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diff --git a/old/44133-8.txt b/old/44133-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f14155d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/44133-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5437 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Girl Warriors, by Adene Williams + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Girl Warriors + A Book for Girls + +Author: Adene Williams + +Release Date: November 8, 2013 [EBook #44133] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL WARRIORS *** + + + + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + + +[Transcriber's Note: Underscores are used as delimiter for _italics_] + + + + + The Girl Warriors + + _A BOOK FOR GIRLS_ + + [Illustration] + + By ADENE WILLIAMS + + + David C. Cook Publishing Company + ELGIN, ILL.; OR + 36 WASHINGTON STREET, CHICAGO. + + + Copyright, 1901. + By David C. Cook Publishing Company. + + + + +The Girl Warriors. + +_A BOOK FOR GIRLS._ + +By ADENE WILLIAMS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE BURTONS. + + +Winnifred Burton sat all alone in the pleasant sitting-room, curled up +in an easy-chair so large that her little figure was almost lost in its +great depths. The fire in the open grate burned brightly, sending out +little tongues of flame which made dancing shadows on the walls and +ceiling, and flashed ever and anon on the bright hair and face and dress +of the little girl sitting so quiet before it. + +It was a dismal day near the close of January. Snow had been falling +steadily all day, and the window-sill was already piled so high with it +that by and by it would have to be brushed away in order to close the +shutters. But Winnifred was so absorbed in the book she was reading that +she knew nothing of all this. The book was a new edition of "The Giant +Killer; or, The Battle That All Must Fight." She was just reading how +the brave but tempted Fides lay in the dreadful Pit of Despair; of +how he had fallen back, bruised and bleeding, time after time, in his +endeavors to cut and climb his way out, before he found the little cord +of love which was strong enough to draw him out with scarcely an effort +of his own. + +Twilight was fast closing in around the little reader, and all the +letters on the page were beginning to dance up and down. Impatiently +shaking herself, Winnifred slipped down from her chair, gave the fire +a little poke, and settled herself on the floor in front of it, holding +the book so that she could see to read by the flickering light. But she +had scarcely begun to do so, when the door opened. She gave a little +jump, and turned quite red in the face. + +But it was only her little brother Ralph, who said: "'Innie, mamma says +if 'oo have 'oor lessons done, 'ou'se to come out and set the table for +supper." + +Her lessons done! Winnie glanced at the pile of books lying on the +table by the window. Yes, there they all were--her geography, history, +grammar, arithmetic. When now would she have time to learn those +lessons? And she felt that she had been dishonest, too, because her +mother would perhaps have had something else for her to do, if she had +not supposed she was studying hard. However, there was no help for it +now, and with a rueful face she left the room. + +Mrs. Burton was in the kitchen, so that Winnie escaped being questioned, +but just now she was taking herself to task, for she had a very guilty +conscience, and was wondering when she was going to begin fighting her +giants. She knew only too well what one of them was, and she knew +also that if she could not find time to learn those lessons, another +punishment beside the stings of her conscience would await her on the +morrow. + +But presently her father and older brother came home; little Ralph ran +to get their slippers, while they took off their wet boots; supper was +put on the table, and they all sat down to the cheerful meal. + +Mr. and Mrs. Burton had few rules for their household, but they had +one which was imperative: nothing but cheerful faces and cheerful +conversation was allowed at the table. Business or household worries +were kept for private conference, and the little griefs of the children +were not allowed to be mentioned. + +Winnie soon forgot her anxiety in listening to the things that her +father and brother Jack were saying, and, as the talk was about +politics, and the tariff, and the state of the market, other little +girls may not be so interested as Winnie tried to make herself believe +that she was. So this will be a good time to describe them all, as they +sit at the table. + +All of their acquaintances spoke of the Burtons as a very happy family, +and this opinion was undoubtedly correct, the reason for which will +appear later. + +Mr. Burton is a tall, handsome, young-looking man, with brown eyes +having a merry twinkle in them; his eyebrows and moustache are dark and +heavy, and his firm mouth and chin show character and decision. + +Mrs. Burton looks as young as her husband, and Winnie is always taken by +strangers to be her younger sister, which is a source of great delight +and comfort to the girl, as she is very proud of her dainty and stylish +mother. Mrs. Burton has soft brown hair, always prettily dressed; her +eyes are a deep, soft blue, shaded by long, curling lashes, and with +straight, delicate eyebrows above. Although she does much of the +household work, she manages, in some mysterious manner, to keep her +hands soft and white. Winnie sometimes steals up behind her mother and +puts her own little brown hands beside one of the soft white ones with +a little sigh--for she would like her own to be soft and white, too--but +more often with a merry laugh. + +Eighteen-year-old Jack, except that he gives promise of attaining his +father's noble inches, is much like his mother. He had been intended for +one of the professions, but all of his talents and inclinations having +pointed to business, his father finally yielded the point of having him +go through college, and, upon his graduation from high-school the year +previous, took him into his own real estate office. + +Winnie has eyes and hair like her father, but, in spite of her twelve +years, is so small and slight that she looks like a child of nine or +ten. + +Four-year-old Ralph is the pet and beauty of the family. His hair +curls in loose rings all over his head. His hazel eyes have such large, +dilating pupils, and such a way of shining when anything is given him, +that his young aunts and uncles, together with Winnie and Jack, are +always giving him something for the pleasure of seeing his wondering +look. + +"Well, my dear," said Mr. Burton to his wife, as they rose from the +table, "anything on the carpet for to-night?" + +"Yes, if you don't think the weather too bad, I'd like to call on Mrs. +Brown after Ralph is put to bed." + +"Winnie, I should like you to accompany Jack in one of his new violin +studies, while we are gone; but you must not forget that half past nine +is your bed-time." + +[Illustration: "Now for the new music," Jack said.--See page 6.] + +Poor Winnie! She dearly liked playing Jack's accompaniments, but the +unlearned lessons rose up before her, and she said, "Oh, mamma, I can't +to-night; I haven't done my lessons!" + +"Well, Winnie, this has happened three or four times within the last +week. If several study bells in school and two hours in the afternoon +are not sufficient for you to keep up with your classes, I'd rather +you'd go back a year. I want you to be educated thoroughly, but I can't +have you 'crammed,' and you're too young to do studying at night." + +"Mamma, that is time enough for me to do all my school work; but, like +the Little Women, I have something to ''fess,' and if you'll let +me study this time, I think that after this I'll get through in the +daytime." + +"Very well; but remember, if this is of frequent occurrence, I'll have +to consult Mr. Bowen and see if you are overworked." + +Jack and Mr. Burton had heard none of this conversation, having gone +into the sitting-room for a game of chess, and Mrs. Burton and Winnie +had remained in the dining-room. + +Mrs. Burton went into the kitchen to give her orders for breakfast +to Norah, and Winnie returned to the sitting-room with a strong +determination to work so hard that she would make up for her +self-indulgence of the afternoon. But little Ralph came running up to +her with: "Now, 'Innie, tell me a story." + +"Oh, Ralphie, Winnie can't to-night; see, she has to learn something out +of all these books;" and she pointed to the big pile of them that lay on +the table. + +"Well, den, me'll wead the newspaper;" and he sat down on a hassock with +a paper in his hand, and looked so cunning that Winnie had to go and +give him a little hug before she could get to work. + +She began with her greatest bugbear, United States History; not, +however, without having cast one longing look at "The Giant Killer," +as it stood temptingly on the edge of the book case. But, saying to +herself, "I'm bound to do it"--a phrase which had seemed to help her +over difficulties so many times that she almost felt as if it were the +phrase, and not the exertions which always followed the use of it, that +was helpful to her--she applied herself with such concentration that, +during the twenty minutes her mother remained out of the room, she +learned quite thoroughly the three pages describing the Battle of +Monmouth. In the meantime, Ralph had been put to bed, and Mrs. Burton +had come in, cloaked and bonneted. As soon as their father and mother +had gone, Jack said, "Now, Win, for the new music." + +"Oh, Jack, look here! There are two pages of descriptive geography, ten +map questions, and a short account of the exports and imports of India +to be learned, and I've six long problems in percentage to work." + +"Whew! Then my cake's dough! But how is it that you have all this to +do to-night? I thought we were to spend our evenings in helping and +entertaining each other; that was what I understood mother to say when +she changed your hour for bed from half past eight to half past nine. +Ah! Win, I know what it is; you've been at your old tricks, you little +bookworm!" + +"Don't tease, Jack. I'm sorry enough for it now, and I'll be ready to +help you to-morrow night." + +"To-morrow! Always to-morrow! But to-morrow our debating club meets, and +that settles that. I'll have to play without accompaniment, that's all." + +Winnie heaved a sigh. It was a disappointment to her, too, but she +resolutely forbore to say more about the matter. It took her, however, +until nearly nine o'clock to learn her geography lesson, and when her +bed-time came, she had but four of the problems solved. She would much +have liked to remain up an hour longer, but of direct disobedience Mrs. +Burton's children were seldom guilty, so Winnie gathered up her books, +ready to take to school in the morning, and went to her room. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +GOOD RESOLUTIONS. + + +Winnie was having a confused dream of a little dwarf, armed with a long +column of figures, which he waved threateningly in the air; but as she +advanced to seize them, thinking to use them for her lessons during +the day, the dwarf commenced to grow, and, as she stood amazed and +horror-struck, he attained the height of ten feet or so, and was +still growing when she heard the tinkling of a bell, and a voice said: +"Wizard, avaunt!" At this the giant disappeared, and the whole column of +figures fell on the floor in a confused heap. She stooped to pick them +up, when the bell rang again, this time louder, and she grasped--her +brother Ralph, who was ringing the breakfast bell violently in her ears. + +A little vexed, she was going to send him away and turn over for another +nap, when suddenly she remembered her good resolutions of the evening +before, and, to Ralph's surprise, sprang up at once. + +Having dressed herself, she turned the bedclothes back to air, and, with +the exception of making her bed, which was done by Norah later in the +day, put everything in her dainty pink room in nice order. Then she sat +down to select her verse, it being the custom of the family for each +to recite some passage from the Bible, about which they afterward had a +little talk. She chose part of the second verse of the sixth chapter of +2d Corinthians: "Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation." + +When the bell rang for the family to gather, Winnie was ready to go down +at once, without hurry or confusion, or being haunted by the thought +that she was but half dressed. If she received no other reward, her +mother's approving smile as her daughter entered, made her feel quite +happy. + +Mr. Burton and Jack were not yet down, but came in almost directly. +Her father read for that morning a part of the 107th Psalm, that most +beautiful psalm of praise and thanksgiving. Then they all recited their +verses. The mother had chosen hers from the chapter just read: "For he +satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness." +Jack had chosen: "Judge not, that ye be not judged." Ralph said, "Suffer +little children," which was his great standby. Mr. Burton had a few +words to say about all of them, but about Winnie's in particular; he +spoke about its spiritual and religions meaning, and went on to say that +it could be applied to all the affairs of life. He spoke of the folly as +well as the sin of procrastination, that great destroyer of so many +good deeds, which become utterly useless if done too late. He said +that duties are like bricks used in building a house; if the foundation +stones were left out, it would be impossible to make any use of those +remaining. After the talk was finished, the family gathered around the +piano, and sang a morning hymn. + +Winnie was in very good spirits that morning; an approving conscience is +a great help to cheerfulness and good temper. She cut Ralph's steak for +him, and pleased him very much by begging for one of his dollars, as +she called the tiny cakes which Norah fried for her pet. She amused the +others, also, by giving, in the phraseology of a school-girl of to-day, +a graphic account of the way she imagined the redoubtable Captain Molly +acted at the Battle of Monmouth. + +Everything seemed to go well with her, and at half past eight she had +her books in her arms, ready to take a leisurely stroll to school, +although the unfinished problems still troubled her. + +When she entered her room, three or four of the girls rushed up to +her with: "Come on into the dressing-room, Win; we're going to have a +meeting of the B. S. S." + +"Oh, I can't, girls!" said Winnie, it must be confessed very faintly, +"I've two more problems to work, and I'll just have time to do them +before the bell rings, and during the first study bell." + +"Oh, bother the problems!" said Miriam Douglass, striking an attitude. +"Let them go! What are problems, compared with the important business of +the B. S. S.?" + +But Winnie, collecting all her mental strength, and remembering her "I'm +bound to" of the night before, resolutely drew back, saying, "I can't, +girls; for I've a giant to kill." + +The girls looked at her in amaze. + +"A giant to kill! You look as if you'd kill a dozen, single-handed, you +midge!" laughed tall Miriam, for Winnie was the youngest and smallest +girl in the class. "Whatever do you mean?" + +"I can't stop to tell you now," said Winnie, "for if I do, I'll lose the +first blow; but I'll tell you about it at recess." + +"All right, since you're determined," said Fannie Allen; "and I say, +girls, let's postpone our meeting till then." + +"Agreed!" said the others; and each one, as they separated, went to +her own seat and busied herself at some study, so quickly does a little +leaven leaven the whole. + +When recess came, Winnie explained to the three girls, and Miriam +Douglass laughed at her and teased her not a little; but somehow no one +minded Miriam's teasing, she was so bright and good-natured with it all. + +"I suppose," said Miriam, munching her last piece of butterscotch--for +be it known that the mysterious initials, about which the other girls of +the class were "dancing crazy with curiosity," as Miriam said, signified +"Butter Scotch Society"--"you'll be wanting us to give up the B. S. S. +with all its sweet delights, and go about the world with drawn swords, +and 'front like Jove, to threaten or command,' neither giving nor +receiving quarter. I can see myself now, as I exclaim, 'Base spirit, +beware, lest with this trusty sword I hew thee in pieces!'" And she +flourished her ruler with such spirit that the girls all applauded. +Just then, however, the bell rang for the close of recess, and they were +obliged to go to their recitations. + +Thanks to Winnie's determination, and her vigorous use of the study +bells, she received a perfect mark in all her lessons for the day, but +she went home in the afternoon tired and jaded from the hard work. + +She found her mother in the sitting-room, sewing, and said, as she threw +down her books, "Now, mamma, I want to make my confession, and also +to thank you for allowing me to work last night. I know you have often +spoken to me about my bad habit of putting everything off till the last +minute, and it is almost always because I get hold of a story book and +cannot lay it down. Yesterday it was 'The Giant Killer,' and I was +so interested in Fides' battle with Giant Hate, that I forgot I was +neglecting my own faults to watch him conquer his. But now I'm going +to begin killing my own giants, and I'll commence with my worst, +procrastination; for indeed, as Miss Brownlow is always telling us, +it is the thief of time. And I want you to watch me and help me. As +to-morrow will be Saturday, I want to get every one of my lessons for +Monday, so that I can use the Monday study bells for Tuesday's lessons; +then I can always get through in the afternoon." + +"I think that will be a very good plan, Winnie; you will then feel at +ease each day about the work for the succeeding one, and an absence of +worry will keep your mental faculties in good condition, so that you can +do much more work with less strain of mind or body. And it will leave +your evenings for reading or such other recreation as may occur from +time to time, for you know I do not believe in all work and no play. I +want to run down to Shillito's now to do a little shopping, and I hope +you will be able, while I am gone, to resist your favorite temptation, +for I really believe that many of our temptations are favorites." + +As soon as Mrs. Burton, taking Ralph with her, had gone, Winnie settled +herself resolutely to work at her problems. She had just become quite +interested in finding out the "population of a certain village," which +increased a certain per cent, the first year, etc., when the bell rang, +and answering the call, she found Miriam Douglass. Here was a dilemma. +But she said: + +"Miriam, I'm just at work on my problems for Monday. Come right in, and +we'll work them together." + +"Oh, Winnie, we'll have all day to-morrow to get our lessons. Do let's +have a good time to-day." + +"I promised mamma that I would do all my lessons before Monday, but, +of course, Miriam, if you don't wish to, I'll stop. I do think, though, +that we'll enjoy ourselves just as well if we do this work." + +"All right, Winnie, go ahead," said Miriam laughing. "I guess my brain +can stand it if yours can." + +The two girls applied themselves so well, Miriam being particularly +bright in arithmetic, that by the time Mrs. Burton returned, they not +only had the whole set of problems solved, but neatly copied and ready +to "hand in." + +Mrs. Burton herself helped them with their analysis in grammar, and +that being Miriam's great stumbling block, she was delighted with the +assistance. She accepted Mrs. Burton's invitation to stay to supper, +after which, Mr. Burton and Jack both being out, Winnie's mother +proposed that the girls should take turns reading aloud to her from the +book Winnie had been telling them about. + +Both girls had been well taught, and it was a pleasure to listen to +their fresh, well modulated voices. Miriam, though far less imaginative +than Winnifred, enjoyed the book very much, and said, half in fun: + +"Why can't we turn our B. S. S. into a club to fight our giants? We +might then be a help instead of a drawback to each other, as I know we +are now, for we're always upsetting each other's attempts to do right." + +"I think that is a very good idea," said Mrs. Burton. "Union and +organization are such powers in this world, that I do not see why they +should not help four little girls to do right. You might have social +meetings occasionally to report progress, and you could have a good time +beside. Talk it over on Monday with Gretta and Fannie, and if you want +help, come to me." + +"Oh, Mrs. Burton, you always do think of the nicest things! That's just +what we will do, and we'll report a week from to-night. But now it is +time for me to go." + +As Miriam lived only a square away, Mrs. Burton and Winnie walked over +with her, and on their return Winnie went to bed happy and contented. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +STUMBLING BLOCKS. + + +On the following Monday at recess, Miriam called a meeting of the +B. S. S., and she and Winnie told the other two girls what they were +thinking of doing. But it was very hard work to make Gretta Berger +understand. + +"Giants!" said she, "what do we care for giants? We're no longer little +children, that we should believe in such things." + +"But don't you believe that we have faults that we ought to try to +conquer?" said Winnie. + +"Faults! You'd think I had a million, if you'd hear my mother lecture +me; and my sister Josephine seems to think I never did do anything +right. I never suit either of them. I'm scolded from Monday morning till +Saturday night, and I don't want all my play-time taken up in the same +way." + +"Oh, Gretta, who is going to scold you? I'm sure we'll all have enough +to do to watch over our own faults, without talking to you of yours." + +"Didn't you say we were to help each other? How can we do that, if we +don't say anything when one of us does wrong? No, let our teachers and +parents and big sisters do that. I'm sure they seem to enjoy it well +enough." + +"Enjoy it! Well, I'm sure we can't blame them. I don't know how else +they are to get even with you, when you never give in half your demerits +for the day, and sit and sulk for half an hour if you're told to stop +talking," said Miriam, with her usual heedlessness. + +"Well. I'm not so lazy that I can't pin my collar on straight and clean +my finger nails; and as for killing giants, I think we'd better be +eating fruit and taffy than getting into a fuss by meddling with other +folks' affairs!" And Gretta flounced off in high dudgeon. + +Winnie's eyes filled with tears. All this was so unlike anything she had +imagined, and now they had gotten into a quarrel the very first thing. + +"Let her go, Winnie," said Fannie; "she's always getting into the sulks, +and her father's nothing but a music teacher, anyhow. I never could see +why you girls liked her so much. I'm sure I never did." + +"No!" said Miriam sarcastically, "we can't all be the handsome daughter +of a wealthy and celebrated lawyer, more's the pity!" + +Winnie's heart sank lower. How she wished she had tried to do right +herself, and let the other girls alone! Now Fannie would be angry, too. + +But, to her surprise, Fannie laughed outright. "This is too absurd for +anything, girls. Here we were just about to sweep the world before us, +and now we've had our first quarrel for over a month. As for me, I +know I'm proud and vain, and I do like my friends to be rich and +distinguished. But papa says it isn't exactly well-bred to choose our +friends on such a basis, and he calls my pride silly, and tells me not +to be a--well, yes, he does--a snob. But I like to be proud. Perhaps, +though, someone else beside myself knows something, and I'll be glad to +join, and will try to like it when my toes are stepped on." + +"Well," said Miriam, "I'm sure I beg your pardon, if I hurt the toes. +But I think your good-nature got the best of it. As for Gretta, you all +know she'll sulk just so long, anyhow, and when she gets tired of +it, she'll be all right; and if she once gets this thing through her +somewhat thick head, she'll want to join, too." + +"My! but there's a lot of work before us! Do you know, girls, I actually +lay awake for an hour last night, wondering what faults I had, and now, +since this squabble, I've seen signs of half a dozen. It's taken all the +starch out of me. Don't I look limp?" And Miriam hung her hands and arms +so nervelessly and assumed such a vapid expression, that Fannie laughed +outright, and Winnie smiled through her tears. + +"Well, there's one bad habit that we all have," said she decidedly. +"We're always saying, 'in a minute,' or 'by and by,' or 'to-morrow.' I +don't believe we'll get angry with each other over that, for it isn't +what my father would call 'a personal peculiarity.'" Winnie did like to +use big words. + +"All right, Winnie, we'll all begin together, and you shall be the +captain of our first expedition against the foe." + +Winnie went home somewhat comforted, but still quite unhappy about +Gretta. She longed to tell her mother all that had happened, but Mrs. +Burton was entertaining callers, and she was therefore obliged to +restrain her impatience. + +On Tuesdays there were fewer recitations for her class than on other +days, and, having made good use of her study bells, she was quite +through before five o'clock, and concluded to take Ralph out for a +walk, so she called her mother to ask permission. Mrs. Burton was quite +willing, and said she might also go to the library and change her book. +Then she returned to her guests. + +Winnie ran to ask Norah if she would help get Ralph ready. She found +her in the wooden rocking-chair in the cheerful kitchen, reading the +"Commercial Gazette," and "taking it easy," as she called it. Winnie +made her request in a very peremptory manner. Norah looked at her a +minute, and then said: "So you want me to dress Ralph, do you? Well, I +guess that want will have to be your master, for I don't intend to break +my back over the wash-tub all day, and, when I'm snatching a moment for +rest, be at the beck and call of a sassy little girl." So saying, Norah +returned to her newspaper, completely ignoring Winnie's presence. + +Winnifred knew that it would be utterly useless to say anything more; +besides, she had been reproved by her mother more than once for her +way of speaking to Norah. But she was greatly disappointed, for now she +would either have to take Ralph dressed as he was, or leave him at home. +She finally concluded to do the former, so, hastily getting Ralph and +herself into their coats, they were soon in the street car. + +Ralph, as usual, had numberless questions to ask. When they reached +Fountain Square, they got out, and Winnie, as she invariably did when +down town, crossed to the Esplanade to look at the fountain, of which +she never wearied. Ralph said he liked to see the little boys and girls +sprinkling, and then he must have a drink from the little boy with a +shell in his hand. + +All this took up time, so that when they reached the public library it +was quite late. The delivery room, as usual at that hour, was crowded, +and, having handed in her card and list, Winnie sat down on one of the +benches to wait till her number was called. This took so long that Ralph +became restless and then sleepy, and when they were finally in the car +on their way home, he soon closed his eyes. Winnie knew that she would +have her hands full if he went to sleep, so she shook him, saying, +"Ralphie, Ralphie, don't you know that you mustn't go to sleep?" + +"Me isn't s'eepy!" said the little fellow, poking his chubby fingers +into his eyes to keep them open; but, finding it quite hard work, after +a minute's consideration he added, "But there's somefin in my eyes, +'ough." + +"Oh, Ralph, that's the Sandman; you mustn't let him throw sand in your +eyes in the street car!" + +"No, me 'on't," said Ralph, making a desperate effort. + +This little conversation seemed greatly to amuse an old gentleman +opposite. He took Ralph on his knee and let him play with his watch, and +kindly kept him awake until it was time for the children to get out. + +When they reached home they found the family, with the addition of their +grandma, Aunt Kitty and Uncle Fred, all at supper, laughing and talking +in the happiest manner imaginable. Winnie was delighted. Aunt Kitty +was the dearest to her of all her aunts. She was young and gay and +good-natured, always ready to join in a frolic, or to help with one's +lessons, or to take the children and the children's visitors to the +"zoo" or the park or some other place equally delightful. + +After supper they went into the sitting-room, and Winnie and Jack played +their last duet, which Aunt Kitty complimented quite highly. She said +to Mr. Burton, "Winnie does so nicely with her music that I hope you'll +allow her to make more of it soon. If she goes to the high-school next +year, she'll have more time to practice, won't she?" + +"Yes, I think so," interrupted Uncle Fred. "She'll be putting on long +dresses, and practicing the airs of a young lady before the glass. But +she won't imitate you, Kitty; your ways will be too youthful for her by +that time," and he gave Winnie's braid a pull. "Isn't it singular?" he +continued meditatively. "Here Winnie will be growing older every year, +and Kitty just the reverse. I don't think she'll have another birthday +in ten years." + +"Most assuredly not, if you'll tell me the way to avoid it. Winnie can +have my birthdays and her own, too," laughed Aunt Kitty. + +If there was one thing in the world that Winnie resented as an +indignity, it was having her ears tweaked, and now she burst out: + +"Grandma, do make Uncle Fred stop! I think he ought to have a good +scolding." + +"Why, he's my baby," said grandma; "you wouldn't have me scold my baby, +would you?" + +Winnie's expression at the novel idea of teasing Uncle Fred's being +anybody's baby was one of such amazement that they all laughed, though +Winnie herself hardly appreciated the joke. + +"Never mind," said Uncle Fred, slipping a bag of chocolates into her +hands as a peace-offering, "you know I must tease someone, and your Aunt +Kitty is more invulnerable than Achilles himself, for I think that even +her heel was dipped." + +"Oh, I have a vulnerable point," laughed Aunt Kitty, though a close +observer might have noticed a queer little sober look about her eyes +and mouth, "and it is this"--putting one of Winnifred's creams into +her mouth: "the absolute cruelty of giving someone else a paper of +chocolates while I'm present. By the way, Winnie, let's go into the +kitchen and make some taffy, while my mother instructs your mother how +to bring up children in the way they should go; for that she knows +how to do it, witness your Uncle Fred and myself as bright and shining +examples." + +But for once Winnie held back. At last she said: "Norah won't like it; +she's cross to-day. She wouldn't help me get Ralph ready to go down +town." + +"Oh, Winnie, I'm afraid you've been at your old tricks. But come on; +I'll manage Norah, and she has probably forgiven you before this." + +This proved to be the case, and Norah, who was very fond of Aunt Kitty, +was so good-natured, not even grumbling about the "muss," that Winnie +felt as if she were having coals of fire heaped on her head; and, not to +be outdone in generosity, contritely begged Norah's pardon for the way +she had spoken to her in the afternoon. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +A RAINY DAY. + + + "'One by one the sands are flowing,'--comma-- + One by one the moments fall;'--semicolon-- + 'Some are coming,'--comma; 'some are going;'--semicolon-- + 'Do not strive to grasp them all,'--period." + +dictated Miriam to a group of girls in the school-room, who were +"cramming" for the February examination, and who had hurried back at +dinner time for that purpose. + +"What a queer jumble that makes!" said Winnie. "I believe I'd rather +copy it from the book. Don't you think that last line's odd?--'Do not +strive to grasp them all.' I thought that was just what we ought to do, +isn't it?" + +"I asked Miss Brownlow that question yesterday," said Ernestine Alroy, a +tall, pale and thoughtful-looking girl, "and she said that Miss Procter +didn't mean that we were to let any of them go, but that we are not to +try to seize them all at once; that it would be like anything else--if +our hands were too full, we'd be sure to drop something. She said we +must take this 'Memory Gem' in connection with the motto on the board, +'Do the duty that lies nearest thee,' and that if we followed the advice +in both of them, we'd be sure not to let any of our duties go undone." + +"Ernestine, you always did like to preach," said Josie Thompson, making +a wry face over the pickle she was eating. "I think it's quite bad +enough to have to learn Memory Gems, with all the hideous punctuation, +and expect to stand an examination--and they always pick out the one you +know the least about--with five per cent. off for a comma left out or +put in the wrong place, ten for a misspelled word, and so on until, by +the time my 'Gems' are corrected, there's no per cent. left at all. I +say all this is bad enough, without having to understand and explain +them." And she stopped to take breath, quite exhausted by her long +speech. + +"Perhaps, if you troubled yourself a little more about the meaning, +you'd get higher marks occasionally," said Miriam. + +"Oh, who cares for marks anyhow? I'm getting sick of the eternal word +'Duty!' Miss Brownlow never misses an occasion to make use of it. Then +we're always learning some selection with the same word in it, and now +you girls have taken it up and there's no knowing if you will ever stop. +As for me, I'm going to enjoy myself while I'm young. I guess I'll live +just as long, if I don't worry myself to death." + +The brighter girls laughed, and Miriam said, with quick mimicry, "I +think you will live just as long, if you don't worry yourself to death. +What a speech! Well, I think you're right; you'll live forever, if worry +is the only thing that can kill." + +"Well, laugh as much as you please; you can all plod along, if you want +to. I'm going to have a good time." + +"It is hard, though," said Winnie, plaintively; "it's much nicer to do +the things we like to do than those we ought to do, especially when none +of us want to do things that are very wrong." + +"It's harder to catch up," said Ernestine, "than to keep straight on; +and I think if we'd all pray for help not to neglect our duties, we'd +find it easier." + +None of the girls laughed at this, for Ernestine was so devoted to her +ideas of religion, and so brave in the profession of them, that if +she thought it was her duty, she would have knelt down right there and +prayed aloud for them all. + +"Well, this isn't learning the 'Gem,'" said Fannie Allen decisively; and +then for a few moments nothing was heard but the scratching of pencils, +as Miriam went on dictating: + + "One by one thy duties wait thee, + Let thy whole strength go to each, + Let no future dreams elate thee, + Learn thou first what these can teach." + +After the bell had rung for school to commence, the afternoon wore +dismally away. A steady, drenching rain was pouring down as if it +intended never to stop. Under the circumstances there could be no +recess, which added to the general feeling of weariness, restlessness +and disgust. + +Each recitation was a recapitulation, which made the more studious or +those with the better memories feel as if there were "nothing new +under the sun," and gave to the triflers, or those to whom study was a +continual climbing of the "Hill Difficulty," a confused impression of +hearing something they had heard before, but failed to remember just +when or where or how. + +To add to the discomfort, there was much copying to be done from the +blackboard, and, as it was dark and gloomy, there was a complaint of +not being able to see, until the front seats were filled with a crowd of +tired, discontented girls, with their young faces puckered up into all +sorts of frowns and grimaces. Even the best-natured among the teachers +were conscious of an utter failure to keep from showing irritation, +and they were made to sigh for a royal road both to learning and to +teaching. It was with a general sigh of relief that the bell announcing +the hour of dismission was heard. + +But the discomfort was not yet over. The halls and dressing-rooms were +filled with an odor of wet wool and rubber; rain-cloaks and rubbers were +confusedly mixed, and Miss Brownlow reminded the complainers, in a most +irritating manner, of the number of times she had urged them all to mark +their gossamers and overshoes, and positively forbade them to expect any +interference from her if anything were lost. Then some of the girls +ran down stairs, and all were ordered back; and, it being impossible to +distinguish the culprits, the innocent suffered with the guilty, so that +it was nearly five o'clock before they were finally allowed to descend +the stairs, and they had been hearing the exasperating shouts of freedom +from the boys under the windows for a full half hour. + +Miriam and Winnie, walking home under the same umbrella, felt their +desire to be good and the courage to strive for it, at the lowest ebb. +Winnie said petulantly, "I wish there were no such thing as school! It's +dig, dig, dig, and then it's cram, cram, cram, until, at last, you don't +know whether you know anything or not! I'm just sick of it!" + +"You'd feel more disagreeable if you'd lost the third pair of rubbers +this winter, and had wet feet. I don't see why it is that it's always my +rubbers that are gone, anyway. Mamma will say that I grow more heedless +every day of my life; that I never will learn to take care of anything; +and will wonder if I think papa is a millionaire. I wish now that I'd +marked that last pair of rubbers." + +"Oh, dear! It's so hard to do right, and not to feel hateful and cross. +Everyone seems to get cross but Ernestine. But then, none of the rest +are as good as she is. I don't believe she ever feels like doing wrong; +and she always seems happy, too; not peevish or sulky like the rest of +us. Do you suppose--" + +But just then, too absorbed to notice where they were going, they ran +against an old gentleman, and their umbrella was knocked out of their +hands into the gutter, where, of course, it was soon all wet and muddy. + +[Illustration: Too absorbed to notice where they were going.] + +Then the old gentleman sputtered and scolded, and said he wished little +girls would look where they were going once in a while, and that they +were nothing but "giggling nuisances" anyhow. Then Miriam dropped her +books, and, as both she and Winnie stooped to pick them up, they knocked +their heads together with such force that tears sprang to the eyes of +both. + +As a usual thing, such occurrences would have made them laugh, but they +were far enough from being "giggling nuisances" on this occasion, and +when they turned the corner and separated, it would not have been easy +to find two muddier or crosser little girls, while both, I fear, had +forgotten all about the giants they were intending to fight. + +When Winnie reached home, she spoke to Ralph so crossly, when he ran up +to her for a kiss, that his lips trembled and he turned to Mrs. Burton, +saying, "Mamma, is me bad? 'Innie 'ouldn't tiss me!" + +Winnie, at sight of his grieved face, began to feel ashamed of herself, +but was still too cross to make any acknowledgments, and, without saying +a word, went up to her room to change her muddy dress. + +When she came down, Mrs. Burton looked at her searchingly, but asked +no questions, and it was not until after supper that Winnie felt +sufficiently herself to tell her mother about the disagreeable +afternoon. Mrs. Burton only said: "Well, Winnie,-- + + 'Into each life some rain must fall. + Some days be dark and dreary,' + +but I hope my daughter isn't going to grow up into one of those +unpleasant women who always make it disagreeable for other people when +things do not turn out just as they would like to have them." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE FIRST MEETING. + + +As a consequence of the lost rubbers and wet feet, Miriam caught such a +cold that she was not able to leave the house for the remainder of the +week. Gretta Burger was still sulking, and Fannie Allen was, as she +said, "reviewing odds and ends," so the meeting which was to have been +held on Friday of that week was postponed. + +But fickleness and inconstancy of purpose were not among the faults of +Winnifred, and although she made many failures, and the words "by and +by" and "in a minute" were frequently on her lips, she nevertheless made +some progress in conquering her great fault. + +Her greatest temptation, as is evident from what has already been seen +of her, was to let everything else go and slip off into some nook and +lose herself in what she called "a delicious read." And this habit was +all the harder for her to break because she had commenced it when she +was a very little girl, and it had then looked "so cunning" and studious +that injudicious friends and acquaintances of the family, unable +to distinguish between a love for study which costs hard work and +self-denial, and a mere love for narrative which is easily gratified, +had praised her when she was within hearing, and had told Mr. Burton +how much they envied him the possession of so studious and intelligent a +child. Not that all works of fiction are to be condemned, for they often +have a good and lasting influence, and become a decided factor in +the formation of a noble character. But like all things intended for +recreation, they should be used only at the proper time. Winnie was fast +finding out that the proper time was when her daily duties were over, +and that was reducing her two or three snatched hours a day to fifteen +or twenty minutes. She was also beginning to find out the close +connection between various bad habits. She saw that procrastination led +to carelessness, disobedience, and, in some natures, to untruthfulness +and dishonesty. + +But by the following Friday, the long-anticipated examination was over. +Our four little friends had reason to be well satisfied with the result, +so far as they were personally concerned. A mutual content had restored +harmony between Gretta and the other three, and they had decided to hold +their first meeting on that evening. + +Winnie was very anxious to have Ernestine come, too; but, although she +laughed at herself for her foolish pride, Fannie said: "Of course we +know Ernestine is a nice girl, but we don't know anything about her +family, and you know she never speaks of her father, although nobody +ever heard that he is dead. They may be very common people, for all we +know." + +Winnie was greatly troubled about this, for she did not like "common +people" very well herself. She had her own ideas about such things, and +she called Althea Browne "common." Althea wore brass jewelry, and was +always boasting about the fine things they had at home, and the grand +parties her aunt in Virginia gave. She was always willing to accept +fruits and sweetmeats from the other girls, but had been known, more +than once, to sneak off by herself and munch candies and apples which +she had brought. Winnie thought that if Ernestine's people were like +Althea, she did not want to have anything to do with them. + +As usual, she carried this perplexity to her mother, who said: "Let the +matter rest for the present, dear. While Fannie feels as she does about +it, it would not be pleasant for any of you to have her come, or for +Ernestine herself, and dissension will not help you to become better. In +the meantime I will consider the matter, and, if I conclude that it will +be best for Ernestine to join you, I hope to be able to arrange it." + +Mrs. Burton had invited the three girls to take supper with Winnie, +and, as school had closed early, and they had no lessons to prepare for +Monday, they had a nice, long afternoon together. Miriam read aloud the +account of the combat of Fides with the Giant Sloth, and when she was +through, said: "That is the giant Gretta pointed out to me; and a hard +one he will be for me to overcome, I can tell you." + +"What is my worst one?" asked Fannie, taking up the book which Miriam +had laid down. As she glanced through the pages she said, with a slight +blush, "Oh, yes; my father would tell me that I must conquer my pride, +and he tries to have me see how disagreeable it makes me, by telling me +that I will never be a perfect lady until I have done so. Here, Miriam, +read this aloud, too; you make it so plain that I almost feel as if I +were there." + +Gretta said very little, but she had a self-satisfied air about her, as +if it were as needless for anyone to be proud or untidy as for anyone to +steal, and she felt herself far removed from faults such as these. And +indeed she was neither indolent nor untidy. She rose at six--that magic +hour in which Fides was to strike his first blow at Giant Sloth--and +practiced two hours before school; she was neatness itself, both +in person and in all her belongings. Besides, she was neither so +conscientious as Winnie, so frank and outspoken as Fannie, nor so easily +influenced, either for right or wrong, as Miriam. So her conscience lay +dormant. + +She was, however, conscious that she, too, had a habit of not doing +things as soon as she ought, and to try to overcome that seemed to her +almost like a lesson to be learned, so she was willing to try to learn +it with the others. + +After Miriam had finished the chapter, Winnie said, "Oh, girls, I must +show you my autographs;" and, turning to Ralph, who sat by the window, +gazing intently at a couple of puppies which were having a romp +together, she said, "Ralphie, bring Winnie that book by the window." + +Without moving a muscle of his chubby little body, or even turning his +head, the child answered: "You just s'pect me to do evvyfing; I tan't do +evvyfing." + +"Oh, Ralph, my little partner in distress!" exclaimed Miriam, in her +most dramatic way, snatching him up and kissing him in spite of his +struggles. "You'll have to have a suit of armor, too. Who would have +thought that one so young could be so lazy!" + +The laugh was not yet over when Mrs. Burton came in, with her pleasant +smile, saying, "Girls, I've a short story to tell you--that is, if you +wish to hear it; and there'll just be time before supper." + +Of course they were delighted, and, Fannie having coaxed Ralph to her +lap, they all gathered around Mrs. Burton, making a pretty group +in their unconsciously graceful attitudes, as they listened to the +following narrative: + +"Constance van Orten was born in New York, a descendant of one of the +old Knickerbocker families, but of a branch which had preserved more of +the family pride than its estates. Money, however, was not altogether +lacking, and to many people their income would have seemed sumptuous; +but to them, in comparison with their more wealthy friends and +relatives, it seemed the merest pittance that necessity could demand. + +"But this comparative lack of money never troubled little Constance, and +fortune seemed to smile upon her. One might almost have believed that +all the beneficent fairies had presided at her birth, so many graces of +face and form and disposition were hers, and so many of the conditions +necessary to human happiness seemed fulfilled in her lot. + +"She was the youngest child and only daughter, and her four brothers +found her so charming a plaything, and later so agreeable a companion, +that they took pleasure in making her life a succession of pleasant +surprises, and her every wish was gratified almost before expressed. +Indeed, had she asked for the moon, it would have been a source of +genuine grief to them that they could not get it for her. + +"Pain seemed as far removed from her as anxiety or grief, for, although +she had an odd faculty of catching all the diseases incident to +childhood, they touched her so lightly that it was seldom necessary to +call in a physician. If she received a cut or a wound of any kind, so +pure was her blood and so perfect her physical condition that it healed +as if by magic. + +"Her willfulness was extreme, as might have been expected from the +almost total lack of restraint under which she grew up; but so winning +were her ways, and so ready her repentance for her little misdeeds, that +for the most part she escaped punishment and even reproof. + +"Almost without the power of application, she seemed to pick up external +evidences of education and culture without effort. She talked fluently, +sang charmingly, and, having almost marvelous tact, never failed to +please. + +"Being, as I have said, the only daughter, she entered society earlier +than most girls, and, in spite of her comparative lack of means, soon +became a reigning belle. During her first season she refused more than +one wealthy suitor, and that, too, to the intense satisfaction of her +parents and brothers, for she was a veritable sunbeam in the family, and +they looked forward with dread to the thought of losing her. + +"At last, however, there came, furnished with letters of introduction +to one of Constance's uncles, a young and wealthy cotton planter from +Louisiana. His seeming indifference to money and his prodigal use of +it, his pleasant speech and manner, his languid Southern movements, +so different from those of the brisk Northerners to whom they were +accustomed, and, above all, the very fact of his being a stranger, made +him most welcome to the girlish minds so fond of change and novelty. But +it was with the greatest regret that the Van Ortens began to notice his +marked attentions to Constance and the increasing pleasure she took in +them. It was not only that a marriage with him would separate her from +them all, but her father and brothers, constantly meeting the young +stranger at clubs and places where there were no ladies present, and +consequently where he was off his guard, found him capricious and +changeable in his opinions and actions, extremely self-indulgent, +selfishly indifferent to the comfort of others, and so fond of +intoxicating liquor that, on more than one occasion, he had been +directly and shamefully under its influence. + +"But Constance would not, perhaps could not, see him in the light in +which he was portrayed to her, and, in spite of all their warnings and +her mother's pleadings, she consented to become his wife. Immediately +after the marriage, they went to Louisiana, and for awhile all was to +Constance as her most ardent fancy had painted it. Their home was in +the beautiful Claiborne Parish, which has been named "the Eden of +Louisiana." Her winning ways and delicate beauty endeared her to the +new acquaintances she formed, and made her the idol of the slaves on the +plantation. Here two sons were born, and the mother felt her happiness +complete. But presently she found her husband less attentive to her. He +absented himself on long journeys, for which he scarcely had a pretext, +and when at home was either sullen or irritable. + +"Then the Civil War broke out and he lost much of his property, and +there were almost ceaseless and taunting allusions on his part to the +"plebeian Yankees" and the ruin they had brought him. After the close of +the war, however, he seemed to make an effort to do the best with what +property remained. He became a little more considerate, and sometimes +seemed to be almost what he had been in the early years of his married +life, and when Constance became the mother of a little girl, she began +to feel as if, after all, life might hold some good in store for her. + +"But alas! her husband's good behavior did not last long. He began to +drink constantly, and at last he left one morning, without saying a +word, and never returned. Then the two promising boys died of that +dreadful scourge, yellow fever, and Constance was almost heartbroken. + +"During the war, communication with her New York relatives had +been almost impossible, and since then, as is usual in interrupted +correspondence, even among those who love each other best, it +had assumed a desultory character; and now that Constance felt +overwhelmingly disgraced by her husband's desertion, and knowing that +all this sorrow had come upon her in consequence of her opposition to +the wishes of her family, she was too proud to turn to them for help +or comfort. But to remain where she was was likewise almost an +impossibility, for the scenes of sorrow through which she had passed +made the South a hated prison from which she felt that she must escape. +Besides, her husband's creditors had seized upon everything that was +left, and the once lovely, petted girl, destitute, bereaved, forsaken, +raised what money she could from the sale of her laces and jewelry, +and, taking passage in one of the Mississippi steamers, started for +Louisville. There, however, she remained but a few days, and finally +came to Cincinnati, hoping here to find some way to support herself and +her little daughter, without being obliged to appeal to her brothers for +help. + +"But for a woman reared as she had been, what was there to do? Her +slender means became still more slender, and it was only after having +been subjected to absolute privation, that she managed to obtain a place +in a store as saleswoman, and now she and her child are able to live +respectably, if not always comfortably. Her one joy and source of +happiness she finds in the companionship of her daughter Ernestine, a +girl of character so fine and religious principles so high that they +would be a credit to one of twice her years." + +"Why, that sounds like a description of Ernestine Alroy!" said Fannie. + +"And it is Ernestine of whom I am speaking, although I hope it is not +necessary for me to suggest that she would not like her mother's history +to be made public property. In fact, I must earnestly request you not to +mention it even in your own homes," said Mrs. Burton. "It was only by +a mere accident that I heard this narrative yesterday afternoon. But I +hear Mr. Burton and Jack in the hall, and, as supper will be served in +a very few minutes, I must leave you, with an apology for telling you a +sad story, and one which I would not have ventured upon had it not been +an 'o'er true tale.'" + +"How dreadful!" said Fannie. "And to think, girls, that her mother was +as happy and well reared--" + +Just then, however, supper was announced, and Fannie's sentence remained +unfinished. + +After supper, Jack brought out his violin, and he and Gretta played some +duets together, Gretta reading the piano part at sight, and so well that +Winnie felt her own poor little talent cast quite in the shade. + +Then Gretta played some pretty sonatinas with fine taste and expression, +and gave so much pleasure to her listeners that Fannie began to think +there might be worse things in the world than being a "music teacher's +daughter." + +After that, to the great delight of the girls, Mr. Burton sang, in his +fine bass voice, and with the merry twinkle in his eyes in accord with +his extravagant gestures, a comic song, ending with a little refrain +in which all the Burtons, not even excepting Ralph, joined, the +latter singing at the top of his voice, and clapping his hands for +accompaniment. + +They had hardly had time to feel weary of sitting still and listening, +when Mrs. Burton had them all in the dining-room playing the good +old game of "Puss in the Corner." Here, too, Mr. Burton distinguished +himself by his pathetic appeals for a "corner." The game left them all +breathless but happy, and they sat down for awhile to recover themselves +and "cool off," while Jack went to get on his overcoat preparatory to +seeing the girls home. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY. + + +The school which Winnie and her friends attended was in the habit +of selecting certain authors, whose birthday anniversaries they +commemorated. This year, however, the principal had concluded to +celebrate Washington's birthday by patriotic songs, declamations, and so +on. In consequence the pupils were all in a state of great excitement, +pleasurable to boyish and girlish hearts. + +Lessons were shortened, classes dismissed early, rehearsals conducted +morning, noon and night. From one end of the building to the other, +"spouting" was heard, gestures were being made in the most frantic +manner, the strains of "The Star Spangled Banner," "America," and "The +Red, White and Blue" rose upon the air; and, as the crowds of boys and +girls passed to and from school, their conversation contained allusions +to "The Father of our Country," or the fine way in which Harry or Tom or +Frank gave that declamation, or the sweetness of Mabel Gray's voice, or +why Mr. Bowen hadn't selected Clarence instead of Bob, etc., etc., etc., +until all the air around the school-house must have been as heavily +charged with patriotism as the air around Lexington on the morning of +that memorable battle which, too, was talked of, for there had been much +"brushing up" of United States history. + +The memorable day of the 21st of February arrived (there being no school +on the 22d), and found the rooms finely decorated with flags and swords +and battle relics, portraits of George and Martha Washington, and +flowers and living plants, while the blackboards were entirely filled +with ornamental scrolls containing patriotic mottoes. + +Two o'clock had been set for the beginning of the programme, but long +before that time visitors had begun to arrive and were shown to seats by +the two gentlemanly boy-ushers in quite an impressive manner. + +Among the visitors, our friends the Burtons, not excepting Ralph, were +represented. Ralph sat snuggled up to his mother, his big eyes having +their most pleased and wondering look. Mrs. Alroy, too, was there, +dressed quietly but tastefully, and looking a perfect lady; having +indeed so thoroughbred an air that even Fannie's somewhat haughty mamma +who sat next her, could scarcely equal her. + +Gretta Berger took her place at the piano, and soon the inspiring +strains of a patriotic medley were heard, while the boys and girls from +the various rooms marched into the hall and took their places with such +a fine idea of time and military precision of movement that to see them +was not the least pleasure of the afternoon. + +The next thing on the programme was a sketch of George Washington's +life, by Ernestine Alroy, read by her in a sweet, dignified way, in +a well-modulated voice, and an expression which showed a thorough +appreciation of the fine character and life she was describing. One of +the boys followed with a recitation of Drake's "American Flag." Next a +small choir of girls and boys (the girls dressed in the national colors +and the boys wearing flag badges) sang the "Star Spangled Banner." Then +Winnie went upon the stage, and recited the following, which is given in +full, as it is one of those fugitive things which seem to have no home. +It is entitled: + + +THE USED-TO-BE. + + The mother gathered her children together, + She folded them close to her heart in glee, + For the red sun had brought them rainy weather, + And what they should do, they never could see. + And they cried in querulous tones, "Mamma, + Now think back, ever and ever so far, + And see if _you_ ever had rainy days + That troubled the plans, and spoiled the plays, + And what you did in the Used-to-be." + + The mother laughed with low, soft laughter; + She was remembering, they could see. + "I see, you rogues, what you are all after; + I'll tell you a tale that happened to me. + I and some wee little bits of girls, + With hair as yellow as shaving-curls, + When it rained for a day and a night and a day, + And we thought it hard to go on that way, + As we were as tired as tired could be. + + "Up in the attic, in grandma's attic, + There's a chest of drawers--or there used to be; + Though we had many a charge emphatic, + Not to go near enough to see. + But one rainy day we opened them wide, + And strewed the contents on every side; + We dressed ourselves in the queer old caps, + The brass-buttoned coats, with long blue flaps. + And--but wait a minute; papa calls me." + + They waited and waited and waited and waited,-- + "Forty hours, it seems to me," + Said weary Kitty, with eyes dilated. + "Let's do it ourselves; I can find the key." + They climbed the stairs,--as still as a mouse. + You might have heard them all over the house. + They dressed themselves in the queer old dresses, + The powdered wigs and hempen tresses, + Just as they did in the Used-to-be. + + The warning stairs kept creaking and creaking,-- + There was no time to turn and flee. + "_What's all this!_" (It was grandma speaking.) + "I shall take every one of you over my knee." + And I regret to say that she did, + All except Kitty, who ran and hid. + And when they went and told mamma, + She only said, with a soft "ha! ha!" + "Just what your grandmamma did to me." + +The amusing little poem suited Winnie's childish face and figure, and +her mother had read between the lines for her, so that the picture was +plain to her mind. Winnie saw the pretty young mother playing the little +joke on the children, and the affected wrath of the grandmother as she +spanked each of the little ones--saw the picture so plainly herself that +it was easy for her to make her good-natured audience see it, too, and +her hearers laughed while they applauded. + +Of course they had "The Red, White and Blue" sung by the whole school; +and "America," which can never be old to any of us; and for further +recitations. "Independence Bell," and "The Blue and the Gray"--for what +patriotic celebration would be complete without these? + +The finest declamation of the day, given by the pride of the class, so +far as elocutionary ability was concerned, and with a drum accompaniment +by a corps of boys well drilled for the occasion, was the following +stirring + + +SONG OF THE DRUM. + + Rataplan! Rataplan! Rataplan! + Follow me, follow me, every true man! + Hark to the song of the rolling drum: + Come with me! Come with me! Come with me! Come! + Follow me! Follow me! Follow me now! + Come from the anvil, come from the plow. + Don't think of the danger which threatens your lives! + Leave home, leave friends, leave your children, your wives! + Hark to the sound of the rolling drum! + Come with me! Come with me! Come! + Follow me, follow me, every one, + To where the white camps shine in the sun. + + Rataplan! Rataplan! Rataplan! + Follow me, follow me, every true man! + From the crowded streets of the city, come! + Follow the drum, the drum, the drum! + From fields where the blithe birds chirp and sing, + From woods where your sturdy axes ring; + Leave the plow in the furrow to stand; + Grasp the musket firm in your hand: + There's a grander place in the world for you, + And nobler work for your hands to do. + + Come with me! Come with me! Come with me! Come! + Follow the drum, the drum, the drum! + Come with me where the camps shine white; + Hark to my shrill tattoo at night, + To my loud reveille when morning breaks. + And the golden eye of the dawn awakes. + Come with me out to the trenches then. + Where are gathered scores of your fellow-men + Beginning to dig with pick and with spade,-- + This is the way entrenchments are made. + + There's a puff of smoke, and now comes a shell; + See yonder, there, where its fragments fell; + Nobody hurt! and above on the hill, + Our batteries, until this moment still, + Now blaze away with a deafening noise, + And a shout goes up from our gallant boys. + Rataplan! Rataplan! Rataplan! + This is the life for every true man. + + Come with me now to the picket! Come! + Follow the drum, the drum, the drum! + That's a sharpshooter's rifle we hear, + And that was the bullet that sang so near; + There's another rifle, that shrill, sharp sound; + And yonder's a wounded man on the ground, + With the blood flowing out in a crimson tide + From a gaping hole in his quivering side. + Don't sicken and pale at the sight you see, + For this is where only men should be. + + Rataplan! Rataplan! Rataplan! + Follow me, follow me, every true man! + Come with me over the battle field, come! + Follow the drum, the drum, the drum! + Through the smoke and heat and the storm of lead, + Adown this gulley piled deep with dead; + And along the edge of this shattered wood, + Where the trees are splintered and dashed with blood; + Then on through this field of trampled corn, + Where the once broad leaves into shreds are torn; + Into the shadow of this ravine, + Where the dead and wounded are everywhere seen. + + Rataplan! Rataplan! Rataplan! + Follow me, follow me, every true man! + Follow me on through the fiery breath + Of the vengeful cannon, scattering death. + On through the battle's sound and glare, + Follow me, follow me, everywhere! + And hear the cries and the awful groans, + The piercing shrieks and the feeble moans-- + And the ringing shout which goes up to the sun, + When a work is stormed and a victory won. + Rataplan! Rataplan! Rataplan! + This is the death for every true man. + +[Illustration: Then Winnie recited.