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Title: Miss Billy - A Neighborhood Story
Author: Hurd, Marion Kent, Stokely, Edith Keeley
Language: English
As this book started as an ASCII text book there are no pictures available.
*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Miss Billy - A Neighborhood Story" ***
love to Emmy's memory.
MISS BILLY
[Illustration: "That wasn't the way it happened," said a clear voice
above them. (_See page 67._)]
MISS BILLY
A NEIGHBORHOOD STORY
[Illustration]
_By_ EDITH KEELEY STOKELY _And_ MARIAN KENT HURD
_ILLUSTRATED BY CHARLES COPELAND_
BOSTON [symbol] LOTHROP
PUBLISHING COMPANY
Published, April, 1905
COPYRIGHT, 1905,
BY LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD COMPANY
_All Rights Reserved_
MISS BILLY
NORWOOD PRESS
BERWICK & SMITH CO.
NORWOOD, MASS.
U.S.A.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. NO. 12 CHERRY STREET 1
II. MISS BILLY 8
III. WAYS AND MEANS 22
IV. NEW NEIGHBOURS 37
V. A LOAD OF DIRT 44
VI. NEXT DOOR 55
VII. TRIALS 70
VIII. THE STORY OF HORATIUS 86
IX. BEATRICE 110
X. A BROKEN SIDEWALK 124
XI. WEEDS 142
XII. LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD 154
XIII. HARD LINES 170
XIV. TWO LETTERS 188
XV. "FRANCES" 200
XVI. THE CHILD GARDEN 213
XVII. THE LAWN SOCIAL 233
XVIII. MARGARET LENDS ASSISTANCE 250
XIX. PERSONAL PLEASURE 265
XX. FAIR SKIES 285
XXI. HALLOWE'EN 296
XXII. WAITING 317
XXIII. CONCLUSION 330
ILLUSTRATIONS
"That wasn't the way it happened," said a clear
voice above them _Frontispiece_
Page
"I have a leaning toward an up-to-date stable and
riding ponies, myself" 82
"Who are you?" he said 167
Marie Jean was gotten up in a style known as
"regardless" 240
She was telling him the history of the day 279
"All Oi do be nadin'," ... "is a check-rein from
the top av me head to me shoulder blades" 343
MISS BILLY
CHAPTER I
No. 12 CHERRY STREET
"The house looked wretched and woe-begone:
Its desolate windows wept
With a dew that forever dripped and crept
From the moss-grown eaves: and ever anon
Some idle wind, with a passing slap,
Made rickety shutter or shingle flap."
MARCH had gone out like a roaring lion, and April had slipped
demurely in, armed with a pot of green paint and a scrubbing brush.
There was not much to paint in Cherry Street. A few sparse blades
of grass, tenacious of life, clung here and there to curbstone and
dooryard; but there was plenty to scrub, and the Spring maid fell to
with a will.
In consequence, on this Saturday morning, the water rushed down the
gutters in torrents, while at the same time the small denizens of
Cherry Street were lifted into the seventh heaven of delight by the
sun's showing his jolly face through the clouds and inviting them
out to wade. To make their happiness, if possible, more complete, a
pine-wood wagon, creaking and groaning under its heavy weight, had
turned the corner by Coffey's saloon and was coming up the street.
The small Cherryites paused in blissful anticipation to watch its
progress, while miniature Niagara cataracts hissed and foamed about
their bare legs.
History repeats itself, and they argued with reason that when the
driver should reach the end of the block and find it a blind: a
street with no outlet, he would be covered with confusion and beat
his horses and swear horribly in trying to turn around.
So, as the creaking wagon drew nearer, the youthful Cherryites fled
ecstatically through the cold waters for the parquet seats on the
curbstone nearest the stage, and waited breathlessly for the rising
of the curtain.
But it was decreed that the Pine Wood Dramatic Company was to play to
empty seats after all, for round the corner by Coffey's loomed a star
of greater magnitude. It was Mr. Schultzsky, landlord and taxpayer of
all Cherry Street, with his humped shoulders and rusty silk hat, his
raw-boned grey nag and a vehicle popularly known as a "rattle-trap."
Not that Mr. Schultzsky was an unusual sight in Cherry Street.
Indeed, he dwelt therein, together with a strange little niece for
housekeeper, who had come from some far-off heathen land; but rent
day, always an interesting event, on this occasion held an added
charm from the fact that Tommy Casey had made it known to all whom
it might concern that his mother intended on this day to utter such
truths to Mr. Schultzsky as would make him tremble on his throne.
Therefore, almost before the iron-grey nag had come to a full stop,
the bare-legged Cherryites, precipitately deserting the Pine Wood
Drama, were gathered in a circle before Mrs. Casey's door awaiting
with fearsome ecstasy the promised crack of doom.
The Casey house, in the early history of the city, had been a proud
brick mansion of eight rooms, with green blinds, and flower beds
outlined in serrated points of red brick. But the street had risen
above the level of the yard, leaving the old house like a tombstone
on a sunken grave. The old-fashioned porches were dust-coloured and
worm-eaten, the fences fallen away, and the broken window panes
and missing slats of the blinds gave it a peculiarly sightless and
toothless appearance. Like a faithful friend, the old house shared
the fallen fortunes of its early owner, for Mr. Schultzsky had bought
it, as he had come into possession of nearly all his real estate, at
a tax title sale. Now, as he tied his horse and Tommy Casey heralded
his approach, Mrs. Casey with the baby tucked in the curve of one arm
turned the bread in the oven, slammed the oven door, whisked the
dust off a chair, and waited.
Presently the fickle April sunshine that poured in a broad band
through the kitchen door was shadowed, and the landlord stood at the
threshold. He did not wish Mrs. Casey a polite good-morning: this was
not Mr. Schultzsky's way. Instead, he gave a characteristic little
grunt, and opening an overfed pocket book, produced from among others
of its kind a monthly rent bill, and extended it without further
ceremony.
Mrs. Casey laid the baby in its cradle, brought her knuckles to her
hips, and invoking the spirit of a long line of oppression-hating
ancestors to her aid, opened the battle.
"Mr. Schultzsky," she began, her soft Irish half-brogue giving no
sign of the trembling within, "whin we moved here a year ago, there
was promises ye made us that ye've not kep'. The roof is l'akin'
worse than it did then,--the overfillin' of a tub in a bad rain,--an'
me wit' my man a coachman out late o' nights, havin' to get up out
o' me bed wit' the lightnin' flashin' an' lave me wailin' baby to
pull a tub up the ladder undher the roof! The windays are out, six of
thim,--not that we done it, mind you,--the floors are broke,--an' of
the whole eight rooms, foive of thim are not fit for a dacint fam'ly
to live in, wit' the paint all gone an' the paper smoky an' palin'
off. The front gate was gone before we ever came here, an' now the
fince posts has rotted off an' the fince is down. Here is Spring
clanin' on me, an' what can I do wit' a place like this? Fifteen
dollars a month, Mr. Schultzsky, we're payin' ye, an' the money
waitin' for ye as reg'lar as the month comes around. But now what
I have say to ye is this: we'll move the week out onless ye paper
an' paint the five rooms,"--Mrs. Casey counted the items off on her
fingers,--"put in a new kitchen floor, fix the six windays, patch the
roof, set up the fince, an' put a bit o' paint on the porches. It's
not that our place is any worse than the others in Cherry Street, but
the Caseys bein' good pay, an' knowin' it, is goin' to have things a
bit different, that's all."
Mr. Schultzsky considered. He took off his silk hat, carefully
wiped his forehead with a red cotton handkerchief, and replaced the
antiquated head-covering. He shuffled his rusty boots and thrust his
hands down into the pockets of his shining coat to gain time. His
small black eyes glittered craftily as he mentally added, subtracted,
and struck off the fraction of a per cent. Then he made his decision,
but he said not a word. He took from the recesses of his capacious
coat-tails a red card, some tacks and a small hammer. Without another
look at Mrs. Casey, and with as little regard for the group of
awe-stricken children, he passed around the house to the front door
and tacked up the sign.
Number 12 Cherry Street was for rent.
CHAPTER II
MISS BILLY
"A girl who has so many wilful ways
She would have caused Job's patience to forsake him,
Yet is so rich in all that's girlhood's praise,
Did Job himself upon her goodness gaze,
A little better she would surely make him."
MISS Billy was an early riser. She opened her eyes to the sunshine
and pure morning air as naturally as a flower. So it came about
that at six o'clock of a May morning she was skipping downstairs
before any other member of the family had stirred, with a quick
springing step that was peculiarly her own. Miss Billy's sprightly
locomotion was a constant source of amusement to her family, and
of mortification to Miss Billy herself. "It is my misfortune, not
my fault," she was wont to say when her brother Theodore described
her gait as "galumphing," and her sister Beatrice pleaded with
her to study physical culture; "and it's like struggling against
Fate to attempt to walk with discretion. I suppose it is merely an
'evening-up' of things, and that Providence gave it to me to offset
my lovely disposition."
But upon this Spring morning Miss Billy's unfortunate step did
not seem to be weighing upon her mind. The glow and thrill of the
golden day opening before her sent the warm blood coursing quickly
through her veins, and the world seemed made for youth and beauty and
happiness. Miss Billy sang softly to herself as she opened the side
door and stepped out into the garden.
"The garden" was a small shady spot on the north side of the tall
city house. It was not a promising place for flowers, but Miss
Billy's love for growing things was great, and by dint of much
urging and encouragement on her part, a few spring flowers eked out
a precarious existence in the barren soil. Above the flower plot was
an open bedroom window. Miss Billy's eyes twinkled wickedly, and her
soft song changed into the whistled notes of a schoolboy's call.
There was a sound as of two bare feet coming down with a thud in the
room above her, and in a moment a tall form in gay scarlet pajamas,
with a towsled head atop, appeared at the window.
"That you, Tom?" whispered a sleepy voice.
Miss Billy looked up from the flowers. The violets themselves were
not more demure than her own face.
"Oh, hello, Ted!" she said; "Tom's not here."
"Well, who is?"
"No one but me."
"But I heard some one whistle."
"That was me too," said Miss Billy frankly and ungrammatically.
"Well, I must say that your joke--I suppose you intended it for a
joke--is extremely crude," replied her brother crossly.
"You said last night that I couldn't get you out of bed," jeered Miss
Billy. "Beside, I wanted you to see the sun rise. I have seen two
myself, this morning."
"Well you may now have the pleasure of seeing one go back to bed,"
said Theodore. He left the window abruptly, and Miss Billy heard him
thump his pillow impatiently as she turned again to the garden.
"Ted never has much sense of humour at six o'clock in the morning,"
she said, passing her loving hands under the tender green leaves.
"Six blossoms! These are the most modest violets I ever saw in my
life. They're afraid to show their heads above the ground. At this
rate it won't take me long to prepare my floral creation for the
breakfast table."
There was still no sign of life about the house when she came back
with the flowers, and Miss Billy wondered, as she put the purple
blossoms in a clear green glass bowl, what she should do next.
"I might practise half an hour," she said to herself, looking in at
the piano as she stood in the hall door,--
"'Practicing's good for a good little girl,
It makes her nose straight and it makes her hair curl,'
"--but my hair is too curly now, and if my nose was straight, people
would expect more of me. Beside, I hate to waste this lovely morning
on scaly exercises. I believe I'll write a letter to Margaret. I feel
in the right mood to talk to her."
The same peculiar quick-step carried Miss Billy to her desk, where,
dipping a battered-looking pen into the ink, she began:--
"1902 ASHURST PLACE.
"_Dearly Beloved_:
"I suppose you're just going to bed over in Cologne,
with your hair done up in those funny little curl papers
of yours. Or don't they wear curl papers in 'furrin'
countries? What kind of a place is Cologne, anyway? Do
they make Lundborg's Extract there, and _are_ the exports
'grain, grapes and beet sugar,' as the geography used to
say?
"Over here in America I am waiting for Maggie to arise
and prepare our frugal repast, which, from sundry soaked
articles I saw last night, I suspect will mainly consist
of fish-balls. Maggie feels that she has not lived in
vain when she succeeds in getting Theodore to refuse
codfish-balls. It is the only article of food that he does
not fall upon with fork and glee.
"Speaking of balls, I went to one last night, only to look
on, however. Beatrice's dancing class gave one of their
monthly parties, and I was one of the smaller fry (notice
the connection between fry and codfish-balls) whom they
deigned to invite. Those pale-drab Blanchard girls were
conducting the services--(it's well that father doesn't
inspect my correspondence)--so it's a wonder that I 'got
in' at all, for they detest me. I might add that the tender
sentiment is entirely reciprocated on my part! I wore my
old grey crêpe, and looked superbly magnificent, as of
course you know, Peggy dear. Tom Furnis, who was there,
also occupying a modest and retiring seat in the rear,
mentioned to me during the evening that as soon as you came
home we would have a dancing class of our own. So you see
how everything hangs on your return.
"Nothing has happened at 'Miss Peabody's Select School for
Young Ladies' since you left except that I have received
numerous invitations to select little functions in the
office, and a choice assortment of demerit marks, and
carried home the following report last month:
'Miss Lee's immediate improvement in deportment is
earnestly desired by
'Her instructor and sincere friend,
'Loutilda Amesbury Peabody.'
"I did rather dread to take it home, for my report
last month was not exactly suggestive of propriety and
discretion, and I hate to have my people disappointed
in me. But when I showed it to father he said, 'Some
improvement this month, I see, little daughter.' Wasn't
that just like him?
"Myrtle Blanchard has organised a new school club. It
is composed of the Select Six, who devote themselves to
French conversation and marshmallows once a week, and call
themselves the Salon. Not to be outdone, Madge Freer and
I have started a rival organisation for ping-pong and
fun. We call ourselves the Saloon. We'll have to change
the name, though, as soon as Miss Loutilda discovers its
existence. Can't you imagine her horror!
"Your description of your Paris gowns did not make me at
all envious, my dear. For Miss Edwards has been making me
three new dresses and revising several old editions. I
have a new brown suit, a scarlet foulard, and a fearful
and wonderful creation of purple lawn embroidered with
pale yellow celery leaves, which I shall wear to every
church supper this year. And I shall come to the station
to meet you next September arrayed like Solomon in all his
glory, in all three of the gowns, in order that you may be
properly impressed, and not outshine me in splendour.
"I am afraid you won't find, in this frivolous and dressy
letter, the things you most want to know. As usual, my pen
has run to nonsense. But if you were looking for food for
reflection and nourishment of the soul, you would have come
to father for it, instead of me. Sometimes, Peggy dear, I
am ashamed of my aimless, careless existence of eating,
sleeping and skylarking, as Theodore would say. There are
moments of temporary aberration in my life when I wish I
could help some one else. If I were like you, now, who
carry sweetness and serenity with you, I wouldn't mourn,
but alas, I am only
"Your unregenerate but loyal friend,
"MISS BILLY.
"P.S.
"My suspicions about the codfish were well founded. A
strong and influential odour of breakfast has pushed the
door open for me, and I know it is time for me to descend
into the lower regions. Good-by, dear."
Miss Billy laid down her pen with a sigh of relief, and wiped her
ink-stained fingers. She had just lighted her little candle and
produced a stick of wax to seal the letter, when a deafening noise
filled the hall below. At the foot of the stairs stood her brother
Theodore, armed with a Chinese gong, upon which he was performing
with great vigour. His boyish tenor rang out clearly:
"Arise, arise, ye maiden fair,
Golden eyes and azure hair,
Hear your loved one's plaintive calls,
Come to me and codfish-balls.
"Breakfast waits, Miss Billy. Did you go back to bed again?"
The family had assembled at breakfast when the younger daughter
entered the dining room, smiling over Theodore's improvised poetry.
"Mother looks more sober than usual," she thought, as she drew the
sweet face to her own.
"Morning, motherie."
"Good-morning, little daughter. You left your footprints behind you.
The violets are lovely."
There was an unsealed letter at Miss Billy's plate, and similar
envelopes for Beatrice and Theodore. Miss Billy opened hers first. It
ran:
"You are requested to be present at a family meeting to be
held in the study this morning at eight o'clock. Important
matters to be discussed. By order of
"FATHER."
The letters excited no comment. They were an every-day occurrence
in the Lee family. If Theodore's unruly tongue caused mischief, or
his love of a joke was carried too far, a delicate reminder at his
plate was sure to call attention to the fact. If Beatrice stopped
for a moment to exchange compliments with her old enemy, Personal
Vanity, or did she pursue an uneven tenor of fault-finding for a
time, a letter was the means of bringing her to order. But upon
Miss Billy,--energetic, wideawake Miss Billy,--who was always doing
things, and doing them hard, the missives descended like flocks of
white doves. These letters did not all contain censure. Some of
them were so full of praise as to make their owner blush with an
embarrassment of happiness, but one could never be sure beforehand of
the contents.
Theodore was already in the study when Miss Billy entered. He was
stretched out on the floor with two sofa pillows under his head and
four under his feet.
"Something's up," he remarked sagely.
"Yes," assented Miss Billy, "and that something had better come
down. Take the pillows from under your feet, Ted."
"Well, I hope the bank hasn't gone busted, or father's colt been
killed, or anything happened to our government bonds, or Maggie given
warning, or Beatrice plighted her troth to a peanut man. Billy, what
a savage you are! What are pillows for, I'd like to know. I should
think you'd be afraid to treat me as you do. Some day the worm will
turn, and when a belted earl comes to seek your hand I'll expose your
tyranny."
"Theodore," said Miss Billy, standing very tall and straight, and
with a serious expression on her usually merry face,--"stop joking
and listen. Something _is_ up, really. I've been waiting for it to
come out for a month. Of course I don't know exactly what it is, but
I have my suspicions, and every time I have looked at mother's sober
face I have felt guilty to be happy. Now Ted, if what I think turns
out to be true, I have some plans to propose, and you must stand by
me in them."
"What do you mean?" asked Theodore, with a boy's disgust for mystery.
"You're talking in parables, Miss Billy."
"I mean that I'm sure father's lost some money," answered his sister
hurriedly. "I haven't time to explain now; the whole family will
be here in a minute. But when the rest come in, I want you to say
exactly what I say, and uphold me in every way."
"Well, I like that," gasped Theodore, raising himself on one elbow.
"Say exactly what you say! What do you intend to say, and why should
I play follow-my-leader? No ma'am, I sign no paper before reading it."
"But you must," insisted Miss Billy hurriedly. "You'll understand
why later. You've got to pull with me. I know how Beatrice will act,
and I'll need an ally the minute her tears begin to flow. I depend
upon you to stand by me, as you always do. Come Ted, promise. Quick,
they're coming."
"Your blandishments have the usual telling effect," groaned Theodore.
"I promise,--I suppose I've got to. But you're responsible for all
the evil that may come from my yielding to temptation." He collapsed
among the pillows, and had just succeeded in covering his tall form
with a slumber robe when the rest of the family entered.
CHAPTER III
WAYS AND MEANS
"And a chorus arose from the judicial bench,
Our learned decision is this,--to retrench."
THE minister's study was furnished with an eye to comfort rather
than beauty. And yet there was something better than mere artistic
loveliness in the long room, lined with book shelves, and with every
evidence of use in the well worn couch, the comfortable easy chairs,
and the desk piled with papers. Mrs. Lee's mending basket stood
on the table, Beatrice's burnt-wood outfit was on the low shelf,
Theodore's ping-pong table occupied one corner, and the windows were
full of Miss Billy's plants. The room was the heart of the house.
Here the poor and the sick of the minister's people came for help in
their trouble. Here the children came for advice and encouragement
in their childish griefs and hopes. Here the forlorn were cheered,
and the sinful comforted; and here reigned the abiding spirit of the
home.
Between the two south windows, in the post of honour in the room,
hung the sermon board. It was a small slate blackboard, which
had been glorified quite beyond its usual educational purposes.
Bittersweet branches garlanded its sides, and hung their scarlet
berries over its edges, and Miss Billy's best ivy stood on a bracket
beneath. The board was an institution in the household. Here one
was sure to find a bit of helpful verse, a timely quotation or an
inspiring text, for all of the minister's sermons were not delivered
from the pulpit. To-day it bore a longer message than usual,--Miss
Billy's face grew soft as she read:
"To be honest, to be kind; to earn a little, and to spend less; to
make upon the whole a family happier by his presence; to renounce
where that shall be necessary and not to be embittered; to keep a
few friends, but these without capitulation, above all, on the same
grim conditions, to keep friends with himself--here is a task for all
that a man has of fortitude and delicacy."
"Father is that man if one lives," she thought tenderly. "And mother
is brave, too, but they will need help,--both of them."
"The meeting will come to order," said Mr. Lee, the lines of his face
smoothing themselves out, as they always did when he looked at his
assembled family.
"Whom can he mean?" asked Theodore innocently, stretching out his
long legs in front of Beatrice.
"He means you," said Beatrice sharply. "Do get up, Theodore. You are
so awkward-looking, there on the floor."
"Why is Beatrice like this meeting?" murmured Theodore, disentangling
his legs from the afghan. "Because she has come to order. Sweet
sister, in you a magnificent slave driver was ruined! Thus I fly to
obey thy mandate."
Miss Billy gazed at him with meaning eyebrows as he established
another cozy nest with robe and pillows on the broad couch. "I do
hope he won't act up," she thought anxiously, settling herself in a
position of attention.
"Our business is a little unpleasant this morning," began Mr. Lee
with a poor little imitation of a smile that did not deceive at
least one member of the party. "Mother and I had decided to keep it
from you as long as possible, but later developments have made it
necessary to--to----"
"It is right that we should know the unpleasant things as well as the
pleasant," put in Miss Billy stoutly. "We are not children. Beatrice
is eighteen, and Theodore and I shall be sixteen next June."
"There are disasters much worse than losing money," went on Mr.
Lee. "Still I find myself perplexed and worried over financial
troubles, and I feel that I need the sound judgment of every member
of the family. Through the dishonesty of managing officers we have
lost $15,000 which was invested in the Eastern Building and Loan
Association. The loss cuts off from this source an annual income of
$900, which of course we would not feel very keenly so long as my
present salary continued. But yesterday I received a letter from the
church trustees, worded as delicately and graciously as possible,
but regretting that heavy indebtedness obliges them to reduce the
pastor's salary $500 a year, for at least two years. This leaves us
$1400 a year poorer than we have been before."
"Let me go to work," begged Theodore. "I'd like to."
"We thought of that," said Mrs. Lee with an approving glance at her
son; "but it is not the most practical way when we consider the
future. You must finish school first, Theodore."
Beatrice had been applying her handkerchief to her eyes in a ladylike
manner. "Can't you do something to those horrid men?" she inquired
pathetically. "Sue them, or have them arrested, or something?"
"Perhaps the law may reach them," said Mr. Lee, "but I have my
doubts about the results. I fear there is little to recover. I think
our wisest policy is to forget what is gone, and to conform to the
situation as quickly as possible. Miss Billy, we haven't heard from
you."
"Hurry up, Miss Billy. You may never be _invited_ to talk again in
the whole course of your existence," said her irrepressible brother.
Miss Billy roused from a brown study. "We are living in a large
house--sixty dollars a month," she suggested.
"We couldn't live in a smaller one," put in Beatrice tearfully.
"Oh, yes we could," returned Miss Billy, with a glance at Theodore.
"Of course we could," echoed Theodore firmly.
"There can be a reduction made in the matter of servants," said Mrs.
Lee. "We are paying Maggie fifteen dollars and Charlotte twelve. I
have talked with Maggie already. She will stay with us for twelve,
and we can let Charlotte go."
Beatrice looked more woe-begone than before, but Miss Billy's face
showed no disappointment. "I think that is the very best thing to
do under the circumstances," she said decidedly. "The servant girl
problem is solved."
"On the contrary, it has just begun," said Beatrice with a rueful
glance at her pretty hands.
"Miss Peabody will have to lose the brightest star in her galaxy. She
draws too heavily upon our modest income. I shall join Ted at the
High School," went on Miss Billy bravely.
"Are you sure that is wise?" asked Mrs. Lee. "Private school has been
one of my pet extravagances. I should like to keep you with your old
schoolmates as long as possible, for it will make a great change in
your life to leave them."
"But think of the saving in expense," urged Miss Billy.
Beatrice gave a little shudder. "I hate to think of your going to
that dirty, noisy place--filled with Germans and germs----"
"And Polish and poles, and Russians and rushes----" put in Theodore.
"The course is certainly good, and the instructors excellent," said
the minister. "If Miss Billy could be reconciled to the public
schools for a year, I think we could manage college for her later."
There was a wistfulness in his tones that touched Miss Billy's tender
heart.
"Of course I could," she said stoutly. "I'd rather go, daddy dear."
"As to the matter of houses," went on Mr. Lee, "I am afraid that
we shall have to leave our present home. Your mother and I spent
yesterday in looking at vacant houses. Just now there seem to be few
unoccupied, but we finally found one that we thought might do."
"Where is it?" inquired Beatrice.
"In the lower part of the town," answered Mr. Lee. "It is not in
an aristocratic neighbourhood, but it seems as though it might be
quite comfortable, after a few repairs are made, and the rent is
ridiculously low. The house in Number 12 Cherry Street."
"Cherry Street!" cried Beatrice, involuntarily clapping her palms
over her eyes. "Oh, papa, how _can_ you. We _can't_ live in Cherry
Street."
"Oh, yes we can," said Miss Billy promptly.
"Yes we can," chimed in Theodore.
"What kind of a house is it?" asked Miss Billy, in a practical and
business-like tone.
Mr. Lee looked puzzled. "Well, I know it's small," he said, "and I
have an indistinct remembrance of brown paint. Ask your mother; I
fear I haven't much memory for details. Perhaps if I had I should
have watched my investment a little closer," he added sadly.
"The house is small, and is brown too--in spots," said Mrs. Lee. "It
has four rooms downstairs and four bedrooms above. There is no water
or gas in the house, which is of course a great inconvenience; and
the place is in shabby condition; but the landlord has promised to
make the necessary repairs and to paint the house for us."
"He probably realises what it will mean to Cherry Street in a social
way, to have us for tenants," said Beatrice.
"You bet he does," said Theodore. "In his mind's eye he can probably
see Cherry Street ablaze with light and aglow with colour. He can
see number twelve filled with diamond tiaras and cut glass pianos
and freezers full of ice cream, to signify that a function is on. He
can see the Caseys and the Raffertys and the Rosenbaums riding by in
their coupés and splendour to attend the house warming given by the
minister. Thus will 'sassiety' be brought into Cherry Street by the
new tenants."
"Is there a yard?" asked Miss Billy diplomatically, for Beatrice was
flushing angrily under her brother's ridicule. "Yes, there is a large
yard," said Mrs. Lee. "The sod is almost worn off, but a little grass
seed and care will work wonders there."
"Good!" exclaimed Miss Billy. "Then perhaps, sometime in the dim and
misty future I may have a garden of my own. I would be willing to
move for that alone."
"And I can raise vegetables and keep chickens," said Theodore.
"And rise at daybreak to plough and harrow, and to feed and water
your stock," slyly added Miss Billy.
"Yes, my dear," retorted Theodore with true brotherly inflection,
"and without the aid of an alarm clock either. When I hear a
combination of an avalanche and an ice wagon going downstairs I shall
say to myself: 'Time to get up. There goes Miss Billy.'"
"How about the furniture?" inquired Miss Billy, ignoring her
brother's thrust. "It seems to me that what now abundantly fills
fourteen rooms will overflow in eight. I have a hazy recollection
of a philosophical principle about two objects not being able to
occupy the same place at the same time. How shall we manage to get
our great-grandmother's colossal bed into an eight by ten bedroom?
Can you put allopathic furniture into a homoeopathic house, mother
mine?"
"That is another thing to be considered," said Mrs. Lee. "Of course
we shall not be able to take all of our furniture. I think we must
plan to move only what is most necessary----"
"The bath tub and the Bible," interrupted Theodore.
"Yes," said his mother, smiling in spite of herself at the boy's
merry way of treating a serious subject. "And the books for your
father, and the piano for Beatrice----"
"And the couch for Theodore," suggested Miss Billy.
"And the watering pot for Miss Billy," retorted Theodore.
"And the sewing machine for me," went on Mrs. Lee, "and the range for
Maggie, and the pictures and other comforts for us all. We must make
Number 12 Cherry Street into a home as soon as possible. We shall
store the rest, not sell it, for I feel sure that we shall need it
all some day."
Miss Billy slid down on to the floor between her mother and father,
and patted a hand of each. "Don't look so solemncholy," she said
fondly; "moving isn't the worst thing in the world. We have been so
comfortable all our lives that we don't know what it is to deprive
ourselves of anything. And perhaps it will be a good lesson for us
all--at least for Beatrice and Ted and me. Beside, I must confess
that I already begin to feel a yearning to take possession of my new
home. I believe that I shall like Number 12 Cherry Street."
Mrs. Lee smiled dubiously. "It is not a very pleasant house," she
said. "And we shall not live as comfortably as we have been living
since you can remember. You must not raise your hopes so high that
a fall will hurt them. There are many things about the new life that
will be hard and uncomfortable and distasteful, and we shall long
for our pretty home and our old neighbours many, many times. But we
are all together, and we have health and hope, which surely ought to
bring happiness. And home is always home, no matter where the house
is."
"But what will become of our friends?" said Beatrice, in a
suspiciously teary tone. "None of them will come to visit us on
Cherry Street."
"Let them stay away then," advised Miss Billy.
"By all means let them stay away," echoed Theodore airily.
"But they won't stay away," said Mrs. Lee, putting her arm tenderly
about her elder daughter. "The ones we love best will find us, dear,
even at Number 12 Cherry Street."
Miss Billy turned to the sermon board.
"... To renounce where that shall be necessary and not to be
embittered...." Her eyes went from her mother's sweet smile to her
father's serene face.
"They don't _need_ any help," she decided.
CHAPTER IV
NEW NEIGHBOURS
"Now she's cast off her bonny shoon
Made o' gilded leather,
And she's put on her Hieland brogues
To skip amang the heather:
And she's cast off her bonny goon
Made o' the silk and satin,
And she's put on a tartan plaid
To row amang the bracken."
MARIE JEAN HENNESY was making her morning toilet. The sun was five
hours high, but for this Marie Jean cared nothing at all. She
finished tying a row of white rags in her hair that gave her a
peculiarly spiked and bristling appearance, and then buttoned her
velveteen waist here and there, leaving a button over at the top and
bringing a mateless buttonhole out at the bottom.
Marie Jean's room was in a state of disorder that suggested its
owner had participated in late festivities the night before. A pair
of soiled white slippers were flung under the bed, together with a
pair of down-trodden shoes which Marie Jean, on her knees, was even
now seeking. A white gown that had lost much of its pristine purity
was thrown over a chair, while belts, ribbons, soap, corset-strings,
fans, handkerchiefs, powder-puffs and stockings occupied conspicuous
positions on the furniture or on the floor. Every drawer had its
mouth shut tight on a large mouthful of its possessions,--and the
dresser top was so filled with combs, brushes, perfumery, thread,
safety pins, matches, hair-pins and bottles, that the only wonder was
it could hold it all.
But the rapt expression of Marie Jean Hennesy's face betokened
that her thoughts were far away from the mean subject of household
disorder. She was studying the programme of the ball of the night
before, at which she had danced every number. To be sure, her
slippers had hurt her, and she had endured an uncomfortable pinch
in the waist, but murmurs of admiration on every side had told her
she "looked lovely." She hummed a bit of a waltz tune and glanced
coquettishly in the mirror as the remembrance of her conquests flowed
warmly back to her: then discovering that by the morning light she
was looking sallow, she rescued the jar of Maiden's Blush from under
the bureau and deftly applied it to her cheeks.
That Marie Jean's breakfast waited, no one with a nose could deny.
The smoky fat of much fried bacon festooned the air in graceful
clouds, alluring the tardy maid kitchenward. It swung riotously in
the folds of the parlour curtains and luxuriated on the best plush
parlour chairs, while the essence of boiled coffee stalked boldly
upstairs, calling loudly, "Come down, Marie Jean,--we've waited for
hours."
In the kitchen there were evidences that Mrs. Hennesy had been
scrubbing. A pail of scrubbing water stood on the floor, and the
brush and soap lay beside. A sharp boundary line, also, divided
the clean from the unclean. But the floor was quite dry, and Mrs.
Hennesy's apron was nearly dry, and she was so absorbed in looking
out of the window at the people that were moving in next door that
she did not hear Marie Jean enter the kitchen. When she became aware
of her presence she gave an apologetic little cough, and bustled
about the stove serving the delayed breakfast.
"If I'd knowed ye was up, Mary Jane," she said deprecatingly, "I'd've
fixed somethin' else fer yer breakfast. I've been kapin' this since
sivin o'clock an' it's near noon now. What kind of a time was there
at the dance last night? I tried to kape awake till ye come in, but I
was that tired wit' the ironin' I dropped off in spite of mesilf. Did
ye enjoy yerself?"
"Oh, fairly well," drawled Marie Jean, toying languidly with her
cup and spoon: there was a wrinkle between the eyes, and a haughty
uplifting of the chin that warned Mrs. Hennesy that as ever after a
ball, Marie Jean was cross, and she hastened to change the subject to
impersonal topics.
"The new folks is movin' in next door," she volunteered: "they must
have been doin' a lot of repairs. The painters an' paper hangers
has just got their ladders an' things moved out, an' the carpets is
bein' nailed down now: they've kep' the racket up since sivin o'clock
this mornin'. Sure now, I do be missin' Mrs. Casey more an' more
ivery day,--a-comin' in an' out wit' a pail, or the coal hod, or the
potatay peelin's, an' always stoppin' to spake neighbourly like, over
the fince. It's hard to see new folks movin' in."
"What manner of people are they?" inquired Marie Jean, leaning
languidly back in her chair.
"Oh, they seem good enough folks," returned Mrs. Hennesy, "but
they'll niver be what Mrs. Casey was,--that frindly an' obligin' she
was that she'd lind the head off her shoulders. The man looks like
wan of thim Protestant praists,--an' the woman's young lookin', all
but her white hair. There's two girls about yer age, Mary Jane, an'
a boy, besides a hired girl. They've got good furniture,--nothin' so
good as our plush parlour set, though,--an' I don't much care for the
colour of their carpets. Still, I guess they'll be good neighbours
enough."
Marie Jean pushed back her breakfast and stepped over to the window.
The scene that met her eyes was an animated one. Workmen were lifting
furniture and household goods out of a heavy moving van and hurrying
them into the house. A tall gentlemen in a silk hat was beating a
rug in the back yard. A stout-armed maid was suspended out of an
upper story window with pail, brushes and fluttering rags, engaged
in cleaning the glass. A tall broad-shouldered youth in a baggy pair
of overalls was digging out the rotten fenceposts: and last of all,
a girl in a gingham dress, a girl with flushed face and wavy hair
tucked up under an old hat, was energetically raking the yard and
gathering the dirt into little piles.
"Mercy!" exclaimed Marie Jean Hennesy. Then she added haughtily, "I
shall not call upon them."
CHAPTER V
A LOAD OF DIRT
"Nor knowest thou what argument
Thy life to thy neighbour's creed hath lent."
IT was Saturday morning and a great hammering was going on in the
Hennesy yard. Whenever the hammering ceased for a moment, a boyish
whistle took its place. It was a cheerful whistle and an infectious
one. The minister in his study was working up his sermon for Sunday
morning. It was called "The Simple Life," but it was growing all too
complex and knotty, and the minister leaned back in his chair with
relaxed muscles and contemplated his work with a troubled air. The
whistle burst into song and floated in through the window with the
sunshine:
"Ev'ry Sunday, down to her home we go,--
All the girls and all the boys they love her so:
Always jolly,--heart that is true, I know,--
She's the sunshine of Paradise Al-ley."
The minister sat straight again and dipped his pen in the ink.
Life was so simple after all. "Love ye one another and keep my
commandments." The sermon smoothed itself out and flowed evenly along
to the tune of "Paradise Alley."
Miss Billy was on the side of the house stirring the virgin soil with
an axe preparatory to putting in her pansies. Theodore came jauntily
out of the door, his hat and shoes well brushed and shaking out a
clean handkerchief.
