Over My Shoulder

Chapter 9—Grandma’s Home

The lady in gray was Emily Campbell, one of Grandma’s office helpers. She steered Mabel and me through customs and out to a carriage where Marian Davis was waiting to greet us. It gave me a real at-home feeling to see my old friend again. I remembered Miss Davis from our days in Europe, where she had often saved her pencils for me to scribble with when they got too short for her to use. OMS 73.1

An hour’s drive brought us to Norfolk Villa, Grandma’s temporary home in Granville, a suburb of Sydney. There was scarcely time to lay off our wraps and wash up before the dinner bell rang and Miss Campbell ushered us into the dining room. OMS 73.2

“Oh, what a long table!” exclaimed Mabel in a loud whisper. She counted the plates. Miss Campbell smiled. OMS 73.3

“The table isn’t as long as it usually is,” she explained. “As you know, your father and grandmother and Miss Lacey are away attending meetings in Victoria. Before they return they will stop at Miss Lacey’s home in Hobart, Tasmania, where your papa and new mamma will get married.” OMS 73.4

We were ready to eat. Never shall I forget that dinner. Those fluffy baked potatoes and just-a-bit-crunchy cauliflower! The fresh ripe tomatoes and home-baked whole-wheat bread spread with honey and rich cream! Mabel sat across the table from me, and a big bowl of cream was placed between us with the invitation, “Help yourselves, girls.” And after four weeks of existing on ship’s fare, be assured that we did just that. We were told that Grandma kept a Jersey cow and used the thick cream skimmed from pans of boiled milk in place of butter, which was sold in grocery stores from open jars and was not always fresh and wholesome. OMS 73.5

With my hunger partly assuaged, I began to take note of our surroundings and to pay a little courteous attention to our introductions. The girl at my right was Edith Ward. Her mother was dead, and she had come to live in Grandma’s family. I was delighted, for she was about my own age. We immediately made friends with our eyes. Across the table next to Mabel, was another little girl, Nettie Hamilton, just two years older than Mabel, and beside her sat her mother, a tiny dot of a woman not much bigger than Nettie herself. OMS 73.6

Acting as host in Father’s absence was a pleasant-faced gentleman named Caldwell. Seventeen-year-old Willie McCann sat at the end of the table. We were told that Willie was an indispensable member of the family. He took care of the garden, the chickens, also the horse and cow, and kept things around the place looking spick and span. Miss Davis was seated at the opposite end of the table. Miss Campbell was there, of course, and one or two others. OMS 74.1

While we were eating, Annie Ulrick, a German girl, came in to wait on table, and in explanation, Miss Campbell remarked, “We can never persuade Annie to sit down and eat with us.” OMS 74.2

“Because servant girls never do so in my country,” spoke up Annie, and, blushing, she quickly disappeared into the kitchen. OMS 74.3

After dinner, while Edith and Nettie were washing the dishes, Miss Davis took Mabel and me upstairs to her room. OMS 74.4

“My bedroom has to serve as my workroom, also,” she explained, as she opened her door and revealed her bedroom floor almost entirely covered with sheets of typewritten paper. OMS 74.5

“These are selections from your grandmother’s writings that are going into a new book on the life of Christ. I think she has written more about the life of Jesus than about anyone or anything else in the whole world. It is her favorite theme. But, with all her public work and travels and her crowded program, it is difficult for her to sit down and give her undivided attention to writing the book. She has written some complete chapters, but in other places there are gaps in the story. OMS 74.6

“So she asked me to go through her published articles and sermons, as well as her letters and diaries, and copy out the best things she has written about the life and teachings of Jesus, and bring them into the book to fill out the incomplete chapters. I’ve spent months doing this, and I’ve found whole pages of precious material that should go into the book, and many paragraphs and sentences that will fill in some of the missing details in the story. My work saves your grandmother much time and makes it possible for her to do more writing.” OMS 74.7

She paused, and I remarked, “How wonderful that you can help Grandma write her books!” OMS 75.1

“Oh, no!” Miss Davis answered quickly. “I never do any of the writing. Your grandma writes her own books. She writes what God tells her to write. None of us ever add anything to what she writes. One time one of the typists did change some of the manuscripts she was copying. She thought she could make your grandma’s plain, simple language more flowery and attractive. But when your grandmother read it over, she changed it all back again the way she had written it; and then she found another kind of work for that lady to do.” OMS 75.2

Mabel and I listened soberly as Miss Davis told us more about what she did to help our grandmother. Part of my work is to see that the spelling and punctuation are correct, and that the paragraphs are arranged in the correct order in the chapters and the chapters are given the right titles, and to see that there is no repetition. OMS 75.3

“When everything is in order, the whole manuscript is copied again. Then your grandmother gives it a final reading. OMS 75.4

“Those pages you see spread out on the floor are part of a chapter she has written for the book on the life of Jesus. While I was reading through one of her articles I found some lovely things that she wrote on the same subject that ought to go into this chapter. Now I must find the right places to fit these new selections into the story. Your grandma wrote it all, but at different times.” OMS 75.5

There was a knock on the door, and Nettie called, “Mabel and Ella, my mamma wants to take us for a walk. Edith is coming too.” OMS 75.6

Down the garden path we skipped, following our leader, we two newcomers pausing now and then to admire some new variety of flower we had never seen before. It was a mild day in April, though the country was getting ready for winter, which in the Southern Hemisphere comes during what are the summer months in the North. We four girls sat down on the grassy hillside and pulled off our shoes and stockings. How good the soft, cool grass felt to our bare feet! OMS 75.7

