Substitute Guest Read Online Free PDF Page A

ceremony of stuffing the big turkey. It was the one that Father had raised with such care, until it almost seemed a part of the family.
    As they worked they planned out what things should be done at what hours so that the necessary work in the kitchen should not hinder the joy and good fellowship in the living room.
    “Ruth wanted to be here this morning to help us, but they had to go and put the Primary Christmas party this afternoon, and she had to stay and get ready for that,” said Daryl as she worked away, rubbing breadcrumbs fine as fleece and then rubbing them into the sweet butter that Mother had made from the cream of their own cow. Daryl was thrilled not a little to be at home helping with all the homey pleasant duties, preparing the delicious delicacies such as the world outside could never achieve even with all its luxury and glamour.
    The morning sped rapidly, and the two were so busy with their work that they did not notice when the first snowflakes fell, and it was the mother who discovered it first after all.
    “Daryl! It’s snowing!” she announced, suddenly pausing as she lifted a pie out of the oven and set it on the table. “It’s been snowing some time. See, the ground is quite white already!”
    “Oh, isn’t that just grand!” said Daryl, going to the window to look out. “It’s really going to be a snow as Father said, not just a little flurry! Oh, it will be the realest Christmas we’ve ever had!”
    The mother looked at her compassionately and smiled, covering her own forebodings.
    “Yes!” she said. “A white Christmas! But I do wish our boys would get back!” She looked at the clock uneasily. “If they only went to Pine Ridge they ought to be here pretty soon.”
    “If you ask me, I think they went farther. I know Dad had it in mind to get a really wonderful tree this time, one that we would always remember. Don’t look at the clock, Mother, and don’t worry! They’ll take care of each other, and there’s nothing really to happen to them. Let’s just enjoy this morning together! It’s so gorgeous to be together, getting ready for Christmas!”
    The mother’s heart leaped up to that call with a thrill. She would put aside all cares and worries for the future and just exult in her girl and being together with her for that morning. Times would come, she knew only too well, when she would need to remember that precious look from Daryl, and those words. She must treasure them as armor against the desolation that would be sure to come in the future.
    So she put her worries in the background, and they were just two girls together, getting ready for a joyous occasion.
    As the morning went on the kitchen began to take on the air of being ready to feed a hungry army. Crisp brown loaves of bread were cooling across their iron pans, pies in a fragrant row stood on a broad shelf by the window, and the turkey, full to bursting, was just getting its waistcoat buttoned across its breast.
    “The hardest things are done now,” said Daryl, as she measured out the sugar for the cranberries.
    “Yes,” said her mother with satisfaction. “I’m glad I made the fruitcake several weeks ago. It’s always nice to use between times during holidays. I think we have plenty so that the work can be kept at a minimum while our guests are here. And the lunch is all ready as soon as our men get home.” She looked complacently toward the kettle of old-fashioned bean soup on the back of the range, getting itself cooked without any fuss or trouble to anybody. “The soup with bread and butter and applesauce and coffee will be all we’ll need. And for dinner tonight there will be the scalloped oysters. I can whip those together while you are talking to the guests and pop them in the oven with the potatoes to bake. We want everything to move along as if there were no such thing as work to be done, don’t we?”
    “Oh, Mother! You’re simply great!” said Daryl, casting a loving look at her. “It’s