 section 76 of uncollected short stories of LM Montgomery this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Violet Blue Albertville uncollected short stories of LM Montgomery by Lucy Maud section 76 Daphne North walked up the post office lane under the Aspen poplars with her schoolbooks under her arm apart from the other scholars she never walked with them now the oldest of them was only 15 and Daphne was 18 she resented having to go to school at all but since go she must she would not associate with children she said Daphne North's hanging back so that the master will catch up with her said Maggie Bennett in a malicious tone instantly to fourth grade boys who heard her broke out into whoops Daphne North and the schoolmaster shouted one at the top of his voice all the others laughed as if he had said something exquisitely witty Daphne colored over oval cheek and clear-cut brow this she told herself vexedly was what came of her mother's insisting that she should go to school this year and study for the entrance exam of Thrasher Academy well she would not have to put up with such impertinence much longer the term would be ended in three weeks Neil Burnham was in the post office kitchen talking to Kerry Bedlow when the school children huddled in their exuberance toned down by off Mrs. Bedlow Maggie Bennett who found herself standing next to Daphne nudged the ladder meaning Lee Daphne would not look at Neil although she knew he was there when the others had gone Neil came to her I have a team outside Daphne if you like I can drive you home thank you I'd rather walk said Daphne coldly a shadow fell over the young man's Frank brown face he said nothing more but went out slowly you should have gone with Neil Daphne said Mrs. Bedlow rebuking Lee Mrs. Bedlow had a self-appointed mission to look after everybody in West Albion from grandsires to babies it would be a great deal better than loitering home from school with Francis Elliot people are talking about you young lady Daphne tossed her head pertly West Albion folks have to be talking about somebody she said they die if they couldn't gossip if I don't choose to drive home from school with Neil Burnham it's nobody's business but my own don't get so mad child when a body speaks to you for your own good said Mrs. Bedlow provoking Lee I'm not mad flash Daphne and as for the talk it all comes from jealousy don't you think I know that she snatched her mail from the postmistress's hand and hastened out her starry eyes gleaming I guess I gave her a slap there she thought triumphantly Kerry Bedlow is just crazy over Francis and he won't even look at her not much wonder big fat thing like her what an awfully pretty girl who is she ask a woman who came out through the sitting room door as Daphne left the kitchen she was a city cousin of Mrs. Bedlow's that's Daphne North said Mrs. Bedlow impatiently Daphne's Parthian shaft had penetrated even her armor of self complacency pretty yes far too pretty for her own good oh I don't know said Mrs. Baxter indulgently good looks are all right I know some of our town girls who would give a good deal to have hair and complexion like that why I never saw such beauty it'll not do her any good she's so vain now that there's no getting on with her not that it's any wonder her head is turned strangers are always asking who that beautiful girl is her mother is queer too not that you could put a finger on any one thing and say the woman wasn't right there but she's different from other folks she had an awful life of it with Will North I guess it affected her intellect's a little in some things she's too strict with Daphne and in others too slack Daphne is as good as engaged to Neil Burnham and she's flirting scandalous with the schoolmaster a worthless fellow he is too in every way the trustees are going to dismiss him at the end of the term but he's good looking if you like his style why does Neil Burnham allow this girl to flirt with them then asked Mrs. Baxter who is always a gog with curiosity over a love affair oh Neil he's too soft for any use that's what's the matter with him he thinks Daphne and everything she does perfection didn't you see how me he took his snub today I'd like to shake some sense into him Daphne's pretty but it is all outside she's just as commonplace and silly as she can be as Daphne went down the lane under its light springing arch of emerald aspens she saw the schoolmaster waiting for her on the bridge outside the Bedlow gate her dreamy face flushed with pleasure and her heart began to beat quickly how handsome and polished he was she thought how unlike that stout sunburned Neil Burnham with his big hands in homely ways Francis Elliot took her books and they strolled slowly up the long hill beyond the brook Daphne's golden head drooped like a flower beneath his compliments and ardent glances how romantically he talked just like the heroes in her favorite novels to the fascinated girl the walk home seemed far too short they lingered at her gate talking together and when they parted he lifted his hat with what Daphne called courtly grace of war my princess he said meaningly Daphne hurried into the house with her head in a whirl her mother a gaunt dark woman with vivid eyes met her at the door she looked angrily at the girl what do you mean by mooning half an hour on the public road with the schoolmaster she said harshly there's been too much of this Daphne people are talking remember that you are to marry Neil Burnham I'm not likely to forget cried Daphne rebelliously when you fling it in my face morning noon and night I never was consulted in the matter you and Neil arranged it all clown that he is I'm sick of the sound of his name Mrs. North followed Daphne into the shabby little sitting room you haven't any business to talk that way Daphne what's got into you you'll lose Neil if you're not careful he won't put up with everything I don't care I don't want him I never did but you were always so set on it and I won't be handed over to him like a chattel so there mother Daphne North you've just clean taken leave of your senses that smirking fool of a schoolmaster has bewitched you I do believe I'm tired of such nonsense you're going to be Neil's wife so for pity's sake try and behave yourself properly mother why are you so set on my marrying Neil asked Daphne petulately she had asked the question before but had never received any satisfactory answer she did not expect one now but Mrs. North sat down in her rocking chair and said because I want you to write the wrong I did his father I am going to tell you the story Daphne and perhaps it will serve as a warning to you when I was a girl not a great deal older than you are and pretty too though there ain't any of that left now Alec Burnham asked me to marry him he was a young widower his wife had died a year after they were married and Neil was five years old Alec was a good man and well to do and I was proud to say yes that was in the spring we were to be married in the fall we kept it secret nobody but my old aunt knew anything about it then your father came to the place clerking in at Gresham's store he was a handsome ne'er do well that's what he was he began to court me and I got infatuated with him and threw Alec over will North and I were married in the fall and Alec Burnham never lifted his head after that Aunt Mary told me I'd be sorry for it and I was if you knew what my life was with your father it would make you stop and think and the way I treated Alec has weighed on my conscience ever since when Neil began to come after you I was heart glad for I saw a way to right the old wrong and that is why you must marry Neil and that's why I've slaved to keep you at school and give you a year at Thrasher to make you a fitter to be his wife you love Neil better than you do me cried Daphne no I don't but I do love him as if he was my own I'm doing the best I can for you now mind what I've said if you come sauntering home with that worthless fellow again you'll stop going to school academy or no academy if he comes here to see you I'll shut the door in his face Daphne knew her mother meant every word she ran up to her own little room under the eaves and flung herself on the bed crying passionately her mother was unjust and prejudiced she thought bitterly some jealous tongues had been tampering with her perhaps Neil had said something but she did not care she would not give up Francis I love him and he loves me she sobbed into her pillow and nobody shall come between us how can mother say such things of him Daphne's tears did not last long she was soon smiling again over her romantic visions he had called her his princess Neil would never have thought of anything like that or have been able to say it gracefully if he had that night she refused to let Neil drive her from prayer meeting and she walked home with Francis Elliott she told him all her mother had said feeling no throb of disloyalty in her shallow soul because of it when Mrs. North heard of this she made Daphne stay home from school and accompanied her everywhere she went Daphne tossed her head and submitted outwardly in secret she continued to meet Francis Elliott there were stolen walks and smuggled letters the willful girl was determined to go her own willful way the day after school closed West Albion was electrified to hear that Daphne North had run away with Francis Elliott when Neil Burnham heard it he went straight to the North Cottage his honest heart aching within him Mrs. North met him dry eyed and stern lipped is this true about Daphne Neil asked Huskily his voice pale under his tan yes the woman's voice was hard with anger she wasn't in her room this morning she left a letter if you want to see it it's there on the clock shelf Neil took and read Daphne's poor foolish high-flown little note written in the style of eloping heroines and sensational novels she was going away to be married to the only man she could ever love she wrote she implored her mother to forgive her and to ask Neil to forget and forgive her what are you going to do he asked Dooley he had loved Daphne North with his whole heart and this blow left him feeling dazed for the time being hurt and bruised in every fiber of his manhood nothing she has chosen to go her own way and she may tread it to the end without any further let or hindrance from me she is your daughter began Neil but Mrs. North interrupted him I have no daughter now she has cut herself adrift from me you need never mention her name to me again you are a cruel man you are a cruel man you are a cruel man you are a cruel man you are a cruel man you are a cruel man you are a cruel man you are a cruel unfeeling woman cried Neil in an