Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-25
A Tru1y Thanksgiving.
BY MINERVA SPENCER HANDY.

H.
There was little prospect OF Thanksgiv-
ing In Charlotte,s home. Everything that
possibly could go wrong on a farm had
gone wrong at the .Crandeils. Bugs had
destroyed many OF the crops The calf
had broken its leg, and failure upon fail
ure had followed SO steadily upon each
ether that things looked pretty blue with
the grown people Not so the children,
Ezra and Charlotte. They were as merry
as merry could be. for they had not Yet
learned the useless lesson of worrying
about what could not be helped Even
they, however, were temporarily saddened
when one day their mother told them that
2 $50 bill laid by for the mortgage had
been stolen. This doesn't sound much Ike
Thanksgiving story, does II Wen. 1t is
going to be one. and. what is more, It IS
all really and truly true. That is the most
important part of it---it is true.
1t was Thanksgiving eve. There were
less preparations. than usual in the Gran
dell kitchen. No company had been IN
vited for tomorrow, and Mother Cranden
had convinced the children that 1t was
just as comforting to eat all they wanted
of one kind Of pie as to eat little piece
of several kinds. Ezra agreed. provided
the pie was pumpkin which his mother
promised it should be.
The turkey was killed and Ezra and Char
lotte were just sitting down to pick and
help dress 1T when a loud rap came to the
kitchen door. 1t proved to be Abe Siocum,
from the parsonage, with note from the
minister's wife, which read:
My Dear Mrs. Crandell-Unexpected
company has made it necessary that i
have an extra turkey for tomorrow. L
cannot get one anywhere at this late hour,
hut send to you, hoping you can help me
out. ! will gladly pay S. for the accommo-
sonase. We all send Thanksgiving greet
ings to the Crandells and would like you
to come over to tea tomorrow night. Cor
daily yours, ELLEN c. DUNDEE
IN 49, l.x>lr <>1 q
the children, then the turkey. then at the
crisp IS bill. Ordinarily she would not
have gone without turkey on Thanksgiving
dinner for many times that amount. just
now. however, with the loss of the money
and scarcity OF supplies, 1t seemed like
flying In the face Of Providence" to f~suse
the offer. The invitation to tea decided
her. This meant a feast for the children
and romps of all kinds and magic lantern
show In the evening. She would let the
turkey go. Calling the children into the
dining room, she explained the situation 10
them. After a few minutes thought the
children agreed. 1t was happy Thought
that of Mrs. Dundees inviting them for
tea. Otherwise the Crandells would have
been a pretty discouraged lot this Thanks
giving eve.
The turkey partly dressed, and at the
same time partly undres5ed was handed
over to Abe Slocum. who, bidding them
CHEEKY goodnight, soon drove OFF In the
direction of the parsonage.
Charlotte kept up the good cheer by say
Ing: well, l. for one. am thankful that
We don't have to pick all those pin feath-
ers out"
Her mother added her thankfulness when
she exclaimed:
For once we'll have the pleasure of eat
ing our turkey without the trouble of cook
ing it, for Mrs. Dundee will surely have
plenty of 1t left cold for tea
To tell the truth Mrs Dundee had just
that idea. What is more she had planned
out the whole surprise when the news of
the loss of the money had come to her
ears at dinner Mr. Dundee had met Mr..
Crandell on his way to report the loss to
the magistrate and soon the bad news had
spread all through the community where
the Crandells lived. The magistrate gave
little hope of ever recovering the money,
for there did not seem a single clue. Mrs.
Crandell had taken the money from the
old teapot where it had been stored since
the buyer from the city haC paid for their
tomato crop. She had left it on the table
while she went to get an envelope to pin it
into her husbands pocket, and when she
came back minute later the money had
gone. The mystery remained after hours of
searching. What had become of the
money!.
Thanksgiving morning dawned bright and
clear. The CrandeIls all drove into the viii
lage to church and returned with good APP
petites to eat their turlzeyless Thanksgiving
dinner. The afternoon passed slowly tits
true but o'clock did come at last, when
they started for the parsonage tea.
And what a tea 1t was. Dinner and
breakfast and supper and tea and refresh
ments ell crowded into one grand feast.
The cold turkey was there and passed to
Mrs. Crandell the first of ALL Mrs. Gram
dell stuck the fork into piece of white
meat. She stuck and stuck again. What
had happened to the turkey? Surely 1t
could not be that tough, for she had per-
sonalIy fed It and prepared it for Thanks
giving day. She stuck again. This time the
piece came on to the fork. but on laying it
down on the plate her eyes fell upon a
piece of oiled tissue paper, fastened in
some way by the wish bone to the tur-
key.
All eyes were upon her. Here was a
mystery indeedi
open 1t, mother" said the children.
and Mr.. Dundee (who sat next leaned