Grumpy Old Mr. Quinton

Mary and Cathy woke up with a start; the rooster was crowing in the barnyard. They were on summer holidays and were staying with Grandpa and Grandma Robson, in the country. The girls jumped out of bed and said their morning prayers. Then they put on their flowered dresses and washed up.

The smell of pancakes and bacon and maple syrup floated through the air. The girls ran down the stairs and both gave Grandma a hug and a kiss, "Mmm, smells good Grandma," said Mary.

"I'll bet it tastes even better," Cathy added.

"We'll be having breakfast in a couple of minutes, girls. Grandpa is just outside feeding the chickens – he'll be here any minute," said Grandma.

Shortly the door opened and Grandpa strolled in, "Well, if it isn't my two favourite granddaughters!"

"We're your only granddaughters!" chimed in the girls.

"You're still my favourite ones," said Grandpa, as he gave each girl a hug.

Grandpa said the Angelus and the meal prayer and they all sat down. The girls had lots to talk about – they hadn't seen their Grandparents since Easter. They asked about the animals and Jenny the horse. Then they asked about the surrounding neighbours and finally about old Mr. Quinton. Grandpa said that Mr. Quinton was still as grumpy as ever and that he was forever putting up signs on his property – "KEEP OUT" … "DON'T WALK ON THE GRASS" … "NOT WELCOME", and other such signs. The girls listened in awe – poor Mr. Quinton they wondered; why was he always so grumpy?

Breakfast ended and the girls dashed outside. There was plenty to do; pulling out weeds in the garden, picking strawberries and helping Grandma hang the laundry on the clothesline – it was Monday, and Mondays were always wash days. Cathy and Mary kept busy through the week and when Friday rolled around they told Grandpa that they would like to go to Mass that Saturday, for the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. But Grandpa had some sad news for the girls. Jenny the horse had tripped over a fallen tree in the pasture, and she was a little lame. She would be well again in two weeks but he could not take the girls to Mass on Saturday.

"But will Mr. Quinton mind," asked Cathy, "if we ask him, if we can walk through his property, to get to Mass?"

"Maybe he won't mind," said Grandpa, "if you ask him politely and bring him some nice homemade cookies!"

Cathy and Mary thought it was a lovely idea and so did Grandma. Soon the girls were making some delicious oatmeal cookies. And when they pulled them out of the oven they were sure that Mr. Quinton would enjoy them.

Early Saturday morning Cathy and Mary set out for Mass. They headed straight for Mr. Quinton's field. The first sign they came across said, "KEEP OUT!" The girls kept on walking and soon came across another sign which said, "I'D TURN BACK IF I WERE YOU!" The girls said a Hail Mary to give them some courage and then came upon a sign saying, "SAVAGE DOG!"

"Well at least the sign doesn't say 'SAVAGE BEARS'!" Cathy said. "I should certainly not want to walk further with a sign like that". The girls hesitated for a minute and then Mary said, "Well a dog is not as bad as bears and at least a dog doesn't eat you!"

"No, but they bite," said Cathy, "and instead of being like the martyrs in Heaven who don't feel any pain, you're a bitten person wishing she had never come here!"

Presently they came to Mr. Quinton's yard gate and opened it. Instead of seeing a savage dog, they saw a dog wagging its tail. The girls fed the dog a cookie, just to make sure he wouldn't bite them and headed towards the house.

When they reached the door, Mary lifted the huge knocker and let it fall with a bang. Suddenly an old man shouted through an open window above, "WADDUYA WANT!" Both girls froze in their shoes at the sound of Mr. Quinton's voice, and suddenly Cathy fainted. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself, frightening my poor sister like that! cried Mary. Look! She's fainted!"

Old John Quinton ran down the stairs and opened the door. "Oh the poor thing, I shouldn't have frightened her so! I'll bring some cool water and towels to refresh her," and in a moment he was placing a cool, wet towel on Cathy's forehead.

