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diff --git a/40661-0.txt b/40661-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..82155ed --- /dev/null +++ b/40661-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11219 @@ + A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH + + + + +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 http://www.gutenberg.org/license. + + +Title: A Daughter of the Rich + +Author: M. E. Waller + +Release Date: September 04, 2012 [EBook #40661] +Reposted: October 06, 2012 [minor corrections] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines. + + + + +[Illustration: Cover] + + + +[Illustration: Hazel] + + + + + A + Daughter of the Rich + + + BY + + M. E. WALLER + + AUTHOR OF "THE LITTLE CITIZEN" + + + + ILLUSTRATED BY + ELLEN BERNARD THOMPSON + + + + BOSTON + LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY + 1903 + + + + + _Copyright, 1903,_ + BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. + + _All rights reserved_ + + + Published October, 1903 + + + + UNIVERSITY PRESS + JOHN WILSON AND SON + CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A. + + + + + To + "MARTIE" + + + + + CONTENTS + + + I. Molasses Tea + II. Mrs. Blossom’s Valentine + III. A Curious Case + IV. A Little Millionaire + V. Transplanted + VI. Malachi + VII. The N.B.B.O.O. Society + VIII. A Lively Correspondence + IX. The Prize Chicken + X. An Unexpected Meeting + XI. Jack + XII. Results + XIII. A Social Addition + XIV. The Lost Nation + XV. Wishing-Tree Secrets + XVI. A Christmas Prelude + XVII. Hunger-Ford + XVIII. Budd’s Proposal + XIX. A Year And A Day + XX. Snow-Bound + XXI. A Little Daughter of the Rich + XXII. Rose + XXIII. "Behold how great a Matter a Little Fire Kindles" + XXIV. "Old Put" + XXV. San Juan + XXVI. Maria-Ann’s Crusade + XXVII. "--The stars above, Shine ever on Love--" + + + + + LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + +Hazel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frontispiece + +"’You can begin to drop that corn this very afternoon’" + +"Rose was at the kitchen table, patting out the dough for the rolls" + +"Hazel flung both arms around Mrs. Blossom’s neck" + +"’I want to tell you why I came up here’" + +"The two girls leaned over the box as Hazel took off the wrapper" + + + + + A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH + + + + I + + MOLASSES TEA + + +"Good-night, Martie," called a sweet voice down the stairway. + +"Good-night, Rose dear; I thought you were asleep." + +"Good-night, Martie," duetted the twins, in the shrillest of treble and +falsetto. + +"Good-night, you rogues; go to sleep; you ’ll wake baby." + +"Dood-night, mummy," chirped a little voice from the adjoining room. + +There was a shout of laughter from the twins. + +"Shut up," growled March from the attic over the kitchen. "Good-night, +mother." His growl ended in a squeak, for March was at that interesting +period of his life indicated by a change of voice. At the sound, a +prolonged snicker from somewhere was answered by a corresponding giggle +from another-where. + +"Now, children," said Mrs. Blossom, speaking up the stairway, "do be +quiet, or baby will be wide awake." + +"Tum tiss me, mummy," piped the little voice a second time, with no +sound of sleep in it. + +"Yes, darling, I ’ll come;" as she turned to go into the bedroom +adjoining the kitchen, there was the sound of a jump overhead, a patter +of bare feet, a squabble on the stairs, and Budd and Cherry, the +irrepressible ten-year-old twins, tumbled into the room. + +"I ’ll haul those kids back to bed for you, mother," shouted March, and +flung himself out of bed to join the fray, while Rose was not behindhand +in making her appearance. + +Mrs. Blossom came in with little May in her arms, and that was the +signal for a wholesale kissing-party in which May was hostess. + +"Children, children, you ’ll smother me!" laughed their mother. "Here, +sit down on the rug and warm your toes,--coming over those bare stairs +this cold night!" And down they sat, Rose and March, Budd and Cherry +and little May, in thick white and red flannel night-dresses and gray +flannel pajamas. + +Budd coughed consumptively, and Cherry followed suit. March shivered and +shook like a small earthquake, and Rose looked up laughingly at her +mother. + +"We know what that means, don’t we, Martie," she said. "Shall I help?" + +"No, no, dear,--in your bare feet!" + +Mrs. Blossom took a lamp from the shelf over the fireplace, and, leaving +the five with their fifty toes turned and wriggling before the cheering +warmth of the blazing hickory logs, disappeared in the pantry. + +"Oh, bully," said Budd, rubbing his flannel pajamas just over his +stomach; "I wish ’t was a cold night every day, then we could have +molasses tea all the time, don’t you, Cherry?" + +"Mm," said Cherry, too full of the anticipated treat for articulate +speech. + +"There ’s nothing like it to warm up your insides," said March; "mother +’s a brick to let us get up for it. She would n’t, you know, if father +were at home." + +"My tummy’s told," piped May, frantically patting her chest in imitation +of Budd, and all the children shouted to see the wee four-year-old +maiden trying to manufacture a shiver in the glow of the cheerful fire. + +Mrs. Blossom had never told her recipe for her "hot molasses tea;" but +it had been famed in the family for more than a generation. She had it +from her mother. The treat was always reserved for a bitterly cold +night, and the good things in it of which one had a taste--molasses, +white sugar, lemon-peel, butter, peppermint, boiled raisins, and +mysterious unknowns--were compounded with hot water into a +palate-tickling beverage. + +When Mrs. Blossom reappeared, with a kettle sending forth a small cloud +of fragrant steam in one hand and a tray filled with tin cups in the +other, the delighted "Ohs" and "Ahs" repaid her for all her extra work +at the close of a busy, weary day. + +Budd rolled over on the rug in his ecstasy, and Cherry was about to roll +on top of him, when March interfered, and order was restored. + +As they sat there on the big, braided square of woollen rag-carpet, +sipping and ohing and ahing with supreme satisfaction, Mrs. Blossom +broached the subject of valentines. + +"It’s the first of February, children, and time to begin to make +valentines. You ’re not going to forget the Doctor _this_ year, are +you?" + +"No, indeed, Martie," said Rose. "He deserves the prettiest we can +make. I ’ve been thinking about it, and I ’m going to make him a +shaving-case, heart-shaped, with birch-bark covers, and if March will +decorate it for me, I think it will be lovely; will you, March?" + +"Course I will; the Doctor ’s a brick. I ’ll tell you what, Martie, I +can pen and ink some of those spruces and birches that the Doctor was so +fond of last summer; how ’ll that do?" + +"Just the thing," said his mother; "I know it will please him. What are +you thinking, Cherry?" for the "other half" of Budd was gazing dreamily +into the fire, forgetting her tea in her revery. + +"Fudge!" said Cherry, shortly. March and Rose laughed. + +"Keep still making fun of Cherry," said Budd, ruffling at the sound; and +to emphasize his admonishing words, he dug his sharp elbow so suddenly +into March’s ribs that some hot molasses tea flew from the cup which his +brother had just put to his mouth and spattered on his bare feet. + +March deliberately set down his tin cup on the hearth near the fire +beside his brother’s, and turned upon Budd. + +Budd tried to dodge, but had no room. In a trice, March had his arms +around him, and was hugging him in a bear-like embrace. "Say you ’re +sorry!" he demanded. + +"Au-ow!" + +"Say you ’re sorry!" he roared at him, hugging harder. + +"Au-ow-ee-ow!" + +"Quick, or I ’ll squeeze you some more!" + +Budd was squirming and twisting like an eel. + +"O-ee-wau-au-_Au!_" + +"There," said March, releasing him and setting him down with a thump on +the rug; "I ’ll teach you to poke me in the ribs that way and scald my +feet.--You ’re game, though, old fellow," he added patronizingly, as he +heard a suspicious sniff from Cherry. "You and Cherry make a whole team +any day." + +Cherry’s sniff changed to a smile, for March did not condescend to +praise either of them very often. + +"Well," she said meditatively, "I suppose it did sound funny to say +that, but I was thinking that if Budd would make me a little +heart-shaped box of birch-bark, I ’d make some maple-sugar fudge,--you +know, Martie, the kind with butternuts in it,--and that could be my +valentine for the Doctor." + +"Why, that’s a bright idea, Cherry," said Mrs. Blossom; and, "Bully for +you, Cherry," said Budd; "we’ll begin to-morrow and crack the +butternuts." + +"What will May do?" asked Mrs. Blossom, lifting the little girl, who was +already showing signs of being overcome with molasses tea and sleep. +May nestled in her mother’s arms, leaned her head, running over with +golden curls, on her mother’s breast, and murmured drowsily,-- + +"’Ittle tooties--tut with mummy’s heart-tutter--tutter--tooties--tut--" +The blue-veined eyelids closed over the lovely eyes; and Mrs. Blossom, +holding up her finger to hush the children’s mirth at May’s inspired +utterance, carried her back into the bedroom. + +One after another the children crept noiselessly upstairs, with a +whispered, "Good-night, Martie," and in ten minutes Mary Blossom knew +they were all in the land of dreams. + + + + + II + + MRS. BLOSSOM’S VALENTINE + + +It was a bitter night. Mrs. Blossom refilled the kitchen stove, and +threw on more hickory in the fireplace in anticipation of her husband’s +late return from the village. She drew her little work-table nearer to +the blaze, and sat down to her sewing. Then she sighed, and, as she +bent over the large willow basket filled with stockings to be darned and +clothes to be mended, a tear rolled down her cheek and plashed on the +edge. + +There was so much she wanted to do for her children--and so little with +which to do it! There was March, an artist to his finger-tips, who +longed to be an architect; and Rose, lovely in her young girlhood and +giving promise of a lovelier womanhood, who was willing to work her way +through one of the lesser colleges, if only she could be prepared for +entrance. Mary Blossom saw no prospect of being able to do anything for +either of them. + +And the father! He must be spared first, if he were to be their future +bread-winner. Mary Blossom could never forget that day, a year ago this +very month, when her husband was brought home on a stretcher, hurt, as +they thought, unto death, by a tree falling the wrong way in the woods +where he was directing the choppers. + +What a year it had been! All they had saved had gone to pay for the +extra help hired to carry on the farm and finish the log-cutting. A +surgeon had come from the nearest city to give his verdict in the case +and help if he could. + +The farm was mortgaged to enable them to pay the heavy bills incident to +months of sickness and medical attendance; still the father lay +helpless, and Mary Blossom’s faith and courage were put to their +severest test, when both doctor and surgeon pronounced the case +hopeless. He might live for years, they said, but useless, so far as +his limbs were concerned. + +This was in June; and then it was that Mary Blossom, leaving Rose in +charge of her father and the children, left her home, and walked +bareheaded rapidly up the slope behind the house, across the upland +pastures and over into the woodlands, from which they had hoped to +derive a sufficient income to provide not only for their necessities, +but for their children’s education and the comforts of life. + +Deep into the heart of them she made her way; and there, in the green +silence, broken only by the note of a thrush and the stirring of June +leafage above and about her, she knelt and poured out her sorrow-filled +heart before God, and cast upon Him the intolerable burden that had +rested so long upon her soul. + +The shadows were lengthening when at last she turned homewards. Cherry +and Budd met her in the pasture, for Rose had grown anxious and sent +them to find her. + +"Why, where have you been, Martie?" exclaimed the twins. "We were so +frightened about you, because you didn’t come home." + +"You need n’t have been; I ’ve been talking with a Friend." And more +than that she never said. The children’s curiosity was roused, but when +they told Rose and asked her what mother meant, Rose’s eyes filled with +tears, and she kept silence; for she alone knew with Whom her mother had +talked that June afternoon. + +"Run ahead, Budd, and tell Malachi to harness up Bess. I want him to +take a letter down to the village so that it may go on the night mail." +Budd flew rather than ran; for there was a look in his mother’s face +that he had never seen before, and it awed him. + +That night a letter went to Doctor Heath, a famous nerve specialist of +New York City. It was a letter from Mary Blossom, his old-time friend +and schoolmate in the academy at Barton’s River. In it she asked him if +he would give her his advice in this case, saying she could not accept +the decision of the physician and surgeon unless it should be confirmed +by him. + +"I cannot pay you now," she wrote, "but it was borne in upon me this +afternoon to write to you, although you may have forgotten me in these +many years, and I have no claim of present friendship, even, upon your +time and service; but I must heed the inner command to appeal to you, +whatever you may think of me,--if I disobeyed that, I should be +disobeying God’s voice in my life,"--and signed herself, "Yours in +childhood’s remembrance." + +The next day a telegram was brought up from the village; and the day +after the Doctor himself followed it. + +It was an anxious week; but the wonderful skill conquered. The pressure +on a certain nerve was removed, and for the last six months Benjamin +Blossom had been slowly but surely coming back to his old-time health +and strength. But again this winter the extra help had been necessary, +and it had taxed all Mary Blossom’s ingenuity to make both ends meet; +for there was the interest on the mortgage to be paid every six months, +and the ready money had to go for that. + +In the midst of her thoughts, her recollections and plans, she caught +the sound of sleigh-bells. The tall clock was just striking ten. +Smoothing every line of care and banishing all look of sadness from her +face, she met her husband with a cheery smile and a, "I ’m so glad you +’ve got home, Ben; it’s just twenty below, and the molasses tea is ready +for you and Chi." + +"Chi!" called Mr. Blossom towards the barn. + +"Whoa!" shouted a voice that sounded frosty in spite of itself. "Whoa, +Bess!" + +"Come into the kitchen before you turn in; there’s some hot molasses tea +waiting for us." + +"Be there in a minute," he shouted back, and Bess pranced into the barn. + +"Oh, Mary, this is good," said Mr. Blossom, as he slipped out of his +buffalo-robe coat and into his warm house-jacket, dropped his boots +outside in the shed, and put on his carpet-slippers that had been +waiting for him on the hearth. + +"It is home, Ben," said his wife, bringing out clean tin cups from the +pantry, and putting them to warm beside the kettle on the hearth. + +"Yes, with you in it, Mary," he said with the smile that had won him his +true-love eighteen years before. + +"Come in, Chi," he called towards the shed, whence came sounds as if +some one were dancing a double-shuffle in snow-boots. + +"’Fraid I ’ll thaw ’n’ make a puddle on the hearth, Mis’ Blossom. I ’m +as stiff as an icicle: guess I ’ll take my tea perpendic’lar; I ain’t +fit to sit down." + +"Sit down, sit down, Chi," said Mrs. Blossom. "You ’ll enjoy the tea +more; and give yourself a thorough heating before you go to bed. I ’ve +put the soapstone in it," she added. + +"Well, you beat all, Mis’ Blossom; just as if you did n’t find enough to +do for yourself, you go to work ’n’ make work." He broke off suddenly, +"George Washin’ton!" he exclaimed, "most forgot to give you this letter +that come on to-night’s mail." + +He handed Mrs. Blossom the letter, which, with some difficulty, owing to +his stiffened fingers, he extracted from the depths of the tail-pocket +of his old overcoat. Then he helped himself to a brimming cup of the +tea, and apparently swallowed its contents without once taking breath. + +"Why, it’s from Doctor Heath!" exclaimed Mrs. Blossom, recognizing the +handwriting. "Is it a valentine, I wonder?" she said, feigning to +laugh, for her heart sank within her, fearing it might be the bill,--and +yet, and yet, the Doctor had said--she got no further with these +thoughts, so intent was she on the contents of the letter. + +Chi, with an eye to prolonging his stay till he should know the why and +wherefore of a letter from the great Doctor at this season of the year, +took another cup of the tea. + +"Ben, oh, Ben!" cried Mrs. Blossom, in a faint, glad voice; and +therewith, to her husband’s amazement, she handed him the letter, put +both arms around his neck, and, dropping her head on his shoulder, +sobbed as if her heart would break. + +Chi softly put down his half-emptied cup and tiptoed with creaking boots +from the room. + +"Can’t stand that, nohow," he muttered to himself in the shed; and, +forgetting to light his lantern, he felt his way up the backstairs to +his lodging in the room overhead, blinded by some suspicious drops of +water in his eyes, which he cursed for frost melting from his bushy +eyebrows. + +"Oh, Ben, think of it!" she cried, when her husband had soothed and +calmed her. "Twenty-five dollars a week; that makes a little more than +twelve hundred a year. Why, we can pay off all the mortgage and be free +from that nightmare." + +For answer her husband drew her closer to him, and late into the night +they sat before the dying fire, talking and planning for the future. + +"Children," she said at breakfast next morning, and her voice sounded so +bright and cheery that the room seemed full of sunshine, although the +sky was a hard, cold gray, "I ’ve had one valentine already; it came +last night from the Doctor." + +Chi listened with all his ears. + +"Mother!" burst from the children, "where is it?" "Show it to us." "Why +did n’t you tell us before breakfast?" + +"I can’t show it to you yet; it’s a live one." + +"A live one!" chorussed the children. + +"You ’re fooling us, mother," said March. + +"Do I look as if I were?" replied his mother. + +And March was obliged to confess that she had never looked more in +earnest. + +Rose left her seat and stole to her father’s side. "What does it mean, +pater?" she whispered. + +"Ask your mother," was all the satisfaction she received, and walked, +crestfallen, back to her chair; for when had her father refused her +anything? + +"When will you tell us, anyway?" said Budd, a little gruffly. He hated +a secret. + +"I can’t tell you that either," said his mother, "and I don’t know that +I shall tell you until the very last, if you ask in that voice." + +Budd screwed his mouth into a smile, and, unbeknown to the rest of the +family, reached under the cloth for his mother’s hand. He sat next to +her, and that had been his way of saying "Forgive me," ever since he was +a tiny boy. + +He had a squeeze in return and felt happier. + +"I say, let’s guess," said Cherry. "If I don’t do something, I shall +burst." + +"You express my feelings perfectly, Cherry," said March, gravely, and +the guessing began. + +"A St. Bernard puppy?" said Budd, who coveted one. + +"A Shetland pony," said Cherry. + +"The Doctor’s coming up here, himself." That was Rose’s guess. + +"’T ain’t likely," growled Budd. + +"A tunning ’ittle baby," chirped May. + +March failed to think of any live thing the Doctor was likely to send +unless it might be a Wyandotte blood-rooster, such as he and the Doctor +had talked about last summer. + +"You ’re all cold, cold as ice," laughed their mother, using the words +of the game she had so often played with them when they were younger. + +"Oh, mother!" they protested. They were almost indignant. + +Chi rose and left the table. "Beats me," he muttered, as he took down +his axe from a beam in the woodshed. "What in thunder can it be? I +ain’t goin’ to ask questions, but I ’ll ferret it out,--by George +Washin’ton;" and that was Chi’s most solemn oath. + + + + + III + + A CURIOUS CASE + + +"What is it, dear?" + +"Bothered--bothered." + +"A case?" + +"Yes, and I must get it off my mind this evening." + +The Doctor set down his after-dinner coffee untasted on the library +table, and rose with a half sigh from his easy chair before the blazing +wood-fire. His heavy eyebrows were drawn together into a straight line +over the bridge of his nose, and that, his wife knew full well, was an +ominous sign. + +"Must you go to-night? It’s such a fearful storm; just hear it!" + +"Yes, I must; just to get it off my mind. I sha’n’t be gone long, and I +’ll tell you all about it when I get home." The Doctor stooped and +kissed the detaining hand that his wife had laid lovingly on his arm; +then, turning to the telephone, he bespoke a cab. + +As the vehicle made its way up Fifth Avenue in the teeth of a February, +northeast gale that drove the sleet rattling against the windows, Doctor +Heath settled back farther into his corner, growling to himself, "I wish +some people would let me manage their affairs for them; it would show +their common sense to let me show them some of mine." + +A few blocks north of the park entrance, the cab turned east into a side +street, and stopped at Number 4. + +"Mr. Clyde in, Wilkins?" asked the Doctor of the colored butler, who +opened the door. + +"Yes, sah; jes’ up from dinner, sah, to see Miss Hazel." + +"Tell him I want to see him in the library." + +"Yes, sah." He took the Doctor’s cloak and hat, hesitating a moment +before leaving, then turning, said: "’Scuse me, sah, but Miss Hazel +ain’t more discomposed?" + +"No, no, Wilkins; Miss Hazel is doing fairly well." + +"Thank you, sah;" and Wilkins ducked his head and sprang upstairs. + +"Why, Dick," said Mr. Clyde, as he entered the library hurriedly, +"what’s wrong?" + +"The world in general, Johnny, and your world in particular, old +fellow." + +"Is Hazel worse?" The father’s anxiety could be heard in the tone with +which he put the question. + +"I ’m not satisfied, John, and I ’m bothered." + +When Doctor Heath called his friend "John," Mr. Clyde knew that the very +soul of him was heavily burdened. The two had been chums at Yale: the +one a rich man’s son; the other a country doctor’s one boy, to whom had +been bequeathed only a name honored in every county of his native state, +a good constitution, and an ambition to follow his father’s profession. +The boy had become one of the leading physicians of the great city in +which he made his home; his friend one of the most sought-after men in +the whirling gayeties of the great metropolis. As he stood on the +hearth with his back to the mantel waiting for the physician’s next +word, he was typical of the best culture of the city, and the Doctor +looked up into the fine face with a deep affection visible in his eyes. + +"Going out, as usual, John?" + +"Only to the Pearsells’ reception. Don’t keep me waiting, old fellow; +speak up." + +"How the deuce am I to make things plain to you, John? Here, draw up +your chair a little nearer mine, as you used in college when you knew I +had a four A.M. lecture awaiting you, after one of your larks." + +The two men helped themselves to cigars; and the Doctor, resting his +head on the back of the chair, slowly let forth the smoke in curling +rings, and watched them dissolve and disperse. + +"Come, Dick, go ahead; I can stand it if you can." + +"Well, then, I ’ve done all I can for Hazel, and shall have to give up +the case unless you do all you can for her." + +Now the Doctor had not intended to make his statement in such a blunt +fashion, and he could not blame Mr. Clyde for the touch of resentment +that was so quick to show in his answer. + +"I did n’t suppose you went back on your patients in this way, Richard; +much less on a friend. I have done everything I can for Hazel. If +there is anything I’ve omitted, just tell me, and I ’ll try to make it +good." + +The Doctor nodded penitently. "I know, John, I ’ve said it badly; and I +don’t know but that I shall make it worse by saying you ’ve done too +much." + +"Too much! That is not possible. Did n’t you order last year’s trip to +Florida and the summer yachting cruise?" + +Doctor Heath groaned. "I’m getting in deeper and deeper, John; you +can’t understand, because you are you; born and bred as you are-- Look +here, John, did it ever occur to you that Hazel is a little hot-house +plant that needs hardening?" + +"No, Richard." + +"Well, she is; she needs hardening to make her any kind of a woman +physically and, and--" The Doctor stopped short. There were some +things of which he rarely spoke. + +"My Hazel needs hardening!" exclaimed the amazed father. "Why, Richard, +have n’t you impressed upon me again and again that she needs the +greatest care?" + +The Doctor groaned again and smote his friend solidly on the knee. + +"Oh, you poor rich--you poor rich! ’Eyes have ye, and ye see not; ears +have ye, and hear not.’ John, the girl must go away from you, who +over-indulge her, from this home-nest of luxury, from this +private-school business and dancing-class dissipation, from her +young-grown-up lunch-parties and matinée-parties, from her violin +lessons and her indoor gymnastics--curse them!" + +This was a great deal for the usually self-contained physician, and Mr. +Clyde stared at him, but half comprehending. + +"Go away? Do you mean, Richard, that she must leave me?" + +"Yes, I mean just that." + +"Well,"--it was a long-drawn, thinking "well,"--"I will ask my sister to +take her this summer. She returns from Egypt soon and has just written +me she intends to open her place, ’The Wyndes,’ in June." + +Again the Doctor groaned: "And kill her with golf and picnics and +coaching among all those fashionable butterflies! Now, hear to me, +John," he laid his hand on his friend’s shoulder, "send her away into +the country, that is country,--something, by the way, which you know +precious little about. Let me find her a place up among those +life-giving Green Hills, and do you do without her for one year. Let me +prescribe for her there; and I ’ll guarantee she returns to you hale and +hearty. Trust her to me, John; you ’ll thank me in the end. I can do no +more for her here." + +"Do you mean, Richard, to put her away into real country conditions?" + +"Yes, just that; into a farmer’s family, if possible,--and I know I can +make it possible,--and let her be as one of them, work, play, go +barefoot, eat, sleep, be merry--in fact, be what the Lord intended her +to be; and you ’ll find out that is something very different from what +she is, if only you ’ll hear to me." + +The Doctor was pacing the room in his earnestness. He was not accustomed +to beg thus to be allowed to prescribe for his patients. His one word +was law, and he was not required to explain his motives. + +Mr. Clyde’s eyes followed him; then he broke the prolonged silence. + +"Richard, you have asked me the one thing to which her mother would +never have consented. How, then, can I?" + +"Think it over, John, and let me know." + +The two men clasped hands. + +"Let me take you along in my cab to the reception; it’s inhuman to take +out your horses on such a night." + +"Thank you, no; I think I ’ll give it up; I ’m not in the mood for it. +Good-night, old fellow." + +"Good-night, Johnny." + +The next morning, at breakfast, the Doctor took up a note that lay +beside his plate, and after reading it beamed joyously while he stirred +his coffee vigorously without drinking it. When, finally, he looked up, +his wife elevated her eyebrows over the top of the coffee urn, and the +Doctor laughed. + +"To be sure, wifie, read the note." And this is what she read:-- + + +DEAR RICHARD,--I ’ve had a hard night, trying to look at things from +your point of view and see my own duty towards Hazel. Things have grown +rather misty, looking both backwards and forwards, and I have concluded +I can’t do better than to take you at your word,--trust her to you, and +accept the guarantee of her return to me with her physical condition +such as it should be. + +This decision will, as you well know, raise a storm of protest among the +relations. The whole swarm will be about my ears in less than no time. +Stand by me. The whole responsibility rests upon you,--and tell Hazel; +I ’m too much of a coward. This is a confession, but you will +understand. Let me know the details of your plans so soon as possible. I +have never been able to give you such a proof of friendship. Have you +ever asked another man for such? I mistrust you, old fellow. + +Yours, JOHN. + + + + + IV + + A LITTLE MILLIONAIRE + + +"Gabrielle." + +"Oui, mademoiselle Hazel," came in shrill yet muffled tones from the +depths of the dressing-room closet. + +"Bring me my white silk kimono." + +"Oui, mademoiselle." + +The order, in French, was given in a weak and slightly fretful voice +that issued from the bed at the farther end of a large room from which +the dressing-room opened. The apartment was, in truth, what Doctor +Heath had called it, "a nest of luxury." + +It was a bitter Saint Valentine’s Day which succeeded the Doctor’s +evening visit. The wood-fire, blazing cheerily in the ample fireplace, +sent its warmth and light far out into the room, flashing red +reflections in the curiously twisted bars of the brass bedstead. At the +left of the fireplace stood a small round tea-table, and upon it a +little silver tea-kettle on a standard of the same metal. Dainty cups +and saucers of egg-shell china were grouped about it; a miniature silver +tray held a sugar-dish and a cream-pot and a half-dozen gold-lined +souvenir spoons. + +On the richly carved mantel stood an exquisite plate-glass clock, the +chimes of which were just striking nine, and, keeping it company to +right and left, were two dainty figures of a shepherd and shepherdess in +Dresden china. The remaining mantel space was filled with tiny figures +in bisque,--a dachshund, a cat and kittens, a porcelain box, +heart-shaped, the top covered with china forget-me-nots, a silver +drinking-cup, a small oval portrait on ivory of a beautiful young woman, +framed in richly chased gold, the inner rim set round with pearls. A +blue pitcher of Cloisonné and a tray of filigree silver heaped with +dainty cotillion favors stood on one end; on the other, a crystal vase +filled with white tulips. + +Soft blue and white Japanese rugs lay upon the polished floor; delicate +blue and white draperies hung at the windows. Dressing-case and +writing-desk of white curled maple were each laden with articles for the +toilet and for writing, in solid silver, engraved with the monogram H.C. +A couch, upholstered in blue and white Japanese silk, stood at the right +of the fireplace, and all about the room were dainty wicker chairs +enamelled in white, and cushioned to match the hangings. + +The bed was canopied in pale blue covered with white net and edged with +lace, and the coverlet was of silk of the same delicate color, +embroidered with white violets and edged like the canopy, only with a +deeper frill of lace. The occupant of this couch, fit for a princess +royal, was the little mistress of all she surveyed, as well as the +mansion of which the room formed a small part; and a woebegone-looking +little girl she was, who called again, and this time impatiently:-- + +"Gabrielle, hurry, do." + +"Oui, oui, mademoiselle Hazel;" and Gabrielle tripped across the room +with the white kimono in one hand and fresh towels in the other. She +had just slipped it upon Hazel when there was a knock at the door. +Gabrielle opened it, and Wilkins asked in a voice intended to be low, +but which proved only husky:-- + +"Nuss say she mus’ jes’ speak wif Marse Clyde ’fo’ she come up, an’ +wan’s to know if Miss Hazel will haf her breffus now or wait till she +come up herse’f." + +Before Gabrielle could answer, Hazel called out, "You may bring it up +now, Wilkins; and has the postman come yet?" + +Wilkins’ broad smile sounded in his voice, as it came out of its +huskiness. + +"Yes, Miss Hazel, ben jes’ ’fo’ I come up. I ain’t seen no hearts, but +dey’s thicker ’n spatter by de feel, an’ a heap o’ boxes by ’spress!" + +"Oh, bring them up quick, Wilkins, and tell papa to be sure and come up +directly after breakfast." + +"Yes, for sho’, Miss Hazel," said Wilkins, delighted to have a word with +the little daughter of her whom he had carried in his arms thirty-two +years ago up and down the jasmine-covered porch of an old New Orleans +mansion. + +In a few minutes, he reappeared with two large silver trays, on one of +which was the tempting breakfast of Hamburg grapes, a dropped egg, a +slice of golden-brown toast, half of a squab broiled to the +melting-point, and a cup of cocoa. On the other were boxes large and +small, and white envelopes of all sizes. + +Gabrielle cut the string and opened the boxes, while Hazel looked on, +pleased to be remembered, but finding nothing unusual in the display; +for Christmas and Easter and birthdays and parties brought just about +the same collection, minus "the hearts," which Wilkins had felt through +the covers. The only fun, after all, was in the guessing. + +Just then Mr. Clyde entered. + +"Oh, papa! I ’m so glad you have come; it’s no fun guessing alone." +She put up her peaked, sallow little face for the good-morning kiss; and +her father, with the thought of his last night’s struggle, took the face +in both hands and kissed brow and mouth with unusual tenderness. + +"Why, papa!" she exclaimed, "that kiss is my best valentine; you never +kissed me that way before." + +"Well, it’s time I began, Birdie; let’s see what you have for nonsense +here. What’s this--from Cambridge?" + +"Oh, that’s Jack, I ’m sure; he always sends me violets; but what is +that in the middle of the bunch?" With a smile she drew out a tiny +vignette of her Harvard Sophomore cousin. It was framed in a little +gold heart, and on a slip of paper was written, "For thee, I ’m all +’art." + +"Jack ’s a gay deceiver," laughed her father; "he ’s all ’’art’ for a +good many girls, big and little. What’s this?--and this?" + +One after another he took out the contents of envelopes and +boxes,--candy hearts by the pound in silver bonbon boxes, silk hearts, +paper hearts, a flower heart of real roses ("That’s from you, Papa +Clyde!" she exclaimed, and her father did not deny the pleasant +accusation), hollow gilt hearts stuffed with sentiments, a silver +chatelaine heart for change, and last, but not least, an enormous +envelope, a foot square, containing a white paper heart all written over +with "sentiments" from the girls in her class at school. + +"Come now, Birdie," said her father, after the last one had been opened +and guessed over, "eat your breakfast, or nurse will scold us both for +putting play before business." + +"I don’t think I want any, papa," said Hazel, languidly, for, after all, +the valentines had proved to be almost too much excitement for the +little girl, who was just recovering from weeks of slow fever; "and, +Gabrielle, take the flowers away, they make my head ache,--and the other +things, too," she added, turning her head wearily on the pillow. + +"But you must eat, Hazel dear," said her father, gently but firmly; and +therewith he took a grape and squeezed the pulp between her lips. Hazel +laughed,--a faint sound. + +"Why, papa, if you feed me that way, I shall be a real Birdie. Yes," +she nodded, "that’s good; I ’ll take another;" and her father proceeded +to feed her slowly, now coaxing, now urging, then commanding, till a few +grapes and a half egg were disposed of. + +"There, now, I won’t play tyrant any longer," he said, "for your real +tyrant of a doctor is coming soon, and I must be out of the way." + +"Are you going to be at home for luncheon to-day, papa?" + +"No, dear, I ’ve promised to go out to Tuxedo with the Masons, but I +shall be at home before dinner, just to look in upon you. I dine with +the Pearsells afterwards. Good-bye." A kiss,--two, three of them; and +the merry, handsome young father, still but thirty-seven, had gone, and +with him much of the brightness of Hazel’s day. + +But she was used to this. Ever since she could remember anything, she +had been petted and kissed and--left with her nurse, her governess, or a +French maid. + +Her young mother, a Southern belle, lived more out of her home than in +it, with the round of gayeties in the winter months interrupted and +continued by winter house-parties at Lenox, a yachting cruise in the +Mediterranean, an early spring-flitting to the mountains of North +Carolina, and the later household moving to Newport. + +In all these migrations Hazel accompanied her parents; in fact, was +moved about as so much goods and chattels, from New York to the +Berkshires, from the Berkshires to Malta, from Malta to the Great +Smokies, from the mountains to the sea; her appurtenances, the governess +and French maid, went with her; and the routine of her home in New York, +the study, the promenade, the all-alone breakfasts and dinners went on +with the regularity of clockwork, whether on the yacht, in the +mountains, or in the villa on the Cliff. + +So now, although she wished her father would stay and entertain her, it +never occurred to her to tell him so; and likewise it never occurred to +the father that his child needed or wished him to stay. Nor had it ever +occurred to the young mother that she was not doing her whole duty by +her child; for she never omitted to go upstairs and kiss her little +daughter good-night, whether the child was awake or asleep, before going +out to dinner, theatre, or reception. + +She died when Hazel was nine, and it was a lovely memory of "mamma" that +Hazel cherished: a vision of loveliness in trailing white silk, or +velvet, or lace,--her mother always wore white, it was her Southern +inheritance,--with a single dark-red rose among the folds of Venetian +point of the bertha; always a gleam of white neck and arms banded with +flashing, many-faceted diamonds, or roped with pearls; always a sense of +delicious white warmth and fragrance, as the vision bent over her and +pressed a light kiss upon her cheek. And if, in her bliss, she opened +her sleepy eyes, she looked always into laughing brown depths, and +putting up her hand caressed shining masses of brown hair. + +But it was always a good-night vision. In the morning mamma did not +breakfast until ten, and Hazel was off to the little private school at +half-past nine. At noon mamma was either out at lunch or giving a +lunch-party; and in the afternoon there was the promenade in the Park +with the governess, and sometimes, as a treat, a drive with mamma on her +round of calls, when Hazel and the maid sat among the furs in the +carriage. Then Hazel played at being grown up, and longed for the time +when she could wear a reception dress like mamma’s, of white broadcloth +and sable, and trip up the steps of the various houses, and trip down +again with a bevy of young girls laughing and chatting so merrily. + +All that had ceased when Hazel was nine, and the young father had made +her mistress in her mother’s place. It was such a great house! and there +were so many servants! and the housekeeper was so strict! and it was so +queer to sit at the round table in the big dining-room and try to look +at papa over the silver épergne in the centre! + +When she was eleven, she entered one of the large private schools which +many of her little mates attended. Soon it came to be the "girls of our +set" with Hazel; and then there followed music-lessons, and +violin-lessons, and riding-lessons, and dancing-class, and riding-days +in the Park, and lunch-parties with the girls, and +theatre-matinée-parties, and concerts at Carnegie Hall, and birthday +parties, and sales--school and drawing-room affairs--and Lenten +sewing-classes; until gradually her little society life had become an +epitome of her mother’s, and when she began to shoot up like a +bean-sprout, lose her round face and the delicate pink from her cheeks, +uncles and aunt and cousin and friends whispered of her mother’s frail +constitution, and that it was time to take heed. + +Then it was that the physician, who had helped to bring her into the +world, was summoned hastily to prevent her early departure from it. +This was the "curious case" that so bothered him; and this pale, languid +girl of thirteen in the blue-canopied bed was the one he intended to +transplant into another soil. + +A short, sharp tap announced his arrival. The nurse opened the door. + +"Good-morning, little girl--ah, ah! Saint Valentine’s Day? I had +forgotten it; all those came this morning?" he said cheerily, pointing +to a table on which Gabrielle had placed all the remembrances but the +flowers. + +"Yes, Doctor Heath; but my best valentine, you know, is papa, and after +him, you." + +"Hm, flatterer!" growled the Doctor, feeling her pulse. "Pretty good, +pretty good. Think we can get you up for half a day. What do you say, +nurse?" + +"I think it will do her good, Doctor Heath; she has no appetite yet, and +a little exercise might help her to it." + +"No appetite?" The two eyebrows drew together in a straight line over +the bridge of his nose, and, from under them, a pair of keen eyes looked +at Hazel. + +"Well, I ’ve planned something that will give you a splendid one, +Hazel,--the best kind of a tonic-- + +"Oh, I don’t want to take any more tonics. I am so sick of them," said +Hazel, in a despairing tone, for although she adored the Doctor, she +despised his medicines. + +"You won’t get sick of this tonic so soon, I ’ll warrant," he said, +unbending his brows and letting the full twinkle of his fine eyes shine +forth,--"at least not after you are used to it. I won’t say but that it +may cause a certain kind of sickness at first; in fact, I ’m sure of +it." + +"Oh, will it nauseate me?" cried Hazel, dreading to suffer any more. + +"No, no, it won’t do that, but--" + +"But what _do_ you mean, Doctor Heath? Are you joking?" + +"Never was more in earnest in my life," replied the Doctor, rubbing his +hands in glee, much to Hazel’s amazement. "Hazel," he turned abruptly +to her, "papa is a splendid fellow; did you know that?" + +Hazel laughed aloud, a real girl’s laugh,--Doctor Heath was so queer at +times. + +"Have you just found that out?" she retorted. + +"No, you witch,--don’t be impertinent to your elders,--I have n’t; but +really he is, take it all in all, just about the most common-sense +fellow in New York City." + +"What has he done now, that you are praising him so?" + +"Just heard to me, my dear, and agreed to do just as I want him to," +said the Doctor, demurely. + +"Why," laughed Hazel, "that’s just when I think he is a most splendid +fellow, when he does just what I want him to. Is n’t it funny you and I +think just alike!" And she gave his hand a malicious little pat. The +Doctor caught the five slender digits and held them fast. + +"Now we ’re agreed that you have the most splendid, common-sense father +in the world, I want you to prove to me that your father has the most +splendid, common-sense daughter in it, as well." + +Again Hazel laughed. She was used to her friend’s ways. + +"That means that you want me to take that old, new tonic of yours." + +"Yes, just that," said the Doctor, emphatically; "and now, as you don’t +appear to care to hear about it, I ’m going to make a long call and tell +you its entire history." + +"Have you brought it with you?" asked Hazel, somewhat mystified. + +"No, I can’t carry around with me in a cab five children, a hundred +acres of pine woods, a whole mountain-top, and a few Jersey cows." + +"What _do_ you mean? You _are_ joking." + +Then the physician clasped the thin hand a little more closely and told +her of the country plan. + +At first, Hazel failed to comprehend it. She gazed at the speaker with +large, serious eyes, as if she half-feared he had taken leave of his +senses. + +"Did papa know it this morning?" was her first question. + +"Yes, my dear." + +"Then that is why he kissed me the way he did," she said thoughtfully. +"But," her lip quivered, "I sha’n’t have him to kiss me up there, +and--and--oh, dear!" A wail went up from the canopied bed that made the +Doctor turn sick at heart, and even the nurse hurried away into the +dressing-room. + +Somehow Doctor Heath could not exhort Hazel, as he had her father, to +use common-sense. He preferred to use diplomacy. + +"You see, Hazel, a year won’t be so very long, and it will give your +hair time to grow; and perhaps you would not mind wearing a cap for a +time up there, while if you were here you certainly would not care about +going to dancing-school or parties in that rig; now would you?" + +Hazel sniffed and looked for her handkerchief. As she failed to find +it, the Doctor applied his own huge square of linen to the dripping, +reddened eyes, and tenderly stroked the smooth-shaven head. + +Hazel had her vanities like all girls, and her long dark braids had been +one of them. After the fever, she had been shorn of what scanty locks +had been left to her, and many a time she had wondered what the girls +would say when they saw her. After all, the new plan might be endured, +for the sake of the hair and her looks. + +She sniffed again, and this time a good many tears were drawn up into +her nose. The Doctor, taking no notice of the subsiding flood, +proceeded,-- + +"My patients always look so comical when the fuzz is coming out. It’s +like chicken-down all over the head--" + +"Fuzz!" exclaimed Hazel, with a dismayed, wide-eyed look; "must I have +fuzz for hair?" + +"Why, of course, for about five months," was the Doctor’s matter-of-fact +reply. "Then," he continued, apparently unheeding the look of relief +that crept over Hazel’s face, "you are apt to have the hair come out +curly." + +"Oh!" + +"Yes, and it really grows very fast--that is," he said, resorting to +wile, "if any one is strong and well; but if the general health is not +good, why--hem!--the hair is n’t apt to grow!" + +"Goodness! I don’t want to be bald all my life!" + +"No, I thought not, and for that very reason it did seem the best thing +for you to get into the country where you can get well and strong as +fast as ever you can." + +"Shall I have to eat my breakfast and dinner alone up there?" was her +next question. + +Doctor Heath laughed. "What! With all those five children! You will +never want for company, I can assure you of that. And now I ’ll be off; +as it’s Saint Valentine’s Day, which I had forgotten, I ’ll wager I have +five valentines from those very children waiting for me at home." + +"Will you show them to me, if you have?" + +"To be sure I will. Now sit up for half a day, and get yourself strong +enough to let me take you up there by the middle of March." + +"Oh, are you going to take me? What fun! Are they friends of yours?" +she added timidly. + +"Every one," said the Doctor, emphatically. He turned at the door. +"You have n’t said yet whether you will honor me with your company up +there." + +"I suppose I must," she said, with something between a sigh and a laugh. +"But I don’t know what Gabrielle will do; she ’ll be so homesick." + +"Gabrielle!" cried the Doctor, in a voice loud with amazement; "you +don’t think you are going to take Gabrielle with you, do you?" + +Before Hazel had time to recover from her astonishment, Gabrielle, +hearing her name called so loudly, came tripping into the room. + +"Oui, oui, monsieur le docteur;" and Doctor Heath beat a hasty retreat +to avoid further misunderstandings. + +In the afternoon, Hazel received a box by messenger, with, "Please +return by bearer," on the wrapper. On opening it, she found the +Doctor’s valentines with the following sentiments appropriately +attached. + + + I + + By Rose-pose made, by March adorned, + ’T is not a Heart that one should scorn: + For use each day, the whole year through, + Where find a Valentine so true? + + + II + + Cherry Blossom made this fudge + (Buddie made the box). + Eat it soon, or you will judge, + She made it all of rocks. + + + III + + Baby May has made this cookie; + Mother baked it--but, by hookey! + I can’t find another rhyme + To match with this your valentine. + + Your loving Valentines, + + ROSE, MARCH, "BUDD AND CHERRY," MAY BLOSSOM. + (We’re one.) + MOUNT HUNGER, February 14, 1896. + + + + + V + + TRANSPLANTED + + +It was the middle of April, yet the drifts still blocked the ravines, +and great patches of snow lay scattered thickly on the northern and +eastern slopes of the mountains. + +Not a bud had thought of swelling; not a fern dared to raise its downy +ball above the sodden leaves. Day after day a keen wind from the north +chased dark clouds across a watery blue sky, and now and then a solitary +crow flapped disconsolately over the upland pastures and into the woods. + +But in the farmhouse on the mountain, every Blossom was a-quiver with +excitement, for the "live Valentine" was to arrive that day. + +According to what Doctor Heath had written first, Mrs. Blossom had +expected Hazel to come the middle of March. She had told the children +about it a week before that date, and ever since, wild and varied and +continuous had been the speculations concerning the new member of the +family. + +Both father and mother were much amused at the different ways in which +each one accepted the fact, and commented upon it. At the same time +they were slightly anxious as to the outcome of such a combination. + +"They ’ll work it out for themselves, Mary," said Mr. Blossom, when his +wife was expressing her fears on account of the attitude of March and +Cherry. + +"I hope with all my heart they will, without friction or unpleasantness +for the poor child," replied his wife, thoughtfully, for March’s looks +and words returned to her, and they foreboded trouble. + +Her husband smiled. "Perhaps the ’poor child’ will have her ways of +looking at things up here, which may cause a pretty hard rub now and +then for our children. But let them take it; it will do them good, and +show us what stuff is in them for the future." + +Mrs. Blossom tried to think so, but March’s words on that afternoon she +had told the children came back to her. + +They were dumb at first through sheer surprise. Then Rose spoke, +flinging aside her Virgil she had been studying by the failing light at +the window. + +"Oh, mother! we ’ve been so happy--just by ourselves." + +"Will you be less happy, Rose, in trying to make some one else share our +happiness?" + +Rose said nothing, but leaned her forehead against the pane, and the +tears trickled adown it and froze halfway. + +Mrs. Blossom proceeded, in the silence that followed, to tell them +something of Hazel’s life. Then Budd spoke up like a man. + +"I ’m awful sorry for her; she ’s a little brick to be willing to come +away from her father and live with folks she don’t know. I ’d be a +darned coward about leaving my Popsey." + +There was no tablecloth handy to hide the squeeze he wanted to give his +mother’s hand, and Mrs. Blossom, knowing how he hated any public +demonstration of affection, reserved her approving kiss for the dark and +bedtime. But she looked at him in a way that sent Budd whistling, "I +won’t play in your back-yard," over to the kitchen stove, where he +stared inanely at his own reflection in the polished pipe. + +For the first time in her life, Cherry did not echo her twin’s +sentiment. She was already insanely jealous of the new-comer who seemed +to claim so much of her mother’s sympathy and affection. And she was +n’t even here! What would it be when she was here for good and all? + +At this miserable thought, and all that it appeared to involve, Cherry +began to cry. + +Now to see Cherry Blossom cry generally afforded great fun for the whole +family; for there never was a girl of ten who could cry in quite such a +unique manner as this same round-faced, pug-nosed, brown-eyed Cherry, +whose red hair curled as tightly as corkscrews all over her head, and +bobbed and danced and quivered and shook with every motion and emotion. + +First, her nose grew very red at the tip; then, her small mouth screwed +itself around by her left ear; gradually, her round face wrinkled till +it resembled a withered crabapple; and finally, if one listened intently +and watched closely, one could hear small sniffs and see two +infinitesimal drops of water issue from the nearly closed and wrinkled +eyes. + +But to-day no one noticed, and Cherry sat down in her mother’s lap, and +mumbled out her woe between sniffs. + +"I can’t help it if Budd does want her; _I_ don’t, Martie. Budd will +play with her, and you ’ll kiss her just as you do us, and it won’t be +comfy any more." + +"That does not sound like mother’s Cherry Blossom," said Mrs. Blossom, +smiling in spite of herself. "I think I ’ll tell you all why it comes +to mother and father as a blessing." + +Then Mrs. Blossom told them of the mortgage on the farm; how it had been +made necessary, and what it meant, and how it was her duty to accept +what had been sent to her as a means of paying it off. + +Rose came over from the window. "Oh, why did n’t you tell us before, +Martie," she cried, sobbing outright this time, "and let us help you to +earn something towards it during all this dreadful year? To think you +have been bearing all this, and just going about the same, smiling and +cheer--oh, dear!" Rose sat down on the hearth-rug at her mother’s feet, +and her sobs mingled with Cherry’s sniffs. + +March, who had listened thus far in silence, rose from the settle where +he had flung himself in disgust, and, going over to his mother, stood +straight and tall before her. His gray eyes flashed. + +"I ’ve been a fool, mother, not to see it all before this. You ought to +have told _me_. I ’m your eldest son, and come next after father in +’home things.’" And with this assertion he made a mighty resolve, then +and there to put away boyish things and be more of a man. His mother, +looking at him, felt the change, and tears of thankfulness filled her +eyes. + +"What could you do, children? You were too young to have your lives +burdened with work." + +"I ’d have found something to do, mother, if you had only told me. +About the girl--" he hesitated--"of course I ’ll look at it from the +money side, but it ’ll never be the same after she comes--never!" And +with that he went off into the barn. + +His mother sighed, for March was looking at the matter in the very way +which, to her, was abhorrent. + +"Don’t sigh so, Martie," cried Rose; "I ’ll take back what I said, and +do everything I can to help you by making it pleasant for her. Budd has +made me ashamed of myself." + +"That’s my own daughter Rose," said Mrs. Blossom, leaning over to kiss +her parting, for Cherry was awkwardly in the way. + +"Did you hear Rose, Cherry?" whispered her mother. + +"Ye-es," sniffed Cherry. + +"And won’t you try to help mother, and make Hazel happy?" + +"N-o," said Cherry, still obdurate. + +"Very well; then I must depend on Rose and Budd and little May," replied +her mother, putting her down from her knee. By which Cherry knew she +was out of favor, and, not having Budd to flee to for sympathy, ran +blindly out into the woodshed and straight into Chi, who was bringing in +two twelve-quart milk pails filled to overflowing with their creamy +contents. + +"Hi there! Cherry Bounce! Steady, steady--without you want to mop up +this woodshed." + +"O Chi! I ’m just as miser’ble; a new little girl’s coming to live with +us always, and we ’ll have no more good times." + +"That’s queer," said Chi, balancing the pails deftly as Cherry fluttered +about, rather uncertain as to where she should betake herself in the +cold. "I should think it would be the more, the merrier. When’s she +comin’?" + +"This very month," said Cherry, opening her eyes a little wider, and +forgetting to sniff in her delight at telling some news. "She ’s a rich +little girl, but very poor, too, mother says, and she’s been sick and is +coming here to get well. I suppose she ’s lost all her flesh while she +’s been sick, like Aunt Tryphosa; don’t you? That’s why she ’s so +poor." + +"Hm!--rich ’n’ poor too; that’s bad for children," said Chi, soberly. + +"Why?" asked Cherry, surprised into drying her small tears and +forgetting to sniff. + +"Coz ’t is. You see, all you children are rich ’n’ poor too; so she ’ll +keep you comp’ny, as she ’s poor where you ’re rich as Croesus, ’n’ you +’re poor as Job’s turkey where she’s rich." + +"Why, what do you mean, Chi?" + +"You wait awhile, ’n’ you ’ll find out." And with that, Cherry had to +be content. + +As the woodshed was too cold to be long comfortably mournful in,--Cherry +decided to go inside and set the table for tea, wondering, meanwhile, +what Chi meant. Ordinarily she would have gone straight to her mother to +find out; but just to-night Cherry felt there was an abyss separating +them, and she hated the very thought of the newcomer having caused this +break between her adored Martie and herself before having stepped foot +in the house. + +But Hazel’s arrival had been delayed a whole month: first, on account of +the unusually cold weather of March, and then on account of the Doctor’s +pressing engagements. To-night, however, this long waiting was to be at +an end. + +Mr. Blossom had harnessed Bess and Bob into the two-seated wagon, and +driven down three miles for them to the "Mill Settlement;" and there he +was to meet the stage from Barton’s River, the nearest railway station. + +As the time approached for the light of the lantern on the wagon to +glimmer on the lower mountain road, which ran in view of the house, the +excitement of Budd and Cherry grew intense. March intended to be +indifferent, yet tolerant, but even he went twice to the door to listen. +As for Rose, she was thinking almost more of Doctor Heath, with whom she +was a great favorite, than of the coming guest. Chi had done up the +chores early with March’s help, and sat whistling and whittling in the +shed door with his eye on the lower road. + +"They ’re coming; they ’re coming!" screamed the twins, making a wild +dash for the woodshed, that they might have the first glimpse as the +wagon drove up to the kitchen porch. + +"Chi, they ’re coming!" they shrieked in his ear, as they flew past him. + +"Well, I ain’t deaf, if they are," said Chi, gathering himself together, +and going out to help unload. + +"Chi, how are you?" said the Doctor, in a hearty tone, grasping the +horny hand held out to him. + +"First-rate, ’n’ glad to see you back on the Mountain." + +"Here, lend a hand, will you? and take out a Little somebody who has to +be handled rather gently for a week or two." + +"I ain’t much used to handlin’ chiny," he replied, "but I ’ll be +careful." + +He reached up his long arms and, gently as a woman, lifted Hazel out of +the wagon on to the porch. + +By this time, Budd had found his bearings and had the Doctor by the +hand. + +"Halloo, Budd! here you are handy. Just take Hazel’s bag, and run into +the house with her; she must n’t stand a minute in this keen air." + +Budd’s heart was going pretty fast, but he faced the music. + +"Come along, Hazel; we ’ve been waiting a month to see you." + +"And I’ve been waiting longer than that to see you, Budd." The gentle +voice made Budd her vassal forever after. + +"Here, Martie, here’s Hazel!" he shouted quite unnecessarily, for his +mother had come to the door to welcome her guests. Cherry, hearing the +shout, disappeared in the pantry, and was invisible until called to +supper. + +In the confusion of glad welcome that followed, Hazel was conscious of +stepping into a large, warm, lighted room, of some one’s arms about her, +and of a loving voice, saying: + +"Come in, dear; you must be so tired with your long journey and this +cold ride;" and then a kiss that made her half forget the lonely, +strange feeling she had had during the stage and wagon ride, despite the +doctor’s cheerfulness and care of her. + +Then some one untied her brown velvet hood and loosened her long +sealskin coat. + +"Let me take off your things," said Rose. + +Hazel looked up and into the loveliest face she ever remembered to have +seen. + +"I ’m Rose, and this is May. May, this is the valentine Martie told us +of." + +"I tiss ’oo," said May, winningly, and held up her rosy bud of a face to +Hazel. Hazel stooped to give her, not one, but a half-dozen kisses. +There was no resisting such a little blossom. + +May put up her hand and stroked the little silk skull-cap. + +"What ’oo wear tap for?" + +"Sh! baby," said Rose, horrified, putting her hand on May’s mouth. + +"Oh, don’t do that," said Hazel, "I ’m so used to it now; I don’t mind +what people say or think. But I did at first." + +May’s lip began to quiver and roll over; Hazel sat down on the settle, +and, drawing May up beside her, said gently:-- + +"There, there, little May Blossom, don’t you cry, and I ’ll tell you all +about it. It’s because I have n’t any hair. I lost it all when I was +sick so long. Sometime I ’ll show you how funny my head looks, all +covered with fuzz. Doctor Heath says it’s like a little chicken’s." And +May was comforted and won once and for all to the Valentine, who gave +her the tiny chatelaine watch to play with. + +Budd had been hanging about to get the first glimpse of Hazel by +lamplight, and now rushed off to the barn and Chi to give vent to his +feelings. + +"I say, Chi, where are you?" + +"In the harness room," replied Chi. "What do you want?" as he appeared. + +"I say, Chi, she ’s a peach. She is n’t a bit stuck up, as March said +she would be." + +"Good-lookin’?" queried Chi. + +"N-o," said Budd, hesitating, "n-o, but I think she will be when she +gets some hair." + +"Ain’t got any hair!" exclaimed Chi. "How does that happen?" + +"She said she ’d been sick an’ lost it all, an’ ’t was like chicken +fuzz." + +"Said that, did she?" exclaimed Chi, laughing; then, with the sudden +change from gayety to absolute solemnity that was peculiar to him, he +said:-- + +"She ’s no fool, I can tell you that, Budd; ’n’ I ’ll bet my last red +cent she ’ll come out an A Number 1 beauty; ’n’ March Blossom had better +hold his tongue till he cuts all his wisdom teeth." And with that Chi +went into the shed room to "wash up." + +What a supper that was! And what a room in which to eat it! + +But for the Doctor’s cheery voice, Hazel, as she sat in a corner of the +settle, might have thought herself in another world, so unaccustomed +were her city-bred eyes to all that was going on before her. The room +itself was so queer, and, in a way new to her, delightful. + +The farmhouse was an old one, strong of beam and solid of foundation. +It had been divided at first according to the fashion of the other +century in which it was built. But as his family increased, Mr. Blossom +found the need of a large, general living-room. It was then that he +took down the wall between the front square room and the kitchen, and +threw them into one. It was this arrangement that made the apartment +unique. + +At one end was the huge fireplace that was originally in the front room. +At the left of the fireplace was the jog into which the front door +opened, formerly the little entry. + +This was the sitting-room end of the low forty-foot-long apartment; and +it showed to Hazel the fireplace, the old-fashioned crane, with the +hickory back-log glowing warm welcome, the long red-cushioned settle, a +set of shelves filled with books, a little round work-table, Mrs. +Blossom’s special property, a large round table of cherry that had +turned richly red with age, and wooden armchairs and rockers, with +patchwork cushions. + +The middle portion served for dining-room. In it were the family table +of hard pine, the wooden chairs, and Mrs. Blossom’s grandmother’s tall +pine dresser. + +At the kitchen end, next the woodshed, were the sink, the stove, the +kitchen shelves for pots and pans, and the kitchen table with its +bread-trough and pie-board, all of which Rose kept scoured white with +soap and sand. + +This living-room, sitting-room, dining-room, and kitchen in one had six +windows facing south and east. Every window had brackets for plants; +for this evening Rose had turned the blossom-side inwards to the room, +and the walls glowed and gleamed with the velvety crimson of gloxinias, +the red of fuchsias, the pink and white and scarlet of geraniums, the +cream of wax-plant and begonia. Upon all this radiance of color, the +lamplight shone and the fire flashed its crimson shadows. The kettle +sang on the stove, and the delicious odor of baked potatoes came from +the open oven. + +"Why, March!" said the Doctor, coming down from the spare room at the +call for supper, "waiting for an introduction? I did n’t know you stood +on ceremony in this fashion. Allow me," he said with mock gravity to +Hazel, and presented March in due form. + +Hazel greeted him exactly as she would have greeted a new boy at +dancing-school. "Little Miss Finicky," was March’s scornful thought of +her, as he bowed rather awkwardly and thrust his hands into his pockets, +racking his brains for something to say. + +"What a handsome boy! As handsome as Jack," was Hazel’s first +impression; then, missing the cordiality with which the other members of +the family had welcomed her, she said in thought, "I ’m sure he does not +want me here by the way he acts; I think he ’s horrid." + +Doctor Heath sat down by Hazel. "I ’m not going to let you sit down to +tea with all these mischiefs, little girl, not to-night, for you can’t +eat baked potatoes and the other good things after that long journey, so +I ’ll ask Rose to give you a bite right here on the settle." + +"I ’ll speak to Rose," said March, glad to get away. + +"Thank you," said the Doctor, looking after him with a puzzled +expression in his keen eyes. Just then Mr. Blossom and Chi came in, and +the whole family sat down at the table. + +"Why, where ’s Cherry?" exclaimed the Doctor. + +"Budd, where ’s Cherry?" said his father. + +"I promised her I would n’t tell where she hides till she was twelve, +an’ now she ’s ten, an’ she ’s been so mean about Haz-- + +"Budd," said his father, sternly, "answer me directly." + +"She ’s under the pantry shelf behind the meal-chest," said Budd, +meekly. + +There was a shout of laughter that caused Cherry to crawl out pretty +quickly and open the pantry door,--for it was hard to hear the fun and +not be in it. + +"Come, Cherry," said her mother, still laughing, and Cherry slipped into +her seat beside Doctor Heath with a murmured, "How do you do?" and her +face bent so low over her plate that nothing was visible to Hazel but a +round head running over with tight red curls that bobbed and trembled in +a peculiarly funny way. + +"Well, Cherry," said the Doctor, trying to speak gravely, with only the +red tip of a nose in view, "you seem to be rather low in your mind. I +shall have to prescribe for you. Chi, suppose you drive me down to the +Settlement to-morrow morning, and on the way to the train I will send up +a cure-all for low spirits. I ’ve something for March, too. I think he +needs it." He drew his eyebrows together over the bridge of his nose +and cast a sharp glance at the boy, who felt the doctor had read him. + +"That means you ’ve got something for us," said Budd, bluntly. + +"Guess Budd’s hit the nail on the head this time," said Chi. "Should +n’t wonder if ’t was some pretty lively stuff." + +"You ’re right there, Chi," replied the Doctor, laughing. "There ’s +plenty of good strong bark in it--" + +Thereupon there was a shout of joy from Budd which brought Cherry’s head +into position at once. + +"I know, I know, it’s a St. Bernard puppy!" + +"Oh--ee," squealed Cherry, in her delight, and forthwith put her arm +through the Doctor’s and squeezed it hard against her ribs. + +"Guess there’s a good deal of crow-foot in the other, ain’t there?" said +Chi, with a wink at March, who deliberately left his seat after saying, +"Excuse me" most gravely to his mother, and turned a somersault in the +kitchen end just to relieve his feelings. Then, with his hands in his +pockets, he went up to Doctor Heath, his usually clear, pale face +flushing with excitement. + +"Do you mean, Doctor Heath, you ’re going to give me a full-blooded +Wyandotte cock?" he demanded. + +"That is just what I mean, March," replied the Doctor, with great +gravity, "and twelve full-blooded wives are at this moment looking in +vain for a roost beside their lord and master in the express office down +at Barton’s River." + +"Oh, glory!" cried March, wringing the Doctor’s hand with both his, and +then going off to execute another somersault. "You ’ve done it now!" + +"Done what, March?" asked Doctor Heath, really touched by the boy’s +grateful enthusiasm. + +"Made my fortune," he replied, dropping into his seat again, breathless +with excitement; and to the Doctor’s amazement he saw tears, actual +tears, gather in the boy’s eyes, before he looked down in his plate and +busied himself with his baked potato. + +Hazel saw them too. "What a strange boy," she thought, "and how +different this is from eating my dinner all alone!" Then she slipped up +to the Doctor’s side with her small tray containing nothing but empty +dishes, for the keen air and the sight of so many others eating and +enjoying themselves had given her a good appetite. + +"Are you satisfied with me _now_?" she said, presenting her tray. + +"I should think so," he exclaimed. "Two glasses of milk, two slices of +toasted brown bread, one piece of sponge cake, and a baked apple with +cream! I ’ve gone out of business with you; my last ’tonic’ is going to +work well,--don’t you think so?" + +"I ’m sure it is," she said quietly, but there was such a depth of +meaning in the sweet voice and the few words that the Doctor threw his +arm around her as they rose from the table, and kept her beside him +until bedtime. + +At nine o’clock, Mrs. Blossom helped her to undress, and then, saying +she would come back soon, left her alone in the little bedroom off the +kitchen. + +Hazel looked about her in amazement. This was her little room! A small +single bed, looking like a snow drift, so white and feathery and high +was it; one window curtained with a square of starched white cotton +cloth that drew over the panes by means of a white cord on which it was +run at the top; a tiny wash-stand with an old-fashioned bowl and pitcher +of green and white stone-ware, and over it an old-fashioned gilt mirror; +a small splint-bottomed chair and large braided rug of red woollen rags. +That was all, except in one corner, where some cleats had been nailed to +the ceiling and a clothes-press made by hanging from them full curtains +of white cloth. + +For the first time in her life, Hazel unpacked her own travelling-bag +and took out the silver toilet articles with the pretty monogram. But +where should she put them? No bureau, no dressing-case, no +bath-room!--For a few minutes Hazel felt bewildered, then, laughing, she +put them back again into her bag, and, leaving her candle in the tin +candlestick on the wash-stand, she gave one leap into the middle of the +high feather-bed. + +Just then Mrs. Blossom returned from saying good-night to her own +children. She tucked Hazel in snugly, and to the young girl’s surprise, +knelt by the bed saying, "Let us repeat the Lord’s Prayer together, +dear;" and together they said it, Hazel fearing almost the sound of her +own voice. When they had finished, Mary Blossom, still kneeling, asked +that Father to bless the coming of this one of His little ones into +their home, and asked it in such a loving, trustful way, that Hazel’s +arm stole out from the coverlet and around Mrs. Blossom’s neck; her +head, soft and silky as a new-born baby’s, cuddled to her shoulder: and +when Mrs. Blossom kissed her good-night, she said suddenly, but +half-timidly, "Do you say _this_ with Rose every night?" + +"Yes, dear, every night." + +"And how old is Rose?" + +"She will be seventeen next August." + +"Do you with Budd and Cherry, too?" + +"Yes, with all my children, even March and May." + +"March!" exclaimed Hazel. + +"Why not?" laughed his mother. "I ’m sure he needs it, as you ’ll find +out; now good-night, and don’t get up to our early breakfast to-morrow, +for the Doctor goes on the first morning train, and you ’re not quite +strong enough yet to do just as we do. Good-night again." + +"Good-night," said Hazel, thinking she could never have enough of this +kind of putting to bed. + +Meanwhile March and Budd, in their bedroom over the "long-room," were +discussing in half-whispers Wyandotte cocks, St. Bernard puppies, and +the new-comer, for they were too excited to sleep. + +Just behind March’s bed, near the head, there was a large knot in the +boards of the flooring, which for four years had served him many a good +turn, when Budd and Cherry were planning, below in the kitchen, how they +could play tricks upon him. March had carefully removed the knot, and +with his eye, or ear, at the hole, he had been able, entirely to the +mystification of the twins, to overthrow their conspiracies and defeat +their flank movements. When his espionage was over, he replaced the +knot, and no one in the household was the wiser for his private +detective service. + +To-day, late in the afternoon, he had taken out the knot, intending to +have a view of the new arrival, unbeknown to the rest of the household; +but so interested had he become in the general welcome and in the +anticipation of the Doctor’s gifts, that he had forgotten both to look +through the hole and to replace the knot. + +Hazel, too, could not sleep at first. It was all so strange, and yet +she was so happy. Her thoughts were in New York, and she was already +planning for a visit from her father, when suddenly she remembered that +she had left the little chatelaine watch he had given her on her last +birthday, lying on the settle where May had been playing with it. She +must wind it regularly, that was her father’s stipulation when he gave +it to her. She sprang out of bed, tiptoed to the door, listened; all +was still, but not wholly dark. The embers beneath the ashes in the +fireplace sent a dull glow into the room. Softly she stole out; found +her watch, then, half-way to her own door, stopped, startled by a voice +issuing apparently from the rafters overhead. It was March, who, +forgetting his open knot-hole, turned over towards the wall with a +prolonged yawn and said, evidently in answer to Budd:-- + +"Oh, go to sleep; don’t talk about her. I think she ’s a perfect guy." + + + + + VI + + MALACHI + + +It was a month after the eventful day for the Blossoms, and Saturday +morning. Rose, with her sleeves rolled up above her elbows, was +kneading bread and singing, as she worked:-- + + "’Oh, a king would have loved and left thee, + And away thy sweet love cast: + But I am thine + Whilst the stars shall shine,-- + To the--last--’" + + +Just here, she gave the round mass of dough a toss up to the ceiling and +caught it deftly on her right fist as it came down, finishing her octave +with high C, while again the bread spun aloft and dropped in safety on +her left fist--"to the last!" + +Then she proceeded with her kneading and singing:-- + + "’I told thee when love was hopeless; + But now he is wild and sings-- + That the stars above [up went the bread again]-- + Shine ever on Love--’" + + +A peal of merry laughter close behind her made her jump, and the bread +came down kerchunk into the kneading trough. + +"Gracious, Hazel! how you frightened me! I thought you were off with +Budd and Cherry." + +"So I was; but they wanted me to come in and tell you there is to be a +secret meeting of the N.B.B.O.O. Society in the usual place. They said +you would know where it is." + +"Of course I do; do you?" + +"No, they would n’t tell. They said it is against the rules to allow +any one in who hasn’t been initiated. They said they ’d initiate me, if +I wanted to join." + +"Well, do you want to?" + +"Of course I do, if you belong," said Hazel, eagerly. + +"Tell them I ’ll be out after I ’ve put the bread to rise and cleared +up; but be sure and tell them not to do anything till I come." + +"Yes," cried Hazel, joyfully, skipping through the woodshed and +encountering Chi with a bag of seed-beans. + +"Where you goin’, Lady-bird?" (This was Chi’s name for her from the +first day.) "Seems to me you ’re gettin’ over the ground pretty fast." + +"The Buds" (for so Hazel had nicknamed the children) "are going to have +a meeting somewhere of the N.B.B.O.O. Society, and I’m to be initiated, +Chi. What does that mean?" + +"Initiated, hey? Into a secret society? Well, that depends.--Sometimes +it means being tossed sky-high in a blanket, and then again you ’re +dropped lower than the bottomless pit; and you can’t most always tell +beforehand which way you ’re goin’." + +Hazel’s face fairly lost the rich color she had gained in the past +month. This was more than she had bargained for. + +"Oh, Chi! They would n’t do such things to me!" she exclaimed in +dismay. + +"Well, no--I don’t know as they ’d carry it that far; but those children +mean mischief every time." + +"But they would n’t hurt me, Chi. They would n’t be as mean as that; +besides, Rose wouldn’t let them." + +"Well, I don’t know as she would. But children are children, and Rose +ain’t grown any wings yet." + +"Was Rose initiated?" was Hazel’s next rather anxious question. + +"Yes, she was," said Chi, taking up a handful of beans and letting them +run through his fingers into the open bag. + +"How do you know, Chi?" + +"Coz I initiated her myself." + +"You, Chi? Why, do you belong?" + +"First member of the N.B.B.O.O. Society." + +"Well, that’s funny. Who initiated you?" + +Chi set down the bag of beans, and for a moment shook with laughter; +then, growing perfectly sober, he said solemnly:-- + +"I initiated myself. But they was all on hand when I did it." + +"What did you do, Chi?" + +"Just hear her!" said Chi to himself, but aloud, he said, "I ’ll tell +you this much, if it is a secret society. They try ’n’ see what stuff +you ’re made of." + + "’Sugar and spice + And all that’s nice, + That’s what little girls are made of,’" + +Hazel interrupted, singing merrily. + +"There was n’t much ’sugar ’n’ spice’ in that Rose Blossom when she put +me to the test. You ain’t heard a screech-owl yet; but when you do, +you’ll come running home to find out whose bein’ killed in the woods." + +Hazel looked at him half in fear, but Chi went on stolidly:-- + +"’N’ those children told me I ’d got to go up into the woods at twelve +o’clock at night, when the screech-owls was yellin’ bloody murder, to +show I wasn’t scairt of nothin’; ’n’ I went." + +"Oh, Chi, was n’t it awful?" + +"Kinder scarey; but they gave me the dinner horn ’n’ told me to blow a +blast on that when I was up there, so they ’d hear, ’n’ know I was +_clear_ into the woods; for they was all on hand watchin’ from the back +attic window--what they could in a pitch-black night--to see if I ’d +back down." + +"And you did n’t, Chi?" said Hazel, eagerly. + +"You bet I did n’t, ’n’ I brought home an old screecher just to prove I +was game." + +"How did you catch him, Chi?" + +Chi clapped his hands on his knees, and shook with laughter; then he +grew perfectly sober:-- + +"I took a dark lantern along with me, just to kind of feel my way in the +woods--but the children did n’t know about that--’n’ when an old +screecher gave a blood-curdlin’ yell, just as near my right ear as the +engine down on the track when you ’re standin’ at the depot at Barton’s +River,--just then I turned on the light full tilt, and the feller sat +right still on the branch, kind of dazed like, ’n’ I took him just as +easy as I ’d take a hen off the roost after dark, ’n’ brought him home. +’N’ just as I was goin’ up into the attic in the dark, the shed stairs’ +way, ’n’ the children was all listenin’ at the top in the dark, the +dummed bird gave such a screech that the children all tumbled over one +another tryin’ to get back to their beds, ’n’ such screamin’ ’n’ +hollerin’ you never heard--the bird was n’t in it." + +Again Chi laughed at the recollection, and Hazel joined him. + +"Did they make you do anything more, Chi?" + +"By George Washin’ton! I should think they did," said Chi, soberly. +"That last was March’s idea, but Rose went him one more." + +"What could Rose think of worse than that?" demanded Hazel. + +"Well, she did. She blindfolded my eyes ’n’ took me by the hand, ’n’ +turned me round ’n’ round till I was most dizzy; ’n’ then she gave me a +rope, ’n’ she took one end of it ’n’ made me take the other, ’n’ kept +leadin’ me ’n’ leadin’ me, ’n’ the children all caperin’ round me, +screamin’ ’n’ laughin’. Pretty soon--I calculated I ’d walked about a +quarter of a mile--the rope grew slack; all of a sudden the laughin’ ’n’ +screamin’ stopped, ’n’ I--walked right off the bank into the big pool +down under the pines, ker--splash! ’n’ the children, after they ’d got +me in, was so scairt for fear I ’d lose my breath--I could n’t drown coz +there was n’t more than five feet of water in it--that they hauled on +the rope with all their might, ’n’ pulled me out; ’n’ I let ’em pull," +said Chi, grimly. + +"I hope they were satisfied after that," said Hazel, soberly. + +"They appeared to be," said Chi, contentedly, "for they said I should be +president, coz I was so brave. But there ’s other things harder to do +than that." + +"What are they, Chi?" + +"You ’ve got to keep the by-laws." + +"What are those?" + +"Rules of the Society. One of ’em ’s, you must n’t be afraid to tell +the truth. ’N’ another is, you must be scairt to tell a lie." + +Hazel grew scarlet at her own thoughts. + +"Another is, to help other folks all you can; ’n’ the fourth ’n’ last +is, that no boy or girl as lives in this great, free country of ours +ought to be a coward." + +Hazel drew a long breath. + +"Those must be hard to keep." + +"Well, they ain’t always easy, that’s a fact; but they re mighty good to +live by," he added, picking up the bean-bag. "I lived with Ben +Blossom’s father when I was a little chap as chore boy, ’n’ he gave me +my schoolin’ ’n’ clothes; ’n’ I ’ve lived with his son ever since he was +married, ’n’ he’s been the best friend a man could have, ’n’ I ’ve +always got along with him in peace and lovin’-kindness; ’n’ those four +by-laws his father wrote on my boyhood; ’n’ by those four by-laws I ’ve +kept my manhood; ’n’ so I think it ’ll do anybody good to join the +Society." + +"Well," said Hazel, stoutly, "I ’ll show them I ’m not afraid of some +things, if I did run away from the turkey-gobbler." + +"That’s right," said Chi, heartily, "’n’ more than that--betwixt you ’n’ +me--you ’ve no cause to be scairt _whatever_ they do; now mark my words, +_whatever they do_," repeated Chi, emphatically. + +"I don’t care what they do so long as you ’re there, Chi," said Hazel, +looking up into his weather-roughened, deeply-lined face with such utter +trust in her great eyes that Chi caught up the bag over his shoulder and +hurried out to the barn, muttering to himself:-- + +"George Washin’ton! How she manages to creep into the softest corner of +a man’s heart, I don’t know; I expect it’s those great eyes of hers, ’n’ +that voice just like a brook winnerin’ ’n’ gurglin’ over its stones in +August.--Guess there’s luck come to this house with Lady-bird!" And he +went about his work. + + + + + VII + + THE N.B.B.O.O. SOCIETY + + +"Now, Hazel, we ’re ready," said Rose, after the dinner dishes had been +washed and the children’s time was their own. Hazel submitted meekly to +the blindfolding process. + +She had tried in vain to find out something of what the children +intended to do, but they were too clever for her to gain the smallest +hint as to the initiation. March had been busy in the ice-house, and +Cherry had been ironing the aprons for the family,--that was her +Saturday morning duty. Budd and the St. Bernard puppy were off with Chi +in the fields. + +Rose led her through the woodshed and out of doors--Hazel knew that by +the rush of soft air that met her face--and away, somewhither. At last +she was helped to climb a ladder; Chi’s hand grasped hers, and she felt +the flooring under her feet. Then she was left without support of any +kind, not daring to move with Chi’s story in her thoughts. + +"Guess we ’ll have the roll-call first," said Chi, solemnly. There was +not a sound to be heard except now and then a rush of wings and the +twitter of swallows. + +"Molly Stark." + +"Here," said Rose. + +"Markis de Lafayette." + +"Here," from March. + +"Marthy Washin’ton." + +"Present," said Cherry, forgetting she was not in school. Budd +snickered, and the president called him to order. + +"Fine of two cents for snickerin’ in meetin’." Budd looked sober. + +"Ethan Allen." + +"Here," said Budd, in a subdued voice. + +"Old Put,--Here," said Chi, addressing and answering himself. "Now, +Markis, read the by-laws." + +"Number One.--We pledge ourselves not to be afraid to tell the truth." + +"Number Two.--We pledge ourselves to be afraid to tell a lie. + +"Number Three.--We pledge ourselves to try to help others whenever we +can, wherever we can, however we can, as long as ever we can. + +"Number Four.--We, as American boys and girls, pledge ourselves never to +play the coward nor to disgrace our country." + +"Molly Stark, unfurl the flag," said Chi. + +Hazel heard a rustle as Rose unrolled the banner of soft red, white, and +blue cambric. + +"Put Old Glory round the candidate’s shoulders," commanded the +president, and Hazel felt the soft folds being draped about her. + +"There now, Lady-bird, you ’re dressed as pretty as you ’re ever goin’ +to be; it don’t make a mite of difference whether you ’re the Empress of +Rooshy, or just plain every-day folks; ’n’ now you ’ve got that rig on, +we ’re ready to give you the hand of fellowship. Markis, you have the +floor." + +"What name does the candidate wish to be known by?" asked March, with +due gravity; then, forgetting his role, he added, "You must take the +name of some woman who has been just as brave as she could be." + +Hazel, feeling the folds of the flag about her, suddenly recalled her +favorite poem of Whittier’s. + +"Barbara Frietchie," she said promptly and firmly. + +The various members shouted and cheered themselves hoarse before order +was restored. + +"What’d I tell you, Budd?" said Chi, triumphantly; then there was +another shout, for Chi had broken the rules in speaking thus. + +"Two cents’ fine!" shouted Budd, "for speaking out of order in meeting." + +"Sho! I forgot," said Chi, humbly; "well, proceed." + +"Do you, Barbara Frietchie, pledge yourself to try to keep these +by-laws?" + +"Yes," said Hazel, but rather tremulously. + +"Well, then, we ’ll put you to the test. Molly Stark will extend the +first hand of fellowship to Barbara Frietchie--No, hold out your hand, +Hazel; way out--don’t you draw it back that way!" + +"I did n’t," retorted Hazel. + +"Yes, you did, I saw you!" + +"You didn’t, either." + +"I did." + +"You did n’t." + +"I did, too." + +"He did n’t, did he, Chi?" said Hazel, furious at this charge of +apparent timidity. + +"I don’t believe you drew it back even if March does think he saw you," +said Chi, pouring oil both ways on the troubled waters; "’n’ I never +thought ’t was just the thing for a boy to tell a girl she was a coward +before she’d proved to be one--specially if he belongs to this Society." + +The Marquis de Lafayette hung his head at this rebuke; but in the action +his cocked hat of black and gilt paper lurched forward and drew off with +it his white cotton-wool wig. Budd and Cherry, forgetting all rules, +fines, and sense of propriety, rolled over and over at the sight; Rose +sat down shaking with laughter, and even Chi lost his dignity. + +"I wish you would let me _see_, or do something," said Hazel, +plaintively, when she could make herself heard. + +"’T ain’t fair to keep Hazel waiting so," declared Budd, and the +president called the meeting to order again. + +"Put out your hand, Hazel," said Rose. "Now shake." + +Hazel grasped a hand, cold, deathly cold, and clammy. The chill of the +rigid fingers sent a corresponding shiver down the length of her +backbone, and the goose-flesh rose all over her arms and legs. She +thought she must shriek; but she recalled Chi’s words, set her teeth +hard, and shook the awful thing with what strength she had, never +uttering a sound. + +"Bully for you, Hazel! I knew you ’d show lots of pluck," cried Budd. + +"Got grit every time," said Chi, proudly. "Now let’s have the other +test and get down to business. Guess all three of you ’ll have to have +a finger in this pie. Hurry up, Marthy Washin’ton!" Cherry scuttled +down the ladder, and in a few minutes labored, panting, up again. + +"What did you bring two for?" demanded Budd. + +"’Cause March said ’t would balance me better on the ladder," replied +Cherry, innocently. At which explanation Chi laughed immoderately, much +to Cherry’s discomfiture. + +"Now, Hazel, roll up your sleeve and hold out your bare arm," said the +Marquis. Hazel obeyed, wondering what would come next. + +"Here, Budd, you hold it; all ready, Cherry?" + +"Ye-es--wait a minute; now it’s all right." + +"This we call burning in the Society’s brand,--N.B.B.O.O.;" the voice of +the Marquis was solemn, befitting the occasion. + +Hazel drew her breath sharply, uncertain whether to cry out or not. +There was a sharp sting across her arm, as if a hot curling-iron had +been drawn quickly across it; then a sound of sizzling flesh, and the +odor of broiled beefsteak rose up just under her nostrils. + +There was a diabolical thud of falling flat-irons; Rose tore the bandage +from Hazel’s eyes, and the bewildered candidate for membership, when her +eyes grew somewhat wonted to the dim light, found herself in a corner of +the loft in the barn, with the elegant figure of the Marquis in cocked +hat, white wig, yellow vest, blue coat, and yellow knee-breeches dancing +frantically around her; Ethan Allen in white woollen shirt, red yarn +suspenders, and red, white, and blue striped trousers, turning back-hand +somersaults on the hay; Chi standing at salute with his +great-great-grandfather’s Revolutionary musket, his old straw hat +decorated with a tricolor cockade, and Cherry in a white cotton-wool +wig, a dark calico dress of her mother’s and a white neckerchief, flat +on the floor beside two six-pound flat-irons. + +A piece of raw beef on a tin pan, some bits of ice, and a kid glove +stuffed with ice and sawdust, lay scattered about. They told the tale of +the initiation. + +"Three cheers for Barbara Frietchie!" shouted Budd, as he came right +side up. The barn rang with them. + +"Now we ’ll give the right hand of true fellowship," said Chi, rapping +with the butt of his musket for order. + +Rose gave Hazel’s hand a squeeze. "I ’m so glad you ’re to be one of +us," she said heartily; and Hazel squeezed back. + +March came forward, bowed low, and said, "I apologize for my distrust of +your pluck," and held out his hand with a look in the flashing gray eyes +that was not one of mockery; indeed, he looked glad, but never a word of +welcome did he speak. + +"I could flog that proud feller," muttered Chi to himself. + +Hazel hesitated a moment, then put out her hand a little reluctantly. +March caught the gesture and her look. + +"Oh, you ’re not obliged to," he said haughtily, and turned on his heel. +But Hazel put her hand on his arm. + +"I ’m afraid we are both breaking some of the by-laws, March. I do want +to shake hands, but I was thinking just then that you did n’t mean the +apology--not really and truly; and if you did mean it, there was +something else you needed to apologize for more than that!" + +March flushed to the roots of his hair. Then his boy’s honor came to +the rescue. + +"I do want to now, Hazel--and forgive and forget, won’t you?" he said, +with the winning smile he inherited from his father, but which he kept +for rare occasions. + +Hazel put her hand in his, and felt that this had been worth waiting +for. She knew that at last March had taken her in. + +Budd gripped with all his might, Cherry shook with two fingers, and +Chi’s great hand closed over hers as tenderly as a woman’s would have +done. + +This was Hazel’s initiation into the Nobody’s Business But Our Own +Society. It was the second meeting of the year. + +"Now, March, I ’ll make you chairman and ask you to state the business +of this meetin’, as you ’ve called it. Must be mighty important?" + +"It is," replied March, gravely, all the fun dying out of his face. +"You remember, all of you,--don’t you?--what mother told us that night +she said Hazel was coming?" + +"Yes," chorussed the children. + +"Well, I ’ve been thinking and thinking ever since how I could help--" + +"So ’ve I, March," interrupted Rose. + +"And I have, too," said Budd. + +"What’s all this mean?" said Chi, somewhat astonished, for he had not +known why the meeting had been called. + +"Why, you see, Chi, we never knew till then that the farm had been +mortgaged on account of father’s sickness, and that it had been so awful +hard for mother all this year--" + +Chi cleared his throat. + +"--And we want to do something to help earn. If we could earn just our +own clothes and books and enough to pay for our schooling, it would be +something." + +"Guess ’t would," said Chi, clearing his throat again. "Kind of workin’ +out the third by-law, ain’t you?" + +"Trying to," answered March, with such sincerity in his voice that Chi’s +throat troubled him for full a minute. "And what I want to find out, +without mother’s knowing it, or father either, is how we can earn enough +for those things. If anybody ’s got anything to say, just speak up." + +"What you goin’ to do with those Wyandottes?" + +"I knew you ’d ask that, Chi. I ’m going to raise a fine breed and sell +the eggs at a dollar and a half for thirteen; but I can’t get any +chicken-money till next fall, and no egg-money till next spring, and I +want to begin now." + +"Hm--" said Chi, taking off his straw hat and slowly scratching his +head. "Well," he said after a pause in which all were thinking and no +one talking, "why don’t all of you go to work raisin’ chickens for next +Thanksgivin’?" + +"By cracky!" said Budd, "we could raise three or four hundred, an’ fat +’em up, an’ make a pile, easy as nothing." + +"I don’t know about it’s bein’ so easy; but children have the time to +tend ’em, and I don’t see why it won’t work, seein’ it’s a good time of +year." + +"But where ’ll we get the hens to set, Chi?" said March. + +"Oh, there ’s enough of ’em settin’ round now on the bare boards," Chi +replied. + +"Can I raise some, too?" asked Hazel, rather timidly. + +"Don’t know what there is to hinder," said Chi, with a slow smile. + +"And can I buy some hens for my very own?" + +"Why, of course you can; just say the word, ’n’ you ’n’ I ’ll go +settin’-hen hunting within a day or so." + +"Oh, what fun!" cried Hazel, clapping her hands. "But I want some that +will sit and lay too, Chi; then I can sell the eggs." + +There was a shout of laughter, at which Hazel felt hurt. + +"There now, Lady-bird, we won’t laugh at your city ways of lookin’ at +things any more. The hens ain’t quite so accommodatin’ as that, but we +’ll get some good setters first, ’n’ then see about the layin’ +afterwards." + +"But, Chi, it will take such a lot of corn to fatten them. We don’t want +to ask father for anything." + +"That’s right, Rose. Be independent as long as you can; I thought of +that, too. Now, there ’s a whole acre on the south slope I ploughed +this spring,--nice, hot land, just right for corn-raisin’; ’n’ if you +children ’ll drop ’n’ cover, I ’ll help you with the hoein’ ’n’ cuttin’ +’n’ huskin’; ’n’ you ’ll have your corn for nothin’." + +"Good for you, Chi; we ’ll do it, won’t we?" cried March. + +"You bet," said Budd. + +"I can pick berries," said Rose, "and we can always sell them at the +Inn, or at Barton’s River." + +"Yes, and we can begin in June," said Cherry; "the pastures are just red +with the wild strawberries, you know, Rose." + +"It’s an awful sight of work to pick ’em," said Budd, rather dubiously. + +"Well, you can’t get your money without workin’, Budd; ’n’ work don’t +mean ’take it easy.’" + +"I ’m sure we can get twenty-five cents a quart for them right in the +village. I ’ve heard folks say they make the best preserve you can get, +and you can’t buy them for love nor money," said Rose. "Mother makes +beautiful ones." + +"Was n’t that what we had last Sunday night when the minister was here +to tea?" asked Hazel. + +"Yes," said Rose. + +"I never tasted any strawberries like them at home, and the housekeeper +buys lots of jams and jellies in the fall." Hazel thought hard for a +minute. Suddenly she jumped to her feet, clapped her hands, and spun +round and round like a top, crying out, "I have it! I have it!" + +The N.B.B.O.O. Society was amazed to see the new member perform in this +lively manner, for Hazel had been rather quiet during the first month. +Now she caught up her skirts with a dainty tilt, and danced the Highland +Fling just to let her spirits out through her feet. Up and down the +floor of the loft she charged, hands over her head, hands swinging her +skirts, light as a fairy, bending, swaying, and bowing, till, with a big +"cheese," she sat down almost breathless by Chi. Was this Hazel? The +members of the N.B.B.O.O. looked at one another in amazement, and +March’s eyes flashed again, as they had done once before during the +afternoon. + +"Now all listen to me," she said, as if, after a month of silence, she +had found her tongue. "I ’ve an idea, and when I have one, papa says +it’s worth listening to,--which is n’t often, I ’m sure. We ’ll pick +the strawberries, and get Mrs. Blossom to show Rose how to do them up; +and I ’ll write to papa and Doctor Heath’s wife and to our housekeeper +and Cousin Jack, and see if they don’t want some of those delicious +preserves that they can’t get in the city. I ’ll find out from Mrs. +Scott--that’s the housekeeper--how much she pays for a jar in New York, +and then we ’ll charge a little more for ours because the strawberries +are a little rarer. Are n’t there any other kinds of berries that grow +around here?" + +"Guess you ’d better stop ’n’ take breath, Lady-bird; there ’s a mighty +lot of plannin’ in all that. What ’d I tell you, Budd?" Chi asked +again. + +Budd looked at Hazel in boyish admiration, but said nothing. + +"I think that’s splendid, Hazel," said Rose, "if they’ll only want +them." + +"I know they will; but are there any other berries?" + +"Berries! I should think so; raspberries and blackberries by the bushel +on the Mountain, and they say they ’re the best anywhere round here," +said March. + +"Oh, dear!" sighed Cherry, "I wish we could go to work right now." + +"Well, so you can," said Chi, "only you can’t go berryin’ just yet. You +can begin to drop that corn this very afternoon: better be inside the +ground pretty soon, with all those four hundred chickens waitin’ to join +the Thanksgivin’ procession." + +[Illustration: "’You can begin to drop that corn this very afternoon’"] + +"Oh, Chi, you ’re making fun of us," laughed Rose. + +"Don’t you believe it, Rose-pose; never was more in earnest in my life. +Come along, ’n’ I ’ll show you." + + + + + VIII + + A LIVELY CORRESPONDENCE + + +It was a trial of patience to have to wait twenty-one days before the +first of the "four hundred" could be expected to appear. + +"You ’ll have to be kind of careful ’bout steppin’ round in the dark, +Mis’ Blossom, ’n’ you, too, Ben," said Chi, "for you ’ll find a settin’ +hen most anywheres nowadays." + +Mrs. Blossom laughed. "Oh, Chi, what dear children they are, even if +they aren’t quite perfect." + +"Can’t be beat," replied Chi, earnestly. "Look at them now, will you?" + +Mrs. Blossom stepped out on the porch, and looked over to the south +slope and the corn-patch. "What if her father were to see her now!" +She laughed again, both at her thoughts and the sight. + +"’T would give him kind of a shock at first," Chi chuckled, "but he ’d +get over it as soon as he ’d seen that face." + +"It is wonderful how she has improved. I shouldn’t be surprised if he +came up here soon to see Hazel." + +"Well, he ’ll find somethin’ worth lookin’ at. See there, now!" + +The girls had been making scarecrows to protect the young corn, stuffing +old shirts and trousers with hay and straw, while March and Budd had +been getting ready the cross-tree frames. In dropping and covering the +corn that Saturday afternoon after the initiation, the girls had found +their skirts and petticoats not only in the way as they bent over their +work, but greatly soiled by contact with the soft, damp loam. So they +had begged to wear overalls of blue denim like Chi’s and the boys’. The +request had been gladly granted. "It will save no end of washing," said +Mrs. Blossom, and forthwith made up three pairs on the machine. + +The girls found it great fun. They tucked in their petticoats and +buttoned down their shoulder-straps with right good will. Then Mr. +Blossom presented them with broad, coarse straw hats, such as he and Chi +used, and with these on their heads they rushed off to the corn-patch. +There now they were,--five good-looking boys with hands joined, dancing +and capering around a scarecrow, that looked like a gentleman tramp gone +entirely to seed, and singing at the top of their voices Budd’s +favorite, "I won’t play in your back yard." + +At that very hour, when the gentleman scarecrow of the corn-patch was +looking amiably, although slightly squint-eyed, out from under his +tattered straw hat (for March had drawn rude features on the white cloth +bag stuffed with cotton-wool which served for a head, and on it Rose had +sewed skeins of brown yarn to imitate hair) at the antics of the five +pairs of blue overalls, Mr. Clyde, having finished his nine o’clock +breakfast, asked for the mail. + +"Yes, Marse John" (so Wilkins always called Mr. Clyde when they were +alone), "’spect dere ’s one from Miss Hazel by de feel an’ de smell." + +Mr. Clyde smiled. "How can you tell by the ’feel and the smell,’ +Wilkins?" + +"Case it’s bunchy lake in de middle, an’ de vi’lets can’t hide dere +bref." + +"Well, we ’ll see," said Mr. Clyde, willing to indulge his faithful +servant’s childish curiosity. Wilkins busied himself quietly about the +breakfast-room. + +As Mr. Clyde opened the envelope, the crushed blue and white violets +fell out. Suddenly he burst into such a hearty laugh that Wilkins had +hard work to suppress a sympathetic chuckle. + +"I shall have to carry this letter over to the Doctor, Wilkins," he +said, still laughing. "I shall be in time to find him a few minutes +alone before office hours." He rose from the table. + +Wilkins followed him out to give his coat a last touch with the brush; +he was fearful Mr. Clyde might leave without revealing anything of the +contents of the letter from his beloved Miss Hazel. + +"’Sense me, Marse John," he said in desperation, as Mr. Clyde went +towards the front door, "but Miss Hazel ain’t no wusser case yo’ goin’ +to de Doctah’s?" + +"Oh, Wilkins, I forgot; you want to know how Miss Hazel is. She is +doing finely; as happy as a bird, and sends her love to you in a +postscript. I think I ’ll run up and see her soon." + +Wilkins ducked and beamed. "’Pears lake dis yere house ain’t de same +place wif de little missus gone." + +"You ’re right, Wilkins," said Mr. Clyde, earnestly. "I shall not open +the Newport cottage this year; it would be too lonesome without her." + +"Well, Dick," he said gayly, as he entered the Doctor’s office, "I shall +hold you responsible for some of the lives of the ’Four Hundred.’ Here, +read this letter." + + +MOUNT HUNGER, MILL SETTLEMENT, BARTON’S + RIVER, VERMONT, May 19, 1896. + +DEAREST PAPA,--Good-morning! I am answering your long letter a little +sooner than I expected to, because I want you to do something for me in +a business way; that’s the way March says it must be. + +I don’t know how to begin to tell you, but I ’ve joined the N.B.B.O.O. +Society and one of the by-laws is that we must help others all we can +and just as much as we can. I wish you’d been at the initiashun. (I +don’t know about that spelling, and I ’m in a hurry, or I ’d ask.) I +had the hand of fellowship from a supposed corpse’s hand first, and then +I was branded on the arm. And afterwards they all took me in, and now +we ’re raising four hundred chickens to help others; I ’ll tell you all +about it when you come. Chi, that’s the hired man, but he is really our +friend, took me sitting-hen hunting day before yesterday, for I am to +own some myself; and we drove all over the hills to the farmhouses and +found and bought twelve, or rather Chi did, for I had to borrow the +money of him, as I felt so bad when I kissed you good-bye that I forgot +to tell you my quarterly allowance was all gone, and I know you won’t +like my borrowing of Chi, for you have said so many times never to owe +anybody and I’ve always tried to pay for everything except when I had to +borrow of Gabrielle, or Mrs. Scott, when I forgot my purse. + +But truly the hens were in such an awful hurry to sit, that it did seem +too bad to keep them waiting even three days till I could get some money +from you; and then, too, we ’ve all of us, March and Rose and Budd and +Cherry and me, bet on which hen would get the first chicken, and that +chicken is going to be a prize chicken and especially fatted, and of +course, if I waited for the money to come from you, I could n’t stand a +chance of coming out ahead in our four hundred chicken race, so I +borrowed of Chi. The hens came to just $4 and eighty cents. I’ll pay +you back when I earn it, and don’t you think it would have been a pity +to lose the chance for the prize chicken just for that borrow? + +Please send the money by return mail. I ’ve other letters to write, so +please excuse my not paragraphing and so little punctuation, but I ’ve +so much to do and this must go at once. + +Your loving and devoted daughter, + HAZEL CLYDE. + +P.S. The hens are sitting around everywhere. Give my love to Wilkins. +H.C. + + +The Doctor shouted; then he stepped to the dining-room door and called, +"Wifie, come here and bring that letter." + +Mrs. Heath came in smiling, with a letter in her hand, which, after +cordially greeting Mr. Clyde, she read to him,--an amazed and outwitted +father. + + +MOUNT HUNGER, MILL SETTLEMENT, BARTON’S + RIVER, VERMONT, May 19, 1896. + +MY DEAR MRS. HEATH,--Please thank my dear Doctor Heath for the note he +sent me two weeks ago. I ought to write to him instead of to you, for I +don’t owe you a letter (your last one was so sweet I answered it right +off), but he never allows his patients strawberry preserve and jam, so +it would be no use to ask his help just now, as this is pure business, +March says. + +We are trying to help others, and the strawberries--wild ones--are as +thick as spatter--going to be--all over the pastures, and we ’re going +to pick quarts and quarts, and Rose is going to preserve them, and then +we ’re going to sell them. + +Do you think of anybody who would like some of this preserve? If you do, +will you kindly let me know by return mail? + +I can’t tell just the price, and March says that is a great drawback in +real business, and this _is_ real--but it will not be more than $1 and +twenty-five cents a quart. They will be fine for luncheon. _I_ never +tasted any half so good at home. + +My dear love to the Doctor and a large share for yourself from + +Your loving friend, + HAZEL CLYDE. + +P.S. Rose says it is n’t fair for people to order without knowing the +quality, so we ’ve done up a little of Mrs. Blossom’s in some Homeepatic +(I don’t know where that "h" ought to come in) pellet bottles, and will +send you a half-dozen "for samples," March says, to send to any one to +taste you think would like to order. H.C. + + +"The cure is working famously," said Doctor Heath, rubbing his hands in +glee. + +"Well," said Mr. Clyde, laughing, "I may as well make the best of it; +but I can’t help wondering whether the wholesale grocers in town have +been asked to place orders with Mount Hunger, or the Washington Market +dealers for prospective chickens! There ’s your office-bell; I won’t +keep you longer, but if this ’special case’ of yours should develop any +new symptoms, just let me know." + +"I ’ll keep you informed," rejoined the Doctor. "Better run up there +pretty soon, Johnny," he called after him. + +"I think it’s high time, Dick. Good-bye." + +At that very moment, a symptom of another sort was developing in Z---- +Hall, Number 9, at Harvard. + +Jack Sherrill and his chum were discussing the last evening’s Club +theatricals. "I saw that pretty Maude Seaton in the third or fourth +row, Jack; did she come on for that,--which, of course, means you?" + +"Wish I might think so," said Jack, half in earnest, half in jest, +pulling slowly at his corn-cob pipe. + +"By Omar Khayyam, Jack! you don’t mean to say you ’re hit, at last!" + +"Hit,--yes; but it’s only a flesh-wound at present,--nothing dangerous +about it." + +"She ’s got the style, though, and the pull. I know a half-dozen of the +fellows got dropped on to-night’s cotillion." + +"Kept it for me," said Jack, quietly. + +"No, really, though--" and his chum fell to thinking rather seriously +for him. + +Just then came the morning’s mail,--notes, letters, special delivery +stamps, all the social accessories a popular Harvard man knows so well. +Jack looked over his carelessly,--invitations to dinner, to theatre +parties, "private views," golf parties, etc. He pushed them aside, +showing little interest. He, like his Cousin Hazel, was used to it. + +The morning’s mail was an old story, for Sherrill was worth a fortune in +his own right, as several hundred mothers and daughters in New York and +Boston and Philadelphia knew full well. + +Moreover, if he had not had a penny in prospect, Jack Sherrill would +have attracted by his own manly qualities and his exceptionally good +looks. His riches, to which he had been born, had not as yet wholly +spoiled him, but they cheated him of that ambition that makes the best +of young manhood, and Life was out of tune at times--how and why, he did +not know, and there was no one to tell him. + +He had rather hoped for a note from Maude Seaton, thanking him, in her +own charming way, for the flowers he had sent her on her arrival from +New York the day before. True, she had worn some in her corsage, but, +for all Jack knew, they might have been another man’s; for Maude Seaton +was never known to have less than four or five strings to her bow. It +was just this uncertainty about her that attracted Jack. + +"Hello! Here ’s a letter for you by mistake in my pile," said his chum. + +"Why, this is from my little Cousin Hazel, who is rusticating just now +somewhere in the Green Mountains." Jack opened it hastily and read,-- + + +MOUNT HUNGER, MILL SETTLEMENT, BARTON’S + RIVER, VERMONT, May 19, 1896. + +DEAREST COUSIN JACK,--It is perfectly lovely up here, and I ’ve been +inishiated into a Secret Society like your Dicky Club, and one of the +by-laws is to help others all we can and wherever we can and as long as +ever we can, and so I ’ve thought of that nice little spread you gave +last year after the foot-ball game, and how nice the table looked and +what good things you had, but I don’t remember any strawberry jam or +preserves, do you? + +We ’re hatching four hundred chickens to help others,--I mean we have +set 40 sitting hens on 520 eggs, not all the 40 on the five hundred and +twenty at once, you know; but, I mean, each one of the 40 hens are +sitting on 13 eggs apiece, and March says we must expect to lose 120 +eggs--I mean, chickens,--as the hens are very careless and sit +sideways--I ’ve seen them myself--and so an extra egg is apt to get +chilly, and the chickens can’t stand any chilliness, March says. But +Chi, that’s my new friend, says some eggs have a double yolk, and maybe, +there ’ll be some twins to make up for the loss. + +Anyway, we want 400 chickens to sell about Thanksgiving time, and, of +course, we can’t get any money till that time. So now I ’ve got back to +your spread again and the preserves, and while we ’re waiting for the +chickens, we are going to make preserves--_dee_-licious ones! I mean we +are going to pick them and Rose is going to preserve them. We ’ve +decided to ask $1 and a quarter a quart for them; Rose--that’s Rose +Blossom--says it is dear, but if you could see my Rose-pose, as Chi +calls her, you ’d think it cheap just to eat them if she made them. She +’s perfectly lovely--prettier than any of the New York girls, and when +she kneads bread and does up the dishes, she sings like a bird, +something about love. I’ll write it down for you, sometime. _I ’m_ in +love with her. + +Please ask your college friends if they don’t want some jam and wild +strawberry preserves. If they do, March says they had better order +soon, as I’ve written to New York to see about some other orders. + +Yours devotedly, + HAZEL. + +P.S. I ’ve sent you a sample of the strawberry preserve in a homeepahtic +pellet bottle, to taste; Rose says it is n’t fair to ask people to buy +without their knowing what they buy. I saw that Miss Seaton just before +I came away; she came to call on me and brought some flowers. She said +I looked like you--which was an awful whopper because I had my head +shaved, as you know; I asked her if she had heard from you, and she said +she had. She is n’t half as lovely as Rose-pose. H.C. + + + + + IX + + THE PRIZE CHICKEN + + +There was wild excitement, as well as consternation, in the farmhouse on +the Mountain. + +On the next day but one after Hazel had sent her letters, Chi had +brought up from the Mill Settlement a telegram which had come on the +stage from Barton’s. It was addressed to, "Hazel Clyde, Mill +Settlement, Barton’s River, Vermont," and ran thus:-- + + +CAMBRIDGE, May 20, 1 P.M. + +Hope to get in our order ahead of New York time. Seventeen dozen of +each kind. Letter follows. + +JACK. + + +"Seventeen dozen!" screamed Rose, on hearing the telegram. + +"Seventeen dozen of _each kind_!" cried Budd. + +"Oh, quick, March, do see what it comes to!" said Hazel. + +Then such an arithmetical hubbub broke loose as had never been heard +before on the Mountain. + +"Seventeen times twelve," said Rose,--"let me see; seven times two are +fourteen, one to carry--do keep still, March!" But March went on +with:-- + +"Twelve times four are forty-eight--seventeen times forty-eight, +hm--seven times eight are fifty-six, five to carry--Shut up, Budd; I +can’t hear myself think." But Budd gave no heed, and continued his +computation. + +"Four times seventeen are--four times seven are twenty-eight, two to +carry; four times one are four and two are--I say, you ’ve put me all +out!" shouted Budd, and, putting his fingers in his ears, he retired to +a corner. Rose continued to mumble with her eyes shut to concentrate her +mind upon her problem, threatening Cherry impatiently when she +interrupted with her peculiar solution, which she had just thought +out:-- + +"If one quart cost one dollar and twenty-five cents, twelve quarts will +cost twelve times one dollar and twenty-five cents, which is, er--twelve +times one are twelve; twelve times twenty-five! Oh, gracious, that’s +awful! What’s twelve times twenty-five, March?" + +"Shut up," growled March; "you ’ve put me all off the track." + +"Me, too," said Rose, in an aggrieved tone. + +Mrs. Blossom had been listening from the bedroom, and now came in, +suppressing her desire to smile at the reddened and perplexed faces. +"Here ’s a pencil, March, suppose you figure it out on paper." + +A sigh of relief was audible throughout the room, as March sat down to +work out the result. "Eight hundred and sixteen quarts at one dollar +twenty-five a quart," said March to himself; then, with a bound that +shook the long-room, he shouted, "One thousand and twenty dollars!" and +therewith broke forth into singing:-- + + "Glory, glory, halleluia! + Glory, glory, halleluia! + Glory, glory, halleluia, + For the N.B.B.O.O.!" + + +The rest joined in the singing with such goodwill that the noise brought +in Chi from the barn. When he was told the reason for the rejoicing, he +looked thoughtful, then sober, then troubled. + +"What’s the matter, Chi? Cheer up! You have n’t got to pick them," +said March. + +"’T ain’t that; but I hate to throw cold water on any such +countin’-your-chickens-’fore-they ’re-hatched business," said Chi. + +"’T is n’t chickens; it’s preserves, Chi," laughed Rose. + +"I know that, too," said Chi, gravely. "But suppose you do a little +figuring on the hind-side of the blackboard." + +"What _do_ you mean, Chi?" asked Hazel. + +"Well, I ’ll figure, ’n’ see what you think about it. Seventeen dozen +times four, how much, March?" + +"Eight hundred and sixteen." + +"Hm! eight hundred and sixteen glass jars at twelve and a half cents +apiece--let me see: eight into eight once; eight into one no times ’n’ +one over. There now, your jars ’ll cost you just one hundred and two +dollars." + +There was a universal groan. + +"’N’ that ain’t all. Sugar ’s up to six cents a pound, ’n’ to keep +preserves as they ought to be kept takes about a pound to a quart. Hm, +eight hundred ’n’ sixteen pounds of sugar at six cents a pound--move up +my point ’n’ multiply by six--forty-eight dollars ’n’ ninety-six cents; +added to the other--" + +"Oh, don’t, Chi!" groaned one and all. + +"It spoils everything," said Rose, actually ready to cry with +disappointment. + +"Well, Molly Stark, you ’ve got to look forwards and backwards before +you _promise_ to do things," said Chi, serenely; and Rose, hearing the +Molly Stark, knew just what Chi meant. + +She went straight up to him, and, laying both hands on his shoulders, +looked up smiling into his face. "I ’ll be brave, Chi; we ’ll make it +work somehow," she said gently; and Chi was not ashamed to take one of +the little hands and rub it softly against his unshaven cheek. + +"That’s my Rose-pose," he said. "Now, don’t let’s cross the bridges +till we get to them; let’s wait till we hear from New York." + + +They had not long to wait. The next day’s mail brought three +letters,--from Mrs. Heath, Mr. Clyde, and Jack. Hazel could not read +them fast enough to suit her audience. There was an order from Mrs. +Heath for two dozen of each kind, and the assurance that she would ask +her friends, but she would like her order filled first. + +Mr. Clyde wrote that he was coming up very soon and would advance +Hazel’s quarterly allowance; at which Hazel cried, "Oh-ee!" and hugged +first herself, then Mrs. Blossom, but said not a word. She wanted to +surprise them with the glass jars and the sugar. Her father had +enclosed five dollars with which to pay Chi, and he and Hazel were +closeted for full a quarter of an hour in the pantry, discussing ways +and means. + +Jack wrote enthusiastically of the preserves and chickens, and, like +Hazel, added a postscript as follows: + +"Don’t forget you said you would write down for me the song about Love +that Miss Blossom sings when she is kneading bread. Miss Seaton is just +now visiting in Boston. I ’m to play in a polo match out at the +Longmeadow grounds next week, and she stays for that." This, likewise, +Hazel kept to herself. + +Meanwhile, the strawberry blossoms were starring the pastures, but only +here and there a tiny green button showed itself. It was a discouraging +outlook for the other Blossoms to wait five long weeks before they could +begin to earn money; and the thought of the chickens, especially the +prize chicken, proved a source of comfort as well as speculation. + +As the twenty-first day after setting the hens drew near, the excitement +of the race was felt to be increasing. Hazel had tied a narrow strip of +blue flannel about the right leg of each of her twelve hens, that there +might be no mistake; and the others had followed her example, March +choosing yellow; Cherry, white; Rose, red; and Budd, green. + +The barn was near the house, only a grass-plat with one big elm in the +centre separated it from the end of the woodshed. As Chi said, the hens +were sitting all around everywhere; on the nearly empty hay-mow there +were some twenty-five, and the rest were in vacant stalls and +feed-boxes. + +It was a warm night in early June. Hazel was thinking over many things +as she lay wakeful in her wee bedroom. To-morrow was the day; somebody +would get the prize chicken. Hazel hoped she might be the winner. Then +she recalled something Chi had said about hens being curious creatures, +set in their ways, and never doing anything just as they were expected +to do it, and that there was n’t any time-table by which chickens could +be hatched to the minute. What if one were to come out to-night! The +more she thought, the more she longed to assure herself of the condition +of things in the barn. She tossed and turned, but could not settle to +sleep. At last she rose softly; the great clock in the long-room had +just struck eleven. She looked out of her one window and into the face +of a moon that for a moment blinded her. + +Then she quietly put on her white bath-robe, and, taking her shoes in +her hand, stepped noiselessly out into the kitchen. + +There was not a sound in the house except the ticking of the clock. +Softly she crept to the woodshed door and slipped out. + +Chi, who had the ears of an Indian, heard the soft "crush, crush," of +the bark and chips underneath his room. He rose noiselessly, drew on his +trousers, and slipped his suspenders over his shoulders, took his rifle +from the rack, and crept stealthily as an Apache down the stairs. Chi +thought he was on the track of an enormous woodchuck that had baffled +all his efforts to trap, shoot, and decoy him, as well as his attempts +to smoke and drown him out. But nothing was moving in or about the shed. +He stepped outside, puzzled as to the noise he had heard. + +"By George Washin’ton!" he exclaimed under his breath, "what’s up now?" +for he had caught sight of a little figure in white fairly scooting over +the grass-plat under the elm towards the barn. In a moment she +disappeared in the opening, for on warm nights the great doors were not +shut. + +"Guess I ’d better get out of the way; ’t would scare her to death to +see a man ’n’ a gun at this time of night. It’s that prize chicken, I +’ll bet." And Chi chuckled to himself. Then he tiptoed as far as the +barn door, looked in cautiously, and, seeing no one, but hearing a creak +overhead, he slipped into a stall and crouched behind a pile of grass he +had cut that afternoon for the cattle. + +He heard the feet go "pat, pat, pat," overhead. He knew by the sound +that Hazel was examining the nests. Then another noise--Cherry’s +familiar giggle--fell upon his ear. He looked out cautiously from +behind the grass. Sure enough; there were the twins, robed in sheets and +barefooted. Snickering and giggling, they made for the ladder leading +to the loft. + +"The Old Harry ’s to pay to-night," said Chi, grimly, to himself. "When +those two get together on a spree, things generally hum! I ’d better +stay where I ’m needed most." + +Hazel, too, had caught the sound of the giggle and snicker, and +recognized it at once. + +"Goodness!" she thought, "if they should see me, ’t would frighten +Cherry into fits, she ’s so nervous. I ’d better hide while they ’re +here. They ’ve come to see about that chicken, just as I have!" Hazel +had all she could do to keep from laughing out loud. She lay down upon +a large pile of hay and drew it all over her. "They can’t see me now, +and I can watch them," she thought, with a good deal of satisfaction. + +Surely the proceedings were worth watching. The moonlight flooded the +flooring of the loft, and every detail could be plainly seen. + +"Nobody can hear us here if we do talk," said Budd. "You ’ll have to +hoist them up first, to see if there are any chickens, and be sure and +look at the rag on the legs; when you come to a green one, it’s mine, +you know." + +"Oh, Budd! I can’t hoist them," said Cherry, in a distressed voice. + +"They do act kinder queer," replied Budd, who was trying to lift a +sleeping hen off her nest, to which she seemed glued. "I ’ll tell you +what’s better than that; just put your ear down and listen, and if you +hear a ’peep-peep,’ it’s a chicken." + +Cherry, the obedient slave of Budd, crawled about over the flooring on +her hands and knees, listening first at one nest, then at another, for +the expected "peep-peep." + +"I don’t hear anything," said Cherry, in an aggrieved tone, "but the old +hens guggling when I poke under them. Oh! but here ’s a green rag +sticking out, Budd." + +"And a speckled hen?" said Budd, eagerly. + +"Yes." + +"Well, that’s the one I ’ve been looking for; it’s dark over here in +this corner. Lemme see." + +Budd put both hands under the hen and lifted her gently. +"Ak--ok--ork--ach," gasped the hen, as Budd took her firmly around the +throat; but she was too sleepy to care much what became of her, and so +hung limp and silent. + +"I ’ll hold the hen, Cherry, and you take up those eggs one at a time +and hold them to my ear." + +"What for?" said Cherry. + +"Now don’t be a loony, but do as I tell you," said Budd, impatiently. +Cherry did as she was bidden; Budd listened intently. + +"By cracky! there ’s one!" he exclaimed. "Here, help me set this hen +back again, and keep that one out." + +"What for?" queried Cherry, forgetting her former lesson. + +"Oh, you ninny!--here, listen, will you?" Budd put the egg to her ear. + +"Why, that’s a chicken peeping inside. I can _hear_ him," said Cherry, +in an awed voice. + +"Yes, and I ’m going to let him out," said Budd, triumphantly. + +"But then you’ll have the prize chicken, Budd," said Cherry, rather +dubiously, for she had wanted it herself. + +"Of course, you goosey, what do you suppose I came out here for?" +demanded Budd. + +"But, Budd, will it be fair?" said Cherry, timidly. + +"Fair!" muttered Budd; "it’s fair enough if it’s out first. It’s their +own fault if they don’t know enough to get ahead of us." + +"Did you think it all out yourself, Budd?" queried Cherry, admiringly, +watching Budd’s proceeding with wide-open eyes. + +"Yup," said Budd, shortly. + +They were not far from Hazel’s hiding-place, and, by raising her head a +few inches, she could see the whole process. + +First Budd listened intently at one end of the egg, then at the other. +He drew out a large pin from his pajamas and began very carefully to +pick the shell. + +"Oh, gracious, Budd! what are you doing?" cried Cherry. + +"What you see," said Budd, a little crossly, for his conscience was not +wholly at ease. + +He picked and picked, and finally made an opening. He examined it +carefully. + +"Oh, thunder!" he exclaimed under his breath, "I ’ve picked the wrong +end." + +"What do you mean?" persisted Cherry. + +"I wanted to open the ’peep-peep’ end first, so he could breathe," +replied Budd, intent upon his work. Cherry watched breathlessly. At +last the other end was opened, and Budd began to detach the shell from +something which might have been a worm, a fish, a pollywog, or a baby +white mouse, for all it looked like a chicken. It lay in Budd’s hand. + +"Oh, Budd, you ’ve killed it!" cried Cherry, beginning to sniff. + +"Shut up, Cherry Blossom, or I’ll leave you," threatened Budd. Just +then the moon was obscured by a passing cloud, and the loft became +suddenly dark and shadowy. Cherry screamed under her breath. + +"Oh, Budd, don’t leave me; I can’t see you!" + +There was a soft rapid stride over the flooring; and before Budd well +knew what had happened, he was seized by the binding of his pajamas, +lifted, and shaken with such vigor that his teeth struck together and he +felt the jar in the top of his head. + +As the form loomed so unexpectedly before her, Cherry screamed with +fright. + +"I ’ll teach you to play a business trick like this on us, you mean +sneaking little rascal!" roared March. "Do you think I did n’t see you +creeping out of the room along the side of my bed on all fours? You did +n’t dare to walk out like a man, and I might have known you were up to +no good!" Another shake followed that for a moment dazed Budd. Then, +as he felt the flooring beneath his feet, he turned in a towering +passion of guilt and rage on March. + +"You ’re a darned sneak yourself," he howled rather than cried. "Take +that for your trouble!" Raising his doubled fist, he aimed a quick, +hard blow at March’s stomach. But, somehow, before it struck, one +strong hand--not March’s--held his as in a vice, and another, stronger, +hoisted him by the waist-band of his pajamas and held him, squirming and +howling, suspended for a moment; then he felt himself tossed somewhere. +He fell upon the hay under which Hazel had taken refuge, and landed upon +her with almost force enough to knock the breath from her body. Cherry, +meanwhile, had not ceased screaming under her breath, and, as Budd +descended so unexpectedly upon Hazel, a great groan and a sharp wail +came forth from the hay, to the mortal terror of all but Chi, who grew +white at the thought of what might have happened to his Lady-bird, and, +unintentionally, through him. + +That awful groan proved too much for the children. Gathering themselves +together in less time than it takes to tell it, they fled as well as +they could in the dark,--down the ladder, out through the barn, over the +grass-plat, into the house, and dove into bed, trembling in every limb. + +"What on earth is the matter, children?" said Mrs. Blossom, appearing at +the foot of the stairs. "Did one of you fall out of bed?" + +Budd’s head was under the bedclothes, his teeth chattering through fear; +likewise Cherry. March assumed as firm a tone as he could. + +"Budd had a sort of nightmare, mother, but he ’s all right now." March +felt sick at the deception. + +"Well, settle down now and go to sleep; it’s just twelve." And Mrs. +Blossom went back into the bedroom where Mr. Blossom was still soundly +sleeping. + +Meanwhile, Chi was testing Hazel to see that no harm had been done. + +"Oh, I ’m all right," said Hazel, rather breathlessly. "But it really +knocked the breath out of my body." She laughed. "I never thought of +your catching up Budd that way and plumping him down on top of me!" + +"Guess my wits had gone wool-gatherin’, when I never thought of your +hidin’ there," said Chi, recovering from his fright. "But that boy made +me so pesky mad, tryin’ to play such a game on all of us, that I kind of +lost my temper ’n’ did n’t see straight. Well--" he heaved a sigh of +relief, "he ’s got his come-uppance!" + +"Where do you suppose that poor little chicken is?" + +"We ’ll look him up; the moon ’s comin’ out again." + +There, close by the nest, lay the queer something on the floor. "I ’ll +tuck it in right under the old hen’s breast, ’n’ then, if there ’s any +life in it, it ’ll come to by mornin’." He examined it closely. "I ’ll +come out ’n’ see. Come, we ’d better be gettin’ in ’fore ’t is dark +again--" + +He put the poor mite of a would-be chicken carefully under the old hen, +where it was warm and downy, and as he did so, he caught sight of the +rag hanging over the edge of the nest. He looked at it closely; then +slapping his thigh, he burst into a roar of laughter. + +"What is it, Chi?" said Hazel, laughing, too, at Chi’s mirth. + +"Look here, Lady-bird! you ’ve got the Prize Chicken, after all. That +boy could n’t tell green from blue in the moonlight, ’n’ he ’s hatched +out one of yours. By George Washin’ton! that’s a good one,--serves him +right," he said, wiping the tears of mirth from his eyes. + +The chicken lived, but never seemed to belong to any one in particular; +and as Chi said solemnly the next morning, "The less said on this +Mountain about prize chickens, the better it ’ll be for us all." + + + + + X + + AN UNEXPECTED MEETING + + +It was a busy summer in and about the farmhouse on Mount Hunger. What +with tending the chickens--there were four hundred and two in all--and +strawberry-picking and preserving, and in due season a repetition of the +process with raspberries and blackberries, the days seemed hardly long +enough to accomplish all the young people had planned. + +Mr. Clyde came up for two days in June, and upon his return told Doctor +Heath that he, too, felt as if he needed that kind of a cure. + +Hazel was the picture of health and fast becoming what Chi had +predicted, "an A Number 1" beauty. Her dark eyes sparkled with the joy +of life; on her rounded cheeks there was the red of the rose; the +skull-cap had been discarded, and a fine crop of soft, silky rings of +dark brown hair had taken its place. + +"Never, no, never, have I had such good times," she wrote to her Cousin +Jack at Newport. "We eat on the porch, and make believe camp out in the +woods, and we ride on Bess and Bob all over the Mountain. We’ve about +finished the preserves and jams, and Rose has only burnt herself twice. +The chickens, Chi says, are going to be prime ones; it ’s awfully funny +to see them come flying and hopping and running towards us the minute +they see us--March says it’s the ’Charge of the Light Brigade.’ + +"I wish you could be up here and have some of the fun,--but I ’m afraid +you ’re too old. I enclose the song Rose sings which you asked me for. +I don’t understand it, but it’s perfectly beautiful when she sings it." + +Hazel had asked Rose for the words of the song, telling her that her +Cousin Jack at Harvard would like to have them. Rose looked surprised +for a moment. + +"What can he want of them?" she asked in a rather dignified manner; and +Hazel, thinking she was giving the explanation the most reasonable as +well as agreeable, replied:-- + +"I don’t know for sure, but I think--you won’t tell, will you, Rose?" + +"Of course I won’t. I don’t even know your cousin, to begin with." + +"I think he is going to be engaged, or is, to Miss Seaton of New York. +All his friends think she is awfully pretty, and papa says she is +fascinating. I think Jack wanted them to give to her." + +"Oh," said Rose, in a cool voice with a circumflex inflection, then +added in a decidedly toploftical tone, "I’ve no objection to his making +use of them. I ’ll copy them for you." + +"Thank you, Rose," said Hazel, rather puzzled and a little hurt at +Rose’s new manner. + +This conversation took place the first week in August, and the verses +were duly forwarded to Jack, who read them over twice, and then, +thrusting them into his breast-pocket, went over to the Casino, +whistling softly to himself on the way. There, meeting his chum and +some other friends, he proposed a riding-trip through the Green Mountain +region for the latter part of August. + +"The Colonel and his wife will go with us, I ’m sure, and any of the +girls who can ride well will jump at the chance," said his chum. "It’s +a novelty after so much coaching." + +"I ’ll go over and see Miss Seaton about it," said Jack, and walked off +singing to himself,-- + + "’--the stars above + Shine ever on Love’--" + + +His friend turned to the others. "That’s a go; I ’ve never seen +Sherrill so hard hit before." Then he fell to discussing the new plan +with the rest. + +Jack was wily enough, as he laid the plan before Maude Seaton, to +attempt to kill two birds with one stone. He had had a desire, ever +since the first letter of Hazel’s, to see his little cousin in her new +surroundings, and this desire was immeasurably strengthened by his +curiosity to see a girl who sang Barry Cornwall’s love-lyrics on Mount +Hunger. Consequently, in planning the high-roads to be followed through +the Green Mountains, he had not omitted to include Barton’s River, as it +boasted a good inn. + +"Here ’s Woodstock,--just here," he explained to pretty Maude Seaton, as +they sat on the broad morning-porch of the palatial Newport cottage, +with a map of Vermont on the table between them. "We can stop there a +day or two, and make our next stop at Barton’s River; I ’ve heard it’s a +beautiful place, with glorious mountain rides within easy distance. +Suppose we arrange to stop three or four days there and take it all in? +I ’ve been told it’s the finest river-valley in New England." + +"Oh, do let’s! The whole thing is going to be delightful. I ’m so tired +of coaching; I believe nobody enjoys it now, unless it’s the one who +holds the reins, and then all the others are bored. But with fine +horses this will be no end of fun. We can send on our trunks ahead, +can’t we?" + +"Oh, yes, that’s easily arranged. By the way, what horse will you take? +Remember," he said, looking her squarely in the eyes with a flattering +concern, "it’s a mountain country, and we can’t afford to have anything +happen to you." + +"No danger for me," laughed Maude, meeting his look as squarely. "And I +can’t worry about you after seeing the polo game you played yesterday," +she added with frank admiration. + +"It was a good one, was n’t it?" said Jack, his eyes kindling at the +remembrance. "It was my mascot did the business--see?" He put his hand +in his breast-pocket, expecting to draw forth a ribbon bow of Maude’s +that she had given him for "colors;" but, to his amazement, and to Miss +Seaton’s private chagrin, he drew forth only the slip of paper with +Barry Cornwall’s love-song in Rose Blossom’s handwriting. + +Where the dickens was that bow? Jack felt the absurdity of hunting in +all his pockets for something he had intended should express one phase, +at least, of his sentiments. He felt the blood mounting to the roots of +his hair, and, laughing, put a bold face on it. + +He held out the slip of paper. "It looks innocent, doesn’t it?" he said +mischievously, and enjoyed to the full Maude’s look of discomfiture, +which, only for a second, she could not help showing. "She ’ll know now +how a fellow feels when he has sent her flowers and sees her wearing +another man’s offering," he thought. He turned to the map again. + +"Well, what horse will you ride?" + +"I ’ll take Old Jo; he ’s safe, and splendid for fences. Of course you +’ll take Little Shaver?" + +"Yes, he and I don’t part company very often. So it’s settled, is it?" +he asked, feeling cooler than he did. + +"So far as I am concerned, it is; and I know the Colonel and Mrs. +Fenlick will go; it’s just the thing they like." + +"Well, I ’ll leave you to speak to the other girls, and I ’ll go over +and see Mrs. Fenlick. Good-bye." He held out his hand, but Miss Seaton +chose to be looking down the avenue at that moment. + +"Oh, there are the Graysons beckoning to me!" she exclaimed eagerly. +"Excuse me, and good-bye--I must run down to see them." As she walked +swiftly and gracefully over the lawn, she knew Jack Sherrill was +watching her. "Yes, it’s settled," she thought, as she hurried on; "and +something else is settled, too, Mr. Sherrill! You ’ve been hanging fire +long enough--and the idea of his forgetting that bow!" + +The Graysons thought they had never seen Maude Seaton quite so pretty as +she was that morning, when she stood chatting and laughing with all in +general, and fascinating each in particular. The result was, the +Graysons joined the riding-party in a body, and Sam Grayson vowed he +would cut Jack Sherrill out if he had to fight for it. + +It was a glorious first of September when the riding-party, ten in +number, cantered up to the inn at Barton’s River, and it was a merry +group in fresh toilets that gathered after dinner and a rest of an hour +or two in their rooms, on the long, narrow, vine-covered veranda of the +inn. It had been a warm day, and the afternoon shadows were gratefully +cooling. + +"Will you look at that load coming down the street?" said Mrs. Fenlick. +"I never saw anything so funny!" + +The whole party burst out laughing, as the vehicle, an old apple-green +cart, apparently filled with bobbing calico sunbonnets and straw hats, +shackled and rattled up to the side door of the inn. + +"I shall call them the Antediluvians," laughed Maude Seaton. "Do you +know where they come from?" she said, speaking in at the open +office-window to the boy. + +"I guess they come to sell berries from a place the folks round here +call ’The Lost Nation,’" he replied, grinning. + +"’The Lost Nation!’ Do you hear that?" said Sam Grayson. "Let’s have a +nearer view of the natives." They all went to the end of the veranda +nearest the cart. Sam Grayson and Jack went out to investigate. + +Two boys in faded blue overalls and almost brimless straw hats jumped +down before the wagon stopped, and began lifting out six-quart pails of +shining blackberries from beneath an old buffalo robe. Jack, with his +hands in his pockets, sauntered up to the tail of the cart. + +"Buy them all, do--do!" cried Miss Seaton, clapping her hands. "We need +them to-morrow for our picnic; and pay a good price," she added, "for +the sake of the looks. I wouldn’t have missed it for anything?" + +"How do you sell them?" said Jack to the tall boy who stood with his +back to him, busied with the berries. + +The boy turned at the sound of the pleasant voice, and lifted his +brimless hat by the crown with an air a Harvard freshman might have +envied. Jack, seeing it, was sorry he was bareheaded, for he hated to +be outdone in such courtesy. + +"Ten cents a quart, sir." + +"What a handsome fellow!" whispered Mrs. Fenlick. "You rarely see such a +face; and where did he get such manners?" + +"How many quarts have--halloo, Little Sunbonnet! Look out!" said Jack, +laughing, as he caught the owner of the yellow sunbonnet, who, perched +on the side of the wagon, suddenly lost her balance because of Bess’s +uneasy movements in fly-time. + +"Well, you are an armful," he laughed as he set her down and tried in +vain to peer up under the drooping bonnet and discover a face. + +"Whoa--ah, Bess!" shouted the driver, as Bess reared and snorted and +shuddered and finally rid herself of the tormenting horse-fly. "All +right, Cherry Bounce?" he said, turning at last when the horse was +quieted. + +But Cherry was dumb with embarrassment, and Jack answered for her. + +"Little Sunbonnet’s all safe, but what--" He got no further with that +sentence. To the amazement of the group on the veranda and Jack’s +overwhelming astonishment, a wild, gleeful "Oh-ee!" issued from the +depths of another sunbonnet in the cart, and the owner thereof +precipitated herself recklessly over the side, and cast herself upon +Jack’s neck, hugging and "oh-eeing" with all her might. + +"Why, Hazel! Hazel!" Except for that, Jack was dumb like Cherry, but +not with embarrassment. Was this Hazel? Her sunbonnet had fallen off, +and the dark blue gingham dress set off the wonderful richness of +coloring that helped to make Hazel what she had become, "a perfect +beauty." + +"Oh, Jack, you old darling, why did n’t you let us know you were coming? +Chi, Chi!" Hazel was fairly wild with joy at seeing a dearly loved +home-face. "This is my Cousin Jack we ’ve talked about. Jack, this is +my friend, Chi." + +Chi put out his horny brown hand, and Jack grasped it. + +"Guess she ’s givin’ you away pretty smart, ain’t she?" said Chi, with a +twist of his mouth and a motion of his thumb backwards to the veranda. + +"Well, rather," said Jack, laughing, for he felt that Chi’s keen eyes +had taken in the whole situation at a glance. "I meant to surprise her, +but she has succeeded in surprising me." He stood with his arm about +Hazel. "And these are your friends, Hazel?" he inquired; he felt he must +make the best of it now. + +"Oh, Jack, I ’m ashamed of myself; I ’m so glad to see you I ’ve +forgotten my manners. Rose," she spoke up to the other sunbonnet that +had kept its position straight towards the horse and never moved during +this surprise party. Then Rose turned. "Rose, this is Cousin Jack." + +The sunbonnet bowed stiffly, and Jack heard a low laugh behind him. It +was Maude Seaton’s. Rose heard it, too; so did Chi and March. It +affected each in the same way. As Chi said afterwards, he "b’iled" when +he heard it. Then Rose spoke:-- + +"I ’m very glad to see you, Mr. Sherrill, we ’ve heard so much of you." +Her voice rang sweet and clear; every word was heard on the veranda. +"And these berries are n’t to be preserved; but evidently you are going +to buy them just the same,--as well as your friends," she added, looking +towards the veranda. + +Jack bit his lip. "I should like to introduce all my friends to you," +he said, without much enthusiasm, however. "I know this is March;" he +turned pleasantly to him, but dared not offer his hand, for the look on +the boy’s face warned him that March had resented the laugh. "Will you +come?" He held up his hand to Rose to help her down. + +"Thank you." Rose sprang down, ignoring the proffered help. + +She knew just how she looked, and her face burned at the thought. Her +old green and white calico dress was shrunken and warped with many +washings; her shoes were heavy and patched; fortunately her sunbonnet +with its green calico cape was of a depth to hide her burning face. But +that laugh had been like a challenge to her pride. + +"Drive up to the front veranda, Chi," she commanded rather brusquely; +and Chi, muttering to himself, "She’s game, though; I would n’t thought +it of Rose-pose; but I glory in her spunk!" drew up to the front door in +a truly rattling style. + +Then Rose and Hazel were introduced to them all; but in vain did Maude +Seaton try to get a look into her face. It was only a ceremony, and Rose +felt it as such; nevertheless she said very pleasantly, "Hazel, wouldn’t +you like to invite your friends up to tea on the porch to-morrow? that +is, if you are to be here?" she added, addressing Mrs. Fenlick. + +"Oh, Rose, that would be lovely. Then they can see the chickens!" said +Hazel. There was a general laugh. + +"I fear it will be too much trouble, Miss Blossom," said Mrs. Fenlick, +courteously, for she felt like apologizing for that laugh of Maude +Seaton’s; "there are so many of us." + +"Oh, no, my mother will be glad to meet you," Rose replied with serene +voice; "won’t she, Chi?" + +"Sure," said Chi, addressing the general assembly; "the more the +merrier; ’n’ if you come along about four, you ’ll get a view you don’t +get round here, ’n’ a wholesale piazzy to eat it on. How many do you +count up?" Jack winced at the burst of merriment that followed the +question. + +"We’ll line up, and you can count," said Sam Grayson, the fun getting +the better of him. "Here, Miss Seaton, stand at the head." + +"Miss Blossom, there are ten of us; are you going to retract your +invitation?" said Mrs. Fenlick, shaking her head at Sam. + +"Not if you wish to come," said Rose, pleasantly. "We will have tea at +five. Come, Hazel, we must be going: there are the berries to sell--or +shall we leave you here with your cousin till we come back?" + +"No, I won’t leave you even for Jack," said Hazel, earnestly; "besides, +I ’ve never had the fun of selling berries." + +"I ’m thinkin’ you ’ve lost your fun, anyway," said Chi, "for Budd says +the tavern-keeper has taken all; guess _he ’s_ goin’ into the jam +business, too." + +"I ’ll pick some more, then, to-morrow, and you ’ll have to buy some of +them, Jack," said Hazel, "for I ’m bound to sell some berries this +summer." + +"We ’ll take all you can pick, Hazel," said Maude Seaton, sweetly. +Then, as the cart rattled away with the three sunbonnets held rigid and +erect, she turned to Mrs. Fenlick and the other girls: "What an idea +that was of Doctor Heath’s to put Hazel away up here in such a family--a +girl in her position!" + +"She seems to have thriven wonderfully on it," remarked Mrs. Fenlick; +"she will be the prettiest of her set when they come out. I am +delighted to have a chance to see Doctor Heath’s mountain sanatorium." + +"Oh, I ’m sure it will be amusing," replied Maude, dryly. Then she shook +out her light draperies, pulled down her belt, and went down the road a +bit to meet Jack and Sam Grayson, who had accompanied the cart for a few +rods along the village street. + +When they had turned back to the inn, the storm in the apple-green cart +burst forth. + +"Did you hear that girl laugh?" demanded March, with suppressed wrath in +his voice. + +"Just as plain as I hear that crow caw," said Chi. + +"I can’t bear her," said Hazel; "telling me she would buy my berries +when I only meant Jack." + +"Kinder sweet on him, ain’t she?" asked Chi, carelessly. + +"I should think so!" was Hazel’s indignant answer. "I heard Aunt Carrie +tell papa she was always sending him invitations to everything. But is +n’t Cousin Jack splendid, Rose?" + +Rose’s sunbonnet was still very rigid, and Chi knew that sign; so he +spoke up promptly, knowing that she did not care to answer just then:-- + +"He ’s about as handsome as they make ’em, Lady-bird; if he wears well, +I sha’n’t have nothin’ against him." + +Hazel felt rather depressed without knowing exactly why. March returned +to the charge. + +"Did you hear that laugh, Rose?" + +"Yes, I did," said Rose, shortly. March looked at her in surprise, but +Chi managed to give him a nudge, which March understood, and the subject +was dropped on the homeward way. + +That the berry-sellers were under a cloud was evident to Mrs. Blossom as +soon as they drove up to the woodshed. + +"Did you have good luck, children?" she called to them cheerily. + +"We ’ve sold all our berries," said Budd. + +"But March and Rose are cross, Martie," added Cherry. + +"Tired ’n’ hungry, too, Mis’ Blossom," Chi hastened to say, trying to +shield Hazel and the other two. "I wish you ’d just step out to the +barn with a spoonful of your good lard. Bess has rubbed her shin a +little mite, ’n’ I want to grease it good to save the hair." Mrs. +Blossom, reading his face, took the hint. + +He made his confession in the barn. + +"I don’t know what we ’ve done, Mis’ Blossom; but Rose has invited ’em +all up here to-morrow to supper,--they ’re regular high-flyers, girls +’n’ fellers, ’n’ the Colonel and his wife. There ’s ten of ’em; ’n’ +it’s a-goin’ to make you an awful sight of work, but, by George +Washin’ton! that pesky girl--Miss Seaver, or somethin’ like it--riled me +so, that I ain’t got over it yet, ’n’ I ’d backed up Rose if she ’d +offered to take the whole of ’em to board for a week. I just b’iled +when I heard her laugh, ’n’ she can’t hold a candle to our Rose; ’n’ +she’s that sassy--although you can’t put your finger on anything +special--that you can’t sass back; the worst kind every time; ’n’ she ’s +set her cap for the straightest sort of chap--that’s Hazel’s +cousin--there is goin’, ’n’, by George Washin’ton! I ’m afraid he ’s +fool enough to catch at that bait. + +"There!" said Chi, stopping to draw breath, "I ’ve had my blow-out ’n’ I +feel better. Now, what are we goin’ to do about it?" + +"We ’ll manage it, Chi," said Mrs. Blossom, smiling in spite of herself +at Chi’s wrath. "After all, the children have been carefully guarded in +our home up here, and, sometimes, I think too much,--it won’t hurt them +to take a prick now and then. Besides, Chi," she added, laughing +outright as she turned to go into the house, "the children did look +perfectly ridiculous in those old berry-picking rigs. I laughed myself +when I saw you drive off with them." + +But she left Chi grumbling. + +That night, after the children were in bed, and Mrs. Blossom was sure +they were all asleep except Rose, she went upstairs a second time and +spoke softly at the door: + +"Rose." + +"Yes, Martie; oh, you ’re coming! I ’m so glad." And as Mrs. Blossom +knelt by the bed, whispering, "Now tell me all about it," Rose threw one +arm over her mother’s shoulder and whispered her confession. + +"They were n’t rude to you, dear, were they?" + +"No, Martie," whispered Rose, "it was n’t that, but I just _hated_ them +far a minute,--Hazel’s cousin and all." + +"That is n’t like you, Rose dear, to hate anyone without reason." + +"Oh, Martie, I ’m ashamed to tell you--" the arm came close about her +mother’s neck, "I ’m too old to have such feelings, but I could n’t bear +them because I looked as I did. I was ashamed of my looks and the +children’s; and I was ashamed even of Chi--dear, old Chi!--" there was a +smothered sob and an effort to go on. "And they were all dressed so +beautifully, and Hazel’s cousin had on a lovely white flannel suit, and +I was just a little rude to him; but it was nothing but my dreadful +pride! I did n’t know I had it till to-day,--oh, dear!" The head went +under the counterpane to smother the sound of the sobs. + +"But, my dear little girl--" (When Rose cried, which was seldom, Mrs. +Blossom called her daughter who was as tall as herself, "little girl," +and nothing comforted Rose more than that.) So now, hearing the loving +words, the head emerged from the bedclothes, and a tear-wet face was +meekly held over the side of the bed for a kiss. + +"But, my dear little girl," Mrs. Blossom went on after the interruption, +"surely you were courteous and thoughtful of Hazel’s happiness, at +least, to ask them all up here to tea. You have n’t that to regret." + +There was a fresh burst, smothered quickly under the sheet. "Oh, +Martie, that’s the worst part of it! I did n’t ask them for Hazel’s +sake, but just for myself, because I knew--I knew--" Rose smothered the +rising sob; "that if they came, I could have on my one pretty dress, and +they ’d see that I--that I--" Rose was unable to finish. + +"Could look as well as they did?" said Mrs. Blossom, completing the +sentence. + +"Yes," sighed Rose, "and I feel like a perfect hypocrite towards every +one of them;--and, oh, Martie! the truth is, I was ashamed of being poor +and selling berries--" again the head went under the coverlet, and Mrs. +Blossom caught only broken phrases:-- + +"I am so proud of--of you and Popsey--poor Chi made it worse--they +laughed--March was mad, too,--and Miss Seaton ’s so +pretty--clothes--Hazel’s cousin tried to be polite--Hazel--just her dear +own self--but she ’s rich--and Cherry f-fell into his arms--and I +know--and I know--I know he wanted to be out of the whole thing--oh +dear!" + +Mrs. Blossom patted the bunch under the clothes whence came the +smothered, broken sentences, and smiled while a tear rolled down her +cheek. After all, this was real grief, and she wished she might have +shielded her Rose from just this kind of contact with the world. But +she was wise enough not to say so. + +"Well, Rose dear, let’s look on the other side now the invitation has +been given. I, for my part, shall be glad to see what they are like. I +know you looked queer in those old clothes, but, after all, would n’t it +have been just as queer to have been all dressed up selling berries?" + +"Yes, I think it would, Martie," said Rose, emerging from her retreat. +"I ’m not such a goose as not to realize we must have looked perfectly +comical." + +"Well, now comfort yourself with the thought, that to-morrow you need +only look just as nice as you can in honor of our guests. I ’m sure I +shall," said Mrs. Blossom, laughing softly. "I ’m not going to be +outdone by all those ’high-flyers,’ as dear, old Chi calls them. We ’ll +put on our prettiest--and there is n’t much choice, you know, for we +have just one apiece--and we ’ll set the table with grandmother’s old +china out on the porch, and we ’ll give them of our best, and queens, +Rose-pose, can do no more. That’s _our_ duty; we’ll let the others look +out for theirs. Now, what will be nice for tea?" + +"Not preserves, Martie, for Chi said--" Her mother interrupted her,-- + +"Never mind what Chi said now, dear, but plan for the tea. We shall +have to work as hard as we can jump to-morrow forenoon to get ready. I +’m sorry father can’t be at home." + +"Could n’t we have blackberries and those late garden raspberries Chi +has been saving?" said Rose. + +"Yes, those will look pretty and taste good; and then hot rolls, and +fresh sponge and plum cake, and tea, and cold chicken moulded in its +jelly, the way we tried it last month--" + +"Oh, that will be lovely, Martie," whispered Rose, eagerly. + +"And if Chi and March have the time," went on Mrs. Blossom, entering +heart and soul into the hospitable plan, "I ’ll ask them to go +trout-fishing and bring us home two strings of the speckled beauties, +and if those served hot don’t make them respect old clothes--then +nothing on earth will," concluded Mrs. Blossom, with mock solemnity. + +"Oh, Martie Blossom, you’re an angel!" cried Rose, softly, rising in bed +and throwing both arms about her mother’s neck--"there!"--a squeeze, +"and there--" another squeeze and a kiss, "and now you won’t have to +complain of me to-morrow." + +"That’s mother’s own daughter Rose," said Mrs. Blossom, smoothing the +sheet under the round chin. "Now, good-night--sleep well, for I depend +upon you to make those rolls to-morrow forenoon." + + + + + XI + + JACK + + +Jack Sherrill had always had a particularly warm interest in his Cousin +Hazel. He, too, was motherless. The fifteen-year-old lad had gone into +one of the great preparatory schools with the terrible mother-want in +his heart and life. Like Hazel, he, too, was an only child, and +consequently without the guidance and help of an elder brother or +sister. His father was all that a man, absorbed in large business +interests, could be to the son whom he saw in vacation time only. + +"You are born a gentleman, Jack," he had said to him when he was about +to enter Harvard; "remember to conduct yourself as such. You ’ll not +find it an easy matter at times--I did n’t--but you will find it pays; +and--and remember your mother." Then Mr. Sherrill had wrung his boy’s +hand, and hurried away. + +It was the only time in the three years since she had been lost to him, +that his father had borne to mention the lad’s mother to him. To Jack +it was like a last will and testament, and he wrote it not only in his +memory, but on his heart. + +He had tried, yes, honestly, amid the manifold temptations of his life +and his "set," to live up to a certain ideal of his own, but it had been +slow work; and the last three months of his sophomore year had been far +from satisfactory to himself. + +He was thinking this over as he rode slowly up the steep road to Mount +Hunger. He had come up that morning to call on Mrs. Blossom, for he +knew that the social law of hospitality demanded that he should pay his +respects to Rose Blossom’s mother and Hazel’s guardian before his +friends should break bread in the house. + +That tall girl in the sunbonnet was a disappointment--but then, he had +been a fool to expect anything else just because she happened to sing +one of Barry Cornwall’s love-songs. He rode out of the leafy +woods’-road, and came unexpectedly upon the farmhouse. Chi saw him from +the barn, and came out to meet him. + +"Is Mrs. Blossom at home?" asked Jack, lifting his cap. + +Chi patted Little Shaver’s neck, shining like polished mahogany. "Yes, +she ’s home, ’n’ she ’ll be glad to see you. You ’ll find her right in +the kitchen, ’n’ I ’ll tend to this little chap--what’s his name?" + +"Little Shaver, he ’s my polo pony." + +"George Washington! He knows a thing or two. He most winked at me," +laughed Chi. + +"Oh, he knows a stable when he sees it," said Jack, smiling; "but where +’s the kitchen?" + +"Right off the porch.--There ’s Rose singing now; guess that ’ll be as +good a guide-post as you could have. Come along, Little Shaver,--a good +name for you." + +Jack went up on the porch, but stopped short at the open door. Rose was +at the kitchen table, patting out the dough for the rolls. Her sleeves +were turned up above the elbows, and the round, yet delicate, white arms +and the pretty hands were working energetically with the rolling-pin. +She was singing from pure lightheartedness, and she emphasized the +rhythm by substantial thumps with the culinary utensil. + +[Illustration: "Rose was at the kitchen table, patting out the dough for +the rolls"] + +"’I told thee when love was hopeless; (thump) +But now he is wild and sings--(thump) +That the stars above (thump! thump!!) +Shine ever on Love--(thump--)’" + + +Jack knocked rather loudly, and Rose turned with a little "Oh!" and an +attitude that made Jack long for a button-hole kodak. + +"Come in, Mr. Sherrill," she said, cordially, but thinking to herself, +"Caught again! well, I don’t care." + +"I hope I have n’t come too early this morning to be received," said +Jack, extending his hand. + +"I can’t shake, Mr. Sherrill," laughed Rose, "and if I stop to wash +them, you won’t have any rolls for tea." + +"Do go on then," said Jack, eagerly, "only don’t let me be a bother. I +was afraid it might be too early and inconvenience you, but--" + +"Not a bit," said Rose as she turned to the kneading-board again. "If +you don’t mind, I ’m sure I don’t; only these rolls must be attended +to." + +"You ’re very good to let me stay and watch the process," said Jack, +humbly, deferentially taking his stand by the table. "I hope I shall +not interfere so much with Mrs. Blossom; I forgot that--that--" Jack +grew red and confused. + +"That we did our own work?" Rose supplied the rest of his thought with +such winning frankness, that Jack succumbed then and there to the +delight of a novel experience. + +"I ’ll be out in a few minutes, Mr. Sherrill," called a cheery voice +from the pantry behind him. Jack started,--then laughed. + +"Am I interrupting you, too, Mrs. Blossom?" he said, addressing a crack +in the pantry door. + +"I don’t mean to let you, or you will have no sponge cakes for tea; I ’m +beating eggs and can’t leave them or they ’ll go down." + +"Can’t I help, Mrs. Blossom? I ’ve no end of unused muscle," said Jack, +entering into the fun of the situation. + +"No, thank you, I shall be but a few minutes. Rose dear, just feel the +oven, will you?" + +Jack began to think himself a nonentity in all this domesticity. "’Feel +the oven,’" he said to himself. "Do girls do that often, I wonder." He +watched Rose’s every movement. + +"Now, confess, Mr. Sherrill, have you ever seen anyone make biscuit +before?" said Rose, cutting off a piece of dough, flouring it, patting +it, cuddling it in both hands, folding it over with a little slap to +hold a bit of butter, and tucking it into the large, shallow pan. + +"No--" Jack drew a long breath, "I never have. You see I have always +thought it a kind of drudgery, but this--" Jack sought for a word that +should express his feelings in regard to the process as performed by +Rose--"this is, why--it’s poetry!" he exclaimed with a flashing smile +that became his expressive face wonderfully, and caused Rose to fail +absolutely in making a shapely poem of the next roll. + +She laughed merrily. "There now, they ’ll soon be done--in good shape +too, if you don’t compliment them too much." + +"I ’ll eat a dozen of them, I warn you now." Jack was waxing dangerous, +for he was already possessed with an insane desire to become a piece of +dough for the sake of having those pretty hands pat him into shape. + +"Do you hear that, Martie?" cried Rose, flushing with pleasure. + +"Yes. That’s the best compliment you can pay them, Mr. Sherrill. I +hope my cakes will fare as well," she said, coming from the pantry with +extended hand. + +It was strange! But when Jack Sherrill returned the cordial pressure of +that same hand, small, shapely, but worn and hardened with toil, his +eyes suddenly filled with tears. This, truly, was a home, with what +makes the home--a mother in it. + +Mrs. Blossom saw the tears, the struggle for composure, and, knowing +from Hazel he was motherless, read his thought;--then all her sweet +motherhood came to the surface. + +"My dear boy," she said with quivering lip, "it is very thoughtful of +you to come up and pioneer the way over the Mountain for all your city +friends." + +Jack found his voice. "Mrs. Fenlick wanted to come, too, Mrs. Blossom, +but I managed to put it so she thought it would be better to wait until +afternoon. They are all looking forward to it." + +"I ’m sorry Hazel is n’t here; she is out picking berries with the +children. If Rose had n’t so much to do, I ’d send her to hunt them +up." + +Jack protested. He had come to call on Mrs. Blossom and had detained +them altogether too long. + +"I don’t want to go," he said laughingly, "but I know I ought. It seems +almost an imposition for so many of us to come up here and put you to +all this trouble. Why did you ask us, Miss Blossom?" At which +question, Rose did not belie her name, for a sudden wave of color surged +into her face, and she looked helplessly and appealingly at her mother. + +"I ’ve put my foot into it now," was Jack’s thought, as Mrs. Blossom +responded quickly, "For more reasons than one, Mr. Sherrill." + +They were out on the porch; Chi was bringing up Little Shaver. + +"It will be a regular stampede this afternoon," said Jack, gayly, as he +vaulted into the saddle. "Have you room enough for so many horses?" He +turned to Chi. + +"Plenty ’n’ to spare, ’n’ I ’m goin’ to give ’em a piazzy tea of their +own. Little Shaver knows all about it: I ’ve told him. I never saw but +one horse before that could most talk, ’n’ that’s Fleet." + +Little Shaver whinnied, and with a downward thrust and twist of his head +tried to get it under Chi’s arm. + +"Did n’t I tell you?" said Chi, delightedly. + +"Can I get on to the main road by going over the Mountain?" Jack asked +him. + +"Yes, you can get over, if you ain’t particular how you get," said Chi. + +"No road?" + +"Kind of a trail;--over the pasture ’n’ through the woods, an acre or +two of brush, ’n’ then some pretty steep slidin’ down the other side, +’n’ a dozen rods of swimmin’, ’n’ a tough old clamber up the bank--’n’ +there you are on the river road as neat as a pin." + +Jack laughed. "Just what Little Shaver glories in; I ’ll try it, and +much obliged to you, Mr.--" he hesitated. + +"Call me, Chi." + +"Chi," said Jack, in such a tone of good comradeship that it brought the +horny hand up to his in a second’s time. + +Jack grasped it; "Good-bye till this afternoon." He spoke to Little +Shaver, who ducked his head and fairly scuttled across the mowing, +scrambled up the pasture, took the three-rail fence at the top in a sort +of double bow-knot of a jump, and then disappeared in the woods, leaving +the three gazing after him in admiration. + +"That feller’s got the right ring," said Chi, emphatically; "but if he +had n’t come up here this mornin’, first thing, after that invite of +Rose-pose’s, I ’d have set him down alongside of that Miss Seaver--’n’ a +pretty low seat that would be!" + +"I ’ll put up some lunch, Chi, for you and March, and, if you can find +him, you would do well to start now for the trout." + +Mrs. Blossom turned to Rose. "Come, dear, we ’ve a hundred and one +things to do to be ready in time. You may set the table on the porch, +and we ’ll all picnic for dinner to-day; I ’ve no time to get a regular +one, and father is n’t at home." + +It was a perfect afternoon on that second of September. At a quarter of +five Mrs. Blossom and Rose and Hazel were on the porch, looking down +upon the lower road for the first glimpse of the party. + +The table was set on the huge rough veranda that Mr. Blossom and Chi had +built just off the kitchen long-room. Clematis and maiden-hair ferns, +which abounded on the Mountain, were the decorations, and set off to +good advantage Mrs. Blossom’s mother’s old-fashioned tea-set of delicate +green and white china. + +On one end was a large china bowl heaped with blackberries, on the other +stood a common glass one filled with luscious, red raspberries. The +sponge cakes gleamed, appetizingly golden, from plates covered with +grape-vine leaves for doilies. + +The chicken quivered in its own jelly on a platter wreathed with +clematis. The delicious odor of fried trout floated out from the +long-room, and the rolls were steaming hot in snow-white napkins. + +"Oh, dear!" moaned Rose. "Everything will get cold, it’s so late." + +Just then there was a shout from the advance-guard of the twins, and the +cavalcade came into view; Jack on Little Shaver, who, after his +thirty-mile morning ride, was as fresh as a pastured colt--riding beside +Maude Seaton on Old Jo. + +There was a general dismounting, assisted by Chi; a gathering and +looping up of riding habits; a bit of general brushing down among the +men; then, with one accord they turned to the broad step of the porch. + +Mrs. Fenlick, telling of it afterwards, said that, for a moment, she did +nothing but look with all her eyes; for there on the porch step stood a +woman still in the prime of life and beautiful. She was dressed in an +India mull of the fashion of a quarter of a century ago, with a lace +kerchief folded in a V about the open neck, and fastened with an +old-fashioned brooch. + +"At her side," said Mrs. Fenlick, "stood one of the loveliest girls off +of canvas I have ever seen. She had on a gown of old-fashioned +lawn--pale blue with a rose-bud border. She was tall and straight, and +the skirt was a little skimpy, and so plain that had she designed it to +set off the grace of her figure she could n’t have succeeded better. +And the face and head!" Mrs. Fenlick used to wax eloquent at this +point--"were simply ideal. Hazel, of course, looked as handsome as a +picture in her full, dark blue frock of wash silk trimmed with Irish +lace, and with that rich color in her cheeks--but that girl’s face was +simply divine! Just imagine a complexion of pure white, and dark blue +eyes--real violet color--black almost in her pretty excitement of +welcoming us, and the loveliest golden brown hair just plaited and +puffed a little at the temples, and a braid, that big--" Mrs. Fenlick +generally put her two delicate wrists together at this point,--"that +fell below her waist fully half a yard! I never saw such hair!" + +Mrs. Fenlick used to pause for breath at this point, and then add, +"Well, the whole thing was too lovely to be described. Of course, we +ate--lots; for that ride and the air were enough to make a saint hungry +in Lent, but I was only dimly conscious of ever so many good things I +was eating, for that face fascinated me. And manners! Just as if those +two women had had nothing to do all their lives but entertain royalty! + +"I had sense enough, however, to notice that Jack Sherrill said very +little and ate a great deal. I counted twelve rolls--of course they +were small--for one thing; and I don’t blame him,--I wanted more. Well, +the whole thing was perfect--the valley and the great mountains were +just in front of the porch, and everything harmonized. Even that lovely +girl had a bunch of purple-blue pansies at her belt and a few in the bit +of cotton lace at her throat; and the sunset and the mountains matched +them--as if she had had the whole thing made to order." + +Mrs. Fenlick always ended with, "I ’ve got one bone to pick with that +dear Doctor Heath--a mountain sanatorium! I ’d be willing, almost, to +get nervous prostration to be sent up there. + +"But oh! you should have seen Maude Seaton!" And thereupon, Mrs. +Fenlick would go off into a fit of laughter at the remembrance. "She +was looking about for the ’rigid sunbonnet,’ as she called it, of the +day before, and did n’t hear when Rose Blossom spoke to her; and when +she did realize that the two were one and the same, her look was the +kind ’Life’ likes to get hold of, you know. + +"As for Jack Sherrill," Mrs. Fenlick concluded in her most serious +manner, "I have my own thoughts about some things." More than that she +would not say, for fear it might get back to Maude Seaton’s ears. + +Jack, too, had his own thoughts about some things--and kept them to +himself. + + + + + XII + + RESULTS + + +It was the middle of November. A wild, cold wind was sweeping over the +Mountain, and driving black clouds in quick succession across the tops +of the woodlands. It howled around the farmhouse and, as now and again +a more furious blast hurled itself against doors and windows, the +children drew nearer together on the rug before the huge fireplace with +a delightful sense of safety and cosiness. + +A kettle of molasses was simmering on the stove, and Chi was wielding +the corn-popper with truly professional skill before the open fire. + +It was such fun to see the hurry, and scurry, and hustle, and rattle, +and pop, and sudden white transformation of the heated kernels! A huge, +wooden bowl received the contents of the popper, and March salted them. +Oh, how good it smelt! And Rose was going to make molasses corn-balls +to put aside for the next evening. + +"It’s just like having a party every night, there are so many of us," +said Hazel, clapping her hands in delight. + +"I should think you ’d miss some of your real parties, Hazel," said +Rose, thoughtfully. + +"Miss them! Not a bit; why, they are n’t half so nice as this, and at +home it’s so lonesome when papa isn’t there. Is n’t it lovely to think +he ’s coming up Christmas? Even up here, you know, it would n’t be quite +Christmas for me without him. That makes me think, I must write him +very soon about some things." Hazel looked mysterious. + +"We hung up our stockings last year, but we did n’t get what we wanted," +said Cherry rather mournfully. + +"Why not?" asked Hazel. + +"Coz Popsey was so sick he could n’t go out to the Wishing-Tree, and so +he did n’t know." + +"What is the Wishing-Tree?" said Hazel, consumed with curiosity. + +Cherry’s mouth was full of corn, so Budd carried on the conversation +between mouthfuls. + +"I ’ll show you to-morrow. It’s a big butternut up in the corner of the +pasture, an’ there ’s a little hollow in the trunk where the squirrels +used to hide beech-nuts, but March has made a door to it with a hinge +and put a little padlock on it--that’s the key hanging up on the clock." + +Hazel saw a tiny key suspended by a string from one of the pointed knobs +that ornamented the tall clock. + +"’N’ nobody touches it till All-hallow-e’en," said Cherry, when the +sound of her munching had somewhat diminished, although her articulation +was by no means clear. "’N’ then Chi goes up with us in the dark, ’n’ we +put in our wishes, ’n’--" + +"Let me tell Hazel," said Budd. "You ’ve begun at the wrong end. You +see, we write what we want for Christmas down on paper, an’ seal it with +beeswax, an’ then don’t tell anybody what we ’ve written; an’ then Chi +goes up there with us after dark, an’ we ’re all dressed up like +Injuns--" + +"Indians, Budd," corrected March. + +"Well, Old Pertic’lar, Indians, then," said Budd, a little crossly, "an’ +then-- + +"Oh, you ’ve forgot the dish-pan and the little tub," Cherry’s voice +came muffled through the corn. "We take the dish-pan, Hazel, ’n’ the +little wash-tub, me ’n’ Budd between us, ’n’ beat on them with the iron +spoon ’n’ the dish-mop handle, ’n’ play ’tom-toms’--" + +"Yes, an’ March gives an awful war-whoop--" Budd, in his earnestness, +had risen and gone over to Chi’s side, and now sat down by the big bowl, +but, unfortunately, on the popper which Chi had just emptied. There was +a smell of scorched wool, and, simultaneously, a wild, "Oh, gee-whiz!!" +from Budd, who leaped as if shot, and stood ruefully rubbing the seat of +his well-patched knicker-bockers, while the rest rolled over on the rug +in their merriment. + +"Oh, do go on, Budd!" cried Hazel, wiping the tears of mirth from her +eyes. Cherry had laughed so hard that she was hiccoughing with +outrageous rapidity; and March--forgetting May--chose that opportune +moment to give forth a specimen of his best war-whoop, for the purpose, +as he explained afterwards, of frightening her out of them. + +By the time order had been restored, Cherry was able to take up the +thread of the story; + +"’N’ we join hands--Chi ’n’ all of us--’n’ sing as loud as we can sing: + + "’Intery, mintery, cutery corn, + Apple seed, apple thorn; + Wire, briar, limber lock, + Five geese in a flock-- + Sit and sing by the spring; + You are OUT.’ + +Then we all give a great shout and grunt like In-di-ans--," said Cherry, +emphatically, looking at March; and March nodded approval. + +"How’s that?" asked Hazel, who was listening with all her ears. + +"A hánnah--a hánnah--a hánnah," grunted the children as well as they +could, hampered by mouths full of corn. "An’ then," went on Budd, "we +drop the wishes into the hollow in the tree-trunk, an’ Chi locks the +door an’ keeps it, an’--" + +"’N’ each of us ties two feathers from a rooster’s tail to different +colored strings, ’n’ fastens them on to a branch of the tree, ’n’ that +brings us good luck; March calls it ’winging the wishes.’ That’s the +way we get our presents." + +"Oh, what fun!" cried Hazel. "May I do it this year?" + +"Course," replied Budd, "but how will your father know anything about +it?" + +"I never thought of that," said Hazel, all her Christmas castles +toppling over suddenly. + +"We ’ll fix it somehow, Lady-bird," said Chi, who, having finished his +labors, had seated himself in a chair behind the children and provided +himself with a private bowl of his own. + +"But now, speakin’ of roosters, I ’d like to know how you ’re comin’ out +about chicken money. I sold the last lot but one down in Barton’s +to-day. There ’s been a lot of express to pay, ’n’ I thought I ’d +better pay dividends to-night, ’n’ get it off my mind, seein’ it’s most +Wishin’-Tree time." + +Rose took her little account book from her pocket. "We cleared one +hundred and ten dollars on our preserves and jams after we ’d paid Hazel +what we had borrowed for the jars and sugar, and paid for the express +and boxes. I ’m awfully sorry we could n’t fill all the orders, but we +’ll try to next year. I ’ll go and get the money. I like to look at +it, knowing it means so much to us all." + +She ran upstairs and came back with a little wooden box that Chi had +made for her years ago. The children crowded about her. "There," said +Rose, proudly, as she took out the money and smoothed it, one crisp bill +after another, on her knees; "they ’re all in ones, so it will seem as +if we had more when we divide. Now we ’ve agreed to divide this +equally, so that ’ll make just twenty-two apiece." + +"Let’s play ’Hold-fast-all-I-give-you’ in earnest," said Cherry, sitting +down again on the rug and holding out her hands. "That ’ll be +twenty-two times round and make it seem a lot more." + +"Good for you, Cherry," said March, approvingly, and they all followed +her example. With a gravity befitting the occasion, the "truly-bruly" +game, as Budd called it, went on to the supreme satisfaction of those +interested as well as the enjoyment of father and mother and Chi; for to +the two former the money-making had long been, of necessity, an open +secret. + +Chi, after watching them a little while, left the room. When he +reappeared a few minutes later, he was greeted with a prolonged "Ah!" of +satisfaction; for in one hand he held his old account-book, and in the +other a long, dark blue woollen stocking which bulged fearfully from the +toe halfway up the leg, where it was tied with a stout piece of leather +whip-lash. + +The whole business of disposing of the chickens had been intrusted to +Chi, and the members of the N.B.B.O.O. Society had pledged themselves +not to ask him any questions in regard to the sale of them until he +should tell them of his own accord. This pledge they had kept, and now +they were to have their rewards. + +"If this is going to be a meeting of the N.B.B.O.O. Society, I move we +ask those who aren’t members to adjourn to the bedroom," said March, +looking significantly at his mother and father. Mr. and Mrs. Blossom +took the hint, and, without waiting for anyone to "second the motion," +betook themselves, laughing, into the other room. + +"Guess we ’ll sit up to the table ’n’ count it out," said Chi, "coz we +don’t want any of it to fly up chimney. We should never find it again +in this gale." + +He emptied the stocking of its contents--bills, pennies, and silver +pieces of all denominations--upon the table, and the children drew up +their chairs. + +"Now we ’ll sort," said Chi. "You take the bills, Rose, ’n’ the rest +take the other pieces, ’n’ make little piles before you of a dollar +each. Then we can reckon up easy. I ’ll take the pennies and the +nickels." + +"I choose the ten-cent pieces," said Cherry, "an’ you take the quarters, +Budd." March and Hazel took the rest. + +"This is a kind of stockholders’ meetin’," said Chi, as the piles were +completed. "We ’ll divide the proceeds accordin’ the number of hens +each set; coz I could n’t keep run of so many chicks after they’d struck +out for themselves." + +He opened his book. + +"Here ’s some items you better hear, before you find any fault with the +management: + +"Mem. July. 15 chicks killed by hen-hawks. + +"Mem. August. 21 chicks died of the pip. + +"Mem. September. Skunks stole ten. + +"Mem. October. 2 can’t find. + +"There ’s a dead loss to all the stockholders, share ’n’ share alike. +Now for expenses: + +"Mem. Corn for feed till October--7 bushels. + +"Mem. November. Express, $5.50. Crates expressin’--$1.10. Now for +the profits!" said Chi, with a ring of triumph in his voice. "Count up +your piles." + +How the cheeks flushed and the eyes grew dark with excitement as the +counting proceeded: "One hundred--one hundred and thirty-two--one +hundred and seventy-seven--two hundred!" + +"Oh-ee!" cried Hazel, as March fairly thundered "Two hundred!" "There +’s more, there ’s more!" + +"Go on, go on!" she cried again, almost beside herself with excitement. + +"Two hundred and seven--TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTEEN!!" + +"Chi!" exclaimed Rose, almost breathless, "How _did_ you make all that?" +and thereupon, without waiting for his answer, she sprang up from her +chair, and, to Chi’s amazement, took his weather-worn face between her +two hands, and popped a kiss upon his forehead. + +Chi cleared his throat and attempted to make his explanation, but was +interrupted by March, who got hold of his right hand and wrung it +without speaking. Chi saw the boy turn a little white about the mouth +and his gray eyes flash through tears; words were not needed. + +Budd and Cherry did not realize all this meant to the elder brother and +sister, but they did not wish to be outdone by the others in expressing +their appreciation of Chi. So Budd thumped him unmercifully on the back, +saying, "You ’re a trump, Chi; tell us how you did it," in a most +patronizing tone, and Cherry danced around the table, singing; "I love +my Love with a big, big C!" + +Hazel looked on, rejoicing in their joy, but wondering why such a little +sum, less than her yearly allowance, should create all that happiness. + +"But tell us how you did it, Chi," said Rose again. + +"Well, I sold most of them for broilers, they bring a pretty good price; +’n’ then I sold the feathers; ’n’ you forget all those forty hens have +been layin’ the last two months, ’n’ I sold the eggs. Then, too,--" a +slow smile wrinkled Chi’s eyes--"I was n’t interfered with, ’n’ that +made a great difference in the business. How much have you got +altogether?" + +"Three hundred and twenty-seven dollars," said March. + +"What you goin’ to do with it? that’s the next question. You can’t let +your money lay round in wooden boxes ’n’ old stockin’s. It ought to be +bringing you in interest." + +"I ’m going to give my share to Rose, to prepare for college with," said +Hazel. + +"Indeed, I sha’n’t take your money, Hazel; you ’ve earned it fairly for +yourself. I should be ashamed to accept it, but it’s lovely of you to +think of it-- Why, Hazel!" she cried, throwing her arm around her, for +the tears were rolling down Hazel’s cheeks, and her chest heaving with a +bona fide sob. + +But Hazel flung off the encircling arm and threw herself full length +upon the settle in an abandonment of woe. + +"I don’t care anything about your old money," she sobbed. "I did n’t +want it for myself, and I ’ve worked so hard picking berries and +all--and you said you ’d keep the by-law--and I ’ve been so happy +working to help others, and I never would have believed it of you, Rose +Blossom, that you ’d go back on your word--you promised--you promised to +help others--a regular solemn pl-pledge, Chi says, and now--and the only +way you could help me--was to let--to let me help y-ou-oo-oo!" + +March and Rose looked at each other aghast at this unwonted outburst +from Hazel, and Mrs. Blossom, hearing the wail, made her appearance from +the bedroom. + +"Why, Hazel dear, what is the matter?" she said. + +"They ’ve spoiled all my good times," sobbed Hazel, refusing to be +comforted even when Mrs. Blossom, sitting down by her, stroked her head +and begged her to sit up and tell her all about it. + +"Oh, mother!" cried Rose, holding back the tears as well as she could, +"it’s all my fault. It’s my old pride that keeps coming up at every +little thing, somehow, and I know it ’ll be the death of me! March has +it, too; and between us we have made it just horrid for Hazel." + +"Why, Rose, what do you mean?" asked her mother, gravely. + +"Things that we ’ve kept from you, Martie. Hazel wanted to give us the +jars and the sugar, and we would n’t let her; and she wanted to give me +a blue wash silk like hers, because I said I wished I could afford one +like it,--and I--and I was a little angry, and showed it; and March +spoke up and said we would n’t be patronized if we were poor--" + +"Why, March Blossom!" was all his mother said. + +"Yes," broke in Budd, ready to place himself on the side of +righteousness, "an’ Cherry told her that March called her ’a perfect +guy,’ an’ that meant she was homely; an’ that Chi said she was awful +poor, an’ we were a great deal richer than she was, an’ that you would +n’t have had her here if you had n’t pitied her--" + +"Children!" Not one of them ever remembered to have heard their mother +speak with such stern anger in her voice. "I ’m ashamed of you; you +have disgraced your parents’ name." Then she turned to Hazel, drew her +up into her arms, and said, tenderly: + +"Hazel, my dear little girl, why did n’t you come to me with this +trouble?" + +"Because--because you were n’t _my mother_, you were theirs; but, oh! I +wish you were mine! I love you so--" Hazel flung both arms around Mrs. +Blossom’s neck and sobbed out,--"I ’ve wanted to call you Mother Blossom +and hug and kiss you like the rest--but Cherry was so jealous--the first +time I did it--that she--she stuck burrs in my bed and led me through +the nettle-patch when we were raspberrying, because she knew I did n’t +know nettles; and Chi told me we ’d got to be brave if we joined the +N.B.B.O.O., and I knew I ought to bear it--for I _do_ love to be +here--and I love them all, for most of the time they ’re lovely to +me;--and I don’t think you ’ve been horrid, Rose, only you did hurt my +feelings when you would n’t let me give you the blue silk--and--and it +is n’t my fault if I _am_ rich, and it is n’t fair not to like me for +it!" + +[Illustration: "Hazel flung both arms around Mrs. Blossom’s neck"] + +"No more it ain’t, Lady-bird," said Chi, who, after drawing the back of +his hand across his eyes, was apparently the only dry-eyed one in the +room. March had flung himself on the other end of the settle and buried +his face deep among the patch-work cushions. Rose was sobbing outright +with her head on her arms as she sat at the dining-room table. + +Cherry, in her shame and misery--for she had come to love Hazel dearly +without wholly conquering her jealousy--softly opened the pantry door +and slipped inside where she sniffed to her heart’s content. As for +Budd, he stood over the wood-box, repiling its contents while the tears +ran off his nose so fast that he saw all the sticks double through them. + +"You may go to bed, children," said Mrs. Blossom, still holding Hazel in +her arms. At this fiat, there was a general increase in the humidity of +the atmosphere; and, knowing perfectly well when their mother spoke in +that tone, that words, tears, or prayers would not avail, they, one and +all,--for Cherry had been listening at the pantry door,--made a rush for +the stairs and stumbled up, blinded by their tears. + +Mrs. Blossom led Hazel still sobbing into her own little bedroom, and +shut the door. + +Chi, president of the vanished N.B.B.O.O. Society, was left alone. He +gazed meditatively awhile at the little piles of money and the vacant +chairs opposite each. Then he gathered them up carefully and placed +them in orderly rows in the wooden box. His next move was to the shed +door. As he opened it, a gust of wind extinguished the lamp on the +table. + +"Guess I ’ll go to bed, too," said Chi to himself, coming back for the +box, which the firelight showed plainly enough. "The barometer’s +dropped, ’n’ it always makes me feel low in my mind." + +He heaved a prodigious sigh and went out into the shed and up the back +stairs. The wooden box he put under the head of the mattress; he +barricaded the door and placed his rifle beside it against the wall. +Then he turned in and drew the coverlet up over his head with another +sigh, so long, so profound, that it mingled with the wind as it swept +through the cracks of the shed beneath, and made a part of the dismality +of the night. + +Mrs. Blossom returned to the long-room, and, sitting down in her low +rocker before the fire, waited. She knew her children. + +Soon, it might have been within half an hour, she heard Rose call softly +at the top of the stairs:-- + +"Martie." + +"Yes, Rose." + +"May I come?" + +"Yes, dear." + +"O Martie! may I, too?" wailed Cherry. + +"Yes." + +"I ’m coming, mother," said March, speaking in a low, determined voice +through the knot-hole. + +"Very well, March." + +"Come along, Budd," said March, and Budd was only too glad to grip his +brother’s pajamas and follow after. + +Down they came, tiptoeing in their bare feet, Rose heading the +penitential procession. She knelt by her mother’s side, and March and +Budd and Cherry knelt, too. + +Then, to their mother’s, "Are you _truly_ ready, children?" they +answered heartily, "Yes, Martie." + +Together they said in subdued but earnest tones, "Our Father;" together +they prayed, "’Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who +trespass against us’"--and after the heart-felt, "Amen," each received a +kiss by way of absolution; and together, until the clock struck ten, +they talked the whole matter over and resolved to fight their Apollyons +daily and hourly, and, with God’s grace, conquer them. + +These were the rare hours, the memory of which held March Blossom in the +way of right and honor when he went out to battle for himself in the +world. These were the hours, the memory of which kept him in his +college days unspotted from the world. It was such an hour that ripened +Rose Blossom into a thinking, feeling woman, and made Budd into a knight +of the Twentieth Century. + +It was for such an hour that Jack Sherrill would have given his entire +fortune. + + + + + XIII + + A SOCIAL ADDITION + + +It was a chastened household that gathered about the breakfast table the +next morning; and for a week afterwards, every one was so thoughtful and +considerate of everybody else that Mrs. Blossom said, laughing, to her +husband; "They ’re so angelic, Ben, I ’m afraid they are all going to be +ill. I declare, I miss their little naughtinesses." + +Several things had been settled during the week and, apparently, to +everyone’s satisfaction. At a very serious-minded meeting of the +N.B.B.O.O., it had been decided to keep the larger part of the money in +order to start March on his career. Not without protest, however, on +March’s part. But he was overruled. Rose argued that if he were going +to college, he must begin to prepare that very winter, and if their +earnings were divided among the five, no one would reap any special +benefit from them, least of all, March. + +"I can wait well enough another year, perhaps two," she said; "and, +meanwhile, we ’ll be earning more. But you, March, ought to be in the +academy at Barton’s this very minute." + +"I know it," said March, dejectedly; "but I do hate to take girls’ +money; somehow, it does not seem quite--quite manly." + +"Better remember what your mother talked to you ’bout last Sunday, ’bout +its bein’ more of a blessin’ to give than to get," said Chi, +sententiously. + +"I do remember, and there ’s nobody in the world I ’d be more willing to +take it from than from you, all of you, but--" + +"Me, too?" interrupted Hazel, leaning nearer with great, eager, +questioning eyes. + +"Yes, you, too, Hazel," March replied gently, with such unwonted +humility of spirit shining through his rare, sweet smile, that Hazel +bounced up from her seat at the table, and, going behind March’s chair, +clasped both arms tightly around his neck, laid the dark, curly head +down upon the top of his golden one, exclaiming delightedly: + +"Oh, March, you are the dearest fellow in the world. I never thought you +’d give in so--and I love you for it! There now,"--with a big squeeze of +the golden head--"you ’ve made me superfluously happy." Hazel took her +seat, flushed rosy red in pleasurable anticipation of being allowed, at +last, to give to those she loved, and wholly unmindful of her slip of +the tongue. + +"Now that’s settled, I move that each of you keep three dollars of that +money ’gainst the Wishin’-Tree business. Chris’mus ’ll be here ’fore you +can say ’Jack Robinson.’" + +"Second the motion," said Budd and Cherry in the same breath. + +It was a unanimous vote. + +"There is just one thing I want to say," said March, who, in a +bewilderment of happy emotions, had been unable to reply one word to +Hazel, "and that is, that I want you to consider that you have lent it +to me and let me have the pleasure of paying back, sometime, when I am a +man." + +"That’s fair enough," said Chi. "I glory in your independence, Markis. +That’s the right kind to have. Put it to vote." + +Again there was a unanimous vote of approval, for they all knew that to +one of March’s proud spirit it meant much to accept the money, from the +girls especially; and they felt it would make him happier if he were to +accept it as a loan. + +"I can save a lot by not boarding down at Barton’s, and by working for +my board at the tavern, or in some family," said March, thoughtfully. + +"No you don’t," said Chi, emphatically. "’T ain’t no way for a boy to +be doin’ chores before he goes to school in the mornin’ ’n’ tendin’ +horses after he gets out in the afternoon. If you ’re goin’ to try for +college in two years, you ’ve got to buckle right down to it--’n’ not +waste time workin’ for other folks that ain’t your own. Here comes Mis’ +Blossom, we ’ll ask her what she has to say about it." + +"Why, Martie, where have you been all this afternoon? I saw you and +father driving off in such a sly sort of way, I knew you did n’t want us +to know where you were going. Now, ’fess!" laughed Rose. + +"’Fess, ’fess, Martie!" cried Budd and Cherry, hilariously breaking up +the meeting. "We ’ve got you now!" And without more ado they anchored +her to the settle, each linked to an arm, while Hazel took off her hood, +March drew off her rubbers, and Rose unpinned her shawl. + +Mrs. Blossom laughed. "No, you guess," she replied. + +"Down to the Mill Settlement?" + +"Wrong." + +"Over to Aunt Tryphosa’s?" + +"No." + +"Down to see the Spillkinses?" + +"Wrong again." + +"Over eastwards to the Morris farm," said Chi. + +"Right," said Mrs. Blossom, smiling. "How did you know, Chi?" + +"I didn’t, just guessed it; coz I knew the new folks was goin’ to move +in this week." + +"What new folks?" chorussed the children in surprise. + +"An addition to the Lost Nation," replied their mother, "and a very +charming one. Now there are five families on our Mountain." + +"Who are they, Martie?"--"Are you going to ask them to Thanksgiving, +too?"--"What’s their name?"--"How many are there of them?"--"Any boys?" +They were all talking together. + +"One at a time, please," laughed Mrs. Blossom, putting her hands over +her ears. "I never heard such mill-clappers!" + +"_Do_ hurry up, mother," said March, appealingly. + +"A young man from New Haven has taken the lease of the farm for three +years. He has his mother and sister with him. He was in the law school +at Yale until last spring; then his father died, and his sister, a +little older than you, Rose, was injured in some accident--I don’t know +what it was--and now she is very delicate. The doctor says if she can +live in this mountain country for a few years, she may recover her +health. The brother and mother are perfectly devoted to her. She calls +herself a ’Shut-in’--" + +"Then she can’t come over for Thanksgiving dinner," said Rose, +interrupting. + +"Not this year, but I hope she may next." + +"Did he give up college for his sister’s sake?" asked March. + +"He gave up the last year of his law course; they could not afford to +travel so many years for the benefit of her health, so they came up +here. I do pity them; it must be such a change. But, oh, March! how +you will enjoy that house! They have been there only a week, yet it +looks as if they had lived there always. They have such beautiful +framed photographs of places they visited when they were in Europe with +their father, and cases of books, and a grand piano--I don’t see how +they ever got it up the Mountain. The young man and his mother both +play, and he plays the violin, too." + +The children and Chi were listening open-eyed as Mrs. Blossom went on +enthusiastically:-- + +"It’s just like a fairy story, only it’s all true. Just two weeks ago, +when your father and I drove by there, that long, rambling house looked +so bleak and bare and desolate--your father and I always call it the +’House of the Seven Gables,’ for there are just seven--and the spruce +woods behind it looked fairly black, and the wind drew through the pines +by the south door with such an eerie sound, that I shivered. And +to-day, what a change! All the shutters were open, and muslin curtains +at the windows, and the sun was streaming into the four windows of the +great south room that they have made their living-room. There was a +roaring big fire in the hall fireplace, and plants--oh, Rose, you should +see them! palms and rubber trees and sword ferns,--and lovely rugs, +and--I can’t begin to tell you about it; you must go and see for +yourselves." Mrs. Blossom paused for breath, with a glad light in her +eyes. + +"It sounds too good to be true," said Rose, "and you look as if you had +been to a real party, Martie." + +"Well, I have, my dear. Just to see such people and such a house is a +party for me." + +"And you can keep having it, too, can’t you, Martie? because they ’re +going to be neighbors," cried Cherry, every individual curl dancing and +bobbing with excitement. + +"Is the young man good-looking?" asked Hazel, earnestly. + +"Very," replied Mrs. Blossom, smiling. + +"As handsome as Jack?" said Hazel. + +"Very different looking, Hazel; quiet and grave, but genial. Not so +tall as Mr. Sherrill, I should say; talks but little, but what he says +is well worth listening to--and when he smiled! I did n’t hear him +laugh, but I know he can enjoy fun. He has a fine saddle horse, Chi, +and he wants you to come and give him some advice about selecting +stock." + +"’Fraid he ’s too high-toned for me," said Chi, modestly; "but if I can +help him anyway, I ’d like to. Seems a likely young man from all you +say." + +"He ’s more than ’likely,’ Chi," returned Mrs. Blossom, with a twinkle +in her eye that only Chi caught. + +"Speakin’ of horses, Mis’ Blossom, we ’ve decided to send March to the +Academy at Barton’s, ’n’ if I let him have Fleet, he could come ’n’ go, +a matter of sixteen miles a day, without bein’ from home nights. I +don’t approve of that for boys." + +"No, indeed, neither his father nor I would think of such a thing for a +moment. But how kind of you, Chi, to let March have Fleet." + +"I want to help on the college education all I can; ’n’ if our boy wants +to go, he ’s goin’ to have the best to get him there so far as I ’m +concerned." + +"I don’t know how to thank you, Chi," said March, "but I ’ll treat Fleet +like a lady and I ’ll study like a--like a house on fire. I don’t envy +that other fellow his saddle horse if I can have Fleet. What’s his +name, mother? you haven’t told us yet." + +"Why, so I have n’t--Ford, Alan Ford, and his sister’s name is Ruth." + +"When can we go over and see them, Martie?" said Rose. + +"I thought two or three days after Thanksgiving, and then you can take a +little neighborly thank-offering with you." + +"What can we take?" queried Cherry. + +"Oh, a mince pie or two, some raspberry preserves, a comb of last +summer’s honey, a pat of butter, a nice bunch of our white-plume celery, +and, perhaps, Chi could find a brace of partridges." + +"M-m--does n’t that sound good-tasting!" said Cherry, patting her chest +ecstatically. + +"Who ’s coming for Thanksgiving, Martie?" asked Budd. + +"All the Lost Nation--the Spillkinses and Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann, +Lemuel and his wife and--who else? Guess." + +"Why, that’s all." + +"Not this year, you forget your new teacher, Budd. She boards around, +and it’s the Mountain’s year, so she is at Lemuel’s now." + +"Oh, good!" cried Budd enthusiastically. "She ’s a daisy. I know you +’ll like her, Hazel. All the fellows are awfully soft on her, +though--bring her butternut candy, an’ sharpen her pencils, an’ black +the stove, an’ wash off the black-board; an’ I saw Billy Nye sneak out +the other day and wipe the mud off her rubbers with his paper lunch-bag! +Catch me doing it, though," he added, his chest swelling rather +pompously as he straightened himself and thrust his hands deep into the +pockets of his knickerbockers. + +"Why not?" his mother asked with an amused smile. + +"Oh, coz," was Budd’s rather sheepish reply, and thereupon he followed +Chi out to the barn, whistling "Dixie" with might and main. + + + + + XIV + + THE LOST NATION + + +The four families on Mount Hunger were known to the towns about as The +Lost Nation. Two of them, the Blossoms and the Spillkinses, were, in +reality, lumber-dealers rather than farmers. The third, Lemuel Wood, +had a sheep farm, and Aunt Tryphosa Little with her granddaughter, +Maria-Ann, was the fourth. The two women owned a spruce wood-lot and +let it out to men who cut the bark. They cultivated a small +garden-patch of corn, beans, and squash, kept a cow and a few hens, and +eked out their scanty income with a day’s work here and there in fine +weather. + +Every two weeks they did the washing and ironing for the Blossom family, +as Mrs. Blossom’s cares were too heavy for her, and she felt that not +only could she afford it this year, but that in putting it out she was +giving a little help to her poorer neighbors. + +Chi or March took the huge basket of linen over on the wagon or sledge, +and always left with it a neighborly gift--a peck of fine russets or +greenings, a bunch of celery, a pound or two of salt pork, a bunch of +delicious parsnips, or a dozen eggs when the old dame’s hens were +moulting. Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann were not to be outdone in +neighborly kindnesses, and, regularly, the willow basket, full to +overflowing with snow-white clothes, was returned with something tucked +away under the square covering of oil-cloth--a tiny bunch of sage or +summer savory, an ironing-holder made of bits of bright calico or +woollen rags, a little paper-bag of spruce gum, a pair of woollen +wristers for Mr. Blossom or Chi, a new recipe for spring bitters with a +sample of the herbs--sassafras, dockroot, thoroughwort, wintergreen, and +dandelion--gathered by Aunt Tryphosa herself. + +They had one cow which they regarded as the third member of their +family. She had been named Dorcas, after Aunt Tryphosa’s mother, and +proved a model animal of her kind. She gave a more than ordinary amount +of creamy milk; presented her mistress with a sturdy calf each year; +never hooked or kicked; never, during the bitter winter weather, grew +restless in her small shed which adjoined the woodshed, and never broke +from pasture in the sweet-smelling summer-time. + +Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann vied with each other in petting her. They +brushed her coat as regularly as they did up their own back hair. They +gave her a weekly scrubbing as conscientiously as they took their +Saturday bath. For cold nights Aunt Tryphosa had made for her a +nightdress of red flannel (although she had never heard of "Cranford"), +which she and Maria-Ann had planned to fit the cow-anatomy, and it had +proved a great success. + +For the midsummer fly-time they had contrived a wonderfully fashioned +garment of coarse fish-netting, into which they had knotted a cotton +fringe. They claimed, and rightly, that freedom from chill and +irritation, incident upon zero weather and August dog-days, affected the +milk most favorably, both in quantity and quality; and, as it all went +to make delicious small cheeses, which sold at Barton’s River for +twenty-five cents apiece and were renowned throughout the county, people +had ceased to laugh at the cow’s appearance. + +It had become one of Hazel’s great treats to be permitted to go with +March or Chi to the little house--not much more than a cabin--on the +east side of the Mountain; and when she knew that the two were to be +guests for Thanksgiving, but not for Christmas, she began to lay plans +accordingly. + +The Spillkinses were an aged set, not one was under seventy. + +There were the Captain and his wife, who had celebrated their Golden +Wedding, and his wife’s two maiden sisters, Melissa and Elvira, of whom +he always spoke as the "girls." They were funny old maidens of seventy +one and two, who did up their hair in curl-papers, precisely as they did +a half a century ago; wore black cotton mitts when they went to church, +and white silk ones when they went out to tea; called each other "Lissy" +and "Elly," and were still sensitive in regard to their ages. + +In addition to these, the old, gray-shingled, vine-covered farmhouse on +the lower mountain-road, sheltered the Captain’s elder brother, Israel, +who was just turned ninety-three, hale and hearty, and Israel’s eldest +son, Reuben, a youth of seventy, who in our North Country parlance "was +not all there," but harmless, kindly, and generally helpful. + +All these, together with Lemuel Wood and his wife, and the new teacher, +were to be Thanksgiving guests, and wonderful preparations went on for +days beforehand. + +Such a sorting and paring and chopping of apples! Such a seeding of +raisins, and whipping of eggs, and compounding of cakes! Such a tucking +away of chickens beneath the flaky crust of the huge pie! Such a +moulding of cranberry jelly, so deeply, darkly, richly red! Such a +cracking of butternuts, and a melting of maple sugar! Such a stuffing of +an eighteen-pound turkey, and such a trussing of thin-linked sausages! +Such a making of goodly pies, pumpkin, mince, and apple! Such a +quartering of small cheeses contributed by Aunt Tryphosa! Such an +unbottling of sweet pickles, and unbarrelling of sweet cider;--and, on +the final day, such a general boiling, and baking, and roasting, and +basting, and mashing, and grinding, and seasoning, and whipping, and +cutting, and kneading, and rolling, as can occur only once a year in an +old-fashioned, New England farmhouse. + +Hazel was in her glory. Arrayed in a checked gingham apron, which she +had made herself, she beat eggs, whipped cream, helped Rose set the +table, wiped the dishes and baking-pans, basted the noble Thanksgiving +bird once, as a great privilege, although in so doing, she burned her +fingers with the sputtering fat, scorched her apron, and parboiled her +already flushed face with the escaping steam. But she was happy! + + +"Oh, papa!" she wrote the day after the party, "I never had such a good +time in my life! If only you could see the things we made!--apple and +lemon tarts, and mince and cranberry ’turnovers,’ and doughnuts all +twisted into a sort of French bow-knot such as Gabrielle used to make of +her back hair, and a queer kind of cake they call ’marble,’ all streaky +with chocolate and white, and butternut candy made with maple sugar, and +an _Indian_ pudding, and little bits of nut-cakes with a small piece of +currant jelly inside and all powdered sugar out; and--oh, I can’t begin +to tell you, for this is only a part of the dessert. + +"I ’ll try to paragraph this letter in the right places so you ’ll +understand about the party. + +"All the Lost Nation was invited; Captain and Mrs. Spillkins, Miss +Melissa and Miss Elvira, Uncle Israel and Poor Reub, Mr. Lemuel Wood and +his wife, and Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann, and-- Oh, I forgot Miss +Alton. She ’s awfully sweet; she is Budd and Cherry’s teacher in the +district school at the Mill Settlement. She’s more like a city person +than the others. I wish you ’d been here! for I can’t tell it half as +nice as it was; but I ’ll do my best because you wrote you wanted me to +tell you everything. + +"We were already for the party at eleven o’clock--in the morning, I +mean--(I can’t remember the sign for forenoon). We don’t have any lunch +up here, as you know, but the dinner comes between 12 and 1, so +everything was ready then. I got up at five o’clock! and worked hard +till it was time to change my gown. + +"It was awfully cold. Chi said the thermometer was shivering when he +looked at it just after breakfast; he means by that, it’s below zero--a +good deal; and I couldn’t help thinking how cosy and warm and +deliciously smelly it would be for the Lost Nation when they came in out +of the cold into the long-room and saw the table (it looked beautiful, +with baskets of red apples, and nuts and raisins, and a big centre-piece +of red geranium) just loaded with goodies. + +"March had driven over for Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann, and they arrived +first--Mrs. Blossom says they always do. (I want you to go over and call +on them when you are up here Christmas; it’s just like a story in Hans +Andersen; they keep a cow, Dorcas, who wears a kimono on very cold +nights.) + +"March helped Aunt Tryphosa out just as if she had been Queen Victoria. +(I forgot to tell you she and Maria-Ann do our laundry work.) March is +perfectly splendid about such things--and Maria-Ann sort of bounced out, +although Chi held out his hand to help her. It’s so funny to see them +together! Aunt Tryphosa is so small and wrinkled and thin that, +sometimes, Chi says he has known a good wind to knock her right over; +and Maria-Ann is almost as tall as Chi, and stout and rosy-cheeked, with +nice brown eyes that talk to you. + +"And, oh, papa!--I’ll tell you, but it’s a confidence--I saw Aunt +Tryphosa shiver hard when she came into the house, and I ’m afraid she +did not have enough warm things on. I know her shawl was n’t _very_ +thick, for I went into the bedroom afterwards and felt of it; and she +had no furs at all! Think of that with the thermometer way down below +zero, papa! I ’ll tell you all about it when you come. + +"Well, after Mrs. Blossom had given the old lady a cup of hot tea, she +felt better and began to talk; and, honestly, papa, she never stopped +talking all day long! March said he timed her. She lives away over on +the east side of the Mountain away from everybody, and yet she knows +everything that is going on, on the Mountain, and at the Mill +Settlement, and at Barton’s River, and that, as you know, is quite a +large place. + +"She told us all about the new neighbors in the seven-gabled-house; how +they had their dinner at bed-time, and what ’help’ they have, and whom +they are going to have for hired man, and how they have music every +night after dinner, and how the lights were n’t put out in the +north-east chamber till one o’clock. She even knew the pattern of lace +on the underclothes that were hung out to dry! and Maria-Ann was trying +to crochet some in imitation; I saw it myself. + +"And she said that one of the chambers was all lined with books, and +another just covered, floor and walls, with pictures--what can she mean, +papa? and that down stairs off the living-room in what used to be old +Mrs. Morris’s milk-room, there were ropes, and weights, and pulleys, and +a stretcher, and iron balls, and that every one said it did n’t have the +right look. But she said she meant to stand up for them, because the +young man had come over to call just two or three days ago and said, as +she was his nearest neighbor, they ought to become acquainted before +winter set in; and he ordered a half a dozen cheeses and brought word +from his mother that she would like them to come over and see her +daughter, for she thought Maria-Ann might be able to do something for +her. Now, what do you suppose it all means? + +"Of course, it makes us all wild to go over there, and I hope we shall +go soon. + +"But, oh! if you could see the Spillkinses! I had to go off up stairs +and bury my face in Rose’s feather bed so I could laugh without being +heard. They ’re the funniest lot of people I ever saw. They all came +over in a big wagon filled with straw, and before they came in sight, +Chi said, ’They ’re coming, I know by the cackle;’ and, papa, that is +just what it was. + +"They are all awfully aged, but they act just like young people, and +Mrs. Blossom says it’s their young hearts that keep them so young. + +"Uncle Israel, he’s ninety-three, but he wears a dark brown wig and +looks younger than his son, Poor Reub, who is seventy and has snow-white +hair. Mrs. Spillkins wears what they call up here a ’false front;’ it’s +just the color of Uncle Israel’s, so she looks more like his sister. +But her two sisters, Miss Melissa and Miss Elvira, are perfectly +comical. They’re just as small as Aunt Tryphosa, but they don’t talk; +only nod and smile and bow as if they were talking. They have little +corkscrew curls, three on each temple, and they bob and shake when they +nod and smile and sort of chirrup; it’s the Captain and his wife and +Uncle Israel who cackle so when they laugh. Poor Reuben does n’t say +much either, only he looks perfectly happy, and always sits by his +father when he can get a chance. Chi was just lovely to him all the +afternoon. + +"Well, after Mr. Wood and his wife and the new teacher came, we all sat +down to dinner, and Mr. Blossom said ’grace,’ and all the Spillkinses +said ’Amen,’ which surprised us all very much. + +"We don’t have courses up here, because there is nobody to serve us; so +everything is put on your plate at once, except, of course, dessert, and +papa!--I would n’t say it to any one but you, but I never saw any one +eat so much as Aunt Tryphosa for all she is so small and thin. Mr. +Blossom piled her plate up twice with turkey, and squash, and onion, and +potato, and turnip, and then she helped herself to cranberry jelly and +sweet pickles three times; and yet she managed to talk all the time; and +the queer part of it was that she did n’t cut herself once, they all eat +with their knives--except, of course, our family and Miss Alton. + +"Rose and Cherry and I removed the dinner plates, and that was all the +waiting there was. + +"We sat till half-past three at the table; then Uncle Israel said +another ’grace’--’after-grace,’ he called it,--and Mr. Blossom and Chi +took the--the gentlemen part out to see the horses and cows, and all the +rest went to work to clear off the table and do up the dishes. There +were so many of us it did n’t take long, and then we lighted the lamps, +and all the--the ladies took out their knitting and began to work as +fast as they could. + +"Then in a little while all the--the gentlemen came in, and the ladies +put up their work, and they all sat round the room and sang Auld Lang +Syne. Rose led, and Miss Alton sang a lovely alto. It was lovely, and +I longed to have you with me. Then Captain Spillkins said it was time to +hitch up, and Chi said it was time to be going as it was very dark and +cold. He drove Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann home, and Mrs. Blossom +filled a large basket with all sorts of goodies, and Mr. Blossom set it +in behind in the apple-green cart without their knowing it; so now they +can have a surprise party of their own and Thanksgiving for a whole +week. + +"There! This is the longest letter I ever wrote in all my life. I ’ve +written it at different times during the day. I ate so much yesterday, +that I don’t feel very bright to-day, so you must excuse any mistakes, +although I’ve used the dictionery as you wanted me to. + +"Always your loving, and now your dreadfully sleepy + "DAUGHTER HAZEL. + +"P.S. I think I shall feel better, if I tell you that we all had a very +unhappy time two weeks ago. I had a really dreadful heartache, papa, +and, for the first time, was homesick for you. + +"You see, March and Rose are very proud of spirit, and I don’t think +they liked it in me because we are rich--but you and I understand each +other, don’t we? and know that being rich does n’t mean anything to us, +does it? and then, too, Chi says we ’re poor because we have n’t so much +family to love as the Blossoms have, and that’s true, too, is n’t +it?--and I think that kind of poorness ought to balance our riches, +don’t you? And--well, I can’t explain how it all came about, but now +they are willing to let me give them things when I want to, and that +makes me very happy, and we are all a great deal happier than we were +before, and I’m going to call Mrs. Blossom, ’Mother Blossom,’ after +this, she says she wants me to, and she takes me in her arms just as she +does Rose and Cherry, and we talk things over together; so everything is +all right now. + +"Please send up my violin by express when you receive this. There is a +very good-looking young man, the new neighbor at the seven-gabled-house, +and he plays the violin, too, and his mother the piano. Love to Wilkins +and Minna-Lu. I ’ll send him a present from here--Oh, I forgot! don’t +forget to write Chi within a week sure, to inform you about the +Wishing-Tree, and don’t buy any presents for anybody till you hear from +him. H.C." + + +When Mr. Clyde read this long letter at the breakfast table, his face +was the despair of Wilkins, who hovered about, seeking, ineffectually, +for an excuse to ask about Miss Hazel. + +"Doan know what kin’ er news Marse John get from little Missy," he told +Minna-Lu, the cook; "but he laffed pow’ful part de time, an’ den he grow +pow’ful sober, an’ de fust ting I know, de tears come splashin’ onto de +paper, an’ he speak up rale sharp, ’Wha’ fo’ yo’ hyar, Wilkins?’ an’ +sayin’ nuffin’, I jes’ makes tracks, case I see he wan’s nobuddy see dem +tears.-- Fo’ Gawd, I ’se be glad when little Missy come home." + +Mr. Clyde took this manuscript, as he called it, over to the Doctor. + +"There, Dick, read that," was all he said. + +After the Doctor had read it, he whisked out his handkerchief in a +remarkably suspicious manner, and Mr. Clyde busied himself with a +medical journal without reading one word, till the Doctor spoke: + +"I say, Johnny, let’s get up a theatre party of us two for the Old +Homestead to-night; it’s the nearest thing we can get to this of +Hazel’s." + +"You always hit the right thing, Dick, I ’ll call for you at eight." + + + + + XV + + WISHING-TREE SECRETS + + +All-hallow-e’en had come. + +The exercises about the tree had been carried out with great +success--tom-toms, war-whoop, song and dance. After supper, the apples +had been roasted, and the whole family "bobbed" for them in the +wash-tub; father, mother, Chi, and even little May joining heartily in +the fun. Then they had melted lead, sailed nutshells freighted with +wishes, and finally "loved their Loves" with all the letters of the +alphabet. + +When all were off to bed and sound asleep, Chi took his lantern, and +went up again to the old butternut tree in the corner of the pasture. + +It was preparing to snow. A chill wind drew through the bare branches, +and caused a wild commotion among the roosters’ tail feathers that +dangled from one of the lower ones. + +Chi unlocked the little door, and from the hollow took out a handful of +notes. He thrust them into the side pocket of his coat, relocked the +door, and went back to his room over the shed. There, by the light of +the lantern, he read them and rejoiced over them; re-read them and cried +a little over them, nor was he ashamed of his tears; for in the precious +missives, Rose and Hazel, March and Budd and Cherry, had shown, as in a +mirror, the workings of their loving hearts. + + +All-hallo w-e’en. + +MY DEAR MOTHER,--I have a great favor to ask of you and father. Will +you hang up _your_ stockings this year and let us children fill them +instead of your filling ours? I don’t want you to take one cent of the +money you are earning by having Hazel here to buy me anything. I want +every penny of it to go to pay off that mortgage you told us of--for I +feel just as you do about it, and only wish I had known it last +Hallow-e’en when I asked for the paints and brushes. It makes me sick +just to think of all we asked for, and you not having any money to buy +them with--and never telling us! Oh, mother! + +Your devoted son, + MARCH BLOSSOM. + + +All-hallow-e’en. + +MY DEAR POPSEY,--Me and Cherry want to help you and Martie pay off that +morgige she told us about. March says it is a dreadfull thing that we +must get rid of just as soon as we can. So Cherry and me are going to +give you 2 dollars apeace out of our $3 we saved for ourselves out of +the jam and the chickens as we voted in the N.B.B.O.O. That will make +four dollars and March says it will be just 1/300 of what you owe and +will help a great deal. I think the other $1 we have left will be +enough to buy presents for the rest of the famly, don’t you? + +Your Son, + BUDD BLOSSOM. + +P.S. I meant to say I don’t expect anything this year ’cause last year I +asked for a double-runner and a bat and a new cap with fir on the edges +like the boys at Barton’s and 20 cents to buy marbles with and I didn’t +get them ’cause you were sick and I ’m sorry I asked for so much to +bother you when you were sick. B.B. + + +DEAR FRIEND CHI,--Do you think you can find out in some way what March +and Budd would like for Christmas? And if you know anything special +that Rose wants very _specially_, please let me know at your earliest +convenience so I can send to New York for it. I should like to consult +you about some gifts for Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann, and if you could +get a chance to take me down to the Barton’s River shops all alone by +myself, I should esteem it a great favor. + +Your true friend, + HAZEL CLYDE. + +All-hallow-e’en. + +P. S. I ’m rather anxious about the note I put in the Wishing-Tree for +papa. + + +All-hallow-e’en. + +DARLING PATER NOSTER,--When I think of last year, my heart aches for you +and my precious Martie. Oh, why did n’t she tell us before! I never +should have asked for that dress and the French grammar and dictionary +and the cheap set of Dickens’, if I had only known. + +_Do_, Pater dear, let us know in the future if you are in trouble, and +let us help share it. Would n’t that make it easier for you? + +Now a favor; I want you and Martie to play boy and girl again this year +and hang up _your_ stockings for a change; and please, _please_, father +dear, don’t give us anything this year--we don’t want anything but you +and Martie, and besides, we have money of our _own_! Chi calls us +"bloated bond-holders," and says we have formed a "combine." + +Your loving daughter, + ROSE BLOSSOM. + + +DEAREST COUSIN JACK,--I have n’t answered your letter because I ’ve been +having too good a time. This is only a Wishing-Tree note; I want you to +do me a favor, please; find out what I can buy nice for papa with a +dollar. I ’ve earned it myself (and a great deal more, Jack, you would +be surprised if you knew how much the preserves and chickens came to) +and want him to have a present out of it. Then, I would like to buy +something for Doctor Heath, about fifty cents’ worth, and another fifty +cents’ worth for Mrs. Heath. I want to give Aunt Carrie a little +something, too, _out of my own earnings_; (I’ve all my two quarterly +allowances besides,) I can afford fifty cents for her; and then I would +like to remember Wilkins with a little gift out of _my earnings_ for +mamma’s sake as well as my own, and then I shall have twenty-five cents +left of the money I worked for. The rest we all voted to put aside for +March to help him through college. He wants to be an architect, you +know, and he draws beautifully. I shall be glad of your advice. + +In haste, yours devotedly, + HAZEL. + + +All-hallow-e’en, MOUNT HUNGER. + +DEAR CHI,--May wants a doll the kind she saw last summer down at +Barton’s River. I ve got only a doller to spend for all the famly, so +will you plese ask the pris for me as I am afrade it will be to high. +There is a big french one in the right hand window at Smith’s store with +a libel on it 7$, and I play it’s mine when I am down there and you are +buying horse-feed. I have named her Emilie Angelique. Rose spelt it for +me. + +Your loving CHERRY BOUNCE. + + +DEAR OLD CHI,--If you can find out what Hazel would like specially for +Christmas, just let me know. + +MARCH. + + +DEAR CHI,--Can you manage to get us all down to Barton’s some Saturday +to do some Christmas shopping? + +Your ROSE-POSE. + + +All-hallow-e’en. + +DEAREST PAPA,--Will you please ask Aunt Carrie to please help you buy +these Christmas things? I enclose fifty dollars; (your check.) + +A white serge dress pattern, like mine. + +A book of lovely foreign photographs of buildings and pictures for +March. + +2 pairs of white kid gloves, number 6. + +2 pairs of tan kid gloves, number 6-¼. + +1 pair fur-lined gloves for March. + +1 pair ditto for Mr. Blossom. + +A year’s subscription for the Woman’s Hearthstone Journal for Maria-Ann. + +A small shirt waist ironing-board for Aunt Tryphosa. + +1 pair brown woolen gloves and one pair of those fleece-lined beaver +gauntlet driving gloves like those of yours, for Chi. + +1 blue Kardigan jacket for Chi. + +The other things I think I can get at Barton’s River. + +Your devoted daughter, + HAZEL CLYDE. + + +"Well," said Chi, thoughtfully, as he finished reading them a second +time, "I ’ve got more than one string to my bow this year. Beats all, +how Chris’mus limbers up a man’s feelin’s! Guess ’t was meant for all +of us children of a lovin’ Father." So saying, Chi knelt beside his +bed, and, dropping his face in his hands, remained there motionless for +a few minutes, while his loving, gentle, manly "soul was on its knees." + + + + + XVI + + A CHRISTMAS PRELUDE + + +"It ’s goin’ to be an awful cold night, grandmarm," said Maria-Ann as +she stepped to the door just after sunset on Christmas eve. The old +dame followed her and looked out over her shoulder. + +"I know ’t is; my fingers stuck to the latch when I went out to see +after Dorcas. While your gettin’ supper, I ’m goin’ to bundle up the +rooster and the hens, or they ’ll freeze their combs, sure’s your name’s +Maria-Ann; looks kinder Chris’musy, don’t it?" + +"I was just thinkin’ of that, grandmarm; just look at that star in the +east!" She pointed to a shoulder of the Mountain, where a serene planet +was ascending the dark blue heavens. "An’ there ’s been just enough +snow to make all the spruces look like the Sunday School tree, all roped +over with pop-corn. Do you remember that last one, grandmarm?" + +"I ain’t never forgot it, Maria-Ann; that’s ten year ago, an’ I sha’n’t +never see another?" She shivered, and drew back out of the keen air. + +"Nor I," said Maria-Ann, shutting the door. + +"I don’t know why not," snapped Aunt Tryphosa, who always contradicted +Maria-Ann when she could. "I guess we can have a Chris’mus tree same’s +other folks; we ’ve got trees enough." + +"That’s so," replied Maria-Ann, laughing. "Let’s have one to-morrow, +grandmarm. I don’t see why we can’t have a tree just as well as we can +have wreaths--see what beauties I ’ve made! I ’ve saved the four +handsomest for Mis’ Blossom an’ Mis’ Ford." + +"You do beat all, Maria-Ann, making wreaths with them greens and +bitter-sweet; I wish you ’d hang ’em up to-night; ’twould make the room +seem kinder Chris’musy." + +"To be sure I will." And Maria-Ann bustled about, hanging the beautiful +rounds of green and red in each of the kitchen windows, on the panes of +which the frost was already sparkling; then, throwing her shawl over her +head, she stepped out into the night and hung one on the outside of the +narrow, weather-blackened door. Again within, she set the small, square +kitchen table with two plates, two cups and saucers of brown and white +crockery, the pewter spoons and horn-handled knives and forks that her +grandmother had had when she was first married. Finally, she put on one +of the pots of red geranium in the centre and stood back to admire the +effect. + +"Guess we ’ll have a treat to-night, seein’ it’s night before +Chris’mus--fried apples an’ pork, an’ some toast; an’ I ’ll cut a cheese +to-night, I declare I will, even if grandmarm does scold; she ’ll eat it +fast enough if I don’t say nothin’ about it beforehand." + +Maria-Ann had formed the habit of thinking aloud, for she had been much +alone, and, as she said, "she was a good deal of company for herself." + +"Oh, hum!" she sighed, as she cut the pork and sliced the apples, "a cup +of tea would be about the right thing this cold night, but there ain’t a +mite in the house." Then she laughed: "What you talkin’ ’bout luxuries +for, Maria-Ann Simmons? You be thankful you ’ve got a livin’. I can +make some good cambric-tea, and put a little spearmint in it; that ’ll +be warmin’ as anything." She began to sing in a shrill soprano as she +busied herself with the preparations for the supper, while the kettle +sang, too, and the pork sizzled in the spider: + + "’Must I be carried to the skies + On flowery beds of ease, + While others fought to win the prize + And sailed through bloody seas?’" + + +Meanwhile, Aunt Tryphosa, with her lantern in one hand and a bundle of +red something in the other, had repaired to the hen-house which was +partitioned off from the woodshed. + +Had either one of them happened to look out down the Mountain-road just +at this time, they would have seen a strange sight. + +Along the white roadway, sparkling in the light of the rising moon, came +six silent forms in Indian file. Two were harnessed to small loaded +sledges. Sometimes, all six gesticulated wildly; at others, the two who +brought up the rear of the file silently danced and capered back and +forth across the narrow way. They drew near the house on the woodshed +side; the first two freed themselves from the sledges, and left them +under one of the unlighted windows. Then all six, attracted by the +glimmer of the lantern shining from the one small aperture of the +hen-house, stole up noiselessly and looked in. + +What they saw proved too much for their risibles, and suppressed giggles +and snickers and choking laughter nearly betrayed their presence to the +old dame within. + +On the low roost sat Aunt Tryphosa’s noble Plymouth Rock rooster, and +beside him, in an orderly row, her ten hens. Every hen had on her head +a tiny flannel hood--some were red, some were white--the strings knotted +firmly under their bills by Aunt Tryphosa’s old fingers trembling with +the cold. + +She was just blanketing the rooster, who submitted with a meekness which +proved undeniably that he was under petticoat government, for all the +airs he gave himself with his wives. The funny, little, hooded heads +twisting and turning, the "aks" and "oks" which accompanied Aunt +Tryphosa in her labor of love, the wild stretching and flapping of +wings, all furnished a scene never to be forgotten by the six pairs of +laughing eyes that beheld it. + +The moment the old dame took up her lantern, the spectators sped around +the corner. Under the dark windows they noiselessly unloaded the +wood-sleds, and silently carried bundles, baskets, and burlap-bags +around to the front door. + +At last they had fairly barricaded it, and the tallest of the party, +after fastening a piece of paper in the Christmas wreath that Maria-Ann +had hung up only a half-hour before, motioned to the others to step up +to the kitchen window. + +Just one glimpse they had through the thickening frost and the wreathing +green: a glimpse of the kitchen table, the steaming apples, the pot of +red geranium, the two cups of smoking spearmint tea, and of two +heads--the one white, the other brown--bent low over folded, toil-worn +hands in the reverent attitude for the evening "grace." + +"For what we are now about to receive, may the Lord make us truly +thankful," said Aunt Tryphosa, in a quavering voice. + +"Amen," said Maria-Ann, heartily--"Land sakes, grandmarm! how you scairt +me, looking up so sudden!" she exclaimed, almost in the same breath. + +"Thought I heerd somethin’," said the old dame, holding her head in a +listening attitude--"Hark!" + +"I don’t hear nothin’, grandmarm. Now, just eat your apples while they +’re hot. What did you think you heard?" she continued, dishing the +apples. + +"I thought I heerd it when I was out in the shed, too." + +"I should n’t wonder if ’t was a deer. I saw one come into the clearing +this afternoon, an’ seein’ ’t was Christmas evening, I put a good bundle +of hay out to the south door of the cow-shed." + +"Guess ’t was that, then," said Aunt Tryphosa. "You clear up, +Maria-Ann, an’ I ’ll keep up a good fire, for I want to finish off them +stockings for Ben Blossom an’ Chi. I s’pose you ’ve got your things +ready in case we see a team go by to-morrow?" + +"Yes, they ’re all ready," said her granddaughter, rather absently, and +set about washing the few dishes. + +When all was done, neatly and quickly as Maria-Ann so well knew how, she +flung on her shawl, saying: + +"I ’m goin’ out a minute to see if the bundle of hay is gone, and +besides, I want to look at the moon on the snow; it’s the first time I +’ve seen it so this year." She opened the door-- + +"Oh, Luddy!" she screamed, as bundle, and basket, and bag toppled over +into the room. + +"Land sakes alive!" quavered Aunt Tryphosa, hurrying to the rescue. +"Did n’t I tell you I heerd somethin’? What be they?" + +"Presents!" cried Maria-Ann, pulling, and hauling, and gathering up, and +finally getting the door shut. + +"Seems to me I see somethin’ white catched onto the door ’fore you shut +it," said Aunt Tryphosa. "Better look an’ see." Again her +granddaughter opened the door, and found the strip of paper on which was +written; + +"Merry Christmas! with best wishes of +Benjamin and Mary Blossom and May, +Malachi Graham and Rose Eleanor Blossom, +March Blossom and Hazel Clyde, +Benjamin Budd Blossom and Cherry Elizabeth Blossom of +the N.B.B.O.O., and of +John Curtis Clyde of New York; U.S.A.; N.A.; W.H." + + +"Oh, grandmarm! It’s just like a romantic novel!" cried Maria-Ann, who +was as full of sentiment as an egg is full of yolk. "It makes me feel +kinder queer, comin’ just now right after we was talkin’ ’bout our tree. +You open first, an’ then we ’ll take turns." Aunt Tryphosa, who was +winking very hard behind her spectacles, was not loath to begin. + +"Let’s haul ’em up to the stove; it’s so awful cold," she said, +shivering. + +"Why, you ’ve let the fire go down; that’s the reason. Don’t you +remember you was goin’ to put on the wood just as the things fell in?" + +"So I was," said her grandmother, making good her forgetfulness; in a +few minutes there was a roaring fire, and the room was filled with a +genial warmth. Then they sat down to their delightful task, Maria-Ann +kneeling on the square of rag carpet before the stove. + +"My land!" cried Aunt Tryphosa, clapping her hands together as she +opened the largest burlap bag; "if that boy ain’t stuffed this +two-bushel bag chock full of birch bark! Look a-here, Maria-Ann, you +read this slip of paper for me; my specs get so dim come night-time." + +The truth was, the tears were running down Aunt Tryphosa’s wrinkled +cheeks and filming her eyes to such an extent that she saw the birch +bark through all the colors of the rainbow. + +"’For Aunt Tryphosa from Budd Blossom to make her fires quick with cold +mornings.’ Did you ever?" said Maria-Ann, untying another large burlap +bundle--"What’s this? ’Made by Rose Blossom and Hazel Clyde to keep +Aunt Tryphosa snug and warm o’ nights when the mercury is below zero.’ +O grandmarm, look at this!" + +Maria-Ann unrolled a coverlet made of silk patch-work (bright bits and +pieces that Hazel had begged of Aunt Carrie and Mrs. Heath and others of +her New York friends) lined with thin flannel and filled with feathers. + +But Aunt Tryphosa was speechless for the first time in her life; and, +seeing this, Maria-Ann took advantage of it to do a little talking on +her own account. + +"She don’t seem like a city girl in her ways; she ain’t a bit stuck +up--Oh, what’s _this_!" She poked, and fingered, and pinched, but +failed to guess. Aunt Tryphosa grew impatient. + +"Let me _see_, you ’ve done nothin’ but feel," she said, reaching for +the package, and Maria-Ann handed it over to her. + +Again Mrs. Tryphosa Little was nearly dumb, as the miscellaneous +contents of the queer, knobby parcel were brought to light. + +"These are for you, Maria-Ann," she said in an awed voice, laying them +on the kitchen table one after the other:--A copy of the Woman’s +Hearthstone Journal, with the receipt for a year’s subscription pinned +to it;--A small shirt waist ironing-board;--A pair of fleece-lined +Arctics that buttoned half-way up Maria-Ann’s sturdy legs when, an hour +later, she tried them on;--Six paper-covered novels of the Chimney +Corner Library including Lorna Doone (Hazel had discovered in her +frequent visits, that Aunt Tryphosa’s granddaughter at twenty-nine was +as romantic as a girl of seventeen);--A box of preserved ginger;--Two +pounds of Old Hyson Tea;--(upon which Maria-Ann bounced up from the +floor, and without more ado made two cups, much to her grandmother’s +amazement);--Six pounds of lump sugar;---A dozen lemons;--A dozen +oranges;--A white Liberty-silk scarf tucked into an envelope;--Six +ounces of scarlet knitting-wool;--All for "Miss Maria-Ann Simmons, with +Hazel Clyde’s best wishes." + +Then it was Maria-Ann Simmons’s turn to break down and weep, at which +Aunt Tryphosa fidgeted, for she had not seen her granddaughter cry since +she was a little girl. + +"Don’t act like a fool, Maria-Ann," she said, crustily, to hide her own +feelings; "take your things an’ enjoy ’em. I ’ve seen tears enough for +night before Chris’mus," she added, ignoring the fact that she had +established a precedent. + +"Well, I won’t, grandmarm," said her granddaughter, laughing and crying +at the same time; "but I ’m goin’ to have that cup of tea first to kind +of strengthen me ’fore I open the rest," she added decidedly. "Besides, +I don’t want to see everything at once; I want it to last." + +"I don’t mind if I have mine, too. Guess you may put in two lumps, +seein’ as we did n’t have to pay for it," and the old dame sipped her +Hyson with supreme satisfaction, as did likewise her granddaughter. + +As the latter pushed back her chair from the table, her grandmother +cautioned her:--"Look out! you ’re settin’ it on another bag!" But it +was too late. To Aunt Tryphosa’s amazement and Maria-Ann’s horror, the +bag suddenly flopped up and down on the floor, the motion being +accompanied with such an unearthly, +"A--ee--eetsch--ok--ak--ache--eetsch!" that the two women’s faces grew +pale, and they jumped as if they had been shot. + +Then Maria-Ann, with her hand on her thumping heart, burst into a shrill +laugh, and Aunt Tryphosa quavered a thin accompaniment. How they +laughed! till again the tears rolled down their cheeks. + +"Scairt of hens!" chuckled the old dame as she undid the strings of the +bag--"at my time of life! Oh, my stars and garters, Maria-Ann! ain’t +they beauties?" + +She drew out by the legs two snow-white Wyandotte pullets, and held them +up admiringly. "They ’re from March, I know; but just to think of this, +Maria-Ann!" Again words and, curiously enough, eyes, too, failed her, +and her granddaughter read the slip of paper tied around the leg of one +of the hens:--"’One for Aunt Tryphosa, and one for Maria-Ann; have laid +three times; last time day before yesterday; I hope they ’ll lay two +Christmas-morning eggs for your breakfast. March Blossom.’" + +"I ’m goin’ to put ’em on some hay in the clothes-basket, Maria-Ann, an’ +keep ’em right under my bed where it’s good an’ warm," said Aunt +Tryphosa, decidedly. "They ’re kinder quality folks and can’t be turned +in among common fowl. Besides, I ain’t got another hood, an’ if they +_should_ freeze their combs, I ’d never forgive myself." + +"Well, I would, grandmarm," said Maria-Ann, still laughing, as she +untied the last two bundles. "Laws!" she exclaimed, "Here ’s New York +style for you." She read the visiting card: + +"To Mrs. Tryphosa Little, with the Season’s compliments from John Curtis +Clyde. 4 East ----th Street." + +"Well, I ’m dumbfoundered," sighed Mrs. Tryphosa Little, and more she +could not say as she took out of the large pasteboard box, a white silk +neckerchief, a cap of black net and lace with a "chou" of purple satin +lutestring, a black fur collar and a muff to match, in all of which she +proceeded to array herself with the utmost despatch, forgetful of the +two hens, which, after wandering aimlessly about the kitchen, had +roosted finally on the back of her wooden rocking-chair, where they +balanced themselves with some difficulty. + +But suddenly, as she was thrusting her hands into the new muff, she +paused, laid it down on the table, and said, rather querulously, "Help +me off with these things, Maria-Ann; I ’m all tuckered out. I can stan’ +a day’s washin’ as well as anybody, if I am eighty-one come next June, +but I can’t stan’ no such night ’fore Chris’mus as this, an’ I ’m goin’ +to bed, an’ take the hens." + +"I would, grandmarm," said her granddaughter, gently, taking off the +unwonted finery and kissing the wrinkled face. "You go to bed; I put +the soap-stone in two hours ago, so it’s nice an’ warm. I ’ll clear up, +an’ don’t you mind me--here, let me take one of those hens." + +"No, I can take care of hens anytime," snapped Aunt Tryphosa, for she +was tired out with happiness, "but I can’t stan’ so many presents, an’ I +’m too old to begin." She disappeared in the bed-room, the two +Wyandotte hens hanging limply, heads downward, from each hand. + +Maria-Ann picked up the paper and the wraps, and made all tidy again in +the kitchen. She put her hand on the last bag that was so heavy she had +not moved it from the door. "It’s a bag of cracked corn--hen-feed," she +said to herself, "an’ it’s from Chi, I know as well as if I’d been +told." + +Then she sat down in the rocker before the stove and put her feet in the +oven to warm. She blew out the light and sat awhile in silence, +thinking happy thoughts. + +The fire crackled in the stove, and dancing lights, reflected from the +open grate, played on the wall. The moon shone full upon the frosted +window panes, and the Christmas wreaths were set in masses of encrusted +brilliants. The kettle began to sing, and so did Maria-Ann--but softly, +for fear of waking Aunt Tryphosa: + + "’My soul, be on thy guard; + Ten thousand foes arise; + The hosts of sin are pressing hard + To draw thee from the skies.’" + + + + + XVII + + HUNGER-FORD + + +Such a line of communication as was soon established between Mount +Hunger and New York, Mount Hunger and Cambridge, the Lost Nation and +Barton’s River, Hunger-ford--the Fords’ new name for the old Morris +farm--and the Blossom homestead on the Mountain! + +Uncle Sam’s post, the Western Union Telegraph Company, the American +Express, a line of freight, saddle horses, sleds, and the old +apple-green cart on runners were all pressed into service; in all the +United States of America there were no busier young people than those +belonging to the Lost Nation. + +They wrote notes to one another with an air of great mystery; they drove +singly, in couples, or all together to Barton’s River with Chi; they +smuggled in bundles and express packages of all sorts and sizes; looked +guilty if caught whispering together in the pantry; took many a +sled-ride over to Hunger-ford, and audaciously remained there three +hours at a time without giving Mrs. Blossom any good reason either for +their going or remaining. + +The acquaintance formed between the Blossoms and the Fords just after +Thanksgiving, was fast ripening into friendship. March, usually shy +with strangers, fairly adored the tall, quiet son with the wonderful +smile, and expanded at once in his genial presence. With Ruth Ford he +had much in common; and regularly once a week since Thanksgiving he had +drawn and painted with her in her studio, the room that Aunt Tryphosa +had so graphically described. His gift was far more in that direction +than hers; and Ruth, recognizing it, encouraged him, spurred his +ambition, and placed all her materials at his disposal. + +Rose’s sweet voice had proved a delight to them all, and Hazel’s violin +was being taught to play a gentle accompaniment to Alan Ford’s, that +sang, or wept, or rejoiced according to the player’s mood. + +"I am so thankful, Ben, that our Rose can have the advantage of such +companions just at this time of her life," said Mrs. Blossom, on the +afternoon before Christmas when the two eldest, with Hazel, had gone +over to Hunger-ford with joyful secrets written all over their happy +faces. + +"So am I, Mary. When I see young men like Ford, I realize what I lost +in being obliged to give up college on father’s account," said Mr. +Blossom, with a sigh. + +"I do, too, Ben; and what I ’ve lost in opportunity when I see that +gifted woman, Mrs. Ford. She has travelled extensively, she reads and +speaks both German and French, she is a really wonderful musician, and +keeps up with every interest of the day, besides being a splendid +housekeeper and devoted to her children." + +"Do you regret it, Mary?" said her husband, looking straight before him +into the fire. + +"Not with you, Ben," was Mary Blossom’s answer. Taking her husband’s +face in both her hands and turning it towards her, she looked into his +eyes, and received the smile and kiss that were always ready for her. + +"If we did n’t have all this when we were young people, Mary, we ’ll +hope that we may have it in our children," he said, earnestly. + +Just then Chi came in, and gave a loud preliminary, "Hem!" for to him, +Ben and Mary Blossom would always be lovers. "Guess ’t is ’bout time to +hitch up, if you ’re goin’ clear down to Barton’s to meet the train, +Ben; I ’ve got to go over eastwards with the children." + +"All right, Chi, I ’d rather drive down to the station to-night; it’s +good sleighing and our Mountain is a fine sight by moonlight." + +"Can’t be beat," said Chi, emphatically. "S’pose you ’ll be back by +seven, sharp? I kind of want to time myself, on account of the +s’prise." + +"We ’ll say seven, and I ’ll make it earlier if I can. You ’re off for +Aunt Tryphosa’s now?" + +"Just finished loadin’ up--There they are!" and in rushed the whole +troop, hooded and mittened and jacketed and leggined, ready for their +after-sunset raid. + +"Good-bye, Martie!" screamed Cherry, wild with excitement, and made a +dash for the door; then she turned back with another dash that nearly +upset May, and, throwing her arms around her mother’s neck, nearly +squeezed the breath from her body. "O Mumpsey, Dumpsey, dear! I ’m +having such an awfully good time; it’s so much happier than last +Christmas!" + +"And, O Popsey, Dopsey, dear!" laughed Rose, mimicking her, but with a +voice full of love, and both mittens caressing his face, "it’s so good +to have you well enough to celebrate this year!" + +Hazel slipped her hand into Chi’s, and whispered, "Oh, Chi, I wish I had +a lot of brothers and sisters like Rose. Anyway, papa’s coming to-night, +so I ’ll have one of my own," she added proudly. + +"Guess we ’d better be gettin’ along," said Chi, still holding Hazel’s +hand. "It’s goin’ to be a stinger, ’n’ it’s a mile ’n’ a half over +there." + +"Come on all!" cried March; "we ’ll be back before you are, father." + +"We ’ll see about that," laughed his father, as he caught the merry +twinkle in his wife’s eye. + +But March was right by the margin of only a minute or two; for just as +the merry crowd entered the house on their return from their errand of +"goodwill," they heard Mr. Blossom drive the sleigh into the barn. In +another moment Hazel had flung wide the door and was caught up into her +father’s arms. + +In the midst of their cordial greetings there was a loud knock at the +door. They all started at the sound, and Budd, who was nearest, opened +it. + +"Please, Budd, may I come in, too?" said a voice everyone recognized as +the Doctor’s. + +Then the whole Blossom household lost their heads where they had lost +their hearts the year before. Rose and Hazel and Cherry fairly +smothered him with kisses; Budd wrung one hand, March gripped another; +May clung to one leg, and the monster of a puppy contrived to get under +foot, although he stood two feet ten. + +Jack Sherrill, looking in at the window upon all this loving hominess, +felt, somehow, physically and spiritually left out in the cold. "What a +fool I was to come!" he said to himself. Nevertheless he carried out +his part of the program by stepping up to the door and knocking. This +time Mrs. Blossom opened it. + +"Have you room for one more, Mrs. Blossom?" he said with an attempt at a +smile, but looking sadly wistful, so wistful and lonely that Mary +Blossom put out both hands without a word, and, somehow,--Jack, in +thinking it over afterwards, never could tell how it happened so +naturally--he was giving her a son’s greeting, and receiving a mother’s +kiss in return. + +In a moment Hazel’s arms were around his neck;--"Oh, Jack, Jack! I ’ve +got three of my own now; I ’m almost as rich as Rose!" + +Rose, hearing her name, came forward with frank, cordial greeting, and +May transferred her demonstrations of affection from the Doctor’s +trousers to Jack’s; Cherry’s curls bobbed and quivered with excitement +when Jack claimed a kiss from "Little Sunbonnet," and received two +hearty smacks in return; March took his travelling bag; Budd kept close +beside him, and the puppy, who had been christened Tell, nosed his hand, +and, sitting down on his haunches, pawed the air frantically until Jack +shook hands with him, too. + +By this time the wistful look had disappeared from Jack’s eyes, and his +handsome face was filled with such a glad light that the Doctor noticed +it at once. He shook his head dubiously, with his eyebrows drawn +together in a straight line over the bridge of his nose, and, from +underneath, his keen eyes glanced from Jack to Rose and from Rose back +again to Jack. Then his face cleared, and explanations were in order. + +"Why, you see," the Doctor said to Mrs. Blossom, "my wife had to go +South with her sister, and could not be at home for Christmas--the first +we ’ve missed celebrating together since we were married--and when I +found John was coming up to spend it with you, I couldn’t resist giving +myself this one good time. But Jack here has failed to give any +satisfactory account of how or why he came to intrude his long person +just at this festive time. I thought you were off at a Lenox house-party +with the Seatons?" he said, quizzically. + +Jack laughed good-naturedly. "I don’t blame you for wondering at my +being here; but I’ve been here before," he said, willing to pay back the +Doctor in his own coin. + +"The deuce you have!" exclaimed the Doctor. "I say, Johnny, are we +growing old that these young people get ahead of us so easily?" + +"I don’t know how you feel, Dick, but I ’m as young as Jack to-night." + +"That ’s right, Papa Clyde," said Hazel, approvingly, softly patting her +father on the head; "and, Jack, you ’re a dear to come up here to see +us, for you ’ve just as much right as the Doctor." + +The Doctor pretended to grumble:--"Come to see you, indeed, you superior +young woman--_you_ indeed! As if there weren’t any other girls in the +world or on Mount Hunger but you and Rose--much you know about it." + +"Well, I ’d like to know who you came to see, if not us?" laughed Hazel, +sure of her ultimate triumph. + +"Why, my dear Ruth Ford, to be sure." + +"Ruth Ford!" they exclaimed in amazement. + +"Why not Ruth Ford? You did n’t suppose I would come away up here into +the wilds of Vermont in the dead of winter, did you? just to see--" +But Hazel laid her hand on his mouth. + +"Stop teasing, do," she pleaded, "and tell us how you knew our Ruth." + +"_Our_ Ruth! Ye men of York, hear her!" said the Doctor, appealing to +Mr. Clyde and Jack. "The next thing will be ’our Alan Ford,’ I suppose. +How will you like that, Jack?" + +"I feel like saying ’confound him,’ only it would n’t be polite. You +see, Doctor, I thought I had preëmpted the whole Mountain, and was +prepared to make a conquest of Miss Maria-Ann Simmons even; but if Mr. +Ford has stepped in"--Jack assumed a tragic air--"there is nothing left +for me in honor, but to throw down the gauntlet and challenge him to +single combat--hockey-sticks and hot lemonade--for her fair hand." + +At the mention of Maria-Ann, Rose and Hazel, Budd and Cherry and March +went off into fits of laughter. They laughed so immoderately that it +proved infectious for their elders, and when Chi entered the room Budd +cried out, "Oh, Chi, you tell about the--we can’t--the rooster and the +hoods, and--Oh my eye!--" Budd was apparently on the verge of +convulsions. + +"I stuffed snow into my mouth and made my teeth ache so as not to laugh +out loud," said Cherry; at which there was another shout, and still +another outburst at the table when Chi described the scene in the +hen-house. + +"Now, children," said Mrs. Blossom, after the somewhat hilarious evening +meal was over, the table cleared, the dishes were wiped and put away, +"we ’re going to do just for this once as you want us to--hang up our +stockings; but I want all of you to hang up yours, too. If you don’t, I +shall miss the sixes and sevens and eights so, that it will spoil my +Christmas." + +"We will, Martie," they assented, joyfully; for, as March said, it would +not seem like night before Christmas if they did not hang up their +stockings. + +"Yes, and papa, and you," said Hazel, turning to the Doctor, "must hang +up yours, and you, too, Jack." + +"Why, of course," said Mrs. Blossom, "everybody is to hang up a stocking +to-night, even Tell." + +"Oh, Martie, how funny!" cried Cherry, "but he has n’t a truly +stocking." + +"No, but one of Budd’s will do for his huge paw--won’t it, old fellow?" +she said, patting his great head. + +Then Budd must needs bring out a pair of his pedal coverings and try one +brown woollen one on Tell, much to his majesty’s surprise; for Tell was +a most dignified youth of a dog, as became his nine months and his +famous breed. + +Early in the evening the stockings were hung up over the fireplace, all +sizes and all colors:--May’s little red one and Chi’s coarse blue one; +Mr. Clyde’s of thick silk, and Budd’s and Tell’s of woollen; Hazel’s of +black cashmere beside Jack’s striped Balbriggan. What an array! + +Then Mrs. Blossom and May went off into the bedroom, and Mr. Blossom and +his guests were forced to smoke their after-tea cigars in the guest +bedroom upstairs, while the young people brought out their treasures and +stuffed the grown-up stockings till they were painfully distorted. + +"Don’t they look lovely!" whispered Hazel, ecstatically to March, who +begged Rose to get another of their mother’s stockings, for the one +proved insufficient for the fascinating little packages that were +labelled for her. + +"Let’s go right to bed now," suggested Budd, "then mother ’ll fill +ours--Oh, I forgot," he added, ruefully, "we are n’t going to have +presents this year--" + +"Why, yes, we are, too, Budd," said Rose, "we ’re going to give one +another out of our own money." + +"Cracky! I forgot all about that--" Budd tore upstairs in the dark, +and tore down again and into the bedroom, crying:--"Now all shut your +eyes while I ’m going through!" which they did most conscientiously. + +Soon they, too, were invited laughingly to retire, and by half-past ten +the house was quiet. + + "’TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, AND ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE, + NOT A CREATURE WAS STIRRING, NOT EVEN A MOUSE;" + Stretched out on the hearth-rug lay Tell snoring loudly, + And above from the mantel the stockings hung proudly; + When down from the stairway there came such a patter + Of stockingless feet--’t was no laughing matter! + As the good Doctor thought, for he sprang out of bed + To see if ’t were real, or a dream iii its stead. + + But no! with his eye at a crack of the door + He discovered the truth--’t was the Blossoms, all four, + With Hazel to aid them, tiptoeing about + Like a party of ghosts grown a little too stout. + They pinched and they fingered; they poked and they squeezed + Each plump Christmas stocking--then somebody sneezed! + Consternation and terror!! The tall clock struck one + As the ghosts disappeared on the double-quick run! + + "’T WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, AND ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE, + NOT A CREATURE WAS STIRRING, NOT EVEN A MOUSE;" + Without in the moonlight, the snow sparkled bright; + The Mountain stood wrapped in a mantle of white, + With a crown of dark firs on his noble old crest + And ermine and diamonds adorning his breast; + And the stars that above him swung true into line + Once shone o’er a manger in far Palestine. + + +What a Christmas morning that was! + +Chi was up at five o’clock, building roaring fires, for it was ten +degrees below zero. + +With the first glint of the sun on the frosted panes the household was +astir. At precisely seven the order was given to take down the thirteen +stockings. But bless you! You ’re not to think the stockings could +hold all the gifts. In front of each wide jamb were piled the bundles +and packages, three feet high! + +Rose hesitated a moment when the children sat down on the rug with their +stockings, as was their custom every Christmas morn; then she plumped +down among them, saying, laughingly: + +"I don’t care if I _am_ growing up, Martie--it’s Christmas." + +Upon which Jack, hugging his striped Balbriggan, sat down beside her. + +Such "Ohs" and "Ahs"! Such thankings and squeezings! Such somersaults +as were turned by March and Budd at the kitchen end of the long-room! +Such rapturous gurgles from May! Such hand-shakes and kisses! Such +silent bliss on the part of Chi, who, though suffering as if in a +Turkish bath, had donned his new, blue woollen sweater, drawn on his +gauntleted beaver gloves, and proceeded to investigate his stocking with +the air of a man who has nothing more to wish for. And through all the +chaotic happiness a sentence could be distinguished now and then. + +"Chi, these corn-cob pipes are just what I shall want after Christmas +when I give my Junior Smoker." + +"Oh, Martie, it can’t be for me!" as the lovely white serge dress, ready +made and trimmed with lace, was held up to Rose’s admiring eyes. + +Budd was caressing with approving fingers a regular "base-ball-nine" bat +and admiring the white leather balls. + +"I say, it’s a stunner, Mr. Sherrill; but how did you know I wanted it?" + +Mr. Clyde, who was touched to his very heart’s core by Hazel’s gift of a +dollar pair of suspenders which she had earned by her own labor, felt a +small hand slipped into his, and found Cherry Bounce looking up at him +with wide, adoring, brown eyes, which, for the first time, she had taken +from her beautiful Émilie Angélique, whom she held pressed to her +heart:-- + +"I want to whisper to you," she said, shyly. Mr. Clyde bent down to +her;--"After I said my prayers to Martie, I asked God to give me Émilie +Angélique--every night," she nodded--"but I only told Budd, so how _did_ +you know?" + +March was lost to the world in his volume of foreign photographs, in his +boxes of paints and brushes, and a whole set of drawing materials. He +had not as yet thanked Hazel for them. + +Everybody was happy and satisfied. Everybody said he or she had +received just exactly the thing. Tell alone could not express his +gratification in words. He had been given his woollen stocking, and +nosed about till he had brought forth three fat dog-biscuit, a +deliciously juicy-greasy beef bone, wrapped in white waxed paper and +tied at one end with a blue ribbon, a fine nickelplated dog collar with +a bell attached, and last, from the brown woollen toe, three lumps of +sugar. + +One by one he took the gifts and laid them down at Mrs. Blossom’s feet; +putting one huge paw firmly on the waxed-paper package, he waved the +other wildly until she took it and spoke a loving word to him. Then, +taking up his beloved bone, he retired with it to the farthest end of +the long-room, under the kitchen sink, and licked it in peace and joy. + +Jack and Chi in the joyful confusion had slipped from the room. + +Soon there was a commotion in the woodshed, and the two made their +appearance dragging after them a brand-new double-runner and a real +Canadian toboggan, which Jack had ordered from Montreal for March. + +Breakfast proved to be a short meal, for the whole family was wild to +try the new toboggan with Jack to engineer it. Then it was up and +down--down and up the steep mountain road; Jack and Doctor Heath, Mr. +Clyde, Mr. Blossom and Chi, all on together--clinging for dear life, +laughing, whooping, panting, hurrahing like boys let out from school, +while March and Budd and Rose and Hazel and Cherry flew after them on +the double-runner, the keen air biting rose-red cheeks, and bringing the +stinging water to the eyes. + +But what sport it was! + +"Now, this is something like," panted Jack, drawing up the hill with +Chi, his handsome face aglow with life and joy. + +"By George Washin’ton! it’s the nearest thing to shootin’ Niagary that I +ever come," puffed Chi. + +"Didn’t we take that water-bar neatly?" laughed Jack. + +"’N inch higher, ’n’ we ’d all been goners;--I had n’t a minute to think +of it, goin’ to the rate of a mile a minute; but if I had--I ’d have +dusted! Guess I ’ll make it level before I try it with the +children,--’n’ I want you to know there ’s no coward about me, but I ’m +just speakin’ six for myself this time." + +So the morning sped. Even Mrs. Blossom and May were taken down once, +and the Doctor stopped only because he wanted to make a morning call on +his patient, Ruth Ford; for it was by his advice the family had come to +live for three years in this mountain region. + +The horn for the mid-day meal sounded down the Mountain before they had +thought of finishing the exciting sport, and one and all brought such +keen appetites to the Christmas dinner, that Mrs. Blossom declared +laughingly that she would give them no supper, for they had eaten the +pantry shelves bare. + +Such roast goose and barberry jam! Such a noble plum-pudding set in the +midst of Maria-Ann’s best wreath, for she and Aunt Tryphosa had sent +over their simple gifts by an early teamster. Such red Northern Spies +and winter russet pears! And such mirth and shouts and jests and quips +to accompany each course! + +It was genuine New England Christmas cheer, and the healths were drunk +in the wine of the apple amid great applause, especially Doctor Heath’s: + +"Health, peace, and long life to the Lost Nation--May its tribe +increase!" + +And how they laughed at Chi, when he proposed the health of the Prize +Chicken (which, by the way, he had kept for the next season’s mascot,) +and recounted the episode in the barn. + +What shouts greeted Budd, who, rising with great gravity, his mouth +puckered into real, not mock, seriousness--and that was the comical part +of it all--said earnestly: + +"To my first wife!" and sat down rather red, but gratified not only by +the prolonged applause, but by the enthusiasm with which they drank to +this unexpected toast from his unsentimental self. + +Directly after dinner Mr. Clyde declared that a seven-mile walk was an +actual necessity for him in his present condition, and invited all who +would to accompany him to call in state on Mrs. Tryphosa Little and Miss +Maria-Ann Simmons. Only Doctor Heath and Jack went with him, for Mr. +Blossom and Chi had matters to attend to at home, and Rose and Cherry +and Hazel were needed to help Mrs. Blossom. Even March and Budd turned +to and wiped dishes. + +"I ’ll set the table now, Martie," said Rose, "then there will be no +confusion to-night--there are so many of us." + +"No need for that to-night, children," replied Mrs. Blossom, with a +merry smile. "’The last is the best of all the rest,’ for we were all +invited a week ago to take tea and spend Christmas evening at +Hunger-ford." + +"Oh, Martie!" A joyful shout went up from the six, that was followed by +jigs and double-shuffles, pas-seuls and fancy steps, in which +dish-towels were waved wildly, and tin pans were pounded instead of +wiped. + +When the din had somewhat subsided there were numberless questions +asked; by the time they were all answered, and Rose and Hazel had donned +their white serge dresses, the gentlemen had returned from their walk, +and it was time to go. + +"That’s why Mrs. Ford had us learn all those songs," said Rose to Hazel. +"Don’t forget to take your violin." + +A merrier Christmas party never set forth on a straw-ride. Mr. and Mrs. +Blossom and May went over in the sleigh, but the rest piled into the +apple-green pung, and when they came in sight of the seven-gabled-house, +a rousing three times three, mingling with the sound of the +sleigh-bells, greeted the pretty sight. + +Every window was illumined, and adorned with a Christmas wreath. In the +light of the rising moon, then at the full, the snow that covered the +roof sparkled like frosted silver. The house, with its background of +sharply sloping hill wooded with spruce and pine, its twinkling lights +and the surrounding white expanse, looked like an illuminated Christmas +card. + +Within, the hall was festooned with ground hemlock and holly; a roaring +fire of hickory logs furnished light and to spare. In the living-room +and dining-room, Mr. Clyde and Jack Sherrill found, to their amazement, +all the elegance and refinement of a city home combined with country +simplicity. The tea-table shone with the service of silver and sparkled +with the many-faceted crystal of glass and carafe. For decoration, the +rich red of the holly berries gleamed among the dark green gloss of +their leaves. + +At first, the younger members of the Blossom family felt constrained and +a little awed in such surroundings; for although they had been several +times in the house, they had never taken tea there. But the Fords and +the other city people soon put them at their ease, and, as Cherry +declared afterwards, "It was like eating in a fairy story." There was a +real pigeon pie at one end and a Virginia ham at the other, as well as +cold, roast duck with gooseberry jam. There were sparkling jellies, and +the whole family of tea-cakes--orange, cocoanut, sponge, and chocolate; +and, oh, bliss!--strawberry ice-cream in a nest of spun cinnamon candy, +followed by Malaga grapes and hot chocolate topped with a whip of cream. + +After tea there was the surprise of a beautiful Christmas Tree in the +library. Ruth Ford had occupied many a weary hour in making the +decorations--roses and lilies fashioned from tissue paper to closely +copy nature; gilded walnuts; painted paper butterflies; pink sugar +hearts, and cornucopias of gilt and silver paper, in each of which was a +bunch of real flowers--roses, violets, carnations, and daisies, ordered +by Jack Sherrill from New York. On the topmost branch, there was a +waxen Christ-child. The tree was lighted by dozens of tiny colored +candles. When the door was opened from the living-room, and the +children caught sight of the wonderful tree, they held their breath and +whispered to one another. + +But more lovely than the tree in the eyes of the older people were the +radiant faces of the young people and the children. Rose, with clasped +hands, stood gazing up at the Christ-child that crowned the glowing, +glittering mass of dark green. She was wholly unconscious of the many +pairs of eyes that rested upon her in love and admiration. There was +nothing so beautiful in the whole room as the young girl standing there +with earnest blue eyes, raised reverently to the little waxen figure. +Her lips were parted in a half smile; a flush of excitement was on her +cheeks; the white dress set off the exquisite fairness of her skin; the +shining crown of golden-brown hair, that hung in a heavy braid to within +a foot of the hem of her gown, caught the soft lights above her and +formed almost a halo about the face. + +Suddenly there was a burst of admiration from the children, and, under +cover of it, Doctor Heath turned to Mr. Clyde, who was standing beside +him:-- + +"By heavens, John! That girl is too beautiful; she will make some +hearts ache before she is many years older, as well as your own +Hazel--look at _her_ now!" + +The father’s eyes rested lovingly, but thoughtfully, on the graceful +little figure that was busy distributing the cornucopias with their +fragrant contents. Yes, she, too, was beautiful, giving promise of +still greater beauty. He turned to the Doctor and held out his hand:-- + +"Richard, I have to thank you for this transformation." + +"No--not me," said the Doctor, earnestly, "but," pointing to Mrs. +Blossom, "that woman there, John. Hazel needed the mother-love, just as +much as Jack does at this moment." + +Jack had turned away when the Doctor began to speak of Rose, and, +joining her, said, "Won’t you wear one of my roses just to-night, Miss +Blossom?" + +"Your roses! Why, did you give us all those lovely flowers?" + +"Yes, I wanted to contribute my share, and flowers seemed the most +appropriate offering just for to-night." + +"They ’re lovely," said Rose, caressing the exquisite petals of a La +France beauty. "Of course I ’ll wear one--" she tucked one into her +belt; "but why--why!--has n’t anyone else roses?" She looked about +inquiringly. + +"No,--the roses were for their namesake," said Jack, quietly. + +Rose laughed merrily,--a pleased, girlish laugh. "Then won’t the giver +of the roses call their namesake, ’Rose’?--for the sake of the roses?" +she added mischievously. + +Now Jack Sherrill had seen many girls--silly girls, flirty girls, +sensible girls, charming girls, smart girls, nice girls, and horrid +girls, and flattered himself he knew every species of the genus, but +just this once he was puzzled. If Rose Blossom had been an arrant flirt, +she could not have answered him more effectively; yet Jack had decided +that she had too earnest a nature to descend to flirting. Somehow, that +word could never be applied to Rose Blossom--"My Rose," he said to +himself, and knew with a kind of a shock when he said it, that he was +very far gone. But in the next breath, he had to confess to himself +that he had "been very far gone" many a time in his twenty-one years, so +perhaps it did not signify. + +Indeed, in the next minute, he was sure it did not signify, for, before +he could gather his wits sufficiently to reply to her, Rose had slipped +away to the other side of the room, where she was busying herself in +fastening one of Jack’s roses into the buttonhole of Alan Ford’s Tuxedo. +In consequence of which, Jack turned his batteries upon Ruth Ford with +such effect, that she declared afterwards to her mother he was one of +the most fascinating _young_ men--for Ruth was twenty-one!--she had ever +met. + +Mrs. Ford and Hazel and Mr. Ford had done their best to persuade Chi to +remain with them for the tree. Even Rose urged--but in vain. True, the +girls had insisted upon his taking one look, then he had begged off, +saying, as he patted Hazel’s hand that lay on his arm: + +"Not to-night, Lady-bird. I don’t feel to home in there. I ’ll sit out +here and hear the music, then I can beat time with my foot if I want +to." He remained in the hall, just outside the living-room door, +enjoying all he heard. + +First there was a lovely piano duet, an Hungarian waltz by Brahms, Mrs. +Ford and the grave, quiet son playing with such a perfect understanding +of each other, as well as of the music, that it proved a delight to all +present. Then there was a carol by all the children, Rose leading, and +Mrs. Ford playing the accompaniment: + + "’Cheery old Winter! merry old Winter! + Laugh, while with yule-wreath thy temples are bound; + Drain the spiced bowl now, cheer thy old soul now, + "Christmas _waes hael_!" pledge the holy toast round. + Broach butt and barrel, with dance and with carol + Crown we old Winter of revels the king; + And when he is weary of living so merry, + He ’ll lie down and die on the green lap of Spring. + Cheery old Winter! merry old Winter! + He ’ll lie down and die on the green lap of Spring!’" + + +This won great applause, and a loud thumping could be heard in the hall. +Jack went out to try his powers of persuasion with Chi, and found him +sitting close to the door with one knee over the other and a La France +rose (!) in his buttonhole. + +"Come in, Chi, do." + +"Ruther ’d sit here." + +"Oh, come on." + +"Nope." + +Jack laughed at the decided tone. "Where did you get this?" he asked, +touching the boutonniere. + +"Rose-pose," answered Chi, laconically, but with a happy smile. + +"Out of her bunch?" + +"Nope--took it out of her belt," said Chi, with a curious twist of his +mouth. + +Jack went back crestfallen, and Chi smiled. + +"I ’m afraid I cut him out, just for once; kind of rough on him, but ’t +won’t hurt him any to have a change. He ’s had his own way a little too +much," said Chi to himself. + +Again there was music, a Schubert serenade, with the two violins, and +after that, the children begged Hazel to dance the Highland Fling as she +did once in the barn. Hazel, nothing loath, borrowed a blue Liberty-silk +scarf from Ruth Ford; the rugs being removed and Alan Ford tuning his +violin, she made her curtsy, and, entering heart and body into the +spirit of the thing, danced like thistle-down shod with joyousness. + +It was a pretty sight! and Chi edged into the room, while the company +made believe ignore him in order to induce him to remain there; but when +the singing began, he slipped out again. Such singing! Everybody +joined in it. They sang everything;--"Oh, where, tell me where, is your +Highland laddie gone?";--"Star-spangled Banner";--"Marching +Along";--"John Anderson, my Jo";--"Ye banks and braes o’ Bonnie +Doon";--"Twinkle, twinkle, little star";--"Annie Laurie";--"A +grasshopper sat on a sweet-potato vine";--"Ben Bolt";--"Fair Harvard" +and, finally, "Old Hundred." + +It had been arranged that Mr. Blossom should take his wife and the +younger children home in the pung; the rest were to walk. Chi, +meanwhile, had driven home in the single sleigh. + +On the walk home Jack tried what he had been apt to term--of course, to +himself--his "confidential scheme" with Rose. He had tried it before +with many another, and it had never failed to work. The thought of one +of his roses in Alan Ford’s buttonhole still rankled, and the best side +of Jack’s manhood was not on the surface when he entered upon the +homeward walk. + +"Miss Blossom,"--somehow Jack had not quite the courage to say "Rose," +although he had been so frankly invited to--"I want to tell you why I +came up here; it must have seemed almost an intrusion." + +[Illustration: "’I want to tell you why I came up here’"] + +"Oh, no, indeed," said Rose, earnestly, "and I know why you came; Hazel +told me." + +"Oh, she did," said Jack, rather inanely, and a little uncertain as to +his footing, figuratively speaking; for he had given her the chance to +ask "Why?"--and she had n’t taken it; in which she proved herself +different from all those other girls of his acquaintance. To himself he +thought, "Well, for all the cordial indifference, commend me to this +girl." + +"Yes, I ’m sure it would have seemed like anything but Christmas to you +in New York with your father in Europe; you must miss him so." + +Jack felt himself blush in the moonlight at the remembrance that he had +seen his father but little in the last three years, and did not know +what it was in reality to miss him. He never remembered to have missed +anything or anybody but his mother, and that indefinite something in his +life which he had not yet put himself earnestly to seek. + +"I suppose you ’ll be shocked, Miss Blossom, but I don’t really miss my +father. I ’m only awfully glad to see him when I get the chance--which +is n’t often. He ’s such a busy man with railroads and syndicates and +real estate interests. I wonder often how he can find time to write me +even twice a month, which he has done regularly ever since--" he stopped +abruptly. + +"Since what?" asked Rose, innocently. + +"Since my mother died," said Jack, in a hard, dry voice that served to +cover his feeling. + +"Yes," Rose nodded sympathetically, "Hazel told me." Then--for Rose’s +love for her own mother was something bordering on adoration--she said +softly, under her breath, but with her whole heart in her voice; "Oh, I +don’t see how you could bear it--how you can live without her!" + +"I don’t," Jack replied with a break in his voice, "not really live, you +know. I’ve always felt it, but never realized it until last night, when +I stood out on the veranda and looked in at the window at you--all. +Then I knew I ’d been hungry for that sort of thing for the last seven +years--" + +Now Rose’s heart was swelling with pity for the loneliness of the tall, +young fellow swinging along beside her, and at once her inner eyes were +opened to see a, to her, startling fact. She turned suddenly towards +him. + +"Is that why you kissed Martie last night, and came up here to us?" she +demanded rather breathlessly. + +"Yes;" Jack had forgotten his scheme, and was in dead earnest now. + +"Then," cried Rose, impulsively--but at the same time thinking, "I don’t +care if he is engaged to that Miss Seaton"--"I hope you ’ll come to us +whenever you feel like it; for," she added earnestly, "I ’m beginning to +understand what Chi means when he talks about Hazel’s being poor and our +being rich, and--and I ’d love to share mine with you." + +"You ’re awfully good," said Jack, rather awkwardly for him; for, +suddenly, in the presence of this young girl, as yet unspoiled by the +world, he realized that Life was dependent upon something other than +polo and club theatricals, railroad syndicates and Newport casinos, +stocks and bonds and marketable real estate. + +Jack was young, and the moonlight was transfiguring the face that, +framed in a white, knitted hood, was turned towards him full of a frank, +loving sympathy for him in his "poverty."---And, seeing it, Jack +suddenly braced himself as if to meet some shock, thinking, as he strode +along in silence, "Oh, I ’m gone!--for good and all this time." + +Rose, a little surprised at the prolonged silence, welcomed the sound of +sleigh-bells behind them. + +"Why, that’s Chi!" she exclaimed. "I thought he was at home long before +this. I ’m sure he left long before we did. Where have you been, Chi?" +she called so soon as the sleigh was within hailing distance. + +"I ’ve been Chris’musin’," said Chi. "It ain’t often you get just such +a night on the Mountain as this, and I ’ve made the most of it. Can I +give you a lift?" + +"No, thank you, Chi, we ’re almost home," said Rose. + +"Well, then I ’d better be gettin’ along--it’s pretty near +midnight--chk, Bob--" And Chi drove away down the Mountain, chuckling +to himself: + +"Ain’t a-goin’ to give myself away before no city chap that has cut me +out as he has. George Washin’ton! When I peeked into the window ’n’ saw +Marier-Ann sittin’ there in front of that kitchen table with all those +presents on it, ’n’ the little spruce set up so perky in the middle of +’em, ’n’ she a-wearin’ a great handful of those red, spice pinks in her +bosom, ’n’ her cheeks to match ’em, ’n’ her eyes a-shinin’--I knew he ’d +come it over me; he ’d made the first call, ’n’ given her the first +posies. Guess I won’t crow over him after this." Chi undid his +greatcoat, and bent his face until his nose rested upon Jack’s rose:-- + +"It ain’t touched yet, but it’s a stinger; must be twenty below, now." +Suddenly Chi gave a loud exclamation: "I must be a fool!--I ’ve broken +one of the N.B.B.O.O. rules not to be afraid of anything, and did n’t +dare to give my posy to Marier-Ann!--Anyhow, she don’t know I was goin’ +to give it to her, so I need n’t feel so cheap about it--Go-long, Bob!" + + + + + XVIII + + BUDD’S PROPOSAL + + +Before Mr. Clyde and Jack left the next day, Budd sought an opportunity +to interview the latter on a subject, that, for a few weeks past, had +been occupying many of his thoughts. The applause, with which his +Christmas-day toast had been greeted, had encouraged him to seek an +occasion for acquiring more definite knowledge on a subject which lay +near his heart. It came when Jack was packing his dress-suit case in +the guest chamber. + +There was a knock on the half-opened door. + +"Come in," said Jack, and Budd made his appearance. + +"Halloo, Budd! What can I do for you? Any commissions in New York, or +Boston?" + +"Don’t know what you mean by commissions," replied Budd, cautiously, +thrusting both hands deep into the pockets of his knickerbockers, and +spreading his sturdy legs to a wide V. + +"Anything I can buy with that hen-and-jam money you helped to earn?--you +did well, Budd, on that. I congratulate you." + +"I have n’t any of that money left. You see, we voted to give it to +March to go to college with. But I ’ve got two quarters an’ a +dollar--Christmas presents, you know; an’ that ’ll do, won’t it?" he +asked rather anxiously. + +"Well, that depends on what you buy," said Jack, with due seriousness. + +"You ’ll keep mum, Mr. Sherrill, if I tell you?" said Budd, inquiringly. + +"Mum’s the word, if you say so, Budd; out with it." + +"Well, I want two things; one thing to make me feel grown up, an’ I ’ve +wanted it for a year." + +"What’s that, Budd?" asked Jack, immensely amused at Budd’s swelling +manhood--"A pair of long trousers?" + +"No--" Budd hesitated for a moment, then went on in rather an aggrieved +tone; "I hate to wear waists with buttons; it’s just like a baby, an’ a +fellow can’t feel grown up when he has to button everything on. I want +to hitch things up the way March an’ Chi do, an’ I want you to buy me a +shirt like that one you ’re rolling up--only not flannel,--with a flap, +you know, to tuck in." + +"Oh, that’s it, is it?" said Jack, endeavoring to keep his face and +voice from betraying his inward amusement. "Well, I think you can get +one for seventy-five cents--plain or striped?" + +"I like those narrow blue striped ones like yours best," he replied, +pointing to one of Jack’s. + +"Like mine it shall be, Budd; but you ’ll want a pair of suspenders, or +there ’ll be too much hitching to be agreeable to you." + +"March has an old pair, an’ I ’m going to borrow them." + +"That’s an idea; now, what’s the second thing?" + +"A ring." + +"A ring?" Jack looked amazed. + +Budd nodded. + +"For yourself?" Jack questioned further. + +"No--for somebody else." + +"Do you mean a finger ring?" + +Budd nodded again emphatically. + +"Engagement?" laughed Jack, at last, the fun getting the better of him. + +Budd’s mouth puckered into solemnity; "No--wedding." + +Jack gave up the packing, and sat down, shaken with laughter, on the +first convenient chair. + +"Pardon me for laughing, Budd, but I can’t help it. What do you want of +a wedding ring? Is it for that ’first wife’ of yours you toasted +yesterday at dinner?" + +Budd nodded again. "I don’t see anything to laugh at," he said, with a +reproachful glance. "You would n’t if you was me." + +"No, I don’t think I should; you ’re right there, Budd," he replied, +sobering suddenly after his outburst of laughter. "When is the wedding +to be?" + +Budd looked thoughtful. "I have n’t proposed yet," was his +matter-of-fact answer. + +"Well, why don’t you?" Jack, sinner that he was, scented some fun at +Budd’s expense. + +"I ’m going to when I know how," said Budd, humbly. + +"Why don’t you take lessons?" suggested Jack. + +"I have." + +"Of whom?" + +"Chi." + +Jack shouted. "What did Chi say?" he demanded when he had regained his +breath. + +"He said if he wanted to marry a girl, he ’d say what he wanted to--tell +’em he was fond of ’em." + +"’Fond of them’--hm," repeated Jack, thoughtfully. + +"What do _you_ say?" questioned Budd, turning the tables rather suddenly +on Jack. + +"I don’t say--never said," replied Jack, shortly. + +"That’s what Chi said. He said if I begun early I ’d find out how." + +"You seem to be on the right road for it." + +"Would you say ’fond of her’?" persisted Budd. + +"Yes, I think I should," Jack replied with a peculiar smile; "but, of +course, it would depend on the girl." + +"Why, that’s just what Chi said!" + +"He did, did he!" Jack laughed; "Chi knows a thing or two." + +"But I thought you ’d know more." Budd’s face began to wear a puzzled +look. + +Just then Jack heard Rose’s voice in the long-room asking where Mr. +Sherrill was, and the sound brought home to him a realizing sense of the +fact that there was but an hour before they left for the station, and +every moment too precious to be wasted on Budd. Rising, and proceeding +with his packing, he said with perfect seriousness:-- + +"Well, Budd, all I can say is, that if I were going to ask a girl to +marry me, I should ask her if she thought enough of me to take me with +all my imperfections and--" + +"Where are you, Jack?" called Hazel, at the foot of the stairs; "Chi has +to go an hour earlier than he said, and the sleigh is at the door." + +In the hurry of Jack’s good-byes and departure, the sentence was never +finished, and the ring forgotten by him. But Budd remembered. + +He was a sturdy little chap, broad of shoulder, strong of limb. His +sandy red hair bristled straight up from his full forehead. His pale +blue eyes, with thick reddish-brown lashes, were round and serious. His +nose was a freckled pug, and his small mouth puckered, when he was very +much in earnest, to the size of a buttonhole. From the time he had +championed Hazel’s coming to them, nearly a year ago, he had never +wavered in his allegiance to her, and in his small-boy way showed her +his entire devotion. Hazel had been so grateful to him for his +whole-souled welcome of her, that she took pains to make his boy’s heart +happy in every way she could. + +For Hazel, Budd was never in the way; never asked too many questions for +her patience; never teased her beyond endurance. He found in her a +ready listener, a good sympathizer, a capital playmate, and a loving +girl-friend, who reproved him sometimes and, at others, praised him. +What wonder that his ten-year-old heart had warmed towards her with its +first boy-love? and that in his manly, practical way, he made of her an +ideal? + +"I love Hazel, and when I am big enough, I shall marry her," was what he +said to himself whenever he stopped his play long enough to think about +it at all. Naturally it seemed the wisest thing to tell her this when +he should find the opportunity, and at the same time recall the fact. + +Fortified by the testimony of Chi and Jack, he bided his time. + +One Saturday afternoon in January, Rose said suddenly to Hazel: "I wish +I could do some of the things that you do, Hazel." Hazel looked up from +her book in surprise. + +"What can I do that you can’t do, Rose?" + +"You dance so beautifully, and I ’ve always wanted to know how. I feel +so awkward when I see you dance the Highland Fling." + +"Is that all?" Hazel laughed a happy laugh. "I can teach you to dance +as easy as anything, if you ’ll let me." + +"Let you!" Rose exclaimed, flushing with pleasure; "just you try me and +see. But where can we practise?" + +"Oh, out in the barn," cried Hazel. "It’ll be lots of fun; of course, +it’s awfully cold, but the skipping about will keep us warm. I ’ll tell +you what--I ’ll play on the violin, and you and March and Budd and +Cherry can learn square dances first." + +"What fun!" said Rose. + +"What’s the joke?" asked March, coming in at that moment with Budd and +Cherry. + +"We ’re going to have a dance in the barn; Hazel’s going to teach us. +She says she can do it easy enough." + +"Oh, bully!" Budd threw up his tam-o’-shanter, and Cherry, attempting +to charge up and down the long-room as she had seen Hazel at the Fords’, +tripped on the rug and fell her length. When March had picked her up +she rubbed her nose, which was growing decidedly pink, and sniffed a +little, then asked suddenly:-- + +"Who ’s going to be my partner? They always have partners in the story +books." + +"Sure enough," Rose laughed. "Whatever will we do, Hazel?" + +"I never thought of that," said Hazel, ruefully. "Of course, it takes +eight." + +"Why can’t we have chairs for partners?" said Cherry. "We can bow to +them just as if they were alive, and make them move round, can’t we?" + +They all laughed at Cherry’s inspiration. + +"You ’re a brick, Cherry Bounce?" said March, approvingly. "All choose +your partners!" And, thereupon, he seized one of the kitchen chairs, +and the rest followed his example. Hazel took her violin, and hooded +and mittened and coated and mufflered, they trooped out to the barn, +each lugging a wooden chair. + +"Now I ’ll give you the first four changes," said Hazel, illustrating, +as well as she could in trying to be two couples at once, the first +movements. "Form your square and get ready." + +They obeyed with alacrity, and Hazel drew her bow across the strings. + +"All curtsy to your partners!" she shouted, and the chair-partners +received a bow, and, in turn, were made to thump the floor by being laid +over on their backs, and righted suddenly. + +"First couple forward and back!" shouted Hazel, and away went Rose +dragging her chair after her to meet March and his +chair--thumpity-thump--thumpity-thump. + +They were in dead earnest, and the chairs were made to behave in a most +human way. + +All went well until they came to the Grand Right and Left; then there +arose such a medley of shrieks of laughter, wild wails from the violin, +thumps from sixteen chair-legs, and stampings from eight human ones as +was never heard before. In a few minutes all was inextricable +confusion, and the noise might have been best compared to a Medicine +Dance among the Sioux Indians. + +Upon this scene Mr. Blossom and Chi, on their return from the wood, +looked with amazement. + +"They seem to be havin’ a regular pow-wow," Chi remarked dryly, as the +exhausted dancers and musician sat down, panting for breath, on their +wooden partners. "Rose-pose is about as young as any of ’em--but it +beats all, how she’s shootin’ up into womanhood." + +"She ’s no longer my little Rosebud Blossom," said her father, rather +sadly. "I dread the time when the birds begin to fly from the nest, and +I see it coming with March and Rose." + +Just then Rose caught sight of her father, and ran to him linking her +arm in his. "We ’ve had such fun, father! We ’re learning to dance; you +must be my partner sometime, for Hazel’s going to teach us the +schottische next." + +Rose never forgot the look of love her father gave her, nor the feel of +his hand as he laid it on her hooded head: "Be my little Rose-pose, as +long as you can, dear; you ’re growing up too fast." + +She recalled afterwards that this first dance in the barn marked the +last time that she abandoned herself to the children’s fun with a girl’s +careless heart. + +The winter twilight was fast closing about the Mountain and the children +just returning to the house, when Chi went out to milk. Leaving his +lantern, stool, and pails in the first stall, he entered the third one +to tie one of the cows to a shorter stanchion. Before he had finished +he heard Budd’s voice, and, looking over the partition, saw him standing +with Hazel in the circle of light about the lantern. In another minute +he began to feel like an eavesdropper. + +"What did you want me to come here for, Budd?" said Hazel, dancing on +the barn floor to warm her feet. + +"I want to tell you something," said Budd, blowing on his cold fingers. + +"Well, hurry up and tell; it’s simply freezing here. Is it a secret?" + +"Kinder," replied Budd, blowing harder; then, suddenly ceasing the +bellows movement, he drew a step nearer to Hazel, and, putting the tips +of his pudgy fingers together to make a triangle, he puckered his mouth +solemnly and said, looking up at her with earnest eyes:-- + +"I ’m very fond of you." + +Hazel laughed merrily. "Why, of course you are, you funny boy; you ’ve +always been fond of me, have n’t you? I ’m sure I ’ve always been fond +of you. Is _that_ what you kept me out here in the cold to say?" + +"Not all;" Budd nodded seriously. "I ’m very fond of you, an’--an’ if +you ’ll take me with all my perfections--I think that’s the way it +goes--if I have n’t got the ring yet, it will be just the same, you +know." He paused, and in the circle of light Chi could see the entire +earnestness of his attitude. + +"Goodness me, Budd! What do you mean about rings and things?" + +"I want to marry you when I ’m big--an’ I thought I ’d speak ’fore +anyone else did to get ahead of ’em." Budd hastened to explain, as +Hazel showed signs of impatience. + +"Oh, is that all!" Hazel breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought +something was the matter with you. Why, of course you ’re fond of me, +Budd; but I could n’t marry you, for I ’m older than you, you know." + +"I never thought of that," said Budd, beginning to blink rather +suspiciously, "I thought--" + +"Now, look here, Budd," said Hazel, in a business-like way; "I think +everything of you, too, and I ’ll tell you what you can be--" + +"What?" interrupted Budd, eagerly, balancing himself on the tips of his +toes. + +"My knight!" said Hazel, triumphantly, "and wear my colors. I ’ll give +you a bow of crimson ribbon--I ’m Harvard, you know--and you must wear +it till you die. And I have a white kid party glove I ’ll give you, too, +and that will mean I ’m your lady-love, and it will be just like the +days of chivalry, you know we were reading about them the other day." + +"And you won’t mind about the ring?" queried Budd, rather wistfully. + +"Not a bit--a glove is much nicer than a ring, and--" + +"Moo--oo--oo--" came from the next stall. + +"Oh, goodness gracious! How that made me jump. I ’m not going to stay +out here another minute; so come along if you ’re coming"--and the +knight meekly followed his lady-love into the house. + + + + + XIX + + A YEAR AND A DAY + + +"It seems queer to settle down the way we have, ever since Christmas. +We had such fun up to that time." Hazel heaved a long sigh as she +wrestled with her Latin and the Third Conjugation. + +Rose looked up from her Cicero and smiled at the bored expression on +Hazel’s face. "I know, Latin is awfully dull at first, but when you can +read it, you ’ll like it. If only you could hear Cicero give this +horrid Catiline--the old traitor--’Hail Columbia’ as March says, you +could n’t help liking Latin. Then, too, if we had n’t settled down, +where would my French have been?" + +But Hazel still pouted a little. "I wish papa had n’t wanted me to +study at all this winter--I don’t see why, when Doctor Heath is always +talking about its ’effect on my health--’" + +She was interrupted by a merry laugh. Rose threw down her Cicero, +caught away the grammar from Hazel, and, seizing her by the hand, drew +her into the little bedroom. Then, taking her by the shoulders, she +whirled her about until she faced the small looking-glass. + +"There!" she exclaimed, still laughing, "look at that face before you +talk about any ’effect on your health.’" + +Hazel looked at the reflection in the mirror, and smiled in spite of +herself. What a contrast to what she was a year ago! For to-morrow +would be St. Valentine’s day. There were real American Beauty roses on +her cheeks; the dark eyes were full of sparkling life; the +chestnut-brown hair fell in heavy curls upon her shoulders. She had +grown tall, too, but rounded in the process, and the healthful, bodily +exercise had given her grace of carriage--she was straight as an arrow, +and as lithe as a willow wand. + +"Perhaps I shall feel more interest when Miss Alton is here, for she is +a regular teacher. When is she coming, Rose?" + +"The very last of the month, when the spring term opens. It’s our turn +to have the district-school teacher board with us, and I ’ve never liked +it before. But now I can’t wait for Miss Alton to come. I think she ’s +lovely." + +"She is n’t half as lovely as you are, Rose," said Hazel, turning +suddenly from the glass, in which she had been scrutinizing her +reflection, and giving Rose an unexpected squeeze and a hearty kiss. "I +think you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen, I heard Doctor +Heath say so; and--I told Jack so on Christmas night." + +"I ’ll warrant he did n’t agree with you," said Rose, with a pleased +smile. "You forget Miss Seaton." + +"I know." Hazel shook her head dubiously. "He did n’t say a word to me +about you--I don’t care if he did n’t, Rose-pose, you ’re worth all the +Maude Seatons in the world, and I ’d give anything to have you for my +real cousin instead of her, if only Jack--" + +"I don’t know what you are talking about, Hazel," said Rose, +interrupting her shortly and sharply. + +"And I don’t know why you are speaking to me in that tone, Rose +Blossom," retorted Hazel, both angry and hurt. "I ’ve said nothing I ’m +ashamed of, and I shall say it whenever I choose and to whomever I +please, so now." She flung out of the room, but not before Rose had +laid a firm hand upon her shoulder. + +"Hazel Clyde, if ever you speak of that again to anyone, I ’ll break +friendship with you, see if I don’t." + +"Break then," Hazel twitched her shoulder from under the detaining hand. +"I ’ll speak whenever I choose. I only said I thought you were the most +beautiful girl I had ever seen, and I wished that you were going to be +my real cousin, instead of Miss Seaton, and you need n’t get mad just +because Jack does n’t happen to think as I do--" + +"Hazel Clyde!" Rose stamped her foot, "don’t you speak another word to +me; I ’ll not hear it." Rose stuffed both fingers into her ears, and +beat an ignominious retreat to her own room, where she shut herself in, +and was invisible until tea-time. + +The family were late in sitting down to the table, for Mrs. Blossom +wanted to wait for Chi, who had driven down to Barton’s River to take +Mr. Blossom to the train, and had arranged to bring March home with him. + +It was seven already. "We won’t wait any longer, children," said Mrs. +Blossom. "Something must have detained Chi. Budd, you may say ’grace’ +to-night?" she added as she took her seat. + +Budd looked up in amazement. "Why, Martie, Rose is here and you +always--" + +"That will do, Budd," said his mother, quietly, ignoring the flame that +shot up to the roots of Rose’s hair, and the cool look of indifference +on Hazel’s face. Budd folded his pudgy hands and repeated reverently +the words he had heard father, or mother, or sister say ever since he +could remember. Scarcely had he finished when Tell’s deep note of +welcome sounded somewhere from the road, and the sleigh-bells rang out +on the still air. + +"There they are!" cried Cherry. "May I go to meet them?" + +"Yes--but put your cape over you, it’s so chilly to-night." + +In a minute Cherry was back again, every single curl bobbing with +excitement. + +"Oh, Martie! Chi’s bringing in something all done up in the buffalo +robe, and March won’t tell me what it is." + +She was followed by March, who walked up to his mother, put both arms +about her and gave her a quiet kiss. + +"There, little Mother Blossom, is my valentine for you," he said +half-shyly, half-proudly, and placed in her hands his first term’s +report and a set of books. + +"Oh, March, my dear boy!" said his mother, rising from the table and +placing both hands on the broad, square shoulders of her six foot +specimen of youth, "I ’m afraid I ’m getting too proud of you. _Did_ +you get the first Latin prize?" + +"You bet I did, Martie." March’s rare smile illumined his face. "There +is n’t another fellow at Barton’s, who can boast of such a mother as I +have, and I was n’t going to let any second-class mothers read those +books before you did. By Cicky!" (which was March’s favorite name for +the famous orator)--"But I ’ve worked like a Turk, and I ’m hungry as a +Russian bear. Why, Rose, what’s the matter with you? You look awfully +glum, and Hazel, too. Here comes Chi; he’s bringing something that will +cheer you up. The truth is, mother, these girls miss _me_." + +"Indeed, I do, March?" said Hazel, looking straight up into his eyes and +showing the amazed lad tears trembling in her own. + +"Guess there ’ll be some breakin’ of hearts, this year, Mis’ Blossom." +Chi’s cheery voice was welcome to them all for some unknown reason. He +came in loaded with huge pasteboard boxes. + +"Your arms will break first, Chi," said Mrs. Blossom, hastening with +March to relieve him. + +"It ain’t the heft of ’em, it’s the bulk. Valentines are generally +pretty light weight. Romancin’ ’n’ sentiment don’t count for much, +nowadays, though they take up considerable room." He deposited the last +box on the settle. "’N’ there’s a whole parcel of things come by mail. +I ain’t looked at the superscribin’s--you read ’em out, Rose-pose." + +Rose read the addresses; there was more than one missive for each member +of the family. + +"Let’s have supper, first, mother," said March, "then, after the table +is cleared, we can sit round and guess who they ’re from." + +This proposition was welcomed by Budd and Cherry. Rose and Hazel gave a +cordial assent, but there was a frigidity in the atmosphere which the +outside temperature did not warrant. Chi and March were aware of this +so soon as they entered the room, and Mrs. Blossom had known it the +moment she saw the girls’ faces at the table. She thought it not wise to +interfere, but let matters straighten themselves in good time. She felt +she could trust them both to see things in their right light, without +the aid of her mental glasses. + +"Now let’s begin," said Chi, rubbing his hands in glee as, directly +after supper, he piled the boxes on the table while March laid the +envelopes in their proper places before each member of the family. +"This top one says ’Miss Hazel Clyde.’ Show us your valentine, +Ladybird." + +"They ’re violets--from Jack, I know. He always sends them. What’s +yours, Rose?" She spoke rather indifferently. + +"Oh, roses!" Rose was having the first look all to herself. "The +loveliest things I have ever seen. Look, Martie!" Rose held up the +mass of exquisite bloom, and the children oh’ed and ah’ed at the sight. + +"They ’re from Mr. Sherrill," said Rose, trying to speak in a most +common-place tone, but, in her excitement, failing signally. + +"They are lovely," Hazel remarked, shooting an indignant glance at Rose. +"They’re just like the ones he sent Miss Seaton last year, only they +were formed into a great heart. Papa gave me one just like it; he got +his idea from Jack." + +Rose suddenly put down the flowers, in which she had buried her face to +inhale their fragrance, as if something had stung her. + +"Mr. Sherrill is very impartial with his favors," she said in a tone +that increased the pervading chill of the domestic atmosphere. + +"Why, Rose!" exclaimed Mrs. Blossom. "It is not like you to receive a +favor so ungraciously; you ’ve never had flowers sent you before, and I +’m sure you would never have them again if the donor could witness your +reception of them." + +"I don’t care for them again, thank you." Rose retorted with flaming +cheeks; "I ’d give more for this of yours, Chi--" she opened a huge +yellow envelope, and took from it a scarlet cardboard heart, with a +small, white, artificial rose glued to the centre and a gilt paper arrow +transfixing both rose and heart. + +Chi hemmed rather awkwardly, thinking: "Beats the Dutch what’s got into +Rose-pose to-night. I ain’t ever known her to treat a livin’ soul so +shabby as that in all her life. Beats all what gets into women ’n’ +girls, sometimes; when a feller thinks he’s doin’ ’em just the best turn +he knows how, they up ’n’ get mad with him, ’n’ turn the cold shoulder, +’n’ upset things generally." But aloud he said: + +"I ’m glad it pleases you, Rose. Can’t most always tell when it’s goin’ +to please a girl or not. I suppose Jack, now, thought you ’d be tickled +to get those posies just in the dead of winter. They don’t grow round +here on our bushes. What’s in the other box?" + +"Why!" Hazel exclaimed, laughing rather half-heartedly, "it’s addressed +to ’Miss Maria-Ann Simmons’--and just look, Mother Blossom! See what +that dear old Jack has sent her! He’s just too dear for anything." She +added emphatically;--"I ’d like to give him a kiss for thinking of that +poor girl all alone over there on the Mountain. I don’t believe she +ever had a valentine before. Look! Oh, look!" + +She took out of the many layers of wadding a mass of yellow tulips, +their closed golden cups shining in the lamp-light as if gilded by +sunbeams. + +"Sho!" was all Chi said, leaning nearer to examine the beautiful +blossoms. + +"You ’ll take them over in the morning, early, won’t you, Chi?" said +Hazel, replacing them. + +"First thing, Lady-bird; guess you ’re right, Rose, about that young +feller’s bein’ ’n all-round man with his favors. Don’t seem to be much +choice between you and Marier-Ann, ’n’ that Miss Seaver. Kind of a +toss-up, hey, Rose-pose?" + +But Rose was too busy with another package to answer Chi. She grew +wildly enthusiastic over the calla lilies that Alan Ford had sent her, +and caressed their white envelopes, and praised their pure loveliness, +until Hazel, growing jealous for poor Jack and his discarded gift, rose +to put the neglected beauties in water, saying as she did so: + +"I ’m sure, Rose, if Jack had known you cared so much for lilies, he +would have sent you some Easter ones, they ’re out now. I ’ll tell him +to next time." + +"Hazel!" Rose burst forth indignantly, "do you mean to tell me you told +Mr. Sherrill to send me these flowers for a valentine?" + +Then Hazel, stung by the tone and the words, yielded to temptation--for +it had been the last straw. "What if I did?" she said with irritating +calm, "he ’s my cousin. I suppose I can say what I choose to him." + +Rose answered never a word; but, rising, took the La France roses from +the pitcher in which Hazel had just placed them, and, going over to the +fireplace, deliberately cast the mass of delicate pink bloom into the +fire. + +Mrs. Blossom looked both puzzled and shocked; this was wholly unlike +Rose. What could it mean? The children were too awed by the proceeding +to speak or exclaim. March looked gravely at Hazel, who burst into +tears--it was such an insult to Jack!--and rushed into her bedroom and +shut the door. + +"I ’m going to bed; good-night, Martie," said Rose, quietly, after she +had watched the last leaf shrivel in the flame, and, kissing her mother, +she lighted her candle and went upstairs. Mrs. Blossom, following her +with her eyes, felt that she had lost her "little Rose" in that hour. + +March looked grave, complained of feeling tired, and said he would go to +bed, too, as to-morrow was the last day of school and there were two +more examinations to take. Budd and Cherry kissed their mother twice, +bade her good-night in suppressed tones and crept upstairs. "It’s just +as if somebody was sick in the house," said Cherry, in an awed voice. +Budd’s was sepulchral:-- + +"It’s just as if somebody was dead and all the flowers had come for the +funeral." + +Across the dining-room table, loaded with boxes and brilliant with +valentines, Chi looked at Mrs. Blossom, and Mrs. Blossom looked at Chi. +The whole affair was so incomprehensible, and the result so painfully +disagreeable, that, for a while, they found no words with which to give +expression to their feelings. Chi broke the silence:-- + +"Well! I wish I was one of those clairivoyants they tell about, ’n’ +could kind of see into the meanin’ of this flare-up of Rose-pose’s. +Don’t seem natural for Rose to go flyin’ off at a tangent that way. +What’s she got against him, anyway? He ’s about as likely as you ’ll +find. Beats me!" Chi leaned both elbows on the table, unmindful that +he was crushing some of the flowers, sank his chin in the palms of his +hands and thought hard for full a minute. + +"I know Hazel and Rose have had some little trouble this afternoon--the +first quarrel they have had--but Rose is too old to allow herself to +lose her control in that way. I can’t imagine what made her--" Mrs. +Blossom broke off suddenly, for Chi had raised his head and sent such a +look of intelligence across the table, handing her, as he did so, Jack +Sherrill’s card, which Rose in her confusion had neglected to read, +that, in a flash, something of the truth was revealed to Mrs. Blossom. + +She took the card. On the back was written, enclosed in quotation +marks:-- + + "For I am thine + Whilst the stars shall shine, + To the last--to the last." + + +"O Chi!" was all Mary Blossom said; but the tears filled her eyes, and, +reaching across the table, her hand was clasped in Chi’s strong one. + +"I wish Ben was to home," sighed Chi, so lugubriously that Mrs. Blossom +laughed through her tears. + +"Oh, it is n’t so bad as that, Chi. Girls will be girls, and grow up, +and hearts will ache even when we ’re young. We won’t make too much of +it. I don’t understand the ins and outs of it, but I do know Hazel has +said her family thought he was engaged to Miss Seaton. I ’m sure I ’ve +thought so all along, and it never occurred to me there could be any +danger for Rose under the circumstances. The mere fact of his name being +connected so closely with Miss Seaton’s would be a safeguard. Then, +too, I fear he is spoiled by women on account of his riches." + +"I don’t know about that Miss Seaver,--but if it’s as you say, I kind of +wish Rose could cut her out." + +"Sh-sh, Chi!" said Mrs. Blossom, reprovingly. + +"Well, I do," Chi retorted with some warmth. "She ain’t fit to tie +Rose’s old berryin’ shoes, ’n’ I saw her lookin’ at her feet that day we +was sellin’ berries down to Barton’s to the tavern, ’n’ snickerin’ so +mean like, ’n’ Rose just showed her grit--’n’ I wish she’d show it again +’n’ cut her out. I _do_, by George Washin’ton!" Chi rose up in his +wrath, lighted his lantern, and started for the shed. At the door he +turned:-- + +"I wish Ben was to home," he said again. "There ’s goin’ to be the +biggest kind of a snow-down before long, ’n’ he ’ll get blocked on the +road, sure as blazes." + +"He ’ll be back in two days, at the most, Chi; I would n’t worry." + +"I ain’t worryin’; I ’m just sayin’ I wish he was to home," repeated +Chi, doggedly, and shut the door. + +Mrs. Blossom smiled. She knew Chi’s crotchets. When there was any +disturbance of the family peace, Chi was apt to be depressed, and +sometimes despondent. She put away the flowers in the cold pantry, +smiling as she tied up Maria-Ann’s box: + +"He _is_ universal," she said to herself. "I know it irritated Rose to +be classed with her and Miss Seaton; but things will work around right +with time. I can trust to Rose’s common-sense.--Not a prayer to-night!" +she added thoughtfully. "Well, we ’ll make it up to-morrow." She took +up the prize books. "That dear March! What a manly fellow he is +getting to be--and so handsome. I wonder--" here Mary Blossom checked +herself, laughing softly. "Goodness! if Ben were here what a goose he +would think me--a regular old Mother Goose--" And again she laughed as +she put out the light. + + + + + XX + + SNOW-BOUND + + +They were all on the porch the next morning to see March off. It was +not so very cold, but there was a marked chill in the air and the sky +was leaden. + +"It’s my last day, mother, then vacation for two weeks. Hooray!" He +leaped into the saddle, and Fleet reared gently to show her approval. + +"Don’t you get out a little earlier to-day, March?" said his mother, +looking up at the leaden sky. "I ’m afraid it’s going to snow heavily. +Promise me not to start from Barton’s if the storm is a hard one; you +can stay at the inn or at the principal’s. I would rather you remained +away from home two days, or over Sunday, than to have you attempt the +Mountain in too severe a storm." + +"I ’ll be careful, mother." + +"Better give your promise to your mother, March; she ’ll feel better +’bout you ’re not startin’ out," said Chi. + +"I promise, little Mother Blossom." He threw himself off the horse, and +gave her another kiss; "I would n’t go to-day except for the exams.--I +can’t miss them." + +"Good luck, dear," said his mother, and her eyes followed the horse and +rider down the Mountain. + +"I ’ll go over the first thing ’n’ give them posies to Marier-Ann, ’n’ +then I ’ll make tracks for home, ’n’ get my snow-shed up before it +begins to come down." + +"Do you think we shall need it?" + +"Sure ’s fate," replied Chi, laconically, and went into the barn to +harness Bess. + +It was noon before Chi had set up his snow-shed, a long, low, wooden +tunnel, which he had manufactured to connect the woodshed door with a +side door of the barn. By means of this he was enabled, in unusually +heavy storms, to communicate with the barn and attend to the stock +without "shovelling out." + +It was about three in the afternoon when the first flakes began to fall, +or rather to "spit," as Chi expressed it, and the snow fell +intermittently and lightly until four, when there was a sudden change of +wind. It veered to the north-east, and blast after blast, charged with +icy particles, hurled itself against the Mountain. Within half an hour +it was almost as dark as at midnight, and the snow swept in drifting +clouds over woodlands and pasture. When the wind ceased for a moment, +white, soft avalanches descended upon farmhouse, barn, and +mountain-road, until, by six o’clock, the road was impassable and the +drifts at the back of the house a foot above the bedroom windows. Chi +had made all snug for the night. + +"This beats anything I ever saw, Mis’ Blossom. I ’m mighty glad Ben +ain’t comin’ home to-day, ’n’ that March gave you the promise to stay at +Barton’s if it stormed hard." + +"You don’t think he would venture to start, do you, Chi?" asked Mrs. +Blossom, trying not to appear anxious for the sake of the others. + +"Bless you, no;" was Chi’s hearty response. "March has got too level a +head to risk himself ’n’ Fleet in such a storm--it’s a regular howler of +a blizzard. If he did start," he added, "he ’d go in somewheres on the +road--he couldn’t get far." + +After tea there was no settling down to the cosey evening pastimes or +employments. If such a thing could be, the storm seemed to increase in +severity. The wind struck the house at times with terrific force; the +intermittent drift of snow and ice against the window panes startled the +inmates of the long-room like the rattle of small shot. Chi had put out +the fire in the fireplace before supper, for the wind drove flame and +ashes out into the room. + +Again and again Mrs. Blossom went to the windows--first one then +another, and pressed her face close to the pane; but they were plastered +so thick with snow that her efforts to see into the night were +fruitless. Chi sat by the kitchen stove, which he had filled with wood. +His boots rested on the fender, and, apparently, he was indifferent to +the storm. But, in reality, not the creak of a beam, not the springing +of a board, not an unwonted sound within or without the house escaped +his notice. + +In marked contrast to Chi’s apparent apathy was Tell’s restlessness. +Since six o’clock he had shown signs of uneasiness. With strides, heavy +and long, the huge beast paced up and down the long-room. Sometimes he +followed Mrs. Blossom to the window, and, sitting down on his haunches +beside her, rested his nose on the window sill and gazed at the whitened +panes. At others he took his stand beside Chi and looked into his face, +their eyes meeting on a level as the man sat and the dog stood. The dog +looked as if he were questioning him dumbly. + +As the evening wore on the dog’s pace grew more rapid, more uneven; his +tail waved in a jerky, excited manner. At last he lay down by the shed +door, and, placing his nose on the threshold, gave vent to a long, low, +half-stifled moan. At the sound Chi brought down his heels and the +tipped chair-legs with a thump, and started to his feet. Mrs. Blossom +turned to him with a white face, and Rose cried out:-- + +"Oh, Chi! What is the matter with Tell? He never acted this way +before." + +"Don’t know," said Chi, shortly; "dumb beasts are curious creatures. +Guess he don’t like the storm. I ’ll go out, Mis’ Blossom, ’n’ see if +the stock ’s all right. Kind of looks as if Tell was givin’ us a +warnin’." + +"Oh, Chi, don’t go through the tunnel now," cried Mrs. Blossom, all the +pent-up anxiety finding expression in her voice. + +Chi manufactured a laugh: "That’s all safe, Mis’ Blossom. I chained it +and roped it down, both--it can’t get away, ’n’ the snow can’t crush it. +Don’t you worry about me. I ’ll be back inside of fifteen minutes." He +took his lantern from the shelf over the sink:--"Get up, Tell." The dog +rose, but, as Chi opened the door, he tried to push past him. Chi +crowded him with his leg:--"No you don’t, old feller! there ain’t room +only for just one of us to-night. Lay down!" + +And Tell lay down, with his nose on his paws, and both nose and paws +pressed close to the crack on the threshold. Another long crescendo +moan, that, at the last, sounded like a sharp wail, filled the +long-room, and Budd and Cherry clung to their mother in terror. + +"You must go to bed, children," said Mrs. Blossom, her face white as the +snow on the window panes, but with a voice of forced calm. "When you +’re asleep, you won’t hear all this trouble the storm is raising +to-night." + +"But I don’t want to sleep upstairs alone without March, Martie," +protested Budd, trying to be brave, but showing his fear. + +"You can sleep in Hazel’s room to-night, Budd, and Cherry can get into +my bed and sleep with me." + +The twins looked relieved. "Oh, that’s different, Martie," said Budd, +with a grateful look. Cherry begged for a little cotton wool to stuff +in her ears:--"Then I can’t hear Tell and this awful noise." A novel +idea, which Budd at once adopted and put into practice. Their mother +looked relieved when they were safely bestowed in their new quarters. + +About ten minutes afterwards they heard Chi’s steps in the shed. Then +the door opened slowly, as he shoved Tell aside. When he entered the +room Mrs. Blossom gave one look at his face. + +"Oh, Chi, what has happened!" She cried out as if hurt. + +Chi’s face showed grayish white and drawn in the lamplight. His hand +shook a little as he reached for a second lantern, turning his back on +the three terrified faces. + +"Horse stalled, that’s all. Had a tough tussle to get him round, but he +’s all right now." His voice sounded hoarse. + +"Was it Bob or Bess?" asked Rose. + +Chi, without answering, turned quickly to Tell, who was pressing him +nearly off his feet, and at the same time, lashing his tail as if in +fury. + +"What ails you, anyway?" said Chi, roughly. "D’ you want to get out?" + +For answer the dog rushed to the front door that opened on the porch, +rose on his hind legs, stemmed his powerful forepaws against the panels +and, throwing back his massive head, sent forth from his deep throat a +roar that seemed to shake the rafters. + +"Mis’ Blossom," Chi’s voice shook and his hand trembled till the glass +globe of the lantern tinkled in the wire frame, "I ’m goin’ to let him +out, ’n’ I ’m goin’ to follow on--there ’s trouble somewhere on the +Mountain, ’n’ I ’m goin’ to find out where ’t is." + +All three cried out, protesting, entreating, praying him to desist. But +Chi shook his head. + +"I tell you I ’ve _got_ to go, Mary Blossom"--Chi had never called her +that but once before, and Mrs. Blossom, recalling the time, felt her +heart as lead within her--"you’re brave,--brave as a woman can be; don’t +say nothin’, but let me go. Have plenty of hot water ’n’ flannels, ’n’ +some spirits ready ’gainst I come back--" + +"Lady-bird, give me the dog collar with the bell you gave Tell last +Chris’mus; ’n’ Molly Stark, fill your mother’s hot water-bag--’n’ hurry +up; ’n’ Mis’ Blossom, give me Ben’s brandy flask, he didn’t take it with +him." + +Chi, while issuing these orders, was strapping down his trousers over +his long boots; then he poured out a brimming cup of hot water, and +mixed with it some of the brandy from the flask. He put the collar on +Tell, the bell ringing loud and clear with every movement. He opened +the door; the dog bounded out into the night. Chi followed him, a coil +of rope around his neck, a shovel over one shoulder with a lantern +suspended from the handle, and in his hand a second lantern. The +hot-water bag he had put beneath his sweater, and a leathern belt girded +him. + +So equipped he went out into the drifting snows and the night of storm. +The terrified women were left alone. + +"Mother, oh, mother!" cried Rose, wringing her hands, "I know it’s +something dreadful; Chi would never look that way." + +Mary Blossom could not answer. Her silence was prayer. It was all of +which she was capable at that time. + +"I don’t know what the matter was in the barn, mother," again cried +Rose, in an agony of fear. "Chi did n’t tell us all, I ’m sure. Let me +go through the tunnel and find out, do, mother!" + +"Oh, Rose, I can’t--I can’t!" Mrs. Blossom spoke under her breath. + +"Please, mother. It ’s all safe, and the wind has gone down a little +since Chi went; let me go--I can’t rest till I do. You can hold the +light at the shed door end and I won’t be gone but a minute or two. I +’ll take the dark lantern with me--Oh, mother! do, do--!" + +"Well, Rose, perhaps it’s for the best. I ’ll watch you through." + +"May I watch, too?" asked Hazel, eagerly. + +"No, dear, I want you to stay here in case the children should wake. +Come, Rose." + +They were gone but a few minutes; then Mrs. Blossom came in followed by +her daughter. The girl’s teeth were chattering; she looked blue and +pinched. + +"What did you find, Rose?" Her mother’s voice was scarce above a +whisper. + +"_I found Fleet!_" + +The two women sat down on the settle, holding each other close; and the +wind rose again in its fury. + +Wrapping a heavy shawl about her Hazel crept away upstairs to the back +garret and the window overlooking the woods’-road, which formed the +approach to the house. There was a little snow-drift beneath it where +the flakes had sifted through; but the wind was felt less severely on +that side of the house. She opened the window a few inches, propping it +on a corn cob she had stepped upon; then, kneeling, she put her ear to +the opening and strained her hearing in every lull of the storm. + +At last--she knew not how long she had listened--she heard Tell’s deep +roar. It came muffled, but distinct. She scarce trusted her ears; but +again she heard it, and, this time, in a dead silence, she caught the +sound of the bell. Surely Tell was nearing the house. She ran +downstairs. + +"They ’re coming!" she cried, hardly realizing what she said in her +excitement. Mrs. Blossom and Rose leaped to their feet. They threw +open the door. + +"Chi! Chi!" they called out into the night. There was a joyous bark +for answer---then a groan, and Chi staggered across the snow-laden porch +and fell with his heavy burden on the threshold. + + +At midnight the wind went down, but the snow continued to fall. All the +next day it fell steadily, but at sunset it ceased, and a young moon +looked over the shoulder of Mount Hunger upon an unbroken white coverlet +that, in some places, was drifted to the depth of twenty feet. + +There was twilight in Aunt Tryphosa’s little cabin "over eastwards," for +the snow was piled to the eaves, and the tulips furnished their only +sunshine for two days. + +There was consternation at Hunger-ford, for the family were cut off from +their neighbors and the outside world of letters and papers. + +There were councils at Lemuel’s and the Spillkinses’--for how could they +gather their forces to break out the Mountain? + +There were heavy hearts and reddened eyelids in the farmhouse, for +March, rescued by Chi and revived by vigorous treatment, had succumbed +to the exposure and chill, and lay unconscious in fever--and no help at +hand. + +Chi, spent to exhaustion, had rallied at midnight, but knew that it was +beyond human powers to attempt to reach Barton’s or even Lemuel Wood’s, +their next neighbor, through the drifts. + +So they waited, helpless--one day, two days. On the second day the +white expanse showed no tracks. Then March began to wander, and clutch +his breast, where his mother had found the telegram, which his father +had sent to him from Ogdensburg:-- + +"Heavy blizzard. Roads blocked. Tell mother at once. Don’t worry." + +Chi walked the house night and day in his misery of helplessness. At +last, on the third day, looking eastwards he descried a black blotch on +the white,--it was a four-ox team breaking out from the Fords’. Later +in the day, when the men were within two hundred yards of the house, he +saw another black spot on the lower road. It was the Mill Settlement +road-team, with a full equipment of men and tools, to cut a way through +the drifts. + +Soon there was help and to spare. Alan Ford was riding down the narrow +way between high walls of glittering white to Barton’s for aid, and +bringing back telegrams of anxious inquiry from Mr. Blossom and Mr. +Clyde. On the fourth day, the blockade was raised, and the south-bound +express to Barton’s River brought Mr. Blossom from the north, and +another train brought Mr. Clyde from the south. Two days after all the +Lost Nation knew that March would live. + + + + + XXI + + A LITTLE DAUGHTER OF THE RICH + + +It was days before March himself was aware of that fact. + +Budd and Cherry were at the Fords’. May was with Aunt Tryphosa and Miss +Alton at Lemuel Wood’s. Maria-Ann had come over to help Mrs. Blossom +with the work, and Chi had taken care of the stock. Rose and her mother +watched and waited in the sick room, relieved on alternate nights by Mr. +Blossom and Chi. + +The great storm was a thing of the past. The sun shone in a deep blue +heaven, and the white world of the Mountain showed daily life and +movement. The teamsters were at work loading the sledges with logs, and +the ponderous drags squeaked and grated as they slid down the crisping +highway. + +A crow cawed loudly on the first of March, and the hens came out to find +a warm nook in the south-east corner of the barn-yard, where a heap of +sodden straw was thawing. + +All in the farmhouse were rejoicing, for March had spoken in his +weakness--a few words, but clear, coherent, for the frost and fever, +both, had left his brain. When he spoke the second time it was to ask +for Chi; and Chi had tiptoed into the room in his stocking-feet and laid +his hand on March’s thin, white one, gulped down the tears and the +rising sob that was choking him, and--spoke of the weather! + + +The next day March turned to his mother, who was sitting by the bed, +brooding him with her great love, and asked suddenly, but in a clear and +much stronger voice: + +"Where ’s Hazel?" + +Mrs. Blossom hesitated for a moment, then spoke quietly:--"Hazel is at +home with her father for a few weeks." + +March turned his face to the wall and was silent for several hours. + +When he was stronger Mrs. Blossom gave him the little note Hazel had +left for him, and, with mother-tact, knowing March’s reserve of nature, +went out of the room while he read it. She saw no signs of it when she +returned and asked no questions, but March’s gray eyes spoke a language +for which there was but one interpretation. With his rare smile, he +held out his hand for his mother’s, and clasped it closely. + +Soon he was able to be up and about, and the children were again at +home. Life in the farmhouse resumed its old course--but with a +difference. Just what it was no one attempted to define. But each felt +it in his own way. March was more gentle with Budd and Cherry, more +often with his mother and Chi, more companionable for his father. Rose +was quieter, but, if possible, more loving towards all. Budd was at +times wholly disconsolate, and wasted sheets of his best Christmas +note-paper in writing letters to Hazel which were never sent. + +Chi went oftener to the small house "over eastwards," where he was sure +of willing ears and sympathetic hearts when he unburdened himself in +regard to his "Lady-bird." + +"Fact is," he said to Maria-Ann, as she stood with her apron over her +head watching him plough their garden plot (that was his annual +neighborly offering), "she ’s left a great hole in that house, ’n’ there +is n’t one of us that don’t know it ’n’ feel it;--kind of empty like in +your heart, you know, just as your stomach feels when you ’ve ploughed +an acre of sidlin’ ground, before breakfast--Get up, Bess, +whoa--back!