unwanted burst of anger it becomes you to stand up for her said Mrs. North bitterly she has made you a laughing stock and yet you take her part Neil stood up very straight his honest eyes gazing steadily into Mrs. North's hard ones who should take her part if not I when her own mother fails her he asked simply as for making me a laughing stock nobody can do that but myself if I had known that Daphne did not love me I would have freed her willingly I love her still and I would do anything in my power to serve her maybe she has done wrong in this matter but that is not for me to judge Neil left the unrelenting mother and went to Woodbury then nearest town here he found Daphne and Francis Elliott had been married at the house of the Methodist minister with his assurance Neil went back to stem the tide of gossip and scandal in West Elbion it was beyond his power but at least he stood rock firm in the current nobody dared cast a word at Daphne in his presence after Scoville Parker had been knocked down for a sneer in due time another letter came from Daphne to her mother she and her husband had gone out west he had obtained a position in a business establishment in a western city she was very happy would not her mother forgive her and write to her Neil heard of the letter's arrival from Mrs. Bedlow he went to Mrs. North and tried once more to intercede for Daphne the mother was inexorable she gave Neil the letter and told him that she had packed up all Daphne's belongings and would send them to her but no word should go from her with them Neil finding all his pleading in vain wrote a letter to Daphne himself he told her frankly of her mother's attitude but assured her that she would always find a true friend in him if her mother relented in time he would let her know and if she ever needed assistance of any kind he begged her to seek it in him Daphne wrote no more letters home and his time passed on West Albion forgot her Mrs. North never mentioned her name Neil Burnham lived his solitary life many a girl in West Albion would have been glad to have stepped into Daphne's shoes and shrewd fathers and mothers made much of him but nothing came of it Mrs. Bedlow whose carry was still unwetted openly took him to task at last for not marrying and settling down doing his duty by his country as she phrased it Neil made a humorous answer with enough earnestness in it to silence her and thenceforth he was looked upon as a confirmed old bachelor once yielding to his secret hunger to know if all was well with Daphne he wrote to her but after many weeks the letter came back to him from the dead letter office his curious friendship with Mrs. North continued unbroken he went often to see her she had no other visitors and lived like a recluse but she always made much of Neil Neil who knew nothing of her old love affair with his father often wondered why Daphne's mother had such a jealous affection for him at the end of ten years the long silence was broken a letter came to Mrs. North from Daphne Neil heard of it again at the post office Mrs. Bedlow looking at him curiously told him that at last Daphne had written to her mother I knew the writing though it is ten years since I've seen it she said Daphne always wrote such a pretty hand Neil went from the post office to Mrs. North and asked her for news of Daphne yes the letter was from her if you want to read it it is on the clock shelf said Mrs. North as coldly as she had said it ten years before Neil again in silence took it and read the letter his heart beating until the thin sheets rustled in his shaking fingers it was a pit of a letter enough Daphne wrote that her husband had been dead for two years she had struggled on for the sake of her child but it had recently died too she was broken in health and spirit I don't feel that I can keep up alone any longer now that baby has gone she wrote oh mother won't you forgive me now and let me come back to you I've been well punished for my disobedience and folly everything you warned me came true if you could see me now you wouldn't know me I'm so changed Daphne ill Daphne alone among strangers Daphne free Neil felt a sudden thrill of hope and joy you'll write her to come home of course he said eagerly Mrs. North looked at him stubbornly not I I have no daughter I have told you so often enough have you any maternal feeling at all woman exclaimed Neil in anger no not now Daphne killed it all when she broke my heart she has made her bed let her lie in it Neil wasted no more words in useless discussion he folded the letter up and put it in his pocket I guess I have the best right to this he said what are you going to do Mrs. North asked you'll be told of it when I do it answered Neil striding to the door wait a moment Neil Mrs. North went across the hall to her bedroom and presently returned with a small roll of money in her hand here she said holding it out to him if you are going to write to Daphne send her this tell her I sent it to her not because she is my daughter but just because I would give it to any stranger who was in need and asked me for help for a moment Neil hesitated his face darkening then he took the money and went out without speaking 24 hours later Neil Burnham left Albion Center on the westbound train he was going to find Daphne when he reached the city where she lived he found his way at once to the address given in the letter it was a shabby boarding house in a shabby street the landlady who answered his ring told him that Mrs. Elliott had not got home from work yet and asked him to wait you'll be some friend of hers from down east she said ushering him into the stuffy little parlor she told me she had written home her brother maybe no well anyway I'm glad somebody has come to look after her she's been fretting and grieving like to break her heart it's my opinion she ain't long for this world she's working in more in Burgess's big departmental store and it is killing her by inches Neil was glad when she took her valuable presence off all he could think of was the fact that he would soon see Daphne when she came in he saw her in the dim hall light before she learned of his presence it was Daphne but a sadly changed Daphne only the eye of love would have known her this pale frightened looking woman with a little scar on her cheek could that be Daphne his pretty violet eye Daphne of the old days life must indeed have gone hardly with her to bring her down to this she stopped in the doorway with a little cry when she saw him Neil Neil strode across the room and caught her trembling form in his strong arms she was his again and no mortal power could come between them now Daphne oh Daphne are you glad to see me he said she was clinging to him between laughter and tears oh Neil I never thought of this oh indeed I am glad but mother where's mother isn't she well oh tell me all the home news I'm starving for it your mother as well but she is hard against you yet there don't grieve Daphne she'll come around when you go home it'll be all right I've come to take you back I can't go back if mother hasn't forgiven me cried Daphne piteously yes you are coming back to my home and as my wife Daphne said Neil decidedly she shrank away oh Neil no no it can't be it would be doing you a wrong Daphne no no wait listen she cried wildly you must listen Neil I'm no wife for you a broken down woman with all the life crushed out of her I did you a bitter wrong once Neil but oh I have been bitterly punished for it I I he's dead Neil but he broke my heart look at this scar he struck me there once oh Neil it's so good to see you but it can't be Daphne listen to me now he took her hands and held them fast I've never loved but you and I've always loved you I'll never marry but you perhaps you did me a wrong once but you can't mend it by doing a worse wrong now and that is what you'll do if you cast me out of your life again you know I'm no hand to tell out what is in my heart but it was like that long ago when you thought me a blundering clumsy lover and so I was but if you won't marry me I'll never go back to West Albion again oh Neil she's still protested but he drew her closer eloquent for once if never before or again come home with me Daphne there's a long and happy life before you if you will but take it my girl the past is all behind and it shall never be cast up to you how true you are she sobbed oh Neil what a blind little fool I was you deserve a better wife than me I don't and I don't want a better I want you Daphne haven't I loved you ever since you were a child toddling about the fields with me you loved me once before he came between us and you will again my little girl my little girl he drew her into his arms close against that faithful enduring heart of his yes said mrs. bedlow to mrs. Baxter who was again visiting her yes Neil Burnham has got Daphne north at last he went out west after her and they were married and arrived home two weeks ago I was up to see her last night my but she's a changed woman I'd never have known her never there's nothing left of her but her big eyes not but what she's picked up considerable since she came home but she doesn't look any more like Daphne north that went away than you do hardly to be sure she's real improved in other ways she isn't half as flighty and foolish as she used to be as for Neil you'd think he was eating and drinking sunshine between you and me I think there were others who'd have made him just as good a wife as Daphne north but there since nobody but Daphne would do him it's well that it's Daphne he's got it last and considering how true he was to her and how long he waited I don't know but that it's kind of a real fitting as it were that things should come round like this is mrs. north reconciled asked mrs. Baxter seems to me I heard she was terrible set against Daphne well mrs. north is queer and always has been west albion folks thought it was scandalous the way she turned against Daphne it's pretty hard when a girl's own mother casts her off and it wasn't as if Daphne had done anything real wicked she was just foolish that was all but mrs. north vowed she'd never forgive her and she stuck to that well Neil went and brought Daphne home and then so they say he stalked up and interviewed mrs. north says he to her mrs. north Daphne is down at my place she's my wife if you'll go down and see her and let bygones be bygones well and good if you don't I'll never darken your door again that brought her around she knew Neil meant it and she's always had the most unaccountable fondness for him so she gave in but it was in her own way says she I'll go down and see her Neil but it's not because she's my daughter it's because she's your wife I'll love her and