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diff --git a/old/53826-0.txt b/old/53826-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index db0080d..0000000 --- a/old/53826-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1226 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, Janet, or, The Christmas Stockings, by Louise -Élise Gibbons - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: Janet, or, The Christmas Stockings - - -Author: Louise Élise Gibbons - - - -Release Date: December 29, 2016 [eBook #53826] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JANET, OR, THE CHRISTMAS -STOCKINGS*** - - -E-text prepared by MFR and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team -(http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by -Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/stream/janetorchristmas00gibb#page/n7/mode/2up - - -Transcriber’s note: - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - - - - -JANET - -Or - -The Christmas Stockings - -by - -LOUISE ÉLISE GIBBONS - -Author of “Truth” and Other Stories - - - - - - - -The Knickerbocker Press -New York -1899 - - - - - DEDICATED - - (BY PERMISSION) - - TO THE RIGHT REVEREND - - HENRY CODMAN POTTER, D.D., D.C.L. - - BISHOP OF NEW YORK - - - - - JANET - - I - - -IN the doorway of an old tenement-house, far down in the slums of New -York, two women were standing, their heads close together as they -gossiped about the passers-by. - -A young girl—she might have been thirteen—tripped along the sidewalk, -kicking her legs out in front of her as she went, so that she could see -her stockings. - -Her odd movements caught the women’s eyes, and they asked each other -what could be the cause of them. - -“I never see her act like that before. Puttin’ on such airs! Dear! dear! -Saw ye ever the likes of it?” - -“Oh, see her new stockings!” said the younger woman. “What mighty fine -ones! Did you ever?” - -“I doubt she came by them in no good way,” said the other. “Janet, young -un! See here!” - -The child stopped, holding up her tattered gown to show her pretty -stockings. “Who give you _them_?” cried the woman who had called her. - -The girl replied quietly, “’Twas the Bishop give me ’em.” - -At this the women exclaimed in chorus, “The Bishop! That’s a fine tale! -How’d you know it was the Bishop?” - -Janet said Roy, the newsboy, told her; and the women asked her, “How is -it your father hasn’t got hold of ’em? He’d sell ’em for drink inside of -a minute.” - -“Oh, I only wears ’em on the street,” said Janet, “and I takes ’em off -an’ hides ’em before I go home.” - -The women begged her to tell them all about it, and settled themselves -comfortably to hear the story. - -The girl’s tale ran thus: one day a lot of children were dancing on the -sidewalk to the tune of an old organ-grinder, and she began dancing with -them. Roy then came by with his newspapers, and, putting them down on a -step, seized her round the waist and whirled her off among the little -children. He stopped suddenly, for a gentleman who was passing wanted a -paper. The girl was overheated with her dancing, and began to fan -herself with one of Roy’s papers; Roy said afterwards her eyes were as -bright as stars. - -The gentleman asked her name, and where she lived; and when she told -him, he said, “Janet, if you will come to yonder church,” pointing to -the steeple, “at seven o’clock on Christmas night, I will give you -something to take home with you.” Then he paid Roy for the paper, and -gave the change to Janet, saying with a smile, “This will buy some -refreshments for the ball.” - -“Thank you, sir,” she said. “I am very hungry. I have had nothing to eat -since yesterday noon.” - -At this the gentleman didn’t smile any more, but looked sad. “Why did -you dance, then?” he said. - -Roy spoke before she had a chance to answer: “Sir, Janet was hungry and -cold, and that was the best way to get warm.” The gentleman walked away, -and she could see him rub the back of his hand across his eyes. She -asked Roy what his name was, and he said he didn’t know, but it was the -Bishop. - -She bought something to eat with the money, and divided it with Roy, and -he ran off to sell his papers. The organ-grinder went on his way, and -the children stopped dancing. - -So on Christmas night, Janet went early to the big church, as the Bishop -had told her to do. When she got inside the door, she stood still with -wonder, for there was a great tree, as big as an out-door tree, all -lighted with little candles from the floor to the top, and all over it -were hanging sparkling toys. And when she came near to it, she saw the -Bishop standing by it. - -She did not think he would know her again, but he smiled and said, -“Janet, I was expecting you.” And then he took a stick with a hook on -the end of it, and, reaching over the heads of some fine ladies who were -arranging things at the foot of the tree, he took the stockings down and -put them