FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   259   260   261   262   263   264   265   266   267   268   269   270   271   272   273   274   275   276   277   278   279   280   281   282   283  
284   285   286   287   288   289   290   291   292   293   294   295   296   297   298   299   300   >>  
evour. Suddenly she saw, and into her face flamed an expression of wonder, of awe, of adoration, a look such as a cherub angel might wear while confronting The Great White Throne, a kind of rapture, humble yet exultant. Silently she crept toward the center of the room, turning her eyes from this and to that unearthly splendor, yet always bringing them back to rest upon the faces of the dollies, sitting so still and so radiant beneath the glittering boughs. At last with a little gasping cry of joy she seized the largest and most splendid of these wondrous beings and clasped it to her breast, while Constance sat silent with her awe. Their Christmas was complete. Another shining mark had been set in the upward slope of their happy march! Nothing, not even Death himself, can rob me of that precious memory. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR The Old Homestead Suffers Disaster The summer of 1912, so stormy in a political sense was singularly serene and happy for us. The old house had been received back into favor. It was beloved by us all but especially was it dear to my children. To Mary Isabel it possessed a value which it could not have to any of us, for it was her birth-place and she knew every stick and stone of it. To her it had all the glamor of a childhood home in summer time. On Sunday, October 6, we began to plan our return to the city, and as we sat about our fire that night the big room never looked so warm, so homelike, so permanent. The deep fireplace was ablaze with light, and the walls packed with books and hung with pictures spoke of a realized ideal. On the tall settee (which I had built myself), lay a richly-colored balletta Navajo blanket, one that I had bought of a Flathead Indian in St. Ignatius. Others from Zuni and Ganado covered the floor. Over the piano "Apple Blossom Time," a wedding present from John Ennecking glowed like a jewel in the light of the quaint electric candles which had been set in the sockets of hammered brass sconces. In short, the place had the mellow charm of a completed home, and I said to Zulime "There isn't much more to do to it. It is rude and queer, a mixture of Paris, Boston, and the Wild West; but it belongs to us." It was in truth a union of what we both represented, including our poverty, for it was all cheap and humble. My father, white-haired, eighty-two years of age was living with us again, basking in the light of our fire and smiling at his grandchildren, who
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   259   260   261   262   263   264   265   266   267   268   269   270   271   272   273   274   275   276   277   278   279   280   281   282   283  
284   285   286   287   288   289   290   291   292   293   294   295   296   297   298   299   300   >>  



Top keywords:

summer

 

humble

 
Navajo
 

Sunday

 

colored

 

richly

 

blanket

 
balletta
 
Flathead
 

Ignatius


Others

 

Ganado

 

bought

 
October
 

Indian

 

realized

 

permanent

 
fireplace
 

ablaze

 

homelike


looked

 

return

 

settee

 

pictures

 

packed

 

Ennecking

 
represented
 

poverty

 

including

 

belongs


mixture

 

Boston

 

smiling

 

basking

 

grandchildren

 

living

 

father

 

haired

 

eighty

 

glowed


quaint

 
candles
 

electric

 

present

 

wedding

 
Blossom
 

sockets

 

hammered

 

Zulime

 

completed