be her friend just as I would any woman you married it is for your sake not hers so there it is and as everybody concerned is happy let's sleeping dogs lie say I end of section seventy six recording by violet blue elbertville section seventy seven of uncollected short stories of l m montgomery this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by jayme church uncollected short stories of L. M. Montgomery by Lucy Maud Montgomery spotty when Bessie Johnson married Ben Williams not only without her father's consent but against his express command he disowned her she is no more a daughter of mine he told his weeping wife sternly and David Johnson was a man who stuck to his word every article belonging to Bessie had been packed up and sent after her her colt and cow dispatched to the Williams farm and that as far as David Johnson was concerned was to be the end of it there never was no truck between the Johnson's and the Williams's he said and there ain't going to be I told Bessie fair and square that if she married Ben Williams she'd be a stranger to me from that out she has made her choice and she can abide by it neither her nor her husband she'll ever darken my door and I'll never darken theirs that's final mother and you needn't try to patch matters up leave them be meek timid little mrs. Johnson who had given into her husband all the years of their married life was obliged to yield though she pined and fretted secretly Bessie was her only child and the mother's heart yearned over her though she never dared to say so she didn't blame the child for marrying the man of her choice Ben Williams was a steady industrious young fellow although he was poor and he and Bessie had loved each other from their school days David Johnson was a man who said in the heat of anger things of which he soon repented but stubbornly stood by as months went by his heart softened to his daughter but he would never admit it indeed lest anyone should suspect it he was outwardly harsher and more bitter than ever when he met her on the road or at church he never even looked at her a proceeding which nearly broke Bessie's heart he forbade his wife to speak to her and would not allow her name to be mentioned in his presence when Bessie's baby was born she named him after her father and secretly hoped that the child would be the means of making peace between them but David Johnson gave no sign of relenting and in all likelihood would have gone to his grave at enmity with his daughter had it not been for a certain business transaction which Ben Williams had with Deacon Boyle one day it did not look to be sure as if it could affect Bessie's fortunes or influence David Johnson's hard old heart at all when Ben Williams in order to pay a pressing debt sold his little spotted cow to Deacon Boyle he hated to do it for she was a great pet he had brought her up by hand from a calf and she almost seemed like one of the family Bessie who loved the shapely glossy coated little animal cried on the day she was taken away and spotty looked at her friends with almost human reproach in her large gentle eyes but she had to go and Deacon Boyle who had chewed Ben down to the last penny chuckled with delight over his bargain two days afterwards he sold her to David Johnson at a big advance in price and Bessie's pet went home to the Johnson homestead her new quarters were really much better than her old ones but spotty was home sick the very first day on which she was turned into the spring pasture where the clover such as never grew on the Williams Stoty acres was up to her knees she jumped the fence and made her way back home Ben Williams found her basking in her favorite corner of the sunshiney yard that afternoon Bessie ran out and kissed her on the white star on her forehead but of course spotty couldn't stay Ben who didn't know anything as yet about the Johnson Boyle transaction drove her down to the Boyle farm and when he learned the truth left Jimmy Boyle to take her back to Johnson two days afterwards spotty came home again Ben wouldn't set foot on David Johnson's land for a hundred cows but he drove spotty up the road to the Johnson gate and then got a passing small boy to take her up the lane and tell old David Johnson that the next time his cow ran away he could come after her himself Ben felt a good deal of satisfaction in sending that message for he thought a Williams was as good as a Johnson any day and he could not forgive his father-in-law for his high-handed proceedings what David Johnson said is unknown the small boy said that he swore but small boys are not always reliable at any rate poor spotty was shut up in the barnyard over the fence of which no cow could dream of jumping and kept there until David Johnson thought she must have surely forgotten her old home then she was turned into the spring meadow again when Ben Williams went out from dinner that day spotty was loping up the lane and she came around the corner of the house under the poplars at a run if ever a cow looked glad spotty did right human Ben and Bessie declared it seemed cruel to think of sending her back I wash my hands of the affair said Ben I told your father if he let her get away again he could come for her himself I haven't time to be tracing around the country taking back cows he knows where she is and he'll get her when he comes or sends but till he does she stays here when David Johnson found that spotty was not among the other cows that night in the spring meadow he clawed with rage he knew very well where she had gone and he knew Ben Williams wouldn't send her back this time his own pride would not stoop to ask any stranger to go for her and he had nobody of his own to send but I won't go if I never get her back he growled I said I'd never set foot on Ben Williams land and I ain't going to for 40 cows that little spotted brute can stay if she has a mind to them as prefers Williams as to Johnson's can have them I say be they cows or women it was all very well to talk in this way but when three days had passed without any news of spotty David Johnson got fidgety his pocket was even a soarer place than his pride he had paid Boyle an outrageous high figure for that cow and she was a valuable one he and really hoped that Ben would send her back for all but when Ben didn't it began to look as if he must go for her himself if he wanted to get her so he did at last though with a very bad grace he meant to stock down to the Williams homestead and demand the cow as any stranger might but there was nobody in sight when he got there and he had to knock at the door Bessie herself opened it with her baby in her arms she had been crying as her father could plainly see for Ben was away and times were hard and she felt her estrangement from her parents keenly but she smiled brightly at him as if it were the most natural thing in the world to see him standing there why father come in I'm after that cow said David Johnson gruffly he had vowed never never to set foot in Bessie's house but then he had vowed never to set foot on William's land yet he had done it so he might as well go in now Bessie bustled around nervously to get the most comfortable chair spotty's in the stable she said Ben ain't home but I'll show you where she is it's too bad you've had such trouble with her she's always been a great pet so I suppose we've kind of spoiled her the baby was laughing in her arms as she sat down opposite to her father it stretched out its tiny hands to the grim old man in cude I suppose this is young David said old David sheepishly he's a fine little chap come here sir he took the baby in his big hands and held him rather gingerly he had not held the baby for over 20 years ever since Bessie herself had been a baby with just such big blue eyes and coos and dimples as this little Williams how his mother asked Bessie timidly not as well as usual said her father more gently she's kind of pining you might run up and see her some of these days if you get time Bessie oh I will cried Bessie tears of joy springing to her eyes I'd have come before long ago but I thought I thought yes I know said old David awkwardly I suppose I've been an old crank but when a man like me says a thing it's awful hard for him to go back on it I said I'd never come here but you see here I be all on account of that blessed cow so my word is broke but I ain't sorry come up and see your mother and bring the baby he's a fine little chap won't you stay to tea said Bessie happily Ben will be home in a few minutes and I'll get it right ready not this time said old David getting up he knew now that he would have to make up with Ben Williams sooner or later but he wasn't ready to sit down at his table just yet Ma'll be waiting for me and about that cow she's the blamest homesick critter I ever saw I don't see as it's much use to take her home we've spoiled spotty petting her so much I guess said Bessie with a sigh Ben hated to sell her but he needed the money so he let her go we can't afford to buy her back just yet I'll go out and show you where she is well all things considered maybe a needn't mind said her father handing the baby back to her I haven't time to be looking after runaway cows and she'd probably jump again if I took her back there must be something powerful attractive about the Williams is that's all I can say she can stay here young David can have her I'll make him a birthday present of her there you needn't bother thanking me mine should come up and see your mother soon when her father had gone Bessie flew out to the barn and kissed and hugged and laughed over spotty you blessed little cow do you know what you've done you've made it all up between father and me oh spotty I am so happy and how I do love you you shall live in clover all your days and you shall never be sold or killed never you darling and spotty linked contentedly the end of section 77 recording by jamie church section 78 of uncollected short stories of lm montgomery this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by mike overby midland washington uncollected short stories of lm montgomery by lucy mod Montgomery uncle chatterton's gingerbread this time it was the gingerbread uncle chatterton had to find fault with something it was a matter of principle with him if ever the day passed whose low descending sun failed to set upon some adverse comment of uncle chattertons concerning his bill of fare aunt chatterton put a kettle of water on the stove before she went to bed in the firm belief that it and a doctor would be needed before morning this gingerbread said uncle chatterton is not fit for pigs the rest of us had eaten our squares of it without finding this out it was very good gingerbread not quite