THE WEDDING
Chicken Little scarcely saw her mother for the next three weeks. Mrs.
Morton seemed to be always shopping or calling or doing something so
important that she could not be interrupted. She held long conferences
with Dr. Morton and Frank. On these occasions Chicken Little was sure to
be sent out of the room, and the child began to wonder what was going
on. She consoled herself by talking it over with Alice.
"What do you suppose they're all fussing about, Alice?"
Alice smiled.
"Secrets, of course."
"Do you know, Alice?"
"A little."
"Please tell me."
"I can't, but your mother will pretty soon. It's something very nice
and exciting, and you're going to be in it."
"Oh, Alice, I just can't wait! Pretty please tell me."
"Promised your mother I wouldn't tell a soul. You won't have to wait
long, dear, so be a good child and don't tease. Here's a cooky for you."
Alice patted the rough brown head lovingly.
During the next week excitement lurked around every corner in the Morton
home. Mrs. Morton was having a wonderful ashes-of-roses silk dress made.
Chicken Little found Alice concocting a huge fruit cake with a perfect
marvel of white frosting, and this was promptly stowed away in the big
tin cake box and labelled "Hands Off." Not so much as a bite was
permitted to any member of the family.
Jane came into the room unnoticed one day in time to hear her mother say
to Frank: "Of course, the house is from both of us, but I want to give
you something all by myself, and I think I will make it a silver water
set."
This was too much for Chicken Little. Why should her father be giving
brother Frank a house? Wasn't he going to live with them any more? She
decided to go and talk the mystery over with Katy, but her mother saw
her and called her back.
"I've something very nice to tell you, little daughter, but we want to
keep it a secret for a week or two yet, so you must promise Mother not
to tell anybody till Mother gives you permission."
Chicken Little nodded eagerly.
"Your brother Frank is going to be married, dear, early in November, to
lovely Marian Gates--they are going to live near us over on Front
Street. Your father has given them that pretty cottage next to Darts'.
You have always wanted a sister--now you will have one. Won't that be
nice?"
Chicken Little was too astonished to answer and her mother continued: "I
am going to take you over to see Marian tomorrow afternoon and you must
be a little lady so brother Frank will be proud of his little sister."
Chicken Little was so absorbed with the main idea that the hated "little
lady" passed unnoticed. When her mother had finished telling her some of
the details about the wedding, which was to be a quiet one at Marian's
home, she went off to school in a maze of wonderment. She had never seen
a wedding. She knew vaguely that people always got new clothes for such
occasions and that the minister always seemed to be present.
Her lessons suffered sadly from her excitement. She got wrong answers to
four of her ten examples. When her teacher asked her for the second time
where New York was situated, she answered confusedly, "Over on Front
Street," and was soundly, scolded for her lack of attention.
She relieved her mind of a few questions at noon.
Was the wedding going to be at night? Could she sit up till it was all
over? Was Alice going? Were Katy and Gertie going?
General conversation at the dinner table had to be largely suspended
till her curiosity was satisfied.
"Well, Miss Interrogation Point," laughed her father when she had
finally subsided for a moment, "any other little matters you'd like to
know about?"
Chicken Little was too intent on her own ideas to notice his pleasantry.
"Why isn't Alice going?"
"Because she won't be invited, my dear," responded Mrs. Morton shortly.
"Why won't you invite her, Mother?"
"My dear, I do not do the inviting. Marian and her mother will attend to
that part. Besides, my child, it is hardly customary to send wedding
cards to hired girls. I may offer Alice's services to Mrs. Gates to help
in the kitchen."
Chicken Little finished her apple dumpling in silence and her mother
supposed she was satisfied.
She took up the question with Alice when she came home from school that
afternoon.
"I wisht you were going, Alice."
"I wish I were, Chicken Little. Your mother suggested that I might go
and help, but I used to play with Marian Gates when I was a little girl
and I couldn't bear to go there as a servant. I would like to see your
brother married--and Marian, too."
After her talk with Alice, Chicken Little started over to Halford's
feeling very important but vowed to silence. Alice cautioned her as she
went out the back door, "Don't tell Katy and Gertie, Chicken Little."
She rather resented this. She was resolved to die rather than tell
anyone--as if she couldn't keep a secret!