in her hands. Then he put his white hands on her head, and -said, “God bless you, my child! Remember, keep yourself pure and clean -to your life’s end.” Each stocking had a silver dollar in the toe, and -was filled with candy, and tied around the top with a blue ribbon to -keep the candy in. - -“See!” said Janet, as she told the story, “I tie the ribbon on each leg -to keep me from getting out.” She lifted the ragged gown to show the -ribbon garters. She said she skipped out of the great big church, -hugging the stockings close to her and covering them with a bit of her -shawl to hide her treasure from the people she passed. - -“Don’t you know such a fine bishop’s name?” asked one of the women. - -“No,” said the child, “but Roy said he was the good Bishop who stays -down here with us, and don’t go away frolicking. And now I must go to -see Roy. There he is calling his extras at the corner.” - -“Well, I never!” said one of the women, as the child skipped away. “She -seems to make friends, don’t she? She and that boy are awful fond of -each other; and now there ’s this Bishop!” - -“Well,” said the other, “Janet is a pretty girl, with her dark eyes, and -her hair always braided in one long plait down her back—and even if she -is in rags, her hair is always tidy.” - -“Her father sells everything that people give her—it ’s a wonder he -don’t cut off her hair and sell that. Well, the girl has a white skin, -and a pretty mouth, and a straight nose just like her mother’s. She -don’t look and she don’t act like as if she was born and raised here -among us poor folks.” - -“That she don’t; and she ’s such a little mite for her age, with those -little hands and feet. You wouldn’t take her to be fourteen, would you, -now?” - -While the women were talking her over, Janet went to find Roy, who stood -at the corner shivering with the cold, with his papers under his arm. - -“Hello, Roy!” said she, “see my beautiful stockings! That Bishop gave -’em to me off the tree, and they was full of candy and money!” Coming -close to him, she said in a whisper, “Here ’s some for you!” and she -took a little paper bag full of candy from under her ragged shawl where -she had hidden it. - -“Oh, Roy,” she said, “it was the finest tree you ever did see! And the -Bishop gave me the stockings his own self, and when he gave them to me -he put his hands on my head, and what do you think he said? He said, -‘God bless you, my child! Remember to keep yourself pure and clean to -the end of your life.’ And when he was a-saying it, he looked up at a -sugar boy with shiny wings that was hanging on the top of the tree.” - -The boy and girl parted at the corner, he to sell his papers through the -cold and the mire of the slums, and she to go to her poor, wretched -home. - -She mounted the rickety stairs of an old tenement-house, up to the top -floor, where, in one small garret, the whole family lived. In one corner -of the room was an old ragged straw mattress, on which the father, -mother, and baby slept. The baby was asleep now, the father was drinking -in a saloon near by. In another corner was a pile of straw where Janet -and her sister Bessie slept; and in yet another, on a heap of rags and -paper, lay two pretty little boys, sound asleep, unconscious of the fact -that they were cold and hungry. One could see, in spite of rags and -dirt, that they were like cherubs, with their sunny curls. - -The poor mother sat by the feeble light of a candle, the wick burned -nearly down to the bottle which served for a candlestick. She was sewing -on a coarse garment that she wanted to finish, in order to buy bread for -the children with the few pennies she would get for it. - -All that any of them had eaten that day was some candy that Janet had -slyly put in their mouths, not letting them know where she kept it. -Janet went to her mother, the poor, tired, sick woman, and, bidding her -open her mouth, she fed her with sweet chocolate and brought her a drink -of water. - -Then she sat down by the suffering woman, and hugged her poor cold feet -to her heart, trying to warm them. In a low voice, so as not to waken -the sleeping children, she gave her mother a description of the -beautiful tree, and how the Bishop had given her the stockings himself. - -“I take them off and hide them when I get home,” she said, “so father -will not sell them; and the candy I hid last night under my pile of -straw—that’s how I had these good chocolates for you now.” - -And then she repeated again to her mother the words of the good Bishop, -“Remember, keep yourself pure and clean to the end of your life.” - -The mother swallowed hard, as though her throat hurt her, and she became -deadly pale. - -“Oh, mother!” said the child, “the Bishop has made me feel so happy—and -even this old garret looks better than it did, because I am so happy.” - -The mother said: “I feel peaceful and happy too while I listen to you. -You make my thoughts go back to when I was