 A Real New England Girl by Anna I. Parsons 1. The Shower 2. Oxford County 3. The Stranger and the Girl 4. The Youth and the Girl 5. Pansy and Richard Go Trading 6. The Marvelous Storyteller 7. The Dinner 8. The The Minister Comes for Tea 9. Pansy's Father 10. Pansy and Her Mother 11. Poland Springs 12. The Birthday Cake 13. Ned Patterson Comes for a Visit 14. The Blue Berrying Party 15. The Beginning of Wisdom 16. The Tempted and the Penitent 17. The Concert 18. Stanley's Ride 19. The Bench by the Wayside 20. The Banker and the Widow 21. The Bag of Nuts 22. How They Kept Thanksgiving at Little Farm 23. Hardly a Merry Christimas 24. A Call Down and a Caller 25. The Pride of Mrs. Bradford 26. A Happy New Year 27. Amusement and Winter Sport 28. Kim 29. Richard, the Lion Hearted 30. A Tour of the White Mountains 31. Talking Over the Trip with Henry Bright 32. Thoughts That Lie Too Deep for Words 33. Economics 34. His Toast 35. The Busy Haunts of Man 36. Christmas in New York 37. The Last Night of Their Visit 38. The Language Understood by All 39. Sugaring Off 40. Correspondence 41. Commencement 42. Conclusion Afterward     |
Commencement "Farewell! a word that must be and hath been, A sound that makes us linger; yet -- farewell!" --Byron As Commencement Day grew nearer, Pansy's duties increased. The examinations were over, but there remained many details to be arranged in connection with the final exercises, for prior graduating classes had set a high standard of excellence which must be lived up to, or even surpassed. Pansy and Dean Winters had appointed a committee of two to arrange for the concert on Commencement evening, and for this, they had not hesitated to engage the best talent Boston could supply. It was necessary to raise enough money from the sale of tickets to pay the expenses of the concert, and both Pansy and Dean gave their earnest attention to this work, while other members of the class arranged for the decoration of the church and for the reception of the parents and friends of the graduates after the concert was over. Commencement Day proved to be as rare as a June day well could be. While the Bradfords were eating breakfast, Kim came trotting into the yard, and in response to his vigorous scratching, Pansy hastened to open the door. There was a letter and small box in the mail pouch, both addressed to Pansy. The letter was dated May 28, 191__ and read: Dear Pansy: I shall be too far away to present you with the conventional bouquet on your final exit from High School. In lieu of the same, will you kindly accept from me this unfading token of my esteem, and also many good wishes that the day may go down in glory. Stanley. When she opened the box, she found therein a blue velvet case, and on pressing the fastening to this, the lid flew upward displaying a pansy brooch of exquisite design and color. "O Richard! O Mother! O Ruth!" was all Pansy could say, as she set the case on the breakfast table. They all bent forward to look at it. "The blue is just the color of your eyes, Pansy," said her mother. "It's a genuine dew drop in the center, or I'll be switched!" said Richard. "It's almost as beautiful as my ring!" said Ruth. "I won't have to make any hot bed next spring with such posies as that growing in a velvet box," said Mr. Alden. "Now, Uncle Will," said Pansy, laying her hand on his shoulder, "if I weren't the first to have pansy blossoms in the neighborhood, you'd be terribly jealous, and you know it." "Guess I would!" said her uncle. "And this little blossom's going to make me lose half a day at hoeing just because she's going to speak a piece." "What are corn and potatoes to a graduating essay! If you and mother and Henry Bright, and some of the people I like best weren't going to be in church, it wouldn't be any day at all for me. I wish Stanley and Mr. Winthrop could be there, but I'll wear my pansy brooch and try to think of what a good time Richard and I would have if they were present." The church was filled to overflowing that afternoon, for school affairs brought out all denominations in large numbers. The programme was carried out methodically and precisely. Even Professor Thayer relaxed a little when Pansy Bradford came to the platform and bowed before him as a preliminary to delivering the valedictory. He had never understood her; he did not understand her now, but he realized it was no ordinary school girl who stood there in a simple white dress and by unusual charm of personality, held the attention of the large and somewhat weary audience from start to finish. The little differences Pansy had had with the professor were well known to the townspeople, and perhaps that accounted for the craning of necks and breathless silence which prevailed as she turned to address her formal words of parting to him. They were spoken slowly and distinctly and with a demeanor that entirely accorded with her words. "And now to you who have guided the good ship through sunshine and through calm, through storm and stress of weather, farewell! The voyage is ended. The anchors are cast. The ship holds fast. The boats are lowered. We go our several ways, perhaps sometimes to meet again, perhaps only to see the light in the distance that beams out as you speed along. We may forget the trim and rig, the flap of sails, the billows roar; we may forget the pleasant isles and dangerous maelstroms passed in the long voyage; but we shall never forget that you were the master who stood at the helm through it all and brought us safely on our way and into a snug harbor. And so we say with grateful hearts, farewell -- farewell!" Bowing low, Pansy made her way slowly back to her seat, and the professor sat statue-like in his chair during the applause that followed, and bitterly made a mental comment: "God knows I've tried to make amends for any wrong I may have done you, and one friendly word, one fleeting glance of interest from you personally would make this Commencement Day memorable; but you will not say it, you will not give it -- you who can love your own brother as very few men are privileged to be loved by a sister. I see trouble ahead for my beautiful Ruth and I unless you relent and act a sister's part." Then he arose and gave his attention to the completion of the programme. When the concert and reception were over that evening, Mr. Alden brought the two-seated wagon close to the sidewalk, and after Mrs. Bradford and Ruth were seated therein, waited patiently for Pansy who was lost sight of for the nonce, for nearly all the members of the graduating class had come out from the church and stood chatting together on the walk. "To think we'll never sit up in the old school room again," said Grace Stone, holding Pansy in a warm embrace, as if she never expected to see her again. "If I'd only been smart, I'd have fitted for college, too, and then perhaps we could have been together again next year," said Eva Goodwin. "Len says he'll drive Frances and I out to call on you," said Mabel Lawson, whose slender figure beside that of the giant made him loom up larger than ever under the rays of the electric lights that shone through the trees. Professor Thayer came briskly down the walk and joined the group. "Will you kindly use your authority to get my daughter released," said Mrs. Bradford, "or we shall not get home until morning!" "Alas! Mrs. Bradford, my day of authority is past, but I'll try persuasion." Then turning about, he said, "Pansy, will you do me the favor of climbing into this wagon immediately?" "Yes, your Majesty, I will!" came the response in a soft, meek voice. "Couldn't you make it Trifles this once?" In the burst of laughter that followed, Pansy walked over and took the professor's hand as a small sister might do that of a big brother. With a look of anxiety on her face, she waited until it had grown quiet. "I haven't always been appreciative of Professor Thayer," she said, a little tremulously, "but there's one thing I want you boys and girls to know, and that is, after all I've done and said, I admire his courage in wanting to be my brother-in-law." In a delirium of happiness, the professor took her up bodily and placed her on the seat of the wagon. "Is it going to be all right between us?" he asked, close to her ear. "It's going to be all right, Thaddeus," she answered. Richard and Mr. Alden climbed into the wagon, and they drove off amid the murmur of surprise and the congratulations offered to the professor. Click Here for Chapter 42 |