"Well!" exclaimed Miss Billy reproachfully, "I thought you were going
to help me to-day."
"Would that I could!" said Theodore, waving the handkerchief
gracefully at her. "But Mistress Billy, gaze upon my shoes."
"I see they are your patent leathers. I should think you would wear
your others Saturday."
"That's the beginning of the story," said Theodore, lowering his
voice confidentially. "These are my all,--and hush, Billy,--these
are busted. I've got exactly nineteen cents in the world, but I've
recorded a vow to buy my own clothes and schoolbooks, hereafter. I'll
not ask father for another cent of money. Therefore I go hence to
seek a job."
"Well, go on then, and good luck to you," said Miss Billy, taking up
the axe again. "But this soil--" and she made a savage chop at the
ground with each word, "--is--just--all--stones--and--clay."
As Theodore departed, the hammering in the Hennesy yard waned and the
melody lifted again.
"When Maguire's little lad had the fever so bad
That no one would dare to go near him,
This maiden so brave said, 'Perhaps I can save,
At least I can comfort and cheer him.'"
Miss Billy's face brightened, and throwing down the axe she went
to the fence and stood looking over at the panorama which unfolded
itself.
The Hennesy house, in years past, had evidently done duty as a store.
It was a dilapidated old brick building, set crookedly on its lot,
with two disproportionately large front windows in the lower half,
and a big deep-set front door. Above the second story the house
terminated abruptly in a flat tin roof without ornamentation of any
kind. In the rear of the lot there were a barn, a wagon shed, and a
chicken house, all shedding various coats and colours of whitewash,
and all in the last stages of disrepair. Scattered promiscuously
about the yard were broken wagon wheels, wood-racks, chickens, pine
wood, and old tin cans,--while a lame horse, a boy, a leaning pump,
a dilapidated clothes-reel and two wobbly puppies further graced
the scene. Grass, flower or shrub there was none,--but there was
mud,--plenty of it; mud wet and mud dried. And the deep ruts in the
ground, together with the broken wheels lying around, and the strong
barny smell pervading the place, gave testimony that Mr. Hennesy
followed "teaming" for a living.
The hammering was beginning again when Miss Billy spoke:
"What are you making?" she asked pleasantly.
John Thomas Hennesy looked up. As to turned up nose and freckles, he
much resembled Marie Jean, but his mouth was firmer. He gave Miss
Billy a long penetrating stare, and the colour did not begin to creep
into his cheeks until after he had dropped his head.
"I'm fixin' a new kennel fer my dog," he said shamefacedly.
"Goodness!" thought Miss Billy, "he's older than I thought. He must
be at least fifteen." Then she went on aloud, "I wonder if it is a
white bulldog with a black spot on its back?"
"Yes,--that's her," answered the boy, looking up with quick interest.
"Then she's been calling on me a week steadily, for bones," declared
Miss Billy gaily. "I'm so glad to know her."
John Thomas took up his hammer again and began to search irresolutely
through his nail box at his side, but Miss Billy stood her ground
with her arms behind her and her chin resting on the top of the fence.
"He's wishing I would go," she thought, "but I am not going. I shall
stand right here until I get courage enough to ask him to come over
and help me with the pansy bed. But it's awkward,--awfully awkward. I
can't think of a thing to say."
"I liked your dog the moment I saw her," she went on: "I owned one
like her three years ago."
John Thomas, having found his nail, hesitated no longer, but began to
drive it into the frame with ringing strokes. Miss Billy waited until
the hammering subsided.
"A friend of father's gave her to me when she was a little bow-legged
puppy. She was a beautiful dog, white, with nice burnt sienna spots,
and a lovely disposition. I named her Serena on account of that
disposition. But she had the funniest looking tail, with three queer
kind of corkscrews in it." (Miss Billy illustrated with a whirl of
her forefinger that was entirely lost upon John Thomas.)
"But I didn't care,--I loved Serena, if her tail did go in a
corkscrew. But one summer my cousin, who was studying medicine, came
to visit us, and Serena's tail seemed to bother him an awful lot.
He kept making remarks about it all the time, and said it had been
broken and ought to come off. So at last I consented."
John Thomas had picked out another nail, but now for the first time
began to display interest in the story, and looked up from his work
as Miss Billy went on:
"We gave her chloroform: I held the sponge myself while my cousin
performed the operation. It didn't hurt her at all, and she really
seemed handsomer without the tail, but a sorry sequel followed. I
went to Philadelphia soon after, and while I was there my uncle took
me to a dog show. I never before saw so many beautiful dogs and among
them was one almost exactly like my Serena, and with three twists in
her tail."
"'You have a dog just like mine,' I said to the man who owned her.
"'Has your dog a tail like this?' he asked.
"I told him 'yes,' and was just going on to explain to him how I had
had it operated upon when he interrupted me. 'Then it was a good
breed,' he said. 'That tail is the mark of a fine dog. Each curl in
the tail adds fifteen dollars to the value of the animal.'"
Miss Billy's eyes looked solemnly down into John Thomas's widely
distended orbs: "Think of it!" she said: "Forty-five dollars cut off
at one fell swoop! I can assure you my cousin has never heard the
last of it."
"Where's the dog now?"
"Dead. Run over by a street car. I cried for months. I don't expect
to ever own another like Serena."
John Thomas drew a long breath, and turning to his box began a search
for a leather hinge.
Miss Billy felt herself distinctly dismissed, but she still held on
to the fence.
"I want to ask you,--" she began again,--"what I can do about a
flower bed that's just all stones. I'm trying to dig it, you know."
"Take the stones out," said John Thomas laconically.
"But there wouldn't be anything left! It's _all_ stones!"
"Maybe it's just a fillin', an' there's good dirt underneath,"
suggested the boy.
"Won't you please step over and look at it?" entreated Miss Billy: so
John Thomas, with open reluctance, laid down his hammer and nails,
and climbed as awkwardly as possible over the fence.
"If it's fillin' it goes awful deep," he decided, after a quarter of
an hour of hard work. "Nothin' can't grow in here."
"But I must have some flowers!" wailed Miss Billy, in despair.
"Why, that was one reason that I wanted to come and live on Cherry
Street,--because there was a big yard here, you know."
John Thomas was regarding the rocky flower bed musingly. "I'll tell
you what I can do," he said at last. "There's more than a foot of
this out already,--an' I'll go down to where my father has got some
teams hauling dirt from a cellar they're digging, an' I'll bring you
a load, if you'd like it. It's good black dirt."
"John Thomas Hennesy!" exclaimed Miss Billy, clasping her hands in
ecstasy: "A load,--_a whole load_,--of black dirt?"
"Why sure," said John Thomas, reddening with pleasure. "They're just
dumping it into an old quarry."
"A whole load of black dirt!" said Miss Billy, musingly. "I'll have
pansies, and sweet-peas, and geraniums, and I'll sow grass seed on
the bad places in the yard. John Thomas Hennesy, you're a prize!"
* * * * *
That evening, as the Lee family assembled around the tea-table, the
minister said cheerily, "I had a peculiar thing to be thankful for
to-day. It was the song and whistle of a light-hearted boy. It helped
me with my sermon."
"I have to be thankful for a daughter who took the cake baking off my
hands and helped me with the mending," said Mrs. Lee, smiling over at
Beatrice.
"I am thankful for John Thomas Hennesy and black dirt!" declared Miss
Billy fervently.
"And I," wound up Theodore proudly, "for getting a steady Saturday
job, taking care of Brown's soda fountain, at a dollar a day!"
CHAPTER VI
NEXT DOOR
"Of course I'm interested in my neighbour: Why shouldn't I
be? That fence between us only whets my appetite."
AT the same hour the Hennesy family were having six o'clock dinner in
the kitchen. Mrs. Hennesy, Marie Jean and John Thomas were already
seated at the table, but Mr. Hennesy still stood with his head
enveloped in the roller towel at the kitchen sink.
"An' ye say her name is Billy, John Thomas?" inquired Mrs. Hennesy,
serving the corned beef and cabbage with a liberal hand. "Sure now,
it must be a mistake. Maybe it's Milly ye're afther hearin' thim call
her. Sure an' Billy's no girl's name at all."
"It's Billy," persisted John Thomas, between mouthfuls of cabbage.
"Her real name is Wilhelmina, but it was so long and hard they've
called her Miss Billy ever since she was a little girl. The Miss is
always in front of it though. That makes it feminoine."
"Saints have mercy!" ejaculated Mrs. Hennesy. "Wilhelmina! It must be
Indian! Mary Jane, you ought to be thankful for your own name, that
you ought, afther hearin' this wan."
"An' not be thryin' to copy afther thim Frinch quanes that got their
heads cut off fer their impidence," put in Mr. Hennesy, emerging from
the towel with every hair on end, and seating himself at the table
with the scant ceremony of rolling down his shirt sleeves.
Marie Jean gave her little head a toss, which was lost upon Mr.
Hennesy as he helped himself to a piece of corned beef from the
platter. "Was she glad to get the dirt, John Thomas?" he inquired
good-naturedly.
"Glad!" said John Thomas. "Well, she was that tickled you'd 'a'
thought it was gold. She tuk me into the house to make lemonade, an'
then upstairs to show me her brother's room. My, yo' ought to see it,
Mary Jane."
"I s'pose it's just grand," said Marie Jean condescendingly.
"It's all right," replied John Thomas, "an' yo' bet I wisht I had
one just like it. There ain't no carpets ner tidies ner fixins. The
floor is painted kind o' red, an' the walls are red with all kinds
of posters stuck 'round. An' there's a border at the top made out of
sheet music with pictures on. My, it's great. Right in the middle of
the room there's a punchin' bag strung,--an' he's got dumb bells,
an' boxin' gloves, an' there's a case of all kinds of money, some
big name she called it, but it means, anyway, collectin' coins. He
uses two hair brushes at a time, without any handles to 'em, an'
there's a brush fer his teeth, an' a brush fer his hands, an' one fer
his nails, an' a thing to polish his nails, an' two brushes fer his
shoes, an' one fer his hat, an' another fer his clo'es."
Mr. Hennesy's jaw had dropped lower and lower during this recital.
Now he closed his mouth with an effort and looked fixedly at his son.
"John Thomas," he said warningly, "you kape away from that loonytick.
Moind me, they're thryin' to take up his moind wid brushes an'
punchin' bags, but this kind is cunnin' as foxes, an' there'll be
mischief in the end. Moind now, what I say."
"Why, pa," expostulated Marie Jean, with a giggle, "he ain't out of
his mind."
"He is," insisted Mr. Hennesy stoutly. "Av coorse he is. Wid a brush
fer his hands, an' a brush fer his nails, an' another fer his teeth,
an' two widout handles fer his hair, an' wan fer his clo'es an' two
fer his shoes an' another fer his hat! Av coorse he is, an' there
takin' up his moind wid brushes. Moind what I say."
"Don't expose yer iggerence, Mr. Hennesy," put in his wife
good-naturedly. "People uses all thim brushes nowadays."
"Well thin, if he ain't crazy, what kind of work does he be doin' to
nade all thim brushes to kape clean,--can ye answer me thot, Mrs.
Hennesy?"
John Thomas gracefully turned the conversation. "She give me this,"
he said, putting his hand in his pocket and extracting something
wrapped in tissue paper. "She said she had two others an' had been
thinkin' of puttin' this one in the box fer the sufferin' savages,
an' would I take it just to remember how we worked together over the
flower bed. So then I tuk it."
"What do it be for?" inquired Mr. Hennesy, eyeing the strange object
with suspicion.
"It's a nail file, to grind off yer finger nails,--if they grow
long enough," answered John Thomas, regarding his own broken nails
meditatively. "It's silver, too," he added.
Mr. Hennesy sniffed. "I'll not be borryin' it," he observed. "I'm not
nadin' a file to kape me own nails short. The rocks I do be handlin'
iv'ry day, John Thomas, seems to be all that's required."
Marie Jean's silvery laugh tinkled on the air as John Thomas returned
the file to his pocket and passed his plate for more cabbage.
"Miss Billy's all right, anyhow," he went on, addressing his
conversation to Marie Jean, for the laugh rankled. "She ain't ashamed
if her name is Wilhelmina, or even Miss Billy: an' she don't have no
big bushy frizzes coverin' up her ears, an' she don't wear feathers
in her hat. She told me so herself."
Marie Jean's laugh tinkled again, and she rose from the table. She
did not offer to help her mother wash the dishes, but swept into the
hall and took her hat down from the rack, preparatory to going down
town. It was a large black hat, heavy with buckles and plumes. She
adjusted it coquettishly on her head so that one plume hung directly
over her eyes, and took down her gloves.
The vision that gazed back at her from the hall glass was certainly
an entrancing one, but Marie Jean lingered for an experiment. She
lifted the heavy hair off her ears, tucked it up out of sight, and
holding back the waving plumes, gazed again. Then with a shrug of her
shoulders, she let hair and plumes fall, and swept out of the house.
* * * * *
On the other side of Number 12 Cherry Street Mrs. Canary was seated
on the doorstep with the Baby and the Other Baby in her lap.
It had been a hard day for Mrs. Canary, for there had been an
unusual amount of deferred mending and cleaning as a grand round
up for the Sabbath. But now that the supper was over, she felt at
liberty to draw her first breath in the cool Spring air, while her
oldest daughter, Holly Belle, assisted by Ginevra, commonly known as
"Jinny," cleared away the remains of the evening meal.
On the sidewalk in front of the house, Launcelot and Fridoline were
quarrelling over a catapult, while little Mike, sitting on the gate
post, was adding his shrill voice to the general tumult. Mrs. Canary,
who was a great lover of romance and revelled in the lurid pages of
the _Hearthside Companion_ and kindred publications was responsible
for the high-sounding names of her children from Holly Belle to
Fridoline. When little Mike had arrived on the scene, however,
Policeman Canary had put his foot down on the cherished proposition
to name the boy Lorenzo.
"You've done yer duty by all the rest of 'em," he said, "an' you've
named 'em a-plenty. Their own father has to call 'em 'say' when he
speaks to 'em. This one'll be Mike." And Mike he was.
Owing to this difference of opinion between the heads of the
household, the two latest arrivals were still known as the "Baby,"
and the "Other Baby." But Mrs. Canary, in spite of her romantic
tendencies and slip-shod ways, was a loving wife and mother, and
had done her easy-going best to make her husband and children
comfortable. Years of poverty and toil and trouble had not destroyed
the zest of living for her, nor altered her naturally sweet
disposition.
Mrs. Canary hushed the two babies upon her breast, and rocked slowly
back and forth, making an improvised cradle of her body.
Night came late in Cherry Street during the month of May, but the
dusk of the evening already enveloped the tiny porch. The night wind
blew in coldly across the lake. But Mrs. Canary, oblivious to the
chill in the air and the growing darkness, continued to read aloud,
in her eager absorption, from a folded paper held above the children:
"'Two gleam-ing eyes looked out from the thick-et upon the moonlit
path, where the beautiful Lady Gab-ri-ell-e paced to and fro with her
lover. The moonlight shone full upon her robe of shimmering satin,
thickly en-crusted with pearls, and sparkled in the diamonds that
looped her fair tresses. Lionel Mont-fort bent ten-der-ly over her.
Burning love was written in every line of his handsome face, and
all thoughts of future en-grand-dise-ment were forgotten for the
nonce. "Darling," he murmured, "I have found my affinity, and nothing
shall come between us. Let my Lady mother rave,--nothing now shall
per-suade me to marry the countess."
"'At this juncture there ap-peared upon the Lady Gab-ri-ell-e's
beautiful face a look of hor-ror that her lover never for-got.
"Treachery!" she cried, and pointed to the thicket. Her lover's eyes
followed her out-stretched finger,--but too late. A burst of flame
leaped from the thicket, two terri-bul shrieks rang out on the night
air----'"
So intent upon the fate of the Lady Gabrielle was she, that she did
not hear, above the noise of the dish washing and the quarrelling
children, a genuine shriek that did ring out upon the night air.
It was not until little Mike pulled her gown with an excited
exclamation, that she came back to the world of reality.
"What's that you say?" she said.
Mike repeated his remark:
"Launkelot hitted a man wiv his catter pole."
Mrs. Canary beamed with pride. "Launkelot always was a accurate
shot," she said fondly.
At that moment the young marksman appeared at the gate. He was
shrieking at the top of his healthy young lungs, and was being
hurried along the ground by means of a strong arm which had united
itself with his ear. At the other end of the arm was a tall, fierce
old man, carrying a muddy top-hat in one hand, and hurrying his
victim along with the other. The rest of the hastily summoned Canary
flock brought up the rear of the procession.
Mrs. Canary laid the two babies behind the door where they could not
be stepped upon in the melee, and faced the enemy boldly.
"What's the matter here?" she inquired fiercely. "Let go that boy.
What's he done, I want to know?"
"I will haf' the law on him already!" said the old man. His face was
fairly purple with rage and his voice shook so that the words were
hardly intelligible.
"Leave go of him!" commanded Mrs. Canary, with spirit. Then her voice
changed as she recognised the man before her. "Oh," she said, in a
milder tone, "it's you, is it? Launkelot didn't go to hurt ye, I'm
sure. Leave go the boy, an' let him tell about it."
The old man seemed not to hear her mollifying words.
"He hung on to my buggy," he said, in angry tones, "unt when I tell
him to 'get off,' he answer me back. I lick him behind mit my whip,
unt he shoot me in the headt mit his snap gun----"
"That wasn't the way it happened," said a clear voice above them.
The excited little group glanced up quickly. A young girl stood
looking over the fence,--a girl in a white gown, with soft hair that
shone like copper in the lamplight.
"Excuse me for interrupting," she said, "but I couldn't help hearing
your conversation, and I want to tell you the whole story. I saw
you drive past, and the robe was hanging out of your buggy. This
little boy,--his name is Launcelot, isn't it?--ran out to put it in.
You called to him not to hang on, and he answered that he was only
putting in your robe for you. Without stopping to listen, you struck
him with your whip. It was a mean and cruel thing to do. Then he did
shoot at you with his catapult, but you can't blame him for that! I
should have done it myself if you had struck me."
The old man stood gazing uneasily from one to the other during this
recital. He loosened his grasp of the boy with a muttered growl.
"Why didn't you talk louder then?" he said to the astonished
Launcelot.
An embarrassed silence fell upon the little group. The old man seemed
dazed by the unexpected turn affairs had taken. He stared off into
space, and shifted his weight from one foot to the other without
finding further words. Then he cast a hurried glance at the girl
standing above him, and shuffled off into the growing darkness.
Mrs. Canary caught the young sharpshooter to her breast.
"Ma's little hero-ine," she said fondly. "That's what ye get fer
doin' good to that old sarpint. But you was cleared all right, wasn't
ye? Thank the lady, Launkelot."
"Launkelot" dug his bare foot into the floor, and murmured a few
words that might be interpreted as an expression of gratitude.
"He is thankful, though bashful at the present moment," explained
Mrs. Canary gratefully. "He ain't usened to havin' young ladies in
white dresses, with hair of tarnished gold, springin' out of the dark
like flamin' seruphims to defend him."
"Oh, I happened to be sitting on this side of the shelf, and I
couldn't help hearing what was said," answered the girl merrily.
"The shelf, is it?" asked Mrs. Canary, looking puzzled.
The girl laughed. "The piazza,--the porch, I mean. We call it the
shelf over here, because it's only about wide enough to set a pan of
milk on. We're your new neighbours, you know."
"Well, it's glad I am to meet you," said Mrs. Canary heartily.
"Fridoline, be sure the babies' fingers ain't in that crack when
you lean against that door. We're glad to make your acquaintance
and thankful fer your defence of us: ain't we, Launkelot? You see
I couldn't rise in defence of my own innercent blood as swift as
usual--I was that surprised at finding out who it was he had hitten.
It was bold of you to talk that way to his face,--the old villain!"
"Why, whom do you mean?" asked Miss Billy.
"That was Mr. Schultzsky, the landlord," said Mrs. Canary.
CHAPTER VII
TRIALS
"Oh, how full of briars is this working day world."
MISS BILLY had broken her shoe-string. There was not another in the
house and the clock pointed half past eight of a school morning.
"If you're ready," said Theodore, putting his head in the door, "I'll
walk to school with you. I have something to tell you."
"I'm not ready, and don't expect to be," said Miss Billy crossly,
giving the lace a pull and breaking it again. "There now, it can
never be tied. I shan't go to school at all this morning, so there!"
Beatrice was shaking the pillows at the open window. "Why Wilhelmina
Lee!" she exclaimed,--"what a temper! How do you ever expect to get
through the world if the breaking of a shoe-string upsets you?"
"Oh, it's all very well for you to moralise," retorted Miss Billy,
trying to repair the offending lacing, "you who have nothing to do
but stay at home and play lady, or do a little dusting. Look at
me,--going to school every day, taking two music lessons a week, 'way
back in my Latin, and those geraniums are not set out yet and it's
going to rain this morning. It's enough to make any one wish to die."
"We've no time for a funeral this morning," said Mrs. Lee, bustling
cheerily into the room. "Beatrice, I shall have to ask you to wash
the breakfast dishes. Maggie's toothache is worse, and she is getting
ready to go to the dentist. I promised her that I would make the
pudding and put the bread into the pans."
"Dear me," scolded Beatrice; "I was just going to sweep my room.
I can't put it off. Maggie has toothache rather too frequently, I
think, and dishwater just ruins my hands!"
"Well, of all the howling dervishes this morning!" said Theodore in
the hall. "Miss Billy, come along if you're ready, and there'll be
one less."
The minister stood in the doorway. He held Miss Billy long enough to
rub a finger gently over the pucker between her eyes.
"It's a brand new day, daughter," he said lovingly. "It's not fair to
handicap it at the start with a frown."
"I have troubles of my own," said Theodore gloomily, as they jogged
off to school together. "I've worked three Saturdays at Brown's,
beside Decoration day, and though I haven't drawn a cent of the
money, there is only forty cents coming to me."
Miss Billy stopped short, and her books fell to the ground.
"I'd like to know what kind of arithmetic you call that!" she said,
staring.
"It's an example in profit and loss, and mainly loss," said Theodore
grimly. "Don't breathe it, Sis,--but treats have done it."
"Treats!" echoed Miss Billy. "You don't mean to say you have spent
three dollars and sixty cents in treats, in that length of time!"
"It's awful when you come to look it squarely in the face,"
acknowledged Theodore. "But the girls come in,--and they expect
it,--and what is a fellow to do?"
"It's horrid of them, anyhow! And I'll cut their acquaintance,--every
one of them,--when I find out who they are!"
"You'll do nothing of the kind," said Theodore haughtily. "I'll fight
my own battles, if you please."
"Three dollars and sixty cents! If I had it in plants!" upbraided
Miss Billy.
"Three dollars and sixty cents! If I had it in shoes!" mourned
Theodore.
The wrinkles disappeared from between Miss Billy's eyes and she
laughed outright. "It's funny, anyhow," she declared. "And you're in
an awful position. I don't see how you are going to wriggle out of
it now. The girls have such confidence in you by this time,--and
Brown's sodas are the best in town, if they do come high."
Theodore whistled through his closed teeth. "Laugh away, Miss Billy.
Add every grain of discomfort you can. But I'll wriggle out of it
sooner than you think. The one thing that worries me is the fear
that I'll have to put my hand down into father's pocket for my new
shoes--for that's what it amounts to. Of course I can pay him back in
a few weeks, but I hate to ask him for it just now."
"I'll lend you my Christmas gold piece,--I'd love to, Ted."
"Well, I should say not. I haven't come to the place yet where I
borrow from girls. And these shoes will be sandals before I borrow
from father, either. But you're a good fellow, Miss Billy."
Miss Billy's face beamed, and she gave her brother's arm an
affectionate squeeze as they parted at the school door. "Every dark
cloud has a silver lining," she whispered comfortingly.
"I wish my pocket had," responded Theodore gloomily. "Good-bye. Look
out you don't flunk in your Latin to-day."
* * * * *
The rain that had threatened all day held off, and Miss Billy hurried
home at four o'clock to plant her geraniums. Beatrice, looking very
cool and pretty in a blue dimity gown, stopped her in the hall and
drew her into the dining room.
"I'm glad you've come," she whispered. "The Blanchard girls are in
the parlour making a farewell call before leaving for Europe. I want
you to go in and entertain them while I get the Apollinaris water
out of the refrigerator for a pine-apple frappé. Be nice and polite,
dear, and shake hands with them. And do be careful what you say.
Don't tell them how many rooms there are in the house, or how much
rent we pay, or hint at economy in any way. Run along now,--there's a
good sister."
"I can't," objected Miss Billy. "I don't like those Blanchard girls,
and I have to set my plants out."
"Oh, please," begged Beatrice. "You must. They'll see everything
if they are left so long alone. Tuck your hair-pins in and hurry
along,--there's a dear."
Very reluctantly Miss Billy made her way to the parlour. There was a
rustle of silk skirts as the Blanchard girls rose to greet her. "How
do you do?" said Miss Billy, in her best manner, making her voice and
outstretched hand as cordial as possible.
"So glad to find you in," drawled Miss Maude, with a shade of
condescension in her manner. "We rode miles trying to find the
place,--we had forgotten your address, you know,--and when
we did find it,--what do you suppose?--it is the strangest
coincidence,--why, Casey, our coachman, don't you know, moved out of
this very house in April."
"Well now, maybe that wasn't malice," thought Miss Billy hotly. "But
I promised Beatrice, so I'll go right on making myself amiable."
"Yes?" she said aloud coolly. "Mrs. Canary has told me a great deal
about the Caseys, but of course I never thought of connecting them
with your John Casey. Indeed we've been so busy getting settled--that
sounds like coffee grounds, doesn't it?--and we've had so many of our
friends dropping in on us daily, that we haven't had time to think at
all."
"Have you heard," lisped Miss Blanche, "that the Van Courtlands are
intending to join their daughter in Cologne, next month? We did so
wish we might sail with them, but Mr. Van Courtland thought we had
better not defer our plans, as his time was so uncertain. Have they
called lately?"
"Well, I can't truthfully say they called, for Mrs. Van Courtland
brought a gingham apron with her when she came and helped mother
arrange the silver and china, and Mr. Van Courtland spaded half my
flower-beds for me. He used to be a farmer, you know, before he was a
banker."
The young ladies of fashion exchanged glances of surprise. When Miss
Maude spoke again there was trace of warmth in her manner.
"You are quite cosily situated here; are you at all lonesome for the
old home in Ashurst Place?"
"Well," said Miss Billy frankly, "I miss the bath-tub most awfully,"
and the next moment could have bitten out her tongue. "That's the
first glaring indiscretion," she thought despairingly, "and there'll
be more if Beatrice doesn't hurry with that frappé."
Miss Blanche smiled encouragingly. "Do you know," she confided,
"father thinks it was a great mistake, your moving here. He says he
thinks your father's position as rector of St. John's demanded an
entirely different course. Father says there are at least a dozen men
in the church that would have tided your affairs over. But ministers
are seldom good business men, and I suppose your father is no
exception to the rule. How does your dear mother bear up under it?"
"Under what?" asked Miss Billy. "You mean moving to Cherry Street?
Oh, mother is brave. She's like the young lady of Norway:
"Who casually sat in a doorway:
When the door squeezed her flat
She exclaimed 'What of that?'
This courageous young lady of Norway.
"Beside, Miss Blanche, you are labouring under a delusion. I assure
you we enjoy our new home in Cherry Street."
"Oh, it's very pleasant," conceded Miss Blanche hastily. "By the way,
what has become of that lovely little _étagère_ of yours? I missed it
the moment I stepped into the room."
Miss Billy threw patience and prudence to the winds. "It's stored in
a storing-room," she declared. "The last time I saw it, there was a
bird-cage and a foot-stool on top of it. We had to pack a good deal
of our furniture. We haven't fourteen rooms now, you understand."
"Good-afternoon, ladies," said a voice in the doorway. It was
Theodore, looking very mischievous. "I'm sorry I can't shake hands
with you,--but I've been giving a hand in the erection of the
conservatory on the south side--a fad of Miss Billy's."
Miss Billy gasped. A conservatory! He must mean the glass sash he had
been fitting over the pansy bed!
"We've been at no end of trouble and expense since we moved here,"
went on Theodore. "You see it is the first 'place' we have really
had. There's one hundred and fifty feet of ground here. Beatrice
has planned for a sort of Southern California verandah from which
she can serve afternoon teas, and mother wants the lawn wired with
electricity for social purposes."
"How delightful," murmured the guests, looking a bit uncertain, while
Miss Billy sat rigidly upright, trying in vain to catch Theodore's
eye. Certainly, her mother had said that at the breakfast table, but
it had been a joke, nothing more.
"I have a leaning toward an up-to-date stable and riding ponies,
myself," went on Theodore airily, and looking at Miss Billy now as
if to say: "No word of untruth in that!" "Still, there's the college
grind to consider,--I shall be qualified next year, you know,--and a
fellow gets precious little time for recreation."
"Are you--ah--still at Brown's drug store?" interpolated Miss Maude,
looking mystified. "Sister Myrtle has spoken of seeing you there. The
child thinks so much of you."
"And of ice-cream sodas," thought Theodore grimly. "Yes," he said
aloud, "Mr. Brown wanted me to help him out on Saturdays for a little
while. He's in the church, you know. But I shall give it up when
vacation comes."
Beatrice was entering with a dainty tray. "You'll pardon the delay,
won't you?" she said sweetly, as she offered the sparkling glasses.
"You'll have some, Miss Billy?"
"No, I thank you," said Miss Billy, with heightened colour and a
hasty manner. "If you will excuse me I'll see to my geraniums.
Good-afternoon."
"And I," said Theodore, "shall betake myself to the bathroom to
remove the unseemly signs of toil. I'll take my frappé with me,
Bea,--may I? Good-bye, girls. Write me from gay Paree when you reach
there," and Theodore followed Miss Billy into the dining room.
"Well?" he asked interrogatively, as he seated himself on a corner of
the table to sip his frappé.
"It's far from well, Theodore Lee," snapped Miss Billy reproachfully,
undecided as to whether to laugh or cry. "You told awful, unmitigated
falsehoods! You know you did!"
[Illustration: "I have a leaning toward an up-to-date stable and
riding ponies, myself."]
"My dear sister, I only enlarged upon truthful topics in a brilliant
and society-like way. Beside, I had to hand them back the small
change. I never in my life heard such stilted, patronising talk as
they were giving you. And when they jumped on father,--well, that
decided it. Good land, Sis,--what's the matter with this frappé!"
"Don't drink it if you don't like it," said Miss Billy, refusing to
be friendly.
"Like it! Why it's awful! It tastes like spruce gum and carbolic acid
and chloroform all mixed up. Smell it, Miss Billy."
"When you were little, mother used to wash your mouth with soap when
you told falsehoods. It is probably some hazy recollection of that
which is perverting your taste."
Theodore was taking another cautious sip. "It's a little like
sauerkraut, but it has the effervescence of soda water. It's the most
curious stuff I ever tasted."
Miss Billy unbent sufficiently to put her nose to the glass.
"Why, it smells like yeast," she said wonderingly.
"_That's_ what it is," said Theodore, snapping his fingers
triumphantly. "I knew it wasn't chloroform or carbolic, but I
couldn't just name it. It's yeast!"
"But what can yeast be doing in the frappé?" questioned Miss Billy
unbelievingly. Then as a sudden light broke upon her, she exclaimed,
"Oh, Ted,--Beatrice must have gotten the yeast bottle instead of the
Apollinaris water!--and for the Blanchard girls of all others! They
are in there trying to drink it now. What shall we do?"
"Nothing," said Theodore decidedly,--"they've drank it by this
time. You watch how they will 'rise' to go. 'Sweets to the
sweet,'--likewise yeast to the yeasty. Dear girls,--how airily their
feet will spurn the pave. And it will do Miss Blanche good! She's as
flat as an oatmeal cracker."
"Theodore, you ought to be ashamed of yourself!" Miss Billy was
almost crying now. "Think of father when he hears all this,--and
Beatrice's feelings,--and the awful remarks they will make about
us----"
"If you are looking for your handkerchief, you're sitting on it,"
said Theodore soberly. "Don't cry, Billy. I am going to father now
and make a clean breast of the whole affair. There's no use staying
to console Beatrice about the yeast. She'll have fifty sporadic
spasms!"--and he strode from the room.
"Oh, dear,--this has been a day of nothing but troubles," sighed Miss
Billy, wiping her eyes,--"and I lost my temper the very first thing
over a shoe-lace, and everything has gone crooked ever since. Poor
Beatrice,--she tries to be so nice and ladylike,--and I know she will
never get over this,--_never_!"
CHAPTER VIII
THE STORY OF HORATIUS
"They held a council, standing
Before the river gate.
Short time was there, ye well may guess
For musing or debate.
Out spake the council roundly
'The bridge must straight go down,
For since Janiculum is lost,
Naught else can save the town.'"
THE sun had risen early to get a good start, and at nine o'clock was
shining down with relentless fury on Cherry Street. Theodore was
wont to declare that the rain was wetter and the dew damper and the
sun hotter on this street than in any other portion of the inhabited
globe; and it was certainly true that the rows of small houses,
unprotected by trees or awnings, did look unusually torrid in the
broad glare of light.
In the Lee house the shutters were closed and the green shades drawn
down, but the heat seemed to radiate from the painted door, on the
south porch, where a small red-headed boy was trying to ring the door
bell. It was a long reach for the little arms, and after raising
himself so high upon his tiptoes that he nearly lost his balance, he
gave up the attempt, and thumped lustily upon the panel. There was
no response. He waited a moment, his small bare feet squirming about
uneasily upon the hot floor, and then rapped a second time and a
third. At the last knock another small red-roofed boy appeared over
the top of the board fence that separated the Canary yard from the
Lee home.
"Try it again," advised the owner of Red Head Number Two.
"I have tried it lots of agains."
"But ye ain't makin' no noise. Mis' Lee might be deef. Kick 'er a
little."
"Ain't got no shoes on," protested the little messenger.
He had just raised his hand for a final rap when the door was opened,
and Mrs. Lee appeared upon the threshold.
"Good-morning, Fridoline," she said pleasantly.
Fridoline delivered himself of his message speedily: "Ma's got an
indisposhun and says please will you come over to wunst."
"What is the matter with your mother?" inquired Mrs. Lee, puzzled by
the queer statement.
"She's got rigours," responded Red Head Number One.
"And her stummick's upset," added Red Head Number Two, across the
fence.
Mrs. Lee was already untying her apron. "Tell her I'll be over there
right away," she said, as she left the door to explain her absence to
Beatrice.
Miss Billy, coming in from an errand some time afterward, stopped
short at the sight of Holly Belle, who, with tear-stained cheeks and
red eyes, was emptying ashes into the street.
"Why what's the matter, Holly Belle?" she asked.
"Ma's sick," said Holly Belle, rubbing her sleeve across her eyes.
"Very sick?"
"I dunno. I guess she's pretty bad. She had highstericks this morning
at dawn, but she wouldn't let me call your mother until she was sure
by the smell of the coffee that you'd had your breakfast. I don't
know what's the matter with her. I gave her all the kinds of medicine
we had in the house, and there ain't none of 'em that seemed to do
her a mite of good. Your ma's here now, and she seems to be a little
better. But you know I heard the death tick in the wall, and I'm
scaret to death." And the tears rose again.
"What's a death tick?" inquired Miss Billy, putting her arm
reassuringly about the sorrowing little girl.
"It's a bug in the wall that always ticks when people are goin'
to--to die," sobbed Holly Belle.
"Pshaw!" exclaimed Miss Billy. "You don't believe that nonsense, do
you? I can't think your mother is as sick as that, anyway. Is the
doctor there?"
Holly Belle shook her head.
"Well then!" said Miss Billy triumphantly. "Mother would have had him
there long ago if your mother was dangerously ill. She'll probably
be all right in a day or two. Now cheer up, Holly Belle, and tell me
what there is that I can do for you."
A loud shriek from the back of the house answered the question.
