let me see,” said Aunt Cyrilla reflectively, tapping the snowy kitchen table with the point of her plump, dimpled forefinger, “what shall I take? That big fruit cake for one thing — Edward does like my fruit cake; and that cold boiled tongue for another. Those three mince pies too, they’d spoil before we got back or your uncle’d make himself sick eating them — mince pie is his besetting sin. And that little stone bottle full of cream — Geraldine may carry any amount of style, but I’ve yet to see her look down on real good country cream, Lucy Rose; and another bottle of my raspberry vinegar. That plate of jelly cookies and doughnuts will please the children and fill up the chinks, and you can bring me that box of ice-cream candy out of the pantry, and that bag of striped candy sticks your uncle brought home from the corner last night. And apples, of course — three or four dozen of those good eaters — and a little pot of my greengage preserves — Edward’ll like that. And some sandwiches and pound cake for a snack for ourselves. Now, I guess that will do for eatables. The presents for the children can go in on top. There’s a doll for Daisy and the little boat your uncle made for Ray and a tatted lace handkerchief apiece for the twins, and the crochet hood for the baby. Now, is that all?”
“There’s a cold roast chicken in the pantry,” said Lucy Rose wickedly, “and the pig Uncle Leo killed is hanging up in the porch. Couldn’t you put them in too?”
Aunt Cyrilla smiled broadly. “Well, I guess we’ll leave the pig alone; but since you have reminded me of it, the chicken may as well go in. I can make room.”
Lucy Rose, in spite of her prejudices, helped with the packing and, not having been trained under Aunt Cyrilla’s eye for nothing, did it very well too, with much clever economy of space. But when Aunt Cyrilla had put in as a finishing touch a big bouquet of pink and white everlastings, and tied the bulging covers down with a firm hand, Lucy Rose stood over the basket and whispered vindictively:
“Some day I’m going to burn this basket — when I get courage enough. Then there’ll be an end of lugging it everywhere we go like a — like an old market-woman.”
Uncle Leopold came in just then, shaking his head dubiously. He was not going to spend Christmas with Edward and Geraldine, and perhaps the prospect of having to cook and eat his Christmas dinner all alone made him pessimistic.
“I mistrust you folks won’t get to Pembroke tomorrow,” he said sagely. “It’s going to storm.”
Aunt Cyrilla did not worry over this. She believed matters of this kind were foreordained, and she slept calmly. But Lucy Rose got up three times in the night to see if it were storming, and when she did sleep had horrible nightmares of struggling through blinding snowstorms dragging Aunt Cyrilla’s Christmas basket along with her.
It was not snowing in the early morning, and Uncle Leopold drove Aunt Cyrilla and Lucy Rose and the basket to the station, four miles off. When they reached there the air was thick with flying flakes. The stationmaster sold them their tickets with a grim face.
“If there’s any more snow comes, the trains might as well keep Christmas too,” he said. “There’s been so much snow already that traffic is blocked half the time, and now there ain’t no place to shovel the snow off onto.”
Aunt Cyrilla said that if the train were to get to Pembroke in time for Christmas, it would get there; and she opened her basket and gave the stationmaster and three small boys an apple apiece.
“That’s the beginning,” groaned Lucy Rose to herself.
When their train came along Aunt Cyrilla established herself in one seat and her basket in another, and looked beamingly around her at her fellow travellers.
These were few in number — a delicate little woman at the end of the car, with a baby and four other children, a young girl across the aisle with a pale, pretty face, a sunburned lad three seats ahead in a khaki uniform, a very handsome, imposing old lady in a sealskin coat ahead of him, and a thin young man with spectacles opposite.
“A minister,” reflected Aunt Cyrilla, beginning to classify, “who takes better care of other folks’ souls than of his own body; and that woman in the sealskin is discontented and cross at something — got up too early to catch the train, maybe; and that young chap must be one of the boys not long out of the hospital. That woman’s children look as if they hadn’t enjoyed a square meal since they were born; and if that girl across from me has a mother, I’d like to know what the woman means, letting her daughter go from home in this weather in clothes like that.”
Lucy Rose merely wondered uncomfortably what the others thought of Aunt Cyrilla’s basket.
They expected to reach Pembroke that night, but as the day wore on the storm grew worse. Twice the train had to stop while the train hands dug it out. The third time it could not go on. It was dusk when the conductor came through the train, replying brusquely to the questions of the anxious passengers.
“A nice lookout for Christmas — no, impossible to go on or back — track blocked for miles — what’s that, madam? — no, no station near — woods for miles. We’re here for the night. These storms of late have played the mischief with everything.”
“Oh, dear,” groaned Lucy Rose.
Aunt Cyrilla looked at her basket complacently. “At any rate, we won’t starve,” she said.
The pale, pretty girl seemed indifferent. The sealskin lady looked crosser than ever. The khaki boy said, “Just my luck,” and two of the children began to cry. Aunt Cyrilla took some apples and striped candy sticks from her basket and carried them to them. She lifted the oldest into her ample lap and soon had them all around her, laughing and contented.
The rest of the travellers straggled over to the corner and drifted into conversation. The khaki boy said it was hard lines not to get home for Christmas, after all.
“I was invalided from South Africa three months ago, and I’ve been in the hospital at Netley ever since. Reached Halifax three days ago and telegraphed the old folks I’d eat my Christmas dinner with them, and to have an extra-big turkey because I didn’t have any last year. They’ll be badly disappointed.”
He looked disappointed too. One khaki sleeve hung empty by his side. Aunt Cyrilla passed him an apple.
“We were all going down to Grandpa’s for Christmas,” said the little mother’s oldest boy dolefully. “We’ve never been there before, and it’s just too bad.”
He looked as if he wanted to cry but thought better of it and bit off a mouthful of candy.
“Will there be any Santa Claus on the train?” demanded his small sister tearfully. “Jack says there won’t.”
“I guess he’ll find you out,” said Aunt Cyrilla reassuringly.
The pale, pretty girl came up and took the baby from the tired mother. “What a dear little fellow,” she said softly.
“Are you going home for Christmas too?” asked Aunt Cyrilla.
The girl shook her head. “I haven’t any home. I’m just a shop girl out of work at present, and I’m going to Pembroke to look for some.”
Aunt Cyrilla went to her basket and took out her box of cream candy. “I guess we might as well enjoy ourselves. Let’s eat it all up and have a good time. Maybe we’ll get down to Pembroke in the morning.”
The little group
