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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/19988-h.zip b/19988-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..09983f0 --- /dev/null +++ b/19988-h.zip diff --git a/19988-h/19988-h.htm b/19988-h/19988-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..30e8c95 --- /dev/null +++ b/19988-h/19988-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5079 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Little Maid Marian, by Amy E. Blanchard. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + + p {margin-top: 1em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: 1em; + clear: both; + text-indent: 1em; + } + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + font-family: serif; + clear: both; + } + + hr {margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 5em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 0; + border-width: 1px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #3300ff; + clear: both; + } + + html, body {margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + height: 100%;} + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-collapse: collapse;} + + img {border-style: none; + } + + a[name] {position: absolute;} /* Fix Opera bug */ + + #div.auto {overflow: auto; height: 100%; clear: both;} + + .tda {text-align: right; padding-right: 2em; vertical-align: top;} + .tdb {text-align: left; vertical-align: top;} + .tdc {text-align: right; vertical-align: top;} + .tdcenter {text-align: center; vertical-align: top;} + .tdindent {padding-left: 2em; font-size: small; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;} + + + .block {margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + visibility: hidden; + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: x-small; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + .first {font-size: 105%; font-variant: small-caps;} + .center {text-align: center;} + .right {text-align: right;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .dropcap {text-indent: 0em; + float: left; + font-size: 4em; + font-weight: 500; + font-family: serif; + line-height: 83%; + } + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Little Maid Marian, by Amy E. Blanchard + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Little Maid Marian + +Author: Amy E. Blanchard + +Release Date: December 1, 2006 [EBook #19988] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE MAID MARIAN *** + + + + +Produced by Jacqueline Jeremy, Audrey Longhurst and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + +<div class="auto"> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="cover" id="cover"></a><img src="images/cover.jpg" title="cover" alt="cover" width="400" height="612" /> +</div> + + +<h1 style="margin-top: 5em; margin-bottom: 2em;"><i>LITTLE MAID MARIAN</i></h1> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illustration.jpg" title="illustration" alt="illustration" width="400" height="603" /><a href="#illustration"></a><h5>"<span class="smcap">Be Ye Removed Into the Midst of the Sea</span>"</h5> +</div> + +<h1 style="margin-top: 5em; margin-bottom: 0em; letter-spacing: 18px;">LITTLE MAID</h1> +<h1 style="margin-top: 0em; margin-bottom: 3em; letter-spacing: 18px;">MARIAN</h1> + +<h3>BY</h3> +<h2>AMY E. BLANCHARD</h2> +<h5><i>Author of "Little Sister Anne," "Mistress May," "Playmate<br /> +Polly," "Three Little Cousins," etc.</i></h5> + + +<h4 style="margin-top: 6em; word-spacing: 10px;">THE PENN PUBLISHING<br /> +COMPANY PHILADELPHIA</h4> + +<h5 style="margin-top: 10em;">Copyright, 1908, by<br /> +<span class="smcap">George W. Jacobs and Company</span><br /> +<i>Published July, 1908</i></h5> + +<h5 style="margin-top: 10em;"><i>All rights reserved</i> +Printed in U. S. A.</h5> + + +<hr style="width: 400px;" /> + +<h2><a name="contents" id="contents"></a>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table summary="table of contents"> +<colgroup span="3"> +<col width="40px"></col> +<col width="280px"></col> +<col width="40px"></col> +</colgroup> +<tr> +<td class="tda">I.</td> +<td class="tdb"><span class="smcap">A Mustard Seed</span></td> +<td class="tdc"><a href="#chapter_i">9</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tda">II.</td> +<td class="tdb"><span class="smcap">The School-Teacher</span></td> +<td class="tdc"><a href="#chapter_ii">27</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tda">III.</td> +<td class="tdb"><span class="smcap">A New Road</span></td> +<td class="tdc"><a href="#chapter_iii">47</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tda">IV.</td> +<td class="tdb"><span class="smcap">Companions</span></td> +<td class="tdc"><a href="#chapter_iv">67</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tda">V.</td> +<td class="tdb"><span class="smcap">Blackberries</span></td> +<td class="tdc"><a href="#chapter_v">87</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tda">VI.</td> +<td class="tdb"><span class="smcap">The White Apron</span></td> +<td class="tdc"><a href="#chapter_vi">105</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tda">VII.</td> +<td class="tdb"><span class="smcap">Patty's Letter</span></td> +<td class="tdc"><a href="#chapter_vii">125</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tda">VIII.</td> +<td class="tdb"><span class="smcap">A Trip to Town</span></td> +<td class="tdc"><a href="#chapter_viii">143</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tda">IX.</td> +<td class="tdb"><span class="smcap">A Visit to Patty</span></td> +<td class="tdc"><a href="#chapter_ix">161</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tda">X.</td> +<td class="tdb"><span class="smcap">Running Away</span></td> +<td class="tdc"><a href="#chapter_x">179</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tda">XI.</td> +<td class="tdb"><span class="smcap">A Letter's Reply</span></td> +<td class="tdc"><a href="#chapter_xi">199</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tda">XII.</td> +<td class="tdb"><span class="smcap">The Christmas Tree</span></td> +<td class="tdc"><a href="#chapter_xii">217</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 400px;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="chapter_i" id="chapter_i"></a><i>CHAPTER I</i></h2> + +<h3><i>A Mustard Seed</i></h3> + +<p><span class="first">The</span> cat and kitten were both eating supper and Marian was watching +them. Her own supper of bread and milk she had finished, and had +taken the remains of it to Tippy and Dippy. Marian did not care very +much for bread and milk, but the cat and kitten did, as was plainly +shown by the way they hunched themselves down in front of the tin +pan into which Marian had poured their supper.</p> + +<p>In the next room Grandpa and Grandma Otway were sitting and little +bits of their talk came to Marian's ears once in a while when her +thoughts ceased to wander in other directions. "If only one could +have faith to believe implicitly," Grandma Otway said.</p> + +<p>"If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, and should say to that +mountain, be ye removed," quoted Grandpa Otway.</p> + +<p>Marian sighed. They talked that way very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> often, she remembered, and +she herself had grown to consider it quite as difficult as did her +grandmother, to exercise complete faith. She had made numberless +mighty efforts, and yet things did not come out as she supposed they +ought. She sat gravely watching the cat and kitten lap up the last +drop of milk and carefully clean the sides of the pan in a manner +quite inelegant for humans, but no doubt entirely a matter of +etiquette in cat society, and then when Tippy, having done her duty +by the pan, turned her attention to making Dippy tidy, Marian walked +slowly away.</p> + +<p>The sun was setting behind the hills, and touching the tops of the +trees along their base; further away the mountains were very dark +against a yellow line of sky. Marian continued her way thoughtfully +toward the garden, turned off before she reached the gate and +climbed a ladder which leaned against the side of the old brick +wall. From the ladder one could reach a long limb of a scraggy apple +tree upon which hung early apples nearly ripe. Marian went up the +ladder very carefully, taking care not to catch her frock upon a +nail or a projecting twig<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> as she crept along the stout limb to +settle herself in a crotch of the tree. From this spot she could see +the distant sea, pinky purple, and shimmering silver.</p> + +<p>Marian did not gaze at this, however, but turned her face toward the +mountains. She clasped her hands tightly and repeated firmly: "Be ye +removed into the midst of the sea. Be ye removed into the midst of +the sea." Then she waited, but the mountain did not budge an inch, +though the child kept her eyes fixed upon it. Twice, three times, +she repeated the words, but the mountain remained immovable. "I knew +it; I just knew it," exclaimed the child when she had made her final +effort, "and now I want to know how large a mustard seed is. +To-morrow I'll go ask Mrs. Hunt."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;"> +<a name="illustration" id="illustration"></a><img src="images/illustration.jpg" title="illustration" alt="illustration" width="400" height="603" /><h5><span class="smcap">"Be Ye Removed Into the Midst of the Sea</span>"</h5> +</div> + + + +<p>It was to Mrs. Hunt that she took all such questions, for she +hesitated to talk of very personal things to her grandparents. They +would ask her such sharp questions, and sometimes would smile in a +superior way when they did not say: "Oh, that is not a subject to +discuss with children; run along and play with Tippy." She did not +always want to be playing with Tippy when such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> mighty problems were +uppermost. She had many times tested her faith with the mountain, +but had always come away humiliated by the thought that her faith +must be too weak.</p> + +<p>Though she brought her test to bear upon the mountain there was +another thing she did not dare to experiment with, though she always +intended to do so when the mountain should answer her command to be +removed. To be sure it would not make much difference to her if the +mountain should remove into the sea; it probably looked quite as +well where it was, and Marian supposed that no one would care to +have its place changed, but it made a great and mighty difference to +her about this other thing. She had never breathed her ardent wish +to any one, not even to Mrs. Hunt, and now that this fresh test of +faith had failed she would have to gather up a new stock before she +could try again.</p> + +<p>The purple and pink and gold were fading; the sea looked gray; the +distant mountain was hidden under a cloud when Marian climbed down +from her perch to answer her grandmother's call: "Marian, Marian, +where are you? Come in out of the night air; the dew is falling." +Dippy was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> chasing moths in the garden as Marian took her way toward +the house. She watched him leaping up as each soft-winged creature +flitted by. When he failed to catch his prize he opened his mouth in +a mute meow, and looked at Marian as if asking her to help him.</p> + +<p>"You mustn't catch moths, Dippy," said Marian. "They might disagree +with you. I should think anyhow, that they would be very dry eating, +and besides it is wicked to destroy innocent little creatures. Come, +you must go in with me." But this was the time of day when Dippy +liked specially to prance and jump and skurry after dusky, shadowy, +flitting things, so before Marian could pounce upon him, he was off +and away like a streak and could not be found. Then Marian went in +obediently at her grandmother's second call to spend the rest of her +evening sitting soberly by, while her grandmother knitted and her +grandfather read his evening paper.</p> + +<p>She had tidied up her room, fed the cat and kitten, and darned her +stockings the next morning before she was free to go to Mrs. Hunt's. +Grandpa would go for the mail, and there were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> no errands to do, +except to return a plate to Mrs. Parker. It had come with some spicy +cakes for grandma, and must be taken back promptly.</p> + +<p>The garden did not attract her just then, for it looked much less +mysterious by daylight. There was a fine array of poppies, +larkspurs, phlox and snapdragons; the oleander in its green tub was +all a-bloom, and there were six newly opened buds on the rose-bush. +Dippy was fast asleep in the sunshine, as if he, too, realized that +the garden was not so alluring by morning light.</p> + +<p>It seemed no time to exercise faith upon the mountain, for a haze +covered it, and one could not feel even the near presence of a thing +one could not see, so why attempt to address a command to it to be +removed; to all intents and purposes it was removed when it was out +of sight.</p> + +<p>Marian thought all this over as she trotted down the village street +to Mrs. Hunt's. Hers was one of a line of long low white houses set +back among trees. A border gay with nasturtiums, sweet peas, and +marigolds flourished each side the front door, but Marian did not +pause there; she went around to the kitchen where she knew Mrs. Hunt +would be this time of day. There<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> was a strong odor of spices, +vinegar and such like filling the air. "Mrs. Hunt is making +pickles," said Marian to herself; "that is why she was gathering +cucumbers the last time I was here. I would rather it were cookies +or doughnuts, but I suppose people can't make those every day."</p> + +<p>True enough, Mrs. Hunt was briskly mixing spices, but she turned +with a smile to her little visitor. "Well, chickadee," she said, +"how goes it to-day?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, very well," returned Marian vaguely. "Mrs. Hunt, how big is a +mustard seed?"</p> + +<p>For answer Mrs. Hunt put her fingers down into a small wooden box, +withdrew them, opened Marian's rosy palm, and laid a pinch of seeds +upon it. "There you are," she said. "I wish I could get at all the +things I want to see as easy as that."</p> + +<p>Marian gazed curiously at the little yellow seeds. "They're not very +big, are they?" she said.</p> + +<p>"Not very."</p> + +<p>"Then you wouldn't have to have much faith," Marian went on, +following out her thought.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Hunt laughed. "Is that the text that's bothering you? What are +you, or who are you,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> trying to have faith in? Tippy? Has she fooled +you again by hiding another batch of kittens?"</p> + +<p>"No, Mrs. Hunt," Marian shook her head "it isn't Tippy; she is all +right, and so is Dippy, but you know if you want a thing very much +and don't see anyway of getting it ever, till you are grown up and +won't care about it, why it makes you feel as if—as if"—she +lowered her voice to a whisper and looked intently at her listener, +"as if either you were very wicked or as if—that about the mustard +seed—as if"—she hesitated, then blurted out hurriedly, "as if it +weren't true."</p> + +<p>"Why, Marian Otway, of course it must be true," declared Mrs. Hunt.</p> + +<p>"Then I'm very wicked," returned Marian with conviction.</p> + +<p>"Why, you poor innocent, of course you are not. We are all more or +less imperfect creatures, I suppose, but—well, all is, if I were +your grandma, I wouldn't let you bother your head about such things. +It is hard enough for the preachers to settle some things for us and +themselves, so how do you suppose a baby like you is going to get +the gist of it?"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>"If you were my grandma what would you do?" asked Marian coming to +the point.</p> + +<p>"I'd give you interesting story-books to read, and see that you had +healthy-minded playfellows. You ought to be going to school; you are +enough bigger than my Annie was when she first went." This was a +point upon which Mrs. Hunt felt very keenly. She thought Mr. and +Mrs. Otway had not the proper ideas about bringing up children and +that Marian was too much with older persons. "I would send her off +to school quick as a wink," she had more than once said to Mrs. +Otway, but her remark had been received with only a smile, and one +could not follow out an argument when another would not argue, so +kind Mrs. Hunt had been able only to air her opinions to Mrs. +Perkins and her other neighbors, and once in a while to let Marian +know how she felt about her.</p> + +<p>She had lost a little girl about Marian's age and made a point of +being especially good to the old-fashioned child who lived in the +brick house at the end of the street. The other houses were all +white or gray or brown, built plainly, and were either shingled or +clap-boarded affairs so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> that the brick house was a thing apart and +its occupants were usually considered the aristocracy of the place. +The older men called Grandpa Otway, "Professor," and the younger +ones said, "Good-morning, doctor," when they met him.</p> + +<p>At the college where he had taught for many years he was still +remembered as an absent-minded, gentle but decided person, strong in +his opinions, proud and reticent, good as gold, but finding it hard +to forgive the only son who left home and married against the wishes +of his parents. When baby Marian's mother died her father had +written home, asking that his motherless baby might be taken in and +reared in the American land which he still loved. So one day Marian +arrived in charge of a plain German couple, but her father had not +seen her since and he still lived in far off Berlin. Once a year he +wrote to his little daughter and she answered the letter through her +grandmother. The letter always came the first of the year and the +latest one had given an account of a German Christmas. It had +enclosed some money for Marian to provide trinkets for her own tree +the next year.</p> + +<p>Yet, alas,—and here came the tragedy—Mar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>ian had never been +allowed to have a tree; her grandparents did not approve of such +things; the money must go to the missions in foreign lands, and when +the next missionary box was sent Marian's Christmas money was sent +with it in one form or another. Even if Grandpa and Grandma Otway +had known what rebellious tears Marian shed and how she told Tippy +that she hated the heathen, and that she didn't see why they +couldn't go barefoot in a country as hot as China, and why they +couldn't eat rice as well as she, and why missionaries had to have +all sorts of things she didn't have, even if her grandparents had +known that, they would have said that it showed a wrong spirit and +that a little girl bid fair to become a hardened sinner, so she +ought to be made to sacrifice her own pleasures to so good a cause.</p> + +<p>That would have been the least of it, for there would also have been +a long lecture from both grandfather and grandmother with a longer +prayer following and there would probably have been an order that +Marian must go without butter for a week that she might be taught to +practice self-denial. So Marian had thought it wise to say nothing +but to accept with as good a grace<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> as possible the bitter necessity +of giving up her Christmas tree.</p> + +<p>With the mustard seeds folded in her hand she stood watching Mrs. +Hunt tie up her spices, but the seeds were forgotten when Mrs. Hunt +said: "What will you do with a teacher living in your house and you +not going to school, I'd like to know. Mr. Hunt says he rather +guesses you'll not stay at home, but Mrs. Perkins says like as not +your grandma will have her teach you out of hours and pay her board +that way. As long as she is the daughter of a friend your grandpa +would want to make it easy for her and they'll fix it up some way."</p> + +<p>Marian could scarcely believe her ears. "Coming to our house? Who is +she? What is her name, Mrs. Hunt? When is she coming? Who told you?"</p> + +<p>"Dear bless me, what a lot of questions. Take care and don't get +your sleeve in that vinegar; it'll take all the color out. I'll wipe +it up and then you can lean on the table all you want to. There. +Well, you see it was Mrs. Leach told me. It seems this Miss Robbins +is the daughter of one of the professors at the college where your +grandpa<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> was for so many years. He was one of the younger men, Mr. +Robbins was, being a student under your grandpa when he first knew +him. Now he is one of the professors with a big family and none too +well off, so his girl is coming to teach our school and Mr. Robbins +asked your grandpa if he wouldn't let her board at his house. She's +the eldest, but she hasn't been away from home much because she's +had to look after her younger brothers and sisters since her mother +died. Professor Robbins feels sort of anxious about her; he is +afraid of the wicked wiles of a big city like Greenville."</p> + +<p>"Why, Mrs. Hunt, it isn't a big city, is it?" said Marian +innocently.</p> + +<p>"Ain't it?" laughed Mrs. Hunt. "At all events he didn't want her +cast loose on it, and so he wrote to your grandpa, appealingly, I +should say, for it's fixed up that she is to come to the brick house +when the fall term begins and that's not far off."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" Marian slipped down from the wooden chair upon which she had +seated herself, "I'd better go home and ask about it," she remarked. +"I'd much rather have some one beside<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> grandpa teach me; he uses +such terribly long words and talks so long about things I don't +understand. Sometimes I can't make out whether I'm very stupid or +whether the lessons are extra hard."</p> + +<p>"I guess you're no more stupid than the usual run of children," said +Mrs. Hunt stirring her pickles, "and I guess you will learn as much +about Miss Robbins and her affairs from me as you will at home. But +there, go 'long if you want to. Come in to-morrow; I'll be baking +cookies," she called after the child.</p> + +<p>Marian answered with a nod as she looked back. Between the door and +the steps she halted once to open her hand and look for the mustard +seeds, but in her interest in Mrs. Hunt's news she had let them fall +to the floor and but one clung to her moist fingers. She tasted it +and found it strong and biting. "It can't be the bigness," she +murmured; "it must mean the hotness and strongness." This view of +the matter gave her a better understanding, according to her own +ideas, and she was glad she had tasted the small seed. After all, +there were pleasant things opening up. What if she could not move<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> +mountains, there would be fresh cookies to-morrow and out of +somewhere a beautiful young lady was advancing toward her, not +exactly a playfellow, maybe, but some one much younger than Grandpa +and Grandma Otway.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 400px;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="chapter_ii" id="chapter_ii"></a><i>CHAPTER II</i></h2> + +<h3><i>The School-Teacher</i></h3> + + +<p><span class="first">The</span> brick house had not the cheerful air of Mrs. Hunt's +white-boarded, green-shuttered abode. It was set back a few feet +from the side-walk, but a brick wall on each side shut out any +glimpse of the flower garden, and the iron railing leading up from +the flight of steps gave the place an air unlike the rest of the +village houses. Upon the top step Dorothy Robbins stood a few +moments before she rang the bell. She cast an upward glance at the +windows first; the shutters were all bowed and silence reigned +everywhere. She wondered what was behind the brick wall, and if the +inmates of the house would look as forbidding and inhospitable as +the house itself. She knew the Otways had a little granddaughter and +half looked to see the child hanging on the gate or skipping down +the path as she approached the house. The door-bell clanged<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> +solemnly and presently a sedate, middle-aged woman came to the door.</p> + +<p>"Is Mrs. Otway at home?" asked Miss Dorothy.</p> + +<p>"No, ma'am, she ain't," was the reply given most ungraciously. +"She's to a missionary society or a temperance meeting or something, +and he's gone with her."</p> + +<p>"Is no one at home?"</p> + +<p>"I'm here, and Marian's somewhere about, I guess. Was you +calculatin' to show goods or solicit anythin'? We hain't no call for +dress-makers' charts, and we don't want to subscribe to no +cook-books, I'm cook-book enough myself."</p> + +<p>Dorothy smiled. "Oh, no. I don't make my living that way," she +answered cheerfully. "Perhaps I'd better see the little girl, +Miss<span style="letter-spacing: -2px;">——</span>" she added after a few moments' thought.</p> + +<p>"Hepzibah Toothacre is my name," remarked the gaunt woman as she +turned away leaving the young lady standing on the step.</p> + +<p>Dorothy made a wry face. "Toothacre or some kind of acher I should +think," she said to herself. "She looked sour enough to be several<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> +kinds of ache rolled in one. I hope the rest of the family are not +like that."</p> + +<p>She did not have to wait long before a little girl came along the +dim entry toward her. She was brown-haired, brown-eyed, dark-skinned +and rather pale. She wore a plain blue gingham frock, and her hair +was tied in two pig-tails with a narrow black ribbon. She paused +timidly at sight of a stranger, but at Miss Dorothy's smile she came +forward eagerly. "Oh, are you—are you<span style="letter-spacing: -2px;">——</span>" she began.</p> + +<p>"The new teacher?" interrupted Miss Dorothy. "Yes, dear, I am. May I +come in? The ogress that guards your castle looked as if she might +make a meal of me and I was afraid to come any further."</p> + +<p>Marian looked puzzled for a moment, then her face broke into a +smile. "Oh, you mean Heppy. She is rather cross sometimes. She was +not very polite not to ask you in, but she is in a bad humor to-day; +there were two peddlers here this morning and she can't bear +peddlers."</p> + +<p>"She thought I was one, and that was why she was so grouchy, I +see."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I will go and ask her to show you to your room," returned Marian; +"it is all ready."</p> + +<p>"Can't you show me?" asked Miss Dorothy with whimsical anxiety in +her tones.</p> + +<p>Marian laughed; she knew that Miss Dorothy was only pretending to be +afraid of Heppy, and the pretense made her seem more like a little +girl. "Of course I can show you up," she made answer. "Grandma +didn't expect you till the late train and she had to go to her +missionary society; she's president of the board, you see."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I quite understand. I didn't suppose, myself, that I could +get here till the late train, but I was able to make better +connections than I expected and here I am. My trunk will be along +after awhile. You are Maid Marian, I know, but I do not see the +greenwood and where are Robin Hood and his merry men?" Then seeing +that Marian hadn't a notion of what she meant, she said, "You don't +know them, do you? I'll have to tell you some time, you and the rest +of my scholars, for of course you are coming to my school."</p> + +<p>"Oh, am I?" Marian's face was radiant.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Why, yes, I imagine so. Don't you go to school?"</p> + +<p>"I haven't been yet. Grandpa has always taught me at home, you +know."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's it." Miss Dorothy was taking off her hat, standing +before the mirror to puff out her soft ripples of hair. "What a +lovely big room this is," she remarked. "I never had such a big room +all to myself. We are such a large family that we always have to +double up, I don't mean like a jack-knife," she added with a little +laugh. "I wonder if I shall have to hunt for myself in that big bed; +if I do you will have to come and find me, for I might get +hopelessly lost if you didn't."</p> + +<p>Marian laughed. This merry talk was very delightful; even Mrs. Hunt +was never quite so fascinatingly entertaining. She stood gazing at +Miss Dorothy with admiring eyes as she put a few touches to her +dress. Surely it would mean great things to have a young lady in the +house.</p> + +<p>Miss Dorothy gave a final survey of the room as she turned from the +mirror. "I like it," she said nodding to Marian, "and when I get +down those solemn-looking pictures, hang up my own<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> favorites, put a +cheerful cover on that table and a couple of bright sofa pillows on +that lounge, and have some plants in that south window, it will be +very cozy."</p> + +<p>"Oh, will you dare?" began Marian and then stopped short. There were +probably no lengths to which a teacher might not be allowed to go, +even by so particular a person as Grandma Otway.</p> + +<p>"Why, what is there so very daring about that?" asked Miss Dorothy. +"It isn't like walking a tight-rope, or shooting Niagara Falls in a +canoe." There was a saucy look in her eyes as she spoke, and a +dimple came and went as she strove to keep her face grave.</p> + +<p>"It isn't like that, of course," said Marian feebly. "It will be +your own room, and you are a grown-up lady who can do as you please. +I suppose it is only children who don't dare to do things like +moving pictures and putting flower-pots on the window-sills when +they are freshly painted."</p> + +<p>Miss Dorothy's merry laugh rang out. "Oh, you dear, transparent +baby. You've spoken volumes in that speech. Now I'm ready to go<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> +down. What shall we do? My trunk will not be here till after the +next train is in, they informed me at the station. I'd like to see +the schoolhouse, but perhaps we'd best wait till morning, then it +can be shown me officially. Could we dare to walk in the garden if I +promise not to race over the borders and recklessly pull the +flowers? Does one dare to leave the house to do that?" There was a +little mocking look in her eyes as she spoke.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, of course we can go anywhere we like in the garden," +returned Marian. "Do come, and I will show you my apple tree. If you +are not afraid to climb you can see the ocean from my seat in the +crotch,—and the mountain, too," she added more soberly.</p> + +<p>"Don't suggest mountains yet," said Miss Dorothy, becoming sober +too. "But there, I won't think about mountains; I've always managed +them and I always intend to."</p> + +<p>Marian gazed at her with new intentness and drew nearer. "Can you +manage mountains?" she asked wonderingly.</p> + +<p>"Why, yes; if you don't make them out of mole-hills it is easy +enough."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span></p> + +<p>Marian pondered over this answer all the way down-stairs, but could +not make head or tail of it. She would ask further when she knew +Miss Dorothy better. She felt quite assured that she would not be +long in feeling as much at home with her as with Mrs. Hunt.</p> + +<p>As they passed the kitchen door near which the grim Hepzibah stood, +Miss Dorothy drew her skirts aside and fled down the garden walk, +giving a pretended scared look over her shoulder as she caught +Marian's hand. "Don't let her get me, will you?" she said. Marian +fell in with her mood and promised that she should not be delivered +to the ogress, though in her heart of hearts she felt that a person +who would dare to take liberties with Grandma Otway's best room +surely could not be a very scary individual, and by the time they +had reached the apple tree, she had decided that Miss Dorothy would +probably have no fear of climbing to the very top, if she cared to.</p> + +<p>"The Garden of Hesperides and the Golden Apples!" exclaimed Miss +Dorothy, settling down into the crotch and giving Marian a hand to +help her to a seat by her side. "Isn't this too lovely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> for +anything? It will be the finest place in the world to come and read +fairy-tales. Do you know many? I have brought a lot with me, and +we'll have a lovely time here before it gets too cold to stay out."</p> + +<p>"I don't know many fairy-tales," Marian answered doubtfully. +"Grandma doesn't exactly approve of them; at least she never tells +me any. She says that Bible stories are entertaining enough for any +one, and she lets me read those 'simplified for the understanding of +a child.'" She spoke with perfect gravity, though Miss Dorothy +turned her head to hide the smile she could not prevent.</p> + +<p>"I suppose, then," said Miss Dorothy, "that you have a book of +those."</p> + +<p>"Yes; it belonged to grandpa when he was small, and it is called +'Tales from the Bible, simplified for the understanding of a child'; +I read it generally on Sundays. Mrs. Hunt knows about Cinderella and +the Glass Slipper and about the Pig that huffed and puffed till he +blew the house down."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't know that last one," said Miss Dorothy; "you will have +to tell me, and I'll tell<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> you about the Golden Apples. Don't the +apples smell good? Do we dare have any of them when they are ripe?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, we can have two a day; one in the morning and one at noon; +grandma says they are lead at night."</p> + +<p>"Goodness me! I believe I have heard that saying before," said Miss +Dorothy, mentally determining to carry apples to her room to eat +when she felt inclined. Mrs. Otway should not decide such matters +for her. She sat with her chin in her hand looking off at the ocean, +blue in the distance. Marian, watching her, decided that although +the new teacher did not exactly fill her expectations in some +respects, in others she far exceeded them. She had very blue eyes +that could be merry or soft as her mood was, her hair was wavy and +of a light brown color; she was fair of skin, had rather a large +mouth and not a specially beautiful nose, but she was good to look +upon and the more one looked the more charming one thought her. She +was dressed very simply in a gray traveling gown with no jewelry but +a silver pin fastening her collar. Her face in repose was serious +and Marian could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> see that she was not one to be trifled with, in +spite of her fun-loving spirit.</p> + +<p>"There are many things I want to know," said Miss Dorothy after a +while, "but I will wait till I absolutely have to ask questions."</p> + +<p>"If you want to know one thing," returned Marian, "I can tell you. +If you would like me to tell you when grandpa and grandma will be +here I can say in about five minutes." She was looking off down the +street and Miss Dorothy saw two figures approaching.</p> + +<p>"Then we'd better go in," she said. "I should not like them to meet +me in an apple tree; they might think me very undignified."</p> + +<p>Marian was rather inclined to think they might, but she glossed over +the fact by saying, "Well, you see it has been such a long, long +time since they were young they must forget how it feels."</p> + +<p>Miss Dorothy smiled and began to climb down the ladder, Marian +following. In a few minutes they were walking soberly up the path +and reached the front door just as Mr. and Mrs. Otway were there.</p> + +<p>"Miss Robbins has come," announced Marian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> with a little nod of her +head in the direction of the young lady in the background.</p> + +<p>"Ah-h," responded her grandfather, "then I was right, my dear," he +turned to his wife, "I said it was probable that she would get the +first train. We should have told Hepzibah or else you should have +remained at home."</p> + +<p>"I never remain at home from the quarterly meeting upon any +pretext," returned Mrs. Otway firmly; "it was a most important one."</p> + +<p>But Mr. Otway had hastened forward and was holding out his hand in +welcome to Miss Dorothy. "I am glad to receive my old friend's +daughter," he said with a stately bow. "This is Miss—ah, yes, Miss +Dorothy. I may have met you when you were less of a young lady, but +I cannot separate you, as a memory, from your sisters."</p> + +<p>"I think I remember Professor Otway," returned Dorothy smiling up +into the near-sighted eyes which were peering down at her. Mr. Otway +was tall, spare, a little stoop-shouldered. His hair was quite gray +and grew sparsely around his temples; his face was clean shaven. +Mrs. Otway was below medium height, plump and keen-eyed. She wore an +old-fashioned gown<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> and a plain bonnet. Winter or summer she never +went out without a small cape over her shoulders. Upon this occasion +it was of black silk trimmed with a fold of the same. She looked +approvingly at Dorothy's neat frock, but a little disapprovingly at +the arrangement of her hair.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry not to have been here to welcome you," she said, "but +there are certain matters of business which cannot be set aside for +uncertainties. I hope Hepzibah or Marian showed you to your room."</p> + +<p>"Marian did, and has been a very kind hostess," returned Miss +Dorothy. "I am very glad you did not give up an important matter for +anything so indefinite as my arrival. You must never let my presence +allow of any change in your arrangements, Mrs. Otway. I am +exceedingly grateful to you for taking me in, and I should be very +uncomfortable if I were to interfere with your usual routine."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Otway nodded approval. "We shall consider you one of the +family, my dear Miss Robbins," she told her. "Marian, take my things +up-stairs." She gave her bonnet and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> cape to her granddaughter and +led the way to the semi-darkened parlor where she established +herself in a haircloth rocking-chair while Miss Dorothy seated +herself upon the sofa.</p> + +<p>Marian laid the bonnet and cape carefully upon her grandmother's +smooth bed and went down to tell Hepzibah that it was the teacher, +who had arrived. She had not wanted to leave Miss Dorothy, in order +to give the old servant this piece of information, but now that her +chance had come she went straight to the kitchen.</p> + +<p>Hepzibah was stalking about preparing supper. She looked up sharply +as Marian entered. "Well," she said, "what's wanting?"</p> + +<p>"It's Miss Robbins, the teacher, Heppy," Marian told her. "You saw +us go by down the garden, didn't you?"</p> + +<p>"Why didn't she say so?" returned Heppy in an aggrieved voice. +"How's I to know she wasn't a book-agent or a body selling home-made +laces and embroidered shirt waists. She was carrying a bag and it +might have been full of wares for all I knew."</p> + +<p>"But she doesn't look like a peddler."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Looks belie folks sometimes. Some of 'em is dressed as good as the +best, in hats with feathers and kid gloves. She might have been that +or anything, for all I could tell. I'll do just the same next time. +She'd oughter have told her business right out, instead of hemming +and hawing and asking was Mrs. Otway to home. That's the way they +all do; get the name next door and come as brazen as you please +asking for Mrs. this and that. I'd like to know who's to tell the +sheep from the goats."</p> + +<p>"I would know in a minute that Miss Dorothy wasn't a goat," said +Marian.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you know a heap, don't you," replied Heppy scornfully. "If you +knew so much why didn't you tell me who it was first off?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't know exactly who it was but I could easily guess, for I +knew the teacher was coming some time soon."</p> + +<p>"I don't see why your grandma didn't say I was to look out for her," +Heppy went on with a new grievance.</p> + +<p>"Maybe she thought you would know, because you helped get her room +ready, and knew she was expected," Marian made excuse.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span></p> + +<p>"As if I could remember anything on a Saturday, when I'd been +pestered to death, answering the door a dozen times, while I was +cleaning my kitchen. She might have chose some other day to come."</p> + +<p>"She has to begin school on Monday, and besides that would be just +as bad, for it would be wash-day and you are cross always then, +Heppy, you know you are."</p> + +<p>Heppy turned on her. "You just go out of here," she said. "I don't +want you 'round underfoot, pestering me at meal-time nohow. I guess +I can get a meal for four just as easy as for three and I don't need +your help neither."</p> + +<p>At this Marian was fain to depart, seeing that Heppy was in one of +her worst moods, when everything was a grievance. It was a pleasant +contrast when the little girl was met by Miss Dorothy's smile as she +returned to the parlor, so she settled herself by the side of this +new friend, folded her hands and let her feet dangle over the edge +of the sofa. It was rather a slippery seat and in time it might be +that she would have to wriggle back to a firmer place, but its +nearness to Miss Dorothy was its attraction and she felt well +satisfied and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> entirely secure when the teacher's arm encircled her +and drew her closer. "I am to have one new pupil anyhow," said Miss +Dorothy, smiling down. "Won't it be nice for us to be going to +school together every day, Marian?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, am I going?" Marian looked from one grandparent to another.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Otway nodded sedately. "We have concluded that it is best," she +said. "Your grandfather has many affairs to attend to, and it is a +tax upon his time to teach you, therefore, since you will not need +to go to school unattended, we think it best. We shall see how it +works, at all events, and if it seems wise to withdraw you later, we +can do so."</p> + +<p>Marian gave a long sigh of satisfaction, but said nothing. She was +constantly told that little children should be seen and not heard, +and moreover she thought it might hurt her grandfather's feelings if +she showed too much pleasure at the change. Yet when she gave the +new teacher a glad smile, Miss Dorothy realized that the prospect of +school was a pleasant one to at least one of her pupils.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 400px;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="chapter_iii" id="chapter_iii"></a><i>CHAPTER III</i></h2> + +<h3><i>A New Road</i></h3> + +<p><span class="first">Instead</span> of sitting in a straight-backed chair in her grandfather's +study, conning over dry lessons while Mr. Otway wrote or read, it +was quite a different experience for Marian to go to school to Miss +Dorothy in a cheerful little schoolhouse where twenty other girls +were seated each before her particular desk. Lessons with Grandpa +Otway had been very stupid, for he required literal, word-for-word, +gotten-by-heart pages, had no mercy upon faulty spelling, and +frowned down mistakes in arithmetic examples. He did not make much +of a point of writing, for he wrote a queer, scratchy hand himself, +and so Marian could scarcely form her letters legibly, a fact of +which she was made ashamed when she saw how well Ruth Deering wrote, +and discovered that Marjorie Stone sent a letter every week to her +brother at college.</p> + +<p>However, the rest of it was such an improve<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>ment upon other years, +that every morning Marian started out very happily, book bag on arm, +and Miss Dorothy by her side. The first day was the most eventful, +of course, and the child was in a quiver of excitement. Her teacher +was perhaps not less nervous, though she did not show it except by +the two red spots upon her cheeks. It was her first day as teacher +as well as Marian's, as one of a class in school. But all passed off +well, the twenty little girls with shining faces and fresh frocks +were expectant and the new teacher quite came up to their hopes. +Marian already knew Ruth Deering and Marjorie Stone, for they were +in her Sunday-school class, and some of the others she had seen at +church. Alice Evans sat with her parents just in front of the +Otways' pew, so her flaxen pig-tails were a familiar sight, while +Minnie Keating's big brown bow of ribbon appeared further along on +Sunday mornings.</p> + +<p>Marian felt that she did quite as well as the other girls in most +things, and was beginning to congratulate herself upon knowing as +much as any one of her age, when she was called to the blackboard to +write out a sentence. At her feeble<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> effort which resulted in a +crooked scrawl, there was a subdued titter from the others. For one +moment the new scholar stood, her cheeks flaming, then with defiant +face she turned to Miss Dorothy. "I can spell it every word," she +said, "if I can't write it."</p> + +<p>Miss Dorothy smiled encouragingly, for she understood the situation. +"That is more than many little girls of your age can do," she said. +"Suppose you spell it for us, then."</p> + +<p>With clenched hands Marian faced her schoolmates. "Separate +syllables, and enunciate with distinct emphasis," she finished +triumphantly, without looking at the book.</p> + +<p>"That is a very good test," said Miss Dorothy; "you may take your +seat. Now, Alice, I will give out the next sentence, and you may +spell it without the board," and the day was saved for Marian.</p> + +<p>After this she triumphantly gave the boundaries of several +countries, told without hesitation the dates of three important +events in history, carried to a correct finish a difficult example +in long division, and when the hour came for school to close she had +won her place. Yet the matter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> of writing was uppermost in her mind +as she walked home, and she said shamefacedly to Miss Dorothy, +"Isn't it dreadful for a girl of my age not to know how to write?"</p> + +<p>"It isn't as if it were a thing that couldn't be learned," Miss +Dorothy told her for her encouragement, "but you must hurry up and +conquer it. You might practice at home between times, and you will +be surprised to find how you improve. Have you never written letters +to your father?"</p> + +<p>Marian shook her head. "Not really myself. Grandma always writes +them for me," then she added, "so of course she says just what she +pleases; I'd like to say what I please, I think."</p> + +<p>"I am sure your father would like it better if you did. I know when +my father was away from home the letter that most pleased him was +written by my little sister Patty when she was younger than you."</p> + +<p>"How old is she now?" asked Marian.</p> + +<p>"Just about your age. She can write very well, but you can distance +her in spelling and arithmetic."</p> + +<p>"I'll catch up with her in writing," decided<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> Marian, "and maybe she +will catch up with me in the other things."</p> + +<p>"I'll tell her what you say," said Miss Dorothy; "that will be an +incentive to you both. I should like you to know our Patty. She is +our baby, and is a darling."</p> + +<p>"I should like to know her," returned Marian warmly.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell her to write to you," promised Miss Dorothy.</p> + +<p>"Oh, good! I never have letters from any one but papa, and he writes +only once a year. I wish he would write oftener, for his letters are +so nice, and I do love him, though I haven't seen him since I was a +baby."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps if he knew you really cared so much to hear, he would +write. Why don't you send him a letter and tell him?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, but just see what a fist I make at writing. I will tell him as +soon as I can write better, although," she added with a sigh, "that +seems a long time to wait."</p> + +<p>Miss Dorothy was thoughtfully silent for a few minutes. "I will tell +you what," she said presently. "I have a small typewriting machine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> +which I will teach you how to use. It is very simple, and you spell +so nicely that it will be no time before you could manage a +perfectly legible letter to your father."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Miss Dorothy, I do love you," cried Marian. "That is such a +delightful idea. What an angelic sister Patty has."</p> + +<p>Miss Dorothy laughed. "What a funny little girl you are. I am glad, +however, that you didn't say: How awfully nice! I am afraid that is +what Patty would have said, but she hasn't had the advantage of +associating with only scholarly people like your grandparents, and +so she talks as her brothers and sisters do."</p> + +<p>"I should think she would be awfully happy to have so many brothers +and sisters," remarked Marian.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear, see what example does," exclaimed Miss Dorothy. "You said +awfully happy and I never heard you say awfully anything before. +I'll tell you what we'll do; whenever you hear me saying awfully +nice or awfully horrid you tell me, and I'll do the same by you. Is +it a bargain?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, thank you, Miss Dorothy, but I'm afraid I should feel +queer to correct you."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I am not perfect, my dear," said Miss Dorothy gravely, "not any +more than the rest of humanity. I shouldn't expect you to correct me +ordinarily, but this is a habit I want to get out of, and that I do +not want you to get into, so we shall be a mutual help, you see, and +you will be doing me a favor by reminding me."</p> + +<p>"Then I'll try to do it. How shall I tell you when other people are +around? It would sound queer if I said: Oh, Miss Dorothy, you said +awfully."</p> + +<p>"So it would, you little wiseacre. You can touch me on the elbow and +then put your finger on your lip, and I will understand, and I will +do the same when you say it."</p> + +<p>Marian was perfectly satisfied at this. "I am so glad you are here," +she sighed. "I feel lots more faith growing. I shall soon be +very—is it faithful I ought to say?"</p> + +<p>"Well, not exactly in the sense you mean, though really it ought to +be that faithful means full of faith; as it is it means trustworthy +and devoted to the performance of duties and things. I think the old +meaning when one wanted to say that a person was full of faith was +faithful,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> but the original sense of many words has been lost."</p> + +<p>"When shall I begin with the typewriter?" asked Marian, changing the +subject.</p> + +<p>"We can begin this afternoon. I have unpacked and oiled it, so it is +all ready to use."</p> + +<p>"How soon do you think I can send a letter to papa?"</p> + +<p>"If you are industrious and painstaking I should say you could do it +in a week."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's not long, and he will get it long before Christmas, +won't he?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed! I should think in ten days or two weeks at the +furthest."</p> + +<p>"I should like to send him something for Christmas. I never did send +him anything. Don't you think it would be nice to do it?"</p> + +<p>"I think it would be awfully nice."</p> + +<p>Marian gave her teacher's arm a gentle shake and put her finger to +her lip.</p> + +<p>Miss Dorothy looked at her a little puzzled, then she understood. +"Oh, I said awfully, didn't I? Thank you, dearie, for reminding me. +What should you like to send your father?"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>"I don't know. I'll have to think. You'll help me to think, won't +you?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed I will, if you want me to. I should think almost anything +you could send would please him, for, after all, it is the thought +that counts, not the thing itself."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but I do think things count, and—Miss Dorothy, you won't tell +if I ask him not to send me money."</p> + +<p>"Not money? I think that it's rather a nice thing to have, for then +you can buy whatever you like."</p> + +<p>"You couldn't if you were I."</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Because. You won't say anything about it to the grans?" Marian's +voice dropped to a whisper. "When papa sends me money it always goes +to the missions; it is my sacrifice, Grandma says. As long as I +don't have the money really in my hands, it doesn't so much matter, +but it would matter if I had to go without butter or perhaps sweet +things, like dessert or cake for a whole month. That is what would +happen if I said I would rather have the money myself than let the +missionaries have it. Oh, I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> suppose it is all right," she added +quickly, "and no doubt I am a hardened sinner, but I would like a +real Christmas gift."</p> + +<p>"Did you never have one?" asked Miss Dorothy, with pity and surprise +in her voice.</p> + +<p>"Not a really one, except from Mrs. Hunt; she gave me a sweet little +pincushion last year, and a whole bag full of cakes and goodies. I +enjoyed them very much."</p> + +<p>"Did your grandparents give you nothing at all?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes. I had a new hat, and gloves and handkerchiefs. I was +pleased to have them of course, but I would like something real +Christmassy and—and—foolish."</p> + +<p>"You blessed child, of course you would," and Miss Dorothy mentally +determined that the next Christmas should provide something real +Christmassy for her little companion.</p> + +<p>Marian was silent for a while then she asked, "Do you have a +Christmas tree at your house?