--you don’t hear that laugh of hers in the barn, nor out in +the field, nor up in the pasture; ’n’ you don’t see those great eyes +lookin’ up at you when you ’re harnessin’, nor peekin’ round the corner +of the stall to see if you ’re most through milkin’. ’N’ you don’t hear +a fiddle makin’ it lively after supper, ’n’ the children ain’t danced +once in the barn this spring." Chi sighed heavily. + +"Don’t Mr. Ford go over there pretty often?" queried Maria-Ann. "I see +him gallopin’ by two or three times a week." + +"Well, what if you do?" Chi answered grumpily, much to Maria-Ann’s +surprise. "He can’t fiddle the way Ladybird does, ’n’ they all sit ’n’ +jabber some kind of lingo--French, they call it, but I call it, good, +straight Canuck--’n’ act as if they were at a party,--Rose, ’n’ Miss +Alton, ’n’ the whole of ’em. ’T ain’t much company for me. I get off +to bed about dark. ’N’ the worst of it is, when he isn’t to our house, +they’re all to his--Come around!" Chi jerked the reins, to Bess’s +resentful surprise. + +"They say he’s payin’ attention to Rose," ventured Maria-Ann, her eyes +following the furrow, which was running not quite true. + +"They ’re a parcel of fools," growled Chi, eyeing the furrow with a +dissatisfied air, "Rose need n’t look Alan Ford’s way for attention. +She can have all she wants most anywheres.--Get up, Bess! what you +backin’ that way for!--’n’ folks tongues can be measured by the furlong +’twixt here and Barton’s." + +"Well, there ain’t any harm in Rose’s havin’ attention, Chi," said +Maria-Ann with some spirit, and ready to stand up for her sex. + +"Did n’t say there was," retorted Chi, in mollified tones. "There ain’t +no more harm in Rose’s havin’ attention than in your havin’ it." + +"Me!" exclaimed Maria-Ann, pleasantly surprised out of her momentary +resentment. "I ain’t had any chance to have any." + +"Ain’t you?" said Chi, busying himself with the plough preparatory to +leaving. "Well, that ain’t any sign you won’t have--Get along, Bess!--I +’ll leave this plough here till to-morrow; I ain’t drawn those last two +furrers straight, ’n’ I ’ve got too much pride to have any man see +that--Malachi Graham, his mark.--No, sir-ee," said Chi, emphatically, +"straight or starve is my motto every time, just you remember that, +Marier-Ann Simmons." + +"I will, Chi," laughed Maria-Ann, and went back to her washing, singing +joyfully to her rubbing accompaniment:-- + + "Come, sinners all, repent in time, + The Judgment Day is dawning; + Sun, moon, and stars to earth incline, + The trumpet sounds a warning." + + +Meanwhile letters were coming to every member of the family from Hazel. +As March regained his strength there came as special gifts to him, books +and magazines, and from time to time a beautiful photograph of an +old-world cathedral--Canterbury, or York; a stately castle like Warwick, +or Heidelberg; a peasant’s chalet, or an English cottage to gladden his +artist soul and eye, and transform the walls of his room into +dwelling-places for his ideals. + +"Mother," he said rather wistfully to Mrs. Blossom, on the first May day +as they sat together under the old Wishing-Tree, talking over the plans +for his future, "how can I go to work to make it all come true?" + +He held in his hand a large photograph of the interior of Cologne +Cathedral, which Hazel had given him. + +"There are many ways, dear, which are most unexpectedly opened at times. +No boy with health and perseverance has much to fear." + +"But, mother, father had both, and he was n’t able to go through +college. He told me all about it the other day, and how he had missed +it all through his life." + +"I know, March, father failed in attaining to that which was his great +desire, but he succeeded so immeasurably in another direction, that I +think, sometimes, it must have been all for the best." + +"Why, mother, father is poor now--how do you mean he has succeeded?" + +"My dear boy, you are only in your seventeenth year, and I don’t know +that I can make it plain to you because you _are_ young; but when your +father conquered every selfish tendency in him, put aside what he had +striven so hard for and what was just within his reach, and turned about +and did the duty that the time demanded of him;--when he took his dead +father’s place as provider for the family, and, by his own exertions, +placed his mother and sisters beyond want, before he even allowed +himself to tell me he loved me, he proved himself a successful man; for +he developed, in such hard circumstances, such nobility of character, +that he is rich in love and esteem,--and that, March, and only _that_, +is true wealth." + +"I see what you mean, mother, but it does n’t help me to see how I ’m to +get through college, and get the training I need in my profession." +March uttered the last word with pride. "There is so much a man has to +have for that. Look at that now," he continued, holding up the +photograph; "I need all that, and that means Europe, and Europe means +money and time, and where is it all to come from?" + +His mother smiled at the despairing tone. "As for time, March, you are +only in your seventeenth year. That means ten years before you can +begin to work in your profession; and as for the means--" she +hesitated--"I think it is time to tell you something I ’ve been keeping +and rejoicing over these last two weeks." She drew a letter from her +dress-waist and handed it to him. "Read this, dear, and tell me what +you think of it." Wondering, March took it and read:-- + + +HAWKING VALLEY, NORTH CAROLINA, +April 15, 1897. + +MY DEAR MRS. BLOSSOM,--Just a year ago to-day I sent my one child to +you, trusting the judgment of my dear friend, Doctor Heath, in a matter +which he felt concerned the future welfare of my daughter. My home has +been very lonely without her. You, as a parent, can know something of +what this separation has entailed. + +It seemed wise to me, and I know you concurred in my opinion, to take +her away from the conditions, in which she has thriven so wonderfully, +while you were burdened, both in heart and hands, by such a critical +illness as your son’s. The result confirms the wisdom of my action, for +March’s convalescence has been slow and long; I am thankful to be +assured it is sure. The burden of an extra member in your family at +this time would, in the long run, prove too heavy for you. + +I cannot tell you how I appreciate what you have done for Hazel. I have +no words to express it. She returns to me full of life and joy, with no +apparent unwillingness to take up her life again with me, which must +seem dull to her in contrast to that which she had with you. Yet I know +in her loyal little heart she belongs to you, is a part of your family +henceforth--and I am glad to know it is so, for she needs, and will +need, as a young girl, your motherly influence at all times. + +I ’m not taking her away from you for good. Oh, no! That would be her +loss as well as mine; but I am testing her a little. I have said I had +no words with which adequately to express my gratitude. I am your +debtor for my child’s physical well-being--for much else which I do not +find it easy to define. Will you allow me to make some compensation for +your year of devotion? I do not care what form it take, providing you +will permit me to try to discharge something of the debt--the whole can +never be repaid. Will you not let me send that splendid son of yours +through college? and give him two years of Europe afterwards? That +future profession of his has always been of great interest to me. If +the boy is too proud, as I suspect is the case, to accept the necessary +amount other than as a loan, make it plain to him that I will even yield +a point there--a pretty bad state of affairs for me as a debtor to find +myself in. If he won’t do this for me--won’t Rose help me out by +permitting me to aid her in cultivating that voice of hers? I know your +magnanimity, and depend upon you to help me in this. + +Hazel does not know I am writing to you, or she would send loving +messages. + +My kindest regards to Mr. Blossom, with hearty congratulations for +March, and all sorts of neighborly remembrances for all others of the +Lost Nation. + +Sincerely your friend, + JOHN CURTIS CLYDE. + +_To Mrs. Benjamin Blossom._ + + +"Oh, mother!" + +A wave of crimson surged into March’s pale face, and the sensitive +nostrils quivered; then two big drops plashed down upon the letter which +he handed to his mother. + +"Oh, mother! if only I could--but I can’t!" + +He rolled over on the soft pasture turf, face downwards, his head +resting on his arms. + +"Why, March dear," said his mother, tenderly, "why can’t you? I think +it ’s beautiful, so does father." + +A sob shook the long, thin frame. His mother laid her hand on the back +of the yellow head. "What is it, my dear boy? Can’t you tell me?" + +The head shook energetically beneath her hand, and muffled words issued +from the grass. + +"But, March, we thought it would please you to have such an opportunity. +You have read what Mr. Clyde says--you can look upon it as a loan. I +hope you won’t have any false pride in this matter--" + +"’Tis n’t false, mother," came forth from the grass, "and I would like +to accept his offer, if only it were n’t just his." + +"Why not his, March? Surely, Hazel has been like one of us--a real +little sister--" Another vigorous wagging of the yellow head arrested +his mother in the midst of her sentence. + +"Hazel is n’t my sister." + +"Why, of course, you can’t feel as near to her as to Rose, but then, you +must see how dear she has become to us all--and Mr. Clyde has put it in +such a way, that the most sensitive person could accept it without +injury to any feeling of true pride. Take time and think it over, +March. It has come upon you rather suddenly, and I have been thinking +about it for two weeks." + +"It’s no use to think it over." Deep tragedy now made itself audible, +as March rolled over and sat up, displaying eyes bright with excitement, +flushed cheeks, and a generally determined air of having it out with +himself. + +"Well, I can’t understand you, March." + +"I wish you could." + +His mother smiled in spite of the gravity of the situation. "Can’t you +tell me? or give me some clue to this mysterious determination of +yours?" + +March cast a despairing glance at his mother. "Mother, will you promise +never to tell?" + +"Not even your father, March?" + +"No, father, nor any one--ever, mother." + +"Very well; I promise, March, for I trust you." + +"Oh, mother, have n’t you seen?--don’t you know, that I--that I love +Hazel! And how can I take the money from her father, when I ’m going to +try to make her love me and marry me sometime, when I get through +studying, and--and--Oh, don’t you see?" + +And Mrs. Blossom did see--at last. + +She spoke very gently, after a minute’s silence, in which March’s ears +burned red to their tips, and his fingers were busy digging up a tiny +strawberry-plant by the roots. "My son, I see, and I honor you for +feeling as you do; but, March, have you thought of the difference +between you and Hazel?" + +"What difference, mother?" + +Now Mary Blossom was not a worldly woman, neither was she a woman of the +world--and she found it difficult to answer. + +"You know how Hazel is placed in life, although you do not know with +what luxury she is surrounded in her home. She has beauty, a large +circle of friends, immense wealth. There will be many who will seek her +hand in four years’ time, for she has a wonderful charm of her own, for +all who come close to her.--Is it worth while to attempt, even, to win +this little daughter of the rich? You, a poor boy, with his way to +make?" + +"But, mother,"--there was strong protest in the voice--"she did n’t have +any beauty till she came up here to us--and if she _was_ a rich girl, +she was n’t a healthy one till she lived up here, and I don’t see the +good of money and a lot of things, if you ’re sick, and homely, too." +March waxed eloquent in his desire to convince his mother of the justice +of his cause. "And if she hadn’t come up here she would n’t have got +well, and then she would n’t have grown so beautiful--and she _is_ +beautiful, mother." (Mrs. Blossom nodded assent.) "And I don’t see why +I have n’t just as much right to try to make her love me as any other +fellow. You ’ve told us children, dozens of times, it’s just character +that counts, and not money, and if I try as hard as I can to keep +straight and be a good man like father, I don’t see why things would n’t +be all right in the end." + +Mrs. Blossom was silenced,--"hoist with her own petard." "How can I +destroy this lovely, young ideal? I dare not," was her thought. But +aloud, she said:--"You ’re right, March. Nothing but character counts. +Make yourself worthy of this little love of yours. We ’ll keep this in +our own hearts, and when you are tempted to wrong-doing--and there are +fearful temptations for every young man to meet, March,--temptations of +which you can form no conception here in the shelter of your home--just +remember this little talk of ours, and keep yourself unspotted by the +world just by the thought of this dear girl whom you hope some day to +win. There is nothing, March, that will keep a young man in the right +way like his love for just ’the one girl in the world’--if only she be +worthy of his love. And I think Hazel will be--even of you." + +March flung his arms about her neck and kissed her heartily: + +"Dear, little Mother Blossom, I ’ll try, and even if I fail, just the +thought of such a glorious-filorious mother that does n’t laugh at a +fellow--I was afraid you would, though,--will keep me straight enough. +Why, Mother Blossom! I ’d be ashamed to look you in the eyes, if I did a +down-right mean thing." + +His mother laughed through her tears. "I wonder if many mothers get +such a compliment? Come, dear, the dew is beginning to fall--it’s been +such a heavenly day, I had forgotten it is early spring. Do you feel +chilly?" + +"Not I," laughed March, and proceeded to relieve his feelings after his +favorite method--by turning a double-back somersault down the pasture +slope. + +As Mrs. Blossom leaned over to kiss tired, sleepy Budd that night, she +thought complacently to herself:-- + +"Well, thank fortune, here ’s one who is heart-free," and laughed softly +to herself. Chi had not told her of Budd’s proposal. + + +"Wilkins, tell Miss Hazel to come down into the library when she is +dressed for dinner." + +"Yes, Marse Clyde." Wilkins sprang upstairs two steps at a time, and, +knocking at Hazel’s door, delivered his message. + +"Tell papa I ’m going to dress early, for I ’ve some things to attend to +about the table, Wilkins." + +"Fo’ sho’, Miss Hazel," said Wilkins, with a broad smile of delighted +surprise. + +"And tell Mrs. Scott I ’ll choose the service, if she will take out the +linen, and I have ordered the flowers. Papa said I might." + +Wilkins skipped downstairs, delivered his message to the amazed +housekeeper, and then flew into the kitchen to impart his news to the +cook, his confidante and co-worker for years in the Clyde household. + +Minna-Lu was preparing a confection, and giving her whole soul to the +making, when Wilkins made his appearance. She looked up grimly, the +ebony of her countenance shining beneath the immaculate white of her +turban:-- + +"Wa’ fo’ yo’ hyar?" + +Wilkins slapped both knees with the palms of his hands, and bent nearly +double with noiseless laughter; then, straightening himself, approached +Minna-Lu with boldness, despite the repelling wave of the cream-whip +that she held suspended over the bowl, and confided to her the change of +régime, to her edification and delight. + +She put down the bowl and whip, stemmed her fists on her broad hips, and +gurgled long and low. "’F little missus done take rale hol’ er de +reins, dere ain’t no kin’ er show fo’ sech po’ trash." She indicated +with an upward movement of her thumb the upper regions where the +housekeeper was supposed to be. + +"When I wan’s a missus, I wan’s quality folks, an’ little missus do take +de cake. Nebber see sech er chile. Dem great, shinin’ eyes, lookin’ at +yo’ out o’ all de do’s, an’ dat laff soun’in’ jes’ like de ol’ mocker +dat nebber knowed nuffin’ ’bout bedtime--yo’ recollecks?" Wilkins +nodded emphatically, but was unprepared for Minna-Lu’s next move:-- + +"Git out o’ hyar, yo’ good-fo’-nuffin’ niggah. Huccome yo’ stan’in’ +roun’ wif yo’ legs stiffer ’n de whites er dese yer eggs, an’ yo’ jaw +goin’ like de egg-beatah, an’ de comp’ny comin’ at rale sharp eight." +Minna-Lu took up her bowl, and Wilkins beat a hasty retreat. + +It was a warm first of May, and just about the hour when March and his +mother were leaving the Wishing-Tree, that Hazel appeared in the +dining-room. Wilkins gazed at her in a species of adoration. Her +orders appeared to him revolutionary, but he obeyed them implicitly and +unhesitatingly. + +"Take off the candelabra, Wilkins, it is too warm to-night to have them +on; besides, people don’t have a nice time talking when they have to +peek around them to get a glimpse of the people they ’re talking to." +Wilkins whisked off the candelabra as if they had been made of +thistledown. + +"Dat’s so, fo’ sho’, Miss Hazel. I see de folks doan’ talk when dey +ain’ comf’ble; but I nebber tink ob de can’les." + +"When it’s dark you can light all the sconces. I want you to use the +pale green, Bohemian dinner set to-night; and I want just as little +silver as possible." + +Wilkins looked blank, and Hazel laughed. "Oh, we ’ll make it up with +some cut glass, I ’ll manage it. I want the table to look cool and +simple, just to-night." + +Cool and simple. Wilkins failed to comprehend it, but such was his +faith in "little Missy," that he carried out her orders to the letter, +and the result was, according to Mrs. Fenlick, "a dream of beauty." + +When she had made her preparations to her entire satisfaction, as well +as Wilkins’s, and the latter had called Minna-Lu from her culinary +tug-of-war to witness "little Missy’s" triumph, Hazel ran into the +library. + +Her father looked at her in amazement. Could this radiant, young girl +be the same Hazel of a year ago? They had gone directly to North +Carolina when Hazel had left Mount Hunger, and had been at home but two +days. This little dinner was given to Mr. Clyde’s intimate friends as an +informal celebration and recognition of his daughter’s return to the New +York house. + +Now, as she ran into the room and linked her arm in his, her father +looked down upon her with such evident pride and love, that Hazel +laughed joyfully, kid her cheek against his coat-sleeve and patted his +hand. + +"Do I look nice, Papa Clyde?" + +"Nice! that’s no word for it, Birdie." And thereupon he took her in his +arms and gave her such a hug and a kiss, that the pretty dress must have +suffered if it had not been made of the softest of white China-silk. + +"Oh, my flowers! you ’ll crush them!" she cried, shielding with both +hands a bunch of flowers at her belt. + +"Where did you get all this--this style, daughter mine? It’s--why, you +’re nothing but a little girl, but it’s ’chic.’" + +Hazel enjoyed her father’s admiration to the full. She drew herself up, +straight and tall, graceful and slender--her head was already above his +shoulder--exclaiming:-- + +"Little girl! Well, your little girl designed this gown herself. I +would n’t have any fuss or frills about it; it’s just plain and full and +soft and clingy, and this sash of soft silk--is n’t it a pretty, pale +green?--feel--" She caught up a handful of the delicate fabric and +crushed it in her hand, then smoothed it again, and it showed no +wrinkles. "I ’ve put it on to match the dinner. I ’ve had it all my +own way--Wilkins did just as I said--and it’s all cool and green and +springy. You ’ll see." + +"Where did you get these flowers?" Mr. Clyde touched the bunch of +arbutus, that showed so delicately pink and white against the white of +her dress and the green of her sash. + +A wave of beautiful color shot up to the roots of the little crinkles of +chestnut hair on her temples; she touched the blossoms caressingly. "I +wrote March about this dinner-party, and how it was the first at which I +had been hostess, and he wrote back and wanted to know what I was going +to wear, and I told him--and this morning these lovely things came by +mail all done up in cotton wool in a tin cracker-box, the kind Chi uses +to put his worm-bait in, when he goes fishing. Are n’t they lovely? And +was n’t March lovely to think of them, papa?" + +"They are n’t half as lovely as you are," said Mr. Clyde, earnestly, +replying to half of her question only. "You are my unspoiled +Hazel-blossom--" Then a sudden, intrusive thought caught and arrested +his words. "Hazel Blossom," he repeated to himself, looking at her +unconscious face as he uttered the last word, "Good heavens! Could such +a thing be?" + +"De Cun’le an’ Mrs. Fenlick," announced Wilkins. + +And when they were all seated at the table--the Colonel and Mrs. +Fenlick, Doctor and Mrs. Heath, Aunt Carrie and Uncle Jo, the Masons and +the Pearsells--with no candelabra to interfere with the merry speech and +glances, with the light from the candles in the sconces shining softly +on the exquisite napery, on the low bed of white tulips in the centre +and the grace of the pale, green porcelain, with the tall Bohemian +Romer-glasses before the plates--what wonder that Mrs. Fenlick +pronounced it a "dream of beauty"? + +When their guests had gone, Mr. Clyde turned to Hazel:--"I shall be glad +to open the Newport cottage again, Birdie, with such a little hostess to +help me entertain." + +"The Newport house, papa!" Hazel exclaimed, a distinct note of +disappointment sounding in her voice. + +"Why not, dear? I thought of getting down there by the tenth; in fact, +gave my orders to Mrs. Scott to begin packing to-morrow." + +Hazel was evidently struggling with herself. She fingered the arbutus +nervously; took them out of her belt; inhaled their fragrance. Then she +looked up with a smile, although the corners of her mouth drooped and +trembled a little:-- + +"Why, of course, why not, papa? It’s so much pleasanter there in May, +than when everybody is down for the summer." + +Her father sat down in an easy-chair, put an arm around his daughter, +and drew her down to a seat on the arm of the chair. + +"Now, Hazel, I want you to tell me all about it. Don’t you want to go?" + +"Yes, if you ’re there, papa, but--" she turned suddenly and her arm +stole around his neck--"don’t leave me there alone, papa, please don’t." + +"Leave you--I? Why what do you mean, dear?" + +"Oh, it is so lonesome when you are away, papa, when you go off yachting +with the Colonel--and the house is so big, and there ’s nobody to talk +to and say good-night to--and--and, oh, dear!" The tears began to come, +but she struggled bravely for a few minutes. + +"Why, little girl, you have never told me you were lonesome without me: +indeed, you have never shown any sign of it, or of wanting me around +much. I never thought--why, Hazel." Down went the curly head on his +shoulder, and the sobs grew loud and frequent. + +"There, there, Birdie," he said soothingly, stroking her head, "you ’re +all tired out; this party has been too much for you--" + +An energetic, protesting head-shake was followed by broken +sentences--"It was n’t that--I ’m not tired--you don’t know, papa--I +didn’t know--know I was lonesome, and that I was--I think I was +homesick--dreadfully--but Barbara Frietchie, you know--I had to be +brave--and, I have tried not to show it to make you feel unhappy--and I +love you so! but, oh, dear! I miss them so dreadfully, and I hoped--I +was a member of the N.B.--B.O.--O., Oh--dear me,--Society, and the +by-law says--I mean March read it--Oh, papa!" + +"Well, well, there, there, dear," said the somewhat mystified father, +bending all his efforts to soothe this evidently perturbed spirit, "why +did n’t you tell me before?" + +"Because I was Barbara Frietchie." + +"Now, Hazel, sit up and look me in the face and tell me what you mean. +I supposed I was holding Hazel Clyde in my arms and not old Barbara +Frietchie. Please explain." + +"I thought I wrote you, papa," Hazel could not help smiling through her +tears, for it did strike her as rather funny about papa’s holding the +patriotic, old lady in his arms. + +"Well, you did n’t tell me that." So Hazel explained. + +Mr. Clyde nodded approval. "Very good, I approve of the N.B.B.O.O. +Society, and of the present Barbara Frietchie’s heroism--but no more of +it is called for. You see, I fully intended you should pay your +friends--my friends--a visit this summer, but I thought it would be much +better later in the season when Mrs. Blossom would be rested from the +fatigue of March’s illness--" + +"Oh, papa!" A squeeze effectually impeded further utterance. "I don’t +care how soon we go to Newport, or anywhere--of course, if _you_ are +with me--as long as I can go to Mount Hunger sometime this summer. And, +besides," she added eagerly, "we planned next winter’s visit from Rose, +didn’t we?" + +"I should rather think we did. We shall be very proud of our beautiful +friend, Rose, and delighted to have our friends meet her, shan’t we?" +Another squeeze precluded, for the moment, articulate speech. + +"Yes," Hazel cried, enthusiastically, "we ’ll take her to concerts and +operas--just think, papa, with that lovely voice she has never heard a +concert!--and we ’ll take her to the theatre and--" + +"And," her father went on, growing enthusiastic himself at the prospect, +for he was the soul of hospitality, "and we ’ll give her a dainty dinner +or two, and possibly a little dance--few and early, you know--" + +"Oh--ee!" cried Hazel, forgetting her woe, "and Mrs. Heath will give a +lunch-party for her, and, perhaps, Aunt Carrie a tea, and Mrs. Fenlick a +reception--" + +"Heavens!" interrupted her father, "you ’ll kill her with kindness--that +fresh, wild rose can’t stand all that--" + +"Oh, yes, she can, papa; she can stand that just as well as I stood +going up there where everything was so different." + +"True," said Mr. Clyde, thoughtfully, "it was different." + +"Oh, it was, papa! I never had to go to bed alone. Mrs. Blossom always +came to say good-night and to kiss me, and to--to--" + +"To what?" asked her father. + +"You won’t mind if I tell you?" Hazel asked, half-shyly. + +"Mind! I should say not; I should mind if you did n’t tell me." + +"--to say ’Our Father’ with me, papa; you know no one ever said it with +me before, and it’s--it’s such a comfy time to feel sorry and talk over +what you ’ve done wrong; and it’s _that_ I miss so." + +"I don’t blame you, Birdie," said her father, quietly. "But now see how +late it is!"--he pointed to the clock--"Eleven! This will never do for +a _débutante_. Good-night, darling. Sweet dreams of Rose and the +N.B.B.O.O. Society." + +"Good-night, Papa Clyde; Doctor Heath says you are the most splendid +fellow in the world--but I know you are the dearest father in the world; +good-night, I ’ve had a lovely party." + +She ran upstairs, but, in a moment, her father heard her tripping down +again. Her head parted the portières. "I just came back to tell you, +that this kind of a talk we ’ve had is just as good as the Mount Hunger +bedtime-talks. I shan’t be homesick any more." And away she ran. + +Now John Curtis Clyde was a pew-owner--as had been his father and +grandfather before him--in one of the Fifth Avenue churches, and duly +made his appearance in that pew every Sunday morning. He entered, too, +into the service with hearty voice, and made his responses without, the +while, giving undue thought to the world. But when he had said "Our +Father" with his little daughter by his side, he had supposed his duty +performed to the extent of his needs--of another’s, his child’s, he gave +no thought. + +To-night, however, as he sat in the easy-chair where Hazel had left him, +it began to dawn upon him slowly that his little daughter, during her +fourteen years, might have had other needs, for which he had not +provided, nor, perhaps, with all his riches was capable of providing. + +The clock chimed twelve,--one,--two--; John Clyde, with a sigh, rose and +went up to bed--a wiser and a better man. + + + + + XXII + + ROSE + + +What a summer that was! Mr. Clyde sent Hazel up to the Blossoms for +July and again for September, when he, the Colonel and Mrs. Fenlick, the +Pearsells and the Masons, Aunt Carrie and Uncle Jo took possession of +the entire inn at Barton’s River, and for a month coached and rode +throughout the "North Country," all in the cool September weather. Jack +Sherrill joined them for the last three weeks, and, this time, Maude +Seaton was not of the party. + +"I just headed her off every time she made a dead set at any one of us +for an invitation," said Mrs. Fenlick one day in confidence to her +intimate, Mrs. Pearsell, as they sat on the vine-covered veranda of the +inn, "but she proved a regular octopus. She got the Colonel in her +toils one morning at the Casino, and I pretended to be faint--yes, I +did--just to get his attention for a sufficient time to make a fuss, and +get him alone in the carriage; then, of course, I settled it. Oh, dear! +men are so guileless in spots!"--Mrs. Fenlick gave a weary sigh--"What I +have n’t been through with that girl! Anyway, she’s been out two +winters, now, and she has n’t caught Jack Sherrill yet. I don’t think +there is much chance after the first season for a girl to make a really +fine match, do you?" Then they fell to discussing the pros, and cons, +of the question with evergreen interest. + +Jack Sherrill, for one, had no thought of Miss Seaton. He had sent the +valentine-flowers, and the sentiment from Barry Cornwall’s love-song, +with a strange kind of "kill or cure" feeling. + +He had communed with himself, at twilight of one February day, as he lay +at full length on the cushioned window-seat of his room from which he +looked down upon the darkening, snow-covered campus and the anatomy of +the elms showing black against it. His pipe had gone out, but he +derived some satisfaction in pulling away at it mechanically, while he +thought out the situation for himself. + +"What’s the use of a man’s hanging fire when he _knows_?" he thought. +"Now, I love her--love her." (Jack’s hand stole into the breast of his +jacket and crushed a bit of paper there; he smiled.) "Of course she +does n’t know, and won’t know for a while, but it shan’t be through any +neglect of mine that she does n’t; and when she knows--there ’s the +rub!--will she care for me, Jack Sherrill? I ’ve never done anything in +my life to make a girl like that care for me. + +"But there’s one thing I ’d stake my life on--she would n’t marry a man +for his money. A man ’s got to be loved for himself--not for what he +can give a woman, or do for her, but just for himself, if it’s going to +be the real thing, and _last_. And what am I that a girl like that +should love me--" Jack was growing very humble. He pulled himself +together: "Anyhow, I’ll send the flowers and the sentiment, _I mean it_; +I don’t care what she thinks!" Jack’s courage rose as he began to feel +something like defiance of Fate. + +Just then his chum came in. + +"There’s no use, Sherrill," he said, flinging himself down upon the +cushioned seat Jack had just vacated; "we can’t have the theatricals +unless you take the girl’s part. It won’t put you out any--smooth face +and no scrub. You ’ve been it once, and it will be a dead failure if you +aren’t in it now." + +"I don’t see how I can," replied Jack, shortly, for this intrusion on +his mood irritated him. "I told you, all of you, at the Club last year, +that I would n’t play after I was a Junior." + +"Well, what if you did?" rejoined his chum, a little crossly. "You ’re +not so uncompromisingly steadfast in other things that you can’t afford +to change your mind in such a trifle as this." + +"Come, don’t be touchy," said Jack, good-humoredly. "Hit right out from +the shoulder, old man, and tell me what you mean." + +Dawns smiled, clasped his hands under his head, and raised his merry +blue eyes to Jack, who was lighting up. + +"They say over at the Club that you have thrown Maude Seaton over, but +Grayson took up the Seaton cudgels and made the statement that she had +thrown you over, and you won’t take the girl’s part in the play because +she is coming on for it." + +Jack hesitated. He hated to play at any comedy of love when his heart +was throbbing with the genuine article. But, after all, it might be the +best way to silence the Club’s tongues as well as some others in Boston +and New York. + +"I ’ll help you out this once, Dawns, but I tell you plainly I won’t +have anything more to do with the Club theatricals while I ’m in +college," he replied, ignoring both of Dawns’ statements, which +omissions his chum noticed, and made his own thoughts: "Just like +Sherrill. You can’t get any hold of him to know what he really feels +and thinks." + +Jack played his part accordingly, repeating the success of the year +before, and scoring new triumphs. He was glad when it was over, and he +could go back to his room "dead tired," as he said to himself, but with +the conviction that he had settled matters to his own satisfaction if +not to that of one other. + +The room was in such disorder! Evidently, Dawns had been having a +little spree before Jack’s late return, and the smoke had left the air +heavy. + +Jack dropped his paraphernalia in the middle of the floor--peeling +himself as he stood yawning and thanking his lucky star that he was not +born a woman to be handicapped by such things!--_décolleté_ white satin +waist, long-trained satin gown, necklace--Jack gave the string a twitch, +for it had knotted, and the Roman pearls rolled into unreachable places +all over the floor. Off flew one white satin slipper--number ten, broad +at the toes!--with a fine "drop kick" hitting the ceiling and landing on +the book-shelves; the other followed suit. White fan with chain, white +elbow gloves, corsage bouquet--all dropped in a promiscuous heap. A +general stampede loosened silk under-skirt and dainty muslin petticoat, +lace-trimmed. A wrench,--corset-cover and corsets were torn from their +moorings. Jack groaned--or something worse--at the flummery, and, +leaving everything as it had dropped, rushed off into his bedroom, only +to find that he had forgotten to take off the blonde wig and wash off +the rouge. + +At last, however, he was asleep, and slept the sleep of the justified. + +He slept both soundly and late, but when he awoke the next morning his +first thought was of the flowers for Mount Hunger and the appropriate +sentiment. Accordingly, having reckoned the arrival of train, departure +of stage, etc., to a minute, he selected the flowers, wrote the +sentiment, not without forebodings of the usual kind, and despatched +both to Mount Hunger with high hopes, notwithstanding prescient +feelings. Then, metaphorically, he sat down to await an answer. He +waited just two months, and during that time had turned emotionally +black and blue more than once at the thought of his temerity in sending +such a message. + +Hazel had written him at once from North Carolina to tell him of March’s +illness, and on the same day she sent a penitent note to Rose, +confessing her shame at her attempt at deception, and explaining that it +was because she loved her cousin so dearly she could not bear to see his +gift slighted. + +When March was out of danger, Rose had written to Hazel a frank, loving +letter, blaming herself for her want of self-control, and begging +Hazel’s forgiveness for her harsh words: + + +"It’s all my old pride, Hazel dear," she wrote, "that I have to fight +very often. It was most kind of Mr. Sherrill to remember me when he has +so many, many other friends whom he has known longer, and I shall write +and tell him so. Now that my heart is lighter on account of dear March, +I can write more easily. + +"We miss you so! when are you coming back to us? Chi looks perfectly +disconsolate, and we all feel a great deal more than we care to say. + +"I wish you were here to have the fun of the French evenings, three +times a week. You speak it so beautifully, Mr. Ford says, and I thank +you so much for all the help you gave me in teaching me. Mr. Ford +speaks it very well, too, so Miss Alton says. We all meet at our house +once a week on March’s account, and then one evening in the week, Miss +Alton and I (she ’s lovely) go over to the Fords’ for music. He has +sent for some lovely songs for me--old English ones, and we’re going to +have a little celebration for March’s birthday in May. How I wish you +were to be here! + +"March is lying on the settle, dreaming over that exquisite photograph +of Cologne Cathedral you sent him; I’ve just asked him if he had any +messages for you, and he smiled--oh, it’s so good to see his dear smile +again! You can’t think how tall he’s grown since his illness, and he’s +so thin--and said, ’I sent one to her this morning myself; she can’t +have two a day.’ But you know March’s ways. + +"Now I must stop; Mr. Ford is coming over on horseback and I am riding +Bob now. I wear an old riding-habit of Martie’s--it fits fine! I have +more to tell you, but will finish after I get back from the ride--there +comes Mr. Ford--" + + +This letter Hazel duly forwarded to her cousin. "He ’ll know by what +she says in it that she really was pleased, for all she acted so queer," +she said to herself as she enclosed it in one to Jack, in which she took +special pains to inform him that he had never told her whether he had +given those verses Rose sang to Miss Seaton. + + +"I told Rose I was sure they were for Miss Seaton, and Rose said she did +n’t mind copying them herself for you if you wished them. Do tell me if +you gave them to her. I told Rose your valentine to her last year was a +rose-heart. I hope you don’t mind my telling, for, you know, Jack, all +our family think you are engaged to her--" + + +Jack dropped Hazel’s letter at this point and gave a decided groan. + +"What luck!" he muttered. "It’s all up with the whole thing now. No +girl of any spirit would stand all that--and Hazel meddling so! thinking +she is doing her level best to explain matters;--What an ass I was to +send that flower-valentine to Maude--and she thinks I gave her those +verses! and there ’s this Ford skulking round and having it all his own +way; he ’s just the kind a girl would care for--those musical cranks are +no end sentimental. Hang it all!" + +Jack thrust his hands deep into his pockets, took several decided turns +up and down the room, squared his shoulders, pursed his lips, cut his +two classroom lectures, ordered up Little Shaver and rode out to the +polo grounds, where, finding himself alone, he put the little fellow +through his best paces, ignoring the fact that snow and ice wore on the +pony’s nerves--and had a game out to himself. + +When just two months had passed, he received a note from Rose, his +first, and it was accorded the reception due to first notes in +particular. After this, Jack developed certain wiles of diplomacy, he +had thus far, in his various experiences, held in abeyance. He wrote +sympathetic notes to Mrs. Blossom; commissioned Chi to find him another +polo pony--Morgan, if possible--among the Green Hills; sent March a set +of illustrated books on architecture, and complained to Doctor Heath of +a pain that racked his chest; at which the Doctor’s eyes twinkled. He +said he would examine him later, but he was convinced it was heart +trouble, the symptoms were apt to mislead and confuse. He added +gravely: "Too much hard polo riding, Jack; get away into the +country--mountains if you can, and you ’ll recuperate fast enough. I +’ll make an examination in the fall." + +Jack obeyed to the letter, and what a month of September that was! + +There were glorious rides with Rose along the beautiful river valley and +over the mountain roads. There were delightful evenings at the Fords’, +and silent, beatific walks with Rose homewards beneath the harvest moon. +There were morning rambles with Rose up over the pastures and deep into +the woodlands for late ferns and hooded gentians. There were adorable +hours of doing nothing but adore, while Rose was busy about her work, +setting the table for tea (Jack paid his board at the inn, but he lived +at the Blossoms’), or laying the cloth for dinner, or on Saturday +morning even making rolls for the tea to which the whole party at the +inn were invited. + +Chi was in his glory. Little Shaver came trotting regularly every day +up through the woods’-road, and whinnied "Good-morning" first to Fleet, +then to Chi. There were general coaching-parties to Woodstock and +Brandon, in which Mrs. Blossom was guest, and a grand tea at the Fords’ +for all the guests, with a musicale for a finish, and an informal dance +in the Blossoms’ barn to which all the Lost Nation were invited. + +They accepted, one and all. Captain Spillkins was in his element, so he +said. He and Mrs. Fenlick danced a two-step in a manner to win the +commendation of the entire assembly. Miss Elvira and Miss Melissa went +through the square dance escorted by Jack and Uncle Jo. There were +round dances and contra dances. Uncle Israel contributed an "1812" jig, +and Mr. Clyde passed round the hat for his sole benefit. There were +waltzes for those who could waltz, and polkas for those who could polka, +and schottische and minuet. "There never was such a dance since before +the Deluge!" declared Mrs. Fenlick, when Captain Spillkins escorted her +to a seat on a sap-bucket; and then they all went at it again in a grand +finale, the Virginia Reel--Chi and Hazel, Mr. Clyde and Aunt Tryphosa +for head and foot couple; Maria-Ann with Jack; Alan Ford with Mrs. +Fenlick; the Colonel with Mrs. Blossom whom he admired greatly; March +and Miss Alton--such a double row of them! + +Poor Reub sat in one of the empty stalls and watched the fun with slow, +half-understanding smile, and Ruth Ford reclined in a rocking-chair in +the corner, and with merry laughter and sparkling wit soothed the dull +ache in her heart that the knowledge that she was henceforth to be a +"Shut-out" from all that life had at first given her. + +The next day after the dance there was a grand dinner given at the inn +by the Newport party to all the Lost Nation; and, later on, private +entertainments for Mr. and Mrs. Blossom and the Fords. At last, when +the first maple leaves crimsoned and the frost silvered the mullein +leaves in the pasture, Hazel, her father, Jack, and their friends bade +good-bye to the Mountain and all its joys of acquaintance, and in some +cases, friendship, and turned their faces, not without reluctance on the +part of some of them, city-wards. + +"Oh, mother! has n’t it been too beautiful for anything?" exclaimed +Rose, turning to her mother, as the last of the riding-party waved his +cap in farewell to those on the porch. It was Jack. + +"We have had a happy summer, Rose;--I think they have, too," her mother +added, shading her eyes from the setting sun. "You ’ll be very lonely +here at home, dear, after all this gayety." + +"Lonely! Why, Martie Blossom, how can you think of such a thing!" said +Rose, still scanning the lower road for a last glimpse of the riders. +"See, see, they are all waving their handkerchiefs!" + +The whole Blossom family laid hold of what they could--napkins, towels, +a table-cloth, and Chi seized his shirt, which he had hung on the line +to dry, and waved frantically until the party was no longer to be seen. + +"Lonesome! the idea," said Rose, turning to her mother. "Think of all +the studying March and I have to do, and the French evenings, and the +Fords, and Thanksgiving coming, and then Christmas, and then-- + +"Then," said Mrs. Blossom, interrupting her, "my Rose takes a little +plunge into that whirlpool of gay life and fashion in New York." + +"Yes," said Rose, with a happy smile that spoke volumes to her mother, +"I do look forward to it, Martie dear; but the whirlpool shan’t suck me +under; I shall come home just your old-fashioned Rose-pose." + +"I hope so, dear," said her mother, a little wistfully, and called the +children in to supper. + +Indeed, they found little opportunity to miss their friends in the +ensuing months; for there came kindly letters, and friendly letters, and +something very nearly resembling love-letters. The mail brought papers, +books, and magazines. The express brought to Barton’s River many a box +of lovely flowers. At Christmas came more than one remembrance for them +all, including Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann, and four special invitations +for Rose to visit in New York directly after the holidays. One was from +Mr. Clyde--with an urgent request from Hazel to say "yes" by telegram +and "relieve her misery," so she put it--; one from Mrs. Heath; one from +Aunt Carrie, and a gushingly cordial one from Mrs. Fenlick! Each +claimed her for a month. But Mrs. Blossom shook her head. + +"No, no, dear, you would wear your welcome out. I shall need you at +home by the last of February. I think you can accept only Mr. Clyde’s +and Mrs. Heath’s. You can accept social courtesies from the other four +of course." + +"But, mother," Rose’s face was the image of despair, "what shall I wear? +Just hear what Hazel has planned--’lunches, dinners, theatre, +concerts’--why! I can never go to all those things." + +"I ’ve thought of that, too, Rose; but the little colt shan’t go bare +this time--it will take some courage, dear, to wear the same things over +and over again, not to mention the puzzle of planning for it all." + +"I ’m not ’Molly Stark’ for nothing," laughed Rose, and the two women +began to plan for what Chi called "Rose’s campaign." The pretty white +serge was lengthened and made over to appear more grown up, as Cherry +put it; the dark blue wash silk--Hazel’s gift that had never been made +up--was fashioned into a "swell affair"--so March pronounced it; the +old-fashioned blue lawn was cut over into a dainty full waist, and then +Mrs. Blossom added her surprise--a delicate blue taffeta skirt to match +the waist. Rose went into raptures over it, and sought the best bedroom +regularly three times a day to feast her girl’s eyes on the silken +loveliness as it lay in state on the best bed. A new dark blue serge +was to do duty for a street suit, with a plain felt hat. For best, +there was a turban made of dark blue velvet to match the wash silk. + +"And four pairs of gloves! Martie Blossom, you are an angel, to give me +these that Hazel gave you a year ago last Christmas. Have you been +keeping them for me all this time?" + +Mrs. Blossom smiled assent, and was rewarded by a squeeze that +interfered decidedly with her breathing apparatus. + +The night before she left, Rose "costumed" for the benefit of the entire +family, who were assembled in the long-room, together with Aunt Tryphosa +and Maria-Ann, to see Rose in her finery. + +"I ’ll make it a climax," said Rose, laughing half-shamefacedly, as she +slipped upstairs to change her street suit, which had brought forth +admiring "Ohs" and "Ahs" from the children, and favorable criticism from +their elders. + +Down she came in her white serge; there were nods and smiles of +approval. + +Her reappearance in the wash silk and velvet turban was the signal, on +March’s part, for a burst of applause, and cries of admiration from Budd +and Cherry. + +"Grand transformation scene!" cried March, as Rose tripped down in the +blue taffeta, looking like a very rose herself. + +"Beats all!" murmured Chi, who had become nearly speechless with +admiration, "what clothes ’ll do for a good-lookin’ woman; but for a +ravin’, tearin’ beauty like our Rose--George Washin’ton! She ’ll open +those high-flyers’ eyes." + +"Cinderella--fifth act!" shouted March as, after a prolonged wait, he +heard Rose on the stairs. + +But was it Rose? + +The beautiful India mull of her mother’s had been transformed into a +ball-dress. She had drawn on her long white gloves and tucked into the +simple, ribbon belt three of Jack’s Christmas roses. + +Maria-Ann gasped, and that broke the, to Rose, somewhat embarrassing +silence. + +Marshalled by March, the whole family formed a procession, and Rose was +reviewed:--back breadths, front breadths, flounces, waist, gloves; all +were thoroughly inspected. + +Chi touched the lower flounce of the half-train gingerly with one +work-roughened forefinger, then, straightening himself suddenly, sighed +heavily. + +"What’s the matter, Chi?" Rose laughed at the dubious expression on his +face. + +"You ain’t Rose Blossom nor Molly Stark any longer. You ’re just a +regular Empress of Rooshy, ’n’ you don’t look like that girl I took +along to sell berries down to Barton’s last summer, ’n’ I wish you--" he +hesitated. + +"What, Chi?" said Rose. + +"I wish you was back again, old sunbonnet, old calico gown, patched +shoes ’n’ all--" + +"Oh, Chi, no, you don’t," said Rose, laughing merrily; "you forget, I +shall probably see Miss Seaton down there in New York, and you wouldn’t +want me to appear a second time before her in that old rig." + +"You ’re right, Rose-pose," replied Chi, his expression brightening +visibly. He drew close to her and whispered audibly: + +"Just sail right in, Molly Stark, ’n’ cut that sassy girl out right ’n’ +left. She never could hold a candle to you." + +"Sh-sh, Chi!" said Mrs. Blossom, meaningly, but with a twinkle in her +eye. + +"I mean just what I say, Mis’ Blossom. Folks can’t come up here on this +Mountain to sass us to our faces, ’n’ she _did_;--I’ve stayed riled ever +since, ’n’ I hope she’ll get sassed back in a way that ’ll make her hair +stand just a little more on end than it did, when she gave that mean, +snickerin’ giggle--" + +"Chi, Chi," Mrs. Blossom interrupted him in an appeasing tone. + +"You need n’t Chi me, Mis’ Blossom. These children are just as near to +me as if they was my own, ’n’ when they ’re sassed, I ’m sassed too; ’n’ +my great-grandfather fought over at Ticonderogy, ’n’ I ain’t bound to +take any more sass than he took--" + +By this time the whole family were in fits of laughter over Chi’s +persistent use of so much "sass," and, at last, Chi himself joined in +the laugh at his excessive heat:-- + +"Over nothin’ but a wind-bag, after all," he concluded. + +On the following morning, Mr. Blossom, Chi, March and Budd drove down to +Barton’s to see Rose off. The old apple-green pung had been fitted with +two broad boards for seats, and covered with buffalo robes and horse +blankets. There was just room in the tail for Rose’s old-fashioned +trunk and a small strapped box, which held two dozen of new-laid eggs, +six small, round cheeses, and a wreath of ground hemlock and +bitter-sweet--a neighborly gift from Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann to +Hazel and Mr. Clyde. + +As the train moved away from the station, Chi watched it with brimming +eyes. + +"She’ll never come back the same Rose-pose, livin’ among all those +high-flyers--never," he muttered to himself; but aloud he remarked, with +forced cheerfulness, turning to Mr. Blossom while he dashed the blinding +drops from his eyes with the back of his hand: + +"Looks mighty like a thaw, Ben; kind of wets down, don’t it?" + +"Yes, Chi," said Mr. Blossom, busy with conquering his own heartache, +"we ’d better be getting on home;" and the masculine contingent of the +Blossom household climbed into the pung and took their way homeward in +silence. + +But what a reception that was for the transplanted Rose! + +Mr. Clyde met her at the Grand Central Station, and Rose felt how +welcome she was just by the hand-clasp, and his first words: + +"We have you at last, Rose; I would n’t let Hazel come because I thought +the train might be late, and there’s a cold rain falling. Martin, take +this box--" + +"Oh, no; I must carry that myself," laughed Rose, looking up at the +liveried footman with something like awe. "I promised Aunt Tryphosa and +Maria-Ann I would n’t let any one take them till they were safe in the +house; thank you," she bowed courteously to Martin, who confided to the +coachman so soon as they were on the box: "Hi ’ave n’t seen nothink so +’ansome since Hi ’ve bean in the States." + +As the brougham whirled into the Avenue, and the electric lights shone +full into the carriage, Rose could see the luxuriously upholstered +interior, and a sudden thought of the old apple-green pung and the +buffalo robes dimmed her eyes. But it was only for a moment; Mr. Clyde +was telling her of Hazel’s impatience, and how the coachman had had +special orders from her to hurry up so soon as he should be on the +Avenue, and he had hardly finished before the coachman drew rein, +slackening his rapid pace as he turned a corner, Martin was opening the +door, and Hazel’s voice was calling from a wide house entrance flooded +with soft light: + +"Oh, Rose, my Rose! Is it really you, at last?" + +"And this, I am sure, is Wilkins," said Rose, when finally Hazel set her +arms free. "We ’ve heard so much of you, that I feel as if I had known +you a long time." Rose held out her hand with such sincere cordiality +that Wilkins’ speech was suddenly reduced to pantomime, and he could +only extend his other hand rather helplessly towards the box that Rose +still carried. But Rose refused to yield it up. + +"Here, Hazel, I promised Maria-Ann and Aunt Tryphosa I would n’t give it +into any hands but yours. Oh! be careful--they ’re eggs!" + +"Eggs!" repeated Hazel, laughing. "Here, Wilkins, unstrap it for me, +quick--Oh, papa, look!" She held out the box to Mr. Clyde, and, +somehow, John Curtis Clyde for a moment thought with Chi, that there was +going to be a "thaw." Each egg was rolled in white cotton batting and +wrapped in pink tissue paper. The six little cheeses were enclosed in +tin-foil, and cheeses and eggs were embedded in the Christmas wreath. +On a piece of pasteboard was written in unsteady characters: + + +To Mr. John Curtis Clyde of New York City, with the season’s +compliments. + +MOUNT HUNGER, VERMONT, January 6th, 1898. + + +"And you ’ve had such lovely flowers come for you, five boxes of them, +Rose, and piles of invitations. I ’m sure you ’re engaged up to Ash +Wednesday." + +"Come, Chatterbox," said her father, smiling at her volubility, "Rose +has just time to dress for dinner; you know Aunt Carrie and Uncle Jo are +coming to-night." + +"Oh, I forgot all about them; you ’ll have to hurry, Rose. Wilkins, +bring up the flowers. Come on," Hazel ran up the broad flight of +stairs, carpeted with velvety crimson, to the first landing, from which, +through a lofty arch in the hall, Rose caught a glimpse of softly +lighted rooms, the walls enriched with engravings and etchings, with +here and there a landscape or marine in watercolors. Rose drew a long +breath. This, then, was what Chi meant when he said "Hazel was rich as +Croesus." + +"But, Hazel, my trunk has n’t come," said Rose, as she followed her +hostess into the spacious bedroom, which was separated from Hazel’s only +by a dressing-room. + +"It ’ll be here in a few minutes; papa has a special man, who always +delivers them almost as soon as we get here." + +Sure enough, the trunk came in time; and Rose, as she unpacked, finding +evidences of the loving mother-care in every fold, cried within her +heart, looking about at the exquisite appointments of her room and +dressing-room: + +"Martie, Martie, what would all this be without you!--Oh, I know now, +what dear old Chi meant when he said Hazel was poor where we are +rich--only a housekeeper to see to all Hazel’s things--" + +"Rose, what flowers are you going to wear?" called Hazel from her room. + +"I have n’t had time to look," Rose called back, surveying her white +serge with great satisfaction in the pier-glass. + +"Do look, then, and see who they ’re from." + +"Oh, Hazel, do come and see. How kind everybody has been! Here are +cards from Mrs. Heath and Doctor Heath, and your Aunt Carrie, and Mr. +Sherrill, and Mrs. Fenlick, and even that Mr. Grayson who was up at our +house to tea a year ago!" + +"They are lovely. Whose are you going to wear?" + +"I ’ll make up a bunch of one or two from each, that will show my +appreciation of all their favors." + +Hazel looked slightly crestfallen. "I hoped you ’d wear Jack’s--they +’re the loveliest with white--" she lifted the white lilacs--"and they +’re so rare just now. I heard Aunt Carrie say that one of the girls had +put off her wedding for six weeks, just because she couldn’t have white +lilacs for it." + +"They ’ll last with care three days surely, and I can wear them +to-morrow evening," replied Rose, bending to inhale their delicate +fragrance. + +"So you can, for papa is going to give a dinner for you to-morrow night, +and afterwards, he has promised to take you to a dance at Mrs. +Pearsell’s. I can’t go, you know, for I ’m not grown up; but you can +tell me all about it. We ’re going to have lots of fun this week, for +school does not begin for several days. Come." + +Together they went down to the drawing-room, and Wilkins announced that +dinner was served. + +After it was over he sought Minna-Lu in her own domains, and gave vent +to his long pent emotions. + +"Minna-Lu," he whispered, mysteriously, "dere ’s an out an’ out angel +ben hubberin’ ’bout de table--" + +"Fo’ de Lawd!" Minna-Lu turned upon him fiercely, for she was +superstitious to the very marrow. "Wa’ fo’ yo’ come hyar, skeerin’ de +bref out a mah bones wif yo’ sp’r’ts! Yo’ go long home wha’ yo’ +b’long." + +But Wilkins was not to be repulsed in this manner. "Nebber see sech +ha’r, an’ jes’ lillum-white--" + +"Oh, go ’long! Lillum-white ha’r," interrupted Minna-Lu, with scathing +sarcasm. "Huccome yo’ know de angels hab lillum-white ha’r?" + +"Huccome I know?--’Case I see de shine, jes’ lake yo’ see in de +dror’n-room." + +"De shine ob lillum-white ha’r in de dror’n-room! ’Pears lake yo’ head +struck ile--" + +"Yo’ hol’ yo’ tongue, Minna-Lu," retorted Wilkins, irritated at the +continued evidence of disbelief on the part of his coadjutor. "Jes’ yo’ +hide back ob de dumb-waitah to-morrah ebenin’ when de dessert comes on, +an’ see fo’ yo’se’f!" He departed in high dudgeon, and Minna-Lu gurgled +long and low to herself, but, in her turn, was interrupted by the sound +of tripping steps on the basement flight. + +Minna-Lu hastily put her fat hands up to her turban to see if it were on +straight, and smoothed her apron, muttering: + +"Clar to goodness, ef it ain’t jes’ mah luck to hab little Missus come +into dis yere hen-roost?" she rapidly surveyed her immaculate kitchen +with anxious eye. + +"Minna-Lu, this is my friend, Miss Rose; the one who did up those lovely +preserves, and here are some new-laid eggs and some cheeses that Miss +Maria-Ann Simmons--you know I told you all about her and the hens--has +sent papa." + +Minna-Lu gazed at Rose in open admiration. The faithful colored +retainer had her thorny side and her blossom one. + +Rose put out her hand, and Minna-Lu took it in both hers. "I ’se mighty +glad yo’ come, Miss Rose, dere ain’t no strawberry-blossom nor no +rose-blossom can hol’ a can’le to yo’ own honey se’f. Dese yere cheeses +is prime." She examined one with the nose of a connoisseur. "Jes’ fill +de bill wif de salad-chips to-morrah." She stemmed her fists on her +hips, and her mellow, contented gurgle caused Rose and Hazel to laugh, +too. + +"What is it, Minna-Lu?" said Hazel, reading the signs of the times. + +"Dat Wilkins done tol’ me to git back ob de dumb-waitah, to-morrah +ebenin’ to see Missy Rose, but I ’se gwine to ask rale straight to jes’ +see her ’fo’ de comp’ny come." + +"Of course you may. Come up to my room about seven, and we ’ll be +ready." + +"Fo’ sho’," said Minna-Lu, with beaming face. + +"Good-night," said Rose, beaming, too, for she found the black faces and +ways irresistibly amusing. + +"De Lawd bress yo’ lily face, Missy Rose." + +When the two girls were alone, at last, in Hazel’s room, there was no +thought of bed for an hour. There were numberless questions on Hazel’s +part concerning all the dear Mount Hunger people, and speechless +astonishment on Rose’s at the number of invitations that were waiting +for her. They chatted all the time they were undressing, calling back +and forth to each other as one thing or another suggested itself. +Finally, Hazel made her appearance in Rose’s room. She went up to her, +put her arms about her neck, and, looking up with eyes full of loving +trust, said: + +"Rose-pose, won’t you come into my room and say ’Our Father’ with me as +Mother Blossom used to do on Mount Hunger? You can’t think how I miss +it." + +"Why, Hazel darling, of course I will--then I shan’t feel homesick +missing that precious Martie." + +She followed Hazel into her room, and after she was in bed, Rose knelt +by her side, and together they said, "Our Father." Then Rose bent over +to receive Hazel’s loving kiss and whispered, "Oh, Rose, I ’m so happy +to have you here," and whispered back, "And I ’m so happy to be with +you, Hazel--good-night." + +"Good-night." + +Rose went back to her room. At last she was alone. She drew one of the +easy-chairs up before the wood-fire that was dying down, put her bare +feet on the warm fender, and, for a while, dreamed waking dreams. It +was all so strange. The cathedral clock on the mantel chimed twelve. +They were all asleep in the farmhouse on the Mountain--it was time for +her to be. She rose, tiptoed softly into the dressing-room, took from +the bowl the spray of white lilacs she had worn with the other flowers +that evening, shook off the water, and drew the stem through a +buttonhole in the yoke of her simple night-dress. She tiptoed back +again into her room, looked up at the dainty, canopied bed, then laid +herself down within it, and, almost immediately, fell asleep--with her +hand resting on the white fragrance that lay upon her heart. + + + + + XXIII + + BEHOLD HOW GREAT A MATTER A LITTLE FIRE KINDLETH + + +It was so delightful! The weeks were passing all too quickly, and the +letters to Mount Hunger waxed eloquent in praise of everybody’s +kindness. + +Jack had come on to lead a cotillion with Rose at Aunt Carrie’s. It was +a weighty affair--the selecting of the flowers for her. White violets +they must be, and white violets were about as rare as white raspberries. +Jack gave the florist his own address. + +"I ’ll see them, myself, before I send them up; for I won’t trust +anyone’s eyes but my own," he said to himself as he hurried home to +dress for dinner with a friend. "I wish I had n’t promised Grayson to +meet him at the Club before seven. I ’m afraid they won’t come in +time." He looked at his watch. "I ’m going to make them a test--and +see what she ’ll do. She ’s so friendly and frank and all that, I can’t +find out even whether she ’s beginning to care." + +Jack’s absorption in the theme was such that he put his latch-key in +wrong-side up, and, in consequence, wrestled with the lock till he had +worked himself into a fever of impatience; finally he touched the button +before he discovered the trouble. + +"Any packages come for me, Jason?" he inquired of the butler, whose +dignified manner of locomotion had been rudely shaken by Jack’s +unceasing pressure on the electric-bell. + +"Yes, Mr. John. Just taken a box up to the rooms." + +Jack looked relieved, and sprang upstairs two steps at a time. He +opened the box. There they were in all their exquisite freshness. +"Like her," he thought, touching his lips to them; then, suddenly +straightening himself, he felt the blood surge into his face. + +"I like Dord’s way of putting up his flowers, no tags, nor fol-de-rols. +Jason," he said, as he ran down stairs again, "I shall be back in an +hour; tell Thomas to have everything laid out--I ’m in a hurry. And +have a messenger-boy here when I come back, and don’t forget to order +the carriage for quarter of eight, sharp." + +"Yes, Mr. John." + +"Messenger-boy come?" he inquired as Jason opened the door on his +return. + +"Yes, sir, waiting in the hall." + +Jack raced up stairs. There was the precious box on his dressing-table. +He hastily took a visiting card, and, writing on it the sentiment that +was uppermost in his heart, slipped it into the envelope, gave it, +together with the box, to the waiting boy, and bade him hand it to the +man, Wilkins, with the request that it be sent up at once to the lady to +whom it was addressed. Then he made ready for dinner. + +An hour later, Rose was dressing for the dance, and Hazel was watching +her, chatting volubly all the while. + +"That’s the loveliest dress, Rose, I heard Aunt Carrie say, you couldn’t +buy such, nowadays." + +"It was Martie’s wedding-dress. An uncle of her mother’s, who was a +sea-captain, brought it from India. But if I wear it many more times, it +will be known throughout the length of New York. This is my sixth +time." + +"I should n’t care if it were the hundredth; it’s just lovely. Besides, +Jack has n’t seen it, you know." + +Rose laughed. "Oh, yes, he has--on Martie; that night of the tea on the +porch." + +"Oh, well, that’s different. What flowers are you going to wear?" + +"I thought I wouldn’t wear any, just for a change." Rose’s face was +veiled by the shining hair, which she was brushing, preparatory to +coiling it high on her head; otherwise, Hazel would have seen the clear +flush that warmed even the roots of the soft waves at the nape of her +neck. Just then there was a knock. The maid opened the door, and +Wilkins’ voice was distinctly audible:-- + +"Jes’ come fo’ Miss Rose; dey wuz to come up right smart, so de boy +say." + +"Oh, more flowers. Who from?" cried Hazel, eagerly, while Wilkins +strained his ears to catch the reply. + +"From Mr. Sherrill," said Rose, opening the little envelope. + +What she read on the card caused the blood to mount higher and higher, +till temples and forehead flushed pink, then as suddenly to recede. + +"May I open them, Rose, and won’t you wear some if they ’re from Jack?" + +"Yes," said Rose, simply. The two girls leaned over the box as Hazel +took off the wrapper--then the cover--then the inner tissue +papers--then-- + +[Illustration: "The two girls leaned over the box as Hazel took off the +wrapper"] + +Suddenly a shriek of laughter, followed by another, penetrated to +Wilkins, who was lingering on the stairs; he came softly back again. +Peal after peal of wild merriment issued from Rose’s room. Within, Rose +in her petticoat and bodice had flung herself on the bed in an ecstasy +of mirth, and Hazel was rolling over on the rug as was the wont of Budd +and Cherry in the old days on Mount Hunger. The maid looked from one to +the other, and, no longer able to keep from joining in the merriment, +although she did not know the cause, left the room, only to find Wilkins +with perturbed face just outside the door. + +"’Pears lake dere wor sumfin’ queah ’bout dat ye re box--" he began; but +the maid only shook with laughter and laid her finger on her lips, +motioning him into the back hall. + +"Did you ever?" cried Hazel, when she recovered her breath. + +"No, I never," said Rose, wiping away the tears, for she had laughed +till she cried. "Let’s take another look." + +They bent over the box, and took out its contents; then went off again +into fits of seemingly inextinguishable laughter; for, neatly folded +beneath the tissue paper, lay four sets of Jack’s new light-weight, +white silk pajamas, which he had purchased that afternoon, in order to +take back to Cambridge with him. On the card, which Rose still held in +her hand, was written, "Wear these for my sake." + +"What will you say to him, Rose?" said Hazel, sitting up on the rug with +her hands clasped about her knees. + +"I don’t know," said Rose, proceeding to dress. "I can’t _wear_ them, +that’s certain." And again the absurdity of the situation presented +itself to her. "And I can’t apologize for not wearing them. Neither +can I take it for granted that he was going to send me flowers, and +explain that he sent me these instead." + +"How awfully careless," said Hazel, interrupting her; "he must have had +something on his mind not to take the pains to look, even." + +Rose flushed. "It will be best to let the matter drop, and say nothing +about it," she replied in a cool, toploftical tone that amazed, as well +as mystified, her little hostess. + +"Why, Rose, I think Jack ought to know about it. I ’ll tell him, if you +don’t want to." + +"Thank you, Hazel, but I don’t need your good offices in this matter." + +Hazel rose from the rug, and going over to Rose, laid both hands on her +shoulders and looked straight up into her eyes. + +"Now, Rose Blossom, please don’t speak to me in that way. You ’re so +queer! First you ’re nice about Jack, and then you ’re horrid; and when +you ’re that way, you are n’t nice to _me_ a bit--and I don’t like it, +and I don’t blame Jack for not liking it either," she added +emphatically. "I remember papa said a year ago that Jack was ’all +heart’ for a good many girls, old and young--but I can tell you what, he +won’t have any for you, if you whiff round so." + +Hazel in her earnestness gave Rose a little shake. Rose smiled, and, +bending her head, kissed her, saying, "F. and F. and you know, Hazel." + +"Oh, I know all about ’forgiving and forgetting,’ but I don’t like it +just the same. He’s my cousin and the dearest fellow in the world, and +I don’t like to have him treated so." + +"How about his treating me?" said Rose, pointing to the innocent box of +underwear, "forgetting even to look; or not caring enough, to see if I +had the right package?" + +"Oh, that’s different--perhaps the florist made a mistake." + +"The florist!" Rose laughed merrily. "I never knew that gentlemen’s +underwear and roses grew on the same bush.--There ’s Wilkins, and I ’m +not ready." + +"De coachman say it’s a pow’f ul col’ night, an’ Miss Rose bettah take +some mo’ wraps." + +"Thank you, Wilkins," Hazel flew into the dressing-room for a long fur +cloak of her mother’s which she had used to wear to the dancing-classes. +She wrapped it about Rose, who stooped suddenly and kissed her again, +whispering, "Hazel, you ’ve all spoiled me, that’s what’s the +matter,--but I ’ll be good to Jack, for your sake as well as for my +own." + +"Now you ’re what Doctor Heath calls papa, the most splendid fellow in +the world. There now--I won’t crush your gown--" A kiss--"Good-night. +You look like an angel!" + +Mr. Clyde thought so, too, as he watched her coming downstairs. She +slipped off the cloak as she stood beneath the soft, but brilliant hall +lights. "Do I look all right?" she asked earnestly, for she had fallen +into the habit, before going anywhere with him or Hazel, of asking for +their criticism. + +"I should say so--but where are the flowers? I miss them." + +"I thought I wouldn’t wear any to-night, just for a change." + +"A woman’s whim, Rose. But I can’t say that you need them--Now, what’s +to pay?" he said to himself, as he helped her into the carriage. "I saw +Jack at Dord’s this afternoon, and, evidently, something was in the +wind. I hope it has n’t been taken out of his sails." + +"Sumfin’ mighty queah ’bout dat yere box," murmured Wilkins to himself, +as he closed the door, "but Miss Rose doan’ need no flow’s. Nebber see +sech h--Fo’ de good Lawd! Wha’ fo’ yo’ hyar? Yo’ Minna-Lu,--skeerin’ +mah day-lights out o’ mah, shoolin’ ’roun’ b’hin’ dat por’ chair,--jes’ +lake bug’lahs." + +Minna-Lu gurgled. "Yo’ jes’ straight, Wilkins; nebber see sech ha’r. +Huccome I ’se hyar? Jes’ to see dat lillum-white angel--" + +"Yo’ go ’long, wha’ yo’ b’long," growled Wilkins, not yet having +recovered from his fright. And Minna-Lu went, with the radiant vision +still before her round, black eyes. + +Jack felt a queer tightening about his lower jaw, and one heart-throb, +apparently in his throat, as he entered Aunt Carrie’s reception-room. +Then, as with one glance he swept Rose from the crown of her head to the +hem of her dress, a hot, rushing wave of indignant feeling mastered +him--he knew he had staked his all (so a man at twenty-two is apt to +think) and lost. He braced himself, mentally and physically. He was +n’t going to show the white-feather--not he. + +But Rose--Rose was mystifying, captivating, cordial, merry, and +altogether charming. She knocked out all Jack’s calculations as to +life, love, women, girls in general, and one girl in particular, at one +fell swoop. He was brought, necessarily, into unstable equilibrium, so +far as his feelings were concerned--his head he was obliged to keep +level on account of the various figures. Several other heads were +variously askew, and would have been turned, likewise, for good and all, +had the wearer of her mother’s India-mull wedding-dress been possessed +of a fortune. + +Rose developed social powers that evening that furnished food for +conversation for Aunt Carrie and Mr. Clyde, who watched her with pride +and pleasure. She was evidently enjoying herself thoroughly, and her +enjoyment proved contagious. + +"After all," said Jack as, between figures, he found opportunity for a +whispered word or two; "this is n’t half so fine a dance as the one in +the barn, last September." + +"Why, that’s just what I was thinking, myself, that very minute!" + +"You were?" + +"Yes." + +The brown eyes and the blue ones met with such evidence of a perfect +understanding, that Jack failed to see Maude Seaton, who had approached +him for the purpose of taking him out in the four-in-hand. + +"Oh, I beg your pardon," said Jack, starting to his feet, "it’s the +’four-in-hand.’" + +"Yes, and I think you ’ll have to be put into the traces again," she +said, with a meaning smile. + +"Not I," retorted Jack, merrily, "I kicked over them nearly a year ago." + +"So I heard," replied Miss Seaton, sweetly; and Jack wondered what she +meant. + +When Jack found himself again beside Rose, he decided that, flowers or +no flowers, he would ask for an explanation. But his first attempt was +met with such a bewilderingly merry smile, and such confident assurance +that explanations were not in order, that it proved a successful +failure. + +When, at last, in the early morning hours he was seated before the open +fire in his bedroom, pulling away reflectively at his pipe, he had time +to think it over. He came to the conclusion that it was trivial in him +to have staked his all on her wearing those flowers, for she +certainly--certainly had led him to think that she was anything but +indifferent to him. + +"That look now," mused Jack. "I don’t believe that a girl like Rose +Blossom would look that way if she didn’t mean it--if she did n’t care. +No other girl could look that way." He reached for his watch on the +dressing-case. "I shall get good two hours’ sleep before that early +train.--What’s that?" He noticed for the first time, that on the bed +lay a familiar-looking box in a brown paper wrapper. In a trice he had +broken the string, whisked off the cover, scattered the tissue paper +right and left.--There lay the violets, white, and sweet, and almost as +fresh as when he gave them his virgin kiss nearly twelve hours before. + +Jack sat down stupefied on the bed. _What had he given her, anyway_? +He thought intensely for a full minute. + +"Great Scott! the pajamas!" And then Jack Sherrill rolled over on the +bed, ignoring the damage to dress suit and violets, and, burying his +face in the pillow, gave vent to a smothered yell. + +There was a merry exchange of notes between Cambridge and New York +during the next two weeks, and Rose had promised to wear any +flowers--and only his--he might send her for the ball at Mrs. Fenlick’s +the middle of February, and for which Jack was coming on. It would +occur during the last week of Rose’s visit, and Jack thought that +possibly--possibly,--well, he could n’t define just what "possibly;" but +it proved to be an infinitely absorbing one, and Jack felt it was "now +or never" with him. + +Mrs. Heath had claimed Rose as her guest for the last three weeks, and +the days were filled with pleasures. On the Saturday before the ball, +and a week before Rose was to return to Mount Hunger, two seats in a box +at the opera had been sent in to Mrs. Heath from a friend. + +"Look at these, Rose!" Mrs. Heath exclaimed, showing her the note. +"Just exactly what you were wishing to hear, and we thought we could not +arrange it for next week. That opera has been changed for to-day’s +matinée, and now you can hear both Lohengrin and Siegfried." + +Rose clapped her hands. "I ’ve just longed to hear Lohengrin; Mrs. Ford +and her son have played so much of it to me. I think it’s perfectly +beautiful." + +"I ’m so sorry I can’t go, dear; but I made a positive engagement for +this afternoon and it must not be broken. But I ’ll send round for +Cousin Anna May. She does n’t care much for the opera, but she will +chaperone you. She ’s not much of a talker either, so you can enjoy the +music in peace. People chatter so abominably there." + +From the moment the orchestra sounded the first notes of that pathetic +and thrillingly appealing fore-word of the overture, Rose was lost to +the world about her. She was glad of the darkness, glad no one could +see or notice her intense absorption in the opening scene. Even when +the lights were turned on between the acts, and the subdued murmur in +the house rose to a confusing babble, she was living in the story of +Elsa and her lover Knight. Elderly Cousin Anna May, seeing this, let +her alone, thinking to herself:--"One has to be young to be so +enthusiastic over this wornout theme." + +The curtain fell; the house was brilliant with lights; confusion of +talk, confusion of merry chat and laughter were all about Rose; but she +sat unheeding, wondering if the element of evil would be turned into a +factor of good. Her heart was aching with the intensity of feeling for +the two lovers. Suddenly, a few words behind her arrested her +attention. She sat with her back to the speakers--two girls in the next +box, who had annoyed her more than once by their ceaseless, whispering +gabble. + +"I told Maude I did n’t believe it." + +"What did she say?" + +"She said it was gospel truth." + +"Do tell me what it was, I won’t tell." + +"Sure?" + +"Not a soul." + +"Promise?" + +"Why, of course. They say he ’s got oceans of money." + +"Piles--. He ’s got his mother’s fortune and will have his father’s. +Besides, his Uncle Gray is a bachelor, and so Jack will have that, too. +Maude says he ’s the best catch in New York." + +"I heard Sam say he was in an awfully fast set in college; but Sam likes +him awfully well. Have you seen him?" + +"Oh, yes, lots. Maude let me see him one night before dinner at +Newport. I used to see him playing polo at the grounds. I think he ’s +fascinating--just like Lohengrin." + +"But what was it? Hurry up, do." + +"You ’ll never tell?" + +"Never." + +The voice was slightly lowered--confused with the munching of Huyler’s; +and Rose, with hypersensitive hearing, could distinguish only a word or +two, or a detached sentence. + +"I don’t think that’s so awful. Sam does that, too, and he ’s just as +nice a brother as I want." + +"Oh, I don’t know anything about that; but I know it’s true, for Maude +said so." In the increasing confusion of talk in the house, the voices +were suddenly raised, and Rose caught every word. + +"I ’ll ask Sam--" began the other, dropping her opera glass and stooping +to pick it up. + +"If you do, Minna Grayson, I ’ll never speak to you again." + +"Oh, I forgot--" laughed the other. "Tell us some more, it’s awfully +exciting." + +"I won’t either," said the other, in a huffy tone. Evidently, they were +school-girls in for the matinée. + +"Oh, _do_; what _did_ Maude say?" + +"She said, ’No,’" chuckled the other triumphantly. + +"But think of his money!’ + +"She said she did n’t mind; she ’s got money enough of her own, anyway, +if she does skimp me on allowance ever since grandmamma died." + +"I heard Sara say last Christmas when I was home for vacation, that he +was perfectly devoted to that new girl the Clydes have taken up." + +"Yes. Maude says it’s one of his fads. She gives him six months more +to get over it." + +"Everybody says she is a perfect beauty. Sam says that Mrs. Fenlick +says she is the most beautiful creature off of a canvas she has ever +seen." + +"Oh, Maude says Mrs. Fenlick raves over everything new. She, the girl, +I mean, made a dead set at him a year ago when he happened to meet her +up in the mountains. You know they had a riding-party last August. But +now they say she seems to be setting her cap for Hazel’s father--he has +a million or two more than Jack, and she ’s as poor as a church-mouse." + +"I did n’t know that,--poor?" + +"Yes, awfully. Why, Maude says she’s seen her selling berries for a +living somewhere up in the mountains--oh, way back in them. People call +them the Lost Nation, they ’re so far back; and Maude says she wore +patched shoes and an old calico dress--Sh!--Now we ’re going to have +that bridal march, is n’t it dandy? It ought to be a part of the +marriage ceremony, Maude says. I ’m so glad it’s coming;--Tum, tum, ty +tum--tum, tum, ty tum--here ’s just one more candied violet--tum, tum, +ty tum, tum, ty tum, ty ty tum, ty tum--Oh, look! Is n’t Elsa just +lovely--" + +A burst of applause greeted the beautiful prima donna. Upon Rose’s ears +it fell like the thunder of a cataract, like the crash and roll of an +avalanche. She stared at the exquisite scene before her with strained +eyes. The music went on with all the troublous-sweet under-tones of +love, and longing, and forever-parting. Not once did Rose stir until +the curtain fell, then she turned to her companion:-- + +"Can we get out soon, Mrs. May? The air is a little close here." + +"Certainly, my dear;" but to herself she said, "How intense she is. I +’m thankful I never was so strung up over music." + + + + + XXIV + + "OLD PUT" + + +"Where ’s Rose?" said the Doctor as he came in that Saturday evening, +and heard no welcoming voice from the library or the stairs. + +"She came home from the opera with a frightful headache and has gone to +bed. She said she did n’t want any dinner, but I have insisted upon her +having some toast and tea," replied his wife. + +"Humph!" growled the Doctor; "Our wild rose can’t stand such hot-house +atmosphere. When does the Fenlicks’ ball come off?" + +"Next Wednesday; it will be a superb affair. Rose showed me her card +the other day, and if you will believe me, it’s full, although Jack +Sherrill gets the lion’s share." + +"How do you think things are coming on there, wifie?" + +"Why, he’s devoted to her whenever he can be; you know what Mrs. +Pearsell told us about last summer, but--" + +"But what?" said the Doctor, a little impatiently. "Generally, wifie, +you can see prospective wedding-cake if two young people so much as look +twice at each other." + +Mrs. Heath laughed and nodded. "Yes, I know; but in just this case, I +don’t know. You can’t tell anything by her--and I fear, hubbie, that +Jack Sherrill is n’t quite good enough for her." + +"Not quite good enough for her!" The Doctor almost shouted in his +earnestness. "Jack Sherrill not quite good enough for--" + +"Sh--sh, dear!" His wife held up her hand in warning. "Someone might +hear." + +"Let ’em hear, then," growled the Doctor. "I say Rose is n’t a bit too +good for him.--Look here, wifie,--" he drew her towards him and down +upon the arm of his easy-chair, "Jack’s all right every time--do you +understand? _All right!_" + +"Ye-es," admitted his wife rather reluctantly. "I know he ’s a great +favorite of yours. But Mrs. Grayson says he ’s in a very fast set at +Harvard-- + +"Now look here, wifie, don’t you let those women with their eternal +hunger for gossip say anything to you about Jack. I tell you there is +n’t another fellow I know, who, placed as he is, can set up so many +white stones to mark his short life’s pathway as John Sherrill’s only +son. For heaven’s sake, give him the credit for them. I know what I +saw on Mount Hunger a year ago, and I know and believe what I see." + +"Well, I only hope he won’t flirt with her--" began Mrs. Heath. Her +husband interrupted her: + +"Flirt with her!" The Doctor chuckled. "I’ll warrant Jack won’t do any +flirting with her--it ’ll be the other way round sooner than that! Just +say good-night to Rose for me when you go up stairs, and tell her if she +is n’t down bright and early Sunday morning, I ’ll prescribe for her." + +But there was no need for the Doctor’s prescription; for Rose was down +for breakfast, and although white cheeks and heavy eyes caused the +Doctor to draw his eyebrows together in a straight line over the bridge +of his nose, nothing was said of there being any need for a +prescription. But after breakfast he drew her into the library and +placed her in an easy-chair before the blazing fire. + +"There now," he said in his own kindliest tones, "sit there and dream +while wifie makes ready for church, and after that you shall go with me +for an official drive. The air will do you good. I can’t send such +white roses"--he patted her cheek--"back to Mount Hunger; what would +mother say?" + +To his amazement Rose buried her face in both hands; a half-suppressed +sob startled him. + +"Why, Rose-pose! What’s the matter, little girl? Headachey--nerves +unstrung--too much opera? Here, come into the office where we shan’t be +disturbed, and tell me all about it." + +But Rose shook her head, lifted it from her hands, and smiled through +the welling tears. + +"I ’m a perfect goose, but--but--I believe I ’m getting just a little +bit homesick for Mount Hunger, and I ’m not going to stay for Mrs. +Fenlick’s ball. I know mother needs me at home--I can just feel it in +her letters, and I know I want--I want her." + +"Don’t blame you a bit, Rose,--but is n’t this rather sudden? Any +previous attacks?" + +"No--and I know it seems dreadfully ungrateful to you and dear Mrs. +Heath to say so, and it is n’t that--I ’d love to be with just you two; +but it’s this dreadful feeling comes over me, and I know I ought to go." + +"And go you shall, Rose," said the Doctor, emphatically, but oh! so +kindly and understandingly. "Go back to all the dear ones there--and +when you come again, don’t give us the tail-end of your visit, will +you?" + +"Indeed, I won’t," answered Rose, earnestly, "and if it were only you +and Mrs. Heath, I ’d love to stay, but--but--" + +"No need to say anything more, Rose, wifie and I understand it +perfectly--" ("I wish the dickens I did!" was his thought)--"Tell wifie +when she comes down, and meanwhile I ’ll send round for the brougham and +we ’ll take a little drive in the Park before office hours." + +Rose patted his hand, and her silence spoke for her. + +"Here ’s a pretty kettle of fish!" said the Doctor to himself as he went +to the telephone. "I wish I could get to the bottom of it." + +And thus it came about that a cool, dignified note, not expressive of +any particular regret, was mailed to Cambridge on Sunday afternoon, and +a long letter to Mount Hunger telling them to be sure to meet her on +Tuesday at Barton’s, and filled with wildly enthusiastic expressions of +delight in anticipation of the home-coming. And on Tuesday afternoon, +as the train sped onwards, following the curves of the frozen +Connecticut, and the snow-covered mountains on the Vermont side began to +crowd its banks, Rose felt a lightening of the heart and an uplifting of +spirits. + +The bitterness and shame and shock she had experienced, in consequence +of that one little bite of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of +Good and Evil, seemed to diminish with every mile that increased the +distance between her and the frothing whirlpool of the great city’s +gayeties. All the way up, until the mountains loomed in sight, there had +been hot, indignant protest in her thoughts. At first, indeed, it had +been hatred. + +"I hate it all--hate it, _hate_ it!" she found herself saying over and +over again after the good-byes had been said at the station, and Hazel +and Mr. Clyde and Doctor Heath had supplied her with flowers and +magazines for the long day’s journey. It was all she could think or +feel at the time; but soon the little pronoun changed, and the thought +grew more bitter: + +"I hate him! How could he--how dared he do as he did! Because I am +poor, I suppose. Oh! I wish I could make him pay for it. I wish I +could make him love me really and truly, and then just _scorn_ him! But +what a fool I am--as if he _could_ love after what I heard--oh, why did +I hear it! I wish I may never see his face again, and I wish I ’d +stayed at home where I belong--I hate him!"--And so on "da capo" hour +after hour, and the incessant chugetty-chug-chug of the express +furnished the rhythmic, basal tone for the bitter motive. + +It was long after lunch time, and the train of thought had not changed, +when Rose’s eye fell upon the dainty basket Martin had placed in the +rack. + +"This is a pretty state of mind to go home to Martie in!" she said to +herself, rising and taking down the basket. "I have n’t eaten a good +meal since last Saturday at lunch, and I ’m--why, I believe I ’m +hungry!" + +She opened the basket, and loving evidence of Minna-Lu’s admiration +tempted her to pick a little here and there--a stuffed olive or two, a +roast quail, a delicate celery sandwich, a quince tart, a bunch of +Hamburg grapes. Soon Rose was feasting on all the good things, and her +harsh thoughts began to soften. How kind they all were! And _they_ +truly loved her--and what had they not done for her comfort and +pleasure! Rose, setting her pretty teeth deep into a third quince tart, +looked out of the window and almost exclaimed aloud at the sight. The +vanguard of the Green Mountains closed in the upper end of the +river-valley along which they were speeding. It was home that was +behind all that! The thought still further softened her. + +What? Carry her bitterness and disappointed pride back into that dear, +peaceful home? Not she! "They shall never know--never!" she said to +herself--"I ’m not Molly Stark for nothing, and there are others in the +world beside Jack Sherrill." And so she continued to speak cold comfort +to herself for the next four hours until the brakeman called "Barton’s +River!" + +There beyond the platform was the old apple-green pung!--and yes! father +and March and Budd and dear old Chi anxiously scanning the coaches. + +Home at last! and such a home-coming! How busy the tongues were for a +week afterwards! How wildly gay was Rose, who kept them laughing over +the many queer doings of the metropolis, over Wilkins and Minna-Lu and +Martin and Mrs. Scott! And how lovingly she spoke of Hazel’s charming +hospitality and of Mr. Clyde’s thoughtfulness for her pleasure, +although, as she mentioned his name, a wave of color mounted to the +roots of her hair at the ugly thought that would intrude. Chi listened +with all his ears, enjoying it with the rest; but once upstairs in his +room over the shed, he would sit down on the side of his bed to ponder a +little the gay doings of his Rose-pose among the "high-flyers," and then +turn in with a sigh and a muttered: + +"’T ain’t Rose-pose. I knew how ’t would be.--There ’s a screw loose +somewhere; but she’s handsome!--handsome as a picture, ’n’ I ’d give a +dollar to know if she ’s cut that other one out." + +"Valentines seem kind of scarce this year," he remarked rather grimly, a +few days after her arrival, as late in the afternoon, he returned from +Barton’s with little mail and no boxes of flowers. "It’s the sixteenth +day of February, but it might be Fast Day for all that handful of mail +would show for it!" He placed the package on Mrs. Blossom’s work-table +at which Rose was sitting busy with some sewing. They were alone in the +room. + +Rose laughed merrily. "Goodness, Chi! you want us to have more than our +share. We had a perfect deluge last year when Hazel was here; you know +it makes a difference without her. You said yourself that there was a +good deal of bulk, but it was pretty light weight--don’t you remember?" + +Chi elevated one bushy eyebrow. "I ain’t forgot; but I don’t know about +it’s bein’ any _Deluge_--it appeared to me it was a Shadrach, Meshach, +’n’ Abednego kind of a business--" He gave the back log a kick that +sent the sparks up the chimney in a grand pyrotechnic show. "Seems as if +I could see those posies, now, a-shrivellin’ in the fireplace. Never +thought you treated those innocent things quite on the square, +Rose-pose!" + +Rose’s head was bent low over her work. Chi went on, bracing himself to +the self-imposed task of enlightening her:-- + +"I don’t want to meddle, Rose, in anybody’s business, but it ain’t set +well with me ever since--the way you treated those roses; ’n’, after +all, we ’re both members of the Nobody’s Business But Our Own Society, +’n’ if anybody ’s goin’ to meddle, perhaps I ’m the one. I ’ve thought +a good many times you would n’t have been quite so harsh with ’em, if +you had n’t overlooked this in your flare-up--" He drew out of his +breast pocket a card--Jack ’s--with the verse on the back. "Read that, +’n’ see if you ain’t dropped a stitch somewhere that you can pick up in +time." He handed her the card. + +Rose looked up surprised, but with burning cheeks. She took the card, +read the verse, turned it over on the name side, and rose from her +chair. Every particle of color had left her face. She went over to the +fireplace, and, bending, dropped the little piece of pasteboard upon the +glowing back-log. + +"The sentiment belongs with the roses, Chi; don’t let’s have any more +Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego business--I ’m tired of it." She spoke +indifferently; then, resuming her seat, called out in a cheery voice: + +"Martie, won’t you come here a minute, and see if I have put on this +gore right?" + +"I ’ll come, dear." + +Chi, nonplussed, irritated, repulsed, set his teeth hard and abruptly +left the room. + +Outside in the shed he clenched his fist and shook it vigorously at the +closed door of the long-room: "--By George Washin’ton!" he muttered, "I +’ll make you pay up for that, Rose Blossom. You can’t come any of your +high-flyers’ games on me-- Just you put that in your pipe and smoke it! +Thunderation! what gets into women and girls, sometimes?" He seized the +milk-pails from the shelf and hurried to the barn nearly running down +Cherry in his wrathful excitement. + +"Look out there, Cherry! You ’re always getting round under foot!" he +said, harshly, and stumbled on, regaining his balance, only to be met by +Budd in the barn. + +"Just clear out now, Budd! I ain’t goin’ to stand your foolin’. Let +alone of that stanchion," he roared. "Always worryin’ the cow if she +looks once at you sideways. Get _up_, there--" His right boot helped +the amazed cow forwards into the stall, and the milk drummed into the +pail as if the poor creature were being milked by a dummy-engine with +more pressure of steam on than it could well stand. + +Budd flew into the woodshed and found Cherry still standing, in a +half-dazed condition, where Chi had left her. They compared notes +immediately to the detriment and defamation of Chi’s character. Then +they carried their budget of woe to their mother. + +"Chi is worried, children; you must n’t mind if he is a little cross now +and then. He feels dreadfully about the prospect of this war, as we all +do, and that’s his way of showing it." + +"Well, if he’s going to be so cross at us, I wish he ’d clear out an’ go +to war!" retorted Budd, smarting under the unjust treatment. + +"I ’m only afraid he will if we have one," said Mrs. Blossom, sadly. +"But, oh, I hope and pray we may be spared that!" + +But Budd continued to grumble, and Cherry to be suspiciously sniffy, +until their father’s return; and then at the supper table they listened +greedily to all the talk of their elders, that had for its absorbing +theme the prospective war. + +As the spring days lengthened, and the sun drew northward, the tiny +cloud on the country’s peaceful horizon grew larger and darker, until it +cast its shadow throughout the length and breadth of the land, and men’s +faces grew stern and troubled and women prayed for peace. + +With the lengthening days Chi showed signs of increasing restlessness. +"It ain’t any use, Ben," he said, one soft evening in early May, as the +family, with the exception of the younger children, sat on the porch +discussing the latest news, "I ’ve got to go." + +"Oh, Chi!" broke from Mrs. Blossom and Rose. They cried out as if hurt. +Mr. Blossom grasped Chi’s right hand, and March wrung the other. + +"I can’t stand it," he went on; "we ’ve been sassed enough as a nation, +’n’ some of us have got to teach those foreigners we ain’t goin’ to turn +the other cheek just coz we’re slapped on one. When I wasn’t higher +than Budd, my great-grandfather--you remember him, Ben, lived the other +side of the Mountain--put his father’s old Revolution’ry musket (the +one, you know, Rose-pose, as I ’ve used in the N.B.B.O.O.) into my +hands, ’n’ says: ’Don’t you stand no sass, Malachi Graham, from no +foreigners.--Just shoot away, ’n’ holler, "Hands off" every time, ’n’ +they ’ll learn their lesson easy and early, ’n’ respect you in the end.’ +And I ain’t forgot it." + +"Chi," Mrs. Blossom’s voice was tremulous, "you won’t go till you ’re +asked, or needed, will you?" + +"I ain’t goin’ to wait to be asked, Mis’ Blossom; I ’d rather be on hand +to be refused. That’s my way. So I thought I ’d be gettin’ down along +this week--" + +"This week!" Rose interrupted him with a cry and a half-sob. "Oh, Chi! +dear old Chi! _must_ you go? What if--what if--" Rose’s voice broke, +and Chi gulped down a big lump, but answered, cheerily: + +"Well, Rose-pose, _what if_? Ain’t I Old Put? ’n’ ain’t you Molly +Stark? ’n’ ain’t Lady-bird Barbara Frietchie?--There, just read that--" +he handed a letter to March, who gave it back to him, saying, in a husky +voice, that it was too dark to read. + +"Well, then we ’ll adjourn into the house, ’n’ light up.--There now," he +said, as he lighted the lamp and set it on the table beside March, +"here’s your letter, Markis, read ahead." + +March read with broken voice: + + +4 EAST --TH STREET, NEW YORK, +May 5, 1898. + +DEAR FRIEND CHI,--I never thought when I joined the N.B.B.O.O. Society, +that I ’d have to be really brave about real war;--and now dear old Jack +is going off to Cuba with Little Shaver and all those cow-boys,--and +it’s dreadful! Uncle John is about sick over it, for, you know, Jack is +all he has. Papa is going to keep the house open all summer; he says +there is no telling what may happen. + +We have made no plans for the summer, for our hearts are so heavy on +Jack’s account--his last year in Harvard, too! He told me to tell you he +would find out if there is a chance for you in the new cavalry regiment +he has joined. He looked so pleased when I told him; he read your +letter, and I told him how you wanted to go with him, and he said: "Dear +old Chi, I’d like to have him for my bunkie"--and told me what it meant. +He told me to tell you to be prepared for a telegram at any moment. + +I must stop now; papa wants me to go out with him. Give my love to +_all_, and tell Mother Blossom and Rose I will write them more +particulars in a few days. + +If you come to New York, you know a room will be ready for you in the +home of your + +Loving friend, + HAZEL CLYDE. + + +There was silence for a while in the room; then Mr. Blossom spoke: + +"How are you going, Chi?" + +"I ’m goin’ to jog along down with Fleet, ’n’ take it kind of +easy--thought I ’d cross the Mountain, ’n’ strike in on the old +post-road; ’n’ follow on down by old Ticonderogy,--I ’ve always wanted +to see that,--then across to Saratogy ’n’ Albany, ’n’ foller the river. +You can’t go amiss of New York if you stick to that." + +Again there was a prolonged silence. Chi hemmed, and moved uneasily on +his chair, while he fumbled about in his trousers’ pocket. He pulled +out a piece of crumpled, yellow paper. + +"S’pose I might just as well make a clean breast of it." He tried to +laugh, but it was a failure. "Jack’s telegram came along last night, +’n’ I thought, maybe I ’d better be gettin’ my duds together to-night, +Mis’ Blossom, as ’t will be a mighty early start--before any of you are +up," he added, hastily. + +The two women broke down then, and Mr. Blossom and March followed Chi +out to the barn. + +The household, save for the younger children, was early astir--before +sunrise. Mrs. Blossom had prepared a hearty breakfast, and Rose was +rolling up a few pairs of her father’s stockings to put in the netted +saddle-bag which Chi was wont to use in hunting. + +"Tell March to call Chi, Rose," said her mother. "His breakfast is +ready, I hear him in the barn." + +Rose ran out in the dawning light to find her father and March just +coming towards the house. + +"Why, where ’s Chi?" she cried. + +For answer, her father pointed to the woodlands. She looked just in +time to see in the soft gray of the early morn the horse and rider rise +to the three-railed fence that separated the pasture from the woodlands. +He was following the trail he had indicated to Jack--"through the woods +’n’ acre or two of brush, ’n’ then some pretty steep sliding down the +other side, ’n’ a dozen rods or so of swimmin’, ’n’ a tough old clamber +up the bank--" + +Some ten days afterward, late on a warm afternoon in May, there rode +into New York City by the way of the Bronx and Harlem, a middle-aged man +on a bright bay horse. The animal’s gait was a noticeable one, a long, +loping gallop, that covered the ground in a manner that roused the +admiration of the drivers on the speedway. The tall, loose-jointed body +of the rider apparently loped along with the horse--their movements were +identical. The saddle was an old-fashioned cavalry one of the early +sixties. A netted saddle-bag and a rolled rubber coat were fastened to +the crupper. A light-weight hunting rifle was slung on a strap over the +man’s shoulder. At the northern entrance to the Park he drew rein +beside a mounted policeman. + +"Can you tell me if I ’m on the right track to this house?" + +He took a card from the pocket of his dusty blue flannel shirt and +handed it to the policeman. + +The city guardian nodded assent. "But you can’t take that gun along +with you; you ’re inside city limits and liable to arrest." + +"’Gainst the law, hey? Well, I ’ve come from a pretty law-abiding +state, ’n’ ain’t goin’ to get into rows with you fellers--" He laid a +brown, knotty, work-roughened finger on the policeman’s immaculate blue +coat--"I ’d trust that color as far as I could see. Where shall I leave +the rifle?" + +The city guard unbent as the kindly voice yielded such undefiant +obedience to his demand. "You can leave it with me now,--I ’m off my +beat by seven, and live over east of this--" he handed back the +card--"and I ’ll leave it at the house if you ’re going to be there." + +"All right, that ’ll suit me. Yes, I ’m goin’ to put up there for a day +or two, maybe." + +"Off on a hunting trip?" + +"You bet--goin’ on a big, old, U.S.A. hunt for a lot of darned +foreigners in Cuby." + +The policeman held out his hand and grasped the stranger’s. "You’re one +of them?" + +"Yes, I come down to join a cavalry regiment. Jack Sherrill, he +belongs, too. Great rider--can’t be beat. Ever seen him round here on +Little Shaver?" + +The policeman smiled. "No, but I ’d like to see you again--" + +"Maybe you will; but I ’d better be getting along before +sundown,--’gainst the law to ride this horse a piece through those +woods?" He pointed into the Park. + +"Oh, no, that’s all right. Keep along till you come to Seventieth +Street, and inquire; and then turn into Fifth Avenue--east--and you’re +there." + +"Much obliged. Like to show you a trail or two up in Vermont when you +come that way. Get, Fleet." The animal set forward into a long, loping +gallop. + +The brilliant, light green of the May foliage was enhanced by the level +rays of the setting sun, as the man turned his horse into Fifth Avenue +and drew rein to a rapid walk. Many a one paused to look at him as he +paced over the asphalt. He was looking up at the mansions of the Upper +East Side. Soon he halted at the corner of a side street and gazed up +at the first house, the end of which, with the conservatory, was on the +Avenue, but the entrance on the side street. "That’s the place," he +spoke to himself,--"don’t see a hitchin’-post handy, so I ’ll just have +to tie up to this electric light stand. Iron, by thunder!--Well, there +ain’t any risk so long as ’t isn’t lit, ’n’ there ain’t a tempest." + +Leaving his horse firmly tied to the standard he stepped up on the low, +broad stoop of "Number 4," and looked for the bell. Not finding any he +knocked forcibly on the carved iron grill that protected the plate-glass +doors. + +The great doors flew open, and a face--"blacker ’n thunder"--as the man +said to himself, scowled on the interloper. + +"Wha’ fo’ yo’ come hyar, yo’--" He got no further. A horny hand was +extended, and a cheery voice, that broke into a laugh, spoke the +assuaging words: + +"Guess you ’re Wilkins, ain’t you? I ’ve heard Lady-bird tell ’bout you +till I feel as if we ’d been pretty well acquainted goin’ on nigh two +year now." + +By this time Wilkins’ face was one broad beam. He slapped his free hand +on his knee: + +"Yo ’s Mister Chi, for sho’--dere ain’t no need yo’ tellin’. Yo’ jes’ +come straight in, Mister Chi; Marse John an’ little Missy jes’ gone fo’ +ah drive in de Park. Dey ’ll be in any minute. Yo’ room ’s all ready, +an’ little Missy put de flow’rs in fresh dis yere mornin’--’’Case,’ she +say, ’Wilkins, dere ain’t no tellin’ when Chi’s comin’.’" + +"Sho’," Chi interrupted him, brushing the back of his hand hastily +across his eyes. "I can’t come in now, Wilkins, coz I ’ve got to stay +here ’n’ watch my horse--I ’ll sit here on the steps a spell ’n’ cool +off till Mr. Clyde gets home, ’n’ he ’ll help me see to puttin’ up Fleet +for the night. His legs are a little mite swollen near the hocks, ’n’ I +’m goin’ to rub him down myself." + +"De coachman jes’ tend to yo’ hoss like ’s ef ’t wor yo’se’f, Mister +Chi. I ’ll jes’ call up de stable bo’, ’n’ he ’ll rub him down wif +sp’r’ts, an’ shine him up till he look jes’ lake new mahog’ny. Jes’ yo’ +come--dere dey come now!" + +Chi was at the curbstone to welcome them. + +"Chi! O Chi!" Hazel rose up in the trap at sight of the well-known +figure, and Chi, laying his hand firmly on Martin’s shoulder, put him +aside as he sprang to open the door and let down the steps, reached up +both arms, and took Hazel out as tenderly as on the night of her first +arrival at the farmhouse on the Mountain. And then and there Hazel gave +him a kiss, and Mr. Clyde grasped his hands in both his, and the wide +hall doors that Wilkins had thrown open to their fullest extent closed +upon the reunited friends. + +"’E ’s a ’ansome ’oss," Martin remarked to the coachman, as he mounted +Fleet to take him to the stable; "Hi ’ave n’t seen a ’ansomer since Hi +’ve bean in the States." + +A few days after the hall doors were again flung wide, but not to their +fullest extent, and Wilkins’ face grew strangely tremulous when he heard +Hazel and Mr. Clyde, Jack and Chi coming down the broad hall stairs. +Martin was proudly leading Fleet and Little Shaver up and down in front +of the house. + +"Jack! O Jack! I can’t bear to have you go--but I _will_ be brave." +Hazel smiled through the raining tears. She clung to him and kissed him. +He put her aside, ran out to Little Shaver, and flung himself on before +Chi had said good-bye. + +"Take care of Jack, Chi," she whispered, patting his hand. + +"I will, Barbara Frietchie." He pointed to the flag that, in the east +wind blowing in from the Sound, was waving over the entrance, gripped +Mr. Clyde’s hand, then Wilkins’, and, apparently, stepped into the +saddle. + +"Quick, quick, Wilkins! lower the flag, and let me have it." Wilkins +sprang to obey. Hazel seized it, and rushed up stairs to the +drawing-room, the windows of which overlooked the Avenue. One of them +was open; she leaned out; and as Fleet and Little Shaver turned the +corner, their riders, looking up, saw the young girl’s figure in the +opening. She was waving the symbol of their Country’s life and their +manhood’s loyalty. + +They halted, baring their heads for a moment--then without once looking +back, galloped down the Avenue. + + + + + XXV + + SAN JUAN + + +Notwithstanding it was a hot day in the first week of July, Mrs. +Spillkins had decided to have a "quilting-bee." Having made up her +mind, after consulting with Miss Melissa and Miss Elvira, she lost no +time in summoning Uncle Israel from the barn, and making known her +plans. Uncle Israel mildly objected. + +"Kinder hot fer er quiltin’-bee, ain’t it, Hannah?" + +"’Tis pretty hot," Mrs. Spillkins admitted, wiping the perspiration from +her face with her apron, "but we ’ll have it to-morrow ’long ’bout four. +You get the frames and rollers out, Israel, from the back garret, an’ +then I want you to go up to Mis’ Blossom’s an’ ask ’em to come, an’ get +word to the other folks on the Mountain." + +"I ’ll go, Hannah, but I dunno ’bout Mis’ Blossom ’n’ Rose comin’ ter er +quiltin’-bee jest ’bout this time. They ’re feelin’ pretty low ’bout Chi +off thar in Cuby; news hez come thet ther ’s ben fightin’--" + +"I know that, Israel; I ’ve thought of that, too; but, mebbe, it ’ll do +’em good, just to change the scene a little. Anyway, you ask ’em." + +"Jest ez ye say, Hannah." + +The sun was setting when Uncle Israel made his appearance on the porch +where the whole family was assembled with Alan Ford. They had but one +topic for conversation. + +Uncle Israel gave his invitation, and added: "Hannah thought ye ’d +better come ’n’ change the scene a leetle--she knowed ye ’d be kinder +low-spereted ’bout now." + +Mrs. Blossom held out her hand. "Thank you, Uncle Israel. Tell Mrs. +Spillkins we will both come." + +"Hannah wants your folks ter come, tew, Alan." + +"Much obliged, Uncle Israel. I ’ll tell mother and Ruth; I ’m sure they +will enjoy it. Ruth said the other day she wished she might have a +chance to see a quilting-bee while we are here. Shall I take your +message over to Aunt Tryphosa?" + +"Much obleeged, Alan. Thank ye, Rose,"--as Rose brought out the large +arm-chair and placed it for him; "I ’ll set a spell ’n’ rest me." + +It was a typical northern midsummer night. Across the valley the +mountains loomed, softly luminous, against the pale green translucent +stretch of open sky in the west. There were no clouds; but high above +and around there swept a long trail of motionless mist, flame-colored +over the mountain tops, but darkening, with the coming of the night, +into gray towards the east. The stars were not yet out. The veeries +were choiring antiphonally in the woodlands. + +An hour afterwards Alan Ford rose to go, and Uncle Israel soon followed +his example. + +"I ’ll go down the woods’-road a piece with you, Uncle Israel," said +Rose. + +As she came back up the Mountain a cool breath drew through the pines, +and the spruces gave forth their resinous fragrance upon the dewless +night. The stars were brilliant in the dark blue deeps. + +A midsummer night among the mountains of New England! And far away in +the sickening heat and wet, the fever-laden exhalations of the tropics +rose into the nostrils of a man, who sat motionless in the rude +field-hospital, hastily improvised on the slope of San Juan, watching, +with his knees drawn up to his chin and his hands clasping them, for +some faint tremor in the still face on the army blanket spread upon the +ground. + +The lantern cast its light full upon that still face. Suddenly the +watcher bent forward; his keen eyes had detected a twitch of an +eyelid--a flutter in the muscles of the throat. "Don’t move him," the +surgeon had said; "the least movement will cause the final hemorrhage." + +There was a catch of the breath--the eyes opened, partly filmed. + +"Jack!" The watcher spoke, bending lower; his ear over the other’s +lips. + +"Chi--" it was a mere breath, but the man heard--"I’m--done for." + +The watcher’s hand, muscular, toil-hardened, sought the nerveless one +that was lying on the other’s breast, and closed upon it with a brooding +pressure. There was silence for a few minutes. Then the horny hand +felt a feeble stirring of the fingers beneath the hardened palm--they +were fumbling weakly at a button. + +The strong hand undid the button, gently--very gently, without apparent +movement. There was a motion of the nerveless fingers towards the +place. Another breath:-- + +"Give--love--" + +A long silence fell. + +Mrs. Spillkins heaved a sigh of satisfaction: "We ’ve done an awful +sight of work," she said, surveying the five quilts "run" and "tacked" +and "knotted" in even rows and mathematically true squares; "but it +seems as if they did n’t eat a mite of supper, an’ that strawberry +shortcake was enough to melt in your mouth." + +"What’d I tell ye, Hannah? They’re worretin’ ’bout Chi," said Uncle +Israel. "They’ve fit agin; Ben told me while he wuz waitin’ with the +team fer the womin-folks. He hed the mail, ’n’ er telegram thet thet +young feller, we see ridin’ ’roun’ here las’ summer, wuz mortal wounded. +He did n’t want the womin-folks ter know it till he got ’em hum. They +sot er sight by him." + +Mrs. Spillkins threw up her hands: "Dear suz’y me!" she exclaimed in a +distressed voice. "What ’ll they do! I hope an’ pray Malachi Graham +ain’t hurt none. I feel as if I ought to go right up there, an’ see if +there ’s anything I can do." + +"Better wait till the Cap’n comes hum, Hannah; he ’ll hev the papers." + +"I guess ’t would be better," and Mrs. Spillkins proceeded to fold up +her quilts and "clear up" the best room. + +The hot July days warmed the breast of the Mountain. Over in the +corn-patch the stalks had spindled and the swelling ears were ready to +tassel. By word or look Rose had given no sign--and her mother +wondered. The days wore on; the routine of daily work and life went on; +but the younger children’s voices were subdued when they spoke lovingly +and longingly of Chi, and Rose sang no longer when she kneaded bread. +They were days of suspense and heart misery for them all. + +Two weeks had passed since that evening when Mr. Blossom had read to +them the fatal despatch. No word had come from anyone save Hazel, who +wrote that her father and Uncle John had started at once for Cuba, and +that she hoped to be with the Blossoms the third week in July, for by +that time they would know the whole truth. + +They had been making ready Hazel’s little bedroom, for she was expected +in a few days. Rose was tacking up a white muslin curtain at the small +window, when she heard her father call: + +"Rose, come here a minute." + +"Yes, father." + +She went out on the porch with the hammer in her hand. "What is it, +Popsey dear?--Why, father, what--oh what--!" + +With shaking hand her father held out a letter to her. Rose looked +once--it was from Chi! + +"I wish mother were here, daughter--but she’ll be back soon. Let me +know how it is with them all--." Mr. Blossom could say no more, for +Malachi Graham was as near to him as a brother, and he was agonizing for +his child. He went off to the barn, leaving Rose standing on the porch, +staring as if fascinated at the superscription of the letter: + + +To Miss Rose Blossom, + Mill Settlement, + Barton’s River, + Vermont. + +N.B.B.O.O.--To be opened by nobody but her. + + +Rose laid down the hammer mechanically, opened the envelope, and +unfolded the piece of brown paper from out of which fluttered to the +floor another and thicker slip, stained almost beyond recognition. With +staring eyes and face as white as driven snow she read the few words +scrawled in pencil on the brown slip:-- + + +DEAR ROSE-POSE,--I ain’t no wish to meddle with anybody’s business--but +I ’m just obeying orders. The last words I heard Jack Sherrill speak, +was "Give--love," and he fumbled at his breast to get out this enclosed. +I ain’t read it--but it’s his heart’s blood that’s on it. Give my love +to all. + +Yours forever, + CHI. + + +"His heart’s blood!" For a moment the words conveyed no meaning. She +picked up the iron-rusty brown slip from the floor; unfolded it; +read--Barry Cornwall’s love-song in her own handwriting! + +"His heart’s blood!" She pressed one hand hard upon her own heart, +crushing with the other the dark-stained slip. Then, with one wild look +around her as if searching for help, she ran down the steps, across the +mowing, over into the pasture and up into the woodlands. Deep, deep +into the heart of them she made her way, as her mother, Mary Blossom, +had done before her; but now there was no kneeling, no prayer, no +petition to take from her the intolerable pain. + +She was young, and she loved as the young love. It was not God whom she +wanted; it was "Jack! Jack! Jack!" She cast herself face down upon the +ground, and moaned in her agony: "His heart’s blood--his heart’s blood." +She pressed the stained paper to her lips, over and over again. Then +she opened her blouse and baring her bosom, laid the love-song against +it--"His heart’s blood--his heart’s blood!" + +So her mother found her. + + + + + XXVI + + MARIA-ANN’S CRUSADE + + +Of late Aunt Tryphosa had been growing suspicious of Maria-Ann, and the +latter felt she was being watched; to use her own words, "it nettled +her." + +One afternoon, late in August, her grandmother, coming upon her rather +suddenly in the pasture as she sat under the shade of a patriarchal +butternut, ostensibly watching Dorcas, asked her sharply: + +"What you doin’, Maria-Ann?" + +"’Tendin’ to my own business," retorted Maria-Ann, with an unwonted snap +in her voice, and hurriedly folded something out of sight beneath the +Hearthstone Journal which lay upon her lap. + +This was the signal of open revolt on the part of her granddaughter, and +the like had occurred but once before in all the time of her up-bringing +with Aunt Tryphosa. The old dame’s lips drew to a thinner line than +usual, as she fired the second shot into the hostile camp: + +"You been cryin’, Maria-Ann." + +"What if I be?" demanded her granddaughter, with a flash of indignation +from beneath her reddened eyelids. "S’pose I have a right to have +feelin’s same as other folks." + +Suddenly Aunt Tryphosa swooped like a hen-hawk upon a small piece of +bright scarlet flannel, that the breeze had caught away from the +protecting folds of the Hearthstone Journal, and landed in the covert of +sweet fern just at her feet. + +"What’s that?" She held up the glowing bit of color, dangling it before +Maria-Ann’s eyes. + +Upon poor Maria-Ann’s inflamed sense of injustice, it had much the same +effect as a red rag waved before the eyes of an infuriated bull. + +She sprang to her feet, snatched the bit of cloth from between her +grandmother’s thumb and fore-finger, and thrust it into her dress waist, +crying out shrilly in her unwonted excitement: + +"You let that be, Grandmarm Little! It’s my cross and I ’m going on a +crusade--so now!" + +Aunt Tryphosa sat down rather suddenly in the middle of the sweet-fern +patch. Was Maria-Ann going crazy? Her breath came short and sharp; she +drew her thin lips still more tightly, and, although really alarmed, +braced herself for the combat. + +"What ’d you say you was goin’ on, Maria-Ann?" + +"I never knew you was growin’ deef before, grandmarm; I said a crusade." +She had raised her voice to a still higher pitch, as she stooped to +gather up the Hearthstone Journal, the bits of red cloth, her scissors, +and thimble which had fallen from her lap as she sprang to her feet. + +"Is that the thing you read me about last winter in the Journal, with +the soldiers with crosses on their backs on hosses startin’ out for +Jerusalem?" demanded the old dame, but in a strangely agitated voice. + +"Yes," responded Maria-Ann, promptly, but with less acerbity of manner. + +"And is that red rag you hid away a _cross_, Maria-Ann Simmons?" No +words can do justice to the old dame’s tone and its implied impiety of +her granddaughter’s conduct. + +Maria-Ann was silent. + +"Be you a Christian girl, or an idolater, Maria-Ann?" + +Her grandmother’s voice shook pitiably. Maria-Ann’s conscience gave a +twinge, when she heard it; but she felt the time was ripe, and she must +put in the sickle. + +"I hope I ’m a Christian, grandmarm, but I ’m an idolater, too,--" Aunt +Tryphosa drew in her breath, as if hurt. "But, anyway, I guess I was an +American ’fore I was a Christian, an’ I jest _idolize_ my Country--" +Maria-Ann’s eyes filled with tears--"an’ I can’t do anything for her, +nor make sacrifices same as other women do who can send their +husbands--," a sob, "an’ lovers--," another sob, "an’ nuss ’em, an’ help +on their Country’s cause livin’ ’way up here in an old back paster with +an old cow--an’ an old wo--Oh, grandmarm!" Maria-Ann broke down +utterly, laid her head upon her knees, and sobbed unrestrainedly. + +It was an unusual sight, and Aunt Tryphosa was troubled. She felt it +necessary to beat a retreat in the face of such genuine grief, but she +was determined that it should be a dignified one. + +"I ain’t never seen you give way so, Maria-Ann, and you ’re thirty-one +year old come next January. I ’ve done my best to bring you up right, +an’ now you ’re old enough to know your own mind, _I hope_; so, if you +want to leave me, you can go jest as soon as you can get ready. I come +up for Dorcas, an’ now I ’m goin’ home." In spite of her effort her old +voice trembled, but her pride sustained her nobly, and Maria-Ann was all +unaware that the tears were rolling down the wrinkled furrows in the old +cheeks as her grandmother drove Dorcas before her down the fern-scented +pasture slope. + +Her granddaughter followed her half an hour later, and after a silent +supper, except for Aunt Tryphosa’s murmured "grace," and a faint "amen" +from the other side of the table, Maria-Ann lighted a lamp and shut +herself into her small bedroom. + +She placed a chair against the door, lest she might be suddenly raided, +and drew the other splint-bottomed one up to the head of the bed. +Lifting the feather-bed she thrust her hand far under and drew out a +square, white pasteboard box. It was tied with a narrow, white ribbon. +She undid it carefully, and took out a layer of tissue paper. The +lamp-light shone upon a large, gilt heart, some ten by eight inches, +with a thickness of two inches. + +Maria-Ann turned the box this way and that, watching the play of light +on it, for the heart was skewered with a large, silver-gilt arrow, and +the shaft, where it penetrated, held a small, white card with simulated +blood-drops in carmine splashed on in one corner, and the sentiment, +written in the same, straggling diagonally across the other corner: + + "In thy sight + Is my delight." + + +Maria-Ann shut her eyes and leaned back in her chair. "Don’t seems as if +he ’d sent me that if he had n’t meant somethin’," she murmured, and +dreamed for a little while. Then she opened her eyes, prepared for new +delights. Raising the gilt top with tender care, she took out a faded +rose: + +"Don’t seem as if he ’d come back that nex’ mornin’ after Chris’mus an’ +give me that, ’thout he ’d had some notion." She laid the rose +carefully upon the tissue paper, and began to lift the leaves of the +heart-shaped book, until she had lifted every one of the three hundred +and sixty-five! She smiled to herself. + +"’T ain’t likely he ’d ’a’ sent me jest such a cook-book, ’thout he ’d +been tryin’ to give me a hint." She began to read the recipes--it was +absorbing: puddings, cakes, preserves. She was lost to time as she +read; "An’ he took that pair of socks I knit him last Chris’mus ’long +with him, Rose said--" There was a fumbling at her door. Maria-Arm blew +out the light. + +"That you, grandmarm?" she called pleasantly. + +There was no answer, and Maria-Ann laughed softly to herself as she +undressed in the dark, and lay down to sweet dreams. + +"I ’m goin’ over to Mis’ Blossom’s, grandmarm," she announced the next +afternoon, "to see if they ’ve had any news. I ain’t heard for two +days." + +Her grandmother made no reply, but when her grand-daughter was well on +her way to the Blossoms’, Mrs. Tryphosa Little’s conscience deemed it +prudent to issue a private search-warrant and investigate Maria-Ann’s +premises--even to the under side of the feather-bed. The results +perfectly justified the search, and upon Maria-Ann’s return just before +tea, she was amazed to have her grandmother offer her a wrinkled cheek +to kiss. + +"Why, grandmarm!" exclaimed Maria-Ann, in joyful surprise, "I ’m so glad +you ain’t laid it up against me-- + +"I can see through a barn-door when ’t is wide open, even at my time of +life, Maria-Ann Simmons," said the old dame, interrupting her. + +"What did you hear over to Ben’s?" + +"Hazel’s just had a letter from her father, and he says they ’ve got Mr. +Sherrill home to New York, an’ if nothin’ new sets in, he ’ll get over +it, but his lungs ’ll be weak, mebbe, for two years. He was shot clean +through the lungs." + +"What do they hear from Chi?" + +Maria-Ann’s face grew suddenly radiant. "Oh, he ’s been awful sick with +the fever, an’ ain’t left Cuby yet, but he’ll come North jest as soon as +he can be transported. I ’ve been talking over my plans with Mis’ +Blossom an’ Rose an’ Hazel, an’ they ’re goin’ to do everything they can +for me." + +"So you ’re a-goin’ to Cuby, Maria-Ann?" + +"Yes, grandmarm, I ’ve got a call to go an’ nuss our sick an’ wounded; I +’ve been readin’ a lot ’bout the Red Cross misses in the Hearthstone +Journal, an’ I ’m goin’ to wear a cross, an’ Hazel’s goin’ to pay my +fare, an’ I ’m goin’ to stop to Mr. Clyde’s when I get to New York, an’ +he ’ll start me all right for Cuby--" + +"Them beets are burnin’ on, Maria-Ann; guess you ’d better stop for jest +one more meal on the Mountin, had n’t you?" said her grandmother, dryly. + +Maria-Ann laughed merrily. "I know, grandmarm, it seems kinder queer +and foolish to you, but I feel as if I could go now with nothin’ on my +mind, for you know Mandy’s girl is comin’ to stay all September an’ +October, an’ she ’s grand help. You won’t begin to miss me ’fore I ’ll +be back--an’ I ’ll own up, grandmarm, ever since Rose Blossom went to +New York last winter, I ’ve hankered after seein’ more of the world +’sides Mount Hunger." + +"When you goin’ to start?" + +"I calc’late ’bout the last of next week, that ’ll be into +September--here, let me pare them beets, grandmarm;" and forthwith she +seized the pan, and began peeling the steaming, deep-red balls, singing +heartily the while: + + "’Must I be carried to the skies + On flowery beds of ease, + While others fought to win the prize, + And sailed through bloody seas?’" + + +"Now be careful, and change at White River Junction," were Mr. Blossom’s +parting words at the station. "After that you go right through to New +York." + +"I ’ll take good care, don’t you any of you worry ’bout me!" She waved +her handkerchief from the back platform of the car to the little group +she was leaving,--Mr. and Mrs. Blossom, Rose, March and Hazel, Captain +Spillkins and Susan Wood, with Elvira and Melissa. She was inflated +with heroic resolve, and felt ennobled to be going forth to do battle, +as she termed it to herself, for her Country’s cause. Moreover she was +seeing the world, and even at the start she found it most interesting, +for she had been but ten miles at most by train, and here she was +speeding towards White River Junction, distant forty miles from Barton’s +River. + +She longed to communicate her enthusiasm to the occupants of the car, +but found only one opportunity. She offered to hold a baby, one of a +family of five, while the mother fed and watered the other four. She +continued to dandle it recklessly till the woman protested: + +"Guess you ain’t had a fam’ly," she remarked sternly, rescuing her +child; "a woman of your age ought to know better ’n to shake a baby up +so when he ’s teethin’--’t ain’t good for their brains--like enough +bring on chol’ry morbis." She pulled down the small clothes, turned the +atom over on its stomach, and patted its back with a broad hand and a +dove-like settling motion that bespoke the mater-familias. + +Maria-Ann looked out of the window. True, she had n’t any family--only +Grandmarm Little and Aunt Mandy’s one daughter who had just come to +visit them. What was Aunt Tryphosa doing now? She was dreaming again, +and before she could realize it, the brakeman called, "White River +Junction! Change cars for all points south via Windsor, Springfield, +New York." + +Hearing that, Maria-Ann felt as if she had already travelled a thousand +miles, so far away seemed Mount Hunger and its uneventful life. + +She found herself on the platform. She had been so confident of taking +care of herself--and now! She looked helplessly about. Trains to the +right of her, trains to the left of her, trains in front of her and +behind her switched, and shifted, and thundered. Engine-bells, +dinner-bells, train-bells; stentorian voices of baggage-men, brakemen, +call-men; frantic women, screaming babies, hurrying porters, indifferent +travellers, fashionable women and city men; farmers, children, baskets, +shawl-straps, dress-suit cases, golf bags, boys; dogs, yelping and +crying, in arms or in leash; canaries in their wooden cages shrilling +over all; and hither and thither and yon a bustling, and rustling, and +rattling, and roaring, and clanking, and hissing, and shrieking, and +hurrying, and scurrying, and pushing, and hauling, and prodding, and +rushing! For a minute Maria-Ann was dazed and almost stunned. Then her +courage rose to the occasion. _This_ was the famous Junction of which +she had heard so much. _This_ was the great world. _This_ was Life! + +"I ’ll stand stock-still an’ wait till it clears up a little. I ’ve got +an hour here, an’ mebbe I ’ll see somebody from Barton’s," she said to +herself, and had just put down her valise when a hoarse voice cried in +her ear,--"Hi, there! get out of the way!" + +She dodged a baggage truck piled high with toppling trunks, only to be +caught in the surging, living stream, and carried with it up a step into +the restaurant of the station. + +To Maria-Ann it was a marvellous sight. She set down her valise by a +window and, standing guard in front of it, gazed about her with intense +satisfaction. In truth this was seeing the great world, of which she +had read so much in the Journal and for which she had longed, at first +hand. Around the counter--a long oval--were perched on the high, +wooden, spring stools "all sorts and conditions of men," with a +sprinkling of women and children. There was perpetual motion of knives, +forks, teaspoons, arms, hands, mouths,--and a noisy conglomerate beyond +description, accented by the shriek and toot of the switch-engines. + +Suddenly the clangor of a gong-like bell and a stentorian voice rose +above the chaos of sound;--there was a momentary lull in the confusion +of masticating utensils, followed by a general slipping, sliding, and +jumping off the round wooden perches,--and to Maria-Ann’s amazement, the +room was nearly vacant. + +"_Now ’s_ my time," said Maria-Ann, with considerable complacency, and +forthwith proceeded to hoist herself, by means of the foot-rail, upon +one of the seats, at the same time placing her valise on another at her +right. She looked at the varied assortment of delectables--an +embarrassment of riches: jelly-roll cakes, pickles, squash pie, baked +beans, frosted tea-cakes, sage cheese, ham sandwiches, lemon pie, cold, +spice-speckled custards, doughnuts, great as to their circumference, +startling as to their cubical contents. + +"I ’ve heard tell of them," said Maria-Ann to herself, as her eye, +ranging the oval marble slab, encountered a pyramidal pile of New +England’s doughty cruller. "I ’ll have two of them, I guess," she said +to the indifferent attendant, "an’ a cup of coffee; that ’ll last me for +a spell, and I can keep my lunch for supper." She expected some +response to her explanation, but there was none forthcoming, save that a +cup of coffee, half-pint size, was shoved over the counter towards her, +and the huge glass dome that protected the doughnuts was removed with a +jerk, and the towering pile set down in front of her. + +Maria-Ann helped herself. It seemed rather tame, after so much +excitement, to be eating a doughnut the size of a small feather-bed, +without company. She looked around. There were but three or four at +the entire counter. Farther down to the left, his tall, gaunt figure +silhouetted against the blank of the large window, a man was seated, +bestriding the perch as if it were a horse. He wore the undress uniform +of the volunteer cavalry. When Maria-Ann discovered this, she felt for +a moment, to use her own expression, "flustered." The mere presence of +the uniform brought to her a realizing sense of the importance of her +mission; it seemed to bring her at once into touch with far-away Cuba, +and the feminine knights of the Red Cross; with--her heart gave a joyful +thump--with Chi! She felt in a way ennobled to be eating her doughnut +within speaking distance of a hero (they were all that in Maria-Ann’s +idealizing imagination). + +She had bitten only halfway into the periphery of the doughnut, when the +man stepped from his seat. She watched him as he moved slowly towards +the door; his back was turned to her. How feebly he moved! Almost +seeming to drag one foot after the other. + +A great flood of patriotic pity engulfed Maria-Ann’s whole being. She +forgot the doughnuts; she left the coffee; she forgot even her valise; +her one thought was as she slid from the stool: "I ain’t no call to wait +till I get to Cuby; I ’m just as much a Red Cross nuss right here in +White River Junction, Vermont, as if I was a thousand miles away." The +girl at the counter looked after her in amazement--she hadn’t even paid! +But there was her valise. + +She saw Maria-Ann whisk something out of her dress-waist and stop +halfway down the room to pin it on her sleeve, and lo and behold!--it +was a cross of bright red flannel. She saw her hurry after the man, who +had dragged himself to the doorway, and stood there leaning heavily +against the jamb. + +"If you ’re goin’ to take a train, just you let me help you aboard," she +said, speaking just at his elbow. The man’s head half turned with a +jerk. "You ain’t fit to stan’ more ’n an eight months baby, an’ I ’m a +Red Cross nuss on my way to Cuby--" + +A gaunt, yellow face with haggard eyes was turned slowly full upon her, +and a hand, shaking, as that of a man in drink, was laid on her arm: + +"Don’t you know me, Marier-Ann?" + +Maria-Ann sat down suddenly on the doorstep at the man’s feet. There +was no strength left in her. Then she put her head into her hands, and +began to cry softly; there were few to see her, and had the whole world +been there, she would not have cared. + +"Just help me into the waitin’-room, Marier-Ann, where we can talk." + +She bounced to her feet, with streaming, tear-blinded eyes, and Chi, +linking his arm in hers, led her into the "Ladies’ Room." + +A porter followed them in; he addressed Chi. "She ain’t paid for what +she ordered, and she ain’t eat it neither, and she ’s left her valise." + +Chi pulled out a ten-cent piece and put it into his hand. "Bring ’em all +in," he said, "grub ’n’ all, ’n’ I ’ll pay for ’em. We ’ll sit here a +spell till train time." Maria-Ann sobbed afresh. + +The porter brought in the plate with the doughnuts, the cup of coffee, +and the valise, and set them down on the wooden settee. He pointed to +the ten-cent piece that lay within the inner ring of a doughnut: + +"I don’t take nothin’ of that kind from you fellers." He touched the +bit of braid on the cuff of Chi’s coat; Chi smiled, and pocketed the +money. + +"Guess you was n’t expectin’ to meet an old friend so soon, was you?" +said Chi, gently, setting the plate in her lap. + +Maria-Ann shook her head vigorously, but she could not control the sobs. +Chi crossed one leg over the other, and waited. + +The flies buzzed on the smoke-thickened panes, and an empty truck +rattled down the platform. There were no other sounds. + +"When does your train go, Marier-Ann?" + +There was another sob, but no answer. + +"Did n’t I hear you say you was on your way to Cuby?" + +Maria-Ann nodded. + +"Bad place for women--’n’ men, too. What you goin’ for?" + +Maria-Ann’s answer was only half audible: "To nuss." + +"To nuss? Ain’t there enough nussin’ you can do nearer home?" + +Maria-Ann looked up with tear-reddened eyes. "I did n’t think so--" a +sob--"till I saw you, Chi. I did n’t know you--I thought I ’d begin +right now, before I got there--" her hands covered her eyes again. + +Chi’s trembling ones, weak from the fever, drew her cold ones down from +her face. + +"You did just right, Marier-Ann, to want to begin right now.--The +Barton’s River train is due to start from here in fifteen +minutes;--s’posin’ you give up Cuby, ’n’ come along home, ’n’ try +nussin’ me. I need it bad enough." + +"Oh, Chi, do you mean it?" Maria-Ann caught her breath. + +"You bet I do," said Chi, emphatically, "only"--he paused and took up +the plate from her lap, spilling the coffee, for the trembling of his +hand had increased--"if you ’re goin’ to undertake it with me, it’s got +to be a life job, Marier-Ann." + +The flies continued to buzz on the smoke-thickened panes. The train for +Barton’s River steamed in from the siding. The couple in the +waiting-room boarded it. The porter watched them with a queer smile. +Then he took up the plate of uneaten doughnuts and the cup of cooled +coffee, and handed them to the girl behind the counter. + +"She ain’t eat ’em, after all," she said. "She acted kinder queer for a +Red Cross nurse." + +"He’s the chap I give the telegram to when he got here on the up-train +last night." + +"What was it?" + +"Twenty-five cent one from Barton’s River--’M.A. starts for Cuba +Thursday stop her at Junction.’" + +The girl laughed, and the restaurant filled again. + + + + + XXVII + + "--The stars above + Shine ever on Love--" + + +"I ’m goin’ up into the clearin’, Mis’ Blossom, to see if there ain’t +some late blackberries," said Chi, a few days after his triumphal return +with Maria-Ann. "Seems as if the smell of the sun on that spruce-bush +up yonder would put new life into me--I feel so kind of shif’less." + +"I would, Chi," said Mrs. Blossom; "you have n’t begun to get your +strength back yet, and the more you ’re out in this air, without +overworking, the better it will be for you." + +"I ’ll go with you, Chi," said Rose, looking up from her work, as she +sat sewing on the lower step of the porch. + +"That’s right, Rose-pose; it ’ll seem like old times." Chi followed her +with wistful eyes as she turned to go up stairs. + +"I ’ll be down in a few minutes, Chi; we ’d better take the two-quart +pails, had n’t we?" + +"Maybe we ’ll find enough for one or two messes." + +He turned to Mrs. Blossom when Rose had left the room. "Can’t there +nothin’ be done ’bout it, Mis’ Blossom?" He spoke almost wistfully. + +Mrs. Blossom’s eyes filled with tears. She hesitated a moment before +she spoke: "I know Rose so well, Chi, that I dare _not_ interfere. I +doubt if she would accept anything, even from me, her mother." + +"It beats me," Chi sighed heavily. "He ’s just a-pinin’ for a word or +sign, ’n’ there ain’t no use talkin’--_she ’s_ got to give it; I ’d back +him up every time, he ’s done enough--" + +"Sh--!" Mrs. Blossom held up her finger; she heard Rose on the stairs. +Chi looked up--his old Rose-pose stood before him: old, faded, green and +white calico dress, old sunbonnet, patched shoes! Chi turned away +abruptly to get his pails; and her mother wondered, but said nothing. + +They found more than one "patch," where the berries hung in luscious +clusters of shining jet. Chi pummelled his chest, and drew deep, deep +breaths of the balsamic mountain air. "This sets a man up, Rose-pose; +there ain’t nothin’ like the air on this Mountain for an all-round +tonic. Let’s sit here a spell, right by this sweet fern." + +She pushed back the sunbonnet as she sat down beside him. "Tired, Chi?" + +"No--rests me clear through just to sit ’n’ look off onto those slopes, +just about as green as in June." + +They sat awhile in silence; then Chi turned and picked up the sunbonnet +that had fallen from her head. He touched it gently. + +"Remember the first time you sold berries in that rig, Rose-pose?" + +The blood surged into Rose’s face, and receded, leaving it strangely +white. Chi felt his heart contract at the change, but he went on: + +"First time Jack ever saw you was in that rig.--You ain’t changed so +much but he ’d know you again if he saw you in Chiny." + +Still there was silence. Chi moistened his lips. + +"Can’t say as much for him; never saw such a change; he ’s all fallen +away to nothin’ but skin and bones. Doctor Heath told me just before I +left--’n’ he put me aboard the train--that nothin’ could set him up +again but this Mountain air, ’n’ good food, ’n’--" Chi paused; his +mouth was uncomfortably dry. Rose’s face was turned from him, but he +saw a contraction of her delicate throat, as if a dry sob were suddenly +suppressed. Then she spoke in a monotone: + +"Why does n’t he come, then?" + +"_Why!_--" Chi fairly startled himself with his thundering "why," and +Rose half started from the ground. The blood leaped to her very temples; +seeing which, Chi took heart--"Coz he ’s every inch a man, Rose Blossom; +’n’ he’s got too much grit of the right sort to ask a girl twice, he ’s +about given his heart’s blood for. + +"He ain’t a-goin’ to come crawlin’ up here to ask no favors of you after +he knows that you _know_--’n’ I glory in his spunk. But I can tell you, +if you don’t look out, you ’ll come nearer to bein’ a real Molly Stark +than you ever thought you could be when you joined the N.B.B.O.O., ’n’ +by George Washin’ton! it goes against me to see you breakin’ the by-laws +you pledged yourself to stand by, every minute of your life that you +keep so dumb towards Jack Sherrill;--for you ’re provin’ yourself a +coward in your love, ’n’ you ’ll have a widowed heart to pay for it +mighty soon, if you keep on, that’ll be worse than Molly Stark’s any +day--" A whisper stopped him: + +"Chi, Chi, tell him to come--I want him so; oh, Chi!" + +Chi’s hand was laid on the bowed head with its crown of shining, +golden-brown braids: "Rose Blossom, may God Almighty bless you for +proving yourself a true woman, ’n’ worthy of the mother that bore you. +I can’t say any more." + +An hour later March Blossom, with a telegram in his hand, was speeding +on Fleet to Barton’s River; and two days afterwards Mr. Blossom and Alan +Ford in the double wagon, and Chi alone in the buggy, drove down to +Barton’s to meet the up-train. Mrs. Blossom and Rose stood on the porch +straining their eyes in the quickly-falling September twilight to see +any movement on the lower road. The children had been sent over to +Hunger-ford till after tea, for Jack was not strong enough to bear a too +joyful home-coming. + +"They ’re coming, Rose," said Mrs. Blossom, in a low tone; then she +turned abruptly, and went into the house, leaving Rose alone on the +step. + +"Here we are, safe ’n’ sound," said Chi, in an affectedly cheery voice, +as he drove out of the woods’-road. "Just wait a minute, Jack, ’n’ I +’ll give you an arm gettin’ out." He laid the reins on the dasher. +Then he assisted the tall, gaunt figure of the man beside him to alight. +Jack half stumbled, for his eyes were seeking Rose--and Rose? + +All her womanhood, all the sacred privileges of wifehood, came to her +aid at that moment. She sprang to the carriage, and, with one hand, put +Chi aside; with the other, she lifted Jack’s half-nerveless arm and laid +it over her shoulders; then, encircling him with her own slender one, +she said gently, guiding him to the porch step: + +"_Lean on me, dearest._" + + +On the first of November, one of the short-lived Indian Summer days, the +farmhouse on Mount Hunger literally blossomed like a rose. + +A week beforehand there had been an animated discussion as to what +should be the wedding decorations of the "long-room." Hazel, who had +been with them a week already, settled it. + +"As if there could be any choice!" she exclaimed. "It’s been great fun +to hear you all suggesting this, that, and the other, from ground +hemlock and bitter-sweet, to everlasting! But Jack and I settled it +three weeks ago--how could there be anything for Rose, but roses? +Anyway, that’s what Jack wrote, and our florist looked fairly dazed when +I gave him the order--just bushels of them, Rose-pose, lovely La France +ones, like those you threw into the--No, I won’t tease you, Cousin +mine," she said, with a merry laugh, as Rose looked at her appealingly. + +And now, on the wedding morning of the first of November, the great box +that Chi had brought up from Barton’s the night before was opened, and +in Hazel’s skilful fingers the exquisite pink blooms lent to the +"long-room" a wonderful grace and beauty. + +She was flitting about in her pale pink cashmere dress--"Made specially +to match the roses," she said to March, as she dropped him a curtsy +preparatory to pinning a rose into his buttonhole. "We must all wear +Rose-pose’s badge to-day. Where are you, Budd?" + +"Here," said her knight, promptly appearing with Cherry from the pantry, +where they had been counting the frosting-roses on the wedding-cake. He +looked down at the slender fingers as they pulled the stem of the pink +bud through the buttonhole of his jacket, and thought--of the ring! +Then he looked up at the tall, beautiful girl bending over him, and, +somehow, the day of his proposal seemed very far away in the Past. +Hazel was so grown up!--as tall as Rose. Still, he was n’t going to be +afraid, if she was grown up. Now was his time;--and "Ethan Allan" +always made the most of his opportunities. Budd was in United States +History, this term, and he knew this for a fact. + +He drew forth from his breeches’ pocket a something that might once have +been white, but, at present, looked more like a shoe-rag, it was so +dingy and soiled. + +"I ’ve kept it, you see, Hazel," he said, his small mouth puckering, his +round, light-blue eyes growing rounder, as he looked up at Hazel, with +twelve-year-old earnestness. + +"Kept what?" said Hazel, mystified, and holding up the offering gingerly +between thumb and forefinger to examine it. + +"Why, don’t you know?--the glove you gave me when you said you ’d be my +Lady-love? don’t you remember,--in the barn?" answered Budd, slightly +crestfallen. + +Hazel laughed merrily. "Oh, you funny boy!" she said, "to keep an old +glove of mine for nearly a year and a half! Why, it’s nearly black and +blue. Have you kept it in your best Sunday-go-to-meeting trousers’ +pocket all this time?" + +Budd nodded, but soberly. Seeing which, Hazel gave him a pat on the top +of his head, and assured him she would give him one of her cleaned party +gloves once a year till he was twenty-one, if only he would promise not +to keep it in his pocket with spruce-gum, chalk, chestnuts, lead-pencil +sharpenings, top-twine, jack-knives, and ginger cookie crumbs. + +"How ’d you know I had all those things in my pocket?" demanded Budd, in +his amazement forgetting his sentiment. + +"Oh, a little bird told me," replied Hazel. "Run and ask Chi to come +in, will you? I have his rose ready for him, and it’s most time for +them all to come." + +It was a quiet wedding. Only those nearest and dearest were about them; +Mr. Sherrill, Aunt Carrie and Uncle Jo, Mr. Clyde and Hazel, Doctor and +Mrs. Heath, the Blossoms and Chi. + +Afterwards all the Lost Nation came in to give their heart-felt +blessings and good wishes. They were all there--from Maria-Ann, radiant +in the realization of her own romance, to Miss Alton and the Fords, who +were to leave on the night train to remain six weeks in New York, and +had placed Hunger-ford at the disposal of Rose and Jack during the first +weeks of their marriage. They remained but a little while, for the +excitement was almost more than Jack was able to bear. + +The moon rose between six and seven, largely luminous and slightly +reddened through the soft, warm haze of the Indian Summer night. Rose +had insisted, that, if the night were mild, Jack should ride over to +Hunger-ford at a snail’s pace on Little Shaver, and that she should lead +him. At first Jack protested, but in the end Rose had her way. Chi, on +Fleet, was to ride on a little ahead to be within call, if anything +should be needed. "Kind of scoutin’ to remind us of Cuby, Jack," he +said, laughing, as he helped him into the saddle. + +They were all on the porch to see the little cavalcade set forth, the +pony whinnying his delight to find his master on his back. Rose took +the bridle. Suddenly she dropped it, turned, and came back to the steps +where Hazel stood between Mrs. Blossom and March. She put up her arms, +and clasping the young girl about the waist, drew her down to kiss her, +and whisper: + +"Oh, Hazel! What if you had n’t come to us!--All this happiness is +through you." + +And Hazel, but dimly perceiving Rose’s meaning, whispered back as she +kissed her: + +"And if I had n’t come, Rose-pose, _I_ should never have been rich as I +am now; Chi can’t call me ’poor’ any longer--for you ’re all mine, now +that you are Jack’s; aren’t you?" + +March, hearing those whispered words, found his mother’s hand, +somehow,--and Mrs. Blossom understood. + +"Good-night, Martie dear," cried Rose, love and tears and laughter +struggling in her voice. + +"Good-night, Rose dear." + +"Good-night, Rose--Good-night, Jack!" cried the twins. + +A white slipper filled with rice flew after Little Shaver, and hit him +on the left hock. But he was a well-bred polo pony, and a white satin +slipper with a little rice was as nothing to a swift, long-distance polo +ball; so he gave no sign. + +Chi stopped at the little house "over eastwards." Maria-Ann was on the +lookout. + +"They ’re comin’ along just by the turn of the road," he spoke low, "can +you see ’em?" + +The road lay white in the moonlight. "Yes, yes," cried Maria-Ann +excitedly, "Oh, Chi, ain’t it beautiful!" + +"Sh--sh!" said Chi, "they ’ll hear you. Hark! By George Washin’ton! +she ’s singin’--Get, Fleet." The horse loped along over the moonlit +road, and Maria-Ann went in and shut the door--all but a crack. To that +she put her ear, to hear what the clear, sweet voice was singing: + + "’I told thee when love was hopeless; + But now he is wild and sings-- + That the stars above + Shine ever on Love, + Though they frown on the fate of kings.’" + + +Mount Hunger stood bathed in white radiance. The stars came out, but +faintly;--still, they were shining. + + + + + New Illustrated Editions of Miss Alcott’s Famous Stories + + + +LITTLE MEN: Life at Plumfield with Jo’s Boys + +By LOUISA M. ALCOTT. With fifteen full-page illustrations by Reginald +B. Birch. Crown 8vo. Decorated cloth. $2.00. + +"Little Men" has never been given to an admiring public in any form so +charming as this one. All that was needed to make the tale quite +irresistible was such illustrations as are here supplied, fifteen +full-page ones instinct with life and movement and charm.--_Boston +Budget_. + + +LITTLE WOMEN: or Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy + +By LOUISA M. ALCOTT. With 15 full-page Illustrations by Alice Barber +Stephens. Crown 8vo. Decorated cloth. $2.00. + +"Books may come and books may go, but ’Little Women’ still remains the +ideal book for young girls, the best representation of bright, lovable +girlhood," say the _Brooklyn Eagle_; and the _Philadelphia Telegraph_ +speaks of the pictures as follows: "In drawing women of the Civil War +period, Alice Barber Stephens is in her element, and her illustrations +are all that can be desired." + + +AN OLD-FASHIONED GIRL + +By LOUISA M. ALCOTT. With 12 full-page pictures by Jessie Willcox +Smith. Crown 8vo. Decorated cloth. $2.00. + +Of the third book in illustrated edition of the "Little Women" Series, +the _Saturday Evening Gazette_, Boston, says: "No better portraits of +Polly and Tom could be imagined than those which appear in these +pages.... No book of its lamented author has more endearing qualities." + + +JO’S BOYS, and How They Turned Out + +A Sequel to "Little Men." By LOUISA M. ALCOTT. With 10 full-page +plates by Ellen Wetherald Ahrens. Crown 8vo. Decorated cloth. $2.00. + +Those who were fascinated by the story of the Marsh family in "Little +Men" will take a keen interest in the experiences of Mrs. Jo’s boys. +"The boys are as entertaining as their elders were in their time," says +the _Worcester Spy_, "and the story has plenty of life and incident, fun +and pathos; its atmosphere is fresh, pure, and wholesome." + +"The young folks who have been charmed with Miss Alcott’s previous +stories," says the _San Francisco Chronicle_, "will read ’Jo’s Boys’ +with avidity." The illustrations by Charlotte Harding are in keeping +with the spirit of the author. + + + THE FOUR VOLUMES PUT UP IN BOX, $8.00 + + + LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY + _Publishers_, 254 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON, MASS. + + + + + Anna Chapin Ray’s "Teddy" Stories + + +TEDDY: HER BOOK. A Story of Sweet Sixteen + +Illustrated by Vesper L. George. 12mo. $1.50. + +Miss Ray’s work draws instant comparison with the best of Miss Alcott’s: +first, because she has the same genuine sympathy with boy and girl life; +secondly, because she creates real characters, individual and natural, +like the young people one knows, actually working out the same kind of +problems; and, finally, because her style of writing is equally +unaffected and straightforward.--_Christian Register_, Boston. + + +PHEBE: HER PROFESSION + +A Sequel to "Teddy: Her Book" + +Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill. 12mo. $1.50. + +This is one of the few books written for young people in which there is +to be found the same vigor and grace that one demands in a good story +for older people.--_Worcester Spy_. + + +TEDDY: HER DAUGHTER + +A Sequel to "Teddy: Her Book," and "Phebe: Her Profession" + +Illustrated by J. B. Graff. 12mo. $1.20 net. + +Introduces a new generation of girls and boys, all well bred and gifted +with good manners, takes them through much fun and such adventures as +one may find on a small sandy island, and gives the girl a page or two +of saving common sense about her duties to boys and her obligation to be +true and womanly.--_New York Times Saturday Review_. + + +NATHALIE’S CHUM + +Illustrated by Ellen Bernard Thompson. 12mo. $1.20 net. + +A charming story of a courageous fifteen-year-old girl’s effort to help +her older brother support an orphaned family of five. "Nathalie is the +sort of a young girl whom other girls like to read about," says the +_Hartford Courant_. + + +URSULA’S FRESHMAN. 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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 http://www.gutenberg.org/license. + + +Title: A Daughter of the Rich + +Author: M. E. Waller + +Release Date: September 04, 2012 [EBook #40661] +Reposted: October 06, 2012 [minor corrections] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines. + + + + +[Illustration: Cover] + + + +[Illustration: Hazel] + + + + + A + Daughter of the Rich + + + BY + + M. E. WALLER + + AUTHOR OF "THE LITTLE CITIZEN" + + + + ILLUSTRATED BY + ELLEN BERNARD THOMPSON + + + + BOSTON + LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY + 1903 + + + + + _Copyright, 1903,_ + BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. + + _All rights reserved_ + + + Published October, 1903 + + + + UNIVERSITY PRESS + JOHN WILSON AND SON + CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A. + + + + + To + "MARTIE" + + + + + CONTENTS + + + I. Molasses Tea + II. Mrs. Blossom's Valentine + III. A Curious Case + IV. A Little Millionaire + V. Transplanted + VI. Malachi + VII. The N.B.B.O.O. Society + VIII. A Lively Correspondence + IX. The Prize Chicken + X. An Unexpected Meeting + XI. Jack + XII. Results + XIII. A Social Addition + XIV. The Lost Nation + XV. Wishing-Tree Secrets + XVI. A Christmas Prelude + XVII. Hunger-Ford + XVIII. Budd's Proposal + XIX. A Year And A Day + XX. Snow-Bound + XXI. A Little Daughter of the Rich + XXII. Rose + XXIII. "Behold how great a Matter a Little Fire Kindles" + XXIV. "Old Put" + XXV. San Juan + XXVI. Maria-Ann's Crusade + XXVII. "--The stars above, Shine ever on Love--" + + + + + LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + +Hazel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frontispiece + +"'You can begin to drop that corn this very afternoon'" + +"Rose was at the kitchen table, patting out the dough for the rolls" + +"Hazel flung both arms around Mrs. Blossom's neck" + +"'I want to tell you why I came up here'" + +"The two girls leaned over the box as Hazel took off the wrapper" + + + + + A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH + + + + I + + MOLASSES TEA + + +"Good-night, Martie," called a sweet voice down the stairway. + +"Good-night, Rose dear; I thought you were asleep." + +"Good-night, Martie," duetted the twins, in the shrillest of treble and +falsetto. + +"Good-night, you rogues; go to sleep; you 'll wake baby." + +"Dood-night, mummy," chirped a little voice from the adjoining room. + +There was a shout of laughter from the twins. + +"Shut up," growled March from the attic over the kitchen. "Good-night, +mother." His growl ended in a squeak, for March was at that interesting +period of his life indicated by a change of voice. At the sound, a +prolonged snicker from somewhere was answered by a corresponding giggle +from another-where. + +"Now, children," said Mrs. Blossom, speaking up the stairway, "do be +quiet, or baby will be wide awake." + +"Tum tiss me, mummy," piped the little voice a second time, with no +sound of sleep in it. + +"Yes, darling, I 'll come;" as she turned to go into the bedroom +adjoining the kitchen, there was the sound of a jump overhead, a patter +of bare feet, a squabble on the stairs, and Budd and Cherry, the +irrepressible ten-year-old twins, tumbled into the room. + +"I 'll haul those kids back to bed for you, mother," shouted March, and +flung himself out of bed to join the fray, while Rose was not behindhand +in making her appearance. + +Mrs. Blossom came in with little May in her arms, and that was the +signal for a wholesale kissing-party in which May was hostess. + +"Children, children, you 'll smother me!" laughed their mother. "Here, +sit down on the rug and warm your toes,--coming over those bare stairs +this cold night!" And down they sat, Rose and March, Budd and Cherry +and little May, in thick white and red flannel night-dresses and gray +flannel pajamas. + +Budd coughed consumptively, and Cherry followed suit. March shivered and +shook like a small earthquake, and Rose looked up laughingly at her +mother. + +"We know what that means, don't we, Martie," she said. "Shall I help?" + +"No, no, dear,--in your bare feet!" + +Mrs. Blossom took a lamp from the shelf over the fireplace, and, leaving +the five with their fifty toes turned and wriggling before the cheering +warmth of the blazing hickory logs, disappeared in the pantry. + +"Oh, bully," said Budd, rubbing his flannel pajamas just over his +stomach; "I wish 't was a cold night every day, then we could have +molasses tea all the time, don't you, Cherry?" + +"Mm," said Cherry, too full of the anticipated treat for articulate +speech. + +"There 's nothing like it to warm up your insides," said March; "mother +'s a brick to let us get up for it. She would n't, you know, if father +were at home." + +"My tummy's told," piped May, frantically patting her chest in imitation +of Budd, and all the children shouted to see the wee four-year-old +maiden trying to manufacture a shiver in the glow of the cheerful fire. + +Mrs. Blossom had never told her recipe for her "hot molasses tea;" but +it had been famed in the family for more than a generation. She had it +from her mother. The treat was always reserved for a bitterly cold +night, and the good things in it of which one had a taste--molasses, +white sugar, lemon-peel, butter, peppermint, boiled raisins, and +mysterious unknowns--were compounded with hot water into a +palate-tickling beverage. + +When Mrs. Blossom reappeared, with a kettle sending forth a small cloud +of fragrant steam in one hand and a tray filled with tin cups in the +other, the delighted "Ohs" and "Ahs" repaid her for all her extra work +at the close of a busy, weary day. + +Budd rolled over on the rug in his ecstasy, and Cherry was about to roll +on top of him, when March interfered, and order was restored. + +As they sat there on the big, braided square of woollen rag-carpet, +sipping and ohing and ahing with supreme satisfaction, Mrs. Blossom +broached the subject of valentines. + +"It's the first of February, children, and time to begin to make +valentines. You 're not going to forget the Doctor _this_ year, are +you?" + +"No, indeed, Martie," said Rose. "He deserves the prettiest we can +make. I 've been thinking about it, and I 'm going to make him a +shaving-case, heart-shaped, with birch-bark covers, and if March will +decorate it for me, I think it will be lovely; will you, March?" + +"Course I will; the Doctor 's a brick. I 'll tell you what, Martie, I +can pen and ink some of those spruces and birches that the Doctor was so +fond of last summer; how 'll that do?" + +"Just the thing," said his mother; "I know it will please him. What are +you thinking, Cherry?" for the "other half" of Budd was gazing dreamily +into the fire, forgetting her tea in her revery. + +"Fudge!" said Cherry, shortly. March and Rose laughed. + +"Keep still making fun of Cherry," said Budd, ruffling at the sound; and +to emphasize his admonishing words, he dug his sharp elbow so suddenly +into March's ribs that some hot molasses tea flew from the cup which his +brother had just put to his mouth and spattered on his bare feet. + +March deliberately set down his tin cup on the hearth near the fire +beside his brother's, and turned upon Budd. + +Budd tried to dodge, but had no room. In a trice, March had his arms +around him, and was hugging him in a bear-like embrace. "Say you 're +sorry!" he demanded. + +"Au-ow!" + +"Say you 're sorry!" he roared at him, hugging harder. + +"Au-ow-ee-ow!" + +"Quick, or I 'll squeeze you some more!" + +Budd was squirming and twisting like an eel. + +"O-ee-wau-au-_Au!_" + +"There," said March, releasing him and setting him down with a thump on +the rug; "I 'll teach you to poke me in the ribs that way and scald my +feet.--You 're game, though, old fellow," he added patronizingly, as he +heard a suspicious sniff from Cherry. "You and Cherry make a whole team +any day." + +Cherry's sniff changed to a smile, for March did not condescend to +praise either of them very often. + +"Well," she said meditatively, "I suppose it did sound funny to say +that, but I was thinking that if Budd would make me a little +heart-shaped box of birch-bark, I 'd make some maple-sugar fudge,--you +know, Martie, the kind with butternuts in it,--and that could be my +valentine for the Doctor." + +"Why, that's a bright idea, Cherry," said Mrs. Blossom; and, "Bully for +you, Cherry," said Budd; "we'll begin to-morrow and crack the +butternuts." + +"What will May do?" asked Mrs. Blossom, lifting the little girl, who was +already showing signs of being overcome with molasses tea and sleep. +May nestled in her mother's arms, leaned her head, running over with +golden curls, on her mother's breast, and murmured drowsily,-- + +"'Ittle tooties--tut with mummy's heart-tutter--tutter--tooties--tut--" +The blue-veined eyelids closed over the lovely eyes; and Mrs. Blossom, +holding up her finger to hush the children's mirth at May's inspired +utterance, carried her back into the bedroom. + +One after another the children crept noiselessly upstairs, with a +whispered, "Good-night, Martie," and in ten minutes Mary Blossom knew +they were all in the land of dreams. + + + + + II + + MRS. BLOSSOM'S VALENTINE + + +It was a bitter night. Mrs. Blossom refilled the kitchen stove, and +threw on more hickory in the fireplace in anticipation of her husband's +late return from the village. She drew her little work-table nearer to +the blaze, and sat down to her sewing. Then she sighed, and, as she +bent over the large willow basket filled with stockings to be darned and +clothes to be mended, a tear rolled down her cheek and plashed on the +edge. + +There was so much she wanted to do for her children--and so little with +which to do it! There was March, an artist to his finger-tips, who +longed to be an architect; and Rose, lovely in her young girlhood and +giving promise of a lovelier womanhood, who was willing to work her way +through one of the lesser colleges, if only she could be prepared for +entrance. Mary Blossom saw no prospect of being able to do anything for +either of them. + +And the father! He must be spared first, if he were to be their future +bread-winner. Mary Blossom could never forget that day, a year ago this +very month, when her husband was brought home on a stretcher, hurt, as +they thought, unto death, by a tree falling the wrong way in the woods +where he was directing the choppers. + +What a year it had been! All they had saved had gone to pay for the +extra help hired to carry on the farm and finish the log-cutting. A +surgeon had come from the nearest city to give his verdict in the case +and help if he could. + +The farm was mortgaged to enable them to pay the heavy bills incident to +months of sickness and medical attendance; still the father lay +helpless, and Mary Blossom's faith and courage were put to their +severest test, when both doctor and surgeon pronounced the case +hopeless. He might live for years, they said, but useless, so far as +his limbs were concerned. + +This was in June; and then it was that Mary Blossom, leaving Rose in +charge of her father and the children, left her home, and walked +bareheaded rapidly up the slope behind the house, across the upland +pastures and over into the woodlands, from which they had hoped to +derive a sufficient income to provide not only for their necessities, +but for their children's education and the comforts of life. + +Deep into the heart of them she made her way; and there, in the green +silence, broken only by the note of a thrush and the stirring of June +leafage above and about her, she knelt and poured out her sorrow-filled +heart before God, and cast upon Him the intolerable burden that had +rested so long upon her soul. + +The shadows were lengthening when at last she turned homewards. Cherry +and Budd met her in the pasture, for Rose had grown anxious and sent +them to find her. + +"Why, where have you been, Martie?" exclaimed the twins. "We were so +frightened about you, because you didn't come home." + +"You need n't have been; I 've been talking with a Friend." And more +than that she never said. The children's curiosity was roused, but when +they told Rose and asked her what mother meant, Rose's eyes filled with +tears, and she kept silence; for she alone knew with Whom her mother had +talked that June afternoon. + +"Run ahead, Budd, and tell Malachi to harness up Bess. I want him to +take a letter down to the village so that it may go on the night mail." +Budd flew rather than ran; for there was a look in his mother's face +that he had never seen before, and it awed him. + +That night a letter went to Doctor Heath, a famous nerve specialist of +New York City. It was a letter from Mary Blossom, his old-time friend +and schoolmate in the academy at Barton's River. In it she asked him if +he would give her his advice in this case, saying she could not accept +the decision of the physician and surgeon unless it should be confirmed +by him. + +"I cannot pay you now," she wrote, "but it was borne in upon me this +afternoon to write to you, although you may have forgotten me in these +many years, and I have no claim of present friendship, even, upon your +time and service; but I must heed the inner command to appeal to you, +whatever you may think of me,--if I disobeyed that, I should be +disobeying God's voice in my life,"--and signed herself, "Yours in +childhood's remembrance." + +The next day a telegram was brought up from the village; and the day +after the Doctor himself followed it. + +It was an anxious week; but the wonderful skill conquered. The pressure +on a certain nerve was removed, and for the last six months Benjamin +Blossom had been slowly but surely coming back to his old-time health +and strength. But again this winter the extra help had been necessary, +and it had taxed all Mary Blossom's ingenuity to make both ends meet; +for there was the interest on the mortgage to be paid every six months, +and the ready money had to go for that. + +In the midst of her thoughts, her recollections and plans, she caught +the sound of sleigh-bells. The tall clock was just striking ten. +Smoothing every line of care and banishing all look of sadness from her +face, she met her husband with a cheery smile and a, "I 'm so glad you +'ve got home, Ben; it's just twenty below, and the molasses tea is ready +for you and Chi." + +"Chi!" called Mr. Blossom towards the barn. + +"Whoa!" shouted a voice that sounded frosty in spite of itself. "Whoa, +Bess!" + +"Come into the kitchen before you turn in; there's some hot molasses tea +waiting for us." + +"Be there in a minute," he shouted back, and Bess pranced into the barn. + +"Oh, Mary, this is good," said Mr. Blossom, as he slipped out of his +buffalo-robe coat and into his warm house-jacket, dropped his boots +outside in the shed, and put on his carpet-slippers that had been +waiting for him on the hearth. + +"It is home, Ben," said his wife, bringing out clean tin cups from the +pantry, and putting them to warm beside the kettle on the hearth. + +"Yes, with you in it, Mary," he said with the smile that had won him his +true-love eighteen years before. + +"Come in, Chi," he called towards the shed, whence came sounds as if +some one were dancing a double-shuffle in snow-boots. + +"'Fraid I 'll thaw 'n' make a puddle on the hearth, Mis' Blossom. I 'm +as stiff as an icicle: guess I 'll take my tea perpendic'lar; I ain't +fit to sit down." + +"Sit down, sit down, Chi," said Mrs. Blossom. "You 'll enjoy the tea +more; and give yourself a thorough heating before you go to bed. I 've +put the soapstone in it," she added. + +"Well, you beat all, Mis' Blossom; just as if you did n't find enough to +do for yourself, you go to work 'n' make work." He broke off suddenly, +"George Washin'ton!" he exclaimed, "most forgot to give you this letter +that come on to-night's mail." + +He handed Mrs. Blossom the letter, which, with some difficulty, owing to +his stiffened fingers, he extracted from the depths of the tail-pocket +of his old overcoat. Then he helped himself to a brimming cup of the +tea, and apparently swallowed its contents without once taking breath. + +"Why, it's from Doctor Heath!" exclaimed Mrs. Blossom, recognizing the +handwriting. "Is it a valentine, I wonder?" she said, feigning to +laugh, for her heart sank within her, fearing it might be the bill,--and +yet, and yet, the Doctor had said--she got no further with these +thoughts, so intent was she on the contents of the letter. + +Chi, with an eye to prolonging his stay till he should know the why and +wherefore of a letter from the great Doctor at this season of the year, +took another cup of the tea. + +"Ben, oh, Ben!" cried Mrs. Blossom, in a faint, glad voice; and +therewith, to her husband's amazement, she handed him the letter, put +both arms around his neck, and, dropping her head on his shoulder, +sobbed as if her heart would break. + +Chi softly put down his half-emptied cup and tiptoed with creaking boots +from the room. + +"Can't stand that, nohow," he muttered to himself in the shed; and, +forgetting to light his lantern, he felt his way up the backstairs to +his lodging in the room overhead, blinded by some suspicious drops of +water in his eyes, which he cursed for frost melting from his bushy +eyebrows. + +"Oh, Ben, think of it!" she cried, when her husband had soothed and +calmed her. "Twenty-five dollars a week; that makes a little more than +twelve hundred a year. Why, we can pay off all the mortgage and be free +from that nightmare." + +For answer her husband drew her closer to him, and late into the night +they sat before the dying fire, talking and planning for the future. + +"Children," she said at breakfast next morning, and her voice sounded so +bright and cheery that the room seemed full of sunshine, although the +sky was a hard, cold gray, "I 've had one valentine already; it came +last night from the Doctor." + +Chi listened with all his ears. + +"Mother!" burst from the children, "where is it?" "Show it to us." "Why +did n't you tell us before breakfast?" + +"I can't show it to you yet; it's a live one." + +"A live one!" chorussed the children. + +"You 're fooling us, mother," said March. + +"Do I look as if I were?" replied his mother. + +And March was obliged to confess that she had never looked more in +earnest. + +Rose left her seat and stole to her father's side. "What does it mean, +pater?" she whispered. + +"Ask your mother," was all the satisfaction she received, and walked, +crestfallen, back to her chair; for when had her father refused her +anything? + +"When will you tell us, anyway?" said Budd, a little gruffly. He hated +a secret. + +"I can't tell you that either," said his mother, "and I don't know that +I shall tell you until the very last, if you ask in that voice." + +Budd screwed his mouth into a smile, and, unbeknown to the rest of the +family, reached under the cloth for his mother's hand. He sat next to +her, and that had been his way of saying "Forgive me," ever since he was +a tiny boy. + +He had a squeeze in return and felt happier. + +"I say, let's guess," said Cherry. "If I don't do something, I shall +burst." + +"You express my feelings perfectly, Cherry," said March, gravely, and +the guessing began. + +"A St. Bernard puppy?" said Budd, who coveted one. + +"A Shetland pony," said Cherry. + +"The Doctor's coming up here, himself." That was Rose's guess. + +"'T ain't likely," growled Budd. + +"A tunning 'ittle baby," chirped May. + +March failed to think of any live thing the Doctor was likely to send +unless it might be a Wyandotte blood-rooster, such as he and the Doctor +had talked about last summer. + +"You 're all cold, cold as ice," laughed their mother, using the words +of the game she had so often played with them when they were younger. + +"Oh, mother!" they protested. They were almost indignant. + +Chi rose and left the table. "Beats me," he muttered, as he took down +his axe from a beam in the woodshed. "What in thunder can it be? I +ain't goin' to ask questions, but I 'll ferret it out,--by George +Washin'ton;" and that was Chi's most solemn oath. + + + + + III + + A CURIOUS CASE + + +"What is it, dear?" + +"Bothered--bothered." + +"A case?" + +"Yes, and I must get it off my mind this evening." + +The Doctor set down his after-dinner coffee untasted on the library +table, and rose with a half sigh from his easy chair before the blazing +wood-fire. His heavy eyebrows were drawn together into a straight line +over the bridge of his nose, and that, his wife knew full well, was an +ominous sign. + +"Must you go to-night? It's such a fearful storm; just hear it!" + +"Yes, I must; just to get it off my mind. I sha'n't be gone long, and I +'ll tell you all about it when I get home." The Doctor stooped and +kissed the detaining hand that his wife had laid lovingly on his arm; +then, turning to the telephone, he bespoke a cab. + +As the vehicle made its way up Fifth Avenue in the teeth of a February, +northeast gale that drove the sleet rattling against the windows, Doctor +Heath settled back farther into his corner, growling to himself, "I wish +some people would let me manage their affairs for them; it would show +their common sense to let me show them some of mine." + +A few blocks north of the park entrance, the cab turned east into a side +street, and stopped at Number 4. + +"Mr. Clyde in, Wilkins?" asked the Doctor of the colored butler, who +opened the door. + +"Yes, sah; jes' up from dinner, sah, to see Miss Hazel." + +"Tell him I want to see him in the library." + +"Yes, sah." He took the Doctor's cloak and hat, hesitating a moment +before leaving, then turning, said: "'Scuse me, sah, but Miss Hazel +ain't more discomposed?" + +"No, no, Wilkins; Miss Hazel is doing fairly well." + +"Thank you, sah;" and Wilkins ducked his head and sprang upstairs. + +"Why, Dick," said Mr. Clyde, as he entered the library hurriedly, +"what's wrong?" + +"The world in general, Johnny, and your world in particular, old +fellow." + +"Is Hazel worse?" The father's anxiety could be heard in the tone with +which he put the question. + +"I 'm not satisfied, John, and I 'm bothered." + +When Doctor Heath called his friend "John," Mr. Clyde knew that the very +soul of him was heavily burdened. The two had been chums at Yale: the +one a rich man's son; the other a country doctor's one boy, to whom had +been bequeathed only a name honored in every county of his native state, +a good constitution, and an ambition to follow his father's profession. +The boy had become one of the leading physicians of the great city in +which he made his home; his friend one of the most sought-after men in +the whirling gayeties of the great metropolis. As he stood on the +hearth with his back to the mantel waiting for the physician's next +word, he was typical of the best culture of the city, and the Doctor +looked up into the fine face with a deep affection visible in his eyes. + +"Going out, as usual, John?" + +"Only to the Pearsells' reception. Don't keep me waiting, old fellow; +speak up." + +"How the deuce am I to make things plain to you, John? Here, draw up +your chair a little nearer mine, as you used in college when you knew I +had a four A.M. lecture awaiting you, after one of your larks." + +The two men helped themselves to cigars; and the Doctor, resting his +head on the back of the chair, slowly let forth the smoke in curling +rings, and watched them dissolve and disperse. + +"Come, Dick, go ahead; I can stand it if you can." + +"Well, then, I 've done all I can for Hazel, and shall have to give up +the case unless you do all you can for her." + +Now the Doctor had not intended to make his statement in such a blunt +fashion, and he could not blame Mr. Clyde for the touch of resentment +that was so quick to show in his answer. + +"I did n't suppose you went back on your patients in this way, Richard; +much less on a friend. I have done everything I can for Hazel. If +there is anything I've omitted, just tell me, and I 'll try to make it +good." + +The Doctor nodded penitently. "I know, John, I 've said it badly; and I +don't know but that I shall make it worse by saying you 've done too +much." + +"Too much! That is not possible. Did n't you order last year's trip to +Florida and the summer yachting cruise?" + +Doctor Heath groaned. "I'm getting in deeper and deeper, John; you +can't understand, because you are you; born and bred as you are-- Look +here, John, did it ever occur to you that Hazel is a little hot-house +plant that needs hardening?" + +"No, Richard." + +"Well, she is; she needs hardening to make her any kind of a woman +physically and, and--" The Doctor stopped short. There were some +things of which he rarely spoke. + +"My Hazel needs hardening!" exclaimed the amazed father. "Why, Richard, +have n't you impressed upon me again and again that she needs the +greatest care?" + +The Doctor groaned again and smote his friend solidly on the knee. + +"Oh, you poor rich--you poor rich! 'Eyes have ye, and ye see not; ears +have ye, and hear not.' John, the girl must go away from you, who +over-indulge her, from this home-nest of luxury, from this +private-school business and dancing-class dissipation, from her +young-grown-up lunch-parties and matine-parties, from her violin +lessons and her indoor gymnastics--curse them!" + +This was a great deal for the usually self-contained physician, and Mr. +Clyde stared at him, but half comprehending. + +"Go away? Do you mean, Richard, that she must leave me?" + +"Yes, I mean just that." + +"Well,"--it was a long-drawn, thinking "well,"--"I will ask my sister to +take her this summer. She returns from Egypt soon and has just written +me she intends to open her place, 'The Wyndes,' in June." + +Again the Doctor groaned: "And kill her with golf and picnics and +coaching among all those fashionable butterflies! Now, hear to me, +John," he laid his hand on his friend's shoulder, "send her away into +the country, that is country,--something, by the way, which you know +precious little about. Let me find her a place up among those +life-giving Green Hills, and do you do without her for one year. Let me +prescribe for her there; and I 'll guarantee she returns to you hale and +hearty. Trust her to me, John; you 'll thank me in the end. I can do no +more for her here." + +"Do you mean, Richard, to put her away into real country conditions?" + +"Yes, just that; into a farmer's family, if possible,--and I know I can +make it possible,--and let her be as one of them, work, play, go +barefoot, eat, sleep, be merry--in fact, be what the Lord intended her +to be; and you 'll find out that is something very different from what +she is, if only you 'll hear to me." + +The Doctor was pacing the room in his earnestness. He was not accustomed +to beg thus to be allowed to prescribe for his patients. His one word +was law, and he was not required to explain his motives. + +Mr. Clyde's eyes followed him; then he broke the prolonged silence. + +"Richard, you have asked me the one thing to which her mother would +never have consented. How, then, can I?" + +"Think it over, John, and let me know." + +The two men clasped hands. + +"Let me take you along in my cab to the reception; it's inhuman to take +out your horses on such a night." + +"Thank you, no; I think I 'll give it up; I 'm not in the mood for it. +Good-night, old fellow." + +"Good-night, Johnny." + +The next morning, at breakfast, the Doctor took up a note that lay +beside his plate, and after reading it beamed joyously while he stirred +his coffee vigorously without drinking it. When, finally, he looked up, +his wife elevated her eyebrows over the top of the coffee urn, and the +Doctor laughed. + +"To be sure, wifie, read the note." And this is what she read:-- + + +DEAR RICHARD,--I 've had a hard night, trying to look at things from +your point of view and see my own duty towards Hazel. Things have grown +rather misty, looking both backwards and forwards, and I have concluded +I can't do better than to take you at your word,--trust her to you, and +accept the guarantee of her return to me with her physical condition +such as it should be. + +This decision will, as you well know, raise a storm of protest among the +relations. The whole swarm will be about my ears in less than no time. +Stand by me. The whole responsibility rests upon you,--and tell Hazel; +I 'm too much of a coward. This is a confession, but you will +understand. Let me know the details of your plans so soon as possible. I +have never been able to give you such a proof of friendship. Have you +ever asked another man for such? I mistrust you, old fellow. + +Yours, JOHN. + + + + + IV + + A LITTLE MILLIONAIRE + + +"Gabrielle." + +"Oui, mademoiselle Hazel," came in shrill yet muffled tones from the +depths of the dressing-room closet. + +"Bring me my white silk kimono." + +"Oui, mademoiselle." + +The order, in French, was given in a weak and slightly fretful voice +that issued from the bed at the farther end of a large room from which +the dressing-room opened. The apartment was, in truth, what Doctor +Heath had called it, "a nest of luxury." + +It was a bitter Saint Valentine's Day which succeeded the Doctor's +evening visit. The wood-fire, blazing cheerily in the ample fireplace, +sent its warmth and light far out into the room, flashing red +reflections in the curiously twisted bars of the brass bedstead. At the +left of the fireplace stood a small round tea-table, and upon it a +little silver tea-kettle on a standard of the same metal. Dainty cups +and saucers of egg-shell china were grouped about it; a miniature silver +tray held a sugar-dish and a cream-pot and a half-dozen gold-lined +souvenir spoons. + +On the richly carved mantel stood an exquisite plate-glass clock, the +chimes of which were just striking nine, and, keeping it company to +right and left, were two dainty figures of a shepherd and shepherdess in +Dresden china. The remaining mantel space was filled with tiny figures +in bisque,--a dachshund, a cat and kittens, a porcelain box, +heart-shaped, the top covered with china forget-me-nots, a silver +drinking-cup, a small oval portrait on ivory of a beautiful young woman, +framed in richly chased gold, the inner rim set round with pearls. A +blue pitcher of Cloisonn and a tray of filigree silver heaped with +dainty cotillion favors stood on one end; on the other, a crystal vase +filled with white tulips. + +Soft blue and white Japanese rugs lay upon the polished floor; delicate +blue and white draperies hung at the windows. Dressing-case and +writing-desk of white curled maple were each laden with articles for the +toilet and for writing, in solid silver, engraved with the monogram H.C. +A couch, upholstered in blue and white Japanese silk, stood at the right +of the fireplace, and all about the room were dainty wicker chairs +enamelled in white, and cushioned to match the hangings. + +The bed was canopied in pale blue covered with white net and edged with +lace, and the coverlet was of silk of the same delicate color, +embroidered with white violets and edged like the canopy, only with a +deeper frill of lace. The occupant of this couch, fit for a princess +royal, was the little mistress of all she surveyed, as well as the +mansion of which the room formed a small part; and a woebegone-looking +little girl she was, who called again, and this time impatiently:-- + +"Gabrielle, hurry, do." + +"Oui, oui, mademoiselle Hazel;" and Gabrielle tripped across the room +with the white kimono in one hand and fresh towels in the other. She +had just slipped it upon Hazel when there was a knock at the door. +Gabrielle opened it, and Wilkins asked in a voice intended to be low, +but which proved only husky:-- + +"Nuss say she mus' jes' speak wif Marse Clyde 'fo' she come up, an' +wan's to know if Miss Hazel will haf her breffus now or wait till she +come up herse'f." + +Before Gabrielle could answer, Hazel called out, "You may bring it up +now, Wilkins; and has the postman come yet?" + +Wilkins' broad smile sounded in his voice, as it came out of its +huskiness. + +"Yes, Miss Hazel, ben jes' 'fo' I come up. I ain't seen no hearts, but +dey's thicker 'n spatter by de feel, an' a heap o' boxes by 'spress!" + +"Oh, bring them up quick, Wilkins, and tell papa to be sure and come up +directly after breakfast." + +"Yes, for sho', Miss Hazel," said Wilkins, delighted to have a word with +the little daughter of her whom he had carried in his arms thirty-two +years ago up and down the jasmine-covered porch of an old New Orleans +mansion. + +In a few minutes, he reappeared with two large silver trays, on one of +which was the tempting breakfast of Hamburg grapes, a dropped egg, a +slice of golden-brown toast, half of a squab broiled to the +melting-point, and a cup of cocoa. On the other were boxes large and +small, and white envelopes of all sizes. + +Gabrielle cut the string and opened the boxes, while Hazel looked on, +pleased to be remembered, but finding nothing unusual in the display; +for Christmas and Easter and birthdays and parties brought just about +the same collection, minus "the hearts," which Wilkins had felt through +the covers. The only fun, after all, was in the guessing. + +Just then Mr. Clyde entered. + +"Oh, papa! I 'm so glad you have come; it's no fun guessing alone." +She put up her peaked, sallow little face for the good-morning kiss; and +her father, with the thought of his last night's struggle, took the face +in both hands and kissed brow and mouth with unusual tenderness. + +"Why, papa!" she exclaimed, "that kiss is my best valentine; you never +kissed me that way before." + +"Well, it's time I began, Birdie; let's see what you have for nonsense +here. What's this--from Cambridge?" + +"Oh, that's Jack, I 'm sure; he always sends me violets; but what is +that in the middle of the bunch?" With a smile she drew out a tiny +vignette of her Harvard Sophomore cousin. It was framed in a little +gold heart, and on a slip of paper was written, "For thee, I 'm all +'art." + +"Jack 's a gay deceiver," laughed her father; "he 's all ''art' for a +good many girls, big and little. What's this?--and this?" + +One after another he took out the contents of envelopes and +boxes,--candy hearts by the pound in silver bonbon boxes, silk hearts, +paper hearts, a flower heart of real roses ("That's from you, Papa +Clyde!" she exclaimed, and her father did not deny the pleasant +accusation), hollow gilt hearts stuffed with sentiments, a silver +chatelaine heart for change, and last, but not least, an enormous +envelope, a foot square, containing a white paper heart all written over +with "sentiments" from the girls in her class at school. + +"Come now, Birdie," said her father, after the last one had been opened +and guessed over, "eat your breakfast, or nurse will scold us both for +putting play before business." + +"I don't think I want any, papa," said Hazel, languidly, for, after all, +the valentines had proved to be almost too much excitement for the +little girl, who was just recovering from weeks of slow fever; "and, +Gabrielle, take the flowers away, they make my head ache,--and the other +things, too," she added, turning her head wearily on the pillow. + +"But you must eat, Hazel dear," said her father, gently but firmly; and +therewith he took a grape and squeezed the pulp between her lips. Hazel +laughed,--a faint sound. + +"Why, papa, if you feed me that way, I shall be a real Birdie. Yes," +she nodded, "that's good; I 'll take another;" and her father proceeded +to feed her slowly, now coaxing, now urging, then commanding, till a few +grapes and a half egg were disposed of. + +"There, now, I won't play tyrant any longer," he said, "for your real +tyrant of a doctor is coming soon, and I must be out of the way." + +"Are you going to be at home for luncheon to-day, papa?" + +"No, dear, I 've promised to go out to Tuxedo with the Masons, but I +shall be at home before dinner, just to look in upon you. I dine with +the Pearsells afterwards. Good-bye." A kiss,--two, three of them; and +the merry, handsome young father, still but thirty-seven, had gone, and +with him much of the brightness of Hazel's day. + +But she was used to this. Ever since she could remember anything, she +had been petted and kissed and--left with her nurse, her governess, or a +French maid. + +Her young mother, a Southern belle, lived more out of her home than in +it, with the round of gayeties in the winter months interrupted and +continued by winter house-parties at Lenox, a yachting cruise in the +Mediterranean, an early spring-flitting to the mountains of North +Carolina, and the later household moving to Newport. + +In all these migrations Hazel accompanied her parents; in fact, was +moved about as so much goods and chattels, from New York to the +Berkshires, from the Berkshires to Malta, from Malta to the Great +Smokies, from the mountains to the sea; her appurtenances, the governess +and French maid, went with her; and the routine of her home in New York, +the study, the promenade, the all-alone breakfasts and dinners went on +with the regularity of clockwork, whether on the yacht, in the +mountains, or in the villa on the Cliff. + +So now, although she wished her father would stay and entertain her, it +never occurred to her to tell him so; and likewise it never occurred to +the father that his child needed or wished him to stay. Nor had it ever +occurred to the young mother that she was not doing her whole duty by +her child; for she never omitted to go upstairs and kiss her little +daughter good-night, whether the child was awake or asleep, before going +out to dinner, theatre, or reception. + +She died when Hazel was nine, and it was a lovely memory of "mamma" that +Hazel cherished: a vision of loveliness in trailing white silk, or +velvet, or lace,--her mother always wore white, it was her Southern +inheritance,--with a single dark-red rose among the folds of Venetian +point of the bertha; always a gleam of white neck and arms banded with +flashing, many-faceted diamonds, or roped with pearls; always a sense of +delicious white warmth and fragrance, as the vision bent over her and +pressed a light kiss upon her cheek. And if, in her bliss, she opened +her sleepy eyes, she looked always into laughing brown depths, and +putting up her hand caressed shining masses of brown hair. + +But it was always a good-night vision. In the morning mamma did not +breakfast until ten, and Hazel was off to the little private school at +half-past nine. At noon mamma was either out at lunch or giving a +lunch-party; and in the afternoon there was the promenade in the Park +with the governess, and sometimes, as a treat, a drive with mamma on her +round of calls, when Hazel and the maid sat among the furs in the +carriage. Then Hazel played at being grown up, and longed for the time +when she could wear a reception dress like mamma's, of white broadcloth +and sable, and trip up the steps of the various houses, and trip down +again with a bevy of young girls laughing and chatting so merrily. + +All that had ceased when Hazel was nine, and the young father had made +her mistress in her mother's place. It was such a great house! and there +were so many servants! and the housekeeper was so strict! and it was so +queer to sit at the round table in the big dining-room and try to look +at papa over the silver pergne in the centre! + +When she was eleven, she entered one of the large private schools which +many of her little mates attended. Soon it came to be the "girls of our +set" with Hazel; and then there followed music-lessons, and +violin-lessons, and riding-lessons, and dancing-class, and riding-days +in the Park, and lunch-parties with the girls, and +theatre-matine-parties, and concerts at Carnegie Hall, and birthday +parties, and sales--school and drawing-room affairs--and Lenten +sewing-classes; until gradually her little society life had become an +epitome of her mother's, and when she began to shoot up like a +bean-sprout, lose her round face and the delicate pink from her cheeks, +uncles and aunt and cousin and friends whispered of her mother's frail +constitution, and that it was time to take heed. + +Then it was that the physician, who had helped to bring her into the +world, was summoned hastily to prevent her early departure from it. +This was the "curious case" that so bothered him; and this pale, languid +girl of thirteen in the blue-canopied bed was the one he intended to +transplant into another soil. + +A short, sharp tap announced his arrival. The nurse opened the door. + +"Good-morning, little girl--ah, ah! Saint Valentine's Day? I had +forgotten it; all those came this morning?" he said cheerily, pointing +to a table on which Gabrielle had placed all the remembrances but the +flowers. + +"Yes, Doctor Heath; but my best valentine, you know, is papa, and after +him, you." + +"Hm, flatterer!" growled the Doctor, feeling her pulse. "Pretty good, +pretty good. Think we can get you up for half a day. What do you say, +nurse?" + +"I think it will do her good, Doctor Heath; she has no appetite yet, and +a little exercise might help her to it." + +"No appetite?" The two eyebrows drew together in a straight line over +the bridge of his nose, and, from under them, a pair of keen eyes looked +at Hazel. + +"Well, I 've planned something that will give you a splendid one, +Hazel,--the best kind of a tonic-- + +"Oh, I don't want to take any more tonics. I am so sick of them," said +Hazel, in a despairing tone, for although she adored the Doctor, she +despised his medicines. + +"You won't get sick of this tonic so soon, I 'll warrant," he said, +unbending his brows and letting the full twinkle of his fine eyes shine +forth,--"at least not after you are used to it. I won't say but that it +may cause a certain kind of sickness at first; in fact, I 'm sure of +it." + +"Oh, will it nauseate me?" cried Hazel, dreading to suffer any more. + +"No, no, it won't do that, but--" + +"But what _do_ you mean, Doctor Heath? Are you joking?" + +"Never was more in earnest in my life," replied the Doctor, rubbing his +hands in glee, much to Hazel's amazement. "Hazel," he turned abruptly +to her, "papa is a splendid fellow; did you know that?" + +Hazel laughed aloud, a real girl's laugh,--Doctor Heath was so queer at +times. + +"Have you just found that out?" she retorted. + +"No, you witch,--don't be impertinent to your elders,--I have n't; but +really he is, take it all in all, just about the most common-sense +fellow in New York City." + +"What has he done now, that you are praising him so?" + +"Just heard to me, my dear, and agreed to do just as I want him to," +said the Doctor, demurely. + +"Why," laughed Hazel, "that's just when I think he is a most splendid +fellow, when he does just what I want him to. Is n't it funny you and I +think just alike!" And she gave his hand a malicious little pat. The +Doctor caught the five slender digits and held them fast. + +"Now we 're agreed that you have the most splendid, common-sense father +in the world, I want you to prove to me that your father has the most +splendid, common-sense daughter in it, as well." + +Again Hazel laughed. She was used to her friend's ways. + +"That means that you want me to take that old, new tonic of yours." + +"Yes, just that," said the Doctor, emphatically; "and now, as you don't +appear to care to hear about it, I 'm going to make a long call and tell +you its entire history." + +"Have you brought it with you?" asked Hazel, somewhat mystified. + +"No, I can't carry around with me in a cab five children, a hundred +acres of pine woods, a whole mountain-top, and a few Jersey cows." + +"What _do_ you mean? You _are_ joking." + +Then the physician clasped the thin hand a little more closely and told +her of the country plan. + +At first, Hazel failed to comprehend it. She gazed at the speaker with +large, serious eyes, as if she half-feared he had taken leave of his +senses. + +"Did papa know it this morning?" was her first question. + +"Yes, my dear." + +"Then that is why he kissed me the way he did," she said thoughtfully. +"But," her lip quivered, "I sha'n't have him to kiss me up there, +and--and--oh, dear!" A wail went up from the canopied bed that made the +Doctor turn sick at heart, and even the nurse hurried away into the +dressing-room. + +Somehow Doctor Heath could not exhort Hazel, as he had her father, to +use common-sense. He preferred to use diplomacy. + +"You see, Hazel, a year won't be so very long, and it will give your +hair time to grow; and perhaps you would not mind wearing a cap for a +time up there, while if you were here you certainly would not care about +going to dancing-school or parties in that rig; now would you?" + +Hazel sniffed and looked for her handkerchief. As she failed to find +it, the Doctor applied his own huge square of linen to the dripping, +reddened eyes, and tenderly stroked the smooth-shaven head. + +Hazel had her vanities like all girls, and her long dark braids had been +one of them. After the fever, she had been shorn of what scanty locks +had been left to her, and many a time she had wondered what the girls +would say when they saw her. After all, the new plan might be endured, +for the sake of the hair and her looks. + +She sniffed again, and this time a good many tears were drawn up into +her nose. The Doctor, taking no notice of the subsiding flood, +proceeded,-- + +"My patients always look so comical when the fuzz is coming out. It's +like chicken-down all over the head--" + +"Fuzz!" exclaimed Hazel, with a dismayed, wide-eyed look; "must I have +fuzz for hair?" + +"Why, of course, for about five months," was the Doctor's matter-of-fact +reply. "Then," he continued, apparently unheeding the look of relief +that crept over Hazel's face, "you are apt to have the hair come out +curly." + +"Oh!" + +"Yes, and it really grows very fast--that is," he said, resorting to +wile, "if any one is strong and well; but if the general health is not +good, why--hem!--the hair is n't apt to grow!" + +"Goodness! I don't want to be bald all my life!" + +"No, I thought not, and for that very reason it did seem the best thing +for you to get into the country where you can get well and strong as +fast as ever you can." + +"Shall I have to eat my breakfast and dinner alone up there?" was her +next question. + +Doctor Heath laughed. "What! With all those five children! You will +never want for company, I can assure you of that. And now I 'll be off; +as it's Saint Valentine's Day, which I had forgotten, I 'll wager I have +five valentines from those very children waiting for me at home." + +"Will you show them to me, if you have?" + +"To be sure I will. Now sit up for half a day, and get yourself strong +enough to let me take you up there by the middle of March." + +"Oh, are you going to take me? What fun! Are they friends of yours?" +she added timidly. + +"Every one," said the Doctor, emphatically. He turned at the door. +"You have n't said yet whether you will honor me with your company up +there." + +"I suppose I must," she said, with something between a sigh and a laugh. +"But I don't know what Gabrielle will do; she 'll be so homesick." + +"Gabrielle!" cried the Doctor, in a voice loud with amazement; "you +don't think you are going to take Gabrielle with you, do you?" + +Before Hazel had time to recover from her astonishment, Gabrielle, +hearing her name called so loudly, came tripping into the room. + +"Oui, oui, monsieur le docteur;" and Doctor Heath beat a hasty retreat +to avoid further misunderstandings. + +In the afternoon, Hazel received a box by messenger, with, "Please +return by bearer," on the wrapper. On opening it, she found the +Doctor's valentines with the following sentiments appropriately +attached. + + + I + + By Rose-pose made, by March adorned, + 'T is not a Heart that one should scorn: + For use each day, the whole year through, + Where find a Valentine so true? + + + II + + Cherry Blossom made this fudge + (Buddie made the box). + Eat it soon, or you will judge, + She made it all of rocks. + + + III + + Baby May has made this cookie; + Mother baked it--but, by hookey! + I can't find another rhyme + To match with this your valentine. + + Your loving Valentines, + + ROSE, MARCH, "BUDD AND CHERRY," MAY BLOSSOM. + (We're one.) + MOUNT HUNGER, February 14, 1896. + + + + + V + + TRANSPLANTED + + +It was the middle of April, yet the drifts still blocked the ravines, +and great patches of snow lay scattered thickly on the northern and +eastern slopes of the mountains. + +Not a bud had thought of swelling; not a fern dared to raise its downy +ball above the sodden leaves. Day after day a keen wind from the north +chased dark clouds across a watery blue sky, and now and then a solitary +crow flapped disconsolately over the upland pastures and into the woods. + +But in the farmhouse on the mountain, every Blossom was a-quiver with +excitement, for the "live Valentine" was to arrive that day. + +According to what Doctor Heath had written first, Mrs. Blossom had +expected Hazel to come the middle of March. She had told the children +about it a week before that date, and ever since, wild and varied and +continuous had been the speculations concerning the new member of the +family. + +Both father and mother were much amused at the different ways in which +each one accepted the fact, and commented upon it. At the same time +they were slightly anxious as to the outcome of such a combination. + +"They 'll work it out for themselves, Mary," said Mr. Blossom, when his +wife was expressing her fears on account of the attitude of March and +Cherry. + +"I hope with all my heart they will, without friction or unpleasantness +for the poor child," replied his wife, thoughtfully, for March's looks +and words returned to her, and they foreboded trouble. + +Her husband smiled. "Perhaps the 'poor child' will have her ways of +looking at things up here, which may cause a pretty hard rub now and +then for our children. But let them take it; it will do them good, and +show us what stuff is in them for the future." + +Mrs. Blossom tried to think so, but March's words on that afternoon she +had told the children came back to her. + +They were dumb at first through sheer surprise. Then Rose spoke, +flinging aside her Virgil she had been studying by the failing light at +the window. + +"Oh, mother! we 've been so happy--just by ourselves." + +"Will you be less happy, Rose, in trying to make some one else share our +happiness?" + +Rose said nothing, but leaned her forehead against the pane, and the +tears trickled adown it and froze halfway. + +Mrs. Blossom proceeded, in the silence that followed, to tell them +something of Hazel's life. Then Budd spoke up like a man. + +"I 'm awful sorry for her; she 's a little brick to be willing to come +away from her father and live with folks she don't know. I 'd be a +darned coward about leaving my Popsey." + +There was no tablecloth handy to hide the squeeze he wanted to give his +mother's hand, and Mrs. Blossom, knowing how he hated any public +demonstration of affection, reserved her approving kiss for the dark and +bedtime. But she looked at him in a way that sent Budd whistling, "I +won't play in your back-yard," over to the kitchen stove, where he +stared inanely at his own reflection in the polished pipe. + +For the first time in her life, Cherry did not echo her twin's +sentiment. She was already insanely jealous of the new-comer who seemed +to claim so much of her mother's sympathy and affection. And she was +n't even here! What would it be when she was here for good and all? + +At this miserable thought, and all that it appeared to involve, Cherry +began to cry. + +Now to see Cherry Blossom cry generally afforded great fun for the whole +family; for there never was a girl of ten who could cry in quite such a +unique manner as this same round-faced, pug-nosed, brown-eyed Cherry, +whose red hair curled as tightly as corkscrews all over her head, and +bobbed and danced and quivered and shook with every motion and emotion. + +First, her nose grew very red at the tip; then, her small mouth screwed +itself around by her left ear; gradually, her round face wrinkled till +it resembled a withered crabapple; and finally, if one listened intently +and watched closely, one could hear small sniffs and see two +infinitesimal drops of water issue from the nearly closed and wrinkled +eyes. + +But to-day no one noticed, and Cherry sat down in her mother's lap, and +mumbled out her woe between sniffs. + +"I can't help it if Budd does want her; _I_ don't, Martie. Budd will +play with her, and you 'll kiss her just as you do us, and it won't be +comfy any more." + +"That does not sound like mother's Cherry Blossom," said Mrs. Blossom, +smiling in spite of herself. "I think I 'll tell you all why it comes +to mother and father as a blessing." + +Then Mrs. Blossom told them of the mortgage on the farm; how it had been +made necessary, and what it meant, and how it was her duty to accept +what had been sent to her as a means of paying it off. + +Rose came over from the window. "Oh, why did n't you tell us before, +Martie," she cried, sobbing outright this time, "and let us help you to +earn something towards it during all this dreadful year? To think you +have been bearing all this, and just going about the same, smiling and +cheer--oh, dear!" Rose sat down on the hearth-rug at her mother's feet, +and her sobs mingled with Cherry's sniffs. + +March, who had listened thus far in silence, rose from the settle where +he had flung himself in disgust, and, going over to his mother, stood +straight and tall before her. His gray eyes flashed. + +"I 've been a fool, mother, not to see it all before this. You ought to +have told _me_. I 'm your eldest son, and come next after father in +'home things.'" And with this assertion he made a mighty resolve, then +and there to put away boyish things and be more of a man. His mother, +looking at him, felt the change, and tears of thankfulness filled her +eyes. + +"What could you do, children? You were too young to have your lives +burdened with work." + +"I 'd have found something to do, mother, if you had only told me. +About the girl--" he hesitated--"of course I 'll look at it from the +money side, but it 'll never be the same after she comes--never!" And +with that he went off into the barn. + +His mother sighed, for March was looking at the matter in the very way +which, to her, was abhorrent. + +"Don't sigh so, Martie," cried Rose; "I 'll take back what I said, and +do everything I can to help you by making it pleasant for her. Budd has +made me ashamed of myself." + +"That's my own daughter Rose," said Mrs. Blossom, leaning over to kiss +her parting, for Cherry was awkwardly in the way. + +"Did you hear Rose, Cherry?" whispered her mother. + +"Ye-es," sniffed Cherry. + +"And won't you try to help mother, and make Hazel happy?" + +"N-o," said Cherry, still obdurate. + +"Very well; then I must depend on Rose and Budd and little May," replied +her mother, putting her down from her knee. By which Cherry knew she +was out of favor, and, not having Budd to flee to for sympathy, ran +blindly out into the woodshed and straight into Chi, who was bringing in +two twelve-quart milk pails filled to overflowing with their creamy +contents. + +"Hi there! Cherry Bounce! Steady, steady--without you want to mop up +this woodshed." + +"O Chi! I 'm just as miser'ble; a new little girl's coming to live with +us always, and we 'll have no more good times." + +"That's queer," said Chi, balancing the pails deftly as Cherry fluttered +about, rather uncertain as to where she should betake herself in the +cold. "I should think it would be the more, the merrier. When's she +comin'?" + +"This very month," said Cherry, opening her eyes a little wider, and +forgetting to sniff in her delight at telling some news. "She 's a rich +little girl, but very poor, too, mother says, and she's been sick and is +coming here to get well. I suppose she 's lost all her flesh while she +'s been sick, like Aunt Tryphosa; don't you? That's why she 's so +poor." + +"Hm!--rich 'n' poor too; that's bad for children," said Chi, soberly. + +"Why?" asked Cherry, surprised into drying her small tears and +forgetting to sniff. + +"Coz 't is. You see, all you children are rich 'n' poor too; so she 'll +keep you comp'ny, as she 's poor where you 're rich as Croesus, 'n' you +'re poor as Job's turkey where she's rich." + +"Why, what do you mean, Chi?" + +"You wait awhile, 'n' you 'll find out." And with that, Cherry had to +be content. + +As the woodshed was too cold to be long comfortably mournful in,--Cherry +decided to go inside and set the table for tea, wondering, meanwhile, +what Chi meant. Ordinarily she would have gone straight to her mother to +find out; but just to-night Cherry felt there was an abyss separating +them, and she hated the very thought of the newcomer having caused this +break between her adored Martie and herself before having stepped foot +in the house. + +But Hazel's arrival had been delayed a whole month: first, on account of +the unusually cold weather of March, and then on account of the Doctor's +pressing engagements. To-night, however, this long waiting was to be at +an end. + +Mr. Blossom had harnessed Bess and Bob into the two-seated wagon, and +driven down three miles for them to the "Mill Settlement;" and there he +was to meet the stage from Barton's River, the nearest railway station. + +As the time approached for the light of the lantern on the wagon to +glimmer on the lower mountain road, which ran in view of the house, the +excitement of Budd and Cherry grew intense. March intended to be +indifferent, yet tolerant, but even he went twice to the door to listen. +As for Rose, she was thinking almost more of Doctor Heath, with whom she +was a great favorite, than of the coming guest. Chi had done up the +chores early with March's help, and sat whistling and whittling in the +shed door with his eye on the lower road. + +"They 're coming; they 're coming!" screamed the twins, making a wild +dash for the woodshed, that they might have the first glimpse as the +wagon drove up to the kitchen porch. + +"Chi, they 're coming!" they shrieked in his ear, as they flew past him. + +"Well, I ain't deaf, if they are," said Chi, gathering himself together, +and going out to help unload. + +"Chi, how are you?" said the Doctor, in a hearty tone, grasping the +horny hand held out to him. + +"First-rate, 'n' glad to see you back on the Mountain." + +"Here, lend a hand, will you? and take out a Little somebody who has to +be handled rather gently for a week or two." + +"I ain't much used to handlin' chiny," he replied, "but I 'll be +careful." + +He reached up his long arms and, gently as a woman, lifted Hazel out of +the wagon on to the porch. + +By this time, Budd had found his bearings and had the Doctor by the +hand. + +"Halloo, Budd! here you are handy. Just take Hazel's bag, and run into +the house with her; she must n't stand a minute in this keen air." + +Budd's heart was going pretty fast, but he faced the music. + +"Come along, Hazel; we 've been waiting a month to see you." + +"And I've been waiting longer than that to see you, Budd." The gentle +voice made Budd her vassal forever after. + +"Here, Martie, here's Hazel!" he shouted quite unnecessarily, for his +mother had come to the door to welcome her guests. Cherry, hearing the +shout, disappeared in the pantry, and was invisible until called to +supper. + +In the confusion of glad welcome that followed, Hazel was conscious of +stepping into a large, warm, lighted room, of some one's arms about her, +and of a loving voice, saying: + +"Come in, dear; you must be so tired with your long journey and this +cold ride;" and then a kiss that made her half forget the lonely, +strange feeling she had had during the stage and wagon ride, despite the +doctor's cheerfulness and care of her. + +Then some one untied her brown velvet hood and loosened her long +sealskin coat. + +"Let me take off your things," said Rose. + +Hazel looked up and into the loveliest face she ever remembered to have +seen. + +"I 'm Rose, and this is May. May, this is the valentine Martie told us +of." + +"I tiss 'oo," said May, winningly, and held up her rosy bud of a face to +Hazel. Hazel stooped to give her, not one, but a half-dozen kisses. +There was no resisting such a little blossom. + +May put up her hand and stroked the little silk skull-cap. + +"What 'oo wear tap for?" + +"Sh! baby," said Rose, horrified, putting her hand on May's mouth. + +"Oh, don't do that," said Hazel, "I 'm so used to it now; I don't mind +what people say or think. But I did at first." + +May's lip began to quiver and roll over; Hazel sat down on the settle, +and, drawing May up beside her, said gently:-- + +"There, there, little May Blossom, don't you cry, and I 'll tell you all +about it. It's because I have n't any hair. I lost it all when I was +sick so long. Sometime I 'll show you how funny my head looks, all +covered with fuzz. Doctor Heath says it's like a little chicken's." And +May was comforted and won once and for all to the Valentine, who gave +her the tiny chatelaine watch to play with. + +Budd had been hanging about to get the first glimpse of Hazel by +lamplight, and now rushed off to the barn and Chi to give vent to his +feelings. + +"I say, Chi, where are you?" + +"In the harness room," replied Chi. "What do you want?" as he appeared. + +"I say, Chi, she 's a peach. She is n't a bit stuck up, as March said +she would be." + +"Good-lookin'?" queried Chi. + +"N-o," said Budd, hesitating, "n-o, but I think she will be when she +gets some hair." + +"Ain't got any hair!" exclaimed Chi. "How does that happen?" + +"She said she 'd been sick an' lost it all, an' 't was like chicken +fuzz." + +"Said that, did she?" exclaimed Chi, laughing; then, with the sudden +change from gayety to absolute solemnity that was peculiar to him, he +said:-- + +"She 's no fool, I can tell you that, Budd; 'n' I 'll bet my last red +cent she 'll come out an A Number 1 beauty; 'n' March Blossom had better +hold his tongue till he cuts all his wisdom teeth." And with that Chi +went into the shed room to "wash up." + +What a supper that was! And what a room in which to eat it! + +But for the Doctor's cheery voice, Hazel, as she sat in a corner of the +settle, might have thought herself in another world, so unaccustomed +were her city-bred eyes to all that was going on before her. The room +itself was so queer, and, in a way new to her, delightful. + +The farmhouse was an old one, strong of beam and solid of foundation. +It had been divided at first according to the fashion of the other +century in which it was built. But as his family increased, Mr. Blossom +found the need of a large, general living-room. It was then that he +took down the wall between the front square room and the kitchen, and +threw them into one. It was this arrangement that made the apartment +unique. + +At one end was the huge fireplace that was originally in the front room. +At the left of the fireplace was the jog into which the front door +opened, formerly the little entry. + +This was the sitting-room end of the low forty-foot-long apartment; and +it showed to Hazel the fireplace, the old-fashioned crane, with the +hickory back-log glowing warm welcome, the long red-cushioned settle, a +set of shelves filled with books, a little round work-table, Mrs. +Blossom's special property, a large round table of cherry that had +turned richly red with age, and wooden armchairs and rockers, with +patchwork cushions. + +The middle portion served for dining-room. In it were the family table +of hard pine, the wooden chairs, and Mrs. Blossom's grandmother's tall +pine dresser. + +At the kitchen end, next the woodshed, were the sink, the stove, the +kitchen shelves for pots and pans, and the kitchen table with its +bread-trough and pie-board, all of which Rose kept scoured white with +soap and sand. + +This living-room, sitting-room, dining-room, and kitchen in one had six +windows facing south and east. Every window had brackets for plants; +for this evening Rose had turned the blossom-side inwards to the room, +and the walls glowed and gleamed with the velvety crimson of gloxinias, +the red of fuchsias, the pink and white and scarlet of geraniums, the +cream of wax-plant and begonia. Upon all this radiance of color, the +lamplight shone and the fire flashed its crimson shadows. The kettle +sang on the stove, and the delicious odor of baked potatoes came from +the open oven. + +"Why, March!" said the Doctor, coming down from the spare room at the +call for supper, "waiting for an introduction? I did n't know you stood +on ceremony in this fashion. Allow me," he said with mock gravity to +Hazel, and presented March in due form. + +Hazel greeted him exactly as she would have greeted a new boy at +dancing-school. "Little Miss Finicky," was March's scornful thought of +her, as he bowed rather awkwardly and thrust his hands into his pockets, +racking his brains for something to say. + +"What a handsome boy! As handsome as Jack," was Hazel's first +impression; then, missing the cordiality with which the other members of +the family had welcomed her, she said in thought, "I 'm sure he does not +want me here by the way he acts; I think he 's horrid." + +Doctor Heath sat down by Hazel. "I 'm not going to let you sit down to +tea with all these mischiefs, little girl, not to-night, for you can't +eat baked potatoes and the other good things after that long journey, so +I 'll ask Rose to give you a bite right here on the settle." + +"I 'll speak to Rose," said March, glad to get away. + +"Thank you," said the Doctor, looking after him with a puzzled +expression in his keen eyes. Just then Mr. Blossom and Chi came in, and +the whole family sat down at the table. + +"Why, where 's Cherry?" exclaimed the Doctor. + +"Budd, where 's Cherry?" said his father. + +"I promised her I would n't tell where she hides till she was twelve, +an' now she 's ten, an' she 's been so mean about Haz-- + +"Budd," said his father, sternly, "answer me directly." + +"She 's under the pantry shelf behind the meal-chest," said Budd, +meekly. + +There was a shout of laughter that caused Cherry to crawl out pretty +quickly and open the pantry door,--for it was hard to hear the fun and +not be in it. + +"Come, Cherry," said her mother, still laughing, and Cherry slipped into +her seat beside Doctor Heath with a murmured, "How do you do?" and her +face bent so low over her plate that nothing was visible to Hazel but a +round head running over with tight red curls that bobbed and trembled in +a peculiarly funny way. + +"Well, Cherry," said the Doctor, trying to speak gravely, with only the +red tip of a nose in view, "you seem to be rather low in your mind. I +shall have to prescribe for you. Chi, suppose you drive me down to the +Settlement to-morrow morning, and on the way to the train I will send up +a cure-all for low spirits. I 've something for March, too. I think he +needs it." He drew his eyebrows together over the bridge of his nose +and cast a sharp glance at the boy, who felt the doctor had read him. + +"That means you 've got something for us," said Budd, bluntly. + +"Guess Budd's hit the nail on the head this time," said Chi. "Should +n't wonder if 't was some pretty lively stuff." + +"You 're right there, Chi," replied the Doctor, laughing. "There 's +plenty of good strong bark in it--" + +Thereupon there was a shout of joy from Budd which brought Cherry's head +into position at once. + +"I know, I know, it's a St. Bernard puppy!" + +"Oh--ee," squealed Cherry, in her delight, and forthwith put her arm +through the Doctor's and squeezed it hard against her ribs. + +"Guess there's a good deal of crow-foot in the other, ain't there?" said +Chi, with a wink at March, who deliberately left his seat after saying, +"Excuse me" most gravely to his mother, and turned a somersault in the +kitchen end just to relieve his feelings. Then, with his hands in his +pockets, he went up to Doctor Heath, his usually clear, pale face +flushing with excitement. + +"Do you mean, Doctor Heath, you 're going to give me a full-blooded +Wyandotte cock?" he demanded. + +"That is just what I mean, March," replied the Doctor, with great +gravity, "and twelve full-blooded wives are at this moment looking in +vain for a roost beside their lord and master in the express office down +at Barton's River." + +"Oh, glory!" cried March, wringing the Doctor's hand with both his, and +then going off to execute another somersault. "You 've done it now!" + +"Done what, March?" asked Doctor Heath, really touched by the boy's +grateful enthusiasm. + +"Made my fortune," he replied, dropping into his seat again, breathless +with excitement; and to the Doctor's amazement he saw tears, actual +tears, gather in the boy's eyes, before he looked down in his plate and +busied himself with his baked potato. + +Hazel saw them too. "What a strange boy," she thought, "and how +different this is from eating my dinner all alone!" Then she slipped up +to the Doctor's side with her small tray containing nothing but empty +dishes, for the keen air and the sight of so many others eating and +enjoying themselves had given her a good appetite. + +"Are you satisfied with me _now_?" she said, presenting her tray. + +"I should think so," he exclaimed. "Two glasses of milk, two slices of +toasted brown bread, one piece of sponge cake, and a baked apple with +cream! I 've gone out of business with you; my last 'tonic' is going to +work well,--don't you think so?" + +"I 'm sure it is," she said quietly, but there was such a depth of +meaning in the sweet voice and the few words that the Doctor threw his +arm around her as they rose from the table, and kept her beside him +until bedtime. + +At nine o'clock, Mrs. Blossom helped her to undress, and then, saying +she would come back soon, left her alone in the little bedroom off the +kitchen. + +Hazel looked about her in amazement. This was her little room! A small +single bed, looking like a snow drift, so white and feathery and high +was it; one window curtained with a square of starched white cotton +cloth that drew over the panes by means of a white cord on which it was +run at the top; a tiny wash-stand with an old-fashioned bowl and pitcher +of green and white stone-ware, and over it an old-fashioned gilt mirror; +a small splint-bottomed chair and large braided rug of red woollen rags. +That was all, except in one corner, where some cleats had been nailed to +the ceiling and a clothes-press made by hanging from them full curtains +of white cloth. + +For the first time in her life, Hazel unpacked her own travelling-bag +and took out the silver toilet articles with the pretty monogram. But +where should she put them? No bureau, no dressing-case, no +bath-room!--For a few minutes Hazel felt bewildered, then, laughing, she +put them back again into her bag, and, leaving her candle in the tin +candlestick on the wash-stand, she gave one leap into the middle of the +high feather-bed. + +Just then Mrs. Blossom returned from saying good-night to her own +children. She tucked Hazel in snugly, and to the young girl's surprise, +knelt by the bed saying, "Let us repeat the Lord's Prayer together, +dear;" and together they said it, Hazel fearing almost the sound of her +own voice. When they had finished, Mary Blossom, still kneeling, asked +that Father to bless the coming of this one of His little ones into +their home, and asked it in such a loving, trustful way, that Hazel's +arm stole out from the coverlet and around Mrs. Blossom's neck; her +head, soft and silky as a new-born baby's, cuddled to her shoulder: and +when Mrs. Blossom kissed her good-night, she said suddenly, but +half-timidly, "Do you say _this_ with Rose every night?" + +"Yes, dear, every night." + +"And how old is Rose?" + +"She will be seventeen next August." + +"Do you with Budd and Cherry, too?" + +"Yes, with all my children, even March and May." + +"March!" exclaimed Hazel. + +"Why not?" laughed his mother. "I 'm sure he needs it, as you 'll find +out; now good-night, and don't get up to our early breakfast to-morrow, +for the Doctor goes on the first morning train, and you 're not quite +strong enough yet to do just as we do. Good-night again." + +"Good-night," said Hazel, thinking she could never have enough of this +kind of putting to bed. + +Meanwhile March and Budd, in their bedroom over the "long-room," were +discussing in half-whispers Wyandotte cocks, St. Bernard puppies, and +the new-comer, for they were too excited to sleep. + +Just behind March's bed, near the head, there was a large knot in the +boards of the flooring, which for four years had served him many a good +turn, when Budd and Cherry were planning, below in the kitchen, how they +could play tricks upon him. March had carefully removed the knot, and +with his eye, or ear, at the hole, he had been able, entirely to the +mystification of the twins, to overthrow their conspiracies and defeat +their flank movements. When his espionage was over, he replaced the +knot, and no one in the household was the wiser for his private +detective service. + +To-day, late in the afternoon, he had taken out the knot, intending to +have a view of the new arrival, unbeknown to the rest of the household; +but so interested had he become in the general welcome and in the +anticipation of the Doctor's gifts, that he had forgotten both to look +through the hole and to replace the knot. + +Hazel, too, could not sleep at first. It was all so strange, and yet +she was so happy. Her thoughts were in New York, and she was already +planning for a visit from her father, when suddenly she remembered that +she had left the little chatelaine watch he had given her on her last +birthday, lying on the settle where May had been playing with it. She +must wind it regularly, that was her father's stipulation when he gave +it to her. She sprang out of bed, tiptoed to the door, listened; all +was still, but not wholly dark. The embers beneath the ashes in the +fireplace sent a dull glow into the room. Softly she stole out; found +her watch, then, half-way to her own door, stopped, startled by a voice +issuing apparently from the rafters overhead. It was March, who, +forgetting his open knot-hole, turned over towards the wall with a +prolonged yawn and said, evidently in answer to Budd:-- + +"Oh, go to sleep; don't talk about her. I think she 's a perfect guy." + + + + + VI + + MALACHI + + +It was a month after the eventful day for the Blossoms, and Saturday +morning. Rose, with her sleeves rolled up above her elbows, was +kneading bread and singing, as she worked:-- + + "'Oh, a king would have loved and left thee, + And away thy sweet love cast: + But I am thine + Whilst the stars shall shine,-- + To the--last--'" + + +Just here, she gave the round mass of dough a toss up to the ceiling and +caught it deftly on her right fist as it came down, finishing her octave +with high C, while again the bread spun aloft and dropped in safety on +her left fist--"to the last!" + +Then she proceeded with her kneading and singing:-- + + "'I told thee when love was hopeless; + But now he is wild and sings-- + That the stars above [up went the bread again]-- + Shine ever on Love--'" + + +A peal of merry laughter close behind her made her jump, and the bread +came down kerchunk into the kneading trough. + +"Gracious, Hazel! how you frightened me! I thought you were off with +Budd and Cherry." + +"So I was; but they wanted me to come in and tell you there is to be a +secret meeting of the N.B.B.O.O. Society in the usual place. They said +you would know where it is." + +"Of course I do; do you?" + +"No, they would n't tell. They said it is against the rules to allow +any one in who hasn't been initiated. They said they 'd initiate me, if +I wanted to join." + +"Well, do you want to?" + +"Of course I do, if you belong," said Hazel, eagerly. + +"Tell them I 'll be out after I 've put the bread to rise and cleared +up; but be sure and tell them not to do anything till I come." + +"Yes," cried Hazel, joyfully, skipping through the woodshed and +encountering Chi with a bag of seed-beans. + +"Where you goin', Lady-bird?" (This was Chi's name for her from the +first day.) "Seems to me you 're gettin' over the ground pretty fast." + +"The Buds" (for so Hazel had nicknamed the children) "are going to have +a meeting somewhere of the N.B.B.O.O. Society, and I'm to be initiated, +Chi. What does that mean?" + +"Initiated, hey? Into a secret society? Well, that depends.--Sometimes +it means being tossed sky-high in a blanket, and then again you 're +dropped lower than the bottomless pit; and you can't most always tell +beforehand which way you 're goin'." + +Hazel's face fairly lost the rich color she had gained in the past +month. This was more than she had bargained for. + +"Oh, Chi! They would n't do such things to me!" she exclaimed in +dismay. + +"Well, no--I don't know as they 'd carry it that far; but those children +mean mischief every time." + +"But they would n't hurt me, Chi. They would n't be as mean as that; +besides, Rose wouldn't let them." + +"Well, I don't know as she would. But children are children, and Rose +ain't grown any wings yet." + +"Was Rose initiated?" was Hazel's next rather anxious question. + +"Yes, she was," said Chi, taking up a handful of beans and letting them +run through his fingers into the open bag. + +"How do you know, Chi?" + +"Coz I initiated her myself." + +"You, Chi? Why, do you belong?" + +"First member of the N.B.B.O.O. Society." + +"Well, that's funny. Who initiated you?" + +Chi set down the bag of beans, and for a moment shook with laughter; +then, growing perfectly sober, he said solemnly:-- + +"I initiated myself. But they was all on hand when I did it." + +"What did you do, Chi?" + +"Just hear her!" said Chi to himself, but aloud, he said, "I 'll tell +you this much, if it is a secret society. They try 'n' see what stuff +you 're made of." + + "'Sugar and spice + And all that's nice, + That's what little girls are made of,'" + +Hazel interrupted, singing merrily. + +"There was n't much 'sugar 'n' spice' in that Rose Blossom when she put +me to the test. You ain't heard a screech-owl yet; but when you do, +you'll come running home to find out whose bein' killed in the woods." + +Hazel looked at him half in fear, but Chi went on stolidly:-- + +"'N' those children told me I 'd got to go up into the woods at twelve +o'clock at night, when the screech-owls was yellin' bloody murder, to +show I wasn't scairt of nothin'; 'n' I went." + +"Oh, Chi, was n't it awful?" + +"Kinder scarey; but they gave me the dinner horn 'n' told me to blow a +blast on that when I was up there, so they 'd hear, 'n' know I was +_clear_ into the woods; for they was all on hand watchin' from the back +attic window--what they could in a pitch-black night--to see if I 'd +back down." + +"And you did n't, Chi?" said Hazel, eagerly. + +"You bet I did n't, 'n' I brought home an old screecher just to prove I +was game." + +"How did you catch him, Chi?" + +Chi clapped his hands on his knees, and shook with laughter; then he +grew perfectly sober:-- + +"I took a dark lantern along with me, just to kind of feel my way in the +woods--but the children did n't know about that--'n' when an old +screecher gave a blood-curdlin' yell, just as near my right ear as the +engine down on the track when you 're standin' at the depot at Barton's +River,--just then I turned on the light full tilt, and the feller sat +right still on the branch, kind of dazed like, 'n' I took him just as +easy as I 'd take a hen off the roost after dark, 'n' brought him home. +'N' just as I was goin' up into the attic in the dark, the shed stairs' +way, 'n' the children was all listenin' at the top in the dark, the +dummed bird gave such a screech that the children all tumbled over one +another tryin' to get back to their beds, 'n' such screamin' 'n' +hollerin' you never heard--the bird was n't in it." + +Again Chi laughed at the recollection, and Hazel joined him. + +"Did they make you do anything more, Chi?" + +"By George Washin'ton! I should think they did," said Chi, soberly. +"That last was March's idea, but Rose went him one more." + +"What could Rose think of worse than that?" demanded Hazel. + +"Well, she did. She blindfolded my eyes 'n' took me by the hand, 'n' +turned me round 'n' round till I was most dizzy; 'n' then she gave me a +rope, 'n' she took one end of it 'n' made me take the other, 'n' kept +leadin' me 'n' leadin' me, 'n' the children all caperin' round me, +screamin' 'n' laughin'. Pretty soon--I calculated I 'd walked about a +quarter of a mile--the rope grew slack; all of a sudden the laughin' 'n' +screamin' stopped, 'n' I--walked right off the bank into the big pool +down under the pines, ker--splash! 'n' the children, after they 'd got +me in, was so scairt for fear I 'd lose my breath--I could n't drown coz +there was n't more than five feet of water in it--that they hauled on +the rope with all their might, 'n' pulled me out; 'n' I let 'em pull," +said Chi, grimly. + +"I hope they were satisfied after that," said Hazel, soberly. + +"They appeared to be," said Chi, contentedly, "for they said I should be +president, coz I was so brave. But there 's other things harder to do +than that." + +"What are they, Chi?" + +"You 've got to keep the by-laws." + +"What are those?" + +"Rules of the Society. One of 'em 's, you must n't be afraid to tell +the truth. 'N' another is, you must be scairt to tell a lie." + +Hazel grew scarlet at her own thoughts. + +"Another is, to help other folks all you can; 'n' the fourth 'n' last +is, that no boy or girl as lives in this great, free country of ours +ought to be a coward." + +Hazel drew a long breath. + +"Those must be hard to keep." + +"Well, they ain't always easy, that's a fact; but they re mighty good to +live by," he added, picking up the bean-bag. "I lived with Ben +Blossom's father when I was a little chap as chore boy, 'n' he gave me +my schoolin' 'n' clothes; 'n' I 've lived with his son ever since he was +married, 'n' he's been the best friend a man could have, 'n' I 've +always got along with him in peace and lovin'-kindness; 'n' those four +by-laws his father wrote on my boyhood; 'n' by those four by-laws I 've +kept my manhood; 'n' so I think it 'll do anybody good to join the +Society." + +"Well," said Hazel, stoutly, "I 'll show them I 'm not afraid of some +things, if I did run away from the turkey-gobbler." + +"That's right," said Chi, heartily, "'n' more than that--betwixt you 'n' +me--you 've no cause to be scairt _whatever_ they do; now mark my words, +_whatever they do_," repeated Chi, emphatically. + +"I don't care what they do so long as you 're there, Chi," said Hazel, +looking up into his weather-roughened, deeply-lined face with such utter +trust in her great eyes that Chi caught up the bag over his shoulder and +hurried out to the barn, muttering to himself:-- + +"George Washin'ton! How she manages to creep into the softest corner of +a man's heart, I don't know; I expect it's those great eyes of hers, 'n' +that voice just like a brook winnerin' 'n' gurglin' over its stones in +August.--Guess there's luck come to this house with Lady-bird!" And he +went about his work. + + + + + VII + + THE N.B.B.O.O. SOCIETY + + +"Now, Hazel, we 're ready," said Rose, after the dinner dishes had been +washed and the children's time was their own. Hazel submitted meekly to +the blindfolding process. + +She had tried in vain to find out something of what the children +intended to do, but they were too clever for her to gain the smallest +hint as to the initiation. March had been busy in the ice-house, and +Cherry had been ironing the aprons for the family,--that was her +Saturday morning duty. Budd and the St. Bernard puppy were off with Chi +in the fields. + +Rose led her through the woodshed and out of doors--Hazel knew that by +the rush of soft air that met her face--and away, somewhither. At last +she was helped to climb a ladder; Chi's hand grasped hers, and she felt +the flooring under her feet. Then she was left without support of any +kind, not daring to move with Chi's story in her thoughts. + +"Guess we 'll have the roll-call first," said Chi, solemnly. There was +not a sound to be heard except now and then a rush of wings and the +twitter of swallows. + +"Molly Stark." + +"Here," said Rose. + +"Markis de Lafayette." + +"Here," from March. + +"Marthy Washin'ton." + +"Present," said Cherry, forgetting she was not in school. Budd +snickered, and the president called him to order. + +"Fine of two cents for snickerin' in meetin'." Budd looked sober. + +"Ethan Allen." + +"Here," said Budd, in a subdued voice. + +"Old Put,--Here," said Chi, addressing and answering himself. "Now, +Markis, read the by-laws." + +"Number One.--We pledge ourselves not to be afraid to tell the truth." + +"Number Two.--We pledge ourselves to be afraid to tell a lie. + +"Number Three.--We pledge ourselves to try to help others whenever we +can, wherever we can, however we can, as long as ever we can. + +"Number Four.--We, as American boys and girls, pledge ourselves never to +play the coward nor to disgrace our country." + +"Molly Stark, unfurl the flag," said Chi. + +Hazel heard a rustle as Rose unrolled the banner of soft red, white, and +blue cambric. + +"Put Old Glory round the candidate's shoulders," commanded the +president, and Hazel felt the soft folds being draped about her. + +"There now, Lady-bird, you 're dressed as pretty as you 're ever goin' +to be; it don't make a mite of difference whether you 're the Empress of +Rooshy, or just plain every-day folks; 'n' now you 've got that rig on, +we 're ready to give you the hand of fellowship. Markis, you have the +floor." + +"What name does the candidate wish to be known by?" asked March, with +due gravity; then, forgetting his role, he added, "You must take the +name of some woman who has been just as brave as she could be." + +Hazel, feeling the folds of the flag about her, suddenly recalled her +favorite poem of Whittier's. + +"Barbara Frietchie," she said promptly and firmly. + +The various members shouted and cheered themselves hoarse before order +was restored. + +"What'd I tell you, Budd?" said Chi, triumphantly; then there was +another shout, for Chi had broken the rules in speaking thus. + +"Two cents' fine!" shouted Budd, "for speaking out of order in meeting." + +"Sho! I forgot," said Chi, humbly; "well, proceed." + +"Do you, Barbara Frietchie, pledge yourself to try to keep these +by-laws?" + +"Yes," said Hazel, but rather tremulously. + +"Well, then, we 'll put you to the test. Molly Stark will extend the +first hand of fellowship to Barbara Frietchie--No, hold out your hand, +Hazel; way out--don't you draw it back that way!" + +"I did n't," retorted Hazel. + +"Yes, you did, I saw you!" + +"You didn't, either." + +"I did." + +"You did n't." + +"I did, too." + +"He did n't, did he, Chi?" said Hazel, furious at this charge of +apparent timidity. + +"I don't believe you drew it back even if March does think he saw you," +said Chi, pouring oil both ways on the troubled waters; "'n' I never +thought 't was just the thing for a boy to tell a girl she was a coward +before she'd proved to be one--specially if he belongs to this Society." + +The Marquis de Lafayette hung his head at this rebuke; but in the action +his cocked hat of black and gilt paper lurched forward and drew off with +it his white cotton-wool wig. Budd and Cherry, forgetting all rules, +fines, and sense of propriety, rolled over and over at the sight; Rose +sat down shaking with laughter, and even Chi lost his dignity. + +"I wish you would let me _see_, or do something," said Hazel, +plaintively, when she could make herself heard. + +"'T ain't fair to keep Hazel waiting so," declared Budd, and the +president called the meeting to order again. + +"Put out your hand, Hazel," said Rose. "Now shake." + +Hazel grasped a hand, cold, deathly cold, and clammy. The chill of the +rigid fingers sent a corresponding shiver down the length of her +backbone, and the goose-flesh rose all over her arms and legs. She +thought she must shriek; but she recalled Chi's words, set her teeth +hard, and shook the awful thing with what strength she had, never +uttering a sound. + +"Bully for you, Hazel! I knew you 'd show lots of pluck," cried Budd. + +"Got grit every time," said Chi, proudly. "Now let's have the other +test and get down to business. Guess all three of you 'll have to have +a finger in this pie. Hurry up, Marthy Washin'ton!" Cherry scuttled +down the ladder, and in a few minutes labored, panting, up again. + +"What did you bring two for?" demanded Budd. + +"'Cause March said 't would balance me better on the ladder," replied +Cherry, innocently. At which explanation Chi laughed immoderately, much +to Cherry's discomfiture. + +"Now, Hazel, roll up your sleeve and hold out your bare arm," said the +Marquis. Hazel obeyed, wondering what would come next. + +"Here, Budd, you hold it; all ready, Cherry?" + +"Ye-es--wait a minute; now it's all right." + +"This we call burning in the Society's brand,--N.B.B.O.O.;" the voice of +the Marquis was solemn, befitting the occasion. + +Hazel drew her breath sharply, uncertain whether to cry out or not. +There was a sharp sting across her arm, as if a hot curling-iron had +been drawn quickly across it; then a sound of sizzling flesh, and the +odor of broiled beefsteak rose up just under her nostrils. + +There was a diabolical thud of falling flat-irons; Rose tore the bandage +from Hazel's eyes, and the bewildered candidate for membership, when her +eyes grew somewhat wonted to the dim light, found herself in a corner of +the loft in the barn, with the elegant figure of the Marquis in cocked +hat, white wig, yellow vest, blue coat, and yellow knee-breeches dancing +frantically around her; Ethan Allen in white woollen shirt, red yarn +suspenders, and red, white, and blue striped trousers, turning back-hand +somersaults on the hay; Chi standing at salute with his +great-great-grandfather's Revolutionary musket, his old straw hat +decorated with a tricolor cockade, and Cherry in a white cotton-wool +wig, a dark calico dress of her mother's and a white neckerchief, flat +on the floor beside two six-pound flat-irons. + +A piece of raw beef on a tin pan, some bits of ice, and a kid glove +stuffed with ice and sawdust, lay scattered about. They told the tale of +the initiation. + +"Three cheers for Barbara Frietchie!" shouted Budd, as he came right +side up. The barn rang with them. + +"Now we 'll give the right hand of true fellowship," said Chi, rapping +with the butt of his musket for order. + +Rose gave Hazel's hand a squeeze. "I 'm so glad you 're to be one of +us," she said heartily; and Hazel squeezed back. + +March came forward, bowed low, and said, "I apologize for my distrust of +your pluck," and held out his hand with a look in the flashing gray eyes +that was not one of mockery; indeed, he looked glad, but never a word of +welcome did he speak. + +"I could flog that proud feller," muttered Chi to himself. + +Hazel hesitated a moment, then put out her hand a little reluctantly. +March caught the gesture and her look. + +"Oh, you 're not obliged to," he said haughtily, and turned on his heel. +But Hazel put her hand on his arm. + +"I 'm afraid we are both breaking some of the by-laws, March. I do want +to shake hands, but I was thinking just then that you did n't mean the +apology--not really and truly; and if you did mean it, there was +something else you needed to apologize for more than that!" + +March flushed to the roots of his hair. Then his boy's honor came to +the rescue. + +"I do want to now, Hazel--and forgive and forget, won't you?" he said, +with the winning smile he inherited from his father, but which he kept +for rare occasions. + +Hazel put her hand in his, and felt that this had been worth waiting +for. She knew that at last March had taken her in. + +Budd gripped with all his might, Cherry shook with two fingers, and +Chi's great hand closed over hers as tenderly as a woman's would have +done. + +This was Hazel's initiation into the Nobody's Business But Our Own +Society. It was the second meeting of the year. + +"Now, March, I 'll make you chairman and ask you to state the business +of this meetin', as you 've called it. Must be mighty important?" + +"It is," replied March, gravely, all the fun dying out of his face. +"You remember, all of you,--don't you?--what mother told us that night +she said Hazel was coming?" + +"Yes," chorussed the children. + +"Well, I 've been thinking and thinking ever since how I could help--" + +"So 've I, March," interrupted Rose. + +"And I have, too," said Budd. + +"What's all this mean?" said Chi, somewhat astonished, for he had not +known why the meeting had been called. + +"Why, you see, Chi, we never knew till then that the farm had been +mortgaged on account of father's sickness, and that it had been so awful +hard for mother all this year--" + +Chi cleared his throat. + +"--And we want to do something to help earn. If we could earn just our +own clothes and books and enough to pay for our schooling, it would be +something." + +"Guess 't would," said Chi, clearing his throat again. "Kind of workin' +out the third by-law, ain't you?" + +"Trying to," answered March, with such sincerity in his voice that Chi's +throat troubled him for full a minute. "And what I want to find out, +without mother's knowing it, or father either, is how we can earn enough +for those things. If anybody 's got anything to say, just speak up." + +"What you goin' to do with those Wyandottes?" + +"I knew you 'd ask that, Chi. I 'm going to raise a fine breed and sell +the eggs at a dollar and a half for thirteen; but I can't get any +chicken-money till next fall, and no egg-money till next spring, and I +want to begin now." + +"Hm--" said Chi, taking off his straw hat and slowly scratching his +head. "Well," he said after a pause in which all were thinking and no +one talking, "why don't all of you go to work raisin' chickens for next +Thanksgivin'?" + +"By cracky!" said Budd, "we could raise three or four hundred, an' fat +'em up, an' make a pile, easy as nothing." + +"I don't know about it's bein' so easy; but children have the time to +tend 'em, and I don't see why it won't work, seein' it's a good time of +year." + +"But where 'll we get the hens to set, Chi?" said March. + +"Oh, there 's enough of 'em settin' round now on the bare boards," Chi +replied. + +"Can I raise some, too?" asked Hazel, rather timidly. + +"Don't know what there is to hinder," said Chi, with a slow smile. + +"And can I buy some hens for my very own?" + +"Why, of course you can; just say the word, 'n' you 'n' I 'll go +settin'-hen hunting within a day or so." + +"Oh, what fun!" cried Hazel, clapping her hands. "But I want some that +will sit and lay too, Chi; then I can sell the eggs." + +There was a shout of laughter, at which Hazel felt hurt. + +"There now, Lady-bird, we won't laugh at your city ways of lookin' at +things any more. The hens ain't quite so accommodatin' as that, but we +'ll get some good setters first, 'n' then see about the layin' +afterwards." + +"But, Chi, it will take such a lot of corn to fatten them. We don't want +to ask father for anything." + +"That's right, Rose. Be independent as long as you can; I thought of +that, too. Now, there 's a whole acre on the south slope I ploughed +this spring,--nice, hot land, just right for corn-raisin'; 'n' if you +children 'll drop 'n' cover, I 'll help you with the hoein' 'n' cuttin' +'n' huskin'; 'n' you 'll have your corn for nothin'." + +"Good for you, Chi; we 'll do it, won't we?" cried March. + +"You bet," said Budd. + +"I can pick berries," said Rose, "and we can always sell them at the +Inn, or at Barton's River." + +"Yes, and we can begin in June," said Cherry; "the pastures are just red +with the wild strawberries, you know, Rose." + +"It's an awful sight of work to pick 'em," said Budd, rather dubiously. + +"Well, you can't get your money without workin', Budd; 'n' work don't +mean 'take it easy.'" + +"I 'm sure we can get twenty-five cents a quart for them right in the +village. I 've heard folks say they make the best preserve you can get, +and you can't buy them for love nor money," said Rose. "Mother makes +beautiful ones." + +"Was n't that what we had last Sunday night when the minister was here +to tea?" asked Hazel. + +"Yes," said Rose. + +"I never tasted any strawberries like them at home, and the housekeeper +buys lots of jams and jellies in the fall." Hazel thought hard for a +minute. Suddenly she jumped to her feet, clapped her hands, and spun +round and round like a top, crying out, "I have it! I have it!" + +The N.B.B.O.O. Society was amazed to see the new member perform in this +lively manner, for Hazel had been rather quiet during the first month. +Now she caught up her skirts with a dainty tilt, and danced the Highland +Fling just to let her spirits out through her feet. Up and down the +floor of the loft she charged, hands over her head, hands swinging her +skirts, light as a fairy, bending, swaying, and bowing, till, with a big +"cheese," she sat down almost breathless by Chi. Was this Hazel? The +members of the N.B.B.O.O. looked at one another in amazement, and +March's eyes flashed again, as they had done once before during the +afternoon. + +"Now all listen to me," she said, as if, after a month of silence, she +had found her tongue. "I 've an idea, and when I have one, papa says +it's worth listening to,--which is n't often, I 'm sure. We 'll pick +the strawberries, and get Mrs. Blossom to show Rose how to do them up; +and I 'll write to papa and Doctor Heath's wife and to our housekeeper +and Cousin Jack, and see if they don't want some of those delicious +preserves that they can't get in the city. I 'll find out from Mrs. +Scott--that's the housekeeper--how much she pays for a jar in New York, +and then we 'll charge a little more for ours because the strawberries +are a little rarer. Are n't there any other kinds of berries that grow +around here?" + +"Guess you 'd better stop 'n' take breath, Lady-bird; there 's a mighty +lot of plannin' in all that. What 'd I tell you, Budd?" Chi asked +again. + +Budd looked at Hazel in boyish admiration, but said nothing. + +"I think that's splendid, Hazel," said Rose, "if they'll only want +them." + +"I know they will; but are there any other berries?" + +"Berries! I should think so; raspberries and blackberries by the bushel +on the Mountain, and they say they 're the best anywhere round here," +said March. + +"Oh, dear!" sighed Cherry, "I wish we could go to work right now." + +"Well, so you can," said Chi, "only you can't go berryin' just yet. You +can begin to drop that corn this very afternoon: better be inside the +ground pretty soon, with all those four hundred chickens waitin' to join +the Thanksgivin' procession." + +[Illustration: "'You can begin to drop that corn this very afternoon'"] + +"Oh, Chi, you 're making fun of us," laughed Rose. + +"Don't you believe it, Rose-pose; never was more in earnest in my life. +Come along, 'n' I 'll show you." + + + + + VIII + + A LIVELY CORRESPONDENCE + + +It was a trial of patience to have to wait twenty-one days before the +first of the "four hundred" could be expected to appear. + +"You 'll have to be kind of careful 'bout steppin' round in the dark, +Mis' Blossom, 'n' you, too, Ben," said Chi, "for you 'll find a settin' +hen most anywheres nowadays." + +Mrs. Blossom laughed. "Oh, Chi, what dear children they are, even if +they aren't quite perfect." + +"Can't be beat," replied Chi, earnestly. "Look at them now, will you?" + +Mrs. Blossom stepped out on the porch, and looked over to the south +slope and the corn-patch. "What if her father were to see her now!" +She laughed again, both at her thoughts and the sight. + +"'T would give him kind of a shock at first," Chi chuckled, "but he 'd +get over it as soon as he 'd seen that face." + +"It is wonderful how she has improved. I shouldn't be surprised if he +came up here soon to see Hazel." + +"Well, he 'll find somethin' worth lookin' at. See there, now!" + +The girls had been making scarecrows to protect the young corn, stuffing +old shirts and trousers with hay and straw, while March and Budd had +been getting ready the cross-tree frames. In dropping and covering the +corn that Saturday afternoon after the initiation, the girls had found +their skirts and petticoats not only in the way as they bent over their +work, but greatly soiled by contact with the soft, damp loam. So they +had begged to wear overalls of blue denim like Chi's and the boys'. The +request had been gladly granted. "It will save no end of washing," said +Mrs. Blossom, and forthwith made up three pairs on the machine. + +The girls found it great fun. They tucked in their petticoats and +buttoned down their shoulder-straps with right good will. Then Mr. +Blossom presented them with broad, coarse straw hats, such as he and Chi +used, and with these on their heads they rushed off to the corn-patch. +There now they were,--five good-looking boys with hands joined, dancing +and capering around a scarecrow, that looked like a gentleman tramp gone +entirely to seed, and singing at the top of their voices Budd's +favorite, "I won't play in your back yard." + +At that very hour, when the gentleman scarecrow of the corn-patch was +looking amiably, although slightly squint-eyed, out from under his +tattered straw hat (for March had drawn rude features on the white cloth +bag stuffed with cotton-wool which served for a head, and on it Rose had +sewed skeins of brown yarn to imitate hair) at the antics of the five +pairs of blue overalls, Mr. Clyde, having finished his nine o'clock +breakfast, asked for the mail. + +"Yes, Marse John" (so Wilkins always called Mr. Clyde when they were +alone), "'spect dere 's one from Miss Hazel by de feel an' de smell." + +Mr. Clyde smiled. "How can you tell by the 'feel and the smell,' +Wilkins?" + +"Case it's bunchy lake in de middle, an' de vi'lets can't hide dere +bref." + +"Well, we 'll see," said Mr. Clyde, willing to indulge his faithful +servant's childish curiosity. Wilkins busied himself quietly about the +breakfast-room. + +As Mr. Clyde opened the envelope, the crushed blue and white violets +fell out. Suddenly he burst into such a hearty laugh that Wilkins had +hard work to suppress a sympathetic chuckle. + +"I shall have to carry this letter over to the Doctor, Wilkins," he +said, still laughing. "I shall be in time to find him a few minutes +alone before office hours." He rose from the table. + +Wilkins followed him out to give his coat a last touch with the brush; +he was fearful Mr. Clyde might leave without revealing anything of the +contents of the letter from his beloved Miss Hazel. + +"'Sense me, Marse John," he said in desperation, as Mr. Clyde went +towards the front door, "but Miss Hazel ain't no wusser case yo' goin' +to de Doctah's?" + +"Oh, Wilkins, I forgot; you want to know how Miss Hazel is. She is +doing finely; as happy as a bird, and sends her love to you in a +postscript. I think I 'll run up and see her soon." + +Wilkins ducked and beamed. "'Pears lake dis yere house ain't de same +place wif de little missus gone." + +"You 're right, Wilkins," said Mr. Clyde, earnestly. "I shall not open +the Newport cottage this year; it would be too lonesome without her." + +"Well, Dick," he said gayly, as he entered the Doctor's office, "I shall +hold you responsible for some of the lives of the 'Four Hundred.' Here, +read this letter." + + +MOUNT HUNGER, MILL SETTLEMENT, BARTON'S + RIVER, VERMONT, May 19, 1896. + +DEAREST PAPA,--Good-morning! I am answering your long letter a little +sooner than I expected to, because I want you to do something for me in +a business way; that's the way March says it must be. + +I don't know how to begin to tell you, but I 've joined the N.B.B.O.O. +Society and one of the by-laws is that we must help others all we can +and just as much as we can. I wish you'd been at the initiashun. (I +don't know about that spelling, and I 'm in a hurry, or I 'd ask.) I +had the hand of fellowship from a supposed corpse's hand first, and then +I was branded on the arm. And afterwards they all took me in, and now +we 're raising four hundred chickens to help others; I 'll tell you all +about it when you come. Chi, that's the hired man, but he is really our +friend, took me sitting-hen hunting day before yesterday, for I am to +own some myself; and we drove all over the hills to the farmhouses and +found and bought twelve, or rather Chi did, for I had to borrow the +money of him, as I felt so bad when I kissed you good-bye that I forgot +to tell you my quarterly allowance was all gone, and I know you won't +like my borrowing of Chi, for you have said so many times never to owe +anybody and I've always tried to pay for everything except when I had to +borrow of Gabrielle, or Mrs. Scott, when I forgot my purse. + +But truly the hens were in such an awful hurry to sit, that it did seem +too bad to keep them waiting even three days till I could get some money +from you; and then, too, we 've all of us, March and Rose and Budd and +Cherry and me, bet on which hen would get the first chicken, and that +chicken is going to be a prize chicken and especially fatted, and of +course, if I waited for the money to come from you, I could n't stand a +chance of coming out ahead in our four hundred chicken race, so I +borrowed of Chi. The hens came to just $4 and eighty cents. I'll pay +you back when I earn it, and don't you think it would have been a pity +to lose the chance for the prize chicken just for that borrow? + +Please send the money by return mail. I 've other letters to write, so +please excuse my not paragraphing and so little punctuation, but I 've +so much to do and this must go at once. + +Your loving and devoted daughter, + HAZEL CLYDE. + +P.S. The hens are sitting around everywhere. Give my love to Wilkins. +H.C. + + +The Doctor shouted; then he stepped to the dining-room door and called, +"Wifie, come here and bring that letter." + +Mrs. Heath came in smiling, with a letter in her hand, which, after +cordially greeting Mr. Clyde, she read to him,--an amazed and outwitted +father. + + +MOUNT HUNGER, MILL SETTLEMENT, BARTON'S + RIVER, VERMONT, May 19, 1896. + +MY DEAR MRS. HEATH,--Please thank my dear Doctor Heath for the note he +sent me two weeks ago. I ought to write to him instead of to you, for I +don't owe you a letter (your last one was so sweet I answered it right +off), but he never allows his patients strawberry preserve and jam, so +it would be no use to ask his help just now, as this is pure business, +March says. + +We are trying to help others, and the strawberries--wild ones--are as +thick as spatter--going to be--all over the pastures, and we 're going +to pick quarts and quarts, and Rose is going to preserve them, and then +we 're going to sell them. + +Do you think of anybody who would like some of this preserve? If you do, +will you kindly let me know by return mail? + +I can't tell just the price, and March says that is a great drawback in +real business, and this _is_ real--but it will not be more than $1 and +twenty-five cents a quart. They will be fine for luncheon. _I_ never +tasted any half so good at home. + +My dear love to the Doctor and a large share for yourself from + +Your loving friend, + HAZEL CLYDE. + +P.S. Rose says it is n't fair for people to order without knowing the +quality, so we 've done up a little of Mrs. Blossom's in some Homeepatic +(I don't know where that "h" ought to come in) pellet bottles, and will +send you a half-dozen "for samples," March says, to send to any one to +taste you think would like to order. H.C. + + +"The cure is working famously," said Doctor Heath, rubbing his hands in +glee. + +"Well," said Mr. Clyde, laughing, "I may as well make the best of it; +but I can't help wondering whether the wholesale grocers in town have +been asked to place orders with Mount Hunger, or the Washington Market +dealers for prospective chickens! There 's your office-bell; I won't +keep you longer, but if this 'special case' of yours should develop any +new symptoms, just let me know." + +"I 'll keep you informed," rejoined the Doctor. "Better run up there +pretty soon, Johnny," he called after him. + +"I think it's high time, Dick. Good-bye." + +At that very moment, a symptom of another sort was developing in Z---- +Hall, Number 9, at Harvard. + +Jack Sherrill and his chum were discussing the last evening's Club +theatricals. "I saw that pretty Maude Seaton in the third or fourth +row, Jack; did she come on for that,--which, of course, means you?" + +"Wish I might think so," said Jack, half in earnest, half in jest, +pulling slowly at his corn-cob pipe. + +"By Omar Khayyam, Jack! you don't mean to say you 're hit, at last!" + +"Hit,--yes; but it's only a flesh-wound at present,--nothing dangerous +about it." + +"She 's got the style, though, and the pull. I know a half-dozen of the +fellows got dropped on to-night's cotillion." + +"Kept it for me," said Jack, quietly. + +"No, really, though--" and his chum fell to thinking rather seriously +for him. + +Just then came the morning's mail,--notes, letters, special delivery +stamps, all the social accessories a popular Harvard man knows so well. +Jack looked over his carelessly,--invitations to dinner, to theatre +parties, "private views," golf parties, etc. He pushed them aside, +showing little interest. He, like his Cousin Hazel, was used to it. + +The morning's mail was an old story, for Sherrill was worth a fortune in +his own right, as several hundred mothers and daughters in New York and +Boston and Philadelphia knew full well. + +Moreover, if he had not had a penny in prospect, Jack Sherrill would +have attracted by his own manly qualities and his exceptionally good +looks. His riches, to which he had been born, had not as yet wholly +spoiled him, but they cheated him of that ambition that makes the best +of young manhood, and Life was out of tune at times--how and why, he did +not know, and there was no one to tell him. + +He had rather hoped for a note from Maude Seaton, thanking him, in her +own charming way, for the flowers he had sent her on her arrival from +New York the day before. True, she had worn some in her corsage, but, +for all Jack knew, they might have been another man's; for Maude Seaton +was never known to have less than four or five strings to her bow. It +was just this uncertainty about her that attracted Jack. + +"Hello! Here 's a letter for you by mistake in my pile," said his chum. + +"Why, this is from my little Cousin Hazel, who is rusticating just now +somewhere in the Green Mountains." Jack opened it hastily and read,-- + + +MOUNT HUNGER, MILL SETTLEMENT, BARTON'S + RIVER, VERMONT, May 19, 1896. + +DEAREST COUSIN JACK,--It is perfectly lovely up here, and I 've been +inishiated into a Secret Society like your Dicky Club, and one of the +by-laws is to help others all we can and wherever we can and as long as +ever we can, and so I 've thought of that nice little spread you gave +last year after the foot-ball game, and how nice the table looked and +what good things you had, but I don't remember any strawberry jam or +preserves, do you? + +We 're hatching four hundred chickens to help others,--I mean we have +set 40 sitting hens on 520 eggs, not all the 40 on the five hundred and +twenty at once, you know; but, I mean, each one of the 40 hens are +sitting on 13 eggs apiece, and March says we must expect to lose 120 +eggs--I mean, chickens,--as the hens are very careless and sit +sideways--I 've seen them myself--and so an extra egg is apt to get +chilly, and the chickens can't stand any chilliness, March says. But +Chi, that's my new friend, says some eggs have a double yolk, and maybe, +there 'll be some twins to make up for the loss. + +Anyway, we want 400 chickens to sell about Thanksgiving time, and, of +course, we can't get any money till that time. So now I 've got back to +your spread again and the preserves, and while we 're waiting for the +chickens, we are going to make preserves--_dee_-licious ones! I mean we +are going to pick them and Rose is going to preserve them. We 've +decided to ask $1 and a quarter a quart for them; Rose--that's Rose +Blossom--says it is dear, but if you could see my Rose-pose, as Chi +calls her, you 'd think it cheap just to eat them if she made them. She +'s perfectly lovely--prettier than any of the New York girls, and when +she kneads bread and does up the dishes, she sings like a bird, +something about love. I'll write it down for you, sometime. _I 'm_ in +love with her. + +Please ask your college friends if they don't want some jam and wild +strawberry preserves. If they do, March says they had better order +soon, as I've written to New York to see about some other orders. + +Yours devotedly, + HAZEL. + +P.S. I 've sent you a sample of the strawberry preserve in a homeepahtic +pellet bottle, to taste; Rose says it is n't fair to ask people to buy +without their knowing what they buy. I saw that Miss Seaton just before +I came away; she came to call on me and brought some flowers. She said +I looked like you--which was an awful whopper because I had my head +shaved, as you know; I asked her if she had heard from you, and she said +she had. She is n't half as lovely as Rose-pose. H.C. + + + + + IX + + THE PRIZE CHICKEN + + +There was wild excitement, as well as consternation, in the farmhouse on +the Mountain. + +On the next day but one after Hazel had sent her letters, Chi had +brought up from the Mill Settlement a telegram which had come on the +stage from Barton's. It was addressed to, "Hazel Clyde, Mill +Settlement, Barton's River, Vermont," and ran thus:-- + + +CAMBRIDGE, May 20, 1 P.M. + +Hope to get in our order ahead of New York time. Seventeen dozen of +each kind. Letter follows. + +JACK. + + +"Seventeen dozen!" screamed Rose, on hearing the telegram. + +"Seventeen dozen of _each kind_!" cried Budd. + +"Oh, quick, March, do see what it comes to!" said Hazel. + +Then such an arithmetical hubbub broke loose as had never been heard +before on the Mountain. + +"Seventeen times twelve," said Rose,--"let me see; seven times two are +fourteen, one to carry--do keep still, March!" But March went on +with:-- + +"Twelve times four are forty-eight--seventeen times forty-eight, +hm--seven times eight are fifty-six, five to carry--Shut up, Budd; I +can't hear myself think." But Budd gave no heed, and continued his +computation. + +"Four times seventeen are--four times seven are twenty-eight, two to +carry; four times one are four and two are--I say, you 've put me all +out!" shouted Budd, and, putting his fingers in his ears, he retired to +a corner. Rose continued to mumble with her eyes shut to concentrate her +mind upon her problem, threatening Cherry impatiently when she +interrupted with her peculiar solution, which she had just thought +out:-- + +"If one quart cost one dollar and twenty-five cents, twelve quarts will +cost twelve times one dollar and twenty-five cents, which is, er--twelve +times one are twelve; twelve times twenty-five! Oh, gracious, that's +awful! What's twelve times twenty-five, March?" + +"Shut up," growled March; "you 've put me all off the track." + +"Me, too," said Rose, in an aggrieved tone. + +Mrs. Blossom had been listening from the bedroom, and now came in, +suppressing her desire to smile at the reddened and perplexed faces. +"Here 's a pencil, March, suppose you figure it out on paper." + +A sigh of relief was audible throughout the room, as March sat down to +work out the result. "Eight hundred and sixteen quarts at one dollar +twenty-five a quart," said March to himself; then, with a bound that +shook the long-room, he shouted, "One thousand and twenty dollars!" and +therewith broke forth into singing:-- + + "Glory, glory, halleluia! + Glory, glory, halleluia! + Glory, glory, halleluia, + For the N.B.B.O.O.!" + + +The rest joined in the singing with such goodwill that the noise brought +in Chi from the barn. When he was told the reason for the rejoicing, he +looked thoughtful, then sober, then troubled. + +"What's the matter, Chi? Cheer up! You have n't got to pick them," +said March. + +"'T ain't that; but I hate to throw cold water on any such +countin'-your-chickens-'fore-they 're-hatched business," said Chi. + +"'T is n't chickens; it's preserves, Chi," laughed Rose. + +"I know that, too," said Chi, gravely. "But suppose you do a little +figuring on the hind-side of the blackboard." + +"What _do_ you mean, Chi?" asked Hazel. + +"Well, I 'll figure, 'n' see what you think about it. Seventeen dozen +times four, how much, March?" + +"Eight hundred and sixteen." + +"Hm! eight hundred and sixteen glass jars at twelve and a half cents +apiece--let me see: eight into eight once; eight into one no times 'n' +one over. There now, your jars 'll cost you just one hundred and two +dollars." + +There was a universal groan. + +"'N' that ain't all. Sugar 's up to six cents a pound, 'n' to keep +preserves as they ought to be kept takes about a pound to a quart. Hm, +eight hundred 'n' sixteen pounds of sugar at six cents a pound--move up +my point 'n' multiply by six--forty-eight dollars 'n' ninety-six cents; +added to the other--" + +"Oh, don't, Chi!" groaned one and all. + +"It spoils everything," said Rose, actually ready to cry with +disappointment. + +"Well, Molly Stark, you 've got to look forwards and backwards before +you _promise_ to do things," said Chi, serenely; and Rose, hearing the +Molly Stark, knew just what Chi meant. + +She went straight up to him, and, laying both hands on his shoulders, +looked up smiling into his face. "I 'll be brave, Chi; we 'll make it +work somehow," she said gently; and Chi was not ashamed to take one of +the little hands and rub it softly against his unshaven cheek. + +"That's my Rose-pose," he said. "Now, don't let's cross the bridges +till we get to them; let's wait till we hear from New York." + + +They had not long to wait. The next day's mail brought three +letters,--from Mrs. Heath, Mr. Clyde, and Jack. Hazel could not read +them fast enough to suit her audience. There was an order from Mrs. +Heath for two dozen of each kind, and the assurance that she would ask +her friends, but she would like her order filled first. + +Mr. Clyde wrote that he was coming up very soon and would advance +Hazel's quarterly allowance; at which Hazel cried, "Oh-ee!" and hugged +first herself, then Mrs. Blossom, but said not a word. She wanted to +surprise them with the glass jars and the sugar. Her father had +enclosed five dollars with which to pay Chi, and he and Hazel were +closeted for full a quarter of an hour in the pantry, discussing ways +and means. + +Jack wrote enthusiastically of the preserves and chickens, and, like +Hazel, added a postscript as follows: + +"Don't forget you said you would write down for me the song about Love +that Miss Blossom sings when she is kneading bread. Miss Seaton is just +now visiting in Boston. I 'm to play in a polo match out at the +Longmeadow grounds next week, and she stays for that." This, likewise, +Hazel kept to herself. + +Meanwhile, the strawberry blossoms were starring the pastures, but only +here and there a tiny green button showed itself. It was a discouraging +outlook for the other Blossoms to wait five long weeks before they could +begin to earn money; and the thought of the chickens, especially the +prize chicken, proved a source of comfort as well as speculation. + +As the twenty-first day after setting the hens drew near, the excitement +of the race was felt to be increasing. Hazel had tied a narrow strip of +blue flannel about the right leg of each of her twelve hens, that there +might be no mistake; and the others had followed her example, March +choosing yellow; Cherry, white; Rose, red; and Budd, green. + +The barn was near the house, only a grass-plat with one big elm in the +centre separated it from the end of the woodshed. As Chi said, the hens +were sitting all around everywhere; on the nearly empty hay-mow there +were some twenty-five, and the rest were in vacant stalls and +feed-boxes. + +It was a warm night in early June. Hazel was thinking over many things +as she lay wakeful in her wee bedroom. To-morrow was the day; somebody +would get the prize chicken. Hazel hoped she might be the winner. Then +she recalled something Chi had said about hens being curious creatures, +set in their ways, and never doing anything just as they were expected +to do it, and that there was n't any time-table by which chickens could +be hatched to the minute. What if one were to come out to-night! The +more she thought, the more she longed to assure herself of the condition +of things in the barn. She tossed and turned, but could not settle to +sleep. At last she rose softly; the great clock in the long-room had +just struck eleven. She looked out of her one window and into the face +of a moon that for a moment blinded her. + +Then she quietly put on her white bath-robe, and, taking her shoes in +her hand, stepped noiselessly out into the kitchen. + +There was not a sound in the house except the ticking of the clock. +Softly she crept to the woodshed door and slipped out. + +Chi, who had the ears of an Indian, heard the soft "crush, crush," of +the bark and chips underneath his room. He rose noiselessly, drew on his +trousers, and slipped his suspenders over his shoulders, took his rifle +from the rack, and crept stealthily as an Apache down the stairs. Chi +thought he was on the track of an enormous woodchuck that had baffled +all his efforts to trap, shoot, and decoy him, as well as his attempts +to smoke and drown him out. But nothing was moving in or about the shed. +He stepped outside, puzzled as to the noise he had heard. + +"By George Washin'ton!" he exclaimed under his breath, "what's up now?" +for he had caught sight of a little figure in white fairly scooting over +the grass-plat under the elm towards the barn. In a moment she +disappeared in the opening, for on warm nights the great doors were not +shut. + +"Guess I 'd better get out of the way; 't would scare her to death to +see a man 'n' a gun at this time of night. It's that prize chicken, I +'ll bet." And Chi chuckled to himself. Then he tiptoed as far as the +barn door, looked in cautiously, and, seeing no one, but hearing a creak +overhead, he slipped into a stall and crouched behind a pile of grass he +had cut that afternoon for the cattle. + +He heard the feet go "pat, pat, pat," overhead. He knew by the sound +that Hazel was examining the nests. Then another noise--Cherry's +familiar giggle--fell upon his ear. He looked out cautiously from +behind the grass. Sure enough; there were the twins, robed in sheets and +barefooted. Snickering and giggling, they made for the ladder leading +to the loft. + +"The Old Harry 's to pay to-night," said Chi, grimly, to himself. "When +those two get together on a spree, things generally hum! I 'd better +stay where I 'm needed most." + +Hazel, too, had caught the sound of the giggle and snicker, and +recognized it at once. + +"Goodness!" she thought, "if they should see me, 't would frighten +Cherry into fits, she 's so nervous. I 'd better hide while they 're +here. They 've come to see about that chicken, just as I have!" Hazel +had all she could do to keep from laughing out loud. She lay down upon +a large pile of hay and drew it all over her. "They can't see me now, +and I can watch them," she thought, with a good deal of satisfaction. + +Surely the proceedings were worth watching. The moonlight flooded the +flooring of the loft, and every detail could be plainly seen. + +"Nobody can hear us here if we do talk," said Budd. "You 'll have to +hoist them up first, to see if there are any chickens, and be sure and +look at the rag on the legs; when you come to a green one, it's mine, +you know." + +"Oh, Budd! I can't hoist them," said Cherry, in a distressed voice. + +"They do act kinder queer," replied Budd, who was trying to lift a +sleeping hen off her nest, to which she seemed glued. "I 'll tell you +what's better than that; just put your ear down and listen, and if you +hear a 'peep-peep,' it's a chicken." + +Cherry, the obedient slave of Budd, crawled about over the flooring on +her hands and knees, listening first at one nest, then at another, for +the expected "peep-peep." + +"I don't hear anything," said Cherry, in an aggrieved tone, "but the old +hens guggling when I poke under them. Oh! but here 's a green rag +sticking out, Budd." + +"And a speckled hen?" said Budd, eagerly. + +"Yes." + +"Well, that's the one I 've been looking for; it's dark over here in +this corner. Lemme see." + +Budd put both hands under the hen and lifted her gently. +"Ak--ok--ork--ach," gasped the hen, as Budd took her firmly around the +throat; but she was too sleepy to care much what became of her, and so +hung limp and silent. + +"I 'll hold the hen, Cherry, and you take up those eggs one at a time +and hold them to my ear." + +"What for?" said Cherry. + +"Now don't be a loony, but do as I tell you," said Budd, impatiently. +Cherry did as she was bidden; Budd listened intently. + +"By cracky! there 's one!" he exclaimed. "Here, help me set this hen +back again, and keep that one out." + +"What for?" queried Cherry, forgetting her former lesson. + +"Oh, you ninny!--here, listen, will you?" Budd put the egg to her ear. + +"Why, that's a chicken peeping inside. I can _hear_ him," said Cherry, +in an awed voice. + +"Yes, and I 'm going to let him out," said Budd, triumphantly. + +"But then you'll have the prize chicken, Budd," said Cherry, rather +dubiously, for she had wanted it herself. + +"Of course, you goosey, what do you suppose I came out here for?" +demanded Budd. + +"But, Budd, will it be fair?" said Cherry, timidly. + +"Fair!" muttered Budd; "it's fair enough if it's out first. It's their +own fault if they don't know enough to get ahead of us." + +"Did you think it all out yourself, Budd?" queried Cherry, admiringly, +watching Budd's proceeding with wide-open eyes. + +"Yup," said Budd, shortly. + +They were not far from Hazel's hiding-place, and, by raising her head a +few inches, she could see the whole process. + +First Budd listened intently at one end of the egg, then at the other. +He drew out a large pin from his pajamas and began very carefully to +pick the shell. + +"Oh, gracious, Budd! what are you doing?" cried Cherry. + +"What you see," said Budd, a little crossly, for his conscience was not +wholly at ease. + +He picked and picked, and finally made an opening. He examined it +carefully. + +"Oh, thunder!" he exclaimed under his breath, "I 've picked the wrong +end." + +"What do you mean?" persisted Cherry. + +"I wanted to open the 'peep-peep' end first, so he could breathe," +replied Budd, intent upon his work. Cherry watched breathlessly. At +last the other end was opened, and Budd began to detach the shell from +something which might have been a worm, a fish, a pollywog, or a baby +white mouse, for all it looked like a chicken. It lay in Budd's hand. + +"Oh, Budd, you 've killed it!" cried Cherry, beginning to sniff. + +"Shut up, Cherry Blossom, or I'll leave you," threatened Budd. Just +then the moon was obscured by a passing cloud, and the loft became +suddenly dark and shadowy. Cherry screamed under her breath. + +"Oh, Budd, don't leave me; I can't see you!" + +There was a soft rapid stride over the flooring; and before Budd well +knew what had happened, he was seized by the binding of his pajamas, +lifted, and shaken with such vigor that his teeth struck together and he +felt the jar in the top of his head. + +As the form loomed so unexpectedly before her, Cherry screamed with +fright. + +"I 'll teach you to play a business trick like this on us, you mean +sneaking little rascal!" roared March. "Do you think I did n't see you +creeping out of the room along the side of my bed on all fours? You did +n't dare to walk out like a man, and I might have known you were up to +no good!" Another shake followed that for a moment dazed Budd. Then, +as he felt the flooring beneath his feet, he turned in a towering +passion of guilt and rage on March. + +"You 're a darned sneak yourself," he howled rather than cried. "Take +that for your trouble!" Raising his doubled fist, he aimed a quick, +hard blow at March's stomach. But, somehow, before it struck, one +strong hand--not March's--held his as in a vice, and another, stronger, +hoisted him by the waist-band of his pajamas and held him, squirming and +howling, suspended for a moment; then he felt himself tossed somewhere. +He fell upon the hay under which Hazel had taken refuge, and landed upon +her with almost force enough to knock the breath from her body. Cherry, +meanwhile, had not ceased screaming under her breath, and, as Budd +descended so unexpectedly upon Hazel, a great groan and a sharp wail +came forth from the hay, to the mortal terror of all but Chi, who grew +white at the thought of what might have happened to his Lady-bird, and, +unintentionally, through him. + +That awful groan proved too much for the children. Gathering themselves +together in less time than it takes to tell it, they fled as well as +they could in the dark,--down the ladder, out through the barn, over the +grass-plat, into the house, and dove into bed, trembling in every limb. + +"What on earth is the matter, children?" said Mrs. Blossom, appearing at +the foot of the stairs. "Did one of you fall out of bed?" + +Budd's head was under the bedclothes, his teeth chattering through fear; +likewise Cherry. March assumed as firm a tone as he could. + +"Budd had a sort of nightmare, mother, but he 's all right now." March +felt sick at the deception. + +"Well, settle down now and go to sleep; it's just twelve." And Mrs. +Blossom went back into the bedroom where Mr. Blossom was still soundly +sleeping. + +Meanwhile, Chi was testing Hazel to see that no harm had been done. + +"Oh, I 'm all right," said Hazel, rather breathlessly. "But it really +knocked the breath out of my body." She laughed. "I never thought of +your catching up Budd that way and plumping him down on top of me!" + +"Guess my wits had gone wool-gatherin', when I never thought of your +hidin' there," said Chi, recovering from his fright. "But that boy made +me so pesky mad, tryin' to play such a game on all of us, that I kind of +lost my temper 'n' did n't see straight. Well--" he heaved a sigh of +relief, "he 's got his come-uppance!" + +"Where do you suppose that poor little chicken is?" + +"We 'll look him up; the moon 's comin' out again." + +There, close by the nest, lay the queer something on the floor. "I 'll +tuck it in right under the old hen's breast, 'n' then, if there 's any +life in it, it 'll come to by mornin'." He examined it closely. "I 'll +come out 'n' see. Come, we 'd better be gettin' in 'fore 't is dark +again--" + +He put the poor mite of a would-be chicken carefully under the old hen, +where it was warm and downy, and as he did so, he caught sight of the +rag hanging over the edge of the nest. He looked at it closely; then +slapping his thigh, he burst into a roar of laughter. + +"What is it, Chi?" said Hazel, laughing, too, at Chi's mirth. + +"Look here, Lady-bird! you 've got the Prize Chicken, after all. That +boy could n't tell green from blue in the moonlight, 'n' he 's hatched +out one of yours. By George Washin'ton! that's a good one,--serves him +right," he said, wiping the tears of mirth from his eyes. + +The chicken lived, but never seemed to belong to any one in particular; +and as Chi said solemnly the next morning, "The less said on this +Mountain about prize chickens, the better it 'll be for us all." + + + + + X + + AN UNEXPECTED MEETING + + +It was a busy summer in and about the farmhouse on Mount Hunger. What +with tending the chickens--there were four hundred and two in all--and +strawberry-picking and preserving, and in due season a repetition of the +process with raspberries and blackberries, the days seemed hardly long +enough to accomplish all the young people had planned. + +Mr. Clyde came up for two days in June, and upon his return told Doctor +Heath that he, too, felt as if he needed that kind of a cure. + +Hazel was the picture of health and fast becoming what Chi had +predicted, "an A Number 1" beauty. Her dark eyes sparkled with the joy +of life; on her rounded cheeks there was the red of the rose; the +skull-cap had been discarded, and a fine crop of soft, silky rings of +dark brown hair had taken its place. + +"Never, no, never, have I had such good times," she wrote to her Cousin +Jack at Newport. "We eat on the porch, and make believe camp out in the +woods, and we ride on Bess and Bob all over the Mountain. We've about +finished the preserves and jams, and Rose has only burnt herself twice. +The chickens, Chi says, are going to be prime ones; it 's awfully funny +to see them come flying and hopping and running towards us the minute +they see us--March says it's the 'Charge of the Light Brigade.' + +"I wish you could be up here and have some of the fun,--but I 'm afraid +you 're too old. I enclose the song Rose sings which you asked me for. +I don't understand it, but it's perfectly beautiful when she sings it." + +Hazel had asked Rose for the words of the song, telling her that her +Cousin Jack at Harvard would like to have them. Rose looked surprised +for a moment. + +"What can he want of them?" she asked in a rather dignified manner; and +Hazel, thinking she was giving the explanation the most reasonable as +well as agreeable, replied:-- + +"I don't know for sure, but I think--you won't tell, will you, Rose?" + +"Of course I won't. I don't even know your cousin, to begin with." + +"I think he is going to be engaged, or is, to Miss Seaton of New York. +All his friends think she is awfully pretty, and papa says she is +fascinating. I think Jack wanted them to give to her." + +"Oh," said Rose, in a cool voice with a circumflex inflection, then +added in a decidedly toploftical tone, "I've no objection to his making +use of them. I 'll copy them for you." + +"Thank you, Rose," said Hazel, rather puzzled and a little hurt at +Rose's new manner. + +This conversation took place the first week in August, and the verses +were duly forwarded to Jack, who read them over twice, and then, +thrusting them into his breast-pocket, went over to the Casino, +whistling softly to himself on the way. There, meeting his chum and +some other friends, he proposed a riding-trip through the Green Mountain +region for the latter part of August. + +"The Colonel and his wife will go with us, I 'm sure, and any of the +girls who can ride well will jump at the chance," said his chum. "It's +a novelty after so much coaching." + +"I 'll go over and see Miss Seaton about it," said Jack, and walked off +singing to himself,-- + + "'--the stars above + Shine ever on Love'--" + + +His friend turned to the others. "That's a go; I 've never seen +Sherrill so hard hit before." Then he fell to discussing the new plan +with the rest. + +Jack was wily enough, as he laid the plan before Maude Seaton, to +attempt to kill two birds with one stone. He had had a desire, ever +since the first letter of Hazel's, to see his little cousin in her new +surroundings, and this desire was immeasurably strengthened by his +curiosity to see a girl who sang Barry Cornwall's love-lyrics on Mount +Hunger. Consequently, in planning the high-roads to be followed through +the Green Mountains, he had not omitted to include Barton's River, as it +boasted a good inn. + +"Here 's Woodstock,--just here," he explained to pretty Maude Seaton, as +they sat on the broad morning-porch of the palatial Newport cottage, +with a map of Vermont on the table between them. "We can stop there a +day or two, and make our next stop at Barton's River; I 've heard it's a +beautiful place, with glorious mountain rides within easy distance. +Suppose we arrange to stop three or four days there and take it all in? +I 've been told it's the finest river-valley in New England." + +"Oh, do let's! The whole thing is going to be delightful. I 'm so tired +of coaching; I believe nobody enjoys it now, unless it's the one who +holds the reins, and then all the others are bored. But with fine +horses this will be no end of fun. We can send on our trunks ahead, +can't we?" + +"Oh, yes, that's easily arranged. By the way, what horse will you take? +Remember," he said, looking her squarely in the eyes with a flattering +concern, "it's a mountain country, and we can't afford to have anything +happen to you." + +"No danger for me," laughed Maude, meeting his look as squarely. "And I +can't worry about you after seeing the polo game you played yesterday," +she added with frank admiration. + +"It was a good one, was n't it?" said Jack, his eyes kindling at the +remembrance. "It was my mascot did the business--see?" He put his hand +in his breast-pocket, expecting to draw forth a ribbon bow of Maude's +that she had given him for "colors;" but, to his amazement, and to Miss +Seaton's private chagrin, he drew forth only the slip of paper with +Barry Cornwall's love-song in Rose Blossom's handwriting. + +Where the dickens was that bow? Jack felt the absurdity of hunting in +all his pockets for something he had intended should express one phase, +at least, of his sentiments. He felt the blood mounting to the roots of +his hair, and, laughing, put a bold face on it. + +He held out the slip of paper. "It looks innocent, doesn't it?" he said +mischievously, and enjoyed to the full Maude's look of discomfiture, +which, only for a second, she could not help showing. "She 'll know now +how a fellow feels when he has sent her flowers and sees her wearing +another man's offering," he thought. He turned to the map again. + +"Well, what horse will you ride?" + +"I 'll take Old Jo; he 's safe, and splendid for fences. Of course you +'ll take Little Shaver?" + +"Yes, he and I don't part company very often. So it's settled, is it?" +he asked, feeling cooler than he did. + +"So far as I am concerned, it is; and I know the Colonel and Mrs. +Fenlick will go; it's just the thing they like." + +"Well, I 'll leave you to speak to the other girls, and I 'll go over +and see Mrs. Fenlick. Good-bye." He held out his hand, but Miss Seaton +chose to be looking down the avenue at that moment. + +"Oh, there are the Graysons beckoning to me!" she exclaimed eagerly. +"Excuse me, and good-bye--I must run down to see them." As she walked +swiftly and gracefully over the lawn, she knew Jack Sherrill was +watching her. "Yes, it's settled," she thought, as she hurried on; "and +something else is settled, too, Mr. Sherrill! You 've been hanging fire +long enough--and the idea of his forgetting that bow!" + +The Graysons thought they had never seen Maude Seaton quite so pretty as +she was that morning, when she stood chatting and laughing with all in +general, and fascinating each in particular. The result was, the +Graysons joined the riding-party in a body, and Sam Grayson vowed he +would cut Jack Sherrill out if he had to fight for it. + +It was a glorious first of September when the riding-party, ten in +number, cantered up to the inn at Barton's River, and it was a merry +group in fresh toilets that gathered after dinner and a rest of an hour +or two in their rooms, on the long, narrow, vine-covered veranda of the +inn. It had been a warm day, and the afternoon shadows were gratefully +cooling. + +"Will you look at that load coming down the street?" said Mrs. Fenlick. +"I never saw anything so funny!" + +The whole party burst out laughing, as the vehicle, an old apple-green +cart, apparently filled with bobbing calico sunbonnets and straw hats, +shackled and rattled up to the side door of the inn. + +"I shall call them the Antediluvians," laughed Maude Seaton. "Do you +know where they come from?" she said, speaking in at the open +office-window to the boy. + +"I guess they come to sell berries from a place the folks round here +call 'The Lost Nation,'" he replied, grinning. + +"'The Lost Nation!' Do you hear that?" said Sam Grayson. "Let's have a +nearer view of the natives." They all went to the end of the veranda +nearest the cart. Sam Grayson and Jack went out to investigate. + +Two boys in faded blue overalls and almost brimless straw hats jumped +down before the wagon stopped, and began lifting out six-quart pails of +shining blackberries from beneath an old buffalo robe. Jack, with his +hands in his pockets, sauntered up to the tail of the cart. + +"Buy them all, do--do!" cried Miss Seaton, clapping her hands. "We need +them to-morrow for our picnic; and pay a good price," she added, "for +the sake of the looks. I wouldn't have missed it for anything?" + +"How do you sell them?" said Jack to the tall boy who stood with his +back to him, busied with the berries. + +The boy turned at the sound of the pleasant voice, and lifted his +brimless hat by the crown with an air a Harvard freshman might have +envied. Jack, seeing it, was sorry he was bareheaded, for he hated to +be outdone in such courtesy. + +"Ten cents a quart, sir." + +"What a handsome fellow!" whispered Mrs. Fenlick. "You rarely see such a +face; and where did he get such manners?" + +"How many quarts have--halloo, Little Sunbonnet! Look out!" said Jack, +laughing, as he caught the owner of the yellow sunbonnet, who, perched +on the side of the wagon, suddenly lost her balance because of Bess's +uneasy movements in fly-time. + +"Well, you are an armful," he laughed as he set her down and tried in +vain to peer up under the drooping bonnet and discover a face. + +"Whoa--ah, Bess!" shouted the driver, as Bess reared and snorted and +shuddered and finally rid herself of the tormenting horse-fly. "All +right, Cherry Bounce?" he said, turning at last when the horse was +quieted. + +But Cherry was dumb with embarrassment, and Jack answered for her. + +"Little Sunbonnet's all safe, but what--" He got no further with that +sentence. To the amazement of the group on the veranda and Jack's +overwhelming astonishment, a wild, gleeful "Oh-ee!" issued from the +depths of another sunbonnet in the cart, and the owner thereof +precipitated herself recklessly over the side, and cast herself upon +Jack's neck, hugging and "oh-eeing" with all her might. + +"Why, Hazel! Hazel!" Except for that, Jack was dumb like Cherry, but +not with embarrassment. Was this Hazel? Her sunbonnet had fallen off, +and the dark blue gingham dress set off the wonderful richness of +coloring that helped to make Hazel what she had become, "a perfect +beauty." + +"Oh, Jack, you old darling, why did n't you let us know you were coming? +Chi, Chi!" Hazel was fairly wild with joy at seeing a dearly loved +home-face. "This is my Cousin Jack we 've talked about. Jack, this is +my friend, Chi." + +Chi put out his horny brown hand, and Jack grasped it. + +"Guess she 's givin' you away pretty smart, ain't she?" said Chi, with a +twist of his mouth and a motion of his thumb backwards to the veranda. + +"Well, rather," said Jack, laughing, for he felt that Chi's keen eyes +had taken in the whole situation at a glance. "I meant to surprise her, +but she has succeeded in surprising me." He stood with his arm about +Hazel. "And these are your friends, Hazel?" he inquired; he felt he must +make the best of it now. + +"Oh, Jack, I 'm ashamed of myself; I 'm so glad to see you I 've +forgotten my manners. Rose," she spoke up to the other sunbonnet that +had kept its position straight towards the horse and never moved during +this surprise party. Then Rose turned. "Rose, this is Cousin Jack." + +The sunbonnet bowed stiffly, and Jack heard a low laugh behind him. It +was Maude Seaton's. Rose heard it, too; so did Chi and March. It +affected each in the same way. As Chi said afterwards, he "b'iled" when +he heard it. Then Rose spoke:-- + +"I 'm very glad to see you, Mr. Sherrill, we 've heard so much of you." +Her voice rang sweet and clear; every word was heard on the veranda. +"And these berries are n't to be preserved; but evidently you are going +to buy them just the same,--as well as your friends," she added, looking +towards the veranda. + +Jack bit his lip. "I should like to introduce all my friends to you," +he said, without much enthusiasm, however. "I know this is March;" he +turned pleasantly to him, but dared not offer his hand, for the look on +the boy's face warned him that March had resented the laugh. "Will you +come?" He held up his hand to Rose to help her down. + +"Thank you." Rose sprang down, ignoring the proffered help. + +She knew just how she looked, and her face burned at the thought. Her +old green and white calico dress was shrunken and warped with many +washings; her shoes were heavy and patched; fortunately her sunbonnet +with its green calico cape was of a depth to hide her burning face. But +that laugh had been like a challenge to her pride. + +"Drive up to the front veranda, Chi," she commanded rather brusquely; +and Chi, muttering to himself, "She's game, though; I would n't thought +it of Rose-pose; but I glory in her spunk!" drew up to the front door in +a truly rattling style. + +Then Rose and Hazel were introduced to them all; but in vain did Maude +Seaton try to get a look into her face. It was only a ceremony, and Rose +felt it as such; nevertheless she said very pleasantly, "Hazel, wouldn't +you like to invite your friends up to tea on the porch to-morrow? that +is, if you are to be here?" she added, addressing Mrs. Fenlick. + +"Oh, Rose, that would be lovely. Then they can see the chickens!" said +Hazel. There was a general laugh. + +"I fear it will be too much trouble, Miss Blossom," said Mrs. Fenlick, +courteously, for she felt like apologizing for that laugh of Maude +Seaton's; "there are so many of us." + +"Oh, no, my mother will be glad to meet you," Rose replied with serene +voice; "won't she, Chi?" + +"Sure," said Chi, addressing the general assembly; "the more the +merrier; 'n' if you come along about four, you 'll get a view you don't +get round here, 'n' a wholesale piazzy to eat it on. How many do you +count up?" Jack winced at the burst of merriment that followed the +question. + +"We'll line up, and you can count," said Sam Grayson, the fun getting +the better of him. "Here, Miss Seaton, stand at the head." + +"Miss Blossom, there are ten of us; are you going to retract your +invitation?" said Mrs. Fenlick, shaking her head at Sam. + +"Not if you wish to come," said Rose, pleasantly. "We will have tea at +five. Come, Hazel, we must be going: there are the berries to sell--or +shall we leave you here with your cousin till we come back?" + +"No, I won't leave you even for Jack," said Hazel, earnestly; "besides, +I 've never had the fun of selling berries." + +"I 'm thinkin' you 've lost your fun, anyway," said Chi, "for Budd says +the tavern-keeper has taken all; guess _he 's_ goin' into the jam +business, too." + +"I 'll pick some more, then, to-morrow, and you 'll have to buy some of +them, Jack," said Hazel, "for I 'm bound to sell some berries this +summer." + +"We 'll take all you can pick, Hazel," said Maude Seaton, sweetly. +Then, as the cart rattled away with the three sunbonnets held rigid and +erect, she turned to Mrs. Fenlick and the other girls: "What an idea +that was of Doctor Heath's to put Hazel away up here in such a family--a +girl in her position!" + +"She seems to have thriven wonderfully on it," remarked Mrs. Fenlick; +"she will be the prettiest of her set when they come out. I am +delighted to have a chance to see Doctor Heath's mountain sanatorium." + +"Oh, I 'm sure it will be amusing," replied Maude, dryly. Then she shook +out her light draperies, pulled down her belt, and went down the road a +bit to meet Jack and Sam Grayson, who had accompanied the cart for a few +rods along the village street. + +When they had turned back to the inn, the storm in the apple-green cart +burst forth. + +"Did you hear that girl laugh?" demanded March, with suppressed wrath in +his voice. + +"Just as plain as I hear that crow caw," said Chi. + +"I can't bear her," said Hazel; "telling me she would buy my berries +when I only meant Jack." + +"Kinder sweet on him, ain't she?" asked Chi, carelessly. + +"I should think so!" was Hazel's indignant answer. "I heard Aunt Carrie +tell papa she was always sending him invitations to everything. But is +n't Cousin Jack splendid, Rose?" + +Rose's sunbonnet was still very rigid, and Chi knew that sign; so he +spoke up promptly, knowing that she did not care to answer just then:-- + +"He 's about as handsome as they make 'em, Lady-bird; if he wears well, +I sha'n't have nothin' against him." + +Hazel felt rather depressed without knowing exactly why. March returned +to the charge. + +"Did you hear that laugh, Rose?" + +"Yes, I did," said Rose, shortly. March looked at her in surprise, but +Chi managed to give him a nudge, which March understood, and the subject +was dropped on the homeward way. + +That the berry-sellers were under a cloud was evident to Mrs. Blossom as +soon as they drove up to the woodshed. + +"Did you have good luck, children?" she called to them cheerily. + +"We 've sold all our berries," said Budd. + +"But March and Rose are cross, Martie," added Cherry. + +"Tired 'n' hungry, too, Mis' Blossom," Chi hastened to say, trying to +shield Hazel and the other two. "I wish you 'd just step out to the +barn with a spoonful of your good lard. Bess has rubbed her shin a +little mite, 'n' I want to grease it good to save the hair." Mrs. +Blossom, reading his face, took the hint. + +He made his confession in the barn. + +"I don't know what we 've done, Mis' Blossom; but Rose has invited 'em +all up here to-morrow to supper,--they 're regular high-flyers, girls +'n' fellers, 'n' the Colonel and his wife. There 's ten of 'em; 'n' +it's a-goin' to make you an awful sight of work, but, by George +Washin'ton! that pesky girl--Miss Seaver, or somethin' like it--riled me +so, that I ain't got over it yet, 'n' I 'd backed up Rose if she 'd +offered to take the whole of 'em to board for a week. I just b'iled +when I heard her laugh, 'n' she can't hold a candle to our Rose; 'n' +she's that sassy--although you can't put your finger on anything +special--that you can't sass back; the worst kind every time; 'n' she 's +set her cap for the straightest sort of chap--that's Hazel's +cousin--there is goin', 'n', by George Washin'ton! I 'm afraid he 's +fool enough to catch at that bait. + +"There!" said Chi, stopping to draw breath, "I 've had my blow-out 'n' I +feel better. Now, what are we goin' to do about it?" + +"We 'll manage it, Chi," said Mrs. Blossom, smiling in spite of herself +at Chi's wrath. "After all, the children have been carefully guarded in +our home up here, and, sometimes, I think too much,--it won't hurt them +to take a prick now and then. Besides, Chi," she added, laughing +outright as she turned to go into the house, "the children did look +perfectly ridiculous in those old berry-picking rigs. I laughed myself +when I saw you drive off with them." + +But she left Chi grumbling. + +That night, after the children were in bed, and Mrs. Blossom was sure +they were all asleep except Rose, she went upstairs a second time and +spoke softly at the door: + +"Rose." + +"Yes, Martie; oh, you 're coming! I 'm so glad." And as Mrs. Blossom +knelt by the bed, whispering, "Now tell me all about it," Rose threw one +arm over her mother's shoulder and whispered her confession. + +"They were n't rude to you, dear, were they?" + +"No, Martie," whispered Rose, "it was n't that, but I just _hated_ them +far a minute,--Hazel's cousin and all." + +"That is n't like you, Rose dear, to hate anyone without reason." + +"Oh, Martie, I 'm ashamed to tell you--" the arm came close about her +mother's neck, "I 'm too old to have such feelings, but I could n't bear +them because I looked as I did. I was ashamed of my looks and the +children's; and I was ashamed even of Chi--dear, old Chi!--" there was a +smothered sob and an effort to go on. "And they were all dressed so +beautifully, and Hazel's cousin had on a lovely white flannel suit, and +I was just a little rude to him; but it was nothing but my dreadful +pride! I did n't know I had it till to-day,--oh, dear!" The head went +under the counterpane to smother the sound of the sobs. + +"But, my dear little girl--" (When Rose cried, which was seldom, Mrs. +Blossom called her daughter who was as tall as herself, "little girl," +and nothing comforted Rose more than that.) So now, hearing the loving +words, the head emerged from the bedclothes, and a tear-wet face was +meekly held over the side of the bed for a kiss. + +"But, my dear little girl," Mrs. Blossom went on after the interruption, +"surely you were courteous and thoughtful of Hazel's happiness, at +least, to ask them all up here to tea. You have n't that to regret." + +There was a fresh burst, smothered quickly under the sheet. "Oh, +Martie, that's the worst part of it! I did n't ask them for Hazel's +sake, but just for myself, because I knew--I knew--" Rose smothered the +rising sob; "that if they came, I could have on my one pretty dress, and +they 'd see that I--that I--" Rose was unable to finish. + +"Could look as well as they did?" said Mrs. Blossom, completing the +sentence. + +"Yes," sighed Rose, "and I feel like a perfect hypocrite towards every +one of them;--and, oh, Martie! the truth is, I was ashamed of being poor +and selling berries--" again the head went under the coverlet, and Mrs. +Blossom caught only broken phrases:-- + +"I am so proud of--of you and Popsey--poor Chi made it worse--they +laughed--March was mad, too,--and Miss Seaton 's so +pretty--clothes--Hazel's cousin tried to be polite--Hazel--just her dear +own self--but she 's rich--and Cherry f-fell into his arms--and I +know--and I know--I know he wanted to be out of the whole thing--oh +dear!" + +Mrs. Blossom patted the bunch under the clothes whence came the +smothered, broken sentences, and smiled while a tear rolled down her +cheek. After all, this was real grief, and she wished she might have +shielded her Rose from just this kind of contact with the world. But +she was wise enough not to say so. + +"Well, Rose dear, let's look on the other side now the invitation has +been given. I, for my part, shall be glad to see what they are like. I +know you looked queer in those old clothes, but, after all, would n't it +have been just as queer to have been all dressed up selling berries?" + +"Yes, I think it would, Martie," said Rose, emerging from her retreat. +"I 'm not such a goose as not to realize we must have looked perfectly +comical." + +"Well, now comfort yourself with the thought, that to-morrow you need +only look just as nice as you can in honor of our guests. I 'm sure I +shall," said Mrs. Blossom, laughing softly. "I 'm not going to be +outdone by all those 'high-flyers,' as dear, old Chi calls them. We 'll +put on our prettiest--and there is n't much choice, you know, for we +have just one apiece--and we 'll set the table with grandmother's old +china out on the porch, and we 'll give them of our best, and queens, +Rose-pose, can do no more. That's _our_ duty; we'll let the others look +out for theirs. Now, what will be nice for tea?" + +"Not preserves, Martie, for Chi said--" Her mother interrupted her,-- + +"Never mind what Chi said now, dear, but plan for the tea. We shall +have to work as hard as we can jump to-morrow forenoon to get ready. I +'m sorry father can't be at home." + +"Could n't we have blackberries and those late garden raspberries Chi +has been saving?" said Rose. + +"Yes, those will look pretty and taste good; and then hot rolls, and +fresh sponge and plum cake, and tea, and cold chicken moulded in its +jelly, the way we tried it last month--" + +"Oh, that will be lovely, Martie," whispered Rose, eagerly. + +"And if Chi and March have the time," went on Mrs. Blossom, entering +heart and soul into the hospitable plan, "I 'll ask them to go +trout-fishing and bring us home two strings of the speckled beauties, +and if those served hot don't make them respect old clothes--then +nothing on earth will," concluded Mrs. Blossom, with mock solemnity. + +"Oh, Martie Blossom, you're an angel!" cried Rose, softly, rising in bed +and throwing both arms about her mother's neck--"there!"--a squeeze, +"and there--" another squeeze and a kiss, "and now you won't have to +complain of me to-morrow." + +"That's mother's own daughter Rose," said Mrs. Blossom, smoothing the +sheet under the round chin. "Now, good-night--sleep well, for I depend +upon you to make those rolls to-morrow forenoon." + + + + + XI + + JACK + + +Jack Sherrill had always had a particularly warm interest in his Cousin +Hazel. He, too, was motherless. The fifteen-year-old lad had gone into +one of the great preparatory schools with the terrible mother-want in +his heart and life. Like Hazel, he, too, was an only child, and +consequently without the guidance and help of an elder brother or +sister. His father was all that a man, absorbed in large business +interests, could be to the son whom he saw in vacation time only. + +"You are born a gentleman, Jack," he had said to him when he was about +to enter Harvard; "remember to conduct yourself as such. You 'll not +find it an easy matter at times--I did n't--but you will find it pays; +and--and remember your mother." Then Mr. Sherrill had wrung his boy's +hand, and hurried away. + +It was the only time in the three years since she had been lost to him, +that his father had borne to mention the lad's mother to him. To Jack +it was like a last will and testament, and he wrote it not only in his +memory, but on his heart. + +He had tried, yes, honestly, amid the manifold temptations of his life +and his "set," to live up to a certain ideal of his own, but it had been +slow work; and the last three months of his sophomore year had been far +from satisfactory to himself. + +He was thinking this over as he rode slowly up the steep road to Mount +Hunger. He had come up that morning to call on Mrs. Blossom, for he +knew that the social law of hospitality demanded that he should pay his +respects to Rose Blossom's mother and Hazel's guardian before his +friends should break bread in the house. + +That tall girl in the sunbonnet was a disappointment--but then, he had +been a fool to expect anything else just because she happened to sing +one of Barry Cornwall's love-songs. He rode out of the leafy +woods'-road, and came unexpectedly upon the farmhouse. Chi saw him from +the barn, and came out to meet him. + +"Is Mrs. Blossom at home?" asked Jack, lifting his cap. + +Chi patted Little Shaver's neck, shining like polished mahogany. "Yes, +she 's home, 'n' she 'll be glad to see you. You 'll find her right in +the kitchen, 'n' I 'll tend to this little chap--what's his name?" + +"Little Shaver, he 's my polo pony." + +"George Washington! He knows a thing or two. He most winked at me," +laughed Chi. + +"Oh, he knows a stable when he sees it," said Jack, smiling; "but where +'s the kitchen?" + +"Right off the porch.--There 's Rose singing now; guess that 'll be as +good a guide-post as you could have. Come along, Little Shaver,--a good +name for you." + +Jack went up on the porch, but stopped short at the open door. Rose was +at the kitchen table, patting out the dough for the rolls. Her sleeves +were turned up above the elbows, and the round, yet delicate, white arms +and the pretty hands were working energetically with the rolling-pin. +She was singing from pure lightheartedness, and she emphasized the +rhythm by substantial thumps with the culinary utensil. + +[Illustration: "Rose was at the kitchen table, patting out the dough for +the rolls"] + +"'I told thee when love was hopeless; (thump) +But now he is wild and sings--(thump) +That the stars above (thump! thump!!) +Shine ever on Love--(thump--)'" + + +Jack knocked rather loudly, and Rose turned with a little "Oh!" and an +attitude that made Jack long for a button-hole kodak. + +"Come in, Mr. Sherrill," she said, cordially, but thinking to herself, +"Caught again! well, I don't care." + +"I hope I have n't come too early this morning to be received," said +Jack, extending his hand. + +"I can't shake, Mr. Sherrill," laughed Rose, "and if I stop to wash +them, you won't have any rolls for tea." + +"Do go on then," said Jack, eagerly, "only don't let me be a bother. I +was afraid it might be too early and inconvenience you, but--" + +"Not a bit," said Rose as she turned to the kneading-board again. "If +you don't mind, I 'm sure I don't; only these rolls must be attended +to." + +"You 're very good to let me stay and watch the process," said Jack, +humbly, deferentially taking his stand by the table. "I hope I shall +not interfere so much with Mrs. Blossom; I forgot that--that--" Jack +grew red and confused. + +"That we did our own work?" Rose supplied the rest of his thought with +such winning frankness, that Jack succumbed then and there to the +delight of a novel experience. + +"I 'll be out in a few minutes, Mr. Sherrill," called a cheery voice +from the pantry behind him. Jack started,--then laughed. + +"Am I interrupting you, too, Mrs. Blossom?" he said, addressing a crack +in the pantry door. + +"I don't mean to let you, or you will have no sponge cakes for tea; I 'm +beating eggs and can't leave them or they 'll go down." + +"Can't I help, Mrs. Blossom? I 've no end of unused muscle," said Jack, +entering into the fun of the situation. + +"No, thank you, I shall be but a few minutes. Rose dear, just feel the +oven, will you?" + +Jack began to think himself a nonentity in all this domesticity. "'Feel +the oven,'" he said to himself. "Do girls do that often, I wonder." He +watched Rose's every movement. + +"Now, confess, Mr. Sherrill, have you ever seen anyone make biscuit +before?" said Rose, cutting off a piece of dough, flouring it, patting +it, cuddling it in both hands, folding it over with a little slap to +hold a bit of butter, and tucking it into the large, shallow pan. + +"No--" Jack drew a long breath, "I never have. You see I have always +thought it a kind of drudgery, but this--" Jack sought for a word that +should express his feelings in regard to the process as performed by +Rose--"this is, why--it's poetry!" he exclaimed with a flashing smile +that became his expressive face wonderfully, and caused Rose to fail +absolutely in making a shapely poem of the next roll. + +She laughed merrily. "There now, they 'll soon be done--in good shape +too, if you don't compliment them too much." + +"I 'll eat a dozen of them, I warn you now." Jack was waxing dangerous, +for he was already possessed with an insane desire to become a piece of +dough for the sake of having those pretty hands pat him into shape. + +"Do you hear that, Martie?" cried Rose, flushing with pleasure. + +"Yes. That's the best compliment you can pay them, Mr. Sherrill. I +hope my cakes will fare as well," she said, coming from the pantry with +extended hand. + +It was strange! But when Jack Sherrill returned the cordial pressure of +that same hand, small, shapely, but worn and hardened with toil, his +eyes suddenly filled with tears. This, truly, was a home, with what +makes the home--a mother in it. + +Mrs. Blossom saw the tears, the struggle for composure, and, knowing +from Hazel he was motherless, read his thought;--then all her sweet +motherhood came to the surface. + +"My dear boy," she said with quivering lip, "it is very thoughtful of +you to come up and pioneer the way over the Mountain for all your city +friends." + +Jack found his voice. "Mrs. Fenlick wanted to come, too, Mrs. Blossom, +but I managed to put it so she thought it would be better to wait until +afternoon. They are all looking forward to it." + +"I 'm sorry Hazel is n't here; she is out picking berries with the +children. If Rose had n't so much to do, I 'd send her to hunt them +up." + +Jack protested. He had come to call on Mrs. Blossom and had detained +them altogether too long. + +"I don't want to go," he said laughingly, "but I know I ought. It seems +almost an imposition for so many of us to come up here and put you to +all this trouble. Why did you ask us, Miss Blossom?" At which +question, Rose did not belie her name, for a sudden wave of color surged +into her face, and she looked helplessly and appealingly at her mother. + +"I 've put my foot into it now," was Jack's thought, as Mrs. Blossom +responded quickly, "For more reasons than one, Mr. Sherrill." + +They were out on the porch; Chi was bringing up Little Shaver. + +"It will be a regular stampede this afternoon," said Jack, gayly, as he +vaulted into the saddle. "Have you room enough for so many horses?" He +turned to Chi. + +"Plenty 'n' to spare, 'n' I 'm goin' to give 'em a piazzy tea of their +own. Little Shaver knows all about it: I 've told him. I never saw but +one horse before that could most talk, 'n' that's Fleet." + +Little Shaver whinnied, and with a downward thrust and twist of his head +tried to get it under Chi's arm. + +"Did n't I tell you?" said Chi, delightedly. + +"Can I get on to the main road by going over the Mountain?" Jack asked +him. + +"Yes, you can get over, if you ain't particular how you get," said Chi. + +"No road?" + +"Kind of a trail;--over the pasture 'n' through the woods, an acre or +two of brush, 'n' then some pretty steep slidin' down the other side, +'n' a dozen rods of swimmin', 'n' a tough old clamber up the bank--'n' +there you are on the river road as neat as a pin." + +Jack laughed. "Just what Little Shaver glories in; I 'll try it, and +much obliged to you, Mr.