Days of Toil and Tears
Page 9
Cucumber 10
Dear Papa and Mama,
Today Auntie said that the question in the mill girl’s poem, “We, who must toil and spin, What clothing shall we wear?” reminded her that I need some warmer clothes and shoes for winter and that next Saturday we will buy some fabric. I remembered my socks for Uncle James. I am going to start on them again. Auntie is knitting a shawl.
Cucumber 11
Dear Papa and Mama,
Big news of yesterday was a fire. But it was an on-purpose one. The firemen wanted to practise using their new fire boat so they gathered a big pile of brush on the riverbank by the town hall. Murdo and I went down to see. It was a huge blaze and hundreds of people gathered. In the light of the fire everyone, even the people I know — faces from the mill, and from the shops and church, even Murdo — looked like strangers. Not exactly like strangers. I could recognize Rev. Parfitt or Mr. Cunningham from the grocery store, but it was like they were themselves, but fairies. The fairy butcher. The fairy teacher. I suppose I looked like the fairy Flora.
When the blaze became very huge the firemen sprayed out water from giant hoses. There were great cheers from the crowd. Murdo said that he wants to be a fireman.
Cucumber 15
Dear Papa and Mama,
Today was shopping day. After work Auntie and I went to the dry goods store. We bought stuff for two dresses, one for her and one for me, and some flannel for a shirt for Uncle. My dress is to be blue with small white flowers, Auntie’s brown. The shirt will be grey. I bought a ball of crochet cotton with my pay, as Auntie says that she is going to teach me to crochet lace. We took a long time over the shopping and looked at everything. I thought we were finished when Auntie surprised me by saying that she had noticed that I needed new shoes.
I am now the proud owner of my first pair of brand new shoes. They are lovely, shiny dark brown, like a horse. My toes have room to wiggle with joy and they do. I did not wear them home because I want to save them.
When we got home we decided to cut out our dresses right away while the light was still good. Uncle grumbled about where was supper and he was not that interested in the flannel for his shirt. He is not interested in vesture and raiment at all. We teased him that there was cold porridge for supper and then we thought, “What a good idea.” So we all had cold porridge and then we had applesauce and it was very good too.
I have put my shoes beside my bed so that I can look at them first thing in the morning. Mungo keeps trying to crawl into them.
Cucumber 16
Dear Papa and Mama,
No Bible Study today because Mrs. Parfitt is away, visiting her ill mother in Arnprior.
Auntie and I spent half the afternoon finishing cutting out our dresses and the other half with me learning to crochet. I have a plan to crochet a band of lace to put around the neck of my new dress. Mungo was a dreadful nuisance with the crocheting. Finally Uncle picked him up and carried him around on his shoulder. Mungo’s favourite place, after my bed, is next to Uncle’s face.
Cucumber 17
Dear Papa and Mama,
I wore my shoes to work today. I tried to walk very carefully so as not to crack the tops of them. Murdo asked me why I was walking like a chicken. As soon as I got to the mill I took them off to save them.
Cucumber 19
Dear Papa and Mama,
Auntie and I have been sewing every night and now our dresses are almost finished. Just in time for me because today I did a long reach for a broken thread and the sleeve ripped right out of my dress at the shoulder. I mended it this evening, but truly the dress is too small.
Cucumber 20
Dear Papa and Mama,
Today was Harvest Festival at church. The church was beautifully decorated with flowers and vegetables and we sang, “Come ye thankful people come, raise the song of harvest-home; All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin.” I looked down at my new dress, which has some gathering on the sleeves, and I felt safely gathered in even though I know that is not what it means.
Cucumber 21
Dear Papa and Mama,
Everyone in the spinning room said nice things about my new dress. It didn’t take but an hour, of course, before it was all covered with tufts of wool.
Cucumber 23
Dear Papa and Mama,
Church and Bible Study today. Scones again, but no more poetry.
