Part 22 (2/2)
Remember I am still Your friend, ELIZABETH ASHWELL PHILLIPS.
For a moment a suspicious moisture blinded Judith's eyes; then curiosity urged her to open the little white box. ”What a _darling_ pin!” she breathed as the lid flew back and disclosed three beautiful pearls exquisitely set in a plain white gold bar. ”And what a darling she is--and if it had to be some one I'm glad it's the Major.”
[Ill.u.s.tration: THEN CURIOSITY URGED HER TO OPEN THE LITTLE WHITE BOX]
This ever-to-be-remembered day still held another great event--the Reunion supper. So Judith dried her eyes and went out to the lawn again where she found the Decorating Committee of the New Girls hard at work.
It was such a warm evening that permission had been given to have the supper out on the board tennis court. Benches, which were to be used as tables, were being carried from Big Hall and placed in a square on the boards; rugs and sofa cus.h.i.+ons were placed beside them, for Form Five intended to sit cross-legged at their feast in true Eastern fas.h.i.+on. The benches or tables were decorated with pretty paper napkins, and every new girl had brought down anything she possessed in the way of a flower vase, and these Marjorie and Frances were filling with flowers donated by the day girls. Judith found that she could help here; her special task was the pasting of a label bearing the owner's name on the bottom of each vase. Althea and Marian with three or four helpers were tying Chinese lanterns over the electric lights which Brodie had strung for them across the boards. Sally May and her committee were engaged in putting the last touches to the place cards, for true to her nature Sally May had refused to be hurried and the cards were still to be finished.
Judith felt her heart beginning to thump uncomfortably as she thought of the toast she had to answer. Sally May was to be toastmistress and to Judith had been given the honour of replying to the last toast--the toast to ”The School.” Judith was glad that she had written out her little speech last week, for the last few days had been so packed full that she had not had a moment to herself.
The tables were finished to the satisfaction of every one, and then Judith found Nancy, and asked her if she would hear her speech. They found a secluded spot and Judith recited a little eulogy of York Hill.
”It's tremendously good, Judy,” said Nancy admiringly. ”I think that part about the experiences of the first week is awfully funny, and I like the ending too--'Ring out the old, ring in the new'--It makes us think of next year, doesn't it?”
”I'm afraid you're not a severe critic,” said Judith, flus.h.i.+ng with pleasure at Nancy's honest admiration, ”but I want it to be my very best.”
”Come on, you two,” cried Sally May at this juncture. ”Do come and see the other tables.”
They visited Nancy's table first.
”Oh, how sweet your flowers look!” said Judith, admiring the little old-fas.h.i.+oned posies in their stiff paper frills.
”Mrs. Hewson sent us in several boxes from her country place, and Joyce and Phyllis made the frills. They do look quaint, don't they?”
”What thrilling place cards!” cried Sally May. ”Look, Judy--four snapshots on each one--are they all the same, Nancy?”
”Oh, no, Jane and Marjorie collected eight or ten snaps from the girls who had cameras and then they printed enough for every one to have four.
Every one has some view or other of the School, and every one has a picture of one of the prefects.”
”Here's a perfectly sweet one of Catherine,” said Judith, pouncing on one on the other side of the table; ”here's Miss Meredith's house--and what's this?” Squeals of delight from both of them.
”Oh, it's Josephine and Jane in their carnival costumes, and here's Eleanor at the wicket. Oh, Nancy, what perfectly glorious place cards!
Wouldn't I just love to have one!”
”Wait till next year,” said Nancy; ”but I'll try to get some of the snaps for you,” she added in a lower tone as a dozen or more New Girls came in to admire.
”Come on over and see ours now,” said Judith hospitably. ”I'm dying myself to see our place cards. Sally May has kept them a great secret.”
Nancy was appreciative and admired the lights and the paper napkins, and then the place cards came in for their share of praise. Sally May's cheeks grew pink with pleasure as Judith and Nancy became more and more enthusiastic. Sally May was really very clever with her pencil and on each card she had drawn a little sketch reminiscent of the New Girls'
Play at Christmas. Scrooge was there, of course, ”before and after,”
Judith said laughingly as she ran from one place to another--and Tiny Tim, and Bob Cratchit, and the boy with the turkey, and the ghost, and Martha. Sally May had looked up several ill.u.s.trated editions of the ”Christmas Carol” and Miss Carlton had given her and Florence permission to work on the cards during Studio hours. They had taken ever so long, but Florence had been a brick and they were finished at last. Edith and Helen had printed in the toast list.
Judith s.h.i.+vered as she saw her name at the bottom of the list. How she wished she had spent more time on her speech--how _could_ she put into words at all what she felt about the School?
She felt this more keenly than ever before as she stood arm in arm with Nancy and looked in through the windows of the dining-hall at the tables prepared for the Old Girls. She heard Nancy and Sally May exclaiming over the lovely irises which decked the long tables, but she was thinking of the girls who had gathered from all over the wide Dominion to visit again their old School. Judith had felt vaguely the same emotion as she saw the Old Girls marching into Big Hall in the morning, but she felt it now with a rush of warm feeling--School seemed infinitely more dear, more worth while, bigger. There must be something very big in York Hill, she thought, something very strong, to draw back every year these hundreds of Old Girls.
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