a little girl. I remember a -hymn I used to sing in Sunday-school.” And in a broken way, gasping for -breath, she repeated the last two lines: - - “Cover my—defenceless head - With the shadow—of—Thy wing.” - -She leaned back, raising her eyes, as though she could see the angels -looking down upon her, though to the outward eye only the rough, -weather-stained rafters were above her. - -Janet fell asleep at her mother’s feet. The woman’s head fell forward on -the unfinished work. The candle burned down, and the fallen wick -spluttered in the grease. - -Heavy steps ascended the stairs. An unsteady hand opened the door; and a -large man fell heavily to the floor. It was the drunken father, -returning from the saloon.... The gray streaks of early dawn came into -the dingy garret, and revealed the face of the dead man. - -A few hours later the body was removed. The two dollars the Bishop had -given Janet was paid out for back rent, so the poor woman and her -children were allowed to stay in the wretched room a little longer. -Janet took her mother’s work back to the shop, which was some distance -away. She trudged through the snow, cold, wet, and hungry. - -When she returned late in the afternoon, climbed the rickety stairs, and -entered the room, she stood speechless in the middle of the floor. - -The sun was shining through the broken panes of the one window in the -garret, and its rays fell like a shower of gold all over the child as -she stood there, crowning her head as with a halo. But she heeded not -its beauty. She stood there, struck dumb with astonishment. - -There was absolutely nothing and no one in the room but herself! Father, -mother, children, mattress, straw—all gone—the room utterly empty! - -She knew not how long she had stood there, speechless in her misery, -when she heard steps ascending the stairs. Some one fumbled in the dark -hall for the latch, and finally opened the door. Two burly men entered, -and asked Janet who she was. From them she learned that the people who -had lived there were gone, that they had the room to rent, and would -take the key at six o’clock, by which time she must be gone. - -When they went out, she did not move from the sunshine. A child of the -slums, she was used to rough men and women, and was not afraid of them. -But she was stunned with this new trouble—with her absolute loneliness. -Where were her people? What did it all mean? Where should she go to find -them? - -Light steps came swiftly up the stairs, and after a gentle knock the -door was opened. It was Roy who stepped into the spot of fading sunshine -beside her. - -“Oh, Janet!” said he. - -“Oh, Roy!” was all she could answer. - -And the boy and girl stood crowned with the golden halo, in absolute -silence. - -At last, as the sun’s rays were passing away, Roy spoke: - -“Janet, they’re all gone! Taken away while you went with the work. -Janet, the baby was dead in the night.” - -The child said but one word, “Froze?” - -“No,” said Roy, “it was the dipthery. And your mother had it, too. -Somebody told on ’em, an’ so the Board of Health sent in a jiffy, an’ a -great black ambulance came an’ took her an’ all the children, and then -some men came and took everything out and burned it all, and did -something to the room. I came and looked at them awhile, but they sent -me away. I see the ambulance drive off. I was close to it.” - -“Where?” Janet gasped. - -“I don’t know,” said the boy. - -Again there was silence. The children of the slums, born in poverty, -sorrow, and disgrace, do not cry. Life is too stern a reality. - -Then Roy spoke in a whisper, as if in his untutored mind he felt that in -the presence of such sorrow a loud word would be a sacrilege—“Janet!” - -She turned and looked him in the face. He was pale and trembling, and -the words came painfully, as if he feared to hurt her any more. - -“Janet—when they took your mother out of here, she was dead. I seed her -face. I didn’t say nothin’, but I know she was dead, and I come now to -tell you. But I wish I hadn’t—you look so white and scared.” - -The only sound was a choking gasp from the poor child. - -Roy took her hand in his. “Janet, I love you! Don’t look so white! It -scares me. If anything happened to you it would kill me. You’re all I’ve -got in the world. Don’t look so—I can’t stand it. I’ll take care of you. -I earn a good bit of money some days. I’ll work hard, and then when we -are older——” - -“What?” said the girl simply. - -“Why, then we’ll get the good Bishop to marry us. There now, Janet, be a -good girl and come away, before the men come back, for I saw them goin’ -out in the street, an’ if they catch us here when they come for the key, -they’ll say we have it too, and they’ll take us away in that ugly black -ambulance.” - -So she let him lead her out of that garret so full of memories, down the -dark rickety stairs, into the cold street. They were homeless, -friendless orphans, starting out on life’s stormy