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes, always, and we all hang up our stocking from father down +to Patty. Don't you?"</p> + +<p>"No, I never did, and I never had a tree."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>"Why, you poor dear child," exclaimed Miss Dorothy surprised out of +discretion.</p> + +<p>"There doesn't any one know how much I want it," said Marian in part +excuse, "but I do. That is what I meant about moving mountains and +faith. Do you believe if I had a great deal of faith, as sharp and +strong as a mustard seed that the Lord would send me a tree? I never +told any one before about it, but you understand better than Mrs. +Hunt. I thought once or twice I would ask her, but she might laugh +and I don't want any one to laugh, for it is very solemn." She +peered anxiously up into Miss Dorothy's face to see if there were a +suspicion of amusement there, but Miss Dorothy looked as grave as +any one could wish.</p> + +<p>"I think faith can do a great deal, my dear little girl," she said +gently.</p> + +<p>"It can move mountains, the Bible says. I heard grandpa and grandma +talking about it, and Mrs. Hunt showed me some mustard seed. I +tasted one and it was very strong, so I know now it doesn't mean the +bigness but the strongness."</p> + +<p>Miss Dorothy looked down with a smile. "You little theologian," she +exclaimed. Then to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> herself she said: This comes of shutting up a +child with staid old people. The dear thing needs a whole lot of +frivolity mixed up in her life; Christmas trees and things. She +shall have them if I can do any of the mixing. "Well, dear," she +said aloud, "I think we will hold on to all the faith we can muster, +and see what will come of it, but you must realize that just sitting +still and believing isn't all of it. We must work, too, for the +Bible says faith <i>and</i> works, not faith <i>or</i> works. So now you work +hard over your writing, and send letters to your father so he will +know what his little girl likes and longs for, then you will be +doing your part in that direction, and at the same time put your +trust in his love for you, and no doubt something beautiful will +come of it all. You can come up to my room as soon as you want to, +and we will start the little typewriter."</p> + +<p>Marian's satisfaction was too deep for words, but she gave her +teacher's arm a little squeeze and laid her cheek against it.</p> + +<p>It was not long before she was tapping at the door of Miss Dorothy's +room, but before she began the work she was so eager for, she +asked,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> "Do you think I ought to ask grandma's permission?"</p> + +<p>"I don't see why you need to, for there is nothing wrong about it," +Miss Dorothy replied. "But if you feel as if you should, you can run +down and tell your grandmother what you are going to do. You can say +that I am going to teach you to use my little machine, and surely +she will not object."</p> + +<p>But Mrs. Otway was off upon some charity bent, and Marian returned +feeling that she had done her duty in making the attempt to tell. +Then she and Miss Dorothy had great fun over the little machine +which seemed so complicated at first, but which gradually grew more +and more familiar, so that at the end of an hour under Miss Dorothy, +Marian was able to write out several lines quite creditably. These +she took down and proudly showed to her grandfather.</p> + +<p>"First-rate," he exclaimed. "Keep on, my child, and after a while +you will be able to copy out my papers for me; a great assistance +that would be. I shouldn't wonder but in time you would make me an +excellent secretary." Under this praise Marian's qualms of +conscience were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> eased. If grandpa approved, that was enough. Her +next impulse was to run to Mrs. Hunt's to show off her new +accomplishment, but she decided to wait till she could manage the +typewriter entirely alone, so would the credit be greater.</p> + +<p>She sought out Tippy and Dippy to tell her secret to. They were her +confidants always, and to-day she had almost forgotten them in the +novelty of having so sympathetic a friend as Miss Dorothy. It would +never do to forsake old and tried comrades, and so Tippy was roused +from her nap, and Dippy was captured in the act of catching a +grasshopper, then the two were borne to the end of the garden to a +sheltered spot where Marian always had her "thinks." She took the +two in her lap. Tippy settled down at once, but Dippy had to have +his head rubbed for some minutes before he began to purr +contentedly.</p> + +<p>"You see, my dears," began Marian, "I am going to have a great deal +to do, almost as much as grandma has with her clubs and societies +and meetings. First there is school. I think I like Alice Evans the +best of the girls, for she has such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> pretty hair, but I am not quite +sure about it. She was not quite as nice to me at recess as Ruth +was, so maybe I shall like Ruth best. I am sure I shall love Patty. +I wish she had come here with her sister. It must be lovely, Tippy, +to have a sister, though I suppose you don't think as I do, for you +had a sister once and now you don't care anything about her, for you +fizzed at her the other day when she came in our garden. I saw you +and heard you, too, and I was very much shocked. What was I talking +about? Oh, yes, about so much to do. I'll have lessons to study at +home after this, I suppose. We didn't have any real lessons to-day, +just trial things, and I did such awful—I mean really awful writing +on the blackboard that the girls all giggled. I just hated that, and +I felt like crying or like running away and never going back, but I +realized that it wouldn't do to do either, so that is another thing +I must do.</p> + +<p>"I must practice writing at home. I wonder where I shall get paper +and things to do it on. I'll have to ask Miss Dorothy about that. +She is such a dear, Tippy, and she likes cats; she said so. I never +used to think that any one could be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> as nice as Mrs. Hunt, but Miss +Dorothy is nicer in some ways, for she understands just how you feel +about everything, and Mrs. Hunt doesn't always. She is as kind as +can be, but she thinks that when you ask questions if she answers +with a cookie or a doughnut you will be satisfied. It does satisfy +your mouth, of course, but it doesn't satisfy the thinking part of +you. Sometimes I go down there just bursting with things I want to +know, and when I ask her, she says: 'Oh, don't bother your little +head about such things; there is a plate of cakes in the pantry; go +help yourself.' Now, Miss Dorothy isn't that way at all. She just +reaches her thinks down to yours and they go along together till you +come out all clear and straight like coming out of the woods into an +open sunshiny place where there is a good path.</p> + +<p>"Now, Tippy, we've got to think of something to send papa for a +present. I don't suppose you are interested in such things, but I +think every one ought to be. Maybe Patty can help me out. She must +be a very bright child; Miss Dorothy says she is. There! I hear +Heppy clattering the milk-pan; it is time to see about your +sup<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>per." So saying, Marian put down the two cats and started for +the house, her pets following at her heels, knowing the sound of a +milk-pan as well as she.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 400px;" /> + +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> + +<h2><a name="chapter_iv" id="chapter_iv"></a><i>CHAPTER IV</i></h2> + +<h3><i>Companions</i></h3> + + +<p><span class="first">The</span> first week of school passed very rapidly, and by the time Friday +afternoon came, Marian felt quite at home with her schoolmates. She +had finally decided that Ruth would be her best friend next to +Patty, whom she always held in reserve as filling her needs exactly, +when they should meet. Miss Dorothy had written to her little sister +and Marian was daily expecting a letter herself from Patty, a letter +which should mark the beginning of their friendship. She was rather +shy of the girls at first, for she had scarcely known childish +comrades, and her old-fashioned ideas and mature way of speaking +often brought a laugh from the others, but her shyness soon wore off +and she quickly acquired a style of speech at which her grandparents +sometimes frowned, for it included some bits of slang which had +never found their way into the brick house before.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>It was Miss Dorothy's doing which made the way easier for the little +girl, for she argued nobly in behalf of Marian's needing young +companions to keep her like a normal child. She even appealed to the +family doctor who promptly sided with her, and maintained that +Marian would be better bodily, if she lived a more rough and tumble +life. So, because her grandparents really did care for her, absorbed +as they were in their grown-up affairs, Marian was allowed more +freedom than ever before and was ready to take advantage of it.</p> + +<p>Miss Dorothy had gone up to town to do some shopping this first +Saturday of the term, and Marian bethought herself of its being +baking day at Mrs. Hunt's, so, as this was always one place she +could always go without asking permission, she simply stopped at the +sitting-room door and announced: "I am going down to Mrs. Hunt's, +grandma."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Otway, at work upon a financial report, did not look up from +her columns of figures, but merely nodded in reply and Marian ran on +down the street between the double rows of trees, till she came to +Mrs. Hunt's. This time it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> was the odor of baking which greeted her +as she advanced toward the kitchen, and Mrs. Hunt was in the act of +taking a pan of nicely browned cookies from the oven as her visitor +appeared.</p> + +<p>"Well, well, well," she exclaimed. "Just in time. Seems to me school +keeps some folks amazingly busy. I've not seen you for a week, have +I? But there, I'm glad enough you're turned out at last. Let me see +how you look. School agrees with you; I can see that. Sit down there +on the step and eat a cookie; it's warm inside the kitchen with the +fire going. Now tell me all about it. How do you like Miss Robbins? +I hear she's liable to be as popular as any teacher we've had. How +do the grans take to her?" Marian and Mrs. Hunt always spoke of Mr. +and Mrs. Otway as the grans.</p> + +<p>"They like her," returned Marian between bites of cookie. "She is +perfectly fine, Mrs. Hunt, and she's got a little sister just my +age; her name's Martha, but they call her Patty, and she's going to +write to me, and, oh, Mrs. Hunt, I have a secret to tell you, but +you mustn't breathe it. Cross your heart you won't."</p> + +<p>"Cross your heart," repeated Mrs. Hunt.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> "Where did you get that? I +never heard you say that before."</p> + +<p>"All the girls say it."</p> + +<p>"Of course they do, and you're getting to be one of the girls, I +see. Well, I'm glad of it. And what's the mighty secret?"</p> + +<p>"You won't tell?"</p> + +<p>"Not I." Mrs. Hunt emphasized her promise by bringing down her +cake-cutter firmly on the dough she had spread on the board before +her.</p> + +<p>"Well, it's this: I'm learning to write on the typewriter, and I'm +going to write a letter to papa myself."</p> + +<p>"Well, I vow to man! Isn't that a trick worth knowing? Won't he be +pleased?"</p> + +<p>"Do you think he really will? I didn't know, for you see he has +written to me only once a year just as he does to grandpa and +grandma, and I have never been sure that he really cared very much +about me."</p> + +<p>"Listen to the child," exclaimed Mrs. Hunt, shaking her head. "Who'd +have thought she gave it any thought one way or the other. Don't you +believe that he doesn't care. I knew Ralph Otway before you were +born, and I can tell you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> that when he gets to knowing that you've +thought enough about him to want to write to him he will write to +you often enough. He's got it into his head that you are as well off +not hearing from him oftener, and besides he feels that as a lone +widower he can't take as good care of you as his mother, a woman, +can do, and he's just steeled his heart to endure what he thinks is +best for you without thinking of what he would like for himself. +Don't you suppose he would a thousand times rather have you with him +than to live off there by himself?"</p> + +<p>"No, I didn't think so," replied Marian, with the idea that somehow +she had said something she ought not. "But, Mrs. Hunt, if he does +care, why doesn't he come over and get me?"</p> + +<p>"Just as I told you; because he thinks you are better off here with +your kith and kin. What would you do all day alone, with him off at +his business and you by yourself in lodgings or a boarding-house, +I'd like to know. He wouldn't want to send you to boarding-school, +for then you'd not be so well off as where you are. Oh, no, don't +you be getting it into your head that your father doesn't care for +you." Mrs. Hunt<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> made decided plunges at the yellow dough at each +attack leaving behind a scalloped circle. "How I talk," she said as +she deftly lifted the cookies into a pan, "but my tongue runs away +with me sometimes. When do you think you'll be smart enough to get +that letter off?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, in another week, perhaps. Miss Dorothy thinks I will."</p> + +<p>"Humph! that's quick enough work. Here, don't you want to go down +into the garden and get me a few tomatoes? I thought I'd stew some +for dinner, and I can't leave my baking very well."</p> + +<p>This was something Marian always liked to do, so she took the little +round basket Mrs. Hunt handed her and was soon very busy among the +tomato vines. She was watching a big yellow butterfly bury itself in +an opening flower when she heard a voice on the other side of the +fence, say: "Hello!" and looking up she saw Marjorie Stone and Alice +Evans smiling at her.</p> + +<p>"What are you doing?" asked Marjorie. "I didn't know you lived +here."</p> + +<p>"I don't," said Marian going toward her. "I just came to see Mrs. +Hunt and I am getting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> some tomatoes for her. Most everything else +has gone. There used to be lovely currants and raspberries over +there, and there were a few blackberries."</p> + +<p>"We know where there are some blackberries still, don't we, Alice?" +said Marjorie.</p> + +<p>"Yes, they have ripened late; they're not so very big, but we are +going to get them. We're going to take our lunch with us and gather +all we can find."</p> + +<p>"If you bring some lunch you can go too," said Marjorie amiably to +Marian.</p> + +<p>"Oh, is it a picnic?"</p> + +<p>"Just a little one. Three or four of us were going, but two of the +girls can't go. One has to stay at home and take care of the baby, +and the other has gone to town with her mother, but maybe Alice's +big sister, Stella, will go with us."</p> + +<p>"Is it very far?"</p> + +<p>"Not so very. We've often been there. You go get your lunch and put +it in a tin bucket, or a basket, so you will have something to carry +your blackberries home in. We'll wait here for you if you hurry."</p> + +<p>Much excited, Marian ran back to the house.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> This came of having +schoolmates. A picnic this very first Saturday, and the +blackberrying thrown in. She set down the little basket on the +kitchen table and exclaimed, "Oh, Mrs. Hunt, what do you think? +Marjorie Stone and Alice Evans want me to go on a picnic with them. +They're going blackberrying and it isn't very far, but I'll have to +take my lunch in something to gather the blackberries in, and<span style="letter-spacing: -2px;">——</span>" +She paused for breath.</p> + +<p>"Just those two going?"</p> + +<p>"No, Alice's big sister, Stella, is going."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" Mrs. Hunt nodded her head in a satisfied way.</p> + +<p>"Do you think I would have time to go home?" Marian asked anxiously. +"They said they were in a great hurry."</p> + +<p>"What is the use of your going home? I can put you up a little lunch +easy as not. Here's these cookies, and I've baked turnovers, too. +There's a basket of nice good apples in the pantry; you can have one +of those, and I'll whisk together some sandwiches in the shake of a +sheep's tail."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that would be perfectly fine. Do you think grandma would +mind?"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>"She oughtn't to. She's done the same thing lots of times herself."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" This fact certainly set things all right, for surely no grown +person could be so absolutely unjust and inconsistent as to blame a +child for doing what she had done, not once, but often herself. So +Marian was quite assured, and smilingly watched Mrs. Hunt's kind +hands pack a lunch for her.</p> + +<p>"There now," said the good woman when she had tucked a red napkin +over the top of the basket. "Run along and have a good time. I guess +all the quarts of blackberries you get won't make many jars of jam, +but you'll have just as much fun. If I get the chance I'll run up to +your grandma's or send word that you won't be home to dinner. Maybe +I'll see your grandpa as he comes back from the post-office."</p> + +<p>And so, well content, Marian sped forth to join the girls who were +waiting.</p> + +<p>"Are you going?" they asked. "You didn't have to go home, did you?"</p> + +<p>"No, Mrs. Hunt put up a lunch for me. She is always so very kind."</p> + +<p>"What have you got?" asked Marjorie eagerly.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span>"Three sandwiches, ham ones, and six cookies, two turnovers and an +apple." Marian enumerated the articles with pride.</p> + +<p>"I guess that will be enough," said Marjorie, condescendingly. "But +you will have to cut the turnovers in two so they will go around; we +haven't any, you know."</p> + +<p>Marian felt somewhat abashed, and thought that Marjorie was not very +polite. She would not have inquired into the contents of their lunch +baskets for the world. However, she trotted along very contentedly +till they reached Alice's home where Stella was to join them. "I +found some crackers and cheese, and there are two slices of bread +and jam," announced this older girl as she came out. "I think +perhaps we can find an apple tree along the way. Did you bring +anything, Marjorie?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have something in here." Marjorie swung her tin bucket in +air.</p> + +<p>"Then we'd better start," continued Stella. "Who is that with you? +Oh, I see, it is Marian Otway. Hello, Marian."</p> + +<p>"How do you do?" said Marian. She had never seen Stella except from +across the church.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> She considered her quite a young lady, although +she was only fourteen, but she was tall for her age and had an +assured air.</p> + +<p>The weather was warm, as it often is in early September, and as they +trudged along the dusty road with the noonday sun beating down upon +them, Marian thought it was anything but fun. Stella, however, kept +encouraging them all by telling them it was only a little further, +and that when they came to a certain big tree they would sit down +and eat their lunch. The tree seemed a long way off, but at length +it was reached, and the four sat down to rest under its shade.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I do wish I had a drink," sighed Alice. "I am so thirsty."</p> + +<p>"So am I," exclaimed the others.</p> + +<p>"Maybe there is a spring near," said Stella. "There is a house over +yonder; perhaps they could let us have some milk."</p> + +<p>"But we haven't any money to pay for it," said Alice.</p> + +<p>"So we haven't. Well, we'll have to ask for water. It was very +stupid to think of only being hungry and not of being thirsty. We +could have brought some milk as well as not. Let us have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> your tin +bucket, Marjorie, and you and Alice go over and ask for some water."</p> + +<p>"I'm too tired," complained Marjorie. "If I lend you my bucket I +think some one else ought to go for the water."</p> + +<p>"Oh, all right," said Stella with a disdainful smile. "I am sure +Marian will be accommodating enough to go with Alice, although you +have walked no further than they did. You will go, won't you, +Marian?"</p> + +<p>At this direct appeal, Marian could not refuse to go, and arose with +alacrity to do Stella's bidding.</p> + +<p>"Empty your bucket into my basket," said Stella to Marjorie, at the +same time taking off the lid. Marjorie made a dive into the bucket +and hastily secured a small package wrapped in paper, consenting to +Stella's putting the two biscuits and the one banana that remained, +into her basket.</p> + +<p>"Don't begin to eat till we come back," called Alice as she and +Marian started off.</p> + +<p>"We won't," promised her sister.</p> + +<p>The way through the open field was quite as hot, if not as dusty as +the road, and Marian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> agreed with Alice that it was harder to walk +through the stubble than the dust, so they were glad enough to reach +the shade of the trees surrounding the little farmhouse. A woman was +scouring tins on the back porch.</p> + +<p>"Could we have some water from your pump?" asked Alice timidly.</p> + +<p>The woman looked up. "Why, yes, and welcome. Where did you drop +from? I ain't seen any carriage come up the road."</p> + +<p>"We walked from Greenville," Alice told her.</p> + +<p>"All the way this warm day? Well, I should think you would want +water. You two didn't come by yourselves, did you?"</p> + +<p>"No, my sister and another girl are over there by that big chestnut +tree."</p> + +<p>"Lands! then why didn't you go to the spring? 'T ain't but a step, +just a ways beyond the tree down in that little hollow. I think the +water's better and colder than the pump water, but you can have +either you like. Perhaps, though, you'd like a glass of milk. But +there, you just wait, I know something better than that. Just set +down and cool off while I fetch something for you to take back. +Don't take a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> drink till you set awhile; you're all overheated."</p> + +<p>"What do you suppose she's going to give us?" whispered Alice.</p> + +<p>Marian shook her head. "I'd like water better than anything, but she +said we'd best wait and I'm going to."</p> + +<p>"Then I will," said Alice, not to be outdone.</p> + +<p>Presently the woman returned with a pitcher upon which stood cool +beads of moisture, while the clinking sound of ice from within +suggested deliciousness to the thirsty. Setting down a glass the +woman poured something into it, and then handed the glass to Marian +who politely offered it to Alice. It was quickly accepted and Alice +took a satisfying draught. "It is lemonade," she said, "and it is, +oh, so good. I never tasted anything so good."</p> + +<p>The woman laughed. "You never were more thirsty, maybe. Take your +time; I'll get another glass." She stepped inside to supply Marian +with the same treat. "I'll pour the rest into your pail," she said; +"it will go good with your lunch. I made a whole bucketful this +morning thinking maybe my husband's folks might come<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> over for +Sunday and would be thirsty after their long drive, but it's too +late for 'em now. They always start by sunup and get here before +dinner. They won't be here this week, so you come in for what they +don't."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad they didn't come," said Alice setting down her glass.</p> + +<p>The woman laughed. "It's an ill wind that blows nobody good, they +say. Here's your pail; there's ice enough to keep it cool for some +time."</p> + +<p>"Thank you so very, very much," said Marian earnestly. "If I get +enough blackberries I'll surely bring you some."</p> + +<p>"Bless the child! You needn't, for I have had all I need, and have +put 'em up till I'm sick of the sight of 'em. Keep all you get and +I'm sure you're welcome; their time is about over and what you get +won't be worth much. I'm sure you're welcome to your drink." She +fell to scouring again, and the girls departed bearing the bucket +carefully.</p> + +<p>"Wasn't she kind?" said Marian, in grateful remembrance, "and isn't +it nice to know about the spring?"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>"Be careful," cried Alice in alarm, for just here Marian struck her +foot against a stubbly growth and came near falling, but recovered +her footing.</p> + +<p>"Let me take it," said Alice, grasping the handle of the bucket.</p> + +<p>"I'm sure I shall be glad if you will," replied Marian in a relieved +tone, "it would be too dreadful to spill any of that delicious +stuff."</p> + +<p>However it was borne safely the rest of the way, and it is needless +to say that it was appreciated by the waiting pair, though Marjorie +complained that they had been such a long, long time in getting it.</p> + +<p>"I should think it was worth being long to get what we did," said +Alice severely.</p> + +<p>"Well, anyhow, I think Stella and I ought to have the most," said +Marjorie, "for you each had a glassful up at the house and we +haven't had any."</p> + +<p>"That was to pay us for going, wasn't it?" and Alice appealed to her +sister.</p> + +<p>"Certainly it was," returned Stella. "If you couldn't have that much +after your doing the errand I should think it was a pity."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span>Then they fell to eating their lunch, although the division of this +did not turn out as Marjorie intended, for Stella declared it was +only fair that each should eat what she brought for herself, and +maintained that Marjorie's biscuits and banana must be her share. +Marian protested, however, for she felt that she had the lion's +share, and that she would be uncomfortable if she ate her good +things without giving so much as a taste to the others. At last it +was decided that each child should contribute to the general supply +one article from her lunch, so a turnover went from Marian's basket, +a biscuit from Marjorie's pail, while Alice and Stella contributed +some crackers and cheese and a slice of their bread and jam. No one +caring for Marjorie's biscuit it was left untouched while its owner +fell upon the turnover without a question. Marian chose the crackers +and cheese, but insisted upon exchanging some of her cookies for the +slice of bread and jam, and later gave Alice half her apple. The +lemonade was quaffed to the last drop, and then Marjorie volunteered +to go to the spring for water. She was gone some time, and as they +all started forth to find the black<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>berry patch, Alice whispered to +Marian, "She had candy in that package; that's why she wanted to go +to the spring alone. I saw her take out the candy and eat it." Then +Marian began to realize that her eyes were being opened to other +than pleasant things in that outside world of companionship.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 400px;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="chapter_v" id="chapter_v"></a><i>CHAPTER V</i></h2> + +<h3><i>Blackberries</i></h3> + + +<p><span class="first">Fortunately</span> the blackberry patch was not much further on, and after +being refreshed by their luncheon the children did not mind crossing +a field and climbing a fence or two. But what a thicket it was! Such +thorns and briars as Marian had never imagined. There was a story in +verse, in one of the books which had belonged to her grandmother +when she was a little girl; this story was about Phebe, the +Blackberry Girl, and it was one in which Marian delighted, but never +before had she realized to the full extent Phebe's trials; yet, like +her, she</p> + +<div class="block" style="width: 380px;"> +<p style="text-indent: 0px;">"Scratched her face and tore her hair,<br /> +But still did not complain,"</p> +</div> + +<p>and furthermore, like Phebe, when she came to a promising bush, she +"picked with all her might," and really had a creditable amount to +show when Stella said time was up. But alas, she had other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> things +to show besides blackberries and scratches, for she had worn a frock +of light material, and by the time they were ready to leave the +thicket, it was in slits and tears all over. Marian had been so +excited over her novel employment that she had not seen what damage +the briars were doing till Marjorie laughed out: "Oh, what a rag-bag +you are!"</p> + +<p>Then Marian looked down at the fringe of muslin which hung from her +waist, at the stained waist itself, from which the trimming fell in +festoons, and she was aghast. "Oh, what shall I do?" she breathed +helplessly.</p> + +<p>"You certainly do look a sight," said Stella, none too comfortingly, +"but I wouldn't mind my clothes so much as my hands; just see how +they are all scratched up, and your face isn't much better. You were +too reckless; you ought not to have plunged in so far that you got +caught in the worst of the brambles; we didn't any of us plunge +around so as to get all mixed up that way."</p> + +<p>"I know," returned Marian meekly, "I got too excited."</p> + +<p>"I should think you did."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>"I can't go into town this way," said Marian miserably. "I look like +a beggar girl."</p> + +<p>"Anybody could see that you had been picking blackberries," said +Alice consolingly.</p> + +<p>"But with such a looking frock they will laugh at me," said Marian +tearfully. "Oh, dear, I wish I had worn something that didn't tear."</p> + +<p>"As the rest of us did," remarked Marjorie complacently.</p> + +<p>"If you had only been careful and had kept on the edge of the +thicket," Stella said, then seeing how distressed Marian really was, +she went on: "You might take off your frock; I really think you +would look better without than with it."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" Marian's cheeks flamed. To appear before the world +half-dressed was not to be thought of.</p> + +<p>Stella looked her over critically. The frock she wore was a white +muslin spotted with pink, too frail a garment for such an +expedition.</p> + +<p>"The waist isn't so terrible," said Alice examining it. "If we had +some pins we could fasten the trimming on so it wouldn't show the +tears much."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>"Take off your frock, Marian," decided Stella; "I know what we can +do."</p> + +<p>Marian obeyed the assured voice, and presently Stella was tearing +the ragged skirt from the waist, afterward pinning the trimming of +the waist in place. "Now come here," she said to Marian.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do?" the others asked in chorus.</p> + +<p>"I am going to match your petticoat to your waist," said Stella, +addressing Marian. "I will dot it with pink, and it will never be +observed. You can wear the waist as it is, and have a skirt to +match."</p> + +<p>"What are you going to spot it with?" asked Alice curiously.</p> + +<p>"You'll see," answered her sister, taking a blackberry from her +basket and squeezing a little of the juice on Marian's petticoat. +"It isn't exactly the color, but it is near enough, and will never +be noticed unless you were very near. Now stand quite still, +Marian."</p> + +<p>The little girl obeyed and after some time Stella finished her work. +"There!" she exclaimed with her head to one side to notice the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> +effect; "that is not bad at all. Walk off, Marian, and let me see; +the spots aren't quite even, but then, as Mrs. Hunt says, 'they will +never be seen on a galloping horse.'"</p> + +<p>"I am sure they look very well," remarked Alice admiringly, "and I +think you were very clever to think of it, Stella." And Marian, +though still a little shamefaced, felt more at ease.</p> + +<p>"We'd better start back," said Stella, "for the afternoons are not +so very long now, and we have quite a distance to go."</p> + +<p>"If we didn't have blackberries in the two buckets we might get some +of that nice cold water from the spring and carry it with us," said +Alice, "and then if we were thirsty we should have something to +drink."</p> + +<p>"It wouldn't be a bad plan," agreed Stella. "I'll tell you what we +can do: Marjorie can pour her berries in our bucket and we can use +hers for the water. Our bucket is so big that it will easily hold +ours and hers, too."</p> + +<p>"I'd like to see me do it," spoke up Marjorie. "I'd be sure not to +get back as many as I put in."</p> + +<p>Stella curled her lip and lifted her eyebrows scornfully. "You +needn't be afraid," she said;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> "nobody wants one of your old +berries. If you are so particular, it is very easy to separate them +by putting a layer of leaves on top of ours, and yours on top of +that, and then there will be no mixing, and <i>we</i> shall be sure to +get all that belongs to <i>us</i>."</p> + +<p>Marjorie agreed to this arrangement, being quite ready to have a +supply of water on hand, and so Stella carefully arranged the +berries and said she would carry the bucket herself and that +Marjorie and Alice could take turns in carrying the water. So, after +everything was adjusted, they set off toward the town, following the +dusty road by which they had come.</p> + +<p>The way home did not seem as long as the morning's walk, and not a +great deal of time had passed when the spires of the village +churches appeared in the distance, then they reached the outlying +houses, and finally the main street. "I'd just kite up the back way +if I were you," said Stella to Marian; "it is a little bit shorter +and you won't be likely to meet so many people. Good-bye. We turn +off here, you know. I hope you won't get a scolding."</p> + +<p>The fear of this, or worse, had been in Marian's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> heart all along, +though she had not mentioned it, and as she stole in the back gate +and up the garden walk she hoped she would meet neither her +grandmother nor Heppy. The little bucket of blackberries no longer +seemed worth while, and she set it down near the apple tree, ran in +the side door, past her grandfather's study, and on up-stairs, +hoping she could get by the sitting-room without being seen.</p> + +<p>But her hopes were in vain, for on the landing appeared her +grandmother. "Is that you, Marian?" she asked. "Where have you been +all day? Come in here and give an account of yourself."</p> + +<p>For a second it was in Marian's thought to say that her nose was +bleeding and to make her escape to her room, change her frock and +then reappear, but she knew it was only putting off the evil day, +for the frock's condition would be discovered sooner or later; and +then she was a truthful child, and could not have brought herself to +make a false excuse, even though the outcome might have been better +for her. So she entered the sitting-room timidly and stood with +drooping head before her grandmother.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>"Where have you been all day?" repeated her grandmother.</p> + +<p>"Oh, didn't Mrs. Hunt tell you?" said Marian in a weak voice. "She +said she would. I've been blackberrying."</p> + +<p>"With whom?"</p> + +<p>"Some of the girls."</p> + +<p>"Who gave you permission?"</p> + +<p>"Why—why—Mrs. Hunt didn't think you would mind, and—and<span style="letter-spacing: -2px;">——</span>"</p> + +<p>"Blackberrying! I should think so," exclaimed Mrs. Otway. "What a +sight you are, all stained and scratched up. Go, wash your face and +hands."</p> + +<p>"I did try to get it off at the spring," returned Marian more +cheerfully, hoping she was to be let off rather easily after all.</p> + +<p>But she had not reached the door before her grandmother called her +back. "What in the world have you done to your frock?" she asked, +examining her costume in surprise.</p> + +<p>"It got torn so and I was so ragged that Stella tore off the skirt," +said Marian in faint explanation, "and—" she went on, "she thought +she would try to make my petticoat look like a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> frock; the spots are +blackberry juice; they aren't quite the same color, but we all +thought they looked pretty well, better than slits and snags."</p> + +<p>"Then you have ruined not only your frock but your petticoat. Go to +your room and do not come out till I tell you. I will speak to your +grandfather and we will see what is to be done about this," said her +grandmother in such a severe tone that Marian felt like the worst of +criminals and crept to her room in dread distress.</p> + +<p>She had not often been seriously punished, but those few times stood +out very clearly just now. Once she had been compelled to receive +ten sharp strokes from a ruler on her outstretched hand. At another +time she had been shut up in a dark closet, and again she had been +tied in a chair for some hours. Any of these was bad enough. The +first was soonest over, but was the most humiliating, the second was +terrifying and nerve racking, while the third tediously long and +hard to bear. For some time the child sat tremblingly listening for +her grandmother's footsteps, but evidently Mrs. Otway did not intend +to use undue haste in the matter. After a while the whistle of the +evening train announced that those who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> had gone up to the city for +a day's shopping were now returning, and not long after Miss +Dorothy's door opened and Marian could hear the teacher singing +softly to herself in the next room.</p> + +<p>A new humiliation filled the child's breast. They would tell Miss +Dorothy, and she would think of her little friend as some one +desperately wicked, too wicked, no doubt, to associate with Patty. +The tears stood in Marian's eyes at this possibility. It was very, +very wrong, of course, to go off without asking leave, and it was +worse to spoil her clothes. She well knew her grandmother's views +upon this subject, and that of all things she disapproved of +wastefulness. She would say that the clothes might have done good to +the poor; they might have been sent in a missionary box to some +needy child, and it was wicked and selfish to deprive the poor of +something that could be of use.</p> + +<p>Oh, yes, Marian knew very well all about the probable lecture in +store for her.</p> + +<p>She sat dolefully, with clasped hands and tearful eyes. But +presently a happier thought came to her. She would tell Miss Dorothy +before her grandmother had a chance to do so, and perhaps<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> Miss +Dorothy would understand that she had not meant to do wrong in the +first place, and that what came after was carelessness and not +wilful wickedness. She had been ordered not to leave her room, and +this she need not do to carry out her plan. So she softly crossed +the floor and timidly knocked at the door between Miss Dorothy's +room and her own. It was opened in a moment by her friend, who +viewed the forlorn little figure first with a smile, and then with +anxious interest. "Why, my dearie," she exclaimed, "what is the +matter? Come into my room and tell me what is wrong."</p> + +<p>"I can't come in," said Marian in a low tone, "for I mustn't leave +my room till grandma bids me. But you can come in mine, can't you?" +she added wistfully.</p> + +<p>"To be sure I can," and suiting the action to the word, Miss Dorothy +entered and sat down by the window, drawing Marian to her side and +saying, "Now tell me all about it."</p> + +<p>Marian poured forth her doleful tale, beginning with the visit to +Mrs. Hunt and ending with the interview with her grandmother. "She +wouldn't have minded so much except for the frock and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> petticoat," +she said in conclusion, "but when she found out about those, I could +see that she was very, very much put out."</p> + +<p>"That was the worst part of it, of course," said Miss Dorothy. "Of +course you told her how sorry you were, and that you were so excited +over getting the biggest berries that you forgot about the briars. +You are not the only one who has done that," she added with a half +smile. "You never had been blackberrying before, had you?"</p> + +<p>"No, Miss Dorothy, and it was very exciting. We really had a lovely +time, only the walk was rather a hot one. Mrs. Hunt was so good; she +gave me such a fine lunch. She didn't think grandma would mind, for +she said she often used to go blackberrying when she was a little +girl."</p> + +<p>"She said that, did she?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Miss Dorothy. I ought to return the basket, but I can't go +now, and I left the berries down under the apple tree."</p> + +<p>"I will go out and bring them in, and I was thinking of going to +Mrs. Hunt's to make a call. I may as well go this evening, and then +I can return the basket for you. Mr. Hunt is one of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> our trustees, +you know, and I want to see him on a little matter about the +school."</p> + +<p>"Oh, thank you, Miss Dorothy. I know she uses that little basket for +all sorts of things, and she might want it."</p> + +<p>"She shall have it," said Miss Dorothy. "Well, dear, I hope your +grandmother will not be very hard on you. The only point I can see +that needs blame, is your wearing that flimsy delicate frock, but as +you had never been blackberrying before, you couldn't know the +unkindness of briars."</p> + +<p>"There wasn't time to change the frock."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know."</p> + +<p>"And you won't think I am very, very, wicked, even if they punish +me? You will let Patty be friends with me?"</p> + +<p>"I understand all about it, my dearie, and it shall not make the +slightest difference so far as Patty is concerned. I only wish I +could take your punishment for you."</p> + +<p>At this extreme kindness, Marian flung herself upon the floor at +Miss Dorothy's feet and sobbed aloud, "You are so dear! you are so +dear!"</p> + +<p>Miss Dorothy lifted her to her lap, smoothed back her hair and +kissed her flushed cheeks.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> "Cheer up, dear," she said. "One need +not be unhappy forever, and I hope this will soon be all over. Now, +I must go down and get those berries, or it will be too dark to find +them. Don't cry any more," and with a smile Miss Dorothy left her.</p> + +<p>It was quite dark when Mrs. Otway at last appeared. "I have talked +it over with your grandfather," she began without preface, "and we +have decided to punish you by having you wear to school all next +week the costume you came home in. That is all we shall do. It will +teach you to be more careful next time. You may come down to supper +now," and Marian meekly followed.</p> + +<p>The blackberries were on the table, but Marian could not touch them. +The horror of appearing before her schoolmates in the spotted +petticoat filled her with dismay, and although her grandmother felt +that she had been really very lenient, no punishment she could have +devised would have been more humiliating to the little girl. She had +always been a very dainty child, taking pride in her clothes and +being glad that she could appear as well as any one she knew. How +could she face nineteen pairs of wondering eyes upon Monday morning? +She<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> could see the amused countenances, hear the suppressed giggles, +and imagine the laughing comments whispered with hands hiding +mouths. If only she could fall sick and die so she might never go to +school again.</p> + +<p>No one paid much attention to her as she sat there barely tasting +her supper, though she should have been hungry after her long walk +and her early lunch. Miss Dorothy once or twice looked her way and +nodded reassuringly, while Heppy slipped an extra large piece of +cake on her plate as she was passing it around.</p> + +<p>But after Marian had gone to bed and was lying forlornly awake, +after an hour of trying to sleep, Miss Dorothy tiptoed into her room +to bend over her, and seeing the wide eyes, to say: "I have been +down to Mrs. Hunt's. She is a dear. Go to sleep, honey. Just have +faith that it will all come out right. Don't worry. I am going to +leave my door open so you will not feel that you are all alone." And +with a kiss she left her to feel somehow quite satisfied that +matters were not so desperate as they seemed, and that Monday's +trial might in some way be set aside if she had faith.</p> + +<hr style="width: 400px;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="chapter_vi" id="chapter_vi"></a><i>CHAPTER VI</i></h2> + +<h3><i>The White Apron</i></h3> + + +<p><span class="first">But</span> Monday morning came and there seemed no prospect of any change +in Mrs. Otway's decision. She came herself to see that Marian was +clad in the costume of disgrace, and she was sternly sent out with +the order not to be late. But lest she should shame Miss Dorothy the +child lingered out of sight around the corner till her teacher +should have passed by and then she ventured down the street by +herself. No one imagined the agony each step cost her, nor how she +avoided any familiar face, crossing and recrossing as she saw an +acquaintance in the distance. She was even about to pass Mrs. Hunt's +gate without looking up when some one called her.</p> + +<p>"Marian, Marian," came Mrs. Hunt's pleasant voice. "Stop a minute, +chickadee."</p> + +<p>The first impulse was to run on, but that meant reaching the +schoolhouse so much the sooner, so the child hesitated and presently +was captured<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> by Mrs. Hunt, who bore down upon her as one not to be +denied.</p> + +<p>"I've been watching for you," she said. "Come right along in. You +have plenty of time. I have something to say to you. There, never +mind, I know the whole story and I ought to have all the blame, for +it was myself that urged you to go. Now your grandma never said you +were not to cover up that ridiculous petticoat, did she? She said +you were to wear it, I know, and wear it you must, of course.</p> + +<p>"Now, look here, I have an apron that was my little angel Annie's; +it's a real pretty one, and it is made so it will cover you all up. +I hunted it out this morning early. Put your arms in the sleeves. +That's it. Just as I thought; it covers you well up and hides all +the spots, doesn't it? It is a little yellow from lying, but no +matter, it is clean and smooth. I've two or three more the same +pattern. I always liked 'em with those little frills on the +shoulders.</p> + +<p>"Now, never mind, I know just what you're going to say, but you +needn't. I'm taking all the responsibility of this. Just you go +along to school and feel as happy as you can. I'm going<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> to see your +grandmother before you get home, and I'll make it all right with +her, so you are not to bother yourself one little mite. Now trot +along, and hurry a little, or you might be a wee bit late. You can +wear the apron home. You look real nice in it."</p> + +<p>Marian started forth as she was bidden, and then overwhelmed by her +sense of relief, she raced back to throw her arms around her good +friend's neck and say, "Oh, you are so good. I do love you, I do. +What should I do without you and Miss Dorothy?"</p> + +<p>"Bless her heart," murmured Mrs. Hunt, giving her a hearty hug. She +stood in the doorway, looking after her till she was out of sight. +"I never expected to be so happy in seeing another child wear +anything of my Annie's," she murmured, wiping her eyes as she +entered the house.</p> + +<p>The girls were trooping into the schoolroom from the playground when +Marian reached the spot, and Miss Dorothy was already at her desk. +She looked across and gave Marian a bright smile and an +understanding nod as she came in, as much as to say: "What did I +tell you? Hasn't it all come out right?" As hers was not the only<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> +apron worn, Marian did not feel at all oddly dressed, and her relief +was so great that she smiled every time any one looked at her.</p> + +<p>Alice sought her out at recess and asked eagerly: "Was your +grandmother awfully mad?"</p> + +<p>"She didn't like it," returned Marian evasively.</p> + +<p>"What did she do?"</p> + +<p>"She didn't do anything. She sent me to my room."</p> + +<p>"Was that all? Well, I'm glad you came off so easily," said Alice. +"We all know how particular your grandmother is, and we were afraid +she would do something awfully severe." Then Ruth came up and Marian +went off with her to eat luncheon, so no more was said on the +subject.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Hunt told me I could wear it home," said Marian to herself, as +she went up street from school. She was alone, for Miss Dorothy had +been detained and had told her not to wait. Marian paused at Mrs. +Hunt's gate to see if she were there to give her further +encouragement, for as she was nearing home, the child felt her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> +spirits oozing. What would her grandmother say? She remembered, +however, that Mrs. Hunt had charged her not to worry, so, finding +all silent and deserted at her friend's house, she plucked up +courage, believing that Mrs. Hunt had not failed her, and that she +was probably at that very moment, closeted with her grandmother.</p> + +<p>She was not disappointed, for as she entered the sitting-room she +saw the two having a lively chat. "Here comes the child," cried Mrs. +Hunt cheerily. "We were just talking over old times, Marian. I was +reminding your grandmother of the time we all went nutting to +Jones's lot, and she fell into a mud-hole and was plastered to her +ears. She had to sit in the sun till she dried off, and then I took +her home. My mother rigged her up in some of my clothes, and she +went home with her heart in her mouth." Marian smiled. She +understood the method Mrs. Hunt was taking to smooth matters over +for herself.</p> + +<p>"Another time," Mrs. Hunt turned to the other lady, "do you +remember, Maria, when we all went to Perryman's Beach and waded in +the water? You'd had a cold or something, and were afraid your +mother would find out you'd gone<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> with us. She did find out, I +remember, because you didn't dry your feet well, and your bed was +full of sand the next morning. Dear me, dear me, that was a good +while ago, wasn't it?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Otway was smiling with a far-away look in her eyes. "I +remember," she said.</p> + +<p>"You can't put old heads on young shoulders," went on Mrs. Hunt, +"and if our mothers had looked ahead and had seen what sober old +matrons we would become, I guess they wouldn't have worried as much +as they did over our little pranks."</p> + +<p>Marian edged up to her good friend who put her arm around her. Mrs. +Otway turned her eyes upon her granddaughter. "Where did you get +that apron, Marian?" asked Mrs. Otway, a change coming over her +face.</p> + +<p>"I lent it to her," Mrs. Hunt spoke up. "It was my Annie's and I +wasn't going to have Ralph Otway's daughter disgraced by going +through the streets in a petticoat; I'm too fond of him and of her, +too. I remember once how I made my Annie wear a purple frock she +despised. It was the very week before she died," Mrs. Hunt's voice +dropped, "and you can believe, Maria Ot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>way, that if I had it to do +over again, the purple frock would have gone in the fire before she +should ever have worn it. Poor little darling, the girls made fun of +it because it was so ugly and old-womanish. I could have spared her +feelings and I didn't. I have that purple frock now," she went on. +"I kept it to remind me not to hurt the feelings of one of His +little ones when there was no need to." The tears were running down +Mrs. Hunt's cheeks by now, but she went on: "You can think as you +choose, but I have said my say."</p> + +<p>"I don't think you would ever hurt any one's feelings if you could +help it, Salome," said Mrs. Otway, melted by the childless woman's +tears. Then turning to Marian, "Run along now, Marian," she said.</p> + +<p>"Shall I take off the apron?"</p> + +<p>"No, you needn't."</p> + +<p>And that was all there was of it, but the next morning before +breakfast said Mrs. Otway outside Marian's door: "You may put on +your blue gingham for school, Marian."</p> + +<p>So did Mrs. Hunt triumph and so did Miss Dorothy laugh in her sleeve +when she saw Mar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>ian appear in the clean blue frock. It was after +school when she and Marian were coming home together that she +confessed to having had something to do with bringing about this +pleasant state of things. "I went down to Mrs. Hunt's and told her +all about it," she said, "and we hatched up the scheme between us, +so our works and your faith brought about what we wished for. If you +had been really disobedient, and had intended to do wrong we could +not have been so eager to help you, but I think your punishment +exceeded the offense and Mrs. Hunt thought the same. Isn't she a +dear woman, Marian? I feel as if I had known her all my days, and as +if I could go right to her in time of trouble."</p> + +<p>"That is the way every one feels," Marian told her. "I stopped there +this morning to take back the apron, and she said she knew Annie was +glad I had worn it. She talks that way about Annie, so I almost feel +as if I knew her and as if she knew me."