--" he hesitated. + +"Call me, Chi." + +"Chi," said Jack, in such a tone of good comradeship that it brought the +horny hand up to his in a second's time. + +Jack grasped it; "Good-bye till this afternoon." He spoke to Little +Shaver, who ducked his head and fairly scuttled across the mowing, +scrambled up the pasture, took the three-rail fence at the top in a sort +of double bow-knot of a jump, and then disappeared in the woods, leaving +the three gazing after him in admiration. + +"That feller's got the right ring," said Chi, emphatically; "but if he +had n't come up here this mornin', first thing, after that invite of +Rose-pose's, I 'd have set him down alongside of that Miss Seaver--'n' a +pretty low seat that would be!" + +"I 'll put up some lunch, Chi, for you and March, and, if you can find +him, you would do well to start now for the trout." + +Mrs. Blossom turned to Rose. "Come, dear, we 've a hundred and one +things to do to be ready in time. You may set the table on the porch, +and we 'll all picnic for dinner to-day; I 've no time to get a regular +one, and father is n't at home." + +It was a perfect afternoon on that second of September. At a quarter of +five Mrs. Blossom and Rose and Hazel were on the porch, looking down +upon the lower road for the first glimpse of the party. + +The table was set on the huge rough veranda that Mr. Blossom and Chi had +built just off the kitchen long-room. Clematis and maiden-hair ferns, +which abounded on the Mountain, were the decorations, and set off to +good advantage Mrs. Blossom's mother's old-fashioned tea-set of delicate +green and white china. + +On one end was a large china bowl heaped with blackberries, on the other +stood a common glass one filled with luscious, red raspberries. The +sponge cakes gleamed, appetizingly golden, from plates covered with +grape-vine leaves for doilies. + +The chicken quivered in its own jelly on a platter wreathed with +clematis. The delicious odor of fried trout floated out from the +long-room, and the rolls were steaming hot in snow-white napkins. + +"Oh, dear!" moaned Rose. "Everything will get cold, it's so late." + +Just then there was a shout from the advance-guard of the twins, and the +cavalcade came into view; Jack on Little Shaver, who, after his +thirty-mile morning ride, was as fresh as a pastured colt--riding beside +Maude Seaton on Old Jo. + +There was a general dismounting, assisted by Chi; a gathering and +looping up of riding habits; a bit of general brushing down among the +men; then, with one accord they turned to the broad step of the porch. + +Mrs. Fenlick, telling of it afterwards, said that, for a moment, she did +nothing but look with all her eyes; for there on the porch step stood a +woman still in the prime of life and beautiful. She was dressed in an +India mull of the fashion of a quarter of a century ago, with a lace +kerchief folded in a V about the open neck, and fastened with an +old-fashioned brooch. + +"At her side," said Mrs. Fenlick, "stood one of the loveliest girls off +of canvas I have ever seen. She had on a gown of old-fashioned +lawn--pale blue with a rose-bud border. She was tall and straight, and +the skirt was a little skimpy, and so plain that had she designed it to +set off the grace of her figure she could n't have succeeded better. +And the face and head!" Mrs. Fenlick used to wax eloquent at this +point--"were simply ideal. Hazel, of course, looked as handsome as a +picture in her full, dark blue frock of wash silk trimmed with Irish +lace, and with that rich color in her cheeks--but that girl's face was +simply divine! Just imagine a complexion of pure white, and dark blue +eyes--real violet color--black almost in her pretty excitement of +welcoming us, and the loveliest golden brown hair just plaited and +puffed a little at the temples, and a braid, that big--" Mrs. Fenlick +generally put her two delicate wrists together at this point,--"that +fell below her waist fully half a yard! I never saw such hair!" + +Mrs. Fenlick used to pause for breath at this point, and then add, +"Well, the whole thing was too lovely to be described. Of course, we +ate--lots; for that ride and the air were enough to make a saint hungry +in Lent, but I was only dimly conscious of ever so many good things I +was eating, for that face fascinated me. And manners! Just as if those +two women had had nothing to do all their lives but entertain royalty! + +"I had sense enough, however, to notice that Jack Sherrill said very +little and ate a great deal. I counted twelve rolls--of course they +were small--for one thing; and I don't blame him,--I wanted more. Well, +the whole thing was perfect--the valley and the great mountains were +just in front of the porch, and everything harmonized. Even that lovely +girl had a bunch of purple-blue pansies at her belt and a few in the bit +of cotton lace at her throat; and the sunset and the mountains matched +them--as if she had had the whole thing made to order." + +Mrs. Fenlick always ended with, "I 've got one bone to pick with that +dear Doctor Heath--a mountain sanatorium! I 'd be willing, almost, to +get nervous prostration to be sent up there. + +"But oh! you should have seen Maude Seaton!" And thereupon, Mrs. +Fenlick would go off into a fit of laughter at the remembrance. "She +was looking about for the 'rigid sunbonnet,' as she called it, of the +day before, and did n't hear when Rose Blossom spoke to her; and when +she did realize that the two were one and the same, her look was the +kind 'Life' likes to get hold of, you know. + +"As for Jack Sherrill," Mrs. Fenlick concluded in her most serious +manner, "I have my own thoughts about some things." More than that she +would not say, for fear it might get back to Maude Seaton's ears. + +Jack, too, had his own thoughts about some things--and kept them to +himself. + + + + + XII + + RESULTS + + +It was the middle of November. A wild, cold wind was sweeping over the +Mountain, and driving black clouds in quick succession across the tops +of the woodlands. It howled around the farmhouse and, as now and again +a more furious blast hurled itself against doors and windows, the +children drew nearer together on the rug before the huge fireplace with +a delightful sense of safety and cosiness. + +A kettle of molasses was simmering on the stove, and Chi was wielding +the corn-popper with truly professional skill before the open fire. + +It was such fun to see the hurry, and scurry, and hustle, and rattle, +and pop, and sudden white transformation of the heated kernels! A huge, +wooden bowl received the contents of the popper, and March salted them. +Oh, how good it smelt! And Rose was going to make molasses corn-balls +to put aside for the next evening. + +"It's just like having a party every night, there are so many of us," +said Hazel, clapping her hands in delight. + +"I should think you 'd miss some of your real parties, Hazel," said +Rose, thoughtfully. + +"Miss them! Not a bit; why, they are n't half so nice as this, and at +home it's so lonesome when papa isn't there. Is n't it lovely to think +he 's coming up Christmas? Even up here, you know, it would n't be quite +Christmas for me without him. That makes me think, I must write him +very soon about some things." Hazel looked mysterious. + +"We hung up our stockings last year, but we did n't get what we wanted," +said Cherry rather mournfully. + +"Why not?" asked Hazel. + +"Coz Popsey was so sick he could n't go out to the Wishing-Tree, and so +he did n't know." + +"What is the Wishing-Tree?" said Hazel, consumed with curiosity. + +Cherry's mouth was full of corn, so Budd carried on the conversation +between mouthfuls. + +"I 'll show you to-morrow. It's a big butternut up in the corner of the +pasture, an' there 's a little hollow in the trunk where the squirrels +used to hide beech-nuts, but March has made a door to it with a hinge +and put a little padlock on it--that's the key hanging up on the clock." + +Hazel saw a tiny key suspended by a string from one of the pointed knobs +that ornamented the tall clock. + +"'N' nobody touches it till All-hallow-e'en," said Cherry, when the +sound of her munching had somewhat diminished, although her articulation +was by no means clear. "'N' then Chi goes up with us in the dark, 'n' we +put in our wishes, 'n'--" + +"Let me tell Hazel," said Budd. "You 've begun at the wrong end. You +see, we write what we want for Christmas down on paper, an' seal it with +beeswax, an' then don't tell anybody what we 've written; an' then Chi +goes up there with us after dark, an' we 're all dressed up like +Injuns--" + +"Indians, Budd," corrected March. + +"Well, Old Pertic'lar, Indians, then," said Budd, a little crossly, "an' +then-- + +"Oh, you 've forgot the dish-pan and the little tub," Cherry's voice +came muffled through the corn. "We take the dish-pan, Hazel, 'n' the +little wash-tub, me 'n' Budd between us, 'n' beat on them with the iron +spoon 'n' the dish-mop handle, 'n' play 'tom-toms'--" + +"Yes, an' March gives an awful war-whoop--" Budd, in his earnestness, +had risen and gone over to Chi's side, and now sat down by the big bowl, +but, unfortunately, on the popper which Chi had just emptied. There was +a smell of scorched wool, and, simultaneously, a wild, "Oh, gee-whiz!!" +from Budd, who leaped as if shot, and stood ruefully rubbing the seat of +his well-patched knicker-bockers, while the rest rolled over on the rug +in their merriment. + +"Oh, do go on, Budd!" cried Hazel, wiping the tears of mirth from her +eyes. Cherry had laughed so hard that she was hiccoughing with +outrageous rapidity; and March--forgetting May--chose that opportune +moment to give forth a specimen of his best war-whoop, for the purpose, +as he explained afterwards, of frightening her out of them. + +By the time order had been restored, Cherry was able to take up the +thread of the story; + +"'N' we join hands--Chi 'n' all of us--'n' sing as loud as we can sing: + + "'Intery, mintery, cutery corn, + Apple seed, apple thorn; + Wire, briar, limber lock, + Five geese in a flock-- + Sit and sing by the spring; + You are OUT.' + +Then we all give a great shout and grunt like In-di-ans--," said Cherry, +emphatically, looking at March; and March nodded approval. + +"How's that?" asked Hazel, who was listening with all her ears. + +"A hnnah--a hnnah--a hnnah," grunted the children as well as they +could, hampered by mouths full of corn. "An' then," went on Budd, "we +drop the wishes into the hollow in the tree-trunk, an' Chi locks the +door an' keeps it, an'--" + +"'N' each of us ties two feathers from a rooster's tail to different +colored strings, 'n' fastens them on to a branch of the tree, 'n' that +brings us good luck; March calls it 'winging the wishes.' That's the +way we get our presents." + +"Oh, what fun!" cried Hazel. "May I do it this year?" + +"Course," replied Budd, "but how will your father know anything about +it?" + +"I never thought of that," said Hazel, all her Christmas castles +toppling over suddenly. + +"We 'll fix it somehow, Lady-bird," said Chi, who, having finished his +labors, had seated himself in a chair behind the children and provided +himself with a private bowl of his own. + +"But now, speakin' of roosters, I 'd like to know how you 're comin' out +about chicken money. I sold the last lot but one down in Barton's +to-day. There 's been a lot of express to pay, 'n' I thought I 'd +better pay dividends to-night, 'n' get it off my mind, seein' it's most +Wishin'-Tree time." + +Rose took her little account book from her pocket. "We cleared one +hundred and ten dollars on our preserves and jams after we 'd paid Hazel +what we had borrowed for the jars and sugar, and paid for the express +and boxes. I 'm awfully sorry we could n't fill all the orders, but we +'ll try to next year. I 'll go and get the money. I like to look at +it, knowing it means so much to us all." + +She ran upstairs and came back with a little wooden box that Chi had +made for her years ago. The children crowded about her. "There," said +Rose, proudly, as she took out the money and smoothed it, one crisp bill +after another, on her knees; "they 're all in ones, so it will seem as +if we had more when we divide. Now we 've agreed to divide this +equally, so that 'll make just twenty-two apiece." + +"Let's play 'Hold-fast-all-I-give-you' in earnest," said Cherry, sitting +down again on the rug and holding out her hands. "That 'll be +twenty-two times round and make it seem a lot more." + +"Good for you, Cherry," said March, approvingly, and they all followed +her example. With a gravity befitting the occasion, the "truly-bruly" +game, as Budd called it, went on to the supreme satisfaction of those +interested as well as the enjoyment of father and mother and Chi; for to +the two former the money-making had long been, of necessity, an open +secret. + +Chi, after watching them a little while, left the room. When he +reappeared a few minutes later, he was greeted with a prolonged "Ah!" of +satisfaction; for in one hand he held his old account-book, and in the +other a long, dark blue woollen stocking which bulged fearfully from the +toe halfway up the leg, where it was tied with a stout piece of leather +whip-lash. + +The whole business of disposing of the chickens had been intrusted to +Chi, and the members of the N.B.B.O.O. Society had pledged themselves +not to ask him any questions in regard to the sale of them until he +should tell them of his own accord. This pledge they had kept, and now +they were to have their rewards. + +"If this is going to be a meeting of the N.B.B.O.O. Society, I move we +ask those who aren't members to adjourn to the bedroom," said March, +looking significantly at his mother and father. Mr. and Mrs. Blossom +took the hint, and, without waiting for anyone to "second the motion," +betook themselves, laughing, into the other room. + +"Guess we 'll sit up to the table 'n' count it out," said Chi, "coz we +don't want any of it to fly up chimney. We should never find it again +in this gale." + +He emptied the stocking of its contents--bills, pennies, and silver +pieces of all denominations--upon the table, and the children drew up +their chairs. + +"Now we 'll sort," said Chi. "You take the bills, Rose, 'n' the rest +take the other pieces, 'n' make little piles before you of a dollar +each. Then we can reckon up easy. I 'll take the pennies and the +nickels." + +"I choose the ten-cent pieces," said Cherry, "an' you take the quarters, +Budd." March and Hazel took the rest. + +"This is a kind of stockholders' meetin'," said Chi, as the piles were +completed. "We 'll divide the proceeds accordin' the number of hens +each set; coz I could n't keep run of so many chicks after they'd struck +out for themselves." + +He opened his book. + +"Here 's some items you better hear, before you find any fault with the +management: + +"Mem. July. 15 chicks killed by hen-hawks. + +"Mem. August. 21 chicks died of the pip. + +"Mem. September. Skunks stole ten. + +"Mem. October. 2 can't find. + +"There 's a dead loss to all the stockholders, share 'n' share alike. +Now for expenses: + +"Mem. Corn for feed till October--7 bushels. + +"Mem. November. Express, $5.50. Crates expressin'--$1.10. Now for +the profits!" said Chi, with a ring of triumph in his voice. "Count up +your piles." + +How the cheeks flushed and the eyes grew dark with excitement as the +counting proceeded: "One hundred--one hundred and thirty-two--one +hundred and seventy-seven--two hundred!" + +"Oh-ee!" cried Hazel, as March fairly thundered "Two hundred!" "There +'s more, there 's more!" + +"Go on, go on!" she cried again, almost beside herself with excitement. + +"Two hundred and seven--TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTEEN!!" + +"Chi!" exclaimed Rose, almost breathless, "How _did_ you make all that?" +and thereupon, without waiting for his answer, she sprang up from her +chair, and, to Chi's amazement, took his weather-worn face between her +two hands, and popped a kiss upon his forehead. + +Chi cleared his throat and attempted to make his explanation, but was +interrupted by March, who got hold of his right hand and wrung it +without speaking. Chi saw the boy turn a little white about the mouth +and his gray eyes flash through tears; words were not needed. + +Budd and Cherry did not realize all this meant to the elder brother and +sister, but they did not wish to be outdone by the others in expressing +their appreciation of Chi. So Budd thumped him unmercifully on the back, +saying, "You 're a trump, Chi; tell us how you did it," in a most +patronizing tone, and Cherry danced around the table, singing; "I love +my Love with a big, big C!" + +Hazel looked on, rejoicing in their joy, but wondering why such a little +sum, less than her yearly allowance, should create all that happiness. + +"But tell us how you did it, Chi," said Rose again. + +"Well, I sold most of them for broilers, they bring a pretty good price; +'n' then I sold the feathers; 'n' you forget all those forty hens have +been layin' the last two months, 'n' I sold the eggs. Then, too,--" a +slow smile wrinkled Chi's eyes--"I was n't interfered with, 'n' that +made a great difference in the business. How much have you got +altogether?" + +"Three hundred and twenty-seven dollars," said March. + +"What you goin' to do with it? that's the next question. You can't let +your money lay round in wooden boxes 'n' old stockin's. It ought to be +bringing you in interest." + +"I 'm going to give my share to Rose, to prepare for college with," said +Hazel. + +"Indeed, I sha'n't take your money, Hazel; you 've earned it fairly for +yourself. I should be ashamed to accept it, but it's lovely of you to +think of it-- Why, Hazel!" she cried, throwing her arm around her, for +the tears were rolling down Hazel's cheeks, and her chest heaving with a +bona fide sob. + +But Hazel flung off the encircling arm and threw herself full length +upon the settle in an abandonment of woe. + +"I don't care anything about your old money," she sobbed. "I did n't +want it for myself, and I 've worked so hard picking berries and +all--and you said you 'd keep the by-law--and I 've been so happy +working to help others, and I never would have believed it of you, Rose +Blossom, that you 'd go back on your word--you promised--you promised to +help others--a regular solemn pl-pledge, Chi says, and now--and the only +way you could help me--was to let--to let me help y-ou-oo-oo!" + +March and Rose looked at each other aghast at this unwonted outburst +from Hazel, and Mrs. Blossom, hearing the wail, made her appearance from +the bedroom. + +"Why, Hazel dear, what is the matter?" she said. + +"They 've spoiled all my good times," sobbed Hazel, refusing to be +comforted even when Mrs. Blossom, sitting down by her, stroked her head +and begged her to sit up and tell her all about it. + +"Oh, mother!" cried Rose, holding back the tears as well as she could, +"it's all my fault. It's my old pride that keeps coming up at every +little thing, somehow, and I know it 'll be the death of me! March has +it, too; and between us we have made it just horrid for Hazel." + +"Why, Rose, what do you mean?" asked her mother, gravely. + +"Things that we 've kept from you, Martie. Hazel wanted to give us the +jars and the sugar, and we would n't let her; and she wanted to give me +a blue wash silk like hers, because I said I wished I could afford one +like it,--and I--and I was a little angry, and showed it; and March +spoke up and said we would n't be patronized if we were poor--" + +"Why, March Blossom!" was all his mother said. + +"Yes," broke in Budd, ready to place himself on the side of +righteousness, "an' Cherry told her that March called her 'a perfect +guy,' an' that meant she was homely; an' that Chi said she was awful +poor, an' we were a great deal richer than she was, an' that you would +n't have had her here if you had n't pitied her--" + +"Children!" Not one of them ever remembered to have heard their mother +speak with such stern anger in her voice. "I 'm ashamed of you; you +have disgraced your parents' name." Then she turned to Hazel, drew her +up into her arms, and said, tenderly: + +"Hazel, my dear little girl, why did n't you come to me with this +trouble?" + +"Because--because you were n't _my mother_, you were theirs; but, oh! I +wish you were mine! I love you so--" Hazel flung both arms around Mrs. +Blossom's neck and sobbed out,--"I 've wanted to call you Mother Blossom +and hug and kiss you like the rest--but Cherry was so jealous--the first +time I did it--that she--she stuck burrs in my bed and led me through +the nettle-patch when we were raspberrying, because she knew I did n't +know nettles; and Chi told me we 'd got to be brave if we joined the +N.B.B.O.O., and I knew I ought to bear it--for I _do_ love to be +here--and I love them all, for most of the time they 're lovely to +me;--and I don't think you 've been horrid, Rose, only you did hurt my +feelings when you would n't let me give you the blue silk--and--and it +is n't my fault if I _am_ rich, and it is n't fair not to like me for +it!" + +[Illustration: "Hazel flung both arms around Mrs. Blossom's neck"] + +"No more it ain't, Lady-bird," said Chi, who, after drawing the back of +his hand across his eyes, was apparently the only dry-eyed one in the +room. March had flung himself on the other end of the settle and buried +his face deep among the patch-work cushions. Rose was sobbing outright +with her head on her arms as she sat at the dining-room table. + +Cherry, in her shame and misery--for she had come to love Hazel dearly +without wholly conquering her jealousy--softly opened the pantry door +and slipped inside where she sniffed to her heart's content. As for +Budd, he stood over the wood-box, repiling its contents while the tears +ran off his nose so fast that he saw all the sticks double through them. + +"You may go to bed, children," said Mrs. Blossom, still holding Hazel in +her arms. At this fiat, there was a general increase in the humidity of +the atmosphere; and, knowing perfectly well when their mother spoke in +that tone, that words, tears, or prayers would not avail, they, one and +all,--for Cherry had been listening at the pantry door,--made a rush for +the stairs and stumbled up, blinded by their tears. + +Mrs. Blossom led Hazel still sobbing into her own little bedroom, and +shut the door. + +Chi, president of the vanished N.B.B.O.O. Society, was left alone. He +gazed meditatively awhile at the little piles of money and the vacant +chairs opposite each. Then he gathered them up carefully and placed +them in orderly rows in the wooden box. His next move was to the shed +door. As he opened it, a gust of wind extinguished the lamp on the +table. + +"Guess I 'll go to bed, too," said Chi to himself, coming back for the +box, which the firelight showed plainly enough. "The barometer's +dropped, 'n' it always makes me feel low in my mind." + +He heaved a prodigious sigh and went out into the shed and up the back +stairs. The wooden box he put under the head of the mattress; he +barricaded the door and placed his rifle beside it against the wall. +Then he turned in and drew the coverlet up over his head with another +sigh, so long, so profound, that it mingled with the wind as it swept +through the cracks of the shed beneath, and made a part of the dismality +of the night. + +Mrs. Blossom returned to the long-room, and, sitting down in her low +rocker before the fire, waited. She knew her children. + +Soon, it might have been within half an hour, she heard Rose call softly +at the top of the stairs:-- + +"Martie." + +"Yes, Rose." + +"May I come?" + +"Yes, dear." + +"O Martie! may I, too?" wailed Cherry. + +"Yes." + +"I 'm coming, mother," said March, speaking in a low, determined voice +through the knot-hole. + +"Very well, March." + +"Come along, Budd," said March, and Budd was only too glad to grip his +brother's pajamas and follow after. + +Down they came, tiptoeing in their bare feet, Rose heading the +penitential procession. She knelt by her mother's side, and March and +Budd and Cherry knelt, too. + +Then, to their mother's, "Are you _truly_ ready, children?" they +answered heartily, "Yes, Martie." + +Together they said in subdued but earnest tones, "Our Father;" together +they prayed, "'Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who +trespass against us'"--and after the heart-felt, "Amen," each received a +kiss by way of absolution; and together, until the clock struck ten, +they talked the whole matter over and resolved to fight their Apollyons +daily and hourly, and, with God's grace, conquer them. + +These were the rare hours, the memory of which held March Blossom in the +way of right and honor when he went out to battle for himself in the +world. These were the hours, the memory of which kept him in his +college days unspotted from the world. It was such an hour that ripened +Rose Blossom into a thinking, feeling woman, and made Budd into a knight +of the Twentieth Century. + +It was for such an hour that Jack Sherrill would have given his entire +fortune. + + + + + XIII + + A SOCIAL ADDITION + + +It was a chastened household that gathered about the breakfast table the +next morning; and for a week afterwards, every one was so thoughtful and +considerate of everybody else that Mrs. Blossom said, laughing, to her +husband; "They 're so angelic, Ben, I 'm afraid they are all going to be +ill. I declare, I miss their little naughtinesses." + +Several things had been settled during the week and, apparently, to +everyone's satisfaction. At a very serious-minded meeting of the +N.B.B.O.O., it had been decided to keep the larger part of the money in +order to start March on his career. Not without protest, however, on +March's part. But he was overruled. Rose argued that if he were going +to college, he must begin to prepare that very winter, and if their +earnings were divided among the five, no one would reap any special +benefit from them, least of all, March. + +"I can wait well enough another year, perhaps two," she said; "and, +meanwhile, we 'll be earning more. But you, March, ought to be in the +academy at Barton's this very minute." + +"I know it," said March, dejectedly; "but I do hate to take girls' +money; somehow, it does not seem quite--quite manly." + +"Better remember what your mother talked to you 'bout last Sunday, 'bout +its bein' more of a blessin' to give than to get," said Chi, +sententiously. + +"I do remember, and there 's nobody in the world I 'd be more willing to +take it from than from you, all of you, but--" + +"Me, too?" interrupted Hazel, leaning nearer with great, eager, +questioning eyes. + +"Yes, you, too, Hazel," March replied gently, with such unwonted +humility of spirit shining through his rare, sweet smile, that Hazel +bounced up from her seat at the table, and, going behind March's chair, +clasped both arms tightly around his neck, laid the dark, curly head +down upon the top of his golden one, exclaiming delightedly: + +"Oh, March, you are the dearest fellow in the world. I never thought you +'d give in so--and I love you for it! There now,"--with a big squeeze of +the golden head--"you 've made me superfluously happy." Hazel took her +seat, flushed rosy red in pleasurable anticipation of being allowed, at +last, to give to those she loved, and wholly unmindful of her slip of +the tongue. + +"Now that's settled, I move that each of you keep three dollars of that +money 'gainst the Wishin'-Tree business. Chris'mus 'll be here 'fore you +can say 'Jack Robinson.'" + +"Second the motion," said Budd and Cherry in the same breath. + +It was a unanimous vote. + +"There is just one thing I want to say," said March, who, in a +bewilderment of happy emotions, had been unable to reply one word to +Hazel, "and that is, that I want you to consider that you have lent it +to me and let me have the pleasure of paying back, sometime, when I am a +man." + +"That's fair enough," said Chi. "I glory in your independence, Markis. +That's the right kind to have. Put it to vote." + +Again there was a unanimous vote of approval, for they all knew that to +one of March's proud spirit it meant much to accept the money, from the +girls especially; and they felt it would make him happier if he were to +accept it as a loan. + +"I can save a lot by not boarding down at Barton's, and by working for +my board at the tavern, or in some family," said March, thoughtfully. + +"No you don't," said Chi, emphatically. "'T ain't no way for a boy to +be doin' chores before he goes to school in the mornin' 'n' tendin' +horses after he gets out in the afternoon. If you 're goin' to try for +college in two years, you 've got to buckle right down to it--'n' not +waste time workin' for other folks that ain't your own. Here comes Mis' +Blossom, we 'll ask her what she has to say about it." + +"Why, Martie, where have you been all this afternoon? I saw you and +father driving off in such a sly sort of way, I knew you did n't want us +to know where you were going. Now, 'fess!" laughed Rose. + +"'Fess, 'fess, Martie!" cried Budd and Cherry, hilariously breaking up +the meeting. "We 've got you now!" And without more ado they anchored +her to the settle, each linked to an arm, while Hazel took off her hood, +March drew off her rubbers, and Rose unpinned her shawl. + +Mrs. Blossom laughed. "No, you guess," she replied. + +"Down to the Mill Settlement?" + +"Wrong." + +"Over to Aunt Tryphosa's?" + +"No." + +"Down to see the Spillkinses?" + +"Wrong again." + +"Over eastwards to the Morris farm," said Chi. + +"Right," said Mrs. Blossom, smiling. "How did you know, Chi?" + +"I didn't, just guessed it; coz I knew the new folks was goin' to move +in this week." + +"What new folks?" chorussed the children in surprise. + +"An addition to the Lost Nation," replied their mother, "and a very +charming one. Now there are five families on our Mountain." + +"Who are they, Martie?"--"Are you going to ask them to Thanksgiving, +too?"--"What's their name?"--"How many are there of them?"--"Any boys?" +They were all talking together. + +"One at a time, please," laughed Mrs. Blossom, putting her hands over +her ears. "I never heard such mill-clappers!" + +"_Do_ hurry up, mother," said March, appealingly. + +"A young man from New Haven has taken the lease of the farm for three +years. He has his mother and sister with him. He was in the law school +at Yale until last spring; then his father died, and his sister, a +little older than you, Rose, was injured in some accident--I don't know +what it was--and now she is very delicate. The doctor says if she can +live in this mountain country for a few years, she may recover her +health. The brother and mother are perfectly devoted to her. She calls +herself a 'Shut-in'--" + +"Then she can't come over for Thanksgiving dinner," said Rose, +interrupting. + +"Not this year, but I hope she may next." + +"Did he give up college for his sister's sake?" asked March. + +"He gave up the last year of his law course; they could not afford to +travel so many years for the benefit of her health, so they came up +here. I do pity them; it must be such a change. But, oh, March! how +you will enjoy that house! They have been there only a week, yet it +looks as if they had lived there always. They have such beautiful +framed photographs of places they visited when they were in Europe with +their father, and cases of books, and a grand piano--I don't see how +they ever got it up the Mountain. The young man and his mother both +play, and he plays the violin, too." + +The children and Chi were listening open-eyed as Mrs. Blossom went on +enthusiastically:-- + +"It's just like a fairy story, only it's all true. Just two weeks ago, +when your father and I drove by there, that long, rambling house looked +so bleak and bare and desolate--your father and I always call it the +'House of the Seven Gables,' for there are just seven--and the spruce +woods behind it looked fairly black, and the wind drew through the pines +by the south door with such an eerie sound, that I shivered. And +to-day, what a change! All the shutters were open, and muslin curtains +at the windows, and the sun was streaming into the four windows of the +great south room that they have made their living-room. There was a +roaring big fire in the hall fireplace, and plants--oh, Rose, you should +see them! palms and rubber trees and sword ferns,--and lovely rugs, +and--I can't begin to tell you about it; you must go and see for +yourselves." Mrs. Blossom paused for breath, with a glad light in her +eyes. + +"It sounds too good to be true," said Rose, "and you look as if you had +been to a real party, Martie." + +"Well, I have, my dear. Just to see such people and such a house is a +party for me." + +"And you can keep having it, too, can't you, Martie? because they 're +going to be neighbors," cried Cherry, every individual curl dancing and +bobbing with excitement. + +"Is the young man good-looking?" asked Hazel, earnestly. + +"Very," replied Mrs. Blossom, smiling. + +"As handsome as Jack?" said Hazel. + +"Very different looking, Hazel; quiet and grave, but genial. Not so +tall as Mr. Sherrill, I should say; talks but little, but what he says +is well worth listening to--and when he smiled! I did n't hear him +laugh, but I know he can enjoy fun. He has a fine saddle horse, Chi, +and he wants you to come and give him some advice about selecting +stock." + +"'Fraid he 's too high-toned for me," said Chi, modestly; "but if I can +help him anyway, I 'd like to. Seems a likely young man from all you +say." + +"He 's more than 'likely,' Chi," returned Mrs. Blossom, with a twinkle +in her eye that only Chi caught. + +"Speakin' of horses, Mis' Blossom, we 've decided to send March to the +Academy at Barton's, 'n' if I let him have Fleet, he could come 'n' go, +a matter of sixteen miles a day, without bein' from home nights. I +don't approve of that for boys." + +"No, indeed, neither his father nor I would think of such a thing for a +moment. But how kind of you, Chi, to let March have Fleet." + +"I want to help on the college education all I can; 'n' if our boy wants +to go, he 's goin' to have the best to get him there so far as I 'm +concerned." + +"I don't know how to thank you, Chi," said March, "but I 'll treat Fleet +like a lady and I 'll study like a--like a house on fire. I don't envy +that other fellow his saddle horse if I can have Fleet. What's his +name, mother? you haven't told us yet." + +"Why, so I have n't--Ford, Alan Ford, and his sister's name is Ruth." + +"When can we go over and see them, Martie?" said Rose. + +"I thought two or three days after Thanksgiving, and then you can take a +little neighborly thank-offering with you." + +"What can we take?" queried Cherry. + +"Oh, a mince pie or two, some raspberry preserves, a comb of last +summer's honey, a pat of butter, a nice bunch of our white-plume celery, +and, perhaps, Chi could find a brace of partridges." + +"M-m--does n't that sound good-tasting!" said Cherry, patting her chest +ecstatically. + +"Who 's coming for Thanksgiving, Martie?" asked Budd. + +"All the Lost Nation--the Spillkinses and Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann, +Lemuel and his wife and--who else? Guess." + +"Why, that's all." + +"Not this year, you forget your new teacher, Budd. She boards around, +and it's the Mountain's year, so she is at Lemuel's now." + +"Oh, good!" cried Budd enthusiastically. "She 's a daisy. I know you +'ll like her, Hazel. All the fellows are awfully soft on her, +though--bring her butternut candy, an' sharpen her pencils, an' black +the stove, an' wash off the black-board; an' I saw Billy Nye sneak out +the other day and wipe the mud off her rubbers with his paper lunch-bag! +Catch me doing it, though," he added, his chest swelling rather +pompously as he straightened himself and thrust his hands deep into the +pockets of his knickerbockers. + +"Why not?" his mother asked with an amused smile. + +"Oh, coz," was Budd's rather sheepish reply, and thereupon he followed +Chi out to the barn, whistling "Dixie" with might and main. + + + + + XIV + + THE LOST NATION + + +The four families on Mount Hunger were known to the towns about as The +Lost Nation. Two of them, the Blossoms and the Spillkinses, were, in +reality, lumber-dealers rather than farmers. The third, Lemuel Wood, +had a sheep farm, and Aunt Tryphosa Little with her granddaughter, +Maria-Ann, was the fourth. The two women owned a spruce wood-lot and +let it out to men who cut the bark. They cultivated a small +garden-patch of corn, beans, and squash, kept a cow and a few hens, and +eked out their scanty income with a day's work here and there in fine +weather. + +Every two weeks they did the washing and ironing for the Blossom family, +as Mrs. Blossom's cares were too heavy for her, and she felt that not +only could she afford it this year, but that in putting it out she was +giving a little help to her poorer neighbors. + +Chi or March took the huge basket of linen over on the wagon or sledge, +and always left with it a neighborly gift--a peck of fine russets or +greenings, a bunch of celery, a pound or two of salt pork, a bunch of +delicious parsnips, or a dozen eggs when the old dame's hens were +moulting. Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann were not to be outdone in +neighborly kindnesses, and, regularly, the willow basket, full to +overflowing with snow-white clothes, was returned with something tucked +away under the square covering of oil-cloth--a tiny bunch of sage or +summer savory, an ironing-holder made of bits of bright calico or +woollen rags, a little paper-bag of spruce gum, a pair of woollen +wristers for Mr. Blossom or Chi, a new recipe for spring bitters with a +sample of the herbs--sassafras, dockroot, thoroughwort, wintergreen, and +dandelion--gathered by Aunt Tryphosa herself. + +They had one cow which they regarded as the third member of their +family. She had been named Dorcas, after Aunt Tryphosa's mother, and +proved a model animal of her kind. She gave a more than ordinary amount +of creamy milk; presented her mistress with a sturdy calf each year; +never hooked or kicked; never, during the bitter winter weather, grew +restless in her small shed which adjoined the woodshed, and never broke +from pasture in the sweet-smelling summer-time. + +Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann vied with each other in petting her. They +brushed her coat as regularly as they did up their own back hair. They +gave her a weekly scrubbing as conscientiously as they took their +Saturday bath. For cold nights Aunt Tryphosa had made for her a +nightdress of red flannel (although she had never heard of "Cranford"), +which she and Maria-Ann had planned to fit the cow-anatomy, and it had +proved a great success. + +For the midsummer fly-time they had contrived a wonderfully fashioned +garment of coarse fish-netting, into which they had knotted a cotton +fringe. They claimed, and rightly, that freedom from chill and +irritation, incident upon zero weather and August dog-days, affected the +milk most favorably, both in quantity and quality; and, as it all went +to make delicious small cheeses, which sold at Barton's River for +twenty-five cents apiece and were renowned throughout the county, people +had ceased to laugh at the cow's appearance. + +It had become one of Hazel's great treats to be permitted to go with +March or Chi to the little house--not much more than a cabin--on the +east side of the Mountain; and when she knew that the two were to be +guests for Thanksgiving, but not for Christmas, she began to lay plans +accordingly. + +The Spillkinses were an aged set, not one was under seventy. + +There were the Captain and his wife, who had celebrated their Golden +Wedding, and his wife's two maiden sisters, Melissa and Elvira, of whom +he always spoke as the "girls." They were funny old maidens of seventy +one and two, who did up their hair in curl-papers, precisely as they did +a half a century ago; wore black cotton mitts when they went to church, +and white silk ones when they went out to tea; called each other "Lissy" +and "Elly," and were still sensitive in regard to their ages. + +In addition to these, the old, gray-shingled, vine-covered farmhouse on +the lower mountain-road, sheltered the Captain's elder brother, Israel, +who was just turned ninety-three, hale and hearty, and Israel's eldest +son, Reuben, a youth of seventy, who in our North Country parlance "was +not all there," but harmless, kindly, and generally helpful. + +All these, together with Lemuel Wood and his wife, and the new teacher, +were to be Thanksgiving guests, and wonderful preparations went on for +days beforehand. + +Such a sorting and paring and chopping of apples! Such a seeding of +raisins, and whipping of eggs, and compounding of cakes! Such a tucking +away of chickens beneath the flaky crust of the huge pie! Such a +moulding of cranberry jelly, so deeply, darkly, richly red! Such a +cracking of butternuts, and a melting of maple sugar! Such a stuffing of +an eighteen-pound turkey, and such a trussing of thin-linked sausages! +Such a making of goodly pies, pumpkin, mince, and apple! Such a +quartering of small cheeses contributed by Aunt Tryphosa! Such an +unbottling of sweet pickles, and unbarrelling of sweet cider;--and, on +the final day, such a general boiling, and baking, and roasting, and +basting, and mashing, and grinding, and seasoning, and whipping, and +cutting, and kneading, and rolling, as can occur only once a year in an +old-fashioned, New England farmhouse. + +Hazel was in her glory. Arrayed in a checked gingham apron, which she +had made herself, she beat eggs, whipped cream, helped Rose set the +table, wiped the dishes and baking-pans, basted the noble Thanksgiving +bird once, as a great privilege, although in so doing, she burned her +fingers with the sputtering fat, scorched her apron, and parboiled her +already flushed face with the escaping steam. But she was happy! + + +"Oh, papa!" she wrote the day after the party, "I never had such a good +time in my life! If only you could see the things we made!--apple and +lemon tarts, and mince and cranberry 'turnovers,' and doughnuts all +twisted into a sort of French bow-knot such as Gabrielle used to make of +her back hair, and a queer kind of cake they call 'marble,' all streaky +with chocolate and white, and butternut candy made with maple sugar, and +an _Indian_ pudding, and little bits of nut-cakes with a small piece of +currant jelly inside and all powdered sugar out; and--oh, I can't begin +to tell you, for this is only a part of the dessert. + +"I 'll try to paragraph this letter in the right places so you 'll +understand about the party. + +"All the Lost Nation was invited; Captain and Mrs. Spillkins, Miss +Melissa and Miss Elvira, Uncle Israel and Poor Reub, Mr. Lemuel Wood and +his wife, and Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann, and-- Oh, I forgot Miss +Alton. She 's awfully sweet; she is Budd and Cherry's teacher in the +district school at the Mill Settlement. She's more like a city person +than the others. I wish you 'd been here! for I can't tell it half as +nice as it was; but I 'll do my best because you wrote you wanted me to +tell you everything. + +"We were already for the party at eleven o'clock--in the morning, I +mean--(I can't remember the sign for forenoon). We don't have any lunch +up here, as you know, but the dinner comes between 12 and 1, so +everything was ready then. I got up at five o'clock! and worked hard +till it was time to change my gown. + +"It was awfully cold. Chi said the thermometer was shivering when he +looked at it just after breakfast; he means by that, it's below zero--a +good deal; and I couldn't help thinking how cosy and warm and +deliciously smelly it would be for the Lost Nation when they came in out +of the cold into the long-room and saw the table (it looked beautiful, +with baskets of red apples, and nuts and raisins, and a big centre-piece +of red geranium) just loaded with goodies. + +"March had driven over for Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann, and they arrived +first--Mrs. Blossom says they always do. (I want you to go over and call +on them when you are up here Christmas; it's just like a story in Hans +Andersen; they keep a cow, Dorcas, who wears a kimono on very cold +nights.) + +"March helped Aunt Tryphosa out just as if she had been Queen Victoria. +(I forgot to tell you she and Maria-Ann do our laundry work.) March is +perfectly splendid about such things--and Maria-Ann sort of bounced out, +although Chi held out his hand to help her. It's so funny to see them +together! Aunt Tryphosa is so small and wrinkled and thin that, +sometimes, Chi says he has known a good wind to knock her right over; +and Maria-Ann is almost as tall as Chi, and stout and rosy-cheeked, with +nice brown eyes that talk to you. + +"And, oh, papa!--I'll tell you, but it's a confidence--I saw Aunt +Tryphosa shiver hard when she came into the house, and I 'm afraid she +did not have enough warm things on. I know her shawl was n't _very_ +thick, for I went into the bedroom afterwards and felt of it; and she +had no furs at all! Think of that with the thermometer way down below +zero, papa! I 'll tell you all about it when you come. + +"Well, after Mrs. Blossom had given the old lady a cup of hot tea, she +felt better and began to talk; and, honestly, papa, she never stopped +talking all day long! March said he timed her. She lives away over on +the east side of the Mountain away from everybody, and yet she knows +everything that is going on, on the Mountain, and at the Mill +Settlement, and at Barton's River, and that, as you know, is quite a +large place. + +"She told us all about the new neighbors in the seven-gabled-house; how +they had their dinner at bed-time, and what 'help' they have, and whom +they are going to have for hired man, and how they have music every +night after dinner, and how the lights were n't put out in the +north-east chamber till one o'clock. She even knew the pattern of lace +on the underclothes that were hung out to dry! and Maria-Ann was trying +to crochet some in imitation; I saw it myself. + +"And she said that one of the chambers was all lined with books, and +another just covered, floor and walls, with pictures--what can she mean, +papa? and that down stairs off the living-room in what used to be old +Mrs. Morris's milk-room, there were ropes, and weights, and pulleys, and +a stretcher, and iron balls, and that every one said it did n't have the +right look. But she said she meant to stand up for them, because the +young man had come over to call just two or three days ago and said, as +she was his nearest neighbor, they ought to become acquainted before +winter set in; and he ordered a half a dozen cheeses and brought word +from his mother that she would like them to come over and see her +daughter, for she thought Maria-Ann might be able to do something for +her. Now, what do you suppose it all means? + +"Of course, it makes us all wild to go over there, and I hope we shall +go soon. + +"But, oh! if you could see the Spillkinses! I had to go off up stairs +and bury my face in Rose's feather bed so I could laugh without being +heard. They 're the funniest lot of people I ever saw. They all came +over in a big wagon filled with straw, and before they came in sight, +Chi said, 'They 're coming, I know by the cackle;' and, papa, that is +just what it was. + +"They are all awfully aged, but they act just like young people, and +Mrs. Blossom says it's their young hearts that keep them so young. + +"Uncle Israel, he's ninety-three, but he wears a dark brown wig and +looks younger than his son, Poor Reub, who is seventy and has snow-white +hair. Mrs. Spillkins wears what they call up here a 'false front;' it's +just the color of Uncle Israel's, so she looks more like his sister. +But her two sisters, Miss Melissa and Miss Elvira, are perfectly +comical. They're just as small as Aunt Tryphosa, but they don't talk; +only nod and smile and bow as if they were talking. They have little +corkscrew curls, three on each temple, and they bob and shake when they +nod and smile and sort of chirrup; it's the Captain and his wife and +Uncle Israel who cackle so when they laugh. Poor Reuben does n't say +much either, only he looks perfectly happy, and always sits by his +father when he can get a chance. Chi was just lovely to him all the +afternoon. + +"Well, after Mr. Wood and his wife and the new teacher came, we all sat +down to dinner, and Mr. Blossom said 'grace,' and all the Spillkinses +said 'Amen,' which surprised us all very much. + +"We don't have courses up here, because there is nobody to serve us; so +everything is put on your plate at once, except, of course, dessert, and +papa!--I would n't say it to any one but you, but I never saw any one +eat so much as Aunt Tryphosa for all she is so small and thin. Mr. +Blossom piled her plate up twice with turkey, and squash, and onion, and +potato, and turnip, and then she helped herself to cranberry jelly and +sweet pickles three times; and yet she managed to talk all the time; and +the queer part of it was that she did n't cut herself once, they all eat +with their knives--except, of course, our family and Miss Alton. + +"Rose and Cherry and I removed the dinner plates, and that was all the +waiting there was. + +"We sat till half-past three at the table; then Uncle Israel said +another 'grace'--'after-grace,' he called it,--and Mr. Blossom and Chi +took the--the gentlemen part out to see the horses and cows, and all the +rest went to work to clear off the table and do up the dishes. There +were so many of us it did n't take long, and then we lighted the lamps, +and all the--the ladies took out their knitting and began to work as +fast as they could. + +"Then in a little while all the--the gentlemen came in, and the ladies +put up their work, and they all sat round the room and sang Auld Lang +Syne. Rose led, and Miss Alton sang a lovely alto. It was lovely, and +I longed to have you with me. Then Captain Spillkins said it was time to +hitch up, and Chi said it was time to be going as it was very dark and +cold. He drove Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann home, and Mrs. Blossom +filled a large basket with all sorts of goodies, and Mr. Blossom set it +in behind in the apple-green cart without their knowing it; so now they +can have a surprise party of their own and Thanksgiving for a whole +week. + +"There! This is the longest letter I ever wrote in all my life. I 've +written it at different times during the day. I ate so much yesterday, +that I don't feel very bright to-day, so you must excuse any mistakes, +although I've used the dictionery as you wanted me to. + +"Always your loving, and now your dreadfully sleepy + "DAUGHTER HAZEL. + +"P.S. I think I shall feel better, if I tell you that we all had a very +unhappy time two weeks ago. I had a really dreadful heartache, papa, +and, for the first time, was homesick for you. + +"You see, March and Rose are very proud of spirit, and I don't think +they liked it in me because we are rich--but you and I understand each +other, don't we? and know that being rich does n't mean anything to us, +does it? and then, too, Chi says we 're poor because we have n't so much +family to love as the Blossoms have, and that's true, too, is n't +it?--and I think that kind of poorness ought to balance our riches, +don't you? And--well, I can't explain how it all came about, but now +they are willing to let me give them things when I want to, and that +makes me very happy, and we are all a great deal happier than we were +before, and I'm going to call Mrs. Blossom, 'Mother Blossom,' after +this, she says she wants me to, and she takes me in her arms just as she +does Rose and Cherry, and we talk things over together; so everything is +all right now. + +"Please send up my violin by express when you receive this. There is a +very good-looking young man, the new neighbor at the seven-gabled-house, +and he plays the violin, too, and his mother the piano. Love to Wilkins +and Minna-Lu. I 'll send him a present from here--Oh, I forgot! don't +forget to write Chi within a week sure, to inform you about the +Wishing-Tree, and don't buy any presents for anybody till you hear from +him. H.C." + + +When Mr. Clyde read this long letter at the breakfast table, his face +was the despair of Wilkins, who hovered about, seeking, ineffectually, +for an excuse to ask about Miss Hazel. + +"Doan know what kin' er news Marse John get from little Missy," he told +Minna-Lu, the cook; "but he laffed pow'ful part de time, an' den he grow +pow'ful sober, an' de fust ting I know, de tears come splashin' onto de +paper, an' he speak up rale sharp, 'Wha' fo' yo' hyar, Wilkins?' an' +sayin' nuffin', I jes' makes tracks, case I see he wan's nobuddy see dem +tears.-- Fo' Gawd, I 'se be glad when little Missy come home." + +Mr. Clyde took this manuscript, as he called it, over to the Doctor. + +"There, Dick, read that," was all he said. + +After the Doctor had read it, he whisked out his handkerchief in a +remarkably suspicious manner, and Mr. Clyde busied himself with a +medical journal without reading one word, till the Doctor spoke: + +"I say, Johnny, let's get up a theatre party of us two for the Old +Homestead to-night; it's the nearest thing we can get to this of +Hazel's." + +"You always hit the right thing, Dick, I 'll call for you at eight." + + + + + XV + + WISHING-TREE SECRETS + + +All-hallow-e'en had come. + +The exercises about the tree had been carried out with great +success--tom-toms, war-whoop, song and dance. After supper, the apples +had been roasted, and the whole family "bobbed" for them in the +wash-tub; father, mother, Chi, and even little May joining heartily in +the fun. Then they had melted lead, sailed nutshells freighted with +wishes, and finally "loved their Loves" with all the letters of the +alphabet. + +When all were off to bed and sound asleep, Chi took his lantern, and +went up again to the old butternut tree in the corner of the pasture. + +It was preparing to snow. A chill wind drew through the bare branches, +and caused a wild commotion among the roosters' tail feathers that +dangled from one of the lower ones. + +Chi unlocked the little door, and from the hollow took out a handful of +notes. He thrust them into the side pocket of his coat, relocked the +door, and went back to his room over the shed. There, by the light of +the lantern, he read them and rejoiced over them; re-read them and cried +a little over them, nor was he ashamed of his tears; for in the precious +missives, Rose and Hazel, March and Budd and Cherry, had shown, as in a +mirror, the workings of their loving hearts. + + +All-hallo w-e'en. + +MY DEAR MOTHER,--I have a great favor to ask of you and father. Will +you hang up _your_ stockings this year and let us children fill them +instead of your filling ours? I don't want you to take one cent of the +money you are earning by having Hazel here to buy me anything. I want +every penny of it to go to pay off that mortgage you told us of--for I +feel just as you do about it, and only wish I had known it last +Hallow-e'en when I asked for the paints and brushes. It makes me sick +just to think of all we asked for, and you not having any money to buy +them with--and never telling us! Oh, mother! + +Your devoted son, + MARCH BLOSSOM. + + +All-hallow-e'en. + +MY DEAR POPSEY,--Me and Cherry want to help you and Martie pay off that +morgige she told us about. March says it is a dreadfull thing that we +must get rid of just as soon as we can. So Cherry and me are going to +give you 2 dollars apeace out of our $3 we saved for ourselves out of +the jam and the chickens as we voted in the N.B.B.O.O. That will make +four dollars and March says it will be just 1/300 of what you owe and +will help a great deal. I think the other $1 we have left will be +enough to buy presents for the rest of the famly, don't you? + +Your Son, + BUDD BLOSSOM. + +P.S. I meant to say I don't expect anything this year 'cause last year I +asked for a double-runner and a bat and a new cap with fir on the edges +like the boys at Barton's and 20 cents to buy marbles with and I didn't +get them 'cause you were sick and I 'm sorry I asked for so much to +bother you when you were sick. B.B. + + +DEAR FRIEND CHI,--Do you think you can find out in some way what March +and Budd would like for Christmas? And if you know anything special +that Rose wants very _specially_, please let me know at your earliest +convenience so I can send to New York for it. I should like to consult +you about some gifts for Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann, and if you could +get a chance to take me down to the Barton's River shops all alone by +myself, I should esteem it a great favor. + +Your true friend, + HAZEL CLYDE. + +All-hallow-e'en. + +P. S. I 'm rather anxious about the note I put in the Wishing-Tree for +papa. + + +All-hallow-e'en. + +DARLING PATER NOSTER,--When I think of last year, my heart aches for you +and my precious Martie. Oh, why did n't she tell us before! I never +should have asked for that dress and the French grammar and dictionary +and the cheap set of Dickens', if I had only known. + +_Do_, Pater dear, let us know in the future if you are in trouble, and +let us help share it. Would n't that make it easier for you? + +Now a favor; I want you and Martie to play boy and girl again this year +and hang up _your_ stockings for a change; and please, _please_, father +dear, don't give us anything this year--we don't want anything but you +and Martie, and besides, we have money of our _own_! Chi calls us +"bloated bond-holders," and says we have formed a "combine." + +Your loving daughter, + ROSE BLOSSOM. + + +DEAREST COUSIN JACK,--I have n't answered your letter because I 've been +having too good a time. This is only a Wishing-Tree note; I want you to +do me a favor, please; find out what I can buy nice for papa with a +dollar. I 've earned it myself (and a great deal more, Jack, you would +be surprised if you knew how much the preserves and chickens came to) +and want him to have a present out of it. Then, I would like to buy +something for Doctor Heath, about fifty cents' worth, and another fifty +cents' worth for Mrs. Heath. I want to give Aunt Carrie a little +something, too, _out of my own earnings_; (I've all my two quarterly +allowances besides,) I can afford fifty cents for her; and then I would +like to remember Wilkins with a little gift out of _my earnings_ for +mamma's sake as well as my own, and then I shall have twenty-five cents +left of the money I worked for. The rest we all voted to put aside for +March to help him through college. He wants to be an architect, you +know, and he draws beautifully. I shall be glad of your advice. + +In haste, yours devotedly, + HAZEL. + + +All-hallow-e'en, MOUNT HUNGER. + +DEAR CHI,--May wants a doll the kind she saw last summer down at +Barton's River. I ve got only a doller to spend for all the famly, so +will you plese ask the pris for me as I am afrade it will be to high. +There is a big french one in the right hand window at Smith's store with +a libel on it 7$, and I play it's mine when I am down there and you are +buying horse-feed. I have named her Emilie Angelique. Rose spelt it for +me. + +Your loving CHERRY BOUNCE. + + +DEAR OLD CHI,--If you can find out what Hazel would like specially for +Christmas, just let me know. + +MARCH. + + +DEAR CHI,--Can you manage to get us all down to Barton's some Saturday +to do some Christmas shopping? + +Your ROSE-POSE. + + +All-hallow-e'en. + +DEAREST PAPA,--Will you please ask Aunt Carrie to please help you buy +these Christmas things? I enclose fifty dollars; (your check.) + +A white serge dress pattern, like mine. + +A book of lovely foreign photographs of buildings and pictures for +March. + +2 pairs of white kid gloves, number 6. + +2 pairs of tan kid gloves, number 6-. + +1 pair fur-lined gloves for March. + +1 pair ditto for Mr. Blossom. + +A year's subscription for the Woman's Hearthstone Journal for Maria-Ann. + +A small shirt waist ironing-board for Aunt Tryphosa. + +1 pair brown woolen gloves and one pair of those fleece-lined beaver +gauntlet driving gloves like those of yours, for Chi. + +1 blue Kardigan jacket for Chi. + +The other things I think I can get at Barton's River. + +Your devoted daughter, + HAZEL CLYDE. + + +"Well," said Chi, thoughtfully, as he finished reading them a second +time, "I 've got more than one string to my bow this year. Beats all, +how Chris'mus limbers up a man's feelin's! Guess 't was meant for all +of us children of a lovin' Father." So saying, Chi knelt beside his +bed, and, dropping his face in his hands, remained there motionless for +a few minutes, while his loving, gentle, manly "soul was on its knees." + + + + + XVI + + A CHRISTMAS PRELUDE + + +"It 's goin' to be an awful cold night, grandmarm," said Maria-Ann as +she stepped to the door just after sunset on Christmas eve. The old +dame followed her and looked out over her shoulder. + +"I know 't is; my fingers stuck to the latch when I went out to see +after Dorcas. While your gettin' supper, I 'm goin' to bundle up the +rooster and the hens, or they 'll freeze their combs, sure's your name's +Maria-Ann; looks kinder Chris'musy, don't it?" + +"I was just thinkin' of that, grandmarm; just look at that star in the +east!" She pointed to a shoulder of the Mountain, where a serene planet +was ascending the dark blue heavens. "An' there 's been just enough +snow to make all the spruces look like the Sunday School tree, all roped +over with pop-corn. Do you remember that last one, grandmarm?" + +"I ain't never forgot it, Maria-Ann; that's ten year ago, an' I sha'n't +never see another?" She shivered, and drew back out of the keen air. + +"Nor I," said Maria-Ann, shutting the door. + +"I don't know why not," snapped Aunt Tryphosa, who always contradicted +Maria-Ann when she could. "I guess we can have a Chris'mus tree same's +other folks; we 've got trees enough." + +"That's so," replied Maria-Ann, laughing. "Let's have one to-morrow, +grandmarm. I don't see why we can't have a tree just as well as we can +have wreaths--see what beauties I 've made! I 've saved the four +handsomest for Mis' Blossom an' Mis' Ford." + +"You do beat all, Maria-Ann, making wreaths with them greens and +bitter-sweet; I wish you 'd hang 'em up to-night; 'twould make the room +seem kinder Chris'musy." + +"To be sure I will." And Maria-Ann bustled about, hanging the beautiful +rounds of green and red in each of the kitchen windows, on the panes of +which the frost was already sparkling; then, throwing her shawl over her +head, she stepped out into the night and hung one on the outside of the +narrow, weather-blackened door. Again within, she set the small, square +kitchen table with two plates, two cups and saucers of brown and white +crockery, the pewter spoons and horn-handled knives and forks that her +grandmother had had when she was first married. Finally, she put on one +of the pots of red geranium in the centre and stood back to admire the +effect. + +"Guess we 'll have a treat to-night, seein' it's night before +Chris'mus--fried apples an' pork, an' some toast; an' I 'll cut a cheese +to-night, I declare I will, even if grandmarm does scold; she 'll eat it +fast enough if I don't say nothin' about it beforehand." + +Maria-Ann had formed the habit of thinking aloud, for she had been much +alone, and, as she said, "she was a good deal of company for herself." + +"Oh, hum!" she sighed, as she cut the pork and sliced the apples, "a cup +of tea would be about the right thing this cold night, but there ain't a +mite in the house." Then she laughed: "What you talkin' 'bout luxuries +for, Maria-Ann Simmons? You be thankful you 've got a livin'. I can +make some good cambric-tea, and put a little spearmint in it; that 'll +be warmin' as anything." She began to sing in a shrill soprano as she +busied herself with the preparations for the supper, while the kettle +sang, too, and the pork sizzled in the spider: + + "'Must I be carried to the skies + On flowery beds of ease, + While others fought to win the prize + And sailed through bloody seas?'" + + +Meanwhile, Aunt Tryphosa, with her lantern in one hand and a bundle of +red something in the other, had repaired to the hen-house which was +partitioned off from the woodshed. + +Had either one of them happened to look out down the Mountain-road just +at this time, they would have seen a strange sight. + +Along the white roadway, sparkling in the light of the rising moon, came +six silent forms in Indian file. Two were harnessed to small loaded +sledges. Sometimes, all six gesticulated wildly; at others, the two who +brought up the rear of the file silently danced and capered back and +forth across the narrow way. They drew near the house on the woodshed +side; the first two freed themselves from the sledges, and left them +under one of the unlighted windows. Then all six, attracted by the +glimmer of the lantern shining from the one small aperture of the +hen-house, stole up noiselessly and looked in. + +What they saw proved too much for their risibles, and suppressed giggles +and snickers and choking laughter nearly betrayed their presence to the +old dame within. + +On the low roost sat Aunt Tryphosa's noble Plymouth Rock rooster, and +beside him, in an orderly row, her ten hens. Every hen had on her head +a tiny flannel hood--some were red, some were white--the strings knotted +firmly under their bills by Aunt Tryphosa's old fingers trembling with +the cold. + +She was just blanketing the rooster, who submitted with a meekness which +proved undeniably that he was under petticoat government, for all the +airs he gave himself with his wives. The funny, little, hooded heads +twisting and turning, the "aks" and "oks" which accompanied Aunt +Tryphosa in her labor of love, the wild stretching and flapping of +wings, all furnished a scene never to be forgotten by the six pairs of +laughing eyes that beheld it. + +The moment the old dame took up her lantern, the spectators sped around +the corner. Under the dark windows they noiselessly unloaded the +wood-sleds, and silently carried bundles, baskets, and burlap-bags +around to the front door. + +At last they had fairly barricaded it, and the tallest of the party, +after fastening a piece of paper in the Christmas wreath that Maria-Ann +had hung up only a half-hour before, motioned to the others to step up +to the kitchen window. + +Just one glimpse they had through the thickening frost and the wreathing +green: a glimpse of the kitchen table, the steaming apples, the pot of +red geranium, the two cups of smoking spearmint tea, and of two +heads--the one white, the other brown--bent low over folded, toil-worn +hands in the reverent attitude for the evening "grace." + +"For what we are now about to receive, may the Lord make us truly +thankful," said Aunt Tryphosa, in a quavering voice. + +"Amen," said Maria-Ann, heartily--"Land sakes, grandmarm! how you scairt +me, looking up so sudden!" she exclaimed, almost in the same breath. + +"Thought I heerd somethin'," said the old dame, holding her head in a +listening attitude--"Hark!" + +"I don't hear nothin', grandmarm. Now, just eat your apples while they +'re hot. What did you think you heard?" she continued, dishing the +apples. + +"I thought I heerd it when I was out in the shed, too." + +"I should n't wonder if 't was a deer. I saw one come into the clearing +this afternoon, an' seein' 't was Christmas evening, I put a good bundle +of hay out to the south door of the cow-shed." + +"Guess 't was that, then," said Aunt Tryphosa. "You clear up, +Maria-Ann, an' I 'll keep up a good fire, for I want to finish off them +stockings for Ben Blossom an' Chi. I s'pose you 've got your things +ready in case we see a team go by to-morrow?" + +"Yes, they 're all ready," said her granddaughter, rather absently, and +set about washing the few dishes. + +When all was done, neatly and quickly as Maria-Ann so well knew how, she +flung on her shawl, saying: + +"I 'm goin' out a minute to see if the bundle of hay is gone, and +besides, I want to look at the moon on the snow; it's the first time I +'ve seen it so this year." She opened the door-- + +"Oh, Luddy!" she screamed, as bundle, and basket, and bag toppled over +into the room. + +"Land sakes alive!" quavered Aunt Tryphosa, hurrying to the rescue. +"Did n't I tell you I heerd somethin'? What be they?" + +"Presents!" cried Maria-Ann, pulling, and hauling, and gathering up, and +finally getting the door shut. + +"Seems to me I see somethin' white catched onto the door 'fore you shut +it," said Aunt Tryphosa. "Better look an' see." Again her +granddaughter opened the door, and found the strip of paper on which was +written; + +"Merry Christmas! with best wishes of +Benjamin and Mary Blossom and May, +Malachi Graham and Rose Eleanor Blossom, +March Blossom and Hazel Clyde, +Benjamin Budd Blossom and Cherry Elizabeth Blossom of +the N.B.B.O.O., and of +John Curtis Clyde of New York; U.S.A.; N.A.; W.H." + + +"Oh, grandmarm! It's just like a romantic novel!" cried Maria-Ann, who +was as full of sentiment as an egg is full of yolk. "It makes me feel +kinder queer, comin' just now right after we was talkin' 'bout our tree. +You open first, an' then we 'll take turns." Aunt Tryphosa, who was +winking very hard behind her spectacles, was not loath to begin. + +"Let's haul 'em up to the stove; it's so awful cold," she said, +shivering. + +"Why, you 've let the fire go down; that's the reason. Don't you +remember you was goin' to put on the wood just as the things fell in?" + +"So I was," said her grandmother, making good her forgetfulness; in a +few minutes there was a roaring fire, and the room was filled with a +genial warmth. Then they sat down to their delightful task, Maria-Ann +kneeling on the square of rag carpet before the stove. + +"My land!" cried Aunt Tryphosa, clapping her hands together as she +opened the largest burlap bag; "if that boy ain't stuffed this +two-bushel bag chock full of birch bark! Look a-here, Maria-Ann, you +read this slip of paper for me; my specs get so dim come night-time." + +The truth was, the tears were running down Aunt Tryphosa's wrinkled +cheeks and filming her eyes to such an extent that she saw the birch +bark through all the colors of the rainbow. + +"'For Aunt Tryphosa from Budd Blossom to make her fires quick with cold +mornings.' Did you ever?" said Maria-Ann, untying another large burlap +bundle--"What's this? 'Made by Rose Blossom and Hazel Clyde to keep +Aunt Tryphosa snug and warm o' nights when the mercury is below zero.' +O grandmarm, look at this!" + +Maria-Ann unrolled a coverlet made of silk patch-work (bright bits and +pieces that Hazel had begged of Aunt Carrie and Mrs. Heath and others of +her New York friends) lined with thin flannel and filled with feathers. + +But Aunt Tryphosa was speechless for the first time in her life; and, +seeing this, Maria-Ann took advantage of it to do a little talking on +her own account. + +"She don't seem like a city girl in her ways; she ain't a bit stuck +up--Oh, what's _this_!" She poked, and fingered, and pinched, but +failed to guess. Aunt Tryphosa grew impatient. + +"Let me _see_, you 've done nothin' but feel," she said, reaching for +the package, and Maria-Ann handed it over to her. + +Again Mrs. Tryphosa Little was nearly dumb, as the miscellaneous +contents of the queer, knobby parcel were brought to light. + +"These are for you, Maria-Ann," she said in an awed voice, laying them +on the kitchen table one after the other:--A copy of the Woman's +Hearthstone Journal, with the receipt for a year's subscription pinned +to it;--A small shirt waist ironing-board;--A pair of fleece-lined +Arctics that buttoned half-way up Maria-Ann's sturdy legs when, an hour +later, she tried them on;--Six paper-covered novels of the Chimney +Corner Library including Lorna Doone (Hazel had discovered in her +frequent visits, that Aunt Tryphosa's granddaughter at twenty-nine was +as romantic as a girl of seventeen);--A box of preserved ginger;--Two +pounds of Old Hyson Tea;--(upon which Maria-Ann bounced up from the +floor, and without more ado made two cups, much to her grandmother's +amazement);--Six pounds of lump sugar;---A dozen lemons;--A dozen +oranges;--A white Liberty-silk scarf tucked into an envelope;--Six +ounces of scarlet knitting-wool;--All for "Miss Maria-Ann Simmons, with +Hazel Clyde's best wishes." + +Then it was Maria-Ann Simmons's turn to break down and weep, at which +Aunt Tryphosa fidgeted, for she had not seen her granddaughter cry since +she was a little girl. + +"Don't act like a fool, Maria-Ann," she said, crustily, to hide her own +feelings; "take your things an' enjoy 'em. I 've seen tears enough for +night before Chris'mus," she added, ignoring the fact that she had +established a precedent. + +"Well, I won't, grandmarm," said her granddaughter, laughing and crying +at the same time; "but I 'm goin' to have that cup of tea first to kind +of strengthen me 'fore I open the rest," she added decidedly. "Besides, +I don't want to see everything at once; I want it to last." + +"I don't mind if I have mine, too. Guess you may put in two lumps, +seein' as we did n't have to pay for it," and the old dame sipped her +Hyson with supreme satisfaction, as did likewise her granddaughter. + +As the latter pushed back her chair from the table, her grandmother +cautioned her:--"Look out! you 're settin' it on another bag!" But it +was too late. To Aunt Tryphosa's amazement and Maria-Ann's horror, the +bag suddenly flopped up and down on the floor, the motion being +accompanied with such an unearthly, +"A--ee--eetsch--ok--ak--ache--eetsch!" that the two women's faces grew +pale, and they jumped as if they had been shot. + +Then Maria-Ann, with her hand on her thumping heart, burst into a shrill +laugh, and Aunt Tryphosa quavered a thin accompaniment. How they +laughed! till again the tears rolled down their cheeks. + +"Scairt of hens!" chuckled the old dame as she undid the strings of the +bag--"at my time of life! Oh, my stars and garters, Maria-Ann! ain't +they beauties?" + +She drew out by the legs two snow-white Wyandotte pullets, and held them +up admiringly. "They 're from March, I know; but just to think of this, +Maria-Ann!" Again words and, curiously enough, eyes, too, failed her, +and her granddaughter read the slip of paper tied around the leg of one +of the hens:--"'One for Aunt Tryphosa, and one for Maria-Ann; have laid +three times; last time day before yesterday; I hope they 'll lay two +Christmas-morning eggs for your breakfast. March Blossom.'" + +"I 'm goin' to put 'em on some hay in the clothes-basket, Maria-Ann, an' +keep 'em right under my bed where it's good an' warm," said Aunt +Tryphosa, decidedly. "They 're kinder quality folks and can't be turned +in among common fowl. Besides, I ain't got another hood, an' if they +_should_ freeze their combs, I 'd never forgive myself." + +"Well, I would, grandmarm," said Maria-Ann, still laughing, as she +untied the last two bundles. "Laws!" she exclaimed, "Here 's New York +style for you." She read the visiting card: + +"To Mrs. Tryphosa Little, with the Season's compliments from John Curtis +Clyde. 4 East ----th Street." + +"Well, I 'm dumbfoundered," sighed Mrs. Tryphosa Little, and more she +could not say as she took out of the large pasteboard box, a white silk +neckerchief, a cap of black net and lace with a "chou" of purple satin +lutestring, a black fur collar and a muff to match, in all of which she +proceeded to array herself with the utmost despatch, forgetful of the +two hens, which, after wandering aimlessly about the kitchen, had +roosted finally on the back of her wooden rocking-chair, where they +balanced themselves with some difficulty. + +But suddenly, as she was thrusting her hands into the new muff, she +paused, laid it down on the table, and said, rather querulously, "Help +me off with these things, Maria-Ann; I 'm all tuckered out. I can stan' +a day's washin' as well as anybody, if I am eighty-one come next June, +but I can't stan' no such night 'fore Chris'mus as this, an' I 'm goin' +to bed, an' take the hens." + +"I would, grandmarm," said her granddaughter, gently, taking off the +unwonted finery and kissing the wrinkled face. "You go to bed; I put +the soap-stone in two hours ago, so it's nice an' warm. I 'll clear up, +an' don't you mind me--here, let me take one of those hens." + +"No, I can take care of hens anytime," snapped Aunt Tryphosa, for she +was tired out with happiness, "but I can't stan' so many presents, an' I +'m too old to begin." She disappeared in the bed-room, the two +Wyandotte hens hanging limply, heads downward, from each hand. + +Maria-Ann picked up the paper and the wraps, and made all tidy again in +the kitchen. She put her hand on the last bag that was so heavy she had +not moved it from the door. "It's a bag of cracked corn--hen-feed," she +said to herself, "an' it's from Chi, I know as well as if I'd been +told." + +Then she sat down in the rocker before the stove and put her feet in the +oven to warm. She blew out the light and sat awhile in silence, +thinking happy thoughts. + +The fire crackled in the stove, and dancing lights, reflected from the +open grate, played on the wall. The moon shone full upon the frosted +window panes, and the Christmas wreaths were set in masses of encrusted +brilliants. The kettle began to sing, and so did Maria-Ann--but softly, +for fear of waking Aunt Tryphosa: + + "'My soul, be on thy guard; + Ten thousand foes arise; + The hosts of sin are pressing hard + To draw thee from the skies.'" + + + + + XVII + + HUNGER-FORD + + +Such a line of communication as was soon established between Mount +Hunger and New York, Mount Hunger and Cambridge, the Lost Nation and +Barton's River, Hunger-ford--the Fords' new name for the old Morris +farm--and the Blossom homestead on the Mountain! + +Uncle Sam's post, the Western Union Telegraph Company, the American +Express, a line of freight, saddle horses, sleds, and the old +apple-green cart on runners were all pressed into service; in all the +United States of America there were no busier young people than those +belonging to the Lost Nation. + +They wrote notes to one another with an air of great mystery; they drove +singly, in couples, or all together to Barton's River with Chi; they +smuggled in bundles and express packages of all sorts and sizes; looked +guilty if caught whispering together in the pantry; took many a +sled-ride over to Hunger-ford, and audaciously remained there three +hours at a time without giving Mrs. Blossom any good reason either for +their going or remaining. + +The acquaintance formed between the Blossoms and the Fords just after +Thanksgiving, was fast ripening into friendship. March, usually shy +with strangers, fairly adored the tall, quiet son with the wonderful +smile, and expanded at once in his genial presence. With Ruth Ford he +had much in common; and regularly once a week since Thanksgiving he had +drawn and painted with her in her studio, the room that Aunt Tryphosa +had so graphically described. His gift was far more in that direction +than hers; and Ruth, recognizing it, encouraged him, spurred his +ambition, and placed all her materials at his disposal. + +Rose's sweet voice had proved a delight to them all, and Hazel's violin +was being taught to play a gentle accompaniment to Alan Ford's, that +sang, or wept, or rejoiced according to the player's mood. + +"I am so thankful, Ben, that our Rose can have the advantage of such +companions just at this time of her life," said Mrs. Blossom, on the +afternoon before Christmas when the two eldest, with Hazel, had gone +over to Hunger-ford with joyful secrets written all over their happy +faces. + +"So am I, Mary. When I see young men like Ford, I realize what I lost +in being obliged to give up college on father's account," said Mr. +Blossom, with a sigh. + +"I do, too, Ben; and what I 've lost in opportunity when I see that +gifted woman, Mrs. Ford. She has travelled extensively, she reads and +speaks both German and French, she is a really wonderful musician, and +keeps up with every interest of the day, besides being a splendid +housekeeper and devoted to her children." + +"Do you regret it, Mary?" said her husband, looking straight before him +into the fire. + +"Not with you, Ben," was Mary Blossom's answer. Taking her husband's +face in both her hands and turning it towards her, she looked into his +eyes, and received the smile and kiss that were always ready for her. + +"If we did n't have all this when we were young people, Mary, we 'll +hope that we may have it in our children," he said, earnestly. + +Just then Chi came in, and gave a loud preliminary, "Hem!" for to him, +Ben and Mary Blossom would always be lovers. "Guess 't is 'bout time to +hitch up, if you 're goin' clear down to Barton's to meet the train, +Ben; I 've got to go over eastwards with the children." + +"All right, Chi, I 'd rather drive down to the station to-night; it's +good sleighing and our Mountain is a fine sight by moonlight." + +"Can't be beat," said Chi, emphatically. "S'pose you 'll be back by +seven, sharp? I kind of want to time myself, on account of the +s'prise." + +"We 'll say seven, and I 'll make it earlier if I can. You 're off for +Aunt Tryphosa's now?" + +"Just finished loadin' up--There they are!" and in rushed the whole +troop, hooded and mittened and jacketed and leggined, ready for their +after-sunset raid. + +"Good-bye, Martie!" screamed Cherry, wild with excitement, and made a +dash for the door; then she turned back with another dash that nearly +upset May, and, throwing her arms around her mother's neck, nearly +squeezed the breath from her body. "O Mumpsey, Dumpsey, dear! I 'm +having such an awfully good time; it's so much happier than last +Christmas!" + +"And, O Popsey, Dopsey, dear!" laughed Rose, mimicking her, but with a +voice full of love, and both mittens caressing his face, "it's so good +to have you well enough to celebrate this year!" + +Hazel slipped her hand into Chi's, and whispered, "Oh, Chi, I wish I had +a lot of brothers and sisters like Rose. Anyway, papa's coming to-night, +so I 'll have one of my own," she added proudly. + +"Guess we 'd better be gettin' along," said Chi, still holding Hazel's +hand. "It's goin' to be a stinger, 'n' it's a mile 'n' a half over +there." + +"Come on all!" cried March; "we 'll be back before you are, father." + +"We 'll see about that," laughed his father, as he caught the merry +twinkle in his wife's eye. + +But March was right by the margin of only a minute or two; for just as +the merry crowd entered the house on their return from their errand of +"goodwill," they heard Mr. Blossom drive the sleigh into the barn. In +another moment Hazel had flung wide the door and was caught up into her +father's arms. + +In the midst of their cordial greetings there was a loud knock at the +door. They all started at the sound, and Budd, who was nearest, opened +it. + +"Please, Budd, may I come in, too?" said a voice everyone recognized as +the Doctor's. + +Then the whole Blossom household lost their heads where they had lost +their hearts the year before. Rose and Hazel and Cherry fairly +smothered him with kisses; Budd wrung one hand, March gripped another; +May clung to one leg, and the monster of a puppy contrived to get under +foot, although he stood two feet ten. + +Jack Sherrill, looking in at the window upon all this loving hominess, +felt, somehow, physically and spiritually left out in the cold. "What a +fool I was to come!" he said to himself. Nevertheless he carried out +his part of the program by stepping up to the door and knocking. This +time Mrs. Blossom opened it. + +"Have you room for one more, Mrs. Blossom?" he said with an attempt at a +smile, but looking sadly wistful, so wistful and lonely that Mary +Blossom put out both hands without a word, and, somehow,--Jack, in +thinking it over afterwards, never could tell how it happened so +naturally--he was giving her a son's greeting, and receiving a mother's +kiss in return. + +In a moment Hazel's arms were around his neck;--"Oh, Jack, Jack! I 've +got three of my own now; I 'm almost as rich as Rose!" + +Rose, hearing her name, came forward with frank, cordial greeting, and +May transferred her demonstrations of affection from the Doctor's +trousers to Jack's; Cherry's curls bobbed and quivered with excitement +when Jack claimed a kiss from "Little Sunbonnet," and received two +hearty smacks in return; March took his travelling bag; Budd kept close +beside him, and the puppy, who had been christened Tell, nosed his hand, +and, sitting down on his haunches, pawed the air frantically until Jack +shook hands with him, too. + +By this time the wistful look had disappeared from Jack's eyes, and his +handsome face was filled with such a glad light that the Doctor noticed +it at once. He shook his head dubiously, with his eyebrows drawn +together in a straight line over the bridge of his nose, and, from +underneath, his keen eyes glanced from Jack to Rose and from Rose back +again to Jack. Then his face cleared, and explanations were in order. + +"Why, you see," the Doctor said to Mrs. Blossom, "my wife had to go +South with her sister, and could not be at home for Christmas--the first +we 've missed celebrating together since we were married--and when I +found John was coming up to spend it with you, I couldn't resist giving +myself this one good time. But Jack here has failed to give any +satisfactory account of how or why he came to intrude his long person +just at this festive time. I thought you were off at a Lenox house-party +with the Seatons?" he said, quizzically. + +Jack laughed good-naturedly. "I don't blame you for wondering at my +being here; but I've been here before," he said, willing to pay back the +Doctor in his own coin. + +"The deuce you have!" exclaimed the Doctor. "I say, Johnny, are we +growing old that these young people get ahead of us so easily?" + +"I don't know how you feel, Dick, but I 'm as young as Jack to-night." + +"That 's right, Papa Clyde," said Hazel, approvingly, softly patting her +father on the head; "and, Jack, you 're a dear to come up here to see +us, for you 've just as much right as the Doctor." + +The Doctor pretended to grumble:--"Come to see you, indeed, you superior +young woman--_you_ indeed! As if there weren't any other girls in the +world or on Mount Hunger but you and Rose--much you know about it." + +"Well, I 'd like to know who you came to see, if not us?" laughed Hazel, +sure of her ultimate triumph. + +"Why, my dear Ruth Ford, to be sure." + +"Ruth Ford!" they exclaimed in amazement. + +"Why not Ruth Ford? You did n't suppose I would come away up here into +the wilds of Vermont in the dead of winter, did you? just to see--" +But Hazel laid her hand on his mouth. + +"Stop teasing, do," she pleaded, "and tell us how you knew our Ruth." + +"_Our_ Ruth! Ye men of York, hear her!" said the Doctor, appealing to +Mr. Clyde and Jack. "The next thing will be 'our Alan Ford,' I suppose. +How will you like that, Jack?" + +"I feel like saying 'confound him,' only it would n't be polite. You +see, Doctor, I thought I had prempted the whole Mountain, and was +prepared to make a conquest of Miss Maria-Ann Simmons even; but if Mr. +Ford has stepped in"--Jack assumed a tragic air--"there is nothing left +for me in honor, but to throw down the gauntlet and challenge him to +single combat--hockey-sticks and hot lemonade--for her fair hand." + +At the mention of Maria-Ann, Rose and Hazel, Budd and Cherry and March +went off into fits of laughter. They laughed so immoderately that it +proved infectious for their elders, and when Chi entered the room Budd +cried out, "Oh, Chi, you tell about the--we can't--the rooster and the +hoods, and--Oh my eye!--" Budd was apparently on the verge of +convulsions. + +"I stuffed snow into my mouth and made my teeth ache so as not to laugh +out loud," said Cherry; at which there was another shout, and still +another outburst at the table when Chi described the scene in the +hen-house. + +"Now, children," said Mrs. Blossom, after the somewhat hilarious evening +meal was over, the table cleared, the dishes were wiped and put away, +"we 're going to do just for this once as you want us to--hang up our +stockings; but I want all of you to hang up yours, too. If you don't, I +shall miss the sixes and sevens and eights so, that it will spoil my +Christmas." + +"We will, Martie," they assented, joyfully; for, as March said, it would +not seem like night before Christmas if they did not hang up their +stockings. + +"Yes, and papa, and you," said Hazel, turning to the Doctor, "must hang +up yours, and you, too, Jack." + +"Why, of course," said Mrs. Blossom, "everybody is to hang up a stocking +to-night, even Tell." + +"Oh, Martie, how funny!" cried Cherry, "but he has n't a truly +stocking." + +"No, but one of Budd's will do for his huge paw--won't it, old fellow?" +she said, patting his great head. + +Then Budd must needs bring out a pair of his pedal coverings and try one +brown woollen one on Tell, much to his majesty's surprise; for Tell was +a most dignified youth of a dog, as became his nine months and his +famous breed. + +Early in the evening the stockings were hung up over the fireplace, all +sizes and all colors:--May's little red one and Chi's coarse blue one; +Mr. Clyde's of thick silk, and Budd's and Tell's of woollen; Hazel's of +black cashmere beside Jack's striped Balbriggan. What an array! + +Then Mrs. Blossom and May went off into the bedroom, and Mr. Blossom and +his guests were forced to smoke their after-tea cigars in the guest +bedroom upstairs, while the young people brought out their treasures and +stuffed the grown-up stockings till they were painfully distorted. + +"Don't they look lovely!" whispered Hazel, ecstatically to March, who +begged Rose to get another of their mother's stockings, for the one +proved insufficient for the fascinating little packages that were +labelled for her. + +"Let's go right to bed now," suggested Budd, "then mother 'll fill +ours--Oh, I forgot," he added, ruefully, "we are n't going to have +presents this year--" + +"Why, yes, we are, too, Budd," said Rose, "we 're going to give one +another out of our own money." + +"Cracky! I forgot all about that--" Budd tore upstairs in the dark, +and tore down again and into the bedroom, crying:--"Now all shut your +eyes while I 'm going through!" which they did most conscientiously. + +Soon they, too, were invited laughingly to retire, and by half-past ten +the house was quiet. + + "'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, AND ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE, + NOT A CREATURE WAS STIRRING, NOT EVEN A MOUSE;" + Stretched out on the hearth-rug lay Tell snoring loudly, + And above from the mantel the stockings hung proudly; + When down from the stairway there came such a patter + Of stockingless feet--'t was no laughing matter! + As the good Doctor thought, for he sprang out of bed + To see if 't were real, or a dream iii its stead. + + But no! with his eye at a crack of the door + He discovered the truth--'t was the Blossoms, all four, + With Hazel to aid them, tiptoeing about + Like a party of ghosts grown a little too stout. + They pinched and they fingered; they poked and they squeezed + Each plump Christmas stocking--then somebody sneezed! + Consternation and terror!! The tall clock struck one + As the ghosts disappeared on the double-quick run! + + "'T WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, AND ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE, + NOT A CREATURE WAS STIRRING, NOT EVEN A MOUSE;" + Without in the moonlight, the snow sparkled bright; + The Mountain stood wrapped in a mantle of white, + With a crown of dark firs on his noble old crest + And ermine and diamonds adorning his breast; + And the stars that above him swung true into line + Once shone o'er a manger in far Palestine. + + +What a Christmas morning that was! + +Chi was up at five o'clock, building roaring fires, for it was ten +degrees below zero. + +With the first glint of the sun on the frosted panes the household was +astir. At precisely seven the order was given to take down the thirteen +stockings. But bless you! You 're not to think the stockings could +hold all the gifts. In front of each wide jamb were piled the bundles +and packages, three feet high! + +Rose hesitated a moment when the children sat down on the rug with their +stockings, as was their custom every Christmas morn; then she plumped +down among them, saying, laughingly: + +"I don't care if I _am_ growing up, Martie--it's Christmas." + +Upon which Jack, hugging his striped Balbriggan, sat down beside her. + +Such "Ohs" and "Ahs"! Such thankings and squeezings! Such somersaults +as were turned by March and Budd at the kitchen end of the long-room! +Such rapturous gurgles from May! Such hand-shakes and kisses! Such +silent bliss on the part of Chi, who, though suffering as if in a +Turkish bath, had donned his new, blue woollen sweater, drawn on his +gauntleted beaver gloves, and proceeded to investigate his stocking with +the air of a man who has nothing more to wish for. And through all the +chaotic happiness a sentence could be distinguished now and then. + +"Chi, these corn-cob pipes are just what I shall want after Christmas +when I give my Junior Smoker." + +"Oh, Martie, it can't be for me!" as the lovely white serge dress, ready +made and trimmed with lace, was held up to Rose's admiring eyes. + +Budd was caressing with approving fingers a regular "base-ball-nine" bat +and admiring the white leather balls. + +"I say, it's a stunner, Mr. Sherrill; but how did you know I wanted it?" + +Mr. Clyde, who was touched to his very heart's core by Hazel's gift of a +dollar pair of suspenders which she had earned by her own labor, felt a +small hand slipped into his, and found Cherry Bounce looking up at him +with wide, adoring, brown eyes, which, for the first time, she had taken +from her beautiful milie Anglique, whom she held pressed to her +heart:-- + +"I want to whisper to you," she said, shyly. Mr. Clyde bent down to +her;--"After I said my prayers to Martie, I asked God to give me milie +Anglique--every night," she nodded--"but I only told Budd, so how _did_ +you know?" + +March was lost to the world in his volume of foreign photographs, in his +boxes of paints and brushes, and a whole set of drawing materials. He +had not as yet thanked Hazel for them. + +Everybody was happy and satisfied. Everybody said he or she had +received just exactly the thing. Tell alone could not express his +gratification in words. He had been given his woollen stocking, and +nosed about till he had brought forth three fat dog-biscuit, a +deliciously juicy-greasy beef bone, wrapped in white waxed paper and +tied at one end with a blue ribbon, a fine nickelplated dog collar with +a bell attached, and last, from the brown woollen toe, three lumps of +sugar. + +One by one he took the gifts and laid them down at Mrs. Blossom's feet; +putting one huge paw firmly on the waxed-paper package, he waved the +other wildly until she took it and spoke a loving word to him. Then, +taking up his beloved bone, he retired with it to the farthest end of +the long-room, under the kitchen sink, and licked it in peace and joy. + +Jack and Chi in the joyful confusion had slipped from the room. + +Soon there was a commotion in the woodshed, and the two made their +appearance dragging after them a brand-new double-runner and a real +Canadian toboggan, which Jack had ordered from Montreal for March. + +Breakfast proved to be a short meal, for the whole family was wild to +try the new toboggan with Jack to engineer it. Then it was up and +down--down and up the steep mountain road; Jack and Doctor Heath, Mr. +Clyde, Mr. Blossom and Chi, all on together--clinging for dear life, +laughing, whooping, panting, hurrahing like boys let out from school, +while March and Budd and Rose and Hazel and Cherry flew after them on +the double-runner, the keen air biting rose-red cheeks, and bringing the +stinging water to the eyes. + +But what sport it was! + +"Now, this is something like," panted Jack, drawing up the hill with +Chi, his handsome face aglow with life and joy. + +"By George Washin'ton! it's the nearest thing to shootin' Niagary that I +ever come," puffed Chi. + +"Didn't we take that water-bar neatly?" laughed Jack. + +"'N inch higher, 'n' we 'd all been goners;--I had n't a minute to think +of it, goin' to the rate of a mile a minute; but if I had--I 'd have +dusted! Guess I 'll make it level before I try it with the +children,--'n' I want you to know there 's no coward about me, but I 'm +just speakin' six for myself this time." + +So the morning sped. Even Mrs. Blossom and May were taken down once, +and the Doctor stopped only because he wanted to make a morning call on +his patient, Ruth Ford; for it was by his advice the family had come to +live for three years in this mountain region. + +The horn for the mid-day meal sounded down the Mountain before they had +thought of finishing the exciting sport, and one and all brought such +keen appetites to the Christmas dinner, that Mrs. Blossom declared +laughingly that she would give them no supper, for they had eaten the +pantry shelves bare. + +Such roast goose and barberry jam! Such a noble plum-pudding set in the +midst of Maria-Ann's best wreath, for she and Aunt Tryphosa had sent +over their simple gifts by an early teamster. Such red Northern Spies +and winter russet pears! And such mirth and shouts and jests and quips +to accompany each course! + +It was genuine New England Christmas cheer, and the healths were drunk +in the wine of the apple amid great applause, especially Doctor Heath's: + +"Health, peace, and long life to the Lost Nation--May its tribe +increase!" + +And how they laughed at Chi, when he proposed the health of the Prize +Chicken (which, by the way, he had kept for the next season's mascot,) +and recounted the episode in the barn. + +What shouts greeted Budd, who, rising with great gravity, his mouth +puckered into real, not mock, seriousness--and that was the comical part +of it all--said earnestly: + +"To my first wife!" and sat down rather red, but gratified not only by +the prolonged applause, but by the enthusiasm with which they drank to +this unexpected toast from his unsentimental self. + +Directly after dinner Mr. Clyde declared that a seven-mile walk was an +actual necessity for him in his present condition, and invited all who +would to accompany him to call in state on Mrs. Tryphosa Little and Miss +Maria-Ann Simmons. Only Doctor Heath and Jack went with him, for Mr. +Blossom and Chi had matters to attend to at home, and Rose and Cherry +and Hazel were needed to help Mrs. Blossom. Even March and Budd turned +to and wiped dishes. + +"I 'll set the table now, Martie," said Rose, "then there will be no +confusion to-night--there are so many of us." + +"No need for that to-night, children," replied Mrs. Blossom, with a +merry smile. "'The last is the best of all the rest,' for we were all +invited a week ago to take tea and spend Christmas evening at +Hunger-ford." + +"Oh, Martie!" A joyful shout went up from the six, that was followed by +jigs and double-shuffles, pas-seuls and fancy steps, in which +dish-towels were waved wildly, and tin pans were pounded instead of +wiped. + +When the din had somewhat subsided there were numberless questions +asked; by the time they were all answered, and Rose and Hazel had donned +their white serge dresses, the gentlemen had returned from their walk, +and it was time to go. + +"That's why Mrs. Ford had us learn all those songs," said Rose to Hazel. +"Don't forget to take your violin." + +A merrier Christmas party never set forth on a straw-ride. Mr. and Mrs. +Blossom and May went over in the sleigh, but the rest piled into the +apple-green pung, and when they came in sight of the seven-gabled-house, +a rousing three times three, mingling with the sound of the +sleigh-bells, greeted the pretty sight. + +Every window was illumined, and adorned with a Christmas wreath. In the +light of the rising moon, then at the full, the snow that covered the +roof sparkled like frosted silver. The house, with its background of +sharply sloping hill wooded with spruce and pine, its twinkling lights +and the surrounding white expanse, looked like an illuminated Christmas +card. + +Within, the hall was festooned with ground hemlock and holly; a roaring +fire of hickory logs furnished light and to spare. In the living-room +and dining-room, Mr. Clyde and Jack Sherrill found, to their amazement, +all the elegance and refinement of a city home combined with country +simplicity. The tea-table shone with the service of silver and sparkled +with the many-faceted crystal of glass and carafe. For decoration, the +rich red of the holly berries gleamed among the dark green gloss of +their leaves. + +At first, the younger members of the Blossom family felt constrained and +a little awed in such surroundings; for although they had been several +times in the house, they had never taken tea there. But the Fords and +the other city people soon put them at their ease, and, as Cherry +declared afterwards, "It was like eating in a fairy story." There was a +real pigeon pie at one end and a Virginia ham at the other, as well as +cold, roast duck with gooseberry jam. There were sparkling jellies, and +the whole family of tea-cakes--orange, cocoanut, sponge, and chocolate; +and, oh, bliss!--strawberry ice-cream in a nest of spun cinnamon candy, +followed by Malaga grapes and hot chocolate topped with a whip of cream. + +After tea there was the surprise of a beautiful Christmas Tree in the +library. Ruth Ford had occupied many a weary hour in making the +decorations--roses and lilies fashioned from tissue paper to closely +copy nature; gilded walnuts; painted paper butterflies; pink sugar +hearts, and cornucopias of gilt and silver paper, in each of which was a +bunch of real flowers--roses, violets, carnations, and daisies, ordered +by Jack Sherrill from New York. On the topmost branch, there was a +waxen Christ-child. The tree was lighted by dozens of tiny colored +candles. When the door was opened from the living-room, and the +children caught sight of the wonderful tree, they held their breath and +whispered to one another. + +But more lovely than the tree in the eyes of the older people were the +radiant faces of the young people and the children. Rose, with clasped +hands, stood gazing up at the Christ-child that crowned the glowing, +glittering mass of dark green. She was wholly unconscious of the many +pairs of eyes that rested upon her in love and admiration. There was +nothing so beautiful in the whole room as the young girl standing there +with earnest blue eyes, raised reverently to the little waxen figure. +Her lips were parted in a half smile; a flush of excitement was on her +cheeks; the white dress set off the exquisite fairness of her skin; the +shining crown of golden-brown hair, that hung in a heavy braid to within +a foot of the hem of her gown, caught the soft lights above her and +formed almost a halo about the face. + +Suddenly there was a burst of admiration from the children, and, under +cover of it, Doctor Heath turned to Mr. Clyde, who was standing beside +him:-- + +"By heavens, John! That girl is too beautiful; she will make some +hearts ache before she is many years older, as well as your own +Hazel--look at _her_ now!" + +The father's eyes rested lovingly, but thoughtfully, on the graceful +little figure that was busy distributing the cornucopias with their +fragrant contents. Yes, she, too, was beautiful, giving promise of +still greater beauty. He turned to the Doctor and held out his hand:-- + +"Richard, I have to thank you for this transformation." + +"No--not me," said the Doctor, earnestly, "but," pointing to Mrs. +Blossom, "that woman there, John. Hazel needed the mother-love, just as +much as Jack does at this moment." + +Jack had turned away when the Doctor began to speak of Rose, and, +joining her, said, "Won't you wear one of my roses just to-night, Miss +Blossom?" + +"Your roses! Why, did you give us all those lovely flowers?" + +"Yes, I wanted to contribute my share, and flowers seemed the most +appropriate offering just for to-night." + +"They 're lovely," said Rose, caressing the exquisite petals of a La +France beauty. "Of course I 'll wear one--" she tucked one into her +belt; "but why--why!--has n't anyone else roses?" She looked about +inquiringly. + +"No,--the roses were for their namesake," said Jack, quietly. + +Rose laughed merrily,--a pleased, girlish laugh. "Then won't the giver +of the roses call their namesake, 'Rose'?--for the sake of the roses?" +she added mischievously. + +Now Jack Sherrill had seen many girls--silly girls, flirty girls, +sensible girls, charming girls, smart girls, nice girls, and horrid +girls, and flattered himself he knew every species of the genus, but +just this once he was puzzled. If Rose Blossom had been an arrant flirt, +she could not have answered him more effectively; yet Jack had decided +that she had too earnest a nature to descend to flirting. Somehow, that +word could never be applied to Rose Blossom--"My Rose," he said to +himself, and knew with a kind of a shock when he said it, that he was +very far gone. But in the next breath, he had to confess to himself +that he had "been very far gone" many a time in his twenty-one years, so +perhaps it did not signify. + +Indeed, in the next minute, he was sure it did not signify, for, before +he could gather his wits sufficiently to reply to her, Rose had slipped +away to the other side of the room, where she was busying herself in +fastening one of Jack's roses into the buttonhole of Alan Ford's Tuxedo. +In consequence of which, Jack turned his batteries upon Ruth Ford with +such effect, that she declared afterwards to her mother he was one of +the most fascinating _young_ men--for Ruth was twenty-one!--she had ever +met. + +Mrs. Ford and Hazel and Mr. Ford had done their best to persuade Chi to +remain with them for the tree. Even Rose urged--but in vain. True, the +girls had insisted upon his taking one look, then he had begged off, +saying, as he patted Hazel's hand that lay on his arm: + +"Not to-night, Lady-bird. I don't feel to home in there. I 'll sit out +here and hear the music, then I can beat time with my foot if I want +to." He remained in the hall, just outside the living-room door, +enjoying all he heard. + +First there was a lovely piano duet, an Hungarian waltz by Brahms, Mrs. +Ford and the grave, quiet son playing with such a perfect understanding +of each other, as well as of the music, that it proved a delight to all +present. Then there was a carol by all the children, Rose leading, and +Mrs. Ford playing the accompaniment: + + "'Cheery old Winter! merry old Winter! + Laugh, while with yule-wreath thy temples are bound; + Drain the spiced bowl now, cheer thy old soul now, + "Christmas _waes hael_!" pledge the holy toast round. + Broach butt and barrel, with dance and with carol + Crown we old Winter of revels the king; + And when he is weary of living so merry, + He 'll lie down and die on the green lap of Spring. + Cheery old Winter! merry old Winter! + He 'll lie down and die on the green lap of Spring!'" + + +This won great applause, and a loud thumping could be heard in the hall. +Jack went out to try his powers of persuasion with Chi, and found him +sitting close to the door with one knee over the other and a La France +rose (!) in his buttonhole. + +"Come in, Chi, do." + +"Ruther 'd sit here." + +"Oh, come on." + +"Nope." + +Jack laughed at the decided tone. "Where did you get this?" he asked, +touching the boutonniere. + +"Rose-pose," answered Chi, laconically, but with a happy smile. + +"Out of her bunch?" + +"Nope--took it out of her belt," said Chi, with a curious twist of his +mouth. + +Jack went back crestfallen, and Chi smiled. + +"I 'm afraid I cut him out, just for once; kind of rough on him, but 't +won't hurt him any to have a change. He 's had his own way a little too +much," said Chi to himself. + +Again there was music, a Schubert serenade, with the two violins, and +after that, the children begged Hazel to dance the Highland Fling as she +did once in the barn. Hazel, nothing loath, borrowed a blue Liberty-silk +scarf from Ruth Ford; the rugs being removed and Alan Ford tuning his +violin, she made her curtsy, and, entering heart and body into the +spirit of the thing, danced like thistle-down shod with joyousness. + +It was a pretty sight! and Chi edged into the room, while the company +made believe ignore him in order to induce him to remain there; but when +the singing began, he slipped out again. Such singing! Everybody +joined in it. They sang everything;--"Oh, where, tell me where, is your +Highland laddie gone?";--"Star-spangled Banner";--"Marching +Along";--"John Anderson, my Jo";--"Ye banks and braes o' Bonnie +Doon";--"Twinkle, twinkle, little star";--"Annie Laurie";--"A +grasshopper sat on a sweet-potato vine";--"Ben Bolt";--"Fair Harvard" +and, finally, "Old Hundred." + +It had been arranged that Mr. Blossom should take his wife and the +younger children home in the pung; the rest were to walk. Chi, +meanwhile, had driven home in the single sleigh. + +On the walk home Jack tried what he had been apt to term--of course, to +himself--his "confidential scheme" with Rose. He had tried it before +with many another, and it had never failed to work. The thought of one +of his roses in Alan Ford's buttonhole still rankled, and the best side +of Jack's manhood was not on the surface when he entered upon the +homeward walk. + +"Miss Blossom,"--somehow Jack had not quite the courage to say "Rose," +although he had been so frankly invited to--"I want to tell you why I +came up here; it must have seemed almost an intrusion." + +[Illustration: "'I want to tell you why I came up here'"] + +"Oh, no, indeed," said Rose, earnestly, "and I know why you came; Hazel +told me." + +"Oh, she did," said Jack, rather inanely, and a little uncertain as to +his footing, figuratively speaking; for he had given her the chance to +ask "Why?"--and she had n't taken it; in which she proved herself +different from all those other girls of his acquaintance. To himself he +thought, "Well, for all the cordial indifference, commend me to this +girl." + +"Yes, I 'm sure it would have seemed like anything but Christmas to you +in New York with your father in Europe; you must miss him so." + +Jack felt himself blush in the moonlight at the remembrance that he had +seen his father but little in the last three years, and did not know +what it was in reality to miss him. He never remembered to have missed +anything or anybody but his mother, and that indefinite something in his +life which he had not yet put himself earnestly to seek. + +"I suppose you 'll be shocked, Miss Blossom, but I don't really miss my +father. I 'm only awfully glad to see him when I get the chance--which +is n't often. He 's such a busy man with railroads and syndicates and +real estate interests. I wonder often how he can find time to write me +even twice a month, which he has done regularly ever since--" he stopped +abruptly. + +"Since what?" asked Rose, innocently. + +"Since my mother died," said Jack, in a hard, dry voice that served to +cover his feeling. + +"Yes," Rose nodded sympathetically, "Hazel told me." Then--for Rose's +love for her own mother was something bordering on adoration--she said +softly, under her breath, but with her whole heart in her voice; "Oh, I +don't see how you could bear it--how you can live without her!" + +"I don't," Jack replied with a break in his voice, "not really live, you +know. I've always felt it, but never realized it until last night, when +I stood out on the veranda and looked in at the window at you--all. +Then I knew I 'd been hungry for that sort of thing for the last seven +years--" + +Now Rose's heart was swelling with pity for the loneliness of the tall, +young fellow swinging along beside her, and at once her inner eyes were +opened to see a, to her, startling fact. She turned suddenly towards +him. + +"Is that why you kissed Martie last night, and came up here to us?" she +demanded rather breathlessly. + +"Yes;" Jack had forgotten his scheme, and was in dead earnest now. + +"Then," cried Rose, impulsively--but at the same time thinking, "I don't +care if he is engaged to that Miss Seaton"--"I hope you 'll come to us +whenever you feel like it; for," she added earnestly, "I 'm beginning to +understand what Chi means when he talks about Hazel's being poor and our +being rich, and--and I 'd love to share mine with you." + +"You 're awfully good," said Jack, rather awkwardly for him; for, +suddenly, in the presence of this young girl, as yet unspoiled by the +world, he realized that Life was dependent upon something other than +polo and club theatricals, railroad syndicates and Newport casinos, +stocks and bonds and marketable real estate. + +Jack was young, and the moonlight was transfiguring the face that, +framed in a white, knitted hood, was turned towards him full of a frank, +loving sympathy for him in his "poverty."---And, seeing it, Jack +suddenly braced himself as if to meet some shock, thinking, as he strode +along in silence, "Oh, I 'm gone!--for good and all this time." + +Rose, a little surprised at the prolonged silence, welcomed the sound of +sleigh-bells behind them. + +"Why, that's Chi!" she exclaimed. "I thought he was at home long before +this. I 'm sure he left long before we did. Where have you been, Chi?" +she called so soon as the sleigh was within hailing distance. + +"I 've been Chris'musin'," said Chi. "It ain't often you get just such +a night on the Mountain as this, and I 've made the most of it. Can I +give you a lift?" + +"No, thank you, Chi, we 're almost home," said Rose. + +"Well, then I 'd better be gettin' along--it's pretty near +midnight--chk, Bob--" And Chi drove away down the Mountain, chuckling +to himself: + +"Ain't a-goin' to give myself away before no city chap that has cut me +out as he has. George Washin'ton! When I peeked into the window 'n' saw +Marier-Ann sittin' there in front of that kitchen table with all those +presents on it, 'n' the little spruce set up so perky in the middle of +'em, 'n' she a-wearin' a great handful of those red, spice pinks in her +bosom, 'n' her cheeks to match 'em, 'n' her eyes a-shinin'--I knew he 'd +come it over me; he 'd made the first call, 'n' given her the first +posies. Guess I won't crow over him after this." Chi undid his +greatcoat, and bent his face until his nose rested upon Jack's rose:-- + +"It ain't touched yet, but it's a stinger; must be twenty below, now." +Suddenly Chi gave a loud exclamation: "I must be a fool!--I 've broken +one of the N.B.B.O.O. rules not to be afraid of anything, and did n't +dare to give my posy to Marier-Ann!--Anyhow, she don't know I was goin' +to give it to her, so I need n't feel so cheap about it--Go-long, Bob!" + + + + + XVIII + + BUDD'S PROPOSAL + + +Before Mr. Clyde and Jack left the next day, Budd sought an opportunity +to interview the latter on a subject, that, for a few weeks past, had +been occupying many of his thoughts. The applause, with which his +Christmas-day toast had been greeted, had encouraged him to seek an +occasion for acquiring more definite knowledge on a subject which lay +near his heart. It came when Jack was packing his dress-suit case in +the guest chamber. + +There was a knock on the half-opened door. + +"Come in," said Jack, and Budd made his appearance. + +"Halloo, Budd! What can I do for you? Any commissions in New York, or +Boston?" + +"Don't know what you mean by commissions," replied Budd, cautiously, +thrusting both hands deep into the pockets of his knickerbockers, and +spreading his sturdy legs to a wide V. + +"Anything I can buy with that hen-and-jam money you helped to earn?--you +did well, Budd, on that. I congratulate you." + +"I have n't any of that money left. You see, we voted to give it to +March to go to college with. But I 've got two quarters an' a +dollar--Christmas presents, you know; an' that 'll do, won't it?" he +asked rather anxiously. + +"Well, that depends on what you buy," said Jack, with due seriousness. + +"You 'll keep mum, Mr. Sherrill, if I tell you?" said Budd, inquiringly. + +"Mum's the word, if you say so, Budd; out with it." + +"Well, I want two things; one thing to make me feel grown up, an' I 've +wanted it for a year." + +"What's that, Budd?" asked Jack, immensely amused at Budd's swelling +manhood--"A pair of long trousers?" + +"No--" Budd hesitated for a moment, then went on in rather an aggrieved +tone; "I hate to wear waists with buttons; it's just like a baby, an' a +fellow can't feel grown up when he has to button everything on. I want +to hitch things up the way March an' Chi do, an' I want you to buy me a +shirt like that one you 're rolling up--only not flannel,--with a flap, +you know, to tuck in." + +"Oh, that's it, is it?" said Jack, endeavoring to keep his face and +voice from betraying his inward amusement. "Well, I think you can get +one for seventy-five cents--plain or striped?" + +"I like those narrow blue striped ones like yours best," he replied, +pointing to one of Jack's. + +"Like mine it shall be, Budd; but you 'll want a pair of suspenders, or +there 'll be too much hitching to be agreeable to you." + +"March has an old pair, an' I 'm going to borrow them." + +"That's an idea; now, what's the second thing?" + +"A ring." + +"A ring?" Jack looked amazed. + +Budd nodded. + +"For yourself?" Jack questioned further. + +"No--for somebody else." + +"Do you mean a finger ring?" + +Budd nodded again emphatically. + +"Engagement?" laughed Jack, at last, the fun getting the better of him. + +Budd's mouth puckered into solemnity; "No--wedding." + +Jack gave up the packing, and sat down, shaken with laughter, on the +first convenient chair. + +"Pardon me for laughing, Budd, but I can't help it. What do you want of +a wedding ring? Is it for that 'first wife' of yours you toasted +yesterday at dinner?" + +Budd nodded again. "I don't see anything to laugh at," he said, with a +reproachful glance. "You would n't if you was me." + +"No, I don't think I should; you 're right there, Budd," he replied, +sobering suddenly after his outburst of laughter. "When is the wedding +to be?" + +Budd looked thoughtful. "I have n't proposed yet," was his +matter-of-fact answer. + +"Well, why don't you?" Jack, sinner that he was, scented some fun at +Budd's expense. + +"I 'm going to when I know how," said Budd, humbly. + +"Why don't you take lessons?" suggested Jack. + +"I have." + +"Of whom?" + +"Chi." + +Jack shouted. "What did Chi say?" he demanded when he had regained his +breath. + +"He said if he wanted to marry a girl, he 'd say what he wanted to--tell +'em he was fond of 'em." + +"'Fond of them'--hm," repeated Jack, thoughtfully. + +"What do _you_ say?" questioned Budd, turning the tables rather suddenly +on Jack. + +"I don't say--never said," replied Jack, shortly. + +"That's what Chi said. He said if I begun early I 'd find out how." + +"You seem to be on the right road for it." + +"Would you say 'fond of her'?" persisted Budd. + +"Yes, I think I should," Jack replied with a peculiar smile; "but, of +course, it would depend on the girl." + +"Why, that's just what Chi said!" + +"He did, did he!" Jack laughed; "Chi knows a thing or two." + +"But I thought you 'd know more." Budd's face began to wear a puzzled +look. + +Just then Jack heard Rose's voice in the long-room asking where Mr. +Sherrill was, and the sound brought home to him a realizing sense of the +fact that there was but an hour before they left for the station, and +every moment too precious to be wasted on Budd. Rising, and proceeding +with his packing, he said with perfect seriousness:-- + +"Well, Budd, all I can say is, that if I were going to ask a girl to +marry me, I should ask her if she thought enough of me to take me with +all my imperfections and--" + +"Where are you, Jack?" called Hazel, at the foot of the stairs; "Chi has +to go an hour earlier than he said, and the sleigh is at the door." + +In the hurry of Jack's good-byes and departure, the sentence was never +finished, and the ring forgotten by him. But Budd remembered. + +He was a sturdy little chap, broad of shoulder, strong of limb. His +sandy red hair bristled straight up from his full forehead. His pale +blue eyes, with thick reddish-brown lashes, were round and serious. His +nose was a freckled pug, and his small mouth puckered, when he was very +much in earnest, to the size of a buttonhole. From the time he had +championed Hazel's coming to them, nearly a year ago, he had never +wavered in his allegiance to her, and in his small-boy way showed her +his entire devotion. Hazel had been so grateful to him for his +whole-souled welcome of her, that she took pains to make his boy's heart +happy in every way she could. + +For Hazel, Budd was never in the way; never asked too many questions for +her patience; never teased her beyond endurance. He found in her a +ready listener, a good sympathizer, a capital playmate, and a loving +girl-friend, who reproved him sometimes and, at others, praised him. +What wonder that his ten-year-old heart had warmed towards her with its +first boy-love? and that in his manly, practical way, he made of her an +ideal? + +"I love Hazel, and when I am big enough, I shall marry her," was what he +said to himself whenever he stopped his play long enough to think about +it at all. Naturally it seemed the wisest thing to tell her this when +he should find the opportunity, and at the same time recall the fact. + +Fortified by the testimony of Chi and Jack, he bided his time. + +One Saturday afternoon in January, Rose said suddenly to Hazel: "I wish +I could do some of the things that you do, Hazel." Hazel looked up from +her book in surprise. + +"What can I do that you can't do, Rose?" + +"You dance so beautifully, and I 've always wanted to know how. I feel +so awkward when I see you dance the Highland Fling." + +"Is that all?" Hazel laughed a happy laugh. "I can teach you to dance +as easy as anything, if you 'll let me." + +"Let you!" Rose exclaimed, flushing with pleasure; "just you try me and +see. But where can we practise?" + +"Oh, out in the barn," cried Hazel. "It'll be lots of fun; of course, +it's awfully cold, but the skipping about will keep us warm. I 'll tell +you what--I 'll play on the violin, and you and March and Budd and +Cherry can learn square dances first." + +"What fun!" said Rose. + +"What's the joke?" asked March, coming in at that moment with Budd and +Cherry. + +"We 're going to have a dance in the barn; Hazel's going to teach us. +She says she can do it easy enough." + +"Oh, bully!" Budd threw up his tam-o'-shanter, and Cherry, attempting +to charge up and down the long-room as she had seen Hazel at the Fords', +tripped on the rug and fell her length. When March had picked her up +she rubbed her nose, which was growing decidedly pink, and sniffed a +little, then asked suddenly:-- + +"Who 's going to be my partner? They always have partners in the story +books." + +"Sure enough," Rose laughed. "Whatever will we do, Hazel?" + +"I never thought of that," said Hazel, ruefully. "Of course, it takes +eight." + +"Why can't we have chairs for partners?" said Cherry. "We can bow to +them just as if they were alive, and make them move round, can't we?" + +They all laughed at Cherry's inspiration. + +"You 're a brick, Cherry Bounce?" said March, approvingly. "All choose +your partners!" And, thereupon, he seized one of the kitchen chairs, +and the rest followed his example. Hazel took her violin, and hooded +and mittened and coated and mufflered, they trooped out to the barn, +each lugging a wooden chair. + +"Now I 'll give you the first four changes," said Hazel, illustrating, +as well as she could in trying to be two couples at once, the first +movements. "Form your square and get ready." + +They obeyed with alacrity, and Hazel drew her bow across the strings. + +"All curtsy to your partners!" she shouted, and the chair-partners +received a bow, and, in turn, were made to thump the floor by being laid +over on their backs, and righted suddenly. + +"First couple forward and back!" shouted Hazel, and away went Rose +dragging her chair after her to meet March and his +chair--thumpity-thump--thumpity-thump. + +They were in dead earnest, and the chairs were made to behave in a most +human way. + +All went well until they came to the Grand Right and Left; then there +arose such a medley of shrieks of laughter, wild wails from the violin, +thumps from sixteen chair-legs, and stampings from eight human ones as +was never heard before. In a few minutes all was inextricable +confusion, and the noise might have been best compared to a Medicine +Dance among the Sioux Indians. + +Upon this scene Mr. Blossom and Chi, on their return from the wood, +looked with amazement. + +"They seem to be havin' a regular pow-wow," Chi remarked dryly, as the +exhausted dancers and musician sat down, panting for breath, on their +wooden partners. "Rose-pose is about as young as any of 'em--but it +beats all, how she's shootin' up into womanhood." + +"She 's no longer my little Rosebud Blossom," said her father, rather +sadly. "I dread the time when the birds begin to fly from the nest, and +I see it coming with March and Rose." + +Just then Rose caught sight of her father, and ran to him linking her +arm in his. "We 've had such fun, father! We 're learning to dance; you +must be my partner sometime, for Hazel's going to teach us the +schottische next." + +Rose never forgot the look of love her father gave her, nor the feel of +his hand as he laid it on her hooded head: "Be my little Rose-pose, as +long as you can, dear; you 're growing up too fast." + +She recalled afterwards that this first dance in the barn marked the +last time that she abandoned herself to the children's fun with a girl's +careless heart. + +The winter twilight was fast closing about the Mountain and the children +just returning to the house, when Chi went out to milk. Leaving his +lantern, stool, and pails in the first stall, he entered the third one +to tie one of the cows to a shorter stanchion. Before he had finished +he heard Budd's voice, and, looking over the partition, saw him standing +with Hazel in the circle of light about the lantern. In another minute +he began to feel like an eavesdropper. + +"What did you want me to come here for, Budd?" said Hazel, dancing on +the barn floor to warm her feet. + +"I want to tell you something," said Budd, blowing on his cold fingers. + +"Well, hurry up and tell; it's simply freezing here. Is it a secret?" + +"Kinder," replied Budd, blowing harder; then, suddenly ceasing the +bellows movement, he drew a step nearer to Hazel, and, putting the tips +of his pudgy fingers together to make a triangle, he puckered his mouth +solemnly and said, looking up at her with earnest eyes:-- + +"I 'm very fond of you." + +Hazel laughed merrily. "Why, of course you are, you funny boy; you 've +always been fond of me, have n't you? I 'm sure I 've always been fond +of you. Is _that_ what you kept me out here in the cold to say?" + +"Not all;" Budd nodded seriously. "I 'm very fond of you, an'--an' if +you 'll take me with all my perfections--I think that's the way it +goes--if I have n't got the ring yet, it will be just the same, you +know." He paused, and in the circle of light Chi could see the entire +earnestness of his attitude. + +"Goodness me, Budd! What do you mean about rings and things?" + +"I want to marry you when I 'm big--an' I thought I 'd speak 'fore +anyone else did to get ahead of 'em." Budd hastened to explain, as +Hazel showed signs of impatience. + +"Oh, is that all!" Hazel breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought +something was the matter with you. Why, of course you 're fond of me, +Budd; but I could n't marry you, for I 'm older than you, you know." + +"I never thought of that," said Budd, beginning to blink rather +suspiciously, "I thought--" + +"Now, look here, Budd," said Hazel, in a business-like way; "I think +everything of you, too, and I 'll tell you what you can be--" + +"What?" interrupted Budd, eagerly, balancing himself on the tips of his +toes. + +"My knight!" said Hazel, triumphantly, "and wear my colors. I 'll give +you a bow of crimson ribbon--I 'm Harvard, you know--and you must wear +it till you die. And I have a white kid party glove I 'll give you, too, +and that will mean I 'm your lady-love, and it will be just like the +days of chivalry, you know we were reading about them the other day." + +"And you won't mind about the ring?" queried Budd, rather wistfully. + +"Not a bit--a glove is much nicer than a ring, and--" + +"Moo--oo--oo--" came from the next stall. + +"Oh, goodness gracious! How that made me jump. I 'm not going to stay +out here another minute; so come along if you 're coming"--and the +knight meekly followed his lady-love into the house. + + + + + XIX + + A YEAR AND A DAY + + +"It seems queer to settle down the way we have, ever since Christmas. +We had such fun up to that time." Hazel heaved a long sigh as she +wrestled with her Latin and the Third Conjugation. + +Rose looked up from her Cicero and smiled at the bored expression on +Hazel's face. "I know, Latin is awfully dull at first, but when you can +read it, you 'll like it. If only you could hear Cicero give this +horrid Catiline--the old traitor--'Hail Columbia' as March says, you +could n't help liking Latin. Then, too, if we had n't settled down, +where would my French have been?" + +But Hazel still pouted a little. "I wish papa had n't wanted me to +study at all this winter--I don't see why, when Doctor Heath is always +talking about its 'effect on my health--'" + +She was interrupted by a merry laugh. Rose threw down her Cicero, +caught away the grammar from Hazel, and, seizing her by the hand, drew +her into the little bedroom. Then, taking her by the shoulders, she +whirled her about until she faced the small looking-glass. + +"There!" she exclaimed, still laughing, "look at that face before you +talk about any 'effect on your health.'" + +Hazel looked at the reflection in the mirror, and smiled in spite of +herself. What a contrast to what she was a year ago! For to-morrow +would be St. Valentine's day. There were real American Beauty roses on +her cheeks; the dark eyes were full of sparkling life; the +chestnut-brown hair fell in heavy curls upon her shoulders. She had +grown tall, too, but rounded in the process, and the healthful, bodily +exercise had given her grace of carriage--she was straight as an arrow, +and as lithe as a willow wand. + +"Perhaps I shall feel more interest when Miss Alton is here, for she is +a regular teacher. When is she coming, Rose?" + +"The very last of the month, when the spring term opens. It's our turn +to have the district-school teacher board with us, and I 've never liked +it before. But now I can't wait for Miss Alton to come. I think she 's +lovely." + +"She is n't half as lovely as you are, Rose," said Hazel, turning +suddenly from the glass, in which she had been scrutinizing her +reflection, and giving Rose an unexpected squeeze and a hearty kiss. "I +think you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen, I heard Doctor +Heath say so; and--I told Jack so on Christmas night." + +"I 'll warrant he did n't agree with you," said Rose, with a pleased +smile. "You forget Miss Seaton." + +"I know." Hazel shook her head dubiously. "He did n't say a word to me +about you--I don't care if he did n't, Rose-pose, you 're worth all the +Maude Seatons in the world, and I 'd give anything to have you for my +real cousin instead of her, if only Jack--" + +"I don't know what you are talking about, Hazel," said Rose, +interrupting her shortly and sharply. + +"And I don't know why you are speaking to me in that tone, Rose +Blossom," retorted Hazel, both angry and hurt. "I 've said nothing I 'm +ashamed of, and I shall say it whenever I choose and to whomever I +please, so now." She flung out of the room, but not before Rose had +laid a firm hand upon her shoulder. + +"Hazel Clyde, if ever you speak of that again to anyone, I 'll break +friendship with you, see if I don't." + +"Break then," Hazel twitched her shoulder from under the detaining hand. +"I 'll speak whenever I choose. I only said I thought you were the most +beautiful girl I had ever seen, and I wished that you were going to be +my real cousin, instead of Miss Seaton, and you need n't get mad just +because Jack does n't happen to think as I do--" + +"Hazel Clyde!" Rose stamped her foot, "don't you speak another word to +me; I 'll not hear it." Rose stuffed both fingers into her ears, and +beat an ignominious retreat to her own room, where she shut herself in, +and was invisible until tea-time. + +The family were late in sitting down to the table, for Mrs. Blossom +wanted to wait for Chi, who had driven down to Barton's River to take +Mr. Blossom to the train, and had arranged to bring March home with him. + +It was seven already. "We won't wait any longer, children," said Mrs. +Blossom. "Something must have detained Chi. Budd, you may say 'grace' +to-night?" she added as she took her seat. + +Budd looked up in amazement. "Why, Martie, Rose is here and you +always--" + +"That will do, Budd," said his mother, quietly, ignoring the flame that +shot up to the roots of Rose's hair, and the cool look of indifference +on Hazel's face. Budd folded his pudgy hands and repeated reverently +the words he had heard father, or mother, or sister say ever since he +could remember. Scarcely had he finished when Tell's deep note of +welcome sounded somewhere from the road, and the sleigh-bells rang out +on the still air. + +"There they are!" cried Cherry. "May I go to meet them?" + +"Yes--but put your cape over you, it's so chilly to-night." + +In a minute Cherry was back again, every single curl bobbing with +excitement. + +"Oh, Martie! Chi's bringing in something all done up in the buffalo +robe, and March won't tell me what it is." + +She was followed by March, who walked up to his mother, put both arms +about her and gave her a quiet kiss. + +"There, little Mother Blossom, is my valentine for you," he said +half-shyly, half-proudly, and placed in her hands his first term's +report and a set of books. + +"Oh, March, my dear boy!" said his mother, rising from the table and +placing both hands on the broad, square shoulders of her six foot +specimen of youth, "I 'm afraid I 'm getting too proud of you. _Did_ +you get the first Latin prize?" + +"You bet I did, Martie." March's rare smile illumined his face. "There +is n't another fellow at Barton's, who can boast of such a mother as I +have, and I was n't going to let any second-class mothers read those +books before you did. By Cicky!" (which was March's favorite name for +the famous orator)--"But I 've worked like a Turk, and I 'm hungry as a +Russian bear. Why, Rose, what's the matter with you? You look awfully +glum, and Hazel, too. Here comes Chi; he's bringing something that will +cheer you up. The truth is, mother, these girls miss _me_." + +"Indeed, I do, March?" said Hazel, looking straight up into his eyes and +showing the amazed lad tears trembling in her own. + +"Guess there 'll be some breakin' of hearts, this year, Mis' Blossom." +Chi's cheery voice was welcome to them all for some unknown reason. He +came in loaded with huge pasteboard boxes. + +"Your arms will break first, Chi," said Mrs. Blossom, hastening with +March to relieve him. + +"It ain't the heft of 'em, it's the bulk. Valentines are generally +pretty light weight. Romancin' 'n' sentiment don't count for much, +nowadays, though they take up considerable room." He deposited the last +box on the settle. "'N' there's a whole parcel of things come by mail. +I ain't looked at the superscribin's--you read 'em out, Rose-pose." + +Rose read the addresses; there was more than one missive for each member +of the family. + +"Let's have supper, first, mother," said March, "then, after the table +is cleared, we can sit round and guess who they 're from." + +This proposition was welcomed by Budd and Cherry. Rose and Hazel gave a +cordial assent, but there was a frigidity in the atmosphere which the +outside temperature did not warrant. Chi and March were aware of this +so soon as they entered the room, and Mrs. Blossom had known it the +moment she saw the girls' faces at the table. She thought it not wise to +interfere, but let matters straighten themselves in good time. She felt +she could trust them both to see things in their right light, without +the aid of her mental glasses. + +"Now let's begin," said Chi, rubbing his hands in glee as, directly +after supper, he piled the boxes on the table while March laid the +envelopes in their proper places before each member of the family. +"This top one says 'Miss Hazel Clyde.' Show us your valentine, +Ladybird." + +"They 're violets--from Jack, I know. He always sends them. What's +yours, Rose?" She spoke rather indifferently. + +"Oh, roses!" Rose was having the first look all to herself. "The +loveliest things I have ever seen. Look, Martie!" Rose held up the +mass of exquisite bloom, and the children oh'ed and ah'ed at the sight. + +"They 're from Mr. Sherrill," said Rose, trying to speak in a most +common-place tone, but, in her excitement, failing signally. + +"They are lovely," Hazel remarked, shooting an indignant glance at Rose. +"They're just like the ones he sent Miss Seaton last year, only they +were formed into a great heart. Papa gave me one just like it; he got +his idea from Jack." + +Rose suddenly put down the flowers, in which she had buried her face to +inhale their fragrance, as if something had stung her. + +"Mr. Sherrill is very impartial with his favors," she said in a tone +that increased the pervading chill of the domestic atmosphere. + +"Why, Rose!" exclaimed Mrs. Blossom. "It is not like you to receive a +favor so ungraciously; you 've never had flowers sent you before, and I +'m sure you would never have them again if the donor could witness your +reception of them." + +"I don't care for them again, thank you." Rose retorted with flaming +cheeks; "I 'd give more for this of yours, Chi--" she opened a huge +yellow envelope, and took from it a scarlet cardboard heart, with a +small, white, artificial rose glued to the centre and a gilt paper arrow +transfixing both rose and heart. + +Chi hemmed rather awkwardly, thinking: "Beats the Dutch what's got into +Rose-pose to-night. I ain't ever known her to treat a livin' soul so +shabby as that in all her life. Beats all what gets into women 'n' +girls, sometimes; when a feller thinks he's doin' 'em just the best turn +he knows how, they up 'n' get mad with him, 'n' turn the cold shoulder, +'n' upset things generally." But aloud he said: + +"I 'm glad it pleases you, Rose. Can't most always tell when it's goin' +to please a girl or not. I suppose Jack, now, thought you 'd be tickled +to get those posies just in the dead of winter. They don't grow round +here on our bushes. What's in the other box?" + +"Why!" Hazel exclaimed, laughing rather half-heartedly, "it's addressed +to 'Miss Maria-Ann Simmons'--and just look, Mother Blossom! See what +that dear old Jack has sent her! He's just too dear for anything." She +added emphatically;--"I 'd like to give him a kiss for thinking of that +poor girl all alone over there on the Mountain. I don't believe she +ever had a valentine before. Look! Oh, look!" + +She took out of the many layers of wadding a mass of yellow tulips, +their closed golden cups shining in the lamp-light as if gilded by +sunbeams. + +"Sho!" was all Chi said, leaning nearer to examine the beautiful +blossoms. + +"You 'll take them over in the morning, early, won't you, Chi?" said +Hazel, replacing them. + +"First thing, Lady-bird; guess you 're right, Rose, about that young +feller's bein' 'n all-round man with his favors. Don't seem to be much +choice between you and Marier-Ann, 'n' that Miss Seaver. Kind of a +toss-up, hey, Rose-pose?" + +But Rose was too busy with another package to answer Chi. She grew +wildly enthusiastic over the calla lilies that Alan Ford had sent her, +and caressed their white envelopes, and praised their pure loveliness, +until Hazel, growing jealous for poor Jack and his discarded gift, rose +to put the neglected beauties in water, saying as she did so: + +"I 'm sure, Rose, if Jack had known you cared so much for lilies, he +would have sent you some Easter ones, they 're out now. I 'll tell him +to next time." + +"Hazel!" Rose burst forth indignantly, "do you mean to tell me you told +Mr. Sherrill to send me these flowers for a valentine?" + +Then Hazel, stung by the tone and the words, yielded to temptation--for +it had been the last straw. "What if I did?" she said with irritating +calm, "he 's my cousin. I suppose I can say what I choose to him." + +Rose answered never a word; but, rising, took the La France roses from +the pitcher in which Hazel had just placed them, and, going over to the +fireplace, deliberately cast the mass of delicate pink bloom into the +fire. + +Mrs. Blossom looked both puzzled and shocked; this was wholly unlike +Rose. What could it mean? The children were too awed by the proceeding +to speak or exclaim. March looked gravely at Hazel, who burst into +tears--it was such an insult to Jack!--and rushed into her bedroom and +shut the door. + +"I 'm going to bed; good-night, Martie," said Rose, quietly, after she +had watched the last leaf shrivel in the flame, and, kissing her mother, +she lighted her candle and went upstairs. Mrs. Blossom, following her +with her eyes, felt that she had lost her "little Rose" in that hour. + +March looked grave, complained of feeling tired, and said he would go to +bed, too, as to-morrow was the last day of school and there were two +more examinations to take. Budd and Cherry kissed their mother twice, +bade her good-night in suppressed tones and crept upstairs. "It's just +as if somebody was sick in the house," said Cherry, in an awed voice. +Budd's was sepulchral:-- + +"It's just as if somebody was dead and all the flowers had come for the +funeral." + +Across the dining-room table, loaded with boxes and brilliant with +valentines, Chi looked at Mrs. Blossom, and Mrs. Blossom looked at Chi. +The whole affair was so incomprehensible, and the result so painfully +disagreeable, that, for a while, they found no words with which to give +expression to their feelings. Chi broke the silence:-- + +"Well! I wish I was one of those clairivoyants they tell about, 'n' +could kind of see into the meanin' of this flare-up of Rose-pose's. +Don't seem natural for Rose to go flyin' off at a tangent that way. +What's she got against him, anyway? He 's about as likely as you 'll +find. Beats me!" Chi leaned both elbows on the table, unmindful that +he was crushing some of the flowers, sank his chin in the palms of his +hands and thought hard for full a minute. + +"I know Hazel and Rose have had some little trouble this afternoon--the +first quarrel they have had--but Rose is too old to allow herself to +lose her control in that way. I can't imagine what made her--" Mrs. +Blossom broke off suddenly, for Chi had raised his head and sent such a +look of intelligence across the table, handing her, as he did so, Jack +Sherrill's card, which Rose in her confusion had neglected to read, +that, in a flash, something of the truth was revealed to Mrs. Blossom. + +She took the card. On the back was written, enclosed in quotation +marks:-- + + "For I am thine + Whilst the stars shall shine, + To the last--to the last." + + +"O Chi!" was all Mary Blossom said; but the tears filled her eyes, and, +reaching across the table, her hand was clasped in Chi's strong one. + +"I wish Ben was to home," sighed Chi, so lugubriously that Mrs. Blossom +laughed through her tears. + +"Oh, it is n't so bad as that, Chi. Girls will be girls, and grow up, +and hearts will ache even when we 're young. We won't make too much of +it. I don't understand the ins and outs of it, but I do know Hazel has +said her family thought he was engaged to Miss Seaton. I 'm sure I 've +thought so all along, and it never occurred to me there could be any +danger for Rose under the circumstances. The mere fact of his name being +connected so closely with Miss Seaton's would be a safeguard. Then, +too, I fear he is spoiled by women on account of his riches." + +"I don't know about that Miss Seaver,--but if it's as you say, I kind of +wish Rose could cut her out." + +"Sh-sh, Chi!" said Mrs. Blossom, reprovingly. + +"Well, I do," Chi retorted with some warmth. "She ain't fit to tie +Rose's old berryin' shoes, 'n' I saw her lookin' at her feet that day we +was sellin' berries down to Barton's to the tavern, 'n' snickerin' so +mean like, 'n' Rose just showed her grit--'n' I wish she'd show it again +'n' cut her out. I _do_, by George Washin'ton!" Chi rose up in his +wrath, lighted his lantern, and started for the shed. At the door he +turned:-- + +"I wish Ben was to home," he said again. "There 's goin' to be the +biggest kind of a snow-down before long, 'n' he 'll get blocked on the +road, sure as blazes." + +"He 'll be back in two days, at the most, Chi; I would n't worry." + +"I ain't worryin'; I 'm just sayin' I wish he was to home," repeated +Chi, doggedly, and shut the door. + +Mrs. Blossom smiled. She knew Chi's crotchets. When there was any +disturbance of the family peace, Chi was apt to be depressed, and +sometimes despondent. She put away the flowers in the cold pantry, +smiling as she tied up Maria-Ann's box: + +"He _is_ universal," she said to herself. "I know it irritated Rose to +be classed with her and Miss Seaton; but things will work around right +with time. I can trust to Rose's common-sense.--Not a prayer to-night!" +she added thoughtfully. "Well, we 'll make it up to-morrow." She took +up the prize books. "That dear March! What a manly fellow he is +getting to be--and so handsome. I wonder--" here Mary Blossom checked +herself, laughing softly. "Goodness! if Ben were here what a goose he +would think me--a regular old Mother Goose--" And again she laughed as +she put out the light. + + + + + XX + + SNOW-BOUND + + +They were all on the porch the next morning to see March off. It was +not so very cold, but there was a marked chill in the air and the sky +was leaden. + +"It's my last day, mother, then vacation for two weeks. Hooray!" He +leaped into the saddle, and Fleet reared gently to show her approval. + +"Don't you get out a little earlier to-day, March?" said his mother, +looking up at the leaden sky. "I 'm afraid it's going to snow heavily. +Promise me not to start from Barton's if the storm is a hard one; you +can stay at the inn or at the principal's. I would rather you remained +away from home two days, or over Sunday, than to have you attempt the +Mountain in too severe a storm." + +"I 'll be careful, mother." + +"Better give your promise to your mother, March; she 'll feel better +'bout you 're not startin' out," said Chi. + +"I promise, little Mother Blossom." He threw himself off the horse, and +gave her another kiss; "I would n't go to-day except for the exams.--I +can't miss them." + +"Good luck, dear," said his mother, and her eyes followed the horse and +rider down the Mountain. + +"I 'll go over the first thing 'n' give them posies to Marier-Ann, 'n' +then I 'll make tracks for home, 'n' get my snow-shed up before it +begins to come down." + +"Do you think we shall need it?" + +"Sure 's fate," replied Chi, laconically, and went into the barn to +harness Bess. + +It was noon before Chi had set up his snow-shed, a long, low, wooden +tunnel, which he had manufactured to connect the woodshed door with a +side door of the barn. By means of this he was enabled, in unusually +heavy storms, to communicate with the barn and attend to the stock +without "shovelling out." + +It was about three in the afternoon when the first flakes began to fall, +or rather to "spit," as Chi expressed it, and the snow fell +intermittently and lightly until four, when there was a sudden change of +wind. It veered to the north-east, and blast after blast, charged with +icy particles, hurled itself against the Mountain. Within half an hour +it was almost as dark as at midnight, and the snow swept in drifting +clouds over woodlands and pasture. When the wind ceased for a moment, +white, soft avalanches descended upon farmhouse, barn, and +mountain-road, until, by six o'clock, the road was impassable and the +drifts at the back of the house a foot above the bedroom windows. Chi +had made all snug for the night. + +"This beats anything I ever saw, Mis' Blossom. I 'm mighty glad Ben +ain't comin' home to-day, 'n' that March gave you the promise to stay at +Barton's if it stormed hard." + +"You don't think he would venture to start, do you, Chi?" asked Mrs. +Blossom, trying not to appear anxious for the sake of the others. + +"Bless you, no;" was Chi's hearty response. "March has got too level a +head to risk himself 'n' Fleet in such a storm--it's a regular howler of +a blizzard. If he did start," he added, "he 'd go in somewheres on the +road--he couldn't get far." + +After tea there was no settling down to the cosey evening pastimes or +employments. If such a thing could be, the storm seemed to increase in +severity. The wind struck the house at times with terrific force; the +intermittent drift of snow and ice against the window panes startled the +inmates of the long-room like the rattle of small shot. Chi had put out +the fire in the fireplace before supper, for the wind drove flame and +ashes out into the room. + +Again and again Mrs. Blossom went to the windows--first one then +another, and pressed her face close to the pane; but they were plastered +so thick with snow that her efforts to see into the night were +fruitless. Chi sat by the kitchen stove, which he had filled with wood. +His boots rested on the fender, and, apparently, he was indifferent to +the storm. But, in reality, not the creak of a beam, not the springing +of a board, not an unwonted sound within or without the house escaped +his notice. + +In marked contrast to Chi's apparent apathy was Tell's restlessness. +Since six o'clock he had shown signs of uneasiness. With strides, heavy +and long, the huge beast paced up and down the long-room. Sometimes he +followed Mrs. Blossom to the window, and, sitting down on his haunches +beside her, rested his nose on the window sill and gazed at the whitened +panes. At others he took his stand beside Chi and looked into his face, +their eyes meeting on a level as the man sat and the dog stood. The dog +looked as if he were questioning him dumbly. + +As the evening wore on the dog's pace grew more rapid, more uneven; his +tail waved in a jerky, excited manner. At last he lay down by the shed +door, and, placing his nose on the threshold, gave vent to a long, low, +half-stifled moan. At the sound Chi brought down his heels and the +tipped chair-legs with a thump, and started to his feet. Mrs. Blossom +turned to him with a white face, and Rose cried out:-- + +"Oh, Chi! What is the matter with Tell? He never acted this way +before." + +"Don't know," said Chi, shortly; "dumb beasts are curious creatures. +Guess he don't like the storm. I 'll go out, Mis' Blossom, 'n' see if +the stock 's all right. Kind of looks as if Tell was givin' us a +warnin'." + +"Oh, Chi, don't go through the tunnel now," cried Mrs. Blossom, all the +pent-up anxiety finding expression in her voice. + +Chi manufactured a laugh: "That's all safe, Mis' Blossom. I chained it +and roped it down, both--it can't get away, 'n' the snow can't crush it. +Don't you worry about me. I 'll be back inside of fifteen minutes." He +took his lantern from the shelf over the sink:--"Get up, Tell." The dog +rose, but, as Chi opened the door, he tried to push past him. Chi +crowded him with his leg:--"No you don't, old feller! there ain't room +only for just one of us to-night. Lay down!" + +And Tell lay down, with his nose on his paws, and both nose and paws +pressed close to the crack on the threshold. Another long crescendo +moan, that, at the last, sounded like a sharp wail, filled the +long-room, and Budd and Cherry clung to their mother in terror. + +"You must go to bed, children," said Mrs. Blossom, her face white as the +snow on the window panes, but with a voice of forced calm. "When you +'re asleep, you won't hear all this trouble the storm is raising +to-night." + +"But I don't want to sleep upstairs alone without March, Martie," +protested Budd, trying to be brave, but showing his fear. + +"You can sleep in Hazel's room to-night, Budd, and Cherry can get into +my bed and sleep with me." + +The twins looked relieved. "Oh, that's different, Martie," said Budd, +with a grateful look. Cherry begged for a little cotton wool to stuff +in her ears:--"Then I can't hear Tell and this awful noise." A novel +idea, which Budd at once adopted and put into practice. Their mother +looked relieved when they were safely bestowed in their new quarters. + +About ten minutes afterwards they heard Chi's steps in the shed. Then +the door opened slowly, as he shoved Tell aside. When he entered the +room Mrs. Blossom gave one look at his face. + +"Oh, Chi, what has happened!" She cried out as if hurt. + +Chi's face showed grayish white and drawn in the lamplight. His hand +shook a little as he reached for a second lantern, turning his back on +the three terrified faces. + +"Horse stalled, that's all. Had a tough tussle to get him round, but he +'s all right now." His voice sounded hoarse. + +"Was it Bob or Bess?" asked Rose. + +Chi, without answering, turned quickly to Tell, who was pressing him +nearly off his feet, and at the same time, lashing his tail as if in +fury. + +"What ails you, anyway?" said Chi, roughly. "D' you want to get out?" + +For answer the dog rushed to the front door that opened on the porch, +rose on his hind legs, stemmed his powerful forepaws against the panels +and, throwing back his massive head, sent forth from his deep throat a +roar that seemed to shake the rafters. + +"Mis' Blossom," Chi's voice shook and his hand trembled till the glass +globe of the lantern tinkled in the wire frame, "I 'm goin' to let him +out, 'n' I 'm goin' to follow on--there 's trouble somewhere on the +Mountain, 'n' I 'm goin' to find out where 't is." + +All three cried out, protesting, entreating, praying him to desist. But +Chi shook his head. + +"I tell you I 've _got_ to go, Mary Blossom"--Chi had never called her +that but once before, and Mrs. Blossom, recalling the time, felt her +heart as lead within her--"you're brave,--brave as a woman can be; don't +say nothin', but let me go. Have plenty of hot water 'n' flannels, 'n' +some spirits ready 'gainst I come back--" + +"Lady-bird, give me the dog collar with the bell you gave Tell last +Chris'mus; 'n' Molly Stark, fill your mother's hot water-bag--'n' hurry +up; 'n' Mis' Blossom, give me Ben's brandy flask, he didn't take it with +him." + +Chi, while issuing these orders, was strapping down his trousers over +his long boots; then he poured out a brimming cup of hot water, and +mixed with it some of the brandy from the flask. He put the collar on +Tell, the bell ringing loud and clear with every movement. He opened +the door; the dog bounded out into the night. Chi followed him, a coil +of rope around his neck, a shovel over one shoulder with a lantern +suspended from the handle, and in his hand a second lantern. The +hot-water bag he had put beneath his sweater, and a leathern belt girded +him. + +So equipped he went out into the drifting snows and the night of storm. +The terrified women were left alone. + +"Mother, oh, mother!" cried Rose, wringing her hands, "I know it's +something dreadful; Chi would never look that way." + +Mary Blossom could not answer. Her silence was prayer. It was all of +which she was capable at that time. + +"I don't know what the matter was in the barn, mother," again cried +Rose, in an agony of fear. "Chi did n't tell us all, I 'm sure. Let me +go through the tunnel and find out, do, mother!" + +"Oh, Rose, I can't--I can't!" Mrs. Blossom spoke under her breath. + +"Please, mother. It 's all safe, and the wind has gone down a little +since Chi went; let me go--I can't rest till I do. You can hold the +light at the shed door end and I won't be gone but a minute or two. I +'ll take the dark lantern with me--Oh, mother! do, do--!" + +"Well, Rose, perhaps it's for the best. I 'll watch you through." + +"May I watch, too?" asked Hazel, eagerly. + +"No, dear, I want you to stay here in case the children should wake. +Come, Rose." + +They were gone but a few minutes; then Mrs. Blossom came in followed by +her daughter. The girl's teeth were chattering; she looked blue and +pinched. + +"What did you find, Rose?" Her mother's voice was scarce above a +whisper. + +"_I found Fleet!_" + +The two women sat down on the settle, holding each other close; and the +wind rose again in its fury. + +Wrapping a heavy shawl about her Hazel crept away upstairs to the back +garret and the window overlooking the woods'-road, which formed the +approach to the house. There was a little snow-drift beneath it where +the flakes had sifted through; but the wind was felt less severely on +that side of the house. She opened the window a few inches, propping it +on a corn cob she had stepped upon; then, kneeling, she put her ear to +the opening and strained her hearing in every lull of the storm. + +At last--she knew not how long she had listened--she heard Tell's deep +roar. It came muffled, but distinct. She scarce trusted her ears; but +again she heard it, and, this time, in a dead silence, she caught the +sound of the bell. Surely Tell was nearing the house. She ran +downstairs. + +"They 're coming!" she cried, hardly realizing what she said in her +excitement. Mrs. Blossom and Rose leaped to their feet. They threw +open the door. + +"Chi! Chi!" they called out into the night. There was a joyous bark +for answer---then a groan, and Chi staggered across the snow-laden porch +and fell with his heavy burden on the threshold. + + +At midnight the wind went down, but the snow continued to fall. All the +next day it fell steadily, but at sunset it ceased, and a young moon +looked over the shoulder of Mount Hunger upon an unbroken white coverlet +that, in some places, was drifted to the depth of twenty feet. + +There was twilight in Aunt Tryphosa's little cabin "over eastwards," for +the snow was piled to the eaves, and the tulips furnished their only +sunshine for two days. + +There was consternation at Hunger-ford, for the family were cut off from +their neighbors and the outside world of letters and papers. + +There were councils at Lemuel's and the Spillkinses'--for how could they +gather their forces to break out the Mountain? + +There were heavy hearts and reddened eyelids in the farmhouse, for +March, rescued by Chi and revived by vigorous treatment, had succumbed +to the exposure and chill, and lay unconscious in fever--and no help at +hand. + +Chi, spent to exhaustion, had rallied at midnight, but knew that it was +beyond human powers to attempt to reach Barton's or even Lemuel Wood's, +their next neighbor, through the drifts. + +So they waited, helpless--one day, two days. On the second day the +white expanse showed no tracks. Then March began to wander, and clutch +his breast, where his mother had found the telegram, which his father +had sent to him from Ogdensburg:-- + +"Heavy blizzard. Roads blocked. Tell mother at once. Don't worry." + +Chi walked the house night and day in his misery of helplessness. At +last, on the third day, looking eastwards he descried a black blotch on +the white,--it was a four-ox team breaking out from the Fords'. Later +in the day, when the men were within two hundred yards of the house, he +saw another black spot on the lower road. It was the Mill Settlement +road-team, with a full equipment of men and tools, to cut a way through +the drifts. + +Soon there was help and to spare. Alan Ford was riding down the narrow +way between high walls of glittering white to Barton's for aid, and +bringing back telegrams of anxious inquiry from Mr. Blossom and Mr. +Clyde. On the fourth day, the blockade was raised, and the south-bound +express to Barton's River brought Mr. Blossom from the north, and +another train brought Mr. Clyde from the south. Two days after all the +Lost Nation knew that March would live. + + + + + XXI + + A LITTLE DAUGHTER OF THE RICH + + +It was days before March himself was aware of that fact. + +Budd and Cherry were at the Fords'. May was with Aunt Tryphosa and Miss +Alton at Lemuel Wood's. Maria-Ann had come over to help Mrs. Blossom +with the work, and Chi had taken care of the stock. Rose and her mother +watched and waited in the sick room, relieved on alternate nights by Mr. +Blossom and Chi. + +The great storm was a thing of the past. The sun shone in a deep blue +heaven, and the white world of the Mountain showed daily life and +movement. The teamsters were at work loading the sledges with logs, and +the ponderous drags squeaked and grated as they slid down the crisping +highway. + +A crow cawed loudly on the first of March, and the hens came out to find +a warm nook in the south-east corner of the barn-yard, where a heap of +sodden straw was thawing. + +All in the farmhouse were rejoicing, for March had spoken in his +weakness--a few words, but clear, coherent, for the frost and fever, +both, had left his brain. When he spoke the second time it was to ask +for Chi; and Chi had tiptoed into the room in his stocking-feet and laid +his hand on March's thin, white one, gulped down the tears and the +rising sob that was choking him, and--spoke of the weather! + + +The next day March turned to his mother, who was sitting by the bed, +brooding him with her great love, and asked suddenly, but in a clear and +much stronger voice: + +"Where 's Hazel?" + +Mrs. Blossom hesitated for a moment, then spoke quietly:--"Hazel is at +home with her father for a few weeks." + +March turned his face to the wall and was silent for several hours. + +When he was stronger Mrs. Blossom gave him the little note Hazel had +left for him, and, with mother-tact, knowing March's reserve of nature, +went out of the room while he read it. She saw no signs of it when she +returned and asked no questions, but March's gray eyes spoke a language +for which there was but one interpretation. With his rare smile, he +held out his hand for his mother's, and clasped it closely. + +Soon he was able to be up and about, and the children were again at +home. Life in the farmhouse resumed its old course--but with a +difference. Just what it was no one attempted to define. But each felt +it in his own way. March was more gentle with Budd and Cherry, more +often with his mother and Chi, more companionable for his father. Rose +was quieter, but, if possible, more loving towards all. Budd was at +times wholly disconsolate, and wasted sheets of his best Christmas +note-paper in writing letters to Hazel which were never sent. + +Chi went oftener to the small house "over eastwards," where he was sure +of willing ears and sympathetic hearts when he unburdened himself in +regard to his "Lady-bird." + +"Fact is," he said to Maria-Ann, as she stood with her apron over her +head watching him plough their garden plot (that was his annual +neighborly offering), "she 's left a great hole in that house, 'n' there +is n't one of us that don't know it 'n' feel it;--kind of empty like in +your heart, you know, just as your stomach feels when you 've ploughed +an acre of sidlin' ground, before breakfast--Get up, Bess, +whoa--back!--you don't hear that laugh of hers in the barn, nor out in +the field, nor up in the pasture; 'n' you don't see those great eyes +lookin' up at you when you 're harnessin', nor peekin' round the corner +of the stall to see if you 're most through milkin'. 'N' you don't hear +a fiddle makin' it lively after supper, 'n' the children ain't danced +once in the barn this spring." Chi sighed heavily. + +"Don't Mr. Ford go over there pretty often?" queried Maria-Ann. "I see +him gallopin' by two or three times a week." + +"Well, what if you do?" Chi answered grumpily, much to Maria-Ann's +surprise. "He can't fiddle the way Ladybird does, 'n' they all sit 'n' +jabber some kind of lingo--French, they call it, but I call it, good, +straight Canuck--'n' act as if they were at a party,--Rose, 'n' Miss +Alton, 'n' the whole of 'em. 'T ain't much company for me. I get off +to bed about dark. 'N' the worst of it is, when he isn't to our house, +they're all to his--Come around!" Chi jerked the reins, to Bess's +resentful surprise. + +"They say he's payin' attention to Rose," ventured Maria-Ann, her eyes +following the furrow, which was running not quite true. + +"They 're a parcel of fools," growled Chi, eyeing the furrow with a +dissatisfied air, "Rose need n't look Alan Ford's way for attention. +She can have all she wants most anywheres.--Get up, Bess! what you +backin' that way for!--'n' folks tongues can be measured by the furlong +'twixt here and Barton's." + +"Well, there ain't any harm in Rose's havin' attention, Chi," said +Maria-Ann with some spirit, and ready to stand up for her sex. + +"Did n't say there was," retorted Chi, in mollified tones. "There ain't +no more harm in Rose's havin' attention than in your havin' it." + +"Me!" exclaimed Maria-Ann, pleasantly surprised out of her momentary +resentment. "I ain't had any chance to have any." + +"Ain't you?" said Chi, busying himself with the plough preparatory to +leaving. "Well, that ain't any sign you won't have--Get along, Bess!--I +'ll leave this plough here till to-morrow; I ain't drawn those last two +furrers straight, 'n' I 've got too much pride to have any man see +that--Malachi Graham, his mark.--No, sir-ee," said Chi, emphatically, +"straight or starve is my motto every time, just you remember that, +Marier-Ann Simmons." + +"I will, Chi," laughed Maria-Ann, and went back to her washing, singing +joyfully to her rubbing accompaniment:-- + + "Come, sinners all, repent in time, + The Judgment Day is dawning; + Sun, moon, and stars to earth incline, + The trumpet sounds a warning." + + +Meanwhile letters were coming to every member of the family from Hazel. +As March regained his strength there came as special gifts to him, books +and magazines, and from time to time a beautiful photograph of an +old-world cathedral--Canterbury, or York; a stately castle like Warwick, +or Heidelberg; a peasant's chalet, or an English cottage to gladden his +artist soul and eye, and transform the walls of his room into +dwelling-places for his ideals. + +"Mother," he said rather wistfully to Mrs. Blossom, on the first May day +as they sat together under the old Wishing-Tree, talking over the plans +for his future, "how can I go to work to make it all come true?" + +He held in his hand a large photograph of the interior of Cologne +Cathedral, which Hazel had given him. + +"There are many ways, dear, which are most unexpectedly opened at times. +No boy with health and perseverance has much to fear." + +"But, mother, father had both, and he was n't able to go through +college. He told me all about it the other day, and how he had missed +it all through his life." + +"I know, March, father failed in attaining to that which was his great +desire, but he succeeded so immeasurably in another direction, that I +think, sometimes, it must have been all for the best." + +"Why, mother, father is poor now--how do you mean he has succeeded?" + +"My dear boy, you are only in your seventeenth year, and I don't know +that I can make it plain to you because you _are_ young; but when your +father conquered every selfish tendency in him, put aside what he had +striven so hard for and what was just within his reach, and turned about +and did the duty that the time demanded of him;--when he took his dead +father's place as provider for the family, and, by his own exertions, +placed his mother and sisters beyond want, before he even allowed +himself to tell me he loved me, he proved himself a successful man; for +he developed, in such hard circumstances, such nobility of character, +that he is rich in love and esteem,--and that, March, and only _that_, +is true wealth." + +"I see what you mean, mother, but it does n't help me to see how I 'm to +get through college, and get the training I need in my profession." +March uttered the last word with pride. "There is so much a man has to +have for that. Look at that now," he continued, holding up the +photograph; "I need all that, and that means Europe, and Europe means +money and time, and where is it all to come from?" + +His mother smiled at the despairing tone. "As for time, March, you are +only in your seventeenth year. That means ten years before you can +begin to work in your profession; and as for the means--" she +hesitated--"I think it is time to tell you something I 've been keeping +and rejoicing over these last two weeks." She drew a letter from her +dress-waist and handed it to him. "Read this, dear, and tell me what +you think of it." Wondering, March took it and read:-- + + +HAWKING VALLEY, NORTH CAROLINA, +April 15, 1897. + +MY DEAR MRS. BLOSSOM,--Just a year ago to-day I sent my one child to +you, trusting the judgment of my dear friend, Doctor Heath, in a matter +which he felt concerned the future welfare of my daughter. My home has +been very lonely without her. You, as a parent, can know something of +what this separation has entailed. + +It seemed wise to me, and I know you concurred in my opinion, to take +her away from the conditions, in which she has thriven so wonderfully, +while you were burdened, both in heart and hands, by such a critical +illness as your son's. The result confirms the wisdom of my action, for +March's convalescence has been slow and long; I am thankful to be +assured it is sure. The burden of an extra member in your family at +this time would, in the long run, prove too heavy for you. + +I cannot tell you how I appreciate what you have done for Hazel. I have +no words to express it. She returns to me full of life and joy, with no +apparent unwillingness to take up her life again with me, which must +seem dull to her in contrast to that which she had with you. Yet I know +in her loyal little heart she belongs to you, is a part of your family +henceforth--and I am glad to know it is so, for she needs, and will +need, as a young girl, your motherly influence at all times. + +I 'm not taking her away from you for good. Oh, no! That would be her +loss as well as mine; but I am testing her a little. I have said I had +no words with which adequately to express my gratitude. I am your +debtor for my child's physical well-being--for much else which I do not +find it easy to define. Will you allow me to make some compensation for +your year of devotion? I do not care what form it take, providing you +will permit me to try to discharge something of the debt--the whole can +never be repaid. Will you not let me send that splendid son of yours +through college? and give him two years of Europe afterwards? That +future profession of his has always been of great interest to me. If +the boy is too proud, as I suspect is the case, to accept the necessary +amount other than as a loan, make it plain to him that I will even yield +a point there--a pretty bad state of affairs for me as a debtor to find +myself in. If he won't do this for me--won't Rose help me out by +permitting me to aid her in cultivating that voice of hers? I know your +magnanimity, and depend upon you to help me in this. + +Hazel does not know I am writing to you, or she would send loving +messages. + +My kindest regards to Mr. Blossom, with hearty congratulations for +March, and all sorts of neighborly remembrances for all others of the +Lost Nation. + +Sincerely your friend, + JOHN CURTIS CLYDE. + +_To Mrs. Benjamin Blossom._ + + +"Oh, mother!" + +A wave of crimson surged into March's pale face, and the sensitive +nostrils quivered; then two big drops plashed down upon the letter which +he handed to his mother. + +"Oh, mother! if only I could--but I can't!" + +He rolled over on the soft pasture turf, face downwards, his head +resting on his arms. + +"Why, March dear," said his mother, tenderly, "why can't you? I think +it 's beautiful, so does father." + +A sob shook the long, thin frame. His mother laid her hand on the back +of the yellow head. "What is it, my dear boy? Can't you tell me?" + +The head shook energetically beneath her hand, and muffled words issued +from the grass. + +"But, March, we thought it would please you to have such an opportunity. +You have read what Mr. Clyde says--you can look upon it as a loan. I +hope you won't have any false pride in this matter--" + +"'Tis n't false, mother," came forth from the grass, "and I would like +to accept his offer, if only it were n't just his." + +"Why not his, March? Surely, Hazel has been like one of us--a real +little sister--" Another vigorous wagging of the yellow head arrested +his mother in the midst of her sentence. + +"Hazel is n't my sister." + +"Why, of course, you can't feel as near to her as to Rose, but then, you +must see how dear she has become to us all--and Mr. Clyde has put it in +such a way, that the most sensitive person could accept it without +injury to any feeling of true pride. Take time and think it over, +March. It has come upon you rather suddenly, and I have been thinking +about it for two weeks." + +"It's no use to think it over." Deep tragedy now made itself audible, +as March rolled over and sat up, displaying eyes bright with excitement, +flushed cheeks, and a generally determined air of having it out with +himself. + +"Well, I can't understand you, March." + +"I wish you could." + +His mother smiled in spite of the gravity of the situation. "Can't you +tell me? or give me some clue to this mysterious determination of +yours?" + +March cast a despairing glance at his mother. "Mother, will you promise +never to tell?" + +"Not even your father, March?" + +"No, father, nor any one--ever, mother." + +"Very well; I promise, March, for I trust you." + +"Oh, mother, have n't you seen?--don't you know, that I--that I love +Hazel! And how can I take the money from her father, when I 'm going to +try to make her love me and marry me sometime, when I get through +studying, and--and--Oh, don't you see?" + +And Mrs. Blossom did see--at last. + +She spoke very gently, after a minute's silence, in which March's ears +burned red to their tips, and his fingers were busy digging up a tiny +strawberry-plant by the roots. "My son, I see, and I honor you for +feeling as you do; but, March, have you thought of the difference +between you and Hazel?" + +"What difference, mother?" + +Now Mary Blossom was not a worldly woman, neither was she a woman of the +world--and she found it difficult to answer. + +"You know how Hazel is placed in life, although you do not know with +what luxury she is surrounded in her home. She has beauty, a large +circle of friends, immense wealth. There will be many who will seek her +hand in four years' time, for she has a wonderful charm of her own, for +all who come close to her.--Is it worth while to attempt, even, to win +this little daughter of the rich? You, a poor boy, with his way to +make?" + +"But, mother,"--there was strong protest in the voice--"she did n't have +any beauty till she came up here to us--and if she _was_ a rich girl, +she was n't a healthy one till she lived up here, and I don't see the +good of money and a lot of things, if you 're sick, and homely, too." +March waxed eloquent in his desire to convince his mother of the justice +of his cause. "And if she hadn't come up here she would n't have got +well, and then she would n't have grown so beautiful--and she _is_ +beautiful, mother." (Mrs. Blossom nodded assent.) "And I don't see why +I have n't just as much right to try to make her love me as any other +fellow. You 've told us children, dozens of times, it's just character +that counts, and not money, and if I try as hard as I can to keep +straight and be a good man like father, I don't see why things would n't +be all right in the end." + +Mrs. Blossom was silenced,--"hoist with her own petard." "How can I +destroy this lovely, young ideal? I dare not," was her thought. But +aloud, she said:--"You 're right, March. Nothing but character counts. +Make yourself worthy of this little love of yours. We 'll keep this in +our own hearts, and when you are tempted to wrong-doing--and there are +fearful temptations for every young man to meet, March,--temptations of +which you can form no conception here in the shelter of your home--just +remember this little talk of ours, and keep yourself unspotted by the +world just by the thought of this dear girl whom you hope some day to +win. There is nothing, March, that will keep a young man in the right +way like his love for just 'the one girl in the world'--if only she be +worthy of his love. And I think Hazel will be--even of you." + +March flung his arms about her neck and kissed her heartily: + +"Dear, little Mother Blossom, I 'll try, and even if I fail, just the +thought of such a glorious-filorious mother that does n't laugh at a +fellow--I was afraid you would, though,--will keep me straight enough. +Why, Mother Blossom! I 'd be ashamed to look you in the eyes, if I did a +down-right mean thing." + +His mother laughed through her tears. "I wonder if many mothers get +such a compliment? Come, dear, the dew is beginning to fall--it's been +such a heavenly day, I had forgotten it is early spring. Do you feel +chilly?" + +"Not I," laughed March, and proceeded to relieve his feelings after his +favorite method--by turning a double-back somersault down the pasture +slope. + +As Mrs. Blossom leaned over to kiss tired, sleepy Budd that night, she +thought complacently to herself:-- + +"Well, thank fortune, here 's one who is heart-free," and laughed softly +to herself. Chi had not told her of Budd's proposal. + + +"Wilkins, tell Miss Hazel to come down into the library when she is +dressed for dinner." + +"Yes, Marse Clyde." Wilkins sprang upstairs two steps at a time, and, +knocking at Hazel's door, delivered his message. + +"Tell papa I 'm going to dress early, for I 've some things to attend to +about the table, Wilkins." + +"Fo' sho', Miss Hazel," said Wilkins, with a broad smile of delighted +surprise. + +"And tell Mrs. Scott I 'll choose the service, if she will take out the +linen, and I have ordered the flowers. Papa said I might." + +Wilkins skipped downstairs, delivered his message to the amazed +housekeeper, and then flew into the kitchen to impart his news to the +cook, his confidante and co-worker for years in the Clyde household. + +Minna-Lu was preparing a confection, and giving her whole soul to the +making, when Wilkins made his appearance. She looked up grimly, the +ebony of her countenance shining beneath the immaculate white of her +turban:-- + +"Wa' fo' yo' hyar?" + +Wilkins slapped both knees with the palms of his hands, and bent nearly +double with noiseless laughter; then, straightening himself, approached +Minna-Lu with boldness, despite the repelling wave of the cream-whip +that she held suspended over the bowl, and confided to her the change of +rgime, to her edification and delight. + +She put down the bowl and whip, stemmed her fists on her broad hips, and +gurgled long and low. "'F little missus done take rale hol' er de +reins, dere ain't no kin' er show fo' sech po' trash." She indicated +with an upward movement of her thumb the upper regions where the +housekeeper was supposed to be. + +"When I wan's a missus, I wan's quality folks, an' little missus do take +de cake. Nebber see sech er chile. Dem great, shinin' eyes, lookin' at +yo' out o' all de do's, an' dat laff soun'in' jes' like de ol' mocker +dat nebber knowed nuffin' 'bout bedtime--yo' recollecks?" Wilkins +nodded emphatically, but was unprepared for Minna-Lu's next move:-- + +"Git out o' hyar, yo' good-fo'-nuffin' niggah. Huccome yo' stan'in' +roun' wif yo' legs stiffer 'n de whites er dese yer eggs, an' yo' jaw +goin' like de egg-beatah, an' de comp'ny comin' at rale sharp eight." +Minna-Lu took up her bowl, and Wilkins beat a hasty retreat. + +It was a warm first of May, and just about the hour when March and his +mother were leaving the Wishing-Tree, that Hazel appeared in the +dining-room. Wilkins gazed at her in a species of adoration. Her +orders appeared to him revolutionary, but he obeyed them implicitly and +unhesitatingly. + +"Take off the candelabra, Wilkins, it is too warm to-night to have them +on; besides, people don't have a nice time talking when they have to +peek around them to get a glimpse of the people they 're talking to." +Wilkins whisked off the candelabra as if they had been made of +thistledown. + +"Dat's so, fo' sho', Miss Hazel. I see de folks doan' talk when dey +ain' comf'ble; but I nebber tink ob de can'les." + +"When it's dark you can light all the sconces. I want you to use the +pale green, Bohemian dinner set to-night; and I want just as little +silver as possible." + +Wilkins looked blank, and Hazel laughed. "Oh, we 'll make it up with +some cut glass, I 'll manage it. I want the table to look cool and +simple, just to-night." + +Cool and simple. Wilkins failed to comprehend it, but such was his +faith in "little Missy," that he carried out her orders to the letter, +and the result was, according to Mrs. Fenlick, "a dream of beauty." + +When she had made her preparations to her entire satisfaction, as well +as Wilkins's, and the latter had called Minna-Lu from her culinary +tug-of-war to witness "little Missy's" triumph, Hazel ran into the +library. + +Her father looked at her in amazement. Could this radiant, young girl +be the same Hazel of a year ago? They had gone directly to North +Carolina when Hazel had left Mount Hunger, and had been at home but two +days. This little dinner was given to Mr. Clyde's intimate friends as an +informal celebration and recognition of his daughter's return to the New +York house. + +Now, as she ran into the room and linked her arm in his, her father +looked down upon her with such evident pride and love, that Hazel +laughed joyfully, kid her cheek against his coat-sleeve and patted his +hand. + +"Do I look nice, Papa Clyde?" + +"Nice! that's no word for it, Birdie." And thereupon he took her in his +arms and gave her such a hug and a kiss, that the pretty dress must have +suffered if it had not been made of the softest of white China-silk. + +"Oh, my flowers! you 'll crush them!" she cried, shielding with both +hands a bunch of flowers at her belt. + +"Where did you get all this--this style, daughter mine? It's--why, you +'re nothing but a little girl, but it's 'chic.'" + +Hazel enjoyed her father's admiration to the full. She drew herself up, +straight and tall, graceful and slender--her head was already above his +shoulder--exclaiming:-- + +"Little girl! Well, your little girl designed this gown herself. I +would n't have any fuss or frills about it; it's just plain and full and +soft and clingy, and this sash of soft silk--is n't it a pretty, pale +green?--feel--" She caught up a handful of the delicate fabric and +crushed it in her hand, then smoothed it again, and it showed no +wrinkles. "I 've put it on to match the dinner. I 've had it all my +own way--Wilkins did just as I said--and it's all cool and green and +springy. You 'll see." + +"Where did you get these flowers?" Mr. Clyde touched the bunch of +arbutus, that showed so delicately pink and white against the white of +her dress and the green of her sash. + +A wave of beautiful color shot up to the roots of the little crinkles of +chestnut hair on her temples; she touched the blossoms caressingly. "I +wrote March about this dinner-party, and how it was the first at which I +had been hostess, and he wrote back and wanted to know what I was going +to wear, and I told him--and this morning these lovely things came by +mail all done up in cotton wool in a tin cracker-box, the kind Chi uses +to put his worm-bait in, when he goes fishing. Are n't they lovely? And +was n't March lovely to think of them, papa?" + +"They are n't half as lovely as you are," said Mr. Clyde, earnestly, +replying to half of her question only. "You are my unspoiled +Hazel-blossom--" Then a sudden, intrusive thought caught and arrested +his words. "Hazel Blossom," he repeated to himself, looking at her +unconscious face as he uttered the last word, "Good heavens! Could such +a thing be?" + +"De Cun'le an' Mrs. Fenlick," announced Wilkins. + +And when they were all seated at the table--the Colonel and Mrs. +Fenlick, Doctor and Mrs. Heath, Aunt Carrie and Uncle Jo, the Masons and +the Pearsells--with no candelabra to interfere with the merry speech and +glances, with the light from the candles in the sconces shining softly +on the exquisite napery, on the low bed of white tulips in the centre +and the grace of the pale, green porcelain, with the tall Bohemian +Romer-glasses before the plates--what wonder that Mrs. Fenlick +pronounced it a "dream of beauty"? + +When their guests had gone, Mr. Clyde turned to Hazel:--"I shall be glad +to open the Newport cottage again, Birdie, with such a little hostess to +help me entertain." + +"The Newport house, papa!" Hazel exclaimed, a distinct note of +disappointment sounding in her voice. + +"Why not, dear? I thought of getting down there by the tenth; in fact, +gave my orders to Mrs. Scott to begin packing to-morrow." + +Hazel was evidently struggling with herself. She fingered the arbutus +nervously; took them out of her belt; inhaled their fragrance. Then she +looked up with a smile, although the corners of her mouth drooped and +trembled a little:-- + +"Why, of course, why not, papa? It's so much pleasanter there in May, +than when everybody is down for the summer." + +Her father sat down in an easy-chair, put an arm around his daughter, +and drew her down to a seat on the arm of the chair. + +"Now, Hazel, I want you to tell me all about it. Don't you want to go?" + +"Yes, if you 're there, papa, but--" she turned suddenly and her arm +stole around his neck--"don't leave me there alone, papa, please don't." + +"Leave you--I? Why what do you mean, dear?" + +"Oh, it is so lonesome when you are away, papa, when you go off yachting +with the Colonel--and the house is so big, and there 's nobody to talk +to and say good-night to--and--and, oh, dear!" The tears began to come, +but she struggled bravely for a few minutes. + +"Why, little girl, you have never told me you were lonesome without me: +indeed, you have never shown any sign of it, or of wanting me around +much. I never thought--why, Hazel." Down went the curly head on his +shoulder, and the sobs grew loud and frequent. + +"There, there, Birdie," he said soothingly, stroking her head, "you 're +all tired out; this party has been too much for you--" + +An energetic, protesting head-shake was followed by broken +sentences--"It was n't that--I 'm not tired--you don't know, papa--I +didn't know--know I was lonesome, and that I was--I think I was +homesick--dreadfully--but Barbara Frietchie, you know--I had to be +brave--and, I have tried not to show it to make you feel unhappy--and I +love you so! but, oh, dear! I miss them so dreadfully, and I hoped--I +was a member of the N.B.--B.O.--O., Oh--dear me,--Society, and the +by-law says--I mean March read it--Oh, papa!" + +"Well, well, there, there, dear," said the somewhat mystified father, +bending all his efforts to soothe this evidently perturbed spirit, "why +did n't you tell me before?" + +"Because I was Barbara Frietchie." + +"Now, Hazel, sit up and look me in the face and tell me what you mean. +I supposed I was holding Hazel Clyde in my arms and not old Barbara +Frietchie. Please explain." + +"I thought I wrote you, papa," Hazel could not help smiling through her +tears, for it did strike her as rather funny about papa's holding the +patriotic, old lady in his arms. + +"Well, you did n't tell me that." So Hazel explained. + +Mr. Clyde nodded approval. "Very good, I approve of the N.B.B.O.O. +Society, and of the present Barbara Frietchie's heroism--but no more of +it is called for. You see, I fully intended you should pay your +friends--my friends--a visit this summer, but I thought it would be much +better later in the season when Mrs. Blossom would be rested from the +fatigue of March's illness--" + +"Oh, papa!" A squeeze effectually impeded further utterance. "I don't +care how soon we go to Newport, or anywhere--of course, if _you_ are +with me--as long as I can go to Mount Hunger sometime this summer. And, +besides," she added eagerly, "we planned next winter's visit from Rose, +didn't we?" + +"I should rather think we did. We shall be very proud of our beautiful +friend, Rose, and delighted to have our friends meet her, shan't we?" +Another squeeze precluded, for the moment, articulate speech. + +"Yes," Hazel cried, enthusiastically, "we 'll take her to concerts and +operas--just think, papa, with that lovely voice she has never heard a +concert!--and we 'll take her to the theatre and--" + +"And," her father went on, growing enthusiastic himself at the prospect, +for he was the soul of hospitality, "and we 'll give her a dainty dinner +or two, and possibly a little dance--few and early, you know--" + +"Oh--ee!" cried Hazel, forgetting her woe, "and Mrs. Heath will give a +lunch-party for her, and, perhaps, Aunt Carrie a tea, and Mrs. Fenlick a +reception--" + +"Heavens!" interrupted her father, "you 'll kill her with kindness--that +fresh, wild rose can't stand all that--" + +"Oh, yes, she can, papa; she can stand that just as well as I stood +going up there where everything was so different." + +"True," said Mr. Clyde, thoughtfully, "it was different." + +"Oh, it was, papa! I never had to go to bed alone. Mrs. Blossom always +came to say good-night and to kiss me, and to--to--" + +"To what?" asked her father. + +"You won't mind if I tell you?" Hazel asked, half-shyly. + +"Mind! I should say not; I should mind if you did n't tell me." + +"--to say 'Our Father' with me, papa; you know no one ever said it with +me before, and it's--it's such a comfy time to feel sorry and talk over +what you 've done wrong; and it's _that_ I miss so." + +"I don't blame you, Birdie," said her father, quietly. "But now see how +late it is!"--he pointed to the clock--"Eleven! This will never do for +a _dbutante_. Good-night, darling. Sweet dreams of Rose and the +N.B.B.O.O. Society." + +"Good-night, Papa Clyde; Doctor Heath says you are the most splendid +fellow in the world--but I know you are the dearest father in the world; +good-night, I 've had a lovely party." + +She ran upstairs, but, in a moment, her father heard her tripping down +again. Her head parted the portires. "I just came back to tell you, +that this kind of a talk we 've had is just as good as the Mount Hunger +bedtime-talks. I shan't be homesick any more." And away she ran. + +Now John Curtis Clyde was a pew-owner--as had been his father and +grandfather before him--in one of the Fifth Avenue churches, and duly +made his appearance in that pew every Sunday morning. He entered, too, +into the service with hearty voice, and made his responses without, the +while, giving undue thought to the world. But when he had said "Our +Father" with his little daughter by his side, he had supposed his duty +performed to the extent of his needs--of another's, his child's, he gave +no thought. + +To-night, however, as he sat in the easy-chair where Hazel had left him, +it began to dawn upon him slowly that his little daughter, during her +fourteen years, might have had other needs, for which he had not +provided, nor, perhaps, with all his riches was capable of providing. + +The clock chimed twelve,--one,--two--; John Clyde, with a sigh, rose and +went up to bed--a wiser and a better man. + + + + + XXII + + ROSE + + +What a summer that was! Mr. Clyde sent Hazel up to the Blossoms for +July and again for September, when he, the Colonel and Mrs. Fenlick, the +Pearsells and the Masons, Aunt Carrie and Uncle Jo took possession of +the entire inn at Barton's River, and for a month coached and rode +throughout the "North Country," all in the cool September weather. Jack +Sherrill joined them for the last three weeks, and, this time, Maude +Seaton was not of the party. + +"I just headed her off every time she made a dead set at any one of us +for an invitation," said Mrs. Fenlick one day in confidence to her +intimate, Mrs. Pearsell, as they sat on the vine-covered veranda of the +inn, "but she proved a regular octopus. She got the Colonel in her +toils one morning at the Casino, and I pretended to be faint--yes, I +did--just to get his attention for a sufficient time to make a fuss, and +get him alone in the carriage; then, of course, I settled it. Oh, dear! +men are so guileless in spots!"--Mrs. Fenlick gave a weary sigh--"What I +have n't been through with that girl! Anyway, she's been out two +winters, now, and she has n't caught Jack Sherrill yet. I don't think +there is much chance after the first season for a girl to make a really +fine match, do you?" Then they fell to discussing the pros, and cons, +of the question with evergreen interest. + +Jack Sherrill, for one, had no thought of Miss Seaton. He had sent the +valentine-flowers, and the sentiment from Barry Cornwall's love-song, +with a strange kind of "kill or cure" feeling. + +He had communed with himself, at twilight of one February day, as he lay +at full length on the cushioned window-seat of his room from which he +looked down upon the darkening, snow-covered campus and the anatomy of +the elms showing black against it. His pipe had gone out, but he +derived some satisfaction in pulling away at it mechanically, while he +thought out the situation for himself. + +"What's the use of a man's hanging fire when he _knows_?" he thought. +"Now, I love her--love her." (Jack's hand stole into the breast of his +jacket and crushed a bit of paper there; he smiled.) "Of course she +does n't know, and won't know for a while, but it shan't be through any +neglect of mine that she does n't; and when she knows--there 's the +rub!--will she care for me, Jack Sherrill? I 've never done anything in +my life to make a girl like that care for me. + +"But there's one thing I 'd stake my life on--she would n't marry a man +for his money. A man 's got to be loved for himself--not for what he +can give a woman, or do for her, but just for himself, if it's going to +be the real thing, and _last_. And what am I that a girl like that +should love me--" Jack was growing very humble. He pulled himself +together: "Anyhow, I'll send the flowers and the sentiment, _I mean it_; +I don't care what she thinks!" Jack's courage rose as he began to feel +something like defiance of Fate. + +Just then his chum came in. + +"There's no use, Sherrill," he said, flinging himself down upon the +cushioned seat Jack had just vacated; "we can't have the theatricals +unless you take the girl's part. It won't put you out any--smooth face +and no scrub. You 've been it once, and it will be a dead failure if you +aren't in it now." + +"I don't see how I can," replied Jack, shortly, for this intrusion on +his mood irritated him. "I told you, all of you, at the Club last year, +that I would n't play after I was a Junior." + +"Well, what if you did?" rejoined his chum, a little crossly. "You 're +not so uncompromisingly steadfast in other things that you can't afford +to change your mind in such a trifle as this." + +"Come, don't be touchy," said Jack, good-humoredly. "Hit right out from +the shoulder, old man, and tell me what you mean." + +Dawns smiled, clasped his hands under his head, and raised his merry +blue eyes to Jack, who was lighting up. + +"They say over at the Club that you have thrown Maude Seaton over, but +Grayson took up the Seaton cudgels and made the statement that she had +thrown you over, and you won't take the girl's part in the play because +she is coming on for it." + +Jack hesitated. He hated to play at any comedy of love when his heart +was throbbing with the genuine article. But, after all, it might be the +best way to silence the Club's tongues as well as some others in Boston +and New York. + +"I 'll help you out this once, Dawns, but I tell you plainly I won't +have anything more to do with the Club theatricals while I 'm in +college," he replied, ignoring both of Dawns' statements, which +omissions his chum noticed, and made his own thoughts: "Just like +Sherrill. You can't get any hold of him to know what he really feels +and thinks." + +Jack played his part accordingly, repeating the success of the year +before, and scoring new triumphs. He was glad when it was over, and he +could go back to his room "dead tired," as he said to himself, but with +the conviction that he had settled matters to his own satisfaction if +not to that of one other. + +The room was in such disorder! Evidently, Dawns had been having a +little spree before Jack's late return, and the smoke had left the air +heavy. + +Jack dropped his paraphernalia in the middle of the floor--peeling +himself as he stood yawning and thanking his lucky star that he was not +born a woman to be handicapped by such things!--_dcollet_ white satin +waist, long-trained satin gown, necklace--Jack gave the string a twitch, +for it had knotted, and the Roman pearls rolled into unreachable places +all over the floor. Off flew one white satin slipper--number ten, broad +at the toes!--with a fine "drop kick" hitting the ceiling and landing on +the book-shelves; the other followed suit. White fan with chain, white +elbow gloves, corsage bouquet--all dropped in a promiscuous heap. A +general stampede loosened silk under-skirt and dainty muslin petticoat, +lace-trimmed. A wrench,--corset-cover and corsets were torn from their +moorings. Jack groaned--or something worse--at the flummery, and, +leaving everything as it had dropped, rushed off into his bedroom, only +to find that he had forgotten to take off the blonde wig and wash off +the rouge. + +At last, however, he was asleep, and slept the sleep of the justified. + +He slept both soundly and late, but when he awoke the next morning his +first thought was of the flowers for Mount Hunger and the appropriate +sentiment. Accordingly, having reckoned the arrival of train, departure +of stage, etc., to a minute, he selected the flowers, wrote the +sentiment, not without forebodings of the usual kind, and despatched +both to Mount Hunger with high hopes, notwithstanding prescient +feelings. Then, metaphorically, he sat down to await an answer. He +waited just two months, and during that time had turned emotionally +black and blue more than once at the thought of his temerity in sending +such a message. + +Hazel had written him at once from North Carolina to tell him of March's +illness, and on the same day she sent a penitent note to Rose, +confessing her shame at her attempt at deception, and explaining that it +was because she loved her cousin so dearly she could not bear to see his +gift slighted. + +When March was out of danger, Rose had written to Hazel a frank, loving +letter, blaming herself for her want of self-control, and begging +Hazel's forgiveness for her harsh words: + + +"It's all my old pride, Hazel dear," she wrote, "that I have to fight +very often. It was most kind of Mr. Sherrill to remember me when he has +so many, many other friends whom he has known longer, and I shall write +and tell him so. Now that my heart is lighter on account of dear March, +I can write more easily. + +"We miss you so! when are you coming back to us? Chi looks perfectly +disconsolate, and we all feel a great deal more than we care to say. + +"I wish you were here to have the fun of the French evenings, three +times a week. You speak it so beautifully, Mr. Ford says, and I thank +you so much for all the help you gave me in teaching me. Mr. Ford +speaks it very well, too, so Miss Alton says. We all meet at our house +once a week on March's account, and then one evening in the week, Miss +Alton and I (she 's lovely) go over to the Fords' for music. He has +sent for some lovely songs for me--old English ones, and we're going to +have a little celebration for March's birthday in May. How I wish you +were to be here! + +"March is lying on the settle, dreaming over that exquisite photograph +of Cologne Cathedral you sent him; I've just asked him if he had any +messages for you, and he smiled--oh, it's so good to see his dear smile +again! You can't think how tall he's grown since his illness, and he's +so thin--and said, 'I sent one to her this morning myself; she can't +have two a day.' But you know March's ways. + +"Now I must stop; Mr. Ford is coming over on horseback and I am riding +Bob now. I wear an old riding-habit of Martie's--it fits fine! I have +more to tell you, but will finish after I get back from the ride--there +comes Mr. Ford--" + + +This letter Hazel duly forwarded to her cousin. "He 'll know by what +she says in it that she really was pleased, for all she acted so queer," +she said to herself as she enclosed it in one to Jack, in which she took +special pains to inform him that he had never told her whether he had +given those verses Rose sang to Miss Seaton. + + +"I told Rose I was sure they were for Miss Seaton, and Rose said she did +n't mind copying them herself for you if you wished them. Do tell me if +you gave them to her. I told Rose your valentine to her last year was a +rose-heart. I hope you don't mind my telling, for, you know, Jack, all +our family think you are engaged to her--" + + +Jack dropped Hazel's letter at this point and gave a decided groan. + +"What luck!" he muttered. "It's all up with the whole thing now. No +girl of any spirit would stand all that--and Hazel meddling so! thinking +she is doing her level best to explain matters;--What an ass I was to +send that flower-valentine to Maude--and she thinks I gave her those +verses! and there 's this Ford skulking round and having it all his own +way; he 's just the kind a girl would care for--those musical cranks are +no end sentimental. Hang it all!" + +Jack thrust his hands deep into his pockets, took several decided turns +up and down the room, squared his shoulders, pursed his lips, cut his +two classroom lectures, ordered up Little Shaver and rode out to the +polo grounds, where, finding himself alone, he put the little fellow +through his best paces, ignoring the fact that snow and ice wore on the +pony's nerves--and had a game out to himself. + +When just two months had passed, he received a note from Rose, his +first, and it was accorded the reception due to first notes in +particular. After this, Jack developed certain wiles of diplomacy, he +had thus far, in his various experiences, held in abeyance. He wrote +sympathetic notes to Mrs. Blossom; commissioned Chi to find him another +polo pony--Morgan, if possible--among the Green Hills; sent March a set +of illustrated books on architecture, and complained to Doctor Heath of +a pain that racked his chest; at which the Doctor's eyes twinkled. He +said he would examine him later, but he was convinced it was heart +trouble, the symptoms were apt to mislead and confuse. He added +gravely: "Too much hard polo riding, Jack; get away into the +country--mountains if you can, and you 'll recuperate fast enough. I +'ll make an examination in the fall." + +Jack obeyed to the letter, and what a month of September that was! + +There were glorious rides with Rose along the beautiful river valley and +over the mountain roads. There were delightful evenings at the Fords', +and silent, beatific walks with Rose homewards beneath the harvest moon. +There were morning rambles with Rose up over the pastures and deep into +the woodlands for late ferns and hooded gentians. There were adorable +hours of doing nothing but adore, while Rose was busy about her work, +setting the table for tea (Jack paid his board at the inn, but he lived +at the Blossoms'), or laying the cloth for dinner, or on Saturday +morning even making rolls for the tea to which the whole party at the +inn were invited. + +Chi was in his glory. Little Shaver came trotting regularly every day +up through the woods'-road, and whinnied "Good-morning" first to Fleet, +then to Chi. There were general coaching-parties to Woodstock and +Brandon, in which Mrs. Blossom was guest, and a grand tea at the Fords' +for all the guests, with a musicale for a finish, and an informal dance +in the Blossoms' barn to which all the Lost Nation were invited. + +They accepted, one and all. Captain Spillkins was in his element, so he +said. He and Mrs. Fenlick danced a two-step in a manner to win the +commendation of the entire assembly. Miss Elvira and Miss Melissa went +through the square dance escorted by Jack and Uncle Jo. There were +round dances and contra dances. Uncle Israel contributed an "1812" jig, +and Mr. Clyde passed round the hat for his sole benefit. There were +waltzes for those who could waltz, and polkas for those who could polka, +and schottische and minuet. "There never was such a dance since before +the Deluge!" declared Mrs. Fenlick, when Captain Spillkins escorted her +to a seat on a sap-bucket; and then they all went at it again in a grand +finale, the Virginia Reel--Chi and Hazel, Mr. Clyde and Aunt Tryphosa +for head and foot couple; Maria-Ann with Jack; Alan Ford with Mrs. +Fenlick; the Colonel with Mrs. Blossom whom he admired greatly; March +and Miss Alton--such a double row of them! + +Poor Reub sat in one of the empty stalls and watched the fun with slow, +half-understanding smile, and Ruth Ford reclined in a rocking-chair in +the corner, and with merry laughter and sparkling wit soothed the dull +ache in her heart that the knowledge that she was henceforth to be a +"Shut-out" from all that life had at first given her. + +The next day after the dance there was a grand dinner given at the inn +by the Newport party to all the Lost Nation; and, later on, private +entertainments for Mr. and Mrs. Blossom and the Fords. At last, when +the first maple leaves crimsoned and the frost silvered the mullein +leaves in the pasture, Hazel, her father, Jack, and their friends bade +good-bye to the Mountain and all its joys of acquaintance, and in some +cases, friendship, and turned their faces, not without reluctance on the +part of some of them, city-wards. + +"Oh, mother! has n't it been too beautiful for anything?" exclaimed +Rose, turning to her mother, as the last of the riding-party waved his +cap in farewell to those on the porch. It was Jack. + +"We have had a happy summer, Rose;--I think they have, too," her mother +added, shading her eyes from the setting sun. "You 'll be very lonely +here at home, dear, after all this gayety." + +"Lonely! Why, Martie Blossom, how can you think of such a thing!" said +Rose, still scanning the lower road for a last glimpse of the riders. +"See, see, they are all waving their handkerchiefs!" + +The whole Blossom family laid hold of what they could--napkins, towels, +a table-cloth, and Chi seized his shirt, which he had hung on the line +to dry, and waved frantically until the party was no longer to be seen. + +"Lonesome! the idea," said Rose, turning to her mother. "Think of all +the studying March and I have to do, and the French evenings, and the +Fords, and Thanksgiving coming, and then Christmas, and then-- + +"Then," said Mrs. Blossom, interrupting her, "my Rose takes a little +plunge into that whirlpool of gay life and fashion in New York." + +"Yes," said Rose, with a happy smile that spoke volumes to her mother, +"I do look forward to it, Martie dear; but the whirlpool shan't suck me +under; I shall come home just your old-fashioned Rose-pose." + +"I hope so, dear," said her mother, a little wistfully, and called the +children in to supper. + +Indeed, they found little opportunity to miss their friends in the +ensuing months; for there came kindly letters, and friendly letters, and +something very nearly resembling love-letters. The mail brought papers, +books, and magazines. The express brought to Barton's River many a box +of lovely flowers. At Christmas came more than one remembrance for them +all, including Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann, and four special invitations +for Rose to visit in New York directly after the holidays. One was from +Mr. Clyde--with an urgent request from Hazel to say "yes" by telegram +and "relieve her misery," so she put it--; one from Mrs. Heath; one from +Aunt Carrie, and a gushingly cordial one from Mrs. Fenlick! Each +claimed her for a month. But Mrs. Blossom shook her head. + +"No, no, dear, you would wear your welcome out. I shall need you at +home by the last of February. I think you can accept only Mr. Clyde's +and Mrs. Heath's. You can accept social courtesies from the other four +of course." + +"But, mother," Rose's face was the image of despair, "what shall I wear? +Just hear what Hazel has planned--'lunches, dinners, theatre, +concerts'--why! I can never go to all those things." + +"I 've thought of that, too, Rose; but the little colt shan't go bare +this time--it will take some courage, dear, to wear the same things over +and over again, not to mention the puzzle of planning for it all." + +"I 'm not 'Molly Stark' for nothing," laughed Rose, and the two women +began to plan for what Chi called "Rose's campaign." The pretty white +serge was lengthened and made over to appear more grown up, as Cherry +put it; the dark blue wash silk--Hazel's gift that had never been made +up--was fashioned into a "swell affair"--so March pronounced it; the +old-fashioned blue lawn was cut over into a dainty full waist, and then +Mrs. Blossom added her surprise--a delicate blue taffeta skirt to match +the waist. Rose went into raptures over it, and sought the best bedroom +regularly three times a day to feast her girl's eyes on the silken +loveliness as it lay in state on the best bed. A new dark blue serge +was to do duty for a street suit, with a plain felt hat. For best, +there was a turban made of dark blue velvet to match the wash silk. + +"And four pairs of gloves! Martie Blossom, you are an angel, to give me +these that Hazel gave you a year ago last Christmas. Have you been +keeping them for me all this time?" + +Mrs. Blossom smiled assent, and was rewarded by a squeeze that +interfered decidedly with her breathing apparatus. + +The night before she left, Rose "costumed" for the benefit of the entire +family, who were assembled in the long-room, together with Aunt Tryphosa +and Maria-Ann, to see Rose in her finery. + +"I 'll make it a climax," said Rose, laughing half-shamefacedly, as she +slipped upstairs to change her street suit, which had brought forth +admiring "Ohs" and "Ahs" from the children, and favorable criticism from +their elders. + +Down she came in her white serge; there were nods and smiles of +approval. + +Her reappearance in the wash silk and velvet turban was the signal, on +March's part, for a burst of applause, and cries of admiration from Budd +and Cherry. + +"Grand transformation scene!" cried March, as Rose tripped down in the +blue taffeta, looking like a very rose herself. + +"Beats all!" murmured Chi, who had become nearly speechless with +admiration, "what clothes 'll do for a good-lookin' woman; but for a +ravin', tearin' beauty like our Rose--George Washin'ton! She 'll open +those high-flyers' eyes." + +"Cinderella--fifth act!" shouted March as, after a prolonged wait, he +heard Rose on the stairs. + +But was it Rose? + +The beautiful India mull of her mother's had been transformed into a +ball-dress. She had drawn on her long white gloves and tucked into the +simple, ribbon belt three of Jack's Christmas roses. + +Maria-Ann gasped, and that broke the, to Rose, somewhat embarrassing +silence. + +Marshalled by March, the whole family formed a procession, and Rose was +reviewed:--back breadths, front breadths, flounces, waist, gloves; all +were thoroughly inspected. + +Chi touched the lower flounce of the half-train gingerly with one +work-roughened forefinger, then, straightening himself suddenly, sighed +heavily. + +"What's the matter, Chi?" Rose laughed at the dubious expression on his +face. + +"You ain't Rose Blossom nor Molly Stark any longer. You 're just a +regular Empress of Rooshy, 'n' you don't look like that girl I took +along to sell berries down to Barton's last summer, 'n' I wish you--" he +hesitated. + +"What, Chi?" said Rose. + +"I wish you was back again, old sunbonnet, old calico gown, patched +shoes 'n' all--" + +"Oh, Chi, no, you don't," said Rose, laughing merrily; "you forget, I +shall probably see Miss Seaton down there in New York, and you wouldn't +want me to appear a second time before her in that old rig." + +"You 're right, Rose-pose," replied Chi, his expression brightening +visibly. He drew close to her and whispered audibly: + +"Just sail right in, Molly Stark, 'n' cut that sassy girl out right 'n' +left. She never could hold a candle to you." + +"Sh-sh, Chi!" said Mrs. Blossom, meaningly, but with a twinkle in her +eye. + +"I mean just what I say, Mis' Blossom. Folks can't come up here on this +Mountain to sass us to our faces, 'n' she _did_;--I've stayed riled ever +since, 'n' I hope she'll get sassed back in a way that 'll make her hair +stand just a little more on end than it did, when she gave that mean, +snickerin' giggle--" + +"Chi, Chi," Mrs. Blossom interrupted him in an appeasing tone. + +"You need n't Chi me, Mis' Blossom. These children are just as near to +me as if they was my own, 'n' when they 're sassed, I 'm sassed too; 'n' +my great-grandfather fought over at Ticonderogy, 'n' I ain't bound to +take any more sass than he took--" + +By this time the whole family were in fits of laughter over Chi's +persistent use of so much "sass," and, at last, Chi himself joined in +the laugh at his excessive heat:-- + +"Over nothin' but a wind-bag, after all," he concluded. + +On the following morning, Mr. Blossom, Chi, March and Budd drove down to +Barton's to see Rose off. The old apple-green pung had been fitted with +two broad boards for seats, and covered with buffalo robes and horse +blankets. There was just room in the tail for Rose's old-fashioned +trunk and a small strapped box, which held two dozen of new-laid eggs, +six small, round cheeses, and a wreath of ground hemlock and +bitter-sweet--a neighborly gift from Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann to +Hazel and Mr. Clyde. + +As the train moved away from the station, Chi watched it with brimming +eyes. + +"She'll never come back the same Rose-pose, livin' among all those +high-flyers--never," he muttered to himself; but aloud he remarked, with +forced cheerfulness, turning to Mr. Blossom while he dashed the blinding +drops from his eyes with the back of his hand: + +"Looks mighty like a thaw, Ben; kind of wets down, don't it?" + +"Yes, Chi," said Mr. Blossom, busy with conquering his own heartache, +"we 'd better be getting on home;" and the masculine contingent of the +Blossom household climbed into the pung and took their way homeward in +silence. + +But what a reception that was for the transplanted Rose! + +Mr. Clyde met her at the Grand Central Station, and Rose felt how +welcome she was just by the hand-clasp, and his first words: + +"We have you at last, Rose; I would n't let Hazel come because I thought +the train might be late, and there's a cold rain falling. Martin, take +this box--" + +"Oh, no; I must carry that myself," laughed Rose, looking up at the +liveried footman with something like awe. "I promised Aunt Tryphosa and +Maria-Ann I would n't let any one take them till they were safe in the +house; thank you," she bowed courteously to Martin, who confided to the +coachman so soon as they were on the box: "Hi 'ave n't seen nothink so +'ansome since Hi 've bean in the States." + +As the brougham whirled into the Avenue, and the electric lights shone +full into the carriage, Rose could see the luxuriously upholstered +interior, and a sudden thought of the old apple-green pung and the +buffalo robes dimmed her eyes. But it was only for a moment; Mr. Clyde +was telling her of Hazel's impatience, and how the coachman had had +special orders from her to hurry up so soon as he should be on the +Avenue, and he had hardly finished before the coachman drew rein, +slackening his rapid pace as he turned a corner, Martin was opening the +door, and Hazel's voice was calling from a wide house entrance flooded +with soft light: + +"Oh, Rose, my Rose! Is it really you, at last?" + +"And this, I am sure, is Wilkins," said Rose, when finally Hazel set her +arms free. "We 've heard so much of you, that I feel as if I had known +you a long time." Rose held out her hand with such sincere cordiality +that Wilkins' speech was suddenly reduced to pantomime, and he could +only extend his other hand rather helplessly towards the box that Rose +still carried. But Rose refused to yield it up. + +"Here, Hazel, I promised Maria-Ann and Aunt Tryphosa I would n't give it +into any hands but yours. Oh! be careful--they 're eggs!" + +"Eggs!" repeated Hazel, laughing. "Here, Wilkins, unstrap it for me, +quick--Oh, papa, look!" She held out the box to Mr. Clyde, and, +somehow, John Curtis Clyde for a moment thought with Chi, that there was +going to be a "thaw." Each egg was rolled in white cotton batting and +wrapped in pink tissue paper. The six little cheeses were enclosed in +tin-foil, and cheeses and eggs were embedded in the Christmas wreath. +On a piece of pasteboard was written in unsteady characters: + + +To Mr. John Curtis Clyde of New York City, with the season's +compliments. + +MOUNT HUNGER, VERMONT, January 6th, 1898. + + +"And you 've had such lovely flowers come for you, five boxes of them, +Rose, and piles of invitations. I 'm sure you 're engaged up to Ash +Wednesday." + +"Come, Chatterbox," said her father, smiling at her volubility, "Rose +has just time to dress for dinner; you know Aunt Carrie and Uncle Jo are +coming to-night." + +"Oh, I forgot all about them; you 'll have to hurry, Rose. Wilkins, +bring up the flowers. Come on," Hazel ran up the broad flight of +stairs, carpeted with velvety crimson, to the first landing, from which, +through a lofty arch in the hall, Rose caught a glimpse of softly +lighted rooms, the walls enriched with engravings and etchings, with +here and there a landscape or marine in watercolors. Rose drew a long +breath. This, then, was what Chi meant when he said "Hazel was rich as +Croesus." + +"But, Hazel, my trunk has n't come," said Rose, as she followed her +hostess into the spacious bedroom, which was separated from Hazel's only +by a dressing-room. + +"It 'll be here in a few minutes; papa has a special man, who always +delivers them almost as soon as we get here." + +Sure enough, the trunk came in time; and Rose, as she unpacked, finding +evidences of the loving mother-care in every fold, cried within her +heart, looking about at the exquisite appointments of her room and +dressing-room: + +"Martie, Martie, what would all this be without you!--Oh, I know now, +what dear old Chi meant when he said Hazel was poor where we are +rich--only a housekeeper to see to all Hazel's things--" + +"Rose, what flowers are you going to wear?" called Hazel from her room. + +"I have n't had time to look," Rose called back, surveying her white +serge with great satisfaction in the pier-glass. + +"Do look, then, and see who they 're from." + +"Oh, Hazel, do come and see. How kind everybody has been! Here are +cards from Mrs. Heath and Doctor Heath, and your Aunt Carrie, and Mr. +Sherrill, and Mrs. Fenlick, and even that Mr. Grayson who was up at our +house to tea a year ago!" + +"They are lovely. Whose are you going to wear?" + +"I 'll make up a bunch of one or two from each, that will show my +appreciation of all their favors." + +Hazel looked slightly crestfallen. "I hoped you 'd wear Jack's--they +'re the loveliest with white--" she lifted the white lilacs--"and they +'re so rare just now. I heard Aunt Carrie say that one of the girls had +put off her wedding for six weeks, just because she couldn't have white +lilacs for it." + +"They 'll last with care three days surely, and I can wear them +to-morrow evening," replied Rose, bending to inhale their delicate +fragrance. + +"So you can, for papa is going to give a dinner for you to-morrow night, +and afterwards, he has promised to take you to a dance at Mrs. +Pearsell's. I can't go, you know, for I 'm not grown up; but you can +tell me all about it. We 're going to have lots of fun this week, for +school does not begin for several days. Come." + +Together they went down to the drawing-room, and Wilkins announced that +dinner was served. + +After it was over he sought Minna-Lu in her own domains, and gave vent +to his long pent emotions. + +"Minna-Lu," he whispered, mysteriously, "dere 's an out an' out angel +ben hubberin' 'bout de table--" + +"Fo' de Lawd!" Minna-Lu turned upon him fiercely, for she was +superstitious to the very marrow. "Wa' fo' yo' come hyar, skeerin' de +bref out a mah bones wif yo' sp'r'ts! Yo' go long home wha' yo' +b'long." + +But Wilkins was not to be repulsed in this manner. "Nebber see sech +ha'r, an' jes' lillum-white--" + +"Oh, go 'long! Lillum-white ha'r," interrupted Minna-Lu, with scathing +sarcasm. "Huccome yo' know de angels hab lillum-white ha'r?" + +"Huccome I know?--'Case I see de shine, jes' lake yo' see in de +dror'n-room." + +"De shine ob lillum-white ha'r in de dror'n-room! 'Pears lake yo' head +struck ile--" + +"Yo' hol' yo' tongue, Minna-Lu," retorted Wilkins, irritated at the +continued evidence of disbelief on the part of his coadjutor. "Jes' yo' +hide back ob de dumb-waitah to-morrah ebenin' when de dessert comes on, +an' see fo' yo'se'f!" He departed in high dudgeon, and Minna-Lu gurgled +long and low to herself, but, in her turn, was interrupted by the sound +of tripping steps on the basement flight. + +Minna-Lu hastily put her fat hands up to her turban to see if it were on +straight, and smoothed her apron, muttering: + +"Clar to goodness, ef it ain't jes' mah luck to hab little Missus come +into dis yere hen-roost?" she rapidly surveyed her immaculate kitchen +with anxious eye. + +"Minna-Lu, this is my friend, Miss Rose; the one who did up those lovely +preserves, and here are some new-laid eggs and some cheeses that Miss +Maria-Ann Simmons--you know I told you all about her and the hens--has +sent papa." + +Minna-Lu gazed at Rose in open admiration. The faithful colored +retainer had her thorny side and her blossom one. + +Rose put out her hand, and Minna-Lu took it in both hers. "I 'se mighty +glad yo' come, Miss Rose, dere ain't no strawberry-blossom nor no +rose-blossom can hol' a can'le to yo' own honey se'f. Dese yere cheeses +is prime." She examined one with the nose of a connoisseur. "Jes' fill +de bill wif de salad-chips to-morrah." She stemmed her fists on her +hips, and her mellow, contented gurgle caused Rose and Hazel to laugh, +too. + +"What is it, Minna-Lu?" said Hazel, reading the signs of the times. + +"Dat Wilkins done tol' me to git back ob de dumb-waitah, to-morrah +ebenin' to see Missy Rose, but I 'se gwine to ask rale straight to jes' +see her 'fo' de comp'ny come." + +"Of course you may. Come up to my room about seven, and we 'll be +ready." + +"Fo' sho'," said Minna-Lu, with beaming face. + +"Good-night," said Rose, beaming, too, for she found the black faces and +ways irresistibly amusing. + +"De Lawd bress yo' lily face, Missy Rose." + +When the two girls were alone, at last, in Hazel's room, there was no +thought of bed for an hour. There were numberless questions on Hazel's +part concerning all the dear Mount Hunger people, and speechless +astonishment on Rose's at the number of invitations that were waiting +for her. They chatted all the time they were undressing, calling back +and forth to each other as one thing or another suggested itself. +Finally, Hazel made her appearance in Rose's room. She went up to her, +put her arms about her neck, and, looking up with eyes full of loving +trust, said: + +"Rose-pose, won't you come into my room and say 'Our Father' with me as +Mother Blossom used to do on Mount Hunger? You can't think how I miss +it." + +"Why, Hazel darling, of course I will--then I shan't feel homesick +missing that precious Martie." + +She followed Hazel into her room, and after she was in bed, Rose knelt +by her side, and together they said, "Our Father." Then Rose bent over +to receive Hazel's loving kiss and whispered, "Oh, Rose, I 'm so happy +to have you here," and whispered back, "And I 'm so happy to be with +you, Hazel--good-night." + +"Good-night." + +Rose went back to her room. At last she was alone. She drew one of the +easy-chairs up before the wood-fire that was dying down, put her bare +feet on the warm fender, and, for a while, dreamed waking dreams. It +was all so strange. The cathedral clock on the mantel chimed twelve. +They were all asleep in the farmhouse on the Mountain--it was time for +her to be. She rose, tiptoed softly into the dressing-room, took from +the bowl the spray of white lilacs she had worn with the other flowers +that evening, shook off the water, and drew the stem through a +buttonhole in the yoke of her simple night-dress. She tiptoed back +again into her room, looked up at the dainty, canopied bed, then laid +herself down within it, and, almost immediately, fell asleep--with her +hand resting on the white fragrance that lay upon her heart. + + + + + XXIII + + BEHOLD HOW GREAT A MATTER A LITTLE FIRE KINDLETH + + +It was so delightful! The weeks were passing all too quickly, and the +letters to Mount Hunger waxed eloquent in praise of everybody's +kindness. + +Jack had come on to lead a cotillion with Rose at Aunt Carrie's. It was +a weighty affair--the selecting of the flowers for her. White violets +they must be, and white violets were about as rare as white raspberries. +Jack gave the florist his own address. + +"I 'll see them, myself, before I send them up; for I won't trust +anyone's eyes but my own," he said to himself as he hurried home to +dress for dinner with a friend. "I wish I had n't promised Grayson to +meet him at the Club before seven. I 'm afraid they won't come in +time." He looked at his watch. "I 'm going to make them a test--and +see what she 'll do. She 's so friendly and frank and all that, I can't +find out even whether she 's beginning to care." + +Jack's absorption in the theme was such that he put his latch-key in +wrong-side up, and, in consequence, wrestled with the lock till he had +worked himself into a fever of impatience; finally he touched the button +before he discovered the trouble. + +"Any packages come for me, Jason?" he inquired of the butler, whose +dignified manner of locomotion had been rudely shaken by Jack's +unceasing pressure on the electric-bell. + +"Yes, Mr. John. Just taken a box up to the rooms." + +Jack looked relieved, and sprang upstairs two steps at a time. He +opened the box. There they were in all their exquisite freshness. +"Like her," he thought, touching his lips to them; then, suddenly +straightening himself, he felt the blood surge into his face. + +"I like Dord's way of putting up his flowers, no tags, nor fol-de-rols. +Jason," he said, as he ran down stairs again, "I shall be back in an +hour; tell Thomas to have everything laid out--I 'm in a hurry. And +have a messenger-boy here when I come back, and don't forget to order +the carriage for quarter of eight, sharp." + +"Yes, Mr. John." + +"Messenger-boy come?" he inquired as Jason opened the door on his +return. + +"Yes, sir, waiting in the hall." + +Jack raced up stairs. There was the precious box on his dressing-table. +He hastily took a visiting card, and, writing on it the sentiment that +was uppermost in his heart, slipped it into the envelope, gave it, +together with the box, to the waiting boy, and bade him hand it to the +man, Wilkins, with the request that it be sent up at once to the lady to +whom it was addressed. Then he made ready for dinner. + +An hour later, Rose was dressing for the dance, and Hazel was watching +her, chatting volubly all the while. + +"That's the loveliest dress, Rose, I heard Aunt Carrie say, you couldn't +buy such, nowadays." + +"It was Martie's wedding-dress. An uncle of her mother's, who was a +sea-captain, brought it from India. But if I wear it many more times, it +will be known throughout the length of New York. This is my sixth +time." + +"I should n't care if it were the hundredth; it's just lovely. Besides, +Jack has n't seen it, you know." + +Rose laughed. "Oh, yes, he has--on Martie; that night of the tea on the +porch." + +"Oh, well, that's different. What flowers are you going to wear?" + +"I thought I wouldn't wear any, just for a change." Rose's face was +veiled by the shining hair, which she was brushing, preparatory to +coiling it high on her head; otherwise, Hazel would have seen the clear +flush that warmed even the roots of the soft waves at the nape of her +neck. Just then there was a knock. The maid opened the door, and +Wilkins' voice was distinctly audible:-- + +"Jes' come fo' Miss Rose; dey wuz to come up right smart, so de boy +say." + +"Oh, more flowers. Who from?" cried Hazel, eagerly, while Wilkins +strained his ears to catch the reply. + +"From Mr. Sherrill," said Rose, opening the little envelope. + +What she read on the card caused the blood to mount higher and higher, +till temples and forehead flushed pink, then as suddenly to recede. + +"May I open them, Rose, and won't you wear some if they 're from Jack?" + +"Yes," said Rose, simply. The two girls leaned over the box as Hazel +took off the wrapper--then the cover--then the inner tissue +papers--then-- + +[Illustration: "The two girls leaned over the box as Hazel took off the +wrapper"] + +Suddenly a shriek of laughter, followed by another, penetrated to +Wilkins, who was lingering on the stairs; he came softly back again. +Peal after peal of wild merriment issued from Rose's room. Within, Rose +in her petticoat and bodice had flung herself on the bed in an ecstasy +of mirth, and Hazel was rolling over on the rug as was the wont of Budd +and Cherry in the old days on Mount Hunger. The maid looked from one to +the other, and, no longer able to keep from joining in the merriment, +although she did not know the cause, left the room, only to find Wilkins +with perturbed face just outside the door. + +"'Pears lake dere wor sumfin' queah 'bout dat ye re box--" he began; but +the maid only shook with laughter and laid her finger on her lips, +motioning him into the back hall. + +"Did you ever?" cried Hazel, when she recovered her breath. + +"No, I never," said Rose, wiping away the tears, for she had laughed +till she cried. "Let's take another look." + +They bent over the box, and took out its contents; then went off again +into fits of seemingly inextinguishable laughter; for, neatly folded +beneath the tissue paper, lay four sets of Jack's new light-weight, +white silk pajamas, which he had purchased that afternoon, in order to +take back to Cambridge with him. On the card, which Rose still held in +her hand, was written, "Wear these for my sake." + +"What will you say to him, Rose?" said Hazel, sitting up on the rug with +her hands clasped about her knees. + +"I don't know," said Rose, proceeding to dress. "I can't _wear_ them, +that's certain." And again the absurdity of the situation presented +itself to her. "And I can't apologize for not wearing them. Neither +can I take it for granted that he was going to send me flowers, and +explain that he sent me these instead." + +"How awfully careless," said Hazel, interrupting her; "he must have had +something on his mind not to take the pains to look, even." + +Rose flushed. "It will be best to let the matter drop, and say nothing +about it," she replied in a cool, toploftical tone that amazed, as well +as mystified, her little hostess. + +"Why, Rose, I think Jack ought to know about it. I 'll tell him, if you +don't want to." + +"Thank you, Hazel, but I don't need your good offices in this matter." + +Hazel rose from the rug, and going over to Rose, laid both hands on her +shoulders and looked straight up into her eyes. + +"Now, Rose Blossom, please don't speak to me in that way. You 're so +queer! First you 're nice about Jack, and then you 're horrid; and when +you 're that way, you are n't nice to _me_ a bit--and I don't like it, +and I don't blame Jack for not liking it either," she added +emphatically. "I remember papa said a year ago that Jack was 'all +heart' for a good many girls, old and young--but I can tell you what, he +won't have any for you, if you whiff round so." + +Hazel in her earnestness gave Rose a little shake. Rose smiled, and, +bending her head, kissed her, saying, "F. and F. and you know, Hazel." + +"Oh, I know all about 'forgiving and forgetting,' but I don't like it +just the same. He's my cousin and the dearest fellow in the world, and +I don't like to have him treated so." + +"How about his treating me?" said Rose, pointing to the innocent box of +underwear, "forgetting even to look; or not caring enough, to see if I +had the right package?" + +"Oh, that's different--perhaps the florist made a mistake." + +"The florist!" Rose laughed merrily. "I never knew that gentlemen's +underwear and roses grew on the same bush.--There 's Wilkins, and I 'm +not ready." + +"De coachman say it's a pow'f ul col' night, an' Miss Rose bettah take +some mo' wraps." + +"Thank you, Wilkins," Hazel flew into the dressing-room for a long fur +cloak of her mother's which she had used to wear to the dancing-classes. +She wrapped it about Rose, who stooped suddenly and kissed her again, +whispering, "Hazel, you 've all spoiled me, that's what's the +matter,--but I 'll be good to Jack, for your sake as well as for my +own." + +"Now you 're what Doctor Heath calls papa, the most splendid fellow in +the world. There now--I won't crush your gown--" A kiss--"Good-night. +You look like an angel!" + +Mr. Clyde thought so, too, as he watched her coming downstairs. She +slipped off the cloak as she stood beneath the soft, but brilliant hall +lights. "Do I look all right?" she asked earnestly, for she had fallen +into the habit, before going anywhere with him or Hazel, of asking for +their criticism. + +"I should say so--but where are the flowers? I miss them." + +"I thought I wouldn't wear any to-night, just for a change." + +"A woman's whim, Rose. But I can't say that you need them--Now, what's +to pay?" he said to himself, as he helped her into the carriage. "I saw +Jack at Dord's this afternoon, and, evidently, something was in the +wind. I hope it has n't been taken out of his sails." + +"Sumfin' mighty queah 'bout dat yere box," murmured Wilkins to himself, +as he closed the door, "but Miss Rose doan' need no flow's. Nebber see +sech h--Fo' de good Lawd! Wha' fo' yo' hyar? Yo' Minna-Lu,--skeerin' +mah day-lights out o' mah, shoolin' 'roun' b'hin' dat por' chair,--jes' +lake bug'lahs." + +Minna-Lu gurgled. "Yo' jes' straight, Wilkins; nebber see sech ha'r. +Huccome I 'se hyar? Jes' to see dat lillum-white angel--" + +"Yo' go 'long, wha' yo' b'long," growled Wilkins, not yet having +recovered from his fright. And Minna-Lu went, with the radiant vision +still before her round, black eyes. + +Jack felt a queer tightening about his lower jaw, and one heart-throb, +apparently in his throat, as he entered Aunt Carrie's reception-room. +Then, as with one glance he swept Rose from the crown of her head to the +hem of her dress, a hot, rushing wave of indignant feeling mastered +him--he knew he had staked his all (so a man at twenty-two is apt to +think) and lost. He braced himself, mentally and physically. He was +n't going to show the white-feather--not he. + +But Rose--Rose was mystifying, captivating, cordial, merry, and +altogether charming. She knocked out all Jack's calculations as to +life, love, women, girls in general, and one girl in particular, at one +fell swoop. He was brought, necessarily, into unstable equilibrium, so +far as his feelings were concerned--his head he was obliged to keep +level on account of the various figures. Several other heads were +variously askew, and would have been turned, likewise, for good and all, +had the wearer of her mother's India-mull wedding-dress been possessed +of a fortune. + +Rose developed social powers that evening that furnished food for +conversation for Aunt Carrie and Mr. Clyde, who watched her with pride +and pleasure. She was evidently enjoying herself thoroughly, and her +enjoyment proved contagious. + +"After all," said Jack as, between figures, he found opportunity for a +whispered word or two; "this is n't half so fine a dance as the one in +the barn, last September." + +"Why, that's just what I was thinking, myself, that very minute!" + +"You were?" + +"Yes." + +The brown eyes and the blue ones met with such evidence of a perfect +understanding, that Jack failed to see Maude Seaton, who had approached +him for the purpose of taking him out in the four-in-hand. + +"Oh, I beg your pardon," said Jack, starting to his feet, "it's the +'four-in-hand.'" + +"Yes, and I think you 'll have to be put into the traces again," she +said, with a meaning smile. + +"Not I," retorted Jack, merrily, "I kicked over them nearly a year ago." + +"So I heard," replied Miss Seaton, sweetly; and Jack wondered what she +meant. + +When Jack found himself again beside Rose, he decided that, flowers or +no flowers, he would ask for an explanation. But his first attempt was +met with such a bewilderingly merry smile, and such confident assurance +that explanations were not in order, that it proved a successful +failure. + +When, at last, in the early morning hours he was seated before the open +fire in his bedroom, pulling away reflectively at his pipe, he had time +to think it over. He came to the conclusion that it was trivial in him +to have staked his all on her wearing those flowers, for she +certainly--certainly had led him to think that she was anything but +indifferent to him. + +"That look now," mused Jack. "I don't believe that a girl like Rose +Blossom would look that way if she didn't mean it--if she did n't care. +No other girl could look that way." He reached for his watch on the +dressing-case. "I shall get good two hours' sleep before that early +train.--What's that?" He noticed for the first time, that on the bed +lay a familiar-looking box in a brown paper wrapper. In a trice he had +broken the string, whisked off the cover, scattered the tissue paper +right and left.--There lay the violets, white, and sweet, and almost as +fresh as when he gave them his virgin kiss nearly twelve hours before. + +Jack sat down stupefied on the bed. _What had he given her, anyway_? +He thought intensely for a full minute. + +"Great Scott! the pajamas!" And then Jack Sherrill rolled over on the +bed, ignoring the damage to dress suit and violets, and, burying his +face in the pillow, gave vent to a smothered yell. + +There was a merry exchange of notes between Cambridge and New York +during the next two weeks, and Rose had promised to wear any +flowers--and only his--he might send her for the ball at Mrs. Fenlick's +the middle of February, and for which Jack was coming on. It would +occur during the last week of Rose's visit, and Jack thought that +possibly--possibly,--well, he could n't define just what "possibly;" but +it proved to be an infinitely absorbing one, and Jack felt it was "now +or never" with him. + +Mrs. Heath had claimed Rose as her guest for the last three weeks, and +the days were filled with pleasures. On the Saturday before the ball, +and a week before Rose was to return to Mount Hunger, two seats in a box +at the opera had been sent in to Mrs. Heath from a friend. + +"Look at these, Rose!" Mrs. Heath exclaimed, showing her the note. +"Just exactly what you were wishing to hear, and we thought we could not +arrange it for next week. That opera has been changed for to-day's +matine, and now you can hear both Lohengrin and Siegfried." + +Rose clapped her hands. "I 've just longed to hear Lohengrin; Mrs. Ford +and her son have played so much of it to me. I think it's perfectly +beautiful." + +"I 'm so sorry I can't go, dear; but I made a positive engagement for +this afternoon and it must not be broken. But I 'll send round for +Cousin Anna May. She does n't care much for the opera, but she will +chaperone you. She 's not much of a talker either, so you can enjoy the +music in peace. People chatter so abominably there." + +From the moment the orchestra sounded the first notes of that pathetic +and thrillingly appealing fore-word of the overture, Rose was lost to +the world about her. She was glad of the darkness, glad no one could +see or notice her intense absorption in the opening scene. Even when +the lights were turned on between the acts, and the subdued murmur in +the house rose to a confusing babble, she was living in the story of +Elsa and her lover Knight. Elderly Cousin Anna May, seeing this, let +her alone, thinking to herself:--"One has to be young to be so +enthusiastic over this wornout theme." + +The curtain fell; the house was brilliant with lights; confusion of +talk, confusion of merry chat and laughter were all about Rose; but she +sat unheeding, wondering if the element of evil would be turned into a +factor of good. Her heart was aching with the intensity of feeling for +the two lovers. Suddenly, a few words behind her arrested her +attention. She sat with her back to the speakers--two girls in the next +box, who had annoyed her more than once by their ceaseless, whispering +gabble. + +"I told Maude I did n't believe it." + +"What did she say?" + +"She said it was gospel truth." + +"Do tell me what it was, I won't tell." + +"Sure?" + +"Not a soul." + +"Promise?" + +"Why, of course. They say he 's got oceans of money." + +"Piles--. He 's got his mother's fortune and will have his father's. +Besides, his Uncle Gray is a bachelor, and so Jack will have that, too. +Maude says he 's the best catch in New York." + +"I heard Sam say he was in an awfully fast set in college; but Sam likes +him awfully well. Have you seen him?" + +"Oh, yes, lots. Maude let me see him one night before dinner at +Newport. I used to see him playing polo at the grounds. I think he 's +fascinating--just like Lohengrin." + +"But what was it? Hurry up, do." + +"You 'll never tell?" + +"Never." + +The voice was slightly lowered--confused with the munching of Huyler's; +and Rose, with hypersensitive hearing, could distinguish only a word or +two, or a detached sentence. + +"I don't think that's so awful. Sam does that, too, and he 's just as +nice a brother as I want." + +"Oh, I don't know anything about that; but I know it's true, for Maude +said so." In the increasing confusion of talk in the house, the voices +were suddenly raised, and Rose caught every word. + +"I 'll ask Sam--" began the other, dropping her opera glass and stooping +to pick it up. + +"If you do, Minna Grayson, I 'll never speak to you again." + +"Oh, I forgot--" laughed the other. "Tell us some more, it's awfully +exciting." + +"I won't either," said the other, in a huffy tone. Evidently, they were +school-girls in for the matine. + +"Oh, _do_; what _did_ Maude say?" + +"She said, 'No,'" chuckled the other triumphantly. + +"But think of his money!' + +"She said she did n't mind; she 's got money enough of her own, anyway, +if she does skimp me on allowance ever since grandmamma died." + +"I heard Sara say last Christmas when I was home for vacation, that he +was perfectly devoted to that new girl the Clydes have taken up." + +"Yes. Maude says it's one of his fads. She gives him six months more +to get over it." + +"Everybody says she is a perfect beauty. Sam says that Mrs. Fenlick +says she is the most beautiful creature off of a canvas she has ever +seen." + +"Oh, Maude says Mrs. Fenlick raves over everything new. She, the girl, +I mean, made a dead set at him a year ago when he happened to meet her +up in the mountains. You know they had a riding-party last August. But +now they say she seems to be setting her cap for Hazel's father--he has +a million or two more than Jack, and she 's as poor as a church-mouse." + +"I did n't know that,--poor?" + +"Yes, awfully. Why, Maude says she's seen her selling berries for a +living somewhere up in the mountains--oh, way back in them. People call +them the Lost Nation, they 're so far back; and Maude says she wore +patched shoes and an old calico dress--Sh!--Now we 're going to have +that bridal march, is n't it dandy? It ought to be a part of the +marriage ceremony, Maude says. I 'm so glad it's coming;--Tum, tum, ty +tum--tum, tum, ty tum--here 's just one more candied violet--tum, tum, +ty tum, tum, ty tum, ty ty tum, ty tum--Oh, look! Is n't Elsa just +lovely--" + +A burst of applause greeted the beautiful prima donna. Upon Rose's ears +it fell like the thunder of a cataract, like the crash and roll of an +avalanche. She stared at the exquisite scene before her with strained +eyes. The music went on with all the troublous-sweet under-tones of +love, and longing, and forever-parting. Not once did Rose stir until +the curtain fell, then she turned to her companion:-- + +"Can we get out soon, Mrs. May? The air is a little close here." + +"Certainly, my dear;" but to herself she said, "How intense she is. I +'m thankful I never was so strung up over music." + + + + + XXIV + + "OLD PUT" + + +"Where 's Rose?" said the Doctor as he came in that Saturday evening, +and heard no welcoming voice from the library or the stairs. + +"She came home from the opera with a frightful headache and has gone to +bed. She said she did n't want any dinner, but I have insisted upon her +having some toast and tea," replied his wife. + +"Humph!" growled the Doctor; "Our wild rose can't stand such hot-house +atmosphere. When does the Fenlicks' ball come off?" + +"Next Wednesday; it will be a superb affair. Rose showed me her card +the other day, and if you will believe me, it's full, although Jack +Sherrill gets the lion's share." + +"How do you think things are coming on there, wifie?" + +"Why, he's devoted to her whenever he can be; you know what Mrs. +Pearsell told us about last summer, but--" + +"But what?" said the Doctor, a little impatiently. "Generally, wifie, +you can see prospective wedding-cake if two young people so much as look +twice at each other." + +Mrs. Heath laughed and nodded. "Yes, I know; but in just this case, I +don't know. You can't tell anything by her--and I fear, hubbie, that +Jack Sherrill is n't quite good enough for her." + +"Not quite good enough for her!" The Doctor almost shouted in his +earnestness. "Jack Sherrill not quite good enough for--" + +"Sh--sh, dear!" His wife held up her hand in warning. "Someone might +hear." + +"Let 'em hear, then," growled the Doctor. "I say Rose is n't a bit too +good for him.--Look here, wifie,--" he drew her towards him and down +upon the arm of his easy-chair, "Jack's all right every time--do you +understand? _All right!_" + +"Ye-es," admitted his wife rather reluctantly. "I know he 's a great +favorite of yours. But Mrs. Grayson says he 's in a very fast set at +Harvard-- + +"Now look here, wifie, don't you let those women with their eternal +hunger for gossip say anything to you about Jack. I tell you there is +n't another fellow I know, who, placed as he is, can set up so many +white stones to mark his short life's pathway as John Sherrill's only +son. For heaven's sake, give him the credit for them. I know what I +saw on Mount Hunger a year ago, and I know and believe what I see." + +"Well, I only hope he won't flirt with her--" began Mrs. Heath. Her +husband interrupted her: + +"Flirt with her!" The Doctor chuckled. "I'll warrant Jack won't do any +flirting with her--it 'll be the other way round sooner than that! Just +say good-night to Rose for me when you go up stairs, and tell her if she +is n't down bright and early Sunday morning, I 'll prescribe for her." + +But there was no need for the Doctor's prescription; for Rose was down +for breakfast, and although white cheeks and heavy eyes caused the +Doctor to draw his eyebrows together in a straight line over the bridge +of his nose, nothing was said of there being any need for a +prescription. But after breakfast he drew her into the library and +placed her in an easy-chair before the blazing fire. + +"There now," he said in his own kindliest tones, "sit there and dream +while wifie makes ready for church, and after that you shall go with me +for an official drive. The air will do you good. I can't send such +white roses"--he patted her cheek--"back to Mount Hunger; what would +mother say?" + +To his amazement Rose buried her face in both hands; a half-suppressed +sob startled him. + +"Why, Rose-pose! What's the matter, little girl? Headachey--nerves +unstrung--too much opera? Here, come into the office where we shan't be +disturbed, and tell me all about it." + +But Rose shook her head, lifted it from her hands, and smiled through +the welling tears. + +"I 'm a perfect goose, but--but--I believe I 'm getting just a little +bit homesick for Mount Hunger, and I 'm not going to stay for Mrs. +Fenlick's ball. I know mother needs me at home--I can just feel it in +her letters, and I know I want--I want her." + +"Don't blame you a bit, Rose,--but is n't this rather sudden? Any +previous attacks?" + +"No--and I know it seems dreadfully ungrateful to you and dear Mrs. +Heath to say so, and it is n't that--I 'd love to be with just you two; +but it's this dreadful feeling comes over me, and I know I ought to go." + +"And go you shall, Rose," said the Doctor, emphatically, but oh! so +kindly and understandingly. "Go back to all the dear ones there--and +when you come again, don't give us the tail-end of your visit, will +you?" + +"Indeed, I won't," answered Rose, earnestly, "and if it were only you +and Mrs. Heath, I 'd love to stay, but--but--" + +"No need to say anything more, Rose, wifie and I understand it +perfectly--" ("I wish the dickens I did!" was his thought)--"Tell wifie +when she comes down, and meanwhile I 'll send round for the brougham and +we 'll take a little drive in the Park before office hours." + +Rose patted his hand, and her silence spoke for her. + +"Here 's a pretty kettle of fish!" said the Doctor to himself as he went +to the telephone. "I wish I could get to the bottom of it." + +And thus it came about that a cool, dignified note, not expressive of +any particular regret, was mailed to Cambridge on Sunday afternoon, and +a long letter to Mount Hunger telling them to be sure to meet her on +Tuesday at Barton's, and filled with wildly enthusiastic expressions of +delight in anticipation of the home-coming. And on Tuesday afternoon, +as the train sped onwards, following the curves of the frozen +Connecticut, and the snow-covered mountains on the Vermont side began to +crowd its banks, Rose felt a lightening of the heart and an uplifting of +spirits. + +The bitterness and shame and shock she had experienced, in consequence +of that one little bite of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of +Good and Evil, seemed to diminish with every mile that increased the +distance between her and the frothing whirlpool of the great city's +gayeties. All the way up, until the mountains loomed in sight, there had +been hot, indignant protest in her thoughts. At first, indeed, it had +been hatred. + +"I hate it all--hate it, _hate_ it!" she found herself saying over and +over again after the good-byes had been said at the station, and Hazel +and Mr. Clyde and Doctor Heath had supplied her with flowers and +magazines for the long day's journey. It was all she could think or +feel at the time; but soon the little pronoun changed, and the thought +grew more bitter: + +"I hate him! How could he--how dared he do as he did! Because I am +poor, I suppose. Oh! I wish I could make him pay for it. I wish I +could make him love me really and truly, and then just _scorn_ him! But +what a fool I am--as if he _could_ love after what I heard--oh, why did +I hear it! I wish I may never see his face again, and I wish I 'd +stayed at home where I belong--I hate him!"--And so on "da capo" hour +after hour, and the incessant chugetty-chug-chug of the express +furnished the rhythmic, basal tone for the bitter motive. + +It was long after lunch time, and the train of thought had not changed, +when Rose's eye fell upon the dainty basket Martin had placed in the +rack. + +"This is a pretty state of mind to go home to Martie in!" she said to +herself, rising and taking down the basket. "I have n't eaten a good +meal since last Saturday at lunch, and I 'm--why, I believe I 'm +hungry!" + +She opened the basket, and loving evidence of Minna-Lu's admiration +tempted her to pick a little here and there--a stuffed olive or two, a +roast quail, a delicate celery sandwich, a quince tart, a bunch of +Hamburg grapes. Soon Rose was feasting on all the good things, and her +harsh thoughts began to soften. How kind they all were! And _they_ +truly loved her--and what had they not done for her comfort and +pleasure! Rose, setting her pretty teeth deep into a third quince tart, +looked out of the window and almost exclaimed aloud at the sight. The +vanguard of the Green Mountains closed in the upper end of the +river-valley along which they were speeding. It was home that was +behind all that! The thought still further softened her. + +What? Carry her bitterness and disappointed pride back into that dear, +peaceful home? Not she! "They shall never know--never!" she said to +herself--"I 'm not Molly Stark for nothing, and there are others in the +world beside Jack Sherrill." And so she continued to speak cold comfort +to herself for the next four hours until the brakeman called "Barton's +River!" + +There beyond the platform was the old apple-green pung!--and yes! father +and March and Budd and dear old Chi anxiously scanning the coaches. + +Home at last! and such a home-coming! How busy the tongues were for a +week afterwards! How wildly gay was Rose, who kept them laughing over +the many queer doings of the metropolis, over Wilkins and Minna-Lu and +Martin and Mrs. Scott! And how lovingly she spoke of Hazel's charming +hospitality and of Mr. Clyde's thoughtfulness for her pleasure, +although, as she mentioned his name, a wave of color mounted to the +roots of her hair at the ugly thought that would intrude. Chi listened +with all his ears, enjoying it with the rest; but once upstairs in his +room over the shed, he would sit down on the side of his bed to ponder a +little the gay doings of his Rose-pose among the "high-flyers," and then +turn in with a sigh and a muttered: + +"'T ain't Rose-pose. I knew how 't would be.--There 's a screw loose +somewhere; but she's handsome!--handsome as a picture, 'n' I 'd give a +dollar to know if she 's cut that other one out." + +"Valentines seem kind of scarce this year," he remarked rather grimly, a +few days after her arrival, as late in the afternoon, he returned from +Barton's with little mail and no boxes of flowers. "It's the sixteenth +day of February, but it might be Fast Day for all that handful of mail +would show for it!" He placed the package on Mrs. Blossom's work-table +at which Rose was sitting busy with some sewing. They were alone in the +room. + +Rose laughed merrily. "Goodness, Chi! you want us to have more than our +share. We had a perfect deluge last year when Hazel was here; you know +it makes a difference without her. You said yourself that there was a +good deal of bulk, but it was pretty light weight--don't you remember?" + +Chi elevated one bushy eyebrow. "I ain't forgot; but I don't know about +it's bein' any _Deluge_--it appeared to me it was a Shadrach, Meshach, +'n' Abednego kind of a business--" He gave the back log a kick that +sent the sparks up the chimney in a grand pyrotechnic show. "Seems as if +I could see those posies, now, a-shrivellin' in the fireplace. Never +thought you treated those innocent things quite on the square, +Rose-pose!" + +Rose's head was bent low over her work. Chi went on, bracing himself to +the self-imposed task of enlightening her:-- + +"I don't want to meddle, Rose, in anybody's business, but it ain't set +well with me ever since--the way you treated those roses; 'n', after +all, we 're both members of the Nobody's Business But Our Own Society, +'n' if anybody 's goin' to meddle, perhaps I 'm the one. I 've thought +a good many times you would n't have been quite so harsh with 'em, if +you had n't overlooked this in your flare-up--" He drew out of his +breast pocket a card--Jack 's--with the verse on the back. "Read that, +'n' see if you ain't dropped a stitch somewhere that you can pick up in +time." He handed her the card. + +Rose looked up surprised, but with burning cheeks. She took the card, +read the verse, turned it over on the name side, and rose from her +chair. Every particle of color had left her face. She went over to the +fireplace, and, bending, dropped the little piece of pasteboard upon the +glowing back-log. + +"The sentiment belongs with the roses, Chi; don't let's have any more +Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego business--I 'm tired of it." She spoke +indifferently; then, resuming her seat, called out in a cheery voice: + +"Martie, won't you come here a minute, and see if I have put on this +gore right?" + +"I 'll come, dear." + +Chi, nonplussed, irritated, repulsed, set his teeth hard and abruptly +left the room. + +Outside in the shed he clenched his fist and shook it vigorously at the +closed door of the long-room: "--By George Washin'ton!" he muttered, "I +'ll make you pay up for that, Rose Blossom. You can't come any of your +high-flyers' games on me-- Just you put that in your pipe and smoke it! +Thunderation! what gets into women and girls, sometimes?" He seized the +milk-pails from the shelf and hurried to the barn nearly running down +Cherry in his wrathful excitement. + +"Look out there, Cherry! You 're always getting round under foot!" he +said, harshly, and stumbled on, regaining his balance, only to be met by +Budd in the barn. + +"Just clear out now, Budd! I ain't goin' to stand your foolin'. Let +alone of that stanchion," he roared. "Always worryin' the cow if she +looks once at you sideways. Get _up_, there--" His right boot helped +the amazed cow forwards into the stall, and the milk drummed into the +pail as if the poor creature were being milked by a dummy-engine with +more pressure of steam on than it could well stand. + +Budd flew into the woodshed and found Cherry still standing, in a +half-dazed condition, where Chi had left her. They compared notes +immediately to the detriment and defamation of Chi's character. Then +they carried their budget of woe to their mother. + +"Chi is worried, children; you must n't mind if he is a little cross now +and then. He feels dreadfully about the prospect of this war, as we all +do, and that's his way of showing it." + +"Well, if he's going to be so cross at us, I wish he 'd clear out an' go +to war!" retorted Budd, smarting under the unjust treatment. + +"I 'm only afraid he will if we have one," said Mrs. Blossom, sadly. +"But, oh, I hope and pray we may be spared that!" + +But Budd continued to grumble, and Cherry to be suspiciously sniffy, +until their father's return; and then at the supper table they listened +greedily to all the talk of their elders, that had for its absorbing +theme the prospective war. + +As the spring days lengthened, and the sun drew northward, the tiny +cloud on the country's peaceful horizon grew larger and darker, until it +cast its shadow throughout the length and breadth of the land, and men's +faces grew stern and troubled and women prayed for peace. + +With the lengthening days Chi showed signs of increasing restlessness. +"It ain't any use, Ben," he said, one soft evening in early May, as the +family, with the exception of the younger children, sat on the porch +discussing the latest news, "I 've got to go." + +"Oh, Chi!" broke from Mrs. Blossom and Rose. They cried out as if hurt. +Mr. Blossom grasped Chi's right hand, and March wrung the other. + +"I can't stand it," he went on; "we 've been sassed enough as a nation, +'n' some of us have got to teach those foreigners we ain't goin' to turn +the other cheek just coz we're slapped on one. When I wasn't higher +than Budd, my great-grandfather--you remember him, Ben, lived the other +side of the Mountain--put his father's old Revolution'ry musket (the +one, you know, Rose-pose, as I 've used in the N.B.B.O.O.) into my +hands, 'n' says: 'Don't you stand no sass, Malachi Graham, from no +foreigners.--Just shoot away, 'n' holler, "Hands off" every time, 'n' +they 'll learn their lesson easy and early, 'n' respect you in the end.' +And I ain't forgot it." + +"Chi," Mrs. Blossom's voice was tremulous, "you won't go till you 're +asked, or needed, will you?" + +"I ain't goin' to wait to be asked, Mis' Blossom; I 'd rather be on hand +to be refused. That's my way. So I thought I 'd be gettin' down along +this week--" + +"This week!" Rose interrupted him with a cry and a half-sob. "Oh, Chi! +dear old Chi! _must_ you go? What if--what if--" Rose's voice broke, +and Chi gulped down a big lump, but answered, cheerily: + +"Well, Rose-pose, _what if_? Ain't I Old Put? 'n' ain't you Molly +Stark? 'n' ain't Lady-bird Barbara Frietchie?--There, just read that--" +he handed a letter to March, who gave it back to him, saying, in a husky +voice, that it was too dark to read. + +"Well, then we 'll adjourn into the house, 'n' light up.--There now," he +said, as he lighted the lamp and set it on the table beside March, +"here's your letter, Markis, read ahead." + +March read with broken voice: + + +4 EAST --TH STREET, NEW YORK, +May 5, 1898. + +DEAR FRIEND CHI,--I never thought when I joined the N.B.B.O.O. Society, +that I 'd have to be really brave about real war;--and now dear old Jack +is going off to Cuba with Little Shaver and all those cow-boys,--and +it's dreadful! Uncle John is about sick over it, for, you know, Jack is +all he has. Papa is going to keep the house open all summer; he says +there is no telling what may happen. + +We have made no plans for the summer, for our hearts are so heavy on +Jack's account--his last year in Harvard, too! He told me to tell you he +would find out if there is a chance for you in the new cavalry regiment +he has joined. He looked so pleased when I told him; he read your +letter, and I told him how you wanted to go with him, and he said: "Dear +old Chi, I'd like to have him for my bunkie"--and told me what it meant. +He told me to tell you to be prepared for a telegram at any moment. + +I must stop now; papa wants me to go out with him. Give my love to +_all_, and tell Mother Blossom and Rose I will write them more +particulars in a few days. + +If you come to New York, you know a room will be ready for you in the +home of your + +Loving friend, + HAZEL CLYDE. + + +There was silence for a while in the room; then Mr. Blossom spoke: + +"How are you going, Chi?" + +"I 'm goin' to jog along down with Fleet, 'n' take it kind of +easy--thought I 'd cross the Mountain, 'n' strike in on the old +post-road; 'n' follow on down by old Ticonderogy,--I 've always wanted +to see that,--then across to Saratogy 'n' Albany, 'n' foller the river. +You can't go amiss of New York if you stick to that." + +Again there was a prolonged silence. Chi hemmed, and moved uneasily on +his chair, while he fumbled about in his trousers' pocket. He pulled +out a piece of crumpled, yellow paper. + +"S'pose I might just as well make a clean breast of it." He tried to +laugh, but it was a failure. "Jack's telegram came along last night, +'n' I thought, maybe I 'd better be gettin' my duds together to-night, +Mis' Blossom, as 't will be a mighty early start--before any of you are +up," he added, hastily. + +The two women broke down then, and Mr. Blossom and March followed Chi +out to the barn. + +The household, save for the younger children, was early astir--before +sunrise. Mrs. Blossom had prepared a hearty breakfast, and Rose was +rolling up a few pairs of her father's stockings to put in the netted +saddle-bag which Chi was wont to use in hunting. + +"Tell March to call Chi, Rose," said her mother. "His breakfast is +ready, I hear him in the barn." + +Rose ran out in the dawning light to find her father and March just +coming towards the house. + +"Why, where 's Chi?" she cried. + +For answer, her father pointed to the woodlands. She looked just in +time to see in the soft gray of the early morn the horse and rider rise +to the three-railed fence that separated the pasture from the woodlands. +He was following the trail he had indicated to Jack--"through the woods +'n' acre or two of brush, 'n' then some pretty steep sliding down the +other side, 'n' a dozen rods or so of swimmin', 'n' a tough old clamber +up the bank--" + +Some ten days afterward, late on a warm afternoon in May, there rode +into New York City by the way of the Bronx and Harlem, a middle-aged man +on a bright bay horse. The animal's gait was a noticeable one, a long, +loping gallop, that covered the ground in a manner that roused the +admiration of the drivers on the speedway. The tall, loose-jointed body +of the rider apparently loped along with the horse--their movements were +identical. The saddle was an old-fashioned cavalry one of the early +sixties. A netted saddle-bag and a rolled rubber coat were fastened to +the crupper. A light-weight hunting rifle was slung on a strap over the +man's shoulder. At the northern entrance to the Park he drew rein +beside a mounted policeman. + +"Can you tell me if I 'm on the right track to this house?" + +He took a card from the pocket of his dusty blue flannel shirt and +handed it to the policeman. + +The city guardian nodded assent. "But you can't take that gun along +with you; you 're inside city limits and liable to arrest." + +"'Gainst the law, hey? Well, I 've come from a pretty law-abiding +state, 'n' ain't goin' to get into rows with you fellers--" He laid a +brown, knotty, work-roughened finger on the policeman's immaculate blue +coat--"I 'd trust that color as far as I could see. Where shall I leave +the rifle?" + +The city guard unbent as the kindly voice yielded such undefiant +obedience to his demand. "You can leave it with me now,--I 'm off my +beat by seven, and live over east of this--" he handed back the +card--"and I 'll leave it at the house if you 're going to be there." + +"All right, that 'll suit me. Yes, I 'm goin' to put up there for a day +or two, maybe." + +"Off on a hunting trip?" + +"You bet--goin' on a big, old, U.S.A. hunt for a lot of darned +foreigners in Cuby." + +The policeman held out his hand and grasped the stranger's. "You're one +of them?" + +"Yes, I come down to join a cavalry regiment. Jack Sherrill, he +belongs, too. Great rider--can't be beat. Ever seen him round here on +Little Shaver?" + +The policeman smiled. "No, but I 'd like to see you again--" + +"Maybe you will; but I 'd better be getting along before +sundown,--'gainst the law to ride this horse a piece through those +woods?" He pointed into the Park. + +"Oh, no, that's all right. Keep along till you come to Seventieth +Street, and inquire; and then turn into Fifth Avenue--east--and you're +there." + +"Much obliged. Like to show you a trail or two up in Vermont when you +come that way. Get, Fleet." The animal set forward into a long, loping +gallop. + +The brilliant, light green of the May foliage was enhanced by the level +rays of the setting sun, as the man turned his horse into Fifth Avenue +and drew rein to a rapid walk. Many a one paused to look at him as he +paced over the asphalt. He was looking up at the mansions of the Upper +East Side. Soon he halted at the corner of a side street and gazed up +at the first house, the end of which, with the conservatory, was on the +Avenue, but the entrance on the side street. "That's the place," he +spoke to himself,--"don't see a hitchin'-post handy, so I 'll just have +to tie up to this electric light stand. Iron, by thunder!--Well, there +ain't any risk so long as 't isn't lit, 'n' there ain't a tempest." + +Leaving his horse firmly tied to the standard he stepped up on the low, +broad stoop of "Number 4," and looked for the bell. Not finding any he +knocked forcibly on the carved iron grill that protected the plate-glass +doors. + +The great doors flew open, and a face--"blacker 'n thunder"--as the man +said to himself, scowled on the interloper. + +"Wha' fo' yo' come hyar, yo'--" He got no further. A horny hand was +extended, and a cheery voice, that broke into a laugh, spoke the +assuaging words: + +"Guess you 're Wilkins, ain't you? I 've heard Lady-bird tell 'bout you +till I feel as if we 'd been pretty well acquainted goin' on nigh two +year now." + +By this time Wilkins' face was one broad beam. He slapped his free hand +on his knee: + +"Yo 's Mister Chi, for sho'--dere ain't no need yo' tellin'. Yo' jes' +come straight in, Mister Chi; Marse John an' little Missy jes' gone fo' +ah drive in de Park. Dey 'll be in any minute. Yo' room 's all ready, +an' little Missy put de flow'rs in fresh dis yere mornin'--''Case,' she +say, 'Wilkins, dere ain't no tellin' when Chi's comin'.'" + +"Sho'," Chi interrupted him, brushing the back of his hand hastily +across his eyes. "I can't come in now, Wilkins, coz I 've got to stay +here 'n' watch my horse--I 'll sit here on the steps a spell 'n' cool +off till Mr. Clyde gets home, 'n' he 'll help me see to puttin' up Fleet +for the night. His legs are a little mite swollen near the hocks, 'n' I +'m goin' to rub him down myself." + +"De coachman jes' tend to yo' hoss like 's ef 't wor yo'se'f, Mister +Chi. I 'll jes' call up de stable bo', 'n' he 'll rub him down wif +sp'r'ts, an' shine him up till he look jes' lake new mahog'ny. Jes' yo' +come--dere dey come now!" + +Chi was at the curbstone to welcome them. + +"Chi! O Chi!" Hazel rose up in the trap at sight of the well-known +figure, and Chi, laying his hand firmly on Martin's shoulder, put him +aside as he sprang to open the door and let down the steps, reached up +both arms, and took Hazel out as tenderly as on the night of her first +arrival at the farmhouse on the Mountain. And then and there Hazel gave +him a kiss, and Mr. Clyde grasped his hands in both his, and the wide +hall doors that Wilkins had thrown open to their fullest extent closed +upon the reunited friends. + +"'E 's a 'ansome 'oss," Martin remarked to the coachman, as he mounted +Fleet to take him to the stable; "Hi 'ave n't seen a 'ansomer since Hi +'ve bean in the States." + +A few days after the hall doors were again flung wide, but not to their +fullest extent, and Wilkins' face grew strangely tremulous when he heard +Hazel and Mr. Clyde, Jack and Chi coming down the broad hall stairs. +Martin was proudly leading Fleet and Little Shaver up and down in front +of the house. + +"Jack! O Jack! I can't bear to have you go--but I _will_ be brave." +Hazel smiled through the raining tears. She clung to him and kissed him. +He put her aside, ran out to Little Shaver, and flung himself on before +Chi had said good-bye. + +"Take care of Jack, Chi," she whispered, patting his hand. + +"I will, Barbara Frietchie." He pointed to the flag that, in the east +wind blowing in from the Sound, was waving over the entrance, gripped +Mr. Clyde's hand, then Wilkins', and, apparently, stepped into the +saddle. + +"Quick, quick, Wilkins! lower the flag, and let me have it." Wilkins +sprang to obey. Hazel seized it, and rushed up stairs to the +drawing-room, the windows of which overlooked the Avenue. One of them +was open; she leaned out; and as Fleet and Little Shaver turned the +corner, their riders, looking up, saw the young girl's figure in the +opening. She was waving the symbol of their Country's life and their +manhood's loyalty. + +They halted, baring their heads for a moment--then without once looking +back, galloped down the Avenue. + + + + + XXV + + SAN JUAN + + +Notwithstanding it was a hot day in the first week of July, Mrs. +Spillkins had decided to have a "quilting-bee." Having made up her +mind, after consulting with Miss Melissa and Miss Elvira, she lost no +time in summoning Uncle Israel from the barn, and making known her +plans. Uncle Israel mildly objected. + +"Kinder hot fer er quiltin'-bee, ain't it, Hannah?" + +"'Tis pretty hot," Mrs. Spillkins admitted, wiping the perspiration from +her face with her apron, "but we 'll have it to-morrow 'long 'bout four. +You get the frames and rollers out, Israel, from the back garret, an' +then I want you to go up to Mis' Blossom's an' ask 'em to come, an' get +word to the other folks on the Mountain." + +"I 'll go, Hannah, but I dunno 'bout Mis' Blossom 'n' Rose comin' ter er +quiltin'-bee jest 'bout this time. They 're feelin' pretty low 'bout Chi +off thar in Cuby; news hez come thet ther 's ben fightin'--" + +"I know that, Israel; I 've thought of that, too; but, mebbe, it 'll do +'em good, just to change the scene a little. Anyway, you ask 'em." + +"Jest ez ye say, Hannah." + +The sun was setting when Uncle Israel made his appearance on the porch +where the whole family was assembled with Alan Ford. They had but one +topic for conversation. + +Uncle Israel gave his invitation, and added: "Hannah thought ye 'd +better come 'n' change the scene a leetle--she knowed ye 'd be kinder +low-spereted 'bout now." + +Mrs. Blossom held out her hand. "Thank you, Uncle Israel. Tell Mrs. +Spillkins we will both come." + +"Hannah wants your folks ter come, tew, Alan." + +"Much obliged, Uncle Israel. I 'll tell mother and Ruth; I 'm sure they +will enjoy it. Ruth said the other day she wished she might have a +chance to see a quilting-bee while we are here. Shall I take your +message over to Aunt Tryphosa?" + +"Much obleeged, Alan. Thank ye, Rose,"--as Rose brought out the large +arm-chair and placed it for him; "I 'll set a spell 'n' rest me." + +It was a typical northern midsummer night. Across the valley the +mountains loomed, softly luminous, against the pale green translucent +stretch of open sky in the west. There were no clouds; but high above +and around there swept a long trail of motionless mist, flame-colored +over the mountain tops, but darkening, with the coming of the night, +into gray towards the east. The stars were not yet out. The veeries +were choiring antiphonally in the woodlands. + +An hour afterwards Alan Ford rose to go, and Uncle Israel soon followed +his example. + +"I 'll go down the woods'-road a piece with you, Uncle Israel," said +Rose. + +As she came back up the Mountain a cool breath drew through the pines, +and the spruces gave forth their resinous fragrance upon the dewless +night. The stars were brilliant in the dark blue deeps. + +A midsummer night among the mountains of New England! And far away in +the sickening heat and wet, the fever-laden exhalations of the tropics +rose into the nostrils of a man, who sat motionless in the rude +field-hospital, hastily improvised on the slope of San Juan, watching, +with his knees drawn up to his chin and his hands clasping them, for +some faint tremor in the still face on the army blanket spread upon the +ground. + +The lantern cast its light full upon that still face. Suddenly the +watcher bent forward; his keen eyes had detected a twitch of an +eyelid--a flutter in the muscles of the throat. "Don't move him," the +surgeon had said; "the least movement will cause the final hemorrhage." + +There was a catch of the breath--the eyes opened, partly filmed. + +"Jack!" The watcher spoke, bending lower; his ear over the other's +lips. + +"Chi--" it was a mere breath, but the man heard--"I'm--done for." + +The watcher's hand, muscular, toil-hardened, sought the nerveless one +that was lying on the other's breast, and closed upon it with a brooding +pressure. There was silence for a few minutes. Then the horny hand +felt a feeble stirring of the fingers beneath the hardened palm--they +were fumbling weakly at a button. + +The strong hand undid the button, gently--very gently, without apparent +movement. There was a motion of the nerveless fingers towards the +place. Another breath:-- + +"Give--love--" + +A long silence fell. + +Mrs. Spillkins heaved a sigh of satisfaction: "We 've done an awful +sight of work," she said, surveying the five quilts "run" and "tacked" +and "knotted" in even rows and mathematically true squares; "but it +seems as if they did n't eat a mite of supper, an' that strawberry +shortcake was enough to melt in your mouth." + +"What'd I tell ye, Hannah? They're worretin' 'bout Chi," said Uncle +Israel. "They've fit agin; Ben told me while he wuz waitin' with the +team fer the womin-folks. He hed the mail, 'n' er telegram thet thet +young feller, we see ridin' 'roun' here las' summer, wuz mortal wounded. +He did n't want the womin-folks ter know it till he got 'em hum. They +sot er sight by him." + +Mrs. Spillkins threw up her hands: "Dear suz'y me!" she exclaimed in a +distressed voice. "What 'll they do! I hope an' pray Malachi Graham +ain't hurt none. I feel as if I ought to go right up there, an' see if +there 's anything I can do." + +"Better wait till the Cap'n comes hum, Hannah; he 'll hev the papers." + +"I guess 't would be better," and Mrs. Spillkins proceeded to fold up +her quilts and "clear up" the best room. + +The hot July days warmed the breast of the Mountain. Over in the +corn-patch the stalks had spindled and the swelling ears were ready to +tassel. By word or look Rose had given no sign--and her mother +wondered. The days wore on; the routine of daily work and life went on; +but the younger children's voices were subdued when they spoke lovingly +and longingly of Chi, and Rose sang no longer when she kneaded bread. +They were days of suspense and heart misery for them all. + +Two weeks had passed since that evening when Mr. Blossom had read to +them the fatal despatch. No word had come from anyone save Hazel, who +wrote that her father and Uncle John had started at once for Cuba, and +that she hoped to be with the Blossoms the third week in July, for by +that time they would know the whole truth. + +They had been making ready Hazel's little bedroom, for she was expected +in a few days. Rose was tacking up a white muslin curtain at the small +window, when she heard her father call: + +"Rose, come here a minute." + +"Yes, father." + +She went out on the porch with the hammer in her hand. "What is it, +Popsey dear?--Why, father, what--oh what--!" + +With shaking hand her father held out a letter to her. Rose looked +once--it was from Chi! + +"I wish mother were here, daughter--but she'll be back soon. Let me +know how it is with them all--." Mr. Blossom could say no more, for +Malachi Graham was as near to him as a brother, and he was agonizing for +his child. He went off to the barn, leaving Rose standing on the porch, +staring as if fascinated at the superscription of the letter: + + +To Miss Rose Blossom, + Mill Settlement, + Barton's River, + Vermont. + +N.B.B.O.O.--To be opened by nobody but her. + + +Rose laid down the hammer mechanically, opened the envelope, and +unfolded the piece of brown paper from out of which fluttered to the +floor another and thicker slip, stained almost beyond recognition. With +staring eyes and face as white as driven snow she read the few words +scrawled in pencil on the brown slip:-- + + +DEAR ROSE-POSE,--I ain't no wish to meddle with anybody's business--but +I 'm just obeying orders. The last words I heard Jack Sherrill speak, +was "Give--love," and he fumbled at his breast to get out this enclosed. +I ain't read it--but it's his heart's blood that's on it. Give my love +to all. + +Yours forever, + CHI. + + +"His heart's blood!" For a moment the words conveyed no meaning. She +picked up the iron-rusty brown slip from the floor; unfolded it; +read--Barry Cornwall's love-song in her own handwriting! + +"His heart's blood!" She pressed one hand hard upon her own heart, +crushing with the other the dark-stained slip. Then, with one wild look +around her as if searching for help, she ran down the steps, across the +mowing, over into the pasture and up into the woodlands. Deep, deep +into the heart of them she made her way, as her mother, Mary Blossom, +had done before her; but now there was no kneeling, no prayer, no +petition to take from her the intolerable pain. + +She was young, and she loved as the young love. It was not God whom she +wanted; it was "Jack! Jack! Jack!" She cast herself face down upon the +ground, and moaned in her agony: "His heart's blood--his heart's blood." +She pressed the stained paper to her lips, over and over again. Then +she opened her blouse and baring her bosom, laid the love-song against +it--"His heart's blood--his heart's blood!" + +So her mother found her. + + + + + XXVI + + MARIA-ANN'S CRUSADE + + +Of late Aunt Tryphosa had been growing suspicious of Maria-Ann, and the +latter felt she was being watched; to use her own words, "it nettled +her." + +One afternoon, late in August, her grandmother, coming upon her rather +suddenly in the pasture as she sat under the shade of a patriarchal +butternut, ostensibly watching Dorcas, asked her sharply: + +"What you doin', Maria-Ann?" + +"'Tendin' to my own business," retorted Maria-Ann, with an unwonted snap +in her voice, and hurriedly folded something out of sight beneath the +Hearthstone Journal which lay upon her lap. + +This was the signal of open revolt on the part of her granddaughter, and +the like had occurred but once before in all the time of her up-bringing +with Aunt Tryphosa. The old dame's lips drew to a thinner line than +usual, as she fired the second shot into the hostile camp: + +"You been cryin', Maria-Ann." + +"What if I be?" demanded her granddaughter, with a flash of indignation +from beneath her reddened eyelids. "S'pose I have a right to have +feelin's same as other folks." + +Suddenly Aunt Tryphosa swooped like a hen-hawk upon a small piece of +bright scarlet flannel, that the breeze had caught away from the +protecting folds of the Hearthstone Journal, and landed in the covert of +sweet fern just at her feet. + +"What's that?" She held up the glowing bit of color, dangling it before +Maria-Ann's eyes. + +Upon poor Maria-Ann's inflamed sense of injustice, it had much the same +effect as a red rag waved before the eyes of an infuriated bull. + +She sprang to her feet, snatched the bit of cloth from between her +grandmother's thumb and fore-finger, and thrust it into her dress waist, +crying out shrilly in her unwonted excitement: + +"You let that be, Grandmarm Little! It's my cross and I 'm going on a +crusade--so now!" + +Aunt Tryphosa sat down rather suddenly in the middle of the sweet-fern +patch. Was Maria-Ann going crazy? Her breath came short and sharp; she +drew her thin lips still more tightly, and, although really alarmed, +braced herself for the combat. + +"What 'd you say you was goin' on, Maria-Ann?" + +"I never knew you was growin' deef before, grandmarm; I said a crusade." +She had raised her voice to a still higher pitch, as she stooped to +gather up the Hearthstone Journal, the bits of red cloth, her scissors, +and thimble which had fallen from her lap as she sprang to her feet. + +"Is that the thing you read me about last winter in the Journal, with +the soldiers with crosses on their backs on hosses startin' out for +Jerusalem?" demanded the old dame, but in a strangely agitated voice. + +"Yes," responded Maria-Ann, promptly, but with less acerbity of manner. + +"And is that red rag you hid away a _cross_, Maria-Ann Simmons?" No +words can do justice to the old dame's tone and its implied impiety of +her granddaughter's conduct. + +Maria-Ann was silent. + +"Be you a Christian girl, or an idolater, Maria-Ann?" + +Her grandmother's voice shook pitiably. Maria-Ann's conscience gave a +twinge, when she heard it; but she felt the time was ripe, and she must +put in the sickle. + +"I hope I 'm a Christian, grandmarm, but I 'm an idolater, too,--" Aunt +Tryphosa drew in her breath, as if hurt. "But, anyway, I guess I was an +American 'fore I was a Christian, an' I jest _idolize_ my Country--" +Maria-Ann's eyes filled with tears--"an' I can't do anything for her, +nor make sacrifices same as other women do who can send their +husbands--," a sob, "an' lovers--," another sob, "an' nuss 'em, an' help +on their Country's cause livin' 'way up here in an old back paster with +an old cow--an' an old wo--Oh, grandmarm!" Maria-Ann broke down +utterly, laid her head upon her knees, and sobbed unrestrainedly. + +It was an unusual sight, and Aunt Tryphosa was troubled. She felt it +necessary to beat a retreat in the face of such genuine grief, but she +was determined that it should be a dignified one. + +"I ain't never seen you give way so, Maria-Ann, and you 're thirty-one +year old come next January. I 've done my best to bring you up right, +an' now you 're old enough to know your own mind, _I hope_; so, if you +want to leave me, you can go jest as soon as you can get ready. I come +up for Dorcas, an' now I 'm goin' home." In spite of her effort her old +voice trembled, but her pride sustained her nobly, and Maria-Ann was all +unaware that the tears were rolling down the wrinkled furrows in the old +cheeks as her grandmother drove Dorcas before her down the fern-scented +pasture slope. + +Her granddaughter followed her half an hour later, and after a silent +supper, except for Aunt Tryphosa's murmured "grace," and a faint "amen" +from the other side of the table, Maria-Ann lighted a lamp and shut +herself into her small bedroom. + +She placed a chair against the door, lest she might be suddenly raided, +and drew the other splint-bottomed one up to the head of the bed. +Lifting the feather-bed she thrust her hand far under and drew out a +square, white pasteboard box. It was tied with a narrow, white ribbon. +She undid it carefully, and took out a layer of tissue paper. The +lamp-light shone upon a large, gilt heart, some ten by eight inches, +with a thickness of two inches. + +Maria-Ann turned the box this way and that, watching the play of light +on it, for the heart was skewered with a large, silver-gilt arrow, and +the shaft, where it penetrated, held a small, white card with simulated +blood-drops in carmine splashed on in one corner, and the sentiment, +written in the same, straggling diagonally across the other corner: + + "In thy sight + Is my delight." + + +Maria-Ann shut her eyes and leaned back in her chair. "Don't seems as if +he 'd sent me that if he had n't meant somethin'," she murmured, and +dreamed for a little while. Then she opened her eyes, prepared for new +delights. Raising the gilt top with tender care, she took out a faded +rose: + +"Don't seem as if he 'd come back that nex' mornin' after Chris'mus an' +give me that, 'thout he 'd had some notion." She laid the rose +carefully upon the tissue paper, and began to lift the leaves of the +heart-shaped book, until she had lifted every one of the three hundred +and sixty-five! She smiled to herself. + +"'T ain't likely he 'd 'a' sent me jest such a cook-book, 'thout he 'd +been tryin' to give me a hint." She began to read the recipes--it was +absorbing: puddings, cakes, preserves. She was lost to time as she +read; "An' he took that pair of socks I knit him last Chris'mus 'long +with him, Rose said--" There was a fumbling at her door. Maria-Arm blew +out the light. + +"That you, grandmarm?" she called pleasantly. + +There was no answer, and Maria-Ann laughed softly to herself as she +undressed in the dark, and lay down to sweet dreams. + +"I 'm goin' over to Mis' Blossom's, grandmarm," she announced the next +afternoon, "to see if they 've had any news. I ain't heard for two +days." + +Her grandmother made no reply, but when her grand-daughter was well on +her way to the Blossoms', Mrs. Tryphosa Little's conscience deemed it +prudent to issue a private search-warrant and investigate Maria-Ann's +premises--even to the under side of the feather-bed. The results +perfectly justified the search, and upon Maria-Ann's return just before +tea, she was amazed to have her grandmother offer her a wrinkled cheek +to kiss. + +"Why, grandmarm!" exclaimed Maria-Ann, in joyful surprise, "I 'm so glad +you ain't laid it up against me-- + +"I can see through a barn-door when 't is wide open, even at my time of +life, Maria-Ann Simmons," said the old dame, interrupting her. + +"What did you hear over to Ben's?" + +"Hazel's just had a letter from her father, and he says they 've got Mr. +Sherrill home to New York, an' if nothin' new sets in, he 'll get over +it, but his lungs 'll be weak, mebbe, for two years. He was shot clean +through the lungs." + +"What do they hear from Chi?" + +Maria-Ann's face grew suddenly radiant. "Oh, he 's been awful sick with +the fever, an' ain't left Cuby yet, but he'll come North jest as soon as +he can be transported. I 've been talking over my plans with Mis' +Blossom an' Rose an' Hazel, an' they 're goin' to do everything they can +for me." + +"So you 're a-goin' to Cuby, Maria-Ann?" + +"Yes, grandmarm, I 've got a call to go an' nuss our sick an' wounded; I +'ve been readin' a lot 'bout the Red Cross misses in the Hearthstone +Journal, an' I 'm goin' to wear a cross, an' Hazel's goin' to pay my +fare, an' I 'm goin' to stop to Mr. Clyde's when I get to New York, an' +he 'll start me all right for Cuby--" + +"Them beets are burnin' on, Maria-Ann; guess you 'd better stop for jest +one more meal on the Mountin, had n't you?" said her grandmother, dryly. + +Maria-Ann laughed merrily. "I know, grandmarm, it seems kinder queer +and foolish to you, but I feel as if I could go now with nothin' on my +mind, for you know Mandy's girl is comin' to stay all September an' +October, an' she 's grand help. You won't begin to miss me 'fore I 'll +be back--an' I 'll own up, grandmarm, ever since Rose Blossom went to +New York last winter, I 've hankered after seein' more of the world +'sides Mount Hunger." + +"When you goin' to start?" + +"I calc'late 'bout the last of next week, that 'll be into +September--here, let me pare them beets, grandmarm;" and forthwith she +seized the pan, and began peeling the steaming, deep-red balls, singing +heartily the while: + + "'Must I be carried to the skies + On flowery beds of ease, + While others fought to win the prize, + And sailed through bloody seas?'" + + +"Now be careful, and change at White River Junction," were Mr. Blossom's +parting words at the station. "After that you go right through to New +York." + +"I 'll take good care, don't you any of you worry 'bout me!" She waved +her handkerchief from the back platform of the car to the little group +she was leaving,--Mr. and Mrs. Blossom, Rose, March and Hazel, Captain +Spillkins and Susan Wood, with Elvira and Melissa. She was inflated +with heroic resolve, and felt ennobled to be going forth to do battle, +as she termed it to herself, for her Country's cause. Moreover she was +seeing the world, and even at the start she found it most interesting, +for she had been but ten miles at most by train, and here she was +speeding towards White River Junction, distant forty miles from Barton's +River. + +She longed to communicate her enthusiasm to the occupants of the car, +but found only one opportunity. She offered to hold a baby, one of a +family of five, while the mother fed and watered the other four. She +continued to dandle it recklessly till the woman protested: + +"Guess you ain't had a fam'ly," she remarked sternly, rescuing her +child; "a woman of your age ought to know better 'n to shake a baby up +so when he 's teethin'--'t ain't good for their brains--like enough +bring on chol'ry morbis." She pulled down the small clothes, turned the +atom over on its stomach, and patted its back with a broad hand and a +dove-like settling motion that bespoke the mater-familias. + +Maria-Ann looked out of the window. True, she had n't any family--only +Grandmarm Little and Aunt Mandy's one daughter who had just come to +visit them. What was Aunt Tryphosa doing now? She was dreaming again, +and before she could realize it, the brakeman called, "White River +Junction! Change cars for all points south via Windsor, Springfield, +New York." + +Hearing that, Maria-Ann felt as if she had already travelled a thousand +miles, so far away seemed Mount Hunger and its uneventful life. + +She found herself on the platform. She had been so confident of taking +care of herself--and now! She looked helplessly about. Trains to the +right of her, trains to the left of her, trains in front of her and +behind her switched, and shifted, and thundered. Engine-bells, +dinner-bells, train-bells; stentorian voices of baggage-men, brakemen, +call-men; frantic women, screaming babies, hurrying porters, indifferent +travellers, fashionable women and city men; farmers, children, baskets, +shawl-straps, dress-suit cases, golf bags, boys; dogs, yelping and +crying, in arms or in leash; canaries in their wooden cages shrilling +over all; and hither and thither and yon a bustling, and rustling, and +rattling, and roaring, and clanking, and hissing, and shrieking, and +hurrying, and scurrying, and pushing, and hauling, and prodding, and +rushing! For a minute Maria-Ann was dazed and almost stunned. Then her +courage rose to the occasion. _This_ was the famous Junction of which +she had heard so much. _This_ was the great world. _This_ was Life! + +"I 'll stand stock-still an' wait till it clears up a little. I 've got +an hour here, an' mebbe I 'll see somebody from Barton's," she said to +herself, and had just put down her valise when a hoarse voice cried in +her ear,--"Hi, there! get out of the way!" + +She dodged a baggage truck piled high with toppling trunks, only to be +caught in the surging, living stream, and carried with it up a step into +the restaurant of the station. + +To Maria-Ann it was a marvellous sight. She set down her valise by a +window and, standing guard in front of it, gazed about her with intense +satisfaction. In truth this was seeing the great world, of which she +had read so much in the Journal and for which she had longed, at first +hand. Around the counter--a long oval--were perched on the high, +wooden, spring stools "all sorts and conditions of men," with a +sprinkling of women and children. There was perpetual motion of knives, +forks, teaspoons, arms, hands, mouths,--and a noisy conglomerate beyond +description, accented by the shriek and toot of the switch-engines. + +Suddenly the clangor of a gong-like bell and a stentorian voice rose +above the chaos of sound;--there was a momentary lull in the confusion +of masticating utensils, followed by a general slipping, sliding, and +jumping off the round wooden perches,--and to Maria-Ann's amazement, the +room was nearly vacant. + +"_Now 's_ my time," said Maria-Ann, with considerable complacency, and +forthwith proceeded to hoist herself, by means of the foot-rail, upon +one of the seats, at the same time placing her valise on another at her +right. She looked at the varied assortment of delectables--an +embarrassment of riches: jelly-roll cakes, pickles, squash pie, baked +beans, frosted tea-cakes, sage cheese, ham sandwiches, lemon pie, cold, +spice-speckled custards, doughnuts, great as to their circumference, +startling as to their cubical contents. + +"I 've heard tell of them," said Maria-Ann to herself, as her eye, +ranging the oval marble slab, encountered a pyramidal pile of New +England's doughty cruller. "I 'll have two of them, I guess," she said +to the indifferent attendant, "an' a cup of coffee; that 'll last me for +a spell, and I can keep my lunch for supper." She expected some +response to her explanation, but there was none forthcoming, save that a +cup of coffee, half-pint size, was shoved over the counter towards her, +and the huge glass dome that protected the doughnuts was removed with a +jerk, and the towering pile set down in front of her. + +Maria-Ann helped herself. It seemed rather tame, after so much +excitement, to be eating a doughnut the size of a small feather-bed, +without company. She looked around. There were but three or four at +the entire counter. Farther down to the left, his tall, gaunt figure +silhouetted against the blank of the large window, a man was seated, +bestriding the perch as if it were a horse. He wore the undress uniform +of the volunteer cavalry. When Maria-Ann discovered this, she felt for +a moment, to use her own expression, "flustered." The mere presence of +the uniform brought to her a realizing sense of the importance of her +mission; it seemed to bring her at once into touch with far-away Cuba, +and the feminine knights of the Red Cross; with--her heart gave a joyful +thump--with Chi! She felt in a way ennobled to be eating her doughnut +within speaking distance of a hero (they were all that in Maria-Ann's +idealizing imagination). + +She had bitten only halfway into the periphery of the doughnut, when the +man stepped from his seat. She watched him as he moved slowly towards +the door; his back was turned to her. How feebly he moved! Almost +seeming to drag one foot after the other. + +A great flood of patriotic pity engulfed Maria-Ann's whole being. She +forgot the doughnuts; she left the coffee; she forgot even her valise; +her one thought was as she slid from the stool: "I ain't no call to wait +till I get to Cuby; I 'm just as much a Red Cross nuss right here in +White River Junction, Vermont, as if I was a thousand miles away." The +girl at the counter looked after her in amazement--she hadn't even paid! +But there was her valise. + +She saw Maria-Ann whisk something out of her dress-waist and stop +halfway down the room to pin it on her sleeve, and lo and behold!--it +was a cross of bright red flannel. She saw her hurry after the man, who +had dragged himself to the doorway, and stood there leaning heavily +against the jamb. + +"If you 're goin' to take a train, just you let me help you aboard," she +said, speaking just at his elbow. The man's head half turned with a +jerk. "You ain't fit to stan' more 'n an eight months baby, an' I 'm a +Red Cross nuss on my way to Cuby--" + +A gaunt, yellow face with haggard eyes was turned slowly full upon her, +and a hand, shaking, as that of a man in drink, was laid on her arm: + +"Don't you know me, Marier-Ann?" + +Maria-Ann sat down suddenly on the doorstep at the man's feet. There +was no strength left in her. Then she put her head into her hands, and +began to cry softly; there were few to see her, and had the whole world +been there, she would not have cared. + +"Just help me into the waitin'-room, Marier-Ann, where we can talk." + +She bounced to her feet, with streaming, tear-blinded eyes, and Chi, +linking his arm in hers, led her into the "Ladies' Room." + +A porter followed them in; he addressed Chi. "She ain't paid for what +she ordered, and she ain't eat it neither, and she 's left her valise." + +Chi pulled out a ten-cent piece and put it into his hand. "Bring 'em all +in," he said, "grub 'n' all, 'n' I 'll pay for 'em. We 'll sit here a +spell till train time." Maria-Ann sobbed afresh. + +The porter brought in the plate with the doughnuts, the cup of coffee, +and the valise, and set them down on the wooden settee. He pointed to +the ten-cent piece that lay within the inner ring of a doughnut: + +"I don't take nothin' of that kind from you fellers." He touched the +bit of braid on the cuff of Chi's coat; Chi smiled, and pocketed the +money. + +"Guess you was n't expectin' to meet an old friend so soon, was you?" +said Chi, gently, setting the plate in her lap. + +Maria-Ann shook her head vigorously, but she could not control the sobs. +Chi crossed one leg over the other, and waited. + +The flies buzzed on the smoke-thickened panes, and an empty truck +rattled down the platform. There were no other sounds. + +"When does your train go, Marier-Ann?" + +There was another sob, but no answer. + +"Did n't I hear you say you was on your way to Cuby?" + +Maria-Ann nodded. + +"Bad place for women--'n' men, too. What you goin' for?" + +Maria-Ann's answer was only half audible: "To nuss." + +"To nuss? Ain't there enough nussin' you can do nearer home?" + +Maria-Ann looked up with tear-reddened eyes. "I did n't think so--" a +sob--"till I saw you, Chi. I did n't know you--I thought I 'd begin +right now, before I got there--" her hands covered her eyes again. + +Chi's trembling ones, weak from the fever, drew her cold ones down from +her face. + +"You did just right, Marier-Ann, to want to begin right now.--The +Barton's River train is due to start from here in fifteen +minutes;--s'posin' you give up Cuby, 'n' come along home, 'n' try +nussin' me. I need it bad enough." + +"Oh, Chi, do you mean it?" Maria-Ann caught her breath. + +"You bet I do," said Chi, emphatically, "only"--he paused and took up +the plate from her lap, spilling the coffee, for the trembling of his +hand had increased--"if you 're goin' to undertake it with me, it's got +to be a life job, Marier-Ann." + +The flies continued to buzz on the smoke-thickened panes. The train for +Barton's River steamed in from the siding. The couple in the +waiting-room boarded it. The porter watched them with a queer smile. +Then he took up the plate of uneaten doughnuts and the cup of cooled +coffee, and handed them to the girl behind the counter. + +"She ain't eat 'em, after all," she said. "She acted kinder queer for a +Red Cross nurse." + +"He's the chap I give the telegram to when he got here on the up-train +last night." + +"What was it?" + +"Twenty-five cent one from Barton's River--'M.A. starts for Cuba +Thursday stop her at Junction.'" + +The girl laughed, and the restaurant filled again. + + + + + XXVII + + "--The stars above + Shine ever on Love--" + + +"I 'm goin' up into the clearin', Mis' Blossom, to see if there ain't +some late blackberries," said Chi, a few days after his triumphal return +with Maria-Ann. "Seems as if the smell of the sun on that spruce-bush +up yonder would put new life into me--I feel so kind of shif'less." + +"I would, Chi," said Mrs. Blossom; "you have n't begun to get your +strength back yet, and the more you 're out in this air, without +overworking, the better it will be for you." + +"I 'll go with you, Chi," said Rose, looking up from her work, as she +sat sewing on the lower step of the porch. + +"That's right, Rose-pose; it 'll seem like old times." Chi followed her +with wistful eyes as she turned to go up stairs. + +"I 'll be down in a few minutes, Chi; we 'd better take the two-quart +pails, had n't we?" + +"Maybe we 'll find enough for one or two messes." + +He turned to Mrs. Blossom when Rose had left the room. "Can't there +nothin' be done 'bout it, Mis' Blossom?" He spoke almost wistfully. + +Mrs. Blossom's eyes filled with tears. She hesitated a moment before +she spoke: "I know Rose so well, Chi, that I dare _not_ interfere. I +doubt if she would accept anything, even from me, her mother." + +"It beats me," Chi sighed heavily. "He 's just a-pinin' for a word or +sign, 'n' there ain't no use talkin'--_she 's_ got to give it; I 'd back +him up every time, he 's done enough--" + +"Sh--!" Mrs. Blossom held up her finger; she heard Rose on the stairs. +Chi looked up--his old Rose-pose stood before him: old, faded, green and +white calico dress, old sunbonnet, patched shoes! Chi turned away +abruptly to get his pails; and her mother wondered, but said nothing. + +They found more than one "patch," where the berries hung in luscious +clusters of shining jet. Chi pummelled his chest, and drew deep, deep +breaths of the balsamic mountain air. "This sets a man up, Rose-pose; +there ain't nothin' like the air on this Mountain for an all-round +tonic. Let's sit here a spell, right by this sweet fern." + +She pushed back the sunbonnet as she sat down beside him. "Tired, Chi?" + +"No--rests me clear through just to sit 'n' look off onto those slopes, +just about as green as in June." + +They sat awhile in silence; then Chi turned and picked up the sunbonnet +that had fallen from her head. He touched it gently. + +"Remember the first time you sold berries in that rig, Rose-pose?" + +The blood surged into Rose's face, and receded, leaving it strangely +white. Chi felt his heart contract at the change, but he went on: + +"First time Jack ever saw you was in that rig.--You ain't changed so +much but he 'd know you again if he saw you in Chiny." + +Still there was silence. Chi moistened his lips. + +"Can't say as much for him; never saw such a change; he 's all fallen +away to nothin' but skin and bones. Doctor Heath told me just before I +left--'n' he put me aboard the train--that nothin' could set him up +again but this Mountain air, 'n' good food, 'n'--" Chi paused; his +mouth was uncomfortably dry. Rose's face was turned from him, but he +saw a contraction of her delicate throat, as if a dry sob were suddenly +suppressed. Then she spoke in a monotone: + +"Why does n't he come, then?" + +"_Why!_--" Chi fairly startled himself with his thundering "why," and +Rose half started from the ground. The blood leaped to her very temples; +seeing which, Chi took heart--"Coz he 's every inch a man, Rose Blossom; +'n' he's got too much grit of the right sort to ask a girl twice, he 's +about given his heart's blood for. + +"He ain't a-goin' to come crawlin' up here to ask no favors of you after +he knows that you _know_--'n' I glory in his spunk. But I can tell you, +if you don't look out, you 'll come nearer to bein' a real Molly Stark +than you ever thought you could be when you joined the N.B.B.O.O., 'n' +by George Washin'ton! it goes against me to see you breakin' the by-laws +you pledged yourself to stand by, every minute of your life that you +keep so dumb towards Jack Sherrill;--for you 're provin' yourself a +coward in your love, 'n' you 'll have a widowed heart to pay for it +mighty soon, if you keep on, that'll be worse than Molly Stark's any +day--" A whisper stopped him: + +"Chi, Chi, tell him to come--I want him so; oh, Chi!" + +Chi's hand was laid on the bowed head with its crown of shining, +golden-brown braids: "Rose Blossom, may God Almighty bless you for +proving yourself a true woman, 'n' worthy of the mother that bore you. +I can't say any more." + +An hour later March Blossom, with a telegram in his hand, was speeding +on Fleet to Barton's River; and two days afterwards Mr. Blossom and Alan +Ford in the double wagon, and Chi alone in the buggy, drove down to +Barton's to meet the up-train. Mrs. Blossom and Rose stood on the porch +straining their eyes in the quickly-falling September twilight to see +any movement on the lower road. The children had been sent over to +Hunger-ford till after tea, for Jack was not strong enough to bear a too +joyful home-coming. + +"They 're coming, Rose," said Mrs. Blossom, in a low tone; then she +turned abruptly, and went into the house, leaving Rose alone on the +step. + +"Here we are, safe 'n' sound," said Chi, in an affectedly cheery voice, +as he drove out of the woods'-road. "Just wait a minute, Jack, 'n' I +'ll give you an arm gettin' out." He laid the reins on the dasher. +Then he assisted the tall, gaunt figure of the man beside him to alight. +Jack half stumbled, for his eyes were seeking Rose--and Rose? + +All her womanhood, all the sacred privileges of wifehood, came to her +aid at that moment. She sprang to the carriage, and, with one hand, put +Chi aside; with the other, she lifted Jack's half-nerveless arm and laid +it over her shoulders; then, encircling him with her own slender one, +she said gently, guiding him to the porch step: + +"_Lean on me, dearest._" + + +On the first of November, one of the short-lived Indian Summer days, the +farmhouse on Mount Hunger literally blossomed like a rose. + +A week beforehand there had been an animated discussion as to what +should be the wedding decorations of the "long-room." Hazel, who had +been with them a week already, settled it. + +"As if there could be any choice!" she exclaimed. "It's been great fun +to hear you all suggesting this, that, and the other, from ground +hemlock and bitter-sweet, to everlasting! But Jack and I settled it +three weeks ago--how could there be anything for Rose, but roses? +Anyway, that's what Jack wrote, and our florist looked fairly dazed when +I gave him the order--just bushels of them, Rose-pose, lovely La France +ones, like those you threw into the--No, I won't tease you, Cousin +mine," she said, with a merry laugh, as Rose looked at her appealingly. + +And now, on the wedding morning of the first of November, the great box +that Chi had brought up from Barton's the night before was opened, and +in Hazel's skilful fingers the exquisite pink blooms lent to the +"long-room" a wonderful grace and beauty. + +She was flitting about in her pale pink cashmere dress--"Made specially +to match the roses," she said to March, as she dropped him a curtsy +preparatory to pinning a rose into his buttonhole. "We must all wear +Rose-pose's badge to-day. Where are you, Budd?" + +"Here," said her knight, promptly appearing with Cherry from the pantry, +where they had been counting the frosting-roses on the wedding-cake. He +looked down at the slender fingers as they pulled the stem of the pink +bud through the buttonhole of his jacket, and thought--of the ring! +Then he looked up at the tall, beautiful girl bending over him, and, +somehow, the day of his proposal seemed very far away in the Past. +Hazel was so grown up!--as tall as Rose. Still, he was n't going to be +afraid, if she was grown up. Now was his time;--and "Ethan Allan" +always made the most of his opportunities. Budd was in United States +History, this term, and he knew this for a fact. + +He drew forth from his breeches' pocket a something that might once have +been white, but, at present, looked more like a shoe-rag, it was so +dingy and soiled. + +"I 've kept it, you see, Hazel," he said, his small mouth puckering, his +round, light-blue eyes growing rounder, as he looked up at Hazel, with +twelve-year-old earnestness. + +"Kept what?" said Hazel, mystified, and holding up the offering gingerly +between thumb and forefinger to examine it. + +"Why, don't you know?--the glove you gave me when you said you 'd be my +Lady-love? don't you remember,--in the barn?" answered Budd, slightly +crestfallen. + +Hazel laughed merrily. "Oh, you funny boy!" she said, "to keep an old +glove of mine for nearly a year and a half! Why, it's nearly black and +blue. Have you kept it in your best Sunday-go-to-meeting trousers' +pocket all this time?" + +Budd nodded, but soberly. Seeing which, Hazel gave him a pat on the top +of his head, and assured him she would give him one of her cleaned party +gloves once a year till he was twenty-one, if only he would promise not +to keep it in his pocket with spruce-gum, chalk, chestnuts, lead-pencil +sharpenings, top-twine, jack-knives, and ginger cookie crumbs. + +"How 'd you know I had all those things in my pocket?" demanded Budd, in +his amazement forgetting his sentiment. + +"Oh, a little bird told me," replied Hazel. "Run and ask Chi to come +in, will you? I have his rose ready for him, and it's most time for +them all to come." + +It was a quiet wedding. Only those nearest and dearest were about them; +Mr. Sherrill, Aunt Carrie and Uncle Jo, Mr. Clyde and Hazel, Doctor and +Mrs. Heath, the Blossoms and Chi. + +Afterwards all the Lost Nation came in to give their heart-felt +blessings and good wishes. They were all there--from Maria-Ann, radiant +in the realization of her own romance, to Miss Alton and the Fords, who +were to leave on the night train to remain six weeks in New York, and +had placed Hunger-ford at the disposal of Rose and Jack during the first +weeks of their marriage. They remained but a little while, for the +excitement was almost more than Jack was able to bear. + +The moon rose between six and seven, largely luminous and slightly +reddened through the soft, warm haze of the Indian Summer night. Rose +had insisted, that, if the night were mild, Jack should ride over to +Hunger-ford at a snail's pace on Little Shaver, and that she should lead +him. At first Jack protested, but in the end Rose had her way. Chi, on +Fleet, was to ride on a little ahead to be within call, if anything +should be needed. "Kind of scoutin' to remind us of Cuby, Jack," he +said, laughing, as he helped him into the saddle. + +They were all on the porch to see the little cavalcade set forth, the +pony whinnying his delight to find his master on his back. Rose took +the bridle. Suddenly she dropped it, turned, and came back to the steps +where Hazel stood between Mrs. Blossom and March. She put up her arms, +and clasping the young girl about the waist, drew her down to kiss her, +and whisper: + +"Oh, Hazel! What if you had n't come to us!--All this happiness is +through you." + +And Hazel, but dimly perceiving Rose's meaning, whispered back as she +kissed her: + +"And if I had n't come, Rose-pose, _I_ should never have been rich as I +am now; Chi can't call me 'poor' any longer--for you 're all mine, now +that you are Jack's; aren't you?" + +March, hearing those whispered words, found his mother's hand, +somehow,--and Mrs. Blossom understood. + +"Good-night, Martie dear," cried Rose, love and tears and laughter +struggling in her voice. + +"Good-night, Rose dear." + +"Good-night, Rose--Good-night, Jack!" cried the twins. + +A white slipper filled with rice flew after Little Shaver, and hit him +on the left hock. But he was a well-bred polo pony, and a white satin +slipper with a little rice was as nothing to a swift, long-distance polo +ball; so he gave no sign. + +Chi stopped at the little house "over eastwards." Maria-Ann was on the +lookout. + +"They 're comin' along just by the turn of the road," he spoke low, "can +you see 'em?" + +The road lay white in the moonlight. "Yes, yes," cried Maria-Ann +excitedly, "Oh, Chi, ain't it beautiful!" + +"Sh--sh!" said Chi, "they 'll hear you. Hark! By George Washin'ton! +she 's singin'--Get, Fleet." The horse loped along over the moonlit +road, and Maria-Ann went in and shut the door--all but a crack. To that +she put her ear, to hear what the clear, sweet voice was singing: + + "'I told thee when love was hopeless; + But now he is wild and sings-- + That the stars above + Shine ever on Love, + Though they frown on the fate of kings.'" + + +Mount Hunger stood bathed in white radiance. The stars came out, but +faintly;--still, they were shining. + + + + + New Illustrated Editions of Miss Alcott's Famous Stories + + + +LITTLE MEN: Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys + +By LOUISA M. ALCOTT. With fifteen full-page illustrations by Reginald +B. Birch. Crown 8vo. Decorated cloth. $2.00. + +"Little Men" has never been given to an admiring public in any form so +charming as this one. All that was needed to make the tale quite +irresistible was such illustrations as are here supplied, fifteen +full-page ones instinct with life and movement and charm.--_Boston +Budget_. + + +LITTLE WOMEN: or Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy + +By LOUISA M. ALCOTT. With 15 full-page Illustrations by Alice Barber +Stephens. Crown 8vo. Decorated cloth. $2.00. + +"Books may come and books may go, but 'Little Women' still remains the +ideal book for young girls, the best representation of bright, lovable +girlhood," say the _Brooklyn Eagle_; and the _Philadelphia Telegraph_ +speaks of the pictures as follows: "In drawing women of the Civil War +period, Alice Barber Stephens is in her element, and her illustrations +are all that can be desired." + + +AN OLD-FASHIONED GIRL + +By LOUISA M. ALCOTT. With 12 full-page pictures by Jessie Willcox +Smith. Crown 8vo. Decorated cloth. $2.00. + +Of the third book in illustrated edition of the "Little Women" Series, +the _Saturday Evening Gazette_, Boston, says: "No better portraits of +Polly and Tom could be imagined than those which appear in these +pages.... No book of its lamented author has more endearing qualities." + + +JO'S BOYS, and How They Turned Out + +A Sequel to "Little Men." By LOUISA M. ALCOTT. With 10 full-page +plates by Ellen Wetherald Ahrens. Crown 8vo. Decorated cloth. $2.00. + +Those who were fascinated by the story of the Marsh family in "Little +Men" will take a keen interest in the experiences of Mrs. Jo's boys. +"The boys are as entertaining as their elders were in their time," says +the _Worcester Spy_, "and the story has plenty of life and incident, fun +and pathos; its atmosphere is fresh, pure, and wholesome." + +"The young folks who have been charmed with Miss Alcott's previous +stories," says the _San Francisco Chronicle_, "will read 'Jo's Boys' +with avidity." The illustrations by Charlotte Harding are in keeping +with the spirit of the author. + + + THE FOUR VOLUMES PUT UP IN BOX, $8.00 + + + LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY + _Publishers_, 254 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON, MASS. + + + + + Anna Chapin Ray's "Teddy" Stories + + +TEDDY: HER BOOK. A Story of Sweet Sixteen + +Illustrated by Vesper L. George. 12mo. $1.50. + +Miss Ray's work draws instant comparison with the best of Miss Alcott's: +first, because she has the same genuine sympathy with boy and girl life; +secondly, because she creates real characters, individual and natural, +like the young people one knows, actually working out the same kind of +problems; and, finally, because her style of writing is equally +unaffected and straightforward.--_Christian Register_, Boston. + + +PHEBE: HER PROFESSION + +A Sequel to "Teddy: Her Book" + +Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill. 12mo. $1.50. + +This is one of the few books written for young people in which there is +to be found the same vigor and grace that one demands in a good story +for older people.--_Worcester Spy_. + + +TEDDY: HER DAUGHTER + +A Sequel to "Teddy: Her Book," and "Phebe: Her Profession" + +Illustrated by J. B. Graff. 12mo. $1.20 net. + +Introduces a new generation of girls and boys, all well bred and gifted +with good manners, takes them through much fun and such adventures as +one may find on a small sandy island, and gives the girl a page or two +of saving common sense about her duties to boys and her obligation to be +true and womanly.--_New York Times Saturday Review_. + + +NATHALIE'S CHUM + +Illustrated by Ellen Bernard Thompson. 12mo. $1.20 net. + +A charming story of a courageous fifteen-year-old girl's effort to help +her older brother support an orphaned family of five. "Nathalie is the +sort of a young girl whom other girls like to read about," says the +_Hartford Courant_. + + +URSULA'S FRESHMAN. 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padding-top: 10% } + div.cleardoublepage { page-break-before: right; padding-top: 10% } + + .vfill { margin-top: 20% } + h2.title { margin-top: 20% } +} + +</style> +<title>A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH</title> +<meta name="PG.Rights" content="Public Domain" /> +<meta name="PG.Title" content="A Daughter of the Rich" /> +<meta name="PG.Producer" content="Al Haines" /> +<meta name="PG.Reposted" content="2012-10-06 minor corrections" /> +<link rel="coverpage" href="images/img-cover.jpg" /> +<meta name="DC.Creator" content="M. E. Waller" /> +<meta name="DC.Created" content="1903" /> +<meta name="MARCREL.ill" content="Ellen Bernard Thompson" /> +<meta name="PG.Id" content="40661" /> +<meta name="PG.Released" content="2012-09-04" /> +<meta name="DC.Language" content="en" /> +<meta name="DC.Title" content="A Daughter of the Rich" /> + +<link href="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" rel="schema.DCTERMS" /> +<link href="http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators" rel="schema.MARCREL" /> +<meta content="A Daughter of the Rich" name="DCTERMS.title" /> +<meta content="daughter.rst" name="DCTERMS.source" /> +<meta content="en" scheme="DCTERMS.RFC4646" name="DCTERMS.language" /> +<meta content="2012-10-07T05:13:46.637435+00:00" scheme="DCTERMS.W3CDTF" name="DCTERMS.modified" /> +<meta content="Project Gutenberg" name="DCTERMS.publisher" /> +<meta content="Public Domain in the USA." name="DCTERMS.rights" /> +<link href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/40661" rel="DCTERMS.isFormatOf" /> +<meta content="\M. \E. Waller" name="DCTERMS.creator" /> +<meta content="Ellen Bernard Thompson" name="MARCREL.ill" /> +<meta content="2012-09-04" scheme="DCTERMS.W3CDTF" name="DCTERMS.created" /> +<meta content="width=device-width" name="viewport" /> +<meta content="EpubMaker 0.3.19b4 by Marcello Perathoner <webmaster@gutenberg.org>" name="generator" /> +<style type="text/css"> +.pageno { position: absolute; right: 95%; font: medium sans-serif; text-indent: 0 } +.pageno:after { color: gray; content: '[' attr(title) ']' } +.lineno { position: absolute; left: 95%; font: medium sans-serif; text-indent: 0 } +.lineno:after { color: gray; content: '[' attr(title) ']' } +.toc-pageref { float: right } +pre { font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.9em; white-space: pre-wrap } +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div class="document" id="a-daughter-of-the-rich"> +<h1 class="document-title level-1 pfirst title">A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH</h1> + +<!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- --> +<div class="clearpage"> +</div> +<!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- --> +<div class="align-None container language-en noindent pgheader" id="pg-header" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<p class="noindent pfirst">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 <a class="reference internal" href="#project-gutenberg-license">Project Gutenberg License</a> +included with this eBook or online at +<a class="reference external" href="http://www.gutenberg.org/license">http://www.gutenberg.org/license</a>.</p> +<p class="noindent pnext"></p> +<div class="noindent vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<div class="align-None container noindent white-space-pre-line" id="pg-machine-header"> +<p class="noindent pfirst white-space-pre-line"><span class="white-space-pre-line">Title: A Daughter of the Rich<br /> +<br /> +Author: M. E. Waller<br /> +<br /> +Release Date: September 04, 2012 [EBook #40661]<br /> +Reposted: October 06, 2012 [minor corrections]<br /> +<br /> +Language: English<br /> +<br /> +Character set encoding: UTF-8</span></p> +</div> +<div class="noindent vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="noindent pfirst" id="pg-start-line">*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK <span>A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH</span> ***</p> +<div class="noindent vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="noindent pfirst" id="pg-produced-by"><span>Produced by Al Haines.</span></p> +<div class="noindent vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="noindent pfirst"><span></span></p> +</div> +<div class="align-None container coverpage"> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 59%" id="figure-36"> +<span id="cover"></span><img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-cover.jpg" /> +<div class="caption figure"> +Cover</div> +</div> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="align-None container frontispiece"> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 61%" id="figure-37"> +<span id="hazel"></span><img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-front.jpg" /> +<div class="caption figure"> +Hazel</div> +</div> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="align-None center container titlepage white-space-pre-line"> +<p class="pfirst white-space-pre-line x-large">A<br /> +Daughter of the Rich</p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="medium pfirst white-space-pre-line">BY</p> +<p class="large pnext white-space-pre-line">M. E. WALLER</p> +<p class="pnext small white-space-pre-line">AUTHOR OF "THE LITTLE CITIZEN"</p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="medium pfirst white-space-pre-line">ILLUSTRATED BY<br /> +ELLEN BERNARD THOMPSON</p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="medium pfirst white-space-pre-line">BOSTON<br /> +LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY<br /> +1903</p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="align-None center container verso white-space-pre-line"> +<p class="pfirst small white-space-pre-line"><em class="italics white-space-pre-line">Copyright, 1903,</em><br /> +BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.</p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst small white-space-pre-line"><em class="italics white-space-pre-line">All rights reserved</em></p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst small white-space-pre-line">Published October, 1903</p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst small white-space-pre-line">UNIVERSITY PRESS<br /> +JOHN WILSON AND SON<br /> +CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A.</p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="align-None center container dedication white-space-pre-line"> +<p class="medium pfirst white-space-pre-line">To<br /> +"MARTIE"</p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="align-None container plainpage white-space-pre-line"> +<p class="center large pfirst white-space-pre-line">CONTENTS</p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<ol class="left medium upperroman simple white-space-pre-line"> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#molasses-tea">Molasses Tea</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#mrs-blossom-s-valentine">Mrs. Blossom's Valentine</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#a-curious-case">A Curious Case</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#a-little-millionaire">A Little Millionaire</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#transplanted">Transplanted</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#malachi">Malachi</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#the-n-b-b-o-o-society">The N.B.B.O.O. Society</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#a-lively-correspondence">A Lively Correspondence</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#the-prize-chicken">The Prize Chicken</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#an-unexpected-meeting">An Unexpected Meeting</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#jack">Jack</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#results">Results</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#a-social-addition">A Social Addition</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#the-lost-nation">The Lost Nation</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#wishing-tree-secrets">Wishing-Tree Secrets</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#a-christmas-prelude">A Christmas Prelude</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#hunger-ford">Hunger-Ford</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#budd-s-proposal">Budd's Proposal</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#a-year-and-a-day">A Year And A Day</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#snow-bound">Snow-Bound</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#a-little-daughter-of-the-rich">A Little Daughter of the Rich</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#rose">Rose</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#behold-how-great-a-matter-a-little-fire-kindles">"Behold how great a Matter a Little Fire Kindles"</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#old-put">"Old Put"</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#san-juan">San Juan</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#maria-ann-s-crusade">Maria-Ann's Crusade</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#the-stars-above-shine-ever-on-love">"--The stars above, Shine ever on Love--"</a></p> +</li> +</ol> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="align-None container plainpage white-space-pre-line"> +<p class="center large pfirst white-space-pre-line">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="left medium pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#hazel">Hazel</a> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frontispiece</p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="left medium pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#you-can-begin-to-drop-that-corn-this-very-afternoon">"'You can begin to drop that corn this very afternoon'"</a></p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="left medium pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#rose-was-at-the-kitchen-table-patting-out-the-dough-for-the-rolls">"Rose was at the kitchen table, patting out the dough for the rolls"</a></p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="left medium pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#hazel-flung-both-arms-around-mrs-blossom-s-neck">"Hazel flung both arms around Mrs. Blossom's neck"</a></p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="left medium pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#i-want-to-tell-you-why-i-came-up-here">"'I want to tell you why I came up here'"</a></p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="left medium pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#the-two-girls-leaned-over-the-box-as-hazel-took-off-the-wrapper">"The two girls leaned over the box as Hazel took off the wrapper"</a></p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst x-large" id="molasses-tea">A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst">I</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">MOLASSES TEA</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">"Good-night, Martie," called a sweet voice down the +stairway.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good-night, Rose dear; I thought you were asleep."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good-night, Martie," duetted the twins, in the shrillest +of treble and falsetto.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good-night, you rogues; go to sleep; you 'll wake +baby."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Dood-night, mummy," chirped a little voice from the +adjoining room.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a shout of laughter from the twins.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Shut up," growled March from the attic over the +kitchen. "Good-night, mother." His growl ended in a +squeak, for March was at that interesting period of his life +indicated by a change of voice. At the sound, a prolonged +snicker from somewhere was answered by a corresponding +giggle from another-where.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now, children," said Mrs. Blossom, speaking up the +stairway, "do be quiet, or baby will be wide awake."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Tum tiss me, mummy," piped the little voice a second +time, with no sound of sleep in it.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, darling, I 'll come;" as she turned to go into the +bedroom adjoining the kitchen, there was the sound of a +jump overhead, a patter of bare feet, a squabble on the +stairs, and Budd and Cherry, the irrepressible ten-year-old +twins, tumbled into the room.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll haul those kids back to bed for you, mother," +shouted March, and flung himself out of bed to join the +fray, while Rose was not behindhand in making her +appearance.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Blossom came in with little May in her arms, and +that was the signal for a wholesale kissing-party in which +May was hostess.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Children, children, you 'll smother me!" laughed their +mother. "Here, sit down on the rug and warm your +toes,--coming over those bare stairs this cold night!" And +down they sat, Rose and March, Budd and Cherry and +little May, in thick white and red flannel night-dresses +and gray flannel pajamas.</p> +<p class="pnext">Budd coughed consumptively, and Cherry followed suit. +March shivered and shook like a small earthquake, and +Rose looked up laughingly at her mother.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We know what that means, don't we, Martie," she +said. "Shall I help?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, no, dear,--in your bare feet!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Blossom took a lamp from the shelf over the fireplace, +and, leaving the five with their fifty toes turned +and wriggling before the cheering warmth of the blazing +hickory logs, disappeared in the pantry.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, bully," said Budd, rubbing his flannel pajamas +just over his stomach; "I wish 't was a cold night every +day, then we could have molasses tea all the time, don't +you, Cherry?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mm," said Cherry, too full of the anticipated treat for +articulate speech.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There 's nothing like it to warm up your insides," said +March; "mother 's a brick to let us get up for it. She +would n't, you know, if father were at home."</p> +<p class="pnext">"My tummy's told," piped May, frantically patting her +chest in imitation of Budd, and all the children shouted to +see the wee four-year-old maiden trying to manufacture a +shiver in the glow of the cheerful fire.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Blossom had never told her recipe for her "hot +molasses tea;" but it had been famed in the family for +more than a generation. She had it from her mother. +The treat was always reserved for a bitterly cold night, and +the good things in it of which one had a taste--molasses, +white sugar, lemon-peel, butter, peppermint, boiled raisins, +and mysterious unknowns--were compounded with hot +water into a palate-tickling beverage.</p> +<p class="pnext">When Mrs. Blossom reappeared, with a kettle sending +forth a small cloud of fragrant steam in one hand and a +tray filled with tin cups in the other, the delighted "Ohs" +and "Ahs" repaid her for all her extra work at the close +of a busy, weary day.</p> +<p class="pnext">Budd rolled over on the rug in his ecstasy, and Cherry +was about to roll on top of him, when March interfered, +and order was restored.</p> +<p class="pnext">As they sat there on the big, braided square of woollen +rag-carpet, sipping and ohing and ahing with supreme +satisfaction, Mrs. Blossom broached the subject of +valentines.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's the first of February, children, and time to begin +to make valentines. You 're not going to forget the Doctor +<em class="italics">this</em> year, are you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, indeed, Martie," said Rose. "He deserves the +prettiest we can make. I 've been thinking about it, and +I 'm going to make him a shaving-case, heart-shaped, with +birch-bark covers, and if March will decorate it for me, I +think it will be lovely; will you, March?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Course I will; the Doctor 's a brick. I 'll tell you +what, Martie, I can pen and ink some of those spruces and +birches that the Doctor was so fond of last summer; +how 'll that do?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Just the thing," said his mother; "I know it will +please him. What are you thinking, Cherry?" for the +"other half" of Budd was gazing dreamily into the fire, +forgetting her tea in her revery.