sea, hungry, cold, -forsaken. - -They walked hand in hand until they were several blocks away, in another -part of the slums, where Janet had never been. Then, standing in the -shelter of a doorway, they looked at each other for some time in -silence. At last Roy spoke: - -“Janet, dear—I don’t know where to take you.” - -“Where do you go, Roy, at night?” said she. - -“Oh, anywheres! Sometimes us boys sleeps in boxes, and sometimes they -have straw in ’em, and more times not. But you see, Janet, that won’t do -for the likes of you.” - -He thought in silence for a moment. “Let me see,” he said. “I’ve got ten -cents in my pocket. That ought to lodge you for one night—but where? Oh, -I know! Now, Janet, listen to me, and do just what I tell you. I’m going -to take you to an old apple-woman near here, and don’t you open your -mouth about the dipthery, and don’t say nothin’ ’bout where you lived or -that you had any people, nor nothin’, ’cause if you do nobody ’ll let us -come near ’em; and I’ll do what I can with the cross old apple-woman. -She sort o’ takes to me, an’ she gives me specked apples for runnin’ -errands for her.” - -So they went on until they came to the apple-stand, over which a torch -was burning. - -“Aunt Betsy,” said Roy, “here ’s a poor little girl that can’t be left -out on the street to freeze. Won’t you let the kid sleep on your floor -for to-night?” - -“Now, Roy,” said the old woman, “you know you’ve picked up a -good-for-nothing vagabone on the street. Why don’t you take her to the -’ciety?” - -“Lawks, Aunt Betsy, I don’t know nothin’ ’bout ’cieties, an’ fore we -could find one she’d be froze stiff, so if you won’t take her in, she’ll -have to lie down any place and die. I’ve got ten cents in my pocket, and -I’ll give it to you if you’ll keep the kid to-night.” - -“Oh, you’ve got ten cents, have you? Well, all right, she can sleep on a -bit of a mat on my floor. And where might you be goin’?” - -“Well,” said he, “I’ve got to sell some extrys late to-night, and I’ll -scare up a box to turn in somewheres. Say,” he added, “she’s awful -hungry. If you’ll give her a bit of grub, I’ll pay you for it to-morrow -when I come round, and give you a paper.” - -“All right, Roy, I’ll do what I kin.” - -So Janet was settled for the night. It is true she had to sleep on the -floor and put up with some scraps to eat. But things go by comparison in -this world, and to poor, cold, starving Janet it seemed like living in a -palace. Tired and worn out, she slept soundly, forgetting all her -sorrows. - -At last the sun rose in the glory of a new day, making the icicles -sparkle in its light, and decking vines, bushes, and trees with a -covering of diamonds. Dame Nature in all her glory of sparkling jewels -smiled at the ladies of the world, wearing their paltry gems, as they -drove to the slums to leave some little dolls, and wooden horses, and -tin watches that wouldn’t go, for starving, ragged, weary children. Dame -Nature longed to teach them if they would learn of her; for, besides her -beauty, she was very wise in all things. But they thought they knew, and -turned a deaf ear to all her teachings. - - - - - II - - -WHEN Janet opened her eyes, she rubbed them hard to collect her -scattered senses. After a few minutes everything came back to her, and -with a heart full of sorrow she realized her desolation. Mother, -brothers, sisters, all she loved—gone! Even the drunken father did not -seem so bad, now she had no one to love her. Yes, there was Roy! And -then her heart seemed filled to overflowing with love and gratitude to -him. - -She got up and asked the apple-woman if she had any chores for her to -do. The old woman gave her some apples to shine and pile, with the red -side up, to tempt the customers as they passed by. After this was done, -she gave her one of them, and a piece of bread. - -About noon Roy came along, with three cents and a paper. Then Janet -remembered the thirty cents she had been paid for her mother’s sewing; -she had been too full of other things to think of it before. Roy -invested them in matches and pins, and started her out to sell them on -the street. He thought they would be doing well if, between them, they -could make enough to keep body and soul together and find some shelter -at night. - -Janet could make no plans. She only knew enough to do as Roy told her. A -child of the slums, she had never been inside of any house but the most -wretched tenement. She was ignorant of the names and use of the simplest -things; so it was impossible to find a place of service for her. All she -had ever seen were the windows of forlorn second-hand clothing stores, -pawnshops, saloons, and factories. Roy’s sale of papers took him into a -wider field, so that he knew a little more about civilized life. - -The old apple-woman had a mongrel dog that she had raised. He helped to -guard her stand, and was a very sagacious animal. Janet and the dog -became fast