--See page 25.] + +But the crowning performance of the day, in the opinion of all the +girls and boys, was a little drama, written expressly for the occasion, +entitled, "Revolutionary Days." The characters represented were an +elderly lady, two young girls, two little children, a negro servant +girl, an elderly gentleman, a Tory, and two young men, Continental +soldiers. + +While the platform was being cleared and prepared, the girls and +boys who took part were having what they called "fine fun" in the +dressing-room, getting their hair powdered, caps and wigs adjusted, and +so on. + +When the curtain rose, Miriam was discovered, dressed as an elderly lady +of the eighteenth century, sitting in an old-fashioned chair beside a +spinning-wheel, and singing a song of Revolutionary days. As she ceased +singing, two little children, borrowed from the primary class in the +"Colony," came in, begging their grandmother to tell them something +about George Washington. She tells them that she is busy, but they +persist, and then tell her that they know some verses about him, +and each recites, alternately, a verse of four lines, descriptive +of Washington's childhood and school days, and, as seems inevitable, +winding up with the story of the hatchet. + +As they finish, a negro servant girl rushes in, in which burnt-cork +heroine it would be utterly impossible to discover the maiden of the +pickles and of the ardent desire to enjoy herself while young, had she +not been seen in the dressing-room "making up" for the occasion. She +informs Mrs. Grey that the cat or something has pulled all the yarn off +the reel, and of its consequent fearful state of entanglement. Mrs. +Grey rouses herself from her reverie, and asks the children if they know +anything about it. Each accusingly points to the other, whereupon their +grandmother looks at them sternly, when they say they "can't tell a +lie," that they did it with-- + +They are interrupted by Mrs. Grey, who tells Dinah to take them away +and put them to bed without their supper. They begin to howl, and +reproachfully tell their grandmother that she ought to say, "Come to +my arms, my precious children;" whereupon an audacious small boy in the +audience--a visitor, it is needless to say--shouts, "Chestnut!" and Mrs. +Grey's face hardens into a look of positive inflexibility, as if this +were the last straw, and the children, howling and struggling, are +carried away by Dinah. + +Quiet being thus restored, Mrs. Grey paces up and down, indulging in +a long soliloquy. She speaks of the long years of war, and the hope +deferred which maketh the heart sick. She regretfully recalls the bonnie +little island, with its green fields and blooming gardens, which had +been forsaken for these scenes of hardship. Then, however, she remembers +the days of oppression there, and bursts into a thanksgiving that they +had at last found a spot where they could worship God in peace according +to the dictates of their own conscience. Then she thinks of the +Declaration of Independence, and tries to remember the resolution of +Richard Henry Lee. Seeing the girls come in, she says that they will +remember. + +The two girls, Winnie and Fannie, attired in short-waisted dresses, big +poke bonnets, and immense outside pockets, are asked by Mrs. Grey +to recall the resolution which has for the moment slipped from her +recollection. One of them (Fannie), in answer, declaims the resolution, +and as she comments, in rather excited tones, "Glorious, mother, isn't +it?" Mr. Cranston, the Tory gentleman, enters. This was one of the boys +of the class, resplendent in hempen wig, frilled shirt front, and the +veritable "brass-buttoned coat, with long blue flaps," knee breeches, +and silver-buckled slippers. He tauntingly informs them that they will +find it "too glorious, when the rebellion is crushed, and they are all +sentenced to be executed as rebels." + +Whereupon he and the colonial young ladies enter into a heated argument, +with taunts on one side about the minute-men of Massachusetts and the +battles of Lexington and Concord, and retaliations from the Tory about +the battle of Long Island and the miseries at Valley Forge. They retort +with the news of the treaty of alliance with France, and he replies by +reminding them of the loss of their ports in the north. + +He is interrupted by the entrance of the children, who tell the group +that every one in the village is shouting "Hurrah!" that the bell in the +church is ringing, and that the big flag is waving over the roof. While +the patriots are exclaiming that "there must be good news," two young +men enter, carrying guns. All spring up in surprise, and the children +dance and caper about, with shouts of "Uncle Mark! Uncle John!" + +Mark and John inform Mrs. Grey and their sisters of the surrender of +Cornwallis. The Tory makes his way out as quietly as possible, with +a very evident desire to do so unobserved, saying, "Cornwallis +surrendered! Then this is no place for me!" The curtain falls, as Mrs. +Grey exclaims, with clasped hands and upraised eyes, "The morning has +dawned at last!" + +There was the usual applause, and soon visitors and children--the +entertained and the entertainers--were on their homeward way, and the +"exhibition" had become a part of the past. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE YOUNG WARRIOR MAIDS. + + +After the entertainment, things went on in their accustomed routine. +Winnie, Miriam, Gretta and Fannie became more intimate than ever, and +really tried, in spite of many discouragements, to conquer their bad +habits. + +For a couple of weeks the little band of "Giant Killers" had had no +meetings, but on the second week after the Washington celebration, the +four girls received a pretty invitation from Winnifred's Aunt Kitty to +take tea with her on the following Friday, and to consider themselves +invited to hold their next meeting at her home, bidding them tell their +mothers that the hostess would see that they arrived home safe not +later than half-past nine. Also, inclosed under cover to Winnie, was an +invitation for Ernestine Alroy, to be delivered only in case the other +three girls were willing. Upon Winnie's showing this, Fannie was the +first to propose that not only should the invitation be delivered, but +that Ernestine should be invited to join their society. + +The family of Winnie's grandmother was a small one, Mrs. Benton often +saying, with a sigh, that her children had all left her except Kitty and +Fred. Whereupon Kitty would take hold of her mother's hand and assure +her, in a serio-comic manner, that this daughter she would have ever +beside her, "to warn, to comfort, to command." Mrs. Benton was not +wealthy, but she had a comfortable income of her own, and as Fred +received a very good salary in one of the large railroad offices, they +always had means for the comforts of life and many of its luxuries. They +lived in a suite of rooms in one of the finest apartment houses of the +city. + +The "Arlington" was a very large building, and as the girls were not +accustomed to such immense houses, they had arranged with Winnie that +they should all go together at five o'clock. Accordingly that hour found +them all standing in the vestibule together, to the manifest amusement +of the janitor when he answered Winnie's ring. As Mrs. Benton's +apartment was only one flight up, they did not take the elevator, but +Winnie ran lightly up the stairs, the others following more slowly. +She knocked at the door at the right of the hall, which was immediately +opened by Miss Benton, to whom Winnie introduced the other girls, who +more or less timidly put their hands into the outstretched one of this +pleasant young lady, but found their timidity vanish almost as if by +magic when they felt her warm, cordial clasp as she drew them into the +parlor. + +And a very pretty parlor it was, with a quaint individuality of its +own--"just like Kitty Benton herself," as her friends were wont to say. +There were no two chairs alike, but they all agreed in one respect--that +of being exceedingly comfortable, from the high-backed willow to the low +chair upholstered in old gold and scarlet tapestry. + +On the walls were five or six oil paintings--a couple of marines, and +the others bright, summer landscapes. There was one, which Miss Benton +had herself painted, entirely different from the others. A cloudy sky, +with dim, gray mountains in the distance. In the foreground a single +grave under a willow, but lying in such vivid sunlight, which came from +a break in the clouds, that it had almost a jubilant look for so sad +a subject, as most people would have deemed it. On a low shelf stood +a beautifully engraved Madonna, and on a table near was a portfolio of +fine etchings. About the room were bits of bric-a-brac of various kinds, +among them a piece of genuine old Wedgwood. On the upright piano stood a +tall vase of Easter lilies. + +Miss Benton, having helped her young visitors to divest themselves of +their wraps, seated them close to the open fire, and then took down the +etchings to show them. These, however, proved a little beyond them, so +she took from the table a stereoscope and some views, every one of which +had been collected by her mother or herself during their various trips, +and about each one she told some incident, amusing or pathetic, so that +an hour had passed away almost before the girls knew it. + +Fred had been requested by his sister to take his supper downtown, +as she felt that the girls would feel more at their ease without his +presence. When the bright-faced maid announced supper, Miss Benton took +Gretta by the hand, and said, as they all entered the dining-room, "'We +are seven,' and, I presume, if Wordsworth were here, he would write a +poem about us." + +As the five friends took their places, they simultaneously burst into an +exclamation of delight. At each of their places was a bunch of flowers, +with a card on which was a pretty little painting in water-colors of a +young girl, with fair hair streaming over her shoulders, in full armor, +receiving from an angel a sword. Underneath were the words in old +English text, in scarlet and gold, "He that overcometh shall inherit all +things." + +The cards were exactly alike, but the flowers were different. Miriam had +a glorious red rose, with buds and leaves; Gretta, garden daisies +and primroses; Fannie, scarlet geraniums, a calla lily and a wild +jack-in-the-pulpit; Ernestine, lilies of the valley; Winnie, ferns +and mignonette. Mrs. Benton lifted caressingly to her face a bunch of +English violets, and their hostess pinned on her bodice a cluster of +yellow rosebuds. + +"Oh, Aunt Kitty, what a hunt you must have had among the florists and +markets for all these flowers!" said Winnie. + +"And how well you have suited us all!" cried Miriam. + +"What is this, Miss Benton?" asked Fannie, holding up the +jack-in-the-pulpit. + +"That is a wild-flower," replied Miss Benton, giving the blossom its +name, "which was sent me from Tennessee this week; it does not bloom +quite so early here. If you will examine it and compare it with your +calla, you will see many points of resemblance; indeed, they are of the +same family, although the splendid Egyptian calla has all the advantages +of climate, water and sun, which make it the handsome thing it is. But +our little American Jack, all the same, lifts its head out of its green +pulpit and preaches to us of the eternal kinship of all things. Put your +geraniums in your button hole, and after tea I'll put your calla and its +country cousin in water for you to keep fresh till you go home." + +"How did you know I was fond of lilies of the valley, Miss Benton?" +asked Ernestine. "It is my mother's favorite flower, too; she says they +used to grow in great clumps in the yard of her home when she was a +girl, and she never sees one without thinking of her childhood." + +"Of course I couldn't know that, my dear; I only thought that you would +like them. Although I had never met any of you I have heard Winnifred +talk about you, and her little tongue sometimes gives me queer ideas," +said Miss Benton, smiling at her niece with an air of good comradeship. + +"Mother, let Winnie serve the chocolate, while I attend to this end of +the table. You see, girls, we only have the maid bring in the dishes +from the kitchen, for we like to wait on each other," she said, helping +them to chicken croquettes, cold ham, and delicious muffins, as Winnie +passed around the chocolate in dainty china cups. + +How they all enjoyed that supper! They were just like girls in a book, +Miriam said. Everything seemed so different from ordinary occasions. +Even the orange jelly tasted so much better than at other times, because +of the orange baskets in which it was served. They sat at the table +a long time, for both Mrs. Benton and her daughter encouraged their +visitors to talk; and while they were eating their candy and nuts, they +played the game of rhymes and "yes and no." + +Then Miss Kitty sent them into the parlor with her mother, excusing +herself and Winnie for a few moments. When they entered the parlor, they +found Mrs. Benton with her silk socks in her hands, knitting as rapidly +as she was talking. She was giving them an account of the old turkey +gobbler that used to chase her when she was a little girl, and they were +all laughing heartily. + +This anecdote led to Miriam's giving an account of a goat which one of +her aunt's friends had presented to her little boy, and which was the +terror of the neighborhood. + +"My aunt and I," said Miriam, "were making an afternoon visit at Mrs. +Kincaid's, and, as it was warm and pleasant, we were invited into the +yard to look at the flowers. My aunt was very enthusiastically admiring +a fine Yucca which, for a wonder, was in bloom, when the goat was seen +peering through a gap in the fence which divided the front from the back +yard. + +"Mrs. Kincaid immediately took to her heels, and I was about to follow, +when Aunt Jennie said, 'Miriam, I am surprised that you should be afraid +of a goat. Even if he were to come near you, you would only have to +seize him by the horns; it is the easiest thing in the world to conquer +a goat.' + +"By this time Mrs. Kincaid was safe in the house, tapping loudly on the +window, from which she was viewing the scene, for us to come in, and +'dancing crazy' (as the girls say about things), because we were still +outside. + +"My aunt was walking in a leisurely and dignified manner toward the +house, holding her head a little higher than usual, and I was following +very meekly for me--for I hate to be thought a coward--when the goat +gave a sudden bound, broke another picket in the fence, and went +straight toward her with his head down, and his bob tail switching. + +"Well, Aunt Jennie did turn and face him, and she really did take the +vicious little beast by the horns. But was he conquered? You wouldn't +have thought so, had you been there; he just raised himself on his hind +legs and shook himself loose. Aunt Jennie suddenly dropped her dignity, +and flew, rather than ran, toward the house, the goat after her, and +she just escaped him by Mrs. Kincaid's pulling her inside the door and +slamming it shut. + +"As for me, I went through the hole in the fence to the back yard, +rushed pell-mell into the kitchen door, without stopping to knock, and +dropped into the nearest chair, where I sat and laughed till the tears +ran down my cheeks, to the astonishment of the kitchen girl and the +washerwoman, who were enjoying a cup of tea. + +"I was wicked enough to laugh afterward, for Aunt Jennie did not lecture +on courage or dignity for a month after that, and I notice now that when +we pass a livery stable she keeps a quiet but effective lookout for 'the +horned monarch of the livery stable,' as I once heard him called." + +"Well, I'm afraid of goats myself," said Miss Kitty, "and I think there +ought to be a law against their being allowed inside the city limits. +What with the small boy who torments the goat, and the goat which cannot +distinguish between his tormentor and any other member of the human +race, every passer-by is certain of being made ridiculous, if nothing +more serious occurs. But to change the subject, would you young +giant-killers like to hear a story that I have written for you?" + +Of course they were delighted, and, the softly-shaded lamp having +been adjusted, and Mrs. Benton seated so that the light fell upon her +knitting, Miss Benton took her seat at the other side of the table, and +read the following allegory: + + +GIANT PROCRASTINATION. + +Stretching off far as the eye can reach, lies a vast plain, intersected +by many roads of various widths, from the narrowest foot-path to those +wide enough for three or four vehicles to pass abreast. Pleasant roads +they seem to be, too; wild-flowers of brilliant hues grow along their +sides, birds of beautiful plumage twitter their varied notes, and pretty +little squirrels and rabbits dart here and there. But when the saunterer +along one of these by-paths plucks the blossoms, they fall to pieces +in his hands, and, on near approach, the birds circle for a few moments +about the head, and then fly away and are seen no more. + +These by-ways continually lead into and cross one another, but all at +last meet in one broad road, and this is the road of "By and By," which +leads to the castle of "Never." This castle stands at the entrance to +a dark and gloomy forest, through which no path has ever been cut, +and which is so dense and wild that one draws back in fear, finding it +impossible not to think of it as inhabited by beasts and serpents and +insects as wild and poisonous as those which infest the South American +forests or the jungles of India. + +At the right and left of the castle rise huge cliffs unscaled by mortal +foot during the lifetime of the present owner, and seldom attempted even +during the ages gone by, when his ancestors, in a more or less direct +line, held high orgies, while with demoniac laughter they tortured their +victims. + +The present owner and occupant of the castle is a giant, so skilled in +the art of metamorphosis that he is constantly deceiving and deluding +his victims, each of whom he approaches in a different manner. With some +he wears an air of haughty though courteous dignity, and gives them fair +and sweet promises of granting their every desire as soon as his plans +are perfected and he is ready. With others, he puts on a smiling, joyous +look, points out to them the birds and flowers along the roadside, +and tells them that to-morrow all these pleasures shall be theirs. A +different face and garb for every deluded follower, who ever ends in +becoming his victim; for, just at the entrance to the castle, still +covered by the seemingly fair flowers, is a frightful morass, out of +which the wanderer is helped only by the giant himself, and taken by him +thence into the castle, from which there is no escape. + +The dreadful Castle of Never! And yet, how fair it looks to those who +stand just outside its gates! Its battlemented towers, decorated with +flags and banners floating gayly in the air, its many windows, catching +and reflecting every ray of sunlight, its majestic proportions, make it +seem a dwelling much to be desired. And either because it is enchanted, +or from some strange property of the surrounding atmosphere, it often +appears to be raised high in the air, so that at a very great distance +it shows larger, if less distinct, than when viewed near by. + +It is early morning. The sun himself has not yet risen, although his +approach is heralded by lovely green and rose tints on the eastern +horizon. The great Giant Procrastination lies stretched upon his huge +bed, dreaming uneasily, for he groans and starts many times, but still +sleeps on. The inside of the far-famed castle shows not so fair as the +outside. There are many things lying about on tables and chairs, or +tucked away under articles of larger furniture; some of them are pretty, +some elegant, but all unfinished. + +The morning wind, rising as if it, too, had lain asleep during the +night, shrieks and whistles as if in wrath, or moans and sighs as though +in mortal anguish. And hush! What other sound is that which rises above +the roar of the wind and fills one's soul with terror? Alas! it is the +shrieks of despair from the prisoners in the dungeon, and one hears, +mingled with their groans, the dreadful words, "Too late! Too late!" + +But who are these descending the heretofore unscaled cliff? And how +comes it that thus unguided they have escaped the dangers of the forest, +and that, now stealing upon their sleeping foe from the unguarded rear, +they are not dashed into pieces as they make the steep and terrible +descent? Ah! they have an invisible Guide, who goes before and smooths +every difficulty; and their feet are shod with a divine determination +which leads them securely over the most dangerous places. + +And yet they move with caution. Clinging now to the bushes that grow +along the cliff, now stepping carefully on some jutting crag, they come +one by one. Now they have reached the bottom, and stop a moment to take +breath and consult as to the next movement. For behold! five little +maidens, scarcely in their teens, have come to give battle to one of the +strongest enemies of mankind, and to attack him in his own stronghold. +Brave as they are, however, and resolutely as they have nerved +themselves to the task ahead of them, they cannot repress a shudder as +they gaze upon the frowning mass before them. For, never dreaming of +attack in the rear, the giant's ancestors had taken no pains to make +that part of the castle beautiful or to endow it with the enchantment of +illusion, so all is dark and strong and terrible. + +Regaining courage, the five young warriors kneel upon the rocky path and +ask their invisible Guide for succor and strength. They rise encouraged +and hopeful, and each assists the other to readjust her armor. Wonderful +armor! light to wear, but stronger than mailed steel. + +They advance to the heavy door. It is all unguarded, and even stands +partly open, so that all their strength is saved to them for the combat. +One by one, and noiselessly, they climb the iron stairs, and, guided +by his snores, they find themselves at last in the presence of their +sleeping enemy. + +If they can but strike now! One blow from either of their swords, and +he would lie slain before them. But alas! they hesitate for one short +moment, and in that brief space of time the wind bangs a heavy shutter +against the iron casement, and, at its fearful clang, the giant awakes +and rises to his feet. He stares about him for a moment, stupefied, but +there is no mistaking the fact that he is in the presence of an enemy; +for their armor, their uplifted swords, their resolute mien, all +proclaim their errand to be one of war. Then, gazing upon their +diminutive forms, he laughs a horrid, blood-curdling laugh, as he gloats +over the prospect that he will soon have five more victims to languish +in his dungeons. + +He springs forward to seize the foremost of his youthful foes, but her +fear has vanished. Raising her shield for protection, she strikes +with her sword, and the giant receives a fearful gash in the hand +outstretched to grasp her, and starts back, howling with pain. The five +girls close around him at once, but so immense of stature is he, that +they soon perceive it will be impossible for them to reach a vital part +unless he can be thrown. + +Fast and furious they rain the blows upon him, and not in vain. He +has no armor on, his usual weapons are beyond his reach, and he knows +instinctively that his usual powers of metamorphosis are useless. One +blow, at last, inflicts a ghastly wound in his ankle; he clutches at +the bed for support, but misses it, and falls, groaning heavily, at full +length on the floor, where, taken at a disadvantage, a sword is thrust +into his heart, and with horrid struggles he dies. + +The maiden warriors embrace each other joyfully, and, kneeling together +in that moment of victory, give all the praise and glory to that +invisible Power which has enabled them, weak girls as they are, to +conquer. + +But their work is not yet done. Taking the keys from under the pillow +of the dead monster, they pass down a winding staircase, until they find +themselves so far beneath the surface of the earth, that not a ray of +light shines over their pathway. + +One of them lights a tiny lamp which she has brought with her, and they +proceed. At length they reach the foot of the stairs and find themselves +in a dark, narrow passage, with many windings and turnings. Along this +they proceed carefully, until they stand before the massive doors of +the dungeon. Trying one key after another, they find one that turns the +lock, and the door swings open. What a sight meets their sorrowful gaze! +Bones--human bones--lie scattered everywhere, and, as they become more +accustomed to the darkness, they distinguish human forms still living, +with haggard faces, and despair written on every feature. + +"Your enemy is dead!" say the maidens. "We have come to set you free, +and then we are going to burn the castle, for thus has our Guide +commanded us." + +As they all stand once more in the glad sunlight, they set fire to the +mighty structure, and see the leaping, victorious flames devour it, even +to the flags and banners which had so short a time before streamed gayly +from its towers. + + +"Thank you, Aunt Kitty," said Winnifred, as Miss Benton laid down the +manuscript. "I don't see how you ever thought of all that." + +"Well, Winnie, we all know that the idea is taken from the book you have +recently been reading, but where no pretense is made to originality, +imitation is not deception." + +"But do you really think, Miss Benton," said Ernestine, raising her +eyes, "that we can so completely conquer our faults?" + +"Alas, no! I'm afraid we never can completely conquer them, but by +striving constantly we can strike many a blow, each one of which leaves +the enemy weaker, and ourselves stronger. The great pity of it all is, +that we can kill only our own giants, and destroy their strongholds for +ourselves; we can never do it for others, dearly as we may love them." + +"Well," said Fannie, in her decided manner, "I wish that Procrastination +were the only giant to fight; but I have some enemies which are +still harder for me to conquer;" and she blushed slightly, as she +involuntarily glanced toward Ernestine. + +"It is a great gain, however," said Mrs. Benton, pausing in her +knitting, "when we have learned to do that which must be done, without +unnecessary delay. Procrastination, it is quite true, is the least +vicious and the least malicious of all the faults; but stronger, almost, +than any other, and holding more people, young and old, under its +control. If this be overcome, the struggle with the others grows easier. +Indeed, it is surprising how many little misdeeds are the outcome of +that one fault. Untidiness, fits of temper, disobedience, prevarication, +and sometimes even downright untruth, might often be avoided if things +were done in time." + +"But it is hard always to remember," sighed Miriam. "Ernestine, how do +you keep from forgetting?" + +"Oh, I forget oftener than you know," said Ernestine, flushing under +her delicate skin; "but I have had mamma to think of, and have tried to +please her and make her happy; then, too, I had a nurse in Louisiana who +taught me to remember that there is One 'who is a very present help in +time of trouble.'" + +"That is the best help of all, girls, and one that you can carry with +you always. I find mottoes and texts a great help, too, when I want +to succeed in any one particular thing. How would it do, at your next +meeting, for each one to contribute a text from the Bible, and, if +possible, a quotation from one of the poets, applicable to this same +wheedling fault?" said Miss Benton. + +"I should like that very much," replied Ernestine. + +"So would I!" "And I!" "And I!" replied Miriam, Fannie and Winnie. + +Gretta only was silent, but Miss Kitty judged it best to pass her +silence by without remark. + +At this moment, Mr. Fred Benton entered the parlor and was introduced to +the girls, and very soon they were all escorted to their homes by their +friend's uncle, who proved himself as good an entertainer of these +little women as was his sister. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +STRUGGLES. + + +"Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home," carolled Winnie, as +she descended the stairs the next morning, feeling happy and contented, +and as if the world were a pleasant place in which to live and love and +to succeed in being good. She felt at peace with everybody, and had such +a sense of security that she imagined her giants all conquered, and saw +in rosy hues a future of beautiful and pleasant right-doing. + +What was her surprise when she entered the dining-room, expecting to +find the usual tempting breakfast on the table, to see not the slightest +signs of it, and to find the room unoccupied except by little Ralph, who +was sitting in front of the empty grate in his night-clothes; and a very +cross little boy Winnie soon found him to be, for he set up a howl the +moment he saw her. + +"'Innie, I 'ants to be d'essed, and it's ugly izout any fire, and I +'ants my b'eakast." + +"Whatever is the matter?" said Winnie. But she received no answer except +the whining refrain, "I 'ants my b'eakast," until she began to feel so +irritated that she would have liked to shake the child. + +This, however, she did not do, simply because she did not dare. But +instead of attempting to soothe him, she went into the kitchen to find +out from Norah the reason for this unusual state of affairs. Instead of +Norah, she found her mother heating water and making mustard plasters, +with an anxious look on her face. + +"What is the matter, mamma?" asked Winnie; "and where are papa and +Jack?" + +"They had important business at the store and couldn't wait, but will +take breakfast downtown. Norah was taken very sick in the night, but +she said nothing about it, and came down as usual this morning to get +breakfast, and I found her in a dead faint on the kitchen floor. Your +father and I got her upstairs between us, and Jack went for the doctor. +He says it is nothing serious, but that Norah will have to keep still +for two or three days. Help me carry these things to Norah's room, and +then you will have to come downstairs and get some breakfast for us." + +Winnie took the pail of water which her mother handed to her, and +started upstairs, feeling a strange sense of resentment against Norah, +as if she were to blame for this unpleasant condition of affairs. + +When they reached Norah's room, her mother said, "Put down the pail, +Winnie, and make haste downstairs and see if you can't get things into +some kind of order; it's getting very late." + +Winnie put the water down so hurriedly that it splashed over the floor. +Then she went out, but instead of hurrying, went down clinging to the +balusters as if she could not and would not make any exertion. + +When she opened the dining-room door Ralph said: "I sink Norah's mean +to det sick; she dust did it a-purpose, so Ralph touldn't have any +b'eakast." + +"Why, Ralph," said Winnie, "you ought to be ashamed of yourself! Of +course it's no fun for Norah to be sick." But as she spoke to Ralph, her +conscience reproached her, for she knew in her heart that she had had +the same feeling, if not the same thought. This startled her, as if she +had suddenly had a mirror held up before her mind, and she spoke to the +little boy more pleasantly, telling him to come into the kitchen +with her and watch her make the coffee and cook some ham and eggs for +breakfast. + +But although aware that her conscience was speaking to her, Winnie had +not in the least succeeded in overcoming her irritable feelings. She +had made plans for such a pleasant day! She had intended to practice +faithfully, and get through all her little duties early in the +afternoon, so that she could take Ralph through market--something that +she particularly liked to do; it was always so exciting to her to see +the people jostling each other, to hear them haggling over the price of +something, to see the strange types and characters, and to imagine +the different motives which brought these different people together. +Besides, she had been saving her money to surprise her mother with a +pot of English violets from the flower market, which would be sure to +be particularly lovely this afternoon, for the sun shone out brightly, +giving promise of an unusually warm day for March. + +"How could people do their duty, if they never knew what it was going +to be?" she mused, as she measured out the coffee and put it into the +filter. But as she went to turn the water over it, she remembered that +her mother had emptied the hot water from the kettle into the pail. + +"I should think mamma might have taken the water out of the tank for +Norah!" she said, half aloud, although she knew very well that the water +in the tank was scarcely warm, as she proceeded to fill the kettle. + +She poked the fire viciously, feeling as if here she could give her +impatience some vent. + +The ham, fortunately, Norah had sliced the evening before, otherwise +in her present state of irritation Winnie would certainly have cut her +fingers. + +Now, when Winnie chose, she could be a very nice little housekeeper; +but this morning, as may well be imagined, everything went wrong, as she +said, never thinking that perhaps her own impatience might be at fault. +She burnt the ham, the eggs did not break open nicely, she cut her +finger in slicing the bread, and altogether it took her so long to +get breakfast that poor little Ralph, still running about in his +night-clothes, was, as he expressed it, "starved 'mos' to death." + +Mrs. Burton came down before Winnie had finished setting the table, and +a glance at the little girl's flushed face was sufficient to tell the +observant mother the true state of affairs. As usual in such cases, +however, she said nothing, but called Ralph and took him upstairs to +be dressed, telling Winnie that she would be down in ten minutes for +breakfast. + +When they came down, Mrs. Burton said: + +"This morning we will not say our verses till after breakfast, as I am +sure we are all of us too hungry to receive any benefit from them now;" +and she proceeded to pour the coffee. Then Winnie saw that she had +forgotten the cream and jumped up to get it. + +"Your coffee is very nice, Winnie," said her mother. + +"Oh, mamma, I didn't think anything would be nice! I had such a time! +The fire wouldn't burn, and I burnt my fingers and afterward cut them, +and everything was horrid generally." + +"I had a defful time gene'lly, too," said Ralph. "I was so hung'y I +toudn't wait, and 'Innie 'ouldn't div me a tracker, and said I'se a +bodder. Is I a bodder, mamma?" + +"Not when you're a good boy, my pet. Sister doesn't always think so, +either; but you see, this morning she had so much to do." + +"Did Norah det sick so 'Innie have to 'ork so hard? Poor 'Innie!" And +the little fellow stroked Winnie's hand, while she scarcely knew whether +to laugh or cry. + +Altogether it was quite an unusual breakfast. Ralph ate three eggs, and +more bread and butter than he had ever been known to eat before; and +Winnie felt her own impatience dying away to some extent, as her hunger +diminished, although she had not realized before that she was hungry. + +After breakfast Mrs. Burton gave her text, and then called upon Winnie +for hers. Up to that moment Winnie's text had entirely left her mind, +and she recited it with a feeling of shame as she remembered the +contrast between her morning conduct and the somewhat puffed-up feeling +with which she had selected it: "He that ruleth his own spirit is +greater than he that taketh a city." + +"Perhaps only the One above knows how hard it is for people to govern +their own spirits. The temptation to yield to self is so strong that it +sometimes seems as if there is nothing that will conquer it," commented +Mrs. Burton. + +"But mamma, everybody says, 'Do the duty that lies nearest thee.' How +are we to do this, when we never know what is going to happen from +one day to another? This morning I thought I was going to get my music +lesson, and now how can I do that?" + +"That is where we all make mistakes, Winnifred. We lay our plans, and +are annoyed and vexed when something occurs to change them. We are like +soldiers placed on the field of battle. Some of us would like an easy +place; some would rather stay behind and guard the rear; others, in +spite of danger, wish to press forward where 'glory waits them.' But we +cannot choose either our own places or the attending circumstances. All +we can do is to fall to 'with might and main.' God will take care of the +ordinary duties, but there are some things which brook no delay. Do we +not know how the Savior turned away from the chosen way to heal the sick +or comfort the afflicted? But I think that my present duty is to cut my +sermon short, for both you and I will have a great deal to do to-day. I +will attend to things upstairs, and will be down to do the baking by the +time you are through the work here." + +So saying, Mrs. Burton rose from the table and left the room. Winnie +still felt a sense of disappointment, but the little sermon, arising, as +it did, from the text she herself had selected, had been good for her, +and she went to work cheerfully and systematically, and the difficulties +which an hour ago had seemed so great, all disappeared. + +Ralph, too--who was so unlike most children of his age as not to be fond +of doing anything that appeared in the least like work--seemed animated +by the spirit of the occasion, and trotted back and forth between +the kitchen and dining-room carrying a plate or a cup and saucer, and +feeling that he was helping greatly. + +As for Winnie, she had none of the feeling of some girls who are ashamed +to be seen doing housework, for her mother had taught her, both by word +and example, the folly and sinfulness of such a notion, and that it is +the worker who degrades the work instead of the opposite; and as a very +little girl, Winnie had learned Herbert's fine lines: + + "Who sweeps a room as by God's laws, + Makes that and the action fine." + +Now that she was working cheerfully, she even found a pleasure in +dish-washing, as who should not, given plenty of hot water, clean +towels, a pleasant kitchen with the sun shining in, and a little cherub +of a brother chattering on with his cunning tongue, which finds so much +difficulty in pronouncing the consonants? + +So, when Mrs. Burton returned to the kitchen, everything was in fine +order, and a bright fire had prepared the oven to do its share in the +Saturday baking. + +When noon came, Winnie really felt that she had had a pleasant morning, +although it had been spent in beating eggs and grating lemons; besides, +she had for once had her mother all to herself, and she sat down to the +lunch she had prepared feeling quite happy. + +She did not get an opportunity to leave the house all that day, except +to do two or three errands in the neighborhood. She took Norah's toast +and tea up to her, and spent the greater part of the afternoon in her +room, trying to make amends for the morning's impatience by bathing the +sick girl's head, changing her pillows, and moistening her parched lips. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +RALPH'S BIRTHDAY. + + +A few days after the events narrated in the last chapter, a bright, +sunshiny morning ushered in Ralph's fourth birthday anniversary, and a +fine time he had receiving, in the first place, four little love taps +and then four kisses from each member of the family in turn. + +Norah had entirely recovered from her illness, and had baked a cake +especially for him, lighted by four wax candles, which was placed in +front of Ralph's plate at breakfast time. His father gave him that toy +most delightful to the average boy--a mechanical engine. Jack's gift +was a basket of fruit, his mother's a humming top, and Winnie's a little +autograph album, in which she had copied the following verse, written by +Aunt Kitty: + + "Many tiny sunbeams fill the world with light, + Tiny drops of water make the ocean's might; + Tiny bits of goodness, that tiny laddies do, + Fill our homes with gladness and make our hearts glad, too." + +Ralph was much pleased at having a little book all his own, with a verse +in it made on purpose for him, and he had Winnie read it over and over, +until presently he could say it himself. + +But the crowning gift of all was sent to the house just as they were +at dinner, labeled "From Grandma, Aunt Kitty and Uncle Fred." It was a +handsome velocipede, just the right height to fit the little short legs. +Strange to say, Ralph learned to manage it at once and rode right off on +it, and when Aunt Kitty came to take him and Winnie to the park, it +was with great difficulty that he could be prevailed upon to leave it +behind. Finally they effected a compromise by allowing him to take his +humming top, which he insisted on stopping to spin every few rods, +much to the amusement of Aunt Kitty and the intense though unexpressed +disgust and mortification of Winnie. + +When they reached the park they sat down on one of the benches to rest +awhile, and watched Ralph feed the swans with some crumbs from the cake +which he had brought. After that Aunt Kitty took them to the pretty +dock, and, having selected a boat, rowed them around the lake, to the +great interest of some boys, who called out to each other, "Come and see +a girl row a boat!" + +Suddenly Ralph gave one of his tremendous howls, and Winnie grasped him +just in time to keep him from pitching headlong into the water. He had +dropped his top in the lake, and was trying in vain to seize it before +it sank. + +It was some time before he could be pacified, and it was not till his +aunt had him sit beside her and take hold of one oar and help her row, +that he could be comforted. The remainder of the boat ride was very +pleasant, and they supposed the child had forgotten all about the loss +of his top. When they went home to supper, however, and Mr. Burton +asked: "Well, my little man, what have you done with your birthday?" + +"I took it to the park and lost it in the lake, papa!" was the +unexpected reply. + +"Fortunate child!" exclaimed Aunt Kitty, catching Ralph up, and +laughing. "How happy the rest of us would be if we could dispose of our +yearly reminders of the lapse of time in the same way! We might fancy +ourselves blessed with the gift of eternal youth if it were not for our +birthdays." + +But Ralph was not yet through celebrating. It was very seldom that Mrs. +Burton allowed him to go out in the evening, but this was a special +occasion, and as there was an opportunity for him to have a treat, she +thought it only right for them to take advantage of it. There was to be +a stereopticon entertainment at their Sunday-school, and they were all +going. Ralph had not been told until supper was over, and even then, +short as the time was until they should start out, he could hardly +restrain his impatience. + +[Illustration: They watched Ralph feed the swans.--See page 42.] + +Aunt Kitty took him on her lap and told him the story of Red Riding-Hood +and the Fair One with the Golden Locks, and repeated "Mother Goose" +jingles to him, and thus managed to keep him somewhat contented until +time to start. + +The walk through the lighted streets was a great pleasure to the +little fellow. They went down Central Avenue, and, all the stores being +lighted, it seemed to the child a different and mysterious world, more +full of lights and people than the one he had been accustomed to. + +"Now, Ralph," said his father, "we are going to see a great many +beautiful things to-night. But this is different from most times; for +generally, the more light we have, the better we can see; but these +pictures can be seen better in the dark, and they put out all the +lights. When that happens, some foolish boy or girl may cry, but I want +my little man to keep hold of papa's hand and not say one word till he +sees the beautiful pictures." + +"I doesn't twy, papa!" said Ralph, indignantly. "I'se a big boy now--not +a dreat big boy, but a little big boy. And I hasn't twied--oh, not for +twenty-ten days, I dess." + +"Very well," said papa, "be sure to remember that by and by." + +When they reached the church it was still quite early, and the few +people already there were laughing and chatting and having a pleasant +time. This was very much to Ralph's disapproval. He did not attend +church often, but when he did go, he had been talked to so much about +keeping still, particularly by Winnie, that he thought it very naughty +to make a noise in church, so now he said in a loud whisper: + +"Papa, I sink dose people is very naughty, to talk out loud in church." + +"But this isn't Sunday, Ralph," his father said; "you may talk, too, if +you like." + +Ralph was so surprised at this that he had nothing to say for some time. + +Presently some of the girls of Winnie's Sunday-school class came and she +went away with them, and Miss Benton stepped across the aisle to +speak to some friends. This secession grieved Ralph very much. "I sink +auntie's weal mean, to go and stay wiz dose ozzer people!" he said. + +"Aunt Kitty will come back in a few moments, Ralph," said mamma. + +By and by all the people stopped talking and took their seats, and Aunt +Kitty came back and sat down beside Ralph. Two men entered and placed a +big screen in the front part of the church. The organist began to play +something slow and sweet and solemn, which made one think of things sad +but not unhappy. + +The lights were suddenly turned out, and Ralph had just time to draw his +breath quickly, and seize his father's hand and snuggle up close to him, +when a picture appeared on the screen, and his father lifted him up that +he might see it better. + +On the screen they saw a lonely, desolate mountain, which two persons +were slowly ascending, one of them bearing an armful of wood. One +represented an old man; the other was a young, slender boy. The organ +was now giving forth minor strains, in queer, broken time, full of +heartache. + +The next picture showed Abraham binding Isaac on the altar, and the look +of surprise and terror on the face of the boy was equalled only by the +intense but submissive expression of sorrow on the face of the old man. + +The organ was still sounding its sad tones, when the picture changed +again, and this time the angel was staying Abraham's hand. And now the +organ pealed forth tones of joy and gladness. + +The next views thrown on the screen appeared to be scenes in +Switzerland. These Ralph did not seem to be at all interested in, until +they saw a representation of Lake Lucerne, showing some children rowing +a boat. This reminded Ralph of the loss of his humming-top, and he said, +quite loudly, "Do you sink, papa, that little boy lost his birfday, +too?" + +"If he did," said Aunt Kitty, "he will probably find another one to make +up for its loss." + +The next picture was that of Jacob's Dream; a tall ladder, reaching to +the sky, with the bright-winged "angels ascending and descending on +it," as the narrative so simply tells us. Jacob lay with his head on +its stony pillow, a wondering but happy look on his face, and his arms +outstretched as if he would fain seize the lovely vision. + +The dreamy tones of Schumann's "Traumerie" stole upon the air, and +changed from that, with skillful modulations, into a grand anthem, and +the big chorus choir, which till now had been silent, burst into joyful +but majestic strains: "The Lord reigneth; let the people tremble." + +Ralph knew this picture quite well. He had seen it many times in the big +family Bible, and it was always a favorite with him, and now he clapped +his little hands. This was an unintentional signal, and there was such a +round of applause that the whole thing was repeated. + +The next picture showed Jacob wrestling with the angel; and in the +following one, Jacob, kneeling, receives the desired blessing. Then came +a series of comic pictures, which made everybody laugh. Then the words +"Good-night" were thrown on the screen in immense letters, and it grew +light in the church as suddenly as it had before grown dark, making +everybody rub his eyes on account of the sudden glare. + +The people all began to hurry out as if it were necessary to reach home +without a moment's delay. Winnie soon joined her family, and in a short +time the "Green Line" had taken them all home. + +Ralph rubbed his sleepy eyes as he said his evening prayer, but was not +too sleepy to thank God for his nice birthday. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +ERNESTINE. + + +"Mamma," asked Ernestine Alroy, "may I ask the girls to have their next +meeting here and take tea with us?" + +Mrs. Alroy looked at her daughter with some hesitation as she +said: "Ernestine, you know I would like to please you, but have you +sufficiently considered the matter? All of your friends are very +comfortably situated, and it will be impossible for us to entertain them +as they do you. Besides, I cannot be at home until after six, and it +will make tea very late." + +"I know all that, mamma, but I am sure I can make them have a pleasant +time. I do not think we ought to be ashamed of being poor, when we think +of the One who 'had not where to lay His head.' For your sake, poor +mamma, I wish we had more money; but as for myself, I feel just as happy +as if we were worth millions. I don't care a bit whether my friends +have money or not, and I don't see why it should make any difference to +anybody." + +"My poor child!" said her mother, and she sighed as she remembered +that at Ernestine's age she had never even seen apartments so poorly +furnished as theirs, "you have much to learn; you will find that there +are many people in the world to whom it will make a great deal of +difference." + +"Well, mamma, we don't care for the Madame Mucklegrands of the world, +and Winnie Burton and all of her folks are as 'real folks' as any in +Mrs. Whitney's book. Do let us have them!" + +"Well, dear, I don't exactly like to have you accept hospitalities which +we are not willing to return, and if you think you can make it pleasant +for your friends, you shall do as you wish." + +The next day, therefore, Ernestine told the four girls that her mother +sent her compliments and would be much pleased to have them to tea on +Friday evening. In the afternoon the girls all accepted, and Fannie said +that if agreeable to Mrs. Alroy, her father would call for them at nine +o'clock and see them home. + +After school that day, as Fannie and Ernestine were walking down Court +Street together, they met a little girl, dirty and uncombed, carrying a +basket of soiled clothes. Two of the boys of their class, racing wildly +down the street, boy-fashion, ran against the child, upset the basket, +and the clothes, not being very tightly packed, fell out. There was +quite a strong wind, and some of the napkins and handkerchiefs lying +loose on top were caught up and sent blowing here, there and everywhere. + +The boys ran on, totally indifferent, if not unconscious. The child, +commencing to cry, gave chase to the wind-blown articles, and the basket +rolled entirely over, and nearly every article fell out. + +Fannie stood laughing, her sense of the ridiculous overcoming any pity +she might have felt for the girl. Ernestine hesitated a moment. She was +daintiness itself, and the sight of the soiled clothes, belonging to no +one knew whom, was not an attractive one. But for three years she had +been earnestly striving to follow the Golden Rule, so she righted the +basket, picked up the soiled clothes, rolled them together more tightly, +and replaced them in the basket by the time the child returned with the +recaptured napkins. She also helped put these in, and with a few kind +words sent the girl on her way far happier than she would have been if +obliged to struggle with her burden alone. + +Fannie had moved on some distance, much ashamed of being mixed up in +such a scene to even so slight a degree, and feeling inclined to +leave Ernestine entirely, for she knew that her mother would have +characterized the whole affair as "plebeian," and she felt half angry +with Ernestine. + +[Illustration: Ernestine righted the basket.--See page 46.] + +When the latter rejoined her, she said with some irritation, "However +could you touch those horrid, dirty clothes or go near that dirty +child?" + +"I didn't like to touch them," said Ernestine simply; "but Christ did a +great many things he did not like to do." + +"Well, you are a queer girl, Ernestine! I'm sure I can't make up my mind +that it is my duty to be pleasant to every dirty little beggar who comes +along. There might have been small-pox in those clothes!" + +Ernestine smiled at that, but made no reply, and the two walked on in +silence till they reached the corner where they separated. + +Fannie went on, swinging her books by the strap, and thinking that dirt +could not be so repulsive to Ernestine as to her; but if she could have +seen Ernestine go straight to the kitchen sink the minute she reached +home, before she stopped to touch anything, Fannie might have realized +something of the self-restraint her friend had exercised in the matter. +But few of us can be brought to believe that things we find unpleasant +are often quite as unpleasant to other people. + +Friday afternoon came, and five o'clock found the four girls entering a +side yard in a pleasant if not an aristocratic neighborhood. They went +up the stairs leading from a side hall, and were met at the top by +Ernestine, who was holding open the door. + +She led them into a tiny bedroom, not much larger than a closet, but +scrupulously dainty and clean, from the white spread and pillows on the +bed to the fresh towels hanging on the rack above the washstand. + +Here she helped the girls remove their wraps, and then they went into +the adjoining room, which was a pleasant surprise, particularly to +Fannie. So pretty and pleasant and homelike it appeared that, at first, +it almost seemed elegant, until one had time to observe that there was +not an expensive article in the room. The floor was covered with a blue +and white checked matting, the chairs and rockers were simply "cane," +and the only piece of upholstered furniture was the lounge. But there +were some engravings, plainly framed; hanging baskets at both of the +windows; a window-box of lilies-of-the-valley, just beginning to bloom, +and in the other window a similar box of mignonette, which filled the +whole room with its delicate fragrance. + +A bright fire blazed in the grate, and the four girls felt at home more +quickly than they had done at either of the two places of their previous +meetings, probably because Ernestine was their only hostess, her mother +not yet having returned from the store. + +A late magazine lay on the table, together with a copy of that charming +story, "Little Lord Fauntleroy," and Mrs. Whitney's "We Girls" and "Real +Folks." Winnie could not help picking them up to see what they were, and +it turned out that all of the girls except Gretta had read them, so they +immediately began talking about them. + +"Mamma and papa and brother Jack took turns in reading 'Fauntleroy' +aloud to us when it came out in the magazine," said Winnie, "and for a +day or two in each month we hardly talked of anything else." + +"I liked the scene of the dinner party best, when the little lord talked +to the guests, but stayed close beside the pretty lady and paid her such +cunning compliments," said Fannie. + +"I enjoyed reading about him in the grocery store with Mr. Hobbs," said +Miriam. "I can see them now; Hobbs was so funny! My sister said he was +more of a child than the little hero of the story." + +"I think I liked him best when he was with his grandfather," said +Ernestine; "it was lovely of him to think that wicked old man was so +good." + +"My mother says that every child in the land, and particularly every +boy, ought to read that story, if for no other reason than to learn +what it is to be a real gentleman and a real lady. She says no depths of +poverty could ever have made 'Dearest' and her son anything else." + +"I was just about frantic," said Fannie, "when I began to be afraid he +wasn't the heir after all. It seemed horrid to think that that rough +woman's son should own those fine lands and the title, and I felt almost +as glad when it turned out all right as if he had been one of my nearest +friends." + +"I wish I read more," said Gretta. "I do love my music; and if I didn't, +I'd have to keep it up all the same. But I would like to read the book +you are talking about." + +"You may take it," said Ernestine, "and keep it just as long as you +wish." + +"Speaking of borrowing books," said Miriam, "reminds me that I did the +most dreadful thing to-day. Miss Carter had lent me Mrs. Gaskel's 'Life +of Charlotte Bronte,' and I had just returned it yesterday, feeling very +grateful, for I think it is nice in Miss Carter to take an interest in +so many girls. I should think she would just get to hating us, for it is +the same thing year in and year out, and most of us are so trying. + +"But although I love her dearly, you know how angry she gets, and +she was giving Josie Thompson such a lecture about there being no +punctuation in her composition, and then she read a paragraph as it was +punctuated--just 'like commas and periods shaken out of a pepper-box,' +she said. The subject was 'Joan of Arc,' and Josie, as usual, had +rather a mixed idea of her character, and what Miss Carter read sounded +something like this: + +"'Joan of Arc, was a poor, girl who heard a great many, ghost stories +and these turned her head and she imagined, that, it would be a great +deal more fun to lead soldiers. To battle in the war. With England than +to be spending her time tending sheep? on the mountains she thought she +would enjoy herself better.' + +"That last was so much like Josie--who, as you know, is always talking +about enjoying herself--that I could hardly keep in, and when Josie made +a mouth at Miss Carter the minute her back was turned, three or four of +us giggled out loud, and Miss Carter stopped lecturing Josie and turned +her wrath on us. + +"That was yesterday, but this morning the whole affair was still fresh +in my memory, and three or four of the girls in Miss Brownlow's room +happening to come about the same time that I did, I began to tell them +about it. I began in a high key, a great deal worse than Miss Carter +ever uses, although she does pitch her voice very high when she is +vexed. I said: + +"'Miss Thompson, I am surprised at you; in fact, I am more than +surprised. It almost passes belief that a girl should begin to study +punctuation almost as soon as her school life begins, as in our schools, +and after six or seven years should not be able even to use a period, to +say nothing of the more complicated marks; to know nothing, absolutely +nothing, of her own language.' + +"Here I interrupted myself to show them the kind of mouth Josie made, +and of course they all laughed, for they know how her mouth and nose go +up at every little thing. Then I went on. + +"Miss Carter didn't see the mouth that Josie made, and she caught us +laughing, and said, 'Can it be possible that there are girls in this +class, girls of good rank and standing, and of moderately good behavior, +who can laugh, yes, actually laugh, at the ignorance of one of their +school-mates? Something is wrong, radically wrong,'--and here I made the +gesture she always makes when she says 'radically wrong,' and--what do +you think? There she stood, right behind me!" + +"What did she do?" asked Fannie. + +"Do? She didn't do anything, and I half thought she was smiling. But I +felt as if I would like to sink through the floor, I was so mortified. +And only yesterday I was walking down the street with her, talking +to her as if I thought her my best friend! She'll think I'm a perfect +hypocrite." + +"Why don't you apologize?" asked Gretta. + +"I can't go and apologize to someone for making fun of her as soon as +her back is turned, can I? And I really didn't intend to make fun of +Miss Carter, either; it was only that the whole affair seemed amusing to +me." + +"She probably understands, and does not think any more about it," said +Ernestine. "But now, if you'll excuse me, I'll have to go into the +kitchen for a few minutes; or perhaps you'll come, too." + +"Oh, we'd like to come, if we won't be in the way," said Fannie. So they +all trooped into the kitchen. + +What a tiny box of a place it was, to be sure! When all five of the +girls were there, there was not room for anybody else. Fannie and Gretta +squeezed close to each other on the box beside the window, Miriam sat on +a chair in one corner, and Winnie stood in the doorway between the two +rooms, watching Ernestine, and thinking how cross she had been only +a week or two before because she had to do a little cooking in the +morning, while Ernestine had to do it every day and go to school beside. + +But Ernestine did everything so easily and pleasantly that it was a +pleasure to watch her. She did her cooking on a little oil stove, and +there seemed so little to be done--for Mrs. Alroy and Ernestine had +prepared things the day before--that her young visitors could not feel +as if it were a bit of trouble to entertain them. It was as nice as a +play, too, to see her cut the potatoes in delicate, thin slices and drop +them into the boiling fat, and see them come out delightfully crisp and +brown. + +Then the girls all followed her into the sitting-room, laughing and +chattering as only girls can, while Ernestine set the table. The table +linen was white and fine, and the cups and saucers were real old china, +these being about the only things which Mrs. Alroy had saved from her +past grandeur. + +Everything was ready and on the table, except the food which was to be +served hot, when Mrs. Alroy came in, looking tired and reserved. She +disappeared for a few moments into the bedroom, and when she came out, +seeming somewhat refreshed, they all sat down to the table. + +To the surprise of the girls, Ernestine, in her simple, unaffected +manner, asked a blessing on what was set before them. It seemed queer to +them that if it were to be done at all, it should not be by Mrs. Alroy. +But Ernestine's mother was not yet perfectly resigned to what had come +upon her, and it was that, perhaps--yes, certainly--which made her +burden so hard to bear; but at least she did not interfere with +Ernestine in these matters. + +The girls were hungry, and everything tasted delicious, from the sliced +cold ham and the potatoes which they had seen Ernestine frying, to the +dessert of ice-cream and cake. + +When supper was over, the girls begged to be allowed to clear off the +table, and Ernestine washed the dishes as they brought them out, while +Winnie wiped them. + +Mrs. Alroy sat down and glanced over the newspaper. Fannie watched +her curiously, and privately came to the conclusion that she was the +proudest woman she had ever seen. This conviction came to her with +something of a shock, for she had heretofore supposed that pride and +wealth and fine living belonged together. She furthermore came to +the conclusion that while pride might be fine, it was not especially +charming, for though Mrs. Alroy had been pleasant when the girls were +presented to her, her manner had been only polite, not interested. + +When the girls had finished washing and putting away the supper +things, she roused herself and talked with them about their school and +amusements, but as soon as Ernestine returned, excused herself and went +into the little room and closed the door. Ernestine followed her, with a +troubled look on her usually calm face. When she returned, she said: + +"Mamma has a severe headache, and begs to be excused for awhile, but +hopes to feel better before you go home." + +"We were all to have a text or a verse to-night, weren't we?" asked +Fannie. "The only thing I could find was our Golden Text for last +Sunday, 'Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.' I spoke to +papa about it, and, although he is not very religious, he said he didn't +believe there was any better way of remembering our Creator than by +trying to do what was right, and he was glad to see that I was thinking +about such things." + +"Mamma says there are very few things said in the Bible about the +dangers of delay," said Winnie, "but she gave me this one from Proverbs: +'Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may +bring forth.'" + +"I couldn't find anything in the Bible," said Miriam, "but I found a +poem by Adelaide Procter which I copied, thinking you might like to hear +it all, as I scarcely knew which verse to select. I will read it to you: + + "Rise! for the day is passing, + And you lie dreaming on; + The others have buckled their armor, + And forth to the fight are gone. + A place in the ranks awaits you, + Each man has some part to play; + The Past and the Future are nothing, + In the face of the stern To-day. + + "Rise from your dreams of the Future,-- + Of gaining some hard-fought field; + Of storming some airy fortress, + Or bidding some giant yield; + Your Future has deeds of glory, + Of honor (God grant it may)! + But your arm will never be stronger, + Or the need so great as To-day. + + "Rise! for the day is passing; + The sound that you scarcely hear, + Is the enemy marching to battle; + Arise! for the foe is here! + Stay not to sharpen your weapons, + Or the hour will strike at last, + When, from dreams of a coming battle, + You may wake to find it past!" + +"How much better we understand things than we did three months ago!" +said Winnie. "I used to dream of the grand things I was going to do +when I grew up." Then she added, blushing a little as she remembered +her cross Saturday morning, "I do yet, sometimes, but I don't think I +neglect quite so many things as I used to." + +"I never had much chance either to neglect things or to dream," said +Gretta, "for papa or mamma or my sister was always reminding me that +it was time to do this or that or the other. But I am beginning now to +think of some of my faults. I couldn't find anything for this afternoon, +except the Memory Gem we learned in the First Reader. You know I don't +read a great deal myself, and we all seem to have so much to do at our +house; when it isn't something else, it's practice, practice, practice! +Even this little verse I don't suppose I should have remembered if I +hadn't heard the children reciting it at the 'Colony': + + "One thing at a time, + And that done well, + Is a very good rule, + As many can tell." + +"Why, that's the very thing, Gretta! I'm surprised that none of the rest +of us thought of it. How queer that the same piece of advice, in one +form or another, has been given to us ever since we were little girls, +and that we have just begun to realize what it all means!" said Fannie. + +"What have you, Ernestine?" said Miriam. + +"I took mine from Ecclesiastes," was the reply. "'When thou vowest a vow +unto the Lord, defer not to pay it.'" + +"I like that, too," said Gretta; "but I think Miss Benton's pretty card +is helping me more than anything else." + +"I think that was lovely, too," said Fannie. "I liked the story ever +so much, but it will be nice for us to do as she suggested, and take +a motto this week. How would it do to take the one Winnie brought? It +seems the easiest for us to understand." + +So they all learned it, and, at Miriam's suggestion, added the verse +that Gretta had recited. + +Mrs. Alroy came back into the sitting-room just as the girls had +finished reading their mottoes, and, though her eyes looked heavy, as if +she were suffering, she joined the little band, and told them that she +thought they were adopting a very good plan to help them over the rough +places of life, and perhaps also enable them to make fewer mistakes than +they might otherwise do. + +While she was talking to them, footsteps were heard coming up the +stairs. + +"That's papa, I think," said Fannie, and she went with Ernestine to the +door. + +Ernestine had seen Mr. Allen often, for he was one of the trustees of +their school, but of course Mrs. Alroy had never met him, so the girls +led him through the narrow hall into the room beyond. + +Mrs. Alroy met him at the door and extended her hand, as Fannie said, +"My papa, Mrs. Alroy." + +Mr. Allen seated himself, at Mrs. Alroy's invitation, while the girls +went to get on their wraps. As they talked of the weather and the usual +subjects discussed by strangers, Mr. Allen looked at the lady in rather +a puzzled manner, as if wondering where he had seen her before. Finally +he said: + +"Excuse me, Mrs. Alroy, but may I ask what was your maiden name?" + +She told him, but rather coldly, as if she considered the question +impertinent. + +He read her thought well enough, but unhesitatingly continued: + +"The Van Ortons of New York?" + +"Of New York, yes." + +"I thought so; it must be one of your brothers whom you so strongly +resemble. I could not think whom you were like, the day of the +celebration over at the school-house, but that, I see, was what puzzled +me. I know your brother and his family quite well. I have had business +relations with him for years, which have been very pleasant ones." + +"I am glad to meet someone who has seen my brother recently. I have seen +no member of my family for years; it has been impossible for me to go +home, and my circumstances have been such that I have managed to prevent +their visiting me, for I had no desire to have them do so. Should you +have any communication with him, I ask as a favor that my name may not +be mentioned." + +"Your wishes, of course, will be respected, madam," the gentleman +replied courteously. + +The girls appeared at this moment, ready for the walk home, and Mr. +Allen rose, adding: + +"Permit me to thank you for the pleasure you have given my daughter, and +to express the wish that you will allow her to make a return soon." Then +they took their departure. + +Ernestine went into the little kitchen to prepare things for breakfast, +and when she came back she was shocked to find her mother sobbing +violently. It frightened her, too, for though her mother was never very +cheerful, the girl seldom saw her shed tears. + +"Mother dear, what is it?" she said. "Have I been selfish? Was the +evening too much for you?" + +"Selfish? No, dear," was the reply. "I am the selfish one, and I am +grateful to know that you have such perfect faith and hope that all is +well. Otherwise your young life would have been darkened long ago by +my constant sorrow and regret. Poor child! It is a hard life for one so +young." + +"But, mother, some day you will be happy again." + +"I hope so, dear," replied Mrs. Alroy. But she thought to herself that +there was nothing in this world that could make life endurable to her, +unless she could forget. And that, to her proud, sensitive nature, +seemed impossible. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +EASTER-TIDE. + + +"Well," said Mrs. Allen to her husband, after they had gone upstairs, "I +hope you're satisfied and have had enough of Fannie's visiting around at +tenement houses. Democratic ideas are all right enough, theoretically, +but I think it is impossible for people to dwell long in poverty without +losing refinement." + +"Some kinds of poverty, yes; and some kinds of people, yes. That comfort +and luxury are refining in their influence goes without saying; but just +as there are some people whom all the wealth in the world could never +raise above vulgarity, so there are others whom poverty could never +degrade. And the lady and her little girl whom Fannie has visited +to-night are of this type. They are the kind of people who will have the +refinements of life even at the expense of some of its comforts." + +"It seems to me that is queer talk. How can people have refinements +without comforts?" + +"Had you been at Mrs. Alroy's to-night, I think you would understand how +that could be. And as for the rest," Mr. Allen added dryly, "Mrs. Alroy +is one of the Van Ortons of New York." + +"The Van Ortons of New York!" and Mrs. Allen dropped into her chair in +astonishment, for the Van Ortons were people whom she was glad to visit. +"How do you know?" + +"Her resemblance to her brother puzzled me, and, wondering where I could +have met her, I asked her maiden name." + +"Why, I must call upon her soon." + +"I think you'd better not--" + +"Who's the aristocrat now, I wonder!" + +"--because," he added, as if he had not heard the interruption, "she +would consider it an intrusion. Her pride has been made as hard and cold +as ice by her misfortunes, and I'm afraid nothing will ever melt it." + +This was another new idea to Mrs. Allen. It seemed as if new things, +starting with the little folks, were destined to be contagious. That a +woman who lived in three small rooms and who supported herself and her +daughter by selling goods across a counter, should resent a visit from a +person so well known as herself, was somewhat startling to the lady. + +"Well," she said impatiently, "what are you and your philanthropy going +to do about it?" + +"I think it is a case which my philanthropy, as you choose to call it, +cannot reach. I know that her people would gladly have her come home, +and there is no reason why they should be ashamed of either her or her +daughter; but she manages to keep them in complete ignorance of her +circumstances, and also, I strongly suspect, of her whereabouts." + +"Why don't you write to them?" + +"She has forbidden it, and in such a way as to make me feel that it +would be a breach of honor to disregard her wishes. No, nothing can be +done at present. But she is as frail as a reed, and her body, in spite +of her will power, will break down under the pressure, and then----" + +"Well?" + +"Then she will die--that is all." + + * * * * * + +It seems hard, at first thought, to bring the sorrows of older +people--and sorrows, too, for which, as the words of Mr. Allen would +indicate the above to be, there seems no earthly cure--into a book for +girls; but perhaps it is, after all, a truer kindness to let them find +out, while there is yet time, that life is a thing of earnest and real +import, and that the impossible ideas of a romantic world where a few +sorrows come simply as contrast, and then vanish forever, leaving the +heroes and heroines surrounded by an everlasting halo of happiness +and prosperity--which so many of the lighter novels teach--are more +injurious than any statistics will ever show. They give views of life +which, if followed out, as in the case of Constance Van Orton, are apt +to end in sorrow and despair. + +But the saddest life must have some joy in it, and Mrs. Alroy probably +had many happy hours, when she enjoyed the sunshine, or, in more sober +moods, the gentle patter of the rain on the roof, her books (to which +the poorest of those who live in our large cities can have access +through the public libraries), and, above all, the companionship of her +daughter, who was really that most remarkable of characters, a child +good, and even pious, without priggishness or the slightest taint of +affectation. + +And when all is thought and felt and suffered, above earth's joys and +woes and hopes and dark despair is God, the eternal Good, and + + What to us is darkness, to Him is light, + And the end He knoweth." + +And so the days rolled on and brought the anniversary of Christ's +suffering and death and resurrection. The Burton family kept Easter with +great rejoicing. They exchanged presents of pots of flowers, ferns and +Easter lilies, mignonette and roses, which made the house fragrant and +beautiful. The children received from their parents and friends at a +distance Easter cards; and colored eggs, in which Ralph delighted, were +not forgotten. + +Mrs. Burton and Winnie, also, on the day previous, did their share +toward decorating the church they attended. There was always a big +pyramid of bouquets on the pulpit stand, which were taken down after +service and distributed to the children of the Sunday-school. It was a +great treat to the children to go to church on this day and join in the +responsive service and hear the joyful anthems. This Easter Day was no +exception to previous ones, in point of joy and thanksgiving. + +There were some little extra surprises at the Burton home, among them +being a panel of Easter lilies and maidenhair fern, painted in oil +for Mrs. Burton by her sister Kitty; and from the same source Winnie +received a smaller one of lilies-of-the-valley and wild violets, with +the motto below: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek +and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." In the +afternoon they held a service of their own in the sitting-room. Mrs. +Burton and Aunt Kitty sang Abt's duet, "Easter Day," and they had two or +three fine quartettes. + +Norah had not been forgotten, either, in the distribution of the +flowers, or in an invitation to join the family circle in the afternoon. +She was anxious to do something in return, and so had prepared another +surprise which greeted them at tea-time. On each plate lay an egg, +which, when examined, was found to be a wooden candy-box, full of +home-made candies. All were pleased, even to grandma and Mr. Burton, +and Norah's face shone with delight when she saw that her gifts were +appreciated. + +It had been a long day for Ralph, however, and Winnie and Jack stayed +at home with him while the other members of the family went to evening +service. The child was tired and restless, yet too much excited to be +sleepy, and was very unwilling to go to bed when the usual hour arrived. +Winnie was quite weary, too, but she dared not allow herself to be +impatient on a day like this, so she told him Bible stories and sang to +him, and at last the heavy eyelids closed, and she was at liberty to go +downstairs with her book. + +This time it was "Pilgrim's Progress," which she was reading for about +the dozenth time. She dropped, with a sense of luxury, into the same big +chair in which we have seen her on a former occasion. Jack also had an +interesting book, and they read on in perfect silence for half an hour, +when suddenly they heard a crash, and then Ralph's voice in a frightened +cry. + +Dropping their books, they ran upstairs. Jack turned up the gas, and +they found that poor little Ralph had rolled out of bed, and was lying +stretched on the floor, but far more frightened than hurt. He said he +had had bad dreams, and they could not quiet him nor induce him to go +back to bed. At last Jack wrapped him up in a shawl, and Winnie sat down +in the big chair and took the frightened child in her arms. + +Jack settled himself again with his book and forgot all about them +both, until his father and mother came home and found them asleep. Mrs. +Burton's face showed disapproval until Jack explained the circumstances, +and she could then enjoy the pretty picture they made, without feeling a +regret that it was the result of disobedience. + +Jack took Ralph in his arms and once more carried him, still sleeping +soundly, upstairs. They did not waken Winnie until it was time for them +all to go to bed, when she was gently roused by her mother. She looked +around in bewilderment, and it was some time before she could realize +what had happened. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +A VISIT TO THE ZOO. + + +The days were growing longer and pleasanter. The trees were all dressed +in green now, and the maples in front of the Burton home bent their +green boughs and shook their leaves at the invitation of every little +zephyr. + +The evening star shone over the western hills, followed closely by the +slender new moon. The sun sank to rest behind those same hills, some +nights gorgeously attended by crimson and gold and purple clouds; on +other evenings, dropping out of sight suddenly, as if in a hurry to get +to China, as Winnie was fond of telling Ralph. + +Winnie often sat with Ralph on the front steps these days, and showed +him the bright star and tried to explain to him that it was a big world, +perhaps full of people; or she would put on her roller skates and skate +up and down the flagged pavement, while he rode his velocipede. + +Winnie thought she had never known a spring so beautiful as this one. +She felt as if she could stay out of doors forever, and found it even +harder to keep her resolution of conquering self-indulgence and sticking +to her duties now than when she liked so much to sit by a bright fire +and read. + +She had her pretty card and her motto in the looking-glass in her room, +but she found it so hard to remember--or to want to remember, perhaps, +which every one knows is quite a different thing--that she pinned a +little piece of stiff paper with the word "Now" written on it, inside +her dress. On the whole, however, she kept pretty well to her resolution +of having a time for everything and doing everything in its time. + +But she had never before felt such a desire to be out of doors, and she +imagined she heard fairies beckoning to her from the woods and hills. So +one day, when Aunt Kitty came over and invited Ralph and herself and the +other four girls of her little band to go to the Zoological Garden the +next Saturday, the girl's delight was unbounded, and she was in a fever +lest something should happen to prevent their going. + +She delivered her message to the other girls. Miriam and Fannie at once +said they thought they could go, but Ernestine did not feel sure she +could arrange her Saturday duties so that no extra burden would fall on +her mother, while Gretta told them she would have to ask her father to +excuse her from the extra practice on Saturday, as they were to take +their lunches and stay all day. + +Fortunately Gretta found her father in very good humor. She had been +making excellent progress with her music, and he was very willing she +should have a holiday. Ernestine, also, had arranged with one of the +neighbors in the building to take care of her little children on +the succeeding Saturday, in return for her help in doing some extra +household work. + +Saturday turned out to be a warm, pleasant day, and in their eagerness +the girls arrived at the Burtons' a little ahead of time, and had to +wait till Miss Benton came, which she did soon, looking very happy. As +for Ralph, his eyes were as bright as stars, and he was the very picture +of joy and good humor. + +They walked up to Elm Street, and from there took the car to the Mt. +Bellevue inclined railway. When they entered the car of the latter, all +stood at the front end of it and looked out of the window, and had the +strange sensation, which no familiarity therewith seems quite to deaden, +of being lifted suddenly into another region, and of seeing the great +city sinking down, down, until one wonders where it is going. Then, all +at once, the car stopped with its usual jerk, and there they were, at +the top of the hill. + +There were very few people about the Bellevue House. They took a walk +around the grounds and through the building, and stood looking at the +city, covered with its workaday smoke from the many manufactories, till +it almost seemed as if it were seen through a cloud. + +"How strange it is," said Miriam, as they entered the street-car at the +top of the hill, "to see the houses just as close together here, and +to have it seem like a city of itself, and yet so different from the +business part of Cincinnati below that it is hard to imagine the two are +any part of each other!" + +"There is something strange about such things," said Miss Benton. "It is +just like people's lives. Their daily business, which brings them bread +and butter, and which is really the largest and most important part +of existence, seems to sink into insignificance or to be forgotten +altogether when social relations are taken up. But, after all, I like to +live in the city itself, where there is something of the past lingering +about. Everything seems so new here." + +"I don't know," said Ernestine. "I think I would like to live up here; +the air seems so much purer. But I would want a bigger yard than these, +where I might have a garden." + +"It's cleaner, too, up here," said practical Gretta, who was neatness +itself. "I visit my aunt on Vine Street Hill, and things always looks +so much nicer and newer at her house than the same ones at ours. And +it isn't because we don't try, for we do twice the amount of work; my +mother and sister are always going about with a duster." And Gretta, who +had made a long speech for her, finished with a sigh, at which they all +laughed. + +"Gretta would like a house where everything had a glass cover," said +Miriam. "As for me, I like things jolly and comfortable, and if they get +grimy and sooty, and nobody's to blame, what's the use of making one's +self unhappy about it? I'm afraid I'm a good deal like Josie Thompson, +for I do like to enjoy myself." + +"Well, no two of us are alike, and I don't think it was intended that we +should be," said Miss Benton. "That is what makes the charm of people's +houses--that they should all partake of the individuality of their +owners. When I enter even a little girl's room, I like to see some +signs of her ownership there, and not have it all as her mother or older +sister or the maid arranged it. I like to see something that looks as if +she had an object in life, if it is nothing more than a charm string of +buttons, (which, by the way, has gone out of fashion, I believe,) or a +scrapbook." + +"Well, then, Aunt Kitty," said Winnifred, smiling at her own thought, +"it must be a treat for you to go into Uncle Fred's room; for, if I were +to see such a room at the North Pole, I would think of him." + +"Well," said Miss Benton, with a smile, "I might enjoy it better if +it were in some other house. I think, in this case, it must be that +familiarity breeds contempt. The fact is, girls, my brother's room is +more of an old curiosity shop than a modern sleeping-room. He has always +had a sort of magpie-habit of storing things away, and is continually +having some new hobby; and as his hobbies are often changed, and each +hobby is apt to take the form of making some sort of collection, he has +queer things lying about. But from the time he was quite a little boy, +mother always said, 'Oh, let him have that,' or 'do the other, and he'll +be satisfied at home.'" + +"How many canes and walking-sticks has he, Aunt Kitty?" + +"Eight, I think, and each one has a history; and two or three of them a +mystery, which he refuses to divulge. But here we are at the end of our +journey, and Fannie hasn't had an opportunity to open her mouth." + +"It's probably very good for my tongue to get a rest; it works quite +steadily as a usual thing--at least so my father says. But if Ralph +hadn't been all eyes, this would have been dull for him." + +"I isn't all eyes!" said Ralph, indignantly. + +They now approached the entrance to the Zoological Garden, and the girls +once more took out their pocket books; but Miss Benton was ahead of them +again, and had settled for the party before there was time to demur. + +The first thing they spied were the mounds of the prairie dogs, and +they stood watching these a long time. It was such fun to see the little +animals running in and out of their holes and to hear their funny bark, +which Miriam said was "the best part of them, and probably very much +better than their bite." + +Our little party was fortunate enough to be at the cages of the +carnivora just at feeding time. The great lions lay basking in the sun +and looking so innocent and amiable that it was almost impossible to +imagine they could be at all dangerous, when suddenly the man who fed +them appeared with the raw meat. Then their roars were fairly appalling, +and made the whole crowd jump, while Ralph clung tight to the hand of +Aunt Kitty, who said: + +"I was just thinking how nice it would be to pat that quiet, majestic +fellow on the head, as I would my Angora cat; but I think I'll wait till +he's had his dinner." + +"Oh, Aunt Kitty," said Ralph, "I 'ouldn't let you; he'd eat you up!" + +It was an exciting but rather terrible pleasure to see the wild +creatures quarreling and growling and fighting over their dinners, and +was also a most effective object lesson on greediness. + +Like other visitors, although Miss Kitty laughed at them for it, our +little party followed the keeper around from one cage to another as he +fed the various animals. + +"I like the bears best," said Fannie. "They look like Eskimos when they +stand on their hind legs, and they stare up at us and the other people +as if we were here just for them to look at." + +"There is a something within me that, in spite of bears and all their +attractions, tells me it must be dinner time," said Miss Benton, taking +out her watch. "Yes, it is one o'clock; suppose we get our baskets." + +Ralph, in particular, manifested great approval of this part of the +programme, and, having selected a nice grassy spot, they disposed of +themselves as comfortably as possible, each with her basket at her side. + +As they opened the baskets, passing the thin sandwiches and pickles, +Winnie made a suggestion. + +"Aunt Kitty, let's play 'I have a thought.'" + +"Very well," replied the lady; and, after a short explanation of the +game, and a little time to think, she announced the fact that she had a +thought. + +"Why is it like the sky?" asked Winnie. + +"Because it is round." + +"Why is it like a bear?" asked Miriam, her thoughts still on the bear +pit. + +"Because--oh, Miriam, that is a hard one!--because it is sometimes +white." + +"Why is it like me?" said Ralph. + +"Because everybody likes it when it is good." And Ralph wondered why +they all laughed. + +"Why is it like the grass?" asked Ernestine. + +"Because it is greenest in the spring." + +Then the questions poured upon Miss Benton rapidly, as the girls began +to see how the game was played. + +"Why is it like music?" asked Gretta. + +"Because it suggests pleasant thoughts." + +"Why is it like a novel?" + +"It is often highly flavored." + +"Why is it like an egg?" + +"Because it is an article of food." + +"Why is it like a cream-puff?" + +"Because the best part is inside." + +"Why is it like cheese?" said Fannie, putting a piece in her mouth. + +"Because it comes on with the dessert." + +"Why is it like a book?" + +"Because the best part is usually between the covers." + +"Why is it like a ring?" + +"Because people like to have a finger in it." + +At which there was a general shout, and they all said: "A pie, of +course!" + +"But what kind of a pie, Miss Benton?" asked Miriam. + +"That you must find out, too," was the laughing answer; and the +questions went on. + +"It can't be lemon or custard or pumpkin," said Fannie, "because we know +it has two covers." + +"Why is it like a flower?" + +"Because it has various colors." + +"And is greenest in the spring," said Winnie, musingly. "Oh, it is an +apple pie! And Miss Benton acknowledged that she had guessed correctly. + +Then Ernestine and Gretta consulted, and took a thought together. Their +thought was a geography lesson, and of course the resemblances were most +absurd, and it required all the ingenuity the two girls possessed to +answer the questions. + +They were all so occupied with the game and their dinner that no one +noticed Miss Benton had not yet opened her basket, and great was their +surprise and delight when she passed around to each of them a grocer's +thin platter filled with strawberries, for they were still very scarce, +as it was early in the season. + +After dinner, Miss Benton took out a book and said she was going to read +for a while, so the girls walked around, taking Ralph with them, and +greatly enjoying the admiration he excited by his pretty dress, +his beauty and his cunning speeches. They too, however, soon found +themselves somewhat tired, so they went back to Miss Benton, and, +sitting down for a rest, amused themselves by hunting for four-leaved +clovers. In this Winnie and Miriam proved themselves the lucky ones. +Fannie had not the slightest success, till finally she gave a little cry +and held up a clover. + +But Miss Benton's quick eyes noticed a twinkle in Fannie's, and saying, +"Oh, Fannie, I'm afraid you're a little cheat!" she reached over and +adroitly separated one of the leaves from another, leaving only a common +clover leaf. + +"Well," said Fannie, laughing at being discovered so soon, "if I don't +have good luck, I'm not going to let everyone know it. My father tells +me to make up my mind that lots of things will happen to me in this +world which I'll best conquer by grinning and bearing them. And that's +what I'm going to do." + +"A very good plan, my dear," said Miss Benton, "for even if the grin is +a sickly one, it's better than a frown or a whine." + +"I guess I don't do that way," said Gretta, whose tongue and conscience +both seemed to be awaking. "I'm afraid I go away and pout." + +"The worst of habits," said Miss Benton, with intentional decision. +"That is the habit which is most disagreeable to everyone around, +most full of unhappiness to the one who indulges in it, and the most +difficult to break. I am afraid that ill-temper is as powerful a giant +as procrastination, because it, too, assumes so many forms; there +are pouting and whining, storming and scolding, and the various other +manifestations which we all, more or less, indulge in. I do not think +many people cling to the powerful Giant Hate, but it is 'the little +foxes that spoil the vines,' and little fits of temper, long indulged +in, might at last lead even to that. But, girls, I didn't inveigle you +out here this lovely day to lecture you. So come, let's be moving on." + +They next went to the aviary. Here, although they enjoyed looking at +the birds, they became more interested in a party of children, boys +and girls, each one looking like the others, so far as clothes were +concerned. Of course they must be from some charitable institution, but +the girls did not know which one. Afterward, when our little company +had gone to the monkey house and found a number of the same uniformed +children, Miss Benton said to one of them, "What school is this, my +dear?" + +The child looked at her a moment in surprise, and then replied: "Why, +this is the monkey school, I think." + +"Where is the teacher?" asked Ralph, who mistook both question and +answer, as the child herself had done. + +Miriam and Fannie were delighted at this, and, going up pretty close +to one of the cages, Fannie, who had yellow bangs, said, pointing to a +great monkey which was watching them in a very observant manner: + +"I think this must be the teacher." + +Just as she made the remark, the monkey stretched out his long arms, +grabbed her bangs, and pulled out several hairs, which he smelled, and +then threw down with an air of disgust. + +Fannie was somewhat startled at first, but, recovering herself, she said +the monkey must have thought her hair was wisps of hay. + +Miss Benton did not seem very fond of the "monkey school," as they +dubbed it for the remainder of the afternoon, and she proposed going to +the pony track. This gave general satisfaction. Here, too, they found +the uniformed children, all of them having a lovely time. Miss Benton +found out, by conversing with one of the attendants, that they were from +one of the city orphan asylums, and that the whole lovely day was a gift +to them from one of its patrons--admission into the garden and a ride +for each child on one of the ponies. + +[Illustration: Ralph was not in the least frightened.] + +They stood watching the orphan children for awhile, as they rode around +the track, and Miss Benton asked if her guests would not like a ride, +too. Fannie, Winnie and Miriam said that they would, and each selected a +pony; Fannie, who had attended a riding-school, riding very gracefully. +Ralph thought he would like a ride, too, so the riding-master brought +his smallest pony, and two of the little orphan boys came up and begged +permission to lead it around the track. + +Miss Benton consented, and, Ralph having been lifted into the saddle, +they started off, a boy on each side of him. But the little pony started +to run, and one of the boys was soon left behind; the other, who had +hold of the bridle, kept up manfully for a time, but before the pony had +gone round the track, he, too, was left behind. Ralph, however, held on +to the bridle himself, and, not in the least frightened, kept his seat +in the saddle as if it had been his velocipede. And the by-standers +seemed to think it as cunning as did his partial aunt and the rest of +her party. However, in spite of the courage he had shown, Ralph was +quite willing to get off. + +They remained at the track a little longer, watching the other children +riding, and feeling glad that, if children were left alone in the world, +there were people noble and good and with means enough to gather the +little waifs together, and that they, too, had happy holidays. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +DREAMS AND REALITIES. + + +The following Friday Gretta and Winnifred were dismissed at recess, the +Friday afternoon privilege of those who had had perfect marks for the +week. As they passed out through the yard together, Gretta said: + +"I'm going to church to practice my organ lesson. Come go with me, Win." + +Winnifred hesitated. "If I had spoken to mamma about it this morning--" + +"Well, let's go and ask her now." + +"No, she won't be at home. She was going out to Walnut Hills to make +several calls." + +"Then I don't see what's to keep you from going with me. No one will +know whether you are with me or at school." + +Winnie knew very well that she had no right to be away without anyone +at home knowing where she was, but she hesitated--and was lost. The +temptation was too great; and beside, she reasoned, "What difference can +it possibly make whether I am at school or at the church? If I had not +had good marks I couldn't have gone home, anyway." + +So the two girls passed on up the street together. Winnifred soon forgot +her scruples, and laughed and chattered away as usual. She had been +reading Grimm's story of the boy who could not understand what it was +to shiver. She had thought it very amusing, and now she narrated it at +length to Gretta as they went along, so that they reached the church +before Gretta had stopped laughing at the absurd climax. + +They went up the flight of steep stone steps and tried the side door +that led to the choir gallery, but it was locked, and Gretta said, +"We'll have to go the back way; come on, Win." So they descended the +stairs again and went through the narrow side yard at the right of the +church. + +At the back were two rooms which at this time were occupied by the +janitor and his wife. Gretta knocked, and when the door was opened by +a smiling woman, walked in with an I-have-a-right-to manner, simply +saying, "I've come to practice." Winnifred followed somewhat bashfully, +but recovered her sense of being herself when the door of the little +living-room closed upon them. The two girls crossed a narrow passage and +opened a door leading to a stairway. It was very dark here, but Gretta +had traveled up and down these stairs so many times that she went +swiftly now, while Winnifred, unaccustomed to them, groped her way along +through the darkness very slowly. + +When she reached the top Gretta opened another door which led into the +church itself, always filled with people when Winnifred had seen it +before, but now empty and mysterious, with the light dimmed and deepened +and transformed as it made its way through the stained-glass windows. +She breathed a little heavily as she glanced up at the pulpit on the +left, and almost felt as if she would hear a voice rise from the empty +air and chide them for their boldness in entering so sacred a place +on workaday business. But Gretta, entirely accustomed to independent +errands connected with musical matters, passed on up the narrow side +aisle, Winnifred following slowly. + +Then came another narrow staircase leading to the choir gallery, which +faced the pulpit. When they reached the top they found the shades all +down and the place quite dark except for a long, narrow beam of light +which streamed through a crevice in one of the blinds. Winnifred stopped +on the threshold with something like fear, which was yet pleasing +because of the sense of mystery and romance which was blended with it in +her imaginative young mind. Gretta, however, stepped in at once and went +quickly toward the back of the gallery. Here she suddenly pulled up a +shade, and Winnifred saw numbers of music books piled up on one of the +long benches. + +Gretta opened the organ and sat down. She reached the pedals with some +difficulty, being obliged to stretch her legs somewhat in order to do +so; but this, like everything else with her, was a part of the musical +education which was the chief business of her life and of all the +lives nearest to her. She began to play a voluntary, softly, slowly and +reverently, yet clearly, and with wonderful appreciation for a child +just entering her teens. + +Winnifred climbed into the darkest corner she could find and gave +herself up to enjoyment of the music and all the unusual surroundings. +Forgetting all else, she began to weave herself and Gretta into a little +story of a world separate and apart from the world she had always known: +a world filled with visionary forms and faces, and in which there was no +sound but that of music. + +"Over there in that pew just under the stained-glass window," she +thought, "is a little girl who cannot see, but who has never missed her +eyesight, because she does not need it. She lives only in this world, +where there is nothing but sweet sounds. She will grow up some day and +go out into the other world where Gretta and I lived yesterday, but she +will be a poet like Milton, whose picture, when he was such a beautiful +boy, I saw yesterday; but she will not be sad like him, because she +knows only the world of poetry and music. + +"Over in that other pew," Winnie's dreams ran on, "is that poor, little, +blind beggar girl I saw on the street yesterday afternoon. She isn't +hungry now, for this is the fairyland of music where people do not need +to eat. The music has gone straight to her heart--and see! she creeps +softly over to the opposite pew--how did she know that the other little +blind girl was there?--she creeps softly to the other pew, and they +clasp hands and feel as happy as if they had looked into each other's +eyes. + +"And who is that sweet-faced girl in the pew just in front of the +pulpit? She is beautiful. She looks like Nydia, the blind girl in 'The +Last Days of Pompeii,' but she can't be Nydia, for Nydia lived and died +hundreds of years ago. But she listens to the music just as Nydia might +do if she were here now. It is not so sad to be blind in a world of +music. And yet--how would I know where they were sitting if I were +blind, too?" + +And Winnie closed her eyes to try how it would seem not to be able to +see. The music floated out upon the air; it grew softer and softer and +sounded farther and farther away, and at last Winnie ceased to hear it, +for the darkness and the gentle sounds had so soothed her senses that +she went straight from day-dreamland to slumberland. + +Gretta all unconsciously played on until she had finished her allotted +task, forgetting the existence of Winnifred as completely as the latter +had forgotten hers. But by and by she had finished the last bar, and +jumped up from her seat with a feeling of satisfaction. She looked +around in surprise for a moment when she realized that Winnifred had +gone to sleep. The next thing the latter knew Gretta was shouting into +her ear: "Wake up! Wake up, Winnie! I'm all through my practice and +ready to go home. Let's hurry! It must be late." + +They gathered up their school books, the sense of haste taking away all +the feeling of mystery and romance. When they looked at the clock in +the little room downstairs on their way out, Winnifred was dismayed and +realized suddenly that she ought to have been at home an hour ago. She +had a very uncomfortable walk home, particularly after she had parted +from Gretta, but, as it happened, her mother had not yet returned and +her absence had been unnoticed. + +She told her mother about it in the evening--of how sweetly Gretta +had played, and how she had imagined a world made on purpose for blind +people. + +Mrs. Burton only said, "I am glad you had such a nice afternoon, dear. +It is one you will always remember. You were fortunate that nothing +happened to spoil the pleasure of it. I am glad I was not at home, +however, for I fear I would have been very uneasy about you." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +ARBOR DAY. + + +In nearly every household of the big city the children were astir early, +all wearing an air of excitement, from the six-year-old in the primary +school to the "big brother" or sister in the intermediate, for there was +at last something new under the sun--the celebration of "Arbor Day" for +the first time in their city and State. + +It was a day to be devoted to the trees and their planting. Every school +in the city had had a plot of ground set aside for its use, and every +school had had at least one tree planted, beside those in memory of the +teachers who had passed away to the unknown land. + +There was no set time for departure and no special gathering place, so +that at almost any hour after nine o'clock on that lovely May morning +groups of children might have been seen wending their way toward the +eastern hills. Those in the vicinity of Eden Park walked, a few drove +over with their parents or friends, but the great majority filled the +street cars to overflowing, laughing and chattering and enjoying a +holiday as only school children can. + +Forming a portion of the last class were the pupils of the "First +Intermediate," that old landmark which has guided so many embryo +citizens of our great Republic through the intricate paths of fractions, +decimals, and so on, to the crowning difficulty of cube root; through +grammar and history and geography, before bidding them "Godspeed" as +they entered the high-school or took up the story of their lives in some +other direction. + +Among these last, lunch baskets in hand, were the five young warriors, +but with their armor off and as great an air of being on pleasure bent +as though they had never thought of anything more serious. Miriam as +usual had the floor, and the entire car-load of girls and boys, nearly +all of them her classmates, were laughing at her remarks. + +There was a change of cars at Fountain Square and again at the foot of +the Mt. Adams incline, but the five girls managed to keep from being +separated. Arrived at the top of the hill, they stopped to breathe in +the fresh air and admire the beautiful landscape--the Kentucky hills far +away in the distance, with the beautiful Ohio flowing placidly at their +feet; Cincinnati, in its hill-encircled cup, making, with Covington +and Newport and the various smaller villages, part of one great whole, +linked by the bridges across the Ohio and the Licking. + +"This reminds me," said Ernestine, who was the historian of the little +company, "of the name first chosen for our city--Losantiville, the town +opposite the mouth of the Licking; 'ville,' town; 'anti,' opposite; +'os,' mouth; 'L,' initial of Licking." + +"Dreadful!" said Miriam. "Imagine this great city designated as a town +across the way from that little stream! It would be like the immense +woman I saw the other day. I know she weighed over two hundred. There +was a little man walking beside her, and he called her 'Birdie!' Indeed +he did, and she called him 'Horatio!'" + +"Our city started about here," said Ernestine, after the girls had +stopped laughing, "or just at the foot of the hill, and grew first along +the river. Later on it spread northward, and Fourth Street was one of +its aristocratic streets." + +"There comes Josie Thompson," said Fannie. "She's evidently bent on +having a good time, and she's gotten up regardless. See that chain +around her neck; plated, I'm sure." + +"Don't look so sober, Ernestine," said Miriam. "There wouldn't be any +use in living if you could not make fun of people once in a while." + +"But perhaps Josie has never been taught any better at home," said +Winnifred, suddenly thinking of the giants. + +"She has eyes, hasn't she?" said Gretta. "But it seems to me she can't +have ears, or else she couldn't help hearing that dress she has on. I +know that's what my father would say." + +Just then Josie came up to them. "Hello, girls! Going to have a good +time? I tell you I am! Glad to have one day with no lessons to learn!" +And she passed on with her friends, leaving the girls, even Ernestine, +convulsed. + +"Let's go on to the park," said Ernestine. + +Accordingly they gathered up their baskets and other belongings. It was +but a short walk, and they soon reached the spot where many of their +schoolmates had already assembled. + +At twelve o'clock the schools had a few simple exercises. The children +sang, "My Country, 'Tis of Thee," one of the girls of their grade +recited "Woodman, Spare that Tree," and Fannie's father made a brief +address. He talked to them of the part the forests play in helping to +prevent drouths and disastrous floods. He told of the old Italian poet +who called the trees "my brothers," and said that everyone, whether +poet or not, should have especial tenderness and affection for these +beautiful and useful bits of nature which grow up around us, relieving +our eyes from the glare of day, shading us from the noonday sun, and +giving us pleasure in many ways, so that their useless and wanton +destruction becomes a sin against mankind. + +After the conclusion of this little talk (for it was that rather than +a set speech), the children gathered up their lunch baskets and boxes, +each party sought the spot that pleased it best, and soon the hillside +was dotted with groups of boys and girls engaged in disposing of +sandwiches, pickles, pies, cakes, fruit, and so on, with great enjoyment +and good appetites. + +The afternoon was passed most pleasantly by Winnifred and her own +special friends, reinforced by many of the girls and boys of her class. +Games of all sorts were indulged in with unflagging energy and good +spirits for two or three hours. + +About four o'clock Fannie's parents came for her in a carriage. Soon +after Winnifred's mother arrived on the scene with little Ralph, and +they were shown the trees which had just been planted and told about +all the events of the day. By this time nearly every one was making +preparations to leave, and by five o'clock the park was almost deserted +and the happy day had become only a memory. But the seeds of thought +planted there fell not altogether on stony ground, and were destined to +bear fruit at some future day. + +Indeed, the very next morning Ralph insisted on having an Arbor Day of +his own, and he put in the ground a branch of willow, which took root +and thrived, growing so rapidly that in a few years it was taller than +himself; and each spring, when it put forth its delicate gray-green +foliage, it recalled to Winnifred that most delightful Arbor Day. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +GRETCHEN'S KAFFEEKLATCH. + + +Another year of Gretta's life had rolled around and brought with it her +thirteenth birthday. The little club of "warriors" had not been without +its influence upon her behavior, and she had become so ready to enter +upon her duties, so cheerful in performing them, and so much less +resentful in accepting the reproof which was perhaps too frequent in +that busy and overworked household, that her elder sister--whom she +had so complained of when the subject of forming their club was first +mentioned--had decided that Gretta must have a little birthday party, +and asked her whom she wished to invite. + +Gretta was greatly delighted, for she had long been wishing to have a +meeting of the club at her home, but had hardly known how to broach the +subject. She immediately gave her sister the list, and while the latter +was somewhat surprised that it should be so small, it was something of +a relief to find what she had thought would be quite an undertaking so +greatly simplified. It was decided that the girls should be invited to +come at four o'clock and that supper should be served at half past five. + +Promptly at the hour named Winnifred and Miriam appeared, followed +soon after by Fannie, and then by Ernestine. The door was opened by the +smiling-faced, German maid-of-all-work, and the girls were met at the +foot of the stairs by Gretta, who took them up to the library on the +second floor. "Here we will have no one to bother us," said Gretta. "My +mother is out of the city on a visit to my uncle, and my sister has a +music pupil in the parlor, so we'll have the library all to ourselves." + +"How jolly!" said Miriam, looking around. "Oh, here is a big +reclining-chair! We'll call it the president's chair, and Winnifred +shall occupy it, because she was the first one to think of this club." + +"Yes! yes!" they all insisted, so Winnifred climbed into the big chair, +and the other girls ranged themselves in various attitudes around her. + +"Do you know," said Miriam, with a half laugh and a half sigh, "I don't +find fighting such easy work as I thought I would. I like to dress up my +'little observations,' as my brother calls them, just as much as I ever +did, and I almost got into a temper this morning because my hair pulled +when I began to comb it out." + +"And I have been wishing we were richer," said Ernestine, whose great +ambition it was to be contented with all that came to her. "You know we +had such a hot spell last week, and mamma ought to go away this summer. +She is getting thinner and thinner, and she has those awful headaches +more and more often lately." + +"I don't see why everybody can't have the things they want," said +Fannie, feeling guilty to think she ever had a cross minute. + +"I said that to mamma last week," said Ernestine, "when I felt uneasy +about her, and she said it all comes from something in ourselves. That +didn't make it any easier for me; nothing did, until I thought of the +One who had not where to lay His head. Then I felt ashamed." + +For a minute the girls were silent. Then Winnie said, "Well, I, for one, +don't think I have quite killed that ugly old Hate. I can't bear to stop +doing what I like, to please other people. I was reading 'Grandfather's +Chair' last night, and I just hated to stop and tell Ralph his story +before he went to bed. You know he always expects a story from some one +of us, and last night nobody had the time but me." + +"I'll tell you what upsets me more than anything else," said their +little hostess; "that is, to have to jump up from the piano to answer +the bell. And there's never a day that I don't have to do it; sometimes +three or four times." + +"What is your bugaboo, Fannie?" said Miriam; "or don't you have any?" + +"Don't I? I believe I have more than any of you," was the answer. "But +the thing that grieves me most is that I can't wear prettier and more +expensive dresses to school. You know, lots of the girls who haven't +half as much money as we dress a great deal better. Mamma would not care +so much, but papa won't hear of such a thing." + +"What awful troubles we all do have!" said Miriam, laughing. + +"Miss Embry would say you shouldn't use 'awful,'" said Winnie from the +depths of the big chair. + +"There, you've hit it exactly!" said Miriam. "There is my bugaboo in a +nut shell, and it really is an awful one. You know I like to make things +sound strong, so I use all the strong-sounding words I can find; and I +suppose I do exaggerate. Although I am reproved on all sides, it hasn't +the slightest effect on me, except to make me wish that all the people +who reprove me, or remind me of someone who does reprove,"--here she +made big eyes at Winnie--"were hard of hearing when I am about. No, no; +my motto is: + + "'Tameness and slowness can't stay with me; + They and I will never agree.'" + +"And yet," said Ernestine, "there are a great many very interesting +things told in very simple language and without getting away from the +white truth." + +"Well," said Miriam, "to tell the white truth myself just this once. I +don't know whether I want to conquer this or not. I don't believe it is +really much relation to the Giant Untruth. I think it's only a little +dwarfish imp, a Brownie, who simply 'growed,' like Topsy, and to me is +just about as interesting." + +"And yet even you couldn't call Topsy beautiful," said Ernestine +readily. + +"Hardly," laughed Miriam. "But now we've all owned up, let's parade +rest, as we say in our broom drills;" and she threw herself back on the +sofa, where she sat as if indeed resting from a hard-fought battle. + +The five formed a group of American girls good to look upon in their +sweet springtime. Ernestine, with serious gray eyes, fair, slender, +and tall for her fifteen years, sat erect but graceful in a straight, +high-backed chair, her very pose denoting a peaceful courage. Fannie, +with skin soft and rosy and eyes of a rare violet hue, occupied a +low seat, her arms resting on the sofa against which she was leaning. +Miriam, with dark, sparkling eyes and long, thick hair, looking brimful +of life in spite of her present lazy attitude, sat just behind Fannie. +Next came Winnie, small even for her twelve years, brown-eyed and +dainty, looking fond of luxury, as she undoubtedly was and always would +be, and yet good and high-minded. Last Gretta herself, a true German, +with blue eyes and thick, light braids, a trim and compact little +maiden. She sat near a table, her chin in her hand, with its flexible, +square-tipped fingers--the fingers of the born and made pianist--for +Gretta had "begun," as her mates used to tell, at the age of four. + +It was a pleasant room in which they sat; it had many books, German and +English and a few in other languages, and where no book-cases rested, +the walls were hung with pictures of musicians--Mozart and Bach and +Mendelssohn and many others as companions; and on a pedestal stood +a bust of Beethoven, whom--so Gretta told the girls as they looked +around--her father considered the greatest of them all. + +Just then Winnie glanced up at the clock and saw that it was fifteen +minutes past five. She made a motion to the girls, at which they all +jumped up, and, joining hands, formed a circle around Gretta. Before she +had had time to do anything but look astonished, Miriam stopped behind +her, and, holding something over her head, said, "Heavy, heavy hangs +over your head. What shall the owner do to redeem it?" + +Before Gretta had a chance to answer, Miriam had dropped into her lap +a box of pretty note-paper, and replied to her own question by saying, +"The owner shall redeem it by writing to the giver this summer a letter +for each week they are separated." + +Then the girls circled about again, and this time Winnifred stopped +behind Gretta, saying: + + "Open your mouth and shut your eyes, + And I'll give you something to make you wise." + +Gretta did as she was bidden, and Winnie popped a big marshmallow into +her mouth, depositing the remainder of the box in her lap. + +They circled about her for the third time, and Fannie stopped behind +her, saying, as Miriam had done, "Heavy, heavy hangs over your head. +What shall the owner do to redeem it?" and continued, "Read every word +of it and enjoy it," and placed in Gretta's hand a copy of "Little Lord +Fauntleroy." + +Yet again they circled about her, singing: + + "A rosy wreath I twine for thee, + Of Flora's richest treasures; + Take, oh, take, this rosy, rosy crown, + Flora's richest treasures, + Flora's richest treasures,"-- + +and Ernestine placed a crown of flowers on Gretta's brow. + +Gretta was quite overcome with pleasure and surprise, for the girls had +so skillfully hidden their little gifts that she had not even caught a +glimpse of them. + +Just then the door opened, and the hostess' sister appeared at the door, +saying, "Tea is ready, Gretta." Before they did anything else, however, +Gretta had to exhibit her presents. They were duly admired, and then +Miss Josephine said, "Come on, now; I'll head the procession. Keep +step." + +Through the open door came the sound of a lively march, which even +Gretta had never heard before. + +"That is a new march which father composed in honor of your birthday. He +calls it 'Gretchen's March.'" + +[Illustration: Winnifred popped a big marshmallow into her mouth.--See +page 72.] + +They all felt very important as they marched down the stairs, headed by +Miss Berger, who led them out into the long parlor and twice around it, +while her father at the piano, with a merry twinkle in his eyes, kept on +playing, and then out into the dining-room. + +The table was set for five only, and the girls, directed by Miss +Josephine, took their seats, with Gretta at the head, to the inspiring +strains of the lively march. + +It proved a most enjoyable little feast. Miss Berger left the room as +soon as they were all seated, and then the same smiling-faced maid +who had opened the door for them, also departed, and gave them an +opportunity to look about. + +At Gretta's place was a set of cunning china cups and saucers, which had +been sent her from Germany when she was quite a little child. The cups +were just about the size of after-dinner coffees, and the smiling Mina +had insisted on calling the little party "Gretchen's Kaffeeklatch." +Miss Berger had been so amused that she fell in with the idea, and +had decided that they really should have coffee and some of Mina's +coffee-cake on the bill of fare. + +As Gretta filled the little cups, and the coffee and its delicious +adjunct were passed around, five tongues chattered as fast as those of +their elders might have done on a similar occasion. + +When the coffee-cake and sandwiches and chicken salad had been disposed +of, Gretta touched the bell at her place, and Mina appeared. After +clearing the table, she brought in a great cake with thirteen little +candles on it burning away merrily, and a great bowl of lemonade. Miss +Josephine came in and cut the cake and served the lemonade, and was as +entertaining and companionable as any of them could have desired. + +They sat at the table a long time, then they went into the parlor and +were introduced to Gretta's father. They shook hands with him timidly, +for they had been so impressed by his strictness with Gretta in regard +to her musical studies that they were a little afraid of him. Though +they felt vaguely conscious that he was looking at them quizzically, +he threw off the yoke of business entirely and entered into their games +like a boy. + +Among the other enjoyable things they played "Magic Music." It was +really the game of "Hunt the Slipper," and when the music was soft they +were "cold," and when it was loud they were "hot." Mr. Berger played for +them, and never before had these girls played this game to such music. + +The four girls walked home together in the Late twilight, declaring to +each other that they had never had such a delightful time; and Fannie, +who had once spoken so contemptuously of Gretta as a "music teacher's +daughter," was loudest in her praise. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE BOAT-RIDE. + + +A few evenings after the meeting at Gretta's, Uncle Fred came in, and, +pulling Winnie's ears according to his custom, said: + +"I think it's my turn to treat, Winnifred; at least Kitty says it is. +She and I were out boating yesterday, and she suggests that I take you +and the other Joans for a row Friday evening." + +"Oh, Uncle Fred," cried Winnie, "that will be grand! I'll tell the girls +about it to-morrow. Who all are to be invited?" + +"'You-all,' as our Southern friends say, and your Aunt Kitty; us seven, +and no more, as the poet expresses it." + +The girls accepted with eagerness. But on Thursday Ernestine did not +come to school. Winnie went around Friday noon to learn the reason of +such an unusual occurrence, and found that Mrs. Alroy was sick in bed, +and although she had protested against her daughter's staying at home, +Ernestine could not be prevailed upon to leave her. + +The other girls were, of course, very sorry not to have her go, but +soon forgot their disappointment in the excitement of anticipation. At a +quarter past six, the hour agreed upon, Fannie was ringing Mrs. Burton's +door bell, while Gretta and Miriam were just entering the gate. Winnie +and her uncle and aunt were quite ready, so they all started out. After +a short ride in the "Green Line," they were transferred to the Covington +and Newport cars on their way to the river. None of the girls had been +in that neighborhood often enough to be familiar with it, and everything +they saw had the interest of novelty for them. When they reached the +bridge, Mr. Fred helped them out of the car and they went on down the +bank of the river. They stood there for awhile watching the many boats, +large and small, the people going and coming, none of whom seemed to be +in the same hurry as those farther up in the city, and most of whom were +men sauntering leisurely along with their hands in their pockets. + +Mr. Fred, who had left the girls for a few minutes, now came back, and, +on his giving the command, they followed him to a pretty little dock +where there were several row-boats. In one of these the five girls were +soon seated, Winnie in the bow, Gretta and Fannie in the stern, while +Miriam and Miss Kitty--who could both row--sat together where each could +handle an oar, declaring that they meant to help provide some of the +power. Uncle Fred took his place in the seat of "the crack oarsman," as +he said, the smiling boatman on the wharf pushed them off, and soon +they found themselves afloat. Fannie held the rudder and handled it +very skillfully, although Mr. Fred kept a sharp lookout himself, for +the river at this point was full of craft of all descriptions, from the +large steamboats whose journey continues through the beautiful Ohio down +through "The Father of Waters;" the ferry boats crossing between Ohio +and Kentucky; little steam launches and row-boats, just starting out for +pleasure; and fishing-boats returning laden from the day's work. + +At first Miss Kitty and Miriam splashed about a little, but soon they +became accustomed to each other and pulled such a steady, even +stroke that Mr. Fred was obliged to stop laughing at them, and even +acknowledged that they were helping to make the boat go. + +All along the shores of the river were numbers of shanty boats, and as +they approached the mouth of the Licking they saw more of these. Winnie, +especially, was much interested in them, and enjoyed her seat in the +bow as giving a good opportunity to catch a glimpse of some of their +inmates--little boys with bare feet, girls with bright-colored dresses, +many barking dogs, and an occasional cat, all of whom, in her eyes, were +invested with a peculiar fascination. + +But soon they entered the mouth of the Licking, and, gradually leaving +all these sights and sounds behind them, passed into an enchanted +country, the domain of Nature herself. Miss Kitty started up softly, +"My country, 'tis of thee," and the girls joined in, Miriam's contralto +adding richness to the voices as they rose and fell on the still air. +Miss Kitty and Miriam had already drawn their oars up into the boat, and +Mr. Fred let his trail idly in the water as he listened. + +When they had finished the last stanza, Winnie said, "Aunt Kitty, won't +you and Uncle Fred sing 'Juanita' for us? The moon is just rising behind +those trees, and this is the very time for that duet." + +"What a romantic little thing it is!" said Fred, teasingly; but he +joined his sister in the pretty duet, which has been sung on the water +so many times as almost to be considered a boating song. After this they +took to their oars again, and, pulling hard against the stream, advanced +silently but rapidly. + +Presently Mr. Fred, with a strong pull on his left oar, turned the boat, +in spite of Fannie's hold on the rudder, and it shot suddenly in toward +the right bank, where was a little beach in a sheltered cove under an +immense willow tree. Here Mr. Fred jumped out, and, after making the +boat fast to the tree, assisted the other members of the party to +disembark. + +"Follow me!" he commanded, starting up the bank, which here sloped +gradually to the water's edge. + +The little company soon reached the top of the bank. The moon, nearly +full, had just risen, and by its light, struggling with that of the +dying day, they saw a little path leading up the green hillside. Along +this they went, single file, wondering where Mr. Fred and Miss Kitty +were taking them, when suddenly they were startled by the bark of a +dog, and in a second a great mastiff jumped up almost to Mr. Fred's +shoulders, and nearly knocked him down by the force of the spring. + +Winnie was struck dumb with fear, and the other girls screamed, but Mr. +Fred said, in a tone which quite reassured them: + +"Down, down, Jasper! Don't let your joy make you forget your manners." + +Jasper wagged his tail as if to say, "All right, sir," and trotted along +the path, with Mr. Fred's hand on his head. + +The path wound about through the trees, and when they reached the top +of the hill they saw a large white house, and coming towards them a tall +young man, who called out cheerily: + +"We've been looking for you for the last half hour. Come right along. +Nellie and Rob can hardly contain themselves, they have been so afraid +you wouldn't come." + +He led the way around the house, and soon had ushered the new-comers +into a large, square parlor with long windows opening on a broad +veranda. + +"Nellie, Rob," he said, "here are the 'Warrior Maidens,' of whom you +have heard so much." + +The two children, Nellie about fourteen, and Rob a few years younger, +bowed bashfully, and then looked appealingly at their elder brother, as +they sat down on the two chairs farthest removed from those occupied by +their guests. The moon was now above the tree tops, and shone into the +room brightly through the long windows. + +[Illustration: They passed unto an enchanted country.--See page 75.] + +"A glorious night for a game of hide-and-seek," said the older brother +suggestively, in answer to an unspoken appeal of the younger ones. + +"And this would be a grand place for it," said Miss Kitty. "I used +to think a game of I-spy on a moonlight night the finest thing in the +world. Suppose we try it now?" + +"Yes! yes!" they all exclaimed; and, headed by their young hosts, rushed +out of doors, and for half an hour made the hills echo with their shouts +of merriment. + +Such places as there were in which to hide!