up to aunt chatterton's mark perhaps but still very fair average gingerbread georgiana looked indignant but aunt chattertons brow cleared uncle chatterton had not grumbled at anything during breakfast or dinner it was a relief to her when he began at last it is a little coarse-grained she said apologetically i don't think that last barrel of flour is quite as good as the one we had before uncle chatterton snorted if that isn't like a woman never give in that it's her own fault of course the flour is all right the recipe is the trouble if you'd use the recipe my mother gave you you'd have gingerbread fit to eat my mother used to make the best gingerbread i ever ate your mother's recipe calls for sour cream and you know we haven't any protested on chatterton well why don't we have uncle chatterton was getting more excited at every minute anyway such gingerbread as this is a menace to the digestion and health of every unfortunate creature who rashly attempts to eat it i could make better gingerbread myself why don't you make it then of course it was georgiana who asked this none of us would have dared but georgiana belonged to some weird new place out west where people said what they thought this was her first visit east and she was not yet sufficiently sophisticated to be an awe of uncle chatterton what what gasped uncle chatterton i said why don't you make it repeated georgiana sweet and calmly won't aunt chatterton let you uncle chatterton's face was a study young woman he sputtered then he stopped and drank a glass of milk to relieve his feelings after which he said i will make it for tea tomorrow night it's the simplest thing in the world i'll send over to mrs grigsby for some sour cream and you'll see uncle chatterton was game he would rather die than give in that he couldn't make gingerbread after all this growling accordingly the next afternoon uncle chatterton made the gingerbread for tea we all went into the kitchen to watch him he was beaming with good nature and made us all furious by assuming genially that we would come to learn how good gingerbread was really made aunt chatterton tied one of her big blue aprons around him and hunted out his mother's recipe for him mrs grigsby had sent up a whole jug of sour cream and uncle chatterton went to work with energy he measured and sifted and stirred all quite deftly as we had to admit he did get slightly flustered when he broke one of the eggs by mistake into the sour cream instead of the mixing bowl but he cheerfully decided that it didn't matter because eggs were cheap and the rest of the cream wasn't needed anyway i'm going to put lots of ginger in he said maria never flavors it strong enough for me when his mixture was ready he poured it into the pan and triumphantly set it in the oven now you girls may set the table he said that cake will be ready to eat in about 20 minutes when the gingerbread came out of the oven it was beautifully light and puffy say i can make gingerbread will you young woman chuckled uncle chatterton at georgiana georgiana's craft was drooping but she replied that the proof of the pudding was in the eating uncle chatterton turned the steaming gingerbread out on a plate and carried it proudly to the table triumph seems to ooze out of him at every pour when the gingerbread was passed he helped himself to the largest piece and took a big brave bite we all saw the look on his face and each of us hastened to sample his or her piece we did not take a second bite however georgiana who has a delicate throat very nearly choked to death uncle chatterton had jingered the gingerbread with mustard end of section 78 section 79 of uncollected short stories of alam Montgomery this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Skip Washington DC uncollected short stories of Ella Montgomery by Lucy Mod Montgomery section 79 Josephine's husband Zilla Gorm went swiftly up the narrow stairs and opened her bedroom door the room was dark with the gloom of a November twilight it was a long cold neat room with four windows three of which were shadowed by the trees of the orchard and the furs behind the house the fourth looked out westward over the pond and threw a break in the wellows around it to the fields and homesteads of Lower Wentworth Josephine was sitting listlessly by it one hand hanging at her side the other propping her chin on the sill above her head was a narrow shelf across the window supporting some potted house plants the tendrils of a trailing fuchsia almost touched the smooth glossy arch of her fond colored hair her faded wrapper was loose at the throat as if she had flung it open for air and her black brows were knotted in a frown above the large deep tinted hazel eyes that were such a startling contrast to her colorless face zilla came forward slowly and sat down on the low chins covered seat before Josephine she was much older than her sister and had the same sleek thin hair and pale face but her eyes were a faded blue and her expression was at once weaker and more malicious she had been talking to a man to read over the line fence and had heard from her some news which she must tell Josephine but she knew very well that it would never do to blurt it out too eagerly Josephine looked dangerous it looks like snow she began Josephine made no answer but zilla had expected none who do you suppose was married last night she went on i have no idea said Josephine indifferently James Wright and Ada Allen folks are more than surprised he courted her pretty sly there's another of your old bows gone Josephine if you don't look out they'll soon be none of them left what's that to me said Josephine scornfully not glancing at the speaker oh nothing much i suppose only this you won't get anybody to take you if you keep on acting this way much longer if you'd got a divorce long ago as you ought to have done you might have your pick even yet but you always were so set in stubborn doubtless Josephine was stubborn her mouth looked like it a grimoire said still as she responded dryly it's a wonder you ain't tired talking to me about it i've told you often enough that i don't mean to apply for any divorce he can if he wants to well i guess you will before long said Zilla seeing a chance to work in her news fittingly i'm going to tell you just what Mandy re told me out there tonight Gilbert Fleming told Lonzo Farrah in the store at upper Wentworth the other night that he wished to mercy he was free if you once and for all there Josephine Gorham if a man said that about me i'd see that he had his wish soon enough i don't believe it cried Josephine moved for a moment out of her cold reserve Gilbert never said that he did and i've heard other things he said he'll apply for a divorce if you won't and that'll tell against you 10 times worse than if it was you that applied Josephine did not answer but Zilla was satisfied with the expression on her face she hastened to strike while the iron was hot now Josephine listen to me i've always had your best interest at heart and i've always stood by you you're miserable and i want to see you happy Gilbert Fleming treated you scandalous and everybody says so and now they say he has a notion of catty evans catty evans she repeated in a whisper yes and he drove her home from prayer meeting last Wednesday evening i saw that with my own eyes but i didn't dare tell you before for you always get in such a rage when i mention his name but i think things have gone just far enough with Gilbert hoarding another girl and telling all over the country that he wishes he was rid of you you're a full Josephine Gorham if you put up with it Josephine sprang to her feet Zilla had never seen her so moved i won't put up with it she said passionately you're right Zilla the court meets at upper Wentworth next week and i'll put in my application he wishes he was free does he he shall be free i hate him she lifted her large hand and struck it violently against the window casing Zilla felt frightened but triumphant don't take on so Josephine she said soothingly he ain't worth getting worked up over he never treated you right you're young and good looking yet and there's other men i don't want any other man said Josephine sullingly relapsing into her old reserve i've had enough of married life i'll get a divorce but don't you go prodding me about marrying again well well not if you don't want to said Zilla with another of her disagreeable laughs perhaps you'll change your mind of course you're always welcome to a home here as long as William and i have want to offer you anyhow you'll be free and feel happier and Gil Fleming can marry his precious catty then he had a notion of her folks say before he ever took up with you Zilla Gorham knew no woman better how to gall and exasperate so well did she succeed in the present instance that she grew alarmed at Josephine's face and hastened to change the subject while i must go and get William supper don't stay here in the dark and cold Josephine you'll get melancholy there ain't any good in brooding goodness knows if there was you've done enough to make everything right Josephine made no reply and Zilla well satisfied with the results of the interview went down with her catlike step she knew Josephine would keep her word and jay bez read next door was a well-to-do bachelor who always wanted her she'll get over her crank about marrying again she said to her brother at the supper table and she'll get on with jay bez better than she did with Gilbert she was full not to take him in the first place but she was crazy about Gil Fleming she's well cured of that now i guess jay bez is easygoing and mandy is a good-natured old fool who won't try to boss her around as lispith Fleming did i was afraid she would never apply for a divorce she's so stubborn she'll get one if Gil don't fight it i suppose she will said william gorm but she might give him another chance i believe he wants her back yet if he could get her lispith's dead now and maybe they'd get on better together if they made up well there'll be no making up said zilla josephine hates him and she'd never go back to him if he went down on his bended knees to ask her and that being the case the sooner she's free the better no human decree is ever going to make you anything else but my wife Josephine do you think you've done right? William Gorm said nothing more he seldom ventured to differ openly from zilla in his heart he believed that Josephine under all her pride and stubbornness and seeming hatred loved Gilbert Fleming still Josephine meanwhile was pacing up and down the room like a caged creature a weaker woman might have wept her passions out in tears but Josephine's wide open hazel eyes were bright and dry although