Mary could see that old Mr. Quinton was really a nice man after all. "We brought you some homemade oatmeal cookies and we hoped that you would give us permission to cross your property to go to church!"

"Oatmeal cookies!" said Mr. Quinton. "Why I haven't had homemade oatmeal cookies since my wife died! And it was really nice of you girls to come by, even though I had put up all those nasty signs."

Presently, Cathy began to stir, "Wha – What happened? Where am I?" she said, looking up at Mary.

"Oh you just fainted and Mr. Quinton is putting some cool towels on your forehead." said Mary, "He's really a very nice man!"

"There, there, Mr. Quinton smiled, "just lie still for a few minutes and you'll be alright!"

"Tell me Mr. Quinton," Cathy questioned, "Why do people call you a grumpy old man? You seem like a very nice man to me!"

Mr. Quinton started to cry, "Well, God took my wife and our little baby away from me, and I got angry at God. Now I'm not angry any more but since I've been away from the Sacraments for so long, I was afraid that if I went to Confession, the priest would throw me out of the church! You see I let my soul get all dirty by not going to Mass and Confession. But when I saw how brave you little girls were to go past all those signs, especially the sign about "SAVAGE DOG", I realized how much of a coward I was! And when you told me that you had some oatmeal cookies for me, my heart melted."

He continued, "Now you're going to go to Mass in style; I'm going to hitch up Dolly to the buggy and we'll be off in no time. Besides, I want plenty of time to go to confession!"

"Mr. Quinton?" asked Mary, "Do you know who's feast day it is today?"

The old man was busy putting the harness on Dolly, his chestnut coloured horse. He stopped for a moment and scratched his head, "Well, I don't rightly know! Can you tell me?"

"Yes, today is the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel."

"Well now, ain't that something. Here I've been wearing her Brown Scapular for all these years and the Blessed Virgin brings me back to her Son Jesus, on her own special feast day. What a special day it is!"

Before long they reached the church and the three of them made their way to the confessional. The priest welcomed the old man with open arms. For many years he had been begging Our Lady to convert Mr. Quinton, and now his prayers were answered. Mr. Quinton and the girls went to Mass and Communion and stayed for a long thanksgiving.

They made their way to the buggy, and in a moment they were off, with Dolly prancing down the road. Soon they arrived at Mr. Quinton's and the old man disappeared for a couple of minutes. He came back with a bag for the girls. When the girls peeked into the bag they saw a fluffy, snow white kitten. "Oh Mr. Quinton," they cried, "we'd love to keep it, but first we'll have to ask if we can." In a short while they were back at the farm. The girls jumped out of the buggy and raced into the kitchen, "Grandma! Look what Mr. Quinton gave us! Can we keep it?" and they showed Grandma the kitten.

Grandma was so shocked that she almost dropped her false teeth, "Mr. Quinton gave you a kitten?"

"I sure did Grandma," said Mr. Quinton, who was standing in the doorway. "I took the girls to Mass and I gave them the kitten!"

Grandma had no choice but to tell the girls they could keep the kitten. How could she hurt Mr. Quinton's feelings after he had been so nice to them?

Just then Grandpa came in the door; he had seen the buggy and heard all the excitement, "Sure is nice of you to give the girls a ride and give them a kitten. Then Grandpa gave old Mr. Quinton a hearty handshake saying, "Grandma, we have company; one little kitten and our friendly neighbour Mr. Quinton. The old man smiled.

Old Mr. Quinton remained a good and faithful friend ever after and he lived for many more years. Mary and Cathy often went to see the old man. They would always bring him homemade oatmeal cookies and would say a Rosary with him when they went to visit him.

When Mary was twenty-five, she joined the Dominican Nuns and old Mr. Quinton was there to see her "married off to the Lord" as he put it, when she took her vows of Chastity, Poverty and Obedience, and became a spouse of Christ. Cathy got married and her children called Mr. Quinton, "Uncle John" until the day he died.

The End

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