--a dark corner in the +grape arbor, a nook in the vine-covered summer-house, a deep-shadowed +projection from the stable or house or veranda: such chances to "make +home" around the house, which stood in the center of the yard! Miss +Kitty generally came in first, but once, after long searching, she +was found in the hollow of a tree into which she had crawled, and from +which, being caught in her own trap, she had to be pulled out by the +united efforts of her brother and niece. + +Then Miss Kitty declared that it was high time they should start for +home. But when they went into the house to get their wraps, they found +the smiling mother of their hosts waiting for them with a great bowl of +strawberries, picked, she said, just before the sun went down, and which +they must really try. It was not a difficult task to persuade the guests +to do this, and after they had all done full justice to the berries and +the accompanying cake and rich, sweet milk, they set forth to embark for +home, escorted to the river by the entire family of their new friends. + +The row home was enjoyed even more, if that were possible, than the one +thither. The moon was now high in the sky, and hill and tree and rock +and dimpling wave were beautified by its enchanting glamour. + +They all felt either too tired, or too happy, or both perhaps, to talk, +and the trip was made almost in silence, although Miss Kitty stopped +rowing once, and quoted softly: + + "And the cares that infest the day, + Shall fold their tents like the Arab, + And as silently steal away." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +SAD NEWS. + + +The next morning Winnie wakened early and lay for some time thinking +over the pleasure of the evening before and the events of the past six +months. It seemed to her as if a long time had elapsed since the evening +on which she began to look upon life as something of a battle-field. +She felt older, and yet light-hearted, as the gentle air of late May, +stealing in through the open window, lightly stirred the thin curtains +and brushed her face "like the breeze from an angel's wing," she +thought. + +"How happy we all have been!" she said aloud. "And Ernestine--I wish she +had been with us last night--is the happiest of all, because she is the +best." + +Then she dozed off again, and did not awake until she heard little Ralph +calling at her door: "Hurry up, 'Innie! B'eakast is 'most weady!" + +She sprang out of bed in haste then, and was in the dining-room in time +to take her seat with the rest. + +"'He maketh the storm a calm, and the waves thereof are still,'" she +quoted when it came her turn to give her selection. She had chosen this +one for its gentle beauty. + +How pleasant it all was! How full of life and joy everything seemed, +even to the carnations in the center of the table, with their spicy +odor! + +She performed her Saturday morning duties cheerfully, and after lunch +asked permission to take her books and go to Ernestine's to look over +the lessons for Monday, for the end of the year--their last year in the +Intermediate--was rapidly approaching, and, their course being almost +completed, they would soon begin the heavy review in preparation for the +high-school examination. + +Permission was readily granted, and Winnifred started off with a light +heart. When she reached Ernestine's home, a gentleman came down the +steps and passed out of the door just as she was about to enter the +hall, so, somewhat surprised, she went up the stairs more slowly than +usual and knocked softly. It was opened by a strange lady, who, in +answer to Winnifred's inquiry for Ernestine, said: "Ernestine is with +her mother, who is so ill that the doctor says she must either have a +trained nurse or go to the hospital." + +"Oh, I must go right home and tell mamma!" said Winnie, and she went +away without another word. + +When she reached home, she found her mother in the sitting-room doing +the week's mending. On hearing her daughter's sad news she hurriedly +changed her dress and set out at once for Mrs. Alroy's. + +She was gone an hour--an age, it seemed to Winnifred, unsuccessfully +struggling to keep her mind on her lessons. When Mrs. Burton returned, +her face was very grave, and she drew Winnie toward her with a warm +embrace as she said: + +"Mrs. Alroy has decided to have a nurse; she says she has saved a little +money for just such an emergency and prefers to be at home where she can +have Ernestine with her. She asked me to send for Mr. Allen." + +"Fannie's father?" said Winnifred, surprised. + +"Yes, and I want you to go there now and leave a note for him." And +seating herself at her desk, Mrs. Burton wrote a short note while Winnie +was getting on her hat. + +Winnie felt very sober--and, it must be confessed, also somewhat +important--as she hurried away to deliver the note. She found Mr. Allen +at home, and, having sent up the note by the servant who answered the +bell, she asked for Fannie, for she longed to talk the matter over with +one of her mates. But Fannie, from her room at the head of the stairs, +had heard Winnifred's voice, and now came running down to meet her. + +"What is it, Win?" she said. + +"Oh, Fannie," was the reply, "I'm afraid something awful is going to +happen at Ernestine's house! Her mother is very, very sick. I went there +this morning just as the doctor was coming away, and he said she must +either go to the hospital or have a trained nurse. Mamma went over right +away, and now Mrs. Alroy has sent for your father." + +"For papa! Isn't that strange? Come up to my room, Winnie, and stay +awhile, can't you?" + +"I don't know," said Winnie, hesitatingly. "Mamma didn't say for me to +hurry--" + +"Well, come on then," said Fannie, leading the way up the softly +carpeted stairs. + +Winnie followed with scarcely a glance around. Although Fannie's father +was much wealthier than her own, and his house finer in every way, her +heart was too full for much interest in fine ornamentation; and besides, +child though she was, she instinctively felt that culture and true +refinement are at home anywhere. + +But it was the first time she had ever been in Fannie's own room, and +this she found interesting in spite of the emotions which had troubled +her heart during the day. It certainly was a charming nook, with its +pink-curtained bed half hidden behind a large four-fold screen with the +Seasons painted in oil upon its panels; the pretty white dressing-table, +draped to match the bed, and filled with the dainty accessories of +a girl's toilet; a low, well-filled book case and desk combined; the +pretty matting and rugs; and the many pictures and other ornaments here +and there. + +The girls sat down on a little willow seat, large enough for two, and +Winnie had to begin all over again and tell what she knew about Mrs. +Alroy's illness. In the meantime they heard Mr. Allen descend the stairs +and go out of the street door before Fannie had time to call to him. + +"I wonder if papa has gone to Mrs. Alroy's now," said she. "Whatever can +she want of him? Perhaps she is going to have him make her will." + +"But why should she do that?" said Winnie. "She can't have much to leave +to anybody; and, if she had, Ernestine would be the only one to get it, +wouldn't she? But what would Ernestine do if her mother should die? Who +would take care of her? You know she has always said she would teach +when she had finished school, and it will be years before she does that. +Do you know, if the worst should happen, I'd love to have her stay with +us, and I almost believe mamma would be willing." + +"I think that would be a good deal for your family to do," was the +answer, "but maybe papa would help." + +"I don't believe Ernestine would be helped by anyone unless she did +something in return. But how long I am staying! I must go right away." + +"Oh, stay just a minute longer," said Fannie. "I want to show you my +hanging garden;" and she threw up the long window and stepped out to +a little balcony, almost filled with flowers in pots and boxes, and +baskets full of vines drooping over all. + +"Oh, how lovely!" exclaimed Winnie. + +"Yes, isn't it? I care more for this than anything else I have," Fannie +replied, breaking off a bunch of heliotrope and pinning it to her +friend's dress. + +"Oh, thank you!" said Winnie. "But now I must go." + +"Yes, I suppose you must," said Fannie, reluctantly. "I'll put on my hat +and go a ways with you." + +They went down the stairs and out into the street together, talking +alternately--as people do under such circumstances--of trivial things +and of that which filled their hearts. + +When Winnifred reached home, she found her mother seated at the open +window of the sitting-room, darning a pair of stockings--a homely enough +occupation, but to Winnie's eyes her mother had never looked so dear or +so beautiful, and she went and put her arms about her neck. Her mother +returned the embrace, holding her close for a moment, and then she said +gently: + +"Have you your lessons for Monday, dear?" + +"Oh, mamma," said Winnie, "it does not seem to me as if I can ever study +again!" + +"Is there any nearer duty, Winnie?" + +"I don't know--I suppose not. But, mamma, I can't put my mind on my +lessons, when Ernestine's mother is so sick." + +"Can you help Ernestine any by neglecting your own duties, dear? You +do not recognize Giant Despair when he comes in the guise of love and +sympathy for your friends, but he it is who comes at these times. You +know in Whose hands are the issues of life and death, of health and +sickness. You cannot help Ernestine's future by worrying over her +present; but you may mar a portion of your own by neglecting your +present." + +Winnie could not help knowing that her mother was right. She took out +her books, and was soon so hard at work that her disturbed emotions +were quieted, and by supper time, though still full of sympathy for her +friend, she was quite herself again, and ready to play the accompaniment +to the new piece her brother was learning. And when she went to bed, +it was to sleep peacefully, rather than to lie awake fighting unseen +terrors, as Mrs. Burton well knew would have been the case with her +high-strung child had she been allowed to brood over the events of the +day. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW. + + +The next day at breakfast Mrs. Burton announced her intention of going +to see Mrs. Alroy instead of attending church, and said that if she +were not home to dinner they might know she had thought it necessary to +remain. + +"Mayn't I go with you, mamma?" asked Winnifred. + +"I think it would not be best for either Ernestine or yourself, Winnie, +and certainly not for Mrs. Alroy." + +Winnie at once saw that her mother was right, and instead of demurring, +she went and gathered some beautiful clusters of lilacs for Ernestine, +and cut the one white rose in bloom on her window-sill to send to Mrs. +Alroy. + +Mrs. Burton set off, taking a basket of fruit and the flowers, but she +sighed as she turned the corner leading to Mrs. Alroy's, for she felt +that the fruit would never refresh the world-weary woman for whom it was +intended. + +When she reached her destination she glanced apprehensively up to the +second-story windows, for, although she said nothing about it to Winnie, +she had on the previous day given up all hope of Mrs. Alroy's recovery. +But the sorrowful banner which she had dreaded to see was not there, and +she breathed more freely as she passed up the stairs. + +In answer to her low knock the door was opened by Ernestine, who smiled +as Mrs. Burton took her hand, a sad little smile of welcome which went +to her visitor's heart. + +"Mamma is resting quite easily now, but she passed a painful night. I +will tell the nurse you are here. How beautiful the flowers and fruit +are!" she said, as Mrs. Burton handed the basket to her. + +"Yes, dear; the lilacs are for you--you know their odor is too strong +for a sick-room--but Winnie sent this rose from her own little monthly +to your mother." + +Ernestine's lips quivered, as she took the rose without speaking, and +went into the little bedroom, closing the door gently behind her. + +Mrs. Burton found a vase, which she filled with water to put the lilacs +in, and sat down to await the nurse's coming. She had not long to wait. +The nurse, entering, closed the door behind her as softly as Ernestine +had done, and motioned Mrs. Burton to follow her into the little +kitchen. + +"There is not the slightest hope," said she, in answer to Mrs. Burton's +anxious inquiry. "The doctor says it may be a matter of hours only, +although she may live for some days yet. It is neuralgia of the heart +and she has been suffering exceedingly. However, she is resting easier +now--which is not a good sign, you know--and wants to see you. She has +asked me to send her daughter on some little errand, because she wants +to see you alone." + +They entered Mrs. Alroy's room together, and Ernestine, at a sign from +the nurse, followed her out of the room. Mrs. Alroy took Mrs. Burton's +outstretched hand, and for a moment neither spoke. Then the former said +quietly: + +"Please sit down, Mrs. Burton, for I have much to say to you. And I +cannot speak long at a time, so you will have to be patient with me. You +are not in a hurry?" + +"My dear Mrs. Alroy, I have the day at your disposal. Do not hesitate to +command me." + +"You know something of my past life--so I found out yesterday. I need +not touch upon it further. It is past now and I no longer regret it. But +it is of the future I wish to speak. Not my own--that lies beyond our +knowing--but of my daughter's--" + +The sick woman put her hand over her eyes a moment, and Mrs. Burton +walked to the window to fight back the tears which were fast rising to +her eyes. Mrs. Alroy was the first to regain control of herself, and as +Mrs. Burton resumed her seat, she went on: + +"I had a long talk with Mr. Allen yesterday. He knows my family and I +have placed my affairs in his hands. I have no doubt that Ernestine +will be taken care of, but it is of her immediate future that I wish to +speak. I would not have her go among strangers at once, and I am about +to ask a great favor of you. The child loves you next to myself; your +daughter is her dearest friend--" + +"Winnifred feels it an honor to be thought so. Nothing would please both +of us, all of us, better than to have Ernestine make her home with us +for as long a time as she may desire." + +"You give me courage to die. You could almost give me courage to +live--but not quite. Yes, that is what I wish to ask of you, but only +for the remainder of the school year. Preparing for the high-school +examination will occupy my little girl's mind and help her to bear the +separation, and after that--in the shadow of death pride vanishes, and +I have requested Mr. Allen to write to my brother. They will settle +everything else." She sank back on her pillows and closed her eyes +wearily. + +Mrs. Burton could not immediately command her voice, but laid her hand +gently on that of the sick woman. The latter, without opening her eyes, +continued: + +"I shall not last long; this pain has too constantly been hovering about +my heart; it cannot be driven back again; it must soon strike its last +blow. But I do not fear it; it will be sharp but quick. Nor do I wish to +live. Even my little daughter's wonderful love for me can no longer hold +me. Besides, I know that from a material point of view she will only +profit by my departure. She does not know that, and I am all she +has--and I have not had the courage to tell her. This hard task I must +ask you to do for me. I have only a hope--to you that hope is certainty. +Your views are different; you can soften the blow as I cannot do. You +will stay here awhile?" + +"Anything I can do for you is too little." + +"I have been loquacious, but I had long restrained myself. What time is +it?" + +"Half past eleven." + +"Ernestine will soon be here, and I will tell her to make a cup of tea +for you." + +"Oh, no--" + +"Yes, it will give her occupation and relieve the strain. There she is +now." + +Ernestine came in with soft footsteps. "How do you feel now, mamma?" she +asked gently. + +"Quite easy, dear. I think I shall sleep for a little while. Mrs. Burton +will stay to lunch, and you may make a cup of tea for her and yourself. +The nurse will stay with me now; you can call her." + +The nurse came, and Mrs. Burton and Ernestine left the room together. + +After the sad little lunch Mrs. Burton, summoning up all her courage, +spoke. + +"Ernestine," she said, "your mother has asked me to tell you something +which she would gladly spare you knowledge of, but which you must know. +She is going on a long journey, from which she can no more return to +you. But you will one day go to her." + +Ernestine's great eyes dilated wildly. "You mean that my mother is +going--" + +"My dear, my dear! Your mother walks in the valley of the shadow of +death, yet she fears no evil. You--and I and all who love you and +her--are enveloped in its gloom, but if she fears not passing to the +Unknown, shall we fear for her or for ourselves?" + +"I cannot do without my mother, Mrs. Burton! I cannot! I cannot! She is +all I have--all I want!" and the girl burst into a tempest of tears. + +Mrs. Burton gathered her up in her arms and let her weep undisturbed for +some minutes. Then she said gently: + +"Your mother wants to go. If she could live longer, she would seldom be +free from pain. Besides, it is God's will." + +"Oh, my mother! my mother!" And Ernestine dropped upon her knees. + +Mrs. Burton went out and left her, knowing that the stricken child's +hope was in a Comforter greater than herself. + +When Ernestine went in later, pale but quiet, her mother turned toward +her with a smile. + +"Kiss me, my daughter, my baby!" she said, "and be at peace, as I am." + +The windows of the little bedroom faced the west, and toward evening +Mrs. Alroy asked the nurse to draw back the curtains. "It has been a +stormy day," she said, "but the sun is setting clear. I think I will go +to sleep." + +And she closed her tired eyes, and "fell on sleep" without being touched +by the dreaded pain. + +When they knew that it was indeed all over, they led Ernestine away, and +she allowed them to put on her hat and went submissively home with Mrs. +Burton. + +When she returned to her own home again, the little room had been +transformed into a bower of flowers, and Mrs. Alroy slept under their +fragrant covering, beautiful and serene, with a smile on her lips. +Ernestine was met on the threshold by a tall, handsome man, who put his +arms about her and said how glad he was to see his little niece. He had +come at once in response to Mr. Allen's telegram. + +All was quiet and beautiful. A dozen or so friends gathered to listen +to the sweet words of farewell to the dead and of benediction to the +living; and then Mr. Van Orten took his sister home with him, that she +might lie beside her kindred in the little old village on the banks of +the Hudson. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +A BUSY MONTH. + + +Mr. Van Orten left his niece behind him reluctantly, but Mr. Allen had +convinced him that his sister had decided wisely, and that nothing +could be better for Ernestine during the coming month than the calm and +cheerful atmosphere of Mrs. Burton's home. Ernestine's own cot had been +brought and placed in Winnie's room, and the two girls were tucked in +every night by the same motherly hands. Little Ralph took Ernestine +at once into his affections, made her smile at his quaint fancies and +cunning little tongue, and his father and brother treated her as if she +had always been one of them. + +The end of the school year was rapidly approaching, and there was a +great deal of work to be done. Ernestine and Winnie were both anxious +to do honor to their school and to the teachers who had worked with +them hard and patiently, so every minute was occupied in some way, and +Ernestine had no time for unhealthy grieving. + +On Saturday afternoons Fannie and Miriam and Gretta came to Mrs. +Burton's, and they all went over the week's work together. Sometimes +Mr. Allen and Fannie came and took Winnifred and Ernestine for a drive +through the beautiful suburbs, and one evening they had another row on +the river with Uncle Fred and Aunt Kitty. + +And so the weeks wore away and brought the bright June day when they +all walked together to the high-school to take their examination +seats. Their hearts beat high with hope and courage, and swelled with +self-importance not altogether to be made light of; for it had been +their aim for many months to gain this last fight of their school year +on the very field on which they would plant their banners of occupation +if they won. And win they felt sure they would, for this was but the +supreme test to prove the force and earnestness of what had gone before. + +"On, on to victory!" laughed Miriam each morning, waving her hands high +above her head. And "On, on to victory!" laughed the four other girls, +echoing her cry. + +How they worked that week, their young heads bent over their papers, +while their young eyes carefully perused those wonderful "printed +questions"! The five, so different in manner, but so alike in aim and +purpose--Ernestine, calm, deliberate, direct; Fannie, thoughtful but +rapid; Gretta, neat, painstaking, and a little anxious; Miriam, dashing +ahead impulsively, scratching out a word here or inserting one there, +doing twice to thinking once, but thinking that once well; and Winnie, +absorbed, thorough and confident--were noted with interest by the +stranger teachers watching them, for they had learned to work with a +definite aim which showed itself in their very attitudes. + +They took the questions home with them, and each day the five might +be seen at the home of one or the other, again going over the work, +replying one at a time and sometimes all at once to the oft-repeated +query, "How did you answer this?" or "Did you prove that?" + +Sometimes the group was joined by one or more of their other classmates, +and once Josie Thompson, wearing her brightest dress and biggest pin, +called to them as she passed: "Isn't this a horrid old examination? I +know I won't pass, and I don't care if I don't. My mother says if I fail +she'll take me out of school, and I'll be glad of it. I can't see any +fun in digging every minute, and what's the use of all this high-school +stuff anyhow! I can have a better time without it." + +And on the last day she waved her hands to them across the street and +shouted: "Good-by, girls! I know it's all up with me!" + +"Poor Josie!" said Ernestine, after they had gone home; "trying so hard +to have a good time, and missing it after all." + +"Yes," said Mrs. Burton, laying her hand gently on the girl's head, +"like the dog in the fable, she is losing the substance to grasp at the +shadow." + +"Tell me about the dog in the table, Ernie," said Ralph, pulling at +Ernestine's dress to attract her attention. + +"I don't think I know, you little dear!" she said, laughing gently at +his mistake. "We must ask your mamma to tell us both." + +"Then 'Innie must hear, too!" said the child, running to the door to +call his sister. + +It was what Miriam called a "delicious" evening, and after tea she and +Fannie and Gretta came strolling over to talk about the events of the +week and reassure each other that "all was well." Ralph looked upon each +of them as his own particular friend and in a sense his charge, and +so he now proceeded to enlighten them on the subject of the dog in the +fable as follows: + +"There was a dog and a table," he said, "but I don't know what the table +was for, because he didn't eat on a table, you know, 'cause he was on'y +a dog; but he stealed a bone, and he was wunning away wid it over some +watah, and saw his shadow looking like anudder dog wid a bone, an' he +was so greedy dat he dropped his bone to get de bone of de odder dog +in de ribber, and so he lost his own bone and didn't get any odder, and +Josie Thompson didn't get any bone eider." + +"Oh, Ralph," said Winnie, "you tell everything you know, besides much +that you don't!" + +How the girls laughed when Winnie explained! And all the more as +laughter came easy to them, with hearts light from the consciousness of +a well-spent year which had brought its reward. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +A TRIP TO MAMMOTH CAVE. + + +One evening, shortly after the examination, Fannie said to her father: +"Papa, I want to invite the club for a last meeting before Ernestine +leaves us. I wish I could have something in the way of a treat different +from anything we have had." + +"I don't know about that. Your mother is so busy getting ready for the +summer, and we are going away so soon, that I hardly see how we can +arrange it." + +Fannie looked at her father in blank dismay. But he went on unmoved: + +"In fact, Fannie, I have been thinking that these meetings, as you call +them, are becoming somewhat monotonous." (Fannie's eyes opened wide.) +"No, I don't think we can have it at all." + +This was too much, and Fannie's speechless indignation found voice: +"Papa Allen, I didn't think this of you!" Then, seeing the well-known +twinkle in his eyes, she perched herself on his knee and said, "Now, +papa, what are you up to?" + +"Well, as the immortal Peter Pindar says, as reported by McGuffey, +'I love to please good children,' and as you have all been 'kind and +civil,' I have concluded to give you what I call a grand treat. So +prepare for a shock." + +"Go ahead, papa. I'm not afraid of it at all; what I was afraid of +was--none." + +"Well, what do you say to my taking all of you, the whole company of +warriors, to Mammoth Cave?" + +Fannie sprang from his knee and fairly danced around the room for joy. +Then she quieted herself and said, "When, papa?" + +"Just before the Fourth, I think. Your mother and I will go, and +possibly Ernestine's uncle, who will be here by that time; and I thought +we might invite 'Miss Kitty,' of whom I have heard so much." + +So it came about that on a warm afternoon in July, a party of eight, +escorted to the boat by several friends, ascended the narrow staircase +of the steamboat, and made themselves comfortable on deck until the +"All aboard!" was heard, when the escort hurried down the stairs to the +wharf. + +When the boat had floated entirely out of sight of the waving +handkerchiefs of their friends, the party, taking their hand luggage, +went into the cabin to find their staterooms and deposit their +belongings. They had four staterooms in all. Fannie and Miriam occupied +one communicating with that of Fannie's parents; and Ernestine, Gretta, +Winnie and her Aunt Kitty had another similar suite. This duty over, +they went on deck to enjoy the sweet, fresh air from the river and the +beautiful scenery along its banks. + +Just after the short landing which had been made at Lawrenceburg, supper +was called, and they were all ready to respond. The colored waiters were +delighted to find such a party of young girls, and served them with the +utmost alacrity, anticipating every want in a delightful manner. + +After supper they sat on deck till long after dark. Mr. Allen and Mr. +Van Orten were exchanging reminiscences of their college days; and +later, joined by Mrs. Allen, of summers passed at beautiful Lake George +and in the White Mountains. To all of this the remainder of the party +listened with absorbing interest. However, the air, which had first +given them so good an appetite for supper, now made them sleepy, so that +by ten o'clock the girls had all climbed into their narrow berths and +were soon sound asleep. + +They had breakfast on the boat, so were ready to continue their +journey by rail without interruption. After a pleasant ride through a +picturesque country they reached Cave City, where they were transferred +to a tram--an engine and one coach--which took them first up and then +down hill over a road cut right through the woods, so that in some +places the trees almost interlaced over the top of the coach. It was +most delightful to all the party, and would have been only too short had +it not been for what was to follow. It formed a fit introduction to the +sublime and wonderful results of Nature's long and patient work which +they were to see. Therefore, in spite of the novelty and beauty, they +were glad to reach the hotel, a long, rambling, wooden building, so +unlike anything the girls had ever before seen that the short stay +within its quaint rooms, with their bare floors and whitewashed walls, +was in itself an experience long to be remembered. + +After a night's refreshing sleep they were ready to start out bright +and early for the first day's adventures. With many girlish giggles they +arrayed themselves in the costumes provided by the Cave management--the +short woolen skirts and loose blouses carrying with them a delightfully +free and unconventional feeling--and then, at the sound of the gong, +set forth with their guide; Mr. and Mrs. Allen in the lead, close behind +them Miss Kitty and Miriam, next Fannie and Gretta, then Ernestine +with one hand locked in that of her uncle and the other tightly holding +Winnie's fingers, while the interesting and friendly dog, "Brigham,"--so +called, the guide explained, because he was no longer young--divided his +attentions between them, but seemed most inclined to make friends with +Miss Kitty, who was accused of having a piece of meat in her pocket as +the only way to account for her mysterious fascination for his dogship. + +They had a short but beautiful walk through the fern-decorated woods, +down a steep path, over a little bridge, till they found themselves on +a stone platform directly in front of an enormous opening in the hill, a +natural arch overhung with trees, rocks, ferns and wild-flowers--a sight +never to be forgotten, so wonderfully beautiful and grand was it--and +the party stepped back to admire it. + +When they went forward again in order to enter, they saw that what was +an arch above was a gaping chasm below, which looked ready to swallow +them, and down which there seemed no way to go except to fall headlong. +Their guide watched their dismay with amusement, but presently Miriam +discovered a narrow flight of steps cut out of the solid rock. Down +these they went, shaded by the trees, under the sparkling cascade, +beneath the black, overhanging rock, winding their way along to where +the last bit of daylight is swallowed up, and then, with various kinds +of sensations, watched the guide unlock the iron gate through which they +were to pass on their way to the mysterious region of the nether world. +As they took their lamps and the gate closed behind them with a clang, +Miriam confided to Miss Kitty that she felt little shivers running up +and down her back. + +As the darkness became more intense, Winnie slipped away from Ernestine +to her Aunt Kitty, whose hand she seized with a breath of relief, as if +feeling safer there; and Gretta and Fannie clung closely together. + +As they advanced, the sense of mystery increased, and for a minute +the girls huddled together in a bunch. Brigham, however, sniffed once +more--a little contemptuously, according to Miss Kitty--and then ran +ahead on side trips of his own, returning to the party from time to +time as if to reassure them that everything was all right and they +might place implicit confidence in his knowledge of the Cave and his +friendship for them. + +Their first stop was made in the Rotunda in order to examine the +saltpeter vats, in which Ernestine, in keeping with her liking for +history, was much interested when she heard that the saltpeter made here +was taken to Philadelphia to be used in the manufacture of gunpowder +during the war of 1812. + +Presently they entered Methodist Hall--so named, as they were assured +by their guide, "because it's a heap too dry for the Baptis'." In this +place was the natural pulpit from which--so tradition says--Booth once +delivered Hamlet's soliloquy. + +Next they came to Gothic Avenue, where their way lay along piles of +stone erected by admirers of famous men, States, and so on. There was +one little pile which seemed to have been neglected, and Miss Kitty +asked whose it was. On being told that it was the Old Maid's Monument, +she exclaimed: "I shall find nothing nearer my heart!" and, picking up a +stone, carefully balanced it on the top of the pile. But in spite of her +care, it rolled off. "That's a shore sign, Miss, that you ain't gwine to +be a ole maid." + +"Can it be!" she said, as the elders of the company laughingly +congratulated her. "Once more I feel a breath of hope." + +By and by they reached Register Hall, which has been aptly described as +a huge autograph album, for on its ceiling, smoked by burning candles, +can be found names and addresses from all parts of the world, while +address cards are placed in numberless nooks and crevices. Here Gretta +sat in the arm-chair in which, so it is said, Jenny Lind once sat and +sang. + +The next thing which pleased all of them, and particularly Fannie, was +the water clock--a tick-tock sound made by the dropping of a little +stream of water into a pool below--and they all laughed at William when +he said, "But it ain't a eight-day clock, because it runs down every +twenty-four hours." + +When they saw the Giant's Coffin they looked upon it with awe--for it +was a gruesome sight enough--until Mr. Allen said in a loud aside to Mr. +Van Orten: + +"This is the coffin in which the Warrior Maidens deposit the bodies of +their victims." + +Mrs. Allen smiled faintly, but Miss Kitty--more at Mr. Van Orten's +puzzled expression than at the speech itself--laughed outright. Winnie +and Ernestine had not heard, and Gretta hardly knew whether to laugh or +be offended, until Fannie and Miriam, catching the joke, re-echoed Miss +Kitty's laugh. + +From a crevice behind the Giant's Coffin they went slipping and sliding +down an incline, and then up and down, till they came to a small, round +opening in what seemed to be a solid wall. "Stay here," said the guide; +and he disappeared through the hole with his lights. Then he called to +them, and, peering through the aperture, they found it to be a natural +window opening into a great, beautiful chamber--Gorin's Dome, considered +by many, said the guide, to be the finest room in the Cave, with its +immense extent, measuring two hundred feet from floor to ceiling, and +covering an entire acre of space. + +From here they went to the pits, and, standing on the Bridge of Sighs, a +lowered ball of flame showed them that they were directly suspended over +the deepest, known as the Bottomless Pit. Winnie and Gretta caught +their breath quickly, and Ernestine's hand tightened on her uncle's arm; +indeed, the whole party was glad to get away from that dangerous spot. + +The next place visited, however, made up to them for any amount of hard +travel or moment of terror. Having retraced their steps till they came +to the original passage, they went on for some distance until told by +their guide to rest for a moment on a convenient stone seat, and wait +there until he called to them. He then took away all of their lamps and +disappeared. For a moment they felt the darkness something frightful, +but before it had lasted long enough to be painful, they saw a vision +overhead of numberless stars shining down upon them from a cloudless +dome. + +That which for one moment in the darkness had almost provoked a cry of +terror from more than one of the party, became a cry of delight; and +then Mrs. Allen wondered aloud how they could see the stars so far below +the surface of the earth. But even as she spoke, the scene changed. +They no longer saw a clear sky, but the stars disappeared behind heavy +clouds, and then they were again in that indescribably awful darkness. +But gradually a soft light was seen, and they heard the bleating +of sheep and the lowing of cattle as they wake in the early dawn. +"Beautiful! Beautiful!" they said, and were almost sorry when they found +out that these sounds were produced by their guide, who turned out to be +something of a ventriloquist, and that the stars and rosy dawn are but +optical illusions called forth by skillful manipulation of the light +thrown on the crystals which sparkle in the dome with its coating of +black oxide of manganese. + +From here they wended their way back, followed by Brigham, who had +waited for them on the road to the Star Chamber, feeling that they had +experienced and seen enough for one day. + +They rested all that day and the next, doing nothing that required more +exertion than short walks through the woods or promenades along the wide +galleries which surrounded both stories of the hotel. Here they swung +hammocks, and rested in the open air between their little walks. + +But on the third day all the members of the party again set out for +the Cave, starting in the morning, for they were warned that going and +returning it would be a sixteen-mile walk. Presently they found that +the road they had taken on the previous day diverged, and soon they were +going through the Valley of Humility leading into Fat Man's Misery, a +place but eighteen inches wide, five feet high, and changing direction +eight times. Through the one hundred and five yards of this place they +twisted and crawled, until they reached Great Relief. Here they stopped +to congratulate Mrs. Allen, the stoutest of the party, and Mr. Van +Orten, the tallest, on having successfully passed this ordeal. + +On again, now ascending a flight of stairs to a higher gallery, now +descending to one below, always surprised at finding the immense columns +piercing through from the highest galleries down to the very lowest of +the five levels of the Cave. They passed through Bacon Chamber--which +Winnie did not think at all "romantic"--and through various winding +passages, to River Hall, where all the waters of the Cave collect, and +where they gazed with awe on the deep lakes. Then they came to the +Dead Sea, surrounded on all sides by massive cliffs, from which they +descended by means of a stairway to the banks of the River Styx, which +the party crossed by a natural bridge to Lake Lethe; then along the +Great Walk, with its fine, yellow sand, to Echo River. Here they found a +boat waiting for them, and, embarking, were paddled along over the clear +water--thirty feet deep--singing, whistling, and shouting to waken the +echoes from the rocky walls on either side, until it seemed--so Miss +Kitty said--as if "Echo had been transferred from her former mountain +home, with all her nymphs." + +But no, it was not the Mountain Echo, but her unknown sister who dwelt +in these underground regions, as their guide proved to them by striking +the long vault with his cane; for it had its own keynote, which excited +harmonies of wonderful depth and sweetness, each sound being prolonged +many seconds. + +Here, too, they saw the eyeless fish, and Gretta even went the length +of pitying them, until Miss Kitty told her that, as they were not "fish +with little lanterns on their tails,"--which she had once heard given as +an explanation of some phosphorescent phenomenon on an ocean trip--and +so could not see in those dark waters even if they had eyes, she need +not waste her pity. + +Soon they reached Washington Hall, and perceived a waiter, who had been +following them at a distance, emerge from the gloom, bringing with him +a great basket of lunch. This was a pleasant surprise, and they +partook heartily of the generous repast, unmoved for the time by their +gnome-like surroundings in the semi-darkness of this great chamber, so +dimly lighted by the various lanterns and torches. + +Beyond this place they found the crystalline gardens, where the crystals +take the form of flowers and vines, and even grapes--as in Mary's +Vineyard--and later they came upon a snowstorm in a chamber so thickly +covered with snowy crystals that they were made to fall like flakes by a +loud concussion of the air. + +And so they proceeded on their journey and came to the Corkscrew. After +a brief consultation, they decided to take this short cut out of the +Cave, instead of going over what is now somewhat familiar ground. So up +they climbed, partly by means of the three ladders, now through cracks, +again over huge boulders scattered here and there in wild confusion, now +twisting up through round holes--five hundred feet of climbing, although +they were assured by their guide that the vertical distance was only one +hundred and fifty feet. + +At last they emerged on the edge of a cliff just over the main cave, +and, as they stopped to take breath, wondered for a moment if they were +in another Star Chamber, for the stars were shining bright above them! +But no; this time it was no illusion, for though they had left the +bright sunlight behind them when they made the descent into the +lantern-lighted darkness, they had been all day in the cave, and were +indeed glad that they had saved the mile and a half walk by their ascent +through the Corkscrew. + +Altogether it was a trip long to be remembered; the more so that, at its +close, when they were all back in "dear, old, smoky Cincinnati," as +Miss Kitty fondly called it, came the first parting of the ways for the +Warrior Maidens. Not the ordinary summer parting, but one which entirely +changed the parallel grooves in which their lives had been running, at +least for one of them, for Ernestine was to go home with her uncle to +New York. The whole Burton family had become so attached to her that +they would gladly have kept her with them as a much-loved member +of their circle, necessary not only to their happiness but to their +comfort, and Ralph expressed his opinion that Ernie's uncle was a bad, +bad man. + +But, while in compliance with his sister's wish, expressed to Mr. Allen +on that day on which Mrs. Alroy had sent for him, he had waited for the +end of the school year before coming for his niece, he was now only too +impatient to take to her kindred the lovely child--the last living link +between their family and the sister whom he and his brothers had so +loved and so mourned. + +And so, one bright morning in July, the little company, each wearing her +badge of warriorhood, went to the station to see their dear friend start +on her journey. There were tearful faces on the outside of the car, and +a pale but earnest and loving face hidden behind a handkerchief on the +inside, as the train slowly moved out of the station. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +AN EXCHANGE OF LETTERS. + + +_Ernestine to Winnifred._ + + New York, Sept. 12. + +Dearest Winnifred: + +It seems a long time since I left you standing in the station, the +afternoon I said good-by to the city which had been my home. I can never +forget you nor the dear schoolmates who made my life there so pleasant, +nor the friends who took me to their hearts in my great sorrow. + +I was happy and contented in my little home, so happy with my precious +mother's care and companionship, that nothing can ever come into my life +to bring greater happiness, or greater desire to do and be good, and our +little society helped me. + +And yet, dear Winnie, I would not have my mother back to suffer. How +much she must have suffered in her isolation from her people, I never +knew until I came among them. Never could orphan have found more lovely +relatives. I inclose in this my letter to the club, to be read at your +next meeting. With my heart full of gratitude to your mother and all the +rest, I am, + + Your loving friend, + + Ernestine. + + * * * * * + +_Ernestine to the Warrior Maidens._ + +Dear Girls: + +When you read this you will all be together at Miriam's and I know +you will wish, as I do, that I could be with you. I am here at my +grandmother's home, and a beautiful place it is, with its large rooms +and fine, old-fashioned furniture. It is in a very quiet neighborhood, +which will seem strange to you when I say that it is but a few minutes' +walk from Broadway, with its crowds of people, who always seem in a +hurry. + +When Uncle Morris and I first reached New York, we went straight to +his home. His wife received me very kindly, and my cousins (one a young +lady, another a girl about my own age, and two boys younger,) were kind, +too, and they all wanted me to stay with them. But my grandparents said +they must have me, and I was glad to come, for I felt strange with so +many new cousins, and was afraid I would find it hard to fall into their +ways. + +I have such a beautiful room, all my own. It has east windows which open +over a little court, where the first thing I see when I throw back +my shutters in the morning, is a fountain sparkling in the sun, with +rainbows in its spray, and birds flying about and bathing in the pool. + +At first there was some talk of sending me to a school to prepare for +Vassar, but my grandmother said she had just found me and could not give +me up, and my grandfather--with tears in his eyes, which nearly broke my +heart, for I knew what he was thinking of--said the same thing; so I am +to have teachers right here at home, and have already commenced music +and French. + +I am sure I shall be very happy; but, for all that, I imagine you all +seated at your desks at school, or chatting with each other over your +lunch, and that makes me feel very lonely. But I mean to make the best +of my opportunities, and shall keep in mind our watchword, "Now," which +means much more to me than when we first chose it. + +I hope we will all meet again sometime, and that you will always think +of me with love, as + + Your loving + + Ernestine. + + * * * * * + +_Gretta to Ernestine._ + +Dear Friend: + +We all miss you very much, and it seems hard to wait for the "sometime" +to come when we shall see you again. + +You remember the idea of "fighting giants" seemed silly to me at first, +but I can see now that it did me a great deal of good, especially about +my school work. I never stood so well in any other examination as in the +last one for the high-school; and I never blamed myself, but always my +"music." Now I see, though, that two things may be well done as well as +one, if only we go about it in the right way. + + Good-by, + + Gretta. + + * * * * * + +_Miriam to Ernestine._ + +Dearest Ernestine: + +How we did miss you the first day of school, particularly when your name +was read as having the highest per cent. in the whole city! And after +the classes were formed, every teacher inquired for you, and all looked +disappointed when they found that you had moved away. + +Our little Winnifred was only five behind you, and not one of us stood +less than ninety. We went back to see Miss Brownlow one day last week, +and she said she was proud of us. She asked for you and sent her love. + +We are struggling with x, y, z, and in Latin have reached "uterque, +utraque, utrumque," which sounds about as sensible as onery, twoery, +etc. I feel sorry for those people who must have found it no laughing +matter to put a different ending to every word for every case, gender +and number, and I must say that for myself I like plain English. + +I saw Josie Thompson the other day, and I laughed to myself when I +thought of her trying to fight her way through such things as these. She +said she was "enjoying herself gorgeously!" + +We mean to keep up with the record of last year if we can, especially +the record of good times. + + With lots of love, + + Miriam. + + * * * * * + +_Fannie to Ernestine._ + +My Dear, Dear Ernestine: + +How strange it seems that your uncle and my father are friends, and have +almost always been friends, and that just as you and I began to know +each other you should have to go so far away! But papa says he means to +take me with him to New York during the holidays, and then I will see +you again. + +It seems strange to think that we really go to the high-school, and +it makes me feel quite grown-up and as if I ought to be dignified; but +Winnie is the same demure little puss and looks very small and childish +among so many big girls, some of whom actually wear long dresses. + +Miriam is as lively as ever, and keeps us all laughing at lunch time. +You know it isn't what she says so much as the way she says it that is +so very funny. + +But it is time for me to get my algebra lesson, so I will close now. + + Au revoir, + + Fannie. + + * * * * * + +_Winnie to Ernestine._ + +Dear Ernestine: + +We had the first meeting for this year at Miriam's last Friday evening, +and the first thing we did was to go up to Miriam's room and read your +letter. I read it out loud first, but that wasn't enough, and it passed +from hand to hand, each one reading it for herself. + +We had such a nice little meeting, and while we didn't talk quite so +much as we did a year ago about fighting giants, I think we all felt +that those we had been able to fight had made it easier for us to see +and do our duties as they came to us. + +After we had read your letter and our business meeting was over, we +went down into Miriam's yard and had a regular frolic. It was a bright +moonlight night, and we had games and told stories and old riddles and +tried to make up new ones--but didn't succeed very well--and by and by +Miriam's brother came out with an enormous watermelon on a great, big +tray. It was a warm night--you know how warm it is sometimes here in +September--and I don't know which we enjoyed most, eating the cool, +refreshing fruit or snapping the seeds at each other. + +We all miss you very much. Ralph still asks when you are coming back, +and no one's paper dolls please him so much as yours did. Sometimes I +feel very lonely without you, but Aunt Kitty says she is sure you will +come to visit us some time, and that we are only twenty-four hours +apart, which does not seem so very far, does it? So I shall look forward + + Till we meet, + + Winnie. + + +THE END. + + + + +[Transcriber's Note + +The following modifications have been made: + + page + original text + modified text + + Page 6 + She began with her greatest bugbear. United States History; + She began with her greatest bugbear, United States History; + + Page 35 + their uplifted swords, their resolute mein, + their uplifted swords, their resolute mien, + + Page 44 + "you may talk, too, if you like" + "you may talk, too, if you like." + + Page 46 + She also helped put these in. and with a few kind words + She also helped put these in, and with a few kind words + + Page 77 + "A glorious night for a game of hide-and seek," + "A glorious night for a game of hide-and-seek," + + Page 85 + Little Ralph took Ernestine at once into his afleetions, + Little Ralph took Ernestine at once into his affections, +] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Girl Warriors, by Adene Williams + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL WARRIORS *** + +***** This file should be named 44133-8.txt or 44133-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/1/3/44133/ + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +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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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Girl Warriors + A Book for Girls + +Author: Adene Williams + +Release Date: November 8, 2013 [EBook #44133] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL WARRIORS *** + + + + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1 class="smcaps">The Girl Warriors<a class="pagenum" name="page_01"> </a></h1> + +<p class="front"><i>A BOOK FOR GIRLS</i></p> + +<div class="center"> + <img class="plain" src="images/i01.jpg" width="230" height="344" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="front smcaps">By ADENE WILLIAMS</p> +<hr /> +<p class="center"><span class="smcaps">David C. Cook Publishing Company</span><br /> +<small>ELGIN, ILL.; OR<br /> +36 WASHINGTON STREET, CHICAGO.</small></p> + +<p class="center smcaps"><a class="pagenum" name="page_02"> </a> +<small>Copyright, 1901.<br /> +By David C. Cook Publishing Company.</small></p> + +<p class="front smcaps margtop4"> +<a class="pagenum" name="page_03"> </a> +The Girl Warriors.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>A BOOK FOR GIRLS.</i></p> +<hr /> +<p class="center smcaps">By ADENE WILLIAMS.</p> +<hr /> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER I.<br/> + +<small>THE BURTONS.</small></h2> + + +<div class="floatl"> + <img class="plain" src="images/i03.jpg" width="178" height="214" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="dropcap16"> +<span class="smcaps"><span class="invisible">W</span>innifred Burton</span> +sat all alone in +the pleasant sitting-room, +curled up in +an easy-chair so +large that her little +figure was almost +lost in its great +depths. The fire in the open grate burned +brightly, sending out little tongues of +flame which made dancing shadows on the +walls and ceiling, and flashed ever and +anon on the bright hair and face and dress +of the little girl sitting so quiet before it.</p> + +<p>It was a dismal day near the close of +January. Snow had been falling steadily +all day, and the window-sill was already +piled so high with it that by and by it +would have to be brushed away in order +to close the shutters. But Winnifred was +so absorbed in the book she was reading +that she knew nothing of all this. The +book was a new edition of "The Giant +Killer; or, The Battle That All Must +Fight." She was just reading how the +brave but tempted Fides lay in the dreadful +Pit of Despair; of how he had fallen +back, bruised and bleeding, time after +time, in his endeavors to cut and climb his +way out, before he found the little cord of +love which was strong enough to draw +him out with scarcely an effort of his +own.</p> + +<p>Twilight was fast closing in around the +little reader, and all the letters on the page +were beginning to dance up and down. +Impatiently shaking herself, Winnifred +slipped down from her chair, gave the fire +a little poke, and settled herself on the +floor in front of it, holding the book so +that she could see to read by the flickering +light. But she had scarcely begun to do +so, when the door opened. She gave a +little jump, and turned quite red in the +face.</p> + +<p>But it was only her little brother Ralph, +who said: "'Innie, mamma says if 'oo +have 'oor lessons done, 'ou'se to come out +and set the table for supper."</p> + +<p>Her lessons done! Winnie glanced at the +pile of books lying on the table by the +window. Yes, there they all were—her +geography, history, grammar, arithmetic. +When now would she have time to learn +those lessons? And she felt that she had +been dishonest, too, because her mother +<a class="pagenum" name="page_04" title="4"> </a> +would perhaps have had something else +for her to do, if she had not supposed she +was studying hard. However, there was +no help for it now, and with a rueful face +she left the room.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Burton was in the kitchen, so that +Winnie escaped being questioned, but just +now she was taking herself to task, for she +had a very guilty conscience, and was wondering +when she was going to begin fighting +her giants. She knew only too well +what one of them was, and she knew also +that if she could not find time to learn +those lessons, another punishment beside +the stings of her conscience would await +her on the morrow.</p> + +<p>But presently her father and older +brother came home; little Ralph ran to +get their slippers, while they took off their +wet boots; supper was put on the table, +and they all sat down to the cheerful +meal.</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Burton had few rules for +their household, but they had one which +was imperative: nothing but cheerful +faces and cheerful conversation was allowed +at the table. Business or household +worries were kept for private conference, +and the little griefs of the children +were not allowed to be mentioned.</p> + +<p>Winnie soon forgot her anxiety in listening +to the things that her father and +brother Jack were saying, and, as the talk +was about politics, and the tariff, and the +state of the market, other little girls may +not be so interested as Winnie tried to +make herself believe that she was. So +this will be a good time to describe them +all, as they sit at the table.</p> + +<p>All of their acquaintances spoke of the +Burtons as a very happy family, and this +opinion was undoubtedly correct, the reason +for which will appear later.</p> + +<p>Mr. Burton is a tall, handsome, young-looking +man, with brown eyes having a +merry twinkle in them; his eyebrows and +moustache are dark and heavy, and his +firm mouth and chin show character and +decision.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Burton looks as young as her husband, +and Winnie is always taken by +strangers to be her younger sister, which +is a source of great delight and comfort +to the girl, as she is very proud of her +dainty and stylish mother. Mrs. Burton +has soft brown hair, always prettily +dressed; her eyes are a deep, soft blue, +shaded by long, curling lashes, and with +straight, delicate eyebrows above. Although +she does much of the household +work, she manages, in some mysterious +manner, to keep her hands soft and white. +Winnie sometimes steals up behind her +mother and puts her own little brown +hands beside one of the soft white ones +with a little sigh—for she would like her +own to be soft and white, too—but more +often with a merry laugh.</p> + +<p>Eighteen-year-old Jack, except that he +gives promise of attaining his father's +noble inches, is much like his mother. He +had been intended for one of the professions, +but all of his talents and inclinations +having pointed to business, his +<a class="pagenum" name="page_05" title="5"> </a> +father finally yielded the point of having +him go through college, and, upon his +graduation from high-school the year +previous, took him into his own real estate +office.</p> + +<p>Winnie has eyes and +hair like her father, +but, in spite of her +twelve years, is so +small and slight that +she looks like a child +of nine or ten.</p> + +<p>Four-year-old Ralph +is the pet and beauty +of the family. His +hair curls in loose +rings all over his head. +His hazel eyes have +such large, dilating +pupils, and such a way +of shining when anything +is given him, +that his young aunts +and uncles, together +with Winnie and Jack, +are always giving him +something for the +pleasure of seeing his +wondering look.</p> + +<p>"Well, my dear," said Mr. Burton to +his wife, as they rose from the table, +"anything on the carpet for to-night?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, if you don't think the weather +too bad, I'd like to call on Mrs. Brown after +Ralph is put to bed."</p> + +<p>"Winnie, I should like you to accompany +Jack in one of his new violin studies, +while we are gone; but you must not forget +that half past nine is your bed-time."</p> + +<div class="center"> + <img class="plain" src="images/i05.jpg" width="498" height="595" alt="" /> + <p class="caption">"Now for the new music," Jack said.—See page 6.</p> +</div> + +<p>Poor Winnie! She dearly liked playing +Jack's accompaniments, but the unlearned +lessons rose up before her, and +she said, "Oh, mamma, I can't to-night; +I haven't done my lessons!"</p> + +<p>"Well, Winnie, this has happened three +or four times within the last week. If +several study bells in school and two +hours in the afternoon are not sufficient +for you to keep up with your classes, I'd +<a class="pagenum" name="page_06" title="6"> </a> +rather you'd go back a year. I want you +to be educated thoroughly, but I can't +have you 'crammed,' and you're too young +to do studying at night."</p> + +<p>"Mamma, that is time enough for me +to do all my school work; but, like the +Little Women, I have something to ' 'fess,' +and if you'll let me study this time, I +think that after this I'll get through in +the daytime."</p> + +<p>"Very well; but remember, if this is of +frequent occurrence, I'll have to consult +Mr. Bowen and see if you are overworked."</p> + +<p>Jack and Mr. Burton had heard none +of this conversation, having gone into the +sitting-room for a game of chess, and +Mrs. Burton and Winnie had remained in +the dining-room.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Burton went into the kitchen to +give her orders for breakfast to Norah, +and Winnie returned to the sitting-room +with a strong determination to work so +hard that she would make up for her self-indulgence +of the afternoon. But little +Ralph came running up to her with: +"Now, 'Innie, tell me a story."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Ralphie, Winnie can't to-night; +see, she has to learn something out of all +these books;" and she pointed to the big +pile of them that lay on the table.</p> + +<p>"Well, den, me'll wead the newspaper;" +and he sat down on a hassock with a paper +in his hand, and looked so cunning that +Winnie had to go and give him a little hug +before she could get to work.</p> + +<p>She began with her greatest bugbear, +United States History; not, however, without +having cast one longing look at "The +Giant Killer," as it stood temptingly on +the edge of the book case. But, saying to +herself, "I'm bound to do it"—a phrase +which had seemed to help her over difficulties +so many times that she almost felt +as if it were the phrase, and not the exertions +which always followed the use of it, +that was helpful to her—she applied herself +with such concentration that, during +the twenty minutes her mother remained +out of the room, she learned quite thoroughly +the three pages describing the Battle +of Monmouth. In the meantime, +Ralph had been put to bed, and Mrs. Burton +had come in, cloaked and bonneted. +As soon as their father and mother had +gone, Jack said, "Now, Win, for the new +music."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Jack, look here! There are two +pages of descriptive geography, ten map +questions, and a short account of the exports +and imports of India to be learned, +and I've six long problems in percentage +to work."</p> + +<p>"Whew! Then my cake's dough! But +how is it that you have all this to do to-night? +I thought we were to spend our +evenings in helping and entertaining +each other; that was what I understood +mother to say when she changed your +hour for bed from half past eight to half +past nine. Ah! Win, I know what it is; +you've been at your old tricks, you little +bookworm!"</p> + +<p>"Don't tease, Jack. I'm sorry enough +<a class="pagenum" name="page_07" title="7"> </a> +for it now, and I'll be ready to help you +to-morrow night."</p> + +<p>"To-morrow! Always to-morrow! But +to-morrow our debating club meets, and +that settles that. I'll have to play without +accompaniment, that's all."</p> + +<p>Winnie heaved a sigh. It was a disappointment +to her, too, but she resolutely +forbore to say more about the matter. It +took her, however, until nearly nine +o'clock to learn her geography lesson, and +when her bed-time came, she had but four +of the problems solved. She would much +have liked to remain up an hour longer, +but of direct disobedience Mrs. Burton's +children were seldom guilty, so Winnie +gathered up her books, ready to take to +school in the morning, and went to her +room.</p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER II.<br /> + +<small>GOOD RESOLUTIONS.</small></h2> + + +<div class="floatl"> + <img class="plain" src="images/i07.jpg" width="172" height="226" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="dropcap16"> +<span class="smcaps"><span class="invisible">W</span>innie</span> +was having a +confused dream of a +little dwarf, armed +with a long column +of figures, which he +waved threateningly +in the air; but as +she advanced to seize +them, thinking to use them for her lessons +during the day, the dwarf commenced to +grow, and, as she stood amazed and horror-struck, +he attained the height of ten +feet or so, and was still growing when +she heard the tinkling of a bell, and a +voice said: "Wizard, avaunt!" At this +the giant disappeared, and the whole column +of figures fell on the floor in a confused +heap. She stooped to pick them +up, when the bell rang again, this time +louder, and she grasped—her brother +Ralph, who was ringing the breakfast bell +violently in her ears.</p> + +<p>A little vexed, she was going to send +him away and turn over for another nap, +when suddenly she remembered her good +resolutions of the evening before, and, to +Ralph's surprise, sprang up at once.</p> + +<p>Having dressed herself, she turned the +bedclothes back to air, and, with the exception +of making her bed, which was +done by Norah later in the day, put everything +in her dainty pink room in nice +order. Then she sat down to select her +verse, it being the custom of the family +for each to recite some passage from the +Bible, about which they afterward had a +little talk. She chose part of the second +verse of the sixth chapter of 2d Corinthians: +"Now is the accepted time; now +is the day of salvation."</p> + +<p>When the bell rang for the family to +gather, Winnie was ready to go down at +once, without hurry or confusion, or being +haunted by the thought that she was but +half dressed. If she received no other reward, +her mother's approving smile as her +daughter entered, made her feel quite +happy.