Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-12-24

M hal would you say, my aeafs, III wefe
w to tell you that had once stolen Christ
mas turkey?''
Amusement petrified US for moment, and
then
s.Your'
.'You-ii Grandms!Ir'
'.StOle -!!r
a turkey -l!,r' burst forth like catches
in a roundelay from Ev, Lu and vi while the
two imps Til and Tim stared opened mouthed
as open eyed at the venerable gentlewoman
whose very name vas . synonym for the coll
lective Christian virtues" mother in Israel"
a leader in religious revivals, an eloquent
preacher on occasions, whose face would shine
a. the face Of an angel radiant with holy in
spiratiOn as it seemed now with homely, house.
hold humor o. she made this astounding con-
fession
She steal o turkey, Steal anythingi And
look 80 sly over the self-accusation. I said
nothing ut all. thought her mind going. She
Was over seventy.
"Yes. a Christmas turkeyr' added grandma
in the most hardened tone.
Christmas turkey" echoed vi, as If that
added Nervousness to the humiliating con-
fession.
Yes, Christmas turkey" repeated grand
ma. with a solemnity that was belied by the If
repressible humor that twinkled from her eyes
In and vi sighed; the imps stared.
''Oh. know how il was. said vi. ''Of course.
it was grandpas turkey: that was, Of course.
your own. that you took for some charity"
continued vi. and we all drew q deep breath of
relief. Certainly. that was it,
No. indeed. said grandma, lit was nothing
Of the sort The person / went to steal the tur-
key from was a total stranger to me-"
well. then you had some sort of right to the
turkey. He had stolen it from you first Of all,
suggested vi.
NO, never owned the turkey or heard of
it. OF the man before the night went to steal
1T was for some charitable purpose, though"
said Luz
No, 1t was for the simple pleasure of steal
ing it,
Then it was to win a vager?" said vi as the
last suggestion
Not at all. But if you will all stop staring
and exclaiming will Tell you all about it. 1t
happened just fifty years ago tonight and it is
very appropriate time to tell the story" said
grandma, amused at the curiosity she had ex
cited
But before tell grandma's story must give
some short explanation of the situation. 1t
was Christmas eve. An arctic night in our
northern town. The snow was a foot deep on
the ground and frozen hard al crystal. The
wind blew gale from the northwest rafting
down the icicles from the trees and driving
them like hail against the walls and windows of
our house. The stars giittered like points of
diamonds from the blue-black sky. Early in
the evening We had drawn the red wooden cur
talns to shut out the wintry scene from grand
mas cosy red room. which was all fitted up in
that warm color from the four post curtained
bedstead to the cushioned armchair in which
she now sat before the open wood fire, which
she would have at all costs because it reminded
her of her young days in old Maryland. You
see grandma was southern woman.
Ii was getting on toward 9 clock; papa was
still ut his stOre-a large geographically en-
gagged in sending off belated Christmas parcels
To his customers. and also. bless his dear heart,
dispatehing Christmas gifts Of his choicest
stock to the very poor of the town. Mamma
was up stairs getting the baby to sleep: mamma
has always been up stairs getting the baby to
sleep ever since j can remember, and that was
when | was about three years old, and dear
Winny. who is now an angel in heaven, was the
baby We girls had finished all our house.
keeping duties. which were more than usual on
this night We had put away all the mince and
cranberry and pumpkin pies, and lady cakes
po1nd cake. plum cake and other Christmas
dainties IN the pantry. and had set the table for
Christmas breakfast. and had seen to the fire
AMI lamp in papas little smoking ROOM and
had laid his gown over his armchair and his
slippers ON the hearth; and now we were free
Oh except Just one thing we had not vet
filed the childrens stockings: nor could we do
II until those irnps of Old Nick should be i'll bed
and asleep. but they seemed determined to stay
awake all night. have said il often and / saw
il again. that if ever there a set of spoiled
children TO make their elder sisters fives a
burden to them il is But there il is no
Use talking. Only know if ever i marry and
have a family TO bring up-bur no matter
Now on this arctic night We gathered around
grandma great wood fire which. as 1 said she
would keep up In spite OF furnace and steam
pipes and moreover, in spite of expense We
loved to gather here and listen to her stories of
old plantation life in Maryland as she knew it
IN her younger days. more than half a century
ago Now here she sat In her large crimson
cushioned easy chair. with her feet on a has
sock and her hands mechanically plying her
knitting needles-another relic of her old
plantation hfe-while Evilina (.'Ev'') Lucinda
(''Lu') and yiole.ta (''yi'D lolled on the rug
before the IRE with their arms around each
others waists in a very foolish and announcement
manner. but L suppose they thought it pretty
and so kept it up although there was no man to
look upon and admire them. The two inns
Matilda It'll and Timotheous (''Tim'D sat on
hassoeks at opposite sides of the chimney
staring if they never meant to close their
eyes on visible things long as life should
last Dolly sat at the center table with book,
not reading. but watching and listening and
noting all that passed before her. I'm Dolly.
writing down grandma story.
Bless you, Neither of the others could do IL
to save their souls, though We are all geni1ses
In papas and mamas estimation. Ey. paints
OIL colored pictures and sticks pasteboard cards
in the corners OF the frames to tell Won what
tney are are; otnerwlse YOU might not know
Lu- sings and plays the piano. bnt she has taken
dislike to music lately because il was the occa-
sion OF breaking OF her engagement with Young
Victor de Ia Mont You see, this is how il was:
One night while she was executing" in more
senses than one. the Marseillaise he thanked
her with effusion for the pleasure she had given
him, adding that he had always wished TO hear
our great national song. The Star Spangled
Banner. but never had that pleasure before.
She thought he was hooking her and she never
forgave him and he is breaking his heart. vi
reeites. Her admirers say that if she should 90
on the stage she would rival Rachel Ristori and
all the great actresses. As for me- write,
do not expect to succeed or TO rival Mr. This or
Mrs That or Miss The Other. All the good and
wise people know fail and the wisest and best
fail the most.
But. Ito our mutton" or rather our turkey"
There We all sat a. l have described. Secretly
We girls were fretting because the tormentors
Of our lives would not consent ~ De put to bed
80 that We could perform our Last duties for
them and feel free To enjoy ourselves with
grandma AT last burst out. for l could not
help it. i said: ''Who can doubt the doctrine
Of original sin and total depravity when they
look at these imps"
vi answered: 'All the world NAV call itself
totally deprayed if il wants to, but defy any
one to dare to hint that grandma is or ever was
totally depravedi So there nowr'
Ihis challenge brought out grandma's awfnl