friends, and he would leave the stand and follow her on her -rounds. This did not please old Aunt Betsy, so she tied him to the -stand. Janet and the dog, however, still continued the best of friends. - -The morning that Janet had gone with her mother’s work, she had dressed -herself in a short skirt of her mother’s and an old straw hat with a bit -of black ribbon round the crown, while over her shoulders was a coarse -woollen shawl. These garments were patched and mended, but they were -better than the rags the poor child wore when we first saw her, dancing -on the pavement. - -The winter passed away, and the blessed summer, which is so much easier -for the poor, came in its turn. Then Janet could sleep out-of-doors -under some shed. - -But the summer, too, went on its way; and now October was here, with its -chilly, windy nights; and the poor child was forced to appeal to the old -apple-woman again. She consented to let her stay for five cents a night, -provided she would bring enough sticks for the fire, and shine the -apples, and scrub the floor. When this was done, the child, often very -weary, would start out to sell her wares. Her appearance was so pitiful -and appealing that although she only tried to sell to those who were -nearly as poor as herself, she generally made at least enough to pay -Aunt Betsy her five cents and get herself some food. - -Roy was now employed by a regular newsdealer, so he made somewhat more. -But their clothes were now very ragged, and Janet’s feet were nearly -bare. - -A few days after the Christmas when Janet got the stockings, the good -Bishop was called out of town. Not forgetting the poor little waif he -had befriended, he gave special instructions to some of his -fellow-workers to investigate the case, and if it was found worthy, to -minister to the wants of the family. They endeavored to carry out his -instructions, but found the miserable garret occupied by strangers who -knew nothing of little Janet or her family. When they inquired of the -neighbors, they were told that the whole family had died of diphtheria, -and everything that was in the room had been destroyed. Believing this -report, of course they made no further effort to find poor little Janet. -It seemed as if a network of misery had enveloped her, as if every -avenue of relief had been blocked up. - -But she still had Roy, and he had Janet, and each kept hope alive in the -heart of the other. It was hope on which the two children lived day by -day. It gave them sweet dreams at night, and with its beacon-light -before them they were even happy in the midst of their miserable -surroundings. - -One day in October, Janet was trying to sell her wares along the Bowery; -Roy was calling some extras on the other side, a little farther up the -street. - -Suddenly Janet missed the shrill voice, and looking to see what had -become of him, she saw a crowd collecting about the spot where only a -few minutes before she had seen Roy. - -In an agony of dread, she hurried over, and, pushing her way through the -crowd, followed the men who were carrying something into a drugstore. -There she found poor Roy, stretched out, bleeding, on the floor. In -crossing the street, he had been knocked down by a heavy wagon, and the -wheel had crushed him. - -With a cry of pain, she pushed her way to him and knelt down by his -side. He opened his eyes when he heard her voice. They met hers in one -long gaze. Their hands clasped; his lips moved. Bending over him, she -heard him whisper, “Good-by, Janet!” - -Roy was gone from her, and she was left alone. - -She felt a warm breath on the hand that still held Roy’s, and, looking -down, she saw the mongrel dog, who had broken away from the apple-stand -and followed her. He licked her hand, and her tears fell on his head. As -she put her arms round him, she felt that he was now her only friend. - -The men who carried poor Roy away pushed her roughly aside, and in a -bewildered way she followed the dog, who seemed trying to lead her to -the apple-woman. When Aunt Betsy saw the dog, she gave Janet an apple -for bringing him back. But Janet could not eat it, though she had had -nothing all day. - -She tried to tell the woman about Roy, but the words would not come. -Death, to Janet, meant only the agony of separation. An hour ago, she -had Roy with her—and now he was not with her. This was all there was in -it to the poor child—nothing beyond, no hope of meeting again. Is it to -be wondered at? Uneducated, she knew nothing but her toiling daily life. -She had never been in a church but that one Christmas night, and so had -learned nothing through that channel of a life beyond. When Roy’s dying -lips murmured “Good-by, Janet!” it was forever. No home, no books, no -intelligence in her life, she was but little above the plane of her only -friend, the dog. - -To others, death is but the change from darkness to light. But to Janet -and to the dog it meant the end. She