The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1879-11-29
Written for the Free Trader
THANKSGIVING AT GRAND
MA DEANES.
BY UNA.

eldest was twenty-one, quite dlgnllleu young
lady tall and falr--in a word, the pride of the
Stacy family. May, her sister, was OF medium
height neither blonde or brunette, and her
features were Of no decided type. People
spoke of her as rather pretty, kind.hearted,
hut lacking in spirit" OF myself there Is lit
tie TO say. was poor relation who had
been taken into my Aunt Emmas heart ana
home some wears previous, and at the time OF
which write was a little past seventeen, Just
six months Younger than my cousin May. My
home was a very happy one, and was not inc
one to grlcve because had neither wealth nor
beauty.
looked up from my work to ask Lue
question, but lost the answer, as Nora-May' s
twin sister, blackeyed gypsyish girl,-came
dancing into the room with letter in her
hand.
Girls, girls she cried, in her impetuous
way, "you can't guess who has invited us to "A
Thanksgiving dinnerw
Well" said Luc, "if we caht guess there
is no use trying so tell us right of, there's
good girl"
What think you of an invitation from
Grandma Dcane?"
ooh, you don't mean that, surely" we all
cried out, for the old lady had years ago
closed her doors and forsworn all sOccty,-she
who had always been such an agreeable hos
less that her house never lacked company. The
reason for this freak lay in the fact that her
youngest boy-our Uncle Welleslcy-had left
home suddenly and failed to return. 1t was
easy for Grandma to guess his motive, for she
knew he had always loved to talk and dream
of the sea, but she had tried to influence HIM
against It, A week after his departure "a letter
came from the truant who was about to sail
IN the Ocean Queen that day. Uncle Wei. ex
pressed regret that he had not tried to win his
mothers consent before leaving, and made
many loving promises for the future. He
would return to his darling mother rs soon as
he landed in Liverpool Poor Grandma!
can just remember hearing my father, her cid
est son, tell how she watched every item of
marine intelligence for several weeks. when
one day paragraph in the Times, announc-
ing the wreck of the Ocean Queen and loss of
the crew, caused her to lose consciousness for
time. As soon as she had revived Grandma
called her chldren-my father and Aunt En-
ma-tO her side, and said sadly;
Read that news. Your brother is lost, and
henceforth will live alone. You have your
homes and your children and can be happy
but for me there is only grief, unless | can
learn to reve in the pleasures of memory"
When tbccamc known among the neighbors
that the widow Deane's son was lost, they
would iain have gone in numbers to offer
heartfelt sympathy but they were informed
Of her strange whim, and respected her wish
10 be left in solitude. Only Chloe, one of the
most faithful OF servants, who had lived at the
Ifali"-as the Deane place was sometimes
called-nearly twenty years, remained, while
the others were dismissed
Now, after lapse of almost fifteen years, IN
which time we had grown from mites of girls
into young women, Grandma intended throw
ing open her doors to us. We had CORES.
pended regularly, Aunt Emma leaving the
writing TO us girls as soon rs we were old
enough, and we were very proud of the honor.
How we loved to get letters from Grandma
They were so kind and loving, and contained
so much encouragement. We had sent our
pictures several times, that she might see the
changes wrought by time and growth from
child to wOmanhood
Luc could remember going to Grandma's
once, and had often talked of the great beau.
tiiul parlors, the long dining-room and the
pretty sleeping rooms, until we were half wild
with curiosity about the old place.
Nora gave Luc the letter that had caused
such excitement and she read il aloud. 1T
was addressed to Nora, but commcced
MY dear girls, did you think Grandma had
forgotten you in this long silence? No, my
dear ones, have not; but | have been doing
great deal of thinking lately. am growing
old, and my time in this world may be very
short have been wicked to shut myself out
from the society of my children, as | have
done, and am longing intensely to hear the
sound Of your voices in these lonely rooms.
want to hear you say you forgive me for de
prlving your childhood Of a grandma. | am
not content with seeing your pictured faces,
but | want your actual presence. WW you
come, girls VIII you come to your poor
old Grandma? Tell your mother, my Emma,
| must see her. Your father too, my only son
now, tell him to be sure and come with you,
and be here early on Thanksgiving day. The
sight of you all will gladden. the heart of
Grandma
up. 5. have prcsentimcnt that 1t will be
an exceedingly happy day"
Grandma had never added a "P s." before,
and 1t affected us queery. Lue looked thought
full, merry hearted Nora laughed, while super.
stiuous May looked over the letter with great
tears standing IN ncr great hazel eyes, while |
felt a vague fear that the T. 5. m,gM portend
something dreadful; but of course | would
not admit 1t, so | turned up my turn up"
nose triflo higher and tossed my head-it
was within three shades of red-and said:
ave all know that Grandma Deane is very
eccentric woman. It's likely she has often
felt like putting IN 'P - before, but refrain.
ed, not wishing to be just like other women
This time however she il excited over the