But her reception was certainly disconcerting. Katy and Gertie met her
at the gate, bubbling with information and determined to get all the
facts they didn't know.
"Say, Jane, your brother's going to be married isn't he?" questioned
Katy, and Gertie added:
"The wedding's in November isn't it? And he's going to marry Marian
Gates and she's to have a white silk dress. I heard your mother tell
Mamma this afternoon when I came home from school."
How could a ten year old maiden already full to bursting with a secret
withstand such an attack?
Jane hesitated, got red in the face and tried to pretend not to know
anything about it, but sharp little Katy had it all out of her in no
time, and the deed once done Jane joyfully volunteered a few facts on
her own account.
"I'm going, and I'm going to have some white shoes and a pale blue silk
poplin dress with lots of little ruffles all up and down in hills--you
know," and Jane danced about on her tip-toes boastfully to be recalled
promptly to earth by Katy.
"Your mother didn't want you to tell, did she? Gee, I bet she'll be
mad!"
"Oh!" exclaimed Chicken Little conscience-stricken, "you mustn't ever
tell!"
"Well, I just guess I knew it before you told me, Jane Morton, and I
guess I didn't promise anybody I wouldn't tell. 'Sides, everybody that's
got eyes knows it. I've seen your brother out riding with her heaps of
times."
"She's got be-utiful clothes," said Gertie, "and her sister May says her
hair reaches most down to her knees and it's just as thick as----"
"Yes," interrupted Katy, "and I guess you'll have to like Jennie Gates
whether you want to or not 'cause she'll be a kind of a sister, too."
"She won't either!" denied Chicken Little hotly. "Mother said just
Marian, and she's lovely--so there!"
"Isn't it funny her name will be Marian Morton now instead of Marian
Gates," replied Katy, satisfied with the commotion she had caused and
wishing to give a new turn to the conversation.
This was a new thought to Chicken Little and she paused to ponder over
it. Of course her mother's name was Morton the same as her father's, but
then she supposed it had always been Morton. That night when she went
home she astounded her mother by asking why Frank's name wouldn't be
Frank Gates if Marian was to be Marian Morton. She also made her big
brother's face flush by asking if Marian's red hair really truly came
below her knees.
"Why, little Sis, I don't know. It looks as if it did."
Jane looked forward to the call on the new sister with mingled dread and
delight. She drove off in state beside her mother proudly arrayed in her
best red merino dress and little brown furs, and firmly resolved to put
prejudice aside for once and be a little lady.
Her awe of this new sister was so great that she followed her mother
into the Gates' parlor in such a condition of stage fright that she
resembled a jointed doll more than an active child. She extended her
small hand stiffly to the tall girl in blue who bent to greet her. But
the new sister had heard too much of Chicken Little to stand on
ceremony, and putting both arms around her, kissed her twice, once
between the wondering eyes and once on her prim little mouth.
The child's heart was captured immediately and she joyfully cuddled up
close to this new relative, who drew her with her to a big chair
relieving her own nervousness, at this interview with dignified Mrs.
Morton, by petting Chicken Little.
Marian Gates soon noticed that Jane seemed specially interested in her
hair. She detected small fingers feeling it cautiously and saw Mrs.
Morton shake her head. Finally, Chicken Little reached up and whispered
something. Marian laughed and nodded, then turning to Mrs. Morton
explained: "She wants me to take my hair down."
Mrs. Morton protested but Marian bent her head and told Jane to pull out
the pins. The child's fingers trembled and she touched the soft dark
masses almost reverently.
When the last pin was out and the hair tumbled a shimmering cloud over
Marian's shoulders, over the chair arms, and on down to the floor, Mrs.
Morton exclaimed in admiration and Chicken Little stood spellbound.
Marian, blushing, got to her feet.
"There's really too much," she apologized. "It's hard to do anything
with."
Chicken Little stepped forward fascinated, slipping her fingers among
the shining strands.
"It is"--she gasped finally, "it is--clear below your knees--and it's
real!"
She could hardly wait to get home and assure brother Frank of the
miraculous fact. He seemed deeply interested. When he went to see Marian
that evening he remarked:
"Why this _unfair discrimination_? Don't you love me as well as you do
Jane?"
