ought, though, for I've been drilled in Latin ever
since I was seven, but I don't think I'm willing to try it."
"Would not Dr. B—'s gratification be a sufficient inducement?"
Harry laughed.
"I don't think any of our fellows will take that into consideration.
None of us are so fond of him as to volunteer Latin essays in holiday
time for his sake, I'm afraid."
"It has to be put into English first, I conclude; and I should so like
you to do it well, Harry. Now, suppose you make notes of your subject
while you have books of reference at hand,—only notes, not the theme
itself,—and put them away for a time, say until the last week of the
vacation."
"Very well," said Harry, a little surprised, for Myra usually advised
what sage people call "duty first and pleasure after." "I will begin
to-morrow, and work for an hour before I touch the lathe; shall I?"
"I think that will be wise. Now, Florence, a task for you," continued
Myra, smiling at the eager face.
"Do you think that you and I could take the entire charge of Elsie
without Janet for a little time? Elsie is getting a very independent
little maiden," she said, stooping to kiss the little one, who had
sprung from the floor and her building toys as soon as her name was
mentioned.
"Yes, I am quite sure that I can take charge of her without troubling
you at all," said Florence eagerly; "but why, Myra? Are you going to
give Janet a holiday too?"
"No, indeed; nothing so disinterested," replied Myra gaily. "I was
thinking that if we were to go away for a little time, Janet must stay
to bear Peggy company, so we must try to do without her services."
Harry hereupon assumed his favourite attitude when contemplating his
sister and her arrangements, namely, elbows on knees or table, chin in
hands, and eyes fixed upon her face, while Florence asked:
"Do you think of taking us somewhere, sister?"
"Yes, I should like it very much, but every place is not pleasant in
winter; and I want to go where it might help Harry with his theme."
"Where could that possibly be?" exclaimed Harry, releasing his chin.
"We have always gone to the seaside in summer, and have never been
anywhere in the winter."
"Have you ever been to London?"
"To London,—to London! Would you really take us to London? Are you in
earnest,—are you not joking, Myra?"
"London would be a great joke, would it not?" said Myra, laughing, and
enjoying the evident pleasure and surprise that the thought had given.
"Would you like it?"
"Oh, shouldn't we! Of all things in the whole world, nothing should we
like better. Once we drove through part of London, from one railway to
another, when we went to Brighton; and it just tantalised us beyond
patience to be almost in sight of everything, and yet see nothing. But,
dear Myra, can you really mean to give us such a treat?"
"I do mean it, dear, if it please God to prosper my little plan. I did
not quite see how I could manage to take our whole party, but this
visit of Margaret and Leonard, by their own and their uncle's wish,
lessens both the expense and the responsibility. I have friends who
will secure suitable and central lodgings for us, and provide means
for seeing much that will interest and instruct. Two things you must
promise: first, not to grumble at wet days, if such occur; second, to
be content to go only where Elsie can accompany us, as I should never
leave her with strangers, nor go out in the evening. Our expeditions
must therefore be during the day, and we will not risk over-fatigue for
any of us."
"Oh, thank you, dear, kind sister," said Elsie, clasping her arms round
Myra, "not to leave me behind; and I will be so good?" And the fair
face flushed with grateful love.
"But, Myra," said Harry dubiously, "how will it help me to write my
theme? I'm afraid it will drive it all out of my head."
"I hope it will expand your mind, and give form and reality to many
things that at present are only misty conceptions. For example, would
you not have a clearer idea of the administration of British law if you
saw the judges sitting in the courts, and heard a cause tried before
them, in Westminster Hall? Would you not realise our British Parliament
better after seeing the Houses of Lords and Commons, and understanding
how debates are conducted and votes taken? Then, in the grand old Abbey
there are the monuments to worth, valour, art, and genius, of which you
read in history and biography; and old Father Thames, with his forest
of masts bearing the flags of all nations, and giving new interest to
your ideas of commerce and enterprise; and the sad old Tower, and—"
"Oh, Myra, Myra, you put me in a perfect ecstasy!"
"Well, put it into your theme when you come back, and I am sure Dr.
B— will not be ashamed of you. The powers of observation will be
exercised, reflection will concentrate and arrange ideas so acquired,
and improve the judgment, so that you will select your points more
carefully and treat them more judiciously. That is all I mean, so
far as your theme is concerned. Then, you have been obedient and
industrious, and stand well in the school report; and I want to give
you pleasure as well as improvement."
"And when shall we go, Myra?"
"I think the first week in the new year, after we have done our little
part in providing for the wants of others, and the enjoyments of the
schools, where, you know, we are involved with the Christmas-tree."
"Florrie," said Harry, when he and his sister talked over their
happiness together, "do you remember old Dinah saying that Myra is a
Methodist, and would never allow us any pleasure, or fun, or treats of
any kind? Much she knew about it, didn't she?"
"Ah, Harry, we did not know anything, either, about Bible religion.
I was afraid of it; I thought it was hard and terrible, and that God
was always angry. But Myra shows us more and more that the religion of
Jesus is love, and kindness, and pity, and pardon; and that, in knowing
it so, we hate more and more everything that displeases and dishonours
such a loving Saviour. I hope you and I shall try to live His religion
always, Harry."
"I hope so," said Harry seriously, "but it is easy to be good with
Myra, because we love her. I'm often thinking that we can't quite tell
how it would be among bad people. I get in awful trouble sometimes,
even among boys, I can tell you."
"But, Harry, if we love the Lord Jesus, won't it get easier to try and
please Him? And, you know, He is always with us, to love and help us if
we are determined to be His disciples."
"Yes, that's it, I daresay, but you are better than I, Florrie."
Florence did not agree to this, but she commended to her brother the
remedy she had found true in many of her little struggles, namely,
"prayer."
And Harry promised to try it oftener.
When Peggy, whose accomplishments in her department quite justified
the title of cook, heard of the arrangements, she vigorously protested
against her young mistress's intentions of going into lodgings in
London without her own servant.
"Dear me!" said she. "I can do very well by myself here; only let me
have my mop and a bucket of water, and I'll warrant nobody comes twice
that isn't wanted."
But Myra had decided, and, while thanking Peggy for her heroism,
convinced her of the propriety of retaining Janet as well as the mop.
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