"It's the children," said Holly Belle. "They've been going on that
way for an hour steady. I could make 'em behave, if it wasn't for
Launkelot. But he's got up a new game, an' of course they're all
bound to see it through."
"May I borrow them for a while?" asked Miss Billy.
Holly Belle gave a visible sigh of relief. "I sh'd say you can," she
responded heartily.
There was no difficulty in finding the children, for a great hubbub
in the back yard indicated that the small Canarys were having a
decidedly hilarious and enlivening time during their mother's
enforced retirement. Miss Billy went around the walk to the back of
the Lee house, and surveyed her charges over the fence.
The back yard in the Canary premises had been partitioned off into
little squares by means of a boot-heel which had grooved the hard
dirt. In the first square sat Ginevra
"With raven ringlets unconfined,
And blowing madly in the wind."
Her face and arms and bare legs were adorned with fantastic designs
in coloured chalk; and a frayed rope, attached by means of a
safety-pin to the hem of her dress, gave unmistakable evidence of a
tail. She was waving her arms violently, and giving vent to wild,
unearthly screams. Fridoline, in the next compartment, had wound
his fat body with coils of rope, which he was painstakingly chewing.
Tightly wedged into a dishpan in the third square, sat "Mixy" Murphy,
in an airy costume of shirt and drawers; while Mike, the Baby, and
the Other Baby were crawling about the ground in an abandonment of
delight.
Miss Billy waited for a lull in the proceedings. When it came she
made haste to ask:
"What in the world is all this?"
Launcelot, who was strutting through the enclosure, armed with a
whip, took it upon himself to reply:
"We're havin' a street carnival," he explained. "Fridoline is playin'
he's Bosco the Snake Eater, Jinny's Minnie the Wild Girl, an' Mixy
is the High Diver. You have to pay five pins to see him dive from
the fence to the tank. The Kids is camels, an' I'm boss o' the hull
outfit. Frid, jest show Miss Billy how much rope you can swaller
without gettin' black in the face."
Miss Billy hastened to prevent the heroic exhibition.
"Oh, no," she said, "you needn't mind, Friddie. I've got something
else for you to do. Wouldn't you all like to come over and see me
this morning?"
The Street Carnival Company gave vent to a wild yell of delight.
"Well, pick up your things first," cautioned Miss Billy, "and then
come quietly so you won't disturb your mother. I'll be waiting for
you."
"Picking up the things" was accomplished with neatness and dispatch,
and five little Canarys, two Murphys, and Leo and Pius Coffee, picked
up on the way, were seated in the shade of the Lee woodshed in solemn
and somewhat embarrassed silence when Miss Billy appeared to welcome
her guests. Her arms were full of scarlet and white reeds, a big
basket swung from one arm, and a mysterious-looking cloth bag from
the other. She glanced around the augmented group with such surprise
that Launcelot felt called upon to explain.
"I brung 'em along," he said, with a lordly motion of his hand toward
the unexpected guests. "If you was goin' to give us something to eat,
an' there ain't enough to go round, they kin go home."
"Launkelot!" exclaimed Jinny.
"The Levis wanted to come, too," said Fridoline. "Their mother's
goin' to the sin an' God."
"Goosey!" jeered Launcelot. "Sin an' God! He means synagogue. That's
one on you, Frid."
Fridoline, moved to tears by his brother's taunts, set up such a
wrathful outcry that Miss Billy began to fear for her reputation as a
hostess.
"Never mind, Friddie," she said consolingly. "You may go and invite
the Levi children to come now, if you want to. Hurry up, and we'll
have something nice planned for you when you get back." Miss Billy
deposited her burden on the ground. "I'm going to let you all help
with my work," she said,--"every one of you, from Ginevra down to the
Baby. These long strips are for baskets, and I'm going to show you
how to make them for yourselves. The big basket is for a pattern, and
the bag is full of flower seeds for the little ones to sort out, and
take home for gardens of their own."
The guests fell upon the work with great alacrity.
"Wait a minute," protested Miss Billy. "We're not ready yet. We must
always wash our hands before we begin to work."
This announcement dampened the ardour of the children.
"Them as sorts seeds don't need to wash, do they?" asked Fridoline.
"I choose to sort seeds!" came in a chorus from the smaller guests.
"Oh, yes, they do," responded Miss Billy decidedly. "Why not,
Friddie?"
"Dirt makes seeds grow," argued Fridoline.
"Not till they're in the ground," returned the hostess. "We'll all go
up to the back porch to wash. I've got some cool water up there."
A thorough and painstaking scrubbing took place on the back porch,
for Jinny, who was appointed Inspector of Persons, performed her
duties with impartial vigour and energy. Her delight in the toilet
soap was extreme, and she modestly requested a bit of it "to take
home for a sample."
Beatrice and Maggie watched the proceedings with disgust, and
the children themselves did not look upon the occasion as one of
unalloyed pleasure; but Miss Billy was resolute, and the entire
throng were at least clean down to their necks and up to their wrists
when they took their places on the grass.
Fridoline surveyed his hands gloomily. "If I'd 'a' known I had ter
wash I wouldn't have came," he said.
"Friddie!" exclaimed Ginevra reproachfully.
"Fridoline doesn't think that's a very nice way to treat company,"
laughed Miss Billy. "He's like Horatius.
"'And see,' he cried, 'the welcome,
Fair guests, that waits you here!'"
"What's Hurashus?" asked Ginevra shyly.
"Oh, he's a man in a story," responded Miss Billy. "The man who
fought so bravely."
Launcelot pricked up his ears at the word "fought." "Who did he
fight? Tell us about him," he commanded.
"Yes, please do," begged Ginevra.
"As soon as I get your work started for you," promised Miss Billy.
Her nimble fingers wove the bright reeds in and out for a few
minutes. The children gathered near; Ginevra settled The Baby on her
lap, and pulled the Other Baby close to her side. Then slowly and
carefully, as if to find words suitable for her childish audience,
Miss Billy began:
"It happened many years ago when Rome was the biggest and the finest
and the richest city in the world, that there was a brave soldier and
gallant knight named Lars Porsena."
"Two of 'em?" questioned Fridoline.
"No, only one. Lars Porsena was the soldier and the knight too. And
because he was angry at one of the Romans he decided to lead a great
army against them. You know what an army is?"
"Hoh! I sh'd say so! Soldiers!" replied Launcelot.
"I know _you_ do," said Miss Billy, "but I thought the other children
might not know."
"I'll explain it to 'em," said Launcelot loftily. "Kids, you remember
Buffalo Bill's men that was to the Shooting Park?"
The little Canarys loudly proclaimed the excellence of their memory.
"Well, them's soldiers," said Launcelot. "Go on, Miss Billy."
"So he gathered his troops from everywhere--north and south and east
and west--till he had a great big army. There were ten thousand
horsemen, and twenty thousand men on foot. And with music playing and
banners flying and the sunlight glittering on their spears, they set
off towards Rome with Lars Porsena at the head."
"Just like Buff'lo Bill," said Fridoline.
"Sh," admonished Ginevra.
"Sh, yourself," retorted Fridoline defiantly.
"In the meantime the Romans knew they were coming, and they went down
by the river gate to talk it over. The Tiber river flowed by the
city, and there was a big bridge----"
"How bid?" inquired little Mike.
"I don't know how big, but it was very large indeed," went on Miss
Billy, "so that the enemy had to cross it before they could get into
the city. And there they waited until a messenger came flying up the
hill to tell them that Lars Porsena and his great army were very
near. They looked over to the west, and they saw the great cloud of
dust coming up from the road."
"What was they goin' to do?" asked Jinny.
"Why bust into the city an' kill the Romans," answered Launcelot. "Go
on, Miss Billy."
"And the Romans knew that they would kill them all if they once got
across the bridge," continued the historian. "And they hurriedly
talked about what it was best to do. And then one of them had a plan.
He was a wonderfully brave and noble man, and he wasn't afraid of
anything."
"Bet he'd been scaret of a hyena," said the oldest Levi boy.
"He was not afraid of anything. And this was his plan. He told the
Romans that he would get two other men and alone they would cross the
bridge and meet the enemy on the other side. This is what he said:
"'Hew down the bridge, sir consul,
With all the speed ye may;
I, with two more to help me
Will hold the foe in bay,--
In yon straight path a thousand
May well be stopped by three.
Now who will stand on either hand
And keep the bridge with me?'"
"Did they talk in po'try?" inquired Ginevra with awe.
"Sometimes," said Miss Billy. "And two other brave men volunteered
to go with him. The three crossed the bridge together, and boldly
faced the army on the other side." The little Canarys showed signs
of restlessness, and the young Murphys yawned, so Miss Billy went on
hastily. "Of course there was a terrible battle there. Every time a
man set foot on the bridge Horatius or one of his companions would
rush upon him and slay him."
"How? With a spearer?" inquired Aaron Levi with interest.
The story teller nodded. "Till seven men lay dead, and Horatius
himself was wounded in the shoulder. The big army stood still. Their
chief was killed, and no soldier dared to move. Meanwhile the Romans
had been at work at the bridge with their axes, and it hung over
the river just ready to fall. The three men knew they must get back
before it dropped. They started, but the great bridge cracked, and
went down with a crash like thunder. Two of the men had time to get
over safely, but Horatius was too late. He had darted back, and stood
all alone on the bank of the river, with the enemy before him, and
the broad river behind him. And then what do you think he did?"
"Speared 'em some more," suggested Aaron Levi.
"Died fer his country," quavered Ginevra.
"Waded home," said Fridoline.
"No, the water was too deep. He sheathed his sword, and faint and
weary though he was, plunged into the raging flood."
"Gee!" ejaculated Launcelot.
"The water was very high, his armour was heavy, and his wound pained
him severely; but he kept on. The blood ran down upon his hands, and
he sank again and again; but he still swam on till not only the
Romans, but the great army on the other bank cheered him and prayed
for him.
"And when he finally clambered out upon the shore, weary and weak and
worn, they shouted and clapped their hands for very joy." The ringing
words came involuntarily to Miss Billy's lips:
"'And still his name sounds stirring
Unto the men of Rome,
As the trumpet-blast that cries to them
To charge the Volscian home;
And wives still pray to Juno
For boys with hearts as bold
As his who kept the bridge so well
In the brave days of old.'"
"And the big army didn't ever get in?" asked Frank Murphy.
"No, never."
"What did they do to Horashuss?" inquired Launcelot.
"Oh, they gave him a lot of land, for his own, and they set up a
great statue of him."
"I seen statutes already," said Abraham Levi.
"You did not," said his brother Aaron.
"I did too. I seen 'em in the summitery."
"He means the grave yard," explained Ginevra. "Aaron, stop hitting
your little brother."
"He's a-swipin' my seeds," complained Aaron.
"Well, stop it, both of you," said Launcelot decidedly, "or Miss
Billy'll give you a bat in the eye."
The threat had the desired effect. Both of the little Levis subsided
suddenly.
"You may take the seeds home and plant them yourselves," said Miss
Billy. "There are nasturtiums and petunias to put into a bed and
morning glories and flowering beans to train over porches. We'll all
have gardens of our own."
"You've got a pretty yard," said Ginevra wistfully.
"It's getting green," responded Miss Billy. "The grass seed is all
coming up over the bare spots. Now if you had a green lawn extending
to ours, and that shabby old fence between us was down----"
"Why don't you pull it down?" inquired Launcelot.
"I know Mr. Schultzsky would never let me," said Miss Billy. "I
wouldn't dare ask him. But it's so old and rotten that some day it
will just fall down itself, and then we'll have a barberry hedge
there, and the yard will begin to look like something."
"What's a berbarry haige?" inquired Launcelot.
"A nice little row of bushes trimmed evenly, so that it makes a low
fence," explained Miss Billy. "Listen, children, some one is calling."
Mrs. Lee, who had come around the walk, smiled down at the little
group on the grass, whose full hands and happy faces bore testimony
of a pleasant morning. "Your mother will be all right in a day or
two," she said, "and Holly Belle wants you to come home for dinner."
The children rose with reluctance.
"Kin we come again?" asked Ginevra wistfully, as she gathered her
little charges.
"Of course you can," said Miss Billy. "I'd love to have you here, if
you like to come. How would you like to spend two hours with me every
Saturday morning?"
"What 'ud we do?" inquired Launcelot.
"Oh, lots of pleasant things: We can sew and read, and play games,
and sing. I can find enough for you to do, never fear."
"How much do we have to pay?" inquired Aaron Levi cautiously.
"Not a cent," laughed Miss Billy. "The only price is clean hands and
face. We'll meet out here in the yard, and I'll raise children as
well as flowers. You'll be my child garden, you see. Come at nine
next Saturday, and we'll have another good time."
The children filed happily around the corner of the house, all
talking at the same time, but their voices lowered as they passed
out of vision. They held a whispered conversation as they passed the
rickety fence, Launcelot expressing some iconoclastic sentiments
in a husky undertone. They were still whispering as they entered
the Canary yard, and edged mysteriously along the side of the house
between the porch and the fence.
"It'll be just like playing Horashuss," urged Launcelot.
"But what would Miss Billy think?" asked Ginevra doubtfully.
"You heard what she said. She'd think it was brave!" said Launcelot
in his most lordly tones.
"But s'pose some one would see?" quavered Ginevra.
"Aw pshaw! They ain't no one a-goin' to see. And if they do, what
then? Go in if you're afraid."
Ginevra hesitated.
"Miss Billy'd like it," went on the tempter. His sister flung
prudence to the winds. "I'll help," she said.
Holly Belle's voice rang out impatiently a second time:
"Child-run, din-ner."
"We'll be there in a minute," called Launcelot impatiently. "Now
hurry up, kids. Take a-hold, here. No, not so near together. Now, I'm
going to count. When I say three, you all pull like the dickens, and
then run, lickety split. Get out of the way there, Mike."
The children grasped the rotten palings.
"One--two--three," counted Launcelot.
The little army gave a mighty tug. The rotten wood splintered, split,
yielded; the fence fell with a crash, and a sorry mass of decayed
boards covered the yard.
The children waited to see no more, but rushed about the house as
though old Mr. Schultzsky himself was in their wake.
Launcelot and Ginevra turned at the basement steps to help little
Mike, who had fallen upon his face in the stampede. From his place
of vantage Launcelot glanced around to see if they were being
pursued. There was no one in sight, and all was still.
"Now," said Launcelot boldly, "Miss Billy can have her berbarry
haige."
CHAPTER IX
BEATRICE
"And he who wins the fight with Self
Has won the bravest battle."
"GOOD-BYE, Miss Billy."
"Good-bye, Beatitude. You're a dear to help me off in this way. I
won't forget it in a hurry."
"All rightie. See that you don't."
"And Bea, don't vex your soul over that mending basket. It's only one
stitch in nine that saves time, you know."
"I won't, but you'd better make haste; you'll miss the boat."
"A miss wouldn't be as good as a mile then, would it? Good-bye,
again. Yes, mother, I _have_ a handkerchief. Also a corkscrew for the
olives. Also my rubbers. Good-bye, everybody."
Miss Billy was going to a picnic, and in her usual way. The whole
house had been in an uproar since six o'clock. There had been a
hurried dressing, a hurried breakfast, and a hurried packing of
lunch; and it was not until the blue linen suit disappeared around
the corner that a lull fell over the home, and the household paused
to take breath.
There were still the remains of the preparations for lunch to be
cleared away, the study to be made clean, and the disorder which was
left in Miss Billy's wake to be remedied. Her sister's work added
to her own took Beatrice longer than usual, and it was ten o'clock
before she came languidly into the garden with the mending basket
under her arm. She tumbled out a large bundle of ragged stockings,
and set to work.
It was hot and deserted on Cherry Street. Even in the shade, where
Beatrice sat, the air was sultry and close, and the garden seat warm
to the touch. The children seemed to have melted away from sidewalk
and gutter. The absence of Miss Billy and Theodore had left the
place unnaturally dull and forlorn, and the incessant tick-tick of
the little creatures in the grass was the only sound that broke the
stillness.
Beatrice's thoughts flew with her needle. Last year at this time the
whole family were at Gordon's Lake for the season. And it had been
such a gay summer. A summer of boating and dancing; of driving and
golfing, of pretty clothes, and new friends and good times. A summer
of long, jolly, merry days, and of long, cool, restful nights. A
summer that seemed made for the merriment that only ended when the
last good-byes were said.
And now everybody else was going away; the Seabrookes, and the Van
Courtlands and even the Blanchards; and they were to be left at
home. It was all right for the rest of the family; Theodore hated
"resorts," and Miss Billy never seemed to care for anything so long
as she had her beloved books and flowers and children. "But I care,"
thought Beatrice bitterly, "more than I ever thought I should care
for anything."
It was easy enough to be good when one was happy, when good friends
and pleasant times and pretty clothes were one's birthright; but when
poverty and hard work was one's portion, when one's clothes were
shabby and when one lived on Cherry Street----! A hot tear baptised
Theodore's gay striped sock, and Beatrice, forgetful of her age
and dignity, put her head down on the garden seat, and like little
Cinderella, "let the tears have their way."
The stout, rosy-faced man who came up the front walk and rang
the door bell did not look like a fairy godmother, but the most
beneficent fairies go about disguised. Beatrice was so busy wiping
her eyes that she did not notice his arrival, and as she went bravely
back to work she little guessed the surprise that was in store for
her. Not even the glad note in her mother's voice when she called her
into the house made her suspicious.
The rosy-faced man was leaning up against the door of the study,
smiling benignantly at Mr. and Mrs. Lee. He beamed even more
delightedly as Beatrice entered.
Mrs. Lee scarcely waited for their greeting. Her eyes shone as she
put her hand on her daughter's shoulder, and her voice was very happy
as she said:
"Guess, dearie, what Mr. Van Courtland has come for. He wants you to
go abroad next week."
The self-possessed Beatrice lost her dignity. She grew rosy with
delight and gasped speechlessly for a moment before she ejaculated
brokenly:
"Me? To go abroad? Oh, mother!"
That "oh, mother!" settled the matter, Mrs. Lee decided at once that
she must go.
"It will not be a very long trip," explained Mr. Van Courtland. "We
did not intend to start until later, but that bugbear 'business'
stands like a fence between me and the rest of the world. Be
thankful, Lee, that you are not a banker. Mrs. Van Courtland and I
shall sail on the 16th, land seven days later, and go immediately
to Cologne for Margaret. We hope to be in Germany long enough
for the Rhine trip, but shall probably sail for home immediately
afterwards. We planned to borrow Miss Billy to take with us, but Mrs.
Van Courtland says that the sea breezes will be just the thing for
Beatrice's pale cheeks. She ought to see you this minute, young lady.
You're anything but pale and wan now."
Beatrice did not even notice the compliment. Her brain was moving
faster than Mr. Van Courtland's words. Europe, sea breezes, the
Rhine! To leave the heat and dust of the city, the shabbiness and
noise of Cherry Street, for the enchanting country across the sea.
It seemed like a glorious dream of white-capped waves and cool
breezes, from which one must wake up to the swarming Canarys and the
loud-voiced Hennesys on Cherry Street.
"And if she goes, she goes as our guest. Mrs. Van Courtland dreads
the trip, and I confess a lingering longing for a young piece of
humanity when I am aboard ship. As for our own Margie,--why she will
jump out of her beloved Germany with joy when she sees a glimpse of
her home friend. We will consider it a great favour if you'll lend us
your girl for a while."
The matter was hurriedly decided. Mrs. Lee looked over at her husband
with a quick glance that showed how much motherly love and anxiety
for her daughter was at stake. The minister answered with a nod and a
smile that seemed to say, "We must manage it."
Mr. Van Courtland departed satisfied, and Beatrice returned to the
garden seat to dreamily wind the darning cotton into a snarl, and
whisper joyfully to herself, "I am going abroad."
There was a family council after supper that night. Beatrice had
rather dreaded to tell Miss Billy the glorious news, feeling that the
trip was originally planned for the younger sister, but Miss Billy
sternly frowned upon her sister's reticence.
"The idea!" she said scornfully, "of thinking that I should be
so mean and small about a thing like this. You would have been
delighted if this trip had come to me,"--Beatrice made a small mental
reservation--"and it belongs to you anyway. You need it more than I
do."
If she felt any disappointment she failed to show it either in action
or word, but went on making extravagant plans, and most elaborate
suggestions for the trip. She offered to lend Beatrice anything and
everything she possessed, from her cut glass vase to her ice cream
freezer, and the last thing the elder sister heard that night was a
recipe for sea sickness and an idea for making over a travelling suit
out of Miss Billy's brown gown.
It was daybreak when Beatrice awoke. The house was very still and
quiet, and the light morning breeze blew aside the white curtains at
the windows. Beatrice raised herself on one elbow and looked out
at the little glimpse of water visible between the high roofs. The
sun was rising, away out on the breast of the lake, and each little
ruffled wave was touched with a crest of gold.
Beatrice was not often affected by her surroundings, but just now,
in the light of her new happiness, the day seemed symbolic of her
life, and the sun that gilded the grey waves like the pleasant plan
that had made her sombre life glad. Yesterday's grief seemed very far
away, and to-day's joy was very near and dear. She clasped her hands,
and whispered earnestly: "Help me to deserve it, Lord." The sounds
of the two whispered voices which came from the next room did not
disturb her, and she lay dreamily happy in her own thoughts, until
the sound of her own name aroused her. It was her father's voice that
said:
"Well, Beatrice needs it. We must manage it some way."
The girl turned her head, and listened intently as he continued:
"How much money is it going to cost us?"
Mrs. Lee's estimate was not discernible, but her husband's reply
betrayed its tenor:
"I wish a hundred dollars came as easily to me now as it did six
months ago."
"I don't see how we can do it for any less," said Mrs. Lee. "Bea's
wardrobe is scanty, and she will require more clothes than she
needs when she is at home. Beside, she will have to have money for
incidentals. Mr. Van Courtland is very generous, but we don't want to
impose on him, or embarrass Beatrice."
"Oh, no, she can't get along with any less. Still, it will be a
little hard to spare just now. I feel our poverty most when it
touches the children."
"It _is_ a good deal, but I think it's worth the sacrifice. Beatrice
has looked white and worn lately, and we can't afford to let her be
sick."
"I hadn't noticed it," said Mr. Lee anxiously. "Do you think she's
not well?"
"It's heart sickness as much as anything else. Bea has never seemed
happy since we moved onto Cherry Street. She misses the old home and
the old friends. She was not so easily reconciled as Wilhelmina and
Theodore."
"Then I think more than ever that we must manage it. I shall not
regret the effort if she comes back physically improved. After
that I'll trust the mental and moral indisposition to take care of
themselves. Bea is not naturally pessimistic."
"But I don't see exactly how we are to arrange it. We are living so
near to our income just now; and I don't know how to economise more
closely than I have been doing."
Mr. Lee made a suggestion that Beatrice did not hear, to which his
wife replied decidedly:
"No, dear man, you can't get along without that. A minister can't
afford to go shabby. We'll find some other way of saving. I can let
Maggie go home for a month or two. Beatrice's going away will make
the family smaller, and I'm sure Wilhelmina and I could do the
housework."
"No indeed." The minister's voice was most emphatic. "That would be
extravagant economy. You would be sick in a month. I can spare the
money, I'm sure, but I shall have to give up a cherished plan to do
it. I hoped to be able to rent a horse and buggy for you two days a
week this summer. You don't get enough of out of doors, and it tires
you so to walk."
There was a glad little note in Mrs. Lee's reply that went straight
to Bea's heart.
"Oh, if that is all!" she exclaimed. "Why John, I'd rather never
drive again than to have Beatrice miss this opportunity. It will mean
so much to her. Beside, dear, do you think I would enjoy driving
around in state while my husband was shabby?"
"No, it doesn't sound like you," said Mr. Lee. "Still, I would like
to do it for you," he added wistfully.
"Well, dear, don't say a word to spoil Beatrice's pleasure. She
seemed so glad to go! And I think we all would be willing to
sacrifice ourselves a little for her sake."
The conversation ended there. The father and mother went back to
sleep, and the eavesdropper returned to her pillow with wet eyes. Her
soul, as well as her body, was wide awake, and perhaps for the first
time in her life, Beatrice realised the beauty and divineness of self
sacrifice. In the light of the whispered conversation the melancholy
of the day before seemed petty and unworthy, and the girl who sternly
choked back the tears of disappointment was not the girl who had wept
in the garden. Nobody ever knew of the struggle which took place in
the little white bed, nor was any the wiser for the puddle of tears
that made a miniature lake in the pillow; but Beatrice was victor in
the battle with herself.
As the clock struck five, a slim little figure in white crept
silently out of bed, and tiptoed over to the desk, that Miss Billy
should not be wakened. A stranger would not have appreciated the
depth of the struggle; but to Beatrice it was the tragedy of a
lifetime, and there was real heroism in the letter which read:
"DEAR, DEAR MR. VAN COURTLAND:
"I hope you won't think I am silly to change my mind so
suddenly, after all the arrangements were made yesterday,
but I have decided that I must not go. I know that you
won't misunderstand my motive, because you know how much I
long to go, and how grateful I am to you both for inviting
me.
"Father and mother both are willing that I should go, but
I know that my trip would mean a big sacrifice on their
part, which I am not willing to accept. You and Mrs. Van
Courtland have always been so kind to me that I am sure
you will understand what I mean, and help me to do what is
right.
"I can never tell you how grateful I am to both of you.
"Lovingly yours,
"BEATRICE LEE."
CHAPTER X
A BROKEN SIDEWALK
"Does he study the wants of his own dominion?
Or doesn't he care for public opinion
A JOT?
The Akond of Swat."
MISS BILLY entered the study with an agitated whirl of ribbons and
hair. Her hat was off, her face flushed, and every curl stood on end.
"What do you think I have discovered?" she said in indignant tones.
Beatrice looked up calmly from her mother's chair. Mr. and Mrs.
Lee were spending the day away from home, and the elder daughter
responded to the question with a little air of authority that was
particularly exasperating to Miss Billy in her present mood:
"If you had asked what you had _lost_ I should know," she said
coolly. "Your temper has evidently gone astray."
"I know I'm foolish to blaze up so suddenly," admitted Miss Billy;
"but it's the injustice of the thing that made me hot. Mrs. Canary
has just been telling me how much rent the Caseys paid for this
house."
"How much was it?" inquired Beatrice. "Less than we are paying?"
"Fifteen dollars instead of twenty," said Miss Billy indignantly.
"But of course I wouldn't say a word about it if old Mr. Schultzsky
had made the repairs he promised. He hasn't lived up to his agreement
at all. We paid for having the house painted; father furnished the
screens; Theodore mended the gate, and I propped up the back fence,
myself. That window upstairs is still broken, and when Ted reminded
him of it he grunted and remarked that the cold weather was over.
The doorbell is out of order, the step is broken, and that walk in
front of the house is a disgrace to the world. The whole tottering
skeleton of a house will fall in a heap some day. If we pay twenty
dollars a month for rent, as we agreed, he is going to do the things
he agreed to."
"How are you going to bring this law of equality about?" inquired
Theodore.
Miss Billy hesitated. The conferences with the landlord in the past
had not met with any visible amount of success. Still there were
forces which had not as yet been brought to bear. Miss Billy decided
quickly, as was her custom.
"What he needs is some one to tell him a few unvarnished truths," she
said energetically. "Father is too easy to deal with him, and mother
is too ladylike. I'm going to interview him myself."
"Billy the Bold!" exclaimed Theodore. "My heart swells with pride at
your courage. Where and when is the interview to take place?"
"I don't know," said Miss Billy dubiously. "I don't believe he has
an office, and I hate to go inside that mouldy old shell across the
street. I have my suspicions about his living there, anyway. He looks
as though he slept in that old buggy of his."
"You might advertise and arrange a meeting that way," suggested
Theodore. "'Sprightly maiden of sixteen wishes to meet a scholarly
and refined gentleman of sixty-five. Object, new sidewalk, and what
may follow.'"
"I've half a mind to tackle him to-day," said Miss Billy musingly.
"The rent is due, and I might soften the blow with a generous bill.
I believe I'll try it. Give me the rent money, Theodore. I'll get a
promise out of him, or die in the attempt!"
"Do you mean to say you're going to pay him the rent yourself, and
express your sentiments then?" asked Theodore.
"Yes, I do," returned Miss Billy stoutly.
"What shall you say to him?" asked Beatrice, with a note of
admiration in her usually even voice, for Miss Billy never looked
prettier than when she stood in her face-the-world attitude, with
eyes big and earnest and face aglow.
"She will arm herself with the butcher-knife and the rent money,"
jeered Theodore, "and meet him at the door. And, withering him
beneath her stern and forbidding glance, she will say: 'Move at the
peril of your life. Mend the doorbell, put in the glass and fix the
front walk before you speak a word. Stand and deliver.' And he will
remark, like Riley's tree-toad, 'Don't shoot, I'll come down'; and
ask, yea, beseech her to permit him to go for his tack hammer."
"Well, we need the improvements badly enough," said Beatrice,
"but I don't think you'd better try it, Wilhelmina. It seems so
bold,--somehow. Besides, you won't get anything out of him."
"Just you wait and see," said Miss Billy confidently.
It was about an hour later that Mr. Schultzsky's thin horse stopped
at the gate, and Mr. Schultzsky himself shuffled up the narrow walk
to the front door.
"Here comes your victim, Sisterling," announced Theodore cheerfully.
"Do you feel that you need me for a witness, or to preserve the
dignity of the occasion?"
Billy took off her sweeping-cap, and slowly adjusted the safety pins
at the back of her shirt-waist.
"Just let him wait a while," she said. "That'll show him that the
bell is out of order." But in spite of her savage words she met him
at the door smilingly.
"Good-morning, Mr. Schultzsky," she said cordially. "Will you come
in?"
For answer Mr. Schultzsky held out his monthly account.
"Oh, the rent bill!" responded Miss Billy. "You're like the stork,
Mr. Schultzsky, that always comes around with a big bill. But I want
to talk with you a few minutes. Won't you come in?"
The landlord ignored the feeble joke, and gave a stolid grunt, which
Miss Billy interpreted as a refusal. "Well," she said, sitting down
on the doorstep, "if you won't come in I suppose I can talk to you
here. Mr. Schultzsky, perhaps you noticed that our doorbell is
broken."
The old man made no reply, and Miss Billy went on:
"The window upstairs has never been mended----"
Mr. Schultzsky shuffled his feet uneasily, but gave no other sign of
having heard her speech.
"And our front walk is so broken that it will be the death of
somebody some day," continued Miss Billy. She paused for a response,
but none came.
"When we came in here you promised to put the house in good repair
for us," said the girl desperately, "but you have not kept your word.
Everything that is new about the premises _we_ have added. Theodore
put up the fence, and has been puttering around the place ever since
we moved in; the bill for painting and papering the house was sent
to father (I never should have paid it if I had been in his place),
although you promised to have it done. The whole house is shaky on
its legs, and weak in its joints, and yet we are paying you big rent
for it. I found out to-day that you are charging us five dollars a
month more than you did the last tenants."
Did Miss Billy imagine it, or was there a gleam of avaricious triumph
in the half-closed eyes? "You are not dealing fairly with us!" she
exclaimed wrathfully. Then, in a more amiable tone, she added: "We
_want_ to be good tenants, you know; but aren't you going to make any
of your promises good?"
Mr. Schultzsky took out his dingy bandanna and mopped his forehead.
He made neither apology nor protest. "The rent is due," he said. Miss
Billy's cheeks glowed as she meekly handed out the bills. "Maybe
they'll make him more responsive," she thought to herself.
The landlord folded them, put them carefully into a huge wallet, and
placing the rent account against the side of the house, receipted the
paper in a queer cramped hand. Then thrusting it into her mechanical
grasp, he turned, and without another word, shuffled off down the
walk.
He hesitated at the gate and turned. "Good-morning, ma'am," he said.
Then climbing into the rattle-trap, he drove rapidly away. Miss
Billy, left alone on the doorstep, was torn by conflicting emotions.
Angry as she was, she could not fail to see the humour in her
ignominious defeat. And she was not the only one who was amused. The
screen in Theodore's window came down with a bang, and a boyish voice
chanted:
"B was once a little Bear,
Beary, wary, hairy, beary,
Taky cary, little bear."
Miss Billy at once retorted:
"G was once a little goose,
Goosy, moosy, boosey, goosey,
Waddly-woosy, little goose,"
and added, "Did you hear our conversation?"
"_Our_ conversation! I heard _yours_. Is Mr. Schultzsky going to fix
the premises, or did he raise the rent?"
"The old icicle!" scolded Miss Billy. "I couldn't get a word of
satisfaction out of him. When he skewered me with those sharp eyes of
his I couldn't talk."
"His glances would be in good demand in this family," remarked
Theodore. "I'm glad you got slammed, myself. You were so all-fired
smart about making an impression on him. I suppose you thought that
when you had an axe to grind he'd run at your bidding with the
cheerful expression of the lion on the Norway coat-of-arms. You've
got your come-up-ance, Miss Billy."
His sister deigned no reply.
"What are you going to do about the sidewalk?" inquired her tormentor.
"Fix it myself," said Miss Billy haughtily.
"I'd like to see you do it," said Theodore. "It will be the second
thing you've made a failure of on this bright and beautiful holiday."
"Wait and see," said Miss Billy, with determination in her step. She
made her way to the pile of packing boxes in the cellar. "They won't
make very good lumber," she said to herself, "but they're all I can
get without sacrificing my own modest and retiring income. Beside, I
suppose they will be easier to work with than heavy planking would
be." It took time and strength to knock the boxes to pieces, and
measure the boards; but Miss Billy was a born carpenter, and Ted's
parting words added impetus to the task. An hour later, Beatrice,
attracted by the noise of hammering in front of the house, looked
out of the window. Down on her knees on the front walk was Miss
Billy. She had on a chemistry apron made of gorgeous striped ticking,
which was much stained by chemicals used in the school laboratory.
A hideous garden hat was perched rakishly on her head, and a pair
of Theodore's old gloves protected her hands. Her face was flushed,
and her hair towsled; but two of the rotten planks in the walk had
already been replaced by clean new ones, and the young carpenter was
nailing down a third with great energy. Five of the Canarys and a
varied assortment of Murphys and Levis were grouped around the spot,
making a most appreciative audience.
Beatrice waited to see no more. She threw on a hat, and rushed to the
fence.
"Wilhelmina Lee!" she exclaimed angrily.
Miss Billy raised a moist and somewhat grimy face.
"What are you doing?" inquired Her sister.
"Mending the walk," answered Miss Billy, articulating with some
difficulty, for her mouth was full of nails.
"Well I should think you'd be ashamed," said Beatrice with spirit.
"I regret to say that I am a trifle ashamed," said Billy, removing
the nails. "I have a miserable kind of false pride that fills me with
dread lest any one of the Blanchard type see me doing honest labour.
That's why I put this apron on,--for a disguise, you know."
"You needn't worry about concealing your identity," responded
Beatrice angrily. "Nobody in the world but you would come out in full
view of the public to make an exhibition of herself."
Miss Billy turned to her childish audience. "The public don't seem to
be shocked," she said.
"If mother were home----" began Beatrice.
"Well, she isn't," responded Miss Billy coolly, "and I'm hoping to
finish this walk before she gets back. You'd better go in, Bea. The
chips may hit you."
"Although through life she'd stride and stalk,
She put some boards in father's walk,"
chanted Theodore, looking over the fence; "Goodness, Miss Billy,
have you done this much yourself? You are not only a model of
industry, but a talented carpenter. I suppose now I'll have to
acknowledge my defeat, and come and finish the job."
"You certainly will _not_ have to finish the job," retorted Miss
Billy, "although I shall be glad to hear your humble apology."
"Don't you want any help?"
"No," returned his sister stoutly.
"I'm sorry," said Theodore, hanging his coat on the fence, "for I'll
have to work 'agin your will.' It isn't that I distrust your ability,
Miss Billy, but I should hate to have the neighbours say 'Look at
that poor Lee girl laying a walk to save her brother's white and
shapely hands.'"