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps she does," returned Miss Dorothy quietly. "Now, when are +you going to send the letter to your father? Don't you think it is +most time you were getting it ready? And, by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> the way, I have not +shown you my camera. I left it in the city to be put in order and it +came this morning. Now, I was thinking it would be very nice to send +your father a little book of snap pictures of his small daughter. I +will take them, and can develop and print them myself. I have some +gray paper that we can cut into sheets to be folded the proper size +to mount the pictures upon, and it will make a very nice present, +don't you think so?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Miss Dorothy!" Marian's face showed her delight. "I think that +is the very loveliest idea that any one ever thought of. I think you +have an angelic mind for thinking of things."</p> + +<p>Miss Dorothy laughed. "I am so glad you are pleased with the idea. +My plan is not to take the pictures all at once, but as I happen to +catch you in a characteristic position, or an artistic one. For +instance, one can be taken at school at your desk, or the +blackboard; another in the garden, another in the sitting-room with +your grandparents, another with Tippy and Dippy."</p> + +<p>"More and more lovely," cried Marian. "Then he will feel almost as +if he were here seeing me every day, and will get acquainted with me +so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> much better in that way. I don't feel as if my father and I were +very well acquainted."</p> + +<p>"You poor little pet, of course you don't, but once you begin +sending letters back and forth it will be quite different."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I think so, too. Miss Dorothy, do you suppose my father will +ever come home?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know why he shouldn't."</p> + +<p>"I do; it is because grandpa will not ask him to. I think grandma +would like to, but grandpa won't let her; that is what I think, and +I believe Mrs. Hunt thinks so, too."</p> + +<p>Miss Dorothy was silent for a moment, then she said: "Perhaps we'd +better not talk about it, dear, for I don't know the circumstances, +and I might not judge correctly, but if it is right that he should +come, I think your writing to him will be the surest way of bringing +it about the sooner. Shall we write the letter this afternoon?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, please."</p> + +<p>"Then come to my room in about an hour and we'll try it."</p> + +<p>Marian was promptly on hand when the hour arrived, and seated +herself in a great twitter before the machine. She began bravely +enough:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> "My dear father," and then she paused, but slowly went on +till she had completed half a page of typewritten words. Miss +Dorothy did not offer any suggestions, but sat at the other side of +the room before her writing-table. At the pause in the clicking of +the typewriter she looked up. "Well," she said, "you haven't +finished yet, have you?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," responded Marian doubtfully. "Would you mind looking +at what I have done?"</p> + +<p>Miss Dorothy came over and read the few stiff lines:</p> + +<p>"My dear father: I have learned to write upon the typewriter which +belongs to my teacher. I hope you are well. I am well and so are the +rest of the family. We have very pleasant warm weather at present. I +hope you have the same in Berlin. I thought you might be pleased to +receive a letter from me, although it is not the first of the year. +I go to school now. There are twenty pupils in our room. They are +all little girls."</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear, dear," exclaimed Miss Dorothy, "is that the way you feel +when you are writing?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> Why, you are talking to your father, +remember. Just listen to the way I write to mine." She read from the +sheet she held in her hand:</p> + +<p>"Dear old daddy: Isn't this gorgeous weather? I wish you and I were +off for a real old time tramp this afternoon. How we would talk and +turn our hearts inside out to each other. I can see you with your +eyes twinkling under that disreputable old hat of yours, and I can +feel your polite hand under my independent elbow when there is a +stream to jump or a wall to climb, the dear hand that I never need +for that sort of help, but which you pretend I do because I am your +girl still, if I am big enough to face the world by myself.</p> + +<p>"Well, daddy, I have been teaching for more than a week, and haven't +had one cry over it. Isn't that courage for you? Not that my pupils +are all angels, oh, no, this is not heaven, dear dad, but it is +really a very nice place, and there are some dear people here.</p> + +<p>"Did you ever happen to meet a Mr. William Hunt and his wife? He is +a very good sort, and she is a perfect darling, one of those rare +flowers whose fragrance fills the air even on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> highway; not one +of the hothouse kind that has been forced to bloom out of season, +for out of season and in season she is always blooming and shedding +forth her sweetness." Miss Dorothy paused.</p> + +<p>"Oh, but Miss Dorothy, I could never write like that," exclaimed +Marian in an awe-stricken tone.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps not just like that, but you can tell him about yourself and +about the people you know, Mrs. Hunt, for instance, and your +schoolmates, and Tippy and Dippy."</p> + +<p>"And you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, and me, if you like."</p> + +<p>"Oh, very well, I will try again. I didn't know we ought to write +letters like that."</p> + +<p>"That is the very kind we should write. I will finish mine while you +do yours." So for the next few minutes the tapping of the typewriter +drowned the scratching of Miss Dorothy's pen, which flew steadily +over her paper.</p> + +<p>At last Miss Dorothy looked up. "There," she exclaimed, "I have +finished mine. How are you getting on?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, much better. I have written ever so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> much. I am almost at the +bottom of the page, and I think you will have to put another sheet +in for me, if you will be so good."</p> + +<p>"I'll do it with pleasure. May I see what you have written, or would +you rather not?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, please look. I have told him about school and about you and +some of the girls. There is a great deal more I could say, but I +will leave out Tippy and Dippy this time."</p> + +<p>Miss Dorothy read down the page and at the end she stooped and +kissed the child. "You have paid me a lovely compliment, dear," she +said. "I am glad you feel that way," for Marian had written: "We +have the loveliest teacher in the world. Her name is Miss Dorothy +Robbins. She is like Mrs. Hunt, but can understand little girls +better, for she is younger and prettier. I love her very much."</p> + +<p>At last the letter was finished, folded and addressed, and Miss +Dorothy promised to mail it herself. It had been a great undertaking +for Marian, who was quite tired out by her afternoon's work, but who +was very happy now that it was done, for the very act drew her +nearer her father.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>She went down that same evening to tell Mrs. Hunt about it. There +was neither baking nor pickling going on this time, but she found +her friend in her sitting-room, a basket of mending by her side. +"You are always busy, aren't you, Auntie Hunt?" said Marian. Mrs. +Hunt was called Auntie, by many of her friends.</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear, I think most busy people are happy, and I am sure all +happy people are busy about something. Well, how goes it up at the +brick house?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, very well, indeed. What do you think I have been doing to-day?"</p> + +<p>"Can't guess. There is one thing I know you have not been doing. +I'll wager a sixpence you've not been blackberrying," and Mrs. Hunt +laughed.</p> + +<p>The color flew into Marian's face. "No, indeed, I haven't been, and +I shall not probably ever go again until I'm a grown lady, and can +do as I please."</p> + +<p>"Do you think all grown-ups do as they please?"</p> + +<p>"Why, don't they?"</p> + +<p>"Not a bit of it. But there, tell me what is the wonderful thing you +have been doing?"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>"I have written a letter to papa all by myself, and Miss Dorothy has +mailed it. She put the stamp on and took it to the post-office just +now with her letters."</p> + +<p>"Well, well, well, but won't he be pleased to get it? That's a fine +young woman, that Miss Dorothy of yours."</p> + +<p>"Isn't she?"</p> + +<p>"She is so. She made us a nice visit the other evening. She is a +girl after my own heart, none of your vain, self-absorbed young +persons, always concerned in her own affairs, but one of the real +hearty kind that thinks of others as well as herself, and has her +eyes open to what is best in life. I like her."</p> + +<p>"And she likes you."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad to hear it."</p> + +<p>"I wish you could see the kind of letters she writes to her father, +but then," Marian added thoughtfully, "he must be the kind of father +it is easy to write that way to."</p> + +<p>"I'll be bound he is the right kind to have a daughter like that. +She has no mother, she tells me. Her aunt keeps house for them, and +there is quite a family of children."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span>"Yes, and Patty is the youngest. She is going to write to me."</p> + +<p>"Bless me, how you are blossoming out into a correspondent. Well, +don't let it take up so much of your time that you won't be able to +drop in as often as usual. There is a little basket of grapes in the +pantry; you can take it to your grandma; the pear on top grew for +you to eat right now."</p> + +<p>Marian needed no second hint, but sought out the fruit and was not +long in burying her teeth in the yellow juicy pear, and then because +it grew dark early, she hurried away that she might be home "before +the dark catches you," said Mrs. Hunt.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 400px;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span></p> + + +<h2><a name="chapter_vii" id="chapter_vii"></a><i>CHAPTER VII</i></h2> + +<h3><i>Patty's Letter</i></h3> + + +<p><span class="first">One</span> day a few weeks later Marian ran to Miss Dorothy with a letter +her grandfather had just brought in, and when her teacher opened it, +she saw her smile as she drew a sheet from within the longer letter. +"This is for you, Marian," said Miss Dorothy.</p> + +<p>"It is from Patty, I know," cried Marian delightedly, and she took +the long-wished for letter over to the window while Miss Dorothy +turned her attention to her own home news.</p> + +<p>Patty's was a nice cordial little note which told about her lessons +and her friends, and which said that she hoped Marian and she would +soon meet and be very chummy. "I know I shall like you," wrote +Patty, "because Dolly says so, and Dolly is nearly always right."</p> + +<p>"I think so, too," said Marian aloud. She took much longer to read +her letter than Miss Dorothy did to read hers, for she was not very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> +expert in reading written pages. Miss Dorothy had laid down the +closely written sheets which she had been holding, and was looking +out of the window thoughtfully when Marian at last came to "Your +affectionate friend, Patty Robbins."</p> + +<p>"It was such a nice letter," she said looking up with a pleased +sigh.</p> + +<p>"I am very glad you found it so," returned Miss Dorothy with a +smile.</p> + +<p>"Was yours a nice one?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is from my father, and he always writes delightful letters. +I hope to see him and Patty both on Saturday. Dad has some business +in the city, and Patty needs a new coat, so he is going to take her +with him. I am to meet them there, for poor dad would never know how +to buy a coat. Do you often go to the city, Marian?"</p> + +<p>"I never have been but once."</p> + +<p>"Really? I was just thinking how nice it would be if you could go +with me and meet Patty; then we three could go shopping and have +lunch somewhere together."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Miss Dorothy!" Such a plan was beyond Marian's wildest dreams. +She looked radiant for a moment, then her face fell.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>"What is the matter?" asked Miss Dorothy.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid grandma will not let me go. I never have been but that +once, and then grandma had to go to the dentist; grandpa could not +go with her and didn't want her to go alone."</p> + +<p>"But what about your clothes and things? Don't you have to go there +for them?"</p> + +<p>"Grandma never gets me ready-mades. Miss Almira Belt makes +everything I wear. Do you suppose she always will do it?"</p> + +<p>"I hope not," returned Miss Dorothy gravely, then she laughed as she +pictured a grown-up Marian arrayed in frocks of Miss Almira's make. +They did very well for a little girl, for they were of good material +and neatly made, if old-fashioned in cut.</p> + +<p>"Do you think grandma would let me go?" asked Marian, a faint hope +dawning within her.</p> + +<p>"I shall find out."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Miss Dorothy, are you really going to ask her?"</p> + +<p>"I certainly am."</p> + +<p>"But I am afraid she will say it is too expensive. She doesn't +believe in spending money in that way on little girls. She allows me +to go to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> church fairs and such things when they are for a good +cause, but she says journeying is not necessary, that it excites me +and I am better off at home."</p> + +<p>"But you would really like to go," said Miss Dorothy disregarding +this last speech.</p> + +<p>"It would be the most beautifullest thing that ever happened to me."</p> + +<p>"Such a small pleasure," said Miss Dorothy half to herself. "Well, +dear, if it is only a question of expense, that shall not stand in +the way, I promise you. Fifty cents or so would do it, and that is +not a large sum."</p> + +<p>Here Marian took alarm. "But, Miss Dorothy, you mustn't pay for me. +You must keep your money for Patty and the others. You mustn't spend +it on me."</p> + +<p>"Mustn't I?" Miss Dorothy looked over at her with a little knowing +smile. "Then I won't do it since you are so particular, but I have a +scheme of my own and we shall see how it will work out. Are you +willing to earn it?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed I am; I should like it above all things. I never earned any +money for myself, but I have earned some for the heathen."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span>Miss Dorothy made a little grimace. "Very well, if you are willing +to earn your way, you may consider yourself invited to make the +journey at your own expense. I guarantee sufficient work to pay for +your ticket. I don't suppose you will object to being paid in +advance."</p> + +<p>Marian looked doubtful. "Well—if<span style="letter-spacing: -2px;">——</span>"</p> + +<p>"If—if<span style="letter-spacing: -2px;">——</span>What an ifer you are. I don't mean all in advance, only a +part. Do you agree to that?"</p> + +<p>"I don't suppose it would be wrong to agree to that."</p> + +<p>"You must have a Puritan conscience," said Miss Dorothy laughing.</p> + +<p>"What is that?"</p> + +<p>"It is something that is very unhealthy sometimes. I will see that +you begin your work to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Do please tell me now what it is."</p> + +<p>"No, no, you might back out," Miss Dorothy laughed. "I'll tell you +when the time comes. In the meantime your grandma's consent must be +had. Perhaps I'd better settle it at once. Will you go with me to +ask her?"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span>Marian hung back. "Oh, if you don't mind," she said, "I'd rather +not."</p> + +<p>"You're no kind of a soldier. See me walk up to the cannon's mouth." +And leaving the room, Miss Dorothy ran lightly down-stairs.</p> + +<p>Marian followed slowly, but though she hesitated at the sitting-room +door where she heard voices, she did not tarry, but went on down to +the lower floor and into the garden where Tippy and Dippy lay asleep +in the sunshine. Dippy opened one eye and stretched himself as +Marian approached. She picked him up and carried him down to the +apple tree.</p> + +<p>"I've had a letter from Patty," she told him when she was settled in +the crotch of the tree, "and maybe,—it is only maybe,—Dippy, I am +going to the city on Saturday. I don't suppose you would care +anything about it. I am sure you would much rather stay here and +chase grasshoppers, but I want to go so powerfully that I think I +shall cry my eyes out if grandma says I can't. I know she wouldn't +consent if I asked her, but maybe she will if Miss Dorothy does." +She sat still cuddling Dippy who had fallen asleep again. From her +point of vantage she could look<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> up and down the street. She had +learned not to expect to move the mountain, but the mustard seeds +were again in her mind.</p> + +<p>Presently she saw Miss Dorothy come out the front door and turn down +the street. She crept along the limb on which she sat, leaving Dippy +to look out for himself, and gained the wall from which she could +look directly down upon the pavement. She must ask Miss Dorothy what +success she had had. "Miss Dorothy, Miss Dorothy," she called softly +when her teacher came near. Miss Dorothy looked up. "What did she +say?" asked Marian.</p> + +<p>"She hasn't said yes yet," replied Miss Dorothy. "What are you doing +up there?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, just nothing but looking around and thinking, about the mustard +seed, you know."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes. Very well, I'm about to do the works, so you stay there +and exercise the faith, and perhaps between us we'll manage to get +this settled to our satisfaction."</p> + +<p>"Where are you going?" asked Marian as Miss Dorothy walked on.</p> + +<p>"To attend to the works," called back Miss Dorothy mysteriously. +"Faith and works, you know."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>Marian crawled back again to the crotch of the tree. Dippy had +jumped down, not being pleased at having his nap disturbed, so +Marian did not go after him but sat looking off at the mountain. "I +want to go, oh, Lord, I do want to go," she said wistfully, "and I +believe you will let Miss Dorothy manage it, yes, I do." She sat +with her eyes fixed upon the mountain for some time, then she gave a +long sigh, and changed her position. "I believe I'll go get Patty's +letter and read it over again," she said, beginning to climb down +the tree.</p> + +<p>In a little while she was back again in her old place, letter in +hand. She had finished reading it and was looking off down street +watching for Miss Dorothy's return when she saw Mrs. Hunt entering +the front door; she had come down street this time, instead of up. +"She's come to see grandma, I suppose," said Marian. Then a thought +flashed across her mind; she wondered if Miss Dorothy's works had +anything to do with Mrs. Hunt's coming. To be sure Miss Dorothy was +not with her, but neither had she been that other time when Mrs. +Hunt had managed so well about the apron. Marian could not resist +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> temptation of going in to hear what her grandmother and Mrs. +Hunt were talking about. She paused at the door of the sitting-room. +Mrs. Hunt sat rocking in one of the haircloth rockers, Mrs. Otway in +the other.</p> + +<p>"Yes," Mrs. Hunt was saying, "Dr. Grimes says she's not likely to be +about again soon if she gets over it."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Otway looked very grave. "I'm sorry for more reasons than one. +Marian needs a new coat, and I had counted on Almira's making it."</p> + +<p>It was Miss Belt, then, of whom they were talking. Marian crept +softly in and sat down in a corner where she could hear more.</p> + +<p>"They think she got it up there at Billing's," Mrs. Hunt went on. +"She was sewing there a while ago, and Dr. Grimes says the water on +that place isn't fit to drink; they ought to boil it. Like as not +that is where she did get it. Typhoid is pretty slow, but she has a +good nurse in Hannah, and I don't doubt she'll pull through. Is that +you, Marian? Come here, honey."</p> + +<p>Marian went to her old friend. "I was telling about Almira Belt's +being down with typhoid," said Mrs. Hunt.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span>"Oh, isn't that too bad?" Marian's sympathies were real. She liked +Miss Almira, though she didn't enjoy having her cold scissors +snipping around her shoulders, and her bony fingers poking at her +when she stood up to be fitted.</p> + +<p>"It is too bad," returned Mrs. Hunt, "for her work has to lie by; +there's no one else to do it, for her sister Hannah has her hands +full."</p> + +<p>"I'm truly sorry," said Mrs. Otway shaking her head, "with the +winter coming I am afraid it will go hard with them."</p> + +<p>"Yes, winter isn't far off," said Mrs. Hunt. "William says he thinks +we'll have early snow. We'll all have to keep the Belts in mind, and +I guess they'll not suffer. Well, I must be going. I thought you'd +want to hear about Almira; you're always so ready to look out for +the sick, Maria."</p> + +<p>"I certainly shall not let Almira want for anything I can do," +returned Mrs. Otway with emphasis. "She has been a good and faithful +worker all her days, and I hope her years of usefulness are not +ended yet. Thank you for coming to tell us, Salome."</p> + +<p>"Well, I knew you'd want to know," repeated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> Mrs. Hunt. "By the way, +Maria, I hear Miss Robbins is going to town on Saturday, and I +shouldn't wonder if there'd be something to get for Almira. I don't +doubt Miss Robbins would attend to it."</p> + +<p>"I am sure she would," returned Mrs. Otway. "She is always very +ready to offer her services."</p> + +<p>"You like her right well, don't you?" said Mrs. Hunt.</p> + +<p>"Very much indeed; we are glad to have her with us."</p> + +<p>"That's what I surmised. What was I going to say? Oh, yes, you were +remarking that Marian needed a winter coat, and she will need it, +cold as it is growing, for I remember you sent her last year's one +in the missionary box. Why not let Miss Robbins get one for her in +the city? Marian could go along, and she'd be glad of her company. +It wouldn't be much trouble if the child were there to fit it on. +You could tell her the kind you wanted, and I'll venture to say +you'd pay less than for the cloth and making."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps that would be a good plan," replied Mrs. Otway, as if it +had not been presented be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span>fore. "I'll see about it when Miss Dorothy +comes in."</p> + +<p>"Oh, may I go?" Marian breathed softly, but at that moment the door +was shut after Mrs. Hunt, and her grandmother did not hear the +question, which was just as well, as Marian on second thoughts +decided, for if she thought the child wanted to go for a frolic she +might withhold her consent. So Marian wisely held her tongue and +went out to the garden again.</p> + +<p>No more was said upon the subject until the next day and Marian was +afraid it was forgotten, but in the afternoon Miss Dorothy called +her. "Come in here, young woman, and earn your trip to town."</p> + +<p>Marian obeyed with alacrity. Miss Dorothy was seated before her +typewriter. "Come here and I will show you what you have to do," she +said. "You are to make twenty copies of this little slip. You must +make as many as you can upon one sheet of paper, about so far apart. +You know now perfectly well how to put in the paper and how to take +it out. To-morrow you can make twenty slips more, twenty the day +after, making sixty slips in all; you will be paid half a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> cent for +each slip, and eventually you will earn sixty cents, just what a +round trip ticket costs. Do you agree?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Miss Dorothy, of course, if you are sure I can do it."</p> + +<p>"Of course you can do it, at first slowly, and then, as they are to +be all alike, you will be able to do the last with your eyes shut. +Now, I'll leave you to go ahead."</p> + +<p>"Please<span style="letter-spacing: -2px;">——</span>"</p> + +<p>"Please what?"</p> + +<p>"Wait till I have done one to see if it is all right."</p> + +<p>"Very well, that is a small favor to grant."</p> + +<p>"And, tell me, am I really to go?"</p> + +<p>"The powers that be, have so decreed."</p> + +<p>"And I can pay my own way?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, that is one of the reasons. Your very wise and astute teacher +remarked that it would teach you self-reliance and independence, +help to make you resourceful, broaden your experiences. Oh, me! what +didn't she argue?"</p> + +<p>Marian turned adoring eyes upon her. "And Mrs. Hunt?" she said.</p> + +<p>"Did you think she had something to do with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> it? Well, she did +without knowing it, for I was on my way to her house when she came +here with the news of Miss Almira's illness, and all unconsciously +she did us a good turn by suggesting that you go up to the city with +me to get a coat. Wasn't it funny that it should happen that way? I +didn't mean about poor Miss Almira; that is anything but funny, but +it is strange that Mrs. Hunt should have come around with a piece of +news that settled the whole matter. When your grandma told me you +were to go, I came near laughing outright, but when I knew the +reason I did look concerned, I hope. She said she had been thinking +over the matter of your going to the city with me. Would it be too +great a task, and would I have time to select a coat for you? No, I +said it would be no task at all, for I should be doing the same for +my little sister.</p> + +<p>"Here I ran against a snag, for your grandmother said that perhaps I +could get yours without your being there, for my little sister could +be your proxy. 'Oh, but,' I said, 'Patty is short and chubby while +Marian is tall and slender. I am afraid I could never select the +proper gar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>ment unless she were there to try it on.' 'But the +expense,' said grandma. 'Sixty cents would do much good in some +other direction.' 'Perhaps,' I said, 'I can get a coat for less than +the price you have fixed upon, if I get the two together.' She +wasn't so sure of that. Then I said, 'I have a little work that I +promised a friend of mine to do for her, typewritten slips, which +Marian could do perfectly. If I go to the city on Saturday I cannot +get them all done as promptly as they should be, but if Marian could +help me, I could share the pay and she could then make her own +expenses.' At this grandma succumbed, and so, my dear, we are going. +Now, I must go, for you will never do twenty slips before dark if I +stand talking. That looks very well. Keep on as you have begun and +you have nothing to fear."</p> + +<p>Left to herself Marian tapped away industriously till just as it was +getting too dark to see, she finished her twenty slips and proudly +showed them to Miss Dorothy when she came in. The first money she +had ever really earned was placed in her hand.</p> + +<p>"If you don't get your entire sixty done this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> week," said Miss +Dorothy, "you can hitch some of them on to next week's number, for +we agreed to square this matter. So you needn't go to town with the +feeling that you haven't earned the trip, whatever happens."</p> + +<p>Marian smiled back her reply and ran down to show her precious dime +to her grandfather. He actually patted her on the head and called +her a good child while her grandmother looked over her spectacles +and nodded approval.</p> + +<p>The next day the second twenty slips were finished, but the third +day only ten were done as Miss Dorothy had to use her typewriter for +some school work, yet with only ten remaining of the first sixty, +Marian felt that she had no right to feel aggrieved, especially as +it had become very easy work. So it was a very happy little girl who +went to sleep Friday night to dream of the next day's pleasures.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 400px;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="chapter_viii" id="chapter_viii"></a><i>CHAPTER VIII</i></h2> + +<h3><i>A Trip to Town</i></h3> + + +<p><span class="first">The</span> morning dawned bright and fair, a little cool, to be sure, but +so much the better, thought Marian, for now grandma will be all the +more ready for me to get my coat. The leaves danced in red, yellow +and brown array, along the side-walk as Marian and Miss Dorothy +stepped out of the house to take the early train. It was such an +important occasion that Marian felt as if every one must be +wondering where she was going so early, dressed in her best. But no +one took any special notice of her except one of the schoolgirls +whom she happened to meet, and who said: "Are you going to town, +Marian?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Miss Dorothy and I are going shopping," returned Marian with +beaming face.</p> + +<p>"I thought you must be going; you're so dressed up," returned the +child, and Marian smiled up at her companion with an air of +conscious delight. Everything was so interesting; the start<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span>ing of +the train, the movements of their fellow passengers, the outlook +from the car windows, the masses of red and yellow foliage which +meant forests, the brown bare spaces which were fields, the little +isolated houses, the small villages stretching away from the +stations. There was not one moment of the journey when Marian was +not entertained by what she saw along the way.</p> + +<p>At last they reached the city and such a noise and confusion as met +their ears, made Marian cling to Miss Dorothy. "Is it always like +this?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Like this? How?"</p> + +<p>"So noisy and crowded and everybody rushing about in such a hurry."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I think it is. We notice it more, coming from our quiet little +village. This is the car we take. We are to meet Patty at the +library. Father has to go there to look up some references, and it +seemed the best place to meet. Have you ever been there, Marian?"</p> + +<p>"No, I never have."</p> + +<p>"Then it will be something for you to see. A good library is a good +lesson in many directions."</p> + +<p>But Marian's eyes were not taking in rows of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> books or library +appointments when they reached the reading-room. She was searching +for a dark-haired, rosy-faced, plump little girl who should answer +to the name of Patty. "I believe there she is," she whispered to +Miss Dorothy, and nodded toward a corner where sat two whom Marian +decided must be those they were looking for.</p> + +<p>"Why, so it is," returned Miss Dorothy. "The idea of your seeing +them first. How did you know them?"</p> + +<p>"From the photographs you showed me, and from what you told me about +them."</p> + +<p>Patty had been on the lookout, too, and spied them at once. She +hurried forward, threw her arms around her sister and gave her a +fervent hug, then she turned to Marian. "I am so glad you could +come," she said heartily. "I was so afraid maybe you couldn't and I +did so want us to be together to-day."</p> + +<p>"Dad is so absorbed he hasn't seen us yet," said Miss Dorothy, +making her way to the corner where her father sat. "I wonder if I +can steal up behind him and take him unawares." She had almost +reached him when he caught sight of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> her. Down went the book, he +jumped up and had her in his arms in a minute. "Come, come," he +said, "let us get out where we don't have to whisper. I'll come back +later," and he hurried them into the corridor where they could speak +freely. He was not a very tall man, but was broad-shouldered and a +little inclined to be stout. "Now," he said with a pleasant smile at +Marian, "I am willing to bet a cookie, that I can tell who this is. +You look like your father, my dear. I knew him very well when I was +younger, for I will venture to say you are a Miss Somebody Otway."</p> + +<p>"Her name is Marian," said Patty, "and we are going to be great +friends."</p> + +<p>"You are? Isn't it early in the day to make such predictions?" said +Mr. Robbins.</p> + +<p>"No." Patty shook her head. "I knew the minute I saw her that we +were going to be. I like her, don't you, daddy?"</p> + +<p>"If she is as nice as she looks, I do," was the reply, and Marian +felt much pleased at being made of such consequence. She was not +used to being noticed and these friendly people pleased her. She +wondered if her father would be as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> cheery, and as affectionately +disposed as Mr. Robbins. She would ask this pleasant man about her +father some day when they were better acquainted.</p> + +<p>"Now, let me see, what is the programme?" said Mr. Robbins to his +elder daughter.</p> + +<p>"We three females are going shopping. I am to buy Patty a coat. Is +there anything else I am to get for the family?"</p> + +<p>"Dear me, yes. I have a long list that your Aunt Barbara gave me; +she said you would know. I have it somewhere about me." He felt in +his pockets and presently brought out the list which Miss Dorothy +looked over.</p> + +<p>"Oh, these will not be much trouble," she assured him. "They are all +little things. I can easily see to them all."</p> + +<p>"That is good; I am glad to have that responsibility removed," said +her father. "You will want some money, I suppose."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but not very much," Miss Dorothy smiled encouragingly. She +knew too well the many demands upon that none-too-well-filled +pocketbook, and when her father took out a roll of bills and handed +them to her she gave some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> back to him. "I shall not need all that," +she told him. "Patty's coat is the only really expensive thing I +shall have to get."</p> + +<p>"Very well, then," said her father, "but you must be sure to have +enough. Now, where shall we meet for lunch?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, are we all to lunch together?" said Miss Dorothy in a pleased +voice. "Suppose we go to Griffin's; it is a nice quiet place."</p> + +<p>"What time?"</p> + +<p>"About one, I think."</p> + +<p>"All right, one sharp, then. Sure you've enough money?"</p> + +<p>Miss Dorothy nodded. "Quite enough. Dear dad," she said as he moved +off, "he is so generous. I don't believe he has a mean bone in his +body."</p> + +<p>This set Marian to wondering if one had a mean bone which it would +be; she thought possibly an elbow; they could be so sharp, but +before she had settled the question Patty began to talk to her and +they were then so busy getting acquainted that there was no time to +think of mean bones or anything else but themselves.</p> + +<p>It was a most delightful experience to go<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> around the big shops, and +look at the pretty things. Patty had such a pleasant way of making +believe which added to the fun. "Now you say what you are going to +buy," she began, "and I'll say what I am. I think I'd like that +pretty shiny, pinky silk hanging up there."</p> + +<p>Marian looked at her in amazement. "Oh, have you enough money to buy +that?" she asked in surprise.</p> + +<p>Patty laughed. "Not really, I am just pretending I have."</p> + +<p>"Oh," Marian's face cleared. "I'd like to pretend, too. Are you +going to buy it for yourself?"</p> + +<p>"Dear me, no. I am going to get it for Dolly; she would look dear in +a frock of it. I shall not get much for myself. It's much more fun +to get for other people, for they don't know it and it doesn't make +them feel bad if they don't get the things. When I get things for +myself, sometimes I am a little wee bit disappointed because I am +only make-believing. I think Dick would like one of those neckties, +the red one, I think."</p> + +<p>Marian felt suddenly very poverty-stricken;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> there were no Dollies +or Dicks for her to buy make-believes for. She sighingly mentioned +the fact to Patty.</p> + +<p>"Oh, that doesn't make any difference," said Patty cheerfully; "you +can buy for some one else. I think I'll get you that Roman sash."</p> + +<p>"Oh, lovely, and I'll get you the blue one. Would you like it?"</p> + +<p>"I'd love it."</p> + +<p>"I might get Miss Dorothy one of those pretty lacey things in the +case."</p> + +<p>"That would be fine; she'd be so pleased." Patty spoke so exactly as +if Marian really intended to buy it, that the latter laughed +outright. Patty was really great fun.</p> + +<p>"I'll get something for dear Mrs. Hunt," Marian went on.</p> + +<p>"Oh, do. I know about her. Dolly wrote us how kind she was to her. +She must be awfully nice."</p> + +<p>Marian overlooked the "awfully." She was not going to criticise +anything about Patty if she could help it. "I think I ought to get +something for poor Miss Almira," she went on. "It is because she is +so ill and couldn't make my coat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> that I could come to-day. What do +you think would be nice for her, Patty?"</p> + +<p>Patty's eyes roved around the big store. "See, those soft-looking +wrappers hanging up way over there? I think one of those would be +just the thing for a sick person. Let's go look at them and pick one +out. We'll tell Dolly we are going. She will be at that counter for +some time."</p> + +<p>They left Miss Dorothy while they went upon their interesting errand +of selecting a proper robe for Miss Almira. They decided upon one of +lavender and white, and then they returned to find that Miss Dorothy +had finished making her uninteresting purchases of tapes, thread and +the like, so they went to another floor to look at coats. Marian's +was chosen first and Patty was so pleased with it that she begged to +have one like it, "If Marian doesn't mind," she said.</p> + +<p>Marian did not in the least mind, in fact she would be delighted to +know that she and Patty had coats alike, for then they could think +of one another whenever they put them on. So one as near like +Marian's as possible was selected for Patty, and then they went to a +place Patty had been talking of all morning. This was an exhibi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span>tion +of moving pictures which Patty doted upon and which Miss Dorothy, +herself, confessed she dearly liked. To Marian it was like exploring +a new country, and she was filled with awe and delight, so they +remained till the last minute and had to hurry in order to reach +Griffin's by one o'clock.</p> + +<p>Mr. Robbins was there, watch in hand. "Ten minutes late," he cried.</p> + +<p>"It was that funny man trying to get his hat that kept us," declared +Patty. "We had to see the end."</p> + +<p>"She means the moving pictures," Miss Dorothy explained. "We were so +absorbed we didn't realize how the time was going."</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, well, never mind," said Mr. Robbins good-naturedly. "I +have ordered lunch and we'll go eat it."</p> + +<p>"Good!" exclaimed Patty. "I always like what dad orders much better +than what I get myself. What did you get, daddy dear?"</p> + +<p>"Beefsteak and French fried potatoes, hot rolls, chocolate for you +ladies, coffee for myself. Would you like a salad, Dolly? We can +have some ice-cream and cake, or whatever sweet you like, later."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span>Miss Dorothy declined the salad for them all, and her father led the +way to a table near the windows where one could look out upon the +street or in upon the room in which they were sitting. It was all +very exciting and unusual to Marian who had never enjoyed such a +high event in all her life as lunching at a restaurant with +grown-ups. Everything was a matter of curiosity and pleasure from +the garnished dish of beefsteak to the chocolate with whipped cream +on top. The shining mirrors, the dextrous waiters, the music played +by an orchestra, seated behind tall palms, made the place appear +like fairy-land to the little village girl. "I'd like to do this +every day," she confided to Patty.</p> + +<p>"So should I," agreed Patty.</p> + +<p>"No, you wouldn't," put in Mr. Robbins overhearing them. "You'd grow +so tired of it that you would long for plain bread and butter in +your own home. Nothing palls upon one so much as having to dine at a +restaurant every day. I have tried it and I know."</p> + +<p>Marian could scarcely believe this possible, but she supposed that +such things appeared very different to men, and she was sure that it +would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> be many, many years before she would grow tired of it. After +luncheon there came more shopping, and the time arrived all too soon +when they must start for home. At parting Patty slipped a little +package into Marian's hand. "It's for you," she whispered. "It isn't +the Roman sash, but I hope you will like it. Dolly is going to ask +your grandma if she can't bring you to make us a visit some day."</p> + +<p>"How I should love to do that," was the fervent answer. Marian felt +very badly that she had nothing to give Patty in return for her +gift. "If you were a heathen," she said gravely, "I might have +something to give you, too. I hope grandma will let me make the +visit. I mean to think of the mustard seed very hard and maybe she +will let me." Then before she could explain this strange speech to +the puzzled Patty, Mr. Robbins said they must hurry to the train, +and she had to leave Patty on the platform waiting till her train +should be called, and wondering what sort of girl Marian could be to +say such very unusual things.</p> + +<p>Marian waited till the train was fairly under way before she opened +the package Patty had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> given her. She found it contained a little +doll. On a piece of paper was scribbled: "You said you didn't have +any little dolls, so I got you this one. It cost only five cents. I +hope you will think of me when you play with it." The doll was one +which Marian had admired in the Five Cent store, and which she had +wished she could buy. "I don't see when she got it," she said to +Miss Dorothy, turning the doll around admiringly.</p> + +<p>"Don't you remember when you ran to the door to listen to the street +band that was playing outside?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes. Was it then?"</p> + +<p>"It was then. Patty was so pleased to get it so secretly."</p> + +<p>"I shall call it Patty," said Marian. "I shall love her very much; +she is so cunning and little, and I can do all sorts of things with +her that I can't do with my big doll." This tiny Patty was company +all the way home, and in a measure took the place of her lively +namesake. Marian had been obliged to rely upon her own invention and +imagination so much in her little life, which had lacked childish +comrades, that she could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> amuse herself very well alone or with +slight things.</p> + +<p>Miss Dorothy watched her as she murmured to the wee Patty and at +last she said: "Have you had a good day, girlie?"</p> + +<p>Marian cuddled up to her in the familiar way she had seen Patty do. +"Oh, it has been a wonderful day, and I am so thankful for Patty," +she said.</p> + +<p>"Big Patty or this little one?" Miss Dorothy touched the doll with +her gloved finger.</p> + +<p>"For both. There is so much that is pleasant in the world, isn't +there? Every little while something comes along that you never knew +about before and it makes you glad. First you came, then there was +school and the girls, and to-day came Patty and your father. He +makes me feel very differently about fathers."</p> + +<p>"He is a dear dad," said Miss Dorothy lovingly.</p> + +<p>"Do you think mine will be like him? I've always thought of him as +being like grandpa, not that grandpa isn't very nice," she added +quickly, "but he doesn't think much about little girls, and never +says funny jokey things to them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> as your father does. He never seems +to notice the things I do, and your father talks to Patty about the +little, little things I never knew grown up men were interested in."</p> + +<p>"That's because he has to be father and mother, too. Our mother died +when Patty was a baby, you know. Yes, daddy is a darling."</p> + +<p>"I hope mine will be," said Marian earnestly. "I haven't any mother +either, so perhaps he will feel like being father and mother, too. I +wonder when I shall see him. I didn't use to think much about it, +but since I have written to him, and all that, I think much more +about him."</p> + +<p>"That is perfectly natural, and I have no doubt but that when he +finds out that you want to see him he will want to see you, and he +will be crossing the ocean the first thing we know."</p> + +<p>"Oh, do you really think so?"</p> + +<p>"I shouldn't be at all surprised, only you mustn't count too much on +it. We must be getting those photographs ready pretty soon."</p> + +<p>"I would like one of Patty and me together, I mean Patty Robbins, +this is Patty Otway," and she held out her doll.</p> + +<p>"We'll see if that can be arranged."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span>"How can it when we don't live in the same place?"</p> + +<p>"I have a little plan that I cannot tell you yet. If it works out +all right I will let you know."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Miss Dorothy, you are always making such lovely plans. What did +I ever do without you? Has the plan anything to do with my going to +visit Patty some time?"</p> + +<p>"Maybe it has and maybe it hasn't. But, dear me, we are slowing up +for Greenville. We must not be carried on to the next station. Have +we all the things? Where is the umbrella? Oh, you have it. All +right. I hope Heppy will give us hot cakes for supper, don't you?" +So saying she led the way from the train and in a few minutes they +were making their way up the familiar street which, strange to say, +had not altered in the least since morning, although Marian felt +that she had been away so long something must surely have happened +meanwhile.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 400px;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="chapter_ix" id="chapter_ix"></a><i>CHAPTER IX</i></h2> + +<h3><i>A Visit to Patty</i></h3> + + +<p><span class="first">After</span> all it was not so very long before Marian and Patty met again, +for a little cough which developed soon after the trip to town in +course of time grew worse, and in course of time the family doctor +announced that Marian had whooping-cough. Mrs. Otway was aghast. She +had a horror of contagious diseases and kept Marian at a distance. +"She must not go to school," she said to Miss Dorothy, "for the +other children might take it."</p> + +<p>This was a great blow to Marian, for it meant not only staying away +from school, but from her schoolmates upon whom she had begun to +depend, so it was a very sorrowful face that she wore all that day, +and time hung heavily upon her hands. She wandered up-stairs and +down, wishing for the hour to come when Miss Dorothy would return. +Finally she went out to the garden, for her grandmother had told her +to keep<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> in the open air as much as possible, and it was still +pleasant in the sunshine. "I don't suppose Dippy and Tippy will get +the whooping-cough if I play with them," she remarked to Heppy, +feeling that if these playmates failed her she would be desolate +indeed.</p> + +<p>Heppy laughed. "They're not likely to," she said, "though I have +known plenty of cats to have coughs, and I have known of their +having pneumony, but I guess you can risk it."</p> + +<p>So Marian and the cats spent the morning in the garden and it was +there Miss Dorothy found them when she came in to dinner. She had an +open letter in her hand which she waved as she walked toward Marian. +"What do you think?" she said. "Patty has the whooping-cough, too, +though not very badly. Your grandmother was right when she said you +probably got it the day we all went shopping."</p> + +<p>"Oh, poor Patty! I wish she were here with me."</p> + +<p>"And she wishes you were there with her. She is going to have +lessons at home for a little while each day, and I think it would be +a good thing if you could have them together. In fact,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> it struck me +as such a good plan that I have spoken to your grandmother about it. +Your grandfather has taken up some work this winter which will keep +him very busy, and he could not give you any time. I would be glad +to, but my work grows more and more absorbing and your grandparents +will not listen to my teaching you out of school hours, so as it +seems a pity for you to lose all these weeks, I proposed that you +should go to our house to keep Patty company. You will not have to +study so very hard, for the whooping-cough must have plenty of +outdoor air, and it would not do for you to be cooped many hours a +day. What do you think of it?"</p> + +<p>For a moment Marian looked pleased, then her face fell. "I should +miss you so," she said.</p> + +<p>"You dear child," returned Miss Dorothy, drawing her close. "So +should I miss you, but I think I can arrange to come home every week +now. It will mean very early rising on Monday morning in order to +get here in time for school, but I can manage it, and I shall be +able to reach home by six on Friday afternoon, so you see<span style="letter-spacing: -2px;">——</span>"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I do see, and I think that would be fine."</p> + +<p>"My little Patty misses me, too, and so does<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> Father. Aunt Barbara +is an excellent housekeeper and a good nurse when any one is ill, +but she is not much of a companion for daddy nor for Patty. Then, +too, I hate to be out of it all. I long to keep up with the college +news and the home doings, so I shall try going home at the end of +the week, for awhile, anyhow."</p> + +<p>"And did grandma say I could go?"</p> + +<p>"She actually did. I think she is a little afraid of taking +whooping-cough herself, for she asked me yesterday if I had ever +known of any grown person having it, and I do know of several cases. +I had it myself when I was three years old, but your grandma cannot +remember that she ever had."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad she can't remember," returned Marian with a laugh. "Who is +going to hear our lessons, Miss Dorothy?"</p> + +<p>"My sister Emily. She is two years younger than I, and is still +studying. She is taking special courses at college, but thinks she +can spare an hour or so a day to you chicks, especially as she +expects to teach after a while, and she will begin to practise on +you."</p> + +<p>"I will take little Patty with me," declared<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> Marian, picking up +that person from where she was seated on a large grape leaf under a +dahlia bush.</p> + +<p>"So I would. I am sure she will like to visit Patty's dolls."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Miss Dorothy, you are so nice," exclaimed Marian giving her a +little squeeze. "Grandma never says such things. She doesn't ever +like to make believe. She says the facts of life are so hard that +there is no time to waste in pretending." Marian's manner as she +said this was so like her grandmother's that Miss Dorothy could but +smile. "I am glad you took some of the photographs for papa before I +got the whoops," Marian went on; "the one at school and the one at +Mrs. Hunt's. Oh, dear Mrs. Hunt will be sorry to have me go."</p> + +<p>"She will, I know. She told me this morning that she was going to +ask you to stay with her a while during the time you must be away +from school. Should you like that better than going to Revell?"</p> + +<p>"I'd like both," answered Marian truthfully.</p> + +<p>"That is often the way in this world," returned Miss Dorothy. "It is +frequently hard to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> choose between two equally good things. I will +bring you all the home news every week, and can tell you whether +Ruth knew her lessons, whether Marjorie was late, how Mrs. Hunt's +fall chickens are thriving, and what Tippy and Dippy do in your +absence. I shall be quite a newsmonger."</p> + +<p>"What is a monger?"</p> + +<p>"One who deals or sells. You can look it up in the dictionary when +you go back to the house."</p> + +<p>The preparations for her departure went forward quickly, and by +Friday morning, Marian's trunk was packed, and all was in readiness. +Her grandfather actually kissed her good-bye and gave her five +cents. As her grandmother did not happen to be on hand at that +moment to require that Marian should deposit the nickel in her +missionary box, the child pocketed it in glee, and, at Miss +Dorothy's suggestion, bought a picture postal card to send her +father, giving her new address. Miss Dorothy wrote it for her, +addressed and mailed the card, so Marian was satisfied that her +father would know where she was. "I don't like to have him not +know," she told<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> Miss Dorothy. Mrs. Otway gave her granddaughter +many charges to be a good girl and give no trouble, to take care of +her clothes properly and not to forget to be obedient.</p> + +<p>"As if I could forget," thought Marian.</p> + +<p>Heppy had no remarks to make, but only grunted when Marian went to +say good-bye to her. However as the child left the kitchen Heppy +snapped out: "You'd better take along what belongs to you as long as +you're bound to go."