The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1884-12-26

such handful of silver as must have
stretched their purse good deal.
We children were grouped at the foot
of the dinner-table, with our Hearts
Delight to look after lis, which she
did Ivy giving lis unlimited goodies
and laughing with us at all our nom
sense.
"Why is Aunty like sperm oil?"
asked Will.
Hobo! l know: that's easy
enough!" cried Kate, with her mouth
full of turkey stutling. Because she's
De Light of the house, Of course"
"iou can't guess this, I'll bet," said
Alec. why can't Aunty look black at
us?'
| 'Cautl, tl,ees tho good, 1 thpose,"
lisped Toddlekin.
%, pshaw. give it up" said Bel, who
never couldguess conundrum.
Because she's always De Light"
said Alec, triumphant!y.
Perhaps you do not think these con
rndrums very brilliant, but we did, and
VIC laughed SO that some of Hates
Shutting" went down the wrong way
and VIC had to pat her back before she
could catch her breath.
Aunty looked her lovcliest that day.
She wore crimson cashmere. with
crimson and creamy roses in her hair.
20, where did you get those lovely,
lovely roses?" I cried out the moment |
caught sight of them.
"Tom brought them from the big
Toms conservatory" she said, nodding
at Uncle Ton, land he arranged them
in my hair, too" giving her head lit
tie toss to let lis see.
She wore some of Grandma's beauti-
full old lace, that Grandma's mother
brought over from the old home in
Warwickshire, England, and she had Il
! pretty wildrose bloom i'll her cheeks
as she often had. Grandpa, as he
looked down ut us from his end of the
table, remarked that Delight seemed
to be i'll her element" which meant, 1
suppose, that she was never happier
than when surrounded by her harum-
scarum nephews and nieccs.
l can never begin to tell you what we
ate that day. Everybody knows what
young folks appetites are. The turkey
was delicious, the savory goose better,
and the chicken pies better still; and
we ate on and on. and our appetite did
not seem to lessen. although it wis
nearly time for the blazing pudding to
enter.
Its no use," sad Dick to me in an
aside. Il never can eat pudding and
four kinds ofpic and have a spcck of
appetite left for almonds and raisins."
Dicks appetite was something fearful
Oh, our Pansy and our Ros..
They never mind the SHOWS,
They blossom swcctly every day and all the
year around.
Through spring and summer showers
We always have our flowers,
! And when the winds with autumn leaves so
tll;ckly strew the ground
Tom, who had been silently eating
turkey for some time, burst out sud
denly with this verse. greatly to our
delight.
"Ol.-oh, Tom" cried l, is that ex-
ex-eX-"
"Tempore, said papa, coming to my
rescue.
"Tom has fatal faculty for verse;"
said his papa. I'm dreadfully afraid
hell be a poet
Never fcar," replied my papa,
"ycars'll take it out OF Linn
But they haven't! You'd be sur
prised if 1 should tell you who Tom is.
"Tom,' whispered little Faith. She
sat between Tom and me, so l heard
her. do you like Rose better than
mol" Faith was TOMS little sister,
and, oh, how she did love him. She
used to be quite jealous Of the rest of
us sometimes.
"Of course not. sweet, Tom replied.
But 1 had to have something that
rhymed, you know. Faith wouldn't
any way. tried it." And Faith was
satisfied, and went on sucking her
| chicken wing with great content
Dear. loving little Faith. happy.
happy times OF lang syne. My dear
children, let me whisper bit of wisdom
into your ears. BE content with the
happy times that are,-don't be wish
ing for something better.
There were always surprising num-
Der OF wish bones at Grandma's Christ
mas dinner, and We sometimes wondered
whether she did not provide extra ones
as she provided extra stufiing." Each
one of us who had wisl-bone always
insisted upon wishing with Aunty De-
light.
II wish could have as many chances
to wish as Aunty does,' said to Bel,
because everything you wish with
wish-bone is sure to come to pass, YOU
know"
"What child you are" was Bells
reply. Bel was only thirteen, but one
would have thought sometimes she was
thirty by the way she patronizcd Inc
and called me Child
That day l found goose wish-bone
on my plate and was just about wishing
with Aunty; I had thought of my wish,
which was, of course, that something
would happen" and was waiting for
Aunty to think of hers. for, as she
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