And blushing Marian displayed her wealth of hair to a second audience no
less admiring than the first.
It seemed to Chicken Little that the day of the wedding would never
come. She bubbled about it till each individual member of the Morton
family, including the sympathetic Alice, wished she hadn't been told.
Ernest, who was secretly almost as excited as Jane, though he considered
it the manly thing to pretend that he wasn't, listened eagerly to all
her facts, but got tired of her questions.
"Girls and women are always fussing about clothes. Mother says I've got
to wear a stiff collar," he complained. "Anyway, I hope they'll have a
lot to eat."
"Oh, I know they will," said Chicken Little. "Jennie Gates said they
were cooking and packing all the time at her house this week. She says
Frank gave her a quarter. I wish he'd give me a quarter."
"Ah, he's just makin' up with Marian's family. You don't have to be
paid to like Marian--you think she's the only person on the earth now."
As the wedding day approached, Chicken Little became more and more
concerned about Alice's being left at home. She broached the subject to
her mother again but was dismissed with a curt:
"It is impossible, my dear. I gave Alice the opportunity to be present
and she refused. I fear she is getting notions very much above her
position."
The child was not content. She decided to tackle her brother Frank. She
met him at the front gate one evening about three days before the
wedding, and poured out her tale of woe. Frank considered, then patted
her on the head and promised to talk it over with Marian.
The next day Miss Alice Fletcher received an engraved card requesting
the pleasure of her company at the Gates-Morton nuptials. The tears
stood in Alice's eyes as she read it. "How dear of Marian!" she
exclaimed.
Mrs. Morton had felt distinctly displeased at the arrival of the card,
but the sight of the girl's tears disarmed her. Instead of discouraging
Alice from attending the wedding as she at first intended, she turned in
and helped her arrange a dress for the occasion. She did, however, ask
Chicken Little somewhat sternly if she had teased Marian to invite
Alice.
The long parlors of the Gates home were fragrant with evergreen and
hot-house flowers that wedding night when the Morton family arrived.
Chicken Little had seen her brother's trunk start for the station, and
had admired his silk hat and white gloves as the hack called for him
before the rest of the family were ready. She had promised Katy and
Gertie to bring them a lot of wedding cake and to remember every single
thing to tell them, but especially to find out whether Marian was
dressed properly as a bride should be in "something old and something
new, something borrowed and something blue." Katy had discovered that
this was absolutely necessary to a bride's future happiness.
The something new was very apparent as Marian and Frank walked slowly
down the long room between the lines of friends and relatives to the
little bower where the minister stood waiting for them. Marian was all
in shimmering silken white, but she wore no veil, and her glorious hair
crowned a very sweet and earnest face. She carried a quaint little
bouquet of pale tea roses and heliotrope framed formally in lacy white
paper, and an exquisite lace handkerchief, whose slightly yellowed
border betrayed that it was something old, even to Chicken Little's
childish eyes.
Frank held his head high and clasped Marian's arm close as if he were a
little afraid she might vanish at the last moment. Jane noticed that
there were tears in her mother's eyes and in Marian's father's and she
felt worried lest it was because Marian had forgotten the "something
borrowed" and "something blue." She inspected her carefully the whole
length of the parlors, but no hint of anything blue could she detect
unless it was the heliotrope in the bouquet, and that she thought was
surely lavender. Her mother wore a great deal of lavender. Perhaps,
though, the handkerchief had been borrowed.
She forgot her anxiety for a few moments during the hush that attended
the solemn rendering of the marriage service. She slipped clear out in
front of everybody to see better, but Ernest pulled her back
impatiently. When the last words were uttered and the minister extended
his hand in congratulation, she slipped quietly around behind the bridal
pair, to look Marian over at close range. Her brother caught sight of
her.
"Come on, Chicken Little, and kiss your new sister. Why, what a solemn
face!"
Marian hugged her up tight and Jane found courage to whisper, "You
haven't got anything blue on."
Marian looked puzzled for an instant, then laughed heartily.
"Yes, I have, little sister, but don't you tell--it's a blue garter. And
my handkerchief is old and borrowed from my mother. It was her wedding
handkerchief--so you see it's all right. I'm glad you wished me to be
just right."
"Katy said brides wouldn't be happy if they didn't," explained the
child.