</p> + +<p>"Take what?" asked Marian wonderingly, not knowing that she had left +anything behind.</p> + +<p>Heppy jerked her head in the direction of the table on which a +package was lying.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked Marian curiously.</p> + +<p>"Something that belongs to you," said Heppy turning her back and +taking her dish-towels out to hang in the sun.</p> + +<p>Marian carried the package with her and later on found it contained +some of Heppy's most toothsome little cakes. "It is just like her," +Marian told Miss Dorothy. "She acts so cross outside and all the +time she is feeling real kind inside."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span>Miss Dorothy laughed. "I am beginning to find that out, but I shall +never forget how grim she seemed to me when I first came."</p> + +<p>Mr. Robbins' house was very near the college, and Marian thought it +the prettiest place she had ever seen. As they walked up the +elm-bordered street, the college grounds stretched away beyond them. +The gray buildings were draped in vines bright with autumn tints, +and the many trees showed the same brilliant colors. In front of the +Robbins' door was a pretty garden where chrysanthemums were all +a-bloom, and one or two late roses had ventured to put forth. A wide +porch ran along the front and one side the house, and on this Patty +stood watching for them. She was not long in spying them and hurried +down to meet them. "I am so glad you have whooping-cough," she +called out before they came up. Then as they met and embraced she +went on: "Isn't it fine, Marian, that we both have whooping-cough +and winter coats alike? We're most like twins, aren't we? Come right +in. There is a fire in the library, Dolly, and Emily has tea there +for you."</p> + +<p>"Good!" cried her sister, "that will go to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> spot this chilly +evening. Where are Aunt Barbara and dad?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, puttering around somewhere."</p> + +<p>"And the boys?"</p> + +<p>"They went to practice for the game, but they ought to be home by +now."</p> + +<p>They entered the house and went into the library where a tall, +dark-eyed girl was brewing tea. She looked up with a smile and +Marian saw that she was a little like Miss Dorothy. "Here she is. +Here is Marian," cried Patty.</p> + +<p>Emily nodded pleasantly. "Come near the fire," she said. "It is +quite wintry out. How good it is to see you, Dolly. I am so glad you +are coming home every week."</p> + +<p>"Oh, what are those?" said Miss Dorothy as her sister uncovered a +plate.</p> + +<p>"Your favorite tea cakes, but you mustn't eat too many of them or +you will have no appetite for supper. It will be rather late +to-night for the boys cannot get back before seven and they begged +me to wait for them. I knew you would be hungry, though, and so I +had tea, ready for you."</p> + +<p>The two little girls, side by side, comfortably sipped some very +weak tea and munched their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> cakes while the older girls chatted. But +Patty made short work of her repast. "Hurry up," she whispered to +Marian, "I have lots of things to show you and we shall have supper +after a while. Is your cough very bad?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet."</p> + +<p>"They say mine isn't but I hate the whooping part. I hope it won't +get worse."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid it will, for we've only begun to whoop and they say it +takes a long time to get over it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, those old they-says always are telling you something horrid. +Come, let me show you the boys' puppies before it gets too dark to +see them; they're out in the shed."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'd love to see them." Marian despatched the remainder of her +cake and was ready to follow Patty out-of-doors to where five tiny +fox terriers were nosing around their little mother. They were duly +admired, then Patty showed the pigeons and the one rabbit. By this +time it was quite dark, so they returned to the house to see the +family of dolls who lived in a pleasant room up-stairs.</p> + +<p>"This is where we are to have lessons," Patty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> told her guest. +"Isn't it nice? Those two little tables are to be ours, and Emily +will sit in that chair by the window. We arranged it all. These are +my books." She dropped on her knees before a row of low book +shelves.</p> + +<p>"Oh, how many," exclaimed Marian. "I have only a few, and most of +those are old-fashioned. Some were my grandparents' and some my +father's."</p> + +<p>"Doesn't your father ever get you any new ones?"</p> + +<p>"He might if he were here," Marian answered, "but you see I don't +know him."</p> + +<p>"Don't know your father?" Patty looked amazed.</p> + +<p>"No. He lives in Germany, and hasn't been home for seven or eight +years."</p> + +<p>"How queer. Isn't he ever coming?"</p> + +<p>"I hope he is. I wrote to him not long ago."</p> + +<p>"Why, don't you write to him every little while?"</p> + +<p>"No, I haven't been doing it, but I am going to now," she said, +then, as a sudden thought struck her, she exclaimed: "Oh, dear, I am +afraid I can't."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span>"Why not?" asked Patty.</p> + +<p>"Because I used Miss Dorothy's typewriter at home. I don't write +very well with a pen and ink, you know, though I can do better than +I did."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I expect you do well enough," said Patty consolingly, "and if +you don't, dad has a typewriter, and maybe he will let you use that, +and if he won't I know Roy will let you write with his. It is only a +little one, but it will do."</p> + +<p>"I think you are very kind," said Marian. "Is Roy your brother?"</p> + +<p>"My second brother; his name is Royal. Frank is the oldest one and +Bert the youngest of the three. There are six of us, you know; three +girls and three boys. First Dolly and Emily, then the boys and then +me."</p> + +<p>"I should think it would be lovely to have so many brothers and +sisters."</p> + +<p>"It is, only sometimes the boys tease, and my sisters think I must +always do as they say because they are so much older, and sometimes +I want to do as I please."</p> + +<p>"But oughtn't you to mind them?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I suppose so. At least when I don't and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> they tell daddy, he +always sides with them, so that means they are right, I suppose."</p> + +<p>There was some advantage in not having too many persons to obey, +Marian concluded, and when the three boys came storming in, one +making grabs at Patty's hair, another clamoring to have her find his +books, and the third berating the other two, it did seem to Marian +that there were worse things than being the only child in the house.</p> + +<p>However, the boys soon subsided, so the two little girls were left +in peace and Patty displayed all the wonders in her possession; the +delightful little doll house which the boys had made for her the +Christmas before, the dolls who inhabited it, five in number, Mr. +and Mrs. Reginald Montgomery, their two children and the black cook. +"The coachman and nurse have to live in another house, there isn't +room for them here," Patty informed Marian. "Which do you like best, +hard dolls or paper ones?"</p> + +<p>"Sometimes one and sometimes another," returned Marian. "I don't +know much about paper dolls, though. Mrs. Hunt gave me some out of +an old fashion book, but they got wet, and I haven't any nice ones +now."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span>"Emily makes lovely ones," Patty told her, "and I'll get her to do +some for us; I know she will."</p> + +<p>"How perfectly lovely," exclaimed Marian, beginning to feel that she +had been very lucky when Dame Fortune sent the Robbins family her +way.</p> + +<p>"There is Emily calling now," said Patty. "I suppose supper is ready +and we must go down. I will show you the rest of my things +to-morrow. Coming, Emily," she answered as she ran down-stairs.</p> + +<p>But it was because Marian's trunk had come that Emily wanted the +little girls, and when this was unpacked and Marian felt that she +was fairly established supper was announced. It was a plain but well +cooked and hearty meal such as suited the appetites of six healthy +young persons, three of them growing boys. As she saw the bread and +butter disappear, Marian wondered how the cook managed to keep them +supplied.</p> + +<p>True to her promise Patty asked Emily about the paper dolls that +very evening and she smilingly consented to make them two apiece. +"Just a father and a mother and a little child," Patty begged her +sister.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>"Very well," said Emily. "I think I can throw in the child."</p> + +<p>"Marian, do you want the child to be a baby?" asked Patty.</p> + +<p>"Oh, a tiny baby," said Marian. "If I may have that, I should be +delighted."</p> + +<p>"You shall have it," promised Emily and straightway fell to work to +fill the contract for paper dolls, Marian watching her with a happy +face. To see any one actually drawing anything as lovely as these +promised to be was a new pleasure, and her ohs and ahs, softly +breathed as each was finished, showed her appreciation.</p> + +<p>The two little girls took themselves to a corner of the library +where they could play undisturbed, making houses of the lower book +shelves. "Oh, may we do that?" asked Marian in surprise as she saw +Patty stacking the books on the floor.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," was the answer, "if we put the books back again when we +have finished. You take that corner and I'll take this, then we'll +have plenty of room."</p> + +<p>Such liberties were never allowed Marian at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> home, and she grew so +merry over Patty's funny make-believes that more than once Miss +Dorothy and her sister exchanged pleased glances, and once Miss +Dorothy murmured: "I'd like her father to see her now. She has been +starved for just that sort of cheerful companionship."</p> + +<p>"She seems a very nice child," said Emily.</p> + +<p>"She is," returned Miss Dorothy. "She has never had a chance to be +spoiled."</p> + +<p>Bedtime came all too soon, and the books were reluctantly put back +on their shelves, the dolls safely stowed away in a large envelope, +and Miss Dorothy piloted the way to Patty's pretty little room which +she was to share with Marian.</p> + +<p>As Miss Dorothy stooped to give the two a good-night kiss, Marian +whispered: "I've had such a lovely time. I'd like to live here +always. I hope my whooping-cough won't get well for a long time."</p> + + +<hr style="width: 400px;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="chapter_x" id="chapter_x"></a><i>CHAPTER X</i></h2> + +<h3><i>Running Away</i></h3> + + +<p><span class="first">The</span> days for the most part went happily for the two little girls. +They spent much time out-of-doors, lessons taking up only two hours +a day. Beside the many outdoor plays which all children love there +were others which Patty invented, and these Marian liked best. The +two had some disagreements and a few quarrels, for Patty, being the +youngest child in her family, was a little spoiled, and liked her +own way. She was an independent, venturesome little body, and led +Marian into ways she had never tried before. She loved excitement +and was always planning something new and unusual.</p> + +<p>One morning after the two had raced around the lawn till they were +tired, had climbed trees, jumped from the top step many times, +gathered chestnuts from the burrs newly opened by the frost, Patty +was at her wits' end to know what<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> to do next. "Let's run away," she +said suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what for?" said Marian to whom such adventures never suggested +themselves.</p> + +<p>"Oh, just because; just to do something we haven't done," was the +reply.</p> + +<p>"But where shall we run?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, anywhere. Down there." Patty nodded toward the road which led +from the college grounds.</p> + +<p>Marian looked dubious. "But where would we stay at night, and where +would we get anything to eat?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, along the way somewhere."</p> + +<p>"We haven't any money to buy food."</p> + +<p>"No, but some one would give it to us if we asked."</p> + +<p>"Why, then we would be beggars."</p> + +<p>Patty nodded. "I've always thought I would like to try what it would +be like not to mind your clothes, nor your face and hands. It would +be rather fine, don't you think, not to have grown-ups say to you: +Be careful of your frock. Don't get your shoes wet. No lady ever has +such a face and hands."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span>"Ye-es," doubtfully from Marian. "Suppose we should get lost and +never find our way back."</p> + +<p>"We couldn't if we kept a straight road. We might meet a princess in +disguise, riding in her carriage and she might take us in with her. +I should like to see a real princess."</p> + +<p>"My father has seen one."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe it."</p> + +<p>"He has. Cross my heart. He wrote to grandma about her and said she +looked like any one else."</p> + +<p>"Then she couldn't have been a real princess," said Patty +triumphantly.</p> + +<p>"My father doesn't tell stories, I thank you," said Marian +indignantly.</p> + +<p>"You don't know whether he does or not; you don't know him," +retorted Patty.</p> + +<p>Marian gave her one look, arose from where she was sitting, and +stalked into the house. Patty was at her heels in a moment. "Oh, +please don't get mad," she begged.</p> + +<p>Marian made no reply for a moment, then she said in a low voice, +"I'm not exactly mad, but my feelings hurt me."</p> + +<p>Patty was too warm-hearted to let this pass.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> She flung her arms +around her friend's neck. "I was horrid to say that," she said, +"when I have a father close by and you haven't any mother."</p> + +<p>"Neither have you," returned Marian mollified.</p> + +<p>"I know, but I have brothers and sisters, and live with my father. I +think, after all, Marian, we won't run away, but we might go down +that road a little way and see what it looks like."</p> + +<p>"Haven't you ever been there?"</p> + +<p>"No, we always go in the other direction." She did not say why, nor +did she tell Marian that she had been warned of a rowdy neighborhood +in the vicinity of some factories further on. "You see," she +continued, "it would be fun to pretend we were running away. We +could stay till it gets dark and we began to be afraid."</p> + +<p>"Not till it is really dark," Marian improved on the suggestion, +"but just till it begins to be."</p> + +<p>"Well, yes, that would do. Come on, let us start."</p> + +<p>"Don't you think we ought to take some lunch?"</p> + +<p>"Well, maybe, though I would rather trust to luck; it would be much +more exciting. I think I will take five cents that I have, and then +if we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> don't see any chance of getting something to eat we can buy +enough to keep us from getting very, very hungry." So saying, she +ran toward the house.</p> + +<p>"Bring Patty Wee," called Marian after her.</p> + +<p>"All right," answered Patty the Big from the door-step. She came out +again directly with the money clasped in her hand, and bearing Patty +Wee.</p> + +<p>"I suppose we mustn't go near any children," said Marian as they +started off, "for we might give them the whooping-cough."</p> + +<p>"I'm sure I don't want to go near any," replied Patty independently. +"See, the road we are going to take leads right past the chapel and +down that hill."</p> + +<p>"What are those chimneys sticking up there at the foot of the hill, +where all that smoke is coming out?"</p> + +<p>"They are the chimneys of the factories."</p> + +<p>"What kind of factories?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, some kind. I don't know. We can ask when we get home if you +would like to know." She hurried Marian past the big factory +buildings from which issued the clattering noise of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> machinery, and +from whose chimneys black smoke was pouring. At the foot of the hill +there was a little bridge spanning a rapid stream. Further up, the +stream was bordered by willows, and a meadow beyond seemed an +inviting playground. "Let's go up there," said Marian; "it looks so +pleasant."</p> + +<p>"We might fish if we had a hook and line," said Patty, bent on some +new diversion.</p> + +<p>"Oh, do you suppose there are any fish so near the factory?"</p> + +<p>"There might be," returned Patty, "but as we haven't anything to +catch them with they are perfectly safe."</p> + +<p>Marian laughed, then added, "I think I am glad they are, for I don't +believe it would make me very happy to see the poor things +struggling and gasping."</p> + +<p>"Then it is just as well we can't catch them, for I don't want to +make you unhappy," said Patty. "See that big tree over there with +that flat rock near it? I think it looks as if it would be a nice +place to play."</p> + +<p>"So it does. I wonder if we can reach it easily."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span>"I'll go and see. If it is all right I will call you. Just wait here +for me."</p> + +<p>Marian sat down on the stump of a tree near the bridge to wait. It +was pleasant to hear the murmur of the water, and to watch the +little eddies and ripples. It was a true Indian summer day, warm and +hazy. The squirrels were whisking their tails in the trees near by, +and the crows were cawing in a corn field not far off. Marian was +enjoying it all very much when Patty called, "Come, Marian, come. +I've found something. Come around by the fence and creep under."</p> + +<p>Marian obeyed and was soon by Patty's side. "What have you found?"</p> + +<p>"Just see here," said Patty excitedly. "Some one has been playing +here before us."</p> + +<p>Marian stooped down to look where, in a little cave made by the +large stone, was a small doll, a table made of a block of wood, some +bits of blue china for dishes, a row of acorns for cups, and a bed +of green moss. Outside stood a small cart made of a box with spools +for wheels.</p> + +<p>"Isn't it cunning?" said Patty, appealed to by the unusual. "Now we +can play nicely."</p> + +<p>"Do you think we ought to touch them?"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span>"Why not? They are out here where anybody could get them. I +shouldn't wonder if some child had been playing here and forgot all +about it. There's no telling how long they have been here." This +quieted Marian's scruples and they took possession. Patty Wee, as +they now called Marian's little doll, just fitted in the cart, so +she was brought in state to visit the cave doll, whom Patty called +Miggy Wig, neither knew just why.</p> + +<p>It was much more interesting to serve grass and acorn kernels from +broken bits of china than it was to have a real tea-party in an +orderly nursery with real cups and saucers, and the strange doll +added to the zest of the play because she was an unknown. The +children speculated upon who might be her possible owner, and +wondered if she were mourned and missed, or only forgotten. A fat +toad, tempted out by the warm sunshine, hopped from under the stone +and sat blinking at the children in such a funny way that they +laughed so loud as to send him away.</p> + +<p>Everything was going on merrily when presently the shrill whistle of +the factory announced that it was noon, and pretty soon crowds of +men,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> women, boys and girls trooped down the road toward a group of +small houses further along. It was a noisy, jostling crowd and the +two children were glad they were not nearer. They cowered down +behind the big rock to wait till the factory hands had passed by.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes Patty peeped forth. "They've gone," she whispered. +"I don't believe they would have noticed us anyhow. Let's play that +the fat toad is an enchanted prince, and that Miggy Wig is going to +liberate him from his enchantment."</p> + +<p>"All right," agreed Marian. "What shall Patty Wee be?"</p> + +<p>"If Miggy Wig is the fairy, Patty Wee can be the princess who will +wed the prince. Now Miggy Wig and I are going to gather three kinds +of herbs to make the charm," said Patty.</p> + +<p>Marian was delighted. She had but lately entered the wonderful +region of fairy-land, but under Patty's guidance was becoming very +familiar with its charms and enchantments.</p> + +<p>Patty and Miggy Wig hied forth to gather the three kinds of herbs +while Marian kept watch with Patty Wee. It was now so quiet that +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> toad ventured out again. Patty had dubbed him Prince Puff, a +very fitting name the girls agreed. Marian was watching him as he +did his funny act of swallowing, shutting his eyes and looking as if +he meant to eat his own head, Patty said, when suddenly voices +sounded behind her, angry voices.</p> + +<p>"Well ain't that cheek?" cried some one.</p> + +<p>Marian looked up and saw two shabby looking girls about her own age. +She quickly rose to her feet, letting Patty Wee slip to the ground. +The other Patty was some distance away.</p> + +<p>"What business have you got here?" said the taller of the strange +girls, stepping up.</p> + +<p>"Why, we're just playing," replied Marian.</p> + +<p>"Just playing," mimicked the girl. "Do you hear that, Pearl? Just +playing with our things. Ain't that cheek for you? Let's show her +what we think of folks that steal our belongings."</p> + +<p>"I haven't taken a thing," said Marian indignantly. "I am not a +thief."</p> + +<p>"Where's my doll, then? Call me a liar, do you?" said the girl +fiercely, and stepping still nearer she gave Marian a sounding slap +on the cheek.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span>By this time Patty had seen the newcomers and had hurried up. "Don't +you dare touch my friend," she cried. "We're not doing any harm to +you and your things."</p> + +<p>"Well, you've meddled with them, and you were going to take my doll; +you've got it now. Give it to me," and the girl snatched Miggy Wee +from Patty's hand. "They meddled, didn't they, Pearl?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, they did," chimed in the younger girl. "They meddled, so they +did."</p> + +<p>"Well, they've got to hustle off pretty quick or I'll set my +father's big dog on them. Get out, you thieves," she said to Patty +and Marian.</p> + +<p>"We are not thieves," replied Patty indignantly.</p> + +<p>"What were you doing with my doll, then?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't know it was yours. I didn't know it belonged to any one."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you didn't," in sarcastic tones. "Perhaps you thought it grew +here like that there weed; you look green enough to think that."</p> + +<p>Patty clenched her hands and bit her lip to keep from making an +answer which she knew would only aggravate matters. She drew +her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span>self up and gave the girl a withering look, then she turned to +Marian. "Come, let us go," she said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you think you're very grand, don't you," said the girl +teasingly. "Well, you're not, and I can tell you we're not going to +let you off so easy. You've got to pay for the use of our playhouse. +I'll take this in pay," and she grabbed Patty Wee from Marian.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, no," cried Marian in distress, "you can't have my doll."</p> + +<p>"I can't, can't I? I'll show you whether I can." And the girl faced +Marian so threateningly that she shrank away.</p> + +<p>Then Patty thought of a device. "You'd better not come too near us," +she cried, "for we've got the whooping-cough," and indeed just then +by reason of the excitement she did have a paroxysm of coughing +which plainly showed that she spoke truly.</p> + +<p>The girl backed away, and as soon as Patty had recovered, she +grasped Marian's hand and hurried her away. "Never mind Patty Wee," +she said; "I'll get you another just like her. Let's get away as +fast as we can."</p> + +<p>Marian realized that this was the wiser plan,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> and they hurried off, +their two enemies calling after them mockingly.</p> + +<p>Their breathless flight set them both coughing, and when they +recovered breath they both walked soberly on without saying a word, +their object being to get as far away as possible from the scene of +trouble. Up hill and down again they trudged, and presently saw +ahead of them a house and garden at the junction of two roads.</p> + +<p>"I never saw that place before," said Patty, looking at it with a +puzzled air. "I'm sure I don't know where we are."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Patty," exclaimed Marian in dismay, "are we lost?"</p> + +<p>"Well no, not exactly. We'll stop at that house and ask the way."</p> + +<p>As they approached they saw that the front of the house was a small +country store, so they went around to the door and opened it. A bell +jangled sharply as they entered, and from somewhere in the rear a +woman came forward. "What's wanting?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Will you tell us how far we are from Revell?" said Patty. "We want +to go there, to the college."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span>The woman looked at her with some curiosity.</p> + +<p>"It's about three miles," she said. "You go up this road and turn to +your left about a mile on, just before you come to the factories. +You pass by them and keep straight on."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," said Patty. Then seeing piles of rosy apples, boxes of +crackers, and such eatables, she realized that she was very hungry. +"Will you tell me what time it is?" she said.</p> + +<p>The woman looked up at a big clock over the door. "It is after two," +she said, "about quarter past."</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear," Patty looked at Marian, "we can't get back to dinner." +Suddenly all the joys of a gypsy life faded away. She looked at the +apples, felt in her coat pocket for her five cents, and fortunately +found it. "How much are those apples?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Ten cents a quarter peck," the woman told her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I meant how much apiece."</p> + +<p>"I guess you can have 'em for a cent apiece. There'll be about ten +in a quarter, I expect."</p> + +<p>"Then I'll take two." The woman picked out<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> two fine red ones and +handed them to her. "I have three cents left," said Patty. "What +shall I get, Marian?" Her eyes roved along the shelves.</p> + +<p>"That soft mixture's nice," said the woman, "and it's right fresh."</p> + +<p>"Can I get three cents' worth?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes."</p> + +<p>"Then I'll take it."</p> + +<p>The woman took down a box of mixed cakes and weighed out the +necessary amount. Patty gave the five cents and the two little girls +left the store.</p> + +<p>"I never was so hungry," said Patty, her teeth immediately seeking +the apple.</p> + +<p>"Nor I," said Marian, following her example. And they trudged along +munching the apples till they reached the top of the hill. They +could see the factory chimneys in the distance and knew they could +find their way, though both dreaded to pass the neighborhood of the +rude girls who must live near the factory. They almost held their +breath as they approached the spot, but they got by safely, and +toiled on toward home, two thoroughly weary, disgusted little +girls.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span>"It wasn't much fun," said Marian plaintively, as they neared the +house.</p> + +<p>"I shall never, never want to go that way again," said Patty +contritely. "We haven't had any real dinner; I've spent my five +cents, and you've lost Patty Wee."</p> + +<p>At the thought of this last disaster Marian's eyes filled. "Don't +feel so," said Patty in distress. "I'll buy you another the very +first time I go to the city. I know Dolly will give me five cents."</p> + +<p>"But it won't be Patty Wee," said Marian mournfully.</p> + +<p>Patty was honest enough to go straight to her sister Emily with the +whole story of the morning's trouble. "You knew you were +disobedient, didn't you, Patty?" said Emily gently. "Now you see why +daddy always forbade your going down that way. He knows those +factory people are a rough set."</p> + +<p>Patty hung her head. "I know I was as bad as could be, Emily, but +I'll never do it again."</p> + +<p>"The worst part is that you led Marian into it, for she didn't know, +as you did, that you mustn't go that way. You say those girls struck +her,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span> and took her doll away from her. I think she had the worst of +it, and yet it was all your fault, Patty."</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear, oh, dear, I am wickeder than I thought," sobbed Patty. +"What can I do, Emily, to make up for it? I will do anything you +think I ought. I spent my five cents and I haven't any more to get +another Patty Wee."</p> + +<p>"If you will go without dessert for a week I will give you five +cents to buy another doll. I think you have had punishment enough +otherwise, but you can't make up to Marian for having those girls +treat her so."</p> + +<p>Patty's tears flowed afresh, but she agreed to give up what meant a +great deal to her.</p> + +<p>However, the five cents did not go toward buying another Patty Wee, +for when Patty told her brothers of the morning's adventure, they +looked at each other knowingly, and a little later on plotted +together in the shed. So a few days after they triumphantly appeared +with the lost Patty Wee which they restored to the delighted Marian. +They would never tell how they recovered the doll, but Pearl and +Evelina have memories of three big determined boys bearing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> down +upon them when they were playing under the big tree, boys who +demanded a doll taken by force, and having great respect for manly +strength the girls gave up Patty Wee without a word.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 400px;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="chapter_xi" id="chapter_xi"></a><i>CHAPTER XI</i></h2> + +<h3><i>A Letter's Reply</i></h3> + + +<p><span class="first">The</span> lovely Indian summer was over, and Thanksgiving Day passed +happily. It was a great time for Marian, for Miss Dorothy was home +for several days and together they planned the book of photographs +to be sent to Marian's father. "I think it would better go in ample +time," said Miss Dorothy, "for at Christmas time there will be such +budgets going that we must be sure to get ours in before the rush +begins. I should give it two or three weeks anyhow, and even if it +does get there too soon, that will be better than too late."</p> + +<p>"Don't you think it is time I was getting an answer to my letter?" +asked Marian.</p> + +<p>"It is high time, but perhaps your father has been away, and has not +had his mail forwarded."</p> + +<p>And indeed that was exactly the way of it as was proved the very +next day when the morning's mail brought Marian her long-looked-for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> +letter. She trembled with excitement when Mr. Robbins placed it in +her hands, and her eyes eagerly sought Miss Dorothy. "Won't you go +with me somewhere and read it to me?" she whispered.</p> + +<p>Miss Dorothy hesitated. "Perhaps your father has written it for your +eyes alone."</p> + +<p>"But suppose I can't read it."</p> + +<p>"Well, then we'll go to my room and you can open it there. If you +can't read it I'll help you out. Will that do?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, thank you, dearest Miss Dorothy." Marian had learned from +Patty to use many endearing terms.</p> + +<p>They went up-stairs to the pleasant front room with its pretty paper +and hangings of roses on a creamy ground, and by the window they sat +down while Marian carefully opened the envelope. As she unfolded the +sheet of paper it held, something fell out in her lap. "It is a +photograph of papa," she cried as she picked it up. "I never had one +of my very own, and see, Miss Dorothy, the letter is typewritten so +I can read it quite easily, but please sit by me while I see what he +says."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span>It was a long, loving letter in which the writer spoke of the +pleasure it had been to him to hear from his little daughter, of how +her accounts of her daily life had taken him back to his own +childhood, and of how often he thought of her and longed to see her. +"If I thought it best, my dear little daughter," he said, "I should +not let the ocean roll between us, though some day I hope you can +come to me if I may not go to you." There were many more things, +entertaining descriptions of the places to which he had lately been, +accounts of his doings and his friends, the whole ending with a +request that Marian would write as often as she could. As she +finished the closing lines Marian held out the letter to Miss +Dorothy. "Do read it," she said. "I know he would not care. There +isn't anything in it that you mustn't see. I'd like you to read it +out loud to me, Miss Dorothy; I can't quite get the sense of it +myself." So Miss Dorothy did as she was requested and agreed with +Marian that it was a very nice letter, that her father did love her, +and that the reason he did not come home was because he felt he +would not be welcome.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span>After this it was an all-important matter to get the photographs +ready to send and to write a letter in answer to the one Marian had +just received. Patty was very much interested in the photographs, +for besides those taken in Greenville of Marian and the cats in the +garden, of Marian at school, in the sitting-room with her +grandparents, in her own room and in Mrs. Hunt's kitchen, there were +a number taken in Revell where various members of the Robbins family +appeared and where Patty herself was always a conspicuous figure. +But the very last one was of Marian alone with arms outstretched and +face upheld for a kiss. Under it was written, "A hug and kiss for +you, dear papa, when you come back to your little Marian." This was +the child's own idea, and Miss Dorothy carried it out as well as she +could.</p> + +<p>"Just think," Marian said to Patty, "how much better I know my papa, +and I shall keep on knowing him better and better."</p> + +<p>"Shall you show your grans the photographs, and the one of him?" +asked Patty.</p> + +<p>"Yes," returned Marian thoughtfully, "Miss Dorothy thinks I ought +to, and that I shall<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> have to tell about my writing to him. I think +grandma will be glad, and maybe grandpa will be, too, though he +won't say so."</p> + +<p>Miss Dorothy overhearing this wise remark, smiled. She quite +believed that both Mr. and Mrs. Otway would be glad.</p> + +<p>As the days were getting both colder and shorter Miss Dorothy +decided that, for the present at least, she must give up coming home +every week, and must wait till the Christmas holidays before seeing +her family again. On the day she announced this she said also that +Mrs. Otway had said that Marian had stayed away long enough. Miss +Almira Belt was getting better and her sister could now help with +the sewing, especially as a niece was coming to help her, so as +Marian needed a new frock she must come home the following Monday +with Miss Dorothy. Mrs. Hunt had said she was longing for a sight of +her chickadee, Mr. Otway had remarked that it would be pleasant to +hear a child's voice in the house once again, and so Marian must go.</p> + +<p>Patty was in tears at this news, and Marian herself looked very +sorry. "Don't you want to go?" asked Miss Dorothy. "Tippy and Dippy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span> +are very anxious to see you and so is Rosamond. I saw her sitting in +your room all alone the other day, and she looked very forlorn." +Rosamond was Marian's big doll. "I told Ruth you were coming back, +and she said: 'Good, good. Give my love to her and tell her I am +crazy to see her. I've had the whooping-cough and I'm not a bit +afraid of her.' Then, too," Miss Dorothy bent her head and +whispered: "Some one who has the room next yours misses you very +much and longs for her little neighbor."</p> + +<p>Marian smiled at this, but at sight of Patty's tears grew grave +again. "If I could take Patty with me," she said, "I should not mind +it a bit."</p> + +<p>"Maybe Patty can come some time. Mrs. Hunt asked me to bring her and +to let her make a little visit there at her house, so we will think +of it later on."</p> + +<p>This was so pleasant a prospect that Patty brightened up, and though +at parting she could not be comforted, Marian went away rather +happier than she expected. There would be some excitement in getting +back. She would go to see Mrs. Hunt very often, and perhaps Ruth +Deering would come to see her, or her grand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>mother would let her +spend an afternoon with Ruth sometimes. Mrs. Otway approved of Ruth, +she remembered. But here the thought of Patty came up, and Marian +realized that no one could take Patty's place, dear, bright, funny, +affectionate Patty, who had been so generous and loving, though she +did fly into a temper sometimes and say things she was sorry for +afterward. She had tried to help Marian with her writing and had +encouraged her so that now Marian could form her letters very well +and need not be ashamed when she went back to school. Then, too, +Patty had pressed upon her a favorite book of fairy tales which they +had read together and which had been the groundwork of many +delightful plays. Oh, no, there was nobody like Patty.</p> + +<p>Yet as Marian walked with Miss Dorothy up the familiar street, she +felt that it was not bad to get back again. There was Mrs. Hunt +watching out for her at the gate, to give her a tremendous hug and +many kisses. There was Miss Hepzibah Toothacre, "pleasant as pie," +at the door to welcome back the child. "Here she is," cried Heppy, +and from his study rushed grandpa,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> from the sitting-room issued +grandma, both eager to get to Marian first. "Heigho, heigho, little +girl," said grandpa, "it is good to get you back again."</p> + +<p>"Well, my dear, how are you? Come kiss grandma," came from Mrs. +Otway, and Marian, pleased and surprised, felt that home was not +such a bad place after all.</p> + +<p>Then there were Dippy and Tippy, and also a surprise, for Heppy +mysteriously led the way to the wood-shed which was just outside the +kitchen, and what should Marian see there but three new baby kittens +with Tippy proudly rubbing and purring around. Marian was on her +knees before them in a minute, and had picked out the prettiest to +cuddle. "Oh, if I might only keep this one," she said, "and perhaps +we could find homes for the others."</p> + +<p>"I guess Mis' Otway ain't goin' to allow three cats under foot," +said Heppy discouragingly. And indeed when Marian made her request +to keep one of the kittens she was straightway denied.</p> + +<p>"You may keep two cats," said Mrs. Otway, "but no more will I have. +If you choose to get<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> rid of one of the larger ones and keep the +little kitten I have no objection, but you will have to decide that +for yourself."</p> + +<p>But here, as usual, Mrs. Hunt came to the rescue. "Now, chickadee," +she said, when Marian told her the dilemma she was in, "you just let +me have that nice big gray cat of yours. Our house cat got so he +wouldn't live anywhere but in the stable, and grew so wild that I +scarcely ever saw him; finally he went away altogether. You bring +Dippy here and then you can see him as often as you want to."</p> + +<p>Although Marian hated to give up Dippy, she knew he would have the +best of homes with Mrs. Hunt, and she did yearn so for the new +kitten that she finally decided to turn Dippy over to her good +friend. This seemed wise for more reasons than one, for his mother +was rather cross to him since her new family had arrived and so +Dippy settled down quite content to be petted and made much of by +Mrs. Hunt while Marian adopted the new kitten which she called Muff. +As Tippy's real name was Tippet, she thought Muff and Tippet went +rather well together. One of the other kittens found a home with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> +Ruth Deering, but the third was still unprovided for.</p> + +<p>Lessons did not stop, although there was no Miss Emily to hear them. +Miss Dorothy told Marian every day what her class would have the +next, and Mrs. Otway heard her granddaughter recite whenever she had +time; when she did not, Miss Dorothy gave up a half hour in the +evening to the child, so she managed to keep abreast with her +schoolfellows and made great progress with her writing, now that she +had more time for practice, and since the weather housed her more +than formerly.</p> + +<p>The photographs were sent off a good three weeks before Christmas, +and a duplicate set was made for the grans as well as one for Mrs. +Hunt. "For," said Marian, "if the grans don't care about Christmas +gifts, I do, and I like to give."</p> + +<p>As for Miss Dorothy and Patty, Marian was at her wits' end to know +what to bestow upon them. She consulted Miss Dorothy as to Patty. +"Miss Dorothy," she said, "I shall be very unhappy if I can't give +Patty a Christmas gift, and I haven't a thing in the world she would +like."</p> + +<p>Miss Dorothy, who was busy with some fancy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> work for Christmas, did +not reply for a moment and Marian could see that she had on her +thinking cap. "Yes, you have something," presently said Miss +Dorothy, "you have the third kitten."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Miss Dorothy, do you think she would like him?"</p> + +<p>"I am sure she would be delighted."</p> + +<p>"But won't the dogs eat him up?"</p> + +<p>"No, they're not allowed in the house and Jip is so intelligent that +she will understand that neither she nor her puppies must touch the +kitten."</p> + +<p>"How will I get the kitten to her?"</p> + +<p>"I can take it in a basket when I go home for the holidays."</p> + +<p>"You always do what I hope you will," confessed Marian. "If all the +thank-yous I feel were piled up they would reach to the skies."</p> + +<p>"I am sure," laughed Miss Dorothy, "nothing could express your +gratitude more perfectly. What shall you name the kitten? I think it +would please Patty if he came to her with a name already attached to +him, a name that you had given him."</p> + +<p>Marian sat thinking, then she smiled and her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> smile grew broader and +broader till she broke out with: "I know what to call him; Prince +Puff, and I will tell her that he is the fat toad in a new form; he +is still under enchantment."</p> + +<p>Miss Dorothy laughed, for she knew all about the play under the big +tree near the factory. "I think that would please Patty mightily," +she told Marian.</p> + +<p>"And, isn't it funny," Marian went on, "his name rhymes with Muff. +Patty will like that, too. She likes us to have things alike, so I +will have Muff and she will have Puff, Muff's brother. I am so +relieved to have Patty's present all settled."</p> + +<p>But for her beloved Miss Dorothy there was still nothing, so Marian +racked her brains to devise some gift. At last she decided that +nothing was too good for one she loved so well, and that as the most +precious thing she possessed was her father's photograph she must +give that to her teacher. So, just before Miss Dorothy took her +departure for the holidays she went to her to slip a small package +in her hand. On the outside was written: "I am giving you this +because I love you so much. A Merry Christmas from Marian."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> "You +mustn't open it till Christmas day," she said earnestly.</p> + +<p>"I will not," Miss Dorothy assured her. "Thank you now, dearie, for +I am sure whatever it is I shall be pleased to have it. I wish you +were going to spend the day with us."</p> + +<p>"I wish so, too, but grandma said I had already been at Revell long +enough to wear out my welcome."</p> + +<p>"I didn't see a sign of its being threadbare when you came away," +Miss Dorothy told her. "Now, have we Puff all safe?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, he is asleep in his basket. You won't forget to tie the card +around his neck with the red ribbon."</p> + +<p>"No, I'll not forget. You must be sure to look on the inside knob of +my clothes-press door the first thing Christmas morning."</p> + +<p>"I won't forget that. I think it is fine to have a secret waiting in +there for me."</p> + +<p>"Here is the key. I know I can trust you not to open it till then."</p> + +<p>"Indeed you can trust me."</p> + +<p>"I am sure of it. Now give me a good hug and a kiss for Patty, for I +must be off."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span>Marian needed no second bidding, and in a few minutes was watching +Miss Dorothy go down the street carrying the basket that held Puff, +and walking swiftly to catch her train. There were big tears in +Marian's eyes as she turned from the window, for it seemed as if the +sunshine had faded away with Miss Dorothy's going, and that +Christmas would be only a gray every-day sort of time with no Patty +to make it merry, and no Miss Dorothy to add to its cheer.</p> + +<p>However, when her grandmother called her it was to do rather an +interesting thing, for a Christmas box for the poor minister of a +distant parish was to be packed, and Marian enjoyed handing her +grandmother the articles to be put in and to talk over them. Grandma +knew the circumstances of the family to whom the box was going and +that there was a little girl somewhat younger than Marian to whom +her out-grown clothes would go. Marian thought she would have +enjoyed sending something more personal, and said so.</p> + +<p>"Is there nothing you can make a sacrifice of, my child?" asked her +grandmother solemnly. "Christmas is the time for that, you know. +Our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> Lord gave His best to us and that is why we also give."</p> + +<p>Marian turned over in her mind her various possessions. She simply +could not give up Patty Wee after all the dangers she had been +through, neither could she part with her big doll, for that had been +Annie Hunt's, and had been given to herself only because Annie's +mother was so fond of Ralph Otway's daughter. Muff was out of the +question for he would smother in that box. But there were the paper +dolls Miss Emily had made. She could give them. So she went +up-stairs, took out the envelope which contained these treasures, +softly kissed each painted face and said, "You are going to a new +home, my dears, and I hope you will like it. Good-bye, Mr. Guy +Mannering, good-bye, Mrs. Mannering, good-bye, little baby." She put +them all back in the envelope and carried it down-stairs. "I am +going to send these to Mary Eliza," she said steadily. "They are the +paper dolls Miss Emily made me."</p> + +<p>"That is my good girl," said her grandmother. "Your gift will come +back to you in some other form, some day. I am much pleased that my +little granddaughter is so disposed to be generous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> with the +bounties the Lord has bestowed upon her." And Marian really felt +quite light-hearted the rest of the day.</p> + +<p>Her spirits, too, were further lightened that afternoon when she was +made the special messenger to carry to Miss Almira Belt the very +lavender and white wrapper which she and Patty had picked out that +day when they were doing the make-believe shopping. Marian, of +course, told Mrs. Hunt all about it, and as one of the Guild which +looked after such things, it had been voted to give Miss Almira some +such present, and Mrs. Hunt had gone with Mrs. Perkins to select it. +They had all agreed that Marian's choice was such a good one that it +must be bought if possible, and fortunately Mrs. Hunt was able to +get the very wrapper she wanted. On account of Marian's part in the +matter she was asked to carry the gift to Miss Almira, and thus one +of her make-believes actually came true.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 400px;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="chapter_xii" id="chapter_xii"></a><i>CHAPTER XII</i></h2> + +<h3><i>The Christmas Tree</i></h3> + + +<p><span class="first">Christmas</span> morning Marian awoke very early. She slipped out of bed +and went to the window. A few stars were still in the sky, though +the gray dawn was stealing up the land. In a few minutes the church +bells pealed out upon the wintry air. Marian folded her hands and +thought of the shepherds and the wise men, the little infant Jesus +in the manger and all the rest of the beautiful story. But it was +cold by the window and she determined to get back into bed till she +should be called. Then she suddenly remembered that this was "first +thing in the morning" and that she need not wait to open Miss +Dorothy's locked clothes-press. She could find out what was there.</p> + +<p>So she softly struck a match, lighted her candle and tiptoed across +the floor, first taking the key from its place on the mantel. For a +moment a wild hope came to her that it might be a Christ<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span>mas tree, a +little one, behind that locked door, but that idea faded away for +she remembered that Miss Dorothy had said, "I would like to set up a +Christmas tree for you, dearie, but it is your grandma's house and I +would not have the right to do it if she disapproves," and so it +could not possibly be a Christmas tree.</p> + +<p>She set down her candle, unlocked the door and felt for what should +hang on the knob inside. As she did so she smothered a little cry of +delight for her hand grasped a well-filled stocking. Quickly +unfastening it, she skurried back to her room with the treasure. In +another moment she was snuggled down under the warm covers examining +the contents of her stocking. It held all the foolish and pleasant +things which such stockings usually hold, and to these were added +sundry little gifts. A note pinned on the outside read:</p> + +<div class="block" style="width: 450px;"> +<p style="text-indent: 0px;">"<span class="smcap">Dearest Marian</span>:<br /> +</p> + +<p>"I hope you will like your stocking. It is exactly such as Patty +will have, and I know you will be pleased to have it so. A Merry +Christmas from all of us at Revell.</p> + +<p style="margin-bottom: 0em; text-align: center;">"Lovingly yours,</p> +<p style="margin-top: 0em; text-align: right;"><span class="smcap">Dorothy Robbins</span>."</p> +</div> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span>A stocking just like Patty's! What joy! Perhaps at that very moment +Patty was looking at hers. It was so delightful to open the small +packages, to find a beautiful paper-doll from Miss Emily, a funny +cheap toy from each of the boys: a silly monkey, a quacking duck and +a jumping jack; a little fairy tale book from Patty, and oh, wonder! +the Roman sash from Miss Dorothy. Even Mr. Robbins and Aunt Barbara +had contributed, the former a little purse with a ten cent piece in +it, and the latter a box of her famous nut candy. Surely never was a +stocking more appreciated and more gloated over.</p> + +<p>It was broad daylight and her grandmother was calling her before +Patty realized that her candle had burned down to its socket and +that it was time to get up. She huddled her gifts back into the +stocking and hurried to get bathed and dressed, for a day beginning +so delightfully must surely have more happiness in it. And indeed +this did seem to be so, for though her presents from her +grandparents were, as usual, useful, among them was a set of furs, +just what Marian had longed for since she saw Patty's, and there was +also a little typewriter for her very self from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span> her grandpa. +Marian's mustard seeds were surely doing their work.</p> + +<p>There were buckwheat cakes for breakfast, too, and Heppy beckoned +Marian to the kitchen afterward. A row of mince pies stood on the +table, and at the end of the row was a little scalloped one, "for +you," said Heppy. There was a pair of queerly shaped figures, too, +among the ginger-snaps. Heppy gave a funny chuckle as she picked +them out. "I guess nobody'd know what they're intended for," she +said. "I guess I won't go into the sculping business, for I find I'm +no hand at making figgers."</p> + +<p>But Marian was as delighted with these as if they had been perfect +and bore them with the rest of her things to show Mrs. Hunt.</p> + +<p>Her grans had smiled indulgently when she showed her stocking, but +had not seemed to think very much of it. Mrs. Otway said she +supposed Miss Dorothy had paid a pretty penny for the sash, and it +was more than she ought to have done. Mr. Otway thought Marian must +be too big a girl to care for jumping-jacks and such foolishness, +but that was the most that was said.</p> + +<p>One of the events of Christmas day had always<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> been the visit to +Mrs. Hunt, for this usually meant the best of the day's doings, and +Marian was always in a hurry to get off, but this time she was not +in such haste, for she liked to linger over her delightful stocking, +and enjoyed trying her typewriter while her grandfather showed her +how to use it. So it was not till her elders set out for church that +she was ready. Her cough shut her out of any churchgoing for a +while, but she begged to wear her new furs to show Mrs. Hunt, and +was given consent.