"Why, once there was a very important paper that had to be sent to a certain king by one of his1 generals, and he stationed messengers ten miles apart all along the road from his camp to the king's palace. One man galloped for ten miles, got off his hot, steaming charger and handed the message to another man, who was all ready and waiting on a fresh horse. He galloped on to the next man, and so on. We'll do the same with Miss Roxy's dinner, each of us making believe it's horseback, and running like mad to give the basket to the next one. Then it'll get there piping hot!"
Christmas Eve fell cold and bleak, with a north wind and an uncertain moon. The girls put on mittens and hoods and, starting at six o'clock, whem it was quite dark, they carried the quilt as they walked, Indian file, along the frozen road. They met no one, just as they had planned, for as the affair had begun in secrecy, so it was hoped to end it. That was half the fun.
The Simpson cottage, with its yard completely filled with ramshackle vehicles and cast-off implements of every sort, was lighted by the effulgence of the tall banquet lamp that Rebecca and Emma Jane had earned as a premium for selling soap. It was the joy and pride of the Simpsons, although as drawing-room furniture it was accompanied only by a battered pine table and three rickety wooden chairs.
The girls admired its glow in passing, but kept on the dark side of the road and went stealthily by to avoid being hailed by Clara Belle Simpson. Midway up the lane four of them stayed behind a clump of young pines while Rebecca went on alone, staggering under the weight of the precious quilt.
It was cold and the teeth of the "waiters" chattered, but by dint of walking round and round the trees they succeeded in keeping fairly comfortable, as their blood was circulating with incredible rapidity and they were palpitating with excitement.
Soon Rebecca came running lightly down the lane. "Wait till we get into the road," she whispered, "and I'll tell you all, though everything went just right. Now come close and keep walking. I looked through the kitchen window and saw a lamp burning on the table, but nobody there. Then I opened the front door softly and went in on tiptoe, thinking Miss Roxy was upstairs or down cellar, and that I'd put the quilt on a chair with our letter. But the door was open into the kitchen chamber and I could see her there asleep. She hadn't gone to bed for good, I guess, because she wasn't undressed. She was lying there with her gray shawl and a black jacket over her shoulders, and her father's soldier coat over her feet. Then I had an idea!"
"Of course!" they laughed in chorus.
"So I crept in like a mouse, lifted off the coat and jacket ver-y softly, and spread the quilt over her!"
Here Rebecca's emotion quite overcame her. She stopped still in the road and clasped her hands dramatically, while the girls listened with devouring eagerness.
"Oh!" she said under her breath. "If only you had all been there! The quilt was beautiful beyond compare! Miss Roxy looked like a queen in it, spread all over everything—so big, so thick, so rich and bright! Her face was as white as her hair, and her eyes were shut tight. I tiptoed out, so afraid she'd wake up and have to thank nie. But it seemed to me I must go back once, to see if she had moved, and take one last look; so I crept round to the back and peeped in the window. Just then she put out her hand and I thought she'd feel something strange and open her eyes, but she didn't. She just pulled it up round her neck; then she snuggled down into it the way you do when you know you're going to sleep that instant minute and have a lovely dream. And then the moon came out and shone on her face, so I can't be perfectly certain, though I was looking hard, but I think, I really do think, that she smiled."