Languages & literature > A window in Thrums

PREPARING TO RECEIVE COMPANY 23
cambric handkerchief, of which Jess was very proud,
was hanging out of a drawer as if by accident.
An antimacassar lying carelessly on the seat of a
chair concealed a rent in the horse-hair, and the
china ornaments on the mantelpiece were so placed
that they looked whole. Leeby’s black merino was
hanging near the window in a good light, and Jess’s
Sabbath bonnet, which was never worn, occupied
a nail beside it. The tea-things stood on a tray
in the kitchen bed, whence they could be quickly
brought into the room, just as if they were always
ready to be used daily. Leeby, as yet in deshabille,
was shaving her father at a tremendous rate, and
Jess, looking as fresh as a daisy, was ready to
receive the visitors. She was peering through the
tiny window-blind looking for them.
“Be cautious, Leeby,” Hendry was saying, when
Jess shook her hand at him. “Wheesht,” she
whispered; “ they’re cornin’.”
Hendry was hustled into his Sabbath coat, and
then came a tap at the door, a very genteel tap. Jess
nodded to Leeby, who softly shoved Hendry into the
room.
The tap was repeated, but Leeby pushed her father