</p> + +<p>Mr. Burton and Jack were not yet +down, but came in almost directly. Her +<a class="pagenum" name="page_08" title="8"> </a> +father read for that morning a part of the +107th Psalm, that most beautiful psalm +of praise and thanksgiving. Then they +all recited their verses. The mother had +chosen hers from the chapter just read: +"For he satisfieth the longing soul, and +filleth the hungry soul with goodness." +Jack had chosen: "Judge not, that ye +be not judged." Ralph said, "Suffer little +children," which was his great standby. +Mr. Burton had a few words to say +about all of them, but about Winnie's in +particular; he spoke about its spiritual and +religions meaning, and went on to say that +it could be applied to all the affairs of life. +He spoke of the folly as well as the sin of +procrastination, that great destroyer of so +many good deeds, which become utterly +useless if done too late. He said that +duties are like bricks used in building a +house; if the foundation stones were left +out, it would be impossible to make any +use of those remaining. After the talk +was finished, the family gathered around +the piano, and sang a morning hymn.</p> + +<p>Winnie was in very good spirits that +morning; an approving conscience is a +great help to cheerfulness and good temper. +She cut Ralph's steak for him, and +pleased him very much by begging for one +of his dollars, as she called the tiny cakes +which Norah fried for her pet. She +amused the others, also, by giving, in the +phraseology of a school-girl of to-day, a +graphic account of the way she imagined +the redoubtable Captain Molly acted at +the Battle of Monmouth.</p> + +<p>Everything seemed to go well with her, +and at half past eight she had her books +in her arms, ready to take a leisurely stroll +to school, although the unfinished problems +still troubled her.</p> + +<p>When she entered her room, three or +four of the girls rushed up to her with: +"Come on into the dressing-room, Win; +we're going to have a meeting of the +B. S. S."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can't, girls!" said Winnie, it +must be confessed very faintly, "I've two +more problems to work, and I'll just have +time to do them before the bell rings, and +during the first study bell."</p> + +<p>"Oh, bother the problems!" said +Miriam Douglass, striking an attitude. +"Let them go! What are problems, +compared with the important business of +the B. S. S.?"</p> + +<p>But Winnie, collecting all her mental +strength, and remembering her "I'm +bound to" of the night before, resolutely +drew back, saying, "I can't, girls; for I've +a giant to kill."</p> + +<p>The girls looked at her in amaze.</p> + +<p>"A giant to kill! You look as if you'd +kill a dozen, single-handed, you midge!" +laughed tall Miriam, for Winnie was the +youngest and smallest girl in the class. +"Whatever do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"I can't stop to tell you now," said +Winnie, "for if I do, I'll lose the first +blow; but I'll tell you about it at recess."</p> + +<p>"All right, since you're determined," +said Fannie Allen; "and I say, girls, let's +postpone our meeting till then."</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page_09" title="9"> </a> +"Agreed!" said the others; and each +one, as they separated, went to her own +seat and busied herself at some study, so +quickly does a little leaven leaven the +whole.</p> + +<p>When recess came, Winnie explained to +the three girls, and Miriam Douglass +laughed at her and teased her not a little; +but somehow no one minded Miriam's +teasing, she was so bright and good-natured +with it all.</p> + +<p>"I suppose," said Miriam, munching +her last piece of butterscotch—for be it +known that the mysterious initials, about +which the other girls of the class were +"dancing crazy with curiosity," as Miriam +said, signified "Butter Scotch Society"—"you'll +be wanting us to give +up the B. S. S. with all its sweet delights, +and go about the world with drawn +swords, and 'front like Jove, to threaten +or command,' neither giving nor receiving +quarter. I can see myself now, as I exclaim, +'Base spirit, beware, lest with this +trusty sword I hew thee in pieces!'" And +she flourished her ruler with such spirit +that the girls all applauded. Just then, +however, the bell rang for the close of recess, +and they were obliged to go to their +recitations.</p> + +<p>Thanks to Winnie's determination, and +her vigorous use of the study bells, she +received a perfect mark in all her lessons +for the day, but she went home in the afternoon +tired and jaded from the hard +work.</p> + +<p>She found her mother in the sitting-room, +sewing, and said, as she threw down +her books, "Now, mamma, I want to +make my confession, and also to thank +you for allowing me to work last night. +I know you have often spoken to me about +my bad habit of putting everything off +till the last minute, and it is almost always +because I get hold of a story book +and cannot lay it down. Yesterday it was +'The Giant Killer,' and I was so interested +in Fides' battle with Giant Hate, that I +forgot I was neglecting my own faults to +watch him conquer his. But now I'm going +to begin killing my own giants, and +I'll commence with my worst, procrastination; +for indeed, as Miss Brownlow is always +telling us, it is the thief of time. +And I want you to watch me and help me. +As to-morrow will be Saturday, I want to +get every one of my lessons for Monday, +so that I can use the Monday study bells +for Tuesday's lessons; then I can always +get through in the afternoon."</p> + +<p>"I think that will be a very good plan, +Winnie; you will then feel at ease each +day about the work for the succeeding +one, and an absence of worry will keep +your mental faculties in good condition, +so that you can do much more work with +less strain of mind or body. And it will +leave your evenings for reading or such +other recreation as may occur from time +to time, for you know I do not believe in +all work and no play. I want to run down +to Shillito's now to do a little shopping, +and I hope you will be able, while I am +gone, to resist your favorite temptation, +<a class="pagenum" name="page_10" title="10"> </a> +for I really believe that many of our +temptations are favorites."</p> + +<p>As soon as Mrs. Burton, taking Ralph +with her, had gone, Winnie settled herself +resolutely to work at her problems. She +had just become quite interested in finding +out the "population of a certain village," +which increased a certain per cent, +the first year, etc., when the bell rang, and +answering the call, she found Miriam +Douglass. Here was a dilemma. But she +said:</p> + +<p>"Miriam, I'm just at work on my +problems for Monday. Come right in, +and we'll work them together."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Winnie, we'll have all day to-morrow +to get our lessons. Do let's have +a good time to-day."</p> + +<p>"I promised mamma that I would do +all my lessons before Monday, but, of +course, Miriam, if you don't wish to, I'll +stop. I do think, though, that we'll enjoy +ourselves just as well if we do this +work."</p> + +<p>"All right, Winnie, go ahead," said +Miriam laughing. "I guess my brain can +stand it if yours can."</p> + +<p>The two girls applied themselves so +well, Miriam being particularly bright in +arithmetic, that by the time Mrs. Burton +returned, they not only had the whole set +of problems solved, but neatly copied and +ready to "hand in."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Burton herself helped them with +their analysis in grammar, and that being +Miriam's great stumbling block, she was +delighted with the assistance. She accepted +Mrs. Burton's invitation to stay to +supper, after which, Mr. Burton and Jack +both being out, Winnie's mother proposed +that the girls should take turns reading +aloud to her from the book Winnie had +been telling them about.</p> + +<p>Both girls had been well taught, and it +was a pleasure to listen to their fresh, well +modulated voices. Miriam, though far +less imaginative than Winnifred, enjoyed +the book very much, and said, half in fun:</p> + +<p>"Why can't we turn our B. S. S. into +a club to fight our giants? We might +then be a help instead of a drawback to +each other, as I know we are now, for +we're always upsetting each other's attempts +to do right."</p> + +<p>"I think that is a very good idea," said +Mrs. Burton. "Union and organization +are such powers in this world, that I do +not see why they should not help four little +girls to do right. You might have +social meetings occasionally to report progress, +and you could have a good time beside. +Talk it over on Monday with Gretta +and Fannie, and if you want help, come +to me."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mrs. Burton, you always do think +of the nicest things! That's just what we +will do, and we'll report a week from to-night. +But now it is time for me to go."</p> + +<p>As Miriam lived only a square away, +Mrs. Burton and Winnie walked over with +her, and on their return Winnie went to +bed happy and contented.</p> + +<div class="center"> + <img class="plain" src="images/i10.jpg" width="230" height="59" alt="" /> +</div> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER III.<a class="pagenum" name="page_11" title="11"> </a><br /> + +<small>STUMBLING BLOCKS.</small></h2> + + +<div class="floatl"> + <img class="plain" src="images/i11.jpg" width="163" height="246" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="dropcap16"> +<span class="smcaps"><span class="invisible">O</span>n the</span> +following Monday +at recess, Miriam +called a meeting +of the B. S. S., and +she and Winnie told +the other two girls +what they were +thinking of doing. +But it was very hard +work to make +Gretta Berger understand.</p> + +<p>"Giants!" said she, "what do we care +for giants? We're no longer little children, +that we should believe in such +things."</p> + +<p>"But don't you believe that we have +faults that we ought to try to conquer?" +said Winnie.</p> + +<p>"Faults! You'd think I had a million, +if you'd hear my mother lecture me; and +my sister Josephine seems to think I +never did do anything right. I never suit +either of them. I'm scolded from Monday +morning till Saturday night, and I +don't want all my play-time taken up in +the same way."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Gretta, who is going to scold you? +I'm sure we'll all have enough to do to +watch over our own faults, without talking +to you of yours."</p> + +<p>"Didn't you say we were to help each +other? How can we do that, if we don't +say anything when one of us does wrong? +No, let our teachers and parents and big +sisters do that. I'm sure they seem to enjoy +it well enough."</p> + +<p>"Enjoy it! Well, I'm sure we can't +blame them. I don't know how else they +are to get even with you, when you never +give in half your demerits for the day, and +sit and sulk for half an hour if you're told +to stop talking," said Miriam, with her +usual heedlessness.</p> + +<p>"Well. I'm not so lazy that I can't pin +my collar on straight and clean my finger +nails; and as for killing giants, I think +we'd better be eating fruit and taffy than +getting into a fuss by meddling with +other folks' affairs!" And Gretta flounced +off in high dudgeon.</p> + +<p>Winnie's eyes filled with tears. All this +was so unlike anything she had imagined, +and now they had gotten into a quarrel +the very first thing.</p> + +<p>"Let her go, Winnie," said Fannie; +"she's always getting into the sulks, and +her father's nothing but a music teacher, +anyhow. I never could see why you girls +liked her so much. I'm sure I never did."</p> + +<p>"No!" said Miriam sarcastically, "we +can't all be the handsome daughter of a +wealthy and celebrated lawyer, more's the +pity!"</p> + +<p>Winnie's heart sank lower. How she +wished she had tried to do right herself, +and let the other girls alone! Now Fannie +would be angry, too.</p> + +<p>But, to her surprise, Fannie laughed +outright. "This is too absurd for anything, +girls. Here we were just about to +sweep the world before us, and now we've +<a class="pagenum" name="page_12" title="12"> </a> +had our first quarrel for over a month. As +for me, I know I'm proud and vain, and I +do like my friends to be rich and distinguished. +But papa says it isn't exactly +well-bred to choose our friends on such a +basis, and he calls my pride silly, and tells +me not to be a—well, yes, he does—a +snob. But I like to be proud. Perhaps, +though, someone else beside myself +knows something, and I'll be glad to join, +and will try to like it when my toes are +stepped on."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Miriam, "I'm sure I beg +your pardon, if I hurt the toes. But I +think your good-nature got the best of it. +As for Gretta, you all know she'll sulk just +so long, anyhow, and when she gets tired +of it, she'll be all right; and if she once +gets this thing through her somewhat +thick head, she'll want to join, too."</p> + +<p>"My! but there's a lot of work before +us! Do you know, girls, I actually lay +awake for an hour last night, wondering +what faults I had, and now, since this +squabble, I've seen signs of half a dozen. +It's taken all the starch out of me. Don't +I look limp?" And Miriam hung her +hands and arms so nervelessly and assumed +such a vapid expression, that Fannie +laughed outright, and Winnie smiled +through her tears.</p> + +<p>"Well, there's one bad habit that we all +have," said she decidedly. "We're always +saying, 'in a minute,' or 'by and by,' or +'to-morrow.' I don't believe we'll get +angry with each other over that, for it +isn't what my father would call 'a personal +peculiarity.'" Winnie did like to +use big words.</p> + +<p>"All right, Winnie, we'll all begin together, +and you shall be the captain of our +first expedition against the foe."</p> + +<p>Winnie went home somewhat comforted, +but still quite unhappy about +Gretta. She longed to tell her mother all +that had happened, but Mrs. Burton was +entertaining callers, and she was therefore +obliged to restrain her impatience.</p> + +<p>On Tuesdays there were fewer recitations +for her class than on other days, and, +having made good use of her study bells, +she was quite through before five o'clock, +and concluded to take Ralph out for a +walk, so she called her mother to ask permission. +Mrs. Burton was quite willing, +and said she might also go to the library +and change her book. Then she returned +to her guests.</p> + +<p>Winnie ran to ask Norah if she would +help get Ralph ready. She found her in +the wooden rocking-chair in the cheerful +kitchen, reading the "Commercial Gazette," +and "taking it easy," as she called +it. Winnie made her request in a very +peremptory manner. Norah looked at +her a minute, and then said: "So you +want me to dress Ralph, do you? Well, I +guess that want will have to be your master, +for I don't intend to break my back +over the wash-tub all day, and, when I'm +snatching a moment for rest, be at the +beck and call of a sassy little girl." So +saying, Norah returned to her newspaper, +completely ignoring Winnie's presence.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page_13" title="13"> </a> +Winnifred knew that it would be utterly +useless to say anything more; besides, she +had been reproved by her mother more +than once for her way of speaking to +Norah. But she was greatly disappointed, +for now she would either have to take +Ralph dressed as he was, or leave him at +home. She finally concluded to do the +former, so, hastily getting Ralph and herself +into their coats, they were soon in the +street car.</p> + +<p>Ralph, as usual, had numberless questions +to ask. When they reached Fountain +Square, they got out, and Winnie, as +she invariably did when down town, +crossed to the Esplanade to look at the +fountain, of which she never wearied. +Ralph said he liked to see the little boys +and girls sprinkling, and then he must +have a drink from the little boy with a +shell in his hand.</p> + +<p>All this took up time, so that when they +reached the public library it was quite +late. The delivery room, as usual at that +hour, was crowded, and, having handed +in her card and list, Winnie sat down on +one of the benches to wait till her number +was called. This took so long that Ralph +became restless and then sleepy, and when +they were finally in the car on their way +home, he soon closed his eyes. Winnie +knew that she would have her hands full +if he went to sleep, so she shook him, saying, +"Ralphie, Ralphie, don't you know +that you mustn't go to sleep?"</p> + +<p>"Me isn't s'eepy!" said the little fellow, +poking his chubby fingers into his eyes to +keep them open; but, finding it quite hard +work, after a minute's consideration he +added, "But there's somefin in my eyes, +'ough."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Ralph, that's the Sandman; you +mustn't let him throw sand in your eyes +in the street car!"</p> + +<p>"No, me 'on't," said Ralph, making a +desperate effort.</p> + +<p>This little conversation seemed greatly +to amuse an old gentleman opposite. He +took Ralph on his knee and let him play +with his watch, and kindly kept him +awake until it was time for the children to +get out.</p> + +<p>When they reached home they found +the family, with the addition of their +grandma, Aunt Kitty and Uncle Fred, all +at supper, laughing and talking in the +happiest manner imaginable. Winnie +was delighted. Aunt Kitty was the dearest +to her of all her aunts. She was +young and gay and good-natured, always +ready to join in a frolic, or to help with +one's lessons, or to take the children and +the children's visitors to the "zoo" or the +park or some other place equally delightful.</p> + +<p>After supper they went into the sitting-room, +and Winnie and Jack played their +last duet, which Aunt Kitty complimented +quite highly. She said to Mr. +Burton, "Winnie does so nicely with her +music that I hope you'll allow her to make +more of it soon. If she goes to the high-school +next year, she'll have more time to +practice, won't she?"</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page_14" title="14"> </a> +"Yes, I think so," interrupted Uncle +Fred. "She'll be putting on long dresses, +and practicing the airs of a young lady +before the glass. But she won't imitate +you, Kitty; your ways will be too youthful +for her by that time," and he gave Winnie's +braid a pull. "Isn't it singular?" +he continued meditatively. "Here Winnie +will be growing older every year, and +Kitty just the reverse. I don't think she'll +have another birthday in ten years."</p> + +<p>"Most assuredly not, if you'll tell me +the way to avoid it. Winnie can have my +birthdays and her own, too," laughed +Aunt Kitty.</p> + +<p>If there was one thing in the world +that Winnie resented as an indignity, +it was having her ears tweaked, and +now she burst out:</p> + +<p>"Grandma, do make Uncle Fred stop! +I think he ought to have a good scolding."</p> + +<p>"Why, he's my baby," said grandma; +"you wouldn't have me scold my baby, +would you?"</p> + +<p>Winnie's expression at the novel idea +of teasing Uncle Fred's being anybody's +baby was one of such amazement that they +all laughed, though Winnie herself hardly +appreciated the joke.</p> + +<p>"Never mind," said Uncle Fred, slipping +a bag of chocolates into her hands as +a peace-offering, "you know I must tease +someone, and your Aunt Kitty is more invulnerable +than Achilles himself, for I +think that even her heel was dipped."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I have a vulnerable point," +laughed Aunt Kitty, though a close observer +might have noticed a queer little +sober look about her eyes and mouth, +"and it is this"—putting one of Winnifred's +creams into her mouth: "the absolute +cruelty of giving someone else a paper +of chocolates while I'm present. By the +way, Winnie, let's go into the kitchen and +make some taffy, while my mother instructs +your mother how to bring up children +in the way they should go; for that +she knows how to do it, witness your +Uncle Fred and myself as bright and shining +examples."</p> + +<p>But for once Winnie held back. At +last she said: "Norah won't like it; +she's cross to-day. She wouldn't help me +get Ralph ready to go down town."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Winnie, I'm afraid you've been at +your old tricks. But come on; I'll manage +Norah, and she has probably forgiven +you before this."</p> + +<p>This proved to be the case, and Norah, +who was very fond of Aunt Kitty, was so +good-natured, not even grumbling about +the "muss," that Winnie felt as if she +were having coals of fire heaped on her +head; and, not to be outdone in generosity, +contritely begged Norah's pardon for +the way she had spoken to her in the +afternoon.</p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER IV.<br /> + +<small>A RAINY DAY.</small></h2> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">"'One by one the sands are flowing,'—comma—</div> + <div class="verse indent1">One by one the moments fall;'—semicolon—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">'Some are coming,'—comma; 'some are going;'—semicolon—</div> + <div class="verse indent1">'Do not strive to grasp them all,'—period."</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="indent0"><a class="pagenum" name="page_15" title="15"> </a> +dictated Miriam to a group of girls in the +school-room, who were "cramming" for +the February examination, and who had +hurried back at dinner time for that purpose.</p> + +<p>"What a queer jumble that makes!" +said Winnie. "I believe I'd rather copy +it from the book. Don't you think that +last line's odd?—'Do not strive to grasp +them all.' I thought that was just what +we ought to do, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"I asked Miss Brownlow that question +yesterday," said Ernestine Alroy, a tall, +pale and thoughtful-looking girl, "and +she said that Miss Procter didn't mean +that we were to let any of them go, but +that we are not to try to seize them all +at once; that it would be like anything +else—if our hands were too full, we'd be +sure to drop something. She said we +must take this 'Memory Gem' in connection +with the motto on the board, 'Do the +duty that lies nearest thee,' and that if we +followed the advice in both of them, we'd +be sure not to let any of our duties go +undone."</p> + +<p>"Ernestine, you always did like to +preach," said Josie Thompson, making a +wry face over the pickle she was eating. +"I think it's quite bad enough to have to +learn Memory Gems, with all the hideous +punctuation, and expect to stand an examination—and +they always pick out the +one you know the least about—with five +per cent. off for a comma left out or put +in the wrong place, ten for a misspelled +word, and so on until, by the time my +'Gems' are corrected, there's no per cent. +left at all. I say all this is bad enough, +without having to understand and explain +them." And she stopped to take breath, +quite exhausted by her long speech.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps, if you troubled yourself a +little more about the meaning, you'd get +higher marks occasionally," said Miriam.</p> + +<p>"Oh, who cares for marks anyhow? +I'm getting sick of the eternal word +'Duty!' Miss Brownlow never misses an +occasion to make use of it. Then we're +always learning some selection with the +same word in it, and now you girls have +taken it up and there's no knowing if you +will ever stop. As for me, I'm going to +enjoy myself while I'm young. I guess +I'll live just as long, if I don't worry myself +to death."</p> + +<p>The brighter girls laughed, and Miriam +said, with quick mimicry, "I think you +will live just as long, if you don't worry +yourself to death. What a speech! Well, +I think you're right; you'll live forever, if +worry is the only thing that can kill."</p> + +<p>"Well, laugh as much as you please; +you can all plod along, if you want to. I'm +going to have a good time."</p> + +<p>"It is hard, though," said Winnie, +plaintively; "it's much nicer to do the +things we like to do than those we ought +to do, especially when none of us want to +do things that are very wrong."</p> + +<p>"It's harder to catch up," said Ernestine, +"than to keep straight on; and I +think if we'd all pray for help not to +neglect our duties, we'd find it easier."</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page_16" title="16"> </a> +None of the girls laughed at this, for +Ernestine was so devoted to her ideas of +religion, and so brave in the profession of +them, that if she thought it was her duty, +she would have knelt down right there +and prayed aloud for them all.</p> + +<p>"Well, this isn't learning the 'Gem,'" +said Fannie Allen decisively; and then for +a few moments nothing was heard but the +scratching of pencils, as Miriam went on +dictating:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">"One by one thy duties wait thee,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Let thy whole strength go to each,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Let no future dreams elate thee,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Learn thou first what these can teach."</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>After the bell had rung for school to +commence, the afternoon wore dismally +away. A steady, drenching rain was +pouring down as if it intended never to +stop. Under the circumstances there +could be no recess, which added to the +general feeling of weariness, restlessness +and disgust.</p> + +<p>Each recitation was a recapitulation, +which made the more studious or those +with the better memories feel as if there +were "nothing new under the sun," and +gave to the triflers, or those to whom study +was a continual climbing of the "Hill +Difficulty," a confused impression of hearing +something they had heard before, but +failed to remember just when or where or +how.</p> + +<p>To add to the discomfort, there was +much copying to be done from the blackboard, +and, as it was dark and gloomy, +there was a complaint of not being able +to see, until the front seats were filled +with a crowd of tired, discontented girls, +with their young faces puckered up into +all sorts of frowns and grimaces. Even +the best-natured among the teachers were +conscious of an utter failure to keep from +showing irritation, and they were made to +sigh for a royal road both to learning and +to teaching. It was with a general sigh +of relief that the bell announcing the +hour of dismission was heard.</p> + +<p>But the discomfort was not yet over. +The halls and dressing-rooms were filled +with an odor of wet wool and rubber; rain-cloaks +and rubbers were confusedly mixed, +and Miss Brownlow reminded the complainers, +in a most irritating manner, of +the number of times she had urged them +all to mark their gossamers and overshoes, +and positively forbade them to expect any +interference from her if anything were +lost. Then some of the girls ran down +stairs, and all were ordered back; and, it +being impossible to distinguish the culprits, +the innocent suffered with the +guilty, so that it was nearly five o'clock +before they were finally allowed to descend +the stairs, and they had been hearing +the exasperating shouts of freedom +from the boys under the windows for a +full half hour.</p> + +<p>Miriam and Winnie, walking home under +the same umbrella, felt their desire to +be good and the courage to strive for it, +at the lowest ebb. Winnie said petulantly, +"I wish there were no such thing +as school! It's dig, dig, dig, and then it's +cram, cram, cram, until, at last, you don't +<a class="pagenum" name="page_17" title="17"> </a> +know whether you know anything or not! +I'm just sick of it!"</p> + +<p>"You'd feel more disagreeable if you'd +lost the third pair of +rubbers this winter, +and had wet feet. I +don't see why it is that +it's always my rubbers +that are gone, anyway. +Mamma will say that I +grow more heedless +every day of my life; +that I never will learn +to take care of anything; +and will wonder +if I think papa +is a millionaire. I +wish now that I'd +marked that last pair +of rubbers."</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear! It's so +hard to do right, and +not to feel hateful and +cross. Everyone seems +to get cross but Ernestine. +But then, none +of the rest are as good +as she is. I don't believe +she ever feels +like doing wrong; and +she always seems happy, +too; not peevish or sulky like the rest +of us. Do you suppose—"</p> + +<p>But just then, too absorbed to notice +where they were going, they ran against +an old gentleman, and their umbrella was +knocked out of their hands into the gutter, +where, of course, it was soon all wet +and muddy.</p> + +<div class="center"> + <img src="images/i17.jpg" width="483" height="650" alt="" /> + <p class="caption">Too absorbed to notice where they were going.</p> +</div> + +<p>Then the old gentleman sputtered and +scolded, and said he wished little girls +would look where they were going once in +a while, and that they were nothing but +"giggling nuisances" anyhow. Then +Miriam dropped her books, and, as both +she and Winnie stooped to pick them up, +<a class="pagenum" name="page_18" title="18"> </a> +they knocked their heads together with +such force that tears sprang to the eyes of +both.</p> + +<p>As a usual thing, such occurrences +would have made them laugh, but they +were far enough from being "giggling +nuisances" on this occasion, and when +they turned the corner and separated, it +would not have been easy to find two +muddier or crosser little girls, while both, +I fear, had forgotten all about the giants +they were intending to fight.</p> + +<p>When Winnie reached home, she spoke +to Ralph so crossly, when he ran up to +her for a kiss, that his lips trembled and +he turned to Mrs. Burton, saying, "Mamma, +is me bad? 'Innie 'ouldn't tiss me!"</p> + +<p>Winnie, at sight of his grieved face, +began to feel ashamed of herself, but was +still too cross to make any acknowledgments, +and, without saying a word, went +up to her room to change her muddy +dress.</p> + +<p>When she came down, Mrs. Burton +looked at her searchingly, but asked no +questions, and it was not until after supper +that Winnie felt sufficiently herself to +tell her mother about the disagreeable afternoon. +Mrs. Burton only said: "Well, +Winnie,—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse">'Into each life some rain must fall.</div> + <div class="verse">Some days be dark and dreary,'</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="indent0">but I hope my daughter isn't going to +grow up into one of those unpleasant +women who always make it disagreeable +for other people when things do not turn +out just as they would like to have them."</p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER V.<br /> + +<small>THE FIRST MEETING.</small></h2> + + +<div class="floatl"> + <img class="plain" src="images/i18.jpg" width="172" height="207" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="dropcap27"> +<span class="smcaps"><span class="invisible">A</span>s a consequence</span> +of the lost rubbers +and wet feet, Miriam +caught such a +cold that she was +not able to leave the +house for the remainder +of the +week. Gretta Burger was still sulking, +and Fannie Allen was, as she said, "reviewing +odds and ends," so the meeting +which was to have been held on Friday of +that week was postponed.</p> + +<p>But fickleness and inconstancy of purpose +were not among the faults of Winnifred, +and although she made many failures, +and the words "by and by" and +"in a minute" were frequently on her +lips, she nevertheless made some progress +in conquering her great fault.</p> + +<p>Her greatest temptation, as is evident +from what has already been seen of her, +was to let everything else go and slip off +into some nook and lose herself in what +she called "a delicious read." And this +habit was all the harder for her to break +because she had commenced it when she +was a very little girl, and it had then +looked "so cunning" and studious that +injudicious friends and acquaintances of +the family, unable to distinguish between +a love for study which costs hard work +and self-denial, and a mere love for narrative +which is easily gratified, had +praised her when she was within hearing, +<a class="pagenum" name="page_19" title="19"> </a> +and had told Mr. Burton how much they +envied him the possession of so studious +and intelligent a child. Not that all +works of fiction are to be condemned, for +they often have a good and lasting influence, +and become a decided factor in the +formation of a noble character. But like +all things intended for recreation, they +should be used only at the proper time. +Winnie was fast finding out that the +proper time was when her daily duties +were over, and that was reducing her two +or three snatched hours a day to fifteen or +twenty minutes. She was also beginning +to find out the close connection between +various bad habits. She saw that procrastination +led to carelessness, disobedience, +and, in some natures, to untruthfulness +and dishonesty.</p> + +<p>But by the following Friday, the long-anticipated +examination was over. Our +four little friends had reason to be well +satisfied with the result, so far as they +were personally concerned. A mutual +content had restored harmony between +Gretta and the other three, and they had +decided to hold their first meeting on that +evening.</p> + +<p>Winnie was very anxious to have Ernestine +come, too; but, although she laughed +at herself for her foolish pride, Fannie +said: "Of course we know Ernestine is a +nice girl, but we don't know anything +about her family, and you know she never +speaks of her father, although nobody ever +heard that he is dead. They may be very +common people, for all we know."</p> + +<p>Winnie was greatly troubled about this, +for she did not like "common people" +very well herself. She had her own ideas +about such things, and she called Althea +Browne "common." Althea wore brass +jewelry, and was always boasting about the +fine things they had at home, and the +grand parties her aunt in Virginia gave. +She was always willing to accept fruits +and sweetmeats from the other girls, but +had been known, more than once, to sneak +off by herself and munch candies and apples +which she had brought. Winnie +thought that if Ernestine's people were +like Althea, she did not want to have anything +to do with them.</p> + +<p>As usual, she carried this perplexity to +her mother, who said: "Let the matter +rest for the present, dear. While Fannie +feels as she does about it, it would not be +pleasant for any of you to have her come, +or for Ernestine herself, and dissension +will not help you to become better. In +the meantime I will consider the matter, +and, if I conclude that it will be best for +Ernestine to join you, I hope to be able to +arrange it."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Burton had invited the three girls +to take supper with Winnie, and, as school +had closed early, and they had no lessons +to prepare for Monday, they had a nice, +long afternoon together. Miriam read +aloud the account of the combat of Fides +with the Giant Sloth, and when she was +through, said: "That is the giant Gretta +pointed out to me; and a hard one he will +be for me to overcome, I can tell you."</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page_20" title="20"> </a> +"What is my worst one?" asked Fannie, +taking up the book which Miriam had +laid down. As she glanced through the +pages she said, with a slight blush, "Oh, +yes; my father would tell me that I must +conquer my pride, and he tries to have +me see how disagreeable it makes me, by +telling me that I will never be a perfect +lady until I have done so. Here, Miriam, +read this aloud, too; you make it so plain +that I almost feel as if I were there."</p> + +<p>Gretta said very little, but she had a +self-satisfied air about her, as if it +were as needless for anyone to be proud +or untidy as for anyone to steal, and she +felt herself far removed from faults such +as these. And indeed she was neither indolent +nor untidy. She rose at six—that +magic hour in which Fides was to strike +his first blow at Giant Sloth—and practiced +two hours before school; she was +neatness itself, both in person and in +all her belongings. Besides, she was +neither so conscientious as Winnie, so +frank and outspoken as Fannie, nor so +easily influenced, either for right or +wrong, as Miriam. So her conscience lay +dormant.</p> + +<p>She was, however, conscious that she, +too, had a habit of not doing things as +soon as she ought, and to try to overcome +that seemed to her almost like a lesson to +be learned, so she was willing to try to +learn it with the others.</p> + +<p>After Miriam had finished the chapter, +Winnie said, "Oh, girls, I must show you +my autographs;" and, turning to Ralph, +who sat by the window, gazing intently at +a couple of puppies which were having a +romp together, she said, "Ralphie, bring +Winnie that book by the window."</p> + +<p>Without moving a muscle of his chubby +little body, or even turning his head, the +child answered: "You just s'pect me to +do evvyfing; I tan't do evvyfing."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Ralph, my little partner in distress!" +exclaimed Miriam, in her most +dramatic way, snatching him up and kissing +him in spite of his struggles. "You'll +have to have a suit of armor, too. Who +would have thought that one so young +could be so lazy!"</p> + +<p>The laugh was not yet over when Mrs. +Burton came in, with her pleasant smile, +saying, "Girls, I've a short story to tell +you—that is, if you wish to hear it; and +there'll just be time before supper."</p> + +<p>Of course they were delighted, and, +Fannie having coaxed Ralph to her lap, +they all gathered around Mrs. Burton, +making a pretty group in their unconsciously +graceful attitudes, as they listened +to the following narrative:</p> + +<p>"Constance van Orten was born in New +York, a descendant of one of the old +Knickerbocker families, but of a branch +which had preserved more of the family +pride than its estates. Money, however, +was not altogether lacking, and to many +people their income would have seemed +sumptuous; but to them, in comparison +with their more wealthy friends and relatives, +it seemed the merest pittance that +necessity could demand.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page_21" title="21"> </a> +"But this comparative lack of money +never troubled little Constance, and fortune +seemed to smile upon her. One +might almost have believed that all the +beneficent fairies had presided at her +birth, so many graces of face and form +and disposition were hers, and so many of +the conditions necessary to human happiness +seemed fulfilled in her lot.</p> + +<p>"She was the youngest child and only +daughter, and her four brothers found her +so charming a plaything, and later so +agreeable a companion, that they took +pleasure in making her life a succession +of pleasant surprises, and her every wish +was gratified almost before expressed. Indeed, +had she asked for the moon, it would +have been a source of genuine grief to +them that they could not get it for her.</p> + +<p>"Pain seemed as far removed from her +as anxiety or grief, for, although she had +an odd faculty of catching all the diseases +incident to childhood, they touched her so +lightly that it was seldom necessary to call +in a physician. If she received a cut or a +wound of any kind, so pure was her blood +and so perfect her physical condition that +it healed as if by magic.</p> + +<p>"Her willfulness was extreme, as might +have been expected from the almost total +lack of restraint under which she grew up; +but so winning were her ways, and so +ready her repentance for her little misdeeds, +that for the most part she escaped +punishment and even reproof.</p> + +<p>"Almost without the power of application, +she seemed to pick up external evidences +of education and culture without +effort. She talked fluently, sang charmingly, +and, having almost marvelous tact, +never failed to please.</p> + +<p>"Being, as I have said, the only daughter, +she entered society earlier than most +girls, and, in spite of her comparative lack +of means, soon became a reigning belle. +During her first season she refused more +than one wealthy suitor, and that, too, to +the intense satisfaction of her parents and +brothers, for she was a veritable sunbeam +in the family, and they looked forward +with dread to the thought of losing her.</p> + +<p>"At last, however, there came, furnished +with letters of introduction to one +of Constance's uncles, a young and +wealthy cotton planter from Louisiana. +His seeming indifference to money and his +prodigal use of it, his pleasant speech and +manner, his languid Southern movements, +so different from those of the brisk +Northerners to whom they were accustomed, +and, above all, the very fact of his +being a stranger, made him most welcome +to the girlish minds so fond of change and +novelty. But it was with the greatest regret +that the Van Ortens began to notice +his marked attentions to Constance and +the increasing pleasure she took in them. +It was not only that a marriage with him +would separate her from them all, but her +father and brothers, constantly meeting +the young stranger at clubs and places +where there were no ladies present, and +consequently where he was off his guard, +found him capricious and changeable in +<a class="pagenum" name="page_22" title="22"> </a> +his opinions and actions, extremely self-indulgent, +selfishly indifferent to the comfort +of others, and so fond of intoxicating +liquor that, on more than one occasion, he +had been directly and shamefully under +its influence.</p> + +<p>"But Constance would not, perhaps +could not, see him in the light in which +he was portrayed to her, and, in spite of +all their warnings and her mother's pleadings, +she consented to become his wife. +Immediately after the marriage, they went +to Louisiana, and for awhile all was to +Constance as her most ardent fancy had +painted it. Their home was in the beautiful +Claiborne Parish, which has been +named "the Eden of Louisiana." Her +winning ways and delicate beauty endeared +her to the new acquaintances she +formed, and made her the idol of the +slaves on the plantation. Here two sons +were born, and the mother felt her happiness +complete. But presently she found +her husband less attentive to her. He absented +himself on long journeys, for +which he scarcely had a pretext, and +when at home was either sullen or irritable.</p> + +<p>"Then the Civil War broke out and he +lost much of his property, and there were +almost ceaseless and taunting allusions on +his part to the "plebeian Yankees" and +the ruin they had brought him. After the +close of the war, however, he seemed to +make an effort to do the best with what +property remained. He became a little +more considerate, and sometimes seemed +to be almost what he had been in the early +years of his married life, and when Constance +became the mother of a little girl, +she began to feel as if, after all, life might +hold some good in store for her.</p> + +<p>"But alas! her husband's good behavior +did not last long. He began to +drink constantly, and at last he left one +morning, without saying a word, and +never returned. Then the two promising +boys died of that dreadful scourge, yellow +fever, and Constance was almost heartbroken.</p> + +<p>"During the war, communication with +her New York relatives had been almost +impossible, and since then, as is usual in +interrupted correspondence, even among +those who love each other best, it had assumed +a desultory character; and now that +Constance felt overwhelmingly disgraced +by her husband's desertion, and knowing +that all this sorrow had come upon her in +consequence of her opposition to the +wishes of her family, she was too proud to +turn to them for help or comfort. But to +remain where she was was likewise almost +an impossibility, for the scenes of sorrow +through which she had passed made the +South a hated prison from which she felt +that she must escape. Besides, her husband's +creditors had seized upon everything +that was left, and the once lovely, +petted girl, destitute, bereaved, forsaken, +raised what money she could from the sale +of her laces and jewelry, and, taking passage +in one of the Mississippi steamers, +started for Louisville. There, however, +<a class="pagenum" name="page_23" title="23"> </a> +she remained but a few days, and finally +came to Cincinnati, hoping here to find +some way to support herself and her little +daughter, without being obliged to appeal +to her brothers for help.</p> + +<p>"But for a woman reared as she had +been, what was there to do? Her slender +means became still more slender, and it +was only after having been subjected to +absolute privation, that she managed to +obtain a place in a store as saleswoman, +and now she and her child are able to live +respectably, if not always comfortably. +Her one joy and source of happiness she +finds in the companionship of her daughter +Ernestine, a girl of character so fine +and religious principles so high that they +would be a credit to one of twice her +years."</p> + +<p>"Why, that sounds like a description of +Ernestine Alroy!" said Fannie.</p> + +<p>"And it is Ernestine of whom I am +speaking, although I hope it is not necessary +for me to suggest that she would not +like her mother's history to be made public +property. In fact, I must earnestly +request you not to mention it even in your +own homes," said Mrs. Burton. "It was +only by a mere accident that I heard this +narrative yesterday afternoon. But I +hear Mr. Burton and Jack in the hall, and, +as supper will be served in a very few minutes, +I must leave you, with an apology +for telling you a sad story, and one which +I would not have ventured upon had it +not been an 'o'er true tale.'"</p> + +<p>"How dreadful!" said Fannie. "And +to think, girls, that her mother was as +happy and well reared—"</p> + +<p>Just then, however, supper was announced, +and Fannie's sentence remained +unfinished.</p> + +<p>After supper, Jack brought out his violin, +and he and Gretta played some duets +together, Gretta reading the piano part at +sight, and so well that Winnie felt her +own poor little talent cast quite in the +shade.</p> + +<p>Then Gretta played some pretty sonatinas +with fine taste and expression, and +gave so much pleasure to her listeners that +Fannie began to think there might be +worse things in the world than being a +"music teacher's daughter."</p> + +<p>After that, to the great delight of the +girls, Mr. Burton sang, in his fine bass +voice, and with the merry twinkle in his +eyes in accord with his extravagant gestures, +a comic song, ending with a little +refrain in which all the Burtons, not even +excepting Ralph, joined, the latter singing +at the top of his voice, and clapping his +hands for accompaniment.</p> + +<p>They had hardly had time to feel weary +of sitting still and listening, when Mrs. +Burton had them all in the dining-room +playing the good old game of "Puss in the +Corner." Here, too, Mr. Burton distinguished +himself by his pathetic appeals +for a "corner." The game left them all +breathless but happy, and they sat down +for awhile to recover themselves and "cool +off," while Jack went to get on his overcoat +preparatory to seeing the girls home.</p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER VI.<br /> + +<small>WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY.</small></h2> + + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page_24" title="24"> </a></p> + +<div class="floatl"> + <img class="plain" src="images/i24.jpg" width="160" height="213" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="dropcap16"> +<span class="smcaps"><span class="invisible">T</span>he</span> +school which Winnie +and her friends +attended was in the +habit of selecting +certain authors, +whose birthday anniversaries +they commemorated. This +year, however, the principal had concluded +to celebrate Washington's birthday +by patriotic songs, declamations, and +so on. In consequence the pupils were +all in a state of great excitement, pleasurable +to boyish and girlish hearts.</p> + +<p>Lessons were shortened, classes dismissed +early, rehearsals conducted morning, +noon and night. From one end of +the building to the other, "spouting" +was heard, gestures were being made in +the most frantic manner, the strains of +"The Star Spangled Banner," "America," +and "The Red, White and Blue" +rose upon the air; and, as the crowds of +boys and girls passed to and from school, +their conversation contained allusions to +"The Father of our Country," or the fine +way in which Harry or Tom or Frank +gave that declamation, or the sweetness of +Mabel Gray's voice, or why Mr. Bowen +hadn't selected Clarence instead of Bob, +etc., etc., etc., until all the air around the +school-house must have been as heavily +charged with patriotism as the air around +Lexington on the morning of that memorable +battle which, too, was talked of, for +there had been much "brushing up" of +United States history.</p> + +<p>The memorable day of the 21st of February +arrived (there being no school on +the 22d), and found the rooms finely decorated +with flags and swords and battle +relics, portraits of George and Martha +Washington, and flowers and living +plants, while the blackboards were entirely +filled with ornamental scrolls containing +patriotic mottoes.</p> + +<p>Two o'clock had been set for the beginning +of the programme, but long before +that time visitors had begun to arrive and +were shown to seats by the two gentlemanly +boy-ushers in quite an impressive +manner.</p> + +<p>Among the visitors, our friends the +Burtons, not excepting Ralph, were represented. +Ralph sat snuggled up to his +mother, his big eyes having their most +pleased and wondering look. Mrs. Alroy, +too, was there, dressed quietly but tastefully, +and looking a perfect lady; having +indeed so thoroughbred an air that even +Fannie's somewhat haughty mamma who +sat next her, could scarcely equal her.</p> + +<p>Gretta Berger took her place at the +piano, and soon the inspiring strains of a +patriotic medley were heard, while the +boys and girls from the various rooms +marched into the hall and took their +places with such a fine idea of time and +military precision of movement that to see +them was not the least pleasure of the afternoon.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page_25" title="25"> </a> +The next thing on the programme was +a sketch of George Washington's life, by +Ernestine Alroy, read by her in a sweet, +dignified way, in a well-modulated voice, +and an expression which showed a thorough +appreciation of the fine character +and life she was describing. One of the +boys followed with a recitation of Drake's +"American Flag." Next a small choir of +girls and boys (the girls dressed in the +national colors and the boys wearing flag +badges) sang the "Star Spangled Banner." +Then Winnie went upon the stage, +and recited the following, which is given +in full, as it is one of those fugitive things +which seem to have no home. It is entitled:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent4">THE USED-TO-BE.</div> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">The mother gathered her children together,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">She folded them close to her heart in glee,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For the red sun had brought them rainy weather,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">And what they should do, they never could see.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And they cried in querulous tones, "Mamma,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Now think back, ever and ever so far,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And see if <i>you</i> ever had rainy days</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That troubled the plans, and spoiled the plays,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">And what you did in the Used-to-be."</div> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">The mother laughed with low, soft laughter;</div> + <div class="verse indent1">She was remembering, they could see.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">"I see, you rogues, what you are all after;</div> + <div class="verse indent1">I'll tell you a tale that happened to me.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I and some wee little bits of girls,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With hair as yellow as shaving-curls,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When it rained for a day and a night and a day,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And we thought it hard to go on that way,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">As we were as tired as tired could be.</div> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">"Up in the attic, in grandma's attic,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">There's a chest of drawers—or there used to be;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Though we had many a charge emphatic,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Not to go near enough to see.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But one rainy day we opened them wide,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And strewed the contents on every side;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">We dressed ourselves in the queer old caps,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The brass-buttoned coats, with long blue flaps.</div> + <div class="verse indent1">And—but wait a minute; papa calls me."</div> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">They waited and waited and waited and waited,—</div> + <div class="verse indent1">"Forty hours, it seems to me,"</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Said weary Kitty, with eyes dilated.</div> + <div class="verse indent1">"Let's do it ourselves; I can find the key."</div> + <div class="verse indent0">They climbed the stairs,—as still as a mouse.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">You might have heard them all over the house.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">They dressed themselves in the queer old dresses,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The powdered wigs and hempen tresses,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Just as they did in the Used-to-be.</div> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">The warning stairs kept creaking and creaking,—</div> + <div class="verse indent1">There was no time to turn and flee.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">"<i>What's all this!</i>" (It was grandma speaking.)</div> + <div class="verse indent1">"I shall take every one of you over my knee."</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And I regret to say that she did,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">All except Kitty, who ran and hid.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And when they went and told mamma,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">She only said, with a soft "ha! ha!"</div> + <div class="verse indent1">"Just what your grandmamma did to me."</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The amusing little poem suited Winnie's +childish face and figure, and her +mother had read between the lines for her, +so that the picture was plain to her mind. +Winnie saw the pretty young mother playing +the little joke on the children, and +the affected wrath of the grandmother as +she spanked each of the little ones—saw +the picture so plainly herself that it was +easy for her to make her good-natured +audience see it, too, and her hearers +laughed while they applauded.</p> + +<p>Of course they had "The Red, White +and Blue" sung by the whole school; +and "America," which can never be old +to any of us; and for further recitations. +<a class="pagenum" name="page_26" title="26"> </a> +"Independence Bell," and "The Blue +and the Gray"—for what patriotic celebration +would be complete without these?</p> + +<p>The finest declamation of the day, +given by the pride of the class, so far as +elocutionary ability was concerned, and +with a drum accompaniment by a corps of +boys well drilled for the occasion, was the +following stirring</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent4">SONG OF THE DRUM.</div> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse">Rataplan! Rataplan! Rataplan!</div> + <div class="verse">Follow me, follow me, every true man!</div> + <div class="verse">Hark to the song of the rolling drum:</div> + <div class="verse">Come with me! Come with me! Come with me! Come!</div> + <div class="verse">Follow me! Follow me! Follow me now!</div> + <div class="verse">Come from the anvil, come from the plow.</div> + <div class="verse">Don't think of the danger which threatens your lives!</div> + <div class="verse">Leave home, leave friends, leave your children, your wives!</div> + <div class="verse">Hark to the sound of the rolling drum!</div> + <div class="verse">Come with me! Come with me! Come!</div> + <div class="verse">Follow me, follow me, every one,</div> + <div class="verse">To where the white camps shine in the sun.</div> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse">Rataplan! Rataplan! Rataplan!</div> + <div class="verse">Follow me, follow me, every true man!</div> + <div class="verse">From the crowded streets of the city, come!</div> + <div class="verse">Follow the drum, the drum, the drum!</div> + <div class="verse">From fields where the blithe birds chirp and sing,</div> + <div class="verse">From woods where your sturdy axes ring;</div> + <div class="verse">Leave the plow in the furrow to stand;</div> + <div class="verse">Grasp the musket firm in your hand:</div> + <div class="verse">There's a grander place in the world for you,</div> + <div class="verse">And nobler work for your hands to do.</div> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse">Come with me! Come with me! Come with me! Come!</div> + <div class="verse">Follow the drum, the drum, the drum!</div> + <div class="verse">Come with me where the camps shine white;</div> + <div class="verse">Hark to my shrill tattoo at night,</div> + <div class="verse">To my loud reveille when morning breaks.</div> + <div class="verse">And the golden eye of the dawn awakes.</div> + <div class="verse">Come with me out to the trenches then.</div> + <div class="verse">Where are gathered scores of your fellow-men</div> + <div class="verse">Beginning to dig with pick and with spade,—</div> + <div class="verse">This is the way entrenchments are made.</div> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse">There's a puff of smoke, and now comes a shell;</div> + <div class="verse">See yonder, there, where its fragments fell;</div> + <div class="verse">Nobody hurt! and above on the hill,</div> + <div class="verse">Our batteries, until this moment still,</div> + <div class="verse">Now blaze away with a deafening noise,</div> + <div class="verse">And a shout goes up from our gallant boys.</div> + <div class="verse">Rataplan! Rataplan! Rataplan!</div> + <div class="verse">This is the life for every true man.</div> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse">Come with me now to the picket! Come!</div> + <div class="verse">Follow the drum, the drum, the drum!</div> + <div class="verse">That's a sharpshooter's rifle we hear,</div> + <div class="verse">And that was the bullet that sang so near;</div> + <div class="verse">There's another rifle, that shrill, sharp sound;</div> + <div class="verse">And yonder's a wounded man on the ground,</div> + <div class="verse">With the blood flowing out in a crimson tide</div> + <div class="verse">From a gaping hole in his quivering side.</div> + <div class="verse">Don't sicken and pale at the sight you see,</div> + <div class="verse">For this is where only men should be.</div> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse">Rataplan! Rataplan! Rataplan!</div> + <div class="verse">Follow me, follow me, every true man!</div> + <div class="verse">Come with me over the battle field, come!</div> + <div class="verse">Follow the drum, the drum, the drum!</div> + <div class="verse">Through the smoke and heat and the storm of lead,</div> + <div class="verse">Adown this gulley piled deep with dead;</div> + <div class="verse">And along the edge of this shattered wood,</div> + <div class="verse">Where the trees are splintered and dashed with blood;</div> + <div class="verse">Then on through this field of trampled corn,</div> + <div class="verse">Where the once broad leaves into shreds are torn;</div> + <div class="verse">Into the shadow of this ravine,</div> + <div class="verse">Where the dead and wounded are everywhere seen.</div> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse">Rataplan! Rataplan! Rataplan!</div> + <div class="verse">Follow me, follow me, every true man!</div> + <div class="verse">Follow me on through the fiery breath</div> + <div class="verse">Of the vengeful cannon, scattering death.</div> + <div class="verse">On through the battle's sound and glare,</div> + <div class="verse">Follow me, follow me, everywhere!</div> + <div class="verse">And hear the cries and the awful groans,</div> + <div class="verse">The piercing shrieks and the feeble moans—</div> + <div class="verse">And the ringing shout which goes up to the sun,</div> + <div class="verse">When a work is stormed and a victory won.</div> + <div class="verse">Rataplan! Rataplan! Rataplan!</div> + <div class="verse">This is the death for every true man.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class="center"> + <a class="pagenum" name="page_27" title="27"> </a> + <img src="images/i27.jpg" width="481" height="636" alt="" /> + <p class="caption">Then Winnie recited.—See page 25.</p> +</div> + +<p>But the crowning performance of the +day, in the opinion of all the girls and +boys, was a little drama, written expressly +for the occasion, entitled, "Revolutionary +Days." The characters +represented were +an elderly lady, two +young girls, two little +children, a negro servant +girl, an elderly +gentleman, a Tory, +and two young men, +Continental soldiers.</p> + +<p>While the platform +was being cleared and +prepared, the girls and +boys who took part +were having what they +called "fine fun" in +the dressing-room, +getting their hair +powdered, caps and +wigs adjusted, and so +on.</p> + +<p>When the curtain +rose, Miriam was discovered, +dressed as an +elderly lady of the +eighteenth century, +sitting in an old-fashioned +chair beside a +spinning-wheel, and +singing a song of Revolutionary days. As +she ceased singing, two little children, borrowed +from the primary class in the "Colony," +came in, begging their grandmother +to tell them something about George +Washington. She tells them that she is +busy, but they persist, and then tell her +that they know some verses about him, +and each recites, alternately, a verse of +four lines, descriptive of Washington's +childhood and school days, and, as seems +inevitable, winding up with the story of +the hatchet.</p> + +<p>As they finish, a negro servant girl +<a class="pagenum" name="page_28" title="28"> </a> +rushes in, in which burnt-cork heroine it +would be utterly impossible to discover the +maiden of the pickles and of the ardent +desire to enjoy herself while young, had +she not been seen in the dressing-room +"making up" for the occasion. She informs +Mrs. Grey that the cat or something +has pulled all the yarn off the reel, and +of its consequent fearful state of entanglement. +Mrs. Grey rouses herself from her +reverie, and asks the children if they know +anything about it. Each accusingly points +to the other, whereupon their grandmother +looks at them sternly, when they +say they "can't tell a lie," that they did +it with—</p> + +<p>They are interrupted by Mrs. Grey, who +tells Dinah to take them away and put +them to bed without their supper. They +begin to howl, and reproachfully tell their +grandmother that she ought to say, +"Come to my arms, my precious children;" +whereupon an audacious small boy +in the audience—a visitor, it is needless +to say—shouts, "Chestnut!" and Mrs. +Grey's face hardens into a look of positive +inflexibility, as if this were the last straw, +and the children, howling and struggling, +are carried away by Dinah.</p> + +<p>Quiet being thus restored, Mrs. Grey +paces up and down, indulging in a long +soliloquy. She speaks of the long years +of war, and the hope deferred which maketh +the heart sick. She regretfully recalls +the bonnie little island, with its +green fields and blooming gardens, which +had been forsaken for these scenes of +hardship. Then, however, she remembers +the days of oppression there, and bursts +into a thanksgiving that they had at last +found a spot where they could worship +God in peace according to the dictates of +their own conscience. Then she thinks +of the Declaration of Independence, and +tries to remember the resolution of Richard +Henry Lee. Seeing the girls come in, +she says that they will remember.</p> + +<p>The two girls, Winnie and Fannie, attired +in short-waisted dresses, big poke +bonnets, and immense outside pockets, are +asked by Mrs. Grey to recall the resolution +which has for the moment slipped from +her recollection. One of them (Fannie), +in answer, declaims the resolution, and as +she comments, in rather excited tones, +"Glorious, mother, isn't it?" Mr. Cranston, +the Tory gentleman, enters. This +was one of the boys of the class, resplendent +in hempen wig, frilled shirt +front, and the veritable "brass-buttoned +coat, with long blue flaps," knee breeches, +and silver-buckled slippers. He tauntingly +informs them that they will find it +"too glorious, when the rebellion is +crushed, and they are all sentenced to be +executed as rebels."