Miss Billy heaved a sigh of relief. "I have to confess that I shall
be glad of your help," she said. "I know now what it means to go
'agin the grain.' Every one of those boards grew in that way."
"Sit on the curbstone and boss the job," commanded Theodore, "while
your talented brother performs on the saw for a while. Miss Billy, in
spite of all that flumpy motion of yours, I am still proud of you.
You haven't much in the way of gait, but you have lots of grit."
The last visitor was John Thomas, who was returning from the grocery.
He stopped at the sight of Theodore, who was driving nails and
fitting boards, and sending Miss Billy into gales of laughter with
his droll remarks.
"Would you be likin' help?" inquired John Thomas timidly.
"No, no, indeed," responded Theodore promptly. "Shall I let your
ruthless hand have any share in this matchless work of art? Perish
the thought! Why, John Thomas, this walk is my masterpiece, the
work that shall live after me. Behold in me the Michael Angelo of
sidewalks. After my death people will gaze upon this construction
with tears and pride, and my monument will bear flattering mention of
my prowess."
"Although his gift was mainly talk,
He put some boards in father's walk,"
said Miss Billy, with a sly twinkle.
"That's too good to be impromptu," accused Theodore. "You made that
up in the privacy of your apartments, and have been waiting for the
chance to spring it on me. Now you observe what sisters' taunts are,
John Thomas."
"I know already," said John Thomas. "That darn Mary Jane----"
"Tut, tut, John Thomas," interceded Miss Billy. "Marie Jean is not as
bad as she is painted."
"Or powdered," added John Thomas with a sardonic grin.
"How's that for a highly coloured statement, Miss Billy?" asked
Theodore impudently.
Miss Billy tried to look severe, but the dimples would show in spite
of her efforts. John Thomas gazed at her merry face admiringly. "I
wisht you was my sister," he said. "You can make fun over people,
without making fun _of_ 'em. Mary Jane is the most provoking--say,
don't you want me to help you, honest?"
"Not now," said Theodore. "We have to go back to school this
afternoon, and there are no more planks left, anyway. I'll tell you
what you _can_ do, John Thomas. If you'll help me finish this, next
week, I'll turn in afterwards, and help you mend the broken planks in
yours."
"All right," assented John Thomas, not unwillingly.
"We'll show old Abraham Schultzsky-czaravitch that we don't need his
help," continued Ted; "and the people on Cherry Street how sidewalks
ought to look. What shall I do with those decrepit places near the
gate? There isn't another board in sight."
"Dear me," said Miss Billy. "We should have begun at the other end of
the walk, where the planks are in the worst condition. Some one will
be sure to go through those two old boards, and break a leg or two
before next week."
"Maybe it'll be old Moneybags himself," suggested Theodore cheerfully.
"I hope it will," said Miss Billy.
CHAPTER XI
WEEDS
"Witch-grass and nettle and rag-weed grope,--
Paupers that eat the earth's riches out,--
Nightshade and henbane are lurking about,
Like demons that enter in
When a soul has run waste to sin."
JUNE, departing, had scattered her wealth of floral treasures wide
over the land, and Cherry Street, lowliest child of her adoption,
had not been forgotten. Under the wholesome influence of trowel,
watering-can, and good black soil Miss Billy's garden had grown
apace, and now burst into such a riotous excess of bloom as brought
the small Cherryites to the fence in groups of silent adoration. Beds
of scarlet geraniums glowed like the heart of rubies on the green
lawn. Sweet peas were opening their pretty eyes and peeping over into
Mr. Hennesy's yard. June roses, white, pink, and blood red, swung on
their stems breathing incense night and day, while on the side of the
house bloomed the pansy bed, hundreds of pretty faces of many colours
and marvellous size. Over the back fence nasturtiums were opening
their golden hearts, and a group of tall hollyhocks stood boldly
disputing right of way with the arms of the Hennesy clothes reel.
Mrs. Hennesy had been sweeping, and now she stood in the upstairs
window looking down at the floral display in her neighbour's yard.
"It do be lookin' loike a park, Mary Jane," she commented at last.
"Mrs. Casey was a good neighbour an' its mesilf that'll niver be over
missin' her,--but she niver had things lookin' loike that. An' it's
that girl--'Miss Billy,' as they call her,--that's done it all."
Marie Jean, who had condescended to the menial task of setting her
bureau drawers to rights, turned her head slightly. "Well," she
commented indifferently, "if she wants to waste her time on an old
garden I suppose it's nobody's business but her own."
Mrs. Hennesy discreetly waived the argument. "I think I'll be goin'
over there to see thim this afthernoon, Mary Jane. They're that noice
an' frindly it ain't roight for us not to be goin' near thim. Miss
Billy has axed me twice to have you come over. It ain't neighbourly,
Mary Jane,--that's what it ain't."
"Well, go on if you want to," said Marie Jean, beginning to hum a
tune to show the matter was too trifling for further consideration;
but she broke off to add, "wear your bead cape and your lace bonnet
if you do go."
Mrs. Hennesy's face took on a look of despair. "Well now, Mary Jane,"
she began, "it's just a neighbour, an' a clane apron----"
"You must wear your bead cape and your lace bonnet," reiterated Marie
Jean, with spirit. "And be sure you go to the front door. You must go
decently, or not at all."
Mrs. Hennesy departed from the room, and presently went down the
stairs in all the glory of her best dress, augmented by the bead cape
and the lace bonnet. Marie Jean secretly surveyed her through the
crack of the door, and returned to her task somewhat mollified. "I
guess they won't find anything to laugh at in that bead cape," she
said, with a toss of her head.
Mrs. Hennesy passed out through the kitchen door, but returned again.
She drew off her black silk mitts, stepped to the stairs to see if by
any chance Marie Jean was listening, and tiptoed back to the kitchen
cupboard. She looked uncertainly into the coffee can which was quite
full, then into the tea caddie which was half full, and finally shook
the sugar box, which responded roundly. "Well, I'll borry some tea,
annyway," she whispered, and taking a cup, secreted it carefully
under the bead cape. Thus fortified, she passed around to the front
gate, and, thankful that Marie Jean's point of vision could no
longer command her actions, hurried around by way of the pansy bed
to her neighbour's side entrance and rapped at the door.
Mrs. Lee responded to the summons. "Why, it is Mrs. Hennesy," she
said cordially, extending a hand to welcome her neighbour. "Do come
in. It is cooler here in the dining room than in any other place in
the house at this time of the day, so we'll sit right here. Beatrice,
won't you take Mrs. Hennesy's cape and bonnet?"
"Well, now, I can't stay a minute," protested Mrs. Hennesy, in her
soft Irish brogue. "I must be goin' back to start supper fer Mr.
Hennesy, fer he gets no dinner these days but the bite he takes wid
him in a pail. An' I only stepped over to see if I c'ud borry a
drawin' of tea fer his supper. Me an' Mary Jane has been that busy
all day we c'udn't get to the store."
The cup was filled with the desired "drawing of tea," and stood
in readiness on the table, but as the minutes sped, Mrs. Hennesy,
warm and perspiring, but loyal for Marie Jean's sake to the bead
cape, began to feel more at ease. Mrs. Lee was not like Mrs. Casey,
it was true, and could never fill her place,--but she would make a
good neighbour,--and the girls were as pretty as pictures with their
contrasting styles of beauty and pretty dresses.
Of course, they were not to be compared with Mary Jane. Mary Jane
was--well, more dressed-up like and stylish, than these Lee girls.
But they were nice and kind, and treated their mother like a queen.
Mrs. Hennesy wished Mary Jane might be there to see it.
"Sure an' Mary Jane will be in to see you wan of these days, soon,"
said Mrs. Hennesy as she rose to terminate her call. "It's bashful
she is, or else jealous, wid John Thomas soundin' Miss Billy's
praises all day long. It's 'Miss Billy says this,' an' 'Miss Billy
does that,' an' he thinks Mary Jane can't hould a candle to Miss
Billy,--an' that's the thruth of it."
"And I think John Thomas is a jewel," declared Miss Billy warmly. "I
wouldn't have a flower now if it wasn't for him. Do come out and look
at them, Mrs. Hennesy,--and carry a bouquet to your daughter from me."
"Well now,--if them ain't lovely," declared Mrs. Hennesy, as Miss
Billy began culling with a generous hand. "An' thim ould fashioned
hollyhocks, as sassy as you plaze. Another summer an' I'll be havin'
some fer mesilf."
"You may have slips and seeds from all my plants," responded Miss
Billy generously, "and John Thomas could easily bring the dirt."
Mrs. Hennesy shook her head doubtfully. "It's wades I'd be after
raisin'," she protested. "Sure an' flowers don't be growin' fer ivery
wan loike they do fer you."
"Weeds!" Miss Billy took up the words dolefully. "Mrs. Hennesy, weeds
are making my existence miserable. Look at my hands from keeping
the weeds down. But it's no use,--look there!" She pointed as she
spoke, up and down Cherry Street, and Mrs. Hennesy's following glance
took in a long vista of rank vegetation flanking every sidewalk
and dooryard, weeds great and small, broad and feathery, tall and
diminutive, flaunting their rank growth in the hot sunshine.
"Well, thim's not all yours," said Mrs. Hennesy consolingly. "There's
none in your yard, so ye needn't care."
"Oh, but I see them, and I hate them so!" said Miss Billy
despairingly. "And the seeds are beginning to blow over here. The
plantain and dandelions are killing my new grass already."
"Well, wheriver there's good, there's bad," said Mrs. Hennesy
philosophically: "An' if the good stopped tryin' an' quit what w'ud
become of the world, I'd loike to know? Hould fast to yer flowers,
Miss Billy, an' remimber whereiver wan of thim grows a weed can't,"
with which comforting advice the kind-hearted Mrs. Hennesy, holding
fast to Marie Jean's bouquet and the borrowed cup of tea, took her
departure.
The setting of the sun brought relief to Cherry Street. Every tiny
porch held its household group, and the clear moonlight and cool
breeze brought recompense for the glare and toil of the day. By
degrees the noisy laughter and outcries of children waned and ceased,
the murmured talk of their elders died away, and the street was
wrapped in slumber.
It was then Miss Billy came softly from her room, clad in a flowing
wrapper. She listened longest at Theodore's door, till, satisfied
by his heavy breathing that he slept, she descended the stairs and
stepped out into the moonlight.
Mingled with the perfume of her roses came the rank breath of the
weeds, bringing malarial poisons to the sleepers of Cherry Street.
Mrs. Hennesy's words came uppermost in her mind. "Wherever there's
good, there's bad,--and if the good stopped trying, what would become
of the world?" "Well, I'm going to help all I can, and I'm going
to commence on Mr. Schultzsky's premises." She caught up a sickle,
crossed the sidewalk jubilantly, and bumped into another pale wraith,
sickle in hand, who straightened himself suddenly from the O'Brien
weeds.
"John Thomas Hennesy!" she exclaimed. "How you frightened me! What
are you doing out here at this time of night?"
John Thomas wiped the honest drops of toil from his brow and regarded
her sickle suspiciously. "I'm cutting weeds. I've cut our own and now
I'm cutting Canary's. What are you going to do, I'd like to know?"
"I'm going to cut Mr. Schultzsky's," said Miss Billy, in a gay stage
whisper. "No,--not a word, John Thomas,--I want the satisfaction of
laying those weeds low myself."
"Well if she ain't a reg'lar brick!" said John Thomas admiringly, as
the swish of her sickle came across the street to his ears. "Catch
Mary Jane taking a sickle in her lily white hand to----"
The rest of his sentence was lost in the sound of his own sickle as
it played dexterously among the O'Brien weeds.
There were other ears than John Thomas's on which fell the swish of
Miss Billy's keen blade that night. Two eyes peered down from an
open window of the Schultzsky house on a girl kneeling in the very
dooryard. A girl who might have been mistaken for a saving angel
with the moonlight on her wavy hair and flowing gown. A girl who
attacked the weeds in a very fury of resentment, and scattered their
rank growth in every direction. The eyes peered and peered, and then
withdrew,--but gave no sign.
It was ten o'clock the next morning when Miss Billy came sleepily
down to her breakfast. Theodore met her with suspicion lurking in his
eye, but sang carelessly:
"The lark is up to meet the sun,--
The bee is on the wing:
The ant its labours has begun----
"Say Sis, who cut all those weeds last night?"
"Theodore," said Miss Billy pathetically, with a nervous sense of
aching muscles, and a weariness on which his raillery grated, "is
there any breakfast?"
"There is," said Theodore; "I couldn't half eat mine, I was so
excited. I've been bursting to tell you the news for two hours.
Guess, Sis, what's happened?"
"What?" said Miss Billy, looking apprehensive. That it was something
portentous she knew from Theodore's manner.
"Mr. Schultzskyczarovitch fell through the rotten planks of our
sidewalk this morning at eight o'clock, and broke his leg, even as
you wished."
"Oh," said Miss Billy faintly, and then for no reason at all
collapsed in a little heap to the carpet.
CHAPTER XII
LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD
"Will you please to go away?
That is all I have to say."
MRS. CANARY was, literally speaking, behind the times. The weekly
edition of that romantic sheet, the _Household Times_, had just
arrived, and the mistress of the house had been unable to resist
the temptation to "lose herself" in its crackling folds for a few
minutes. It was Sunday morning, and the Sabbath to the Canary family
meant the dressing of five children for attendance at a house of
worship. There was a strong odour of soap and sanctity about the
little home, but the mother was reading aloud, totally oblivious to
the noise and confusion surrounding her:
"Si-lunce reigned in the great hall as the Duke faced his quack-ing
vik-tum. The res-o-lute blood of his dough-ty ancest-ers shone in his
deep eyes. 'I little expect-ed this of you, Phil-lup,' he said at
last. The cring-ing slave fell abjeck-ly at his feet, without a word.
The calm un-im-passioned voice per-ceeded. 'Fate has played you a
sorry trick,' it said.
"The man gru-vel-ing at his feet made no reply, but the Duke's keen
eye caught the gleam of a shining blade. 'Traitor, Mis-cre-ant,' he
hissed, 'would you play me false in my own hall?' and he fell upon
the fiendish form."
From the Duke's hall to the Canary kitchen was only a step. In
the latter place the long-suffering Holly Belle was having a
discussion with Fridoline as to the merits of church-going for the
rising generation. Fridoline was determined of chin, and fiery of
disposition, and at the early age of seven had conceived a violent
aversion to the ritual of faith, and the proper observance of
the Sabbath. The following patient monologue floated through the
half-closed door:
"Oh, yes you will, Fridoline. Every one goes to Sunday School....
Here's the blacking all ready for you.... No, you can't wash first.
What's the use of getting clean and then gauming yourself all up
agin?... Black the _heels_ of the shoes. Yes, they do show, too....
No, Friddie dear, please don't put on that clean collar until you
wash your neck. Let me help you wash.... Well, I won't, if you don't
want me to, but you are never pertic'ler about the edges, you know
you ain't.... Stop brushing Mike's hair with that blacking brush!...
Friddie, I'll tell Ma!... No, your neck ain't clean, an' your ears
are a sight. Let me take that rag a minute. No, I won't get your coat
collar wet.... Don't work your face that way, Friddie; it can't be
as stiff as that.... Well, don't _open_ your mouth, _then_ you won't
taste it.... Stop hitting my elbow.... Fridoline Canary!... I hate
to tell on you, but if you don't stop I will.... Ma, make Friddie
stop!"
Mrs. Canary, putting her forefinger between the pages of the Duke's
history, came to the doorway and looked in,--the picture of grieved
amazement.
"Why, Fridoline," she exclaimed. "Why do you hurt that loving sister
of yours? Elbows is tender in ladies. Holly Belle, I wouldn't be too
pertic'ler about the edges. He was washed good last Wednesday."
"Sh'd say I was," growled Fridoline, looking vengefully at his
sister. "They's no need of making me as wet as wash-day agin. Holly
Belle's too doggoned clean."
"Ye look as shiny as a new mirror," said his mother proudly. "There's
nothing like Ivory soap for bringing out all there is in a man. You
look every inch a policeman's son. Now your uncle Weatherby, who
holds a government position at Washington, D.C.----"
"Do I have to go to Sunday School, ma?" whined Fridoline.
"Don't interrupt, Friddie dear," said his mother mildly. "You put me
all out of mind of what I was goin' to say. Certainly you do have to
go to Sabbath School. I ain't goin' to have it said that I ever let
circumstances interfere with religion."
"I hate Sunday School," complained Fridoline; "I don't get no good
going."
"Oh, yes you do, son," encouraged his mother. "You learn lots. Didn't
you get promoted from primary to secondary less'n a month ago?"
"Yes," growled the boy, "en the only difference is that ye put a
nickel in the collection instead of a cent. I'm goin' to be changed
back agin."
"No, ye ain't," said his mother decidedly. "You get that church down
on ye, and ye'll miss the Sunday School picnic. But I'll tell ye what
ye can do, Friddie. After the picnic ye can all make a change and
go to Mr. Lee's church. The Weatherbys have always been Baptists,
but out of compliment to Mr. Lee I'm willin' to let you change. He's
been so nice and neighbourly that I think he's deserved it. We won't
say nothing about it, and some fine day we'll surprise him by five
shinin' faces increasing his aujence."
The idea of a picnic and a surprise facilitated the dressing, and
a half hour more saw the departure of the five Canarys in all the
splendour of cleanliness and handed-down clothes. Mrs. Canary,
standing in the doorway, viewed them with pride.
"Now mind yerselves," was her parting instruction. "Ye look like a
little herd of white doves, and see that ye act so. Holly Belle,
don't forget to lend Mikey your handkerchief when necessary. And
conduct yerselves right during divine services."
"There goes Miss Billy," she added to herself, as her own little
brood rounded the corner. "As chipper as a sparrer, an' a-carryin'
something to the needy, I should judge by that Haverland chiny dish
in her hand. Land o' love! She's turnin' into old man's Schultzsky's!"
* * * * *
A pudgy little maiden in a large rocking chair sat swinging back
and forth upon Mr. Schultzsky's dilapidated porch as Miss Billy
approached. The stolid Bohemian face was neutralised by the effect of
two blonde pig-tails, which were braided so tightly as to give her a
scared and hunted expression. She looked more frightened than ever as
the visitor ascended the rickety steps.
"Good-morning!" said Miss Billy.
The little girl stopped the motion of the chair and stared at the
newcomer.
"This is a nice place to sit."
The little girl's eyes grew rounder, but she made no reply.
"Does Mr. Schultzsky live here?" went on Miss Billy.
The child caught the familiar name, and nodded.
"Is he in bed?"
"Ja ne rozumim," said the little maid.
"Do you suppose he would see me?"
"Ja ne rozumim."
"Goodness!" said Miss Billy to herself. "This is worse than taking
the census. I wonder what language the child is talking. I'm sure
it's not German or French or Latin or Greek. I might try her on
hog-latin. I never saw a child who couldn't understand that.
May--I--see--Mr.--Schultzsky?" she persisted in the loud and emphatic
way that one always uses with a foreigner.
The little girl stared at her in a frightened way.
"Mr. Schultzsky? In?" asked Miss Billy desperately.
The child looked about her with a hunted and terrified expression.
Then she rose from her rocking chair, and backed hastily down the
steps, keeping a safe distance between herself and the caller. "Ja ne
rozumim," she gasped, and disappeared around the house. Miss Billy
turned to the door. She looked about for a bell, but finding none,
rapped upon the unpainted panel. There was no answer. A second knock
only brought an echo which reverberated through the shell of the
house.
She hesitated a moment, and then stepping timidly inside, found
herself in a tiny box of a hallway which seemed to extend from the
front door to the back. Two doors opened into the hall and Miss Billy
paused irresolutely at one. A sound of heavy breathing came from
within, and she knocked lightly.
"Come in," growled the voice of Mr. Schultzsky, and Miss Billy
entered. The inside of the house proved even more uninviting than
the outside. The room was small and low, with broken plastering, and
soiled hemp carpet on the floor. The only window was closed, and the
ragged green shade drawn tightly down. A musty odour, as of ancient
food and air, pervaded everything.
On a narrow bed in the corner lay Mr. Schultzsky with a ragged
blanket drawn up over his head to exclude even the faint light. Over
the foot board dangled three flat irons at the end of a rope--an
improvised weight for the injured leg. Miss Billy caught her breath
at the sight.
Mr. Schultzsky evidently heard the sigh. He threw his arms out
uneasily, but his head remained in eclipse. His muffled voice came
from beneath the blanket:
"Chvatej, Johanna, Ja mam hlat."
Miss Billy started to speak, but Mr. Schultzsky interrupted.
"Get me something to eat. Quick," he ordered.
The first sentence was unintelligible to Miss Billy, but the command
was clear. A wild plan of propitiating the old man seized her. She
turned to the hall without a word.
The small room adjoining was evidently the kitchen, for a rusty stove
stood at one side, and a few shabby dishes were ranged in a cupboard
on the other. A half loaf of bread, a piece of salt pork, and a cup
partially filled with tea stood on a shelf. There was no other food
in sight. The fire had burned low, but Miss Billy poked the coals
together and added some fuel.
"Ne davej vec nes jeden," called a muffled voice from the next room.
"He's probably advising me to save on fuel," thought Miss Billy,
little guessing how nearly she had arrived at the truth.
She filled the tea-kettle, set it over the blaze, cut a slice of
bread, and found a fork. The soup, which she had brought with her,
she poured into a tin pan and set on the stove to re-heat. Then she
looked about for serving utensils. There was no tray or napkin to be
seen, but she covered the bread board with the fringed doily that had
accompanied the soup.
As she stepped lightly about her work her spirits rose higher than
they had since the news of the landlord's accident. She hugged to
herself the grim retribution she was receiving as she scorched her
face, as well as the bread, over the coals.
"I can forgive myself, if he forgives me," she thought.
There was no butter or milk in the cupboard, and the tableware seemed
to be in all stages of decrepitude. The Haviland bowl looked most
incongruous in company with the cracked cups and plates on the tray,
but Miss Billy was forced to be content. She covered the stove,
and turned the drafts in a way she felt sure Mr. Schultzsky would
approve, and then, leaving the improvised tray on the shelf, with
fear and trembling approached the door of the bedroom. The old man
seemed to be asleep. Fearful of disturbing him, Miss Billy stood
hesitating in the doorway. Then she cautiously opened the window,
and pulled up the shade a few inches. The light showed a dirty room
in a great state of disorder. On a chair beside the bed was an array
of bottles, dishes, and the remains of a meal. Old clothes were
strewn about the floor, dust lay in great rolls everywhere, and the
cobwebs under the bed had only been disturbed by the motley pile of
shoes and clothing which was thrust underneath. A broken harness was
suspended from a hook on one side of the room, and on the opposite
wall, crooked and high, hung the picture of a beautiful woman.
Miss Billy went quietly to work to remedy things. She hung up the
clothes that littered the place, and arranged the medicine bottles.
Just as she was debating with herself as to the advisability of
rousing the invalid, the old man moved painfully. "Are you coming,
Johanna? Hurry up," he called from beneath the bed clothes. Miss
Billy made haste to obey. She brought the tray from the kitchen, and
quietly approached the bedside. Mr. Schultzsky lifted the blanket
from his face. He looked greyer and older than ever, his hair was
matted and towsled, and in the dim light he was a ghostly and
forbidding object. Even bold Miss Billy's hands shook as she helped
to raise him, and prop him a few inches higher with a pillow. As she
took up the tray again the old man glanced at her for the first
time. Instead of the stolid Bohemian face he had been expecting to
see, Miss Billy's sunny grey eyes, more tender and earnest than
usual, looked down into his stony grey ones.
There was a moment's silence in the room. Then Mr. Schultzsky spoke:
"Who are you?" he said.
[Illustration: "Who are you?" he said.]
"Don't you know?" answered the girl. "I'm Miss Billy--Wilhelmina
Lee--the girl at No. 12. I came to see if there was anything I could
do for you."
"Huh," growled the man. The syllable seemed to be forced through his
set teeth.
Miss Billy, trembling inwardly, went on bravely with her
recital:--"Don't you remember? You fell on our sidewalk. It was that
day when you wouldn't do anything about the repairs, and I went out
to try to mend it myself. And oh, Mr. Schultzsky, I said I hoped
you'd fall through the rotten planks! I was only half in earnest, you
know, but you _did_ come along and fall. And I feel as though it were
my fault. I'm so sorry--so very sorry." Her voice faltered. The old
man looked at her unwinkingly.
"Go away," he said.
"But you'll let me help you," entreated the girl, bringing the chair
nearer to the side of the bed.
"Go away," repeated the old man.
"I can't go away and leave you in this condition," pleaded Miss
Billy, bent on restitution.
Mr. Schultzsky tried to raise himself from the pillow, but fell back
with a groan. He regarded her vindictively, and his face was more
sinister than ever as he repeated savagely--"Go away! Go away!"
Miss Billy set down the tray on the chair and withdrew quickly. The
burning tears filled her eyes as she felt her way along to the gate.
"He was cruel," she said bitterly to herself. "I didn't deserve it."
A calmer mood took possession of her before she reached the door of
her home. "Well, he didn't strike me," she said stoutly. "And I know
I did my duty. But I shan't try to make friends with him again, and
I shall never never let Ted hear of this."
But her brother's quick wits had already anticipated and made ready
for her home coming. As she flung off her hat, and threw herself into
the big chair in the study, the sermon board thrust a black and white
message before her eyes. It had been empty when she left the house.
Now it bore a rude sketch of a nondescript animal, a cross between
a bear and a wolf, arrayed in a huge night cap. An unmistakable
Little Red Riding Hood stood at the side of the beast. And below was
scrawled in Theodore's hand:
Some bears have got two legs,
And some have got more;
Be lessons right severe,
If they've two legs or four!
CHAPTER XIII
HARD LINES
"Though losses, and crosses,
Be lessons right severe--,
There's wit there, ye'll get there,
Ye'll find nae other where."
"BROWN'S sodas are the best in town, if they do come high,--and the
girls know it," Miss Billy had jeered a few weeks before. Theodore
repeated the words now with a wholly sober grimace, as he scrambled
into his clothes at half past six of an early July morning. Vacation
had brought him a permanent position in the drug store, at four
dollars a week, but the skeleton still walked. It was not a very
hideous skeleton, to be sure,--just a half dozen or so of remarkably
round and robust young misses,--but it had a prodigious appetite for
the confection known as ice-cream soda, and it never happened to have
any money of its own.
Theodore, red in the face from the growing heat and his hurried
exertions, frowningly continued his unpleasant reflections.
"There are two or three of those girls that have treated me
contemptibly of late,--probably because I no longer live in a
fourteen-room house. That Myrtle Blanchard is a notable example. She
scarcely takes the trouble to see me on the street, but she manages
to get around to the soda fountain every day, either alone, or with
the crowd of girls."
He was lacing his shoes now, and another side of the subject
presented itself.
"These are the shoes I vowed to buy with my own earnings, or go
without. Father bought them. I've learned to crow before my tail
feathers have grown enough to tell whether I'm going to be a Brahma
rooster or a Bantam hen. Well, I'm through cackling now: anyway,
till I get rid of those girls, and save some money. Then I'll have
something to cackle over."
He swung down to breakfast, taking time to eat only his "bale of
hay"--the shredded wheat biscuit the faithful Maggie put before
him,--and hurried off to work. At the gate he encountered John Thomas
Hennesy, going his way, with a broken bridle in his hand.
"Mornin'," said John Thomas cheerfully.
"Good-morning," returned Theodore. "Going my way? Then you'll have to
keep up with my stride. I'm late this morning."
"Workin' at Brown's steady now, ain't yer?" inquired John Thomas,
with friendly curiosity. "Much in it?"
"Four dollars a week as a starter," said Theodore, firmly pressing
the skeleton back into its closet. "It's easy work, and they are
beginning to give me a little collecting and bookkeeping of late."
John Thomas gave his companion a covert stare that took in the
neat blue serge suit and immaculate tie, the jaunty straw hat and
well-polished shoes. He noted that Theodore's eyes were grey like
Miss Billy's, and his teeth were white. Then he shoved his own stubby
hands into his pockets, and lapsed into silence. Grudgingly to
himself he admitted that Theodore was a "swell." He had soft hands,
and clean finger nails, and white teeth. He polished his shoes every
day, wore stand-up collars through the hot weather, and liked easy
jobs.
John Thomas's chin squared itself into the bulldog pattern of his
father's, and his hands shut tight in his pockets.
There was Miss Billy now. She and Theodore were as alike in looks as
two peas. But Miss Billy was no swell. Her teeth and nails were awful
clean, too,--but then, she was a girl,--and _she_ liked work. She'd
do anything,--even if she had clean hands, and finger nails, and----
John Thomas was measuring the length of his stubby legs with
Theodore's long swinging stride. "Driving team for your father, this
vacation, aren't you?" inquired Theodore, in turn. "Pretty hot in the
sun, isn't it?"
"It's hot,--yes," admitted John Thomas, the bulldog chin slowly
melting under the friendly glance of the grey eyes,--"but its good
pay,--a dollar a day, and the day's work over at six o'clock."
Theodore repressed a whistle. "Why, you'll save money, John Thomas,
if the job lasts all summer."
"It'll last all summer, all right, and longer too. Father's got more
work than he can attend to. He's bought another team and he's going
to hire another man to drive it. I worked for father all last summer,
and I've got sixty dollars saved in the bank now. I'll make it a
hundred before school commences in September."
It was Theodore, now, whose critical glance took in John Thomas,--a
sturdy square-set figure, with baggy trousers and rusty shoes, the
true Hennesy freckles and turned-up nose,--offset by keen blue eyes
and the resolute chin. "He's a man!" thought Theodore. "He's neither
afraid or ashamed of honest work,--and he saves his money, too. I
wonder what he'd do in my place now, if he had a crowd of girls to
treat every day with his hard earnings?"
But it was difficult to imagine the figure at his side presiding
at a soda fountain, and handing out refreshment to a bevy of
young beauties, so Theodore gave it up with a sigh. John Thomas,
unpleasantly aware of the scrutiny, bore it unflinchingly, but his
chin squared itself again, and he thought, "He's a tenderfoot, that's
what he is. He never had dirty hands in his life. I guess he's
wonderin' who my tailor is."
When Theodore reached the store he changed his coat for a linen one,
dusted the counters, lifted the ice into the soda fountain, and gave
all the glasses and spoons an extra polish. The recollection of
John Thomas lingered with him, together with the sixty dollars in
the bank which would be one hundred by September. "I'm in a false
position," he thought angrily. "I'm making those girls believe I have
all the money I want, and other people believe I'm an industrious and
deserving young man. I'd change jobs with John Thomas Hennesy in a
hurry if I could."
The day was very warm, and by nine o'clock the soda water trade was
brisk. Myrtle Blanchard was one of the early callers. She was a miss
of fashion, like her older sisters, and aptly imitated their mincing
ways.
"Oh, isn't it just too dreadfully warm?" she gasped, fanning herself
with her lace handkerchief and sinking onto one of the stools. "I
really couldn't have gone another step without resting, if I had been
paid for it."
"It's hot," acquiesced Theodore, preparing a glass of orange
phosphate for another customer. "Mr. Brown," he called over to the
proprietor, who was sitting at the desk, "do you want me to collect
that bill I was told to call for this morning?"
"Yes," answered Mr. Brown, "you'd better go right away. We've had to
wait long enough for that money. Frank, you take Theodore's place at
the fountain."
Miss Myrtle's face assumed a look of hauteur. She was not accustomed
to being pushed aside, even for business. But she hastened to say,
"Oh, I am so warm! I believe I'll have a cherry phosphate. I came
away without my purse this morning, but please don't charge such a
small amount to papa."
Theodore prepared the phosphate and placed it before her. His eyes
took on the steady, level expression that Miss Billy's habitually
wore, but his voice was cool and bland as he said aloud, "Frank,
please make a charge against Miss Myrtle Blanchard,--one phosphate,
ten cents."
The other customers gazed in astonishment at this unheard of
publicity in entering a charge. Miss Myrtle turned from pink to
crimson, and slowly back to pink,--but she philosophically concluded
to drink her phosphate and think the matter out afterward. Theodore,
meantime, had taken his hat, and getting the bill and some change
from Mr. Brown, left the store.
"The mean thing!" inwardly raged Miss Myrtle. "He meant that for a
snub,--I know he did. And he never so much as glanced at me as he
went out. Just wait! I'll get even with him."
Out in the hot sunshine Theodore's other conscience was accusing him.
"It's a mean thing to use a girl that way! But if it has to be done,
I'm glad Myrtle Blanchard got it first. Yet it's all my own fault! If
I hadn't treated them at the first, they wouldn't have come to expect
it. But I feel as mean as a cur that's stolen another cur's bone."
A walk of half a mile brought Theodore to a handsome house in a
fashionable street. He ascended the steps, touched the bell, and
heard a voice on the inside distinctly say, "If that's that boy from
Brown's, Nora, tell him I'm not at home."
The door opened and a maid in a white cap glibly repeated the
message: "Mrs. Thorpe isn't at home this morning. Won't you call
again?"
"She expects me this morning," said Theodore, firmly,--"so with your
permission, I'll wait." As he spoke, he entered and seated himself in
the reception hall.
"She may not be home to luncheon," faltered the maid. "If you
could----"
"My time is my own," interrupted Theodore. "Mrs. Thorpe expected me,
so I'll wait."
There was a rustle of skirts above, and a whispered consultation. In
fifteen minutes' time Mrs. Thorpe descended the stairs, looking cool
and beautiful in a pale blue silken wrapper.
"The maid was quite mistaken," she asserted sweetly. "I was taking a
little rest, and she thought I had gone out. Oh, yes,--you have that
bill. How troublesome for you to have had the long walk for so small
an amount! Fifteen dollars, is it? Please receipt the bill. And you
have change there! May I trouble you to change this five-dollar bill
for me, as well?"
Theodore tucked the fifteen dollars, three crisp notes, into his
pocket, with satisfaction, and receipted the bill for the silken
lady. Then he counted out to her five dollars in change, and taking
his hat, bowed himself out. He was flushed with pride at having
outwitted the notorious Mrs. Thorpe. The other clerks at the store
had tried innumerable times to collect this bill. He hurried over
the hot pavements toward the store, the success of this undertaking
driving Myrtle Blanchard and the other girls, for the time, from his
mind.
Mr. Brown was still at the desk when he reached the store. He handed
in the three bills with conscious triumph. "And the five dollars in
change, I gave you?" suggested Mr. Brown pleasantly.
"Oh, I exchanged that for----" he stopped suddenly, with a startled
air. He had given Mrs. Thorpe the five dollars in silver, but she
had given him no bill in return. He remembered now, distinctly. He
was perfectly sure.
"You may have lost it," corrected Mr. Brown gravely. "You must be
careful not to attribute its loss to Mrs. Thorpe. She is one of our
wealthiest customers. However, you may go back and inquire."
Mrs. Thorpe rustled down at Theodore's second summons. Certainly, she
had given him the bill! He had probably lost it on the street. Then
she rustled upstairs again, and Nora, the maid, showed him out.
The brick buildings that radiated the heat, and the dusty streets
with their clanging cars, swam before his tired and angry eyes. "A
woman that would lie, might steal," he reflected fiercely. "Mrs.
Thorpe has that five-dollar bill, together with the change I gave
her, in her purse!"
He took his way back, in helpless anger and misery, to the store, and
reported once more at the desk.
"No," said Mr. Brown. "I didn't think Mrs. Thorpe had it. You must be
extremely careful what you say. You have either carelessly lost it,
or----"
"Or what?" demanded Theodore angrily.
Mr. Brown flushed in return. "I have noticed since you have been in
my employ," he said coldly, "that you have extravagant habits, as
well as extravagant friends. It is the shortest road to dishonesty,
although I make no accusations. Of course you will make this loss
good. Is there any money coming to you?"
"Very little. What was coming to me I drew Saturday night," said
Theodore, the colour all gone from his face. "Mr. Brown, you are
doing me an injustice. I _was_ extremely careless. It is right that
I should return the money because of that carelessness. But I am
honest, and I have been taught to be truthful. I beg you to believe
me when I say that the money is, knowingly or unknowingly, with Mrs.