</p> + +<p>The church bells were all ringing as she entered Mrs. Hunt's door. +"I thought you wouldn't get here at all," said Mrs. Hunt in response +to Marian's "Merry Christmas!" "I was getting real anxious about +you. Come right in out of the cold. What made you so late, +chickadee?"</p> + +<p>"Because it has been such a glad morning," Marian answered. "I don't +care anything about moving mountains any more, though it would have +been nice to have a tree, too."</p> + +<p>"It would, would it? Well, I don't know. Is that for me?" as Marian +presented the book of photographs. "Well, I declare, isn't that you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> +all over? This is a Christmas gift worth having. What a Miss Dorothy +it is. Come, kiss me, dearie, you couldn't have given me anything I +like better. Now tell me what has made you so glad."</p> + +<p>Then Marian displayed her stocking and her furs, and was describing +her typewriter when Mrs. Hunt said: "Then I suppose you won't care +about what I have for you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Auntie Hunt, you know I always care," returned Marian +reproachfully. "I never had a Christmas stocking before, and I did +so want furs."</p> + +<p>"Bless her dear heart! Auntie Hunt was only teasing you a little. +Well, I don't believe what I have will wait much longer, so perhaps +we'd better go look at it." And she led the way to the parlor.</p> + +<p>Marian wondered at this, for she was not such a stranger as to be +taken there even upon such a day as Christmas. What could Mrs. Hunt +have in there that she couldn't bring into the sitting-room? She had +always had Marian's present and her little basket of goodies set on +a side table and why must they be in the parlor to-day?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span> She +wondered, too, why Mrs. Hunt fumbled at the door-knob and rattled it +a little before she went in, but when she saw at the end of the room +a bright and dazzling Christmas tree, she forgot all else. It was +such a glittering, shining affair, all wonderful ornaments and +gleaming tinsel, and was a joy to look upon, from the flying angel +at the tip-top to the group of sheep on a mossy pasture at the foot. +The impossible had happened. Faith and works had triumphed. The +might of the mustard seed's strength had been proved, and Marian +dropped on her knees before the marvelous vision. "Oh, I am so +happy, Lord. I am so much obliged to you for your loving-kindness," +she breathed.</p> + +<p>"That's just like her," said Mrs. Hunt nodding her head as if to +some one behind her. "You are pleased, aren't you, chickadee? Well, +now, who do you think gave you all those pretty things? Mr. Hunt cut +the tree and brought the moss, I'm ready to confess. I helped with +the trimming, but who did the rest?"</p> + +<p>"Miss Dorothy," promptly replied Marian.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Hunt shook her head. "Wrong guess," she said laughing. "Stand +right there and shut<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span> your eyes while I count ten, then see if you +can make a better guess."</p> + +<p>Marian did as she was told, squeezing her eyes tight together lest +she should be tempted to peep at the tree. As "ten" fell from Mrs. +Hunt's lips her eyes opened, not upon the tree, for between her and +it stood the figure of a tall man who held out his arms to her. +Marian stood stock still in amazed wonder, gazing at him fixedly, +then in a voice that rang through the room she cried: "Papa! Papa!" +and in an instant his arms were around her and she was fairly +sobbing on his breast.</p> + +<p>"It's almost more than the child can bear," murmured Mrs. Hunt +wiping her eyes. "I don't know that it was right to surprise her so. +Maybe it would have been better to prepare her." But Marian was +herself in a little while, ready to hear how this wonderful thing +happened.</p> + +<p>"It was all on account of that little book of photographs," her +father told her. "My longing to see my dear little daughter grew +stronger and stronger as I turned over the pages, and when I came to +the last picture I simply could not stand it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span> I rushed out, looked +up the next sailing, and found I could make a steamer sailing from +Bremen the next morning, and before night I was on my way to that +city. I found I had a couple of hours to spare in Bremen, and I +remembered that my little girl had said that she had never had a +Christmas tree, so I went up town, bought a jumble of Christmas +toys, and took them to the steamer with me. I reached here last +night, and my dear old friend Mrs. Hunt took me in. Between us all +we set up the Christmas tree, and arranged the surprise. I felt as +if I could not spend another Christmas day away from my dear little +daughter when she wanted me so much. Do you think they will let me +in at the brick house, Marian?" he asked holding her close.</p> + +<p>"I am sure they will," she answered with conviction. "I've found out +that nobody is as cross inside as they seem outside. Even Heppy is +just like a bear sometimes, but she has the most kind thinkings when +you get at them."</p> + +<p>It was hard to leave the beautiful tree, but even that was not so +great and splendid a thing as this home-coming of Marian's father, +and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> when the churchgoers had all gone by, the two went up street +together, hand in hand. At the door of the brick house they paused.</p> + +<p>"Tell them I am here and ask them if I may come in, Marian," said +her father, as he stood on the steps.</p> + +<p>Marian went in, and entered the sitting-room. Her grandmother was +taking off her bonnet. "It was a good sermon, my dear," she was +saying to her husband. "Peace and good-will to all men, not to some, +but to all, our own first." She smoothed out her gloves +thoughtfully. "Eight years," she murmured, "eight years."</p> + +<p>Marian stood in the doorway. "Papa has come," she said simply. "He +is on the door-step, but he won't come in till you say he may."</p> + +<p>With a trembling little cry her grandmother ran to the door. Mr. +Otway grasped the back of the chair behind which he was standing. +His head was bowed and he was white to the lips. "Tell him to come +in," he said.</p> + +<p>Marian ran out to see her grandmother, her grave, quiet, dignified +grandmother, sobbing in her son's arms, and he kissing her bowed +head and murmuring loving words to her.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span>"Grandpa says please come in," said Marian giving the message with +added politeness, and with one arm around his mother and the other +grasping Marian's hand, Ralph Otway entered his father's house to +meet the hand clasp of one who for more than eight years had +forbidden him entrance.</p> + +<p>The remainder of Marian's day was spent in making visits to Mrs. +Hunt's parlor and to her grandmother's sitting-room. When the +grown-ups' talk began to grow uninteresting and herself unnoticed +she would slip away to gloat over the Christmas tree, then when she +had firmly fixed in her mind just what hung on this side and on +that, she would go back to the sitting-room to nestle down by her +father, or to turn over the contents of her stocking.</p> + +<p>It was during this process that she heard part of a conversation +which interested her very much. "Herbert Robbins wrote me not long +ago to ask if I could suggest a fitting man for one of the +engineering departments of the college," said Grandpa Otway. "I told +him I would consider the matter, and if any one occurred to me I +would let him know. How would you like the work,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span> Ralph?" he went on +in his measured tones. "Revell is not far away; it is a progressive +college in a pleasant community."</p> + +<p>Marian laid down her stocking and came nearer.</p> + +<p>"I should like to look into the matter," said her father +thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"I would advise your seeing Robbins," said his father. "He can give +you the particulars." Then he added somewhat hesitatingly, "I should +like—I should be pleased to have my son one of the faculty of my +own college."</p> + +<p>Marian's father looked up brightly. "Thank you, father; that settles +it. If it is as good a thing as now appears I shall not hesitate to +accept if I am given the opportunity."</p> + +<p>"Are you going to see Patty?" whispered Marian, "and couldn't I go, +too?"</p> + +<p>Her father looked down at her with a smile. "I'd like you to go if +your grandmother is willing."</p> + +<p>Therefore before the holidays were over Marian had the pleasure of +showing off her new furs as well as her dear papa to Patty and the +rest of the Robbinses, and before she came back it was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span> settled that +her father was to go to Revell to live. Beyond that nothing of much +consequence was decided at that time.</p> + +<p>Patty and Marian were jubilant over the arrangement. "Perhaps you +will come here to live some day," Patty said to her friend.</p> + +<p>"I wish I could," said Marian. "Do you think papa will need me more +than the grans, Patty?"</p> + +<p>"Of course," returned Patty, "for your grandfather has a wife to +take care of him and she has a husband, and it isn't fair they +should have you, too; besides a father is a nearer relation than a +grandfather, so of course he has a right to you." And this quite +settled it in Marian's opinion.</p> + +<p>The little girls had two happy days together when Marian enjoyed +Patty's tree and her Christmas gifts only in a little less degree +than her own. She was pleased to find that Puff was already a great +pet, and that Patty had all sorts of mysterious things to tell about +him; of how he would steal out at night and become a real prince +between midnight and dawn, and of how Miggy Wig had deserted the +cave and was no longer a doll, but that she had worked her +en<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span>chantments only so far as to turn Puff from a toad into a kitten +during the day, so the little cat did actually appear to be more +than an ordinary animal to both children.</p> + +<p>It took only a short time for Marian and her father to become great +chums, and they had many good times together sharing many secrets +which they did not tell the grans.</p> + +<p>Miss Dorothy did not go home very often during the winter, so on +Saturdays and Sundays when her father came home from Revell, Marian +took many pleasant walks with the two. Sometimes they made an +excursion to the city, when real shopping took the place of +make-believes.</p> + +<p>Marian went back to school after the holidays and never failed to +stop every day to see Mrs. Hunt. It was in the spring that she +learned from this good friend that her father did not tell her all +his secrets, for one day when they were talking of that happy +Christmas day Marian said, "What do you suppose Miss Dorothy did +with the Christmas gift I gave her? I have never seen it anywhere +and she has never said a word about it."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span>"What was it?" asked Mrs. Hunt.</p> + +<p>"The photograph of papa that he sent me. I wanted to give her +something very precious and that was the best thing I had."</p> + +<p>To Marian's surprise Mrs. Hunt threw back her head and laughed till +the tears came, though Marian could not see that she had said +anything very funny.</p> + +<p>When Mrs. Hunt had wiped her eyes she remarked: "We shall miss Miss +Dorothy next year."</p> + +<p>"Why, isn't she coming back to teach?" asked Marian in dismay.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Hunt shook her head.</p> + +<p>"Oh, why not?"</p> + +<p>"Ask your papa; he knows," said Mrs. Hunt laughing again.</p> + +<p>But before Marian had a chance to do this, Patty came to make Mrs. +Hunt the long-promised visit, and it was Patty who guessed the +secret. "Did you know that Miss Dorothy is not coming back here next +year?" was one of Marian's first questions.</p> + +<p>Patty nodded. "I heard her say so to Emily."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span>"Then you will have her and I shall not," returned Marian jealously.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I think you will have her as much as I," returned Patty, +"for she is making all sorts of pretty things and I think she is +going to be married."</p> + +<p>"Be married?" Such a possibility had never occurred to Marian. "Oh, +dear," she began, then she brightened up as she thought perhaps it +might be the new rector Miss Dorothy was going to marry; in that +case she would be living in Greenville. She remembered that the +young man often walked home with her teacher. It would be a very +nice arrangement, Marian thought. "Is she going to live in +Greenville?" she asked, feeling her way.</p> + +<p>"No," Patty laughed. "I don't think so."</p> + +<p>Then perhaps the young rector was going to another town. "Has she +told you where she is going to live and who she is going to marry?" +asked Marian coming straight to the point.</p> + +<p>"No, but I know she is going to live in Revell, and I hear her and +Emily talk, talk, talk about some one named Ralph." Patty put her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span> +hand over her mouth, and looked at Marian with laughing eyes.</p> + +<p>"Why—why<span style="letter-spacing: -2px;">——</span>" Marian looked at Patty for further enlightenment, but +Patty was only laughing. "Why, that's my papa's name," said Marian.</p> + +<p>Patty nodded. "That's just who I think it is." And that was +precisely who it was.</p> +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Little Maid Marian, by Amy E. 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Blanchard + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Little Maid Marian + +Author: Amy E. Blanchard + +Release Date: December 1, 2006 [EBook #19988] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE MAID MARIAN *** + + + + +Produced by Jacqueline Jeremy, Audrey Longhurst and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +_LITTLE MAID MARIAN_ + + + + +[Illustration: "BE YE REMOVED INTO THE MIDST OF THE SEA"] + + + + +LITTLE MAID +MARIAN + +BY +AMY E. BLANCHARD + +_Author of "Little Sister Anne," "Mistress May," "Playmate +Polly," "Three Little Cousins," etc._ + + +THE PENN PUBLISHING +COMPANY PHILADELPHIA + + + + +Copyright, 1908, by +GEORGE W. JACOBS AND COMPANY +_Published July, 1908_ + +_All rights reserved_ +Printed in U. S. A. + + + + +_CONTENTS_ + + + I. A MUSTARD SEED 9 + + II. THE SCHOOL-TEACHER 27 + + III. A NEW ROAD 47 + + IV. COMPANIONS 67 + + V. BLACKBERRIES 87 + + VI. THE WHITE APRON 105 + + VII. PATTY'S LETTER 125 + +VIII. A TRIP TO TOWN 143 + + IX. A VISIT TO PATTY 161 + + X. RUNNING AWAY 179 + + XI. A LETTER'S REPLY 199 + + XII. THE CHRISTMAS TREE 217 + + + + +_CHAPTER I_ + +_A Mustard Seed_ + + +The cat and kitten were both eating supper and Marian was watching +them. Her own supper of bread and milk she had finished, and had +taken the remains of it to Tippy and Dippy. Marian did not care very +much for bread and milk, but the cat and kitten did, as was plainly +shown by the way they hunched themselves down in front of the tin +pan into which Marian had poured their supper. + +In the next room Grandpa and Grandma Otway were sitting and little +bits of their talk came to Marian's ears once in a while when her +thoughts ceased to wander in other directions. "If only one could +have faith to believe implicitly," Grandma Otway said. + +"If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, and should say to that +mountain, be ye removed," quoted Grandpa Otway. + +Marian sighed. They talked that way very often, she remembered, and +she herself had grown to consider it quite as difficult as did her +grandmother, to exercise complete faith. She had made numberless +mighty efforts, and yet things did not come out as she supposed they +ought. She sat gravely watching the cat and kitten lap up the last +drop of milk and carefully clean the sides of the pan in a manner +quite inelegant for humans, but no doubt entirely a matter of +etiquette in cat society, and then when Tippy, having done her +duty by the pan, turned her attention to making Dippy tidy, +Marian walked slowly away. + +The sun was setting behind the hills, and touching the tops of the +trees along their base; further away the mountains were very dark +against a yellow line of sky. Marian continued her way thoughtfully +toward the garden, turned off before she reached the gate and +climbed a ladder which leaned against the side of the old brick +wall. From the ladder one could reach a long limb of a scraggy apple +tree upon which hung early apples nearly ripe. Marian went up the +ladder very carefully, taking care not to catch her frock upon a +nail or a projecting twig as she crept along the stout limb to +settle herself in a crotch of the tree. From this spot she could see +the distant sea, pinky purple, and shimmering silver. + +Marian did not gaze at this, however, but turned her face toward the +mountains. She clasped her hands tightly and repeated firmly: "Be ye +removed into the midst of the sea. Be ye removed into the midst of +the sea." Then she waited, but the mountain did not budge an inch, +though the child kept her eyes fixed upon it. Twice, three times, +she repeated the words, but the mountain remained immovable. "I knew +it; I just knew it," exclaimed the child when she had made her final +effort, "and now I want to know how large a mustard seed is. +To-morrow I'll go ask Mrs. Hunt." + +It was to Mrs. Hunt that she took all such questions, for she +hesitated to talk of very personal things to her grandparents. They +would ask her such sharp questions, and sometimes would smile in a +superior way when they did not say: "Oh, that is not a subject to +discuss with children; run along and play with Tippy." She did not +always want to be playing with Tippy when such mighty problems were +uppermost. She had many times tested her faith with the mountain, +but had always come away humiliated by the thought that her faith +must be too weak. + +Though she brought her test to bear upon the mountain there was +another thing she did not dare to experiment with, though she always +intended to do so when the mountain should answer her command to be +removed. To be sure it would not make much difference to her if the +mountain should remove into the sea; it probably looked quite as +well where it was, and Marian supposed that no one would care to +have its place changed, but it made a great and mighty difference to +her about this other thing. She had never breathed her ardent wish +to any one, not even to Mrs. Hunt, and now that this fresh test of +faith had failed she would have to gather up a new stock before she +could try again. + +The purple and pink and gold were fading; the sea looked gray; the +distant mountain was hidden under a cloud when Marian climbed down +from her perch to answer her grandmother's call: "Marian, Marian, +where are you? Come in out of the night air; the dew is falling." +Dippy was chasing moths in the garden as Marian took her way toward +the house. She watched him leaping up as each soft-winged creature +flitted by. When he failed to catch his prize he opened his mouth in +a mute meow, and looked at Marian as if asking her to help him. + +"You mustn't catch moths, Dippy," said Marian. "They might disagree +with you. I should think anyhow, that they would be very dry eating, +and besides it is wicked to destroy innocent little creatures. Come, +you must go in with me." But this was the time of day when Dippy +liked specially to prance and jump and skurry after dusky, shadowy, +flitting things, so before Marian could pounce upon him, he was off +and away like a streak and could not be found. Then Marian went in +obediently at her grandmother's second call to spend the rest of her +evening sitting soberly by, while her grandmother knitted and her +grandfather read his evening paper. + +She had tidied up her room, fed the cat and kitten, and darned her +stockings the next morning before she was free to go to Mrs. Hunt's. +Grandpa would go for the mail, and there were no errands to do, +except to return a plate to Mrs. Parker. It had come with some +spicy cakes for grandma, and must be taken back promptly. + +The garden did not attract her just then, for it looked much +less mysterious by daylight. There was a fine array of poppies, +larkspurs, phlox and snapdragons; the oleander in its green tub was +all a-bloom, and there were six newly opened buds on the rose-bush. +Dippy was fast asleep in the sunshine, as if he, too, realized that +the garden was not so alluring by morning light. + +It seemed no time to exercise faith upon the mountain, for a haze +covered it, and one could not feel even the near presence of a thing +one could not see, so why attempt to address a command to it to be +removed; to all intents and purposes it was removed when it was out +of sight. + +Marian thought all this over as she trotted down the village street +to Mrs. Hunt's. Hers was one of a line of long low white houses set +back among trees. A border gay with nasturtiums, sweet peas, and +marigolds flourished each side the front door, but Marian did not +pause there; she went around to the kitchen where she knew Mrs. Hunt +would be this time of day. There was a strong odor of spices, +vinegar and such like filling the air. "Mrs. Hunt is making +pickles," said Marian to herself; "that is why she was gathering +cucumbers the last time I was here. I would rather it were cookies +or doughnuts, but I suppose people can't make those every day." + +True enough, Mrs. Hunt was briskly mixing spices, but she turned +with a smile to her little visitor. "Well, chickadee," she said, +"how goes it to-day?" + +"Oh, very well," returned Marian vaguely. "Mrs. Hunt, how big is a +mustard seed?" + +For answer Mrs. Hunt put her fingers down into a small wooden box, +withdrew them, opened Marian's rosy palm, and laid a pinch of seeds +upon it. "There you are," she said. "I wish I could get at all the +things I want to see as easy as that." + +Marian gazed curiously at the little yellow seeds. "They're not very +big, are they?" she said. + +"Not very." + +"Then you wouldn't have to have much faith," Marian went on, +following out her thought. + +Mrs. Hunt laughed. "Is that the text that's bothering you? What are +you, or who are you, trying to have faith in? Tippy? Has she fooled +you again by hiding another batch of kittens?" + +"No, Mrs. Hunt," Marian shook her head "it isn't Tippy; she is all +right, and so is Dippy, but you know if you want a thing very much +and don't see anyway of getting it ever, till you are grown up and +won't care about it, why it makes you feel as if--as if"--she +lowered her voice to a whisper and looked intently at her listener, +"as if either you were very wicked or as if--that about the mustard +seed--as if"--she hesitated, then blurted out hurriedly, "as if it +weren't true." + +"Why, Marian Otway, of course it must be true," declared Mrs. Hunt. + +"Then I'm very wicked," returned Marian with conviction. + +"Why, you poor innocent, of course you are not. We are all more or +less imperfect creatures, I suppose, but--well, all is, if I were +your grandma, I wouldn't let you bother your head about such things. +It is hard enough for the preachers to settle some things for us and +themselves, so how do you suppose a baby like you is going to get +the gist of it?" + +"If you were my grandma what would you do?" asked Marian coming to +the point. + +"I'd give you interesting story-books to read, and see that you had +healthy-minded playfellows. You ought to be going to school; you are +enough bigger than my Annie was when she first went." This was a +point upon which Mrs. Hunt felt very keenly. She thought Mr. and +Mrs. Otway had not the proper ideas about bringing up children and +that Marian was too much with older persons. "I would send her off +to school quick as a wink," she had more than once said to Mrs. +Otway, but her remark had been received with only a smile, and one +could not follow out an argument when another would not argue, so +kind Mrs. Hunt had been able only to air her opinions to Mrs. +Perkins and her other neighbors, and once in a while to let Marian +know how she felt about her. + +She had lost a little girl about Marian's age and made a point of +being especially good to the old-fashioned child who lived in the +brick house at the end of the street. The other houses were all +white or gray or brown, built plainly, and were either shingled or +clap-boarded affairs so that the brick house was a thing apart and +its occupants were usually considered the aristocracy of the place. +The older men called Grandpa Otway, "Professor," and the younger +ones said, "Good-morning, doctor," when they met him. + +At the college where he had taught for many years he was still +remembered as an absent-minded, gentle but decided person, strong in +his opinions, proud and reticent, good as gold, but finding it hard +to forgive the only son who left home and married against the wishes +of his parents. When baby Marian's mother died her father had +written home, asking that his motherless baby might be taken in and +reared in the American land which he still loved. So one day Marian +arrived in charge of a plain German couple, but her father had not +seen her since and he still lived in far off Berlin. Once a year he +wrote to his little daughter and she answered the letter through her +grandmother. The letter always came the first of the year and the +latest one had given an account of a German Christmas. It had +enclosed some money for Marian to provide trinkets for her own +tree the next year. + +Yet, alas,--and here came the tragedy--Marian had never been +allowed to have a tree; her grandparents did not approve of such +things; the money must go to the missions in foreign lands, and when +the next missionary box was sent Marian's Christmas money was sent +with it in one form or another. Even if Grandpa and Grandma Otway +had known what rebellious tears Marian shed and how she told Tippy +that she hated the heathen, and that she didn't see why they +couldn't go barefoot in a country as hot as China, and why they +couldn't eat rice as well as she, and why missionaries had to have +all sorts of things she didn't have, even if her grandparents had +known that, they would have said that it showed a wrong spirit and +that a little girl bid fair to become a hardened sinner, so she +ought to be made to sacrifice her own pleasures to so good a cause. + +That would have been the least of it, for there would also have been +a long lecture from both grandfather and grandmother with a longer +prayer following and there would probably have been an order that +Marian must go without butter for a week that she might be taught to +practice self-denial. So Marian had thought it wise to say nothing +but to accept with as good a grace as possible the bitter necessity +of giving up her Christmas tree. + +With the mustard seeds folded in her hand she stood watching Mrs. +Hunt tie up her spices, but the seeds were forgotten when Mrs. Hunt +said: "What will you do with a teacher living in your house and you +not going to school, I'd like to know. Mr. Hunt says he rather +guesses you'll not stay at home, but Mrs. Perkins says like as not +your grandma will have her teach you out of hours and pay her board +that way. As long as she is the daughter of a friend your grandpa +would want to make it easy for her and they'll fix it up some way." + +Marian could scarcely believe her ears. "Coming to our house? Who is +she? What is her name, Mrs. Hunt? When is she coming? Who told you?" + +"Dear bless me, what a lot of questions. Take care and don't get +your sleeve in that vinegar; it'll take all the color out. I'll wipe +it up and then you can lean on the table all you want to. There. +Well, you see it was Mrs. Leach told me. It seems this Miss Robbins +is the daughter of one of the professors at the college where your +grandpa was for so many years. He was one of the younger men, Mr. +Robbins was, being a student under your grandpa when he first knew +him. Now he is one of the professors with a big family and none too +well off, so his girl is coming to teach our school and Mr. Robbins +asked your grandpa if he wouldn't let her board at his house. She's +the eldest, but she hasn't been away from home much because she's +had to look after her younger brothers and sisters since her mother +died. Professor Robbins feels sort of anxious about her; he is +afraid of the wicked wiles of a big city like Greenville." + +"Why, Mrs. Hunt, it isn't a big city, is it?" said Marian +innocently. + +"Ain't it?" laughed Mrs. Hunt. "At all events he didn't want her +cast loose on it, and so he wrote to your grandpa, appealingly, I +should say, for it's fixed up that she is to come to the brick house +when the fall term begins and that's not far off." + +"Oh!" Marian slipped down from the wooden chair upon which she had +seated herself, "I'd better go home and ask about it," she remarked. +"I'd much rather have some one beside grandpa teach me; he uses +such terribly long words and talks so long about things I don't +understand. Sometimes I can't make out whether I'm very stupid or +whether the lessons are extra hard." + +"I guess you're no more stupid than the usual run of children," said +Mrs. Hunt stirring her pickles, "and I guess you will learn as much +about Miss Robbins and her affairs from me as you will at home. But +there, go 'long if you want to. Come in to-morrow; I'll be baking +cookies," she called after the child. + +Marian answered with a nod as she looked back. Between the door and +the steps she halted once to open her hand and look for the mustard +seeds, but in her interest in Mrs. Hunt's news she had let them fall +to the floor and but one clung to her moist fingers. She tasted it +and found it strong and biting. "It can't be the bigness," she +murmured; "it must mean the hotness and strongness." This view of +the matter gave her a better understanding, according to her own +ideas, and she was glad she had tasted the small seed. After all, +there were pleasant things opening up. What if she could not move +mountains, there would be fresh cookies to-morrow and out of +somewhere a beautiful young lady was advancing toward her, not +exactly a playfellow, maybe, but some one much younger than +Grandpa and Grandma Otway. + + + + +_CHAPTER II_ + +_The School-Teacher_ + + +The brick house had not the cheerful air of Mrs. Hunt's +white-boarded, green-shuttered abode. It was set back a few +feet from the side-walk, but a brick wall on each side shut out +any glimpse of the flower garden, and the iron railing leading +up from the flight of steps gave the place an air unlike the +rest of the village houses. Upon the top step Dorothy Robbins +stood a few moments before she rang the bell. She cast an upward +glance at the windows first; the shutters were all bowed and +silence reigned everywhere. She wondered what was behind the +brick wall, and if the inmates of the house would look as +forbidding and inhospitable as the house itself. She knew +the Otways had a little granddaughter and half looked to see +the child hanging on the gate or skipping down the path as she +approached the house. The door-bell clanged solemnly and presently +a sedate, middle-aged woman came to the door. + +"Is Mrs. Otway at home?" asked Miss Dorothy. + +"No, ma'am, she ain't," was the reply given most ungraciously. +"She's to a missionary society or a temperance meeting or something, +and he's gone with her." + +"Is no one at home?" + +"I'm here, and Marian's somewhere about, I guess. Was you +calculatin' to show goods or solicit anythin'? We hain't no +call for dress-makers' charts, and we don't want to subscribe +to no cook-books, I'm cook-book enough myself." + +Dorothy smiled. "Oh, no. I don't make my living that way," she +answered cheerfully. "Perhaps I'd better see the little girl, +Miss----" she added after a few moments' thought. + +"Hepzibah Toothacre is my name," remarked the gaunt woman as she +turned away leaving the young lady standing on the step. + +Dorothy made a wry face. "Toothacre or some kind of acher I should +think," she said to herself. "She looked sour enough to be several +kinds of ache rolled in one. I hope the rest of the family are not +like that." + +She did not have to wait long before a little girl came along the +dim entry toward her. She was brown-haired, brown-eyed, dark-skinned +and rather pale. She wore a plain blue gingham frock, and her hair +was tied in two pig-tails with a narrow black ribbon. She paused +timidly at sight of a stranger, but at Miss Dorothy's smile she came +forward eagerly. "Oh, are you--are you----" she began. + +"The new teacher?" interrupted Miss Dorothy. "Yes, dear, I am. May +I come in? The ogress that guards your castle looked as if she might +make a meal of me and I was afraid to come any further." + +Marian looked puzzled for a moment, then her face broke into a +smile. "Oh, you mean Heppy. She is rather cross sometimes. She +was not very polite not to ask you in, but she is in a bad humor +to-day; there were two peddlers here this morning and she can't +bear peddlers." + +"She thought I was one, and that was why she was so grouchy, +I see." + +"I will go and ask her to show you to your room," returned Marian; +"it is all ready." + +"Can't you show me?" asked Miss Dorothy with whimsical anxiety in +her tones. + +Marian laughed; she knew that Miss Dorothy was only pretending to be +afraid of Heppy, and the pretense made her seem more like a little +girl. "Of course I can show you up," she made answer. "Grandma +didn't expect you till the late train and she had to go to her +missionary society; she's president of the board, you see." + +"Oh, yes, I quite understand. I didn't suppose, myself, that I +could get here till the late train, but I was able to make better +connections than I expected and here I am. My trunk will be along +after awhile. You are Maid Marian, I know, but I do not see the +greenwood and where are Robin Hood and his merry men?" Then seeing +that Marian hadn't a notion of what she meant, she said, "You don't +know them, do you? I'll have to tell you some time, you and the rest +of my scholars, for of course you are coming to my school." + +"Oh, am I?" Marian's face was radiant. + +"Why, yes, I imagine so. Don't you go to school?" + +"I haven't been yet. Grandpa has always taught me at home, +you know." + +"Oh, that's it." Miss Dorothy was taking off her hat, standing +before the mirror to puff out her soft ripples of hair. "What a +lovely big room this is," she remarked. "I never had such a big +room all to myself. We are such a large family that we always +have to double up, I don't mean like a jack-knife," she added +with a little laugh. "I wonder if I shall have to hunt for +myself in that big bed; if I do you will have to come and +find me, for I might get hopelessly lost if you didn't." + +Marian laughed. This merry talk was very delightful; even Mrs. Hunt +was never quite so fascinatingly entertaining. She stood gazing at +Miss Dorothy with admiring eyes as she put a few touches to her +dress. Surely it would mean great things to have a young lady in +the house. + +Miss Dorothy gave a final survey of the room as she turned from the +mirror. "I like it," she said nodding to Marian, "and when I get +down those solemn-looking pictures, hang up my own favorites, put a +cheerful cover on that table and a couple of bright sofa pillows on +that lounge, and have some plants in that south window, it will be +very cozy." + +"Oh, will you dare?" began Marian and then stopped short. There were +probably no lengths to which a teacher might not be allowed to go, +even by so particular a person as Grandma Otway. + +"Why, what is there so very daring about that?" asked Miss Dorothy. +"It isn't like walking a tight-rope, or shooting Niagara Falls in a +canoe." There was a saucy look in her eyes as she spoke, and a +dimple came and went as she strove to keep her face grave. + +"It isn't like that, of course," said Marian feebly. "It will be +your own room, and you are a grown-up lady who can do as you please. +I suppose it is only children who don't dare to do things like +moving pictures and putting flower-pots on the window-sills when +they are freshly painted." + +Miss Dorothy's merry laugh rang out. "Oh, you dear, transparent +baby. You've spoken volumes in that speech. Now I'm ready to go +down. What shall we do? My trunk will not be here till after the +next train is in, they informed me at the station. I'd like to +see the schoolhouse, but perhaps we'd best wait till morning, +then it can be shown me officially. Could we dare to walk in +the garden if I promise not to race over the borders and +recklessly pull the flowers? Does one dare to leave the +house to do that?" There was a little mocking look in +her eyes as she spoke. + +"Oh, yes, of course we can go anywhere we like in the garden," +returned Marian. "Do come, and I will show you my apple tree. If you +are not afraid to climb you can see the ocean from my seat in the +crotch,--and the mountain, too," she added more soberly. + +"Don't suggest mountains yet," said Miss Dorothy, becoming sober +too. "But there, I won't think about mountains; I've always managed +them and I always intend to." + +Marian gazed at her with new intentness and drew nearer. "Can you +manage mountains?" she asked wonderingly. + +"Why, yes; if you don't make them out of mole-hills it is easy +enough." + +Marian pondered over this answer all the way down-stairs, but could +not make head or tail of it. She would ask further when she knew +Miss Dorothy better. She felt quite assured that she would not be +long in feeling as much at home with her as with Mrs. Hunt. + +As they passed the kitchen door near which the grim Hepzibah stood, +Miss Dorothy drew her skirts aside and fled down the garden walk, +giving a pretended scared look over her shoulder as she caught +Marian's hand. "Don't let her get me, will you?" she said. Marian +fell in with her mood and promised that she should not be delivered +to the ogress, though in her heart of hearts she felt that a person +who would dare to take liberties with Grandma Otway's best room +surely could not be a very scary individual, and by the time they +had reached the apple tree, she had decided that Miss Dorothy would +probably have no fear of climbing to the very top, if she cared to. + +"The Garden of Hesperides and the Golden Apples!" exclaimed Miss +Dorothy, settling down into the crotch and giving Marian a hand to +help her to a seat by her side. "Isn't this too lovely for +anything? It will be the finest place in the world to come and read +fairy-tales. Do you know many? I have brought a lot with me, and +we'll have a lovely time here before it gets too cold to stay out." + +"I don't know many fairy-tales," Marian answered doubtfully. +"Grandma doesn't exactly approve of them; at least she never tells +me any. She says that Bible stories are entertaining enough for any +one, and she lets me read those 'simplified for the understanding of +a child.'" She spoke with perfect gravity, though Miss Dorothy +turned her head to hide the smile she could not prevent. + +"I suppose, then," said Miss Dorothy, "that you have a book of +those." + +"Yes; it belonged to grandpa when he was small, and it is called +'Tales from the Bible, simplified for the understanding of a child'; +I read it generally on Sundays. Mrs. Hunt knows about Cinderella and +the Glass Slipper and about the Pig that huffed and puffed till he +blew the house down." + +"Oh, I don't know that last one," said Miss Dorothy; "you will have +to tell me, and I'll tell you about the Golden Apples. Don't the +apples smell good? Do we dare have any of them when they are ripe?" + +"Oh, yes, we can have two a day; one in the morning and one at noon; +grandma says they are lead at night." + +"Goodness me! I believe I have heard that saying before," said Miss +Dorothy, mentally determining to carry apples to her room to eat +when she felt inclined. Mrs. Otway should not decide such matters +for her. She sat with her chin in her hand looking off at the ocean, +blue in the distance. Marian, watching her, decided that although +the new teacher did not exactly fill her expectations in some +respects, in others she far exceeded them. She had very blue eyes +that could be merry or soft as her mood was, her hair was wavy and +of a light brown color; she was fair of skin, had rather a large +mouth and not a specially beautiful nose, but she was good to look +upon and the more one looked the more charming one thought her. She +was dressed very simply in a gray traveling gown with no jewelry but +a silver pin fastening her collar. Her face in repose was serious +and Marian could see that she was not one to be trifled with, in +spite of her fun-loving spirit. + +"There are many things I want to know," said Miss Dorothy after a +while, "but I will wait till I absolutely have to ask questions." + +"If you want to know one thing," returned Marian, "I can tell you. +If you would like me to tell you when grandpa and grandma will be +here I can say in about five minutes." She was looking off down the +street and Miss Dorothy saw two figures approaching. + +"Then we'd better go in," she said. "I should not like them to meet +me in an apple tree; they might think me very undignified." + +Marian was rather inclined to think they might, but she glossed over +the fact by saying, "Well, you see it has been such a long, long +time since they were young they must forget how it feels." + +Miss Dorothy smiled and began to climb down the ladder, Marian +following. In a few minutes they were walking soberly up the path +and reached the front door just as Mr. and Mrs. Otway were there. + +"Miss Robbins has come," announced Marian with a little nod of her +head in the direction of the young lady in the background. + +"Ah-h," responded her grandfather, "then I was right, my dear," he +turned to his wife, "I said it was probable that she would get the +first train. We should have told Hepzibah or else you should have +remained at home." + +"I never remain at home from the quarterly meeting upon any +pretext," returned Mrs. Otway firmly; "it was a most important one." + +But Mr. Otway had hastened forward and was holding out his hand in +welcome to Miss Dorothy. "I am glad to receive my old friend's +daughter," he said with a stately bow. "This is Miss--ah, yes, +Miss Dorothy. I may have met you when you were less of a young +lady, but I cannot separate you, as a memory, from your sisters." + +"I think I remember Professor Otway," returned Dorothy smiling up +into the near-sighted eyes which were peering down at her. Mr. Otway +was tall, spare, a little stoop-shouldered. His hair was quite gray +and grew sparsely around his temples; his face was clean shaven. +Mrs. Otway was below medium height, plump and keen-eyed. She wore an +old-fashioned gown and a plain bonnet. Winter or summer she never +went out without a small cape over her shoulders. Upon this occasion +it was of black silk trimmed with a fold of the same. She looked +approvingly at Dorothy's neat frock, but a little disapprovingly +at the arrangement of her hair. + +"I am sorry not to have been here to welcome you," she said, "but +there are certain matters of business which cannot be set aside for +uncertainties. I hope Hepzibah or Marian showed you to your room." + +"Marian did, and has been a very kind hostess," returned Miss +Dorothy. "I am very glad you did not give up an important matter +for anything so indefinite as my arrival. You must never let my +presence allow of any change in your arrangements, Mrs. Otway. I +am exceedingly grateful to you for taking me in, and I should be +very uncomfortable if I were to interfere with your usual routine." + +Mrs. Otway nodded approval. "We shall consider you one of the +family, my dear Miss Robbins," she told her. "Marian, take my things +up-stairs." She gave her bonnet and cape to her granddaughter and +led the way to the semi-darkened parlor where she established +herself in a haircloth rocking-chair while Miss Dorothy seated +herself upon the sofa. + +Marian laid the bonnet and cape carefully upon her grandmother's +smooth bed and went down to tell Hepzibah that it was the teacher, +who had arrived. She had not wanted to leave Miss Dorothy, in order +to give the old servant this piece of information, but now that her +chance had come she went straight to the kitchen. + +Hepzibah was stalking about preparing supper. She looked up sharply +as Marian entered. "Well," she said, "what's wanting?" + +"It's Miss Robbins, the teacher, Heppy," Marian told her. "You saw +us go by down the garden, didn't you?" + +"Why didn't she say so?" returned Heppy in an aggrieved voice. +"How's I to know she wasn't a book-agent or a body selling home-made +laces and embroidered shirt waists. She was carrying a bag and it +might have been full of wares for all I knew." + +"But she doesn't look like a peddler." + +"Looks belie folks sometimes. Some of 'em is dressed as good as the +best, in hats with feathers and kid gloves. She might have been that +or anything, for all I could tell. I'll do just the same next time. +She'd oughter have told her business right out, instead of hemming +and hawing and asking was Mrs. Otway to home. That's the way they +all do; get the name next door and come as brazen as you please +asking for Mrs. this and that. I'd like to know who's to tell the +sheep from the goats." + +"I would know in a minute that Miss Dorothy wasn't a goat," said +Marian. + +"Oh, you know a heap, don't you," replied Heppy scornfully. "If you +knew so much why didn't you tell me who it was first off?" + +"I didn't know exactly who it was but I could easily guess, for I +knew the teacher was coming some time soon." + +"I don't see why your grandma didn't say I was to look out for her," +Heppy went on with a new grievance. + +"Maybe she thought you would know, because you helped get her room +ready, and knew she was expected," Marian made excuse. + +"As if I could remember anything on a Saturday, when I'd been +pestered to death, answering the door a dozen times, while I was +cleaning my kitchen. She might have chose some other day to come." + +"She has to begin school on Monday, and besides that would be just +as bad, for it would be wash-day and you are cross always then, +Heppy, you know you are." + +Heppy turned on her. "You just go out of here," she said. "I don't +want you 'round underfoot, pestering me at meal-time nohow. I guess +I can get a meal for four just as easy as for three and I don't need +your help neither." + +At this Marian was fain to depart, seeing that Heppy was in one of +her worst moods, when everything was a grievance. It was a pleasant +contrast when the little girl was met by Miss Dorothy's smile as she +returned to the parlor, so she settled herself by the side of this +new friend, folded her hands and let her feet dangle over the edge +of the sofa. It was rather a slippery seat and in time it might be +that she would have to wriggle back to a firmer place, but its +nearness to Miss Dorothy was its attraction and she felt well +satisfied and entirely secure when the teacher's arm encircled +her and drew her closer. "I am to have one new pupil anyhow," +said Miss Dorothy, smiling down. "Won't it be nice for us to +be going to school together every day, Marian?" + +"Oh, am I going?" Marian looked from one grandparent to another. + +Mrs. Otway nodded sedately. "We have concluded that it is best," she +said. "Your grandfather has many affairs to attend to, and it is a +tax upon his time to teach you, therefore, since you will not need +to go to school unattended, we think it best. We shall see how it +works, at all events, and if it seems wise to withdraw you later, +we can do so." + +Marian gave a long sigh of satisfaction, but said nothing. She was +constantly told that little children should be seen and not heard, +and moreover she thought it might hurt her grandfather's feelings if +she showed too much pleasure at the change. Yet when she gave the +new teacher a glad smile, Miss Dorothy realized that the prospect of +school was a pleasant one to at least one of her pupils. + + + + +_CHAPTER III_ + +_A New Road_ + + +Instead of sitting in a straight-backed chair in her grandfather's +study, conning over dry lessons while Mr. Otway wrote or read, it +was quite a different experience for Marian to go to school to Miss +Dorothy in a cheerful little schoolhouse where twenty other girls +were seated each before her particular desk. Lessons with Grandpa +Otway had been very stupid, for he required literal, word-for-word, +gotten-by-heart pages, had no mercy upon faulty spelling, and +frowned down mistakes in arithmetic examples. He did not make much +of a point of writing, for he wrote a queer, scratchy hand himself, +and so Marian could scarcely form her letters legibly, a fact of +which she was made ashamed when she saw how well Ruth Deering wrote, +and discovered that Marjorie Stone sent a letter every week to her +brother at college. + +However, the rest of it was such an improvement upon other years, +that every morning Marian started out very happily, book bag on arm, +and Miss Dorothy by her side. The first day was the most eventful, +of course, and the child was in a quiver of excitement. Her teacher +was perhaps not less nervous, though she did not show it except by +the two red spots upon her cheeks. It was her first day as teacher +as well as Marian's, as one of a class in school. But all passed off +well, the twenty little girls with shining faces and fresh frocks +were expectant and the new teacher quite came up to their hopes. +Marian already knew Ruth Deering and Marjorie Stone, for they were +in her Sunday-school class, and some of the others she had seen at +church. Alice Evans sat with her parents just in front of the +Otways' pew, so her flaxen pig-tails were a familiar sight, while +Minnie Keating's big brown bow of ribbon appeared further along on +Sunday mornings. + +Marian felt that she did quite as well as the other girls in most +things, and was beginning to congratulate herself upon knowing as +much as any one of her age, when she was called to the blackboard to +write out a sentence. At her feeble effort which resulted in a +crooked scrawl, there was a subdued titter from the others. For one +moment the new scholar stood, her cheeks flaming, then with defiant +face she turned to Miss Dorothy. "I can spell it every word," she +said, "if I can't write it." + +Miss Dorothy smiled encouragingly, for she understood the situation. +"That is more than many little girls of your age can do," she said. +"Suppose you spell it for us, then." + +With clenched hands Marian faced her schoolmates. "Separate +syllables, and enunciate with distinct emphasis," she finished +triumphantly, without looking at the book. + +"That is a very good test," said Miss Dorothy; "you may take your +seat. Now, Alice, I will give out the next sentence, and you may +spell it without the board," and the day was saved for Marian. + +After this she triumphantly gave the boundaries of several +countries, told without hesitation the dates of three important +events in history, carried to a correct finish a difficult example +in long division, and when the hour came for school to close she had +won her place. Yet the matter of writing was uppermost in her mind +as she walked home, and she said shamefacedly to Miss Dorothy, +"Isn't it dreadful for a girl of my age not to know how to write?" + +"It isn't as if it were a thing that couldn't be learned," Miss +Dorothy told her for her encouragement, "but you must hurry up and +conquer it. You might practice at home between times, and you will +be surprised to find how you improve. Have you never written letters +to your father?" + +Marian shook her head. "Not really myself. Grandma always writes +them for me," then she added, "so of course she says just what she +pleases; I'd like to say what I please, I think." + +"I am sure your father would like it better if you did. I know when +my father was away from home the letter that most pleased him was +written by my little sister Patty when she was younger than you." + +"How old is she now?" asked Marian. + +"Just about your age. She can write very well, but you can distance +her in spelling and arithmetic." + +"I'll catch up with her in writing," decided Marian, "and maybe she +will catch up with me in the other things." + +"I'll tell her what you say," said Miss Dorothy; "that will be an +incentive to you both. I should like you to know our Patty. She is +our baby, and is a darling." + +"I should like to know her," returned Marian warmly. + +"I'll tell her to write to you," promised Miss Dorothy. + +"Oh, good! I never have letters from any one but papa, and he writes +only once a year. I wish he would write oftener, for his letters are +so nice, and I do love him, though I haven't seen him since I was a +baby." + +"Perhaps if he knew you really cared so much to hear, he would +write. Why don't you send him a letter and tell him?" + +"Oh, but just see what a fist I make at writing. I will tell him as +soon as I can write better, although," she added with a sigh, "that +seems a long time to wait." + +Miss Dorothy was thoughtfully silent for a few minutes. "I will tell +you what," she said presently. "I have a small typewriting machine +which I will teach you how to use. It is very simple, and you spell +so nicely that it will be no time before you could manage a +perfectly legible letter to your father." + +"Oh, Miss Dorothy, I do love you," cried Marian. "That is such a +delightful idea. What an angelic sister Patty has." + +Miss Dorothy laughed. "What a funny little girl you are. I am glad, +however, that you didn't say: How awfully nice! I am afraid that is +what Patty would have said, but she hasn't had the advantage of +associating with only scholarly people like your grandparents, and +so she talks as her brothers and sisters do." + +"I should think she would be awfully happy to have so many brothers +and sisters," remarked Marian. + +"Oh, dear, see what example does," exclaimed Miss Dorothy. "You said +awfully happy and I never heard you say awfully anything before. +I'll tell you what we'll do; whenever you hear me saying awfully +nice or awfully horrid you tell me, and I'll do the same by you. Is +it a bargain?" + +"Oh, yes, thank