her heart was filled with a tumult of wounded pride and bitter hatred born of strong love she would sue for a divorce and he might have his freedom and make what use of it he would he might even marry catty evans she did not care anything that he might do was nothing to her forever when the court met it up or went worth Josephine applied for a divorce and much gossip was occasioned thereby Josephine herself never spoke of the matter and allowed no one to speak of it to her even zilla for once was cowed into silence but one afternoon when the latter was away william ventured to mention it to Josephine i saw Gilbert down at the store today Josephine he looks terrible haggard and thin and has an award to throw to a dog don't you think you were rather hasty suing for a divorce you shouldn't have let zilla argue you into it if you didn't want it i did want it said Josephine her voice was sullen and proud but the hand that held her sewing trembled i did it of my own free will he's after catty evans and i don't intend to stand in his way william rolled his tobacco thoughtfully in his hands zilla had always told him he was stupid and sure to make a mess of any affair he meddled with but he did not see how this matter could be any worse than it was so after a pause he went on i don't believe there's any truth in that gossip about him and catty he drove her home from prayer meeting one night when it was pouring rain and she was walking alone and another time he gave her a lift on the road and it all started from that i believe Gilbert loves you yet Josephine Josephine's mouth grew harder it looks as if he did when he'd go and tell Lonzo Farrah that he wished he was free of me well i never heard the rights of that story maybe he never said such words and if he did you don't know how he might have been goaded i dare say people have told him things too i don't care said Josephine Dolly i don't want to change my mind and you'd best let matters be william you can't help them any now Josephine said zilla one evening a few days later where Sterling took the papers up today to serve on Gilbert he's got them by this time you'll soon be a free woman Josephine was washing the milking pails on the back door platform the november evening was raw and chill and her hands and face were blue with cold but at zilla's words a tida color surged up in her cheeks she made no response however and zilla after waiting a moment went into the house slamming the door in her petulant disappointment when Josephine had finished her work she went up to her room at the western window she sat down on the chint seat and pressed her burning face against the pain so Gilbert had the papers what would he think would he care would he be glad the proud angry woman folded her hands over her breasts and looked back over her past she recalled the days when Gilbert Fleming had first come wooing her how proud and happy she had been how she had loved him yes and how he had loved her he had loved her then whatever he did now then had followed their marriage in those first few happy months Gilbert like herself was intense and deep-natured high spirited as the phrase went and went worth and the strong will sometimes clashed but love had smoothed the way how good and kind he had been to her even in her tempers then his older brother at the homestead had died and the sister who had kept his house came to live with Gilbert after that there was nothing but trouble Elizabeth Fleming was a domineering woman accustomed to having her own way she and Josephine quarreled incessantly both took their complaints to Gilbert at first he had taken his wife's part but Elizabeth had a craftiness that Josephine lacked instead of exasperating Gilbert with railing and reproach as Josephine had done she posed as a patient ill-used martyr gradually Gilbert was led to blame his wife for their domestic dissensions then Josephine made another mistake she fled for sympathy to her own kin Silla Gorham was one of those women whose capacities for brewing trouble are limitless she championed her sister's cause less from affection for her or even from family pride than from pure love of mischief making an interference she soon had made the already bad situation intolerable and it ended in Josephine leaving Gilbert's house and going home to William and Silla that was two years ago since then Gilbert had lived his comfortless life alone for Elizabeth had died soon after the separation Josephine thought it all over relentlessly but somehow the memories of recriminations and quarrels seem less vivid than those of kindness and gentleness of tender words and kisses of the long sweet hours of early bridal days deep down in her heart she loved Gilbert still and yet she meant to discard him forever if I only thought he cared she mattered chokingly far out over the damn lifeless fields a light was gleaming from the kitchen window of Gilbert's house she pictured him sitting there alone and uncared for the thought was suddenly more than she could bear she rose and went silently downstairs she took a shawl from the nail behind the front door wrapped it around her head and slipped stealthily out the sun had long since set but the western sky was still an arc of cold primrose softly threaded with crimson the hills came out clearly against it but the long valley was brimmed with twilight and the pond lay in it like a great semi-lustrous jewel Josephine skirted it swiftly and made her way over the fields passing through lanes where beaches with their withered sublime leaves met overhead and a long dim woods where frosted bracking clung to her dress and pungently sweet odors of dying fur floated out on the moist air sometimes a sudden gust of wind sent the dried leaves scurrying before her in weird dances as of wood elves sometimes voices came from afar on the still air or the hoofbeats of a horse mingled with young laughter rang down the shadowy country roads but Josephine heard and he did no sound save her own wildly beating heart and quickly drawn breath only when she reached the gate of her forsaken home did she pause and listen tremulously in the farmhouse kitchen Gilbert Fleming was sitting by the table with his arms outstretched upon it and his head bowed on them before him lay the papers that had been served that day the fire was out in the entirety room was but dimly lighted by a smoky ill-trim lamp the man himself looked shabby and hopeless there was a light footstep outside somebody fumbled and certainly with the kitchen latch then as Gilbert rose slowly to his feet the door opened and Josephine came in for a moment husband and wife looked at each other then Josephine's eyes fell to the scattered papers you've got them she said dully yes Gilbert's tone was bitter the lawyer brought them today i've been expecting them but no human decree is ever going to make you anything but my wife Josephine do you think you've done right she threw back the shawl from her pale face i was driven to it she said defiantly there was nothing else left for me to do her voice broke like a child Gilbert strode forward and caught her in his arms Josephine if you're sorry you've done it and ain't too late yet he cried eagerly why did you say you wanted to be free of me she demanded passionately straining back from his embrace i never said it Lonzo Ferrer said you did he lied then i'll tell you what i did say he'd been telling me things he'd heard you had said and one was that you wish you'd never set eyes on me and i was so riled and badgered i said i wished it too i was feeling bitter at you Josephine when you never gave me word or look or answered my letter your letter yes the one i wrote you the spring after lispeth died i never could get a chance to speak to you so i wrote and asked you if you wouldn't come back i never got any a letter of yours Gilbert you didn't i left it at the post office for you oh he added fiercely i suppose zilla took a care that you shouldn't get it from first to last that woman has made most of the trouble between us she'll never make any more cried Josephine she snatched the papers from the table tore them twice across and flung the fragments into the ashes of the littered hearth then she turned to Gilbert and held out her arms end of section 79 recording by skip washington dc section 80 of uncollected short stories of lm Montgomery this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by April 6090 california united states of america uncollected short stories of lm Montgomery by lucy mod Montgomery the 530 train a thunderstorm that welded together a broken engagement lm Montgomery first published new england homestead august 16th 1913 the 330 train was just puffing out from lowway station when a young man with an overcoat on his arm and a valise in one hand came pelting up the long dusty road when he reached the platform the last car was just disappearing behind a shaggy fringe of woodland beyond the curve harris allen did not swear possibly out of respect for the three awkward looking girls in loud shirt wastes and sailor hats were gaping after the receiving train but he looked things not lawful to be uttered as he stocked into the waiting room and thumped his valise down on the hard uncomfortable bench which ran around three sides of it mr train hey said the red-headed station master in a bicycle suit looks like it said allen grimly when does the next one go the next train is the evening express at 530 was the consoling answer as the officials sauntered away two hours to wait in this whole thought allen in disgust he made up his mind to go for a walk but a glance at the sky convinced him that a drenching would be poor compensation for his delay a thunderstorm was coming up the air was hot and close the clouds dark and lowering allen with a muttered exclamation strode back into the dingy waiting room and flung himself down beside his valise the station master locked his private office and went home the shirt waste girls and the small boy hangers on disappeared and low-waste station became as silent as the grave just as the first big drops splashed down on the dusty road a buggy drove rapidly up to the platform and a girl sprang out carrying a satchel and a shawl strap she dismissed her small freckled driver with a nod and the buggy whirled down the road again with all the recklessness of a youthful jihuu while the girl hurried along the platform into the waiting room when her eyes met allen's he started very perceptibly while margaret king was guilty of a blush but the only greeting that passed between them was a cool nod allen's unspoken thought was how on earth did margaret come here while margaret's was harris allen of all people she looked inquiringly at