was only so much above the dumb -brute that she could look into life a little farther, and so could -suffer more. - -A newsboy came along and told the apple-woman the tale Janet was unable -to tell. She was shocked for the moment, for she had in her rough way -liked Roy. But the hard, business part of her nature was uppermost in a -little while. Here she was with this child on her hands. When Janet -could sell nothing, as was often the case, Roy generally had a few cents -to give her, so she had always felt that she was sure of some little pay -for the poor shelter she gave the child. But now the case was different, -and so she told Janet in no gentle way: - -“You must get away from here.” - -“Where?” asked Janet in a bewildered tone. - -“Oh, I don’t know. Go to some of the s’cieties, or to that Bishop as -gave you them old ragged stockings you think so much of.” - -“I can’t,” said the girl, despairingly. “I don’t know where to find -him.” - -“Well,” said the woman, “you can stay here to-night, and I’ll give you a -bit to eat in the morning before you go.” - -Janet cried all night for her companion, for she knew that in the -morning she would not hear his voice calling the papers. Roy was gone -from her—had he not said “Good-by” to her? The dog slept beside her on -the floor, and tried in every way he knew to comfort her, as he felt her -tears fall upon his head. While the old woman slept, he stole to the box -and brought Janet an apple in his mouth. Somehow his kindness comforted -her; she dried her tears and kissed his shaggy head. For his sake she -ate the apple and tried, but in vain, to sleep. - -Morning at length dawned, and Janet rose, her plans all made. She did -the work for the old woman, ate the dry bread and drank the weak coffee -that was given her, and, after tying the dog, went forth again into the -cold, hard world. The dog whined so piteously when Janet kissed him, and -gave her such a pleading look which she could not misunderstand, that it -was impossible to resist it. She left him tied, but in such a way that -if he tried he could wriggle himself loose. She bade the old woman -good-by, and thanked her for the shelter she had given her. - -Roy had told her once that there was a beautiful park somewhere in the -city, but it was a great way off. He told her there was lovely green -grass in the park, and big, shady trees, and quiet pools of water; that -the birds sang there all day long, and beautiful flowers bloomed there -until almost winter-time. So the heart of the lonely waif, deserted and -cast out by all mankind, turned to this beautiful spot of nature. She -gathered her rags about her and started to walk to the park. She was not -strong—starvation and exposure do not give strength to children—and when -hope dies, the cup of sorrow runs over, and the little strength left is -soon exhausted. - -So she trudged along, sometimes stopping for a moment to look at what -she passed, and often gazing at the food displayed in the shop-windows, -for she was very hungry. Something in her wan, white face must have -appealed to a man who passed her, for he stopped and gave her a penny. -She bought a roll with it, devoured it like an animal, not like a child, -and then walked on. - -At last a lady passed her and asked her to carry one of the many bundles -she was laden with a few blocks for her. Janet rose to oblige her, for -she was sitting on the steps of a house to rest. When she had carried -the bundle as far as was desired, the woman gave her five cents, and, -noticing how utterly miserable the child looked, asked her where she was -going. - -“To the park,” replied Janet. - -“Why, my child,” she said, “that is very far away from here. You had -better ride in the cars.” - -“But I don’t know how to get the right one,” said Janet. - -The woman showed her the car, and with the five cents she rode and -rested at the same time. - -At last she came to what she knew must be the beautiful park. After she -had entered it, she went along in a timid, fearful way till at last she -came to a secluded spot. She seated herself on one of the benches, but -from time to time she looked over her shoulder to see if the policeman -(the greatest terror of the poor) was coming. - -She rested a long time under the overhanging branches of a large -tree—how long she did not know. After a while she saw throngs of people -on the road, driving in gay carriages. She wondered if she could cross -over to the water, where Roy had told her there were boats; but she was -afraid to move, for fear the police would lay hold of such a -ragged-looking thing as she felt herself to be. - -On this beautiful October afternoon the grass, lately mowed, looked like -an emerald carpet spread down. The sunbeams and the shadows chased each -other across it, as the leaves of the trees stirred in the gentle -breeze. Now and then some dry, crisp leaves fell around Janet, for there -had been a frost already in the early