Thorpe. I distinctly remember that she did not give me the bill."
Mr. Brown's voice was like ice: "I do not wish to have any more
discussion of the matter. The money will be charged to your father
until you repay its loss. You may go to dinner."
Mr. Hennesy and John Thomas, seated on a little hillock of dirt,
were eating their dinner from a bountifully filled dinner pail, when
a noontide visitor strode in upon them. The horses looked mildly up
from their improvised feed boxes upon Theodore, who, reckless of
the polished shoes and blue serge suit, seated himself upon another
hillock in their midst.
"Mr. Hennesy," he said, coming straight to the point, "have you hired
a man yet, to drive that new team you've bought?"
"Well," said Mr. Hennesy warily, and confining his gaze to a generous
crescent his teeth had described in a quarter of an apple pie,
"there's a red-headed man that's been afther the job, an' there's
another that's as bald as an acorn----"
"If you'll give it to me," broke in Theodore, "I'll do my best
to please you, and I'll work cheaper than a man. I have handled
horses before. Try me for a week, Mr. Hennesy, and if I don't give
satisfaction you needn't pay me a cent, and there will be no hard
feeling."
Mr. Hennesy's first shock of surprise expanded slowly into a grin.
John Thomas's eyes were like saucers.
"Why-ee--" gurgled Mr. Hennesy, "ye'd burn the shkin all off av yer
nose, an' tan yer neck, an' blishter yer han's so yer own mother
wouldn't be afther knowin' ye. Ye couldn't niver----"
"Come now, Mr. Hennesy," said Theodore, rising abruptly, "if I look
like a fool, I assure you I'm not one. Will you give me the chance?"
Mr. Hennesy's grin vanished, and his chin squared.
"Thot I will!" he said, extending his hand cordially. "Ye can go to
work in the mornin'. But moind me,--ye'll do yer full dhuty, or
ye'll git fired!"
Theodore was gone, as suddenly as he had come, and John Thomas still
sat, the picture of helpless surprise.
"Well--I'll--be blowed!" he ejaculated, at last. "I wouldn't have
thought it of him. He looked too good to spoil his hands. Somethin'
must have gone wrong at the drug store."
"Which same ye'll not be mintionin' to him, John Thomas," said Mr.
Hennesy, with the true instincts of a gentleman.
"As if I would!" returned John Thomas scornfully.
Dinner was over, and Miss Billy was out weeding the pansy bed when
her brother reached home. The long walk from the outskirts of the
town where Mr. Hennesy was working, and the noontide heat of the
day, had failed to bring the colour back to his pale face. He seemed
to have grown taller, and older, in a single morning. Miss Billy,
looking up from her flowers, instantly read the trouble in his face,
and sprang to her feet.
"Wilhelmina," he said, putting his hand on her shoulder and looking
down into her face (it was the first time in his life he had called
her that), "I've got to borrow your Christmas gold piece. I never
thought I'd come down so low, but,--well, I have! I'm in trouble, and
I've got to have it to square myself."
"Is that all?" cried Miss Billy, brightening. "It can't be a very
great trouble that that paltry gold piece can drive away. And I'm so
glad to let you have it, Ted."
"No,--that's not all," went on Theodore, in a hard voice. "Mr. Brown
thinks I'm a sneak, if not a thief!--and I've quit my job. Don't tell
father and mother,--not yet, I mean."
"Theodore!" There was anguish in Miss Billy's tones that brought the
tears for the first time to Theodore's eyes.
"But I've hired out to Mr. Hennesy to drive a team, and start to work
in the morning."
"Brother, you _can't_ do that!" Miss Billy, in spite of herself, was
crying now.
"Do you remember," said Theodore, "we were reading the other day that
a man is as great--not as his father's money, or his grandfather's
name, but as the force within himself? Miss Billy, I have force
enough to drive Mr. Hennesy's team, and stick to it! Inasmuch as
that, I am a man."
Miss Billy looked up, overawed. Laziness, heedlessness, vanity, had
dropped away as a mantle, and from the steady grey eyes looked the
serious spirit of a man.
Like a rainbow of promise, Miss Billy smiled through her tears.
"Theodore Lee," she said, wiping the last drop off her nose,
"Theodore Lee, I'm proud of you!"
CHAPTER XIV
TWO LETTERS
"Princess, to you the western breeze
Bears many a ship and heavy laden;
What is the best we send in these?
A free and frank young Yankee maiden."
"COLOGNE, GERMANY.
"_Dear Miss Billikins_:
"Prepare to clap your hands and chortle with joy! In six
weeks and two days more I shall be at home with you!
Perhaps I am a trifle conceited to think that you will be
as delighted over the prospect as I am.
"Even my grief at leaving my beloved Germany is drowned in
joy at the thought of being home again; and when I see papa
and mamma's dear faces I shall be the happiest girl this
side of the Atlantic. After all, there is no place like
America, and no people like the Americans.
"In proof of which, I can a tale unfold--a tale, Miss
Billy, which will make your blood stand on end and your
hair run cold in your veins. I have had an adventure that
brought the tears of shame and contrition to my eyes, and
which will bring the tears of sympathy to yours. Get out
your largest and most absorbent handkerchief and prepare to
listen.
"It rained yesterday,--not one of the mild English
drizzles, but a regular American downpour that lasted all
day. About four o'clock I put my music aside and went
downstairs, with the intention of taking a stroll, or more
literally, a swim. Frau Henich held up her hands in holy
horror at the sight of my costume, which was a combination
of bathing suit and bicycle skirt.
"Will the bold Fräulein venture out in such wetness?
"The bold Fräulein would.
"Did she not fear the dampness?
"The Fräulein adored dampness.
"Was there no message that could be sent?
"The Fräulein had no message. She was going out for her
pleasure.
"Frau Henich looked at me in pity and amazement. Generally
she considers me erratic, but on occasions of this sort
she knows I am unbalanced. As I closed the door I could
feel that she was still wondering in which branch of my
family insanity was rampant. Now there is a certain tiny
store in Cologne which I intend to buy out some day. It
is a most fascinating place, with the windows full of gay
knit garters, and hideous pictures of the saints, and dried
herrings, and with funny little reward-of-merit-cards and
work-boxes tucked away in dark corners.
"Of course none of these things are exactly in my line, but
the mistress of the house sells a delicious little German
cake that is my especial delight. Whenever my music lessons
go badly or I fail to get a letter from home, I comfort
myself with a bag of these little 'pfeffernes.'
"On this rainy day the shop was even more inviting than
usual. It was brightly lighted with three candles, a big
pussy cat was purring on the mat, and there was an odour
of hot gingerbread in the air. My long walk had made me
hungry, and I recklessly ordered two dozen cakes, a square
of the frosted gingerbread, and a little pail of sauerkraut
which tasted and smelled very German indeed. It was dark
outside, so I didn't stay to practise my German on the
rosy-faced woman behind the counter, but took my bundles
hurriedly. I paddled out, leaving a long stream of green
water in my wake--(the colour in my green umbrella has
'run' as you predicted)--and faced the storm.
"The long narrow street was deserted, and I sprinted along
making good time, though my feet were soaking wet and I
could feel the water gurgle in my shoes at every step. As
I started across a muddy street within two blocks of Frau
Henich's, a sudden gust of wind blew my umbrella inside
out. I righted it by facing about and holding it against
the wind. Then clutching my bundles a little tighter, and
still treading determinedly backwards, I bumped forcibly
into a man who was coming towards me. The result was what
might have been expected. We sat down in the street. The
gingerbread went into his lap, the cakes fell about me
like stars from a rocket, and from what I could see in the
dusk the kraut seemed to be equally divided between us. We
both sat perfectly still for a moment. Then six feet of
masculinity arose from the mud, with the sound of a suction
pump, and approached me, with the air of a count. 'Are you
hurt, Fräulein?' he inquired, in irreproachable German that
made me green with envy. I felt of myself in the cleanest
places and decided that I was not. He helped me up with
difficulty, for the mud had a strong attraction for me,
too, and I feebly began to collect my thoughts, and my
cakes, and to look about for my umbrella.
"By this time my companion in misery had a beautiful
un-German-like apology ready for me, and proposed that we
move on, and repair damages by the street lamp. I replied,
in very bad German, that my boarding-place was just around
the corner, and that I would prefer to remove the signs
of our collision at home. He graciously acceded to my
humble request, and crossed the street with me, holding the
remains of my umbrella over my head. When we reached the
lamp I could fully appreciate the humour of the situation.
The aristocratic chest of the Count was plastered with
white frosting, his hat was caved in, and his noble face
was covered with spatters of mud. My skirt dripped mud
and water at each step, my hands were gloved with honest
German soil, and my hair fell over my face in degraded
little stringlets. We both fairly reeked with kraut. But
the Count, courteously oblivious to our picturesque and
barbaric appearance, walked by my side, with that skeleton
of an umbrella gallantly protecting the remains of my Knox
hat, and discoursing cheerfully upon the vagaries of the
German climate. Naturally my answers were not so teeming
with wisdom as usual, for I was fairly overcome with
suppressed emotion and mud. Beside, I am awfully stupid
about languages, and all the German I have learned since
I have been here would rattle if it were shaken about in
a peanut shell. If he had asked me about the lamb of the
daughter of the gardener, or the pink frock of my sister's
child, I could have conversed fluently; but as it was I
maintained a dignified silence and let him think that I was
a modest little German Mädchen.
"His good manners lasted the whole two blocks, and he
handed me in at Frau Henich's door with the air of King
Cophetua, though I did think I caught a twinkle of fun in
his eyes as he said 'Gute Nacht, Fräulein. Es ist immer der
Amerikaner der die deutschen Länder bekommt.'
"Fräulein Henich has much to say of the gracious Herr, who
came to my rescue so nobly. It seems after all that he is
no count, just an American student, as she expresses it
touring Germany,--'but so amiable in manner, so hard in the
working, and so good to the children.' He boards across the
street with her good friend Frau Heller, and I have often
seen a young man, answering to his description, frolicking
with the six flaxen-headed Heller cherubs. But, to me he
will always be known as the Count. My introduction to him
is also my farewell, for he leaves to-morrow--whither I
know not--and alas, I shall see him no more! Still, he has
served his purpose in furnishing me with many a recent
chuckle, and material for what otherwise would have been a
most stupid letter to you. Musical students never have any
brains left for letters, and nothing to write about. Maybe
I won't have enough things to _tell_ you about, my dear, in
six weeks and two days more!
"Lots of love from
"PEGGY."
Miss Billy laid down the closely written sheets of foreign paper, and
drew a long sigh of pleasure. Six weeks more!
Perhaps no one knew just what the end of the six weeks meant to
Miss Billy. Even the cheeriest and happiest of us all have our dark
days, and the fact that our friends do not suspect them, makes the
days none the less hard to bear. Miss Billy's interest in her new
surroundings, and her bravery in her changed circumstances had not
prevented many a heart-ache and longing for the old life. Girls are
merciless aristocrats, and many of Miss Billy's old friends had
wounded her with careless speeches, or rude actions, since the old
life had ended. The covert sneers, the uplifted eyebrows, the small
snubs that so often crushed Beatrice in these days of stern economy,
had touched Miss Billy's sensitive soul; and though she was brave
enough to rise above them, they were not easy to bear.
But after Margaret came,--dear loyal Peggy, so leal and true--whom
changed circumstances only made nearer and dearer,--Miss Billy felt
that she could face the world and "the girls" with courage, as well
as independence, and she yearned for her friend with all the strength
of her young soul.
And on the heels of this joyful letter came another delightful
surprise. It was an overture of peace, and the carrier dove was Aaron
Levi. The olive branch he bore was a message to the effect that "ol'
man Schultzsky" wanted to see Miss Billy "to wunst." "What can he
want of me?" thought the girl, hurrying out of the door in a state of
high excitement. "It must be that he wants something done; if that's
the case, perhaps he's not so awfully mad at me, after all."
She crossed the street, and went quickly up to Mr. Schultzsky's door.
The little Bohemian maid, who was rocking on the front porch, rose
up uncertainly and fled around the house at her approach. Miss Billy
entered without the ceremony of rapping, and made her way to the room
in which she had found Mr. Schultzsky before.
In appearance it was the same dark mildewed room of two weeks before,
with the harness on the wall, and the picture of the beautiful woman
hanging crookedly near the ceiling. In the half gloom she saw the
old man still stretched on the hard bed with the weight of flatirons
attached to his foot. His face in its gauntness and pallor showed the
suffering he had endured; but the sunken eyes were bright, and he
displayed his eagerness in the gesture with which he motioned her to
the chair by his side.
"I vant you to write a letter," he began in a weak voice. "It comes
to me in the night if I haf no one to do for me I vill not soon get
vell. Johanna is a child. She can speak not the English; she can
order not the food. She can do nothing but rock herself in the chair
and cry. Open the drawer in the table, and take the paper and ink. It
is to my niece's oldest child--the letter."
Not without trembling, because of her proximity to the strange old
man, Miss Billy obeyed.
"I am ready, Mr. Schultzsky," she announced.
The old man fell to pondering.
"To Frances Lindsay, my niece's child," he began at last.
"I am in much trouble that my leg is broke and I cannot
mofe. It is such warm weather, and such pain, I cannot get
well unless you come by me.
"I will pay it when you come, which you should do right
away.
"Your affectionate uncle,
"ABRAHAM SCHULTZSKY."
"Is that all?" asked Miss Billy, as the dictation ceased.
"Yes," said the old man wearily. "The street number is on a piece of
paper in the drawer. That's right." He closed his eyes, but turned
slightly as Miss Billy rose to go, and held out his hand. "You are a
smart girl," he said. "I thank you for what you haf done for me."
Miss Billy gave his hand a little squeeze in her excitement. "I've
been so sorry, Mr. Schultzsky," she said softly. "Can you ever, ever
forgive me?"
"It is nodding," responded Mr. Schultzsky shortly. "Goot-day."
Miss Billy, thus dismissed, sped home as one whose feet were shod
with wings.
"All is forgiven,
Blest be my soul,"
she hummed to herself as she made her way to the mail box. "I'm as
happy as a lark. Margaret's coming home, and Mr. Schultzsky has
forgiven me. It's too much good luck for one day." She smiled happily
as she dropped into the box the letter addressed to
"Miss Frances Lindsay,
"886 East Forty-fifth Street,
"New York."
CHAPTER XV
"FRANCES"
"There were three ladies in a hall,--
With a heigh-ho and a lily gay:
There came a lord among them all,--
As the primrose spreads so sweetly."
IT was hot, very hot, in Cherry Street. Miss Billy's garden bloomed
as Paradise, but up and down the alley household garbage bubbled and
boiled in the sun. The sweet peas on the fence were a marvellous
cloud of pink, violet, crimson, purple and white. They rioted over
the Hennesy pickets, and spread their fairy wings as if to descend
on the other side;--but across the street Mr. Schultzsky's weeds
flaunted in all the rank arrogance of a second crop.
Miss Billy was disheartened, but not defeated. "Of course I can't
accomplish it all by myself," she thought, "and John Thomas is too
tired at night to help and Theodore is working, too. But every child
in the street that can handle a hoe shall be enlisted in the cause if
I can accomplish it."
She went over to Mrs. Canary's to talk the matter over, and found
Holly Belle in a kitchen that easily registered 110 degrees. Mrs.
Canary was in bed with one of her "attacks," the twins, unwashed and
sticky, were playing with a basket of potatoes on the floor: Ginevra,
the little sister, was grumblingly washing the breakfast dishes,
while Holly Belle, with signs of recent tears around her eyelashes,
was binding up a badly burned arm.
"You see, there's bread-baking to-day," she said, as Miss Billy's
deft fingers bound up the burn, "and maw's sick, and paw goes onto
his beat at noon, and must have his dinner, and the twins are
restless with the heat, and won't stay satisfied five minutes at
a time with anything. The boys are off somewhere, and no good to
anybody, and my own head aches so I can't hardly see. It aches all
the time, now, anyway."
"I should think it would," said Miss Billy sympathetically. "Can't
you let that fire go out? It's simply unbearable in here."
"No," said Holly Belle, "the bread's in the oven, an' there's pork
an' cabbage cooking. I've got to get the potatoes peeled right away,
or dinner'll be late."
Miss Billy reached for a kitchen apron that hung on a nail. "Well,
I'll bathe the babies," she said: "I think that will make them feel
better. Then I'll sweep up for you, and help with the dinner."
"You're awful good," said Holly Belle simply. Her eyes looked heavy,
and her shoulders had a pathetic droop. "Jinny, if yer through with
the dishpan, give it to Miss Billy to wash the twins in, and then go
down to the store and fetch a pound of butter."
Miss Billy bathed the babies in a tiny pantry, away from the
scorching blast of the cook stove, and clad them in clean, dark
calico slips. Ginevra came with the butter, and was despatched with
the twins in their carriage to the shady north side of the Lee house.
Order slowly evolved from chaos. The kitchen was swept, the pantry
put to rights, and Miss Billy, crimson in the face, and with her
collar quite wilted, was preparing to set the table.
"Don't you think--Holly Belle," she suggested, "that it might be
better to move the table into the other room? It's much cooler in
there."
"We never have," answered Holly Belle dubiously. "We've always eat in
the kitchen."
"Well, we'll try it this time, anyway,--and if your mother objects
we'll not do it again. It's so hot in here, Holly Belle, it's
positively dangerous! And as you can't take the stove out, it seems
as though you would have to take yourselves out, that's all."
"I've been thinking," she went on, as she went back and forth from
the table to the pantry, "that instead of having the children in
the neighbourhood spend every Saturday morning with me, as they have
been doing, I shall have them come every morning for two hours. That
would help you, wouldn't it, Holly Belle? And I can just as well do
it through the vacation. You could send the babies before nine, and
I'd bathe them and be ready for the rest at nine o'clock.
"This child-garden, Holly Belle, is going to resolve itself into an
Improvement Club. Every member who is old enough must pledge himself
to one half-hour's service a day in keeping clean his own yard and
alley, and the street in front of his house. The weeds must be kept
down, the cesspools disinfected, and the garbage disposed of. Then
another half hour might be pledged to household duties,--such as
washing and wiping dishes, bringing in wood, carrying water, and
making beds. They'll all subscribe to the conditions, I know, for the
sake of sharing in the pleasures of the child-garden."
"Launkelot and Fridoline couldn't never wash and wipe dishes," said
Holly Belle hopelessly. "They'd break them all up."
"Indeed they can, if they try," returned Miss Billy stoutly. "My
brother Theodore can wash and wipe dishes as deftly as a girl,--and
he could do it at their age, too."
"'Twould be an awful help," mused Holly Belle, "and our yard an'
alley is a sight to behold, but I ain't got no time to clean it."
"Of course you haven't. But you are doing noble work in this kitchen
every day,--and taking care of those babies beside. It's noble work,
Holly Belle."
Holly Belle's lips quivered, and her tears fell. "I ain't like
other girls," she sobbed. "I used to go to bed of nights an' dream
I had a piano an' could play on it. An' when I'd wake up I'd be so
disappointed it seemed to me I couldn't stand it. An' I used to go on
hopin' and hopin' that I'd get one, an' learn, but I know it's too
late now. I'm growin' on fourteen, already."
Miss Billy, taking in all the pathos of the starved little life,
found no words to reply. "But the thing that hurts worst," went on
Holly Belle, wiping her tears on her apron, "is that I can't go to
school. I had to stop when Mikey was a baby, and then just as I got
started again the twins came, and I guess I'll never go back. The
teacher came to see maw, an' told her how quick I learned,--but it
didn't do no good, an' I'll have to stay right here in this kitchen
all the rest of my life."
Miss Billy crossed over to the drooping little figure, and put her
arm about her. "Keep hoping, Holly Belle," she counselled: "Keep
hoping, and keep on trying. I'm sure it will all come out right.
I have a solemn conviction that when one wishes hard enough for a
thing, it comes to pass. And so I am sure the school days will come
again, and the piano and the lessons, too."
Holly Belle dried her tears. "You've made me feel almost sure of it,
too," she said, with a smile. "I'm thankful for the help you've been
to me with the work, Miss Billy,--and I'll send the children over in
the morning."
* * * * *
It was that evening that Theodore, freshly arrayed in the glory
of blue serge and starched linen, drew Miss Billy into a secluded
corner. His neck, even as Mr. Hennesy had predicted, was burned to a
deep red, and the blisters on his hands were hardening into calloused
spots,--but there was no self pity in his manner as he handed his
sister a five dollar gold piece.
"My first week's pay," he announced, proudly: "and thank you very
much for the accommodation."
"Oh, I'd rather not take it now, Ted," demurred Miss Billy. "Wait
until you've earned more."
"No indeed," said Theodore proudly. "Next week I shall pay father for
my shoes, and after that, every cent of my money goes into the bank.
Take it now, or never, Miss Billy."
"Well, I'll take it if I must, but I don't want to," grumbled his
sister. "Say Ted, Beatrice and I are going over to call on Mr.
Schultzsky's niece, Frances Lindsay, this evening. Mother saw her
trunk arrive to-day, and thought we ought to. Won't you go with us?"
"No, I thank you," said Theodore. "To tell the truth, I've soured on
the society of ladies. But if she's handsome, and wealthy, and under
thirty, I may relent and call upon her some other evening."
"For my part, I think the idea of our going over there is
ridiculous," scolded Beatrice. "I wouldn't, if mother didn't insist
upon it. It's more than likely she can speak only Bohemian, as that
other little niece does, and will run and hide upon our arrival."
"Well, we'll go, anyway," said Miss Billy. "Mother is right. The girl
will feel very strange and lonely in that old house, and if she can't
speak English we can at least shake hands and then sit and smile at
her."
They took their way across the street, Beatrice very dainty in her
white dress with a rose low in her hair,--Miss Billy in a black
dress skirt and white shirt-waist, with a severely masculine collar
and tie. The front door stood ajar, and after tapping several times
Miss Billy ushered herself in. "It's the only way," she declared, in
reply to Beatrice's horrified exclamation. "Mr. Schultzsky _can't_
let us in, that little Bohemian girl _won't_ let us in, and under the
circumstances, I suppose the new niece can't make up her mind what to
do."
There was the sound of a well-modulated masculine voice reading in
Mr. Schultzsky's room. Miss Billy tapped gently, and the door was
opened by a young man. In one swift glance she knew he was tall, with
dark eyes and a ruddy skin, and wore glasses.
"I beg your pardon," she faltered. "We have called to inquire for Mr.
Schultzsky, and to call upon his niece, Miss Frances Lindsay."
In the next instant, too, she was sure the young man was well bred.
He gave Beatrice a chair, and turned on the student lamp without
manifesting any embarrassment, while Miss Billy crossed to the old
man's bedside, and extended her hand.
"I hope you are better, Mr. Schultzsky," she said. "Sister Beatrice
and I have come to call upon----" For some undefined reason the words
died away, and she stood with glowing cheeks and paralysed tongue.
"Sit down," said Mr. Schultzsky, pointing to a chair at the bedside.
The young man was regarding Miss Billy with open humour shining in
his dark eyes.
"I feel already acquainted with you, Miss Lee," he said, "as a good
friend of my uncle's, and as a young lady who insists upon spelling
my name 'ces.' _I_ am Francis Lindsay!"
He was looking at Beatrice now, whose face was the picture of shocked
propriety and haughtiness. Miss Billy's wits returned.
"It would be very funny," she thought, "if Bea didn't take it so
tragically. But he is not at all to blame. He has tact, and is
kind. _I_ am the stupid one." Then she introduced Beatrice with a
mischievous ring in her voice. "My sister Beatrice,--_Mr._ Francis
Lindsay."
Mr. Schultzsky was feebly wagging his head and chuckling. "She iss a
smart girl," he said,--"but she wass fooled dot time."
With a person less polished, the situation might have been deeply
embarrassing,--but Mr. Schultzsky's great-nephew conversed
entertainingly, with his arm resting easily on the table. He spoke
of his native city of New York, of existing social relations, of
his uncle's illness. He addressed his remarks to Miss Billy, but he
glanced often at Beatrice, who sat cold and silent across the room.
"I trust you will give me permission to return the call," he said
pleasantly, as at the end of ten minutes they rose to go. "I assure
you I know what it is to be lonely, though I am not a girl."
"Do come," said Miss Billy cordially,--but Beatrice remained silent.
"Now with your usual propensity for doing stupid things, you have
drawn us into a fine entanglement," scolded Beatrice, as they
reached the sidewalk. "I never heard of anything so arrogant in my
life as his asking if he might return the call. And it was not your
place to give him permission, either. You quite forget you are my
younger sister."
"I think him extremely courteous and high-bred," returned Miss Billy
with spirit, "and his asking to call upon us was a delicate and kind
thing to do, under the circumstances. But don't let us quarrel about
him, Bea. How old do you suppose he is? I think he can't be over
twenty-one,--but his grave manners make him appear older."
"I have no suppositions whatever upon such a subject," said Beatrice
loftily.
"But at least, you cannot deny he is a gentleman?"
Beatrice raised her pretty eyebrows. "Into that I shall not inquire.
It is enough for me that he is a relative of Mr. Schultzsky's."
CHAPTER XVI
THE CHILD GARDEN
"As I went up Pippin Hill
Pippin Hill was dirty."
"NO, I will not," said Beatrice decidedly.
"But the children will be so disappointed. They will have their
reports all ready, and there will be almost no one here to hear them.
Neither mother nor father can be present. And the little ones are so
fond of you."
Even this mixture of pathos and diplomacy failed to touch Bea's
flinty heart. "I don't wish to be here," she replied.
"But you said last night you would."
"That was before I knew you were going to invite every Tom, Dick and
Harry in the neighbourhood."
Miss Billy was roused immediately. "I suppose by that you mean Mr.
Francis Lindsay," she said with spirit; "I invited him here on
purpose. I want to be especially nice to him just because you were so
mean and sniffy to him the night of our call. That was my blunder,
and you needn't empty the vials of your wrath on him. He was as
gentlemanly and pleasant as he could be, and did his very best to
make us forget that we were two girls calling upon a boy. Besides, he
is interested in this kind of work--he told me so himself. And the
children all adore him,--and mother said I might."
The speaker paused, breathless.
"It is none of my affair whom you choose to invite to the house,"
said Beatrice coldly. "But I prefer not to see him."
"All right, don't, then," retorted Miss Billy wrathfully. "I'll ask
Marie Jean, instead. She'll be glad to come, I guess. But I don't
understand you at all, Bea. It isn't like you to be so petty and
small."
Beatrice walked away without another word, and Miss Billy marched
defiantly to the Hennesy fence, and vaulted lightly over. It was
wicked of Miss Billy, for she knew that this tomboyish expression of
independence would be most irritating to Beatrice.
Marie Jean Hennesy, sitting with her embroidery on the back porch,
looked amazed at the breathless apparition which appeared over the
fence.
"You're the very one I wanted to see," said Miss Billy. "The Street
Improvement Club is going to meet in our yard this morning, and the
children are going to read reports of what they have accomplished.
I'm sure you'd be interested, and I do wish you'd come and hear them."
Marie Jean was not so enthusiastic. "I don't know," she said
doubtfully. "I was intending to finish this work to-day."
"I do wish you'd come," urged Miss Billy. "There will be no one there
besides the children, except Mr. Lindsay,--the young man staying at
Mr. Schultzsky's. I think you'd enjoy it."
Marie Jean folded her linen slowly. "Maybe I'll come," she decided,
"if I can get my dress changed in time."
"Don't stop to fix up," cautioned Miss Billy. "Come as soon as you
can."
"You'd betther be makin' haste, Mary Jane," called Mrs. Hennesy from
the foot of the stairs ten minutes later. "I seen the children go
trapesing into Miss Billy's a minute ago, an' I guess maybe they're
waitin' on you."
Marie Jean deigned no reply. She tipped her mirror at a more
satisfactory angle, as she applied Mde. Juneau's Bloom of Youth to
her freckled nose, and gave a sigh of satisfaction at the result.
Then she surveyed the vision before her with a pleased smile. A
dream in blue smiled back at her from the glass,--a dream in a
striking costume of brilliant blue foulard, with pointed neck and
elbow sleeves. A faded blue hat was perched sideways upon the heavy
reddish hair, and a pair of long silk mitts in another shade of blue
completed the attire.
Marie Jean pursed up her lips to produce an elongated dimple in one
cheek. "If I could only remember to do that every once in a while!"
she said to herself. From the hush that pervaded the hall below Marie
Jean suspected that her mother, with her nose pressed tightly against
the window pane, was assuring herself as to the condition of affairs
in the next yard. Her suspicions were confirmed by the call that
followed:
"Young Mr. Lindsay has came now, Mary Jane. He's all in white, close,
hat, shoes an' all. Sure ol' man Schultzsky'll be worryin' about his
laundry bills. They're all a sittin' round on the grass with him an'
Miss Billy. You'd best make haste."
This had the desired effect. There was a hurried moving about in
the room upstairs, and two minutes later the daughter of the family
appeared, fluffing her frizzes to their widest extent, and giving a
final hitch to her openwork stockings.
"Whose sun shade is that yer afther carryin'?" asked the mother.
"It's one I borrowed from Lily Corcoran to match my suit," answered
Marie Jean cautiously. "Don't be lettin' the neighbours know about
it, either."
Mrs. Hennesy withered beneath the reproof. "Of course I'll not spake
of it," she said. "It was a slipsy of the tongue, Mary Jane."
Her daughter accepted the apology in the spirit in which it was
given, for her time was too limited for haughtiness. "All right," she
said condescendingly, as she hurried down the walk.
There was a commotion in the Lee yard as the vision in blue appeared
around the corner of the house. Marie Jean in her usual clothes was
not to be lightly regarded, but in this new and startling costume the
effect was electrifying to the spectators. Little Aaron Levi, who
was holding the floor, became suddenly affected with stage fright,
and the small Canarys stared open mouthed. Fridoline alone arose to
the emergency and inquired in a loud and interested tone, "Hallo,
Mary Jane. Where'd you get that hat?"
Miss Billy hurried forward to greet her guest.
"We were afraid you were not coming," she said cordially, "so we went
on with our reports. Won't you sit down." She cast a rueful look at
the gay costume. "I'm afraid you won't dare to sit on the grass with
the rest of us. Let's begin over again, Aaron."
Marie Jean took the garden chair that Francis offered and smiled
sweetly at him, not forgetting to exhibit the elongated dimple;
Miss Billy settled back on the grass; and Aaron Levi took up his
half-finished sentence.
It was the first meeting of the Civic Improvement Department of
the Child Garden. The Street Improvement Club, as they had chosen
to call themselves, had been successfully organised and valiantly
living up to their motto of "Be clean and keep clean." The life of a
missionary is never easy, and Cherry Street had made it particularly
hard for the little band of workers who fought so bravely against the
dirt, disorder and disease in their surroundings. It would have been
hopeless to try to interest the older people, but the children were
all enthusiastic little citizens, and their interest in the work had
won over many of the fathers and mothers who had opposed the idea of
cleanliness as "putting on airs." Already the street had begun to
show improvement, and the reports of the children plainly told under
what difficulties some of the sturdy members had worked.
Aaron Levi, with a long sheet of soiled foolscap, which effectually
concealed a large portion of his anatomy, read the first report in
loud and distinct tones:
"As I belong to the Street Cleaning Club I would like to
tell a thing or more what happened last week. I told Joe
to pick up some paper which was lying in the street. If
he wouldn't pick it up I would. I was just going to see
what he says, so finally, he wasn't going to pick it up,
and he said he wasn't going to pick dirty papers up from
the streets, and that wasn't even all, he also littered the
streets. He also stated that there was not a law passed
forbidding people to throw papers on the street.
"The place where I live, which is not large, there is very
seldom a piece of paper or anything else. Hoping that other
places may be in the same condition. This can be easily
done if people and children help together.
"Yours truly,
"AARON LEVI."
"Very good," said Miss Billy heartily, as Aaron, flushed with emotion
and heat, took his place on the grass. "Aaron, I'm proud of you. If
we all do work of that kind there won't be need for our club always.
Ginevra, have you something to read to us?"
Ginevra twisted her apron about in her small brown hands.
"I didn't write mine," she murmured faintly. "It's only about an
orange peel, anyway."
"Can't you tell us, then?" encouraged Miss Billy.
"There was a man goin' up Cherry Street last night, an' he was eatin'
a orange, an' droppin' the peelin' right on the sidewalk. An' I said
to him 'Mister, please don't drop those on the walk.' And he didn't
pay no attention to me, an' so I walked along behind him an' just
picked them up myself."
Ginevra's patient little story was most touching, and Miss Billy and
Francis exchanged quick glances of sympathy. Marie Jean settled the
folds of her gown, and smiled. "How perfectly lovely," she remarked
to no one in particular.
"Isn't it interesting?" asked Miss Billy proudly. "Frank Murphy, you
come next. What have you done?"
Frank's report was brief and to the point. "There was a dead rat out
in the street. It was big and smelt awful. I poked it with a stick,
but it was so smelly I couldn't take it in my hands. So I brought the
cat out and she et it up."
The fastidious sense of Marie Jean was much offended by the story,
but she bravely accepted the custom of the Romans, and only indicated
her disgust by a slight elevation of the nose, as Frank's successor
was announced, and Launcelot, in a high state of excitement and a
huge red necktie, took the floor.
"Our slop barrel was running over. And ma wanted to give some of it
to Hennesy's chickens, and I wouldn't let her because it ud make
Hennesy's yard look worse than ever. And she said it was the slop
collector's fault and that Cherry Street was always neglekted. And I
said I'll see to it. And I went to see the slop gentleman at the city
hall and told him about the slop running over, and the germs that
were just flying round loose inside, and I spoke fierce and he said
he'd 'tend to it. And I said he'd better and he said he would and he
did. An' we've smelled nice ever since.
"And Johanna who lives with old man Schultzsky threw tin cans into
the street, and we kids waited till night an' then stuck them all
along on the pickets to his fence, an' she don't do it any more. An'
I asked ma not to wash me and Mike in the same water, and she said
all right if I'd carry in fresh water and I did.
"An' there was a grocery boy dropped a egg on our walk, and I made
him clean it up.
"An' I got two kids to sign our pledge, and they'll come to every
meetin' where there's going to be grub."
Launcelot's recital was followed by a chorus of admiration. Francis'
face was hidden, but his shaking shoulders showed his emotion, and
Miss Billy's eyes danced as she patted the small workman upon the
shoulder, exclaiming, "Bravo, Launcelot! You're our Master Constable."
"Now me," begged little Mike.
"Are even the babes in arms mustered into service?" asked Francis.
"To be sure they are," responded the hostess. "Mike is one of our
best workers. Tell us about it, dear."
"A boy camed and shaked our new 'ittle twee. An' I said 'No, no,
boy,' and he wunned away. And Fwiddie helped me make a fence wound
it," lisped the little lad.
Even Marie Jean was delighted with the childish recital, and she
joined enthusiastically in the applause which followed. Little Mike
buried his face in his sister's lap, and only glanced out shyly when
Friddie began his report.
"I'm using my ecspress wagon to clean up the streets with," he began.
"I go out early every morning, and Aaron Levi helps me. We pick up
all the trash in the street an' pile it in my wagon, and sometimes
there's two loads of it. We sell it to Mr. Hennesy for fillin' holes
with. He gives us a cent a load. We bought nine cents worth of taffy
on a stick last week, an' we're goin' to save up to buy a patrol
wagon."
One by one the other reports followed. Lena Engel had burned a pile
of rubbish in the alley; Moses Levi had gathered all the old rags on
the street and sold them to the ragman; Mary O'Shea had planted grass
seed in her yard; Pius Coffee had cut down "eight stacks of weeds";
the little Moriaritys had "filled up a sink hole" on their premises;
Jacob Kohn had stopped putting ashes in the street; and two of the
larger boys had placed a box on the corner, for the disposal of
rubbish. Even the tiniest children had their small stories to tell,
and Miss Billy glowed with pride as the last member of the Street
Cleaning Brigade was heard from.
