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Chapter 34
- Northern Illinois University Press
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c H A P T e R T H i R T Y - F o U R i turned eighteen years old this last January, which makes Keane nineteen, nearly, and Kachina seventeen. Topini is about eleven. Uncle George,despitebeingill,haspackedusallfour,bagandbaggage,intothe democrat wagon and driven us to Suttons Bay for the opening couple days of the Redpath deluxe Seven-day circuit, the Big chautauqua Special, which, according to the Progress, has arrived “triumphant from the great cities of South Bend, indianapolis, louisville, and lansing” and is due, so they say, to open next week in chicago. Uncle George has insisted we go (He purchased tickets himself.) because he says we must somehow find a glimmer of light peeking through this infernal gloom. Uncle George has been planning the trip for weeks, and from the manner in which he’s been talking about it, i’ve begun to think of it as the pilgrimage. or sometimes the quest. every detail has been thought of. There is a cover for the wagon that Kachina and Topini and i will share and sleep under. Uncle George and Keane will pitch a tent close, down by the bay. We have camping equipment, cookware, food supplies (perishables will be purchased in Suttons Bay), appropriate clothing, and headgear. We have Topini’s other red dress and two red balls. And plenty of handkerchiefs. 178 L.E. Kimball As we approach Suttons Bay, i hear “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” playing. The community band is positioned on the depot platform awaiting the crowds from Traverse city, Northport, and omena. As Uncle George drives through town, i notice there are lumbermen, fishermen, storekeepers, farmers, teachers—people from all backgrounds.ThereareNorwegians,Germans,Swedes,Frenchmen, and plenty of Anishinaabek from Peshabetown. Wagons arrive all day carrying farmers and their families. Wealthy resorters drive brand-new Maxwells, Reos, and Model T Fords. Suttons Bay merchants down the entire two blocks from lars Sogge’s grocery to Nixie Steimel’s hotel have draped their stores with bunting, and along both sides of the street the Grand Army of the Republic and Spanish-American vets have set up poles with new American flags that wave in the breeze and startle the horses as they pass. The ladies have red-and-green felt hats, and printed on them are the words “Redpath chautauqua.” The tent takes up the whole clearing near the town square. The sides of the tent are lifted, and two rows of plank-board seating surround it. With the sides of the tent up, i can see a xylophone and a piano next to a platform stage. The air hangs heavy with humidity, and i’m sure there will be an electrical storm before the end of our two-day stay. Uncle George reads my mind. let’sgetthistentpitchedandthecanvascoversetuponthiswagon, he says. in case we get ourselves a storm tonight. Better safe than sorry. We agree with him. i’m not sure i should have come at all, and my mood is rubbing off on everyone, especially Topini. little upsets her. Not getting what she had in mind for dinner, that upsets her, or not being able to locate her red ball or red dress or red pajamas, that upsets her. But we can change her disposition simply by laughing or teasing, or with nothing more than a hug or kiss. Most of the time she simply reflects our personalities right back at us, good or bad. The reason i shouldn’t have come is because of cap. Uncle George wouldn’t hear of me staying behind, even though i [18.206.14.46] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 06:42 GMT) explained things weren’t right with him. i did leave food for him, and as Uncle George pointed out, he was clearheaded when he was out on the Mabel. So far, nobody but Uncle George and i were aware that cap was any different. But christmas 1916 had come and gone without cap taking any notice at all. Maybe that was partly because Mabel didn’t come home for the holidays—she’d gone to stay with friends in oxford. She hadn’t been home for a visit in a year. We got an occasional letter from her reporting the essentials of her life, but elk Rapids was no longer home to Mabel. i’d cut down a small spruce to serve as a christmas tree, big enough for the top of the kitchen worktable. decorated it, hung stockings, got...