autumn. - -Little Janet was very hungry, and the look of starvation in her young -eyes was enough to melt a heart of stone. She kept her feet carefully on -the path, for fear of touching the grass, for all around she saw the -signs, “Keep off the grass,” and she was afraid of trespassing. - -At last a thought struck her. She could make herself look a little -better! Putting her hand in her bosom, she pulled out the stockings the -Bishop had given her. Taking off her ragged, rusty shoes, she carefully -drew them on. - -They were very different now from what they were when the Bishop took -them off the tree and handed them to her. In each one there was a hole -in the toe and a hole in the heel, and a number of other smaller holes -all the way up, until they all joined at the top to make a ragged edge. -It was not easy to get the torn stockings on, but she pulled them up -tight, and tied a bit of string around them to keep them in place. Then -she pulled them about so as to show the fewest holes, and dexterously -drew the old shoes over them. She patted the stockings lovingly, as her -thoughts went back to that Christmas and the tree in the church, saying -softly to herself: “And the Bishop said to me, ‘God bless you, my child! -Remember to keep yourself clean and pure to the end of your life.’ And -he looked up at that sugar boy with the shining wings on the top of the -tree. Now I wonder who that was, and what he meant when he said, ‘God -bless you, my child’? Who is God? ‘Remember to keep yourself clean to -the end of your life.’ I’m ragged, but I guess I’m clean. And pure, he -said, too. I wonder what ‘pure’ means? I can’t make it all out. I do -wish grand people would say words poor, ragged little girls like me -could make out; but I suppose the Bishop couldn’t do that. And I’ll -never know what he wanted me to do. Well! I’ll try to find them boats -Roy told me about.” - -She looked carefully around, and, watching her chance when the -policeman’s back was turned towards her, she passed behind him across -the walk, and then sped away to the water’s edge, still hiding behind -trees and bushes. - -When she got to the water, she was struck dumb with the beautiful scenes -around her. On the top of the bank, on the drive, walked another -policeman. She skipped behind a tree at the edge of the water. Then she -saw ducks, swans, and geese, swimming right up to the land. She saw -troops of children of all ages, children of the rich, beautiful, with -plump cheeks and curly hair, and such lovely clothes. She saw little -tots, with bonnets almost as large as themselves. They were joyous and -happy, laughing and talking as they fed the feathered tribe. To Janet’s -horror, these favored children pulled grass by the handfuls, and fed the -waterfowl, while the policemen talked to the nurses on the drive. Little -Janet always had before her eyes the sign, “Keep off the grass.” - -A pretty child dropped a biscuit on the ground. Janet’s hungry eyes were -fixed upon it, but she dared not touch it, for fear of the dreaded -policeman. The lovely child looked up and caught the glance; and, like -children in their fraternal, natural way, she said, “Do you want it, -little girl?” Janet nodded, and the child picked it up and gave it to -her, to feed the swans with. - -Just then the nurse looked up from her novel and saw the child talking -and handing something to this ragged little creature. She screamed, with -horror in her voice, “Susie! Come here this instant! What are you doing -with that ragged vagrant?” And to Janet: “Be off with you! I’ll tell the -policeman to take you away. Such vagabonds as you are not allowed in the -park!” - -Janet moved off with a full heart, wondering why she had not good -clothes and pretty curls like those children, and why the nurses and -every one drove her away from them. She was too weary and bewildered to -think any more. She was near the boat-house, so, sitting down on the -steps, she ate her biscuit, and dipped up water in her hand and drank it -to quench her thirst. At the top of the bank she saw more policemen, but -they were interested in more important things; so she passed on by the -edge of the water until she came to a hill densely covered with trees -and bushes. She turned away from the drive and climbed the hill. - -When she got to the top, she sat down on the ground and took off her -stockings because the twigs caught in the holes and tripped her. She -took one off slowly, and dropped it on the walk in a little heap, and -then its mate in another little heap. - -She was so exhausted that she crawled under a bush whose branches bent -over and touched the ground. There, completely hidden, she felt safe. No -people passing, no policemen, no one to call her ragged. This seemed a -forsaken and lonely spot, apparently not worth guarding. So she soon -fell asleep and forgot all her woes. - -She slept for hours, and woke with a chill, wondering where she could -be. It was some time before she could remember and tell how she got -there. Then memory asserted itself, and all her misery rushed back upon -her. - -She sat up and crept out of her hiding-place, feeling that she was alone -in the world. No father, mother, sisters, or brothers, no Roy, no one in -the wide, wide world. - -Not only no one to love her, but no one even to know that she existed. -Alone—all alone! - -The throngs of people had left the park and gone to their homes, to eat, -drink, and be merry. Little children were tucked snugly in their beds, -and all the great city was at its ease. Janet was alone in the silence -of the night. No sound was heard in the darkness. The night was cloudy, -and she was cold, hungry, and miserable. - -Her brain was weak from starvation, and she said in a whisper: “Yes, -Bishop, I’ve kept myself clean and pure. Your stockings are here, -Bishop. There’s a hole in the toe, a hole in the heel, and holes all -between the toe and the heel—but I’ve got them yet.” - -She put on the old shoes, and seemed to be looking for something. Her -braided hair had come loose, and fell like a veil about her. Her eyes -were raised to the sky. The clouds parted and a bright star appeared. - -She cried out with delight: “Oh, there you are! I’ve been looking for -you a long time. I was afraid you had forgotten me. You need not blink -at me and twinkle so. I see you! I know you! I promised to see you -to-night, so I’ve come on this hill to be near you. You know what I -want. Don’t go away and leave me! It’s so dark, it frightens me. I’m -coming to you! You are the only friend I have. - - I’m coming! Pretty star, stay! - I’m coming! Don’t, oh don’t go away. - Don’t leave me alone, little star! - For I am down here, and you are so far.” - -Other children had been put to bed hours before, and told that angels -would guard their beds through the night. The little ones thought they -came down on ladders, from some place they were taught to call heaven. -Janet knew nothing of warm beds, good food, or fine clothes—of heaven, -or of angels that came down on ladders. - -There was a rustling of the dried leaves on the bank, near the water. -Janet held her breath in fear, but the sound died away. Then she -continued to whisper to the star, “You have talked to me so many nights, -blinking at me through the window. I’m coming!” - -The child of ignorance, poverty, and despair stood on a stone to be -nearer the star. The wind had risen, and wrapped the girl’s black hair -around her like a mantle. Her arms were stretched out to the star, and -her eyes were fixed with unutterable love on the shining orb. And who -shall say that there were no angels, waiting for her to ascend on high? - -Silently the child stood there, with clasped hands and wide, staring -eyes, until the star went out, as she thought. Then she looked down into -the water, and saw the star there, for the clouds had parted once more, -and it seemed nearer to her than it did up above. - - * * * * * - -As the clouds rolled away, the silence of the night was broken by -crackling twigs and loosened stones rolling down the steep side of the -hill. A splash in the water, which seemed to smile, as it rippled in -circle after circle, until it again settled into stillness; and the star -shone brilliantly as ever, but told nothing of what it had seen. - - * * * * * - -Standing on the avenue after midnight was a watchful policeman. Out of -the park came a mongrel dog, which ran up to him and with a piteous -whine put his paws upon him and looked up into his face. - -The policeman was a kindly man, and, taking some food from his pocket, -he offered it to the dog, talking to him and patting him. But the dog -refused all kindness for himself. That was not what he wanted. It seemed -as if tears were almost in his eyes, and he spoke as plainly as a dog -could speak, looking from the policeman over to the great lonely park. -The officer more than half understood him, but he was not allowed to -leave his beat. The dog continued his pleading until he saw that it was -of no avail. He ran back into the park and up the hill to the top, where -on the walk he sniffed around the Bishop’s stockings that lay where -Janet had dropped them. Then, with a piteous cry, he sprang down the -steep side of the hill, and the water once more seemed to smile as it -gently rippled to the bank. - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - -Transcriber’s note: - -Punctuation has been made consistent. - -Variations in hyphenation have been retained as they were in the -original publication. - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JANET, OR, THE CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS*** - - -******* This file should be named 53826-0.txt or 53826-0.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/5/3/8/2/53826 - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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