The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1912-12-07
THE GIRL NEXT DOOR.

L know I'm never gong TO ike LnlS
house." Louise said to herself, and she
swallowed hard, and had to stop in her
work to hunt for her handkerchief
And there was really some excuse for
her feeling as she did. When people
are moving into house, and pots and
kettles, and nail kegs stand in the
middle of the parlor floor, while the
| furniture, covered with old quilts and
| burlap, is huddled into corners, it is
very hard to make ones self believe
| that the place can ever be homelike
and comfortable.
But it was not the thought of the
old house where she lived SO long that
made Louise homesick at this par
ticular minute. She was thinking
more of the girls who had been her
neighbors ever since she could re-
member. It wasn't very likely that in
this new home she would find any
girls to compare with Elizabeth or
Kitty Fox AS she thought of them,
she had to hunt for her handkerchief
again, and then she raced upstairs to
the room which was to be her bed
room, by and by, though at present it
looked to her like a disorderly car
penter's shop. Louise had a deep
rooted aversion to letting anybody see
her cry.
The girl in the next yard happened
to look at the dormer window at a
time when the handkerchief was very
busy, and as she looked, she under
stood Jeanne had moved not so very
long before, and she remembered her
own homesick feeling too wildly not
to feel sorry for the girl who had
gone upstairs to cry by herself.
Everything is all in muss, y
thought Jeanne, land they'll clear a
corner of the table so as to eat their
luncheon and probably there won't be
much to eat, at that
Then it was that an idea occurred
to her-such a bright idea that she
all at once left her post of observation
in the yard and rushed indoors. And
Jeanne's mother not only approved,
but gave number of wise suggestions.
For the next three-quarters of an
hour Jeanne was very busy, and by
that time the distant factory whistles
were blowing for noon, and Louise,
who had had her cry out, and come
downstairs to her work, was be-
ginning to realize that she was hungry.
Then a rap came at the door. A
girl was standing on the doorstep
smiling girl who carried big tray.
A white towel was thrown over the
top of the tray, so that it was impos-
sible to guess at it's contents. But a
pleasant odor, almost fragrance,
rose temptingly to Louises nostrils.
I've brought you over some
luncheon, said the new neighbor on
the doorstep. cit is so hard to get
anything to eat when you are just
moving in, and things are all in a
clutter. I'll come back for the tray
in an hour or so, and don't you dare
to wash dish. I don't believe you
could find the dish-towels, anyway"
she ended with a laugh.
1t was the sort of luncheon to put
life and cheer into family of movers.
There we're sandwiches cut as thin as
waters, some of them showing a crisp
lettuce leaf between the white sides.
There were potato chips curling on
the edge like rose leaves, and sliced
tomatoes, and a dish of beautiful jelly,
SO clear that you could look through
it, and pot of tea, whose fragrance
had risen to Louise in spite of the
white towel which had covered it. And
there was a little dish of sailed
almonds and one of pickles, to say
nothing of a plate of the crispest
ginger-snaps you could imagine.
BY the time they had finished that
luncheon, Louise had changed her
mind about everything; the house nc
longer seemed dismal, disorderly
place that never could be a real home.
Instead she was hapinnic tn sec how il
could be very pretty and attractive, as
soon as they should have time to get
things in order. AS for her new
neighbors, Louise was beginning to
look forward eagerly to knowing them
better. That girl who had brought the
tray looked perfect dear, Louise de-
cided And when she had eaten the
last crumb of the last ginger-snap, and
went to work again, she was singing
under her breath, There's no place
like home, O, there's no place like
home"