</p> + +<p>Whereupon he and the colonial young +ladies enter into a heated argument, with +taunts on one side about the minute-men +of Massachusetts and the battles of Lexington +and Concord, and retaliations +from the Tory about the battle of Long +Island and the miseries at Valley Forge. +They retort with the news of the treaty +<a class="pagenum" name="page_29" title="29"> </a> +of alliance with France, and he replies by +reminding them of the loss of their ports +in the north.</p> + +<p>He is interrupted by the entrance of +the children, who tell the group that +every one in the village is shouting +"Hurrah!" that the bell in the church +is ringing, and that the big flag is waving +over the roof. While the patriots are exclaiming +that "there must be good news," +two young men enter, carrying guns. All +spring up in surprise, and the children +dance and caper about, with shouts of +"Uncle Mark! Uncle John!"</p> + +<p>Mark and John inform Mrs. Grey and +their sisters of the surrender of Cornwallis. +The Tory makes his way out as +quietly as possible, with a very evident +desire to do so unobserved, saying, "Cornwallis +surrendered! Then this is no place +for me!" The curtain falls, as Mrs. Grey +exclaims, with clasped hands and upraised +eyes, "The morning has dawned at last!"</p> + +<p>There was the usual applause, and soon +visitors and children—the entertained +and the entertainers—were on their +homeward way, and the "exhibition" had +become a part of the past.</p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER VII.<br /> + +<small>THE YOUNG WARRIOR MAIDS.</small></h2> + + +<p class="firstlargenoindent"> +<span class="smcaps"><span class="firstlarge">A</span>fter</span> +the entertainment, things +went on in their accustomed +routine. Winnie, Miriam, Gretta and +Fannie became more intimate than ever, +and really tried, in spite of many discouragements, +to conquer their bad habits.</p> + +<p>For a couple of weeks the little band +of "Giant Killers" had had no meetings, +but on the second week after the Washington +celebration, the four girls received a +pretty invitation from Winnifred's Aunt +Kitty to take tea with her on the following +Friday, and to consider themselves invited +to hold their next meeting at her home, +bidding them tell their mothers that the +hostess would see that they arrived home +safe not later than half-past nine. Also, +inclosed under cover to Winnie, was an +invitation for Ernestine Alroy, to be delivered +only in case the other three girls +were willing. Upon Winnie's showing +this, Fannie was the first to propose that +not only should the invitation be delivered, +but that Ernestine should be invited +to join their society.</p> + +<p>The family of Winnie's grandmother +was a small one, Mrs. Benton often saying, +with a sigh, that her children had all left +her except Kitty and Fred. Whereupon +Kitty would take hold of her mother's +hand and assure her, in a serio-comic manner, +that this daughter she would have +ever beside her, "to warn, to comfort, to +command." Mrs. Benton was not +wealthy, but she had a comfortable income +of her own, and as Fred received a +very good salary in one of the large railroad +offices, they always had means for the +comforts of life and many of its luxuries. +They lived in a suite of rooms in one of +the finest apartment houses of the city.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page_30" title="30"> </a> +The "Arlington" was a very large +building, and as the girls were not accustomed +to such immense houses, they had +arranged with Winnie that they should all +go together at five o'clock. Accordingly +that hour found them all standing in the +vestibule together, to the manifest amusement +of the janitor when he answered +Winnie's ring. As Mrs. Benton's apartment +was only one flight up, they did not +take the elevator, but Winnie ran lightly +up the stairs, the others following more +slowly. She knocked at the door at the +right of the hall, which was immediately +opened by Miss Benton, to whom Winnie +introduced the other girls, who more or +less timidly put their hands into the outstretched +one of this pleasant young lady, +but found their timidity vanish almost as +if by magic when they felt her warm, +cordial clasp as she drew them into the +parlor.</p> + +<p>And a very pretty parlor it was, with a +quaint individuality of its own—"just +like Kitty Benton herself," as her friends +were wont to say. There were no two +chairs alike, but they all agreed in one respect—that +of being exceedingly comfortable, +from the high-backed willow to +the low chair upholstered in old gold and +scarlet tapestry.</p> + +<p>On the walls were five or six oil paintings—a +couple of marines, and the others +bright, summer landscapes. There was +one, which Miss Benton had herself +painted, entirely different from the others. +A cloudy sky, with dim, gray mountains in +the distance. In the foreground a single +grave under a willow, but lying in such +vivid sunlight, which came from a break +in the clouds, that it had almost a jubilant +look for so sad a subject, as most people +would have deemed it. On a low shelf +stood a beautifully engraved Madonna, +and on a table near was a portfolio of fine +etchings. About the room were bits of +bric-a-brac of various kinds, among them +a piece of genuine old Wedgwood. On the +upright piano stood a tall vase of Easter +lilies.</p> + +<p>Miss Benton, having helped her young +visitors to divest themselves of their +wraps, seated them close to the open fire, +and then took down the etchings to show +them. These, however, proved a little beyond +them, so she took from the table a +stereoscope and some views, every one of +which had been collected by her mother or +herself during their various trips, and +about each one she told some incident, +amusing or pathetic, so that an hour had +passed away almost before the girls knew +it.</p> + +<p>Fred had been requested by his sister to +take his supper downtown, as she felt that +the girls would feel more at their ease +without his presence. When the bright-faced +maid announced supper, Miss Benton +took Gretta by the hand, and said, as +they all entered the dining-room, "'We +are seven,' and, I presume, if Wordsworth +were here, he would write a poem about +us."</p> + +<p>As the five friends took their places, +<a class="pagenum" name="page_31" title="31"> </a> +they simultaneously burst into an exclamation +of delight. At each of their +places was a bunch of flowers, with a card +on which was a pretty little painting in +water-colors of a young girl, with fair hair +streaming over her shoulders, in full +armor, receiving from an angel a sword. +Underneath were the words in old English +text, in scarlet and gold, "He that overcometh +shall inherit all things."</p> + +<p>The cards were exactly alike, but the +flowers were different. Miriam had a +glorious red rose, with buds and leaves; +Gretta, garden daisies and primroses; Fannie, +scarlet geraniums, a calla lily and a +wild jack-in-the-pulpit; Ernestine, lilies +of the valley; Winnie, ferns and mignonette. +Mrs. Benton lifted caressingly to +her face a bunch of English violets, and +their hostess pinned on her bodice a cluster +of yellow rosebuds.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Aunt Kitty, what a hunt you +must have had among the florists and +markets for all these flowers!" said Winnie.</p> + +<p>"And how well you have suited us all!" +cried Miriam.</p> + +<p>"What is this, Miss Benton?" asked +Fannie, holding up the jack-in-the-pulpit.</p> + +<p>"That is a wild-flower," replied Miss +Benton, giving the blossom its name, +"which was sent me from Tennessee this +week; it does not bloom quite so early +here. If you will examine it and compare +it with your calla, you will see many +points of resemblance; indeed, they are of +the same family, although the splendid +Egyptian calla has all the advantages of +climate, water and sun, which make it the +handsome thing it is. But our little +American Jack, all the same, lifts its head +out of its green pulpit and preaches to us +of the eternal kinship of all things. Put +your geraniums in your button hole, and +after tea I'll put your calla and its country +cousin in water for you to keep fresh +till you go home."</p> + +<p>"How did you know I was fond of +lilies of the valley, Miss Benton?" asked +Ernestine. "It is my mother's favorite +flower, too; she says they used to grow in +great clumps in the yard of her home +when she was a girl, and she never sees one +without thinking of her childhood."</p> + +<p>"Of course I couldn't know that, my +dear; I only thought that you would like +them. Although I had never met any of +you I have heard Winnifred talk about +you, and her little tongue sometimes gives +me queer ideas," said Miss Benton, smiling +at her niece with an air of good comradeship.</p> + +<p>"Mother, let Winnie serve the chocolate, +while I attend to this end of the +table. You see, girls, we only have the +maid bring in the dishes from the kitchen, +for we like to wait on each other," she +said, helping them to chicken croquettes, +cold ham, and delicious muffins, as Winnie +passed around the chocolate in dainty +china cups.</p> + +<p>How they all enjoyed that supper! +They were just like girls in a book, Miriam +said. Everything seemed so different +<a class="pagenum" name="page_32" title="32"> </a> +from ordinary occasions. Even the orange +jelly tasted so much better than at other +times, because of the orange baskets in +which it was served. They sat at the table +a long time, for both Mrs. Benton and her +daughter encouraged their visitors to talk; +and while they were eating their candy +and nuts, they played the game of rhymes +and "yes and no."</p> + +<p>Then Miss Kitty sent them into the +parlor with her mother, excusing herself +and Winnie for a few moments. When +they entered the parlor, they found Mrs. +Benton with her silk socks in her hands, +knitting as rapidly as she was talking. +She was giving them an account of the +old turkey gobbler that used to chase her +when she was a little girl, and they were +all laughing heartily.</p> + +<p>This anecdote led to Miriam's giving an +account of a goat which one of her aunt's +friends had presented to her little boy, +and which was the terror of the neighborhood.</p> + +<p>"My aunt and I," said Miriam, "were +making an afternoon visit at Mrs. Kincaid's, +and, as it was warm and pleasant, +we were invited into the yard to look at +the flowers. My aunt was very enthusiastically +admiring a fine Yucca which, for +a wonder, was in bloom, when the goat +was seen peering through a gap in the +fence which divided the front from the +back yard.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Kincaid immediately took to her +heels, and I was about to follow, when +Aunt Jennie said, 'Miriam, I am surprised +that you should be afraid of a goat. +Even if he were to come near you, you +would only have to seize him by the horns; +it is the easiest thing in the world to +conquer a goat.'</p> + +<p>"By this time Mrs. Kincaid was safe in +the house, tapping loudly on the window, +from which she was viewing the scene, +for us to come in, and 'dancing crazy' (as +the girls say about things), because we +were still outside.</p> + +<p>"My aunt was walking in a leisurely +and dignified manner toward the house, +holding her head a little higher than +usual, and I was following very meekly for +me—for I hate to be thought a coward—when +the goat gave a sudden bound, +broke another picket in the fence, and +went straight toward her with his head +down, and his bob tail switching.</p> + +<p>"Well, Aunt Jennie did turn and face +him, and she really did take the vicious +little beast by the horns. But was he +conquered? You wouldn't have thought +so, had you been there; he just raised himself +on his hind legs and shook himself +loose. Aunt Jennie suddenly dropped her +dignity, and flew, rather than ran, toward +the house, the goat after her, and she just +escaped him by Mrs. Kincaid's pulling +her inside the door and slamming it shut.</p> + +<p>"As for me, I went through the hole in +the fence to the back yard, rushed pell-mell +into the kitchen door, without stopping +to knock, and dropped into the +nearest chair, where I sat and laughed till +the tears ran down my cheeks, to the astonishment +<a class="pagenum" name="page_33" title="33"> </a> +of the kitchen girl and the +washerwoman, who were enjoying a cup +of tea.</p> + +<p>"I was wicked enough to laugh afterward, +for Aunt Jennie did not lecture on +courage or dignity for a month after that, +and I notice now that when we pass a +livery stable she keeps a quiet but effective +lookout for 'the horned monarch of the +livery stable,' as I once heard him called."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm afraid of goats myself," said +Miss Kitty, "and I think there ought to +be a law against their being allowed inside +the city limits. What with the small boy +who torments the goat, and the goat +which cannot distinguish between his tormentor +and any other member of the human +race, every passer-by is certain of being +made ridiculous, if nothing more +serious occurs. But to change the subject, +would you young giant-killers like +to hear a story that I have written for +you?"</p> + +<p>Of course they were delighted, and, the +softly-shaded lamp having been adjusted, +and Mrs. Benton seated so that the light +fell upon her knitting, Miss Benton took +her seat at the other side of the table, and +read the following allegory:</p> + + +<p class="center margtop2">GIANT PROCRASTINATION.</p> + +<p>Stretching off far as the eye can reach, +lies a vast plain, intersected by many roads +of various widths, from the narrowest +foot-path to those wide enough for three +or four vehicles to pass abreast. Pleasant +roads they seem to be, too; wild-flowers of +brilliant hues grow along their sides, birds +of beautiful plumage twitter their varied +notes, and pretty little squirrels and rabbits +dart here and there. But when the +saunterer along one of these by-paths +plucks the blossoms, they fall to pieces in +his hands, and, on near approach, the +birds circle for a few moments about the +head, and then fly away and are seen no +more.</p> + +<p>These by-ways continually lead into and +cross one another, but all at last meet in +one broad road, and this is the road of +"By and By," which leads to the castle of +"Never." This castle stands at the entrance +to a dark and gloomy forest, +through which no path has ever been cut, +and which is so dense and wild that one +draws back in fear, finding it impossible +not to think of it as inhabited by +beasts and serpents and insects as wild +and poisonous as those which infest the +South American forests or the jungles of +India.</p> + +<p>At the right and left of the castle rise +huge cliffs unscaled by mortal foot during +the lifetime of the present owner, and +seldom attempted even during the ages +gone by, when his ancestors, in a more or +less direct line, held high orgies, while +with demoniac laughter they tortured +their victims.</p> + +<p>The present owner and occupant of the +castle is a giant, so skilled in the art of +metamorphosis that he is constantly deceiving +and deluding his victims, each of +whom he approaches in a different manner. +With some he wears an air of +<a class="pagenum" name="page_34" title="34"> </a> +haughty though courteous dignity, and +gives them fair and sweet promises of +granting their every desire as soon as his +plans are perfected and he is ready. With +others, he puts on a smiling, joyous look, +points out to them the birds and flowers +along the roadside, and tells them that +to-morrow all these pleasures shall be +theirs. A different face and garb for +every deluded follower, who ever ends in +becoming his victim; for, just at the entrance +to the castle, still covered by the +seemingly fair flowers, is a frightful +morass, out of which the wanderer is +helped only by the giant himself, and +taken by him thence into the castle, from +which there is no escape.</p> + +<p>The dreadful Castle of Never! And +yet, how fair it looks to those who stand +just outside its gates! Its battlemented +towers, decorated with flags and banners +floating gayly in the air, its many windows, +catching and reflecting every ray +of sunlight, its majestic proportions, make +it seem a dwelling much to be desired. +And either because it is enchanted, or +from some strange property of the surrounding +atmosphere, it often appears to +be raised high in the air, so that at a very +great distance it shows larger, if less distinct, +than when viewed near by.</p> + +<p>It is early morning. The sun himself +has not yet risen, although his approach +is heralded by lovely green and rose tints +on the eastern horizon. The great Giant +Procrastination lies stretched upon his +huge bed, dreaming uneasily, for he +groans and starts many times, but still +sleeps on. The inside of the far-famed +castle shows not so fair as the outside. +There are many things lying about on +tables and chairs, or tucked away under +articles of larger furniture; some of them +are pretty, some elegant, but all unfinished.</p> + +<p>The morning wind, rising as if it, too, +had lain asleep during the night, shrieks +and whistles as if in wrath, or moans and +sighs as though in mortal anguish. And +hush! What other sound is that which +rises above the roar of the wind and fills +one's soul with terror? Alas! it is the +shrieks of despair from the prisoners in +the dungeon, and one hears, mingled with +their groans, the dreadful words, "Too +late! Too late!"</p> + +<p>But who are these descending the heretofore +unscaled cliff? And how comes it +that thus unguided they have escaped the +dangers of the forest, and that, now stealing +upon their sleeping foe from the unguarded +rear, they are not dashed into +pieces as they make the steep and terrible +descent? Ah! they have an invisible +Guide, who goes before and smooths every +difficulty; and their feet are shod with a +divine determination which leads them securely +over the most dangerous places.</p> + +<p>And yet they move with caution. +Clinging now to the bushes that grow +along the cliff, now stepping carefully on +some jutting crag, they come one by one. +Now they have reached the bottom, and +stop a moment to take breath and consult +<a class="pagenum" name="page_35" title="35"> </a> +as to the next movement. For behold! +five little maidens, scarcely in their teens, +have come to give battle to one of the +strongest enemies of mankind, and to attack +him in his own stronghold. Brave as +they are, however, and resolutely as they +have nerved themselves to the task ahead +of them, they cannot repress a shudder as +they gaze upon the frowning mass +before them. For, never dreaming of attack +in the rear, the giant's ancestors had +taken no pains to make that part of the +castle beautiful or to endow it with the +enchantment of illusion, so all is dark and +strong and terrible.</p> + +<p>Regaining courage, the five young warriors +kneel upon the rocky path and ask +their invisible Guide for succor and +strength. They rise encouraged and +hopeful, and each assists the other to readjust +her armor. Wonderful armor! +light to wear, but stronger than mailed +steel.</p> + +<p>They advance to the heavy door. It is +all unguarded, and even stands partly +open, so that all their strength is saved +to them for the combat. One by one, and +noiselessly, they climb the iron stairs, and, +guided by his snores, they find themselves +at last in the presence of their sleeping +enemy.</p> + +<p>If they can but strike now! One blow +from either of their swords, and he would +lie slain before them. But alas! they hesitate +for one short moment, and in that +brief space of time the wind bangs a heavy +shutter against the iron casement, and, at +its fearful clang, the giant awakes and +rises to his feet. He stares about him for +a moment, stupefied, but there is no mistaking +the fact that he is in the presence +of an enemy; for their armor, their uplifted +swords, their resolute mien, all proclaim +their errand to be one of war. Then, +gazing upon their diminutive forms, he +laughs a horrid, blood-curdling laugh, as +he gloats over the prospect that he will +soon have five more victims to languish +in his dungeons.</p> + +<p>He springs forward to seize the foremost +of his youthful foes, but her fear has +vanished. Raising her shield for protection, +she strikes with her sword, and the +giant receives a fearful gash in the hand +outstretched to grasp her, and starts back, +howling with pain. The five girls close +around him at once, but so immense of +stature is he, that they soon perceive it +will be impossible for them to reach a +vital part unless he can be thrown.</p> + +<p>Fast and furious they rain the blows +upon him, and not in vain. He has no +armor on, his usual weapons are beyond +his reach, and he knows instinctively that +his usual powers of metamorphosis are +useless. One blow, at last, inflicts a +ghastly wound in his ankle; he clutches +at the bed for support, but misses it, and +falls, groaning heavily, at full length on +the floor, where, taken at a disadvantage, +a sword is thrust into his heart, and with +horrid struggles he dies.</p> + +<p>The maiden warriors embrace each +other joyfully, and, kneeling together in +<a class="pagenum" name="page_36" title="36"> </a> +that moment of victory, give all the praise +and glory to that invisible Power which +has enabled them, weak girls as they are, +to conquer.</p> + +<p>But their work is not yet done. Taking +the keys from under the pillow of the +dead monster, they pass down a winding +staircase, until they find themselves so far +beneath the surface of the earth, that not +a ray of light shines over their pathway.</p> + +<p>One of them lights a tiny lamp which +she has brought with her, and they +proceed. At length they reach the +foot of the stairs and find themselves +in a dark, narrow passage, with many +windings and turnings. Along this they +proceed carefully, until they stand before +the massive doors of the dungeon. Trying +one key after another, they find one +that turns the lock, and the door swings +open. What a sight meets their sorrowful +gaze! Bones—human bones—lie +scattered everywhere, and, as they become +more accustomed to the darkness, they distinguish +human forms still living, with +haggard faces, and despair written on +every feature.</p> + +<p>"Your enemy is dead!" say the maidens. +"We have come to set you free, and +then we are going to burn the castle, for +thus has our Guide commanded us."</p> + +<p>As they all stand once more in the +glad sunlight, they set fire to the mighty +structure, and see the leaping, victorious +flames devour it, even to the flags and +banners which had so short a time before +streamed gayly from its towers.</p> + + +<p class="margtop2">"Thank you, Aunt Kitty," said Winnifred, +as Miss Benton laid down the +manuscript. "I don't see how you ever +thought of all that."</p> + +<p>"Well, Winnie, we all know that the +idea is taken from the book you have recently +been reading, but where no pretense +is made to originality, imitation is +not deception."</p> + +<p>"But do you really think, Miss Benton," +said Ernestine, raising her eyes, +"that we can so completely conquer our +faults?"</p> + +<p>"Alas, no! I'm afraid we never can +completely conquer them, but by striving +constantly we can strike many a blow, +each one of which leaves the enemy +weaker, and ourselves stronger. The +great pity of it all is, that we can kill only +our own giants, and destroy their strongholds +for ourselves; we can never do it for +others, dearly as we may love them."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Fannie, in her decided +manner, "I wish that Procrastination +were the only giant to fight; but I have +some enemies which are still harder for +me to conquer;" and she blushed slightly, +as she involuntarily glanced toward +Ernestine.</p> + +<p>"It is a great gain, however," said Mrs. +Benton, pausing in her knitting, "when +we have learned to do that which must be +done, without unnecessary delay. Procrastination, +it is quite true, is the least +vicious and the least malicious of all the +faults; but stronger, almost, than any +other, and holding more people, young +<a class="pagenum" name="page_37" title="37"> </a> +and old, under its control. If this be +overcome, the struggle with the others +grows easier. Indeed, it is surprising +how many little misdeeds are the outcome +of that one fault. Untidiness, fits of temper, +disobedience, prevarication, and sometimes +even downright untruth, might +often be avoided if things were done in +time."</p> + +<p>"But it is hard always to remember," +sighed Miriam. "Ernestine, how do you +keep from forgetting?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I forget oftener than you know," +said Ernestine, flushing under her delicate +skin; "but I have had mamma to think +of, and have tried to please her and make +her happy; then, too, I had a nurse in +Louisiana who taught me to remember +that there is One 'who is a very present +help in time of trouble.'"</p> + +<p>"That is the best help of all, girls, and +one that you can carry with you always. +I find mottoes and texts a great help, too, +when I want to succeed in any one particular +thing. How would it do, at your +next meeting, for each one to contribute +a text from the Bible, and, if possible, a +quotation from one of the poets, applicable +to this same wheedling fault?" said +Miss Benton.</p> + +<p>"I should like that very much," replied +Ernestine.</p> + +<p>"So would I!" "And I!" "And I!" +replied Miriam, Fannie and Winnie.</p> + +<p>Gretta only was silent, but Miss Kitty +judged it best to pass her silence by without +remark.</p> + +<p>At this moment, Mr. Fred Benton entered +the parlor and was introduced to the +girls, and very soon they were all escorted +to their homes by their friend's uncle, who +proved himself as good an entertainer of +these little women as was his sister.</p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.<br /> + +<small>STRUGGLES.</small></h2> + + +<div class="floatl"> + <img class="plain" src="images/i37.jpg" width="152" height="190" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="dropcap27"> +<span class="smcaps"><span class="invisible">"B</span>e it</span> +ever so humble, +there's no place like +home," carolled Winnie, +as she descended +the stairs the next +morning, feeling happy +and contented, and as +if the world were a pleasant place in +which to live and love and to succeed in +being good. She felt at peace with everybody, +and had such a sense of security +that she imagined her giants all conquered, +and saw in rosy hues a future of +beautiful and pleasant right-doing.</p> + +<p>What was her surprise when she entered +the dining-room, expecting to find +the usual tempting breakfast on the table, +to see not the slightest signs of it, and to +find the room unoccupied except by little +Ralph, who was sitting in front of the +empty grate in his night-clothes; and a +very cross little boy Winnie soon found +him to be, for he set up a howl the moment +he saw her.</p> + +<p>"'Innie, I 'ants to be d'essed, and it's +ugly izout any fire, and I 'ants my b'eakast."</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page_38" title="38"> </a> +"Whatever is the matter?" said Winnie. +But she received no answer except +the whining refrain, "I 'ants my b'eakast," +until she began to feel so irritated +that she would have liked to shake the +child.</p> + +<p>This, however, she did not do, simply +because she did not dare. But instead of +attempting to soothe him, she went into +the kitchen to find out from Norah the +reason for this unusual state of affairs. +Instead of Norah, she found her mother +heating water and making mustard plasters, +with an anxious look on her face.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter, mamma?" asked +Winnie; "and where are papa and Jack?"</p> + +<p>"They had important business at the +store and couldn't wait, but will take +breakfast downtown. Norah was taken +very sick in the night, but she said nothing +about it, and came down as usual this +morning to get breakfast, and I found her +in a dead faint on the kitchen floor. +Your father and I got her upstairs between +us, and Jack went for the doctor. +He says it is nothing serious, but that +Norah will have to keep still for two or +three days. Help me carry these things +to Norah's room, and then you will have +to come downstairs and get some breakfast +for us."</p> + +<p>Winnie took the pail of water which her +mother handed to her, and started upstairs, +feeling a strange sense of resentment +against Norah, as if she were to +blame for this unpleasant condition of +affairs.</p> + +<p>When they reached Norah's room, her +mother said, "Put down the pail, Winnie, +and make haste downstairs and see if +you can't get things into some kind of +order; it's getting very late."</p> + +<p>Winnie put the water down so hurriedly +that it splashed over the floor. Then she +went out, but instead of hurrying, went +down clinging to the balusters as if she +could not and would not make any exertion.</p> + +<p>When she opened the dining-room door +Ralph said: "I sink Norah's mean to det +sick; she dust did it a-purpose, so Ralph +touldn't have any b'eakast."</p> + +<p>"Why, Ralph," said Winnie, "you +ought to be ashamed of yourself! Of +course it's no fun for Norah to be sick." +But as she spoke to Ralph, her conscience +reproached her, for she knew in her heart +that she had had the same feeling, if not +the same thought. This startled her, as if +she had suddenly had a mirror held up before +her mind, and she spoke to the little +boy more pleasantly, telling him to come +into the kitchen with her and watch her +make the coffee and cook some ham and +eggs for breakfast.</p> + +<p>But although aware that her conscience +was speaking to her, Winnie had not in +the least succeeded in overcoming her irritable +feelings. She had made plans for +such a pleasant day! She had intended to +practice faithfully, and get through all +her little duties early in the afternoon, so +that she could take Ralph through market—something +that she particularly +<a class="pagenum" name="page_39" title="39"> </a> +liked to do; it was always so exciting to +her to see the people jostling each other, +to hear them haggling over the price of +something, to see the strange types and +characters, and to imagine the different +motives which brought these different +people together. Besides, she had been +saving her money to surprise her mother +with a pot of English violets from the +flower market, which would be sure to be +particularly lovely this afternoon, for the +sun shone out brightly, giving promise of +an unusually warm day for March.</p> + +<p>"How could people do their duty, if +they never knew what it was going to +be?" she mused, as she measured out the +coffee and put it into the filter. But as +she went to turn the water over it, she remembered +that her mother had emptied +the hot water from the kettle into the +pail.</p> + +<p>"I should think mamma might have +taken the water out of the tank for +Norah!" she said, half aloud, although +she knew very well that the water in the +tank was scarcely warm, as she proceeded +to fill the kettle.</p> + +<p>She poked the fire viciously, feeling as +if here she could give her impatience some +vent.</p> + +<p>The ham, fortunately, Norah had sliced +the evening before, otherwise in her present +state of irritation Winnie would certainly +have cut her fingers.</p> + +<p>Now, when Winnie chose, she could be +a very nice little housekeeper; but this +morning, as may well be imagined, everything +went wrong, as she said, never +thinking that perhaps her own impatience +might be at fault. She burnt the ham, +the eggs did not break open nicely, she +cut her finger in slicing the bread, and altogether +it took her so long to get breakfast +that poor little Ralph, still running +about in his night-clothes, was, as he expressed +it, "starved 'mos' to death."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Burton came down before Winnie +had finished setting the table, and a +glance at the little girl's flushed face was +sufficient to tell the observant mother the +true state of affairs. As usual in such +cases, however, she said nothing, but +called Ralph and took him upstairs to be +dressed, telling Winnie that she would be +down in ten minutes for breakfast.</p> + +<p>When they came down, Mrs. Burton +said:</p> + +<p>"This morning we will not say our +verses till after breakfast, as I am sure +we are all of us too hungry to receive any +benefit from them now;" and she proceeded +to pour the coffee. Then Winnie +saw that she had forgotten the cream and +jumped up to get it.</p> + +<p>"Your coffee is very nice, Winnie," +said her mother.</p> + +<p>"Oh, mamma, I didn't think anything +would be nice! I had such a time! The +fire wouldn't burn, and I burnt my fingers +and afterward cut them, and everything +was horrid generally."</p> + +<p>"I had a defful time gene'lly, too," +said Ralph. "I was so hung'y I toudn't +wait, and 'Innie 'ouldn't div me a +<a class="pagenum" name="page_40" title="40"> </a> +tracker, and said I'se a bodder. Is I a +bodder, mamma?"</p> + +<p>"Not when you're a good boy, my pet. +Sister doesn't always think so, either; but +you see, this morning she had so much +to do."</p> + +<p>"Did Norah det sick so 'Innie have to +'ork so hard? Poor 'Innie!" And the +little fellow stroked Winnie's hand, while +she scarcely knew whether to laugh or +cry.</p> + +<p>Altogether it was quite an unusual +breakfast. Ralph ate three eggs, and +more bread and butter than he had ever +been known to eat before; and Winnie felt +her own impatience dying away to some +extent, as her hunger diminished, although +she had not realized before that +she was hungry.</p> + +<p>After breakfast Mrs. Burton gave her +text, and then called upon Winnie for +hers. Up to that moment Winnie's text +had entirely left her mind, and she recited +it with a feeling of shame as she remembered +the contrast between her morning +conduct and the somewhat puffed-up +feeling with which she had selected it: +"He that ruleth his own spirit is greater +than he that taketh a city."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps only the One above knows +how hard it is for people to govern their +own spirits. The temptation to yield to +self is so strong that it sometimes seems +as if there is nothing that will conquer it," +commented Mrs. Burton.</p> + +<p>"But mamma, everybody says, 'Do the +duty that lies nearest thee.' How are we +to do this, when we never know what +is going to happen from one day to another? +This morning I thought I was +going to get my music lesson, and now +how can I do that?"</p> + +<p>"That is where we all make mistakes, +Winnifred. We lay our plans, and are +annoyed and vexed when something occurs +to change them. We are like soldiers +placed on the field of battle. Some +of us would like an easy place; some +would rather stay behind and guard the +rear; others, in spite of danger, wish to +press forward where 'glory waits them.' +But we cannot choose either our own +places or the attending circumstances. +All we can do is to fall to 'with might +and main.' God will take care of the ordinary +duties, but there are some things +which brook no delay. Do we not know +how the Savior turned away from the +chosen way to heal the sick or comfort the +afflicted? But I think that my present +duty is to cut my sermon short, for both +you and I will have a great deal to do +to-day. I will attend to things upstairs, +and will be down to do the baking by the +time you are through the work here."</p> + +<p>So saying, Mrs. Burton rose from the +table and left the room. Winnie still felt +a sense of disappointment, but the little +sermon, arising, as it did, from the text +she herself had selected, had been good +for her, and she went to work cheerfully +and systematically, and the difficulties +which an hour ago had seemed so great, +all disappeared.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page_41" title="41"> </a> +Ralph, too—who was so unlike most +children of his age as not to be fond of +doing anything that appeared in the least +like work—seemed animated by the +spirit of the occasion, and trotted back +and forth between the kitchen and dining-room +carrying a plate or a cup and +saucer, and feeling that he was helping +greatly.</p> + +<p>As for Winnie, she had none of the feeling +of some girls who are ashamed to be +seen doing housework, for her mother +had taught her, both by word and example, +the folly and sinfulness of such a +notion, and that it is the worker who +degrades the work instead of the opposite; +and as a very little girl, Winnie had +learned Herbert's fine lines:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse">"Who sweeps a room as by God's laws,</div> + <div class="verse">Makes that and the action fine."</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Now that she was working cheerfully, +she even found a pleasure in dish-washing, +as who should not, given plenty of +hot water, clean towels, a pleasant kitchen +with the sun shining in, and a little +cherub of a brother chattering on with his +cunning tongue, which finds so much +difficulty in pronouncing the consonants?</p> + +<p>So, when Mrs. Burton returned to the +kitchen, everything was in fine order, and +a bright fire had prepared the oven to do +its share in the Saturday baking.</p> + +<p>When noon came, Winnie really felt +that she had had a pleasant morning, although +it had been spent in beating eggs +and grating lemons; besides, she had for +once had her mother all to herself, and +she sat down to the lunch she had prepared +feeling quite happy.</p> + +<p>She did not get an opportunity to leave +the house all that day, except to do two +or three errands in the neighborhood. +She took Norah's toast and tea up to +her, and spent the greater part of the +afternoon in her room, trying to make +amends for the morning's impatience by +bathing the sick girl's head, changing her +pillows, and moistening her parched lips.</p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER IX.<br /> + +<small>RALPH'S BIRTHDAY.</small></h2> + + +<div class="floatl"> + <img class="plain" src="images/i41.jpg" width="156" height="227" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="dropcap16"> +<span class="smcaps"><span class="invisible">A </span>few</span> +days after the +events narrated in the +last chapter, a bright, +sunshiny morning +ushered in Ralph's +fourth birthday anniversary, +and a fine +time he had receiving, +in the first place, +four little love taps and then four kisses +from each member of the family in turn.</p> + +<p>Norah had entirely recovered from her +illness, and had baked a cake especially +for him, lighted by four wax candles, +which was placed in front of Ralph's plate +at breakfast time. His father gave him +that toy most delightful to the average +boy—a mechanical engine. Jack's gift +was a basket of fruit, his mother's a humming +top, and Winnie's a little autograph +album, in which she had copied the following +verse, written by Aunt Kitty:<a class="pagenum" name="page_42" title="42"> </a></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">"Many tiny sunbeams fill the world with light,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Tiny drops of water make the ocean's might;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Tiny bits of goodness, that tiny laddies do,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Fill our homes with gladness and make our hearts glad, too."</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Ralph was much pleased at having a little +book all his own, with a verse in it +made on purpose for him, and he had +Winnie read it over and over, until presently +he could say it himself.</p> + +<p>But the crowning gift of all was sent +to the house just as they were at dinner, +labeled "From Grandma, Aunt Kitty and +Uncle Fred." It was a handsome velocipede, +just the right height to fit the little +short legs. Strange to say, Ralph learned +to manage it at once and rode right off on +it, and when Aunt Kitty came to take +him and Winnie to the park, it was with +great difficulty that he could be prevailed +upon to leave it behind. Finally they effected +a compromise by allowing him to +take his humming top, which he insisted +on stopping to spin every few rods, much +to the amusement of Aunt Kitty and the +intense though unexpressed disgust and +mortification of Winnie.</p> + +<p>When they reached the park they sat +down on one of the benches to rest awhile, +and watched Ralph feed the swans with +some crumbs from the cake which he had +brought. After that Aunt Kitty took +them to the pretty dock, and, having selected +a boat, rowed them around the +lake, to the great interest of some boys, +who called out to each other, "Come and +see a girl row a boat!"</p> + +<p>Suddenly Ralph gave one of his tremendous +howls, and Winnie grasped him +just in time to keep him from pitching +headlong into the water. He had dropped +his top in the lake, and was trying in vain +to seize it before it sank.</p> + +<p>It was some time before he could be +pacified, and it was not till his aunt had +him sit beside her and take hold of one +oar and help her row, that he could be +comforted. The remainder of the boat +ride was very pleasant, and they supposed +the child had forgotten all about the loss +of his top. When they went home to supper, +however, and Mr. Burton asked: +"Well, my little man, what have you +done with your birthday?"</p> + +<p>"I took it to the park and lost it in the +lake, papa!" was the unexpected reply.</p> + +<p>"Fortunate child!" exclaimed Aunt +Kitty, catching Ralph up, and laughing. +"How happy the rest of us would be if we +could dispose of our yearly reminders of +the lapse of time in the same way! We +might fancy ourselves blessed with the +gift of eternal youth if it were not for our +birthdays."</p> + +<p>But Ralph was not yet through celebrating. +It was very seldom that Mrs. Burton +allowed him to go out in the evening, +but this was a special occasion, and +as there was an opportunity for him to +have a treat, she thought it only right for +them to take advantage of it. There was +to be a stereopticon entertainment at their +Sunday-school, and they were all going. +Ralph had not been told until supper was +over, and even then, short as the time was +<a class="pagenum" name="page_43" title="43"> </a> +until they should start out, he could +hardly restrain his impatience.</p> + +<div class="center"> + <img src="images/i43.jpg" width="693" height="530" alt="" /> + <p class="caption">They watched Ralph feed the swans.—See page 42.</p> +</div> + +<p>Aunt Kitty took him on her lap and +told him the story of Red Riding-Hood +and the Fair One with the Golden Locks, +and repeated "Mother Goose" jingles to +him, and thus managed to keep him +somewhat contented until time to start.</p> + +<p>The walk through the lighted streets +was a great pleasure to the little fellow. +They went down Central Avenue, and, all +the stores being lighted, it seemed to the +child a different and mysterious world, +more full of lights and people than the +one he had been accustomed to.</p> + +<p>"Now, Ralph," said his father, "we +are going to see a great many beautiful +things to-night. But this is different +from most times; for generally, the more +light we have, the better we can see; but +these pictures can be seen better in the +dark, and they put out all the lights. +When that happens, some foolish boy or +girl may cry, but I want my little man to +keep hold of papa's hand and not say one +word till he sees the beautiful pictures."</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page_44" title="44"> </a> +"I doesn't twy, papa!" said Ralph, indignantly. +"I'se a big boy now—not a +dreat big boy, but a little big boy. And +I hasn't twied—oh, not for twenty-ten +days, I dess."</p> + +<p>"Very well," said papa, "be sure to +remember that by and by."</p> + +<p>When they reached the church it was +still quite early, and the few people already +there were laughing and chatting +and having a pleasant time. This was +very much to Ralph's disapproval. He +did not attend church often, but when he +did go, he had been talked to so much +about keeping still, particularly by Winnie, +that he thought it very naughty to +make a noise in church, so now he said +in a loud whisper:</p> + +<p>"Papa, I sink dose people is very +naughty, to talk out loud in church."</p> + +<p>"But this isn't Sunday, Ralph," his +father said; "you may talk, too, if you +like."</p> + +<p>Ralph was so surprised at this that he +had nothing to say for some time.</p> + +<p>Presently some of the girls of Winnie's +Sunday-school class came and she went +away with them, and Miss Benton +stepped across the aisle to speak to some +friends. This secession grieved Ralph +very much. "I sink auntie's weal mean, +to go and stay wiz dose ozzer people!" he +said.</p> + +<p>"Aunt Kitty will come back in a few +moments, Ralph," said mamma.</p> + +<p>By and by all the people stopped talking +and took their seats, and Aunt Kitty +came back and sat down beside Ralph. +Two men entered and placed a big screen +in the front part of the church. The +organist began to play something slow +and sweet and solemn, which made one +think of things sad but not unhappy.</p> + +<p>The lights were suddenly turned out, +and Ralph had just time to draw his +breath quickly, and seize his father's +hand and snuggle up close to him, when a +picture appeared on the screen, and his +father lifted him up that he might see it +better.</p> + +<p>On the screen they saw a lonely, desolate +mountain, which two persons were +slowly ascending, one of them bearing an +armful of wood. One represented an old +man; the other was a young, slender boy. +The organ was now giving forth minor +strains, in queer, broken time, full of +heartache.</p> + +<p>The next picture showed Abraham +binding Isaac on the altar, and the look of +surprise and terror on the face of the boy +was equalled only by the intense but submissive +expression of sorrow on the face +of the old man.</p> + +<p>The organ was still sounding its sad +tones, when the picture changed again, +and this time the angel was staying Abraham's +hand. And now the organ pealed +forth tones of joy and gladness.</p> + +<p>The next views thrown on the screen +appeared to be scenes in Switzerland. +These Ralph did not seem to be at all interested +in, until they saw a representation +of Lake Lucerne, showing some children +<a class="pagenum" name="page_45" title="45"> </a> +rowing a boat. This reminded Ralph of +the loss of his humming-top, and he said, +quite loudly, "Do you sink, papa, that +little boy lost his birfday, too?"</p> + +<p>"If he did," said Aunt Kitty, "he will +probably find another one to make up for +its loss."</p> + +<p>The next picture was that of Jacob's +Dream; a tall ladder, reaching to the sky, +with the bright-winged "angels ascending +and descending on it," as the narrative so +simply tells us. Jacob lay with his head +on its stony pillow, a wondering but +happy look on his face, and his arms outstretched +as if he would fain seize the +lovely vision.</p> + +<p>The dreamy tones of Schumann's +"Traumerie" stole upon the air, and +changed from that, with skillful modulations, +into a grand anthem, and the big +chorus choir, which till now had been silent, +burst into joyful but majestic +strains: "The Lord reigneth; let the people +tremble."</p> + +<p>Ralph knew this picture quite well. +He had seen it many times in the big +family Bible, and it was always a favorite +with him, and now he clapped his little +hands. This was an unintentional signal, +and there was such a round of applause +that the whole thing was repeated.</p> + +<p>The next picture showed Jacob +wrestling with the angel; and in the following +one, Jacob, kneeling, receives the +desired blessing. Then came a series of +comic pictures, which made everybody +laugh. Then the words "Good-night" +were thrown on the screen in immense letters, +and it grew light in the church as +suddenly as it had before grown dark, +making everybody rub his eyes on account +of the sudden glare.</p> + +<p>The people all began to hurry out as if +it were necessary to reach home without a +moment's delay. Winnie soon joined her +family, and in a short time the "Green +Line" had taken them all home.</p> + +<p>Ralph rubbed his sleepy eyes as he said +his evening prayer, but was not too sleepy +to thank God for his nice birthday.</p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER X.<br /> + +<small>ERNESTINE.</small></h2> + + +<div class="floatl"> + <img class="plain" src="images/i45.jpg" width="153" height="217" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="dropcap16"> +<span class="smcaps"><span class="invisible">"M</span>amma,"</span> +asked Ernestine +Alroy, "may I +ask the girls to have +their next meeting +here and take tea +with us?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Alroy looked +at her daughter with +some hesitation as +she said: "Ernestine, you know I would +like to please you, but have you sufficiently +considered the matter? All of +your friends are very comfortably situated, +and it will be impossible for us to entertain +them as they do you. Besides, I +cannot be at home until after six, and it +will make tea very late."</p> + +<p>"I know all that, mamma, but I am +sure I can make them have a pleasant +time. I do not think we ought to be +<a class="pagenum" name="page_46" title="46"> </a> +ashamed of being poor, when we think +of the One who 'had not where to lay +His head.' For your sake, poor mamma, +I wish we had more money; but as for +myself, I feel just as happy as if we were +worth millions. I don't care a bit whether +my friends have money or not, and I don't +see why it should make any difference to +anybody."</p> + +<p>"My poor child!" said her mother, and +she sighed as she remembered that at +Ernestine's age she had never even seen +apartments so poorly furnished as theirs, +"you have much to learn; you will find +that there are many people in the world +to whom it will make a great deal of difference."</p> + +<p>"Well, mamma, we don't care for the +Madame Mucklegrands of the world, and +Winnie Burton and all of her folks are as +'real folks' as any in Mrs. Whitney's +book. Do let us have them!"</p> + +<p>"Well, dear, I don't exactly like to +have you accept hospitalities which we are +not willing to return, and if you think +you can make it pleasant for your friends, +you shall do as you wish."</p> + +<p>The next day, therefore, Ernestine told +the four girls that her mother sent her +compliments and would be much pleased +to have them to tea on Friday evening. +In the afternoon the girls all accepted, +and Fannie said that if agreeable to Mrs. +Alroy, her father would call for them at +nine o'clock and see them home.</p> + +<p>After school that day, as Fannie and +Ernestine were walking down Court +Street together, they met a little girl, +dirty and uncombed, carrying a basket of +soiled clothes. Two of the boys of their +class, racing wildly down the street, boy-fashion, +ran against the child, upset the +basket, and the clothes, not being very +tightly packed, fell out. There was quite +a strong wind, and some of the napkins +and handkerchiefs lying loose on top were +caught up and sent blowing here, there +and everywhere.</p> + +<p>The boys ran on, totally indifferent, if +not unconscious. The child, commencing +to cry, gave chase to the wind-blown +articles, and the basket rolled entirely +over, and nearly every article fell out.</p> + +<p>Fannie stood laughing, her sense of the +ridiculous overcoming any pity she might +have felt for the girl. Ernestine hesitated +a moment. She was daintiness itself, and +the sight of the soiled clothes, belonging +to no one knew whom, was not an attractive +one. But for three years she had been +earnestly striving to follow the Golden +Rule, so she righted the basket, picked up +the soiled clothes, rolled them together +more tightly, and replaced them in the +basket by the time the child returned with +the recaptured napkins. She also helped +put these in, and with a few kind words +sent the girl on her way far happier than +she would have been if obliged to struggle +with her burden alone.</p> + +<p>Fannie had moved on some distance, +much ashamed of being mixed up in such +a scene to even so slight a degree, and +feeling inclined to leave Ernestine entirely, +<a class="pagenum" name="page_47" title="47"> </a> +for she knew that her mother would +have characterized the whole affair as +"plebeian," and she felt half angry with +Ernestine.</p> + +<div class="center"> + <img src="images/i47.jpg" width="482" height="628" alt="" /> + <p class="caption">Ernestine righted the basket.—See page 46.</p> +</div> + +<p>When the latter rejoined +her, she said +with some irritation, +"However could you +touch those horrid, +dirty clothes or go near +that dirty child?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't like to +touch them," said Ernestine +simply; "but +Christ did a great +many things he did not +like to do."</p> + +<p>"Well, you are a +queer girl, Ernestine! +I'm sure I can't make +up my mind that it is +my duty to be pleasant +to every dirty little +beggar who comes +along. There might +have been small-pox in +those clothes!"</p> + +<p>Ernestine smiled at +that, but made no reply, +and the two +walked on in silence till they reached the +corner where they separated.</p> + +<p>Fannie went on, swinging her books by +the strap, and thinking that dirt could not +be so repulsive to Ernestine as to her; but +if she could have seen Ernestine go +straight to the kitchen sink the minute +she reached home, before she stopped to +touch anything, Fannie might have realized +something of the self-restraint her +friend had exercised in the matter. But +few of us can be brought to believe that +things we find unpleasant are often quite +as unpleasant to other people.</p> + +<p>Friday afternoon came, and five o'clock +found the four girls entering a side yard +in a pleasant if not an aristocratic neighborhood. +<a class="pagenum" name="page_48" title="48"> </a> +They went up the stairs leading +from a side hall, and were met at the +top by Ernestine, who was holding open +the door.</p> + +<p>She led them into a tiny bedroom, not +much larger than a closet, but scrupulously +dainty and clean, from the white +spread and pillows on the bed to the fresh +towels hanging on the rack above the +washstand.</p> + +<p>Here she helped the girls remove their +wraps, and then they went into the adjoining +room, which was a pleasant surprise, +particularly to Fannie. So pretty and +pleasant and homelike it appeared that, at +first, it almost seemed elegant, until one +had time to observe that there was not an +expensive article in the room. The floor +was covered with a blue and white +checked matting, the chairs and rockers +were simply "cane," and the only piece +of upholstered furniture was the lounge. +But there were some engravings, plainly +framed; hanging baskets at both of the +windows; a window-box of lilies-of-the-valley, +just beginning to bloom, and in +the other window a similar box of mignonette, +which filled the whole room with +its delicate fragrance.</p> + +<p>A bright fire blazed in the grate, and +the four girls felt at home more quickly +than they had done at either of the two +places of their previous meetings, probably +because Ernestine was their only +hostess, her mother not yet having returned +from the store.</p> + +<p>A late magazine lay on the table, together +with a copy of that charming story, +"Little Lord Fauntleroy," and Mrs. +Whitney's "We Girls" and "Real +Folks." Winnie could not help picking +them up to see what they were, and it +turned out that all of the girls except +Gretta had read them, so they immediately +began talking about them.</p> + +<p>"Mamma and papa and brother Jack +took turns in reading 'Fauntleroy' aloud +to us when it came out in the magazine," +said Winnie, "and for a day or two in +each month we hardly talked of anything +else."</p> + +<p>"I liked the scene of the dinner party +best, when the little lord talked to the +guests, but stayed close beside the pretty +lady and paid her such cunning compliments," +said Fannie.</p> + +<p>"I enjoyed reading about him in the +grocery store with Mr. Hobbs," said +Miriam. "I can see them now; Hobbs +was so funny! My sister said he was +more of a child than the little hero of the +story."</p> + +<p>"I think I liked him best when he was +with his grandfather," said Ernestine; "it +was lovely of him to think that wicked +old man was so good."</p> + +<p>"My mother says that every child in +the land, and particularly every boy, +ought to read that story, if for no other +reason than to learn what it is to be a real +gentleman and a real lady. She says no +depths of poverty could ever have made +'Dearest' and her son anything else."</p> + +<p>"I was just about frantic," said Fannie, +<a class="pagenum" name="page_49" title="49"> </a> +"when I began to be afraid he wasn't +the heir after all. It seemed horrid to +think that that rough woman's son should +own those fine lands and the title, and I +felt almost as glad when it turned out all +right as if he had been one of my nearest +friends."</p> + +<p>"I wish I read more," said Gretta. "I +do love my music; and if I didn't, I'd have +to keep it up all the same. But I would +like to read the book you are talking +about."</p> + +<p>"You may take it," said Ernestine, +"and keep it just as long as you wish."</p> + +<p>"Speaking of borrowing books," said +Miriam, "reminds me that I did the most +dreadful thing to-day. Miss Carter had +lent me Mrs. Gaskel's 'Life of Charlotte +Bronte,' and I had just returned it +yesterday, feeling very grateful, for I +think it is nice in Miss Carter to take an +interest in so many girls. I should think +she would just get to hating us, for it is +the same thing year in and year out, and +most of us are so trying.</p> + +<p>"But although I love her dearly, you +know how angry she gets, and she was +giving Josie Thompson such a lecture +about there being no punctuation in her +composition, and then she read a paragraph +as it was punctuated—just 'like +commas and periods shaken out of a pepper-box,' +she said. The subject was 'Joan +of Arc,' and Josie, as usual, had rather a +mixed idea of her character, and what +Miss Carter read sounded something like +this:</p> + +<p>"'Joan of Arc, was a poor, girl who +heard a great many, ghost stories and +these turned her head and she imagined, +that, it would be a great deal more fun +to lead soldiers. To battle in the war. +With England than to be spending her +time tending sheep? on the mountains +she thought she would enjoy herself better.'</p> + +<p>"That last was so much like Josie—who, +as you know, is always talking about +enjoying herself—that I could hardly +keep in, and when Josie made a mouth +at Miss Carter the minute her back was +turned, three or four of us giggled out +loud, and Miss Carter stopped lecturing +Josie and turned her wrath on us.</p> + +<p>"That was yesterday, but this morning +the whole affair was still fresh in my memory, +and three or four of the girls in +Miss Brownlow's room happening to come +about the same time that I did, I began +to tell them about it. I began in a high +key, a great deal worse than Miss Carter +ever uses, although she does pitch her +voice very high when she is vexed. I +said:</p> + +<p>"'Miss Thompson, I am surprised at +you; in fact, I am more than surprised. +It almost passes belief that a girl should +begin to study punctuation almost as soon +as her school life begins, as in our schools, +and after six or seven years should not be +able even to use a period, to say nothing +of the more complicated marks; to know +nothing, absolutely nothing, of her own +language.'</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page_50" title="50"> </a> +"Here I interrupted myself to show +them the kind of mouth Josie made, and +of course they all laughed, for they know +how her mouth and nose go up at every +little thing. Then I went on.</p> + +<p>"Miss Carter didn't see the mouth +that Josie made, and she caught us laughing, +and said, 'Can it be possible that +there are girls in this class, girls of good +rank and standing, and of moderately +good behavior, who can laugh, yes, actually +laugh, at the ignorance of one of their +school-mates? Something is wrong, +radically wrong,'—and here I made the +gesture she always makes when she says +'radically wrong,' and—what do you +think? There she stood, right behind +me!"</p> + +<p>"What did she do?" asked Fannie.</p> + +<p>"Do? She didn't do anything, and I +half thought she was smiling. But I felt +as if I would like to sink through the +floor, I was so mortified. And only yesterday +I was walking down the street with +her, talking to her as if I thought her my +best friend! She'll think I'm a perfect +hypocrite."</p> + +<p>"Why don't you apologize?" asked +Gretta.</p> + +<p>"I can't go and apologize to someone +for making fun of her as soon as her back +is turned, can I? And I really didn't intend +to make fun of Miss Carter, either; +it was only that the whole affair seemed +amusing to me."</p> + +<p>"She probably understands, and does +not think any more about it," said Ernestine. +"But now, if you'll excuse me, I'll +have to go into the kitchen for a few +minutes; or perhaps you'll come, too."</p> + +<p>"Oh, we'd like to come, if we won't be +in the way," said Fannie. So they all +trooped into the kitchen.</p> + +<p>What a tiny box of a place it was, to be +sure! When all five of the girls were +there, there was not room for anybody +else. Fannie and Gretta squeezed close +to each other on the box beside the window, +Miriam sat on a chair in one corner, +and Winnie stood in the doorway between +the two rooms, watching Ernestine, +and thinking how cross she had been only +a week or two before because she had to +do a little cooking in the morning, while +Ernestine had to do it every day and go to +school beside.</p> + +<p>But Ernestine did everything so easily +and pleasantly that it was a pleasure to +watch her. She did her cooking on a little +oil stove, and there seemed so little to +be done—for Mrs. Alroy and Ernestine +had prepared things the day before—that +her young visitors could not feel as if it +were a bit of trouble to entertain them. +It was as nice as a play, too, to see her +cut the potatoes in delicate, thin slices and +drop them into the boiling fat, and see +them come out delightfully crisp and +brown.</p> + +<p>Then the girls all followed her into the +sitting-room, laughing and chattering as +only girls can, while Ernestine set the +table. The table linen was white and +fine, and the cups and saucers were real +<a class="pagenum" name="page_51" title="51"> </a> +old china, these being about the only +things which Mrs. Alroy had saved from +her past grandeur.</p> + +<p>Everything was ready and on the table, +except the food which was to be served +hot, when Mrs. Alroy came in, looking +tired and reserved. She disappeared for a +few moments into the bedroom, and when +she came out, seeming somewhat refreshed, +they all sat down to the table.</p> + +<p>To the surprise of the girls, Ernestine, +in her simple, unaffected manner, asked +a blessing on what was set before them. +It seemed queer to them that if it were +to be done at all, it should not be by Mrs. +Alroy. But Ernestine's mother was not +yet perfectly resigned to what had come +upon her, and it was that, perhaps—yes, +certainly—which made her burden so +hard to bear; but at least she did not interfere +with Ernestine in these matters.</p> + +<p>The girls were hungry, and everything +tasted delicious, from the sliced cold ham +and the potatoes which they had seen +Ernestine frying, to the dessert of ice-cream +and cake.</p> + +<p>When supper was over, the girls begged +to be allowed to clear off the table, and +Ernestine washed the dishes as they +brought them out, while Winnie wiped +them.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Alroy sat down and glanced over +the newspaper. Fannie watched her curiously, +and privately came to the conclusion +that she was the proudest woman she +had ever seen. This conviction came to +her with something of a shock, for she +had heretofore supposed that pride and +wealth and fine living belonged together. +She furthermore came to the conclusion +that while pride might be fine, it was not +especially charming, for though Mrs. +Alroy had been pleasant when the girls +were presented to her, her manner had +been only polite, not interested.</p> + +<p>When the girls had finished washing +and putting away the supper things, she +roused herself and talked with them about +their school and amusements, but as soon +as Ernestine returned, excused herself and +went into the little room and closed the +door. Ernestine followed her, with a +troubled look on her usually calm face. +When she returned, she said:</p> + +<p>"Mamma has a severe headache, and +begs to be excused for awhile, but hopes to +feel better before you go home."