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Fudge!" said Cherry, shortly. March and Rose +laughed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Keep still making fun of Cherry," said Budd, ruffling +at the sound; and to emphasize his admonishing words, he +dug his sharp elbow so suddenly into March's ribs that +some hot molasses tea flew from the cup which his brother +had just put to his mouth and spattered on his bare +feet.</p> +<p class="pnext">March deliberately set down his tin cup on the hearth +near the fire beside his brother's, and turned upon Budd.</p> +<p class="pnext">Budd tried to dodge, but had no room. In a trice, March +had his arms around him, and was hugging him in a +bear-like embrace. "Say you 're sorry!" he demanded.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Au-ow!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Say you 're sorry!" he roared at him, hugging harder.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Au-ow-ee-ow!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Quick, or I 'll squeeze you some more!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Budd was squirming and twisting like an eel.</p> +<p class="pnext">"O-ee-wau-au-<em class="italics">Au!</em>"</p> +<p class="pnext">"There," said March, releasing him and setting him +down with a thump on the rug; "I 'll teach you to poke +me in the ribs that way and scald my feet.--You 're game, +though, old fellow," he added patronizingly, as he heard a +suspicious sniff from Cherry. "You and Cherry make a +whole team any day."</p> +<p class="pnext">Cherry's sniff changed to a smile, for March did not +condescend to praise either of them very often.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well," she said meditatively, "I suppose it did sound +funny to say that, but I was thinking that if Budd would +make me a little heart-shaped box of birch-bark, I 'd make +some maple-sugar fudge,--you know, Martie, the kind with +butternuts in it,--and that could be my valentine for the +Doctor."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, that's a bright idea, Cherry," said Mrs. Blossom; +and, "Bully for you, Cherry," said Budd; "we'll begin +to-morrow and crack the butternuts."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What will May do?" asked Mrs. Blossom, lifting the +little girl, who was already showing signs of being +overcome with molasses tea and sleep. May nestled in her +mother's arms, leaned her head, running over with golden +curls, on her mother's breast, and murmured drowsily,--</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Ittle tooties--tut with mummy's +heart-tutter--tutter--tooties--tut--" The +blue-veined eyelids closed over +the lovely eyes; and Mrs. Blossom, holding up her finger +to hush the children's mirth at May's inspired utterance, +carried her back into the bedroom.</p> +<p class="pnext">One after another the children crept noiselessly upstairs, +with a whispered, "Good-night, Martie," and in ten +minutes Mary Blossom knew they were all in the land of +dreams.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="mrs-blossom-s-valentine">II</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">MRS. BLOSSOM'S VALENTINE</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">It was a bitter night. Mrs. Blossom refilled the kitchen +stove, and threw on more hickory in the fireplace in +anticipation of her husband's late return from the village. She +drew her little work-table nearer to the blaze, and sat down +to her sewing. Then she sighed, and, as she bent over the +large willow basket filled with stockings to be darned and +clothes to be mended, a tear rolled down her cheek and +plashed on the edge.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was so much she wanted to do for her children--and +so little with which to do it! There was March, an +artist to his finger-tips, who longed to be an architect; and +Rose, lovely in her young girlhood and giving promise of +a lovelier womanhood, who was willing to work her way +through one of the lesser colleges, if only she could be +prepared for entrance. Mary Blossom saw no prospect of +being able to do anything for either of them.</p> +<p class="pnext">And the father! He must be spared first, if he were to +be their future bread-winner. Mary Blossom could never +forget that day, a year ago this very month, when her +husband was brought home on a stretcher, hurt, as they thought, +unto death, by a tree falling the wrong way in the woods +where he was directing the choppers.</p> +<p class="pnext">What a year it had been! All they had saved had gone +to pay for the extra help hired to carry on the farm and +finish the log-cutting. A surgeon had come from the +nearest city to give his verdict in the case and help if he +could.</p> +<p class="pnext">The farm was mortgaged to enable them to pay the heavy +bills incident to months of sickness and medical attendance; +still the father lay helpless, and Mary Blossom's faith and +courage were put to their severest test, when both doctor +and surgeon pronounced the case hopeless. He might live +for years, they said, but useless, so far as his limbs were +concerned.</p> +<p class="pnext">This was in June; and then it was that Mary Blossom, +leaving Rose in charge of her father and the children, left +her home, and walked bareheaded rapidly up the slope +behind the house, across the upland pastures and over into +the woodlands, from which they had hoped to derive a +sufficient income to provide not only for their necessities, +but for their children's education and the comforts +of life.</p> +<p class="pnext">Deep into the heart of them she made her way; and +there, in the green silence, broken only by the note of a +thrush and the stirring of June leafage above and about +her, she knelt and poured out her sorrow-filled heart before +God, and cast upon Him the intolerable burden that had +rested so long upon her soul.</p> +<p class="pnext">The shadows were lengthening when at last she turned +homewards. Cherry and Budd met her in the pasture, for +Rose had grown anxious and sent them to find her.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, where have you been, Martie?" exclaimed the +twins. "We were so frightened about you, because you +didn't come home."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You need n't have been; I 've been talking with a +Friend." And more than that she never said. The children's +curiosity was roused, but when they told Rose and +asked her what mother meant, Rose's eyes filled with tears, +and she kept silence; for she alone knew with Whom her +mother had talked that June afternoon.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Run ahead, Budd, and tell Malachi to harness up Bess. +I want him to take a letter down to the village so that it +may go on the night mail." Budd flew rather than ran; +for there was a look in his mother's face that he had never +seen before, and it awed him.</p> +<p class="pnext">That night a letter went to Doctor Heath, a famous +nerve specialist of New York City. It was a letter from +Mary Blossom, his old-time friend and schoolmate in the +academy at Barton's River. In it she asked him if he +would give her his advice in this case, saying she could +not accept the decision of the physician and surgeon unless +it should be confirmed by him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I cannot pay you now," she wrote, "but it was borne +in upon me this afternoon to write to you, although you +may have forgotten me in these many years, and I have no +claim of present friendship, even, upon your time and +service; but I must heed the inner command to appeal to +you, whatever you may think of me,--if I disobeyed that, +I should be disobeying God's voice in my life,"--and +signed herself, "Yours in childhood's remembrance."</p> +<p class="pnext">The next day a telegram was brought up from the +village; and the day after the Doctor himself followed it.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was an anxious week; but the wonderful skill +conquered. The pressure on a certain nerve was removed, +and for the last six months Benjamin Blossom had been +slowly but surely coming back to his old-time health and +strength. But again this winter the extra help had been +necessary, and it had taxed all Mary Blossom's ingenuity +to make both ends meet; for there was the interest on the +mortgage to be paid every six months, and the ready money +had to go for that.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the midst of her thoughts, her recollections and plans, +she caught the sound of sleigh-bells. The tall clock was +just striking ten. Smoothing every line of care and +banishing all look of sadness from her face, she met her +husband with a cheery smile and a, "I 'm so glad you 've +got home, Ben; it's just twenty below, and the molasses +tea is ready for you and Chi."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Chi!" called Mr. Blossom towards the barn.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Whoa!" shouted a voice that sounded frosty in spite +of itself. "Whoa, Bess!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come into the kitchen before you turn in; there's +some hot molasses tea waiting for us."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Be there in a minute," he shouted back, and Bess +pranced into the barn.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Mary, this is good," said Mr. Blossom, as he slipped +out of his buffalo-robe coat and into his warm house-jacket, +dropped his boots outside in the shed, and put on his +carpet-slippers that had been waiting for him on the hearth.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It is home, Ben," said his wife, bringing out clean tin +cups from the pantry, and putting them to warm beside +the kettle on the hearth.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, with you in it, Mary," he said with the smile that +had won him his true-love eighteen years before.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come in, Chi," he called towards the shed, whence +came sounds as if some one were dancing a double-shuffle +in snow-boots.</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Fraid I 'll thaw 'n' make a puddle on the hearth, Mis' +Blossom. I 'm as stiff as an icicle: guess I 'll take my tea +perpendic'lar; I ain't fit to sit down."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sit down, sit down, Chi," said Mrs. Blossom. "You 'll +enjoy the tea more; and give yourself a thorough heating +before you go to bed. I 've put the soapstone in it," she +added.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, you beat all, Mis' Blossom; just as if you did n't +find enough to do for yourself, you go to work 'n' make +work." He broke off suddenly, "George Washin'ton!" +he exclaimed, "most forgot to give you this letter that +come on to-night's mail."</p> +<p class="pnext">He handed Mrs. Blossom the letter, which, with some +difficulty, owing to his stiffened fingers, he extracted from +the depths of the tail-pocket of his old overcoat. Then he +helped himself to a brimming cup of the tea, and +apparently swallowed its contents without once taking breath.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, it's from Doctor Heath!" exclaimed Mrs. Blossom, +recognizing the handwriting. "Is it a valentine, +I wonder?" she said, feigning to laugh, for her heart sank +within her, fearing it might be the bill,--and yet, and yet, +the Doctor had said--she got no further with these +thoughts, so intent was she on the contents of the letter.</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi, with an eye to prolonging his stay till he should +know the why and wherefore of a letter from the great +Doctor at this season of the year, took another cup of +the tea.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ben, oh, Ben!" cried Mrs. Blossom, in a faint, glad +voice; and therewith, to her husband's amazement, she +handed him the letter, put both arms around his neck, and, +dropping her head on his shoulder, sobbed as if her heart +would break.</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi softly put down his half-emptied cup and tiptoed +with creaking boots from the room.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Can't stand that, nohow," he muttered to himself in +the shed; and, forgetting to light his lantern, he felt his +way up the backstairs to his lodging in the room overhead, +blinded by some suspicious drops of water in his eyes, +which he cursed for frost melting from his bushy eyebrows.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Ben, think of it!" she cried, when her husband +had soothed and calmed her. "Twenty-five dollars a +week; that makes a little more than twelve hundred a +year. Why, we can pay off all the mortgage and be free +from that nightmare."</p> +<p class="pnext">For answer her husband drew her closer to him, and late +into the night they sat before the dying fire, talking and +planning for the future.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Children," she said at breakfast next morning, and her +voice sounded so bright and cheery that the room seemed +full of sunshine, although the sky was a hard, cold gray, +"I 've had one valentine already; it came last night from +the Doctor."</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi listened with all his ears.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mother!" burst from the children, "where is it?" +"Show it to us." "Why did n't you tell us before +breakfast?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can't show it to you yet; it's a live one."</p> +<p class="pnext">"A live one!" chorussed the children.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You 're fooling us, mother," said March.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do I look as if I were?" replied his mother.</p> +<p class="pnext">And March was obliged to confess that she had never +looked more in earnest.</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose left her seat and stole to her father's side. "What +does it mean, pater?" she whispered.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ask your mother," was all the satisfaction she received, +and walked, crestfallen, back to her chair; for when had +her father refused her anything?</p> +<p class="pnext">"When will you tell us, anyway?" said Budd, a little +gruffly. He hated a secret.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can't tell you that either," said his mother, "and I +don't know that I shall tell you until the very last, if you +ask in that voice."</p> +<p class="pnext">Budd screwed his mouth into a smile, and, unbeknown +to the rest of the family, reached under the cloth for his +mother's hand. He sat next to her, and that had been his +way of saying "Forgive me," ever since he was a tiny boy.</p> +<p class="pnext">He had a squeeze in return and felt happier.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I say, let's guess," said Cherry. "If I don't do +something, I shall burst."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You express my feelings perfectly, Cherry," said March, +gravely, and the guessing began.</p> +<p class="pnext">"A St. Bernard puppy?" said Budd, who coveted one.</p> +<p class="pnext">"A Shetland pony," said Cherry.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The Doctor's coming up here, himself." That was +Rose's guess.</p> +<p class="pnext">"'T ain't likely," growled Budd.</p> +<p class="pnext">"A tunning 'ittle baby," chirped May.</p> +<p class="pnext">March failed to think of any live thing the Doctor was +likely to send unless it might be a Wyandotte blood-rooster, +such as he and the Doctor had talked about last summer.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You 're all cold, cold as ice," laughed their mother, +using the words of the game she had so often played with +them when they were younger.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, mother!" they protested. They were almost +indignant.</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi rose and left the table. "Beats me," he muttered, +as he took down his axe from a beam in the woodshed. +"What in thunder can it be? I ain't goin' to ask +questions, but I 'll ferret it out,--by George Washin'ton;" +and that was Chi's most solemn oath.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="a-curious-case">III</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">A CURIOUS CASE</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">"What is it, dear?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Bothered--bothered."</p> +<p class="pnext">"A case?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, and I must get it off my mind this evening."</p> +<p class="pnext">The Doctor set down his after-dinner coffee untasted on +the library table, and rose with a half sigh from his easy +chair before the blazing wood-fire. His heavy eyebrows +were drawn together into a straight line over the bridge of +his nose, and that, his wife knew full well, was an ominous +sign.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Must you go to-night? It's such a fearful storm; +just hear it!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, I must; just to get it off my mind. I sha'n't be +gone long, and I 'll tell you all about it when I get home." The +Doctor stooped and kissed the detaining hand that his +wife had laid lovingly on his arm; then, turning to the +telephone, he bespoke a cab.</p> +<p class="pnext">As the vehicle made its way up Fifth Avenue in the teeth +of a February, northeast gale that drove the sleet rattling +against the windows, Doctor Heath settled back farther +into his corner, growling to himself, "I wish some people +would let me manage their affairs for them; it would +show their common sense to let me show them some of +mine."</p> +<p class="pnext">A few blocks north of the park entrance, the cab turned +east into a side street, and stopped at Number 4.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mr. Clyde in, Wilkins?" asked the Doctor of the +colored butler, who opened the door.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, sah; jes' up from dinner, sah, to see Miss Hazel."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Tell him I want to see him in the library."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, sah." He took the Doctor's cloak and hat, +hesitating a moment before leaving, then turning, said: "'Scuse +me, sah, but Miss Hazel ain't more discomposed?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, no, Wilkins; Miss Hazel is doing fairly well."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Thank you, sah;" and Wilkins ducked his head and +sprang upstairs.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, Dick," said Mr. Clyde, as he entered the library +hurriedly, "what's wrong?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"The world in general, Johnny, and your world in +particular, old fellow."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Is Hazel worse?" The father's anxiety could be +heard in the tone with which he put the question.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'm not satisfied, John, and I 'm bothered."</p> +<p class="pnext">When Doctor Heath called his friend "John," Mr. Clyde +knew that the very soul of him was heavily burdened. +The two had been chums at Yale: the one a rich man's +son; the other a country doctor's one boy, to whom had +been bequeathed only a name honored in every county of +his native state, a good constitution, and an ambition to +follow his father's profession. The boy had become one of +the leading physicians of the great city in which he made +his home; his friend one of the most sought-after men in +the whirling gayeties of the great metropolis. As he stood +on the hearth with his back to the mantel waiting for the +physician's next word, he was typical of the best culture of +the city, and the Doctor looked up into the fine face with +a deep affection visible in his eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Going out, as usual, John?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Only to the Pearsells' reception. Don't keep me +waiting, old fellow; speak up."</p> +<p class="pnext">"How the deuce am I to make things plain to you, +John? Here, draw up your chair a little nearer mine, as +you used in college when you knew I had a four A.M. lecture +awaiting you, after one of your larks."</p> +<p class="pnext">The two men helped themselves to cigars; and the +Doctor, resting his head on the back of the chair, slowly +let forth the smoke in curling rings, and watched them +dissolve and disperse.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come, Dick, go ahead; I can stand it if you can."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, then, I 've done all I can for Hazel, and shall +have to give up the case unless you do all you can for +her."</p> +<p class="pnext">Now the Doctor had not intended to make his statement +in such a blunt fashion, and he could not blame Mr. Clyde +for the touch of resentment that was so quick to show in +his answer.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I did n't suppose you went back on your patients in +this way, Richard; much less on a friend. I have done +everything I can for Hazel. If there is anything I've +omitted, just tell me, and I 'll try to make it good."</p> +<p class="pnext">The Doctor nodded penitently. "I know, John, I 've +said it badly; and I don't know but that I shall make it +worse by saying you 've done too much."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Too much! That is not possible. Did n't you order +last year's trip to Florida and the summer yachting +cruise?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Doctor Heath groaned. "I'm getting in deeper and +deeper, John; you can't understand, because you are you; +born and bred as you are-- Look here, John, did it ever +occur to you that Hazel is a little hot-house plant that +needs hardening?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, Richard."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, she is; she needs hardening to make her any +kind of a woman physically and, and--" The Doctor +stopped short. There were some things of which he +rarely spoke.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My Hazel needs hardening!" exclaimed the amazed +father. "Why, Richard, have n't you impressed upon me +again and again that she needs the greatest care?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The Doctor groaned again and smote his friend solidly +on the knee.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, you poor rich--you poor rich! 'Eyes have ye, +and ye see not; ears have ye, and hear not.' John, the +girl must go away from you, who over-indulge her, from +this home-nest of luxury, from this private-school business +and dancing-class dissipation, from her young-grown-up +lunch-parties and matinée-parties, from her violin lessons +and her indoor gymnastics--curse them!"</p> +<p class="pnext">This was a great deal for the usually self-contained +physician, and Mr. Clyde stared at him, but half comprehending.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Go away? Do you mean, Richard, that she must +leave me?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, I mean just that."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well,"--it was a long-drawn, thinking "well,"--"I +will ask my sister to take her this summer. She +returns from Egypt soon and has just written me she intends +to open her place, 'The Wyndes,' in June."</p> +<p class="pnext">Again the Doctor groaned: "And kill her with golf +and picnics and coaching among all those fashionable +butterflies! Now, hear to me, John," he laid his hand on +his friend's shoulder, "send her away into the country, +that is country,--something, by the way, which you +know precious little about. Let me find her a place up +among those life-giving Green Hills, and do you do +without her for one year. Let me prescribe for her there; +and I 'll guarantee she returns to you hale and hearty. +Trust her to me, John; you 'll thank me in the end. I +can do no more for her here."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do you mean, Richard, to put her away into real +country conditions?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, just that; into a farmer's family, if possible,--and +I know I can make it possible,--and let her be as +one of them, work, play, go barefoot, eat, sleep, be merry--in +fact, be what the Lord intended her to be; and you 'll +find out that is something very different from what she is, +if only you 'll hear to me."</p> +<p class="pnext">The Doctor was pacing the room in his earnestness. +He was not accustomed to beg thus to be allowed to +prescribe for his patients. His one word was law, and he +was not required to explain his motives.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Clyde's eyes followed him; then he broke the +prolonged silence.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Richard, you have asked me the one thing to which +her mother would never have consented. How, then, +can I?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Think it over, John, and let me know."</p> +<p class="pnext">The two men clasped hands.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Let me take you along in my cab to the reception; +it's inhuman to take out your horses on such a +night."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Thank you, no; I think I 'll give it up; I 'm not in +the mood for it. Good-night, old fellow."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good-night, Johnny."</p> +<p class="pnext">The next morning, at breakfast, the Doctor took up a +note that lay beside his plate, and after reading it +beamed joyously while he stirred his coffee vigorously +without drinking it. When, finally, he looked up, his +wife elevated her eyebrows over the top of the coffee urn, +and the Doctor laughed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"To be sure, wifie, read the note." And this is what +she read:--</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">DEAR RICHARD,--I 've had a hard night, trying to look at +things from your point of view and see my own duty towards +Hazel. Things have grown rather misty, looking both +backwards and forwards, and I have concluded I can't do better +than to take you at your word,--trust her to you, and accept +the guarantee of her return to me with her physical condition +such as it should be.</p> +<p class="pnext">This decision will, as you well know, raise a storm of protest +among the relations. The whole swarm will be about my +ears in less than no time. Stand by me. The whole +responsibility rests upon you,--and tell Hazel; I 'm too much +of a coward. This is a confession, but you will understand. +Let me know the details of your plans so soon as possible. +I have never been able to give you such a proof of friendship. +Have you ever asked another man for such? I mistrust you, +old fellow.</p> +<dl class="docutils left white-space-pre-line"> +<dt class="white-space-pre-line">Yours,</dt> +<dd class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first last pfirst white-space-pre-line">JOHN.</p> +</dd> +</dl> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="a-little-millionaire">IV</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">A LITTLE MILLIONAIRE</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">"Gabrielle."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oui, mademoiselle Hazel," came in shrill yet muffled +tones from the depths of the dressing-room closet.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Bring me my white silk kimono."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oui, mademoiselle."</p> +<p class="pnext">The order, in French, was given in a weak and slightly +fretful voice that issued from the bed at the farther end of +a large room from which the dressing-room opened. The +apartment was, in truth, what Doctor Heath had called it, +"a nest of luxury."</p> +<p class="pnext">It was a bitter Saint Valentine's Day which succeeded the +Doctor's evening visit. The wood-fire, blazing cheerily in +the ample fireplace, sent its warmth and light far out into +the room, flashing red reflections in the curiously twisted +bars of the brass bedstead. At the left of the fireplace +stood a small round tea-table, and upon it a little silver +tea-kettle on a standard of the same metal. Dainty cups +and saucers of egg-shell china were grouped about it; a +miniature silver tray held a sugar-dish and a cream-pot +and a half-dozen gold-lined souvenir spoons.</p> +<p class="pnext">On the richly carved mantel stood an exquisite plate-glass +clock, the chimes of which were just striking nine, +and, keeping it company to right and left, were two dainty +figures of a shepherd and shepherdess in Dresden china. +The remaining mantel space was filled with tiny figures +in bisque,--a dachshund, a cat and kittens, a porcelain +box, heart-shaped, the top covered with china forget-me-nots, +a silver drinking-cup, a small oval portrait on ivory +of a beautiful young woman, framed in richly chased gold, +the inner rim set round with pearls. A blue pitcher of +Cloisonné and a tray of filigree silver heaped with dainty +cotillion favors stood on one end; on the other, a crystal +vase filled with white tulips.</p> +<p class="pnext">Soft blue and white Japanese rugs lay upon the polished +floor; delicate blue and white draperies hung at the +windows. Dressing-case and writing-desk of white curled +maple were each laden with articles for the toilet and for +writing, in solid silver, engraved with the monogram H.C. +A couch, upholstered in blue and white Japanese silk, stood +at the right of the fireplace, and all about the room were +dainty wicker chairs enamelled in white, and cushioned to +match the hangings.</p> +<p class="pnext">The bed was canopied in pale blue covered with white +net and edged with lace, and the coverlet was of silk of +the same delicate color, embroidered with white violets +and edged like the canopy, only with a deeper frill of lace. +The occupant of this couch, fit for a princess royal, was +the little mistress of all she surveyed, as well as the +mansion of which the room formed a small part; and a +woebegone-looking little girl she was, who called again, and +this time impatiently:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Gabrielle, hurry, do."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oui, oui, mademoiselle Hazel;" and Gabrielle tripped +across the room with the white kimono in one hand and +fresh towels in the other. She had just slipped it upon +Hazel when there was a knock at the door. Gabrielle +opened it, and Wilkins asked in a voice intended to be +low, but which proved only husky:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nuss say she mus' jes' speak wif Marse Clyde 'fo' she +come up, an' wan's to know if Miss Hazel will haf her +breffus now or wait till she come up herse'f."</p> +<p class="pnext">Before Gabrielle could answer, Hazel called out, "You +may bring it up now, Wilkins; and has the postman come +yet?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Wilkins' broad smile sounded in his voice, as it came out +of its huskiness.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, Miss Hazel, ben jes' 'fo' I come up. I ain't seen +no hearts, but dey's thicker 'n spatter by de feel, an' a +heap o' boxes by 'spress!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, bring them up quick, Wilkins, and tell papa to be +sure and come up directly after breakfast."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, for sho', Miss Hazel," said Wilkins, delighted +to have a word with the little daughter of her whom +he had carried in his arms thirty-two years ago up and +down the jasmine-covered porch of an old New Orleans +mansion.</p> +<p class="pnext">In a few minutes, he reappeared with two large silver +trays, on one of which was the tempting breakfast of +Hamburg grapes, a dropped egg, a slice of golden-brown +toast, half of a squab broiled to the melting-point, and a +cup of cocoa. On the other were boxes large and small, +and white envelopes of all sizes.</p> +<p class="pnext">Gabrielle cut the string and opened the boxes, while +Hazel looked on, pleased to be remembered, but finding +nothing unusual in the display; for Christmas and Easter +and birthdays and parties brought just about the same +collection, minus "the hearts," which Wilkins had felt +through the covers. The only fun, after all, was in the +guessing.</p> +<p class="pnext">Just then Mr. Clyde entered.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, papa! I 'm so glad you have come; it's no fun +guessing alone." She put up her peaked, sallow little +face for the good-morning kiss; and her father, with the +thought of his last night's struggle, took the face in both +hands and kissed brow and mouth with unusual tenderness.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, papa!" she exclaimed, "that kiss is my best +valentine; you never kissed me that way before."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, it's time I began, Birdie; let's see what you +have for nonsense here. What's this--from Cambridge?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, that's Jack, I 'm sure; he always sends me violets; +but what is that in the middle of the bunch?" With a +smile she drew out a tiny vignette of her Harvard +Sophomore cousin. It was framed in a little gold heart, and on +a slip of paper was written, "For thee, I 'm all 'art."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Jack 's a gay deceiver," laughed her father; "he 's all +''art' for a good many girls, big and little. What's +this?--and this?"</p> +<p class="pnext">One after another he took out the contents of envelopes +and boxes,--candy hearts by the pound in silver bonbon +boxes, silk hearts, paper hearts, a flower heart of real roses +("That's from you, Papa Clyde!" she exclaimed, and her +father did not deny the pleasant accusation), hollow gilt +hearts stuffed with sentiments, a silver chatelaine heart for +change, and last, but not least, an enormous envelope, a +foot square, containing a white paper heart all written over +with "sentiments" from the girls in her class at school.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come now, Birdie," said her father, after the last one +had been opened and guessed over, "eat your breakfast, or +nurse will scold us both for putting play before business."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't think I want any, papa," said Hazel, languidly, +for, after all, the valentines had proved to be almost too +much excitement for the little girl, who was just +recovering from weeks of slow fever; "and, Gabrielle, take the +flowers away, they make my head ache,--and the other +things, too," she added, turning her head wearily on the +pillow.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But you must eat, Hazel dear," said her father, gently +but firmly; and therewith he took a grape and squeezed +the pulp between her lips. Hazel laughed,--a faint +sound.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, papa, if you feed me that way, I shall be a real +Birdie. Yes," she nodded, "that's good; I 'll take +another;" and her father proceeded to feed her slowly, +now coaxing, now urging, then commanding, till a few +grapes and a half egg were disposed of.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There, now, I won't play tyrant any longer," he said, +"for your real tyrant of a doctor is coming soon, and I +must be out of the way."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Are you going to be at home for luncheon to-day, papa?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, dear, I 've promised to go out to Tuxedo with the +Masons, but I shall be at home before dinner, just to look +in upon you. I dine with the Pearsells afterwards. +Good-bye." A kiss,--two, three of them; and the merry, +handsome young father, still but thirty-seven, had gone, +and with him much of the brightness of Hazel's day.</p> +<p class="pnext">But she was used to this. Ever since she could remember +anything, she had been petted and kissed and--left +with her nurse, her governess, or a French maid.</p> +<p class="pnext">Her young mother, a Southern belle, lived more out of +her home than in it, with the round of gayeties in the +winter months interrupted and continued by winter +house-parties at Lenox, a yachting cruise in the Mediterranean, +an early spring-flitting to the mountains of North Carolina, +and the later household moving to Newport.</p> +<p class="pnext">In all these migrations Hazel accompanied her parents; +in fact, was moved about as so much goods and chattels, +from New York to the Berkshires, from the Berkshires to +Malta, from Malta to the Great Smokies, from the +mountains to the sea; her appurtenances, the governess and +French maid, went with her; and the routine of her home +in New York, the study, the promenade, the all-alone +breakfasts and dinners went on with the regularity of +clockwork, whether on the yacht, in the mountains, or in +the villa on the Cliff.</p> +<p class="pnext">So now, although she wished her father would stay and +entertain her, it never occurred to her to tell him so; and +likewise it never occurred to the father that his child +needed or wished him to stay. Nor had it ever occurred +to the young mother that she was not doing her whole +duty by her child; for she never omitted to go upstairs +and kiss her little daughter good-night, whether the child +was awake or asleep, before going out to dinner, theatre, +or reception.</p> +<p class="pnext">She died when Hazel was nine, and it was a lovely +memory of "mamma" that Hazel cherished: a vision of +loveliness in trailing white silk, or velvet, or lace,--her +mother always wore white, it was her Southern +inheritance,--with a single dark-red rose among the folds of +Venetian point of the bertha; always a gleam of white neck +and arms banded with flashing, many-faceted diamonds, +or roped with pearls; always a sense of delicious white +warmth and fragrance, as the vision bent over her and +pressed a light kiss upon her cheek. And if, in her bliss, +she opened her sleepy eyes, she looked always into +laughing brown depths, and putting up her hand caressed +shining masses of brown hair.</p> +<p class="pnext">But it was always a good-night vision. In the morning +mamma did not breakfast until ten, and Hazel was off to +the little private school at half-past nine. At noon +mamma was either out at lunch or giving a lunch-party; +and in the afternoon there was the promenade in the +Park with the governess, and sometimes, as a treat, a drive +with mamma on her round of calls, when Hazel and the +maid sat among the furs in the carriage. Then Hazel +played at being grown up, and longed for the time when +she could wear a reception dress like mamma's, of white +broadcloth and sable, and trip up the steps of the various +houses, and trip down again with a bevy of young girls +laughing and chatting so merrily.</p> +<p class="pnext">All that had ceased when Hazel was nine, and the +young father had made her mistress in her mother's place. +It was such a great house! and there were so many +servants! and the housekeeper was so strict! and it was so +queer to sit at the round table in the big dining-room and +try to look at papa over the silver épergne in the centre!</p> +<p class="pnext">When she was eleven, she entered one of the large +private schools which many of her little mates attended. +Soon it came to be the "girls of our set" with Hazel; +and then there followed music-lessons, and violin-lessons, +and riding-lessons, and dancing-class, and riding-days in +the Park, and lunch-parties with the girls, and +theatre-matinée-parties, and concerts at Carnegie Hall, and birthday +parties, and sales--school and drawing-room affairs--and +Lenten sewing-classes; until gradually her little +society life had become an epitome of her mother's, and +when she began to shoot up like a bean-sprout, lose +her round face and the delicate pink from her cheeks, +uncles and aunt and cousin and friends whispered of her +mother's frail constitution, and that it was time to take +heed.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then it was that the physician, who had helped to bring +her into the world, was summoned hastily to prevent her +early departure from it. This was the "curious case" +that so bothered him; and this pale, languid girl of +thirteen in the blue-canopied bed was the one he intended to +transplant into another soil.</p> +<p class="pnext">A short, sharp tap announced his arrival. The nurse +opened the door.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good-morning, little girl--ah, ah! Saint Valentine's +Day? I had forgotten it; all those came this morning?" +he said cheerily, pointing to a table on which Gabrielle +had placed all the remembrances but the flowers.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, Doctor Heath; but my best valentine, you know, +is papa, and after him, you."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hm, flatterer!" growled the Doctor, feeling her pulse. +"Pretty good, pretty good. Think we can get you up +for half a day. What do you say, nurse?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I think it will do her good, Doctor Heath; she has no +appetite yet, and a little exercise might help her to it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"No appetite?" The two eyebrows drew together in a +straight line over the bridge of his nose, and, from under +them, a pair of keen eyes looked at Hazel.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, I 've planned something that will give you a +splendid one, Hazel,--the best kind of a tonic--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, I don't want to take any more tonics. I am so +sick of them," said Hazel, in a despairing tone, for although +she adored the Doctor, she despised his medicines.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You won't get sick of this tonic so soon, I 'll +warrant," he said, unbending his brows and letting the full +twinkle of his fine eyes shine forth,--"at least not after +you are used to it. I won't say but that it may cause +a certain kind of sickness at first; in fact, I 'm sure +of it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, will it nauseate me?" cried Hazel, dreading to +suffer any more.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, no, it won't do that, but--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"But what <em class="italics">do</em> you mean, Doctor Heath? Are you joking?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Never was more in earnest in my life," replied the +Doctor, rubbing his hands in glee, much to Hazel's +amazement. "Hazel," he turned abruptly to her, "papa is a +splendid fellow; did you know that?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel laughed aloud, a real girl's laugh,--Doctor Heath +was so queer at times.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Have you just found that out?" she retorted.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, you witch,--don't be impertinent to your elders,--I +have n't; but really he is, take it all in all, just about +the most common-sense fellow in New York City."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What has he done now, that you are praising him so?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Just heard to me, my dear, and agreed to do just as I +want him to," said the Doctor, demurely.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why," laughed Hazel, "that's just when I think he is +a most splendid fellow, when he does just what I want him +to. Is n't it funny you and I think just alike!" And she +gave his hand a malicious little pat. The Doctor caught +the five slender digits and held them fast.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now we 're agreed that you have the most splendid, +common-sense father in the world, I want you to prove to +me that your father has the most splendid, common-sense +daughter in it, as well."</p> +<p class="pnext">Again Hazel laughed. She was used to her friend's ways.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That means that you want me to take that old, new +tonic of yours."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, just that," said the Doctor, emphatically; "and +now, as you don't appear to care to hear about it, I 'm going +to make a long call and tell you its entire history."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Have you brought it with you?" asked Hazel, somewhat +mystified.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, I can't carry around with me in a cab five children, +a hundred acres of pine woods, a whole mountain-top, and +a few Jersey cows."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What <em class="italics">do</em> you mean? You <em class="italics">are</em> joking."</p> +<p class="pnext">Then the physician clasped the thin hand a little more +closely and told her of the country plan.</p> +<p class="pnext">At first, Hazel failed to comprehend it. She gazed at +the speaker with large, serious eyes, as if she half-feared +he had taken leave of his senses.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Did papa know it this morning?" was her first question.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, my dear."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then that is why he kissed me the way he did," she +said thoughtfully. "But," her lip quivered, "I sha'n't +have him to kiss me up there, and--and--oh, dear!" A +wail went up from the canopied bed that made the Doctor +turn sick at heart, and even the nurse hurried away into +the dressing-room.</p> +<p class="pnext">Somehow Doctor Heath could not exhort Hazel, as he +had her father, to use common-sense. He preferred to use +diplomacy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You see, Hazel, a year won't be so very long, and it +will give your hair time to grow; and perhaps you would +not mind wearing a cap for a time up there, while if you +were here you certainly would not care about going to +dancing-school or parties in that rig; now would you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel sniffed and looked for her handkerchief. As she +failed to find it, the Doctor applied his own huge square of +linen to the dripping, reddened eyes, and tenderly stroked +the smooth-shaven head.</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel had her vanities like all girls, and her long dark +braids had been one of them. After the fever, she had +been shorn of what scanty locks had been left to her, and +many a time she had wondered what the girls would say +when they saw her. After all, the new plan might be +endured, for the sake of the hair and her looks.</p> +<p class="pnext">She sniffed again, and this time a good many tears were +drawn up into her nose. The Doctor, taking no notice of +the subsiding flood, proceeded,--</p> +<p class="pnext">"My patients always look so comical when the fuzz is +coming out. It's like chicken-down all over the head--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Fuzz!" exclaimed Hazel, with a dismayed, wide-eyed +look; "must I have fuzz for hair?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, of course, for about five months," was the Doctor's +matter-of-fact reply. "Then," he continued, apparently +unheeding the look of relief that crept over Hazel's +face, "you are apt to have the hair come out curly."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, and it really grows very fast--that is," he said, +resorting to wile, "if any one is strong and well; but if +the general health is not good, why--hem!--the hair +is n't apt to grow!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Goodness! I don't want to be bald all my life!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, I thought not, and for that very reason it did seem +the best thing for you to get into the country where you can +get well and strong as fast as ever you can."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Shall I have to eat my breakfast and dinner alone up +there?" was her next question.</p> +<p class="pnext">Doctor Heath laughed. "What! With all those five +children! You will never want for company, I can assure +you of that. And now I 'll be off; as it's Saint Valentine's +Day, which I had forgotten, I 'll wager I have five +valentines from those very children waiting for me at home."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Will you show them to me, if you have?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"To be sure I will. Now sit up for half a day, and get +yourself strong enough to let me take you up there by the +middle of March."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, are you going to take me? What fun! Are they +friends of yours?" she added timidly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Every one," said the Doctor, emphatically. He turned +at the door. "You have n't said yet whether you will +honor me with your company up there."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I suppose I must," she said, with something between +a sigh and a laugh. "But I don't know what Gabrielle +will do; she 'll be so homesick."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Gabrielle!" cried the Doctor, in a voice loud with +amazement; "you don't think you are going to take +Gabrielle with you, do you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Before Hazel had time to recover from her astonishment, +Gabrielle, hearing her name called so loudly, came tripping +into the room.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oui, oui, monsieur le docteur;" and Doctor Heath +beat a hasty retreat to avoid further misunderstandings.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the afternoon, Hazel received a box by messenger, +with, "Please return by bearer," on the wrapper. On +opening it, she found the Doctor's valentines with the +following sentiments appropriately attached.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<!-- --> +<blockquote> +<div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">I</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line">By Rose-pose made, by March adorned,</div> +<div class="line">'T is not a Heart that one should scorn:</div> +<div class="line">For use each day, the whole year through,</div> +<div class="line">Where find a Valentine so true?</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line">II</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line">Cherry Blossom made this fudge</div> +<div class="line">(Buddie made the box).</div> +<div class="line">Eat it soon, or you will judge,</div> +<div class="line">She made it all of rocks.</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line">III</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line">Baby May has made this cookie;</div> +<div class="line">Mother baked it--but, by hookey!</div> +<div class="line">I can't find another rhyme</div> +<div class="line">To match with this your valentine.</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="inner line-block"> +<div class="line">Your loving Valentines,</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +<div class="line">ROSE, MARCH, "BUDD AND CHERRY," MAY BLOSSOM.</div> +<div class="inner line-block"> +<div class="inner line-block"> +<div class="line">(We're one.)</div> +</div> +</div> +<div class="line">MOUNT HUNGER, February 14, 1896.</div> +</div> +</div> +</blockquote> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="transplanted">V</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">TRANSPLANTED</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">It was the middle of April, yet the drifts still blocked +the ravines, and great patches of snow lay scattered thickly +on the northern and eastern slopes of the mountains.</p> +<p class="pnext">Not a bud had thought of swelling; not a fern dared to +raise its downy ball above the sodden leaves. Day after +day a keen wind from the north chased dark clouds across +a watery blue sky, and now and then a solitary crow +flapped disconsolately over the upland pastures and into +the woods.</p> +<p class="pnext">But in the farmhouse on the mountain, every Blossom +was a-quiver with excitement, for the "live Valentine" +was to arrive that day.</p> +<p class="pnext">According to what Doctor Heath had written first, +Mrs. Blossom had expected Hazel to come the middle of March. +She had told the children about it a week before that +date, and ever since, wild and varied and continuous had +been the speculations concerning the new member of the +family.</p> +<p class="pnext">Both father and mother were much amused at the +different ways in which each one accepted the fact, and +commented upon it. At the same time they were slightly +anxious as to the outcome of such a combination.</p> +<p class="pnext">"They 'll work it out for themselves, Mary," said +Mr. Blossom, when his wife was expressing her fears on account +of the attitude of March and Cherry.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I hope with all my heart they will, without friction or +unpleasantness for the poor child," replied his wife, +thoughtfully, for March's looks and words returned to her, and +they foreboded trouble.</p> +<p class="pnext">Her husband smiled. "Perhaps the 'poor child' will +have her ways of looking at things up here, which may +cause a pretty hard rub now and then for our children. +But let them take it; it will do them good, and show +us what stuff is in them for the future."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Blossom tried to think so, but March's words on +that afternoon she had told the children came back to her.</p> +<p class="pnext">They were dumb at first through sheer surprise. Then +Rose spoke, flinging aside her Virgil she had been studying +by the failing light at the window.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, mother! we 've been so happy--just by ourselves."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Will you be less happy, Rose, in trying to make +some one else share our happiness?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose said nothing, but leaned her forehead against the +pane, and the tears trickled adown it and froze halfway.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Blossom proceeded, in the silence that followed, to +tell them something of Hazel's life. Then Budd spoke up +like a man.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'm awful sorry for her; she 's a little brick to be +willing to come away from her father and live with folks +she don't know. I 'd be a darned coward about leaving +my Popsey."</p> +<p class="pnext">There was no tablecloth handy to hide the squeeze he +wanted to give his mother's hand, and Mrs. Blossom, +knowing how he hated any public demonstration of affection, +reserved her approving kiss for the dark and bedtime. But +she looked at him in a way that sent Budd whistling, "I +won't play in your back-yard," over to the kitchen stove, +where he stared inanely at his own reflection in the polished +pipe.</p> +<p class="pnext">For the first time in her life, Cherry did not echo her +twin's sentiment. She was already insanely jealous of the +new-comer who seemed to claim so much of her mother's +sympathy and affection. And she was n't even here! +What would it be when she was here for good and all?</p> +<p class="pnext">At this miserable thought, and all that it appeared to +involve, Cherry began to cry.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now to see Cherry Blossom cry generally afforded +great fun for the whole family; for there never was a +girl of ten who could cry in quite such a unique manner +as this same round-faced, pug-nosed, brown-eyed Cherry, +whose red hair curled as tightly as corkscrews all over +her head, and bobbed and danced and quivered and shook +with every motion and emotion.</p> +<p class="pnext">First, her nose grew very red at the tip; then, her small +mouth screwed itself around by her left ear; gradually, +her round face wrinkled till it resembled a withered +crabapple; and finally, if one listened intently and watched +closely, one could hear small sniffs and see two +infinitesimal drops of water issue from the nearly closed and +wrinkled eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">But to-day no one noticed, and Cherry sat down in +her mother's lap, and mumbled out her woe between sniffs.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can't help it if Budd does want her; <em class="italics">I</em> don't, Martie. +Budd will play with her, and you 'll kiss her just as you +do us, and it won't be comfy any more."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That does not sound like mother's Cherry Blossom," +said Mrs. Blossom, smiling in spite of herself. "I think +I 'll tell you all why it comes to mother and father as a +blessing."</p> +<p class="pnext">Then Mrs. Blossom told them of the mortgage on the +farm; how it had been made necessary, and what it meant, +and how it was her duty to accept what had been sent to +her as a means of paying it off.</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose came over from the window. "Oh, why did n't +you tell us before, Martie," she cried, sobbing outright this +time, "and let us help you to earn something towards it +during all this dreadful year? To think you have been +bearing all this, and just going about the same, smiling and +cheer--oh, dear!" Rose sat down on the hearth-rug at her +mother's feet, and her sobs mingled with Cherry's sniffs.</p> +<p class="pnext">March, who had listened thus far in silence, rose from +the settle where he had flung himself in disgust, and, going +over to his mother, stood straight and tall before her. His +gray eyes flashed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 've been a fool, mother, not to see it all before this. +You ought to have told <em class="italics">me</em>. I 'm your eldest son, and come +next after father in 'home things.'" And with this +assertion he made a mighty resolve, then and there to put away +boyish things and be more of a man. His mother, looking +at him, felt the change, and tears of thankfulness filled her +eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What could you do, children? You were too young +to have your lives burdened with work."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'd have found something to do, mother, if you had +only told me. About the girl--" he hesitated--"of +course I 'll look at it from the money side, but it 'll never +be the same after she comes--never!" And with that he +went off into the barn.</p> +<p class="pnext">His mother sighed, for March was looking at the matter +in the very way which, to her, was abhorrent.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't sigh so, Martie," cried Rose; "I 'll take back +what I said, and do everything I can to help you by +making it pleasant for her. Budd has made me ashamed of +myself."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's my own daughter Rose," said Mrs. Blossom, +leaning over to kiss her parting, for Cherry was awkwardly +in the way.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Did you hear Rose, Cherry?" whispered her mother.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ye-es," sniffed Cherry.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And won't you try to help mother, and make Hazel +happy?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"N-o," said Cherry, still obdurate.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very well; then I must depend on Rose and Budd and +little May," replied her mother, putting her down from her +knee. By which Cherry knew she was out of favor, and, +not having Budd to flee to for sympathy, ran blindly out +into the woodshed and straight into Chi, who was bringing +in two twelve-quart milk pails filled to overflowing with +their creamy contents.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hi there! Cherry Bounce! Steady, steady--without +you want to mop up this woodshed."</p> +<p class="pnext">"O Chi! I 'm just as miser'ble; a new little girl's +coming to live with us always, and we 'll have no more +good times."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's queer," said Chi, balancing the pails deftly as +Cherry fluttered about, rather uncertain as to where she +should betake herself in the cold. "I should think it +would be the more, the merrier. When's she comin'?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"This very month," said Cherry, opening her eyes a little +wider, and forgetting to sniff in her delight at telling some +news. "She 's a rich little girl, but very poor, too, mother +says, and she's been sick and is coming here to get well. I +suppose she 's lost all her flesh while she 's been sick, like +Aunt Tryphosa; don't you? That's why she 's so poor."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hm!--rich 'n' poor too; that's bad for children," said +Chi, soberly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why?" asked Cherry, surprised into drying her small +tears and forgetting to sniff.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Coz 't is. You see, all you children are rich 'n' poor +too; so she 'll keep you comp'ny, as she 's poor where +you 're rich as Croesus, 'n' you 're poor as Job's turkey +where she's rich."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, what do you mean, Chi?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"You wait awhile, 'n' you 'll find out." And with that, +Cherry had to be content.</p> +<p class="pnext">As the woodshed was too cold to be long comfortably +mournful in,--Cherry decided to go inside and set the +table for tea, wondering, meanwhile, what Chi meant. +Ordinarily she would have gone straight to her mother to +find out; but just to-night Cherry felt there was an abyss +separating them, and she hated the very thought of the +newcomer having caused this break between her adored +Martie and herself before having stepped foot in the house.</p> +<p class="pnext">But Hazel's arrival had been delayed a whole month: +first, on account of the unusually cold weather of March, +and then on account of the Doctor's pressing engagements. +To-night, however, this long waiting was to be at an end.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Blossom had harnessed Bess and Bob into the two-seated +wagon, and driven down three miles for them to the +"Mill Settlement;" and there he was to meet the stage +from Barton's River, the nearest railway station.</p> +<p class="pnext">As the time approached for the light of the lantern on +the wagon to glimmer on the lower mountain road, which +ran in view of the house, the excitement of Budd and Cherry +grew intense. March intended to be indifferent, yet tolerant, +but even he went twice to the door to listen. As for Rose, +she was thinking almost more of Doctor Heath, with whom +she was a great favorite, than of the coming guest. Chi +had done up the chores early with March's help, and sat +whistling and whittling in the shed door with his eye on +the lower road.</p> +<p class="pnext">"They 're coming; they 're coming!" screamed the twins, +making a wild dash for the woodshed, that they might have +the first glimpse as the wagon drove up to the kitchen +porch.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Chi, they 're coming!" they shrieked in his ear, as they +flew past him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, I ain't deaf, if they are," said Chi, gathering +himself together, and going out to help unload.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Chi, how are you?" said the Doctor, in a hearty tone, +grasping the horny hand held out to him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"First-rate, 'n' glad to see you back on the Mountain."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Here, lend a hand, will you? and take out a Little +somebody who has to be handled rather gently for a week or +two."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I ain't much used to handlin' chiny," he replied, "but +I 'll be careful."</p> +<p class="pnext">He reached up his long arms and, gently as a woman, +lifted Hazel out of the wagon on to the porch.</p> +<p class="pnext">By this time, Budd had found his bearings and had the +Doctor by the hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Halloo, Budd! here you are handy. Just take Hazel's +bag, and run into the house with her; she must n't stand a +minute in this keen air."</p> +<p class="pnext">Budd's heart was going pretty fast, but he faced the +music.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come along, Hazel; we 've been waiting a month to see you."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And I've been waiting longer than that to see you, +Budd." The gentle voice made Budd her vassal forever +after.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Here, Martie, here's Hazel!" he shouted quite +unnecessarily, for his mother had come to the door to welcome +her guests. Cherry, hearing the shout, disappeared in the +pantry, and was invisible until called to supper.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the confusion of glad welcome that followed, Hazel +was conscious of stepping into a large, warm, lighted room, +of some one's arms about her, and of a loving voice, saying:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come in, dear; you must be so tired with your long +journey and this cold ride;" and then a kiss that made her +half forget the lonely, strange feeling she had had during +the stage and wagon ride, despite the doctor's cheerfulness +and care of her.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then some one untied her brown velvet hood and loosened +her long sealskin coat.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Let me take off your things," said Rose.</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel looked up and into the loveliest face she ever +remembered to have seen.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'm Rose, and this is May. May, this is the valentine +Martie told us of."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I tiss 'oo," said May, winningly, and held up her rosy +bud of a face to Hazel. Hazel stooped to give her, not +one, but a half-dozen kisses. There was no resisting such +a little blossom.</p> +<p class="pnext">May put up her hand and stroked the little silk skull-cap.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What 'oo wear tap for?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sh! baby," said Rose, horrified, putting her hand on +May's mouth.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, don't do that," said Hazel, "I 'm so used to it now; +I don't mind what people say or think. But I did at first."</p> +<p class="pnext">May's lip began to quiver and roll over; Hazel sat +down on the settle, and, drawing May up beside her, said +gently:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"There, there, little May Blossom, don't you cry, and +I 'll tell you all about it. It's because I have n't any hair. +I lost it all when I was sick so long. Sometime I 'll show +you how funny my head looks, all covered with fuzz. +Doctor Heath says it's like a little chicken's." And May +was comforted and won once and for all to the Valentine, +who gave her the tiny chatelaine watch to play with.</p> +<p class="pnext">Budd had been hanging about to get the first glimpse of +Hazel by lamplight, and now rushed off to the barn and +Chi to give vent to his feelings.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I say, Chi, where are you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"In the harness room," replied Chi. "What do you +want?" as he appeared.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I say, Chi, she 's a peach. She is n't a bit stuck up, as +March said she would be."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good-lookin'?" queried Chi.</p> +<p class="pnext">"N-o," said Budd, hesitating, "n-o, but I think she will +be when she gets some hair."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ain't got any hair!" exclaimed Chi. "How does that happen?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"She said she 'd been sick an' lost it all, an' 't was like +chicken fuzz."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Said that, did she?" exclaimed Chi, laughing; then, +with the sudden change from gayety to absolute solemnity +that was peculiar to him, he said:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"She 's no fool, I can tell you that, Budd; 'n' I 'll bet +my last red cent she 'll come out an A Number 1 beauty; +'n' March Blossom had better hold his tongue till he cuts +all his wisdom teeth." And with that Chi went into the +shed room to "wash up."</p> +<p class="pnext">What a supper that was! And what a room in which +to eat it!</p> +<p class="pnext">But for the Doctor's cheery voice, Hazel, as she sat in a +corner of the settle, might have thought herself in another +world, so unaccustomed were her city-bred eyes to all that +was going on before her. The room itself was so queer, +and, in a way new to her, delightful.</p> +<p class="pnext">The farmhouse was an old one, strong of beam and solid +of foundation. It had been divided at first according to +the fashion of the other century in which it was built. But +as his family increased, Mr. Blossom found the need of a +large, general living-room. It was then that he took down +the wall between the front square room and the kitchen, +and threw them into one. It was this arrangement that +made the apartment unique.</p> +<p class="pnext">At one end was the huge fireplace that was originally +in the front room. At the left of the fireplace was the +jog into which the front door opened, formerly the little +entry.</p> +<p class="pnext">This was the sitting-room end of the low forty-foot-long +apartment; and it showed to Hazel the fireplace, the +old-fashioned crane, with the hickory back-log glowing warm +welcome, the long red-cushioned settle, a set of shelves +filled with books, a little round work-table, Mrs. Blossom's +special property, a large round table of cherry that had +turned richly red with age, and wooden armchairs and +rockers, with patchwork cushions.</p> +<p class="pnext">The middle portion served for dining-room. In it were +the family table of hard pine, the wooden chairs, and +Mrs. Blossom's grandmother's tall pine dresser.</p> +<p class="pnext">At the kitchen end, next the woodshed, were the sink, +the stove, the kitchen shelves for pots and pans, and +the kitchen table with its bread-trough and pie-board, +all of which Rose kept scoured white with soap and sand.</p> +<p class="pnext">This living-room, sitting-room, dining-room, and kitchen +in one had six windows facing south and east. Every +window had brackets for plants; for this evening Rose +had turned the blossom-side inwards to the room, and the +walls glowed and gleamed with the velvety crimson of +gloxinias, the red of fuchsias, the pink and white and +scarlet of geraniums, the cream of wax-plant and begonia. +Upon all this radiance of color, the lamplight shone and +the fire flashed its crimson shadows. The kettle sang on +the stove, and the delicious odor of baked potatoes came +from the open oven.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, March!" said the Doctor, coming down from the +spare room at the call for supper, "waiting for an +introduction? I did n't know you stood on ceremony in this +fashion. Allow me," he said with mock gravity to Hazel, +and presented March in due form.</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel greeted him exactly as she would have greeted a +new boy at dancing-school. "Little Miss Finicky," was +March's scornful thought of her, as he bowed rather +awkwardly and thrust his hands into his pockets, racking his +brains for something to say.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What a handsome boy! As handsome as Jack," was +Hazel's first impression; then, missing the cordiality with +which the other members of the family had welcomed her, +she said in thought, "I 'm sure he does not want me here +by the way he acts; I think he 's horrid."</p> +<p class="pnext">Doctor Heath sat down by Hazel. "I 'm not going to +let you sit down to tea with all these mischiefs, little girl, +not to-night, for you can't eat baked potatoes and the +other good things after that long journey, so I 'll ask Rose +to give you a bite right here on the settle."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll speak to Rose," said March, glad to get away.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Thank you," said the Doctor, looking after him with a +puzzled expression in his keen eyes. Just then Mr. Blossom +and Chi came in, and the whole family sat down at +the table.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, where 's Cherry?" exclaimed the Doctor.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Budd, where 's Cherry?" said his father.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I promised her I would n't tell where she hides till she +was twelve, an' now she 's ten, an' she 's been so mean +about Haz--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Budd," said his father, sternly, "answer me directly."</p> +<p class="pnext">"She 's under the pantry shelf behind the meal-chest," +said Budd, meekly.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a shout of laughter that caused Cherry to +crawl out pretty quickly and open the pantry door,--for +it was hard to hear the fun and not be in it.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come, Cherry," said her mother, still laughing, and +Cherry slipped into her seat beside Doctor Heath with a +murmured, "How do you do?" and her face bent so low +over her plate that nothing was visible to Hazel but a +round head running over with tight red curls that bobbed +and trembled in a peculiarly funny way.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, Cherry," said the Doctor, trying to speak gravely, +with only the red tip of a nose in view, "you seem to be +rather low in your mind. I shall have to prescribe for +you. Chi, suppose you drive me down to the Settlement +to-morrow morning, and on the way to the train I will +send up a cure-all for low spirits. I 've something for +March, too. I think he needs it." He drew his eyebrows +together over the bridge of his nose and cast a sharp +glance at the boy, who felt the doctor had read him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That means you 've got something for us," said Budd, +bluntly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Guess Budd's hit the nail on the head this time," said +Chi. "Should n't wonder if 't was some pretty lively +stuff."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You 're right there, Chi," replied the Doctor, laughing. +"There 's plenty of good strong bark in it--"</p> +<p class="pnext">Thereupon there was a shout of joy from Budd which +brought Cherry's head into position at once.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I know, I know, it's a St. Bernard puppy!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh--ee," squealed Cherry, in her delight, and +forthwith put her arm through the Doctor's and squeezed it +hard against her ribs.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Guess there's a good deal of crow-foot in the other, +ain't there?" said Chi, with a wink at March, who +deliberately left his seat after saying, "Excuse me" most gravely +to his mother, and turned a somersault in the kitchen end +just to relieve his feelings. Then, with his hands in his +pockets, he went up to Doctor Heath, his usually clear, +pale face flushing with excitement.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do you mean, Doctor Heath, you 're going to give me +a full-blooded Wyandotte cock?" he demanded.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That is just what I mean, March," replied the Doctor, +with great gravity, "and twelve full-blooded wives are at +this moment looking in vain for a roost beside their lord +and master in the express office down at Barton's River."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, glory!" cried March, wringing the Doctor's hand +with both his, and then going off to execute another +somersault. "You 've done it now!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Done what, March?" asked Doctor Heath, really +touched by the boy's grateful enthusiasm.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Made my fortune," he replied, dropping into his seat +again, breathless with excitement; and to the Doctor's +amazement he saw tears, actual tears, gather in the boy's +eyes, before he looked down in his plate and busied himself +with his baked potato.</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel saw them too. "What a strange boy," she thought, +"and how different this is from eating my dinner all alone!" Then +she slipped up to the Doctor's side with her small tray +containing nothing but empty dishes, for the keen air and +the sight of so many others eating and enjoying themselves +had given her a good appetite.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Are you satisfied with me <em class="italics">now</em>?" she said, presenting +her tray.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I should think so," he exclaimed. "Two glasses of +milk, two slices of toasted brown bread, one piece of +sponge cake, and a baked apple with cream! I 've gone +out of business with you; my last 'tonic' is going to +work well,--don't you think so?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'm sure it is," she said quietly, but there was such a +depth of meaning in the sweet voice and the few words +that the Doctor threw his arm around her as they rose from +the table, and kept her beside him until bedtime.</p> +<p class="pnext">At nine o'clock, Mrs. Blossom helped her to undress, +and then, saying she would come back soon, left her alone +in the little bedroom off the kitchen.</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel looked about her in amazement. This was her +little room! A small single bed, looking like a snow drift, +so white and feathery and high was it; one window +curtained with a square of starched white cotton cloth that +drew over the panes by means of a white cord on which it +was run at the top; a tiny wash-stand with an old-fashioned +bowl and pitcher of green and white stone-ware, and over +it an old-fashioned gilt mirror; a small splint-bottomed +chair and large braided rug of red woollen rags. That +was all, except in one corner, where some cleats had been +nailed to the ceiling and a clothes-press made by hanging +from them full curtains of white cloth.</p> +<p class="pnext">For the first time in her life, Hazel unpacked her own +travelling-bag and took out the silver toilet articles with +the pretty monogram. But where should she put them? +No bureau, no dressing-case, no bath-room!--For a few +minutes Hazel felt bewildered, then, laughing, she put them +back again into her bag, and, leaving her candle in the tin +candlestick on the wash-stand, she gave one leap into the +middle of the high feather-bed.</p> +<p class="pnext">Just then Mrs. Blossom returned from saying good-night +to her own children. She tucked Hazel in snugly, and to +the young girl's surprise, knelt by the bed saying, "Let us +repeat the Lord's Prayer together, dear;" and together +they said it, Hazel fearing almost the sound of her own +voice. When they had finished, Mary Blossom, still +kneeling, asked that Father to bless the coming of this +one of His little ones into their home, and asked it in such +a loving, trustful way, that Hazel's arm stole out from the +coverlet and around Mrs. Blossom's neck; her head, soft +and silky as a new-born baby's, cuddled to her shoulder: +and when Mrs. Blossom kissed her good-night, she said +suddenly, but half-timidly, "Do you say <em class="italics">this</em> with Rose +every night?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, dear, every night."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And how old is Rose?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"She will be seventeen next August."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do you with Budd and Cherry, too?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, with all my children, even March and May."</p> +<p class="pnext">"March!" exclaimed Hazel.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why not?" laughed his mother. "I 'm sure he +needs it, as you 'll find out; now good-night, and don't +get up to our early breakfast to-morrow, for the Doctor +goes on the first morning train, and you 're not quite +strong enough yet to do just as we do. Good-night +again."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good-night," said Hazel, thinking she could never +have enough of this kind of putting to bed.</p> +<p class="pnext">Meanwhile March and Budd, in their bedroom over the +"long-room," were discussing in half-whispers Wyandotte +cocks, St. Bernard puppies, and the new-comer, for they +were too excited to sleep.</p> +<p class="pnext">Just behind March's bed, near the head, there was a +large knot in the boards of the flooring, which for four +years had served him many a good turn, when Budd and +Cherry were planning, below in the kitchen, how they +could play tricks upon him. March had carefully removed +the knot, and with his eye, or ear, at the hole, he had been +able, entirely to the mystification of the twins, to overthrow +their conspiracies and defeat their flank movements. When +his espionage was over, he replaced the knot, and no one +in the household was the wiser for his private detective +service.</p> +<p class="pnext">To-day, late in the afternoon, he had taken out the knot, +intending to have a view of the new arrival, unbeknown +to the rest of the household; but so interested had he +become in the general welcome and in the anticipation of +the Doctor's gifts, that he had forgotten both to look +through the hole and to replace the knot.</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel, too, could not sleep at first. It was all so strange, +and yet she was so happy. Her thoughts were in New +York, and she was already planning for a visit from her +father, when suddenly she remembered that she had left +the little chatelaine watch he had given her on her last +birthday, lying on the settle where May had been playing +with it. She must wind it regularly, that was her father's +stipulation when he gave it to her. She sprang out of +bed, tiptoed to the door, listened; all was still, but not +wholly dark. The embers beneath the ashes in the +fireplace sent a dull glow into the room. Softly she stole +out; found her watch, then, half-way to her own door, +stopped, startled by a voice issuing apparently from the +rafters overhead. It was March, who, forgetting his open +knot-hole, turned over towards the wall with a prolonged +yawn and said, evidently in answer to Budd:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, go to sleep; don't talk about her. I think she 's +a perfect guy."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="malachi">VI</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">MALACHI</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">It was a month after the eventful day for the Blossoms, +and Saturday morning. Rose, with her sleeves rolled up +above her elbows, was kneading bread and singing, as she +worked:--</p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">"'Oh, a king would have loved and left thee,</div> +<div class="line">And away thy sweet love cast:</div> +<div class="line">But I am thine</div> +<div class="line">Whilst the stars shall shine,--</div> +<div class="line">To the--last--'"</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +</div> +</blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">Just here, she gave the round mass of dough a toss up +to the ceiling and caught it deftly on her right fist as it +came down, finishing her octave with high C, while again +the bread spun aloft and dropped in safety on her left +fist--"to the last!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Then she proceeded with her kneading and singing:--</p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">"'I told thee when love was hopeless;</div> +<div class="line">But now he is wild and sings--</div> +<div class="line">That the stars above [up went the bread again]--</div> +<div class="line">Shine ever on Love--'"</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +</div> +</blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">A peal of merry laughter close behind her made her +jump, and the bread came down kerchunk into the +kneading trough.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Gracious, Hazel! how you frightened me! I thought +you were off with Budd and Cherry."</p> +<p class="pnext">"So I was; but they wanted me to come in and tell you +there is to be a secret meeting of the N.B.B.O.O. Society +in the usual place. They said you would know where it is."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Of course I do; do you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, they would n't tell. They said it is against the +rules to allow any one in who hasn't been initiated. They +said they 'd initiate me, if I wanted to join."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, do you want to?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Of course I do, if you belong," said Hazel, eagerly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Tell them I 'll be out after I 've put the bread to rise +and cleared up; but be sure and tell them not to do +anything till I come."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," cried Hazel, joyfully, skipping through the +woodshed and encountering Chi with a bag of seed-beans.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Where you goin', Lady-bird?" (This was Chi's name +for her from the first day.) "Seems to me you 're gettin' +over the ground pretty fast."</p> +<p class="pnext">"The Buds" (for so Hazel had nicknamed the +children) "are going to have a meeting somewhere of the +N.B.B.O.O. Society, and I'm to be initiated, Chi. What +does that mean?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Initiated, hey? Into a secret society? Well, that +depends.--Sometimes it means being tossed sky-high in +a blanket, and then again you 're dropped lower than the +bottomless pit; and you can't most always tell beforehand +which way you 're goin'."</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel's face fairly lost the rich color she had gained in +the past month. This was more than she had bargained for.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Chi! They would n't do such things to me!" she +exclaimed in dismay.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, no--I don't know as they 'd carry it that far; +but those children mean mischief every time."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But they would n't hurt me, Chi. They would n't be +as mean as that; besides, Rose wouldn't let them."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, I don't know as she would. But children are +children, and Rose ain't grown any wings yet."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Was Rose initiated?" was Hazel's next rather anxious +question.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, she was," said Chi, taking up a handful of beans +and letting them run through his fingers into the open +bag.</p> +<p class="pnext">"How do you know, Chi?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Coz I initiated her myself."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You, Chi? Why, do you belong?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"First member of the N.B.B.O.O. Society."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, that's funny. Who initiated you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi set down the bag of beans, and for a moment shook +with laughter; then, growing perfectly sober, he said +solemnly:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"I initiated myself. But they was all on hand when I +did it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What did you do, Chi?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Just hear her!" said Chi to himself, but aloud, he said, +"I 'll tell you this much, if it is a secret society. They +try 'n' see what stuff you 're made of."</p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">"'Sugar and spice</div> +<div class="line">And all that's nice,</div> +<div class="line">That's what little girls are made of,'"</div> +</div> +</div> +</blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">Hazel interrupted, singing merrily.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There was n't much 'sugar 'n' spice' in that Rose +Blossom when she put me to the test. You ain't heard a +screech-owl yet; but when you do, you'll come running +home to find out whose bein' killed in the woods."</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel looked at him half in fear, but Chi went on +stolidly:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"'N' those children told me I 'd got to go up into the +woods at twelve o'clock at night, when the screech-owls +was yellin' bloody murder, to show I wasn't scairt of +nothin'; 'n' I went."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Chi, was n't it awful?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Kinder scarey; but they gave me the dinner horn 'n' +told me to blow a blast on that when I was up there, so +they 'd hear, 'n' know I was <em class="italics">clear</em> into the woods; for they +was all on hand watchin' from the back attic window--what +they could in a pitch-black night--to see if I 'd +back down."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And you did n't, Chi?" said Hazel, eagerly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You bet I did n't, 'n' I brought home an old screecher +just to prove I was game."</p> +<p class="pnext">"How did you catch him, Chi?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi clapped his hands on his knees, and shook with +laughter; then he grew perfectly sober:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"I took a dark lantern along with me, just to kind of +feel my way in the woods--but the children did n't +know about that--'n' when an old screecher gave a blood-curdlin' +yell, just as near my right ear as the engine down +on the track when you 're standin' at the depot at Barton's +River,--just then I turned on the light full tilt, and the +feller sat right still on the branch, kind of dazed like, 'n' +I took him just as easy as I 'd take a hen off the roost +after dark, 'n' brought him home. 'N' just as I was goin' +up into the attic in the dark, the shed stairs' way, 'n' the +children was all listenin' at the top in the dark, the +dummed bird gave such a screech that the children all +tumbled over one another tryin' to get back to their beds, +'n' such screamin' 'n' hollerin' you never heard--the bird +was n't in it."</p> +<p class="pnext">Again Chi laughed at the recollection, and Hazel joined him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Did they make you do anything more, Chi?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"By George Washin'ton! I should think they did," +said Chi, soberly. "That last was March's idea, but +Rose went him one more."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What could Rose think of worse than that?" demanded +Hazel.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, she did. She blindfolded my eyes 'n' took me +by the hand, 'n' turned me round 'n' round till I was most +dizzy; 'n' then she gave me a rope, 'n' she took one end +of it 'n' made me take the other, 'n' kept leadin' me 'n' +leadin' me, 'n' the children all caperin' round me, screamin' +'n' laughin'. Pretty soon--I calculated I 'd walked about +a quarter of a mile--the rope grew slack; all of a +sudden the laughin' 'n' screamin' stopped, 'n' I--walked +right off the bank into the big pool down under the pines, +ker--splash! 'n' the children, after they 'd got me in, +was so scairt for fear I 'd lose my breath--I could n't +drown coz there was n't more than five feet of water in +it--that they hauled on the rope with all their might, 'n' +pulled me out; 'n' I let 'em pull," said Chi, grimly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I hope they were satisfied after that," said Hazel, +soberly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"They appeared to be," said Chi, contentedly, "for they +said I should be president, coz I was so brave. But +there 's other things harder to do than that."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What are they, Chi?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"You 've got to keep the by-laws."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What are those?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Rules of the Society. One of 'em 's, you must n't be +afraid to tell the truth. 'N' another is, you must be scairt +to tell a lie."</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel grew scarlet at her own thoughts.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Another is, to help other folks all you can; 'n' the +fourth 'n' last is, that no boy or girl as lives in this great, +free country of ours ought to be a coward."</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel drew a long breath.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Those must be hard to keep."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, they ain't always easy, that's a fact; but they re +mighty good to live by," he added, picking up the +bean-bag. "I lived with Ben Blossom's father when I was a +little chap as chore boy, 'n' he gave me my schoolin' 'n' +clothes; 'n' I 've lived with his son ever since he was +married, 'n' he's been the best friend a man could have, 'n' +I 've always got along with him in peace and lovin'-kindness; +'n' those four by-laws his father wrote on my boyhood; +'n' by those four by-laws I 've kept my manhood; +'n' so I think it 'll do anybody good to join the Society."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well," said Hazel, stoutly, "I 'll show them I 'm not +afraid of some things, if I did run away from the turkey-gobbler."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's right," said Chi, heartily, "'n' more than +that--betwixt you 'n' me--you 've no cause to be scairt +<em class="italics">whatever</em> they do; now mark my words, <em class="italics">whatever they do</em>," +repeated Chi, emphatically.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't care what they do so long as you 're there, Chi," +said Hazel, looking up into his weather-roughened, deeply-lined +face with such utter trust in her great eyes that Chi +caught up the bag over his shoulder and hurried out to +the barn, muttering to himself:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"George Washin'ton! How she manages to creep into +the softest corner of a man's heart, I don't know; I +expect it's those great eyes of hers, 'n' that voice just like a +brook winnerin' 'n' gurglin' over its stones in August.--Guess +there's luck come to this house with Lady-bird!" And +he went about his work.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="the-n-b-b-o-o-society">VII</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">THE N.B.B.O.O. SOCIETY</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">"Now, Hazel, we 're ready," said Rose, after the dinner +dishes had been washed and the children's time was +their own. Hazel submitted meekly to the blindfolding +process.</p> +<p class="pnext">She had tried in vain to find out something of what the +children intended to do, but they were too clever for her +to gain the smallest hint as to the initiation. March had +been busy in the ice-house, and Cherry had been ironing +the aprons for the family,--that was her Saturday +morning duty. Budd and the St. Bernard puppy were off with +Chi in the fields.</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose led her through the woodshed and out of doors--Hazel +knew that by the rush of soft air that met her +face--and away, somewhither. At last she was helped to +climb a ladder; Chi's hand grasped hers, and she felt the +flooring under her feet. Then she was left without +support of any kind, not daring to move with Chi's story in +her thoughts.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Guess we 'll have the roll-call first," said Chi, solemnly. +There was not a sound to be heard except now and then +a rush of wings and the twitter of swallows.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Molly Stark."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Here," said Rose.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Markis de Lafayette."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Here," from March.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Marthy Washin'ton."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Present," said Cherry, forgetting she was not in school. +Budd snickered, and the president called him to order.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Fine of two cents for snickerin' in meetin'." Budd +looked sober.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ethan Allen."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Here," said Budd, in a subdued voice.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Old Put,--Here," said Chi, addressing and answering +himself. "Now, Markis, read the by-laws."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Number One.--We pledge ourselves not to be afraid +to tell the truth."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Number Two.--We pledge ourselves to be afraid to +tell a lie.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Number Three.--We pledge ourselves to try to help +others whenever we can, wherever we can, however we +can, as long as ever we can.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Number Four.--We, as American boys and girls, +pledge ourselves never to play the coward nor to disgrace +our country."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Molly Stark, unfurl the flag," said Chi.</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel heard a rustle as Rose unrolled the banner of soft +red, white, and blue cambric.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Put Old Glory round the candidate's shoulders," commanded +the president, and Hazel felt the soft folds being +draped about her.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There now, Lady-bird, you 're dressed as pretty as +you 're ever goin' to be; it don't make a mite of difference +whether you 're the Empress of Rooshy, or just plain +every-day folks; 'n' now you 've got that rig on, we 're +ready to give you the hand of fellowship. Markis, you +have the floor."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What name does the candidate wish to be known by?" +asked March, with due gravity; then, forgetting his role, +he added, "You must take the name of some woman who +has been just as brave as she could be."</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel, feeling the folds of the flag about her, suddenly +recalled her favorite poem of Whittier's.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Barbara Frietchie," she said promptly and firmly.</p> +<p class="pnext">The various members shouted and cheered themselves +hoarse before order was restored.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What'd I tell you, Budd?" said Chi, triumphantly; +then there was another shout, for Chi had broken the rules +in speaking thus.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Two cents' fine!" shouted Budd, "for speaking out +of order in meeting."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sho! I forgot," said Chi, humbly; "well, proceed."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do you, Barbara Frietchie, pledge yourself to try to +keep these by-laws?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," said Hazel, but rather tremulously.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, then, we 'll put you to the test. Molly Stark +will extend the first hand of fellowship to Barbara +Frietchie--No, hold out your hand, Hazel; way out--don't +you draw it back that way!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I did n't," retorted Hazel.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, you did, I saw you!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"You didn't, either."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I did."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You did n't."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I did, too."</p> +<p class="pnext">"He did n't, did he, Chi?" said Hazel, furious at this +charge of apparent timidity.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't believe you drew it back even if March does +think he saw you," said Chi, pouring oil both ways on the +troubled waters; "'n' I never thought 't was just the thing +for a boy to tell a girl she was a coward before she'd +proved to be one--specially if he belongs to this Society."</p> +<p class="pnext">The Marquis de Lafayette hung his head at this rebuke; +but in the action his cocked hat of black and gilt paper +lurched forward and drew off with it his white cotton-wool +wig. Budd and Cherry, forgetting all rules, fines, and +sense of propriety, rolled over and over at the sight; Rose +sat down shaking with laughter, and even Chi lost his +dignity.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I wish you would let me <em class="italics">see</em>, or do something," said +Hazel, plaintively, when she could make herself heard.</p> +<p class="pnext">"'T ain't fair to keep Hazel waiting so," declared Budd, +and the president called the meeting to order again.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Put out your hand, Hazel," said Rose. "Now shake."</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel grasped a hand, cold, deathly cold, and clammy. +The chill of the rigid fingers sent a corresponding shiver +down the length of her backbone, and the goose-flesh rose +all over her arms and legs. She thought she must shriek; +but she recalled Chi's words, set her teeth hard, and shook +the awful thing with what strength she had, never uttering +a sound.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Bully for you, Hazel! I knew you 'd show lots of +pluck," cried Budd.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Got grit every time," said Chi, proudly. "Now let's +have the other test and get down to business. Guess all +three of you 'll have to have a finger in this pie. Hurry +up, Marthy Washin'ton!" Cherry scuttled down the +ladder, and in a few minutes labored, panting, up again.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What did you bring two for?" demanded Budd.</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Cause March said 't would balance me better on the +ladder," replied Cherry, innocently. At which explanation +Chi laughed immoderately, much to Cherry's discomfiture.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now, Hazel, roll up your sleeve and hold out your bare +arm," said the Marquis. Hazel obeyed, wondering what +would come next.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Here, Budd, you hold it; all ready, Cherry?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ye-es--wait a minute; now it's all right."</p> +<p class="pnext">"This we call burning in the Society's brand,--N.B.B.O.O.;" +the voice of the Marquis was solemn, +befitting the occasion.</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel drew her breath sharply, uncertain whether to cry +out or not. There was a sharp sting across her arm, as if +a hot curling-iron had been drawn quickly across it; then +a sound of sizzling flesh, and the odor of broiled beefsteak +rose up just under her nostrils.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a diabolical thud of falling flat-irons; Rose +tore the bandage from Hazel's eyes, and the bewildered +candidate for membership, when her eyes grew somewhat +wonted to the dim light, found herself in a corner of the +loft in the barn, with the elegant figure of the Marquis in +cocked hat, white wig, yellow vest, blue coat, and yellow +knee-breeches dancing frantically around her; Ethan Allen +in white woollen shirt, red yarn suspenders, and red, white, +and blue striped trousers, turning back-hand somersaults +on the hay; Chi standing at salute with his +great-great-grandfather's Revolutionary musket, his old straw hat +decorated with a tricolor cockade, and Cherry in a white +cotton-wool wig, a dark calico dress of her mother's and a +white neckerchief, flat on the floor beside two six-pound +flat-irons.</p> +<p class="pnext">A piece of raw beef on a tin pan, some bits of ice, and a +kid glove stuffed with ice and sawdust, lay scattered about. +They told the tale of the initiation.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Three cheers for Barbara Frietchie!" shouted Budd, +as he came right side up. The barn rang with them.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now we 'll give the right hand of true fellowship," said +Chi, rapping with the butt of his musket for order.</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose gave Hazel's hand a squeeze. "I 'm so glad you 're +to be one of us," she said heartily; and Hazel squeezed +back.</p> +<p class="pnext">March came forward, bowed low, and said, "I apologize +for my distrust of your pluck," and held out his hand with +a look in the flashing gray eyes that was not one of +mockery; indeed, he looked glad, but never a word of welcome +did he speak.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I could flog that proud feller," muttered Chi to himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel hesitated a moment, then put out her hand a little +reluctantly. March caught the gesture and her look.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, you 're not obliged to," he said haughtily, and +turned on his heel. But Hazel put her hand on his arm.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'm afraid we are both breaking some of the by-laws, +March. I do want to shake hands, but I was thinking +just then that you did n't mean the apology--not really +and truly; and if you did mean it, there was something +else you needed to apologize for more than that!"</p> +<p class="pnext">March flushed to the roots of his hair. Then his boy's +honor came to the rescue.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I do want to now, Hazel--and forgive and forget, +won't you?" he said, with the winning smile he inherited +from his father, but which he kept for rare occasions.</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel put her hand in his, and felt that this had been +worth waiting for. She knew that at last March had +taken her in.</p> +<p class="pnext">Budd gripped with all his might, Cherry shook with two +fingers, and Chi's great hand closed over hers as tenderly +as a woman's would have done.</p> +<p class="pnext">This was Hazel's initiation into the Nobody's Business +But Our Own Society. It was the second meeting of the +year.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now, March, I 'll make you chairman and ask you to +state the business of this meetin', as you 've called it. +Must be mighty important?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"It is," replied March, gravely, all the fun dying +out of his face. "You remember, all of you,--don't +you?--what mother told us that night she said Hazel was +coming?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," chorussed the children.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, I 've been thinking and thinking ever since how +I could help--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"So 've I, March," interrupted Rose.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And I have, too," said Budd.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What's all this mean?" said Chi, somewhat astonished, +for he had not known why the meeting had been called.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, you see, Chi, we never knew till then that the +farm had been mortgaged on account of father's sickness, +and that it had been so awful hard for mother all this +year--"</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi cleared his throat.</p> +<p class="pnext">"--And we want to do something to help earn. If we +could earn just our own clothes and books and enough to +pay for our schooling, it would be something."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Guess 't would," said Chi, clearing his throat again. +"Kind of workin' out the third by-law, ain't you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Trying to," answered March, with such sincerity in his +voice that Chi's throat troubled him for full a minute. +"And what I want to find out, without mother's knowing +it, or father either, is how we can earn enough for those +things. If anybody 's got anything to say, just speak up."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What you goin' to do with those Wyandottes?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I knew you 'd ask that, Chi. I 'm going to raise a +fine breed and sell the eggs at a dollar and a half for +thirteen; but I can't get any chicken-money till next fall, +and no egg-money till next spring, and I want to begin +now."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hm--" said Chi, taking off his straw hat and slowly +scratching his head. "Well," he said after a pause +in which all were thinking and no one talking, "why don't +all of you go to work raisin' chickens for next Thanksgivin'?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"By cracky!" said Budd, "we could raise three or four +hundred, an' fat 'em up, an' make a pile, easy as nothing."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't know about it's bein' so easy; but children +have the time to tend 'em, and I don't see why it won't +work, seein' it's a good time of year."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But where 'll we get the hens to set, Chi?" said March.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, there 's enough of 'em settin' round now on the +bare boards," Chi replied.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Can I raise some, too?" asked Hazel, rather timidly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't know what there is to hinder," said Chi, with +a slow smile.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And can I buy some hens for my very own?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, of course you can; just say the word, 'n' you +'n' I 'll go settin'-hen hunting within a day or so."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, what fun!" cried Hazel, clapping her hands. +"But I want some that will sit and lay too, Chi; then I +can sell the eggs."</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a shout of laughter, at which Hazel felt hurt.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There now, Lady-bird, we won't laugh at your city +ways of lookin' at things any more. The hens ain't quite +so accommodatin' as that, but we 'll get some good setters +first, 'n' then see about the layin' afterwards."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But, Chi, it will take such a lot of corn to fatten them. +We don't want to ask father for anything."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's right, Rose. Be independent as long as you +can; I thought of that, too. Now, there 's a whole acre +on the south slope I ploughed this spring,--nice, hot land, +just right for corn-raisin'; 'n' if you children 'll drop 'n' +cover, I 'll help you with the hoein' 'n' cuttin' 'n' huskin'; +'n' you 'll have your corn for nothin'."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good for you, Chi; we 'll do it, won't we?" cried March.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You bet," said Budd.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can pick berries," said Rose, "and we can always +sell them at the Inn, or at Barton's River."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, and we can begin in June," said Cherry; "the +pastures are just red with the wild strawberries, you know, +Rose."</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's an awful sight of work to pick 'em," said Budd, +rather dubiously.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, you can't get your money without workin', +Budd; 'n' work don't mean 'take it easy.'"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'm sure we can get twenty-five cents a quart for them +right in the village. I 've heard folks say they make the +best preserve you can get, and you can't buy them for love +nor money," said Rose. "Mother makes beautiful ones."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Was n't that what we had last Sunday night when the +minister was here to tea?" asked Hazel.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," said Rose.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I never tasted any strawberries like them at home, and +the housekeeper buys lots of jams and jellies in the fall." +Hazel thought hard for a minute. Suddenly she jumped +to her feet, clapped her hands, and spun round and round +like a top, crying out, "I have it! I have it!"</p> +<p class="pnext">The N.B.B.O.O. Society was amazed to see the new +member perform in this lively manner, for Hazel had been +rather quiet during the first month. Now she caught up +her skirts with a dainty tilt, and danced the Highland +Fling just to let her spirits out through her feet. Up and +down the floor of the loft she charged, hands over her head, +hands swinging her skirts, light as a fairy, bending, +swaying, and bowing, till, with a big "cheese," she sat down +almost breathless by Chi. Was this Hazel? The members +of the N.B.B.O.O. looked at one another in amazement, +and March's eyes flashed again, as they had done once +before during the afternoon.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now all listen to me," she said, as if, after a month of +silence, she had found her tongue. "I 've an idea, and +when I have one, papa says it's worth listening to,--which +is n't often, I 'm sure. We 'll pick the strawberries, and +get Mrs. Blossom to show Rose how to do them up; and +I 'll write to papa and Doctor Heath's wife and to our +housekeeper and Cousin Jack, and see if they don't want +some of those delicious preserves that they can't get in the +city. I 'll find out from Mrs. Scott--that's the +housekeeper--how much she pays for a jar in New York, and +then we 'll charge a little more for ours because the +strawberries are a little rarer. Are n't there any other kinds of +berries that grow around here?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Guess you 'd better stop 'n' take breath, Lady-bird; +there 's a mighty lot of plannin' in all that. What 'd I +tell you, Budd?" Chi asked again.</p> +<p class="pnext">Budd looked at Hazel in boyish admiration, but said +nothing.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I think that's splendid, Hazel," said Rose, "if they'll +only want them."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I know they will; but are there any other berries?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Berries! I should think so; raspberries and blackberries +by the bushel on the Mountain, and they say they 're +the best anywhere round here," said March.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, dear!" sighed Cherry, "I wish we could go to +work right now."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, so you can," said Chi, "only you can't go berryin' +just yet. You can begin to drop that corn this very +afternoon: better be inside the ground pretty soon, with all +those four hundred chickens waitin' to join the +Thanksgivin' procession."</p> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 60%" id="figure-38"> +<span id="you-can-begin-to-drop-that-corn-this-very-afternoon"></span><img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-073.jpg" /> +<div class="caption figure"> +"'You can begin to drop that corn this very afternoon'"</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">"Oh, Chi, you 're making fun of us," laughed Rose.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't you believe it, Rose-pose; never was more in +earnest in my life. Come along, 'n' I 'll show you."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="a-lively-correspondence">VIII</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">A LIVELY CORRESPONDENCE</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">It was a trial of patience to have to wait twenty-one +days before the first of the "four hundred" could be +expected to appear.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You 'll have to be kind of careful 'bout steppin' round +in the dark, Mis' Blossom, 'n' you, too, Ben," said Chi, +"for you 'll find a settin' hen most anywheres nowadays."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Blossom laughed. "Oh, Chi, what dear children +they are, even if they aren't quite perfect."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Can't be beat," replied Chi, earnestly. "Look at them +now, will you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Blossom stepped out on the porch, and looked over +to the south slope and the corn-patch. "What if her +father were to see her now!" She laughed again, both +at her thoughts and the sight.</p> +<p class="pnext">"'T would give him kind of a shock at first," Chi +chuckled, "but he 'd get over it as soon as he 'd seen +that face."</p> +<p class="pnext">"It is wonderful how she has improved. I shouldn't +be surprised if he came up here soon to see Hazel."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, he 'll find somethin' worth lookin' at. See there, +now!"</p> +<p class="pnext">The girls had been making scarecrows to protect the +young corn, stuffing old shirts and trousers with hay and +straw, while March and Budd had been getting ready the +cross-tree frames. In dropping and covering the corn that +Saturday afternoon after the initiation, the girls had found +their skirts and petticoats not only in the way as they bent +over their work, but greatly soiled by contact with the +soft, damp loam. So they had begged to wear overalls of +blue denim like Chi's and the boys'. The request had +been gladly granted. "It will save no end of washing," +said Mrs. Blossom, and forthwith made up three pairs on +the machine.</p> +<p class="pnext">The girls found it great fun. They tucked in their +petticoats and buttoned down their shoulder-straps with +right good will. Then Mr. Blossom presented them with +broad, coarse straw hats, such as he and Chi used, and +with these on their heads they rushed off to the +corn-patch. There now they were,--five good-looking boys +with hands joined, dancing and capering around a scarecrow, +that looked like a gentleman tramp gone entirely to +seed, and singing at the top of their voices Budd's favorite, +"I won't play in your back yard."</p> +<p class="pnext">At that very hour, when the gentleman scarecrow of +the corn-patch was looking amiably, although slightly +squint-eyed, out from under his tattered straw hat (for +March had drawn rude features on the white cloth bag +stuffed with cotton-wool which served for a head, and on +it Rose had sewed skeins of brown yarn to imitate hair) +at the antics of the five pairs of blue overalls, Mr. Clyde, +having finished his nine o'clock breakfast, asked for the +mail.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, Marse John" (so Wilkins always called Mr. Clyde +when they were alone), "'spect dere 's one from Miss +Hazel by de feel an' de smell."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Clyde smiled. "How can you tell by the 'feel and +the smell,' Wilkins?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Case it's bunchy lake in de middle, an' de vi'lets can't +hide dere bref."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, we 'll see," said Mr. Clyde, willing to indulge +his faithful servant's childish curiosity. Wilkins busied +himself quietly about the breakfast-room.</p> +<p class="pnext">As Mr. Clyde opened the envelope, the crushed blue +and white violets fell out. Suddenly he burst into such +a hearty laugh that Wilkins had hard work to suppress +a sympathetic chuckle.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I shall have to carry this letter over to the Doctor, +Wilkins," he said, still laughing. "I shall be in time to +find him a few minutes alone before office hours." He +rose from the table.</p> +<p class="pnext">Wilkins followed him out to give his coat a last touch +with the brush; he was fearful Mr. Clyde might leave +without revealing anything of the contents of the letter +from his beloved Miss Hazel.</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Sense me, Marse John," he said in desperation, as +Mr. Clyde went towards the front door, "but Miss Hazel +ain't no wusser case yo' goin' to de Doctah's?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Wilkins, I forgot; you want to know how Miss +Hazel is. She is doing finely; as happy as a bird, and +sends her love to you in a postscript. I think I 'll run up +and see her soon."</p> +<p class="pnext">Wilkins ducked and beamed. "'Pears lake dis yere +house ain't de same place wif de little missus gone."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You 're right, Wilkins," said Mr. Clyde, earnestly. "I +shall not open the Newport cottage this year; it would +be too lonesome without her."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, Dick," he said gayly, as he entered the Doctor's +office, "I shall hold you responsible for some of the lives +of the 'Four Hundred.' Here, read this letter."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<dl class="docutils left white-space-pre-line"> +<dt class="white-space-pre-line">MOUNT HUNGER, MILL SETTLEMENT, BARTON'S</dt> +<dd class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first last pfirst white-space-pre-line">RIVER, VERMONT, May 19, 1896.</p> +</dd> +</dl> +<p class="pfirst">DEAREST PAPA,--Good-morning! I am answering your +long letter a little sooner than I expected to, because I want +you to do something for me in a business way; that's the way +March says it must be.</p> +<p class="pnext">I don't know how to begin to tell you, but I 've joined the +N.B.B.O.O. Society and one of the by-laws is that we must +help others all we can and just as much as we can. I wish +you'd been at the initiashun. (I don't know about that +spelling, and I 'm in a hurry, or I 'd ask.) I had the hand of +fellowship from a supposed corpse's hand first, and then I was +branded on the arm. And afterwards they all took me in, and +now we 're raising four hundred chickens to help others; I 'll +tell you all about it when you come. Chi, that's the hired +man, but he is really our friend, took me sitting-hen hunting +day before yesterday, for I am to own some myself; and we +drove all over the hills to the farmhouses and found and bought +twelve, or rather Chi did, for I had to borrow the money of +him, as I felt so bad when I kissed you good-bye that I forgot +to tell you my quarterly allowance was all gone, and I know +you won't like my borrowing of Chi, for you have said so +many times never to owe anybody and I've always tried to pay +for everything except when I had to borrow of Gabrielle, or +Mrs. Scott, when I forgot my purse.</p> +<p class="pnext">But truly the hens were in such an awful hurry to sit, that +it did seem too bad to keep them waiting even three days till +I could get some money from you; and then, too, we 've all +of us, March and Rose and Budd and Cherry and me, bet on +which hen would get the first chicken, and that chicken is going +to be a prize chicken and especially fatted, and of course, if I +waited for the money to come from you, I could n't stand a +chance of coming out ahead in our four hundred chicken race, +so I borrowed of Chi. The hens came to just $4 and eighty +cents. I'll pay you back when I earn it, and don't you think +it would have been a pity to lose the chance for the prize +chicken just for that borrow?</p> +<p class="pnext">Please send the money by return mail. I 've other letters +to write, so please excuse my not paragraphing and so little +punctuation, but I 've so much to do and this must go at once.</p> +<dl class="docutils left white-space-pre-line"> +<dt class="white-space-pre-line">Your loving and devoted daughter,</dt> +<dd class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first last pfirst white-space-pre-line">HAZEL CLYDE.</p> +</dd> +</dl> +<p class="pfirst">P.S. The hens are sitting around everywhere. Give my +love to Wilkins. H.C.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">The Doctor shouted; then he stepped to the dining-room +door and called, "Wifie, come here and bring that letter."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Heath came in smiling, with a letter in her hand, +which, after cordially greeting Mr. Clyde, she read to +him,--an amazed and outwitted father.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<dl class="docutils left white-space-pre-line"> +<dt class="white-space-pre-line">MOUNT HUNGER, MILL SETTLEMENT, BARTON'S</dt> +<dd class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first last pfirst white-space-pre-line">RIVER, VERMONT, May 19, 1896.</p> +</dd> +</dl> +<p class="pfirst">MY DEAR MRS. HEATH,--Please thank my dear Doctor +Heath for the note he sent me two weeks ago. I ought to +write to him instead of to you, for I don't owe you a letter +(your last one was so sweet I answered it right off), but he +never allows his patients strawberry preserve and jam, so it +would be no use to ask his help just now, as this is pure +business, March says.</p> +<p class="pnext">We are trying to help others, and the strawberries--wild +ones--are as thick as spatter--going to be--all over the +pastures, and we 're going to pick quarts and quarts, and Rose +is going to preserve them, and then we 're going to sell them.</p> +<p class="pnext">Do you think of anybody who would like some of this preserve? +If you do, will you kindly let me know by return mail?</p> +<p class="pnext">I can't tell just the price, and March says that is a great +drawback in real business, and this <em class="italics">is</em> real--but it will not be +more than $1 and twenty-five cents a quart. They will be fine +for luncheon. <em class="italics">I</em> never tasted any half so good at home.</p> +<p class="pnext">My dear love to the Doctor and a large share for yourself from</p> +<dl class="docutils left white-space-pre-line"> +<dt class="white-space-pre-line">Your loving friend,</dt> +<dd class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first last pfirst white-space-pre-line">HAZEL CLYDE.</p> +</dd> +</dl> +<p class="pfirst">P.S. Rose says it is n't fair for people to order without +knowing the quality, so we 've done up a little of Mrs. Blossom's +in some Homeepatic (I don't know where that "h" ought to +come in) pellet bottles, and will send you a half-dozen "for +samples," March says, to send to any one to taste you think +would like to order. H.C.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">"The cure is working famously," said Doctor Heath, +rubbing his hands in glee.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well," said Mr. Clyde, laughing, "I may as well make +the best of it; but I can't help wondering whether the +wholesale grocers in town have been asked to place orders +with Mount Hunger, or the Washington Market dealers +for prospective chickens! There 's your office-bell; I +won't keep you longer, but if this 'special case' of yours +should develop any new symptoms, just let me know."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll keep you informed," rejoined the Doctor. "Better +run up there pretty soon, Johnny," he called after him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I think it's high time, Dick. Good-bye."</p> +<p class="pnext">At that very moment, a symptom of another sort was +developing in Z---- Hall, Number 9, at Harvard.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack Sherrill and his chum were discussing the last +evening's Club theatricals. "I saw that pretty Maude +Seaton in the third or fourth row, Jack; did she come on +for that,--which, of course, means you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Wish I might think so," said Jack, half in earnest, +half in jest, pulling slowly at his corn-cob pipe.</p> +<p class="pnext">"By Omar Khayyam, Jack! you don't mean to say +you 're hit, at last!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hit,--yes; but it's only a flesh-wound at present,--nothing +dangerous about it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"She 's got the style, though, and the pull. I know a +half-dozen of the fellows got dropped on to-night's cotillion."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Kept it for me," said Jack, quietly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, really, though--" and his chum fell to thinking +rather seriously for him.</p> +<p class="pnext">Just then came the morning's mail,--notes, letters, +special delivery stamps, all the social accessories a +popular Harvard man knows so well. Jack looked over his +carelessly,--invitations to dinner, to theatre parties, +"private views," golf parties, etc. He pushed them aside, +showing little interest. He, like his Cousin Hazel, was +used to it.</p> +<p class="pnext">The morning's mail was an old story, for Sherrill was +worth a fortune in his own right, as several hundred +mothers and daughters in New York and Boston and +Philadelphia knew full well.</p> +<p class="pnext">Moreover, if he had not had a penny in prospect, Jack +Sherrill would have attracted by his own manly qualities +and his exceptionally good looks. His riches, to which he +had been born, had not as yet wholly spoiled him, but they +cheated him of that ambition that makes the best of young +manhood, and Life was out of tune at times--how and +why, he did not know, and there was no one to tell him.</p> +<p class="pnext">He had rather hoped for a note from Maude Seaton, +thanking him, in her own charming way, for the flowers he +had sent her on her arrival from New York the day before. +True, she had worn some in her corsage, but, for all Jack +knew, they might have been another man's; for Maude +Seaton was never known to have less than four or five +strings to her bow. It was just this uncertainty about her +that attracted Jack.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hello! Here 's a letter for you by mistake in my pile," +said his chum.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, this is from my little Cousin Hazel, who is +rusticating just now somewhere in the Green Mountains." Jack +opened it hastily and read,--</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<dl class="docutils left white-space-pre-line"> +<dt class="white-space-pre-line">MOUNT HUNGER, MILL SETTLEMENT, BARTON'S</dt> +<dd class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first last pfirst white-space-pre-line">RIVER, VERMONT, May 19, 1896.</p> +</dd> +</dl> +<p class="pfirst">DEAREST COUSIN JACK,--It is perfectly lovely up here, and +I 've been inishiated into a Secret Society like your Dicky Club, +and one of the by-laws is to help others all we can and wherever +we can and as long as ever we can, and so I 've thought of that +nice little spread you gave last year after the foot-ball game, +and how nice the table looked and what good things you had, +but I don't remember any strawberry jam or preserves, do you?</p> +<p class="pnext">We 're hatching four hundred chickens to help others,--I +mean we have set 40 sitting hens on 520 eggs, not all the 40 on +the five hundred and twenty at once, you know; but, I mean, +each one of the 40 hens are sitting on 13 eggs apiece, and +March says we must expect to lose 120 eggs--I mean, +chickens,--as the hens are very careless and sit sideways--I 've +seen them myself--and so an extra egg is apt to get chilly, +and the chickens can't stand any chilliness, March says. But +Chi, that's my new friend, says some eggs have a double yolk, +and maybe, there 'll be some twins to make up for the loss.</p> +<p class="pnext">Anyway, we want 400 chickens to sell about Thanksgiving +time, and, of course, we can't get any money till that time. +So now I 've got back to your spread again and the preserves, +and while we 're waiting for the chickens, we are going to +make preserves--<em class="italics">dee</em>-licious ones! I mean we are going to +pick them and Rose is going to preserve them. We 've decided +to ask $1 and a quarter a quart for them; Rose--that's Rose +Blossom--says it is dear, but if you could see my Rose-pose, +as Chi calls her, you 'd think it cheap just to eat them if she +made them. She 's perfectly lovely--prettier than any of the +New York girls, and when she kneads bread and does up +the dishes, she sings like a bird, something about love. I'll +write it down for you, sometime. <em class="italics">I 'm</em> in love with her.</p> +<p class="pnext">Please ask your college friends if they don't want some jam +and wild strawberry preserves. If they do, March says they +had better order soon, as I've written to New York to see +about some other orders.</p> +<dl class="docutils left white-space-pre-line"> +<dt class="white-space-pre-line">Yours devotedly,</dt> +<dd class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first last pfirst white-space-pre-line">HAZEL.</p> +</dd> +</dl> +<p class="pfirst">P.S. I 've sent you a sample of the strawberry preserve in +a homeepahtic pellet bottle, to taste; Rose says it is n't fair to +ask people to buy without their knowing what they buy. I +saw that Miss Seaton just before I came away; she came to +call on me and brought some flowers. She said I looked like +you--which was an awful whopper because I had my head +shaved, as you know; I asked her if she had heard from +you, and she said she had. She is n't half as lovely as +Rose-pose. H.C.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="the-prize-chicken">IX</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">THE PRIZE CHICKEN</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">There was wild excitement, as well as consternation, in +the farmhouse on the Mountain.</p> +<p class="pnext">On the next day but one after Hazel had sent her +letters, Chi had brought up from the Mill Settlement a +telegram which had come on the stage from Barton's. It +was addressed to, "Hazel Clyde, Mill Settlement, Barton's +River, Vermont," and ran thus:--</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">CAMBRIDGE, May 20, 1 P.M.</p> +<p class="pnext">Hope to get in our order ahead of New York time. Seventeen +dozen of each kind. Letter follows.</p> +<p class="pnext">JACK.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">"Seventeen dozen!" screamed Rose, on hearing the +telegram.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Seventeen dozen of <em class="italics">each kind</em>!" cried Budd.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, quick, March, do see what it comes to!" said +Hazel.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then such an arithmetical hubbub broke loose as had +never been heard before on the Mountain.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Seventeen times twelve," said Rose,--"let me see; +seven times two are fourteen, one to carry--do keep still, +March!" But March went on with:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Twelve times four are forty-eight--seventeen times +forty-eight, hm--seven times eight are fifty-six, five to +carry--Shut up, Budd; I can't hear myself think." But +Budd gave no heed, and continued his computation.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Four times seventeen are--four times seven are +twenty-eight, two to carry; four times one are four and +two are--I say, you 've put me all out!" shouted Budd, +and, putting his fingers in his ears, he retired to a corner. +Rose continued to mumble with her eyes shut to concentrate +her mind upon her problem, threatening Cherry impatiently +when she interrupted with her peculiar solution, +which she had just thought out:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"If one quart cost one dollar and twenty-five cents, +twelve quarts will cost twelve times one dollar and +twenty-five cents, which is, er--twelve times one are +twelve; twelve times twenty-five! Oh, gracious, that's +awful! What's twelve times twenty-five, March?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Shut up," growled March; "you 've put me all off the +track."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Me, too," said Rose, in an aggrieved tone.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Blossom had been listening from the bedroom, and +now came in, suppressing her desire to smile at the +reddened and perplexed faces. "Here 's a pencil, March, +suppose you figure it out on paper."</p> +<p class="pnext">A sigh of relief was audible throughout the room, as +March sat down to work out the result. "Eight hundred +and sixteen quarts at one dollar twenty-five a quart," said +March to himself; then, with a bound that shook the +long-room, he shouted, "One thousand and twenty dollars!" and +therewith broke forth into singing:--</p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">"Glory, glory, halleluia!</div> +<div class="line">Glory, glory, halleluia!</div> +<div class="line">Glory, glory, halleluia,</div> +<div class="line">For the N.B.B.O.O.!"</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +</div> +</blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">The rest joined in the singing with such goodwill that +the noise brought in Chi from the barn. When he was +told the reason for the rejoicing, he looked thoughtful, then +sober, then troubled.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What's the matter, Chi? Cheer up! You have n't +got to pick them," said March.</p> +<p class="pnext">"'T ain't that; but I hate to throw cold water on any +such countin'-your-chickens-'fore-they 're-hatched business," +said Chi.</p> +<p class="pnext">"'T is n't chickens; it's preserves, Chi," laughed Rose.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I know that, too," said Chi, gravely. "But suppose you +do a little figuring on the hind-side of the blackboard."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What <em class="italics">do</em> you mean, Chi?" asked Hazel.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, I 'll figure, 'n' see what you think about it. +Seventeen dozen times four, how much, March?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Eight hundred and sixteen."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hm! eight hundred and sixteen glass jars at twelve +and a half cents apiece--let me see: eight into eight +once; eight into one no times 'n' one over. There now, +your jars 'll cost you just one hundred and two dollars."</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a universal groan.</p> +<p class="pnext">"'N' that ain't all. Sugar 's up to six cents a pound, +'n' to keep preserves as they ought to be kept takes about +a pound to a quart. Hm, eight hundred 'n' sixteen pounds +of sugar at six cents a pound--move up my point 'n' +multiply by six--forty-eight dollars 'n' ninety-six cents; added +to the other--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, don't, Chi!" groaned one and all.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It spoils everything," said Rose, actually ready to cry +with disappointment.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, Molly Stark, you 've got to look forwards and +backwards before you <em class="italics">promise</em> to do things," said Chi, +serenely; and Rose, hearing the Molly Stark, knew just +what Chi meant.</p> +<p class="pnext">She went straight up to him, and, laying both hands on +his shoulders, looked up smiling into his face. "I 'll be +brave, Chi; we 'll make it work somehow," she said gently; +and Chi was not ashamed to take one of the little hands +and rub it softly against his unshaven cheek.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's my Rose-pose," he said. "Now, don't let's +cross the bridges till we get to them; let's wait till we +hear from New York."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">They had not long to wait. The next day's mail brought +three letters,--from Mrs. Heath, Mr. Clyde, and Jack. +Hazel could not read them fast enough to suit her audience. +There was an order from Mrs. Heath for two dozen of each +kind, and the assurance that she would ask her friends, but +she would like her order filled first.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Clyde wrote that he was coming up very soon and +would advance Hazel's quarterly allowance; at which +Hazel cried, "Oh-ee!" and hugged first herself, then +Mrs. Blossom, but said not a word. She wanted to surprise +them with the glass jars and the sugar. Her father had +enclosed five dollars with which to pay Chi, and he and +Hazel were closeted for full a quarter of an hour in the +pantry, discussing ways and means.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack wrote enthusiastically of the preserves and chickens, +and, like Hazel, added a postscript as follows:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't forget you said you would write down for me +the song about Love that Miss Blossom sings when she is +kneading bread. Miss Seaton is just now visiting in +Boston. I 'm to play in a polo match out at the Longmeadow +grounds next week, and she stays for that." This, +likewise, Hazel kept to herself.</p> +<p class="pnext">Meanwhile, the strawberry blossoms were starring the +pastures, but only here and there a tiny green button +showed itself. It was a discouraging outlook for the other +Blossoms to wait five long weeks before they could begin +to earn money; and the thought of the chickens, especially +the prize chicken, proved a source of comfort as well as +speculation.</p> +<p class="pnext">As the twenty-first day after setting the hens drew near, +the excitement of the race was felt to be increasing. Hazel +had tied a narrow strip of blue flannel about the right +leg of each of her twelve hens, that there might be no +mistake; and the others had followed her example, March +choosing yellow; Cherry, white; Rose, red; and Budd, +green.</p> +<p class="pnext">The barn was near the house, only a grass-plat with one +big elm in the centre separated it from the end of the +woodshed. As Chi said, the hens were sitting all around +everywhere; on the nearly empty hay-mow there were +some twenty-five, and the rest were in vacant stalls and +feed-boxes.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was a warm night in early June. Hazel was thinking +over many things as she lay wakeful in her wee bedroom. +To-morrow was the day; somebody would get the prize +chicken. Hazel hoped she might be the winner. Then +she recalled something Chi had said about hens being +curious creatures, set in their ways, and never doing +anything just as they were expected to do it, and that there +was n't any time-table by which chickens could be hatched +to the minute. What if one were to come out to-night! +The more she thought, the more she longed to assure +herself of the condition of things in the barn. She tossed +and turned, but could not settle to sleep. At last she +rose softly; the great clock in the long-room had just +struck eleven. She looked out of her one window and +into the face of a moon that for a moment blinded her.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then she quietly put on her white bath-robe, and, +taking her shoes in her hand, stepped noiselessly out into +the kitchen.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was not a sound in the house except the ticking +of the clock. Softly she crept to the woodshed door and +slipped out.</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi, who had the ears of an Indian, heard the soft +"crush, crush," of the bark and chips underneath his room. +He rose noiselessly, drew on his trousers, and slipped his +suspenders over his shoulders, took his rifle from the rack, +and crept stealthily as an Apache down the stairs. Chi +thought he was on the track of an enormous woodchuck +that had baffled all his efforts to trap, shoot, and decoy +him, as well as his attempts to smoke and drown him out. +But nothing was moving in or about the shed. He stepped +outside, puzzled as to the noise he had heard.</p> +<p class="pnext">"By George Washin'ton!" he exclaimed under his +breath, "what's up now?" for he had caught sight of a +little figure in white fairly scooting over the grass-plat +under the elm towards the barn. In a moment she +disappeared in the opening, for on warm nights the great +doors were not shut.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Guess I 'd better get out of the way; 't would scare +her to death to see a man 'n' a gun at this time of night. +It's that prize chicken, I 'll bet." And Chi chuckled to +himself. Then he tiptoed as far as the barn door, looked +in cautiously, and, seeing no one, but hearing a creak +overhead, he slipped into a stall and crouched behind a pile of +grass he had cut that afternoon for the cattle.</p> +<p class="pnext">He heard the feet go "pat, pat, pat," overhead. He +knew by the sound that Hazel was examining the nests. +Then another noise--Cherry's familiar giggle--fell upon +his ear. He looked out cautiously from behind the grass. +Sure enough; there were the twins, robed in sheets and +barefooted. Snickering and giggling, they made for the +ladder leading to the loft.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The Old Harry 's to pay to-night," said Chi, grimly, to +himself. "When those two get together on a spree, things +generally hum! I 'd better stay where I 'm needed most."</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel, too, had caught the sound of the giggle and +snicker, and recognized it at once.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Goodness!" she thought, "if they should see me, +'t would frighten Cherry into fits, she 's so nervous. I 'd +better hide while they 're here. They 've come to see +about that chicken, just as I have!" Hazel had all she +could do to keep from laughing out loud. She lay down +upon a large pile of hay and drew it all over her. "They +can't see me now, and I can watch them," she thought, +with a good deal of satisfaction.</p> +<p class="pnext">Surely the proceedings were worth watching. The +moonlight flooded the flooring of the loft, and every detail +could be plainly seen.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nobody can hear us here if we do talk," said Budd. +"You 'll have to hoist them up first, to see if there are +any chickens, and be sure and look at the rag on the +legs; when you come to a green one, it's mine, you know."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Budd! I can't hoist them," said Cherry, in a +distressed voice.</p> +<p class="pnext">"They do act kinder queer," replied Budd, who was +trying to lift a sleeping hen off her nest, to which she +seemed glued. "I 'll tell you what's better than that; +just put your ear down and listen, and if you hear a +'peep-peep,' it's a chicken."</p> +<p class="pnext">Cherry, the obedient slave of Budd, crawled about over +the flooring on her hands and knees, listening first at one +nest, then at another, for the expected "peep-peep."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't hear anything," said Cherry, in an aggrieved +tone, "but the old hens guggling when I poke under +them. Oh! but here 's a green rag sticking out, Budd."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And a speckled hen?" said Budd, eagerly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, that's the one I 've been looking for; it's dark +over here in this corner. Lemme see."</p> +<p class="pnext">Budd put both hands under the hen and lifted her +gently. "Ak--ok--ork--ach," gasped the hen, as +Budd took her firmly around the throat; but she was +too sleepy to care much what became of her, and so hung +limp and silent.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll hold the hen, Cherry, and you take up those eggs +one at a time and hold them to my ear."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What for?" said Cherry.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now don't be a loony, but do as I tell you," said Budd, +impatiently. Cherry did as she was bidden; Budd listened +intently.</p> +<p class="pnext">"By cracky! there 's one!" he exclaimed. "Here, +help me set this hen back again, and keep that one out."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What for?" queried Cherry, forgetting her former lesson.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, you ninny!--here, listen, will you?" Budd put +the egg to her ear.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, that's a chicken peeping inside. I can <em class="italics">hear</em> +him," said Cherry, in an awed voice.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, and I 'm going to let him out," said Budd, +triumphantly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But then you'll have the prize chicken, Budd," +said Cherry, rather dubiously, for she had wanted it +herself.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Of course, you goosey, what do you suppose I came +out here for?" demanded Budd.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But, Budd, will it be fair?" said Cherry, timidly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Fair!" muttered Budd; "it's fair enough if it's out +first. It's their own fault if they don't know enough to +get ahead of us."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Did you think it all out yourself, Budd?" queried +Cherry, admiringly, watching Budd's proceeding with +wide-open eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yup," said Budd, shortly.</p> +<p class="pnext">They were not far from Hazel's hiding-place, and, by +raising her head a few inches, she could see the whole +process.</p> +<p class="pnext">First Budd listened intently at one end of the egg, then +at the other. He drew out a large pin from his pajamas +and began very carefully to pick the shell.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, gracious, Budd! what are you doing?" cried Cherry.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What you see," said Budd, a little crossly, for his +conscience was not wholly at ease.</p> +<p class="pnext">He picked and picked, and finally made an opening. He +examined it carefully.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, thunder!" he exclaimed under his breath, "I 've +picked the wrong end."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What do you mean?" persisted Cherry.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I wanted to open the 'peep-peep' end first, so he could +breathe," replied Budd, intent upon his work. Cherry +watched breathlessly. At last the other end was opened, +and Budd began to detach the shell from something which +might have been a worm, a fish, a pollywog, or a baby white +mouse, for all it looked like a chicken. It lay in Budd's +hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Budd, you 've killed it!" cried Cherry, beginning +to sniff.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Shut up, Cherry Blossom, or I'll leave you," threatened +Budd. Just then the moon was obscured by a passing +cloud, and the loft became suddenly dark and shadowy. +Cherry screamed under her breath.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Budd, don't leave me; I can't see you!"</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a soft rapid stride over the flooring; and +before Budd well knew what had happened, he was seized +by the binding of his pajamas, lifted, and shaken with such +vigor that his teeth struck together and he felt the jar in +the top of his head.</p> +<p class="pnext">As the form loomed so unexpectedly before her, Cherry +screamed with fright.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll teach you to play a business trick like this on us, +you mean sneaking little rascal!" roared March. "Do +you think I did n't see you creeping out of the room along +the side of my bed on all fours? You did n't dare to +walk out like a man, and I might have known you were +up to no good!" Another shake followed that for a +moment dazed Budd. Then, as he felt the flooring +beneath his feet, he turned in a towering passion of guilt +and rage on March.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You 're a darned sneak yourself," he howled rather +than cried. "Take that for your trouble!" Raising his +doubled fist, he aimed a quick, hard blow at March's +stomach. But, somehow, before it struck, one strong +hand--not March's--held his as in a vice, and another, +stronger, hoisted him by the waist-band of his pajamas +and held him, squirming and howling, suspended for a +moment; then he felt himself tossed somewhere. He fell +upon the hay under which Hazel had taken refuge, and +landed upon her with almost force enough to knock the +breath from her body. Cherry, meanwhile, had not ceased +screaming under her breath, and, as Budd descended so +unexpectedly upon Hazel, a great groan and a sharp wail +came forth from the hay, to the mortal terror of all but +Chi, who grew white at the thought of what might have +happened to his Lady-bird, and, unintentionally, through +him.</p> +<p class="pnext">That awful groan proved too much for the children. +Gathering themselves together in less time than it takes +to tell it, they fled as well as they could in the +dark,--down the ladder, out through the barn, over the +grass-plat, into the house, and dove into bed, trembling in every +limb.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What on earth is the matter, children?" said Mrs. Blossom, +appearing at the foot of the stairs. "Did one +of you fall out of bed?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Budd's head was under the bedclothes, his teeth chattering +through fear; likewise Cherry. March assumed as +firm a tone as he could.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Budd had a sort of nightmare, mother, but he 's all +right now." March felt sick at the deception.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, settle down now and go to sleep; it's just +twelve." And Mrs. Blossom went back into the bedroom +where Mr. Blossom was still soundly sleeping.</p> +<p class="pnext">Meanwhile, Chi was testing Hazel to see that no harm +had been done.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, I 'm all right," said Hazel, rather breathlessly. +"But it really knocked the breath out of my body." She +laughed. "I never thought of your catching up Budd +that way and plumping him down on top of me!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Guess my wits had gone wool-gatherin', when I never +thought of your hidin' there," said Chi, recovering from +his fright. "But that boy made me so pesky mad, tryin' +to play such a game on all of us, that I kind of lost my +temper 'n' did n't see straight. Well--" he heaved a +sigh of relief, "he 's got his come-uppance!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Where do you suppose that poor little chicken is?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"We 'll look him up; the moon 's comin' out again."</p> +<p class="pnext">There, close by the nest, lay the queer something on the +floor. "I 'll tuck it in right under the old hen's breast, +'n' then, if there 's any life in it, it 'll come to by mornin'." He +examined it closely. "I 'll come out 'n' see. Come, +we 'd better be gettin' in 'fore 't is dark again--"</p> +<p class="pnext">He put the poor mite of a would-be chicken carefully +under the old hen, where it was warm and downy, and as +he did so, he caught sight of the rag hanging over the +edge of the nest. He looked at it closely; then slapping +his thigh, he burst into a roar of laughter.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What is it, Chi?" said Hazel, laughing, too, at Chi's +mirth.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Look here, Lady-bird! you 've got the Prize Chicken, +after all. That boy could n't tell green from blue in the +moonlight, 'n' he 's hatched out one of yours. By George +Washin'ton! that's a good one,--serves him right," he +said, wiping the tears of mirth from his eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">The chicken lived, but never seemed to belong to any +one in particular; and as Chi said solemnly the next +morning, "The less said on this Mountain about prize +chickens, the better it 'll be for us all."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="an-unexpected-meeting">X</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">AN UNEXPECTED MEETING</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">It was a busy summer in and about the farmhouse on +Mount Hunger. What with tending the chickens--there +were four hundred and two in all--and strawberry-picking +and preserving, and in due season a repetition of the +process with raspberries and blackberries, the days seemed +hardly long enough to accomplish all the young people +had planned.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Clyde came up for two days in June, and upon his +return told Doctor Heath that he, too, felt as if he needed +that kind of a cure.</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel was the picture of health and fast becoming what +Chi had predicted, "an A Number 1" beauty. Her dark +eyes sparkled with the joy of life; on her rounded cheeks +there was the red of the rose; the skull-cap had been +discarded, and a fine crop of soft, silky rings of dark brown +hair had taken its place.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Never, no, never, have I had such good times," she +wrote to her Cousin Jack at Newport. "We eat on the +porch, and make believe camp out in the woods, and we +ride on Bess and Bob all over the Mountain. We've +about finished the preserves and jams, and Rose has only +burnt herself twice. The chickens, Chi says, are going to +be prime ones; it 's awfully funny to see them come flying +and hopping and running towards us the minute they see +us--March says it's the 'Charge of the Light Brigade.'</p> +<p class="pnext">"I wish you could be up here and have some of the fun,--but +I 'm afraid you 're too old. I enclose the song +Rose sings which you asked me for. I don't understand +it, but it's perfectly beautiful when she sings it."</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel had asked Rose for the words of the song, telling +her that her Cousin Jack at Harvard would like to have +them. Rose looked surprised for a moment.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What can he want of them?" she asked in a rather +dignified manner; and Hazel, thinking she was giving +the explanation the most reasonable as well as agreeable, +replied:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't know for sure, but I think--you won't tell, +will you, Rose?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Of course I won't. I don't even know your cousin, to +begin with."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I think he is going to be engaged, or is, to Miss Seaton +of New York. All his friends think she is awfully pretty, +and papa says she is fascinating. I think Jack wanted +them to give to her."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh," said Rose, in a cool voice with a circumflex +inflection, then added in a decidedly toploftical tone, +"I've no objection to his making use of them. I 'll copy +them for you."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Thank you, Rose," said Hazel, rather puzzled and a +little hurt at Rose's new manner.</p> +<p class="pnext">This conversation took place the first week in August, +and the verses were duly forwarded to Jack, who read them +over twice, and then, thrusting them into his breast-pocket, +went over to the Casino, whistling softly to himself on the +way. There, meeting his chum and some other friends, he +proposed a riding-trip through the Green Mountain region +for the latter part of August.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The Colonel and his wife will go with us, I 'm sure, +and any of the girls who can ride well will jump at the +chance," said his chum. "It's a novelty after so much +coaching."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll go over and see Miss Seaton about it," said Jack, +and walked off singing to himself,--</p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">"'--the stars above</div> +<div class="line">Shine ever on Love'--"</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +</div> +</blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">His friend turned to the others. "That's a go; I 've +never seen Sherrill so hard hit before." Then he fell to +discussing the new plan with the rest.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack was wily enough, as he laid the plan before Maude +Seaton, to attempt to kill two birds with one stone. He +had had a desire, ever since the first letter of Hazel's, to +see his little cousin in her new surroundings, and this +desire was immeasurably strengthened by his curiosity to +see a girl who sang Barry Cornwall's love-lyrics on Mount +Hunger. Consequently, in planning the high-roads to be +followed through the Green Mountains, he had not omitted +to include Barton's River, as it boasted a good inn.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Here 's Woodstock,--just here," he explained to pretty +Maude Seaton, as they sat on the broad morning-porch of +the palatial Newport cottage, with a map of Vermont on +the table between them. "We can stop there a day or +two, and make our next stop at Barton's River; I 've +heard it's a beautiful place, with glorious mountain rides +within easy distance. Suppose we arrange to stop three +or four days there and take it all in? I 've been told +it's the finest river-valley in New England."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, do let's! The whole thing is going to be delightful. +I 'm so tired of coaching; I believe nobody enjoys it +now, unless it's the one who holds the reins, and then all +the others are bored. But with fine horses this will be no +end of fun. We can send on our trunks ahead, can't we?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, yes, that's easily arranged. By the way, what +horse will you take? Remember," he said, looking her +squarely in the eyes with a flattering concern, "it's a +mountain country, and we can't afford to have anything +happen to you."</p> +<p class="pnext">"No danger for me," laughed Maude, meeting his look +as squarely. "And I can't worry about you after seeing +the polo game you played yesterday," she added with +frank admiration.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It was a good one, was n't it?" said Jack, his eyes +kindling at the remembrance. "It was my mascot did the +business--see?" He put his hand in his breast-pocket, +expecting to draw forth a ribbon bow of Maude's that she +had given him for "colors;" but, to his amazement, and +to Miss Seaton's private chagrin, he drew forth only the +slip of paper with Barry Cornwall's love-song in Rose +Blossom's handwriting.</p> +<p class="pnext">Where the dickens was that bow? Jack felt the absurdity +of hunting in all his pockets for something he had +intended should express one phase, at least, of his +sentiments. He felt the blood mounting to the roots of his +hair, and, laughing, put a bold face on it.</p> +<p class="pnext">He held out the slip of paper. "It looks innocent, +doesn't it?" he said mischievously, and enjoyed to the +full Maude's look of discomfiture, which, only for a second, +she could not help showing. "She 'll know now how a +fellow feels when he has sent her flowers and sees her +wearing another man's offering," he thought. He turned +to the map again.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, what horse will you ride?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll take Old Jo; he 's safe, and splendid for fences. +Of course you 'll take Little Shaver?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, he and I don't part company very often. So it's +settled, is it?" he asked, feeling cooler than he did.</p> +<p class="pnext">"So far as I am concerned, it is; and I know the Colonel +and Mrs. Fenlick will go; it's just the thing they like."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, I 'll leave you to speak to the other girls, and +I 'll go over and see Mrs. Fenlick. Good-bye." He held +out his hand, but Miss Seaton chose to be looking down +the avenue at that moment.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, there are the Graysons beckoning to me!" she +exclaimed eagerly. "Excuse me, and good-bye--I must +run down to see them." As she walked swiftly and gracefully +over the lawn, she knew Jack Sherrill was watching +her. "Yes, it's settled," she thought, as she hurried on; +"and something else is settled, too, Mr. Sherrill! You 've +been hanging fire long enough--and the idea of his +forgetting that bow!"</p> +<p class="pnext">The Graysons thought they had never seen Maude +Seaton quite so pretty as she was that morning, when she +stood chatting and laughing with all in general, and +fascinating each in particular. The result was, the Graysons +joined the riding-party in a body, and Sam Grayson vowed +he would cut Jack Sherrill out if he had to fight for it.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was a glorious first of September when the riding-party, +ten in number, cantered up to the inn at Barton's +River, and it was a merry group in fresh toilets that +gathered after dinner and a rest of an hour or two in their rooms, +on the long, narrow, vine-covered veranda of the inn. It +had been a warm day, and the afternoon shadows were +gratefully cooling.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Will you look at that load coming down the street?" +said Mrs. Fenlick. "I never saw anything so funny!"</p> +<p class="pnext">The whole party burst out laughing, as the vehicle, an +old apple-green cart, apparently filled with bobbing calico +sunbonnets and straw hats, shackled and rattled up to the +side door of the inn.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I shall call them the Antediluvians," laughed Maude +Seaton. "Do you know where they come from?" she +said, speaking in at the open office-window to the boy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I guess they come to sell berries from a place the +folks round here call 'The Lost Nation,'" he replied, +grinning.</p> +<p class="pnext">"'The Lost Nation!' Do you hear that?" said Sam +Grayson. "Let's have a nearer view of the natives." They +all went to the end of the veranda nearest the cart. Sam +Grayson and Jack went out to investigate.</p> +<p class="pnext">Two boys in faded blue overalls and almost brimless +straw hats jumped down before the wagon stopped, and +began lifting out six-quart pails of shining blackberries +from beneath an old buffalo robe. Jack, with his hands +in his pockets, sauntered up to the tail of the cart.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Buy them all, do--do!" cried Miss Seaton, clapping +her hands. "We need them to-morrow for our picnic; +and pay a good price," she added, "for the sake of the +looks. I wouldn't have missed it for anything?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"How do you sell them?" said Jack to the tall boy +who stood with his back to him, busied with the berries.</p> +<p class="pnext">The boy turned at the sound of the pleasant voice, and +lifted his brimless hat by the crown with an air a Harvard +freshman might have envied. Jack, seeing it, was sorry he +was bareheaded, for he hated to be outdone in such courtesy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ten cents a quart, sir."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What a handsome fellow!" whispered Mrs. Fenlick. +"You rarely see such a face; and where did he get such +manners?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"How many quarts have--halloo, Little Sunbonnet! +Look out!" said Jack, laughing, as he caught the owner +of the yellow sunbonnet, who, perched on the side of the +wagon, suddenly lost her balance because of Bess's uneasy +movements in fly-time.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, you are an armful," he laughed as he set her +down and tried in vain to peer up under the drooping +bonnet and discover a face.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Whoa--ah, Bess!" shouted the driver, as Bess reared +and snorted and shuddered and finally rid herself of the +tormenting horse-fly. "All right, Cherry Bounce?" he +said, turning at last when the horse was quieted.</p> +<p class="pnext">But Cherry was dumb with embarrassment, and Jack +answered for her.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Little Sunbonnet's all safe, but what--" He got no +further with that sentence. To the amazement of the +group on the veranda and Jack's overwhelming astonishment, +a wild, gleeful "Oh-ee!" issued from the depths +of another sunbonnet in the cart, and the owner thereof +precipitated herself recklessly over the side, and cast +herself upon Jack's neck, hugging and "oh-eeing" with all +her might.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, Hazel! Hazel!" Except for that, Jack was +dumb like Cherry, but not with embarrassment. Was +this Hazel? Her sunbonnet had fallen off, and the dark +blue gingham dress set off the wonderful richness of +coloring that helped to make Hazel what she had become, "a +perfect beauty."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Jack, you old darling, why did n't you let us know +you were coming? Chi, Chi!" Hazel was fairly wild +with joy at seeing a dearly loved home-face. "This is my +Cousin Jack we 've talked about. Jack, this is my friend, +Chi."</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi put out his horny brown hand, and Jack grasped it.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Guess she 's givin' you away pretty smart, ain't she?" +said Chi, with a twist of his mouth and a motion of his +thumb backwards to the veranda.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, rather," said Jack, laughing, for he felt that +Chi's keen eyes had taken in the whole situation at a +glance. "I meant to surprise her, but she has succeeded +in surprising me." He stood with his arm about Hazel. +"And these are your friends, Hazel?" he inquired; he felt +he must make the best of it now.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Jack, I 'm ashamed of myself; I 'm so glad to see +you I 've forgotten my manners. Rose," she spoke up to +the other sunbonnet that had kept its position straight +towards the horse and never moved during this surprise +party. Then Rose turned. "Rose, this is Cousin Jack."</p> +<p class="pnext">The sunbonnet bowed stiffly, and Jack heard a low laugh +behind him. It was Maude Seaton's. Rose heard it, too; +so did Chi and March. It affected each in the same way. +As Chi said afterwards, he "b'iled" when he heard it. +Then Rose spoke:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'm very glad to see you, Mr. Sherrill, we 've heard +so much of you." Her voice rang sweet and clear; every +word was heard on the veranda. "And these berries +are n't to be preserved; but evidently you are going to +buy them just the same,--as well as your friends," she +added, looking towards the veranda.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack bit his lip. "I should like to introduce all my +friends to you," he said, without much enthusiasm, +however. "I know this is March;" he turned pleasantly to +him, but dared not offer his hand, for the look on the +boy's face warned him that March had resented the laugh. +"Will you come?" He held up his hand to Rose to help +her down.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Thank you." Rose sprang down, ignoring the proffered help.</p> +<p class="pnext">She knew just how she looked, and her face burned at +the thought. Her old green and white calico dress was +shrunken and warped with many washings; her shoes +were heavy and patched; fortunately her sunbonnet with +its green calico cape was of a depth to hide her burning +face. But that laugh had been like a challenge to her +pride.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Drive up to the front veranda, Chi," she commanded +rather brusquely; and Chi, muttering to himself, "She's +game, though; I would n't thought it of Rose-pose; but +I glory in her spunk!" drew up to the front door in a +truly rattling style.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then Rose and Hazel were introduced to them all; but +in vain did Maude Seaton try to get a look into her face. +It was only a ceremony, and Rose felt it as such; +nevertheless she said very pleasantly, "Hazel, wouldn't you +like to invite your friends up to tea on the porch +to-morrow? that is, if you are to be here?" she added, +addressing Mrs. Fenlick.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Rose, that would be lovely. Then they can see +the chickens!" said Hazel. There was a general laugh.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I fear it will be too much trouble, Miss Blossom," said +Mrs. Fenlick, courteously, for she felt like apologizing for +that laugh of Maude Seaton's; "there are so many of us."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, no, my mother will be glad to meet you," Rose +replied with serene voice; "won't she, Chi?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sure," said Chi, addressing the general assembly; "the +more the merrier; 'n' if you come along about four, you 'll +get a view you don't get round here, 'n' a wholesale piazzy +to eat it on. How many do you count up?" Jack winced +at the burst of merriment that followed the question.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We'll line up, and you can count," said Sam Grayson, +the fun getting the better of him. "Here, Miss Seaton, +stand at the head."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Miss Blossom, there are ten of us; are you going to +retract your invitation?" said Mrs. Fenlick, shaking her +head at Sam.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not if you wish to come," said Rose, pleasantly. "We +will have tea at five. Come, Hazel, we must be going: +there are the berries to sell--or shall we leave you here +with your cousin till we come back?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, I won't leave you even for Jack," said Hazel, +earnestly; "besides, I 've never had the fun of selling +berries."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'm thinkin' you 've lost your fun, anyway," said Chi, +"for Budd says the tavern-keeper has taken all; guess +<em class="italics">he 's</em> goin' into the jam business, too."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll pick some more, then, to-morrow, and you 'll have +to buy some of them, Jack," said Hazel, "for I 'm bound +to sell some berries this summer."</p> +<p class="pnext">"We 'll take all you can pick, Hazel," said Maude +Seaton, sweetly. Then, as the cart rattled away with +the three sunbonnets held rigid and erect, she turned to +Mrs. Fenlick and the other girls: "What an idea that +was of Doctor Heath's to put Hazel away up here in such +a family--a girl in her position!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"She seems to have thriven wonderfully on it," remarked +Mrs. Fenlick; "she will be the prettiest of her set +when they come out. I am delighted to have a chance to +see Doctor Heath's mountain sanatorium."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, I 'm sure it will be amusing," replied Maude, dryly. +Then she shook out her light draperies, pulled down her +belt, and went down the road a bit to meet Jack and Sam +Grayson, who had accompanied the cart for a few rods +along the village street.</p> +<p class="pnext">When they had turned back to the inn, the storm in +the apple-green cart burst forth.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Did you hear that girl laugh?" demanded March, with +suppressed wrath in his voice.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Just as plain as I hear that crow caw," said Chi.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can't bear her," said Hazel; "telling me she would +buy my berries when I only meant Jack."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Kinder sweet on him, ain't she?" asked Chi, carelessly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I should think so!" was Hazel's indignant answer. +"I heard Aunt Carrie tell papa she was always sending +him invitations to everything. But is n't Cousin Jack +splendid, Rose?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose's sunbonnet was still very rigid, and Chi knew +that sign; so he spoke up promptly, knowing that she did +not care to answer just then:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"He 's about as handsome as they make 'em, Lady-bird; +if he wears well, I sha'n't have nothin' against him."</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel felt rather depressed without knowing exactly +why. March returned to the charge.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Did you hear that laugh, Rose?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, I did," said Rose, shortly. March looked at her +in surprise, but Chi managed to give him a nudge, which +March understood, and the subject was dropped on the +homeward way.</p> +<p class="pnext">That the berry-sellers were under a cloud was evident +to Mrs. Blossom as soon as they drove up to the woodshed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Did you have good luck, children?" she called to +them cheerily.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We 've sold all our berries," said Budd.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But March and Rose are cross, Martie," added Cherry.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Tired 'n' hungry, too, Mis' Blossom," Chi hastened to +say, trying to shield Hazel and the other two. "I wish +you 'd just step out to the barn with a spoonful of your +good lard. Bess has rubbed her shin a little mite, 'n' I +want to grease it good to save the hair." Mrs. Blossom, +reading his face, took the hint.</p> +<p class="pnext">He made his confession in the barn.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't know what we 've done, Mis' Blossom; but +Rose has invited 'em all up here to-morrow to supper,--they 're +regular high-flyers, girls 'n' fellers, 'n' the Colonel +and his wife. There 's ten of 'em; 'n' it's a-goin' to make +you an awful sight of work, but, by George Washin'ton! that +pesky girl--Miss Seaver, or somethin' like it--riled +me so, that I ain't got over it yet, 'n' I 'd backed up +Rose if she 'd offered to take the whole of 'em to board +for a week. I just b'iled when I heard her laugh, 'n' she +can't hold a candle to our Rose; 'n' she's that +sassy--although you can't put your finger on anything +special--that you can't sass back; the worst kind every time; 'n' +she 's set her cap for the straightest sort of chap--that's +Hazel's cousin--there is goin', 'n', by George Washin'ton! +I 'm afraid he 's fool enough to catch at that bait.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There!" said Chi, stopping to draw breath, "I 've had +my blow-out 'n' I feel better. Now, what are we goin' to +do about it?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"We 'll manage it, Chi," said Mrs. Blossom, smiling in +spite of herself at Chi's wrath. "After all, the children +have been carefully guarded in our home up here, and, +sometimes, I think too much,--it won't hurt them to take +a prick now and then. Besides, Chi," she added, laughing +outright as she turned to go into the house, "the children +did look perfectly ridiculous in those old berry-picking +rigs. I laughed myself when I saw you drive off with +them."</p> +<p class="pnext">But she left Chi grumbling.</p> +<p class="pnext">That night, after the children were in bed, and +Mrs. Blossom was sure they were all asleep except Rose, she +went upstairs a second time and spoke softly at the door:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Rose."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, Martie; oh, you 're coming! I 'm so glad." And +as Mrs. Blossom knelt by the bed, whispering, "Now tell +me all about it," Rose threw one arm over her mother's +shoulder and whispered her confession.</p> +<p class="pnext">"They were n't rude to you, dear, were they?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, Martie," whispered Rose, "it was n't that, but I +just <em class="italics">hated</em> them far a minute,--Hazel's cousin and all."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That is n't like you, Rose dear, to hate anyone without +reason."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Martie, I 'm ashamed to tell you--" the arm came +close about her mother's neck, "I 'm too old to have such +feelings, but I could n't bear them because I looked as I +did. I was ashamed of my looks and the children's; and +I was ashamed even of Chi--dear, old Chi!--" there +was a smothered sob and an effort to go on. "And they +were all dressed so beautifully, and Hazel's cousin had on +a lovely white flannel suit, and I was just a little rude to +him; but it was nothing but my dreadful pride! I did n't +know I had it till to-day,--oh, dear!" The head went +under the counterpane to smother the sound of the sobs.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But, my dear little girl--" (When Rose cried, which +was seldom, Mrs. Blossom called her daughter who was as +tall as herself, "little girl," and nothing comforted Rose +more than that.) So now, hearing the loving words, the +head emerged from the bedclothes, and a tear-wet face was +meekly held over the side of the bed for a kiss.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But, my dear little girl," Mrs. Blossom went on after +the interruption, "surely you were courteous and thoughtful +of Hazel's happiness, at least, to ask them all up here +to tea. You have n't that to regret."</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a fresh burst, smothered quickly under the +sheet. "Oh, Martie, that's the worst part of it! I did n't +ask them for Hazel's sake, but just for myself, because I +knew--I knew--" Rose smothered the rising sob; "that +if they came, I could have on my one pretty dress, and +they 'd see that I--that I--" Rose was unable to finish.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Could look as well as they did?" said Mrs. Blossom, +completing the sentence.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," sighed Rose, "and I feel like a perfect hypocrite +towards every one of them;--and, oh, Martie! the truth +is, I was ashamed of being poor and selling berries--" +again the head went under the coverlet, and Mrs. Blossom +caught only broken phrases:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am so proud of--of you and Popsey--poor Chi +made it worse--they laughed--March was mad, too,--and +Miss Seaton 's so pretty--clothes--Hazel's cousin +tried to be polite--Hazel--just her dear own self--but +she 's rich--and Cherry f-fell into his arms--and I +know--and I know--I know he wanted to be out of the +whole thing--oh dear!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Blossom patted the bunch under the clothes whence +came the smothered, broken sentences, and smiled while a +tear rolled down her cheek. After all, this was real grief, +and she wished she might have shielded her Rose from +just this kind of contact with the world. But she was +wise enough not to say so.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, Rose dear, let's look on the other side now the +invitation has been given. I, for my part, shall be glad +to see what they are like. I know you looked queer in +those old clothes, but, after all, would n't it have been just +as queer to have been all dressed up selling berries?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, I think it would, Martie," said Rose, emerging +from her retreat. "I 'm not such a goose as not to realize +we must have looked perfectly comical."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, now comfort yourself with the thought, that +to-morrow you need only look just as nice as you can in +honor of our guests. I 'm sure I shall," said Mrs. Blossom, +laughing softly. "I 'm not going to be outdone by +all those 'high-flyers,' as dear, old Chi calls them. We 'll +put on our prettiest--and there is n't much choice, you +know, for we have just one apiece--and we 'll set the +table with grandmother's old china out on the porch, and +we 'll give them of our best, and queens, Rose-pose, can +do no more. That's <em class="italics">our</em> duty; we'll let the others look +out for theirs. Now, what will be nice for tea?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not preserves, Martie, for Chi said--" Her mother +interrupted her,--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Never mind what Chi said now, dear, but plan for the +tea. We shall have to work as hard as we can jump +to-morrow forenoon to get ready. I 'm sorry father can't +be at home."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Could n't we have blackberries and those late garden +raspberries Chi has been saving?" said Rose.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, those will look pretty and taste good; and then +hot rolls, and fresh sponge and plum cake, and tea, and +cold chicken moulded in its jelly, the way we tried it last +month--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, that will be lovely, Martie," whispered Rose, +eagerly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And if Chi and March have the time," went on Mrs. Blossom, +entering heart and soul into the hospitable plan, +"I 'll ask them to go trout-fishing and bring us home two +strings of the speckled beauties, and if those served hot +don't make them respect old clothes--then nothing on +earth will," concluded Mrs. Blossom, with mock solemnity.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Martie Blossom, you're an angel!" cried Rose, +softly, rising in bed and throwing both arms about her +mother's neck--"there!"--a squeeze, "and there--" another +squeeze and a kiss, "and now you won't have to +complain of me to-morrow."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's mother's own daughter Rose," said Mrs. Blossom, +smoothing the sheet under the round chin. "Now, +good-night--sleep well, for I depend upon you to make +those rolls to-morrow forenoon."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="jack">XI</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">JACK</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Jack Sherrill had always had a particularly warm +interest in his Cousin Hazel. He, too, was motherless. +The fifteen-year-old lad had gone into one of the great +preparatory schools with the terrible mother-want in his +heart and life. Like Hazel, he, too, was an only child, +and consequently without the guidance and help of an +elder brother or sister. His father was all that a man, +absorbed in large business interests, could be to the son +whom he saw in vacation time only.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are born a gentleman, Jack," he had said to him +when he was about to enter Harvard; "remember to +conduct yourself as such. You 'll not find it an easy +matter at times--I did n't--but you will find it pays; +and--and remember your mother." Then Mr. Sherrill +had wrung his boy's hand, and hurried away.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was the only time in the three years since she had +been lost to him, that his father had borne to mention the +lad's mother to him. To Jack it was like a last will and +testament, and he wrote it not only in his memory, but on +his heart.</p> +<p class="pnext">He had tried, yes, honestly, amid the manifold temptations +of his life and his "set," to live up to a certain ideal +of his own, but it had been slow work; and the last three +months of his sophomore year had been far from +satisfactory to himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">He was thinking this over as he rode slowly up the +steep road to Mount Hunger. He had come up that morning +to call on Mrs. Blossom, for he knew that the social +law of hospitality demanded that he should pay his +respects to Rose Blossom's mother and Hazel's guardian +before his friends should break bread in the house.</p> +<p class="pnext">That tall girl in the sunbonnet was a disappointment--but +then, he had been a fool to expect anything else just +because she happened to sing one of Barry Cornwall's +love-songs. He rode out of the leafy woods'-road, and +came unexpectedly upon the farmhouse. Chi saw him +from the barn, and came out to meet him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Is Mrs. Blossom at home?" asked Jack, lifting his cap.</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi patted Little Shaver's neck, shining like polished +mahogany. "Yes, she 's home, 'n' she 'll be glad to see +you. You 'll find her right in the kitchen, 'n' I 'll tend to +this little chap--what's his name?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Little Shaver, he 's my polo pony."</p> +<p class="pnext">"George Washington! He knows a thing or two. +He most winked at me," laughed Chi.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, he knows a stable when he sees it," said Jack, +smiling; "but where 's the kitchen?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Right off the porch.--There 's Rose singing now; +guess that 'll be as good a guide-post as you could have. +Come along, Little Shaver,--a good name for you."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack went up on the porch, but stopped short at the +open door. Rose was at the kitchen table, patting out the +dough for the rolls. Her sleeves were turned up above +the elbows, and the round, yet delicate, white arms and the +pretty hands were working energetically with the rolling-pin. +She was singing from pure lightheartedness, and +she emphasized the rhythm by substantial thumps with +the culinary utensil.</p> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 60%" id="figure-39"> +<span id="rose-was-at-the-kitchen-table-patting-out-the-dough-for-the-rolls"></span><img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-118.jpg" /> +<div class="caption figure"> +"Rose was at the kitchen table, patting out the dough for the rolls"</div> +<div class="legend"> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">"'I told thee when love was hopeless; (thump)</div> +<div class="line">But now he is wild and sings--(thump)</div> +<div class="line">That the stars above (thump! thump!!)</div> +<div class="line">Shine ever on Love--(thump--)'"</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Jack knocked rather loudly, and Rose turned with a little +"Oh!" and an attitude that made Jack long for a +button-hole kodak.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come in, Mr. Sherrill," she said, cordially, but thinking +to herself, "Caught again! well, I don't care."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I hope I have n't come too early this morning to be +received," said Jack, extending his hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can't shake, Mr. Sherrill," laughed Rose, "and if I +stop to wash them, you won't have any rolls for tea."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do go on then," said Jack, eagerly, "only don't let me +be a bother. I was afraid it might be too early and +inconvenience you, but--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not a bit," said Rose as she turned to the kneading-board +again. "If you don't mind, I 'm sure I don't; only +these rolls must be attended to."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You 're very good to let me stay and watch the process," +said Jack, humbly, deferentially taking his stand by +the table. "I hope I shall not interfere so much with +Mrs. Blossom; I forgot that--that--" Jack grew red and +confused.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That we did our own work?" Rose supplied the rest +of his thought with such winning frankness, that Jack +succumbed then and there to the delight of a novel +experience.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll be out in a few minutes, Mr. Sherrill," called a +cheery voice from the pantry behind him. Jack +started,--then laughed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Am I interrupting you, too, Mrs. Blossom?" he said, +addressing a crack in the pantry door.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't mean to let you, or you will have no sponge +cakes for tea; I 'm beating eggs and can't leave them or +they 'll go down."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Can't I help, Mrs. Blossom? I 've no end of unused +muscle," said Jack, entering into the fun of the situation.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, thank you, I shall be but a few minutes. Rose +dear, just feel the oven, will you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack began to think himself a nonentity in all this +domesticity. "'Feel the oven,'" he said to himself. "Do +girls do that often, I wonder." He watched Rose's every +movement.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now, confess, Mr. Sherrill, have you ever seen anyone +make biscuit before?" said Rose, cutting off a piece of +dough, flouring it, patting it, cuddling it in both hands, +folding it over with a little slap to hold a bit of butter, and +tucking it into the large, shallow pan.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No--" Jack drew a long breath, "I never have. You +see I have always thought it a kind of drudgery, but +this--" Jack sought for a word that should express his +feelings in regard to the process as performed by Rose--"this +is, why--it's poetry!" he exclaimed with a flashing +smile that became his expressive face wonderfully, and +caused Rose to fail absolutely in making a shapely poem +of the next roll.</p> +<p class="pnext">She laughed merrily. "There now, they 'll soon be +done--in good shape too, if you don't compliment them +too much."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll eat a dozen of them, I warn you now." Jack was +waxing dangerous, for he was already possessed with an +insane desire to become a piece of dough for the sake of +having those pretty hands pat him into shape.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do you hear that, Martie?" cried Rose, flushing with +pleasure.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes. That's the best compliment you can pay them, +Mr. Sherrill. I hope my cakes will fare as well," she said, +coming from the pantry with extended hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was strange! But when Jack Sherrill returned the +cordial pressure of that same hand, small, shapely, but worn +and hardened with toil, his eyes suddenly filled with tears. +This, truly, was a home, with what makes the home--a +mother in it.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Blossom saw the tears, the struggle for composure, +and, knowing from Hazel he was motherless, read his +thought;--then all her sweet motherhood came to the +surface.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My dear boy," she said with quivering lip, "it is very +thoughtful of you to come up and pioneer the way over the +Mountain for all your city friends."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack found his voice. "Mrs. Fenlick wanted to come, +too, Mrs. Blossom, but I managed to put it so she thought +it would be better to wait until afternoon. They are all +looking forward to it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'm sorry Hazel is n't here; she is out picking berries +with the children. If Rose had n't so much to do, I 'd send +her to hunt them up."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack protested. He had come to call on Mrs. Blossom +and had detained them altogether too long.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't want to go," he said laughingly, "but I know +I ought. It seems almost an imposition for so many of us +to come up here and put you to all this trouble. Why did +you ask us, Miss Blossom?" At which question, Rose did +not belie her name, for a sudden wave of color surged into +her face, and she looked helplessly and appealingly at her +mother.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 've put my foot into it now," was Jack's thought, as +Mrs. Blossom responded quickly, "For more reasons than +one, Mr. Sherrill."</p> +<p class="pnext">They were out on the porch; Chi was bringing up +Little Shaver.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It will be a regular stampede this afternoon," said +Jack, gayly, as he vaulted into the saddle. "Have +you room enough for so many horses?" He turned +to Chi.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Plenty 'n' to spare, 'n' I 'm goin' to give 'em a piazzy +tea of their own. Little Shaver knows all about it: I 've +told him. I never saw but one horse before that could +most talk, 'n' that's Fleet."</p> +<p class="pnext">Little Shaver whinnied, and with a downward thrust +and twist of his head tried to get it under Chi's arm.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Did n't I tell you?" said Chi, delightedly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Can I get on to the main road by going over the +Mountain?" Jack asked him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, you can get over, if you ain't particular how you +get," said Chi.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No road?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Kind of a trail;--over the pasture 'n' through the +woods, an acre or two of brush, 'n' then some pretty steep +slidin' down the other side, 'n' a dozen rods of swimmin', +'n' a tough old clamber up the bank--'n' there you are on +the river road as neat as a pin."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack laughed. "Just what Little Shaver glories in; +I 'll try it, and much obliged to you, Mr.--" he hesitated.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Call me, Chi."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Chi," said Jack, in such a tone of good comradeship +that it brought the horny hand up to his in a second's time.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack grasped it; "Good-bye till this afternoon." He +spoke to Little Shaver, who ducked his head and fairly +scuttled across the mowing, scrambled up the pasture, took +the three-rail fence at the top in a sort of double bow-knot +of a jump, and then disappeared in the woods, leaving the +three gazing after him in admiration.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That feller's got the right ring," said Chi, emphatically; +"but if he had n't come up here this mornin', first +thing, after that invite of Rose-pose's, I 'd have set him +down alongside of that Miss Seaver--'n' a pretty low +seat that would be!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll put up some lunch, Chi, for you and March, and, +if you can find him, you would do well to start now for +the trout."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Blossom turned to Rose. "Come, dear, we 've +a hundred and one things to do to be ready in time. You +may set the table on the porch, and we 'll all picnic for +dinner to-day; I 've no time to get a regular one, and +father is n't at home."</p> +<p class="pnext">It was a perfect afternoon on that second of September. +At a quarter of five Mrs. Blossom and Rose and Hazel +were on the porch, looking down upon the lower road for +the first glimpse of the party.</p> +<p class="pnext">The table was set on the huge rough veranda that +Mr. Blossom and Chi had built just off the kitchen long-room. +Clematis and maiden-hair ferns, which abounded on the +Mountain, were the decorations, and set off to good +advantage Mrs. Blossom's mother's old-fashioned tea-set of +delicate green and white china.</p> +<p class="pnext">On one end was a large china bowl heaped with blackberries, +on the other stood a common glass one filled with +luscious, red raspberries. The sponge cakes gleamed, +appetizingly golden, from plates covered with grape-vine +leaves for doilies.</p> +<p class="pnext">The chicken quivered in its own jelly on a platter +wreathed with clematis. The delicious odor of fried trout +floated out from the long-room, and the rolls were steaming +hot in snow-white napkins.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, dear!" moaned Rose. "Everything will get cold, +it's so late."</p> +<p class="pnext">Just then there was a shout from the advance-guard of +the twins, and the cavalcade came into view; Jack on +Little Shaver, who, after his thirty-mile morning ride, was +as fresh as a pastured colt--riding beside Maude Seaton +on Old Jo.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a general dismounting, assisted by Chi; a +gathering and looping up of riding habits; a bit of general +brushing down among the men; then, with one accord +they turned to the broad step of the porch.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Fenlick, telling of it afterwards, said that, for a +moment, she did nothing but look with all her eyes; for +there on the porch step stood a woman still in the prime +of life and beautiful. She was dressed in an India mull of +the fashion of a quarter of a century ago, with a lace +kerchief folded in a V about the open neck, and fastened +with an old-fashioned brooch.</p> +<p class="pnext">"At her side," said Mrs. Fenlick, "stood one of the +loveliest girls off of canvas I have ever seen. She had on +a gown of old-fashioned lawn--pale blue with a rose-bud +border. She was tall and straight, and the skirt was a +little skimpy, and so plain that had she designed it to set +off the grace of her figure she could n't have succeeded +better. And the face and head!" Mrs. Fenlick used to +wax eloquent at this point--"were simply ideal. Hazel, +of course, looked as handsome as a picture in her full, dark +blue frock of wash silk trimmed with Irish lace, and with +that rich color in her cheeks--but that girl's face was +simply divine! Just imagine a complexion of pure white, +and dark blue eyes--real violet color--black almost in +her pretty excitement of welcoming us, and the loveliest +golden brown hair just plaited and puffed a little at the +temples, and a braid, that big--" Mrs. Fenlick generally put +her two delicate wrists together at this point,--"that fell +below her waist fully half a yard! I never saw such hair!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Fenlick used to pause for breath at this point, and +then add, "Well, the whole thing was too lovely to be +described. Of course, we ate--lots; for that ride and the +air were enough to make a saint hungry in Lent, but I was +only dimly conscious of ever so many good things I was +eating, for that face fascinated me. And manners! Just +as if those two women had had nothing to do all their +lives but entertain royalty!</p> +<p class="pnext">"I had sense enough, however, to notice that Jack +Sherrill said very little and ate a great deal. I counted +twelve rolls--of course they were small--for one thing; +and I don't blame him,--I wanted more. Well, the whole +thing was perfect--the valley and the great mountains +were just in front of the porch, and everything harmonized. +Even that lovely girl had a bunch of purple-blue pansies +at her belt and a few in the bit of cotton lace at her throat; +and the sunset and the mountains matched them--as if +she had had the whole thing made to order."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Fenlick always ended with, "I 've got one bone +to pick with that dear Doctor Heath--a mountain +sanatorium! I 'd be willing, almost, to get nervous +prostration to be sent up there.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But oh! you should have seen Maude Seaton!" And +thereupon, Mrs. Fenlick would go off into a fit of laughter +at the remembrance. "She was looking about for the +'rigid sunbonnet,' as she called it, of the day before, and +did n't hear when Rose Blossom spoke to her; and when +she did realize that the two were one and the same, her +look was the kind 'Life' likes to get hold of, you know.</p> +<p class="pnext">"As for Jack Sherrill," Mrs. Fenlick concluded in her +most serious manner, "I have my own thoughts about +some things." More than that she would not say, for +fear it might get back to Maude Seaton's ears.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack, too, had his own thoughts about some things--and +kept them to himself.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="results">XII</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">RESULTS</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">It was the middle of November. A wild, cold wind +was sweeping over the Mountain, and driving black clouds +in quick succession across the tops of the woodlands. It +howled around the farmhouse and, as now and again a +more furious blast hurled itself against doors and windows, +the children drew nearer together on the rug before the +huge fireplace with a delightful sense of safety and +cosiness.</p> +<p class="pnext">A kettle of molasses was simmering on the stove, and +Chi was wielding the corn-popper with truly professional +skill before the open fire.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was such fun to see the hurry, and scurry, and hustle, +and rattle, and pop, and sudden white transformation of +the heated kernels! A huge, wooden bowl received the +contents of the popper, and March salted them. Oh, how +good it smelt! And Rose was going to make molasses +corn-balls to put aside for the next evening.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's just like having a party every night, there +are so many of us," said Hazel, clapping her hands in +delight.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I should think you 'd miss some of your real parties, +Hazel," said Rose, thoughtfully.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Miss them! Not a bit; why, they are n't half so nice +as this, and at home it's so lonesome when papa isn't +there. Is n't it lovely to think he 's coming up Christmas? +Even up here, you know, it would n't be quite Christmas +for me without him. That makes me think, I must write +him very soon about some things." Hazel looked mysterious.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We hung up our stockings last year, but we did n't +get what we wanted," said Cherry rather mournfully.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why not?" asked Hazel.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Coz Popsey was so sick he could n't go out to the +Wishing-Tree, and so he did n't know."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What is the Wishing-Tree?" said Hazel, consumed +with curiosity.</p> +<p class="pnext">Cherry's mouth was full of corn, so Budd carried on the +conversation between mouthfuls.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll show you to-morrow. It's a big butternut up in +the corner of the pasture, an' there 's a little hollow in the +trunk where the squirrels used to hide beech-nuts, but +March has made a door to it with a hinge and put a +little padlock on it--that's the key hanging up on the +clock."</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel saw a tiny key suspended by a string from one of +the pointed knobs that ornamented the tall clock.</p> +<p class="pnext">"'N' nobody touches it till All-hallow-e'en," said Cherry, +when the sound of her munching had somewhat diminished, +although her articulation was by no means clear. +"'N' then Chi goes up with us in the dark, 'n' we put in +our wishes, 'n'--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Let me tell Hazel," said Budd. "You 've begun at +the wrong end. You see, we write what we want for +Christmas down on paper, an' seal it with beeswax, an' +then don't tell anybody what we 've written; an' then +Chi goes up there with us after dark, an' we 're all dressed +up like Injuns--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Indians, Budd," corrected March.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, Old Pertic'lar, Indians, then," said Budd, a +little crossly, "an' then--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, you 've forgot the dish-pan and the little tub," +Cherry's voice came muffled through the corn. "We +take the dish-pan, Hazel, 'n' the little wash-tub, me 'n' +Budd between us, 'n' beat on them with the iron spoon +'n' the dish-mop handle, 'n' play 'tom-toms'--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, an' March gives an awful war-whoop--" Budd, +in his earnestness, had risen and gone over to Chi's side, +and now sat down by the big bowl, but, unfortunately, on +the popper which Chi had just emptied. There was a +smell of scorched wool, and, simultaneously, a wild, "Oh, +gee-whiz!!" from Budd, who leaped as if shot, and stood +ruefully rubbing the seat of his well-patched knicker-bockers, +while the rest rolled over on the rug in their +merriment.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, do go on, Budd!" cried Hazel, wiping the tears +of mirth from her eyes. Cherry had laughed so hard that +she was hiccoughing with outrageous rapidity; and +March--forgetting May--chose that opportune moment to give +forth a specimen of his best war-whoop, for the purpose, as +he explained afterwards, of frightening her out of them.</p> +<p class="pnext">By the time order had been restored, Cherry was able +to take up the thread of the story;</p> +<p class="pnext">"'N' we join hands--Chi 'n' all of us--'n' sing as loud +as we can sing:</p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">"'Intery, mintery, cutery corn,</div> +<div class="line">Apple seed, apple thorn;</div> +<div class="line">Wire, briar, limber lock,</div> +<div class="line">Five geese in a flock--</div> +<div class="line">Sit and sing by the spring;</div> +<div class="line">You are OUT.'</div> +</div> +</div> +</blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">Then we all give a great shout and grunt like In-di-ans--," +said Cherry, emphatically, looking at March; and March +nodded approval.</p> +<p class="pnext">"How's that?" asked Hazel, who was listening with +all her ears.</p> +<p class="pnext">"A hánnah--a hánnah--a hánnah," grunted the children +as well as they could, hampered by mouths full of +corn. "An' then," went on Budd, "we drop the wishes +into the hollow in the tree-trunk, an' Chi locks the door +an' keeps it, an'--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"'N' each of us ties two feathers from a rooster's tail to +different colored strings, 'n' fastens them on to a branch +of the tree, 'n' that brings us good luck; March calls +it 'winging the wishes.' That's the way we get our +presents."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, what fun!" cried Hazel. "May I do it this year?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Course," replied Budd, "but how will your father +know anything about it?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I never thought of that," said Hazel, all her Christmas +castles toppling over suddenly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We 'll fix it somehow, Lady-bird," said Chi, who, +having finished his labors, had seated himself in a chair +behind the children and provided himself with a private +bowl of his own.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But now, speakin' of roosters, I 'd like to know how +you 're comin' out about chicken money. I sold the last +lot but one down in Barton's to-day. There 's been a lot +of express to pay, 'n' I thought I 'd better pay dividends +to-night, 'n' get it off my mind, seein' it's most +Wishin'-Tree time."</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose took her little account book from her pocket. +"We cleared one hundred and ten dollars on our preserves +and jams after we 'd paid Hazel what we had borrowed +for the jars and sugar, and paid for the express and boxes. +I 'm awfully sorry we could n't fill all the orders, but we 'll +try to next year. I 'll go and get the money. I like to +look at it, knowing it means so much to us all."</p> +<p class="pnext">She ran upstairs and came back with a little wooden +box that Chi had made for her years ago. The children +crowded about her. "There," said Rose, proudly, as she +took out the money and smoothed it, one crisp bill after +another, on her knees; "they 're all in ones, so it will +seem as if we had more when we divide. Now we 've +agreed to divide this equally, so that 'll make just +twenty-two apiece."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Let's play 'Hold-fast-all-I-give-you' in earnest," said +Cherry, sitting down again on the rug and holding out +her hands. "That 'll be twenty-two times round and +make it seem a lot more."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good for you, Cherry," said March, approvingly, and +they all followed her example. With a gravity befitting +the occasion, the "truly-bruly" game, as Budd called it, +went on to the supreme satisfaction of those interested as +well as the enjoyment of father and mother and Chi; for +to the two former the money-making had long been, of +necessity, an open secret.</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi, after watching them a little while, left the room. +When he reappeared a few minutes later, he was greeted +with a prolonged "Ah!" of satisfaction; for in one hand +he held his old account-book, and in the other a long, dark +blue woollen stocking which bulged fearfully from the toe +halfway up the leg, where it was tied with a stout piece +of leather whip-lash.</p> +<p class="pnext">The whole business of disposing of the chickens had +been intrusted to Chi, and the members of the +N.B.B.O.O. Society had pledged themselves not to ask him any +questions in regard to the sale of them until he should +tell them of his own accord. This pledge they had kept, +and now they were to have their rewards.</p> +<p class="pnext">"If this is going to be a meeting of the N.B.B.O.O. Society, +I move we ask those who aren't members to +adjourn to the bedroom," said March, looking significantly +at his mother and father. Mr. and Mrs. Blossom +took the hint, and, without waiting for anyone to "second +the motion," betook themselves, laughing, into the other +room.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Guess we 'll sit up to the table 'n' count it out," said +Chi, "coz we don't want any of it to fly up chimney. We +should never find it again in this gale."</p> +<p class="pnext">He emptied the stocking of its contents--bills, pennies, +and silver pieces of all denominations--upon the table, and +the children drew up their chairs.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now we 'll sort," said Chi. "You take the bills, Rose, +'n' the rest take the other pieces, 'n' make little piles before +you of a dollar each. Then we can reckon up easy. I 'll +take the pennies and the nickels."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I choose the ten-cent pieces," said Cherry, "an' you +take the quarters, Budd." March and Hazel took the rest.</p> +<p class="pnext">"This is a kind of stockholders' meetin'," said Chi, as +the piles were completed. "We 'll divide the proceeds +accordin' the number of hens each set; coz I could n't +keep run of so many chicks after they'd struck out for +themselves."</p> +<p class="pnext">He opened his book.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Here 's some items you better hear, before you find any +fault with the management:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mem. July. 15 chicks killed by hen-hawks.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mem. August. 21 chicks died of the pip.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mem. September. Skunks stole ten.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mem. October. 2 can't find.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There 's a dead loss to all the stockholders, share 'n' +share alike. Now for expenses:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mem. Corn for feed till October--7 bushels.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mem. November. Express, $5.50. Crates +expressin'--$1.10. Now for the profits!" said Chi, with a +ring of triumph in his voice. "Count up your piles."</p> +<p class="pnext">How the cheeks flushed and the eyes grew dark with +excitement as the counting proceeded: "One hundred--one +hundred and thirty-two--one hundred and +seventy-seven--two hundred!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh-ee!" cried Hazel, as March fairly thundered "Two +hundred!" "There 's more, there 's more!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Go on, go on!" she cried again, almost beside herself +with excitement.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Two hundred and seven--TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTEEN!!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Chi!" exclaimed Rose, almost breathless, "How <em class="italics">did</em> +you make all that?" and thereupon, without waiting for +his answer, she sprang up from her chair, and, to Chi's +amazement, took his weather-worn face between her two +hands, and popped a kiss upon his forehead.</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi cleared his throat and attempted to make his explanation, +but was interrupted by March, who got hold of his +right hand and wrung it without speaking. Chi saw the +boy turn a little white about the mouth and his gray eyes +flash through tears; words were not needed.</p> +<p class="pnext">Budd and Cherry did not realize all this meant to the +elder brother and sister, but they did not wish to be +outdone by the others in expressing their appreciation of Chi. +So Budd thumped him unmercifully on the back, saying, +"You 're a trump, Chi; tell us how you did it," in a most +patronizing tone, and Cherry danced around the table, +singing; "I love my Love with a big, big C!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel looked on, rejoicing in their joy, but wondering +why such a little sum, less than her yearly allowance, +should create all that happiness.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But tell us how you did it, Chi," said Rose again.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, I sold most of them for broilers, they bring a +pretty good price; 'n' then I sold the feathers; 'n' you +forget all those forty hens have been layin' the last two +months, 'n' I sold the eggs. Then, too,--" a slow smile +wrinkled Chi's eyes--"I was n't interfered with, 'n' that +made a great difference in the business. How much have +you got altogether?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Three hundred and twenty-seven dollars," said March.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What you goin' to do with it? that's the next question. +You can't let your money lay round in wooden boxes 'n' +old stockin's. It ought to be bringing you in interest."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'm going to give my share to Rose, to prepare for +college with," said Hazel.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Indeed, I sha'n't take your money, Hazel; you 've +earned it fairly for yourself. I should be ashamed to +accept it, but it's lovely of you to think of it-- Why, +Hazel!" she cried, throwing her arm around her, for the +tears were rolling down Hazel's cheeks, and her chest +heaving with a bona fide sob.</p> +<p class="pnext">But Hazel flung off the encircling arm and threw herself +full length upon the settle in an abandonment of woe.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't care anything about your old money," she +sobbed. "I did n't want it for myself, and I 've worked so +hard picking berries and all--and you said you 'd keep +the by-law--and I 've been so happy working to help +others, and I never would have believed it of you, Rose +Blossom, that you 'd go back on your word--you promised--you +promised to help others--a regular solemn pl-pledge, +Chi says, and now--and the only way you could help me--was +to let--to let me help y-ou-oo-oo!"</p> +<p class="pnext">March and Rose looked at each other aghast at this +unwonted outburst from Hazel, and Mrs. Blossom, hearing +the wail, made her appearance from the bedroom.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, Hazel dear, what is the matter?" she said.</p> +<p class="pnext">"They 've spoiled all my good times," sobbed Hazel, +refusing to be comforted even when Mrs. Blossom, sitting +down by her, stroked her head and begged her to sit up +and tell her all about it.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, mother!" cried Rose, holding back the tears as +well as she could, "it's all my fault. It's my old pride +that keeps coming up at every little thing, somehow, +and I know it 'll be the death of me! March has it, +too; and between us we have made it just horrid for +Hazel."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, Rose, what do you mean?" asked her mother, +gravely.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Things that we 've kept from you, Martie. Hazel +wanted to give us the jars and the sugar, and we would n't +let her; and she wanted to give me a blue wash silk like +hers, because I said I wished I could afford one like +it,--and I--and I was a little angry, and showed it; and +March spoke up and said we would n't be patronized if we +were poor--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, March Blossom!" was all his mother said.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," broke in Budd, ready to place himself on the +side of righteousness, "an' Cherry told her that March +called her 'a perfect guy,' an' that meant she was homely; +an' that Chi said she was awful poor, an' we were a great +deal richer than she was, an' that you would n't have had +her here if you had n't pitied her--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Children!" Not one of them ever remembered to +have heard their mother speak with such stern anger in +her voice. "I 'm ashamed of you; you have disgraced +your parents' name." Then she turned to Hazel, drew +her up into her arms, and said, tenderly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hazel, my dear little girl, why did n't you come to +me with this trouble?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Because--because you were n't <em class="italics">my mother</em>, you were +theirs; but, oh! I wish you were mine! I love you +so--" Hazel flung both arms around Mrs. Blossom's neck and +sobbed out,--"I 've wanted to call you Mother Blossom +and hug and kiss you like the rest--but Cherry was so +jealous--the first time I did it--that she--she stuck +burrs in my bed and led me through the nettle-patch when +we were raspberrying, because she knew I did n't know +nettles; and Chi told me we 'd got to be brave if we +joined the N.B.B.O.O., and I knew I ought to bear it--for +I <em class="italics">do</em> love to be here--and I love them all, for most +of the time they 're lovely to me;--and I don't think +you 've been horrid, Rose, only you did hurt my feelings +when you would n't let me give you the blue silk--and--and +it is n't my fault if I <em class="italics">am</em> rich, and it is n't fair not to +like me for it!"</p> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 62%" id="figure-40"> +<span id="hazel-flung-both-arms-around-mrs-blossom-s-neck"></span><img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-137.jpg" /> +<div class="caption figure"> +"Hazel flung both arms around Mrs. Blossom's neck"</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">"No more it ain't, Lady-bird," said Chi, who, after +drawing the back of his hand across his eyes, was +apparently the only dry-eyed one in the room. March had +flung himself on the other end of the settle and buried his +face deep among the patch-work cushions. Rose was +sobbing outright with her head on her arms as she sat at +the dining-room table.</p> +<p class="pnext">Cherry, in her shame and misery--for she had come to +love Hazel dearly without wholly conquering her jealousy--softly +opened the pantry door and slipped inside where +she sniffed to her heart's content. As for Budd, he stood +over the wood-box, repiling its contents while the tears +ran off his nose so fast that he saw all the sticks double +through them.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You may go to bed, children," said Mrs. Blossom, still +holding Hazel in her arms. At this fiat, there was a +general increase in the humidity of the atmosphere; and, +knowing perfectly well when their mother spoke in that +tone, that words, tears, or prayers would not avail, they, +one and all,--for Cherry had been listening at the pantry +door,--made a rush for the stairs and stumbled up, blinded +by their tears.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Blossom led Hazel still sobbing into her own little +bedroom, and shut the door.</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi, president of the vanished N.B.B.O.O. Society, +was left alone. He gazed meditatively awhile at the little +piles of money and the vacant chairs opposite each. Then +he gathered them up carefully and placed them in orderly +rows in the wooden box. His next move was to the shed +door. As he opened it, a gust of wind extinguished the +lamp on the table.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Guess I 'll go to bed, too," said Chi to himself, coming +back for the box, which the firelight showed plainly +enough. "The barometer's dropped, 'n' it always makes +me feel low in my mind."</p> +<p class="pnext">He heaved a prodigious sigh and went out into the shed +and up the back stairs. The wooden box he put under +the head of the mattress; he barricaded the door and +placed his rifle beside it against the wall. Then he turned +in and drew the coverlet up over his head with another +sigh, so long, so profound, that it mingled with the wind +as it swept through the cracks of the shed beneath, and +made a part of the dismality of the night.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Blossom returned to the long-room, and, sitting +down in her low rocker before the fire, waited. She knew +her children.</p> +<p class="pnext">Soon, it might have been within half an hour, she heard +Rose call softly at the top of the stairs:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Martie."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, Rose."</p> +<p class="pnext">"May I come?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, dear."</p> +<p class="pnext">"O Martie! may I, too?" wailed Cherry.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'm coming, mother," said March, speaking in a low, +determined voice through the knot-hole.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very well, March."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come along, Budd," said March, and Budd was only +too glad to grip his brother's pajamas and follow after.</p> +<p class="pnext">Down they came, tiptoeing in their bare feet, Rose +heading the penitential procession. She knelt by her +mother's side, and March and Budd and Cherry knelt, too.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then, to their mother's, "Are you <em class="italics">truly</em> ready, +children?" they answered heartily, "Yes, Martie."</p> +<p class="pnext">Together they said in subdued but earnest tones, "Our +Father;" together they prayed, "'Forgive us our +trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us'"--and +after the heart-felt, "Amen," each received a kiss by +way of absolution; and together, until the clock struck +ten, they talked the whole matter over and resolved to +fight their Apollyons daily and hourly, and, with God's +grace, conquer them.</p> +<p class="pnext">These were the rare hours, the memory of which held +March Blossom in the way of right and honor when he +went out to battle for himself in the world. These were +the hours, the memory of which kept him in his college +days unspotted from the world. It was such an hour +that ripened Rose Blossom into a thinking, feeling woman, +and made Budd into a knight of the Twentieth Century.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was for such an hour that Jack Sherrill would have +given his entire fortune.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="a-social-addition">XIII</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">A SOCIAL ADDITION</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">It was a chastened household that gathered about the +breakfast table the next morning; and for a week +afterwards, every one was so thoughtful and considerate of +everybody else that Mrs. Blossom said, laughing, to her +husband; "They 're so angelic, Ben, I 'm afraid they are +all going to be ill. I declare, I miss their little +naughtinesses."</p> +<p class="pnext">Several things had been settled during the week and, +apparently, to everyone's satisfaction. At a very +serious-minded meeting of the N.B.B.O.O., it had been decided +to keep the larger part of the money in order to start +March on his career. Not without protest, however, on +March's part. But he was overruled. Rose argued that +if he were going to college, he must begin to prepare that +very winter, and if their earnings were divided among +the five, no one would reap any special benefit from them, +least of all, March.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can wait well enough another year, perhaps two," +she said; "and, meanwhile, we 'll be earning more. But +you, March, ought to be in the academy at Barton's this +very minute."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I know it," said March, dejectedly; "but I do hate +to take girls' money; somehow, it does not seem +quite--quite manly."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Better remember what your mother talked to you 'bout +last Sunday, 'bout its bein' more of a blessin' to give than +to get," said Chi, sententiously.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I do remember, and there 's nobody in the world I 'd +be more willing to take it from than from you, all of you, +but--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Me, too?" interrupted Hazel, leaning nearer with +great, eager, questioning eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, you, too, Hazel," March replied gently, with such +unwonted humility of spirit shining through his rare, +sweet smile, that Hazel bounced up from her seat at the +table, and, going behind March's chair, clasped both arms +tightly around his neck, laid the dark, curly head down +upon the top of his golden one, exclaiming delightedly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, March, you are the dearest fellow in the world. +I never thought you 'd give in so--and I love you for it! +There now,"--with a big squeeze of the golden head--"you 've +made me superfluously happy." Hazel took her +seat, flushed rosy red in pleasurable anticipation of being +allowed, at last, to give to those she loved, and wholly +unmindful of her slip of the tongue.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now that's settled, I move that each of you keep three +dollars of that money 'gainst the Wishin'-Tree business. +Chris'mus 'll be here 'fore you can say 'Jack Robinson.'"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Second the motion," said Budd and Cherry in the +same breath.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was a unanimous vote.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There is just one thing I want to say," said March, +who, in a bewilderment of happy emotions, had been +unable to reply one word to Hazel, "and that is, that I +want you to consider that you have lent it to me and +let me have the pleasure of paying back, sometime, when +I am a man."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's fair enough," said Chi. "I glory in your +independence, Markis. That's the right kind to have. +Put it to vote."</p> +<p class="pnext">Again there was a unanimous vote of approval, for they +all knew that to one of March's proud spirit it meant +much to accept the money, from the girls especially; and +they felt it would make him happier if he were to accept +it as a loan.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can save a lot by not boarding down at Barton's, +and by working for my board at the tavern, or in some +family," said March, thoughtfully.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No you don't," said Chi, emphatically. "'T ain't no +way for a boy to be doin' chores before he goes to school +in the mornin' 'n' tendin' horses after he gets out in the +afternoon. If you 're goin' to try for college in two years, +you 've got to buckle right down to it--'n' not waste time +workin' for other folks that ain't your own. Here comes +Mis' Blossom, we 'll ask her what she has to say about it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, Martie, where have you been all this afternoon? +I saw you and father driving off in such a sly sort of way, +I knew you did n't want us to know where you were +going. Now, 'fess!" laughed Rose.</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Fess, 'fess, Martie!" cried Budd and Cherry, +hilariously breaking up the meeting. "We 've got you +now!" And without more ado they anchored her to the settle, +each linked to an arm, while Hazel took off her hood, +March drew off her rubbers, and Rose unpinned her shawl.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Blossom laughed. "No, you guess," she replied.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Down to the Mill Settlement?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Wrong."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Over to Aunt Tryphosa's?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Down to see the Spillkinses?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Wrong again."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Over eastwards to the Morris farm," said Chi.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Right," said Mrs. Blossom, smiling. "How did you +know, Chi?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I didn't, just guessed it; coz I knew the new folks +was goin' to move in this week."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What new folks?" chorussed the children in surprise.</p> +<p class="pnext">"An addition to the Lost Nation," replied their mother, +"and a very charming one. Now there are five families +on our Mountain."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who are they, Martie?"--"Are you going to ask +them to Thanksgiving, too?"--"What's their name?"--"How +many are there of them?"--"Any boys?" They +were all talking together.</p> +<p class="pnext">"One at a time, please," laughed Mrs. Blossom, putting +her hands over her ears. "I never heard such mill-clappers!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"<em class="italics">Do</em> hurry up, mother," said March, appealingly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"A young man from New Haven has taken the lease of +the farm for three years. He has his mother and sister +with him. He was in the law school at Yale until last +spring; then his father died, and his sister, a little older +than you, Rose, was injured in some accident--I don't +know what it was--and now she is very delicate. The +doctor says if she can live in this mountain country for a +few years, she may recover her health. The brother and +mother are perfectly devoted to her. She calls herself +a 'Shut-in'--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then she can't come over for Thanksgiving dinner," +said Rose, interrupting.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not this year, but I hope she may next."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Did he give up college for his sister's sake?" asked +March.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He gave up the last year of his law course; they could +not afford to travel so many years for the benefit of her +health, so they came up here. I do pity them; it must be +such a change. But, oh, March! how you will enjoy that +house! They have been there only a week, yet it looks +as if they had lived there always. They have such +beautiful framed photographs of places they visited when they +were in Europe with their father, and cases of books, and +a grand piano--I don't see how they ever got it up the +Mountain. The young man and his mother both play, and +he plays the violin, too."</p> +<p class="pnext">The children and Chi were listening open-eyed as +Mrs. Blossom went on enthusiastically:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's just like a fairy story, only it's all true. Just +two weeks ago, when your father and I drove by there, +that long, rambling house looked so bleak and bare and +desolate--your father and I always call it the 'House of +the Seven Gables,' for there are just seven--and the +spruce woods behind it looked fairly black, and the wind +drew through the pines by the south door with such an +eerie sound, that I shivered. And to-day, what a change! +All the shutters were open, and muslin curtains at the +windows, and the sun was streaming into the four windows +of the great south room that they have made their living-room. +There was a roaring big fire in the hall fireplace, +and plants--oh, Rose, you should see them! palms and +rubber trees and sword ferns,--and lovely rugs, and--I +can't begin to tell you about it; you must go and see for +yourselves." Mrs. Blossom paused for breath, with a glad +light in her eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It sounds too good to be true," said Rose, "and you +look as if you had been to a real party, Martie."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, I have, my dear. Just to see such people and +such a house is a party for me."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And you can keep having it, too, can't you, Martie? because +they 're going to be neighbors," cried Cherry, +every individual curl dancing and bobbing with excitement.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Is the young man good-looking?" asked Hazel, earnestly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very," replied Mrs. Blossom, smiling.</p> +<p class="pnext">"As handsome as Jack?" said Hazel.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very different looking, Hazel; quiet and grave, but +genial. Not so tall as Mr. Sherrill, I should say; talks +but little, but what he says is well worth listening +to--and when he smiled! I did n't hear him laugh, but I know +he can enjoy fun. He has a fine saddle horse, Chi, and +he wants you to come and give him some advice about +selecting stock."</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Fraid he 's too high-toned for me," said Chi, modestly; +"but if I can help him anyway, I 'd like to. Seems a +likely young man from all you say."</p> +<p class="pnext">"He 's more than 'likely,' Chi," returned Mrs. Blossom, +with a twinkle in her eye that only Chi caught.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Speakin' of horses, Mis' Blossom, we 've decided to +send March to the Academy at Barton's, 'n' if I let him +have Fleet, he could come 'n' go, a matter of sixteen miles +a day, without bein' from home nights. I don't approve +of that for boys."</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, indeed, neither his father nor I would think of +such a thing for a moment. But how kind of you, Chi, to +let March have Fleet."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I want to help on the college education all I can; 'n' +if our boy wants to go, he 's goin' to have the best to get +him there so far as I 'm concerned."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't know how to thank you, Chi," said March, +"but I 'll treat Fleet like a lady and I 'll study like +a--like a house on fire. I don't envy that other fellow his +saddle horse if I can have Fleet. What's his name, +mother? you haven't told us yet."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, so I have n't--Ford, Alan Ford, and his sister's +name is Ruth."</p> +<p class="pnext">"When can we go over and see them, Martie?" said Rose.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I thought two or three days after Thanksgiving, and +then you can take a little neighborly thank-offering with +you."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What can we take?" queried Cherry.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, a mince pie or two, some raspberry preserves, a +comb of last summer's honey, a pat of butter, a nice bunch +of our white-plume celery, and, perhaps, Chi could find a +brace of partridges."</p> +<p class="pnext">"M-m--does n't that sound good-tasting!" said Cherry, +patting her chest ecstatically.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who 's coming for Thanksgiving, Martie?" asked Budd.</p> +<p class="pnext">"All the Lost Nation--the Spillkinses and Aunt +Tryphosa and Maria-Ann, Lemuel and his wife and--who +else? Guess."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, that's all."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not this year, you forget your new teacher, Budd. +She boards around, and it's the Mountain's year, so she +is at Lemuel's now."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, good!" cried Budd enthusiastically. "She 's a +daisy. I know you 'll like her, Hazel. All the fellows +are awfully soft on her, though--bring her butternut +candy, an' sharpen her pencils, an' black the stove, an' +wash off the black-board; an' I saw Billy Nye sneak out +the other day and wipe the mud off her rubbers with his +paper lunch-bag! Catch me doing it, though," he added, +his chest swelling rather pompously as he straightened +himself and thrust his hands deep into the pockets of his +knickerbockers.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why not?" his mother asked with an amused smile.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, coz," was Budd's rather sheepish reply, and thereupon +he followed Chi out to the barn, whistling "Dixie" +with might and main.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="the-lost-nation">XIV</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">THE LOST NATION</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">The four families on Mount Hunger were known to +the towns about as The Lost Nation. Two of them, the +Blossoms and the Spillkinses, were, in reality, +lumber-dealers rather than farmers. The third, Lemuel Wood, +had a sheep farm, and Aunt Tryphosa Little with her +granddaughter, Maria-Ann, was the fourth. The two +women owned a spruce wood-lot and let it out to men who +cut the bark. They cultivated a small garden-patch of +corn, beans, and squash, kept a cow and a few hens, and +eked out their scanty income with a day's work here and +there in fine weather.</p> +<p class="pnext">Every two weeks they did the washing and ironing for +the Blossom family, as Mrs. Blossom's cares were too +heavy for her, and she felt that not only could she afford +it this year, but that in putting it out she was giving a +little help to her poorer neighbors.</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi or March took the huge basket of linen over on the +wagon or sledge, and always left with it a neighborly gift--a +peck of fine russets or greenings, a bunch of celery, a +pound or two of salt pork, a bunch of delicious parsnips, +or a dozen eggs when the old dame's hens were moulting. +Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann were not to be outdone +in neighborly kindnesses, and, regularly, the willow basket, +full to overflowing with snow-white clothes, was returned +with something tucked away under the square covering +of oil-cloth--a tiny bunch of sage or summer savory, an +ironing-holder made of bits of bright calico or woollen +rags, a little paper-bag of spruce gum, a pair of woollen +wristers for Mr. Blossom or Chi, a new recipe for spring +bitters with a sample of the herbs--sassafras, dockroot, +thoroughwort, wintergreen, and dandelion--gathered by +Aunt Tryphosa herself.</p> +<p class="pnext">They had one cow which they regarded as the third +member of their family. She had been named Dorcas, +after Aunt Tryphosa's mother, and proved a model animal +of her kind. She gave a more than ordinary amount of +creamy milk; presented her mistress with a sturdy calf +each year; never hooked or kicked; never, during the +bitter winter weather, grew restless in her small shed +which adjoined the woodshed, and never broke from +pasture in the sweet-smelling summer-time.</p> +<p class="pnext">Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann vied with each other in +petting her. They brushed her coat as regularly as they +did up their own back hair. They gave her a weekly +scrubbing as conscientiously as they took their Saturday +bath. For cold nights Aunt Tryphosa had made for her +a nightdress of red flannel (although she had never heard +of "Cranford"), which she and Maria-Ann had planned to +fit the cow-anatomy, and it had proved a great success.</p> +<p class="pnext">For the midsummer fly-time they had contrived a +wonderfully fashioned garment of coarse fish-netting, into +which they had knotted a cotton fringe. They claimed, +and rightly, that freedom from chill and irritation, incident +upon zero weather and August dog-days, affected the milk +most favorably, both in quantity and quality; and, as it +all went to make delicious small cheeses, which sold at +Barton's River for twenty-five cents apiece and were +renowned throughout the county, people had ceased to +laugh at the cow's appearance.</p> +<p class="pnext">It had become one of Hazel's great treats to be permitted +to go with March or Chi to the little house--not much +more than a cabin--on the east side of the Mountain; and +when she knew that the two were to be guests for Thanksgiving, +but not for Christmas, she began to lay plans +accordingly.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Spillkinses were an aged set, not one was under +seventy.</p> +<p class="pnext">There were the Captain and his wife, who had +celebrated their Golden Wedding, and his wife's two maiden +sisters, Melissa and Elvira, of whom he always spoke as +the "girls." They were funny old maidens of seventy one +and two, who did up their hair in curl-papers, precisely as +they did a half a century ago; wore black cotton mitts when +they went to church, and white silk ones when they went +out to tea; called each other "Lissy" and "Elly," and +were still sensitive in regard to their ages.</p> +<p class="pnext">In addition to these, the old, gray-shingled, vine-covered +farmhouse on the lower mountain-road, sheltered the +Captain's elder brother, Israel, who was just turned +ninety-three, hale and hearty, and Israel's eldest son, Reuben, +a youth of seventy, who in our North Country parlance +"was not all there," but harmless, kindly, and generally +helpful.</p> +<p class="pnext">All these, together with Lemuel Wood and his wife, and +the new teacher, were to be Thanksgiving guests, and +wonderful preparations went on for days beforehand.</p> +<p class="pnext">Such a sorting and paring and chopping of apples! +Such a seeding of raisins, and whipping of eggs, and +compounding of cakes! Such a tucking away of chickens +beneath the flaky crust of the huge pie! Such a moulding +of cranberry jelly, so deeply, darkly, richly red! Such a +cracking of butternuts, and a melting of maple sugar! +Such a stuffing of an eighteen-pound turkey, and such a +trussing of thin-linked sausages! Such a making of goodly +pies, pumpkin, mince, and apple! Such a quartering of +small cheeses contributed by Aunt Tryphosa! Such an +unbottling of sweet pickles, and unbarrelling of sweet +cider;--and, on the final day, such a general boiling, and +baking, and roasting, and basting, and mashing, and +grinding, and seasoning, and whipping, and cutting, and +kneading, and rolling, as can occur only once a year in an +old-fashioned, New England farmhouse.</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel was in her glory. Arrayed in a checked gingham +apron, which she had made herself, she beat eggs, whipped +cream, helped Rose set the table, wiped the dishes and +baking-pans, basted the noble Thanksgiving bird once, as +a great privilege, although in so doing, she burned her +fingers with the sputtering fat, scorched her apron, and +parboiled her already flushed face with the escaping steam. +But she was happy!</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">"Oh, papa!" she wrote the day after the party, "I never +had such a good time in my life! If only you could see the +things we made!--apple and lemon tarts, and mince and +cranberry 'turnovers,' and doughnuts all twisted into a sort of +French bow-knot such as Gabrielle used to make of her back +hair, and a queer kind of cake they call 'marble,' all streaky +with chocolate and white, and butternut candy made with maple +sugar, and an <em class="italics">Indian</em> pudding, and little bits of nut-cakes with +a small piece of currant jelly inside and all powdered sugar out; +and--oh, I can't begin to tell you, for this is only a part of the +dessert.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll try to paragraph this letter in the right places so you 'll +understand about the party.</p> +<p class="pnext">"All the Lost Nation was invited; Captain and Mrs. Spillkins, +Miss Melissa and Miss Elvira, Uncle Israel and Poor Reub, +Mr. Lemuel Wood and his wife, and Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann, +and-- Oh, I forgot Miss Alton. She 's awfully sweet; +she is Budd and Cherry's teacher in the district school at the +Mill Settlement. She's more like a city person than the others. +I wish you 'd been here! for I can't tell it half as nice as it was; +but I 'll do my best because you wrote you wanted me to tell +you everything.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We were already for the party at eleven o'clock--in the +morning, I mean--(I can't remember the sign for forenoon). +We don't have any lunch up here, as you know, but the dinner +comes between 12 and 1, so everything was ready then. I got +up at five o'clock! and worked hard till it was time to change +my gown.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It was awfully cold. Chi said the thermometer was shivering +when he looked at it just after breakfast; he means by that, +it's below zero--a good deal; and I couldn't help thinking +how cosy and warm and deliciously smelly it would be for the +Lost Nation when they came in out of the cold into the +long-room and saw the table (it looked beautiful, with baskets of +red apples, and nuts and raisins, and a big centre-piece of +red geranium) just loaded with goodies.</p> +<p class="pnext">"March had driven over for Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann, +and they arrived first--Mrs. Blossom says they always do. +(I want you to go over and call on them when you are up here +Christmas; it's just like a story in Hans Andersen; they keep +a cow, Dorcas, who wears a kimono on very cold nights.)</p> +<p class="pnext">"March helped Aunt Tryphosa out just as if she had been +Queen Victoria. (I forgot to tell you she and Maria-Ann do our +laundry work.) March is perfectly splendid about such things--and +Maria-Ann sort of bounced out, although Chi held out +his hand to help her. It's so funny to see them together! +Aunt Tryphosa is so small and wrinkled and thin that, +sometimes, Chi says he has known a good wind to knock her right +over; and Maria-Ann is almost as tall as Chi, and stout and +rosy-cheeked, with nice brown eyes that talk to you.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And, oh, papa!--I'll tell you, but it's a confidence--I +saw Aunt Tryphosa shiver hard when she came into the house, +and I 'm afraid she did not have enough warm things on. I +know her shawl was n't <em class="italics">very</em> thick, for I went into the bedroom +afterwards and felt of it; and she had no furs at all! Think +of that with the thermometer way down below zero, papa! +I 'll tell you all about it when you come.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, after Mrs. Blossom had given the old lady a cup of +hot tea, she felt better and began to talk; and, honestly, papa, +she never stopped talking all day long! March said he timed +her. She lives away over on the east side of the Mountain +away from everybody, and yet she knows everything that is +going on, on the Mountain, and at the Mill Settlement, and at +Barton's River, and that, as you know, is quite a large place.</p> +<p class="pnext">"She told us all about the new neighbors in the seven-gabled-house; +how they had their dinner at bed-time, and what 'help' +they have, and whom they are going to have for hired man, and +how they have music every night after dinner, and how the +lights were n't put out in the north-east chamber till one o'clock. +She even knew the pattern of lace on the underclothes that +were hung out to dry! and Maria-Ann was trying to crochet +some in imitation; I saw it myself.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And she said that one of the chambers was all lined with +books, and another just covered, floor and walls, with +pictures--what can she mean, papa? and that down stairs off the +living-room in what used to be old Mrs. Morris's milk-room, +there were ropes, and weights, and pulleys, and a stretcher, +and iron balls, and that every one said it did n't have the right +look. But she said she meant to stand up for them, because +the young man had come over to call just two or three days +ago and said, as she was his nearest neighbor, they ought to +become acquainted before winter set in; and he ordered a half +a dozen cheeses and brought word from his mother that she +would like them to come over and see her daughter, for she +thought Maria-Ann might be able to do something for her. +Now, what do you suppose it all means?</p> +<p class="pnext">"Of course, it makes us all wild to go over there, and I hope +we shall go soon.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But, oh! if you could see the Spillkinses! I had to go off +up stairs and bury my face in Rose's feather bed so I could +laugh without being heard. They 're the funniest lot of people +I ever saw. They all came over in a big wagon filled with +straw, and before they came in sight, Chi said, 'They 're +coming, I know by the cackle;' and, papa, that is just what +it was.</p> +<p class="pnext">"They are all awfully aged, but they act just like young +people, and Mrs. Blossom says it's their young hearts that +keep them so young.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Uncle Israel, he's ninety-three, but he wears a dark brown +wig and looks younger than his son, Poor Reub, who is seventy +and has snow-white hair. Mrs. Spillkins wears what they call +up here a 'false front;' it's just the color of Uncle Israel's, +so she looks more like his sister. But her two sisters, Miss +Melissa and Miss Elvira, are perfectly comical. They're just +as small as Aunt Tryphosa, but they don't talk; only nod and +smile and bow as if they were talking. They have little +corkscrew curls, three on each temple, and they bob and shake +when they nod and smile and sort of chirrup; it's the Captain +and his wife and Uncle Israel who cackle so when they laugh. +Poor Reuben does n't say much either, only he looks perfectly +happy, and always sits by his father when he can get a chance. +Chi was just lovely to him all the afternoon.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, after Mr. Wood and his wife and the new teacher +came, we all sat down to dinner, and Mr. Blossom said 'grace,' +and all the Spillkinses said 'Amen,' which surprised us all +very much.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We don't have courses up here, because there is nobody to +serve us; so everything is put on your plate at once, except, +of course, dessert, and papa!--I would n't say it to any one +but you, but I never saw any one eat so much as Aunt Tryphosa +for all she is so small and thin. Mr. Blossom piled her +plate up twice with turkey, and squash, and onion, and potato, +and turnip, and then she helped herself to cranberry jelly and +sweet pickles three times; and yet she managed to talk all the +time; and the queer part of it was that she did n't cut herself +once, they all eat with their knives--except, of course, our +family and Miss Alton.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Rose and Cherry and I removed the dinner plates, and that +was all the waiting there was.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We sat till half-past three at the table; then Uncle Israel +said another 'grace'--'after-grace,' he called it,--and +Mr. Blossom and Chi took the--the gentlemen part out to see the +horses and cows, and all the rest went to work to clear off +the table and do up the dishes. There were so many of us it +did n't take long, and then we lighted the lamps, and all +the--the ladies took out their knitting and began to work as fast as +they could.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then in a little while all the--the gentlemen came in, and +the ladies put up their work, and they all sat round the room +and sang Auld Lang Syne. Rose led, and Miss Alton sang a +lovely alto. It was lovely, and I longed to have you with me. +Then Captain Spillkins said it was time to hitch up, and Chi +said it was time to be going as it was very dark and cold. He +drove Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann home, and Mrs. Blossom +filled a large basket with all sorts of goodies, and Mr. Blossom +set it in behind in the apple-green cart without their knowing +it; so now they can have a surprise party of their own and +Thanksgiving for a whole week.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There! This is the longest letter I ever wrote in all my +life. I 've written it at different times during the day. I ate +so much yesterday, that I don't feel very bright to-day, so you +must excuse any mistakes, although I've used the dictionery as +you wanted me to.</p> +<dl class="docutils left white-space-pre-line"> +<dt class="white-space-pre-line">"Always your loving, and now your dreadfully sleepy</dt> +<dd class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first last pfirst white-space-pre-line">"DAUGHTER HAZEL.</p> +</dd> +</dl> +<p class="pfirst">"P.S. I think I shall feel better, if I tell you that we all had +a very unhappy time two weeks ago. I had a really dreadful +heartache, papa, and, for the first time, was homesick for you.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You see, March and Rose are very proud of spirit, and I +don't think they liked it in me because we are rich--but you +and I understand each other, don't we? and know that being +rich does n't mean anything to us, does it? and then, too, Chi +says we 're poor because we have n't so much family to love as +the Blossoms have, and that's true, too, is n't it?--and I think +that kind of poorness ought to balance our riches, don't you? +And--well, I can't explain how it all came about, but now +they are willing to let me give them things when I want to, +and that makes me very happy, and we are all a great deal +happier than we were before, and I'm going to call +Mrs. Blossom, 'Mother Blossom,' after this, she says she wants me +to, and she takes me in her arms just as she does Rose and +Cherry, and we talk things over together; so everything is all +right now.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Please send up my violin by express when you receive this. +There is a very good-looking young man, the new neighbor at +the seven-gabled-house, and he plays the violin, too, and his +mother the piano. Love to Wilkins and Minna-Lu. I 'll send +him a present from here--Oh, I forgot! don't forget to write +Chi within a week sure, to inform you about the Wishing-Tree, +and don't buy any presents for anybody till you hear from +him. H.C."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">When Mr. Clyde read this long letter at the breakfast +table, his face was the despair of Wilkins, who hovered +about, seeking, ineffectually, for an excuse to ask about +Miss Hazel.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Doan know what kin' er news Marse John get from +little Missy," he told Minna-Lu, the cook; "but he laffed +pow'ful part de time, an' den he grow pow'ful sober, an' +de fust ting I know, de tears come splashin' onto de paper, +an' he speak up rale sharp, 'Wha' fo' yo' hyar, Wilkins?' +an' sayin' nuffin', I jes' makes tracks, case I see he wan's +nobuddy see dem tears.-- Fo' Gawd, I 'se be glad when +little Missy come home."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Clyde took this manuscript, as he called it, over to +the Doctor.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There, Dick, read that," was all he said.</p> +<p class="pnext">After the Doctor had read it, he whisked out his +handkerchief in a remarkably suspicious manner, and Mr. Clyde +busied himself with a medical journal without reading one +word, till the Doctor spoke:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I say, Johnny, let's get up a theatre party of us two +for the Old Homestead to-night; it's the nearest thing +we can get to this of Hazel's."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You always hit the right thing, Dick, I 'll call for you +at eight."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="wishing-tree-secrets">XV</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">WISHING-TREE SECRETS</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">All-hallow-e'en had come.</p> +<p class="pnext">The exercises about the tree had been carried out with +great success--tom-toms, war-whoop, song and dance. +After supper, the apples had been roasted, and the whole +family "bobbed" for them in the wash-tub; father, mother, +Chi, and even little May joining heartily in the fun. Then +they had melted lead, sailed nutshells freighted with wishes, +and finally "loved their Loves" with all the letters of the +alphabet.</p> +<p class="pnext">When all were off to bed and sound asleep, Chi took his +lantern, and went up again to the old butternut tree in +the corner of the pasture.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was preparing to snow. A chill wind drew through +the bare branches, and caused a wild commotion among +the roosters' tail feathers that dangled from one of the +lower ones.</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi unlocked the little door, and from the hollow took +out a handful of notes. He thrust them into the side +pocket of his coat, relocked the door, and went back to +his room over the shed. There, by the light of the +lantern, he read them and rejoiced over them; re-read them +and cried a little over them, nor was he ashamed of his +tears; for in the precious missives, Rose and Hazel, March +and Budd and Cherry, had shown, as in a mirror, the +workings of their loving hearts.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">All-hallo w-e'en.</p> +<p class="pnext">MY DEAR MOTHER,--I have a great favor to ask of you and +father. Will you hang up <em class="italics">your</em> stockings this year and let us +children fill them instead of your filling ours? I don't want +you to take one cent of the money you are earning by having +Hazel here to buy me anything. I want every penny of it to +go to pay off that mortgage you told us of--for I feel just as +you do about it, and only wish I had known it last Hallow-e'en +when I asked for the paints and brushes. It makes me sick +just to think of all we asked for, and you not having any money +to buy them with--and never telling us! Oh, mother!</p> +<dl class="docutils left white-space-pre-line"> +<dt class="white-space-pre-line">Your devoted son,</dt> +<dd class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first last pfirst white-space-pre-line">MARCH BLOSSOM.</p> +</dd> +</dl> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">All-hallow-e'en.</p> +<p class="pnext">MY DEAR POPSEY,--Me and Cherry want to help you and +Martie pay off that morgige she told us about. March says +it is a dreadfull thing that we must get rid of just as soon as +we can. So Cherry and me are going to give you 2 dollars +apeace out of our $3 we saved for ourselves out of the jam and +the chickens as we voted in the N.B.B.O.O. That will make +four dollars and March says it will be just 1/300 of what you +owe and will help a great deal. I think the other $1 we have +left will be enough to buy presents for the rest of the famly, +don't you?</p> +<dl class="docutils left white-space-pre-line"> +<dt class="white-space-pre-line">Your Son,</dt> +<dd class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first last pfirst white-space-pre-line">BUDD BLOSSOM.</p> +</dd> +</dl> +<p class="pfirst">P.S. I meant to say I don't expect anything this year 'cause +last year I asked for a double-runner and a bat and a new cap +with fir on the edges like the boys at Barton's and 20 cents to +buy marbles with and I didn't get them 'cause you were sick +and I 'm sorry I asked for so much to bother you when you +were sick. B.B.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">DEAR FRIEND CHI,--Do you think you can find out in some +way what March and Budd would like for Christmas? And if +you know anything special that Rose wants very <em class="italics">specially</em>, +please let me know at your earliest convenience so I can send +to New York for it. I should like to consult you about some +gifts for Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann, and if you could get +a chance to take me down to the Barton's River shops all alone +by myself, I should esteem it a great favor.</p> +<dl class="docutils left white-space-pre-line"> +<dt class="white-space-pre-line">Your true friend,</dt> +<dd class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first last pfirst white-space-pre-line">HAZEL CLYDE.</p> +</dd> +</dl> +<p class="pfirst">All-hallow-e'en.</p> +<p class="pnext">P. S. I 'm rather anxious about the note I put in the +Wishing-Tree for papa.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">All-hallow-e'en.</p> +<p class="pnext">DARLING PATER NOSTER,--When I think of last year, my +heart aches for you and my precious Martie. Oh, why did n't +she tell us before! I never should have asked for that dress +and the French grammar and dictionary and the cheap set of +Dickens', if I had only known.</p> +<p class="pnext"><em class="italics">Do</em>, Pater dear, let us know in the future if you are in +trouble, and let us help share it. Would n't that make it easier +for you?</p> +<p class="pnext">Now a favor; I want you and Martie to play boy and girl +again this year and hang up <em class="italics">your</em> stockings for a change; and +please, <em class="italics">please</em>, father dear, don't give us anything this +year--we don't want anything but you and Martie, and besides, we +have money of our <em class="italics">own</em>! Chi calls us "bloated bond-holders," +and says we have formed a "combine."</p> +<dl class="docutils left white-space-pre-line"> +<dt class="white-space-pre-line">Your loving daughter,</dt> +<dd class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first last pfirst white-space-pre-line">ROSE BLOSSOM.</p> +</dd> +</dl> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">DEAREST COUSIN JACK,--I have n't answered your letter +because I 've been having too good a time. This is only a +Wishing-Tree note; I want you to do me a favor, please; find +out what I can buy nice for papa with a dollar. I 've earned +it myself (and a great deal more, Jack, you would be surprised +if you knew how much the preserves and chickens came to) +and want him to have a present out of it. Then, I would like +to buy something for Doctor Heath, about fifty cents' worth, +and another fifty cents' worth for Mrs. Heath. I want to give +Aunt Carrie a little something, too, <em class="italics">out of my own earnings</em>; +(I've all my two quarterly allowances besides,) I can afford +fifty cents for her; and then I would like to remember Wilkins +with a little gift out of <em class="italics">my earnings</em> for mamma's sake as well +as my own, and then I shall have twenty-five cents left of the +money I worked for. The rest we all voted to put aside for +March to help him through college. He wants to be an +architect, you know, and he draws beautifully. I shall be glad of +your advice.</p> +<dl class="docutils left white-space-pre-line"> +<dt class="white-space-pre-line">In haste, yours devotedly,</dt> +<dd class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first last pfirst white-space-pre-line">HAZEL.</p> +</dd> +</dl> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">All-hallow-e'en, MOUNT HUNGER.</p> +<p class="pnext">DEAR CHI,--May wants a doll the kind she saw last summer +down at Barton's River. I ve got only a doller to spend for +all the famly, so will you plese ask the pris for me as I am +afrade it will be to high. There is a big french one in the right +hand window at Smith's store with a libel on it 7$, and I play +it's mine when I am down there and you are buying horse-feed. +I have named her Emilie Angelique. Rose spelt it for me.</p> +<p class="left pnext white-space-pre-line">Your loving CHERRY BOUNCE.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">DEAR OLD CHI,--If you can find out what Hazel would +like specially for Christmas, just let me know.</p> +<p class="pnext">MARCH.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">DEAR CHI,--Can you manage to get us all down to Barton's +some Saturday to do some Christmas shopping?</p> +<p class="pnext">Your ROSE-POSE.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">All-hallow-e'en.</p> +<p class="pnext">DEAREST PAPA,--Will you please ask Aunt Carrie to please +help you buy these Christmas things? I enclose fifty dollars; +(your check.)</p> +<p class="pnext">A white serge dress pattern, like mine.</p> +<p class="pnext">A book of lovely foreign photographs of buildings and +pictures for March.</p> +<p class="pnext">2 pairs of white kid gloves, number 6.</p> +<p class="pnext">2 pairs of tan kid gloves, number 6-¼.</p> +<p class="pnext">1 pair fur-lined gloves for March.</p> +<p class="pnext">1 pair ditto for Mr. Blossom.</p> +<p class="pnext">A year's subscription for the Woman's Hearthstone Journal +for Maria-Ann.</p> +<p class="pnext">A small shirt waist ironing-board for Aunt Tryphosa.</p> +<p class="pnext">1 pair brown woolen gloves and one pair of those fleece-lined +beaver gauntlet driving gloves like those of yours, for Chi.</p> +<p class="pnext">1 blue Kardigan jacket for Chi.</p> +<p class="pnext">The other things I think I can get at Barton's River.</p> +<dl class="docutils left white-space-pre-line"> +<dt class="white-space-pre-line">Your devoted daughter,</dt> +<dd class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first last pfirst white-space-pre-line">HAZEL CLYDE.</p> +</dd> +</dl> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">"Well," said Chi, thoughtfully, as he finished reading +them a second time, "I 've got more than one string to +my bow this year. Beats all, how Chris'mus limbers up +a man's feelin's! Guess 't was meant for all of us children +of a lovin' Father." So saying, Chi knelt beside his bed, +and, dropping his face in his hands, remained there motionless +for a few minutes, while his loving, gentle, manly +"soul was on its knees."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="a-christmas-prelude">XVI</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">A CHRISTMAS PRELUDE</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">"It 's goin' to be an awful cold night, grandmarm," +said Maria-Ann as she stepped to the door just after sunset +on Christmas eve. The old dame followed her and looked +out over her shoulder.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I know 't is; my fingers stuck to the latch when I went +out to see after Dorcas. While your gettin' supper, I 'm +goin' to bundle up the rooster and the hens, or they 'll +freeze their combs, sure's your name's Maria-Ann; looks +kinder Chris'musy, don't it?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I was just thinkin' of that, grandmarm; just look at +that star in the east!" She pointed to a shoulder of the +Mountain, where a serene planet was ascending the dark +blue heavens. "An' there 's been just enough snow to +make all the spruces look like the Sunday School tree, all +roped over with pop-corn. Do you remember that last one, +grandmarm?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I ain't never forgot it, Maria-Ann; that's ten year ago, +an' I sha'n't never see another?" She shivered, and drew +back out of the keen air.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nor I," said Maria-Ann, shutting the door.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't know why not," snapped Aunt Tryphosa, who +always contradicted Maria-Ann when she could. "I guess +we can have a Chris'mus tree same's other folks; we 've got +trees enough."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's so," replied Maria-Ann, laughing. "Let's have +one to-morrow, grandmarm. I don't see why we can't +have a tree just as well as we can have wreaths--see what +beauties I 've made! I 've saved the four handsomest for +Mis' Blossom an' Mis' Ford."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You do beat all, Maria-Ann, making wreaths with them +greens and bitter-sweet; I wish you 'd hang 'em up +to-night; 'twould make the room seem kinder Chris'musy."</p> +<p class="pnext">"To be sure I will." And Maria-Ann bustled about, +hanging the beautiful rounds of green and red in each of the +kitchen windows, on the panes of which the frost was +already sparkling; then, throwing her shawl over her head, +she stepped out into the night and hung one on the outside +of the narrow, weather-blackened door. Again within, she +set the small, square kitchen table with two plates, two +cups and saucers of brown and white crockery, the pewter +spoons and horn-handled knives and forks that her +grandmother had had when she was first married. Finally, she +put on one of the pots of red geranium in the centre and +stood back to admire the effect.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Guess we 'll have a treat to-night, seein' it's night +before Chris'mus--fried apples an' pork, an' some toast; +an' I 'll cut a cheese to-night, I declare I will, even if +grandmarm does scold; she 'll eat it fast enough if I don't +say nothin' about it beforehand."</p> +<p class="pnext">Maria-Ann had formed the habit of thinking aloud, for +she had been much alone, and, as she said, "she was a good +deal of company for herself."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, hum!" she sighed, as she cut the pork and sliced +the apples, "a cup of tea would be about the right thing this +cold night, but there ain't a mite in the house." Then she +laughed: "What you talkin' 'bout luxuries for, Maria-Ann +Simmons? You be thankful you 've got a livin'. I can +make some good cambric-tea, and put a little spearmint in +it; that 'll be warmin' as anything." She began to sing in +a shrill soprano as she busied herself with the preparations +for the supper, while the kettle sang, too, and the pork +sizzled in the spider:</p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">"'Must I be carried to the skies</div> +<div class="inner line-block"> +<div class="line">On flowery beds of ease,</div> +</div> +<div class="line">While others fought to win the prize</div> +<div class="inner line-block"> +<div class="line">And sailed through bloody seas?'"</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">Meanwhile, Aunt Tryphosa, with her lantern in one hand +and a bundle of red something in the other, had repaired to +the hen-house which was partitioned off from the woodshed.</p> +<p class="pnext">Had either one of them happened to look out down the +Mountain-road just at this time, they would have seen a +strange sight.</p> +<p class="pnext">Along the white roadway, sparkling in the light of the +rising moon, came six silent forms in Indian file. Two +were harnessed to small loaded sledges. Sometimes, all +six gesticulated wildly; at others, the two who brought +up the rear of the file silently danced and capered back +and forth across the narrow way. They drew near the +house on the woodshed side; the first two freed themselves +from the sledges, and left them under one of the unlighted +windows. Then all six, attracted by the glimmer of the +lantern shining from the one small aperture of the +hen-house, stole up noiselessly and looked in.</p> +<p class="pnext">What they saw proved too much for their risibles, and +suppressed giggles and snickers and choking laughter +nearly betrayed their presence to the old dame within.</p> +<p class="pnext">On the low roost sat Aunt Tryphosa's noble Plymouth +Rock rooster, and beside him, in an orderly row, her ten +hens. Every hen had on her head a tiny flannel hood--some +were red, some were white--the strings knotted +firmly under their bills by Aunt Tryphosa's old fingers +trembling with the cold.</p> +<p class="pnext">She was just blanketing the rooster, who submitted with +a meekness which proved undeniably that he was under +petticoat government, for all the airs he gave himself with +his wives. The funny, little, hooded heads twisting and +turning, the "aks" and "oks" which accompanied Aunt +Tryphosa in her labor of love, the wild stretching and +flapping of wings, all furnished a scene never to be +forgotten by the six pairs of laughing eyes that beheld it.</p> +<p class="pnext">The moment the old dame took up her lantern, the +spectators sped around the corner. Under the dark +windows they noiselessly unloaded the wood-sleds, and silently +carried bundles, baskets, and burlap-bags around to the +front door.</p> +<p class="pnext">At last they had fairly barricaded it, and the tallest of +the party, after fastening a piece of paper in the Christmas +wreath that Maria-Ann had hung up only a half-hour +before, motioned to the others to step up to the kitchen +window.</p> +<p class="pnext">Just one glimpse they had through the thickening frost +and the wreathing green: a glimpse of the kitchen table, +the steaming apples, the pot of red geranium, the two cups +of smoking spearmint tea, and of two heads--the one +white, the other brown--bent low over folded, toil-worn +hands in the reverent attitude for the evening "grace."</p> +<p class="pnext">"For what we are now about to receive, may the Lord +make us truly thankful," said Aunt Tryphosa, in a +quavering voice.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Amen," said Maria-Ann, heartily--"Land sakes, +grandmarm! how you scairt me, looking up so sudden!" +she exclaimed, almost in the same breath.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Thought I heerd somethin'," said the old dame, holding +her head in a listening attitude--"Hark!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't hear nothin', grandmarm. Now, just eat your +apples while they 're hot. What did you think you heard?" +she continued, dishing the apples.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I thought I heerd it when I was out in the shed, too."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I should n't wonder if 't was a deer. I saw one come +into the clearing this afternoon, an' seein' 't was Christmas +evening, I put a good bundle of hay out to the south door +of the cow-shed."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Guess 't was that, then," said Aunt Tryphosa. "You +clear up, Maria-Ann, an' I 'll keep up a good fire, for I +want to finish off them stockings for Ben Blossom an' Chi. +I s'pose you 've got your things ready in case we see a +team go by to-morrow?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, they 're all ready," said her granddaughter, rather +absently, and set about washing the few dishes.</p> +<p class="pnext">When all was done, neatly and quickly as Maria-Ann so +well knew how, she flung on her shawl, saying:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'm goin' out a minute to see if the bundle of hay is +gone, and besides, I want to look at the moon on the snow; +it's the first time I 've seen it so this year." She opened +the door--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Luddy!" she screamed, as bundle, and basket, and +bag toppled over into the room.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Land sakes alive!" quavered Aunt Tryphosa, hurrying +to the rescue. "Did n't I tell you I heerd somethin'? +What be they?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Presents!" cried Maria-Ann, pulling, and hauling, +and gathering up, and finally getting the door shut.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Seems to me I see somethin' white catched onto the +door 'fore you shut it," said Aunt Tryphosa. "Better +look an' see." Again her granddaughter opened the door, +and found the strip of paper on which was written;</p> +<p class="left pnext white-space-pre-line">"Merry Christmas! with best wishes of<br /> +Benjamin and Mary Blossom and May,<br /> +Malachi Graham and Rose Eleanor Blossom,<br /> +March Blossom and Hazel Clyde,<br /> +Benjamin Budd Blossom and Cherry Elizabeth Blossom of<br /> +the N.B.B.O.O., and of<br /> +John Curtis Clyde of New York; U.S.A.; N.A.; W.H."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">"Oh, grandmarm! It's just like a romantic novel!" +cried Maria-Ann, who was as full of sentiment as an egg +is full of yolk. "It makes me feel kinder queer, comin' +just now right after we was talkin' 'bout our tree. You +open first, an' then we 'll take turns." Aunt Tryphosa, +who was winking very hard behind her spectacles, was not +loath to begin.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Let's haul 'em up to the stove; it's so awful cold," +she said, shivering.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, you 've let the fire go down; that's the reason. +Don't you remember you was goin' to put on the wood just +as the things fell in?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"So I was," said her grandmother, making good her +forgetfulness; in a few minutes there was a roaring fire, +and the room was filled with a genial warmth. Then they +sat down to their delightful task, Maria-Ann kneeling on +the square of rag carpet before the stove.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My land!" cried Aunt Tryphosa, clapping her hands +together as she opened the largest burlap bag; "if that +boy ain't stuffed this two-bushel bag chock full of birch +bark! Look a-here, Maria-Ann, you read this slip of +paper for me; my specs get so dim come night-time."</p> +<p class="pnext">The truth was, the tears were running down Aunt +Tryphosa's wrinkled cheeks and filming her eyes to such +an extent that she saw the birch bark through all the +colors of the rainbow.</p> +<p class="pnext">"'For Aunt Tryphosa from Budd Blossom to make +her fires quick with cold mornings.' Did you ever?" +said Maria-Ann, untying another large burlap bundle--"What's +this? 'Made by Rose Blossom and Hazel Clyde +to keep Aunt Tryphosa snug and warm o' nights when the +mercury is below zero.' O grandmarm, look at this!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Maria-Ann unrolled a coverlet made of silk patch-work +(bright bits and pieces that Hazel had begged of Aunt +Carrie and Mrs. Heath and others of her New York +friends) lined with thin flannel and filled with feathers.</p> +<p class="pnext">But Aunt Tryphosa was speechless for the first time in +her life; and, seeing this, Maria-Ann took advantage of it +to do a little talking on her own account.</p> +<p class="pnext">"She don't seem like a city girl in her ways; she ain't +a bit stuck up--Oh, what's <em class="italics">this</em>!" She poked, and +fingered, and pinched, but failed to guess. Aunt Tryphosa +grew impatient.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Let me <em class="italics">see</em>, you 've done nothin' but feel," she said, +reaching for the package, and Maria-Ann handed it over +to her.</p> +<p class="pnext">Again Mrs. Tryphosa Little was nearly dumb, as the +miscellaneous contents of the queer, knobby parcel were +brought to light.</p> +<p class="pnext">"These are for you, Maria-Ann," she said in an awed +voice, laying them on the kitchen table one after the +other:--A copy of the Woman's Hearthstone Journal, with the +receipt for a year's subscription pinned to it;--A small shirt +waist ironing-board;--A pair of fleece-lined Arctics that +buttoned half-way up Maria-Ann's sturdy legs when, an +hour later, she tried them on;--Six paper-covered novels +of the Chimney Corner Library including Lorna Doone +(Hazel had discovered in her frequent visits, that Aunt +Tryphosa's granddaughter at twenty-nine was as romantic +as a girl of seventeen);--A box of preserved ginger;--Two +pounds of Old Hyson Tea;--(upon which Maria-Ann +bounced up from the floor, and without more ado made +two cups, much to her grandmother's amazement);--Six +pounds of lump sugar;---A dozen lemons;--A dozen +oranges;--A white Liberty-silk scarf tucked into an +envelope;--Six ounces of scarlet knitting-wool;--All +for "Miss Maria-Ann Simmons, with Hazel Clyde's best +wishes."</p> +<p class="pnext">Then it was Maria-Ann Simmons's turn to break down +and weep, at which Aunt Tryphosa fidgeted, for she had +not seen her granddaughter cry since she was a little girl.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't act like a fool, Maria-Ann," she said, crustily, +to hide her own feelings; "take your things an' enjoy 'em. +I 've seen tears enough for night before Chris'mus," she +added, ignoring the fact that she had established a precedent.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, I won't, grandmarm," said her granddaughter, +laughing and crying at the same time; "but I 'm goin' to +have that cup of tea first to kind of strengthen me 'fore I +open the rest," she added decidedly. "Besides, I don't +want to see everything at once; I want it to last."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't mind if I have mine, too. Guess you may put +in two lumps, seein' as we did n't have to pay for it," and +the old dame sipped her Hyson with supreme satisfaction, +as did likewise her granddaughter.</p> +<p class="pnext">As the latter pushed back her chair from the table, her +grandmother cautioned her:--"Look out! you 're settin' +it on another bag!" But it was too late. To Aunt +Tryphosa's amazement and Maria-Ann's horror, the bag +suddenly flopped up and down on the floor, the motion +being accompanied with such an unearthly, +"A--ee--eetsch--ok--ak--ache--eetsch!" that the two women's +faces grew pale, and they jumped as if they had been +shot.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then Maria-Ann, with her hand on her thumping heart, +burst into a shrill laugh, and Aunt Tryphosa quavered a +thin accompaniment. How they laughed! till again the +tears rolled down their cheeks.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Scairt of hens!" chuckled the old dame as she undid +the strings of the bag--"at my time of life! Oh, my +stars and garters, Maria-Ann! ain't they beauties?"</p> +<p class="pnext">She drew out by the legs two snow-white Wyandotte +pullets, and held them up admiringly. "They 're from +March, I know; but just to think of this, Maria-Ann!" Again +words and, curiously enough, eyes, too, failed her, +and her granddaughter read the slip of paper tied around +the leg of one of the hens:--"'One for Aunt Tryphosa, +and one for Maria-Ann; have laid three times; last time +day before yesterday; I hope they 'll lay two +Christmas-morning eggs for your breakfast. March Blossom.'"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'm goin' to put 'em on some hay in the clothes-basket, +Maria-Ann, an' keep 'em right under my bed where +it's good an' warm," said Aunt Tryphosa, decidedly. +"They 're kinder quality folks and can't be turned in +among common fowl. Besides, I ain't got another hood, +an' if they <em class="italics">should</em> freeze their combs, I 'd never forgive +myself."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, I would, grandmarm," said Maria-Ann, still +laughing, as she untied the last two bundles. "Laws!" +she exclaimed, "Here 's New York style for you." She +read the visiting card:</p> +<p class="pnext">"To Mrs. Tryphosa Little, with the Season's compliments +from John Curtis Clyde. 4 East ----th Street."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, I 'm dumbfoundered," sighed Mrs. Tryphosa +Little, and more she could not say as she took out of the +large pasteboard box, a white silk neckerchief, a cap of +black net and lace with a "chou" of purple satin +lutestring, a black fur collar and a muff to match, in all of +which she proceeded to array herself with the utmost +despatch, forgetful of the two hens, which, after wandering +aimlessly about the kitchen, had roosted finally on the +back of her wooden rocking-chair, where they balanced +themselves with some difficulty.</p> +<p class="pnext">But suddenly, as she was thrusting her hands into the +new muff, she paused, laid it down on the table, and said, +rather querulously, "Help me off with these things, +Maria-Ann; I 'm all tuckered out. I can stan' a day's washin' +as well as anybody, if I am eighty-one come next June, +but I can't stan' no such night 'fore Chris'mus as this, +an' I 'm goin' to bed, an' take the hens."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I would, grandmarm," said her granddaughter, gently, +taking off the unwonted finery and kissing the wrinkled +face. "You go to bed; I put the soap-stone in two hours +ago, so it's nice an' warm. I 'll clear up, an' don't you +mind me--here, let me take one of those hens."</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, I can take care of hens anytime," snapped Aunt +Tryphosa, for she was tired out with happiness, "but I +can't stan' so many presents, an' I 'm too old to begin." She +disappeared in the bed-room, the two Wyandotte hens +hanging limply, heads downward, from each hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">Maria-Ann picked up the paper and the wraps, and +made all tidy again in the kitchen. She put her hand on +the last bag that was so heavy she had not moved it from +the door. "It's a bag of cracked corn--hen-feed," she +said to herself, "an' it's from Chi, I know as well as if +I'd been told."</p> +<p class="pnext">Then she sat down in the rocker before the stove and +put her feet in the oven to warm. She blew out the light +and sat awhile in silence, thinking happy thoughts.</p> +<p class="pnext">The fire crackled in the stove, and dancing lights, +reflected from the open grate, played on the wall. The +moon shone full upon the frosted window panes, and the +Christmas wreaths were set in masses of encrusted +brilliants. The kettle began to sing, and so did +Maria-Ann--but softly, for fear of waking Aunt Tryphosa:</p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">"'My soul, be on thy guard;</div> +<div class="inner line-block"> +<div class="line">Ten thousand foes arise;</div> +</div> +<div class="line">The hosts of sin are pressing hard</div> +<div class="inner line-block"> +<div class="line">To draw thee from the skies.'"</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</blockquote> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="hunger-ford">XVII</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">HUNGER-FORD</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Such a line of communication as was soon established +between Mount Hunger and New York, Mount Hunger +and Cambridge, the Lost Nation and Barton's River, +Hunger-ford--the Fords' new name for the old Morris +farm--and the Blossom homestead on the Mountain!</p> +<p class="pnext">Uncle Sam's post, the Western Union Telegraph Company, +the American Express, a line of freight, saddle +horses, sleds, and the old apple-green cart on runners were +all pressed into service; in all the United States of +America there were no busier young people than those +belonging to the Lost Nation.</p> +<p class="pnext">They wrote notes to one another with an air of great +mystery; they drove singly, in couples, or all together to +Barton's River with Chi; they smuggled in bundles and +express packages of all sorts and sizes; looked guilty if +caught whispering together in the pantry; took many a +sled-ride over to Hunger-ford, and audaciously remained +there three hours at a time without giving Mrs. Blossom +any good reason either for their going or remaining.</p> +<p class="pnext">The acquaintance formed between the Blossoms and the +Fords just after Thanksgiving, was fast ripening into +friendship. March, usually shy with strangers, fairly +adored the tall, quiet son with the wonderful smile, and +expanded at once in his genial presence. With Ruth Ford +he had much in common; and regularly once a week since +Thanksgiving he had drawn and painted with her in her +studio, the room that Aunt Tryphosa had so graphically +described. His gift was far more in that direction than +hers; and Ruth, recognizing it, encouraged him, spurred +his ambition, and placed all her materials at his disposal.</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose's sweet voice had proved a delight to them all, and +Hazel's violin was being taught to play a gentle +accompaniment to Alan Ford's, that sang, or wept, or rejoiced +according to the player's mood.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am so thankful, Ben, that our Rose can have the +advantage of such companions just at this time of her life," +said Mrs. Blossom, on the afternoon before Christmas +when the two eldest, with Hazel, had gone over to Hunger-ford +with joyful secrets written all over their happy faces.</p> +<p class="pnext">"So am I, Mary. When I see young men like Ford, I +realize what I lost in being obliged to give up college on +father's account," said Mr. Blossom, with a sigh.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I do, too, Ben; and what I 've lost in opportunity +when I see that gifted woman, Mrs. Ford. She has +travelled extensively, she reads and speaks both German and +French, she is a really wonderful musician, and keeps up +with every interest of the day, besides being a splendid +housekeeper and devoted to her children."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do you regret it, Mary?" said her husband, looking +straight before him into the fire.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not with you, Ben," was Mary Blossom's answer. +Taking her husband's face in both her hands and turning +it towards her, she looked into his eyes, and received the +smile and kiss that were always ready for her.</p> +<p class="pnext">"If we did n't have all this when we were young people, +Mary, we 'll hope that we may have it in our children," he +said, earnestly.</p> +<p class="pnext">Just then Chi came in, and gave a loud preliminary, +"Hem!" for to him, Ben and Mary Blossom would always +be lovers. "Guess 't is 'bout time to hitch up, if you 're +goin' clear down to Barton's to meet the train, Ben; I 've +got to go over eastwards with the children."</p> +<p class="pnext">"All right, Chi, I 'd rather drive down to the station +to-night; it's good sleighing and our Mountain is a fine +sight by moonlight."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Can't be beat," said Chi, emphatically. "S'pose you 'll +be back by seven, sharp? I kind of want to time myself, +on account of the s'prise."</p> +<p class="pnext">"We 'll say seven, and I 'll make it earlier if I can. +You 're off for Aunt Tryphosa's now?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Just finished loadin' up--There they are!" and in +rushed the whole troop, hooded and mittened and jacketed +and leggined, ready for their after-sunset raid.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good-bye, Martie!" screamed Cherry, wild with excitement, +and made a dash for the door; then she turned back +with another dash that nearly upset May, and, throwing her +arms around her mother's neck, nearly squeezed the breath +from her body. "O Mumpsey, Dumpsey, dear! I 'm +having such an awfully good time; it's so much happier +than last Christmas!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"And, O Popsey, Dopsey, dear!" laughed Rose, mimicking +her, but with a voice full of love, and both mittens +caressing his face, "it's so good to have you well enough +to celebrate this year!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel slipped her hand into Chi's, and whispered, "Oh, +Chi, I wish I had a lot of brothers and sisters like Rose. +Anyway, papa's coming to-night, so I 'll have one of my +own," she added proudly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Guess we 'd better be gettin' along," said Chi, still +holding Hazel's hand. "It's goin' to be a stinger, 'n' it's +a mile 'n' a half over there."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come on all!" cried March; "we 'll be back before +you are, father."</p> +<p class="pnext">"We 'll see about that," laughed his father, as he caught +the merry twinkle in his wife's eye.</p> +<p class="pnext">But March was right by the margin of only a minute or +two; for just as the merry crowd entered the house on their +return from their errand of "goodwill," they heard +Mr. Blossom drive the sleigh into the barn. In another moment +Hazel had flung wide the door and was caught up into her +father's arms.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the midst of their cordial greetings there was a loud +knock at the door. They all started at the sound, and +Budd, who was nearest, opened it.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Please, Budd, may I come in, too?" said a voice +everyone recognized as the Doctor's.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then the whole Blossom household lost their heads where +they had lost their hearts the year before. Rose and Hazel +and Cherry fairly smothered him with kisses; Budd wrung +one hand, March gripped another; May clung to one leg, +and the monster of a puppy contrived to get under foot, +although he stood two feet ten.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack Sherrill, looking in at the window upon all this +loving hominess, felt, somehow, physically and spiritually +left out in the cold. "What a fool I was to come!" he +said to himself. Nevertheless he carried out his part of +the program by stepping up to the door and knocking. +This time Mrs. Blossom opened it.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Have you room for one more, Mrs. Blossom?" he said +with an attempt at a smile, but looking sadly wistful, so +wistful and lonely that Mary Blossom put out both hands +without a word, and, somehow,--Jack, in thinking it over +afterwards, never could tell how it happened so naturally--he +was giving her a son's greeting, and receiving a +mother's kiss in return.</p> +<p class="pnext">In a moment Hazel's arms were around his neck;--"Oh, +Jack, Jack! I 've got three of my own now; I 'm +almost as rich as Rose!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose, hearing her name, came forward with frank, cordial +greeting, and May transferred her demonstrations of +affection from the Doctor's trousers to Jack's; Cherry's curls +bobbed and quivered with excitement when Jack claimed a +kiss from "Little Sunbonnet," and received two hearty +smacks in return; March took his travelling bag; Budd +kept close beside him, and the puppy, who had been +christened Tell, nosed his hand, and, sitting down on his +haunches, pawed the air frantically until Jack shook hands +with him, too.</p> +<p class="pnext">By this time the wistful look had disappeared from +Jack's eyes, and his handsome face was filled with such a +glad light that the Doctor noticed it at once. He shook +his head dubiously, with his eyebrows drawn together in a +straight line over the bridge of his nose, and, from +underneath, his keen eyes glanced from Jack to Rose and from +Rose back again to Jack. Then his face cleared, and +explanations were in order.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, you see," the Doctor said to Mrs. Blossom, "my +wife had to go South with her sister, and could not be at +home for Christmas--the first we 've missed celebrating +together since we were married--and when I found John +was coming up to spend it with you, I couldn't resist +giving myself this one good time. But Jack here has +failed to give any satisfactory account of how or why he +came to intrude his long person just at this festive time. +I thought you were off at a Lenox house-party with the +Seatons?" he said, quizzically.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack laughed good-naturedly. "I don't blame you for +wondering at my being here; but I've been here before," +he said, willing to pay back the Doctor in his own coin.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The deuce you have!" exclaimed the Doctor. "I say, +Johnny, are we growing old that these young people get +ahead of us so easily?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't know how you feel, Dick, but I 'm as young as +Jack to-night."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That 's right, Papa Clyde," said Hazel, approvingly, +softly patting her father on the head; "and, Jack, you 're +a dear to come up here to see us, for you 've just as much +right as the Doctor."</p> +<p class="pnext">The Doctor pretended to grumble:--"Come to see you, +indeed, you superior young woman--<em class="italics">you</em> indeed! As if +there weren't any other girls in the world or on Mount +Hunger but you and Rose--much you know about it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, I 'd like to know who you came to see, if not +us?" laughed Hazel, sure of her ultimate triumph.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, my dear Ruth Ford, to be sure."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ruth Ford!" they exclaimed in amazement.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why not Ruth Ford? You did n't suppose I would +come away up here into the wilds of Vermont in the dead +of winter, did you? just to see--" But Hazel laid her +hand on his mouth.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Stop teasing, do," she pleaded, "and tell us how you +knew our Ruth."</p> +<p class="pnext">"<em class="italics">Our</em> Ruth! Ye men of York, hear her!" said the +Doctor, appealing to Mr. Clyde and Jack. "The next +thing will be 'our Alan Ford,' I suppose. How will you +like that, Jack?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I feel like saying 'confound him,' only it would n't be +polite. You see, Doctor, I thought I had preëmpted the +whole Mountain, and was prepared to make a conquest of +Miss Maria-Ann Simmons even; but if Mr. Ford has +stepped in"--Jack assumed a tragic air--"there is +nothing left for me in honor, but to throw down the +gauntlet and challenge him to single combat--hockey-sticks +and hot lemonade--for her fair hand."</p> +<p class="pnext">At the mention of Maria-Ann, Rose and Hazel, Budd +and Cherry and March went off into fits of laughter. +They laughed so immoderately that it proved infectious +for their elders, and when Chi entered the room Budd +cried out, "Oh, Chi, you tell about the--we can't--the +rooster and the hoods, and--Oh my eye!--" Budd was +apparently on the verge of convulsions.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I stuffed snow into my mouth and made my teeth ache +so as not to laugh out loud," said Cherry; at which there +was another shout, and still another outburst at the table +when Chi described the scene in the hen-house.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now, children," said Mrs. Blossom, after the somewhat +hilarious evening meal was over, the table cleared, the +dishes were wiped and put away, "we 're going to do just +for this once as you want us to--hang up our stockings; +but I want all of you to hang up yours, too. If you don't, +I shall miss the sixes and sevens and eights so, that it will +spoil my Christmas."</p> +<p class="pnext">"We will, Martie," they assented, joyfully; for, as +March said, it would not seem like night before Christmas +if they did not hang up their stockings.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, and papa, and you," said Hazel, turning to the +Doctor, "must hang up yours, and you, too, Jack."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, of course," said Mrs. Blossom, "everybody is to +hang up a stocking to-night, even Tell."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Martie, how funny!" cried Cherry, "but he +has n't a truly stocking."</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, but one of Budd's will do for his huge paw--won't +it, old fellow?" she said, patting his great head.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then Budd must needs bring out a pair of his pedal +coverings and try one brown woollen one on Tell, much +to his majesty's surprise; for Tell was a most dignified +youth of a dog, as became his nine months and his famous +breed.</p> +<p class="pnext">Early in the evening the stockings were hung up over +the fireplace, all sizes and all colors:--May's little red +one and Chi's coarse blue one; Mr. Clyde's of thick silk, +and Budd's and Tell's of woollen; Hazel's of black +cashmere beside Jack's striped Balbriggan. What an array!</p> +<p class="pnext">Then Mrs. Blossom and May went off into the bedroom, +and Mr. Blossom and his guests were forced to smoke +their after-tea cigars in the guest bedroom upstairs, while +the young people brought out their treasures and stuffed +the grown-up stockings till they were painfully distorted.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't they look lovely!" whispered Hazel, ecstatically +to March, who begged Rose to get another of their mother's +stockings, for the one proved insufficient for the fascinating +little packages that were labelled for her.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Let's go right to bed now," suggested Budd, "then +mother 'll fill ours--Oh, I forgot," he added, ruefully, +"we are n't going to have presents this year--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, yes, we are, too, Budd," said Rose, "we 're going +to give one another out of our own money."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Cracky! I forgot all about that--" Budd tore upstairs +in the dark, and tore down again and into the bedroom, +crying:--"Now all shut your eyes while I 'm going +through!" which they did most conscientiously.</p> +<p class="pnext">Soon they, too, were invited laughingly to retire, and by +half-past ten the house was quiet.</p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">"'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, AND ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE,</div> +<div class="line">NOT A CREATURE WAS STIRRING, NOT EVEN A MOUSE;"</div> +<div class="line">Stretched out on the hearth-rug lay Tell snoring loudly,</div> +<div class="line">And above from the mantel the stockings hung proudly;</div> +<div class="line">When down from the stairway there came such a patter</div> +<div class="line">Of stockingless feet--'t was no laughing matter!</div> +<div class="line">As the good Doctor thought, for he sprang out of bed</div> +<div class="line">To see if 't were real, or a dream iii its stead.</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line">But no! with his eye at a crack of the door</div> +<div class="line">He discovered the truth--'t was the Blossoms, all four,</div> +<div class="line">With Hazel to aid them, tiptoeing about</div> +<div class="line">Like a party of ghosts grown a little too stout.</div> +<div class="line">They pinched and they fingered; they poked and they squeezed</div> +<div class="line">Each plump Christmas stocking--then somebody sneezed!</div> +<div class="line">Consternation and terror!! The tall clock struck one</div> +<div class="line">As the ghosts disappeared on the double-quick run!</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line">"'T WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, AND ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE,</div> +<div class="line">NOT A CREATURE WAS STIRRING, NOT EVEN A MOUSE;"</div> +<div class="line">Without in the moonlight, the snow sparkled bright;</div> +<div class="line">The Mountain stood wrapped in a mantle of white,</div> +<div class="line">With a crown of dark firs on his noble old crest</div> +<div class="line">And ermine and diamonds adorning his breast;</div> +<div class="line">And the stars that above him swung true into line</div> +<div class="line">Once shone o'er a manger in far Palestine.</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +</div> +</blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">What a Christmas morning that was!</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi was up at five o'clock, building roaring fires, for it +was ten degrees below zero.</p> +<p class="pnext">With the first glint of the sun on the frosted panes the +household was astir. At precisely seven the order was +given to take down the thirteen stockings. But bless +you! You 're not to think the stockings could hold all +the gifts. In front of each wide jamb were piled the +bundles and packages, three feet high!</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose hesitated a moment when the children sat down on +the rug with their stockings, as was their custom every +Christmas morn; then she plumped down among them, +saying, laughingly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't care if I <em class="italics">am</em> growing up, Martie--it's Christmas."</p> +<p class="pnext">Upon which Jack, hugging his striped Balbriggan, sat +down beside her.</p> +<p class="pnext">Such "Ohs" and "Ahs"! Such thankings and squeezings! +Such somersaults as were turned by March and +Budd at the kitchen end of the long-room! Such +rapturous gurgles from May! Such hand-shakes and kisses! +Such silent bliss on the part of Chi, who, though suffering +as if in a Turkish bath, had donned his new, blue woollen +sweater, drawn on his gauntleted beaver gloves, and +proceeded to investigate his stocking with the air of a man +who has nothing more to wish for. And through all the +chaotic happiness a sentence could be distinguished now +and then.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Chi, these corn-cob pipes are just what I shall want +after Christmas when I give my Junior Smoker."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Martie, it can't be for me!" as the lovely white +serge dress, ready made and trimmed with lace, was held +up to Rose's admiring eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">Budd was caressing with approving fingers a regular +"base-ball-nine" bat and admiring the white leather balls.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I say, it's a stunner, Mr. Sherrill; but how did you +know I wanted it?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Clyde, who was touched to his very heart's core by +Hazel's gift of a dollar pair of suspenders which she had +earned by her own labor, felt a small hand slipped into his, +and found Cherry Bounce looking up at him with wide, +adoring, brown eyes, which, for the first time, she had +taken from her beautiful Émilie Angélique, whom she +held pressed to her heart:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"I want to whisper to you," she said, shyly. Mr. Clyde +bent down to her;--"After I said my prayers to Martie, +I asked God to give me Émilie Angélique--every night," +she nodded--"but I only told Budd, so how <em class="italics">did</em> you know?"</p> +<p class="pnext">March was lost to the world in his volume of foreign +photographs, in his boxes of paints and brushes, and a +whole set of drawing materials. He had not as yet thanked +Hazel for them.</p> +<p class="pnext">Everybody was happy and satisfied. Everybody said he +or she had received just exactly the thing. Tell alone +could not express his gratification in words. He had been +given his woollen stocking, and nosed about till he had +brought forth three fat dog-biscuit, a deliciously +juicy-greasy beef bone, wrapped in white waxed paper and tied +at one end with a blue ribbon, a fine nickelplated dog +collar with a bell attached, and last, from the brown +woollen toe, three lumps of sugar.</p> +<p class="pnext">One by one he took the gifts and laid them down at +Mrs. Blossom's feet; putting one huge paw firmly on the +waxed-paper package, he waved the other wildly until she +took it and spoke a loving word to him. Then, taking up +his beloved bone, he retired with it to the farthest end +of the long-room, under the kitchen sink, and licked it in +peace and joy.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack and Chi in the joyful confusion had slipped from +the room.</p> +<p class="pnext">Soon there was a commotion in the woodshed, and the +two made their appearance dragging after them a +brand-new double-runner and a real Canadian toboggan, which +Jack had ordered from Montreal for March.</p> +<p class="pnext">Breakfast proved to be a short meal, for the whole family +was wild to try the new toboggan with Jack to engineer +it. Then it was up and down--down and up the steep +mountain road; Jack and Doctor Heath, Mr. Clyde, +Mr. Blossom and Chi, all on together--clinging for dear life, +laughing, whooping, panting, hurrahing like boys let out +from school, while March and Budd and Rose and Hazel +and Cherry flew after them on the double-runner, the keen +air biting rose-red cheeks, and bringing the stinging water +to the eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">But what sport it was!</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now, this is something like," panted Jack, drawing +up the hill with Chi, his handsome face aglow with life +and joy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"By George Washin'ton! it's the nearest thing to +shootin' Niagary that I ever come," puffed Chi.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Didn't we take that water-bar neatly?" laughed Jack.</p> +<p class="pnext">"'N inch higher, 'n' we 'd all been goners;--I had n't +a minute to think of it, goin' to the rate of a mile a +minute; but if I had--I 'd have dusted! Guess I 'll make +it level before I try it with the children,--'n' I want you +to know there 's no coward about me, but I 'm just +speakin' six for myself this time."</p> +<p class="pnext">So the morning sped. Even Mrs. Blossom and May +were taken down once, and the Doctor stopped only +because he wanted to make a morning call on his patient, +Ruth Ford; for it was by his advice the family had come +to live for three years in this mountain region.</p> +<p class="pnext">The horn for the mid-day meal sounded down the Mountain +before they had thought of finishing the exciting +sport, and one and all brought such keen appetites to the +Christmas dinner, that Mrs. Blossom declared laughingly +that she would give them no supper, for they had eaten +the pantry shelves bare.</p> +<p class="pnext">Such roast goose and barberry jam! Such a noble +plum-pudding set in the midst of Maria-Ann's best wreath, +for she and Aunt Tryphosa had sent over their simple +gifts by an early teamster. Such red Northern Spies and +winter russet pears! And such mirth and shouts and +jests and quips to accompany each course!</p> +<p class="pnext">It was genuine New England Christmas cheer, and the +healths were drunk in the wine of the apple amid great +applause, especially Doctor Heath's:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Health, peace, and long life to the Lost Nation--May +its tribe increase!"</p> +<p class="pnext">And how they laughed at Chi, when he proposed the +health of the Prize Chicken (which, by the way, he had +kept for the next season's mascot,) and recounted the +episode in the barn.</p> +<p class="pnext">What shouts greeted Budd, who, rising with great +gravity, his mouth puckered into real, not mock, +seriousness--and that was the comical part of it all--said +earnestly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"To my first wife!" and sat down rather red, but +gratified not only by the prolonged applause, but by the +enthusiasm with which they drank to this unexpected toast from +his unsentimental self.</p> +<p class="pnext">Directly after dinner Mr. Clyde declared that a seven-mile +walk was an actual necessity for him in his present +condition, and invited all who would to accompany him to +call in state on Mrs. Tryphosa Little and Miss Maria-Ann +Simmons. Only Doctor Heath and Jack went with him, +for Mr. Blossom and Chi had matters to attend to at home, +and Rose and Cherry and Hazel were needed to help +Mrs. Blossom. Even March and Budd turned to and wiped +dishes.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll set the table now, Martie," said Rose, "then there +will be no confusion to-night--there are so many of us."</p> +<p class="pnext">"No need for that to-night, children," replied Mrs. Blossom, +with a merry smile. "'The last is the best of +all the rest,' for we were all invited a week ago to take +tea and spend Christmas evening at Hunger-ford."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Martie!" A joyful shout went up from the six, +that was followed by jigs and double-shuffles, pas-seuls +and fancy steps, in which dish-towels were waved wildly, +and tin pans were pounded instead of wiped.</p> +<p class="pnext">When the din had somewhat subsided there were numberless +questions asked; by the time they were all answered, +and Rose and Hazel had donned their white serge dresses, +the gentlemen had returned from their walk, and it was +time to go.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's why Mrs. Ford had us learn all those songs," +said Rose to Hazel. "Don't forget to take your violin."</p> +<p class="pnext">A merrier Christmas party never set forth on a straw-ride. +Mr. and Mrs. Blossom and May went over in the +sleigh, but the rest piled into the apple-green pung, and +when they came in sight of the seven-gabled-house, a +rousing three times three, mingling with the sound of the +sleigh-bells, greeted the pretty sight.</p> +<p class="pnext">Every window was illumined, and adorned with a +Christmas wreath. In the light of the rising moon, then +at the full, the snow that covered the roof sparkled like +frosted silver. The house, with its background of sharply +sloping hill wooded with spruce and pine, its twinkling +lights and the surrounding white expanse, looked like an +illuminated Christmas card.</p> +<p class="pnext">Within, the hall was festooned with ground hemlock +and holly; a roaring fire of hickory logs furnished light +and to spare. In the living-room and dining-room, +Mr. Clyde and Jack Sherrill found, to their amazement, all the +elegance and refinement of a city home combined with +country simplicity. The tea-table shone with the service +of silver and sparkled with the many-faceted crystal of +glass and carafe. For decoration, the rich red of the holly +berries gleamed among the dark green gloss of their leaves.</p> +<p class="pnext">At first, the younger members of the Blossom family +felt constrained and a little awed in such surroundings; +for although they had been several times in the house, +they had never taken tea there. But the Fords and the +other city people soon put them at their ease, and, as +Cherry declared afterwards, "It was like eating in a fairy +story." There was a real pigeon pie at one end and a +Virginia ham at the other, as well as cold, roast duck with +gooseberry jam. There were sparkling jellies, and the +whole family of tea-cakes--orange, cocoanut, sponge, and +chocolate; and, oh, bliss!--strawberry ice-cream in a nest +of spun cinnamon candy, followed by Malaga grapes and +hot chocolate topped with a whip of cream.</p> +<p class="pnext">After tea there was the surprise of a beautiful Christmas +Tree in the library. Ruth Ford had occupied many a +weary hour in making the decorations--roses and lilies +fashioned from tissue paper to closely copy nature; gilded +walnuts; painted paper butterflies; pink sugar hearts, +and cornucopias of gilt and silver paper, in each of which +was a bunch of real flowers--roses, violets, carnations, +and daisies, ordered by Jack Sherrill from New York. On +the topmost branch, there was a waxen Christ-child. The +tree was lighted by dozens of tiny colored candles. When +the door was opened from the living-room, and the children +caught sight of the wonderful tree, they held their breath +and whispered to one another.</p> +<p class="pnext">But more lovely than the tree in the eyes of the older +people were the radiant faces of the young people and the +children. Rose, with clasped hands, stood gazing up at +the Christ-child that crowned the glowing, glittering mass +of dark green. She was wholly unconscious of the many +pairs of eyes that rested upon her in love and admiration. +There was nothing so beautiful in the whole room as the +young girl standing there with earnest blue eyes, raised +reverently to the little waxen figure. Her lips were parted +in a half smile; a flush of excitement was on her cheeks; +the white dress set off the exquisite fairness of her skin; +the shining crown of golden-brown hair, that hung in a +heavy braid to within a foot of the hem of her gown, +caught the soft lights above her and formed almost a halo +about the face.</p> +<p class="pnext">Suddenly there was a burst of admiration from the +children, and, under cover of it, Doctor Heath turned to +Mr. Clyde, who was standing beside him:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"By heavens, John! That girl is too beautiful; she +will make some hearts ache before she is many years older, +as well as your own Hazel--look at <em class="italics">her</em> now!"</p> +<p class="pnext">The father's eyes rested lovingly, but thoughtfully, on +the graceful little figure that was busy distributing the +cornucopias with their fragrant contents. Yes, she, too, +was beautiful, giving promise of still greater beauty. He +turned to the Doctor and held out his hand:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Richard, I have to thank you for this transformation."</p> +<p class="pnext">"No--not me," said the Doctor, earnestly, "but," +pointing to Mrs. Blossom, "that woman there, John. Hazel +needed the mother-love, just as much as Jack does at this +moment."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack had turned away when the Doctor began to speak +of Rose, and, joining her, said, "Won't you wear one of my +roses just to-night, Miss Blossom?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Your roses! Why, did you give us all those lovely +flowers?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, I wanted to contribute my share, and flowers +seemed the most appropriate offering just for to-night."</p> +<p class="pnext">"They 're lovely," said Rose, caressing the exquisite +petals of a La France beauty. "Of course I 'll wear +one--" she tucked one into her belt; "but why--why!--has n't +anyone else roses?" She looked about inquiringly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No,--the roses were for their namesake," said Jack, +quietly.</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose laughed merrily,--a pleased, girlish laugh. +"Then won't the giver of the roses call their namesake, +'Rose'?--for the sake of the roses?" she added +mischievously.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now Jack Sherrill had seen many girls--silly girls, +flirty girls, sensible girls, charming girls, smart girls, nice +girls, and horrid girls, and flattered himself he knew every +species of the genus, but just this once he was puzzled. +If Rose Blossom had been an arrant flirt, she could not have +answered him more effectively; yet Jack had decided that +she had too earnest a nature to descend to flirting. +Somehow, that word could never be applied to Rose +Blossom--"My Rose," he said to himself, and knew with a kind of +a shock when he said it, that he was very far gone. But +in the next breath, he had to confess to himself that he +had "been very far gone" many a time in his twenty-one +years, so perhaps it did not signify.</p> +<p class="pnext">Indeed, in the next minute, he was sure it did not +signify, for, before he could gather his wits sufficiently to +reply to her, Rose had slipped away to the other side of +the room, where she was busying herself in fastening one +of Jack's roses into the buttonhole of Alan Ford's Tuxedo. +In consequence of which, Jack turned his batteries upon +Ruth Ford with such effect, that she declared afterwards +to her mother he was one of the most fascinating <em class="italics">young</em> +men--for Ruth was twenty-one!--she had ever met.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Ford and Hazel and Mr. Ford had done their best +to persuade Chi to remain with them for the tree. Even +Rose urged--but in vain. True, the girls had insisted +upon his taking one look, then he had begged off, saying, +as he patted Hazel's hand that lay on his arm:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not to-night, Lady-bird. I don't feel to home in there. +I 'll sit out here and hear the music, then I can beat time +with my foot if I want to." He remained in the hall, just +outside the living-room door, enjoying all he heard.</p> +<p class="pnext">First there was a lovely piano duet, an Hungarian waltz +by Brahms, Mrs. Ford and the grave, quiet son playing +with such a perfect understanding of each other, as well as +of the music, that it proved a delight to all present. Then +there was a carol by all the children, Rose leading, and +Mrs. Ford playing the accompaniment:</p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">"'Cheery old Winter! merry old Winter!</div> +<div class="line">Laugh, while with yule-wreath thy temples are bound;</div> +<div class="line">Drain the spiced bowl now, cheer thy old soul now,</div> +<div class="line">"Christmas <em class="italics">waes hael</em>!" pledge the holy toast round.