"Isn't that splendid?" she said, with face aglow, as she turned to
her two older guests. "Just think what it will mean to Cherry Street
to have citizens of this kind growing up on it!"
Francis had risen from his place on the grass, and was facing the
small audience. "May I give my report?" he asked, his brown eyes
twinkling mischievously through his sedate glasses.
Miss Billy's pleased face was consent enough.
"You all know how long I have lived on Cherry Street," began Francis;
"just long enough to be greatly interested in your work, and yet
not long enough to accomplish much. During that time I have had two
sidewalks repaired, a new one laid, and some curbing reset. I have
taken down three fences. I have cleared my uncle's yard of weeds,
and we are beginning repairs on his house. I don't know what one's
qualifications must be to belong to your club, but I should like to
join,--here and now."
The members of the Street Improvement Club cheered with enthusiasm
at this delightful addition to their number. But there was a greater
surprise in store for them.
"And so would I," said Marie Jean unexpectedly.
Whether it was Francis' example, or the reports of the little ones,
that had inspired the action, it would be hard to say; but the cause
of Marie Jean's conversion was not inquired.
The pledge was brought out, and amid vociferous applause the names of
Marie Jean Hennesy and Francis Wilde Lindsay were added to the roll.
"The feast of reason and the flow of soul has come to an end,"
announced Miss Billy, as she collected the written reports, and laid
them in a neat pile on the grass. "But our mundane bodies are yet to
be fed. On yonder porch there sits a jug, and in the jug there is
some beer--only root, however. Launcelot, if I pour the drink which
cheers but not inebriates, will you pass the cakes?"
"Yes-um," replied the boy with alacrity.
Marie Jean's face was expressive of a little disappointment as
Francis rose from the grass and followed Miss Billy and Launcelot to
the porch.
"I wonder if I can help her," she said to Ginevra.
Ginevra's unchildish eyes turned upon the speaker. "She don't need no
help," she said slowly. "Mr. Francis needn't 'a' gone. He just went
'cause he likes her company-ship."
The children had finished their root beer, and noisily rounded the
corner of the house; and Marie Jean had reluctantly departed with
repeated assurances of her aid in the future, when Miss Billy and
Francis sat down in the deserted yard.
"It has been a great success," he said. "I cannot thank you enough
for permitting me to enjoy the morning with you. It's a fine work,
Miss Lee."
The girl looked up brightly. "It was interesting," she admitted. "The
little ones have worked so faithfully and well. I am proud of them
all. But there is so much yet to accomplish. I think Cherry Street
has been effectually aroused, and we can depend on the children to
keep it awake. But it will take so much money to do what we wish,
and our hands are practically empty."
Francis was silent for a few moments. "Are there no ways of raising
money?" he said finally. "Seems to me there's energy enough in this
club to earn some."
"We're going to do that," said Miss Billy. "We are planning a lawn
fête now. The mothers are all going to help us, and the children have
been working like Trojans. It will be held in our yard, and we shall
demand your attendance, and maybe your services. Everybody on the
street will be roped in to help. Of course we will raise some money
in this way, but there are so many things to spend it for. It won't
go half way round."
Francis pondered.
"Why don't you try for the Hanson prize?" he asked finally.
"What _is_ the Hanson prize?"
"Why, haven't you heard? The papers are full of it to-day. Peter
Hanson, the New York florist, offers a prize of one hundred dollars
to be voted to improvements on any city street which makes the
greatest change for the better during this year. The money is to
be awarded about December 25, and the judges are to decide from
photographs,--the 'before and after taking' style, you know."
Miss Billy's eyes sparkled.
"I wish we could," she exclaimed.
"Well, why can't you? Look what fine work you've done in short time.
Think what you can accomplish in almost four months. You won't have
to do much to make a great improvement here, for every little thing
will show. I'll bring out my camera, and we'll take our first picture
to-morrow morning. Then we'll go to work together."
"Will you help me?" asked Miss Billy delightedly.
"To be sure I will. Am I not the agent on Cherry Street, and will
not every improvement benefit my uncle's property? It's all a matter
of business, you see. You'll let me help you, won't you?" He held
out his hand questioningly. The brown eyes looked into the grey
ones steadily and earnestly. Miss Billy put her hand into his with a
grateful look that spoke volumes.
"I shall be glad of help," she said simply.
CHAPTER XVII
THE LAWN SOCIAL
"Never was seen such a motley crowd,--
Never was seen such a merry throng.
Never was laughter so long and loud:
Never so merry the jest and song."
"CHERRY STREET will be ablaze with light and aglow with colour,"
Theodore had mocked some months before. "Number 12 will be filled
with diamond tiaras, and cut glass pianos, and freezers full of ice
cream, to signify that a function is on!" And the spirit of his
prophecy was being fulfilled.
Miss Billy, herself, had tied eighteen campaign torches to the
front pickets. Now, as the twilight closed in, like tiny watchfires
they sent their welcoming gleams up and down Cherry Street to the
faithful. And the faithful, one hundred fifty strong, headed by Mr.
Hennesy, in a wonderful dress coat of the fashion of '69, and brought
up in the rear by Mr. Schultzsky, on two stout oaken crutches, partly
for Miss Billy's sake, and partly for the sake of the clean street,
marched to the Street Improvement Club's first lawn social.
Long vistas of Chinese lanterns in red and blue and yellow swung
gaily over the lawn in double rows. Francis had furnished these. John
Thomas Hennesy had brought two locomotive headlights, and these,
stationed on the side where Miss Billy hoped her "berbarry haidge"
might sometime be, shot their rays across the yard straight into
the faces of the astonished hollyhocks, and beyond, to where Mr.
Hennesy's shirt flapped, wraith-like, on the Hennesy clothes-reel.
The house, thrown wide open, radiated with light and hospitality.
Children, comporting themselves with a dignity befitting the
occasion, were everywhere. And still the people, in twos or threes,
or sometimes shyly alone, with mysterious bundles under their arms
warranted to contain ten cents' worth of household merchandise,
which they should presently mix up and buy again, kept coming
steadily through the front gate.
Miss Billy, radiant in a pink gown, with pink sash ribbons fluttering
at her waist, and her eyes shining like stars, squeezed John Thomas's
arm in a little ecstasy of excitement as he knelt in the grass,
putting the rapidly accumulating packages into clothes baskets.
"It is going to be a success," she predicted joyously. "It seems as
though the people would never stop coming, and when we've sold every
one of these packages at ten cents each, Cherry Street Improvement
Club will have at least fifteen dollars in its treasury. John Thomas,
I'm the happiest girl in the world to-night!"
"And the prettiest,"--said John Thomas admiringly, sitting back in
the grass, and taking in her appearance critically, from the pink bow
on the top of her head to the toe of her black slipper.
"Now, that isn't like you," said Miss Billy reprovingly. "Usually
you don't pay compliments, because you are too truthful; but you
haven't seen Beatrice. She's in shimmery white, with a heavenly thing
thrown over her head. And oh, John Thomas, the dearest, sweetest,
handsomest girl in the world, with the darkest eyes and the waviest
hair, will be here presently. It is Margaret Van Courtland. She's
just home from Germany, and she is coming to the social to-night."
"Well, you suit me all right," said John Thomas, returning to his
packages with a determined air. Then he added sullenly, "I'd be
feelin' all right, too, to-night, if it wasn't for that darn Francis
Lindsay."
Miss Billy gasped in astonishment. "Why, what in the world has
Francis been doing to you?"
"Nothin'," said John Thomas, with a noncommittal air.
"But you said you didn't like him," persisted Miss Billy, in
bewilderment.
"Do you?"
"Why, of course I do! I think he's elegant, and--and gentlemanly, and
handsome, and everything! I don't see what you can have against him."
John Thomas made no reply, but went stubbornly on putting the
packages into the clothes baskets, and Miss Billy sat flat on the
grass to think the matter over.
"Now you are the second one," she went on, "that has an unreasonable
grudge against Francis. There is Beatrice,--she treats him horridly.
To-day when we were getting things ready, if she had to hand him a
nail, she'd draw up her lips and give it to him as if he were a cat.
It's horrid of Bea,--and I've had to take her to task about it more
than once. And do you know, in spite of it all, I believe Francis
likes her immensely."
"He seems to like other girls immensely, too," said John Thomas, from
the depths of the basket.
"Oh, but not like that!" said Miss Billy with conviction. "When
she is out of the room, he watches for her return,--and when she
is in the room, though he talks to me, he looks at _her_. But you
must never--never breathe it, John Thomas. Beatrice would faint at
the very idea, and she'd never forgive me! It must be a dead secret
between you and me."
"Is this straight goods you're giving me?" demanded John Thomas,
rising to his full height and gazing down at Miss Billy, seated on
the grass.
"Why, I've never had any love affairs of my own. I never had anybody
look hard at me, or take snubs cheerfully, or anything of that kind,
you know. But as I said before, it's my conviction it is true."
"Well," said John Thomas, going down on his knees before the baskets
again, "if it _is_ true,--if it is Miss Beatrice he fancies, why,
then, he won't find no rival in me."
"Miss Billy, where are you?" called Beatrice, around the corner of
the house. "Margaret is here, and looking everywhere for you."
Miss Billy hurried away, and in another moment, in the full glare of
a headlight, had her arms around the neck of a tall handsome girl,
who was returning the salutation with interest.
"Billy!" remonstrated the newcomer laughingly. "You have a hug like a
bear! You've spoiled my hair and crushed my attire. And I am in one
of my best dresses, too, I'll give you to understand! I've brought
six of the girls along with me, and we've pledged ourselves to put a
dollar each in the box, and help make the thing go."
"Oh, but it's good to see you again," breathed Miss Billy. "My cup
runneth over! I have a thousand things to say to you. Where shall I
commence first?"
"Defer it till to-morrow," counselled Margaret. "We shall visit all
day. Your time to-night belongs to the lawn fête, not to me,--and
I am here to help you. Introduce me instantly to your Marie Jean
Hennesy, and to your lady of letters with the six children, and I
want to see every flower in the child garden, and Theodore,--oh, but
first of all, let me meet your remarkable Francis Lindsay. Billy,
your letters have taken on a suspicious tone of late!"
They locked arms in schoolgirl fashion, and came upon Marie Jean, who
was presiding over a lemonade table. Miss Billy introduced them, and
the two types of girlhood, one representing fashion in Cherry Street,
the other the gentle blood of Ashurst Place, gazed intently at each
other.
Marie Jean was gotten up in a style known as "regardless." She wore
a sweeping black lace dress covered with spangles, that might have
graced a coronation ceremony. The sleeves terminated at the elbows in
two large puffs of blue satin, and her wrists tinkled with bracelets
and bangles. Her hair was bushed in heavy frizzes over her ears,
and in the untidy waves piled high on the top of her head gleamed a
crescent of Rhine stones.
[Illustration: Marie Jean was gotten up in a style known as
"regardless."]
"My, she's plain!" was Marie Jean's mental ejaculation as she
looked at the girl before her. Margaret's pretty dark hair was
parted evenly in the middle, and plaited into heavy Dutch braids
about her shapely head. Her dress was a yellow embroidered mull,
with simple sash ribbons of the same colour. Had it not been for
two slender rings that flashed upon the finger of one hand, Marie
Jean might not have thought her worthy of passing consideration.
But as the girls talked on in a friendly fashion, she gleaned from
Miss Billy's remarks that Margaret was a student of music and the
modern languages:--that she pursued her studies in Europe:--that she
would return in the Spring:--and Marie Jean could no longer doubt
that she was the "real thing." Moreover, she was pretty,--undeniably
pretty,--with dark eyes, and white even teeth. Marie Jean wondered
if "he" might not fancy this stranger, and for the first time in her
life, she considered her own personal attractions with misgivings.
A rush of lemonade trade separated the girls, and Miss Billy and
Margaret, wending their way on, came upon Francis, lifting over the
back fence a load of belated chairs, borrowed from the church.
"I'll call Moses Levi to do this,--you've worked enough to-day,"
ordered Miss Billy. "Beside, I want to introduce you to my very
dearest friend, Margaret Van Courtland."
As Francis flecked the dust from his clothes and came forward, a ray
of the headlight fell directly upon Margaret's face. "I have had the
pleasure of meeting Miss Van Courtland before," he said, without a
moment's hesitation.
"I beg your pardon," said Margaret uncertainly,--"I cannot
remember----" Then as the light fell upon his tall form, handsome
face, and dark, grave eyes, she gave a little gasp, and floundered
helplessly in a sea of words. "Why,--I had no idea!--of course, we
met in Cologne,--that is, we both fell in the mud!--Miss Billy, this
is the _Count_!"
* * * * *
On a lawn seat, in the flare of the campaign torches, Mr. Hennesy,
a glass of lemonade in hand, held forth to a bevy of Miss Van
Courtland's fashionable friends on the superiority of masculine
intellect as compared to that of woman.
"Sure an' phwat if a man cut off th' top av his coat, an' sewed it
onto th' lig av his pants, to thrail in th' mud afther 'im? Sure an'
wudn't ye be afther thinkin' he was crazy? Answer me thot, now?"
"Why, of course we would," answered the girls in a breath. "But then,
Mr. Hennesy, we don't----"
"Wait now," said Mr. Hennesy, holding up one finger triumphantly.
"Be aisy a bit. There's one p'int scored fer th' masculoine moind!
Now thin,--phwat if I sh'ud be afther comin' here to-noight wid a
feather shtuck up in me hair, or a gould buttherfly hoverin' over me
forehead, th' same as ye have? Wudn't ye be afther thinkin' me brain
no heavier than me head-dress? Answer me thot, now."
"It certainly would look funny," admitted the girls laughingly.
"There's two p'ints scored fer th' masculoine moind!" counted off Mr.
Hennesy. "An' now,--if besides havin' a feather or a buttherfly in me
head, I'd be daubin' me face wid red paint----"
"Oh, but we don't do that!" protested the girls in chorus.
"Some ladies does," said Mr. Hennesy sententiously. "Thot's three
p'ints in favour of the masculoine moind!"
* * * * *
On the sofa, in the corner of the parlour, Beatrice had found Mr.
Schultzsky, looking very pale and tired.
"I haf been looking for my nephew," said the old man. "I think we
should go home."
"Oh, Mr. Lindsay is surrounded by admiring young ladies," answered
Beatrice. "It would be a pity to spoil his good time. Beside, you
must wait and have a mystery package. They are selling at ten cents
each, and every one is warranted."
She brought from the kitchen a cup of tea and a slice of cake, and
settled the tray cozily on the old man's knees. "They don't seem to
need me in the garden, so I shall stay with you," she said. "May I
sing for you?"
She seated herself at the piano, and hesitated a moment, wondering
what style of song the old man might like. "Something old-fashioned,
anyhow," she decided, and began in a sweet contralto voice "The
Pilgrim."
"I'm a pilgrim, and I'm a stranger,
I can tarry, I can tarry but a night:
To that country where I am going,
My Redeemer, my Redeemer is the light.
There is no sorrow,--nor any sighing,
Nor any tears there,--nor any dying:
I'm a pilgrim, and I'm a stranger,
I can tarry, I can tarry but a night."
There was the sound of a crutch on the floor, and Beatrice was amazed
to find Mr. Schultzsky standing at her side, wiping his eyes on his
red cotton handkerchief.
"My wife wass young like you," he said brokenly, "and she sang the
same song. It wass a long time ago. She lifed only three months."
"I am sorry, Mr. Schultzsky," was all Beatrice found to say. She
thought of the picture of the beautiful lady, hung crooked and high
on the wall, opposite the old harness. "Perhaps grief and loneliness
have made him what he is," she thought pityingly. "Miss Billy is
right. There is a tender side to everybody, if we can only find it."
Outside on a platform improvised from an over-turned tub Policeman
Canary was selling off the packages with neatness and despatch. Mr.
Hennesy disported a pair of ladies' side combs in his hair. Mrs.
Hennesy had a mouse-trap. Margaret Van Courtland became the happy
possessor of a pound of dried codfish, Francis had a pair of red
mittens, three sizes too small. Miss Billy drew a fire shovel, John
Thomas got a mouth organ, and Mrs. Canary revelled in a dream book.
Theodore was going round with an ornamental and very sticky candy
heart that one of the children had contributed, begging every one to
accept it,--and finally traded it to Marie Jean Hennesy for a bottle
of catsup.
"We'll open ours together," said Beatrice, coming back to Mr.
Schultzsky in the parlour.
Inside the wrappings in Mr. Schultzsky's hand lay a dainty thing,
tied in tissue paper and blue ribbon. "Oh, it's what Margaret Van
Courtland brought," exclaimed Beatrice. It was a lady's handkerchief,
sheer and fine, edged about with a delicate lace. It lay in the old
man's palm, yielding up a faint perfume and he gazed at it without
speaking.
"And I," said Beatrice brightly, "have a package of smoking tobacco!
Now that will be handy next Spring to pack away my furs."
The children grew sleepy, and the torches burned out, before the
guests departed. Every one was in holiday humour. Every one voted it
a success, and begged Miss Billy to set an early date for another.
Miss Billy, tired but elated, counted the money in the tin box.
"Twenty-five dollars!" she announced jubilantly. "With that amount
the Improvement Club shall work wonders. There is a five-dollar bill
here. I wonder if anybody could have contributed that amount?"
"Mr. Schultzsky put that in,--that is, he gave it to me to put in for
him," answered Beatrice quietly.
"Now what do you suppose can have come over the spirit of the old
fellow's dream?" said Theodore. "Maybe he's enamoured of you, Bea."
"No, I think not," said Beatrice soberly. "I believe it was the
stirring of a tender memory. He talked to me to-night of a girl wife,
who died."
"Well, it has been a night of nights, and I am not surprised at
anything," said Miss Billy. "To think that Francis should prove to be
the Count, and Margaret and her set should go wild over him! Did you
know, Beatrice, that he is a Princeton graduate;--and has had a year
at Heidelberg, beside?"
Beatrice yawned. "Is there any more to do to-night?" she said. "I'm
very sleepy."
CHAPTER XVIII
MARGARET LENDS ASSISTANCE
"Though whatsoever ills betide,
I'll stand for ever by your side,
And naught shall you and me divide
Because you are my friend."
"THE only nice thing about your going away is your coming home
again," said Miss Billy to Margaret.
The two girls were seated side by side on the floor in Margaret's
room, which bore a startling resemblance to a fancy bazaar. The bed
was filled with airy masses of silk and gauze, the divan covered
with ribbons and gloves and shoes, and the floor strewn with a
varied assortment of hats, perfumery flasks, filigree silver and
handkerchiefs. Margaret's last trunk had arrived from abroad, and
the two girls were spending the morning at that mysterious and
delightful task known to all womankind as "unpacking."
"It's the next best thing to going away myself," continued Miss
Billy, "to have you go; and come home with so much of the foreign
atmosphere about you. Your sentences fairly ooze Rhine water, and
foreign castles, and pretzels."
"Am I as bad as that?" laughed Margaret. "You remember Edward
Eggleston's woman, whose topic of conversation was always, 'when I
was to Bosting.' Do I give the impression of having been to Bosting?"
"Certainly you do," accused Miss Billy. "You've talked of nothing
else since your return. Of course I might confess that I've egged you
on a little,--a very little,--for politeness' sake. Oh, Peggy dear,
it does seem so inexpressibly adorable to have you here again!"
"In order that you may tell me I talk too much," laughed Margaret
again. "Never mind, Miss Billy. Your turn will come in a few
moments, and I know from your eager and glittering eye that you have
much to tell yourself. Here is the box I was looking for. I put the
little things I got for you when I was abroad all together so that I
could have the fun of seeing you open them."
"The little things" filled a long pasteboard box, with a queer
foreign picture on the label. Margaret tossed it over on her friend's
lap. Inside were a number of bundles and packages, two long tubes of
pasteboard, and several smaller boxes. Miss Billy's lips trembled
with a smile in which tenderness as well as joy was mingled.
"I can't tell you----" she began.
"Open them quick," commanded Margaret. "I want to see if they're
right. Everything in the box was chosen especially for you."
Miss Billy obediently untied the packages. Margaret's words were
true. Everything in the box had been chosen with a loving care that
made the gifts still sweeter. There was a flame-coloured shawl of
soft clinging crêpe, a gay Roman sash, a string of pale pink corals,
four pairs of gloves in various shades of tan, a small gauze fan
with ivory sticks, some carved wooden animals from the Black Forest,
a set of crystals in purple and white, and best of all--two large
photographs of famous paintings--the little Angel of the Lute, and
the boy St. John.
"Mother has something else for you," said Margaret, delighted at the
evident success of her gifts. "She found three long pongee coats for
you and Beatrice and me. They are just alike except for the trimming,
and she thought it would be fun for us to have them alike."
Miss Billy glanced down at the heap of treasures in her lap to hide
the grateful tears in her eyes. "I don't know how to thank you," she
began unsteadily.
"Oh, pshaw," returned Margaret. "You'd better compose some grateful
resolutions, in nine or ten whereases, which will express your
emotions. I don't remember that I ever wept tears of thankfulness
over the things you brought me from Chinatown when you went West. I
merely received them as what was due me by all the laws of right and
justice. That yellow shawl will make you look like a dream, Billy. I
thought of your browny-coppery hair when I bought it."
"It isn't the _things_ that I'm grateful for," began Miss Billy
smiling through her tears. "It's just that you're home again, I
guess. You don't know how much I've missed you, Peggy. You know,
dear, it makes lots of difference in the number of friends one has,
if one moves from Ashurst Place to Cherry Street."
"Why?" asked Margaret innocently.
"That's just what I knew you'd say," exclaimed Miss Billy. "A thing
like that would never occur to you. But it does occur to the majority
of people."
"Do you mean to say that your old friends have treated you
differently since you--you moved?" demanded Margaret indignantly.
"Yes, I do mean that," responded Miss Billy. There was a moment's
hesitation before she added proudly, "Of course, Margaret, I don't
feel that it has made any difference with _me_. Only I have to admit
to you that it does make a big difference with others."
"With whom, for instance?" questioned Margaret. "The Blanchards and
their ilk? I thought so. Wilhelmina Lee, you don't dare to tell me
that the Blanchard tribe _can_ hurt you?"
There was a world of comfort in Margaret's loyal voice, and Miss
Billy was forced to smile at her vehemence.
"I should be ashamed of you if I thought they could," went on
Margaret. "They are such a punk lot--if you'll excuse my English.
We met Mrs. Blanchard and the girls in Germany, and they were kind
enough to offer us their escort through Europe. Mrs. Blanchard is
a regular Old Woman of the Sea, and we were afraid we would either
have to commit suicide or murder to get rid of her. She attached
herself to mamma, and always called her 'my dear,' before strangers.
She introduced papa as 'the Honourable Mr. Van Courtland'--you can
imagine how furious that made my respected parent! And as for me, in
a burst of affection, one day, she assured me that any one who had
seen me six years ago would never have thought I 'would turn out so
well!'"
The imitation of Mrs. Blanchard's caressing tones was perfect.
"She also told us the news of our friends," continued Margaret. "Of
course I asked about you, the first thing; and she responded that you
were interesting yourself in settlement work. It was such a laudable
and praiseworthy undertaking, but she understood that it was apt to
be dirty; and--now don't be mad--Miss Billy--a little unmaidenly, for
a young girl. Naturally my ire rose, and I replied that I thought it
was the loveliest thing that a girl could do; that I had heard about
what you had accomplished on Cherry Street, and that the moment I
got home I was going to help,--if I wasn't too stupid. You don't mind
my telling you all this, do you, Billy?"
Margaret's guest was surveying her with shining eyes and eager
expression. She did not seem to hear the last question. "Oh, will
you? Will you?" she demanded delightedly. "Oh, Peggy, you can help so
much if you will."
Margaret threw aside the masses of chiffon she had been folding, and
faced Miss Billy with straightforward eyes. "How?" she asked. Miss
Billy hesitated. There was help needed in so many places. Then the
pathetic face of Holly Belle rose before her. She thought of the worn
little hands that thumped imaginary times on every piece of furniture
in the house, of the sad little voice that spent its sweetness in
lullabies, and of the starved little soul that was pining for the
melody that had been utterly left out of her life. She remembered
the unchildish expression of longing for a piano, and she told
Holly Belle's sorry little story in a way that was very touching.
Margaret's eyes grew tender, and her voice was very sweet as she said
simply:
"I am more than ever glad of my music now. I shall love to help her.
And she shall practice on my piano, too. Tell me all you have been
doing on Cherry Street," said Margaret, as Miss Billy ratified the
agreement with a grateful look that spoke volumes.
"Not very much," said Miss Billy modestly. "In fact, I haven't
attempted much. 'Settlement work,' as our friend Mrs. Blanchard so
genteelly put it, is not in my line. When I first went to live on
the street I had great ideas of Improvement and Progress, with a
big I and P. There was such grand opportunity for both. I had in my
mind's eye a view of Cherry Street, shining with cleanliness and
beauty; the neighbourhood united by a community of interests, and
the thoroughfare famed far and wide as a model avenue. Now if I can
get the Canarys to deposit their garbage in a barrel instead of the
gutter, can induce the Levi children and the little Hogans to stop
fighting at least one night out of the week, and can tell the street
car conductor to let me off near Cherry Street without having him
say, 'Where's that, lady?' I shall be satisfied."
"But what about the Child Garden and the Civic Improvement Club?
Mr. Lindsay--I shall never cease to call him the Count to my own
soul--says that you have already lured him into the work, and are
going to give him a gymnasium class to manage as soon as cold weather
begins. And that willowy lady at the lawn fête who assured me that
she was 'the mother of a numerous prodigy, and naturally restricted
to her home circle----'"
"That was Mrs. Canary----"
"Told me that you were the inspiring genii of the place, and that you
had everybody on the street under the charm of your dainty thumb."
"She ought to see my hands after this unpacking seance," put in Miss
Billy.
"Don't interrupt, I'm not through yet. And Miss Marie Jean Hennesy
assured me that since Mr. Lindsay came you had 'waked up to the needs
of the street.' But the best is yet to come. Marie Jean's father,
the old philosopher who appeared in the frock coat of the vintage of
'69--complimented you up to the skies. He said that it was well that
there was only one o' Miss Billy, or the street 'ud be baked with the
sunshine she made."
Miss Billy had sunk back against the bed, overpowered by the assault
of praises.
"'I was never so bethumped with words,'" she quoted. "I'm not
accustomed to such flattery."
"Well, don't be so painfully modest, then. There's no sense in
concealing things from me, Miss Billy. Other people will tell me if
you don't. Papa and mamma wrote me the whole history of your triumphs
two months ago,--the people on Cherry Street openly dote and gloat
over you, and as for '_Miss_ Francis Lindsay'--if it were any one
else but you I should be devoured with jealousy!"
"Mr. Lindsay has been of great help to me," said Miss Billy simply.
Her face was very happy. Up to the present time she had felt that
the work had been its own reward, but it was very sweet to have it
appreciated by others.
"He _is_ a nice fellow," said Margaret. "Simple and manly, I mean,
and without the conceit that usually goes with those boys of brain
and brawn, who have led their class and been captain of the college
football team. Of course, Miss Billy, I'm perfectly willing that he
should help you with your civic improvement work, but don't ever fail
to remember that I saw him first!"
"I won't forget," laughed Miss Billy. "But you must take care,
Margaret. Marie Jean, according to Mrs. Canary, has a 'manner that's
tinged with romantickism towards Mr. Francis.' However, as long as he
is willing to help me in the Cherry Street work, I suppose you will
permit me to use him. A boy can do more than a girl in many ways, and
since Theodore has gone to work I often feel the need of a masculine
hand."
"I suppose he comes in handily in chastising the Canary birds? How
you must miss Ted during the whole day? You have always been together
so much."
"I do miss him," responded Miss Billy soberly. Ted's hard lot had not
yet ceased to leave a sore spot in his sister's heart. "Still I do
admire him for sticking to his work."
"Do you know that he has changed much in the last six months?"
inquired Margaret. "Of course he has grown much taller, but that
isn't all. He seems so much older and more sedate. He laughs and
jokes, but the old happy-go-lucky boy is gone. The change is
delightful, but I do confess I miss the old teasing Ted."
Miss Billy looked a little anxious. "Yes, I know it," she said. "I
have noticed it myself recently, and I've worried over it a little."
"Never let yourself be worried,
Or hurried, or flurried,"
sang Margaret.
"I'm not worrying or flurrying," retorted Miss Billy. "And as for
hurrying"--she held up the new gloves as she spoke--
"Time kid and I were home
Half an hour ago.
"If I dared I should put on my new beads, my scarf, my sash and my
crêpe shawl, and, carrying my new fan in my neatly gloved hands,
should go home arrayed in all my glory; but I know I should die of
pride before I reached my humble doorstep. So I shall wrap them up
tightly, and say 'fine feathers do not make fine birds' over and over
all my way home. Oh, Peggoty, I never dreamed that I should actually
own a string of coral beads myself!"
"I wish you could stay to luncheon," sighed Margaret. "However, I'm
coming for you with the cart this afternoon, and after we drive we'll
come here for dinner. You'll have to, you see, in order to try on the
coat before mother."
"Don't offer any inducements," said Miss Billy. "I shall continue to
live with you from now on. Tie your German flag to the window as a
signal when you don't want to see me. I shall come here for music,
for companionship, for comfort, for help, and for advice. In short,
Margaret, you'll be sorry, before the autumn begins, that you are
such an 'eddicated person.' I may possibly have mentioned this fact
to you before, but I _am_ glad, glad, glad that you are at home
again."
CHAPTER XIX
PERSONAL PLEASURE
"How sad, and bad, and mad it was!
But then how it was sweet!"
"SCHOOL commences Monday," groaned Theodore dismally, from his
favourite position on the couch. "How I am to modulate my tones to
Virgil's verse after shouting at Mr. Hennesy's mules for two months,
I can't see. As for a geometrical theorem, I haven't a single lucid
idea on the subject. It's been a great summer, come to look back on
it."
"Dear me," said Miss Billy, throwing down the book she was
reading,--"I don't see how I am going to break loose from everything
and go back to school. The Canary birdlings will be just as dirty and
ill-cared for as ever,--and little Mike, and Isaac Levi, and a half
dozen others are too young for the public kindergarten. Then there's
the Street Improvement Club, and the mothers' meetings,--why, I don't
see what I am to do."
Beatrice looked up from the lunch cloth she was hemstitching for a
church fair. "If you can trust the smaller children to me," she said
timidly, "I think I can take care of them. I was talking to Mrs.
Canary to-day. I told her she could send the twins and Mikey over
every morning for two hours, as usual. She seemed so relieved and
happy over it, and promised that Holly Belle should go to school."
"Oh," cried Miss Billy, with shining eyes, "it's lovely of you, Bea,
and Holly Belle will be wild with delight. But those babies are the
slipp'riest things when they're wet!"
"I shall not drop them," said Beatrice firmly. "I shall think of
Holly Belle all the time, and that her chances depend upon my
success. All the rest of the little brood shall have as conscientious
care as I can give them for two hours every day,--but I don't expect
it to be easy for me, as it is for you."
"Oh, they'll love you, Bea," said Miss Billy enthusiastically. "You
don't know what dear little things they are, especially just after
they've been washed. Well, _that's_ settled, then. Margaret will be
glad to relieve you at any time, I know,--and she will continue to
look after Holly Belle's music, too. The way the child takes to it is
simply wonderful. Francis, of course, will continue at the head of
the Street Improvement Club."
"Five long days between this and school, and nothing to do!" murmured
Theodore luxuriously from the couch. "I shall drive no mules,--I
shall instruct no growing intellects. Fads may continue to lead Miss
Billy round by the nose, up to the very last minute,--but I shall do
nothing at all!"
"It has been a busy summer," said Mrs. Lee, with a half arrested sigh.
"Is it good news, papa?" asked Beatrice of her father, who in the
soft glow of the study lamp had been perusing the illegibly scrawled
sheets of a special delivery letter.
"It is more!" said the minister impressively. "It is a vindication of
human nature under the worst circumstances. Nearly twenty years ago
a young fellow came to me for assistance. He had been in a hospital
with a fever, and had neither money, work or friends. He wanted to
go out West, where he thought he might be able to find employment.
I drew him out about his past life, and found he knew what it was
to sleep in a haystack and be lodged in a jail: but I lent him
twenty-five dollars----"
"And he has died a millionaire and bequeathed you a fortune," wound
up Theodore dramatically, sitting upright.
"No," said the minister, smiling, "those things happen only in books.
What the fellow has really done is to return me the amount I lent
him, with a half-manly sort of a letter showing he has cherished
a sense of gratitude all these years. That is much more than I
expected."
"Conscience money!" groaned Beatrice. "I suppose it will go to the
poor."
"Let us hope to the deserving poor, like me!" observed Theodore,
dismally echoing the groan, and collapsing on the couch again.
"Or like father," said Miss Billy severely. "It would buy him lots of
things he needs."
The minister sat tapping his glasses with smiling introspection.
"When I was a lad," he said slowly, "I desired with all my heart and
soul a certain steam toy. It was rather a clever contrivance, and of
course, was expensive. But I wanted it more than I've wanted anything
since. Sometimes I dream I am a boy again, and always I see standing
in the black shadow of disappointment that steam toy."
"And father's going to buy it now," said Theodore breathlessly.
"No," said the minister, shaking his head: "It's too late! that's the
worst of it. But that was a distinct disappointment in my life that
no amount of reasoning could reason me out of."
"It makes me think of an incident of my own childhood," said Mrs.
Lee. "When I was about five years old, I attended my first party,
given by a neighbour's child. All I can remember is that a black-eyed
lady with dark curly hair passed a platter of tarts, and with an
indistinct idea that it was a well-bred thing to do, I said, 'No,
thank you,--I don't eat tarts.' Then I sat with welling eyes watching
the other little guests eat theirs. It was a very real grief. I
cried for that tart in the loneliness of many nights,--and I haven't
forgotten it in thirty years."
"It is my belief that every one has ungratified whims," said the
minister. "Some are grown-up whims, but none the less whimsical.
I propose that we use this money for the gratification of purely
personal pleasure. There will be five dollars for each of us. We'll
have one glorious day of vacation,--with the world before us, and
five dollars for spending money!"
"I know what I should like to buy with mine," said Beatrice, "but I
know you would all think it silly."
"And I've had an ungratified whim for years!" said Miss Billy, rising
and overthrowing a pile of books in her excitement. "But you'll call
it preposterous when you find out what it is!"
"Now watch her bring home a bear cub with a silver chain round
its neck, and want me to build it a little pagoda to live in,"
said Theodore disdainfully. "But I know what I am going to do. I
shall be the Count of Monte Cristo for one day only. Remember the
date,--September the first,--to-morrow!"
"But it does seem a little wasteful," began Mrs. Lee, smiling in
spite of herself at the exuberance of spirit in the air, "especially
when----"
The minister interrupted, a mischievous ring in his voice. "I beg to
remind you, Mrs. Lee, that 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull
boy.' We intend to have a lark. To relieve your mind let me add that
I myself shall go on an eminently respectable lark,--one that shall
not estrange me from my flock, for instance. We intend for one day
to divide our ages by two, and no remainder. You shall be one of us,
or forfeit your money. Though poor in pocket, we shall be rich in
experiences. Do you agree?"
There was much bustling commotion at Number 12 Cherry Street the next
morning. "I've sent word to the children not to come to-day," said
Miss Billy, putting on her hat and tucking her rain coat under her
arm. "Poor little things,--they'll be disappointed. Well,--good-bye,
Bea,--I shall not see you again till night."
"Now do be careful, Wilhelmina," warned Beatrice. "Don't buy anything
you don't want, or make yourself conspicuous in any way, or----"
"Why," said Miss Billy, "I am going to gratify a heretofore
ungratified whim. There are no conditions whatever. I have divided
my age by two, the world is before me, and I have five dollars for
spending money. Well, good-bye again; take care of yourself, dear,"
and Miss Billy sailed off down the street.