you, Miss Dorothy, but I'm afraid I should feel +queer to correct you." + +"I am not perfect, my dear," said Miss Dorothy gravely, "not any +more than the rest of humanity. I shouldn't expect you to correct me +ordinarily, but this is a habit I want to get out of, and that I do +not want you to get into, so we shall be a mutual help, you see, and +you will be doing me a favor by reminding me." + +"Then I'll try to do it. How shall I tell you when other people are +around? It would sound queer if I said: Oh, Miss Dorothy, you said +awfully." + +"So it would, you little wiseacre. You can touch me on the elbow and +then put your finger on your lip, and I will understand, and I will +do the same when you say it." + +Marian was perfectly satisfied at this. "I am so glad you are here," +she sighed. "I feel lots more faith growing. I shall soon be +very--is it faithful I ought to say?" + +"Well, not exactly in the sense you mean, though really it ought to +be that faithful means full of faith; as it is it means trustworthy +and devoted to the performance of duties and things. I think the old +meaning when one wanted to say that a person was full of faith was +faithful, but the original sense of many words has been lost." + +"When shall I begin with the typewriter?" asked Marian, changing the +subject. + +"We can begin this afternoon. I have unpacked and oiled it, so it is +all ready to use." + +"How soon do you think I can send a letter to papa?" + +"If you are industrious and painstaking I should say you could do it +in a week." + +"Oh, that's not long, and he will get it long before Christmas, +won't he?" + +"Yes, indeed! I should think in ten days or two weeks at the +furthest." + +"I should like to send him something for Christmas. I never did send +him anything. Don't you think it would be nice to do it?" + +"I think it would be awfully nice." + +Marian gave her teacher's arm a gentle shake and put her finger to +her lip. + +Miss Dorothy looked at her a little puzzled, then she understood. +"Oh, I said awfully, didn't I? Thank you, dearie, for reminding me. +What should you like to send your father?" + +"I don't know. I'll have to think. You'll help me to think, won't +you?" + +"Indeed I will, if you want me to. I should think almost anything +you could send would please him, for, after all, it is the thought +that counts, not the thing itself." + +"Oh, but I do think things count, and--Miss Dorothy, you won't tell +if I ask him not to send me money." + +"Not money? I think that it's rather a nice thing to have, for then +you can buy whatever you like." + +"You couldn't if you were I." + +"Why not?" + +"Because. You won't say anything about it to the grans?" Marian's +voice dropped to a whisper. "When papa sends me money it always goes +to the missions; it is my sacrifice, Grandma says. As long as I +don't have the money really in my hands, it doesn't so much matter, +but it would matter if I had to go without butter or perhaps sweet +things, like dessert or cake for a whole month. That is what would +happen if I said I would rather have the money myself than let the +missionaries have it. Oh, I suppose it is all right," she added +quickly, "and no doubt I am a hardened sinner, but I would like a +real Christmas gift." + +"Did you never have one?" asked Miss Dorothy, with pity and surprise +in her voice. + +"Not a really one, except from Mrs. Hunt; she gave me a sweet little +pincushion last year, and a whole bag full of cakes and goodies. I +enjoyed them very much." + +"Did your grandparents give you nothing at all?" + +"Oh, yes. I had a new hat, and gloves and handkerchiefs. I was +pleased to have them of course, but I would like something real +Christmassy and--and--foolish." + +"You blessed child, of course you would," and Miss Dorothy mentally +determined that the next Christmas should provide something real +Christmassy for her little companion. + +Marian was silent for a while then she asked, "Do you have a +Christmas tree at your house?" + +"Why, yes, always, and we all hang up our stocking from father down +to Patty. Don't you?" + +"No, I never did, and I never had a tree." + +"Why, you poor dear child," exclaimed Miss Dorothy surprised out of +discretion. + +"There doesn't any one know how much I want it," said Marian in part +excuse, "but I do. That is what I meant about moving mountains and +faith. Do you believe if I had a great deal of faith, as sharp and +strong as a mustard seed that the Lord would send me a tree? I never +told any one before about it, but you understand better than Mrs. +Hunt. I thought once or twice I would ask her, but she might laugh +and I don't want any one to laugh, for it is very solemn." She +peered anxiously up into Miss Dorothy's face to see if there were a +suspicion of amusement there, but Miss Dorothy looked as grave as +any one could wish. + +"I think faith can do a great deal, my dear little girl," she said +gently. + +"It can move mountains, the Bible says. I heard grandpa and grandma +talking about it, and Mrs. Hunt showed me some mustard seed. I +tasted one and it was very strong, so I know now it doesn't mean +the bigness but the strongness." + +Miss Dorothy looked down with a smile. "You little theologian," she +exclaimed. Then to herself she said: This comes of shutting up a +child with staid old people. The dear thing needs a whole lot of +frivolity mixed up in her life; Christmas trees and things. She +shall have them if I can do any of the mixing. "Well, dear," she +said aloud, "I think we will hold on to all the faith we can muster, +and see what will come of it, but you must realize that just sitting +still and believing isn't all of it. We must work, too, for the +Bible says faith _and_ works, not faith _or_ works. So now you work +hard over your writing, and send letters to your father so he will +know what his little girl likes and longs for, then you will be +doing your part in that direction, and at the same time put your +trust in his love for you, and no doubt something beautiful will +come of it all. You can come up to my room as soon as you want to, +and we will start the little typewriter." + +Marian's satisfaction was too deep for words, but she gave her +teacher's arm a little squeeze and laid her cheek against it. + +It was not long before she was tapping at the door of Miss Dorothy's +room, but before she began the work she was so eager for, she +asked, "Do you think I ought to ask grandma's permission?" + +"I don't see why you need to, for there is nothing wrong about it," +Miss Dorothy replied. "But if you feel as if you should, you can run +down and tell your grandmother what you are going to do. You can say +that I am going to teach you to use my little machine, and surely +she will not object." + +But Mrs. Otway was off upon some charity bent, and Marian returned +feeling that she had done her duty in making the attempt to tell. +Then she and Miss Dorothy had great fun over the little machine +which seemed so complicated at first, but which gradually grew more +and more familiar, so that at the end of an hour under Miss Dorothy, +Marian was able to write out several lines quite creditably. These +she took down and proudly showed to her grandfather. + +"First-rate," he exclaimed. "Keep on, my child, and after a while +you will be able to copy out my papers for me; a great assistance +that would be. I shouldn't wonder but in time you would make me an +excellent secretary." Under this praise Marian's qualms of +conscience were eased. If grandpa approved, that was enough. Her +next impulse was to run to Mrs. Hunt's to show off her new +accomplishment, but she decided to wait till she could manage the +typewriter entirely alone, so would the credit be greater. + +She sought out Tippy and Dippy to tell her secret to. They were her +confidants always, and to-day she had almost forgotten them in the +novelty of having so sympathetic a friend as Miss Dorothy. It would +never do to forsake old and tried comrades, and so Tippy was roused +from her nap, and Dippy was captured in the act of catching a +grasshopper, then the two were borne to the end of the garden to +a sheltered spot where Marian always had her "thinks." She took +the two in her lap. Tippy settled down at once, but Dippy had to +have his head rubbed for some minutes before he began to purr +contentedly. + +"You see, my dears," began Marian, "I am going to have a great deal +to do, almost as much as grandma has with her clubs and societies +and meetings. First there is school. I think I like Alice Evans the +best of the girls, for she has such pretty hair, but I am not quite +sure about it. She was not quite as nice to me at recess as Ruth +was, so maybe I shall like Ruth best. I am sure I shall love Patty. +I wish she had come here with her sister. It must be lovely, Tippy, +to have a sister, though I suppose you don't think as I do, for you +had a sister once and now you don't care anything about her, for you +fizzed at her the other day when she came in our garden. I saw you +and heard you, too, and I was very much shocked. What was I talking +about? Oh, yes, about so much to do. I'll have lessons to study at +home after this, I suppose. We didn't have any real lessons to-day, +just trial things, and I did such awful--I mean really awful writing +on the blackboard that the girls all giggled. I just hated that, and +I felt like crying or like running away and never going back, but I +realized that it wouldn't do to do either, so that is another thing +I must do. + +"I must practice writing at home. I wonder where I shall get paper +and things to do it on. I'll have to ask Miss Dorothy about that. +She is such a dear, Tippy, and she likes cats; she said so. I never +used to think that any one could be as nice as Mrs. Hunt, but Miss +Dorothy is nicer in some ways, for she understands just how you feel +about everything, and Mrs. Hunt doesn't always. She is as kind as +can be, but she thinks that when you ask questions if she answers +with a cookie or a doughnut you will be satisfied. It does satisfy +your mouth, of course, but it doesn't satisfy the thinking part of +you. Sometimes I go down there just bursting with things I want to +know, and when I ask her, she says: 'Oh, don't bother your little +head about such things; there is a plate of cakes in the pantry; go +help yourself.' Now, Miss Dorothy isn't that way at all. She just +reaches her thinks down to yours and they go along together till +you come out all clear and straight like coming out of the woods +into an open sunshiny place where there is a good path. + +"Now, Tippy, we've got to think of something to send papa for a +present. I don't suppose you are interested in such things, but I +think every one ought to be. Maybe Patty can help me out. She must +be a very bright child; Miss Dorothy says she is. There! I hear +Heppy clattering the milk-pan; it is time to see about your +supper." So saying, Marian put down the two cats and started for +the house, her pets following at her heels, knowing the sound of +a milk-pan as well as she. + + + + +_CHAPTER IV_ + +_Companions_ + + +The first week of school passed very rapidly, and by the time Friday +afternoon came, Marian felt quite at home with her schoolmates. She +had finally decided that Ruth would be her best friend next to +Patty, whom she always held in reserve as filling her needs exactly, +when they should meet. Miss Dorothy had written to her little sister +and Marian was daily expecting a letter herself from Patty, a letter +which should mark the beginning of their friendship. She was rather +shy of the girls at first, for she had scarcely known childish +comrades, and her old-fashioned ideas and mature way of speaking +often brought a laugh from the others, but her shyness soon wore off +and she quickly acquired a style of speech at which her grandparents +sometimes frowned, for it included some bits of slang which had +never found their way into the brick house before. + +It was Miss Dorothy's doing which made the way easier for the little +girl, for she argued nobly in behalf of Marian's needing young +companions to keep her like a normal child. She even appealed to +the family doctor who promptly sided with her, and maintained that +Marian would be better bodily, if she lived a more rough and tumble +life. So, because her grandparents really did care for her, absorbed +as they were in their grown-up affairs, Marian was allowed more +freedom than ever before and was ready to take advantage of it. + +Miss Dorothy had gone up to town to do some shopping this first +Saturday of the term, and Marian bethought herself of its being +baking day at Mrs. Hunt's, so, as this was always one place she +could always go without asking permission, she simply stopped at +the sitting-room door and announced: "I am going down to Mrs. +Hunt's, grandma." + +Mrs. Otway, at work upon a financial report, did not look up from +her columns of figures, but merely nodded in reply and Marian ran on +down the street between the double rows of trees, till she came to +Mrs. Hunt's. This time it was the odor of baking which greeted her +as she advanced toward the kitchen, and Mrs. Hunt was in the act of +taking a pan of nicely browned cookies from the oven as her visitor +appeared. + +"Well, well, well," she exclaimed. "Just in time. Seems to me school +keeps some folks amazingly busy. I've not seen you for a week, have +I? But there, I'm glad enough you're turned out at last. Let me see +how you look. School agrees with you; I can see that. Sit down there +on the step and eat a cookie; it's warm inside the kitchen with the +fire going. Now tell me all about it. How do you like Miss Robbins? +I hear she's liable to be as popular as any teacher we've had. How +do the grans take to her?" Marian and Mrs. Hunt always spoke of Mr. +and Mrs. Otway as the grans. + +"They like her," returned Marian between bites of cookie. "She is +perfectly fine, Mrs. Hunt, and she's got a little sister just my +age; her name's Martha, but they call her Patty, and she's going to +write to me, and, oh, Mrs. Hunt, I have a secret to tell you, but +you mustn't breathe it. Cross your heart you won't." + +"Cross your heart," repeated Mrs. Hunt. "Where did you get that? I +never heard you say that before." + +"All the girls say it." + +"Of course they do, and you're getting to be one of the girls, I +see. Well, I'm glad of it. And what's the mighty secret?" + +"You won't tell?" + +"Not I." Mrs. Hunt emphasized her promise by bringing down her +cake-cutter firmly on the dough she had spread on the board before +her. + +"Well, it's this: I'm learning to write on the typewriter, and I'm +going to write a letter to papa myself." + +"Well, I vow to man! Isn't that a trick worth knowing? Won't he be +pleased?" + +"Do you think he really will? I didn't know, for you see he has +written to me only once a year just as he does to grandpa and +grandma, and I have never been sure that he really cared very much +about me." + +"Listen to the child," exclaimed Mrs. Hunt, shaking her head. "Who'd +have thought she gave it any thought one way or the other. Don't you +believe that he doesn't care. I knew Ralph Otway before you were +born, and I can tell you that when he gets to knowing that you've +thought enough about him to want to write to him he will write to +you often enough. He's got it into his head that you are as well off +not hearing from him oftener, and besides he feels that as a lone +widower he can't take as good care of you as his mother, a woman, +can do, and he's just steeled his heart to endure what he thinks is +best for you without thinking of what he would like for himself. +Don't you suppose he would a thousand times rather have you with him +than to live off there by himself?" + +"No, I didn't think so," replied Marian, with the idea that somehow +she had said something she ought not. "But, Mrs. Hunt, if he does +care, why doesn't he come over and get me?" + +"Just as I told you; because he thinks you are better off here with +your kith and kin. What would you do all day alone, with him off at +his business and you by yourself in lodgings or a boarding-house, +I'd like to know. He wouldn't want to send you to boarding-school, +for then you'd not be so well off as where you are. Oh, no, don't +you be getting it into your head that your father doesn't care for +you." Mrs. Hunt made decided plunges at the yellow dough at each +attack leaving behind a scalloped circle. "How I talk," she said as +she deftly lifted the cookies into a pan, "but my tongue runs away +with me sometimes. When do you think you'll be smart enough to get +that letter off?" + +"Oh, in another week, perhaps. Miss Dorothy thinks I will." + +"Humph! that's quick enough work. Here, don't you want to go down +into the garden and get me a few tomatoes? I thought I'd stew some +for dinner, and I can't leave my baking very well." + +This was something Marian always liked to do, so she took the little +round basket Mrs. Hunt handed her and was soon very busy among the +tomato vines. She was watching a big yellow butterfly bury itself in +an opening flower when she heard a voice on the other side of the +fence, say: "Hello!" and looking up she saw Marjorie Stone and Alice +Evans smiling at her. + +"What are you doing?" asked Marjorie. "I didn't know you lived +here." + +"I don't," said Marian going toward her. "I just came to see Mrs. +Hunt and I am getting some tomatoes for her. Most everything else +has gone. There used to be lovely currants and raspberries over +there, and there were a few blackberries." + +"We know where there are some blackberries still, don't we, Alice?" +said Marjorie. + +"Yes, they have ripened late; they're not so very big, but we are +going to get them. We're going to take our lunch with us and gather +all we can find." + +"If you bring some lunch you can go too," said Marjorie amiably to +Marian. + +"Oh, is it a picnic?" + +"Just a little one. Three or four of us were going, but two of the +girls can't go. One has to stay at home and take care of the baby, +and the other has gone to town with her mother, but maybe Alice's +big sister, Stella, will go with us." + +"Is it very far?" + +"Not so very. We've often been there. You go get your lunch and put +it in a tin bucket, or a basket, so you will have something to carry +your blackberries home in. We'll wait here for you if you hurry." + +Much excited, Marian ran back to the house. This came of having +schoolmates. A picnic this very first Saturday, and the +blackberrying thrown in. She set down the little basket on the +kitchen table and exclaimed, "Oh, Mrs. Hunt, what do you think? +Marjorie Stone and Alice Evans want me to go on a picnic with them. +They're going blackberrying and it isn't very far, but I'll have to +take my lunch in something to gather the blackberries in, and----" +She paused for breath. + +"Just those two going?" + +"No, Alice's big sister, Stella, is going." + +"Oh!" Mrs. Hunt nodded her head in a satisfied way. + +"Do you think I would have time to go home?" Marian asked anxiously. +"They said they were in a great hurry." + +"What is the use of your going home? I can put you up a little lunch +easy as not. Here's these cookies, and I've baked turnovers, too. +There's a basket of nice good apples in the pantry; you can have one +of those, and I'll whisk together some sandwiches in the shake of a +sheep's tail." + +"Oh, that would be perfectly fine. Do you think grandma would +mind?" + +"She oughtn't to. She's done the same thing lots of times herself." + +"Oh!" This fact certainly set things all right, for surely no grown +person could be so absolutely unjust and inconsistent as to blame a +child for doing what she had done, not once, but often herself. So +Marian was quite assured, and smilingly watched Mrs. Hunt's kind +hands pack a lunch for her. + +"There now," said the good woman when she had tucked a red napkin +over the top of the basket. "Run along and have a good time. I guess +all the quarts of blackberries you get won't make many jars of jam, +but you'll have just as much fun. If I get the chance I'll run up to +your grandma's or send word that you won't be home to dinner. Maybe +I'll see your grandpa as he comes back from the post-office." + +And so, well content, Marian sped forth to join the girls who were +waiting. + +"Are you going?" they asked. "You didn't have to go home, did you?" + +"No, Mrs. Hunt put up a lunch for me. She is always so very kind." + +"What have you got?" asked Marjorie eagerly. + +"Three sandwiches, ham ones, and six cookies, two turnovers and an +apple." Marian enumerated the articles with pride. + +"I guess that will be enough," said Marjorie, condescendingly. "But +you will have to cut the turnovers in two so they will go around; we +haven't any, you know." + +Marian felt somewhat abashed, and thought that Marjorie was not very +polite. She would not have inquired into the contents of their lunch +baskets for the world. However, she trotted along very contentedly +till they reached Alice's home where Stella was to join them. "I +found some crackers and cheese, and there are two slices of bread +and jam," announced this older girl as she came out. "I think +perhaps we can find an apple tree along the way. Did you bring +anything, Marjorie?" + +"Yes, I have something in here." Marjorie swung her tin bucket +in air. + +"Then we'd better start," continued Stella. "Who is that with you? +Oh, I see, it is Marian Otway. Hello, Marian." + +"How do you do?" said Marian. She had never seen Stella except from +across the church. She considered her quite a young lady, although +she was only fourteen, but she was tall for her age and had an +assured air. + +The weather was warm, as it often is in early September, and as they +trudged along the dusty road with the noonday sun beating down upon +them, Marian thought it was anything but fun. Stella, however, kept +encouraging them all by telling them it was only a little further, +and that when they came to a certain big tree they would sit down +and eat their lunch. The tree seemed a long way off, but at length +it was reached, and the four sat down to rest under its shade. + +"Oh, I do wish I had a drink," sighed Alice. "I am so thirsty." + +"So am I," exclaimed the others. + +"Maybe there is a spring near," said Stella. "There is a house over +yonder; perhaps they could let us have some milk." + +"But we haven't any money to pay for it," said Alice. + +"So we haven't. Well, we'll have to ask for water. It was very +stupid to think of only being hungry and not of being thirsty. We +could have brought some milk as well as not. Let us have your tin +bucket, Marjorie, and you and Alice go over and ask for some water." + +"I'm too tired," complained Marjorie. "If I lend you my bucket I +think some one else ought to go for the water." + +"Oh, all right," said Stella with a disdainful smile. "I am sure +Marian will be accommodating enough to go with Alice, although you +have walked no further than they did. You will go, won't you, +Marian?" + +At this direct appeal, Marian could not refuse to go, and arose with +alacrity to do Stella's bidding. + +"Empty your bucket into my basket," said Stella to Marjorie, at the +same time taking off the lid. Marjorie made a dive into the bucket +and hastily secured a small package wrapped in paper, consenting to +Stella's putting the two biscuits and the one banana that remained, +into her basket. + +"Don't begin to eat till we come back," called Alice as she and +Marian started off. + +"We won't," promised her sister. + +The way through the open field was quite as hot, if not as dusty as +the road, and Marian agreed with Alice that it was harder to walk +through the stubble than the dust, so they were glad enough to reach +the shade of the trees surrounding the little farmhouse. A woman was +scouring tins on the back porch. + +"Could we have some water from your pump?" asked Alice timidly. + +The woman looked up. "Why, yes, and welcome. Where did you drop +from? I ain't seen any carriage come up the road." + +"We walked from Greenville," Alice told her. + +"All the way this warm day? Well, I should think you would want +water. You two didn't come by yourselves, did you?" + +"No, my sister and another girl are over there by that big chestnut +tree." + +"Lands! then why didn't you go to the spring? 'T ain't but a step, +just a ways beyond the tree down in that little hollow. I think the +water's better and colder than the pump water, but you can have +either you like. Perhaps, though, you'd like a glass of milk. But +there, you just wait, I know something better than that. Just set +down and cool off while I fetch something for you to take back. +Don't take a drink till you set awhile; you're all overheated." + +"What do you suppose she's going to give us?" whispered Alice. + +Marian shook her head. "I'd like water better than anything, but she +said we'd best wait and I'm going to." + +"Then I will," said Alice, not to be outdone. + +Presently the woman returned with a pitcher upon which stood cool +beads of moisture, while the clinking sound of ice from within +suggested deliciousness to the thirsty. Setting down a glass the +woman poured something into it, and then handed the glass to Marian +who politely offered it to Alice. It was quickly accepted and Alice +took a satisfying draught. "It is lemonade," she said, "and it is, +oh, so good. I never tasted anything so good." + +The woman laughed. "You never were more thirsty, maybe. Take your +time; I'll get another glass." She stepped inside to supply Marian +with the same treat. "I'll pour the rest into your pail," she said; +"it will go good with your lunch. I made a whole bucketful this +morning thinking maybe my husband's folks might come over for +Sunday and would be thirsty after their long drive, but it's too +late for 'em now. They always start by sunup and get here before +dinner. They won't be here this week, so you come in for what +they don't." + +"I'm glad they didn't come," said Alice setting down her glass. + +The woman laughed. "It's an ill wind that blows nobody good, +they say. Here's your pail; there's ice enough to keep it cool +for some time." + +"Thank you so very, very much," said Marian earnestly. "If I get +enough blackberries I'll surely bring you some." + +"Bless the child! You needn't, for I have had all I need, and have +put 'em up till I'm sick of the sight of 'em. Keep all you get and +I'm sure you're welcome; their time is about over and what you get +won't be worth much. I'm sure you're welcome to your drink." She +fell to scouring again, and the girls departed bearing the bucket +carefully. + +"Wasn't she kind?" said Marian, in grateful remembrance, "and isn't +it nice to know about the spring?" + +"Be careful," cried Alice in alarm, for just here Marian struck her +foot against a stubbly growth and came near falling, but recovered +her footing. + +"Let me take it," said Alice, grasping the handle of the bucket. + +"I'm sure I shall be glad if you will," replied Marian in a relieved +tone, "it would be too dreadful to spill any of that delicious +stuff." + +However it was borne safely the rest of the way, and it is needless +to say that it was appreciated by the waiting pair, though Marjorie +complained that they had been such a long, long time in getting it. + +"I should think it was worth being long to get what we did," said +Alice severely. + +"Well, anyhow, I think Stella and I ought to have the most," said +Marjorie, "for you each had a glassful up at the house and we +haven't had any." + +"That was to pay us for going, wasn't it?" and Alice appealed to her +sister. + +"Certainly it was," returned Stella. "If you couldn't have that much +after your doing the errand I should think it was a pity." + +Then they fell to eating their lunch, although the division of this +did not turn out as Marjorie intended, for Stella declared it was +only fair that each should eat what she brought for herself, and +maintained that Marjorie's biscuits and banana must be her share. +Marian protested, however, for she felt that she had the lion's +share, and that she would be uncomfortable if she ate her good +things without giving so much as a taste to the others. At last it +was decided that each child should contribute to the general supply +one article from her lunch, so a turnover went from Marian's basket, +a biscuit from Marjorie's pail, while Alice and Stella contributed +some crackers and cheese and a slice of their bread and jam. No one +caring for Marjorie's biscuit it was left untouched while its owner +fell upon the turnover without a question. Marian chose the crackers +and cheese, but insisted upon exchanging some of her cookies for the +slice of bread and jam, and later gave Alice half her apple. The +lemonade was quaffed to the last drop, and then Marjorie volunteered +to go to the spring for water. She was gone some time, and as they +all started forth to find the blackberry patch, Alice whispered to +Marian, "She had candy in that package; that's why she wanted to go +to the spring alone. I saw her take out the candy and eat it." Then +Marian began to realize that her eyes were being opened to other +than pleasant things in that outside world of companionship. + + + + +_CHAPTER V_ + +_Blackberries_ + + +Fortunately the blackberry patch was not much further on, and after +being refreshed by their luncheon the children did not mind crossing +a field and climbing a fence or two. But what a thicket it was! Such +thorns and briars as Marian had never imagined. There was a story in +verse, in one of the books which had belonged to her grandmother +when she was a little girl; this story was about Phebe, the +Blackberry Girl, and it was one in which Marian delighted, but +never before had she realized to the full extent Phebe's trials; +yet, like her, she + + "Scratched her face and tore her hair, + But still did not complain," + +and furthermore, like Phebe, when she came to a promising bush, she +"picked with all her might," and really had a creditable amount to +show when Stella said time was up. But alas, she had other things +to show besides blackberries and scratches, for she had worn a frock +of light material, and by the time they were ready to leave the +thicket, it was in slits and tears all over. Marian had been so +excited over her novel employment that she had not seen what damage +the briars were doing till Marjorie laughed out: "Oh, what a rag-bag +you are!" + +Then Marian looked down at the fringe of muslin which hung from her +waist, at the stained waist itself, from which the trimming fell in +festoons, and she was aghast. "Oh, what shall I do?" she breathed +helplessly. + +"You certainly do look a sight," said Stella, none too comfortingly, +"but I wouldn't mind my clothes so much as my hands; just see how +they are all scratched up, and your face isn't much better. You were +too reckless; you ought not to have plunged in so far that you got +caught in the worst of the brambles; we didn't any of us plunge +around so as to get all mixed up that way." + +"I know," returned Marian meekly, "I got too excited." + +"I should think you did." + +"I can't go into town this way," said Marian miserably. "I look like +a beggar girl." + +"Anybody could see that you had been picking blackberries," said +Alice consolingly. + +"But with such a looking frock they will laugh at me," said Marian +tearfully. "Oh, dear, I wish I had worn something that didn't tear." + +"As the rest of us did," remarked Marjorie complacently. + +"If you had only been careful and had kept on the edge of the +thicket," Stella said, then seeing how distressed Marian really +was, she went on: "You might take off your frock; I really think +you would look better without than with it." + +"Oh!" Marian's cheeks flamed. To appear before the world +half-dressed was not to be thought of. + +Stella looked her over critically. The frock she wore was a white +muslin spotted with pink, too frail a garment for such an +expedition. + +"The waist isn't so terrible," said Alice examining it. "If we had +some pins we could fasten the trimming on so it wouldn't show the +tears much." + +"Take off your frock, Marian," decided Stella; "I know what we can +do." + +Marian obeyed the assured voice, and presently Stella was tearing +the ragged skirt from the waist, afterward pinning the trimming of +the waist in place. "Now come here," she said to Marian. + +"What are you going to do?" the others asked in chorus. + +"I am going to match your petticoat to your waist," said Stella, +addressing Marian. "I will dot it with pink, and it will never +be observed. You can wear the waist as it is, and have a skirt +to match." + +"What are you going to spot it with?" asked Alice curiously. + +"You'll see," answered her sister, taking a blackberry from her +basket and squeezing a little of the juice on Marian's petticoat. +"It isn't exactly the color, but it is near enough, and will never +be noticed unless you were very near. Now stand quite still, +Marian." + +The little girl obeyed and after some time Stella finished her work. +"There!" she exclaimed with her head to one side to notice the +effect; "that is not bad at all. Walk off, Marian, and let me see; +the spots aren't quite even, but then, as Mrs. Hunt says, 'they will +never be seen on a galloping horse.'" + +"I am sure they look very well," remarked Alice admiringly, "and I +think you were very clever to think of it, Stella." And Marian, +though still a little shamefaced, felt more at ease. + +"We'd better start back," said Stella, "for the afternoons are not +so very long now, and we have quite a distance to go." + +"If we didn't have blackberries in the two buckets we might get some +of that nice cold water from the spring and carry it with us," said +Alice, "and then if we were thirsty we should have something to +drink." + +"It wouldn't be a bad plan," agreed Stella. "I'll tell you what we +can do: Marjorie can pour her berries in our bucket and we can use +hers for the water. Our bucket is so big that it will easily hold +ours and hers, too." + +"I'd like to see me do it," spoke up Marjorie. "I'd be sure not +to get back as many as I put in." + +Stella curled her lip and lifted her eyebrows scornfully. "You +needn't be afraid," she said; "nobody wants one of your old +berries. If you are so particular, it is very easy to separate +them by putting a layer of leaves on top of ours, and yours on +top of that, and then there will be no mixing, and _we_ shall +be sure to get all that belongs to _us_." + +Marjorie agreed to this arrangement, being quite ready to have +a supply of water on hand, and so Stella carefully arranged the +berries and said she would carry the bucket herself and that +Marjorie and Alice could take turns in carrying the water. So, +after everything was adjusted, they set off toward the town, +following the dusty road by which they had come. + +The way home did not seem as long as the morning's walk, and not +a great deal of time had passed when the spires of the village +churches appeared in the distance, then they reached the outlying +houses, and finally the main street. "I'd just kite up the back way +if I were you," said Stella to Marian; "it is a little bit shorter +and you won't be likely to meet so many people. Good-bye. We turn +off here, you know. I hope you won't get a scolding." + +The fear of this, or worse, had been in Marian's heart all along, +though she had not mentioned it, and as she stole in the back gate +and up the garden walk she hoped she would meet neither her +grandmother nor Heppy. The little bucket of blackberries no longer +seemed worth while, and she set it down near the apple tree, ran in +the side door, past her grandfather's study, and on up-stairs, +hoping she could get by the sitting-room without being seen. + +But her hopes were in vain, for on the landing appeared her +grandmother. "Is that you, Marian?" she asked. "Where have you been +all day? Come in here and give an account of yourself." + +For a second it was in Marian's thought to say that her nose was +bleeding and to make her escape to her room, change her frock and +then reappear, but she knew it was only putting off the evil day, +for the frock's condition would be discovered sooner or later; and +then she was a truthful child, and could not have brought herself to +make a false excuse, even though the outcome might have been better +for her. So she entered the sitting-room timidly and stood with +drooping head before her grandmother. + +"Where have you been all day?" repeated her grandmother. + +"Oh, didn't Mrs. Hunt tell you?" said Marian in a weak voice. "She +said she would. I've been blackberrying." + +"With whom?" + +"Some of the girls." + +"Who gave you permission?" + +"Why--why--Mrs. Hunt didn't think you would mind, and--and----" + +"Blackberrying! I should think so," exclaimed Mrs. Otway. "What a +sight you are, all stained and scratched up. Go, wash your face and +hands." + +"I did try to get it off at the spring," returned Marian more +cheerfully, hoping she was to be let off rather easily after all. + +But she had not reached the door before her grandmother called her +back. "What in the world have you done to your frock?" she asked, +examining her costume in surprise. + +"It got torn so and I was so ragged that Stella tore off the skirt," +said Marian in faint explanation, "and--" she went on, "she thought +she would try to make my petticoat look like a frock; the spots are +blackberry juice; they aren't quite the same color, but we all +thought they looked pretty well, better than slits and snags." + +"Then you have ruined not only your frock but your petticoat. Go to +your room and do not come out till I tell you. I will speak to your +grandfather and we will see what is to be done about this," said her +grandmother in such a severe tone that Marian felt like the worst of +criminals and crept to her room in dread distress. + +She had not often been seriously punished, but those few times stood +out very clearly just now. Once she had been compelled to receive +ten sharp strokes from a ruler on her outstretched hand. At another +time she had been shut up in a dark closet, and again she had been +tied in a chair for some hours. Any of these was bad enough. The +first was soonest over, but was the most humiliating, the second was +terrifying and nerve racking, while the third tediously long and +hard to bear. For some time the child sat tremblingly listening for +her grandmother's footsteps, but evidently Mrs. Otway did not intend +to use undue haste in the matter. After a while the whistle of the +evening train announced that those who had gone up to the city for +a day's shopping were now returning, and not long after Miss +Dorothy's door opened and Marian could hear the teacher singing +softly to herself in the next room. + +A new humiliation filled the child's breast. They would tell Miss +Dorothy, and she would think of her little friend as some one +desperately wicked, too wicked, no doubt, to associate with Patty. +The tears stood in Marian's eyes at this possibility. It was very, +very wrong, of course, to go off without asking leave, and it was +worse to spoil her clothes. She well knew her grandmother's views +upon this subject, and that of all things she disapproved of +wastefulness. She would say that the clothes might have done good to +the poor; they might have been sent in a missionary box to some +needy child, and it was wicked and selfish to deprive the poor of +something that could be of use. + +Oh, yes, Marian knew very well all about the probable lecture in +store for her. + +She sat dolefully, with clasped hands and tearful eyes. But +presently a happier thought came to her. She would tell Miss +Dorothy before her grandmother had a chance to do so, and +perhaps Miss Dorothy would understand that she had not meant +to do wrong in the first place, and that what came after was +carelessness and not wilful wickedness. She had been ordered +not to leave her room, and this she need not do to carry out +her plan. So she softly crossed the floor and timidly knocked +at the door between Miss Dorothy's room and her own. It was +opened in a moment by her friend, who viewed the forlorn +little figure first with a smile, and then with anxious +interest. "Why, my dearie," she exclaimed, "what is the +matter? Come into my room and tell me what is wrong." + +"I can't come in," said Marian in a low tone, "for I mustn't leave +my room till grandma bids me. But you can come in mine, can't you?" +she added wistfully. + +"To be sure I can," and suiting the action to the word, Miss Dorothy +entered and sat down by the window, drawing Marian to her side and +saying, "Now tell me all about it." + +Marian poured forth her doleful tale, beginning with the visit to +Mrs. Hunt and ending with the interview with her grandmother. "She +wouldn't have minded so much except for the frock and petticoat," +she said in conclusion, "but when she found out about those, I could +see that she was very, very much put out." + +"That was the worst part of it, of course," said Miss Dorothy. "Of +course you told her how sorry you were, and that you were so excited +over getting the biggest berries that you forgot about the briars. +You are not the only one who has done that," she added with a half +smile. "You never had been blackberrying before, had you?" + +"No, Miss Dorothy, and it was very exciting. We really had a lovely +time, only the walk was rather a hot one. Mrs. Hunt was so good; she +gave me such a fine lunch. She didn't think grandma would mind, for +she said she often used to go blackberrying when she was a little +girl." + +"She said that, did she?" + +"Yes, Miss Dorothy. I ought to return the basket, but I can't go +now, and I left the berries down under the apple tree." + +"I will go out and bring them in, and I was thinking of going to +Mrs. Hunt's to make a call. I may as well go this evening, and then +I can return the basket for you. Mr. Hunt is one of our trustees, +you know, and I want to see him on a little matter about the +school." + +"Oh, thank you, Miss Dorothy. I know she uses that little basket +for all sorts of things, and she might want it." + +"She shall have it," said Miss Dorothy. "Well, dear, I hope your +grandmother will not be very hard on you. The only point I can see +that needs blame, is your wearing that flimsy delicate frock, but +as you had never been blackberrying before, you couldn't know the +unkindness of briars." + +"There wasn't time to change the frock." + +"Yes, I know." + +"And you won't think I am very, very, wicked, even if they punish +me? You will let Patty be friends with me?" + +"I understand all about it, my dearie, and it shall not make the +slightest difference so far as Patty is concerned. I only wish I +could take your punishment for you." + +At this extreme kindness, Marian flung herself upon the floor at +Miss Dorothy's feet and sobbed aloud, "You are so dear! you are so +dear!" + +Miss Dorothy lifted her to her lap, smoothed back her hair and +kissed her flushed cheeks. "Cheer up, dear," she said. "One need +not be unhappy forever, and I hope this will soon be all over. Now, +I must go down and get those berries, or it will be too dark to find +them. Don't cry any more," and with a smile Miss Dorothy left her. + +It was quite dark when Mrs. Otway at last appeared. "I have talked +it over with your grandfather," she began without preface, "and we +have decided to punish you by having you wear to school all next +week the costume you came home in. That is all we shall do. It will +teach you to be more careful next time. You may come down to supper +now," and Marian meekly followed. + +The blackberries were on the table, but Marian could not touch them. +The horror of appearing before her schoolmates in the spotted +petticoat filled her with dismay, and although her grandmother felt +that she had been really very lenient, no punishment she could have +devised would have been more humiliating to the little girl. She had +always been a very dainty child, taking pride in her clothes and +being glad that she could appear as well as any one she knew. How +could she face nineteen pairs of wondering eyes upon Monday morning? +She could see the amused countenances, hear the suppressed giggles, +and imagine the laughing comments whispered with hands hiding +mouths. If only she could fall sick and die so she might never +go to school again. + +No one paid much attention to her as she sat there barely tasting +her supper, though she should have been hungry after her long walk +and her early lunch. Miss Dorothy once or twice looked her way and +nodded reassuringly, while Heppy slipped an extra large piece of +cake on her plate as she was passing it around. + +But after Marian had gone to bed and was lying forlornly awake, +after an hour of trying to sleep, Miss Dorothy tiptoed into her +room to bend over her, and seeing the wide eyes, to say: "I have +been down to Mrs. Hunt's. She is a dear. Go to sleep, honey. Just +have faith that it will all come out right. Don't worry. I am going +to leave my door open so you will not feel that you are all alone." +And with a kiss she left her to feel somehow quite satisfied that +matters were not so desperate as they seemed, and that Monday's +trial might in some way be set aside if she had faith. + + + + +_CHAPTER VI_ + +_The White Apron_ + + +But Monday morning came and there seemed no prospect of any change +in Mrs. Otway's decision. She came herself to see that Marian was +clad in the costume of disgrace, and she was sternly sent out with +the order not to be late. But lest she should shame Miss Dorothy the +child lingered out of sight around the corner till her teacher +should have passed by and then she ventured down the street by +herself. No one imagined the agony each step cost her, nor how she +avoided any familiar face, crossing and recrossing as she saw an +acquaintance in the distance. She was even about to pass Mrs. Hunt's +gate without looking up when some one called her. + +"Marian, Marian," came Mrs. Hunt's pleasant voice. "Stop a minute, +chickadee." + +The first impulse was to run on, but that meant reaching the +schoolhouse so much the sooner, so the child hesitated and presently +was captured by Mrs. Hunt, who bore down upon her as one not to be +denied. + +"I've been watching for you," she said. "Come right along in. You +have plenty of time. I have something to say to you. There, never +mind, I know the whole story and I ought to have all the blame, for +it was myself that urged you to go. Now your grandma never said you +were not to cover up that ridiculous petticoat, did she? She said +you were to wear it, I know, and wear it you must, of course. + +"Now, look here, I have an apron that was my little angel Annie's; +it's a real pretty one, and it is made so it will cover you all up. +I hunted it out this morning early. Put your arms in the sleeves. +That's it. Just as I thought; it covers you well up and hides all +the spots, doesn't it? It is a little yellow from lying, but no +matter, it is clean and smooth. I've two or three more the same +pattern. I always liked 'em with those little frills on the +shoulders. + +"Now, never mind, I know just what you're going to say, but you +needn't. I'm taking all the responsibility of this. Just you go +along to school and feel as happy as you can. I'm going to see your +grandmother before you get home, and I'll make it all right with +her, so you are not to bother yourself one little mite. Now trot +along, and hurry a little, or you might be a wee bit late. You can +wear the apron home. You look real nice in it." + +Marian started forth as she was bidden, and then overwhelmed by her +sense of relief, she raced back to throw her arms around her good +friend's neck and say, "Oh, you are so good. I do love you, I do. +What should I do without you and Miss Dorothy?" + +"Bless her heart," murmured Mrs. Hunt, giving her a hearty hug. She +stood in the doorway, looking after her till she was out of sight. +"I never expected to be so happy in seeing another child wear +anything of my Annie's," she murmured, wiping her eyes as she +entered the house. + +The girls were trooping into the schoolroom from the playground +when Marian reached the spot, and Miss Dorothy was already at her +desk. She looked across and gave Marian a bright smile and an +understanding nod as she came in, as much as to say: "What did I +tell you? Hasn't it all come out right?" As hers was not the only +apron worn, Marian did not feel at all oddly dressed, and her relief +was so great that she smiled every time any one looked at her. + +Alice sought her out at recess and asked eagerly: "Was your +grandmother awfully mad?" + +"She didn't like it," returned Marian evasively. + +"What did she do?" + +"She didn't do anything. She sent me to my room." + +"Was that all? Well, I'm glad you came off so easily," said Alice. +"We all know how particular your grandmother is, and we were afraid +she would do something awfully severe." Then Ruth came up and Marian +went off with her to eat luncheon, so no more was said on the +subject. + +"Mrs. Hunt told me I could wear it home," said Marian to herself, +as she went up street from school. She was alone, for Miss Dorothy +had been detained and had told her not to wait. Marian paused at +Mrs. Hunt's gate to see if she were there to give her further +encouragement, for as she was nearing home, the child felt her +spirits oozing. What would her grandmother say? She remembered, +however, that Mrs. Hunt had charged her not to worry, so, finding +all silent and deserted at her friend's house, she plucked up +courage, believing that Mrs. Hunt had not failed her, and that she +was probably at that very moment, closeted with her grandmother. + +She was not disappointed, for as she entered the sitting-room she +saw the two having a lively chat. "Here comes the child," cried Mrs. +Hunt cheerily. "We were just talking over old times, Marian. I was +reminding your grandmother of the time we all went nutting to +Jones's lot, and she fell into a mud-hole and was plastered to her +ears. She had to sit in the sun till she dried off, and then I took +her home. My mother rigged her up in some of my clothes, and she +went home with her heart in her mouth." Marian smiled. She +understood the method Mrs. Hunt was taking to smooth matters over +for herself. + +"Another time," Mrs. Hunt turned to the other lady, "do you +remember, Maria, when we all went to Perryman's Beach and waded in +the water? You'd had a cold or something, and were afraid your +mother would find out you'd gone with us. She did find out, I +remember, because you didn't dry your feet well, and your bed was +full of sand the next morning. Dear me, dear me, that was a good +while ago, wasn't it?" + +Mrs. Otway was smiling with a far-away look in her eyes. "I +remember," she said. + +"You can't put old heads on young shoulders," went on Mrs. Hunt, +"and if our mothers had looked ahead and had seen what sober old +matrons we would become, I guess they wouldn't have worried as much +as they did over our little pranks." + +Marian edged up to her good friend who put her arm around her. Mrs. +Otway turned her eyes upon her granddaughter. "Where did you get +that apron, Marian?" asked Mrs. Otway, a change coming over her +face. + +"I lent it to her," Mrs. Hunt spoke up. "It was my Annie's and I +wasn't going to have Ralph Otway's daughter disgraced by going +through the streets in a petticoat; I'm too fond of him and of her, +too. I remember once how I made my Annie wear a purple frock she +despised. It was the very week before she died," Mrs. Hunt's voice +dropped, "and you can believe, Maria Otway, that if I had it to do +over again, the purple frock would have gone in the fire before she +should ever have worn it. Poor little darling, the girls made fun of +it because it was so ugly and old-womanish. I could have spared her +feelings and I didn't. I have that purple frock now," she went on. +"I kept it to remind me not to hurt the feelings of one of His +little ones when there was no need to." The tears were running down +Mrs. Hunt's cheeks by now, but she went on: "You can think as you +choose, but I have said my say." + +"I don't think you would ever hurt any one's feelings if you could +help it, Salome," said Mrs. Otway, melted by the childless woman's +tears. Then turning to Marian, "Run along now, Marian," she said. + +"Shall I take off the apron?" + +"No, you needn't." + +And that was all there was of it, but the next morning before +breakfast said Mrs. Otway outside Marian's door: "You may put on +your blue gingham for school, Marian." + +So did Mrs. Hunt triumph and so did Miss Dorothy laugh in her sleeve +when she saw Marian appear in the clean blue frock. It was after +school when she and Marian were coming home together that she +confessed to having had something to do with bringing about this +pleasant state of things. "I went down to Mrs. Hunt's and told her +all about it," she said, "and we hatched up the scheme between us, +so our works and your faith brought about what we wished for. If you +had been really disobedient, and had intended to do wrong we could +not have been so eager to help you, but I think your punishment +exceeded the offense and Mrs. Hunt thought the same. Isn't she a +dear woman, Marian? I feel as if I had known her all my days, and as +if I could go right to her in time of trouble." + +"That is the way every one feels," Marian told her. "I stopped there +this morning to take back the apron, and she said she knew Annie was +glad I had worn it. She talks that way about Annie, so I almost feel +as if I knew her and as if she knew me." + +"Perhaps she does," returned Miss Dorothy quietly. "Now, when are +you going to send the letter to your father? Don't you think it is +most time you were getting it ready? And, by the way, I have not +shown you my camera. I left it in the city to be put in order and it +came this morning. Now, I was thinking it would be very nice to send +your father a little book of snap pictures of his small daughter. I +will take them, and can develop and print them myself. I have some +gray paper that we can cut into sheets to be folded the proper size +to mount the pictures upon, and it will make a very nice present, +don't you think so?" + +"Oh, Miss Dorothy!" Marian's face showed her delight. "I think that +is the very loveliest idea that any one ever thought of. I think you +have an angelic mind for thinking of things." + +Miss Dorothy laughed. "I am so glad you are pleased with the idea. +My plan is not to take the pictures all at once, but as I happen to +catch you in a characteristic position, or an artistic one. For +instance, one can be taken at school at your desk, or the +blackboard; another in the garden, another in the sitting-room with +your