</div> +<div class="line">Broach butt and barrel, with dance and with carol</div> +<div class="line">Crown we old Winter of revels the king;</div> +<div class="line">And when he is weary of living so merry,</div> +<div class="line">He 'll lie down and die on the green lap of Spring.</div> +<div class="line">Cheery old Winter! merry old Winter!</div> +<div class="line">He 'll lie down and die on the green lap of Spring!'"</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +</div> +</blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">This won great applause, and a loud thumping could be +heard in the hall. Jack went out to try his powers of +persuasion with Chi, and found him sitting close to the door +with one knee over the other and a La France rose (!) in +his buttonhole.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come in, Chi, do."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ruther 'd sit here."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, come on."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nope."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack laughed at the decided tone. "Where did you get +this?" he asked, touching the boutonniere.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Rose-pose," answered Chi, laconically, but with a +happy smile.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Out of her bunch?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nope--took it out of her belt," said Chi, with a +curious twist of his mouth.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack went back crestfallen, and Chi smiled.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'm afraid I cut him out, just for once; kind of rough +on him, but 't won't hurt him any to have a change. He 's +had his own way a little too much," said Chi to himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">Again there was music, a Schubert serenade, with the +two violins, and after that, the children begged Hazel to +dance the Highland Fling as she did once in the barn. +Hazel, nothing loath, borrowed a blue Liberty-silk scarf +from Ruth Ford; the rugs being removed and Alan Ford +tuning his violin, she made her curtsy, and, entering +heart and body into the spirit of the thing, danced like +thistle-down shod with joyousness.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was a pretty sight! and Chi edged into the room, +while the company made believe ignore him in order to +induce him to remain there; but when the singing began, +he slipped out again. Such singing! Everybody joined +in it. They sang everything;--"Oh, where, tell me +where, is your Highland laddie gone?";--"Star-spangled +Banner";--"Marching Along";--"John Anderson, my +Jo";--"Ye banks and braes o' Bonnie Doon";--"Twinkle, +twinkle, little star";--"Annie Laurie";--"A +grasshopper sat on a sweet-potato vine";--"Ben +Bolt";--"Fair Harvard" and, finally, "Old Hundred."</p> +<p class="pnext">It had been arranged that Mr. Blossom should take his +wife and the younger children home in the pung; the rest +were to walk. Chi, meanwhile, had driven home in the +single sleigh.</p> +<p class="pnext">On the walk home Jack tried what he had been apt to +term--of course, to himself--his "confidential scheme" +with Rose. He had tried it before with many another, +and it had never failed to work. The thought of one of +his roses in Alan Ford's buttonhole still rankled, and the +best side of Jack's manhood was not on the surface when +he entered upon the homeward walk.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Miss Blossom,"--somehow Jack had not quite the +courage to say "Rose," although he had been so frankly +invited to--"I want to tell you why I came up here; it +must have seemed almost an intrusion."</p> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 60%" id="figure-41"> +<span id="i-want-to-tell-you-why-i-came-up-here"></span><img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-199.jpg" /> +<div class="caption figure"> +"'I want to tell you why I came up here'"</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">"Oh, no, indeed," said Rose, earnestly, "and I know +why you came; Hazel told me."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, she did," said Jack, rather inanely, and a little +uncertain as to his footing, figuratively speaking; for he +had given her the chance to ask "Why?"--and she had n't +taken it; in which she proved herself different from all +those other girls of his acquaintance. To himself he +thought, "Well, for all the cordial indifference, commend +me to this girl."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, I 'm sure it would have seemed like anything but +Christmas to you in New York with your father in Europe; +you must miss him so."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack felt himself blush in the moonlight at the remembrance +that he had seen his father but little in the last +three years, and did not know what it was in reality to +miss him. He never remembered to have missed anything +or anybody but his mother, and that indefinite something +in his life which he had not yet put himself earnestly to +seek.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I suppose you 'll be shocked, Miss Blossom, but I +don't really miss my father. I 'm only awfully glad to +see him when I get the chance--which is n't often. He 's +such a busy man with railroads and syndicates and real +estate interests. I wonder often how he can find time to +write me even twice a month, which he has done regularly +ever since--" he stopped abruptly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Since what?" asked Rose, innocently.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Since my mother died," said Jack, in a hard, dry voice +that served to cover his feeling.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," Rose nodded sympathetically, "Hazel told +me." Then--for Rose's love for her own mother was something +bordering on adoration--she said softly, under her breath, +but with her whole heart in her voice; "Oh, I don't see +how you could bear it--how you can live without her!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't," Jack replied with a break in his voice, "not +really live, you know. I've always felt it, but never +realized it until last night, when I stood out on the +veranda and looked in at the window at you--all. Then I +knew I 'd been hungry for that sort of thing for the last +seven years--"</p> +<p class="pnext">Now Rose's heart was swelling with pity for the loneliness +of the tall, young fellow swinging along beside her, +and at once her inner eyes were opened to see a, to her, +startling fact. She turned suddenly towards him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Is that why you kissed Martie last night, and came up +here to us?" she demanded rather breathlessly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes;" Jack had forgotten his scheme, and was in dead +earnest now.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then," cried Rose, impulsively--but at the same time +thinking, "I don't care if he is engaged to that Miss +Seaton"--"I hope you 'll come to us whenever you feel +like it; for," she added earnestly, "I 'm beginning to +understand what Chi means when he talks about Hazel's +being poor and our being rich, and--and I 'd love to share +mine with you."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You 're awfully good," said Jack, rather awkwardly +for him; for, suddenly, in the presence of this young girl, +as yet unspoiled by the world, he realized that Life was +dependent upon something other than polo and club +theatricals, railroad syndicates and Newport casinos, stocks +and bonds and marketable real estate.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack was young, and the moonlight was transfiguring +the face that, framed in a white, knitted hood, was turned +towards him full of a frank, loving sympathy for him in +his "poverty."---And, seeing it, Jack suddenly braced +himself as if to meet some shock, thinking, as he strode +along in silence, "Oh, I 'm gone!--for good and all this +time."</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose, a little surprised at the prolonged silence, +welcomed the sound of sleigh-bells behind them.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, that's Chi!" she exclaimed. "I thought he +was at home long before this. I 'm sure he left long +before we did. Where have you been, Chi?" she called +so soon as the sleigh was within hailing distance.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 've been Chris'musin'," said Chi. "It ain't often +you get just such a night on the Mountain as this, and +I 've made the most of it. Can I give you a lift?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, thank you, Chi, we 're almost home," said Rose.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, then I 'd better be gettin' along--it's pretty +near midnight--chk, Bob--" And Chi drove away down +the Mountain, chuckling to himself:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ain't a-goin' to give myself away before no city chap +that has cut me out as he has. George Washin'ton! +When I peeked into the window 'n' saw Marier-Ann sittin' +there in front of that kitchen table with all those presents +on it, 'n' the little spruce set up so perky in the middle of +'em, 'n' she a-wearin' a great handful of those red, spice +pinks in her bosom, 'n' her cheeks to match 'em, 'n' her +eyes a-shinin'--I knew he 'd come it over me; he 'd made +the first call, 'n' given her the first posies. Guess I won't +crow over him after this." Chi undid his greatcoat, and +bent his face until his nose rested upon Jack's rose:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"It ain't touched yet, but it's a stinger; must be twenty +below, now." Suddenly Chi gave a loud exclamation: +"I must be a fool!--I 've broken one of the N.B.B.O.O. rules +not to be afraid of anything, and did n't dare to give +my posy to Marier-Ann!--Anyhow, she don't know I +was goin' to give it to her, so I need n't feel so cheap +about it--Go-long, Bob!"</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="budd-s-proposal">XVIII</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">BUDD'S PROPOSAL</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Before Mr. Clyde and Jack left the next day, Budd +sought an opportunity to interview the latter on a subject, +that, for a few weeks past, had been occupying many of his +thoughts. The applause, with which his Christmas-day +toast had been greeted, had encouraged him to seek an +occasion for acquiring more definite knowledge on a +subject which lay near his heart. It came when Jack was +packing his dress-suit case in the guest chamber.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a knock on the half-opened door.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come in," said Jack, and Budd made his appearance.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Halloo, Budd! What can I do for you? Any commissions +in New York, or Boston?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't know what you mean by commissions," replied +Budd, cautiously, thrusting both hands deep into the +pockets of his knickerbockers, and spreading his sturdy +legs to a wide V.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Anything I can buy with that hen-and-jam money +you helped to earn?--you did well, Budd, on that. I +congratulate you."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have n't any of that money left. You see, we voted +to give it to March to go to college with. But I 've got +two quarters an' a dollar--Christmas presents, you know; +an' that 'll do, won't it?" he asked rather anxiously.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, that depends on what you buy," said Jack, with +due seriousness.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You 'll keep mum, Mr. Sherrill, if I tell you?" said +Budd, inquiringly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mum's the word, if you say so, Budd; out with it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, I want two things; one thing to make me feel +grown up, an' I 've wanted it for a year."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What's that, Budd?" asked Jack, immensely amused +at Budd's swelling manhood--"A pair of long trousers?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No--" Budd hesitated for a moment, then went on in +rather an aggrieved tone; "I hate to wear waists with +buttons; it's just like a baby, an' a fellow can't feel grown +up when he has to button everything on. I want to hitch +things up the way March an' Chi do, an' I want you to buy +me a shirt like that one you 're rolling up--only not +flannel,--with a flap, you know, to tuck in."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, that's it, is it?" said Jack, endeavoring to keep +his face and voice from betraying his inward amusement. +"Well, I think you can get one for seventy-five cents--plain +or striped?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I like those narrow blue striped ones like yours best," +he replied, pointing to one of Jack's.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Like mine it shall be, Budd; but you 'll want a pair of +suspenders, or there 'll be too much hitching to be agreeable +to you."</p> +<p class="pnext">"March has an old pair, an' I 'm going to borrow them."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's an idea; now, what's the second thing?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"A ring."</p> +<p class="pnext">"A ring?" Jack looked amazed.</p> +<p class="pnext">Budd nodded.</p> +<p class="pnext">"For yourself?" Jack questioned further.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No--for somebody else."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do you mean a finger ring?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Budd nodded again emphatically.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Engagement?" laughed Jack, at last, the fun getting +the better of him.</p> +<p class="pnext">Budd's mouth puckered into solemnity; "No--wedding."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack gave up the packing, and sat down, shaken with +laughter, on the first convenient chair.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Pardon me for laughing, Budd, but I can't help it. +What do you want of a wedding ring? Is it for that 'first +wife' of yours you toasted yesterday at dinner?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Budd nodded again. "I don't see anything to laugh at," +he said, with a reproachful glance. "You would n't if +you was me."</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, I don't think I should; you 're right there, Budd," +he replied, sobering suddenly after his outburst of laughter. +"When is the wedding to be?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Budd looked thoughtful. "I have n't proposed yet," +was his matter-of-fact answer.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, why don't you?" Jack, sinner that he was, +scented some fun at Budd's expense.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'm going to when I know how," said Budd, humbly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why don't you take lessons?" suggested Jack.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Of whom?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Chi."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack shouted. "What did Chi say?" he demanded +when he had regained his breath.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He said if he wanted to marry a girl, he 'd say what he +wanted to--tell 'em he was fond of 'em."</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Fond of them'--hm," repeated Jack, thoughtfully.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What do <em class="italics">you</em> say?" questioned Budd, turning the +tables rather suddenly on Jack.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't say--never said," replied Jack, shortly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's what Chi said. He said if I begun early I 'd +find out how."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You seem to be on the right road for it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Would you say 'fond of her'?" persisted Budd.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, I think I should," Jack replied with a peculiar +smile; "but, of course, it would depend on the girl."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, that's just what Chi said!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"He did, did he!" Jack laughed; "Chi knows a thing +or two."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But I thought you 'd know more." Budd's face began +to wear a puzzled look.</p> +<p class="pnext">Just then Jack heard Rose's voice in the long-room +asking where Mr. Sherrill was, and the sound brought +home to him a realizing sense of the fact that there was +but an hour before they left for the station, and every +moment too precious to be wasted on Budd. Rising, +and proceeding with his packing, he said with perfect +seriousness:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, Budd, all I can say is, that if I were going to +ask a girl to marry me, I should ask her if she thought +enough of me to take me with all my imperfections and--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Where are you, Jack?" called Hazel, at the foot of +the stairs; "Chi has to go an hour earlier than he said, +and the sleigh is at the door."</p> +<p class="pnext">In the hurry of Jack's good-byes and departure, the +sentence was never finished, and the ring forgotten by him. +But Budd remembered.</p> +<p class="pnext">He was a sturdy little chap, broad of shoulder, strong +of limb. His sandy red hair bristled straight up from his +full forehead. His pale blue eyes, with thick reddish-brown +lashes, were round and serious. His nose was a +freckled pug, and his small mouth puckered, when he was +very much in earnest, to the size of a buttonhole. From +the time he had championed Hazel's coming to them, nearly +a year ago, he had never wavered in his allegiance to her, +and in his small-boy way showed her his entire devotion. +Hazel had been so grateful to him for his whole-souled +welcome of her, that she took pains to make his boy's +heart happy in every way she could.</p> +<p class="pnext">For Hazel, Budd was never in the way; never asked +too many questions for her patience; never teased her +beyond endurance. He found in her a ready listener, a +good sympathizer, a capital playmate, and a loving girl-friend, +who reproved him sometimes and, at others, praised +him. What wonder that his ten-year-old heart had warmed +towards her with its first boy-love? and that in his manly, +practical way, he made of her an ideal?</p> +<p class="pnext">"I love Hazel, and when I am big enough, I shall marry +her," was what he said to himself whenever he stopped his +play long enough to think about it at all. Naturally it +seemed the wisest thing to tell her this when he should +find the opportunity, and at the same time recall the fact.</p> +<p class="pnext">Fortified by the testimony of Chi and Jack, he bided his +time.</p> +<p class="pnext">One Saturday afternoon in January, Rose said suddenly +to Hazel: "I wish I could do some of the things that you +do, Hazel." Hazel looked up from her book in surprise.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What can I do that you can't do, Rose?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"You dance so beautifully, and I 've always wanted to +know how. I feel so awkward when I see you dance the +Highland Fling."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Is that all?" Hazel laughed a happy laugh. "I can +teach you to dance as easy as anything, if you 'll let me."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Let you!" Rose exclaimed, flushing with pleasure; +"just you try me and see. But where can we practise?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, out in the barn," cried Hazel. "It'll be lots of +fun; of course, it's awfully cold, but the skipping about +will keep us warm. I 'll tell you what--I 'll play on the +violin, and you and March and Budd and Cherry can learn +square dances first."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What fun!" said Rose.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What's the joke?" asked March, coming in at that +moment with Budd and Cherry.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We 're going to have a dance in the barn; Hazel's +going to teach us. She says she can do it easy enough."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, bully!" Budd threw up his tam-o'-shanter, and +Cherry, attempting to charge up and down the long-room +as she had seen Hazel at the Fords', tripped on the rug and +fell her length. When March had picked her up she +rubbed her nose, which was growing decidedly pink, and +sniffed a little, then asked suddenly:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who 's going to be my partner? They always have +partners in the story books."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sure enough," Rose laughed. "Whatever will we do, +Hazel?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I never thought of that," said Hazel, ruefully. "Of +course, it takes eight."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why can't we have chairs for partners?" said Cherry. +"We can bow to them just as if they were alive, and make +them move round, can't we?"</p> +<p class="pnext">They all laughed at Cherry's inspiration.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You 're a brick, Cherry Bounce?" said March, approvingly. +"All choose your partners!" And, thereupon, he +seized one of the kitchen chairs, and the rest followed his +example. Hazel took her violin, and hooded and mittened +and coated and mufflered, they trooped out to the barn, +each lugging a wooden chair.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now I 'll give you the first four changes," said Hazel, +illustrating, as well as she could in trying to be two couples +at once, the first movements. "Form your square and get +ready."</p> +<p class="pnext">They obeyed with alacrity, and Hazel drew her bow +across the strings.</p> +<p class="pnext">"All curtsy to your partners!" she shouted, and the +chair-partners received a bow, and, in turn, were made to +thump the floor by being laid over on their backs, and +righted suddenly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"First couple forward and back!" shouted Hazel, and +away went Rose dragging her chair after her to meet March +and his chair--thumpity-thump--thumpity-thump.</p> +<p class="pnext">They were in dead earnest, and the chairs were made to +behave in a most human way.</p> +<p class="pnext">All went well until they came to the Grand Right and +Left; then there arose such a medley of shrieks of laughter, +wild wails from the violin, thumps from sixteen chair-legs, +and stampings from eight human ones as was never heard +before. In a few minutes all was inextricable confusion, +and the noise might have been best compared to a Medicine +Dance among the Sioux Indians.</p> +<p class="pnext">Upon this scene Mr. Blossom and Chi, on their return +from the wood, looked with amazement.</p> +<p class="pnext">"They seem to be havin' a regular pow-wow," Chi +remarked dryly, as the exhausted dancers and musician sat +down, panting for breath, on their wooden partners. +"Rose-pose is about as young as any of 'em--but it +beats all, how she's shootin' up into womanhood."</p> +<p class="pnext">"She 's no longer my little Rosebud Blossom," said her +father, rather sadly. "I dread the time when the birds +begin to fly from the nest, and I see it coming with March +and Rose."</p> +<p class="pnext">Just then Rose caught sight of her father, and ran to +him linking her arm in his. "We 've had such fun, father! +We 're learning to dance; you must be my partner sometime, +for Hazel's going to teach us the schottische next."</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose never forgot the look of love her father gave her, +nor the feel of his hand as he laid it on her hooded head: +"Be my little Rose-pose, as long as you can, dear; you 're +growing up too fast."</p> +<p class="pnext">She recalled afterwards that this first dance in the barn +marked the last time that she abandoned herself to the +children's fun with a girl's careless heart.</p> +<p class="pnext">The winter twilight was fast closing about the Mountain +and the children just returning to the house, when +Chi went out to milk. Leaving his lantern, stool, and +pails in the first stall, he entered the third one to tie one +of the cows to a shorter stanchion. Before he had finished +he heard Budd's voice, and, looking over the partition, saw +him standing with Hazel in the circle of light about the +lantern. In another minute he began to feel like an +eavesdropper.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What did you want me to come here for, Budd?" said +Hazel, dancing on the barn floor to warm her feet.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I want to tell you something," said Budd, blowing on +his cold fingers.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, hurry up and tell; it's simply freezing here. +Is it a secret?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Kinder," replied Budd, blowing harder; then, suddenly +ceasing the bellows movement, he drew a step nearer +to Hazel, and, putting the tips of his pudgy fingers together +to make a triangle, he puckered his mouth solemnly and +said, looking up at her with earnest eyes:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'm very fond of you."</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel laughed merrily. "Why, of course you are, you +funny boy; you 've always been fond of me, have n't you? +I 'm sure I 've always been fond of you. Is <em class="italics">that</em> what you +kept me out here in the cold to say?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not all;" Budd nodded seriously. "I 'm very fond +of you, an'--an' if you 'll take me with all my perfections--I +think that's the way it goes--if I have n't got the +ring yet, it will be just the same, you know." He paused, +and in the circle of light Chi could see the entire +earnestness of his attitude.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Goodness me, Budd! What do you mean about rings +and things?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I want to marry you when I 'm big--an' I thought +I 'd speak 'fore anyone else did to get ahead of 'em." Budd +hastened to explain, as Hazel showed signs of impatience.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, is that all!" Hazel breathed a sigh of relief. "I +thought something was the matter with you. Why, of +course you 're fond of me, Budd; but I could n't marry +you, for I 'm older than you, you know."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I never thought of that," said Budd, beginning to +blink rather suspiciously, "I thought--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now, look here, Budd," said Hazel, in a business-like +way; "I think everything of you, too, and I 'll tell you +what you can be--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"What?" interrupted Budd, eagerly, balancing himself +on the tips of his toes.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My knight!" said Hazel, triumphantly, "and wear my +colors. I 'll give you a bow of crimson ribbon--I 'm +Harvard, you know--and you must wear it till you die. +And I have a white kid party glove I 'll give you, too, +and that will mean I 'm your lady-love, and it will be just +like the days of chivalry, you know we were reading about +them the other day."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And you won't mind about the ring?" queried Budd, +rather wistfully.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not a bit--a glove is much nicer than a ring, and--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Moo--oo--oo--" came from the next stall.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, goodness gracious! How that made me jump. +I 'm not going to stay out here another minute; so come +along if you 're coming"--and the knight meekly followed +his lady-love into the house.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="a-year-and-a-day">XIX</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">A YEAR AND A DAY</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">"It seems queer to settle down the way we have, ever +since Christmas. We had such fun up to that time." Hazel +heaved a long sigh as she wrestled with her Latin +and the Third Conjugation.</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose looked up from her Cicero and smiled at the bored +expression on Hazel's face. "I know, Latin is awfully +dull at first, but when you can read it, you 'll like it. If +only you could hear Cicero give this horrid Catiline--the +old traitor--'Hail Columbia' as March says, you could n't +help liking Latin. Then, too, if we had n't settled down, +where would my French have been?"</p> +<p class="pnext">But Hazel still pouted a little. "I wish papa had n't +wanted me to study at all this winter--I don't see why, +when Doctor Heath is always talking about its 'effect on +my health--'"</p> +<p class="pnext">She was interrupted by a merry laugh. Rose threw +down her Cicero, caught away the grammar from Hazel, +and, seizing her by the hand, drew her into the little +bedroom. Then, taking her by the shoulders, she whirled +her about until she faced the small looking-glass.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There!" she exclaimed, still laughing, "look at that +face before you talk about any 'effect on your health.'"</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel looked at the reflection in the mirror, and smiled +in spite of herself. What a contrast to what she was a +year ago! For to-morrow would be St. Valentine's day. +There were real American Beauty roses on her cheeks; +the dark eyes were full of sparkling life; the chestnut-brown +hair fell in heavy curls upon her shoulders. She +had grown tall, too, but rounded in the process, and the +healthful, bodily exercise had given her grace of carriage--she +was straight as an arrow, and as lithe as a willow wand.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Perhaps I shall feel more interest when Miss Alton is +here, for she is a regular teacher. When is she coming, +Rose?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"The very last of the month, when the spring term +opens. It's our turn to have the district-school teacher +board with us, and I 've never liked it before. But +now I can't wait for Miss Alton to come. I think she 's +lovely."</p> +<p class="pnext">"She is n't half as lovely as you are, Rose," said Hazel, +turning suddenly from the glass, in which she had been +scrutinizing her reflection, and giving Rose an unexpected +squeeze and a hearty kiss. "I think you are the most +beautiful girl I have ever seen, I heard Doctor Heath say +so; and--I told Jack so on Christmas night."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll warrant he did n't agree with you," said Rose, with +a pleased smile. "You forget Miss Seaton."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I know." Hazel shook her head dubiously. "He +did n't say a word to me about you--I don't care if he +did n't, Rose-pose, you 're worth all the Maude Seatons in +the world, and I 'd give anything to have you for my real +cousin instead of her, if only Jack--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't know what you are talking about, Hazel," said +Rose, interrupting her shortly and sharply.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And I don't know why you are speaking to me in that +tone, Rose Blossom," retorted Hazel, both angry and hurt. +"I 've said nothing I 'm ashamed of, and I shall say it +whenever I choose and to whomever I please, so now." She +flung out of the room, but not before Rose had laid a +firm hand upon her shoulder.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hazel Clyde, if ever you speak of that again to anyone, +I 'll break friendship with you, see if I don't."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Break then," Hazel twitched her shoulder from under +the detaining hand. "I 'll speak whenever I choose. I +only said I thought you were the most beautiful girl I had +ever seen, and I wished that you were going to be my real +cousin, instead of Miss Seaton, and you need n't get mad +just because Jack does n't happen to think as I do--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hazel Clyde!" Rose stamped her foot, "don't you +speak another word to me; I 'll not hear it." Rose stuffed +both fingers into her ears, and beat an ignominious retreat +to her own room, where she shut herself in, and was +invisible until tea-time.</p> +<p class="pnext">The family were late in sitting down to the table, for +Mrs. Blossom wanted to wait for Chi, who had driven +down to Barton's River to take Mr. Blossom to the train, +and had arranged to bring March home with him.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was seven already. "We won't wait any longer, +children," said Mrs. Blossom. "Something must have +detained Chi. Budd, you may say 'grace' to-night?" +she added as she took her seat.</p> +<p class="pnext">Budd looked up in amazement. "Why, Martie, Rose +is here and you always--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"That will do, Budd," said his mother, quietly, ignoring +the flame that shot up to the roots of Rose's hair, and the +cool look of indifference on Hazel's face. Budd folded +his pudgy hands and repeated reverently the words he had +heard father, or mother, or sister say ever since he could +remember. Scarcely had he finished when Tell's deep +note of welcome sounded somewhere from the road, and +the sleigh-bells rang out on the still air.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There they are!" cried Cherry. "May I go to meet them?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes--but put your cape over you, it's so chilly to-night."</p> +<p class="pnext">In a minute Cherry was back again, every single curl +bobbing with excitement.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Martie! Chi's bringing in something all done +up in the buffalo robe, and March won't tell me what +it is."</p> +<p class="pnext">She was followed by March, who walked up to his +mother, put both arms about her and gave her a quiet kiss.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There, little Mother Blossom, is my valentine for you," +he said half-shyly, half-proudly, and placed in her hands +his first term's report and a set of books.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, March, my dear boy!" said his mother, rising from +the table and placing both hands on the broad, square +shoulders of her six foot specimen of youth, "I 'm afraid +I 'm getting too proud of you. <em class="italics">Did</em> you get the first +Latin prize?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"You bet I did, Martie." March's rare smile illumined +his face. "There is n't another fellow at Barton's, who can +boast of such a mother as I have, and I was n't going to let +any second-class mothers read those books before you did. +By Cicky!" (which was March's favorite name for the +famous orator)--"But I 've worked like a Turk, and +I 'm hungry as a Russian bear. Why, Rose, what's the +matter with you? You look awfully glum, and Hazel, +too. Here comes Chi; he's bringing something that +will cheer you up. The truth is, mother, these girls +miss <em class="italics">me</em>."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Indeed, I do, March?" said Hazel, looking straight up +into his eyes and showing the amazed lad tears trembling +in her own.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Guess there 'll be some breakin' of hearts, this year, +Mis' Blossom." Chi's cheery voice was welcome to them +all for some unknown reason. He came in loaded with +huge pasteboard boxes.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Your arms will break first, Chi," said Mrs. Blossom, +hastening with March to relieve him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It ain't the heft of 'em, it's the bulk. Valentines +are generally pretty light weight. Romancin' 'n' +sentiment don't count for much, nowadays, though they take +up considerable room." He deposited the last box on the +settle. "'N' there's a whole parcel of things come by +mail. I ain't looked at the superscribin's--you read 'em +out, Rose-pose."</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose read the addresses; there was more than one +missive for each member of the family.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Let's have supper, first, mother," said March, "then, +after the table is cleared, we can sit round and guess who +they 're from."</p> +<p class="pnext">This proposition was welcomed by Budd and Cherry. +Rose and Hazel gave a cordial assent, but there was a +frigidity in the atmosphere which the outside temperature +did not warrant. Chi and March were aware of this so +soon as they entered the room, and Mrs. Blossom had +known it the moment she saw the girls' faces at the table. +She thought it not wise to interfere, but let matters +straighten themselves in good time. She felt she could +trust them both to see things in their right light, without +the aid of her mental glasses.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now let's begin," said Chi, rubbing his hands in glee +as, directly after supper, he piled the boxes on the table +while March laid the envelopes in their proper places +before each member of the family. "This top one says +'Miss Hazel Clyde.' Show us your valentine, Ladybird."</p> +<p class="pnext">"They 're violets--from Jack, I know. He always +sends them. What's yours, Rose?" She spoke rather +indifferently.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, roses!" Rose was having the first look all to +herself. "The loveliest things I have ever seen. Look, +Martie!" Rose held up the mass of exquisite bloom, and +the children oh'ed and ah'ed at the sight.</p> +<p class="pnext">"They 're from Mr. Sherrill," said Rose, trying to speak +in a most common-place tone, but, in her excitement, +failing signally.</p> +<p class="pnext">"They are lovely," Hazel remarked, shooting an indignant +glance at Rose. "They're just like the ones he sent +Miss Seaton last year, only they were formed into a great +heart. Papa gave me one just like it; he got his idea +from Jack."</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose suddenly put down the flowers, in which she had +buried her face to inhale their fragrance, as if something +had stung her.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mr. Sherrill is very impartial with his favors," she +said in a tone that increased the pervading chill of the +domestic atmosphere.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, Rose!" exclaimed Mrs. Blossom. "It is not +like you to receive a favor so ungraciously; you 've never +had flowers sent you before, and I 'm sure you would +never have them again if the donor could witness your +reception of them."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't care for them again, thank you." Rose retorted +with flaming cheeks; "I 'd give more for this of yours, +Chi--" she opened a huge yellow envelope, and took from +it a scarlet cardboard heart, with a small, white, artificial +rose glued to the centre and a gilt paper arrow transfixing +both rose and heart.</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi hemmed rather awkwardly, thinking: "Beats the +Dutch what's got into Rose-pose to-night. I ain't ever +known her to treat a livin' soul so shabby as that in all +her life. Beats all what gets into women 'n' girls, +sometimes; when a feller thinks he's doin' 'em just the best +turn he knows how, they up 'n' get mad with him, 'n' turn +the cold shoulder, 'n' upset things generally." But aloud +he said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'm glad it pleases you, Rose. Can't most always tell +when it's goin' to please a girl or not. I suppose Jack, +now, thought you 'd be tickled to get those posies just in +the dead of winter. They don't grow round here on our +bushes. What's in the other box?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why!" Hazel exclaimed, laughing rather half-heartedly, +"it's addressed to 'Miss Maria-Ann Simmons'--and +just look, Mother Blossom! See what that dear old Jack +has sent her! He's just too dear for anything." She +added emphatically;--"I 'd like to give him a kiss for +thinking of that poor girl all alone over there on the +Mountain. I don't believe she ever had a valentine before. +Look! Oh, look!"</p> +<p class="pnext">She took out of the many layers of wadding a mass of +yellow tulips, their closed golden cups shining in the +lamp-light as if gilded by sunbeams.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sho!" was all Chi said, leaning nearer to examine the +beautiful blossoms.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You 'll take them over in the morning, early, won't +you, Chi?" said Hazel, replacing them.</p> +<p class="pnext">"First thing, Lady-bird; guess you 're right, Rose, +about that young feller's bein' 'n all-round man with his +favors. Don't seem to be much choice between you and +Marier-Ann, 'n' that Miss Seaver. Kind of a toss-up, hey, +Rose-pose?"</p> +<p class="pnext">But Rose was too busy with another package to answer +Chi. She grew wildly enthusiastic over the calla lilies +that Alan Ford had sent her, and caressed their white +envelopes, and praised their pure loveliness, until Hazel, +growing jealous for poor Jack and his discarded gift, rose +to put the neglected beauties in water, saying as she +did so:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'm sure, Rose, if Jack had known you cared so much +for lilies, he would have sent you some Easter ones, they 're +out now. I 'll tell him to next time."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hazel!" Rose burst forth indignantly, "do you mean +to tell me you told Mr. Sherrill to send me these flowers +for a valentine?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Then Hazel, stung by the tone and the words, yielded +to temptation--for it had been the last straw. "What +if I did?" she said with irritating calm, "he 's my cousin. +I suppose I can say what I choose to him."</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose answered never a word; but, rising, took the La +France roses from the pitcher in which Hazel had just +placed them, and, going over to the fireplace, deliberately +cast the mass of delicate pink bloom into the fire.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Blossom looked both puzzled and shocked; this was +wholly unlike Rose. What could it mean? The children +were too awed by the proceeding to speak or exclaim. +March looked gravely at Hazel, who burst into tears--it +was such an insult to Jack!--and rushed into her +bedroom and shut the door.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'm going to bed; good-night, Martie," said Rose, +quietly, after she had watched the last leaf shrivel in the +flame, and, kissing her mother, she lighted her candle and +went upstairs. Mrs. Blossom, following her with her +eyes, felt that she had lost her "little Rose" in that +hour.</p> +<p class="pnext">March looked grave, complained of feeling tired, and +said he would go to bed, too, as to-morrow was the last +day of school and there were two more examinations to +take. Budd and Cherry kissed their mother twice, bade +her good-night in suppressed tones and crept upstairs. +"It's just as if somebody was sick in the house," said +Cherry, in an awed voice. Budd's was sepulchral:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's just as if somebody was dead and all the flowers +had come for the funeral."</p> +<p class="pnext">Across the dining-room table, loaded with boxes and +brilliant with valentines, Chi looked at Mrs. Blossom, and +Mrs. Blossom looked at Chi. The whole affair was so +incomprehensible, and the result so painfully disagreeable, +that, for a while, they found no words with which to give +expression to their feelings. Chi broke the silence:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well! I wish I was one of those clairivoyants they +tell about, 'n' could kind of see into the meanin' of this +flare-up of Rose-pose's. Don't seem natural for Rose to +go flyin' off at a tangent that way. What's she got against +him, anyway? He 's about as likely as you 'll find. Beats +me!" Chi leaned both elbows on the table, unmindful +that he was crushing some of the flowers, sank his chin +in the palms of his hands and thought hard for full a +minute.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I know Hazel and Rose have had some little trouble +this afternoon--the first quarrel they have had--but +Rose is too old to allow herself to lose her control in that +way. I can't imagine what made her--" Mrs. Blossom +broke off suddenly, for Chi had raised his head and sent +such a look of intelligence across the table, handing her, +as he did so, Jack Sherrill's card, which Rose in her +confusion had neglected to read, that, in a flash, something +of the truth was revealed to Mrs. Blossom.</p> +<p class="pnext">She took the card. On the back was written, enclosed +in quotation marks:--</p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">"For I am thine</div> +<div class="line">Whilst the stars shall shine,</div> +<div class="line">To the last--to the last."</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +</div> +</blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">"O Chi!" was all Mary Blossom said; but the tears +filled her eyes, and, reaching across the table, her hand was +clasped in Chi's strong one.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I wish Ben was to home," sighed Chi, so lugubriously +that Mrs. Blossom laughed through her tears.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, it is n't so bad as that, Chi. Girls will be girls, and +grow up, and hearts will ache even when we 're young. +We won't make too much of it. I don't understand the +ins and outs of it, but I do know Hazel has said her +family thought he was engaged to Miss Seaton. I 'm sure +I 've thought so all along, and it never occurred to me +there could be any danger for Rose under the circumstances. +The mere fact of his name being connected so +closely with Miss Seaton's would be a safeguard. Then, +too, I fear he is spoiled by women on account of his riches."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't know about that Miss Seaver,--but if it's as +you say, I kind of wish Rose could cut her out."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sh-sh, Chi!" said Mrs. Blossom, reprovingly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, I do," Chi retorted with some warmth. "She +ain't fit to tie Rose's old berryin' shoes, 'n' I saw her +lookin' at her feet that day we was sellin' berries down to +Barton's to the tavern, 'n' snickerin' so mean like, 'n' Rose +just showed her grit--'n' I wish she'd show it again 'n' +cut her out. I <em class="italics">do</em>, by George Washin'ton!" Chi rose +up in his wrath, lighted his lantern, and started for the +shed. At the door he turned:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"I wish Ben was to home," he said again. "There 's +goin' to be the biggest kind of a snow-down before long, +'n' he 'll get blocked on the road, sure as blazes."</p> +<p class="pnext">"He 'll be back in two days, at the most, Chi; I would n't +worry."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I ain't worryin'; I 'm just sayin' I wish he was to +home," repeated Chi, doggedly, and shut the door.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Blossom smiled. She knew Chi's crotchets. +When there was any disturbance of the family peace, Chi +was apt to be depressed, and sometimes despondent. She +put away the flowers in the cold pantry, smiling as she tied +up Maria-Ann's box:</p> +<p class="pnext">"He <em class="italics">is</em> universal," she said to herself. "I know it +irritated Rose to be classed with her and Miss Seaton; but +things will work around right with time. I can trust +to Rose's common-sense.--Not a prayer to-night!" she +added thoughtfully. "Well, we 'll make it up to-morrow." She +took up the prize books. "That dear March! What +a manly fellow he is getting to be--and so handsome. I +wonder--" here Mary Blossom checked herself, laughing +softly. "Goodness! if Ben were here what a goose he +would think me--a regular old Mother Goose--" And +again she laughed as she put out the light.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="snow-bound">XX</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">SNOW-BOUND</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">They were all on the porch the next morning to see +March off. It was not so very cold, but there was a +marked chill in the air and the sky was leaden.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's my last day, mother, then vacation for two weeks. +Hooray!" He leaped into the saddle, and Fleet reared +gently to show her approval.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't you get out a little earlier to-day, March?" said +his mother, looking up at the leaden sky. "I 'm afraid it's +going to snow heavily. Promise me not to start from +Barton's if the storm is a hard one; you can stay at the +inn or at the principal's. I would rather you remained +away from home two days, or over Sunday, than to have +you attempt the Mountain in too severe a storm."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll be careful, mother."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Better give your promise to your mother, March; she 'll +feel better 'bout you 're not startin' out," said Chi.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I promise, little Mother Blossom." He threw himself +off the horse, and gave her another kiss; "I would n't go +to-day except for the exams.--I can't miss them."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good luck, dear," said his mother, and her eyes +followed the horse and rider down the Mountain.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll go over the first thing 'n' give them posies to +Marier-Ann, 'n' then I 'll make tracks for home, 'n' get my +snow-shed up before it begins to come down."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do you think we shall need it?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sure 's fate," replied Chi, laconically, and went into the +barn to harness Bess.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was noon before Chi had set up his snow-shed, a long, +low, wooden tunnel, which he had manufactured to +connect the woodshed door with a side door of the barn. By +means of this he was enabled, in unusually heavy storms, +to communicate with the barn and attend to the stock +without "shovelling out."</p> +<p class="pnext">It was about three in the afternoon when the first flakes +began to fall, or rather to "spit," as Chi expressed it, and +the snow fell intermittently and lightly until four, when +there was a sudden change of wind. It veered to the +north-east, and blast after blast, charged with icy particles, +hurled itself against the Mountain. Within half an hour +it was almost as dark as at midnight, and the snow swept +in drifting clouds over woodlands and pasture. When +the wind ceased for a moment, white, soft avalanches +descended upon farmhouse, barn, and mountain-road, until, +by six o'clock, the road was impassable and the drifts at the +back of the house a foot above the bedroom windows. Chi +had made all snug for the night.</p> +<p class="pnext">"This beats anything I ever saw, Mis' Blossom. I 'm +mighty glad Ben ain't comin' home to-day, 'n' that March +gave you the promise to stay at Barton's if it stormed +hard."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You don't think he would venture to start, do you, +Chi?" asked Mrs. Blossom, trying not to appear anxious +for the sake of the others.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Bless you, no;" was Chi's hearty response. "March +has got too level a head to risk himself 'n' Fleet in such a +storm--it's a regular howler of a blizzard. If he did +start," he added, "he 'd go in somewheres on the road--he +couldn't get far."</p> +<p class="pnext">After tea there was no settling down to the cosey +evening pastimes or employments. If such a thing could be, +the storm seemed to increase in severity. The wind +struck the house at times with terrific force; the +intermittent drift of snow and ice against the window panes +startled the inmates of the long-room like the rattle of +small shot. Chi had put out the fire in the fireplace before +supper, for the wind drove flame and ashes out into the +room.</p> +<p class="pnext">Again and again Mrs. Blossom went to the windows--first +one then another, and pressed her face close to the +pane; but they were plastered so thick with snow that +her efforts to see into the night were fruitless. Chi sat +by the kitchen stove, which he had filled with wood. His +boots rested on the fender, and, apparently, he was +indifferent to the storm. But, in reality, not the creak of a +beam, not the springing of a board, not an unwonted +sound within or without the house escaped his notice.</p> +<p class="pnext">In marked contrast to Chi's apparent apathy was Tell's +restlessness. Since six o'clock he had shown signs of +uneasiness. With strides, heavy and long, the huge beast +paced up and down the long-room. Sometimes he followed +Mrs. Blossom to the window, and, sitting down on his +haunches beside her, rested his nose on the window sill +and gazed at the whitened panes. At others he took his +stand beside Chi and looked into his face, their eyes +meeting on a level as the man sat and the dog stood. The +dog looked as if he were questioning him dumbly.</p> +<p class="pnext">As the evening wore on the dog's pace grew more rapid, +more uneven; his tail waved in a jerky, excited manner. +At last he lay down by the shed door, and, placing his +nose on the threshold, gave vent to a long, low, half-stifled +moan. At the sound Chi brought down his heels and the +tipped chair-legs with a thump, and started to his feet. +Mrs. Blossom turned to him with a white face, and Rose +cried out:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Chi! What is the matter with Tell? He never +acted this way before."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't know," said Chi, shortly; "dumb beasts are +curious creatures. Guess he don't like the storm. I 'll +go out, Mis' Blossom, 'n' see if the stock 's all right. Kind +of looks as if Tell was givin' us a warnin'."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Chi, don't go through the tunnel now," cried Mrs. Blossom, +all the pent-up anxiety finding expression in her voice.</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi manufactured a laugh: "That's all safe, Mis' +Blossom. I chained it and roped it down, both--it can't +get away, 'n' the snow can't crush it. Don't you worry +about me. I 'll be back inside of fifteen minutes." He +took his lantern from the shelf over the sink:--"Get up, +Tell." The dog rose, but, as Chi opened the door, he tried +to push past him. Chi crowded him with his leg:--"No +you don't, old feller! there ain't room only for just one of +us to-night. Lay down!"</p> +<p class="pnext">And Tell lay down, with his nose on his paws, and both +nose and paws pressed close to the crack on the threshold. +Another long crescendo moan, that, at the last, sounded +like a sharp wail, filled the long-room, and Budd and +Cherry clung to their mother in terror.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You must go to bed, children," said Mrs. Blossom, +her face white as the snow on the window panes, but with +a voice of forced calm. "When you 're asleep, you won't +hear all this trouble the storm is raising to-night."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But I don't want to sleep upstairs alone without March, +Martie," protested Budd, trying to be brave, but showing +his fear.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You can sleep in Hazel's room to-night, Budd, and +Cherry can get into my bed and sleep with me."</p> +<p class="pnext">The twins looked relieved. "Oh, that's different, +Martie," said Budd, with a grateful look. Cherry begged +for a little cotton wool to stuff in her ears:--"Then I +can't hear Tell and this awful noise." A novel idea, which +Budd at once adopted and put into practice. Their mother +looked relieved when they were safely bestowed in their +new quarters.</p> +<p class="pnext">About ten minutes afterwards they heard Chi's steps in +the shed. Then the door opened slowly, as he shoved Tell +aside. When he entered the room Mrs. Blossom gave one +look at his face.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Chi, what has happened!" She cried out as if hurt.</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi's face showed grayish white and drawn in the lamplight. +His hand shook a little as he reached for a second +lantern, turning his back on the three terrified faces.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Horse stalled, that's all. Had a tough tussle to get +him round, but he 's all right now." His voice sounded +hoarse.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Was it Bob or Bess?" asked Rose.</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi, without answering, turned quickly to Tell, who +was pressing him nearly off his feet, and at the same time, +lashing his tail as if in fury.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What ails you, anyway?" said Chi, roughly. "D' you +want to get out?"</p> +<p class="pnext">For answer the dog rushed to the front door that opened +on the porch, rose on his hind legs, stemmed his powerful +forepaws against the panels and, throwing back his massive +head, sent forth from his deep throat a roar that seemed +to shake the rafters.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mis' Blossom," Chi's voice shook and his hand +trembled till the glass globe of the lantern tinkled in the +wire frame, "I 'm goin' to let him out, 'n' I 'm goin' to +follow on--there 's trouble somewhere on the Mountain, +'n' I 'm goin' to find out where 't is."</p> +<p class="pnext">All three cried out, protesting, entreating, praying him +to desist. But Chi shook his head.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I tell you I 've <em class="italics">got</em> to go, Mary Blossom"--Chi had +never called her that but once before, and Mrs. Blossom, +recalling the time, felt her heart as lead within +her--"you're brave,--brave as a woman can be; don't say +nothin', but let me go. Have plenty of hot water 'n' +flannels, 'n' some spirits ready 'gainst I come back--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Lady-bird, give me the dog collar with the bell you +gave Tell last Chris'mus; 'n' Molly Stark, fill your +mother's hot water-bag--'n' hurry up; 'n' Mis' Blossom, +give me Ben's brandy flask, he didn't take it with him."</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi, while issuing these orders, was strapping down his +trousers over his long boots; then he poured out a +brimming cup of hot water, and mixed with it some of the +brandy from the flask. He put the collar on Tell, the bell +ringing loud and clear with every movement. He opened +the door; the dog bounded out into the night. Chi +followed him, a coil of rope around his neck, a shovel over +one shoulder with a lantern suspended from the handle, +and in his hand a second lantern. The hot-water bag he +had put beneath his sweater, and a leathern belt girded him.</p> +<p class="pnext">So equipped he went out into the drifting snows and +the night of storm. The terrified women were left alone.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mother, oh, mother!" cried Rose, wringing her hands, +"I know it's something dreadful; Chi would never look +that way."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mary Blossom could not answer. Her silence was +prayer. It was all of which she was capable at that time.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't know what the matter was in the barn, mother," +again cried Rose, in an agony of fear. "Chi did n't tell +us all, I 'm sure. Let me go through the tunnel and find +out, do, mother!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Rose, I can't--I can't!" Mrs. Blossom spoke +under her breath.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Please, mother. It 's all safe, and the wind has gone +down a little since Chi went; let me go--I can't rest till +I do. You can hold the light at the shed door end and I +won't be gone but a minute or two. I 'll take the dark +lantern with me--Oh, mother! do, do--!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, Rose, perhaps it's for the best. I 'll watch you +through."</p> +<p class="pnext">"May I watch, too?" asked Hazel, eagerly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, dear, I want you to stay here in case the children +should wake. Come, Rose."</p> +<p class="pnext">They were gone but a few minutes; then Mrs. Blossom +came in followed by her daughter. The girl's teeth were +chattering; she looked blue and pinched.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What did you find, Rose?" Her mother's voice was +scarce above a whisper.</p> +<p class="pnext">"<em class="italics">I found Fleet!</em>"</p> +<p class="pnext">The two women sat down on the settle, holding each +other close; and the wind rose again in its fury.</p> +<p class="pnext">Wrapping a heavy shawl about her Hazel crept away +upstairs to the back garret and the window overlooking +the woods'-road, which formed the approach to the house. +There was a little snow-drift beneath it where the flakes +had sifted through; but the wind was felt less severely on +that side of the house. She opened the window a few +inches, propping it on a corn cob she had stepped upon; +then, kneeling, she put her ear to the opening and strained +her hearing in every lull of the storm.</p> +<p class="pnext">At last--she knew not how long she had listened--she +heard Tell's deep roar. It came muffled, but distinct. +She scarce trusted her ears; but again she heard it, and, +this time, in a dead silence, she caught the sound of the +bell. Surely Tell was nearing the house. She ran downstairs.</p> +<p class="pnext">"They 're coming!" she cried, hardly realizing what +she said in her excitement. Mrs. Blossom and Rose leaped +to their feet. They threw open the door.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Chi! Chi!" they called out into the night. There +was a joyous bark for answer---then a groan, and Chi +staggered across the snow-laden porch and fell with his +heavy burden on the threshold.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">At midnight the wind went down, but the snow continued +to fall. All the next day it fell steadily, but at +sunset it ceased, and a young moon looked over the +shoulder of Mount Hunger upon an unbroken white coverlet +that, in some places, was drifted to the depth of twenty +feet.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was twilight in Aunt Tryphosa's little cabin +"over eastwards," for the snow was piled to the eaves, +and the tulips furnished their only sunshine for two days.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was consternation at Hunger-ford, for the family +were cut off from their neighbors and the outside world +of letters and papers.</p> +<p class="pnext">There were councils at Lemuel's and the Spillkinses'--for +how could they gather their forces to break out the +Mountain?</p> +<p class="pnext">There were heavy hearts and reddened eyelids in the +farmhouse, for March, rescued by Chi and revived by +vigorous treatment, had succumbed to the exposure and +chill, and lay unconscious in fever--and no help at hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi, spent to exhaustion, had rallied at midnight, but +knew that it was beyond human powers to attempt to +reach Barton's or even Lemuel Wood's, their next +neighbor, through the drifts.</p> +<p class="pnext">So they waited, helpless--one day, two days. On the +second day the white expanse showed no tracks. Then +March began to wander, and clutch his breast, where his +mother had found the telegram, which his father had sent +to him from Ogdensburg:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Heavy blizzard. Roads blocked. Tell mother at once. +Don't worry."</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi walked the house night and day in his misery of +helplessness. At last, on the third day, looking +eastwards he descried a black blotch on the white,--it was +a four-ox team breaking out from the Fords'. Later in +the day, when the men were within two hundred yards +of the house, he saw another black spot on the lower +road. It was the Mill Settlement road-team, with a full +equipment of men and tools, to cut a way through the +drifts.</p> +<p class="pnext">Soon there was help and to spare. Alan Ford was riding +down the narrow way between high walls of glittering +white to Barton's for aid, and bringing back telegrams of +anxious inquiry from Mr. Blossom and Mr. Clyde. On +the fourth day, the blockade was raised, and the +south-bound express to Barton's River brought Mr. Blossom +from the north, and another train brought Mr. Clyde from +the south. Two days after all the Lost Nation knew that +March would live.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="a-little-daughter-of-the-rich">XXI</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">A LITTLE DAUGHTER OF THE RICH</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">It was days before March himself was aware of that fact.</p> +<p class="pnext">Budd and Cherry were at the Fords'. May was with +Aunt Tryphosa and Miss Alton at Lemuel Wood's. +Maria-Ann had come over to help Mrs. Blossom with the +work, and Chi had taken care of the stock. Rose and her +mother watched and waited in the sick room, relieved on +alternate nights by Mr. Blossom and Chi.</p> +<p class="pnext">The great storm was a thing of the past. The sun shone +in a deep blue heaven, and the white world of the +Mountain showed daily life and movement. The teamsters +were at work loading the sledges with logs, and the +ponderous drags squeaked and grated as they slid down +the crisping highway.</p> +<p class="pnext">A crow cawed loudly on the first of March, and the +hens came out to find a warm nook in the south-east +corner of the barn-yard, where a heap of sodden straw was +thawing.</p> +<p class="pnext">All in the farmhouse were rejoicing, for March had +spoken in his weakness--a few words, but clear, coherent, +for the frost and fever, both, had left his brain. When he +spoke the second time it was to ask for Chi; and Chi had +tiptoed into the room in his stocking-feet and laid his +hand on March's thin, white one, gulped down the tears +and the rising sob that was choking him, and--spoke of +the weather!</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">The next day March turned to his mother, who was +sitting by the bed, brooding him with her great love, +and asked suddenly, but in a clear and much stronger +voice:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Where 's Hazel?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Blossom hesitated for a moment, then spoke +quietly:--"Hazel is at home with her father for a few +weeks."</p> +<p class="pnext">March turned his face to the wall and was silent for +several hours.</p> +<p class="pnext">When he was stronger Mrs. Blossom gave him the little +note Hazel had left for him, and, with mother-tact, knowing +March's reserve of nature, went out of the room while he +read it. She saw no signs of it when she returned and +asked no questions, but March's gray eyes spoke a +language for which there was but one interpretation. With +his rare smile, he held out his hand for his mother's, and +clasped it closely.</p> +<p class="pnext">Soon he was able to be up and about, and the children +were again at home. Life in the farmhouse resumed its +old course--but with a difference. Just what it was no +one attempted to define. But each felt it in his own way. +March was more gentle with Budd and Cherry, more +often with his mother and Chi, more companionable for +his father. Rose was quieter, but, if possible, more loving +towards all. Budd was at times wholly disconsolate, and +wasted sheets of his best Christmas note-paper in writing +letters to Hazel which were never sent.</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi went oftener to the small house "over eastwards," +where he was sure of willing ears and sympathetic hearts +when he unburdened himself in regard to his "Lady-bird."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Fact is," he said to Maria-Ann, as she stood with her +apron over her head watching him plough their garden +plot (that was his annual neighborly offering), "she 's left +a great hole in that house, 'n' there is n't one of us that +don't know it 'n' feel it;--kind of empty like in your +heart, you know, just as your stomach feels when you 've +ploughed an acre of sidlin' ground, before breakfast--Get +up, Bess, whoa--back!--you don't hear that laugh of +hers in the barn, nor out in the field, nor up in the +pasture; 'n' you don't see those great eyes lookin' up at you +when you 're harnessin', nor peekin' round the corner of +the stall to see if you 're most through milkin'. 'N' you +don't hear a fiddle makin' it lively after supper, 'n' the +children ain't danced once in the barn this spring." Chi +sighed heavily.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't Mr. Ford go over there pretty often?" queried +Maria-Ann. "I see him gallopin' by two or three times +a week."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, what if you do?" Chi answered grumpily, much +to Maria-Ann's surprise. "He can't fiddle the way Ladybird +does, 'n' they all sit 'n' jabber some kind of lingo--French, +they call it, but I call it, good, straight +Canuck--'n' act as if they were at a party,--Rose, 'n' Miss Alton, +'n' the whole of 'em. 'T ain't much company for me. I +get off to bed about dark. 'N' the worst of it is, when he +isn't to our house, they're all to his--Come around!" Chi +jerked the reins, to Bess's resentful surprise.</p> +<p class="pnext">"They say he's payin' attention to Rose," ventured +Maria-Ann, her eyes following the furrow, which was +running not quite true.</p> +<p class="pnext">"They 're a parcel of fools," growled Chi, eyeing the +furrow with a dissatisfied air, "Rose need n't look Alan +Ford's way for attention. She can have all she wants +most anywheres.--Get up, Bess! what you backin' that +way for!--'n' folks tongues can be measured by the +furlong 'twixt here and Barton's."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, there ain't any harm in Rose's havin' attention, +Chi," said Maria-Ann with some spirit, and ready to stand +up for her sex.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Did n't say there was," retorted Chi, in mollified tones. +"There ain't no more harm in Rose's havin' attention than +in your havin' it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Me!" exclaimed Maria-Ann, pleasantly surprised out +of her momentary resentment. "I ain't had any chance +to have any."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ain't you?" said Chi, busying himself with the plough +preparatory to leaving. "Well, that ain't any sign you +won't have--Get along, Bess!--I 'll leave this plough +here till to-morrow; I ain't drawn those last two furrers +straight, 'n' I 've got too much pride to have any man +see that--Malachi Graham, his mark.--No, sir-ee," said +Chi, emphatically, "straight or starve is my motto every +time, just you remember that, Marier-Ann Simmons."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I will, Chi," laughed Maria-Ann, and went back to +her washing, singing joyfully to her rubbing accompaniment:--</p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">"Come, sinners all, repent in time,</div> +<div class="inner line-block"> +<div class="line">The Judgment Day is dawning;</div> +</div> +<div class="line">Sun, moon, and stars to earth incline,</div> +<div class="inner line-block"> +<div class="line">The trumpet sounds a warning."</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">Meanwhile letters were coming to every member of the +family from Hazel. As March regained his strength there +came as special gifts to him, books and magazines, and from +time to time a beautiful photograph of an old-world +cathedral--Canterbury, or York; a stately castle like +Warwick, or Heidelberg; a peasant's chalet, or an English +cottage to gladden his artist soul and eye, and transform +the walls of his room into dwelling-places for his ideals.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mother," he said rather wistfully to Mrs. Blossom, +on the first May day as they sat together under the old +Wishing-Tree, talking over the plans for his future, "how +can I go to work to make it all come true?"</p> +<p class="pnext">He held in his hand a large photograph of the interior +of Cologne Cathedral, which Hazel had given him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There are many ways, dear, which are most unexpectedly +opened at times. No boy with health and perseverance +has much to fear."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But, mother, father had both, and he was n't able to +go through college. He told me all about it the other +day, and how he had missed it all through his life."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I know, March, father failed in attaining to that which +was his great desire, but he succeeded so immeasurably +in another direction, that I think, sometimes, it must have +been all for the best."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, mother, father is poor now--how do you mean +he has succeeded?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"My dear boy, you are only in your seventeenth year, +and I don't know that I can make it plain to you because +you <em class="italics">are</em> young; but when your father conquered every +selfish tendency in him, put aside what he had striven so +hard for and what was just within his reach, and turned +about and did the duty that the time demanded of him;--when +he took his dead father's place as provider for the +family, and, by his own exertions, placed his mother and +sisters beyond want, before he even allowed himself to tell +me he loved me, he proved himself a successful man; for +he developed, in such hard circumstances, such nobility of +character, that he is rich in love and esteem,--and that, +March, and only <em class="italics">that</em>, is true wealth."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I see what you mean, mother, but it does n't help me +to see how I 'm to get through college, and get the +training I need in my profession." March uttered the last +word with pride. "There is so much a man has to have +for that. Look at that now," he continued, holding up +the photograph; "I need all that, and that means Europe, +and Europe means money and time, and where is it all +to come from?"</p> +<p class="pnext">His mother smiled at the despairing tone. "As for +time, March, you are only in your seventeenth year. That +means ten years before you can begin to work in your +profession; and as for the means--" she hesitated--"I +think it is time to tell you something I 've been keeping +and rejoicing over these last two weeks." She drew a +letter from her dress-waist and handed it to him. "Read +this, dear, and tell me what you think of it." Wondering, +March took it and read:--</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="left pfirst white-space-pre-line">HAWKING VALLEY, NORTH CAROLINA,<br /> +April 15, 1897.</p> +<p class="pnext">MY DEAR MRS. BLOSSOM,--Just a year ago to-day I sent +my one child to you, trusting the judgment of my dear friend, +Doctor Heath, in a matter which he felt concerned the future +welfare of my daughter. My home has been very lonely +without her. You, as a parent, can know something of what this +separation has entailed.</p> +<p class="pnext">It seemed wise to me, and I know you concurred in my +opinion, to take her away from the conditions, in which she +has thriven so wonderfully, while you were burdened, both in +heart and hands, by such a critical illness as your son's. The +result confirms the wisdom of my action, for March's convalescence +has been slow and long; I am thankful to be assured it +is sure. The burden of an extra member in your family at this +time would, in the long run, prove too heavy for you.</p> +<p class="pnext">I cannot tell you how I appreciate what you have done for +Hazel. I have no words to express it. She returns to me full +of life and joy, with no apparent unwillingness to take up her +life again with me, which must seem dull to her in contrast to +that which she had with you. Yet I know in her loyal little +heart she belongs to you, is a part of your family henceforth--and +I am glad to know it is so, for she needs, and will need, as +a young girl, your motherly influence at all times.</p> +<p class="pnext">I 'm not taking her away from you for good. Oh, no! That +would be her loss as well as mine; but I am testing her a little. +I have said I had no words with which adequately to express +my gratitude. I am your debtor for my child's physical +well-being--for much else which I do not find it easy to define. +Will you allow me to make some compensation for your year +of devotion? I do not care what form it take, providing you +will permit me to try to discharge something of the debt--the +whole can never be repaid. Will you not let me send that +splendid son of yours through college? and give him two years +of Europe afterwards? That future profession of his has +always been of great interest to me. If the boy is too proud, +as I suspect is the case, to accept the necessary amount other +than as a loan, make it plain to him that I will even yield a +point there--a pretty bad state of affairs for me as a debtor +to find myself in. If he won't do this for me--won't Rose +help me out by permitting me to aid her in cultivating that +voice of hers? I know your magnanimity, and depend upon +you to help me in this.</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel does not know I am writing to you, or she would send +loving messages.</p> +<p class="pnext">My kindest regards to Mr. Blossom, with hearty congratulations +for March, and all sorts of neighborly remembrances for +all others of the Lost Nation.</p> +<dl class="docutils left white-space-pre-line"> +<dt class="white-space-pre-line">Sincerely your friend,</dt> +<dd class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first last pfirst white-space-pre-line">JOHN CURTIS CLYDE.</p> +</dd> +</dl> +<p class="pfirst"><em class="italics">To Mrs. Benjamin Blossom.</em></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">"Oh, mother!"</p> +<p class="pnext">A wave of crimson surged into March's pale face, +and the sensitive nostrils quivered; then two big drops +plashed down upon the letter which he handed to his +mother.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, mother! if only I could--but I can't!"</p> +<p class="pnext">He rolled over on the soft pasture turf, face downwards, +his head resting on his arms.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, March dear," said his mother, tenderly, "why +can't you? I think it 's beautiful, so does father."</p> +<p class="pnext">A sob shook the long, thin frame. His mother laid her +hand on the back of the yellow head. "What is it, my +dear boy? Can't you tell me?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The head shook energetically beneath her hand, and +muffled words issued from the grass.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But, March, we thought it would please you to have +such an opportunity. You have read what Mr. Clyde +says--you can look upon it as a loan. I hope you won't +have any false pride in this matter--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Tis n't false, mother," came forth from the grass, "and +I would like to accept his offer, if only it were n't just his."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why not his, March? Surely, Hazel has been like one +of us--a real little sister--" Another vigorous wagging +of the yellow head arrested his mother in the midst of her +sentence.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hazel is n't my sister."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, of course, you can't feel as near to her as to +Rose, but then, you must see how dear she has become to +us all--and Mr. Clyde has put it in such a way, that the +most sensitive person could accept it without injury to +any feeling of true pride. Take time and think it over, +March. It has come upon you rather suddenly, and I have +been thinking about it for two weeks."</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's no use to think it over." Deep tragedy now made +itself audible, as March rolled over and sat up, displaying +eyes bright with excitement, flushed cheeks, and a generally +determined air of having it out with himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, I can't understand you, March."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I wish you could."</p> +<p class="pnext">His mother smiled in spite of the gravity of the situation. +"Can't you tell me? or give me some clue to this +mysterious determination of yours?"</p> +<p class="pnext">March cast a despairing glance at his mother. "Mother, +will you promise never to tell?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not even your father, March?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, father, nor any one--ever, mother."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very well; I promise, March, for I trust you."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, mother, have n't you seen?--don't you know, +that I--that I love Hazel! And how can I take the +money from her father, when I 'm going to try to make +her love me and marry me sometime, when I get through +studying, and--and--Oh, don't you see?"</p> +<p class="pnext">And Mrs. Blossom did see--at last.</p> +<p class="pnext">She spoke very gently, after a minute's silence, in which +March's ears burned red to their tips, and his fingers were +busy digging up a tiny strawberry-plant by the roots. +"My son, I see, and I honor you for feeling as you do; +but, March, have you thought of the difference between +you and Hazel?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"What difference, mother?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Now Mary Blossom was not a worldly woman, neither +was she a woman of the world--and she found it difficult +to answer.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You know how Hazel is placed in life, although you +do not know with what luxury she is surrounded in her +home. She has beauty, a large circle of friends, immense +wealth. There will be many who will seek her hand in +four years' time, for she has a wonderful charm of her own, +for all who come close to her.--Is it worth while to +attempt, even, to win this little daughter of the rich? +You, a poor boy, with his way to make?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"But, mother,"--there was strong protest in the voice--"she +did n't have any beauty till she came up here to +us--and if she <em class="italics">was</em> a rich girl, she was n't a healthy one +till she lived up here, and I don't see the good of money +and a lot of things, if you 're sick, and homely, too." March +waxed eloquent in his desire to convince his +mother of the justice of his cause. "And if she hadn't +come up here she would n't have got well, and then she +would n't have grown so beautiful--and she <em class="italics">is</em> beautiful, +mother." (Mrs. Blossom nodded assent.) "And I don't +see why I have n't just as much right to try to make her +love me as any other fellow. You 've told us children, +dozens of times, it's just character that counts, and not +money, and if I try as hard as I can to keep straight and +be a good man like father, I don't see why things would n't +be all right in the end."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Blossom was silenced,--"hoist with her own +petard." "How can I destroy this lovely, young ideal? +I dare not," was her thought. But aloud, she said:--"You 're +right, March. Nothing but character counts. +Make yourself worthy of this little love of yours. We 'll +keep this in our own hearts, and when you are tempted to +wrong-doing--and there are fearful temptations for every +young man to meet, March,--temptations of which you can +form no conception here in the shelter of your home--just +remember this little talk of ours, and keep yourself +unspotted by the world just by the thought of this dear girl +whom you hope some day to win. There is nothing, +March, that will keep a young man in the right way like +his love for just 'the one girl in the world'--if only she +be worthy of his love. And I think Hazel will be--even +of you."</p> +<p class="pnext">March flung his arms about her neck and kissed her +heartily:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Dear, little Mother Blossom, I 'll try, and even if I fail, +just the thought of such a glorious-filorious mother that +does n't laugh at a fellow--I was afraid you would, +though,--will keep me straight enough. Why, Mother Blossom! +I 'd be ashamed to look you in the eyes, if I did a +down-right mean thing."</p> +<p class="pnext">His mother laughed through her tears. "I wonder if +many mothers get such a compliment? Come, dear, the +dew is beginning to fall--it's been such a heavenly +day, I had forgotten it is early spring. Do you feel +chilly?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not I," laughed March, and proceeded to relieve his +feelings after his favorite method--by turning a +double-back somersault down the pasture slope.</p> +<p class="pnext">As Mrs. Blossom leaned over to kiss tired, sleepy Budd +that night, she thought complacently to herself:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, thank fortune, here 's one who is heart-free," and +laughed softly to herself. Chi had not told her of Budd's +proposal.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">"Wilkins, tell Miss Hazel to come down into the library +when she is dressed for dinner."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, Marse Clyde." Wilkins sprang upstairs two +steps at a time, and, knocking at Hazel's door, delivered +his message.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Tell papa I 'm going to dress early, for I 've some +things to attend to about the table, Wilkins."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Fo' sho', Miss Hazel," said Wilkins, with a broad smile +of delighted surprise.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And tell Mrs. Scott I 'll choose the service, if she will +take out the linen, and I have ordered the flowers. Papa +said I might."</p> +<p class="pnext">Wilkins skipped downstairs, delivered his message to +the amazed housekeeper, and then flew into the kitchen to +impart his news to the cook, his confidante and co-worker +for years in the Clyde household.</p> +<p class="pnext">Minna-Lu was preparing a confection, and giving her +whole soul to the making, when Wilkins made his +appearance. She looked up grimly, the ebony of her +countenance shining beneath the immaculate white of her +turban:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Wa' fo' yo' hyar?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Wilkins slapped both knees with the palms of his hands, +and bent nearly double with noiseless laughter; then, +straightening himself, approached Minna-Lu with boldness, +despite the repelling wave of the cream-whip that she held +suspended over the bowl, and confided to her the change +of régime, to her edification and delight.</p> +<p class="pnext">She put down the bowl and whip, stemmed her fists on +her broad hips, and gurgled long and low. "'F little +missus done take rale hol' er de reins, dere ain't no kin' er +show fo' sech po' trash." She indicated with an upward +movement of her thumb the upper regions where the +housekeeper was supposed to be.</p> +<p class="pnext">"When I wan's a missus, I wan's quality folks, an' little +missus do take de cake. Nebber see sech er chile. Dem +great, shinin' eyes, lookin' at yo' out o' all de do's, an' dat +laff soun'in' jes' like de ol' mocker dat nebber knowed +nuffin' 'bout bedtime--yo' recollecks?" Wilkins nodded +emphatically, but was unprepared for Minna-Lu's next +move:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Git out o' hyar, yo' good-fo'-nuffin' niggah. Huccome +yo' stan'in' roun' wif yo' legs stiffer 'n de whites er dese +yer eggs, an' yo' jaw goin' like de egg-beatah, an' de +comp'ny comin' at rale sharp eight." Minna-Lu took up her +bowl, and Wilkins beat a hasty retreat.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was a warm first of May, and just about the hour +when March and his mother were leaving the Wishing-Tree, +that Hazel appeared in the dining-room. Wilkins +gazed at her in a species of adoration. Her orders appeared +to him revolutionary, but he obeyed them implicitly and +unhesitatingly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Take off the candelabra, Wilkins, it is too warm +to-night to have them on; besides, people don't have a +nice time talking when they have to peek around them to +get a glimpse of the people they 're talking to." Wilkins +whisked off the candelabra as if they had been made of +thistledown.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Dat's so, fo' sho', Miss Hazel. I see de folks doan' +talk when dey ain' comf'ble; but I nebber tink ob de +can'les."</p> +<p class="pnext">"When it's dark you can light all the sconces. I want +you to use the pale green, Bohemian dinner set to-night; +and I want just as little silver as possible."</p> +<p class="pnext">Wilkins looked blank, and Hazel laughed. "Oh, we 'll +make it up with some cut glass, I 'll manage it. I want +the table to look cool and simple, just to-night."</p> +<p class="pnext">Cool and simple. Wilkins failed to comprehend it, but +such was his faith in "little Missy," that he carried out +her orders to the letter, and the result was, according to +Mrs. Fenlick, "a dream of beauty."</p> +<p class="pnext">When she had made her preparations to her entire +satisfaction, as well as Wilkins's, and the latter had called +Minna-Lu from her culinary tug-of-war to witness "little +Missy's" triumph, Hazel ran into the library.</p> +<p class="pnext">Her father looked at her in amazement. Could this +radiant, young girl be the same Hazel of a year ago? +They had gone directly to North Carolina when Hazel had +left Mount Hunger, and had been at home but two days. +This little dinner was given to Mr. Clyde's intimate +friends as an informal celebration and recognition of his +daughter's return to the New York house.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now, as she ran into the room and linked her arm in his, +her father looked down upon her with such evident pride +and love, that Hazel laughed joyfully, kid her cheek +against his coat-sleeve and patted his hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do I look nice, Papa Clyde?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nice! that's no word for it, Birdie." And thereupon +he took her in his arms and gave her such a hug and a +kiss, that the pretty dress must have suffered if it had not +been made of the softest of white China-silk.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, my flowers! you 'll crush them!" she cried, +shielding with both hands a bunch of flowers at her belt.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Where did you get all this--this style, daughter +mine? It's--why, you 're nothing but a little girl, but +it's 'chic.'"</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel enjoyed her father's admiration to the full. She +drew herself up, straight and tall, graceful and slender--her +head was already above his shoulder--exclaiming:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Little girl! Well, your little girl designed this gown +herself. I would n't have any fuss or frills about it; it's +just plain and full and soft and clingy, and this sash of +soft silk--is n't it a pretty, pale green?--feel--" She +caught up a handful of the delicate fabric and crushed it +in her hand, then smoothed it again, and it showed no +wrinkles. "I 've put it on to match the dinner. I 've +had it all my own way--Wilkins did just as I said--and +it's all cool and green and springy. You 'll see."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Where did you get these flowers?" Mr. Clyde touched +the bunch of arbutus, that showed so delicately pink and +white against the white of her dress and the green of her +sash.</p> +<p class="pnext">A wave of beautiful color shot up to the roots of the +little crinkles of chestnut hair on her temples; she touched +the blossoms caressingly. "I wrote March about this +dinner-party, and how it was the first at which I had been +hostess, and he wrote back and wanted to know what I +was going to wear, and I told him--and this morning +these lovely things came by mail all done up in cotton +wool in a tin cracker-box, the kind Chi uses to put his +worm-bait in, when he goes fishing. Are n't they lovely? +And was n't March lovely to think of them, papa?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"They are n't half as lovely as you are," said Mr. Clyde, +earnestly, replying to half of her question only. "You +are my unspoiled Hazel-blossom--" Then a sudden, +intrusive thought caught and arrested his words. "Hazel +Blossom," he repeated to himself, looking at her +unconscious face as he uttered the last word, "Good heavens! +Could such a thing be?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"De Cun'le an' Mrs. Fenlick," announced Wilkins.</p> +<p class="pnext">And when they were all seated at the table--the +Colonel and Mrs. Fenlick, Doctor and Mrs. Heath, Aunt +Carrie and Uncle Jo, the Masons and the Pearsells--with +no candelabra to interfere with the merry speech and +glances, with the light from the candles in the sconces +shining softly on the exquisite napery, on the low bed of +white tulips in the centre and the grace of the pale, green +porcelain, with the tall Bohemian Romer-glasses before +the plates--what wonder that Mrs. Fenlick pronounced +it a "dream of beauty"?</p> +<p class="pnext">When their guests had gone, Mr. Clyde turned to +Hazel:--"I shall be glad to open the Newport cottage +again, Birdie, with such a little hostess to help me entertain."</p> +<p class="pnext">"The Newport house, papa!" Hazel exclaimed, a +distinct note of disappointment sounding in her voice.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why not, dear? I thought of getting down there by +the tenth; in fact, gave my orders to Mrs. Scott to begin +packing to-morrow."</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel was evidently struggling with herself. She +fingered the arbutus nervously; took them out of her belt; +inhaled their fragrance. Then she looked up with a smile, +although the corners of her mouth drooped and trembled +a little:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, of course, why not, papa? It's so much pleasanter +there in May, than when everybody is down for the summer."</p> +<p class="pnext">Her father sat down in an easy-chair, put an arm around +his daughter, and drew her down to a seat on the arm of +the chair.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now, Hazel, I want you to tell me all about it. Don't +you want to go?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, if you 're there, papa, but--" she turned +suddenly and her arm stole around his neck--"don't leave +me there alone, papa, please don't."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Leave you--I? Why what do you mean, dear?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, it is so lonesome when you are away, papa, when +you go off yachting with the Colonel--and the house is +so big, and there 's nobody to talk to and say good-night +to--and--and, oh, dear!" The tears began to come, but +she struggled bravely for a few minutes.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, little girl, you have never told me you were +lonesome without me: indeed, you have never shown +any sign of it, or of wanting me around much. I never +thought--why, Hazel." Down went the curly head on +his shoulder, and the sobs grew loud and frequent.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There, there, Birdie," he said soothingly, stroking her +head, "you 're all tired out; this party has been too much +for you--"</p> +<p class="pnext">An energetic, protesting head-shake was followed by +broken sentences--"It was n't that--I 'm not tired--you +don't know, papa--I didn't know--know I was +lonesome, and that I was--I think I was homesick--dreadfully--but +Barbara Frietchie, you know--I had to be +brave--and, I have tried not to show it to make you feel +unhappy--and I love you so! but, oh, dear! I miss them +so dreadfully, and I hoped--I was a member of the N.B.--B.O.--O., +Oh--dear me,--Society, and the by-law +says--I mean March read it--Oh, papa!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, well, there, there, dear," said the somewhat +mystified father, bending all his efforts to soothe this +evidently perturbed spirit, "why did n't you tell me before?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Because I was Barbara Frietchie."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now, Hazel, sit up and look me in the face and tell me +what you mean. I supposed I was holding Hazel Clyde in +my arms and not old Barbara Frietchie. Please explain."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I thought I wrote you, papa," Hazel could not help +smiling through her tears, for it did strike her as rather +funny about papa's holding the patriotic, old lady in his arms.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, you did n't tell me that." So Hazel explained.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Clyde nodded approval. "Very good, I approve +of the N.B.B.O.O. Society, and of the present Barbara +Frietchie's heroism--but no more of it is called for. You +see, I fully intended you should pay your friends--my +friends--a visit this summer, but I thought it would be +much better later in the season when Mrs. Blossom would +be rested from the fatigue of March's illness--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, papa!" A squeeze effectually impeded further +utterance. "I don't care how soon we go to Newport, or +anywhere--of course, if <em class="italics">you</em> are with me--as long as +I can go to Mount Hunger sometime this summer. And, +besides," she added eagerly, "we planned next winter's +visit from Rose, didn't we?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I should rather think we did. We shall be very proud +of our beautiful friend, Rose, and delighted to have our +friends meet her, shan't we?" Another squeeze +precluded, for the moment, articulate speech.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," Hazel cried, enthusiastically, "we 'll take her to +concerts and operas--just think, papa, with that lovely +voice she has never heard a concert!--and we 'll take her +to the theatre and--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"And," her father went on, growing enthusiastic himself +at the prospect, for he was the soul of hospitality, +"and we 'll give her a dainty dinner or two, and possibly +a little dance--few and early, you know--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh--ee!" cried Hazel, forgetting her woe, "and Mrs. Heath +will give a lunch-party for her, and, perhaps, Aunt +Carrie a tea, and Mrs. Fenlick a reception--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Heavens!" interrupted her father, "you 'll kill her +with kindness--that fresh, wild rose can't stand all +that--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, yes, she can, papa; she can stand that just +as well as I stood going up there where everything was +so different."</p> +<p class="pnext">"True," said Mr. Clyde, thoughtfully, "it was different."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, it was, papa! I never had to go to bed alone. +Mrs. Blossom always came to say good-night and to kiss +me, and to--to--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"To what?" asked her father.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You won't mind if I tell you?" Hazel asked, half-shyly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mind! I should say not; I should mind if you did n't +tell me."</p> +<p class="pnext">"--to say 'Our Father' with me, papa; you know no +one ever said it with me before, and it's--it's such a +comfy time to feel sorry and talk over what you 've done +wrong; and it's <em class="italics">that</em> I miss so."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't blame you, Birdie," said her father, quietly. +"But now see how late it is!"--he pointed to the +clock--"Eleven! This will never do for a <em class="italics">débutante</em>. +Good-night, darling. Sweet dreams of Rose and the +N.B.B.O.O. Society."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good-night, Papa Clyde; Doctor Heath says you are +the most splendid fellow in the world--but I know you +are the dearest father in the world; good-night, I 've had +a lovely party."</p> +<p class="pnext">She ran upstairs, but, in a moment, her father heard her +tripping down again. Her head parted the portières. "I +just came back to tell you, that this kind of a talk we 've +had is just as good as the Mount Hunger bedtime-talks. +I shan't be homesick any more." And away she ran.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now John Curtis Clyde was a pew-owner--as had been +his father and grandfather before him--in one of the +Fifth Avenue churches, and duly made his appearance in +that pew every Sunday morning. He entered, too, into +the service with hearty voice, and made his responses +without, the while, giving undue thought to the world. +But when he had said "Our Father" with his little +daughter by his side, he had supposed his duty performed +to the extent of his needs--of another's, his child's, he +gave no thought.</p> +<p class="pnext">To-night, however, as he sat in the easy-chair where +Hazel had left him, it began to dawn upon him slowly +that his little daughter, during her fourteen years, might +have had other needs, for which he had not provided, nor, +perhaps, with all his riches was capable of providing.</p> +<p class="pnext">The clock chimed twelve,--one,--two--; John Clyde, +with a sigh, rose and went up to bed--a wiser and a +better man.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="rose">XXII</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">ROSE</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">What a summer that was! Mr. Clyde sent Hazel up +to the Blossoms for July and again for September, when +he, the Colonel and Mrs. Fenlick, the Pearsells and the +Masons, Aunt Carrie and Uncle Jo took possession of the +entire inn at Barton's River, and for a month coached and +rode throughout the "North Country," all in the cool +September weather. Jack Sherrill joined them for the +last three weeks, and, this time, Maude Seaton was not of +the party.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I just headed her off every time she made a dead set +at any one of us for an invitation," said Mrs. Fenlick one +day in confidence to her intimate, Mrs. Pearsell, as they +sat on the vine-covered veranda of the inn, "but she +proved a regular octopus. She got the Colonel in her +toils one morning at the Casino, and I pretended to be +faint--yes, I did--just to get his attention for a sufficient +time to make a fuss, and get him alone in the carriage; +then, of course, I settled it. Oh, dear! men are so +guileless in spots!"--Mrs. Fenlick gave a weary sigh--"What +I have n't been through with that girl! Anyway, +she's been out two winters, now, and she has n't caught +Jack Sherrill yet. I don't think there is much chance +after the first season for a girl to make a really fine match, +do you?" Then they fell to discussing the pros, and +cons, of the question with evergreen interest.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack Sherrill, for one, had no thought of Miss Seaton. +He had sent the valentine-flowers, and the sentiment from +Barry Cornwall's love-song, with a strange kind of "kill or +cure" feeling.</p> +<p class="pnext">He had communed with himself, at twilight of one +February day, as he lay at full length on the +cushioned window-seat of his room from which he looked +down upon the darkening, snow-covered campus and the +anatomy of the elms showing black against it. His pipe +had gone out, but he derived some satisfaction in pulling +away at it mechanically, while he thought out the +situation for himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What's the use of a man's hanging fire when he +<em class="italics">knows</em>?" he thought. "Now, I love her--love her." (Jack's +hand stole into the breast of his jacket and crushed +a bit of paper there; he smiled.) "Of course she does n't +know, and won't know for a while, but it shan't be through +any neglect of mine that she does n't; and when she +knows--there 's the rub!--will she care for me, Jack +Sherrill? I 've never done anything in my life to make a +girl like that care for me.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But there's one thing I 'd stake my life on--she +would n't marry a man for his money. A man 's got to +be loved for himself--not for what he can give a woman, +or do for her, but just for himself, if it's going to be the +real thing, and <em class="italics">last</em>. And what am I that a girl like that +should love me--" Jack was growing very humble. He +pulled himself together: "Anyhow, I'll send the flowers +and the sentiment, <em class="italics">I mean it</em>; I don't care what she +thinks!" Jack's courage rose as he began to feel +something like defiance of Fate.</p> +<p class="pnext">Just then his chum came in.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There's no use, Sherrill," he said, flinging himself +down upon the cushioned seat Jack had just vacated; "we +can't have the theatricals unless you take the girl's part. +It won't put you out any--smooth face and no scrub. +You 've been it once, and it will be a dead failure if you +aren't in it now."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't see how I can," replied Jack, shortly, for this +intrusion on his mood irritated him. "I told you, all of +you, at the Club last year, that I would n't play after I was +a Junior."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, what if you did?" rejoined his chum, a little +crossly. "You 're not so uncompromisingly steadfast in +other things that you can't afford to change your mind in +such a trifle as this."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come, don't be touchy," said Jack, good-humoredly. +"Hit right out from the shoulder, old man, and tell me +what you mean."</p> +<p class="pnext">Dawns smiled, clasped his hands under his head, and +raised his merry blue eyes to Jack, who was lighting up.</p> +<p class="pnext">"They say over at the Club that you have thrown +Maude Seaton over, but Grayson took up the Seaton +cudgels and made the statement that she had thrown you +over, and you won't take the girl's part in the play because +she is coming on for it."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack hesitated. He hated to play at any comedy of love +when his heart was throbbing with the genuine article. +But, after all, it might be the best way to silence the +Club's tongues as well as some others in Boston and New +York.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll help you out this once, Dawns, but I tell you +plainly I won't have anything more to do with the Club +theatricals while I 'm in college," he replied, ignoring both +of Dawns' statements, which omissions his chum noticed, +and made his own thoughts: "Just like Sherrill. You +can't get any hold of him to know what he really feels +and thinks."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack played his part accordingly, repeating the success +of the year before, and scoring new triumphs. He was +glad when it was over, and he could go back to his room +"dead tired," as he said to himself, but with the conviction +that he had settled matters to his own satisfaction if not to +that of one other.</p> +<p class="pnext">The room was in such disorder! Evidently, Dawns had +been having a little spree before Jack's late return, and the +smoke had left the air heavy.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack dropped his paraphernalia in the middle of the +floor--peeling himself as he stood yawning and thanking +his lucky star that he was not born a woman to be +handicapped by such things!--<em class="italics">décolleté</em> white satin waist, +long-trained satin gown, necklace--Jack gave the string a +twitch, for it had knotted, and the Roman pearls rolled +into unreachable places all over the floor. Off flew one +white satin slipper--number ten, broad at the toes!--with +a fine "drop kick" hitting the ceiling and landing on +the book-shelves; the other followed suit. White fan with +chain, white elbow gloves, corsage bouquet--all dropped +in a promiscuous heap. A general stampede loosened silk +under-skirt and dainty muslin petticoat, lace-trimmed. A +wrench,--corset-cover and corsets were torn from their +moorings. Jack groaned--or something worse--at the +flummery, and, leaving everything as it had dropped, +rushed off into his bedroom, only to find that he had +forgotten to take off the blonde wig and wash off the +rouge.</p> +<p class="pnext">At last, however, he was asleep, and slept the sleep of +the justified.</p> +<p class="pnext">He slept both soundly and late, but when he awoke the +next morning his first thought was of the flowers for Mount +Hunger and the appropriate sentiment. Accordingly, having +reckoned the arrival of train, departure of stage, etc., +to a minute, he selected the flowers, wrote the sentiment, +not without forebodings of the usual kind, and despatched +both to Mount Hunger with high hopes, notwithstanding +prescient feelings. Then, metaphorically, he sat down to +await an answer. He waited just two months, and during +that time had turned emotionally black and blue more +than once at the thought of his temerity in sending such +a message.</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel had written him at once from North Carolina to +tell him of March's illness, and on the same day she sent +a penitent note to Rose, confessing her shame at her attempt +at deception, and explaining that it was because she loved +her cousin so dearly she could not bear to see his gift +slighted.</p> +<p class="pnext">When March was out of danger, Rose had written to +Hazel a frank, loving letter, blaming herself for her want +of self-control, and begging Hazel's forgiveness for her +harsh words:</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">"It's all my old pride, Hazel dear," she wrote, "that I have +to fight very often. It was most kind of Mr. Sherrill to +remember me when he has so many, many other friends whom he has +known longer, and I shall write and tell him so. Now that my +heart is lighter on account of dear March, I can write more +easily.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We miss you so! when are you coming back to us? Chi +looks perfectly disconsolate, and we all feel a great deal more +than we care to say.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I wish you were here to have the fun of the French +evenings, three times a week. You speak it so beautifully, +Mr. Ford says, and I thank you so much for all the help you gave +me in teaching me. Mr. Ford speaks it very well, too, so Miss +Alton says. We all meet at our house once a week on March's +account, and then one evening in the week, Miss Alton and I +(she 's lovely) go over to the Fords' for music. He has sent +for some lovely songs for me--old English ones, and we're +going to have a little celebration for March's birthday in May. +How I wish you were to be here!</p> +<p class="pnext">"March is lying on the settle, dreaming over that exquisite +photograph of Cologne Cathedral you sent him; I've just +asked him if he had any messages for you, and he smiled--oh, +it's so good to see his dear smile again! You can't think +how tall he's grown since his illness, and he's so thin--and +said, 'I sent one to her this morning myself; she can't have two +a day.' But you know March's ways.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now I must stop; Mr. Ford is coming over on horseback +and I am riding Bob now. I wear an old riding-habit +of Martie's--it fits fine! I have more to tell you, but +will finish after I get back from the ride--there comes +Mr. Ford--"</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">This letter Hazel duly forwarded to her cousin. "He 'll +know by what she says in it that she really was pleased, +for all she acted so queer," she said to herself as she +enclosed it in one to Jack, in which she took special pains +to inform him that he had never told her whether he had +given those verses Rose sang to Miss Seaton.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">"I told Rose I was sure they were for Miss Seaton, and +Rose said she did n't mind copying them herself for you if you +wished them. Do tell me if you gave them to her. I told +Rose your valentine to her last year was a rose-heart. I hope +you don't mind my telling, for, you know, Jack, all our family +think you are engaged to her--"</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Jack dropped Hazel's letter at this point and gave a +decided groan.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What luck!" he muttered. "It's all up with the +whole thing now. No girl of any spirit would stand all +that--and Hazel meddling so! thinking she is doing her +level best to explain matters;--What an ass I was to +send that flower-valentine to Maude--and she thinks I +gave her those verses! and there 's this Ford skulking +round and having it all his own way; he 's just the kind +a girl would care for--those musical cranks are no end +sentimental. Hang it all!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack thrust his hands deep into his pockets, took several +decided turns up and down the room, squared his shoulders, +pursed his lips, cut his two classroom lectures, ordered +up Little Shaver and rode out to the polo grounds, where, +finding himself alone, he put the little fellow through his +best paces, ignoring the fact that snow and ice wore on +the pony's nerves--and had a game out to himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">When just two months had passed, he received a note +from Rose, his first, and it was accorded the reception due +to first notes in particular. After this, Jack developed +certain wiles of diplomacy, he had thus far, in his various +experiences, held in abeyance. He wrote sympathetic +notes to Mrs. Blossom; commissioned Chi to find him +another polo pony--Morgan, if possible--among the +Green Hills; sent March a set of illustrated books on +architecture, and complained to Doctor Heath of a pain +that racked his chest; at which the Doctor's eyes twinkled. +He said he would examine him later, but he was convinced +it was heart trouble, the symptoms were apt to mislead +and confuse. He added gravely: "Too much hard polo +riding, Jack; get away into the country--mountains if +you can, and you 'll recuperate fast enough. I 'll make +an examination in the fall."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack obeyed to the letter, and what a month of September +that was!</p> +<p class="pnext">There were glorious rides with Rose along the beautiful +river valley and over the mountain roads. There were +delightful evenings at the Fords', and silent, beatific walks +with Rose homewards beneath the harvest moon. There +were morning rambles with Rose up over the pastures and +deep into the woodlands for late ferns and hooded +gentians. There were adorable hours of doing nothing but +adore, while Rose was busy about her work, setting the +table for tea (Jack paid his board at the inn, but he lived +at the Blossoms'), or laying the cloth for dinner, or on +Saturday morning even making rolls for the tea to which +the whole party at the inn were invited.</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi was in his glory. Little Shaver came trotting +regularly every day up through the woods'-road, and +whinnied "Good-morning" first to Fleet, then to Chi. +There were general coaching-parties to Woodstock and +Brandon, in which Mrs. Blossom was guest, and a grand +tea at the Fords' for all the guests, with a musicale for a +finish, and an informal dance in the Blossoms' barn to +which all the Lost Nation were invited.</p> +<p class="pnext">They accepted, one and all. Captain Spillkins was in +his element, so he said. He and Mrs. Fenlick danced a +two-step in a manner to win the commendation of the +entire assembly. Miss Elvira and Miss Melissa went +through the square dance escorted by Jack and Uncle +Jo. There were round dances and contra dances. Uncle +Israel contributed an "1812" jig, and Mr. Clyde passed +round the hat for his sole benefit. There were waltzes +for those who could waltz, and polkas for those who could +polka, and schottische and minuet. "There never was +such a dance since before the Deluge!" declared +Mrs. Fenlick, when Captain Spillkins escorted her to a seat +on a sap-bucket; and then they all went at it again in +a grand finale, the Virginia Reel--Chi and Hazel, +Mr. Clyde and Aunt Tryphosa for head and foot couple; +Maria-Ann with Jack; Alan Ford with Mrs. Fenlick; the +Colonel with Mrs. Blossom whom he admired greatly; +March and Miss Alton--such a double row of them!</p> +<p class="pnext">Poor Reub sat in one of the empty stalls and watched +the fun with slow, half-understanding smile, and Ruth +Ford reclined in a rocking-chair in the corner, and with +merry laughter and sparkling wit soothed the dull ache in +her heart that the knowledge that she was henceforth to +be a "Shut-out" from all that life had at first given her.</p> +<p class="pnext">The next day after the dance there was a grand dinner +given at the inn by the Newport party to all the Lost +Nation; and, later on, private entertainments for Mr. and +Mrs. Blossom and the Fords. At last, when the first +maple leaves crimsoned and the frost silvered the mullein +leaves in the pasture, Hazel, her father, Jack, and their +friends bade good-bye to the Mountain and all its joys of +acquaintance, and in some cases, friendship, and turned +their faces, not without reluctance on the part of some of +them, city-wards.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, mother! has n't it been too beautiful for anything?" +exclaimed Rose, turning to her mother, as the last of the +riding-party waved his cap in farewell to those on the +porch. It was Jack.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We have had a happy summer, Rose;--I think they +have, too," her mother added, shading her eyes from the +setting sun. "You 'll be very lonely here at home, dear, +after all this gayety."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Lonely! Why, Martie Blossom, how can you think +of such a thing!" said Rose, still scanning the lower road +for a last glimpse of the riders. "See, see, they are all +waving their handkerchiefs!"</p> +<p class="pnext">The whole Blossom family laid hold of what they could--napkins, +towels, a table-cloth, and Chi seized his shirt, +which he had hung on the line to dry, and waved frantically +until the party was no longer to be seen.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Lonesome! the idea," said Rose, turning to her mother. +"Think of all the studying March and I have to do, and +the French evenings, and the Fords, and Thanksgiving +coming, and then Christmas, and then--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then," said Mrs. Blossom, interrupting her, "my Rose +takes a little plunge into that whirlpool of gay life and +fashion in New York."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," said Rose, with a happy smile that spoke volumes +to her mother, "I do look forward to it, Martie dear; but +the whirlpool shan't suck me under; I shall come home +just your old-fashioned Rose-pose."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I hope so, dear," said her mother, a little wistfully, and +called the children in to supper.</p> +<p class="pnext">Indeed, they found little opportunity to miss their friends +in the ensuing months; for there came kindly letters, and +friendly letters, and something very nearly resembling +love-letters. The mail brought papers, books, and +magazines. The express brought to Barton's River many a +box of lovely flowers. At Christmas came more than +one remembrance for them all, including Aunt Tryphosa +and Maria-Ann, and four special invitations for Rose to +visit in New York directly after the holidays. One was +from Mr. Clyde--with an urgent request from Hazel to +say "yes" by telegram and "relieve her misery," so she +put it--; one from Mrs. Heath; one from Aunt Carrie, +and a gushingly cordial one from Mrs. Fenlick! Each +claimed her for a month. But Mrs. Blossom shook her +head.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, no, dear, you would wear your welcome out. I +shall need you at home by the last of February. I think +you can accept only Mr. Clyde's and Mrs. Heath's. You +can accept social courtesies from the other four of course."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But, mother," Rose's face was the image of despair, +"what shall I wear? Just hear what Hazel has planned--'lunches, +dinners, theatre, concerts'--why! I can never +go to all those things."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 've thought of that, too, Rose; but the little colt +shan't go bare this time--it will take some courage, dear, +to wear the same things over and over again, not to +mention the puzzle of planning for it all."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'm not 'Molly Stark' for nothing," laughed Rose, +and the two women began to plan for what Chi called +"Rose's campaign." The pretty white serge was lengthened +and made over to appear more grown up, as Cherry +put it; the dark blue wash silk--Hazel's gift that had +never been made up--was fashioned into a "swell affair"--so +March pronounced it; the old-fashioned blue lawn +was cut over into a dainty full waist, and then +Mrs. Blossom added her surprise--a delicate blue taffeta skirt +to match the waist. Rose went into raptures over it, and +sought the best bedroom regularly three times a day to +feast her girl's eyes on the silken loveliness as it lay in +state on the best bed. A new dark blue serge was to do +duty for a street suit, with a plain felt hat. For best, +there was a turban made of dark blue velvet to match the +wash silk.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And four pairs of gloves! Martie Blossom, you are +an angel, to give me these that Hazel gave you a year ago +last Christmas. Have you been keeping them for me all +this time?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Blossom smiled assent, and was rewarded by a +squeeze that interfered decidedly with her breathing +apparatus.</p> +<p class="pnext">The night before she left, Rose "costumed" for the +benefit of the entire family, who were assembled in the +long-room, together with Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann, +to see Rose in her finery.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll make it a climax," said Rose, laughing +half-shamefacedly, as she slipped upstairs to change her street +suit, which had brought forth admiring "Ohs" and "Ahs" +from the children, and favorable criticism from their elders.</p> +<p class="pnext">Down she came in her white serge; there were nods +and smiles of approval.</p> +<p class="pnext">Her reappearance in the wash silk and velvet turban was +the signal, on March's part, for a burst of applause, and +cries of admiration from Budd and Cherry.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Grand transformation scene!" cried March, as Rose +tripped down in the blue taffeta, looking like a very rose +herself.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Beats all!" murmured Chi, who had become nearly +speechless with admiration, "what clothes 'll do for a +good-lookin' woman; but for a ravin', tearin' beauty like +our Rose--George Washin'ton! She 'll open those +high-flyers' eyes."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Cinderella--fifth act!" shouted March as, after a +prolonged wait, he heard Rose on the stairs.</p> +<p class="pnext">But was it Rose?</p> +<p class="pnext">The beautiful India mull of her mother's had been +transformed into a ball-dress. She had drawn on her +long white gloves and tucked into the simple, ribbon belt +three of Jack's Christmas roses.</p> +<p class="pnext">Maria-Ann gasped, and that broke the, to Rose, +somewhat embarrassing silence.</p> +<p class="pnext">Marshalled by March, the whole family formed a +procession, and Rose was reviewed:--back breadths, front +breadths, flounces, waist, gloves; all were thoroughly +inspected.</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi touched the lower flounce of the half-train gingerly +with one work-roughened forefinger, then, straightening +himself suddenly, sighed heavily.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What's the matter, Chi?" Rose laughed at the dubious +expression on his face.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You ain't Rose Blossom nor Molly Stark any longer. +You 're just a regular Empress of Rooshy, 'n' you don't +look like that girl I took along to sell berries down to +Barton's last summer, 'n' I wish you--" he hesitated.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What, Chi?" said Rose.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I wish you was back again, old sunbonnet, old calico +gown, patched shoes 'n' all--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Chi, no, you don't," said Rose, laughing merrily; +"you forget, I shall probably see Miss Seaton down there +in New York, and you wouldn't want me to appear a +second time before her in that old rig."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You 're right, Rose-pose," replied Chi, his expression +brightening visibly. He drew close to her and whispered +audibly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Just sail right in, Molly Stark, 'n' cut that sassy girl +out right 'n' left. She never could hold a candle to +you."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sh-sh, Chi!" said Mrs. Blossom, meaningly, but with +a twinkle in her eye.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I mean just what I say, Mis' Blossom. Folks can't +come up here on this Mountain to sass us to our faces, 'n' +she <em class="italics">did</em>;--I've stayed riled ever since, 'n' I hope she'll +get sassed back in a way that 'll make her hair stand just +a little more on end than it did, when she gave that mean, +snickerin' giggle--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Chi, Chi," Mrs. Blossom interrupted him in an appeasing tone.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You need n't Chi me, Mis' Blossom. These children +are just as near to me as if they was my own, 'n' when +they 're sassed, I 'm sassed too; 'n' my great-grandfather +fought over at Ticonderogy, 'n' I ain't bound to take any +more sass than he took--"</p> +<p class="pnext">By this time the whole family were in fits of laughter +over Chi's persistent use of so much "sass," and, at last, +Chi himself joined in the laugh at his excessive heat:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Over nothin' but a wind-bag, after all," he concluded.</p> +<p class="pnext">On the following morning, Mr. Blossom, Chi, March +and Budd drove down to Barton's to see Rose off. The +old apple-green pung had been fitted with two broad +boards for seats, and covered with buffalo robes and horse +blankets. There was just room in the tail for Rose's +old-fashioned trunk and a small strapped box, which held two +dozen of new-laid eggs, six small, round cheeses, and a +wreath of ground hemlock and bitter-sweet--a neighborly +gift from Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann to Hazel and +Mr. Clyde.</p> +<p class="pnext">As the train moved away from the station, Chi watched +it with brimming eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">"She'll never come back the same Rose-pose, livin' +among all those high-flyers--never," he muttered to +himself; but aloud he remarked, with forced cheerfulness, +turning to Mr. Blossom while he dashed the blinding +drops from his eyes with the back of his hand:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Looks mighty like a thaw, Ben; kind of wets down, +don't it?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, Chi," said Mr. Blossom, busy with conquering his +own heartache, "we 'd better be getting on home;" and the +masculine contingent of the Blossom household climbed +into the pung and took their way homeward in silence.</p> +<p class="pnext">But what a reception that was for the transplanted Rose!</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Clyde met her at the Grand Central Station, and +Rose felt how welcome she was just by the hand-clasp, +and his first words:</p> +<p class="pnext">"We have you at last, Rose; I would n't let Hazel +come because I thought the train might be late, and there's +a cold rain falling. Martin, take this box--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, no; I must carry that myself," laughed Rose, +looking up at the liveried footman with something like +awe. "I promised Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann I +would n't let any one take them till they were safe in the +house; thank you," she bowed courteously to Martin, who +confided to the coachman so soon as they were on the box: +"Hi 'ave n't seen nothink so 'ansome since Hi 've bean in +the States."</p> +<p class="pnext">As the brougham whirled into the Avenue, and the +electric lights shone full into the carriage, Rose could see +the luxuriously upholstered interior, and a sudden thought +of the old apple-green pung and the buffalo robes dimmed +her eyes. But it was only for a moment; Mr. Clyde was +telling her of Hazel's impatience, and how the coachman +had had special orders from her to hurry up so soon as he +should be on the Avenue, and he had hardly finished +before the coachman drew rein, slackening his rapid pace +as he turned a corner, Martin was opening the door, and +Hazel's voice was calling from a wide house entrance +flooded with soft light:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Rose, my Rose! Is it really you, at last?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"And this, I am sure, is Wilkins," said Rose, when +finally Hazel set her arms free. "We 've heard so much +of you, that I feel as if I had known you a long time." +Rose held out her hand with such sincere cordiality that +Wilkins' speech was suddenly reduced to pantomime, and +he could only extend his other hand rather helplessly +towards the box that Rose still carried. But Rose refused +to yield it up.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Here, Hazel, I promised Maria-Ann and Aunt Tryphosa +I would n't give it into any hands but yours. Oh! be +careful--they 're eggs!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Eggs!" repeated Hazel, laughing. "Here, Wilkins, +unstrap it for me, quick--Oh, papa, look!" She held out +the box to Mr. Clyde, and, somehow, John Curtis Clyde +for a moment thought with Chi, that there was going to +be a "thaw." Each egg was rolled in white cotton +batting and wrapped in pink tissue paper. The six little +cheeses were enclosed in tin-foil, and cheeses and eggs +were embedded in the Christmas wreath. On a piece of +pasteboard was written in unsteady characters:</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">To Mr. John Curtis Clyde of New York City, with the +season's compliments.</p> +<p class="pnext">MOUNT HUNGER, VERMONT, January 6th, 1898.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">"And you 've had such lovely flowers come for you, +five boxes of them, Rose, and piles of invitations. I 'm +sure you 're engaged up to Ash Wednesday."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come, Chatterbox," said her father, smiling at her +volubility, "Rose has just time to dress for dinner; you +know Aunt Carrie and Uncle Jo are coming to-night."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, I forgot all about them; you 'll have to hurry, +Rose. Wilkins, bring up the flowers. Come on," +Hazel ran up the broad flight of stairs, carpeted with +velvety crimson, to the first landing, from which, through +a lofty arch in the hall, Rose caught a glimpse of softly +lighted rooms, the walls enriched with engravings and +etchings, with here and there a landscape or marine +in watercolors. Rose drew a long breath. This, then, +was what Chi meant when he said "Hazel was rich as +Croesus."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But, Hazel, my trunk has n't come," said Rose, as she +followed her hostess into the spacious bedroom, which was +separated from Hazel's only by a dressing-room.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It 'll be here in a few minutes; papa has a special +man, who always delivers them almost as soon as we get +here."</p> +<p class="pnext">Sure enough, the trunk came in time; and Rose, as she +unpacked, finding evidences of the loving mother-care in +every fold, cried within her heart, looking about at the +exquisite appointments of her room and dressing-room:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Martie, Martie, what would all this be without you!--Oh, +I know now, what dear old Chi meant when he said +Hazel was poor where we are rich--only a housekeeper +to see to all Hazel's things--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Rose, what flowers are you going to wear?" called +Hazel from her room.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have n't had time to look," Rose called back, +surveying her white serge with great satisfaction in the +pier-glass.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do look, then, and see who they 're from."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Hazel, do come and see. How kind everybody +has been! Here are cards from Mrs. Heath and Doctor +Heath, and your Aunt Carrie, and Mr. Sherrill, and +Mrs. Fenlick, and even that Mr. Grayson who was up at our +house to tea a year ago!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"They are lovely. Whose are you going to wear?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll make up a bunch of one or two from each, that +will show my appreciation of all their favors."</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel looked slightly crestfallen. "I hoped you 'd wear +Jack's--they 're the loveliest with white--" she lifted +the white lilacs--"and they 're so rare just now. I heard +Aunt Carrie say that one of the girls had put off her +wedding for six weeks, just because she couldn't have white +lilacs for it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"They 'll last with care three days surely, and I can +wear them to-morrow evening," replied Rose, bending to +inhale their delicate fragrance.</p> +<p class="pnext">"So you can, for papa is going to give a dinner for you +to-morrow night, and afterwards, he has promised to take +you to a dance at Mrs. Pearsell's. I can't go, you know, +for I 'm not grown up; but you can tell me all about it. +We 're going to have lots of fun this week, for school does +not begin for several days. Come."</p> +<p class="pnext">Together they went down to the drawing-room, and +Wilkins announced that dinner was served.</p> +<p class="pnext">After it was over he sought Minna-Lu in her own +domains, and gave vent to his long pent emotions.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Minna-Lu," he whispered, mysteriously, "dere 's an +out an' out angel ben hubberin' 'bout de table--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Fo' de Lawd!" Minna-Lu turned upon him fiercely, +for she was superstitious to the very marrow. "Wa' fo' +yo' come hyar, skeerin' de bref out a mah bones wif yo' +sp'r'ts! Yo' go long home wha' yo' b'long."</p> +<p class="pnext">But Wilkins was not to be repulsed in this manner. +"Nebber see sech ha'r, an' jes' lillum-white--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, go 'long! Lillum-white ha'r," interrupted Minna-Lu, +with scathing sarcasm. "Huccome yo' know de angels +hab lillum-white ha'r?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Huccome I know?--'Case I see de shine, jes' lake +yo' see in de dror'n-room."</p> +<p class="pnext">"De shine ob lillum-white ha'r in de dror'n-room! +'Pears lake yo' head struck ile--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yo' hol' yo' tongue, Minna-Lu," retorted Wilkins, +irritated at the continued evidence of disbelief on the part +of his coadjutor. "Jes' yo' hide back ob de dumb-waitah +to-morrah ebenin' when de dessert comes on, an' see fo' +yo'se'f!" He departed in high dudgeon, and Minna-Lu +gurgled long and low to herself, but, in her turn, was +interrupted by the sound of tripping steps on the +basement flight.</p> +<p class="pnext">Minna-Lu hastily put her fat hands up to her turban to +see if it were on straight, and smoothed her apron, muttering:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Clar to goodness, ef it ain't jes' mah luck to hab little +Missus come into dis yere hen-roost?" she rapidly surveyed +her immaculate kitchen with anxious eye.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Minna-Lu, this is my friend, Miss Rose; the one who +did up those lovely preserves, and here are some new-laid +eggs and some cheeses that Miss Maria-Ann +Simmons--you know I told you all about her and the hens--has +sent papa."</p> +<p class="pnext">Minna-Lu gazed at Rose in open admiration. The faithful +colored retainer had her thorny side and her blossom +one.</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose put out her hand, and Minna-Lu took it in both +hers. "I 'se mighty glad yo' come, Miss Rose, dere ain't +no strawberry-blossom nor no rose-blossom can hol' a can'le +to yo' own honey se'f. Dese yere cheeses is prime." She +examined one with the nose of a connoisseur. "Jes' fill +de bill wif de salad-chips to-morrah." She stemmed her +fists on her hips, and her mellow, contented gurgle caused +Rose and Hazel to laugh, too.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What is it, Minna-Lu?" said Hazel, reading the signs +of the times.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Dat Wilkins done tol' me to git back ob de dumb-waitah, +to-morrah ebenin' to see Missy Rose, but I 'se +gwine to ask rale straight to jes' see her 'fo' de comp'ny +come."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Of course you may. Come up to my room about seven, +and we 'll be ready."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Fo' sho'," said Minna-Lu, with beaming face.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good-night," said Rose, beaming, too, for she found the +black faces and ways irresistibly amusing.</p> +<p class="pnext">"De Lawd bress yo' lily face, Missy Rose."</p> +<p class="pnext">When the two girls were alone, at last, in Hazel's room, +there was no thought of bed for an hour. There were +numberless questions on Hazel's part concerning all the +dear Mount Hunger people, and speechless astonishment +on Rose's at the number of invitations that were waiting +for her. They chatted all the time they were undressing, +calling back and forth to each other as one thing or another +suggested itself. Finally, Hazel made her appearance in +Rose's room. She went up to her, put her arms about +her neck, and, looking up with eyes full of loving trust, +said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Rose-pose, won't you come into my room and say 'Our +Father' with me as Mother Blossom used to do on Mount +Hunger? You can't think how I miss it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, Hazel darling, of course I will--then I shan't +feel homesick missing that precious Martie."</p> +<p class="pnext">She followed Hazel into her room, and after she was in +bed, Rose knelt by her side, and together they said, "Our +Father." Then Rose bent over to receive Hazel's loving +kiss and whispered, "Oh, Rose, I 'm so happy to have you +here," and whispered back, "And I 'm so happy to be with +you, Hazel--good-night."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good-night."</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose went back to her room. At last she was alone. +She drew one of the easy-chairs up before the wood-fire +that was dying down, put her bare feet on the warm fender, +and, for a while, dreamed waking dreams. It was all so +strange. The cathedral clock on the mantel chimed twelve. +They were all asleep in the farmhouse on the Mountain--it +was time for her to be. She rose, tiptoed softly into the +dressing-room, took from the bowl the spray of white lilacs +she had worn with the other flowers that evening, shook +off the water, and drew the stem through a buttonhole in +the yoke of her simple night-dress. She tiptoed back again +into her room, looked up at the dainty, canopied bed, then +laid herself down within it, and, almost immediately, fell +asleep--with her hand resting on the white fragrance that +lay upon her heart.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="behold-how-great-a-matter-a-little-fire-kindles">XXIII</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">BEHOLD HOW GREAT A MATTER A LITTLE FIRE KINDLETH</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">It was so delightful! The weeks were passing all too +quickly, and the letters to Mount Hunger waxed eloquent +in praise of everybody's kindness.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack had come on to lead a cotillion with Rose at Aunt +Carrie's. It was a weighty affair--the selecting of the +flowers for her. White violets they must be, and white +violets were about as rare as white raspberries. Jack gave +the florist his own address.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll see them, myself, before I send them up; for I +won't trust anyone's eyes but my own," he said to himself +as he hurried home to dress for dinner with a friend. "I +wish I had n't promised Grayson to meet him at the Club +before seven. I 'm afraid they won't come in time." He +looked at his watch. "I 'm going to make them a test--and +see what she 'll do. She 's so friendly and frank and +all that, I can't find out even whether she 's beginning to +care."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack's absorption in the theme was such that he put his +latch-key in wrong-side up, and, in consequence, wrestled +with the lock till he had worked himself into a fever of +impatience; finally he touched the button before he +discovered the trouble.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Any packages come for me, Jason?" he inquired of +the butler, whose dignified manner of locomotion had been +rudely shaken by Jack's unceasing pressure on the +electric-bell.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, Mr. John. Just taken a box up to the rooms."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack looked relieved, and sprang upstairs two steps at +a time. He opened the box. There they were in all their +exquisite freshness. "Like her," he thought, touching his +lips to them; then, suddenly straightening himself, he felt +the blood surge into his face.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I like Dord's way of putting up his flowers, no +tags, nor fol-de-rols. Jason," he said, as he ran down +stairs again, "I shall be back in an hour; tell Thomas +to have everything laid out--I 'm in a hurry. And +have a messenger-boy here when I come back, and +don't forget to order the carriage for quarter of eight, +sharp."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, Mr. John."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Messenger-boy come?" he inquired as Jason opened +the door on his return.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, sir, waiting in the hall."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack raced up stairs. There was the precious box on +his dressing-table. He hastily took a visiting card, and, +writing on it the sentiment that was uppermost in his +heart, slipped it into the envelope, gave it, together with +the box, to the waiting boy, and bade him hand it to the +man, Wilkins, with the request that it be sent up at once +to the lady to whom it was addressed. Then he made +ready for dinner.</p> +<p class="pnext">An hour later, Rose was dressing for the dance, and +Hazel was watching her, chatting volubly all the while.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's the loveliest dress, Rose, I heard Aunt Carrie +say, you couldn't buy such, nowadays."</p> +<p class="pnext">"It was Martie's wedding-dress. An uncle of her +mother's, who was a sea-captain, brought it from India. +But if I wear it many more times, it will be known +throughout the length of New York. This is my sixth time."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I should n't care if it were the hundredth; it's just +lovely. Besides, Jack has n't seen it, you know."</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose laughed. "Oh, yes, he has--on Martie; that +night of the tea on the porch."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, well, that's different. What flowers are you +going to wear?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I thought I wouldn't wear any, just for a change." Rose's +face was veiled by the shining hair, which she was +brushing, preparatory to coiling it high on her head; +otherwise, Hazel would have seen the clear flush that warmed +even the roots of the soft waves at the nape of her neck. +Just then there was a knock. The maid opened the door, +and Wilkins' voice was distinctly audible:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Jes' come fo' Miss Rose; dey wuz to come up right +smart, so de boy say."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, more flowers. Who from?" cried Hazel, eagerly, +while Wilkins strained his ears to catch the reply.</p> +<p class="pnext">"From Mr. Sherrill," said Rose, opening the little +envelope.</p> +<p class="pnext">What she read on the card caused the blood to mount +higher and higher, till temples and forehead flushed pink, +then as suddenly to recede.</p> +<p class="pnext">"May I open them, Rose, and won't you wear some if +they 're from Jack?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," said Rose, simply. The two girls leaned over +the box as Hazel took off the wrapper--then the +cover--then the inner tissue papers--then--</p> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 60%" id="figure-42"> +<span id="the-two-girls-leaned-over-the-box-as-hazel-took-off-the-wrapper"></span><img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-288.jpg" /> +<div class="caption figure"> +"The two girls leaned over the box as Hazel took off the wrapper"</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Suddenly a shriek of laughter, followed by another, +penetrated to Wilkins, who was lingering on the stairs; he +came softly back again. Peal after peal of wild merriment +issued from Rose's room. Within, Rose in her petticoat +and bodice had flung herself on the bed in an ecstasy +of mirth, and Hazel was rolling over on the rug as was +the wont of Budd and Cherry in the old days on Mount +Hunger. The maid looked from one to the other, and, no +longer able to keep from joining in the merriment, although +she did not know the cause, left the room, only to find +Wilkins with perturbed face just outside the door.</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Pears lake dere wor sumfin' queah 'bout dat ye re +box--" he began; but the maid only shook with laughter +and laid her finger on her lips, motioning him into the +back hall.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Did you ever?" cried Hazel, when she recovered her +breath.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, I never," said Rose, wiping away the tears, for she +had laughed till she cried. "Let's take another look."</p> +<p class="pnext">They bent over the box, and took out its contents; then +went off again into fits of seemingly inextinguishable +laughter; for, neatly folded beneath the tissue paper, lay +four sets of Jack's new light-weight, white silk pajamas, +which he had purchased that afternoon, in order to take +back to Cambridge with him. On the card, which Rose still +held in her hand, was written, "Wear these for my sake."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What will you say to him, Rose?" said Hazel, sitting +up on the rug with her hands clasped about her knees.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't know," said Rose, proceeding to dress. "I +can't <em class="italics">wear</em> them, that's certain." And again the absurdity +of the situation presented itself to her. "And I can't +apologize for not wearing them. Neither can I take it for +granted that he was going to send me flowers, and explain +that he sent me these instead."</p> +<p class="pnext">"How awfully careless," said Hazel, interrupting her; +"he must have had something on his mind not to take the +pains to look, even."</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose flushed. "It will be best to let the matter drop, +and say nothing about it," she replied in a cool, toploftical +tone that amazed, as well as mystified, her little hostess.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, Rose, I think Jack ought to know about it. +I 'll tell him, if you don't want to."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Thank you, Hazel, but I don't need your good offices +in this matter."</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel rose from the rug, and going over to Rose, laid +both hands on her shoulders and looked straight up into +her eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now, Rose Blossom, please don't speak to me in that +way. You 're so queer! First you 're nice about Jack, +and then you 're horrid; and when you 're that way, you +are n't nice to <em class="italics">me</em> a bit--and I don't like it, and I don't +blame Jack for not liking it either," she added +emphatically. "I remember papa said a year ago that Jack was +'all heart' for a good many girls, old and young--but I +can tell you what, he won't have any for you, if you whiff +round so."</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel in her earnestness gave Rose a little shake. Rose +smiled, and, bending her head, kissed her, saying, "F. and +F. and you know, Hazel."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, I know all about 'forgiving and forgetting,' but +I don't like it just the same. He's my cousin and the +dearest fellow in the world, and I don't like to have him +treated so."</p> +<p class="pnext">"How about his treating me?" said Rose, pointing to +the innocent box of underwear, "forgetting even to look; +or not caring enough, to see if I had the right package?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, that's different--perhaps the florist made a +mistake."</p> +<p class="pnext">"The florist!" Rose laughed merrily. "I never knew +that gentlemen's underwear and roses grew on the same +bush.--There 's Wilkins, and I 'm not ready."</p> +<p class="pnext">"De coachman say it's a pow'f ul col' night, an' Miss +Rose bettah take some mo' wraps."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Thank you, Wilkins," Hazel flew into the dressing-room +for a long fur cloak of her mother's which she had +used to wear to the dancing-classes. She wrapped it +about Rose, who stooped suddenly and kissed her again, +whispering, "Hazel, you 've all spoiled me, that's what's +the matter,--but I 'll be good to Jack, for your sake as +well as for my own."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now you 're what Doctor Heath calls papa, the most +splendid fellow in the world. There now--I won't crush +your gown--" A kiss--"Good-night. You look like +an angel!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Clyde thought so, too, as he watched her coming +downstairs. She slipped off the cloak as she stood beneath +the soft, but brilliant hall lights. "Do I look all right?" +she asked earnestly, for she had fallen into the habit, before +going anywhere with him or Hazel, of asking for their +criticism.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I should say so--but where are the flowers? I miss them."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I thought I wouldn't wear any to-night, just for a change."</p> +<p class="pnext">"A woman's whim, Rose. But I can't say that you +need them--Now, what's to pay?" he said to himself, +as he helped her into the carriage. "I saw Jack at Dord's +this afternoon, and, evidently, something was in the wind. +I hope it has n't been taken out of his sails."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sumfin' mighty queah 'bout dat yere box," murmured +Wilkins to himself, as he closed the door, "but Miss Rose +doan' need no flow's. Nebber see sech h--Fo' de good +Lawd! Wha' fo' yo' hyar? Yo' Minna-Lu,--skeerin' +mah day-lights out o' mah, shoolin' 'roun' b'hin' dat por' +chair,--jes' lake bug'lahs."</p> +<p class="pnext">Minna-Lu gurgled. "Yo' jes' straight, Wilkins; nebber +see sech ha'r. Huccome I 'se hyar? Jes' to see dat +lillum-white angel--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yo' go 'long, wha' yo' b'long," growled Wilkins, not +yet having recovered from his fright. And Minna-Lu +went, with the radiant vision still before her round, black +eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack felt a queer tightening about his lower jaw, and +one heart-throb, apparently in his throat, as he entered +Aunt Carrie's reception-room. Then, as with one glance +he swept Rose from the crown of her head to the hem of +her dress, a hot, rushing wave of indignant feeling +mastered him--he knew he had staked his all (so a man at +twenty-two is apt to think) and lost. He braced himself, +mentally and physically. He was n't going to show the +white-feather--not he.</p> +<p class="pnext">But Rose--Rose was mystifying, captivating, cordial, +merry, and altogether charming. She knocked out all +Jack's calculations as to life, love, women, girls in general, +and one girl in particular, at one fell swoop. He was +brought, necessarily, into unstable equilibrium, so far as +his feelings were concerned--his head he was obliged +to keep level on account of the various figures. Several +other heads were variously askew, and would have been +turned, likewise, for good and all, had the wearer of her +mother's India-mull wedding-dress been possessed of a +fortune.</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose developed social powers that evening that furnished +food for conversation for Aunt Carrie and Mr. Clyde, who +watched her with pride and pleasure. She was evidently +enjoying herself thoroughly, and her enjoyment proved +contagious.</p> +<p class="pnext">"After all," said Jack as, between figures, he found +opportunity for a whispered word or two; "this is n't +half so fine a dance as the one in the barn, last September."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, that's just what I was thinking, myself, that +very minute!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"You were?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes."</p> +<p class="pnext">The brown eyes and the blue ones met with such +evidence of a perfect understanding, that Jack failed to see +Maude Seaton, who had approached him for the purpose +of taking him out in the four-in-hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, I beg your pardon," said Jack, starting to his feet, +"it's the 'four-in-hand.'"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, and I think you 'll have to be put into the traces +again," she said, with a meaning smile.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not I," retorted Jack, merrily, "I kicked over them +nearly a year ago."</p> +<p class="pnext">"So I heard," replied Miss Seaton, sweetly; and Jack +wondered what she meant.</p> +<p class="pnext">When Jack found himself again beside Rose, he decided +that, flowers or no flowers, he would ask for an +explanation. But his first attempt was met with such a +bewilderingly merry smile, and such confident assurance that +explanations were not in order, that it proved a successful +failure.</p> +<p class="pnext">When, at last, in the early morning hours he was seated +before the open fire in his bedroom, pulling away reflectively +at his pipe, he had time to think it over. He came +to the conclusion that it was trivial in him to have staked +his all on her wearing those flowers, for she +certainly--certainly had led him to think that she was anything but +indifferent to him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That look now," mused Jack. "I don't believe that +a girl like Rose Blossom would look that way if she +didn't mean it--if she did n't care. No other girl could +look that way." He reached for his watch on the dressing-case. +"I shall get good two hours' sleep before that early +train.--What's that?" He noticed for the first time, +that on the bed lay a familiar-looking box in a brown +paper wrapper. In a trice he had broken the string, +whisked off the cover, scattered the tissue paper right and +left.--There lay the violets, white, and sweet, and almost +as fresh as when he gave them his virgin kiss nearly twelve +hours before.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack sat down stupefied on the bed. <em class="italics">What had he +given her, anyway</em>? He thought intensely for a full +minute.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Great Scott! the pajamas!" And then Jack Sherrill +rolled over on the bed, ignoring the damage to dress suit +and violets, and, burying his face in the pillow, gave vent +to a smothered yell.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a merry exchange of notes between +Cambridge and New York during the next two weeks, and +Rose had promised to wear any flowers--and only +his--he might send her for the ball at Mrs. Fenlick's the middle +of February, and for which Jack was coming on. It would +occur during the last week of Rose's visit, and Jack +thought that possibly--possibly,--well, he could n't +define just what "possibly;" but it proved to be an infinitely +absorbing one, and Jack felt it was "now or never" with him.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Heath had claimed Rose as her guest for the last +three weeks, and the days were filled with pleasures. On +the Saturday before the ball, and a week before Rose was +to return to Mount Hunger, two seats in a box at the +opera had been sent in to Mrs. Heath from a friend.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Look at these, Rose!" Mrs. Heath exclaimed, showing +her the note. "Just exactly what you were wishing to +hear, and we thought we could not arrange it for next +week. That opera has been changed for to-day's matinée, +and now you can hear both Lohengrin and Siegfried."</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose clapped her hands. "I 've just longed to hear +Lohengrin; Mrs. Ford and her son have played so much +of it to me. I think it's perfectly beautiful."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'm so sorry I can't go, dear; but I made a positive +engagement for this afternoon and it must not be broken. +But I 'll send round for Cousin Anna May. She does n't +care much for the opera, but she will chaperone you. +She 's not much of a talker either, so you can enjoy the +music in peace. People chatter so abominably there."</p> +<p class="pnext">From the moment the orchestra sounded the first notes +of that pathetic and thrillingly appealing fore-word of the +overture, Rose was lost to the world about her. She was +glad of the darkness, glad no one could see or notice her +intense absorption in the opening scene. Even when the +lights were turned on between the acts, and the subdued +murmur in the house rose to a confusing babble, she was +living in the story of Elsa and her lover Knight. Elderly +Cousin Anna May, seeing this, let her alone, thinking to +herself:--"One has to be young to be so enthusiastic +over this wornout theme."</p> +<p class="pnext">The curtain fell; the house was brilliant with lights; +confusion of talk, confusion of merry chat and laughter +were all about Rose; but she sat unheeding, wondering +if the element of evil would be turned into a factor of +good. Her heart was aching with the intensity of feeling +for the two lovers. Suddenly, a few words behind her +arrested her attention. She sat with her back to the +speakers--two girls in the next box, who had annoyed +her more than once by their ceaseless, whispering gabble.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I told Maude I did n't believe it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What did she say?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"She said it was gospel truth."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do tell me what it was, I won't tell."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sure?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not a soul."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Promise?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, of course. They say he 's got oceans of money."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Piles--. He 's got his mother's fortune and will have +his father's. Besides, his Uncle Gray is a bachelor, and +so Jack will have that, too. Maude says he 's the best +catch in New York."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I heard Sam say he was in an awfully fast set in college; +but Sam likes him awfully well. Have you seen him?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, yes, lots. Maude let me see him one night +before dinner at Newport. I used to see him playing +polo at the grounds. I think he 's fascinating--just like +Lohengrin."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But what was it? Hurry up, do."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You 'll never tell?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Never."</p> +<p class="pnext">The voice was slightly lowered--confused with the +munching of Huyler's; and Rose, with hypersensitive +hearing, could distinguish only a word or two, or a +detached sentence.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't think that's so awful. Sam does that, too, +and he 's just as nice a brother as I want."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, I don't know anything about that; but I know +it's true, for Maude said so." In the increasing confusion +of talk in the house, the voices were suddenly raised, and +Rose caught every word.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll ask Sam--" began the other, dropping her opera +glass and stooping to pick it up.</p> +<p class="pnext">"If you do, Minna Grayson, I 'll never speak to you again."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, I forgot--" laughed the other. "Tell us some +more, it's awfully exciting."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I won't either," said the other, in a huffy tone. +Evidently, they were school-girls in for the matinée.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, <em class="italics">do</em>; what <em class="italics">did</em> Maude say?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"She said, 'No,'" chuckled the other triumphantly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But think of his money!'</p> +<p class="pnext">"She said she did n't mind; she 's got money enough of +her own, anyway, if she does skimp me on allowance ever +since grandmamma died."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I heard Sara say last Christmas when I was home for +vacation, that he was perfectly devoted to that new girl the +Clydes have taken up."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes. Maude says it's one of his fads. She gives him +six months more to get over it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Everybody says she is a perfect beauty. Sam says +that Mrs. Fenlick says she is the most beautiful creature +off of a canvas she has ever seen."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Maude says Mrs. Fenlick raves over everything +new. She, the girl, I mean, made a dead set at him a year +ago when he happened to meet her up in the mountains. +You know they had a riding-party last August. But now +they say she seems to be setting her cap for Hazel's +father--he has a million or two more than Jack, and she 's as +poor as a church-mouse."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I did n't know that,--poor?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, awfully. Why, Maude says she's seen her selling +berries for a living somewhere up in the mountains--oh, +way back in them. People call them the Lost Nation, +they 're so far back; and Maude says she wore patched +shoes and an old calico dress--Sh!--Now we 're going to +have that bridal march, is n't it dandy? It ought to be a +part of the marriage ceremony, Maude says. I 'm so glad +it's coming;--Tum, tum, ty tum--tum, tum, ty +tum--here 's just one more candied violet--tum, tum, ty tum, +tum, ty tum, ty ty tum, ty tum--Oh, look! Is n't Elsa +just lovely--"</p> +<p class="pnext">A burst of applause greeted the beautiful prima donna. +Upon Rose's ears it fell like the thunder of a cataract, like +the crash and roll of an avalanche. She stared at the +exquisite scene before her with strained eyes. The music +went on with all the troublous-sweet under-tones of love, +and longing, and forever-parting. Not once did Rose +stir until the curtain fell, then she turned to her +companion:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Can we get out soon, Mrs. May? The air is a little +close here."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Certainly, my dear;" but to herself she said, "How +intense she is. I 'm thankful I never was so strung up +over music."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="old-put">XXIV</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">"OLD PUT"</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">"Where 's Rose?" said the Doctor as he came in that +Saturday evening, and heard no welcoming voice from the +library or the stairs.</p> +<p class="pnext">"She came home from the opera with a frightful +headache and has gone to bed. She said she did n't want any +dinner, but I have insisted upon her having some toast +and tea," replied his wife.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Humph!" growled the Doctor; "Our wild rose can't +stand such hot-house atmosphere. When does the +Fenlicks' ball come off?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Next Wednesday; it will be a superb affair. Rose +showed me her card the other day, and if you will believe +me, it's full, although Jack Sherrill gets the lion's +share."</p> +<p class="pnext">"How do you think things are coming on there, wifie?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, he's devoted to her whenever he can be; you +know what Mrs. Pearsell told us about last summer, +but--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"But what?" said the Doctor, a little impatiently. +"Generally, wifie, you can see prospective wedding-cake +if two young people so much as look twice at each other."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Heath laughed and nodded. "Yes, I know; but +in just this case, I don't know. You can't tell anything +by her--and I fear, hubbie, that Jack Sherrill is n't quite +good enough for her."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not quite good enough for her!" The Doctor almost +shouted in his earnestness. "Jack Sherrill not quite good +enough for--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sh--sh, dear!" His wife held up her hand in warning. +"Someone might hear."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Let 'em hear, then," growled the Doctor. "I say Rose +is n't a bit too good for him.--Look here, wifie,--" he drew +her towards him and down upon the arm of his easy-chair, +"Jack's all right every time--do you understand? <em class="italics">All +right!</em>"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ye-es," admitted his wife rather reluctantly. "I know +he 's a great favorite of yours. But Mrs. Grayson says +he 's in a very fast set at Harvard--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now look here, wifie, don't you let those women with +their eternal hunger for gossip say anything to you about +Jack. I tell you there is n't another fellow I know, who, +placed as he is, can set up so many white stones to mark +his short life's pathway as John Sherrill's only son. For +heaven's sake, give him the credit for them. I know what +I saw on Mount Hunger a year ago, and I know and believe +what I see."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, I only hope he won't flirt with her--" began +Mrs. Heath. Her husband interrupted her:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Flirt with her!" The Doctor chuckled. "I'll +warrant Jack won't do any flirting with her--it 'll be the +other way round sooner than that! Just say good-night +to Rose for me when you go up stairs, and tell her if she +is n't down bright and early Sunday morning, I 'll prescribe +for her."</p> +<p class="pnext">But there was no need for the Doctor's prescription; for +Rose was down for breakfast, and although white cheeks +and heavy eyes caused the Doctor to draw his eyebrows +together in a straight line over the bridge of his nose, +nothing was said of there being any need for a prescription. +But after breakfast he drew her into the library and +placed her in an easy-chair before the blazing fire.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There now," he said in his own kindliest tones, "sit +there and dream while wifie makes ready for church, and +after that you shall go with me for an official drive. The +air will do you good. I can't send such white roses"--he +patted her cheek--"back to Mount Hunger; what +would mother say?"</p> +<p class="pnext">To his amazement Rose buried her face in both hands; +a half-suppressed sob startled him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, Rose-pose! What's the matter, little girl? +Headachey--nerves unstrung--too much opera? Here, +come into the office where we shan't be disturbed, and +tell me all about it."</p> +<p class="pnext">But Rose shook her head, lifted it from her hands, and +smiled through the welling tears.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'm a perfect goose, but--but--I believe I 'm getting +just a little bit homesick for Mount Hunger, and I 'm not +going to stay for Mrs. Fenlick's ball. I know mother +needs me at home--I can just feel it in her letters, and +I know I want--I want her."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't blame you a bit, Rose,--but is n't this rather +sudden? Any previous attacks?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No--and I know it seems dreadfully ungrateful to +you and dear Mrs. Heath to say so, and it is n't that--I 'd +love to be with just you two; but it's this dreadful +feeling comes over me, and I know I ought to go."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And go you shall, Rose," said the Doctor, emphatically, +but oh! so kindly and understandingly. "Go back to +all the dear ones there--and when you come again, don't +give us the tail-end of your visit, will you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Indeed, I won't," answered Rose, earnestly, "and if it +were only you and Mrs. Heath, I 'd love to stay, +but--but--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No need to say anything more, Rose, wifie and I +understand it perfectly--" ("I wish the dickens I did!" +was his thought)--"Tell wifie when she comes down, +and meanwhile I 'll send round for the brougham and +we 'll take a little drive in the Park before office hours."</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose patted his hand, and her silence spoke for her.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Here 's a pretty kettle of fish!" said the Doctor to +himself as he went to the telephone. "I wish I could +get to the bottom of it."</p> +<p class="pnext">And thus it came about that a cool, dignified note, not +expressive of any particular regret, was mailed to +Cambridge on Sunday afternoon, and a long letter to Mount +Hunger telling them to be sure to meet her on Tuesday +at Barton's, and filled with wildly enthusiastic expressions +of delight in anticipation of the home-coming. And on +Tuesday afternoon, as the train sped onwards, following +the curves of the frozen Connecticut, and the snow-covered +mountains on the Vermont side began to crowd its +banks, Rose felt a lightening of the heart and an uplifting +of spirits.</p> +<p class="pnext">The bitterness and shame and shock she had experienced, +in consequence of that one little bite of the fruit of the +Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, seemed to +diminish with every mile that increased the distance between +her and the frothing whirlpool of the great city's gayeties. +All the way up, until the mountains loomed in sight, there +had been hot, indignant protest in her thoughts. At first, +indeed, it had been hatred.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I hate it all--hate it, <em class="italics">hate</em> it!" she found herself +saying over and over again after the good-byes had been said +at the station, and Hazel and Mr. Clyde and Doctor Heath +had supplied her with flowers and magazines for the long +day's journey. It was all she could think or feel at the +time; but soon the little pronoun changed, and the thought +grew more bitter:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I hate him! How could he--how dared he do as he +did! Because I am poor, I suppose. Oh! I wish I could +make him pay for it. I wish I could make him love me +really and truly, and then just <em class="italics">scorn</em> him! But what a fool +I am--as if he <em class="italics">could</em> love after what I heard--oh, why +did I hear it! I wish I may never see his face again, +and I wish I 'd stayed at home where I belong--I hate +him!"--And so on "da capo" hour after hour, and the +incessant chugetty-chug-chug of the express furnished the +rhythmic, basal tone for the bitter motive.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was long after lunch time, and the train of thought +had not changed, when Rose's eye fell upon the dainty +basket Martin had placed in the rack.</p> +<p class="pnext">"This is a pretty state of mind to go home to Martie +in!" she said to herself, rising and taking down the basket. +"I have n't eaten a good meal since last Saturday at lunch, +and I 'm--why, I believe I 'm hungry!"</p> +<p class="pnext">She opened the basket, and loving evidence of Minna-Lu's +admiration tempted her to pick a little here and there--a +stuffed olive or two, a roast quail, a delicate celery +sandwich, a quince tart, a bunch of Hamburg grapes. +Soon Rose was feasting on all the good things, and her +harsh thoughts began to soften. How kind they all were! +And <em class="italics">they</em> truly loved her--and what had they not done +for her comfort and pleasure! Rose, setting her pretty +teeth deep into a third quince tart, looked out of the +window and almost exclaimed aloud at the sight. The +vanguard of the Green Mountains closed in the upper end of +the river-valley along which they were speeding. It was +home that was behind all that! The thought still further +softened her.</p> +<p class="pnext">What? Carry her bitterness and disappointed pride +back into that dear, peaceful home? Not she! "They +shall never know--never!" she said to herself--"I 'm +not Molly Stark for nothing, and there are others in the +world beside Jack Sherrill." And so she continued to +speak cold comfort to herself for the next four hours +until the brakeman called "Barton's River!"</p> +<p class="pnext">There beyond the platform was the old apple-green +pung!--and yes! father and March and Budd and dear +old Chi anxiously scanning the coaches.</p> +<p class="pnext">Home at last! and such a home-coming! How busy +the tongues were for a week afterwards! How wildly gay +was Rose, who kept them laughing over the many queer +doings of the metropolis, over Wilkins and Minna-Lu and +Martin and Mrs. Scott! And how lovingly she spoke of +Hazel's charming hospitality and of Mr. Clyde's thoughtfulness +for her pleasure, although, as she mentioned his +name, a wave of color mounted to the roots of her hair at +the ugly thought that would intrude. Chi listened with +all his ears, enjoying it with the rest; but once upstairs +in his room over the shed, he would sit down on the side +of his bed to ponder a little the gay doings of his +Rose-pose among the "high-flyers," and then turn in with a +sigh and a muttered:</p> +<p class="pnext">"'T ain't Rose-pose. I knew how 't would be.--There 's +a screw loose somewhere; but she's handsome!--handsome +as a picture, 'n' I 'd give a dollar to know if she 's +cut that other one out."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Valentines seem kind of scarce this year," he remarked +rather grimly, a few days after her arrival, as late in the +afternoon, he returned from Barton's with little mail and +no boxes of flowers. "It's the sixteenth day of February, +but it might be Fast Day for all that handful of mail would +show for it!" He placed the package on Mrs. Blossom's +work-table at which Rose was sitting busy with some +sewing. They were alone in the room.</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose laughed merrily. "Goodness, Chi! you want us +to have more than our share. We had a perfect deluge +last year when Hazel was here; you know it makes a +difference without her. You said yourself that there was +a good deal of bulk, but it was pretty light weight--don't +you remember?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi elevated one bushy eyebrow. "I ain't forgot; but I +don't know about it's bein' any <em class="italics">Deluge</em>--it appeared to +me it was a Shadrach, Meshach, 'n' Abednego kind of a +business--" He gave the back log a kick that sent the +sparks up the chimney in a grand pyrotechnic show. +"Seems as if I could see those posies, now, a-shrivellin' +in the fireplace. Never thought you treated those innocent +things quite on the square, Rose-pose!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose's head was bent low over her work. Chi went on, +bracing himself to the self-imposed task of enlightening +her:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't want to meddle, Rose, in anybody's business, +but it ain't set well with me ever since--the way you +treated those roses; 'n', after all, we 're both members of +the Nobody's Business But Our Own Society, 'n' if +anybody 's goin' to meddle, perhaps I 'm the one. I 've thought +a good many times you would n't have been quite so harsh +with 'em, if you had n't overlooked this in your +flare-up--" He drew out of his breast pocket a card--Jack 's--with +the verse on the back. "Read that, 'n' see if you +ain't dropped a stitch somewhere that you can pick up in +time." He handed her the card.</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose looked up surprised, but with burning cheeks. +She took the card, read the verse, turned it over on the +name side, and rose from her chair. Every particle of color +had left her face. She went over to the fireplace, and, +bending, dropped the little piece of pasteboard upon the +glowing back-log.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The sentiment belongs with the roses, Chi; don't let's +have any more Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego business--I 'm +tired of it." She spoke indifferently; then, +resuming her seat, called out in a cheery voice:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Martie, won't you come here a minute, and see if I have +put on this gore right?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll come, dear."</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi, nonplussed, irritated, repulsed, set his teeth hard +and abruptly left the room.</p> +<p class="pnext">Outside in the shed he clenched his fist and shook it +vigorously at the closed door of the long-room: "--By +George Washin'ton!" he muttered, "I 'll make you pay +up for that, Rose Blossom. You can't come any of your +high-flyers' games on me-- Just you put that in your +pipe and smoke it! Thunderation! what gets into women +and girls, sometimes?" He seized the milk-pails from the +shelf and hurried to the barn nearly running down Cherry +in his wrathful excitement.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Look out there, Cherry! You 're always getting round +under foot!" he said, harshly, and stumbled on, regaining +his balance, only to be met by Budd in the barn.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Just clear out now, Budd! I ain't goin' to stand your +foolin'. Let alone of that stanchion," he roared. +"Always worryin' the cow if she looks once at you sideways. +Get <em class="italics">up</em>, there--" His right boot helped the amazed cow +forwards into the stall, and the milk drummed into the pail +as if the poor creature were being milked by a dummy-engine +with more pressure of steam on than it could well stand.</p> +<p class="pnext">Budd flew into the woodshed and found Cherry still +standing, in a half-dazed condition, where Chi had left her. +They compared notes immediately to the detriment and +defamation of Chi's character. Then they carried their +budget of woe to their mother.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Chi is worried, children; you must n't mind if he is a +little cross now and then. He feels dreadfully about the +prospect of this war, as we all do, and that's his way of +showing it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, if he's going to be so cross at us, I wish he 'd +clear out an' go to war!" retorted Budd, smarting under +the unjust treatment.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'm only afraid he will if we have one," said +Mrs. Blossom, sadly. "But, oh, I hope and pray we may be +spared that!"</p> +<p class="pnext">But Budd continued to grumble, and Cherry to be suspiciously +sniffy, until their father's return; and then at the +supper table they listened greedily to all the talk of their +elders, that had for its absorbing theme the prospective +war.</p> +<p class="pnext">As the spring days lengthened, and the sun drew +northward, the tiny cloud on the country's peaceful horizon grew +larger and darker, until it cast its shadow throughout the +length and breadth of the land, and men's faces grew stern +and troubled and women prayed for peace.</p> +<p class="pnext">With the lengthening days Chi showed signs of increasing +restlessness. "It ain't any use, Ben," he said, one +soft evening in early May, as the family, with the +exception of the younger children, sat on the porch discussing +the latest news, "I 've got to go."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Chi!" broke from Mrs. Blossom and Rose. They +cried out as if hurt. Mr. Blossom grasped Chi's right +hand, and March wrung the other.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can't stand it," he went on; "we 've been sassed +enough as a nation, 'n' some of us have got to teach those +foreigners we ain't goin' to turn the other cheek just coz +we're slapped on one. When I wasn't higher than Budd, +my great-grandfather--you remember him, Ben, lived the +other side of the Mountain--put his father's old Revolution'ry +musket (the one, you know, Rose-pose, as I 've used +in the N.B.B.O.O.) into my hands, 'n' says: 'Don't +you stand no sass, Malachi Graham, from no +foreigners.--Just shoot away, 'n' holler, "Hands off" every +time, 'n' they 'll learn their lesson easy and early, 'n' +respect you in the end.' And I ain't forgot it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Chi," Mrs. Blossom's voice was tremulous, "you won't +go till you 're asked, or needed, will you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I ain't goin' to wait to be asked, Mis' Blossom; I 'd +rather be on hand to be refused. That's my way. So I +thought I 'd be gettin' down along this week--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"This week!" Rose interrupted him with a cry and a +half-sob. "Oh, Chi! dear old Chi! <em class="italics">must</em> you go? What +if--what if--" Rose's voice broke, and Chi gulped down +a big lump, but answered, cheerily:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, Rose-pose, <em class="italics">what if</em>? Ain't I Old Put? 'n' ain't +you Molly Stark? 'n' ain't Lady-bird Barbara +Frietchie?--There, just read that--" he handed a letter to March, +who gave it back to him, saying, in a husky voice, that it +was too dark to read.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, then we 'll adjourn into the house, 'n' light +up.--There now," he said, as he lighted the lamp and set it +on the table beside March, "here's your letter, Markis, +read ahead."</p> +<p class="pnext">March read with broken voice:</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="left pfirst white-space-pre-line">4 EAST --TH STREET, NEW YORK,<br /> +May 5, 1898.</p> +<p class="pnext">DEAR FRIEND CHI,--I never thought when I joined the +N.B.B.O.O. Society, that I 'd have to be really brave about +real war;--and now dear old Jack is going off to Cuba with +Little Shaver and all those cow-boys,--and it's dreadful! +Uncle John is about sick over it, for, you know, Jack is all he +has. Papa is going to keep the house open all summer; he +says there is no telling what may happen.</p> +<p class="pnext">We have made no plans for the summer, for our hearts are +so heavy on Jack's account--his last year in Harvard, too! +He told me to tell you he would find out if there is a chance for +you in the new cavalry regiment he has joined. He looked so +pleased when I told him; he read your letter, and I told him +how you wanted to go with him, and he said: "Dear old Chi, +I'd like to have him for my bunkie"--and told me what it +meant. He told me to tell you to be prepared for a telegram +at any moment.</p> +<p class="pnext">I must stop now; papa wants me to go out with him. Give +my love to <em class="italics">all</em>, and tell Mother Blossom and Rose I will write +them more particulars in a few days.</p> +<p class="pnext">If you come to New York, you know a room will be ready +for you in the home of your</p> +<dl class="docutils left white-space-pre-line"> +<dt class="white-space-pre-line">Loving friend,</dt> +<dd class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first last pfirst white-space-pre-line">HAZEL CLYDE.</p> +</dd> +</dl> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">There was silence for a while in the room; then +Mr. Blossom spoke:</p> +<p class="pnext">"How are you going, Chi?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'm goin' to jog along down with Fleet, 'n' take it +kind of easy--thought I 'd cross the Mountain, 'n' strike +in on the old post-road; 'n' follow on down by old +Ticonderogy,--I 've always wanted to see that,--then across to +Saratogy 'n' Albany, 'n' foller the river. You can't go +amiss of New York if you stick to that."</p> +<p class="pnext">Again there was a prolonged silence. Chi hemmed, and +moved uneasily on his chair, while he fumbled about in his +trousers' pocket. He pulled out a piece of crumpled, +yellow paper.</p> +<p class="pnext">"S'pose I might just as well make a clean breast of +it." He tried to laugh, but it was a failure. "Jack's +telegram came along last night, 'n' I thought, maybe I 'd +better be gettin' my duds together to-night, Mis' Blossom, +as 't will be a mighty early start--before any of you are +up," he added, hastily.</p> +<p class="pnext">The two women broke down then, and Mr. Blossom and +March followed Chi out to the barn.</p> +<p class="pnext">The household, save for the younger children, was early +astir--before sunrise. Mrs. Blossom had prepared a hearty +breakfast, and Rose was rolling up a few pairs of her +father's stockings to put in the netted saddle-bag which +Chi was wont to use in hunting.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Tell March to call Chi, Rose," said her mother. "His +breakfast is ready, I hear him in the barn."</p> +<p class="pnext">Rose ran out in the dawning light to find her father +and March just coming towards the house.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, where 's Chi?" she cried.</p> +<p class="pnext">For answer, her father pointed to the woodlands. She +looked just in time to see in the soft gray of the early +morn the horse and rider rise to the three-railed fence that +separated the pasture from the woodlands. He was +following the trail he had indicated to Jack--"through the +woods 'n' acre or two of brush, 'n' then some pretty steep +sliding down the other side, 'n' a dozen rods or so of +swimmin', 'n' a tough old clamber up the bank--"</p> +<p class="pnext">Some ten days afterward, late on a warm afternoon in +May, there rode into New York City by the way of the +Bronx and Harlem, a middle-aged man on a bright bay +horse. The animal's gait was a noticeable one, a long, +loping gallop, that covered the ground in a manner that +roused the admiration of the drivers on the speedway. +The tall, loose-jointed body of the rider apparently loped +along with the horse--their movements were identical. +The saddle was an old-fashioned cavalry one of the early +sixties. A netted saddle-bag and a rolled rubber coat +were fastened to the crupper. A light-weight hunting +rifle was slung on a strap over the man's shoulder. At +the northern entrance to the Park he drew rein beside a +mounted policeman.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Can you tell me if I 'm on the right track to this +house?"</p> +<p class="pnext">He took a card from the pocket of his dusty blue +flannel shirt and handed it to the policeman.</p> +<p class="pnext">The city guardian nodded assent. "But you can't take +that gun along with you; you 're inside city limits and +liable to arrest."</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Gainst the law, hey? Well, I 've come from a pretty +law-abiding state, 'n' ain't goin' to get into rows with you +fellers--" He laid a brown, knotty, work-roughened +finger on the policeman's immaculate blue coat--"I 'd +trust that color as far as I could see. Where shall I leave +the rifle?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The city guard unbent as the kindly voice yielded such +undefiant obedience to his demand. "You can leave it +with me now,--I 'm off my beat by seven, and live over +east of this--" he handed back the card--"and I 'll leave +it at the house if you 're going to be there."</p> +<p class="pnext">"All right, that 'll suit me. Yes, I 'm goin' to put up +there for a day or two, maybe."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Off on a hunting trip?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"You bet--goin' on a big, old, U.S.A. hunt for a lot +of darned foreigners in Cuby."</p> +<p class="pnext">The policeman held out his hand and grasped the +stranger's. "You're one of them?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, I come down to join a cavalry regiment. Jack +Sherrill, he belongs, too. Great rider--can't be beat. +Ever seen him round here on Little Shaver?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The policeman smiled. "No, but I 'd like to see you +again--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Maybe you will; but I 'd better be getting along +before sundown,--'gainst the law to ride this horse a piece +through those woods?" He pointed into the Park.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, no, that's all right. Keep along till you come to +Seventieth Street, and inquire; and then turn into Fifth +Avenue--east--and you're there."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Much obliged. Like to show you a trail or two up +in Vermont when you come that way. Get, Fleet." The +animal set forward into a long, loping gallop.</p> +<p class="pnext">The brilliant, light green of the May foliage was +enhanced by the level rays of the setting sun, as the man +turned his horse into Fifth Avenue and drew rein to a +rapid walk. Many a one paused to look at him as he +paced over the asphalt. He was looking up at the +mansions of the Upper East Side. Soon he halted at the +corner of a side street and gazed up at the first house, the +end of which, with the conservatory, was on the Avenue, +but the entrance on the side street. "That's the place," +he spoke to himself,--"don't see a hitchin'-post handy, so +I 'll just have to tie up to this electric light stand. Iron, +by thunder!--Well, there ain't any risk so long as 't isn't +lit, 'n' there ain't a tempest."</p> +<p class="pnext">Leaving his horse firmly tied to the standard he +stepped up on the low, broad stoop of "Number 4," and +looked for the bell. Not finding any he knocked forcibly +on the carved iron grill that protected the plate-glass +doors.</p> +<p class="pnext">The great doors flew open, and a face--"blacker 'n +thunder"--as the man said to himself, scowled on the +interloper.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Wha' fo' yo' come hyar, yo'--" He got no further. +A horny hand was extended, and a cheery voice, that +broke into a laugh, spoke the assuaging words:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Guess you 're Wilkins, ain't you? I 've heard Lady-bird +tell 'bout you till I feel as if we 'd been pretty well +acquainted goin' on nigh two year now."</p> +<p class="pnext">By this time Wilkins' face was one broad beam. He +slapped his free hand on his knee:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yo 's Mister Chi, for sho'--dere ain't no need yo' +tellin'. Yo' jes' come straight in, Mister Chi; Marse John +an' little Missy jes' gone fo' ah drive in de Park. Dey 'll +be in any minute. Yo' room 's all ready, an' little Missy +put de flow'rs in fresh dis yere mornin'--''Case,' she +say, 'Wilkins, dere ain't no tellin' when Chi's comin'.'"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sho'," Chi interrupted him, brushing the back of his +hand hastily across his eyes. "I can't come in now, +Wilkins, coz I 've got to stay here 'n' watch my horse--I 'll +sit here on the steps a spell 'n' cool off till Mr. Clyde gets +home, 'n' he 'll help me see to puttin' up Fleet for the +night. His legs are a little mite swollen near the hocks, +'n' I 'm goin' to rub him down myself."</p> +<p class="pnext">"De coachman jes' tend to yo' hoss like 's ef 't wor +yo'se'f, Mister Chi. I 'll jes' call up de stable bo', 'n' he 'll +rub him down wif sp'r'ts, an' shine him up till he look +jes' lake new mahog'ny. Jes' yo' come--dere dey come now!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi was at the curbstone to welcome them.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Chi! O Chi!" Hazel rose up in the trap at sight of +the well-known figure, and Chi, laying his hand firmly on +Martin's shoulder, put him aside as he sprang to open the +door and let down the steps, reached up both arms, and took +Hazel out as tenderly as on the night of her first arrival +at the farmhouse on the Mountain. And then and there +Hazel gave him a kiss, and Mr. Clyde grasped his hands +in both his, and the wide hall doors that Wilkins had +thrown open to their fullest extent closed upon the +reunited friends.</p> +<p class="pnext">"'E 's a 'ansome 'oss," Martin remarked to the coachman, +as he mounted Fleet to take him to the stable; "Hi +'ave n't seen a 'ansomer since Hi 've bean in the States."</p> +<p class="pnext">A few days after the hall doors were again flung wide, +but not to their fullest extent, and Wilkins' face grew +strangely tremulous when he heard Hazel and Mr. Clyde, +Jack and Chi coming down the broad hall stairs. Martin +was proudly leading Fleet and Little Shaver up and down +in front of the house.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Jack! O Jack! I can't bear to have you go--but I +<em class="italics">will</em> be brave." Hazel smiled through the raining tears. +She clung to him and kissed him. He put her aside, ran +out to Little Shaver, and flung himself on before Chi had +said good-bye.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Take care of Jack, Chi," she whispered, patting his hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I will, Barbara Frietchie." He pointed to the flag that, +in the east wind blowing in from the Sound, was waving +over the entrance, gripped Mr. Clyde's hand, then Wilkins', +and, apparently, stepped into the saddle.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Quick, quick, Wilkins! lower the flag, and let me have +it." Wilkins sprang to obey. Hazel seized it, and rushed +up stairs to the drawing-room, the windows of which +overlooked the Avenue. One of them was open; she leaned +out; and as Fleet and Little Shaver turned the corner, +their riders, looking up, saw the young girl's figure in the +opening. She was waving the symbol of their Country's +life and their manhood's loyalty.</p> +<p class="pnext">They halted, baring their heads for a moment--then +without once looking back, galloped down the Avenue.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="san-juan">XXV</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">SAN JUAN</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Notwithstanding it was a hot day in the first week +of July, Mrs. Spillkins had decided to have a +"quilting-bee." Having made up her mind, after consulting with +Miss Melissa and Miss Elvira, she lost no time in +summoning Uncle Israel from the barn, and making known +her plans. Uncle Israel mildly objected.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Kinder hot fer er quiltin'-bee, ain't it, Hannah?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Tis pretty hot," Mrs. Spillkins admitted, wiping the +perspiration from her face with her apron, "but we 'll have +it to-morrow 'long 'bout four. You get the frames and +rollers out, Israel, from the back garret, an' then I want +you to go up to Mis' Blossom's an' ask 'em to come, an' get +word to the other folks on the Mountain."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll go, Hannah, but I dunno 'bout Mis' Blossom 'n' +Rose comin' ter er quiltin'-bee jest 'bout this time. +They 're feelin' pretty low 'bout Chi off thar in Cuby; +news hez come thet ther 's ben fightin'--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I know that, Israel; I 've thought of that, too; but, +mebbe, it 'll do 'em good, just to change the scene a little. +Anyway, you ask 'em."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Jest ez ye say, Hannah."</p> +<p class="pnext">The sun was setting when Uncle Israel made his +appearance on the porch where the whole family was assembled +with Alan Ford. They had but one topic for conversation.</p> +<p class="pnext">Uncle Israel gave his invitation, and added: "Hannah +thought ye 'd better come 'n' change the scene a +leetle--she knowed ye 'd be kinder low-spereted 'bout now."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Blossom held out her hand. "Thank you, Uncle +Israel. Tell Mrs. Spillkins we will both come."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hannah wants your folks ter come, tew, Alan."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Much obliged, Uncle Israel. I 'll tell mother and +Ruth; I 'm sure they will enjoy it. Ruth said the other +day she wished she might have a chance to see a quilting-bee +while we are here. Shall I take your message over to +Aunt Tryphosa?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Much obleeged, Alan. Thank ye, Rose,"--as Rose +brought out the large arm-chair and placed it for him; +"I 'll set a spell 'n' rest me."</p> +<p class="pnext">It was a typical northern midsummer night. Across +the valley the mountains loomed, softly luminous, against +the pale green translucent stretch of open sky in the west. +There were no clouds; but high above and around there +swept a long trail of motionless mist, flame-colored over the +mountain tops, but darkening, with the coming of the night, +into gray towards the east. The stars were not yet out. +The veeries were choiring antiphonally in the woodlands.</p> +<p class="pnext">An hour afterwards Alan Ford rose to go, and Uncle +Israel soon followed his example.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll go down the woods'-road a piece with you, Uncle +Israel," said Rose.</p> +<p class="pnext">As she came back up the Mountain a cool breath drew +through the pines, and the spruces gave forth their +resinous fragrance upon the dewless night. The stars were +brilliant in the dark blue deeps.</p> +<p class="pnext">A midsummer night among the mountains of New +England! And far away in the sickening heat and wet, +the fever-laden exhalations of the tropics rose into the +nostrils of a man, who sat motionless in the rude +field-hospital, hastily improvised on the slope of San Juan, +watching, with his knees drawn up to his chin and his +hands clasping them, for some faint tremor in the still +face on the army blanket spread upon the ground.</p> +<p class="pnext">The lantern cast its light full upon that still face. +Suddenly the watcher bent forward; his keen eyes had +detected a twitch of an eyelid--a flutter in the muscles of +the throat. "Don't move him," the surgeon had said; +"the least movement will cause the final hemorrhage."</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a catch of the breath--the eyes opened, +partly filmed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Jack!" The watcher spoke, bending lower; his ear +over the other's lips.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Chi--" it was a mere breath, but the man +heard--"I'm--done for."</p> +<p class="pnext">The watcher's hand, muscular, toil-hardened, sought the +nerveless one that was lying on the other's breast, and +closed upon it with a brooding pressure. There was +silence for a few minutes. Then the horny hand felt a +feeble stirring of the fingers beneath the hardened +palm--they were fumbling weakly at a button.</p> +<p class="pnext">The strong hand undid the button, gently--very gently, +without apparent movement. There was a motion of the +nerveless fingers towards the place. Another breath:--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Give--love--"</p> +<p class="pnext">A long silence fell.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Spillkins heaved a sigh of satisfaction: "We 've +done an awful sight of work," she said, surveying the five +quilts "run" and "tacked" and "knotted" in even rows +and mathematically true squares; "but it seems as if +they did n't eat a mite of supper, an' that strawberry +shortcake was enough to melt in your mouth."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What'd I tell ye, Hannah? They're worretin' 'bout +Chi," said Uncle Israel. "They've fit agin; Ben told +me while he wuz waitin' with the team fer the womin-folks. +He hed the mail, 'n' er telegram thet thet young +feller, we see ridin' 'roun' here las' summer, wuz mortal +wounded. He did n't want the womin-folks ter know it +till he got 'em hum. They sot er sight by him."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Spillkins threw up her hands: "Dear suz'y me!" +she exclaimed in a distressed voice. "What 'll they do! +I hope an' pray Malachi Graham ain't hurt none. I feel +as if I ought to go right up there, an' see if there 's +anything I can do."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Better wait till the Cap'n comes hum, Hannah; he 'll +hev the papers."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I guess 't would be better," and Mrs. Spillkins +proceeded to fold up her quilts and "clear up" the best +room.</p> +<p class="pnext">The hot July days warmed the breast of the Mountain. +Over in the corn-patch the stalks had spindled and the +swelling ears were ready to tassel. By word or look +Rose had given no sign--and her mother wondered. The +days wore on; the routine of daily work and life went on; +but the younger children's voices were subdued when they +spoke lovingly and longingly of Chi, and Rose sang no +longer when she kneaded bread. They were days of +suspense and heart misery for them all.</p> +<p class="pnext">Two weeks had passed since that evening when +Mr. Blossom had read to them the fatal despatch. No word +had come from anyone save Hazel, who wrote that her +father and Uncle John had started at once for Cuba, and +that she hoped to be with the Blossoms the third week in +July, for by that time they would know the whole truth.</p> +<p class="pnext">They had been making ready Hazel's little bedroom, +for she was expected in a few days. Rose was tacking up +a white muslin curtain at the small window, when she +heard her father call:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Rose, come here a minute."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, father."</p> +<p class="pnext">She went out on the porch with the hammer in her +hand. "What is it, Popsey dear?--Why, father, what--oh +what--!"</p> +<p class="pnext">With shaking hand her father held out a letter to her. +Rose looked once--it was from Chi!</p> +<p class="pnext">"I wish mother were here, daughter--but she'll be +back soon. Let me know how it is with them +all--." Mr. Blossom could say no more, for Malachi Graham was +as near to him as a brother, and he was agonizing for his +child. He went off to the barn, leaving Rose standing on +the porch, staring as if fascinated at the superscription of +the letter:</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<dl class="docutils left white-space-pre-line"> +<dt class="white-space-pre-line">To Miss Rose Blossom,</dt> +<dd class="white-space-pre-line"><dl class="docutils first last white-space-pre-line"> +<dt class="white-space-pre-line">Mill Settlement,</dt> +<dd class="white-space-pre-line"><dl class="docutils first last white-space-pre-line"> +<dt class="white-space-pre-line">Barton's River,</dt> +<dd class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first last pfirst white-space-pre-line">Vermont.</p> +</dd> +</dl> +</dd> +</dl> +</dd> +</dl> +<p class="pfirst">N.B.B.O.O.--To be opened by nobody but her.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Rose laid down the hammer mechanically, opened the +envelope, and unfolded the piece of brown paper from out +of which fluttered to the floor another and thicker slip, +stained almost beyond recognition. With staring eyes and +face as white as driven snow she read the few words +scrawled in pencil on the brown slip:--</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">DEAR ROSE-POSE,--I ain't no wish to meddle with anybody's +business--but I 'm just obeying orders. The last words +I heard Jack Sherrill speak, was "Give--love," and he fumbled +at his breast to get out this enclosed. I ain't read it--but it's +his heart's blood that's on it. Give my love to all.</p> +<dl class="docutils left white-space-pre-line"> +<dt class="white-space-pre-line">Yours forever,</dt> +<dd class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first last pfirst white-space-pre-line">CHI.</p> +</dd> +</dl> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">"His heart's blood!" For a moment the words conveyed +no meaning. She picked up the iron-rusty brown +slip from the floor; unfolded it; read--Barry Cornwall's +love-song in her own handwriting!</p> +<p class="pnext">"His heart's blood!" She pressed one hand hard upon +her own heart, crushing with the other the dark-stained +slip. Then, with one wild look around her as if searching +for help, she ran down the steps, across the mowing, over +into the pasture and up into the woodlands. Deep, deep +into the heart of them she made her way, as her mother, +Mary Blossom, had done before her; but now there was +no kneeling, no prayer, no petition to take from her the +intolerable pain.</p> +<p class="pnext">She was young, and she loved as the young love. It +was not God whom she wanted; it was "Jack! Jack! +Jack!" She cast herself face down upon the ground, and +moaned in her agony: "His heart's blood--his heart's +blood." She pressed the stained paper to her lips, over +and over again. Then she opened her blouse and baring +her bosom, laid the love-song against it--"His heart's +blood--his heart's blood!"</p> +<p class="pnext">So her mother found her.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="maria-ann-s-crusade">XXVI</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">MARIA-ANN'S CRUSADE</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Of late Aunt Tryphosa had been growing suspicious of +Maria-Ann, and the latter felt she was being watched; to +use her own words, "it nettled her."</p> +<p class="pnext">One afternoon, late in August, her grandmother, coming +upon her rather suddenly in the pasture as she sat under +the shade of a patriarchal butternut, ostensibly watching +Dorcas, asked her sharply:</p> +<p class="pnext">"What you doin', Maria-Ann?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Tendin' to my own business," retorted Maria-Ann, +with an unwonted snap in her voice, and hurriedly folded +something out of sight beneath the Hearthstone Journal +which lay upon her lap.</p> +<p class="pnext">This was the signal of open revolt on the part of her +granddaughter, and the like had occurred but once before +in all the time of her up-bringing with Aunt Tryphosa. +The old dame's lips drew to a thinner line than usual, as +she fired the second shot into the hostile camp:</p> +<p class="pnext">"You been cryin', Maria-Ann."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What if I be?" demanded her granddaughter, with a +flash of indignation from beneath her reddened eyelids. +"S'pose I have a right to have feelin's same as other +folks."</p> +<p class="pnext">Suddenly Aunt Tryphosa swooped like a hen-hawk +upon a small piece of bright scarlet flannel, that the +breeze had caught away from the protecting folds of +the Hearthstone Journal, and landed in the covert of +sweet fern just at her feet.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What's that?" She held up the glowing bit of color, +dangling it before Maria-Ann's eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">Upon poor Maria-Ann's inflamed sense of injustice, it +had much the same effect as a red rag waved before the +eyes of an infuriated bull.</p> +<p class="pnext">She sprang to her feet, snatched the bit of cloth from +between her grandmother's thumb and fore-finger, and +thrust it into her dress waist, crying out shrilly in her +unwonted excitement:</p> +<p class="pnext">"You let that be, Grandmarm Little! It's my cross +and I 'm going on a crusade--so now!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Aunt Tryphosa sat down rather suddenly in the middle +of the sweet-fern patch. Was Maria-Ann going crazy? +Her breath came short and sharp; she drew her thin lips +still more tightly, and, although really alarmed, braced +herself for the combat.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What 'd you say you was goin' on, Maria-Ann?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I never knew you was growin' deef before, grandmarm; +I said a crusade." She had raised her voice to a still +higher pitch, as she stooped to gather up the Hearthstone +Journal, the bits of red cloth, her scissors, and +thimble which had fallen from her lap as she sprang to +her feet.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Is that the thing you read me about last winter in the +Journal, with the soldiers with crosses on their backs on +hosses startin' out for Jerusalem?" demanded the old +dame, but in a strangely agitated voice.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," responded Maria-Ann, promptly, but with less +acerbity of manner.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And is that red rag you hid away a <em class="italics">cross</em>, Maria-Ann +Simmons?" No words can do justice to the old dame's tone +and its implied impiety of her granddaughter's conduct.</p> +<p class="pnext">Maria-Ann was silent.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Be you a Christian girl, or an idolater, Maria-Ann?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Her grandmother's voice shook pitiably. Maria-Ann's +conscience gave a twinge, when she heard it; but she felt +the time was ripe, and she must put in the sickle.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I hope I 'm a Christian, grandmarm, but I 'm an +idolater, too,--" Aunt Tryphosa drew in her breath, as if +hurt. "But, anyway, I guess I was an American 'fore I +was a Christian, an' I jest <em class="italics">idolize</em> my Country--" Maria-Ann's +eyes filled with tears--"an' I can't do anything +for her, nor make sacrifices same as other women do who +can send their husbands--," a sob, "an' lovers--," another +sob, "an' nuss 'em, an' help on their Country's cause livin' +'way up here in an old back paster with an old cow--an' +an old wo--Oh, grandmarm!" Maria-Ann broke +down utterly, laid her head upon her knees, and sobbed +unrestrainedly.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was an unusual sight, and Aunt Tryphosa was +troubled. She felt it necessary to beat a retreat in the +face of such genuine grief, but she was determined that it +should be a dignified one.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I ain't never seen you give way so, Maria-Ann, and +you 're thirty-one year old come next January. I 've done +my best to bring you up right, an' now you 're old enough +to know your own mind, <em class="italics">I hope</em>; so, if you want to leave +me, you can go jest as soon as you can get ready. I come +up for Dorcas, an' now I 'm goin' home." In spite of her +effort her old voice trembled, but her pride sustained her +nobly, and Maria-Ann was all unaware that the tears were +rolling down the wrinkled furrows in the old cheeks as +her grandmother drove Dorcas before her down the +fern-scented pasture slope.</p> +<p class="pnext">Her granddaughter followed her half an hour later, and +after a silent supper, except for Aunt Tryphosa's +murmured "grace," and a faint "amen" from the other side +of the table, Maria-Ann lighted a lamp and shut herself +into her small bedroom.</p> +<p class="pnext">She placed a chair against the door, lest she might be +suddenly raided, and drew the other splint-bottomed one +up to the head of the bed. Lifting the feather-bed she +thrust her hand far under and drew out a square, white +pasteboard box. It was tied with a narrow, white ribbon. +She undid it carefully, and took out a layer of tissue paper. +The lamp-light shone upon a large, gilt heart, some ten by +eight inches, with a thickness of two inches.</p> +<p class="pnext">Maria-Ann turned the box this way and that, watching +the play of light on it, for the heart was skewered with a +large, silver-gilt arrow, and the shaft, where it penetrated, +held a small, white card with simulated blood-drops in +carmine splashed on in one corner, and the sentiment, +written in the same, straggling diagonally across the other +corner:</p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">"In thy sight</div> +<div class="line">Is my delight."</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +</div> +</blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">Maria-Ann shut her eyes and leaned back in her chair. +"Don't seems as if he 'd sent me that if he had n't meant +somethin'," she murmured, and dreamed for a little while. +Then she opened her eyes, prepared for new delights. Raising +the gilt top with tender care, she took out a faded rose:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't seem as if he 'd come back that nex' mornin' +after Chris'mus an' give me that, 'thout he 'd had some +notion." She laid the rose carefully upon the tissue paper, +and began to lift the leaves of the heart-shaped book, until +she had lifted every one of the three hundred and sixty-five! +She smiled to herself.</p> +<p class="pnext">"'T ain't likely he 'd 'a' sent me jest such a cook-book, +'thout he 'd been tryin' to give me a hint." She began to +read the recipes--it was absorbing: puddings, cakes, +preserves. She was lost to time as she read; "An' he took +that pair of socks I knit him last Chris'mus 'long with +him, Rose said--" There was a fumbling at her door. +Maria-Arm blew out the light.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That you, grandmarm?" she called pleasantly.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was no answer, and Maria-Ann laughed softly +to herself as she undressed in the dark, and lay down to +sweet dreams.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'm goin' over to Mis' Blossom's, grandmarm," she +announced the next afternoon, "to see if they 've had any +news. I ain't heard for two days."</p> +<p class="pnext">Her grandmother made no reply, but when her grand-daughter +was well on her way to the Blossoms', Mrs. Tryphosa +Little's conscience deemed it prudent to issue a +private search-warrant and investigate Maria-Ann's +premises--even to the under side of the feather-bed. The +results perfectly justified the search, and upon Maria-Ann's +return just before tea, she was amazed to have her +grandmother offer her a wrinkled cheek to kiss.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, grandmarm!" exclaimed Maria-Ann, in joyful +surprise, "I 'm so glad you ain't laid it up against me--</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can see through a barn-door when 't is wide open, +even at my time of life, Maria-Ann Simmons," said the +old dame, interrupting her.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What did you hear over to Ben's?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hazel's just had a letter from her father, and he says +they 've got Mr. Sherrill home to New York, an' if nothin' +new sets in, he 'll get over it, but his lungs 'll be weak, +mebbe, for two years. He was shot clean through the +lungs."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What do they hear from Chi?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Maria-Ann's face grew suddenly radiant. "Oh, he 's +been awful sick with the fever, an' ain't left Cuby yet, but +he'll come North jest as soon as he can be transported. +I 've been talking over my plans with Mis' Blossom an' +Rose an' Hazel, an' they 're goin' to do everything they can +for me."</p> +<p class="pnext">"So you 're a-goin' to Cuby, Maria-Ann?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, grandmarm, I 've got a call to go an' nuss our +sick an' wounded; I 've been readin' a lot 'bout the Red +Cross misses in the Hearthstone Journal, an' I 'm goin' to +wear a cross, an' Hazel's goin' to pay my fare, an' I 'm +goin' to stop to Mr. Clyde's when I get to New York, +an' he 'll start me all right for Cuby--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Them beets are burnin' on, Maria-Ann; guess you 'd +better stop for jest one more meal on the Mountin, had n't +you?" said her grandmother, dryly.</p> +<p class="pnext">Maria-Ann laughed merrily. "I know, grandmarm, it +seems kinder queer and foolish to you, but I feel as if I +could go now with nothin' on my mind, for you know +Mandy's girl is comin' to stay all September an' October, +an' she 's grand help. You won't begin to miss me 'fore +I 'll be back--an' I 'll own up, grandmarm, ever since Rose +Blossom went to New York last winter, I 've hankered +after seein' more of the world 'sides Mount Hunger."</p> +<p class="pnext">"When you goin' to start?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I calc'late 'bout the last of next week, that 'll be into +September--here, let me pare them beets, grandmarm;" +and forthwith she seized the pan, and began peeling the +steaming, deep-red balls, singing heartily the while:</p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">"'Must I be carried to the skies</div> +<div class="inner line-block"> +<div class="line">On flowery beds of ease,</div> +</div> +<div class="line">While others fought to win the prize,</div> +<div class="inner line-block"> +<div class="line">And sailed through bloody seas?'"</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">"Now be careful, and change at White River Junction," +were Mr. Blossom's parting words at the station. "After +that you go right through to New York."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll take good care, don't you any of you worry 'bout +me!" She waved her handkerchief from the back platform +of the car to the little group she was leaving,--Mr. and +Mrs. Blossom, Rose, March and Hazel, Captain Spillkins +and Susan Wood, with Elvira and Melissa. She was +inflated with heroic resolve, and felt ennobled to be going +forth to do battle, as she termed it to herself, for her +Country's cause. Moreover she was seeing the world, and even +at the start she found it most interesting, for she had been +but ten miles at most by train, and here she was speeding +towards White River Junction, distant forty miles from +Barton's River.</p> +<p class="pnext">She longed to communicate her enthusiasm to the occupants +of the car, but found only one opportunity. She +offered to hold a baby, one of a family of five, while the +mother fed and watered the other four. She continued to +dandle it recklessly till the woman protested:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Guess you ain't had a fam'ly," she remarked sternly, +rescuing her child; "a woman of your age ought to know +better 'n to shake a baby up so when he 's teethin'--'t ain't +good for their brains--like enough bring on chol'ry morbis." She +pulled down the small clothes, turned the atom over on +its stomach, and patted its back with a broad hand and a +dove-like settling motion that bespoke the mater-familias.</p> +<p class="pnext">Maria-Ann looked out of the window. True, she had n't +any family--only Grandmarm Little and Aunt Mandy's +one daughter who had just come to visit them. What was +Aunt Tryphosa doing now? She was dreaming again, and +before she could realize it, the brakeman called, "White +River Junction! Change cars for all points south via +Windsor, Springfield, New York."</p> +<p class="pnext">Hearing that, Maria-Ann felt as if she had already +travelled a thousand miles, so far away seemed Mount Hunger +and its uneventful life.</p> +<p class="pnext">She found herself on the platform. She had been so +confident of taking care of herself--and now! She looked +helplessly about. Trains to the right of her, trains to the +left of her, trains in front of her and behind her switched, +and shifted, and thundered. Engine-bells, dinner-bells, +train-bells; stentorian voices of baggage-men, brakemen, +call-men; frantic women, screaming babies, hurrying +porters, indifferent travellers, fashionable women and city +men; farmers, children, baskets, shawl-straps, dress-suit +cases, golf bags, boys; dogs, yelping and crying, in arms +or in leash; canaries in their wooden cages shrilling over +all; and hither and thither and yon a bustling, and +rustling, and rattling, and roaring, and clanking, and hissing, +and shrieking, and hurrying, and scurrying, and pushing, +and hauling, and prodding, and rushing! For a minute +Maria-Ann was dazed and almost stunned. Then her +courage rose to the occasion. <em class="italics">This</em> was the famous +Junction of which she had heard so much. <em class="italics">This</em> was the great +world. <em class="italics">This</em> was Life!</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll stand stock-still an' wait till it clears up a little. +I 've got an hour here, an' mebbe I 'll see somebody from +Barton's," she said to herself, and had just put down her +valise when a hoarse voice cried in her ear,--"Hi, there! get +out of the way!"</p> +<p class="pnext">She dodged a baggage truck piled high with toppling +trunks, only to be caught in the surging, living stream, +and carried with it up a step into the restaurant of the +station.</p> +<p class="pnext">To Maria-Ann it was a marvellous sight. She set down +her valise by a window and, standing guard in front +of it, gazed about her with intense satisfaction. In truth +this was seeing the great world, of which she had read so +much in the Journal and for which she had longed, at first +hand. Around the counter--a long oval--were perched +on the high, wooden, spring stools "all sorts and conditions +of men," with a sprinkling of women and children. +There was perpetual motion of knives, forks, teaspoons, +arms, hands, mouths,--and a noisy conglomerate beyond +description, accented by the shriek and toot of the +switch-engines.</p> +<p class="pnext">Suddenly the clangor of a gong-like bell and a stentorian +voice rose above the chaos of sound;--there was a momentary +lull in the confusion of masticating utensils, followed +by a general slipping, sliding, and jumping off the round +wooden perches,--and to Maria-Ann's amazement, the +room was nearly vacant.</p> +<p class="pnext">"<em class="italics">Now 's</em> my time," said Maria-Ann, with considerable +complacency, and forthwith proceeded to hoist herself, by +means of the foot-rail, upon one of the seats, at the same +time placing her valise on another at her right. She looked +at the varied assortment of delectables--an embarrassment +of riches: jelly-roll cakes, pickles, squash pie, baked beans, +frosted tea-cakes, sage cheese, ham sandwiches, lemon pie, +cold, spice-speckled custards, doughnuts, great as to their +circumference, startling as to their cubical contents.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 've heard tell of them," said Maria-Ann to herself, as +her eye, ranging the oval marble slab, encountered a +pyramidal pile of New England's doughty cruller. "I 'll have +two of them, I guess," she said to the indifferent attendant, +"an' a cup of coffee; that 'll last me for a spell, and I can +keep my lunch for supper." She expected some response +to her explanation, but there was none forthcoming, save +that a cup of coffee, half-pint size, was shoved over the +counter towards her, and the huge glass dome that +protected the doughnuts was removed with a jerk, and the +towering pile set down in front of her.</p> +<p class="pnext">Maria-Ann helped herself. It seemed rather tame, +after so much excitement, to be eating a doughnut the +size of a small feather-bed, without company. She looked +around. There were but three or four at the entire counter. +Farther down to the left, his tall, gaunt figure silhouetted +against the blank of the large window, a man was seated, +bestriding the perch as if it were a horse. He wore the +undress uniform of the volunteer cavalry. When +Maria-Ann discovered this, she felt for a moment, to use her +own expression, "flustered." The mere presence of the +uniform brought to her a realizing sense of the importance +of her mission; it seemed to bring her at once into touch +with far-away Cuba, and the feminine knights of the Red +Cross; with--her heart gave a joyful thump--with Chi! +She felt in a way ennobled to be eating her doughnut +within speaking distance of a hero (they were all that in +Maria-Ann's idealizing imagination).</p> +<p class="pnext">She had bitten only halfway into the periphery of the +doughnut, when the man stepped from his seat. She +watched him as he moved slowly towards the door; his +back was turned to her. How feebly he moved! Almost +seeming to drag one foot after the other.</p> +<p class="pnext">A great flood of patriotic pity engulfed Maria-Ann's +whole being. She forgot the doughnuts; she left the +coffee; she forgot even her valise; her one thought was +as she slid from the stool: "I ain't no call to wait till I +get to Cuby; I 'm just as much a Red Cross nuss right +here in White River Junction, Vermont, as if I was a +thousand miles away." The girl at the counter looked +after her in amazement--she hadn't even paid! But +there was her valise.</p> +<p class="pnext">She saw Maria-Ann whisk something out of her dress-waist +and stop halfway down the room to pin it on her +sleeve, and lo and behold!--it was a cross of bright red +flannel. She saw her hurry after the man, who had +dragged himself to the doorway, and stood there leaning +heavily against the jamb.</p> +<p class="pnext">"If you 're goin' to take a train, just you let me help +you aboard," she said, speaking just at his elbow. The +man's head half turned with a jerk. "You ain't fit to +stan' more 'n an eight months baby, an' I 'm a Red Cross +nuss on my way to Cuby--"</p> +<p class="pnext">A gaunt, yellow face with haggard eyes was turned +slowly full upon her, and a hand, shaking, as that of a +man in drink, was laid on her arm:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't you know me, Marier-Ann?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Maria-Ann sat down suddenly on the doorstep at the +man's feet. There was no strength left in her. Then she +put her head into her hands, and began to cry softly; +there were few to see her, and had the whole world been +there, she would not have cared.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Just help me into the waitin'-room, Marier-Ann, where +we can talk."</p> +<p class="pnext">She bounced to her feet, with streaming, tear-blinded +eyes, and Chi, linking his arm in hers, led her into the +"Ladies' Room."</p> +<p class="pnext">A porter followed them in; he addressed Chi. "She +ain't paid for what she ordered, and she ain't eat it neither, +and she 's left her valise."</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi pulled out a ten-cent piece and put it into his hand. +"Bring 'em all in," he said, "grub 'n' all, 'n' I 'll pay for +'em. We 'll sit here a spell till train time." Maria-Ann +sobbed afresh.</p> +<p class="pnext">The porter brought in the plate with the doughnuts, the +cup of coffee, and the valise, and set them down on the +wooden settee. He pointed to the ten-cent piece that +lay within the inner ring of a doughnut:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't take nothin' of that kind from you fellers." He +touched the bit of braid on the cuff of Chi's coat; Chi +smiled, and pocketed the money.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Guess you was n't expectin' to meet an old friend so +soon, was you?" said Chi, gently, setting the plate in her +lap.</p> +<p class="pnext">Maria-Ann shook her head vigorously, but she could +not control the sobs. Chi crossed one leg over the other, +and waited.</p> +<p class="pnext">The flies buzzed on the smoke-thickened panes, and an +empty truck rattled down the platform. There were no +other sounds.</p> +<p class="pnext">"When does your train go, Marier-Ann?"</p> +<p class="pnext">There was another sob, but no answer.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Did n't I hear you say you was on your way to Cuby?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Maria-Ann nodded.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Bad place for women--'n' men, too. What you goin' for?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Maria-Ann's answer was only half audible: "To nuss."</p> +<p class="pnext">"To nuss? Ain't there enough nussin' you can do +nearer home?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Maria-Ann looked up with tear-reddened eyes. "I +did n't think so--" a sob--"till I saw you, Chi. I did n't +know you--I thought I 'd begin right now, before I got +there--" her hands covered her eyes again.</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi's trembling ones, weak from the fever, drew her +cold ones down from her face.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You did just right, Marier-Ann, to want to begin right +now.--The Barton's River train is due to start from here +in fifteen minutes;--s'posin' you give up Cuby, 'n' come +along home, 'n' try nussin' me. I need it bad enough."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Chi, do you mean it?" Maria-Ann caught her breath.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You bet I do," said Chi, emphatically, "only"--he +paused and took up the plate from her lap, spilling the +coffee, for the trembling of his hand had increased--"if +you 're goin' to undertake it with me, it's got to be a life +job, Marier-Ann."</p> +<p class="pnext">The flies continued to buzz on the smoke-thickened +panes. The train for Barton's River steamed in from the +siding. The couple in the waiting-room boarded it. The +porter watched them with a queer smile. Then he took +up the plate of uneaten doughnuts and the cup of cooled +coffee, and handed them to the girl behind the counter.</p> +<p class="pnext">"She ain't eat 'em, after all," she said. "She acted +kinder queer for a Red Cross nurse."</p> +<p class="pnext">"He's the chap I give the telegram to when he got +here on the up-train last night."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What was it?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Twenty-five cent one from Barton's River--'M.A. starts +for Cuba Thursday stop her at Junction.'"</p> +<p class="pnext">The girl laughed, and the restaurant filled again.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="the-stars-above-shine-ever-on-love">XXVII</p> +<p class="center medium pnext white-space-pre-line">"--The stars above<br /> +Shine ever on Love--"</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">"I 'm goin' up into the clearin', Mis' Blossom, to see if +there ain't some late blackberries," said Chi, a few days +after his triumphal return with Maria-Ann. "Seems as if +the smell of the sun on that spruce-bush up yonder would +put new life into me--I feel so kind of shif'less."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I would, Chi," said Mrs. Blossom; "you have n't +begun to get your strength back yet, and the more you 're +out in this air, without overworking, the better it will be +for you."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll go with you, Chi," said Rose, looking up from her +work, as she sat sewing on the lower step of the porch.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's right, Rose-pose; it 'll seem like old times." Chi +followed her with wistful eyes as she turned to go +up stairs.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 'll be down in a few minutes, Chi; we 'd better take +the two-quart pails, had n't we?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Maybe we 'll find enough for one or two messes."</p> +<p class="pnext">He turned to Mrs. Blossom when Rose had left the +room. "Can't there nothin' be done 'bout it, Mis' +Blossom?" He spoke almost wistfully.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Blossom's eyes filled with tears. She hesitated a +moment before she spoke: "I know Rose so well, Chi, +that I dare <em class="italics">not</em> interfere. I doubt if she would accept +anything, even from me, her mother."</p> +<p class="pnext">"It beats me," Chi sighed heavily. "He 's just a-pinin' +for a word or sign, 'n' there ain't no use talkin'--<em class="italics">she 's</em> +got to give it; I 'd back him up every time, he 's done +enough--"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sh--!" Mrs. Blossom held up her finger; she heard +Rose on the stairs. Chi looked up--his old Rose-pose +stood before him: old, faded, green and white calico dress, +old sunbonnet, patched shoes! Chi turned away abruptly +to get his pails; and her mother wondered, but said nothing.</p> +<p class="pnext">They found more than one "patch," where the berries +hung in luscious clusters of shining jet. Chi pummelled +his chest, and drew deep, deep breaths of the balsamic +mountain air. "This sets a man up, Rose-pose; there +ain't nothin' like the air on this Mountain for an all-round +tonic. Let's sit here a spell, right by this sweet fern."</p> +<p class="pnext">She pushed back the sunbonnet as she sat down beside +him. "Tired, Chi?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No--rests me clear through just to sit 'n' look off +onto those slopes, just about as green as in June."</p> +<p class="pnext">They sat awhile in silence; then Chi turned and picked +up the sunbonnet that had fallen from her head. He +touched it gently.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Remember the first time you sold berries in that rig, +Rose-pose?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The blood surged into Rose's face, and receded, leaving +it strangely white. Chi felt his heart contract at the +change, but he went on:</p> +<p class="pnext">"First time Jack ever saw you was in that rig.--You +ain't changed so much but he 'd know you again if he saw +you in Chiny."</p> +<p class="pnext">Still there was silence. Chi moistened his lips.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Can't say as much for him; never saw such a change; +he 's all fallen away to nothin' but skin and bones. Doctor +Heath told me just before I left--'n' he put me aboard +the train--that nothin' could set him up again but this +Mountain air, 'n' good food, 'n'--" Chi paused; his mouth +was uncomfortably dry. Rose's face was turned from him, +but he saw a contraction of her delicate throat, as if a dry +sob were suddenly suppressed. Then she spoke in a +monotone:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why does n't he come, then?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"<em class="italics">Why!</em>--" Chi fairly startled himself with his +thundering "why," and Rose half started from the ground. +The blood leaped to her very temples; seeing which, Chi +took heart--"Coz he 's every inch a man, Rose Blossom; +'n' he's got too much grit of the right sort to ask a girl +twice, he 's about given his heart's blood for.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He ain't a-goin' to come crawlin' up here to ask no +favors of you after he knows that you <em class="italics">know</em>--'n' I glory +in his spunk. But I can tell you, if you don't look out, +you 'll come nearer to bein' a real Molly Stark than you +ever thought you could be when you joined the N.B.B.O.O., +'n' by George Washin'ton! it goes against me to see you +breakin' the by-laws you pledged yourself to stand by, +every minute of your life that you keep so dumb towards +Jack Sherrill;--for you 're provin' yourself a coward in +your love, 'n' you 'll have a widowed heart to pay for it +mighty soon, if you keep on, that'll be worse than Molly +Stark's any day--" A whisper stopped him:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Chi, Chi, tell him to come--I want him so; oh, Chi!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi's hand was laid on the bowed head with its crown of +shining, golden-brown braids: "Rose Blossom, may God +Almighty bless you for proving yourself a true woman, +'n' worthy of the mother that bore you. I can't say any +more."</p> +<p class="pnext">An hour later March Blossom, with a telegram in his +hand, was speeding on Fleet to Barton's River; and two +days afterwards Mr. Blossom and Alan Ford in the double +wagon, and Chi alone in the buggy, drove down to Barton's +to meet the up-train. Mrs. Blossom and Rose stood on +the porch straining their eyes in the quickly-falling +September twilight to see any movement on the lower road. +The children had been sent over to Hunger-ford till after +tea, for Jack was not strong enough to bear a too joyful +home-coming.</p> +<p class="pnext">"They 're coming, Rose," said Mrs. Blossom, in a low +tone; then she turned abruptly, and went into the house, +leaving Rose alone on the step.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Here we are, safe 'n' sound," said Chi, in an affectedly +cheery voice, as he drove out of the woods'-road. "Just +wait a minute, Jack, 'n' I 'll give you an arm gettin' out." He +laid the reins on the dasher. Then he assisted the tall, +gaunt figure of the man beside him to alight. Jack half +stumbled, for his eyes were seeking Rose--and Rose?</p> +<p class="pnext">All her womanhood, all the sacred privileges of wifehood, +came to her aid at that moment. She sprang to the +carriage, and, with one hand, put Chi aside; with the other, +she lifted Jack's half-nerveless arm and laid it over her +shoulders; then, encircling him with her own slender one, +she said gently, guiding him to the porch step:</p> +<p class="pnext">"<em class="italics">Lean on me, dearest.</em>"</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">On the first of November, one of the short-lived Indian +Summer days, the farmhouse on Mount Hunger literally +blossomed like a rose.</p> +<p class="pnext">A week beforehand there had been an animated discussion +as to what should be the wedding decorations of the +"long-room." Hazel, who had been with them a week +already, settled it.</p> +<p class="pnext">"As if there could be any choice!" she exclaimed. +"It's been great fun to hear you all suggesting this, that, +and the other, from ground hemlock and bitter-sweet, to +everlasting! But Jack and I settled it three weeks +ago--how could there be anything for Rose, but roses? +Anyway, that's what Jack wrote, and our florist looked fairly +dazed when I gave him the order--just bushels of them, +Rose-pose, lovely La France ones, like those you threw +into the--No, I won't tease you, Cousin mine," she said, +with a merry laugh, as Rose looked at her appealingly.</p> +<p class="pnext">And now, on the wedding morning of the first of November, +the great box that Chi had brought up from Barton's +the night before was opened, and in Hazel's skilful fingers +the exquisite pink blooms lent to the "long-room" a +wonderful grace and beauty.</p> +<p class="pnext">She was flitting about in her pale pink cashmere dress--"Made +specially to match the roses," she said to March, +as she dropped him a curtsy preparatory to pinning a rose +into his buttonhole. "We must all wear Rose-pose's badge +to-day. Where are you, Budd?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Here," said her knight, promptly appearing with Cherry +from the pantry, where they had been counting the +frosting-roses on the wedding-cake. He looked down at the +slender fingers as they pulled the stem of the pink bud +through the buttonhole of his jacket, and thought--of the +ring! Then he looked up at the tall, beautiful girl bending +over him, and, somehow, the day of his proposal seemed +very far away in the Past. Hazel was so grown up!--as +tall as Rose. Still, he was n't going to be afraid, if she +was grown up. Now was his time;--and "Ethan Allan" +always made the most of his opportunities. Budd was in +United States History, this term, and he knew this for a +fact.</p> +<p class="pnext">He drew forth from his breeches' pocket a something +that might once have been white, but, at present, looked +more like a shoe-rag, it was so dingy and soiled.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I 've kept it, you see, Hazel," he said, his small mouth +puckering, his round, light-blue eyes growing rounder, as +he looked up at Hazel, with twelve-year-old earnestness.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Kept what?" said Hazel, mystified, and holding up +the offering gingerly between thumb and forefinger to +examine it.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, don't you know?--the glove you gave me when +you said you 'd be my Lady-love? don't you remember,--in +the barn?" answered Budd, slightly crestfallen.</p> +<p class="pnext">Hazel laughed merrily. "Oh, you funny boy!" she +said, "to keep an old glove of mine for nearly a year and +a half! Why, it's nearly black and blue. Have you kept +it in your best Sunday-go-to-meeting trousers' pocket all +this time?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Budd nodded, but soberly. Seeing which, Hazel gave +him a pat on the top of his head, and assured him she +would give him one of her cleaned party gloves once a +year till he was twenty-one, if only he would promise not +to keep it in his pocket with spruce-gum, chalk, chestnuts, +lead-pencil sharpenings, top-twine, jack-knives, and ginger +cookie crumbs.</p> +<p class="pnext">"How 'd you know I had all those things in my +pocket?" demanded Budd, in his amazement forgetting +his sentiment.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, a little bird told me," replied Hazel. "Run and +ask Chi to come in, will you? I have his rose ready for +him, and it's most time for them all to come."</p> +<p class="pnext">It was a quiet wedding. Only those nearest and dearest +were about them; Mr. Sherrill, Aunt Carrie and Uncle +Jo, Mr. Clyde and Hazel, Doctor and Mrs. Heath, the +Blossoms and Chi.</p> +<p class="pnext">Afterwards all the Lost Nation came in to give their +heart-felt blessings and good wishes. They were all +there--from Maria-Ann, radiant in the realization of her own +romance, to Miss Alton and the Fords, who were to leave +on the night train to remain six weeks in New York, and +had placed Hunger-ford at the disposal of Rose and Jack +during the first weeks of their marriage. They remained +but a little while, for the excitement was almost more than +Jack was able to bear.</p> +<p class="pnext">The moon rose between six and seven, largely luminous +and slightly reddened through the soft, warm haze of the +Indian Summer night. Rose had insisted, that, if the +night were mild, Jack should ride over to Hunger-ford +at a snail's pace on Little Shaver, and that she should lead +him. At first Jack protested, but in the end Rose had +her way. Chi, on Fleet, was to ride on a little ahead to be +within call, if anything should be needed. "Kind of +scoutin' to remind us of Cuby, Jack," he said, laughing, +as he helped him into the saddle.</p> +<p class="pnext">They were all on the porch to see the little cavalcade +set forth, the pony whinnying his delight to find his master +on his back. Rose took the bridle. Suddenly she dropped +it, turned, and came back to the steps where Hazel stood +between Mrs. Blossom and March. She put up her arms, +and clasping the young girl about the waist, drew her +down to kiss her, and whisper:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Hazel! What if you had n't come to us!--All +this happiness is through you."</p> +<p class="pnext">And Hazel, but dimly perceiving Rose's meaning, +whispered back as she kissed her:</p> +<p class="pnext">"And if I had n't come, Rose-pose, <em class="italics">I</em> should never have +been rich as I am now; Chi can't call me 'poor' any +longer--for you 're all mine, now that you are Jack's; +aren't you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">March, hearing those whispered words, found his mother's +hand, somehow,--and Mrs. Blossom understood.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good-night, Martie dear," cried Rose, love and tears +and laughter struggling in her voice.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good-night, Rose dear."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good-night, Rose--Good-night, Jack!" cried the twins.</p> +<p class="pnext">A white slipper filled with rice flew after Little Shaver, +and hit him on the left hock. But he was a well-bred polo +pony, and a white satin slipper with a little rice was as +nothing to a swift, long-distance polo ball; so he gave no +sign.</p> +<p class="pnext">Chi stopped at the little house "over eastwards." Maria-Ann +was on the lookout.</p> +<p class="pnext">"They 're comin' along just by the turn of the road," +he spoke low, "can you see 'em?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The road lay white in the moonlight. "Yes, yes," cried +Maria-Ann excitedly, "Oh, Chi, ain't it beautiful!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sh--sh!" said Chi, "they 'll hear you. Hark! By +George Washin'ton! she 's singin'--Get, Fleet." The +horse loped along over the moonlit road, and Maria-Ann +went in and shut the door--all but a crack. To that she +put her ear, to hear what the clear, sweet voice was +singing:</p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">"'I told thee when love was hopeless;</div> +<div class="line">But now he is wild and sings--</div> +<div class="line">That the stars above</div> +<div class="line">Shine ever on Love,</div> +<div class="line">Though they frown on the fate of kings.'"</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +</div> +</blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">Mount Hunger stood bathed in white radiance. The +stars came out, but faintly;--still, they were shining.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<!-- clearpage --> +<p class="center pfirst x-large">New Illustrated Editions of +Miss Alcott's Famous Stories</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">LITTLE MEN: Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys</p> +<p class="pnext">By LOUISA M. ALCOTT. With fifteen full-page illustrations by Reginald +B. Birch. Crown 8vo. Decorated cloth. $2.00.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Little Men" has never been given to an +admiring public in any form so charming as +this one. All that was needed to make the tale quite +irresistible was such illustrations as +are here supplied, fifteen full-page ones instinct with life +and movement and charm.--<em class="italics">Boston Budget</em>.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">LITTLE WOMEN: or Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy</p> +<p class="pnext">By LOUISA M. ALCOTT. With 15 full-page Illustrations by Alice Barber +Stephens. Crown 8vo. Decorated cloth. $2.00.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Books may come and books may go, +but 'Little Women' still remains the ideal book +for young girls, the best representation of bright, +lovable girlhood," say the <em class="italics">Brooklyn +Eagle</em>; and the <em class="italics">Philadelphia Telegraph</em> speaks +of the pictures as follows: "In drawing +women of the Civil War period, Alice Barber Stephens +is in her element, and her +illustrations are all that can be desired."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">AN OLD-FASHIONED GIRL</p> +<p class="pnext">By LOUISA M. ALCOTT. With 12 full-page pictures by Jessie Willcox +Smith. Crown 8vo. Decorated cloth. $2.00.</p> +<p class="pnext">Of the third book in illustrated edition +of the "Little Women" Series, the <em class="italics">Saturday +Evening Gazette</em>, Boston, says: +"No better portraits of Polly and Tom could be imagined +than those which appear in these pages.... +No book of its lamented author has more +endearing qualities."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">JO'S BOYS, and How They Turned Out</p> +<p class="pnext">A Sequel to "Little Men." By LOUISA M. ALCOTT. With 10 full-page +plates by Ellen Wetherald Ahrens. Crown 8vo. Decorated cloth. $2.00.</p> +<p class="pnext">Those who were fascinated by the story +of the Marsh family in "Little Men" will take a +keen interest in the experiences of Mrs. Jo's boys. +"The boys are as entertaining as +their elders were in their time," says the <em class="italics">Worcester Spy</em>, +"and the story has plenty of life +and incident, fun and pathos; its atmosphere +is fresh, pure, and wholesome."</p> +<p class="pnext">"The young folks who have been charmed +with Miss Alcott's previous stories," says the +<em class="italics">San Francisco Chronicle</em>, "will read 'Jo's Boys' +with avidity." The illustrations by +Charlotte Harding are in keeping with the spirit of the author.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">THE FOUR VOLUMES PUT UP IN BOX, $8.00</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst white-space-pre-line">LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY<br /> +<em class="italics white-space-pre-line">Publishers</em>, 254 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON, MASS.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst">Anna Chapin Ray's "Teddy" Stories</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">TEDDY: HER BOOK. A Story of Sweet Sixteen</p> +<p class="pnext">Illustrated by Vesper L. George. 12mo. $1.50.</p> +<p class="pnext">Miss Ray's work draws instant comparison +with the best of Miss Alcott's: first, +because she has the same genuine sympathy +with boy and girl life; secondly, +because she creates real characters, +individual and natural, like the young people +one knows, actually working out the same kind of problems; +and, finally, because +her style of writing is equally unaffected and +straightforward.--<em class="italics">Christian Register</em>, Boston.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">PHEBE: HER PROFESSION</p> +<p class="pnext">A Sequel to "Teddy: Her Book"</p> +<p class="pnext">Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill. 12mo. $1.50.</p> +<p class="pnext">This is one of the few books written for young people +in which there is to be +found the same vigor and grace that one demands +in a good story for older people.--<em class="italics">Worcester Spy</em>.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">TEDDY: HER DAUGHTER</p> +<p class="pnext">A Sequel to "Teddy: Her Book," and "Phebe: Her Profession"</p> +<p class="pnext">Illustrated by J. B. Graff. 12mo. $1.20 net.</p> +<p class="pnext">Introduces a new generation of girls and boys, +all well bred and gifted with good +manners, takes them through much fun and such +adventures as one may find on a +small sandy island, and gives the girl a page +or two of saving common sense about +her duties to boys and her obligation to be true +and womanly.--<em class="italics">New York Times Saturday Review</em>.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">NATHALIE'S CHUM</p> +<p class="pnext">Illustrated by Ellen Bernard Thompson. 12mo. $1.20 net.</p> +<p class="pnext">A charming story of a courageous fifteen-year-old +girl's effort to help her +older brother support an orphaned family of five. +"Nathalie is the sort +of a young girl whom other girls like to read about," +says the <em class="italics">Hartford Courant</em>.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">URSULA'S FRESHMAN. A Sequel to "Nathalie's Chum"</p> +<p class="pnext">Illustrated by Harriet Roosevelt Richards. 12mo. $1.20 net.</p> +<p class="pnext">A hot-tempered, domineering girl, +yet full of common sense and capable +of loyal love, and Jack, her cousin, +who stoically accepts the loss of his +father's fortune, and begins to earn +his own way through Yale, are the +two principal characters in Miss Ray's new book.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst white-space-pre-line">LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY, <em class="italics white-space-pre-line">Publishers</em><br /> +254 WASHINGTON ST., BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 6em"> +</div> +<!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- --> +<div class="backmatter"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst" id="pg-end-line">*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK <span>A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH</span> ***</p> +<div class="cleardoublepage"> +</div> +<div class="language-en level-2 pgfooter section" id="a-word-from-project-gutenberg" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<span id="pg-footer"></span><h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title">A Word from Project Gutenberg</h2> +<p class="pfirst">We will update this book if we find any errors.</p> +<p class="pnext">This book can be found under: <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/40661"><span>http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/40661</span></a></p> +<p class="pnext">Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one +owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and +you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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+
+.. meta::
+ :PG.Id: 40661
+ :PG.Title: A Daughter of the Rich
+ :PG.Released: 2012-09-04
+ :PG.Reposted: 2012-10-06 minor corrections
+ :PG.Rights: Public Domain
+ :PG.Producer: Al Haines
+ :DC.Creator: \M. \E. Waller
+ :MARCREL.ill: Ellen Bernard Thompson
+ :DC.Title: A Daughter of the Rich
+ :DC.Language: en
+ :DC.Created: 1903
+ :coverpage: images/img-cover.jpg
+
+======================
+A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH
+======================
+
+.. clearpage::
+
+.. pgheader::
+
+.. container:: coverpage
+
+ .. vspace:: 3
+
+ .. _`Cover`:
+
+ .. figure:: images/img-cover.jpg
+ :align: center
+ :alt: Cover
+
+ Cover
+
+ .. vspace:: 3
+
+.. container:: frontispiece
+
+ .. _`Hazel`:
+
+ .. figure:: images/img-front.jpg
+ :align: center
+ :alt: Hazel
+
+ Hazel
+
+ .. vspace:: 4
+
+.. container:: titlepage center white-space-pre-line
+
+ .. class:: x-large
+
+ \A
+ Daughter of the Rich
+
+ .. vspace:: 2
+
+ .. class:: medium
+
+ BY
+
+ .. class:: large
+
+ \M. \E. WALLER
+
+ .. class:: small
+
+ AUTHOR OF "THE LITTLE CITIZEN"
+
+ .. vspace:: 3
+
+ .. class:: medium
+
+ ILLUSTRATED BY
+ ELLEN BERNARD THOMPSON
+
+ .. vspace:: 3
+
+ .. class:: medium
+
+ BOSTON
+ LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
+ 1903
+
+ .. vspace:: 4
+
+.. container:: verso center white-space-pre-line
+
+ .. class:: small
+
+ *Copyright, 1903,*
+ BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.
+
+ .. vspace:: 1
+
+ .. class:: small
+
+ *All rights reserved*
+
+ .. vspace:: 2
+
+ .. class:: small
+
+ Published October, 1903
+
+ .. vspace:: 3
+
+ .. class:: small
+
+ UNIVERSITY PRESS
+ JOHN WILSON AND SON
+ CAMBRIDGE, \U. \S. \A.
+
+ .. vspace:: 4
+
+.. container:: dedication center white-space-pre-line
+
+ .. class:: medium
+
+ To
+ "MARTIE"
+
+ .. vspace:: 4
+
+.. container:: plainpage white-space-pre-line
+
+ .. class:: center large
+
+ CONTENTS
+
+ .. vspace:: 2
+
+ .. class:: left medium
+
+ I. `Molasses Tea`_
+ II. `Mrs. Blossom's Valentine`_
+ III. `A Curious Case`_
+ IV. `A Little Millionaire`_
+ V. `Transplanted`_
+ VI. `Malachi`_
+ VII. `The \N.\B.\B.\O.\O. Society`_
+ VIII. `A Lively Correspondence`_
+ IX. `The Prize Chicken`_
+ X. `An Unexpected Meeting`_
+ XI. `Jack`_
+ XII. `Results`_
+ XIII. `A Social Addition`_
+ XIV. `The Lost Nation`_
+ XV. `Wishing-Tree Secrets`_
+ XVI. `A Christmas Prelude`_
+ XVII. `Hunger-Ford`_
+ XVIII. `Budd's Proposal`_
+ XIX. `A Year And A Day`_
+ XX. `Snow-Bound`_
+ XXI. `A Little Daughter of the Rich`_
+ XXII. `Rose`_
+ XXIII. `"Behold how great a Matter a Little Fire Kindles"`_
+ XXIV. `"Old Put"`_
+ XXV. `San Juan`_
+ XXVI. `Maria-Ann's Crusade`_
+ XXVII. `"--The stars above, Shine ever on Love--"`_
+
+ .. vspace:: 4
+
+.. container:: plainpage white-space-pre-line
+
+ .. class:: center large
+
+ LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+ .. vspace:: 2
+
+ .. class:: left medium
+
+ `Hazel`_ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frontispiece
+
+ .. vspace:: 1
+
+ .. class:: left medium
+
+ `"'You can begin to drop that corn this very afternoon'"`_
+
+ .. vspace:: 1
+
+ .. class:: left medium
+
+ `"Rose was at the kitchen table, patting out the dough for the rolls"`_
+
+ .. vspace:: 1
+
+ .. class:: left medium
+
+ `"Hazel flung both arms around Mrs. Blossom's neck"`_
+
+ .. vspace:: 1
+
+ .. class:: left medium
+
+ `"'I want to tell you why I came up here'"`_
+
+ .. vspace:: 1
+
+ .. class:: left medium
+
+ `"The two girls leaned over the box as Hazel took off the wrapper"`_
+
+ .. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`MOLASSES TEA`:
+
+.. class:: center x-large
+
+ A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH
+
+.. vspace:: 3
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ I
+
+.. class:: center medium
+
+ MOLASSES TEA
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+"Good-night, Martie," called a sweet voice down the
+stairway.
+
+"Good-night, Rose dear; I thought you were asleep."
+
+"Good-night, Martie," duetted the twins, in the shrillest
+of treble and falsetto.
+
+"Good-night, you rogues; go to sleep; you 'll wake
+baby."
+
+"Dood-night, mummy," chirped a little voice from the
+adjoining room.
+
+There was a shout of laughter from the twins.
+
+"Shut up," growled March from the attic over the
+kitchen. "Good-night, mother." His growl ended in a
+squeak, for March was at that interesting period of his life
+indicated by a change of voice. At the sound, a prolonged
+snicker from somewhere was answered by a corresponding
+giggle from another-where.
+
+"Now, children," said Mrs. Blossom, speaking up the
+stairway, "do be quiet, or baby will be wide awake."
+
+"Tum tiss me, mummy," piped the little voice a second
+time, with no sound of sleep in it.
+
+"Yes, darling, I 'll come;" as she turned to go into the
+bedroom adjoining the kitchen, there was the sound of a
+jump overhead, a patter of bare feet, a squabble on the
+stairs, and Budd and Cherry, the irrepressible ten-year-old
+twins, tumbled into the room.
+
+"I 'll haul those kids back to bed for you, mother,"
+shouted March, and flung himself out of bed to join the
+fray, while Rose was not behindhand in making her
+appearance.
+
+Mrs. Blossom came in with little May in her arms, and
+that was the signal for a wholesale kissing-party in which
+May was hostess.
+
+"Children, children, you 'll smother me!" laughed their
+mother. "Here, sit down on the rug and warm your
+toes,--coming over those bare stairs this cold night!" And
+down they sat, Rose and March, Budd and Cherry and
+little May, in thick white and red flannel night-dresses
+and gray flannel pajamas.
+
+Budd coughed consumptively, and Cherry followed suit.
+March shivered and shook like a small earthquake, and
+Rose looked up laughingly at her mother.
+
+"We know what that means, don't we, Martie," she
+said. "Shall I help?"
+
+"No, no, dear,--in your bare feet!"
+
+Mrs. Blossom took a lamp from the shelf over the fireplace,
+and, leaving the five with their fifty toes turned
+and wriggling before the cheering warmth of the blazing
+hickory logs, disappeared in the pantry.
+
+"Oh, bully," said Budd, rubbing his flannel pajamas
+just over his stomach; "I wish 't was a cold night every
+day, then we could have molasses tea all the time, don't
+you, Cherry?"
+
+"Mm," said Cherry, too full of the anticipated treat for
+articulate speech.
+
+"There 's nothing like it to warm up your insides," said
+March; "mother 's a brick to let us get up for it. She
+would n't, you know, if father were at home."
+
+"My tummy's told," piped May, frantically patting her
+chest in imitation of Budd, and all the children shouted to
+see the wee four-year-old maiden trying to manufacture a
+shiver in the glow of the cheerful fire.
+
+Mrs. Blossom had never told her recipe for her "hot
+molasses tea;" but it had been famed in the family for
+more than a generation. She had it from her mother.
+The treat was always reserved for a bitterly cold night, and
+the good things in it of which one had a taste--molasses,
+white sugar, lemon-peel, butter, peppermint, boiled raisins,
+and mysterious unknowns--were compounded with hot
+water into a palate-tickling beverage.
+
+When Mrs. Blossom reappeared, with a kettle sending
+forth a small cloud of fragrant steam in one hand and a
+tray filled with tin cups in the other, the delighted "Ohs"
+and "Ahs" repaid her for all her extra work at the close
+of a busy, weary day.
+
+Budd rolled over on the rug in his ecstasy, and Cherry
+was about to roll on top of him, when March interfered,
+and order was restored.
+
+As they sat there on the big, braided square of woollen
+rag-carpet, sipping and ohing and ahing with supreme
+satisfaction, Mrs. Blossom broached the subject of
+valentines.
+
+"It's the first of February, children, and time to begin
+to make valentines. You 're not going to forget the Doctor
+*this* year, are you?"
+
+"No, indeed, Martie," said Rose. "He deserves the
+prettiest we can make. I 've been thinking about it, and
+I 'm going to make him a shaving-case, heart-shaped, with
+birch-bark covers, and if March will decorate it for me, I
+think it will be lovely; will you, March?"
+
+"Course I will; the Doctor 's a brick. I 'll tell you
+what, Martie, I can pen and ink some of those spruces and
+birches that the Doctor was so fond of last summer;
+how 'll that do?"
+
+"Just the thing," said his mother; "I know it will
+please him. What are you thinking, Cherry?" for the
+"other half" of Budd was gazing dreamily into the fire,
+forgetting her tea in her revery.
+
+"Fudge!" said Cherry, shortly. March and Rose
+laughed.
+
+"Keep still making fun of Cherry," said Budd, ruffling
+at the sound; and to emphasize his admonishing words, he
+dug his sharp elbow so suddenly into March's ribs that
+some hot molasses tea flew from the cup which his brother
+had just put to his mouth and spattered on his bare
+feet.
+
+March deliberately set down his tin cup on the hearth
+near the fire beside his brother's, and turned upon Budd.
+
+Budd tried to dodge, but had no room. In a trice, March
+had his arms around him, and was hugging him in a
+bear-like embrace. "Say you 're sorry!" he demanded.
+
+"Au-ow!"
+
+"Say you 're sorry!" he roared at him, hugging harder.
+
+"Au-ow-ee-ow!"
+
+"Quick, or I 'll squeeze you some more!"
+
+Budd was squirming and twisting like an eel.
+
+"O-ee-wau-au-*Au!*"
+
+"There," said March, releasing him and setting him
+down with a thump on the rug; "I 'll teach you to poke
+me in the ribs that way and scald my feet.--You 're game,
+though, old fellow," he added patronizingly, as he heard a
+suspicious sniff from Cherry. "You and Cherry make a
+whole team any day."
+
+Cherry's sniff changed to a smile, for March did not
+condescend to praise either of them very often.
+
+"Well," she said meditatively, "I suppose it did sound
+funny to say that, but I was thinking that if Budd would
+make me a little heart-shaped box of birch-bark, I 'd make
+some maple-sugar fudge,--you know, Martie, the kind with
+butternuts in it,--and that could be my valentine for the
+Doctor."
+
+"Why, that's a bright idea, Cherry," said Mrs. Blossom;
+and, "Bully for you, Cherry," said Budd; "we'll begin
+to-morrow and crack the butternuts."
+
+"What will May do?" asked Mrs. Blossom, lifting the
+little girl, who was already showing signs of being
+overcome with molasses tea and sleep. May nestled in her
+mother's arms, leaned her head, running over with golden
+curls, on her mother's breast, and murmured drowsily,--
+
+"'Ittle tooties--tut with mummy's
+heart-tutter--tutter--tooties--tut--" The
+blue-veined eyelids closed over
+the lovely eyes; and Mrs. Blossom, holding up her finger
+to hush the children's mirth at May's inspired utterance,
+carried her back into the bedroom.
+
+One after another the children crept noiselessly upstairs,
+with a whispered, "Good-night, Martie," and in ten
+minutes Mary Blossom knew they were all in the land of
+dreams.
+
+
+
+
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`MRS. BLOSSOM'S VALENTINE`:
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ II
+
+
+.. class:: center medium
+
+ MRS. BLOSSOM'S VALENTINE
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+It was a bitter night. Mrs. Blossom refilled the kitchen
+stove, and threw on more hickory in the fireplace in
+anticipation of her husband's late return from the village. She
+drew her little work-table nearer to the blaze, and sat down
+to her sewing. Then she sighed, and, as she bent over the
+large willow basket filled with stockings to be darned and
+clothes to be mended, a tear rolled down her cheek and
+plashed on the edge.
+
+There was so much she wanted to do for her children--and
+so little with which to do it! There was March, an
+artist to his finger-tips, who longed to be an architect; and
+Rose, lovely in her young girlhood and giving promise of
+a lovelier womanhood, who was willing to work her way
+through one of the lesser colleges, if only she could be
+prepared for entrance. Mary Blossom saw no prospect of
+being able to do anything for either of them.
+
+And the father! He must be spared first, if he were to
+be their future bread-winner. Mary Blossom could never
+forget that day, a year ago this very month, when her
+husband was brought home on a stretcher, hurt, as they thought,
+unto death, by a tree falling the wrong way in the woods
+where he was directing the choppers.
+
+What a year it had been! All they had saved had gone
+to pay for the extra help hired to carry on the farm and
+finish the log-cutting. A surgeon had come from the
+nearest city to give his verdict in the case and help if he
+could.
+
+The farm was mortgaged to enable them to pay the heavy
+bills incident to months of sickness and medical attendance;
+still the father lay helpless, and Mary Blossom's faith and
+courage were put to their severest test, when both doctor
+and surgeon pronounced the case hopeless. He might live
+for years, they said, but useless, so far as his limbs were
+concerned.
+
+This was in June; and then it was that Mary Blossom,
+leaving Rose in charge of her father and the children, left
+her home, and walked bareheaded rapidly up the slope
+behind the house, across the upland pastures and over into
+the woodlands, from which they had hoped to derive a
+sufficient income to provide not only for their necessities,
+but for their children's education and the comforts
+of life.
+
+Deep into the heart of them she made her way; and
+there, in the green silence, broken only by the note of a
+thrush and the stirring of June leafage above and about
+her, she knelt and poured out her sorrow-filled heart before
+God, and cast upon Him the intolerable burden that had
+rested so long upon her soul.
+
+The shadows were lengthening when at last she turned
+homewards. Cherry and Budd met her in the pasture, for
+Rose had grown anxious and sent them to find her.
+
+"Why, where have you been, Martie?" exclaimed the
+twins. "We were so frightened about you, because you
+didn't come home."
+
+"You need n't have been; I 've been talking with a
+Friend." And more than that she never said. The children's
+curiosity was roused, but when they told Rose and
+asked her what mother meant, Rose's eyes filled with tears,
+and she kept silence; for she alone knew with Whom her
+mother had talked that June afternoon.
+
+"Run ahead, Budd, and tell Malachi to harness up Bess.
+I want him to take a letter down to the village so that it
+may go on the night mail." Budd flew rather than ran;
+for there was a look in his mother's face that he had never
+seen before, and it awed him.
+
+That night a letter went to Doctor Heath, a famous
+nerve specialist of New York City. It was a letter from
+Mary Blossom, his old-time friend and schoolmate in the
+academy at Barton's River. In it she asked him if he
+would give her his advice in this case, saying she could
+not accept the decision of the physician and surgeon unless
+it should be confirmed by him.
+
+"I cannot pay you now," she wrote, "but it was borne
+in upon me this afternoon to write to you, although you
+may have forgotten me in these many years, and I have no
+claim of present friendship, even, upon your time and
+service; but I must heed the inner command to appeal to
+you, whatever you may think of me,--if I disobeyed that,
+I should be disobeying God's voice in my life,"--and
+signed herself, "Yours in childhood's remembrance."
+
+The next day a telegram was brought up from the
+village; and the day after the Doctor himself followed it.
+
+It was an anxious week; but the wonderful skill
+conquered. The pressure on a certain nerve was removed,
+and for the last six months Benjamin Blossom had been
+slowly but surely coming back to his old-time health and
+strength. But again this winter the extra help had been
+necessary, and it had taxed all Mary Blossom's ingenuity
+to make both ends meet; for there was the interest on the
+mortgage to be paid every six months, and the ready money
+had to go for that.
+
+In the midst of her thoughts, her recollections and plans,
+she caught the sound of sleigh-bells. The tall clock was
+just striking ten. Smoothing every line of care and
+banishing all look of sadness from her face, she met her
+husband with a cheery smile and a, "I 'm so glad you 've
+got home, Ben; it's just twenty below, and the molasses
+tea is ready for you and Chi."
+
+"Chi!" called Mr. Blossom towards the barn.
+
+"Whoa!" shouted a voice that sounded frosty in spite
+of itself. "Whoa, Bess!"
+
+"Come into the kitchen before you turn in; there's
+some hot molasses tea waiting for us."
+
+"Be there in a minute," he shouted back, and Bess
+pranced into the barn.
+
+"Oh, Mary, this is good," said Mr. Blossom, as he slipped
+out of his buffalo-robe coat and into his warm house-jacket,
+dropped his boots outside in the shed, and put on his
+carpet-slippers that had been waiting for him on the hearth.
+
+"It is home, Ben," said his wife, bringing out clean tin
+cups from the pantry, and putting them to warm beside
+the kettle on the hearth.
+
+"Yes, with you in it, Mary," he said with the smile that
+had won him his true-love eighteen years before.
+
+"Come in, Chi," he called towards the shed, whence
+came sounds as if some one were dancing a double-shuffle
+in snow-boots.
+
+"'Fraid I 'll thaw 'n' make a puddle on the hearth, Mis'
+Blossom. I 'm as stiff as an icicle: guess I 'll take my tea
+perpendic'lar; I ain't fit to sit down."
+
+"Sit down, sit down, Chi," said Mrs. Blossom. "You 'll
+enjoy the tea more; and give yourself a thorough heating
+before you go to bed. I 've put the soapstone in it," she
+added.
+
+"Well, you beat all, Mis' Blossom; just as if you did n't
+find enough to do for yourself, you go to work 'n' make
+work." He broke off suddenly, "George Washin'ton!"
+he exclaimed, "most forgot to give you this letter that
+come on to-night's mail."
+
+He handed Mrs. Blossom the letter, which, with some
+difficulty, owing to his stiffened fingers, he extracted from
+the depths of the tail-pocket of his old overcoat. Then he
+helped himself to a brimming cup of the tea, and
+apparently swallowed its contents without once taking breath.
+
+"Why, it's from Doctor Heath!" exclaimed Mrs. Blossom,
+recognizing the handwriting. "Is it a valentine,
+I wonder?" she said, feigning to laugh, for her heart sank
+within her, fearing it might be the bill,--and yet, and yet,
+the Doctor had said--she got no further with these
+thoughts, so intent was she on the contents of the letter.
+
+Chi, with an eye to prolonging his stay till he should
+know the why and wherefore of a letter from the great
+Doctor at this season of the year, took another cup of
+the tea.
+
+"Ben, oh, Ben!" cried Mrs. Blossom, in a faint, glad
+voice; and therewith, to her husband's amazement, she
+handed him the letter, put both arms around his neck, and,
+dropping her head on his shoulder, sobbed as if her heart
+would break.
+
+Chi softly put down his half-emptied cup and tiptoed
+with creaking boots from the room.
+
+"Can't stand that, nohow," he muttered to himself in
+the shed; and, forgetting to light his lantern, he felt his
+way up the backstairs to his lodging in the room overhead,
+blinded by some suspicious drops of water in his eyes,
+which he cursed for frost melting from his bushy eyebrows.
+
+"Oh, Ben, think of it!" she cried, when her husband
+had soothed and calmed her. "Twenty-five dollars a
+week; that makes a little more than twelve hundred a
+year. Why, we can pay off all the mortgage and be free
+from that nightmare."
+
+For answer her husband drew her closer to him, and late
+into the night they sat before the dying fire, talking and
+planning for the future.
+
+"Children," she said at breakfast next morning, and her
+voice sounded so bright and cheery that the room seemed
+full of sunshine, although the sky was a hard, cold gray,
+"I 've had one valentine already; it came last night from
+the Doctor."
+
+Chi listened with all his ears.
+
+"Mother!" burst from the children, "where is it?"
+"Show it to us." "Why did n't you tell us before
+breakfast?"
+
+"I can't show it to you yet; it's a live one."
+
+"A live one!" chorussed the children.
+
+"You 're fooling us, mother," said March.
+
+"Do I look as if I were?" replied his mother.
+
+And March was obliged to confess that she had never
+looked more in earnest.
+
+Rose left her seat and stole to her father's side. "What
+does it mean, pater?" she whispered.
+
+"Ask your mother," was all the satisfaction she received,
+and walked, crestfallen, back to her chair; for when had
+her father refused her anything?
+
+"When will you tell us, anyway?" said Budd, a little
+gruffly. He hated a secret.
+
+"I can't tell you that either," said his mother, "and I
+don't know that I shall tell you until the very last, if you
+ask in that voice."
+
+Budd screwed his mouth into a smile, and, unbeknown
+to the rest of the family, reached under the cloth for his
+mother's hand. He sat next to her, and that had been his
+way of saying "Forgive me," ever since he was a tiny boy.
+
+He had a squeeze in return and felt happier.
+
+"I say, let's guess," said Cherry. "If I don't do
+something, I shall burst."
+
+"You express my feelings perfectly, Cherry," said March,
+gravely, and the guessing began.
+
+"A St. Bernard puppy?" said Budd, who coveted one.
+
+"A Shetland pony," said Cherry.
+
+"The Doctor's coming up here, himself." That was
+Rose's guess.
+
+"'T ain't likely," growled Budd.
+
+"A tunning 'ittle baby," chirped May.
+
+March failed to think of any live thing the Doctor was
+likely to send unless it might be a Wyandotte blood-rooster,
+such as he and the Doctor had talked about last summer.
+
+"You 're all cold, cold as ice," laughed their mother,
+using the words of the game she had so often played with
+them when they were younger.
+
+"Oh, mother!" they protested. They were almost
+indignant.
+
+Chi rose and left the table. "Beats me," he muttered,
+as he took down his axe from a beam in the woodshed.
+"What in thunder can it be? I ain't goin' to ask
+questions, but I 'll ferret it out,--by George Washin'ton;"
+and that was Chi's most solemn oath.
+
+
+
+
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`A CURIOUS CASE`:
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ III
+
+
+.. class:: center medium
+
+ A CURIOUS CASE
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+"What is it, dear?"
+
+"Bothered--bothered."
+
+"A case?"
+
+"Yes, and I must get it off my mind this evening."
+
+The Doctor set down his after-dinner coffee untasted on
+the library table, and rose with a half sigh from his easy
+chair before the blazing wood-fire. His heavy eyebrows
+were drawn together into a straight line over the bridge of
+his nose, and that, his wife knew full well, was an ominous
+sign.
+
+"Must you go to-night? It's such a fearful storm;
+just hear it!"
+
+"Yes, I must; just to get it off my mind. I sha'n't be
+gone long, and I 'll tell you all about it when I get home." The
+Doctor stooped and kissed the detaining hand that his
+wife had laid lovingly on his arm; then, turning to the
+telephone, he bespoke a cab.
+
+As the vehicle made its way up Fifth Avenue in the teeth
+of a February, northeast gale that drove the sleet rattling
+against the windows, Doctor Heath settled back farther
+into his corner, growling to himself, "I wish some people
+would let me manage their affairs for them; it would
+show their common sense to let me show them some of
+mine."
+
+A few blocks north of the park entrance, the cab turned
+east into a side street, and stopped at Number 4.
+
+"Mr. Clyde in, Wilkins?" asked the Doctor of the
+colored butler, who opened the door.
+
+"Yes, sah; jes' up from dinner, sah, to see Miss Hazel."
+
+"Tell him I want to see him in the library."
+
+"Yes, sah." He took the Doctor's cloak and hat,
+hesitating a moment before leaving, then turning, said: "'Scuse
+me, sah, but Miss Hazel ain't more discomposed?"
+
+"No, no, Wilkins; Miss Hazel is doing fairly well."
+
+"Thank you, sah;" and Wilkins ducked his head and
+sprang upstairs.
+
+"Why, Dick," said Mr. Clyde, as he entered the library
+hurriedly, "what's wrong?"
+
+"The world in general, Johnny, and your world in
+particular, old fellow."
+
+"Is Hazel worse?" The father's anxiety could be
+heard in the tone with which he put the question.
+
+"I 'm not satisfied, John, and I 'm bothered."
+
+When Doctor Heath called his friend "John," Mr. Clyde
+knew that the very soul of him was heavily burdened.
+The two had been chums at Yale: the one a rich man's
+son; the other a country doctor's one boy, to whom had
+been bequeathed only a name honored in every county of
+his native state, a good constitution, and an ambition to
+follow his father's profession. The boy had become one of
+the leading physicians of the great city in which he made
+his home; his friend one of the most sought-after men in
+the whirling gayeties of the great metropolis. As he stood
+on the hearth with his back to the mantel waiting for the
+physician's next word, he was typical of the best culture of
+the city, and the Doctor looked up into the fine face with
+a deep affection visible in his eyes.
+
+"Going out, as usual, John?"
+
+"Only to the Pearsells' reception. Don't keep me
+waiting, old fellow; speak up."
+
+"How the deuce am I to make things plain to you,
+John? Here, draw up your chair a little nearer mine, as
+you used in college when you knew I had a four A.M. lecture
+awaiting you, after one of your larks."
+
+The two men helped themselves to cigars; and the
+Doctor, resting his head on the back of the chair, slowly
+let forth the smoke in curling rings, and watched them
+dissolve and disperse.
+
+"Come, Dick, go ahead; I can stand it if you can."
+
+"Well, then, I 've done all I can for Hazel, and shall
+have to give up the case unless you do all you can for
+her."
+
+Now the Doctor had not intended to make his statement
+in such a blunt fashion, and he could not blame Mr. Clyde
+for the touch of resentment that was so quick to show in
+his answer.
+
+"I did n't suppose you went back on your patients in
+this way, Richard; much less on a friend. I have done
+everything I can for Hazel. If there is anything I've
+omitted, just tell me, and I 'll try to make it good."
+
+The Doctor nodded penitently. "I know, John, I 've
+said it badly; and I don't know but that I shall make it
+worse by saying you 've done too much."
+
+"Too much! That is not possible. Did n't you order
+last year's trip to Florida and the summer yachting
+cruise?"
+
+Doctor Heath groaned. "I'm getting in deeper and
+deeper, John; you can't understand, because you are you;
+born and bred as you are-- Look here, John, did it ever
+occur to you that Hazel is a little hot-house plant that
+needs hardening?"
+
+"No, Richard."
+
+"Well, she is; she needs hardening to make her any
+kind of a woman physically and, and--" The Doctor
+stopped short. There were some things of which he
+rarely spoke.
+
+"My Hazel needs hardening!" exclaimed the amazed
+father. "Why, Richard, have n't you impressed upon me
+again and again that she needs the greatest care?"
+
+The Doctor groaned again and smote his friend solidly
+on the knee.
+
+"Oh, you poor rich--you poor rich! 'Eyes have ye,
+and ye see not; ears have ye, and hear not.' John, the
+girl must go away from you, who over-indulge her, from
+this home-nest of luxury, from this private-school business
+and dancing-class dissipation, from her young-grown-up
+lunch-parties and matinée-parties, from her violin lessons
+and her indoor gymnastics--curse them!"
+
+This was a great deal for the usually self-contained
+physician, and Mr. Clyde stared at him, but half comprehending.
+
+"Go away? Do you mean, Richard, that she must
+leave me?"
+
+"Yes, I mean just that."
+
+"Well,"--it was a long-drawn, thinking "well,"--"I
+will ask my sister to take her this summer. She
+returns from Egypt soon and has just written me she intends
+to open her place, 'The Wyndes,' in June."
+
+Again the Doctor groaned: "And kill her with golf
+and picnics and coaching among all those fashionable
+butterflies! Now, hear to me, John," he laid his hand on
+his friend's shoulder, "send her away into the country,
+that is country,--something, by the way, which you
+know precious little about. Let me find her a place up
+among those life-giving Green Hills, and do you do
+without her for one year. Let me prescribe for her there;
+and I 'll guarantee she returns to you hale and hearty.
+Trust her to me, John; you 'll thank me in the end. I
+can do no more for her here."
+
+"Do you mean, Richard, to put her away into real
+country conditions?"
+
+"Yes, just that; into a farmer's family, if possible,--and
+I know I can make it possible,--and let her be as
+one of them, work, play, go barefoot, eat, sleep, be merry--in
+fact, be what the Lord intended her to be; and you 'll
+find out that is something very different from what she is,
+if only you 'll hear to me."
+
+The Doctor was pacing the room in his earnestness.
+He was not accustomed to beg thus to be allowed to
+prescribe for his patients. His one word was law, and he
+was not required to explain his motives.
+
+Mr. Clyde's eyes followed him; then he broke the
+prolonged silence.
+
+"Richard, you have asked me the one thing to which
+her mother would never have consented. How, then,
+can I?"
+
+"Think it over, John, and let me know."
+
+The two men clasped hands.
+
+"Let me take you along in my cab to the reception;
+it's inhuman to take out your horses on such a
+night."
+
+"Thank you, no; I think I 'll give it up; I 'm not in
+the mood for it. Good-night, old fellow."
+
+"Good-night, Johnny."
+
+The next morning, at breakfast, the Doctor took up a
+note that lay beside his plate, and after reading it
+beamed joyously while he stirred his coffee vigorously
+without drinking it. When, finally, he looked up, his
+wife elevated her eyebrows over the top of the coffee urn,
+and the Doctor laughed.
+
+"To be sure, wifie, read the note." And this is what
+she read:--
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+DEAR RICHARD,--I 've had a hard night, trying to look at
+things from your point of view and see my own duty towards
+Hazel. Things have grown rather misty, looking both
+backwards and forwards, and I have concluded I can't do better
+than to take you at your word,--trust her to you, and accept
+the guarantee of her return to me with her physical condition
+such as it should be.
+
+This decision will, as you well know, raise a storm of protest
+among the relations. The whole swarm will be about my
+ears in less than no time. Stand by me. The whole
+responsibility rests upon you,--and tell Hazel; I 'm too much
+of a coward. This is a confession, but you will understand.
+Let me know the details of your plans so soon as possible.
+I have never been able to give you such a proof of friendship.
+Have you ever asked another man for such? I mistrust you,
+old fellow.
+
+.. class:: left white-space-pre-line
+
+ Yours,
+ JOHN.
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`A LITTLE MILLIONAIRE`:
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ IV
+
+
+.. class:: center medium
+
+ A LITTLE MILLIONAIRE
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+"Gabrielle."
+
+"Oui, mademoiselle Hazel," came in shrill yet muffled
+tones from the depths of the dressing-room closet.
+
+"Bring me my white silk kimono."
+
+"Oui, mademoiselle."
+
+The order, in French, was given in a weak and slightly
+fretful voice that issued from the bed at the farther end of
+a large room from which the dressing-room opened. The
+apartment was, in truth, what Doctor Heath had called it,
+"a nest of luxury."
+
+It was a bitter Saint Valentine's Day which succeeded the
+Doctor's evening visit. The wood-fire, blazing cheerily in
+the ample fireplace, sent its warmth and light far out into
+the room, flashing red reflections in the curiously twisted
+bars of the brass bedstead. At the left of the fireplace
+stood a small round tea-table, and upon it a little silver
+tea-kettle on a standard of the same metal. Dainty cups
+and saucers of egg-shell china were grouped about it; a
+miniature silver tray held a sugar-dish and a cream-pot
+and a half-dozen gold-lined souvenir spoons.
+
+On the richly carved mantel stood an exquisite plate-glass
+clock, the chimes of which were just striking nine,
+and, keeping it company to right and left, were two dainty
+figures of a shepherd and shepherdess in Dresden china.
+The remaining mantel space was filled with tiny figures
+in bisque,--a dachshund, a cat and kittens, a porcelain
+box, heart-shaped, the top covered with china forget-me-nots,
+a silver drinking-cup, a small oval portrait on ivory
+of a beautiful young woman, framed in richly chased gold,
+the inner rim set round with pearls. A blue pitcher of
+Cloisonné and a tray of filigree silver heaped with dainty
+cotillion favors stood on one end; on the other, a crystal
+vase filled with white tulips.
+
+Soft blue and white Japanese rugs lay upon the polished
+floor; delicate blue and white draperies hung at the
+windows. Dressing-case and writing-desk of white curled
+maple were each laden with articles for the toilet and for
+writing, in solid silver, engraved with the monogram H.C.
+A couch, upholstered in blue and white Japanese silk, stood
+at the right of the fireplace, and all about the room were
+dainty wicker chairs enamelled in white, and cushioned to
+match the hangings.
+
+The bed was canopied in pale blue covered with white
+net and edged with lace, and the coverlet was of silk of
+the same delicate color, embroidered with white violets
+and edged like the canopy, only with a deeper frill of lace.
+The occupant of this couch, fit for a princess royal, was
+the little mistress of all she surveyed, as well as the
+mansion of which the room formed a small part; and a
+woebegone-looking little girl she was, who called again, and
+this time impatiently:--
+
+"Gabrielle, hurry, do."
+
+"Oui, oui, mademoiselle Hazel;" and Gabrielle tripped
+across the room with the white kimono in one hand and
+fresh towels in the other. She had just slipped it upon
+Hazel when there was a knock at the door. Gabrielle
+opened it, and Wilkins asked in a voice intended to be
+low, but which proved only husky:--
+
+"Nuss say she mus' jes' speak wif Marse Clyde 'fo' she
+come up, an' wan's to know if Miss Hazel will haf her
+breffus now or wait till she come up herse'f."
+
+Before Gabrielle could answer, Hazel called out, "You
+may bring it up now, Wilkins; and has the postman come
+yet?"
+
+Wilkins' broad smile sounded in his voice, as it came out
+of its huskiness.
+
+"Yes, Miss Hazel, ben jes' 'fo' I come up. I ain't seen
+no hearts, but dey's thicker 'n spatter by de feel, an' a
+heap o' boxes by 'spress!"
+
+"Oh, bring them up quick, Wilkins, and tell papa to be
+sure and come up directly after breakfast."
+
+"Yes, for sho', Miss Hazel," said Wilkins, delighted
+to have a word with the little daughter of her whom
+he had carried in his arms thirty-two years ago up and
+down the jasmine-covered porch of an old New Orleans
+mansion.
+
+In a few minutes, he reappeared with two large silver
+trays, on one of which was the tempting breakfast of
+Hamburg grapes, a dropped egg, a slice of golden-brown
+toast, half of a squab broiled to the melting-point, and a
+cup of cocoa. On the other were boxes large and small,
+and white envelopes of all sizes.
+
+Gabrielle cut the string and opened the boxes, while
+Hazel looked on, pleased to be remembered, but finding
+nothing unusual in the display; for Christmas and Easter
+and birthdays and parties brought just about the same
+collection, minus "the hearts," which Wilkins had felt
+through the covers. The only fun, after all, was in the
+guessing.
+
+Just then Mr. Clyde entered.
+
+"Oh, papa! I 'm so glad you have come; it's no fun
+guessing alone." She put up her peaked, sallow little
+face for the good-morning kiss; and her father, with the
+thought of his last night's struggle, took the face in both
+hands and kissed brow and mouth with unusual tenderness.
+
+"Why, papa!" she exclaimed, "that kiss is my best
+valentine; you never kissed me that way before."
+
+"Well, it's time I began, Birdie; let's see what you
+have for nonsense here. What's this--from Cambridge?"
+
+"Oh, that's Jack, I 'm sure; he always sends me violets;
+but what is that in the middle of the bunch?" With a
+smile she drew out a tiny vignette of her Harvard
+Sophomore cousin. It was framed in a little gold heart, and on
+a slip of paper was written, "For thee, I 'm all 'art."
+
+"Jack 's a gay deceiver," laughed her father; "he 's all
+''art' for a good many girls, big and little. What's
+this?--and this?"
+
+One after another he took out the contents of envelopes
+and boxes,--candy hearts by the pound in silver bonbon
+boxes, silk hearts, paper hearts, a flower heart of real roses
+("That's from you, Papa Clyde!" she exclaimed, and her
+father did not deny the pleasant accusation), hollow gilt
+hearts stuffed with sentiments, a silver chatelaine heart for
+change, and last, but not least, an enormous envelope, a
+foot square, containing a white paper heart all written over
+with "sentiments" from the girls in her class at school.
+
+"Come now, Birdie," said her father, after the last one
+had been opened and guessed over, "eat your breakfast, or
+nurse will scold us both for putting play before business."
+
+"I don't think I want any, papa," said Hazel, languidly,
+for, after all, the valentines had proved to be almost too
+much excitement for the little girl, who was just
+recovering from weeks of slow fever; "and, Gabrielle, take the
+flowers away, they make my head ache,--and the other
+things, too," she added, turning her head wearily on the
+pillow.
+
+"But you must eat, Hazel dear," said her father, gently
+but firmly; and therewith he took a grape and squeezed
+the pulp between her lips. Hazel laughed,--a faint
+sound.
+
+"Why, papa, if you feed me that way, I shall be a real
+Birdie. Yes," she nodded, "that's good; I 'll take
+another;" and her father proceeded to feed her slowly,
+now coaxing, now urging, then commanding, till a few
+grapes and a half egg were disposed of.
+
+"There, now, I won't play tyrant any longer," he said,
+"for your real tyrant of a doctor is coming soon, and I
+must be out of the way."
+
+"Are you going to be at home for luncheon to-day, papa?"
+
+"No, dear, I 've promised to go out to Tuxedo with the
+Masons, but I shall be at home before dinner, just to look
+in upon you. I dine with the Pearsells afterwards.
+Good-bye." A kiss,--two, three of them; and the merry,
+handsome young father, still but thirty-seven, had gone,
+and with him much of the brightness of Hazel's day.
+
+But she was used to this. Ever since she could remember
+anything, she had been petted and kissed and--left
+with her nurse, her governess, or a French maid.
+
+Her young mother, a Southern belle, lived more out of
+her home than in it, with the round of gayeties in the
+winter months interrupted and continued by winter
+house-parties at Lenox, a yachting cruise in the Mediterranean,
+an early spring-flitting to the mountains of North Carolina,
+and the later household moving to Newport.
+
+In all these migrations Hazel accompanied her parents;
+in fact, was moved about as so much goods and chattels,
+from New York to the Berkshires, from the Berkshires to
+Malta, from Malta to the Great Smokies, from the
+mountains to the sea; her appurtenances, the governess and
+French maid, went with her; and the routine of her home
+in New York, the study, the promenade, the all-alone
+breakfasts and dinners went on with the regularity of
+clockwork, whether on the yacht, in the mountains, or in
+the villa on the Cliff.
+
+So now, although she wished her father would stay and
+entertain her, it never occurred to her to tell him so; and
+likewise it never occurred to the father that his child
+needed or wished him to stay. Nor had it ever occurred
+to the young mother that she was not doing her whole
+duty by her child; for she never omitted to go upstairs
+and kiss her little daughter good-night, whether the child
+was awake or asleep, before going out to dinner, theatre,
+or reception.
+
+She died when Hazel was nine, and it was a lovely
+memory of "mamma" that Hazel cherished: a vision of
+loveliness in trailing white silk, or velvet, or lace,--her
+mother always wore white, it was her Southern
+inheritance,--with a single dark-red rose among the folds of
+Venetian point of the bertha; always a gleam of white neck
+and arms banded with flashing, many-faceted diamonds,
+or roped with pearls; always a sense of delicious white
+warmth and fragrance, as the vision bent over her and
+pressed a light kiss upon her cheek. And if, in her bliss,
+she opened her sleepy eyes, she looked always into
+laughing brown depths, and putting up her hand caressed
+shining masses of brown hair.
+
+But it was always a good-night vision. In the morning
+mamma did not breakfast until ten, and Hazel was off to
+the little private school at half-past nine. At noon
+mamma was either out at lunch or giving a lunch-party;
+and in the afternoon there was the promenade in the
+Park with the governess, and sometimes, as a treat, a drive
+with mamma on her round of calls, when Hazel and the
+maid sat among the furs in the carriage. Then Hazel
+played at being grown up, and longed for the time when
+she could wear a reception dress like mamma's, of white
+broadcloth and sable, and trip up the steps of the various
+houses, and trip down again with a bevy of young girls
+laughing and chatting so merrily.
+
+All that had ceased when Hazel was nine, and the
+young father had made her mistress in her mother's place.
+It was such a great house! and there were so many
+servants! and the housekeeper was so strict! and it was so
+queer to sit at the round table in the big dining-room and
+try to look at papa over the silver épergne in the centre!
+
+When she was eleven, she entered one of the large
+private schools which many of her little mates attended.
+Soon it came to be the "girls of our set" with Hazel;
+and then there followed music-lessons, and violin-lessons,
+and riding-lessons, and dancing-class, and riding-days in
+the Park, and lunch-parties with the girls, and
+theatre-matinée-parties, and concerts at Carnegie Hall, and birthday
+parties, and sales--school and drawing-room affairs--and
+Lenten sewing-classes; until gradually her little
+society life had become an epitome of her mother's, and
+when she began to shoot up like a bean-sprout, lose
+her round face and the delicate pink from her cheeks,
+uncles and aunt and cousin and friends whispered of her
+mother's frail constitution, and that it was time to take
+heed.
+
+Then it was that the physician, who had helped to bring
+her into the world, was summoned hastily to prevent her
+early departure from it. This was the "curious case"
+that so bothered him; and this pale, languid girl of
+thirteen in the blue-canopied bed was the one he intended to
+transplant into another soil.
+
+A short, sharp tap announced his arrival. The nurse
+opened the door.
+
+"Good-morning, little girl--ah, ah! Saint Valentine's
+Day? I had forgotten it; all those came this morning?"
+he said cheerily, pointing to a table on which Gabrielle
+had placed all the remembrances but the flowers.
+
+"Yes, Doctor Heath; but my best valentine, you know,
+is papa, and after him, you."
+
+"Hm, flatterer!" growled the Doctor, feeling her pulse.
+"Pretty good, pretty good. Think we can get you up
+for half a day. What do you say, nurse?"
+
+"I think it will do her good, Doctor Heath; she has no
+appetite yet, and a little exercise might help her to it."
+
+"No appetite?" The two eyebrows drew together in a
+straight line over the bridge of his nose, and, from under
+them, a pair of keen eyes looked at Hazel.
+
+"Well, I 've planned something that will give you a
+splendid one, Hazel,--the best kind of a tonic--
+
+"Oh, I don't want to take any more tonics. I am so
+sick of them," said Hazel, in a despairing tone, for although
+she adored the Doctor, she despised his medicines.
+
+"You won't get sick of this tonic so soon, I 'll
+warrant," he said, unbending his brows and letting the full
+twinkle of his fine eyes shine forth,--"at least not after
+you are used to it. I won't say but that it may cause
+a certain kind of sickness at first; in fact, I 'm sure
+of it."
+
+"Oh, will it nauseate me?" cried Hazel, dreading to
+suffer any more.
+
+"No, no, it won't do that, but--"
+
+"But what *do* you mean, Doctor Heath? Are you joking?"
+
+"Never was more in earnest in my life," replied the
+Doctor, rubbing his hands in glee, much to Hazel's
+amazement. "Hazel," he turned abruptly to her, "papa is a
+splendid fellow; did you know that?"
+
+Hazel laughed aloud, a real girl's laugh,--Doctor Heath
+was so queer at times.
+
+"Have you just found that out?" she retorted.
+
+"No, you witch,--don't be impertinent to your elders,--I
+have n't; but really he is, take it all in all, just about
+the most common-sense fellow in New York City."
+
+"What has he done now, that you are praising him so?"
+
+"Just heard to me, my dear, and agreed to do just as I
+want him to," said the Doctor, demurely.
+
+"Why," laughed Hazel, "that's just when I think he is
+a most splendid fellow, when he does just what I want him
+to. Is n't it funny you and I think just alike!" And she
+gave his hand a malicious little pat. The Doctor caught
+the five slender digits and held them fast.
+
+"Now we 're agreed that you have the most splendid,
+common-sense father in the world, I want you to prove to
+me that your father has the most splendid, common-sense
+daughter in it, as well."
+
+Again Hazel laughed. She was used to her friend's ways.
+
+"That means that you want me to take that old, new
+tonic of yours."
+
+"Yes, just that," said the Doctor, emphatically; "and
+now, as you don't appear to care to hear about it, I 'm going
+to make a long call and tell you its entire history."
+
+"Have you brought it with you?" asked Hazel, somewhat
+mystified.
+
+"No, I can't carry around with me in a cab five children,
+a hundred acres of pine woods, a whole mountain-top, and
+a few Jersey cows."
+
+"What *do* you mean? You *are* joking."
+
+Then the physician clasped the thin hand a little more
+closely and told her of the country plan.
+
+At first, Hazel failed to comprehend it. She gazed at
+the speaker with large, serious eyes, as if she half-feared
+he had taken leave of his senses.
+
+"Did papa know it this morning?" was her first question.
+
+"Yes, my dear."
+
+"Then that is why he kissed me the way he did," she
+said thoughtfully. "But," her lip quivered, "I sha'n't
+have him to kiss me up there, and--and--oh, dear!" A
+wail went up from the canopied bed that made the Doctor
+turn sick at heart, and even the nurse hurried away into
+the dressing-room.
+
+Somehow Doctor Heath could not exhort Hazel, as he
+had her father, to use common-sense. He preferred to use
+diplomacy.
+
+"You see, Hazel, a year won't be so very long, and it
+will give your hair time to grow; and perhaps you would
+not mind wearing a cap for a time up there, while if you
+were here you certainly would not care about going to
+dancing-school or parties in that rig; now would you?"
+
+Hazel sniffed and looked for her handkerchief. As she
+failed to find it, the Doctor applied his own huge square of
+linen to the dripping, reddened eyes, and tenderly stroked
+the smooth-shaven head.
+
+Hazel had her vanities like all girls, and her long dark
+braids had been one of them. After the fever, she had
+been shorn of what scanty locks had been left to her, and
+many a time she had wondered what the girls would say
+when they saw her. After all, the new plan might be
+endured, for the sake of the hair and her looks.
+
+She sniffed again, and this time a good many tears were
+drawn up into her nose. The Doctor, taking no notice of
+the subsiding flood, proceeded,--
+
+"My patients always look so comical when the fuzz is
+coming out. It's like chicken-down all over the head--"
+
+"Fuzz!" exclaimed Hazel, with a dismayed, wide-eyed
+look; "must I have fuzz for hair?"
+
+"Why, of course, for about five months," was the Doctor's
+matter-of-fact reply. "Then," he continued, apparently
+unheeding the look of relief that crept over Hazel's
+face, "you are apt to have the hair come out curly."
+
+"Oh!"
+
+"Yes, and it really grows very fast--that is," he said,
+resorting to wile, "if any one is strong and well; but if
+the general health is not good, why--hem!--the hair
+is n't apt to grow!"
+
+"Goodness! I don't want to be bald all my life!"
+
+"No, I thought not, and for that very reason it did seem
+the best thing for you to get into the country where you can
+get well and strong as fast as ever you can."
+
+"Shall I have to eat my breakfast and dinner alone up
+there?" was her next question.
+
+Doctor Heath laughed. "What! With all those five
+children! You will never want for company, I can assure
+you of that. And now I 'll be off; as it's Saint Valentine's
+Day, which I had forgotten, I 'll wager I have five
+valentines from those very children waiting for me at home."
+
+"Will you show them to me, if you have?"
+
+"To be sure I will. Now sit up for half a day, and get
+yourself strong enough to let me take you up there by the
+middle of March."
+
+"Oh, are you going to take me? What fun! Are they
+friends of yours?" she added timidly.
+
+"Every one," said the Doctor, emphatically. He turned
+at the door. "You have n't said yet whether you will
+honor me with your company up there."
+
+"I suppose I must," she said, with something between
+a sigh and a laugh. "But I don't know what Gabrielle
+will do; she 'll be so homesick."
+
+"Gabrielle!" cried the Doctor, in a voice loud with
+amazement; "you don't think you are going to take
+Gabrielle with you, do you?"
+
+Before Hazel had time to recover from her astonishment,
+Gabrielle, hearing her name called so loudly, came tripping
+into the room.
+
+"Oui, oui, monsieur le docteur;" and Doctor Heath
+beat a hasty retreat to avoid further misunderstandings.
+
+In the afternoon, Hazel received a box by messenger,
+with, "Please return by bearer," on the wrapper. On
+opening it, she found the Doctor's valentines with the
+following sentiments appropriately attached.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+..
+
+ | I
+ |
+ | By Rose-pose made, by March adorned,
+ | 'T is not a Heart that one should scorn:
+ | For use each day, the whole year through,
+ | Where find a Valentine so true?
+ |
+ |
+ | II
+ |
+ | Cherry Blossom made this fudge
+ | (Buddie made the box).
+ | Eat it soon, or you will judge,
+ | She made it all of rocks.
+ |
+ |
+ | III
+ |
+ | Baby May has made this cookie;
+ | Mother baked it--but, by hookey!
+ | I can't find another rhyme
+ | To match with this your valentine.
+ |
+ | Your loving Valentines,
+ |
+ | ROSE, MARCH, "BUDD AND CHERRY," MAY BLOSSOM.
+ | (We're one.)
+ | MOUNT HUNGER, February 14, 1896.
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`TRANSPLANTED`:
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ V
+
+
+.. class:: center medium
+
+ TRANSPLANTED
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+It was the middle of April, yet the drifts still blocked
+the ravines, and great patches of snow lay scattered thickly
+on the northern and eastern slopes of the mountains.
+
+Not a bud had thought of swelling; not a fern dared to
+raise its downy ball above the sodden leaves. Day after
+day a keen wind from the north chased dark clouds across
+a watery blue sky, and now and then a solitary crow
+flapped disconsolately over the upland pastures and into
+the woods.
+
+But in the farmhouse on the mountain, every Blossom
+was a-quiver with excitement, for the "live Valentine"
+was to arrive that day.
+
+According to what Doctor Heath had written first,
+Mrs. Blossom had expected Hazel to come the middle of March.
+She had told the children about it a week before that
+date, and ever since, wild and varied and continuous had
+been the speculations concerning the new member of the
+family.
+
+Both father and mother were much amused at the
+different ways in which each one accepted the fact, and
+commented upon it. At the same time they were slightly
+anxious as to the outcome of such a combination.
+
+"They 'll work it out for themselves, Mary," said
+Mr. Blossom, when his wife was expressing her fears on account
+of the attitude of March and Cherry.
+
+"I hope with all my heart they will, without friction or
+unpleasantness for the poor child," replied his wife,
+thoughtfully, for March's looks and words returned to her, and
+they foreboded trouble.
+
+Her husband smiled. "Perhaps the 'poor child' will
+have her ways of looking at things up here, which may
+cause a pretty hard rub now and then for our children.
+But let them take it; it will do them good, and show
+us what stuff is in them for the future."
+
+Mrs. Blossom tried to think so, but March's words on
+that afternoon she had told the children came back to her.
+
+They were dumb at first through sheer surprise. Then
+Rose spoke, flinging aside her Virgil she had been studying
+by the failing light at the window.
+
+"Oh, mother! we 've been so happy--just by ourselves."
+
+"Will you be less happy, Rose, in trying to make
+some one else share our happiness?"
+
+Rose said nothing, but leaned her forehead against the
+pane, and the tears trickled adown it and froze halfway.
+
+Mrs. Blossom proceeded, in the silence that followed, to
+tell them something of Hazel's life. Then Budd spoke up
+like a man.
+
+"I 'm awful sorry for her; she 's a little brick to be
+willing to come away from her father and live with folks
+she don't know. I 'd be a darned coward about leaving
+my Popsey."
+
+There was no tablecloth handy to hide the squeeze he
+wanted to give his mother's hand, and Mrs. Blossom,
+knowing how he hated any public demonstration of affection,
+reserved her approving kiss for the dark and bedtime. But
+she looked at him in a way that sent Budd whistling, "I
+won't play in your back-yard," over to the kitchen stove,
+where he stared inanely at his own reflection in the polished
+pipe.
+
+For the first time in her life, Cherry did not echo her
+twin's sentiment. She was already insanely jealous of the
+new-comer who seemed to claim so much of her mother's
+sympathy and affection. And she was n't even here!
+What would it be when she was here for good and all?
+
+At this miserable thought, and all that it appeared to
+involve, Cherry began to cry.
+
+Now to see Cherry Blossom cry generally afforded
+great fun for the whole family; for there never was a
+girl of ten who could cry in quite such a unique manner
+as this same round-faced, pug-nosed, brown-eyed Cherry,
+whose red hair curled as tightly as corkscrews all over
+her head, and bobbed and danced and quivered and shook
+with every motion and emotion.
+
+First, her nose grew very red at the tip; then, her small
+mouth screwed itself around by her left ear; gradually,
+her round face wrinkled till it resembled a withered
+crabapple; and finally, if one listened intently and watched
+closely, one could hear small sniffs and see two
+infinitesimal drops of water issue from the nearly closed and
+wrinkled eyes.
+
+But to-day no one noticed, and Cherry sat down in
+her mother's lap, and mumbled out her woe between sniffs.
+
+"I can't help it if Budd does want her; *I* don't, Martie.
+Budd will play with her, and you 'll kiss her just as you
+do us, and it won't be comfy any more."
+
+"That does not sound like mother's Cherry Blossom,"
+said Mrs. Blossom, smiling in spite of herself. "I think
+I 'll tell you all why it comes to mother and father as a
+blessing."
+
+Then Mrs. Blossom told them of the mortgage on the
+farm; how it had been made necessary, and what it meant,
+and how it was her duty to accept what had been sent to
+her as a means of paying it off.
+
+Rose came over from the window. "Oh, why did n't
+you tell us before, Martie," she cried, sobbing outright this
+time, "and let us help you to earn something towards it
+during all this dreadful year? To think you have been
+bearing all this, and just going about the same, smiling and
+cheer--oh, dear!" Rose sat down on the hearth-rug at her
+mother's feet, and her sobs mingled with Cherry's sniffs.
+
+March, who had listened thus far in silence, rose from
+the settle where he had flung himself in disgust, and, going
+over to his mother, stood straight and tall before her. His
+gray eyes flashed.
+
+"I 've been a fool, mother, not to see it all before this.
+You ought to have told *me*. I 'm your eldest son, and come
+next after father in 'home things.'" And with this
+assertion he made a mighty resolve, then and there to put away
+boyish things and be more of a man. His mother, looking
+at him, felt the change, and tears of thankfulness filled her
+eyes.
+
+"What could you do, children? You were too young
+to have your lives burdened with work."
+
+"I 'd have found something to do, mother, if you had
+only told me. About the girl--" he hesitated--"of
+course I 'll look at it from the money side, but it 'll never
+be the same after she comes--never!" And with that he
+went off into the barn.
+
+His mother sighed, for March was looking at the matter
+in the very way which, to her, was abhorrent.
+
+"Don't sigh so, Martie," cried Rose; "I 'll take back
+what I said, and do everything I can to help you by
+making it pleasant for her. Budd has made me ashamed of
+myself."
+
+"That's my own daughter Rose," said Mrs. Blossom,
+leaning over to kiss her parting, for Cherry was awkwardly
+in the way.
+
+"Did you hear Rose, Cherry?" whispered her mother.
+
+"Ye-es," sniffed Cherry.
+
+"And won't you try to help mother, and make Hazel
+happy?"
+
+"N-o," said Cherry, still obdurate.
+
+"Very well; then I must depend on Rose and Budd and
+little May," replied her mother, putting her down from her
+knee. By which Cherry knew she was out of favor, and,
+not having Budd to flee to for sympathy, ran blindly out
+into the woodshed and straight into Chi, who was bringing
+in two twelve-quart milk pails filled to overflowing with
+their creamy contents.
+
+"Hi there! Cherry Bounce! Steady, steady--without
+you want to mop up this woodshed."
+
+"O Chi! I 'm just as miser'ble; a new little girl's
+coming to live with us always, and we 'll have no more
+good times."
+
+"That's queer," said Chi, balancing the pails deftly as
+Cherry fluttered about, rather uncertain as to where she
+should betake herself in the cold. "I should think it
+would be the more, the merrier. When's she comin'?"
+
+"This very month," said Cherry, opening her eyes a little
+wider, and forgetting to sniff in her delight at telling some
+news. "She 's a rich little girl, but very poor, too, mother
+says, and she's been sick and is coming here to get well. I
+suppose she 's lost all her flesh while she 's been sick, like
+Aunt Tryphosa; don't you? That's why she 's so poor."
+
+"Hm!--rich 'n' poor too; that's bad for children," said
+Chi, soberly.
+
+"Why?" asked Cherry, surprised into drying her small
+tears and forgetting to sniff.
+
+"Coz 't is. You see, all you children are rich 'n' poor
+too; so she 'll keep you comp'ny, as she 's poor where
+you 're rich as Croesus, 'n' you 're poor as Job's turkey
+where she's rich."
+
+"Why, what do you mean, Chi?"
+
+"You wait awhile, 'n' you 'll find out." And with that,
+Cherry had to be content.
+
+As the woodshed was too cold to be long comfortably
+mournful in,--Cherry decided to go inside and set the
+table for tea, wondering, meanwhile, what Chi meant.
+Ordinarily she would have gone straight to her mother to
+find out; but just to-night Cherry felt there was an abyss
+separating them, and she hated the very thought of the
+newcomer having caused this break between her adored
+Martie and herself before having stepped foot in the house.
+
+But Hazel's arrival had been delayed a whole month:
+first, on account of the unusually cold weather of March,
+and then on account of the Doctor's pressing engagements.
+To-night, however, this long waiting was to be at an end.
+
+Mr. Blossom had harnessed Bess and Bob into the two-seated
+wagon, and driven down three miles for them to the
+"Mill Settlement;" and there he was to meet the stage
+from Barton's River, the nearest railway station.
+
+As the time approached for the light of the lantern on
+the wagon to glimmer on the lower mountain road, which
+ran in view of the house, the excitement of Budd and Cherry
+grew intense. March intended to be indifferent, yet tolerant,
+but even he went twice to the door to listen. As for Rose,
+she was thinking almost more of Doctor Heath, with whom
+she was a great favorite, than of the coming guest. Chi
+had done up the chores early with March's help, and sat
+whistling and whittling in the shed door with his eye on
+the lower road.
+
+"They 're coming; they 're coming!" screamed the twins,
+making a wild dash for the woodshed, that they might have
+the first glimpse as the wagon drove up to the kitchen
+porch.
+
+"Chi, they 're coming!" they shrieked in his ear, as they
+flew past him.
+
+"Well, I ain't deaf, if they are," said Chi, gathering
+himself together, and going out to help unload.
+
+"Chi, how are you?" said the Doctor, in a hearty tone,
+grasping the horny hand held out to him.
+
+"First-rate, 'n' glad to see you back on the Mountain."
+
+"Here, lend a hand, will you? and take out a Little
+somebody who has to be handled rather gently for a week or
+two."
+
+"I ain't much used to handlin' chiny," he replied, "but
+I 'll be careful."
+
+He reached up his long arms and, gently as a woman,
+lifted Hazel out of the wagon on to the porch.
+
+By this time, Budd had found his bearings and had the
+Doctor by the hand.
+
+"Halloo, Budd! here you are handy. Just take Hazel's
+bag, and run into the house with her; she must n't stand a
+minute in this keen air."
+
+Budd's heart was going pretty fast, but he faced the
+music.
+
+"Come along, Hazel; we 've been waiting a month to see you."
+
+"And I've been waiting longer than that to see you,
+Budd." The gentle voice made Budd her vassal forever
+after.
+
+"Here, Martie, here's Hazel!" he shouted quite
+unnecessarily, for his mother had come to the door to welcome
+her guests. Cherry, hearing the shout, disappeared in the
+pantry, and was invisible until called to supper.
+
+In the confusion of glad welcome that followed, Hazel
+was conscious of stepping into a large, warm, lighted room,
+of some one's arms about her, and of a loving voice, saying:
+
+"Come in, dear; you must be so tired with your long
+journey and this cold ride;" and then a kiss that made her
+half forget the lonely, strange feeling she had had during
+the stage and wagon ride, despite the doctor's cheerfulness
+and care of her.
+
+Then some one untied her brown velvet hood and loosened
+her long sealskin coat.
+
+"Let me take off your things," said Rose.
+
+Hazel looked up and into the loveliest face she ever
+remembered to have seen.
+
+"I 'm Rose, and this is May. May, this is the valentine
+Martie told us of."
+
+"I tiss 'oo," said May, winningly, and held up her rosy
+bud of a face to Hazel. Hazel stooped to give her, not
+one, but a half-dozen kisses. There was no resisting such
+a little blossom.
+
+May put up her hand and stroked the little silk skull-cap.
+
+"What 'oo wear tap for?"
+
+"Sh! baby," said Rose, horrified, putting her hand on
+May's mouth.
+
+"Oh, don't do that," said Hazel, "I 'm so used to it now;
+I don't mind what people say or think. But I did at first."
+
+May's lip began to quiver and roll over; Hazel sat
+down on the settle, and, drawing May up beside her, said
+gently:--
+
+"There, there, little May Blossom, don't you cry, and
+I 'll tell you all about it. It's because I have n't any hair.
+I lost it all when I was sick so long. Sometime I 'll show
+you how funny my head looks, all covered with fuzz.
+Doctor Heath says it's like a little chicken's." And May
+was comforted and won once and for all to the Valentine,
+who gave her the tiny chatelaine watch to play with.
+
+Budd had been hanging about to get the first glimpse of
+Hazel by lamplight, and now rushed off to the barn and
+Chi to give vent to his feelings.
+
+"I say, Chi, where are you?"
+
+"In the harness room," replied Chi. "What do you
+want?" as he appeared.
+
+"I say, Chi, she 's a peach. She is n't a bit stuck up, as
+March said she would be."
+
+"Good-lookin'?" queried Chi.
+
+"N-o," said Budd, hesitating, "n-o, but I think she will
+be when she gets some hair."
+
+"Ain't got any hair!" exclaimed Chi. "How does that happen?"
+
+"She said she 'd been sick an' lost it all, an' 't was like
+chicken fuzz."
+
+"Said that, did she?" exclaimed Chi, laughing; then,
+with the sudden change from gayety to absolute solemnity
+that was peculiar to him, he said:--
+
+"She 's no fool, I can tell you that, Budd; 'n' I 'll bet
+my last red cent she 'll come out an A Number 1 beauty;
+'n' March Blossom had better hold his tongue till he cuts
+all his wisdom teeth." And with that Chi went into the
+shed room to "wash up."
+
+What a supper that was! And what a room in which
+to eat it!
+
+But for the Doctor's cheery voice, Hazel, as she sat in a
+corner of the settle, might have thought herself in another
+world, so unaccustomed were her city-bred eyes to all that
+was going on before her. The room itself was so queer,
+and, in a way new to her, delightful.
+
+The farmhouse was an old one, strong of beam and solid
+of foundation. It had been divided at first according to
+the fashion of the other century in which it was built. But
+as his family increased, Mr. Blossom found the need of a
+large, general living-room. It was then that he took down
+the wall between the front square room and the kitchen,
+and threw them into one. It was this arrangement that
+made the apartment unique.
+
+At one end was the huge fireplace that was originally
+in the front room. At the left of the fireplace was the
+jog into which the front door opened, formerly the little
+entry.
+
+This was the sitting-room end of the low forty-foot-long
+apartment; and it showed to Hazel the fireplace, the
+old-fashioned crane, with the hickory back-log glowing warm
+welcome, the long red-cushioned settle, a set of shelves
+filled with books, a little round work-table, Mrs. Blossom's
+special property, a large round table of cherry that had
+turned richly red with age, and wooden armchairs and
+rockers, with patchwork cushions.
+
+The middle portion served for dining-room. In it were
+the family table of hard pine, the wooden chairs, and
+Mrs. Blossom's grandmother's tall pine dresser.
+
+At the kitchen end, next the woodshed, were the sink,
+the stove, the kitchen shelves for pots and pans, and
+the kitchen table with its bread-trough and pie-board,
+all of which Rose kept scoured white with soap and sand.
+
+This living-room, sitting-room, dining-room, and kitchen
+in one had six windows facing south and east. Every
+window had brackets for plants; for this evening Rose
+had turned the blossom-side inwards to the room, and the
+walls glowed and gleamed with the velvety crimson of
+gloxinias, the red of fuchsias, the pink and white and
+scarlet of geraniums, the cream of wax-plant and begonia.
+Upon all this radiance of color, the lamplight shone and
+the fire flashed its crimson shadows. The kettle sang on
+the stove, and the delicious odor of baked potatoes came
+from the open oven.
+
+"Why, March!" said the Doctor, coming down from the
+spare room at the call for supper, "waiting for an
+introduction? I did n't know you stood on ceremony in this
+fashion. Allow me," he said with mock gravity to Hazel,
+and presented March in due form.
+
+Hazel greeted him exactly as she would have greeted a
+new boy at dancing-school. "Little Miss Finicky," was
+March's scornful thought of her, as he bowed rather
+awkwardly and thrust his hands into his pockets, racking his
+brains for something to say.
+
+"What a handsome boy! As handsome as Jack," was
+Hazel's first impression; then, missing the cordiality with
+which the other members of the family had welcomed her,
+she said in thought, "I 'm sure he does not want me here
+by the way he acts; I think he 's horrid."
+
+Doctor Heath sat down by Hazel. "I 'm not going to
+let you sit down to tea with all these mischiefs, little girl,
+not to-night, for you can't eat baked potatoes and the
+other good things after that long journey, so I 'll ask Rose
+to give you a bite right here on the settle."
+
+"I 'll speak to Rose," said March, glad to get away.
+
+"Thank you," said the Doctor, looking after him with a
+puzzled expression in his keen eyes. Just then Mr. Blossom
+and Chi came in, and the whole family sat down at
+the table.
+
+"Why, where 's Cherry?" exclaimed the Doctor.
+
+"Budd, where 's Cherry?" said his father.
+
+"I promised her I would n't tell where she hides till she
+was twelve, an' now she 's ten, an' she 's been so mean
+about Haz--
+
+"Budd," said his father, sternly, "answer me directly."
+
+"She 's under the pantry shelf behind the meal-chest,"
+said Budd, meekly.
+
+There was a shout of laughter that caused Cherry to
+crawl out pretty quickly and open the pantry door,--for
+it was hard to hear the fun and not be in it.
+
+"Come, Cherry," said her mother, still laughing, and
+Cherry slipped into her seat beside Doctor Heath with a
+murmured, "How do you do?" and her face bent so low
+over her plate that nothing was visible to Hazel but a
+round head running over with tight red curls that bobbed
+and trembled in a peculiarly funny way.
+
+"Well, Cherry," said the Doctor, trying to speak gravely,
+with only the red tip of a nose in view, "you seem to be
+rather low in your mind. I shall have to prescribe for
+you. Chi, suppose you drive me down to the Settlement
+to-morrow morning, and on the way to the train I will
+send up a cure-all for low spirits. I 've something for
+March, too. I think he needs it." He drew his eyebrows
+together over the bridge of his nose and cast a sharp
+glance at the boy, who felt the doctor had read him.
+
+"That means you 've got something for us," said Budd,
+bluntly.
+
+"Guess Budd's hit the nail on the head this time," said
+Chi. "Should n't wonder if 't was some pretty lively
+stuff."
+
+"You 're right there, Chi," replied the Doctor, laughing.
+"There 's plenty of good strong bark in it--"
+
+Thereupon there was a shout of joy from Budd which
+brought Cherry's head into position at once.
+
+"I know, I know, it's a St. Bernard puppy!"
+
+"Oh--ee," squealed Cherry, in her delight, and
+forthwith put her arm through the Doctor's and squeezed it
+hard against her ribs.