Before Mrs. Hamilton had time to open her handbag and take out the story paper she had brought along to read to us, Mabel and I began asking questions. For one thing, we wanted to know how Edith and Nettie came to be living in Grandma’s home and whether we would have them for playmates permanently. OMS 75.8

“Oh, yes,” Edith said. “Your grandma says that I am to stay here in her home until the Avondale boarding school opens. Then she’ll send me and my brother Ernest to the school home. It’s going to take a year or two to put up the school buildings so we shall have a nice long time together. OMS 76.1

“When your grandmother heard what a hard time we were having trying to get along without Mother, she hunted us up and asked how I would like to come and be her little girl for a while. She put her arm around me and looked so loving and kind that I said, ‘Yes, I would.’ That’s why I am here.” OMS 76.2

“And she hunted us up, too,” added Mrs. Hamilton. “When Nettie’s father died way over in Scotland, I took Nettie with me, and we came to Australia. I set up a dressmaking and millinery shop in Sydney. My business prospered, and I sent for my sister and older daughter to join us. But the ship on which they sailed was lost at sea, and Nettie and I were left alone in Sydney. OMS 76.3

“Then came several years of depression, and people had little money to spend for the pretty things we made. I had to close my shop. About that time Nettie and I attended some Bible lectures and learned that the seventh day of the week, Saturday, and not the first day, Sunday, is the true Sabbath. The seventh day is the day God blessed and commanded everyone to keep holy. Work was hard to obtain, especially for those who refused to work on Saturday, the busiest day of the week. OMS 76.4

“Nettie and I decided to keep God’s day, even if we had to starve for doing so. But we really believed that God would take care of us. OMS 76.5

“Then, what do you think happened? Your grandmother heard of the difficulty we were in and came to see us. OMS 76.6

“‘How would you and Nettie like to join my family of helpers?’ she asked. ‘My two little granddaughters will soon arrive from America. That will make four little girls in our home, and you can be their governess. You can teach them dressmaking and millinery; and you can do the sewing for my family of workers.’” OMS 76.7

When Nettie’s mother finished speaking there was silence for a moment. Then we asked, “What about Willie?” All of us liked him, and Mrs. Hamilton smiled as she told his story. OMS 76.8

“Willie McCann has eight brothers and sisters at home. That is a large family to provide for, especially in these hard times. His father began keeping the Bible Sabbath about the same time that Nettie and I did. His faith has been tested just as ours was. He lost a good position and had to depend on odd jobs for the support of his family. Work was scarce and hard to secure in times of depression. OMS 77.1

“Mrs. McCann stood right by her husband, and together they decided that they would obey God even if they had to suffer for their faith. When your grandmother learned that the family was in actual need of food she didn’t wait for them to come to her for help. Instead, she went at once to the grocery store and bought supplies and took them to Willie’s home. OMS 77.2

“While they were talking and praying together, Willie came into the room and your grandma asked about him. Then she turned to the boy. OMS 77.3

“‘Willie,’ she said, ‘how would you like to be my garden boy and take care of the horse and cow and chickens and keep the place in order?’ So that’s what Willie is doing. Your grandmother pays him sufficient to keep the family from dire want until Mr. McCann can find steady employment. Willie doesn’t mind my telling this. He himself tells his friends how good Mrs. White has been to him.” OMS 77.4

“And Annie? What about Annie?” we asked next. We were really getting acquainted with Grandma’s family. Mrs. Hamilton took up her story again. OMS 77.5

“When Annie became a Seventh-day Adventist her parents were so angry because she had left her former church and joined such an unpopular people as the Seventh-day Adventists that they turned her out of the house. OMS 77.6

“Your grandmother didn’t really need any more helpers just then, but there was one job left that she could give Annie to do. There was no one in the house officially appointed as cook. Would Annie do the cooking? OMS 77.7

“‘But, Mrs. White,’ Annie protested, ‘I’ve never been anything but a chambermaid. I don’t know how to cook.’ The poor girl was embarrassed. “‘Never mind, Annie; we’ll show you how to cook.’ So Annie came, and now she is learning fast.” OMS 77.8

Then we wanted to know about the kind-faced man who was acting as our host while Papa was away; and so we had another story. OMS 78.1

“Well,” began Mrs. Hamilton, “Mr. Caldwell came from America on a mission that he thought was very important. But Adventist people in Australia didn’t support him or his mission. He found himself stranded far from home, without money and without friends. Your grandmother knew that he was honest and conscientious, but just a bit mixed up in his head. She felt sorry for him. So she gave him a home and some odd jobs to keep him busy. Now he is better, and ready to go back to his home again. OMS 78.2

“I suppose you would like to know about the two ladies who were at the table today. They help with the office work, typing your grandmother’s letters, articles, and sermons and copying her book manuscripts.” OMS 78.3

I was beginning to think that what Nettie’s mother said about Grandma was true; and I was very sure of it after I had lived in her family for a time. I never knew my grandmother to turn any persons away if she could possibly help them—not so long as there was room at the table for another plate or a corner in the house where an extra cot could be set up. OMS 78.4

Three weeks after Mabel and I arrived in Australia our father, with his lovely English bride, came from Tasmania. With love and tenderness Ethel May Lacey White opened her arms and her heart to us motherless girls. I was 13 and Mabel 8. We hadn’t seen Father for four years. After the greetings, he took the team and went to the station for the luggage. On his way back, he saw his bride walking along the road with two young girls, one on each side holding her hands. Father sprang from the wagon, knelt on the path beside us, and enclosed the three of us in one big bear hug. At last we were a family again! OMS 78.5