grandparents, another with Tippy and Dippy." + +"More and more lovely," cried Marian. "Then he will feel almost as +if he were here seeing me every day, and will get acquainted with me +so much better in that way. I don't feel as if my father and I were +very well acquainted." + +"You poor little pet, of course you don't, but once you begin +sending letters back and forth it will be quite different." + +"Yes, I think so, too. Miss Dorothy, do you suppose my father will +ever come home?" + +"I don't know why he shouldn't." + +"I do; it is because grandpa will not ask him to. I think grandma +would like to, but grandpa won't let her; that is what I think, and +I believe Mrs. Hunt thinks so, too." + +Miss Dorothy was silent for a moment, then she said: "Perhaps we'd +better not talk about it, dear, for I don't know the circumstances, +and I might not judge correctly, but if it is right that he should +come, I think your writing to him will be the surest way of bringing +it about the sooner. Shall we write the letter this afternoon?" + +"Oh, please." + +"Then come to my room in about an hour and we'll try it." + +Marian was promptly on hand when the hour arrived, and seated +herself in a great twitter before the machine. She began bravely +enough: "My dear father," and then she paused, but slowly went on +till she had completed half a page of typewritten words. Miss +Dorothy did not offer any suggestions, but sat at the other side of +the room before her writing-table. At the pause in the clicking of +the typewriter she looked up. "Well," she said, "you haven't +finished yet, have you?" + +"I don't know," responded Marian doubtfully. "Would you mind looking +at what I have done?" + +Miss Dorothy came over and read the few stiff lines: + +"My dear father: I have learned to write upon the typewriter which +belongs to my teacher. I hope you are well. I am well and so are the +rest of the family. We have very pleasant warm weather at present. I +hope you have the same in Berlin. I thought you might be pleased to +receive a letter from me, although it is not the first of the year. +I go to school now. There are twenty pupils in our room. They are +all little girls." + +"Oh, dear, dear," exclaimed Miss Dorothy, "is that the way you feel +when you are writing? Why, you are talking to your father, +remember. Just listen to the way I write to mine." She read from the +sheet she held in her hand: + +"Dear old daddy: Isn't this gorgeous weather? I wish you and I were +off for a real old time tramp this afternoon. How we would talk and +turn our hearts inside out to each other. I can see you with your +eyes twinkling under that disreputable old hat of yours, and I can +feel your polite hand under my independent elbow when there is a +stream to jump or a wall to climb, the dear hand that I never need +for that sort of help, but which you pretend I do because I am your +girl still, if I am big enough to face the world by myself. + +"Well, daddy, I have been teaching for more than a week, and haven't +had one cry over it. Isn't that courage for you? Not that my pupils +are all angels, oh, no, this is not heaven, dear dad, but it is +really a very nice place, and there are some dear people here. + +"Did you ever happen to meet a Mr. William Hunt and his wife? He is +a very good sort, and she is a perfect darling, one of those rare +flowers whose fragrance fills the air even on the highway; not one +of the hothouse kind that has been forced to bloom out of season, +for out of season and in season she is always blooming and shedding +forth her sweetness." Miss Dorothy paused. + +"Oh, but Miss Dorothy, I could never write like that," exclaimed +Marian in an awe-stricken tone. + +"Perhaps not just like that, but you can tell him about yourself and +about the people you know, Mrs. Hunt, for instance, and your +schoolmates, and Tippy and Dippy." + +"And you?" + +"Yes, and me, if you like." + +"Oh, very well, I will try again. I didn't know we ought to write +letters like that." + +"That is the very kind we should write. I will finish mine while you +do yours." So for the next few minutes the tapping of the typewriter +drowned the scratching of Miss Dorothy's pen, which flew steadily +over her paper. + +At last Miss Dorothy looked up. "There," she exclaimed, "I have +finished mine. How are you getting on?" + +"Oh, much better. I have written ever so much. I am almost at the +bottom of the page, and I think you will have to put another sheet +in for me, if you will be so good." + +"I'll do it with pleasure. May I see what you have written, or would +you rather not?" + +"Oh, please look. I have told him about school and about you and +some of the girls. There is a great deal more I could say, but I +will leave out Tippy and Dippy this time." + +Miss Dorothy read down the page and at the end she stooped and +kissed the child. "You have paid me a lovely compliment, dear," she +said. "I am glad you feel that way," for Marian had written: "We +have the loveliest teacher in the world. Her name is Miss Dorothy +Robbins. She is like Mrs. Hunt, but can understand little girls +better, for she is younger and prettier. I love her very much." + +At last the letter was finished, folded and addressed, and Miss +Dorothy promised to mail it herself. It had been a great undertaking +for Marian, who was quite tired out by her afternoon's work, but who +was very happy now that it was done, for the very act drew her +nearer her father. + +She went down that same evening to tell Mrs. Hunt about it. There +was neither baking nor pickling going on this time, but she found +her friend in her sitting-room, a basket of mending by her side. +"You are always busy, aren't you, Auntie Hunt?" said Marian. Mrs. +Hunt was called Auntie, by many of her friends. + +"Yes, dear, I think most busy people are happy, and I am sure all +happy people are busy about something. Well, how goes it up at the +brick house?" + +"Oh, very well, indeed. What do you think I have been doing to-day?" + +"Can't guess. There is one thing I know you have not been doing. +I'll wager a sixpence you've not been blackberrying," and Mrs. Hunt +laughed. + +The color flew into Marian's face. "No, indeed, I haven't been, and +I shall not probably ever go again until I'm a grown lady, and can +do as I please." + +"Do you think all grown-ups do as they please?" + +"Why, don't they?" + +"Not a bit of it. But there, tell me what is the wonderful thing you +have been doing?" + +"I have written a letter to papa all by myself, and Miss Dorothy has +mailed it. She put the stamp on and took it to the post-office just +now with her letters." + +"Well, well, well, but won't he be pleased to get it? That's a fine +young woman, that Miss Dorothy of yours." + +"Isn't she?" + +"She is so. She made us a nice visit the other evening. She is a +girl after my own heart, none of your vain, self-absorbed young +persons, always concerned in her own affairs, but one of the real +hearty kind that thinks of others as well as herself, and has her +eyes open to what is best in life. I like her." + +"And she likes you." + +"I'm glad to hear it." + +"I wish you could see the kind of letters she writes to her father, +but then," Marian added thoughtfully, "he must be the kind of father +it is easy to write that way to." + +"I'll be bound he is the right kind to have a daughter like that. +She has no mother, she tells me. Her aunt keeps house for them, and +there is quite a family of children." + +"Yes, and Patty is the youngest. She is going to write to me." + +"Bless me, how you are blossoming out into a correspondent. Well, +don't let it take up so much of your time that you won't be able to +drop in as often as usual. There is a little basket of grapes in the +pantry; you can take it to your grandma; the pear on top grew for +you to eat right now." + +Marian needed no second hint, but sought out the fruit and was not +long in burying her teeth in the yellow juicy pear, and then because +it grew dark early, she hurried away that she might be home "before +the dark catches you," said Mrs. Hunt. + + + + +_CHAPTER VII_ + +_Patty's Letter_ + + +One day a few weeks later Marian ran to Miss Dorothy with a letter +her grandfather had just brought in, and when her teacher opened it, +she saw her smile as she drew a sheet from within the longer letter. +"This is for you, Marian," said Miss Dorothy. + +"It is from Patty, I know," cried Marian delightedly, and she took +the long-wished for letter over to the window while Miss Dorothy +turned her attention to her own home news. + +Patty's was a nice cordial little note which told about her lessons +and her friends, and which said that she hoped Marian and she would +soon meet and be very chummy. "I know I shall like you," wrote +Patty, "because Dolly says so, and Dolly is nearly always right." + +"I think so, too," said Marian aloud. She took much longer to read +her letter than Miss Dorothy did to read hers, for she was not very +expert in reading written pages. Miss Dorothy had laid down the +closely written sheets which she had been holding, and was looking +out of the window thoughtfully when Marian at last came to "Your +affectionate friend, Patty Robbins." + +"It was such a nice letter," she said looking up with a pleased +sigh. + +"I am very glad you found it so," returned Miss Dorothy with a +smile. + +"Was yours a nice one?" + +"Yes, it is from my father, and he always writes delightful letters. +I hope to see him and Patty both on Saturday. Dad has some business +in the city, and Patty needs a new coat, so he is going to take her +with him. I am to meet them there, for poor dad would never know how +to buy a coat. Do you often go to the city, Marian?" + +"I never have been but once." + +"Really? I was just thinking how nice it would be if you could go +with me and meet Patty; then we three could go shopping and have +lunch somewhere together." + +"Oh, Miss Dorothy!" Such a plan was beyond Marian's wildest dreams. +She looked radiant for a moment, then her face fell. + +"What is the matter?" asked Miss Dorothy. + +"I am afraid grandma will not let me go. I never have been but that +once, and then grandma had to go to the dentist; grandpa could not +go with her and didn't want her to go alone." + +"But what about your clothes and things? Don't you have to go there +for them?" + +"Grandma never gets me ready-mades. Miss Almira Belt makes +everything I wear. Do you suppose she always will do it?" + +"I hope not," returned Miss Dorothy gravely, then she laughed as she +pictured a grown-up Marian arrayed in frocks of Miss Almira's make. +They did very well for a little girl, for they were of good material +and neatly made, if old-fashioned in cut. + +"Do you think grandma would let me go?" asked Marian, a faint hope +dawning within her. + +"I shall find out." + +"Oh, Miss Dorothy, are you really going to ask her?" + +"I certainly am." + +"But I am afraid she will say it is too expensive. She doesn't +believe in spending money in that way on little girls. She allows me +to go to church fairs and such things when they are for a good +cause, but she says journeying is not necessary, that it excites me +and I am better off at home." + +"But you would really like to go," said Miss Dorothy disregarding +this last speech. + +"It would be the most beautifullest thing that ever happened to me." + +"Such a small pleasure," said Miss Dorothy half to herself. "Well, +dear, if it is only a question of expense, that shall not stand in +the way, I promise you. Fifty cents or so would do it, and that is +not a large sum." + +Here Marian took alarm. "But, Miss Dorothy, you mustn't pay for me. +You must keep your money for Patty and the others. You mustn't spend +it on me." + +"Mustn't I?" Miss Dorothy looked over at her with a little knowing +smile. "Then I won't do it since you are so particular, but I have a +scheme of my own and we shall see how it will work out. Are you +willing to earn it?" + +"Indeed I am; I should like it above all things. I never earned any +money for myself, but I have earned some for the heathen." + +Miss Dorothy made a little grimace. "Very well, if you are willing +to earn your way, you may consider yourself invited to make the +journey at your own expense. I guarantee sufficient work to pay for +your ticket. I don't suppose you will object to being paid in +advance." + +Marian looked doubtful. "Well--if----" + +"If--if----What an ifer you are. I don't mean all in advance, only a +part. Do you agree to that?" + +"I don't suppose it would be wrong to agree to that." + +"You must have a Puritan conscience," said Miss Dorothy laughing. + +"What is that?" + +"It is something that is very unhealthy sometimes. I will see that +you begin your work to-morrow." + +"Do please tell me now what it is." + +"No, no, you might back out," Miss Dorothy laughed. "I'll tell you +when the time comes. In the meantime your grandma's consent must be +had. Perhaps I'd better settle it at once. Will you go with me to +ask her?" + +Marian hung back. "Oh, if you don't mind," she said, "I'd rather +not." + +"You're no kind of a soldier. See me walk up to the cannon's mouth." +And leaving the room, Miss Dorothy ran lightly down-stairs. + +Marian followed slowly, but though she hesitated at the sitting-room +door where she heard voices, she did not tarry, but went on down to +the lower floor and into the garden where Tippy and Dippy lay asleep +in the sunshine. Dippy opened one eye and stretched himself as +Marian approached. She picked him up and carried him down to the +apple tree. + +"I've had a letter from Patty," she told him when she was settled in +the crotch of the tree, "and maybe,--it is only maybe,--Dippy, I am +going to the city on Saturday. I don't suppose you would care +anything about it. I am sure you would much rather stay here and +chase grasshoppers, but I want to go so powerfully that I think I +shall cry my eyes out if grandma says I can't. I know she wouldn't +consent if I asked her, but maybe she will if Miss Dorothy does." +She sat still cuddling Dippy who had fallen asleep again. From her +point of vantage she could look up and down the street. She had +learned not to expect to move the mountain, but the mustard seeds +were again in her mind. + +Presently she saw Miss Dorothy come out the front door and turn down +the street. She crept along the limb on which she sat, leaving Dippy +to look out for himself, and gained the wall from which she could +look directly down upon the pavement. She must ask Miss Dorothy what +success she had had. "Miss Dorothy, Miss Dorothy," she called softly +when her teacher came near. Miss Dorothy looked up. "What did she +say?" asked Marian. + +"She hasn't said yes yet," replied Miss Dorothy. "What are you doing +up there?" + +"Oh, just nothing but looking around and thinking, about the mustard +seed, you know." + +"Oh, yes. Very well, I'm about to do the works, so you stay there +and exercise the faith, and perhaps between us we'll manage to get +this settled to our satisfaction." + +"Where are you going?" asked Marian as Miss Dorothy walked on. + +"To attend to the works," called back Miss Dorothy mysteriously. +"Faith and works, you know." + +Marian crawled back again to the crotch of the tree. Dippy had +jumped down, not being pleased at having his nap disturbed, so +Marian did not go after him but sat looking off at the mountain. "I +want to go, oh, Lord, I do want to go," she said wistfully, "and I +believe you will let Miss Dorothy manage it, yes, I do." She sat +with her eyes fixed upon the mountain for some time, then she gave a +long sigh, and changed her position. "I believe I'll go get Patty's +letter and read it over again," she said, beginning to climb down +the tree. + +In a little while she was back again in her old place, letter in +hand. She had finished reading it and was looking off down street +watching for Miss Dorothy's return when she saw Mrs. Hunt entering +the front door; she had come down street this time, instead of up. +"She's come to see grandma, I suppose," said Marian. Then a thought +flashed across her mind; she wondered if Miss Dorothy's works had +anything to do with Mrs. Hunt's coming. To be sure Miss Dorothy was +not with her, but neither had she been that other time when Mrs. +Hunt had managed so well about the apron. Marian could not resist +the temptation of going in to hear what her grandmother and Mrs. +Hunt were talking about. She paused at the door of the sitting-room. +Mrs. Hunt sat rocking in one of the haircloth rockers, Mrs. Otway in +the other. + +"Yes," Mrs. Hunt was saying, "Dr. Grimes says she's not likely to be +about again soon if she gets over it." + +Mrs. Otway looked very grave. "I'm sorry for more reasons than one. +Marian needs a new coat, and I had counted on Almira's making it." + +It was Miss Belt, then, of whom they were talking. Marian crept +softly in and sat down in a corner where she could hear more. + +"They think she got it up there at Billing's," Mrs. Hunt went on. +"She was sewing there a while ago, and Dr. Grimes says the water on +that place isn't fit to drink; they ought to boil it. Like as not +that is where she did get it. Typhoid is pretty slow, but she has a +good nurse in Hannah, and I don't doubt she'll pull through. Is that +you, Marian? Come here, honey." + +Marian went to her old friend. "I was telling about Almira Belt's +being down with typhoid," said Mrs. Hunt. + +"Oh, isn't that too bad?" Marian's sympathies were real. She liked +Miss Almira, though she didn't enjoy having her cold scissors +snipping around her shoulders, and her bony fingers poking at her +when she stood up to be fitted. + +"It is too bad," returned Mrs. Hunt, "for her work has to lie by; +there's no one else to do it, for her sister Hannah has her hands +full." + +"I'm truly sorry," said Mrs. Otway shaking her head, "with the +winter coming I am afraid it will go hard with them." + +"Yes, winter isn't far off," said Mrs. Hunt. "William says he thinks +we'll have early snow. We'll all have to keep the Belts in mind, and +I guess they'll not suffer. Well, I must be going. I thought you'd +want to hear about Almira; you're always so ready to look out for +the sick, Maria." + +"I certainly shall not let Almira want for anything I can do," +returned Mrs. Otway with emphasis. "She has been a good and faithful +worker all her days, and I hope her years of usefulness are not +ended yet. Thank you for coming to tell us, Salome." + +"Well, I knew you'd want to know," repeated Mrs. Hunt. "By the way, +Maria, I hear Miss Robbins is going to town on Saturday, and I +shouldn't wonder if there'd be something to get for Almira. I don't +doubt Miss Robbins would attend to it." + +"I am sure she would," returned Mrs. Otway. "She is always very +ready to offer her services." + +"You like her right well, don't you?" said Mrs. Hunt. + +"Very much indeed; we are glad to have her with us." + +"That's what I surmised. What was I going to say? Oh, yes, you were +remarking that Marian needed a winter coat, and she will need it, +cold as it is growing, for I remember you sent her last year's one +in the missionary box. Why not let Miss Robbins get one for her in +the city? Marian could go along, and she'd be glad of her company. +It wouldn't be much trouble if the child were there to fit it on. +You could tell her the kind you wanted, and I'll venture to say +you'd pay less than for the cloth and making." + +"Perhaps that would be a good plan," replied Mrs. Otway, as if it +had not been presented before. "I'll see about it when Miss Dorothy +comes in." + +"Oh, may I go?" Marian breathed softly, but at that moment the +door was shut after Mrs. Hunt, and her grandmother did not hear +the question, which was just as well, as Marian on second thoughts +decided, for if she thought the child wanted to go for a frolic she +might withhold her consent. So Marian wisely held her tongue and +went out to the garden again. + +No more was said upon the subject until the next day and Marian was +afraid it was forgotten, but in the afternoon Miss Dorothy called +her. "Come in here, young woman, and earn your trip to town." + +Marian obeyed with alacrity. Miss Dorothy was seated before her +typewriter. "Come here and I will show you what you have to do," she +said. "You are to make twenty copies of this little slip. You must +make as many as you can upon one sheet of paper, about so far apart. +You know now perfectly well how to put in the paper and how to take +it out. To-morrow you can make twenty slips more, twenty the day +after, making sixty slips in all; you will be paid half a cent for +each slip, and eventually you will earn sixty cents, just what a +round trip ticket costs. Do you agree?" + +"Oh, Miss Dorothy, of course, if you are sure I can do it." + +"Of course you can do it, at first slowly, and then, as they are to +be all alike, you will be able to do the last with your eyes shut. +Now, I'll leave you to go ahead." + +"Please----" + +"Please what?" + +"Wait till I have done one to see if it is all right." + +"Very well, that is a small favor to grant." + +"And, tell me, am I really to go?" + +"The powers that be, have so decreed." + +"And I can pay my own way?" + +"Yes, that is one of the reasons. Your very wise and astute teacher +remarked that it would teach you self-reliance and independence, +help to make you resourceful, broaden your experiences. Oh, me! what +didn't she argue?" + +Marian turned adoring eyes upon her. "And Mrs. Hunt?" she said. + +"Did you think she had something to do with it? Well, she did +without knowing it, for I was on my way to her house when she came +here with the news of Miss Almira's illness, and all unconsciously +she did us a good turn by suggesting that you go up to the city with +me to get a coat. Wasn't it funny that it should happen that way? I +didn't mean about poor Miss Almira; that is anything but funny, but +it is strange that Mrs. Hunt should have come around with a piece of +news that settled the whole matter. When your grandma told me you +were to go, I came near laughing outright, but when I knew the +reason I did look concerned, I hope. She said she had been thinking +over the matter of your going to the city with me. Would it be too +great a task, and would I have time to select a coat for you? No, I +said it would be no task at all, for I should be doing the same for +my little sister. + +"Here I ran against a snag, for your grandmother said that perhaps I +could get yours without your being there, for my little sister could +be your proxy. 'Oh, but,' I said, 'Patty is short and chubby while +Marian is tall and slender. I am afraid I could never select the +proper garment unless she were there to try it on.' 'But the +expense,' said grandma. 'Sixty cents would do much good in some +other direction.' 'Perhaps,' I said, 'I can get a coat for less than +the price you have fixed upon, if I get the two together.' She +wasn't so sure of that. Then I said, 'I have a little work that I +promised a friend of mine to do for her, typewritten slips, which +Marian could do perfectly. If I go to the city on Saturday I cannot +get them all done as promptly as they should be, but if Marian could +help me, I could share the pay and she could then make her own +expenses.' At this grandma succumbed, and so, my dear, we are going. +Now, I must go, for you will never do twenty slips before dark if I +stand talking. That looks very well. Keep on as you have begun and +you have nothing to fear." + +Left to herself Marian tapped away industriously till just as it was +getting too dark to see, she finished her twenty slips and proudly +showed them to Miss Dorothy when she came in. The first money she +had ever really earned was placed in her hand. + +"If you don't get your entire sixty done this week," said Miss +Dorothy, "you can hitch some of them on to next week's number, for +we agreed to square this matter. So you needn't go to town with the +feeling that you haven't earned the trip, whatever happens." + +Marian smiled back her reply and ran down to show her precious dime +to her grandfather. He actually patted her on the head and called +her a good child while her grandmother looked over her spectacles +and nodded approval. + +The next day the second twenty slips were finished, but the third +day only ten were done as Miss Dorothy had to use her typewriter for +some school work, yet with only ten remaining of the first sixty, +Marian felt that she had no right to feel aggrieved, especially as +it had become very easy work. So it was a very happy little girl who +went to sleep Friday night to dream of the next day's pleasures. + + + + +_CHAPTER VIII_ + +_A Trip to Town_ + + +The morning dawned bright and fair, a little cool, to be sure, but +so much the better, thought Marian, for now grandma will be all the +more ready for me to get my coat. The leaves danced in red, yellow +and brown array, along the side-walk as Marian and Miss Dorothy +stepped out of the house to take the early train. It was such an +important occasion that Marian felt as if every one must be +wondering where she was going so early, dressed in her best. But no +one took any special notice of her except one of the schoolgirls +whom she happened to meet, and who said: "Are you going to town, +Marian?" + +"Yes, Miss Dorothy and I are going shopping," returned Marian with +beaming face. + +"I thought you must be going; you're so dressed up," returned the +child, and Marian smiled up at her companion with an air of +conscious delight. Everything was so interesting; the starting of +the train, the movements of their fellow passengers, the outlook +from the car windows, the masses of red and yellow foliage which +meant forests, the brown bare spaces which were fields, the little +isolated houses, the small villages stretching away from the +stations. There was not one moment of the journey when Marian was +not entertained by what she saw along the way. + +At last they reached the city and such a noise and confusion as met +their ears, made Marian cling to Miss Dorothy. "Is it always like +this?" she asked. + +"Like this? How?" + +"So noisy and crowded and everybody rushing about in such a hurry." + +"Yes, I think it is. We notice it more, coming from our quiet little +village. This is the car we take. We are to meet Patty at the +library. Father has to go there to look up some references, and it +seemed the best place to meet. Have you ever been there, Marian?" + +"No, I never have." + +"Then it will be something for you to see. A good library is a good +lesson in many directions." + +But Marian's eyes were not taking in rows of books or library +appointments when they reached the reading-room. She was searching +for a dark-haired, rosy-faced, plump little girl who should answer +to the name of Patty. "I believe there she is," she whispered to +Miss Dorothy, and nodded toward a corner where sat two whom Marian +decided must be those they were looking for. + +"Why, so it is," returned Miss Dorothy. "The idea of your seeing +them first. How did you know them?" + +"From the photographs you showed me, and from what you told me about +them." + +Patty had been on the lookout, too, and spied them at once. She +hurried forward, threw her arms around her sister and gave her a +fervent hug, then she turned to Marian. "I am so glad you could +come," she said heartily. "I was so afraid maybe you couldn't and +I did so want us to be together to-day." + +"Dad is so absorbed he hasn't seen us yet," said Miss Dorothy, +making her way to the corner where her father sat. "I wonder if I +can steal up behind him and take him unawares." She had almost +reached him when he caught sight of her. Down went the book, he +jumped up and had her in his arms in a minute. "Come, come," he +said, "let us get out where we don't have to whisper. I'll come back +later," and he hurried them into the corridor where they could speak +freely. He was not a very tall man, but was broad-shouldered and a +little inclined to be stout. "Now," he said with a pleasant smile at +Marian, "I am willing to bet a cookie, that I can tell who this is. +You look like your father, my dear. I knew him very well when I was +younger, for I will venture to say you are a Miss Somebody Otway." + +"Her name is Marian," said Patty, "and we are going to be great +friends." + +"You are? Isn't it early in the day to make such predictions?" said +Mr. Robbins. + +"No." Patty shook her head. "I knew the minute I saw her that we +were going to be. I like her, don't you, daddy?" + +"If she is as nice as she looks, I do," was the reply, and Marian +felt much pleased at being made of such consequence. She was not +used to being noticed and these friendly people pleased her. She +wondered if her father would be as cheery, and as affectionately +disposed as Mr. Robbins. She would ask this pleasant man about her +father some day when they were better acquainted. + +"Now, let me see, what is the programme?" said Mr. Robbins to his +elder daughter. + +"We three females are going shopping. I am to buy Patty a coat. Is +there anything else I am to get for the family?" + +"Dear me, yes. I have a long list that your Aunt Barbara gave me; +she said you would know. I have it somewhere about me." He felt in +his pockets and presently brought out the list which Miss Dorothy +looked over. + +"Oh, these will not be much trouble," she assured him. "They are all +little things. I can easily see to them all." + +"That is good; I am glad to have that responsibility removed," said +her father. "You will want some money, I suppose." + +"Yes, but not very much," Miss Dorothy smiled encouragingly. She +knew too well the many demands upon that none-too-well-filled +pocketbook, and when her father took out a roll of bills and handed +them to her she gave some back to him. "I shall not need all that," +she told him. "Patty's coat is the only really expensive thing I +shall have to get." + +"Very well, then," said her father, "but you must be sure to have +enough. Now, where shall we meet for lunch?" + +"Oh, are we all to lunch together?" said Miss Dorothy in a pleased +voice. "Suppose we go to Griffin's; it is a nice quiet place." + +"What time?" + +"About one, I think." + +"All right, one sharp, then. Sure you've enough money?" + +Miss Dorothy nodded. "Quite enough. Dear dad," she said as he moved +off, "he is so generous. I don't believe he has a mean bone in his +body." + +This set Marian to wondering if one had a mean bone which it would +be; she thought possibly an elbow; they could be so sharp, but +before she had settled the question Patty began to talk to her and +they were then so busy getting acquainted that there was no time to +think of mean bones or anything else but themselves. + +It was a most delightful experience to go around the big shops, and +look at the pretty things. Patty had such a pleasant way of making +believe which added to the fun. "Now you say what you are going to +buy," she began, "and I'll say what I am. I think I'd like that +pretty shiny, pinky silk hanging up there." + +Marian looked at her in amazement. "Oh, have you enough money to buy +that?" she asked in surprise. + +Patty laughed. "Not really, I am just pretending I have." + +"Oh," Marian's face cleared. "I'd like to pretend, too. Are you +going to buy it for yourself?" + +"Dear me, no. I am going to get it for Dolly; she would look dear in +a frock of it. I shall not get much for myself. It's much more fun +to get for other people, for they don't know it and it doesn't make +them feel bad if they don't get the things. When I get things for +myself, sometimes I am a little wee bit disappointed because I am +only make-believing. I think Dick would like one of those neckties, +the red one, I think." + +Marian felt suddenly very poverty-stricken; there were no Dollies +or Dicks for her to buy make-believes for. She sighingly mentioned +the fact to Patty. + +"Oh, that doesn't make any difference," said Patty cheerfully; "you +can buy for some one else. I think I'll get you that Roman sash." + +"Oh, lovely, and I'll get you the blue one. Would you like it?" + +"I'd love it." + +"I might get Miss Dorothy one of those pretty lacey things in the +case." + +"That would be fine; she'd be so pleased." Patty spoke so exactly +as if Marian really intended to buy it, that the latter laughed +outright. Patty was really great fun. + +"I'll get something for dear Mrs. Hunt," Marian went on. + +"Oh, do. I know about her. Dolly wrote us how kind she was to her. +She must be awfully nice." + +Marian overlooked the "awfully." She was not going to criticise +anything about Patty if she could help it. "I think I ought to get +something for poor Miss Almira," she went on. "It is because she is +so ill and couldn't make my coat that I could come to-day. What do +you think would be nice for her, Patty?" + +Patty's eyes roved around the big store. "See, those soft-looking +wrappers hanging up way over there? I think one of those would be +just the thing for a sick person. Let's go look at them and pick +one out. We'll tell Dolly we are going. She will be at that counter +for some time." + +They left Miss Dorothy while they went upon their interesting errand +of selecting a proper robe for Miss Almira. They decided upon one of +lavender and white, and then they returned to find that Miss Dorothy +had finished making her uninteresting purchases of tapes, thread and +the like, so they went to another floor to look at coats. Marian's +was chosen first and Patty was so pleased with it that she begged to +have one like it, "If Marian doesn't mind," she said. + +Marian did not in the least mind, in fact she would be delighted to +know that she and Patty had coats alike, for then they could think +of one another whenever they put them on. So one as near like +Marian's as possible was selected for Patty, and then they went to a +place Patty had been talking of all morning. This was an exhibition +of moving pictures which Patty doted upon and which Miss Dorothy, +herself, confessed she dearly liked. To Marian it was like exploring +a new country, and she was filled with awe and delight, so they +remained till the last minute and had to hurry in order to reach +Griffin's by one o'clock. + +Mr. Robbins was there, watch in hand. "Ten minutes late," he cried. + +"It was that funny man trying to get his hat that kept us," declared +Patty. "We had to see the end." + +"She means the moving pictures," Miss Dorothy explained. "We were so +absorbed we didn't realize how the time was going." + +"Oh, well, well, never mind," said Mr. Robbins good-naturedly. "I +have ordered lunch and we'll go eat it." + +"Good!" exclaimed Patty. "I always like what dad orders much better +than what I get myself. What did you get, daddy dear?" + +"Beefsteak and French fried potatoes, hot rolls, chocolate for you +ladies, coffee for myself. Would you like a salad, Dolly? We can +have some ice-cream and cake, or whatever sweet you like, later." + +Miss Dorothy declined the salad for them all, and her father led +the way to a table near the windows where one could look out upon +the street or in upon the room in which they were sitting. It was +all very exciting and unusual to Marian who had never enjoyed +such a high event in all her life as lunching at a restaurant with +grown-ups. Everything was a matter of curiosity and pleasure from +the garnished dish of beefsteak to the chocolate with whipped cream +on top. The shining mirrors, the dextrous waiters, the music played +by an orchestra, seated behind tall palms, made the place appear +like fairy-land to the little village girl. "I'd like to do this +every day," she confided to Patty. + +"So should I," agreed Patty. + +"No, you wouldn't," put in Mr. Robbins overhearing them. "You'd grow +so tired of it that you would long for plain bread and butter in +your own home. Nothing palls upon one so much as having to dine at +a restaurant every day. I have tried it and I know." + +Marian could scarcely believe this possible, but she supposed that +such things appeared very different to men, and she was sure that it +would be many, many years before she would grow tired of it. After +luncheon there came more shopping, and the time arrived all too soon +when they must start for home. At parting Patty slipped a little +package into Marian's hand. "It's for you," she whispered. "It isn't +the Roman sash, but I hope you will like it. Dolly is going to ask +your grandma if she can't bring you to make us a visit some day." + +"How I should love to do that," was the fervent answer. Marian felt +very badly that she had nothing to give Patty in return for her +gift. "If you were a heathen," she said gravely, "I might have +something to give you, too. I hope grandma will let me make the +visit. I mean to think of the mustard seed very hard and maybe she +will let me." Then before she could explain this strange speech to +the puzzled Patty, Mr. Robbins said they must hurry to the train, +and she had to leave Patty on the platform waiting till her train +should be called, and wondering what sort of girl Marian could be +to say such very unusual things. + +Marian waited till the train was fairly under way before she opened +the package Patty had given her. She found it contained a little +doll. On a piece of paper was scribbled: "You said you didn't have +any little dolls, so I got you this one. It cost only five cents. I +hope you will think of me when you play with it." The doll was one +which Marian had admired in the Five Cent store, and which she had +wished she could buy. "I don't see when she got it," she said to +Miss Dorothy, turning the doll around admiringly. + +"Don't you remember when you ran to the door to listen to the street +band that was playing outside?" + +"Oh, yes. Was it then?" + +"It was then. Patty was so pleased to get it so secretly." + +"I shall call it Patty," said Marian. "I shall love her very much; +she is so cunning and little, and I can do all sorts of things with +her that I can't do with my big doll." This tiny Patty was company +all the way home, and in a measure took the place of her lively +namesake. Marian had been obliged to rely upon her own invention and +imagination so much in her little life, which had lacked childish +comrades, that she could amuse herself very well alone or with +slight things. + +Miss Dorothy watched her as she murmured to the wee Patty and at +last she said: "Have you had a good day, girlie?" + +Marian cuddled up to her in the familiar way she had seen Patty do. +"Oh, it has been a wonderful day, and I am so thankful for Patty," +she said. + +"Big Patty or this little one?" Miss Dorothy touched the doll with +her gloved finger. + +"For both. There is so much that is pleasant in the world, isn't +there? Every little while something comes along that you never knew +about before and it makes you glad. First you came, then there was +school and the girls, and to-day came Patty and your father. He +makes me feel very differently about fathers." + +"He is a dear dad," said Miss Dorothy lovingly. + +"Do you think mine will be like him? I've always thought of him as +being like grandpa, not that grandpa isn't very nice," she added +quickly, "but he doesn't think much about little girls, and never +says funny jokey things to them as your father does. He never seems +to notice the things I do, and your father talks to Patty about the +little, little things I never knew grown up men were interested in." + +"That's because he has to be father and mother, too. Our mother died +when Patty was a baby, you know. Yes, daddy is a darling." + +"I hope mine will be," said Marian earnestly. "I haven't any mother +either, so perhaps he will feel like being father and mother, too. I +wonder when I shall see him. I didn't use to think much about it, +but since I have written to him, and all that, I think much more +about him." + +"That is perfectly natural, and I have no doubt but that when he +finds out that you want to see him he will want to see you, and he +will be crossing the ocean the first thing we know." + +"Oh, do you really think so?" + +"I shouldn't be at all surprised, only you mustn't count too much on +it. We must be getting those photographs ready pretty soon." + +"I would like one of Patty and me together, I mean Patty Robbins, +this is Patty Otway," and she held out her doll. + +"We'll see if that can be arranged." + +"How can it when we don't live in the same place?" + +"I have a little plan that I cannot tell you yet. If it works out +all right I will let you know." + +"Oh, Miss Dorothy, you are always making such lovely plans. What did +I ever do without you? Has the plan anything to do with my going to +visit Patty some time?" + +"Maybe it has and maybe it hasn't. But, dear me, we are slowing up +for Greenville. We must not be carried on to the next station. Have +we all the things? Where is the umbrella? Oh, you have it. All +right. I hope Heppy will give us hot cakes for supper, don't you?" +So saying she led the way from the train and in a few minutes they +were making their way up the familiar street which, strange to say, +had not altered in the least since morning, although Marian felt +that she had been away so long something must surely have happened +meanwhile. + + + + +_CHAPTER IX_ + +_A Visit to Patty_ + + +After all it was not so very long before Marian and Patty met again, +for a little cough which developed soon after the trip to town in +course of time grew worse, and in course of time the family doctor +announced that Marian had whooping-cough. Mrs. Otway was aghast. She +had a horror of contagious diseases and kept Marian at a distance. +"She must not go to school," she said to Miss Dorothy, "for the +other children might take it." + +This was a great blow to Marian, for it meant not only staying away +from school, but from her schoolmates upon whom she had begun to +depend, so it was a very sorrowful face that she wore all that day, +and time hung heavily upon her hands. She wandered up-stairs and +down, wishing for the hour to come when Miss Dorothy would return. +Finally she went out to the garden, for her grandmother had told +her to keep in the open air as much as possible, and it was still +pleasant in the sunshine. "I don't suppose Dippy and Tippy will +get the whooping-cough if I play with them," she remarked to +Heppy, feeling that if these playmates failed her she would be +desolate indeed. + +Heppy laughed. "They're not likely to," she said, "though I have +known plenty of cats to have coughs, and I have known of their +having pneumony, but I guess you can risk it." + +So Marian and the cats spent the morning in the garden and it was +there Miss Dorothy found them when she came in to dinner. She had an +open letter in her hand which she waved as she walked toward Marian. +"What do you think?" she said. "Patty has the whooping-cough, too, +though not very badly. Your grandmother was right when she said you +probably got it the day we all went shopping." + +"Oh, poor Patty! I wish she were here with me." + +"And she wishes you were there with her. She is going to have +lessons at home for a little while each day, and I think it would be +a good thing if you could have them together. In fact, it struck me +as such a good plan that I have spoken to your grandmother about it. +Your grandfather has taken up some work this winter which will keep +him very busy, and he could not give you any time. I would be glad +to, but my work grows more and more absorbing and your grandparents +will not listen to my teaching you out of school hours, so as it +seems a pity for you to lose all these weeks, I proposed that you +should go to our house to keep Patty company. You will not have to +study so very hard, for the whooping-cough must have plenty of +outdoor air, and it would not do for you to be cooped many hours +a day. What do you think of it?" + +For a moment Marian looked pleased, then her face fell. "I should +miss you so," she said. + +"You dear child," returned Miss Dorothy, drawing her close. "So +should I miss you, but I think I can arrange to come home every +week now. It will mean very early rising on Monday morning in +order to get here in time for school, but I can manage it, and +I shall be able to reach home by six on Friday afternoon, so +you see----" + +"Oh, I do see, and I think that would be fine." + +"My little Patty misses me, too, and so does Father. Aunt Barbara +is an excellent housekeeper and a good nurse when any one is ill, +but she is not much of a companion for daddy nor for Patty. Then, +too, I hate to be out of it all. I long to keep up with the college +news and the home doings, so I shall try going home at the end of +the week, for awhile, anyhow." + +"And did grandma say I could go?" + +"She actually did. I think she is a little afraid of taking +whooping-cough herself, for she asked me yesterday if I had +ever known of any grown person having it, and I do know of +several cases. I had it myself when I was three years old, +but your grandma cannot remember that she ever had." + +"I'm glad she can't remember," returned Marian with a laugh. "Who +is going to hear our lessons, Miss Dorothy?" + +"My sister Emily. She is two years younger than I, and is still +studying. She is taking special courses at college, but thinks +she can spare an hour or so a day to you chicks, especially as +she expects to teach after a while, and she will begin to +practise on you." + +"I will take little Patty with me," declared Marian, picking up +that person from where she was seated on a large grape leaf under +a dahlia bush. + +"So I would. I am sure she will like to visit Patty's dolls." + +"Oh, Miss Dorothy, you are so nice," exclaimed Marian giving her a +little squeeze. "Grandma never says such things. She doesn't ever +like to make believe. She says the facts of life are so hard that +there is no time to waste in pretending." Marian's manner as she +said this was so like her grandmother's that Miss Dorothy could but +smile. "I am glad you took some of the photographs for papa before I +got the whoops," Marian went on; "the one at school and the one at +Mrs. Hunt's. Oh, dear Mrs. Hunt will be sorry to have me go." + +"She will, I know. She told me this morning that she was going to +ask you to stay with her a while during the time you must be away +from school. Should you like that better than going to Revell?" + +"I'd like both," answered Marian truthfully. + +"That is often the way in this world," returned Miss Dorothy. "It +is frequently hard to choose between two equally good things. I +will bring you all the home news every week, and can tell you +whether Ruth knew her lessons, whether Marjorie was late, how +Mrs. Hunt's fall chickens are thriving, and what Tippy and +Dippy do in your absence. I shall be quite a newsmonger." + +"What is a monger?" + +"One who deals or sells. You can look it up in the dictionary +when you go back to the house." + +The preparations for her departure went forward quickly, and +by Friday morning, Marian's trunk was packed, and all was in +readiness. Her grandfather actually kissed her good-bye and +gave her five cents. As her grandmother did not happen to be +on hand at that moment to require that Marian should deposit +the nickel in her missionary box, the child pocketed it in +glee, and, at Miss Dorothy's suggestion, bought a picture +postal card to send her father, giving her new address. Miss +Dorothy wrote it for her, addressed and mailed the card, so +Marian was satisfied that her father would know where she was. +"I don't like to have him not know," she told Miss Dorothy. +Mrs. Otway gave her granddaughter many charges to be a good +girl and give no trouble, to take care of her clothes properly +and not to forget to be obedient. + +"As if I could forget," thought Marian. + +Heppy had no remarks to make, but only grunted when Marian went to +say good-bye to her. However as the child left the kitchen Heppy +snapped out: "You'd better take along what belongs to you as long +as you're bound to go." + +"Take what?" asked Marian wonderingly, not knowing that she had left +anything behind. + +Heppy jerked her head in the direction of the table on which a +package was lying. + +"What is it?" asked Marian curiously. + +"Something that belongs to you," said Heppy turning her back and +taking her dish-towels out to hang in the sun. + +Marian carried the package with her and later on found it contained +some of Heppy's most toothsome little cakes. "It is just like her," +Marian told Miss Dorothy. "She acts so cross outside and all the +time she is feeling real kind inside." + +Miss Dorothy laughed. "I am beginning to find that out, but I shall +never forget how grim she seemed to me when I first came." + +Mr. Robbins' house was very near the college, and Marian thought +it the prettiest place she had ever seen. As they walked up the +elm-bordered street, the college grounds stretched away beyond them. +The gray buildings were draped in vines bright with autumn tints, +and the many trees showed the same brilliant colors. In front of the +Robbins' door was a pretty garden where chrysanthemums were all +a-bloom, and one or two late roses had ventured to put forth. A wide +porch ran along the front and one side the house, and on this Patty +stood watching for them. She was not long in spying them and hurried +down to meet them. "I am so glad you have whooping-cough," she +called out before they came up. Then as they met and embraced she +went on: "Isn't it fine, Marian, that we both have whooping-cough +and winter coats alike? We're most like twins, aren't we? Come right +in. There is a fire in the library, Dolly, and Emily has tea there +for you." + +"Good!" cried her sister, "that will go to the spot this chilly +evening. Where are Aunt Barbara and dad?" + +"Oh, puttering around somewhere." + +"And the boys?" + +"They went to practice for the game, but they ought to be home +by now." + +They entered the house and went into the library where a tall, +dark-eyed girl was brewing tea. She looked up with a smile and +Marian saw that she was a little like Miss Dorothy. "Here she is. +Here is Marian," cried Patty. + +Emily nodded pleasantly. "Come near the fire," she said. "It is +quite wintry out. How good it is to see you, Dolly. I am so glad +you are coming home every week." + +"Oh, what are those?" said Miss Dorothy as her sister uncovered +a plate. + +"Your favorite tea cakes, but you mustn't eat too many of them +or you will have no appetite for supper. It will be rather late +to-night for the boys cannot get back before seven and they begged +me to wait for them. I knew you would be hungry, though, and so I +had tea, ready for you." + +The two little girls, side by side, comfortably sipped some very +weak tea and munched their cakes while the older girls chatted. But +Patty made short work of her repast. "Hurry up," she whispered to +Marian, "I have lots of things to show you and we shall have supper +after a while. Is your cough very bad?" + +"Not yet." + +"They say mine isn't but I hate the whooping part. I hope it won't +get worse." + +"I'm afraid it will, for we've only begun to whoop and they say it +takes a long time to get over it." + +"Oh, those old they-says always are telling you something horrid. +Come, let me show you the boys' puppies before it gets too dark to +see them; they're out in the shed." + +"Oh, I'd love to see them." Marian despatched the remainder of her +cake and was ready to follow Patty out-of-doors to where five tiny +fox terriers were nosing around their little mother. They were duly +admired, then Patty showed the pigeons and the one rabbit. By this +time it was quite dark, so they returned to the house to see the +family of dolls who lived in a pleasant room up-stairs. + +"This is where we are to have lessons," Patty told her guest. +"Isn't it nice? Those two little tables are to be ours, and +Emily will sit in that chair by the window. We arranged it all. +These are my books." She dropped on her knees before a row of +low book shelves. + +"Oh, how many," exclaimed Marian. "I have only a few, and most +of those are old-fashioned. Some were my grandparents' and some +my father's." + +"Doesn't your father ever get you any new ones?" + +"He might if he were here," Marian answered, "but you see I don't +know him." + +"Don't know your father?" Patty looked amazed. + +"No. He lives in Germany, and hasn't been home for seven or +eight years." + +"How queer. Isn't he ever coming?" + +"I hope he is. I wrote to him not long ago." + +"Why, don't you write to him every little while?" + +"No, I haven't been doing it, but I am going to now," she said, +then, as a sudden thought struck her, she exclaimed: "Oh, dear, +I am afraid I can't." + +"Why not?" asked Patty. + +"Because I used Miss Dorothy's typewriter at home. I don't write +very well with a pen and ink, you know, though I can do better than +I did." + +"Oh, I expect you do well enough," said Patty consolingly, "and if +you don't, dad has a typewriter, and maybe he will let you use that, +and if he won't I know Roy will let you write with his. It is only a +little one, but it will do." + +"I think you are very kind," said Marian. "Is Roy your brother?" + +"My second brother; his name is Royal. Frank is the oldest one +and Bert the youngest of the three. There are six of us, you +know; three girls and three boys. First Dolly and Emily, then +the boys and then me." + +"I should think it would be lovely to have so many brothers and +sisters." + +"It is, only sometimes the boys tease, and my sisters think I must +always do as they say because they are so much older, and sometimes +I want to do as I please." + +"But oughtn't you to mind them?" + +"Oh, I suppose so. At least when I don't and they tell daddy, he +always sides with them, so that means they are right, I suppose." + +There was some advantage in not having too many persons to obey, +Marian concluded, and when the three boys came storming in, one +making grabs at Patty's hair, another clamoring to have her find his +books, and the third berating the other two, it did seem to Marian +that there were worse things than being the only child in the house. + +However, the boys soon subsided, so the two little girls were left +in peace and Patty displayed all the wonders in her possession; the +delightful little doll house which the boys had made for her the +Christmas before, the dolls who inhabited it, five in number, Mr. +and Mrs. Reginald Montgomery, their two children and the black cook. +"The coachman and nurse have to live in another house, there isn't +room for them here," Patty informed Marian. "Which do you like best, +hard dolls or paper ones?" + +"Sometimes one and sometimes another," returned Marian. "I don't +know much about paper dolls, though. Mrs. Hunt gave me some out of +an old fashion book, but they got wet, and I haven't any nice ones +now." + +"Emily makes lovely ones," Patty told her, "and