We’re all jist a bunch o’ hewers o’ wood and drawers o’ water—”
Anne, as well as Tierney, had been helping Pearly with her Scripture reading. Tierney almost choked, highly amused at gentle Anne’s impatience and quotation, and went into a coughing spate that disrupted Ishbel’s current discourse.
That lady looked sternly down the line, drew a deep breath, sighed, and wisely changed course.
“Now,” she rapped out in commanding tones, “we’ll engage in the morning’s calisthenics. Fold up the sewing and lay it aside. Now—stand, please! Get in formation! Formation, if you please!”
Lagging interest sharpened; one thing could be said of Ishbel Mountjoy—she brought things alive; she was impossible to ignore. Like her or despise her, you paid attention.
Young bodies, having been cooped up far too long and having been bent in close attention to sewing for more than an hour, ached for activity, and the girls obeyed with alacrity. Lining up, a few feet began marching in place. The invigorating sea air blew severe hairdos into halos of wisps and curls, and a touch of color began to tinge cheeks pale from life too long below decks.
“All right, now!” Ishbel sang into the wind. “Straighten your shoulders! Lift your head—that’s the way! Pull in your er . . . your mid-section ! Fine, fine! Shoulders back! Chests out! Not that far! ”
Ishbel, thoroughly dismayed at the enthusiasm of her charges, hastened to see to it that the exercises, as all else, were done chastely.
“Decently and in order!” she rapped out now. “Never forget: decently and in order.”
Ishbel glared around the group now standing perfectly still and totally quiet, not daring to look at each other lest laughter erupt; the wanton display of their “chests” had been the subject of more than one lecture. “It’s imperative,” Ishbel warned them, “that you not taunt and tease; no lady would be found lowering herself thus. Remember, while many of these men you’ll be meeting are bachelors legitimately looking for a wife, some ofthem are married men, long separated from their families. A Society Girl is supplied to help conditions on the frontier, not provoke them.”
Hilarity at the time of lectures had incurred the dreadful wrath of Ishbel Mountjoy more than once—life was serious! their undertaking was of great consequence!—an experience the girls wisely wanted to avoid repeating at all costs, and the remainder of the time went smoothly.
At last, the moderate and restrained (after all, sailors were watching) calisthenics were called to a halt, due more to the exhaustion of Ishbel Mountjoy than her charges, and the girls were dismissed. Like naughty schoolgirls they trooped below deck, whispering and giggling, invigorated by the sunshine, the exercise, and the entertainment unwittingly provided by their leader.
“Prepare yourself,” a flushed, worn and weary Ishbel, her nerves sadly frazzled, couldn’t refrain from shouting down the ladder after them, “for ten hours a day in a sweltering kitchen, or an icy one!”
Obviously feeling much better about things now, the intrepid leader mopped her face, picked up her instruction manual, and sought her cabin and a return to peace of mind. Her final thought was not a cheerful one. In spite of all she would do to prepare them, some of them were meant as lambs for the slaughter; it was inevitable.
Dear Robbie . . .
Tierney settled herself at a rather rickety table, having first shoved aside numerous items stacked there—the room was small for the number of occupants it housed—spread the small book of blank pages open before her, licked her pencil, and began.
Here I am in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. I wonder if you landed here too. If so, your heart thrilled, as did mine, as you entered the harbor—completely land-locked, it is, being entered by a short passage known as the Narrows. What a sight! Did you, too, feel like a dwarf before those high beetling
Anne, as well as Tierney, had been helping Pearly with her Scripture reading. Tierney almost choked, highly amused at gentle Anne’s impatience and quotation, and went into a coughing spate that disrupted Ishbel’s current discourse.
That lady looked sternly down the line, drew a deep breath, sighed, and wisely changed course.
“Now,” she rapped out in commanding tones, “we’ll engage in the morning’s calisthenics. Fold up the sewing and lay it aside. Now—stand, please! Get in formation! Formation, if you please!”
Lagging interest sharpened; one thing could be said of Ishbel Mountjoy—she brought things alive; she was impossible to ignore. Like her or despise her, you paid attention.
Young bodies, having been cooped up far too long and having been bent in close attention to sewing for more than an hour, ached for activity, and the girls obeyed with alacrity. Lining up, a few feet began marching in place. The invigorating sea air blew severe hairdos into halos of wisps and curls, and a touch of color began to tinge cheeks pale from life too long below decks.
“All right, now!” Ishbel sang into the wind. “Straighten your shoulders! Lift your head—that’s the way! Pull in your er . . . your mid-section ! Fine, fine! Shoulders back! Chests out! Not that far! ”
Ishbel, thoroughly dismayed at the enthusiasm of her charges, hastened to see to it that the exercises, as all else, were done chastely.
“Decently and in order!” she rapped out now. “Never forget: decently and in order.”
Ishbel glared around the group now standing perfectly still and totally quiet, not daring to look at each other lest laughter erupt; the wanton display of their “chests” had been the subject of more than one lecture. “It’s imperative,” Ishbel warned them, “that you not taunt and tease; no lady would be found lowering herself thus. Remember, while many of these men you’ll be meeting are bachelors legitimately looking for a wife, some ofthem are married men, long separated from their families. A Society Girl is supplied to help conditions on the frontier, not provoke them.”
Hilarity at the time of lectures had incurred the dreadful wrath of Ishbel Mountjoy more than once—life was serious! their undertaking was of great consequence!—an experience the girls wisely wanted to avoid repeating at all costs, and the remainder of the time went smoothly.
At last, the moderate and restrained (after all, sailors were watching) calisthenics were called to a halt, due more to the exhaustion of Ishbel Mountjoy than her charges, and the girls were dismissed. Like naughty schoolgirls they trooped below deck, whispering and giggling, invigorated by the sunshine, the exercise, and the entertainment unwittingly provided by their leader.
“Prepare yourself,” a flushed, worn and weary Ishbel, her nerves sadly frazzled, couldn’t refrain from shouting down the ladder after them, “for ten hours a day in a sweltering kitchen, or an icy one!”
Obviously feeling much better about things now, the intrepid leader mopped her face, picked up her instruction manual, and sought her cabin and a return to peace of mind. Her final thought was not a cheerful one. In spite of all she would do to prepare them, some of them were meant as lambs for the slaughter; it was inevitable.
Dear Robbie . . .
Tierney settled herself at a rather rickety table, having first shoved aside numerous items stacked there—the room was small for the number of occupants it housed—spread the small book of blank pages open before her, licked her pencil, and began.
Here I am in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. I wonder if you landed here too. If so, your heart thrilled, as did mine, as you entered the harbor—completely land-locked, it is, being entered by a short passage known as the Narrows. What a sight! Did you, too, feel like a dwarf before those high beetling
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