+
+"Guess there's a good deal of crow-foot in the other,
+ain't there?" said Chi, with a wink at March, who
+deliberately left his seat after saying, "Excuse me" most gravely
+to his mother, and turned a somersault in the kitchen end
+just to relieve his feelings. Then, with his hands in his
+pockets, he went up to Doctor Heath, his usually clear,
+pale face flushing with excitement.
+
+"Do you mean, Doctor Heath, you 're going to give me
+a full-blooded Wyandotte cock?" he demanded.
+
+"That is just what I mean, March," replied the Doctor,
+with great gravity, "and twelve full-blooded wives are at
+this moment looking in vain for a roost beside their lord
+and master in the express office down at Barton's River."
+
+"Oh, glory!" cried March, wringing the Doctor's hand
+with both his, and then going off to execute another
+somersault. "You 've done it now!"
+
+"Done what, March?" asked Doctor Heath, really
+touched by the boy's grateful enthusiasm.
+
+"Made my fortune," he replied, dropping into his seat
+again, breathless with excitement; and to the Doctor's
+amazement he saw tears, actual tears, gather in the boy's
+eyes, before he looked down in his plate and busied himself
+with his baked potato.
+
+Hazel saw them too. "What a strange boy," she thought,
+"and how different this is from eating my dinner all alone!" Then
+she slipped up to the Doctor's side with her small tray
+containing nothing but empty dishes, for the keen air and
+the sight of so many others eating and enjoying themselves
+had given her a good appetite.
+
+"Are you satisfied with me *now*?" she said, presenting
+her tray.
+
+"I should think so," he exclaimed. "Two glasses of
+milk, two slices of toasted brown bread, one piece of
+sponge cake, and a baked apple with cream! I 've gone
+out of business with you; my last 'tonic' is going to
+work well,--don't you think so?"
+
+"I 'm sure it is," she said quietly, but there was such a
+depth of meaning in the sweet voice and the few words
+that the Doctor threw his arm around her as they rose from
+the table, and kept her beside him until bedtime.
+
+At nine o'clock, Mrs. Blossom helped her to undress,
+and then, saying she would come back soon, left her alone
+in the little bedroom off the kitchen.
+
+Hazel looked about her in amazement. This was her
+little room! A small single bed, looking like a snow drift,
+so white and feathery and high was it; one window
+curtained with a square of starched white cotton cloth that
+drew over the panes by means of a white cord on which it
+was run at the top; a tiny wash-stand with an old-fashioned
+bowl and pitcher of green and white stone-ware, and over
+it an old-fashioned gilt mirror; a small splint-bottomed
+chair and large braided rug of red woollen rags. That
+was all, except in one corner, where some cleats had been
+nailed to the ceiling and a clothes-press made by hanging
+from them full curtains of white cloth.
+
+For the first time in her life, Hazel unpacked her own
+travelling-bag and took out the silver toilet articles with
+the pretty monogram. But where should she put them?
+No bureau, no dressing-case, no bath-room!--For a few
+minutes Hazel felt bewildered, then, laughing, she put them
+back again into her bag, and, leaving her candle in the tin
+candlestick on the wash-stand, she gave one leap into the
+middle of the high feather-bed.
+
+Just then Mrs. Blossom returned from saying good-night
+to her own children. She tucked Hazel in snugly, and to
+the young girl's surprise, knelt by the bed saying, "Let us
+repeat the Lord's Prayer together, dear;" and together
+they said it, Hazel fearing almost the sound of her own
+voice. When they had finished, Mary Blossom, still
+kneeling, asked that Father to bless the coming of this
+one of His little ones into their home, and asked it in such
+a loving, trustful way, that Hazel's arm stole out from the
+coverlet and around Mrs. Blossom's neck; her head, soft
+and silky as a new-born baby's, cuddled to her shoulder:
+and when Mrs. Blossom kissed her good-night, she said
+suddenly, but half-timidly, "Do you say *this* with Rose
+every night?"
+
+"Yes, dear, every night."
+
+"And how old is Rose?"
+
+"She will be seventeen next August."
+
+"Do you with Budd and Cherry, too?"
+
+"Yes, with all my children, even March and May."
+
+"March!" exclaimed Hazel.
+
+"Why not?" laughed his mother. "I 'm sure he
+needs it, as you 'll find out; now good-night, and don't
+get up to our early breakfast to-morrow, for the Doctor
+goes on the first morning train, and you 're not quite
+strong enough yet to do just as we do. Good-night
+again."
+
+"Good-night," said Hazel, thinking she could never
+have enough of this kind of putting to bed.
+
+Meanwhile March and Budd, in their bedroom over the
+"long-room," were discussing in half-whispers Wyandotte
+cocks, St. Bernard puppies, and the new-comer, for they
+were too excited to sleep.
+
+Just behind March's bed, near the head, there was a
+large knot in the boards of the flooring, which for four
+years had served him many a good turn, when Budd and
+Cherry were planning, below in the kitchen, how they
+could play tricks upon him. March had carefully removed
+the knot, and with his eye, or ear, at the hole, he had been
+able, entirely to the mystification of the twins, to overthrow
+their conspiracies and defeat their flank movements. When
+his espionage was over, he replaced the knot, and no one
+in the household was the wiser for his private detective
+service.
+
+To-day, late in the afternoon, he had taken out the knot,
+intending to have a view of the new arrival, unbeknown
+to the rest of the household; but so interested had he
+become in the general welcome and in the anticipation of
+the Doctor's gifts, that he had forgotten both to look
+through the hole and to replace the knot.
+
+Hazel, too, could not sleep at first. It was all so strange,
+and yet she was so happy. Her thoughts were in New
+York, and she was already planning for a visit from her
+father, when suddenly she remembered that she had left
+the little chatelaine watch he had given her on her last
+birthday, lying on the settle where May had been playing
+with it. She must wind it regularly, that was her father's
+stipulation when he gave it to her. She sprang out of
+bed, tiptoed to the door, listened; all was still, but not
+wholly dark. The embers beneath the ashes in the
+fireplace sent a dull glow into the room. Softly she stole
+out; found her watch, then, half-way to her own door,
+stopped, startled by a voice issuing apparently from the
+rafters overhead. It was March, who, forgetting his open
+knot-hole, turned over towards the wall with a prolonged
+yawn and said, evidently in answer to Budd:--
+
+"Oh, go to sleep; don't talk about her. I think she 's
+a perfect guy."
+
+
+
+
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`MALACHI`:
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ VI
+
+
+.. class:: center medium
+
+ MALACHI
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+It was a month after the eventful day for the Blossoms,
+and Saturday morning. Rose, with her sleeves rolled up
+above her elbows, was kneading bread and singing, as she
+worked:--
+
+ | "'Oh, a king would have loved and left thee,
+ | And away thy sweet love cast:
+ | But I am thine
+ | Whilst the stars shall shine,--
+ | To the--last--'"
+ |
+
+Just here, she gave the round mass of dough a toss up
+to the ceiling and caught it deftly on her right fist as it
+came down, finishing her octave with high C, while again
+the bread spun aloft and dropped in safety on her left
+fist--"to the last!"
+
+Then she proceeded with her kneading and singing:--
+
+ | "'I told thee when love was hopeless;
+ | But now he is wild and sings--
+ | That the stars above [up went the bread again]--
+ | Shine ever on Love--'"
+ |
+
+A peal of merry laughter close behind her made her
+jump, and the bread came down kerchunk into the
+kneading trough.
+
+"Gracious, Hazel! how you frightened me! I thought
+you were off with Budd and Cherry."
+
+"So I was; but they wanted me to come in and tell you
+there is to be a secret meeting of the N.B.B.O.O. Society
+in the usual place. They said you would know where it is."
+
+"Of course I do; do you?"
+
+"No, they would n't tell. They said it is against the
+rules to allow any one in who hasn't been initiated. They
+said they 'd initiate me, if I wanted to join."
+
+"Well, do you want to?"
+
+"Of course I do, if you belong," said Hazel, eagerly.
+
+"Tell them I 'll be out after I 've put the bread to rise
+and cleared up; but be sure and tell them not to do
+anything till I come."
+
+"Yes," cried Hazel, joyfully, skipping through the
+woodshed and encountering Chi with a bag of seed-beans.
+
+"Where you goin', Lady-bird?" (This was Chi's name
+for her from the first day.) "Seems to me you 're gettin'
+over the ground pretty fast."
+
+"The Buds" (for so Hazel had nicknamed the
+children) "are going to have a meeting somewhere of the
+N.B.B.O.O. Society, and I'm to be initiated, Chi. What
+does that mean?"
+
+"Initiated, hey? Into a secret society? Well, that
+depends.--Sometimes it means being tossed sky-high in
+a blanket, and then again you 're dropped lower than the
+bottomless pit; and you can't most always tell beforehand
+which way you 're goin'."
+
+Hazel's face fairly lost the rich color she had gained in
+the past month. This was more than she had bargained for.
+
+"Oh, Chi! They would n't do such things to me!" she
+exclaimed in dismay.
+
+"Well, no--I don't know as they 'd carry it that far;
+but those children mean mischief every time."
+
+"But they would n't hurt me, Chi. They would n't be
+as mean as that; besides, Rose wouldn't let them."
+
+"Well, I don't know as she would. But children are
+children, and Rose ain't grown any wings yet."
+
+"Was Rose initiated?" was Hazel's next rather anxious
+question.
+
+"Yes, she was," said Chi, taking up a handful of beans
+and letting them run through his fingers into the open
+bag.
+
+"How do you know, Chi?"
+
+"Coz I initiated her myself."
+
+"You, Chi? Why, do you belong?"
+
+"First member of the N.B.B.O.O. Society."
+
+"Well, that's funny. Who initiated you?"
+
+Chi set down the bag of beans, and for a moment shook
+with laughter; then, growing perfectly sober, he said
+solemnly:--
+
+"I initiated myself. But they was all on hand when I
+did it."
+
+"What did you do, Chi?"
+
+"Just hear her!" said Chi to himself, but aloud, he said,
+"I 'll tell you this much, if it is a secret society. They
+try 'n' see what stuff you 're made of."
+
+ | "'Sugar and spice
+ | And all that's nice,
+ | That's what little girls are made of,'"
+
+Hazel interrupted, singing merrily.
+
+"There was n't much 'sugar 'n' spice' in that Rose
+Blossom when she put me to the test. You ain't heard a
+screech-owl yet; but when you do, you'll come running
+home to find out whose bein' killed in the woods."
+
+Hazel looked at him half in fear, but Chi went on
+stolidly:--
+
+"'N' those children told me I 'd got to go up into the
+woods at twelve o'clock at night, when the screech-owls
+was yellin' bloody murder, to show I wasn't scairt of
+nothin'; 'n' I went."
+
+"Oh, Chi, was n't it awful?"
+
+"Kinder scarey; but they gave me the dinner horn 'n'
+told me to blow a blast on that when I was up there, so
+they 'd hear, 'n' know I was *clear* into the woods; for they
+was all on hand watchin' from the back attic window--what
+they could in a pitch-black night--to see if I 'd
+back down."
+
+"And you did n't, Chi?" said Hazel, eagerly.
+
+"You bet I did n't, 'n' I brought home an old screecher
+just to prove I was game."
+
+"How did you catch him, Chi?"
+
+Chi clapped his hands on his knees, and shook with
+laughter; then he grew perfectly sober:--
+
+"I took a dark lantern along with me, just to kind of
+feel my way in the woods--but the children did n't
+know about that--'n' when an old screecher gave a blood-curdlin'
+yell, just as near my right ear as the engine down
+on the track when you 're standin' at the depot at Barton's
+River,--just then I turned on the light full tilt, and the
+feller sat right still on the branch, kind of dazed like, 'n'
+I took him just as easy as I 'd take a hen off the roost
+after dark, 'n' brought him home. 'N' just as I was goin'
+up into the attic in the dark, the shed stairs' way, 'n' the
+children was all listenin' at the top in the dark, the
+dummed bird gave such a screech that the children all
+tumbled over one another tryin' to get back to their beds,
+'n' such screamin' 'n' hollerin' you never heard--the bird
+was n't in it."
+
+Again Chi laughed at the recollection, and Hazel joined him.
+
+"Did they make you do anything more, Chi?"
+
+"By George Washin'ton! I should think they did,"
+said Chi, soberly. "That last was March's idea, but
+Rose went him one more."
+
+"What could Rose think of worse than that?" demanded
+Hazel.
+
+"Well, she did. She blindfolded my eyes 'n' took me
+by the hand, 'n' turned me round 'n' round till I was most
+dizzy; 'n' then she gave me a rope, 'n' she took one end
+of it 'n' made me take the other, 'n' kept leadin' me 'n'
+leadin' me, 'n' the children all caperin' round me, screamin'
+'n' laughin'. Pretty soon--I calculated I 'd walked about
+a quarter of a mile--the rope grew slack; all of a
+sudden the laughin' 'n' screamin' stopped, 'n' I--walked
+right off the bank into the big pool down under the pines,
+ker--splash! 'n' the children, after they 'd got me in,
+was so scairt for fear I 'd lose my breath--I could n't
+drown coz there was n't more than five feet of water in
+it--that they hauled on the rope with all their might, 'n'
+pulled me out; 'n' I let 'em pull," said Chi, grimly.
+
+"I hope they were satisfied after that," said Hazel,
+soberly.
+
+"They appeared to be," said Chi, contentedly, "for they
+said I should be president, coz I was so brave. But
+there 's other things harder to do than that."
+
+"What are they, Chi?"
+
+"You 've got to keep the by-laws."
+
+"What are those?"
+
+"Rules of the Society. One of 'em 's, you must n't be
+afraid to tell the truth. 'N' another is, you must be scairt
+to tell a lie."
+
+Hazel grew scarlet at her own thoughts.
+
+"Another is, to help other folks all you can; 'n' the
+fourth 'n' last is, that no boy or girl as lives in this great,
+free country of ours ought to be a coward."
+
+Hazel drew a long breath.
+
+"Those must be hard to keep."
+
+"Well, they ain't always easy, that's a fact; but they re
+mighty good to live by," he added, picking up the
+bean-bag. "I lived with Ben Blossom's father when I was a
+little chap as chore boy, 'n' he gave me my schoolin' 'n'
+clothes; 'n' I 've lived with his son ever since he was
+married, 'n' he's been the best friend a man could have, 'n'
+I 've always got along with him in peace and lovin'-kindness;
+'n' those four by-laws his father wrote on my boyhood;
+'n' by those four by-laws I 've kept my manhood;
+'n' so I think it 'll do anybody good to join the Society."
+
+"Well," said Hazel, stoutly, "I 'll show them I 'm not
+afraid of some things, if I did run away from the turkey-gobbler."
+
+"That's right," said Chi, heartily, "'n' more than
+that--betwixt you 'n' me--you 've no cause to be scairt
+*whatever* they do; now mark my words, *whatever they do*,"
+repeated Chi, emphatically.
+
+"I don't care what they do so long as you 're there, Chi,"
+said Hazel, looking up into his weather-roughened, deeply-lined
+face with such utter trust in her great eyes that Chi
+caught up the bag over his shoulder and hurried out to
+the barn, muttering to himself:--
+
+"George Washin'ton! How she manages to creep into
+the softest corner of a man's heart, I don't know; I
+expect it's those great eyes of hers, 'n' that voice just like a
+brook winnerin' 'n' gurglin' over its stones in August.--Guess
+there's luck come to this house with Lady-bird!" And
+he went about his work.
+
+
+
+
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`THE N.B.B.O.O. SOCIETY`:
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ VII
+
+
+.. class:: center medium
+
+ THE N.B.B.O.O. SOCIETY
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+"Now, Hazel, we 're ready," said Rose, after the dinner
+dishes had been washed and the children's time was
+their own. Hazel submitted meekly to the blindfolding
+process.
+
+She had tried in vain to find out something of what the
+children intended to do, but they were too clever for her
+to gain the smallest hint as to the initiation. March had
+been busy in the ice-house, and Cherry had been ironing
+the aprons for the family,--that was her Saturday
+morning duty. Budd and the St. Bernard puppy were off with
+Chi in the fields.
+
+Rose led her through the woodshed and out of doors--Hazel
+knew that by the rush of soft air that met her
+face--and away, somewhither. At last she was helped to
+climb a ladder; Chi's hand grasped hers, and she felt the
+flooring under her feet. Then she was left without
+support of any kind, not daring to move with Chi's story in
+her thoughts.
+
+"Guess we 'll have the roll-call first," said Chi, solemnly.
+There was not a sound to be heard except now and then
+a rush of wings and the twitter of swallows.
+
+"Molly Stark."
+
+"Here," said Rose.
+
+"Markis de Lafayette."
+
+"Here," from March.
+
+"Marthy Washin'ton."
+
+"Present," said Cherry, forgetting she was not in school.
+Budd snickered, and the president called him to order.
+
+"Fine of two cents for snickerin' in meetin'." Budd
+looked sober.
+
+"Ethan Allen."
+
+"Here," said Budd, in a subdued voice.
+
+"Old Put,--Here," said Chi, addressing and answering
+himself. "Now, Markis, read the by-laws."
+
+"Number One.--We pledge ourselves not to be afraid
+to tell the truth."
+
+"Number Two.--We pledge ourselves to be afraid to
+tell a lie.
+
+"Number Three.--We pledge ourselves to try to help
+others whenever we can, wherever we can, however we
+can, as long as ever we can.
+
+"Number Four.--We, as American boys and girls,
+pledge ourselves never to play the coward nor to disgrace
+our country."
+
+"Molly Stark, unfurl the flag," said Chi.
+
+Hazel heard a rustle as Rose unrolled the banner of soft
+red, white, and blue cambric.
+
+"Put Old Glory round the candidate's shoulders," commanded
+the president, and Hazel felt the soft folds being
+draped about her.
+
+"There now, Lady-bird, you 're dressed as pretty as
+you 're ever goin' to be; it don't make a mite of difference
+whether you 're the Empress of Rooshy, or just plain
+every-day folks; 'n' now you 've got that rig on, we 're
+ready to give you the hand of fellowship. Markis, you
+have the floor."
+
+"What name does the candidate wish to be known by?"
+asked March, with due gravity; then, forgetting his role,
+he added, "You must take the name of some woman who
+has been just as brave as she could be."
+
+Hazel, feeling the folds of the flag about her, suddenly
+recalled her favorite poem of Whittier's.
+
+"Barbara Frietchie," she said promptly and firmly.
+
+The various members shouted and cheered themselves
+hoarse before order was restored.
+
+"What'd I tell you, Budd?" said Chi, triumphantly;
+then there was another shout, for Chi had broken the rules
+in speaking thus.
+
+"Two cents' fine!" shouted Budd, "for speaking out
+of order in meeting."
+
+"Sho! I forgot," said Chi, humbly; "well, proceed."
+
+"Do you, Barbara Frietchie, pledge yourself to try to
+keep these by-laws?"
+
+"Yes," said Hazel, but rather tremulously.
+
+"Well, then, we 'll put you to the test. Molly Stark
+will extend the first hand of fellowship to Barbara
+Frietchie--No, hold out your hand, Hazel; way out--don't
+you draw it back that way!"
+
+"I did n't," retorted Hazel.
+
+"Yes, you did, I saw you!"
+
+"You didn't, either."
+
+"I did."
+
+"You did n't."
+
+"I did, too."
+
+"He did n't, did he, Chi?" said Hazel, furious at this
+charge of apparent timidity.
+
+"I don't believe you drew it back even if March does
+think he saw you," said Chi, pouring oil both ways on the
+troubled waters; "'n' I never thought 't was just the thing
+for a boy to tell a girl she was a coward before she'd
+proved to be one--specially if he belongs to this Society."
+
+The Marquis de Lafayette hung his head at this rebuke;
+but in the action his cocked hat of black and gilt paper
+lurched forward and drew off with it his white cotton-wool
+wig. Budd and Cherry, forgetting all rules, fines, and
+sense of propriety, rolled over and over at the sight; Rose
+sat down shaking with laughter, and even Chi lost his
+dignity.
+
+"I wish you would let me *see*, or do something," said
+Hazel, plaintively, when she could make herself heard.
+
+"'T ain't fair to keep Hazel waiting so," declared Budd,
+and the president called the meeting to order again.
+
+"Put out your hand, Hazel," said Rose. "Now shake."
+
+Hazel grasped a hand, cold, deathly cold, and clammy.
+The chill of the rigid fingers sent a corresponding shiver
+down the length of her backbone, and the goose-flesh rose
+all over her arms and legs. She thought she must shriek;
+but she recalled Chi's words, set her teeth hard, and shook
+the awful thing with what strength she had, never uttering
+a sound.
+
+"Bully for you, Hazel! I knew you 'd show lots of
+pluck," cried Budd.
+
+"Got grit every time," said Chi, proudly. "Now let's
+have the other test and get down to business. Guess all
+three of you 'll have to have a finger in this pie. Hurry
+up, Marthy Washin'ton!" Cherry scuttled down the
+ladder, and in a few minutes labored, panting, up again.
+
+"What did you bring two for?" demanded Budd.
+
+"'Cause March said 't would balance me better on the
+ladder," replied Cherry, innocently. At which explanation
+Chi laughed immoderately, much to Cherry's discomfiture.
+
+"Now, Hazel, roll up your sleeve and hold out your bare
+arm," said the Marquis. Hazel obeyed, wondering what
+would come next.
+
+"Here, Budd, you hold it; all ready, Cherry?"
+
+"Ye-es--wait a minute; now it's all right."
+
+"This we call burning in the Society's brand,--N.B.B.O.O.;"
+the voice of the Marquis was solemn,
+befitting the occasion.
+
+Hazel drew her breath sharply, uncertain whether to cry
+out or not. There was a sharp sting across her arm, as if
+a hot curling-iron had been drawn quickly across it; then
+a sound of sizzling flesh, and the odor of broiled beefsteak
+rose up just under her nostrils.
+
+There was a diabolical thud of falling flat-irons; Rose
+tore the bandage from Hazel's eyes, and the bewildered
+candidate for membership, when her eyes grew somewhat
+wonted to the dim light, found herself in a corner of the
+loft in the barn, with the elegant figure of the Marquis in
+cocked hat, white wig, yellow vest, blue coat, and yellow
+knee-breeches dancing frantically around her; Ethan Allen
+in white woollen shirt, red yarn suspenders, and red, white,
+and blue striped trousers, turning back-hand somersaults
+on the hay; Chi standing at salute with his
+great-great-grandfather's Revolutionary musket, his old straw hat
+decorated with a tricolor cockade, and Cherry in a white
+cotton-wool wig, a dark calico dress of her mother's and a
+white neckerchief, flat on the floor beside two six-pound
+flat-irons.
+
+A piece of raw beef on a tin pan, some bits of ice, and a
+kid glove stuffed with ice and sawdust, lay scattered about.
+They told the tale of the initiation.
+
+"Three cheers for Barbara Frietchie!" shouted Budd,
+as he came right side up. The barn rang with them.
+
+"Now we 'll give the right hand of true fellowship," said
+Chi, rapping with the butt of his musket for order.
+
+Rose gave Hazel's hand a squeeze. "I 'm so glad you 're
+to be one of us," she said heartily; and Hazel squeezed
+back.
+
+March came forward, bowed low, and said, "I apologize
+for my distrust of your pluck," and held out his hand with
+a look in the flashing gray eyes that was not one of
+mockery; indeed, he looked glad, but never a word of welcome
+did he speak.
+
+"I could flog that proud feller," muttered Chi to himself.
+
+Hazel hesitated a moment, then put out her hand a little
+reluctantly. March caught the gesture and her look.
+
+"Oh, you 're not obliged to," he said haughtily, and
+turned on his heel. But Hazel put her hand on his arm.
+
+"I 'm afraid we are both breaking some of the by-laws,
+March. I do want to shake hands, but I was thinking
+just then that you did n't mean the apology--not really
+and truly; and if you did mean it, there was something
+else you needed to apologize for more than that!"
+
+March flushed to the roots of his hair. Then his boy's
+honor came to the rescue.
+
+"I do want to now, Hazel--and forgive and forget,
+won't you?" he said, with the winning smile he inherited
+from his father, but which he kept for rare occasions.
+
+Hazel put her hand in his, and felt that this had been
+worth waiting for. She knew that at last March had
+taken her in.
+
+Budd gripped with all his might, Cherry shook with two
+fingers, and Chi's great hand closed over hers as tenderly
+as a woman's would have done.
+
+This was Hazel's initiation into the Nobody's Business
+But Our Own Society. It was the second meeting of the
+year.
+
+"Now, March, I 'll make you chairman and ask you to
+state the business of this meetin', as you 've called it.
+Must be mighty important?"
+
+"It is," replied March, gravely, all the fun dying
+out of his face. "You remember, all of you,--don't
+you?--what mother told us that night she said Hazel was
+coming?"
+
+"Yes," chorussed the children.
+
+"Well, I 've been thinking and thinking ever since how
+I could help--"
+
+"So 've I, March," interrupted Rose.
+
+"And I have, too," said Budd.
+
+"What's all this mean?" said Chi, somewhat astonished,
+for he had not known why the meeting had been called.
+
+"Why, you see, Chi, we never knew till then that the
+farm had been mortgaged on account of father's sickness,
+and that it had been so awful hard for mother all this
+year--"
+
+Chi cleared his throat.
+
+"--And we want to do something to help earn. If we
+could earn just our own clothes and books and enough to
+pay for our schooling, it would be something."
+
+"Guess 't would," said Chi, clearing his throat again.
+"Kind of workin' out the third by-law, ain't you?"
+
+"Trying to," answered March, with such sincerity in his
+voice that Chi's throat troubled him for full a minute.
+"And what I want to find out, without mother's knowing
+it, or father either, is how we can earn enough for those
+things. If anybody 's got anything to say, just speak up."
+
+"What you goin' to do with those Wyandottes?"
+
+"I knew you 'd ask that, Chi. I 'm going to raise a
+fine breed and sell the eggs at a dollar and a half for
+thirteen; but I can't get any chicken-money till next fall,
+and no egg-money till next spring, and I want to begin
+now."
+
+"Hm--" said Chi, taking off his straw hat and slowly
+scratching his head. "Well," he said after a pause
+in which all were thinking and no one talking, "why don't
+all of you go to work raisin' chickens for next Thanksgivin'?"
+
+"By cracky!" said Budd, "we could raise three or four
+hundred, an' fat 'em up, an' make a pile, easy as nothing."
+
+"I don't know about it's bein' so easy; but children
+have the time to tend 'em, and I don't see why it won't
+work, seein' it's a good time of year."
+
+"But where 'll we get the hens to set, Chi?" said March.
+
+"Oh, there 's enough of 'em settin' round now on the
+bare boards," Chi replied.
+
+"Can I raise some, too?" asked Hazel, rather timidly.
+
+"Don't know what there is to hinder," said Chi, with
+a slow smile.
+
+"And can I buy some hens for my very own?"
+
+"Why, of course you can; just say the word, 'n' you
+'n' I 'll go settin'-hen hunting within a day or so."
+
+"Oh, what fun!" cried Hazel, clapping her hands.
+"But I want some that will sit and lay too, Chi; then I
+can sell the eggs."
+
+There was a shout of laughter, at which Hazel felt hurt.
+
+"There now, Lady-bird, we won't laugh at your city
+ways of lookin' at things any more. The hens ain't quite
+so accommodatin' as that, but we 'll get some good setters
+first, 'n' then see about the layin' afterwards."
+
+"But, Chi, it will take such a lot of corn to fatten them.
+We don't want to ask father for anything."
+
+"That's right, Rose. Be independent as long as you
+can; I thought of that, too. Now, there 's a whole acre
+on the south slope I ploughed this spring,--nice, hot land,
+just right for corn-raisin'; 'n' if you children 'll drop 'n'
+cover, I 'll help you with the hoein' 'n' cuttin' 'n' huskin';
+'n' you 'll have your corn for nothin'."
+
+"Good for you, Chi; we 'll do it, won't we?" cried March.
+
+"You bet," said Budd.
+
+"I can pick berries," said Rose, "and we can always
+sell them at the Inn, or at Barton's River."
+
+"Yes, and we can begin in June," said Cherry; "the
+pastures are just red with the wild strawberries, you know,
+Rose."
+
+"It's an awful sight of work to pick 'em," said Budd,
+rather dubiously.
+
+"Well, you can't get your money without workin',
+Budd; 'n' work don't mean 'take it easy.'"
+
+"I 'm sure we can get twenty-five cents a quart for them
+right in the village. I 've heard folks say they make the
+best preserve you can get, and you can't buy them for love
+nor money," said Rose. "Mother makes beautiful ones."
+
+"Was n't that what we had last Sunday night when the
+minister was here to tea?" asked Hazel.
+
+"Yes," said Rose.
+
+"I never tasted any strawberries like them at home, and
+the housekeeper buys lots of jams and jellies in the fall."
+Hazel thought hard for a minute. Suddenly she jumped
+to her feet, clapped her hands, and spun round and round
+like a top, crying out, "I have it! I have it!"
+
+The N.B.B.O.O. Society was amazed to see the new
+member perform in this lively manner, for Hazel had been
+rather quiet during the first month. Now she caught up
+her skirts with a dainty tilt, and danced the Highland
+Fling just to let her spirits out through her feet. Up and
+down the floor of the loft she charged, hands over her head,
+hands swinging her skirts, light as a fairy, bending,
+swaying, and bowing, till, with a big "cheese," she sat down
+almost breathless by Chi. Was this Hazel? The members
+of the N.B.B.O.O. looked at one another in amazement,
+and March's eyes flashed again, as they had done once
+before during the afternoon.
+
+"Now all listen to me," she said, as if, after a month of
+silence, she had found her tongue. "I 've an idea, and
+when I have one, papa says it's worth listening to,--which
+is n't often, I 'm sure. We 'll pick the strawberries, and
+get Mrs. Blossom to show Rose how to do them up; and
+I 'll write to papa and Doctor Heath's wife and to our
+housekeeper and Cousin Jack, and see if they don't want
+some of those delicious preserves that they can't get in the
+city. I 'll find out from Mrs. Scott--that's the
+housekeeper--how much she pays for a jar in New York, and
+then we 'll charge a little more for ours because the
+strawberries are a little rarer. Are n't there any other kinds of
+berries that grow around here?"
+
+"Guess you 'd better stop 'n' take breath, Lady-bird;
+there 's a mighty lot of plannin' in all that. What 'd I
+tell you, Budd?" Chi asked again.
+
+Budd looked at Hazel in boyish admiration, but said
+nothing.
+
+"I think that's splendid, Hazel," said Rose, "if they'll
+only want them."
+
+"I know they will; but are there any other berries?"
+
+"Berries! I should think so; raspberries and blackberries
+by the bushel on the Mountain, and they say they 're
+the best anywhere round here," said March.
+
+"Oh, dear!" sighed Cherry, "I wish we could go to
+work right now."
+
+"Well, so you can," said Chi, "only you can't go berryin'
+just yet. You can begin to drop that corn this very
+afternoon: better be inside the ground pretty soon, with all
+those four hundred chickens waitin' to join the
+Thanksgivin' procession."
+
+.. _`"'You can begin to drop that corn this very afternoon'"`:
+
+.. figure:: images/img-073.jpg
+ :align: center
+ :alt: "'You can begin to drop that corn this very afternoon'"
+
+ "'You can begin to drop that corn this very afternoon'"
+
+"Oh, Chi, you 're making fun of us," laughed Rose.
+
+"Don't you believe it, Rose-pose; never was more in
+earnest in my life. Come along, 'n' I 'll show you."
+
+
+
+
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`A LIVELY CORRESPONDENCE`:
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ VIII
+
+
+.. class:: center medium
+
+ A LIVELY CORRESPONDENCE
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+It was a trial of patience to have to wait twenty-one
+days before the first of the "four hundred" could be
+expected to appear.
+
+"You 'll have to be kind of careful 'bout steppin' round
+in the dark, Mis' Blossom, 'n' you, too, Ben," said Chi,
+"for you 'll find a settin' hen most anywheres nowadays."
+
+Mrs. Blossom laughed. "Oh, Chi, what dear children
+they are, even if they aren't quite perfect."
+
+"Can't be beat," replied Chi, earnestly. "Look at them
+now, will you?"
+
+Mrs. Blossom stepped out on the porch, and looked over
+to the south slope and the corn-patch. "What if her
+father were to see her now!" She laughed again, both
+at her thoughts and the sight.
+
+"'T would give him kind of a shock at first," Chi
+chuckled, "but he 'd get over it as soon as he 'd seen
+that face."
+
+"It is wonderful how she has improved. I shouldn't
+be surprised if he came up here soon to see Hazel."
+
+"Well, he 'll find somethin' worth lookin' at. See there,
+now!"
+
+The girls had been making scarecrows to protect the
+young corn, stuffing old shirts and trousers with hay and
+straw, while March and Budd had been getting ready the
+cross-tree frames. In dropping and covering the corn that
+Saturday afternoon after the initiation, the girls had found
+their skirts and petticoats not only in the way as they bent
+over their work, but greatly soiled by contact with the
+soft, damp loam. So they had begged to wear overalls of
+blue denim like Chi's and the boys'. The request had
+been gladly granted. "It will save no end of washing,"
+said Mrs. Blossom, and forthwith made up three pairs on
+the machine.
+
+The girls found it great fun. They tucked in their
+petticoats and buttoned down their shoulder-straps with
+right good will. Then Mr. Blossom presented them with
+broad, coarse straw hats, such as he and Chi used, and
+with these on their heads they rushed off to the
+corn-patch. There now they were,--five good-looking boys
+with hands joined, dancing and capering around a scarecrow,
+that looked like a gentleman tramp gone entirely to
+seed, and singing at the top of their voices Budd's favorite,
+"I won't play in your back yard."
+
+At that very hour, when the gentleman scarecrow of
+the corn-patch was looking amiably, although slightly
+squint-eyed, out from under his tattered straw hat (for
+March had drawn rude features on the white cloth bag
+stuffed with cotton-wool which served for a head, and on
+it Rose had sewed skeins of brown yarn to imitate hair)
+at the antics of the five pairs of blue overalls, Mr. Clyde,
+having finished his nine o'clock breakfast, asked for the
+mail.
+
+"Yes, Marse John" (so Wilkins always called Mr. Clyde
+when they were alone), "'spect dere 's one from Miss
+Hazel by de feel an' de smell."
+
+Mr. Clyde smiled. "How can you tell by the 'feel and
+the smell,' Wilkins?"
+
+"Case it's bunchy lake in de middle, an' de vi'lets can't
+hide dere bref."
+
+"Well, we 'll see," said Mr. Clyde, willing to indulge
+his faithful servant's childish curiosity. Wilkins busied
+himself quietly about the breakfast-room.
+
+As Mr. Clyde opened the envelope, the crushed blue
+and white violets fell out. Suddenly he burst into such
+a hearty laugh that Wilkins had hard work to suppress
+a sympathetic chuckle.
+
+"I shall have to carry this letter over to the Doctor,
+Wilkins," he said, still laughing. "I shall be in time to
+find him a few minutes alone before office hours." He
+rose from the table.
+
+Wilkins followed him out to give his coat a last touch
+with the brush; he was fearful Mr. Clyde might leave
+without revealing anything of the contents of the letter
+from his beloved Miss Hazel.
+
+"'Sense me, Marse John," he said in desperation, as
+Mr. Clyde went towards the front door, "but Miss Hazel
+ain't no wusser case yo' goin' to de Doctah's?"
+
+"Oh, Wilkins, I forgot; you want to know how Miss
+Hazel is. She is doing finely; as happy as a bird, and
+sends her love to you in a postscript. I think I 'll run up
+and see her soon."
+
+Wilkins ducked and beamed. "'Pears lake dis yere
+house ain't de same place wif de little missus gone."
+
+"You 're right, Wilkins," said Mr. Clyde, earnestly. "I
+shall not open the Newport cottage this year; it would
+be too lonesome without her."
+
+"Well, Dick," he said gayly, as he entered the Doctor's
+office, "I shall hold you responsible for some of the lives
+of the 'Four Hundred.' Here, read this letter."
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+.. class:: left white-space-pre-line
+
+ MOUNT HUNGER, MILL SETTLEMENT, BARTON'S
+ RIVER, VERMONT, May 19, 1896.
+
+DEAREST PAPA,--Good-morning! I am answering your
+long letter a little sooner than I expected to, because I want
+you to do something for me in a business way; that's the way
+March says it must be.
+
+I don't know how to begin to tell you, but I 've joined the
+N.B.B.O.O. Society and one of the by-laws is that we must
+help others all we can and just as much as we can. I wish
+you'd been at the initiashun. (I don't know about that
+spelling, and I 'm in a hurry, or I 'd ask.) I had the hand of
+fellowship from a supposed corpse's hand first, and then I was
+branded on the arm. And afterwards they all took me in, and
+now we 're raising four hundred chickens to help others; I 'll
+tell you all about it when you come. Chi, that's the hired
+man, but he is really our friend, took me sitting-hen hunting
+day before yesterday, for I am to own some myself; and we
+drove all over the hills to the farmhouses and found and bought
+twelve, or rather Chi did, for I had to borrow the money of
+him, as I felt so bad when I kissed you good-bye that I forgot
+to tell you my quarterly allowance was all gone, and I know
+you won't like my borrowing of Chi, for you have said so
+many times never to owe anybody and I've always tried to pay
+for everything except when I had to borrow of Gabrielle, or
+Mrs. Scott, when I forgot my purse.
+
+But truly the hens were in such an awful hurry to sit, that
+it did seem too bad to keep them waiting even three days till
+I could get some money from you; and then, too, we 've all
+of us, March and Rose and Budd and Cherry and me, bet on
+which hen would get the first chicken, and that chicken is going
+to be a prize chicken and especially fatted, and of course, if I
+waited for the money to come from you, I could n't stand a
+chance of coming out ahead in our four hundred chicken race,
+so I borrowed of Chi. The hens came to just $4 and eighty
+cents. I'll pay you back when I earn it, and don't you think
+it would have been a pity to lose the chance for the prize
+chicken just for that borrow?
+
+Please send the money by return mail. I 've other letters
+to write, so please excuse my not paragraphing and so little
+punctuation, but I 've so much to do and this must go at once.
+
+.. class:: left white-space-pre-line
+
+ Your loving and devoted daughter,
+ HAZEL CLYDE.
+
+P.S. The hens are sitting around everywhere. Give my
+love to Wilkins. H.C.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+The Doctor shouted; then he stepped to the dining-room
+door and called, "Wifie, come here and bring that letter."
+
+Mrs. Heath came in smiling, with a letter in her hand,
+which, after cordially greeting Mr. Clyde, she read to
+him,--an amazed and outwitted father.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+.. class:: left white-space-pre-line
+
+ MOUNT HUNGER, MILL SETTLEMENT, BARTON'S
+ RIVER, VERMONT, May 19, 1896.
+
+MY DEAR MRS. HEATH,--Please thank my dear Doctor
+Heath for the note he sent me two weeks ago. I ought to
+write to him instead of to you, for I don't owe you a letter
+(your last one was so sweet I answered it right off), but he
+never allows his patients strawberry preserve and jam, so it
+would be no use to ask his help just now, as this is pure
+business, March says.
+
+We are trying to help others, and the strawberries--wild
+ones--are as thick as spatter--going to be--all over the
+pastures, and we 're going to pick quarts and quarts, and Rose
+is going to preserve them, and then we 're going to sell them.
+
+Do you think of anybody who would like some of this preserve?
+If you do, will you kindly let me know by return mail?
+
+I can't tell just the price, and March says that is a great
+drawback in real business, and this *is* real--but it will not be
+more than $1 and twenty-five cents a quart. They will be fine
+for luncheon. *I* never tasted any half so good at home.
+
+My dear love to the Doctor and a large share for yourself from
+
+.. class:: left white-space-pre-line
+
+ Your loving friend,
+ HAZEL CLYDE.
+
+P.S. Rose says it is n't fair for people to order without
+knowing the quality, so we 've done up a little of Mrs. Blossom's
+in some Homeepatic (I don't know where that "h" ought to
+come in) pellet bottles, and will send you a half-dozen "for
+samples," March says, to send to any one to taste you think
+would like to order. H.C.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+"The cure is working famously," said Doctor Heath,
+rubbing his hands in glee.
+
+"Well," said Mr. Clyde, laughing, "I may as well make
+the best of it; but I can't help wondering whether the
+wholesale grocers in town have been asked to place orders
+with Mount Hunger, or the Washington Market dealers
+for prospective chickens! There 's your office-bell; I
+won't keep you longer, but if this 'special case' of yours
+should develop any new symptoms, just let me know."
+
+"I 'll keep you informed," rejoined the Doctor. "Better
+run up there pretty soon, Johnny," he called after him.
+
+"I think it's high time, Dick. Good-bye."
+
+At that very moment, a symptom of another sort was
+developing in Z---- Hall, Number 9, at Harvard.
+
+Jack Sherrill and his chum were discussing the last
+evening's Club theatricals. "I saw that pretty Maude
+Seaton in the third or fourth row, Jack; did she come on
+for that,--which, of course, means you?"
+
+"Wish I might think so," said Jack, half in earnest,
+half in jest, pulling slowly at his corn-cob pipe.
+
+"By Omar Khayyam, Jack! you don't mean to say
+you 're hit, at last!"
+
+"Hit,--yes; but it's only a flesh-wound at present,--nothing
+dangerous about it."
+
+"She 's got the style, though, and the pull. I know a
+half-dozen of the fellows got dropped on to-night's cotillion."
+
+"Kept it for me," said Jack, quietly.
+
+"No, really, though--" and his chum fell to thinking
+rather seriously for him.
+
+Just then came the morning's mail,--notes, letters,
+special delivery stamps, all the social accessories a
+popular Harvard man knows so well. Jack looked over his
+carelessly,--invitations to dinner, to theatre parties,
+"private views," golf parties, etc. He pushed them aside,
+showing little interest. He, like his Cousin Hazel, was
+used to it.
+
+The morning's mail was an old story, for Sherrill was
+worth a fortune in his own right, as several hundred
+mothers and daughters in New York and Boston and
+Philadelphia knew full well.
+
+Moreover, if he had not had a penny in prospect, Jack
+Sherrill would have attracted by his own manly qualities
+and his exceptionally good looks. His riches, to which he
+had been born, had not as yet wholly spoiled him, but they
+cheated him of that ambition that makes the best of young
+manhood, and Life was out of tune at times--how and
+why, he did not know, and there was no one to tell him.
+
+He had rather hoped for a note from Maude Seaton,
+thanking him, in her own charming way, for the flowers he
+had sent her on her arrival from New York the day before.
+True, she had worn some in her corsage, but, for all Jack
+knew, they might have been another man's; for Maude
+Seaton was never known to have less than four or five
+strings to her bow. It was just this uncertainty about her
+that attracted Jack.
+
+"Hello! Here 's a letter for you by mistake in my pile,"
+said his chum.
+
+"Why, this is from my little Cousin Hazel, who is
+rusticating just now somewhere in the Green Mountains." Jack
+opened it hastily and read,--
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+.. class:: left white-space-pre-line
+
+ MOUNT HUNGER, MILL SETTLEMENT, BARTON'S
+ RIVER, VERMONT, May 19, 1896.
+
+DEAREST COUSIN JACK,--It is perfectly lovely up here, and
+I 've been inishiated into a Secret Society like your Dicky Club,
+and one of the by-laws is to help others all we can and wherever
+we can and as long as ever we can, and so I 've thought of that
+nice little spread you gave last year after the foot-ball game,
+and how nice the table looked and what good things you had,
+but I don't remember any strawberry jam or preserves, do you?
+
+We 're hatching four hundred chickens to help others,--I
+mean we have set 40 sitting hens on 520 eggs, not all the 40 on
+the five hundred and twenty at once, you know; but, I mean,
+each one of the 40 hens are sitting on 13 eggs apiece, and
+March says we must expect to lose 120 eggs--I mean,
+chickens,--as the hens are very careless and sit sideways--I 've
+seen them myself--and so an extra egg is apt to get chilly,
+and the chickens can't stand any chilliness, March says. But
+Chi, that's my new friend, says some eggs have a double yolk,
+and maybe, there 'll be some twins to make up for the loss.
+
+Anyway, we want 400 chickens to sell about Thanksgiving
+time, and, of course, we can't get any money till that time.
+So now I 've got back to your spread again and the preserves,
+and while we 're waiting for the chickens, we are going to
+make preserves--*dee*-licious ones! I mean we are going to
+pick them and Rose is going to preserve them. We 've decided
+to ask $1 and a quarter a quart for them; Rose--that's Rose
+Blossom--says it is dear, but if you could see my Rose-pose,
+as Chi calls her, you 'd think it cheap just to eat them if she
+made them. She 's perfectly lovely--prettier than any of the
+New York girls, and when she kneads bread and does up
+the dishes, she sings like a bird, something about love. I'll
+write it down for you, sometime. *I 'm* in love with her.
+
+Please ask your college friends if they don't want some jam
+and wild strawberry preserves. If they do, March says they
+had better order soon, as I've written to New York to see
+about some other orders.
+
+.. class:: left white-space-pre-line
+
+ Yours devotedly,
+ HAZEL.
+
+P.S. I 've sent you a sample of the strawberry preserve in
+a homeepahtic pellet bottle, to taste; Rose says it is n't fair to
+ask people to buy without their knowing what they buy. I
+saw that Miss Seaton just before I came away; she came to
+call on me and brought some flowers. She said I looked like
+you--which was an awful whopper because I had my head
+shaved, as you know; I asked her if she had heard from
+you, and she said she had. She is n't half as lovely as
+Rose-pose. H.C.
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`THE PRIZE CHICKEN`:
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ IX
+
+
+.. class:: center medium
+
+ THE PRIZE CHICKEN
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+There was wild excitement, as well as consternation, in
+the farmhouse on the Mountain.
+
+On the next day but one after Hazel had sent her
+letters, Chi had brought up from the Mill Settlement a
+telegram which had come on the stage from Barton's. It
+was addressed to, "Hazel Clyde, Mill Settlement, Barton's
+River, Vermont," and ran thus:--
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+CAMBRIDGE, May 20, 1 P.M.
+
+Hope to get in our order ahead of New York time. Seventeen
+dozen of each kind. Letter follows.
+
+JACK.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+"Seventeen dozen!" screamed Rose, on hearing the
+telegram.
+
+"Seventeen dozen of *each kind*!" cried Budd.
+
+"Oh, quick, March, do see what it comes to!" said
+Hazel.
+
+Then such an arithmetical hubbub broke loose as had
+never been heard before on the Mountain.
+
+"Seventeen times twelve," said Rose,--"let me see;
+seven times two are fourteen, one to carry--do keep still,
+March!" But March went on with:--
+
+"Twelve times four are forty-eight--seventeen times
+forty-eight, hm--seven times eight are fifty-six, five to
+carry--Shut up, Budd; I can't hear myself think." But
+Budd gave no heed, and continued his computation.
+
+"Four times seventeen are--four times seven are
+twenty-eight, two to carry; four times one are four and
+two are--I say, you 've put me all out!" shouted Budd,
+and, putting his fingers in his ears, he retired to a corner.
+Rose continued to mumble with her eyes shut to concentrate
+her mind upon her problem, threatening Cherry impatiently
+when she interrupted with her peculiar solution,
+which she had just thought out:--
+
+"If one quart cost one dollar and twenty-five cents,
+twelve quarts will cost twelve times one dollar and
+twenty-five cents, which is, er--twelve times one are
+twelve; twelve times twenty-five! Oh, gracious, that's
+awful! What's twelve times twenty-five, March?"
+
+"Shut up," growled March; "you 've put me all off the
+track."
+
+"Me, too," said Rose, in an aggrieved tone.
+
+Mrs. Blossom had been listening from the bedroom, and
+now came in, suppressing her desire to smile at the
+reddened and perplexed faces. "Here 's a pencil, March,
+suppose you figure it out on paper."
+
+A sigh of relief was audible throughout the room, as
+March sat down to work out the result. "Eight hundred
+and sixteen quarts at one dollar twenty-five a quart," said
+March to himself; then, with a bound that shook the
+long-room, he shouted, "One thousand and twenty dollars!" and
+therewith broke forth into singing:--
+
+ | "Glory, glory, halleluia!
+ | Glory, glory, halleluia!
+ | Glory, glory, halleluia,
+ | For the N.B.B.O.O.!"
+ |
+
+The rest joined in the singing with such goodwill that
+the noise brought in Chi from the barn. When he was
+told the reason for the rejoicing, he looked thoughtful, then
+sober, then troubled.
+
+"What's the matter, Chi? Cheer up! You have n't
+got to pick them," said March.
+
+"'T ain't that; but I hate to throw cold water on any
+such countin'-your-chickens-'fore-they 're-hatched business,"
+said Chi.
+
+"'T is n't chickens; it's preserves, Chi," laughed Rose.
+
+"I know that, too," said Chi, gravely. "But suppose you
+do a little figuring on the hind-side of the blackboard."
+
+"What *do* you mean, Chi?" asked Hazel.
+
+"Well, I 'll figure, 'n' see what you think about it.
+Seventeen dozen times four, how much, March?"
+
+"Eight hundred and sixteen."
+
+"Hm! eight hundred and sixteen glass jars at twelve
+and a half cents apiece--let me see: eight into eight
+once; eight into one no times 'n' one over. There now,
+your jars 'll cost you just one hundred and two dollars."
+
+There was a universal groan.
+
+"'N' that ain't all. Sugar 's up to six cents a pound,
+'n' to keep preserves as they ought to be kept takes about
+a pound to a quart. Hm, eight hundred 'n' sixteen pounds
+of sugar at six cents a pound--move up my point 'n'
+multiply by six--forty-eight dollars 'n' ninety-six cents; added
+to the other--"
+
+"Oh, don't, Chi!" groaned one and all.
+
+"It spoils everything," said Rose, actually ready to cry
+with disappointment.
+
+"Well, Molly Stark, you 've got to look forwards and
+backwards before you *promise* to do things," said Chi,
+serenely; and Rose, hearing the Molly Stark, knew just
+what Chi meant.
+
+She went straight up to him, and, laying both hands on
+his shoulders, looked up smiling into his face. "I 'll be
+brave, Chi; we 'll make it work somehow," she said gently;
+and Chi was not ashamed to take one of the little hands
+and rub it softly against his unshaven cheek.
+
+"That's my Rose-pose," he said. "Now, don't let's
+cross the bridges till we get to them; let's wait till we
+hear from New York."
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+They had not long to wait. The next day's mail brought
+three letters,--from Mrs. Heath, Mr. Clyde, and Jack.
+Hazel could not read them fast enough to suit her audience.
+There was an order from Mrs. Heath for two dozen of each
+kind, and the assurance that she would ask her friends, but
+she would like her order filled first.
+
+Mr. Clyde wrote that he was coming up very soon and
+would advance Hazel's quarterly allowance; at which
+Hazel cried, "Oh-ee!" and hugged first herself, then
+Mrs. Blossom, but said not a word. She wanted to surprise
+them with the glass jars and the sugar. Her father had
+enclosed five dollars with which to pay Chi, and he and
+Hazel were closeted for full a quarter of an hour in the
+pantry, discussing ways and means.
+
+Jack wrote enthusiastically of the preserves and chickens,
+and, like Hazel, added a postscript as follows:
+
+"Don't forget you said you would write down for me
+the song about Love that Miss Blossom sings when she is
+kneading bread. Miss Seaton is just now visiting in
+Boston. I 'm to play in a polo match out at the Longmeadow
+grounds next week, and she stays for that." This,
+likewise, Hazel kept to herself.
+
+Meanwhile, the strawberry blossoms were starring the
+pastures, but only here and there a tiny green button
+showed itself. It was a discouraging outlook for the other
+Blossoms to wait five long weeks before they could begin
+to earn money; and the thought of the chickens, especially
+the prize chicken, proved a source of comfort as well as
+speculation.
+
+As the twenty-first day after setting the hens drew near,
+the excitement of the race was felt to be increasing. Hazel
+had tied a narrow strip of blue flannel about the right
+leg of each of her twelve hens, that there might be no
+mistake; and the others had followed her example, March
+choosing yellow; Cherry, white; Rose, red; and Budd,
+green.
+
+The barn was near the house, only a grass-plat with one
+big elm in the centre separated it from the end of the
+woodshed. As Chi said, the hens were sitting all around
+everywhere; on the nearly empty hay-mow there were
+some twenty-five, and the rest were in vacant stalls and
+feed-boxes.
+
+It was a warm night in early June. Hazel was thinking
+over many things as she lay wakeful in her wee bedroom.
+To-morrow was the day; somebody would get the prize
+chicken. Hazel hoped she might be the winner. Then
+she recalled something Chi had said about hens being
+curious creatures, set in their ways, and never doing
+anything just as they were expected to do it, and that there
+was n't any time-table by which chickens could be hatched
+to the minute. What if one were to come out to-night!
+The more she thought, the more she longed to assure
+herself of the condition of things in the barn. She tossed
+and turned, but could not settle to sleep. At last she
+rose softly; the great clock in the long-room had just
+struck eleven. She looked out of her one window and
+into the face of a moon that for a moment blinded her.
+
+Then she quietly put on her white bath-robe, and,
+taking her shoes in her hand, stepped noiselessly out into
+the kitchen.
+
+There was not a sound in the house except the ticking
+of the clock. Softly she crept to the woodshed door and
+slipped out.
+
+Chi, who had the ears of an Indian, heard the soft
+"crush, crush," of the bark and chips underneath his room.
+He rose noiselessly, drew on his trousers, and slipped his
+suspenders over his shoulders, took his rifle from the rack,
+and crept stealthily as an Apache down the stairs. Chi
+thought he was on the track of an enormous woodchuck
+that had baffled all his efforts to trap, shoot, and decoy
+him, as well as his attempts to smoke and drown him out.
+But nothing was moving in or about the shed. He stepped
+outside, puzzled as to the noise he had heard.
+
+"By George Washin'ton!" he exclaimed under his
+breath, "what's up now?" for he had caught sight of a
+little figure in white fairly scooting over the grass-plat
+under the elm towards the barn. In a moment she
+disappeared in the opening, for on warm nights the great
+doors were not shut.
+
+"Guess I 'd better get out of the way; 't would scare
+her to death to see a man 'n' a gun at this time of night.
+It's that prize chicken, I 'll bet." And Chi chuckled to
+himself. Then he tiptoed as far as the barn door, looked
+in cautiously, and, seeing no one, but hearing a creak
+overhead, he slipped into a stall and crouched behind a pile of
+grass he had cut that afternoon for the cattle.
+
+He heard the feet go "pat, pat, pat," overhead. He
+knew by the sound that Hazel was examining the nests.
+Then another noise--Cherry's familiar giggle--fell upon
+his ear. He looked out cautiously from behind the grass.
+Sure enough; there were the twins, robed in sheets and
+barefooted. Snickering and giggling, they made for the
+ladder leading to the loft.
+
+"The Old Harry 's to pay to-night," said Chi, grimly, to
+himself. "When those two get together on a spree, things
+generally hum! I 'd better stay where I 'm needed most."
+
+Hazel, too, had caught the sound of the giggle and
+snicker, and recognized it at once.
+
+"Goodness!" she thought, "if they should see me,
+'t would frighten Cherry into fits, she 's so nervous. I 'd
+better hide while they 're here. They 've come to see
+about that chicken, just as I have!" Hazel had all she
+could do to keep from laughing out loud. She lay down
+upon a large pile of hay and drew it all over her. "They
+can't see me now, and I can watch them," she thought,
+with a good deal of satisfaction.
+
+Surely the proceedings were worth watching. The
+moonlight flooded the flooring of the loft, and every detail
+could be plainly seen.
+
+"Nobody can hear us here if we do talk," said Budd.
+"You 'll have to hoist them up first, to see if there are
+any chickens, and be sure and look at the rag on the
+legs; when you come to a green one, it's mine, you know."
+
+"Oh, Budd! I can't hoist them," said Cherry, in a
+distressed voice.
+
+"They do act kinder queer," replied Budd, who was
+trying to lift a sleeping hen off her nest, to which she
+seemed glued. "I 'll tell you what's better than that;
+just put your ear down and listen, and if you hear a
+'peep-peep,' it's a chicken."
+
+Cherry, the obedient slave of Budd, crawled about over
+the flooring on her hands and knees, listening first at one
+nest, then at another, for the expected "peep-peep."
+
+"I don't hear anything," said Cherry, in an aggrieved
+tone, "but the old hens guggling when I poke under
+them. Oh! but here 's a green rag sticking out, Budd."
+
+"And a speckled hen?" said Budd, eagerly.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, that's the one I 've been looking for; it's dark
+over here in this corner. Lemme see."
+
+Budd put both hands under the hen and lifted her
+gently. "Ak--ok--ork--ach," gasped the hen, as
+Budd took her firmly around the throat; but she was
+too sleepy to care much what became of her, and so hung
+limp and silent.
+
+"I 'll hold the hen, Cherry, and you take up those eggs
+one at a time and hold them to my ear."
+
+"What for?" said Cherry.
+
+"Now don't be a loony, but do as I tell you," said Budd,
+impatiently. Cherry did as she was bidden; Budd listened
+intently.
+
+"By cracky! there 's one!" he exclaimed. "Here,
+help me set this hen back again, and keep that one out."
+
+"What for?" queried Cherry, forgetting her former lesson.
+
+"Oh, you ninny!--here, listen, will you?" Budd put
+the egg to her ear.
+
+"Why, that's a chicken peeping inside. I can *hear*
+him," said Cherry, in an awed voice.
+
+"Yes, and I 'm going to let him out," said Budd,
+triumphantly.
+
+"But then you'll have the prize chicken, Budd,"
+said Cherry, rather dubiously, for she had wanted it
+herself.
+
+"Of course, you goosey, what do you suppose I came
+out here for?" demanded Budd.
+
+"But, Budd, will it be fair?" said Cherry, timidly.
+
+"Fair!" muttered Budd; "it's fair enough if it's out
+first. It's their own fault if they don't know enough to
+get ahead of us."
+
+"Did you think it all out yourself, Budd?" queried
+Cherry, admiringly, watching Budd's proceeding with
+wide-open eyes.
+
+"Yup," said Budd, shortly.
+
+They were not far from Hazel's hiding-place, and, by
+raising her head a few inches, she could see the whole
+process.
+
+First Budd listened intently at one end of the egg, then
+at the other. He drew out a large pin from his pajamas
+and began very carefully to pick the shell.
+
+"Oh, gracious, Budd! what are you doing?" cried Cherry.
+
+"What you see," said Budd, a little crossly, for his
+conscience was not wholly at ease.
+
+He picked and picked, and finally made an opening. He
+examined it carefully.
+
+"Oh, thunder!" he exclaimed under his breath, "I 've
+picked the wrong end."
+
+"What do you mean?" persisted Cherry.
+
+"I wanted to open the 'peep-peep' end first, so he could
+breathe," replied Budd, intent upon his work. Cherry
+watched breathlessly. At last the other end was opened,
+and Budd began to detach the shell from something which
+might have been a worm, a fish, a pollywog, or a baby white
+mouse, for all it looked like a chicken. It lay in Budd's
+hand.
+
+"Oh, Budd, you 've killed it!" cried Cherry, beginning
+to sniff.
+
+"Shut up, Cherry Blossom, or I'll leave you," threatened
+Budd. Just then the moon was obscured by a passing
+cloud, and the loft became suddenly dark and shadowy.
+Cherry screamed under her breath.
+
+"Oh, Budd, don't leave me; I can't see you!"
+
+There was a soft rapid stride over the flooring; and
+before Budd well knew what had happened, he was seized
+by the binding of his pajamas, lifted, and shaken with such
+vigor that his teeth struck together and he felt the jar in
+the top of his head.
+
+As the form loomed so unexpectedly before her, Cherry
+screamed with fright.
+
+"I 'll teach you to play a business trick like this on us,
+you mean sneaking little rascal!" roared March. "Do
+you think I did n't see you creeping out of the room along
+the side of my bed on all fours? You did n't dare to
+walk out like a man, and I might have known you were
+up to no good!" Another shake followed that for a
+moment dazed Budd. Then, as he felt the flooring
+beneath his feet, he turned in a towering passion of guilt
+and rage on March.
+
+"You 're a darned sneak yourself," he howled rather
+than cried. "Take that for your trouble!" Raising his
+doubled fist, he aimed a quick, hard blow at March's
+stomach. But, somehow, before it struck, one strong
+hand--not March's--held his as in a vice, and another,
+stronger, hoisted him by the waist-band of his pajamas
+and held him, squirming and howling, suspended for a
+moment; then he felt himself tossed somewhere. He fell
+upon the hay under which Hazel had taken refuge, and
+landed upon her with almost force enough to knock the
+breath from her body. Cherry, meanwhile, had not ceased
+screaming under her breath, and, as Budd descended so
+unexpectedly upon Hazel, a great groan and a sharp wail
+came forth from the hay, to the mortal terror of all but
+Chi, who grew white at the thought of what might have
+happened to his Lady-bird, and, unintentionally, through
+him.
+
+That awful groan proved too much for the children.
+Gathering themselves together in less time than it takes
+to tell it, they fled as well as they could in the
+dark,--down the ladder, out through the barn, over the
+grass-plat, into the house, and dove into bed, trembling in every
+limb.
+
+"What on earth is the matter, children?" said Mrs. Blossom,
+appearing at the foot of the stairs. "Did one
+of you fall out of bed?"
+
+Budd's head was under the bedclothes, his teeth chattering
+through fear; likewise Cherry. March assumed as
+firm a tone as he could.
+
+"Budd had a sort of nightmare, mother, but he 's all
+right now." March felt sick at the deception.
+
+"Well, settle down now and go to sleep; it's just
+twelve." And Mrs. Blossom went back into the bedroom
+where Mr. Blossom was still soundly sleeping.
+
+Meanwhile, Chi was testing Hazel to see that no harm
+had been done.
+
+"Oh, I 'm all right," said Hazel, rather breathlessly.
+"But it really knocked the breath out of my body." She
+laughed. "I never thought of your catching up Budd
+that way and plumping him down on top of me!"
+
+"Guess my wits had gone wool-gatherin', when I never
+thought of your hidin' there," said Chi, recovering from
+his fright. "But that boy made me so pesky mad, tryin'
+to play such a game on all of us, that I kind of lost my
+temper 'n' did n't see straight. Well--" he heaved a
+sigh of relief, "he 's got his come-uppance!"
+
+"Where do you suppose that poor little chicken is?"
+
+"We 'll look him up; the moon 's comin' out again."
+
+There, close by the nest, lay the queer something on the
+floor. "I 'll tuck it in right under the old hen's breast,
+'n' then, if there 's any life in it, it 'll come to by mornin'." He
+examined it closely. "I 'll come out 'n' see. Come,
+we 'd better be gettin' in 'fore 't is dark again--"
+
+He put the poor mite of a would-be chicken carefully
+under the old hen, where it was warm and downy, and as
+he did so, he caught sight of the rag hanging over the
+edge of the nest. He looked at it closely; then slapping
+his thigh, he burst into a roar of laughter.
+
+"What is it, Chi?" said Hazel, laughing, too, at Chi's
+mirth.
+
+"Look here, Lady-bird! you 've got the Prize Chicken,
+after all. That boy could n't tell green from blue in the
+moonlight, 'n' he 's hatched out one of yours. By George
+Washin'ton! that's a good one,--serves him right," he
+said, wiping the tears of mirth from his eyes.
+
+The chicken lived, but never seemed to belong to any
+one in particular; and as Chi said solemnly the next
+morning, "The less said on this Mountain about prize
+chickens, the better it 'll be for us all."
+
+
+
+
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`AN UNEXPECTED MEETING`:
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ X
+
+
+.. class:: center medium
+
+ AN UNEXPECTED MEETING
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+It was a busy summer in and about the farmhouse on
+Mount Hunger. What with tending the chickens--there
+were four hundred and two in all--and strawberry-picking
+and preserving, and in due season a repetition of the
+process with raspberries and blackberries, the days seemed
+hardly long enough to accomplish all the young people
+had planned.
+
+Mr. Clyde came up for two days in June, and upon his
+return told Doctor Heath that he, too, felt as if he needed
+that kind of a cure.
+
+Hazel was the picture of health and fast becoming what
+Chi had predicted, "an A Number 1" beauty. Her dark
+eyes sparkled with the joy of life; on her rounded cheeks
+there was the red of the rose; the skull-cap had been
+discarded, and a fine crop of soft, silky rings of dark brown
+hair had taken its place.
+
+"Never, no, never, have I had such good times," she
+wrote to her Cousin Jack at Newport. "We eat on the
+porch, and make believe camp out in the woods, and we
+ride on Bess and Bob all over the Mountain. We've
+about finished the preserves and jams, and Rose has only
+burnt herself twice. The chickens, Chi says, are going to
+be prime ones; it 's awfully funny to see them come flying
+and hopping and running towards us the minute they see
+us--March says it's the 'Charge of the Light Brigade.'
+
+"I wish you could be up here and have some of the fun,--but
+I 'm afraid you 're too old. I enclose the song
+Rose sings which you asked me for. I don't understand
+it, but it's perfectly beautiful when she sings it."
+
+Hazel had asked Rose for the words of the song, telling
+her that her Cousin Jack at Harvard would like to have
+them. Rose looked surprised for a moment.
+
+"What can he want of them?" she asked in a rather
+dignified manner; and Hazel, thinking she was giving
+the explanation the most reasonable as well as agreeable,
+replied:--
+
+"I don't know for sure, but I think--you won't tell,
+will you, Rose?"
+
+"Of course I won't. I don't even know your cousin, to
+begin with."
+
+"I think he is going to be engaged, or is, to Miss Seaton
+of New York. All his friends think she is awfully pretty,
+and papa says she is fascinating. I think Jack wanted
+them to give to her."
+
+"Oh," said Rose, in a cool voice with a circumflex
+inflection, then added in a decidedly toploftical tone,
+"I've no objection to his making use of them. I 'll copy
+them for you."
+
+"Thank you, Rose," said Hazel, rather puzzled and a
+little hurt at Rose's new manner.
+
+This conversation took place the first week in August,
+and the verses were duly forwarded to Jack, who read them
+over twice, and then, thrusting them into his breast-pocket,
+went over to the Casino, whistling softly to himself on the
+way. There, meeting his chum and some other friends, he
+proposed a riding-trip through the Green Mountain region
+for the latter part of August.
+
+"The Colonel and his wife will go with us, I 'm sure,
+and any of the girls who can ride well will jump at the
+chance," said his chum. "It's a novelty after so much
+coaching."
+
+"I 'll go over and see Miss Seaton about it," said Jack,
+and walked off singing to himself,--
+
+ | "'--the stars above
+ | Shine ever on Love'--"
+ |
+
+His friend turned to the others. "That's a go; I 've
+never seen Sherrill so hard hit before." Then he fell to
+discussing the new plan with the rest.
+
+Jack was wily enough, as he laid the plan before Maude
+Seaton, to attempt to kill two birds with one stone. He
+had had a desire, ever since the first letter of Hazel's, to
+see his little cousin in her new surroundings, and this
+desire was immeasurably strengthened by his curiosity to
+see a girl who sang Barry Cornwall's love-lyrics on Mount
+Hunger. Consequently, in planning the high-roads to be
+followed through the Green Mountains, he had not omitted
+to include Barton's River, as it boasted a good inn.
+
+"Here 's Woodstock,--just here," he explained to pretty
+Maude Seaton, as they sat on the broad morning-porch of
+the palatial Newport cottage, with a map of Vermont on
+the table between them. "We can stop there a day or
+two, and make our next stop at Barton's River; I 've
+heard it's a beautiful place, with glorious mountain rides
+within easy distance. Suppose we arrange to stop three
+or four days there and take it all in? I 've been told
+it's the finest river-valley in New England."
+
+"Oh, do let's! The whole thing is going to be delightful.
+I 'm so tired of coaching; I believe nobody enjoys it
+now, unless it's the one who holds the reins, and then all
+the others are bored. But with fine horses this will be no
+end of fun. We can send on our trunks ahead, can't we?"
+
+"Oh, yes, that's easily arranged. By the way, what
+horse will you take? Remember," he said, looking her
+squarely in the eyes with a flattering concern, "it's a
+mountain country, and we can't afford to have anything
+happen to you."
+
+"No danger for me," laughed Maude, meeting his look
+as squarely. "And I can't worry about you after seeing
+the polo game you played yesterday," she added with
+frank admiration.
+
+"It was a good one, was n't it?" said Jack, his eyes
+kindling at the remembrance. "It was my mascot did the
+business--see?" He put his hand in his breast-pocket,
+expecting to draw forth a ribbon bow of Maude's that she
+had given him for "colors;" but, to his amazement, and
+to Miss Seaton's private chagrin, he drew forth only the
+slip of paper with Barry Cornwall's love-song in Rose
+Blossom's handwriting.
+
+Where the dickens was that bow? Jack felt the absurdity
+of hunting in all his pockets for something he had
+intended should express one phase, at least, of his
+sentiments. He felt the blood mounting to the roots of his
+hair, and, laughing, put a bold face on it.
+
+He held out the slip of paper. "It looks innocent,
+doesn't it?" he said mischievously, and enjoyed to the
+full Maude's look of discomfiture, which, only for a second,
+she could not help showing. "She 'll know now how a
+fellow feels when he has sent her flowers and sees her
+wearing another man's offering," he thought. He turned
+to the map again.
+
+"Well, what horse will you ride?"
+
+"I 'll take Old Jo; he 's safe, and splendid for fences.
+Of course you 'll take Little Shaver?"
+
+"Yes, he and I don't part company very often. So it's
+settled, is it?" he asked, feeling cooler than he did.
+
+"So far as I am concerned, it is; and I know the Colonel
+and Mrs. Fenlick will go; it's just the thing they like."
+
+"Well, I 'll leave you to speak to the other girls, and
+I 'll go over and see Mrs. Fenlick. Good-bye." He held
+out his hand, but Miss Seaton chose to be looking down
+the avenue at that moment.
+
+"Oh, there are the Graysons beckoning to me!" she
+exclaimed eagerly. "Excuse me, and good-bye--I must
+run down to see them." As she walked swiftly and gracefully
+over the lawn, she knew Jack Sherrill was watching
+her. "Yes, it's settled," she thought, as she hurried on;
+"and something else is settled, too, Mr. Sherrill! You 've
+been hanging fire long enough--and the idea of his
+forgetting that bow!"
+
+The Graysons thought they had never seen Maude
+Seaton quite so pretty as she was that morning, when she
+stood chatting and laughing with all in general, and
+fascinating each in particular. The result was, the Graysons
+joined the riding-party in a body, and Sam Grayson vowed
+he would cut Jack Sherrill out if he had to fight for it.
+
+It was a glorious first of September when the riding-party,
+ten in number, cantered up to the inn at Barton's
+River, and it was a merry group in fresh toilets that
+gathered after dinner and a rest of an hour or two in their rooms,
+on the long, narrow, vine-covered veranda of the inn. It
+had been a warm day, and the afternoon shadows were
+gratefully cooling.
+
+"Will you look at that load coming down the street?"
+said Mrs. Fenlick. "I never saw anything so funny!"
+
+The whole party burst out laughing, as the vehicle, an
+old apple-green cart, apparently filled with bobbing calico
+sunbonnets and straw hats, shackled and rattled up to the
+side door of the inn.
+
+"I shall call them the Antediluvians," laughed Maude
+Seaton. "Do you know where they come from?" she
+said, speaking in at the open office-window to the boy.
+
+"I guess they come to sell berries from a place the
+folks round here call 'The Lost Nation,'" he replied,
+grinning.
+
+"'The Lost Nation!' Do you hear that?" said Sam
+Grayson. "Let's have a nearer view of the natives." They
+all went to the end of the veranda nearest the cart. Sam
+Grayson and Jack went out to investigate.
+
+Two boys in faded blue overalls and almost brimless
+straw hats jumped down before the wagon stopped, and
+began lifting out six-quart pails of shining blackberries
+from beneath an old buffalo robe. Jack, with his hands
+in his pockets, sauntered up to the tail of the cart.
+
+"Buy them all, do--do!" cried Miss Seaton, clapping
+her hands. "We need them to-morrow for our picnic;
+and pay a good price," she added, "for the sake of the
+looks. I wouldn't have missed it for anything?"
+
+"How do you sell them?" said Jack to the tall boy
+who stood with his back to him, busied with the berries.
+
+The boy turned at the sound of the pleasant voice, and
+lifted his brimless hat by the crown with an air a Harvard
+freshman might have envied. Jack, seeing it, was sorry he
+was bareheaded, for he hated to be outdone in such courtesy.
+
+"Ten cents a quart, sir."
+
+"What a handsome fellow!" whispered Mrs. Fenlick.
+"You rarely see such a face; and where did he get such
+manners?"
+
+"How many quarts have--halloo, Little Sunbonnet!
+Look out!" said Jack, laughing, as he caught the owner
+of the yellow sunbonnet, who, perched on the side of the
+wagon, suddenly lost her balance because of Bess's uneasy
+movements in fly-time.
+
+"Well, you are an armful," he laughed as he set her
+down and tried in vain to peer up under the drooping
+bonnet and discover a face.
+
+"Whoa--ah, Bess!" shouted the driver, as Bess reared
+and snorted and shuddered and finally rid herself of the
+tormenting horse-fly. "All right, Cherry Bounce?" he
+said, turning at last when the horse was quieted.
+
+But Cherry was dumb with embarrassment, and Jack
+answered for her.
+
+"Little Sunbonnet's all safe, but what--" He got no
+further with that sentence. To the amazement of the
+group on the veranda and Jack's overwhelming astonishment,
+a wild, gleeful "Oh-ee!" issued from the depths
+of another sunbonnet in the cart, and the owner thereof
+precipitated herself recklessly over the side, and cast
+herself upon Jack's neck, hugging and "oh-eeing" with all
+her might.
+
+"Why, Hazel! Hazel!" Except for that, Jack was
+dumb like Cherry, but not with embarrassment. Was
+this Hazel? Her sunbonnet had fallen off, and the dark
+blue gingham dress set off the wonderful richness of
+coloring that helped to make Hazel what she had become, "a
+perfect beauty."
+
+"Oh, Jack, you old darling, why did n't you let us know
+you were coming? Chi, Chi!" Hazel was fairly wild
+with joy at seeing a dearly loved home-face. "This is my
+Cousin Jack we 've talked about. Jack, this is my friend,
+Chi."
+
+Chi put out his horny brown hand, and Jack grasped it.
+
+"Guess she 's givin' you away pretty smart, ain't she?"
+said Chi, with a twist of his mouth and a motion of his
+thumb backwards to the veranda.
+
+"Well, rather," said Jack, laughing, for he felt that
+Chi's keen eyes had taken in the whole situation at a
+glance. "I meant to surprise her, but she has succeeded
+in surprising me." He stood with his arm about Hazel.
+"And these are your friends, Hazel?" he inquired; he felt
+he must make the best of it now.
+
+"Oh, Jack, I 'm ashamed of myself; I 'm so glad to see
+you I 've forgotten my manners. Rose," she spoke up to
+the other sunbonnet that had kept its position straight
+towards the horse and never moved during this surprise
+party. Then Rose turned. "Rose, this is Cousin Jack."
+
+The sunbonnet bowed stiffly, and Jack heard a low laugh
+behind him. It was Maude Seaton's. Rose heard it, too;
+so did Chi and March. It affected each in the same way.
+As Chi said afterwards, he "b'iled" when he heard it.
+Then Rose spoke:--
+
+"I 'm very glad to see you, Mr. Sherrill, we 've heard
+so much of you." Her voice rang sweet and clear; every
+word was heard on the veranda. "And these berries
+are n't to be preserved; but evidently you are going to
+buy them just the same,--as well as your friends," she
+added, looking towards the veranda.
+
+Jack bit his lip. "I should like to introduce all my
+friends to you," he said, without much enthusiasm,
+however. "I know this is March;" he turned pleasantly to
+him, but dared not offer his hand, for the look on the
+boy's face warned him that March had resented the laugh.
+"Will you come?" He held up his hand to Rose to help
+her down.
+
+"Thank you." Rose sprang down, ignoring the proffered help.
+
+She knew just how she looked, and her face burned at
+the thought. Her old green and white calico dress was
+shrunken and warped with many washings; her shoes
+were heavy and patched; fortunately her sunbonnet with
+its green calico cape was of a depth to hide her burning
+face. But that laugh had been like a challenge to her
+pride.
+
+"Drive up to the front veranda, Chi," she commanded
+rather brusquely; and Chi, muttering to himself, "She's
+game, though; I would n't thought it of Rose-pose; but
+I glory in her spunk!" drew up to the front door in a
+truly rattling style.
+
+Then Rose and Hazel were introduced to them all; but
+in vain did Maude Seaton try to get a look into her face.
+It was only a ceremony, and Rose felt it as such;
+nevertheless she said very pleasantly, "Hazel, wouldn't you
+like to invite your friends up to tea on the porch
+to-morrow? that is, if you are to be here?" she added,
+addressing Mrs. Fenlick.
+
+"Oh, Rose, that would be lovely. Then they can see
+the chickens!" said Hazel. There was a general laugh.
+
+"I fear it will be too much trouble, Miss Blossom," said
+Mrs. Fenlick, courteously, for she felt like apologizing for
+that laugh of Maude Seaton's; "there are so many of us."
+
+"Oh, no, my mother will be glad to meet you," Rose
+replied with serene voice; "won't she, Chi?"
+
+"Sure," said Chi, addressing the general assembly; "the
+more the merrier; 'n' if you come along about four, you 'll
+get a view you don't get round here, 'n' a wholesale piazzy
+to eat it on. How many do you count up?" Jack winced
+at the burst of merriment that followed the question.
+
+"We'll line up, and you can count," said Sam Grayson,
+the fun getting the better of him. "Here, Miss Seaton,
+stand at the head."
+
+"Miss Blossom, there are ten of us; are you going to
+retract your invitation?" said Mrs. Fenlick, shaking her
+head at Sam.
+
+"Not if you wish to come," said Rose, pleasantly. "We
+will have tea at five. Come, Hazel, we must be going:
+there are the berries to sell--or shall we leave you here
+with your cousin till we come back?"
+
+"No, I won't leave you even for Jack," said Hazel,
+earnestly; "besides, I 've never had the fun of selling
+berries."
+
+"I 'm thinkin' you 've lost your fun, anyway," said Chi,
+"for Budd says the tavern-keeper has taken all; guess
+*he 's* goin' into the jam business, too."
+
+"I 'll pick some more, then, to-morrow, and you 'll have
+to buy some of them, Jack," said Hazel, "for I 'm bound
+to sell some berries this summer."
+
+"We 'll take all you can pick, Hazel," said Maude
+Seaton, sweetly. Then, as the cart rattled away with
+the three sunbonnets held rigid and erect, she turned to
+Mrs. Fenlick and the other girls: "What an idea that
+was of Doctor Heath's to put Hazel away up here in such
+a family--a girl in her position!"
+
+"She seems to have thriven wonderfully on it," remarked
+Mrs. Fenlick; "she will be the prettiest of her set
+when they come out. I am delighted to have a chance to
+see Doctor Heath's mountain sanatorium."
+
+"Oh, I 'm sure it will be amusing," replied Maude, dryly.
+Then she shook out her light draperies, pulled down her
+belt, and went down the road a bit to meet Jack and Sam
+Grayson, who had accompanied the cart for a few rods
+along the village street.
+
+When they had turned back to the inn, the storm in
+the apple-green cart burst forth.
+
+"Did you hear that girl laugh?" demanded March, with
+suppressed wrath in his voice.
+
+"Just as plain as I hear that crow caw," said Chi.
+
+"I can't bear her," said Hazel; "telling me she would
+buy my berries when I only meant Jack."
+
+"Kinder sweet on him, ain't she?" asked Chi, carelessly.
+
+"I should think so!" was Hazel's indignant answer.
+"I heard Aunt Carrie tell papa she was always sending
+him invitations to everything. But is n't Cousin Jack
+splendid, Rose?"
+
+Rose's sunbonnet was still very rigid, and Chi knew
+that sign; so he spoke up promptly, knowing that she did
+not care to answer just then:--
+
+"He 's about as handsome as they make 'em, Lady-bird;
+if he wears well, I sha'n't have nothin' against him."
+
+Hazel felt rather depressed without knowing exactly
+why. March returned to the charge.
+
+"Did you hear that laugh, Rose?"
+
+"Yes, I did," said Rose, shortly. March looked at her
+in surprise, but Chi managed to give him a nudge, which
+March understood, and the subject was dropped on the
+homeward way.
+
+That the berry-sellers were under a cloud was evident
+to Mrs. Blossom as soon as they drove up to the woodshed.
+
+"Did you have good luck, children?" she called to
+them cheerily.
+
+"We 've sold all our berries," said Budd.
+
+"But March and Rose are cross, Martie," added Cherry.
+
+"Tired 'n' hungry, too, Mis' Blossom," Chi hastened to
+say, trying to shield Hazel and the other two. "I wish
+you 'd just step out to the barn with a spoonful of your
+good lard. Bess has rubbed her shin a little mite, 'n' I
+want to grease it good to save the hair." Mrs. Blossom,
+reading his face, took the hint.
+
+He made his confession in the barn.
+
+"I don't know what we 've done, Mis' Blossom; but
+Rose has invited 'em all up here to-morrow to supper,--they 're
+regular high-flyers, girls 'n' fellers, 'n' the Colonel
+and his wife. There 's ten of 'em; 'n' it's a-goin' to make
+you an awful sight of work, but, by George Washin'ton! that
+pesky girl--Miss Seaver, or somethin' like it--riled
+me so, that I ain't got over it yet, 'n' I 'd backed up
+Rose if she 'd offered to take the whole of 'em to board
+for a week. I just b'iled when I heard her laugh, 'n' she
+can't hold a candle to our Rose; 'n' she's that
+sassy--although you can't put your finger on anything
+special--that you can't sass back; the worst kind every time; 'n'
+she 's set her cap for the straightest sort of chap--that's
+Hazel's cousin--there is goin', 'n', by George Washin'ton!
+I 'm afraid he 's fool enough to catch at that bait.
+
+"There!" said Chi, stopping to draw breath, "I 've had
+my blow-out 'n' I feel better. Now, what are we goin' to
+do about it?"
+
+"We 'll manage it, Chi," said Mrs. Blossom, smiling in
+spite of herself at Chi's wrath. "After all, the children
+have been carefully guarded in our home up here, and,
+sometimes, I think too much,--it won't hurt them to take
+a prick now and then. Besides, Chi," she added, laughing
+outright as she turned to go into the house, "the children
+did look perfectly ridiculous in those old berry-picking
+rigs. I laughed myself when I saw you drive off with
+them."
+
+But she left Chi grumbling.
+
+That night, after the children were in bed, and
+Mrs. Blossom was sure they were all asleep except Rose, she
+went upstairs a second time and spoke softly at the door:
+
+"Rose."
+
+"Yes, Martie; oh, you 're coming! I 'm so glad." And
+as Mrs. Blossom knelt by the bed, whispering, "Now tell
+me all about it," Rose threw one arm over her mother's
+shoulder and whispered her confession.
+
+"They were n't rude to you, dear, were they?"
+
+"No, Martie," whispered Rose, "it was n't that, but I
+just *hated* them far a minute,--Hazel's cousin and all."
+
+"That is n't like you, Rose dear, to hate anyone without
+reason."
+
+"Oh, Martie, I 'm ashamed to tell you--" the arm came
+close about her mother's neck, "I 'm too old to have such
+feelings, but I could n't bear them because I looked as I
+did. I was ashamed of my looks and the children's; and
+I was ashamed even of Chi--dear, old Chi!--" there
+was a smothered sob and an effort to go on. "And they
+were all dressed so beautifully, and Hazel's cousin had on
+a lovely white flannel suit, and I was just a little rude to
+him; but it was nothing but my dreadful pride! I did n't
+know I had it till to-day,--oh, dear!" The head went
+under the counterpane to smother the sound of the sobs.
+
+"But, my dear little girl--" (When Rose cried, which
+was seldom, Mrs. Blossom called her daughter who was as
+tall as herself, "little girl," and nothing comforted Rose
+more than that.) So now, hearing the loving words, the
+head emerged from the bedclothes, and a tear-wet face was
+meekly held over the side of the bed for a kiss.
+
+"But, my dear little girl," Mrs. Blossom went on after
+the interruption, "surely you were courteous and thoughtful
+of Hazel's happiness, at least, to ask them all up here
+to tea. You have n't that to regret."
+
+There was a fresh burst, smothered quickly under the
+sheet. "Oh, Martie, that's the worst part of it! I did n't
+ask them for Hazel's sake, but just for myself, because I
+knew--I knew--" Rose smothered the rising sob; "that
+if they came, I could have on my one pretty dress, and
+they 'd see that I--that I--" Rose was unable to finish.
+
+"Could look as well as they did?" said Mrs. Blossom,
+completing the sentence.
+
+"Yes," sighed Rose, "and I feel like a perfect hypocrite
+towards every one of them;--and, oh, Martie! the truth
+is, I was ashamed of being poor and selling berries--"
+again the head went under the coverlet, and Mrs. Blossom
+caught only broken phrases:--
+
+"I am so proud of--of you and Popsey--poor Chi
+made it worse--they laughed--March was mad, too,--and
+Miss Seaton 's so pretty--clothes--Hazel's cousin
+tried to be polite--Hazel--just her dear own self--but
+she 's rich--and Cherry f-fell into his arms--and I
+know--and I know--I know he wanted to be out of the
+whole thing--oh dear!"
+
+Mrs. Blossom patted the bunch under the clothes whence
+came the smothered, broken sentences, and smiled while a
+tear rolled down her cheek. After all, this was real grief,
+and she wished she might have shielded her Rose from
+just this kind of contact with the world. But she was
+wise enough not to say so.
+
+"Well, Rose dear, let's look on the other side now the
+invitation has been given. I, for my part, shall be glad
+to see what they are like. I know you looked queer in
+those old clothes, but, after all, would n't it have been just
+as queer to have been all dressed up selling berries?"
+
+"Yes, I think it would, Martie," said Rose, emerging
+from her retreat. "I 'm not such a goose as not to realize
+we must have looked perfectly comical."
+
+"Well, now comfort yourself with the thought, that
+to-morrow you need only look just as nice as you can in
+honor of our guests. I 'm sure I shall," said Mrs. Blossom,
+laughing softly. "I 'm not going to be outdone by
+all those 'high-flyers,' as dear, old Chi calls them. We 'll
+put on our prettiest--and there is n't much choice, you
+know, for we have just one apiece--and we 'll set the
+table with grandmother's old china out on the porch, and
+we 'll give them of our best, and queens, Rose-pose, can
+do no more. That's *our* duty; we'll let the others look
+out for theirs. Now, what will be nice for tea?"
+
+"Not preserves, Martie, for Chi said--" Her mother
+interrupted her,--
+
+"Never mind what Chi said now, dear, but plan for the
+tea. We shall have to work as hard as we can jump
+to-morrow forenoon to get ready. I 'm sorry father can't
+be at home."
+
+"Could n't we have blackberries and those late garden
+raspberries Chi has been saving?" said Rose.
+
+"Yes, those will look pretty and taste good; and then
+hot rolls, and fresh sponge and plum cake, and tea, and
+cold chicken moulded in its jelly, the way we tried it last
+month--"
+
+"Oh, that will be lovely, Martie," whispered Rose,
+eagerly.
+
+"And if Chi and March have the time," went on Mrs. Blossom,
+entering heart and soul into the hospitable plan,
+"I 'll ask them to go trout-fishing and bring us home two
+strings of the speckled beauties, and if those served hot
+don't make them respect old clothes--then nothing on
+earth will," concluded Mrs. Blossom, with mock solemnity.
+
+"Oh, Martie Blossom, you're an angel!" cried Rose,
+softly, rising in bed and throwing both arms about her
+mother's neck--"there!"--a squeeze, "and there--" another
+squeeze and a kiss, "and now you won't have to
+complain of me to-morrow."
+
+"That's mother's own daughter Rose," said Mrs. Blossom,
+smoothing the sheet under the round chin. "Now,
+good-night--sleep well, for I depend upon you to make
+those rolls to-morrow forenoon."
+
+
+
+
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`JACK`:
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ XI
+
+
+.. class:: center medium
+
+ JACK
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+Jack Sherrill had always had a particularly warm
+interest in his Cousin Hazel. He, too, was motherless.
+The fifteen-year-old lad had gone into one of the great
+preparatory schools with the terrible mother-want in his
+heart and life. Like Hazel, he, too, was an only child,
+and consequently without the guidance and help of an
+elder brother or sister. His father was all that a man,
+absorbed in large business interests, could be to the son
+whom he saw in vacation time only.
+
+"You are born a gentleman, Jack," he had said to him
+when he was about to enter Harvard; "remember to
+conduct yourself as such. You 'll not find it an easy
+matter at times--I did n't--but you will find it pays;
+and--and remember your mother." Then Mr. Sherrill
+had wrung his boy's hand, and hurried away.
+
+It was the only time in the three years since she had
+been lost to him, that his father had borne to mention the
+lad's mother to him. To Jack it was like a last will and
+testament, and he wrote it not only in his memory, but on
+his heart.
+
+He had tried, yes, honestly, amid the manifold temptations
+of his life and his "set," to live up to a certain ideal
+of his own, but it had been slow work; and the last three
+months of his sophomore year had been far from
+satisfactory to himself.
+
+He was thinking this over as he rode slowly up the
+steep road to Mount Hunger. He had come up that morning
+to call on Mrs. Blossom, for he knew that the social
+law of hospitality demanded that he should pay his
+respects to Rose Blossom's mother and Hazel's guardian
+before his friends should break bread in the house.
+
+That tall girl in the sunbonnet was a disappointment--but
+then, he had been a fool to expect anything else just
+because she happened to sing one of Barry Cornwall's
+love-songs. He rode out of the leafy woods'-road, and
+came unexpectedly upon the farmhouse. Chi saw him
+from the barn, and came out to meet him.
+
+"Is Mrs. Blossom at home?" asked Jack, lifting his cap.
+
+Chi patted Little Shaver's neck, shining like polished
+mahogany. "Yes, she 's home, 'n' she 'll be glad to see
+you. You 'll find her right in the kitchen, 'n' I 'll tend to
+this little chap--what's his name?"
+
+"Little Shaver, he 's my polo pony."
+
+"George Washington! He knows a thing or two.
+He most winked at me," laughed Chi.
+
+"Oh, he knows a stable when he sees it," said Jack,
+smiling; "but where 's the kitchen?"
+
+"Right off the porch.--There 's Rose singing now;
+guess that 'll be as good a guide-post as you could have.
+Come along, Little Shaver,--a good name for you."
+
+Jack went up on the porch, but stopped short at the
+open door. Rose was at the kitchen table, patting out the
+dough for the rolls. Her sleeves were turned up above
+the elbows, and the round, yet delicate, white arms and the
+pretty hands were working energetically with the rolling-pin.
+She was singing from pure lightheartedness, and
+she emphasized the rhythm by substantial thumps with
+the culinary utensil.
+
+.. _`"Rose was at the kitchen table, patting out the dough for the rolls"`:
+
+.. figure:: images/img-118.jpg
+ :align: center
+ :alt: "Rose was at the kitchen table, patting out the dough for the rolls"
+
+ "Rose was at the kitchen table, patting out the dough for the rolls"
+
+ | "'I told thee when love was hopeless; (thump)
+ | But now he is wild and sings--(thump)
+ | That the stars above (thump! thump!!)
+ | Shine ever on Love--(thump--)'"
+ |
+
+Jack knocked rather loudly, and Rose turned with a little
+"Oh!" and an attitude that made Jack long for a
+button-hole kodak.
+
+"Come in, Mr. Sherrill," she said, cordially, but thinking
+to herself, "Caught again! well, I don't care."
+
+"I hope I have n't come too early this morning to be
+received," said Jack, extending his hand.
+
+"I can't shake, Mr. Sherrill," laughed Rose, "and if I
+stop to wash them, you won't have any rolls for tea."
+
+"Do go on then," said Jack, eagerly, "only don't let me
+be a bother. I was afraid it might be too early and
+inconvenience you, but--"
+
+"Not a bit," said Rose as she turned to the kneading-board
+again. "If you don't mind, I 'm sure I don't; only
+these rolls must be attended to."
+
+"You 're very good to let me stay and watch the process,"
+said Jack, humbly, deferentially taking his stand by
+the table. "I hope I shall not interfere so much with
+Mrs. Blossom; I forgot that--that--" Jack grew red and
+confused.
+
+"That we did our own work?" Rose supplied the rest
+of his thought with such winning frankness, that Jack
+succumbed then and there to the delight of a novel
+experience.
+
+"I 'll be out in a few minutes, Mr. Sherrill," called a
+cheery voice from the pantry behind him. Jack
+started,--then laughed.
+
+"Am I interrupting you, too, Mrs. Blossom?" he said,
+addressing a crack in the pantry door.
+
+"I don't mean to let you, or you will have no sponge
+cakes for tea; I 'm beating eggs and can't leave them or
+they 'll go down."
+
+"Can't I help, Mrs. Blossom? I 've no end of unused
+muscle," said Jack, entering into the fun of the situation.
+
+"No, thank you, I shall be but a few minutes. Rose
+dear, just feel the oven, will you?"
+
+Jack began to think himself a nonentity in all this
+domesticity. "'Feel the oven,'" he said to himself. "Do
+girls do that often, I wonder." He watched Rose's every
+movement.
+
+"Now, confess, Mr. Sherrill, have you ever seen anyone
+make biscuit before?" said Rose, cutting off a piece of
+dough, flouring it, patting it, cuddling it in both hands,
+folding it over with a little slap to hold a bit of butter, and
+tucking it into the large, shallow pan.
+
+"No--" Jack drew a long breath, "I never have. You
+see I have always thought it a kind of drudgery, but
+this--" Jack sought for a word that should express his
+feelings in regard to the process as performed by Rose--"this
+is, why--it's poetry!" he exclaimed with a flashing
+smile that became his expressive face wonderfully, and
+caused Rose to fail absolutely in making a shapely poem
+of the next roll.
+
+She laughed merrily. "There now, they 'll soon be
+done--in good shape too, if you don't compliment them
+too much."
+
+"I 'll eat a dozen of them, I warn you now." Jack was
+waxing dangerous, for he was already possessed with an
+insane desire to become a piece of dough for the sake of
+having those pretty hands pat him into shape.
+
+"Do you hear that, Martie?" cried Rose, flushing with
+pleasure.
+
+"Yes. That's the best compliment you can pay them,
+Mr. Sherrill. I hope my cakes will fare as well," she said,
+coming from the pantry with extended hand.
+
+It was strange! But when Jack Sherrill returned the
+cordial pressure of that same hand, small, shapely, but worn
+and hardened with toil, his eyes suddenly filled with tears.
+This, truly, was a home, with what makes the home--a
+mother in it.
+
+Mrs. Blossom saw the tears, the struggle for composure,
+and, knowing from Hazel he was motherless, read his
+thought;--then all her sweet motherhood came to the
+surface.
+
+"My dear boy," she said with quivering lip, "it is very
+thoughtful of you to come up and pioneer the way over the
+Mountain for all your city friends."
+
+Jack found his voice. "Mrs. Fenlick wanted to come,
+too, Mrs. Blossom, but I managed to put it so she thought
+it would be better to wait until afternoon. They are all
+looking forward to it."
+
+"I 'm sorry Hazel is n't here; she is out picking berries
+with the children. If Rose had n't so much to do, I 'd send
+her to hunt them up."
+
+Jack protested. He had come to call on Mrs. Blossom
+and had detained them altogether too long.
+
+"I don't want to go," he said laughingly, "but I know
+I ought. It seems almost an imposition for so many of us
+to come up here and put you to all this trouble. Why did
+you ask us, Miss Blossom?" At which question, Rose did
+not belie her name, for a sudden wave of color surged into
+her face, and she looked helplessly and appealingly at her
+mother.
+
+"I 've put my foot into it now," was Jack's thought, as
+Mrs. Blossom responded quickly, "For more reasons than
+one, Mr. Sherrill."
+
+They were out on the porch; Chi was bringing up
+Little Shaver.
+
+"It will be a regular stampede this afternoon," said
+Jack, gayly, as he vaulted into the saddle. "Have
+you room enough for so many horses?" He turned
+to Chi.
+
+"Plenty 'n' to spare, 'n' I 'm goin' to give 'em a piazzy
+tea of their own. Little Shaver knows all about it: I 've
+told him. I never saw but one horse before that could
+most talk, 'n' that's Fleet."
+
+Little Shaver whinnied, and with a downward thrust
+and twist of his head tried to get it under Chi's arm.
+
+"Did n't I tell you?" said Chi, delightedly.
+
+"Can I get on to the main road by going over the
+Mountain?" Jack asked him.
+
+"Yes, you can get over, if you ain't particular how you
+get," said Chi.
+
+"No road?"
+
+"Kind of a trail;--over the pasture 'n' through the
+woods, an acre or two of brush, 'n' then some pretty steep
+slidin' down the other side, 'n' a dozen rods of swimmin',
+'n' a tough old clamber up the bank--'n' there you are on
+the river road as neat as a pin."
+
+Jack laughed. "Just what Little Shaver glories in;
+I 'll try it, and much obliged to you, Mr.--" he hesitated.
+
+"Call me, Chi."
+
+"Chi," said Jack, in such a tone of good comradeship
+that it brought the horny hand up to his in a second's time.
+
+Jack grasped it; "Good-bye till this afternoon." He
+spoke to Little Shaver, who ducked his head and fairly
+scuttled across the mowing, scrambled up the pasture, took
+the three-rail fence at the top in a sort of double bow-knot
+of a jump, and then disappeared in the woods, leaving the
+three gazing after him in admiration.
+
+"That feller's got the right ring," said Chi, emphatically;
+"but if he had n't come up here this mornin', first
+thing, after that invite of Rose-pose's, I 'd have set him
+down alongside of that Miss Seaver--'n' a pretty low
+seat that would be!"
+
+"I 'll put up some lunch, Chi, for you and March, and,
+if you can find him, you would do well to start now for
+the trout."
+
+Mrs. Blossom turned to Rose. "Come, dear, we 've
+a hundred and one things to do to be ready in time. You
+may set the table on the porch, and we 'll all picnic for
+dinner to-day; I 've no time to get a regular one, and
+father is n't at home."
+
+It was a perfect afternoon on that second of September.
+At a quarter of five Mrs. Blossom and Rose and Hazel
+were on the porch, looking down upon the lower road for
+the first glimpse of the party.
+
+The table was set on the huge rough veranda that
+Mr. Blossom and Chi had built just off the kitchen long-room.
+Clematis and maiden-hair ferns, which abounded on the
+Mountain, were the decorations, and set off to good
+advantage Mrs. Blossom's mother's old-fashioned tea-set of
+delicate green and white china.
+
+On one end was a large china bowl heaped with blackberries,
+on the other stood a common glass one filled with
+luscious, red raspberries. The sponge cakes gleamed,
+appetizingly golden, from plates covered with grape-vine
+leaves for doilies.
+
+The chicken quivered in its own jelly on a platter
+wreathed with clematis. The delicious odor of fried trout
+floated out from the long-room, and the rolls were steaming
+hot in snow-white napkins.
+
+"Oh, dear!" moaned Rose. "Everything will get cold,
+it's so late."
+
+Just then there was a shout from the advance-guard of
+the twins, and the cavalcade came into view; Jack on
+Little Shaver, who, after his thirty-mile morning ride, was
+as fresh as a pastured colt--riding beside Maude Seaton
+on Old Jo.
+
+There was a general dismounting, assisted by Chi; a
+gathering and looping up of riding habits; a bit of general
+brushing down among the men; then, with one accord
+they turned to the broad step of the porch.
+
+Mrs. Fenlick, telling of it afterwards, said that, for a
+moment, she did nothing but look with all her eyes; for
+there on the porch step stood a woman still in the prime
+of life and beautiful. She was dressed in an India mull of
+the fashion of a quarter of a century ago, with a lace
+kerchief folded in a V about the open neck, and fastened
+with an old-fashioned brooch.
+
+"At her side," said Mrs. Fenlick, "stood one of the
+loveliest girls off of canvas I have ever seen. She had on
+a gown of old-fashioned lawn--pale blue with a rose-bud
+border. She was tall and straight, and the skirt was a
+little skimpy, and so plain that had she designed it to set
+off the grace of her figure she could n't have succeeded
+better. And the face and head!" Mrs. Fenlick used to
+wax eloquent at this point--"were simply ideal. Hazel,
+of course, looked as handsome as a picture in her full, dark
+blue frock of wash silk trimmed with Irish lace, and with
+that rich color in her cheeks--but that girl's face was
+simply divine! Just imagine a complexion of pure white,
+and dark blue eyes--real violet color--black almost in
+her pretty excitement of welcoming us, and the loveliest
+golden brown hair just plaited and puffed a little at the
+temples, and a braid, that big--" Mrs. Fenlick generally put
+her two delicate wrists together at this point,--"that fell
+below her waist fully half a yard! I never saw such hair!"
+
+Mrs. Fenlick used to pause for breath at this point, and
+then add, "Well, the whole thing was too lovely to be
+described. Of course, we ate--lots; for that ride and the
+air were enough to make a saint hungry in Lent, but I was
+only dimly conscious of ever so many good things I was
+eating, for that face fascinated me. And manners! Just
+as if those two women had had nothing to do all their
+lives but entertain royalty!
+
+"I had sense enough, however, to notice that Jack
+Sherrill said very little and ate a great deal. I counted
+twelve rolls--of course they were small--for one thing;
+and I don't blame him,--I wanted more. Well, the whole
+thing was perfect--the valley and the great mountains
+were just in front of the porch, and everything harmonized.
+Even that lovely girl had a bunch of purple-blue pansies
+at her belt and a few in the bit of cotton lace at her throat;
+and the sunset and the mountains matched them--as if
+she had had the whole thing made to order."
+
+Mrs. Fenlick always ended with, "I 've got one bone
+to pick with that dear Doctor Heath--a mountain
+sanatorium! I 'd be willing, almost, to get nervous
+prostration to be sent up there.
+
+"But oh! you should have seen Maude Seaton!" And
+thereupon, Mrs. Fenlick would go off into a fit of laughter
+at the remembrance. "She was looking about for the
+'rigid sunbonnet,' as she called it, of the day before, and
+did n't hear when Rose Blossom spoke to her; and when
+she did realize that the two were one and the same, her
+look was the kind 'Life' likes to get hold of, you know.
+
+"As for Jack Sherrill," Mrs. Fenlick concluded in her
+most serious manner, "I have my own thoughts about
+some things." More than that she would not say, for
+fear it might get back to Maude Seaton's ears.
+
+Jack, too, had his own thoughts about some things--and
+kept them to himself.
+
+
+
+
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`RESULTS`:
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ XII
+
+
+.. class:: center medium
+
+ RESULTS
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+It was the middle of November. A wild, cold wind
+was sweeping over the Mountain, and driving black clouds
+in quick succession across the tops of the woodlands. It
+howled around the farmhouse and, as now and again a
+more furious blast hurled itself against doors and windows,
+the children drew nearer together on the rug before the
+huge fireplace with a delightful sense of safety and
+cosiness.
+
+A kettle of molasses was simmering on the stove, and
+Chi was wielding the corn-popper with truly professional
+skill before the open fire.
+
+It was such fun to see the hurry, and scurry, and hustle,
+and rattle, and pop, and sudden white transformation of
+the heated kernels! A huge, wooden bowl received the
+contents of the popper, and March salted them. Oh, how
+good it smelt! And Rose was going to make molasses
+corn-balls to put aside for the next evening.
+
+"It's just like having a party every night, there
+are so many of us," said Hazel, clapping her hands in
+delight.
+
+"I should think you 'd miss some of your real parties,
+Hazel," said Rose, thoughtfully.
+
+"Miss them! Not a bit; why, they are n't half so nice
+as this, and at home it's so lonesome when papa isn't
+there. Is n't it lovely to think he 's coming up Christmas?
+Even up here, you know, it would n't be quite Christmas
+for me without him. That makes me think, I must write
+him very soon about some things." Hazel looked mysterious.
+
+"We hung up our stockings last year, but we did n't
+get what we wanted," said Cherry rather mournfully.
+
+"Why not?" asked Hazel.
+
+"Coz Popsey was so sick he could n't go out to the
+Wishing-Tree, and so he did n't know."
+
+"What is the Wishing-Tree?" said Hazel, consumed
+with curiosity.
+
+Cherry's mouth was full of corn, so Budd carried on the
+conversation between mouthfuls.
+
+"I 'll show you to-morrow. It's a big butternut up in
+the corner of the pasture, an' there 's a little hollow in the
+trunk where the squirrels used to hide beech-nuts, but
+March has made a door to it with a hinge and put a
+little padlock on it--that's the key hanging up on the
+clock."
+
+Hazel saw a tiny key suspended by a string from one of
+the pointed knobs that ornamented the tall clock.
+
+"'N' nobody touches it till All-hallow-e'en," said Cherry,
+when the sound of her munching had somewhat diminished,
+although her articulation was by no means clear.
+"'N' then Chi goes up with us in the dark, 'n' we put in
+our wishes, 'n'--"
+
+"Let me tell Hazel," said Budd. "You 've begun at
+the wrong end. You see, we write what we want for
+Christmas down on paper, an' seal it with beeswax, an'
+then don't tell anybody what we 've written; an' then
+Chi goes up there with us after dark, an' we 're all dressed
+up like Injuns--"
+
+"Indians, Budd," corrected March.
+
+"Well, Old Pertic'lar, Indians, then," said Budd, a
+little crossly, "an' then--
+
+"Oh, you 've forgot the dish-pan and the little tub,"
+Cherry's voice came muffled through the corn. "We
+take the dish-pan, Hazel, 'n' the little wash-tub, me 'n'
+Budd between us, 'n' beat on them with the iron spoon
+'n' the dish-mop handle, 'n' play 'tom-toms'--"
+
+"Yes, an' March gives an awful war-whoop--" Budd,
+in his earnestness, had risen and gone over to Chi's side,
+and now sat down by the big bowl, but, unfortunately, on
+the popper which Chi had just emptied. There was a
+smell of scorched wool, and, simultaneously, a wild, "Oh,
+gee-whiz!!" from Budd, who leaped as if shot, and stood
+ruefully rubbing the seat of his well-patched knicker-bockers,
+while the rest rolled over on the rug in their
+merriment.
+
+"Oh, do go on, Budd!" cried Hazel, wiping the tears
+of mirth from her eyes. Cherry had laughed so hard that
+she was hiccoughing with outrageous rapidity; and
+March--forgetting May--chose that opportune moment to give
+forth a specimen of his best war-whoop, for the purpose, as
+he explained afterwards, of frightening her out of them.
+
+By the time order had been restored, Cherry was able
+to take up the thread of the story;
+
+"'N' we join hands--Chi 'n' all of us--'n' sing as loud
+as we can sing:
+
+ | "'Intery, mintery, cutery corn,
+ | Apple seed, apple thorn;
+ | Wire, briar, limber lock,
+ | Five geese in a flock--
+ | Sit and sing by the spring;
+ | You are OUT.'
+
+Then we all give a great shout and grunt like In-di-ans--,"
+said Cherry, emphatically, looking at March; and March
+nodded approval.
+
+"How's that?" asked Hazel, who was listening with
+all her ears.
+
+"A hánnah--a hánnah--a hánnah," grunted the children
+as well as they could, hampered by mouths full of
+corn. "An' then," went on Budd, "we drop the wishes
+into the hollow in the tree-trunk, an' Chi locks the door
+an' keeps it, an'--"
+
+"'N' each of us ties two feathers from a rooster's tail to
+different colored strings, 'n' fastens them on to a branch
+of the tree, 'n' that brings us good luck; March calls
+it 'winging the wishes.' That's the way we get our
+presents."
+
+"Oh, what fun!" cried Hazel. "May I do it this year?"
+
+"Course," replied Budd, "but how will your father
+know anything about it?"
+
+"I never thought of that," said Hazel, all her Christmas
+castles toppling over suddenly.
+
+"We 'll fix it somehow, Lady-bird," said Chi, who,
+having finished his labors, had seated himself in a chair
+behind the children and provided himself with a private
+bowl of his own.
+
+"But now, speakin' of roosters, I 'd like to know how
+you 're comin' out about chicken money. I sold the last
+lot but one down in Barton's to-day. There 's been a lot
+of express to pay, 'n' I thought I 'd better pay dividends
+to-night, 'n' get it off my mind, seein' it's most
+Wishin'-Tree time."
+
+Rose took her little account book from her pocket.
+"We cleared one hundred and ten dollars on our preserves
+and jams after we 'd paid Hazel what we had borrowed
+for the jars and sugar, and paid for the express and boxes.
+I 'm awfully sorry we could n't fill all the orders, but we 'll
+try to next year. I 'll go and get the money. I like to
+look at it, knowing it means so much to us all."
+
+She ran upstairs and came back with a little wooden
+box that Chi had made for her years ago. The children
+crowded about her. "There," said Rose, proudly, as she
+took out the money and smoothed it, one crisp bill after
+another, on her knees; "they 're all in ones, so it will
+seem as if we had more when we divide. Now we 've
+agreed to divide this equally, so that 'll make just
+twenty-two apiece."
+
+"Let's play 'Hold-fast-all-I-give-you' in earnest," said
+Cherry, sitting down again on the rug and holding out
+her hands. "That 'll be twenty-two times round and
+make it seem a lot more."
+
+"Good for you, Cherry," said March, approvingly, and
+they all followed her example. With a gravity befitting
+the occasion, the "truly-bruly" game, as Budd called it,
+went on to the supreme satisfaction of those interested as
+well as the enjoyment of father and mother and Chi; for
+to the two former the money-making had long been, of
+necessity, an open secret.
+
+Chi, after watching them a little while, left the room.
+When he reappeared a few minutes later, he was greeted
+with a prolonged "Ah!" of satisfaction; for in one hand
+he held his old account-book, and in the other a long, dark
+blue woollen stocking which bulged fearfully from the toe
+halfway up the leg, where it was tied with a stout piece
+of leather whip-lash.
+
+The whole business of disposing of the chickens had
+been intrusted to Chi, and the members of the
+N.B.B.O.O. Society had pledged themselves not to ask him any
+questions in regard to the sale of them until he should
+tell them of his own accord. This pledge they had kept,
+and now they were to have their rewards.
+
+"If this is going to be a meeting of the N.B.B.O.O. Society,
+I move we ask those who aren't members to
+adjourn to the bedroom," said March, looking significantly
+at his mother and father. Mr. and Mrs. Blossom
+took the hint, and, without waiting for anyone to "second
+the motion," betook themselves, laughing, into the other
+room.
+
+"Guess we 'll sit up to the table 'n' count it out," said
+Chi, "coz we don't want any of it to fly up chimney. We
+should never find it again in this gale."
+
+He emptied the stocking of its contents--bills, pennies,
+and silver pieces of all denominations--upon the table, and
+the children drew up their chairs.
+
+"Now we 'll sort," said Chi. "You take the bills, Rose,
+'n' the rest take the other pieces, 'n' make little piles before
+you of a dollar each. Then we can reckon up easy. I 'll
+take the pennies and the nickels."
+
+"I choose the ten-cent pieces," said Cherry, "an' you
+take the quarters, Budd." March and Hazel took the rest.
+
+"This is a kind of stockholders' meetin'," said Chi, as
+the piles were completed. "We 'll divide the proceeds
+accordin' the number of hens each set; coz I could n't
+keep run of so many chicks after they'd struck out for
+themselves."
+
+He opened his book.
+
+"Here 's some items you better hear, before you find any
+fault with the management:
+
+"Mem. July. 15 chicks killed by hen-hawks.
+
+"Mem. August. 21 chicks died of the pip.
+
+"Mem. September. Skunks stole ten.
+
+"Mem. October. 2 can't find.
+
+"There 's a dead loss to all the stockholders, share 'n'
+share alike. Now for expenses:
+
+"Mem. Corn for feed till October--7 bushels.
+
+"Mem. November. Express, $5.50. Crates
+expressin'--$1.10. Now for the profits!" said Chi, with a
+ring of triumph in his voice. "Count up your piles."
+
+How the cheeks flushed and the eyes grew dark with
+excitement as the counting proceeded: "One hundred--one
+hundred and thirty-two--one hundred and
+seventy-seven--two hundred!"
+
+"Oh-ee!" cried Hazel, as March fairly thundered "Two
+hundred!" "There 's more, there 's more!"
+
+"Go on, go on!" she cried again, almost beside herself
+with excitement.
+
+"Two hundred and seven--TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTEEN!!"
+
+"Chi!" exclaimed Rose, almost breathless, "How *did*
+you make all that?" and thereupon, without waiting for
+his answer, she sprang up from her chair, and, to Chi's
+amazement, took his weather-worn face between her two
+hands, and popped a kiss upon his forehead.
+
+Chi cleared his throat and attempted to make his explanation,
+but was interrupted by March, who got hold of his
+right hand and wrung it without speaking. Chi saw the
+boy turn a little white about the mouth and his gray eyes
+flash through tears; words were not needed.
+
+Budd and Cherry did not realize all this meant to the
+elder brother and sister, but they did not wish to be
+outdone by the others in expressing their appreciation of Chi.
+So Budd thumped him unmercifully on the back, saying,
+"You 're a trump, Chi; tell us how you did it," in a most
+patronizing tone, and Cherry danced around the table,
+singing; "I love my Love with a big, big C!"
+
+Hazel looked on, rejoicing in their joy, but wondering
+why such a little sum, less than her yearly allowance,
+should create all that happiness.
+
+"But tell us how you did it, Chi," said Rose again.
+
+"Well, I sold most of them for broilers, they bring a
+pretty good price; 'n' then I sold the feathers; 'n' you
+forget all those forty hens have been layin' the last two
+months, 'n' I sold the eggs. Then, too,--" a slow smile
+wrinkled Chi's eyes--"I was n't interfered with, 'n' that
+made a great difference in the business. How much have
+you got altogether?"
+
+"Three hundred and twenty-seven dollars," said March.
+
+"What you goin' to do with it? that's the next question.
+You can't let your money lay round in wooden boxes 'n'
+old stockin's. It ought to be bringing you in interest."
+
+"I 'm going to give my share to Rose, to prepare for
+college with," said Hazel.
+
+"Indeed, I sha'n't take your money, Hazel; you 've
+earned it fairly for yourself. I should be ashamed to
+accept it, but it's lovely of you to think of it-- Why,
+Hazel!" she cried, throwing her arm around her, for the
+tears were rolling down Hazel's cheeks, and her chest
+heaving with a bona fide sob.
+
+But Hazel flung off the encircling arm and threw herself
+full length upon the settle in an abandonment of woe.
+
+"I don't care anything about your old money," she
+sobbed. "I did n't want it for myself, and I 've worked so
+hard picking berries and all--and you said you 'd keep
+the by-law--and I 've been so happy working to help
+others, and I never would have believed it of you, Rose
+Blossom, that you 'd go back on your word--you promised--you
+promised to help others--a regular solemn pl-pledge,
+Chi says, and now--and the only way you could help me--was
+to let--to let me help y-ou-oo-oo!"
+
+March and Rose looked at each other aghast at this
+unwonted outburst from Hazel, and Mrs. Blossom, hearing
+the wail, made her appearance from the bedroom.
+
+"Why, Hazel dear, what is the matter?" she said.
+
+"They 've spoiled all my good times," sobbed Hazel,
+refusing to be comforted even when Mrs. Blossom, sitting
+down by her, stroked her head and begged her to sit up
+and tell her all about it.
+
+"Oh, mother!" cried Rose, holding back the tears as
+well as she could, "it's all my fault. It's my old pride
+that keeps coming up at every little thing, somehow,
+and I know it 'll be the death of me! March has it,
+too; and between us we have made it just horrid for
+Hazel."
+
+"Why, Rose, what do you mean?" asked her mother,
+gravely.
+
+"Things that we 've kept from you, Martie. Hazel
+wanted to give us the jars and the sugar, and we would n't
+let her; and she wanted to give me a blue wash silk like
+hers, because I said I wished I could afford one like
+it,--and I--and I was a little angry, and showed it; and
+March spoke up and said we would n't be patronized if we
+were poor--"
+
+"Why, March Blossom!" was all his mother said.
+
+"Yes," broke in Budd, ready to place himself on the
+side of righteousness, "an' Cherry told her that March
+called her 'a perfect guy,' an' that meant she was homely;
+an' that Chi said she was awful poor, an' we were a great
+deal richer than she was, an' that you would n't have had
+her here if you had n't pitied her--"
+
+"Children!" Not one of them ever remembered to
+have heard their mother speak with such stern anger in
+her voice. "I 'm ashamed of you; you have disgraced
+your parents' name." Then she turned to Hazel, drew
+her up into her arms, and said, tenderly:
+
+"Hazel, my dear little girl, why did n't you come to
+me with this trouble?"
+
+"Because--because you were n't *my mother*, you were
+theirs; but, oh! I wish you were mine! I love you
+so--" Hazel flung both arms around Mrs. Blossom's neck and
+sobbed out,--"I 've wanted to call you Mother Blossom
+and hug and kiss you like the rest--but Cherry was so
+jealous--the first time I did it--that she--she stuck
+burrs in my bed and led me through the nettle-patch when
+we were raspberrying, because she knew I did n't know
+nettles; and Chi told me we 'd got to be brave if we
+joined the N.B.B.O.O., and I knew I ought to bear it--for
+I *do* love to be here--and I love them all, for most
+of the time they 're lovely to me;--and I don't think
+you 've been horrid, Rose, only you did hurt my feelings
+when you would n't let me give you the blue silk--and--and
+it is n't my fault if I *am* rich, and it is n't fair not to
+like me for it!"
+
+.. _`"Hazel flung both arms around Mrs. Blossom's neck"`:
+
+.. figure:: images/img-137.jpg
+ :align: center
+ :alt: "Hazel flung both arms around Mrs. Blossom's neck"
+
+ "Hazel flung both arms around Mrs. Blossom's neck"
+
+"No more it ain't, Lady-bird," said Chi, who, after
+drawing the back of his hand across his eyes, was
+apparently the only dry-eyed one in the room. March had
+flung himself on the other end of the settle and buried his
+face deep among the patch-work cushions. Rose was
+sobbing outright with her head on her arms as she sat at
+the dining-room table.
+
+Cherry, in her shame and misery--for she had come to
+love Hazel dearly without wholly conquering her jealousy--softly
+opened the pantry door and slipped inside where
+she sniffed to her heart's content. As for Budd, he stood
+over the wood-box, repiling its contents while the tears
+ran off his nose so fast that he saw all the sticks double
+through them.
+
+"You may go to bed, children," said Mrs. Blossom, still
+holding Hazel in her arms. At this fiat, there was a
+general increase in the humidity of the atmosphere; and,
+knowing perfectly well when their mother spoke in that
+tone, that words, tears, or prayers would not avail, they,
+one and all,--for Cherry had been listening at the pantry
+door,--made a rush for the stairs and stumbled up, blinded
+by their tears.
+
+Mrs. Blossom led Hazel still sobbing into her own little
+bedroom, and shut the door.
+
+Chi, president of the vanished N.B.B.O.O. Society,
+was left alone. He gazed meditatively awhile at the little
+piles of money and the vacant chairs opposite each. Then
+he gathered them up carefully and placed them in orderly
+rows in the wooden box. His next move was to the shed
+door. As he opened it, a gust of wind extinguished the
+lamp on the table.
+
+"Guess I 'll go to bed, too," said Chi to himself, coming
+back for the box, which the firelight showed plainly
+enough. "The barometer's dropped, 'n' it always makes
+me feel low in my mind."
+
+He heaved a prodigious sigh and went out into the shed
+and up the back stairs. The wooden box he put under
+the head of the mattress; he barricaded the door and
+placed his rifle beside it against the wall. Then he turned
+in and drew the coverlet up over his head with another
+sigh, so long, so profound, that it mingled with the wind
+as it swept through the cracks of the shed beneath, and
+made a part of the dismality of the night.
+
+Mrs. Blossom returned to the long-room, and, sitting
+down in her low rocker before the fire, waited. She knew
+her children.
+
+Soon, it might have been within half an hour, she heard
+Rose call softly at the top of the stairs:--
+
+"Martie."
+
+"Yes, Rose."
+
+"May I come?"
+
+"Yes, dear."
+
+"O Martie! may I, too?" wailed Cherry.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I 'm coming, mother," said March, speaking in a low,
+determined voice through the knot-hole.
+
+"Very well, March."
+
+"Come along, Budd," said March, and Budd was only
+too glad to grip his brother's pajamas and follow after.
+
+Down they came, tiptoeing in their bare feet, Rose
+heading the penitential procession. She knelt by her
+mother's side, and March and Budd and Cherry knelt, too.
+
+Then, to their mother's, "Are you *truly* ready,
+children?" they answered heartily, "Yes, Martie."
+
+Together they said in subdued but earnest tones, "Our
+Father;" together they prayed, "'Forgive us our
+trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us'"--and
+after the heart-felt, "Amen," each received a kiss by
+way of absolution; and together, until the clock struck
+ten, they talked the whole matter over and resolved to
+fight their Apollyons daily and hourly, and, with God's
+grace, conquer them.
+
+These were the rare hours, the memory of which held
+March Blossom in the way of right and honor when he
+went out to battle for himself in the world. These were
+the hours, the memory of which kept him in his college
+days unspotted from the world. It was such an hour
+that ripened Rose Blossom into a thinking, feeling woman,
+and made Budd into a knight of the Twentieth Century.
+
+It was for such an hour that Jack Sherrill would have
+given his entire fortune.
+
+
+
+
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`A SOCIAL ADDITION`:
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ XIII
+
+
+.. class:: center medium
+
+ A SOCIAL ADDITION
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+It was a chastened household that gathered about the
+breakfast table the next morning; and for a week
+afterwards, every one was so thoughtful and considerate of
+everybody else that Mrs. Blossom said, laughing, to her
+husband; "They 're so angelic, Ben, I 'm afraid they are
+all going to be ill. I declare, I miss their little
+naughtinesses."
+
+Several things had been settled during the week and,
+apparently, to everyone's satisfaction. At a very
+serious-minded meeting of the N.B.B.O.O., it had been decided
+to keep the larger part of the money in order to start
+March on his career. Not without protest, however, on
+March's part. But he was overruled. Rose argued that
+if he were going to college, he must begin to prepare that
+very winter, and if their earnings were divided among
+the five, no one would reap any special benefit from them,
+least of all, March.
+
+"I can wait well enough another year, perhaps two,"
+she said; "and, meanwhile, we 'll be earning more. But
+you, March, ought to be in the academy at Barton's this
+very minute."
+
+"I know it," said March, dejectedly; "but I do hate
+to take girls' money; somehow, it does not seem
+quite--quite manly."
+
+"Better remember what your mother talked to you 'bout
+last Sunday, 'bout its bein' more of a blessin' to give than
+to get," said Chi, sententiously.
+
+"I do remember, and there 's nobody in the world I 'd
+be more willing to take it from than from you, all of you,
+but--"
+
+"Me, too?" interrupted Hazel, leaning nearer with
+great, eager, questioning eyes.
+
+"Yes, you, too, Hazel," March replied gently, with such
+unwonted humility of spirit shining through his rare,
+sweet smile, that Hazel bounced up from her seat at the
+table, and, going behind March's chair, clasped both arms
+tightly around his neck, laid the dark, curly head down
+upon the top of his golden one, exclaiming delightedly:
+
+"Oh, March, you are the dearest fellow in the world.
+I never thought you 'd give in so--and I love you for it!
+There now,"--with a big squeeze of the golden head--"you 've
+made me superfluously happy." Hazel took her
+seat, flushed rosy red in pleasurable anticipation of being
+allowed, at last, to give to those she loved, and wholly
+unmindful of her slip of the tongue.
+
+"Now that's settled, I move that each of you keep three
+dollars of that money 'gainst the Wishin'-Tree business.
+Chris'mus 'll be here 'fore you can say 'Jack Robinson.'"
+
+"Second the motion," said Budd and Cherry in the
+same breath.
+
+It was a unanimous vote.
+
+"There is just one thing I want to say," said March,
+who, in a bewilderment of happy emotions, had been
+unable to reply one word to Hazel, "and that is, that I
+want you to consider that you have lent it to me and
+let me have the pleasure of paying back, sometime, when
+I am a man."
+
+"That's fair enough," said Chi. "I glory in your
+independence, Markis. That's the right kind to have.
+Put it to vote."
+
+Again there was a unanimous vote of approval, for they
+all knew that to one of March's proud spirit it meant
+much to accept the money, from the girls especially; and
+they felt it would make him happier if he were to accept
+it as a loan.
+
+"I can save a lot by not boarding down at Barton's,
+and by working for my board at the tavern, or in some
+family," said March, thoughtfully.
+
+"No you don't," said Chi, emphatically. "'T ain't no
+way for a boy to be doin' chores before he goes to school
+in the mornin' 'n' tendin' horses after he gets out in the
+afternoon. If you 're goin' to try for college in two years,
+you 've got to buckle right down to it--'n' not waste time
+workin' for other folks that ain't your own. Here comes
+Mis' Blossom, we 'll ask her what she has to say about it."
+
+"Why, Martie, where have you been all this afternoon?
+I saw you and father driving off in such a sly sort of way,
+I knew you did n't want us to know where you were
+going. Now, 'fess!" laughed Rose.
+
+"'Fess, 'fess, Martie!" cried Budd and Cherry,
+hilariously breaking up the meeting. "We 've got you
+now!" And without more ado they anchored her to the settle,
+each linked to an arm, while Hazel took off her hood,
+March drew off her rubbers, and Rose unpinned her shawl.
+
+Mrs. Blossom laughed. "No, you guess," she replied.
+
+"Down to the Mill Settlement?"
+
+"Wrong."
+
+"Over to Aunt Tryphosa's?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Down to see the Spillkinses?"
+
+"Wrong again."
+
+"Over eastwards to the Morris farm," said Chi.
+
+"Right," said Mrs. Blossom, smiling. "How did you
+know, Chi?"
+
+"I didn't, just guessed it; coz I knew the new folks
+was goin' to move in this week."
+
+"What new folks?" chorussed the children in surprise.
+
+"An addition to the Lost Nation," replied their mother,
+"and a very charming one. Now there are five families
+on our Mountain."
+
+"Who are they, Martie?"--"Are you going to ask
+them to Thanksgiving, too?"--"What's their name?"--"How
+many are there of them?"--"Any boys?" They
+were all talking together.
+
+"One at a time, please," laughed Mrs. Blossom, putting
+her hands over her ears. "I never heard such mill-clappers!"
+
+"*Do* hurry up, mother," said March, appealingly.
+
+"A young man from New Haven has taken the lease of
+the farm for three years. He has his mother and sister
+with him. He was in the law school at Yale until last
+spring; then his father died, and his sister, a little older
+than you, Rose, was injured in some accident--I don't
+know what it was--and now she is very delicate. The
+doctor says if she can live in this mountain country for a
+few years, she may recover her health. The brother and
+mother are perfectly devoted to her. She calls herself
+a 'Shut-in'--"
+
+"Then she can't come over for Thanksgiving dinner,"
+said Rose, interrupting.
+
+"Not this year, but I hope she may next."
+
+"Did he give up college for his sister's sake?" asked
+March.
+
+"He gave up the last year of his law course; they could
+not afford to travel so many years for the benefit of her
+health, so they came up here. I do pity them; it must be
+such a change. But, oh, March! how you will enjoy that
+house! They have been there only a week, yet it looks
+as if they had lived there always. They have such
+beautiful framed photographs of places they visited when they
+were in Europe with their father, and cases of books, and
+a grand piano--I don't see how they ever got it up the
+Mountain. The young man and his mother both play, and
+he plays the violin, too."
+
+The children and Chi were listening open-eyed as
+Mrs. Blossom went on enthusiastically:--
+
+"It's just like a fairy story, only it's all true. Just
+two weeks ago, when your father and I drove by there,
+that long, rambling house looked so bleak and bare and
+desolate--your father and I always call it the 'House of
+the Seven Gables,' for there are just seven--and the
+spruce woods behind it looked fairly black, and the wind
+drew through the pines by the south door with such an
+eerie sound, that I shivered. And to-day, what a change!
+All the shutters were open, and muslin curtains at the
+windows, and the sun was streaming into the four windows
+of the great south room that they have made their living-room.
+There was a roaring big fire in the hall fireplace,
+and plants--oh, Rose, you should see them! palms and
+rubber trees and sword ferns,--and lovely rugs, and--I
+can't begin to tell you about it; you must go and see for
+yourselves." Mrs. Blossom paused for breath, with a glad
+light in her eyes.
+
+"It sounds too good to be true," said Rose, "and you
+look as if you had been to a real party, Martie."
+
+"Well, I have, my dear. Just to see such people and
+such a house is a party for me."
+
+"And you can keep having it, too, can't you, Martie? because
+they 're going to be neighbors," cried Cherry,
+every individual curl dancing and bobbing with excitement.
+
+"Is the young man good-looking?" asked Hazel, earnestly.
+
+"Very," replied Mrs. Blossom, smiling.
+
+"As handsome as Jack?" said Hazel.
+
+"Very different looking, Hazel; quiet and grave, but
+genial. Not so tall as Mr. Sherrill, I should say; talks
+but little, but what he says is well worth listening
+to--and when he smiled! I did n't hear him laugh, but I know
+he can enjoy fun. He has a fine saddle horse, Chi, and
+he wants you to come and give him some advice about
+selecting stock."
+
+"'Fraid he 's too high-toned for me," said Chi, modestly;
+"but if I can help him anyway, I 'd like to. Seems a
+likely young man from all you say."
+
+"He 's more than 'likely,' Chi," returned Mrs. Blossom,
+with a twinkle in her eye that only Chi caught.
+
+"Speakin' of horses, Mis' Blossom, we 've decided to
+send March to the Academy at Barton's, 'n' if I let him
+have Fleet, he could come 'n' go, a matter of sixteen miles
+a day, without bein' from home nights. I don't approve
+of that for boys."
+
+"No, indeed, neither his father nor I would think of
+such a thing for a moment. But how kind of you, Chi, to
+let March have Fleet."
+
+"I want to help on the college education all I can; 'n'
+if our boy wants to go, he 's goin' to have the best to get
+him there so far as I 'm concerned."
+
+"I don't know how to thank you, Chi," said March,
+"but I 'll treat Fleet like a lady and I 'll study like
+a--like a house on fire. I don't envy that other fellow his
+saddle horse if I can have Fleet. What's his name,
+mother? you haven't told us yet."
+
+"Why, so I have n't--Ford, Alan Ford, and his sister's
+name is Ruth."
+
+"When can we go over and see them, Martie?" said Rose.
+
+"I thought two or three days after Thanksgiving, and
+then you can take a little neighborly thank-offering with
+you."
+
+"What can we take?" queried Cherry.
+
+"Oh, a mince pie or two, some raspberry preserves, a
+comb of last summer's honey, a pat of butter, a nice bunch
+of our white-plume celery, and, perhaps, Chi could find a
+brace of partridges."
+
+"M-m--does n't that sound good-tasting!" said Cherry,
+patting her chest ecstatically.
+
+"Who 's coming for Thanksgiving, Martie?" asked Budd.
+
+"All the Lost Nation--the Spillkinses and Aunt
+Tryphosa and Maria-Ann, Lemuel and his wife and--who
+else? Guess."
+
+"Why, that's all."
+
+"Not this year, you forget your new teacher, Budd.
+She boards around, and it's the Mountain's year, so she
+is at Lemuel's now."
+
+"Oh, good!" cried Budd enthusiastically. "She 's a
+daisy. I know you 'll like her, Hazel. All the fellows
+are awfully soft on her, though--bring her butternut
+candy, an' sharpen her pencils, an' black the stove, an'
+wash off the black-board; an' I saw Billy Nye sneak out
+the other day and wipe the mud off her rubbers with his
+paper lunch-bag! Catch me doing it, though," he added,
+his chest swelling rather pompously as he straightened
+himself and thrust his hands deep into the pockets of his
+knickerbockers.
+
+"Why not?" his mother asked with an amused smile.
+
+"Oh, coz," was Budd's rather sheepish reply, and thereupon
+he followed Chi out to the barn, whistling "Dixie"
+with might and main.
+
+
+
+
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`THE LOST NATION`:
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ XIV
+
+
+.. class:: center medium
+
+ THE LOST NATION
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+The four families on Mount Hunger were known to
+the towns about as The Lost Nation. Two of them, the
+Blossoms and the Spillkinses, were, in reality,
+lumber-dealers rather than farmers. The third, Lemuel Wood,
+had a sheep farm, and Aunt Tryphosa Little with her
+granddaughter, Maria-Ann, was the fourth. The two
+women owned a spruce wood-lot and let it out to men who
+cut the bark. They cultivated a small garden-patch of
+corn, beans, and squash, kept a cow and a few hens, and
+eked out their scanty income with a day's work here and
+there in fine weather.
+
+Every two weeks they did the washing and ironing for
+the Blossom family, as Mrs. Blossom's cares were too
+heavy for her, and she felt that not only could she afford
+it this year, but that in putting it out she was giving a
+little help to her poorer neighbors.
+
+Chi or March took the huge basket of linen over on the
+wagon or sledge, and always left with it a neighborly gift--a
+peck of fine russets or greenings, a bunch of celery, a
+pound or two of salt pork, a bunch of delicious parsnips,
+or a dozen eggs when the old dame's hens were moulting.
+Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann were not to be outdone
+in neighborly kindnesses, and, regularly, the willow basket,
+full to overflowing with snow-white clothes, was returned
+with something tucked away under the square covering
+of oil-cloth--a tiny bunch of sage or summer savory, an
+ironing-holder made of bits of bright calico or woollen
+rags, a little paper-bag of spruce gum, a pair of woollen
+wristers for Mr. Blossom or Chi, a new recipe for spring
+bitters with a sample of the herbs--sassafras, dockroot,
+thoroughwort, wintergreen, and dandelion--gathered by
+Aunt Tryphosa herself.
+
+They had one cow which they regarded as the third
+member of their family. She had been named Dorcas,
+after Aunt Tryphosa's mother, and proved a model animal
+of her kind. She gave a more than ordinary amount of
+creamy milk; presented her mistress with a sturdy calf
+each year; never hooked or kicked; never, during the
+bitter winter weather, grew restless in her small shed
+which adjoined the woodshed, and never broke from
+pasture in the sweet-smelling summer-time.
+
+Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann vied with each other in
+petting her. They brushed her coat as regularly as they
+did up their own back hair. They gave her a weekly
+scrubbing as conscientiously as they took their Saturday
+bath. For cold nights Aunt Tryphosa had made for her
+a nightdress of red flannel (although she had never heard
+of "Cranford"), which she and Maria-Ann had planned to
+fit the cow-anatomy, and it had proved a great success.
+
+For the midsummer fly-time they had contrived a
+wonderfully fashioned garment of coarse fish-netting, into
+which they had knotted a cotton fringe. They claimed,
+and rightly, that freedom from chill and irritation, incident
+upon zero weather and August dog-days, affected the milk
+most favorably, both in quantity and quality; and, as it
+all went to make delicious small cheeses, which sold at
+Barton's River for twenty-five cents apiece and were
+renowned throughout the county, people had ceased to
+laugh at the cow's appearance.
+
+It had become one of Hazel's great treats to be permitted
+to go with March or Chi to the little house--not much
+more than a cabin--on the east side of the Mountain; and
+when she knew that the two were to be guests for Thanksgiving,
+but not for Christmas, she began to lay plans
+accordingly.
+
+The Spillkinses were an aged set, not one was under
+seventy.
+
+There were the Captain and his wife, who had
+celebrated their Golden Wedding, and his wife's two maiden
+sisters, Melissa and Elvira, of whom he always spoke as
+the "girls." They were funny old maidens of seventy one
+and two, who did up their hair in curl-papers, precisely as
+they did a half a century ago; wore black cotton mitts when
+they went to church, and white silk ones when they went
+out to tea; called each other "Lissy" and "Elly," and
+were still sensitive in regard to their ages.
+
+In addition to these, the old, gray-shingled, vine-covered
+farmhouse on the lower mountain-road, sheltered the
+Captain's elder brother, Israel, who was just turned
+ninety-three, hale and hearty, and Israel's eldest son, Reuben,
+a youth of seventy, who in our North Country parlance
+"was not all there," but harmless, kindly, and generally
+helpful.
+
+All these, together with Lemuel Wood and his wife, and
+the new teacher, were to be Thanksgiving guests, and
+wonderful preparations went on for days beforehand.
+
+Such a sorting and paring and chopping of apples!
+Such a seeding of raisins, and whipping of eggs, and
+compounding of cakes! Such a tucking away of chickens
+beneath the flaky crust of the huge pie! Such a moulding
+of cranberry jelly, so deeply, darkly, richly red! Such a
+cracking of butternuts, and a melting of maple sugar!
+Such a stuffing of an eighteen-pound turkey, and such a
+trussing of thin-linked sausages! Such a making of goodly
+pies, pumpkin, mince, and apple! Such a quartering of
+small cheeses contributed by Aunt Tryphosa! Such an
+unbottling of sweet pickles, and unbarrelling of sweet
+cider;--and, on the final day, such a general boiling, and
+baking, and roasting, and basting, and mashing, and
+grinding, and seasoning, and whipping, and cutting, and
+kneading, and rolling, as can occur only once a year in an
+old-fashioned, New England farmhouse.
+
+Hazel was in her glory. Arrayed in a checked gingham
+apron, which she had made herself, she beat eggs, whipped
+cream, helped Rose set the table, wiped the dishes and
+baking-pans, basted the noble Thanksgiving bird once, as
+a great privilege, although in so doing, she burned her
+fingers with the sputtering fat, scorched her apron, and
+parboiled her already flushed face with the escaping steam.
+But she was happy!
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+"Oh, papa!" she wrote the day after the party, "I never
+had such a good time in my life! If only you could see the
+things we made!--apple and lemon tarts, and mince and
+cranberry 'turnovers,' and doughnuts all twisted into a sort of
+French bow-knot such as Gabrielle used to make of her back
+hair, and a queer kind of cake they call 'marble,' all streaky
+with chocolate and white, and butternut candy made with maple
+sugar, and an *Indian* pudding, and little bits of nut-cakes with
+a small piece of currant jelly inside and all powdered sugar out;
+and--oh, I can't begin to tell you, for this is only a part of the
+dessert.
+
+"I 'll try to paragraph this letter in the right places so you 'll
+understand about the party.
+
+"All the Lost Nation was invited; Captain and Mrs. Spillkins,
+Miss Melissa and Miss Elvira, Uncle Israel and Poor Reub,
+Mr. Lemuel Wood and his wife, and Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann,
+and-- Oh, I forgot Miss Alton. She 's awfully sweet;
+she is Budd and Cherry's teacher in the district school at the
+Mill Settlement. She's more like a city person than the others.
+I wish you 'd been here! for I can't tell it half as nice as it was;
+but I 'll do my best because you wrote you wanted me to tell
+you everything.
+
+"We were already for the party at eleven o'clock--in the
+morning, I mean--(I can't remember the sign for forenoon).
+We don't have any lunch up here, as you know, but the dinner
+comes between 12 and 1, so everything was ready then. I got
+up at five o'clock! and worked hard till it was time to change
+my gown.
+
+"It was awfully cold. Chi said the thermometer was shivering
+when he looked at it just after breakfast; he means by that,
+it's below zero--a good deal; and I couldn't help thinking
+how cosy and warm and deliciously smelly it would be for the
+Lost Nation when they came in out of the cold into the
+long-room and saw the table (it looked beautiful, with baskets of
+red apples, and nuts and raisins, and a big centre-piece of
+red geranium) just loaded with goodies.
+
+"March had driven over for Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann,
+and they arrived first--Mrs. Blossom says they always do.
+(I want you to go over and call on them when you are up here
+Christmas; it's just like a story in Hans Andersen; they keep
+a cow, Dorcas, who wears a kimono on very cold nights.)
+
+"March helped Aunt Tryphosa out just as if she had been
+Queen Victoria. (I forgot to tell you she and Maria-Ann do our
+laundry work.) March is perfectly splendid about such things--and
+Maria-Ann sort of bounced out, although Chi held out
+his hand to help her. It's so funny to see them together!
+Aunt Tryphosa is so small and wrinkled and thin that,
+sometimes, Chi says he has known a good wind to knock her right
+over; and Maria-Ann is almost as tall as Chi, and stout and
+rosy-cheeked, with nice brown eyes that talk to you.
+
+"And, oh, papa!--I'll tell you, but it's a confidence--I
+saw Aunt Tryphosa shiver hard when she came into the house,
+and I 'm afraid she did not have enough warm things on. I
+know her shawl was n't *very* thick, for I went into the bedroom
+afterwards and felt of it; and she had no furs at all! Think
+of that with the thermometer way down below zero, papa!
+I 'll tell you all about it when you come.
+
+"Well, after Mrs. Blossom had given the old lady a cup of
+hot tea, she felt better and began to talk; and, honestly, papa,
+she never stopped talking all day long! March said he timed
+her. She lives away over on the east side of the Mountain
+away from everybody, and yet she knows everything that is
+going on, on the Mountain, and at the Mill Settlement, and at
+Barton's River, and that, as you know, is quite a large place.
+
+"She told us all about the new neighbors in the seven-gabled-house;
+how they had their dinner at bed-time, and what 'help'
+they have, and whom they are going to have for hired man, and
+how they have music every night after dinner, and how the
+lights were n't put out in the north-east chamber till one o'clock.
+She even knew the pattern of lace on the underclothes that
+were hung out to dry! and Maria-Ann was trying to crochet
+some in imitation; I saw it myself.
+
+"And she said that one of the chambers was all lined with
+books, and another just covered, floor and walls, with
+pictures--what can she mean, papa? and that down stairs off the
+living-room in what used to be old Mrs. Morris's milk-room,
+there were ropes, and weights, and pulleys, and a stretcher,
+and iron balls, and that every one said it did n't have the right
+look. But she said she meant to stand up for them, because
+the young man had come over to call just two or three days
+ago and said, as she was his nearest neighbor, they ought to
+become acquainted before winter set in; and he ordered a half
+a dozen cheeses and brought word from his mother that she
+would like them to come over and see her daughter, for she
+thought Maria-Ann might be able to do something for her.
+Now, what do you suppose it all means?
+
+"Of course, it makes us all wild to go over there, and I hope
+we shall go soon.
+
+"But, oh! if you could see the Spillkinses! I had to go off
+up stairs and bury my face in Rose's feather bed so I could
+laugh without being heard. They 're the funniest lot of people
+I ever saw. They all came over in a big wagon filled with
+straw, and before they came in sight, Chi said, 'They 're
+coming, I know by the cackle;' and, papa, that is just what
+it was.
+
+"They are all awfully aged, but they act just like young
+people, and Mrs. Blossom says it's their young hearts that
+keep them so young.
+
+"Uncle Israel, he's ninety-three, but he wears a dark brown
+wig and looks younger than his son, Poor Reub, who is seventy
+and has snow-white hair. Mrs. Spillkins wears what they call
+up here a 'false front;' it's just the color of Uncle Israel's,
+so she looks more like his sister. But her two sisters, Miss
+Melissa and Miss Elvira, are perfectly comical. They're just
+as small as Aunt Tryphosa, but they don't talk; only nod and
+smile and bow as if they were talking. They have little
+corkscrew curls, three on each temple, and they bob and shake
+when they nod and smile and sort of chirrup; it's the Captain
+and his wife and Uncle Israel who cackle so when they laugh.
+Poor Reuben does n't say much either, only he looks perfectly
+happy, and always sits by his father when he can get a chance.
+Chi was just lovely to him all the afternoon.
+
+"Well, after Mr. Wood and his wife and the new teacher
+came, we all sat down to dinner, and Mr. Blossom said 'grace,'
+and all the Spillkinses said 'Amen,' which surprised us all
+very much.
+
+"We don't have courses up here, because there is nobody to
+serve us; so everything is put on your plate at once, except,
+of course, dessert, and papa!--I would n't say it to any one
+but you, but I never saw any one eat so much as Aunt Tryphosa
+for all she is so small and thin. Mr. Blossom piled her
+plate up twice with turkey, and squash, and onion, and potato,
+and turnip, and then she helped herself to cranberry jelly and
+sweet pickles three times; and yet she managed to talk all the
+time; and the queer part of it was that she did n't cut herself
+once, they all eat with their knives--except, of course, our
+family and Miss Alton.
+
+"Rose and Cherry and I removed the dinner plates, and that
+was all the waiting there was.
+
+"We sat till half-past three at the table; then Uncle Israel
+said another 'grace'--'after-grace,' he called it,--and
+Mr. Blossom and Chi took the--the gentlemen part out to see the
+horses and cows, and all the rest went to work to clear off
+the table and do up the dishes. There were so many of us it
+did n't take long, and then we lighted the lamps, and all
+the--the ladies took out their knitting and began to work as fast as
+they could.
+
+"Then in a little while all the--the gentlemen came in, and
+the ladies put up their work, and they all sat round the room
+and sang Auld Lang Syne. Rose led, and Miss Alton sang a
+lovely alto. It was lovely, and I longed to have you with me.
+Then Captain Spillkins said it was time to hitch up, and Chi
+said it was time to be going as it was very dark and cold. He
+drove Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann home, and Mrs. Blossom
+filled a large basket with all sorts of goodies, and Mr. Blossom
+set it in behind in the apple-green cart without their knowing
+it; so now they can have a surprise party of their own and
+Thanksgiving for a whole week.
+
+"There! This is the longest letter I ever wrote in all my
+life. I 've written it at different times during the day. I ate
+so much yesterday, that I don't feel very bright to-day, so you
+must excuse any mistakes, although I've used the dictionery as
+you wanted me to.
+
+.. class:: left white-space-pre-line
+
+ "Always your loving, and now your dreadfully sleepy
+ "DAUGHTER HAZEL.
+
+"P.S. I think I shall feel better, if I tell you that we all had
+a very unhappy time two weeks ago. I had a really dreadful
+heartache, papa, and, for the first time, was homesick for you.
+
+"You see, March and Rose are very proud of spirit, and I
+don't think they liked it in me because we are rich--but you
+and I understand each other, don't we? and know that being
+rich does n't mean anything to us, does it? and then, too, Chi
+says we 're poor because we have n't so much family to love as
+the Blossoms have, and that's true, too, is n't it?--and I think
+that kind of poorness ought to balance our riches, don't you?
+And--well, I can't explain how it all came about, but now
+they are willing to let me give them things when I want to,
+and that makes me very happy, and we are all a great deal
+happier than we were before, and I'm going to call
+Mrs. Blossom, 'Mother Blossom,' after this, she says she wants me
+to, and she takes me in her arms just as she does Rose and
+Cherry, and we talk things over together; so everything is all
+right now.
+
+"Please send up my violin by express when you receive this.
+There is a very good-looking young man, the new neighbor at
+the seven-gabled-house, and he plays the violin, too, and his
+mother the piano. Love to Wilkins and Minna-Lu. I 'll send
+him a present from here--Oh, I forgot! don't forget to write
+Chi within a week sure, to inform you about the Wishing-Tree,
+and don't buy any presents for anybody till you hear from
+him. H.C."
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+When Mr. Clyde read this long letter at the breakfast
+table, his face was the despair of Wilkins, who hovered
+about, seeking, ineffectually, for an excuse to ask about
+Miss Hazel.
+
+"Doan know what kin' er news Marse John get from
+little Missy," he told Minna-Lu, the cook; "but he laffed
+pow'ful part de time, an' den he grow pow'ful sober, an'
+de fust ting I know, de tears come splashin' onto de paper,
+an' he speak up rale sharp, 'Wha' fo' yo' hyar, Wilkins?'
+an' sayin' nuffin', I jes' makes tracks, case I see he wan's
+nobuddy see dem tears.-- Fo' Gawd, I 'se be glad when
+little Missy come home."
+
+Mr. Clyde took this manuscript, as he called it, over to
+the Doctor.
+
+"There, Dick, read that," was all he said.
+
+After the Doctor had read it, he whisked out his
+handkerchief in a remarkably suspicious manner, and Mr. Clyde
+busied himself with a medical journal without reading one
+word, till the Doctor spoke:
+
+"I say, Johnny, let's get up a theatre party of us two
+for the Old Homestead to-night; it's the nearest thing
+we can get to this of Hazel's."
+
+"You always hit the right thing, Dick, I 'll call for you
+at eight."
+
+
+
+
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`WISHING-TREE SECRETS`:
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ XV
+
+
+.. class:: center medium
+
+ WISHING-TREE SECRETS
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+All-hallow-e'en had come.
+
+The exercises about the tree had been carried out with
+great success--tom-toms, war-whoop, song and dance.
+After supper, the apples had been roasted, and the whole
+family "bobbed" for them in the wash-tub; father, mother,
+Chi, and even little May joining heartily in the fun. Then
+they had melted lead, sailed nutshells freighted with wishes,
+and finally "loved their Loves" with all the letters of the
+alphabet.
+
+When all were off to bed and sound asleep, Chi took his
+lantern, and went up again to the old butternut tree in
+the corner of the pasture.
+
+It was preparing to snow. A chill wind drew through
+the bare branches, and caused a wild commotion among
+the roosters' tail feathers that dangled from one of the
+lower ones.
+
+Chi unlocked the little door, and from the hollow took
+out a handful of notes. He thrust them into the side
+pocket of his coat, relocked the door, and went back to
+his room over the shed. There, by the light of the
+lantern, he read them and rejoiced over them; re-read them
+and cried a little over them, nor was he ashamed of his
+tears; for in the precious missives, Rose and Hazel, March
+and Budd and Cherry, had shown, as in a mirror, the
+workings of their loving hearts.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+All-hallo w-e'en.
+
+MY DEAR MOTHER,--I have a great favor to ask of you and
+father. Will you hang up *your* stockings this year and let us
+children fill them instead of your filling ours? I don't want
+you to take one cent of the money you are earning by having
+Hazel here to buy me anything. I want every penny of it to
+go to pay off that mortgage you told us of--for I feel just as
+you do about it, and only wish I had known it last Hallow-e'en
+when I asked for the paints and brushes. It makes me sick
+just to think of all we asked for, and you not having any money
+to buy them with--and never telling us! Oh, mother!
+
+.. class:: left white-space-pre-line
+
+ Your devoted son,
+ MARCH BLOSSOM.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+All-hallow-e'en.
+
+MY DEAR POPSEY,--Me and Cherry want to help you and
+Martie pay off that morgige she told us about. March says
+it is a dreadfull thing that we must get rid of just as soon as
+we can. So Cherry and me are going to give you 2 dollars
+apeace out of our $3 we saved for ourselves out of the jam and
+the chickens as we voted in the N.B.B.O.O. That will make
+four dollars and March says it will be just 1/300 of what you
+owe and will help a great deal. I think the other $1 we have
+left will be enough to buy presents for the rest of the famly,
+don't you?
+
+.. class:: left white-space-pre-line
+
+ Your Son,
+ BUDD BLOSSOM.
+
+P.S. I meant to say I don't expect anything this year 'cause
+last year I asked for a double-runner and a bat and a new cap
+with fir on the edges like the boys at Barton's and 20 cents to
+buy marbles with and I didn't get them 'cause you were sick
+and I 'm sorry I asked for so much to bother you when you
+were sick. B.B.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+DEAR FRIEND CHI,--Do you think you can find out in some
+way what March and Budd would like for Christmas? And if
+you know anything special that Rose wants very *specially*,
+please let me know at your earliest convenience so I can send
+to New York for it. I should like to consult you about some
+gifts for Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann, and if you could get
+a chance to take me down to the Barton's River shops all alone
+by myself, I should esteem it a great favor.
+
+.. class:: left white-space-pre-line
+
+ Your true friend,
+ HAZEL CLYDE.
+
+All-hallow-e'en.
+
+P. S. I 'm rather anxious about the note I put in the
+Wishing-Tree for papa.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+All-hallow-e'en.
+
+DARLING PATER NOSTER,--When I think of last year, my
+heart aches for you and my precious Martie. Oh, why did n't
+she tell us before! I never should have asked for that dress
+and the French grammar and dictionary and the cheap set of
+Dickens', if I had only known.
+
+*Do*, Pater dear, let us know in the future if you are in
+trouble, and let us help share it. Would n't that make it easier
+for you?
+
+Now a favor; I want you and Martie to play boy and girl
+again this year and hang up *your* stockings for a change; and
+please, *please*, father dear, don't give us anything this
+year--we don't want anything but you and Martie, and besides, we
+have money of our *own*! Chi calls us "bloated bond-holders,"
+and says we have formed a "combine."
+
+.. class:: left white-space-pre-line
+
+ Your loving daughter,
+ ROSE BLOSSOM.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+DEAREST COUSIN JACK,--I have n't answered your letter
+because I 've been having too good a time. This is only a
+Wishing-Tree note; I want you to do me a favor, please; find
+out what I can buy nice for papa with a dollar. I 've earned
+it myself (and a great deal more, Jack, you would be surprised
+if you knew how much the preserves and chickens came to)
+and want him to have a present out of it. Then, I would like
+to buy something for Doctor Heath, about fifty cents' worth,
+and another fifty cents' worth for Mrs. Heath. I want to give
+Aunt Carrie a little something, too, *out of my own earnings*;
+(I've all my two quarterly allowances besides,) I can afford
+fifty cents for her; and then I would like to remember Wilkins
+with a little gift out of *my earnings* for mamma's sake as well
+as my own, and then I shall have twenty-five cents left of the
+money I worked for. The rest we all voted to put aside for
+March to help him through college. He wants to be an
+architect, you know, and he draws beautifully. I shall be glad of
+your advice.
+
+.. class:: left white-space-pre-line
+
+ In haste, yours devotedly,
+ HAZEL.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+All-hallow-e'en, MOUNT HUNGER.
+
+DEAR CHI,--May wants a doll the kind she saw last summer
+down at Barton's River. I ve got only a doller to spend for
+all the famly, so will you plese ask the pris for me as I am
+afrade it will be to high. There is a big french one in the right
+hand window at Smith's store with a libel on it 7$, and I play
+it's mine when I am down there and you are buying horse-feed.
+I have named her Emilie Angelique. Rose spelt it for me.
+
+.. class:: left white-space-pre-line
+
+ Your loving CHERRY BOUNCE.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+DEAR OLD CHI,--If you can find out what Hazel would
+like specially for Christmas, just let me know.
+
+MARCH.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+DEAR CHI,--Can you manage to get us all down to Barton's
+some Saturday to do some Christmas shopping?
+
+Your ROSE-POSE.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+All-hallow-e'en.
+
+DEAREST PAPA,--Will you please ask Aunt Carrie to please
+help you buy these Christmas things? I enclose fifty dollars;
+(your check.)
+
+A white serge dress pattern, like mine.
+
+A book of lovely foreign photographs of buildings and
+pictures for March.
+
+2 pairs of white kid gloves, number 6.
+
+2 pairs of tan kid gloves, number 6-¼.
+
+1 pair fur-lined gloves for March.
+
+1 pair ditto for Mr. Blossom.
+
+A year's subscription for the Woman's Hearthstone Journal
+for Maria-Ann.
+
+A small shirt waist ironing-board for Aunt Tryphosa.
+
+1 pair brown woolen gloves and one pair of those fleece-lined
+beaver gauntlet driving gloves like those of yours, for Chi.
+
+1 blue Kardigan jacket for Chi.
+
+The other things I think I can get at Barton's River.
+
+.. class:: left white-space-pre-line
+
+ Your devoted daughter,
+ HAZEL CLYDE.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+"Well," said Chi, thoughtfully, as he finished reading
+them a second time, "I 've got more than one string to
+my bow this year. Beats all, how Chris'mus limbers up
+a man's feelin's! Guess 't was meant for all of us children
+of a lovin' Father." So saying, Chi knelt beside his bed,
+and, dropping his face in his hands, remained there motionless
+for a few minutes, while his loving, gentle, manly
+"soul was on its knees."
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`A CHRISTMAS PRELUDE`:
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ XVI
+
+
+.. class:: center medium
+
+ A CHRISTMAS PRELUDE
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+"It 's goin' to be an awful cold night, grandmarm,"
+said Maria-Ann as she stepped to the door just after sunset
+on Christmas eve. The old dame followed her and looked
+out over her shoulder.
+
+"I know 't is; my fingers stuck to the latch when I went
+out to see after Dorcas. While your gettin' supper, I 'm
+goin' to bundle up the rooster and the hens, or they 'll
+freeze their combs, sure's your name's Maria-Ann; looks
+kinder Chris'musy, don't it?"
+
+"I was just thinkin' of that, grandmarm; just look at
+that star in the east!" She pointed to a shoulder of the
+Mountain, where a serene planet was ascending the dark
+blue heavens. "An' there 's been just enough snow to
+make all the spruces look like the Sunday School tree, all
+roped over with pop-corn. Do you remember that last one,
+grandmarm?"
+
+"I ain't never forgot it, Maria-Ann; that's ten year ago,
+an' I sha'n't never see another?" She shivered, and drew
+back out of the keen air.
+
+"Nor I," said Maria-Ann, shutting the door.
+
+"I don't know why not," snapped Aunt Tryphosa, who
+always contradicted Maria-Ann when she could. "I guess
+we can have a Chris'mus tree same's other folks; we 've got
+trees enough."
+
+"That's so," replied Maria-Ann, laughing. "Let's have
+one to-morrow, grandmarm. I don't see why we can't
+have a tree just as well as we can have wreaths--see what
+beauties I 've made! I 've saved the four handsomest for
+Mis' Blossom an' Mis' Ford."
+
+"You do beat all, Maria-Ann, making wreaths with them
+greens and bitter-sweet; I wish you 'd hang 'em up
+to-night; 'twould make the room seem kinder Chris'musy."
+
+"To be sure I will." And Maria-Ann bustled about,
+hanging the beautiful rounds of green and red in each of the
+kitchen windows, on the panes of which the frost was
+already sparkling; then, throwing her shawl over her head,
+she stepped out into the night and hung one on the outside
+of the narrow, weather-blackened door. Again within, she
+set the small, square kitchen table with two plates, two
+cups and saucers of brown and white crockery, the pewter
+spoons and horn-handled knives and forks that her
+grandmother had had when she was first married. Finally, she
+put on one of the pots of red geranium in the centre and
+stood back to admire the effect.
+
+"Guess we 'll have a treat to-night, seein' it's night
+before Chris'mus--fried apples an' pork, an' some toast;
+an' I 'll cut a cheese to-night, I declare I will, even if
+grandmarm does scold; she 'll eat it fast enough if I don't
+say nothin' about it beforehand."
+
+Maria-Ann had formed the habit of thinking aloud, for
+she had been much alone, and, as she said, "she was a good
+deal of company for herself."
+
+"Oh, hum!" she sighed, as she cut the pork and sliced
+the apples, "a cup of tea would be about the right thing this
+cold night, but there ain't a mite in the house." Then she
+laughed: "What you talkin' 'bout luxuries for, Maria-Ann
+Simmons? You be thankful you 've got a livin'. I can
+make some good cambric-tea, and put a little spearmint in
+it; that 'll be warmin' as anything." She began to sing in
+a shrill soprano as she busied herself with the preparations
+for the supper, while the kettle sang, too, and the pork
+sizzled in the spider:
+
+ | "'Must I be carried to the skies
+ | On flowery beds of ease,
+ | While others fought to win the prize
+ | And sailed through bloody seas?'"
+ |
+
+Meanwhile, Aunt Tryphosa, with her lantern in one hand
+and a bundle of red something in the other, had repaired to
+the hen-house which was partitioned off from the woodshed.
+
+Had either one of them happened to look out down the
+Mountain-road just at this time, they would have seen a
+strange sight.
+
+Along the white roadway, sparkling in the light of the
+rising moon, came six silent forms in Indian file. Two
+were harnessed to small loaded sledges. Sometimes, all
+six gesticulated wildly; at others, the two who brought
+up the rear of the file silently danced and capered back
+and forth across the narrow way. They drew near the
+house on the woodshed side; the first two freed themselves
+from the sledges, and left them under one of the unlighted
+windows. Then all six, attracted by the glimmer of the
+lantern shining from the one small aperture of the
+hen-house, stole up noiselessly and looked in.
+
+What they saw proved too much for their risibles, and
+suppressed giggles and snickers and choking laughter
+nearly betrayed their presence to the old dame within.
+
+On the low roost sat Aunt Tryphosa's noble Plymouth
+Rock rooster, and beside him, in an orderly row, her ten
+hens. Every hen had on her head a tiny flannel hood--some
+were red, some were white--the strings knotted
+firmly under their bills by Aunt Tryphosa's old fingers
+trembling with the cold.
+
+She was just blanketing the rooster, who submitted with
+a meekness which proved undeniably that he was under
+petticoat government, for all the airs he gave himself with
+his wives. The funny, little, hooded heads twisting and
+turning, the "aks" and "oks" which accompanied Aunt
+Tryphosa in her labor of love, the wild stretching and
+flapping of wings, all furnished a scene never to be
+forgotten by the six pairs of laughing eyes that beheld it.
+
+The moment the old dame took up her lantern, the
+spectators sped around the corner. Under the dark
+windows they noiselessly unloaded the wood-sleds, and silently
+carried bundles, baskets, and burlap-bags around to the
+front door.
+
+At last they had fairly barricaded it, and the tallest of
+the party, after fastening a piece of paper in the Christmas
+wreath that Maria-Ann had hung up only a half-hour
+before, motioned to the others to step up to the kitchen
+window.
+
+Just one glimpse they had through the thickening frost
+and the wreathing green: a glimpse of the kitchen table,
+the steaming apples, the pot of red geranium, the two cups
+of smoking spearmint tea, and of two heads--the one
+white, the other brown--bent low over folded, toil-worn
+hands in the reverent attitude for the evening "grace."
+
+"For what we are now about to receive, may the Lord
+make us truly thankful," said Aunt Tryphosa, in a
+quavering voice.
+
+"Amen," said Maria-Ann, heartily--"Land sakes,
+grandmarm! how you scairt me, looking up so sudden!"
+she exclaimed, almost in the same breath.
+
+"Thought I heerd somethin'," said the old dame, holding
+her head in a listening attitude--"Hark!"
+
+"I don't hear nothin', grandmarm. Now, just eat your
+apples while they 're hot. What did you think you heard?"
+she continued, dishing the apples.
+
+"I thought I heerd it when I was out in the shed, too."
+
+"I should n't wonder if 't was a deer. I saw one come
+into the clearing this afternoon, an' seein' 't was Christmas
+evening, I put a good bundle of hay out to the south door
+of the cow-shed."
+
+"Guess 't was that, then," said Aunt Tryphosa. "You
+clear up, Maria-Ann, an' I 'll keep up a good fire, for I
+want to finish off them stockings for Ben Blossom an' Chi.
+I s'pose you 've got your things ready in case we see a
+team go by to-morrow?"
+
+"Yes, they 're all ready," said her granddaughter, rather
+absently, and set about washing the few dishes.
+
+When all was done, neatly and quickly as Maria-Ann so
+well knew how, she flung on her shawl, saying:
+
+"I 'm goin' out a minute to see if the bundle of hay is
+gone, and besides, I want to look at the moon on the snow;
+it's the first time I 've seen it so this year." She opened
+the door--
+
+"Oh, Luddy!" she screamed, as bundle, and basket, and
+bag toppled over into the room.
+
+"Land sakes alive!" quavered Aunt Tryphosa, hurrying
+to the rescue. "Did n't I tell you I heerd somethin'?
+What be they?"
+
+"Presents!" cried Maria-Ann, pulling, and hauling,
+and gathering up, and finally getting the door shut.
+
+"Seems to me I see somethin' white catched onto the
+door 'fore you shut it," said Aunt Tryphosa. "Better
+look an' see." Again her granddaughter opened the door,
+and found the strip of paper on which was written;
+
+.. class:: left white-space-pre-line
+
+ "Merry Christmas! with best wishes of
+ Benjamin and Mary Blossom and May,
+ Malachi Graham and Rose Eleanor Blossom,
+ March Blossom and Hazel Clyde,
+ Benjamin Budd Blossom and Cherry Elizabeth Blossom of
+ the N.B.B.O.O., and of
+ John Curtis Clyde of New York; U.S.A.; N.A.; W.H."
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+"Oh, grandmarm! It's just like a romantic novel!"
+cried Maria-Ann, who was as full of sentiment as an egg
+is full of yolk. "It makes me feel kinder queer, comin'
+just now right after we was talkin' 'bout our tree. You
+open first, an' then we 'll take turns." Aunt Tryphosa,
+who was winking very hard behind her spectacles, was not
+loath to begin.
+
+"Let's haul 'em up to the stove; it's so awful cold,"
+she said, shivering.
+
+"Why, you 've let the fire go down; that's the reason.
+Don't you remember you was goin' to put on the wood just
+as the things fell in?"
+
+"So I was," said her grandmother, making good her
+forgetfulness; in a few minutes there was a roaring fire,
+and the room was filled with a genial warmth. Then they
+sat down to their delightful task, Maria-Ann kneeling on
+the square of rag carpet before the stove.
+
+"My land!" cried Aunt Tryphosa, clapping her hands
+together as she opened the largest burlap bag; "if that
+boy ain't stuffed this two-bushel bag chock full of birch
+bark! Look a-here, Maria-Ann, you read this slip of
+paper for me; my specs get so dim come night-time."
+
+The truth was, the tears were running down Aunt
+Tryphosa's wrinkled cheeks and filming her eyes to such
+an extent that she saw the birch bark through all the
+colors of the rainbow.
+
+"'For Aunt Tryphosa from Budd Blossom to make
+her fires quick with cold mornings.' Did you ever?"
+said Maria-Ann, untying another large burlap bundle--"What's
+this? 'Made by Rose Blossom and Hazel Clyde
+to keep Aunt Tryphosa snug and warm o' nights when the
+mercury is below zero.' O grandmarm, look at this!"
+
+Maria-Ann unrolled a coverlet made of silk patch-work
+(bright bits and pieces that Hazel had begged of Aunt
+Carrie and Mrs. Heath and others of her New York
+friends) lined with thin flannel and filled with feathers.
+
+But Aunt Tryphosa was speechless for the first time in
+her life; and, seeing this, Maria-Ann took advantage of it
+to do a little talking on her own account.
+
+"She don't seem like a city girl in her ways; she ain't
+a bit stuck up--Oh, what's *this*!" She poked, and
+fingered, and pinched, but failed to guess. Aunt Tryphosa
+grew impatient.
+
+"Let me *see*, you 've done nothin' but feel," she said,
+reaching for the package, and Maria-Ann handed it over
+to her.
+
+Again Mrs. Tryphosa Little was nearly dumb, as the
+miscellaneous contents of the queer, knobby parcel were
+brought to light.
+
+"These are for you, Maria-Ann," she said in an awed
+voice, laying them on the kitchen table one after the
+other:--A copy of the Woman's Hearthstone Journal, with the
+receipt for a year's subscription pinned to it;--A small shirt
+waist ironing-board;--A pair of fleece-lined Arctics that
+buttoned half-way up Maria-Ann's sturdy legs when, an
+hour later, she tried them on;--Six paper-covered novels
+of the Chimney Corner Library including Lorna Doone
+(Hazel had discovered in her frequent visits, that Aunt
+Tryphosa's granddaughter at twenty-nine was as romantic
+as a girl of seventeen);--A box of preserved ginger;--Two
+pounds of Old Hyson Tea;--(upon which Maria-Ann
+bounced up from the floor, and without more ado made
+two cups, much to her grandmother's amazement);--Six
+pounds of lump sugar;---A dozen lemons;--A dozen
+oranges;--A white Liberty-silk scarf tucked into an
+envelope;--Six ounces of scarlet knitting-wool;--All
+for "Miss Maria-Ann Simmons, with Hazel Clyde's best
+wishes."
+
+Then it was Maria-Ann Simmons's turn to break down
+and weep, at which Aunt Tryphosa fidgeted, for she had
+not seen her granddaughter cry since she was a little girl.
+
+"Don't act like a fool, Maria-Ann," she said, crustily,
+to hide her own feelings; "take your things an' enjoy 'em.
+I 've seen tears enough for night before Chris'mus," she
+added, ignoring the fact that she had established a precedent.
+
+"Well, I won't, grandmarm," said her granddaughter,
+laughing and crying at the same time; "but I 'm goin' to
+have that cup of tea first to kind of strengthen me 'fore I
+open the rest," she added decidedly. "Besides, I don't
+want to see everything at once; I want it to last."
+
+"I don't mind if I have mine, too. Guess you may put
+in two lumps, seein' as we did n't have to pay for it," and
+the old dame sipped her Hyson with supreme satisfaction,
+as did likewise her granddaughter.
+
+As the latter pushed back her chair from the table, her
+grandmother cautioned her:--"Look out! you 're settin'
+it on another bag!" But it was too late. To Aunt
+Tryphosa's amazement and Maria-Ann's horror, the bag
+suddenly flopped up and down on the floor, the motion
+being accompanied with such an unearthly,
+"A--ee--eetsch--ok--ak--ache--eetsch!" that the two women's
+faces grew pale, and they jumped as if they had been
+shot.
+
+Then Maria-Ann, with her hand on her thumping heart,
+burst into a shrill laugh, and Aunt Tryphosa quavered a
+thin accompaniment. How they laughed! till again the
+tears rolled down their cheeks.
+
+"Scairt of hens!" chuckled the old dame as she undid
+the strings of the bag--"at my time of life! Oh, my
+stars and garters, Maria-Ann! ain't they beauties?"
+
+She drew out by the legs two snow-white Wyandotte
+pullets, and held them up admiringly. "They 're from
+March, I know; but just to think of this, Maria-Ann!" Again
+words and, curiously enough, eyes, too, failed her,
+and her granddaughter read the slip of paper tied around
+the leg of one of the hens:--"'One for Aunt Tryphosa,
+and one for Maria-Ann; have laid three times; last time
+day before yesterday; I hope they 'll lay two
+Christmas-morning eggs for your breakfast. March Blossom.'"
+
+"I 'm goin' to put 'em on some hay in the clothes-basket,
+Maria-Ann, an' keep 'em right under my bed where
+it's good an' warm," said Aunt Tryphosa, decidedly.
+"They 're kinder quality folks and can't be turned in
+among common fowl. Besides, I ain't got another hood,
+an' if they *should* freeze their combs, I 'd never forgive
+myself."
+
+"Well, I would, grandmarm," said Maria-Ann, still
+laughing, as she untied the last two bundles. "Laws!"
+she exclaimed, "Here 's New York style for you." She
+read the visiting card:
+
+"To Mrs. Tryphosa Little, with the Season's compliments
+from John Curtis Clyde. 4 East ----th Street."
+
+"Well, I 'm dumbfoundered," sighed Mrs. Tryphosa
+Little, and more she could not say as she took out of the
+large pasteboard box, a white silk neckerchief, a cap of
+black net and lace with a "chou" of purple satin
+lutestring, a black fur collar and a muff to match, in all of
+which she proceeded to array herself with the utmost
+despatch, forgetful of the two hens, which, after wandering
+aimlessly about the kitchen, had roosted finally on the
+back of her wooden rocking-chair, where they balanced
+themselves with some difficulty.
+
+But suddenly, as she was thrusting her hands into the
+new muff, she paused, laid it down on the table, and said,
+rather querulously, "Help me off with these things,
+Maria-Ann; I 'm all tuckered out. I can stan' a day's washin'
+as well as anybody, if I am eighty-one come next June,
+but I can't stan' no such night 'fore Chris'mus as this,
+an' I 'm goin' to bed, an' take the hens."
+
+"I would, grandmarm," said her granddaughter, gently,
+taking off the unwonted finery and kissing the wrinkled
+face. "You go to bed; I put the soap-stone in two hours
+ago, so it's nice an' warm. I 'll clear up, an' don't you
+mind me--here, let me take one of those hens."
+
+"No, I can take care of hens anytime," snapped Aunt
+Tryphosa, for she was tired out with happiness, "but I
+can't stan' so many presents, an' I 'm too old to begin." She
+disappeared in the bed-room, the two Wyandotte hens
+hanging limply, heads downward, from each hand.
+
+Maria-Ann picked up the paper and the wraps, and
+made all tidy again in the kitchen. She put her hand on
+the last bag that was so heavy she had not moved it from
+the door. "It's a bag of cracked corn--hen-feed," she
+said to herself, "an' it's from Chi, I know as well as if
+I'd been told."
+
+Then she sat down in the rocker before the stove and
+put her feet in the oven to warm. She blew out the light
+and sat awhile in silence, thinking happy thoughts.
+
+The fire crackled in the stove, and dancing lights,
+reflected from the open grate, played on the wall. The
+moon shone full upon the frosted window panes, and the
+Christmas wreaths were set in masses of encrusted
+brilliants. The kettle began to sing, and so did
+Maria-Ann--but softly, for fear of waking Aunt Tryphosa:
+
+ | "'My soul, be on thy guard;
+ | Ten thousand foes arise;
+ | The hosts of sin are pressing hard
+ | To draw thee from the skies.'"
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`HUNGER-FORD`:
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ XVII
+
+
+.. class:: center medium
+
+ HUNGER-FORD
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+Such a line of communication as was soon established
+between Mount Hunger and New York, Mount Hunger
+and Cambridge, the Lost Nation and Barton's River,
+Hunger-ford--the Fords' new name for the old Morris
+farm--and the Blossom homestead on the Mountain!
+
+Uncle Sam's post, the Western Union Telegraph Company,
+the American Express, a line of freight, saddle
+horses, sleds, and the old apple-green cart on runners were
+all pressed into service; in all the United States of
+America there were no busier young people than those
+belonging to the Lost Nation.
+
+They wrote notes to one another with an air of great
+mystery; they drove singly, in couples, or all together to
+Barton's River with Chi; they smuggled in bundles and
+express packages of all sorts and sizes; looked guilty if
+caught whispering together in the pantry; took many a
+sled-ride over to Hunger-ford, and audaciously remained
+there three hours at a time without giving Mrs. Blossom
+any good reason either for their going or remaining.
+
+The acquaintance formed between the Blossoms and the
+Fords just after Thanksgiving, was fast ripening into
+friendship. March, usually shy with strangers, fairly
+adored the tall, quiet son with the wonderful smile, and
+expanded at once in his genial presence. With Ruth Ford
+he had much in common; and regularly once a week since
+Thanksgiving he had drawn and painted with her in her
+studio, the room that Aunt Tryphosa had so graphically
+described. His gift was far more in that direction than
+hers; and Ruth, recognizing it, encouraged him, spurred
+his ambition, and placed all her materials at his disposal.
+
+Rose's sweet voice had proved a delight to them all, and
+Hazel's violin was being taught to play a gentle
+accompaniment to Alan Ford's, that sang, or wept, or rejoiced
+according to the player's mood.
+
+"I am so thankful, Ben, that our Rose can have the
+advantage of such companions just at this time of her life,"
+said Mrs. Blossom, on the afternoon before Christmas
+when the two eldest, with Hazel, had gone over to Hunger-ford
+with joyful secrets written all over their happy faces.
+
+"So am I, Mary. When I see young men like Ford, I
+realize what I lost in being obliged to give up college on
+father's account," said Mr. Blossom, with a sigh.
+
+"I do, too, Ben; and what I 've lost in opportunity
+when I see that gifted woman, Mrs. Ford. She has
+travelled extensively, she reads and speaks both German and
+French, she is a really wonderful musician, and keeps up
+with every interest of the day, besides being a splendid
+housekeeper and devoted to her children."
+
+"Do you regret it, Mary?" said her husband, looking
+straight before him into the fire.
+
+"Not with you, Ben," was Mary Blossom's answer.
+Taking her husband's face in both her hands and turning
+it towards her, she looked into his eyes, and received the
+smile and kiss that were always ready for her.
+
+"If we did n't have all this when we were young people,
+Mary, we 'll hope that we may have it in our children," he
+said, earnestly.
+
+Just then Chi came in, and gave a loud preliminary,
+"Hem!" for to him, Ben and Mary Blossom would always
+be lovers. "Guess 't is 'bout time to hitch up, if you 're
+goin' clear down to Barton's to meet the train, Ben; I 've
+got to go over eastwards with the children."
+
+"All right, Chi, I 'd rather drive down to the station
+to-night; it's good sleighing and our Mountain is a fine
+sight by moonlight."
+
+"Can't be beat," said Chi, emphatically. "S'pose you 'll
+be back by seven, sharp? I kind of want to time myself,
+on account of the s'prise."
+
+"We 'll say seven, and I 'll make it earlier if I can.
+You 're off for Aunt Tryphosa's now?"
+
+"Just finished loadin' up--There they are!" and in
+rushed the whole troop, hooded and mittened and jacketed
+and leggined, ready for their after-sunset raid.
+
+"Good-bye, Martie!" screamed Cherry, wild with excitement,
+and made a dash for the door; then she turned back
+with another dash that nearly upset May, and, throwing her
+arms around her mother's neck, nearly squeezed the breath
+from her body. "O Mumpsey, Dumpsey, dear! I 'm
+having such an awfully good time; it's so much happier
+than last Christmas!"
+
+"And, O Popsey, Dopsey, dear!" laughed Rose, mimicking
+her, but with a voice full of love, and both mittens
+caressing his face, "it's so good to have you well enough
+to celebrate this year!"
+
+Hazel slipped her hand into Chi's, and whispered, "Oh,
+Chi, I wish I had a lot of brothers and sisters like Rose.
+Anyway, papa's coming to-night, so I 'll have one of my
+own," she added proudly.
+
+"Guess we 'd better be gettin' along," said Chi, still
+holding Hazel's hand. "It's goin' to be a stinger, 'n' it's
+a mile 'n' a half over there."
+
+"Come on all!" cried March; "we 'll be back before
+you are, father."
+
+"We 'll see about that," laughed his father, as he caught
+the merry twinkle in his wife's eye.
+
+But March was right by the margin of only a minute or
+two; for just as the merry crowd entered the house on their
+return from their errand of "goodwill," they heard
+Mr. Blossom drive the sleigh into the barn. In another moment
+Hazel had flung wide the door and was caught up into her
+father's arms.
+
+In the midst of their cordial greetings there was a loud
+knock at the door. They all started at the sound, and
+Budd, who was nearest, opened it.
+
+"Please, Budd, may I come in, too?" said a voice
+everyone recognized as the Doctor's.
+
+Then the whole Blossom household lost their heads where
+they had lost their hearts the year before. Rose and Hazel
+and Cherry fairly smothered him with kisses; Budd wrung
+one hand, March gripped another; May clung to one leg,
+and the monster of a puppy contrived to get under foot,
+although he stood two feet ten.
+
+Jack Sherrill, looking in at the window upon all this
+loving hominess, felt, somehow, physically and spiritually
+left out in the cold. "What a fool I was to come!" he
+said to himself. Nevertheless he carried out his part of
+the program by stepping up to the door and knocking.
+This time Mrs. Blossom opened it.
+
+"Have you room for one more, Mrs. Blossom?" he said
+with an attempt at a smile, but looking sadly wistful, so
+wistful and lonely that Mary Blossom put out both hands
+without a word, and, somehow,--Jack, in thinking it over
+afterwards, never could tell how it happened so naturally--he
+was giving her a son's greeting, and receiving a
+mother's kiss in return.
+
+In a moment Hazel's arms were around his neck;--"Oh,
+Jack, Jack! I 've got three of my own now; I 'm
+almost as rich as Rose!"
+
+Rose, hearing her name, came forward with frank, cordial
+greeting, and May transferred her demonstrations of
+affection from the Doctor's trousers to Jack's; Cherry's curls
+bobbed and quivered with excitement when Jack claimed a
+kiss from "Little Sunbonnet," and received two hearty
+smacks in return; March took his travelling bag; Budd
+kept close beside him, and the puppy, who had been
+christened Tell, nosed his hand, and, sitting down on his
+haunches, pawed the air frantically until Jack shook hands
+with him, too.
+
+By this time the wistful look had disappeared from
+Jack's eyes, and his handsome face was filled with such a
+glad light that the Doctor noticed it at once. He shook
+his head dubiously, with his eyebrows drawn together in a
+straight line over the bridge of his nose, and, from
+underneath, his keen eyes glanced from Jack to Rose and from
+Rose back again to Jack. Then his face cleared, and
+explanations were in order.
+
+"Why, you see," the Doctor said to Mrs. Blossom, "my
+wife had to go South with her sister, and could not be at
+home for Christmas--the first we 've missed celebrating
+together since we were married--and when I found John
+was coming up to spend it with you, I couldn't resist
+giving myself this one good time. But Jack here has
+failed to give any satisfactory account of how or why he
+came to intrude his long person just at this festive time.
+I thought you were off at a Lenox house-party with the
+Seatons?" he said, quizzically.
+
+Jack laughed good-naturedly. "I don't blame you for
+wondering at my being here; but I've been here before,"
+he said, willing to pay back the Doctor in his own coin.
+
+"The deuce you have!" exclaimed the Doctor. "I say,
+Johnny, are we growing old that these young people get
+ahead of us so easily?"
+
+"I don't know how you feel, Dick, but I 'm as young as
+Jack to-night."
+
+"That 's right, Papa Clyde," said Hazel, approvingly,
+softly patting her father on the head; "and, Jack, you 're
+a dear to come up here to see us, for you 've just as much
+right as the Doctor."
+
+The Doctor pretended to grumble:--"Come to see you,
+indeed, you superior young woman--*you* indeed! As if
+there weren't any other girls in the world or on Mount
+Hunger but you and Rose--much you know about it."
+
+"Well, I 'd like to know who you came to see, if not
+us?" laughed Hazel, sure of her ultimate triumph.
+
+"Why, my dear Ruth Ford, to be sure."
+
+"Ruth Ford!" they exclaimed in amazement.
+
+"Why not Ruth Ford? You did n't suppose I would
+come away up here into the wilds of Vermont in the dead
+of winter, did you? just to see--" But Hazel laid her
+hand on his mouth.
+
+"Stop teasing, do," she pleaded, "and tell us how you
+knew our Ruth."
+
+"*Our* Ruth! Ye men of York, hear her!" said the
+Doctor, appealing to Mr. Clyde and Jack. "The next
+thing will be 'our Alan Ford,' I suppose. How will you
+like that, Jack?"
+
+"I feel like saying 'confound him,' only it would n't be
+polite. You see, Doctor, I thought I had preëmpted the
+whole Mountain, and was prepared to make a conquest of
+Miss Maria-Ann Simmons even; but if Mr. Ford has
+stepped in"--Jack assumed a tragic air--"there is
+nothing left for me in honor, but to throw down the
+gauntlet and challenge him to single combat--hockey-sticks
+and hot lemonade--for her fair hand."
+
+At the mention of Maria-Ann, Rose and Hazel, Budd
+and Cherry and March went off into fits of laughter.
+They laughed so immoderately that it proved infectious
+for their elders, and when Chi entered the room Budd
+cried out, "Oh, Chi, you tell about the--we can't--the
+rooster and the hoods, and--Oh my eye!--" Budd was
+apparently on the verge of convulsions.
+
+"I stuffed snow into my mouth and made my teeth ache
+so as not to laugh out loud," said Cherry; at which there
+was another shout, and still another outburst at the table
+when Chi described the scene in the hen-house.
+
+"Now, children," said Mrs. Blossom, after the somewhat
+hilarious evening meal was over, the table cleared, the
+dishes were wiped and put away, "we 're going to do just
+for this once as you want us to--hang up our stockings;
+but I want all of you to hang up yours, too. If you don't,
+I shall miss the sixes and sevens and eights so, that it will
+spoil my Christmas."
+
+"We will, Martie," they assented, joyfully; for, as
+March said, it would not seem like night before Christmas
+if they did not hang up their stockings.
+
+"Yes, and papa, and you," said Hazel, turning to the
+Doctor, "must hang up yours, and you, too, Jack."
+
+"Why, of course," said Mrs. Blossom, "everybody is to
+hang up a stocking to-night, even Tell."
+
+"Oh, Martie, how funny!" cried Cherry, "but he
+has n't a truly stocking."
+
+"No, but one of Budd's will do for his huge paw--won't
+it, old fellow?" she said, patting his great head.
+
+Then Budd must needs bring out a pair of his pedal
+coverings and try one brown woollen one on Tell, much
+to his majesty's surprise; for Tell was a most dignified
+youth of a dog, as became his nine months and his famous
+breed.
+
+Early in the evening the stockings were hung up over
+the fireplace, all sizes and all colors:--May's little red
+one and Chi's coarse blue one; Mr. Clyde's of thick silk,
+and Budd's and Tell's of woollen; Hazel's of black
+cashmere beside Jack's striped Balbriggan. What an array!
+
+Then Mrs. Blossom and May went off into the bedroom,
+and Mr. Blossom and his guests were forced to smoke
+their after-tea cigars in the guest bedroom upstairs, while
+the young people brought out their treasures and stuffed
+the grown-up stockings till they were painfully distorted.
+
+"Don't they look lovely!" whispered Hazel, ecstatically
+to March, who begged Rose to get another of their mother's
+stockings, for the one proved insufficient for the fascinating
+little packages that were labelled for her.
+
+"Let's go right to bed now," suggested Budd, "then
+mother 'll fill ours--Oh, I forgot," he added, ruefully,
+"we are n't going to have presents this year--"
+
+"Why, yes, we are, too, Budd," said Rose, "we 're going
+to give one another out of our own money."
+
+"Cracky! I forgot all about that--" Budd tore upstairs
+in the dark, and tore down again and into the bedroom,
+crying:--"Now all shut your eyes while I 'm going
+through!" which they did most conscientiously.
+
+Soon they, too, were invited laughingly to retire, and by
+half-past ten the house was quiet.
+
+ | "'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, AND ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE,
+ | NOT A CREATURE WAS STIRRING, NOT EVEN A MOUSE;"
+ | Stretched out on the hearth-rug lay Tell snoring loudly,
+ | And above from the mantel the stockings hung proudly;
+ | When down from the stairway there came such a patter
+ | Of stockingless feet--'t was no laughing matter!
+ | As the good Doctor thought, for he sprang out of bed
+ | To see if 't were real, or a dream iii its stead.
+ |
+ | But no! with his eye at a crack of the door
+ | He discovered the truth--'t was the Blossoms, all four,
+ | With Hazel to aid them, tiptoeing about
+ | Like a party of ghosts grown a little too stout.
+ | They pinched and they fingered; they poked and they squeezed
+ | Each plump Christmas stocking--then somebody sneezed!
+ | Consternation and terror!! The tall clock struck one
+ | As the ghosts disappeared on the double-quick run!
+ |
+ | "'T WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, AND ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE,
+ | NOT A CREATURE WAS STIRRING, NOT EVEN A MOUSE;"
+ | Without in the moonlight, the snow sparkled bright;
+ | The Mountain stood wrapped in a mantle of white,
+ | With a crown of dark firs on his noble old crest
+ | And ermine and diamonds adorning his breast;
+ | And the stars that above him swung true into line
+ | Once shone o'er a manger in far Palestine.
+ |
+
+What a Christmas morning that was!
+
+Chi was up at five o'clock, building roaring fires, for it
+was ten degrees below zero.
+
+With the first glint of the sun on the frosted panes the
+household was astir. At precisely seven the order was
+given to take down the thirteen stockings. But bless
+you! You 're not to think the stockings could hold all
+the gifts. In front of each wide jamb were piled the
+bundles and packages, three feet high!
+
+Rose hesitated a moment when the children sat down on
+the rug with their stockings, as was their custom every
+Christmas morn; then she plumped down among them,
+saying, laughingly:
+
+"I don't care if I *am* growing up, Martie--it's Christmas."
+
+Upon which Jack, hugging his striped Balbriggan, sat
+down beside her.
+
+Such "Ohs" and "Ahs"! Such thankings and squeezings!
+Such somersaults as were turned by March and
+Budd at the kitchen end of the long-room! Such
+rapturous gurgles from May! Such hand-shakes and kisses!
+Such silent bliss on the part of Chi, who, though suffering
+as if in a Turkish bath, had donned his new, blue woollen
+sweater, drawn on his gauntleted beaver gloves, and
+proceeded to investigate his stocking with the air of a man
+who has nothing more to wish for. And through all the
+chaotic happiness a sentence could be distinguished now
+and then.
+
+"Chi, these corn-cob pipes are just what I shall want
+after Christmas when I give my Junior Smoker."
+
+"Oh, Martie, it can't be for me!" as the lovely white
+serge dress, ready made and trimmed with lace, was held
+up to Rose's admiring eyes.
+
+Budd was caressing with approving fingers a regular
+"base-ball-nine" bat and admiring the white leather balls.
+
+"I say, it's a stunner, Mr. Sherrill; but how did you
+know I wanted it?"
+
+Mr. Clyde, who was touched to his very heart's core by
+Hazel's gift of a dollar pair of suspenders which she had
+earned by her own labor, felt a small hand slipped into his,
+and found Cherry Bounce looking up at him with wide,
+adoring, brown eyes, which, for the first time, she had
+taken from her beautiful Émilie Angélique, whom she
+held pressed to her heart:--
+
+"I want to whisper to you," she said, shyly. Mr. Clyde
+bent down to her;--"After I said my prayers to Martie,
+I asked God to give me Émilie Angélique--every night,"
+she nodded--"but I only told Budd, so how *did* you know?"
+
+March was lost to the world in his volume of foreign
+photographs, in his boxes of paints and brushes, and a
+whole set of drawing materials. He had not as yet thanked
+Hazel for them.
+
+Everybody was happy and satisfied. Everybody said he
+or she had received just exactly the thing. Tell alone
+could not express his gratification in words. He had been
+given his woollen stocking, and nosed about till he had
+brought forth three fat dog-biscuit, a deliciously
+juicy-greasy beef bone, wrapped in white waxed paper and tied
+at one end with a blue ribbon, a fine nickelplated dog
+collar with a bell attached, and last, from the brown
+woollen toe, three lumps of sugar.
+
+One by one he took the gifts and laid them down at
+Mrs. Blossom's feet; putting one huge paw firmly on the
+waxed-paper package, he waved the other wildly until she
+took it and spoke a loving word to him. Then, taking up
+his beloved bone, he retired with it to the farthest end
+of the long-room, under the kitchen sink, and licked it in
+peace and joy.
+
+Jack and Chi in the joyful confusion had slipped from
+the room.
+
+Soon there was a commotion in the woodshed, and the
+two made their appearance dragging after them a
+brand-new double-runner and a real Canadian toboggan, which
+Jack had ordered from Montreal for March.
+
+Breakfast proved to be a short meal, for the whole family
+was wild to try the new toboggan with Jack to engineer
+it. Then it was up and down--down and up the steep
+mountain road; Jack and Doctor Heath, Mr. Clyde,
+Mr. Blossom and Chi, all on together--clinging for dear life,
+laughing, whooping, panting, hurrahing like boys let out
+from school, while March and Budd and Rose and Hazel
+and Cherry flew after them on the double-runner, the keen
+air biting rose-red cheeks, and bringing the stinging water
+to the eyes.
+
+But what sport it was!
+
+"Now, this is something like," panted Jack, drawing
+up the hill with Chi, his handsome face aglow with life
+and joy.
+
+"By George Washin'ton! it's the nearest thing to
+shootin' Niagary that I ever come," puffed Chi.
+
+"Didn't we take that water-bar neatly?" laughed Jack.
+
+"'N inch higher, 'n' we 'd all been goners;--I had n't
+a minute to think of it, goin' to the rate of a mile a
+minute; but if I had--I 'd have dusted! Guess I 'll make
+it level before I try it with the children,--'n' I want you
+to know there 's no coward about me, but I 'm just
+speakin' six for myself this time."
+
+So the morning sped. Even Mrs. Blossom and May
+were taken down once, and the Doctor stopped only
+because he wanted to make a morning call on his patient,
+Ruth Ford; for it was by his advice the family had come
+to live for three years in this mountain region.
+
+The horn for the mid-day meal sounded down the Mountain
+before they had thought of finishing the exciting
+sport, and one and all brought such keen appetites to the
+Christmas dinner, that Mrs. Blossom declared laughingly
+that she would give them no supper, for they had eaten
+the pantry shelves bare.
+
+Such roast goose and barberry jam! Such a noble
+plum-pudding set in the midst of Maria-Ann's best wreath,
+for she and Aunt Tryphosa had sent over their simple
+gifts by an early teamster. Such red Northern Spies and
+winter russet pears! And such mirth and shouts and
+jests and quips to accompany each course!
+
+It was genuine New England Christmas cheer, and the
+healths were drunk in the wine of the apple amid great
+applause, especially Doctor Heath's:
+
+"Health, peace, and long life to the Lost Nation--May
+its tribe increase!"
+
+And how they laughed at Chi, when he proposed the
+health of the Prize Chicken (which, by the way, he had
+kept for the next season's mascot,) and recounted the
+episode in the barn.
+
+What shouts greeted Budd, who, rising with great
+gravity, his mouth puckered into real, not mock,
+seriousness--and that was the comical part of it all--said
+earnestly:
+
+"To my first wife!" and sat down rather red, but
+gratified not only by the prolonged applause, but by the
+enthusiasm with which they drank to this unexpected toast from
+his unsentimental self.
+
+Directly after dinner Mr. Clyde declared that a seven-mile
+walk was an actual necessity for him in his present
+condition, and invited all who would to accompany him to
+call in state on Mrs. Tryphosa Little and Miss Maria-Ann
+Simmons. Only Doctor Heath and Jack went with him,
+for Mr. Blossom and Chi had matters to attend to at home,
+and Rose and Cherry and Hazel were needed to help
+Mrs. Blossom. Even March and Budd turned to and wiped
+dishes.
+
+"I 'll set the table now, Martie," said Rose, "then there
+will be no confusion to-night--there are so many of us."
+
+"No need for that to-night, children," replied Mrs. Blossom,
+with a merry smile. "'The last is the best of
+all the rest,' for we were all invited a week ago to take
+tea and spend Christmas evening at Hunger-ford."
+
+"Oh, Martie!" A joyful shout went up from the six,
+that was followed by jigs and double-shuffles, pas-seuls
+and fancy steps, in which dish-towels were waved wildly,
+and tin pans were pounded instead of wiped.
+
+When the din had somewhat subsided there were numberless
+questions asked; by the time they were all answered,
+and Rose and Hazel had donned their white serge dresses,
+the gentlemen had returned from their walk, and it was
+time to go.
+
+"That's why Mrs. Ford had us learn all those songs,"
+said Rose to Hazel. "Don't forget to take your violin."
+
+A merrier Christmas party never set forth on a straw-ride.
+Mr. and Mrs. Blossom and May went over in the
+sleigh, but the rest piled into the apple-green pung, and
+when they came in sight of the seven-gabled-house, a
+rousing three times three, mingling with the sound of the
+sleigh-bells, greeted the pretty sight.
+
+Every window was illumined, and adorned with a
+Christmas wreath. In the light of the rising moon, then
+at the full, the snow that covered the roof sparkled like
+frosted silver. The house, with its background of sharply
+sloping hill wooded with spruce and pine, its twinkling
+lights and the surrounding white expanse, looked like an
+illuminated Christmas card.
+
+Within, the hall was festooned with ground hemlock
+and holly; a roaring fire of hickory logs furnished light
+and to spare. In the living-room and dining-room,
+Mr. Clyde and Jack Sherrill found, to their amazement, all the
+elegance and refinement of a city home combined with
+country simplicity. The tea-table shone with the service
+of silver and sparkled with the many-faceted crystal of
+glass and carafe. For decoration, the rich red of the holly
+berries gleamed among the dark green gloss of their leaves.
+
+At first, the younger members of the Blossom family
+felt constrained and a little awed in such surroundings;
+for although they had been several times in the house,
+they had never taken tea there. But the Fords and the
+other city people soon put them at their ease, and, as
+Cherry declared afterwards, "It was like eating in a fairy
+story." There was a real pigeon pie at one end and a
+Virginia ham at the other, as well as cold, roast duck with
+gooseberry jam. There were sparkling jellies, and the
+whole family of tea-cakes--orange, cocoanut, sponge, and
+chocolate; and, oh, bliss!--strawberry ice-cream in a nest
+of spun cinnamon candy, followed by Malaga grapes and
+hot chocolate topped with a whip of cream.
+
+After tea there was the surprise of a beautiful Christmas
+Tree in the library. Ruth Ford had occupied many a
+weary hour in making the decorations--roses and lilies
+fashioned from tissue paper to closely copy nature; gilded
+walnuts; painted paper butterflies; pink sugar hearts,
+and cornucopias of gilt and silver paper, in each of which
+was a bunch of real flowers--roses, violets, carnations,
+and daisies, ordered by Jack Sherrill from New York. On
+the topmost branch, there was a waxen Christ-child. The
+tree was lighted by dozens of tiny colored candles. When
+the door was opened from the living-room, and the children
+caught sight of the wonderful tree, they held their breath
+and whispered to one another.
+
+But more lovely than the tree in the eyes of the older
+people were the radiant faces of the young people and the
+children. Rose, with clasped hands, stood gazing up at
+the Christ-child that crowned the glowing, glittering mass
+of dark green. She was wholly unconscious of the many
+pairs of eyes that rested upon her in love and admiration.
+There was nothing so beautiful in the whole room as the
+young girl standing there with earnest blue eyes, raised
+reverently to the little waxen figure. Her lips were parted
+in a half smile; a flush of excitement was on her cheeks;
+the white dress set off the exquisite fairness of her skin;
+the shining crown of golden-brown hair, that hung in a
+heavy braid to within a foot of the hem of her gown,
+caught the soft lights above her and formed almost a halo
+about the face.
+
+Suddenly there was a burst of admiration from the
+children, and, under cover of it, Doctor Heath turned to
+Mr. Clyde, who was standing beside him:--
+
+"By heavens, John! That girl is too beautiful; she
+will make some hearts ache before she is many years older,
+as well as your own Hazel--look at *her* now!"
+
+The father's eyes rested lovingly, but thoughtfully, on
+the graceful little figure that was busy distributing the
+cornucopias with their fragrant contents. Yes, she, too,
+was beautiful, giving promise of still greater beauty. He
+turned to the Doctor and held out his hand:--
+
+"Richard, I have to thank you for this transformation."
+
+"No--not me," said the Doctor, earnestly, "but,"
+pointing to Mrs. Blossom, "that woman there, John. Hazel
+needed the mother-love, just as much as Jack does at this
+moment."
+
+Jack had turned away when the Doctor began to speak
+of Rose, and, joining her, said, "Won't you wear one of my
+roses just to-night, Miss Blossom?"
+
+"Your roses! Why, did you give us all those lovely
+flowers?"
+
+"Yes, I wanted to contribute my share, and flowers
+seemed the most appropriate offering just for to-night."
+
+"They 're lovely," said Rose, caressing the exquisite
+petals of a La France beauty. "Of course I 'll wear
+one--" she tucked one into her belt; "but why--why!--has n't
+anyone else roses?" She looked about inquiringly.
+
+"No,--the roses were for their namesake," said Jack,
+quietly.
+
+Rose laughed merrily,--a pleased, girlish laugh.
+"Then won't the giver of the roses call their namesake,
+'Rose'?--for the sake of the roses?" she added
+mischievously.
+
+Now Jack Sherrill had seen many girls--silly girls,
+flirty girls, sensible girls, charming girls, smart girls, nice
+girls, and horrid girls, and flattered himself he knew every
+species of the genus, but just this once he was puzzled.
+If Rose Blossom had been an arrant flirt, she could not have
+answered him more effectively; yet Jack had decided that
+she had too earnest a nature to descend to flirting.
+Somehow, that word could never be applied to Rose
+Blossom--"My Rose," he said to himself, and knew with a kind of
+a shock when he said it, that he was very far gone. But
+in the next breath, he had to confess to himself that he
+had "been very far gone" many a time in his twenty-one
+years, so perhaps it did not signify.
+
+Indeed, in the next minute, he was sure it did not
+signify, for, before he could gather his wits sufficiently to
+reply to her, Rose had slipped away to the other side of
+the room, where she was busying herself in fastening one
+of Jack's roses into the buttonhole of Alan Ford's Tuxedo.
+In consequence of which, Jack turned his batteries upon
+Ruth Ford with such effect, that she declared afterwards
+to her mother he was one of the most fascinating *young*
+men--for Ruth was twenty-one!--she had ever met.
+
+Mrs. Ford and Hazel and Mr. Ford had done their best
+to persuade Chi to remain with them for the tree. Even
+Rose urged--but in vain. True, the girls had insisted
+upon his taking one look, then he had begged off, saying,
+as he patted Hazel's hand that lay on his arm:
+
+"Not to-night, Lady-bird. I don't feel to home in there.
+I 'll sit out here and hear the music, then I can beat time
+with my foot if I want to." He remained in the hall, just
+outside the living-room door, enjoying all he heard.
+
+First there was a lovely piano duet, an Hungarian waltz
+by Brahms, Mrs. Ford and the grave, quiet son playing
+with such a perfect understanding of each other, as well as
+of the music, that it proved a delight to all present. Then
+there was a carol by all the children, Rose leading, and
+Mrs. Ford playing the accompaniment:
+
+ | "'Cheery old Winter! merry old Winter!
+ | Laugh, while with yule-wreath thy temples are bound;
+ | Drain the spiced bowl now, cheer thy old soul now,
+ | "Christmas *waes hael*!" pledge the holy toast round.
+ | Broach butt and barrel, with dance and with carol
+ | Crown we old Winter of revels the king;
+ | And when he is weary of living so merry,
+ | He 'll lie down and die on the green lap of Spring.
+ | Cheery old Winter! merry old Winter!
+ | He 'll lie down and die on the green lap of Spring!'"
+ |
+
+This won great applause, and a loud thumping could be
+heard in the hall. Jack went out to try his powers of
+persuasion with Chi, and found him sitting close to the door
+with one knee over the other and a La France rose (!) in
+his buttonhole.
+
+"Come in, Chi, do."
+
+"Ruther 'd sit here."
+
+"Oh, come on."
+
+"Nope."
+
+Jack laughed at the decided tone. "Where did you get
+this?" he asked, touching the boutonniere.
+
+"Rose-pose," answered Chi, laconically, but with a
+happy smile.
+
+"Out of her bunch?"
+
+"Nope--took it out of her belt," said Chi, with a
+curious twist of his mouth.
+
+Jack went back crestfallen, and Chi smiled.
+
+"I 'm afraid I cut him out, just for once; kind of rough
+on him, but 't won't hurt him any to have a change. He 's
+had his own way a little too much," said Chi to himself.
+
+Again there was music, a Schubert serenade, with the
+two violins, and after that, the children begged Hazel to
+dance the Highland Fling as she did once in the barn.
+Hazel, nothing loath, borrowed a blue Liberty-silk scarf
+from Ruth Ford; the rugs being removed and Alan Ford
+tuning his violin, she made her curtsy, and, entering
+heart and body into the spirit of the thing, danced like
+thistle-down shod with joyousness.
+
+It was a pretty sight! and Chi edged into the room,
+while the company made believe ignore him in order to
+induce him to remain there; but when the singing began,
+he slipped out again. Such singing! Everybody joined
+in it. They sang everything;--"Oh, where, tell me
+where, is your Highland laddie gone?";--"Star-spangled
+Banner";--"Marching Along";--"John Anderson, my
+Jo";--"Ye banks and braes o' Bonnie Doon";--"Twinkle,
+twinkle, little star";--"Annie Laurie";--"A
+grasshopper sat on a sweet-potato vine";--"Ben
+Bolt";--"Fair Harvard" and, finally, "Old Hundred."
+
+It had been arranged that Mr. Blossom should take his
+wife and the younger children home in the pung; the rest
+were to walk. Chi, meanwhile, had driven home in the
+single sleigh.
+
+On the walk home Jack tried what he had been apt to
+term--of course, to himself--his "confidential scheme"
+with Rose. He had tried it before with many another,
+and it had never failed to work. The thought of one of
+his roses in Alan Ford's buttonhole still rankled, and the
+best side of Jack's manhood was not on the surface when
+he entered upon the homeward walk.
+
+"Miss Blossom,"--somehow Jack had not quite the
+courage to say "Rose," although he had been so frankly
+invited to--"I want to tell you why I came up here; it
+must have seemed almost an intrusion."
+
+.. _`"'I want to tell you why I came up here'"`:
+
+.. figure:: images/img-199.jpg
+ :align: center
+ :alt: "'I want to tell you why I came up here'"
+
+ "'I want to tell you why I came up here'"
+
+"Oh, no, indeed," said Rose, earnestly, "and I know
+why you came; Hazel told me."
+
+"Oh, she did," said Jack, rather inanely, and a little
+uncertain as to his footing, figuratively speaking; for he
+had given her the chance to ask "Why?"--and she had n't
+taken it; in which she proved herself different from all
+those other girls of his acquaintance. To himself he
+thought, "Well, for all the cordial indifference, commend
+me to this girl."
+
+"Yes, I 'm sure it would have seemed like anything but
+Christmas to you in New York with your father in Europe;
+you must miss him so."
+
+Jack felt himself blush in the moonlight at the remembrance
+that he had seen his father but little in the last
+three years, and did not know what it was in reality to
+miss him. He never remembered to have missed anything
+or anybody but his mother, and that indefinite something
+in his life which he had not yet put himself earnestly to
+seek.
+
+"I suppose you 'll be shocked, Miss Blossom, but I
+don't really miss my father. I 'm only awfully glad to
+see him when I get the chance--which is n't often. He 's
+such a busy man with railroads and syndicates and real
+estate interests. I wonder often how he can find time to
+write me even twice a month, which he has done regularly
+ever since--" he stopped abruptly.
+
+"Since what?" asked Rose, innocently.
+
+"Since my mother died," said Jack, in a hard, dry voice
+that served to cover his feeling.
+
+"Yes," Rose nodded sympathetically, "Hazel told
+me." Then--for Rose's love for her own mother was something
+bordering on adoration--she said softly, under her breath,
+but with her whole heart in her voice; "Oh, I don't see
+how you could bear it--how you can live without her!"
+
+"I don't," Jack replied with a break in his voice, "not
+really live, you know. I've always felt it, but never
+realized it until last night, when I stood out on the
+veranda and looked in at the window at you--all. Then I
+knew I 'd been hungry for that sort of thing for the last
+seven years--"
+
+Now Rose's heart was swelling with pity for the loneliness
+of the tall, young fellow swinging along beside her,
+and at once her inner eyes were opened to see a, to her,
+startling fact. She turned suddenly towards him.
+
+"Is that why you kissed Martie last night, and came up
+here to us?" she demanded rather breathlessly.
+
+"Yes;" Jack had forgotten his scheme, and was in dead
+earnest now.
+
+"Then," cried Rose, impulsively--but at the same time
+thinking, "I don't care if he is engaged to that Miss
+Seaton"--"I hope you 'll come to us whenever you feel
+like it; for," she added earnestly, "I 'm beginning to
+understand what Chi means when he talks about Hazel's
+being poor and our being rich, and--and I 'd love to share
+mine with you."
+
+"You 're awfully good," said Jack, rather awkwardly
+for him; for, suddenly, in the presence of this young girl,
+as yet unspoiled by the world, he realized that Life was
+dependent upon something other than polo and club
+theatricals, railroad syndicates and Newport casinos, stocks
+and bonds and marketable real estate.
+
+Jack was young, and the moonlight was transfiguring
+the face that, framed in a white, knitted hood, was turned
+towards him full of a frank, loving sympathy for him in
+his "poverty."---And, seeing it, Jack suddenly braced
+himself as if to meet some shock, thinking, as he strode
+along in silence, "Oh, I 'm gone!--for good and all this
+time."
+
+Rose, a little surprised at the prolonged silence,
+welcomed the sound of sleigh-bells behind them.
+
+"Why, that's Chi!" she exclaimed. "I thought he
+was at home long before this. I 'm sure he left long
+before we did. Where have you been, Chi?" she called
+so soon as the sleigh was within hailing distance.
+
+"I 've been Chris'musin'," said Chi. "It ain't often
+you get just such a night on the Mountain as this, and
+I 've made the most of it. Can I give you a lift?"
+
+"No, thank you, Chi, we 're almost home," said Rose.
+
+"Well, then I 'd better be gettin' along--it's pretty
+near midnight--chk, Bob--" And Chi drove away down
+the Mountain, chuckling to himself:
+
+"Ain't a-goin' to give myself away before no city chap
+that has cut me out as he has. George Washin'ton!
+When I peeked into the window 'n' saw Marier-Ann sittin'
+there in front of that kitchen table with all those presents
+on it, 'n' the little spruce set up so perky in the middle of
+'em, 'n' she a-wearin' a great handful of those red, spice
+pinks in her bosom, 'n' her cheeks to match 'em, 'n' her
+eyes a-shinin'--I knew he 'd come it over me; he 'd made
+the first call, 'n' given her the first posies. Guess I won't
+crow over him after this." Chi undid his greatcoat, and
+bent his face until his nose rested upon Jack's rose:--
+
+"It ain't touched yet, but it's a stinger; must be twenty
+below, now." Suddenly Chi gave a loud exclamation:
+"I must be a fool!--I 've broken one of the N.B.B.O.O. rules
+not to be afraid of anything, and did n't dare to give
+my posy to Marier-Ann!--Anyhow, she don't know I
+was goin' to give it to her, so I need n't feel so cheap
+about it--Go-long, Bob!"
+
+
+
+
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`BUDD'S PROPOSAL`:
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ XVIII
+
+
+.. class:: center medium
+
+ BUDD'S PROPOSAL
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+Before Mr. Clyde and Jack left the next day, Budd
+sought an opportunity to interview the latter on a subject,
+that, for a few weeks past, had been occupying many of his
+thoughts. The applause, with which his Christmas-day
+toast had been greeted, had encouraged him to seek an
+occasion for acquiring more definite knowledge on a
+subject which lay near his heart. It came when Jack was
+packing his dress-suit case in the guest chamber.
+
+There was a knock on the half-opened door.
+
+"Come in," said Jack, and Budd made his appearance.
+
+"Halloo, Budd! What can I do for you? Any commissions
+in New York, or Boston?"
+
+"Don't know what you mean by commissions," replied
+Budd, cautiously, thrusting both hands deep into the
+pockets of his knickerbockers, and spreading his sturdy
+legs to a wide V.
+
+"Anything I can buy with that hen-and-jam money
+you helped to earn?--you did well, Budd, on that. I
+congratulate you."
+
+"I have n't any of that money left. You see, we voted
+to give it to March to go to college with. But I 've got
+two quarters an' a dollar--Christmas presents, you know;
+an' that 'll do, won't it?" he asked rather anxiously.
+
+"Well, that depends on what you buy," said Jack, with
+due seriousness.
+
+"You 'll keep mum, Mr. Sherrill, if I tell you?" said
+Budd, inquiringly.
+
+"Mum's the word, if you say so, Budd; out with it."
+
+"Well, I want two things; one thing to make me feel
+grown up, an' I 've wanted it for a year."
+
+"What's that, Budd?" asked Jack, immensely amused
+at Budd's swelling manhood--"A pair of long trousers?"
+
+"No--" Budd hesitated for a moment, then went on in
+rather an aggrieved tone; "I hate to wear waists with
+buttons; it's just like a baby, an' a fellow can't feel grown
+up when he has to button everything on. I want to hitch
+things up the way March an' Chi do, an' I want you to buy
+me a shirt like that one you 're rolling up--only not
+flannel,--with a flap, you know, to tuck in."
+
+"Oh, that's it, is it?" said Jack, endeavoring to keep
+his face and voice from betraying his inward amusement.
+"Well, I think you can get one for seventy-five cents--plain
+or striped?"
+
+"I like those narrow blue striped ones like yours best,"
+he replied, pointing to one of Jack's.
+
+"Like mine it shall be, Budd; but you 'll want a pair of
+suspenders, or there 'll be too much hitching to be agreeable
+to you."
+
+"March has an old pair, an' I 'm going to borrow them."
+
+"That's an idea; now, what's the second thing?"
+
+"A ring."
+
+"A ring?" Jack looked amazed.
+
+Budd nodded.
+
+"For yourself?" Jack questioned further.
+
+"No--for somebody else."
+
+"Do you mean a finger ring?"
+
+Budd nodded again emphatically.
+
+"Engagement?" laughed Jack, at last, the fun getting
+the better of him.
+
+Budd's mouth puckered into solemnity; "No--wedding."
+
+Jack gave up the packing, and sat down, shaken with
+laughter, on the first convenient chair.
+
+"Pardon me for laughing, Budd, but I can't help it.
+What do you want of a wedding ring? Is it for that 'first
+wife' of yours you toasted yesterday at dinner?"
+
+Budd nodded again. "I don't see anything to laugh at,"
+he said, with a reproachful glance. "You would n't if
+you was me."
+
+"No, I don't think I should; you 're right there, Budd,"
+he replied, sobering suddenly after his outburst of laughter.
+"When is the wedding to be?"
+
+Budd looked thoughtful. "I have n't proposed yet,"
+was his matter-of-fact answer.
+
+"Well, why don't you?" Jack, sinner that he was,
+scented some fun at Budd's expense.
+
+"I 'm going to when I know how," said Budd, humbly.
+
+"Why don't you take lessons?" suggested Jack.
+
+"I have."
+
+"Of whom?"
+
+"Chi."
+
+Jack shouted. "What did Chi say?" he demanded
+when he had regained his breath.
+
+"He said if he wanted to marry a girl, he 'd say what he
+wanted to--tell 'em he was fond of 'em."
+
+"'Fond of them'--hm," repeated Jack, thoughtfully.
+
+"What do *you* say?" questioned Budd, turning the
+tables rather suddenly on Jack.
+
+"I don't say--never said," replied Jack, shortly.
+
+"That's what Chi said. He said if I begun early I 'd
+find out how."
+
+"You seem to be on the right road for it."
+
+"Would you say 'fond of her'?" persisted Budd.
+
+"Yes, I think I should," Jack replied with a peculiar
+smile; "but, of course, it would depend on the girl."
+
+"Why, that's just what Chi said!"
+
+"He did, did he!" Jack laughed; "Chi knows a thing
+or two."
+
+"But I thought you 'd know more." Budd's face began
+to wear a puzzled look.
+
+Just then Jack heard Rose's voice in the long-room
+asking where Mr. Sherrill was, and the sound brought
+home to him a realizing sense of the fact that there was
+but an hour before they left for the station, and every
+moment too precious to be wasted on Budd. Rising,
+and proceeding with his packing, he said with perfect
+seriousness:--
+
+"Well, Budd, all I can say is, that if I were going to
+ask a girl to marry me, I should ask her if she thought
+enough of me to take me with all my imperfections and--"
+
+"Where are you, Jack?" called Hazel, at the foot of
+the stairs; "Chi has to go an hour earlier than he said,
+and the sleigh is at the door."
+
+In the hurry of Jack's good-byes and departure, the
+sentence was never finished, and the ring forgotten by him.
+But Budd remembered.
+
+He was a sturdy little chap, broad of shoulder, strong
+of limb. His sandy red hair bristled straight up from his
+full forehead. His pale blue eyes, with thick reddish-brown
+lashes, were round and serious. His nose was a
+freckled pug, and his small mouth puckered, when he was
+very much in earnest, to the size of a buttonhole. From
+the time he had championed Hazel's coming to them, nearly
+a year ago, he had never wavered in his allegiance to her,
+and in his small-boy way showed her his entire devotion.
+Hazel had been so grateful to him for his whole-souled
+welcome of her, that she took pains to make his boy's
+heart happy in every way she could.
+
+For Hazel, Budd was never in the way; never asked
+too many questions for her patience; never teased her
+beyond endurance. He found in her a ready listener, a
+good sympathizer, a capital playmate, and a loving girl-friend,
+who reproved him sometimes and, at others, praised
+him. What wonder that his ten-year-old heart had warmed
+towards her with its first boy-love? and that in his manly,
+practical way, he made of her an ideal?
+
+"I love Hazel, and when I am big enough, I shall marry
+her," was what he said to himself whenever he stopped his
+play long enough to think about it at all. Naturally it
+seemed the wisest thing to tell her this when he should
+find the opportunity, and at the same time recall the fact.
+
+Fortified by the testimony of Chi and Jack, he bided his
+time.
+
+One Saturday afternoon in January, Rose said suddenly
+to Hazel: "I wish I could do some of the things that you
+do, Hazel." Hazel looked up from her book in surprise.
+
+"What can I do that you can't do, Rose?"
+
+"You dance so beautifully, and I 've always wanted to
+know how. I feel so awkward when I see you dance the
+Highland Fling."
+
+"Is that all?" Hazel laughed a happy laugh. "I can
+teach you to dance as easy as anything, if you 'll let me."
+
+"Let you!" Rose exclaimed, flushing with pleasure;
+"just you try me and see. But where can we practise?"
+
+"Oh, out in the barn," cried Hazel. "It'll be lots of
+fun; of course, it's awfully cold, but the skipping about
+will keep us warm. I 'll tell you what--I 'll play on the
+violin, and you and March and Budd and Cherry can learn
+square dances first."
+
+"What fun!" said Rose.
+
+"What's the joke?" asked March, coming in at that
+moment with Budd and Cherry.
+
+"We 're going to have a dance in the barn; Hazel's
+going to teach us. She says she can do it easy enough."
+
+"Oh, bully!" Budd threw up his tam-o'-shanter, and
+Cherry, attempting to charge up and down the long-room
+as she had seen Hazel at the Fords', tripped on the rug and
+fell her length. When March had picked her up she
+rubbed her nose, which was growing decidedly pink, and
+sniffed a little, then asked suddenly:--
+
+"Who 's going to be my partner? They always have
+partners in the story books."
+
+"Sure enough," Rose laughed. "Whatever will we do,
+Hazel?"
+
+"I never thought of that," said Hazel, ruefully. "Of
+course, it takes eight."
+
+"Why can't we have chairs for partners?" said Cherry.
+"We can bow to them just as if they were alive, and make
+them move round, can't we?"
+
+They all laughed at Cherry's inspiration.
+
+"You 're a brick, Cherry Bounce?" said March, approvingly.
+"All choose your partners!" And, thereupon, he
+seized one of the kitchen chairs, and the rest followed his
+example. Hazel took her violin, and hooded and mittened
+and coated and mufflered, they trooped out to the barn,
+each lugging a wooden chair.
+
+"Now I 'll give you the first four changes," said Hazel,
+illustrating, as well as she could in trying to be two couples
+at once, the first movements. "Form your square and get
+ready."
+
+They obeyed with alacrity, and Hazel drew her bow
+across the strings.
+
+"All curtsy to your partners!" she shouted, and the
+chair-partners received a bow, and, in turn, were made to
+thump the floor by being laid over on their backs, and
+righted suddenly.
+
+"First couple forward and back!" shouted Hazel, and
+away went Rose dragging her chair after her to meet March
+and his chair--thumpity-thump--thumpity-thump.
+
+They were in dead earnest, and the chairs were made to
+behave in a most human way.
+
+All went well until they came to the Grand Right and
+Left; then there arose such a medley of shrieks of laughter,
+wild wails from the violin, thumps from sixteen chair-legs,
+and stampings from eight human ones as was never heard
+before. In a few minutes all was inextricable confusion,
+and the noise might have been best compared to a Medicine
+Dance among the Sioux Indians.
+
+Upon this scene Mr. Blossom and Chi, on their return
+from the wood, looked with amazement.
+
+"They seem to be havin' a regular pow-wow," Chi
+remarked dryly, as the exhausted dancers and musician sat
+down, panting for breath, on their wooden partners.
+"Rose-pose is about as young as any of 'em--but it
+beats all, how she's shootin' up into womanhood."
+
+"She 's no longer my little Rosebud Blossom," said her
+father, rather sadly. "I dread the time when the birds
+begin to fly from the nest, and I see it coming with March
+and Rose."
+
+Just then Rose caught sight of her father, and ran to
+him linking her arm in his. "We 've had such fun, father!
+We 're learning to dance; you must be my partner sometime,
+for Hazel's going to teach us the schottische next."
+
+Rose never forgot the look of love her father gave her,
+nor the feel of his hand as he laid it on her hooded head:
+"Be my little Rose-pose, as long as you can, dear; you 're
+growing up too fast."
+
+She recalled afterwards that this first dance in the barn
+marked the last time that she abandoned herself to the
+children's fun with a girl's careless heart.
+
+The winter twilight was fast closing about the Mountain
+and the children just returning to the house, when
+Chi went out to milk. Leaving his lantern, stool, and
+pails in the first stall, he entered the third one to tie one
+of the cows to a shorter stanchion. Before he had finished
+he heard Budd's voice, and, looking over the partition, saw
+him standing with Hazel in the circle of light about the
+lantern. In another minute he began to feel like an
+eavesdropper.
+
+"What did you want me to come here for, Budd?" said
+Hazel, dancing on the barn floor to warm her feet.
+
+"I want to tell you something," said Budd, blowing on
+his cold fingers.
+
+"Well, hurry up and tell; it's simply freezing here.
+Is it a secret?"
+
+"Kinder," replied Budd, blowing harder; then, suddenly
+ceasing the bellows movement, he drew a step nearer
+to Hazel, and, putting the tips of his pudgy fingers together
+to make a triangle, he puckered his mouth solemnly and
+said, looking up at her with earnest eyes:--
+
+"I 'm very fond of you."
+
+Hazel laughed merrily. "Why, of course you are, you
+funny boy; you 've always been fond of me, have n't you?
+I 'm sure I 've always been fond of you. Is *that* what you
+kept me out here in the cold to say?"
+
+"Not all;" Budd nodded seriously. "I 'm very fond
+of you, an'--an' if you 'll take me with all my perfections--I
+think that's the way it goes--if I have n't got the
+ring yet, it will be just the same, you know." He paused,
+and in the circle of light Chi could see the entire
+earnestness of his attitude.
+
+"Goodness me, Budd! What do you mean about rings
+and things?"
+
+"I want to marry you when I 'm big--an' I thought
+I 'd speak 'fore anyone else did to get ahead of 'em." Budd
+hastened to explain, as Hazel showed signs of impatience.
+
+"Oh, is that all!" Hazel breathed a sigh of relief. "I
+thought something was the matter with you. Why, of
+course you 're fond of me, Budd; but I could n't marry
+you, for I 'm older than you, you know."
+
+"I never thought of that," said Budd, beginning to
+blink rather suspiciously, "I thought--"
+
+"Now, look here, Budd," said Hazel, in a business-like
+way; "I think everything of you, too, and I 'll tell you
+what you can be--"
+
+"What?" interrupted Budd, eagerly, balancing himself
+on the tips of his toes.
+
+"My knight!" said Hazel, triumphantly, "and wear my
+colors. I 'll give you a bow of crimson ribbon--I 'm
+Harvard, you know--and you must wear it till you die.
+And I have a white kid party glove I 'll give you, too,
+and that will mean I 'm your lady-love, and it will be just
+like the days of chivalry, you know we were reading about
+them the other day."
+
+"And you won't mind about the ring?" queried Budd,
+rather wistfully.
+
+"Not a bit--a glove is much nicer than a ring, and--"
+
+"Moo--oo--oo--" came from the next stall.
+
+"Oh, goodness gracious! How that made me jump.
+I 'm not going to stay out here another minute; so come
+along if you 're coming"--and the knight meekly followed
+his lady-love into the house.
+
+
+
+
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`A YEAR AND A DAY`:
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ XIX
+
+
+.. class:: center medium
+
+ A YEAR AND A DAY
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+"It seems queer to settle down the way we have, ever
+since Christmas. We had such fun up to that time." Hazel
+heaved a long sigh as she wrestled with her Latin
+and the Third Conjugation.
+
+Rose looked up from her Cicero and smiled at the bored
+expression on Hazel's face. "I know, Latin is awfully
+dull at first, but when you can read it, you 'll like it. If
+only you could hear Cicero give this horrid Catiline--the
+old traitor--'Hail Columbia' as March says, you could n't
+help liking Latin. Then, too, if we had n't settled down,
+where would my French have been?"
+
+But Hazel still pouted a little. "I wish papa had n't
+wanted me to study at all this winter--I don't see why,
+when Doctor Heath is always talking about its 'effect on
+my health--'"
+
+She was interrupted by a merry laugh. Rose threw
+down her Cicero, caught away the grammar from Hazel,
+and, seizing her by the hand, drew her into the little
+bedroom. Then, taking her by the shoulders, she whirled
+her about until she faced the small looking-glass.
+
+"There!" she exclaimed, still laughing, "look at that
+face before you talk about any 'effect on your health.'"
+
+Hazel looked at the reflection in the mirror, and smiled
+in spite of herself. What a contrast to what she was a
+year ago! For to-morrow would be St. Valentine's day.
+There were real American Beauty roses on her cheeks;
+the dark eyes were full of sparkling life; the chestnut-brown
+hair fell in heavy curls upon her shoulders. She
+had grown tall, too, but rounded in the process, and the
+healthful, bodily exercise had given her grace of carriage--she
+was straight as an arrow, and as lithe as a willow wand.
+
+"Perhaps I shall feel more interest when Miss Alton is
+here, for she is a regular teacher. When is she coming,
+Rose?"
+
+"The very last of the month, when the spring term
+opens. It's our turn to have the district-school teacher
+board with us, and I 've never liked it before. But
+now I can't wait for Miss Alton to come. I think she 's
+lovely."
+
+"She is n't half as lovely as you are, Rose," said Hazel,
+turning suddenly from the glass, in which she had been
+scrutinizing her reflection, and giving Rose an unexpected
+squeeze and a hearty kiss. "I think you are the most
+beautiful girl I have ever seen, I heard Doctor Heath say
+so; and--I told Jack so on Christmas night."
+
+"I 'll warrant he did n't agree with you," said Rose, with
+a pleased smile. "You forget Miss Seaton."
+
+"I know." Hazel shook her head dubiously. "He
+did n't say a word to me about you--I don't care if he
+did n't, Rose-pose, you 're worth all the Maude Seatons in
+the world, and I 'd give anything to have you for my real
+cousin instead of her, if only Jack--"
+
+"I don't know what you are talking about, Hazel," said
+Rose, interrupting her shortly and sharply.
+
+"And I don't know why you are speaking to me in that
+tone, Rose Blossom," retorted Hazel, both angry and hurt.
+"I 've said nothing I 'm ashamed of, and I shall say it
+whenever I choose and to whomever I please, so now." She
+flung out of the room, but not before Rose had laid a
+firm hand upon her shoulder.
+
+"Hazel Clyde, if ever you speak of that again to anyone,
+I 'll break friendship with you, see if I don't."
+
+"Break then," Hazel twitched her shoulder from under
+the detaining hand. "I 'll speak whenever I choose. I
+only said I thought you were the most beautiful girl I had
+ever seen, and I wished that you were going to be my real
+cousin, instead of Miss Seaton, and you need n't get mad
+just because Jack does n't happen to think as I do--"
+
+"Hazel Clyde!" Rose stamped her foot, "don't you
+speak another word to me; I 'll not hear it." Rose stuffed
+both fingers into her ears, and beat an ignominious retreat
+to her own room, where she shut herself in, and was
+invisible until tea-time.
+
+The family were late in sitting down to the table, for
+Mrs. Blossom wanted to wait for Chi, who had driven
+down to Barton's River to take Mr. Blossom to the train,
+and had arranged to bring March home with him.
+
+It was seven already. "We won't wait any longer,
+children," said Mrs. Blossom. "Something must have
+detained Chi. Budd, you may say 'grace' to-night?"
+she added as she took her seat.
+
+Budd looked up in amazement. "Why, Martie, Rose
+is here and you always--"
+
+"That will do, Budd," said his mother, quietly, ignoring
+the flame that shot up to the roots of Rose's hair, and the
+cool look of indifference on Hazel's face. Budd folded
+his pudgy hands and repeated reverently the words he had
+heard father, or mother, or sister say ever since he could
+remember. Scarcely had he finished when Tell's deep
+note of welcome sounded somewhere from the road, and
+the sleigh-bells rang out on the still air.
+
+"There they are!" cried Cherry. "May I go to meet them?"
+
+"Yes--but put your cape over you, it's so chilly to-night."
+
+In a minute Cherry was back again, every single curl
+bobbing with excitement.
+
+"Oh, Martie! Chi's bringing in something all done
+up in the buffalo robe, and March won't tell me what
+it is."
+
+She was followed by March, who walked up to his
+mother, put both arms about her and gave her a quiet kiss.
+
+"There, little Mother Blossom, is my valentine for you,"
+he said half-shyly, half-proudly, and placed in her hands
+his first term's report and a set of books.
+
+"Oh, March, my dear boy!" said his mother, rising from
+the table and placing both hands on the broad, square
+shoulders of her six foot specimen of youth, "I 'm afraid
+I 'm getting too proud of you. *Did* you get the first
+Latin prize?"
+
+"You bet I did, Martie." March's rare smile illumined
+his face. "There is n't another fellow at Barton's, who can
+boast of such a mother as I have, and I was n't going to let
+any second-class mothers read those books before you did.
+By Cicky!" (which was March's favorite name for the
+famous orator)--"But I 've worked like a Turk, and
+I 'm hungry as a Russian bear. Why, Rose, what's the
+matter with you? You look awfully glum, and Hazel,
+too. Here comes Chi; he's bringing something that
+will cheer you up. The truth is, mother, these girls
+miss *me*."
+
+"Indeed, I do, March?" said Hazel, looking straight up
+into his eyes and showing the amazed lad tears trembling
+in her own.
+
+"Guess there 'll be some breakin' of hearts, this year,
+Mis' Blossom." Chi's cheery voice was welcome to them
+all for some unknown reason. He came in loaded with
+huge pasteboard boxes.
+
+"Your arms will break first, Chi," said Mrs. Blossom,
+hastening with March to relieve him.
+
+"It ain't the heft of 'em, it's the bulk. Valentines
+are generally pretty light weight. Romancin' 'n'
+sentiment don't count for much, nowadays, though they take
+up considerable room." He deposited the last box on the
+settle. "'N' there's a whole parcel of things come by
+mail. I ain't looked at the superscribin's--you read 'em
+out, Rose-pose."
+
+Rose read the addresses; there was more than one
+missive for each member of the family.
+
+"Let's have supper, first, mother," said March, "then,
+after the table is cleared, we can sit round and guess who
+they 're from."
+
+This proposition was welcomed by Budd and Cherry.
+Rose and Hazel gave a cordial assent, but there was a
+frigidity in the atmosphere which the outside temperature
+did not warrant. Chi and March were aware of this so
+soon as they entered the room, and Mrs. Blossom had
+known it the moment she saw the girls' faces at the table.
+She thought it not wise to interfere, but let matters
+straighten themselves in good time. She felt she could
+trust them both to see things in their right light, without
+the aid of her mental glasses.
+
+"Now let's begin," said Chi, rubbing his hands in glee
+as, directly after supper, he piled the boxes on the table
+while March laid the envelopes in their proper places
+before each member of the family. "This top one says
+'Miss Hazel Clyde.' Show us your valentine, Ladybird."
+
+"They 're violets--from Jack, I know. He always
+sends them. What's yours, Rose?" She spoke rather
+indifferently.
+
+"Oh, roses!" Rose was having the first look all to
+herself. "The loveliest things I have ever seen. Look,
+Martie!" Rose held up the mass of exquisite bloom, and
+the children oh'ed and ah'ed at the sight.
+
+"They 're from Mr. Sherrill," said Rose, trying to speak
+in a most common-place tone, but, in her excitement,
+failing signally.
+
+"They are lovely," Hazel remarked, shooting an indignant
+glance at Rose. "They're just like the ones he sent
+Miss Seaton last year, only they were formed into a great
+heart. Papa gave me one just like it; he got his idea
+from Jack."
+
+Rose suddenly put down the flowers, in which she had
+buried her face to inhale their fragrance, as if something
+had stung her.
+
+"Mr. Sherrill is very impartial with his favors," she
+said in a tone that increased the pervading chill of the
+domestic atmosphere.
+
+"Why, Rose!" exclaimed Mrs. Blossom. "It is not
+like you to receive a favor so ungraciously; you 've never
+had flowers sent you before, and I 'm sure you would
+never have them again if the donor could witness your
+reception of them."
+
+"I don't care for them again, thank you." Rose retorted
+with flaming cheeks; "I 'd give more for this of yours,
+Chi--" she opened a huge yellow envelope, and took from
+it a scarlet cardboard heart, with a small, white, artificial
+rose glued to the centre and a gilt paper arrow transfixing
+both rose and heart.
+
+Chi hemmed rather awkwardly, thinking: "Beats the
+Dutch what's got into Rose-pose to-night. I ain't ever
+known her to treat a livin' soul so shabby as that in all
+her life. Beats all what gets into women 'n' girls,
+sometimes; when a feller thinks he's doin' 'em just the best
+turn he knows how, they up 'n' get mad with him, 'n' turn
+the cold shoulder, 'n' upset things generally." But aloud
+he said:
+
+"I 'm glad it pleases you, Rose. Can't most always tell
+when it's goin' to please a girl or not. I suppose Jack,
+now, thought you 'd be tickled to get those posies just in
+the dead of winter. They don't grow round here on our
+bushes. What's in the other box?"
+
+"Why!" Hazel exclaimed, laughing rather half-heartedly,
+"it's addressed to 'Miss Maria-Ann Simmons'--and
+just look, Mother Blossom! See what that dear old Jack
+has sent her! He's just too dear for anything." She
+added emphatically;--"I 'd like to give him a kiss for
+thinking of that poor girl all alone over there on the
+Mountain. I don't believe she ever had a valentine before.
+Look! Oh, look!"
+
+She took out of the many layers of wadding a mass of
+yellow tulips, their closed golden cups shining in the
+lamp-light as if gilded by sunbeams.
+
+"Sho!" was all Chi said, leaning nearer to examine the
+beautiful blossoms.
+
+"You 'll take them over in the morning, early, won't
+you, Chi?" said Hazel, replacing them.
+
+"First thing, Lady-bird; guess you 're right, Rose,
+about that young feller's bein' 'n all-round man with his
+favors. Don't seem to be much choice between you and
+Marier-Ann, 'n' that Miss Seaver. Kind of a toss-up, hey,
+Rose-pose?"
+
+But Rose was too busy with another package to answer
+Chi. She grew wildly enthusiastic over the calla lilies
+that Alan Ford had sent her, and caressed their white
+envelopes, and praised their pure loveliness, until Hazel,
+growing jealous for poor Jack and his discarded gift, rose
+to put the neglected beauties in water, saying as she
+did so:
+
+"I 'm sure, Rose, if Jack had known you cared so much
+for lilies, he would have sent you some Easter ones, they 're
+out now. I 'll tell him to next time."
+
+"Hazel!" Rose burst forth indignantly, "do you mean
+to tell me you told Mr. Sherrill to send me these flowers
+for a valentine?"
+
+Then Hazel, stung by the tone and the words, yielded
+to temptation--for it had been the last straw. "What
+if I did?" she said with irritating calm, "he 's my cousin.
+I suppose I can say what I choose to him."
+
+Rose answered never a word; but, rising, took the La
+France roses from the pitcher in which Hazel had just
+placed them, and, going over to the fireplace, deliberately
+cast the mass of delicate pink bloom into the fire.
+
+Mrs. Blossom looked both puzzled and shocked; this was
+wholly unlike Rose. What could it mean? The children
+were too awed by the proceeding to speak or exclaim.
+March looked gravely at Hazel, who burst into tears--it
+was such an insult to Jack!--and rushed into her
+bedroom and shut the door.
+
+"I 'm going to bed; good-night, Martie," said Rose,
+quietly, after she had watched the last leaf shrivel in the
+flame, and, kissing her mother, she lighted her candle and
+went upstairs. Mrs. Blossom, following her with her
+eyes, felt that she had lost her "little Rose" in that
+hour.
+
+March looked grave, complained of feeling tired, and
+said he would go to bed, too, as to-morrow was the last
+day of school and there were two more examinations to
+take. Budd and Cherry kissed their mother twice, bade
+her good-night in suppressed tones and crept upstairs.
+"It's just as if somebody was sick in the house," said
+Cherry, in an awed voice. Budd's was sepulchral:--
+
+"It's just as if somebody was dead and all the flowers
+had come for the funeral."
+
+Across the dining-room table, loaded with boxes and
+brilliant with valentines, Chi looked at Mrs. Blossom, and
+Mrs. Blossom looked at Chi. The whole affair was so
+incomprehensible, and the result so painfully disagreeable,
+that, for a while, they found no words with which to give
+expression to their feelings. Chi broke the silence:--
+
+"Well! I wish I was one of those clairivoyants they
+tell about, 'n' could kind of see into the meanin' of this
+flare-up of Rose-pose's. Don't seem natural for Rose to
+go flyin' off at a tangent that way. What's she got against
+him, anyway? He 's about as likely as you 'll find. Beats
+me!" Chi leaned both elbows on the table, unmindful
+that he was crushing some of the flowers, sank his chin
+in the palms of his hands and thought hard for full a
+minute.
+
+"I know Hazel and Rose have had some little trouble
+this afternoon--the first quarrel they have had--but
+Rose is too old to allow herself to lose her control in that
+way. I can't imagine what made her--" Mrs. Blossom
+broke off suddenly, for Chi had raised his head and sent
+such a look of intelligence across the table, handing her,
+as he did so, Jack Sherrill's card, which Rose in her
+confusion had neglected to read, that, in a flash, something
+of the truth was revealed to Mrs. Blossom.
+
+She took the card. On the back was written, enclosed
+in quotation marks:--
+
+ | "For I am thine
+ | Whilst the stars shall shine,
+ | To the last--to the last."
+ |
+
+"O Chi!" was all Mary Blossom said; but the tears
+filled her eyes, and, reaching across the table, her hand was
+clasped in Chi's strong one.
+
+"I wish Ben was to home," sighed Chi, so lugubriously
+that Mrs. Blossom laughed through her tears.
+
+"Oh, it is n't so bad as that, Chi. Girls will be girls, and
+grow up, and hearts will ache even when we 're young.
+We won't make too much of it. I don't understand the
+ins and outs of it, but I do know Hazel has said her
+family thought he was engaged to Miss Seaton. I 'm sure
+I 've thought so all along, and it never occurred to me
+there could be any danger for Rose under the circumstances.
+The mere fact of his name being connected so
+closely with Miss Seaton's would be a safeguard. Then,
+too, I fear he is spoiled by women on account of his riches."
+
+"I don't know about that Miss Seaver,--but if it's as
+you say, I kind of wish Rose could cut her out."
+
+"Sh-sh, Chi!" said Mrs. Blossom, reprovingly.
+
+"Well, I do," Chi retorted with some warmth. "She
+ain't fit to tie Rose's old berryin' shoes, 'n' I saw her
+lookin' at her feet that day we was sellin' berries down to
+Barton's to the tavern, 'n' snickerin' so mean like, 'n' Rose
+just showed her grit--'n' I wish she'd show it again 'n'
+cut her out. I *do*, by George Washin'ton!" Chi rose
+up in his wrath, lighted his lantern, and started for the
+shed. At the door he turned:--
+
+"I wish Ben was to home," he said again. "There 's
+goin' to be the biggest kind of a snow-down before long,
+'n' he 'll get blocked on the road, sure as blazes."
+
+"He 'll be back in two days, at the most, Chi; I would n't
+worry."
+
+"I ain't worryin'; I 'm just sayin' I wish he was to
+home," repeated Chi, doggedly, and shut the door.
+
+Mrs. Blossom smiled. She knew Chi's crotchets.
+When there was any disturbance of the family peace, Chi
+was apt to be depressed, and sometimes despondent. She
+put away the flowers in the cold pantry, smiling as she tied
+up Maria-Ann's box:
+
+"He *is* universal," she said to herself. "I know it
+irritated Rose to be classed with her and Miss Seaton; but
+things will work around right with time. I can trust
+to Rose's common-sense.--Not a prayer to-night!" she
+added thoughtfully. "Well, we 'll make it up to-morrow." She
+took up the prize books. "That dear March! What
+a manly fellow he is getting to be--and so handsome. I
+wonder--" here Mary Blossom checked herself, laughing
+softly. "Goodness! if Ben were here what a goose he
+would think me--a regular old Mother Goose--" And
+again she laughed as she put out the light.
+
+
+
+
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`SNOW-BOUND`:
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ XX
+
+
+.. class:: center medium
+
+ SNOW-BOUND
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+They were all on the porch the next morning to see
+March off. It was not so very cold, but there was a
+marked chill in the air and the sky was leaden.
+
+"It's my last day, mother, then vacation for two weeks.
+Hooray!" He leaped into the saddle, and Fleet reared
+gently to show her approval.
+
+"Don't you get out a little earlier to-day, March?" said
+his mother, looking up at the leaden sky. "I 'm afraid it's
+going to snow heavily. Promise me not to start from
+Barton's if the storm is a hard one; you can stay at the
+inn or at the principal's. I would rather you remained
+away from home two days, or over Sunday, than to have
+you attempt the Mountain in too severe a storm."
+
+"I 'll be careful, mother."
+
+"Better give your promise to your mother, March; she 'll
+feel better 'bout you 're not startin' out," said Chi.
+
+"I promise, little Mother Blossom." He threw himself
+off the horse, and gave her another kiss; "I would n't go
+to-day except for the exams.--I can't miss them."
+
+"Good luck, dear," said his mother, and her eyes
+followed the horse and rider down the Mountain.
+
+"I 'll go over the first thing 'n' give them posies to
+Marier-Ann, 'n' then I 'll make tracks for home, 'n' get my
+snow-shed up before it begins to come down."
+
+"Do you think we shall need it?"
+
+"Sure 's fate," replied Chi, laconically, and went into the
+barn to harness Bess.
+
+It was noon before Chi had set up his snow-shed, a long,
+low, wooden tunnel, which he had manufactured to
+connect the woodshed door with a side door of the barn. By
+means of this he was enabled, in unusually heavy storms,
+to communicate with the barn and attend to the stock
+without "shovelling out."
+
+It was about three in the afternoon when the first flakes
+began to fall, or rather to "spit," as Chi expressed it, and
+the snow fell intermittently and lightly until four, when
+there was a sudden change of wind. It veered to the
+north-east, and blast after blast, charged with icy particles,
+hurled itself against the Mountain. Within half an hour
+it was almost as dark as at midnight, and the snow swept
+in drifting clouds over woodlands and pasture. When
+the wind ceased for a moment, white, soft avalanches
+descended upon farmhouse, barn, and mountain-road, until,
+by six o'clock, the road was impassable and the drifts at the
+back of the house a foot above the bedroom windows. Chi
+had made all snug for the night.
+
+"This beats anything I ever saw, Mis' Blossom. I 'm
+mighty glad Ben ain't comin' home to-day, 'n' that March
+gave you the promise to stay at Barton's if it stormed
+hard."
+
+"You don't think he would venture to start, do you,
+Chi?" asked Mrs. Blossom, trying not to appear anxious
+for the sake of the others.
+
+"Bless you, no;" was Chi's hearty response. "March
+has got too level a head to risk himself 'n' Fleet in such a
+storm--it's a regular howler of a blizzard. If he did
+start," he added, "he 'd go in somewheres on the road--he
+couldn't get far."
+
+After tea there was no settling down to the cosey
+evening pastimes or employments. If such a thing could be,
+the storm seemed to increase in severity. The wind
+struck the house at times with terrific force; the
+intermittent drift of snow and ice against the window panes
+startled the inmates of the long-room like the rattle of
+small shot. Chi had put out the fire in the fireplace before
+supper, for the wind drove flame and ashes out into the
+room.
+
+Again and again Mrs. Blossom went to the windows--first
+one then another, and pressed her face close to the
+pane; but they were plastered so thick with snow that
+her efforts to see into the night were fruitless. Chi sat
+by the kitchen stove, which he had filled with wood. His
+boots rested on the fender, and, apparently, he was
+indifferent to the storm. But, in reality, not the creak of a
+beam, not the springing of a board, not an unwonted
+sound within or without the house escaped his notice.
+
+In marked contrast to Chi's apparent apathy was Tell's
+restlessness. Since six o'clock he had shown signs of
+uneasiness. With strides, heavy and long, the huge beast
+paced up and down the long-room. Sometimes he followed
+Mrs. Blossom to the window, and, sitting down on his
+haunches beside her, rested his nose on the window sill
+and gazed at the whitened panes. At others he took his
+stand beside Chi and looked into his face, their eyes
+meeting on a level as the man sat and the dog stood. The
+dog looked as if he were questioning him dumbly.
+
+As the evening wore on the dog's pace grew more rapid,
+more uneven; his tail waved in a jerky, excited manner.
+At last he lay down by the shed door, and, placing his
+nose on the threshold, gave vent to a long, low, half-stifled
+moan. At the sound Chi brought down his heels and the
+tipped chair-legs with a thump, and started to his feet.
+Mrs. Blossom turned to him with a white face, and Rose
+cried out:--
+
+"Oh, Chi! What is the matter with Tell? He never
+acted this way before."
+
+"Don't know," said Chi, shortly; "dumb beasts are
+curious creatures. Guess he don't like the storm. I 'll
+go out, Mis' Blossom, 'n' see if the stock 's all right. Kind
+of looks as if Tell was givin' us a warnin'."
+
+"Oh, Chi, don't go through the tunnel now," cried Mrs. Blossom,
+all the pent-up anxiety finding expression in her voice.
+
+Chi manufactured a laugh: "That's all safe, Mis'
+Blossom. I chained it and roped it down, both--it can't
+get away, 'n' the snow can't crush it. Don't you worry
+about me. I 'll be back inside of fifteen minutes." He
+took his lantern from the shelf over the sink:--"Get up,
+Tell." The dog rose, but, as Chi opened the door, he tried
+to push past him. Chi crowded him with his leg:--"No
+you don't, old feller! there ain't room only for just one of
+us to-night. Lay down!"
+
+And Tell lay down, with his nose on his paws, and both
+nose and paws pressed close to the crack on the threshold.
+Another long crescendo moan, that, at the last, sounded
+like a sharp wail, filled the long-room, and Budd and
+Cherry clung to their mother in terror.
+
+"You must go to bed, children," said Mrs. Blossom,
+her face white as the snow on the window panes, but with
+a voice of forced calm. "When you 're asleep, you won't
+hear all this trouble the storm is raising to-night."
+
+"But I don't want to sleep upstairs alone without March,
+Martie," protested Budd, trying to be brave, but showing
+his fear.
+
+"You can sleep in Hazel's room to-night, Budd, and
+Cherry can get into my bed and sleep with me."
+
+The twins looked relieved. "Oh, that's different,
+Martie," said Budd, with a grateful look. Cherry begged
+for a little cotton wool to stuff in her ears:--"Then I
+can't hear Tell and this awful noise." A novel idea, which
+Budd at once adopted and put into practice. Their mother
+looked relieved when they were safely bestowed in their
+new quarters.
+
+About ten minutes afterwards they heard Chi's steps in
+the shed. Then the door opened slowly, as he shoved Tell
+aside. When he entered the room Mrs. Blossom gave one
+look at his face.
+
+"Oh, Chi, what has happened!" She cried out as if hurt.
+
+Chi's face showed grayish white and drawn in the lamplight.
+His hand shook a little as he reached for a second
+lantern, turning his back on the three terrified faces.
+
+"Horse stalled, that's all. Had a tough tussle to get
+him round, but he 's all right now." His voice sounded
+hoarse.
+
+"Was it Bob or Bess?" asked Rose.
+
+Chi, without answering, turned quickly to Tell, who
+was pressing him nearly off his feet, and at the same time,
+lashing his tail as if in fury.
+
+"What ails you, anyway?" said Chi, roughly. "D' you
+want to get out?"
+
+For answer the dog rushed to the front door that opened
+on the porch, rose on his hind legs, stemmed his powerful
+forepaws against the panels and, throwing back his massive
+head, sent forth from his deep throat a roar that seemed
+to shake the rafters.
+
+"Mis' Blossom," Chi's voice shook and his hand
+trembled till the glass globe of the lantern tinkled in the
+wire frame, "I 'm goin' to let him out, 'n' I 'm goin' to
+follow on--there 's trouble somewhere on the Mountain,
+'n' I 'm goin' to find out where 't is."
+
+All three cried out, protesting, entreating, praying him
+to desist. But Chi shook his head.
+
+"I tell you I 've *got* to go, Mary Blossom"--Chi had
+never called her that but once before, and Mrs. Blossom,
+recalling the time, felt her heart as lead within
+her--"you're brave,--brave as a woman can be; don't say
+nothin', but let me go. Have plenty of hot water 'n'
+flannels, 'n' some spirits ready 'gainst I come back--"
+
+"Lady-bird, give me the dog collar with the bell you
+gave Tell last Chris'mus; 'n' Molly Stark, fill your
+mother's hot water-bag--'n' hurry up; 'n' Mis' Blossom,
+give me Ben's brandy flask, he didn't take it with him."
+
+Chi, while issuing these orders, was strapping down his
+trousers over his long boots; then he poured out a
+brimming cup of hot water, and mixed with it some of the
+brandy from the flask. He put the collar on Tell, the bell
+ringing loud and clear with every movement. He opened
+the door; the dog bounded out into the night. Chi
+followed him, a coil of rope around his neck, a shovel over
+one shoulder with a lantern suspended from the handle,
+and in his hand a second lantern. The hot-water bag he
+had put beneath his sweater, and a leathern belt girded him.
+
+So equipped he went out into the drifting snows and
+the night of storm. The terrified women were left alone.
+
+"Mother, oh, mother!" cried Rose, wringing her hands,
+"I know it's something dreadful; Chi would never look
+that way."
+
+Mary Blossom could not answer. Her silence was
+prayer. It was all of which she was capable at that time.
+
+"I don't know what the matter was in the barn, mother,"
+again cried Rose, in an agony of fear. "Chi did n't tell
+us all, I 'm sure. Let me go through the tunnel and find
+out, do, mother!"
+
+"Oh, Rose, I can't--I can't!" Mrs. Blossom spoke
+under her breath.
+
+"Please, mother. It 's all safe, and the wind has gone
+down a little since Chi went; let me go--I can't rest till
+I do. You can hold the light at the shed door end and I
+won't be gone but a minute or two. I 'll take the dark
+lantern with me--Oh, mother! do, do--!"
+
+"Well, Rose, perhaps it's for the best. I 'll watch you
+through."
+
+"May I watch, too?" asked Hazel, eagerly.
+
+"No, dear, I want you to stay here in case the children
+should wake. Come, Rose."
+
+They were gone but a few minutes; then Mrs. Blossom
+came in followed by her daughter. The girl's teeth were
+chattering; she looked blue and pinched.
+
+"What did you find, Rose?" Her mother's voice was
+scarce above a whisper.
+
+"*I found Fleet!*"
+
+The two women sat down on the settle, holding each
+other close; and the wind rose again in its fury.
+
+Wrapping a heavy shawl about her Hazel crept away
+upstairs to the back garret and the window overlooking
+the woods'-road, which formed the approach to the house.
+There was a little snow-drift beneath it where the flakes
+had sifted through; but the wind was felt less severely on
+that side of the house. She opened the window a few
+inches, propping it on a corn cob she had stepped upon;
+then, kneeling, she put her ear to the opening and strained
+her hearing in every lull of the storm.
+
+At last--she knew not how long she had listened--she
+heard Tell's deep roar. It came muffled, but distinct.
+She scarce trusted her ears; but again she heard it, and,
+this time, in a dead silence, she caught the sound of the
+bell. Surely Tell was nearing the house. She ran downstairs.
+
+"They 're coming!" she cried, hardly realizing what
+she said in her excitement. Mrs. Blossom and Rose leaped
+to their feet. They threw open the door.
+
+"Chi! Chi!" they called out into the night. There
+was a joyous bark for answer---then a groan, and Chi
+staggered across the snow-laden porch and fell with his
+heavy burden on the threshold.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+At midnight the wind went down, but the snow continued
+to fall. All the next day it fell steadily, but at
+sunset it ceased, and a young moon looked over the
+shoulder of Mount Hunger upon an unbroken white coverlet
+that, in some places, was drifted to the depth of twenty
+feet.
+
+There was twilight in Aunt Tryphosa's little cabin
+"over eastwards," for the snow was piled to the eaves,
+and the tulips furnished their only sunshine for two days.
+
+There was consternation at Hunger-ford, for the family
+were cut off from their neighbors and the outside world
+of letters and papers.
+
+There were councils at Lemuel's and the Spillkinses'--for
+how could they gather their forces to break out the
+Mountain?
+
+There were heavy hearts and reddened eyelids in the
+farmhouse, for March, rescued by Chi and revived by
+vigorous treatment, had succumbed to the exposure and
+chill, and lay unconscious in fever--and no help at hand.
+
+Chi, spent to exhaustion, had rallied at midnight, but
+knew that it was beyond human powers to attempt to
+reach Barton's or even Lemuel Wood's, their next
+neighbor, through the drifts.
+
+So they waited, helpless--one day, two days. On the
+second day the white expanse showed no tracks. Then
+March began to wander, and clutch his breast, where his
+mother had found the telegram, which his father had sent
+to him from Ogdensburg:--
+
+"Heavy blizzard. Roads blocked. Tell mother at once.
+Don't worry."
+
+Chi walked the house night and day in his misery of
+helplessness. At last, on the third day, looking
+eastwards he descried a black blotch on the white,--it was
+a four-ox team breaking out from the Fords'. Later in
+the day, when the men were within two hundred yards
+of the house, he saw another black spot on the lower
+road. It was the Mill Settlement road-team, with a full
+equipment of men and tools, to cut a way through the
+drifts.
+
+Soon there was help and to spare. Alan Ford was riding
+down the narrow way between high walls of glittering
+white to Barton's for aid, and bringing back telegrams of
+anxious inquiry from Mr. Blossom and Mr. Clyde. On
+the fourth day, the blockade was raised, and the
+south-bound express to Barton's River brought Mr. Blossom
+from the north, and another train brought Mr. Clyde from
+the south. Two days after all the Lost Nation knew that
+March would live.
+
+
+
+
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`A LITTLE DAUGHTER OF THE RICH`:
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ XXI
+
+
+.. class:: center medium
+
+ A LITTLE DAUGHTER OF THE RICH
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+It was days before March himself was aware of that fact.
+
+Budd and Cherry were at the Fords'. May was with
+Aunt Tryphosa and Miss Alton at Lemuel Wood's.
+Maria-Ann had come over to help Mrs. Blossom with the
+work, and Chi had taken care of the stock. Rose and her
+mother watched and waited in the sick room, relieved on
+alternate nights by Mr. Blossom and Chi.
+
+The great storm was a thing of the past. The sun shone
+in a deep blue heaven, and the white world of the
+Mountain showed daily life and movement. The teamsters
+were at work loading the sledges with logs, and the
+ponderous drags squeaked and grated as they slid down
+the crisping highway.
+
+A crow cawed loudly on the first of March, and the
+hens came out to find a warm nook in the south-east
+corner of the barn-yard, where a heap of sodden straw was
+thawing.
+
+All in the farmhouse were rejoicing, for March had
+spoken in his weakness--a few words, but clear, coherent,
+for the frost and fever, both, had left his brain. When he
+spoke the second time it was to ask for Chi; and Chi had
+tiptoed into the room in his stocking-feet and laid his
+hand on March's thin, white one, gulped down the tears
+and the rising sob that was choking him, and--spoke of
+the weather!
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+The next day March turned to his mother, who was
+sitting by the bed, brooding him with her great love,
+and asked suddenly, but in a clear and much stronger
+voice:
+
+"Where 's Hazel?"
+
+Mrs. Blossom hesitated for a moment, then spoke
+quietly:--"Hazel is at home with her father for a few
+weeks."
+
+March turned his face to the wall and was silent for
+several hours.
+
+When he was stronger Mrs. Blossom gave him the little
+note Hazel had left for him, and, with mother-tact, knowing
+March's reserve of nature, went out of the room while he
+read it. She saw no signs of it when she returned and
+asked no questions, but March's gray eyes spoke a
+language for which there was but one interpretation. With
+his rare smile, he held out his hand for his mother's, and
+clasped it closely.
+
+Soon he was able to be up and about, and the children
+were again at home. Life in the farmhouse resumed its
+old course--but with a difference. Just what it was no
+one attempted to define. But each felt it in his own way.
+March was more gentle with Budd and Cherry, more
+often with his mother and Chi, more companionable for
+his father. Rose was quieter, but, if possible, more loving
+towards all. Budd was at times wholly disconsolate, and
+wasted sheets of his best Christmas note-paper in writing
+letters to Hazel which were never sent.
+
+Chi went oftener to the small house "over eastwards,"
+where he was sure of willing ears and sympathetic hearts
+when he unburdened himself in regard to his "Lady-bird."
+
+"Fact is," he said to Maria-Ann, as she stood with her
+apron over her head watching him plough their garden
+plot (that was his annual neighborly offering), "she 's left
+a great hole in that house, 'n' there is n't one of us that
+don't know it 'n' feel it;--kind of empty like in your
+heart, you know, just as your stomach feels when you 've
+ploughed an acre of sidlin' ground, before breakfast--Get
+up, Bess, whoa--back!--you don't hear that laugh of
+hers in the barn, nor out in the field, nor up in the
+pasture; 'n' you don't see those great eyes lookin' up at you
+when you 're harnessin', nor peekin' round the corner of
+the stall to see if you 're most through milkin'. 'N' you
+don't hear a fiddle makin' it lively after supper, 'n' the
+children ain't danced once in the barn this spring." Chi
+sighed heavily.
+
+"Don't Mr. Ford go over there pretty often?" queried
+Maria-Ann. "I see him gallopin' by two or three times
+a week."
+
+"Well, what if you do?" Chi answered grumpily, much
+to Maria-Ann's surprise. "He can't fiddle the way Ladybird
+does, 'n' they all sit 'n' jabber some kind of lingo--French,
+they call it, but I call it, good, straight
+Canuck--'n' act as if they were at a party,--Rose, 'n' Miss Alton,
+'n' the whole of 'em. 'T ain't much company for me. I
+get off to bed about dark. 'N' the worst of it is, when he
+isn't to our house, they're all to his--Come around!" Chi
+jerked the reins, to Bess's resentful surprise.
+
+"They say he's payin' attention to Rose," ventured
+Maria-Ann, her eyes following the furrow, which was
+running not quite true.
+
+"They 're a parcel of fools," growled Chi, eyeing the
+furrow with a dissatisfied air, "Rose need n't look Alan
+Ford's way for attention. She can have all she wants
+most anywheres.--Get up, Bess! what you backin' that
+way for!--'n' folks tongues can be measured by the
+furlong 'twixt here and Barton's."
+
+"Well, there ain't any harm in Rose's havin' attention,
+Chi," said Maria-Ann with some spirit, and ready to stand
+up for her sex.
+
+"Did n't say there was," retorted Chi, in mollified tones.
+"There ain't no more harm in Rose's havin' attention than
+in your havin' it."
+
+"Me!" exclaimed Maria-Ann, pleasantly surprised out
+of her momentary resentment. "I ain't had any chance
+to have any."
+
+"Ain't you?" said Chi, busying himself with the plough
+preparatory to leaving. "Well, that ain't any sign you
+won't have--Get along, Bess!--I 'll leave this plough
+here till to-morrow; I ain't drawn those last two furrers
+straight, 'n' I 've got too much pride to have any man
+see that--Malachi Graham, his mark.--No, sir-ee," said
+Chi, emphatically, "straight or starve is my motto every
+time, just you remember that, Marier-Ann Simmons."
+
+"I will, Chi," laughed Maria-Ann, and went back to
+her washing, singing joyfully to her rubbing accompaniment:--
+
+ | "Come, sinners all, repent in time,
+ | The Judgment Day is dawning;
+ | Sun, moon, and stars to earth incline,
+ | The trumpet sounds a warning."
+ |
+
+Meanwhile letters were coming to every member of the
+family from Hazel. As March regained his strength there
+came as special gifts to him, books and magazines, and from
+time to time a beautiful photograph of an old-world
+cathedral--Canterbury, or York; a stately castle like
+Warwick, or Heidelberg; a peasant's chalet, or an English
+cottage to gladden his artist soul and eye, and transform
+the walls of his room into dwelling-places for his ideals.
+
+"Mother," he said rather wistfully to Mrs. Blossom,
+on the first May day as they sat together under the old
+Wishing-Tree, talking over the plans for his future, "how
+can I go to work to make it all come true?"
+
+He held in his hand a large photograph of the interior
+of Cologne Cathedral, which Hazel had given him.
+
+"There are many ways, dear, which are most unexpectedly
+opened at times. No boy with health and perseverance
+has much to fear."
+
+"But, mother, father had both, and he was n't able to
+go through college. He told me all about it the other
+day, and how he had missed it all through his life."
+
+"I know, March, father failed in attaining to that which
+was his great desire, but he succeeded so immeasurably
+in another direction, that I think, sometimes, it must have
+been all for the best."
+
+"Why, mother, father is poor now--how do you mean
+he has succeeded?"
+
+"My dear boy, you are only in your seventeenth year,
+and I don't know that I can make it plain to you because
+you *are* young; but when your father conquered every
+selfish tendency in him, put aside what he had striven so
+hard for and what was just within his reach, and turned
+about and did the duty that the time demanded of him;--when
+he took his dead father's place as provider for the
+family, and, by his own exertions, placed his mother and
+sisters beyond want, before he even allowed himself to tell
+me he loved me, he proved himself a successful man; for
+he developed, in such hard circumstances, such nobility of
+character, that he is rich in love and esteem,--and that,
+March, and only *that*, is true wealth."
+
+"I see what you mean, mother, but it does n't help me
+to see how I 'm to get through college, and get the
+training I need in my profession." March uttered the last
+word with pride. "There is so much a man has to have
+for that. Look at that now," he continued, holding up
+the photograph; "I need all that, and that means Europe,
+and Europe means money and time, and where is it all
+to come from?"
+
+His mother smiled at the despairing tone. "As for
+time, March, you are only in your seventeenth year. That
+means ten years before you can begin to work in your
+profession; and as for the means--" she hesitated--"I
+think it is time to tell you something I 've been keeping
+and rejoicing over these last two weeks." She drew a
+letter from her dress-waist and handed it to him. "Read
+this, dear, and tell me what you think of it." Wondering,
+March took it and read:--
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+.. class:: left white-space-pre-line
+
+ HAWKING VALLEY, NORTH CAROLINA,
+ April 15, 1897.
+
+MY DEAR MRS. BLOSSOM,--Just a year ago to-day I sent
+my one child to you, trusting the judgment of my dear friend,
+Doctor Heath, in a matter which he felt concerned the future
+welfare of my daughter. My home has been very lonely
+without her. You, as a parent, can know something of what this
+separation has entailed.
+
+It seemed wise to me, and I know you concurred in my
+opinion, to take her away from the conditions, in which she
+has thriven so wonderfully, while you were burdened, both in
+heart and hands, by such a critical illness as your son's. The
+result confirms the wisdom of my action, for March's convalescence
+has been slow and long; I am thankful to be assured it
+is sure. The burden of an extra member in your family at this
+time would, in the long run, prove too heavy for you.
+
+I cannot tell you how I appreciate what you have done for
+Hazel. I have no words to express it. She returns to me full
+of life and joy, with no apparent unwillingness to take up her
+life again with me, which must seem dull to her in contrast to
+that which she had with you. Yet I know in her loyal little
+heart she belongs to you, is a part of your family henceforth--and
+I am glad to know it is so, for she needs, and will need, as
+a young girl, your motherly influence at all times.
+
+I 'm not taking her away from you for good. Oh, no! That
+would be her loss as well as mine; but I am testing her a little.
+I have said I had no words with which adequately to express
+my gratitude. I am your debtor for my child's physical
+well-being--for much else which I do not find it easy to define.
+Will you allow me to make some compensation for your year
+of devotion? I do not care what form it take, providing you
+will permit me to try to discharge something of the debt--the
+whole can never be repaid. Will you not let me send that
+splendid son of yours through college? and give him two years
+of Europe afterwards? That future profession of his has
+always been of great interest to me. If the boy is too proud,
+as I suspect is the case, to accept the necessary amount other
+than as a loan, make it plain to him that I will even yield a
+point there--a pretty bad state of affairs for me as a debtor
+to find myself in. If he won't do this for me--won't Rose
+help me out by permitting me to aid her in cultivating that
+voice of hers? I know your magnanimity, and depend upon
+you to help me in this.
+
+Hazel does not know I am writing to you, or she would send
+loving messages.
+
+My kindest regards to Mr. Blossom, with hearty congratulations
+for March, and all sorts of neighborly remembrances for
+all others of the Lost Nation.
+
+.. class:: left white-space-pre-line
+
+ Sincerely your friend,
+ JOHN CURTIS CLYDE.
+
+*To Mrs. Benjamin Blossom.*
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+"Oh, mother!"
+
+A wave of crimson surged into March's pale face,
+and the sensitive nostrils quivered; then two big drops
+plashed down upon the letter which he handed to his
+mother.
+
+"Oh, mother! if only I could--but I can't!"
+
+He rolled over on the soft pasture turf, face downwards,
+his head resting on his arms.
+
+"Why, March dear," said his mother, tenderly, "why
+can't you? I think it 's beautiful, so does father."
+
+A sob shook the long, thin frame. His mother laid her
+hand on the back of the yellow head. "What is it, my
+dear boy? Can't you tell me?"
+
+The head shook energetically beneath her hand, and
+muffled words issued from the grass.
+
+"But, March, we thought it would please you to have
+such an opportunity. You have read what Mr. Clyde
+says--you can look upon it as a loan. I hope you won't
+have any false pride in this matter--"
+
+"'Tis n't false, mother," came forth from the grass, "and
+I would like to accept his offer, if only it were n't just his."
+
+"Why not his, March? Surely, Hazel has been like one
+of us--a real little sister--" Another vigorous wagging
+of the yellow head arrested his mother in the midst of her
+sentence.
+
+"Hazel is n't my sister."
+
+"Why, of course, you can't feel as near to her as to
+Rose, but then, you must see how dear she has become to
+us all--and Mr. Clyde has put it in such a way, that the
+most sensitive person could accept it without injury to
+any feeling of true pride. Take time and think it over,
+March. It has come upon you rather suddenly, and I have
+been thinking about it for two weeks."
+
+"It's no use to think it over." Deep tragedy now made
+itself audible, as March rolled over and sat up, displaying
+eyes bright with excitement, flushed cheeks, and a generally
+determined air of having it out with himself.
+
+"Well, I can't understand you, March."
+
+"I wish you could."
+
+His mother smiled in spite of the gravity of the situation.
+"Can't you tell me? or give me some clue to this
+mysterious determination of yours?"
+
+March cast a despairing glance at his mother. "Mother,
+will you promise never to tell?"
+
+"Not even your father, March?"
+
+"No, father, nor any one--ever, mother."
+
+"Very well; I promise, March, for I trust you."
+
+"Oh, mother, have n't you seen?--don't you know,
+that I--that I love Hazel! And how can I take the
+money from her father, when I 'm going to try to make
+her love me and marry me sometime, when I get through
+studying, and--and--Oh, don't you see?"
+
+And Mrs. Blossom did see--at last.
+
+She spoke very gently, after a minute's silence, in which
+March's ears burned red to their tips, and his fingers were
+busy digging up a tiny strawberry-plant by the roots.
+"My son, I see, and I honor you for feeling as you do;
+but, March, have you thought of the difference between
+you and Hazel?"
+
+"What difference, mother?"
+
+Now Mary Blossom was not a worldly woman, neither
+was she a woman of the world--and she found it difficult
+to answer.
+
+"You know how Hazel is placed in life, although you
+do not know with what luxury she is surrounded in her
+home. She has beauty, a large circle of friends, immense
+wealth. There will be many who will seek her hand in
+four years' time, for she has a wonderful charm of her own,
+for all who come close to her.--Is it worth while to
+attempt, even, to win this little daughter of the rich?
+You, a poor boy, with his way to make?"
+
+"But, mother,"--there was strong protest in the voice--"she
+did n't have any beauty till she came up here to
+us--and if she *was* a rich girl, she was n't a healthy one
+till she lived up here, and I don't see the good of money
+and a lot of things, if you 're sick, and homely, too." March
+waxed eloquent in his desire to convince his
+mother of the justice of his cause. "And if she hadn't
+come up here she would n't have got well, and then she
+would n't have grown so beautiful--and she *is* beautiful,
+mother." (Mrs. Blossom nodded assent.) "And I don't
+see why I have n't just as much right to try to make her
+love me as any other fellow. You 've told us children,
+dozens of times, it's just character that counts, and not
+money, and if I try as hard as I can to keep straight and
+be a good man like father, I don't see why things would n't
+be all right in the end."
+
+Mrs. Blossom was silenced,--"hoist with her own
+petard." "How can I destroy this lovely, young ideal?
+I dare not," was her thought. But aloud, she said:--"You 're
+right, March. Nothing but character counts.
+Make yourself worthy of this little love of yours. We 'll
+keep this in our own hearts, and when you are tempted to
+wrong-doing--and there are fearful temptations for every
+young man to meet, March,--temptations of which you can
+form no conception here in the shelter of your home--just
+remember this little talk of ours, and keep yourself
+unspotted by the world just by the thought of this dear girl
+whom you hope some day to win. There is nothing,
+March, that will keep a young man in the right way like
+his love for just 'the one girl in the world'--if only she
+be worthy of his love. And I think Hazel will be--even
+of you."
+
+March flung his arms about her neck and kissed her
+heartily:
+
+"Dear, little Mother Blossom, I 'll try, and even if I fail,
+just the thought of such a glorious-filorious mother that
+does n't laugh at a fellow--I was afraid you would,
+though,--will keep me straight enough. Why, Mother Blossom!
+I 'd be ashamed to look you in the eyes, if I did a
+down-right mean thing."
+
+His mother laughed through her tears. "I wonder if
+many mothers get such a compliment? Come, dear, the
+dew is beginning to fall--it's been such a heavenly
+day, I had forgotten it is early spring. Do you feel
+chilly?"
+
+"Not I," laughed March, and proceeded to relieve his
+feelings after his favorite method--by turning a
+double-back somersault down the pasture slope.
+
+As Mrs. Blossom leaned over to kiss tired, sleepy Budd
+that night, she thought complacently to herself:--
+
+"Well, thank fortune, here 's one who is heart-free," and
+laughed softly to herself. Chi had not told her of Budd's
+proposal.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+"Wilkins, tell Miss Hazel to come down into the library
+when she is dressed for dinner."
+
+"Yes, Marse Clyde." Wilkins sprang upstairs two
+steps at a time, and, knocking at Hazel's door, delivered
+his message.
+
+"Tell papa I 'm going to dress early, for I 've some
+things to attend to about the table, Wilkins."
+
+"Fo' sho', Miss Hazel," said Wilkins, with a broad smile
+of delighted surprise.
+
+"And tell Mrs. Scott I 'll choose the service, if she will
+take out the linen, and I have ordered the flowers. Papa
+said I might."
+
+Wilkins skipped downstairs, delivered his message to
+the amazed housekeeper, and then flew into the kitchen to
+impart his news to the cook, his confidante and co-worker
+for years in the Clyde household.
+
+Minna-Lu was preparing a confection, and giving her
+whole soul to the making, when Wilkins made his
+appearance. She looked up grimly, the ebony of her
+countenance shining beneath the immaculate white of her
+turban:--
+
+"Wa' fo' yo' hyar?"
+
+Wilkins slapped both knees with the palms of his hands,
+and bent nearly double with noiseless laughter; then,
+straightening himself, approached Minna-Lu with boldness,
+despite the repelling wave of the cream-whip that she held
+suspended over the bowl, and confided to her the change
+of régime, to her edification and delight.
+
+She put down the bowl and whip, stemmed her fists on
+her broad hips, and gurgled long and low. "'F little
+missus done take rale hol' er de reins, dere ain't no kin' er
+show fo' sech po' trash." She indicated with an upward
+movement of her thumb the upper regions where the
+housekeeper was supposed to be.
+
+"When I wan's a missus, I wan's quality folks, an' little
+missus do take de cake. Nebber see sech er chile. Dem
+great, shinin' eyes, lookin' at yo' out o' all de do's, an' dat
+laff soun'in' jes' like de ol' mocker dat nebber knowed
+nuffin' 'bout bedtime--yo' recollecks?" Wilkins nodded
+emphatically, but was unprepared for Minna-Lu's next
+move:--
+
+"Git out o' hyar, yo' good-fo'-nuffin' niggah. Huccome
+yo' stan'in' roun' wif yo' legs stiffer 'n de whites er dese
+yer eggs, an' yo' jaw goin' like de egg-beatah, an' de
+comp'ny comin' at rale sharp eight." Minna-Lu took up her
+bowl, and Wilkins beat a hasty retreat.
+
+It was a warm first of May, and just about the hour
+when March and his mother were leaving the Wishing-Tree,
+that Hazel appeared in the dining-room. Wilkins
+gazed at her in a species of adoration. Her orders appeared
+to him revolutionary, but he obeyed them implicitly and
+unhesitatingly.
+
+"Take off the candelabra, Wilkins, it is too warm
+to-night to have them on; besides, people don't have a
+nice time talking when they have to peek around them to
+get a glimpse of the people they 're talking to." Wilkins
+whisked off the candelabra as if they had been made of
+thistledown.
+
+"Dat's so, fo' sho', Miss Hazel. I see de folks doan'
+talk when dey ain' comf'ble; but I nebber tink ob de
+can'les."
+
+"When it's dark you can light all the sconces. I want
+you to use the pale green, Bohemian dinner set to-night;
+and I want just as little silver as possible."
+
+Wilkins looked blank, and Hazel laughed. "Oh, we 'll
+make it up with some cut glass, I 'll manage it. I want
+the table to look cool and simple, just to-night."
+
+Cool and simple. Wilkins failed to comprehend it, but
+such was his faith in "little Missy," that he carried out
+her orders to the letter, and the result was, according to
+Mrs. Fenlick, "a dream of beauty."
+
+When she had made her preparations to her entire
+satisfaction, as well as Wilkins's, and the latter had called
+Minna-Lu from her culinary tug-of-war to witness "little
+Missy's" triumph, Hazel ran into the library.
+
+Her father looked at her in amazement. Could this
+radiant, young girl be the same Hazel of a year ago?
+They had gone directly to North Carolina when Hazel had
+left Mount Hunger, and had been at home but two days.
+This little dinner was given to Mr. Clyde's intimate
+friends as an informal celebration and recognition of his
+daughter's return to the New York house.
+
+Now, as she ran into the room and linked her arm in his,
+her father looked down upon her with such evident pride
+and love, that Hazel laughed joyfully, kid her cheek
+against his coat-sleeve and patted his hand.
+
+"Do I look nice, Papa Clyde?"
+
+"Nice! that's no word for it, Birdie." And thereupon
+he took her in his arms and gave her such a hug and a
+kiss, that the pretty dress must have suffered if it had not
+been made of the softest of white China-silk.
+
+"Oh, my flowers! you 'll crush them!" she cried,
+shielding with both hands a bunch of flowers at her belt.
+
+"Where did you get all this--this style, daughter
+mine? It's--why, you 're nothing but a little girl, but
+it's 'chic.'"
+
+Hazel enjoyed her father's admiration to the full. She
+drew herself up, straight and tall, graceful and slender--her
+head was already above his shoulder--exclaiming:--
+
+"Little girl! Well, your little girl designed this gown
+herself. I would n't have any fuss or frills about it; it's
+just plain and full and soft and clingy, and this sash of
+soft silk--is n't it a pretty, pale green?--feel--" She
+caught up a handful of the delicate fabric and crushed it
+in her hand, then smoothed it again, and it showed no
+wrinkles. "I 've put it on to match the dinner. I 've
+had it all my own way--Wilkins did just as I said--and
+it's all cool and green and springy. You 'll see."
+
+"Where did you get these flowers?" Mr. Clyde touched
+the bunch of arbutus, that showed so delicately pink and
+white against the white of her dress and the green of her
+sash.
+
+A wave of beautiful color shot up to the roots of the
+little crinkles of chestnut hair on her temples; she touched
+the blossoms caressingly. "I wrote March about this
+dinner-party, and how it was the first at which I had been
+hostess, and he wrote back and wanted to know what I
+was going to wear, and I told him--and this morning
+these lovely things came by mail all done up in cotton
+wool in a tin cracker-box, the kind Chi uses to put his
+worm-bait in, when he goes fishing. Are n't they lovely?
+And was n't March lovely to think of them, papa?"
+
+"They are n't half as lovely as you are," said Mr. Clyde,
+earnestly, replying to half of her question only. "You
+are my unspoiled Hazel-blossom--" Then a sudden,
+intrusive thought caught and arrested his words. "Hazel
+Blossom," he repeated to himself, looking at her
+unconscious face as he uttered the last word, "Good heavens!
+Could such a thing be?"
+
+"De Cun'le an' Mrs. Fenlick," announced Wilkins.
+
+And when they were all seated at the table--the
+Colonel and Mrs. Fenlick, Doctor and Mrs. Heath, Aunt
+Carrie and Uncle Jo, the Masons and the Pearsells--with
+no candelabra to interfere with the merry speech and
+glances, with the light from the candles in the sconces
+shining softly on the exquisite napery, on the low bed of
+white tulips in the centre and the grace of the pale, green
+porcelain, with the tall Bohemian Romer-glasses before
+the plates--what wonder that Mrs. Fenlick pronounced
+it a "dream of beauty"?
+
+When their guests had gone, Mr. Clyde turned to
+Hazel:--"I shall be glad to open the Newport cottage
+again, Birdie, with such a little hostess to help me entertain."
+
+"The Newport house, papa!" Hazel exclaimed, a
+distinct note of disappointment sounding in her voice.
+
+"Why not, dear? I thought of getting down there by
+the tenth; in fact, gave my orders to Mrs. Scott to begin
+packing to-morrow."
+
+Hazel was evidently struggling with herself. She
+fingered the arbutus nervously; took them out of her belt;
+inhaled their fragrance. Then she looked up with a smile,
+although the corners of her mouth drooped and trembled
+a little:--
+
+"Why, of course, why not, papa? It's so much pleasanter
+there in May, than when everybody is down for the summer."
+
+Her father sat down in an easy-chair, put an arm around
+his daughter, and drew her down to a seat on the arm of
+the chair.
+
+"Now, Hazel, I want you to tell me all about it. Don't
+you want to go?"
+
+"Yes, if you 're there, papa, but--" she turned
+suddenly and her arm stole around his neck--"don't leave
+me there alone, papa, please don't."
+
+"Leave you--I? Why what do you mean, dear?"
+
+"Oh, it is so lonesome when you are away, papa, when
+you go off yachting with the Colonel--and the house is
+so big, and there 's nobody to talk to and say good-night
+to--and--and, oh, dear!" The tears began to come, but
+she struggled bravely for a few minutes.
+
+"Why, little girl, you have never told me you were
+lonesome without me: indeed, you have never shown
+any sign of it, or of wanting me around much. I never
+thought--why, Hazel." Down went the curly head on
+his shoulder, and the sobs grew loud and frequent.
+
+"There, there, Birdie," he said soothingly, stroking her
+head, "you 're all tired out; this party has been too much
+for you--"
+
+An energetic, protesting head-shake was followed by
+broken sentences--"It was n't that--I 'm not tired--you
+don't know, papa--I didn't know--know I was
+lonesome, and that I was--I think I was homesick--dreadfully--but
+Barbara Frietchie, you know--I had to be
+brave--and, I have tried not to show it to make you feel
+unhappy--and I love you so! but, oh, dear! I miss them
+so dreadfully, and I hoped--I was a member of the N.B.--B.O.--O.,
+Oh--dear me,--Society, and the by-law
+says--I mean March read it--Oh, papa!"
+
+"Well, well, there, there, dear," said the somewhat
+mystified father, bending all his efforts to soothe this
+evidently perturbed spirit, "why did n't you tell me before?"
+
+"Because I was Barbara Frietchie."
+
+"Now, Hazel, sit up and look me in the face and tell me
+what you mean. I supposed I was holding Hazel Clyde in
+my arms and not old Barbara Frietchie. Please explain."
+
+"I thought I wrote you, papa," Hazel could not help
+smiling through her tears, for it did strike her as rather
+funny about papa's holding the patriotic, old lady in his arms.
+
+"Well, you did n't tell me that." So Hazel explained.
+
+Mr. Clyde nodded approval. "Very good, I approve
+of the N.B.B.O.O. Society, and of the present Barbara
+Frietchie's heroism--but no more of it is called for. You
+see, I fully intended you should pay your friends--my
+friends--a visit this summer, but I thought it would be
+much better later in the season when Mrs. Blossom would
+be rested from the fatigue of March's illness--"
+
+"Oh, papa!" A squeeze effectually impeded further
+utterance. "I don't care how soon we go to Newport, or
+anywhere--of course, if *you* are with me--as long as
+I can go to Mount Hunger sometime this summer. And,
+besides," she added eagerly, "we planned next winter's
+visit from Rose, didn't we?"
+
+"I should rather think we did. We shall be very proud
+of our beautiful friend, Rose, and delighted to have our
+friends meet her, shan't we?" Another squeeze
+precluded, for the moment, articulate speech.
+
+"Yes," Hazel cried, enthusiastically, "we 'll take her to
+concerts and operas--just think, papa, with that lovely
+voice she has never heard a concert!--and we 'll take her
+to the theatre and--"
+
+"And," her father went on, growing enthusiastic himself
+at the prospect, for he was the soul of hospitality,
+"and we 'll give her a dainty dinner or two, and possibly
+a little dance--few and early, you know--"
+
+"Oh--ee!" cried Hazel, forgetting her woe, "and Mrs. Heath
+will give a lunch-party for her, and, perhaps, Aunt
+Carrie a tea, and Mrs. Fenlick a reception--"
+
+"Heavens!" interrupted her father, "you 'll kill her
+with kindness--that fresh, wild rose can't stand all
+that--"
+
+"Oh, yes, she can, papa; she can stand that just
+as well as I stood going up there where everything was
+so different."
+
+"True," said Mr. Clyde, thoughtfully, "it was different."
+
+"Oh, it was, papa! I never had to go to bed alone.
+Mrs. Blossom always came to say good-night and to kiss
+me, and to--to--"
+
+"To what?" asked her father.
+
+"You won't mind if I tell you?" Hazel asked, half-shyly.
+
+"Mind! I should say not; I should mind if you did n't
+tell me."
