W. A. G.'s Tale

by Margaret Turnbull

I said, "My! isn't this lovely?" Aunty May squeezed my hand and said it was, and Aunty Edith looked around and said, "Well, Mrs. Katy Smith did get my postal in time, after all. I'm so glad, because if she hadn't, it wouldn't have been so nice and clean in here, and there would have been no fire. Now, I'm going to take off my things and make a supper for us all."

Aunty May said, "I'll help you," but Aunty Edith said, "Not this first time, May. You take the boy out and show him the garden and the river,"

So Aunty May and I took hold of hands and went out, and there was a long flower-bed running right down to the river-bank, on both sides of a long grassplot; and beyond the grass and flowers was a lot of ploughed land for vegetables and things; and beyond that there were a lot of woods. There was a path between the grassplot and the flower-bed next the fence of our neighbor, in the white stone house, and we went down that, and when we came to the end of the flower-bed there was a big apple tree, and then we went under that and stood on the river-bank, and there was the Delaware!

Under the biggest willow tree there was a seat made of an old box, and Aunty May and I sat down for a minute and looked at the river. It was so clear that I could see the little fishes swimming along, and I threw a stick in it, and it went by so fast that Aunty May said, "My! how swift the current is. You must be careful, Billy-boy, and not go near the edge when you are alone." I said, "Yes, 'm, but I am to go in wading when it gets warmer."

We went along the bank a little farther, and there were more trees, cherry trees, and willow trees, and buttonwood trees, and lots of nice places for us to put our hammocks. Then we went back to the house, and there was Aunty Edith in a big gingham apron toasting bread and making chocolate. I laughed and said, "Oh, Aunty Edith, I never saw you look like that in the city." Then we all laughed, and Aunty Edith said, "You will see me look like this very often down here, for we all have to do our share of the work. You, too, Billy. You will have to help us." I said, "That will be bully."

Aunty May set the table, and we all sat down and ate our toast and ham and eggs, and drank our chocolate, and I thought it was better than anything I had ever eaten.

Just when we were in the middle of it, I heard footsteps crunching along the walk, and down the steps at the side of the house from the towpath. I called, "Some one's coming." Aunty Edith went to the door.

It was Mr. Tree with the trunks and the suitcase. He said, "Hullo, young fellow. Have you come to take care of these ladies?" And I said, "Yes, sir"; and he said, "That's right. Look after 'em. It'll be a load off my mind to know they've got a man on the premises. It's right lonely up here." And I told him we wasn't afraid. I asked him if he needed any help, but he said no, and he was so terrible big and strong that he lifted the trunks as if they were boxes.

After he had gone, Aunty Edith said she must unpack, and Aunty May said, "Do, Edith; Billy and I will do the dishes."

So Aunty May tied a big clean towel around my waist, and she washed and I dried. There was no running water, just a pump outside the kitchen shed, right out of doors.