Rootie says that we are going to have our pictures taken, and what she says usually goes, so you will probably get a picture of your beautiful daughter in uniform. Don’t you dare show it to a soul if you do, though.
Rootie says to be sure to thank you very much for the toast-holder. We will use it a lot. Lots and lots of love to both of you, and all of you.
Marje.
XXIX
FROM MARJORIE
Paris, January 1, 1918.
Dearest Mother and Daddy:—
If I could only tell you in words what our Christmas was like I would be so happy, but it’s dreadfully hard to. First place, your wonderful packages came in plenty of time, and were grabbed by Rootie, who informed me that she was running our special, extra-private Christmas morning celebration, and for me to trust her!
We decided at the Vestiaire that we must have a tree for the refugee children,—our pet ones, at any rate,—and Mrs. Shurtleff was so pleased with the idea. We got a hall in the same building where Dr. S. used to have his meetings, and we had more fun decorating the tree ourselves, filling bags with candy which we bought after hours of standing in line at Potin’s, and we gave two hundred refugee children the best Christmas party they ever had, I bet. We had a prestidigitator-man first, who was excellent, and who delighted the kids by getting enough flags out of a hat to give each child one. After he was through, we dropped a curtain which was hiding the tree, and which looked very gorgeous with its candles and piles of presents heaped around the base, and bowing and smiling in front of the tree was Père Noël (Rootie), who gave each child two presents. They were passed cakes and candy, and even the mothers who were sitting around the edge of the room (one grown-up was allowed to each family) got some cake. Then, after they received their two gifts, which were all sorted according to ages, they came to the door with mothers and brothers and sisters and were presented with a bag of candy each, a Christmas card, and a muffler, and were sent home. You never saw such a well-behaved lot of children, so clean and so good, and so happy.
Monday night we went to bed early,—that is, I did, and Rootie sat up until all hours arranging things for the next day. When I woke up, I found that Rootie had ordered eggs for our breakfast, and had slipped into the other room and made a perfectly delicious piece of toast for me. We had such fun over breakfast, and then I was led into the next room where the mantelpiece was decorated with a huge clock with presents tied on by red ribbons. There was a fire and lots of presents piled in front of it! All this when we had said we were not giving any presents this year! I almost cried! We sat down on our little stool, and I began opening all your lovely things. Oh, you were much too good to us! The candy was and is the best in the world. You don’t know how we pick and choose and save the caramels till the end only. Rootie always goes down three layers at once, just to see what is underneath! Josey’s dear little purse and the very effective picture of herself and her hair and ribbon were almost too much. Rootie was so pleased with your thought of her. We just had a beautiful Christmas morning together, and I can tell you we thought pretty nice things about our families who had taken all the trouble for us.
Rootie had every sort of a present for me. She had thought of everything that I have ever said I liked, or wanted to have. First place, some lovely little shell hairpins which are delightful. They fit your head so nicely. Then a lovely cyclamen plant; a dear little pot to hold a baby plant; a vase; a hearth-brush, for I get so cross with the one there is in the room now; a photograph of the two of us on the steps at Bourre,—which I believe she sent you, too,—with a calendar on it; also a calendar for the office and the most delightful little machine that clips papers together, and which I have been longing for for ages!—also a drum because I have been saying I missed mine so: this one is about five inches across, and has the sticks attached, and saves you lots of trouble, for you use it like a watchman’s rattle; a beautiful laundry-bag, which is also much needed, and a sachet. You never saw such a lovely pile of things, and every one something which I needed, and wasn’t she dear to take all that time for me! It seems I have been an awful nuisance while she has been getting the things together, because I insisted upon coming home when she was preparing them. I cannot tell you how all her thought of me touched and pleased me. It was just like Rootie to do it.