the ticket window which was tightly shut and took her watch out with a frown do you know where the ticket agent is mr allen she inquired politely with the air of one who would much rather not speak if she were not possessed with a burning desire for information i think he's gone home said harris sin personally if you want to see him i'll go after him oh no i only want to get my ticket of course he'll be back directly the four o'clock train is almost due there isn't any four o'clock train said allen quickly the next train goes at five thirty the three thirty train went half an hour ago that is probably the one you meant to take i missed it two unluckily he hesitated slightly over the ad room after all the old luck has been qualified miss king looked dismayed i don't understand i certainly thought there was a four o'clock train aunt hester said there was and jimmy has gone back home the timetable has been changed lately i think said allen wondering fiercely who jimmy was at any rate we can do nothing but wait patiently i undertook to walk from the bay shore hotel over here and got left miss king did not answer she arranged her traps neatly on the opposite bench sat down and looked out of the door she was a very pretty girl with such brilliantly perfect coloring and ruddy golden hair that the bare-necked lady in the soap advertisement above her looked quite faded and pale by contrast her eyes were a delicious brown her lips the most kissable ever molded and the dimple in her chin something no mere man could resist she was dressed in a natty traveling suit and looked every wit as pretty and provoking and unattainable as she had looked on the occasion of their last meeting when they had quarreled and broken their engagement allen was determined that he would not look at her so he fixed his eyes firmly on the gorgeously framed map of a trunk line hanging on the wall and glared at it for ten seconds at the end of that time he found himself looking at margaret instead without being conscious of having moved his eyes those little fluffy rings of hair were falling on her forehead just as they used to do when he had liked to slip his fingers through them in particular through the one that lay on her left temple and the two others that curled close against her neck from behind he squirmed restlessly what a fool he had been it had been all his fault he had been a jealous brute and she had been quite right in declaring she would never forgive him he knew she never would she would probably annihilate him with one scornful glance of those brown eyes if she even suspected what a wild desire he had to go over and sit down beside her drew her head against his shoulder and slip his finger through those rings of hair at this point in his musings margaret turned her head and allen gazed with his soul in his eyes at the lady of the advertisement he looks dreadfully thin thought margaret trying to believe that it was the approaching thunderstorm which made her heart beat so but he is as handsome as ever i wonder if he cared no of course he didn't if he had wanted to come back of course he would have i dare say he is engaged to some other horrid girl by now he told me dozens of times that he never would or could love any girl but me but of course he has forgotten all about that oh dear i wish i hadn't made such a silly mistake about the trains the rumblings of thunder grew louder and margaret looked apprehensive when allen rose and stalked to the door she turned so pale that the soap lady temporarily recovered her ascendancy surely he was not going to leave her there alone with a furious thunderstorm coming up she would die of fright didn't he remember how storms always terrified her or had he forgotten that as he had everything else margaret recalled a thunderstorm the summer before when they had been together something in the memory made her choke and she was furious to find tears in her eyes i don't care she thought miserably no i don't but i won't be left here alone if it is going to thunder allen had meant to leave the waiting room he honestly believed that his presence there was obnoxious to her and he felt sure that he would make a new kind of fool of himself if he remained but when he reached the door a louder clap of thunder made him pause he knew she was always terribly frightened during thunderstorms it would not do to leave her alone the storm grew worse rapidly the peels of thunder were louder and more incessant the lightning flashed brighter the dismal little room was in semi-gloom outside the rain streamed down simultaneously with a glare of blue fire and a fearful crash in mid-air came a pitiful gasping little cry behind him he wheeled around and saw margaret huddled up in her corner with her face against the wall in an instant he was beside her margaret darling don't be frightened the storm will be over soon oh i can't help it sobbed margaret she wiggled herself about until her face was against his coat instead of the wall allen put his arm around her and drew her close she sat quietly shuddering at every crash he bent his head and laid his face against the soft hair under the hat which had slipped aside then growing bolder he kissed the curve of her neck or the little love locks of reddish gold hair lay margaret lifted her hand and pressed it against his cheek it's all right again isn't it margaret he asked oh yes she whispered back when the station master came back the thunderstorm was over and the sun was bursting through the ragged clouds up the track barefooted small boys were peeping out of their retreats in order to be in at the death when the mail train came the station master pushed up the window and sold allen two tickets with the air of a man conferring a tremendous favor he had an objectionable way with him but allen and margaret thought he was the most delightful public official they had ever seen they were so happy that they felt they could love everybody in the world even a supercilious station master with a red head when the 530 train came in allen carried a valise overcoat shawl strap and satchel in one hand and with the other he led his companion unblessingly on board they had looked so radiant that the train hands all supposed that they were bright and groom although allen was dusty and margaret's hat was crooked that shower has laid the dust considerably remarked the station master complacently as the train moved off it had done more than that we grow like what we think of so let us think of the good the true and the beautiful end of section 80 section 81 of uncollected short stories of lm montgomery this is a labrivox recording all labrivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit labrivox.org recording by by charlie ray in virginia usa uncollected short stories of lm montgomery by lucy mod montgomery section 81 the Bartlett's Thanksgiving Day first published new england homestead november 21 1914 the tale of a father and daughter both of whom were stubborn and proud the Thanksgiving dinner which vanished by magic the reconciliation after 12 years of estrangement by lm montgomery joseph Bartlett drove home from the store at the corners in such a brown study that he sat in the buggy in the muddy yard for fully 10 minutes before he got out his wife watched him from the window and wondered wistfully what he was thinking of then she sighed she knew what she was thinking of and had been thinking of all day the motto was Thanksgiving and every other mother and father in abbots four would have at least some of their family to help eat the Thanksgiving dinner everybody except father and me she reflected sadly there's only Maggie and she won't come because pa won't ask her and he won't he's so desperate proud and stubborn so is she and they are as like each other as two peas dear me it's 12 years since Maggie went away 12 thanksgivings without her it doesn't seem worthwhile to cook and fuss just for pa and me her husband now came in with his arms full of bundles here's your turkey mother he said i picked the best Sam Kennedy had and here's all your other fixings tea ready i'm hungry enough to eat a graven image so said Joseph Bartlett but he failed to make his words good for when he sat down to the table he ate a little and slowly between mouthfuls he fell into reveries staring at his plate with his knife and fork poised upright at either side did you see many at the store asked Mrs Bartlett no there wasn't anybody there except Mrs Allen and and them two children of Maggie's they looked desperate miserable never saw such sickly looking young ones Robert says to the backbone that's what they are did did you speak to them pa asked Mrs Bartlett timidly hey what's that speak to him it's likely ain't it i thought you knew me better than that when i see a thing i stand by it Mrs Bartlett sighed i do wonder if Maggie will have a good dinner tomorrow she said wistfully i heard that john hadn't sent her any money for a long time how do you hear things like that exclaimed Joseph Bartlett angrily i have told you often enough that i am not going to have you gossiping to people about her it was the minister's wife told me father the minister's wife can mind her own business then as for Maggie and her young ones i don't care whether they have got a good Thanksgiving dinner or no dinner at all Maggie made her bed and must lie on it she might have known what to expect when she married John Roberts i dare say it's quite likely he hasn't sent her anything lately he will never make enough to bring himself home it was just like his foolishness starting off to the Klondike thought he was going to pick up gold by the handfuls i suppose instead of staying home and looking after his wife and family now don't you mention Maggie's name to me again mother Mrs Bartlett did not remind her husband that he had been the first to mention it she only sighed again and proceeded to clear away the dishes then she stepped softly about the pantry preparing the Thanksgiving dinner for the morrow's cooking while Joseph Bartlett smoked moodyly in the chimney corner 12 years before this their only daughter Maggie had married John Roberts against her father's will he had never forgiven her for it he had forbade her his house and had never spoken to her from that day Maggie had all her father's pride and obstinacy she never sought a reconciliation her mother spoke to her when they met but Joseph Bartlett had forbidden his wife to visit Maggie and although it nearly broke her heart she obeyed Maggie had had a hard time since her marriage her husband was poor and never seemed to get alone two years before this he had gone to Klondike and Maggie had lived alone with her two children ever since Klondike remittances