The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-12-23
BY MARY E. WILKINS.
COPYRIGHT, 1898, BY THE AUTHOR.

i MAS IL lG1IH O1Q lALCC WINS ~
fore that Christmas, but | was small
for my age and looked no more thai
10. There were four Of Us. | was
the eldest. Then there were a girl OF
10, one Of So and a boy of Z. In DC
tober we had moved to the house OIL
the shore of Lonesome lake, which was
very lonesome indeed. 1t was a soil
tary LITTLE sheet OF water on the top OF
q Hill. almost a mountain. There were
no netghbors nearer than a mile. Ia
Their had moved to this farm on Lone
seme lake because his father had died
thai fall, and the property had to be
divided between him and his brother,
Tfncle william Uncle William was
not married, though ne was oiuer tna-l
father, and he and father and grand
father had always lived together and
worked the home farm, sharing the
profits.
After grandfather's death father and
Uncle William had some difference. ]
never knew what it was about One
night after / had gone to bed | heard
them talking loud, and the next morn
ing father and Uncle William looked
very sober at breakfast, and mother
had been crying. That afternoon she
told us that we were going to move
because the property was to be divid-
ed. and we were to have the farm on
Lonesome lake, lear Lebanon. Leb-
anon is a little village about ten miles
from Wareville, where we were living
then. Mother said she was sorry to go
away because she had lived there SO
long, and she was afraid she would be
pretty lonesome in the new home, but
she said we must make the best of it.
Uncle William was the eldest son and
had a right to the first choice of the
property, and of course since he was a
bachelor It would be very hard for
him to go to live at Lonesome lake.
We children rather liked the idea of
moving and began packing at ace
FIory and Janey had their dolls and
their w%ardrobes all packed within an
hour. Fiory was the sister next to
me, and / thought her rather old to
play with dolls. / had given up dolls
long before / was as old as she.
Two weeks after grandfather died
we were all moved and nearly settled
In our new home. There had been no
one living IN the house for several
years, except when father and Uncle
William went up there every year in
haying time to cut and~make hay. Ev-
erything seemed pretty damp and dis
NAL at arst, but when we got our
furniture set up and the fires started it
looked more cheerful. The house was
large, with two front rooms looking
O the lake. which was only about 20
feet distant. One of these rooms was
our sitting room; the other was our
parlor. Back of these rooms was a
very large one. which was our kitchen
and dining room. There were a dark
bedroom III the middle of the house, a
bedroom out of the kitchen, one where
father and mother slept. out of the
sitting room, and four chambers.
Thanksgiving came about a week
after we had moved, and we had a
rather forlorn day. We all missed
grandfather and Uncle William. l am
sure mother cried a little before we sat
down to the table, and father looked
sober.
When Thanksgiving was over, we
began to think about Christmas.
Mother had promised us a Christmas
tree. The year before we had all had
the measles and been disappointed
about going to the tree at the Sunday
school, and mother had said, Next
own If nothing happens" OF course
something had happened. Poor grand
father had died, and we had moved,
ana we wondered if that would put a
stop to the tree. Mother looked a lit
tie troubled at first when we spoke OF
it. Then she said if we would not be
disappointed if we did not have man.
presents ard the tree did not have
much or it except popcorn and apples
she would see what she could do.
Then we children began to be full of
little secrecles. Mysterious bits of
wool and silk and eolored paper and
cardboard were scattered about the
house, and we were always shutting
doors and Jumping and hiding things
when a door was opened. Each of us
was making something for father and
mother, even Charles Henry. He was
working Il Worsted motto, .'God Bless
Our Home" Then, of course, we were
all making presents for one another.
It was q week and one day before
Christmas. We had our presents al
most done, and mother had promised
to take two Of US the very next day
and go down to the village to do some
shopping-we had been saving money
NIL the year for some boughten pres
euts-when the news about Uncle VIII
Liam came. A mar rode over from
Wareville quite late at night and
brought word that Uncle William was
dangerously sick and father and moth
er must come al once IL they wanted
to see him alive. Mother said there
was nothing for 1t but they must go.
She said If they had not come away
just as they had. with hard words be-
tween father and Uncle William, she
would have let father go alone and
staid with US children; but as it was,
she felt that she must go too. She
and father, though car understand
now that they felt anxious while try
Ing to conceal it from US, did not think
there vas any real danger in our stay