Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-01-28


about 1t, but l got my mother to
play and. sing the carol l had heard
overnight. until my quick ear had
mastered both tune and words, and
when darkness fell on Christmas
night l proceeded to carry out my
intention.
In the heat of my impatience for
got to put on cloak or hat, and, steal
ing out of the house, l found myself
in the carriage drive with nothing on
but pair of thin slippers and the
velvet frock that left my neck and
arms so bare. 1t was showing, and
the snowf1akes were whirling around
me and making me dizzy, for In the
light from my mothers window they
seemed to come up from the ground
as down from the sky.
When I got out of the light of the
WINDOW. 1t was very dark, and l
could only see that the chestnuts in
the drive seemed to have white blan-
kets on them which looked as If they
had been hung out to dry. 1t was
long time before l got to the gate,
and then l had begun to be nervous
and TO have half mind to turn
back. But the thought of the bunloaf
and the sherry wine buoyed me up,
and presently l found myself on the
high road, crossing bridge and turn
ing down a lane that led to the sea,
whose moaning a mile away was the
only sound could hear.
/ knew quite well where was
going to. l was going to the doc
tors house. 1t was called SUNNY
Lodge, and it was on the edge of yell
low Gorse Farm. had seen it more
than once when | had driven ont in
the carriage with my mother, and had
thought how sweet it looked with its
Whitewashed walls and brown thatch-
ed roof and the red and white roses
which grew over the porch.
l was fearfully cold before l got
there. The snow was in my slippers
and down my neck and among the
thlckening masses of my hair. At one
moment l came upon some sheep and
lambs that were sheltering under
hedge, and they bleated in the silence
of the night.
But at last l saw the warm red
windows of the doctors cottage. and
coming to the wicket gate, l pushed it
open, though it was clogged with
snow, and stepped up to the porch.
My teeth were now chattering with
cold, but as well as 1 could ! began
to sing, and in my thin and creachy
voice l had got as far as
"Chist was born In Bef-lem,
Ch'ist was born in Bef-lem,
Ch'ist was born in Bef-lem,
An in manager laid. :. >"
when l heard a rumbling noise in
side the house.
Immediately afterward the door was
opened upon me. and a woman whom
knew to be the doctors wife looked
down into my face with an expression
of bewilderment, and then cried:
Goodness gracious me, doctor-if it
isn't little Mary O'Neill, God bless
her,"
Bring her in at once, then" said
the voice of Doctor Conrad from
within, and at the next moment !
found myself in a sort of Kitchen
parlor which was warm with a glow
ing turf fire that had kettle sing
ing over it, and cozy and bright with
a ragwork hearth-rug. dresser full of
blue pottery and a soft settle covered
with red cloth.
I suppose the sudden change to a
warm room must have caused me to
faint, for I have no recollection of
what happened next, except that was
sitting On somebody's lap and that
she was calling me boght millisn Git
tie sweet and veg-veen Qittle DEAR
while she rubbed my half frozen
limbs and did other things that were,
am sure, all womanly and good.
When came to myself Doctor Con-
rad was saying | would have to sleep
there that night, and he must go over
to the Big House and tell my mother
what had happened. He went, and by
the time he came back ! had been
bathed in q dolly-tub placed in front
of the fire, and was being carried up
stairs lin a night-dre many sizes
too large for mel to a little dimity-
white bedroom where tie sweet
smelling "scraas" under the sloping
thatch Of the roof came down almost
to my face.
A Home of Love.
know nothing of what happened
during the night, except that was
feeling very hot, and that as often as
| opened my eyes the doctors wife
was leaning over me and speaking in
a soft voice that seemed far away.
But next day / felt cooler, and then
Aunt Bridget came in her satin man
tie and big black hat, and said some
thing, while standing at the end OF
my bed, about people paying the pen
atty when they did things that were
sly and underhand.
Toward evening I was much easier,
and when the doctor came in to see
me at night he said:
How are we this evening? All,
better, I see Distinctly better.'
And then, turning to his wife, he
said:
mo need TO stay up with her to-
night, Christian Ann"
but won't the boght millish be
afraid to be left alone7" she asked.
said l shouldn't, and she kissed
me and told me to knock at the wall
II wanted ANYTHING And then with