The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-09-07


1 dark eyes and great
y black curls falling to the
shoulder, and she was so tat tnat
every one called her Little fuo-
ding"
It was another kind of pudding
than herself that occupied my grand
mothers mind at the time of which
write. Every one in the house was
busy making buildings and pies ana
cheesecake and innumerable other
goodies, to say nothing of the ducks
that we're being roasted and the tur-
keys that had just been stuffed.
Then my grandmother herself had
climbed the ladder and handed down
the Jars Of currant jelly and raspberry
lam from the topmost shelf OF the
closet, and she helped to dust the
bottles of cowslip wine that stood on
the dresser ready to be uncorked.
The cause of all this excitement
was family reunion, which was to
take place at the big farmhouse that
had always been my grandmother's
home.
"How many will there be, do you
think, mamma2" she asked.
Exactly thirty" her mother an
swered.
At three o'clock the whole house
hold assisted in moving three tables
into the large colonial hall, which had
been gaily hung with red, white and
blue bunting and evergreens, and
which was to serve as the banquet
room on this occasion.
NV grandmother, whose name was
Bessie, you must know, was among
the most active there. She helped
to spread the cloth over the three
tables SO that they looked like just
one, and then she carried chairs from
all over the house and placed them
around the table, and when she had
brought every chair that she could
think of, there was still one wanting.
She sat down and tried to think where
she could find another.
Bessie was only nine years old, and
she had been up before six that morn
ing, SO that, now there was no more
excitement, she began to feel tired.
"You look sleepy, Little Puddin',"
said her father. "Better run up and
take nap, hadn't you?"
"Yes, Bessie" said her mother, who
came down stairs at that moment
with pile of napkins on each arm,
"place these napkins around, one be-
fore each chair, and then run upstairs
and lie down. I'll call you when
they come"
"Oh, no, mamma" pleaded Bessie,
almost crying at the idea, indeed,
I'm not bit sleepy, and it will spoil
everything if have to go to bed"
swell, we'll" said her mother, un-
willing to be severe at such time,
81 won't make you go if you don't
want TO, but l think it would be so
much better for you to have little
nap; you would be able to enjoy the
dinner so much more"
But Bessie did not think so at all.
She distributed the napkins, placing
the one that belonged to the missing
chair on the mantel; for she had de-
cided that she must wait till the last
minute, and get that extra chair from
the kitchen. Then she evened out
all the chairs on that side of the
table, so that when the guests arrived
they might not be able to tell that
anything was wrong.
When all this was finished my
grandmother suddenly remembered
that she had not seen the kittens that
day. There were six of them, dear
little thingsl She would just have
time to run to the barn and see that
they were all right.
1t was a cold day in February, but
as there was no snow, Bessie waited
only to throw a shawl over her head;
and taking a piece of meat for the