+
+"--to say 'Our Father' with me, papa; you know no
+one ever said it with me before, and it's--it's such a
+comfy time to feel sorry and talk over what you 've done
+wrong; and it's *that* I miss so."
+
+"I don't blame you, Birdie," said her father, quietly.
+"But now see how late it is!"--he pointed to the
+clock--"Eleven! This will never do for a *débutante*.
+Good-night, darling. Sweet dreams of Rose and the
+N.B.B.O.O. Society."
+
+"Good-night, Papa Clyde; Doctor Heath says you are
+the most splendid fellow in the world--but I know you
+are the dearest father in the world; good-night, I 've had
+a lovely party."
+
+She ran upstairs, but, in a moment, her father heard her
+tripping down again. Her head parted the portières. "I
+just came back to tell you, that this kind of a talk we 've
+had is just as good as the Mount Hunger bedtime-talks.
+I shan't be homesick any more." And away she ran.
+
+Now John Curtis Clyde was a pew-owner--as had been
+his father and grandfather before him--in one of the
+Fifth Avenue churches, and duly made his appearance in
+that pew every Sunday morning. He entered, too, into
+the service with hearty voice, and made his responses
+without, the while, giving undue thought to the world.
+But when he had said "Our Father" with his little
+daughter by his side, he had supposed his duty performed
+to the extent of his needs--of another's, his child's, he
+gave no thought.
+
+To-night, however, as he sat in the easy-chair where
+Hazel had left him, it began to dawn upon him slowly
+that his little daughter, during her fourteen years, might
+have had other needs, for which he had not provided, nor,
+perhaps, with all his riches was capable of providing.
+
+The clock chimed twelve,--one,--two--; John Clyde,
+with a sigh, rose and went up to bed--a wiser and a
+better man.
+
+
+
+
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`ROSE`:
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ XXII
+
+
+.. class:: center medium
+
+ ROSE
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+What a summer that was! Mr. Clyde sent Hazel up
+to the Blossoms for July and again for September, when
+he, the Colonel and Mrs. Fenlick, the Pearsells and the
+Masons, Aunt Carrie and Uncle Jo took possession of the
+entire inn at Barton's River, and for a month coached and
+rode throughout the "North Country," all in the cool
+September weather. Jack Sherrill joined them for the
+last three weeks, and, this time, Maude Seaton was not of
+the party.
+
+"I just headed her off every time she made a dead set
+at any one of us for an invitation," said Mrs. Fenlick one
+day in confidence to her intimate, Mrs. Pearsell, as they
+sat on the vine-covered veranda of the inn, "but she
+proved a regular octopus. She got the Colonel in her
+toils one morning at the Casino, and I pretended to be
+faint--yes, I did--just to get his attention for a sufficient
+time to make a fuss, and get him alone in the carriage;
+then, of course, I settled it. Oh, dear! men are so
+guileless in spots!"--Mrs. Fenlick gave a weary sigh--"What
+I have n't been through with that girl! Anyway,
+she's been out two winters, now, and she has n't caught
+Jack Sherrill yet. I don't think there is much chance
+after the first season for a girl to make a really fine match,
+do you?" Then they fell to discussing the pros, and
+cons, of the question with evergreen interest.
+
+Jack Sherrill, for one, had no thought of Miss Seaton.
+He had sent the valentine-flowers, and the sentiment from
+Barry Cornwall's love-song, with a strange kind of "kill or
+cure" feeling.
+
+He had communed with himself, at twilight of one
+February day, as he lay at full length on the
+cushioned window-seat of his room from which he looked
+down upon the darkening, snow-covered campus and the
+anatomy of the elms showing black against it. His pipe
+had gone out, but he derived some satisfaction in pulling
+away at it mechanically, while he thought out the
+situation for himself.
+
+"What's the use of a man's hanging fire when he
+*knows*?" he thought. "Now, I love her--love her." (Jack's
+hand stole into the breast of his jacket and crushed
+a bit of paper there; he smiled.) "Of course she does n't
+know, and won't know for a while, but it shan't be through
+any neglect of mine that she does n't; and when she
+knows--there 's the rub!--will she care for me, Jack
+Sherrill? I 've never done anything in my life to make a
+girl like that care for me.
+
+"But there's one thing I 'd stake my life on--she
+would n't marry a man for his money. A man 's got to
+be loved for himself--not for what he can give a woman,
+or do for her, but just for himself, if it's going to be the
+real thing, and *last*. And what am I that a girl like that
+should love me--" Jack was growing very humble. He
+pulled himself together: "Anyhow, I'll send the flowers
+and the sentiment, *I mean it*; I don't care what she
+thinks!" Jack's courage rose as he began to feel
+something like defiance of Fate.
+
+Just then his chum came in.
+
+"There's no use, Sherrill," he said, flinging himself
+down upon the cushioned seat Jack had just vacated; "we
+can't have the theatricals unless you take the girl's part.
+It won't put you out any--smooth face and no scrub.
+You 've been it once, and it will be a dead failure if you
+aren't in it now."
+
+"I don't see how I can," replied Jack, shortly, for this
+intrusion on his mood irritated him. "I told you, all of
+you, at the Club last year, that I would n't play after I was
+a Junior."
+
+"Well, what if you did?" rejoined his chum, a little
+crossly. "You 're not so uncompromisingly steadfast in
+other things that you can't afford to change your mind in
+such a trifle as this."
+
+"Come, don't be touchy," said Jack, good-humoredly.
+"Hit right out from the shoulder, old man, and tell me
+what you mean."
+
+Dawns smiled, clasped his hands under his head, and
+raised his merry blue eyes to Jack, who was lighting up.
+
+"They say over at the Club that you have thrown
+Maude Seaton over, but Grayson took up the Seaton
+cudgels and made the statement that she had thrown you
+over, and you won't take the girl's part in the play because
+she is coming on for it."
+
+Jack hesitated. He hated to play at any comedy of love
+when his heart was throbbing with the genuine article.
+But, after all, it might be the best way to silence the
+Club's tongues as well as some others in Boston and New
+York.
+
+"I 'll help you out this once, Dawns, but I tell you
+plainly I won't have anything more to do with the Club
+theatricals while I 'm in college," he replied, ignoring both
+of Dawns' statements, which omissions his chum noticed,
+and made his own thoughts: "Just like Sherrill. You
+can't get any hold of him to know what he really feels
+and thinks."
+
+Jack played his part accordingly, repeating the success
+of the year before, and scoring new triumphs. He was
+glad when it was over, and he could go back to his room
+"dead tired," as he said to himself, but with the conviction
+that he had settled matters to his own satisfaction if not to
+that of one other.
+
+The room was in such disorder! Evidently, Dawns had
+been having a little spree before Jack's late return, and the
+smoke had left the air heavy.
+
+Jack dropped his paraphernalia in the middle of the
+floor--peeling himself as he stood yawning and thanking
+his lucky star that he was not born a woman to be
+handicapped by such things!--*décolleté* white satin waist,
+long-trained satin gown, necklace--Jack gave the string a
+twitch, for it had knotted, and the Roman pearls rolled
+into unreachable places all over the floor. Off flew one
+white satin slipper--number ten, broad at the toes!--with
+a fine "drop kick" hitting the ceiling and landing on
+the book-shelves; the other followed suit. White fan with
+chain, white elbow gloves, corsage bouquet--all dropped
+in a promiscuous heap. A general stampede loosened silk
+under-skirt and dainty muslin petticoat, lace-trimmed. A
+wrench,--corset-cover and corsets were torn from their
+moorings. Jack groaned--or something worse--at the
+flummery, and, leaving everything as it had dropped,
+rushed off into his bedroom, only to find that he had
+forgotten to take off the blonde wig and wash off the
+rouge.
+
+At last, however, he was asleep, and slept the sleep of
+the justified.
+
+He slept both soundly and late, but when he awoke the
+next morning his first thought was of the flowers for Mount
+Hunger and the appropriate sentiment. Accordingly, having
+reckoned the arrival of train, departure of stage, etc.,
+to a minute, he selected the flowers, wrote the sentiment,
+not without forebodings of the usual kind, and despatched
+both to Mount Hunger with high hopes, notwithstanding
+prescient feelings. Then, metaphorically, he sat down to
+await an answer. He waited just two months, and during
+that time had turned emotionally black and blue more
+than once at the thought of his temerity in sending such
+a message.
+
+Hazel had written him at once from North Carolina to
+tell him of March's illness, and on the same day she sent
+a penitent note to Rose, confessing her shame at her attempt
+at deception, and explaining that it was because she loved
+her cousin so dearly she could not bear to see his gift
+slighted.
+
+When March was out of danger, Rose had written to
+Hazel a frank, loving letter, blaming herself for her want
+of self-control, and begging Hazel's forgiveness for her
+harsh words:
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+"It's all my old pride, Hazel dear," she wrote, "that I have
+to fight very often. It was most kind of Mr. Sherrill to
+remember me when he has so many, many other friends whom he has
+known longer, and I shall write and tell him so. Now that my
+heart is lighter on account of dear March, I can write more
+easily.
+
+"We miss you so! when are you coming back to us? Chi
+looks perfectly disconsolate, and we all feel a great deal more
+than we care to say.
+
+"I wish you were here to have the fun of the French
+evenings, three times a week. You speak it so beautifully,
+Mr. Ford says, and I thank you so much for all the help you gave
+me in teaching me. Mr. Ford speaks it very well, too, so Miss
+Alton says. We all meet at our house once a week on March's
+account, and then one evening in the week, Miss Alton and I
+(she 's lovely) go over to the Fords' for music. He has sent
+for some lovely songs for me--old English ones, and we're
+going to have a little celebration for March's birthday in May.
+How I wish you were to be here!
+
+"March is lying on the settle, dreaming over that exquisite
+photograph of Cologne Cathedral you sent him; I've just
+asked him if he had any messages for you, and he smiled--oh,
+it's so good to see his dear smile again! You can't think
+how tall he's grown since his illness, and he's so thin--and
+said, 'I sent one to her this morning myself; she can't have two
+a day.' But you know March's ways.
+
+"Now I must stop; Mr. Ford is coming over on horseback
+and I am riding Bob now. I wear an old riding-habit
+of Martie's--it fits fine! I have more to tell you, but
+will finish after I get back from the ride--there comes
+Mr. Ford--"
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+This letter Hazel duly forwarded to her cousin. "He 'll
+know by what she says in it that she really was pleased,
+for all she acted so queer," she said to herself as she
+enclosed it in one to Jack, in which she took special pains
+to inform him that he had never told her whether he had
+given those verses Rose sang to Miss Seaton.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+"I told Rose I was sure they were for Miss Seaton, and
+Rose said she did n't mind copying them herself for you if you
+wished them. Do tell me if you gave them to her. I told
+Rose your valentine to her last year was a rose-heart. I hope
+you don't mind my telling, for, you know, Jack, all our family
+think you are engaged to her--"
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+Jack dropped Hazel's letter at this point and gave a
+decided groan.
+
+"What luck!" he muttered. "It's all up with the
+whole thing now. No girl of any spirit would stand all
+that--and Hazel meddling so! thinking she is doing her
+level best to explain matters;--What an ass I was to
+send that flower-valentine to Maude--and she thinks I
+gave her those verses! and there 's this Ford skulking
+round and having it all his own way; he 's just the kind
+a girl would care for--those musical cranks are no end
+sentimental. Hang it all!"
+
+Jack thrust his hands deep into his pockets, took several
+decided turns up and down the room, squared his shoulders,
+pursed his lips, cut his two classroom lectures, ordered
+up Little Shaver and rode out to the polo grounds, where,
+finding himself alone, he put the little fellow through his
+best paces, ignoring the fact that snow and ice wore on
+the pony's nerves--and had a game out to himself.
+
+When just two months had passed, he received a note
+from Rose, his first, and it was accorded the reception due
+to first notes in particular. After this, Jack developed
+certain wiles of diplomacy, he had thus far, in his various
+experiences, held in abeyance. He wrote sympathetic
+notes to Mrs. Blossom; commissioned Chi to find him
+another polo pony--Morgan, if possible--among the
+Green Hills; sent March a set of illustrated books on
+architecture, and complained to Doctor Heath of a pain
+that racked his chest; at which the Doctor's eyes twinkled.
+He said he would examine him later, but he was convinced
+it was heart trouble, the symptoms were apt to mislead
+and confuse. He added gravely: "Too much hard polo
+riding, Jack; get away into the country--mountains if
+you can, and you 'll recuperate fast enough. I 'll make
+an examination in the fall."
+
+Jack obeyed to the letter, and what a month of September
+that was!
+
+There were glorious rides with Rose along the beautiful
+river valley and over the mountain roads. There were
+delightful evenings at the Fords', and silent, beatific walks
+with Rose homewards beneath the harvest moon. There
+were morning rambles with Rose up over the pastures and
+deep into the woodlands for late ferns and hooded
+gentians. There were adorable hours of doing nothing but
+adore, while Rose was busy about her work, setting the
+table for tea (Jack paid his board at the inn, but he lived
+at the Blossoms'), or laying the cloth for dinner, or on
+Saturday morning even making rolls for the tea to which
+the whole party at the inn were invited.
+
+Chi was in his glory. Little Shaver came trotting
+regularly every day up through the woods'-road, and
+whinnied "Good-morning" first to Fleet, then to Chi.
+There were general coaching-parties to Woodstock and
+Brandon, in which Mrs. Blossom was guest, and a grand
+tea at the Fords' for all the guests, with a musicale for a
+finish, and an informal dance in the Blossoms' barn to
+which all the Lost Nation were invited.
+
+They accepted, one and all. Captain Spillkins was in
+his element, so he said. He and Mrs. Fenlick danced a
+two-step in a manner to win the commendation of the
+entire assembly. Miss Elvira and Miss Melissa went
+through the square dance escorted by Jack and Uncle
+Jo. There were round dances and contra dances. Uncle
+Israel contributed an "1812" jig, and Mr. Clyde passed
+round the hat for his sole benefit. There were waltzes
+for those who could waltz, and polkas for those who could
+polka, and schottische and minuet. "There never was
+such a dance since before the Deluge!" declared
+Mrs. Fenlick, when Captain Spillkins escorted her to a seat
+on a sap-bucket; and then they all went at it again in
+a grand finale, the Virginia Reel--Chi and Hazel,
+Mr. Clyde and Aunt Tryphosa for head and foot couple;
+Maria-Ann with Jack; Alan Ford with Mrs. Fenlick; the
+Colonel with Mrs. Blossom whom he admired greatly;
+March and Miss Alton--such a double row of them!
+
+Poor Reub sat in one of the empty stalls and watched
+the fun with slow, half-understanding smile, and Ruth
+Ford reclined in a rocking-chair in the corner, and with
+merry laughter and sparkling wit soothed the dull ache in
+her heart that the knowledge that she was henceforth to
+be a "Shut-out" from all that life had at first given her.
+
+The next day after the dance there was a grand dinner
+given at the inn by the Newport party to all the Lost
+Nation; and, later on, private entertainments for Mr. and
+Mrs. Blossom and the Fords. At last, when the first
+maple leaves crimsoned and the frost silvered the mullein
+leaves in the pasture, Hazel, her father, Jack, and their
+friends bade good-bye to the Mountain and all its joys of
+acquaintance, and in some cases, friendship, and turned
+their faces, not without reluctance on the part of some of
+them, city-wards.
+
+"Oh, mother! has n't it been too beautiful for anything?"
+exclaimed Rose, turning to her mother, as the last of the
+riding-party waved his cap in farewell to those on the
+porch. It was Jack.
+
+"We have had a happy summer, Rose;--I think they
+have, too," her mother added, shading her eyes from the
+setting sun. "You 'll be very lonely here at home, dear,
+after all this gayety."
+
+"Lonely! Why, Martie Blossom, how can you think
+of such a thing!" said Rose, still scanning the lower road
+for a last glimpse of the riders. "See, see, they are all
+waving their handkerchiefs!"
+
+The whole Blossom family laid hold of what they could--napkins,
+towels, a table-cloth, and Chi seized his shirt,
+which he had hung on the line to dry, and waved frantically
+until the party was no longer to be seen.
+
+"Lonesome! the idea," said Rose, turning to her mother.
+"Think of all the studying March and I have to do, and
+the French evenings, and the Fords, and Thanksgiving
+coming, and then Christmas, and then--
+
+"Then," said Mrs. Blossom, interrupting her, "my Rose
+takes a little plunge into that whirlpool of gay life and
+fashion in New York."
+
+"Yes," said Rose, with a happy smile that spoke volumes
+to her mother, "I do look forward to it, Martie dear; but
+the whirlpool shan't suck me under; I shall come home
+just your old-fashioned Rose-pose."
+
+"I hope so, dear," said her mother, a little wistfully, and
+called the children in to supper.
+
+Indeed, they found little opportunity to miss their friends
+in the ensuing months; for there came kindly letters, and
+friendly letters, and something very nearly resembling
+love-letters. The mail brought papers, books, and
+magazines. The express brought to Barton's River many a
+box of lovely flowers. At Christmas came more than
+one remembrance for them all, including Aunt Tryphosa
+and Maria-Ann, and four special invitations for Rose to
+visit in New York directly after the holidays. One was
+from Mr. Clyde--with an urgent request from Hazel to
+say "yes" by telegram and "relieve her misery," so she
+put it--; one from Mrs. Heath; one from Aunt Carrie,
+and a gushingly cordial one from Mrs. Fenlick! Each
+claimed her for a month. But Mrs. Blossom shook her
+head.
+
+"No, no, dear, you would wear your welcome out. I
+shall need you at home by the last of February. I think
+you can accept only Mr. Clyde's and Mrs. Heath's. You
+can accept social courtesies from the other four of course."
+
+"But, mother," Rose's face was the image of despair,
+"what shall I wear? Just hear what Hazel has planned--'lunches,
+dinners, theatre, concerts'--why! I can never
+go to all those things."
+
+"I 've thought of that, too, Rose; but the little colt
+shan't go bare this time--it will take some courage, dear,
+to wear the same things over and over again, not to
+mention the puzzle of planning for it all."
+
+"I 'm not 'Molly Stark' for nothing," laughed Rose,
+and the two women began to plan for what Chi called
+"Rose's campaign." The pretty white serge was lengthened
+and made over to appear more grown up, as Cherry
+put it; the dark blue wash silk--Hazel's gift that had
+never been made up--was fashioned into a "swell affair"--so
+March pronounced it; the old-fashioned blue lawn
+was cut over into a dainty full waist, and then
+Mrs. Blossom added her surprise--a delicate blue taffeta skirt
+to match the waist. Rose went into raptures over it, and
+sought the best bedroom regularly three times a day to
+feast her girl's eyes on the silken loveliness as it lay in
+state on the best bed. A new dark blue serge was to do
+duty for a street suit, with a plain felt hat. For best,
+there was a turban made of dark blue velvet to match the
+wash silk.
+
+"And four pairs of gloves! Martie Blossom, you are
+an angel, to give me these that Hazel gave you a year ago
+last Christmas. Have you been keeping them for me all
+this time?"
+
+Mrs. Blossom smiled assent, and was rewarded by a
+squeeze that interfered decidedly with her breathing
+apparatus.
+
+The night before she left, Rose "costumed" for the
+benefit of the entire family, who were assembled in the
+long-room, together with Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann,
+to see Rose in her finery.
+
+"I 'll make it a climax," said Rose, laughing
+half-shamefacedly, as she slipped upstairs to change her street
+suit, which had brought forth admiring "Ohs" and "Ahs"
+from the children, and favorable criticism from their elders.
+
+Down she came in her white serge; there were nods
+and smiles of approval.
+
+Her reappearance in the wash silk and velvet turban was
+the signal, on March's part, for a burst of applause, and
+cries of admiration from Budd and Cherry.
+
+"Grand transformation scene!" cried March, as Rose
+tripped down in the blue taffeta, looking like a very rose
+herself.
+
+"Beats all!" murmured Chi, who had become nearly
+speechless with admiration, "what clothes 'll do for a
+good-lookin' woman; but for a ravin', tearin' beauty like
+our Rose--George Washin'ton! She 'll open those
+high-flyers' eyes."
+
+"Cinderella--fifth act!" shouted March as, after a
+prolonged wait, he heard Rose on the stairs.
+
+But was it Rose?
+
+The beautiful India mull of her mother's had been
+transformed into a ball-dress. She had drawn on her
+long white gloves and tucked into the simple, ribbon belt
+three of Jack's Christmas roses.
+
+Maria-Ann gasped, and that broke the, to Rose,
+somewhat embarrassing silence.
+
+Marshalled by March, the whole family formed a
+procession, and Rose was reviewed:--back breadths, front
+breadths, flounces, waist, gloves; all were thoroughly
+inspected.
+
+Chi touched the lower flounce of the half-train gingerly
+with one work-roughened forefinger, then, straightening
+himself suddenly, sighed heavily.
+
+"What's the matter, Chi?" Rose laughed at the dubious
+expression on his face.
+
+"You ain't Rose Blossom nor Molly Stark any longer.
+You 're just a regular Empress of Rooshy, 'n' you don't
+look like that girl I took along to sell berries down to
+Barton's last summer, 'n' I wish you--" he hesitated.
+
+"What, Chi?" said Rose.
+
+"I wish you was back again, old sunbonnet, old calico
+gown, patched shoes 'n' all--"
+
+"Oh, Chi, no, you don't," said Rose, laughing merrily;
+"you forget, I shall probably see Miss Seaton down there
+in New York, and you wouldn't want me to appear a
+second time before her in that old rig."
+
+"You 're right, Rose-pose," replied Chi, his expression
+brightening visibly. He drew close to her and whispered
+audibly:
+
+"Just sail right in, Molly Stark, 'n' cut that sassy girl
+out right 'n' left. She never could hold a candle to
+you."
+
+"Sh-sh, Chi!" said Mrs. Blossom, meaningly, but with
+a twinkle in her eye.
+
+"I mean just what I say, Mis' Blossom. Folks can't
+come up here on this Mountain to sass us to our faces, 'n'
+she *did*;--I've stayed riled ever since, 'n' I hope she'll
+get sassed back in a way that 'll make her hair stand just
+a little more on end than it did, when she gave that mean,
+snickerin' giggle--"
+
+"Chi, Chi," Mrs. Blossom interrupted him in an appeasing tone.
+
+"You need n't Chi me, Mis' Blossom. These children
+are just as near to me as if they was my own, 'n' when
+they 're sassed, I 'm sassed too; 'n' my great-grandfather
+fought over at Ticonderogy, 'n' I ain't bound to take any
+more sass than he took--"
+
+By this time the whole family were in fits of laughter
+over Chi's persistent use of so much "sass," and, at last,
+Chi himself joined in the laugh at his excessive heat:--
+
+"Over nothin' but a wind-bag, after all," he concluded.
+
+On the following morning, Mr. Blossom, Chi, March
+and Budd drove down to Barton's to see Rose off. The
+old apple-green pung had been fitted with two broad
+boards for seats, and covered with buffalo robes and horse
+blankets. There was just room in the tail for Rose's
+old-fashioned trunk and a small strapped box, which held two
+dozen of new-laid eggs, six small, round cheeses, and a
+wreath of ground hemlock and bitter-sweet--a neighborly
+gift from Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann to Hazel and
+Mr. Clyde.
+
+As the train moved away from the station, Chi watched
+it with brimming eyes.
+
+"She'll never come back the same Rose-pose, livin'
+among all those high-flyers--never," he muttered to
+himself; but aloud he remarked, with forced cheerfulness,
+turning to Mr. Blossom while he dashed the blinding
+drops from his eyes with the back of his hand:
+
+"Looks mighty like a thaw, Ben; kind of wets down,
+don't it?"
+
+"Yes, Chi," said Mr. Blossom, busy with conquering his
+own heartache, "we 'd better be getting on home;" and the
+masculine contingent of the Blossom household climbed
+into the pung and took their way homeward in silence.
+
+But what a reception that was for the transplanted Rose!
+
+Mr. Clyde met her at the Grand Central Station, and
+Rose felt how welcome she was just by the hand-clasp,
+and his first words:
+
+"We have you at last, Rose; I would n't let Hazel
+come because I thought the train might be late, and there's
+a cold rain falling. Martin, take this box--"
+
+"Oh, no; I must carry that myself," laughed Rose,
+looking up at the liveried footman with something like
+awe. "I promised Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann I
+would n't let any one take them till they were safe in the
+house; thank you," she bowed courteously to Martin, who
+confided to the coachman so soon as they were on the box:
+"Hi 'ave n't seen nothink so 'ansome since Hi 've bean in
+the States."
+
+As the brougham whirled into the Avenue, and the
+electric lights shone full into the carriage, Rose could see
+the luxuriously upholstered interior, and a sudden thought
+of the old apple-green pung and the buffalo robes dimmed
+her eyes. But it was only for a moment; Mr. Clyde was
+telling her of Hazel's impatience, and how the coachman
+had had special orders from her to hurry up so soon as he
+should be on the Avenue, and he had hardly finished
+before the coachman drew rein, slackening his rapid pace
+as he turned a corner, Martin was opening the door, and
+Hazel's voice was calling from a wide house entrance
+flooded with soft light:
+
+"Oh, Rose, my Rose! Is it really you, at last?"
+
+"And this, I am sure, is Wilkins," said Rose, when
+finally Hazel set her arms free. "We 've heard so much
+of you, that I feel as if I had known you a long time."
+Rose held out her hand with such sincere cordiality that
+Wilkins' speech was suddenly reduced to pantomime, and
+he could only extend his other hand rather helplessly
+towards the box that Rose still carried. But Rose refused
+to yield it up.
+
+"Here, Hazel, I promised Maria-Ann and Aunt Tryphosa
+I would n't give it into any hands but yours. Oh! be
+careful--they 're eggs!"
+
+"Eggs!" repeated Hazel, laughing. "Here, Wilkins,
+unstrap it for me, quick--Oh, papa, look!" She held out
+the box to Mr. Clyde, and, somehow, John Curtis Clyde
+for a moment thought with Chi, that there was going to
+be a "thaw." Each egg was rolled in white cotton
+batting and wrapped in pink tissue paper. The six little
+cheeses were enclosed in tin-foil, and cheeses and eggs
+were embedded in the Christmas wreath. On a piece of
+pasteboard was written in unsteady characters:
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+To Mr. John Curtis Clyde of New York City, with the
+season's compliments.
+
+MOUNT HUNGER, VERMONT, January 6th, 1898.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+"And you 've had such lovely flowers come for you,
+five boxes of them, Rose, and piles of invitations. I 'm
+sure you 're engaged up to Ash Wednesday."
+
+"Come, Chatterbox," said her father, smiling at her
+volubility, "Rose has just time to dress for dinner; you
+know Aunt Carrie and Uncle Jo are coming to-night."
+
+"Oh, I forgot all about them; you 'll have to hurry,
+Rose. Wilkins, bring up the flowers. Come on,"
+Hazel ran up the broad flight of stairs, carpeted with
+velvety crimson, to the first landing, from which, through
+a lofty arch in the hall, Rose caught a glimpse of softly
+lighted rooms, the walls enriched with engravings and
+etchings, with here and there a landscape or marine
+in watercolors. Rose drew a long breath. This, then,
+was what Chi meant when he said "Hazel was rich as
+Croesus."
+
+"But, Hazel, my trunk has n't come," said Rose, as she
+followed her hostess into the spacious bedroom, which was
+separated from Hazel's only by a dressing-room.
+
+"It 'll be here in a few minutes; papa has a special
+man, who always delivers them almost as soon as we get
+here."
+
+Sure enough, the trunk came in time; and Rose, as she
+unpacked, finding evidences of the loving mother-care in
+every fold, cried within her heart, looking about at the
+exquisite appointments of her room and dressing-room:
+
+"Martie, Martie, what would all this be without you!--Oh,
+I know now, what dear old Chi meant when he said
+Hazel was poor where we are rich--only a housekeeper
+to see to all Hazel's things--"
+
+"Rose, what flowers are you going to wear?" called
+Hazel from her room.
+
+"I have n't had time to look," Rose called back,
+surveying her white serge with great satisfaction in the
+pier-glass.
+
+"Do look, then, and see who they 're from."
+
+"Oh, Hazel, do come and see. How kind everybody
+has been! Here are cards from Mrs. Heath and Doctor
+Heath, and your Aunt Carrie, and Mr. Sherrill, and
+Mrs. Fenlick, and even that Mr. Grayson who was up at our
+house to tea a year ago!"
+
+"They are lovely. Whose are you going to wear?"
+
+"I 'll make up a bunch of one or two from each, that
+will show my appreciation of all their favors."
+
+Hazel looked slightly crestfallen. "I hoped you 'd wear
+Jack's--they 're the loveliest with white--" she lifted
+the white lilacs--"and they 're so rare just now. I heard
+Aunt Carrie say that one of the girls had put off her
+wedding for six weeks, just because she couldn't have white
+lilacs for it."
+
+"They 'll last with care three days surely, and I can
+wear them to-morrow evening," replied Rose, bending to
+inhale their delicate fragrance.
+
+"So you can, for papa is going to give a dinner for you
+to-morrow night, and afterwards, he has promised to take
+you to a dance at Mrs. Pearsell's. I can't go, you know,
+for I 'm not grown up; but you can tell me all about it.
+We 're going to have lots of fun this week, for school does
+not begin for several days. Come."
+
+Together they went down to the drawing-room, and
+Wilkins announced that dinner was served.
+
+After it was over he sought Minna-Lu in her own
+domains, and gave vent to his long pent emotions.
+
+"Minna-Lu," he whispered, mysteriously, "dere 's an
+out an' out angel ben hubberin' 'bout de table--"
+
+"Fo' de Lawd!" Minna-Lu turned upon him fiercely,
+for she was superstitious to the very marrow. "Wa' fo'
+yo' come hyar, skeerin' de bref out a mah bones wif yo'
+sp'r'ts! Yo' go long home wha' yo' b'long."
+
+But Wilkins was not to be repulsed in this manner.
+"Nebber see sech ha'r, an' jes' lillum-white--"
+
+"Oh, go 'long! Lillum-white ha'r," interrupted Minna-Lu,
+with scathing sarcasm. "Huccome yo' know de angels
+hab lillum-white ha'r?"
+
+"Huccome I know?--'Case I see de shine, jes' lake
+yo' see in de dror'n-room."
+
+"De shine ob lillum-white ha'r in de dror'n-room!
+'Pears lake yo' head struck ile--"
+
+"Yo' hol' yo' tongue, Minna-Lu," retorted Wilkins,
+irritated at the continued evidence of disbelief on the part
+of his coadjutor. "Jes' yo' hide back ob de dumb-waitah
+to-morrah ebenin' when de dessert comes on, an' see fo'
+yo'se'f!" He departed in high dudgeon, and Minna-Lu
+gurgled long and low to herself, but, in her turn, was
+interrupted by the sound of tripping steps on the
+basement flight.
+
+Minna-Lu hastily put her fat hands up to her turban to
+see if it were on straight, and smoothed her apron, muttering:
+
+"Clar to goodness, ef it ain't jes' mah luck to hab little
+Missus come into dis yere hen-roost?" she rapidly surveyed
+her immaculate kitchen with anxious eye.
+
+"Minna-Lu, this is my friend, Miss Rose; the one who
+did up those lovely preserves, and here are some new-laid
+eggs and some cheeses that Miss Maria-Ann
+Simmons--you know I told you all about her and the hens--has
+sent papa."
+
+Minna-Lu gazed at Rose in open admiration. The faithful
+colored retainer had her thorny side and her blossom
+one.
+
+Rose put out her hand, and Minna-Lu took it in both
+hers. "I 'se mighty glad yo' come, Miss Rose, dere ain't
+no strawberry-blossom nor no rose-blossom can hol' a can'le
+to yo' own honey se'f. Dese yere cheeses is prime." She
+examined one with the nose of a connoisseur. "Jes' fill
+de bill wif de salad-chips to-morrah." She stemmed her
+fists on her hips, and her mellow, contented gurgle caused
+Rose and Hazel to laugh, too.
+
+"What is it, Minna-Lu?" said Hazel, reading the signs
+of the times.
+
+"Dat Wilkins done tol' me to git back ob de dumb-waitah,
+to-morrah ebenin' to see Missy Rose, but I 'se
+gwine to ask rale straight to jes' see her 'fo' de comp'ny
+come."
+
+"Of course you may. Come up to my room about seven,
+and we 'll be ready."
+
+"Fo' sho'," said Minna-Lu, with beaming face.
+
+"Good-night," said Rose, beaming, too, for she found the
+black faces and ways irresistibly amusing.
+
+"De Lawd bress yo' lily face, Missy Rose."
+
+When the two girls were alone, at last, in Hazel's room,
+there was no thought of bed for an hour. There were
+numberless questions on Hazel's part concerning all the
+dear Mount Hunger people, and speechless astonishment
+on Rose's at the number of invitations that were waiting
+for her. They chatted all the time they were undressing,
+calling back and forth to each other as one thing or another
+suggested itself. Finally, Hazel made her appearance in
+Rose's room. She went up to her, put her arms about
+her neck, and, looking up with eyes full of loving trust,
+said:
+
+"Rose-pose, won't you come into my room and say 'Our
+Father' with me as Mother Blossom used to do on Mount
+Hunger? You can't think how I miss it."
+
+"Why, Hazel darling, of course I will--then I shan't
+feel homesick missing that precious Martie."
+
+She followed Hazel into her room, and after she was in
+bed, Rose knelt by her side, and together they said, "Our
+Father." Then Rose bent over to receive Hazel's loving
+kiss and whispered, "Oh, Rose, I 'm so happy to have you
+here," and whispered back, "And I 'm so happy to be with
+you, Hazel--good-night."
+
+"Good-night."
+
+Rose went back to her room. At last she was alone.
+She drew one of the easy-chairs up before the wood-fire
+that was dying down, put her bare feet on the warm fender,
+and, for a while, dreamed waking dreams. It was all so
+strange. The cathedral clock on the mantel chimed twelve.
+They were all asleep in the farmhouse on the Mountain--it
+was time for her to be. She rose, tiptoed softly into the
+dressing-room, took from the bowl the spray of white lilacs
+she had worn with the other flowers that evening, shook
+off the water, and drew the stem through a buttonhole in
+the yoke of her simple night-dress. She tiptoed back again
+into her room, looked up at the dainty, canopied bed, then
+laid herself down within it, and, almost immediately, fell
+asleep--with her hand resting on the white fragrance that
+lay upon her heart.
+
+
+
+
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`"Behold how great a Matter a Little Fire Kindles"`:
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ XXIII
+
+
+.. class:: center medium
+
+ BEHOLD HOW GREAT A MATTER A LITTLE FIRE KINDLETH
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+It was so delightful! The weeks were passing all too
+quickly, and the letters to Mount Hunger waxed eloquent
+in praise of everybody's kindness.
+
+Jack had come on to lead a cotillion with Rose at Aunt
+Carrie's. It was a weighty affair--the selecting of the
+flowers for her. White violets they must be, and white
+violets were about as rare as white raspberries. Jack gave
+the florist his own address.
+
+"I 'll see them, myself, before I send them up; for I
+won't trust anyone's eyes but my own," he said to himself
+as he hurried home to dress for dinner with a friend. "I
+wish I had n't promised Grayson to meet him at the Club
+before seven. I 'm afraid they won't come in time." He
+looked at his watch. "I 'm going to make them a test--and
+see what she 'll do. She 's so friendly and frank and
+all that, I can't find out even whether she 's beginning to
+care."
+
+Jack's absorption in the theme was such that he put his
+latch-key in wrong-side up, and, in consequence, wrestled
+with the lock till he had worked himself into a fever of
+impatience; finally he touched the button before he
+discovered the trouble.
+
+"Any packages come for me, Jason?" he inquired of
+the butler, whose dignified manner of locomotion had been
+rudely shaken by Jack's unceasing pressure on the
+electric-bell.
+
+"Yes, Mr. John. Just taken a box up to the rooms."
+
+Jack looked relieved, and sprang upstairs two steps at
+a time. He opened the box. There they were in all their
+exquisite freshness. "Like her," he thought, touching his
+lips to them; then, suddenly straightening himself, he felt
+the blood surge into his face.
+
+"I like Dord's way of putting up his flowers, no
+tags, nor fol-de-rols. Jason," he said, as he ran down
+stairs again, "I shall be back in an hour; tell Thomas
+to have everything laid out--I 'm in a hurry. And
+have a messenger-boy here when I come back, and
+don't forget to order the carriage for quarter of eight,
+sharp."
+
+"Yes, Mr. John."
+
+"Messenger-boy come?" he inquired as Jason opened
+the door on his return.
+
+"Yes, sir, waiting in the hall."
+
+Jack raced up stairs. There was the precious box on
+his dressing-table. He hastily took a visiting card, and,
+writing on it the sentiment that was uppermost in his
+heart, slipped it into the envelope, gave it, together with
+the box, to the waiting boy, and bade him hand it to the
+man, Wilkins, with the request that it be sent up at once
+to the lady to whom it was addressed. Then he made
+ready for dinner.
+
+An hour later, Rose was dressing for the dance, and
+Hazel was watching her, chatting volubly all the while.
+
+"That's the loveliest dress, Rose, I heard Aunt Carrie
+say, you couldn't buy such, nowadays."
+
+"It was Martie's wedding-dress. An uncle of her
+mother's, who was a sea-captain, brought it from India.
+But if I wear it many more times, it will be known
+throughout the length of New York. This is my sixth time."
+
+"I should n't care if it were the hundredth; it's just
+lovely. Besides, Jack has n't seen it, you know."
+
+Rose laughed. "Oh, yes, he has--on Martie; that
+night of the tea on the porch."
+
+"Oh, well, that's different. What flowers are you
+going to wear?"
+
+"I thought I wouldn't wear any, just for a change." Rose's
+face was veiled by the shining hair, which she was
+brushing, preparatory to coiling it high on her head;
+otherwise, Hazel would have seen the clear flush that warmed
+even the roots of the soft waves at the nape of her neck.
+Just then there was a knock. The maid opened the door,
+and Wilkins' voice was distinctly audible:--
+
+"Jes' come fo' Miss Rose; dey wuz to come up right
+smart, so de boy say."
+
+"Oh, more flowers. Who from?" cried Hazel, eagerly,
+while Wilkins strained his ears to catch the reply.
+
+"From Mr. Sherrill," said Rose, opening the little
+envelope.
+
+What she read on the card caused the blood to mount
+higher and higher, till temples and forehead flushed pink,
+then as suddenly to recede.
+
+"May I open them, Rose, and won't you wear some if
+they 're from Jack?"
+
+"Yes," said Rose, simply. The two girls leaned over
+the box as Hazel took off the wrapper--then the
+cover--then the inner tissue papers--then--
+
+.. _`"The two girls leaned over the box as Hazel took off the wrapper"`:
+
+.. figure:: images/img-288.jpg
+ :align: center
+ :alt: "The two girls leaned over the box as Hazel took off the wrapper"
+
+ "The two girls leaned over the box as Hazel took off the wrapper"
+
+Suddenly a shriek of laughter, followed by another,
+penetrated to Wilkins, who was lingering on the stairs; he
+came softly back again. Peal after peal of wild merriment
+issued from Rose's room. Within, Rose in her petticoat
+and bodice had flung herself on the bed in an ecstasy
+of mirth, and Hazel was rolling over on the rug as was
+the wont of Budd and Cherry in the old days on Mount
+Hunger. The maid looked from one to the other, and, no
+longer able to keep from joining in the merriment, although
+she did not know the cause, left the room, only to find
+Wilkins with perturbed face just outside the door.
+
+"'Pears lake dere wor sumfin' queah 'bout dat ye re
+box--" he began; but the maid only shook with laughter
+and laid her finger on her lips, motioning him into the
+back hall.
+
+"Did you ever?" cried Hazel, when she recovered her
+breath.
+
+"No, I never," said Rose, wiping away the tears, for she
+had laughed till she cried. "Let's take another look."
+
+They bent over the box, and took out its contents; then
+went off again into fits of seemingly inextinguishable
+laughter; for, neatly folded beneath the tissue paper, lay
+four sets of Jack's new light-weight, white silk pajamas,
+which he had purchased that afternoon, in order to take
+back to Cambridge with him. On the card, which Rose still
+held in her hand, was written, "Wear these for my sake."
+
+"What will you say to him, Rose?" said Hazel, sitting
+up on the rug with her hands clasped about her knees.
+
+"I don't know," said Rose, proceeding to dress. "I
+can't *wear* them, that's certain." And again the absurdity
+of the situation presented itself to her. "And I can't
+apologize for not wearing them. Neither can I take it for
+granted that he was going to send me flowers, and explain
+that he sent me these instead."
+
+"How awfully careless," said Hazel, interrupting her;
+"he must have had something on his mind not to take the
+pains to look, even."
+
+Rose flushed. "It will be best to let the matter drop,
+and say nothing about it," she replied in a cool, toploftical
+tone that amazed, as well as mystified, her little hostess.
+
+"Why, Rose, I think Jack ought to know about it.
+I 'll tell him, if you don't want to."
+
+"Thank you, Hazel, but I don't need your good offices
+in this matter."
+
+Hazel rose from the rug, and going over to Rose, laid
+both hands on her shoulders and looked straight up into
+her eyes.
+
+"Now, Rose Blossom, please don't speak to me in that
+way. You 're so queer! First you 're nice about Jack,
+and then you 're horrid; and when you 're that way, you
+are n't nice to *me* a bit--and I don't like it, and I don't
+blame Jack for not liking it either," she added
+emphatically. "I remember papa said a year ago that Jack was
+'all heart' for a good many girls, old and young--but I
+can tell you what, he won't have any for you, if you whiff
+round so."
+
+Hazel in her earnestness gave Rose a little shake. Rose
+smiled, and, bending her head, kissed her, saying, "F. and
+F. and you know, Hazel."
+
+"Oh, I know all about 'forgiving and forgetting,' but
+I don't like it just the same. He's my cousin and the
+dearest fellow in the world, and I don't like to have him
+treated so."
+
+"How about his treating me?" said Rose, pointing to
+the innocent box of underwear, "forgetting even to look;
+or not caring enough, to see if I had the right package?"
+
+"Oh, that's different--perhaps the florist made a
+mistake."
+
+"The florist!" Rose laughed merrily. "I never knew
+that gentlemen's underwear and roses grew on the same
+bush.--There 's Wilkins, and I 'm not ready."
+
+"De coachman say it's a pow'f ul col' night, an' Miss
+Rose bettah take some mo' wraps."
+
+"Thank you, Wilkins," Hazel flew into the dressing-room
+for a long fur cloak of her mother's which she had
+used to wear to the dancing-classes. She wrapped it
+about Rose, who stooped suddenly and kissed her again,
+whispering, "Hazel, you 've all spoiled me, that's what's
+the matter,--but I 'll be good to Jack, for your sake as
+well as for my own."
+
+"Now you 're what Doctor Heath calls papa, the most
+splendid fellow in the world. There now--I won't crush
+your gown--" A kiss--"Good-night. You look like
+an angel!"
+
+Mr. Clyde thought so, too, as he watched her coming
+downstairs. She slipped off the cloak as she stood beneath
+the soft, but brilliant hall lights. "Do I look all right?"
+she asked earnestly, for she had fallen into the habit, before
+going anywhere with him or Hazel, of asking for their
+criticism.
+
+"I should say so--but where are the flowers? I miss them."
+
+"I thought I wouldn't wear any to-night, just for a change."
+
+"A woman's whim, Rose. But I can't say that you
+need them--Now, what's to pay?" he said to himself,
+as he helped her into the carriage. "I saw Jack at Dord's
+this afternoon, and, evidently, something was in the wind.
+I hope it has n't been taken out of his sails."
+
+"Sumfin' mighty queah 'bout dat yere box," murmured
+Wilkins to himself, as he closed the door, "but Miss Rose
+doan' need no flow's. Nebber see sech h--Fo' de good
+Lawd! Wha' fo' yo' hyar? Yo' Minna-Lu,--skeerin'
+mah day-lights out o' mah, shoolin' 'roun' b'hin' dat por'
+chair,--jes' lake bug'lahs."
+
+Minna-Lu gurgled. "Yo' jes' straight, Wilkins; nebber
+see sech ha'r. Huccome I 'se hyar? Jes' to see dat
+lillum-white angel--"
+
+"Yo' go 'long, wha' yo' b'long," growled Wilkins, not
+yet having recovered from his fright. And Minna-Lu
+went, with the radiant vision still before her round, black
+eyes.
+
+Jack felt a queer tightening about his lower jaw, and
+one heart-throb, apparently in his throat, as he entered
+Aunt Carrie's reception-room. Then, as with one glance
+he swept Rose from the crown of her head to the hem of
+her dress, a hot, rushing wave of indignant feeling
+mastered him--he knew he had staked his all (so a man at
+twenty-two is apt to think) and lost. He braced himself,
+mentally and physically. He was n't going to show the
+white-feather--not he.
+
+But Rose--Rose was mystifying, captivating, cordial,
+merry, and altogether charming. She knocked out all
+Jack's calculations as to life, love, women, girls in general,
+and one girl in particular, at one fell swoop. He was
+brought, necessarily, into unstable equilibrium, so far as
+his feelings were concerned--his head he was obliged
+to keep level on account of the various figures. Several
+other heads were variously askew, and would have been
+turned, likewise, for good and all, had the wearer of her
+mother's India-mull wedding-dress been possessed of a
+fortune.
+
+Rose developed social powers that evening that furnished
+food for conversation for Aunt Carrie and Mr. Clyde, who
+watched her with pride and pleasure. She was evidently
+enjoying herself thoroughly, and her enjoyment proved
+contagious.
+
+"After all," said Jack as, between figures, he found
+opportunity for a whispered word or two; "this is n't
+half so fine a dance as the one in the barn, last September."
+
+"Why, that's just what I was thinking, myself, that
+very minute!"
+
+"You were?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+The brown eyes and the blue ones met with such
+evidence of a perfect understanding, that Jack failed to see
+Maude Seaton, who had approached him for the purpose
+of taking him out in the four-in-hand.
+
+"Oh, I beg your pardon," said Jack, starting to his feet,
+"it's the 'four-in-hand.'"
+
+"Yes, and I think you 'll have to be put into the traces
+again," she said, with a meaning smile.
+
+"Not I," retorted Jack, merrily, "I kicked over them
+nearly a year ago."
+
+"So I heard," replied Miss Seaton, sweetly; and Jack
+wondered what she meant.
+
+When Jack found himself again beside Rose, he decided
+that, flowers or no flowers, he would ask for an
+explanation. But his first attempt was met with such a
+bewilderingly merry smile, and such confident assurance that
+explanations were not in order, that it proved a successful
+failure.
+
+When, at last, in the early morning hours he was seated
+before the open fire in his bedroom, pulling away reflectively
+at his pipe, he had time to think it over. He came
+to the conclusion that it was trivial in him to have staked
+his all on her wearing those flowers, for she
+certainly--certainly had led him to think that she was anything but
+indifferent to him.
+
+"That look now," mused Jack. "I don't believe that
+a girl like Rose Blossom would look that way if she
+didn't mean it--if she did n't care. No other girl could
+look that way." He reached for his watch on the dressing-case.
+"I shall get good two hours' sleep before that early
+train.--What's that?" He noticed for the first time,
+that on the bed lay a familiar-looking box in a brown
+paper wrapper. In a trice he had broken the string,
+whisked off the cover, scattered the tissue paper right and
+left.--There lay the violets, white, and sweet, and almost
+as fresh as when he gave them his virgin kiss nearly twelve
+hours before.
+
+Jack sat down stupefied on the bed. *What had he
+given her, anyway*? He thought intensely for a full
+minute.
+
+"Great Scott! the pajamas!" And then Jack Sherrill
+rolled over on the bed, ignoring the damage to dress suit
+and violets, and, burying his face in the pillow, gave vent
+to a smothered yell.
+
+There was a merry exchange of notes between
+Cambridge and New York during the next two weeks, and
+Rose had promised to wear any flowers--and only
+his--he might send her for the ball at Mrs. Fenlick's the middle
+of February, and for which Jack was coming on. It would
+occur during the last week of Rose's visit, and Jack
+thought that possibly--possibly,--well, he could n't
+define just what "possibly;" but it proved to be an infinitely
+absorbing one, and Jack felt it was "now or never" with him.
+
+Mrs. Heath had claimed Rose as her guest for the last
+three weeks, and the days were filled with pleasures. On
+the Saturday before the ball, and a week before Rose was
+to return to Mount Hunger, two seats in a box at the
+opera had been sent in to Mrs. Heath from a friend.
+
+"Look at these, Rose!" Mrs. Heath exclaimed, showing
+her the note. "Just exactly what you were wishing to
+hear, and we thought we could not arrange it for next
+week. That opera has been changed for to-day's matinée,
+and now you can hear both Lohengrin and Siegfried."
+
+Rose clapped her hands. "I 've just longed to hear
+Lohengrin; Mrs. Ford and her son have played so much
+of it to me. I think it's perfectly beautiful."
+
+"I 'm so sorry I can't go, dear; but I made a positive
+engagement for this afternoon and it must not be broken.
+But I 'll send round for Cousin Anna May. She does n't
+care much for the opera, but she will chaperone you.
+She 's not much of a talker either, so you can enjoy the
+music in peace. People chatter so abominably there."
+
+From the moment the orchestra sounded the first notes
+of that pathetic and thrillingly appealing fore-word of the
+overture, Rose was lost to the world about her. She was
+glad of the darkness, glad no one could see or notice her
+intense absorption in the opening scene. Even when the
+lights were turned on between the acts, and the subdued
+murmur in the house rose to a confusing babble, she was
+living in the story of Elsa and her lover Knight. Elderly
+Cousin Anna May, seeing this, let her alone, thinking to
+herself:--"One has to be young to be so enthusiastic
+over this wornout theme."
+
+The curtain fell; the house was brilliant with lights;
+confusion of talk, confusion of merry chat and laughter
+were all about Rose; but she sat unheeding, wondering
+if the element of evil would be turned into a factor of
+good. Her heart was aching with the intensity of feeling
+for the two lovers. Suddenly, a few words behind her
+arrested her attention. She sat with her back to the
+speakers--two girls in the next box, who had annoyed
+her more than once by their ceaseless, whispering gabble.
+
+"I told Maude I did n't believe it."
+
+"What did she say?"
+
+"She said it was gospel truth."
+
+"Do tell me what it was, I won't tell."
+
+"Sure?"
+
+"Not a soul."
+
+"Promise?"
+
+"Why, of course. They say he 's got oceans of money."
+
+"Piles--. He 's got his mother's fortune and will have
+his father's. Besides, his Uncle Gray is a bachelor, and
+so Jack will have that, too. Maude says he 's the best
+catch in New York."
+
+"I heard Sam say he was in an awfully fast set in college;
+but Sam likes him awfully well. Have you seen him?"
+
+"Oh, yes, lots. Maude let me see him one night
+before dinner at Newport. I used to see him playing
+polo at the grounds. I think he 's fascinating--just like
+Lohengrin."
+
+"But what was it? Hurry up, do."
+
+"You 'll never tell?"
+
+"Never."
+
+The voice was slightly lowered--confused with the
+munching of Huyler's; and Rose, with hypersensitive
+hearing, could distinguish only a word or two, or a
+detached sentence.
+
+"I don't think that's so awful. Sam does that, too,
+and he 's just as nice a brother as I want."
+
+"Oh, I don't know anything about that; but I know
+it's true, for Maude said so." In the increasing confusion
+of talk in the house, the voices were suddenly raised, and
+Rose caught every word.
+
+"I 'll ask Sam--" began the other, dropping her opera
+glass and stooping to pick it up.
+
+"If you do, Minna Grayson, I 'll never speak to you again."
+
+"Oh, I forgot--" laughed the other. "Tell us some
+more, it's awfully exciting."
+
+"I won't either," said the other, in a huffy tone.
+Evidently, they were school-girls in for the matinée.
+
+"Oh, *do*; what *did* Maude say?"
+
+"She said, 'No,'" chuckled the other triumphantly.
+
+"But think of his money!'
+
+"She said she did n't mind; she 's got money enough of
+her own, anyway, if she does skimp me on allowance ever
+since grandmamma died."
+
+"I heard Sara say last Christmas when I was home for
+vacation, that he was perfectly devoted to that new girl the
+Clydes have taken up."
+
+"Yes. Maude says it's one of his fads. She gives him
+six months more to get over it."
+
+"Everybody says she is a perfect beauty. Sam says
+that Mrs. Fenlick says she is the most beautiful creature
+off of a canvas she has ever seen."
+
+"Oh, Maude says Mrs. Fenlick raves over everything
+new. She, the girl, I mean, made a dead set at him a year
+ago when he happened to meet her up in the mountains.
+You know they had a riding-party last August. But now
+they say she seems to be setting her cap for Hazel's
+father--he has a million or two more than Jack, and she 's as
+poor as a church-mouse."
+
+"I did n't know that,--poor?"
+
+"Yes, awfully. Why, Maude says she's seen her selling
+berries for a living somewhere up in the mountains--oh,
+way back in them. People call them the Lost Nation,
+they 're so far back; and Maude says she wore patched
+shoes and an old calico dress--Sh!--Now we 're going to
+have that bridal march, is n't it dandy? It ought to be a
+part of the marriage ceremony, Maude says. I 'm so glad
+it's coming;--Tum, tum, ty tum--tum, tum, ty
+tum--here 's just one more candied violet--tum, tum, ty tum,
+tum, ty tum, ty ty tum, ty tum--Oh, look! Is n't Elsa
+just lovely--"
+
+A burst of applause greeted the beautiful prima donna.
+Upon Rose's ears it fell like the thunder of a cataract, like
+the crash and roll of an avalanche. She stared at the
+exquisite scene before her with strained eyes. The music
+went on with all the troublous-sweet under-tones of love,
+and longing, and forever-parting. Not once did Rose
+stir until the curtain fell, then she turned to her
+companion:--
+
+"Can we get out soon, Mrs. May? The air is a little
+close here."
+
+"Certainly, my dear;" but to herself she said, "How
+intense she is. I 'm thankful I never was so strung up
+over music."
+
+
+
+
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`"OLD PUT"`:
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ XXIV
+
+
+.. class:: center medium
+
+ "OLD PUT"
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+"Where 's Rose?" said the Doctor as he came in that
+Saturday evening, and heard no welcoming voice from the
+library or the stairs.
+
+"She came home from the opera with a frightful
+headache and has gone to bed. She said she did n't want any
+dinner, but I have insisted upon her having some toast
+and tea," replied his wife.
+
+"Humph!" growled the Doctor; "Our wild rose can't
+stand such hot-house atmosphere. When does the
+Fenlicks' ball come off?"
+
+"Next Wednesday; it will be a superb affair. Rose
+showed me her card the other day, and if you will believe
+me, it's full, although Jack Sherrill gets the lion's
+share."
+
+"How do you think things are coming on there, wifie?"
+
+"Why, he's devoted to her whenever he can be; you
+know what Mrs. Pearsell told us about last summer,
+but--"
+
+"But what?" said the Doctor, a little impatiently.
+"Generally, wifie, you can see prospective wedding-cake
+if two young people so much as look twice at each other."
+
+Mrs. Heath laughed and nodded. "Yes, I know; but
+in just this case, I don't know. You can't tell anything
+by her--and I fear, hubbie, that Jack Sherrill is n't quite
+good enough for her."
+
+"Not quite good enough for her!" The Doctor almost
+shouted in his earnestness. "Jack Sherrill not quite good
+enough for--"
+
+"Sh--sh, dear!" His wife held up her hand in warning.
+"Someone might hear."
+
+"Let 'em hear, then," growled the Doctor. "I say Rose
+is n't a bit too good for him.--Look here, wifie,--" he drew
+her towards him and down upon the arm of his easy-chair,
+"Jack's all right every time--do you understand? *All
+right!*"
+
+"Ye-es," admitted his wife rather reluctantly. "I know
+he 's a great favorite of yours. But Mrs. Grayson says
+he 's in a very fast set at Harvard--
+
+"Now look here, wifie, don't you let those women with
+their eternal hunger for gossip say anything to you about
+Jack. I tell you there is n't another fellow I know, who,
+placed as he is, can set up so many white stones to mark
+his short life's pathway as John Sherrill's only son. For
+heaven's sake, give him the credit for them. I know what
+I saw on Mount Hunger a year ago, and I know and believe
+what I see."
+
+"Well, I only hope he won't flirt with her--" began
+Mrs. Heath. Her husband interrupted her:
+
+"Flirt with her!" The Doctor chuckled. "I'll
+warrant Jack won't do any flirting with her--it 'll be the
+other way round sooner than that! Just say good-night
+to Rose for me when you go up stairs, and tell her if she
+is n't down bright and early Sunday morning, I 'll prescribe
+for her."
+
+But there was no need for the Doctor's prescription; for
+Rose was down for breakfast, and although white cheeks
+and heavy eyes caused the Doctor to draw his eyebrows
+together in a straight line over the bridge of his nose,
+nothing was said of there being any need for a prescription.
+But after breakfast he drew her into the library and
+placed her in an easy-chair before the blazing fire.
+
+"There now," he said in his own kindliest tones, "sit
+there and dream while wifie makes ready for church, and
+after that you shall go with me for an official drive. The
+air will do you good. I can't send such white roses"--he
+patted her cheek--"back to Mount Hunger; what
+would mother say?"
+
+To his amazement Rose buried her face in both hands;
+a half-suppressed sob startled him.
+
+"Why, Rose-pose! What's the matter, little girl?
+Headachey--nerves unstrung--too much opera? Here,
+come into the office where we shan't be disturbed, and
+tell me all about it."
+
+But Rose shook her head, lifted it from her hands, and
+smiled through the welling tears.
+
+"I 'm a perfect goose, but--but--I believe I 'm getting
+just a little bit homesick for Mount Hunger, and I 'm not
+going to stay for Mrs. Fenlick's ball. I know mother
+needs me at home--I can just feel it in her letters, and
+I know I want--I want her."
+
+"Don't blame you a bit, Rose,--but is n't this rather
+sudden? Any previous attacks?"
+
+"No--and I know it seems dreadfully ungrateful to
+you and dear Mrs. Heath to say so, and it is n't that--I 'd
+love to be with just you two; but it's this dreadful
+feeling comes over me, and I know I ought to go."
+
+"And go you shall, Rose," said the Doctor, emphatically,
+but oh! so kindly and understandingly. "Go back to
+all the dear ones there--and when you come again, don't
+give us the tail-end of your visit, will you?"
+
+"Indeed, I won't," answered Rose, earnestly, "and if it
+were only you and Mrs. Heath, I 'd love to stay,
+but--but--"
+
+"No need to say anything more, Rose, wifie and I
+understand it perfectly--" ("I wish the dickens I did!"
+was his thought)--"Tell wifie when she comes down,
+and meanwhile I 'll send round for the brougham and
+we 'll take a little drive in the Park before office hours."
+
+Rose patted his hand, and her silence spoke for her.
+
+"Here 's a pretty kettle of fish!" said the Doctor to
+himself as he went to the telephone. "I wish I could
+get to the bottom of it."
+
+And thus it came about that a cool, dignified note, not
+expressive of any particular regret, was mailed to
+Cambridge on Sunday afternoon, and a long letter to Mount
+Hunger telling them to be sure to meet her on Tuesday
+at Barton's, and filled with wildly enthusiastic expressions
+of delight in anticipation of the home-coming. And on
+Tuesday afternoon, as the train sped onwards, following
+the curves of the frozen Connecticut, and the snow-covered
+mountains on the Vermont side began to crowd its
+banks, Rose felt a lightening of the heart and an uplifting
+of spirits.
+
+The bitterness and shame and shock she had experienced,
+in consequence of that one little bite of the fruit of the
+Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, seemed to
+diminish with every mile that increased the distance between
+her and the frothing whirlpool of the great city's gayeties.
+All the way up, until the mountains loomed in sight, there
+had been hot, indignant protest in her thoughts. At first,
+indeed, it had been hatred.
+
+"I hate it all--hate it, *hate* it!" she found herself
+saying over and over again after the good-byes had been said
+at the station, and Hazel and Mr. Clyde and Doctor Heath
+had supplied her with flowers and magazines for the long
+day's journey. It was all she could think or feel at the
+time; but soon the little pronoun changed, and the thought
+grew more bitter:
+
+"I hate him! How could he--how dared he do as he
+did! Because I am poor, I suppose. Oh! I wish I could
+make him pay for it. I wish I could make him love me
+really and truly, and then just *scorn* him! But what a fool
+I am--as if he *could* love after what I heard--oh, why
+did I hear it! I wish I may never see his face again,
+and I wish I 'd stayed at home where I belong--I hate
+him!"--And so on "da capo" hour after hour, and the
+incessant chugetty-chug-chug of the express furnished the
+rhythmic, basal tone for the bitter motive.
+
+It was long after lunch time, and the train of thought
+had not changed, when Rose's eye fell upon the dainty
+basket Martin had placed in the rack.
+
+"This is a pretty state of mind to go home to Martie
+in!" she said to herself, rising and taking down the basket.
+"I have n't eaten a good meal since last Saturday at lunch,
+and I 'm--why, I believe I 'm hungry!"
+
+She opened the basket, and loving evidence of Minna-Lu's
+admiration tempted her to pick a little here and there--a
+stuffed olive or two, a roast quail, a delicate celery
+sandwich, a quince tart, a bunch of Hamburg grapes.
+Soon Rose was feasting on all the good things, and her
+harsh thoughts began to soften. How kind they all were!
+And *they* truly loved her--and what had they not done
+for her comfort and pleasure! Rose, setting her pretty
+teeth deep into a third quince tart, looked out of the
+window and almost exclaimed aloud at the sight. The
+vanguard of the Green Mountains closed in the upper end of
+the river-valley along which they were speeding. It was
+home that was behind all that! The thought still further
+softened her.
+
+What? Carry her bitterness and disappointed pride
+back into that dear, peaceful home? Not she! "They
+shall never know--never!" she said to herself--"I 'm
+not Molly Stark for nothing, and there are others in the
+world beside Jack Sherrill." And so she continued to
+speak cold comfort to herself for the next four hours
+until the brakeman called "Barton's River!"
+
+There beyond the platform was the old apple-green
+pung!--and yes! father and March and Budd and dear
+old Chi anxiously scanning the coaches.
+
+Home at last! and such a home-coming! How busy
+the tongues were for a week afterwards! How wildly gay
+was Rose, who kept them laughing over the many queer
+doings of the metropolis, over Wilkins and Minna-Lu and
+Martin and Mrs. Scott! And how lovingly she spoke of
+Hazel's charming hospitality and of Mr. Clyde's thoughtfulness
+for her pleasure, although, as she mentioned his
+name, a wave of color mounted to the roots of her hair at
+the ugly thought that would intrude. Chi listened with
+all his ears, enjoying it with the rest; but once upstairs
+in his room over the shed, he would sit down on the side
+of his bed to ponder a little the gay doings of his
+Rose-pose among the "high-flyers," and then turn in with a
+sigh and a muttered:
+
+"'T ain't Rose-pose. I knew how 't would be.--There 's
+a screw loose somewhere; but she's handsome!--handsome
+as a picture, 'n' I 'd give a dollar to know if she 's
+cut that other one out."
+
+"Valentines seem kind of scarce this year," he remarked
+rather grimly, a few days after her arrival, as late in the
+afternoon, he returned from Barton's with little mail and
+no boxes of flowers. "It's the sixteenth day of February,
+but it might be Fast Day for all that handful of mail would
+show for it!" He placed the package on Mrs. Blossom's
+work-table at which Rose was sitting busy with some
+sewing. They were alone in the room.
+
+Rose laughed merrily. "Goodness, Chi! you want us
+to have more than our share. We had a perfect deluge
+last year when Hazel was here; you know it makes a
+difference without her. You said yourself that there was
+a good deal of bulk, but it was pretty light weight--don't
+you remember?"
+
+Chi elevated one bushy eyebrow. "I ain't forgot; but I
+don't know about it's bein' any *Deluge*--it appeared to
+me it was a Shadrach, Meshach, 'n' Abednego kind of a
+business--" He gave the back log a kick that sent the
+sparks up the chimney in a grand pyrotechnic show.
+"Seems as if I could see those posies, now, a-shrivellin'
+in the fireplace. Never thought you treated those innocent
+things quite on the square, Rose-pose!"
+
+Rose's head was bent low over her work. Chi went on,
+bracing himself to the self-imposed task of enlightening
+her:--
+
+"I don't want to meddle, Rose, in anybody's business,
+but it ain't set well with me ever since--the way you
+treated those roses; 'n', after all, we 're both members of
+the Nobody's Business But Our Own Society, 'n' if
+anybody 's goin' to meddle, perhaps I 'm the one. I 've thought
+a good many times you would n't have been quite so harsh
+with 'em, if you had n't overlooked this in your
+flare-up--" He drew out of his breast pocket a card--Jack 's--with
+the verse on the back. "Read that, 'n' see if you
+ain't dropped a stitch somewhere that you can pick up in
+time." He handed her the card.
+
+Rose looked up surprised, but with burning cheeks.
+She took the card, read the verse, turned it over on the
+name side, and rose from her chair. Every particle of color
+had left her face. She went over to the fireplace, and,
+bending, dropped the little piece of pasteboard upon the
+glowing back-log.
+
+"The sentiment belongs with the roses, Chi; don't let's
+have any more Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego business--I 'm
+tired of it." She spoke indifferently; then,
+resuming her seat, called out in a cheery voice:
+
+"Martie, won't you come here a minute, and see if I have
+put on this gore right?"
+
+"I 'll come, dear."
+
+Chi, nonplussed, irritated, repulsed, set his teeth hard
+and abruptly left the room.
+
+Outside in the shed he clenched his fist and shook it
+vigorously at the closed door of the long-room: "--By
+George Washin'ton!" he muttered, "I 'll make you pay
+up for that, Rose Blossom. You can't come any of your
+high-flyers' games on me-- Just you put that in your
+pipe and smoke it! Thunderation! what gets into women
+and girls, sometimes?" He seized the milk-pails from the
+shelf and hurried to the barn nearly running down Cherry
+in his wrathful excitement.
+
+"Look out there, Cherry! You 're always getting round
+under foot!" he said, harshly, and stumbled on, regaining
+his balance, only to be met by Budd in the barn.
+
+"Just clear out now, Budd! I ain't goin' to stand your
+foolin'. Let alone of that stanchion," he roared.
+"Always worryin' the cow if she looks once at you sideways.
+Get *up*, there--" His right boot helped the amazed cow
+forwards into the stall, and the milk drummed into the pail
+as if the poor creature were being milked by a dummy-engine
+with more pressure of steam on than it could well stand.
+
+Budd flew into the woodshed and found Cherry still
+standing, in a half-dazed condition, where Chi had left her.
+They compared notes immediately to the detriment and
+defamation of Chi's character. Then they carried their
+budget of woe to their mother.
+
+"Chi is worried, children; you must n't mind if he is a
+little cross now and then. He feels dreadfully about the
+prospect of this war, as we all do, and that's his way of
+showing it."
+
+"Well, if he's going to be so cross at us, I wish he 'd
+clear out an' go to war!" retorted Budd, smarting under
+the unjust treatment.
+
+"I 'm only afraid he will if we have one," said
+Mrs. Blossom, sadly. "But, oh, I hope and pray we may be
+spared that!"
+
+But Budd continued to grumble, and Cherry to be suspiciously
+sniffy, until their father's return; and then at the
+supper table they listened greedily to all the talk of their
+elders, that had for its absorbing theme the prospective
+war.
+
+As the spring days lengthened, and the sun drew
+northward, the tiny cloud on the country's peaceful horizon grew
+larger and darker, until it cast its shadow throughout the
+length and breadth of the land, and men's faces grew stern
+and troubled and women prayed for peace.
+
+With the lengthening days Chi showed signs of increasing
+restlessness. "It ain't any use, Ben," he said, one
+soft evening in early May, as the family, with the
+exception of the younger children, sat on the porch discussing
+the latest news, "I 've got to go."
+
+"Oh, Chi!" broke from Mrs. Blossom and Rose. They
+cried out as if hurt. Mr. Blossom grasped Chi's right
+hand, and March wrung the other.
+
+"I can't stand it," he went on; "we 've been sassed
+enough as a nation, 'n' some of us have got to teach those
+foreigners we ain't goin' to turn the other cheek just coz
+we're slapped on one. When I wasn't higher than Budd,
+my great-grandfather--you remember him, Ben, lived the
+other side of the Mountain--put his father's old Revolution'ry
+musket (the one, you know, Rose-pose, as I 've used
+in the N.B.B.O.O.) into my hands, 'n' says: 'Don't
+you stand no sass, Malachi Graham, from no
+foreigners.--Just shoot away, 'n' holler, "Hands off" every
+time, 'n' they 'll learn their lesson easy and early, 'n'
+respect you in the end.' And I ain't forgot it."
+
+"Chi," Mrs. Blossom's voice was tremulous, "you won't
+go till you 're asked, or needed, will you?"
+
+"I ain't goin' to wait to be asked, Mis' Blossom; I 'd
+rather be on hand to be refused. That's my way. So I
+thought I 'd be gettin' down along this week--"
+
+"This week!" Rose interrupted him with a cry and a
+half-sob. "Oh, Chi! dear old Chi! *must* you go? What
+if--what if--" Rose's voice broke, and Chi gulped down
+a big lump, but answered, cheerily:
+
+"Well, Rose-pose, *what if*? Ain't I Old Put? 'n' ain't
+you Molly Stark? 'n' ain't Lady-bird Barbara
+Frietchie?--There, just read that--" he handed a letter to March,
+who gave it back to him, saying, in a husky voice, that it
+was too dark to read.
+
+"Well, then we 'll adjourn into the house, 'n' light
+up.--There now," he said, as he lighted the lamp and set it
+on the table beside March, "here's your letter, Markis,
+read ahead."
+
+March read with broken voice:
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+.. class:: left white-space-pre-line
+
+ 4 EAST --TH STREET, NEW YORK,
+ May 5, 1898.
+
+DEAR FRIEND CHI,--I never thought when I joined the
+N.B.B.O.O. Society, that I 'd have to be really brave about
+real war;--and now dear old Jack is going off to Cuba with
+Little Shaver and all those cow-boys,--and it's dreadful!
+Uncle John is about sick over it, for, you know, Jack is all he
+has. Papa is going to keep the house open all summer; he
+says there is no telling what may happen.
+
+We have made no plans for the summer, for our hearts are
+so heavy on Jack's account--his last year in Harvard, too!
+He told me to tell you he would find out if there is a chance for
+you in the new cavalry regiment he has joined. He looked so
+pleased when I told him; he read your letter, and I told him
+how you wanted to go with him, and he said: "Dear old Chi,
+I'd like to have him for my bunkie"--and told me what it
+meant. He told me to tell you to be prepared for a telegram
+at any moment.
+
+I must stop now; papa wants me to go out with him. Give
+my love to *all*, and tell Mother Blossom and Rose I will write
+them more particulars in a few days.
+
+If you come to New York, you know a room will be ready
+for you in the home of your
+
+.. class:: left white-space-pre-line
+
+ Loving friend,
+ HAZEL CLYDE.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+There was silence for a while in the room; then
+Mr. Blossom spoke:
+
+"How are you going, Chi?"
+
+"I 'm goin' to jog along down with Fleet, 'n' take it
+kind of easy--thought I 'd cross the Mountain, 'n' strike
+in on the old post-road; 'n' follow on down by old
+Ticonderogy,--I 've always wanted to see that,--then across to
+Saratogy 'n' Albany, 'n' foller the river. You can't go
+amiss of New York if you stick to that."
+
+Again there was a prolonged silence. Chi hemmed, and
+moved uneasily on his chair, while he fumbled about in his
+trousers' pocket. He pulled out a piece of crumpled,
+yellow paper.
+
+"S'pose I might just as well make a clean breast of
+it." He tried to laugh, but it was a failure. "Jack's
+telegram came along last night, 'n' I thought, maybe I 'd
+better be gettin' my duds together to-night, Mis' Blossom,
+as 't will be a mighty early start--before any of you are
+up," he added, hastily.
+
+The two women broke down then, and Mr. Blossom and
+March followed Chi out to the barn.
+
+The household, save for the younger children, was early
+astir--before sunrise. Mrs. Blossom had prepared a hearty
+breakfast, and Rose was rolling up a few pairs of her
+father's stockings to put in the netted saddle-bag which
+Chi was wont to use in hunting.
+
+"Tell March to call Chi, Rose," said her mother. "His
+breakfast is ready, I hear him in the barn."
+
+Rose ran out in the dawning light to find her father
+and March just coming towards the house.
+
+"Why, where 's Chi?" she cried.
+
+For answer, her father pointed to the woodlands. She
+looked just in time to see in the soft gray of the early
+morn the horse and rider rise to the three-railed fence that
+separated the pasture from the woodlands. He was
+following the trail he had indicated to Jack--"through the
+woods 'n' acre or two of brush, 'n' then some pretty steep
+sliding down the other side, 'n' a dozen rods or so of
+swimmin', 'n' a tough old clamber up the bank--"
+
+Some ten days afterward, late on a warm afternoon in
+May, there rode into New York City by the way of the
+Bronx and Harlem, a middle-aged man on a bright bay
+horse. The animal's gait was a noticeable one, a long,
+loping gallop, that covered the ground in a manner that
+roused the admiration of the drivers on the speedway.
+The tall, loose-jointed body of the rider apparently loped
+along with the horse--their movements were identical.
+The saddle was an old-fashioned cavalry one of the early
+sixties. A netted saddle-bag and a rolled rubber coat
+were fastened to the crupper. A light-weight hunting
+rifle was slung on a strap over the man's shoulder. At
+the northern entrance to the Park he drew rein beside a
+mounted policeman.
+
+"Can you tell me if I 'm on the right track to this
+house?"
+
+He took a card from the pocket of his dusty blue
+flannel shirt and handed it to the policeman.
+
+The city guardian nodded assent. "But you can't take
+that gun along with you; you 're inside city limits and
+liable to arrest."
+
+"'Gainst the law, hey? Well, I 've come from a pretty
+law-abiding state, 'n' ain't goin' to get into rows with you
+fellers--" He laid a brown, knotty, work-roughened
+finger on the policeman's immaculate blue coat--"I 'd
+trust that color as far as I could see. Where shall I leave
+the rifle?"
+
+The city guard unbent as the kindly voice yielded such
+undefiant obedience to his demand. "You can leave it
+with me now,--I 'm off my beat by seven, and live over
+east of this--" he handed back the card--"and I 'll leave
+it at the house if you 're going to be there."
+
+"All right, that 'll suit me. Yes, I 'm goin' to put up
+there for a day or two, maybe."
+
+"Off on a hunting trip?"
+
+"You bet--goin' on a big, old, U.S.A. hunt for a lot
+of darned foreigners in Cuby."
+
+The policeman held out his hand and grasped the
+stranger's. "You're one of them?"
+
+"Yes, I come down to join a cavalry regiment. Jack
+Sherrill, he belongs, too. Great rider--can't be beat.
+Ever seen him round here on Little Shaver?"
+
+The policeman smiled. "No, but I 'd like to see you
+again--"
+
+"Maybe you will; but I 'd better be getting along
+before sundown,--'gainst the law to ride this horse a piece
+through those woods?" He pointed into the Park.
+
+"Oh, no, that's all right. Keep along till you come to
+Seventieth Street, and inquire; and then turn into Fifth
+Avenue--east--and you're there."
+
+"Much obliged. Like to show you a trail or two up
+in Vermont when you come that way. Get, Fleet." The
+animal set forward into a long, loping gallop.
+
+The brilliant, light green of the May foliage was
+enhanced by the level rays of the setting sun, as the man
+turned his horse into Fifth Avenue and drew rein to a
+rapid walk. Many a one paused to look at him as he
+paced over the asphalt. He was looking up at the
+mansions of the Upper East Side. Soon he halted at the
+corner of a side street and gazed up at the first house, the
+end of which, with the conservatory, was on the Avenue,
+but the entrance on the side street. "That's the place,"
+he spoke to himself,--"don't see a hitchin'-post handy, so
+I 'll just have to tie up to this electric light stand. Iron,
+by thunder!--Well, there ain't any risk so long as 't isn't
+lit, 'n' there ain't a tempest."
+
+Leaving his horse firmly tied to the standard he
+stepped up on the low, broad stoop of "Number 4," and
+looked for the bell. Not finding any he knocked forcibly
+on the carved iron grill that protected the plate-glass
+doors.
+
+The great doors flew open, and a face--"blacker 'n
+thunder"--as the man said to himself, scowled on the
+interloper.
+
+"Wha' fo' yo' come hyar, yo'--" He got no further.
+A horny hand was extended, and a cheery voice, that
+broke into a laugh, spoke the assuaging words:
+
+"Guess you 're Wilkins, ain't you? I 've heard Lady-bird
+tell 'bout you till I feel as if we 'd been pretty well
+acquainted goin' on nigh two year now."
+
+By this time Wilkins' face was one broad beam. He
+slapped his free hand on his knee:
+
+"Yo 's Mister Chi, for sho'--dere ain't no need yo'
+tellin'. Yo' jes' come straight in, Mister Chi; Marse John
+an' little Missy jes' gone fo' ah drive in de Park. Dey 'll
+be in any minute. Yo' room 's all ready, an' little Missy
+put de flow'rs in fresh dis yere mornin'--''Case,' she
+say, 'Wilkins, dere ain't no tellin' when Chi's comin'.'"
+
+"Sho'," Chi interrupted him, brushing the back of his
+hand hastily across his eyes. "I can't come in now,
+Wilkins, coz I 've got to stay here 'n' watch my horse--I 'll
+sit here on the steps a spell 'n' cool off till Mr. Clyde gets
+home, 'n' he 'll help me see to puttin' up Fleet for the
+night. His legs are a little mite swollen near the hocks,
+'n' I 'm goin' to rub him down myself."
+
+"De coachman jes' tend to yo' hoss like 's ef 't wor
+yo'se'f, Mister Chi. I 'll jes' call up de stable bo', 'n' he 'll
+rub him down wif sp'r'ts, an' shine him up till he look
+jes' lake new mahog'ny. Jes' yo' come--dere dey come now!"
+
+Chi was at the curbstone to welcome them.
+
+"Chi! O Chi!" Hazel rose up in the trap at sight of
+the well-known figure, and Chi, laying his hand firmly on
+Martin's shoulder, put him aside as he sprang to open the
+door and let down the steps, reached up both arms, and took
+Hazel out as tenderly as on the night of her first arrival
+at the farmhouse on the Mountain. And then and there
+Hazel gave him a kiss, and Mr. Clyde grasped his hands
+in both his, and the wide hall doors that Wilkins had
+thrown open to their fullest extent closed upon the
+reunited friends.
+
+"'E 's a 'ansome 'oss," Martin remarked to the coachman,
+as he mounted Fleet to take him to the stable; "Hi
+'ave n't seen a 'ansomer since Hi 've bean in the States."
+
+A few days after the hall doors were again flung wide,
+but not to their fullest extent, and Wilkins' face grew
+strangely tremulous when he heard Hazel and Mr. Clyde,
+Jack and Chi coming down the broad hall stairs. Martin
+was proudly leading Fleet and Little Shaver up and down
+in front of the house.
+
+"Jack! O Jack! I can't bear to have you go--but I
+*will* be brave." Hazel smiled through the raining tears.
+She clung to him and kissed him. He put her aside, ran
+out to Little Shaver, and flung himself on before Chi had
+said good-bye.
+
+"Take care of Jack, Chi," she whispered, patting his hand.
+
+"I will, Barbara Frietchie." He pointed to the flag that,
+in the east wind blowing in from the Sound, was waving
+over the entrance, gripped Mr. Clyde's hand, then Wilkins',
+and, apparently, stepped into the saddle.
+
+"Quick, quick, Wilkins! lower the flag, and let me have
+it." Wilkins sprang to obey. Hazel seized it, and rushed
+up stairs to the drawing-room, the windows of which
+overlooked the Avenue. One of them was open; she leaned
+out; and as Fleet and Little Shaver turned the corner,
+their riders, looking up, saw the young girl's figure in the
+opening. She was waving the symbol of their Country's
+life and their manhood's loyalty.
+
+They halted, baring their heads for a moment--then
+without once looking back, galloped down the Avenue.
+
+
+
+
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`SAN JUAN`:
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ XXV
+
+
+.. class:: center medium
+
+ SAN JUAN
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+Notwithstanding it was a hot day in the first week
+of July, Mrs. Spillkins had decided to have a
+"quilting-bee." Having made up her mind, after consulting with
+Miss Melissa and Miss Elvira, she lost no time in
+summoning Uncle Israel from the barn, and making known
+her plans. Uncle Israel mildly objected.
+
+"Kinder hot fer er quiltin'-bee, ain't it, Hannah?"
+
+"'Tis pretty hot," Mrs. Spillkins admitted, wiping the
+perspiration from her face with her apron, "but we 'll have
+it to-morrow 'long 'bout four. You get the frames and
+rollers out, Israel, from the back garret, an' then I want
+you to go up to Mis' Blossom's an' ask 'em to come, an' get
+word to the other folks on the Mountain."
+
+"I 'll go, Hannah, but I dunno 'bout Mis' Blossom 'n'
+Rose comin' ter er quiltin'-bee jest 'bout this time.
+They 're feelin' pretty low 'bout Chi off thar in Cuby;
+news hez come thet ther 's ben fightin'--"
+
+"I know that, Israel; I 've thought of that, too; but,
+mebbe, it 'll do 'em good, just to change the scene a little.
+Anyway, you ask 'em."
+
+"Jest ez ye say, Hannah."
+
+The sun was setting when Uncle Israel made his
+appearance on the porch where the whole family was assembled
+with Alan Ford. They had but one topic for conversation.
+
+Uncle Israel gave his invitation, and added: "Hannah
+thought ye 'd better come 'n' change the scene a
+leetle--she knowed ye 'd be kinder low-spereted 'bout now."
+
+Mrs. Blossom held out her hand. "Thank you, Uncle
+Israel. Tell Mrs. Spillkins we will both come."
+
+"Hannah wants your folks ter come, tew, Alan."
+
+"Much obliged, Uncle Israel. I 'll tell mother and
+Ruth; I 'm sure they will enjoy it. Ruth said the other
+day she wished she might have a chance to see a quilting-bee
+while we are here. Shall I take your message over to
+Aunt Tryphosa?"
+
+"Much obleeged, Alan. Thank ye, Rose,"--as Rose
+brought out the large arm-chair and placed it for him;
+"I 'll set a spell 'n' rest me."
+
+It was a typical northern midsummer night. Across
+the valley the mountains loomed, softly luminous, against
+the pale green translucent stretch of open sky in the west.
+There were no clouds; but high above and around there
+swept a long trail of motionless mist, flame-colored over the
+mountain tops, but darkening, with the coming of the night,
+into gray towards the east. The stars were not yet out.
+The veeries were choiring antiphonally in the woodlands.
+
+An hour afterwards Alan Ford rose to go, and Uncle
+Israel soon followed his example.
+
+"I 'll go down the woods'-road a piece with you, Uncle
+Israel," said Rose.
+
+As she came back up the Mountain a cool breath drew
+through the pines, and the spruces gave forth their
+resinous fragrance upon the dewless night. The stars were
+brilliant in the dark blue deeps.
+
+A midsummer night among the mountains of New
+England! And far away in the sickening heat and wet,
+the fever-laden exhalations of the tropics rose into the
+nostrils of a man, who sat motionless in the rude
+field-hospital, hastily improvised on the slope of San Juan,
+watching, with his knees drawn up to his chin and his
+hands clasping them, for some faint tremor in the still
+face on the army blanket spread upon the ground.
+
+The lantern cast its light full upon that still face.
+Suddenly the watcher bent forward; his keen eyes had
+detected a twitch of an eyelid--a flutter in the muscles of
+the throat. "Don't move him," the surgeon had said;
+"the least movement will cause the final hemorrhage."
+
+There was a catch of the breath--the eyes opened,
+partly filmed.
+
+"Jack!" The watcher spoke, bending lower; his ear
+over the other's lips.
+
+"Chi--" it was a mere breath, but the man
+heard--"I'm--done for."
+
+The watcher's hand, muscular, toil-hardened, sought the
+nerveless one that was lying on the other's breast, and
+closed upon it with a brooding pressure. There was
+silence for a few minutes. Then the horny hand felt a
+feeble stirring of the fingers beneath the hardened
+palm--they were fumbling weakly at a button.
+
+The strong hand undid the button, gently--very gently,
+without apparent movement. There was a motion of the
+nerveless fingers towards the place. Another breath:--
+
+"Give--love--"
+
+A long silence fell.
+
+
+Mrs. Spillkins heaved a sigh of satisfaction: "We 've
+done an awful sight of work," she said, surveying the five
+quilts "run" and "tacked" and "knotted" in even rows
+and mathematically true squares; "but it seems as if
+they did n't eat a mite of supper, an' that strawberry
+shortcake was enough to melt in your mouth."
+
+"What'd I tell ye, Hannah? They're worretin' 'bout
+Chi," said Uncle Israel. "They've fit agin; Ben told
+me while he wuz waitin' with the team fer the womin-folks.
+He hed the mail, 'n' er telegram thet thet young
+feller, we see ridin' 'roun' here las' summer, wuz mortal
+wounded. He did n't want the womin-folks ter know it
+till he got 'em hum. They sot er sight by him."
+
+Mrs. Spillkins threw up her hands: "Dear suz'y me!"
+she exclaimed in a distressed voice. "What 'll they do!
+I hope an' pray Malachi Graham ain't hurt none. I feel
+as if I ought to go right up there, an' see if there 's
+anything I can do."
+
+"Better wait till the Cap'n comes hum, Hannah; he 'll
+hev the papers."
+
+"I guess 't would be better," and Mrs. Spillkins
+proceeded to fold up her quilts and "clear up" the best
+room.
+
+The hot July days warmed the breast of the Mountain.
+Over in the corn-patch the stalks had spindled and the
+swelling ears were ready to tassel. By word or look
+Rose had given no sign--and her mother wondered. The
+days wore on; the routine of daily work and life went on;
+but the younger children's voices were subdued when they
+spoke lovingly and longingly of Chi, and Rose sang no
+longer when she kneaded bread. They were days of
+suspense and heart misery for them all.
+
+Two weeks had passed since that evening when
+Mr. Blossom had read to them the fatal despatch. No word
+had come from anyone save Hazel, who wrote that her
+father and Uncle John had started at once for Cuba, and
+that she hoped to be with the Blossoms the third week in
+July, for by that time they would know the whole truth.
+
+They had been making ready Hazel's little bedroom,
+for she was expected in a few days. Rose was tacking up
+a white muslin curtain at the small window, when she
+heard her father call:
+
+"Rose, come here a minute."
+
+"Yes, father."
+
+She went out on the porch with the hammer in her
+hand. "What is it, Popsey dear?--Why, father, what--oh
+what--!"
+
+With shaking hand her father held out a letter to her.
+Rose looked once--it was from Chi!
+
+"I wish mother were here, daughter--but she'll be
+back soon. Let me know how it is with them
+all--." Mr. Blossom could say no more, for Malachi Graham was
+as near to him as a brother, and he was agonizing for his
+child. He went off to the barn, leaving Rose standing on
+the porch, staring as if fascinated at the superscription of
+the letter:
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+.. class:: left white-space-pre-line
+
+ To Miss Rose Blossom,
+ Mill Settlement,
+ Barton's River,
+ Vermont.
+
+N.B.B.O.O.--To be opened by nobody but her.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+Rose laid down the hammer mechanically, opened the
+envelope, and unfolded the piece of brown paper from out
+of which fluttered to the floor another and thicker slip,
+stained almost beyond recognition. With staring eyes and
+face as white as driven snow she read the few words
+scrawled in pencil on the brown slip:--
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+DEAR ROSE-POSE,--I ain't no wish to meddle with anybody's
+business--but I 'm just obeying orders. The last words
+I heard Jack Sherrill speak, was "Give--love," and he fumbled
+at his breast to get out this enclosed. I ain't read it--but it's
+his heart's blood that's on it. Give my love to all.
+
+.. class:: left white-space-pre-line
+
+ Yours forever,
+ CHI.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+"His heart's blood!" For a moment the words conveyed
+no meaning. She picked up the iron-rusty brown
+slip from the floor; unfolded it; read--Barry Cornwall's
+love-song in her own handwriting!
+
+"His heart's blood!" She pressed one hand hard upon
+her own heart, crushing with the other the dark-stained
+slip. Then, with one wild look around her as if searching
+for help, she ran down the steps, across the mowing, over
+into the pasture and up into the woodlands. Deep, deep
+into the heart of them she made her way, as her mother,
+Mary Blossom, had done before her; but now there was
+no kneeling, no prayer, no petition to take from her the
+intolerable pain.
+
+She was young, and she loved as the young love. It
+was not God whom she wanted; it was "Jack! Jack!
+Jack!" She cast herself face down upon the ground, and
+moaned in her agony: "His heart's blood--his heart's
+blood." She pressed the stained paper to her lips, over
+and over again. Then she opened her blouse and baring
+her bosom, laid the love-song against it--"His heart's
+blood--his heart's blood!"
+
+So her mother found her.
+
+
+
+
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`MARIA-ANN'S CRUSADE`:
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ XXVI
+
+
+.. class:: center medium
+
+ MARIA-ANN'S CRUSADE
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+Of late Aunt Tryphosa had been growing suspicious of
+Maria-Ann, and the latter felt she was being watched; to
+use her own words, "it nettled her."
+
+One afternoon, late in August, her grandmother, coming
+upon her rather suddenly in the pasture as she sat under
+the shade of a patriarchal butternut, ostensibly watching
+Dorcas, asked her sharply:
+
+"What you doin', Maria-Ann?"
+
+"'Tendin' to my own business," retorted Maria-Ann,
+with an unwonted snap in her voice, and hurriedly folded
+something out of sight beneath the Hearthstone Journal
+which lay upon her lap.
+
+This was the signal of open revolt on the part of her
+granddaughter, and the like had occurred but once before
+in all the time of her up-bringing with Aunt Tryphosa.
+The old dame's lips drew to a thinner line than usual, as
+she fired the second shot into the hostile camp:
+
+"You been cryin', Maria-Ann."
+
+"What if I be?" demanded her granddaughter, with a
+flash of indignation from beneath her reddened eyelids.
+"S'pose I have a right to have feelin's same as other
+folks."
+
+Suddenly Aunt Tryphosa swooped like a hen-hawk
+upon a small piece of bright scarlet flannel, that the
+breeze had caught away from the protecting folds of
+the Hearthstone Journal, and landed in the covert of
+sweet fern just at her feet.
+
+"What's that?" She held up the glowing bit of color,
+dangling it before Maria-Ann's eyes.
+
+Upon poor Maria-Ann's inflamed sense of injustice, it
+had much the same effect as a red rag waved before the
+eyes of an infuriated bull.
+
+She sprang to her feet, snatched the bit of cloth from
+between her grandmother's thumb and fore-finger, and
+thrust it into her dress waist, crying out shrilly in her
+unwonted excitement:
+
+"You let that be, Grandmarm Little! It's my cross
+and I 'm going on a crusade--so now!"
+
+Aunt Tryphosa sat down rather suddenly in the middle
+of the sweet-fern patch. Was Maria-Ann going crazy?
+Her breath came short and sharp; she drew her thin lips
+still more tightly, and, although really alarmed, braced
+herself for the combat.
+
+"What 'd you say you was goin' on, Maria-Ann?"
+
+"I never knew you was growin' deef before, grandmarm;
+I said a crusade." She had raised her voice to a still
+higher pitch, as she stooped to gather up the Hearthstone
+Journal, the bits of red cloth, her scissors, and
+thimble which had fallen from her lap as she sprang to
+her feet.
+
+"Is that the thing you read me about last winter in the
+Journal, with the soldiers with crosses on their backs on
+hosses startin' out for Jerusalem?" demanded the old
+dame, but in a strangely agitated voice.
+
+"Yes," responded Maria-Ann, promptly, but with less
+acerbity of manner.
+
+"And is that red rag you hid away a *cross*, Maria-Ann
+Simmons?" No words can do justice to the old dame's tone
+and its implied impiety of her granddaughter's conduct.
+
+Maria-Ann was silent.
+
+"Be you a Christian girl, or an idolater, Maria-Ann?"
+
+Her grandmother's voice shook pitiably. Maria-Ann's
+conscience gave a twinge, when she heard it; but she felt
+the time was ripe, and she must put in the sickle.
+
+"I hope I 'm a Christian, grandmarm, but I 'm an
+idolater, too,--" Aunt Tryphosa drew in her breath, as if
+hurt. "But, anyway, I guess I was an American 'fore I
+was a Christian, an' I jest *idolize* my Country--" Maria-Ann's
+eyes filled with tears--"an' I can't do anything
+for her, nor make sacrifices same as other women do who
+can send their husbands--," a sob, "an' lovers--," another
+sob, "an' nuss 'em, an' help on their Country's cause livin'
+'way up here in an old back paster with an old cow--an'
+an old wo--Oh, grandmarm!" Maria-Ann broke
+down utterly, laid her head upon her knees, and sobbed
+unrestrainedly.
+
+It was an unusual sight, and Aunt Tryphosa was
+troubled. She felt it necessary to beat a retreat in the
+face of such genuine grief, but she was determined that it
+should be a dignified one.
+
+"I ain't never seen you give way so, Maria-Ann, and
+you 're thirty-one year old come next January. I 've done
+my best to bring you up right, an' now you 're old enough
+to know your own mind, *I hope*; so, if you want to leave
+me, you can go jest as soon as you can get ready. I come
+up for Dorcas, an' now I 'm goin' home." In spite of her
+effort her old voice trembled, but her pride sustained her
+nobly, and Maria-Ann was all unaware that the tears were
+rolling down the wrinkled furrows in the old cheeks as
+her grandmother drove Dorcas before her down the
+fern-scented pasture slope.
+
+Her granddaughter followed her half an hour later, and
+after a silent supper, except for Aunt Tryphosa's
+murmured "grace," and a faint "amen" from the other side
+of the table, Maria-Ann lighted a lamp and shut herself
+into her small bedroom.
+
+She placed a chair against the door, lest she might be
+suddenly raided, and drew the other splint-bottomed one
+up to the head of the bed. Lifting the feather-bed she
+thrust her hand far under and drew out a square, white
+pasteboard box. It was tied with a narrow, white ribbon.
+She undid it carefully, and took out a layer of tissue paper.
+The lamp-light shone upon a large, gilt heart, some ten by
+eight inches, with a thickness of two inches.
+
+Maria-Ann turned the box this way and that, watching
+the play of light on it, for the heart was skewered with a
+large, silver-gilt arrow, and the shaft, where it penetrated,
+held a small, white card with simulated blood-drops in
+carmine splashed on in one corner, and the sentiment,
+written in the same, straggling diagonally across the other
+corner:
+
+ | "In thy sight
+ | Is my delight."
+ |
+
+Maria-Ann shut her eyes and leaned back in her chair.
+"Don't seems as if he 'd sent me that if he had n't meant
+somethin'," she murmured, and dreamed for a little while.
+Then she opened her eyes, prepared for new delights. Raising
+the gilt top with tender care, she took out a faded rose:
+
+"Don't seem as if he 'd come back that nex' mornin'
+after Chris'mus an' give me that, 'thout he 'd had some
+notion." She laid the rose carefully upon the tissue paper,
+and began to lift the leaves of the heart-shaped book, until
+she had lifted every one of the three hundred and sixty-five!
+She smiled to herself.
+
+"'T ain't likely he 'd 'a' sent me jest such a cook-book,
+'thout he 'd been tryin' to give me a hint." She began to
+read the recipes--it was absorbing: puddings, cakes,
+preserves. She was lost to time as she read; "An' he took
+that pair of socks I knit him last Chris'mus 'long with
+him, Rose said--" There was a fumbling at her door.
+Maria-Arm blew out the light.
+
+"That you, grandmarm?" she called pleasantly.
+
+There was no answer, and Maria-Ann laughed softly
+to herself as she undressed in the dark, and lay down to
+sweet dreams.
+
+"I 'm goin' over to Mis' Blossom's, grandmarm," she
+announced the next afternoon, "to see if they 've had any
+news. I ain't heard for two days."
+
+Her grandmother made no reply, but when her grand-daughter
+was well on her way to the Blossoms', Mrs. Tryphosa
+Little's conscience deemed it prudent to issue a
+private search-warrant and investigate Maria-Ann's
+premises--even to the under side of the feather-bed. The
+results perfectly justified the search, and upon Maria-Ann's
+return just before tea, she was amazed to have her
+grandmother offer her a wrinkled cheek to kiss.
+
+"Why, grandmarm!" exclaimed Maria-Ann, in joyful
+surprise, "I 'm so glad you ain't laid it up against me--
+
+"I can see through a barn-door when 't is wide open,
+even at my time of life, Maria-Ann Simmons," said the
+old dame, interrupting her.
+
+"What did you hear over to Ben's?"
+
+"Hazel's just had a letter from her father, and he says
+they 've got Mr. Sherrill home to New York, an' if nothin'
+new sets in, he 'll get over it, but his lungs 'll be weak,
+mebbe, for two years. He was shot clean through the
+lungs."
+
+"What do they hear from Chi?"
+
+Maria-Ann's face grew suddenly radiant. "Oh, he 's
+been awful sick with the fever, an' ain't left Cuby yet, but
+he'll come North jest as soon as he can be transported.
+I 've been talking over my plans with Mis' Blossom an'
+Rose an' Hazel, an' they 're goin' to do everything they can
+for me."
+
+"So you 're a-goin' to Cuby, Maria-Ann?"
+
+"Yes, grandmarm, I 've got a call to go an' nuss our
+sick an' wounded; I 've been readin' a lot 'bout the Red
+Cross misses in the Hearthstone Journal, an' I 'm goin' to
+wear a cross, an' Hazel's goin' to pay my fare, an' I 'm
+goin' to stop to Mr. Clyde's when I get to New York,
+an' he 'll start me all right for Cuby--"
+
+"Them beets are burnin' on, Maria-Ann; guess you 'd
+better stop for jest one more meal on the Mountin, had n't
+you?" said her grandmother, dryly.
+
+Maria-Ann laughed merrily. "I know, grandmarm, it
+seems kinder queer and foolish to you, but I feel as if I
+could go now with nothin' on my mind, for you know
+Mandy's girl is comin' to stay all September an' October,
+an' she 's grand help. You won't begin to miss me 'fore
+I 'll be back--an' I 'll own up, grandmarm, ever since Rose
+Blossom went to New York last winter, I 've hankered
+after seein' more of the world 'sides Mount Hunger."
+
+"When you goin' to start?"
+
+"I calc'late 'bout the last of next week, that 'll be into
+September--here, let me pare them beets, grandmarm;"
+and forthwith she seized the pan, and began peeling the
+steaming, deep-red balls, singing heartily the while:
+
+ | "'Must I be carried to the skies
+ | On flowery beds of ease,
+ | While others fought to win the prize,
+ | And sailed through bloody seas?'"
+ |
+
+"Now be careful, and change at White River Junction,"
+were Mr. Blossom's parting words at the station. "After
+that you go right through to New York."
+
+"I 'll take good care, don't you any of you worry 'bout
+me!" She waved her handkerchief from the back platform
+of the car to the little group she was leaving,--Mr. and
+Mrs. Blossom, Rose, March and Hazel, Captain Spillkins
+and Susan Wood, with Elvira and Melissa. She was
+inflated with heroic resolve, and felt ennobled to be going
+forth to do battle, as she termed it to herself, for her
+Country's cause. Moreover she was seeing the world, and even
+at the start she found it most interesting, for she had been
+but ten miles at most by train, and here she was speeding
+towards White River Junction, distant forty miles from
+Barton's River.
+
+She longed to communicate her enthusiasm to the occupants
+of the car, but found only one opportunity. She
+offered to hold a baby, one of a family of five, while the
+mother fed and watered the other four. She continued to
+dandle it recklessly till the woman protested:
+
+"Guess you ain't had a fam'ly," she remarked sternly,
+rescuing her child; "a woman of your age ought to know
+better 'n to shake a baby up so when he 's teethin'--'t ain't
+good for their brains--like enough bring on chol'ry morbis." She
+pulled down the small clothes, turned the atom over on
+its stomach, and patted its back with a broad hand and a
+dove-like settling motion that bespoke the mater-familias.
+
+Maria-Ann looked out of the window. True, she had n't
+any family--only Grandmarm Little and Aunt Mandy's
+one daughter who had just come to visit them. What was
+Aunt Tryphosa doing now? She was dreaming again, and
+before she could realize it, the brakeman called, "White
+River Junction! Change cars for all points south via
+Windsor, Springfield, New York."
+
+Hearing that, Maria-Ann felt as if she had already
+travelled a thousand miles, so far away seemed Mount Hunger
+and its uneventful life.
+
+She found herself on the platform. She had been so
+confident of taking care of herself--and now! She looked
+helplessly about. Trains to the right of her, trains to the
+left of her, trains in front of her and behind her switched,
+and shifted, and thundered. Engine-bells, dinner-bells,
+train-bells; stentorian voices of baggage-men, brakemen,
+call-men; frantic women, screaming babies, hurrying
+porters, indifferent travellers, fashionable women and city
+men; farmers, children, baskets, shawl-straps, dress-suit
+cases, golf bags, boys; dogs, yelping and crying, in arms
+or in leash; canaries in their wooden cages shrilling over
+all; and hither and thither and yon a bustling, and
+rustling, and rattling, and roaring, and clanking, and hissing,
+and shrieking, and hurrying, and scurrying, and pushing,
+and hauling, and prodding, and rushing! For a minute
+Maria-Ann was dazed and almost stunned. Then her
+courage rose to the occasion. *This* was the famous
+Junction of which she had heard so much. *This* was the great
+world. *This* was Life!
+
+"I 'll stand stock-still an' wait till it clears up a little.
+I 've got an hour here, an' mebbe I 'll see somebody from
+Barton's," she said to herself, and had just put down her
+valise when a hoarse voice cried in her ear,--"Hi, there! get
+out of the way!"
+
+She dodged a baggage truck piled high with toppling
+trunks, only to be caught in the surging, living stream,
+and carried with it up a step into the restaurant of the
+station.
+
+To Maria-Ann it was a marvellous sight. She set down
+her valise by a window and, standing guard in front
+of it, gazed about her with intense satisfaction. In truth
+this was seeing the great world, of which she had read so
+much in the Journal and for which she had longed, at first
+hand. Around the counter--a long oval--were perched
+on the high, wooden, spring stools "all sorts and conditions
+of men," with a sprinkling of women and children.
+There was perpetual motion of knives, forks, teaspoons,
+arms, hands, mouths,--and a noisy conglomerate beyond
+description, accented by the shriek and toot of the
+switch-engines.
+
+Suddenly the clangor of a gong-like bell and a stentorian
+voice rose above the chaos of sound;--there was a momentary
+lull in the confusion of masticating utensils, followed
+by a general slipping, sliding, and jumping off the round
+wooden perches,--and to Maria-Ann's amazement, the
+room was nearly vacant.
+
+"*Now 's* my time," said Maria-Ann, with considerable
+complacency, and forthwith proceeded to hoist herself, by
+means of the foot-rail, upon one of the seats, at the same
+time placing her valise on another at her right. She looked
+at the varied assortment of delectables--an embarrassment
+of riches: jelly-roll cakes, pickles, squash pie, baked beans,
+frosted tea-cakes, sage cheese, ham sandwiches, lemon pie,
+cold, spice-speckled custards, doughnuts, great as to their
+circumference, startling as to their cubical contents.
+
+"I 've heard tell of them," said Maria-Ann to herself, as
+her eye, ranging the oval marble slab, encountered a
+pyramidal pile of New England's doughty cruller. "I 'll have
+two of them, I guess," she said to the indifferent attendant,
+"an' a cup of coffee; that 'll last me for a spell, and I can
+keep my lunch for supper." She expected some response
+to her explanation, but there was none forthcoming, save
+that a cup of coffee, half-pint size, was shoved over the
+counter towards her, and the huge glass dome that
+protected the doughnuts was removed with a jerk, and the
+towering pile set down in front of her.
+
+Maria-Ann helped herself. It seemed rather tame,
+after so much excitement, to be eating a doughnut the
+size of a small feather-bed, without company. She looked
+around. There were but three or four at the entire counter.
+Farther down to the left, his tall, gaunt figure silhouetted
+against the blank of the large window, a man was seated,
+bestriding the perch as if it were a horse. He wore the
+undress uniform of the volunteer cavalry. When
+Maria-Ann discovered this, she felt for a moment, to use her
+own expression, "flustered." The mere presence of the
+uniform brought to her a realizing sense of the importance
+of her mission; it seemed to bring her at once into touch
+with far-away Cuba, and the feminine knights of the Red
+Cross; with--her heart gave a joyful thump--with Chi!
+She felt in a way ennobled to be eating her doughnut
+within speaking distance of a hero (they were all that in
+Maria-Ann's idealizing imagination).
+
+She had bitten only halfway into the periphery of the
+doughnut, when the man stepped from his seat. She
+watched him as he moved slowly towards the door; his
+back was turned to her. How feebly he moved! Almost
+seeming to drag one foot after the other.
+
+A great flood of patriotic pity engulfed Maria-Ann's
+whole being. She forgot the doughnuts; she left the
+coffee; she forgot even her valise; her one thought was
+as she slid from the stool: "I ain't no call to wait till I
+get to Cuby; I 'm just as much a Red Cross nuss right
+here in White River Junction, Vermont, as if I was a
+thousand miles away." The girl at the counter looked
+after her in amazement--she hadn't even paid! But
+there was her valise.
+
+She saw Maria-Ann whisk something out of her dress-waist
+and stop halfway down the room to pin it on her
+sleeve, and lo and behold!--it was a cross of bright red
+flannel. She saw her hurry after the man, who had
+dragged himself to the doorway, and stood there leaning
+heavily against the jamb.
+
+"If you 're goin' to take a train, just you let me help
+you aboard," she said, speaking just at his elbow. The
+man's head half turned with a jerk. "You ain't fit to
+stan' more 'n an eight months baby, an' I 'm a Red Cross
+nuss on my way to Cuby--"
+
+A gaunt, yellow face with haggard eyes was turned
+slowly full upon her, and a hand, shaking, as that of a
+man in drink, was laid on her arm:
+
+"Don't you know me, Marier-Ann?"
+
+Maria-Ann sat down suddenly on the doorstep at the
+man's feet. There was no strength left in her. Then she
+put her head into her hands, and began to cry softly;
+there were few to see her, and had the whole world been
+there, she would not have cared.
+
+"Just help me into the waitin'-room, Marier-Ann, where
+we can talk."
+
+She bounced to her feet, with streaming, tear-blinded
+eyes, and Chi, linking his arm in hers, led her into the
+"Ladies' Room."
+
+A porter followed them in; he addressed Chi. "She
+ain't paid for what she ordered, and she ain't eat it neither,
+and she 's left her valise."
+
+Chi pulled out a ten-cent piece and put it into his hand.
+"Bring 'em all in," he said, "grub 'n' all, 'n' I 'll pay for
+'em. We 'll sit here a spell till train time." Maria-Ann
+sobbed afresh.
+
+The porter brought in the plate with the doughnuts, the
+cup of coffee, and the valise, and set them down on the
+wooden settee. He pointed to the ten-cent piece that
+lay within the inner ring of a doughnut:
+
+"I don't take nothin' of that kind from you fellers." He
+touched the bit of braid on the cuff of Chi's coat; Chi
+smiled, and pocketed the money.
+
+"Guess you was n't expectin' to meet an old friend so
+soon, was you?" said Chi, gently, setting the plate in her
+lap.
+
+Maria-Ann shook her head vigorously, but she could
+not control the sobs. Chi crossed one leg over the other,
+and waited.
+
+The flies buzzed on the smoke-thickened panes, and an
+empty truck rattled down the platform. There were no
+other sounds.
+
+"When does your train go, Marier-Ann?"
+
+There was another sob, but no answer.
+
+"Did n't I hear you say you was on your way to Cuby?"
+
+Maria-Ann nodded.
+
+"Bad place for women--'n' men, too. What you goin' for?"
+
+Maria-Ann's answer was only half audible: "To nuss."
+
+"To nuss? Ain't there enough nussin' you can do
+nearer home?"
+
+Maria-Ann looked up with tear-reddened eyes. "I
+did n't think so--" a sob--"till I saw you, Chi. I did n't
+know you--I thought I 'd begin right now, before I got
+there--" her hands covered her eyes again.
+
+Chi's trembling ones, weak from the fever, drew her
+cold ones down from her face.
+
+"You did just right, Marier-Ann, to want to begin right
+now.--The Barton's River train is due to start from here
+in fifteen minutes;--s'posin' you give up Cuby, 'n' come
+along home, 'n' try nussin' me. I need it bad enough."
+
+"Oh, Chi, do you mean it?" Maria-Ann caught her breath.
+
+"You bet I do," said Chi, emphatically, "only"--he
+paused and took up the plate from her lap, spilling the
+coffee, for the trembling of his hand had increased--"if
+you 're goin' to undertake it with me, it's got to be a life
+job, Marier-Ann."
+
+The flies continued to buzz on the smoke-thickened
+panes. The train for Barton's River steamed in from the
+siding. The couple in the waiting-room boarded it. The
+porter watched them with a queer smile. Then he took
+up the plate of uneaten doughnuts and the cup of cooled
+coffee, and handed them to the girl behind the counter.
+
+"She ain't eat 'em, after all," she said. "She acted
+kinder queer for a Red Cross nurse."
+
+"He's the chap I give the telegram to when he got
+here on the up-train last night."
+
+"What was it?"
+
+"Twenty-five cent one from Barton's River--'M.A. starts
+for Cuba Thursday stop her at Junction.'"
+
+The girl laughed, and the restaurant filled again.
+
+
+
+
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. _`"--The stars above, Shine ever on Love--"`:
+
+.. class:: center large
+
+ XXVII
+
+
+.. class:: center medium white-space-pre-line
+
+ "--The stars above
+ Shine ever on Love--"
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+"I 'm goin' up into the clearin', Mis' Blossom, to see if
+there ain't some late blackberries," said Chi, a few days
+after his triumphal return with Maria-Ann. "Seems as if
+the smell of the sun on that spruce-bush up yonder would
+put new life into me--I feel so kind of shif'less."
+
+"I would, Chi," said Mrs. Blossom; "you have n't
+begun to get your strength back yet, and the more you 're
+out in this air, without overworking, the better it will be
+for you."
+
+"I 'll go with you, Chi," said Rose, looking up from her
+work, as she sat sewing on the lower step of the porch.
+
+"That's right, Rose-pose; it 'll seem like old times." Chi
+followed her with wistful eyes as she turned to go
+up stairs.
+
+"I 'll be down in a few minutes, Chi; we 'd better take
+the two-quart pails, had n't we?"
+
+"Maybe we 'll find enough for one or two messes."
+
+He turned to Mrs. Blossom when Rose had left the
+room. "Can't there nothin' be done 'bout it, Mis'
+Blossom?" He spoke almost wistfully.
+
+Mrs. Blossom's eyes filled with tears. She hesitated a
+moment before she spoke: "I know Rose so well, Chi,
+that I dare *not* interfere. I doubt if she would accept
+anything, even from me, her mother."
+
+"It beats me," Chi sighed heavily. "He 's just a-pinin'
+for a word or sign, 'n' there ain't no use talkin'--*she 's*
+got to give it; I 'd back him up every time, he 's done
+enough--"
+
+"Sh--!" Mrs. Blossom held up her finger; she heard
+Rose on the stairs. Chi looked up--his old Rose-pose
+stood before him: old, faded, green and white calico dress,
+old sunbonnet, patched shoes! Chi turned away abruptly
+to get his pails; and her mother wondered, but said nothing.
+
+They found more than one "patch," where the berries
+hung in luscious clusters of shining jet. Chi pummelled
+his chest, and drew deep, deep breaths of the balsamic
+mountain air. "This sets a man up, Rose-pose; there
+ain't nothin' like the air on this Mountain for an all-round
+tonic. Let's sit here a spell, right by this sweet fern."
+
+She pushed back the sunbonnet as she sat down beside
+him. "Tired, Chi?"
+
+"No--rests me clear through just to sit 'n' look off
+onto those slopes, just about as green as in June."
+
+They sat awhile in silence; then Chi turned and picked
+up the sunbonnet that had fallen from her head. He
+touched it gently.
+
+"Remember the first time you sold berries in that rig,
+Rose-pose?"
+
+The blood surged into Rose's face, and receded, leaving
+it strangely white. Chi felt his heart contract at the
+change, but he went on:
+
+"First time Jack ever saw you was in that rig.--You
+ain't changed so much but he 'd know you again if he saw
+you in Chiny."
+
+Still there was silence. Chi moistened his lips.
+
+"Can't say as much for him; never saw such a change;
+he 's all fallen away to nothin' but skin and bones. Doctor
+Heath told me just before I left--'n' he put me aboard
+the train--that nothin' could set him up again but this
+Mountain air, 'n' good food, 'n'--" Chi paused; his mouth
+was uncomfortably dry. Rose's face was turned from him,
+but he saw a contraction of her delicate throat, as if a dry
+sob were suddenly suppressed. Then she spoke in a
+monotone:
+
+"Why does n't he come, then?"
+
+"*Why!*--" Chi fairly startled himself with his
+thundering "why," and Rose half started from the ground.
+The blood leaped to her very temples; seeing which, Chi
+took heart--"Coz he 's every inch a man, Rose Blossom;
+'n' he's got too much grit of the right sort to ask a girl
+twice, he 's about given his heart's blood for.
+
+"He ain't a-goin' to come crawlin' up here to ask no
+favors of you after he knows that you *know*--'n' I glory
+in his spunk. But I can tell you, if you don't look out,
+you 'll come nearer to bein' a real Molly Stark than you
+ever thought you could be when you joined the N.B.B.O.O.,
+'n' by George Washin'ton! it goes against me to see you
+breakin' the by-laws you pledged yourself to stand by,
+every minute of your life that you keep so dumb towards
+Jack Sherrill;--for you 're provin' yourself a coward in
+your love, 'n' you 'll have a widowed heart to pay for it
+mighty soon, if you keep on, that'll be worse than Molly
+Stark's any day--" A whisper stopped him:
+
+"Chi, Chi, tell him to come--I want him so; oh, Chi!"
+
+Chi's hand was laid on the bowed head with its crown of
+shining, golden-brown braids: "Rose Blossom, may God
+Almighty bless you for proving yourself a true woman,
+'n' worthy of the mother that bore you. I can't say any
+more."
+
+An hour later March Blossom, with a telegram in his
+hand, was speeding on Fleet to Barton's River; and two
+days afterwards Mr. Blossom and Alan Ford in the double
+wagon, and Chi alone in the buggy, drove down to Barton's
+to meet the up-train. Mrs. Blossom and Rose stood on
+the porch straining their eyes in the quickly-falling
+September twilight to see any movement on the lower road.
+The children had been sent over to Hunger-ford till after
+tea, for Jack was not strong enough to bear a too joyful
+home-coming.
+
+"They 're coming, Rose," said Mrs. Blossom, in a low
+tone; then she turned abruptly, and went into the house,
+leaving Rose alone on the step.
+
+"Here we are, safe 'n' sound," said Chi, in an affectedly
+cheery voice, as he drove out of the woods'-road. "Just
+wait a minute, Jack, 'n' I 'll give you an arm gettin' out." He
+laid the reins on the dasher. Then he assisted the tall,
+gaunt figure of the man beside him to alight. Jack half
+stumbled, for his eyes were seeking Rose--and Rose?
+
+All her womanhood, all the sacred privileges of wifehood,
+came to her aid at that moment. She sprang to the
+carriage, and, with one hand, put Chi aside; with the other,
+she lifted Jack's half-nerveless arm and laid it over her
+shoulders; then, encircling him with her own slender one,
+she said gently, guiding him to the porch step:
+
+"*Lean on me, dearest.*"
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+On the first of November, one of the short-lived Indian
+Summer days, the farmhouse on Mount Hunger literally
+blossomed like a rose.
+
+A week beforehand there had been an animated discussion
+as to what should be the wedding decorations of the
+"long-room." Hazel, who had been with them a week
+already, settled it.
+
+"As if there could be any choice!" she exclaimed.
+"It's been great fun to hear you all suggesting this, that,
+and the other, from ground hemlock and bitter-sweet, to
+everlasting! But Jack and I settled it three weeks
+ago--how could there be anything for Rose, but roses?
+Anyway, that's what Jack wrote, and our florist looked fairly
+dazed when I gave him the order--just bushels of them,
+Rose-pose, lovely La France ones, like those you threw
+into the--No, I won't tease you, Cousin mine," she said,
+with a merry laugh, as Rose looked at her appealingly.
+
+And now, on the wedding morning of the first of November,
+the great box that Chi had brought up from Barton's
+the night before was opened, and in Hazel's skilful fingers
+the exquisite pink blooms lent to the "long-room" a
+wonderful grace and beauty.
+
+She was flitting about in her pale pink cashmere dress--"Made
+specially to match the roses," she said to March,
+as she dropped him a curtsy preparatory to pinning a rose
+into his buttonhole. "We must all wear Rose-pose's badge
+to-day. Where are you, Budd?"
+
+"Here," said her knight, promptly appearing with Cherry
+from the pantry, where they had been counting the
+frosting-roses on the wedding-cake. He looked down at the
+slender fingers as they pulled the stem of the pink bud
+through the buttonhole of his jacket, and thought--of the
+ring! Then he looked up at the tall, beautiful girl bending
+over him, and, somehow, the day of his proposal seemed
+very far away in the Past. Hazel was so grown up!--as
+tall as Rose. Still, he was n't going to be afraid, if she
+was grown up. Now was his time;--and "Ethan Allan"
+always made the most of his opportunities. Budd was in
+United States History, this term, and he knew this for a
+fact.
+
+He drew forth from his breeches' pocket a something
+that might once have been white, but, at present, looked
+more like a shoe-rag, it was so dingy and soiled.
+
+"I 've kept it, you see, Hazel," he said, his small mouth
+puckering, his round, light-blue eyes growing rounder, as
+he looked up at Hazel, with twelve-year-old earnestness.
+
+"Kept what?" said Hazel, mystified, and holding up
+the offering gingerly between thumb and forefinger to
+examine it.
+
+"Why, don't you know?--the glove you gave me when
+you said you 'd be my Lady-love? don't you remember,--in
+the barn?" answered Budd, slightly crestfallen.
+
+Hazel laughed merrily. "Oh, you funny boy!" she
+said, "to keep an old glove of mine for nearly a year and
+a half! Why, it's nearly black and blue. Have you kept
+it in your best Sunday-go-to-meeting trousers' pocket all
+this time?"
+
+Budd nodded, but soberly. Seeing which, Hazel gave
+him a pat on the top of his head, and assured him she
+would give him one of her cleaned party gloves once a
+year till he was twenty-one, if only he would promise not
+to keep it in his pocket with spruce-gum, chalk, chestnuts,
+lead-pencil sharpenings, top-twine, jack-knives, and ginger
+cookie crumbs.
+
+"How 'd you know I had all those things in my
+pocket?" demanded Budd, in his amazement forgetting
+his sentiment.
+
+"Oh, a little bird told me," replied Hazel. "Run and
+ask Chi to come in, will you? I have his rose ready for
+him, and it's most time for them all to come."
+
+It was a quiet wedding. Only those nearest and dearest
+were about them; Mr. Sherrill, Aunt Carrie and Uncle
+Jo, Mr. Clyde and Hazel, Doctor and Mrs. Heath, the
+Blossoms and Chi.
+
+Afterwards all the Lost Nation came in to give their
+heart-felt blessings and good wishes. They were all
+there--from Maria-Ann, radiant in the realization of her own
+romance, to Miss Alton and the Fords, who were to leave
+on the night train to remain six weeks in New York, and
+had placed Hunger-ford at the disposal of Rose and Jack
+during the first weeks of their marriage. They remained
+but a little while, for the excitement was almost more than
+Jack was able to bear.
+
+The moon rose between six and seven, largely luminous
+and slightly reddened through the soft, warm haze of the
+Indian Summer night. Rose had insisted, that, if the
+night were mild, Jack should ride over to Hunger-ford
+at a snail's pace on Little Shaver, and that she should lead
+him. At first Jack protested, but in the end Rose had
+her way. Chi, on Fleet, was to ride on a little ahead to be
+within call, if anything should be needed. "Kind of
+scoutin' to remind us of Cuby, Jack," he said, laughing,
+as he helped him into the saddle.
+
+They were all on the porch to see the little cavalcade
+set forth, the pony whinnying his delight to find his master
+on his back. Rose took the bridle. Suddenly she dropped
+it, turned, and came back to the steps where Hazel stood
+between Mrs. Blossom and March. She put up her arms,
+and clasping the young girl about the waist, drew her
+down to kiss her, and whisper:
+
+"Oh, Hazel! What if you had n't come to us!--All
+this happiness is through you."
+
+And Hazel, but dimly perceiving Rose's meaning,
+whispered back as she kissed her:
+
+"And if I had n't come, Rose-pose, *I* should never have
+been rich as I am now; Chi can't call me 'poor' any
+longer--for you 're all mine, now that you are Jack's;
+aren't you?"
+
+March, hearing those whispered words, found his mother's
+hand, somehow,--and Mrs. Blossom understood.
+
+"Good-night, Martie dear," cried Rose, love and tears
+and laughter struggling in her voice.
+
+"Good-night, Rose dear."
+
+"Good-night, Rose--Good-night, Jack!" cried the twins.
+
+A white slipper filled with rice flew after Little Shaver,
+and hit him on the left hock. But he was a well-bred polo
+pony, and a white satin slipper with a little rice was as
+nothing to a swift, long-distance polo ball; so he gave no
+sign.
+
+Chi stopped at the little house "over eastwards." Maria-Ann
+was on the lookout.
+
+"They 're comin' along just by the turn of the road,"
+he spoke low, "can you see 'em?"
+
+The road lay white in the moonlight. "Yes, yes," cried
+Maria-Ann excitedly, "Oh, Chi, ain't it beautiful!"
+
+"Sh--sh!" said Chi, "they 'll hear you. Hark! By
+George Washin'ton! she 's singin'--Get, Fleet." The
+horse loped along over the moonlit road, and Maria-Ann
+went in and shut the door--all but a crack. To that she
+put her ear, to hear what the clear, sweet voice was
+singing:
+
+ | "'I told thee when love was hopeless;
+ | But now he is wild and sings--
+ | That the stars above
+ | Shine ever on Love,
+ | Though they frown on the fate of kings.'"
+ |
+
+Mount Hunger stood bathed in white radiance. The
+stars came out, but faintly;--still, they were shining.
+
+.. vspace:: 4
+
+.. clearpage
+
+.. class:: center x-large
+
+ New Illustrated Editions of
+ Miss Alcott's Famous Stories
+
+.. vspace:: 3
+
+LITTLE MEN: Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys
+
+By LOUISA M. ALCOTT. With fifteen full-page illustrations by Reginald
+B. Birch. Crown 8vo. Decorated cloth. $2.00.
+
+"Little Men" has never been given to an
+admiring public in any form so charming as
+this one. All that was needed to make the tale quite
+irresistible was such illustrations as
+are here supplied, fifteen full-page ones instinct with life
+and movement and charm.--*Boston Budget*.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
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+LITTLE WOMEN: or Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy
+
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+Stephens. Crown 8vo. Decorated cloth. $2.00.
+
+"Books may come and books may go,
+but 'Little Women' still remains the ideal book
+for young girls, the best representation of bright,
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+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+AN OLD-FASHIONED GIRL
+
+By LOUISA M. ALCOTT. With 12 full-page pictures by Jessie Willcox
+Smith. Crown 8vo. Decorated cloth. $2.00.
+
+Of the third book in illustrated edition
+of the "Little Women" Series, the *Saturday
+Evening Gazette*, Boston, says:
+"No better portraits of Polly and Tom could be imagined
+than those which appear in these pages....
+No book of its lamented author has more
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+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+JO'S BOYS, and How They Turned Out
+
+A Sequel to "Little Men." By LOUISA M. ALCOTT. With 10 full-page
+plates by Ellen Wetherald Ahrens. Crown 8vo. Decorated cloth. $2.00.
+
+Those who were fascinated by the story
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+keen interest in the experiences of Mrs. Jo's boys.
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+"and the story has plenty of life
+and incident, fun and pathos; its atmosphere
+is fresh, pure, and wholesome."
+
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+with Miss Alcott's previous stories," says the
+*San Francisco Chronicle*, "will read 'Jo's Boys'
+with avidity." The illustrations by
+Charlotte Harding are in keeping with the spirit of the author.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+.. class:: medium center
+
+THE FOUR VOLUMES PUT UP IN BOX, $8.00
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+.. vspace:: 2
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+.. class:: center large white-space-pre-line
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+
+.. vspace:: 4
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+Anna Chapin Ray's "Teddy" Stories
+
+.. vspace:: 2
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+TEDDY: HER BOOK. A Story of Sweet Sixteen
+
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+
+Miss Ray's work draws instant comparison
+with the best of Miss Alcott's: first,
+because she has the same genuine sympathy
+with boy and girl life; secondly,
+because she creates real characters,
+individual and natural, like the young people
+one knows, actually working out the same kind of problems;
+and, finally, because
+her style of writing is equally unaffected and
+straightforward.--*Christian Register*, Boston.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+PHEBE: HER PROFESSION
+
+A Sequel to "Teddy: Her Book"
+
+Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill. 12mo. $1.50.
+
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+in which there is to be
+found the same vigor and grace that one demands
+in a good story for older people.--*Worcester Spy*.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+TEDDY: HER DAUGHTER
+
+A Sequel to "Teddy: Her Book," and "Phebe: Her Profession"
+
+Illustrated by J. B. Graff. 12mo. $1.20 net.
+
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+and womanly.--*New York Times Saturday Review*.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+NATHALIE'S CHUM
+
+Illustrated by Ellen Bernard Thompson. 12mo. $1.20 net.
+
+A charming story of a courageous fifteen-year-old
+girl's effort to help her
+older brother support an orphaned family of five.
+"Nathalie is the sort
+of a young girl whom other girls like to read about,"
+says the *Hartford Courant*.
+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+URSULA'S FRESHMAN. A Sequel to "Nathalie's Chum"
+
+Illustrated by Harriet Roosevelt Richards. 12mo. $1.20 net.
+
+A hot-tempered, domineering girl,
+yet full of common sense and capable
+of loyal love, and Jack, her cousin,
+who stoically accepts the loss of his
+father's fortune, and begins to earn
+his own way through Yale, are the
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+
+.. vspace:: 2
+
+.. class:: center white-space-pre-line
+
+ LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY, *Publishers*
+ 254 WASHINGTON ST., BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
+
+.. vspace:: 6
+
+.. pgfooter::
diff --git a/40661-rst/images/img-073.jpg b/40661-rst/images/img-073.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f4edecb --- /dev/null +++ b/40661-rst/images/img-073.jpg diff --git a/40661-rst/images/img-118.jpg b/40661-rst/images/img-118.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e59fd33 --- /dev/null +++ b/40661-rst/images/img-118.jpg diff --git a/40661-rst/images/img-137.jpg b/40661-rst/images/img-137.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..20075fe --- /dev/null +++ b/40661-rst/images/img-137.jpg diff --git a/40661-rst/images/img-199.jpg b/40661-rst/images/img-199.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..63f4519 --- /dev/null +++ b/40661-rst/images/img-199.jpg diff --git a/40661-rst/images/img-288.jpg b/40661-rst/images/img-288.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..00fa8e0 --- /dev/null +++ b/40661-rst/images/img-288.jpg diff --git a/40661-rst/images/img-cover.jpg b/40661-rst/images/img-cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8a3fb92 --- /dev/null +++ b/40661-rst/images/img-cover.jpg diff --git a/40661-rst/images/img-front.jpg b/40661-rst/images/img-front.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a9c7bdb --- /dev/null +++ b/40661-rst/images/img-front.jpg diff --git a/40661.txt b/40661.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..622728e --- /dev/null +++ b/40661.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11225 @@ + A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH + + + + +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 http://www.gutenberg.org/license. + + +Title: A Daughter of the Rich + +Author: M. E. Waller + +Release Date: September 04, 2012 [EBook #40661] +Reposted: October 06, 2012 [minor corrections] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines. + + + + +[Illustration: Cover] + + + +[Illustration: Hazel] + + + + + A + Daughter of the Rich + + + BY + + M. E. WALLER + + AUTHOR OF "THE LITTLE CITIZEN" + + + + ILLUSTRATED BY + ELLEN BERNARD THOMPSON + + + + BOSTON + LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY + 1903 + + + + + _Copyright, 1903,_ + BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. + + _All rights reserved_ + + + Published October, 1903 + + + + UNIVERSITY PRESS + JOHN WILSON AND SON + CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A. + + + + + To + "MARTIE" + + + + + CONTENTS + + + I. Molasses Tea + II. Mrs. Blossom's Valentine + III. A Curious Case + IV. A Little Millionaire + V. Transplanted + VI. Malachi + VII. The N.B.B.O.O. Society + VIII. A Lively Correspondence + IX. The Prize Chicken + X. An Unexpected Meeting + XI. Jack + XII. Results + XIII. A Social Addition + XIV. The Lost Nation + XV. Wishing-Tree Secrets + XVI. A Christmas Prelude + XVII. Hunger-Ford + XVIII. Budd's Proposal + XIX. A Year And A Day + XX. Snow-Bound + XXI. A Little Daughter of the Rich + XXII. Rose + XXIII. "Behold how great a Matter a Little Fire Kindles" + XXIV. "Old Put" + XXV. San Juan + XXVI. Maria-Ann's Crusade + XXVII. "--The stars above, Shine ever on Love--" + + + + + LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + +Hazel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frontispiece + +"'You can begin to drop that corn this very afternoon'" + +"Rose was at the kitchen table, patting out the dough for the rolls" + +"Hazel flung both arms around Mrs. Blossom's neck" + +"'I want to tell you why I came up here'" + +"The two girls leaned over the box as Hazel took off the wrapper" + + + + + A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH + + + + I + + MOLASSES TEA + + +"Good-night, Martie," called a sweet voice down the stairway. + +"Good-night, Rose dear; I thought you were asleep." + +"Good-night, Martie," duetted the twins, in the shrillest of treble and +falsetto. + +"Good-night, you rogues; go to sleep; you 'll wake baby." + +"Dood-night, mummy," chirped a little voice from the adjoining room. + +There was a shout of laughter from the twins. + +"Shut up," growled March from the attic over the kitchen. "Good-night, +mother." His growl ended in a squeak, for March was at that interesting +period of his life indicated by a change of voice. At the sound, a +prolonged snicker from somewhere was answered by a corresponding giggle +from another-where. + +"Now, children," said Mrs. Blossom, speaking up the stairway, "do be +quiet, or baby will be wide awake." + +"Tum tiss me, mummy," piped the little voice a second time, with no +sound of sleep in it. + +"Yes, darling, I 'll come;" as she turned to go into the bedroom +adjoining the kitchen, there was the sound of a jump overhead, a patter +of bare feet, a squabble on the stairs, and Budd and Cherry, the +irrepressible ten-year-old twins, tumbled into the room. + +"I 'll haul those kids back to bed for you, mother," shouted March, and +flung himself out of bed to join the fray, while Rose was not behindhand +in making her appearance. + +Mrs. Blossom came in with little May in her arms, and that was the +signal for a wholesale kissing-party in which May was hostess. + +"Children, children, you 'll smother me!" laughed their mother. "Here, +sit down on the rug and warm your toes,--coming over those bare stairs +this cold night!" And down they sat, Rose and March, Budd and Cherry +and little May, in thick white and red flannel night-dresses and gray +flannel pajamas. + +Budd coughed consumptively, and Cherry followed suit. March shivered and +shook like a small earthquake, and Rose looked up laughingly at her +mother. + +"We know what that means, don't we, Martie," she said. "Shall I help?" + +"No, no, dear,--in your bare feet!" + +Mrs. Blossom took a lamp from the shelf over the fireplace, and, leaving +the five with their fifty toes turned and wriggling before the cheering +warmth of the blazing hickory logs, disappeared in the pantry. + +"Oh, bully," said Budd, rubbing his flannel pajamas just over his +stomach; "I wish 't was a cold night every day, then we could have +molasses tea all the time, don't you, Cherry?" + +"Mm," said Cherry, too full of the anticipated treat for articulate +speech. + +"There 's nothing like it to warm up your insides," said March; "mother +'s a brick to let us get up for it. She would n't, you know, if father +were at home." + +"My tummy's told," piped May, frantically patting her chest in imitation +of Budd, and all the children shouted to see the wee four-year-old +maiden trying to manufacture a shiver in the glow of the cheerful fire. + +Mrs. Blossom had never told her recipe for her "hot molasses tea;" but +it had been famed in the family for more than a generation. She had it +from her mother. The treat was always reserved for a bitterly cold +night, and the good things in it of which one had a taste--molasses, +white sugar, lemon-peel, butter, peppermint, boiled raisins, and +mysterious unknowns--were compounded with hot water into a +palate-tickling beverage. + +When Mrs. Blossom reappeared, with a kettle sending forth a small cloud +of fragrant steam in one hand and a tray filled with tin cups in the +other, the delighted "Ohs" and "Ahs" repaid her for all her extra work +at the close of a busy, weary day. + +Budd rolled over on the rug in his ecstasy, and Cherry was about to roll +on top of him, when March interfered, and order was restored. + +As they sat there on the big, braided square of woollen rag-carpet, +sipping and ohing and ahing with supreme satisfaction, Mrs. Blossom +broached the subject of valentines. + +"It's the first of February, children, and time to begin to make +valentines. You 're not going to forget the Doctor _this_ year, are +you?" + +"No, indeed, Martie," said Rose. "He deserves the prettiest we can +make. I 've been thinking about it, and I 'm going to make him a +shaving-case, heart-shaped, with birch-bark covers, and if March will +decorate it for me, I think it will be lovely; will you, March?" + +"Course I will; the Doctor 's a brick. I 'll tell you what, Martie, I +can pen and ink some of those spruces and birches that the Doctor was so +fond of last summer; how 'll that do?" + +"Just the thing," said his mother; "I know it will please him. What are +you thinking, Cherry?" for the "other half" of Budd was gazing dreamily +into the fire, forgetting her tea in her revery. + +"Fudge!" said Cherry, shortly. March and Rose laughed. + +"Keep still making fun of Cherry," said Budd, ruffling at the sound; and +to emphasize his admonishing words, he dug his sharp elbow so suddenly +into March's ribs that some hot molasses tea flew from the cup which his +brother had just put to his mouth and spattered on his bare feet. + +March deliberately set down his tin cup on the hearth near the fire +beside his brother's, and turned upon Budd. + +Budd tried to dodge, but had no room. In a trice, March had his arms +around him, and was hugging him in a bear-like embrace. "Say you 're +sorry!" he demanded. + +"Au-ow!" + +"Say you 're sorry!" he roared at him, hugging harder. + +"Au-ow-ee-ow!" + +"Quick, or I 'll squeeze you some more!" + +Budd was squirming and twisting like an eel. + +"O-ee-wau-au-_Au!_" + +"There," said March, releasing him and setting him down with a thump on +the rug; "I 'll teach you to poke me in the ribs that way and scald my +feet.--You 're game, though, old fellow," he added patronizingly, as he +heard a suspicious sniff from Cherry. "You and Cherry make a whole team +any day." + +Cherry's sniff changed to a smile, for March did not condescend to +praise either of them very often. + +"Well," she said meditatively, "I suppose it did sound funny to say +that, but I was thinking that if Budd would make me a little +heart-shaped box of birch-bark, I 'd make some maple-sugar fudge,--you +know, Martie, the kind with butternuts in it,--and that could be my +valentine for the Doctor." + +"Why, that's a bright idea, Cherry," said Mrs. Blossom; and, "Bully for +you, Cherry," said Budd; "we'll begin to-morrow and crack the +butternuts." + +"What will May do?" asked Mrs. Blossom, lifting the little girl, who was +already showing signs of being overcome with molasses tea and sleep. +May nestled in her mother's arms, leaned her head, running over with +golden curls, on her mother's breast, and murmured drowsily,-- + +"'Ittle tooties--tut with mummy's heart-tutter--tutter--tooties--tut--" +The blue-veined eyelids closed over the lovely eyes; and Mrs. Blossom, +holding up her finger to hush the children's mirth at May's inspired +utterance, carried her back into the bedroom. + +One after another the children crept noiselessly upstairs, with a +whispered, "Good-night, Martie," and in ten minutes Mary Blossom knew +they were all in the land of dreams. + + + + + II + + MRS. BLOSSOM'S VALENTINE + + +It was a bitter night. Mrs. Blossom refilled the kitchen stove, and +threw on more hickory in the fireplace in anticipation of her husband's +late return from the village. She drew her little work-table nearer to +the blaze, and sat down to her sewing. Then she sighed, and, as she +bent over the large willow basket filled with stockings to be darned and +clothes to be mended, a tear rolled down her cheek and plashed on the +edge. + +There was so much she wanted to do for her children--and so little with +which to do it! There was March, an artist to his finger-tips, who +longed to be an architect; and Rose, lovely in her young girlhood and +giving promise of a lovelier womanhood, who was willing to work her way +through one of the lesser colleges, if only she could be prepared for +entrance. Mary Blossom saw no prospect of being able to do anything for +either of them. + +And the father! He must be spared first, if he were to be their future +bread-winner. Mary Blossom could never forget that day, a year ago this +very month, when her husband was brought home on a stretcher, hurt, as +they thought, unto death, by a tree falling the wrong way in the woods +where he was directing the choppers. + +What a year it had been! All they had saved had gone to pay for the +extra help hired to carry on the farm and finish the log-cutting. A +surgeon had come from the nearest city to give his verdict in the case +and help if he could. + +The farm was mortgaged to enable them to pay the heavy bills incident to +months of sickness and medical attendance; still the father lay +helpless, and Mary Blossom's faith and courage were put to their +severest test, when both doctor and surgeon pronounced the case +hopeless. He might live for years, they said, but useless, so far as +his limbs were concerned. + +This was in June; and then it was that Mary Blossom, leaving Rose in +charge of her father and the children, left her home, and walked +bareheaded rapidly up the slope behind the house, across the upland +pastures and over into the woodlands, from which they had hoped to +derive a sufficient income to provide not only for their necessities, +but for their children's education and the comforts of life. + +Deep into the heart of them she made her way; and there, in the green +silence, broken only by the note of a thrush and the stirring of June +leafage above and about her, she knelt and poured out her sorrow-filled +heart before God, and cast upon Him the intolerable burden that had +rested so long upon her soul. + +The shadows were lengthening when at last she turned homewards. Cherry +and Budd met her in the pasture, for Rose had grown anxious and sent +them to find her. + +"Why, where have you been, Martie?" exclaimed the twins. "We were so +frightened about you, because you didn't come home." + +"You need n't have been; I 've been talking with a Friend." And more +than that she never said. The children's curiosity was roused, but when +they told Rose and asked her what mother meant, Rose's eyes filled with +tears, and she kept silence; for she alone knew with Whom her mother had +talked that June afternoon. + +"Run ahead, Budd, and tell Malachi to harness up Bess. I want him to +take a letter down to the village so that it may go on the night mail." +Budd flew rather than ran; for there was a look in his mother's face +that he had never seen before, and it awed him. + +That night a letter went to Doctor Heath, a famous nerve specialist of +New York City. It was a letter from Mary Blossom, his old-time friend +and schoolmate in the academy at Barton's River. In it she asked him if +he would give her his advice in this case, saying she could not accept +the decision of the physician and surgeon unless it should be confirmed +by him. + +"I cannot pay you now," she wrote, "but it was borne in upon me this +afternoon to write to you, although you may have forgotten me in these +many years, and I have no claim of present friendship, even, upon your +time and service; but I must heed the inner command to appeal to you, +whatever you may think of me,--if I disobeyed that, I should be +disobeying God's voice in my life,"--and signed herself, "Yours in +childhood's remembrance." + +The next day a telegram was brought up from the village; and the day +after the Doctor himself followed it. + +It was an anxious week; but the wonderful skill conquered. The pressure +on a certain nerve was removed, and for the last six months Benjamin +Blossom had been slowly but surely coming back to his old-time health +and strength. But again this winter the extra help had been necessary, +and it had taxed all Mary Blossom's ingenuity to make both ends meet; +for there was the interest on the mortgage to be paid every six months, +and the ready money had to go for that. + +In the midst of her thoughts, her recollections and plans, she caught +the sound of sleigh-bells. The tall clock was just striking ten. +Smoothing every line of care and banishing all look of sadness from her +face, she met her husband with a cheery smile and a, "I 'm so glad you +'ve got home, Ben; it's just twenty below, and the molasses tea is ready +for you and Chi." + +"Chi!" called Mr. Blossom towards the barn. + +"Whoa!" shouted a voice that sounded frosty in spite of itself. "Whoa, +Bess!" + +"Come into the kitchen before you turn in; there's some hot molasses tea +waiting for us." + +"Be there in a minute," he shouted back, and Bess pranced into the barn. + +"Oh, Mary, this is good," said Mr. Blossom, as he slipped out of his +buffalo-robe coat and into his warm house-jacket, dropped his boots +outside in the shed, and put on his carpet-slippers that had been +waiting for him on the hearth. + +"It is home, Ben," said his wife, bringing out clean tin cups from the +pantry, and putting them to warm beside the kettle on the hearth. + +"Yes, with you in it, Mary," he said with the smile that had won him his +true-love eighteen years before. + +"Come in, Chi," he called towards the shed, whence came sounds as if +some one were dancing a double-shuffle in snow-boots. + +"'Fraid I 'll thaw 'n' make a puddle on the hearth, Mis' Blossom. I 'm +as stiff as an icicle: guess I 'll take my tea perpendic'lar; I ain't +fit to sit down." + +"Sit down, sit down, Chi," said Mrs. Blossom. "You 'll enjoy the tea +more; and give yourself a thorough heating before you go to bed. I 've +put the soapstone in it," she added. + +"Well, you beat all, Mis' Blossom; just as if you did n't find enough to +do for yourself, you go to work 'n' make work." He broke off suddenly, +"George Washin'ton!" he exclaimed, "most forgot to give you this letter +that come on to-night's mail." + +He handed Mrs. Blossom the letter, which, with some difficulty, owing to +his stiffened fingers, he extracted from the depths of the tail-pocket +of his old overcoat. Then he helped himself to a brimming cup of the +tea, and apparently swallowed its contents without once taking breath. + +"Why, it's from Doctor Heath!" exclaimed Mrs. Blossom, recognizing the +handwriting. "Is it a valentine, I wonder?" she said, feigning to +laugh, for her heart sank within her, fearing it might be the bill,--and +yet, and yet, the Doctor had said--she got no further with these +thoughts, so intent was she on the contents of the letter. + +Chi, with an eye to prolonging his stay till he should know the why and +wherefore of a letter from the great Doctor at this season of the year, +took another cup of the tea. + +"Ben, oh, Ben!" cried Mrs. Blossom, in a faint, glad voice; and +therewith, to her husband's amazement, she handed him the letter, put +both arms around his neck, and, dropping her head on his shoulder, +sobbed as if her heart would break. + +Chi softly put down his half-emptied cup and tiptoed with creaking boots +from the room. + +"Can't stand that, nohow," he muttered to himself in the shed; and, +forgetting to light his lantern, he felt his way up the backstairs to +his lodging in the room overhead, blinded by some suspicious drops of +water in his eyes, which he cursed for frost melting from his bushy +eyebrows. + +"Oh, Ben, think of it!" she cried, when her husband had soothed and +calmed her. "Twenty-five dollars a week; that makes a little more than +twelve hundred a year. Why, we can pay off all the mortgage and be free +from that nightmare." + +For answer her husband drew her closer to him, and late into the night +they sat before the dying fire, talking and planning for the future. + +"Children," she said at breakfast next morning, and her voice sounded so +bright and cheery that the room seemed full of sunshine, although the +sky was a hard, cold gray, "I 've had one valentine already; it came +last night from the Doctor." + +Chi listened with all his ears. + +"Mother!" burst from the children, "where is it?" "Show it to us." "Why +did n't you tell us before breakfast?" + +"I can't show it to you yet; it's a live one." + +"A live one!" chorussed the children. + +"You 're fooling us, mother," said March. + +"Do I look as if I were?" replied his mother. + +And March was obliged to confess that she had never looked more in +earnest. + +Rose left her seat and stole to her father's side. "What does it mean, +pater?" she whispered. + +"Ask your mother," was all the satisfaction she received, and walked, +crestfallen, back to her chair; for when had her father refused her +anything? + +"When will you tell us, anyway?" said Budd, a little gruffly. He hated +a secret. + +"I can't tell you that either," said his mother, "and I don't know that +I shall tell you until the very last, if you ask in that voice." + +Budd screwed his mouth into a smile, and, unbeknown to the rest of the +family, reached under the cloth for his mother's hand. He sat next to +her, and that had been his way of saying "Forgive me," ever since he was +a tiny boy. + +He had a squeeze in return and felt happier. + +"I say, let's guess," said Cherry. "If I don't do something, I shall +burst." + +"You express my feelings perfectly, Cherry," said March, gravely, and +the guessing began. + +"A St. Bernard puppy?" said Budd, who coveted one. + +"A Shetland pony," said Cherry. + +"The Doctor's coming up here, himself." That was Rose's guess. + +"'T ain't likely," growled Budd. + +"A tunning 'ittle baby," chirped May. + +March failed to think of any live thing the Doctor was likely to send +unless it might be a Wyandotte blood-rooster, such as he and the Doctor +had talked about last summer. + +"You 're all cold, cold as ice," laughed their mother, using the words +of the game she had so often played with them when they were younger. + +"Oh, mother!" they protested. They were almost indignant. + +Chi rose and left the table. "Beats me," he muttered, as he took down +his axe from a beam in the woodshed. "What in thunder can it be? I +ain't goin' to ask questions, but I 'll ferret it out,--by George +Washin'ton;" and that was Chi's most solemn oath. + + + + + III + + A CURIOUS CASE + + +"What is it, dear?" + +"Bothered--bothered." + +"A case?" + +"Yes, and I must get it off my mind this evening." + +The Doctor set down his after-dinner coffee untasted on the library +table, and rose with a half sigh from his easy chair before the blazing +wood-fire. His heavy eyebrows were drawn together into a straight line +over the bridge of his nose, and that, his wife knew full well, was an +ominous sign. + +"Must you go to-night? It's such a fearful storm; just hear it!" + +"Yes, I must; just to get it off my mind. I sha'n't be gone long, and I +'ll tell you all about it when I get home." The Doctor stooped and +kissed the detaining hand that his wife had laid lovingly on his arm; +then, turning to the telephone, he bespoke a cab. + +As the vehicle made its way up Fifth Avenue in the teeth of a February, +northeast gale that drove the sleet rattling against the windows, Doctor +Heath settled back farther into his corner, growling to himself, "I wish +some people would let me manage their affairs for them; it would show +their common sense to let me show them some of mine." + +A few blocks north of the park entrance, the cab turned east into a side +street, and stopped at Number 4. + +"Mr. Clyde in, Wilkins?" asked the Doctor of the colored butler, who +opened the door. + +"Yes, sah; jes' up from dinner, sah, to see Miss Hazel." + +"Tell him I want to see him in the library." + +"Yes, sah." He took the Doctor's cloak and hat, hesitating a moment +before leaving, then turning, said: "'Scuse me, sah, but Miss Hazel +ain't more discomposed?" + +"No, no, Wilkins; Miss Hazel is doing fairly well." + +"Thank you, sah;" and Wilkins ducked his head and sprang upstairs. + +"Why, Dick," said Mr. Clyde, as he entered the library hurriedly, +"what's wrong?" + +"The world in general, Johnny, and your world in particular, old +fellow." + +"Is Hazel worse?" The father's anxiety could be heard in the tone with +which he put the question. + +"I 'm not satisfied, John, and I 'm bothered." + +When Doctor Heath called his friend "John," Mr. Clyde knew that the very +soul of him was heavily burdened. The two had been chums at Yale: the +one a rich man's son; the other a country doctor's one boy, to whom had +been bequeathed only a name honored in every county of his native state, +a good constitution, and an ambition to follow his father's profession. +The boy had become one of the leading physicians of the great city in +which he made his home; his friend one of the most sought-after men in +the whirling gayeties of the great metropolis. As he stood on the +hearth with his back to the mantel waiting for the physician's next +word, he was typical of the best culture of the city, and the Doctor +looked up into the fine face with a deep affection visible in his eyes. + +"Going out, as usual, John?" + +"Only to the Pearsells' reception. Don't keep me waiting, old fellow; +speak up." + +"How the deuce am I to make things plain to you, John? Here, draw up +your chair a little nearer mine, as you used in college when you knew I +had a four A.M. lecture awaiting you, after one of your larks." + +The two men helped themselves to cigars; and the Doctor, resting his +head on the back of the chair, slowly let forth the smoke in curling +rings, and watched them dissolve and disperse. + +"Come, Dick, go ahead; I can stand it if you can." + +"Well, then, I 've done all I can for Hazel, and shall have to give up +the case unless you do all you can for her." + +Now the Doctor had not intended to make his statement in such a blunt +fashion, and he could not blame Mr. Clyde for the touch of resentment +that was so quick to show in his answer. + +"I did n't suppose you went back on your patients in this way, Richard; +much less on a friend. I have done everything I can for Hazel. If +there is anything I've omitted, just tell me, and I 'll try to make it +good." + +The Doctor nodded penitently. "I know, John, I 've said it badly; and I +don't know but that I shall make it worse by saying you 've done too +much." + +"Too much! That is not possible. Did n't you order last year's trip to +Florida and the summer yachting cruise?" + +Doctor Heath groaned. "I'm getting in deeper and deeper, John; you +can't understand, because you are you; born and bred as you are-- Look +here, John, did it ever occur to you that Hazel is a little hot-house +plant that needs hardening?" + +"No, Richard." + +"Well, she is; she needs hardening to make her any kind of a woman +physically and, and--" The Doctor stopped short. There were some +things of which he rarely spoke. + +"My Hazel needs hardening!" exclaimed the amazed father. "Why, Richard, +have n't you impressed upon me again and again that she needs the +greatest care?" + +The Doctor groaned again and smote his friend solidly on the knee. + +"Oh, you poor rich--you poor rich! 'Eyes have ye, and ye see not; ears +have ye, and hear not.' John, the girl must go away from you, who +over-indulge her, from this home-nest of luxury, from this +private-school business and dancing-class dissipation, from her +young-grown-up lunch-parties and matinee-parties, from her violin +lessons and her indoor gymnastics--curse them!" + +This was a great deal for the usually self-contained physician, and Mr. +Clyde stared at him, but half comprehending. + +"Go away? Do you mean, Richard, that she must leave me?" + +"Yes, I mean just that." + +"Well,"--it was a long-drawn, thinking "well,"--"I will ask my sister to +take her this summer. She returns from Egypt soon and has just written +me she intends to open her place, 'The Wyndes,' in June." + +Again the Doctor groaned: "And kill her with golf and picnics and +coaching among all those fashionable butterflies! Now, hear to me, +John," he laid his hand on his friend's shoulder, "send her away into +the country, that is country,--something, by the way, which you know +precious little about. Let me find her a place up among those +life-giving Green Hills, and do you do without her for one year. Let me +prescribe for her there; and I 'll guarantee she returns to you hale and +hearty. Trust her to me, John; you 'll thank me in the end. I can do no +more for her here." + +"Do you mean, Richard, to put her away into real country conditions?" + +"Yes, just that; into a farmer's family, if possible,--and I know I can +make it possible,--and let her be as one of them, work, play, go +barefoot, eat, sleep, be merry--in fact, be what the Lord intended her +to be; and you 'll find out that is something very different from what +she is, if only you 'll hear to me." + +The Doctor was pacing the room in his earnestness. He was not accustomed +to beg thus to be allowed to prescribe for his patients. His one word +was law, and he was not required to explain his motives. + +Mr. Clyde's eyes followed him; then he broke the prolonged silence. + +"Richard, you have asked me the one thing to which her mother would +never have consented. How, then, can I?" + +"Think it over, John, and let me know." + +The two men clasped hands. + +"Let me take you along in my cab to the reception; it's inhuman to take +out your horses on such a night." + +"Thank you, no; I think I 'll give it up; I 'm not in the mood for it. +Good-night, old fellow." + +"Good-night, Johnny." + +The next morning, at breakfast, the Doctor took up a note that lay +beside his plate, and after reading it beamed joyously while he stirred +his coffee vigorously without drinking it. When, finally, he looked up, +his wife elevated her eyebrows over the top of the coffee urn, and the +Doctor laughed. + +"To be sure, wifie, read the note." And this is what she read:-- + + +DEAR RICHARD,--I 've had a hard night, trying to look at things from +your point of view and see my own duty towards Hazel. Things have grown +rather misty, looking both backwards and forwards, and I have concluded +I can't do better than to take you at your word,--trust her to you, and +accept the guarantee of her return to me with her physical condition +such as it should be. + +This decision will, as you well know, raise a storm of protest among the +relations. The whole swarm will be about my ears in less than no time. +Stand by me. The whole responsibility rests upon you,--and tell Hazel; +I 'm too much of a coward. This is a confession, but you will +understand. Let me know the details of your plans so soon as possible. I +have never been able to give you such a proof of friendship. Have you +ever asked another man for such? I mistrust you, old fellow. + +Yours, JOHN. + + + + + IV + + A LITTLE MILLIONAIRE + + +"Gabrielle." + +"Oui, mademoiselle Hazel," came in shrill yet muffled tones from the +depths of the dressing-room closet. + +"Bring me my white silk kimono." + +"Oui, mademoiselle." + +The order, in French, was given in a weak and slightly fretful voice +that issued from the bed at the farther end of a large room from which +the dressing-room opened. The apartment was, in truth, what Doctor +Heath had called it, "a nest of luxury." + +It was a bitter Saint Valentine's Day which succeeded the Doctor's +evening visit. The wood-fire, blazing cheerily in the ample fireplace, +sent its warmth and light far out into the room, flashing red +reflections in the curiously twisted bars of the brass bedstead. At the +left of the fireplace stood a small round tea-table, and upon it a +little silver tea-kettle on a standard of the same metal. Dainty cups +and saucers of egg-shell china were grouped about it; a miniature silver +tray held a sugar-dish and a cream-pot and a half-dozen gold-lined +souvenir spoons. + +On the richly carved mantel stood an exquisite plate-glass clock, the +chimes of which were just striking nine, and, keeping it company to +right and left, were two dainty figures of a shepherd and shepherdess in +Dresden china. The remaining mantel space was filled with tiny figures +in bisque,--a dachshund, a cat and kittens, a porcelain box, +heart-shaped, the top covered with china forget-me-nots, a silver +drinking-cup, a small oval portrait on ivory of a beautiful young woman, +framed in richly chased gold, the inner rim set round with pearls. A +blue pitcher of Cloisonne and a tray of filigree silver heaped with +dainty cotillion favors stood on one end; on the other, a crystal vase +filled with white tulips. + +Soft blue and white Japanese rugs lay upon the polished floor; delicate +blue and white draperies hung at the windows. Dressing-case and +writing-desk of white curled maple were each laden with articles for the +toilet and for writing, in solid silver, engraved with the monogram H.C. +A couch, upholstered in blue and white Japanese silk, stood at the right +of the fireplace, and all about the room were dainty wicker chairs +enamelled in white, and cushioned to match the hangings. + +The bed was canopied in pale blue covered with white net and edged with +lace, and the coverlet was of silk of the same delicate color, +embroidered with white violets and edged like the canopy, only with a +deeper frill of lace. The occupant of this couch, fit for a princess +royal, was the little mistress of all she surveyed, as well as the +mansion of which the room formed a small part; and a woebegone-looking +little girl she was, who called again, and this time impatiently:-- + +"Gabrielle, hurry, do." + +"Oui, oui, mademoiselle Hazel;" and Gabrielle tripped across the room +with the white kimono in one hand and fresh towels in the other. She +had just slipped it upon Hazel when there was a knock at the door. +Gabrielle opened it, and Wilkins asked in a voice intended to be low, +but which proved only husky:-- + +"Nuss say she mus' jes' speak wif Marse Clyde 'fo' she come up, an' +wan's to know if Miss Hazel will haf her breffus now or wait till she +come up herse'f." + +Before Gabrielle could answer, Hazel called out, "You may bring it up +now, Wilkins; and has the postman come yet?" + +Wilkins' broad smile sounded in his voice, as it came out of its +huskiness. + +"Yes, Miss Hazel, ben jes' 'fo' I come up. I ain't seen no hearts, but +dey's thicker 'n spatter by de feel, an' a heap o' boxes by 'spress!" + +"Oh, bring them up quick, Wilkins, and tell papa to be sure and come up +directly after breakfast." + +"Yes, for sho', Miss Hazel," said Wilkins, delighted to have a word with +the little daughter of her whom he had carried in his arms thirty-two +years ago up and down the jasmine-covered porch of an old New Orleans +mansion. + +In a few minutes, he reappeared with two large silver trays, on one of +which was the tempting breakfast of Hamburg grapes, a dropped egg, a +slice of golden-brown toast, half of a squab broiled to the +melting-point, and a cup of cocoa. On the other were boxes large and +small, and white envelopes of all sizes. + +Gabrielle cut the string and opened the boxes, while Hazel looked on, +pleased to be remembered, but finding nothing unusual in the display; +for Christmas and Easter and birthdays and parties brought just about +the same collection, minus "the hearts," which Wilkins had felt through +the covers. The only fun, after all, was in the guessing. + +Just then Mr. Clyde entered. + +"Oh, papa! I 'm so glad you have come; it's no fun guessing alone." +She put up her peaked, sallow little face for the good-morning kiss; and +her father, with the thought of his last night's struggle, took the face +in both hands and kissed brow and mouth with unusual tenderness. + +"Why, papa!" she exclaimed, "that kiss is my best valentine; you never +kissed me that way before." + +"Well, it's time I began, Birdie; let's see what you have for nonsense +here. What's this--from Cambridge?" + +"Oh, that's Jack, I 'm sure; he always sends me violets; but what is +that in the middle of the bunch?" With a smile she drew out a tiny +vignette of her Harvard Sophomore cousin. It was framed in a little +gold heart, and on a slip of paper was written, "For thee, I 'm all +'art." + +"Jack 's a gay deceiver," laughed her father; "he 's all ''art' for a +good many girls, big and little. What's this?--and this?" + +One after another he took out the contents of envelopes and +boxes,--candy hearts by the pound in silver bonbon boxes, silk hearts, +paper hearts, a flower heart of real roses ("That's from you, Papa +Clyde!" she exclaimed, and her father did not deny the pleasant +accusation), hollow gilt hearts stuffed with sentiments, a silver +chatelaine heart for change, and last, but not least, an enormous +envelope, a foot square, containing a white paper heart all written over +with "sentiments" from the girls in her class at school. + +"Come now, Birdie," said her father, after the last one had been opened +and guessed over, "eat your breakfast, or nurse will scold us both for +putting play before business." + +"I don't think I want any, papa," said Hazel, languidly, for, after all, +the valentines had proved to be almost too much excitement for the +little girl, who was just recovering from weeks of slow fever; "and, +Gabrielle, take the flowers away, they make my head ache,--and the other +things, too," she added, turning her head wearily on the pillow. + +"But you must eat, Hazel dear," said her father, gently but firmly; and +therewith he took a grape and squeezed the pulp between her lips. Hazel +laughed,--a faint sound. + +"Why, papa, if you feed me that way, I shall be a real Birdie. Yes," +she nodded, "that's good; I 'll take another;" and her father proceeded +to feed her slowly, now coaxing, now urging, then commanding, till a few +grapes and a half egg were disposed of. + +"There, now, I won't play tyrant any longer," he said, "for your real +tyrant of a doctor is coming soon, and I must be out of the way." + +"Are you going to be at home for luncheon to-day, papa?" + +"No, dear, I 've promised to go out to Tuxedo with the Masons, but I +shall be at home before dinner, just to look in upon you. I dine with +the Pearsells afterwards. Good-bye." A kiss,--two, three of them; and +the merry, handsome young father, still but thirty-seven, had gone, and +with him much of the brightness of Hazel's day. + +But she was used to this. Ever since she could remember anything, she +had been petted and kissed and--left with her nurse, her governess, or a +French maid. + +Her young mother, a Southern belle, lived more out of her home than in +it, with the round of gayeties in the winter months interrupted and +continued by winter house-parties at Lenox, a yachting cruise in the +Mediterranean, an early spring-flitting to the mountains of North +Carolina, and the later household moving to Newport. + +In all these migrations Hazel accompanied her parents; in fact, was +moved about as so much goods and chattels, from New York to the +Berkshires, from the Berkshires to Malta, from Malta to the Great +Smokies, from the mountains to the sea; her appurtenances, the governess +and French maid, went with her; and the routine of her home in New York, +the study, the promenade, the all-alone breakfasts and dinners went on +with the regularity of clockwork, whether on the yacht, in the +mountains, or in the villa on the Cliff. + +So now, although she wished her father would stay and entertain her, it +never occurred to her to tell him so; and likewise it never occurred to +the father that his child needed or wished him to stay. Nor had it ever +occurred to the young mother that she was not doing her whole duty by +her child; for she never omitted to go upstairs and kiss her little +daughter good-night, whether the child was awake or asleep, before going +out to dinner, theatre, or reception. + +She died when Hazel was nine, and it was a lovely memory of "mamma" that +Hazel cherished: a vision of loveliness in trailing white silk, or +velvet, or lace,--her mother always wore white, it was her Southern +inheritance,--with a single dark-red rose among the folds of Venetian +point of the bertha; always a gleam of white neck and arms banded with +flashing, many-faceted diamonds, or roped with pearls; always a sense of +delicious white warmth and fragrance, as the vision bent over her and +pressed a light kiss upon her cheek. And if, in her bliss, she opened +her sleepy eyes, she looked always into laughing brown depths, and +putting up her hand caressed shining masses of brown hair. + +But it was always a good-night vision. In the morning mamma did not +breakfast until ten, and Hazel was off to the little private school at +half-past nine. At noon mamma was either out at lunch or giving a +lunch-party; and in the afternoon there was the promenade in the Park +with the governess, and sometimes, as a treat, a drive with mamma on her +round of calls, when Hazel and the maid sat among the furs in the +carriage. Then Hazel played at being grown up, and longed for the time +when she could wear a reception dress like mamma's, of white broadcloth +and sable, and trip up the steps of the various houses, and trip down +again with a bevy of young girls laughing and chatting so merrily. + +All that had ceased when Hazel was nine, and the young father had made +her mistress in her mother's place. It was such a great house! and there +were so many servants! and the housekeeper was so strict! and it was so +queer to sit at the round table in the big dining-room and try to look +at papa over the silver epergne in the centre! + +When she was eleven, she entered one of the large private schools which +many of her little mates attended. Soon it came to be the "girls of our +set" with Hazel; and then there followed music-lessons, and +violin-lessons, and riding-lessons, and dancing-class, and riding-days +in the Park, and lunch-parties with the girls, and +theatre-matinee-parties, and concerts at Carnegie Hall, and birthday +parties, and sales--school and drawing-room affairs--and Lenten +sewing-classes; until gradually her little society life had become an +epitome of her mother's, and when she began to shoot up like a +bean-sprout, lose her round face and the delicate pink from her cheeks, +uncles and aunt and cousin and friends whispered of her mother's frail +constitution, and that it was time to take heed. + +Then it was that the physician, who had helped to bring her into the +world, was summoned hastily to prevent her early departure from it. +This was the "curious case" that so bothered him; and this pale, languid +girl of thirteen in the blue-canopied bed was the one he intended to +transplant into another soil. + +A short, sharp tap announced his arrival. The nurse opened the door. + +"Good-morning, little girl--ah, ah! Saint Valentine's Day? I had +forgotten it; all those came this morning?" he said cheerily, pointing +to a table on which Gabrielle had placed all the remembrances but the +flowers. + +"Yes, Doctor Heath; but my best valentine, you know, is papa, and after +him, you." + +"Hm, flatterer!" growled the Doctor, feeling her pulse. "Pretty good, +pretty good. Think we can get you up for half a day. What do you say, +nurse?" + +"I think it will do her good, Doctor Heath; she has no appetite yet, and +a little exercise might help her to it." + +"No appetite?" The two eyebrows drew together in a straight line over +the bridge of his nose, and, from under them, a pair of keen eyes looked +at Hazel. + +"Well, I 've planned something that will give you a splendid one, +Hazel,--the best kind of a tonic-- + +"Oh, I don't want to take any more tonics. I am so sick of them," said +Hazel, in a despairing tone, for although she adored the Doctor, she +despised his medicines. + +"You won't get sick of this tonic so soon, I 'll warrant," he said, +unbending his brows and letting the full twinkle of his fine eyes shine +forth,--"at least not after you are used to it. I won't say but that it +may cause a certain kind of sickness at first; in fact, I 'm sure of +it." + +"Oh, will it nauseate me?" cried Hazel, dreading to suffer any more. + +"No, no, it won't do that, but--" + +"But what _do_ you mean, Doctor Heath? Are you joking?" + +"Never was more in earnest in my life," replied the Doctor, rubbing his +hands in glee, much to Hazel's amazement. "Hazel," he turned abruptly +to her, "papa is a splendid fellow; did you know that?" + +Hazel laughed aloud, a real girl's laugh,--Doctor Heath was so queer at +times. + +"Have you just found that out?" she retorted. + +"No, you witch,--don't be impertinent to your elders,--I have n't; but +really he is, take it all in all, just about the most common-sense +fellow in New York City." + +"What has he done now, that you are praising him so?" + +"Just heard to me, my dear, and agreed to do just as I want him to," +said the Doctor, demurely. + +"Why," laughed Hazel, "that's just when I think he is a most splendid +fellow, when he does just what I want him to. Is n't it funny you and I +think just alike!" And she gave his hand a malicious little pat. The +Doctor caught the five slender digits and held them fast. + +"Now we 're agreed that you have the most splendid, common-sense father +in the world, I want you to prove to me that your father has the most +splendid, common-sense daughter in it, as well." + +Again Hazel laughed. She was used to her friend's ways. + +"That means that you want me to take that old, new tonic of yours." + +"Yes, just that," said the Doctor, emphatically; "and now, as you don't +appear to care to hear about it, I 'm going to make a long call and tell +you its entire history." + +"Have you brought it with you?" asked Hazel, somewhat mystified. + +"No, I can't carry around with me in a cab five children, a hundred +acres of pine woods, a whole mountain-top, and a few Jersey cows." + +"What _do_ you mean? You _are_ joking." + +Then the physician clasped the thin hand a little more closely and told +her of the country plan. + +At first, Hazel failed to comprehend it. She gazed at the speaker with +large, serious eyes, as if she half-feared he had taken leave of his +senses. + +"Did papa know it this morning?" was her first question. + +"Yes, my dear." + +"Then that is why he kissed me the way he did," she said thoughtfully. +"But," her lip quivered, "I sha'n't have him to kiss me up there, +and--and--oh, dear!" A wail went up from the canopied bed that made the +Doctor turn sick at heart, and even the nurse hurried away into the +dressing-room. + +Somehow Doctor Heath could not exhort Hazel, as he had her father, to +use common-sense. He preferred to use diplomacy. + +"You see, Hazel, a year won't be so very long, and it will give your +hair time to grow; and perhaps you would not mind wearing a cap for a +time up there, while if you were here you certainly would not care about +going to dancing-school or parties in that rig; now would you?" + +Hazel sniffed and looked for her handkerchief. As she failed to find +it, the Doctor applied his own huge square of linen to the dripping, +reddened eyes, and tenderly stroked the smooth-shaven head. + +Hazel had her vanities like all girls, and her long dark braids had been +one of them. After the fever, she had been shorn of what scanty locks +had been left to her, and many a time she had wondered what the girls +would say when they saw her. After all, the new plan might be endured, +for the sake of the hair and her looks. + +She sniffed again, and this time a good many tears were drawn up into +her nose. The Doctor, taking no notice of the subsiding flood, +proceeded,-- + +"My patients always look so comical when the fuzz is coming out. It's +like chicken-down all over the head--" + +"Fuzz!" exclaimed Hazel, with a dismayed, wide-eyed look; "must I have +fuzz for hair?" + +"Why, of course, for about five months," was the Doctor's matter-of-fact +reply. "Then," he continued, apparently unheeding the look of relief +that crept over Hazel's face, "you are apt to have the hair come out +curly." + +"Oh!" + +"Yes, and it really grows very fast--that is," he said, resorting to +wile, "if any one is strong and well; but if the general health is not +good, why--hem!--the hair is n't apt to grow!" + +"Goodness! I don't want to be bald all my life!" + +"No, I thought not, and for that very reason it did seem the best thing +for you to get into the country where you can get well and strong as +fast as ever you can." + +"Shall I have to eat my breakfast and dinner alone up there?" was her +next question. + +Doctor Heath laughed. "What! With all those five children! You will +never want for company, I can assure you of that. And now I 'll be off; +as it's Saint Valentine's Day, which I had forgotten, I 'll wager I have +five valentines from those very children waiting for me at home." + +"Will you show them to me, if you have?" + +"To be sure I will. Now sit up for half a day, and get yourself strong +enough to let me take you up there by the middle of March." + +"Oh, are you going to take me? What fun! Are they friends of yours?" +she added timidly. + +"Every one," said the Doctor, emphatically. He turned at the door. +"You have n't said yet whether you will honor me with your company up +there." + +"I suppose I must," she said, with something between a sigh and a laugh. +"But I don't know what Gabrielle will do; she 'll be so homesick." + +"Gabrielle!" cried the Doctor, in a voice loud with amazement; "you +don't think you are going to take Gabrielle with you, do you?" + +Before Hazel had time to recover from her astonishment, Gabrielle, +hearing her name called so loudly, came tripping into the room. + +"Oui, oui, monsieur le docteur;" and Doctor Heath beat a hasty retreat +to avoid further misunderstandings. + +In the afternoon, Hazel received a box by messenger, with, "Please +return by bearer," on the wrapper. On opening it, she found the +Doctor's valentines with the following sentiments appropriately +attached. + + + I + + By Rose-pose made, by March adorned, + 'T is not a Heart that one should scorn: + For use each day, the whole year through, + Where find a Valentine so true? + + + II + + Cherry Blossom made this fudge + (Buddie made the box). + Eat it soon, or you will judge, + She made it all of rocks. + + + III + + Baby May has made this cookie; + Mother baked it--but, by hookey! + I can't find another rhyme + To match with this your valentine. + + Your loving Valentines, + + ROSE, MARCH, "BUDD AND CHERRY," MAY BLOSSOM. + (We're one.) + MOUNT HUNGER, February 14, 1896. + + + + + V + + TRANSPLANTED + + +It was the middle of April, yet the drifts still blocked the ravines, +and great patches of snow lay scattered thickly on the northern and +eastern slopes of the mountains. + +Not a bud had thought of swelling; not a fern dared to raise its downy +ball above the sodden leaves. Day after day a keen wind from the north +chased dark clouds across a watery blue sky, and now and then a solitary +crow flapped disconsolately over the upland pastures and into the woods. + +But in the farmhouse on the mountain, every Blossom was a-quiver with +excitement, for the "live Valentine" was to arrive that day. + +According to what Doctor Heath had written first, Mrs. Blossom had +expected Hazel to come the middle of March. She had told the children +about it a week before that date, and ever since, wild and varied and +continuous had been the speculations concerning the new member of the +family. + +Both father and mother were much amused at the different ways in which +each one accepted the fact, and commented upon it. At the same time +they were slightly anxious as to the outcome of such a combination. + +"They 'll work it out for themselves, Mary," said Mr. Blossom, when his +wife was expressing her fears on account of the attitude of March and +Cherry. + +"I hope with all my heart they will, without friction or unpleasantness +for the poor child," replied his wife, thoughtfully, for March's looks +and words returned to her, and they foreboded trouble. + +Her husband smiled. "Perhaps the 'poor child' will have her ways of +looking at things up here, which may cause a pretty hard rub now and +then for our children. But let them take it; it will do them good, and +show us what stuff is in them for the future." + +Mrs. Blossom tried to think so, but March's words on that afternoon she +had told the children came back to her. + +They were dumb at first through sheer surprise. Then Rose spoke, +flinging aside her Virgil she had been studying by the failing light at +the window. + +"Oh, mother! we 've been so happy--just by ourselves." + +"Will you be less happy, Rose, in trying to make some one else share our +happiness?" + +Rose said nothing, but leaned her forehead against the pane, and the +tears trickled adown it and froze halfway. + +Mrs. Blossom proceeded, in the silence that followed, to tell them +something of Hazel's life. Then Budd spoke up like a man. + +"I 'm awful sorry for her; she 's a little brick to be willing to come +away from her father and live with folks she don't know. I 'd be a +darned coward about leaving my Popsey." + +There was no tablecloth handy to hide the squeeze he wanted to give his +mother's hand, and Mrs. Blossom, knowing how he hated any public +demonstration of affection, reserved her approving kiss for the dark and +bedtime. But she looked at him in a way that sent Budd whistling, "I +won't play in your back-yard," over to the kitchen stove, where he +stared inanely at his own reflection in the polished pipe. + +For the first time in her life, Cherry did not echo her twin's +sentiment. She was already insanely jealous of the new-comer who seemed +to claim so much of her mother's sympathy and affection. And she was +n't even here! What would it be when she was here for good and all? + +At this miserable thought, and all that it appeared to involve, Cherry +began to cry. + +Now to see Cherry Blossom cry generally afforded great fun for the whole +family; for there never was a girl of ten who could cry in quite such a +unique manner as this same round-faced, pug-nosed, brown-eyed Cherry, +whose red hair curled as tightly as corkscrews all over her head, and +bobbed and danced and quivered and shook with every motion and emotion. + +First, her nose grew very red at the tip; then, her small mouth screwed +itself around by her left ear; gradually, her round face wrinkled till +it resembled a withered crabapple; and finally, if one listened intently +and watched closely, one could hear small sniffs and see two +infinitesimal drops of water issue from the nearly closed and wrinkled +eyes. + +But to-day no one noticed, and Cherry sat down in her mother's lap, and +mumbled out her woe between sniffs. + +"I can't help it if Budd does want her; _I_ don't, Martie. Budd will +play with her, and you 'll kiss her just as you do us, and it won't be +comfy any more." + +"That does not sound like mother's Cherry Blossom," said Mrs. Blossom, +smiling in spite of herself. "I think I 'll tell you all why it comes +to mother and father as a blessing." + +Then Mrs. Blossom told them of the mortgage on the farm; how it had been +made necessary, and what it meant, and how it was her duty to accept +what had been sent to her as a means of paying it off. + +Rose came over from the window. "Oh, why did n't you tell us before, +Martie," she cried, sobbing outright this time, "and let us help you to +earn something towards it during all this dreadful year? To think you +have been bearing all this, and just going about the same, smiling and +cheer--oh, dear!" Rose sat down on the hearth-rug at her mother's feet, +and her sobs mingled with Cherry's sniffs. + +March, who had listened thus far in silence, rose from the settle where +he had flung himself in disgust, and, going over to his mother, stood +straight and tall before her. His gray eyes flashed. + +"I 've been a fool, mother, not to see it all before this. You ought to +have told _me_. I 'm your eldest son, and come next after father in +'home things.'" And with this assertion he made a mighty resolve, then +and there to put away boyish things and be more of a man. His mother, +looking at him, felt the change, and tears of thankfulness filled her +eyes. + +"What could you do, children? You were too young to have your lives +burdened with work." + +"I 'd have found something to do, mother, if you had only told me. +About the girl--" he hesitated--"of course I 'll look at it from the +money side, but it 'll never be the same after she comes--never!" And +with that he went off into the barn. + +His mother sighed, for March was looking at the matter in the very way +which, to her, was abhorrent. + +"Don't sigh so, Martie," cried Rose; "I 'll take back what I said, and +do everything I can to help you by making it pleasant for her. Budd has +made me ashamed of myself." + +"That's my own daughter Rose," said Mrs. Blossom, leaning over to kiss +her parting, for Cherry was awkwardly in the way. + +"Did you hear Rose, Cherry?" whispered her mother. + +"Ye-es," sniffed Cherry. + +"And won't you try to help mother, and make Hazel happy?" + +"N-o," said Cherry, still obdurate. + +"Very well; then I must depend on Rose and Budd and little May," replied +her mother, putting her down from her knee. By which Cherry knew she +was out of favor, and, not having Budd to flee to for sympathy, ran +blindly out into the woodshed and straight into Chi, who was bringing in +two twelve-quart milk pails filled to overflowing with their creamy +contents. + +"Hi there! Cherry Bounce! Steady, steady--without you want to mop up +this woodshed." + +"O Chi! I 'm just as miser'ble; a new little girl's coming to live with +us always, and we 'll have no more good times." + +"That's queer," said Chi, balancing the pails deftly as Cherry fluttered +about, rather uncertain as to where she should betake herself in the +cold. "I should think it would be the more, the merrier. When's she +comin'?" + +"This very month," said Cherry, opening her eyes a little wider, and +forgetting to sniff in her delight at telling some news. "She 's a rich +little girl, but very poor, too, mother says, and she's been sick and is +coming here to get well. I suppose she 's lost all her flesh while she +'s been sick, like Aunt Tryphosa; don't you? That's why she 's so +poor." + +"Hm!--rich 'n' poor too; that's bad for children," said Chi, soberly. + +"Why?" asked Cherry, surprised into drying her small tears and +forgetting to sniff. + +"Coz 't is. You see, all you children are rich 'n' poor too; so she 'll +keep you comp'ny, as she 's poor where you 're rich as Croesus, 'n' you +'re poor as Job's turkey where she's rich." + +"Why, what do you mean, Chi?" + +"You wait awhile, 'n' you 'll find out." And with that, Cherry had to +be content. + +As the woodshed was too cold to be long comfortably mournful in,--Cherry +decided to go inside and set the table for tea, wondering, meanwhile, +what Chi meant. Ordinarily she would have gone straight to her mother to +find out; but just to-night Cherry felt there was an abyss separating +them, and she hated the very thought of the newcomer having caused this +break between her adored Martie and herself before having stepped foot +in the house. + +But Hazel's arrival had been delayed a whole month: first, on account of +the unusually cold weather of March, and then on account of the Doctor's +pressing engagements. To-night, however, this long waiting was to be at +an end. + +Mr. Blossom had harnessed Bess and Bob into the two-seated wagon, and +driven down three miles for them to the "Mill Settlement;" and there he +was to meet the stage from Barton's River, the nearest railway station. + +As the time approached for the light of the lantern on the wagon to +glimmer on the lower mountain road, which ran in view of the house, the +excitement of Budd and Cherry grew intense. March intended to be +indifferent, yet tolerant, but even he went twice to the door to listen. +As for Rose, she was thinking almost more of Doctor Heath, with whom she +was a great favorite, than of the coming guest. Chi had done up the +chores early with March's help, and sat whistling and whittling in the +shed door with his eye on the lower road. + +"They 're coming; they 're coming!" screamed the twins, making a wild +dash for the woodshed, that they might have the first glimpse as the +wagon drove up to the kitchen porch. + +"Chi, they 're coming!" they shrieked in his ear, as they flew past him. + +"Well, I ain't deaf, if they are," said Chi, gathering himself together, +and going out to help unload. + +"Chi, how are you?" said the Doctor, in a hearty tone, grasping the +horny hand held out to him. + +"First-rate, 'n' glad to see you back on the Mountain." + +"Here, lend a hand, will you? and take out a Little somebody who has to +be handled rather gently for a week or two." + +"I ain't much used to handlin' chiny," he replied, "but I 'll be +careful." + +He reached up his long arms and, gently as a woman, lifted Hazel out of +the wagon on to the porch. + +By this time, Budd had found his bearings and had the Doctor by the +hand. + +"Halloo, Budd! here you are handy. Just take Hazel's bag, and run into +the house with her; she must n't stand a minute in this keen air." + +Budd's heart was going pretty fast, but he faced the music. + +"Come along, Hazel; we 've been waiting a month to see you." + +"And I've been waiting longer than that to see you, Budd." The gentle +voice made Budd her vassal forever after. + +"Here, Martie, here's Hazel!" he shouted quite unnecessarily, for his +mother had come to the door to welcome her guests. Cherry, hearing the +shout, disappeared in the pantry, and was invisible until called to +supper. + +In the confusion of glad welcome that followed, Hazel was conscious of +stepping into a large, warm, lighted room, of some one's arms about her, +and of a loving voice, saying: + +"Come in, dear; you must be so tired with your long journey and this +cold ride;" and then a kiss that made her half forget the lonely, +strange feeling she had had during the stage and wagon ride, despite the +doctor's cheerfulness and care of her. + +Then some one untied her brown velvet hood and loosened her long +sealskin coat. + +"Let me take off your things," said Rose. + +Hazel looked up and into the loveliest face she ever remembered to have +seen. + +"I 'm Rose, and this is May. May, this is the valentine Martie told us +of." + +"I tiss 'oo," said May, winningly, and held up her rosy bud of a face to +Hazel. Hazel stooped to give her, not one, but a half-dozen kisses. +There was no resisting such a little blossom. + +May put up her hand and stroked the little silk skull-cap. + +"What 'oo wear tap for?" + +"Sh! baby," said Rose, horrified, putting her hand on May's mouth. + +"Oh, don't do that," said Hazel, "I 'm so used to it now; I don't mind +what people say or think. But I did at first." + +May's lip began to quiver and roll over; Hazel sat down on the settle, +and, drawing May up beside her, said gently:-- + +"There, there, little May Blossom, don't you cry, and I 'll tell you all +about it. It's because I have n't any hair. I lost it all when I was +sick so long. Sometime I 'll show you how funny my head looks, all +covered with fuzz. Doctor Heath says it's like a little chicken's." And +May was comforted and won once and for all to the Valentine, who gave +her the tiny chatelaine watch to play with. + +Budd had been hanging about to get the first glimpse of Hazel by +lamplight, and now rushed off to the barn and Chi to give vent to his +feelings. + +"I say, Chi, where are you?" + +"In the harness room," replied Chi. "What do you want?" as he appeared. + +"I say, Chi, she 's a peach. She is n't a bit stuck up, as March said +she would be." + +"Good-lookin'?" queried Chi. + +"N-o," said Budd, hesitating, "n-o, but I think she will be when she +gets some hair." + +"Ain't got any hair!" exclaimed Chi. "How does that happen?" + +"She said she 'd been sick an' lost it all, an' 't was like chicken +fuzz." + +"Said that, did she?" exclaimed Chi, laughing; then, with the sudden +change from gayety to absolute solemnity that was peculiar to him, he +said:-- + +"She 's no fool, I can tell you that, Budd; 'n' I 'll bet my last red +cent she 'll come out an A Number 1 beauty; 'n' March Blossom had better +hold his tongue till he cuts all his wisdom teeth." And with that Chi +went into the shed room to "wash up." + +What a supper that was! And what a room in which to eat it! + +But for the Doctor's cheery voice, Hazel, as she sat in a corner of the +settle, might have thought herself in another world, so unaccustomed +were her city-bred eyes to all that was going on before her. The room +itself was so queer, and, in a way new to her, delightful. + +The farmhouse was an old one, strong of beam and solid of foundation. +It had been divided at first according to the fashion of the other +century in which it was built. But as his family increased, Mr. Blossom +found the need of a large, general living-room. It was then that he +took down the wall between the front square room and the kitchen, and +threw them into one. It was this arrangement that made the apartment +unique. + +At one end was the huge fireplace that was originally in the front room. +At the left of the fireplace was the jog into which the front door +opened, formerly the little entry. + +This was the sitting-room end of the low forty-foot-long apartment; and +it showed to Hazel the fireplace, the old-fashioned crane, with the +hickory back-log glowing warm welcome, the long red-cushioned settle, a +set of shelves filled with books, a little round work-table, Mrs. +Blossom's special property, a large round table of cherry that had +turned richly red with age, and wooden armchairs and rockers, with +patchwork cushions. + +The middle portion served for dining-room. In it were the family table +of hard pine, the wooden chairs, and Mrs. Blossom's grandmother's tall +pine dresser. + +At the kitchen end, next the woodshed, were the sink, the stove, the +kitchen shelves for pots and pans, and the kitchen table with its +bread-trough and pie-board, all of which Rose kept scoured white with +soap and sand. + +This living-room, sitting-room, dining-room, and kitchen in one had six +windows facing south and east. Every window had brackets for plants; +for this evening Rose had turned the blossom-side inwards to the room, +and the walls glowed and gleamed with the velvety crimson of gloxinias, +the red of fuchsias, the pink and white and scarlet of geraniums, the +cream of wax-plant and begonia. Upon all this radiance of color, the +lamplight shone and the fire flashed its crimson shadows. The kettle +sang on the stove, and the delicious odor of baked potatoes came from +the open oven. + +"Why, March!" said the Doctor, coming down from the spare room at the +call for supper, "waiting for an introduction? I did n't know you stood +on ceremony in this fashion. Allow me," he said with mock gravity to +Hazel, and presented March in due form. + +Hazel greeted him exactly as she would have greeted a new boy at +dancing-school. "Little Miss Finicky," was March's scornful thought of +her, as he bowed rather awkwardly and thrust his hands into his pockets, +racking his brains for something to say. + +"What a handsome boy! As handsome as Jack," was Hazel's first +impression; then, missing the cordiality with which the other members of +the family had welcomed her, she said in thought, "I 'm sure he does not +want me here by the way he acts; I think he 's horrid." + +Doctor Heath sat down by Hazel. "I 'm not going to let you sit down to +tea with all these mischiefs, little girl, not to-night, for you can't +eat baked potatoes and the other good things after that long journey, so +I 'll ask Rose to give you a bite right here on the settle." + +"I 'll speak to Rose," said March, glad to get away. + +"Thank you," said the Doctor, looking after him with a puzzled +expression in his keen eyes. Just then Mr. Blossom and Chi came in, and +the whole family sat down at the table. + +"Why, where 's Cherry?" exclaimed the Doctor. + +"Budd, where 's Cherry?" said his father. + +"I promised her I would n't tell where she hides till she was twelve, +an' now she 's ten, an' she 's been so mean about Haz-- + +"Budd," said his father, sternly, "answer me directly." + +"She 's under the pantry shelf behind the meal-chest," said Budd, +meekly. + +There was a shout of laughter that caused Cherry to crawl out pretty +quickly and open the pantry door,--for it was hard to hear the fun and +not be in it. + +"Come, Cherry," said her mother, still laughing, and Cherry slipped into +her seat beside Doctor Heath with a murmured, "How do you do?" and her +face bent so low over her plate that nothing was visible to Hazel but a +round head running over with tight red curls that bobbed and trembled in +a peculiarly funny way. + +"Well, Cherry," said the Doctor, trying to speak gravely, with only the +red tip of a nose in view, "you seem to be rather low in your mind. I +shall have to prescribe for you. Chi, suppose you drive me down to the +Settlement to-morrow morning, and on the way to the train I will send up +a cure-all for low spirits. I 've something for March, too. I think he +needs it." He drew his eyebrows together over the bridge of his nose +and cast a sharp glance at the boy, who felt the doctor had read him. + +"That means you 've got something for us," said Budd, bluntly. + +"Guess Budd's hit the nail on the head this time," said Chi. "Should +n't wonder if 't was some pretty lively stuff." + +"You 're right there, Chi," replied the Doctor, laughing. "There 's +plenty of good strong bark in it--" + +Thereupon there was a shout of joy from Budd which brought Cherry's head +into position at once. + +"I know, I know, it's a St. Bernard puppy!" + +"Oh--ee," squealed Cherry, in her delight, and forthwith put her arm +through the Doctor's and squeezed it hard against her ribs. + +"Guess there's a good deal of crow-foot in the other, ain't there?" said +Chi, with a wink at March, who deliberately left his seat after saying, +"Excuse me" most gravely to his mother, and turned a somersault in the +kitchen end just to relieve his feelings. Then, with his hands in his +pockets, he went up to Doctor Heath, his usually clear, pale face +flushing with excitement. + +"Do you mean, Doctor Heath, you 're going to give me a full-blooded +Wyandotte cock?" he demanded. + +"That is just what I mean, March," replied the Doctor, with great +gravity, "and twelve full-blooded wives are at this moment looking in +vain for a roost beside their lord and master in the express office down +at Barton's River." + +"Oh, glory!" cried March, wringing the Doctor's hand with both his, and +then going off to execute another somersault. "You 've done it now!" + +"Done what, March?" asked Doctor Heath, really touched by the boy's +grateful enthusiasm. + +"Made my fortune," he replied, dropping into his seat again, breathless +with excitement; and to the Doctor's amazement he saw tears, actual +tears, gather in the boy's eyes, before he looked down in his plate and +busied himself with his baked potato. + +Hazel saw them too. "What a strange boy," she thought, "and how +different this is from eating my dinner all alone!" Then she slipped up +to the Doctor's side with her small tray containing nothing but empty +dishes, for the keen air and the sight of so many others eating and +enjoying themselves had given her a good appetite. + +"Are you satisfied with me _now_?" she said, presenting her tray. + +"I should think so," he exclaimed. "Two glasses of milk, two slices of +toasted brown bread, one piece of sponge cake, and a baked apple with +cream! I 've gone out of business with you; my last 'tonic' is going to +work well,--don't you think so?" + +"I 'm sure it is," she said quietly, but there was such a depth of +meaning in the sweet voice and the few words that the Doctor threw his +arm around her as they rose from the table, and kept her beside him +until bedtime. + +At nine o'clock, Mrs. Blossom helped her to undress, and then, saying +she would come back soon, left her alone in the little bedroom off the +kitchen. + +Hazel looked about her in amazement. This was her little room! A small +single bed, looking like a snow drift, so white and feathery and high +was it; one window curtained with a square of starched white cotton +cloth that drew over the panes by means of a white cord on which it was +run at the top; a tiny wash-stand with an old-fashioned bowl and pitcher +of green and white stone-ware, and over it an old-fashioned gilt mirror; +a small splint-bottomed chair and large braided rug of red woollen rags. +That was all, except in one corner, where some cleats had been nailed to +the ceiling and a clothes-press made by hanging from them full curtains +of white cloth. + +For the first time in her life, Hazel unpacked her own travelling-bag +and took out the silver toilet articles with the pretty monogram. But +where should she put them? No bureau, no dressing-case, no +bath-room!--For a few minutes Hazel felt bewildered, then, laughing, she +put them back again into her bag, and, leaving her candle in the tin +candlestick on the wash-stand, she gave one leap into the middle of the +high feather-bed. + +Just then Mrs. Blossom returned from saying good-night to her own +children. She tucked Hazel in snugly, and to the young girl's surprise, +knelt by the bed saying, "Let us repeat the Lord's Prayer together, +dear;" and together they said it, Hazel fearing almost the sound of her +own voice. When they had finished, Mary Blossom, still kneeling, asked +that Father to bless the coming of this one of His little ones into +their home, and asked it in such a loving, trustful way, that Hazel's +arm stole out from the coverlet and around Mrs. Blossom's neck; her +head, soft and silky as a new-born baby's, cuddled to her shoulder: and +when Mrs. Blossom kissed her good-night, she said suddenly, but +half-timidly, "Do you say _this_ with Rose every night?" + +"Yes, dear, every night." + +"And how old is Rose?" + +"She will be seventeen next August." + +"Do you with Budd and Cherry, too?" + +"Yes, with all my children, even March and May." + +"March!" exclaimed Hazel. + +"Why not?" laughed his mother. "I 'm sure he needs it, as you 'll find +out; now good-night, and don't get up to our early breakfast to-morrow, +for the Doctor goes on the first morning train, and you 're not quite +strong enough yet to do just as we do. Good-night again." + +"Good-night," said Hazel, thinking she could never have enough of this +kind of putting to bed. + +Meanwhile March and Budd, in their bedroom over the "long-room," were +discussing in half-whispers Wyandotte cocks, St. Bernard puppies, and +the new-comer, for they were too excited to sleep. + +Just behind March's bed, near the head, there was a large knot in the +boards of the flooring, which for four years had served him many a good +turn, when Budd and Cherry were planning, below in the kitchen, how they +could play tricks upon him. March had carefully removed the knot, and +with his eye, or ear, at the hole, he had been able, entirely to the +mystification of the twins, to overthrow their conspiracies and defeat +their flank movements. When his espionage was over, he replaced the +knot, and no one in the household was the wiser for his private +detective service. + +To-day, late in the afternoon, he had taken out the knot, intending to +have a view of the new arrival, unbeknown to the rest of the household; +but so interested had he become in the general welcome and in the +anticipation of the Doctor's gifts, that he had forgotten both to look +through the hole and to replace the knot. + +Hazel, too, could not sleep at first. It was all so strange, and yet +she was so happy. Her thoughts were in New York, and she was already +planning for a visit from her father, when suddenly she remembered that +she had left the little chatelaine watch he had given her on her last +birthday, lying on the settle where May had been playing with it. She +must wind it regularly, that was her father's stipulation when he gave +it to her. She sprang out of bed, tiptoed to the door, listened; all +was still, but not wholly dark. The embers beneath the ashes in the +fireplace sent a dull glow into the room. Softly she stole out; found +her watch, then, half-way to her own door, stopped, startled by a voice +issuing apparently from the rafters overhead. It was March, who, +forgetting his open knot-hole, turned over towards the wall with a +prolonged yawn and said, evidently in answer to Budd:-- + +"Oh, go to sleep; don't talk about her. I think she 's a perfect guy." + + + + + VI + + MALACHI + + +It was a month after the eventful day for the Blossoms, and Saturday +morning. Rose, with her sleeves rolled up above her elbows, was +kneading bread and singing, as she worked:-- + + "'Oh, a king would have loved and left thee, + And away thy sweet love cast: + But I am thine + Whilst the stars shall shine,-- + To the--last--'" + + +Just here, she gave the round mass of dough a toss up to the ceiling and +caught it deftly on her right fist as it came down, finishing her octave +with high C, while again the bread spun aloft and dropped in safety on +her left fist--"to the last!" + +Then she proceeded with her kneading and singing:-- + + "'I told thee when love was hopeless; + But now he is wild and sings-- + That the stars above [up went the bread again]-- + Shine ever on Love--'" + + +A peal of merry laughter close behind her made her jump, and the bread +came down kerchunk into the kneading trough. + +"Gracious, Hazel! how you frightened me! I thought you were off with +Budd and Cherry." + +"So I was; but they wanted me to come in and tell you there is to be a +secret meeting of the N.B.B.O.O. Society in the usual place. They said +you would know where it is." + +"Of course I do; do you?" + +"No, they would n't tell. They said it is against the rules to allow +any one in who hasn't been initiated. They said they 'd initiate me, if +I wanted to join." + +"Well, do you want to?" + +"Of course I do, if you belong," said Hazel, eagerly. + +"Tell them I 'll be out after I 've put the bread to rise and cleared +up; but be sure and tell them not to do anything till I come." + +"Yes," cried Hazel, joyfully, skipping through the woodshed and +encountering Chi with a bag of seed-beans. + +"Where you goin', Lady-bird?" (This was Chi's name for her from the +first day.) "Seems to me you 're gettin' over the ground pretty fast." + +"The Buds" (for so Hazel had nicknamed the children) "are going to have +a meeting somewhere of the N.B.B.O.O. Society, and I'm to be initiated, +Chi. What does that mean?" + +"Initiated, hey? Into a secret society? Well, that depends.--Sometimes +it means being tossed sky-high in a blanket, and then again you 're +dropped lower than the bottomless pit; and you can't most always tell +beforehand which way you 're goin'." + +Hazel's face fairly lost the rich color she had gained in the past +month. This was more than she had bargained for. + +"Oh, Chi! They would n't do such things to me!" she exclaimed in +dismay. + +"Well, no--I don't know as they 'd carry it that far; but those children +mean mischief every time." + +"But they would n't hurt me, Chi. They would n't be as mean as that; +besides, Rose wouldn't let them." + +"Well, I don't know as she would. But children are children, and Rose +ain't grown any wings yet." + +"Was Rose initiated?" was Hazel's next rather anxious question. + +"Yes, she was," said Chi, taking up a handful of beans and letting them +run through his fingers into the open bag. + +"How do you know, Chi?" + +"Coz I initiated her myself." + +"You, Chi? Why, do you belong?" + +"First member of the N.B.B.O.O. Society." + +"Well, that's funny. Who initiated you?" + +Chi set down the bag of beans, and for a moment shook with laughter; +then, growing perfectly sober, he said solemnly:-- + +"I initiated myself. But they was all on hand when I did it." + +"What did you do, Chi?" + +"Just hear her!" said Chi to himself, but aloud, he said, "I 'll tell +you this much, if it is a secret society. They try 'n' see what stuff +you 're made of." + + "'Sugar and spice + And all that's nice, + That's what little girls are made of,'" + +Hazel interrupted, singing merrily. + +"There was n't much 'sugar 'n' spice' in that Rose Blossom when she put +me to the test. You ain't heard a screech-owl yet; but when you do, +you'll come running home to find out whose bein' killed in the woods." + +Hazel looked at him half in fear, but Chi went on stolidly:-- + +"'N' those children told me I 'd got to go up into the woods at twelve +o'clock at night, when the screech-owls was yellin' bloody murder, to +show I wasn't scairt of nothin'; 'n' I went." + +"Oh, Chi, was n't it awful?" + +"Kinder scarey; but they gave me the dinner horn 'n' told me to blow a +blast on that when I was up there, so they 'd hear, 'n' know I was +_clear_ into the woods; for they was all on hand watchin' from the back +attic window--what they could in a pitch-black night--to see if I 'd +back down." + +"And you did n't, Chi?" said Hazel, eagerly. + +"You bet I did n't, 'n' I brought home an old screecher just to prove I +was game." + +"How did you catch him, Chi?" + +Chi clapped his hands on his knees, and shook with laughter; then he +grew perfectly sober:-- + +"I took a dark lantern along with me, just to kind of feel my way in the +woods--but the children did n't know about that--'n' when an old +screecher gave a blood-curdlin' yell, just as near my right ear as the +engine down on the track when you 're standin' at the depot at Barton's +River,--just then I turned on the light full tilt, and the feller sat +right still on the branch, kind of dazed like, 'n' I took him just as +easy as I 'd take a hen off the roost after dark, 'n' brought him home. +'N' just as I was goin' up into the attic in the dark, the shed stairs' +way, 'n' the children was all listenin' at the top in the dark, the +dummed bird gave such a screech that the children all tumbled over one +another tryin' to get back to their beds, 'n' such screamin' 'n' +hollerin' you never heard--the bird was n't in it." + +Again Chi laughed at the recollection, and Hazel joined him. + +"Did they make you do anything more, Chi?" + +"By George Washin'ton! I should think they did," said Chi, soberly. +"That last was March's idea, but Rose went him one more." + +"What could Rose think of worse than that?" demanded Hazel. + +"Well, she did. She blindfolded my eyes 'n' took me by the hand, 'n' +turned me round 'n' round till I was most dizzy; 'n' then she gave me a +rope, 'n' she took one end of it 'n' made me take the other, 'n' kept +leadin' me 'n' leadin' me, 'n' the children all caperin' round me, +screamin' 'n' laughin'. Pretty soon--I calculated I 'd walked about a +quarter of a mile--the rope grew slack; all of a sudden the laughin' 'n' +screamin' stopped, 'n' I--walked right off the bank into the big pool +down under the pines, ker--splash! 'n' the children, after they 'd got +me in, was so scairt for fear I 'd lose my breath--I could n't drown coz +there was n't more than five feet of water in it--that they hauled on +the rope with all their might, 'n' pulled me out; 'n' I let 'em pull," +said Chi, grimly. + +"I hope they were satisfied after that," said Hazel, soberly. + +"They appeared to be," said Chi, contentedly, "for they said I should be +president, coz I was so brave. But there 's other things harder to do +than that." + +"What are they, Chi?" + +"You 've got to keep the by-laws." + +"What are those?" + +"Rules of the Society. One of 'em 's, you must n't be afraid to tell +the truth. 'N' another is, you must be scairt to tell a lie." + +Hazel grew scarlet at her own thoughts. + +"Another is, to help other folks all you can; 'n' the fourth 'n' last +is, that no boy or girl as lives in this great, free country of ours +ought to be a coward." + +Hazel drew a long breath. + +"Those must be hard to keep." + +"Well, they ain't always easy, that's a fact; but they re mighty good to +live by," he added, picking up the bean-bag. "I lived with Ben +Blossom's father when I was a little chap as chore boy, 'n' he gave me +my schoolin' 'n' clothes; 'n' I 've lived with his son ever since he was +married, 'n' he's been the best friend a man could have, 'n' I 've +always got along with him in peace and lovin'-kindness; 'n' those four +by-laws his father wrote on my boyhood; 'n' by those four by-laws I 've +kept my manhood; 'n' so I think it 'll do anybody good to join the +Society." + +"Well," said Hazel, stoutly, "I 'll show them I 'm not afraid of some +things, if I did run away from the turkey-gobbler." + +"That's right," said Chi, heartily, "'n' more than that--betwixt you 'n' +me--you 've no cause to be scairt _whatever_ they do; now mark my words, +_whatever they do_," repeated Chi, emphatically. + +"I don't care what they do so long as you 're there, Chi," said Hazel, +looking up into his weather-roughened, deeply-lined face with such utter +trust in her great eyes that Chi caught up the bag over his shoulder and +hurried out to the barn, muttering to himself:-- + +"George Washin'ton! How she manages to creep into the softest corner of +a man's heart, I don't know; I expect it's those great eyes of hers, 'n' +that voice just like a brook winnerin' 'n' gurglin' over its stones in +August.--Guess there's luck come to this house with Lady-bird!" And he +went about his work. + + + + + VII + + THE N.B.B.O.O. SOCIETY + + +"Now, Hazel, we 're ready," said Rose, after the dinner dishes had been +washed and the children's time was their own. Hazel submitted meekly to +the blindfolding process. + +She had tried in vain to find out something of what the children +intended to do, but they were too clever for her to gain the smallest +hint as to the initiation. March had been busy in the ice-house, and +Cherry had been ironing the aprons for the family,--that was her +Saturday morning duty. Budd and the St. Bernard puppy were off with Chi +in the fields. + +Rose led her through the woodshed and out of doors--Hazel knew that by +the rush of soft air that met her face--and away, somewhither. At last +she was helped to climb a ladder; Chi's hand grasped hers, and she felt +the flooring under her feet. Then she was left without support of any +kind, not daring to move with Chi's story in her thoughts. + +"Guess we 'll have the roll-call first," said Chi, solemnly. There was +not a sound to be heard except now and then a rush of wings and the +twitter of swallows. + +"Molly Stark." + +"Here," said Rose. + +"Markis de Lafayette." + +"Here," from March. + +"Marthy Washin'ton." + +"Present," said Cherry, forgetting she was not in school. Budd +snickered, and the president called him to order. + +"Fine of two cents for snickerin' in meetin'." Budd looked sober. + +"Ethan Allen." + +"Here," said Budd, in a subdued voice. + +"Old Put,--Here," said Chi, addressing and answering himself. "Now, +Markis, read the by-laws." + +"Number One.--We pledge ourselves not to be afraid to tell the truth." + +"Number Two.--We pledge ourselves to be afraid to tell a lie. + +"Number Three.--We pledge ourselves to try to help others whenever we +can, wherever we can, however we can, as long as ever we can. + +"Number Four.--We, as American boys and girls, pledge ourselves never to +play the coward nor to disgrace our country." + +"Molly Stark, unfurl the flag," said Chi. + +Hazel heard a rustle as Rose unrolled the banner of soft red, white, and +blue cambric. + +"Put Old Glory round the candidate's shoulders," commanded the +president, and Hazel felt the soft folds being draped about her. + +"There now, Lady-bird, you 're dressed as pretty as you 're ever goin' +to be; it don't make a mite of difference whether you 're the Empress of +Rooshy, or just plain every-day folks; 'n' now you 've got that rig on, +we 're ready to give you the hand of fellowship. Markis, you have the +floor." + +"What name does the candidate wish to be known by?" asked March, with +due gravity; then, forgetting his role, he added, "You must take the +name of some woman who has been just as brave as she could be." + +Hazel, feeling the folds of the flag about her, suddenly recalled her +favorite poem of Whittier's. + +"Barbara Frietchie," she said promptly and firmly. + +The various members shouted and cheered themselves hoarse before order +was restored. + +"What'd I tell you, Budd?" said Chi, triumphantly; then there was +another shout, for Chi had broken the rules in speaking thus. + +"Two cents' fine!" shouted Budd, "for speaking out of order in meeting." + +"Sho! I forgot," said Chi, humbly; "well, proceed." + +"Do you, Barbara Frietchie, pledge yourself to try to keep these +by-laws?" + +"Yes," said Hazel, but rather tremulously. + +"Well, then, we 'll put you to the test. Molly Stark will extend the +first hand of fellowship to Barbara Frietchie--No, hold out your hand, +Hazel; way out--don't you draw it back that way!" + +"I did n't," retorted Hazel. + +"Yes, you did, I saw you!" + +"You didn't, either." + +"I did." + +"You did n't." + +"I did, too." + +"He did n't, did he, Chi?" said Hazel, furious at this charge of +apparent timidity. + +"I don't believe you drew it back even if March does think he saw you," +said Chi, pouring oil both ways on the troubled waters; "'n' I never +thought 't was just the thing for a boy to tell a girl she was a coward +before she'd proved to be one--specially if he belongs to this Society." + +The Marquis de Lafayette hung his head at this rebuke; but in the action +his cocked hat of black and gilt paper lurched forward and drew off with +it his white cotton-wool wig. Budd and Cherry, forgetting all rules, +fines, and sense of propriety, rolled over and over at the sight; Rose +sat down shaking with laughter, and even Chi lost his dignity. + +"I wish you would let me _see_, or do something," said Hazel, +plaintively, when she could make herself heard. + +"'T ain't fair to keep Hazel waiting so," declared Budd, and the +president called the meeting to order again. + +"Put out your hand, Hazel," said Rose. "Now shake." + +Hazel grasped a hand, cold, deathly cold, and clammy. The chill of the +rigid fingers sent a corresponding shiver down the length of her +backbone, and the goose-flesh rose all over her arms and legs. She +thought she must shriek; but she recalled Chi's words, set her teeth +hard, and shook the awful thing with what strength she had, never +uttering a sound. + +"Bully for you, Hazel! I knew you 'd show lots of pluck," cried Budd. + +"Got grit every time," said Chi, proudly. "Now let's have the other +test and get down to business. Guess all three of you 'll have to have +a finger in this pie. Hurry up, Marthy Washin'ton!" Cherry scuttled +down the ladder, and in a few minutes labored, panting, up again. + +"What did you bring two for?" demanded Budd. + +"'Cause March said 't would balance me better on the ladder," replied +Cherry, innocently. At which explanation Chi laughed immoderately, much +to Cherry's discomfiture. + +"Now, Hazel, roll up your sleeve and hold out your bare arm," said the +Marquis. Hazel obeyed, wondering what would come next. + +"Here, Budd, you hold it; all ready, Cherry?" + +"Ye-es--wait a minute; now it's all right." + +"This we call burning in the Society's brand,--N.B.B.O.O.;" the voice of +the Marquis was solemn, befitting the occasion. + +Hazel drew her breath sharply, uncertain whether to cry out or not. +There was a sharp sting across her arm, as if a hot curling-iron had +been drawn quickly across it; then a sound of sizzling flesh, and the +odor of broiled beefsteak rose up just under her nostrils. + +There was a diabolical thud of falling flat-irons; Rose tore the bandage +from Hazel's eyes, and the bewildered candidate for membership, when her +eyes grew somewhat wonted to the dim light, found herself in a corner of +the loft in the barn, with the elegant figure of the Marquis in cocked +hat, white wig, yellow vest, blue coat, and yellow knee-breeches dancing +frantically around her; Ethan Allen in white woollen shirt, red yarn +suspenders, and red, white, and blue striped trousers, turning back-hand +somersaults on the hay; Chi standing at salute with his +great-great-grandfather's Revolutionary musket, his old straw hat +decorated with a tricolor cockade, and Cherry in a white cotton-wool +wig, a dark calico dress of her mother's and a white neckerchief, flat +on the floor beside two six-pound flat-irons. + +A piece of raw beef on a tin pan, some bits of ice, and a kid glove +stuffed with ice and sawdust, lay scattered about. They told the tale of +the initiation. + +"Three cheers for Barbara Frietchie!" shouted Budd, as he came right +side up. The barn rang with them. + +"Now we 'll give the right hand of true fellowship," said Chi, rapping +with the butt of his musket for order. + +Rose gave Hazel's hand a squeeze. "I 'm so glad you 're to be one of +us," she said heartily; and Hazel squeezed back. + +March came forward, bowed low, and said, "I apologize for my distrust of +your pluck," and held out his hand with a look in the flashing gray eyes +that was not one of mockery; indeed, he looked glad, but never a word of +welcome did he speak. + +"I could flog that proud feller," muttered Chi to himself. + +Hazel hesitated a moment, then put out her hand a little reluctantly. +March caught the gesture and her look. + +"Oh, you 're not obliged to," he said haughtily, and turned on his heel. +But Hazel put her hand on his arm. + +"I 'm afraid we are both breaking some of the by-laws, March. I do want +to shake hands, but I was thinking just then that you did n't mean the +apology--not really and truly; and if you did mean it, there was +something else you needed to apologize for more than that!" + +March flushed to the roots of his hair. Then his boy's honor came to +the rescue. + +"I do want to now, Hazel--and forgive and forget, won't you?" he said, +with the winning smile he inherited from his father, but which he kept +for rare occasions. + +Hazel put her hand in his, and felt that this had been worth waiting +for. She knew that at last March had taken her in. + +Budd gripped with all his might, Cherry shook with two fingers, and +Chi's great hand closed over hers as tenderly as a woman's would have +done. + +This was Hazel's initiation into the Nobody's Business But Our Own +Society. It was the second meeting of the year. + +"Now, March, I 'll make you chairman and ask you to state the business +of this meetin', as you 've called it. Must be mighty important?" + +"It is," replied March, gravely, all the fun dying out of his face. +"You remember, all of you,--don't you?--what mother told us that night +she said Hazel was coming?" + +"Yes," chorussed the children. + +"Well, I 've been thinking and thinking ever since how I could help--" + +"So 've I, March," interrupted Rose. + +"And I have, too," said Budd. + +"What's all this mean?" said Chi, somewhat astonished, for he had not +known why the meeting had been called. + +"Why, you see, Chi, we never knew till then that the farm had been +mortgaged on account of father's sickness, and that it had been so awful +hard for mother all this year--" + +Chi cleared his throat. + +"--And we want to do something to help earn. If we could earn just our +own clothes and books and enough to pay for our schooling, it would be +something." + +"Guess 't would," said Chi, clearing his throat again. "Kind of workin' +out the third by-law, ain't you?" + +"Trying to," answered March, with such sincerity in his voice that Chi's +throat troubled him for full a minute. "And what I want to find out, +without mother's knowing it, or father either, is how we can earn enough +for those things. If anybody 's got anything to say, just speak up." + +"What you goin' to do with those Wyandottes?" + +"I knew you 'd ask that, Chi. I 'm going to raise a fine breed and sell +the eggs at a dollar and a half for thirteen; but I can't get any +chicken-money till next fall, and no egg-money till next spring, and I +want to begin now." + +"Hm--" said Chi, taking off his straw hat and slowly scratching his +head. "Well," he said after a pause in which all were thinking and no +one talking, "why don't all of you go to work raisin' chickens for next +Thanksgivin'?" + +"By cracky!" said Budd, "we could raise three or four hundred, an' fat +'em up, an' make a pile, easy as nothing." + +"I don't know about it's bein' so easy; but children have the time to +tend 'em, and I don't see why it won't work, seein' it's a good time of +year." + +"But where 'll we get the hens to set, Chi?" said March. + +"Oh, there 's enough of 'em settin' round now on the bare boards," Chi +replied. + +"Can I raise some, too?" asked Hazel, rather timidly. + +"Don't know what there is to hinder," said Chi, with a slow smile. + +"And can I buy some hens for my very own?" + +"Why, of course you can; just say the word, 'n' you 'n' I 'll go +settin'-hen hunting within a day or so." + +"Oh, what fun!" cried Hazel, clapping her hands. "But I want some that +will sit and lay too, Chi; then I can sell the eggs." + +There was a shout of laughter, at which Hazel felt hurt. + +"There now, Lady-bird, we won't laugh at your city ways of lookin' at +things any more. The hens ain't quite so accommodatin' as that, but we +'ll get some good setters first, 'n' then see about the layin' +afterwards." + +"But, Chi, it will take such a lot of corn to fatten them. We don't want +to ask father for anything." + +"That's right, Rose. Be independent as long as you can; I thought of +that, too. Now, there 's a whole acre on the south slope I ploughed +this spring,--nice, hot land, just right for corn-raisin'; 'n' if you +children 'll drop 'n' cover, I 'll help you with the hoein' 'n' cuttin' +'n' huskin'; 'n' you 'll have your corn for nothin'." + +"Good for you, Chi; we 'll do it, won't we?" cried March. + +"You bet," said Budd. + +"I can pick berries," said Rose, "and we can always sell them at the +Inn, or at Barton's River." + +"Yes, and we can begin in June," said Cherry; "the pastures are just red +with the wild strawberries, you know, Rose." + +"It's an awful sight of work to pick 'em," said Budd, rather dubiously. + +"Well, you can't get your money without workin', Budd; 'n' work don't +mean 'take it easy.'" + +"I 'm sure we can get twenty-five cents a quart for them right in the +village. I 've heard folks say they make the best preserve you can get, +and you can't buy them for love nor money," said Rose. "Mother makes +beautiful ones." + +"Was n't that what we had last Sunday night when the minister was here +to tea?" asked Hazel. + +"Yes," said Rose. + +"I never tasted any strawberries like them at home, and the housekeeper +buys lots of jams and jellies in the fall." Hazel thought hard for a +minute. Suddenly she jumped to her feet, clapped her hands, and spun +round and round like a top, crying out, "I have it! I have it!" + +The N.B.B.O.O. Society was amazed to see the new member perform in this +lively manner, for Hazel had been rather quiet during the first month. +Now she caught up her skirts with a dainty tilt, and danced the Highland +Fling just to let her spirits out through her feet. Up and down the +floor of the loft she charged, hands over her head, hands swinging her +skirts, light as a fairy, bending, swaying, and bowing, till, with a big +"cheese," she sat down almost breathless by Chi. Was this Hazel? The +members of the N.B.B.O.O. looked at one another in amazement, and +March's eyes flashed again, as they had done once before during the +afternoon. + +"Now all listen to me," she said, as if, after a month of silence, she +had found her tongue. "I 've an idea, and when I have one, papa says +it's worth listening to,--which is n't often, I 'm sure. We 'll pick +the strawberries, and get Mrs. Blossom to show Rose how to do them up; +and I 'll write to papa and Doctor Heath's wife and to our housekeeper +and Cousin Jack, and see if they don't want some of those delicious +preserves that they can't get in the city. I 'll find out from Mrs. +Scott--that's the housekeeper--how much she pays for a jar in New York, +and then we 'll charge a little more for ours because the strawberries +are a little rarer. Are n't there any other kinds of berries that grow +around here?" + +"Guess you 'd better stop 'n' take breath, Lady-bird; there 's a mighty +lot of plannin' in all that. What 'd I tell you, Budd?" Chi asked +again. + +Budd looked at Hazel in boyish admiration, but said nothing. + +"I think that's splendid, Hazel," said Rose, "if they'll only want +them." + +"I know they will; but are there any other berries?" + +"Berries! I should think so; raspberries and blackberries by the bushel +on the Mountain, and they say they 're the best anywhere round here," +said March. + +"Oh, dear!" sighed Cherry, "I wish we could go to work right now." + +"Well, so you can," said Chi, "only you can't go berryin' just yet. You +can begin to drop that corn this very afternoon: better be inside the +ground pretty soon, with all those four hundred chickens waitin' to join +the Thanksgivin' procession." + +[Illustration: "'You can begin to drop that corn this very afternoon'"] + +"Oh, Chi, you 're making fun of us," laughed Rose. + +"Don't you believe it, Rose-pose; never was more in earnest in my life. +Come along, 'n' I 'll show you." + + + + + VIII + + A LIVELY CORRESPONDENCE + + +It was a trial of patience to have to wait twenty-one days before the +first of the "four hundred" could be expected to appear. + +"You 'll have to be kind of careful 'bout steppin' round in the dark, +Mis' Blossom, 'n' you, too, Ben," said Chi, "for you 'll find a settin' +hen most anywheres nowadays." + +Mrs. Blossom laughed. "Oh, Chi, what dear children they are, even if +they aren't quite perfect." + +"Can't be beat," replied Chi, earnestly. "Look at them now, will you?" + +Mrs. Blossom stepped out on the porch, and looked over to the south +slope and the corn-patch. "What if her father were to see her now!" +She laughed again, both at her thoughts and the sight. + +"'T would give him kind of a shock at first," Chi chuckled, "but he 'd +get over it as soon as he 'd seen that face." + +"It is wonderful how she has improved. I shouldn't be surprised if he +came up here soon to see Hazel." + +"Well, he 'll find somethin' worth lookin' at. See there, now!" + +The girls had been making scarecrows to protect the young corn, stuffing +old shirts and trousers with hay and straw, while March and Budd had +been getting ready the cross-tree frames. In dropping and covering the +corn that Saturday afternoon after the initiation, the girls had found +their skirts and petticoats not only in the way as they bent over their +work, but greatly soiled by contact with the soft, damp loam. So they +had begged to wear overalls of blue denim like Chi's and the boys'. The +request had been gladly granted. "It will save no end of washing," said +Mrs. Blossom, and forthwith made up three pairs on the machine. + +The girls found it great fun. They tucked in their petticoats and +buttoned down their shoulder-straps with right good will. Then Mr. +Blossom presented them with broad, coarse straw hats, such as he and Chi +used, and with these on their heads they rushed off to the corn-patch. +There now they were,--five good-looking boys with hands joined, dancing +and capering around a scarecrow, that looked like a gentleman tramp gone +entirely to seed, and singing at the top of their voices Budd's +favorite, "I won't play in your back yard." + +At that very hour, when the gentleman scarecrow of the corn-patch was +looking amiably, although slightly squint-eyed, out from under his +tattered straw hat (for March had drawn rude features on the white cloth +bag stuffed with cotton-wool which served for a head, and on it Rose had +sewed skeins of brown yarn to imitate hair) at the antics of the five +pairs of blue overalls, Mr. Clyde, having finished his nine o'clock +breakfast, asked for the mail. + +"Yes, Marse John" (so Wilkins always called Mr. Clyde when they were +alone), "'spect dere 's one from Miss Hazel by de feel an' de smell." + +Mr. Clyde smiled. "How can you tell by the 'feel and the smell,' +Wilkins?" + +"Case it's bunchy lake in de middle, an' de vi'lets can't hide dere +bref." + +"Well, we 'll see," said Mr. Clyde, willing to indulge his faithful +servant's childish curiosity. Wilkins busied himself quietly about the +breakfast-room. + +As Mr. Clyde opened the envelope, the crushed blue and white violets +fell out. Suddenly he burst into such a hearty laugh that Wilkins had +hard work to suppress a sympathetic chuckle. + +"I shall have to carry this letter over to the Doctor, Wilkins," he +said, still laughing. "I shall be in time to find him a few minutes +alone before office hours." He rose from the table. + +Wilkins followed him out to give his coat a last touch with the brush; +he was fearful Mr. Clyde might leave without revealing anything of the +contents of the letter from his beloved Miss Hazel. + +"'Sense me, Marse John," he said in desperation, as Mr. Clyde went +towards the front door, "but Miss Hazel ain't no wusser case yo' goin' +to de Doctah's?" + +"Oh, Wilkins, I forgot; you want to know how Miss Hazel is. She is +doing finely; as happy as a bird, and sends her love to you in a +postscript. I think I 'll run up and see her soon." + +Wilkins ducked and beamed. "'Pears lake dis yere house ain't de same +place wif de little missus gone." + +"You 're right, Wilkins," said Mr. Clyde, earnestly. "I shall not open +the Newport cottage this year; it would be too lonesome without her." + +"Well, Dick," he said gayly, as he entered the Doctor's office, "I shall +hold you responsible for some of the lives of the 'Four Hundred.' Here, +read this letter." + + +MOUNT HUNGER, MILL SETTLEMENT, BARTON'S + RIVER, VERMONT, May 19, 1896. + +DEAREST PAPA,--Good-morning! I am answering your long letter a little +sooner than I expected to, because I want you to do something for me in +a business way; that's the way March says it must be. + +I don't know how to begin to tell you, but I 've joined the N.B.B.O.O. +Society and one of the by-laws is that we must help others all we can +and just as much as we can. I wish you'd been at the initiashun. (I +don't know about that spelling, and I 'm in a hurry, or I 'd ask.) I +had the hand of fellowship from a supposed corpse's hand first, and then +I was branded on the arm. And afterwards they all took me in, and now +we 're raising four hundred chickens to help others; I 'll tell you all +about it when you come. Chi, that's the hired man, but he is really our +friend, took me sitting-hen hunting day before yesterday, for I am to +own some myself; and we drove all over the hills to the farmhouses and +found and bought twelve, or rather Chi did, for I had to borrow the +money of him, as I felt so bad when I kissed you good-bye that I forgot +to tell you my quarterly allowance was all gone, and I know you won't +like my borrowing of Chi, for you have said so many times never to owe +anybody and I've always tried to pay for everything except when I had to +borrow of Gabrielle, or Mrs. Scott, when I forgot my purse. + +But truly the hens were in such an awful hurry to sit, that it did seem +too bad to keep them waiting even three days till I could get some money +from you; and then, too, we 've all of us, March and Rose and Budd and +Cherry and me, bet on which hen would get the first chicken, and that +chicken is going to be a prize chicken and especially fatted, and of +course, if I waited for the money to come from you, I could n't stand a +chance of coming out ahead in our four hundred chicken race, so I +borrowed of Chi. The hens came to just $4 and eighty cents. I'll pay +you back when I earn it, and don't you think it would have been a pity +to lose the chance for the prize chicken just for that borrow? + +Please send the money by return mail. I 've other letters to write, so +please excuse my not paragraphing and so little punctuation, but I 've +so much to do and this must go at once. + +Your loving and devoted daughter, + HAZEL CLYDE. + +P.S. The hens are sitting around everywhere. Give my love to Wilkins. +H.C. + + +The Doctor shouted; then he stepped to the dining-room door and called, +"Wifie, come here and bring that letter." + +Mrs. Heath came in smiling, with a letter in her hand, which, after +cordially greeting Mr. Clyde, she read to him,--an amazed and outwitted +father. + + +MOUNT HUNGER, MILL SETTLEMENT, BARTON'S + RIVER, VERMONT, May 19, 1896. + +MY DEAR MRS. HEATH,--Please thank my dear Doctor Heath for the note he +sent me two weeks ago. I ought to write to him instead of to you, for I +don't owe you a letter (your last one was so sweet I answered it right +off), but he never allows his patients strawberry preserve and jam, so +it would be no use to ask his help just now, as this is pure business, +March says. + +We are trying to help others, and the strawberries--wild ones--are as +thick as spatter--going to be--all over the pastures, and we 're going +to pick quarts and quarts, and Rose is going to preserve them, and then +we 're going to sell them. + +Do you think of anybody who would like some of this preserve? If you do, +will you kindly let me know by return mail? + +I can't tell just the price, and March says that is a great drawback in +real business, and this _is_ real--but it will not be more than $1 and +twenty-five cents a quart. They will be fine for luncheon. _I_ never +tasted any half so good at home. + +My dear love to the Doctor and a large share for yourself from + +Your loving friend, + HAZEL CLYDE. + +P.S. Rose says it is n't fair for people to order without knowing the +quality, so we 've done up a little of Mrs. Blossom's in some Homeepatic +(I don't know where that "h" ought to come in) pellet bottles, and will +send you a half-dozen "for samples," March says, to send to any one to +taste you think would like to order. H.C. + + +"The cure is working famously," said Doctor Heath, rubbing his hands in +glee. + +"Well," said Mr. Clyde, laughing, "I may as well make the best of it; +but I can't help wondering whether the wholesale grocers in town have +been asked to place orders with Mount Hunger, or the Washington Market +dealers for prospective chickens! There 's your office-bell; I won't +keep you longer, but if this 'special case' of yours should develop any +new symptoms, just let me know." + +"I 'll keep you informed," rejoined the Doctor. "Better run up there +pretty soon, Johnny," he called after him. + +"I think it's high time, Dick. Good-bye." + +At that very moment, a symptom of another sort was developing in Z---- +Hall, Number 9, at Harvard. + +Jack Sherrill and his chum were discussing the last evening's Club +theatricals. "I saw that pretty Maude Seaton in the third or fourth +row, Jack; did she come on for that,--which, of course, means you?" + +"Wish I might think so," said Jack, half in earnest, half in jest, +pulling slowly at his corn-cob pipe. + +"By Omar Khayyam, Jack! you don't mean to say you 're hit, at last!" + +"Hit,--yes; but it's only a flesh-wound at present,--nothing dangerous +about it." + +"She 's got the style, though, and the pull. I know a half-dozen of the +fellows got dropped on to-night's cotillion." + +"Kept it for me," said Jack, quietly. + +"No, really, though--" and his chum fell to thinking rather seriously +for him. + +Just then came the morning's mail,--notes, letters, special delivery +stamps, all the social accessories a popular Harvard man knows so well. +Jack looked over his carelessly,--invitations to dinner, to theatre +parties, "private views," golf parties, etc. He pushed them aside, +showing little interest. He, like his Cousin Hazel, was used to it. + +The morning's mail was an old story, for Sherrill was worth a fortune in +his own right, as several hundred mothers and daughters in New York and +Boston and Philadelphia knew full well. + +Moreover, if he had not had a penny in prospect, Jack Sherrill would +have attracted by his own manly qualities and his exceptionally good +looks. His riches, to which he had been born, had not as yet wholly +spoiled him, but they cheated him of that ambition that makes the best +of young manhood, and Life was out of tune at times--how and why, he did +not know, and there was no one to tell him. + +He had rather hoped for a note from Maude Seaton, thanking him, in her +own charming way, for the flowers he had sent her on her arrival from +New York the day before. True, she had worn some in her corsage, but, +for all Jack knew, they might have been another man's; for Maude Seaton +was never known to have less than four or five strings to her bow. It +was just this uncertainty about her that attracted Jack. + +"Hello! Here 's a letter for you by mistake in my pile," said his chum. + +"Why, this is from my little Cousin Hazel, who is rusticating just now +somewhere in the Green Mountains." Jack opened it hastily and read,-- + + +MOUNT HUNGER, MILL SETTLEMENT, BARTON'S + RIVER, VERMONT, May 19, 1896. + +DEAREST COUSIN JACK,--It is perfectly lovely up here, and I 've been +inishiated into a Secret Society like your Dicky Club, and one of the +by-laws is to help others all we can and wherever we can and as long as +ever we can, and so I 've thought of that nice little spread you gave +last year after the foot-ball game, and how nice the table looked and +what good things you had, but I don't remember any strawberry jam or +preserves, do you? + +We 're hatching four hundred chickens to help others,--I mean we have +set 40 sitting hens on 520 eggs, not all the 40 on the five hundred and +twenty at once, you know; but, I mean, each one of the 40 hens are +sitting on 13 eggs apiece, and March says we must expect to lose 120 +eggs--I mean, chickens,--as the hens are very careless and sit +sideways--I 've seen them myself--and so an extra egg is apt to get +chilly, and the chickens can't stand any chilliness, March says. But +Chi, that's my new friend, says some eggs have a double yolk, and maybe, +there 'll be some twins to make up for the loss. + +Anyway, we want 400 chickens to sell about Thanksgiving time, and, of +course, we can't get any money till that time. So now I 've got back to +your spread again and the preserves, and while we 're waiting for the +chickens, we are going to make preserves--_dee_-licious ones! I mean we +are going to pick them and Rose is going to preserve them. We 've +decided to ask $1 and a quarter a quart for them; Rose--that's Rose +Blossom--says it is dear, but if you could see my Rose-pose, as Chi +calls her, you 'd think it cheap just to eat them if she made them. She +'s perfectly lovely--prettier than any of the New York girls, and when +she kneads bread and does up the dishes, she sings like a bird, +something about love. I'll write it down for you, sometime. _I 'm_ in +love with her. + +Please ask your college friends if they don't want some jam and wild +strawberry preserves. If they do, March says they had better order +soon, as I've written to New York to see about some other orders. + +Yours devotedly, + HAZEL. + +P.S. I 've sent you a sample of the strawberry preserve in a homeepahtic +pellet bottle, to taste; Rose says it is n't fair to ask people to buy +without their knowing what they buy. I saw that Miss Seaton just before +I came away; she came to call on me and brought some flowers. She said +I looked like you--which was an awful whopper because I had my head +shaved, as you know; I asked her if she had heard from you, and she said +she had. She is n't half as lovely as Rose-pose. H.C. + + + + + IX + + THE PRIZE CHICKEN + + +There was wild excitement, as well as consternation, in the farmhouse on +the Mountain. + +On the next day but one after Hazel had sent her letters, Chi had +brought up from the Mill Settlement a telegram which had come on the +stage from Barton's. It was addressed to, "Hazel Clyde, Mill +Settlement, Barton's River, Vermont," and ran thus:-- + + +CAMBRIDGE, May 20, 1 P.M. + +Hope to get in our order ahead of New York time. Seventeen dozen of +each kind. Letter follows. + +JACK. + + +"Seventeen dozen!" screamed Rose, on hearing the telegram. + +"Seventeen dozen of _each kind_!" cried Budd. + +"Oh, quick, March, do see what it comes to!" said Hazel. + +Then such an arithmetical hubbub broke loose as had never been heard +before on the Mountain. + +"Seventeen times twelve," said Rose,--"let me see; seven times two are +fourteen, one to carry--do keep still, March!" But March went on +with:-- + +"Twelve times four are forty-eight--seventeen times forty-eight, +hm--seven times eight are fifty-six, five to carry--Shut up, Budd; I +can't hear myself think." But Budd gave no heed, and continued his +computation. + +"Four times seventeen are--four times seven are twenty-eight, two to +carry; four times one are four and two are--I say, you 've put me all +out!" shouted Budd, and, putting his fingers in his ears, he retired to +a corner. Rose continued to mumble with her eyes shut to concentrate her +mind upon her problem, threatening Cherry impatiently when she +interrupted with her peculiar solution, which she had just thought +out:-- + +"If one quart cost one dollar and twenty-five cents, twelve quarts will +cost twelve times one dollar and twenty-five cents, which is, er--twelve +times one are twelve; twelve times twenty-five! Oh, gracious, that's +awful! What's twelve times twenty-five, March?" + +"Shut up," growled March; "you 've put me all off the track." + +"Me, too," said Rose, in an aggrieved tone. + +Mrs. Blossom had been listening from the bedroom, and now came in, +suppressing her desire to smile at the reddened and perplexed faces. +"Here 's a pencil, March, suppose you figure it out on paper." + +A sigh of relief was audible throughout the room, as March sat down to +work out the result. "Eight hundred and sixteen quarts at one dollar +twenty-five a quart," said March to himself; then, with a bound that +shook the long-room, he shouted, "One thousand and twenty dollars!" and +therewith broke forth into singing:-- + + "Glory, glory, halleluia! + Glory, glory, halleluia! + Glory, glory, halleluia, + For the N.B.B.O.O.!" + + +The rest joined in the singing with such goodwill that the noise brought +in Chi from the barn. When he was told the reason for the rejoicing, he +looked thoughtful, then sober, then troubled. + +"What's the matter, Chi? Cheer up! You have n't got to pick them," +said March. + +"'T ain't that; but I hate to throw cold water on any such +countin'-your-chickens-'fore-they 're-hatched business," said Chi. + +"'T is n't chickens; it's preserves, Chi," laughed Rose. + +"I know that, too," said Chi, gravely. "But suppose you do a little +figuring on the hind-side of the blackboard." + +"What _do_ you mean, Chi?" asked Hazel. + +"Well, I 'll figure, 'n' see what you think about it. Seventeen dozen +times four, how much, March?" + +"Eight hundred and sixteen." + +"Hm! eight hundred and sixteen glass jars at twelve and a half cents +apiece--let me see: eight into eight once; eight into one no times 'n' +one over. There now, your jars 'll cost you just one hundred and two +dollars." + +There was a universal groan. + +"'N' that ain't all. Sugar 's up to six cents a pound, 'n' to keep +preserves as they ought to be kept takes about a pound to a quart. Hm, +eight hundred 'n' sixteen pounds of sugar at six cents a pound--move up +my point 'n' multiply by six--forty-eight dollars 'n' ninety-six cents; +added to the other--" + +"Oh, don't, Chi!" groaned one and all. + +"It spoils everything," said Rose, actually ready to cry with +disappointment. + +"Well, Molly Stark, you 've got to look forwards and backwards before +you _promise_ to do things," said Chi, serenely; and Rose, hearing the +Molly Stark, knew just what Chi meant. + +She went straight up to him, and, laying both hands on his shoulders, +looked up smiling into his face. "I 'll be brave, Chi; we 'll make it +work somehow," she said gently; and Chi was not ashamed to take one of +the little hands and rub it softly against his unshaven cheek. + +"That's my Rose-pose," he said. "Now, don't let's cross the bridges +till we get to them; let's wait till we hear from New York." + + +They had not long to wait. The next day's mail brought three +letters,--from Mrs. Heath, Mr. Clyde, and Jack. Hazel could not read +them fast enough to suit her audience. There was an order from Mrs. +Heath for two dozen of each kind, and the assurance that she would ask +her friends, but she would like her order filled first. + +Mr. Clyde wrote that he was coming up very soon and would advance +Hazel's quarterly allowance; at which Hazel cried, "Oh-ee!" and hugged +first herself, then Mrs. Blossom, but said not a word. She wanted to +surprise them with the glass jars and the sugar. Her father had +enclosed five dollars with which to pay Chi, and he and Hazel were +closeted for full a quarter of an hour in the pantry, discussing ways +and means. + +Jack wrote enthusiastically of the preserves and chickens, and, like +Hazel, added a postscript as follows: + +"Don't forget you said you would write down for me the song about Love +that Miss Blossom sings when she is kneading bread. Miss Seaton is just +now visiting in Boston. I 'm to play in a polo match out at the +Longmeadow grounds next week, and she stays for that." This, likewise, +Hazel kept to herself. + +Meanwhile, the strawberry blossoms were starring the pastures, but only +here and there a tiny green button showed itself. It was a discouraging +outlook for the other Blossoms to wait five long weeks before they could +begin to earn money; and the thought of the chickens, especially the +prize chicken, proved a source of comfort as well as speculation. + +As the twenty-first day after setting the hens drew near, the excitement +of the race was felt to be increasing. Hazel had tied a narrow strip of +blue flannel about the right leg of each of her twelve hens, that there +might be no mistake; and the others had followed her example, March +choosing yellow; Cherry, white; Rose, red; and Budd, green. + +The barn was near the house, only a grass-plat with one big elm in the +centre separated it from the end of the woodshed. As Chi said, the hens +were sitting all around everywhere; on the nearly empty hay-mow there +were some twenty-five, and the rest were in vacant stalls and +feed-boxes. + +It was a warm night in early June. Hazel was thinking over many things +as she lay wakeful in her wee bedroom. To-morrow was the day; somebody +would get the prize chicken. Hazel hoped she might be the winner. Then +she recalled something Chi had said about hens being curious creatures, +set in their ways, and never doing anything just as they were expected +to do it, and that there was n't any time-table by which chickens could +be hatched to the minute. What if one were to come out to-night! The +more she thought, the more she longed to assure herself of the condition +of things in the barn. She tossed and turned, but could not settle to +sleep. At last she rose softly; the great clock in the long-room had +just struck eleven. She looked out of her one window and into the face +of a moon that for a moment blinded her. + +Then she quietly put on her white bath-robe, and, taking her shoes in +her hand, stepped noiselessly out into the kitchen. + +There was not a sound in the house except the ticking of the clock. +Softly she crept to the woodshed door and slipped out. + +Chi, who had the ears of an Indian, heard the soft "crush, crush," of +the bark and chips underneath his room. He rose noiselessly, drew on his +trousers, and slipped his suspenders over his shoulders, took his rifle +from the rack, and crept stealthily as an Apache down the stairs. Chi +thought he was on the track of an enormous woodchuck that had baffled +all his efforts to trap, shoot, and decoy him, as well as his attempts +to smoke and drown him out. But nothing was moving in or about the shed. +He stepped outside, puzzled as to the noise he had heard. + +"By George Washin'ton!" he exclaimed under his breath, "what's up now?" +for he had caught sight of a little figure in white fairly scooting over +the grass-plat under the elm towards the barn. In a moment she +disappeared in the opening, for on warm nights the great doors were not +shut. + +"Guess I 'd better get out of the way; 't would scare her to death to +see a man 'n' a gun at this time of night. It's that prize chicken, I +'ll bet." And Chi chuckled to himself. Then he tiptoed as far as the +barn door, looked in cautiously, and, seeing no one, but hearing a creak +overhead, he slipped into a stall and crouched behind a pile of grass he +had cut that afternoon for the cattle. + +He heard the feet go "pat, pat, pat," overhead. He knew by the sound +that Hazel was examining the nests. Then another noise--Cherry's +familiar giggle--fell upon his ear. He looked out cautiously from +behind the grass. Sure enough; there were the twins, robed in sheets and +barefooted. Snickering and giggling, they made for the ladder leading +to the loft. + +"The Old Harry 's to pay to-night," said Chi, grimly, to himself. "When +those two get together on a spree, things generally hum! I 'd better +stay where I 'm needed most." + +Hazel, too, had caught the sound of the giggle and snicker, and +recognized it at once. + +"Goodness!" she thought, "if they should see me, 't would frighten +Cherry into fits, she 's so nervous. I 'd better hide while they 're +here. They 've come to see about that chicken, just as I have!" Hazel +had all she could do to keep from laughing out loud. She lay down upon +a large pile of hay and drew it all over her. "They can't see me now, +and I can watch them," she thought, with a good deal of satisfaction. + +Surely the proceedings were worth watching. The moonlight flooded the +flooring of the loft, and every detail could be plainly seen. + +"Nobody can hear us here if we do talk," said Budd. "You 'll have to +hoist them up first, to see if there are any chickens, and be sure and +look at the rag on the legs; when you come to a green one, it's mine, +you know." + +"Oh, Budd! I can't hoist them," said Cherry, in a distressed voice. + +"They do act kinder queer," replied Budd, who was trying to lift a +sleeping hen off her nest, to which she seemed glued. "I 'll tell you +what's better than that; just put your ear down and listen, and if you +hear a 'peep-peep,' it's a chicken." + +Cherry, the obedient slave of Budd, crawled about over the flooring on +her hands and knees, listening first at one nest, then at another, for +the expected "peep-peep." + +"I don't hear anything," said Cherry, in an aggrieved tone, "but the old +hens guggling when I poke under them. Oh! but here 's a green rag +sticking out, Budd." + +"And a speckled hen?" said Budd, eagerly. + +"Yes." + +"Well, that's the one I 've been looking for; it's dark over here in +this corner. Lemme see." + +Budd put both hands under the hen and lifted her gently. +"Ak--ok--ork--ach," gasped the hen, as Budd took her firmly around the +throat; but she was too sleepy to care much what became of her, and so +hung limp and silent. + +"I 'll hold the hen, Cherry, and you take up those eggs one at a time +and hold them to my ear." + +"What for?" said Cherry. + +"Now don't be a loony, but do as I tell you," said Budd, impatiently. +Cherry did as she was bidden; Budd listened intently. + +"By cracky! there 's one!" he exclaimed. "Here, help me set this hen +back again, and keep that one out." + +"What for?" queried Cherry, forgetting her former lesson. + +"Oh, you ninny!--here, listen, will you?" Budd put the egg to her ear. + +"Why, that's a chicken peeping inside. I can _hear_ him," said Cherry, +in an awed voice. + +"Yes, and I 'm going to let him out," said Budd, triumphantly. + +"But then you'll have the prize chicken, Budd," said Cherry, rather +dubiously, for she had wanted it herself. + +"Of course, you goosey, what do you suppose I came out here for?" +demanded Budd. + +"But, Budd, will it be fair?" said Cherry, timidly. + +"Fair!" muttered Budd; "it's fair enough if it's out first. It's their +own fault if they don't know enough to get ahead of us." + +"Did you think it all out yourself, Budd?" queried Cherry, admiringly, +watching Budd's proceeding with wide-open eyes. + +"Yup," said Budd, shortly. + +They were not far from Hazel's hiding-place, and, by raising her head a +few inches, she could see the whole process. + +First Budd listened intently at one end of the egg, then at the other. +He drew out a large pin from his pajamas and began very carefully to +pick the shell. + +"Oh, gracious, Budd! what are you doing?" cried Cherry. + +"What you see," said Budd, a little crossly, for his conscience was not +wholly at ease. + +He picked and picked, and finally made an opening. He examined it +carefully. + +"Oh, thunder!" he exclaimed under his breath, "I 've picked the wrong +end." + +"What do you mean?" persisted Cherry. + +"I wanted to open the 'peep-peep' end first, so he could breathe," +replied Budd, intent upon his work. Cherry watched breathlessly. At +last the other end was opened, and Budd began to detach the shell from +something which might have been a worm, a fish, a pollywog, or a baby +white mouse, for all it looked like a chicken. It lay in Budd's hand. + +"Oh, Budd, you 've killed it!" cried Cherry, beginning to sniff. + +"Shut up, Cherry Blossom, or I'll leave you," threatened Budd. Just +then the moon was obscured by a passing cloud, and the loft became +suddenly dark and shadowy. Cherry screamed under her breath. + +"Oh, Budd, don't leave me; I can't see you!" + +There was a soft rapid stride over the flooring; and before Budd well +knew what had happened, he was seized by the binding of his pajamas, +lifted, and shaken with such vigor that his teeth struck together and he +felt the jar in the top of his head. + +As the form loomed so unexpectedly before her, Cherry screamed with +fright. + +"I 'll teach you to play a business trick like this on us, you mean +sneaking little rascal!" roared March. "Do you think I did n't see you +creeping out of the room along the side of my bed on all fours? You did +n't dare to walk out like a man, and I might have known you were up to +no good!" Another shake followed that for a moment dazed Budd. Then, +as he felt the flooring beneath his feet, he turned in a towering +passion of guilt and rage on March. + +"You 're a darned sneak yourself," he howled rather than cried. "Take +that for your trouble!" Raising his doubled fist, he aimed a quick, +hard blow at March's stomach. But, somehow, before it struck, one +strong hand--not March's--held his as in a vice, and another, stronger, +hoisted him by the waist-band of his pajamas and held him, squirming and +howling, suspended for a moment; then he felt himself tossed somewhere. +He fell upon the hay under which Hazel had taken refuge, and landed upon +her with almost force enough to knock the breath from her body. Cherry, +meanwhile, had not ceased screaming under her breath, and, as Budd +descended so unexpectedly upon Hazel, a great groan and a sharp wail +came forth from the hay, to the mortal terror of all but Chi, who grew +white at the thought of what might have happened to his Lady-bird, and, +unintentionally, through him. + +That awful groan proved too much for the children. Gathering themselves +together in less time than it takes to tell it, they fled as well as +they could in the dark,--down the ladder, out through the barn, over the +grass-plat, into the house, and dove into bed, trembling in every limb. + +"What on earth is the matter, children?" said Mrs. Blossom, appearing at +the foot of the stairs. "Did one of you fall out of bed?" + +Budd's head was under the bedclothes, his teeth chattering through fear; +likewise Cherry. March assumed as firm a tone as he could. + +"Budd had a sort of nightmare, mother, but he 's all right now." March +felt sick at the deception. + +"Well, settle down now and go to sleep; it's just twelve." And Mrs. +Blossom went back into the bedroom where Mr. Blossom was still soundly +sleeping. + +Meanwhile, Chi was testing Hazel to see that no harm had been done. + +"Oh, I 'm all right," said Hazel, rather breathlessly. "But it really +knocked the breath out of my body." She laughed. "I never thought of +your catching up Budd that way and plumping him down on top of me!" + +"Guess my wits had gone wool-gatherin', when I never thought of your +hidin' there," said Chi, recovering from his fright. "But that boy made +me so pesky mad, tryin' to play such a game on all of us, that I kind of +lost my temper 'n' did n't see straight. Well--" he heaved a sigh of +relief, "he 's got his come-uppance!" + +"Where do you suppose that poor little chicken is?" + +"We 'll look him up; the moon 's comin' out again." + +There, close by the nest, lay the queer something on the floor. "I 'll +tuck it in right under the old hen's breast, 'n' then, if there 's any +life in it, it 'll come to by mornin'." He examined it closely. "I 'll +come out 'n' see. Come, we 'd better be gettin' in 'fore 't is dark +again--" + +He put the poor mite of a would-be chicken carefully under the old hen, +where it was warm and downy, and as he did so, he caught sight of the +rag hanging over the edge of the nest. He looked at it closely; then +slapping his thigh, he burst into a roar of laughter. + +"What is it, Chi?" said Hazel, laughing, too, at Chi's mirth. + +"Look here, Lady-bird! you 've got the Prize Chicken, after all. That +boy could n't tell green from blue in the moonlight, 'n' he 's hatched +out one of yours. By George Washin'ton! that's a good one,--serves him +right," he said, wiping the tears of mirth from his eyes. + +The chicken lived, but never seemed to belong to any one in particular; +and as Chi said solemnly the next morning, "The less said on this +Mountain about prize chickens, the better it 'll be for us all." + + + + + X + + AN UNEXPECTED MEETING + + +It was a busy summer in and about the farmhouse on Mount Hunger. What +with tending the chickens--there were four hundred and two in all--and +strawberry-picking and preserving, and in due season a repetition of the +process with raspberries and blackberries, the days seemed hardly long +enough to accomplish all the young people had planned. + +Mr. Clyde came up for two days in June, and upon his return told Doctor +Heath that he, too, felt as if he needed that kind of a cure. + +Hazel was the picture of health and fast becoming what Chi had +predicted, "an A Number 1" beauty. Her dark eyes sparkled with the joy +of life; on her rounded cheeks there was the red of the rose; the +skull-cap had been discarded, and a fine crop of soft, silky rings of +dark brown hair had taken its place. + +"Never, no, never, have I had such good times," she wrote to her Cousin +Jack at Newport. "We eat on the porch, and make believe camp out in the +woods, and we ride on Bess and Bob all over the Mountain. We've about +finished the preserves and jams, and Rose has only burnt herself twice. +The chickens, Chi says, are going to be prime ones; it 's awfully funny +to see them come flying and hopping and running towards us the minute +they see us--March says it's the 'Charge of the Light Brigade.' + +"I wish you could be up here and have some of the fun,--but I 'm afraid +you 're too old. I enclose the song Rose sings which you asked me for. +I don't understand it, but it's perfectly beautiful when she sings it." + +Hazel had asked Rose for the words of the song, telling her that her +Cousin Jack at Harvard would like to have them. Rose looked surprised +for a moment. + +"What can he want of them?" she asked in a rather dignified manner; and +Hazel, thinking she was giving the explanation the most reasonable as +well as agreeable, replied:-- + +"I don't know for sure, but I think--you won't tell, will you, Rose?" + +"Of course I won't. I don't even know your cousin, to begin with." + +"I think he is going to be engaged, or is, to Miss Seaton of New York. +All his friends think she is awfully pretty, and papa says she is +fascinating. I think Jack wanted them to give to her." + +"Oh," said Rose, in a cool voice with a circumflex inflection, then +added in a decidedly toploftical tone, "I've no objection to his making +use of them. I 'll copy them for you." + +"Thank you, Rose," said Hazel, rather puzzled and a little hurt at +Rose's new manner. + +This conversation took place the first week in August, and the verses +were duly forwarded to Jack, who read them over twice, and then, +thrusting them into his breast-pocket, went over to the Casino, +whistling softly to himself on the way. There, meeting his chum and +some other friends, he proposed a riding-trip through the Green Mountain +region for the latter part of August. + +"The Colonel and his wife will go with us, I 'm sure, and any of the +girls who can ride well will jump at the chance," said his chum. "It's +a novelty after so much coaching." + +"I 'll go over and see Miss Seaton about it," said Jack, and walked off +singing to himself,-- + + "'--the stars above + Shine ever on Love'--" + + +His friend turned to the others. "That's a go; I 've never seen +Sherrill so hard hit before." Then he fell to discussing the new plan +with the rest. + +Jack was wily enough, as he laid the plan before Maude Seaton, to +attempt to kill two birds with one stone. He had had a desire, ever +since the first letter of Hazel's, to see his little cousin in her new +surroundings, and this desire was immeasurably strengthened by his +curiosity to see a girl who sang Barry Cornwall's love-lyrics on Mount +Hunger. Consequently, in planning the high-roads to be followed through +the Green Mountains, he had not omitted to include Barton's River, as it +boasted a good inn. + +"Here 's Woodstock,--just here," he explained to pretty Maude Seaton, as +they sat on the broad morning-porch of the palatial Newport cottage, +with a map of Vermont on the table between them. "We can stop there a +day or two, and make our next stop at Barton's River; I 've heard it's a +beautiful place, with glorious mountain rides within easy distance. +Suppose we arrange to stop three or four days there and take it all in? +I 've been told it's the finest river-valley in New England." + +"Oh, do let's! The whole thing is going to be delightful. I 'm so tired +of coaching; I believe nobody enjoys it now, unless it's the one who +holds the reins, and then all the others are bored. But with fine +horses this will be no end of fun. We can send on our trunks ahead, +can't we?" + +"Oh, yes, that's easily arranged. By the way, what horse will you take? +Remember," he said, looking her squarely in the eyes with a flattering +concern, "it's a mountain country, and we can't afford to have anything +happen to you." + +"No danger for me," laughed Maude, meeting his look as squarely. "And I +can't worry about you after seeing the polo game you played yesterday," +she added with frank admiration. + +"It was a good one, was n't it?" said Jack, his eyes kindling at the +remembrance. "It was my mascot did the business--see?" He put his hand +in his breast-pocket, expecting to draw forth a ribbon bow of Maude's +that she had given him for "colors;" but, to his amazement, and to Miss +Seaton's private chagrin, he drew forth only the slip of paper with +Barry Cornwall's love-song in Rose Blossom's handwriting. + +Where the dickens was that bow? Jack felt the absurdity of hunting in +all his pockets for something he had intended should express one phase, +at least, of his sentiments. He felt the blood mounting to the roots of +his hair, and, laughing, put a bold face on it. + +He held out the slip of paper. "It looks innocent, doesn't it?" he said +mischievously, and enjoyed to the full Maude's look of discomfiture, +which, only for a second, she could not help showing. "She 'll know now +how a fellow feels when he has sent her flowers and sees her wearing +another man's offering," he thought. He turned to the map again. + +"Well, what horse will you ride?" + +"I 'll take Old Jo; he 's safe, and splendid for fences. Of course you +'ll take Little Shaver?" + +"Yes, he and I don't part company very often. So it's settled, is it?" +he asked, feeling cooler than he did. + +"So far as I am concerned, it is; and I know the Colonel and Mrs. +Fenlick will go; it's just the thing they like." + +"Well, I 'll leave you to speak to the other girls, and I 'll go over +and see Mrs. Fenlick. Good-bye." He held out his hand, but Miss Seaton +chose to be looking down the avenue at that moment. + +"Oh, there are the Graysons beckoning to me!" she exclaimed eagerly. +"Excuse me, and good-bye--I must run down to see them." As she walked +swiftly and gracefully over the lawn, she knew Jack Sherrill was +watching her. "Yes, it's settled," she thought, as she hurried on; "and +something else is settled, too, Mr. Sherrill! You 've been hanging fire +long enough--and the idea of his forgetting that bow!" + +The Graysons thought they had never seen Maude Seaton quite so pretty as +she was that morning, when she stood chatting and laughing with all in +general, and fascinating each in particular. The result was, the +Graysons joined the riding-party in a body, and Sam Grayson vowed he +would cut Jack Sherrill out if he had to fight for it. + +It was a glorious first of September when the riding-party, ten in +number, cantered up to the inn at Barton's River, and it was a merry +group in fresh toilets that gathered after dinner and a rest of an hour +or two in their rooms, on the long, narrow, vine-covered veranda of the +inn. It had been a warm day, and the afternoon shadows were gratefully +cooling. + +"Will you look at that load coming down the street?" said Mrs. Fenlick. +"I never saw anything so funny!" + +The whole party burst out laughing, as the vehicle, an old apple-green +cart, apparently filled with bobbing calico sunbonnets and straw hats, +shackled and rattled up to the side door of the inn. + +"I shall call them the Antediluvians," laughed Maude Seaton. "Do you +know where they come from?" she said, speaking in at the open +office-window to the boy. + +"I guess they come to sell berries from a place the folks round here +call 'The Lost Nation,'" he replied, grinning. + +"'The Lost Nation!' Do you hear that?" said Sam Grayson. "Let's have a +nearer view of the natives." They all went to the end of the veranda +nearest the cart. Sam Grayson and Jack went out to investigate. + +Two boys in faded blue overalls and almost brimless straw hats jumped +down before the wagon stopped, and began lifting out six-quart pails of +shining blackberries from beneath an old buffalo robe. Jack, with his +hands in his pockets, sauntered up to the tail of the cart. + +"Buy them all, do--do!" cried Miss Seaton, clapping her hands. "We need +them to-morrow for our picnic; and pay a good price," she added, "for +the sake of the looks. I wouldn't have missed it for anything?" + +"How do you sell them?" said Jack to the tall boy who stood with his +back to him, busied with the berries. + +The boy turned at the sound of the pleasant voice, and lifted his +brimless hat by the crown with an air a Harvard freshman might have +envied. Jack, seeing it, was sorry he was bareheaded, for he hated to +be outdone in such courtesy. + +"Ten cents a quart, sir." + +"What a handsome fellow!" whispered Mrs. Fenlick. "You rarely see such a +face; and where did he get such manners?" + +"How many quarts have--halloo, Little Sunbonnet! Look out!" said Jack, +laughing, as he caught the owner of the yellow sunbonnet, who, perched +on the side of the wagon, suddenly lost her balance because of Bess's +uneasy movements in fly-time. + +"Well, you are an armful," he laughed as he set her down and tried in +vain to peer up under the drooping bonnet and discover a face. + +"Whoa--ah, Bess!" shouted the driver, as Bess reared and snorted and +shuddered and finally rid herself of the tormenting horse-fly. "All +right, Cherry Bounce?" he said, turning at last when the horse was +quieted. + +But Cherry was dumb with embarrassment, and Jack answered for her. + +"Little Sunbonnet's all safe, but what--" He got no further with that +sentence. To the amazement of the group on the veranda and Jack's +overwhelming astonishment, a wild, gleeful "Oh-ee!" issued from the +depths of another sunbonnet in the cart, and the owner thereof +precipitated herself recklessly over the side, and cast herself upon +Jack's neck, hugging and "oh-eeing" with all her might. + +"Why, Hazel! Hazel!" Except for that, Jack was dumb like Cherry, but +not with embarrassment. Was this Hazel? Her sunbonnet had fallen off, +and the dark blue gingham dress set off the wonderful richness of +coloring that helped to make Hazel what she had become, "a perfect +beauty." + +"Oh, Jack, you old darling, why did n't you let us know you were coming? +Chi, Chi!" Hazel was fairly wild with joy at seeing a dearly loved +home-face. "This is my Cousin Jack we 've talked about. Jack, this is +my friend, Chi." + +Chi put out his horny brown hand, and Jack grasped it. + +"Guess she 's givin' you away pretty smart, ain't she?" said Chi, with a +twist of his mouth and a motion of his thumb backwards to the veranda. + +"Well, rather," said Jack, laughing, for he felt that Chi's keen eyes +had taken in the whole situation at a glance. "I meant to surprise her, +but she has succeeded in surprising me." He stood with his arm about +Hazel. "And these are your friends, Hazel?" he inquired; he felt he must +make the best of it now. + +"Oh, Jack, I 'm ashamed of myself; I 'm so glad to see you I 've +forgotten my manners. Rose," she spoke up to the other sunbonnet that +had kept its position straight towards the horse and never moved during +this surprise party. Then Rose turned. "Rose, this is Cousin Jack." + +The sunbonnet bowed stiffly, and Jack heard a low laugh behind him. It +was Maude Seaton's. Rose heard it, too; so did Chi and March. It +affected each in the same way. As Chi said afterwards, he "b'iled" when +he heard it. Then Rose spoke:-- + +"I 'm very glad to see you, Mr. Sherrill, we 've heard so much of you." +Her voice rang sweet and clear; every word was heard on the veranda. +"And these berries are n't to be preserved; but evidently you are going +to buy them just the same,--as well as your friends," she added, looking +towards the veranda. + +Jack bit his lip. "I should like to introduce all my friends to you," +he said, without much enthusiasm, however. "I know this is March;" he +turned pleasantly to him, but dared not offer his hand, for the look on +the boy's face warned him that March had resented the laugh. "Will you +come?" He held up his hand to Rose to help her down. + +"Thank you." Rose sprang down, ignoring the proffered help. + +She knew just how she looked, and her face burned at the thought. Her +old green and white calico dress was shrunken and warped with many +washings; her shoes were heavy and patched; fortunately her sunbonnet +with its green calico cape was of a depth to hide her burning face. But +that laugh had been like a challenge to her pride. + +"Drive up to the front veranda, Chi," she commanded rather brusquely; +and Chi, muttering to himself, "She's game, though; I would n't thought +it of Rose-pose; but I glory in her spunk!" drew up to the front door in +a truly rattling style. + +Then Rose and Hazel were introduced to them all; but in vain did Maude +Seaton try to get a look into her face. It was only a ceremony, and Rose +felt it as such; nevertheless she said very pleasantly, "Hazel, wouldn't +you like to invite your friends up to tea on the porch to-morrow? that +is, if you are to be here?" she added, addressing Mrs. Fenlick. + +"Oh, Rose, that would be lovely. Then they can see the chickens!" said +Hazel. There was a general laugh. + +"I fear it will be too much trouble, Miss Blossom," said Mrs. Fenlick, +courteously, for she felt like apologizing for that laugh of Maude +Seaton's; "there are so many of us." + +"Oh, no, my mother will be glad to meet you," Rose replied with serene +voice; "won't she, Chi?" + +"Sure," said Chi, addressing the general assembly; "the more the +merrier; 'n' if you come along about four, you 'll get a view you don't +get round here, 'n' a wholesale piazzy to eat it on. How many do you +count up?" Jack winced at the burst of merriment that followed the +question. + +"We'll line up, and you can count," said Sam Grayson, the fun getting +the better of him. "Here, Miss Seaton, stand at the head." + +"Miss Blossom, there are ten of us; are you going to retract your +invitation?" said Mrs. Fenlick, shaking her head at Sam. + +"Not if you wish to come," said Rose, pleasantly. "We will have tea at +five. Come, Hazel, we must be going: there are the berries to sell--or +shall we leave you here with your cousin till we come back?" + +"No, I won't leave you even for Jack," said Hazel, earnestly; "besides, +I 've never had the fun of selling berries." + +"I 'm thinkin' you 've lost your fun, anyway," said Chi, "for Budd says +the tavern-keeper has taken all; guess _he 's_ goin' into the jam +business, too." + +"I 'll pick some more, then, to-morrow, and you 'll have to buy some of +them, Jack," said Hazel, "for I 'm bound to sell some berries this +summer." + +"We 'll take all you can pick, Hazel," said Maude Seaton, sweetly. +Then, as the cart rattled away with the three sunbonnets held rigid and +erect, she turned to Mrs. Fenlick and the other girls: "What an idea +that was of Doctor Heath's to put Hazel away up here in such a family--a +girl in her position!" + +"She seems to have thriven wonderfully on it," remarked Mrs. Fenlick; +"she will be the prettiest of her set when they come out. I am +delighted to have a chance to see Doctor Heath's mountain sanatorium." + +"Oh, I 'm sure it will be amusing," replied Maude, dryly. Then she shook +out her light draperies, pulled down her belt, and went down the road a +bit to meet Jack and Sam Grayson, who had accompanied the cart for a few +rods along the village street. + +When they had turned back to the inn, the storm in the apple-green cart +burst forth. + +"Did you hear that girl laugh?" demanded March, with suppressed wrath in +his voice. + +"Just as plain as I hear that crow caw," said Chi. + +"I can't bear her," said Hazel; "telling me she would buy my berries +when I only meant Jack." + +"Kinder sweet on him, ain't she?" asked Chi, carelessly. + +"I should think so!" was Hazel's indignant answer. "I heard Aunt Carrie +tell papa she was always sending him invitations to everything. But is +n't Cousin Jack splendid, Rose?" + +Rose's sunbonnet was still very rigid, and Chi knew that sign; so he +spoke up promptly, knowing that she did not care to answer just then:-- + +"He 's about as handsome as they make 'em, Lady-bird; if he wears well, +I sha'n't have nothin' against him." + +Hazel felt rather depressed without knowing exactly why. March returned +to the charge. + +"Did you hear that laugh, Rose?" + +"Yes, I did," said Rose, shortly. March looked at her in surprise, but +Chi managed to give him a nudge, which March understood, and the subject +was dropped on the homeward way. + +That the berry-sellers were under a cloud was evident to Mrs. Blossom as +soon as they drove up to the woodshed. + +"Did you have good luck, children?" she called to them cheerily. + +"We 've sold all our berries," said Budd. + +"But March and Rose are cross, Martie," added Cherry. + +"Tired 'n' hungry, too, Mis' Blossom," Chi hastened to say, trying to +shield Hazel and the other two. "I wish you 'd just step out to the +barn with a spoonful of your good lard. Bess has rubbed her shin a +little mite, 'n' I want to grease it good to save the hair." Mrs. +Blossom, reading his face, took the hint. + +He made his confession in the barn. + +"I don't know what we 've done, Mis' Blossom; but Rose has invited 'em +all up here to-morrow to supper,--they 're regular high-flyers, girls +'n' fellers, 'n' the Colonel and his wife. There 's ten of 'em; 'n' +it's a-goin' to make you an awful sight of work, but, by George +Washin'ton! that pesky girl--Miss Seaver, or somethin' like it--riled me +so, that I ain't got over it yet, 'n' I 'd backed up Rose if she 'd +offered to take the whole of 'em to board for a week. I just b'iled +when I heard her laugh, 'n' she can't hold a candle to our Rose; 'n' +she's that sassy--although you can't put your finger on anything +special--that you can't sass back; the worst kind every time; 'n' she 's +set her cap for the straightest sort of chap--that's Hazel's +cousin--there is goin', 'n', by George Washin'ton! I 'm afraid he 's +fool enough to catch at that bait. + +"There!" said Chi, stopping to draw breath, "I 've had my blow-out 'n' I +feel better. Now, what are we goin' to do about it?" + +"We 'll manage it, Chi," said Mrs. Blossom, smiling in spite of herself +at Chi's wrath. "After all, the children have been carefully guarded in +our home up here, and, sometimes, I think too much,--it won't hurt them +to take a prick now and then. Besides, Chi," she added, laughing +outright as she turned to go into the house, "the children did look +perfectly ridiculous in those old berry-picking rigs. I laughed myself +when I saw you drive off with them." + +But she left Chi grumbling. + +That night, after the children were in bed, and Mrs. Blossom was sure +they were all asleep except Rose, she went upstairs a second time and +spoke softly at the door: + +"Rose." + +"Yes, Martie; oh, you 're coming! I 'm so glad." And as Mrs. Blossom +knelt by the bed, whispering, "Now tell me all about it," Rose threw one +arm over her mother's shoulder and whispered her confession. + +"They were n't rude to you, dear, were they?" + +"No, Martie," whispered Rose, "it was n't that, but I just _hated_ them +far a minute,--Hazel's cousin and all." + +"That is n't like you, Rose dear, to hate anyone without reason." + +"Oh, Martie, I 'm ashamed to tell you--" the arm came close about her +mother's neck, "I 'm too old to have such feelings, but I could n't bear +them because I looked as I did. I was ashamed of my looks and the +children's; and I was ashamed even of Chi--dear, old Chi!--" there was a +smothered sob and an effort to go on. "And they were all dressed so +beautifully, and Hazel's cousin had on a lovely white flannel suit, and +I was just a little rude to him; but it was nothing but my dreadful +pride! I did n't know I had it till to-day,--oh, dear!" The head went +under the counterpane to smother the sound of the sobs. + +"But, my dear little girl--" (When Rose cried, which was seldom, Mrs. +Blossom called her daughter who was as tall as herself, "little girl," +and nothing comforted Rose more than that.) So now, hearing the loving +words, the head emerged from the bedclothes, and a tear-wet face was +meekly held over the side of the bed for a kiss. + +"But, my dear little girl," Mrs. Blossom went on after the interruption, +"surely you were courteous and thoughtful of Hazel's happiness, at +least, to ask them all up here to tea. You have n't that to regret." + +There was a fresh burst, smothered quickly under the sheet. "Oh, +Martie, that's the worst part of it! I did n't ask them for Hazel's +sake, but just for myself, because I knew--I knew--" Rose smothered the +rising sob; "that if they came, I could have on my one pretty dress, and +they 'd see that I--that I--" Rose was unable to finish. + +"Could look as well as they did?" said Mrs. Blossom, completing the +sentence. + +"Yes," sighed Rose, "and I feel like a perfect hypocrite towards every +one of them;--and, oh, Martie! the truth is, I was ashamed of being poor +and selling berries--" again the head went under the coverlet, and Mrs. +Blossom caught only broken phrases:-- + +"I am so proud of--of you and Popsey--poor Chi made it worse--they +laughed--March was mad, too,--and Miss Seaton 's so +pretty--clothes--Hazel's cousin tried to be polite--Hazel--just her dear +own self--but she 's rich--and Cherry f-fell into his arms--and I +know--and I know--I know he wanted to be out of the whole thing--oh +dear!" + +Mrs. Blossom patted the bunch under the clothes whence came the +smothered, broken sentences, and smiled while a tear rolled down her +cheek. After all, this was real grief, and she wished she might have +shielded her Rose from just this kind of contact with the world. But +she was wise enough not to say so. + +"Well, Rose dear, let's look on the other side now the invitation has +been given. I, for my part, shall be glad to see what they are like. I +know you looked queer in those old clothes, but, after all, would n't it +have been just as queer to have been all dressed up selling berries?" + +"Yes, I think it would, Martie," said Rose, emerging from her retreat. +"I 'm not such a goose as not to realize we must have looked perfectly +comical." + +"Well, now comfort yourself with the thought, that to-morrow you need +only look just as nice as you can in honor of our guests. I 'm sure I +shall," said Mrs. Blossom, laughing softly. "I 'm not going to be +outdone by all those 'high-flyers,' as dear, old Chi calls them. We 'll +put on our prettiest--and there is n't much choice, you know, for we +have just one apiece--and we 'll set the table with grandmother's old +china out on the porch, and we 'll give them of our best, and queens, +Rose-pose, can do no more. That's _our_ duty; we'll let the others look +out for theirs. Now, what will be nice for tea?" + +"Not preserves, Martie, for Chi said--" Her mother interrupted her,-- + +"Never mind what Chi said now, dear, but plan for the tea. We shall +have to work as hard as we can jump to-morrow forenoon to get ready. I +'m sorry father can't be at home." + +"Could n't we have blackberries and those late garden raspberries Chi +has been saving?" said Rose. + +"Yes, those will look pretty and taste good; and then hot rolls, and +fresh sponge and plum cake, and tea, and cold chicken moulded in its +jelly, the way we tried it last month--" + +"Oh, that will be lovely, Martie," whispered Rose, eagerly. + +"And if Chi and March have the time," went on Mrs. Blossom, entering +heart and soul into the hospitable plan, "I 'll ask them to go +trout-fishing and bring us home two strings of the speckled beauties, +and if those served hot don't make them respect old clothes--then +nothing on earth will," concluded Mrs. Blossom, with mock solemnity. + +"Oh, Martie Blossom, you're an angel!" cried Rose, softly, rising in bed +and throwing both arms about her mother's neck--"there!"--a squeeze, +"and there--" another squeeze and a kiss, "and now you won't have to +complain of me to-morrow." + +"That's mother's own daughter Rose," said Mrs. Blossom, smoothing the +sheet under the round chin. "Now, good-night--sleep well, for I depend +upon you to make those rolls to-morrow forenoon." + + + + + XI + + JACK + + +Jack Sherrill had always had a particularly warm interest in his Cousin +Hazel. He, too, was motherless. The fifteen-year-old lad had gone into +one of the great preparatory schools with the terrible mother-want in +his heart and life. Like Hazel, he, too, was an only child, and +consequently without the guidance and help of an elder brother or +sister. His father was all that a man, absorbed in large business +interests, could be to the son whom he saw in vacation time only. + +"You are born a gentleman, Jack," he had said to him when he was about +to enter Harvard; "remember to conduct yourself as such. You 'll not +find it an easy matter at times--I did n't--but you will find it pays; +and--and remember your mother." Then Mr. Sherrill had wrung his boy's +hand, and hurried away. + +It was the only time in the three years since she had been lost to him, +that his father had borne to mention the lad's mother to him. To Jack +it was like a last will and testament, and he wrote it not only in his +memory, but on his heart. + +He had tried, yes, honestly, amid the manifold temptations of his life +and his "set," to live up to a certain ideal of his own, but it had been +slow work; and the last three months of his sophomore year had been far +from satisfactory to himself. + +He was thinking this over as he rode slowly up the steep road to Mount +Hunger. He had come up that morning to call on Mrs. Blossom, for he +knew that the social law of hospitality demanded that he should pay his +respects to Rose Blossom's mother and Hazel's guardian before his +friends should break bread in the house. + +That tall girl in the sunbonnet was a disappointment--but then, he had +been a fool to expect anything else just because she happened to sing +one of Barry Cornwall's love-songs. He rode out of the leafy +woods'-road, and came unexpectedly upon the farmhouse. Chi saw him from +the barn, and came out to meet him. + +"Is Mrs. Blossom at home?" asked Jack, lifting his cap. + +Chi patted Little Shaver's neck, shining like polished mahogany. "Yes, +she 's home, 'n' she 'll be glad to see you. You 'll find her right in +the kitchen, 'n' I 'll tend to this little chap--what's his name?" + +"Little Shaver, he 's my polo pony." + +"George Washington! He knows a thing or two. He most winked at me," +laughed Chi. + +"Oh, he knows a stable when he sees it," said Jack, smiling; "but where +'s the kitchen?" + +"Right off the porch.--There 's Rose singing now; guess that 'll be as +good a guide-post as you could have. Come along, Little Shaver,--a good +name for you." + +Jack went up on the porch, but stopped short at the open door. Rose was +at the kitchen table, patting out the dough for the rolls. Her sleeves +were turned up above the elbows, and the round, yet delicate, white arms +and the pretty hands were working energetically with the rolling-pin. +She was singing from pure lightheartedness, and she emphasized the +rhythm by substantial thumps with the culinary utensil. + +[Illustration: "Rose was at the kitchen table, patting out the dough for +the rolls"] + +"'I told thee when love was hopeless; (thump) +But now he is wild and sings--(thump) +That the stars above (thump! thump!!) +Shine ever on Love--(thump--)'" + + +Jack knocked rather loudly, and Rose turned with a little "Oh!" and an +attitude that made Jack long for a button-hole kodak. + +"Come in, Mr. Sherrill," she said, cordially, but thinking to herself, +"Caught again! well, I don't care." + +"I hope I have n't come too early this morning to be received," said +Jack, extending his hand. + +"I can't shake, Mr. Sherrill," laughed Rose, "and if I stop to wash +them, you won't have any rolls for tea." + +"Do go on then," said Jack, eagerly, "only don't let me be a bother. I +was afraid it might be too early and inconvenience you, but--" + +"Not a bit," said Rose as she turned to the kneading-board again. "If +you don't mind, I 'm sure I don't; only these rolls must be attended +to." + +"You 're very good to let me stay and watch the process," said Jack, +humbly, deferentially taking his stand by the table. "I hope I shall +not interfere so much with Mrs. Blossom; I forgot that--that--" Jack +grew red and confused. + +"That we did our own work?" Rose supplied the rest of his thought with +such winning frankness, that Jack succumbed then and there to the +delight of a novel experience. + +"I 'll be out in a few minutes, Mr. Sherrill," called a cheery voice +from the pantry behind him. Jack started,--then laughed. + +"Am I interrupting you, too, Mrs. Blossom?" he said, addressing a crack +in the pantry door. + +"I don't mean to let you, or you will have no sponge cakes for tea; I 'm +beating eggs and can't leave them or they 'll go down." + +"Can't I help, Mrs. Blossom? I 've no end of unused muscle," said Jack, +entering into the fun of the situation. + +"No, thank you, I shall be but a few minutes. Rose dear, just feel the +oven, will you?" + +Jack began to think himself a nonentity in all this domesticity. "'Feel +the oven,'" he said to himself. "Do girls do that often, I wonder." He +watched Rose's every movement. + +"Now, confess, Mr. Sherrill, have you ever seen anyone make biscuit +before?" said Rose, cutting off a piece of dough, flouring it, patting +it, cuddling it in both hands, folding it over with a little slap to +hold a bit of butter, and tucking it into the large, shallow pan. + +"No--" Jack drew a long breath, "I never have. You see I have always +thought it a kind of drudgery, but this--" Jack sought for a word that +should express his feelings in regard to the process as performed by +Rose--"this is, why--it's poetry!" he exclaimed with a flashing smile +that became his expressive face wonderfully, and caused Rose to fail +absolutely in making a shapely poem of the next roll. + +She laughed merrily. "There now, they 'll soon be done--in good shape +too, if you don't compliment them too much." + +"I 'll eat a dozen of them, I warn you now." Jack was waxing dangerous, +for he was already possessed with an insane desire to become a piece of +dough for the sake of having those pretty hands pat him into shape. + +"Do you hear that, Martie?" cried Rose, flushing with pleasure. + +"Yes. That's the best compliment you can pay them, Mr. Sherrill. I +hope my cakes will fare as well," she said, coming from the pantry with +extended hand. + +It was strange! But when Jack Sherrill returned the cordial pressure of +that same hand, small, shapely, but worn and hardened with toil, his +eyes suddenly filled with tears. This, truly, was a home, with what +makes the home--a mother in it. + +Mrs. Blossom saw the tears, the struggle for composure, and, knowing +from Hazel he was motherless, read his thought;--then all her sweet +motherhood came to the surface. + +"My dear boy," she said with quivering lip, "it is very thoughtful of +you to come up and pioneer the way over the Mountain for all your city +friends." + +Jack found his voice. "Mrs. Fenlick wanted to come, too, Mrs. Blossom, +but I managed to put it so she thought it would be better to wait until +afternoon. They are all looking forward to it." + +"I 'm sorry Hazel is n't here; she is out picking berries with the +children. If Rose had n't so much to do, I 'd send her to hunt them +up." + +Jack protested. He had come to call on Mrs. Blossom and had detained +them altogether too long. + +"I don't want to go," he said laughingly, "but I know I ought. It seems +almost an imposition for so many of us to come up here and put you to +all this trouble. Why did you ask us, Miss Blossom?" At which +question, Rose did not belie her name, for a sudden wave of color surged +into her face, and she looked helplessly and appealingly at her mother. + +"I 've put my foot into it now," was Jack's thought, as Mrs. Blossom +responded quickly, "For more reasons than one, Mr. Sherrill." + +They were out on the porch; Chi was bringing up Little Shaver. + +"It will be a regular stampede this afternoon," said Jack, gayly, as he +vaulted into the saddle. "Have you room enough for so many horses?" He +turned to Chi. + +"Plenty 'n' to spare, 'n' I 'm goin' to give 'em a piazzy tea of their +own. Little Shaver knows all about it: I 've told him. I never saw but +one horse before that could most talk, 'n' that's Fleet." + +Little Shaver whinnied, and with a downward thrust and twist of his head +tried to get it under Chi's arm. + +"Did n't I tell you?" said Chi, delightedly. + +"Can I get on to the main road by going over the Mountain?" Jack asked +him. + +"Yes, you can get over, if you ain't particular how you get," said Chi. + +"No road?" + +"Kind of a trail;--over the pasture 'n' through the woods, an acre or +two of brush, 'n' then some pretty steep slidin' down the other side, +'n' a dozen rods of swimmin', 'n' a tough old clamber up the bank--'n' +there you are on the river road as neat as a pin." + +Jack laughed. "Just what Little Shaver glories in; I 'll try it, and +much obliged to you, Mr.--" he hesitated. + +"Call me, Chi." + +"Chi," said Jack, in such a tone of good comradeship that it brought the +horny hand up to his in a second's time. + +Jack grasped it; "Good-bye till this afternoon." He spoke to Little +Shaver, who ducked his head and fairly scuttled across the mowing, +scrambled up the pasture, took the three-rail fence at the top in a sort +of double bow-knot of a jump, and then disappeared in the woods, leaving +the three gazing after him in admiration. + +"That feller's got the right ring," said Chi, emphatically; "but if he +had n't come up here this mornin', first thing, after that invite of +Rose-pose's, I 'd have set him down alongside of that Miss Seaver--'n' a +pretty low seat that would be!" + +"I 'll put up some lunch, Chi, for you and March, and, if you can find +him, you would do well to start now for the trout." + +Mrs. Blossom turned to Rose. "Come, dear, we 've a hundred and one +things to do to be ready in time. You may set the table on the porch, +and we 'll all picnic for dinner to-day; I 've no time to get a regular +one, and father is n't at home." + +It was a perfect afternoon on that second of September. At a quarter of +five Mrs. Blossom and Rose and Hazel were on the porch, looking down +upon the lower road for the first glimpse of the party. + +The table was set on the huge rough veranda that Mr. Blossom and Chi had +built just off the kitchen long-room. Clematis and maiden-hair ferns, +which abounded on the Mountain, were the decorations, and set off to +good advantage Mrs. Blossom's mother's old-fashioned tea-set of delicate +green and white china. + +On one end was a large china bowl heaped with blackberries, on the other +stood a common glass one filled with luscious, red raspberries. The +sponge cakes gleamed, appetizingly golden, from plates covered with +grape-vine leaves for doilies. + +The chicken quivered in its own jelly on a platter wreathed with +clematis. The delicious odor of fried trout floated out from the +long-room, and the rolls were steaming hot in snow-white napkins. + +"Oh, dear!" moaned Rose. "Everything will get cold, it's so late." + +Just then there was a shout from the advance-guard of the twins, and the +cavalcade came into view; Jack on Little Shaver, who, after his +thirty-mile morning ride, was as fresh as a pastured colt--riding beside +Maude Seaton on Old Jo. + +There was a general dismounting, assisted by Chi; a gathering and +looping up of riding habits; a bit of general brushing down among the +men; then, with one accord they turned to the broad step of the porch. + +Mrs. Fenlick, telling of it afterwards, said that, for a moment, she did +nothing but look with all her eyes; for there on the porch step stood a +woman still in the prime of life and beautiful. She was dressed in an +India mull of the fashion of a quarter of a century ago, with a lace +kerchief folded in a V about the open neck, and fastened with an +old-fashioned brooch. + +"At her side," said Mrs. Fenlick, "stood one of the loveliest girls off +of canvas I have ever seen. She had on a gown of old-fashioned +lawn--pale blue with a rose-bud border. She was tall and straight, and +the skirt was a little skimpy, and so plain that had she designed it to +set off the grace of her figure she could n't have succeeded better. +And the face and head!" Mrs. Fenlick used to wax eloquent at this +point--"were simply ideal. Hazel, of course, looked as handsome as a +picture in her full, dark blue frock of wash silk trimmed with Irish +lace, and with that rich color in her cheeks--but that girl's face was +simply divine! Just imagine a complexion of pure white, and dark blue +eyes--real violet color--black almost in her pretty excitement of +welcoming us, and the loveliest golden brown hair just plaited and +puffed a little at the temples, and a braid, that big--" Mrs. Fenlick +generally put her two delicate wrists together at this point,--"that +fell below her waist fully half a yard! I never saw such hair!" + +Mrs. Fenlick used to pause for breath at this point, and then add, +"Well, the whole thing was too lovely to be described. Of course, we +ate--lots; for that ride and the air were enough to make a saint hungry +in Lent, but I was only dimly conscious of ever so many good things I +was eating, for that face fascinated me. And manners! Just as if those +two women had had nothing to do all their lives but entertain royalty! + +"I had sense enough, however, to notice that Jack Sherrill said very +little and ate a great deal. I counted twelve rolls--of course they +were small--for one thing; and I don't blame him,--I wanted more. Well, +the whole thing was perfect--the valley and the great mountains were +just in front of the porch, and everything harmonized. Even that lovely +girl had a bunch of purple-blue pansies at her belt and a few in the bit +of cotton lace at her throat; and the sunset and the mountains matched +them--as if she had had the whole thing made to order." + +Mrs. Fenlick always ended with, "I 've got one bone to pick with that +dear Doctor Heath--a mountain sanatorium! I 'd be willing, almost, to +get nervous prostration to be sent up there. + +"But oh! you should have seen Maude Seaton!" And thereupon, Mrs. +Fenlick would go off into a fit of laughter at the remembrance. "She +was looking about for the 'rigid sunbonnet,' as she called it, of the +day before, and did n't hear when Rose Blossom spoke to her; and when +she did realize that the two were one and the same, her look was the +kind 'Life' likes to get hold of, you know. + +"As for Jack Sherrill," Mrs. Fenlick concluded in her most serious +manner, "I have my own thoughts about some things." More than that she +would not say, for fear it might get back to Maude Seaton's ears. + +Jack, too, had his own thoughts about some things--and kept them to +himself. + + + + + XII + + RESULTS + + +It was the middle of November. A wild, cold wind was sweeping over the +Mountain, and driving black clouds in quick succession across the tops +of the woodlands. It howled around the farmhouse and, as now and again +a more furious blast hurled itself against doors and windows, the +children drew nearer together on the rug before the huge fireplace with +a delightful sense of safety and cosiness. + +A kettle of molasses was simmering on the stove, and Chi was wielding +the corn-popper with truly professional skill before the open fire. + +It was such fun to see the hurry, and scurry, and hustle, and rattle, +and pop, and sudden white transformation of the heated kernels! A huge, +wooden bowl received the contents of the popper, and March salted them. +Oh, how good it smelt! And Rose was going to make molasses corn-balls +to put aside for the next evening. + +"It's just like having a party every night, there are so many of us," +said Hazel, clapping her hands in delight. + +"I should think you 'd miss some of your real parties, Hazel," said +Rose, thoughtfully. + +"Miss them! Not a bit; why, they are n't half so nice as this, and at +home it's so lonesome when papa isn't there. Is n't it lovely to think +he 's coming up Christmas? Even up here, you know, it would n't be quite +Christmas for me without him. That makes me think, I must write him +very soon about some things." Hazel looked mysterious. + +"We hung up our stockings last year, but we did n't get what we wanted," +said Cherry rather mournfully. + +"Why not?" asked Hazel. + +"Coz Popsey was so sick he could n't go out to the Wishing-Tree, and so +he did n't know." + +"What is the Wishing-Tree?" said Hazel, consumed with curiosity. + +Cherry's mouth was full of corn, so Budd carried on the conversation +between mouthfuls. + +"I 'll show you to-morrow. It's a big butternut up in the corner of the +pasture, an' there 's a little hollow in the trunk where the squirrels +used to hide beech-nuts, but March has made a door to it with a hinge +and put a little padlock on it--that's the key hanging up on the clock." + +Hazel saw a tiny key suspended by a string from one of the pointed knobs +that ornamented the tall clock. + +"'N' nobody touches it till All-hallow-e'en," said Cherry, when the +sound of her munching had somewhat diminished, although her articulation +was by no means clear. "'N' then Chi goes up with us in the dark, 'n' we +put in our wishes, 'n'--" + +"Let me tell Hazel," said Budd. "You 've begun at the wrong end. You +see, we write what we want for Christmas down on paper, an' seal it with +beeswax, an' then don't tell anybody what we 've written; an' then Chi +goes up there with us after dark, an' we 're all dressed up like +Injuns--" + +"Indians, Budd," corrected March. + +"Well, Old Pertic'lar, Indians, then," said Budd, a little crossly, "an' +then-- + +"Oh, you 've forgot the dish-pan and the little tub," Cherry's voice +came muffled through the corn. "We take the dish-pan, Hazel, 'n' the +little wash-tub, me 'n' Budd between us, 'n' beat on them with the iron +spoon 'n' the dish-mop handle, 'n' play 'tom-toms'--" + +"Yes, an' March gives an awful war-whoop--" Budd, in his earnestness, +had risen and gone over to Chi's side, and now sat down by the big bowl, +but, unfortunately, on the popper which Chi had just emptied. There was +a smell of scorched wool, and, simultaneously, a wild, "Oh, gee-whiz!!" +from Budd, who leaped as if shot, and stood ruefully rubbing the seat of +his well-patched knicker-bockers, while the rest rolled over on the rug +in their merriment. + +"Oh, do go on, Budd!" cried Hazel, wiping the tears of mirth from her +eyes. Cherry had laughed so hard that she was hiccoughing with +outrageous rapidity; and March--forgetting May--chose that opportune +moment to give forth a specimen of his best war-whoop, for the purpose, +as he explained afterwards, of frightening her out of them. + +By the time order had been restored, Cherry was able to take up the +thread of the story; + +"'N' we join hands--Chi 'n' all of us--'n' sing as loud as we can sing: + + "'Intery, mintery, cutery corn, + Apple seed, apple thorn; + Wire, briar, limber lock, + Five geese in a flock-- + Sit and sing by the spring; + You are OUT.' + +Then we all give a great shout and grunt like In-di-ans--," said Cherry, +emphatically, looking at March; and March nodded approval. + +"How's that?" asked Hazel, who was listening with all her ears. + +"A hannah--a hannah--a hannah," grunted the children as well as they +could, hampered by mouths full of corn. "An' then," went on Budd, "we +drop the wishes into the hollow in the tree-trunk, an' Chi locks the +door an' keeps it, an'--" + +"'N' each of us ties two feathers from a rooster's tail to different +colored strings, 'n' fastens them on to a branch of the tree, 'n' that +brings us good luck; March calls it 'winging the wishes.' That's the +way we get our presents." + +"Oh, what fun!" cried Hazel. "May I do it this year?" + +"Course," replied Budd, "but how will your father know anything about +it?" + +"I never thought of that," said Hazel, all her Christmas castles +toppling over suddenly. + +"We 'll fix it somehow, Lady-bird," said Chi, who, having finished his +labors, had seated himself in a chair behind the children and provided +himself with a private bowl of his own. + +"But now, speakin' of roosters, I 'd like to know how you 're comin' out +about chicken money. I sold the last lot but one down in Barton's +to-day. There 's been a lot of express to pay, 'n' I thought I 'd +better pay dividends to-night, 'n' get it off my mind, seein' it's most +Wishin'-Tree time." + +Rose took her little account book from her pocket. "We cleared one +hundred and ten dollars on our preserves and jams after we 'd paid Hazel +what we had borrowed for the jars and sugar, and paid for the express +and boxes. I 'm awfully sorry we could n't fill all the orders, but we +'ll try to next year. I 'll go and get the money. I like to look at +it, knowing it means so much to us all." + +She ran upstairs and came back with a little wooden box that Chi had +made for her years ago. The children crowded about her. "There," said +Rose, proudly, as she took out the money and smoothed it, one crisp bill +after another, on her knees; "they 're all in ones, so it will seem as +if we had more when we divide. Now we 've agreed to divide this +equally, so that 'll make just twenty-two apiece." + +"Let's play 'Hold-fast-all-I-give-you' in earnest," said Cherry, sitting +down again on the rug and holding out her hands. "That 'll be +twenty-two times round and make it seem a lot more." + +"Good for you, Cherry," said March, approvingly, and they all followed +her example. With a gravity befitting the occasion, the "truly-bruly" +game, as Budd called it, went on to the supreme satisfaction of those +interested as well as the enjoyment of father and mother and Chi; for to +the two former the money-making had long been, of necessity, an open +secret. + +Chi, after watching them a little while, left the room. When he +reappeared a few minutes later, he was greeted with a prolonged "Ah!" of +satisfaction; for in one hand he held his old account-book, and in the +other a long, dark blue woollen stocking which bulged fearfully from the +toe halfway up the leg, where it was tied with a stout piece of leather +whip-lash. + +The whole business of disposing of the chickens had been intrusted to +Chi, and the members of the N.B.B.O.O. Society had pledged themselves +not to ask him any questions in regard to the sale of them until he +should tell them of his own accord. This pledge they had kept, and now +they were to have their rewards. + +"If this is going to be a meeting of the N.B.B.O.O. Society, I move we +ask those who aren't members to adjourn to the bedroom," said March, +looking significantly at his mother and father. Mr. and Mrs. Blossom +took the hint, and, without waiting for anyone to "second the motion," +betook themselves, laughing, into the other room. + +"Guess we 'll sit up to the table 'n' count it out," said Chi, "coz we +don't want any of it to fly up chimney. We should never find it again +in this gale." + +He emptied the stocking of its contents--bills, pennies, and silver +pieces of all denominations--upon the table, and the children drew up +their chairs. + +"Now we 'll sort," said Chi. "You take the bills, Rose, 'n' the rest +take the other pieces, 'n' make little piles before you of a dollar +each. Then we can reckon up easy. I 'll take the pennies and the +nickels." + +"I choose the ten-cent pieces," said Cherry, "an' you take the quarters, +Budd." March and Hazel took the rest. + +"This is a kind of stockholders' meetin'," said Chi, as the piles were +completed. "We 'll divide the proceeds accordin' the number of hens +each set; coz I could n't keep run of so many chicks after they'd struck +out for themselves." + +He opened his book. + +"Here 's some items you better hear, before you find any fault with the +management: + +"Mem. July. 15 chicks killed by hen-hawks. + +"Mem. August. 