Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1903-01-27

at grandn.A's svrinkled face and white,
shining hair, l would wonder if she ever
were young like me; and if, being young,
she swung On gates or climbed trees, and
walked the great beams, as / did. Then
with another bound. my thoughts would
penetrate the future when /, a dignified
grandmother, should recline IN my arm
chair, stately and stiff, IN my heavy satin
and silver gray, while my oldest son, a
man just my fathers size, should render
me all the homage and respect due to cne
of my age BY myself. too, | had several
times tried on grandma's clothes, specta-
cles. cap and all: and then. seated in her
chair. with the big Bible in my lap,
had expounded Scripture to the mag
mary children around me. frequently ,sp-
rimanding Rosa for her inattention. ask
ing her what ''she thought would become
of her if she didn't stop wriggling so in
her chair, and learn the chief end Of
man."
The Thanksgiving succeeding Jamie's
death and my own recovery from sick
ness great preparations were made, it
being confidently expected that my faith
er's brother, who lived in Boston, would
be with us. together with his wife, lady
ity of manners was. with US. rather be-
low par. She was my uncle's second
wife, and rumor said that neither
himself nor his home was as comforta-
bit as they once had been. From the
same reliable source, too, we learned that
she breakfasted in her own room at ten,
dined at three, made or received calls I'M
til six, went to parties, soirees, or the
,v, =
to bed until two o'clock in the morning:
mode of living which was pronounced
little better than heathenish by grandma.
Mother, who was more discreet. very
wisely advised her not to interfere with
the arranfements of her daughter-in-
law. 1T would do no good" she said,
''and might possibly make matters
worse" Unlike most old people. grand
ma was not very much set in her own
way. and to mothers suggestion she re-
piled that, "Mebby she shouldn't say any
thing; 'twould depend on how many airs
Charlotte put on
To me the expected visit was sore
trial; for. Notwithstanding my cheeks
and neck were rounder and fuller than
they had ever been, my head. with its
young crop of short, stiff hair, was ter-
rible annoyance. and more than once |
had cried as l saw in fancy the derisive
smile with which my dreaded aunt Char
lotte was sure to greet me. At last sister
Anna, who possessed a great deal of
taste in such matters, and who ought to
have been a milliner. contrived for the
picked chicken" as she called ME,
black lace cap, which fitted me so well,
and was so vastly becoming, that | lost
all my fears, and, child-like, began to
count the days which must elapse before
| could wear it,
Meantime, in the kitchen there was a
loud rafting Of dishes, a beating of eggs,
and calling for wood, with which to heat
the great brick oven, grandma having
pronounced the stove unfit for baking a
Thanksgiving dinner. From the cornfeld
behind the barn a golden pumpkin. four
times larger than my head and about the
same color, was gathered. and after he
ing brought to the house. was pared,
cut open, scraped and sliced into lit
tie tin kettle with a copper bottom. whore
for hours it stewed and sputtered. filling
the atmosphere with a faint, sickly odor.
which l think was the main cause of the
severe headache L took to bed with me.
Mother, on the contrary, differed from
me, she associated it in some way with
the rapid disappearance of the raisins,
cinnamon, sugar and so FORTH which, in
sundry brown papers, lay open upon tie
table.
The next morning, just as the first
gray streaks of daylight were appearing
in the east, l awoke, finding, to my great
joy, that my headache was gone. Rising
upon my elbow and leaning far out of
bed. l pushed aside the striped curtain
which shaded the window, and looking
out upon the ground below, saw, to my
vrter dismay. that it was covered with
snow. To me there is nothing pleasant i'll
a snow storm, a snow bank or n snow
cloud; and when a child, | used to think
that with the fall of the first flake there
came over my spirits chill, which was
not removed Until the spring time when,
with its cause it melted away; and even
now, when, with my rubber boots, dare
brave any drift not more than five feet
four inches high, | cannot say that |
have any particular love for snow; and
as from my window / watch the descent
of the feathery flakes, | always feel en-
irresistible desire to make at them wry
faces-my favorite method of showing
my dislike On the morning of which l
have spoken, | vented my displeas re in
the usual way, and then l fell into a
deep sleep, from which | was at last
awakened by the loud shouts of my
brothers, who. in the meadow across the
road, were pelting each other with balls.
occasionally rolling over in the pure,
white snow, which they hailed as an old
and well-loved friend.
CTo be continued)