</p> + +<p>"We were all to have a text or a verse +to-night, weren't we?" asked Fannie. +"The only thing I could find was our +Golden Text for last Sunday, 'Remember +now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.' +I spoke to papa about it, and, although he +is not very religious, he said he didn't believe +there was any better way of remembering +our Creator than by trying to do +what was right, and he was glad to see +that I was thinking about such things."</p> + +<p>"Mamma says there are very few things +said in the Bible about the dangers of +delay," said Winnie, "but she gave me +this one from Proverbs: 'Boast not thyself +of to-morrow, for thou knowest not +what a day may bring forth.'"</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page_52" title="52"> </a> +"I couldn't find anything in the Bible," +said Miriam, "but I found a poem by +Adelaide Procter which I copied, thinking +you might like to hear it all, as I +scarcely knew which verse to select. I +will read it to you:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">"Rise! for the day is passing,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">And you lie dreaming on;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The others have buckled their armor,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">And forth to the fight are gone.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A place in the ranks awaits you,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Each man has some part to play;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The Past and the Future are nothing,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">In the face of the stern To-day.</div> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">"Rise from your dreams of the Future,—</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Of gaining some hard-fought field;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of storming some airy fortress,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Or bidding some giant yield;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Your Future has deeds of glory,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Of honor (God grant it may)!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But your arm will never be stronger,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Or the need so great as To-day.</div> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">"Rise! for the day is passing;</div> + <div class="verse indent1">The sound that you scarcely hear,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Is the enemy marching to battle;</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Arise! for the foe is here!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Stay not to sharpen your weapons,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Or the hour will strike at last,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When, from dreams of a coming battle,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">You may wake to find it past!"</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>"How much better we understand +things than we did three months ago!" +said Winnie. "I used to dream of +the grand things I was going to do +when I grew up." Then she added, blushing +a little as she remembered her cross +Saturday morning, "I do yet, sometimes, +but I don't think I neglect quite so many +things as I used to."</p> + +<p>"I never had much chance either to +neglect things or to dream," said Gretta, +"for papa or mamma or my sister was +always reminding me that it was time to +do this or that or the other. But I am +beginning now to think of some of my +faults. I couldn't find anything for this +afternoon, except the Memory Gem we +learned in the First Reader. You know I +don't read a great deal myself, and we all +seem to have so much to do at our house; +when it isn't something else, it's practice, +practice, practice! Even this little verse +I don't suppose I should have remembered +if I hadn't heard the children reciting it +at the 'Colony':</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">"One thing at a time,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">And that done well,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Is a very good rule,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">As many can tell."</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>"Why, that's the very thing, Gretta! +I'm surprised that none of the rest of us +thought of it. How queer that the same +piece of advice, in one form or another, +has been given to us ever since we were +little girls, and that we have just begun +to realize what it all means!" said Fannie.</p> + +<p>"What have you, Ernestine?" said +Miriam.</p> + +<p>"I took mine from Ecclesiastes," was +the reply. "'When thou vowest a vow +unto the Lord, defer not to pay it.'"</p> + +<p>"I like that, too," said Gretta; "but I +think Miss Benton's pretty card is helping +me more than anything else."</p> + +<p>"I think that was lovely, too," said +Fannie. "I liked the story ever so much, +but it will be nice for us to do as she suggested, +and take a motto this week. How +would it do to take the one Winnie +brought? It seems the easiest for us to +understand."</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page_53" title="53"> </a> +So they all learned it, and, at Miriam's +suggestion, added the verse that Gretta +had recited.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Alroy came back into the sitting-room +just as the girls had finished reading +their mottoes, and, though her eyes +looked heavy, as if she were suffering, she +joined the little band, and told them that +she thought they were adopting a very +good plan to help them over the rough +places of life, and perhaps also enable +them to make fewer mistakes than they +might otherwise do.</p> + +<p>While she was talking to them, footsteps +were heard coming up the stairs.</p> + +<p>"That's papa, I think," said Fannie, +and she went with Ernestine to the door.</p> + +<p>Ernestine had seen Mr. Allen often, for +he was one of the trustees of their school, +but of course Mrs. Alroy had never met +him, so the girls led him through the narrow +hall into the room beyond.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Alroy met him at the door and extended +her hand, as Fannie said, "My +papa, Mrs. Alroy."</p> + +<p>Mr. Allen seated himself, at Mrs. Alroy's +invitation, while the girls went to +get on their wraps. As they talked of the +weather and the usual subjects discussed +by strangers, Mr. Allen looked at the lady +in rather a puzzled manner, as if wondering +where he had seen her before. Finally +he said:</p> + +<p>"Excuse me, Mrs. Alroy, but may I ask +what was your maiden name?"</p> + +<p>She told him, but rather coldly, as if +she considered the question impertinent.</p> + +<p>He read her thought well enough, but +unhesitatingly continued:</p> + +<p>"The Van Ortons of New York?"</p> + +<p>"Of New York, yes."</p> + +<p>"I thought so; it must be one of your +brothers whom you so strongly resemble. +I could not think whom you were like, the +day of the celebration over at the school-house, +but that, I see, was what puzzled +me. I know your brother and his family +quite well. I have had business relations +with him for years, which have been very +pleasant ones."</p> + +<p>"I am glad to meet someone who has +seen my brother recently. I have seen no +member of my family for years; it has +been impossible for me to go home, and +my circumstances have been such that I +have managed to prevent their visiting +me, for I had no desire to have them do +so. Should you have any communication +with him, I ask as a favor that my name +may not be mentioned."</p> + +<p>"Your wishes, of course, will be respected, +madam," the gentleman replied +courteously.</p> + +<p>The girls appeared at this moment, +ready for the walk home, and Mr. Allen +rose, adding:</p> + +<p>"Permit me to thank you for the pleasure +you have given my daughter, and to +express the wish that you will allow her to +make a return soon." Then they took +their departure.</p> + +<p>Ernestine went into the little kitchen +to prepare things for breakfast, and when +she came back she was shocked to find her +<a class="pagenum" name="page_54" title="54"> </a> +mother sobbing violently. It frightened +her, too, for though her mother was never +very cheerful, the girl seldom saw her +shed tears.</p> + +<p>"Mother dear, what is it?" she said. +"Have I been selfish? Was the evening +too much for you?"</p> + +<p>"Selfish? No, dear," was the reply. +"I am the selfish one, and I am grateful +to know that you have such perfect faith +and hope that all is well. Otherwise your +young life would have been darkened long +ago by my constant sorrow and regret. +Poor child! It is a hard life for one so +young."</p> + +<p>"But, mother, some day you will be +happy again."</p> + +<p>"I hope so, dear," replied Mrs. Alroy. +But she thought to herself that there was +nothing in this world that could make +life endurable to her, unless she could forget. +And that, to her proud, sensitive +nature, seemed impossible.</p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XI.<br /> + +<small>EASTER-TIDE.</small></h2> + + +<div class="floatl"> + <img class="plain" src="images/i54.jpg" width="173" height="180" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="dropcap16"> +<span class="smcaps"><span class="invisible">"W</span>ell,"</span> +said Mrs. Allen +to her husband, +after they had gone +upstairs, "I hope +you're satisfied and +have had enough of +Fannie's visiting around at tenement +houses. Democratic ideas are all right +enough, theoretically, but I think it is impossible +for people to dwell long in poverty +without losing refinement."</p> + +<p>"Some kinds of poverty, yes; and some +kinds of people, yes. That comfort and +luxury are refining in their influence goes +without saying; but just as there are some +people whom all the wealth in the world +could never raise above vulgarity, so there +are others whom poverty could never degrade. +And the lady and her little girl +whom Fannie has visited to-night are of +this type. They are the kind of people +who will have the refinements of life +even at the expense of some of its comforts."</p> + +<p>"It seems to me that is queer talk. +How can people have refinements without +comforts?"</p> + +<p>"Had you been at Mrs. Alroy's to-night, +I think you would understand how +that could be. And as for the rest," Mr. +Allen added dryly, "Mrs. Alroy is one of +the Van Ortons of New York."</p> + +<p>"The Van Ortons of New York!" and +Mrs. Allen dropped into her chair in astonishment, +for the Van Ortons were people +whom she was glad to visit. "How +do you know?"</p> + +<p>"Her resemblance to her brother puzzled +me, and, wondering where I could +have met her, I asked her maiden name."</p> + +<p>"Why, I must call upon her soon."</p> + +<p>"I think you'd better not—"</p> + +<p>"Who's the aristocrat now, I wonder!"</p> + +<p>"—because," he added, as if he had +not heard the interruption, "she would +consider it an intrusion. Her pride has +<a class="pagenum" name="page_55" title="55"> </a> +been made as hard and cold as ice by her +misfortunes, and I'm afraid nothing will +ever melt it."</p> + +<p>This was another new idea to Mrs. +Allen. It seemed as if new things, starting +with the little folks, were destined to +be contagious. That a woman who lived +in three small rooms and who supported +herself and her daughter by selling goods +across a counter, should resent a visit from +a person so well known as herself, was +somewhat startling to the lady.</p> + +<p>"Well," she said impatiently, "what +are you and your philanthropy going to +do about it?"</p> + +<p>"I think it is a case which my philanthropy, +as you choose to call it, cannot +reach. I know that her people would +gladly have her come home, and there is +no reason why they should be ashamed of +either her or her daughter; but she manages +to keep them in complete ignorance +of her circumstances, and also, I strongly +suspect, of her whereabouts."</p> + +<p>"Why don't you write to them?"</p> + +<p>"She has forbidden it, and in such a +way as to make me feel that it would be a +breach of honor to disregard her wishes. +No, nothing can be done at present. But +she is as frail as a reed, and her body, in +spite of her will power, will break down +under the pressure, and then——"</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"Then she will die—that is all."</p> + + +<p class="margtop2">It seems hard, at first thought, to bring +the sorrows of older people—and sorrows, +too, for which, as the words of Mr. +Allen would indicate the above to be, +there seems no earthly cure—into +a book for girls; but perhaps it is, after +all, a truer kindness to let them find out, +while there is yet time, that life is a thing +of earnest and real import, and that the +impossible ideas of a romantic world +where a few sorrows come simply as contrast, +and then vanish forever, leaving the +heroes and heroines surrounded by an +everlasting halo of happiness and prosperity—which +so many of the lighter +novels teach—are more injurious than +any statistics will ever show. They give +views of life which, if followed out, as in +the case of Constance Van Orton, are apt +to end in sorrow and despair.</p> + +<p>But the saddest life must have some joy +in it, and Mrs. Alroy probably had +many happy hours, when she enjoyed the +sunshine, or, in more sober moods, the +gentle patter of the rain on the roof, her +books (to which the poorest of those who +live in our large cities can have access +through the public libraries), and, above +all, the companionship of her daughter, +who was really that most remarkable of +characters, a child good, and even pious, +without priggishness or the slightest taint +of affectation.</p> + +<p>And when all is thought and felt and +suffered, above earth's joys and woes +and hopes and dark despair is God, the +eternal Good, and</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse">What to us is darkness, to Him is light,</div> + <div class="verse">And the end He knoweth."</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page_56" title="56"> </a> +And so the days rolled on and brought +the anniversary of Christ's suffering and +death and resurrection. The Burton +family kept Easter with great rejoicing. +They exchanged presents of pots of +flowers, ferns and Easter lilies, mignonette +and roses, which made the house fragrant +and beautiful. The children received +from their parents and friends at a distance +Easter cards; and colored eggs, in +which Ralph delighted, were not forgotten.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Burton and Winnie, also, on the +day previous, did their share toward +decorating the church they attended. +There was always a big pyramid of +bouquets on the pulpit stand, which were +taken down after service and distributed +to the children of the Sunday-school. It +was a great treat to the children to go to +church on this day and join in the responsive +service and hear the joyful anthems. +This Easter Day was no exception to previous +ones, in point of joy and thanksgiving.</p> + +<p>There were some little extra surprises +at the Burton home, among them being +a panel of Easter lilies and maidenhair +fern, painted in oil for Mrs. Burton by her +sister Kitty; and from the same source +Winnie received a smaller one of lilies-of-the-valley +and wild violets, with the motto +below: "Take my yoke upon you, and +learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in +heart: and ye shall find rest unto your +souls." In the afternoon they held a service +of their own in the sitting-room. Mrs. +Burton and Aunt Kitty sang Abt's duet, +"Easter Day," and they had two or three +fine quartettes.</p> + +<p>Norah had not been forgotten, either, +in the distribution of the flowers, or in an +invitation to join the family circle in the +afternoon. She was anxious to do something +in return, and so had prepared another +surprise which greeted them at tea-time. +On each plate lay an egg, which, +when examined, was found to be a wooden +candy-box, full of home-made candies. +All were pleased, even to grandma and +Mr. Burton, and Norah's face shone with +delight when she saw that her gifts were +appreciated.</p> + +<p>It had been a long day for Ralph, however, +and Winnie and Jack stayed at home +with him while the other members of the +family went to evening service. The +child was tired and restless, yet too much +excited to be sleepy, and was very unwilling +to go to bed when the usual hour arrived. +Winnie was quite weary, too, but +she dared not allow herself to be impatient +on a day like this, so she told him +Bible stories and sang to him, and at last +the heavy eyelids closed, and she was at +liberty to go downstairs with her book.</p> + +<p>This time it was "Pilgrim's Progress," +which she was reading for about the +dozenth time. She dropped, with a sense +of luxury, into the same big chair in +which we have seen her on a former occasion. +Jack also had an interesting book, +and they read on in perfect silence for +half an hour, when suddenly they heard +<a class="pagenum" name="page_57" title="57"> </a> +a crash, and then Ralph's voice in a +frightened cry.</p> + +<p>Dropping their books, they ran upstairs. +Jack turned up the gas, and they found +that poor little Ralph had rolled out of +bed, and was lying stretched on the floor, +but far more frightened than hurt. He +said he had had bad dreams, and they +could not quiet him nor induce him to go +back to bed. At last Jack wrapped him +up in a shawl, and Winnie sat down in the +big chair and took the frightened child in +her arms.</p> + +<p>Jack settled himself again with his +book and forgot all about them both, until +his father and mother came home and +found them asleep. Mrs. Burton's face +showed disapproval until Jack explained +the circumstances, and she could then enjoy +the pretty picture they made, without +feeling a regret that it was the result of +disobedience.</p> + +<p>Jack took Ralph in his arms and once +more carried him, still sleeping soundly, +upstairs. They did not waken Winnie +until it was time for them all to go to bed, +when she was gently roused by her +mother. She looked around in bewilderment, +and it was some time before she +could realize what had happened.</p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XII.<br /> + +<small>A VISIT TO THE ZOO.</small></h2> + + +<p class="firstlargenoindent"> +<span class="smcaps"><span class="firstlarge">T</span>he</span> +days were growing longer and +pleasanter. The trees were all dressed +in green now, and the maples in front of +the Burton home bent their green boughs +and shook their leaves at the invitation of +every little zephyr.</p> + +<p>The evening star shone over the western +hills, followed closely by the slender +new moon. The sun sank to rest behind +those same hills, some nights gorgeously +attended by crimson and gold and purple +clouds; on other evenings, dropping out of +sight suddenly, as if in a hurry to get to +China, as Winnie was fond of telling +Ralph.</p> + +<p>Winnie often sat with Ralph on the +front steps these days, and showed him +the bright star and tried to explain to +him that it was a big world, perhaps full +of people; or she would put on her +roller skates and skate up and down the +flagged pavement, while he rode his velocipede.</p> + +<p>Winnie thought she had never known a +spring so beautiful as this one. She felt +as if she could stay out of doors forever, +and found it even harder to keep her resolution +of conquering self-indulgence and +sticking to her duties now than when +she liked so much to sit by a bright fire +and read.</p> + +<p>She had her pretty card and her motto +in the looking-glass in her room, but she +found it so hard to remember—or to +want to remember, perhaps, which every +one knows is quite a different thing—that +she pinned a little piece of stiff paper +with the word "Now" written on it, inside +her dress. On the whole, however, +she kept pretty well to her resolution of +<a class="pagenum" name="page_58" title="58"> </a> +having a time for everything and doing +everything in its time.</p> + +<p>But she had never before felt such a desire +to be out of doors, and she imagined +she heard fairies beckoning to her from +the woods and hills. So one day, when +Aunt Kitty came over and invited Ralph +and herself and the other four girls of her +little band to go to the Zoological Garden +the next Saturday, the girl's delight was +unbounded, and she was in a fever lest +something should happen to prevent their +going.</p> + +<p>She delivered her message to the other +girls. Miriam and Fannie at once said +they thought they could go, but Ernestine +did not feel sure she could arrange her +Saturday duties so that no extra burden +would fall on her mother, while Gretta +told them she would have to ask her +father to excuse her from the extra practice +on Saturday, as they were to take +their lunches and stay all day.</p> + +<p>Fortunately Gretta found her father in +very good humor. She had been making +excellent progress with her music, and +he was very willing she should have a +holiday. Ernestine, also, had arranged +with one of the neighbors in the building +to take care of her little children on the +succeeding Saturday, in return for her +help in doing some extra household work.</p> + +<p>Saturday turned out to be a warm, +pleasant day, and in their eagerness the +girls arrived at the Burtons' a little ahead +of time, and had to wait till Miss Benton +came, which she did soon, looking very +happy. As for Ralph, his eyes were as +bright as stars, and he was the very picture +of joy and good humor.</p> + +<p>They walked up to Elm Street, and +from there took the car to the Mt. Bellevue +inclined railway. When they entered +the car of the latter, all stood at the front +end of it and looked out of the window, +and had the strange sensation, which no +familiarity therewith seems quite to +deaden, of being lifted suddenly into another +region, and of seeing the great city +sinking down, down, until one wonders +where it is going. Then, all at once, the +car stopped with its usual jerk, and there +they were, at the top of the hill.</p> + +<p>There were very few people about the +Bellevue House. They took a walk +around the grounds and through the +building, and stood looking at the city, +covered with its workaday smoke from the +many manufactories, till it almost seemed +as if it were seen through a cloud.</p> + +<p>"How strange it is," said Miriam, as +they entered the street-car at the top of +the hill, "to see the houses just as close +together here, and to have it seem like a +city of itself, and yet so different from the +business part of Cincinnati below that it +is hard to imagine the two are any part +of each other!"</p> + +<p>"There is something strange about +such things," said Miss Benton. "It is +just like people's lives. Their daily business, +which brings them bread and butter, +and which is really the largest and most +important part of existence, seems to sink +<a class="pagenum" name="page_59" title="59"> </a> +into insignificance or to be forgotten altogether +when social relations are taken up. +But, after all, I like to live in the city itself, +where there is something of the past +lingering about. Everything seems so +new here."</p> + +<p>"I don't know," said Ernestine. "I +think I would like to live up here; the air +seems so much purer. But I would want +a bigger yard than these, where I might +have a garden."</p> + +<p>"It's cleaner, too, up here," said practical +Gretta, who was neatness itself. "I +visit my aunt on Vine Street Hill, and +things always looks so much nicer and +newer at her house than the same ones at +ours. And it isn't because we don't try, +for we do twice the amount of work; my +mother and sister are always going about +with a duster." And Gretta, who had +made a long speech for her, finished with +a sigh, at which they all laughed.</p> + +<p>"Gretta would like a house where +everything had a glass cover," said +Miriam. "As for me, I like things jolly +and comfortable, and if they get grimy +and sooty, and nobody's to blame, what's +the use of making one's self unhappy +about it? I'm afraid I'm a good deal like +Josie Thompson, for I do like to enjoy +myself."</p> + +<p>"Well, no two of us are alike, and I +don't think it was intended that we should +be," said Miss Benton. "That is what +makes the charm of people's houses—that +they should all partake of the individuality +of their owners. When I enter +even a little girl's room, I like to see some +signs of her ownership there, and not have +it all as her mother or older sister or the +maid arranged it. I like to see something +that looks as if she had an object in life, +if it is nothing more than a charm string +of buttons, (which, by the way, has gone +out of fashion, I believe,) or a scrapbook."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, Aunt Kitty," said Winnifred, +smiling at her own thought, "it +must be a treat for you to go into Uncle +Fred's room; for, if I were to see such a +room at the North Pole, I would think of +him."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Miss Benton, with a smile, +"I might enjoy it better if it were in +some other house. I think, in this case, +it must be that familiarity breeds contempt. +The fact is, girls, my brother's +room is more of an old curiosity shop than +a modern sleeping-room. He has always +had a sort of magpie-habit of storing +things away, and is continually having +some new hobby; and as his hobbies are +often changed, and each hobby is apt to +take the form of making some sort of collection, +he has queer things lying about. +But from the time he was quite a little +boy, mother always said, 'Oh, let him +have that,' or 'do the other, and he'll be +satisfied at home.'"</p> + +<p>"How many canes and walking-sticks +has he, Aunt Kitty?"</p> + +<p>"Eight, I think, and each one has a +history; and two or three of them a mystery, +which he refuses to divulge. But +<a class="pagenum" name="page_60" title="60"> </a> +here we are at the end of our journey, and +Fannie hasn't had an opportunity to open +her mouth."</p> + +<p>"It's probably very good for my tongue +to get a rest; it works quite steadily as a +usual thing—at least so my father says. +But if Ralph hadn't been all eyes, this +would have been dull for him."</p> + +<p>"I isn't all eyes!" said Ralph, indignantly.</p> + +<p>They now approached the entrance to +the Zoological Garden, and the girls once +more took out their pocket books; but +Miss Benton was ahead of them again, +and had settled for the party before there +was time to demur.</p> + +<p>The first thing they spied were the +mounds of the prairie dogs, and they +stood watching these a long time. It was +such fun to see the little animals running +in and out of their holes and to hear their +funny bark, which Miriam said was "the +best part of them, and probably very much +better than their bite."</p> + +<p>Our little party was fortunate enough +to be at the cages of the carnivora just at +feeding time. The great lions lay basking +in the sun and looking so innocent +and amiable that it was almost impossible +to imagine they could be at all dangerous, +when suddenly the man who fed them appeared +with the raw meat. Then their +roars were fairly appalling, and made the +whole crowd jump, while Ralph clung +tight to the hand of Aunt Kitty, who said:</p> + +<p>"I was just thinking how nice it would +be to pat that quiet, majestic fellow on +the head, as I would my Angora cat; but +I think I'll wait till he's had his dinner."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Aunt Kitty," said Ralph, "I +'ouldn't let you; he'd eat you up!"</p> + +<p>It was an exciting but rather terrible +pleasure to see the wild creatures quarreling +and growling and fighting over their +dinners, and was also a most effective object +lesson on greediness.</p> + +<p>Like other visitors, although Miss Kitty +laughed at them for it, our little party followed +the keeper around from one cage +to another as he fed the various animals.</p> + +<p>"I like the bears best," said Fannie. +"They look like Eskimos when they stand +on their hind legs, and they stare up at us +and the other people as if we were here +just for them to look at."</p> + +<p>"There is a something within me that, +in spite of bears and all their attractions, +tells me it must be dinner time," said Miss +Benton, taking out her watch. "Yes, it +is one o'clock; suppose we get our +baskets."</p> + +<p>Ralph, in particular, manifested great +approval of this part of the programme, +and, having selected a nice grassy spot, +they disposed of themselves as comfortably +as possible, each with her basket at +her side.</p> + +<p>As they opened the baskets, passing the +thin sandwiches and pickles, Winnie made +a suggestion.</p> + +<p>"Aunt Kitty, let's play 'I have a +thought.'"</p> + +<p>"Very well," replied the lady; and, after +a short explanation of the game, and a +<a class="pagenum" name="page_61" title="61"> </a> +little time to think, she announced the +fact that she had a thought.</p> + +<p>"Why is it like the sky?" asked Winnie.</p> + +<p>"Because it is round."</p> + +<p>"Why is it like a bear?" asked Miriam, +her thoughts still on the bear pit.</p> + +<p>"Because—oh, Miriam, that is a hard +one!—because it is sometimes white."</p> + +<p>"Why is it like me?" said Ralph.</p> + +<p>"Because everybody likes it when it is +good." And Ralph wondered why they +all laughed.</p> + +<p>"Why is it like the grass?" asked Ernestine.</p> + +<p>"Because it is greenest in the spring."</p> + +<p>Then the questions poured upon Miss +Benton rapidly, as the girls began to see +how the game was played.</p> + +<p>"Why is it like music?" asked Gretta.</p> + +<p>"Because it suggests pleasant +thoughts."</p> + +<p>"Why is it like a novel?"</p> + +<p>"It is often highly flavored."</p> + +<p>"Why is it like an egg?"</p> + +<p>"Because it is an article of food."</p> + +<p>"Why is it like a cream-puff?"</p> + +<p>"Because the best part is inside."</p> + +<p>"Why is it like cheese?" said Fannie, +putting a piece in her mouth.</p> + +<p>"Because it comes on with the dessert."</p> + +<p>"Why is it like a book?"</p> + +<p>"Because the best part is usually between +the covers."</p> + +<p>"Why is it like a ring?"</p> + +<p>"Because people like to have a finger +in it."</p> + +<p>At which there was a general shout, +and they all said: "A pie, of course!"</p> + +<p>"But what kind of a pie, Miss Benton?" +asked Miriam.</p> + +<p>"That you must find out, too," was the +laughing answer; and the questions went +on.</p> + +<p>"It can't be lemon or custard or pumpkin," +said Fannie, "because we know it +has two covers."</p> + +<p>"Why is it like a flower?"</p> + +<p>"Because it has various colors."</p> + +<p>"And is greenest in the spring," said +Winnie, musingly. "Oh, it is an apple +pie! And Miss Benton acknowledged +that she had guessed correctly.</p> + +<p>Then Ernestine and Gretta consulted, +and took a thought together. Their +thought was a geography lesson, and of +course the resemblances were most absurd, +and it required all the ingenuity the +two girls possessed to answer the questions.</p> + +<p>They were all so occupied with the +game and their dinner that no one noticed +Miss Benton had not yet opened her +basket, and great was their surprise and +delight when she passed around to each of +them a grocer's thin platter filled with +strawberries, for they were still very +scarce, as it was early in the season.</p> + +<p>After dinner, Miss Benton took out a +book and said she was going to read for +a while, so the girls walked around, taking +Ralph with them, and greatly enjoying +the admiration he excited by his pretty +dress, his beauty and his cunning speeches. +<a class="pagenum" name="page_62" title="62"> </a> +They too, however, soon found themselves +somewhat tired, so they went back +to Miss Benton, and, sitting down for a +rest, amused themselves by hunting for +four-leaved clovers. In this Winnie and +Miriam proved themselves the lucky ones. +Fannie had not the slightest success, till +finally she gave a little cry and held up a +clover.</p> + +<p>But Miss Benton's quick eyes noticed a +twinkle in Fannie's, and saying, "Oh, +Fannie, I'm afraid you're a little cheat!" +she reached over and adroitly separated +one of the leaves from another, leaving +only a common clover leaf.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Fannie, laughing at being +discovered so soon, "if I don't have good +luck, I'm not going to let everyone know +it. My father tells me to make up my +mind that lots of things will happen to me +in this world which I'll best conquer by +grinning and bearing them. And that's +what I'm going to do."</p> + +<p>"A very good plan, my dear," said Miss +Benton, "for even if the grin is a sickly +one, it's better than a frown or a whine."</p> + +<p>"I guess I don't do that way," said +Gretta, whose tongue and conscience both +seemed to be awaking. "I'm afraid I go +away and pout."</p> + +<p>"The worst of habits," said Miss Benton, +with intentional decision. "That is +the habit which is most disagreeable to +everyone around, most full of unhappiness +to the one who indulges in it, and +the most difficult to break. I am afraid +that ill-temper is as powerful a giant as +procrastination, because it, too, assumes +so many forms; there are pouting and +whining, storming and scolding, and the +various other manifestations which we all, +more or less, indulge in. I do not think +many people cling to the powerful Giant +Hate, but it is 'the little foxes that spoil +the vines,' and little fits of temper, long +indulged in, might at last lead even to +that. But, girls, I didn't inveigle you out +here this lovely day to lecture you. So +come, let's be moving on."</p> + +<p>They next went to the aviary. Here, +although they enjoyed looking at the +birds, they became more interested in a +party of children, boys and girls, each +one looking like the others, so far as +clothes were concerned. Of course they +must be from some charitable institution, +but the girls did not know which one. +Afterward, when our little company had +gone to the monkey house and found a +number of the same uniformed children, +Miss Benton said to one of them, "What +school is this, my dear?"</p> + +<p>The child looked at her a moment in +surprise, and then replied: "Why, this +is the monkey school, I think."</p> + +<p>"Where is the teacher?" asked Ralph, +who mistook both question and answer, as +the child herself had done.</p> + +<p>Miriam and Fannie were delighted at +this, and, going up pretty close to one of +the cages, Fannie, who had yellow bangs, +said, pointing to a great monkey which +was watching them in a very observant +manner:</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page_63" title="63"> </a> +"I think this must be the teacher."</p> + +<p>Just as she made the remark, the monkey +stretched out his long arms, grabbed +her bangs, and pulled out several hairs, +which he smelled, and then threw down +with an air of disgust.</p> + +<p>Fannie was somewhat startled at first, +but, recovering herself, she said the monkey +must have thought her hair was wisps +of hay.</p> + +<p>Miss Benton did not seem very fond of +the "monkey school," as they dubbed it +for the remainder of the afternoon, and +she proposed going to the pony track. +This gave general satisfaction. Here, too, +they found the uniformed children, all of +them having a lovely time. Miss Benton +found out, by conversing with one of the +attendants, that they were from one of +the city orphan asylums, and that the +whole lovely day was a gift to them from +one of its patrons—admission into the +garden and a ride for each child on one of +the ponies.</p> + +<div class="center"> + <img class="plain" src="images/i63.jpg" width="713" height="432" alt="" /> + <p class="caption">Ralph was not in the least frightened.</p> +</div> + +<p>They stood watching the orphan children +for awhile, as they rode around the +track, and Miss Benton asked if her guests +would not like a ride, too. Fannie, Winnie +and Miriam said that they would, and +each selected a pony; Fannie, who had +attended a riding-school, riding very +gracefully. Ralph thought he would like +a ride, too, so the riding-master brought +his smallest pony, and two of the little +<a class="pagenum" name="page_64" title="64"> </a> +orphan boys came up and begged permission +to lead it around the track.</p> + +<p>Miss Benton consented, and, Ralph +having been lifted into the saddle, they +started off, a boy on each side of him. +But the little pony started to run, and one +of the boys was soon left behind; the +other, who had hold of the bridle, kept up +manfully for a time, but before the pony +had gone round the track, he, too, was left +behind. Ralph, however, held on to the +bridle himself, and, not in the least frightened, +kept his seat in the saddle as if it +had been his velocipede. And the by-standers +seemed to think it as cunning as +did his partial aunt and the rest of her +party. However, in spite of the courage +he had shown, Ralph was quite willing to +get off.</p> + +<p>They remained at the track a little +longer, watching the other children riding, +and feeling glad that, if children +were left alone in the world, there were +people noble and good and with means +enough to gather the little waifs together, +and that they, too, had happy holidays.</p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XIII.<br /> + +<small>DREAMS AND REALITIES.</small></h2> + + +<div class="floatl"> + <img class="plain" src="images/i64.jpg" width="142" height="145" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="dropcap16"> +<span class="smcaps"><span class="invisible">T</span>he</span> +following Friday +Gretta and Winnifred +were dismissed at recess, +the Friday afternoon +privilege of those +who had had perfect +marks for the week. As they passed +out through the yard together, Gretta +said:</p> + +<p>"I'm going to church to practice my +organ lesson. Come go with me, Win."</p> + +<p>Winnifred hesitated. "If I had +spoken to mamma about it this morning—"</p> + +<p>"Well, let's go and ask her now."</p> + +<p>"No, she won't be at home. She was +going out to Walnut Hills to make several +calls."</p> + +<p>"Then I don't see what's to keep you +from going with me. No one will know +whether you are with me or at school."</p> + +<p>Winnie knew very well that she had no +right to be away without anyone at home +knowing where she was, but she hesitated—and +was lost. The temptation was too +great; and beside, she reasoned, "What +difference can it possibly make whether I +am at school or at the church? If I had +not had good marks I couldn't have gone +home, anyway."</p> + +<p>So the two girls passed on up the street +together. Winnifred soon forgot her +scruples, and laughed and chattered away +as usual. She had been reading Grimm's +story of the boy who could not understand +what it was to shiver. She had +thought it very amusing, and now she +narrated it at length to Gretta as they +went along, so that they reached the +church before Gretta had stopped laughing +at the absurd climax.</p> + +<p>They went up the flight of steep stone +steps and tried the side door that led to +the choir gallery, but it was locked, and +<a class="pagenum" name="page_65" title="65"> </a> +Gretta said, "We'll have to go the back +way; come on, Win." So they descended +the stairs again and went through the +narrow side yard at the right of the +church.</p> + +<p>At the back were two rooms which at +this time were occupied by the janitor and +his wife. Gretta knocked, and when the +door was opened by a smiling woman, +walked in with an I-have-a-right-to manner, +simply saying, "I've come to practice." +Winnifred followed somewhat +bashfully, but recovered her sense of being +herself when the door of the little living-room +closed upon them. The two girls +crossed a narrow passage and opened a +door leading to a stairway. It was very +dark here, but Gretta had traveled up and +down these stairs so many times that she +went swiftly now, while Winnifred, unaccustomed +to them, groped her way along +through the darkness very slowly.</p> + +<p>When she reached the top Gretta +opened another door which led into the +church itself, always filled with people +when Winnifred had seen it before, but +now empty and mysterious, with the light +dimmed and deepened and transformed as +it made its way through the stained-glass +windows. She breathed a little heavily as +she glanced up at the pulpit on the left, +and almost felt as if she would hear a +voice rise from the empty air and chide +them for their boldness in entering so +sacred a place on workaday business. But +Gretta, entirely accustomed to independent +errands connected with musical matters, +passed on up the narrow side aisle, +Winnifred following slowly.</p> + +<p>Then came another narrow staircase +leading to the choir gallery, which faced +the pulpit. When they reached the top +they found the shades all down and the +place quite dark except for a long, narrow +beam of light which streamed through a +crevice in one of the blinds. Winnifred +stopped on the threshold with something +like fear, which was yet pleasing because +of the sense of mystery and romance +which was blended with it in her imaginative +young mind. Gretta, however, +stepped in at once and went quickly toward +the back of the gallery. Here she +suddenly pulled up a shade, and Winnifred +saw numbers of music books piled up +on one of the long benches.</p> + +<p>Gretta opened the organ and sat down. +She reached the pedals with some difficulty, +being obliged to stretch her legs +somewhat in order to do so; but this, like +everything else with her, was a part of the +musical education which was the chief +business of her life and of all the lives +nearest to her. She began to play a voluntary, +softly, slowly and reverently, yet +clearly, and with wonderful appreciation +for a child just entering her teens.</p> + +<p>Winnifred climbed into the darkest +corner she could find and gave herself up +to enjoyment of the music and all the unusual +surroundings. Forgetting all else, +she began to weave herself and Gretta into +a little story of a world separate and apart +from the world she had always known: a +<a class="pagenum" name="page_66" title="66"> </a> +world filled with visionary forms and +faces, and in which there was no sound +but that of music.</p> + +<p>"Over there in that pew just under the +stained-glass window," she thought, "is +a little girl who cannot see, but who has +never missed her eyesight, because she +does not need it. She lives only in this +world, where there is nothing but sweet +sounds. She will grow up some day and +go out into the other world where Gretta +and I lived yesterday, but she will be a +poet like Milton, whose picture, when he +was such a beautiful boy, I saw yesterday; +but she will not be sad like him, because +she knows only the world of poetry and +music.</p> + +<p>"Over in that other pew," Winnie's +dreams ran on, "is that poor, little, blind +beggar girl I saw on the street yesterday +afternoon. She isn't hungry now, for +this is the fairyland of music where people +do not need to eat. The music has gone +straight to her heart—and see! she creeps +softly over to the opposite pew—how did +she know that the other little blind girl +was there?—she creeps softly to the +other pew, and they clasp hands and feel +as happy as if they had looked into each +other's eyes.</p> + +<p>"And who is that sweet-faced girl in +the pew just in front of the pulpit? She +is beautiful. She looks like Nydia, the +blind girl in 'The Last Days of Pompeii,' +but she can't be Nydia, for Nydia lived +and died hundreds of years ago. But she +listens to the music just as Nydia might +do if she were here now. It is not so sad +to be blind in a world of music. And yet—how +would I know where they were +sitting if I were blind, too?"</p> + +<p>And Winnie closed her eyes to try how +it would seem not to be able to see. The +music floated out upon the air; it grew +softer and softer and sounded farther and +farther away, and at last Winnie ceased to +hear it, for the darkness and the gentle +sounds had so soothed her senses that she +went straight from day-dreamland to +slumberland.</p> + +<p>Gretta all unconsciously played on until +she had finished her allotted task, forgetting +the existence of Winnifred as completely +as the latter had forgotten hers. +But by and by she had finished the last +bar, and jumped up from her seat with a +feeling of satisfaction. She looked +around in surprise for a moment when +she realized that Winnifred had gone to +sleep. The next thing the latter knew +Gretta was shouting into her ear: "Wake +up! Wake up, Winnie! I'm all through +my practice and ready to go home. Let's +hurry! It must be late."</p> + +<p>They gathered up their school books, +the sense of haste taking away all the feeling +of mystery and romance. When they +looked at the clock in the little room +downstairs on their way out, Winnifred +was dismayed and realized suddenly that +she ought to have been at home an hour +ago. She had a very uncomfortable walk +home, particularly after she had parted +from Gretta, but, as it happened, her +<a class="pagenum" name="page_67" title="67"> </a> +mother had not yet returned and her absence +had been unnoticed.</p> + +<p>She told her mother about it in the +evening—of how sweetly Gretta had +played, and how she had imagined a +world made on purpose for blind people.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Burton only said, "I am glad you +had such a nice afternoon, dear. It is +one you will always remember. You were +fortunate that nothing happened to spoil +the pleasure of it. I am glad I was not +at home, however, for I fear I would have +been very uneasy about you."</p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XIV.<br /> + +<small>ARBOR DAY.</small></h2> + + +<div class="floatl"> + <img class="plain" src="images/i67.jpg" width="143" height="176" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="dropcap16"> +<span class="smcaps"><span class="invisible">In </span>nearly</span> +every household +of the big city the +children were astir +early, all wearing an +air of excitement, from +the six-year-old in the +primary school to the +"big brother" or sister in the intermediate, +for there was at last something new +under the sun—the celebration of +"Arbor Day" for the first time in their +city and State.</p> + +<p>It was a day to be devoted to the trees +and their planting. Every school in the +city had had a plot of ground set aside for +its use, and every school had had at least +one tree planted, beside those in memory +of the teachers who had passed away to +the unknown land.</p> + +<p>There was no set time for departure +and no special gathering place, so that at +almost any hour after nine o'clock on that +lovely May morning groups of children +might have been seen wending their way +toward the eastern hills. Those in the +vicinity of Eden Park walked, a few drove +over with their parents or friends, but the +great majority filled the street cars to +overflowing, laughing and chattering and +enjoying a holiday as only school children +can.</p> + +<p>Forming a portion of the last class +were the pupils of the "First Intermediate," +that old landmark which has +guided so many embryo citizens of our +great Republic through the intricate +paths of fractions, decimals, and so on, to +the crowning difficulty of cube root; +through grammar and history and geography, +before bidding them "Godspeed" +as they entered the high-school or took +up the story of their lives in some other +direction.</p> + +<p>Among these last, lunch baskets in +hand, were the five young warriors, but +with their armor off and as great an air of +being on pleasure bent as though they had +never thought of anything more serious. +Miriam as usual had the floor, and the entire +car-load of girls and boys, nearly all +of them her classmates, were laughing at +her remarks.</p> + +<p>There was a change of cars at Fountain +Square and again at the foot of the Mt. +Adams incline, but the five girls managed +to keep from being separated. Arrived +at the top of the hill, they stopped +<a class="pagenum" name="page_68" title="68"> </a> +to breathe in the fresh air and admire the +beautiful landscape—the Kentucky hills +far away in the distance, with the +beautiful Ohio flowing placidly at their +feet; Cincinnati, in its hill-encircled cup, +making, with Covington and Newport +and the various smaller villages, part of +one great whole, linked by the bridges +across the Ohio and the Licking.</p> + +<p>"This reminds me," said Ernestine, +who was the historian of the little company, +"of the name first chosen for our +city—Losantiville, the town opposite the +mouth of the Licking; 'ville,' town; +'anti,' opposite; 'os,' mouth; 'L,' initial +of Licking."</p> + +<p>"Dreadful!" said Miriam. "Imagine +this great city designated as a town across +the way from that little stream! It would +be like the immense woman I saw the +other day. I know she weighed over two +hundred. There was a little man walking +beside her, and he called her 'Birdie!' +Indeed he did, and she called him 'Horatio!'"</p> + +<p>"Our city started about here," said +Ernestine, after the girls had stopped +laughing, "or just at the foot of the hill, +and grew first along the river. Later on +it spread northward, and Fourth Street +was one of its aristocratic streets."</p> + +<p>"There comes Josie Thompson," said +Fannie. "She's evidently bent on having +a good time, and she's gotten up regardless. +See that chain around her neck; +plated, I'm sure."</p> + +<p>"Don't look so sober, Ernestine," said +Miriam. "There wouldn't be any use +in living if you could not make fun of +people once in a while."</p> + +<p>"But perhaps Josie has never been +taught any better at home," said Winnifred, +suddenly thinking of the giants.</p> + +<p>"She has eyes, hasn't she?" said Gretta. +"But it seems to me she can't have ears, +or else she couldn't help hearing that +dress she has on. I know that's what my +father would say."</p> + +<p>Just then Josie came up to them. +"Hello, girls! Going to have a good +time? I tell you I am! Glad to have +one day with no lessons to learn!" And +she passed on with her friends, leaving the +girls, even Ernestine, convulsed.</p> + +<p>"Let's go on to the park," said Ernestine.</p> + +<p>Accordingly they gathered up their +baskets and other belongings. It was but +a short walk, and they soon reached the +spot where many of their schoolmates +had already assembled.</p> + +<p>At twelve o'clock the schools had a +few simple exercises. The children sang, +"My Country, 'Tis of Thee," one of the +girls of their grade recited "Woodman, +Spare that Tree," and Fannie's father +made a brief address. He talked to them +of the part the forests play in helping to +prevent drouths and disastrous floods. He +told of the old Italian poet who called +the trees "my brothers," and said that +everyone, whether poet or not, should +have especial tenderness and affection for +these beautiful and useful bits of nature +<a class="pagenum" name="page_69" title="69"> </a> +which grow up around us, relieving our +eyes from the glare of day, shading us +from the noonday sun, and giving us +pleasure in many ways, so that their useless +and wanton destruction becomes a sin +against mankind.</p> + +<p>After the conclusion of this little talk +(for it was that rather than a set speech), +the children gathered up their lunch +baskets and boxes, each party sought the +spot that pleased it best, and soon the +hillside was dotted with groups of boys +and girls engaged in disposing of sandwiches, +pickles, pies, cakes, fruit, and so +on, with great enjoyment and good appetites.</p> + +<p>The afternoon was passed most pleasantly +by Winnifred and her own special +friends, reinforced by many of the girls +and boys of her class. Games of all sorts +were indulged in with unflagging energy +and good spirits for two or three hours.</p> + +<p>About four o'clock Fannie's parents +came for her in a carriage. Soon after +Winnifred's mother arrived on the scene +with little Ralph, and they were shown the +trees which had just been planted and told +about all the events of the day. By this +time nearly every one was making preparations +to leave, and by five o'clock the +park was almost deserted and the happy +day had become only a memory. But the +seeds of thought planted there fell not +altogether on stony ground, and were +destined to bear fruit at some future day.</p> + +<p>Indeed, the very next morning Ralph +insisted on having an Arbor Day of his +own, and he put in the ground a branch +of willow, which took root and thrived, +growing so rapidly that in a few years it +was taller than himself; and each spring, +when it put forth its delicate gray-green +foliage, it recalled to Winnifred that most +delightful Arbor Day.</p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XV.<br /> + +<small>GRETCHEN'S KAFFEEKLATCH.</small></h2> + + +<div class="floatl"> + <img class="plain" src="images/i69.jpg" width="154" height="197" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="dropcap16"> +<span class="smcaps"><span class="invisible">A</span>nother</span> +year of +Gretta's life had +rolled around and +brought with it her +thirteenth birthday. +The little club of +"warriors" had not +been without its influence upon her behavior, +and she had become so ready to +enter upon her duties, so cheerful in performing +them, and so much less resentful +in accepting the reproof which was perhaps +too frequent in that busy and overworked +household, that her elder sister—whom +she had so complained of when the +subject of forming their club was first +mentioned—had decided that Gretta +must have a little birthday party, and +asked her whom she wished to invite.</p> + +<p>Gretta was greatly delighted, for she +had long been wishing to have a meeting +of the club at her home, but had hardly +known how to broach the subject. She +immediately gave her sister the list, and +while the latter was somewhat surprised +<a class="pagenum" name="page_70" title="70"> </a> +that it should be so small, it was something +of a relief to find what she had +thought would be quite an undertaking so +greatly simplified. It was decided that +the girls should be invited to come at four +o'clock and that supper should be served +at half past five.</p> + +<p>Promptly at the hour named Winnifred +and Miriam appeared, followed soon after +by Fannie, and then by Ernestine. The +door was opened by the smiling-faced, +German maid-of-all-work, and the girls +were met at the foot of the stairs by +Gretta, who took them up to the library +on the second floor. "Here we will have +no one to bother us," said Gretta. "My +mother is out of the city on a visit to my +uncle, and my sister has a music pupil in +the parlor, so we'll have the library all to +ourselves."</p> + +<p>"How jolly!" said Miriam, looking +around. "Oh, here is a big reclining-chair! +We'll call it the president's chair, +and Winnifred shall occupy it, because she +was the first one to think of this club."</p> + +<p>"Yes! yes!" they all insisted, so Winnifred +climbed into the big chair, and the +other girls ranged themselves in various +attitudes around her.</p> + +<p>"Do you know," said Miriam, with a +half laugh and a half sigh, "I don't find +fighting such easy work as I thought I +would. I like to dress up my 'little observations,' +as my brother calls them, just +as much as I ever did, and I almost got +into a temper this morning because my +hair pulled when I began to comb it out."</p> + +<p>"And I have been wishing we were +richer," said Ernestine, whose great ambition +it was to be contented with all that +came to her. "You know we had such +a hot spell last week, and mamma ought +to go away this summer. She is getting +thinner and thinner, and she has those +awful headaches more and more often +lately."</p> + +<p>"I don't see why everybody can't have +the things they want," said Fannie, feeling +guilty to think she ever had a cross +minute.</p> + +<p>"I said that to mamma last week," said +Ernestine, "when I felt uneasy about her, +and she said it all comes from something +in ourselves. That didn't make it any +easier for me; nothing did, until I +thought of the One who had not where to +lay His head. Then I felt ashamed."</p> + +<p>For a minute the girls were silent. Then +Winnie said, "Well, I, for one, don't +think I have quite killed that ugly old +Hate. I can't bear to stop doing what I +like, to please other people. I was reading +'Grandfather's Chair' last night, and +I just hated to stop and tell Ralph his +story before he went to bed. You know +he always expects a story from some one +of us, and last night nobody had the time +but me."</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you what upsets me more than +anything else," said their little hostess; +"that is, to have to jump up from the +piano to answer the bell. And there's +never a day that I don't have to do it; +sometimes three or four times."</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page_71" title="71"> </a> +"What is your bugaboo, Fannie?" said +Miriam; "or don't you have any?"</p> + +<p>"Don't I? I believe I have more than +any of you," was the answer. "But the +thing that grieves me most is that I can't +wear prettier and more expensive dresses +to school. You know, lots of the girls +who haven't half as much money as we +dress a great deal better. Mamma would +not care so much, but papa won't hear of +such a thing."</p> + +<p>"What awful troubles we all do have!" +said Miriam, laughing.</p> + +<p>"Miss Embry would say you shouldn't +use 'awful,'" said Winnie from the +depths of the big chair.</p> + +<p>"There, you've hit it exactly!" said +Miriam. "There is my bugaboo in a nut +shell, and it really is an awful one. You +know I like to make things sound strong, +so I use all the strong-sounding words I +can find; and I suppose I do exaggerate. +Although I am reproved on all sides, it +hasn't the slightest effect on me, except +to make me wish that all the people who +reprove me, or remind me of someone who +does reprove,"—here she made big eyes +at Winnie—"were hard of hearing when +I am about. No, no; my motto is:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse">"'Tameness and slowness can't stay with me;</div> + <div class="verse">They and I will never agree.'"</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>"And yet," said Ernestine, "there are +a great many very interesting things told +in very simple language and without getting +away from the white truth."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Miriam, "to tell the white +truth myself just this once. I don't know +whether I want to conquer this or not. I +don't believe it is really much relation to +the Giant Untruth. I think it's only a +little dwarfish imp, a Brownie, who +simply 'growed,' like Topsy, and to me is +just about as interesting."</p> + +<p>"And yet even you couldn't call Topsy +beautiful," said Ernestine readily.</p> + +<p>"Hardly," laughed Miriam. "But +now we've all owned up, let's parade rest, +as we say in our broom drills;" and she +threw herself back on the sofa, where she +sat as if indeed resting from a hard-fought +battle.</p> + +<p>The five formed a group of American +girls good to look upon in their sweet +springtime. Ernestine, with serious gray +eyes, fair, slender, and tall for her fifteen +years, sat erect but graceful in a straight, +high-backed chair, her very pose denoting +a peaceful courage. Fannie, with skin +soft and rosy and eyes of a rare violet hue, +occupied a low seat, her arms resting on +the sofa against which she was leaning. +Miriam, with dark, sparkling eyes and +long, thick hair, looking brimful of life +in spite of her present lazy attitude, sat +just behind Fannie. Next came Winnie, +small even for her twelve years, brown-eyed +and dainty, looking fond of luxury, +as she undoubtedly was and always would +be, and yet good and high-minded. Last +Gretta herself, a true German, with blue +eyes and thick, light braids, a trim and +compact little maiden. She sat near a +table, her chin in her hand, with its flexible, +square-tipped fingers—the fingers +<a class="pagenum" name="page_72" title="72"> </a> +of the born and made pianist—for +Gretta had "begun," as her mates used +to tell, at the age of four.</p> + +<p>It was a pleasant room in which they +sat; it had many books, German and +English and a few in other languages, and +where no book-cases rested, the walls +were hung with pictures of musicians—Mozart +and Bach and Mendelssohn and +many others as companions; and on a +pedestal stood a bust of Beethoven, whom—so +Gretta told the girls as they looked +around—her father considered the greatest +of them all.</p> + +<p>Just then Winnie glanced up at the +clock and saw that it was fifteen minutes +past five. She made a motion to the +girls, at which they all jumped up, and, +joining hands, formed a circle around +Gretta. Before she had had time to do +anything but look astonished, Miriam +stopped behind her, and, holding something +over her head, said, "Heavy, heavy +hangs over your head. What shall the +owner do to redeem it?"</p> + +<p>Before Gretta had a chance to answer, +Miriam had dropped into her lap a box +of pretty note-paper, and replied to her +own question by saying, "The owner shall +redeem it by writing to the giver this +summer a letter for each week they are +separated."</p> + +<p>Then the girls circled about again, and +this time Winnifred stopped behind +Gretta, saying:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse">"Open your mouth and shut your eyes,</div> + <div class="verse">And I'll give you something to make you wise."</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Gretta did as she was bidden, and Winnie +popped a big marshmallow into her +mouth, depositing the remainder of the +box in her lap.</p> + +<p>They circled about her for the third +time, and Fannie stopped behind her, saying, +as Miriam had done, "Heavy, heavy +hangs over your head. What shall the +owner do to redeem it?" and continued, +"Read every word of it and enjoy it," and +placed in Gretta's hand a copy of "Little +Lord Fauntleroy."</p> + +<p>Yet again they circled about her, singing:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse">"A rosy wreath I twine for thee,</div> + <div class="verse">Of Flora's richest treasures;</div> + <div class="verse">Take, oh, take, this rosy, rosy crown,</div> + <div class="verse">Flora's richest treasures,</div> + <div class="verse">Flora's richest treasures,"—</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>and Ernestine placed a crown of flowers +on Gretta's brow.</p> + +<p>Gretta was quite overcome with pleasure +and surprise, for the girls had so +skillfully hidden their little gifts that +she had not even caught a glimpse of +them.</p> + +<p>Just then the door opened, and the +hostess' sister appeared at the door, saying, +"Tea is ready, Gretta." Before they +did anything else, however, Gretta had to +exhibit her presents. They were duly admired, +and then Miss Josephine said, +"Come on, now; I'll head the procession. +Keep step."</p> + +<p>Through the open door came the sound +of a lively march, which even Gretta had +never heard before.</p> + +<p>"That is a new march which father +<a class="pagenum" name="page_73" title="73"> </a> +composed in honor of your birthday. He +calls it 'Gretchen's March.'"</p> + +<div class="center"> + <img class="plain" src="images/i73.jpg" width="510" height="628" alt="" /> + <p class="caption">Winnifred popped a big marshmallow into her mouth.—See page 72.</p> +</div> + +<p>They all felt very important as they +marched down the stairs, headed by Miss +Berger, who led +them out into the +long parlor and twice +around it, while her +father at the piano, +with a merry twinkle +in his eyes, kept on +playing, and then +out into the dining-room.</p> + +<p>The table was set +for five only, and the +girls, directed by +Miss Josephine, took +their seats, with +Gretta at the head, +to the inspiring +strains of the lively +march.</p> + +<p>It proved a most +enjoyable little feast. +Miss Berger left the +room as soon as they +were all seated, and +then the same smiling-faced +maid who +had opened the door +for them, also departed, and gave them +an opportunity to look about.</p> + +<p>At Gretta's place was a set of cunning +china cups and saucers, which had been +sent her from Germany when she was +quite a little child. The cups were just +about the size of after-dinner coffees, and +the smiling Mina had insisted on calling +the little party "Gretchen's Kaffeeklatch." +Miss Berger had been so amused +that she fell in with the idea, and had decided +that they really should have coffee +and some of Mina's coffee-cake on the bill +of fare.</p> + +<p>As Gretta filled the little cups, and the +coffee and its delicious adjunct were +<a class="pagenum" name="page_74" title="74"> </a> +passed around, five tongues chattered as +fast as those of their elders might have +done on a similar occasion.</p> + +<p>When the coffee-cake and sandwiches +and chicken salad had been disposed of, +Gretta touched the bell at her place, and +Mina appeared. After clearing the table, +she brought in a great cake with thirteen +little candles on it burning away merrily, +and a great bowl of lemonade. Miss Josephine +came in and cut the cake and +served the lemonade, and was as entertaining +and companionable as any of them +could have desired.