Cucumber 24
Dear Papa and Mama,
Murdo Campbell is a most vexing person. Yesterday I was thinking he was one of the kindest people I’ve ever met and today he was such a know-it-all. Today he was talking about telephones. I know about telephones. There are telephones in Almonte. There is one at the mill. I’ve seen one at the livery stable. Murdo needn’t think that he knows more than I do about everything. But today he took it upon himself to explain to me how they work. He said that sound carries down the wire like water goes through a pipe. This cannot be true. Water is a real thing and pipes are hollow. Sound is, well, sound and wires aren’t hollow. So then he asked me how I thought telephones worked and I didn’t really have an answer. I did think of answering “magic,” but Murdo just rolls his eyes when I talk about magic. Then he said he would prove to me how telephones worked because he was going to build one. I said the day he built a telephone was the day that I would fly and he said, “Done!” as though it were a bargain. Sound down pipes — silliness.
Moon-Shadow and Sundew and Bladderwort don’t need telephones. Their whispers are carried on the wind.
Cucumber 25
Dear Papa and Mama,
Oh, how the mighty are fallen. Not that I’m the mighty, but I am surely fallen. Murdo is right again. He came over after supper with a contraption made of two tin cans joined with a long length of string. We went outside and I held one tin up to my ear and he walked away the distance of the string, keeping it tight between us. Then he talked into the other tin and, sure enough, I could hear him clearly, even though he was talking normally. “Hello, Miss Rutherford,” he said. “When can we expect to see you fly?” Then he laughed and I could have heard that even without the telephone. I’m still sure there must be more to telephones than that, but I wasn’t in a position to argue. Also, although I wasn’t going to let Murdo know, I was quite impressed by the contrivance. I wonder if we could run it inside, from his room to mine.
So now I guess I have to fly, which means I hope that hot-air balloonist comes back to Almonte.
Cucumber 29
Dear Papa and Mama,
This morning I woke up even before the train whistle so I took a notion to go outside and watch the train go by. It is grand to be up earlier than everyone, alone in the world like Adam and Eve maybe (but with clothes; I was all wrapped up in my shawl). I was careful not to wash my face in dew because I did not want to be stolen away by a wizard. (Well, there wasn’t any dew, only frost, but I was careful anyway.) I was not alone long, though, because soon a man came running by, down John Street. He was wearing short pants and a singlet even though the weather is quite cold. He didn’t appear to be chasing something, nor was anything chasing him. He smiled as he ran by.
Then I went in and lit the stove.
Later I told Uncle James and he said that the runner was named John Sullivan and he is a weaver at the mill. He runs to Appleton and back before he comes to work in the morning. That is ten miles! I asked Uncle James why and he said just for the joy of it. John Sullivan must certainly be one of those early-morning people, akin to chickens.
Cucumber 30
Dear Papa and Mama,
This morning Rev. Parfitt talked about saints because All Saints’ Day is coming up on Tuesday. He said that the church makes saints of people who do extraordinary, miraculous things, but that it was also a day to think about all the people who came before us, who made it possible for us to be here today. Auntie reached over and took my hand because she knew that I was thinking about you both.
We walked home with Murdo and Kathleen. Un
cle James said he hoped we noticed that he was the only one of us with a proper saint’s name. Murdo said that there was a Saint Murdo, but nobody had heard of him because he was an Armenian saint from Asia Minor. None of us believes that for a minute.
Cucumber 31
Dear Papa and Mama,
Dinnertime. Today is Hallowe’en. We didn’t have Hallowe’en at the Home, but now I’m finding out about it. Mrs. Murphy, who is Irish, says that they leave out a bowl of milk for the fairies because tonight is the night they roam abroad. Murdo says that it is the night for boys to play tricks. I asked Kathleen what girls do and she said that it is a good night to foretell the future. She says she’ll come over tonight and show me how. Auntie and Uncle don’t know much about Hallowe’en except that Auntie says it would be a good night for a story of witches, and a good night to keep Mungo inside because sometimes the boys’ tricks are cruel to cats.
