A rising murmur went through the crowd; then they cheered.
A rising murmur went through the crowd; then they cheered.
"There ain't no excuse for a man bein' a hawg," Walky Dexter afterward declared. "Frank might ha' intermated what was comin' off when the fust train was due ter pull into Polktown; I sha'n't never feel jest the same towards him again."
Half the town had turned out to welcome the initial train. The stores were trimmed with bunting and many of the residences displayed flags, as though it were the Fourth of July or Memorial Day.
Mr. Middler was scheduled for a speech. He made it, too; but not quite the speech the good minister had intended. For it was his eyes that first identified one of the passengers on the incoming train. Before the locomotive halted Mr. Middler uttered a very robust shout and rushed to the steps of the first passenger car, his hands outstretched.
"Janice! Janice Day!"
A rising murmur went through the crowd; then they cheered. The girl stood smiling on the platform looking out over the crowd, and when they cheered such a fire of pride and delight flashed up in her countenance and sparkled from her hazel eyes as nobody had ever seen before.
"Oh—folks!" she murmured, stretching her hands out to them.
Frank Bowman stood at one side, smiling broadly. "We're not celebrating the opening of the railroad branch," he said to Elder Concannon, "half as much as we are celebrating the home-coming of Janice Day."
Janice went down the steps into Mr. Middler's arms. Directly behind her was a man with his arm in a sling who looked enough like Jason Day—though younger and sprucer—to be identified as Janice's father.
Then came Marty grinning so broadly that, as Walky Dexter declared, it almost engulfed his ears! Lastly came Nelson Haley, walking with his head up and a smile of great confidence on his face.
"Jefers-pelters!" said Walky. "I guess schoolmaster's quite some punkins again in his own estimation. It ain't donehimno harm to go down there to Mexico."
There was a great deal of public congratulation and welcome for the party from the Border; but it was that evening, in the broad sitting room of the old Day house on Hillside Avenue, when the excitement of the home-coming had worn off, that the family party began to realize the adventurous weeks that had elapsed were finally all behind them.
The wind soughed eerily in the trees about the house—"working up a storm for Christmas," Uncle Jason prophesied. Marty brought in an armful of knotty chunks and fed the great, air-tight stove.
They gathered around the fire, for supper was over and Aunt 'Mira and Janice had come in from the kitchen. Nelson had managed to secure the chair next to Janice. Mr. Jason Day and his half-brother sat side by side.
"Well," said Marty, blowing a huge sigh, "this ain't much like Mexico."
"I sh'd hope not!" exclaimed his mother, seeking her knitting in the basket on the shelf under the table. "That's a reg'lar heathenish land, I expect."
"It sure is!" agreed her son with fervor. "Why, d'you know what they live on, Ma?"
"I guess you didn't git home fodder down there, Marty," said Mrs. Day, chuckling comfortably. "Whatdothey live on?"
"Beans," said the boy in a sepulchral tone. "An' say! I've busted your bean-pot. Don't you dast give me pork an' beans for a year come next Christmas."
They laughed. It was easy to laugh now—for all the party. Humor did not have to be of a high order to bring the smiles to their lips, for a deep and abiding happiness dwelt in all their hearts.
Mr. Broxton Day looked around the old and well-remembered sitting room. "It looks about the same as it did when I was a boy, Jase," he said.
"Yep. Almiry's kep' things about as when ma was with us."
"Almira is a wonderful woman," said Broxton Day, smiling across at his sister-in-law.
"You be still, Brocky Day," said Aunt 'Mira, bridling.
"Yes," he told her gravely. "For you've kept the spirit of the old home alive here, too."
"She and Janice," said Marty.
"Dunno what we would do withoutJanice," Aunt 'Mira said, quick to turn the compliment.
"Ain't it so?" echoed Uncle Jason. "And you comin' hum—right back from the grave as ye might say, Broxton—is more'n a delight to us. It's a blessin'. What you tell me about that—that derned Tom Hotchkiss——"
"Don't cuss, Jason—an' you a perfessin' member," urged his wife.
"How you goin' to speak of sech a reptile like him without cussin', I wanter know?" grumbled Uncle Jason.
"Well, he's got his," said Marty briskly. "He had all that money hid away in banks, and was just goin' to lay low till things blew over and then he'd set up housekeepin' in that red vest of his somewhere else, an' live easy. But that vest o' his has sort o' faded, ain't it?"
"Hopewell Drugg's got in some real pretty knitted ones," murmured Aunt 'Mira, picking up a dropped stitch.
Marty gaped in surprise.
"Real prettywhat?" demanded her husband sharply.
"Vests. D'ye want one for your Christmas, Jason?"
"Oh, cricky!" ejaculated Marty. "I seen 'em hanging there in his window when I went over this afternoon before supper. Dad, they are fully as gay as Tom Hotchkiss' was."
"I bet you was over there to see Lottie Drugg," said his mother quickly.
"What if I was?" demanded the bold, yet blushing Marty. "I dunno nobody in Polktown I was gladder to see than Lottie, 'nless 'twas you, Ma."
"Ahem!" said Mr. Jason Day. "An' he proberbly won't say that many more times, Almiry. So make the most of it."
"Yes," Janice said softly. "Marty's growing up."
At this the youth grew red in the face and bit his lip. But then he straightened up boldly, as if he were a soldier.
"Huh! speak for yourself, Janice Day. You'vegrownup, you have! You ought to have seen all those greaser army officers dancin' around after her," and he cast a teasing glance at Nelson.
"You can't bother me, young man," replied the schoolmaster, smiling broadly.
"I guess I'm the only one to be bothered at all by our Janice's growing up," her father said a littleseriously. "Just as I have her again I seem next door to losing her."
Janice got up, crossed the room, and kissed him; but her glance was warm for Nelson as she did so.
The muffled tones of the old grandfather's clock in the hall clashed the hour of ten. Uncle Jason reached down The Book from the corner of the mantelpiece and opened it, reading that night the story of the happiness of another family whose brother came back from the grave.
THE END
Transcriber's notes:The following typos were corrected:pg 45: Alderice Mine -> Alderdice Minepg 77: Deacon Bloodgett -> Deacon BlodgettThe following inconsistencies werenotharmonized:fam'bly / famblyrawboned / raw-bonedtight-wad / tightwadThe list of illustrations refers to an illustration on page 306, where the image is actually on page 304.
Transcriber's notes:
The following typos were corrected:
The following inconsistencies werenotharmonized:
The list of illustrations refers to an illustration on page 306, where the image is actually on page 304.