were few and scanty but if she found it hard to make both ends meet she never complained at nine o'clock the Bartlett's went to bed on the pantry dresser the turkey reposed in state stuffed with Joseph's favorite sage and onion dressing a big form white cottage lay in a pan decided flanked with a couple of turnips above it on the shelf were two rich mince pies a dish of cranberry jelly and a plate of red apples Joseph Bartlett stood at the pantry door and looked at the good things approvingly while his wife covered the turkey with a towel pretty appetizing mother pretty appetizing he said I can't take no pleasure in them his wife said sadly when I don't know whether Maggie will have a good dinner tomorrow or not I wish she would stop harping about Maggie didn't I tell you not to speak about her again she will have as good a dinner as she deserves probably I'm going to bed Thanksgiving morning dawned fair and bright Joseph Bartlett arose at seven I declare I am tireder than when I went to bed he said I don't feel a bit rested now just look at the mud on my boots will you mother how on earth did I get them in such a mess I was as careful as I could be yesterday you'll have to slick them up a bit before church time when mrs Bartlett went downstairs the fire was on and her husband had gone out to the barn she went into the pantry for the oatmeal and became aware of a curious sense of awareness where was the turkey the mince pies the vegetables nowhere to be seen she opened the lower door of the cupboard and peered in no they were not there it was curious Pa must have moved them but where had he put them Pa she said to her husband who entered at that moment with an arm full of wood what have you done with the turkey and things done with them why I hadn't touched them Joseph Bartlett responded in bewilderment mrs Bartlett sat down on the nearest chair well they are gone she cried gone nonsense mother you are dreaming I ain't dreaming said his wife positively go into the pantry and see for yourself that turkey has gone hide and hair and likewise everything else that I put there for dinner Joseph Bartlett stepped into the pantry and saw for himself he gave a whistle of amazement a clean sweep sure enough we have been burgled mother some of them scams from Abbott's Creek have slept in here last night and snooped our thanksgiving dinner that's what comes of having the woodshed door unfastened and make a button this very day well ain't that too bad now further search revealed that the midnight prowler had helped himself to a basket to carry off his booty but revealed nothing else we are out of our thanksgiving dinner that's one sheer thing mother said Joseph Bartlett at last as they sat down to breakfast it's a wonder I didn't hear nothing last night you sleep so sound it ain't to be wondered at you didn't but I really didn't think anybody or anything could come into this house at night and me not here am since the dinner is gone I'm going to church said his wife I had planned to stay home and cook it but there is nothing to cook now well I hope whoever got it will enjoy it I don't think I would be very thankful to be eating stolen vitals they drove to church two miles away arriving early Simon Green was on the porch when they entered the two men shook hands how are all your folks Simon inquired Joseph while Mrs Bartlett turned away to speak to another woman very well thank you said Simon I'm glad to see you and the wife are all right I was afraid Mrs Bartlett was sick when I heard that you passed down the corner's road at one o'clock last night me corners road said Joseph Bartlett blankly I wasn't traveling the corner's road or any other road at one o'clock last night I was in my bed well now Miranda must have been mistaken she got up at one and went down to the pantry to get some stuff for the toothpick and when she came back she said she was afraid Mrs Bartlett was sick for she had just seen you go by down the corner's road she must have taken someone else for you yes she must said Joseph Bartlett but he said it uncomfortably and he whisked his wife into church before Simon could speak to her all through the sermon he sat in a brown study had he could he have but no it was impossible he hadn't done such a thing for 40 years Miranda Green must have been mistaken when the service was over and Mr and Mrs Bartlett were standing on the green in front of the church Maggie Roberts with her little son came up to speak to her mother then with a scarlet spot out flowering on each of her thin cheeks she offered her hand to her father he took it with an answering flush of surprise he had always said that the first advance toward a reconciliation must come from Maggie he would never make it that was certain but now that she had made it he was willing to respond but but what was Maggie saying thank you for the turkey father it was real good and kind of you oh i saw you i was downstairs at half past one last night getting something for Jackie's cuff and i saw you come into the yard in the moonlight and leave the basket on the porch steps and and won't you and mother come home with me and help us eat the dinner Molly stayed home to cook it i want you to come i reckon we might as well said Joseph Bartlett roughly here you and your mom go and drive yourselves down in the buggy i'll walk with Jackie i was so touched last night when i saw her stealing with that basket said Maggie as she and her mother drove down the road and when i found what was in it i just said to myself now power has come half the way at last and i'll go the other half i'll just ask him tomorrow to come and have dinner with me Mrs Bartlett preserved the silence of utter bewilderment there was something here that completely mystified her but until she could get alone with her husband and find out the truth she decided that silence was the part of a wise woman that Thanksgiving dinner was an unqualified success Molly Maggie's 11 years old daughter had cooked it to perfection she was a smart little thing if she were rather delicate looking in her brisk yet noiseless way of stepping about her work Joseph Bartlett found that she resembled her grandmother for the sake of this he forgave her her surname at last this is a good Thanksgiving said Maggie joyfully i had a letter from john last night saying that he was coming home in the spring and now you and father are here to dinner this turkey is a prime one isn't it how it ought to be said Joseph Bartlett i picked it myself i have learned to tell a good turkey in 60 years if i haven't learned much else Sam Kennedy can't cheat me as he does some people when mr and mrs Bartlett found themselves on the homeworld road the latter turned to her husband with the air of a good sorely tried woman whose patience has come to an end at last i would like to know what all this means pa she said Joseph Bartlett laughed shame facitely you know pretty near as much as i do now mother but i'll tell you what i suppose has happened simon green told me that his wife saw me go down the road last night and Maggie says she saw me sneak into her yard and leave a basket on the steps and our Thanksgiving dinner certainly was on her table today when i was a boy i used to walk in my sleep my folks had a terrible time with me but i grew out of it before i married you and i never told you of it because i was ashamed of it i ain't walked in my sheet sleep for over 40 years but that's what i must have done last night i was thinking a lot about Maggie after i went to bed for all i shut you up so sharp when you talked of her i was worrying over her having no Thanksgiving dinner so i suppose i just got up in my sleep and took her hours but don't you ever let on to Maggie how it was ma i ain't sorry it happened the way it did but she mustn't ever know anyway he added to himself as he put the horse away that was how my boots come to be so muddy i declare that was puzzling me as much as the disappearance of the dinner it's a comfort to have it solved that i certainly hope i'm not going to take up sleepwalking in my old age end of section 81 recording by by shali ray virginia section 82 of uncollected short stories of L and Montgomery this is a lipid vox recording all lipid vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit lipid vox.org recording by d rando uncollected short stories of L and Montgomery by lucy mod Montgomery the beaten family group another of those simple strong stories that read as though lifted directly from human experience L and Montgomery first published Canadian Courier January 9th 1915 an air of excitement pervaded the beaten homestead the very ducks in the yard seemed to share it as they waddled about and quacked nervously at the chubby little brown mare tied to the worn hitching post old jib set both upright on the porch mat aware that something unusual was going on and watching with deep suspicion the young man in golf stockings and baggy knickerbockers who was prowling about the garden with the queer three-legged thing under each arm and a black box in his hand jip knew it was his duty to keep an eye on this man inside the house the excitement was intensified mr beaten was shaving himself at the small mirror that hung by the kitchen window and this on a weekday his married son archie who lived on the adjoining farm set on the sofa holding his head he was a tall muscular man looking very ill at ease in his sunday suit of clothes and a high stiffly starch collar dr norman beaten was reading in the little front hall which is blown full of solo sweet odors from the flower garden outside and the low lying pine lands beyond the doctor as all his old friends in boom valley affectionately called him was visiting home for the first time in six years he was a frank faced well-made man and justified his mother's pride in her clever handsome firstborn in her little room over the front porch lottie beaten the sixteen-year-old baby of the family was curling her hair and getting herself into the new organdy gown which celia had brought home for her her cheeks burned and her hands trembled with excitement but the real interest centered in the spare room off the parlor where mrs beaten's two older daughters were getting mother ready elizabeth was married and lived down at the corner she had driven over for the occasion and like archie was gotten up in her sunday best she was fussy and matronly deferring much to celia who with the glamour of city life and hospital experience about her might be supposed more up to date than dwellers in country districts celia were her nurses uniform which became her she was a tall fine-looking woman with a marked resemblance to her brother norman in her deep set dark eyes and