November 1887
November 1
Dear Papa and Mama,
This morning as we walked to work we noticed everybody on Mill Street pointing and laughing. Some Hallowe’en roustabouts had put new signs on many of the businesses. Here is what they said:
On the doctor’s office: Undertaker and Practical Embalmer
On the tavern: Bible Depository
On the milliner’s: Hats for Horses
On the barber’s: Tonsorial Artist
On the livery stable: French Perfumes
Everybody was saying it was the work of the high-school boys. Uncle James said, “Only the moon knows and she’s not telling.”
By the time work was over everything was put to rights. This was one day when I was glad to be up and in town before seven o’clock to see it all.
While all the businesses were being renamed, Kathleen and I were telling the future. She came upstairs after supper and she showed me how to predict the man you’ll marry. You peel an apple and throw the apple peeling over your left shoulder and when it falls it makes the shape of the first letter of the name of the man you will marry. Hers was C. Mine was either a U or a J or a flipped-over L. Uncle James said that he feels sorry for all the Arthurs and Alfreds and Andrews, for when would an apple peel fall in the shape of an A? Then Auntie told ghost stories. I went outside last thing to have a look for fairies, but no luck.
November 5
Dear Papa and Mama,
Snow this morning. And cold. It is suddenly winter. I was very glad of my new shoes and my shawl. Mungo went out the window this morning and as soon as his paws touched the snow he pulled them up in horror and gave me a look that said, “Do something about this right now!”
The warmth of the mill was welcome.
November 6
Dear Papa and Mama,
I went to Bible Study without Auntie Janet today. She had something to do at home, but she would not say what. At Bible Study we talked about when David is angry and he’s going to kill Nabal and Nabal’s wife Abigail smoothes everything over and tells David that his life is carried by the Lord in a bundle. Mrs. Parfitt told us that in Bible times people did not have satchels or trunks, so they put their most precious things in a bundle when they had to move them from one place to another.
Mrs. Parfitt served tiny tea pancakes with jam. It took me an effort to only eat a polite number. I’ve changed my mind about what manna is.
November 7
Dear Papa and Mama,
More snow. There is ice at the edge of the river. Mungo has changed his mind and now he loves bouncing around in the snow.
November 10
Dear Papa and Mama,
There was a surprise visitor in the spinning room this morning. I had just finished doffing the frame when I saw someone, out of the corner of my eye, walking in the alley between the frames. I got the impression of someone large and angry. I turned to look and I saw a rough-looking man with a scraggly beard and a pack on his back. He stopped at the frame of Mrs. Brown and I saw her turn. She gave a little cry and then she turned white, like a piece of paper. The man started to yell and wave his fist in the air and Mrs. Brown was trying to edge away from him. Then Mr. Haskin appeared and he went up to the man, but the man just grabbed him by the coat and tossed him away, like you would toss away an apple core.
Auntie Janet grabbed my arm and said, “Get James, quick.” I practically flew down the stairs. All I could say to Uncle James was “Come quick” and he came running. Some of the other men set off after him. I could not climb the stairs as fast as they did, so by the time I got up Uncle James had the rough man pinned against the wall. Mrs. Brown was sitting on the floor and some of the women were fanning her. Mrs. Campbell was holding a hankie against Mr. Haskin’s bleeding nose. Soon thereafter Mr. Flanagan came with a policeman and he took the rough man away. Mr. Flanagan said that Mrs. Brown should take the rest of the day off, but she said a cup of tea was all she needed. Mr. Haskin went home to change his bloody shirt.
Now it is dinnertime and Auntie Janet is sitting with Mrs. Brown. They are having a long talk. I went to join them, but Auntie looked up at me and shook her head. So I’m writing this instead.
November 11
Dear Papa and Mama,
This evening Auntie told me about Mrs. Brown. The rough man is her husband. We thought that Mrs. Brown was a widow, but that is just a story that she told when she came to Almonte to look for work. She ran away from her husband, taking her children with her, because he was a drinking man and violent with it. She said that she was afraid for herself and the children. She thought she was safe in Almonte but now he has found her again and he won’t let her alone.