Theodore went next. He was attired in his very best clothes, and
presented a fashionable appearance in a fearfully high collar and a
white tie. Then the minister departed. Beatrice could hear him say
to her mother in the hall, "I haven't had such delightful chills of
anticipation since I took part in cane rushes at college twenty-five
years ago. And I haven't the slightest idea what I'm going to do,
either!"
Next Beatrice heard the door close after her mother's retreating
form. She peeped out of the window and noted she carried a shopping
bag. "The dear," she said. "She will buy us all stockings or gloves,
and declare it was a purely personal whim. But it won't be keeping to
the contract if she does!"
It was quite ten o'clock when Beatrice left the house. She was
dressed in her best street gown, with dainty hat and gloves to match.
As she closed the door behind her, Francis Lindsay was just coming
out of his uncle's gate. He lifted his hat to her, and then crossed
the street. "I hope Miss Billy isn't ill?" he inquired, with a shade
of constraint in his manner. "I've heard, you see, of the child
garden being discontinued to-day."
"No, she is not ill," answered Beatrice, feeling with embarrassment
the colour creeping into her cheeks. "If I could only get over this
silly habit of blushing every time a stranger speaks to me," she
thought angrily,--and then blushed more furiously than ever.
There was nothing to do but walk along, and Francis, who evidently
also was on his way down town, walked with her. He talked pleasantly,
but Beatrice's replies were sadly disconnected.
"He noticed me blush," she kept thinking hotly. "No doubt he is
conceited enough to attribute it to his own personal charms!"
She welcomed the first store as an avenue of escape, and bade him
good-morning. "He has just spoiled my day," she thought, as she
tossed over silk stockings and lace handkerchiefs in a flurry. "I'm
always making myself ridiculous!"
But the zest of shopping came back to her, and she visited store
after store, looking at pretty, dainty, feminine things, feeling her
money always safe in her pocket, and knowing exactly what she should
be weak enough to buy in the end. But it was nearly three o'clock in
the afternoon, and she was feeling tired and a little dishevelled and
very hungry, before she came to the Mecca of her wanderings.
It was a fashionable shoe-store, and in the very centre of the
show window hung a fascinating pair of little red satin slippers,
with Louis Quinze heels. Beatrice shut her eyes and grappled with
temptation. "I haven't a thing that's suitable to go with them," she
argued to herself. "In fact, I believe they would be out of place
anywhere but in a French dressing room. But they are so sweet and
dainty with their beautiful little gilt heels----"
She opened the door and went in. The place was filled with customers,
but a bustling salesman came forward and smiled into Beatrice's
pretty flushed face. Yes, certainly, he would take them out of the
show window. They were the only pair in stock,--a sample pair. He
tried one of the satin slippers on Beatrice's dainty foot, and
stepped back to admire the effect. "They are a perfect fit," he
exclaimed.
"Yes," said Beatrice. They pinched her toes a little, but she would
not wear them often. "Five dollars, did you say?" Then she should
have to wait for the silk hose to match. She had hoped they would not
be more than four. She pondered a moment, and then decided aloud,
"I'll take them."
The salesman hurried away to put them in their box, and Beatrice,
looking around for the first time, encountered the keen glance of a
pair of dark eyes at the opposite counter. It was Francis Lindsay.
There was one dismayed moment,--then she hastily averted her glance
without bowing in recognition. "He has watched me buy those silly
slippers," she thought, growing red and white by turns. "He has
stood there watching me admire myself in them. His eyes were full of
unutterable things. Oh, I just--hate him!"
She glanced into the long mirror opposite, and it reflected back a
figure from which all the morning daintiness had fled. Her boots
were dusty, her gloves gaping at the fingers. The jaunty hat was
awry;--her face was flushed, and burned with fatigue and heat.
The salesman returned with the package, and Beatrice gave him the
five-dollar bill. She hastily left the store, and, still with averted
eyes, bumped into the very person she was seeking to avoid.
"I beg your pardon," he said, raising his hat. "It was my
awkwardness. I stopped to raise my umbrella. You see it rains a
little." Then noticing that she carried no umbrella, and that she
was looking very tired, he asked kindly, "Are you going home?"
"I think I am ready for home," answered Beatrice, trying to keep the
tears out of her voice. "I've been down town since ten o'clock----"
She stopped suddenly, the absurdity of the statement coupled with the
single package of which he had relieved her, appealing to her with
full force.
"But you've had luncheon?"
"I am not at all hungry," declared Beatrice perversely. She was very
near to tears, and she felt that another question on his part might
precipitate them.
"This is the very time to have you taste the German cake they call
'puffer,' and which can be had only in this shop," said Francis,--and
almost before she knew it he had led the way into a caterer's, and
a neat little maid was taking an order for iced chocolate and the
German sweet-bread.
"What would father say?" she thought despairingly. "What will Miss
Billy say? What shall I say to myself, to-morrow?" But for the
present she was strangely content to sit in restful retirement
opposite this grave dark-eyed young fellow, Mr. Schultzsky's
grand-nephew, and satisfy her hunger with the iced chocolate and
delicious German cake.
[Illustration: She was telling him the history of the day.]
Strangely, too, in a few moments she was telling him the history
of the day, and Francis was laughing heartily. "That accounts for
the oddity of Miss Billy's actions," he declared. "I saw her riding
on the top of an empty omnibus, clad in the sombre disguise of a
raincoat. But she evidently didn't care if I knew her, for she waved
her hand to me from her elevated perch."
Beatrice was too tired to be horrified. "I knew she would do
something dreadful," she said, "but I, certainly, shall offer no
criticism."
It was a tired little family group that gathered in the minister's
study that night.
"I had no idea," said Theodore, from the couch, "that it used a
fellow up so to have a gay time. I took dinner at the 'Alhambra,'
ordering the best the place afforded, only cutting out the wines.
That cost me two dollars, and I tipped the waiter with a quarter.
Then I took a cab to the horse show, and took in the matinee on the
way back. It cost me a dollar for a seat in the parquet. I didn't
have enough money left for supper, so I ate two mince pies at a
restaurant and I've got a nickel left."
"Well," said Miss Billy, "it comes easier to tell my story since I've
heard Theodore's. I've always had the greatest desire to ride on the
top of an omnibus and look at things from that point of view. I knew
for appearance's sake I couldn't trundle back and forth from the
trains, so I hired a whole omnibus for myself, with a driver, to take
me out into the country. It was grand! It seemed as though the whole
world was unrolled before me! It gave me a feeling of being some
great bird flying through the air----"
"A wild goose, for instance!" put in Theodore disgustedly.
"Well I'm not an ostrich, anyhow, to eat all a hotel affords and two
mince pies on top of it!" retorted Miss Billy, with spirit. "That
omnibus ride cost me four dollars, but it was worth it. Then I bought
a box of chocolates and came home."
"Now I suppose it's my turn," said the minister. "The first thing I
saw when I left the house this morning was a load of watermelons.
They were unusually fine melons, and the boy offered me the whole
wagon load dirt cheap."
"Father!" broke in Miss Billy tragically, "what can I do with the
rinds of a wagon load of watermelons, to say nothing of the seeds? We
couldn't clean it up in weeks!"
"I had an idea your mother pickled the rinds," said the minister
mildly.
"Consider pickling a wagon load of watermelon rinds," groaned
Beatrice. "Beside, papa, we don't pickle the shell!"
"Cease your lamentations," said Theodore, with a wave of his hand. "I
see in this the nucleus of a great business enterprise, that shall
live, flourish and spread,--and shall be known in the future as the
'Lee Pickle Works.' I shall be president, father can be buyer, and
Miss Billy and Bea can do the pickling."
"Well," went on the minister, "I'm glad now I didn't buy the
melons,--but it was certainly a temptation, they were such fine
ones. The next thing I seemed to fancy was a buggy robe,--just five
dollars,--so warm, and handsome, too, in the brown and gold colours
your mother likes. But I happened to remember we didn't have a buggy,
so I gave that up."
"This seems to be all about the things father didn't buy," said
Theodore astutely. "He's giving us mild shocks, so we can bear the
climax of what he did buy."
"I assure you I ran the gamut of temptations," said the minister. "At
two o'clock I had about decided on a bull terrier pup. At three I was
discussing the merits of a newfangled washing machine. But I finally
ended it all by wandering into a fashionable photograph gallery and
sitting for a picture, in the latest style. It will not be finished
till next week, though."
There was great clapping of hands as this recital was finished.
"Motherie next," called Miss Billy.
"I have no story to relate," protested Mrs. Lee. "Knowing exactly
what I wanted, I went straight and bought it. Five dollars' worth of
pots, kettles and pans. I haven't had any new kitchen utensils since
our tenth wedding anniversary, and Maggie and I were at our wits' end
with leaky vessels."
"You broke the contract!" said Theodore, pointing an accusing finger.
"Kitchen utensils cannot be classed as a personal whim."
"Indeed they can! You will think so when you see them!" returned his
mother laughingly. "They are of every shape, size and description. At
first I thought of buying you all pretty silver pins, and having the
date inscribed as a memento of a day of experiences. But thinking you
might not consider that fair, I took the pans."
"Last but not least," announced Theodore oratorically, "Beatrice will
tell us the experiences that befell a beautiful damsel in search of a
personal whim."
Beatrice coloured slightly, but did not raise her eyes from her
hemstitching.
"There is very little to tell, and it is very foolish. I've fancied a
pair of satin slippers in Frothingham's show window for a long time.
Such gay little things, with the dearest heels,--so I went and bought
them."
"Oh," said Miss Billy disappointedly, "is that all? Didn't you meet
with any experiences quite unlike other days,--see new people, and
get other views? Didn't anything new come into your life?"
Beatrice bent her head lower over her work. "No," she answered,
"nothing new."
CHAPTER XX
FAIR SKIES
"Cæsar himself could never say
He got two victories in one day."
"DO you know, Ted," said Miss Billy, as they took their way to school
together one morning in late September, "this air makes me feel like
cutting civilisation entirely and taking to the wide prairies, where
I can stick feathers in my hair, ride a bare-backed pony, and never
hear another dreary platitude of Pope or Dryden's nor bother my
head about the difference between the hieroglyphic and the hierotic
characters on the Egyptian obelisks."
"Well, I wouldn't be surprised at anything you might do," said
Theodore, "and I know it would be done exhaustively. But what's the
matter with school? I thought you liked it."
"Oh, it's not school, altogether. It's everything. It's
life,--civilised life,--with all its little petty trials and
meannesses. Now here is Miss Peabody's school that we have to
pass,--the hall of the select and the home of the cultured,--an Eden
from which I have been driven, to judge from the manner of some
of the girls when I go by. Of course, I could go round the other
way, but I just won't! I march past with my head up and my colours
flying,--they give me the iciest bows,--I return them a mere sweep of
my eyelashes,--and the thing is over for the day. But it rankles and
hurts, and makes me miserable in spite of myself."
"I have been enduring that sort of thing for two months," said
Theodore. "I am becoming cheerfully resigned to it. Whenever I meet
those girls in a crowd together, they have an interesting letter to
bend their heads over, or something of that kind, and at the very
last moment one or two will look up and give me a half-frightened
bow, and I raise my hat with dignity to Miss Peabody's cupola, or
some other equally lofty object, and walk on. Of course, I understand
Myrtle Blanchard is at the bottom of it all. She's paying back an old
score."
Miss Peabody's Select Seminary for Young Ladies, which they were
approaching, was a handsome building in grey stone, with an imposing
iron fence, and a square of well-kept lawn strewn with garden seats,
on which "the select" were even now gathered. Miss Myrtle Blanchard
was there, and as she saw Miss Billy and Theodore coming, she rose,
in company with two other of the most popular girls, and advanced to
the gate.
"You don't suppose they are meaning to speak to us," gasped Miss
Billy in amazement. "Why, those three girls have been the ringleaders
of the whole thing!"
Evidently the young ladies did mean to speak to them. They advanced
with outstretched hands, and Miss Myrtle hooked on to Miss Billy's
arm, while the other two engaged Theodore.
"Why in the world don't you ever come to see me," said Miss Myrtle,
with an expostulatory little shake. "But there,--I know the reason.
You are so carried away with Cherry Street that you haven't a thought
for old friends! Oh, I know all about it, Miss Billy.--You needn't
deny it! I've heard all about your Improvement Club, and the social
you gave, and everything. Maude and Blanche wrote in their last
London letter that slumming was more fashionable than ever, there."
"Yes?" said Miss Billy, looking meaningly at Theodore,--but Miss
Myrtle was not to be so lightly shaken off.
"Margaret Van Courtland tells me she is a member of your Club,--and
that elegant young college man, Mr. Lindsay, too, that the girls are
raving over. Why didn't you let me know about it this summer? I've
been just aching to help somebody. I want you to put my name down
right away for membership. Maude and Blanche will want to join when
they come, I know. They'll love to belong to anything Margaret Van
Courtland is connected with. They just adore her,--and they'll enjoy
slumming."
"It isn't slumming," said Miss Billy, with repressed indignation.
"It's just a little neighbourhood affair, and we are all on perfectly
equal terms."
"Call it what you will, only let me belong! Remember now,--you've
promised!" And with a final squeeze to the imprisoned arm, and a
brilliant smile for Theodore, Miss Myrtle and her companions happily
retraced their steps to the sacred confines of the Seminary.
"Hold me up till my shattered nerves are restored," murmured
Theodore. "They almost ate me up!"
"Miss Myrtle has an axe to grind, but she shall not grind it on my
grindstone," said Miss Billy resolutely. "She has a misty idea that
I've become fashionable and quite the thing, and that she's not in
it. She called our Improvement work 'slumming,' and wants to join our
club. Imagine her condescending to Mr. Hennesy, or Marie Jean, or Mr.
Schultzsky, or in short, any of them! And yet, Theodore, I'm such a
miserably weak character, I couldn't help being glad I had on my real
lace collar when she was talking to me."
"Well," said Theodore, "the tables have at last turned,--and
strangely enough, through our friends in Cherry Street. You wakened,
as it were, to find yourself famous, Miss Billy."
"Nonsense!" said Miss Billy. "I gave her distinctly to understand
that every member of the Improvement Club was a friend of mine,--but
of course she is too shallow to understand it. Still, our relations
with many of the girls will be less strained now, because of her
friendliness, and that is something to be thankful for."
The Blanchard trap stood at the door of the High School that
afternoon, when school was dismissed. Miss Myrtle herself, in a
natty green coat with a scarlet collar, and a red Tam o' Shanter,
sat high on the box with the reins in her hands.
"I have come for you both, to drive," she smiled. "This is our new
trap. Don't you admire the red paint and the shining wheels? I know,
now we have it, I shall bore you with attentions, but I don't expect
to take 'no' for an answer."
"Ted," murmured Miss Billy, "I shall have to feed you to the lions.
Providentially, here is Margaret with her cart to take me."
"I refuse to be fed," said Theodore firmly. "I've got to go up town
and order some things for mother. Get into the trap yourself,--and
I'll go with Margaret."
So Miss Billy was obliged to climb into the seat beside Miss Myrtle,
while Theodore, winding his long legs into the cart, took the reins
from Margaret's hand and with a sharp click to Patsy was off without
a backward glance.
Margaret laughed. "Ted, you grow more like Billy every day. You
have the same way of waving the American flag, and reading the
Declaration of Independence, and having your rights. Now, don't go on
disliking Myrtle. For one thing, it's too much trouble. If you think
of her at all, think of her kindly, and, with a little practice, life
will be a summer sea."
"No, sir!" said Theodore, flecking a fly off Patsy's back with the
whip. "When people stand on my corns, I propose to let them know it.
I found out who my friends were when I drove Mr. Hennesy's mules. It
was perfectly honourable work, you know, but not elegant. A fellow's
better off without fine-feather friends. He has the courage, then, to
be what he is,--and stands a better chance of amounting to something."
"Well, I dare say you are right," said Margaret, "and if you are
not,--it would be impossible to make either you or Billy over, so
what's the use of arguing? Here is Brown's drug store. Will you step
out and give them this bottle, Ted? It will take some time to put up
the prescription, so tell them they may deliver it."
Theodore's face changed. He was on the point of saying, "I don't
go to Brown's,"--but he would a little rather Margaret should not
know that story. After all, why should he not go? It certainly would
not improve Mr. Brown's opinion of his character if he avoided the
place. He gave the reins into Margaret's hand, took the bottle and
disappeared into the store.
There were two or three customers being waited upon,--the clerks were
in their usual places,--Mr. Brown was at the desk. He took the bottle
to the prescription clerk. "When it is ready, send it up to Mr. Van
Courtland's," he said, and was turning away when Mr. Brown called him.
"I have a letter here for you," he said, fumbling among the papers on
his desk, "that I had just written and was about to send. Yes,--this
is it,--merely asking you to call at the store." He opened the money
drawer, took out five dollars, and shoved it toward Theodore. "Mrs.
Thorpe found that bill a few days after you were there. It had
slipped under the lining of her purse. She has been away all summer,
so she only had an opportunity of returning it to me a day or two
ago."
Mr. Brown was returning to his books, and Theodore took the bill
with heightened colour. "I hope, sir," he said, "that this entirely
establishes my honesty in your mind?"
"I never doubted it," said Mr. Brown. "You took the affair a little
too hard. Remember, you discharged yourself. If you should want your
job back again next Spring, I'll try to let you have it. I don't
think you will ever lose another bill."
"Thank you, sir," said Theodore, and passed out. He sprang into the
cart beside Margaret, and gave the astonished Patsy a vigourous slap
with the lines.
"Why, what's the matter?" said Margaret. "Your eyes are as shiny, and
your cheeks as red----"
"I don't mind telling you the story now," said Theodore. "I went into
that store wearing convict's stripes, figuratively speaking, and I've
come out without 'em. My character is cleared, but I've a notion it
will take some time for my shaved hair and my self-respect to grow
again."
CHAPTER XXI
HALLOWE'EN
"Never since the world began
Has been such repartee;
And never till the next begins
Will greater things be done by man
Than this same company."
"I'M going to have a party to-night," announced Theodore, coming into
the study on a morning in late October. Mrs. Lee and the two girls
looked up from their work in astonishment. "To-night!" they said in
chorus.
"I think it's about my turn to 'entertain,'" went on Ted in a mock
aggrieved tone. "Father opened the house to the Guild last week,
mother had the Mothers' Meeting here yesterday, Beatrice has company
all the time, and I'm still picking peanut shells, left from Miss
Billy's Lawn Fête, out of the grass. Don't you think that I deserve a
'function' to-night?"
"It seems to me that your arrangements are being made rather late in
the day," laughed Mrs. Lee. "One usually plans for a party a day or
two beforehand."
"Not for this kind of an entertainment," explained Theodore. "This is
a sudden inspiration of mine--planned 'on the spur of the instant,'
as Mrs. Canary would say. If you'll let me use the gasoline range
to-night, that's all I'll ask. I'm going to give a pancake party."
"What's a pancake party?" inquired Miss Billy.
"Hist!" returned Theodore mysteriously. "'Tell it not in Gath,
publish it not in the streets of Ascalon,' is my motto. The ghosts
and the witches walk abroad to-night, and we shall fitly celebrate.
So much you shall know and no more. Miss Billy, if you offer to
make me a rarebit in your chafing dish to-night, I shall courteously
accept; and mother, a bottle of stuffed olives, three bunches of
radishes and a fruit cake would be delicate attentions on your part."
"Whom are you going to invite?" asked Beatrice.
"Oh, Margaret, of course, and Lindsay, and our friend John Thomas,
and I suppose Mary Jane."
"But that won't make enough men to go around."
"Oh, you and Mary Jane can divide Mr. Lindsay," said Ted carelessly.
"He's big enough to make two."
Beatrice left the room, and Ted went to his father's desk, where he
laboured painfully over the following poetical effusion:
"Theodore Lee would like to see you at his home on Friday. Please
come at eight, and do not wait to make yourself too tidy. For spells
and tricks are apt to fix your clothes in sad condition; and folks,
I ween, on Hallowe'en are not on exhibition."
* * * * *
Beatrice, coming downstairs at eight o'clock that evening, to assist
in receiving the guests, found Miss Billy seated on the hearth rug,
while Ted bedecked her hair with an artistic arrangement of feathers
pulled out of the duster.
The elder sister looked disturbed. "Goodness!" she said. "Don't let
Ted do that. I hope you're not intending to wear those things."
"Why not?" said Miss Billy carelessly. "The feather duster's
moulting, anyway."
"It isn't the duster I'm thinking of. It's you. Why _will_ you be so
ridiculous before visitors?"
"Oh, pshaw," exclaimed Miss Billy impatiently. "I'm doing it for fun.
The 'visitors' are only girls and boys."
"Mr. Lindsay is twenty-four," replied Beatrice with dignity, "and I
am not a child."
"Oh, ho!" jeered Ted, "you're both Methusalehs! Lindsay's got more
sense than most people of his age. He's more like sixteen than
twenty-four."
Miss Billy had already removed the towering plumes.
"I love my darling sister so
That I would much for her forego,"
she chanted. "There goes the door bell. Ted, you're the footman?"
"By all the powers above!" exclaimed Ted, as he swung open the door
in mock ceremony. "Mr. Francis Lindsay, in a full suit of evening
clothes! Such splendour! I'm glad now I blacked my shoes. Miss Billy,
don't you wish you'd braved Bea's jeers and worn your ostrich tips?"
"To the horror of all who were present that day
He uprose in full evening dress,
And with senseless grimaces endeavoured to say
What his tongue could no longer express,"
quoted Francis. "Am I or am I not to come in? Good-evening, Miss
Billy, good-evening, Miss Lee."
Beatrice looked critically at the tall figure bending over her
sister's hand. In his evening clothes Mr. Schultzsky's grand-nephew
was a fine looking man, she owned to herself, and her voice was
unusually cordial as she added her greeting to Miss Billy's.
At the stroke of eight Margaret appeared, and John Thomas soon
followed, in a high state of collar and excitement. "Mary Jane wasn't
ready to come with me," he announced cheerfully. "She was prinking
before the glass when I went by her room, and she said she couldn't
fix her hair. She'll be along."
His prediction was verified by a faint jingle of the door bell. A
moment later Marie Jean's shrill voice was heard in the hall. "Oh,
thank you, Mr. Theodore, don't mention it, please. I'm _so_ sorry to
have kept you waiting. Where shall I lay my cloak?" The little group,
gathered round the first fall fire, fell apart to permit the entrance
of the last guest.
It was Marie Jean, but transformed. She wore the trailing silk skirt,
and a bodice of showy pink taffeta, but the heavy frizzes were gone.
Her hair was parted as smoothly and evenly as Margaret's own, and
the German braids lent new character to her face. She glanced in
some surprise at Beatrice's simple grey-blue gown, and surveyed
Miss Billy's scarlet waist with disapproval. The plain elegance of
Margaret's tailor suit utterly escaped her, but her eyes brightened
as she beheld Francis' pearl studs. "He's got a genuine swallow
tail," she said to herself. "I'm glad I dressed up."
"Come into the kitchen," announced the host, leading the way to the
rear of the house. "This is the scene of our operations. Lindsay,
how we are to manage such elegance as yours and Miss Marie Jean's,
I don't see. You'll have to be aproned, each one of you." He handed
Marie Jean and Margaret long gingham aprons, and then to the
amusement of all proceeded to array Francis' six foot length in one
of Bea's daintiest and most be-ruffled pinafores.
"The gasoline stove is for the fudge, which you, John Thomas, will
find already mixed, in the pantry," continued Ted. "The range is
ready for the pancakes, which you, Francis, are to bake during your
leisure moments this evening. In the meantime, we will try what fate
has in store for us."
There was a little thrill of expectation as Miss Billy and Theodore
appeared, bearing a tub partly full of water, with a number of
rosy cheeked apples floating on the surface. "Dive for your fate,"
commanded Ted. "The red apples are for the girls, the yellow ones
for the boys. Your intended's name you'll find within." There was
a dashing and splashing after the little buoys of fate, and even
Beatrice and Marie Jean lost their dignity as the apples slipped time
after time from the inviting crunch of their teeth. Margaret secured
the first--a big red apple labelled "The Count," John Thomas drew
"Miss Billy," and Ted made a wry face as he read "Myrtle Blanchard"
on the yellow Baldwin that floated in his clutch.
"Let's try the next test before we go to cooking," said Miss Billy,
producing a tray which held seven miniature ships. Each was made of
the half of an English walnut shell, and held an inch of wax taper in
its tiny hold.
"Choose your colour," directed the hostess, "and launch your ship
on the sea of life. If the light burns steadily till the wax is all
melted, and the boat rides the waves safely, you are assured a long
and happy life. If two boats come together and continue to sail about
side by side their owners will pass much of their life together. Two
boats in collision means a quarrel. A boat that touches frequently at
the sides of the tub predicts many short voyages for the owner, but a
bold vessel that goes to the other side promises a life of adventure
and travel. All aboard!"
One by one the small crafts were launched on the sea, and the owners
hung over the tub awaiting the result with eagerness.
Margaret's capsized early in the course. Francis' and Marie Jean's
crept along side by side, Theodore's and John Thomas' collided,
and Miss Billy's travelled independently and speedily across the
tub despite the sly efforts of Ted to turn its course. There was
much teasing and laughing before the boats dropped their anchors.
Theodore, who carried the tub to the kitchen, returned with a small
iron vessel, a long-handled spoon, and a cup of water.
"This is the truest test of fate," he announced. "The melted lead
dropped into the water will foretell every man's destiny with
neatness and despatch. Strike, while the iron--and lead--is hot. Your
turn first, 'oh rare pale Margaret.'"
The group left the fudge to the mercy of the fire and surrounded
Theodore. The lead dropped into the cup of water, and Ted peeped
cautiously into the bottom. "The fates speak truly," he announced
solemnly. "It's a cabbage--thrown at your first concert, I suppose.
Miss Marie Jean, the next spoonful is for you. Here it is, but I'll
be switched if I know _what_ it is."
John Thomas peered over his shoulder. "It's a hand glass," he
announced.
"So it is," assented Ted. "I suppose you'll be a professional beauty
like Mme. de Staël or Maxine Elliott. You may take the lead for a
memento. Beatrice, step up to the front. Hail, all hail, you have
won--a man,--a nice big fellow with a football."
"That must be you, Francis," said John Thomas, looking up at the tall
athlete at his side.
Beatrice looked annoyed, and Francis' usually calm face reddened
suddenly. Miss Billy's quick wits detected confusion in the air, and
she stepped forward hastily. "Now me," she said.
Theodore dropped a spoonful of lead in the water, and it sank with a
heavy thump.
"The man with a hoe! Or perhaps it's Mr. Schultzsky with his crutch
instead," announced Ted. "This is for you, John Thomas--a nice round
dollar. That means that one of these days you'll have money instead
of lead to put in the fire.... Now Mr. Lindsay, leave your griddle
and behold."
"A lead maiden!" said Margaret, as the metal hardened into a graceful
shape in the bottom of the cup. "A bride, I declare! See her bouquet."
"Last but not least," announced Ted cheerfully, "is the fate of Mr.
Theodore Somers Lee, one of the most charming and delightful members
of our little circle. He deserves the best that the gods can provide.
What have we here? A book! I bet it's a Bible. I have always had
a secret longing for the life of a missionary. There's a cry from
Macedonia, and I shall turn out immediately."
"It's more likely to be a bed than a Bible," announced Miss Billy
witheringly. "Then you'll turn in, not out."
"Why is a boy pigeon-toed at night?" improvised Theodore. "Because he
turns in."
There was a chorus of groans in reply. "That is the way we roast
chestnuts on Hallowe'en," said Francis wickedly.
"Isn't it time to put on the pancakes?" said John Thomas. "The fudge
is almost done."
"That's my work," said Francis. "Miss Billy, did you say there was a
ring in the batter? What is it for?"
Miss Billy had brought out a bag of chestnuts, and was placing them
in a long row on the top of the stove.
"The one who gets the ring is to be married first," she said. "But
we'll try the chestnut charm before the cakes are ready,--if you can
stand the smoke."
"What is the test?" asked Margaret.
"Name the two nuts," explained Ted, "one for yourself and one for
'your steady.' If they roast quietly and gently your affair will be
long and tranquil; if they burst or fly apart, there will be troubles
in the family."
The circle of young people gathered closer, and watched the little
emblems of friendship. The fire crackled and burned brighter, and a
silence fell upon the room. One by one the chestnuts popped and flew
off, until only the two named by Miss Billy were left. They burned
quietly side by side until Francis pushed them, fully roasted, into
the owner's lap.
"You are the happy one," he said. "For whom were they named?"
"I shall never tell," declared Miss Billy.
Four great stacks of smoking cakes were carried into the dining room,
where Miss Billy's chafing dish was already burning. Mrs. Lee had
evidently lent her assistance, for added to Theodore's menu was a
large plate of sandwiches and a pitcher of hot chocolate.
The hungry people gathered around the table; and the brown pancakes,
covered with butter and smothered in maple syrup, received much
commendation. While they were at the table the doorbell rang. Mrs.
Lee, who had answered the bell, came into the dining room with a
large basket in her hand, and a puzzled expression on her face.
"There was no one at the door," she said. "Only this basket. It has
your name on it, Wilhelmina."
Miss Billy lifted the cover and peered in. "What on earth!" she
began. She lifted out a curious little package labelled "Miss
Margaret Van Courtland." "This is evidently for you," she said as
she peered in again. "But there are a whole lot of others. One for
each of us." She distributed the parcels to the party, while Margaret
dubiously opened the square bundle that had been handed to her.
A small pasteboard box labelled "Burke's Peerage" was exposed to
view. The following poem accompanied it:
"A maiden named Peggy Van C----
Sailed far from New York State and me!
And she played the pianner,
And won prize and banner,
In ev'ry conservato-ree.
"But my honest American name
She spurned to my sorrow and shame,
For she said 'I shan't marry
With Tom, Dick and Harry,
I'm looking for much higher game.
"'With my excellent banking account
To royalty's height I may mount.'
She ran into her fate,
But discovered too late
He was called in Burke's book--no (a) count."
"Congratulations, Ted," said Margaret. "I recognise your dainty touch
in this."
Ted looked innocent.
"Why should all blame and anger dread
Fall straight upon my luckless head?"
he murmured. "John Thomas, I see you drew a prize. What is it?"
John Thomas had been examining his parcel, and his face was very red.
He held up two scarlet hearts impaled on a long tin arrow.
"I don't want to read the po'try," he said bashfully.
"Oh, yes," begged Miss Billy. "Go on, John Thomas. What do _you_
care? It's all in fun."
The boy unfolded the paper obediently.
"He lives next door to Billy Lee,
He smiles at her incessantly,
His name they say is Hennes-sy,
And John.
"He little knows her temper bad,
He's never seen her when she's mad.
Misguided youth! His lot is sad,----
Poor John."
"Nonsense," said Miss Billy. "Your sentiments are as bad as your
poetry, Ted. What's yours, Bea?"
Beatrice had a pair of huge scarlet carpet slippers, ornamented with
a large bow of ribbon. Theodore read the verses:
"A pair of red slippers hung high in a shop,
Sing hey for the slippers so red!
And a maid passed that way and I saw the maid stop,
'I'll buy me the slippers,' she said.
"The pair of red slippers came down from the shelf,
Sing hey for the slippers so small!
And the maiden remarked, undertone, to herself,
'They'll look awful swell at a ball.'
"The pair of red slippers were jaunty and low,
Sing hey for the slippers so gay!
'But I don't want buckles, I wanted a bow,'
I heard the maid woefully say.
"The pair of red slippers were wrapped up and tied,
Sing hey for the pocketbook low!
And a youth who was near sauntered home at her side,
So the maid got the slippers and beau."
Marie Jean unwrapped her package with an expectant expression. A
large beet, cut in half, and carefully stuck together with toothpicks
surrounded the following verse:
"There's a secret in my heart, Sweet Marie,
A tale I would impart, love, to thee.
Every lad in Cherry Street
Kneels in ardour at thy feet,
You've a face that can't be beet, Sweet Marie."
"I never heard such wretched puns," declared Margaret. "There's one
consolation,--there _can't_ be anything worse than that. What's
yours, Mr. Francis?"
Francis bowed gallantly to Miss Billy. "Ladies first," he said.
A small green watering pot was unrolled from a newspaper, and several
verses tumbled out.
"Mistress Billy,
Pray don't be chilly!
How does your garden grow?
With beautiful posies
And lilies and roses,
And sunflowers all in a row.
"Mistress Billy
I must rhyme--willy nilly,--
How does your garden grow?
With small smiling faces
All found in their places
And little ones all in a row.
"Mistress Billy,
Don't think me silly
Thus does your garden grow,
With hard work and duty
And sweetness and beauty,
And faith, hope, and love in a row."
Miss Billy's voice shook a little as she finished reading, and there
was something suspiciously shiny in her eyes as she glanced at her
brother. But Ted was looking serenely the other way.
Francis' package held a fat pocketbook labelled:
"Sing a song of sixpence.
Pocketful of mon.,
Rent day Francis has it all,
Cherry Street has none.
Never mind! His praises loud
Cherry Street doth sing--
Francis may not be a count,
But he is a king."
"Goodness!" said the reader, "I don't know whether I dare eat another
cake after that. I'm already bursting with _pride_; Miss Billy,
won't you share this with me?" He held out the last pancake on the
plate invitingly. Miss Billy's knife divided it evenly and a slender
circlet tinkled out on the dish.
"The ring!" said Marie Jean. "You'll have to draw lots."
"Or else share your fate," suggested Margaret.
"Now me," said Ted in a tone of mock anticipation. "You haven't seen
my souvenir yet." He unrolled a box of French bonbons, and passed it
around the table, as he read:
"There was a young person named Ted.
'I'll write some fine doggerel,' he said.
But his verse read aloud
In the midst of the crowd
Was all pronounced mongrel instead."
"And that's the truest one of all," said Margaret.
CHAPTER XXII
WAITING
"The strange white solitude of peace
That settles over all."
"IF it was anybody else but Miss Billy," sighed Mrs. Canary.
Mrs. Hennesy pulled her shawl down over her swollen eyes, and made no
reply.
"I've just been in there, an' her fever's higher. She just raved an'
tossed all night," went on Mrs. Canary.
"I was on me way there, now," said Mrs. Hennesy,--"but I guess I'll
not go in, afther hearing how she is. Folks around a sick house is
only a clutter."
"I know it,--but I can't hardly keep away. Seems as if I _must_ do
something fer that poor lamb, after all the times she's helped me,
takin' care of the childurn an' all. She's just worked herself to
death tryin' to keep Cherry Street clean, an' all this summer, that's
what she has,--an' no pertic'lar thanks fer it, neither."
"I guess it's not all work that's done it," said Mrs. Hennesy
significantly. "It's that ould ciss-pool between us and the Lee's
that's been p'isoning her. The wondher is we're not all dead. And
afther all the times we've spoke about it to old man Schultzsky, too.
Well, I hope he'll mate his reward in the nixt wurld, if he don't in
this."
"Do you know, they say he feels awful bad about it. Just walks 'round
like a hen on a hot griddle. Don't ask fer no news of her, but
just can't settle down easy anywhere. I should think he _would_ be
_prosterated_ with grief! An' he wouldn't be the only one! Everybody
on the street feels the same way. Her sickness has just cast a
shadder over everything. I never seen the beat of it."
Mrs. Hennesy's broad Irish face grew almost beautiful in its
tenderness. "I feel like she was wan av me own," she said softly.
"No wan, not even the dear child herself, knows what she has done
for us! John Thomas hasn't spoke a word about the house for a wake.
Miss Billy has done wondhers for that bye. If you could see him
workin' over his lessons, an' tidyin' up the yard, an' trainin' up
the few bits of vines he's planted! An' Mary Jane, she didn't like
her at first, but sure her heart is broke now. As for Mr. Hennesy and
mesilf,--well, there's no way to tell how we feel about it."
"I guess we're all mournin' together," said Mrs. Canary. "Mr. Canary
wouldn't tech fish fer dinner,--Holly Belle is all stuffed up with
tears, an' Friddie hangs round their door till I just expect Mis'
Lee'll throw water on him to git red of him. The children are all
a-prayin' for her ev'ry night, an' if God kin resest their innercent
pleadin' it's more'n I could do."