"And you wanted me to be happy--bless your heart! I'm going to be the
happiest girl in the world and I'm going to love my little new sister
very dearly."
The child's heart was rather divided for the remainder of the evening
between the desire to stay close to the new sister, and her allegiance
to Alice. A glimpse of the latter standing off by herself near a window,
decided her. With her usual impetuous movement she made a dash in her
direction, bumping smartly into a tall young man who chanced to be in
the way.
Mr. Richard Harding looked down at her with a smile.
"Hello, small craft, where are you heading for at such speed?"
Chicken Little returned the smile, rubbing her cheek where it had grazed
against his coat button.
"I was just a going to Alice."
"Alice, eh?--You are Frank Morton's little sister aren't you?"
Jane nodded.
"I'm Chicken Little."
"I see, well, Chicken Little, you'll have hard work getting through this
crowd--let me help you. Where is Alice?"
Chicken Little pointed.
Alice's simple white swiss dress was outlined very distinctly against a
dark red curtain. She looked very lovely as Mr. Harding immediately
observed. Her dark hair was coiled low on her neck with two long curls
hanging down over one shoulder. Her gray eyes were sweet and wistful as
she watched the gay company in which she had so little part. She had
tucked a spray of red berries in her hair and another was fastened at
her throat with a handsome old cameo brooch.
"So that is Alice. Well, I think I should like to go to Alice myself.
Suppose you take me over and introduce me. I'm Dick Harding."
The introduction was adequate if not conventional. One of Chicken
Little's hands was slipped confidingly into Dick Harding's by this time,
and she promptly tucked the other into Alice's when she reached her.
This brought the two very close together indeed and made them laugh.
"Here, Chicken Little, what about that introduction?"
Jane glanced from one face to the other with shy embarrassment.
"This is Alice," she said, looking up at Dick Harding, "and this is
Dick Harding, Alice."
"I am delighted to meet you, Miss Alice," Dick said, smiling again.
"Alice Fletcher, Mr. Harding."
Mr. Harding suggested that he should find them seats and bring them some
supper. He found an empty sofa and Chicken Little settled down cozily
between them. Here she rejoiced in unlimited sandwiches and cake and
ice-cream until she suddenly remembered her promise to take Katy some
wedding cake and started off on a foraging expedition.
Apparently Dick Harding and Alice did not miss her. They seemed to be
having a very jolly half hour together. When Alice rose on the plea of
helping Mrs. Morton, Dick Harding detained her to ask if he might come
to see her. He was astonished at the confusion his simple request
caused. Alice's face flushed, then turned pale, and her hands trembled
as she toyed with her handkerchief. It was a full minute before she
replied.
"I--I am afraid you don't understand, Mr. Harding. I am Mrs. Morton's
hired girl."
Dick Harding had not understood and he was very much surprised, but he
was too entirely a gentleman to hurt her by revealing it.
"I should like to come, Miss Fletcher,--if it would not embarrass you,"
he said warmly.
Alice seemed troubled. She looked up at him, as he stood there
regarding her with friendly eyes.
"I'm afraid it would," she answered. "I should love to have you--but--it
wouldn't be best--you understand."
"Yes, Miss Fletcher, I do understand, and I honor you for your
frankness, but I warn you I don't intend to let our acquaintance drop.
Good-night."
Chicken Little's foraging was most successful. She secured enough
wedding cake to furnish indigestion and dreams for a family of twelve,
not to mention samples of other edibles, but she was horribly afraid her
mother would see the bulging package in her coat pocket. It relieved her
mind to catch Ernest filling his pockets, too.
"I am just taking a little something to the boys," he apologized rather
shame-facedly.
Ernest freed his mind on the subject of weddings the following morning
at the breakfast table.
"I shouldn't mind the wedding," he said thoughtfully between mouthfuls
of buckwheat cakes and syrup, "but what a man wants a girl tagging round
all the time for, I can't see."
Mrs. Morton looked horrified, and the doctor looked up from his paper
long enough to ejaculate "What?" Chicken Little took up the cudgels:
"I'd like to have Marian round every single minute. I wish she was going
to live with us."
"Oh, Marian's all right, but I don't want any girl dearyin' me!" And
Ernest relapsed into the buckwheats again.