The rest of the decorators were a little awed by such erudition and no further remarks were made till the last gift was tied in its place and the candles, firmly fixed and pointing rafterward, were ready for the lighting. Then they stood off and surveyed the work of their hands.
“It’s powerful pretty,” said one.
“Yes, but seem like it’s narrow-contracted ’long side of Grover Cleveland’s tree. ’Course we’ve got six ten-cent dolls and he didn’t have nary one and he didn’t have nary candle but——”
“It’s not leavin’ out ary somebody that I’m studyin’ about. Why even our Nick got a shinbone, and I declare if he ain’t fit Grover Cleveland’s dog till he’s mighty nigh chawed his ears plumb off his head.”
“Old man Higgins told me ‘Merry Christmas’ yesterday evening. It’s the first word he’s spoke to me since I left the Methdis’ meetin’-house, and I wish there was something on this yer tree for him, just to show him that we-all ain’t holdin’ a grudge,” and further discussion revealed the fact that every one there had a neighbour or friend belonging to one of the other churches whom, for one reason or another, he or she would like to invite to the Christmas-tree.
The school teacher took a pencil from her pocket and they gathered round her. “We’ll begin at the first house towards sun-up,” they said; “there’s three somebodies there, there’s two in the next house and——” they counted every person in the neighbourhood and then the school teacher “done a sum.” “Nine pounds more will treat them all to candy,” she said and in a body they proceeded to the store to see if they could buy nine pounds at the wholesale rate.
“I declare, ’tain’t my fault,” pleaded the storekeeper. “I laid in ten pounds extra for Christmas but old man Ledbetter come in yer and he let Grover Cleveland clean me out. You can gen’rally, most always trust Colonel Ledbetter not to do no low down tricks but you-all know how’tis; if Grover Cleveland was a-hankerin’ after the whole top side of the airth his gran’daddy’d git it for him if he could. I’ve ordered some more, but it won’t be here till to-morrow.”
“That’s all right,” said the school teacher, “we’ll meet again this evening to make some more stockings, and we’ll trim the tree all over again and we’ll have a Christmas tree for all Junaluska.”
Some rustic beaux had been hanging about the group listening to the colloquy. They looked at one another and they looked at a row of fresh-faced, luxuriant-haired mountain girls at another counter bartering eggs which they had “toted” from their homes five or six miles away.
“Make it a general spree this evening,” they pleaded, “let us come to the tree-trimming and bring our girls.”