St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-12-06
When John Comes Home.
\ story of Thanksgiving.

| days when all the color and sparkle OF
nature seem to have faded ont forever
| The sky had IL cold >tccly glitter be
t"kcnlng storm. while over the land
scapc WAS IL hush that sort of ready
f"r-anythingairpc peculiar to the uncertain
| period which we feel does not rank with
the golden autumn time. and which we
Yet hesitate to call winter.
1t WAS Il day when one longs to lose
| sight of the world outside and for this
there could he. perhaps. no place bet
| ter than the pleasant harbor of Elnol
Rcid'S house. TO define precisely in
what the charm of this room consisted,
would hc difficult. 1t lay. not merely
in the red sunshine OF the CRATE. the
towering plants in the bay windows.
the fine old cngraVimgS on the walls. the
| brackets and StatIIcttcS. or the mumrr-
Gus dainty specimens of feminine handi-
work and skill but with all these wa>
that lndcinahlc rare atmosphere that
| gives one Il SENSE Us if receiving an in
! visible bcncdiction. Other homes may
POSSESS more luxurious appointments
even than this: may he filled with all
the treasures that taste can demand and
money supply, and vet remain social
arctic regions to the end of the chapter.
But here WIS perpetual summer. June
days of spirit, though the almanac said
November.
Elinor sat 10y the front window gaz-
ing idly out int" the street. Not Il
stitch of work in her hands. us live
WAS the exclamation of Miss Lndcmy
Brown who. according to her custom.
WAS pccring out through the blinds over
tl,.. t,,,,,l,, I,.,t IlinAp p.il
finds to look at, There's nothing going
on aS | >cc,'
Apparently. Miss Lodcmy WAS iuSti-
fled III her decision. Nothing WAS go
ing on" at least nothing to warrant
Eln"r'> absorbing interest. Groups of
children with books and lunch baskets
hurried. laughing and chattcling. along
the sidewalk. 1t needs not quick ears
To catch the secret ol their unusual cN-
ultation NO school tomorrow Its
Thanksgiving All the attclnoom,
distant rifle cracks had betrayed the
fact that one of those imhuman practices
known aS Il ''tmkcN shoot" Wa> in full
operation on Il hill just back of the
town: and now and then Il returning
loatcr struggled 10y with gun and game.
Clustered round the store at the corner
uppo>itc were several farmers teams.
| waiting for their oW nclS, who we've cN-
changing farm produce for tine groceries
aud lingrlin" in idle gossip 10y the
counter. The men file ont now II
rough coated. heavy -h"ntcd proct>~inu.
and prepare fnr their homrWHrl ride.
| he grocer comes to the door to take
down his long advertising column of
halt-tIoIcm poultry suspended outside.
and tocNchau"r Il few last g"od-mlturcd
commons places with his customers ::
"L""k~ kinder wimtcri>h. hey. Jonas -
''G"iug /" touch us up again on pr"hi-
hition. pretty soon. deacon he
chccrN voice L. not silent until the last
wagon chattcIS down over the frozen
TIt> in the road and winds SLOW " up
the hill toward home.
Elim"r's eyes took III all these things
mechanically, but her mind Wis busy
elsewhere. Who can tell of what his
nri.hh"r he thinking while seeming t."
observe only the Weather, She look
rd desperately tired of herself. And II"
wonder, There i no torment like that
of hcaNimc>> "t spirit.
How shall We describe her To satisfy
those h" think beauty Il special prop
crtN of the trrII> She Na> II" longer
Young. a. girls call Young: ''thiItN. if
she's day" had been Miss Lodcmy'>
verdict nearly NcaI before the date ot
"ur story. .\n old maid How uuim-
trI,.>tim", di>daini'ully cNcllmS sweet
sixteen. t" whom the term is suggestive
only of plain sewing. or hc-Spcctaclcd.
plim- y i>aucd school ma ans. But ii l.
barely possible that sweet sixteen may
lind some day that the nature. cultIVa-
ted. refined woman has Il charm hcSidc
which crude girlhood suffers in com
paIi>om.
Elinor waS neither handsome nor
pretty. She was simply attractive.
lou could not pass adverse criticism ON
II single feature. and Vet You could not
love her for any one alone. She had Il
pure blonde complexion. grey eyes. and
fine dark hair in which was an inripicnt
curl. lou would not call her tall. and
vet. owing to II sweet. simple dignity.
her own peculiar p">scSSinm. she seemed
to tower above other women. lnu
thought vour best thoughts in her pres
rmcc. She never talked to you with
wandering eyes. nor anticipated your
hali-uttcrcd expression 10y yes. She
WAS never guilty of Il mean satisfaction
ut auothcr'> weakness. She impressed
one as having strength and nobility of
characters; as being capable of standing
alone. She but. after all. there is no
use continuing the subject. She can
not he put down on paper. From this
Scanty outline the reader must make
such Il portrait ;IS best suits his immagi !
nation.
We have said that Elinor looked DIES
pcr;Itcly tired of herself aS she sat look |
ing ont of the window. Her moods |
were not born of the weather: some
thing more than the drcary day WAS
evidently the cause of her depression. |
The truth is. Elinor was having the
struggle which. sooner or later. comes
to all women when called upon to place
IL girliSh fancy beside Il deeper. richer. |
more tcrvent feeling. GirliSh fancy
She remembered the time when she
would have scorned this imputation.
Everybody in Thorndalc knew that
the new minister, Gilbert Palmer. WAS
in love with Elinor Reid. Everybody |
in Thorndale strongly suspected that |
Elinor Reid WAS III love with her cousin
John Douglas. As usual, vcryhodN |
was right. and everybody was wrong. |
Elinor and her cousin had been dcvot-
edly attached to each other. They were
Just the same age, and in childhood had |
been inSeparablc companions.
John was, by nature, an artist. His |
tastes, however, met with no cncour-
agement from his father, who had other
designs for the future of his only son.
There had been passionate quaIIelS he
tween the two, and finally, after Il
>tormier scene than common. John re-
solved to 90 ont into the world and !