strong features mrs beaten did not look like any of her children she was slight and read like with sad dark blue eyes and a touch of mysticism in her face her inheritance from her gaelic forefathers now if father's ready i think the rest of us are said celia pinning a cluster of pale yellow honeysuckle on her mother's black silk shoulder i suppose lottie hasn't done primping yet though that child is growing very vain don't you think elizabeth elizabeth nodded absently she was not thinking of lottie had i better stand or sit she inquired absently the photographer will pose you said celia with the easy indifference of one to whom being photograph is an ordinary occurrence i'm very glad it is such a good day i hope the picture will turn out well it is so seldom we are all home together you are not all home together now cried mrs beaten with a quick flush alec is not here my boy my darling celia glanced apprehensively at the open door elizabeth put out her plump hand and closed it no mother we know she said soothingly we all wish alec could be here but he is not chosen to come back or even to let us know where he is he may be he may not be alive it is six years since he went don't think of it today we want you to look bright and happy it's so easy to say don't think of it said the mother with tears in her eyes but the mother can't forget i've been thinking of alec all day my bunny boy he ought to be here when all the rest of you are home to have our family group taken i'll never like the picture he won't be in it i know he's alive if he were dead i would know it i would have a sign no he's living and he's wandering somewhere over the world an outcast from his father's door don't cry mother said elizabeth gently and don't let father hear you say anything about it because it would make him terribly angry and might spoil everything you know he can't bear for alec's name to be spoken i know said mrs beaten wiping her tears that is the bitterest of all that his father should hold anger against his son so long i think father's anger with alec is more because he has never come back and asked forgiveness than because of their quarrel said silia with the crisp practicality that sometimes jarred or her mother's more dreamy and imaginative nature if alec were to come back father would be the first to run and fall on his neck but i hear lotty calling the photographer is waiting harry richards who had come up from the summer hotel to take the beaten family was a shy nervous young fellow when it came to posing them he was hopelessly embarrassed silia pityingly aided him with advice at her suggestion the picture was taken at the curve in the lane where it looped around the plum orchard with the old grove of tall slim white birches and blooming dogwoods for a background the father and mother set in the center with lotty in the grass at their feet dr norman stood easily on one side archy stiffly on the other elizabeth was placed behind her mother silia looked at the group and dotted a qualified approval there i think that is about as good as we can get family groups always have a stiff made-to-order appearance do what you will we want to smile mother you're looking too sober that's better lotty rest your arm lightly on mother's knee i think we are already now mr richards silia walked erectly over the grass pulling the straps of her white apron straight and stood behind her father the photographer leveled his camera put in his plate holder and drew the slide now he said warningly with eye and finger on the lever a moment's breathless silence a click and the thing was done harry exposed two more plates and then the beatings were free mrs beaten with a sigh of relief hurried away to take off her black silk and get tea ready while silia and norman marched harry from place to place about the old homestead that he might photograph their favorite nooks i hope they'll turn out well said the doctor after richards had gone i love all those old spots so fervently as for our group at best it will be incomplete poor alex i wonder where he is i cannot help thinking he is dead said silia sadly it is six years since he and father quarreled so bitterly if he were living i think some of us would have heard from him you know what a strong deep-rooted love of home and each other there is in all of us always pulling at our heart strings i think it would have drawn alex back before this i don't know silia alex is like father terribly determined he vowed he'd never come back and he was the lad to keep his word it's hard on mother he should think of that he was her favorite of us all and no wonder such a bright funny high-spirited laddie the next afternoon dr norman willed down to the beach and returned with the photograph proofs only one of the group turned out well richard says he said as he tossed the sealed envelope on the table they're all there let's have a look at them where's father mr beaten and archie were sent for from the swamp metal elizabeth had also come up tingling with as much secret excitement as lotty although she would never have admitted it the whole family stood around mrs beaten as she put her spectacles on and took out the proofs she held the picture group up before them then she gave a startle cry and her delicate face went white as marble ouch ouch my boy he's there look father look silia oh alex she reeled against norman her husband was trembling my son he said huskily norman silia what does it mean there was all on every face even practical silia was thrilled with something akin to horror as she looked at the proof on the table there standing between and slightly behind herself and elizabeth was the pictured face in form of alex beaten there could be no mistake he looked older engraver but otherwise there was little change from the curly headed lad who hot with resentment had run away from home six years before what does it mean said silia blankly it means that my son is dead said mrs beaten collapsing her hands convulsively together it is a sign i always knew it would come alex spirit was with us yesterday oh my boy my boy elizabeth led her mother from the room followed by lotty mr beaten pulled his head low to hide the working of his face and went slowly out of the kitchen with archie silia and norman were left alone norman what does it mean repeated silia in a troubled voice norman picked up the mysterious proof at first the innate mysticism of his nature and race had thrilled to the seeming supernatural but now his true common sense had reasserted itself why it simply means that alex was there yesterday and had his photo taken i don't understand how of course there's a mystery somewhere but it's not a supernatural one you may be sure then you believe that alex is alive certainly unless he has died since yesterday this must be figured it out i'll go to richards first the doctor mounted his will and rolled down to the hotel again but an interview with harry richards did nothing to solve the mystery harry said that he had been much surprised at seeing the figure of a fourth man standing between miss beaten and mrs seaman in the group i thought there had been only three but concluded i must have been mistaken miss beaten you know attending to the posings and i paid little attention to it the other plates were totally spoiled nothing can be seen on them more puzzled than ever norman left the hotel and rolled to the little railway station six miles here he found his first clue yes sir said the station master there was a stranger got off here yesterday came on the noon train and left again on the seven thirty he hadn't any luggage thought he looked like your family took him for one of the up west beatings norman nodded with satisfaction that was alex he thought now to find him for that i must go to charlotte bill he penciled a brief note to sylvia and took the evening train for charlotte bill a small town some 20 miles away there were two hotels there and norman guessed that if alex were really in the place and desirous of concealing his identity he would avoid the carlton which was kept by a cousin of his accordingly norman hastened to the other at the door he met his brother valise in hand alex he said putting his hands on the young man's shoulders alex beaten started and blush norman he exclaimed you surely weren't going away again without coming to see us all especially mother said norman reproachfully yes i was said alex beaten half sullenly father told me never to darken his threshold again he said it in anger lad and you said just as hard things to him have you forgotten that best let bygones be bygones father is ready to you'd have known that if you had seen his face today when he saw your photograph in our family group and thought like his second sighted forefather then it was a sign so i was taken after all exclaimed alex yes and before we start for home don't squirm lad i'm going back on the 730 train and you are coming too i want you to explain how on earth you came to be in that photograph i'm wildly curious it happened this way said alex leading the way to the waiting room you see norman i left home in a red hot highland rage and even when i cooled off i couldn't forget what father had said i went out west to the mines been knocking around there ever since i was home sick most of the time got so bad at last that i determined to come home take a peek at the old place and go away again unknown to anyone don't think i'd forgotten mother or the rest of you because i never came back or wrote never a day but i thought of you all but you know what the beaten obstinacy is well i came home i got here yesterday morning went out to the braze station and walked across country to bloom valley i kept to fields and byways not wishing to be seen and finally found myself in the old birch woods along the lane they were thick and shadowy and i thought i could prowl about them unseen and perhaps get a glimpse of mother besides i loved those old woods do you remember how we used to play there when we were laddies norman with our castles and robbers caves and indian ambushes i struck the old footpath that runs from corner to corner and followed it out to the dogwood as i turned the corner abruptly you can imagine my surprise and dismay when i came upon you all posed stiffly in front of the camera i turned at once and slipped noiselessly around the dogwood but i supposed the photographer dropped his shutter at the very moment i stood there and now said norman you're coming home alec home to stay mother and father need you mother is mourning you as one dead tonight think of the light on her old face when she sees you alive and well thanks to the mysterious photograph cum lad and alec went end of section 82