"It's Cherry Street that's nadin' her more than Hivin does," said
Mrs. Hennesy.
"I guess it does!" exclaimed Mrs. Canary fervently. "We can't do
without her. The children just fairly adore her image, the big boys
and girls all love her, and the fathers and mothers need her the most
of all. If she'd never done a thing fer us but to show that pretty
smile of hers, an' let us see her eyes shine, an' hear her sweet
voice, we'd miss her enough: but rememberin' all she _has_ done----"
Words failed the good woman, and her sentence ended abruptly.
"I suppose there's not a thing a person could do to help," said Mrs.
Hennesy.
"Not a thing. The house is full of flowers, and things to eat.
They've got a nurse that looks like striped stick candy, an' two
doctors, an' more offers of help than they know what to do with.
There ain't a thing _we_ can do but watch--an' pray. An' if the Lord
sees fit to call her Home----"
But Mrs. Hennesy, drawing the shawl again over her eyes, turned away.
* * * * *
The mist of Indian summer lay like a veil over Cherry Street. Out
in the garden Miss Billy's flowers were still blooming. The vines
were breaking into crisp little tendrils about her window, the La
France rose bush was heavy with buds, and the grass was as green and
tender as when her feet had last pressed it. Miss Billy's friend,
the bulldog, slept serenely on the Lee porch, and her canary trilled
softly in the autumn sunshine.
Life seemed to have vanished from the street itself. Down near the
Levi house two wooden saw-horses and a plank had been placed across
the road to block all traffic, and Policeman Canary paced back and
forth to ward off intruders. Grocery boys and butcher lads came and
went on foot, and the children who played in the back yards were
hushed and subdued by watchful parents "for Miss Billy's sake."
Silence reigned everywhere, and the chirping of the twittering
sparrows, that _could_ not be hushed, was the only sound that broke
the stillness.
Upstairs, in the little green room, where the only movement was
the stirring of the thin curtains in the soft wind, lay the girl
herself. The active feet were quiet, the busy hands were folded and
the dancing eyes were closed. There was nothing about the passive
figure that was like Miss Billy. Even the mass of copper-brown hair
had been cut away. But this death-like stupor was less terrifying
than the intervals of raging fever in which Miss Billy laughed, sang
and talked, and lived over and over again her girlish trials and
hopes and fears.
"It's such hard work," she would say, tossing restlessly from side
to side in the little bed. "Such hard work! Mr. Schultzsky, it's a
lie, I tell you. He didn't hit your horse, I saw it all! It's a lie,
I tell you. I didn't mean to hurt you! It's my fault, though, not
Ted's!... Oh, Ted, you didn't need to step on my grass seed. Why
won't you let things grow? It's so hot, so hot, here. Beatrice, you
needn't be so mean! He's a friend of mine. Why won't you be kind to
him? Please do, please do. He's helped me so."
Then the busy brain would go back to the old life:
"Myrtle Blanchard called us poor. I don't want to be poor. I hate it.
I hate Cherry Street! I hate heat! I'm _so_ tired!"
It was when the fever was at its height that the family first guessed
the depth of Miss Billy's feeling, for in her delirium she talked
wildly of wanting to go back "home," away from Cherry Street, to
where everything was "quiet and clean." She longed for Margaret's
home-coming, and begged piteously that the Blanchards might not "come
in." And then the wild look would disappear, and she would drop back
on the pillow with the same old pathetic cry: "I'm so tired. _So_
tired."
So day after day passed. Delirium, restlessness, pain and weakness
filled Miss Billy's waking hours, and the only peace came when
she sank into a deep stupor, which was almost as fearful to the
watchers. The work of the Improvement Club had been abandoned. Ted
applied himself industriously to school, and Beatrice found her only
comfort in doing housework that gave her no time to think, and left
her so physically tired at night that sleep came, after all. Mrs.
Van Courtland almost lived at the house, and Margaret, Francis and
John Thomas came daily, to hear the reports and bring comfort and
help. The members of the Child Garden hung about the gate, begging
for news, Mrs. Hennesy waylaid the doctor each morning, and Mrs.
Levi sent Moses to the door with a new dainty every day. The life
on Cherry Street seemed to centre about the one small room in the
old-fashioned house, and the whole street waited and hoped while the
autumn sped, and Miss Billy grew no better.
It was after one of the worst days that Beatrice crept out of the
room, with her heart full, and her eyes overflowing with tears. She
felt her way blindly downstairs, and almost bumped into Francis, who
was standing in the dark hall.
"I didn't ring," he said. "How _is_ the little girl?"
Beatrice sat down on the stairs, and grasped the railing tightly as
though its dumb wood could offer her some help and support.
"Worse," she said.
Francis' face looked his sympathy.
"_How_ is she worse?" he asked.
"She's been raving for two hours. Dr. Lane has sent for Dr. Howitt.
Her temperature has never been so high."
"Is she in great--danger?"
Beatrice nodded. "They don't say so, but----" Her voice failed her.
"Is there anything I can do?"
"Not a thing. The nurse is there, and mother and father don't leave
her for an instant. She doesn't even need me. If there was anything
to be done,--but to sit and wait is so awful!--I'm going down now to
make a cup of tea for mother. She looks like a ghost."
"And so do you, poor little girl." He laid his strong brown hand over
the small white one on the railing. Beatrice sat still for a moment,
and then, laying her head on her arm, cried her heart out.
"I can't give her up," she sobbed wildly. "I can't! I can't! I never
knew before what she was to me. And all this summer when she has been
toiling away over her children and the weeds and the street, I have
sat and criticised, and discouraged her. I have been so selfish, so
small and so mean! Oh, I don't deserve to have Miss Billy, but if she
lives, I'll love God all my life. I can't spare her now."
Francis laid his hand softly upon the bowed golden head, and waited
until the paroxysm of sobs had passed.
"I can't tell you how sorry I am," he said gently. "I love Miss
Billy, too, you know. But there is nothing for us to do but wait
and--hope. I shan't give up yet. Come down with me and let me make
you the tea. You need it as much as your mother."
The night came down softly on Cherry Street. The shadows deepened and
the silver crescent of the new moon appeared in the sky. Dr. Howitt
arrived and went immediately to the sick room. The nurse passed
through the hall with a glass of wine. Supper was announced, and was
cleared away untasted. Beatrice and Theodore sat silently in the
study. At nine o'clock the nurse came down the stairs again.
"Mrs. Lee says for you both to go to bed. She will call you if
there's the slightest change. If you can get any sleep, so much the
better. And Mr. Theodore, there's a boy out in the yard."
Beatrice obediently followed the nurse upstairs, and Ted went quietly
out of the door. A dark figure could be dimly seen striding up and
down in the faint light cast from Miss Billy's room. Theodore rounded
the porch, and stopped the shadowy form in its march. It was John
Thomas.
"How is she?" he whispered.
Ted shook his head despairingly, without a word.
"You'd better go to bed," said John Thomas.
"So had you," returned Ted.
"I can't sleep," exclaimed the figure.
Ted turned stiffly. "Neither can I," he said. His feet seemed to
tangle in the wet grass as he walked toward the house again.
"So long," said John Thomas hoarsely.
"So long," returned Theodore.
A restless sleep had just fallen on Theodore when there was a light
rap on the door. "Come," said the nurse. "There is a change. Your
mother has sent for you. As quiet as possible, please." The boy flung
on his bath robe, and hurried into the hall. Beatrice had just come
out from her room. The sister and brother clasped hands and went on
together.
In Miss Billy's room the light had been turned very low. Dr. Howitt
had gone. The family doctor stood near the window. Mr. Lee sat by the
bedside with a look upon his worn face that the children had never
seen. His wife was on her knees, with one of the pale hands clasped
in her own, as though the mother's grasp would hold the child in
spite of Death. A soft grey shadow seemed to have fallen over Miss
Billy's face, and she lay in deep stupor.
The little group gathered around the bed, and waited. The minutes
slowly passed, Miss Billy's small clock ticking them off with an
intensity that was almost painful.
* * * * *
The grey light began to grow in the eastern window, and a soft breeze
blew in from the lake. The glimmer of the lamp paled as the room grew
lighter. Afar off a dog barked, and one of Mr. Hennesy's roosters
heralded the coming of the new day. The first glow of red light had
appeared in the sky, when Miss Billy moved slightly in the bed.
"Mother," she whispered. Then she opened her eyes wide, with a hint
of the old-time smile. "Has the morning come?" she asked. "I've had
bad dreams."
CHAPTER XXIII
CONCLUSION
"Against the whiteness of the wall
Be living verdure seen,--
Sweet summer memories to recall,
And keep your Christmas green."
ALL through the long hot summer months Miss Billy had been doing what
she could for Cherry Street. Now Cherry Street was doing what it
could for Miss Billy.
"Grass, is it, she'd be afther loikin' to see, whin she gits up?"
said Mr. Hennesy. "Sure an' we're ploughin' good sod undher iv'ry day
av our lives,--loads av it. John Thomas, see that ye bring home a
wagon load of it 'ach noight, an' O'il be doin' the same."
John Thomas brought the sod, and the street fell to with a will. Dusk
fell earlier than in the summer, but there was still time left after
the day's labour was over and the supper cleared away. The children
dug and raked the hard soil, and the men rolled the velvety sod into
strips of green parking bordering the sidewalks, and spread it into
green lawns in their own dooryards. The enthusiasm spread like a
fever. Aaron Levi's father brought home a can of paint, and began
experimentally to turn his shabby brown house into a white house with
green blinds. The street beheld, and hurried to do likewise, scarcely
waiting for Francis' assurance that every cent of expense should be
taken off the rent. Every house was freshly painted,--and because the
underlying thought was of Miss Billy, and because they thought she
would like it so, they painted uniformly white, with green blinds.
Besides all this, down the middle of the street a score of men, day
after day, threw up the rocky soil into long mounds, and at last
the sewer pipe that was to connect with every dwelling, was laid,
with all Cherry Street looking into the hole, as if it had been
the dedication of a church. No more cesspools and typhoid fever for
Cherry Street! It had been too near to losing Miss Billy. But Mr.
Schultzsky would have made the concession for none other.
The Street Improvement Club, cast at first into the depths of despair
at their brave little captain's grave illness, and raised now to
heights of enthusiasm by her convalescence, were everywhere! Chewing
gum wrappers were voted a nuisance: Paper bags were frowned upon:
Banana skins were not to be tolerated: Tomato cans were a crime!
Everywhere over the street presided a new goddess,--the Goddess of
Cleanliness,--while the girl who had wrought the change lay in the
little green room, being slowly nursed back to life.
It was after the Improvement Club, under the advice of Francis, had
taken the proceeds of the lawn social from the little tin box, and
invested it in young shade trees, that proudly skirted the sidewalks
twenty feet apart, that Francis snapped his final picture from the
head of the street. After it was developed he compared it to that
other taken on the August morning. The results appeared to satisfy
him. "They are an object lesson," he said, "fit to point a moral or
adorn a tale," and he mailed them in a big official looking envelope
to "Peter Hanson, Florist,--New York,--Prize Street Competition."
It was this very day, too, that Miss Billy was placed in an easy
chair, and taken to the window for the first time since her illness.
"Oh, it's such a green world, motherie mine; such a beautiful, sunny,
green world, that it hurts my eyes. And--why--but everything wasn't
all green like that when I went to bed. What can have happened!"
"That is enough for to-day," said the nurse authoritatively, and
Miss Billy was put back to bed. But she had caught a glimpse of
Mr. Schultzsky's house, and it was painted white!--Of the little
Bohemian maid swinging placidly to and fro in the rocking chair on
an immaculate little white porch!--Of a stretch of restful green
grass, where before had been weeds!--and right in the middle of the
front yard had bloomed a huge tub of scarlet geraniums! ("She will
like to see that," Francis had said,--and through the long beautiful
fall which stretched into December, he had placed a covering over the
flowers every night to protect them from possible frosts.) Miss Billy
had seen, and two hectic spots of excitement burned on her cheeks.
"Cherry Street is remodelled, inside and out," said Mrs. Lee gently.
"Francis has made Mr. Schultzsky see the expense of it in the
light of a sound business proposition, and the rest of it has been
done by the people themselves, for love of you. But there, little
daughter,--it's nothing to cry about!"
"I'm not crying," said Miss Billy valiantly, the big tears chasing
each other down her cheeks. "Don't you see that I'm laughing, and
happy, and thankful? Oh, it is so nice to come back to this dear,
beautiful world!"
There were informal receptions held in the little green room as she
grew daily stronger. Marie Jean, still with the trailing dresses, but
with the heavy frizzes forever gone,--John Thomas, freckled of face
and worshipful, alert to Miss Billy's slightest wish,--Mr. Hennesy,
brimful of cheer and whimsical philosophy,--Mrs. Hennesy, overflowing
with kindness and neighbourly apologies,--Mr. Schultzsky, stoical,
yet changed,--Holly Belle, who whispered with shy blushes that beside
her finger exercises Miss Margaret had given her a "piece," with
variations: and every day Margaret and Francis, and the members of
the Improvement Club, who sat about and gazed at Miss Billy restored
to them and were thankful.
It was the eighteenth of December when the first snow came sifting
down. It covered the green lawns, and wrapped the young shade trees,
and whitened the roofs of the little white houses. And not till then
did Cherry Street remember that summer was gone and Christmas was
near.
"We'll have a Christmas tree big enough for everybody," said
Theodore. "John Thomas and I will go out and buy the largest we can
find, and set it up in the parlour."
"Oh, it will be fine," said Margaret, clapping her hands. "Let us get
at it right away."
The Christmas tree was brought, a noble fir,--and set up in the
corner of the parlour amidst much bustle and confusion and laughter.
John Thomas popped the corn, Miss Billy threaded it in whitened
strings, Francis tacked up the evergreen boughs and holly, while
Beatrice assisted,--a pretty picture with the heavy foliage held high
above her head, and her sleeves falling away from her white arms.
Margaret, in the kitchen, was aiding Maggie in making the cherished
Christmas "pfeffernes," and as the little German cakes baked, the
sweet spicy smell filled the air.
Theodore, on a stepladder, was hanging the mistletoe. "It smells
Christmassy already," he announced hungrily. "Why doesn't Margaret
make a bushel of those things? I could eat all she has there at one
bite. Marie Jean, just hand me up a bit of that red ribbon, will you?"
Marie Jean's long arm stretched up the ladder, and Theodore leaned
down. There was a resounding smack, and Marie Jean, with a scream of
agitation, tripped over a rug and fell headlong into the arms of the
Christmas tree.
"Land o' love!" she ejaculated, extricating herself from the
branches. "Theodore Lee, I've a mind to slap you."
"The mistletoe hung in the castle hall,
The holly branch shone on the old oak wall,"
recited Theodore, putting as much feeling as he could into it without
swallowing the tacks in his mouth. "Marie Jean, I expect to slay my
thousands under this thing. But if you'd like to slap me, you can
come again and try it."
"No, thanks," said Marie Jean, settling her ruffled plumage with
dignity.
"Now," went on the irrepressible Theodore, "if good Kris Kringle
will only hang a wig on the Christmas tree for Miss Billy,--nothing
expensive or rich, of course, like her own hair was--but----"
Involuntarily Miss Billy's hands flew up to her shorn locks, but John
Thomas came sturdily to the defence.
"Miss Billy's a heap prettier with her hair short like that, and
curling all over her head in little rings. She wasn't half so pretty
when it was long."
"John Thomas," said Theodore, with a pitying stare, "it's my opinion
that you would think Miss Billy handsome if she was as bald as a
Chinese mandarin. It's a prominent symptom of the disease."
John Thomas returned abruptly to his popcorn, and Miss Billy, in the
absence of anything better, and with a flash of the old time fire in
her eyes, threw a handful of popcorn at the tormentor.
"Perhaps you would like to sample these cakes," said Margaret,
standing floury and smiling in the doorway, with a plate in her
hand. "Francis, it is less than six months ago that you and I sat in
the mud of a side street in Cologne, while a rain of these lovely
little cakes fell about our devoted heads. I little thought I should
be making some for you at Christmas time."
"We cannot foretell the future," said Theodore solemnly. "Next
Christmas--who knows?--we may all be in 'der faderland,' honourable
attachees of the household of the Count and Countess Lindsay. Miss
Billy can be 'lady in waiting,' and hold up your sky-blue green
pink train, Margaret,--and John Thomas can be Buttons at the front
door----"
"The last five months have certainly been an unexpected and pleasant
experience for me," interrupted Francis. "But play time is over. I
shall be off for New York Saturday."
"To stay--forever?" appealed Miss Billy piteously. "Oh, Francis,--I
can't spare you."
There were tears in her eyes, and he took the small white hand
between his own brown palms.
"Not forever, Miss Billy," he said gently. "I hope to come back
again,--many times; and some of the goodness, and brightness, and
helpfulness of Cherry Street shall always be with me, wherever I am."
"And I," said Margaret, with a little sigh, "shall return to Cologne
next month; I, too, shall miss Cherry Street, but nothing shall
sadden me now that Billy is well."
"I have a lump in my throat as I dwell upon the inevitableness of
human destiny," said Theodore. "But honestly, Lindsay, we shall miss
you. As for you, Margaret,
"Maid of _Col_-ogne, ere we part,
Give, O give me back my heart."
"You gave it to Marie Jean the night of the lawn social," rejoined
Margaret promptly. "I didn't want it, you know,--it was so warm and
sticky."
"And I didn't know what to do with it, so I ate it," said Marie Jean,
with a giggle. "I remember it was flavoured with peppermint."
"Cannibal!" murmured Theodore,--and lapsed into injured silence.
Beatrice and Francis had returned to the holly wreaths. "We shall be
sorry to have you go," she said, her eyes on the branches in her lap.
"What you said about Cherry Street made me want to cry. I, certainly,
in the past, have not been a part of the goodness and brightness
and helpfulness. Before you go, let me tell you I am sorry for
everything."
"And I am glad." He took from her lap as he spoke a bit of the holly
and broke it in two. "Keep this," he said, "and I shall keep the
other half, 'sweet summer memories to recall,'--till I come again."
Christmas eve fell softly upon Cherry Street wrapped in its snowy
mantle, with a pale silver moon like a crescent of promise, shining
low down in the west.
"When I saw it last," said Holly Belle, "it was over my left
shoulder, and I thought Miss Billy was goin' to die."
"An' I heard the death tick in the wall," said Mrs. Canary, "an'
dreampt of white horses three nights hand runnin'. I never knew the
signs to fail before."
"Signs can't hurt Miss Billy," said Holly Belle with conviction, as
she hastened the little Canarys into their holiday attire. "She don't
believe in 'em--nor dream books, nor nothin'. An' I ain't a-goin' to
after this, neither."
"Holly Belle," said Mrs. Canary impressively, "the night yer
grandfather died I was a sittin' there by the window----"
"I don't care," broke in Holly Belle stoutly: ("Fridoline, hold up
yer chin! How can I fasten yer necktie when yer leanin' it down like
that!)--I don't care fer all the old signs in the world. Miss Billy
don't believe in 'em, an' I ain't a-goin' to, neither."
In the Hennesy home, Mr. Hennesy had brought out the ancient coat,
and was struggling into one of John Thomas's collars. It was fastened
at last, and Mr. Hennesy regarded his appearance in the glass with
interest. "All Oi do be nadin'," he commented, "is a check rein
from the top av me head to me shoulder blades, to make me be lookin'
loike a four-year-old colt. John Thomas, wan av these days whin ye go
to bite off a bit av tough mate, ye'll hit on wan av these aidges an'
cut yer jugglery vein. Moind now, what O'im sayin'."
[Illustration: "All Oi do be nadin'" ... "is a check rein from the
top av me head to me shoulder blades."]
At Number 12 Cherry Street there was warmth and light and glow.
Out in the kitchen the smiling Maggie presided over two boilers of
coffee and a table full of iced cakes and confections. As the guests
began to arrive the folding doors between the minister's study and
the parlour were thrown open, and the Christmas tree, glowing with
coloured balls and wax tapers, stood revealed. The Street Improvement
Club, to a man, greeted the glittering spectacle with delight,
but the ecstasy of some of the younger members became suddenly
extinguished in their mothers' skirts at the sudden appearance of an
exceedingly corpulent Saint Nicholas in the parlour door.
"Ladies and Gentlemen,--Members of the Street Improvement Club and
Fellow Citizens:" began the jolly Saint, keeping his whiskers applied
with one hand, and gesticulating gracefully with the other;--"Owing
to a stringency in the money market, this tree is mostly made up
of tarlatan bags containing nuts, candy and popcorn, with verses
of excellent poetry thrown in. You will observe that the greater
share of the gifts seem to be for the children, and for young ladies
between the ages of sixteen and twenty,--but there are a few trinkets
for all, and plenty of good will beside."
Here the good Saint paused, and was obliged to hold on his whiskers
with both hands, and he viewed the facial contortions of Ikey Levi,
who wanted to cry and was afraid the Saint might not like it.
"I find here, attached to one of the most prominent branches," went
on Saint Nicholas, "a charming female savage in a short skirt and
a feather head-dress. It is marked 'for Marie Jean Hennesy, from
Theodore L--.' It also bears this inscription:
"This tender maid of dusky shade,
Eats lovers' hearts,--beware!
She'll take them raw, like cabbage slaw,
Or overdone or rare.
"Will Miss Hennesy step up to receive her gift? I regret that Mr.
Theodore cannot be with us this evening to receive his thanks in
person.
"Here also, is a beautiful toy omnibus, from the same benevolent
source, with a pair of spirited horses attached, and a handsome
driver atop. It is marked 'Miss Billy,' and the following tender
verse accompanies it:
"A maiden once reasoned her thus--
'I think I shall hire a whole bus:'
She rode on the top, and the people did stop
And declared that it couldn't be wuss!
"I regret that I do not find a snuff box on the boughs for Herr
Lindsay. In its absence I shall beg him to accept the trifling gift
of this tin trumpet, that he may be able to blow his own horn when
he is far away, and Cherry Street can no longer blow it for him. Is
Mr. Lindsay present?"
The gifts were being rapidly distributed, and the jolly Saint's
charming speeches could no longer be heard above the happy talk and
laughter. Holly Belle hugged a leather music roll and a copy of "Five
Little Peppers" to her breast, Ikey Levi played the long roll on a
red drum, Pius Coffey made his toilet before the wee-est of pocket
mirrors, with the wee-est of pocket combs, and Beatrice held a single
long-stemmed American Beauty rose in her hand, when Saint Nicholas
rapped loudly for order.
"I find here, on the very topmost bough," he announced, "a blue
envelope addressed to Miss Wilhelmina Lee, President of Cherry Street
Improvement Club. Open it and read it aloud, Miss Billy."
Miss Billy cut the sealed edge, and a slip of blue paper fluttered
to the floor. Then with surprise, delight, excitement and wavering
distrust in her tones, she read aloud the following letter:
"NEW YORK, _December 22, 19--_.
"MISS WILHELMINA LEE,
"_President Improvement Club,
"Cherry Street, J---- City_.
"DEAR MADAM:--
"We herewith enclose you our check for one hundred dollars,
as agreed by us in our prize offer of August last. The
pictures you sent easily won the prize for marked street
improvement, although there were many competitors. Wishing
you all success in your work,
"We are
"Very respectfully,
"PETER HANSON & CO.,
"Florists, New York."
"Is it a joke?" said Miss Billy, looking at Saint Nicholas as if she
didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
But the good Saint, holding his whiskers in his hand in the
excitement of the moment, had stooped to the floor for the bit of
blue paper, and was examining it closely in the glow of the tree.
"It's genuine, all right," he answered. "It's Peter Hanson's check
for one hundred dollars on the First National Bank of New York."
"It came this afternoon," said Francis smilingly,--"and knowing what
it might be, I received it and put it on the tree for you. I took the
last snap shot and sent it away while you were ill, Miss Billy."
A prolonged, mighty, deafening cheer went up from the assembled
throats of the Improvement Club,--a glorified cheer,--a cheer of
triumph, pride, and growing strength, with cat-calls innumerable
tacked on to the end. The astonished Maggie, entering the door with a
tray piled high with plates and napkins, was brushed lightly aside by
Mr. Hennesy.
"Clare the middle av the room," he shouted in stentorian tones: "I'm
a-goin' to cut a pigeon wing."
"Three cheers for Miss Billy," proposed Francis.
"And now a tiger for Francis," returned Miss Billy, and the hubbub,
but just ended, rose again.
"An' another fer the frinds av the Club," said Mr. Hennesy, shaking
hands right and left with everybody.
Saint Nicholas, with his whiskers readjusted, rapped once more for
order. "Let me suggest, my friends," he said, "that we give one last
lusty cheer for Cherry Street. One, two, three--_Now_!"
THE END
* * * * *
Dorothy South
A Love Story of Virginia Before the War
By GEORGE CARY EGGLESTON
Author of "A Carolina Cavalier"
Illustrated by C.D. Williams. 12mo, dark red cloth, portrait cover,
rough edges, gilt top, $1.50
THIS distinguished author gives us a most fascinating picture of
Virginia's golden age, her fair sons and daughters, beautiful,
picturesque homes, and the luxurious, bountiful life of the
old-school gentleman. Dorothy South has been described in these
characteristic words by Frank R. Stockton: "Learned, lovely; musical,
lovely; loving, lovely; so goes Dorothy through the book, and sad
would be the fate of poor Arthur Brent, and all of us, if she could
be stolen out of it." This is a typically pretty story, clear and
sweet and pure as the Southern sky.
Lothrop Publishing Company--Boston
* * * * *
A Carolina Cavalier
A Romance of the Carolinas
By GEORGE CARY EGGLESTON
Bound in red silk cloth, Illustrated cover, gilt top, rough edges.
Six drawings by C.D. Williams. Size, 5 × 7-3/4. Price $1.50
A strong, delightful romance of Revolutionary days, most
characteristic of its vigorous author, George Cary Eggleston. The
story is founded on absolute happenings and certain old papers of
the historic Rutledges of Carolina. As a love story, it is sweet
and true; and as a patriotic novel it is grand and inspiring.
The historic setting, and the fact that it is distinctively and
enthusiastically American, have combined to win instant success for
the book.
Louisville Courier Journal: "A fine story of
adventure, teeming with life and aglow with color."
Cleveland World: "There is action, plot, and fire.
Love and valor and loyalty play a part that enhances one's
respect for human nature."
Baltimore Sun: "The story is full of movement. It is
replete with adventure. It is saturated with love."
Lothrop Publishing Company--Boston
* * * * *
The Master of Warlock
By GEORGE CARY EGGLESTON, Author of "Dorothy South," "A
Carolina Cavalier." Six Illustrations by C.D. Williams.
12mo. Dark red cloth, illustrated cover, gilt top, rough
edges. Price, $1.50 each.
"THE MASTER OF WARLOCK" has an interesting plot, and is full of
purity of sentiment, charm of atmosphere, and stirring doings. One
of the typical family feuds of Virginia separates the lovers at
first; but, when the hero goes to the war, the heroine undergoes many
hardships and adventures to serve him, and they are happily united in
the end.
* * * * *
Dorothy South
A STORY OF VIRGINIA JUST BEFORE THE WAR
Baltimore Sun says:
"No writer in the score and more of novelists now exploiting the
Southern field can, for a moment, compare in truth and interest
to Mr. Eggleston. In the novel before us we have a peculiarly
interesting picture of the Virginian in the late fifties. We are
taken into the life of the people. We are shown the hearts of men
and women. Characters are dearly drawn, and incidents are skilfully
presented."
* * * * *
A Carolina Cavalier
A STIRRING TALE OF WAR AND ADVENTURE
Philadelphia Home Advocate says:
"As a love story, 'A Carolina Cavalier' is sweet and true; but as a
patriotic novel, it is grand and inspiring. We have seldom found a
stronger and simpler appeal to our manhood and love of country."
Lothrop Publishing Company--Boston
* * * * *
WHAT THE CRITICS SAY OF
_The_ SPENDERS
By HARRY LEON WILSON, Author of "The Lions of the
Lord." Red silk cloth, rough edges, picture cover. Six
illustrations by Rose Cecil O'Neill. Size, 5-1/4 by 7-3/4.
Postpaid, $1.50. 55th Thousand.
HARRY THURSTON PECK, in the _New York American_, says: "The
very best two books written by Americans during the past year have
been 'The Spenders,' by Harry Leon Wilson, and 'The Pit,' by Frank
Norris."
MARK TWAIN writes to the author: "It cost me my day yesterday.
You owe me $400. But never mind, I forgive you for the book's sake."
LOUISVILLE COURIER-JOURNAL says: "If there is such a thing
as the American novel of a new method, this is one. Absolutely to
be enjoyed is it from the first page to the last, founded on the
elemental truth that 'the man is the strongest who, Ancæan-like,
stands with his feet upon the earth.' It is the strong tale of
three generations, and told in the romances of the grandson and
granddaughter of the original rugged pioneer of the Western country,
Peter Bines."
THE BOOKMAN says: "Uncle Peter is a well-drawn, interesting,
picturesque, and, above all, a genuine American product.... The
dénouement is one that would be well worth reading for, even if the
body of the book were dull."
BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE says: "It is coruscating in wit, daring
in love, and biting in its palpable caricature of many well-known
persons in New York society; but it is so very much more than a
clever society novel making the bid of audacity for ephemeral craze."
CHICAGO RECORD-HERALD says: "Very few novels of the day have
the sterling strength, the force, and the roomy outlook of Harry Leon
Wilson's 'The Spenders.' Every page of it is virile, and, what is
more, it combines true insight into men with a strong humor."
CHRISTIAN HERALD says: "The character drawing throughout the
book is masterly, but Peter Bines deserves a slab in the literary
Hall of Fame."
Lothrop Publishing Company--Boston
* * * * *
The Lions of the Lord
By HARRY LEON WILSON
Author of "The Spenders." Six illustrations by Rose Cecil
O'Neill, bound in dark green cloth, illustrated cover,
12mo. $1.50, postpaid.
In his romance of the old West, "The Lions of the Lord," Mr. Wilson,
whose "The Spenders" is one of the successes of the present year,
shows an advance in strength and grasp both in art and life. It is
a thrilling tale of the Mormon settlement of Salt Lake City, with
all its grotesque comedy, grim tragedy, and import to American
civilization. The author's feeling for the Western scenery affords
him an opportunity for many graphic pen pictures, and he is equally
strong in character and in description. For the first time in a novel
is the tragi-comedy of the Mormon development adequately set forth.
Nothing fresher or more vital has been produced by a native novelist.
* * * * *
The Spenders
By HARRY LEON WILSON
55th Thousand
Author of "The Lions of the Lord." Red silk cloth, rough
edges, picture cover. Six illustrations by Rose Cecil
O'Neill. 12mo. $1.50, postpaid.
Mark Twain writes to the author: "It cost me my day yesterday.
You owe me $400. But never mind, I forgive you for the book's sake."
Louisville Courier-Journal says: "If there is such a thing as
the American novel of a new method, this is one. Absolutely to be
enjoyed is it from the first page to the last."
Harry Thurston Peck, in the New York American, says: "The very
best two books written by Americans during the past year have been
'The Spenders,' by Harry Leon Wilson, and 'The Pit,' by Frank Norris."
LOTHROP PUBLISHING COMPANY, BOSTON
* * * * *
Jezebel
A Romance in the Days When Ahab Was King
By LAFAYETTE McLAWS
Author of "When the Land Was Young"
Illustrated by Corwin K. Linson. 12mo, red cloth, illustrated cover,
rough edges, $1.50
THE promise in Miss McLaws's first book has been more than realized
in "Jezebel," a work of singular power and insight. It is a Biblical
tale of the days when Elijah was a prophet of Jehovah. When Ahab
comes to the throne, and Jezebel, his wife, sets up the worship of
Baal, the prophets and believers of Israel are incensed against the
queen; and Jezebel begins a fierce persecution of her enemies. This
contest is the chief motive of the story. Miss McLaws presents this
strong-willed, beautiful queen in a novel and striking manner; the
book is replete with dramatic situations, the action is rapid and
stirring, and the dénouement is original and startling.
Lothrop Publishing Company--Boston
* * * * *
When the Land was Young
Being the True Romance of Mistress Antoinette Huguenin and Captain
Jack Middleton
By LAFAYETTE McLAWS. Bound in green cloth, illustrated cover, gilt
top, rough edges. Six drawings by Will Crawford Size, 5 × 7-3/4.
Price, $1.50
[Illustration]
THE heroine, Antoinette Huguenin, a beauty of King Louis' Court, is
one of the most attractive figures in romance; while Lumulgee, the
great war chief of the Choctaws, and Sir Henry Morgan, the Buccaneer
Knight and terror of the Spanish Main, divide the honors with hero
and heroine. The time was full of border wars between the Spaniards
of Florida and the English colonists, and against this historical
background Miss McLaws has thrown a story that is absorbing,
dramatic, and brilliant.
NEW YORK WORLD:
"Lovely Mistress Antoinette Huguenin! What a girl she is!"
NEW YORK JOURNAL:
"A story of thrill and adventure."
SAVANNAH NEWS:
"Among the entertaining romances based upon the colonial
days of American history this novel will take rank as one
of the most notable--a dramatic and brilliant story."
ST. LOUIS GLOBE-DEMOCRAT:
"If one is anxious for a thrill, he has only to read a
few pages of 'When the Land was Young' to experience the
desired sensation.... There is action of the most virile
type throughout the romance.... It is vividly told, and
presents a realistic picture of the days 'when the land was
young.'"
Lothrop Publishing Company--Boston
* * * * *
The Captain
By CHURCHILL WILLIAMS, author of "J. Devlin--Boss."
Illustrated by A.I. Keller. 12mo. Dark red cloth,
decorative cover, rough edges. Price, $1.50 each.
WHO is the Captain? thousands of readers of this fine book will be
asking. It is a story of love and war, of scenes and characters
before and daring the great civil conflict. It has lots of color and
movement, and the splendid figure naming the book dominates the whole.
* * * * *
J. Devlin--Boss
A ROMANCE OF AMERICAN POLITICS. Blue cloth, decorative
cover. 12mo. Price, $1.50.
Mary E. Wilkins says:
"I am delighted with your book. Of all the first novels, I believe
yours is the very best. The novel is American to the core. The spirit
of the times is in it. It is inimitably clever. It is an amazing
first novel, and no one except a real novelist could have written it."
Lothrop Publishing Company--Boston
* * * * *
Judith's Garden
By MARY E. STONE BASSETT
With illustrations in color by George Wright. Text printed
in two colors throughout, with special ornamentation. 8vo,
light green silk cloth, rough edges, gilt top, $1.50
AN exquisite, delicious, charming book, as fresh as new-mown hay, as
fragrant as the odor from the garden of the gods. It is the story
of a garden, a woman, and a man. The woman is delicate and refined,
witty, and interesting; the man is Irish, funny, original, happy,--a
delicious and perfect foil to the woman. His brogue is stunning, and
his wit infectious and fetching. The garden is quite all right. There
is movement in the book; life is abundant, and it attracts. It will
catch the interest of every lover of flowers,--and their name is
legion,--and will delight and comfort every reader.
Lothrop Publishing Company--Boston
* * * * *
The Kidnapped Millionaires
A Story of Wall Street and Mexico
By FREDERICK U. ADAMS. 12mo, cloth, $1.50
ONE of the most timely and startling stories of the day. A plan to
form a great Newspaper Trust, evolved in the brain of an enterprising
special correspondent, leads to the kidnapping of certain leading
Metropolitan millionaires and marooning them luxuriously on a Mexican
headland; the results--the panic in Wall Street, the search for the
kidnapped millionaires, their discovery and rescue are the chief
motives of the story, which has to do also with trusts, syndicates,
newspaper methods, and all the great monetary problems and financial
methods of the day. The story is full of adventure, full of humor,
and full of action and surprises, while the romance that develops in
its progress is altogether charming and delightful.
Lothrop Publishing Company--Boston
[Transcriber's Note: Obvious printer errors and spelling/punctuation
inconsistencies have been corrected without note.]
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