I thought about Miss Beulah Young and the temperance pledge. Suddenly the stories she told seemed very real. I don’t think I’m going to get married. Or, if I do, I am going to make sure that my husband has signed the pledge.
November 13
Dear Papa and Mama,
After church today we went to see Mrs. Brown. I took the Brown children for a walk while the adults visited. Down by the river I met up with Murdo, who tagged along. The two little girls are dear, but five-year-old Charlie is a horror, given to kicking. I guess I know why now, with such a father. He kept trying to run out onto the ice on the river and I had to keep chasing him because the ice isn’t safe yet.
The only thing that made him happy on the walk was when Murdo fought with him. Charlie kept punching and Murdo, who is very strong, just kept him at arm’s length, but didn’t mock him. I could see that Charlie wasn’t really wanting to hit Murdo, but just hit out at anything. Then Charlie got tired and Murdo told him that he could become a prize-fighter and then Murdo gave him a piggyback ride home.
November 16
Dear Papa and Mama,
Today I am twelve years old and the happiest girl in Almonte, or maybe all of Ontario. I did not mention my birthday to Auntie Janet and Uncle James. I do remember a birthday with you. I remember a skipping rope and a doll with a blue dress named Wee One (what happened to Wee One?), but at the Home we did not celebrate birthdays because Matron said that if we did it for one we would have to do it for all. That was often the way there — there were many things we could not do because it would not be fair. But in a family I guess you can do things for everybody. But back to my story of the day.
When I got up this morning there was a large brown paper parcel on the table. Auntie and Uncle were just waiting for me to wake up. I opened it before I even washed. It was a dress. It is beautiful, a dress for a princess. Auntie cut down a dress of her own that was worn and she is so clever that she made a dress that looks like new. It is made of wool in a colour so deep red that it just makes you warm to look at it. Now I know what she was doing on Sundays afternoons when she wasn’t at Bible Study.
I could not even talk. I tried to say thank you, but I just burst out crying. Uncle James was worried and thought that something was wrong, but Auntie understood. She told me that she thought it was time I had a Sunday dress now that I’m growing up and that I could sew some of my
crocheted lace onto the collar.
Then Uncle said that Mungo had a present for me too and he reached into the woodbox where Mungo likes to hide in the morning, and pulled him out and he had two shiny blue hair ribbons around his neck!
I wondered how I could bear to wait for Sunday to wear my new dress. I think being twelve is grand.
November 17
Dear Papa and Mama,
Today it is Thanksgiving, but we do not have a holiday because it is a busy time at the mill. Mr. Flanagan has many orders to fill. Between bobbins I thought about thankfulness, though. I am truly thankful, for Auntie and Uncle, for Mungo, and for my new red dress.
November 18
Dear Papa and Mama,
I read in the Gazette today that the Canada Atlantic Railway has equipped their trains with electric lights. Electric light would be a very welcome thing in that black tunnel out of Brockville.
November 20
Dear Papa and Mama,
Sunday, and a chance to wear my new dress. Soon I will change out of it to save it, but I just want to wear it for part of the afternoon. I feel like a new person in it.
November 23
Dear Papa and Mama,
Mr. Flanagan is constructing something on his property, between the Point and the railway track. There are posts in the ground, high at one end, low at the other. It does not look like a building, but it is going to be big.
November 24
Dear Papa and Mama,
Of course Murdo knows what Mr. Flanagan is building. I would be peeved that Murdo is a know-it-all yet again, except that I have no time for peeving because the news is so exciting. It is to be a toboggan run!
November 26
Dear Papa and Mama,
The toboggan run is finished. It officially opened today and we all went to look at it. Mr. Flanagan lets the mill workers use it for free in the evenings. It looks like the most glorious fun, but of course we do not have a toboggan.