All that afternoon the little
two-story building on Pacific Street had been filled with a number of
grand ladies of the Kindergarten Board, who were hanging up ropes of
evergreen and sprays of holly, and arranging a great Christmas tree that
stood in the centre of the ring in the schoolroom. The whole place was
pervaded with a pungent, piney odor. Trina had been very busy since the
early morning, coming and going at everybody's call, now running down
the street after another tack-hammer or a fresh supply of cranberries,
now tying together the ropes of evergreen and passing them up to one of
the grand ladies as she carefully balanced herself on a step-ladder. By
evening everything was in place. As the last grand lady left the school,
she gave Trina an extra dollar for her work, and said:
"Now, if you'll just tidy up here, Mrs. McTeague, I think that will
be all. Sweep up the pine needles here--you see they are all over the
floor--and look through all the rooms, and tidy up generally. Good
night--and a Happy New Year," she cried pleasantly as she went out.
Trina put the dollar away in her trunk before she did anything else and
cooked herself a bit of supper. Then she came downstairs again.
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