21 chicks died of the pip. + +"Mem. September. Skunks stole ten. + +"Mem. October. 2 can't find. + +"There 's a dead loss to all the stockholders, share 'n' share alike. +Now for expenses: + +"Mem. Corn for feed till October--7 bushels. + +"Mem. November. Express, $5.50. Crates expressin'--$1.10. Now for +the profits!" said Chi, with a ring of triumph in his voice. "Count up +your piles." + +How the cheeks flushed and the eyes grew dark with excitement as the +counting proceeded: "One hundred--one hundred and thirty-two--one +hundred and seventy-seven--two hundred!" + +"Oh-ee!" cried Hazel, as March fairly thundered "Two hundred!" "There +'s more, there 's more!" + +"Go on, go on!" she cried again, almost beside herself with excitement. + +"Two hundred and seven--TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTEEN!!" + +"Chi!" exclaimed Rose, almost breathless, "How _did_ you make all that?" +and thereupon, without waiting for his answer, she sprang up from her +chair, and, to Chi's amazement, took his weather-worn face between her +two hands, and popped a kiss upon his forehead. + +Chi cleared his throat and attempted to make his explanation, but was +interrupted by March, who got hold of his right hand and wrung it +without speaking. Chi saw the boy turn a little white about the mouth +and his gray eyes flash through tears; words were not needed. + +Budd and Cherry did not realize all this meant to the elder brother and +sister, but they did not wish to be outdone by the others in expressing +their appreciation of Chi. So Budd thumped him unmercifully on the back, +saying, "You 're a trump, Chi; tell us how you did it," in a most +patronizing tone, and Cherry danced around the table, singing; "I love +my Love with a big, big C!" + +Hazel looked on, rejoicing in their joy, but wondering why such a little +sum, less than her yearly allowance, should create all that happiness. + +"But tell us how you did it, Chi," said Rose again. + +"Well, I sold most of them for broilers, they bring a pretty good price; +'n' then I sold the feathers; 'n' you forget all those forty hens have +been layin' the last two months, 'n' I sold the eggs. Then, too,--" a +slow smile wrinkled Chi's eyes--"I was n't interfered with, 'n' that +made a great difference in the business. How much have you got +altogether?" + +"Three hundred and twenty-seven dollars," said March. + +"What you goin' to do with it? that's the next question. You can't let +your money lay round in wooden boxes 'n' old stockin's. It ought to be +bringing you in interest." + +"I 'm going to give my share to Rose, to prepare for college with," said +Hazel. + +"Indeed, I sha'n't take your money, Hazel; you 've earned it fairly for +yourself. I should be ashamed to accept it, but it's lovely of you to +think of it-- Why, Hazel!" she cried, throwing her arm around her, for +the tears were rolling down Hazel's cheeks, and her chest heaving with a +bona fide sob. + +But Hazel flung off the encircling arm and threw herself full length +upon the settle in an abandonment of woe. + +"I don't care anything about your old money," she sobbed. "I did n't +want it for myself, and I 've worked so hard picking berries and +all--and you said you 'd keep the by-law--and I 've been so happy +working to help others, and I never would have believed it of you, Rose +Blossom, that you 'd go back on your word--you promised--you promised to +help others--a regular solemn pl-pledge, Chi says, and now--and the only +way you could help me--was to let--to let me help y-ou-oo-oo!" + +March and Rose looked at each other aghast at this unwonted outburst +from Hazel, and Mrs. Blossom, hearing the wail, made her appearance from +the bedroom. + +"Why, Hazel dear, what is the matter?" she said. + +"They 've spoiled all my good times," sobbed Hazel, refusing to be +comforted even when Mrs. Blossom, sitting down by her, stroked her head +and begged her to sit up and tell her all about it. + +"Oh, mother!" cried Rose, holding back the tears as well as she could, +"it's all my fault. It's my old pride that keeps coming up at every +little thing, somehow, and I know it 'll be the death of me! March has +it, too; and between us we have made it just horrid for Hazel." + +"Why, Rose, what do you mean?" asked her mother, gravely. + +"Things that we 've kept from you, Martie. Hazel wanted to give us the +jars and the sugar, and we would n't let her; and she wanted to give me +a blue wash silk like hers, because I said I wished I could afford one +like it,--and I--and I was a little angry, and showed it; and March +spoke up and said we would n't be patronized if we were poor--" + +"Why, March Blossom!" was all his mother said. + +"Yes," broke in Budd, ready to place himself on the side of +righteousness, "an' Cherry told her that March called her 'a perfect +guy,' an' that meant she was homely; an' that Chi said she was awful +poor, an' we were a great deal richer than she was, an' that you would +n't have had her here if you had n't pitied her--" + +"Children!" Not one of them ever remembered to have heard their mother +speak with such stern anger in her voice. "I 'm ashamed of you; you +have disgraced your parents' name." Then she turned to Hazel, drew her +up into her arms, and said, tenderly: + +"Hazel, my dear little girl, why did n't you come to me with this +trouble?" + +"Because--because you were n't _my mother_, you were theirs; but, oh! I +wish you were mine! I love you so--" Hazel flung both arms around Mrs. +Blossom's neck and sobbed out,--"I 've wanted to call you Mother Blossom +and hug and kiss you like the rest--but Cherry was so jealous--the first +time I did it--that she--she stuck burrs in my bed and led me through +the nettle-patch when we were raspberrying, because she knew I did n't +know nettles; and Chi told me we 'd got to be brave if we joined the +N.B.B.O.O., and I knew I ought to bear it--for I _do_ love to be +here--and I love them all, for most of the time they 're lovely to +me;--and I don't think you 've been horrid, Rose, only you did hurt my +feelings when you would n't let me give you the blue silk--and--and it +is n't my fault if I _am_ rich, and it is n't fair not to like me for +it!" + +[Illustration: "Hazel flung both arms around Mrs. Blossom's neck"] + +"No more it ain't, Lady-bird," said Chi, who, after drawing the back of +his hand across his eyes, was apparently the only dry-eyed one in the +room. March had flung himself on the other end of the settle and buried +his face deep among the patch-work cushions. Rose was sobbing outright +with her head on her arms as she sat at the dining-room table. + +Cherry, in her shame and misery--for she had come to love Hazel dearly +without wholly conquering her jealousy--softly opened the pantry door +and slipped inside where she sniffed to her heart's content. As for +Budd, he stood over the wood-box, repiling its contents while the tears +ran off his nose so fast that he saw all the sticks double through them. + +"You may go to bed, children," said Mrs. Blossom, still holding Hazel in +her arms. At this fiat, there was a general increase in the humidity of +the atmosphere; and, knowing perfectly well when their mother spoke in +that tone, that words, tears, or prayers would not avail, they, one and +all,--for Cherry had been listening at the pantry door,--made a rush for +the stairs and stumbled up, blinded by their tears. + +Mrs. Blossom led Hazel still sobbing into her own little bedroom, and +shut the door. + +Chi, president of the vanished N.B.B.O.O. Society, was left alone. He +gazed meditatively awhile at the little piles of money and the vacant +chairs opposite each. Then he gathered them up carefully and placed +them in orderly rows in the wooden box. His next move was to the shed +door. As he opened it, a gust of wind extinguished the lamp on the +table. + +"Guess I 'll go to bed, too," said Chi to himself, coming back for the +box, which the firelight showed plainly enough. "The barometer's +dropped, 'n' it always makes me feel low in my mind." + +He heaved a prodigious sigh and went out into the shed and up the back +stairs. The wooden box he put under the head of the mattress; he +barricaded the door and placed his rifle beside it against the wall. +Then he turned in and drew the coverlet up over his head with another +sigh, so long, so profound, that it mingled with the wind as it swept +through the cracks of the shed beneath, and made a part of the dismality +of the night. + +Mrs. Blossom returned to the long-room, and, sitting down in her low +rocker before the fire, waited. She knew her children. + +Soon, it might have been within half an hour, she heard Rose call softly +at the top of the stairs:-- + +"Martie." + +"Yes, Rose." + +"May I come?" + +"Yes, dear." + +"O Martie! may I, too?" wailed Cherry. + +"Yes." + +"I 'm coming, mother," said March, speaking in a low, determined voice +through the knot-hole. + +"Very well, March." + +"Come along, Budd," said March, and Budd was only too glad to grip his +brother's pajamas and follow after. + +Down they came, tiptoeing in their bare feet, Rose heading the +penitential procession. She knelt by her mother's side, and March and +Budd and Cherry knelt, too. + +Then, to their mother's, "Are you _truly_ ready, children?" they +answered heartily, "Yes, Martie." + +Together they said in subdued but earnest tones, "Our Father;" together +they prayed, "'Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who +trespass against us'"--and after the heart-felt, "Amen," each received a +kiss by way of absolution; and together, until the clock struck ten, +they talked the whole matter over and resolved to fight their Apollyons +daily and hourly, and, with God's grace, conquer them. + +These were the rare hours, the memory of which held March Blossom in the +way of right and honor when he went out to battle for himself in the +world. These were the hours, the memory of which kept him in his +college days unspotted from the world. It was such an hour that ripened +Rose Blossom into a thinking, feeling woman, and made Budd into a knight +of the Twentieth Century. + +It was for such an hour that Jack Sherrill would have given his entire +fortune. + + + + + XIII + + A SOCIAL ADDITION + + +It was a chastened household that gathered about the breakfast table the +next morning; and for a week afterwards, every one was so thoughtful and +considerate of everybody else that Mrs. Blossom said, laughing, to her +husband; "They 're so angelic, Ben, I 'm afraid they are all going to be +ill. I declare, I miss their little naughtinesses." + +Several things had been settled during the week and, apparently, to +everyone's satisfaction. At a very serious-minded meeting of the +N.B.B.O.O., it had been decided to keep the larger part of the money in +order to start March on his career. Not without protest, however, on +March's part. But he was overruled. Rose argued that if he were going +to college, he must begin to prepare that very winter, and if their +earnings were divided among the five, no one would reap any special +benefit from them, least of all, March. + +"I can wait well enough another year, perhaps two," she said; "and, +meanwhile, we 'll be earning more. But you, March, ought to be in the +academy at Barton's this very minute." + +"I know it," said March, dejectedly; "but I do hate to take girls' +money; somehow, it does not seem quite--quite manly." + +"Better remember what your mother talked to you 'bout last Sunday, 'bout +its bein' more of a blessin' to give than to get," said Chi, +sententiously. + +"I do remember, and there 's nobody in the world I 'd be more willing to +take it from than from you, all of you, but--" + +"Me, too?" interrupted Hazel, leaning nearer with great, eager, +questioning eyes. + +"Yes, you, too, Hazel," March replied gently, with such unwonted +humility of spirit shining through his rare, sweet smile, that Hazel +bounced up from her seat at the table, and, going behind March's chair, +clasped both arms tightly around his neck, laid the dark, curly head +down upon the top of his golden one, exclaiming delightedly: + +"Oh, March, you are the dearest fellow in the world. I never thought you +'d give in so--and I love you for it! There now,"--with a big squeeze of +the golden head--"you 've made me superfluously happy." Hazel took her +seat, flushed rosy red in pleasurable anticipation of being allowed, at +last, to give to those she loved, and wholly unmindful of her slip of +the tongue. + +"Now that's settled, I move that each of you keep three dollars of that +money 'gainst the Wishin'-Tree business. Chris'mus 'll be here 'fore you +can say 'Jack Robinson.'" + +"Second the motion," said Budd and Cherry in the same breath. + +It was a unanimous vote. + +"There is just one thing I want to say," said March, who, in a +bewilderment of happy emotions, had been unable to reply one word to +Hazel, "and that is, that I want you to consider that you have lent it +to me and let me have the pleasure of paying back, sometime, when I am a +man." + +"That's fair enough," said Chi. "I glory in your independence, Markis. +That's the right kind to have. Put it to vote." + +Again there was a unanimous vote of approval, for they all knew that to +one of March's proud spirit it meant much to accept the money, from the +girls especially; and they felt it would make him happier if he were to +accept it as a loan. + +"I can save a lot by not boarding down at Barton's, and by working for +my board at the tavern, or in some family," said March, thoughtfully. + +"No you don't," said Chi, emphatically. "'T ain't no way for a boy to +be doin' chores before he goes to school in the mornin' 'n' tendin' +horses after he gets out in the afternoon. If you 're goin' to try for +college in two years, you 've got to buckle right down to it--'n' not +waste time workin' for other folks that ain't your own. Here comes Mis' +Blossom, we 'll ask her what she has to say about it." + +"Why, Martie, where have you been all this afternoon? I saw you and +father driving off in such a sly sort of way, I knew you did n't want us +to know where you were going. Now, 'fess!" laughed Rose. + +"'Fess, 'fess, Martie!" cried Budd and Cherry, hilariously breaking up +the meeting. "We 've got you now!" And without more ado they anchored +her to the settle, each linked to an arm, while Hazel took off her hood, +March drew off her rubbers, and Rose unpinned her shawl. + +Mrs. Blossom laughed. "No, you guess," she replied. + +"Down to the Mill Settlement?" + +"Wrong." + +"Over to Aunt Tryphosa's?" + +"No." + +"Down to see the Spillkinses?" + +"Wrong again." + +"Over eastwards to the Morris farm," said Chi. + +"Right," said Mrs. Blossom, smiling. "How did you know, Chi?" + +"I didn't, just guessed it; coz I knew the new folks was goin' to move +in this week." + +"What new folks?" chorussed the children in surprise. + +"An addition to the Lost Nation," replied their mother, "and a very +charming one. Now there are five families on our Mountain." + +"Who are they, Martie?"--"Are you going to ask them to Thanksgiving, +too?"--"What's their name?"--"How many are there of them?"--"Any boys?" +They were all talking together. + +"One at a time, please," laughed Mrs. Blossom, putting her hands over +her ears. "I never heard such mill-clappers!" + +"_Do_ hurry up, mother," said March, appealingly. + +"A young man from New Haven has taken the lease of the farm for three +years. He has his mother and sister with him. He was in the law school +at Yale until last spring; then his father died, and his sister, a +little older than you, Rose, was injured in some accident--I don't know +what it was--and now she is very delicate. The doctor says if she can +live in this mountain country for a few years, she may recover her +health. The brother and mother are perfectly devoted to her. She calls +herself a 'Shut-in'--" + +"Then she can't come over for Thanksgiving dinner," said Rose, +interrupting. + +"Not this year, but I hope she may next." + +"Did he give up college for his sister's sake?" asked March. + +"He gave up the last year of his law course; they could not afford to +travel so many years for the benefit of her health, so they came up +here. I do pity them; it must be such a change. But, oh, March! how +you will enjoy that house! They have been there only a week, yet it +looks as if they had lived there always. They have such beautiful +framed photographs of places they visited when they were in Europe with +their father, and cases of books, and a grand piano--I don't see how +they ever got it up the Mountain. The young man and his mother both +play, and he plays the violin, too." + +The children and Chi were listening open-eyed as Mrs. Blossom went on +enthusiastically:-- + +"It's just like a fairy story, only it's all true. Just two weeks ago, +when your father and I drove by there, that long, rambling house looked +so bleak and bare and desolate--your father and I always call it the +'House of the Seven Gables,' for there are just seven--and the spruce +woods behind it looked fairly black, and the wind drew through the pines +by the south door with such an eerie sound, that I shivered. And +to-day, what a change! All the shutters were open, and muslin curtains +at the windows, and the sun was streaming into the four windows of the +great south room that they have made their living-room. There was a +roaring big fire in the hall fireplace, and plants--oh, Rose, you should +see them! palms and rubber trees and sword ferns,--and lovely rugs, +and--I can't begin to tell you about it; you must go and see for +yourselves." Mrs. Blossom paused for breath, with a glad light in her +eyes. + +"It sounds too good to be true," said Rose, "and you look as if you had +been to a real party, Martie." + +"Well, I have, my dear. Just to see such people and such a house is a +party for me." + +"And you can keep having it, too, can't you, Martie? because they 're +going to be neighbors," cried Cherry, every individual curl dancing and +bobbing with excitement. + +"Is the young man good-looking?" asked Hazel, earnestly. + +"Very," replied Mrs. Blossom, smiling. + +"As handsome as Jack?" said Hazel. + +"Very different looking, Hazel; quiet and grave, but genial. Not so +tall as Mr. Sherrill, I should say; talks but little, but what he says +is well worth listening to--and when he smiled! I did n't hear him +laugh, but I know he can enjoy fun. He has a fine saddle horse, Chi, +and he wants you to come and give him some advice about selecting +stock." + +"'Fraid he 's too high-toned for me," said Chi, modestly; "but if I can +help him anyway, I 'd like to. Seems a likely young man from all you +say." + +"He 's more than 'likely,' Chi," returned Mrs. Blossom, with a twinkle +in her eye that only Chi caught. + +"Speakin' of horses, Mis' Blossom, we 've decided to send March to the +Academy at Barton's, 'n' if I let him have Fleet, he could come 'n' go, +a matter of sixteen miles a day, without bein' from home nights. I +don't approve of that for boys." + +"No, indeed, neither his father nor I would think of such a thing for a +moment. But how kind of you, Chi, to let March have Fleet." + +"I want to help on the college education all I can; 'n' if our boy wants +to go, he 's goin' to have the best to get him there so far as I 'm +concerned." + +"I don't know how to thank you, Chi," said March, "but I 'll treat Fleet +like a lady and I 'll study like a--like a house on fire. I don't envy +that other fellow his saddle horse if I can have Fleet. What's his +name, mother? you haven't told us yet." + +"Why, so I have n't--Ford, Alan Ford, and his sister's name is Ruth." + +"When can we go over and see them, Martie?" said Rose. + +"I thought two or three days after Thanksgiving, and then you can take a +little neighborly thank-offering with you." + +"What can we take?" queried Cherry. + +"Oh, a mince pie or two, some raspberry preserves, a comb of last +summer's honey, a pat of butter, a nice bunch of our white-plume celery, +and, perhaps, Chi could find a brace of partridges." + +"M-m--does n't that sound good-tasting!" said Cherry, patting her chest +ecstatically. + +"Who 's coming for Thanksgiving, Martie?" asked Budd. + +"All the Lost Nation--the Spillkinses and Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann, +Lemuel and his wife and--who else? Guess." + +"Why, that's all." + +"Not this year, you forget your new teacher, Budd. She boards around, +and it's the Mountain's year, so she is at Lemuel's now." + +"Oh, good!" cried Budd enthusiastically. "She 's a daisy. I know you +'ll like her, Hazel. All the fellows are awfully soft on her, +though--bring her butternut candy, an' sharpen her pencils, an' black +the stove, an' wash off the black-board; an' I saw Billy Nye sneak out +the other day and wipe the mud off her rubbers with his paper lunch-bag! +Catch me doing it, though," he added, his chest swelling rather +pompously as he straightened himself and thrust his hands deep into the +pockets of his knickerbockers. + +"Why not?" his mother asked with an amused smile. + +"Oh, coz," was Budd's rather sheepish reply, and thereupon he followed +Chi out to the barn, whistling "Dixie" with might and main. + + + + + XIV + + THE LOST NATION + + +The four families on Mount Hunger were known to the towns about as The +Lost Nation. Two of them, the Blossoms and the Spillkinses, were, in +reality, lumber-dealers rather than farmers. The third, Lemuel Wood, +had a sheep farm, and Aunt Tryphosa Little with her granddaughter, +Maria-Ann, was the fourth. The two women owned a spruce wood-lot and +let it out to men who cut the bark. They cultivated a small +garden-patch of corn, beans, and squash, kept a cow and a few hens, and +eked out their scanty income with a day's work here and there in fine +weather. + +Every two weeks they did the washing and ironing for the Blossom family, +as Mrs. Blossom's cares were too heavy for her, and she felt that not +only could she afford it this year, but that in putting it out she was +giving a little help to her poorer neighbors. + +Chi or March took the huge basket of linen over on the wagon or sledge, +and always left with it a neighborly gift--a peck of fine russets or +greenings, a bunch of celery, a pound or two of salt pork, a bunch of +delicious parsnips, or a dozen eggs when the old dame's hens were +moulting. Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann were not to be outdone in +neighborly kindnesses, and, regularly, the willow basket, full to +overflowing with snow-white clothes, was returned with something tucked +away under the square covering of oil-cloth--a tiny bunch of sage or +summer savory, an ironing-holder made of bits of bright calico or +woollen rags, a little paper-bag of spruce gum, a pair of woollen +wristers for Mr. Blossom or Chi, a new recipe for spring bitters with a +sample of the herbs--sassafras, dockroot, thoroughwort, wintergreen, and +dandelion--gathered by Aunt Tryphosa herself. + +They had one cow which they regarded as the third member of their +family. She had been named Dorcas, after Aunt Tryphosa's mother, and +proved a model animal of her kind. She gave a more than ordinary amount +of creamy milk; presented her mistress with a sturdy calf each year; +never hooked or kicked; never, during the bitter winter weather, grew +restless in her small shed which adjoined the woodshed, and never broke +from pasture in the sweet-smelling summer-time. + +Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann vied with each other in petting her. They +brushed her coat as regularly as they did up their own back hair. They +gave her a weekly scrubbing as conscientiously as they took their +Saturday bath. For cold nights Aunt Tryphosa had made for her a +nightdress of red flannel (although she had never heard of "Cranford"), +which she and Maria-Ann had planned to fit the cow-anatomy, and it had +proved a great success. + +For the midsummer fly-time they had contrived a wonderfully fashioned +garment of coarse fish-netting, into which they had knotted a cotton +fringe. They claimed, and rightly, that freedom from chill and +irritation, incident upon zero weather and August dog-days, affected the +milk most favorably, both in quantity and quality; and, as it all went +to make delicious small cheeses, which sold at Barton's River for +twenty-five cents apiece and were renowned throughout the county, people +had ceased to laugh at the cow's appearance. + +It had become one of Hazel's great treats to be permitted to go with +March or Chi to the little house--not much more than a cabin--on the +east side of the Mountain; and when she knew that the two were to be +guests for Thanksgiving, but not for Christmas, she began to lay plans +accordingly. + +The Spillkinses were an aged set, not one was under seventy. + +There were the Captain and his wife, who had celebrated their Golden +Wedding, and his wife's two maiden sisters, Melissa and Elvira, of whom +he always spoke as the "girls." They were funny old maidens of seventy +one and two, who did up their hair in curl-papers, precisely as they did +a half a century ago; wore black cotton mitts when they went to church, +and white silk ones when they went out to tea; called each other "Lissy" +and "Elly," and were still sensitive in regard to their ages. + +In addition to these, the old, gray-shingled, vine-covered farmhouse on +the lower mountain-road, sheltered the Captain's elder brother, Israel, +who was just turned ninety-three, hale and hearty, and Israel's eldest +son, Reuben, a youth of seventy, who in our North Country parlance "was +not all there," but harmless, kindly, and generally helpful. + +All these, together with Lemuel Wood and his wife, and the new teacher, +were to be Thanksgiving guests, and wonderful preparations went on for +days beforehand. + +Such a sorting and paring and chopping of apples! Such a seeding of +raisins, and whipping of eggs, and compounding of cakes! Such a tucking +away of chickens beneath the flaky crust of the huge pie! Such a +moulding of cranberry jelly, so deeply, darkly, richly red! Such a +cracking of butternuts, and a melting of maple sugar! Such a stuffing of +an eighteen-pound turkey, and such a trussing of thin-linked sausages! +Such a making of goodly pies, pumpkin, mince, and apple! Such a +quartering of small cheeses contributed by Aunt Tryphosa! Such an +unbottling of sweet pickles, and unbarrelling of sweet cider;--and, on +the final day, such a general boiling, and baking, and roasting, and +basting, and mashing, and grinding, and seasoning, and whipping, and +cutting, and kneading, and rolling, as can occur only once a year in an +old-fashioned, New England farmhouse. + +Hazel was in her glory. Arrayed in a checked gingham apron, which she +had made herself, she beat eggs, whipped cream, helped Rose set the +table, wiped the dishes and baking-pans, basted the noble Thanksgiving +bird once, as a great privilege, although in so doing, she burned her +fingers with the sputtering fat, scorched her apron, and parboiled her +already flushed face with the escaping steam. But she was happy! + + +"Oh, papa!" she wrote the day after the party, "I never had such a good +time in my life! If only you could see the things we made!--apple and +lemon tarts, and mince and cranberry 'turnovers,' and doughnuts all +twisted into a sort of French bow-knot such as Gabrielle used to make of +her back hair, and a queer kind of cake they call 'marble,' all streaky +with chocolate and white, and butternut candy made with maple sugar, and +an _Indian_ pudding, and little bits of nut-cakes with a small piece of +currant jelly inside and all powdered sugar out; and--oh, I can't begin +to tell you, for this is only a part of the dessert. + +"I 'll try to paragraph this letter in the right places so you 'll +understand about the party. + +"All the Lost Nation was invited; Captain and Mrs. Spillkins, Miss +Melissa and Miss Elvira, Uncle Israel and Poor Reub, Mr. Lemuel Wood and +his wife, and Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann, and-- Oh, I forgot Miss +Alton. She 's awfully sweet; she is Budd and Cherry's teacher in the +district school at the Mill Settlement. She's more like a city person +than the others. I wish you 'd been here! for I can't tell it half as +nice as it was; but I 'll do my best because you wrote you wanted me to +tell you everything. + +"We were already for the party at eleven o'clock--in the morning, I +mean--(I can't remember the sign for forenoon). We don't have any lunch +up here, as you know, but the dinner comes between 12 and 1, so +everything was ready then. I got up at five o'clock! and worked hard +till it was time to change my gown. + +"It was awfully cold. Chi said the thermometer was shivering when he +looked at it just after breakfast; he means by that, it's below zero--a +good deal; and I couldn't help thinking how cosy and warm and +deliciously smelly it would be for the Lost Nation when they came in out +of the cold into the long-room and saw the table (it looked beautiful, +with baskets of red apples, and nuts and raisins, and a big centre-piece +of red geranium) just loaded with goodies. + +"March had driven over for Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann, and they arrived +first--Mrs. Blossom says they always do. (I want you to go over and call +on them when you are up here Christmas; it's just like a story in Hans +Andersen; they keep a cow, Dorcas, who wears a kimono on very cold +nights.) + +"March helped Aunt Tryphosa out just as if she had been Queen Victoria. +(I forgot to tell you she and Maria-Ann do our laundry work.) March is +perfectly splendid about such things--and Maria-Ann sort of bounced out, +although Chi held out his hand to help her. It's so funny to see them +together! Aunt Tryphosa is so small and wrinkled and thin that, +sometimes, Chi says he has known a good wind to knock her right over; +and Maria-Ann is almost as tall as Chi, and stout and rosy-cheeked, with +nice brown eyes that talk to you. + +"And, oh, papa!--I'll tell you, but it's a confidence--I saw Aunt +Tryphosa shiver hard when she came into the house, and I 'm afraid she +did not have enough warm things on. I know her shawl was n't _very_ +thick, for I went into the bedroom afterwards and felt of it; and she +had no furs at all! Think of that with the thermometer way down below +zero, papa! I 'll tell you all about it when you come. + +"Well, after Mrs. Blossom had given the old lady a cup of hot tea, she +felt better and began to talk; and, honestly, papa, she never stopped +talking all day long! March said he timed her. She lives away over on +the east side of the Mountain away from everybody, and yet she knows +everything that is going on, on the Mountain, and at the Mill +Settlement, and at Barton's River, and that, as you know, is quite a +large place. + +"She told us all about the new neighbors in the seven-gabled-house; how +they had their dinner at bed-time, and what 'help' they have, and whom +they are going to have for hired man, and how they have music every +night after dinner, and how the lights were n't put out in the +north-east chamber till one o'clock. She even knew the pattern of lace +on the underclothes that were hung out to dry! and Maria-Ann was trying +to crochet some in imitation; I saw it myself. + +"And she said that one of the chambers was all lined with books, and +another just covered, floor and walls, with pictures--what can she mean, +papa? and that down stairs off the living-room in what used to be old +Mrs. Morris's milk-room, there were ropes, and weights, and pulleys, and +a stretcher, and iron balls, and that every one said it did n't have the +right look. But she said she meant to stand up for them, because the +young man had come over to call just two or three days ago and said, as +she was his nearest neighbor, they ought to become acquainted before +winter set in; and he ordered a half a dozen cheeses and brought word +from his mother that she would like them to come over and see her +daughter, for she thought Maria-Ann might be able to do something for +her. Now, what do you suppose it all means? + +"Of course, it makes us all wild to go over there, and I hope we shall +go soon. + +"But, oh! if you could see the Spillkinses! I had to go off up stairs +and bury my face in Rose's feather bed so I could laugh without being +heard. They 're the funniest lot of people I ever saw. They all came +over in a big wagon filled with straw, and before they came in sight, +Chi said, 'They 're coming, I know by the cackle;' and, papa, that is +just what it was. + +"They are all awfully aged, but they act just like young people, and +Mrs. Blossom says it's their young hearts that keep them so young. + +"Uncle Israel, he's ninety-three, but he wears a dark brown wig and +looks younger than his son, Poor Reub, who is seventy and has snow-white +hair. Mrs. Spillkins wears what they call up here a 'false front;' it's +just the color of Uncle Israel's, so she looks more like his sister. +But her two sisters, Miss Melissa and Miss Elvira, are perfectly +comical. They're just as small as Aunt Tryphosa, but they don't talk; +only nod and smile and bow as if they were talking. They have little +corkscrew curls, three on each temple, and they bob and shake when they +nod and smile and sort of chirrup; it's the Captain and his wife and +Uncle Israel who cackle so when they laugh. Poor Reuben does n't say +much either, only he looks perfectly happy, and always sits by his +father when he can get a chance. Chi was just lovely to him all the +afternoon. + +"Well, after Mr. Wood and his wife and the new teacher came, we all sat +down to dinner, and Mr. Blossom said 'grace,' and all the Spillkinses +said 'Amen,' which surprised us all very much. + +"We don't have courses up here, because there is nobody to serve us; so +everything is put on your plate at once, except, of course, dessert, and +papa!--I would n't say it to any one but you, but I never saw any one +eat so much as Aunt Tryphosa for all she is so small and thin. Mr. +Blossom piled her plate up twice with turkey, and squash, and onion, and +potato, and turnip, and then she helped herself to cranberry jelly and +sweet pickles three times; and yet she managed to talk all the time; and +the queer part of it was that she did n't cut herself once, they all eat +with their knives--except, of course, our family and Miss Alton. + +"Rose and Cherry and I removed the dinner plates, and that was all the +waiting there was. + +"We sat till half-past three at the table; then Uncle Israel said +another 'grace'--'after-grace,' he called it,--and Mr. Blossom and Chi +took the--the gentlemen part out to see the horses and cows, and all the +rest went to work to clear off the table and do up the dishes. There +were so many of us it did n't take long, and then we lighted the lamps, +and all the--the ladies took out their knitting and began to work as +fast as they could. + +"Then in a little while all the--the gentlemen came in, and the ladies +put up their work, and they all sat round the room and sang Auld Lang +Syne. Rose led, and Miss Alton sang a lovely alto. It was lovely, and +I longed to have you with me. Then Captain Spillkins said it was time to +hitch up, and Chi said it was time to be going as it was very dark and +cold. He drove Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann home, and Mrs. Blossom +filled a large basket with all sorts of goodies, and Mr. Blossom set it +in behind in the apple-green cart without their knowing it; so now they +can have a surprise party of their own and Thanksgiving for a whole +week. + +"There! This is the longest letter I ever wrote in all my life. I 've +written it at different times during the day. I ate so much yesterday, +that I don't feel very bright to-day, so you must excuse any mistakes, +although I've used the dictionery as you wanted me to. + +"Always your loving, and now your dreadfully sleepy + "DAUGHTER HAZEL. + +"P.S. I think I shall feel better, if I tell you that we all had a very +unhappy time two weeks ago. I had a really dreadful heartache, papa, +and, for the first time, was homesick for you. + +"You see, March and Rose are very proud of spirit, and I don't think +they liked it in me because we are rich--but you and I understand each +other, don't we? and know that being rich does n't mean anything to us, +does it? and then, too, Chi says we 're poor because we have n't so much +family to love as the Blossoms have, and that's true, too, is n't +it?--and I think that kind of poorness ought to balance our riches, +don't you? And--well, I can't explain how it all came about, but now +they are willing to let me give them things when I want to, and that +makes me very happy, and we are all a great deal happier than we were +before, and I'm going to call Mrs. Blossom, 'Mother Blossom,' after +this, she says she wants me to, and she takes me in her arms just as she +does Rose and Cherry, and we talk things over together; so everything is +all right now. + +"Please send up my violin by express when you receive this. There is a +very good-looking young man, the new neighbor at the seven-gabled-house, +and he plays the violin, too, and his mother the piano. Love to Wilkins +and Minna-Lu. I 'll send him a present from here--Oh, I forgot! don't +forget to write Chi within a week sure, to inform you about the +Wishing-Tree, and don't buy any presents for anybody till you hear from +him. H.C." + + +When Mr. Clyde read this long letter at the breakfast table, his face +was the despair of Wilkins, who hovered about, seeking, ineffectually, +for an excuse to ask about Miss Hazel. + +"Doan know what kin' er news Marse John get from little Missy," he told +Minna-Lu, the cook; "but he laffed pow'ful part de time, an' den he grow +pow'ful sober, an' de fust ting I know, de tears come splashin' onto de +paper, an' he speak up rale sharp, 'Wha' fo' yo' hyar, Wilkins?' an' +sayin' nuffin', I jes' makes tracks, case I see he wan's nobuddy see dem +tears.-- Fo' Gawd, I 'se be glad when little Missy come home." + +Mr. Clyde took this manuscript, as he called it, over to the Doctor. + +"There, Dick, read that," was all he said. + +After the Doctor had read it, he whisked out his handkerchief in a +remarkably suspicious manner, and Mr. Clyde busied himself with a +medical journal without reading one word, till the Doctor spoke: + +"I say, Johnny, let's get up a theatre party of us two for the Old +Homestead to-night; it's the nearest thing we can get to this of +Hazel's." + +"You always hit the right thing, Dick, I 'll call for you at eight." + + + + + XV + + WISHING-TREE SECRETS + + +All-hallow-e'en had come. + +The exercises about the tree had been carried out with great +success--tom-toms, war-whoop, song and dance. After supper, the apples +had been roasted, and the whole family "bobbed" for them in the +wash-tub; father, mother, Chi, and even little May joining heartily in +the fun. Then they had melted lead, sailed nutshells freighted with +wishes, and finally "loved their Loves" with all the letters of the +alphabet. + +When all were off to bed and sound asleep, Chi took his lantern, and +went up again to the old butternut tree in the corner of the pasture. + +It was preparing to snow. A chill wind drew through the bare branches, +and caused a wild commotion among the roosters' tail feathers that +dangled from one of the lower ones. + +Chi unlocked the little door, and from the hollow took out a handful of +notes. He thrust them into the side pocket of his coat, relocked the +door, and went back to his room over the shed. There, by the light of +the lantern, he read them and rejoiced over them; re-read them and cried +a little over them, nor was he ashamed of his tears; for in the precious +missives, Rose and Hazel, March and Budd and Cherry, had shown, as in a +mirror, the workings of their loving hearts. + + +All-hallo w-e'en. + +MY DEAR MOTHER,--I have a great favor to ask of you and father. Will +you hang up _your_ stockings this year and let us children fill them +instead of your filling ours? I don't want you to take one cent of the +money you are earning by having Hazel here to buy me anything. I want +every penny of it to go to pay off that mortgage you told us of--for I +feel just as you do about it, and only wish I had known it last +Hallow-e'en when I asked for the paints and brushes. It makes me sick +just to think of all we asked for, and you not having any money to buy +them with--and never telling us! Oh, mother! + +Your devoted son, + MARCH BLOSSOM. + + +All-hallow-e'en. + +MY DEAR POPSEY,--Me and Cherry want to help you and Martie pay off that +morgige she told us about. March says it is a dreadfull thing that we +must get rid of just as soon as we can. So Cherry and me are going to +give you 2 dollars apeace out of our $3 we saved for ourselves out of +the jam and the chickens as we voted in the N.B.B.O.O. That will make +four dollars and March says it will be just 1/300 of what you owe and +will help a great deal. I think the other $1 we have left will be +enough to buy presents for the rest of the famly, don't you? + +Your Son, + BUDD BLOSSOM. + +P.S. I meant to say I don't expect anything this year 'cause last year I +asked for a double-runner and a bat and a new cap with fir on the edges +like the boys at Barton's and 20 cents to buy marbles with and I didn't +get them 'cause you were sick and I 'm sorry I asked for so much to +bother you when you were sick. B.B. + + +DEAR FRIEND CHI,--Do you think you can find out in some way what March +and Budd would like for Christmas? And if you know anything special +that Rose wants very _specially_, please let me know at your earliest +convenience so I can send to New York for it. I should like to consult +you about some gifts for Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann, and if you could +get a chance to take me down to the Barton's River shops all alone by +myself, I should esteem it a great favor. + +Your true friend, + HAZEL CLYDE. + +All-hallow-e'en. + +P. S. I 'm rather anxious about the note I put in the Wishing-Tree for +papa. + + +All-hallow-e'en. + +DARLING PATER NOSTER,--When I think of last year, my heart aches for you +and my precious Martie. Oh, why did n't she tell us before! I never +should have asked for that dress and the French grammar and dictionary +and the cheap set of Dickens', if I had only known. + +_Do_, Pater dear, let us know in the future if you are in trouble, and +let us help share it. Would n't that make it easier for you? + +Now a favor; I want you and Martie to play boy and girl again this year +and hang up _your_ stockings for a change; and please, _please_, father +dear, don't give us anything this year--we don't want anything but you +and Martie, and besides, we have money of our _own_! Chi calls us +"bloated bond-holders," and says we have formed a "combine." + +Your loving daughter, + ROSE BLOSSOM. + + +DEAREST COUSIN JACK,--I have n't answered your letter because I 've been +having too good a time. This is only a Wishing-Tree note; I want you to +do me a favor, please; find out what I can buy nice for papa with a +dollar. I 've earned it myself (and a great deal more, Jack, you would +be surprised if you knew how much the preserves and chickens came to) +and want him to have a present out of it. Then, I would like to buy +something for Doctor Heath, about fifty cents' worth, and another fifty +cents' worth for Mrs. Heath. I want to give Aunt Carrie a little +something, too, _out of my own earnings_; (I've all my two quarterly +allowances besides,) I can afford fifty cents for her; and then I would +like to remember Wilkins with a little gift out of _my earnings_ for +mamma's sake as well as my own, and then I shall have twenty-five cents +left of the money I worked for. The rest we all voted to put aside for +March to help him through college. He wants to be an architect, you +know, and he draws beautifully. I shall be glad of your advice. + +In haste, yours devotedly, + HAZEL. + + +All-hallow-e'en, MOUNT HUNGER. + +DEAR CHI,--May wants a doll the kind she saw last summer down at +Barton's River. I ve got only a doller to spend for all the famly, so +will you plese ask the pris for me as I am afrade it will be to high. +There is a big french one in the right hand window at Smith's store with +a libel on it 7$, and I play it's mine when I am down there and you are +buying horse-feed. I have named her Emilie Angelique. Rose spelt it for +me. + +Your loving CHERRY BOUNCE. + + +DEAR OLD CHI,--If you can find out what Hazel would like specially for +Christmas, just let me know. + +MARCH. + + +DEAR CHI,--Can you manage to get us all down to Barton's some Saturday +to do some Christmas shopping? + +Your ROSE-POSE. + + +All-hallow-e'en. + +DEAREST PAPA,--Will you please ask Aunt Carrie to please help you buy +these Christmas things? I enclose fifty dollars; (your check.) + +A white serge dress pattern, like mine. + +A book of lovely foreign photographs of buildings and pictures for +March. + +2 pairs of white kid gloves, number 6. + +2 pairs of tan kid gloves, number 6-1/4. + +1 pair fur-lined gloves for March. + +1 pair ditto for Mr. Blossom. + +A year's subscription for the Woman's Hearthstone Journal for Maria-Ann. + +A small shirt waist ironing-board for Aunt Tryphosa. + +1 pair brown woolen gloves and one pair of those fleece-lined beaver +gauntlet driving gloves like those of yours, for Chi. + +1 blue Kardigan jacket for Chi. + +The other things I think I can get at Barton's River. + +Your devoted daughter, + HAZEL CLYDE. + + +"Well," said Chi, thoughtfully, as he finished reading them a second +time, "I 've got more than one string to my bow this year. Beats all, +how Chris'mus limbers up a man's feelin's! Guess 't was meant for all +of us children of a lovin' Father." So saying, Chi knelt beside his +bed, and, dropping his face in his hands, remained there motionless for +a few minutes, while his loving, gentle, manly "soul was on its knees." + + + + + XVI + + A CHRISTMAS PRELUDE + + +"It 's goin' to be an awful cold night, grandmarm," said Maria-Ann as +she stepped to the door just after sunset on Christmas eve. The old +dame followed her and looked out over her shoulder. + +"I know 't is; my fingers stuck to the latch when I went out to see +after Dorcas. While your gettin' supper, I 'm goin' to bundle up the +rooster and the hens, or they 'll freeze their combs, sure's your name's +Maria-Ann; looks kinder Chris'musy, don't it?" + +"I was just thinkin' of that, grandmarm; just look at that star in the +east!" She pointed to a shoulder of the Mountain, where a serene planet +was ascending the dark blue heavens. "An' there 's been just enough +snow to make all the spruces look like the Sunday School tree, all roped +over with pop-corn. Do you remember that last one, grandmarm?" + +"I ain't never forgot it, Maria-Ann; that's ten year ago, an' I sha'n't +never see another?" She shivered, and drew back out of the keen air. + +"Nor I," said Maria-Ann, shutting the door. + +"I don't know why not," snapped Aunt Tryphosa, who always contradicted +Maria-Ann when she could. "I guess we can have a Chris'mus tree same's +other folks; we 've got trees enough." + +"That's so," replied Maria-Ann, laughing. "Let's have one to-morrow, +grandmarm. I don't see why we can't have a tree just as well as we can +have wreaths--see what beauties I 've made! I 've saved the four +handsomest for Mis' Blossom an' Mis' Ford." + +"You do beat all, Maria-Ann, making wreaths with them greens and +bitter-sweet; I wish you 'd hang 'em up to-night; 'twould make the room +seem kinder Chris'musy." + +"To be sure I will." And Maria-Ann bustled about, hanging the beautiful +rounds of green and red in each of the kitchen windows, on the panes of +which the frost was already sparkling; then, throwing her shawl over her +head, she stepped out into the night and hung one on the outside of the +narrow, weather-blackened door. Again within, she set the small, square +kitchen table with two plates, two cups and saucers of brown and white +crockery, the pewter spoons and horn-handled knives and forks that her +grandmother had had when she was first married. Finally, she put on one +of the pots of red geranium in the centre and stood back to admire the +effect. + +"Guess we 'll have a treat to-night, seein' it's night before +Chris'mus--fried apples an' pork, an' some toast; an' I 'll cut a cheese +to-night, I declare I will, even if grandmarm does scold; she 'll eat it +fast enough if I don't say nothin' about it beforehand." + +Maria-Ann had formed the habit of thinking aloud, for she had been much +alone, and, as she said, "she was a good deal of company for herself." + +"Oh, hum!" she sighed, as she cut the pork and sliced the apples, "a cup +of tea would be about the right thing this cold night, but there ain't a +mite in the house." Then she laughed: "What you talkin' 'bout luxuries +for, Maria-Ann Simmons? You be thankful you 've got a livin'. I can +make some good cambric-tea, and put a little spearmint in it; that 'll +be warmin' as anything." She began to sing in a shrill soprano as she +busied herself with the preparations for the supper, while the kettle +sang, too, and the pork sizzled in the spider: + + "'Must I be carried to the skies + On flowery beds of ease, + While others fought to win the prize + And sailed through bloody seas?'" + + +Meanwhile, Aunt Tryphosa, with her lantern in one hand and a bundle of +red something in the other, had repaired to the hen-house which was +partitioned off from the woodshed. + +Had either one of them happened to look out down the Mountain-road just +at this time, they would have seen a strange sight. + +Along the white roadway, sparkling in the light of the rising moon, came +six silent forms in Indian file. Two were harnessed to small loaded +sledges. Sometimes, all six gesticulated wildly; at others, the two who +brought up the rear of the file silently danced and capered back and +forth across the narrow way. They drew near the house on the woodshed +side; the first two freed themselves from the sledges, and left them +under one of the unlighted windows. Then all six, attracted by the +glimmer of the lantern shining from the one small aperture of the +hen-house, stole up noiselessly and looked in. + +What they saw proved too much for their risibles, and suppressed giggles +and snickers and choking laughter nearly betrayed their presence to the +old dame within. + +On the low roost sat Aunt Tryphosa's noble Plymouth Rock rooster, and +beside him, in an orderly row, her ten hens. Every hen had on her head +a tiny flannel hood--some were red, some were white--the strings knotted +firmly under their bills by Aunt Tryphosa's old fingers trembling with +the cold. + +She was just blanketing the rooster, who submitted with a meekness which +proved undeniably that he was under petticoat government, for all the +airs he gave himself with his wives. The funny, little, hooded heads +twisting and turning, the "aks" and "oks" which accompanied Aunt +Tryphosa in her labor of love, the wild stretching and flapping of +wings, all furnished a scene never to be forgotten by the six pairs of +laughing eyes that beheld it. + +The moment the old dame took up her lantern, the spectators sped around +the corner. Under the dark windows they noiselessly unloaded the +wood-sleds, and silently carried bundles, baskets, and burlap-bags +around to the front door. + +At last they had fairly barricaded it, and the tallest of the party, +after fastening a piece of paper in the Christmas wreath that Maria-Ann +had hung up only a half-hour before, motioned to the others to step up +to the kitchen window. + +Just one glimpse they had through the thickening frost and the wreathing +green: a glimpse of the kitchen table, the steaming apples, the pot of +red geranium, the two cups of smoking spearmint tea, and of two +heads--the one white, the other brown--bent low over folded, toil-worn +hands in the reverent attitude for the evening "grace." + +"For what we are now about to receive, may the Lord make us truly +thankful," said Aunt Tryphosa, in a quavering voice. + +"Amen," said Maria-Ann, heartily--"Land sakes, grandmarm! how you scairt +me, looking up so sudden!" she exclaimed, almost in the same breath. + +"Thought I heerd somethin'," said the old dame, holding her head in a +listening attitude--"Hark!" + +"I don't hear nothin', grandmarm. Now, just eat your apples while they +'re hot. What did you think you heard?" she continued, dishing the +apples. + +"I thought I heerd it when I was out in the shed, too." + +"I should n't wonder if 't was a deer. I saw one come into the clearing +this afternoon, an' seein' 't was Christmas evening, I put a good bundle +of hay out to the south door of the cow-shed." + +"Guess 't was that, then," said Aunt Tryphosa. "You clear up, +Maria-Ann, an' I 'll keep up a good fire, for I want to finish off them +stockings for Ben Blossom an' Chi. I s'pose you 've got your things +ready in case we see a team go by to-morrow?" + +"Yes, they 're all ready," said her granddaughter, rather absently, and +set about washing the few dishes. + +When all was done, neatly and quickly as Maria-Ann so well knew how, she +flung on her shawl, saying: + +"I 'm goin' out a minute to see if the bundle of hay is gone, and +besides, I want to look at the moon on the snow; it's the first time I +'ve seen it so this year." She opened the door-- + +"Oh, Luddy!" she screamed, as bundle, and basket, and bag toppled over +into the room. + +"Land sakes alive!" quavered Aunt Tryphosa, hurrying to the rescue. +"Did n't I tell you I heerd somethin'? What be they?" + +"Presents!" cried Maria-Ann, pulling, and hauling, and gathering up, and +finally getting the door shut. + +"Seems to me I see somethin' white catched onto the door 'fore you shut +it," said Aunt Tryphosa. "Better look an' see." Again her +granddaughter opened the door, and found the strip of paper on which was +written; + +"Merry Christmas! with best wishes of +Benjamin and Mary Blossom and May, +Malachi Graham and Rose Eleanor Blossom, +March Blossom and Hazel Clyde, +Benjamin Budd Blossom and Cherry Elizabeth Blossom of +the N.B.B.O.O., and of +John Curtis Clyde of New York; U.S.A.; N.A.; W.H." + + +"Oh, grandmarm! It's just like a romantic novel!" cried Maria-Ann, who +was as full of sentiment as an egg is full of yolk. "It makes me feel +kinder queer, comin' just now right after we was talkin' 'bout our tree. +You open first, an' then we 'll take turns." Aunt Tryphosa, who was +winking very hard behind her spectacles, was not loath to begin. + +"Let's haul 'em up to the stove; it's so awful cold," she said, +shivering. + +"Why, you 've let the fire go down; that's the reason. Don't you +remember you was goin' to put on the wood just as the things fell in?" + +"So I was," said her grandmother, making good her forgetfulness; in a +few minutes there was a roaring fire, and the room was filled with a +genial warmth. Then they sat down to their delightful task, Maria-Ann +kneeling on the square of rag carpet before the stove. + +"My land!" cried Aunt Tryphosa, clapping her hands together as she +opened the largest burlap bag; "if that boy ain't stuffed this +two-bushel bag chock full of birch bark! Look a-here, Maria-Ann, you +read this slip of paper for me; my specs get so dim come night-time." + +The truth was, the tears were running down Aunt Tryphosa's wrinkled +cheeks and filming her eyes to such an extent that she saw the birch +bark through all the colors of the rainbow. + +"'For Aunt Tryphosa from Budd Blossom to make her fires quick with cold +mornings.' Did you ever?" said Maria-Ann, untying another large burlap +bundle--"What's this? 'Made by Rose Blossom and Hazel Clyde to keep +Aunt Tryphosa snug and warm o' nights when the mercury is below zero.' +O grandmarm, look at this!" + +Maria-Ann unrolled a coverlet made of silk patch-work (bright bits and +pieces that Hazel had begged of Aunt Carrie and Mrs. Heath and others of +her New York friends) lined with thin flannel and filled with feathers. + +But Aunt Tryphosa was speechless for the first time in her life; and, +seeing this, Maria-Ann took advantage of it to do a little talking on +her own account. + +"She don't seem like a city girl in her ways; she ain't a bit stuck +up--Oh, what's _this_!" She poked, and fingered, and pinched, but +failed to guess. Aunt Tryphosa grew impatient. + +"Let me _see_, you 've done nothin' but feel," she said, reaching for +the package, and Maria-Ann handed it over to her. + +Again Mrs. Tryphosa Little was nearly dumb, as the miscellaneous +contents of the queer, knobby parcel were brought to light. + +"These are for you, Maria-Ann," she said in an awed voice, laying them +on the kitchen table one after the other:--A copy of the Woman's +Hearthstone Journal, with the receipt for a year's subscription pinned +to it;--A small shirt waist ironing-board;--A pair of fleece-lined +Arctics that buttoned half-way up Maria-Ann's sturdy legs when, an hour +later, she tried them on;--Six paper-covered novels of the Chimney +Corner Library including Lorna Doone (Hazel had discovered in her +frequent visits, that Aunt Tryphosa's granddaughter at twenty-nine was +as romantic as a girl of seventeen);--A box of preserved ginger;--Two +pounds of Old Hyson Tea;--(upon which Maria-Ann bounced up from the +floor, and without more ado made two cups, much to her grandmother's +amazement);--Six pounds of lump sugar;---A dozen lemons;--A dozen +oranges;--A white Liberty-silk scarf tucked into an envelope;--Six +ounces of scarlet knitting-wool;--All for "Miss Maria-Ann Simmons, with +Hazel Clyde's best wishes." + +Then it was Maria-Ann Simmons's turn to break down and weep, at which +Aunt Tryphosa fidgeted, for she had not seen her granddaughter cry since +she was a little girl. + +"Don't act like a fool, Maria-Ann," she said, crustily, to hide her own +feelings; "take your things an' enjoy 'em. I 've seen tears enough for +night before Chris'mus," she added, ignoring the fact that she had +established a precedent. + +"Well, I won't, grandmarm," said her granddaughter, laughing and crying +at the same time; "but I 'm goin' to have that cup of tea first to kind +of strengthen me 'fore I open the rest," she added decidedly. "Besides, +I don't want to see everything at once; I want it to last." + +"I don't mind if I have mine, too. Guess you may put in two lumps, +seein' as we did n't have to pay for it," and the old dame sipped her +Hyson with supreme satisfaction, as did likewise her granddaughter. + +As the latter pushed back her chair from the table, her grandmother +cautioned her:--"Look out! you 're settin' it on another bag!" But it +was too late. To Aunt Tryphosa's amazement and Maria-Ann's horror, the +bag suddenly flopped up and down on the floor, the motion being +accompanied with such an unearthly, +"A--ee--eetsch--ok--ak--ache--eetsch!" that the two women's faces grew +pale, and they jumped as if they had been shot. + +Then Maria-Ann, with her hand on her thumping heart, burst into a shrill +laugh, and Aunt Tryphosa quavered a thin accompaniment. How they +laughed! till again the tears rolled down their cheeks. + +"Scairt of hens!" chuckled the old dame as she undid the strings of the +bag--"at my time of life! Oh, my stars and garters, Maria-Ann! ain't +they beauties?" + +She drew out by the legs two snow-white Wyandotte pullets, and held them +up admiringly. "They 're from March, I know; but just to think of this, +Maria-Ann!" Again words and, curiously enough, eyes, too, failed her, +and her granddaughter read the slip of paper tied around the leg of one +of the hens:--"'One for Aunt Tryphosa, and one for Maria-Ann; have laid +three times; last time day before yesterday; I hope they 'll lay two +Christmas-morning eggs for your breakfast. March Blossom.'" + +"I 'm goin' to put 'em on some hay in the clothes-basket, Maria-Ann, an' +keep 'em right under my bed where it's good an' warm," said Aunt +Tryphosa, decidedly. "They 're kinder quality folks and can't be turned +in among common fowl. Besides, I ain't got another hood, an' if they +_should_ freeze their combs, I 'd never forgive myself." + +"Well, I would, grandmarm," said Maria-Ann, still laughing, as she +untied the last two bundles. "Laws!" she exclaimed, "Here 's New York +style for you." She read the visiting card: + +"To Mrs. Tryphosa Little, with the Season's compliments from John Curtis +Clyde. 4 East ----th Street." + +"Well, I 'm dumbfoundered," sighed Mrs. Tryphosa Little, and more she +could not say as she took out of the large pasteboard box, a white silk +neckerchief, a cap of black net and lace with a "chou" of purple satin +lutestring, a black fur collar and a muff to match, in all of which she +proceeded to array herself with the utmost despatch, forgetful of the +two hens, which, after wandering aimlessly about the kitchen, had +roosted finally on the back of her wooden rocking-chair, where they +balanced themselves with some difficulty. + +But suddenly, as she was thrusting her hands into the new muff, she +paused, laid it down on the table, and said, rather querulously, "Help +me off with these things, Maria-Ann; I 'm all tuckered out. I can stan' +a day's washin' as well as anybody, if I am eighty-one come next June, +but I can't stan' no such night 'fore Chris'mus as this, an' I 'm goin' +to bed, an' take the hens." + +"I would, grandmarm," said her granddaughter, gently, taking off the +unwonted finery and kissing the wrinkled face. "You go to bed; I put +the soap-stone in two hours ago, so it's nice an' warm. I 'll clear up, +an' don't you mind me--here, let me take one of those hens." + +"No, I can take care of hens anytime," snapped Aunt Tryphosa, for she +was tired out with happiness, "but I can't stan' so many presents, an' I +'m too old to begin." She disappeared in the bed-room, the two +Wyandotte hens hanging limply, heads downward, from each hand. + +Maria-Ann picked up the paper and the wraps, and made all tidy again in +the kitchen. She put her hand on the last bag that was so heavy she had +not moved it from the door. "It's a bag of cracked corn--hen-feed," she +said to herself, "an' it's from Chi, I know as well as if I'd been +told." + +Then she sat down in the rocker before the stove and put her feet in the +oven to warm. She blew out the light and sat awhile in silence, +thinking happy thoughts. + +The fire crackled in the stove, and dancing lights, reflected from the +open grate, played on the wall. The moon shone full upon the frosted +window panes, and the Christmas wreaths were set in masses of encrusted +brilliants. The kettle began to sing, and so did Maria-Ann--but softly, +for fear of waking Aunt Tryphosa: + + "'My soul, be on thy guard; + Ten thousand foes arise; + The hosts of sin are pressing hard + To draw thee from the skies.'" + + + + + XVII + + HUNGER-FORD + + +Such a line of communication as was soon established between Mount +Hunger and New York, Mount Hunger and Cambridge, the Lost Nation and +Barton's River, Hunger-ford--the Fords' new name for the old Morris +farm--and the Blossom homestead on the Mountain! + +Uncle Sam's post, the Western Union Telegraph Company, the American +Express, a line of freight, saddle horses, sleds, and the old +apple-green cart on runners were all pressed into service; in all the +United States of America there were no busier young people than those +belonging to the Lost Nation. + +They wrote notes to one another with an air of great mystery; they drove +singly, in couples, or all together to Barton's River with Chi; they +smuggled in bundles and express packages of all sorts and sizes; looked +guilty if caught whispering together in the pantry; took many a +sled-ride over to Hunger-ford, and audaciously remained there three +hours at a time without giving Mrs. Blossom any good reason either for +their going or remaining. + +The acquaintance formed between the Blossoms and the Fords just after +Thanksgiving, was fast ripening into friendship. March, usually shy +with strangers, fairly adored the tall, quiet son with the wonderful +smile, and expanded at once in his genial presence. With Ruth Ford he +had much in common; and regularly once a week since Thanksgiving he had +drawn and painted with her in her studio, the room that Aunt Tryphosa +had so graphically described. His gift was far more in that direction +than hers; and Ruth, recognizing it, encouraged him, spurred his +ambition, and placed all her materials at his disposal. + +Rose's sweet voice had proved a delight to them all, and Hazel's violin +was being taught to play a gentle accompaniment to Alan Ford's, that +sang, or wept, or rejoiced according to the player's mood. + +"I am so thankful, Ben, that our Rose can have the advantage of such +companions just at this time of her life," said Mrs. Blossom, on the +afternoon before Christmas when the two eldest, with Hazel, had gone +over to Hunger-ford with joyful secrets written all over their happy +faces. + +"So am I, Mary. When I see young men like Ford, I realize what I lost +in being obliged to give up college on father's account," said Mr. +Blossom, with a sigh. + +"I do, too, Ben; and what I 've lost in opportunity when I see that +gifted woman, Mrs. Ford. She has travelled extensively, she reads and +speaks both German and French, she is a really wonderful musician, and +keeps up with every interest of the day, besides being a splendid +housekeeper and devoted to her children." + +"Do you regret it, Mary?" said her husband, looking straight before him +into the fire. + +"Not with you, Ben," was Mary Blossom's answer. Taking her husband's +face in both her hands and turning it towards her, she looked into his +eyes, and received the smile and kiss that were always ready for her. + +"If we did n't have all this when we were young people, Mary, we 'll +hope that we may have it in our children," he said, earnestly. + +Just then Chi came in, and gave a loud preliminary, "Hem!" for to him, +Ben and Mary Blossom would always be lovers. "Guess 't is 'bout time to +hitch up, if you 're goin' clear down to Barton's to meet the train, +Ben; I 've got to go over eastwards with the children." + +"All right, Chi, I 'd rather drive down to the station to-night; it's +good sleighing and our Mountain is a fine sight by moonlight." + +"Can't be beat," said Chi, emphatically. "S'pose you 'll be back by +seven, sharp? I kind of want to time myself, on account of the +s'prise." + +"We 'll say seven, and I 'll make it earlier if I can. You 're off for +Aunt Tryphosa's now?" + +"Just finished loadin' up--There they are!" and in rushed the whole +troop, hooded and mittened and jacketed and leggined, ready for their +after-sunset raid. + +"Good-bye, Martie!" screamed Cherry, wild with excitement, and made a +dash for the door; then she turned back with another dash that nearly +upset May, and, throwing her arms around her mother's neck, nearly +squeezed the breath from her body. "O Mumpsey, Dumpsey, dear! I 'm +having such an awfully good time; it's so much happier than last +Christmas!" + +"And, O Popsey, Dopsey, dear!" laughed Rose, mimicking her, but with a +voice full of love, and both mittens caressing his face, "it's so good +to have you well enough to celebrate this year!" + +Hazel slipped her hand into Chi's, and whispered, "Oh, Chi, I wish I had +a lot of brothers and sisters like Rose. Anyway, papa's coming to-night, +so I 'll have one of my own," she added proudly. + +"Guess we 'd better be gettin' along," said Chi, still holding Hazel's +hand. "It's goin' to be a stinger, 'n' it's a mile 'n' a half over +there." + +"Come on all!" cried March; "we 'll be back before you are, father." + +"We 'll see about that," laughed his father, as he caught the merry +twinkle in his wife's eye. + +But March was right by the margin of only a minute or two; for just as +the merry crowd entered the house on their return from their errand of +"goodwill," they heard Mr. Blossom drive the sleigh into the barn. In +another moment Hazel had flung wide the door and was caught up into her +father's arms. + +In the midst of their cordial greetings there was a loud knock at the +door. They all started at the sound, and Budd, who was nearest, opened +it. + +"Please, Budd, may I come in, too?" said a voice everyone recognized as +the Doctor's. + +Then the whole Blossom household lost their heads where they had lost +their hearts the year before. Rose and Hazel and Cherry fairly +smothered him with kisses; Budd wrung one hand, March gripped another; +May clung to one leg, and the monster of a puppy contrived to get under +foot, although he stood two feet ten. + +Jack Sherrill, looking in at the window upon all this loving hominess, +felt, somehow, physically and spiritually left out in the cold. "What a +fool I was to come!" he said to himself. Nevertheless he carried out +his part of the program by stepping up to the door and knocking. This +time Mrs. Blossom opened it. + +"Have you room for one more, Mrs. Blossom?" he said with an attempt at a +smile, but looking sadly wistful, so wistful and lonely that Mary +Blossom put out both hands without a word, and, somehow,--Jack, in +thinking it over afterwards, never could tell how it happened so +naturally--he was giving her a son's greeting, and receiving a mother's +kiss in return. + +In a moment Hazel's arms were around his neck;--"Oh, Jack, Jack! I 've +got three of my own now; I 'm almost as rich as Rose!" + +Rose, hearing her name, came forward with frank, cordial greeting, and +May transferred her demonstrations of affection from the Doctor's +trousers to Jack's; Cherry's curls bobbed and quivered with excitement +when Jack claimed a kiss from "Little Sunbonnet," and received two +hearty smacks in return; March took his travelling bag; Budd kept close +beside him, and the puppy, who had been christened Tell, nosed his hand, +and, sitting down on his haunches, pawed the air frantically until Jack +shook hands with him, too. + +By this time the wistful look had disappeared from Jack's eyes, and his +handsome face was filled with such a glad light that the Doctor noticed +it at once. He shook his head dubiously, with his eyebrows drawn +together in a straight line over the bridge of his nose, and, from +underneath, his keen eyes glanced from Jack to Rose and from Rose back +again to Jack. Then his face cleared, and explanations were in order. + +"Why, you see," the Doctor said to Mrs. Blossom, "my wife had to go +South with her sister, and could not be at home for Christmas--the first +we 've missed celebrating together since we were married--and when I +found John was coming up to spend it with you, I couldn't resist giving +myself this one good time. But Jack here has failed to give any +satisfactory account of how or why he came to intrude his long person +just at this festive time. I thought you were off at a Lenox house-party +with the Seatons?" he said, quizzically. + +Jack laughed good-naturedly. "I don't blame you for wondering at my +being here; but I've been here before," he said, willing to pay back the +Doctor in his own coin. + +"The deuce you have!" exclaimed the Doctor. "I say, Johnny, are we +growing old that these young people get ahead of us so easily?" + +"I don't know how you feel, Dick, but I 'm as young as Jack to-night." + +"That 's right, Papa Clyde," said Hazel, approvingly, softly patting her +father on the head; "and, Jack, you 're a dear to come up here to see +us, for you 've just as much right as the Doctor." + +The Doctor pretended to grumble:--"Come to see you, indeed, you superior +young woman--_you_ indeed! As if there weren't any other girls in the +world or on Mount Hunger but you and Rose--much you know about it." + +"Well, I 'd like to know who you came to see, if not us?" laughed Hazel, +sure of her ultimate triumph. + +"Why, my dear Ruth Ford, to be sure." + +"Ruth Ford!" they exclaimed in amazement. + +"Why not Ruth Ford? You did n't suppose I would come away up here into +the wilds of Vermont in the dead of winter, did you? just to see--" +But Hazel laid her hand on his mouth. + +"Stop teasing, do," she pleaded, "and tell us how you knew our Ruth." + +"_Our_ Ruth! Ye men of York, hear her!" said the Doctor, appealing to +Mr. Clyde and Jack. "The next thing will be 'our Alan Ford,' I suppose. +How will you like that, Jack?" + +"I feel like saying 'confound him,' only it would n't be polite. You +see, Doctor, I thought I had preempted the whole Mountain, and was +prepared to make a conquest of Miss Maria-Ann Simmons even; but if Mr. +Ford has stepped in"--Jack assumed a tragic air--"there is nothing left +for me in honor, but to throw down the gauntlet and challenge him to +single combat--hockey-sticks and hot lemonade--for her fair hand." + +At the mention of Maria-Ann, Rose and Hazel, Budd and Cherry and March +went off into fits of laughter. They laughed so immoderately that it +proved infectious for their elders, and when Chi entered the room Budd +cried out, "Oh, Chi, you tell about the--we can't--the rooster and the +hoods, and--Oh my eye!--" Budd was apparently on the verge of +convulsions. + +"I stuffed snow into my mouth and made my teeth ache so as not to laugh +out loud," said Cherry; at which there was another shout, and still +another outburst at the table when Chi described the scene in the +hen-house. + +"Now, children," said Mrs. Blossom, after the somewhat hilarious evening +meal was over, the table cleared, the dishes were wiped and put away, +"we 're going to do just for this once as you want us to--hang up our +stockings; but I want all of you to hang up yours, too. If you don't, I +shall miss the sixes and sevens and eights so, that it will spoil my +Christmas." + +"We will, Martie," they assented, joyfully; for, as March said, it would +not seem like night before Christmas if they did not hang up their +stockings. + +"Yes, and papa, and you," said Hazel, turning to the Doctor, "must hang +up yours, and you, too, Jack." + +"Why, of course," said Mrs. Blossom, "everybody is to hang up a stocking +to-night, even Tell." + +"Oh, Martie, how funny!" cried Cherry, "but he has n't a truly +stocking." + +"No, but one of Budd's will do for his huge paw--won't it, old fellow?" +she said, patting his great head. + +Then Budd must needs bring out a pair of his pedal coverings and try one +brown woollen one on Tell, much to his majesty's surprise; for Tell was +a most dignified youth of a dog, as became his nine months and his +famous breed. + +Early in the evening the stockings were hung up over the fireplace, all +sizes and all colors:--May's little red one and Chi's coarse blue one; +Mr. Clyde's of thick silk, and Budd's and Tell's of woollen; Hazel's of +black cashmere beside Jack's striped Balbriggan. What an array! + +Then Mrs. Blossom and May went off into the bedroom, and Mr. Blossom and +his guests were forced to smoke their after-tea cigars in the guest +bedroom upstairs, while the young people brought out their treasures and +stuffed the grown-up stockings till they were painfully distorted. + +"Don't they look lovely!" whispered Hazel, ecstatically to March, who +begged Rose to get another of their mother's stockings, for the one +proved insufficient for the fascinating little packages that were +labelled for her. + +"Let's go right to bed now," suggested Budd, "then mother 'll fill +ours--Oh, I forgot," he added, ruefully, "we are n't going to have +presents this year--" + +"Why, yes, we are, too, Budd," said Rose, "we 're going to give one +another out of our own money." + +"Cracky! I forgot all about that--" Budd tore upstairs in the dark, +and tore down again and into the bedroom, crying:--"Now all shut your +eyes while I 'm going through!" which they did most conscientiously. + +Soon they, too, were invited laughingly to retire, and by half-past ten +the house was quiet. + + "'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, AND ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE, + NOT A CREATURE WAS STIRRING, NOT EVEN A MOUSE;" + Stretched out on the hearth-rug lay Tell snoring loudly, + And above from the mantel the stockings hung proudly; + When down from the stairway there came such a patter + Of stockingless feet--'t was no laughing matter! + As the good Doctor thought, for he sprang out of bed + To see if 't were real, or a dream iii its stead. + + But no! with his eye at a crack of the door + He discovered the truth--'t was the Blossoms, all four, + With Hazel to aid them, tiptoeing about + Like a party of ghosts grown a little too stout. + They pinched and they fingered; they poked and they squeezed + Each plump Christmas stocking--then somebody sneezed! + Consternation and terror!! The tall clock struck one + As the ghosts disappeared on the double-quick run! + + "'T WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, AND ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE, + NOT A CREATURE WAS STIRRING, NOT EVEN A MOUSE;" + Without in the moonlight, the snow sparkled bright; + The Mountain stood wrapped in a mantle of white, + With a crown of dark firs on his noble old crest + And ermine and diamonds adorning his breast; + And the stars that above him swung true into line + Once shone o'er a manger in far Palestine. + + +What a Christmas morning that was! + +Chi was up at five o'clock, building roaring fires, for it was ten +degrees below zero. + +With the first glint of the sun on the frosted panes the household was +astir. At precisely seven the order was given to take down the thirteen +stockings. But bless you! You 're not to think the stockings could +hold all the gifts. In front of each wide jamb were piled the bundles +and packages, three feet high! + +Rose hesitated a moment when the children sat down on the rug with their +stockings, as was their custom every Christmas morn; then she plumped +down among them, saying, laughingly: + +"I don't care if I _am_ growing up, Martie--it's Christmas." + +Upon which Jack, hugging his striped Balbriggan, sat down beside her. + +Such "Ohs" and "Ahs"! Such thankings and squeezings! Such somersaults +as were turned by March and Budd at the kitchen end of the long-room! +Such rapturous gurgles from May! Such hand-shakes and kisses! Such +silent bliss on the part of Chi, who, though suffering as if in a +Turkish bath, had donned his new, blue woollen sweater, drawn on his +gauntleted beaver gloves, and proceeded to investigate his stocking with +the air of a man who has nothing more to wish for. And through all the +chaotic happiness a sentence could be distinguished now and then. + +"Chi, these corn-cob pipes are just what I shall want after Christmas +when I give my Junior Smoker." + +"Oh, Martie, it can't be for me!" as the lovely white serge dress, ready +made and trimmed with lace, was held up to Rose's admiring eyes. + +Budd was caressing with approving fingers a regular "base-ball-nine" bat +and admiring the white leather balls. + +"I say, it's a stunner, Mr. Sherrill; but how did you know I wanted it?" + +Mr. Clyde, who was touched to his very heart's core by Hazel's gift of a +dollar pair of suspenders which she had earned by her own labor, felt a +small hand slipped into his, and found Cherry Bounce looking up at him +with wide, adoring, brown eyes, which, for the first time, she had taken +from her beautiful Emilie Angelique, whom she held pressed to her +heart:-- + +"I want to whisper to you," she said, shyly. Mr. Clyde bent down to +her;--"After I said my prayers to Martie, I asked God to give me Emilie +Angelique--every night," she nodded--"but I only told Budd, so how _did_ +you know?" + +March was lost to the world in his volume of foreign photographs, in his +boxes of paints and brushes, and a whole set of drawing materials. He +had not as yet thanked Hazel for them. + +Everybody was happy and satisfied. Everybody said he or she had +received just exactly the thing. Tell alone could not express his +gratification in words. He had been given his woollen stocking, and +nosed about till he had brought forth three fat dog-biscuit, a +deliciously juicy-greasy beef bone, wrapped in white waxed paper and +tied at one end with a blue ribbon, a fine nickelplated dog collar with +a bell attached, and last, from the brown woollen toe, three lumps of +sugar. + +One by one he took the gifts and laid them down at Mrs. Blossom's feet; +putting one huge paw firmly on the waxed-paper package, he waved the +other wildly until she took it and spoke a loving word to him. Then, +taking up his beloved bone, he retired with it to the farthest end of +the long-room, under the kitchen sink, and licked it in peace and joy. + +Jack and Chi in the joyful confusion had slipped from the room. + +Soon there was a commotion in the woodshed, and the two made their +appearance dragging after them a brand-new double-runner and a real +Canadian toboggan, which Jack had ordered from Montreal for March. + +Breakfast proved to be a short meal, for the whole family was wild to +try the new toboggan with Jack to engineer it. Then it was up and +down--down and up the steep mountain road; Jack and Doctor Heath, Mr. +Clyde, Mr. Blossom and Chi, all on together--clinging for dear life, +laughing, whooping, panting, hurrahing like boys let out from school, +while March and Budd and Rose and Hazel and Cherry flew after them on +the double-runner, the keen air biting rose-red cheeks, and bringing the +stinging water to the eyes. + +But what sport it was! + +"Now, this is something like," panted Jack, drawing up the hill with +Chi, his handsome face aglow with life and joy. + +"By George Washin'ton! it's the nearest thing to shootin' Niagary that I +ever come," puffed Chi. + +"Didn't we take that water-bar neatly?" laughed Jack. + +"'N inch higher, 'n' we 'd all been goners;--I had n't a minute to think +of it, goin' to the rate of a mile a minute; but if I had--I 'd have +dusted! Guess I 'll make it level before I try it with the +children,--'n' I want you to know there 's no coward about me, but I 'm +just speakin' six for myself this time." + +So the morning sped. Even Mrs. Blossom and May were taken down once, +and the Doctor stopped only because he wanted to make a morning call on +his patient, Ruth Ford; for it was by his advice the family had come to +live for three years in this mountain region. + +The horn for the mid-day meal sounded down the Mountain before they had +thought of finishing the exciting sport, and one and all brought such +keen appetites to the Christmas dinner, that Mrs. Blossom declared +laughingly that she would give them no supper, for they had eaten the +pantry shelves bare. + +Such roast goose and barberry jam! Such a noble plum-pudding set in the +midst of Maria-Ann's best wreath, for she and Aunt Tryphosa had sent +over their simple gifts by an early teamster. Such red Northern Spies +and winter russet pears! And such mirth and shouts and jests and quips +to accompany each course! + +It was genuine New England Christmas cheer, and the healths were drunk +in the wine of the apple amid great applause, especially Doctor Heath's: + +"Health, peace, and long life to the Lost Nation--May its tribe +increase!" + +And how they laughed at Chi, when he proposed the health of the Prize +Chicken (which, by the way, he had kept for the next season's mascot,) +and recounted the episode in the barn. + +What shouts greeted Budd, who, rising with great gravity, his mouth +puckered into real, not mock, seriousness--and that was the comical part +of it all--said earnestly: + +"To my first wife!" and sat down rather red, but gratified not only by +the prolonged applause, but by the enthusiasm with which they drank to +this unexpected toast from his unsentimental self. + +Directly after dinner Mr. Clyde declared that a seven-mile walk was an +actual necessity for him in his present condition, and invited all who +would to accompany him to call in state on Mrs. Tryphosa Little and Miss +Maria-Ann Simmons. Only Doctor Heath and Jack went with him, for Mr. +Blossom and Chi had matters to attend to at home, and Rose and Cherry +and Hazel were needed to help Mrs. Blossom. Even March and Budd turned +to and wiped dishes. + +"I 'll set the table now, Martie," said Rose, "then there will be no +confusion to-night--there are so many of us." + +"No need for that to-night, children," replied Mrs. Blossom, with a +merry smile. "'The last is the best of all the rest,' for we were all +invited a week ago to take tea and spend Christmas evening at +Hunger-ford." + +"Oh, Martie!" A joyful shout went up from the six, that was followed by +jigs and double-shuffles, pas-seuls and fancy steps, in which +dish-towels were waved wildly, and tin pans were pounded instead of +wiped. + +When the din had somewhat subsided there were numberless questions +asked; by the time they were all answered, and Rose and Hazel had donned +their white serge dresses, the gentlemen had returned from their walk, +and it was time to go. + +"That's why Mrs. Ford had us learn all those songs," said Rose to Hazel. +"Don't forget to take your violin." + +A merrier Christmas party never set forth on a straw-ride. Mr. and Mrs. +Blossom and May went over in the sleigh, but the rest piled into the +apple-green pung, and when they came in sight of the seven-gabled-house, +a rousing three times three, mingling with the sound of the +sleigh-bells, greeted the pretty sight. + +Every window was illumined, and adorned with a Christmas wreath. In the +light of the rising moon, then at the full, the snow that covered the +roof sparkled like frosted silver. The house, with its background of +sharply sloping hill wooded with spruce and pine, its twinkling lights +and the surrounding white expanse, looked like an illuminated Christmas +card. + +Within, the hall was festooned with ground hemlock and holly; a roaring +fire of hickory logs furnished light and to spare. In the living-room +and dining-room, Mr. Clyde and Jack Sherrill found, to their amazement, +all the elegance and refinement of a city home combined with country +simplicity. The tea-table shone with the service of silver and sparkled +with the many-faceted crystal of glass and carafe. For decoration, the +rich red of the holly berries gleamed among the dark green gloss of +their leaves. + +At first, the younger members of the Blossom family felt constrained and +a little awed in such surroundings; for although they had been several +times in the house, they had never taken tea there. But the Fords and +the other city people soon put them at their ease, and, as Cherry +declared afterwards, "It was like eating in a fairy story." There was a +real pigeon pie at one end and a Virginia ham at the other, as well as +cold, roast duck with gooseberry jam. There were sparkling jellies, and +the whole family of tea-cakes--orange, cocoanut, sponge, and chocolate; +and, oh, bliss!--strawberry ice-cream in a nest of spun cinnamon candy, +followed by Malaga grapes and hot chocolate topped with a whip of cream. + +After tea there was the surprise of a beautiful Christmas Tree in the +library. Ruth Ford had occupied many a weary hour in making the +decorations--roses and lilies fashioned from tissue paper to closely +copy nature; gilded walnuts; painted paper butterflies; pink sugar +hearts, and cornucopias of gilt and silver paper, in each of which was a +bunch of real flowers--roses, violets, carnations, and daisies, ordered +by Jack Sherrill from New York. On the topmost branch, there was a +waxen Christ-child. The tree was lighted by dozens of tiny colored +candles. When the door was opened from the living-room, and the +children caught sight of the wonderful tree, they held their breath and +whispered to one another. + +But more lovely than the tree in the eyes of the older people were the +radiant faces of the young people and the children. Rose, with clasped +hands, stood gazing up at the Christ-child that crowned the glowing, +glittering mass of dark green. She was wholly unconscious of the many +pairs of eyes that rested upon her in love and admiration. There was +nothing so beautiful in the whole room as the young girl standing there +with earnest blue eyes, raised reverently to the little waxen figure. +Her lips were parted in a half smile; a flush of excitement was on her +cheeks; the white dress set off the exquisite fairness of her skin; the +shining crown of golden-brown hair, that hung in a heavy braid to within +a foot of the hem of her gown, caught the soft lights above her and +formed almost a halo about the face. + +Suddenly there was a burst of admiration from the children, and, under +cover of it, Doctor Heath turned to Mr. Clyde, who was standing beside +him:-- + +"By heavens, John! That girl is too beautiful; she will make some +hearts ache before she is many years older, as well as your own +Hazel--look at _her_ now!" + +The father's eyes rested lovingly, but thoughtfully, on the graceful +little figure that was busy distributing the cornucopias with their +fragrant contents. Yes, she, too, was beautiful, giving promise of +still greater beauty. He turned to the Doctor and held out his hand:-- + +"Richard, I have to thank you for this transformation." + +"No--not me," said the Doctor, earnestly, "but," pointing to Mrs. +Blossom, "that woman there, John. Hazel needed the mother-love, just as +much as Jack does at this moment." + +Jack had turned away when the Doctor began to speak of Rose, and, +joining her, said, "Won't you wear one of my roses just to-night, Miss +Blossom?" + +"Your roses! Why, did you give us all those lovely flowers?" + +"Yes, I wanted to contribute my share, and flowers seemed the most +appropriate offering just for to-night." + +"They 're lovely," said Rose, caressing the exquisite petals of a La +France beauty. "Of course I 'll wear one--" she tucked one into her +belt; "but why--why!--has n't anyone else roses?" She looked about +inquiringly. + +"No,--the roses were for their namesake," said Jack, quietly. + +Rose laughed merrily,--a pleased, girlish laugh. "Then won't the giver +of the roses call their namesake, 'Rose'?--for the sake of the roses?" +she added mischievously. + +Now Jack Sherrill had seen many girls--silly girls, flirty girls, +sensible girls, charming girls, smart girls, nice girls, and horrid +girls, and flattered himself he knew every species of the genus, but +just this once he was puzzled. If Rose Blossom had been an arrant flirt, +she could not have answered him more effectively; yet Jack had decided +that she had too earnest a nature to descend to flirting. Somehow, that +word could never be applied to Rose Blossom--"My Rose," he said to +himself, and knew with a kind of a shock when he said it, that he was +very far gone. But in the next breath, he had to confess to himself +that he had "been very far gone" many a time in his twenty-one years, so +perhaps it did not signify. + +Indeed, in the next minute, he was sure it did not signify, for, before +he could gather his wits sufficiently to reply to her, Rose had slipped +away to the other side of the room, where she was busying herself in +fastening one of Jack's roses into the buttonhole of Alan Ford's Tuxedo. +In consequence of which, Jack turned his batteries upon Ruth Ford with +such effect, that she declared afterwards to her mother he was one of +the most fascinating _young_ men--for Ruth was twenty-one!--she had ever +met. + +Mrs. Ford and Hazel and Mr. Ford had done their best to persuade Chi to +remain with them for the tree. Even Rose urged--but in vain. True, the +girls had insisted upon his taking one look, then he had begged off, +saying, as he patted Hazel's hand that lay on his arm: + +"Not to-night, Lady-bird. I don't feel to home in there. I 'll sit out +here and hear the music, then I can beat time with my foot if I want +to." He remained in the hall, just outside the living-room door, +enjoying all he heard. + +First there was a lovely piano duet, an Hungarian waltz by Brahms, Mrs. +Ford and the grave, quiet son playing with such a perfect understanding +of each other, as well as of the music, that it proved a delight to all +present. Then there was a carol by all the children, Rose leading, and +Mrs. Ford playing the accompaniment: + + "'Cheery old Winter! merry old Winter! + Laugh, while with yule-wreath thy temples are bound; + Drain the spiced bowl now, cheer thy old soul now, + "Christmas _waes hael_!" pledge the holy toast round. + Broach butt and barrel, with dance and with carol + Crown we old Winter of revels the king; + And when he is weary of living so merry, + He 'll lie down and die on the green lap of Spring. + Cheery old Winter! merry old Winter! + He 'll lie down and die on the green lap of Spring!'" + + +This won great applause, and a loud thumping could be heard in the hall. +Jack went out to try his powers of persuasion with Chi, and found him +sitting close to the door with one knee over the other and a La France +rose (!) in his buttonhole. + +"Come in, Chi, do." + +"Ruther 'd sit here." + +"Oh, come on." + +"Nope." + +Jack laughed at the decided tone. "Where did you get this?" he asked, +touching the boutonniere. + +"Rose-pose," answered Chi, laconically, but with a happy smile. + +"Out of her bunch?" + +"Nope--took it out of her belt," said Chi, with a curious twist of his +mouth. + +Jack went back crestfallen, and Chi smiled. + +"I 'm afraid I cut him out, just for once; kind of rough on him, but 't +won't hurt him any to have a change. He 's had his own way a little too +much," said Chi to himself. + +Again there was music, a Schubert serenade, with the two violins, and +after that, the children begged Hazel to dance the Highland Fling as she +did once in the barn. Hazel, nothing loath, borrowed a blue Liberty-silk +scarf from Ruth Ford; the rugs being removed and Alan Ford tuning his +violin, she made her curtsy, and, entering heart and body into the +spirit of the thing, danced like thistle-down shod with joyousness. + +It was a pretty sight! and Chi edged into the room, while the company +made believe ignore him in order to induce him to remain there; but when +the singing began, he slipped out again. Such singing! Everybody +joined in it. They sang everything;--"Oh, where, tell me where, is your +Highland laddie gone?";--"Star-spangled Banner";--"Marching +Along";--"John Anderson, my Jo";--"Ye banks and braes o' Bonnie +Doon";--"Twinkle, twinkle, little star";--"Annie Laurie";--"A +grasshopper sat on a sweet-potato vine";--"Ben Bolt";--"Fair Harvard" +and, finally, "Old Hundred." + +It had been arranged that Mr. Blossom should take his wife and the +younger children home in the pung; the rest were to walk. Chi, +meanwhile, had driven home in the single sleigh. + +On the walk home Jack tried what he had been apt to term--of course, to +himself--his "confidential scheme" with Rose. He had tried it before +with many another, and it had never failed to work. The thought of one +of his roses in Alan Ford's buttonhole still rankled, and the best side +of Jack's manhood was not on the surface when he entered upon the +homeward walk. + +"Miss Blossom,"--somehow Jack had not quite the courage to say "Rose," +although he had been so frankly invited to--"I want to tell you why I +came up here; it must have seemed almost an intrusion." + +[Illustration: "'I want to tell you why I came up here'"] + +"Oh, no, indeed," said Rose, earnestly, "and I know why you came; Hazel +told me." + +"Oh, she did," said Jack, rather inanely, and a little uncertain as to +his footing, figuratively speaking; for he had given her the chance to +ask "Why?"--and she had n't taken it; in which she proved herself +different from all those other girls of his acquaintance. To himself he +thought, "Well, for all the cordial indifference, commend me to this +girl." + +"Yes, I 'm sure it would have seemed like anything but Christmas to you +in New York with your father in Europe; you must miss him so." + +Jack felt himself blush in the moonlight at the remembrance that he had +seen his father but little in the last three years, and did not know +what it was in reality to miss him. He never remembered to have missed +anything or anybody but his mother, and that indefinite something in his +life which he had not yet put himself earnestly to seek. + +"I suppose you 'll be shocked, Miss Blossom, but I don't really miss my +father. I 'm only awfully glad to see him when I get the chance--which +is n't often. He 's such a busy man with railroads and syndicates and +real estate interests. I wonder often how he can find time to write me +even twice a month, which he has done regularly ever since--" he stopped +abruptly. + +"Since what?" asked Rose, innocently. + +"Since my mother died," said Jack, in a hard, dry voice that served to +cover his feeling. + +"Yes," Rose nodded sympathetically, "Hazel told me." Then--for Rose's +love for her own mother was something bordering on adoration--she said +softly, under her breath, but with her whole heart in her voice; "Oh, I +don't see how you could bear it--how you can live without her!" + +"I don't," Jack replied with a break in his voice, "not really live, you +know. I've always felt it, but never realized it until last night, when +I stood out on the veranda and looked in at the window at you--all. +Then I knew I 'd been hungry for that sort of thing for the last seven +years--" + +Now Rose's heart was swelling with pity for the loneliness of the tall, +young fellow swinging along beside her, and at once her inner eyes were +opened to see a, to her, startling fact. She turned suddenly towards +him. + +"Is that why you kissed Martie last night, and came up here to us?" she +demanded rather breathlessly. + +"Yes;" Jack had forgotten his scheme, and was in dead earnest now. + +"Then," cried Rose, impulsively--but at the same time thinking, "I don't +care if he is engaged to that Miss Seaton"--"I hope you 'll come to us +whenever you feel like it; for," she added earnestly, "I 'm beginning to +understand what Chi means when he talks about Hazel's being poor and our +being rich, and--and I 'd love to share mine with you." + +"You 're awfully good," said Jack, rather awkwardly for him; for, +suddenly, in the presence of this young girl, as yet unspoiled by the +world, he realized that Life was dependent upon something other than +polo and club theatricals, railroad syndicates and Newport casinos, +stocks and bonds and marketable real estate. + +Jack was young, and the moonlight was transfiguring the face that, +framed in a white, knitted hood, was turned towards him full of a frank, +loving sympathy for him in his "poverty."---And, seeing it, Jack +suddenly braced himself as if to meet some shock, thinking, as he strode +along in silence, "Oh, I 'm gone!--for good and all this time." + +Rose, a little surprised at the prolonged silence, welcomed the sound of +sleigh-bells behind them. + +"Why, that's Chi!" she exclaimed. "I thought he was at home long before +this. I 'm sure he left long before we did. Where have you been, Chi?" +she called so soon as the sleigh was within hailing distance. + +"I 've been Chris'musin'," said Chi. "It ain't often you get just such +a night on the Mountain as this, and I 've made the most of it. Can I +give you a lift?" + +"No, thank you, Chi, we 're almost home," said Rose. + +"Well, then I 'd better be gettin' along--it's pretty near +midnight--chk, Bob--" And Chi drove away down the Mountain, chuckling +to himself: + +"Ain't a-goin' to give myself away before no city chap that has cut me +out as he has. George Washin'ton! When I peeked into the window 'n' saw +Marier-Ann sittin' there in front of that kitchen table with all those +presents on it, 'n' the little spruce set up so perky in the middle of +'em, 'n' she a-wearin' a great handful of those red, spice pinks in her +bosom, 'n' her cheeks to match 'em, 'n' her eyes a-shinin'--I knew he 'd +come it over me; he 'd made the first call, 'n' given her the first +posies. Guess I won't crow over him after this." Chi undid his +greatcoat, and bent his face until his nose rested upon Jack's rose:-- + +"It ain't touched yet, but it's a stinger; must be twenty below, now." +Suddenly Chi gave a loud exclamation: "I must be a fool!--I 've broken +one of the N.B.B.O.O. rules not to be afraid of anything, and did n't +dare to give my posy to Marier-Ann!--Anyhow, she don't know I was goin' +to give it to her, so I need n't feel so cheap about it--Go-long, Bob!" + + + + + XVIII + + BUDD'S PROPOSAL + + +Before Mr. Clyde and Jack left the next day, Budd sought an opportunity +to interview the latter on a subject, that, for a few weeks past, had +been occupying many of his thoughts. The applause, with which his +Christmas-day toast had been greeted, had encouraged him to seek an +occasion for acquiring more definite knowledge on a subject which lay +near his heart. It came when Jack was packing his dress-suit case in +the guest chamber. + +There was a knock on the half-opened door. + +"Come in," said Jack, and Budd made his appearance. + +"Halloo, Budd! What can I do for you? Any commissions in New York, or +Boston?" + +"Don't know what you mean by commissions," replied Budd, cautiously, +thrusting both hands deep into the pockets of his knickerbockers, and +spreading his sturdy legs to a wide V. + +"Anything I can buy with that hen-and-jam money you helped to earn?--you +did well, Budd, on that. I congratulate you." + +"I have n't any of that money left. You see, we voted to give it to +March to go to college with. But I 've got two quarters an' a +dollar--Christmas presents, you know; an' that 'll do, won't it?" he +asked rather anxiously. + +"Well, that depends on what you buy," said Jack, with due seriousness. + +"You 'll keep mum, Mr. Sherrill, if I tell you?" said Budd, inquiringly. + +"Mum's the word, if you say so, Budd; out with it." + +"Well, I want two things; one thing to make me feel grown up, an' I 've +wanted it for a year." + +"What's that, Budd?" asked Jack, immensely amused at Budd's swelling +manhood--"A pair of long trousers?" + +"No--" Budd hesitated for a moment, then went on in rather an aggrieved +tone; "I hate to wear waists with buttons; it's just like a baby, an' a +fellow can't feel grown up when he has to button everything on. I want +to hitch things up the way March an' Chi do, an' I want you to buy me a +shirt like that one you 're rolling up--only not flannel,--with a flap, +you know, to tuck in." + +"Oh, that's it, is it?" said Jack, endeavoring to keep his face and +voice from betraying his inward amusement. "Well, I think you can get +one for seventy-five cents--plain or striped?" + +"I like those narrow blue striped ones like yours best," he replied, +pointing to one of Jack's. + +"Like mine it shall be, Budd; but you 'll want a pair of suspenders, or +there 'll be too much hitching to be agreeable to you." + +"March has an old pair, an' I 'm going to borrow them." + +"That's an idea; now, what's the second thing?" + +"A ring." + +"A ring?" Jack looked amazed. + +Budd nodded. + +"For yourself?" Jack questioned further. + +"No--for somebody else." + +"Do you mean a finger ring?" + +Budd nodded again emphatically. + +"Engagement?" laughed Jack, at last, the fun getting the better of him. + +Budd's mouth puckered into solemnity; "No--wedding." + +Jack gave up the packing, and sat down, shaken with laughter, on the +first convenient chair. + +"Pardon me for laughing, Budd, but I can't help it. What do you want of +a wedding ring? Is it for that 'first wife' of yours you toasted +yesterday at dinner?" + +Budd nodded again. "I don't see anything to laugh at," he said, with a +reproachful glance. "You would n't if you was me." + +"No, I don't think I should; you 're right there, Budd," he replied, +sobering suddenly after his outburst of laughter. "When is the wedding +to be?" + +Budd looked thoughtful. "I have n't proposed yet," was his +matter-of-fact answer. + +"Well, why don't you?" Jack, sinner that he was, scented some fun at +Budd's expense. + +"I 'm going to when I know how," said Budd, humbly. + +"Why don't you take lessons?" suggested Jack. + +"I have." + +"Of whom?" + +"Chi." + +Jack shouted. "What did Chi say?" he demanded when he had regained his +breath. + +"He said if he wanted to marry a girl, he 'd say what he wanted to--tell +'em he was fond of 'em." + +"'Fond of them'--hm," repeated Jack, thoughtfully. + +"What do _you_ say?" questioned Budd, turning the tables rather suddenly +on Jack. + +"I don't say--never said," replied Jack, shortly. + +"That's what Chi said. He said if I begun early I 'd find out how." + +"You seem to be on the right road for it." + +"Would you say 'fond of her'?" persisted Budd. + +"Yes, I think I should," Jack replied with a peculiar smile; "but, of +course, it would depend on the girl." + +"Why, that's just what Chi said!" + +"He did, did he!" Jack laughed; "Chi knows a thing or two." + +"But I thought you 'd know more." Budd's face began to wear a puzzled +look. + +Just then Jack heard Rose's voice in the long-room asking where Mr. +Sherrill was, and the sound brought home to him a realizing sense of the +fact that there was but an hour before they left for the station, and +every moment too precious to be wasted on Budd. Rising, and proceeding +with his packing, he said with perfect seriousness:-- + +"Well, Budd, all I can say is, that if I were going to ask a girl to +marry me, I should ask her if she thought enough of me to take me with +all my imperfections and--" + +"Where are you, Jack?" called Hazel, at the foot of the stairs; "Chi has +to go an hour earlier than he said, and the sleigh is at the door." + +In the hurry of Jack's good-byes and departure, the sentence was never +finished, and the ring forgotten by him. But Budd remembered. + +He was a sturdy little chap, broad of shoulder, strong of limb. His +sandy red hair bristled straight up from his full forehead. His pale +blue eyes, with thick reddish-brown lashes, were round and serious. His +nose was a freckled pug, and his small mouth puckered, when he was very +much in earnest, to the size of a buttonhole. From the time he had +championed Hazel's coming to them, nearly a year ago, he had never +wavered in his allegiance to her, and in his small-boy way showed her +his entire devotion. Hazel had been so grateful to him for his +whole-souled welcome of her, that she took pains to make his boy's heart +happy in every way she could. + +For Hazel, Budd was never in the way; never asked too many questions for +her patience; never teased her beyond endurance. He found in her a +ready listener, a good sympathizer, a capital playmate, and a loving +girl-friend, who reproved him sometimes and, at others, praised him. +What wonder that his ten-year-old heart had warmed towards her with its +first boy-love? and that in his manly, practical way, he made of her an +ideal? + +"I love Hazel, and when I am big enough, I shall marry her," was what he +said to himself whenever he stopped his play long enough to think about +it at all. Naturally it seemed the wisest thing to tell her this when +he should find the opportunity, and at the same time recall the fact. + +Fortified by the testimony of Chi and Jack, he bided his time. + +One Saturday afternoon in January, Rose said suddenly to Hazel: "I wish +I could do some of the things that you do, Hazel." Hazel looked up from +her book in surprise. + +"What can I do that you can't do, Rose?" + +"You dance so beautifully, and I 've always wanted to know how. I feel +so awkward when I see you dance the Highland Fling." + +"Is that all?" Hazel laughed a happy laugh. "I can teach you to dance +as easy as anything, if you 'll let me." + +"Let you!" Rose exclaimed, flushing with pleasure; "just you try me and +see. But where can we practise?" + +"Oh, out in the barn," cried Hazel. "It'll be lots of fun; of course, +it's awfully cold, but the skipping about will keep us warm. I 'll tell +you what--I 'll play on the violin, and you and March and Budd and +Cherry can learn square dances first." + +"What fun!" said Rose. + +"What's the joke?" asked March, coming in at that moment with Budd and +Cherry. + +"We 're going to have a dance in the barn; Hazel's going to teach us. +She says she can do it easy enough." + +"Oh, bully!" Budd threw up his tam-o'-shanter, and Cherry, attempting +to charge up and down the long-room as she had seen Hazel at the Fords', +tripped on the rug and fell her length. When March had picked her up +she rubbed her nose, which was growing decidedly pink, and sniffed a +little, then asked suddenly:-- + +"Who 's going to be my partner? They always have partners in the story +books." + +"Sure enough," Rose laughed. "Whatever will we do, Hazel?" + +"I never thought of that," said Hazel, ruefully. "Of course, it takes +eight." + +"Why can't we have chairs for partners?" said Cherry. "We can bow to +them just as if they were alive, and make them move round, can't we?" + +They all laughed at Cherry's inspiration. + +"You 're a brick, Cherry Bounce?" said March, approvingly. "All choose +your partners!" And, thereupon, he seized one of the kitchen chairs, +and the rest followed his example. Hazel took her violin, and hooded +and mittened and coated and mufflered, they trooped out to the barn, +each lugging a wooden chair. + +"Now I 'll give you the first four changes," said Hazel, illustrating, +as well as she could in trying to be two couples at once, the first +movements. "Form your square and get ready." + +They obeyed with alacrity, and Hazel drew her bow across the strings. + +"All curtsy to your partners!" she shouted, and the chair-partners +received a bow, and, in turn, were made to thump the floor by being laid +over on their backs, and righted suddenly. + +"First couple forward and back!" shouted Hazel, and away went Rose +dragging her chair after her to meet March and his +chair--thumpity-thump--thumpity-thump. + +They were in dead earnest, and the chairs were made to behave in a most +human way. + +All went well until they came to the Grand Right and Left; then there +arose such a medley of shrieks of laughter, wild wails from the violin, +thumps from sixteen chair-legs, and stampings from eight human ones as +was never heard before. In a few minutes all was inextricable +confusion, and the noise might have been best compared to a Medicine +Dance among the Sioux Indians. + +Upon this scene Mr. Blossom and Chi, on their return from the wood, +looked with amazement. + +"They seem to be havin' a regular pow-wow," Chi remarked dryly, as the +exhausted dancers and musician sat down, panting for breath, on their +wooden partners. "Rose-pose is about as young as any of 'em--but it +beats all, how she's shootin' up into womanhood." + +"She 's no longer my little Rosebud Blossom," said her father, rather +sadly. "I dread the time when the birds begin to fly from the nest, and +I see it coming with March and Rose." + +Just then Rose caught sight of her father, and ran to him linking her +arm in his. "We 've had such fun, father! We 're learning to dance; you +must be my partner sometime, for Hazel's going to teach us the +schottische next." + +Rose never forgot the look of love her father gave her, nor the feel of +his hand as he laid it on her hooded head: "Be my little Rose-pose, as +long as you can, dear; you 're growing up too fast." + +She recalled afterwards that this first dance in the barn marked the +last time that she abandoned herself to the children's fun with a girl's +careless heart. + +The winter twilight was fast closing about the Mountain and the children +just returning to the house, when Chi went out to milk. Leaving his +lantern, stool, and pails in the first stall, he entered the third one +to tie one of the cows to a shorter stanchion. Before he had finished +he heard Budd's voice, and, looking over the partition, saw him standing +with Hazel in the circle of light about the lantern. In another minute +he began to feel like an eavesdropper. + +"What did you want me to come here for, Budd?" said Hazel, dancing on +the barn floor to warm her feet. + +"I want to tell you something," said Budd, blowing on his cold fingers. + +"Well, hurry up and tell; it's simply freezing here. Is it a secret?" + +"Kinder," replied Budd, blowing harder; then, suddenly ceasing the +bellows movement, he drew a step nearer to Hazel, and, putting the tips +of his pudgy fingers together to make a triangle, he puckered his mouth +solemnly and said, looking up at her with earnest eyes:-- + +"I 'm very fond of you." + +Hazel laughed merrily. "Why, of course you are, you funny boy; you 've +always been fond of me, have n't you? I 'm sure I 've always been fond +of you. Is _that_ what you kept me out here in the cold to say?" + +"Not all;" Budd nodded seriously. "I 'm very fond of you, an'--an' if +you 'll take me with all my perfections--I think that's the way it +goes--if I have n't got the ring yet, it will be just the same, you +know." He paused, and in the circle of light Chi could see the entire +earnestness of his attitude. + +"Goodness me, Budd! What do you mean about rings and things?" + +"I want to marry you when I 'm big--an' I thought I 'd speak 'fore +anyone else did to get ahead of 'em." Budd hastened to explain, as +Hazel showed signs of impatience. + +"Oh, is that all!" Hazel breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought +something was the matter with you. Why, of course you 're fond of me, +Budd; but I could n't marry you, for I 'm older than you, you know." + +"I never thought of that," said Budd, beginning to blink rather +suspiciously, "I thought--" + +"Now, look here, Budd," said Hazel, in a business-like way; "I think +everything of you, too, and I 'll tell you what you can be--" + +"What?" interrupted Budd, eagerly, balancing himself on the tips of his +toes. + +"My knight!" said Hazel, triumphantly, "and wear my colors. I 'll give +you a bow of crimson ribbon--I 'm Harvard, you know--and you must wear +it till you die. And I have a white kid party glove I 'll give you, too, +and that will mean I 'm your lady-love, and it will be just like the +days of chivalry, you know we were reading about them the other day." + +"And you won't mind about the ring?" queried Budd, rather wistfully. + +"Not a bit--a glove is much nicer than a ring, and--" + +"Moo--oo--oo--" came from the next stall. + +"Oh, goodness gracious! How that made me jump. I 'm not going to stay +out here another minute; so come along if you 're coming"--and the +knight meekly followed his lady-love into the house. + + + + + XIX + + A YEAR AND A DAY + + +"It seems queer to settle down the way we have, ever since Christmas. +We had such fun up to that time." Hazel heaved a long sigh as she +wrestled with her Latin and the Third Conjugation. + +Rose looked up from her Cicero and smiled at the bored expression on +Hazel's face. "I know, Latin is awfully dull at first, but when you can +read it, you 'll like it. If only you could hear Cicero give this +horrid Catiline--the old traitor--'Hail Columbia' as March says, you +could n't help liking Latin. Then, too, if we had n't settled down, +where would my French have been?" + +But Hazel still pouted a little. "I wish papa had n't wanted me to +study at all this winter--I don't see why, when Doctor Heath is always +talking about its 'effect on my health--'" + +She was interrupted by a merry laugh. Rose threw down her Cicero, +caught away the grammar from Hazel, and, seizing her by the hand, drew +her into the little bedroom. Then, taking her by the shoulders, she +whirled her about until she faced the small looking-glass. + +"There!" she exclaimed, still laughing, "look at that face before you +talk about any 'effect on your health.'" + +Hazel looked at the reflection in the mirror, and smiled in spite of +herself. What a contrast to what she was a year ago! For to-morrow +would be St. Valentine's day. There were real American Beauty roses on +her cheeks; the dark eyes were full of sparkling life; the +chestnut-brown hair fell in heavy curls upon her shoulders. She had +grown tall, too, but rounded in the process, and the healthful, bodily +exercise had given her grace of carriage--she was straight as an arrow, +and as lithe as a willow wand. + +"Perhaps I shall feel more interest when Miss Alton is here, for she is +a regular teacher. When is she coming, Rose?" + +"The very last of the month, when the spring term opens. It's our turn +to have the district-school teacher board with us, and I 've never liked +it before. But now I can't wait for Miss Alton to come. I think she 's +lovely." + +"She is n't half as lovely as you are, Rose," said Hazel, turning +suddenly from the glass, in which she had been scrutinizing her +reflection, and giving Rose an unexpected squeeze and a hearty kiss. "I +think you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen, I heard Doctor +Heath say so; and--I told Jack so on Christmas night." + +"I 'll warrant he did n't agree with you," said Rose, with a pleased +smile. "You forget Miss Seaton." + +"I know." Hazel shook her head dubiously. "He did n't say a word to me +about you--I don't care if he did n't, Rose-pose, you 're worth all the +Maude Seatons in the world, and I 'd give anything to have you for my +real cousin instead of her, if only Jack--" + +"I don't know what you are talking about, Hazel," said Rose, +interrupting her shortly and sharply. + +"And I don't know why you are speaking to me in that tone, Rose +Blossom," retorted Hazel, both angry and hurt. "I 've said nothing I 'm +ashamed of, and I shall say it whenever I choose and to whomever I +please, so now." She flung out of the room, but not before Rose had +laid a firm hand upon her shoulder. + +"Hazel Clyde, if ever you speak of that again to anyone, I 'll break +friendship with you, see if I don't." + +"Break then," Hazel twitched her shoulder from under the detaining hand. +"I 'll speak whenever I choose. I only said I thought you were the most +beautiful girl I had ever seen, and I wished that you were going to be +my real cousin, instead of Miss Seaton, and you need n't get mad just +because Jack does n't happen to think as I do--" + +"Hazel Clyde!" Rose stamped her foot, "don't you speak another word to +me; I 'll not hear it." Rose stuffed both fingers into her ears, and +beat an ignominious retreat to her own room, where she shut herself in, +and was invisible until tea-time. + +The family were late in sitting down to the table, for Mrs. Blossom +wanted to wait for Chi, who had driven down to Barton's River to take +Mr. Blossom to the train, and had arranged to bring March home with him. + +It was seven already. "We won't wait any longer, children," said Mrs. +Blossom. "Something must have detained Chi. Budd, you may say 'grace' +to-night?" she added as she took her seat. + +Budd looked up in amazement. "Why, Martie, Rose is here and you +always--" + +"That will do, Budd," said his mother, quietly, ignoring the flame that +shot up to the roots of Rose's hair, and the cool look of indifference +on Hazel's face. Budd folded his pudgy hands and repeated reverently +the words he had heard father, or mother, or sister say ever since he +could remember. Scarcely had he finished when Tell's deep note of +welcome sounded somewhere from the road, and the sleigh-bells rang out +on the still air. + +"There they are!" cried Cherry. "May I go to meet them?" + +"Yes--but put your cape over you, it's so chilly to-night." + +In a minute Cherry was back again, every single curl bobbing with +excitement. + +"Oh, Martie! Chi's bringing in something all done up in the buffalo +robe, and March won't tell me what it is." + +She was followed by March, who walked up to his mother, put both arms +about her and gave her a quiet kiss. + +"There, little Mother Blossom, is my valentine for you," he said +half-shyly, half-proudly, and placed in her hands his first term's +report and a set of books. + +"Oh, March, my dear boy!" said his mother, rising from the table and +placing both hands on the broad, square shoulders of her six foot +specimen of youth, "I 'm afraid I 'm getting too proud of you. _Did_ +you get the first Latin prize?" + +"You bet I did, Martie." March's rare smile illumined his face. "There +is n't another fellow at Barton's, who can boast of such a mother as I +have, and I was n't going to let any second-class mothers read those +books before you did. By Cicky!" (which was March's favorite name for +the famous orator)--"But I 've worked like a Turk, and I 'm hungry as a +Russian bear. Why, Rose, what's the matter with you? You look awfully +glum, and Hazel, too. Here comes Chi; he's bringing something that will +cheer you up. The truth is, mother, these girls miss _me_." + +"Indeed, I do, March?" said Hazel, looking straight up into his eyes and +showing the amazed lad tears trembling in her own. + +"Guess there 'll be some breakin' of hearts, this year, Mis' Blossom." +Chi's cheery voice was welcome to them all for some unknown reason. He +came in loaded with huge pasteboard boxes. + +"Your arms will break first, Chi," said Mrs. Blossom, hastening with +March to relieve him. + +"It ain't the heft of 'em, it's the bulk. Valentines are generally +pretty light weight. Romancin' 'n' sentiment don't count for much, +nowadays, though they take up considerable room." He deposited the last +box on the settle. "'N' there's a whole parcel of things come by mail. +I ain't looked at the superscribin's--you read 'em out, Rose-pose." + +Rose read the addresses; there was more than one missive for each member +of the family. + +"Let's have supper, first, mother," said March, "then, after the table +is cleared, we can sit round and guess who they 're from." + +This proposition was welcomed by Budd and Cherry. Rose and Hazel gave a +cordial assent, but there was a frigidity in the atmosphere which the +outside temperature did not warrant. Chi and March were aware of this +so soon as they entered the room, and Mrs. Blossom had known it the +moment she saw the girls' faces at the table. She thought it not wise to +interfere, but let matters straighten themselves in good time. She felt +she could trust them both to see things in their right light, without +the aid of her mental glasses. + +"Now let's begin," said Chi, rubbing his hands in glee as, directly +after supper, he piled the boxes on the table while March laid the +envelopes in their proper places before each member of the family. +"This top one says 'Miss Hazel Clyde.' Show us your valentine, +Ladybird." + +"They 're violets--from Jack, I know. He always sends them. What's +yours, Rose?" She spoke rather indifferently. + +"Oh, roses!" Rose was having the first look all to herself. "The +loveliest things I have ever seen. Look, Martie!" Rose held up the +mass of exquisite bloom, and the children oh'ed and ah'ed at the sight. + +"They 're from Mr. Sherrill," said Rose, trying to speak in a most +common-place tone, but, in her excitement, failing signally. + +"They are lovely," Hazel remarked, shooting an indignant glance at Rose. +"They're just like the ones he sent Miss Seaton last year, only they +were formed into a great heart. Papa gave me one just like it; he got +his idea from Jack." + +Rose suddenly put down the flowers, in which she had buried her face to +inhale their fragrance, as if something had stung her. + +"Mr. Sherrill is very impartial with his favors," she said in a tone +that increased the pervading chill of the domestic atmosphere. + +"Why, Rose!" exclaimed Mrs. Blossom. "It is not like you to receive a +favor so ungraciously; you 've never had flowers sent you before, and I +'m sure you would never have them again if the donor could witness your +reception of them." + +"I don't care for them again, thank you." Rose retorted with flaming +cheeks; "I 'd give more for this of yours, Chi--" she opened a huge +yellow envelope, and took from it a scarlet cardboard heart, with a +small, white, artificial rose glued to the centre and a gilt paper arrow +transfixing both rose and heart. + +Chi hemmed rather awkwardly, thinking: "Beats the Dutch what's got into +Rose-pose to-night. I ain't ever known her to treat a livin' soul so +shabby as that in all her life. Beats all what gets into women 'n' +girls, sometimes; when a feller thinks he's doin' 'em just the best turn +he knows how, they up 'n' get mad with him, 'n' turn the cold shoulder, +'n' upset things generally." But aloud he said: + +"I 'm glad it pleases you, Rose. Can't most always tell when it's goin' +to please a girl or not. I suppose Jack, now, thought you 'd be tickled +to get those posies just in the dead of winter. They don't grow round +here on our bushes. What's in the other box?" + +"Why!" Hazel exclaimed, laughing rather half-heartedly, "it's addressed +to 'Miss Maria-Ann Simmons'--and just look, Mother Blossom! See what +that dear old Jack has sent her! He's just too dear for anything." She +added emphatically;--"I 'd like to give him a kiss for thinking of that +poor girl all alone over there on the Mountain. I don't believe she +ever had a valentine before. Look! Oh, look!" + +She took out of the many layers of wadding a mass of yellow tulips, +their closed golden cups shining in the lamp-light as if gilded by +sunbeams. + +"Sho!" was all Chi said, leaning nearer to examine the beautiful +blossoms. + +"You 'll take them over in the morning, early, won't you, Chi?" said +Hazel, replacing them. + +"First thing, Lady-bird; guess you 're right, Rose, about that young +feller's bein' 'n all-round man with his favors. Don't seem to be much +choice between you and Marier-Ann, 'n' that Miss Seaver. Kind of a +toss-up, hey, Rose-pose?" + +But Rose was too busy with another package to answer Chi. She grew +wildly enthusiastic over the calla lilies that Alan Ford had sent her, +and caressed their white envelopes, and praised their pure loveliness, +until Hazel, growing jealous for poor Jack and his discarded gift, rose +to put the neglected beauties in water, saying as she did so: + +"I 'm sure, Rose, if Jack had known you cared so much for lilies, he +would have sent you some Easter ones, they 're out now. I 'll tell him +to next time." + +"Hazel!" Rose burst forth indignantly, "do you mean to tell me you told +Mr. Sherrill to send me these flowers for a valentine?" + +Then Hazel, stung by the tone and the words, yielded to temptation--for +it had been the last straw. "What if I did?" she said with irritating +calm, "he 's my cousin. I suppose I can say what I choose to him." + +Rose answered never a word; but, rising, took the La France roses from +the pitcher in which Hazel had just placed them, and, going over to the +fireplace, deliberately cast the mass of delicate pink bloom into the +fire. + +Mrs. Blossom looked both puzzled and shocked; this was wholly unlike +Rose. What could it mean? The children were too awed by the proceeding +to speak or exclaim. March looked gravely at Hazel, who burst into +tears--it was such an insult to Jack!--and rushed into her bedroom and +shut the door. + +"I 'm going to bed; good-night, Martie," said Rose, quietly, after she +had watched the last leaf shrivel in the flame, and, kissing her mother, +she lighted her candle and went upstairs. Mrs. Blossom, following her +with her eyes, felt that she had lost her "little Rose" in that hour. + +March looked grave, complained of feeling tired, and said he would go to +bed, too, as to-morrow was the last day of school and there were two +more examinations to take. Budd and Cherry kissed their mother twice, +bade her good-night in suppressed tones and crept upstairs. "It's just +as if somebody was sick in the house," said Cherry, in an awed voice. +Budd's was sepulchral:-- + +"It's just as if somebody was dead and all the flowers had come for the +funeral." + +Across the dining-room table, loaded with boxes and brilliant with +valentines, Chi looked at Mrs. Blossom, and Mrs. Blossom looked at Chi. +The whole affair was so incomprehensible, and the result so painfully +disagreeable, that, for a while, they found no words with which to give +expression to their feelings. Chi broke the silence:-- + +"Well! I wish I was one of those clairivoyants they tell about, 'n' +could kind of see into the meanin' of this flare-up of Rose-pose's. +Don't seem natural for Rose to go flyin' off at a tangent that way. +What's she got against him, anyway? He 's about as likely as you 'll +find. Beats me!" Chi leaned both elbows on the table, unmindful that +he was crushing some of the flowers, sank his chin in the palms of his +hands and thought hard for full a minute. + +"I know Hazel and Rose have had some little trouble this afternoon--the +first quarrel they have had--but Rose is too old to allow herself to +lose her control in that way. I can't imagine what made her--" Mrs. +Blossom broke off suddenly, for Chi had raised his head and sent such a +look of intelligence across the table, handing her, as he did so, Jack +Sherrill's card, which Rose in her confusion had neglected to read, +that, in a flash, something of the truth was revealed to Mrs. Blossom. + +She took the card. On the back was written, enclosed in quotation +marks:-- + + "For I am thine + Whilst the stars shall shine, + To the last--to the last." + + +"O Chi!" was all Mary Blossom said; but the tears filled her eyes, and, +reaching across the table, her hand was clasped in Chi's strong one. + +"I wish Ben was to home," sighed Chi, so lugubriously that Mrs. Blossom +laughed through her tears. + +"Oh, it is n't so bad as that, Chi. Girls will be girls, and grow up, +and hearts will ache even when we 're young. We won't make too much of +it. I don't understand the ins and outs of it, but I do know Hazel has +said her family thought he was engaged to Miss Seaton. I 'm sure I 've +thought so all along, and it never occurred to me there could be any +danger for Rose under the circumstances. The mere fact of his name being +connected so closely with Miss Seaton's would be a safeguard. Then, +too, I fear he is spoiled by women on account of his riches." + +"I don't know about that Miss Seaver,--but if it's as you say, I kind of +wish Rose could cut her out." + +"Sh-sh, Chi!" said Mrs. Blossom, reprovingly. + +"Well, I do," Chi retorted with some warmth. "She ain't fit to tie +Rose's old berryin' shoes, 'n' I saw her lookin' at her feet that day we +was sellin' berries down to Barton's to the tavern, 'n' snickerin' so +mean like, 'n' Rose just showed her grit--'n' I wish she'd show it again +'n' cut her out. I _do_, by George Washin'ton!" Chi rose up in his +wrath, lighted his lantern, and started for the shed. At the door he +turned:-- + +"I wish Ben was to home," he said again. "There 's goin' to be the +biggest kind of a snow-down before long, 'n' he 'll get blocked on the +road, sure as blazes." + +"He 'll be back in two days, at the most, Chi; I would n't worry." + +"I ain't worryin'; I 'm just sayin' I wish he was to home," repeated +Chi, doggedly, and shut the door. + +Mrs. Blossom smiled. She knew Chi's crotchets. When there was any +disturbance of the family peace, Chi was apt to be depressed, and +sometimes despondent. She put away the flowers in the cold pantry, +smiling as she tied up Maria-Ann's box: + +"He _is_ universal," she said to herself. "I know it irritated Rose to +be classed with her and Miss Seaton; but things will work around right +with time. I can trust to Rose's common-sense.--Not a prayer to-night!" +she added thoughtfully. "Well, we 'll make it up to-morrow." She took +up the prize books. "That dear March! What a manly fellow he is +getting to be--and so handsome. I wonder--" here Mary Blossom checked +herself, laughing softly. "Goodness! if Ben were here what a goose he +would think me--a regular old Mother Goose--" And again she laughed as +she put out the light. + + + + + XX + + SNOW-BOUND + + +They were all on the porch the next morning to see March off. It was +not so very cold, but there was a marked chill in the air and the sky +was leaden. + +"It's my last day, mother, then vacation for two weeks. Hooray!" He +leaped into the saddle, and Fleet reared gently to show her approval. + +"Don't you get out a little earlier to-day, March?" said his mother, +looking up at the leaden sky. "I 'm afraid it's going to snow heavily. +Promise me not to start from Barton's if the storm is a hard one; you +can stay at the inn or at the principal's. I would rather you remained +away from home two days, or over Sunday, than to have you attempt the +Mountain in too severe a storm." + +"I 'll be careful, mother." + +"Better give your promise to your mother, March; she 'll feel better +'bout you 're not startin' out," said Chi. + +"I promise, little Mother Blossom." He threw himself off the horse, and +gave her another kiss; "I would n't go to-day except for the exams.--I +can't miss them." + +"Good luck, dear," said his mother, and her eyes followed the horse and +rider down the Mountain. + +"I 'll go over the first thing 'n' give them posies to Marier-Ann, 'n' +then I 'll make tracks for home, 'n' get my snow-shed up before it +begins to come down." + +"Do you think we shall need it?" + +"Sure 's fate," replied Chi, laconically, and went into the barn to +harness Bess. + +It was noon before Chi had set up his snow-shed, a long, low, wooden +tunnel, which he had manufactured to connect the woodshed door with a +side door of the barn. By means of this he was enabled, in unusually +heavy storms, to communicate with the barn and attend to the stock +without "shovelling out." + +It was about three in the afternoon when the first flakes began to fall, +or rather to "spit," as Chi expressed it, and the snow fell +intermittently and lightly until four, when there was a sudden change of +wind. It veered to the north-east, and blast after blast, charged with +icy particles, hurled itself against the Mountain. Within half an hour +it was almost as dark as at midnight, and the snow swept in drifting +clouds over woodlands and pasture. When the wind ceased for a moment, +white, soft avalanches descended upon farmhouse, barn, and +mountain-road, until, by six o'clock, the road was impassable and the +drifts at the back of the house a foot above the bedroom windows. Chi +had made all snug for the night. + +"This beats anything I ever saw, Mis' Blossom. I 'm mighty glad Ben +ain't comin' home to-day, 'n' that March gave you the promise to stay at +Barton's if it stormed hard." + +"You don't think he would venture to start, do you, Chi?" asked Mrs. +Blossom, trying not to appear anxious for the sake of the others. + +"Bless you, no;" was Chi's hearty response. "March has got too level a +head to risk himself 'n' Fleet in such a storm--it's a regular howler of +a blizzard. If he did start," he added, "he 'd go in somewheres on the +road--he couldn't get far." + +After tea there was no settling down to the cosey evening pastimes or +employments. If such a thing could be, the storm seemed to increase in +severity. The wind struck the house at times with terrific force; the +intermittent drift of snow and ice against the window panes startled the +inmates of the long-room like the rattle of small shot. Chi had put out +the fire in the fireplace before supper, for the wind drove flame and +ashes out into the room. + +Again and again Mrs. Blossom went to the windows--first one then +another, and pressed her face close to the pane; but they were plastered +so thick with snow that her efforts to see into the night were +fruitless. Chi sat by the kitchen stove, which he had filled with wood. +His boots rested on the fender, and, apparently, he was indifferent to +the storm. But, in reality, not the creak of a beam, not the springing +of a board, not an unwonted sound within or without the house escaped +his notice. + +In marked contrast to Chi's apparent apathy was Tell's restlessness. +Since six o'clock he had shown signs of uneasiness. With strides, heavy +and long, the huge beast paced up and down the long-room. Sometimes he +followed Mrs. Blossom to the window, and, sitting down on his haunches +beside her, rested his nose on the window sill and gazed at the whitened +panes. At others he took his stand beside Chi and looked into his face, +their eyes meeting on a level as the man sat and the dog stood. The dog +looked as if he were questioning him dumbly. + +As the evening wore on the dog's pace grew more rapid, more uneven; his +tail waved in a jerky, excited manner. At last he lay down by the shed +door, and, placing his nose on the threshold, gave vent to a long, low, +half-stifled moan. At the sound Chi brought down his heels and the +tipped chair-legs with a thump, and started to his feet. Mrs. Blossom +turned to him with a white face, and Rose cried out:-- + +"Oh, Chi! What is the matter with Tell? He never acted this way +before." + +"Don't know," said Chi, shortly; "dumb beasts are curious creatures. +Guess he don't like the storm. I 'll go out, Mis' Blossom, 'n' see if +the stock 's all right. Kind of looks as if Tell was givin' us a +warnin'." + +"Oh, Chi, don't go through the tunnel now," cried Mrs. Blossom, all the +pent-up anxiety finding expression in her voice. + +Chi manufactured a laugh: "That's all safe, Mis' Blossom. I chained it +and roped it down, both--it can't get away, 'n' the snow can't crush it. +Don't you worry about me. I 'll be back inside of fifteen minutes." He +took his lantern from the shelf over the sink:--"Get up, Tell." The dog +rose, but, as Chi opened the door, he tried to push past him. Chi +crowded him with his leg:--"No you don't, old feller! there ain't room +only for just one of us to-night. Lay down!" + +And Tell lay down, with his nose on his paws, and both nose and paws +pressed close to the crack on the threshold. Another long crescendo +moan, that, at the last, sounded like a sharp wail, filled the +long-room, and Budd and Cherry clung to their mother in terror. + +"You must go to bed, children," said Mrs. Blossom, her face white as the +snow on the window panes, but with a voice of forced calm. "When you +'re asleep, you won't hear all this trouble the storm is raising +to-night." + +"But I don't want to sleep upstairs alone without March, Martie," +protested Budd, trying to be brave, but showing his fear. + +"You can sleep in Hazel's room to-night, Budd, and Cherry can get into +my bed and sleep with me." + +The twins looked relieved. "Oh, that's different, Martie," said Budd, +with a grateful look. Cherry begged for a little cotton wool to stuff +in her ears:--"Then I can't hear Tell and this awful noise." A novel +idea, which Budd at once adopted and put into practice. Their mother +looked relieved when they were safely bestowed in their new quarters. + +About ten minutes afterwards they heard Chi's steps in the shed. Then +the door opened slowly, as he shoved Tell aside. When he entered the +room Mrs. Blossom gave one look at his face. + +"Oh, Chi, what has happened!" She cried out as if hurt. + +Chi's face showed grayish white and drawn in the lamplight. His hand +shook a little as he reached for a second lantern, turning his back on +the three terrified faces. + +"Horse stalled, that's all. Had a tough tussle to get him round, but he +'s all right now." His voice sounded hoarse. + +"Was it Bob or Bess?" asked Rose. + +Chi, without answering, turned quickly to Tell, who was pressing him +nearly off his feet, and at the same time, lashing his tail as if in +fury. + +"What ails you, anyway?" said Chi, roughly. "D' you want to get out?" + +For answer the dog rushed to the front door that opened on the porch, +rose on his hind legs, stemmed his powerful forepaws against the panels +and, throwing back his massive head, sent forth from his deep throat a +roar that seemed to shake the rafters. + +"Mis' Blossom," Chi's voice shook and his hand trembled till the glass +globe of the lantern tinkled in the wire frame, "I 'm goin' to let him +out, 'n' I 'm goin' to follow on--there 's trouble somewhere on the +Mountain, 'n' I 'm goin' to find out where 't is." + +All three cried out, protesting, entreating, praying him to desist. But +Chi shook his head. + +"I tell you I 've _got_ to go, Mary Blossom"--Chi had never called her +that but once before, and Mrs. Blossom, recalling the time, felt her +heart as lead within her--"you're brave,--brave as a woman can be; don't +say nothin', but let me go. Have plenty of hot water 'n' flannels, 'n' +some spirits ready 'gainst I come back--" + +"Lady-bird, give me the dog collar with the bell you gave Tell last +Chris'mus; 'n' Molly Stark, fill your mother's hot water-bag--'n' hurry +up; 'n' Mis' Blossom, give me Ben's brandy flask, he didn't take it with +him." + +Chi, while issuing these orders, was strapping down his trousers over +his long boots; then he poured out a brimming cup of hot water, and +mixed with it some of the brandy from the flask. He put the collar on +Tell, the bell ringing loud and clear with every movement. He opened +the door; the dog bounded out into the night. Chi followed him, a coil +of rope around his neck, a shovel over one shoulder with a lantern +suspended from the handle, and in his hand a second lantern. The +hot-water bag he had put beneath his sweater, and a leathern belt girded +him. + +So equipped he went out into the drifting snows and the night of storm. +The terrified women were left alone. + +"Mother, oh, mother!" cried Rose, wringing her hands, "I know it's +something dreadful; Chi would never look that way." + +Mary Blossom could not answer. Her silence was prayer. It was all of +which she was capable at that time. + +"I don't know what the matter was in the barn, mother," again cried +Rose, in an agony of fear. "Chi did n't tell us all, I 'm sure. Let me +go through the tunnel and find out, do, mother!" + +"Oh, Rose, I can't--I can't!" Mrs. Blossom spoke under her breath. + +"Please, mother. It 's all safe, and the wind has gone down a little +since Chi went; let me go--I can't rest till I do. You can hold the +light at the shed door end and I won't be gone but a minute or two. I +'ll take the dark lantern with me--Oh, mother! do, do--!" + +"Well, Rose, perhaps it's for the best. I 'll watch you through." + +"May I watch, too?" asked Hazel, eagerly. + +"No, dear, I want you to stay here in case the children should wake. +Come, Rose." + +They were gone but a few minutes; then Mrs. Blossom came in followed by +her daughter. The girl's teeth were chattering; she looked blue and +pinched. + +"What did you find, Rose?" Her mother's voice was scarce above a +whisper. + +"_I found Fleet!_" + +The two women sat down on the settle, holding each other close; and the +wind rose again in its fury. + +Wrapping a heavy shawl about her Hazel crept away upstairs to the back +garret and the window overlooking the woods'-road, which formed the +approach to the house. There was a little snow-drift beneath it where +the flakes had sifted through; but the wind was felt less severely on +that side of the house. She opened the window a few inches, propping it +on a corn cob she had stepped upon; then, kneeling, she put her ear to +the opening and strained her hearing in every lull of the storm. + +At last--she knew not how long she had listened--she heard Tell's deep +roar. It came muffled, but distinct. She scarce trusted her ears; but +again she heard it, and, this time, in a dead silence, she caught the +sound of the bell. Surely Tell was nearing the house. She ran +downstairs. + +"They 're coming!" she cried, hardly realizing what she said in her +excitement. Mrs. Blossom and Rose leaped to their feet. They threw +open the door. + +"Chi! Chi!" they called out into the night. There was a joyous bark +for answer---then a groan, and Chi staggered across the snow-laden porch +and fell with his heavy burden on the threshold. + + +At midnight the wind went down, but the snow continued to fall. All the +next day it fell steadily, but at sunset it ceased, and a young moon +looked over the shoulder of Mount Hunger upon an unbroken white coverlet +that, in some places, was drifted to the depth of twenty feet. + +There was twilight in Aunt Tryphosa's little cabin "over eastwards," for +the snow was piled to the eaves, and the tulips furnished their only +sunshine for two days. + +There was consternation at Hunger-ford, for the family were cut off from +their neighbors and the outside world of letters and papers. + +There were councils at Lemuel's and the Spillkinses'--for how could they +gather their forces to break out the Mountain? + +There were heavy hearts and reddened eyelids in the farmhouse, for +March, rescued by Chi and revived by vigorous treatment, had succumbed +to the exposure and chill, and lay unconscious in fever--and no help at +hand. + +Chi, spent to exhaustion, had rallied at midnight, but knew that it was +beyond human powers to attempt to reach Barton's or even Lemuel Wood's, +their next neighbor, through the drifts. + +So they waited, helpless--one day, two days. On the second day the +white expanse showed no tracks. Then March began to wander, and clutch +his breast, where his mother had found the telegram, which his father +had sent to him from Ogdensburg:-- + +"Heavy blizzard. Roads blocked. Tell mother at once. Don't worry." + +Chi walked the house night and day in his misery of helplessness. At +last, on the third day, looking eastwards he descried a black blotch on +the white,--it was a four-ox team breaking out from the Fords'. Later +in the day, when the men were within two hundred yards of the house, he +saw another black spot on the lower road. It was the Mill Settlement +road-team, with a full equipment of men and tools, to cut a way through +the drifts. + +Soon there was help and to spare. Alan Ford was riding down the narrow +way between high walls of glittering white to Barton's for aid, and +bringing back telegrams of anxious inquiry from Mr. Blossom and Mr. +Clyde. On the fourth day, the blockade was raised, and the south-bound +express to Barton's River brought Mr. Blossom from the north, and +another train brought Mr. Clyde from the south. Two days after all the +Lost Nation knew that March would live. + + + + + XXI + + A LITTLE DAUGHTER OF THE RICH + + +It was days before March himself was aware of that fact. + +Budd and Cherry were at the Fords'. May was with Aunt Tryphosa and Miss +Alton at Lemuel Wood's. Maria-Ann had come over to help Mrs. Blossom +with the work, and Chi had taken care of the stock. Rose and her mother +watched and waited in the sick room, relieved on alternate nights by Mr. +Blossom and Chi. + +The great storm was a thing of the past. The sun shone in a deep blue +heaven, and the white world of the Mountain showed daily life and +movement. The teamsters were at work loading the sledges with logs, and +the ponderous drags squeaked and grated as they slid down the crisping +highway. + +A crow cawed loudly on the first of March, and the hens came out to find +a warm nook in the south-east corner of the barn-yard, where a heap of +sodden straw was thawing. + +All in the farmhouse were rejoicing, for March had spoken in his +weakness--a few words, but clear, coherent, for the frost and fever, +both, had left his brain. When he spoke the second time it was to ask +for Chi; and Chi had tiptoed into the room in his stocking-feet and laid +his hand on March's thin, white one, gulped down the tears and the +rising sob that was choking him, and--spoke of the weather! + + +The next day March turned to his mother, who was sitting by the bed, +brooding him with her great love, and asked suddenly, but in a clear and +much stronger voice: + +"Where 's Hazel?" + +Mrs. Blossom hesitated for a moment, then spoke quietly:--"Hazel is at +home with her father for a few weeks." + +March turned his face to the wall and was silent for several hours. + +When he was stronger Mrs. Blossom gave him the little note Hazel had +left for him, and, with mother-tact, knowing March's reserve of nature, +went out of the room while he read it. She saw no signs of it when she +returned and asked no questions, but March's gray eyes spoke a language +for which there was but one interpretation. With his rare smile, he +held out his hand for his mother's, and clasped it closely. + +Soon he was able to be up and about, and the children were again at +home. Life in the farmhouse resumed its old course--but with a +difference. Just what it was no one attempted to define. But each felt +it in his own way. March was more gentle with Budd and Cherry, more +often with his mother and Chi, more companionable for his father. Rose +was quieter, but, if possible, more loving towards all. Budd was at +times wholly disconsolate, and wasted sheets of his best Christmas +note-paper in writing letters to Hazel which were never sent. + +Chi went oftener to the small house "over eastwards," where he was sure +of willing ears and sympathetic hearts when he unburdened himself in +regard to his "Lady-bird." + +"Fact is," he said to Maria-Ann, as she stood with her apron over her +head watching him plough their garden plot (that was his annual +neighborly offering), "she 's left a great hole in that house, 'n' there +is n't one of us that don't know it 'n' feel it;--kind of empty like in +your heart, you know, just as your stomach feels when you 've ploughed +an acre of sidlin' ground, before breakfast--Get up, Bess, +whoa--back!--you don't hear that laugh of hers in the barn, nor out in +the field, nor up in the pasture; 'n' you don't see those great eyes +lookin' up at you when you 're harnessin', nor peekin' round the corner +of the stall to see if you 're most through milkin'. 'N' you don't hear +a fiddle makin' it lively after supper, 'n' the children ain't danced +once in the barn this spring." Chi sighed heavily. + +"Don't Mr. Ford go over there pretty often?" queried Maria-Ann. "I see +him gallopin' by two or three times a week." + +"Well, what if you do?" Chi answered grumpily, much to Maria-Ann's +surprise. "He can't fiddle the way Ladybird does, 'n' they all sit 'n' +jabber some kind of lingo--French, they call it, but I call it, good, +straight Canuck--'n' act as if they were at a party,--Rose, 'n' Miss +Alton, 'n' the whole of 'em. 'T ain't much company for me. I get off +to bed about dark. 'N' the worst of it is, when he isn't to our house, +they're all to his--Come around!" Chi jerked the reins, to Bess's +resentful surprise. + +"They say he's payin' attention to Rose," ventured Maria-Ann, her eyes +following the furrow, which was running not quite true. + +"They 're a parcel of fools," growled Chi, eyeing the furrow with a +dissatisfied air, "Rose need n't look Alan Ford's way for attention. +She can have all she wants most anywheres.--Get up, Bess! what you +backin' that way for!--'n' folks tongues can be measured by the furlong +'twixt here and Barton's." + +"Well, there ain't any harm in Rose's havin' attention, Chi," said +Maria-Ann with some spirit, and ready to stand up for her sex. + +"Did n't say there was," retorted Chi, in mollified tones. "There ain't +no more harm in Rose's havin' attention than in your havin' it." + +"Me!" exclaimed Maria-Ann, pleasantly surprised out of her momentary +resentment. "I ain't had any chance to have any." + +"Ain't you?" said Chi, busying himself with the plough preparatory to +leaving. "Well, that ain't any sign you won't have--Get along, Bess!--I +'ll leave this plough here till to-morrow; I ain't drawn those last two +furrers straight, 'n' I 've got too much pride to have any man see +that--Malachi Graham, his mark.--No, sir-ee," said Chi, emphatically, +"straight or starve is my motto every time, just you remember that, +Marier-Ann Simmons." + +"I will, Chi," laughed Maria-Ann, and went back to her washing, singing +joyfully to her rubbing accompaniment:-- + + "Come, sinners all, repent in time, + The Judgment Day is dawning; + Sun, moon, and stars to earth incline, + The trumpet sounds a warning." + + +Meanwhile letters were coming to every member of the family from Hazel. +As March regained his strength there came as special gifts to him, books +and magazines, and from time to time a beautiful photograph of an +old-world cathedral--Canterbury, or York; a stately castle like Warwick, +or Heidelberg; a peasant's chalet, or an English cottage to gladden his +artist soul and eye, and transform the walls of his room into +dwelling-places for his ideals. + +"Mother," he said rather wistfully to Mrs. Blossom, on the first May day +as they sat together under the old Wishing-Tree, talking over the plans +for his future, "how can I go to work to make it all come true?" + +He held in his hand a large photograph of the interior of Cologne +Cathedral, which Hazel had given him. + +"There are many ways, dear, which are most unexpectedly opened at times. +No boy with health and perseverance has much to fear." + +"But, mother, father had both, and he was n't able to go through +college. He told me all about it the other day, and how he had missed +it all through his life." + +"I know, March, father failed in attaining to that which was his great +desire, but he succeeded so immeasurably in another direction, that I +think, sometimes, it must have been all for the best." + +"Why, mother, father is poor now--how do you mean he has succeeded?" + +"My dear boy, you are only in your seventeenth year, and I don't know +that I can make it plain to you because you _are_ young; but when your +father conquered every selfish tendency in him, put aside what he had +striven so hard for and what was just within his reach, and turned about +and did the duty that the time demanded of him;--when he took his dead +father's place as provider for the family, and, by his own exertions, +placed his mother and sisters beyond want, before he even allowed +himself to tell me he loved me, he proved himself a successful man; for +he developed, in such hard circumstances, such nobility of character, +that he is rich in love and esteem,--and that, March, and only _that_, +is true wealth." + +"I see what you mean, mother, but it does n't help me to see how I 'm to +get through college, and get the training I need in my profession." +March uttered the last word with pride. "There is so much a man has to +have for that. Look at that now," he continued, holding up the +photograph; "I need all that, and that means Europe, and Europe means +money and time, and where is it all to come from?" + +His mother smiled at the despairing tone. "As for time, March, you are +only in your seventeenth year. That means ten years before you can +begin to work in your profession; and as for the means--" she +hesitated--"I think it is time to tell you something I 've been keeping +and rejoicing over these last two weeks." She drew a letter from her +dress-waist and handed it to him. "Read this, dear, and tell me what +you think of it." Wondering, March took it and read:-- + + +HAWKING VALLEY, NORTH CAROLINA, +April 15, 1897. + +MY DEAR MRS. BLOSSOM,--Just a year ago to-day I sent my one child to +you, trusting the judgment of my dear friend, Doctor Heath, in a matter +which he felt concerned the future welfare of my daughter. My home has +been very lonely without her. You, as a parent, can know something of +what this separation has entailed. + +It seemed wise to me, and I know you concurred in my opinion, to take +her away from the conditions, in which she has thriven so wonderfully, +while you were burdened, both in heart and hands, by such a critical +illness as your son's. The result confirms the wisdom of my action, for +March's convalescence has been slow and long; I am thankful to be +assured it is sure. The burden of an extra member in your family at +this time would, in the long run, prove too heavy for you. + +I cannot tell you how I appreciate what you have done for Hazel. I have +no words to express it. She returns to me full of life and joy, with no +apparent unwillingness to take up her life again with me, which must +seem dull to her in contrast to that which she had with you. Yet I know +in her loyal little heart she belongs to you, is a part of your family +henceforth--and I am glad to know it is so, for she needs, and will +need, as a young girl, your motherly influence at all times. + +I 'm not taking her away from you for good. Oh, no! That would be her +loss as well as mine; but I am testing her a little. I have said I had +no words with which adequately to express my gratitude. I am your +debtor for my child's physical well-being--for much else which I do not +find it easy to define. Will you allow me to make some compensation for +your year of devotion? I do not care what form it take, providing you +will permit me to try to discharge something of the debt--the whole can +never be repaid. Will you not let me send that splendid son of yours +through college? and give him two years of Europe afterwards? That +future profession of his has always been of great interest to me. If +the boy is too proud, as I suspect is the case, to accept the necessary +amount other than as a loan, make it plain to him that I will even yield +a point there--a pretty bad state of affairs for me as a debtor to find +myself in. If he won't do this for me--won't Rose help me out by +permitting me to aid her in cultivating that voice of hers? I know your +magnanimity, and depend upon you to help me in this. + +Hazel does not know I am writing to you, or she would send loving +messages. + +My kindest regards to Mr. Blossom, with hearty congratulations for +March, and all sorts of neighborly remembrances for all others of the +Lost Nation. + +Sincerely your friend, + JOHN CURTIS CLYDE. + +_To Mrs. Benjamin Blossom._ + + +"Oh, mother!" + +A wave of crimson surged into March's pale face, and the sensitive +nostrils quivered; then two big drops plashed down upon the letter which +he handed to his mother. + +"Oh, mother! if only I could--but I can't!" + +He rolled over on the soft pasture turf, face downwards, his head +resting on his arms. + +"Why, March dear," said his mother, tenderly, "why can't you? I think +it 's beautiful, so does father." + +A sob shook the long, thin frame. His mother laid her hand on the back +of the yellow head. "What is it, my dear boy? Can't you tell me?" + +The head shook energetically beneath her hand, and muffled words issued +from the grass. + +"But, March, we thought it would please you to have such an opportunity. +You have read what Mr. Clyde says--you can look upon it as a loan. I +hope you won't have any false pride in this matter--" + +"'Tis n't false, mother," came forth from the grass, "and I would like +to accept his offer, if only it were n't just his." + +"Why not his, March? Surely, Hazel has been like one of us--a real +little sister--" Another vigorous wagging of the yellow head arrested +his mother in the midst of her sentence. + +"Hazel is n't my sister." + +"Why, of course, you can't feel as near to her as to Rose, but then, you +must see how dear she has become to us all--and Mr. Clyde has put it in +such a way, that the most sensitive person could accept it without +injury to any feeling of true pride. Take time and think it over, +March. It has come upon you rather suddenly, and I have been thinking +about it for two weeks." + +"It's no use to think it over." Deep tragedy now made itself audible, +as March rolled over and sat up, displaying eyes bright with excitement, +flushed cheeks, and a generally determined air of having it out with +himself. + +"Well, I can't understand you, March." + +"I wish you could." + +His mother smiled in spite of the gravity of the situation. "Can't you +tell me? or give me some clue to this mysterious determination of +yours?" + +March cast a despairing glance at his mother. "Mother, will you promise +never to tell?" + +"Not even your father, March?" + +"No, father, nor any one--ever, mother." + +"Very well; I promise, March, for I trust you." + +"Oh, mother, have n't you seen?--don't you know, that I--that I love +Hazel! And how can I take the money from her father, when I 'm going to +try to make her love me and marry me sometime, when I get through +studying, and--and--Oh, don't you see?" + +And Mrs. Blossom did see--at last. + +She spoke very gently, after a minute's silence, in which March's ears +burned red to their tips, and his fingers were busy digging up a tiny +strawberry-plant by the roots. "My son, I see, and I honor you for +feeling as you do; but, March, have you thought of the difference +between you and Hazel?" + +"What difference, mother?" + +Now Mary Blossom was not a worldly woman, neither was she a woman of the +world--and she found it difficult to answer. + +"You know how Hazel is placed in life, although you do not know with +what luxury she is surrounded in her home. She has beauty, a large +circle of friends, immense wealth. There will be many who will seek her +hand in four years' time, for she has a wonderful charm of her own, for +all who come close to her.--Is it worth while to attempt, even, to win +this little daughter of the rich? You, a poor boy, with his way to +make?" + +"But, mother,"--there was strong protest in the voice--"she did n't have +any beauty till she came up here to us--and if she _was_ a rich girl, +she was n't a healthy one till she lived up here, and I don't see the +good of money and a lot of things, if you 're sick, and homely, too." +March waxed eloquent in his desire to convince his mother of the justice +of his cause. "And if she hadn't come up here she would n't have got +well, and then she would n't have grown so beautiful--and she _is_ +beautiful, mother." (Mrs. Blossom nodded assent.) "And I don't see why +I have n't just as much right to try to make her love me as any other +fellow. You 've told us children, dozens of times, it's just character +that counts, and not money, and if I try as hard as I can to keep +straight and be a good man like father, I don't see why things would n't +be all right in the end." + +Mrs. Blossom was silenced,--"hoist with her own petard." "How can I +destroy this lovely, young ideal? I dare not," was her thought. But +aloud, she said:--"You 're right, March. Nothing but character counts. +Make yourself worthy of this little love of yours. We 'll keep this in +our own hearts, and when you are tempted to wrong-doing--and there are +fearful temptations for every young man to meet, March,--temptations of +which you can form no conception here in the shelter of your home--just +remember this little talk of ours, and keep yourself unspotted by the +world just by the thought of this dear girl whom you hope some day to +win. There is nothing, March, that will keep a young man in the right +way like his love for just 'the one girl in the world'--if only she be +worthy of his love. And I think Hazel will be--even of you." + +March flung his arms about her neck and kissed her heartily: + +"Dear, little Mother Blossom, I 'll try, and even if I fail, just the +thought of such a glorious-filorious mother that does n't laugh at a +fellow--I was afraid you would, though,--will keep me straight enough. +Why, Mother Blossom! I 'd be ashamed to look you in the eyes, if I did a +down-right mean thing." + +His mother laughed through her tears. "I wonder if many mothers get +such a compliment? Come, dear, the dew is beginning to fall--it's been +such a heavenly day, I had forgotten it is early spring. Do you feel +chilly?" + +"Not I," laughed March, and proceeded to relieve his feelings after his +favorite method--by turning a double-back somersault down the pasture +slope. + +As Mrs. Blossom leaned over to kiss tired, sleepy Budd that night, she +thought complacently to herself:-- + +"Well, thank fortune, here 's one who is heart-free," and laughed softly +to herself. Chi had not told her of Budd's proposal. + + +"Wilkins, tell Miss Hazel to come down into the library when she is +dressed for dinner." + +"Yes, Marse Clyde." Wilkins sprang upstairs two steps at a time, and, +knocking at Hazel's door, delivered his message. + +"Tell papa I 'm going to dress early, for I 've some things to attend to +about the table, Wilkins." + +"Fo' sho', Miss Hazel," said Wilkins, with a broad smile of delighted +surprise. + +"And tell Mrs. Scott I 'll choose the service, if she will take out the +linen, and I have ordered the flowers. Papa said I might." + +Wilkins skipped downstairs, delivered his message to the amazed +housekeeper, and then flew into the kitchen to impart his news to the +cook, his confidante and co-worker for years in the Clyde household. + +Minna-Lu was preparing a confection, and giving her whole soul to the +making, when Wilkins made his appearance. She looked up grimly, the +ebony of her countenance shining beneath the immaculate white of her +turban:-- + +"Wa' fo' yo' hyar?" + +Wilkins slapped both knees with the palms of his hands, and bent nearly +double with noiseless laughter; then, straightening himself, approached +Minna-Lu with boldness, despite the repelling wave of the cream-whip +that she held suspended over the bowl, and confided to her the change of +regime, to her edification and delight. + +She put down the bowl and whip, stemmed her fists on her broad hips, and +gurgled long and low. "'F little missus done take rale hol' er de +reins, dere ain't no kin' er show fo' sech po' trash." She indicated +with an upward movement of her thumb the upper regions where the +housekeeper was supposed to be. + +"When I wan's a missus, I wan's quality folks, an' little missus do take +de cake. Nebber see sech er chile. Dem great, shinin' eyes, lookin' at +yo' out o' all de do's, an' dat laff soun'in' jes' like de ol' mocker +dat nebber knowed nuffin' 'bout bedtime--yo' recollecks?" Wilkins +nodded emphatically, but was unprepared for Minna-Lu's next move:-- + +"Git out o' hyar, yo' good-fo'-nuffin' niggah. Huccome yo' stan'in' +roun' wif yo' legs stiffer 'n de whites er dese yer eggs, an' yo' jaw +goin' like de egg-beatah, an' de comp'ny comin' at rale sharp eight." +Minna-Lu took up her bowl, and Wilkins beat a hasty retreat. + +It was a warm first of May, and just about the hour when March and his +mother were leaving the Wishing-Tree, that Hazel appeared in the +dining-room. Wilkins gazed at her in a species of adoration. Her +orders appeared to him revolutionary, but he obeyed them implicitly and +unhesitatingly. + +"Take off the candelabra, Wilkins, it is too warm to-night to have them +on; besides, people don't have a nice time talking when they have to +peek around them to get a glimpse of the people they 're talking to." +Wilkins whisked off the candelabra as if they had been made of +thistledown. + +"Dat's so, fo' sho', Miss Hazel. I see de folks doan' talk when dey +ain' comf'ble; but I nebber tink ob de can'les." + +"When it's dark you can light all the sconces. I want you to use the +pale green, Bohemian dinner set to-night; and I want just as little +silver as possible." + +Wilkins looked blank, and Hazel laughed. "Oh, we 'll make it up with +some cut glass, I 'll manage it. I want the table to look cool and +simple, just to-night." + +Cool and simple. Wilkins failed to comprehend it, but such was his +faith in "little Missy," that he carried out her orders to the letter, +and the result was, according to Mrs. Fenlick, "a dream of beauty." + +When she had made her preparations to her entire satisfaction, as well +as Wilkins's, and the latter had called Minna-Lu from her culinary +tug-of-war to witness "little Missy's" triumph, Hazel ran into the +library. + +Her father looked at her in amazement. Could this radiant, young girl +be the same Hazel of a year ago? They had gone directly to North +Carolina when Hazel had left Mount Hunger, and had been at home but two +days. This little dinner was given to Mr. Clyde's intimate friends as an +informal celebration and recognition of his daughter's return to the New +York house. + +Now, as she ran into the room and linked her arm in his, her father +looked down upon her with such evident pride and love, that Hazel +laughed joyfully, kid her cheek against his coat-sleeve and patted his +hand. + +"Do I look nice, Papa Clyde?" + +"Nice! that's no word for it, Birdie." And thereupon he took her in his +arms and gave her such a hug and a kiss, that the pretty dress must have +suffered if it had not been made of the softest of white China-silk. + +"Oh, my flowers! you 'll crush them!" she cried, shielding with both +hands a bunch of flowers at her belt. + +"Where did you get all this--this style, daughter mine? It's--why, you +'re nothing but a little girl, but it's 'chic.'" + +Hazel enjoyed her father's admiration to the full. She drew herself up, +straight and tall, graceful and slender--her head was already above his +shoulder--exclaiming:-- + +"Little girl! Well, your little girl designed this gown herself. I +would n't have any fuss or frills about it; it's just plain and full and +soft and clingy, and this sash of soft silk--is n't it a pretty, pale +green?--feel--" She caught up a handful of the delicate fabric and +crushed it in her hand, then smoothed it again, and it showed no +wrinkles. "I 've put it on to match the dinner. I 've had it all my +own way--Wilkins did just as I said--and it's all cool and green and +springy. You 'll see." + +"Where did you get these flowers?" Mr. Clyde touched the bunch of +arbutus, that showed so delicately pink and white against the white of +her dress and the green of her sash. + +A wave of beautiful color shot up to the roots of the little crinkles of +chestnut hair on her temples; she touched the blossoms caressingly. "I +wrote March about this dinner-party, and how it was the first at which I +had been hostess, and he wrote back and wanted to know what I was going +to wear, and I told him--and this morning these lovely things came by +mail all done up in cotton wool in a tin cracker-box, the kind Chi uses +to put his worm-bait in, when he goes fishing. Are n't they lovely? And +was n't March lovely to think of them, papa?" + +"They are n't half as lovely as you are," said Mr. Clyde, earnestly, +replying to half of her question only. "You are my unspoiled +Hazel-blossom--" Then a sudden, intrusive thought caught and arrested +his words. "Hazel Blossom," he repeated to himself, looking at her +unconscious face as he uttered the last word, "Good heavens! Could such +a thing be?" + +"De Cun'le an' Mrs. Fenlick," announced Wilkins. + +And when they were all seated at the table--the Colonel and Mrs. +Fenlick, Doctor and Mrs. Heath, Aunt Carrie and Uncle Jo, the Masons and +the Pearsells--with no candelabra to interfere with the merry speech and +glances, with the light from the candles in the sconces shining softly +on the exquisite napery, on the low bed of white tulips in the centre +and the grace of the pale, green porcelain, with the tall Bohemian +Romer-glasses before the plates--what wonder that Mrs. Fenlick +pronounced it a "dream of beauty"? + +When their guests had gone, Mr. Clyde turned to Hazel:--"I shall be glad +to open the Newport cottage again, Birdie, with such a little hostess to +help me entertain." + +"The Newport house, papa!" Hazel exclaimed, a distinct note of +disappointment sounding in her voice. + +"Why not, dear? I thought of getting down there by the tenth; in fact, +gave my orders to Mrs. Scott to begin packing to-morrow." + +Hazel was evidently struggling with herself. She fingered the arbutus +nervously; took them out of her belt; inhaled their fragrance. Then she +looked up with a smile, although the corners of her mouth drooped and +trembled a little:-- + +"Why, of course, why not, papa? It's so much pleasanter there in May, +than when everybody is down for the summer." + +Her father sat down in an easy-chair, put an arm around his daughter, +and drew her down to a seat on the arm of the chair. + +"Now, Hazel, I want you to tell me all about it. Don't you want to go?" + +"Yes, if you 're there, papa, but--" she turned suddenly and her arm +stole around his neck--"don't leave me there alone, papa, please don't." + +"Leave you--I? Why what do you mean, dear?" + +"Oh, it is so lonesome when you are away, papa, when you go off yachting +with the Colonel--and the house is so big, and there 's nobody to talk +to and say good-night to--and--and, oh, dear!" The tears began to come, +but she struggled bravely for a few minutes. + +"Why, little girl, you have never told me you were lonesome without me: +indeed, you have never shown any sign of it, or of wanting me around +much. I never thought--why, Hazel." Down went the curly head on his +shoulder, and the sobs grew loud and frequent. + +"There, there, Birdie," he said soothingly, stroking her head, "you 're +all tired out; this party has been too much for you--" + +An energetic, protesting head-shake was followed by broken +sentences--"It was n't that--I 'm not tired--you don't know, papa--I +didn't know--know I was lonesome, and that I was--I think I was +homesick--dreadfully--but Barbara Frietchie, you know--I had to be +brave--and, I have tried not to show it to make you feel unhappy--and I +love you so! but, oh, dear! I miss them so dreadfully, and I hoped--I +was a member of the N.B.--B.O.--O., Oh--dear me,--Society, and the +by-law says--I mean March read it--Oh, papa!" + +"Well, well, there, there, dear," said the somewhat mystified father, +bending all his efforts to soothe this evidently perturbed spirit, "why +did n't you tell me before?" + +"Because I was Barbara Frietchie." + +"Now, Hazel, sit up and look me in the face and tell me what you mean. +I supposed I was holding Hazel Clyde in my arms and not old Barbara +Frietchie. Please explain." + +"I thought I wrote you, papa," Hazel could not help smiling through her +tears, for it did strike her as rather funny about papa's holding the +patriotic, old lady in his arms. + +"Well, you did n't tell me that." So Hazel explained. + +Mr. Clyde nodded approval. "Very good, I approve of the N.B.B.O.O. +Society, and of the present Barbara Frietchie's heroism--but no more of +it is called for. You see, I fully intended you should pay your +friends--my friends--a visit this summer, but I thought it would be much +better later in the season when Mrs. Blossom would be rested from the +fatigue of March's illness--" + +"Oh, papa!" A squeeze effectually impeded further utterance. "I don't +care how soon we go to Newport, or anywhere--of course, if _you_ are +with me--as long as I can go to Mount Hunger sometime this summer. And, +besides," she added eagerly, "we planned next winter's visit from Rose, +didn't we?" + +"I should rather think we did. We shall be very proud of our beautiful +friend, Rose, and delighted to have our friends meet her, shan't we?" +Another squeeze precluded, for the moment, articulate speech. + +"Yes," Hazel cried, enthusiastically, "we 'll take her to concerts and +operas--just think, papa, with that lovely voice she has never heard a +concert!--and we 'll take her to the theatre and--" + +"And," her father went on, growing enthusiastic himself at the prospect, +for he was the soul of hospitality, "and we 'll give her a dainty dinner +or two, and possibly a little dance--few and early, you know--" + +"Oh--ee!" cried Hazel, forgetting her woe, "and Mrs. Heath will give a +lunch-party for her, and, perhaps, Aunt Carrie a tea, and Mrs. Fenlick a +reception--" + +"Heavens!" interrupted her father, "you 'll kill her with kindness--that +fresh, wild rose can't stand all that--" + +"Oh, yes, she can, papa; she can stand that just as well as I stood +going up there where everything was so different." + +"True," said Mr. Clyde, thoughtfully, "it was different." + +"Oh, it was, papa! I never had to go to bed alone. Mrs. Blossom always +came to say good-night and to kiss me, and to--to--" + +"To what?" asked her father. + +"You won't mind if I tell you?" Hazel asked, half-shyly. + +"Mind! I should say not; I should mind if you did n't tell me." + +"--to say 'Our Father' with me, papa; you know no one ever said it with +me before, and it's--it's such a comfy time to feel sorry and talk over +what you 've done wrong; and it's _that_ I miss so." + +"I don't blame you, Birdie," said her father, quietly. "But now see how +late it is!"--he pointed to the clock--"Eleven! This will never do for +a _debutante_. Good-night, darling. Sweet dreams of Rose and the +N.B.B.O.O. Society." + +"Good-night, Papa Clyde; Doctor Heath says you are the most splendid +fellow in the world--but I know you are the dearest father in the world; +good-night, I 've had a lovely party." + +She ran upstairs, but, in a moment, her father heard her tripping down +again. Her head parted the portieres. "I just came back to tell you, +that this kind of a talk we 've had is just as good as the Mount Hunger +bedtime-talks. I shan't be homesick any more." And away she ran. + +Now John Curtis Clyde was a pew-owner--as had been his father and +grandfather before him--in one of the Fifth Avenue churches, and duly +made his appearance in that pew every Sunday morning. He entered, too, +into the service with hearty voice, and made his responses without, the +while, giving undue thought to the world. But when he had said "Our +Father" with his little daughter by his side, he had supposed his duty +performed to the extent of his needs--of another's, his child's, he gave +no thought. + +To-night, however, as he sat in the easy-chair where Hazel had left him, +it began to dawn upon him slowly that his little daughter, during her +fourteen years, might have had other needs, for which he had not +provided, nor, perhaps, with all his riches was capable of providing. + +The clock chimed twelve,--one,--two--; John Clyde, with a sigh, rose and +went up to bed--a wiser and a better man. + + + + + XXII + + ROSE + + +What a summer that was! Mr. Clyde sent Hazel up to the Blossoms for +July and again for September, when he, the Colonel and Mrs. Fenlick, the +Pearsells and the Masons, Aunt Carrie and Uncle Jo took possession of +the entire inn at Barton's River, and for a month coached and rode +throughout the "North Country," all in the cool September weather. Jack +Sherrill joined them for the last three weeks, and, this time, Maude +Seaton was not of the party. + +"I just headed her off every time she made a dead set at any one of us +for an invitation," said Mrs. Fenlick one day in confidence to her +intimate, Mrs. Pearsell, as they sat on the vine-covered veranda of the +inn, "but she proved a regular octopus. She got the Colonel in her +toils one morning at the Casino, and I pretended to be faint--yes, I +did--just to get his attention for a sufficient time to make a fuss, and +get him alone in the carriage; then, of course, I settled it. Oh, dear! +men are so guileless in spots!"--Mrs. Fenlick gave a weary sigh--"What I +have n't been through with that girl! Anyway, she's been out two +winters, now, and she has n't caught Jack Sherrill yet. I don't think +there is much chance after the first season for a girl to make a really +fine match, do you?" Then they fell to discussing the pros, and cons, +of the question with evergreen interest. + +Jack Sherrill, for one, had no thought of Miss Seaton. He had sent the +valentine-flowers, and the sentiment from Barry Cornwall's love-song, +with a strange kind of "kill or cure" feeling. + +He had communed with himself, at twilight of one February day, as he lay +at full length on the cushioned window-seat of his room from which he +looked down upon the darkening, snow-covered campus and the anatomy of +the elms showing black against it. His pipe had gone out, but he +derived some satisfaction in pulling away at it mechanically, while he +thought out the situation for himself. + +"What's the use of a man's hanging fire when he _knows_?" he thought. +"Now, I love her--love her." (Jack's hand stole into the breast of his +jacket and crushed a bit of paper there; he smiled.) "Of course she +does n't know, and won't know for a while, but it shan't be through any +neglect of mine that she does n't; and when she knows--there 's the +rub!--will she care for me, Jack Sherrill? I 've never done anything in +my life to make a girl like that care for me. + +"But there's one thing I 'd stake my life on--she would n't marry a man +for his money. A man 's got to be loved for himself--not for what he +can give a woman, or do for her, but just for himself, if it's going to +be the real thing, and _last_. And what am I that a girl like that +should love me--" Jack was growing very humble. He pulled himself +together: "Anyhow, I'll send the flowers and the sentiment, _I mean it_; +I don't care what she thinks!" Jack's courage rose as he began to feel +something like defiance of Fate. + +Just then his chum came in. + +"There's no use, Sherrill," he said, flinging himself down upon the +cushioned seat Jack had just vacated; "we can't have the theatricals +unless you take the girl's part. It won't put you out any--smooth face +and no scrub. You 've been it once, and it will be a dead failure if you +aren't in it now." + +"I don't see how I can," replied Jack, shortly, for this intrusion on +his mood irritated him. "I told you, all of you, at the Club last year, +that I would n't play after I was a Junior." + +"Well, what if you did?" rejoined his chum, a little crossly. "You 're +not so uncompromisingly steadfast in other things that you can't afford +to change your mind in such a trifle as this." + +"Come, don't be touchy," said Jack, good-humoredly. "Hit right out from +the shoulder, old man, and tell me what you mean." + +Dawns smiled, clasped his hands under his head, and raised his merry +blue eyes to Jack, who was lighting up. + +"They say over at the Club that you have thrown Maude Seaton over, but +Grayson took up the Seaton cudgels and made the statement that she had +thrown you over, and you won't take the girl's part in the play because +she is coming on for it." + +Jack hesitated. He hated to play at any comedy of love when his heart +was throbbing with the genuine article. But, after all, it might be the +best way to silence the Club's tongues as well as some others in Boston +and New York. + +"I 'll help you out this once, Dawns, but I tell you plainly I won't +have anything more to do with the Club theatricals while I 'm in +college," he replied, ignoring both of Dawns' statements, which +omissions his chum noticed, and made his own thoughts: "Just like +Sherrill. You can't get any hold of him to know what he really feels +and thinks." + +Jack played his part accordingly, repeating the success of the year +before, and scoring new triumphs. He was glad when it was over, and he +could go back to his room "dead tired," as he said to himself, but with +the conviction that he had settled matters to his own satisfaction if +not to that of one other. + +The room was in such disorder! Evidently, Dawns had been having a +little spree before Jack's late return, and the smoke had left the air +heavy. + +Jack dropped his paraphernalia in the middle of the floor--peeling +himself as he stood yawning and thanking his lucky star that he was not +born a woman to be handicapped by such things!--_decollete_ white satin +waist, long-trained satin gown, necklace--Jack gave the string a twitch, +for it had knotted, and the Roman pearls rolled into unreachable places +all over the floor. Off flew one white satin slipper--number ten, broad +at the toes!--with a fine "drop kick" hitting the ceiling and landing on +the book-shelves; the other followed suit. White fan with chain, white +elbow gloves, corsage bouquet--all dropped in a promiscuous heap. A +general stampede loosened silk under-skirt and dainty muslin petticoat, +lace-trimmed. A wrench,--corset-cover and corsets were torn from their +moorings. Jack groaned--or something worse--at the flummery, and, +leaving everything as it had dropped, rushed off into his bedroom, only +to find that he had forgotten to take off the blonde wig and wash off +the rouge. + +At last, however, he was asleep, and slept the sleep of the justified. + +He slept both soundly and late, but when he awoke the next morning his +first thought was of the flowers for Mount Hunger and the appropriate +sentiment. Accordingly, having reckoned the arrival of train, departure +of stage, etc., to a minute, he selected the flowers, wrote the +sentiment, not without forebodings of the usual kind, and despatched +both to Mount Hunger with high hopes, notwithstanding prescient +feelings. Then, metaphorically, he sat down to await an answer. He +waited just two months, and during that time had turned emotionally +black and blue more than once at the thought of his temerity in sending +such a message. + +Hazel had written him at once from North Carolina to tell him of March's +illness, and on the same day she sent a penitent note to Rose, +confessing her shame at her attempt at deception, and explaining that it +was because she loved her cousin so dearly she could not bear to see his +gift slighted. + +When March was out of danger, Rose had written to Hazel a frank, loving +letter, blaming herself for her want of self-control, and begging +Hazel's forgiveness for her harsh words: + + +"It's all my old pride, Hazel dear," she wrote, "that I have to fight +very often. It was most kind of Mr. Sherrill to remember me when he has +so many, many other friends whom he has known longer, and I shall write +and tell him so. Now that my heart is lighter on account of dear March, +I can write more easily. + +"We miss you so! when are you coming back to us? Chi looks perfectly +disconsolate, and we all feel a great deal more than we care to say. + +"I wish you were here to have the fun of the French evenings, three +times a week. You speak it so beautifully, Mr. Ford says, and I thank +you so much for all the help you gave me in teaching me. Mr. Ford +speaks it very well, too, so Miss Alton says. We all meet at our house +once a week on March's account, and then one evening in the week, Miss +Alton and I (she 's lovely) go over to the Fords' for music. He has +sent for some lovely songs for me--old English ones, and we're going to +have a little celebration for March's birthday in May. How I wish you +were to be here! + +"March is lying on the settle, dreaming over that exquisite photograph +of Cologne Cathedral you sent him; I've just asked him if he had any +messages for you, and he smiled--oh, it's so good to see his dear smile +again! You can't think how tall he's grown since his illness, and he's +so thin--and said, 'I sent one to her this morning myself; she can't +have two a day.' But you know March's ways. + +"Now I must stop; Mr. Ford is coming over on horseback and I am riding +Bob now. I wear an old riding-habit of Martie's--it fits fine! I have +more to tell you, but will finish after I get back from the ride--there +comes Mr. Ford--" + + +This letter Hazel duly forwarded to her cousin. "He 'll know by what +she says in it that she really was pleased, for all she acted so queer," +she said to herself as she enclosed it in one to Jack, in which she took +special pains to inform him that he had never told her whether he had +given those verses Rose sang to Miss Seaton. + + +"I told Rose I was sure they were for Miss Seaton, and Rose said she did +n't mind copying them herself for you if you wished them. Do tell me if +you gave them to her. I told Rose your valentine to her last year was a +rose-heart. I hope you don't mind my telling, for, you know, Jack, all +our family think you are engaged to her--" + + +Jack dropped Hazel's letter at this point and gave a decided groan. + +"What luck!" he muttered. "It's all up with the whole thing now. No +girl of any spirit would stand all that--and Hazel meddling so! thinking +she is doing her level best to explain matters;--What an ass I was to +send that flower-valentine to Maude--and she thinks I gave her those +verses! and there 's this Ford skulking round and having it all his own +way; he 's just the kind a girl would care for--those musical cranks are +no end sentimental. Hang it all!" + +Jack thrust his hands deep into his pockets, took several decided turns +up and down the room, squared his shoulders, pursed his lips, cut his +two classroom lectures, ordered up Little Shaver and rode out to the +polo grounds, where, finding himself alone, he put the little fellow +through his best paces, ignoring the fact that snow and ice wore on the +pony's nerves--and had a game out to himself. + +When just two months had passed, he received a note from Rose, his +first, and it was accorded the reception due to first notes in +particular. After this, Jack developed certain wiles of diplomacy, he +had thus far, in his various experiences, held in abeyance. He wrote +sympathetic notes to Mrs. Blossom; commissioned Chi to find him another +polo pony--Morgan, if possible--among the Green Hills; sent March a set +of illustrated books on architecture, and complained to Doctor Heath of +a pain that racked his chest; at which the Doctor's eyes twinkled. He +said he would examine him later, but he was convinced it was heart +trouble, the symptoms were apt to mislead and confuse. He added +gravely: "Too much hard polo riding, Jack; get away into the +country--mountains if you can, and you 'll recuperate fast enough. I +'ll make an examination in the fall." + +Jack obeyed to the letter, and what a month of September that was! + +There were glorious rides with Rose along the beautiful river valley and +over the mountain roads. There were delightful evenings at the Fords', +and silent, beatific walks with Rose homewards beneath the harvest moon. +There were morning rambles with Rose up over the pastures and deep into +the woodlands for late ferns and hooded gentians. There were adorable +hours of doing nothing but adore, while Rose was busy about her work, +setting the table for tea (Jack paid his board at the inn, but he lived +at the Blossoms'), or laying the cloth for dinner, or on Saturday +morning even making rolls for the tea to which the whole party at the +inn were invited. + +Chi was in his glory. Little Shaver came trotting regularly every day +up through the woods'-road, and whinnied "Good-morning" first to Fleet, +then to Chi. There were general coaching-parties to Woodstock and +Brandon, in which Mrs. Blossom was guest, and a grand tea at the Fords' +for all the guests, with a musicale for a finish, and an informal dance +in the Blossoms' barn to which all the Lost Nation were invited. + +They accepted, one and all. Captain Spillkins was in his element, so he +said. He and Mrs. Fenlick danced a two-step in a manner to win the +commendation of the entire assembly. Miss Elvira and Miss Melissa went +through the square dance escorted by Jack and Uncle Jo. There were +round dances and contra dances. Uncle Israel contributed an "1812" jig, +and Mr. Clyde passed round the hat for his sole benefit. There were +waltzes for those who could waltz, and polkas for those who could polka, +and schottische and minuet. "There never was such a dance since before +the Deluge!" declared Mrs. Fenlick, when Captain Spillkins escorted her +to a seat on a sap-bucket; and then they all went at it again in a grand +finale, the Virginia Reel--Chi and Hazel, Mr. Clyde and Aunt Tryphosa +for head and foot couple; Maria-Ann with Jack; Alan Ford with Mrs. +Fenlick; the Colonel with Mrs. Blossom whom he admired greatly; March +and Miss Alton--such a double row of them! + +Poor Reub sat in one of the empty stalls and watched the fun with slow, +half-understanding smile, and Ruth Ford reclined in a rocking-chair in +the corner, and with merry laughter and sparkling wit soothed the dull +ache in her heart that the knowledge that she was henceforth to be a +"Shut-out" from all that life had at first given her. + +The next day after the dance there was a grand dinner given at the inn +by the Newport party to all the Lost Nation; and, later on, private +entertainments for Mr. and Mrs. Blossom and the Fords. At last, when +the first maple leaves crimsoned and the frost silvered the mullein +leaves in the pasture, Hazel, her father, Jack, and their friends bade +good-bye to the Mountain and all its joys of acquaintance, and in some +cases, friendship, and turned their faces, not without reluctance on the +part of some of them, city-wards. + +"Oh, mother! has n't it been too beautiful for anything?" exclaimed +Rose, turning to her mother, as the last of the riding-party waved his +cap in farewell to those on the porch. It was Jack. + +"We have had a happy summer, Rose;--I think they have, too," her mother +added, shading her eyes from the setting sun. "You 'll be very lonely +here at home, dear, after all this gayety." + +"Lonely! Why, Martie Blossom, how can you think of such a thing!" said +Rose, still scanning the lower road for a last glimpse of the riders. +"See, see, they are all waving their handkerchiefs!" + +The whole Blossom family laid hold of what they could--napkins, towels, +a table-cloth, and Chi seized his shirt, which he had hung on the line +to dry, and waved frantically until the party was no longer to be seen. + +"Lonesome! the idea," said Rose, turning to her mother. "Think of all +the studying March and I have to do, and the French evenings, and the +Fords, and Thanksgiving coming, and then Christmas, and then-- + +"Then," said Mrs. Blossom, interrupting her, "my Rose takes a little +plunge into that whirlpool of gay life and fashion in New York." + +"Yes," said Rose, with a happy smile that spoke volumes to her mother, +"I do look forward to it, Martie dear; but the whirlpool shan't suck me +under; I shall come home just your old-fashioned Rose-pose." + +"I hope so, dear," said her mother, a little wistfully, and called the +children in to supper. + +Indeed, they found little opportunity to miss their friends in the +ensuing months; for there came kindly letters, and friendly letters, and +something very nearly resembling love-letters. The mail brought papers, +books, and magazines. The express brought to Barton's River many a box +of lovely flowers. At Christmas came more than one remembrance for them +all, including Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann, and four special invitations +for Rose to visit in New York directly after the holidays. One was from +Mr. Clyde--with an urgent request from Hazel to say "yes" by telegram +and "relieve her misery," so she put it--; one from Mrs. Heath; one from +Aunt Carrie, and a gushingly cordial one from Mrs. Fenlick! Each +claimed her for a month. But Mrs. Blossom shook her head. + +"No, no, dear, you would wear your welcome out. I shall need you at +home by the last of February. I think you can accept only Mr. Clyde's +and Mrs. Heath's. You can accept social courtesies from the other four +of course." + +"But, mother," Rose's face was the image of despair, "what shall I wear? +Just hear what Hazel has planned--'lunches, dinners, theatre, +concerts'--why! I can never go to all those things." + +"I 've thought of that, too, Rose; but the little colt shan't go bare +this time--it will take some courage, dear, to wear the same things over +and over again, not to mention the puzzle of planning for it all." + +"I 'm not 'Molly Stark' for nothing," laughed Rose, and the two women +began to plan for what Chi called "Rose's campaign." The pretty white +serge was lengthened and made over to appear more grown up, as Cherry +put it; the dark blue wash silk--Hazel's gift that had never been made +up--was fashioned into a "swell affair"--so March pronounced it; the +old-fashioned blue lawn was cut over into a dainty full waist, and then +Mrs. Blossom added her surprise--a delicate blue taffeta skirt to match +the waist. Rose went into raptures over it, and sought the best bedroom +regularly three times a day to feast her girl's eyes on the silken +loveliness as it lay in state on the best bed. A new dark blue serge +was to do duty for a street suit, with a plain felt hat. For best, +there was a turban made of dark blue velvet to match the wash silk. + +"And four pairs of gloves! Martie Blossom, you are an angel, to give me +these that Hazel gave you a year ago last Christmas. Have you been +keeping them for me all this time?" + +Mrs. Blossom smiled assent, and was rewarded by a squeeze that +interfered decidedly with her breathing apparatus. + +The night before she left, Rose "costumed" for the benefit of the entire +family, who were assembled in the long-room, together with Aunt Tryphosa +and Maria-Ann, to see Rose in her finery. + +"I 'll make it a climax," said Rose, laughing half-shamefacedly, as she +slipped upstairs to change her street suit, which had brought forth +admiring "Ohs" and "Ahs" from the children, and favorable criticism from +their elders. + +Down she came in her white serge; there were nods and smiles of +approval. + +Her reappearance in the wash silk and velvet turban was the signal, on +March's part, for a burst of applause, and cries of admiration from Budd +and Cherry. + +"Grand transformation scene!" cried March, as Rose tripped down in the +blue taffeta, looking like a very rose herself. + +"Beats all!" murmured Chi, who had become nearly speechless with +admiration, "what clothes 'll do for a good-lookin' woman; but for a +ravin', tearin' beauty like our Rose--George Washin'ton! She 'll open +those high-flyers' eyes." + +"Cinderella--fifth act!" shouted March as, after a prolonged wait, he +heard Rose on the stairs. + +But was it Rose? + +The beautiful India mull of her mother's had been transformed into a +ball-dress. She had drawn on her long white gloves and tucked into the +simple, ribbon belt three of Jack's Christmas roses. + +Maria-Ann gasped, and that broke the, to Rose, somewhat embarrassing +silence. + +Marshalled by March, the whole family formed a procession, and Rose was +reviewed:--back breadths, front breadths, flounces, waist, gloves; all +were thoroughly inspected. + +Chi touched the lower flounce of the half-train gingerly with one +work-roughened forefinger, then, straightening himself suddenly, sighed +heavily. + +"What's the matter, Chi?" Rose laughed at the dubious expression on his +face. + +"You ain't Rose Blossom nor Molly Stark any longer. You 're just a +regular Empress of Rooshy, 'n' you don't look like that girl I took +along to sell berries down to Barton's last summer, 'n' I wish you--" he +hesitated. + +"What, Chi?" said Rose. + +"I wish you was back again, old sunbonnet, old calico gown, patched +shoes 'n' all--" + +"Oh, Chi, no, you don't," said Rose, laughing merrily; "you forget, I +shall probably see Miss Seaton down there in New York, and you wouldn't +want me to appear a second time before her in that old rig." + +"You 're right, Rose-pose," replied Chi, his expression brightening +visibly. He drew close to her and whispered audibly: + +"Just sail right in, Molly Stark, 'n' cut that sassy girl out right 'n' +left. She never could hold a candle to you." + +"Sh-sh, Chi!" said Mrs. Blossom, meaningly, but with a twinkle in her +eye. + +"I mean just what I say, Mis' Blossom. Folks can't come up here on this +Mountain to sass us to our faces, 'n' she _did_;--I've stayed riled ever +since, 'n' I hope she'll get sassed back in a way that 'll make her hair +stand just a little more on end than it did, when she gave that mean, +snickerin' giggle--" + +"Chi, Chi," Mrs. Blossom interrupted him in an appeasing tone. + +"You need n't Chi me, Mis' Blossom. These children are just as near to +me as if they was my own, 'n' when they 're sassed, I 'm sassed too; 'n' +my great-grandfather fought over at Ticonderogy, 'n' I ain't bound to +take any more sass than he took--" + +By this time the whole family were in fits of laughter over Chi's +persistent use of so much "sass," and, at last, Chi himself joined in +the laugh at his excessive heat:-- + +"Over nothin' but a wind-bag, after all," he concluded. + +On the following morning, Mr. Blossom, Chi, March and Budd drove down to +Barton's to see Rose off. The old apple-green pung had been fitted with +two broad boards for seats, and covered with buffalo robes and horse +blankets. There was just room in the tail for Rose's old-fashioned +trunk and a small strapped box, which held two dozen of new-laid eggs, +six small, round cheeses, and a wreath of ground hemlock and +bitter-sweet--a neighborly gift from Aunt Tryphosa and Maria-Ann to +Hazel and Mr. Clyde. + +As the train moved away from the station, Chi watched it with brimming +eyes. + +"She'll never come back the same Rose-pose, livin' among all those +high-flyers--never," he muttered to himself; but aloud he remarked, with +forced cheerfulness, turning to Mr. Blossom while he dashed the blinding +drops from his eyes with the back of his hand: + +"Looks mighty like a thaw, Ben; kind of wets down, don't it?" + +"Yes, Chi," said Mr. Blossom, busy with conquering his own heartache, +"we 'd better be getting on home;" and the masculine contingent of the +Blossom household climbed into the pung and took their way homeward in +silence. + +But what a reception that was for the transplanted Rose! + +Mr. Clyde met her at the Grand Central Station, and Rose felt how +welcome she was just by the hand-clasp, and his first words: + +"We have you at last, Rose; I would n't let Hazel come because I thought +the train might be late, and there's a cold rain falling. Martin, take +this box--" + +"Oh, no; I must carry that myself," laughed Rose, looking up at the +liveried footman with something like awe. "I promised Aunt Tryphosa and +Maria-Ann I would n't let any one take them till they were safe in the +house; thank you," she bowed courteously to Martin, who confided to the +coachman so soon as they were on the box: "Hi 'ave n't seen nothink so +'ansome since Hi 've bean in the States." + +As the brougham whirled into the Avenue, and the electric lights shone +full into the carriage, Rose could see the luxuriously upholstered +interior, and a sudden thought of the old apple-green pung and the +buffalo robes dimmed her eyes. But it was only for a moment; Mr. Clyde +was telling her of Hazel's impatience, and how the coachman had had +special orders from her to hurry up so soon as he should be on the +Avenue, and he had hardly finished before the coachman drew rein, +slackening his rapid pace as he turned a corner, Martin was opening the +door, and Hazel's voice was calling from a wide house entrance flooded +with soft light: + +"Oh, Rose, my Rose! Is it really you, at last?" + +"And this, I am sure, is Wilkins," said Rose, when finally Hazel set her +arms free. "We 've heard so much of you, that I feel as if I had known +you a long time." Rose held out her hand with such sincere cordiality +that Wilkins' speech was suddenly reduced to pantomime, and he could +only extend his other hand rather helplessly towards the box that Rose +still carried. But Rose refused to yield it up. + +"Here, Hazel, I promised Maria-Ann and Aunt Tryphosa I would n't give it +into any hands but yours. Oh! be careful--they 're eggs!" + +"Eggs!" repeated Hazel, laughing. "Here, Wilkins, unstrap it for me, +quick--Oh, papa, look!" She held out the box to Mr. Clyde, and, +somehow, John Curtis Clyde for a moment thought with Chi, that there was +going to be a "thaw." Each egg was rolled in white cotton batting and +wrapped in pink tissue paper. The six little cheeses were enclosed in +tin-foil, and cheeses and eggs were embedded in the Christmas wreath. +On a piece of pasteboard was written in unsteady characters: + + +To Mr. John Curtis Clyde of New York City, with the season's +compliments. + +MOUNT HUNGER, VERMONT, January 6th, 1898. + + +"And you 've had such lovely flowers come for you, five boxes of them, +Rose, and piles of invitations. I 'm sure you 're engaged up to Ash +Wednesday." + +"Come, Chatterbox," said her father, smiling at her volubility, "Rose +has just time to dress for dinner; you know Aunt Carrie and Uncle Jo are +coming to-night." + +"Oh, I forgot all about them; you 'll have to hurry, Rose. Wilkins, +bring up the flowers. Come on," Hazel ran up the broad flight of +stairs, carpeted with velvety crimson, to the first landing, from which, +through a lofty arch in the hall, Rose caught a glimpse of softly +lighted rooms, the walls enriched with engravings and etchings, with +here and there a landscape or marine in watercolors. Rose drew a long +breath. This, then, was what Chi meant when he said "Hazel was rich as +Croesus." + +"But, Hazel, my trunk has n't come," said Rose, as she followed her +hostess into the spacious bedroom, which was separated from Hazel's only +by a dressing-room. + +"It 'll be here in a few minutes; papa has a special man, who always +delivers them almost as soon as we get here." + +Sure enough, the trunk came in time; and Rose, as she unpacked, finding +evidences of the loving mother-care in every fold, cried within her +heart, looking about at the exquisite appointments of her room and +dressing-room: + +"Martie, Martie, what would all this be without you!--Oh, I know now, +what dear old Chi meant when he said Hazel was poor where we are +rich--only a housekeeper to see to all Hazel's things--" + +"Rose, what flowers are you going to wear?" called Hazel from her room. + +"I have n't had time to look," Rose called back, surveying her white +serge with great satisfaction in the pier-glass. + +"Do look, then, and see who they 're from." + +"Oh, Hazel, do come and see. How kind everybody has been! Here are +cards from Mrs. Heath and Doctor Heath, and your Aunt Carrie, and Mr. +Sherrill, and Mrs. Fenlick, and even that Mr. Grayson who was up at our +house to tea a year ago!" + +"They are lovely. Whose are you going to wear?" + +"I 'll make up a bunch of one or two from each, that will show my +appreciation of all their favors." + +Hazel looked slightly crestfallen. "I hoped you 'd wear Jack's--they +'re the loveliest with white--" she lifted the white lilacs--"and they +'re so rare just now. I heard Aunt Carrie say that one of the girls had +put off her wedding for six weeks, just because she couldn't have white +lilacs for it." + +"They 'll last with care three days surely, and I can wear them +to-morrow evening," replied Rose, bending to inhale their delicate +fragrance. + +"So you can, for papa is going to give a dinner for you to-morrow night, +and afterwards, he has promised to take you to a dance at Mrs. +Pearsell's. I can't go, you know, for I 'm not grown up; but you can +tell me all about it. We 're going to have lots of fun this week, for +school does not begin for several days. Come." + +Together they went down to the drawing-room, and Wilkins announced that +dinner was served. + +After it was over he sought Minna-Lu in her own domains, and gave vent +to his long pent emotions. + +"Minna-Lu," he whispered, mysteriously, "dere 's an out an' out angel +ben hubberin' 'bout de table--" + +"Fo' de Lawd!" Minna-Lu turned upon him fiercely, for she was +superstitious to the very marrow. "Wa' fo' yo' come hyar, skeerin' de +bref out a mah bones wif yo' sp'r'ts! Yo' go long home wha' yo' +b'long." + +But Wilkins was not to be repulsed in this manner. "Nebber see sech +ha'r, an' jes' lillum-white--" + +"Oh, go 'long! Lillum-white ha'r," interrupted Minna-Lu, with scathing +sarcasm. "Huccome yo' know de angels hab lillum-white ha'r?" + +"Huccome I know?--'Case I see de shine, jes' lake yo' see in de +dror'n-room." + +"De shine ob lillum-white ha'r in de dror'n-room! 'Pears lake yo' head +struck ile--" + +"Yo' hol' yo' tongue, Minna-Lu," retorted Wilkins, irritated at the +continued evidence of disbelief on the part of his coadjutor. "Jes' yo' +hide back ob de dumb-waitah to-morrah ebenin' when de dessert comes on, +an' see fo' yo'se'f!" He departed in high dudgeon, and Minna-Lu gurgled +long and low to herself, but, in her turn, was interrupted by the sound +of tripping steps on the basement flight. + +Minna-Lu hastily put her fat hands up to her turban to see if it were on +straight, and smoothed her apron, muttering: + +"Clar to goodness, ef it ain't jes' mah luck to hab little Missus come +into dis yere hen-roost?" she rapidly surveyed her immaculate kitchen +with anxious eye. + +"Minna-Lu, this is my friend, Miss Rose; the one who did up those lovely +preserves, and here are some new-laid eggs and some cheeses that Miss +Maria-Ann Simmons--you know I told you all about her and the hens--has +sent papa." + +Minna-Lu gazed at Rose in open admiration. The faithful colored +retainer had her thorny side and her blossom one. + +Rose put out her hand, and Minna-Lu took it in both hers. "I 'se mighty +glad yo' come, Miss Rose, dere ain't no strawberry-blossom nor no +rose-blossom can hol' a can'le to yo' own honey se'f. Dese yere cheeses +is prime." She examined one with the nose of a connoisseur. "Jes' fill +de bill wif de salad-chips to-morrah." She stemmed her fists on her +hips, and her mellow, contented gurgle caused Rose and Hazel to laugh, +too. + +"What is it, Minna-Lu?" said Hazel, reading the signs of the times. + +"Dat Wilkins done tol' me to git back ob de dumb-waitah, to-morrah +ebenin' to see Missy Rose, but I 'se gwine to ask rale straight to jes' +see her 'fo' de comp'ny come." + +"Of course you may. Come up to my room about seven, and we 'll be +ready." + +"Fo' sho'," said Minna-Lu, with beaming face. + +"Good-night," said Rose, beaming, too, for she found the black faces and +ways irresistibly amusing. + +"De Lawd bress yo' lily face, Missy Rose." + +When the two girls were alone, at last, in Hazel's room, there was no +thought of bed for an hour. There were numberless questions on Hazel's +part concerning all the dear Mount Hunger people, and speechless +astonishment on Rose's at the number of invitations that were waiting +for her. They chatted all the time they were undressing, calling back +and forth to each other as one thing or another suggested itself. +Finally, Hazel made her appearance in Rose's room. She went up to her, +put her arms about her neck, and, looking up with eyes full of loving +trust, said: + +"Rose-pose, won't you come into my room and say 'Our Father' with me as +Mother Blossom used to do on Mount Hunger? You can't think how I miss +it." + +"Why, Hazel darling, of course I will--then I shan't feel homesick +missing that precious Martie." + +She followed Hazel into her room, and after she was in bed, Rose knelt +by her side, and together they said, "Our Father." Then Rose bent over +to receive Hazel's loving kiss and whispered, "Oh, Rose, I 'm so happy +to have you here," and whispered back, "And I 'm so happy to be with +you, Hazel--good-night." + +"Good-night." + +Rose went back to her room. At last she was alone. She drew one of the +easy-chairs up before the wood-fire that was dying down, put her bare +feet on the warm fender, and, for a while, dreamed waking dreams. It +was all so strange. The cathedral clock on the mantel chimed twelve. +They were all asleep in the farmhouse on the Mountain--it was time for +her to be. She rose, tiptoed softly into the dressing-room, took from +the bowl the spray of white lilacs she had worn with the other flowers +that evening, shook off the water, and drew the stem through a +buttonhole in the yoke of her simple night-dress. She tiptoed back +again into her room, looked up at the dainty, canopied bed, then laid +herself down within it, and, almost immediately, fell asleep--with her +hand resting on the white fragrance that lay upon her heart. + + + + + XXIII + + BEHOLD HOW GREAT A MATTER A LITTLE FIRE KINDLETH + + +It was so delightful! The weeks were passing all too quickly, and the +letters to Mount Hunger waxed eloquent in praise of everybody's +kindness. + +Jack had come on to lead a cotillion with Rose at Aunt Carrie's. It was +a weighty affair--the selecting of the flowers for her. White violets +they must be, and white violets were about as rare as white raspberries. +Jack gave the florist his own address. + +"I 'll see them, myself, before I send them up; for I won't trust +anyone's eyes but my own," he said to himself as he hurried home to +dress for dinner with a friend. "I wish I had n't promised Grayson to +meet him at the Club before seven. I 'm afraid they won't come in +time." He looked at his watch. "I 'm going to make them a test--and +see what she 'll do. She 's so friendly and frank and all that, I can't +find out even whether she 's beginning to care." + +Jack's absorption in the theme was such that he put his latch-key in +wrong-side up, and, in consequence, wrestled with the lock till he had +worked himself into a fever of impatience; finally he touched the button +before he discovered the trouble. + +"Any packages come for me, Jason?" he inquired of the butler, whose +dignified manner of locomotion had been rudely shaken by Jack's +unceasing pressure on the electric-bell. + +"Yes, Mr. John. Just taken a box up to the rooms." + +Jack looked relieved, and sprang upstairs two steps at a time. He +opened the box. There they were in all their exquisite freshness. +"Like her," he thought, touching his lips to them; then, suddenly +straightening himself, he felt the blood surge into his face. + +"I like Dord's way of putting up his flowers, no tags, nor fol-de-rols. +Jason," he said, as he ran down stairs again, "I shall be back in an +hour; tell Thomas to have everything laid out--I 'm in a hurry. And +have a messenger-boy here when I come back, and don't forget to order +the carriage for quarter of eight, sharp." + +"Yes, Mr. John." + +"Messenger-boy come?" he inquired as Jason opened the door on his +return. + +"Yes, sir, waiting in the hall." + +Jack raced up stairs. There was the precious box on his dressing-table. +He hastily took a visiting card, and, writing on it the sentiment that +was uppermost in his heart, slipped it into the envelope, gave it, +together with the box, to the waiting boy, and bade him hand it to the +man, Wilkins, with the request that it be sent up at once to the lady to +whom it was addressed. Then he made ready for dinner. + +An hour later, Rose was dressing for the dance, and Hazel was watching +her, chatting volubly all the while. + +"That's the loveliest dress, Rose, I heard Aunt Carrie say, you couldn't +buy such, nowadays." + +"It was Martie's wedding-dress. An uncle of her mother's, who was a +sea-captain, brought it from India. But if I wear it many more times, it +will be known throughout the length of New York. This is my sixth +time." + +"I should n't care if it were the hundredth; it's just lovely. Besides, +Jack has n't seen it, you know." + +Rose laughed. "Oh, yes, he has--on Martie; that night of the tea on the +porch." + +"Oh, well, that's different. What flowers are you going to wear?" + +"I thought I wouldn't wear any, just for a change." Rose's face was +veiled by the shining hair, which she was brushing, preparatory to +coiling it high on her head; otherwise, Hazel would have seen the clear +flush that warmed even the roots of the soft waves at the nape of her +neck. Just then there was a knock. The maid opened the door, and +Wilkins' voice was distinctly audible:-- + +"Jes' come fo' Miss Rose; dey wuz to come up right smart, so de boy +say." + +"Oh, more flowers. Who from?" cried Hazel, eagerly, while Wilkins +strained his ears to catch the reply. + +"From Mr. Sherrill," said Rose, opening the little envelope. + +What she read on the card caused the blood to mount higher and higher, +till temples and forehead flushed pink, then as suddenly to recede. + +"May I open them, Rose, and won't you wear some if they 're from Jack?" + +"Yes," said Rose, simply. The two girls leaned over the box as Hazel +took off the wrapper--then the cover--then the inner tissue +papers--then-- + +[Illustration: "The two girls leaned over the box as Hazel took off the +wrapper"] + +Suddenly a shriek of laughter, followed by another, penetrated to +Wilkins, who was lingering on the stairs; he came softly back again. +Peal after peal of wild merriment issued from Rose's room. Within, Rose +in her petticoat and bodice had flung herself on the bed in an ecstasy +of mirth, and Hazel was rolling over on the rug as was the wont of Budd +and Cherry in the old days on Mount Hunger. The maid looked from one to +the other, and, no longer able to keep from joining in the merriment, +although she did not know the cause, left the room, only to find Wilkins +with perturbed face just outside the door. + +"'Pears lake dere wor sumfin' queah 'bout dat ye re box--" he began; but +the maid only shook with laughter and laid her finger on her lips, +motioning him into the back hall. + +"Did you ever?" cried Hazel, when she recovered her breath. + +"No, I never," said Rose, wiping away the tears, for she had laughed +till she cried. "Let's take another look." + +They bent over the box, and took out its contents; then went off again +into fits of seemingly inextinguishable laughter; for, neatly folded +beneath the tissue paper, lay four sets of Jack's new light-weight, +white silk pajamas, which he had purchased that afternoon, in order to +take back to Cambridge with him. On the card, which Rose still held in +her hand, was written, "Wear these for my sake." + +"What will you say to him, Rose?" said Hazel, sitting up on the rug with +her hands clasped about her knees. + +"I don't know," said Rose, proceeding to dress. "I can't _wear_ them, +that's certain." And again the absurdity of the situation presented +itself to her. "And I can't apologize for not wearing them. Neither +can I take it for granted that he was going to send me flowers, and +explain that he sent me these instead." + +"How awfully careless," said Hazel, interrupting her; "he must have had +something on his mind not to take the pains to look, even." + +Rose flushed. "It will be best to let the matter drop, and say nothing +about it," she replied in a cool, toploftical tone that amazed, as well +as mystified, her little hostess. + +"Why, Rose, I think Jack ought to know about it. I 'll tell him, if you +don't want to." + +"Thank you, Hazel, but I don't need your good offices in this matter." + +Hazel rose from the rug, and going over to Rose, laid both hands on her +shoulders and looked straight up into her eyes. + +"Now, Rose Blossom, please don't speak to me in that way. You 're so +queer! First you 're nice about Jack, and then you 're horrid; and when +you 're that way, you are n't nice to _me_ a bit--and I don't like it, +and I don't blame Jack for not liking it either," she added +emphatically. "I remember papa said a year ago that Jack was 'all +heart' for a good many girls, old and young--but I can tell you what, he +won't have any for you, if you whiff round so." + +Hazel in her earnestness gave Rose a little shake. Rose smiled, and, +bending her head, kissed her, saying, "F. and F. and you know, Hazel." + +"Oh, I know all about 'forgiving and forgetting,' but I don't like it +just the same. He's my cousin and the dearest fellow in the world, and +I don't like to have him treated so." + +"How about his treating me?" said Rose, pointing to the innocent box of +underwear, "forgetting even to look; or not caring enough, to see if I +had the right package?" + +"Oh, that's different--perhaps the florist made a mistake." + +"The florist!" Rose laughed merrily. "I never knew that gentlemen's +underwear and roses grew on the same bush.--There 's Wilkins, and I 'm +not ready." + +"De coachman say it's a pow'f ul col' night, an' Miss Rose bettah take +some mo' wraps." + +"Thank you, Wilkins," Hazel flew into the dressing-room for a long fur +cloak of her mother's which she had used to wear to the dancing-classes. +She wrapped it about Rose, who stooped suddenly and kissed her again, +whispering, "Hazel, you 've all spoiled me, that's what's the +matter,--but I 'll be good to Jack, for your sake as well as for my +own." + +"Now you 're what Doctor Heath calls papa, the most splendid fellow in +the world. There now--I won't crush your gown--" A kiss--"Good-night. +You look like an angel!" + +Mr. Clyde thought so, too, as he watched her coming downstairs. She +slipped off the cloak as she stood beneath the soft, but brilliant hall +lights. "Do I look all right?" she asked earnestly, for she had fallen +into the habit, before going anywhere with him or Hazel, of asking for +their criticism. + +"I should say so--but where are the flowers? I miss them." + +"I thought I wouldn't wear any to-night, just for a change." + +"A woman's whim, Rose. But I can't say that you need them--Now, what's +to pay?" he said to himself, as he helped her into the carriage. "I saw +Jack at Dord's this afternoon, and, evidently, something was in the +wind. I hope it has n't been taken out of his sails." + +"Sumfin' mighty queah 'bout dat yere box," murmured Wilkins to himself, +as he closed the door, "but Miss Rose doan' need no flow's. Nebber see +sech h--Fo' de good Lawd! Wha' fo' yo' hyar? Yo' Minna-Lu,--skeerin' +mah day-lights out o' mah, shoolin' 'roun' b'hin' dat por' chair,--jes' +lake bug'lahs." + +Minna-Lu gurgled. "Yo' jes' straight, Wilkins; nebber see sech ha'r. +Huccome I 'se hyar? Jes' to see dat lillum-white angel--" + +"Yo' go 'long, wha' yo' b'long," growled Wilkins, not yet having +recovered from his fright. And Minna-Lu went, with the radiant vision +still before her round, black eyes. + +Jack felt a queer tightening about his lower jaw, and one heart-throb, +apparently in his throat, as he entered Aunt Carrie's reception-room. +Then, as with one glance he swept Rose from the crown of her head to the +hem of her dress, a hot, rushing wave of indignant feeling mastered +him--he knew he had staked his all (so a man at twenty-two is apt to +think) and lost. He braced himself, mentally and physically. He was +n't going to show the white-feather--not he. + +But Rose--Rose was mystifying, captivating, cordial, merry, and +altogether charming. She knocked out all Jack's calculations as to +life, love, women, girls in general, and one girl in particular, at one +fell swoop. He was brought, necessarily, into unstable equilibrium, so +far as his feelings were concerned--his head he was obliged to keep +level on account of the various figures. Several other heads were +variously askew, and would have been turned, likewise, for good and all, +had the wearer of her mother's India-mull wedding-dress been possessed +of a fortune. + +Rose developed social powers that evening that furnished food for +conversation for Aunt Carrie and Mr. Clyde, who watched her with pride +and pleasure. She was evidently enjoying herself thoroughly, and her +enjoyment proved contagious. + +"After all," said Jack as, between figures, he found opportunity for a +whispered word or two; "this is n't half so fine a dance as the one in +the barn, last September." + +"Why, that's just what I was thinking, myself, that very minute!" + +"You were?" + +"Yes." + +The brown eyes and the blue ones met with such evidence of a perfect +understanding, that Jack failed to see Maude Seaton, who had approached +him for the purpose of taking him out in the four-in-hand. + +"Oh, I beg your pardon," said Jack, starting to his feet, "it's the +'four-in-hand.'" + +"Yes, and I think you 'll have to be put into the traces again," she +said, with a meaning smile. + +"Not I," retorted Jack, merrily, "I kicked over them nearly a year ago." + +"So I heard," replied Miss Seaton, sweetly; and Jack wondered what she +meant. + +When Jack found himself again beside Rose, he decided that, flowers or +no flowers, he would ask for an explanation. But his first attempt was +met with such a bewilderingly merry smile, and such confident assurance +that explanations were not in order, that it proved a successful +failure. + +When, at last, in the early morning hours he was seated before the open +fire in his bedroom, pulling away reflectively at his pipe, he had time +to think it over. He came to the conclusion that it was trivial in him +to have staked his all on her wearing those flowers, for she +certainly--certainly had led him to think that she was anything but +indifferent to him. + +"That look now," mused Jack. "I don't believe that a girl like Rose +Blossom would look that way if she didn't mean it--if she did n't care. +No other girl could look that way." He reached for his watch on the +dressing-case. "I shall get good two hours' sleep before that early +train.--What's that?" He noticed for the first time, that on the bed +lay a familiar-looking box in a brown paper wrapper. In a trice he had +broken the string, whisked off the cover, scattered the tissue paper +right and left.--There lay the violets, white, and sweet, and almost as +fresh as when he gave them his virgin kiss nearly twelve hours before. + +Jack sat down stupefied on the bed. _What had he given her, anyway_? +He thought intensely for a full minute. + +"Great Scott! the pajamas!" And then Jack Sherrill rolled over on the +bed, ignoring the damage to dress suit and violets, and, burying his +face in the pillow, gave vent to a smothered yell. + +There was a merry exchange of notes between Cambridge and New York +during the next two weeks, and Rose had promised to wear any +flowers--and only his--he might send her for the ball at Mrs. Fenlick's +the middle of February, and for which Jack was coming on. It would +occur during the last week of Rose's visit, and Jack thought that +possibly--possibly,--well, he could n't define just what "possibly;" but +it proved to be an infinitely absorbing one, and Jack felt it was "now +or never" with him. + +Mrs. Heath had claimed Rose as her guest for the last three weeks, and +the days were filled with pleasures. On the Saturday before the ball, +and a week before Rose was to return to Mount Hunger, two seats in a box +at the opera had been sent in to Mrs. Heath from a friend. + +"Look at these, Rose!" Mrs. Heath exclaimed, showing her the note. +"Just exactly what you were wishing to hear, and we thought we could not +arrange it for next week. That opera has been changed for to-day's +matinee, and now you can hear both Lohengrin and Siegfried." + +Rose clapped her hands. "I 've just longed to hear Lohengrin; Mrs. Ford +and her son have played so much of it to me. I think it's perfectly +beautiful." + +"I 'm so sorry I can't go, dear; but I made a positive engagement for +this afternoon and it must not be broken. But I 'll send round for +Cousin Anna May. She does n't care much for the opera, but she will +chaperone you. She 's not much of a talker either, so you can enjoy the +music in peace. People chatter so abominably there." + +From the moment the orchestra sounded the first notes of that pathetic +and thrillingly appealing fore-word of the overture, Rose was lost to +the world about her. She was glad of the darkness, glad no one could +see or notice her intense absorption in the opening scene. Even when +the lights were turned on between the acts, and the subdued murmur in +the house rose to a confusing babble, she was living in the story of +Elsa and her lover Knight. Elderly Cousin Anna May, seeing this, let +her alone, thinking to herself:--"One has to be young to be so +enthusiastic over this wornout theme." + +The curtain fell; the house was brilliant with lights; confusion of +talk, confusion of merry chat and laughter were all about Rose; but she +sat unheeding, wondering if the element of evil would be turned into a +factor of good. Her heart was aching with the intensity of feeling for +the two lovers. Suddenly, a few words behind her arrested her +attention. She sat with her back to the speakers--two girls in the next +box, who had annoyed her more than once by their ceaseless, whispering +gabble. + +"I told Maude I did n't believe it." + +"What did she say?" + +"She said it was gospel truth." + +"Do tell me what it was, I won't tell." + +"Sure?" + +"Not a soul." + +"Promise?" + +"Why, of course. They say he 's got oceans of money." + +"Piles--. He 's got his mother's fortune and will have his father's. +Besides, his Uncle Gray is a bachelor, and so Jack will have that, too. +Maude says he 's the best catch in New York." + +"I heard Sam say he was in an awfully fast set in college; but Sam likes +him awfully well. Have you seen him?" + +"Oh, yes, lots. Maude let me see him one night before dinner at +Newport. I used to see him playing polo at the grounds. I think he 's +fascinating--just like Lohengrin." + +"But what was it? Hurry up, do." + +"You 'll never tell?" + +"Never." + +The voice was slightly lowered--confused with the munching of Huyler's; +and Rose, with hypersensitive hearing, could distinguish only a word or +two, or a detached sentence. + +"I don't think that's so awful. Sam does that, too, and he 's just as +nice a brother as I want." + +"Oh, I don't know anything about that; but I know it's true, for Maude +said so." In the increasing confusion of talk in the house, the voices +were suddenly raised, and Rose caught every word. + +"I 'll ask Sam--" began the other, dropping her opera glass and stooping +to pick it up. + +"If you do, Minna Grayson, I 'll never speak to you again." + +"Oh, I forgot--" laughed the other. "Tell us some more, it's awfully +exciting." + +"I won't either," said the other, in a huffy tone. Evidently, they were +school-girls in for the matinee. + +"Oh, _do_; what _did_ Maude say?" + +"She said, 'No,'" chuckled the other triumphantly. + +"But think of his money!' + +"She said she did n't mind; she 's got money enough of her own, anyway, +if she does skimp me on allowance ever since grandmamma died." + +"I heard Sara say last Christmas when I was home for vacation, that he +was perfectly devoted to that new girl the Clydes have taken up." + +"Yes. Maude says it's one of his fads. She gives him six months more +to get over it." + +"Everybody says she is a perfect beauty. Sam says that Mrs. Fenlick +says she is the most beautiful creature off of a canvas she has ever +seen." + +"Oh, Maude says Mrs. Fenlick raves over everything new. She, the girl, +I mean, made a dead set at him a year ago when he happened to meet her +up in the mountains. You know they had a riding-party last August. But +now they say she seems to be setting her cap for Hazel's father--he has +a million or two more than Jack, and she 's as poor as a church-mouse." + +"I did n't know that,--poor?" + +"Yes, awfully. Why, Maude says she's seen her selling berries for a +living somewhere up in the mountains--oh, way back in them. People call +them the Lost Nation, they 're so far back; and Maude says she wore +patched shoes and an old calico dress--Sh!--Now we 're going to have +that bridal march, is n't it dandy? It ought to be a part of the +marriage ceremony, Maude says. I 'm so glad it's coming;--Tum, tum, ty +tum--tum, tum, ty tum--here 's just one more candied violet--tum, tum, +ty tum, tum, ty tum, ty ty tum, ty tum--Oh, look! Is n't Elsa just +lovely--" + +A burst of applause greeted the beautiful prima donna. Upon Rose's ears +it fell like the thunder of a cataract, like the crash and roll of an +avalanche. She stared at the exquisite scene before her with strained +eyes. The music went on with all the troublous-sweet under-tones of +love, and longing, and forever-parting. Not once did Rose stir until +the curtain fell, then she turned to her companion:-- + +"Can we get out soon, Mrs. May? The air is a little close here." + +"Certainly, my dear;" but to herself she said, "How intense she is. I +'m thankful I never was so strung up over music." + + + + + XXIV + + "OLD PUT" + + +"Where 's Rose?" said the Doctor as he came in that Saturday evening, +and heard no welcoming voice from the library or the stairs. + +"She came home from the opera with a frightful headache and has gone to +bed. She said she did n't want any dinner, but I have insisted upon her +having some toast and tea," replied his wife. + +"Humph!" growled the Doctor; "Our wild rose can't stand such hot-house +atmosphere. When does the Fenlicks' ball come off?" + +"Next Wednesday; it will be a superb affair. Rose showed me her card +the other day, and if you will believe me, it's full, although Jack +Sherrill gets the lion's share." + +"How do you think things are coming on there, wifie?" + +"Why, he's devoted to her whenever he can be; you know what Mrs. +Pearsell told us about last summer, but--" + +"But what?" said the Doctor, a little impatiently. "Generally, wifie, +you can see prospective wedding-cake if two young people so much as look +twice at each other." + +Mrs. Heath laughed and nodded. "Yes, I know; but in just this case, I +don't know. You can't tell anything by her--and I fear, hubbie, that +Jack Sherrill is n't quite good enough for her." + +"Not quite good enough for her!" The Doctor almost shouted in his +earnestness. "Jack Sherrill not quite good enough for--" + +"Sh--sh, dear!" His wife held up her hand in warning. "Someone might +hear." + +"Let 'em hear, then," growled the Doctor. "I say Rose is n't a bit too +good for him.--Look here, wifie,--" he drew her towards him and down +upon the arm of his easy-chair, "Jack's all right every time--do you +understand? _All right!_" + +"Ye-es," admitted his wife rather reluctantly. "I know he 's a great +favorite of yours. But Mrs. Grayson says he 's in a very fast set at +Harvard-- + +"Now look here, wifie, don't you let those women with their eternal +hunger for gossip say anything to you about Jack. I tell you there is +n't another fellow I know, who, placed as he is, can set up so many +white stones to mark his short life's pathway as John Sherrill's only +son. For heaven's sake, give him the credit for them. I know what I +saw on Mount Hunger a year ago, and I know and believe what I see." + +"Well, I only hope he won't flirt with her--" began Mrs. Heath. Her +husband interrupted her: + +"Flirt with her!" The Doctor chuckled. "I'll warrant Jack won't do any +flirting with her--it 'll be the other way round sooner than that! Just +say good-night to Rose for me when you go up stairs, and tell her if she +is n't down bright and early Sunday morning, I 'll prescribe for her." + +But there was no need for the Doctor's prescription; for Rose was down +for breakfast, and although white cheeks and heavy eyes caused the +Doctor to draw his eyebrows together in a straight line over the bridge +of his nose, nothing was said of there being any need for a +prescription. But after breakfast he drew her into the library and +placed her in an easy-chair before the blazing fire. + +"There now," he said in his own kindliest tones, "sit there and dream +while wifie makes ready for church, and after that you shall go with me +for an official drive. The air will do you good. I can't send such +white roses"--he patted her cheek--"back to Mount Hunger; what would +mother say?" + +To his amazement Rose buried her face in both hands; a half-suppressed +sob startled him. + +"Why, Rose-pose! What's the matter, little girl? Headachey--nerves +unstrung--too much opera? Here, come into the office where we shan't be +disturbed, and tell me all about it." + +But Rose shook her head, lifted it from her hands, and smiled through +the welling tears. + +"I 'm a perfect goose, but--but--I believe I 'm getting just a little +bit homesick for Mount Hunger, and I 'm not going to stay for Mrs. +Fenlick's ball. I know mother needs me at home--I can just feel it in +her letters, and I know I want--I want her." + +"Don't blame you a bit, Rose,--but is n't this rather sudden? Any +previous attacks?" + +"No--and I know it seems dreadfully ungrateful to you and dear Mrs. +Heath to say so, and it is n't that--I 'd love to be with just you two; +but it's this dreadful feeling comes over me, and I know I ought to go." + +"And go you shall, Rose," said the Doctor, emphatically, but oh! so +kindly and understandingly. "Go back to all the dear ones there--and +when you come again, don't give us the tail-end of your visit, will +you?" + +"Indeed, I won't," answered Rose, earnestly, "and if it were only you +and Mrs. Heath, I 'd love to stay, but--but--" + +"No need to say anything more, Rose, wifie and I understand it +perfectly--" ("I wish the dickens I did!" was his thought)--"Tell wifie +when she comes down, and meanwhile I 'll send round for the brougham and +we 'll take a little drive in the Park before office hours." + +Rose patted his hand, and her silence spoke for her. + +"Here 's a pretty kettle of fish!" said the Doctor to himself as he went +to the telephone. "I wish I could get to the bottom of it." + +And thus it came about that a cool, dignified note, not expressive of +any particular regret, was mailed to Cambridge on Sunday afternoon, and +a long letter to Mount Hunger telling them to be sure to meet her on +Tuesday at Barton's, and filled with wildly enthusiastic expressions of +delight in anticipation of the home-coming. And on Tuesday afternoon, +as the train sped onwards, following the curves of the frozen +Connecticut, and the snow-covered mountains on the Vermont side began to +crowd its banks, Rose felt a lightening of the heart and an uplifting of +spirits. + +The bitterness and shame and shock she had experienced, in consequence +of that one little bite of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of +Good and Evil, seemed to diminish with every mile that increased the +distance between her and the frothing whirlpool of the great city's +gayeties. All the way up, until the mountains loomed in sight, there had +been hot, indignant protest in her thoughts. At first, indeed, it had +been hatred. + +"I hate it all--hate it, _hate_ it!" she found herself saying over and +over again after the good-byes had been said at the station, and Hazel +and Mr. Clyde and Doctor Heath had supplied her with flowers and +magazines for the long day's journey. It was all she could think or +feel at the time; but soon the little pronoun changed, and the thought +grew more bitter: + +"I hate him! How could he--how dared he do as he did! Because I am +poor, I suppose. Oh! I wish I could make him pay for it. I wish I +could make him love me really and truly, and then just _scorn_ him! But +what a fool I am--as if he _could_ love after what I heard--oh, why did +I hear it! I wish I may never see his face again, and I wish I 'd +stayed at home where I belong--I hate him!"--And so on "da capo" hour +after hour, and the incessant chugetty-chug-chug of the express +furnished the rhythmic, basal tone for the bitter motive. + +It was long after lunch time, and the train of thought had not changed, +when Rose's eye fell upon the dainty basket Martin had placed in the +rack. + +"This is a pretty state of mind to go home to Martie in!" she said to +herself, rising and taking down the basket. "I have n't eaten a good +meal since last Saturday at lunch, and I 'm--why, I believe I 'm +hungry!" + +She opened the basket, and loving evidence of Minna-Lu's admiration +tempted her to pick a little here and there--a stuffed olive or two, a +roast quail, a delicate celery sandwich, a quince tart, a bunch of +Hamburg grapes. Soon Rose was feasting on all the good things, and her +harsh thoughts began to soften. How kind they all were! And _they_ +truly loved her--and what had they not done for her comfort and +pleasure! Rose, setting her pretty teeth deep into a third quince tart, +looked out of the window and almost exclaimed aloud at the sight. The +vanguard of the Green Mountains closed in the upper end of the +river-valley along which they were speeding. It was home that was +behind all that! The thought still further softened her. + +What? Carry her bitterness and disappointed pride back into that dear, +peaceful home? Not she! "They shall never know--never!" she said to +herself--"I 'm not Molly Stark for nothing, and there are others in the +world beside Jack Sherrill." And so she continued to speak cold comfort +to herself for the next four hours until the brakeman called "Barton's +River!" + +There beyond the platform was the old apple-green pung!--and yes! father +and March and Budd and dear old Chi anxiously scanning the coaches. + +Home at last! and such a home-coming! How busy the tongues were for a +week afterwards! How wildly gay was Rose, who kept them laughing over +the many queer doings of the metropolis, over Wilkins and Minna-Lu and +Martin and Mrs. Scott! And how lovingly she spoke of Hazel's charming +hospitality and of Mr. Clyde's thoughtfulness for her pleasure, +although, as she mentioned his name, a wave of color mounted to the +roots of her hair at the ugly thought that would intrude. Chi listened +with all his ears, enjoying it with the rest; but once upstairs in his +room over the shed, he would sit down on the side of his bed to ponder a +little the gay doings of his Rose-pose among the "high-flyers," and then +turn in with a sigh and a muttered: + +"'T ain't Rose-pose. I knew how 't would be.--There 's a screw loose +somewhere; but she's handsome!--handsome as a picture, 'n' I 'd give a +dollar to know if she 's cut that other one out." + +"Valentines seem kind of scarce this year," he remarked rather grimly, a +few days after her arrival, as late in the afternoon, he returned from +Barton's with little mail and no boxes of flowers. "It's the sixteenth +day of February, but it might be Fast Day for all that handful of mail +would show for it!" He placed the package on Mrs. Blossom's work-table +at which Rose was sitting busy with some sewing. They were alone in the +room. + +Rose laughed merrily. "Goodness, Chi! you want us to have more than our +share. We had a perfect deluge last year when Hazel was here; you know +it makes a difference without her. You said yourself that there was a +good deal of bulk, but it was pretty light weight--don't you remember?" + +Chi elevated one bushy eyebrow. "I ain't forgot; but I don't know about +it's bein' any _Deluge_--it appeared to me it was a Shadrach, Meshach, +'n' Abednego kind of a business--" He gave the back log a kick that +sent the sparks up the chimney in a grand pyrotechnic show. "Seems as if +I could see those posies, now, a-shrivellin' in the fireplace. Never +thought you treated those innocent things quite on the square, +Rose-pose!" + +Rose's head was bent low over her work. Chi went on, bracing himself to +the self-imposed task of enlightening her:-- + +"I don't want to meddle, Rose, in anybody's business, but it ain't set +well with me ever since--the way you treated those roses; 'n', after +all, we 're both members of the Nobody's Business But Our Own Society, +'n' if anybody 's goin' to meddle, perhaps I 'm the one. I 've thought +a good many times you would n't have been quite so harsh with 'em, if +you had n't overlooked this in your flare-up--" He drew out of his +breast pocket a card--Jack 's--with the verse on the back. "Read that, +'n' see if you ain't dropped a stitch somewhere that you can pick up in +time." He handed her the card. + +Rose looked up surprised, but with burning cheeks. She took the card, +read the verse, turned it over on the name side, and rose from her +chair. Every particle of color had left her face. She went over to the +fireplace, and, bending, dropped the little piece of pasteboard upon the +glowing back-log. + +"The sentiment belongs with the roses, Chi; don't let's have any more +Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego business--I 'm tired of it." She spoke +indifferently; then, resuming her seat, called out in a cheery voice: + +"Martie, won't you come here a minute, and see if I have put on this +gore right?" + +"I 'll come, dear." + +Chi, nonplussed, irritated, repulsed, set his teeth hard and abruptly +left the room. + +Outside in the shed he clenched his fist and shook it vigorously at the +closed door of the long-room: "--By George Washin'ton!" he muttered, "I +'ll make you pay up for that, Rose Blossom. You can't come any of your +high-flyers' games on me-- Just you put that in your pipe and smoke it! +Thunderation! what gets into women and girls, sometimes?" He seized the +milk-pails from the shelf and hurried to the barn nearly running down +Cherry in his wrathful excitement. + +"Look out there, Cherry! You 're always getting round under foot!" he +said, harshly, and stumbled on, regaining his balance, only to be met by +Budd in the barn. + +"Just clear out now, Budd! I ain't goin' to stand your foolin'. Let +alone of that stanchion," he roared. "Always worryin' the cow if she +looks once at you sideways. Get _up_, there--" His right boot helped +the amazed cow forwards into the stall, and the milk drummed into the +pail as if the poor creature were being milked by a dummy-engine with +more pressure of steam on than it could well stand. + +Budd flew into the woodshed and found Cherry still standing, in a +half-dazed condition, where Chi had left her. They compared notes +immediately to the detriment and defamation of Chi's character. Then +they carried their budget of woe to their mother. + +"Chi is worried, children; you must n't mind if he is a little cross now +and then. He feels dreadfully about the prospect of this war, as we all +do, and that's his way of showing it." + +"Well, if he's going to be so cross at us, I wish he 'd clear out an' go +to war!" retorted Budd, smarting under the unjust treatment. + +"I 'm only afraid he will if we have one," said Mrs. Blossom, sadly. +"But, oh, I hope and pray we may be spared that!" + +But Budd continued to grumble, and Cherry to be suspiciously sniffy, +until their father's return; and then at the supper table they listened +greedily to all the talk of their elders, that had for its absorbing +theme the prospective war. + +As the spring days lengthened, and the sun drew northward, the tiny +cloud on the country's peaceful horizon grew larger and darker, until it +cast its shadow throughout the length and breadth of the land, and men's +faces grew stern and troubled and women prayed for peace. + +With the lengthening days Chi showed signs of increasing restlessness. +"It ain't any use, Ben," he said, one soft evening in early May, as the +family, with the exception of the younger children, sat on the porch +discussing the latest news, "I 've got to go." + +"Oh, Chi!" broke from Mrs. Blossom and Rose. They cried out as if hurt. +Mr. Blossom grasped Chi's right hand, and March wrung the other. + +"I can't stand it," he went on; "we 've been sassed enough as a nation, +'n' some of us have got to teach those foreigners we ain't goin' to turn +the other cheek just coz we're slapped on one. When I wasn't higher +than Budd, my great-grandfather--you remember him, Ben, lived the other +side of the Mountain--put his father's old Revolution'ry musket (the +one, you know, Rose-pose, as I 've used in the N.B.B.O.O.) into my +hands, 'n' says: 'Don't you stand no sass, Malachi Graham, from no +foreigners.--Just shoot away, 'n' holler, "Hands off" every time, 'n' +they 'll learn their lesson easy and early, 'n' respect you in the end.' +And I ain't forgot it." + +"Chi," Mrs. Blossom's voice was tremulous, "you won't go till you 're +asked, or needed, will you?" + +"I ain't goin' to wait to be asked, Mis' Blossom; I 'd rather be on hand +to be refused. That's my way. So I thought I 'd be gettin' down along +this week--" + +"This week!" Rose interrupted him with a cry and a half-sob. "Oh, Chi! +dear old Chi! _must_ you go? What if--what if--" Rose's voice broke, +and Chi gulped down a big lump, but answered, cheerily: + +"Well, Rose-pose, _what if_? Ain't I Old Put? 'n' ain't you Molly +Stark? 'n' ain't Lady-bird Barbara Frietchie?--There, just read that--" +he handed a letter to March, who gave it back to him, saying, in a husky +voice, that it was too dark to read. + +"Well, then we 'll adjourn into the house, 'n' light up.--There now," he +said, as he lighted the lamp and set it on the table beside March, +"here's your letter, Markis, read ahead." + +March read with broken voice: + + +4 EAST --TH STREET, NEW YORK, +May 5, 1898. + +DEAR FRIEND CHI,--I never thought when I joined the N.B.B.O.O. Society, +that I 'd have to be really brave about real war;--and now dear old Jack +is going off to Cuba with Little Shaver and all those cow-boys,--and +it's dreadful! Uncle John is about sick over it, for, you know, Jack is +all he has. Papa is going to keep the house open all summer; he says +there is no telling what may happen. + +We have made no plans for the summer, for our hearts are so heavy on +Jack's account--his last year in Harvard, too! He told me to tell you he +would find out if there is a chance for you in the new cavalry regiment +he has joined. He looked so pleased when I told him; he read your +letter, and I told him how you wanted to go with him, and he said: "Dear +old Chi, I'd like to have him for my bunkie"--and told me what it meant. +He told me to tell you to be prepared for a telegram at any moment. + +I must stop now; papa wants me to go out with him. Give my love to +_all_, and tell Mother Blossom and Rose I will write them more +particulars in a few days. + +If you come to New York, you know a room will be ready for you in the +home of your + +Loving friend, + HAZEL CLYDE. + + +There was silence for a while in the room; then Mr. Blossom spoke: + +"How are you going, Chi?" + +"I 'm goin' to jog along down with Fleet, 'n' take it kind of +easy--thought I 'd cross the Mountain, 'n' strike in on the old +post-road; 'n' follow on down by old Ticonderogy,--I 've always wanted +to see that,--then across to Saratogy 'n' Albany, 'n' foller the river. +You can't go amiss of New York if you stick to that." + +Again there was a prolonged silence. Chi hemmed, and moved uneasily on +his chair, while he fumbled about in his trousers' pocket. He pulled +out a piece of crumpled, yellow paper. + +"S'pose I might just as well make a clean breast of it." He tried to +laugh, but it was a failure. "Jack's telegram came along last night, +'n' I thought, maybe I 'd better be gettin' my duds together to-night, +Mis' Blossom, as 't will be a mighty early start--before any of you are +up," he added, hastily. + +The two women broke down then, and Mr. Blossom and March followed Chi +out to the barn. + +The household, save for the younger children, was early astir--before +sunrise. Mrs. Blossom had prepared a hearty breakfast, and Rose was +rolling up a few pairs of her father's stockings to put in the netted +saddle-bag which Chi was wont to use in hunting. + +"Tell March to call Chi, Rose," said her mother. "His breakfast is +ready, I hear him in the barn." + +Rose ran out in the dawning light to find her father and March just +coming towards the house. + +"Why, where 's Chi?" she cried. + +For answer, her father pointed to the woodlands. She looked just in +time to see in the soft gray of the early morn the horse and rider rise +to the three-railed fence that separated the pasture from the woodlands. +He was following the trail he had indicated to Jack--"through the woods +'n' acre or two of brush, 'n' then some pretty steep sliding down the +other side, 'n' a dozen rods or so of swimmin', 'n' a tough old clamber +up the bank--" + +Some ten days afterward, late on a warm afternoon in May, there rode +into New York City by the way of the Bronx and Harlem, a middle-aged man +on a bright bay horse. The animal's gait was a noticeable one, a long, +loping gallop, that covered the ground in a manner that roused the +admiration of the drivers on the speedway. The tall, loose-jointed body +of the rider apparently loped along with the horse--their movements were +identical. The saddle was an old-fashioned cavalry one of the early +sixties. A netted saddle-bag and a rolled rubber coat were fastened to +the crupper. A light-weight hunting rifle was slung on a strap over the +man's shoulder. At the northern entrance to the Park he drew rein +beside a mounted policeman. + +"Can you tell me if I 'm on the right track to this house?" + +He took a card from the pocket of his dusty blue flannel shirt and +handed it to the policeman. + +The city guardian nodded assent. "But you can't take that gun along +with you; you 're inside city limits and liable to arrest." + +"'Gainst the law, hey? Well, I 've come from a pretty law-abiding +state, 'n' ain't goin' to get into rows with you fellers--" He laid a +brown, knotty, work-roughened finger on the policeman's immaculate blue +coat--"I 'd trust that color as far as I could see. Where shall I leave +the rifle?" + +The city guard unbent as the kindly voice yielded such undefiant +obedience to his demand. "You can leave it with me now,--I 'm off my +beat by seven, and live over east of this--" he handed back the +card--"and I 'll leave it at the house if you 're going to be there." + +"All right, that 'll suit me. Yes, I 'm goin' to put up there for a day +or two, maybe." + +"Off on a hunting trip?" + +"You bet--goin' on a big, old, U.S.A. hunt for a lot of darned +foreigners in Cuby." + +The policeman held out his hand and grasped the stranger's. "You're one +of them?" + +"Yes, I come down to join a cavalry regiment. Jack Sherrill, he +belongs, too. Great rider--can't be beat. Ever seen him round here on +Little Shaver?" + +The policeman smiled. "No, but I 'd like to see you again--" + +"Maybe you will; but I 'd better be getting along before +sundown,--'gainst the law to ride this horse a piece through those +woods?" He pointed into the Park. + +"Oh, no, that's all right. Keep along till you come to Seventieth +Street, and inquire; and then turn into Fifth Avenue--east--and you're +there." + +"Much obliged. Like to show you a trail or two up in Vermont when you +come that way. Get, Fleet." The animal set forward into a long, loping +gallop. + +The brilliant, light green of the May foliage was enhanced by the level +rays of the setting sun, as the man turned his horse into Fifth Avenue +and drew rein to a rapid walk. Many a one paused to look at him as he +paced over the asphalt. He was looking up at the mansions of the Upper +East Side. Soon he halted at the corner of a side street and gazed up +at the first house, the end of which, with the conservatory, was on the +Avenue, but the entrance on the side street. "That's the place," he +spoke to himself,--"don't see a hitchin'-post handy, so I 'll just have +to tie up to this electric light stand. Iron, by thunder!--Well, there +ain't any risk so long as 't isn't lit, 'n' there ain't a tempest." + +Leaving his horse firmly tied to the standard he stepped up on the low, +broad stoop of "Number 4," and looked for the bell. Not finding any he +knocked forcibly on the carved iron grill that protected the plate-glass +doors. + +The great doors flew open, and a face--"blacker 'n thunder"--as the man +said to himself, scowled on the interloper. + +"Wha' fo' yo' come hyar, yo'--" He got no further. A horny hand was +extended, and a cheery voice, that broke into a laugh, spoke the +assuaging words: + +"Guess you 're Wilkins, ain't you? I 've heard Lady-bird tell 'bout you +till I feel as if we 'd been pretty well acquainted goin' on nigh two +year now." + +By this time Wilkins' face was one broad beam. He slapped his free hand +on his knee: + +"Yo 's Mister Chi, for sho'--dere ain't no need yo' tellin'. Yo' jes' +come straight in, Mister Chi; Marse John an' little Missy jes' gone fo' +ah drive in de Park. Dey 'll be in any minute. Yo' room 's all ready, +an' little Missy put de flow'rs in fresh dis yere mornin'--''Case,' she +say, 'Wilkins, dere ain't no tellin' when Chi's comin'.'" + +"Sho'," Chi interrupted him, brushing the back of his hand hastily +across his eyes. "I can't come in now, Wilkins, coz I 've got to stay +here 'n' watch my horse--I 'll sit here on the steps a spell 'n' cool +off till Mr. Clyde gets home, 'n' he 'll help me see to puttin' up Fleet +for the night. His legs are a little mite swollen near the hocks, 'n' I +'m goin' to rub him down myself." + +"De coachman jes' tend to yo' hoss like 's ef 't wor yo'se'f, Mister +Chi. I 'll jes' call up de stable bo', 'n' he 'll rub him down wif +sp'r'ts, an' shine him up till he look jes' lake new mahog'ny. Jes' yo' +come--dere dey come now!" + +Chi was at the curbstone to welcome them. + +"Chi! O Chi!" Hazel rose up in the trap at sight of the well-known +figure, and Chi, laying his hand firmly on Martin's shoulder, put him +aside as he sprang to open the door and let down the steps, reached up +both arms, and took Hazel out as tenderly as on the night of her first +arrival at the farmhouse on the Mountain. And then and there Hazel gave +him a kiss, and Mr. Clyde grasped his hands in both his, and the wide +hall doors that Wilkins had thrown open to their fullest extent closed +upon the reunited friends. + +"'E 's a 'ansome 'oss," Martin remarked to the coachman, as he mounted +Fleet to take him to the stable; "Hi 'ave n't seen a 'ansomer since Hi +'ve bean in the States." + +A few days after the hall doors were again flung wide, but not to their +fullest extent, and Wilkins' face grew strangely tremulous when he heard +Hazel and Mr. Clyde, Jack and Chi coming down the broad hall stairs. +Martin was proudly leading Fleet and Little Shaver up and down in front +of the house. + +"Jack! O Jack! I can't bear to have you go--but I _will_ be brave." +Hazel smiled through the raining tears. She clung to him and kissed him. +He put her aside, ran out to Little Shaver, and flung himself on before +Chi had said good-bye. + +"Take care of Jack, Chi," she whispered, patting his hand. + +"I will, Barbara Frietchie." He pointed to the flag that, in the east +wind blowing in from the Sound, was waving over the entrance, gripped +Mr. Clyde's hand, then Wilkins', and, apparently, stepped into the +saddle. + +"Quick, quick, Wilkins! lower the flag, and let me have it." Wilkins +sprang to obey. Hazel seized it, and rushed up stairs to the +drawing-room, the windows of which overlooked the Avenue. One of them +was open; she leaned out; and as Fleet and Little Shaver turned the +corner, their riders, looking up, saw the young girl's figure in the +opening. She was waving the symbol of their Country's life and their +manhood's loyalty. + +They halted, baring their heads for a moment--then without once looking +back, galloped down the Avenue. + + + + + XXV + + SAN JUAN + + +Notwithstanding it was a hot day in the first week of July, Mrs. +Spillkins had decided to have a "quilting-bee." Having made up her +mind, after consulting with Miss Melissa and Miss Elvira, she lost no +time in summoning Uncle Israel from the barn, and making known her +plans. Uncle Israel mildly objected. + +"Kinder hot fer er quiltin'-bee, ain't it, Hannah?" + +"'Tis pretty hot," Mrs. Spillkins admitted, wiping the perspiration from +her face with her apron, "but we 'll have it to-morrow 'long 'bout four. +You get the frames and rollers out, Israel, from the back garret, an' +then I want you to go up to Mis' Blossom's an' ask 'em to come, an' get +word to the other folks on the Mountain." + +"I 'll go, Hannah, but I dunno 'bout Mis' Blossom 'n' Rose comin' ter er +quiltin'-bee jest 'bout this time. They 're feelin' pretty low 'bout Chi +off thar in Cuby; news hez come thet ther 's ben fightin'--" + +"I know that, Israel; I 've thought of that, too; but, mebbe, it 'll do +'em good, just to change the scene a little. Anyway, you ask 'em." + +"Jest ez ye say, Hannah." + +The sun was setting when Uncle Israel made his appearance on the porch +where the whole family was assembled with Alan Ford. They had but one +topic for conversation. + +Uncle Israel gave his invitation, and added: "Hannah thought ye 'd +better come 'n' change the scene a leetle--she knowed ye 'd be kinder +low-spereted 'bout now." + +Mrs. Blossom held out her hand. "Thank you, Uncle Israel. Tell Mrs. +Spillkins we will both come." + +"Hannah wants your folks ter come, tew, Alan." + +"Much obliged, Uncle Israel. I 'll tell mother and Ruth; I 'm sure they +will enjoy it. Ruth said the other day she wished she might have a +chance to see a quilting-bee while we are here. Shall I take your +message over to Aunt Tryphosa?" + +"Much obleeged, Alan. Thank ye, Rose,"--as Rose brought out the large +arm-chair and placed it for him; "I 'll set a spell 'n' rest me." + +It was a typical northern midsummer night. Across the valley the +mountains loomed, softly luminous, against the pale green translucent +stretch of open sky in the west. There were no clouds; but high above +and around there swept a long trail of motionless mist, flame-colored +over the mountain tops, but darkening, with the coming of the night, +into gray towards the east. The stars were not yet out. The veeries +were choiring antiphonally in the woodlands. + +An hour afterwards Alan Ford rose to go, and Uncle Israel soon followed +his example. + +"I 'll go down the woods'-road a piece with you, Uncle Israel," said +Rose. + +As she came back up the Mountain a cool breath drew through the pines, +and the spruces gave forth their resinous fragrance upon the dewless +night. The stars were brilliant in the dark blue deeps. + +A midsummer night among the mountains of New England! And far away in +the sickening heat and wet, the fever-laden exhalations of the tropics +rose into the nostrils of a man, who sat motionless in the rude +field-hospital, hastily improvised on the slope of San Juan, watching, +with his knees drawn up to his chin and his hands clasping them, for +some faint tremor in the still face on the army blanket spread upon the +ground. + +The lantern cast its light full upon that still face. Suddenly the +watcher bent forward; his keen eyes had detected a twitch of an +eyelid--a flutter in the muscles of the throat. "Don't move him," the +surgeon had said; "the least movement will cause the final hemorrhage." + +There was a catch of the breath--the eyes opened, partly filmed. + +"Jack!" The watcher spoke, bending lower; his ear over the other's +lips. + +"Chi--" it was a mere breath, but the man heard--"I'm--done for." + +The watcher's hand, muscular, toil-hardened, sought the nerveless one +that was lying on the other's breast, and closed upon it with a brooding +pressure. There was silence for a few minutes. Then the horny hand +felt a feeble stirring of the fingers beneath the hardened palm--they +were fumbling weakly at a button. + +The strong hand undid the button, gently--very gently, without apparent +movement. There was a motion of the nerveless fingers towards the +place. Another breath:-- + +"Give--love--" + +A long silence fell. + +Mrs. Spillkins heaved a sigh of satisfaction: "We 've done an awful +sight of work," she said, surveying the five quilts "run" and "tacked" +and "knotted" in even rows and mathematically true squares; "but it +seems as if they did n't eat a mite of supper, an' that strawberry +shortcake was enough to melt in your mouth." + +"What'd I tell ye, Hannah? They're worretin' 'bout Chi," said Uncle +Israel. "They've fit agin; Ben told me while he wuz waitin' with the +team fer the womin-folks. He hed the mail, 'n' er telegram thet thet +young feller, we see ridin' 'roun' here las' summer, wuz mortal wounded. +He did n't want the womin-folks ter know it till he got 'em hum. They +sot er sight by him." + +Mrs. Spillkins threw up her hands: "Dear suz'y me!" she exclaimed in a +distressed voice. "What 'll they do! I hope an' pray Malachi Graham +ain't hurt none. I feel as if I ought to go right up there, an' see if +there 's anything I can do." + +"Better wait till the Cap'n comes hum, Hannah; he 'll hev the papers." + +"I guess 't would be better," and Mrs. Spillkins proceeded to fold up +her quilts and "clear up" the best room. + +The hot July days warmed the breast of the Mountain. Over in the +corn-patch the stalks had spindled and the swelling ears were ready to +tassel. By word or look Rose had given no sign--and her mother +wondered. The days wore on; the routine of daily work and life went on; +but the younger children's voices were subdued when they spoke lovingly +and longingly of Chi, and Rose sang no longer when she kneaded bread. +They were days of suspense and heart misery for them all. + +Two weeks had passed since that evening when Mr. Blossom had read to +them the fatal despatch. No word had come from anyone save Hazel, who +wrote that her father and Uncle John had started at once for Cuba, and +that she hoped to be with the Blossoms the third week in July, for by +that time they would know the whole truth. + +They had been making ready Hazel's little bedroom, for she was expected +in a few days. Rose was tacking up a white muslin curtain at the small +window, when she heard her father call: + +"Rose, come here a minute." + +"Yes, father." + +She went out on the porch with the hammer in her hand. "What is it, +Popsey dear?--Why, father, what--oh what--!" + +With shaking hand her father held out a letter to her. Rose looked +once--it was from Chi! + +"I wish mother were here, daughter--but she'll be back soon. Let me +know how it is with them all--." Mr. Blossom could say no more, for +Malachi Graham was as near to him as a brother, and he was agonizing for +his child. He went off to the barn, leaving Rose standing on the porch, +staring as if fascinated at the superscription of the letter: + + +To Miss Rose Blossom, + Mill Settlement, + Barton's River, + Vermont. + +N.B.B.O.O.--To be opened by nobody but her. + + +Rose laid down the hammer mechanically, opened the envelope, and +unfolded the piece of brown paper from out of which fluttered to the +floor another and thicker slip, stained almost beyond recognition. With +staring eyes and face as white as driven snow she read the few words +scrawled in pencil on the brown slip:-- + + +DEAR ROSE-POSE,--I ain't no wish to meddle with anybody's business--but +I 'm just obeying orders. The last words I heard Jack Sherrill speak, +was "Give--love," and he fumbled at his breast to get out this enclosed. +I ain't read it--but it's his heart's blood that's on it. Give my love +to all. + +Yours forever, + CHI. + + +"His heart's blood!" For a moment the words conveyed no meaning. She +picked up the iron-rusty brown slip from the floor; unfolded it; +read--Barry Cornwall's love-song in her own handwriting! + +"His heart's blood!" She pressed one hand hard upon her own heart, +crushing with the other the dark-stained slip. Then, with one wild look +around her as if searching for help, she ran down the steps, across the +mowing, over into the pasture and up into the woodlands. Deep, deep +into the heart of them she made her way, as her mother, Mary Blossom, +had done before her; but now there was no kneeling, no prayer, no +petition to take from her the intolerable pain. + +She was young, and she loved as the young love. It was not God whom she +wanted; it was "Jack! Jack! Jack!" She cast herself face down upon the +ground, and moaned in her agony: "His heart's blood--his heart's blood." +She pressed the stained paper to her lips, over and over again. Then +she opened her blouse and baring her bosom, laid the love-song against +it--"His heart's blood--his heart's blood!" + +So her mother found her. + + + + + XXVI + + MARIA-ANN'S CRUSADE + + +Of late Aunt Tryphosa had been growing suspicious of Maria-Ann, and the +latter felt she was being watched; to use her own words, "it nettled +her." + +One afternoon, late in August, her grandmother, coming upon her rather +suddenly in the pasture as she sat under the shade of a patriarchal +butternut, ostensibly watching Dorcas, asked her sharply: + +"What you doin', Maria-Ann?" + +"'Tendin' to my own business," retorted Maria-Ann, with an unwonted snap +in her voice, and hurriedly folded something out of sight beneath the +Hearthstone Journal which lay upon her lap. + +This was the signal of open revolt on the part of her granddaughter, and +the like had occurred but once before in all the time of her up-bringing +with Aunt Tryphosa. The old dame's lips drew to a thinner line than +usual, as she fired the second shot into the hostile camp: + +"You been cryin', Maria-Ann." + +"What if I be?" demanded her granddaughter, with a flash of indignation +from beneath her reddened eyelids. "S'pose I have a right to have +feelin's same as other folks." + +Suddenly Aunt Tryphosa swooped like a hen-hawk upon a small piece of +bright scarlet flannel, that the breeze had caught away from the +protecting folds of the Hearthstone Journal, and landed in the covert of +sweet fern just at her feet. + +"What's that?" She held up the glowing bit of color, dangling it before +Maria-Ann's eyes. + +Upon poor Maria-Ann's inflamed sense of injustice, it had much the same +effect as a red rag waved before the eyes of an infuriated bull. + +She sprang to her feet, snatched the bit of cloth from between her +grandmother's thumb and fore-finger, and thrust it into her dress waist, +crying out shrilly in her unwonted excitement: + +"You let that be, Grandmarm Little! It's my cross and I 'm going on a +crusade--so now!" + +Aunt Tryphosa sat down rather suddenly in the middle of the sweet-fern +patch. Was Maria-Ann going crazy? Her breath came short and sharp; she +drew her thin lips still more tightly, and, although really alarmed, +braced herself for the combat. + +"What 'd you say you was goin' on, Maria-Ann?" + +"I never knew you was growin' deef before, grandmarm; I said a crusade." +She had raised her voice to a still higher pitch, as she stooped to +gather up the Hearthstone Journal, the bits of red cloth, her scissors, +and thimble which had fallen from her lap as she sprang to her feet. + +"Is that the thing you read me about last winter in the Journal, with +the soldiers with crosses on their backs on hosses startin' out for +Jerusalem?" demanded the old dame, but in a strangely agitated voice. + +"Yes," responded Maria-Ann, promptly, but with less acerbity of manner. + +"And is that red rag you hid away a _cross_, Maria-Ann Simmons?" No +words can do justice to the old dame's tone and its implied impiety of +her granddaughter's conduct. + +Maria-Ann was silent. + +"Be you a Christian girl, or an idolater, Maria-Ann?" + +Her grandmother's voice shook pitiably. Maria-Ann's conscience gave a +twinge, when she heard it; but she felt the time was ripe, and she must +put in the sickle. + +"I hope I 'm a Christian, grandmarm, but I 'm an idolater, too,--" Aunt +Tryphosa drew in her breath, as if hurt. "But, anyway, I guess I was an +American 'fore I was a Christian, an' I jest _idolize_ my Country--" +Maria-Ann's eyes filled with tears--"an' I can't do anything for her, +nor make sacrifices same as other women do who can send their +husbands--," a sob, "an' lovers--," another sob, "an' nuss 'em, an' help +on their Country's cause livin' 'way up here in an old back paster with +an old cow--an' an old wo--Oh, grandmarm!" Maria-Ann broke down +utterly, laid her head upon her knees, and sobbed unrestrainedly. + +It was an unusual sight, and Aunt Tryphosa was troubled. She felt it +necessary to beat a retreat in the face of such genuine grief, but she +was determined that it should be a dignified one. + +"I ain't never seen you give way so, Maria-Ann, and you 're thirty-one +year old come next January. I 've done my best to bring you up right, +an' now you 're old enough to know your own mind, _I hope_; so, if you +want to leave me, you can go jest as soon as you can get ready. I come +up for Dorcas, an' now I 'm goin' home." In spite of her effort her old +voice trembled, but her pride sustained her nobly, and Maria-Ann was all +unaware that the tears were rolling down the wrinkled furrows in the old +cheeks as her grandmother drove Dorcas before her down the fern-scented +pasture slope. + +Her granddaughter followed her half an hour later, and after a silent +supper, except for Aunt Tryphosa's murmured "grace," and a faint "amen" +from the other side of the table, Maria-Ann lighted a lamp and shut +herself into her small bedroom. + +She placed a chair against the door, lest she might be suddenly raided, +and drew the other splint-bottomed one up to the head of the bed. +Lifting the feather-bed she thrust her hand far under and drew out a +square, white pasteboard box. It was tied with a narrow, white ribbon. +She undid it carefully, and took out a layer of tissue paper. The +lamp-light shone upon a large, gilt heart, some ten by eight inches, +with a thickness of two inches. + +Maria-Ann turned the box this way and that, watching the play of light +on it, for the heart was skewered with a large, silver-gilt arrow, and +the shaft, where it penetrated, held a small, white card with simulated +blood-drops in carmine splashed on in one corner, and the sentiment, +written in the same, straggling diagonally across the other corner: + + "In thy sight + Is my delight." + + +Maria-Ann shut her eyes and leaned back in her chair. "Don't seems as if +he 'd sent me that if he had n't meant somethin'," she murmured, and +dreamed for a little while. Then she opened her eyes, prepared for new +delights. Raising the gilt top with tender care, she took out a faded +rose: + +"Don't seem as if he 'd come back that nex' mornin' after Chris'mus an' +give me that, 'thout he 'd had some notion." She laid the rose +carefully upon the tissue paper, and began to lift the leaves of the +heart-shaped book, until she had lifted every one of the three hundred +and sixty-five! She smiled to herself. + +"'T ain't likely he 'd 'a' sent me jest such a cook-book, 'thout he 'd +been tryin' to give me a hint." She began to read the recipes--it was +absorbing: puddings, cakes, preserves. She was lost to time as she +read; "An' he took that pair of socks I knit him last Chris'mus 'long +with him, Rose said--" There was a fumbling at her door. Maria-Arm blew +out the light. + +"That you, grandmarm?" she called pleasantly. + +There was no answer, and Maria-Ann laughed softly to herself as she +undressed in the dark, and lay down to sweet dreams. + +"I 'm goin' over to Mis' Blossom's, grandmarm," she announced the next +afternoon, "to see if they 've had any news. I ain't heard for two +days." + +Her grandmother made no reply, but when her grand-daughter was well on +her way to the Blossoms', Mrs. Tryphosa Little's conscience deemed it +prudent to issue a private search-warrant and investigate Maria-Ann's +premises--even to the under side of the feather-bed. The results +perfectly justified the search, and upon Maria-Ann's return just before +tea, she was amazed to have her grandmother offer her a wrinkled cheek +to kiss. + +"Why, grandmarm!" exclaimed Maria-Ann, in joyful surprise, "I 'm so glad +you ain't laid it up against me-- + +"I can see through a barn-door when 't is wide open, even at my time of +life, Maria-Ann Simmons," said the old dame, interrupting her. + +"What did you hear over to Ben's?" + +"Hazel's just had a letter from her father, and he says they 've got Mr. +Sherrill home to New York, an' if nothin' new sets in, he 'll get over +it, but his lungs 'll be weak, mebbe, for two years. He was shot clean +through the lungs." + +"What do they hear from Chi?" + +Maria-Ann's face grew suddenly radiant. "Oh, he 's been awful sick with +the fever, an' ain't left Cuby yet, but he'll come North jest as soon as +he can be transported. I 've been talking over my plans with Mis' +Blossom an' Rose an' Hazel, an' they 're goin' to do everything they can +for me." + +"So you 're a-goin' to Cuby, Maria-Ann?" + +"Yes, grandmarm, I 've got a call to go an' nuss our sick an' wounded; I +'ve been readin' a lot 'bout the Red Cross misses in the Hearthstone +Journal, an' I 'm goin' to wear a cross, an' Hazel's goin' to pay my +fare, an' I 'm goin' to stop to Mr. Clyde's when I get to New York, an' +he 'll start me all right for Cuby--" + +"Them beets are burnin' on, Maria-Ann; guess you 'd better stop for jest +one more meal on the Mountin, had n't you?" said her grandmother, dryly. + +Maria-Ann laughed merrily. "I know, grandmarm, it seems kinder queer +and foolish to you, but I feel as if I could go now with nothin' on my +mind, for you know Mandy's girl is comin' to stay all September an' +October, an' she 's grand help. You won't begin to miss me 'fore I 'll +be back--an' I 'll own up, grandmarm, ever since Rose Blossom went to +New York last winter, I 've hankered after seein' more of the world +'sides Mount Hunger." + +"When you goin' to start?" + +"I calc'late 'bout the last of next week, that 'll be into +September--here, let me pare them beets, grandmarm;" and forthwith she +seized the pan, and began peeling the steaming, deep-red balls, singing +heartily the while: + + "'Must I be carried to the skies + On flowery beds of ease, + While others fought to win the prize, + And sailed through bloody seas?'" + + +"Now be careful, and change at White River Junction," were Mr. Blossom's +parting words at the station. "After that you go right through to New +York." + +"I 'll take good care, don't you any of you worry 'bout me!" She waved +her handkerchief from the back platform of the car to the little group +she was leaving,--Mr. and Mrs. Blossom, Rose, March and Hazel, Captain +Spillkins and Susan Wood, with Elvira and Melissa. She was inflated +with heroic resolve, and felt ennobled to be going forth to do battle, +as she termed it to herself, for her Country's cause. Moreover she was +seeing the world, and even at the start she found it most interesting, +for she had been but ten miles at most by train, and here she was +speeding towards White River Junction, distant forty miles from Barton's +River. + +She longed to communicate her enthusiasm to the occupants of the car, +but found only one opportunity. She offered to hold a baby, one of a +family of five, while the mother fed and watered the other four. She +continued to dandle it recklessly till the woman protested: + +"Guess you ain't had a fam'ly," she remarked sternly, rescuing her +child; "a woman of your age ought to know better 'n to shake a baby up +so when he 's teethin'--'t ain't good for their brains--like enough +bring on chol'ry morbis." She pulled down the small clothes, turned the +atom over on its stomach, and patted its back with a broad hand and a +dove-like settling motion that bespoke the mater-familias. + +Maria-Ann looked out of the window. True, she had n't any family--only +Grandmarm Little and Aunt Mandy's one daughter who had just come to +visit them. What was Aunt Tryphosa doing now? She was dreaming again, +and before she could realize it, the brakeman called, "White River +Junction! Change cars for all points south via Windsor, Springfield, +New York." + +Hearing that, Maria-Ann felt as if she had already travelled a thousand +miles, so far away seemed Mount Hunger and its uneventful life. + +She found herself on the platform. She had been so confident of taking +care of herself--and now! She looked helplessly about. Trains to the +right of her, trains to the left of her, trains in front of her and +behind her switched, and shifted, and thundered. Engine-bells, +dinner-bells, train-bells; stentorian voices of baggage-men, brakemen, +call-men; frantic women, screaming babies, hurrying porters, indifferent +travellers, fashionable women and city men; farmers, children, baskets, +shawl-straps, dress-suit cases, golf bags, boys; dogs, yelping and +crying, in arms or in leash; canaries in their wooden cages shrilling +over all; and hither and thither and yon a bustling, and rustling, and +rattling, and roaring, and clanking, and hissing, and shrieking, and +hurrying, and scurrying, and pushing, and hauling, and prodding, and +rushing! For a minute Maria-Ann was dazed and almost stunned. Then her +courage rose to the occasion. _This_ was the famous Junction of which +she had heard so much. _This_ was the great world. _This_ was Life! + +"I 'll stand stock-still an' wait till it clears up a little. I 've got +an hour here, an' mebbe I 'll see somebody from Barton's," she said to +herself, and had just put down her valise when a hoarse voice cried in +her ear,--"Hi, there! get out of the way!" + +She dodged a baggage truck piled high with toppling trunks, only to be +caught in the surging, living stream, and carried with it up a step into +the restaurant of the station. + +To Maria-Ann it was a marvellous sight. She set down her valise by a +window and, standing guard in front of it, gazed about her with intense +satisfaction. In truth this was seeing the great world, of which she +had read so much in the Journal and for which she had longed, at first +hand. Around the counter--a long oval--were perched on the high, +wooden, spring stools "all sorts and conditions of men," with a +sprinkling of women and children. There was perpetual motion of knives, +forks, teaspoons, arms, hands, mouths,--and a noisy conglomerate beyond +description, accented by the shriek and toot of the switch-engines. + +Suddenly the clangor of a gong-like bell and a stentorian voice rose +above the chaos of sound;--there was a momentary lull in the confusion +of masticating utensils, followed by a general slipping, sliding, and +jumping off the round wooden perches,--and to Maria-Ann's amazement, the +room was nearly vacant. + +"_Now 's_ my time," said Maria-Ann, with considerable complacency, and +forthwith proceeded to hoist herself, by means of the foot-rail, upon +one of the seats, at the same time placing her valise on another at her +right. She looked at the varied assortment of delectables--an +embarrassment of riches: jelly-roll cakes, pickles, squash pie, baked +beans, frosted tea-cakes, sage cheese, ham sandwiches, lemon pie, cold, +spice-speckled custards, doughnuts, great as to their circumference, +startling as to their cubical contents. + +"I 've heard tell of them," said Maria-Ann to herself, as her eye, +ranging the oval marble slab, encountered a pyramidal pile of New +England's doughty cruller. "I 'll have two of them, I guess," she said +to the indifferent attendant, "an' a cup of coffee; that 'll last me for +a spell, and I can keep my lunch for supper." She expected some +response to her explanation, but there was none forthcoming, save that a +cup of coffee, half-pint size, was shoved over the counter towards her, +and the huge glass dome that protected the doughnuts was removed with a +jerk, and the towering pile set down in front of her. + +Maria-Ann helped herself. It seemed rather tame, after so much +excitement, to be eating a doughnut the size of a small feather-bed, +without company. She looked around. There were but three or four at +the entire counter. Farther down to the left, his tall, gaunt figure +silhouetted against the blank of the large window, a man was seated, +bestriding the perch as if it were a horse. He wore the undress uniform +of the volunteer cavalry. When Maria-Ann discovered this, she felt for +a moment, to use her own expression, "flustered." The mere presence of +the uniform brought to her a realizing sense of the importance of her +mission; it seemed to bring her at once into touch with far-away Cuba, +and the feminine knights of the Red Cross; with--her heart gave a joyful +thump--with Chi! She felt in a way ennobled to be eating her doughnut +within speaking distance of a hero (they were all that in Maria-Ann's +idealizing imagination). + +She had bitten only halfway into the periphery of the doughnut, when the +man stepped from his seat. She watched him as he moved slowly towards +the door; his back was turned to her. How feebly he moved! Almost +seeming to drag one foot after the other. + +A great flood of patriotic pity engulfed Maria-Ann's whole being. She +forgot the doughnuts; she left the coffee; she forgot even her valise; +her one thought was as she slid from the stool: "I ain't no call to wait +till I get to Cuby; I 'm just as much a Red Cross nuss right here in +White River Junction, Vermont, as if I was a thousand miles away." The +girl at the counter looked after her in amazement--she hadn't even paid! +But there was her valise. + +She saw Maria-Ann whisk something out of her dress-waist and stop +halfway down the room to pin it on her sleeve, and lo and behold!--it +was a cross of bright red flannel. She saw her hurry after the man, who +had dragged himself to the doorway, and stood there leaning heavily +against the jamb. + +"If you 're goin' to take a train, just you let me help you aboard," she +said, speaking just at his elbow. The man's head half turned with a +jerk. "You ain't fit to stan' more 'n an eight months baby, an' I 'm a +Red Cross nuss on my way to Cuby--" + +A gaunt, yellow face with haggard eyes was turned slowly full upon her, +and a hand, shaking, as that of a man in drink, was laid on her arm: + +"Don't you know me, Marier-Ann?" + +Maria-Ann sat down suddenly on the doorstep at the man's feet. There +was no strength left in her. Then she put her head into her hands, and +began to cry softly; there were few to see her, and had the whole world +been there, she would not have cared. + +"Just help me into the waitin'-room, Marier-Ann, where we can talk." + +She bounced to her feet, with streaming, tear-blinded eyes, and Chi, +linking his arm in hers, led her into the "Ladies' Room." + +A porter followed them in; he addressed Chi. "She ain't paid for what +she ordered, and she ain't eat it neither, and she 's left her valise." + +Chi pulled out a ten-cent piece and put it into his hand. "Bring 'em all +in," he said, "grub 'n' all, 'n' I 'll pay for 'em. We 'll sit here a +spell till train time." Maria-Ann sobbed afresh. + +The porter brought in the plate with the doughnuts, the cup of coffee, +and the valise, and set them down on the wooden settee. He pointed to +the ten-cent piece that lay within the inner ring of a doughnut: + +"I don't take nothin' of that kind from you fellers." He touched the +bit of braid on the cuff of Chi's coat; Chi smiled, and pocketed the +money. + +"Guess you was n't expectin' to meet an old friend so soon, was you?" +said Chi, gently, setting the plate in her lap. + +Maria-Ann shook her head vigorously, but she could not control the sobs. +Chi crossed one leg over the other, and waited. + +The flies buzzed on the smoke-thickened panes, and an empty truck +rattled down the platform. There were no other sounds. + +"When does your train go, Marier-Ann?" + +There was another sob, but no answer. + +"Did n't I hear you say you was on your way to Cuby?" + +Maria-Ann nodded. + +"Bad place for women--'n' men, too. What you goin' for?" + +Maria-Ann's answer was only half audible: "To nuss." + +"To nuss? Ain't there enough nussin' you can do nearer home?" + +Maria-Ann looked up with tear-reddened eyes. "I did n't think so--" a +sob--"till I saw you, Chi. I did n't know you--I thought I 'd begin +right now, before I got there--" her hands covered her eyes again. + +Chi's trembling ones, weak from the fever, drew her cold ones down from +her face. + +"You did just right, Marier-Ann, to want to begin right now.--The +Barton's River train is due to start from here in fifteen +minutes;--s'posin' you give up Cuby, 'n' come along home, 'n' try +nussin' me. I need it bad enough." + +"Oh, Chi, do you mean it?" Maria-Ann caught her breath. + +"You bet I do," said Chi, emphatically, "only"--he paused and took up +the plate from her lap, spilling the coffee, for the trembling of his +hand had increased--"if you 're goin' to undertake it with me, it's got +to be a life job, Marier-Ann." + +The flies continued to buzz on the smoke-thickened panes. The train for +Barton's River steamed in from the siding. The couple in the +waiting-room boarded it. The porter watched them with a queer smile. +Then he took up the plate of uneaten doughnuts and the cup of cooled +coffee, and handed them to the girl behind the counter. + +"She ain't eat 'em, after all," she said. "She acted kinder queer for a +Red Cross nurse." + +"He's the chap I give the telegram to when he got here on the up-train +last night." + +"What was it?" + +"Twenty-five cent one from Barton's River--'M.A. starts for Cuba +Thursday stop her at Junction.'" + +The girl laughed, and the restaurant filled again. + + + + + XXVII + + "--The stars above + Shine ever on Love--" + + +"I 'm goin' up into the clearin', Mis' Blossom, to see if there ain't +some late blackberries," said Chi, a few days after his triumphal return +with Maria-Ann. "Seems as if the smell of the sun on that spruce-bush +up yonder would put new life into me--I feel so kind of shif'less." + +"I would, Chi," said Mrs. Blossom; "you have n't begun to get your +strength back yet, and the more you 're out in this air, without +overworking, the better it will be for you." + +"I 'll go with you, Chi," said Rose, looking up from her work, as she +sat sewing on the lower step of the porch. + +"That's right, Rose-pose; it 'll seem like old times." Chi followed her +with wistful eyes as she turned to go up stairs. + +"I 'll be down in a few minutes, Chi; we 'd better take the two-quart +pails, had n't we?" + +"Maybe we 'll find enough for one or two messes." + +He turned to Mrs. Blossom when Rose had left the room. "Can't there +nothin' be done 'bout it, Mis' Blossom?" He spoke almost wistfully. + +Mrs. Blossom's eyes filled with tears. She hesitated a moment before +she spoke: "I know Rose so well, Chi, that I dare _not_ interfere. I +doubt if she would accept anything, even from me, her mother." + +"It beats me," Chi sighed heavily. "He 's just a-pinin' for a word or +sign, 'n' there ain't no use talkin'--_she 's_ got to give it; I 'd back +him up every time, he 's done enough--" + +"Sh--!" Mrs. Blossom held up her finger; she heard Rose on the stairs. +Chi looked up--his old Rose-pose stood before him: old, faded, green and +white calico dress, old sunbonnet, patched shoes! Chi turned away +abruptly to get his pails; and her mother wondered, but said nothing. + +They found more than one "patch," where the berries hung in luscious +clusters of shining jet. Chi pummelled his chest, and drew deep, deep +breaths of the balsamic mountain air. "This sets a man up, Rose-pose; +there ain't nothin' like the air on this Mountain for an all-round +tonic. Let's sit here a spell, right by this sweet fern." + +She pushed back the sunbonnet as she sat down beside him. "Tired, Chi?" + +"No--rests me clear through just to sit 'n' look off onto those slopes, +just about as green as in June." + +They sat awhile in silence; then Chi turned and picked up the sunbonnet +that had fallen from her head. He touched it gently. + +"Remember the first time you sold berries in that rig, Rose-pose?" + +The blood surged into Rose's face, and receded, leaving it strangely +white. Chi felt his heart contract at the change, but he went on: + +"First time Jack ever saw you was in that rig.--You ain't changed so +much but he 'd know you again if he saw you in Chiny." + +Still there was silence. Chi moistened his lips. + +"Can't say as much for him; never saw such a change; he 's all fallen +away to nothin' but skin and bones. Doctor Heath told me just before I +left--'n' he put me aboard the train--that nothin' could set him up +again but this Mountain air, 'n' good food, 'n'--" Chi paused; his +mouth was uncomfortably dry. Rose's face was turned from him, but he +saw a contraction of her delicate throat, as if a dry sob were suddenly +suppressed. Then she spoke in a monotone: + +"Why does n't he come, then?" + +"_Why!_--" Chi fairly startled himself with his thundering "why," and +Rose half started from the ground. The blood leaped to her very temples; +seeing which, Chi took heart--"Coz he 's every inch a man, Rose Blossom; +'n' he's got too much grit of the right sort to ask a girl twice, he 's +about given his heart's blood for. + +"He ain't a-goin' to come crawlin' up here to ask no favors of you after +he knows that you _know_--'n' I glory in his spunk. But I can tell you, +if you don't look out, you 'll come nearer to bein' a real Molly Stark +than you ever thought you could be when you joined the N.B.B.O.O., 'n' +by George Washin'ton! it goes against me to see you breakin' the by-laws +you pledged yourself to stand by, every minute of your life that you +keep so dumb towards Jack Sherrill;--for you 're provin' yourself a +coward in your love, 'n' you 'll have a widowed heart to pay for it +mighty soon, if you keep on, that'll be worse than Molly Stark's any +day--" A whisper stopped him: + +"Chi, Chi, tell him to come--I want him so; oh, Chi!" + +Chi's hand was laid on the bowed head with its crown of shining, +golden-brown braids: "Rose Blossom, may God Almighty bless you for +proving yourself a true woman, 'n' worthy of the mother that bore you. +I can't say any more." + +An hour later March Blossom, with a telegram in his hand, was speeding +on Fleet to Barton's River; and two days afterwards Mr. Blossom and Alan +Ford in the double wagon, and Chi alone in the buggy, drove down to +Barton's to meet the up-train. Mrs. Blossom and Rose stood on the porch +straining their eyes in the quickly-falling September twilight to see +any movement on the lower road. The children had been sent over to +Hunger-ford till after tea, for Jack was not strong enough to bear a too +joyful home-coming. + +"They 're coming, Rose," said Mrs. Blossom, in a low tone; then she +turned abruptly, and went into the house, leaving Rose alone on the +step. + +"Here we are, safe 'n' sound," said Chi, in an affectedly cheery voice, +as he drove out of the woods'-road. "Just wait a minute, Jack, 'n' I +'ll give you an arm gettin' out." He laid the reins on the dasher. +Then he assisted the tall, gaunt figure of the man beside him to alight. +Jack half stumbled, for his eyes were seeking Rose--and Rose? + +All her womanhood, all the sacred privileges of wifehood, came to her +aid at that moment. She sprang to the carriage, and, with one hand, put +Chi aside; with the other, she lifted Jack's half-nerveless arm and laid +it over her shoulders; then, encircling him with her own slender one, +she said gently, guiding him to the porch step: + +"_Lean on me, dearest._" + + +On the first of November, one of the short-lived Indian Summer days, the +farmhouse on Mount Hunger literally blossomed like a rose. + +A week beforehand there had been an animated discussion as to what +should be the wedding decorations of the "long-room." Hazel, who had +been with them a week already, settled it. + +"As if there could be any choice!" she exclaimed. "It's been great fun +to hear you all suggesting this, that, and the other, from ground +hemlock and bitter-sweet, to everlasting! But Jack and I settled it +three weeks ago--how could there be anything for Rose, but roses? +Anyway, that's what Jack wrote, and our florist looked fairly dazed when +I gave him the order--just bushels of them, Rose-pose, lovely La France +ones, like those you threw into the--No, I won't tease you, Cousin +mine," she said, with a merry laugh, as Rose looked at her appealingly. + +And now, on the wedding morning of the first of November, the great box +that Chi had brought up from Barton's the night before was opened, and +in Hazel's skilful fingers the exquisite pink blooms lent to the +"long-room" a wonderful grace and beauty. + +She was flitting about in her pale pink cashmere dress--"Made specially +to match the roses," she said to March, as she dropped him a curtsy +preparatory to pinning a rose into his buttonhole. "We must all wear +Rose-pose's badge to-day. Where are you, Budd?" + +"Here," said her knight, promptly appearing with Cherry from the pantry, +where they had been counting the frosting-roses on the wedding-cake. He +looked down at the slender fingers as they pulled the stem of the pink +bud through the buttonhole of his jacket, and thought--of the ring! +Then he looked up at the tall, beautiful girl bending over him, and, +somehow, the day of his proposal seemed very far away in the Past. +Hazel was so grown up!--as tall as Rose. Still, he was n't going to be +afraid, if she was grown up. Now was his time;--and "Ethan Allan" +always made the most of his opportunities. Budd was in United States +History, this term, and he knew this for a fact. + +He drew forth from his breeches' pocket a something that might once have +been white, but, at present, looked more like a shoe-rag, it was so +dingy and soiled. + +"I 've kept it, you see, Hazel," he said, his small mouth puckering, his +round, light-blue eyes growing rounder, as he looked up at Hazel, with +twelve-year-old earnestness. + +"Kept what?" said Hazel, mystified, and holding up the offering gingerly +between thumb and forefinger to examine it. + +"Why, don't you know?--the glove you gave me when you said you 'd be my +Lady-love? don't you remember,--in the barn?" answered Budd, slightly +crestfallen. + +Hazel laughed merrily. "Oh, you funny boy!" she said, "to keep an old +glove of mine for nearly a year and a half! Why, it's nearly black and +blue. Have you kept it in your best Sunday-go-to-meeting trousers' +pocket all this time?" + +Budd nodded, but soberly. Seeing which, Hazel gave him a pat on the top +of his head, and assured him she would give him one of her cleaned party +gloves once a year till he was twenty-one, if only he would promise not +to keep it in his pocket with spruce-gum, chalk, chestnuts, lead-pencil +sharpenings, top-twine, jack-knives, and ginger cookie crumbs. + +"How 'd you know I had all those things in my pocket?" demanded Budd, in +his amazement forgetting his sentiment. + +"Oh, a little bird told me," replied Hazel. "Run and ask Chi to come +in, will you? I have his rose ready for him, and it's most time for +them all to come." + +It was a quiet wedding. Only those nearest and dearest were about them; +Mr. Sherrill, Aunt Carrie and Uncle Jo, Mr. Clyde and Hazel, Doctor and +Mrs. Heath, the Blossoms and Chi. + +Afterwards all the Lost Nation came in to give their heart-felt +blessings and good wishes. They were all there--from Maria-Ann, radiant +in the realization of her own romance, to Miss Alton and the Fords, who +were to leave on the night train to remain six weeks in New York, and +had placed Hunger-ford at the disposal of Rose and Jack during the first +weeks of their marriage. They remained but a little while, for the +excitement was almost more than Jack was able to bear. + +The moon rose between six and seven, largely luminous and slightly +reddened through the soft, warm haze of the Indian Summer night. Rose +had insisted, that, if the night were mild, Jack should ride over to +Hunger-ford at a snail's pace on Little Shaver, and that she should lead +him. At first Jack protested, but in the end Rose had her way. Chi, on +Fleet, was to ride on a little ahead to be within call, if anything +should be needed. "Kind of scoutin' to remind us of Cuby, Jack," he +said, laughing, as he helped him into the saddle. + +They were all on the porch to see the little cavalcade set forth, the +pony whinnying his delight to find his master on his back. Rose took +the bridle. Suddenly she dropped it, turned, and came back to the steps +where Hazel stood between Mrs. Blossom and March. She put up her arms, +and clasping the young girl about the waist, drew her down to kiss her, +and whisper: + +"Oh, Hazel! What if you had n't come to us!--All this happiness is +through you." + +And Hazel, but dimly perceiving Rose's meaning, whispered back as she +kissed her: + +"And if I had n't come, Rose-pose, _I_ should never have been rich as I +am now; Chi can't call me 'poor' any longer--for you 're all mine, now +that you are Jack's; aren't you?" + +March, hearing those whispered words, found his mother's hand, +somehow,--and Mrs. Blossom understood. + +"Good-night, Martie dear," cried Rose, love and tears and laughter +struggling in her voice. + +"Good-night, Rose dear." + +"Good-night, Rose--Good-night, Jack!" cried the twins. + +A white slipper filled with rice flew after Little Shaver, and hit him +on the left hock. But he was a well-bred polo pony, and a white satin +slipper with a little rice was as nothing to a swift, long-distance polo +ball; so he gave no sign. + +Chi stopped at the little house "over eastwards." Maria-Ann was on the +lookout. + +"They 're comin' along just by the turn of the road," he spoke low, "can +you see 'em?" + +The road lay white in the moonlight. "Yes, yes," cried Maria-Ann +excitedly, "Oh, Chi, ain't it beautiful!" + +"Sh--sh!" said Chi, "they 'll hear you. Hark! By George Washin'ton! +she 's singin'--Get, Fleet." The horse loped along over the moonlit +road, and Maria-Ann went in and shut the door--all but a crack. To that +she put her ear, to hear what the clear, sweet voice was singing: + + "'I told thee when love was hopeless; + But now he is wild and sings-- + That the stars above + Shine ever on Love, + Though they frown on the fate of kings.'" + + +Mount Hunger stood bathed in white radiance. The stars came out, but +faintly;--still, they were shining. + + + + + New Illustrated Editions of Miss Alcott's Famous Stories + + + +LITTLE MEN: Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys + +By LOUISA M. ALCOTT. With fifteen full-page illustrations by Reginald +B. Birch. Crown 8vo. Decorated cloth. $2.00. + +"Little Men" has never been given to an admiring public in any form so +charming as this one. All that was needed to make the tale quite +irresistible was such illustrations as are here supplied, fifteen +full-page ones instinct with life and movement and charm.--_Boston +Budget_. + + +LITTLE WOMEN: or Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy + +By LOUISA M. ALCOTT. With 15 full-page Illustrations by Alice Barber +Stephens. Crown 8vo. Decorated cloth. $2.00. + +"Books may come and books may go, but 'Little Women' still remains the +ideal book for young girls, the best representation of bright, lovable +girlhood," say the _Brooklyn Eagle_; and the _Philadelphia Telegraph_ +speaks of the pictures as follows: "In drawing women of the Civil War +period, Alice Barber Stephens is in her element, and her illustrations +are all that can be desired." + + +AN OLD-FASHIONED GIRL + +By LOUISA M. ALCOTT. With 12 full-page pictures by Jessie Willcox +Smith. Crown 8vo. Decorated cloth. $2.00. + +Of the third book in illustrated edition of the "Little Women" Series, +the _Saturday Evening Gazette_, Boston, says: "No better portraits of +Polly and Tom could be imagined than those which appear in these +pages.... No book of its lamented author has more endearing qualities." + + +JO'S BOYS, and How They Turned Out + +A Sequel to "Little Men." By LOUISA M. ALCOTT. With 10 full-page +plates by Ellen Wetherald Ahrens. Crown 8vo. Decorated cloth. $2.00. + +Those who were fascinated by the story of the Marsh family in "Little +Men" will take a keen interest in the experiences of Mrs. Jo's boys. +"The boys are as entertaining as their elders were in their time," says +the _Worcester Spy_, "and the story has plenty of life and incident, fun +and pathos; its atmosphere is fresh, pure, and wholesome." + +"The young folks who have been charmed with Miss Alcott's previous +stories," says the _San Francisco Chronicle_, "will read 'Jo's Boys' +with avidity." The illustrations by Charlotte Harding are in keeping +with the spirit of the author. + + + THE FOUR VOLUMES PUT UP IN BOX, $8.00 + + + LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY + _Publishers_, 254 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON, MASS. + + + + + Anna Chapin Ray's "Teddy" Stories + + +TEDDY: HER BOOK. A Story of Sweet Sixteen + +Illustrated by Vesper L. George. 12mo. $1.50. + +Miss Ray's work draws instant comparison with the best of Miss Alcott's: +first, because she has the same genuine sympathy with boy and girl life; +secondly, because she creates real characters, individual and natural, +like the young people one knows, actually working out the same kind of +problems; and, finally, because her style of writing is equally +unaffected and straightforward.--_Christian Register_, Boston. + + +PHEBE: HER PROFESSION + +A Sequel to "Teddy: Her Book" + +Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill. 12mo. $1.50. + +This is one of the few books written for young people in which there is +to be found the same vigor and grace that one demands in a good story +for older people.--_Worcester Spy_. + + +TEDDY: HER DAUGHTER + +A Sequel to "Teddy: Her Book," and "Phebe: Her Profession" + +Illustrated by J. B. Graff. 12mo. $1.20 net. + +Introduces a new generation of girls and boys, all well bred and gifted +with good manners, takes them through much fun and such adventures as +one may find on a small sandy island, and gives the girl a page or two +of saving common sense about her duties to boys and her obligation to be +true and womanly.--_New York Times Saturday Review_. + + +NATHALIE'S CHUM + +Illustrated by Ellen Bernard Thompson. 12mo. $1.20 net. + +A charming story of a courageous fifteen-year-old girl's effort to help +her older brother support an orphaned family of five. "Nathalie is the +sort of a young girl whom other girls like to read about," says the +_Hartford Courant_. + + +URSULA'S FRESHMAN. 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