I'll get her to do +some for us; I know she will." + +"How perfectly lovely," exclaimed Marian, beginning to feel that +she had been very lucky when Dame Fortune sent the Robbins family +her way. + +"There is Emily calling now," said Patty. "I suppose supper is +ready and we must go down. I will show you the rest of my things +to-morrow. Coming, Emily," she answered as she ran down-stairs. + +But it was because Marian's trunk had come that Emily wanted the +little girls, and when this was unpacked and Marian felt that she +was fairly established supper was announced. It was a plain but well +cooked and hearty meal such as suited the appetites of six healthy +young persons, three of them growing boys. As she saw the bread and +butter disappear, Marian wondered how the cook managed to keep them +supplied. + +True to her promise Patty asked Emily about the paper dolls that +very evening and she smilingly consented to make them two apiece. +"Just a father and a mother and a little child," Patty begged her +sister. + +"Very well," said Emily. "I think I can throw in the child." + +"Marian, do you want the child to be a baby?" asked Patty. + +"Oh, a tiny baby," said Marian. "If I may have that, I should be +delighted." + +"You shall have it," promised Emily and straightway fell to work to +fill the contract for paper dolls, Marian watching her with a happy +face. To see any one actually drawing anything as lovely as these +promised to be was a new pleasure, and her ohs and ahs, softly +breathed as each was finished, showed her appreciation. + +The two little girls took themselves to a corner of the library +where they could play undisturbed, making houses of the lower book +shelves. "Oh, may we do that?" asked Marian in surprise as she saw +Patty stacking the books on the floor. + +"Oh, yes," was the answer, "if we put the books back again when we +have finished. You take that corner and I'll take this, then we'll +have plenty of room." + +Such liberties were never allowed Marian at home, and she grew so +merry over Patty's funny make-believes that more than once Miss +Dorothy and her sister exchanged pleased glances, and once Miss +Dorothy murmured: "I'd like her father to see her now. She has +been starved for just that sort of cheerful companionship." + +"She seems a very nice child," said Emily. + +"She is," returned Miss Dorothy. "She has never had a chance to be +spoiled." + +Bedtime came all too soon, and the books were reluctantly put back +on their shelves, the dolls safely stowed away in a large envelope, +and Miss Dorothy piloted the way to Patty's pretty little room which +she was to share with Marian. + +As Miss Dorothy stooped to give the two a good-night kiss, Marian +whispered: "I've had such a lovely time. I'd like to live here +always. I hope my whooping-cough won't get well for a long time." + + + + +_CHAPTER X_ + +_Running Away_ + + +The days for the most part went happily for the two little girls. +They spent much time out-of-doors, lessons taking up only two hours +a day. Beside the many outdoor plays which all children love there +were others which Patty invented, and these Marian liked best. The +two had some disagreements and a few quarrels, for Patty, being the +youngest child in her family, was a little spoiled, and liked her +own way. She was an independent, venturesome little body, and led +Marian into ways she had never tried before. She loved excitement +and was always planning something new and unusual. + +One morning after the two had raced around the lawn till they were +tired, had climbed trees, jumped from the top step many times, +gathered chestnuts from the burrs newly opened by the frost, Patty +was at her wits' end to know what to do next. "Let's run away," she +said suddenly. + +"Oh, what for?" said Marian to whom such adventures never suggested +themselves. + +"Oh, just because; just to do something we haven't done," was the +reply. + +"But where shall we run?" + +"Oh, anywhere. Down there." Patty nodded toward the road which led +from the college grounds. + +Marian looked dubious. "But where would we stay at night, and where +would we get anything to eat?" + +"Oh, along the way somewhere." + +"We haven't any money to buy food." + +"No, but some one would give it to us if we asked." + +"Why, then we would be beggars." + +Patty nodded. "I've always thought I would like to try what it would +be like not to mind your clothes, nor your face and hands. It would +be rather fine, don't you think, not to have grown-ups say to you: +Be careful of your frock. Don't get your shoes wet. No lady ever has +such a face and hands." + +"Ye-es," doubtfully from Marian. "Suppose we should get lost and +never find our way back." + +"We couldn't if we kept a straight road. We might meet a princess in +disguise, riding in her carriage and she might take us in with her. +I should like to see a real princess." + +"My father has seen one." + +"I don't believe it." + +"He has. Cross my heart. He wrote to grandma about her and said +she looked like any one else." + +"Then she couldn't have been a real princess," said Patty +triumphantly. + +"My father doesn't tell stories, I thank you," said Marian +indignantly. + +"You don't know whether he does or not; you don't know him," +retorted Patty. + +Marian gave her one look, arose from where she was sitting, and +stalked into the house. Patty was at her heels in a moment. "Oh, +please don't get mad," she begged. + +Marian made no reply for a moment, then she said in a low voice, +"I'm not exactly mad, but my feelings hurt me." + +Patty was too warm-hearted to let this pass. She flung her arms +around her friend's neck. "I was horrid to say that," she said, +"when I have a father close by and you haven't any mother." + +"Neither have you," returned Marian mollified. + +"I know, but I have brothers and sisters, and live with my father. I +think, after all, Marian, we won't run away, but we might go down +that road a little way and see what it looks like." + +"Haven't you ever been there?" + +"No, we always go in the other direction." She did not say why, nor +did she tell Marian that she had been warned of a rowdy neighborhood +in the vicinity of some factories further on. "You see," she +continued, "it would be fun to pretend we were running away. We +could stay till it gets dark and we began to be afraid." + +"Not till it is really dark," Marian improved on the suggestion, +"but just till it begins to be." + +"Well, yes, that would do. Come on, let us start." + +"Don't you think we ought to take some lunch?" + +"Well, maybe, though I would rather trust to luck; it would be much +more exciting. I think I will take five cents that I have, and then +if we don't see any chance of getting something to eat we can buy +enough to keep us from getting very, very hungry." So saying, she +ran toward the house. + +"Bring Patty Wee," called Marian after her. + +"All right," answered Patty the Big from the door-step. She came out +again directly with the money clasped in her hand, and bearing Patty +Wee. + +"I suppose we mustn't go near any children," said Marian as they +started off, "for we might give them the whooping-cough." + +"I'm sure I don't want to go near any," replied Patty independently. +"See, the road we are going to take leads right past the chapel and +down that hill." + +"What are those chimneys sticking up there at the foot of the hill, +where all that smoke is coming out?" + +"They are the chimneys of the factories." + +"What kind of factories?" + +"Oh, some kind. I don't know. We can ask when we get home if you +would like to know." She hurried Marian past the big factory +buildings from which issued the clattering noise of machinery, and +from whose chimneys black smoke was pouring. At the foot of the hill +there was a little bridge spanning a rapid stream. Further up, the +stream was bordered by willows, and a meadow beyond seemed an +inviting playground. "Let's go up there," said Marian; "it looks +so pleasant." + +"We might fish if we had a hook and line," said Patty, bent on some +new diversion. + +"Oh, do you suppose there are any fish so near the factory?" + +"There might be," returned Patty, "but as we haven't anything to +catch them with they are perfectly safe." + +Marian laughed, then added, "I think I am glad they are, for I +don't believe it would make me very happy to see the poor things +struggling and gasping." + +"Then it is just as well we can't catch them, for I don't want to +make you unhappy," said Patty. "See that big tree over there with +that flat rock near it? I think it looks as if it would be a nice +place to play." + +"So it does. I wonder if we can reach it easily." + +"I'll go and see. If it is all right I will call you. Just wait here +for me." + +Marian sat down on the stump of a tree near the bridge to wait. It +was pleasant to hear the murmur of the water, and to watch the +little eddies and ripples. It was a true Indian summer day, warm and +hazy. The squirrels were whisking their tails in the trees near by, +and the crows were cawing in a corn field not far off. Marian was +enjoying it all very much when Patty called, "Come, Marian, come. +I've found something. Come around by the fence and creep under." + +Marian obeyed and was soon by Patty's side. "What have you found?" + +"Just see here," said Patty excitedly. "Some one has been playing +here before us." + +Marian stooped down to look where, in a little cave made by the +large stone, was a small doll, a table made of a block of wood, some +bits of blue china for dishes, a row of acorns for cups, and a bed +of green moss. Outside stood a small cart made of a box with spools +for wheels. + +"Isn't it cunning?" said Patty, appealed to by the unusual. "Now we +can play nicely." + +"Do you think we ought to touch them?" + +"Why not? They are out here where anybody could get them. I +shouldn't wonder if some child had been playing here and forgot all +about it. There's no telling how long they have been here." This +quieted Marian's scruples and they took possession. Patty Wee, as +they now called Marian's little doll, just fitted in the cart, so +she was brought in state to visit the cave doll, whom Patty called +Miggy Wig, neither knew just why. + +It was much more interesting to serve grass and acorn kernels from +broken bits of china than it was to have a real tea-party in an +orderly nursery with real cups and saucers, and the strange doll +added to the zest of the play because she was an unknown. The +children speculated upon who might be her possible owner, and +wondered if she were mourned and missed, or only forgotten. A fat +toad, tempted out by the warm sunshine, hopped from under the stone +and sat blinking at the children in such a funny way that they +laughed so loud as to send him away. + +Everything was going on merrily when presently the shrill whistle of +the factory announced that it was noon, and pretty soon crowds of +men, women, boys and girls trooped down the road toward a group of +small houses further along. It was a noisy, jostling crowd and the +two children were glad they were not nearer. They cowered down +behind the big rock to wait till the factory hands had passed by. + +In a few minutes Patty peeped forth. "They've gone," she whispered. +"I don't believe they would have noticed us anyhow. Let's play that +the fat toad is an enchanted prince, and that Miggy Wig is going to +liberate him from his enchantment." + +"All right," agreed Marian. "What shall Patty Wee be?" + +"If Miggy Wig is the fairy, Patty Wee can be the princess who will +wed the prince. Now Miggy Wig and I are going to gather three kinds +of herbs to make the charm," said Patty. + +Marian was delighted. She had but lately entered the wonderful +region of fairy-land, but under Patty's guidance was becoming very +familiar with its charms and enchantments. + +Patty and Miggy Wig hied forth to gather the three kinds of herbs +while Marian kept watch with Patty Wee. It was now so quiet that +the toad ventured out again. Patty had dubbed him Prince Puff, a +very fitting name the girls agreed. Marian was watching him as he +did his funny act of swallowing, shutting his eyes and looking as +if he meant to eat his own head, Patty said, when suddenly voices +sounded behind her, angry voices. + +"Well ain't that cheek?" cried some one. + +Marian looked up and saw two shabby looking girls about her own age. +She quickly rose to her feet, letting Patty Wee slip to the ground. +The other Patty was some distance away. + +"What business have you got here?" said the taller of the strange +girls, stepping up. + +"Why, we're just playing," replied Marian. + +"Just playing," mimicked the girl. "Do you hear that, Pearl? Just +playing with our things. Ain't that cheek for you? Let's show her +what we think of folks that steal our belongings." + +"I haven't taken a thing," said Marian indignantly. "I am not a +thief." + +"Where's my doll, then? Call me a liar, do you?" said the girl +fiercely, and stepping still nearer she gave Marian a sounding +slap on the cheek. + +By this time Patty had seen the newcomers and had hurried up. "Don't +you dare touch my friend," she cried. "We're not doing any harm to +you and your things." + +"Well, you've meddled with them, and you were going to take my doll; +you've got it now. Give it to me," and the girl snatched Miggy Wee +from Patty's hand. "They meddled, didn't they, Pearl?" + +"Yes, they did," chimed in the younger girl. "They meddled, so +they did." + +"Well, they've got to hustle off pretty quick or I'll set my +father's big dog on them. Get out, you thieves," she said to +Patty and Marian. + +"We are not thieves," replied Patty indignantly. + +"What were you doing with my doll, then?" + +"I didn't know it was yours. I didn't know it belonged to any one." + +"Oh, you didn't," in sarcastic tones. "Perhaps you thought it grew +here like that there weed; you look green enough to think that." + +Patty clenched her hands and bit her lip to keep from making +an answer which she knew would only aggravate matters. She drew +herself up and gave the girl a withering look, then she turned +to Marian. "Come, let us go," she said. + +"Oh, you think you're very grand, don't you," said the girl +teasingly. "Well, you're not, and I can tell you we're not +going to let you off so easy. You've got to pay for the use +of our playhouse. I'll take this in pay," and she grabbed +Patty Wee from Marian. + +"Oh, no, no," cried Marian in distress, "you can't have my doll." + +"I can't, can't I? I'll show you whether I can." And the girl faced +Marian so threateningly that she shrank away. + +Then Patty thought of a device. "You'd better not come too near us," +she cried, "for we've got the whooping-cough," and indeed just then +by reason of the excitement she did have a paroxysm of coughing +which plainly showed that she spoke truly. + +The girl backed away, and as soon as Patty had recovered, she +grasped Marian's hand and hurried her away. "Never mind Patty +Wee," she said; "I'll get you another just like her. Let's get +away as fast as we can." + +Marian realized that this was the wiser plan, and they hurried +off, their two enemies calling after them mockingly. + +Their breathless flight set them both coughing, and when they +recovered breath they both walked soberly on without saying a +word, their object being to get as far away as possible from +the scene of trouble. Up hill and down again they trudged, and +presently saw ahead of them a house and garden at the junction +of two roads. + +"I never saw that place before," said Patty, looking at it with a +puzzled air. "I'm sure I don't know where we are." + +"Oh, Patty," exclaimed Marian in dismay, "are we lost?" + +"Well no, not exactly. We'll stop at that house and ask the way." + +As they approached they saw that the front of the house was a small +country store, so they went around to the door and opened it. A bell +jangled sharply as they entered, and from somewhere in the rear a +woman came forward. "What's wanting?" she asked. + +"Will you tell us how far we are from Revell?" said Patty. "We want +to go there, to the college." + +The woman looked at her with some curiosity. + +"It's about three miles," she said. "You go up this road and turn to +your left about a mile on, just before you come to the factories. +You pass by them and keep straight on." + +"Thank you," said Patty. Then seeing piles of rosy apples, boxes of +crackers, and such eatables, she realized that she was very hungry. +"Will you tell me what time it is?" she said. + +The woman looked up at a big clock over the door. "It is after two," +she said, "about quarter past." + +"Oh, dear," Patty looked at Marian, "we can't get back to dinner." +Suddenly all the joys of a gypsy life faded away. She looked at the +apples, felt in her coat pocket for her five cents, and fortunately +found it. "How much are those apples?" she asked. + +"Ten cents a quarter peck," the woman told her. + +"Oh, I meant how much apiece." + +"I guess you can have 'em for a cent apiece. There'll be about ten +in a quarter, I expect." + +"Then I'll take two." The woman picked out two fine red ones and +handed them to her. "I have three cents left," said Patty. "What +shall I get, Marian?" Her eyes roved along the shelves. + +"That soft mixture's nice," said the woman, "and it's right fresh." + +"Can I get three cents' worth?" + +"Oh, yes." + +"Then I'll take it." + +The woman took down a box of mixed cakes and weighed out the +necessary amount. Patty gave the five cents and the two little +girls left the store. + +"I never was so hungry," said Patty, her teeth immediately seeking +the apple. + +"Nor I," said Marian, following her example. And they trudged along +munching the apples till they reached the top of the hill. They +could see the factory chimneys in the distance and knew they could +find their way, though both dreaded to pass the neighborhood of the +rude girls who must live near the factory. They almost held their +breath as they approached the spot, but they got by safely, and +toiled on toward home, two thoroughly weary, disgusted little +girls. + +"It wasn't much fun," said Marian plaintively, as they neared the +house. + +"I shall never, never want to go that way again," said Patty +contritely. "We haven't had any real dinner; I've spent my five +cents, and you've lost Patty Wee." + +At the thought of this last disaster Marian's eyes filled. "Don't +feel so," said Patty in distress. "I'll buy you another the very +first time I go to the city. I know Dolly will give me five cents." + +"But it won't be Patty Wee," said Marian mournfully. + +Patty was honest enough to go straight to her sister Emily with +the whole story of the morning's trouble. "You knew you were +disobedient, didn't you, Patty?" said Emily gently. "Now you see +why daddy always forbade your going down that way. He knows those +factory people are a rough set." + +Patty hung her head. "I know I was as bad as could be, Emily, but +I'll never do it again." + +"The worst part is that you led Marian into it, for she didn't know, +as you did, that you mustn't go that way. You say those girls struck +her, and took her doll away from her. I think she had the worst of +it, and yet it was all your fault, Patty." + +"Oh, dear, oh, dear, I am wickeder than I thought," sobbed Patty. +"What can I do, Emily, to make up for it? I will do anything you +think I ought. I spent my five cents and I haven't any more to get +another Patty Wee." + +"If you will go without dessert for a week I will give you five +cents to buy another doll. I think you have had punishment enough +otherwise, but you can't make up to Marian for having those girls +treat her so." + +Patty's tears flowed afresh, but she agreed to give up what meant a +great deal to her. + +However, the five cents did not go toward buying another Patty Wee, +for when Patty told her brothers of the morning's adventure, they +looked at each other knowingly, and a little later on plotted +together in the shed. So a few days after they triumphantly appeared +with the lost Patty Wee which they restored to the delighted Marian. +They would never tell how they recovered the doll, but Pearl and +Evelina have memories of three big determined boys bearing down +upon them when they were playing under the big tree, boys who +demanded a doll taken by force, and having great respect for +manly strength the girls gave up Patty Wee without a word. + + + + +_CHAPTER XI_ + +_A Letter's Reply_ + + +The lovely Indian summer was over, and Thanksgiving Day passed +happily. It was a great time for Marian, for Miss Dorothy was home +for several days and together they planned the book of photographs +to be sent to Marian's father. "I think it would better go in ample +time," said Miss Dorothy, "for at Christmas time there will be such +budgets going that we must be sure to get ours in before the rush +begins. I should give it two or three weeks anyhow, and even if it +does get there too soon, that will be better than too late." + +"Don't you think it is time I was getting an answer to my letter?" +asked Marian. + +"It is high time, but perhaps your father has been away, and has not +had his mail forwarded." + +And indeed that was exactly the way of it as was proved the very +next day when the morning's mail brought Marian her long-looked-for +letter. She trembled with excitement when Mr. Robbins placed it in +her hands, and her eyes eagerly sought Miss Dorothy. "Won't you go +with me somewhere and read it to me?" she whispered. + +Miss Dorothy hesitated. "Perhaps your father has written it for your +eyes alone." + +"But suppose I can't read it." + +"Well, then we'll go to my room and you can open it there. If you +can't read it I'll help you out. Will that do?" + +"Oh, yes, thank you, dearest Miss Dorothy." Marian had learned from +Patty to use many endearing terms. + +They went up-stairs to the pleasant front room with its pretty paper +and hangings of roses on a creamy ground, and by the window they sat +down while Marian carefully opened the envelope. As she unfolded the +sheet of paper it held, something fell out in her lap. "It is a +photograph of papa," she cried as she picked it up. "I never had one +of my very own, and see, Miss Dorothy, the letter is typewritten so +I can read it quite easily, but please sit by me while I see what he +says." + +It was a long, loving letter in which the writer spoke of the +pleasure it had been to him to hear from his little daughter, of +how her accounts of her daily life had taken him back to his own +childhood, and of how often he thought of her and longed to see her. +"If I thought it best, my dear little daughter," he said, "I should +not let the ocean roll between us, though some day I hope you can +come to me if I may not go to you." There were many more things, +entertaining descriptions of the places to which he had lately been, +accounts of his doings and his friends, the whole ending with a +request that Marian would write as often as she could. As she +finished the closing lines Marian held out the letter to Miss +Dorothy. "Do read it," she said. "I know he would not care. There +isn't anything in it that you mustn't see. I'd like you to read it +out loud to me, Miss Dorothy; I can't quite get the sense of it +myself." So Miss Dorothy did as she was requested and agreed with +Marian that it was a very nice letter, that her father did love +her, and that the reason he did not come home was because he felt +he would not be welcome. + +After this it was an all-important matter to get the photographs +ready to send and to write a letter in answer to the one Marian had +just received. Patty was very much interested in the photographs, +for besides those taken in Greenville of Marian and the cats in +the garden, of Marian at school, in the sitting-room with her +grandparents, in her own room and in Mrs. Hunt's kitchen, there +were a number taken in Revell where various members of the Robbins +family appeared and where Patty herself was always a conspicuous +figure. But the very last one was of Marian alone with arms +outstretched and face upheld for a kiss. Under it was written, +"A hug and kiss for you, dear papa, when you come back to your +little Marian." This was the child's own idea, and Miss Dorothy +carried it out as well as she could. + +"Just think," Marian said to Patty, "how much better I know my papa, +and I shall keep on knowing him better and better." + +"Shall you show your grans the photographs, and the one of him?" +asked Patty. + +"Yes," returned Marian thoughtfully, "Miss Dorothy thinks I ought +to, and that I shall have to tell about my writing to him. I think +grandma will be glad, and maybe grandpa will be, too, though he +won't say so." + +Miss Dorothy overhearing this wise remark, smiled. She quite +believed that both Mr. and Mrs. Otway would be glad. + +As the days were getting both colder and shorter Miss Dorothy +decided that, for the present at least, she must give up coming home +every week, and must wait till the Christmas holidays before seeing +her family again. On the day she announced this she said also that +Mrs. Otway had said that Marian had stayed away long enough. Miss +Almira Belt was getting better and her sister could now help with +the sewing, especially as a niece was coming to help her, so as +Marian needed a new frock she must come home the following Monday +with Miss Dorothy. Mrs. Hunt had said she was longing for a sight of +her chickadee, Mr. Otway had remarked that it would be pleasant to +hear a child's voice in the house once again, and so Marian must go. + +Patty was in tears at this news, and Marian herself looked very +sorry. "Don't you want to go?" asked Miss Dorothy. "Tippy and Dippy +are very anxious to see you and so is Rosamond. I saw her sitting in +your room all alone the other day, and she looked very forlorn." +Rosamond was Marian's big doll. "I told Ruth you were coming back, +and she said: 'Good, good. Give my love to her and tell her I am +crazy to see her. I've had the whooping-cough and I'm not a bit +afraid of her.' Then, too," Miss Dorothy bent her head and +whispered: "Some one who has the room next yours misses you +very much and longs for her little neighbor." + +Marian smiled at this, but at sight of Patty's tears grew grave +again. "If I could take Patty with me," she said, "I should not mind +it a bit." + +"Maybe Patty can come some time. Mrs. Hunt asked me to bring her and +to let her make a little visit there at her house, so we will think +of it later on." + +This was so pleasant a prospect that Patty brightened up, and though +at parting she could not be comforted, Marian went away rather +happier than she expected. There would be some excitement in getting +back. She would go to see Mrs. Hunt very often, and perhaps Ruth +Deering would come to see her, or her grandmother would let her +spend an afternoon with Ruth sometimes. Mrs. Otway approved of Ruth, +she remembered. But here the thought of Patty came up, and Marian +realized that no one could take Patty's place, dear, bright, funny, +affectionate Patty, who had been so generous and loving, though she +did fly into a temper sometimes and say things she was sorry for +afterward. She had tried to help Marian with her writing and had +encouraged her so that now Marian could form her letters very well +and need not be ashamed when she went back to school. Then, too, +Patty had pressed upon her a favorite book of fairy tales which they +had read together and which had been the groundwork of many +delightful plays. Oh, no, there was nobody like Patty. + +Yet as Marian walked with Miss Dorothy up the familiar street, she +felt that it was not bad to get back again. There was Mrs. Hunt +watching out for her at the gate, to give her a tremendous hug and +many kisses. There was Miss Hepzibah Toothacre, "pleasant as pie," +at the door to welcome back the child. "Here she is," cried Heppy, +and from his study rushed grandpa, from the sitting-room issued +grandma, both eager to get to Marian first. "Heigho, heigho, little +girl," said grandpa, "it is good to get you back again." + +"Well, my dear, how are you? Come kiss grandma," came from Mrs. +Otway, and Marian, pleased and surprised, felt that home was not +such a bad place after all. + +Then there were Dippy and Tippy, and also a surprise, for Heppy +mysteriously led the way to the wood-shed which was just outside the +kitchen, and what should Marian see there but three new baby kittens +with Tippy proudly rubbing and purring around. Marian was on her +knees before them in a minute, and had picked out the prettiest to +cuddle. "Oh, if I might only keep this one," she said, "and perhaps +we could find homes for the others." + +"I guess Mis' Otway ain't goin' to allow three cats under foot," +said Heppy discouragingly. And indeed when Marian made her request +to keep one of the kittens she was straightway denied. + +"You may keep two cats," said Mrs. Otway, "but no more will I have. +If you choose to get rid of one of the larger ones and keep the +little kitten I have no objection, but you will have to decide that +for yourself." + +But here, as usual, Mrs. Hunt came to the rescue. "Now, chickadee," +she said, when Marian told her the dilemma she was in, "you just let +me have that nice big gray cat of yours. Our house cat got so he +wouldn't live anywhere but in the stable, and grew so wild that I +scarcely ever saw him; finally he went away altogether. You bring +Dippy here and then you can see him as often as you want to." + +Although Marian hated to give up Dippy, she knew he would have the +best of homes with Mrs. Hunt, and she did yearn so for the new +kitten that she finally decided to turn Dippy over to her good +friend. This seemed wise for more reasons than one, for his mother +was rather cross to him since her new family had arrived and so +Dippy settled down quite content to be petted and made much of by +Mrs. Hunt while Marian adopted the new kitten which she called Muff. +As Tippy's real name was Tippet, she thought Muff and Tippet went +rather well together. One of the other kittens found a home with +Ruth Deering, but the third was still unprovided for. + +Lessons did not stop, although there was no Miss Emily to hear them. +Miss Dorothy told Marian every day what her class would have the +next, and Mrs. Otway heard her granddaughter recite whenever she +had time; when she did not, Miss Dorothy gave up a half hour in +the evening to the child, so she managed to keep abreast with her +schoolfellows and made great progress with her writing, now that +she had more time for practice, and since the weather housed her +more than formerly. + +The photographs were sent off a good three weeks before Christmas, +and a duplicate set was made for the grans as well as one for Mrs. +Hunt. "For," said Marian, "if the grans don't care about Christmas +gifts, I do, and I like to give." + +As for Miss Dorothy and Patty, Marian was at her wits' end to know +what to bestow upon them. She consulted Miss Dorothy as to Patty. +"Miss Dorothy," she said, "I shall be very unhappy if I can't give +Patty a Christmas gift, and I haven't a thing in the world she would +like." + +Miss Dorothy, who was busy with some fancy work for Christmas, did +not reply for a moment and Marian could see that she had on her +thinking cap. "Yes, you have something," presently said Miss +Dorothy, "you have the third kitten." + +"Oh, Miss Dorothy, do you think she would like him?" + +"I am sure she would be delighted." + +"But won't the dogs eat him up?" + +"No, they're not allowed in the house and Jip is so intelligent that +she will understand that neither she nor her puppies must touch the +kitten." + +"How will I get the kitten to her?" + +"I can take it in a basket when I go home for the holidays." + +"You always do what I hope you will," confessed Marian. "If all the +thank-yous I feel were piled up they would reach to the skies." + +"I am sure," laughed Miss Dorothy, "nothing could express your +gratitude more perfectly. What shall you name the kitten? I think it +would please Patty if he came to her with a name already attached to +him, a name that you had given him." + +Marian sat thinking, then she smiled and her smile grew broader and +broader till she broke out with: "I know what to call him; Prince +Puff, and I will tell her that he is the fat toad in a new form; he +is still under enchantment." + +Miss Dorothy laughed, for she knew all about the play under the big +tree near the factory. "I think that would please Patty mightily," +she told Marian. + +"And, isn't it funny," Marian went on, "his name rhymes with Muff. +Patty will like that, too. She likes us to have things alike, so I +will have Muff and she will have Puff, Muff's brother. I am so +relieved to have Patty's present all settled." + +But for her beloved Miss Dorothy there was still nothing, so Marian +racked her brains to devise some gift. At last she decided that +nothing was too good for one she loved so well, and that as the most +precious thing she possessed was her father's photograph she must +give that to her teacher. So, just before Miss Dorothy took her +departure for the holidays she went to her to slip a small package +in her hand. On the outside was written: "I am giving you this +because I love you so much. A Merry Christmas from Marian." "You +mustn't open it till Christmas day," she said earnestly. + +"I will not," Miss Dorothy assured her. "Thank you now, dearie, for +I am sure whatever it is I shall be pleased to have it. I wish you +were going to spend the day with us." + +"I wish so, too, but grandma said I had already been at Revell long +enough to wear out my welcome." + +"I didn't see a sign of its being threadbare when you came away," +Miss Dorothy told her. "Now, have we Puff all safe?" + +"Yes, he is asleep in his basket. You won't forget to tie the card +around his neck with the red ribbon." + +"No, I'll not forget. You must be sure to look on the inside knob of +my clothes-press door the first thing Christmas morning." + +"I won't forget that. I think it is fine to have a secret waiting in +there for me." + +"Here is the key. I know I can trust you not to open it till then." + +"Indeed you can trust me." + +"I am sure of it. Now give me a good hug and a kiss for Patty, for I +must be off." + +Marian needed no second bidding, and in a few minutes was watching +Miss Dorothy go down the street carrying the basket that held Puff, +and walking swiftly to catch her train. There were big tears in +Marian's eyes as she turned from the window, for it seemed as if +the sunshine had faded away with Miss Dorothy's going, and that +Christmas would be only a gray every-day sort of time with no Patty +to make it merry, and no Miss Dorothy to add to its cheer. + +However, when her grandmother called her it was to do rather an +interesting thing, for a Christmas box for the poor minister of a +distant parish was to be packed, and Marian enjoyed handing her +grandmother the articles to be put in and to talk over them. Grandma +knew the circumstances of the family to whom the box was going and +that there was a little girl somewhat younger than Marian to whom +her out-grown clothes would go. Marian thought she would have +enjoyed sending something more personal, and said so. + +"Is there nothing you can make a sacrifice of, my child?" asked her +grandmother solemnly. "Christmas is the time for that, you know. +Our Lord gave His best to us and that is why we also give." + +Marian turned over in her mind her various possessions. She simply +could not give up Patty Wee after all the dangers she had been +through, neither could she part with her big doll, for that had been +Annie Hunt's, and had been given to herself only because Annie's +mother was so fond of Ralph Otway's daughter. Muff was out of the +question for he would smother in that box. But there were the paper +dolls Miss Emily had made. She could give them. So she went +up-stairs, took out the envelope which contained these treasures, +softly kissed each painted face and said, "You are going to a new +home, my dears, and I hope you will like it. Good-bye, Mr. Guy +Mannering, good-bye, Mrs. Mannering, good-bye, little baby." She +put them all back in the envelope and carried it down-stairs. "I am +going to send these to Mary Eliza," she said steadily. "They are the +paper dolls Miss Emily made me." + +"That is my good girl," said her grandmother. "Your gift will come +back to you in some other form, some day. I am much pleased that +my little granddaughter is so disposed to be generous with the +bounties the Lord has bestowed upon her." And Marian really felt +quite light-hearted the rest of the day. + +Her spirits, too, were further lightened that afternoon when she was +made the special messenger to carry to Miss Almira Belt the very +lavender and white wrapper which she and Patty had picked out that +day when they were doing the make-believe shopping. Marian, of +course, told Mrs. Hunt all about it, and as one of the Guild which +looked after such things, it had been voted to give Miss Almira some +such present, and Mrs. Hunt had gone with Mrs. Perkins to select it. +They had all agreed that Marian's choice was such a good one that it +must be bought if possible, and fortunately Mrs. Hunt was able to +get the very wrapper she wanted. On account of Marian's part in the +matter she was asked to carry the gift to Miss Almira, and thus one +of her make-believes actually came true. + + + + +_CHAPTER XII_ + +_The Christmas Tree_ + + +Christmas morning Marian awoke very early. She slipped out of bed +and went to the window. A few stars were still in the sky, though +the gray dawn was stealing up the land. In a few minutes the church +bells pealed out upon the wintry air. Marian folded her hands and +thought of the shepherds and the wise men, the little infant Jesus +in the manger and all the rest of the beautiful story. But it was +cold by the window and she determined to get back into bed till she +should be called. Then she suddenly remembered that this was "first +thing in the morning" and that she need not wait to open Miss +Dorothy's locked clothes-press. She could find out what was there. + +So she softly struck a match, lighted her candle and tiptoed across +the floor, first taking the key from its place on the mantel. For a +moment a wild hope came to her that it might be a Christmas tree, a +little one, behind that locked door, but that idea faded away for +she remembered that Miss Dorothy had said, "I would like to set up a +Christmas tree for you, dearie, but it is your grandma's house and I +would not have the right to do it if she disapproves," and so it +could not possibly be a Christmas tree. + +She set down her candle, unlocked the door and felt for what should +hang on the knob inside. As she did so she smothered a little cry +of delight for her hand grasped a well-filled stocking. Quickly +unfastening it, she skurried back to her room with the treasure. In +another moment she was snuggled down under the warm covers examining +the contents of her stocking. It held all the foolish and pleasant +things which such stockings usually hold, and to these were added +sundry little gifts. A note pinned on the outside read: + + "DEAREST MARIAN: + + "I hope you will like your stocking. It is exactly such as + Patty will have, and I know you will be pleased to have it + so. A Merry Christmas from all of us at Revell. + + "Lovingly yours, + "DOROTHY ROBBINS." + +A stocking just like Patty's! What joy! Perhaps at that very moment +Patty was looking at hers. It was so delightful to open the small +packages, to find a beautiful paper-doll from Miss Emily, a funny +cheap toy from each of the boys: a silly monkey, a quacking duck and +a jumping jack; a little fairy tale book from Patty, and oh, wonder! +the Roman sash from Miss Dorothy. Even Mr. Robbins and Aunt Barbara +had contributed, the former a little purse with a ten cent piece in +it, and the latter a box of her famous nut candy. Surely never was a +stocking more appreciated and more gloated over. + +It was broad daylight and her grandmother was calling her before +Patty realized that her candle had burned down to its socket and +that it was time to get up. She huddled her gifts back into the +stocking and hurried to get bathed and dressed, for a day beginning +so delightfully must surely have more happiness in it. And indeed +this did seem to be so, for though her presents from her +grandparents were, as usual, useful, among them was a set of furs, +just what Marian had longed for since she saw Patty's, and there +was also a little typewriter for her very self from her grandpa. +Marian's mustard seeds were surely doing their work. + +There were buckwheat cakes for breakfast, too, and Heppy beckoned +Marian to the kitchen afterward. A row of mince pies stood on the +table, and at the end of the row was a little scalloped one, "for +you," said Heppy. There was a pair of queerly shaped figures, too, +among the ginger-snaps. Heppy gave a funny chuckle as she picked +them out. "I guess nobody'd know what they're intended for," she +said. "I guess I won't go into the sculping business, for I find +I'm no hand at making figgers." + +But Marian was as delighted with these as if they had been perfect +and bore them with the rest of her things to show Mrs. Hunt. + +Her grans had smiled indulgently when she showed her stocking, +but had not seemed to think very much of it. Mrs. Otway said she +supposed Miss Dorothy had paid a pretty penny for the sash, and it +was more than she ought to have done. Mr. Otway thought Marian must +be too big a girl to care for jumping-jacks and such foolishness, +but that was the most that was said. + +One of the events of Christmas day had always been the visit to +Mrs. Hunt, for this usually meant the best of the day's doings, and +Marian was always in a hurry to get off, but this time she was not +in such haste, for she liked to linger over her delightful stocking, +and enjoyed trying her typewriter while her grandfather showed her +how to use it. So it was not till her elders set out for church that +she was ready. Her cough shut her out of any churchgoing for a +while, but she begged to wear her new furs to show Mrs. Hunt, and +was given consent. + +The church bells were all ringing as she entered Mrs. Hunt's door. +"I thought you wouldn't get here at all," said Mrs. Hunt in response +to Marian's "Merry Christmas!" "I was getting real anxious about +you. Come right in out of the cold. What made you so late, +chickadee?" + +"Because it has been such a glad morning," Marian answered. "I don't +care anything about moving mountains any more, though it would have +been nice to have a tree, too." + +"It would, would it? Well, I don't know. Is that for me?" as Marian +presented the book of photographs. "Well, I declare, isn't that you +all over? This is a Christmas gift worth having. What a Miss Dorothy +it is. Come, kiss me, dearie, you couldn't have given me anything I +like better. Now tell me what has made you so glad." + +Then Marian displayed her stocking and her furs, and was describing +her typewriter when Mrs. Hunt said: "Then I suppose you won't care +about what I have for you." + +"Oh, Auntie Hunt, you know I always care," returned Marian +reproachfully. "I never had a Christmas stocking before, and +I did so want furs." + +"Bless her dear heart! Auntie Hunt was only teasing you a little. +Well, I don't believe what I have will wait much longer, so perhaps +we'd better go look at it." And she led the way to the parlor. + +Marian wondered at this, for she was not such a stranger as to be +taken there even upon such a day as Christmas. What could Mrs. Hunt +have in there that she couldn't bring into the sitting-room? She had +always had Marian's present and her little basket of goodies set on +a side table and why must they be in the parlor to-day? She +wondered, too, why Mrs. Hunt fumbled at the door-knob and rattled +it a little before she went in, but when she saw at the end of the +room a bright and dazzling Christmas tree, she forgot all else. It +was such a glittering, shining affair, all wonderful ornaments and +gleaming tinsel, and was a joy to look upon, from the flying angel +at the tip-top to the group of sheep on a mossy pasture at the foot. +The impossible had happened. Faith and works had triumphed. The +might of the mustard seed's strength had been proved, and Marian +dropped on her knees before the marvelous vision. "Oh, I am so +happy, Lord. I am so much obliged to you for your loving-kindness," +she breathed. + +"That's just like her," said Mrs. Hunt nodding her head as if to +some one behind her. "You are pleased, aren't you, chickadee? Well, +now, who do you think gave you all those pretty things? Mr. Hunt cut +the tree and brought the moss, I'm ready to confess. I helped with +the trimming, but who did the rest?" + +"Miss Dorothy," promptly replied Marian. + +Mrs. Hunt shook her head. "Wrong guess," she said laughing. "Stand +right there and shut your eyes while I count ten, then see if you +can make a better guess." + +Marian did as she was told, squeezing her eyes tight together lest +she should be tempted to peep at the tree. As "ten" fell from Mrs. +Hunt's lips her eyes opened, not upon the tree, for between her and +it stood the figure of a tall man who held out his arms to her. +Marian stood stock still in amazed wonder, gazing at him fixedly, +then in a voice that rang through the room she cried: "Papa! Papa!" +and in an instant his arms were around her and she was fairly +sobbing on his breast. + +"It's almost more than the child can bear," murmured Mrs. Hunt +wiping her eyes. "I don't know that it was right to surprise her +so. Maybe it would have been better to prepare her." But Marian +was herself in a little while, ready to hear how this wonderful +thing happened. + +"It was all on account of that little book of photographs," her +father told her. "My longing to see my dear little daughter grew +stronger and stronger as I turned over the pages, and when I came to +the last picture I simply could not stand it. I rushed out, looked +up the next sailing, and found I could make a steamer sailing from +Bremen the next morning, and before night I was on my way to that +city. I found I had a couple of hours to spare in Bremen, and I +remembered that my little girl had said that she had never had a +Christmas tree, so I went up town, bought a jumble of Christmas +toys, and took them to the steamer with me. I reached here last +night, and my dear old friend Mrs. Hunt took me in. Between us all +we set up the Christmas tree, and arranged the surprise. I felt as +if I could not spend another Christmas day away from my dear little +daughter when she wanted me so much. Do you think they will let me +in at the brick house, Marian?" he asked holding her close. + +"I am sure they will," she answered with conviction. "I've found out +that nobody is as cross inside as they seem outside. Even Heppy is +just like a bear sometimes, but she has the most kind thinkings when +you get at them." + +It was hard to leave the beautiful tree, but even that was not so +great and splendid a thing as this home-coming of Marian's father, +and when the churchgoers had all gone by, the two went up street +together, hand in hand. At the door of the brick house they paused. + +"Tell them I am here and ask them if I may come in, Marian," said +her father, as he stood on the steps. + +Marian went in, and entered the sitting-room. Her grandmother was +taking off her bonnet. "It was a good sermon, my dear," she was +saying to her husband. "Peace and good-will to all men, not to +some, but to all, our own first." She smoothed out her gloves +thoughtfully. "Eight years," she murmured, "eight years." + +Marian stood in the doorway. "Papa has come," she said simply. "He +is on the door-step, but he won't come in till you say he may." + +With a trembling little cry her grandmother ran to the door. Mr. +Otway grasped the back of the chair behind which he was standing. +His head was bowed and he was white to the lips. "Tell him to come +in," he said. + +Marian ran out to see her grandmother, her grave, quiet, dignified +grandmother, sobbing in her son's arms, and he kissing her bowed +head and murmuring loving words to her. + +"Grandpa says please come in," said Marian giving the message with +added politeness, and with one arm around his mother and the other +grasping Marian's hand, Ralph Otway entered his father's house to +meet the hand clasp of one who for more than eight years had +forbidden him entrance. + +The remainder of Marian's day was spent in making visits to Mrs. +Hunt's parlor and to her grandmother's sitting-room. When the +grown-ups' talk began to grow uninteresting and herself unnoticed +she would slip away to gloat over the Christmas tree, then when she +had firmly fixed in her mind just what hung on this side and on +that, she would go back to the sitting-room to nestle down by her +father, or to turn over the contents of her stocking. + +It was during this process that she heard part of a conversation +which interested her very much. "Herbert Robbins wrote me not +long ago to ask if I could suggest a fitting man for one of the +engineering departments of the college," said Grandpa Otway. "I told +him I would consider the matter, and if any one occurred to me I +would let him know. How would you like the work, Ralph?" he went on +in his measured tones. "Revell is not far away; it is a progressive +college in a pleasant community." + +Marian laid down her stocking and came nearer. + +"I should like to look into the matter," said her father +thoughtfully. + +"I would advise your seeing Robbins," said his father. "He can give +you the particulars." Then he added somewhat hesitatingly, "I should +like--I should be pleased to have my son one of the faculty of my +own college." + +Marian's father looked up brightly. "Thank you, father; that settles +it. If it is as good a thing as now appears I shall not hesitate to +accept if I am given the opportunity." + +"Are you going to see Patty?" whispered Marian, "and couldn't I go, +too?" + +Her father looked down at her with a smile. "I'd like you to go if +your grandmother is willing." + +Therefore before the holidays were over Marian had the pleasure of +showing off her new furs as well as her dear papa to Patty and the +rest of the Robbinses, and before she came back it was settled that +her father was to go to Revell to live. Beyond that nothing of much +consequence was decided at that time. + +Patty and Marian were jubilant over the arrangement. "Perhaps you +will come here to live some day," Patty said to her friend. + +"I wish I could," said Marian. "Do you think papa will need me more +than the grans, Patty?" + +"Of course," returned Patty, "for your grandfather has a wife to +take care of him and she has a husband, and it isn't fair they +should have you, too; besides a father is a nearer relation than a +grandfather, so of course he has a right to you." And this quite +settled it in Marian's opinion. + +The little girls had two happy days together when Marian enjoyed +Patty's tree and her Christmas gifts only in a little less degree +than her own. She was pleased to find that Puff was already a great +pet, and that Patty had all sorts of mysterious things to tell about +him; of how he would steal out at night and become a real prince +between midnight and dawn, and of how Miggy Wig had deserted the +cave and was no longer a doll, but that she had worked her +enchantments only so far as to turn Puff from a toad into a kitten +during the day, so the little cat did actually appear to be more +than an ordinary animal to both children. + +It took only a short time for Marian and her father to become great +chums, and they had many good times together sharing many secrets +which they did not tell the grans. + +Miss Dorothy did not go home very often during the winter, so on +Saturdays and Sundays when her father came home from Revell, Marian +took many pleasant walks with the two. Sometimes they made an +excursion to the city, when real shopping took the place of +make-believes. + +Marian went back to school after the holidays and never failed to +stop every day to see Mrs. Hunt. It was in the spring that she +learned from this good friend that her father did not tell her all +his secrets, for one day when they were talking of that happy +Christmas day Marian said, "What do you suppose Miss Dorothy did +with the Christmas gift I gave her? I have never seen it anywhere +and she has never said a word about it." + +"What was it?" asked Mrs. Hunt. + +"The photograph of papa that he sent me. I wanted to give her +something very precious and that was the best thing I had." + +To Marian's surprise Mrs. Hunt threw back her head and laughed till +the tears came, though Marian could not see that she had said +anything very funny. + +When Mrs. Hunt had wiped her eyes she remarked: "We shall miss Miss +Dorothy next year." + +"Why, isn't she coming back to teach?" asked Marian in dismay. + +Mrs. Hunt shook her head. + +"Oh, why not?" + +"Ask your papa; he knows," said Mrs. Hunt laughing again. + +But before Marian had a chance to do this, Patty came to make Mrs. +Hunt the long-promised visit, and it was Patty who guessed the +secret. "Did you know that Miss Dorothy is not coming back here next +year?" was one of Marian's first questions. + +Patty nodded. "I heard her say so to Emily." + +"Then you will have her and I shall not," returned Marian jealously. + +"Oh, yes, I think you will have her as much as I," returned Patty, +"for she is making all sorts of pretty things and I think she is +going to be married." + +"Be married?" Such a possibility had never occurred to Marian. "Oh, +dear," she began, then she brightened up as she thought perhaps it +might be the new rector Miss Dorothy was going to marry; in that +case she would be living in Greenville. She remembered that the +young man often walked home with her teacher. It would be a very +nice arrangement, Marian thought. "Is she going to live in +Greenville?" she asked, feeling her way. + +"No," Patty laughed. "I don't think so." + +Then perhaps the young rector was going to another town. "Has she +told you where she is going to live and who she is going to marry?" +asked Marian coming straight to the point. + +"No, but I know she is going to live in Revell, and I hear her and +Emily talk, talk, talk about some one named Ralph." Patty put her +hand over her mouth, and looked at Marian with laughing eyes. + +"Why--why----" Marian looked at Patty for further enlightenment, but +Patty was only laughing. "Why, that's my papa's name," said Marian. + +Patty nodded. "That's just who I think it is." And that was +precisely who it was. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Little Maid Marian, by Amy E. 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