</p> + +<p>They sat at the table a long time, then +they went into the parlor and were introduced +to Gretta's father. They shook +hands with him timidly, for they had been +so impressed by his strictness with Gretta +in regard to her musical studies that they +were a little afraid of him. Though they +felt vaguely conscious that he was looking +at them quizzically, he threw off the yoke +of business entirely and entered into their +games like a boy.</p> + +<p>Among the other enjoyable things +they played "Magic Music." It was +really the game of "Hunt the Slipper," +and when the music was soft they were +"cold," and when it was loud they were +"hot." Mr. Berger played for them, and +never before had these girls played this +game to such music.</p> + +<p>The four girls walked home together in +the Late twilight, declaring to each other +that they had never had such a delightful +time; and Fannie, who had once spoken +so contemptuously of Gretta as a "music +teacher's daughter," was loudest in her +praise.</p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XVI.<br /> + +<small>THE BOAT-RIDE.</small></h2> + + +<div class="floatl"> + <img class="plain" src="images/i74.jpg" width="134" height="214" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="dropcap16"> +<span class="smcaps"><span class="invisible">A </span>few</span> +evenings after the +meeting at Gretta's, +Uncle Fred came in, and, +pulling Winnie's ears according +to his custom, +said:</p> + +<p>"I think it's my turn +to treat, Winnifred; at +least Kitty says it is. She and I were out +boating yesterday, and she suggests that I +take you and the other Joans for a row +Friday evening."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Uncle Fred," cried Winnie, "that +will be grand! I'll tell the girls about it +to-morrow. Who all are to be invited?"</p> + +<p>"'You-all,' as our Southern friends +say, and your Aunt Kitty; us seven, and +no more, as the poet expresses it."</p> + +<p>The girls accepted with eagerness. But +on Thursday Ernestine did not come to +school. Winnie went around Friday noon +to learn the reason of such an unusual +occurrence, and found that Mrs. Alroy +was sick in bed, and although she had protested +against her daughter's staying at +home, Ernestine could not be prevailed +upon to leave her.</p> + +<p>The other girls were, of course, very +sorry not to have her go, but soon forgot +their disappointment in the excitement +<a class="pagenum" name="page_75" title="75"> </a> +of anticipation. At a quarter past six, +the hour agreed upon, Fannie was ringing +Mrs. Burton's door bell, while Gretta and +Miriam were just entering the gate. Winnie +and her uncle and aunt were quite +ready, so they all started out. After a +short ride in the "Green Line," they were +transferred to the Covington and Newport +cars on their way to the river. None +of the girls had been in that neighborhood +often enough to be familiar with it, and +everything they saw had the interest of +novelty for them. When they reached the +bridge, Mr. Fred helped them out of the +car and they went on down the bank of +the river. They stood there for awhile +watching the many boats, large and small, +the people going and coming, none of +whom seemed to be in the same hurry +as those farther up in the city, and most +of whom were men sauntering leisurely +along with their hands in their pockets.</p> + +<p>Mr. Fred, who had left the girls for a +few minutes, now came back, and, on his +giving the command, they followed him +to a pretty little dock where there were +several row-boats. In one of these the +five girls were soon seated, Winnie in the +bow, Gretta and Fannie in the stern, +while Miriam and Miss Kitty—who +could both row—sat together where each +could handle an oar, declaring that they +meant to help provide some of the power. +Uncle Fred took his place in the seat of +"the crack oarsman," as he said, the +smiling boatman on the wharf pushed +them off, and soon they found themselves +afloat. Fannie held the rudder and +handled it very skillfully, although Mr. +Fred kept a sharp lookout himself, for the +river at this point was full of craft of all +descriptions, from the large steamboats +whose journey continues through the +beautiful Ohio down through "The +Father of Waters;" the ferry boats crossing +between Ohio and Kentucky; little +steam launches and row-boats, just starting +out for pleasure; and fishing-boats returning +laden from the day's work.</p> + +<p>At first Miss Kitty and Miriam splashed +about a little, but soon they became accustomed +to each other and pulled such a +steady, even stroke that Mr. Fred was +obliged to stop laughing at them, and +even acknowledged that they were helping +to make the boat go.</p> + +<p>All along the shores of the river were +numbers of shanty boats, and as they approached +the mouth of the Licking they +saw more of these. Winnie, especially, +was much interested in them, and enjoyed +her seat in the bow as giving a good opportunity +to catch a glimpse of some of +their inmates—little boys with bare feet, +girls with bright-colored dresses, many +barking dogs, and an occasional cat, all of +whom, in her eyes, were invested with a +peculiar fascination.</p> + +<p>But soon they entered the mouth of the +Licking, and, gradually leaving all these +sights and sounds behind them, passed +into an enchanted country, the domain of +Nature herself. Miss Kitty started up +softly, "My country, 'tis of thee," and the +<a class="pagenum" name="page_76" title="76"> </a> +girls joined in, Miriam's contralto adding +richness to the voices as they rose and +fell on the still air. Miss Kitty and Miriam +had already drawn their oars up into +the boat, and Mr. Fred let his trail idly +in the water as he listened.</p> + +<p>When they had finished the last stanza, +Winnie said, "Aunt Kitty, won't you and +Uncle Fred sing 'Juanita' for us? The +moon is just rising behind those trees, +and this is the very time for that duet."</p> + +<p>"What a romantic little thing it is!" +said Fred, teasingly; but he joined his sister +in the pretty duet, which has been +sung on the water so many times as almost +to be considered a boating song. After +this they took to their oars again, and, +pulling hard against the stream, advanced +silently but rapidly.</p> + +<p>Presently Mr. Fred, with a strong pull +on his left oar, turned the boat, in spite +of Fannie's hold on the rudder, and it +shot suddenly in toward the right bank, +where was a little beach in a sheltered +cove under an immense willow tree. Here +Mr. Fred jumped out, and, after making +the boat fast to the tree, assisted the other +members of the party to disembark.</p> + +<p>"Follow me!" he commanded, starting +up the bank, which here sloped gradually +to the water's edge.</p> + +<p>The little company soon reached the +top of the bank. The moon, nearly full, +had just risen, and by its light, struggling +with that of the dying day, they saw a +little path leading up the green hillside. +Along this they went, single file, wondering +where Mr. Fred and Miss Kitty were +taking them, when suddenly they were +startled by the bark of a dog, and in a +second a great mastiff jumped up almost +to Mr. Fred's shoulders, and nearly +knocked him down by the force of the +spring.</p> + +<p>Winnie was struck dumb with fear, and +the other girls screamed, but Mr. Fred +said, in a tone which quite reassured +them:</p> + +<p>"Down, down, Jasper! Don't let your +joy make you forget your manners."</p> + +<p>Jasper wagged his tail as if to say, "All +right, sir," and trotted along the path, +with Mr. Fred's hand on his head.</p> + +<p>The path wound about through the +trees, and when they reached the top of +the hill they saw a large white house, +and coming towards them a tall young +man, who called out cheerily:</p> + +<p>"We've been looking for you for the +last half hour. Come right along. Nellie +and Rob can hardly contain themselves, +they have been so afraid you wouldn't +come."</p> + +<p>He led the way around the house, and +soon had ushered the new-comers into a +large, square parlor with long windows +opening on a broad veranda.</p> + +<p>"Nellie, Rob," he said, "here are the +'Warrior Maidens,' of whom you have +heard so much."</p> + +<p>The two children, Nellie about fourteen, +and Rob a few years younger, bowed +bashfully, and then looked appealingly at +their elder brother, as they sat down on +<a class="pagenum" name="page_77" title="77"> </a> +the two chairs farthest removed from +those occupied by their guests. The moon +was now above the tree tops, and shone +into the room brightly through the long +windows.</p> + +<div class="center"> + <img src="images/i77.jpg" width="687" height="544" alt="" /> + <p class="caption">They passed unto an enchanted country.—See page 75.</p> +</div> + +<p>"A glorious night for a game of hide-and-seek," +said the older brother suggestively, +in answer to an unspoken appeal +of the younger ones.</p> + +<p>"And this would be a grand place for +it," said Miss Kitty. "I used to think +a game of I-spy on a moonlight night the +finest thing in the world. Suppose we +try it now?"</p> + +<p>"Yes! yes!" they all exclaimed; and, +headed by their young hosts, rushed out +of doors, and for half an hour made the +hills echo with their shouts of merriment.</p> + +<p>Such places as there were in which to +hide!—a dark corner in the grape arbor, +a nook in the vine-covered summer-house, +a deep-shadowed projection from the +stable or house or veranda: such chances +to "make home" around the house, which +<a class="pagenum" name="page_78" title="78"> </a> +stood in the center of the yard! Miss +Kitty generally came in first, but once, +after long searching, she was found in the +hollow of a tree into which she had +crawled, and from which, being caught in +her own trap, she had to be pulled out by +the united efforts of her brother and +niece.</p> + +<p>Then Miss Kitty declared that it was +high time they should start for home. +But when they went into the house to get +their wraps, they found the smiling +mother of their hosts waiting for them +with a great bowl of strawberries, picked, +she said, just before the sun went down, +and which they must really try. It was +not a difficult task to persuade the guests +to do this, and after they had all done full +justice to the berries and the accompanying +cake and rich, sweet milk, they set +forth to embark for home, escorted to the +river by the entire family of their new +friends.</p> + +<p>The row home was enjoyed even more, +if that were possible, than the one +thither. The moon was now high in the +sky, and hill and tree and rock and +dimpling wave were beautified by its enchanting +glamour.</p> + +<p>They all felt either too tired, or too +happy, or both perhaps, to talk, and the +trip was made almost in silence, although +Miss Kitty stopped rowing once, and +quoted softly:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse">"And the cares that infest the day,</div> + <div class="verse">Shall fold their tents like the Arab,</div> + <div class="verse">And as silently steal away."</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XVII.<br /> + +<small>SAD NEWS.</small></h2> + + +<div class="floatl"> + <img class="plain" src="images/i78.jpg" width="179" height="226" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="dropcap27"> +<span class="smcaps"><span class="invisible">The </span>next</span> +morning +Winnie wakened +early and lay for +some time thinking +over the pleasure +of the evening +before and the +events of the past +six months. It seemed to her as if a long +time had elapsed since the evening on +which she began to look upon life as something +of a battle-field. She felt older, +and yet light-hearted, as the gentle air of +late May, stealing in through the open +window, lightly stirred the thin curtains +and brushed her face "like the breeze +from an angel's wing," she thought.</p> + +<p>"How happy we all have been!" she +said aloud. "And Ernestine—I wish +she had been with us last night—is the +happiest of all, because she is the best."</p> + +<p>Then she dozed off again, and did not +awake until she heard little Ralph calling +at her door: "Hurry up, 'Innie! +B'eakast is 'most weady!"</p> + +<p>She sprang out of bed in haste then, +and was in the dining-room in time to +take her seat with the rest.</p> + +<p>"'He maketh the storm a calm, and +the waves thereof are still,'" she quoted +when it came her turn to give her selection. +She had chosen this one for its +gentle beauty.</p> + +<p>How pleasant it all was! How full of +<a class="pagenum" name="page_79" title="79"> </a> +life and joy everything seemed, even to +the carnations in the center of the table, +with their spicy odor!</p> + +<p>She performed her Saturday morning +duties cheerfully, and after lunch asked +permission to take her books and go to +Ernestine's to look over the lessons for +Monday, for the end of the year—their +last year in the Intermediate—was rapidly +approaching, and, their course being +almost completed, they would soon begin +the heavy review in preparation for the +high-school examination.</p> + +<p>Permission was readily granted, and +Winnifred started off with a light heart. +When she reached Ernestine's home, a +gentleman came down the steps and +passed out of the door just as she was +about to enter the hall, so, somewhat surprised, +she went up the stairs more slowly +than usual and knocked softly. It was +opened by a strange lady, who, in answer +to Winnifred's inquiry for Ernestine, +said: "Ernestine is with her mother, +who is so ill that the doctor says she must +either have a trained nurse or go to the +hospital."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I must go right home and tell +mamma!" said Winnie, and she went away +without another word.</p> + +<p>When she reached home, she found her +mother in the sitting-room doing the +week's mending. On hearing her daughter's +sad news she hurriedly changed her +dress and set out at once for Mrs. Alroy's.</p> + +<p>She was gone an hour—an age, it +seemed to Winnifred, unsuccessfully +struggling to keep her mind on her lessons. +When Mrs. Burton returned, her +face was very grave, and she drew Winnie +toward her with a warm embrace as she +said:</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Alroy has decided to have a +nurse; she says she has saved a little +money for just such an emergency and +prefers to be at home where she can have +Ernestine with her. She asked me to +send for Mr. Allen."</p> + +<p>"Fannie's father?" said Winnifred, +surprised.</p> + +<p>"Yes, and I want you to go there now +and leave a note for him." And seating +herself at her desk, Mrs. Burton wrote a +short note while Winnie was getting on +her hat.</p> + +<p>Winnie felt very sober—and, it must +be confessed, also somewhat important—as +she hurried away to deliver the note. +She found Mr. Allen at home, and, having +sent up the note by the servant who +answered the bell, she asked for Fannie, +for she longed to talk the matter over +with one of her mates. But Fannie, from +her room at the head of the stairs, had +heard Winnifred's voice, and now came +running down to meet her.</p> + +<p>"What is it, Win?" she said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Fannie," was the reply, "I'm +afraid something awful is going to happen +at Ernestine's house! Her mother is +very, very sick. I went there this morning +just as the doctor was coming away, +and he said she must either go to the hospital +or have a trained nurse. Mamma +<a class="pagenum" name="page_80" title="80"> </a> +went over right away, and now Mrs. Alroy +has sent for your father."</p> + +<p>"For papa! Isn't that strange? Come +up to my room, Winnie, and stay awhile, +can't you?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," said Winnie, hesitatingly. +"Mamma didn't say for me to +hurry—"</p> + +<p>"Well, come on then," said Fannie, +leading the way up the softly carpeted +stairs.</p> + +<p>Winnie followed with scarcely a glance +around. Although Fannie's father was +much wealthier than her own, and his +house finer in every way, her heart was +too full for much interest in fine ornamentation; +and besides, child though she +was, she instinctively felt that culture and +true refinement are at home anywhere.</p> + +<p>But it was the first time she had ever +been in Fannie's own room, and this she +found interesting in spite of the emotions +which had troubled her heart during the +day. It certainly was a charming nook, +with its pink-curtained bed half hidden +behind a large four-fold screen with the +Seasons painted in oil upon its panels; the +pretty white dressing-table, draped to +match the bed, and filled with the dainty +accessories of a girl's toilet; a low, well-filled +book case and desk combined; the +pretty matting and rugs; and the many +pictures and other ornaments here and +there.</p> + +<p>The girls sat down on a little willow +seat, large enough for two, and Winnie +had to begin all over again and tell what +she knew about Mrs. Alroy's illness. In +the meantime they heard Mr. Allen descend +the stairs and go out of the street +door before Fannie had time to call to +him.</p> + +<p>"I wonder if papa has gone to Mrs. Alroy's +now," said she. "Whatever can she +want of him? Perhaps she is going to +have him make her will."</p> + +<p>"But why should she do that?" said +Winnie. "She can't have much to leave +to anybody; and, if she had, Ernestine +would be the only one to get it, wouldn't +she? But what would Ernestine do if her +mother should die? Who would take +care of her? You know she has always +said she would teach when she had finished +school, and it will be years before +she does that. Do you know, if the worst +should happen, I'd love to have her stay +with us, and I almost believe mamma +would be willing."</p> + +<p>"I think that would be a good deal for +your family to do," was the answer, "but +maybe papa would help."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe Ernestine would be +helped by anyone unless she did something +in return. But how long I am staying! +I must go right away."</p> + +<p>"Oh, stay just a minute longer," said +Fannie. "I want to show you my hanging +garden;" and she threw up the long +window and stepped out to a little balcony, +almost filled with flowers in pots +and boxes, and baskets full of vines +drooping over all.</p> + +<p>"Oh, how lovely!" exclaimed Winnie.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page_81" title="81"> </a> +"Yes, isn't it? I care more for this +than anything else I have," Fannie replied, +breaking off a bunch of heliotrope +and pinning it to her friend's dress.</p> + +<p>"Oh, thank you!" said Winnie. "But +now I must go."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I suppose you must," said Fannie, +reluctantly. "I'll put on my hat and +go a ways with you."</p> + +<p>They went down the stairs and out into +the street together, talking alternately—as +people do under such circumstances—of +trivial things and of that which filled +their hearts.</p> + +<p>When Winnifred reached home, she +found her mother seated at the open window +of the sitting-room, darning a pair +of stockings—a homely enough occupation, +but to Winnie's eyes her mother had +never looked so dear or so beautiful, and +she went and put her arms about her neck. +Her mother returned the embrace, holding +her close for a moment, and then she +said gently:</p> + +<p>"Have you your lessons for Monday, +dear?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, mamma," said Winnie, "it does +not seem to me as if I can ever study +again!"</p> + +<p>"Is there any nearer duty, Winnie?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know—I suppose not. But, +mamma, I can't put my mind on my lessons, +when Ernestine's mother is so sick."</p> + +<p>"Can you help Ernestine any by +neglecting your own duties, dear? You +do not recognize Giant Despair when he +comes in the guise of love and sympathy +for your friends, but he it is who comes +at these times. You know in Whose +hands are the issues of life and death, of +health and sickness. You cannot help +Ernestine's future by worrying over her +present; but you may mar a portion of +your own by neglecting your present."</p> + +<p>Winnie could not help knowing that +her mother was right. She took out her +books, and was soon so hard at work that +her disturbed emotions were quieted, and +by supper time, though still full of sympathy +for her friend, she was quite herself +again, and ready to play the accompaniment +to the new piece her brother was +learning. And when she went to bed, it +was to sleep peacefully, rather than to lie +awake fighting unseen terrors, as Mrs. +Burton well knew would have been the +case with her high-strung child had she +been allowed to brood over the events of +the day.</p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.<br /> + +<small>THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW.</small></h2> + + +<div class="floatl"> + <img class="plain" src="images/i81.jpg" width="152" height="215" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="dropcap16"> +<span class="smcaps"><span class="invisible">T</span>he</span> +next day at breakfast +Mrs. Burton announced +her intention +of going to see Mrs. +Alroy instead of attending +church, and +said that if she were +not home to dinner +they might know she +had thought it necessary to remain.</p> + +<p>"Mayn't I go with you, mamma?" +asked Winnifred.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page_82" title="82"> </a> +"I think it would not be best for either +Ernestine or yourself, Winnie, and certainly +not for Mrs. Alroy."</p> + +<p>Winnie at once saw that her mother was +right, and instead of demurring, she went +and gathered some beautiful clusters of +lilacs for Ernestine, and cut the one white +rose in bloom on her window-sill to send +to Mrs. Alroy.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Burton set off, taking a basket of +fruit and the flowers, but she sighed as +she turned the corner leading to Mrs. Alroy's, +for she felt that the fruit would +never refresh the world-weary woman for +whom it was intended.</p> + +<p>When she reached her destination she +glanced apprehensively up to the second-story +windows, for, although she said +nothing about it to Winnie, she had on +the previous day given up all hope of Mrs. +Alroy's recovery. But the sorrowful banner +which she had dreaded to see was not +there, and she breathed more freely as she +passed up the stairs.</p> + +<p>In answer to her low knock the door +was opened by Ernestine, who smiled as +Mrs. Burton took her hand, a sad little +smile of welcome which went to her visitor's +heart.</p> + +<p>"Mamma is resting quite easily now, +but she passed a painful night. I will +tell the nurse you are here. How beautiful +the flowers and fruit are!" she said, +as Mrs. Burton handed the basket to her.</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear; the lilacs are for you—you +know their odor is too strong for a +sick-room—but Winnie sent this rose +from her own little monthly to your +mother."</p> + +<p>Ernestine's lips quivered, as she took +the rose without speaking, and went into +the little bedroom, closing the door gently +behind her.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Burton found a vase, which she +filled with water to put the lilacs in, and +sat down to await the nurse's coming. She +had not long to wait. The nurse, entering, +closed the door behind her as softly +as Ernestine had done, and motioned Mrs. +Burton to follow her into the little +kitchen.</p> + +<p>"There is not the slightest hope," said +she, in answer to Mrs. Burton's anxious +inquiry. "The doctor says it may be a +matter of hours only, although she may +live for some days yet. It is neuralgia of +the heart and she has been suffering exceedingly. +However, she is resting easier +now—which is not a good sign, you +know—and wants to see you. She has +asked me to send her daughter on some +little errand, because she wants to see you +alone."</p> + +<p>They entered Mrs. Alroy's room together, +and Ernestine, at a sign from the +nurse, followed her out of the room. Mrs. +Alroy took Mrs. Burton's outstretched +hand, and for a moment neither spoke. +Then the former said quietly:</p> + +<p>"Please sit down, Mrs. Burton, for I +have much to say to you. And I cannot +speak long at a time, so you will have to +be patient with me. You are not in a +hurry?"</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page_83" title="83"> </a> +"My dear Mrs. Alroy, I have the day +at your disposal. Do not hesitate to +command me."</p> + +<p>"You know something of my past life—so +I found out yesterday. I need not +touch upon it further. It is past now and +I no longer regret it. But it is of the +future I wish to speak. Not my own—that +lies beyond our knowing—but of +my daughter's—"</p> + +<p>The sick woman put her hand over her +eyes a moment, and Mrs. Burton walked +to the window to fight back the tears +which were fast rising to her eyes. Mrs. +Alroy was the first to regain control of +herself, and as Mrs. Burton resumed her +seat, she went on:</p> + +<p>"I had a long talk with Mr. Allen yesterday. +He knows my family and I have +placed my affairs in his hands. I have +no doubt that Ernestine will be taken care +of, but it is of her immediate future that +I wish to speak. I would not have her go +among strangers at once, and I am about +to ask a great favor of you. The child +loves you next to myself; your daughter is +her dearest friend—"</p> + +<p>"Winnifred feels it an honor to be +thought so. Nothing would please both +of us, all of us, better than to have Ernestine +make her home with us for as long a +time as she may desire."</p> + +<p>"You give me courage to die. You +could almost give me courage to live—but +not quite. Yes, that is what I wish +to ask of you, but only for the remainder +of the school year. Preparing for the +high-school examination will occupy my +little girl's mind and help her to bear the +separation, and after that—in the shadow +of death pride vanishes, and I have requested +Mr. Allen to write to my brother. +They will settle everything else." She +sank back on her pillows and closed her +eyes wearily.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Burton could not immediately +command her voice, but laid her hand +gently on that of the sick woman. The +latter, without opening her eyes, continued:</p> + +<p>"I shall not last long; this pain has +too constantly been hovering about my +heart; it cannot be driven back again; it +must soon strike its last blow. But I do +not fear it; it will be sharp but quick. +Nor do I wish to live. Even my little +daughter's wonderful love for me can no +longer hold me. Besides, I know that +from a material point of view she will +only profit by my departure. She does +not know that, and I am all she has—and +I have not had the courage to tell +her. This hard task I must ask you to do +for me. I have only a hope—to you that +hope is certainty. Your views are different; +you can soften the blow as I cannot +do. You will stay here awhile?"</p> + +<p>"Anything I can do for you is too little."</p> + +<p>"I have been loquacious, but I had long +restrained myself. What time is it?"</p> + +<p>"Half past eleven."</p> + +<p>"Ernestine will soon be here, and I will +tell her to make a cup of tea for you."</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page_84" title="84"> </a> +"Oh, no—"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it will give her occupation and +relieve the strain. There she is now."</p> + +<p>Ernestine came in with soft footsteps. +"How do you feel now, mamma?" she +asked gently.</p> + +<p>"Quite easy, dear. I think I shall +sleep for a little while. Mrs. Burton will +stay to lunch, and you may make a cup +of tea for her and yourself. The nurse +will stay with me now; you can call +her."</p> + +<p>The nurse came, and Mrs. Burton and +Ernestine left the room together.</p> + +<p>After the sad little lunch Mrs. Burton, +summoning up all her courage, spoke.</p> + +<p>"Ernestine," she said, "your mother +has asked me to tell you something which +she would gladly spare you knowledge of, +but which you must know. She is going +on a long journey, from which she can no +more return to you. But you will one +day go to her."</p> + +<p>Ernestine's great eyes dilated wildly. +"You mean that my mother is going—"</p> + +<p>"My dear, my dear! Your mother +walks in the valley of the shadow of death, +yet she fears no evil. You—and I and +all who love you and her—are enveloped +in its gloom, but if she fears not +passing to the Unknown, shall we fear for +her or for ourselves?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot do without my mother, Mrs. +Burton! I cannot! I cannot! She is +all I have—all I want!" and the girl +burst into a tempest of tears.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Burton gathered her up in her +arms and let her weep undisturbed for +some minutes. Then she said gently:</p> + +<p>"Your mother wants to go. If she +could live longer, she would seldom be +free from pain. Besides, it is God's will."</p> + +<p>"Oh, my mother! my mother!" And +Ernestine dropped upon her knees.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Burton went out and left her, +knowing that the stricken child's hope +was in a Comforter greater than herself.</p> + +<p>When Ernestine went in later, pale but +quiet, her mother turned toward her with +a smile.</p> + +<p>"Kiss me, my daughter, my baby!" she +said, "and be at peace, as I am."</p> + +<p>The windows of the little bedroom +faced the west, and toward evening Mrs. +Alroy asked the nurse to draw back the +curtains. "It has been a stormy day," +she said, "but the sun is setting clear. I +think I will go to sleep."</p> + +<p>And she closed her tired eyes, and "fell +on sleep" without being touched by the +dreaded pain.</p> + +<p>When they knew that it was indeed all +over, they led Ernestine away, and she +allowed them to put on her hat and went +submissively home with Mrs. Burton.</p> + +<p>When she returned to her own home +again, the little room had been transformed +into a bower of flowers, and Mrs. +Alroy slept under their fragrant covering, +beautiful and serene, with a smile on her +lips. Ernestine was met on the threshold +by a tall, handsome man, who put his +arms about her and said how glad he was +to see his little niece. He had come at +<a class="pagenum" name="page_85" title="85"> </a> +once in response to Mr. Allen's telegram.</p> + +<p>All was quiet and beautiful. A dozen +or so friends gathered to listen to the +sweet words of farewell to the dead and +of benediction to the living; and then Mr. +Van Orten took his sister home with him, +that she might lie beside her kindred in +the little old village on the banks of the +Hudson.</p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XIX.<br /> + +<small>A BUSY MONTH.</small></h2> + + +<div class="floatl"> + <img class="plain" src="images/i85.jpg" width="160" height="254" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="dropcap16"> +<span class="smcaps"><span class="invisible">M</span>r. van Orten</span> +left +his niece behind him +reluctantly, but Mr. +Allen had convinced +him that his sister +had decided wisely, +and that nothing +could be better for +Ernestine during +the coming month +than the calm and cheerful atmosphere of +Mrs. Burton's home. Ernestine's own +cot had been brought and placed in Winnie's +room, and the two girls were tucked +in every night by the same motherly +hands. Little Ralph took Ernestine at +once into his affections, made her smile at +his quaint fancies and cunning little +tongue, and his father and brother treated +her as if she had always been one of them.</p> + +<p>The end of the school year was rapidly +approaching, and there was a great deal +of work to be done. Ernestine and Winnie +were both anxious to do honor to their +school and to the teachers who had +worked with them hard and patiently, so +every minute was occupied in some way, +and Ernestine had no time for unhealthy +grieving.</p> + +<p>On Saturday afternoons Fannie and +Miriam and Gretta came to Mrs. Burton's, +and they all went over the week's work +together. Sometimes Mr. Allen and Fannie +came and took Winnifred and Ernestine +for a drive through the beautiful +suburbs, and one evening they had another +row on the river with Uncle Fred +and Aunt Kitty.</p> + +<p>And so the weeks wore away and +brought the bright June day when they +all walked together to the high-school to +take their examination seats. Their +hearts beat high with hope and courage, +and swelled with self-importance not altogether +to be made light of; for it had been +their aim for many months to gain this +last fight of their school year on the very +field on which they would plant their banners +of occupation if they won. And win +they felt sure they would, for this was but +the supreme test to prove the force and +earnestness of what had gone before.</p> + +<p>"On, on to victory!" laughed Miriam +each morning, waving her hands high +above her head. And "On, on to victory!" +laughed the four other girls, echoing +her cry.</p> + +<p>How they worked that week, their +young heads bent over their papers, while +their young eyes carefully perused those +<a class="pagenum" name="page_86" title="86"> </a> +wonderful "printed questions"! The +five, so different in manner, but so alike +in aim and purpose—Ernestine, calm, +deliberate, direct; Fannie, thoughtful but +rapid; Gretta, neat, painstaking, and a little +anxious; Miriam, dashing ahead impulsively, +scratching out a word here or inserting +one there, doing twice to thinking +once, but thinking that once well; and +Winnie, absorbed, thorough and confident—were +noted with interest by the +stranger teachers watching them, for they +had learned to work with a definite aim +which showed itself in their very attitudes.</p> + +<p>They took the questions home with +them, and each day the five might be seen +at the home of one or the other, again +going over the work, replying one at a +time and sometimes all at once to the oft-repeated +query, "How did you answer +this?" or "Did you prove that?"</p> + +<p>Sometimes the group was joined by one +or more of their other classmates, and +once Josie Thompson, wearing her brightest +dress and biggest pin, called to them as +she passed: "Isn't this a horrid old examination? +I know I won't pass, and I +don't care if I don't. My mother says if +I fail she'll take me out of school, and I'll +be glad of it. I can't see any fun in digging +every minute, and what's the use of +all this high-school stuff anyhow! I can +have a better time without it."</p> + +<p>And on the last day she waved her +hands to them across the street and +shouted: "Good-by, girls! I know it's +all up with me!"</p> + +<p>"Poor Josie!" said Ernestine, after they +had gone home; "trying so hard to have +a good time, and missing it after all."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mrs. Burton, laying her +hand gently on the girl's head, "like the +dog in the fable, she is losing the substance +to grasp at the shadow."</p> + +<p>"Tell me about the dog in the table, +Ernie," said Ralph, pulling at Ernestine's +dress to attract her attention.</p> + +<p>"I don't think I know, you little dear!" +she said, laughing gently at his mistake. +"We must ask your mamma to tell us +both."</p> + +<p>"Then 'Innie must hear, too!" said the +child, running to the door to call his +sister.</p> + +<p>It was what Miriam called a "delicious" +evening, and after tea she and +Fannie and Gretta came strolling over to +talk about the events of the week and +reassure each other that "all was well." +Ralph looked upon each of them as his +own particular friend and in a sense his +charge, and so he now proceeded to enlighten +them on the subject of the dog in +the fable as follows:</p> + +<p>"There was a dog and a table," he said, +"but I don't know what the table was +for, because he didn't eat on a table, you +know, 'cause he was on'y a dog; but he +stealed a bone, and he was wunning away +wid it over some watah, and saw his +shadow looking like anudder dog wid a +bone, an' he was so greedy dat he dropped +his bone to get de bone of de odder dog in +de ribber, and so he lost his own bone and +<a class="pagenum" name="page_87" title="87"> </a> +didn't get any odder, and Josie Thompson +didn't get any bone eider."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Ralph," said Winnie, "you tell +everything you know, besides much that +you don't!"</p> + +<p>How the girls laughed when Winnie +explained! And all the more as laughter +came easy to them, with hearts light from +the consciousness of a well-spent year +which had brought its reward.</p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XX.<br /> + +<small>A TRIP TO MAMMOTH CAVE.</small></h2> + + +<div class="floatl"> + <img class="plain" src="images/i87.jpg" width="152" height="223" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="dropcap16"> +<span class="smcaps"><span class="invisible">O</span>ne</span> +evening, shortly +after the examination, +Fannie said to her +father: "Papa, I want +to invite the club for a +last meeting before +Ernestine leaves us. I +wish I could have +something in the way +of a treat different from anything we have +had."</p> + +<p>"I don't know about that. Your +mother is so busy getting ready for the +summer, and we are going away so soon, +that I hardly see how we can arrange it."</p> + +<p>Fannie looked at her father in blank +dismay. But he went on unmoved:</p> + +<p>"In fact, Fannie, I have been thinking +that these meetings, as you call them, are +becoming somewhat monotonous." (Fannie's +eyes opened wide.) "No, I don't +think we can have it at all."</p> + +<p>This was too much, and Fannie's +speechless indignation found voice: +"Papa Allen, I didn't think this of you!" +Then, seeing the well-known twinkle in +his eyes, she perched herself on his knee +and said, "Now, papa, what are you +up to?"</p> + +<p>"Well, as the immortal Peter Pindar +says, as reported by McGuffey, 'I love to +please good children,' and as you have all +been 'kind and civil,' I have concluded to +give you what I call a grand treat. So +prepare for a shock."</p> + +<p>"Go ahead, papa. I'm not afraid of it +at all; what I was afraid of was—none."</p> + +<p>"Well, what do you say to my taking +all of you, the whole company of warriors, +to Mammoth Cave?"</p> + +<p>Fannie sprang from his knee and fairly +danced around the room for joy. Then +she quieted herself and said, "When, +papa?"</p> + +<p>"Just before the Fourth, I think. +Your mother and I will go, and possibly +Ernestine's uncle, who will be here by that +time; and I thought we might invite +'Miss Kitty,' of whom I have heard so +much."</p> + +<p>So it came about that on a warm afternoon +in July, a party of eight, escorted to +the boat by several friends, ascended the +narrow staircase of the steamboat, and +made themselves comfortable on deck until +the "All aboard!" was heard, when the +escort hurried down the stairs to the +wharf.</p> + +<p>When the boat had floated entirely out +of sight of the waving handkerchiefs of +<a class="pagenum" name="page_88" title="88"> </a> +their friends, the party, taking their hand +luggage, went into the cabin to find their +staterooms and deposit their belongings. +They had four staterooms in all. Fannie +and Miriam occupied one communicating +with that of Fannie's parents; and Ernestine, +Gretta, Winnie and her Aunt Kitty +had another similar suite. This duty +over, they went on deck to enjoy the +sweet, fresh air from the river and the +beautiful scenery along its banks.</p> + +<p>Just after the short landing which had +been made at Lawrenceburg, supper was +called, and they were all ready to respond. +The colored waiters were delighted to find +such a party of young girls, and served +them with the utmost alacrity, anticipating +every want in a delightful manner.</p> + +<p>After supper they sat on deck till long +after dark. Mr. Allen and Mr. Van Orten +were exchanging reminiscences of their +college days; and later, joined by Mrs. +Allen, of summers passed at beautiful +Lake George and in the White Mountains. +To all of this the remainder of the +party listened with absorbing interest. +However, the air, which had first given +them so good an appetite for supper, now +made them sleepy, so that by ten o'clock +the girls had all climbed into their narrow +berths and were soon sound asleep.</p> + +<p>They had breakfast on the boat, so were +ready to continue their journey by rail +without interruption. After a pleasant +ride through a picturesque country they +reached Cave City, where they were transferred +to a tram—an engine and one +coach—which took them first up and +then down hill over a road cut right +through the woods, so that in some places +the trees almost interlaced over the top of +the coach. It was most delightful to all +the party, and would have been only too +short had it not been for what was to +follow. It formed a fit introduction +to the sublime and wonderful results of +Nature's long and patient work which +they were to see. Therefore, in spite of +the novelty and beauty, they were glad to +reach the hotel, a long, rambling, wooden +building, so unlike anything the girls had +ever before seen that the short stay within +its quaint rooms, with their bare floors and +whitewashed walls, was in itself an experience +long to be remembered.</p> + +<p>After a night's refreshing sleep they +were ready to start out bright and early +for the first day's adventures. With +many girlish giggles they arrayed themselves +in the costumes provided by the +Cave management—the short woolen +skirts and loose blouses carrying with +them a delightfully free and unconventional +feeling—and then, at the sound of +the gong, set forth with their guide; Mr. +and Mrs. Allen in the lead, close behind +them Miss Kitty and Miriam, next Fannie +and Gretta, then Ernestine with one hand +locked in that of her uncle and the other +tightly holding Winnie's fingers, while +the interesting and friendly dog, "Brigham,"—so +called, the guide explained, because +he was no longer young—divided +his attentions between them, but seemed +<a class="pagenum" name="page_89" title="89"> </a> +most inclined to make friends with Miss +Kitty, who was accused of having a piece +of meat in her pocket as the only way to +account for her mysterious fascination for +his dogship.</p> + +<p>They had a short but beautiful walk +through the fern-decorated woods, down +a steep path, over a little bridge, till they +found themselves on a stone platform directly +in front of an enormous opening in +the hill, a natural arch overhung with +trees, rocks, ferns and wild-flowers—a +sight never to be forgotten, so wonderfully +beautiful and grand was it—and the +party stepped back to admire it.</p> + +<p>When they went forward again in order +to enter, they saw that what was an arch +above was a gaping chasm below, which +looked ready to swallow them, and down +which there seemed no way to go except +to fall headlong. Their guide watched +their dismay with amusement, but presently +Miriam discovered a narrow flight of +steps cut out of the solid rock. Down +these they went, shaded by the trees, under +the sparkling cascade, beneath the +black, overhanging rock, winding their +way along to where the last bit of daylight +is swallowed up, and then, with various +kinds of sensations, watched the guide unlock +the iron gate through which they +were to pass on their way to the mysterious +region of the nether world. As they +took their lamps and the gate closed behind +them with a clang, Miriam confided +to Miss Kitty that she felt little shivers +running up and down her back.</p> + +<p>As the darkness became more intense, +Winnie slipped away from Ernestine to +her Aunt Kitty, whose hand she seized +with a breath of relief, as if feeling safer +there; and Gretta and Fannie clung +closely together.</p> + +<p>As they advanced, the sense of mystery +increased, and for a minute the girls huddled +together in a bunch. Brigham, however, +sniffed once more—a little contemptuously, +according to Miss Kitty—and +then ran ahead on side trips of his +own, returning to the party from time to +time as if to reassure them that everything +was all right and they might place implicit +confidence in his knowledge of the +Cave and his friendship for them.</p> + +<p>Their first stop was made in the Rotunda +in order to examine the saltpeter +vats, in which Ernestine, in keeping with +her liking for history, was much interested +when she heard that the saltpeter +made here was taken to Philadelphia to +be used in the manufacture of gunpowder +during the war of 1812.</p> + +<p>Presently they entered Methodist Hall—so +named, as they were assured by their +guide, "because it's a heap too dry for the +Baptis'." In this place was the natural +pulpit from which—so tradition says—Booth +once delivered Hamlet's soliloquy.</p> + +<p>Next they came to Gothic Avenue, +where their way lay along piles of stone +erected by admirers of famous men, States, +and so on. There was one little pile +which seemed to have been neglected, and +Miss Kitty asked whose it was. On being +<a class="pagenum" name="page_90" title="90"> </a> +told that it was the Old Maid's Monument, +she exclaimed: "I shall find nothing +nearer my heart!" and, picking up a +stone, carefully balanced it on the top of +the pile. But in spite of her care, it +rolled off. "That's a shore sign, Miss, +that you ain't gwine to be a ole maid."</p> + +<p>"Can it be!" she said, as the elders of +the company laughingly congratulated +her. "Once more I feel a breath of +hope."</p> + +<p>By and by they reached Register Hall, +which has been aptly described as a huge +autograph album, for on its ceiling, +smoked by burning candles, can be found +names and addresses from all parts of the +world, while address cards are placed in +numberless nooks and crevices. Here +Gretta sat in the arm-chair in which, so it +is said, Jenny Lind once sat and sang.</p> + +<p>The next thing which pleased all of +them, and particularly Fannie, was the +water clock—a tick-tock sound made by +the dropping of a little stream of water +into a pool below—and they all laughed +at William when he said, "But it ain't a +eight-day clock, because it runs down +every twenty-four hours."</p> + +<p>When they saw the Giant's Coffin they +looked upon it with awe—for it was a +gruesome sight enough—until Mr. Allen +said in a loud aside to Mr. Van Orten:</p> + +<p>"This is the coffin in which the Warrior +Maidens deposit the bodies of their +victims."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Allen smiled faintly, but Miss +Kitty—more at Mr. Van Orten's puzzled +expression than at the speech itself—laughed +outright. Winnie and Ernestine +had not heard, and Gretta hardly +knew whether to laugh or be offended, until +Fannie and Miriam, catching the joke, +re-echoed Miss Kitty's laugh.</p> + +<p>From a crevice behind the Giant's +Coffin they went slipping and sliding +down an incline, and then up and down, +till they came to a small, round opening +in what seemed to be a solid wall. "Stay +here," said the guide; and he disappeared +through the hole with his lights. Then +he called to them, and, peering through +the aperture, they found it to be a +natural window opening into a great, +beautiful chamber—Gorin's Dome, considered +by many, said the guide, to be the +finest room in the Cave, with its immense +extent, measuring two hundred feet from +floor to ceiling, and covering an entire +acre of space.</p> + +<p>From here they went to the pits, and, +standing on the Bridge of Sighs, a lowered +ball of flame showed them that they +were directly suspended over the deepest, +known as the Bottomless Pit. Winnie +and Gretta caught their breath quickly, +and Ernestine's hand tightened on her +uncle's arm; indeed, the whole party was +glad to get away from that dangerous +spot.</p> + +<p>The next place visited, however, made +up to them for any amount of hard travel +or moment of terror. Having retraced +their steps till they came to the original +passage, they went on for some distance +<a class="pagenum" name="page_91" title="91"> </a> +until told by their guide to rest for a +moment on a convenient stone seat, and +wait there until he called to them. He +then took away all of their lamps and disappeared. +For a moment they felt the +darkness something frightful, but before +it had lasted long enough to be painful, +they saw a vision overhead of numberless +stars shining down upon them from a +cloudless dome.</p> + +<p>That which for one moment in the +darkness had almost provoked a cry of +terror from more than one of the party, +became a cry of delight; and then Mrs. +Allen wondered aloud how they could see +the stars so far below the surface of the +earth. But even as she spoke, the scene +changed. They no longer saw a clear sky, +but the stars disappeared behind heavy +clouds, and then they were again in that +indescribably awful darkness. But gradually +a soft light was seen, and they heard +the bleating of sheep and the lowing of +cattle as they wake in the early dawn. +"Beautiful! Beautiful!" they said, and +were almost sorry when they found out +that these sounds were produced by their +guide, who turned out to be something +of a ventriloquist, and that the stars and +rosy dawn are but optical illusions called +forth by skillful manipulation of the light +thrown on the crystals which sparkle in +the dome with its coating of black oxide +of manganese.</p> + +<p>From here they wended their way back, +followed by Brigham, who had waited for +them on the road to the Star Chamber, +feeling that they had experienced and +seen enough for one day.</p> + +<p>They rested all that day and the next, +doing nothing that required more exertion +than short walks through the woods or +promenades along the wide galleries which +surrounded both stories of the hotel. Here +they swung hammocks, and rested in the +open air between their little walks.</p> + +<p>But on the third day all the members +of the party again set out for the Cave, +starting in the morning, for they were +warned that going and returning it +would be a sixteen-mile walk. Presently +they found that the road they had taken +on the previous day diverged, and soon +they were going through the Valley of +Humility leading into Fat Man's Misery, a +place but eighteen inches wide, five feet +high, and changing direction eight times. +Through the one hundred and five yards +of this place they twisted and crawled, +until they reached Great Relief. Here +they stopped to congratulate Mrs. Allen, +the stoutest of the party, and Mr. Van +Orten, the tallest, on having successfully +passed this ordeal.</p> + +<p>On again, now ascending a flight of +stairs to a higher gallery, now descending +to one below, always surprised at finding +the immense columns piercing through +from the highest galleries down to the +very lowest of the five levels of the Cave. +They passed through Bacon Chamber—which +Winnie did not think at all "romantic"—and +through various winding +passages, to River Hall, where all the +<a class="pagenum" name="page_92" title="92"> </a> +waters of the Cave collect, and where +they gazed with awe on the deep lakes. +Then they came to the Dead Sea, surrounded +on all sides by massive cliffs, +from which they descended by means of a +stairway to the banks of the River Styx, +which the party crossed by a natural +bridge to Lake Lethe; then along the +Great Walk, with its fine, yellow sand, to +Echo River. Here they found a boat +waiting for them, and, embarking, were +paddled along over the clear water—thirty +feet deep—singing, whistling, +and shouting to waken the echoes from +the rocky walls on either side, until it +seemed—so Miss Kitty said—as if +"Echo had been transferred from her +former mountain home, with all her +nymphs."</p> + +<p>But no, it was not the Mountain Echo, +but her unknown sister who dwelt in these +underground regions, as their guide +proved to them by striking the long vault +with his cane; for it had its own keynote, +which excited harmonies of wonderful +depth and sweetness, each sound being +prolonged many seconds.</p> + +<p>Here, too, they saw the eyeless fish, +and Gretta even went the length of pitying +them, until Miss Kitty told her that, +as they were not "fish with little lanterns +on their tails,"—which she had once +heard given as an explanation of some +phosphorescent phenomenon on an ocean +trip—and so could not see in those dark +waters even if they had eyes, she need not +waste her pity.</p> + +<p>Soon they reached Washington Hall, +and perceived a waiter, who had been following +them at a distance, emerge from +the gloom, bringing with him a great +basket of lunch. This was a pleasant +surprise, and they partook heartily of the +generous repast, unmoved for the time by +their gnome-like surroundings in the +semi-darkness of this great chamber, so +dimly lighted by the various lanterns and +torches.</p> + +<p>Beyond this place they found the +crystalline gardens, where the crystals +take the form of flowers and vines, and +even grapes—as in Mary's Vineyard—and +later they came upon a snowstorm in +a chamber so thickly covered with snowy +crystals that they were made to fall like +flakes by a loud concussion of the air.</p> + +<p>And so they proceeded on their journey +and came to the Corkscrew. After a brief +consultation, they decided to take this +short cut out of the Cave, instead of going +over what is now somewhat familiar +ground. So up they climbed, partly by +means of the three ladders, now through +cracks, again over huge boulders scattered +here and there in wild confusion, now +twisting up through round holes—five +hundred feet of climbing, although they +were assured by their guide that the vertical +distance was only one hundred and +fifty feet.</p> + +<p>At last they emerged on the edge of a +cliff just over the main cave, and, as they +stopped to take breath, wondered for a +moment if they were in another Star +<a class="pagenum" name="page_93" title="93"> </a> +Chamber, for the stars were shining bright +above them! But no; this time it was no +illusion, for though they had left the +bright sunlight behind them when they +made the descent into the lantern-lighted +darkness, they had been all day in the +cave, and were indeed glad that they had +saved the mile and a half walk by their +ascent through the Corkscrew.</p> + +<p>Altogether it was a trip long to be remembered; +the more so that, at its close, +when they were all back in "dear, old, +smoky Cincinnati," as Miss Kitty fondly +called it, came the first parting of the +ways for the Warrior Maidens. Not the +ordinary summer parting, but one which +entirely changed the parallel grooves in +which their lives had been running, at +least for one of them, for Ernestine was +to go home with her uncle to New York. +The whole Burton family had become so +attached to her that they would gladly +have kept her with them as a much-loved +member of their circle, necessary not only +to their happiness but to their comfort, +and Ralph expressed his opinion that +Ernie's uncle was a bad, bad man.</p> + +<p>But, while in compliance with his sister's +wish, expressed to Mr. Allen on that +day on which Mrs. Alroy had sent for him, +he had waited for the end of the school +year before coming for his niece, he was +now only too impatient to take to her kindred +the lovely child—the last living +link between their family and the sister +whom he and his brothers had so loved +and so mourned.</p> + +<p>And so, one bright morning in July, +the little company, each wearing her +badge of warriorhood, went to the station +to see their dear friend start on her journey. +There were tearful faces on the outside +of the car, and a pale but earnest and +loving face hidden behind a handkerchief +on the inside, as the train slowly moved +out of the station.</p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XXI.<br /> + +<small>AN EXCHANGE OF LETTERS.</small></h2> + + +<p class="center"><i>Ernestine to Winnifred.</i></p> + +<p class="margright15">New York, Sept. 12.</p> + +<p class="indent0">Dearest Winnifred:</p> + +<p>It seems a long time since I left you +standing in the station, the afternoon I +said good-by to the city which had been +my home. I can never forget you nor the +dear schoolmates who made my life there +so pleasant, nor the friends who took me +to their hearts in my great sorrow.</p> + +<p>I was happy and contented in my little +home, so happy with my precious mother's +care and companionship, that nothing can +ever come into my life to bring greater +happiness, or greater desire to do and be +good, and our little society helped me.</p> + +<p>And yet, dear Winnie, I would not have +my mother back to suffer. How much +she must have suffered in her isolation +from her people, I never knew until I +came among them. Never could orphan +have found more lovely relatives. I inclose +in this my letter to the club, to be +read at your next meeting. +<a class="pagenum" name="page_94" title="94"> </a> +With my heart full of gratitude to your +mother and all the rest, I am,</p> + +<p class="margright30">Your loving friend,</p> + +<p class="margright15">Ernestine.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="center"><i>Ernestine to the Warrior Maidens.</i></p> + +<p class="indent0">Dear Girls:</p> + +<p>When you read this you will all be together +at Miriam's and I know you will +wish, as I do, that I could be with you. +I am here at my grandmother's home, +and a beautiful place it is, with its large +rooms and fine, old-fashioned furniture. +It is in a very quiet neighborhood, which +will seem strange to you when I say that it +is but a few minutes' walk from Broadway, +with its crowds of people, who always +seem in a hurry.</p> + +<p>When Uncle Morris and I first reached +New York, we went straight to his home. +His wife received me very kindly, and my +cousins (one a young lady, another a girl +about my own age, and two boys younger,) +were kind, too, and they all wanted me to +stay with them. But my grandparents +said they must have me, and I was glad to +come, for I felt strange with so many new +cousins, and was afraid I would find it +hard to fall into their ways.</p> + +<p>I have such a beautiful room, all my +own. It has east windows which open +over a little court, where the first thing I +see when I throw back my shutters in the +morning, is a fountain sparkling in the +sun, with rainbows in its spray, and birds +flying about and bathing in the pool.</p> + +<p>At first there was some talk of sending +me to a school to prepare for Vassar, but +my grandmother said she had just found +me and could not give me up, and my +grandfather—with tears in his eyes, +which nearly broke my heart, for I knew +what he was thinking of—said the same +thing; so I am to have teachers right here +at home, and have already commenced +music and French.</p> + +<p>I am sure I shall be very happy; but, +for all that, I imagine you all seated at +your desks at school, or chatting with each +other over your lunch, and that makes me +feel very lonely. But I mean to make the +best of my opportunities, and shall keep +in mind our watchword, "Now," which +means much more to me than when we +first chose it.</p> + +<p>I hope we will all meet again sometime, +and that you will always think of me with +love, as</p> + +<p class="margright30">Your loving</p> + +<p class="margright15">Ernestine.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="center"><i>Gretta to Ernestine.</i></p> + +<p class="indent0">Dear Friend:</p> + +<p>We all miss you very much, and it +seems hard to wait for the "sometime" +to come when we shall see you again.</p> + +<p>You remember the idea of "fighting +giants" seemed silly to me at first, but I +can see now that it did me a great deal of +good, especially about my school work. I +never stood so well in any other examination +as in the last one for the high-school; +and I never blamed myself, but +always my "music." Now I see, though, +that two things may be well done as well +<a class="pagenum" name="page_95" title="95"> </a> +as one, if only we go about it in the right +way.</p> + +<p class="margright30">Good-by,</p> + +<p class="margright15">Gretta.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="center"><i>Miriam to Ernestine.</i></p> + +<p class="indent0">Dearest Ernestine:</p> + +<p>How we did miss you the first day of +school, particularly when your name was +read as having the highest per cent. in the +whole city! And after the classes were +formed, every teacher inquired for you, +and all looked disappointed when they +found that you had moved away.</p> + +<p>Our little Winnifred was only five behind +you, and not one of us stood less +than ninety. We went back to see Miss +Brownlow one day last week, and she said +she was proud of us. She asked for you +and sent her love.</p> + +<p>We are struggling with x, y, z, and in +Latin have reached "uterque, utraque, +utrumque," which sounds about as sensible +as onery, twoery, etc. I feel sorry for +those people who must have found it no +laughing matter to put a different ending +to every word for every case, gender and +number, and I must say that for myself I +like plain English.</p> + +<p>I saw Josie Thompson the other day, +and I laughed to myself when I thought +of her trying to fight her way through +such things as these. She said she was +"enjoying herself gorgeously!"</p> + +<p>We mean to keep up with the record of +last year if we can, especially the record +of good times.</p> + +<p class="margright30">With lots of love,</p> + +<p class="margright15">Miriam.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="center"><i>Fannie to Ernestine.</i></p> + +<p class="indent0">My Dear, Dear Ernestine:</p> + +<p>How strange it seems that your uncle +and my father are friends, and have almost +always been friends, and that just as +you and I began to know each other you +should have to go so far away! But papa +says he means to take me with him to New +York during the holidays, and then I will +see you again.</p> + +<p>It seems strange to think that we really +go to the high-school, and it makes me +feel quite grown-up and as if I ought to be +dignified; but Winnie is the same demure +little puss and looks very small and childish +among so many big girls, some of +whom actually wear long dresses.</p> + +<p>Miriam is as lively as ever, and keeps us +all laughing at lunch time. You know it +isn't what she says so much as the way she +says it that is so very funny.</p> + +<p>But it is time for me to get my algebra +lesson, so I will close now.</p> + +<p class="margright30">Au revoir,</p> + +<p class="margright15">Fannie.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="center"><i>Winnie to Ernestine.</i></p> + +<p class="indent0">Dear Ernestine:</p> + +<p>We had the first meeting for this year +at Miriam's last Friday evening, and the +first thing we did was to go up to Miriam's +room and read your letter. I read it out +loud first, but that wasn't enough, and it +passed from hand to hand, each one reading +it for herself.</p> + +<p>We had such a nice little meeting, and +while we didn't talk quite so much as we +<a class="pagenum" name="page_96" title="96"> </a> +did a year ago about fighting giants, I +think we all felt that those we had been +able to fight had made it easier for us +to see and do our duties as they came +to us.</p> + +<p>After we had read your letter and our +business meeting was over, we went down +into Miriam's yard and had a regular +frolic. It was a bright moonlight night, +and we had games and told stories and old +riddles and tried to make up new ones—but +didn't succeed very well—and by and +by Miriam's brother came out with an +enormous watermelon on a great, big tray. +It was a warm night—you know how +warm it is sometimes here in September—and +I don't know which we enjoyed +most, eating the cool, refreshing fruit or +snapping the seeds at each other.</p> + +<p>We all miss you very much. Ralph +still asks when you are coming back, and +no one's paper dolls please him so much as +yours did. Sometimes I feel very lonely +without you, but Aunt Kitty says she is +sure you will come to visit us some time, +and that we are only twenty-four hours +apart, which does not seem so very far, +does it? So I shall look forward</p> + +<p class="margright30">Till we meet,</p> + +<p class="margright15">Winnie.</p> + +<p class="center margtop2">THE END.</p> + + + + +<div class="tnote"> + +<p class="front">Transcriber's Note</p> +<p class="center">The following modifications have been made:</p> + +<ul id="corrections"> + +<li> +<i>page<br/> +original text<br/> +modified text</i></li> + +<li><a href="#page_06">Page 6</a>:<br /> +She began with her greatest bugbear. United States History;<br /> +She began with her greatest bugbear<b>,</b> United States History;</li> + +<li><a href="#page_35">Page 35</a>:<br /> +their uplifted swords, their resolute mein,<br /> +their uplifted swords, their resolute m<b>ie</b>n,</li> + +<li><a href="#page_44">Page 44</a>:<br /> +"you may talk, too, if you like"<br /> +"you may talk, too, if you like<b>.</b>"</li> + +<li><a href="#page_46">Page 46</a>:<br /> +She also helped put these in. and with a few kind words<br /> +She also helped put these in<b>,</b> and with a few kind words</li> + +<li><a href="#page_77">Page 77</a>:<br /> +"A glorious night for a game of hide-and seek,"<br /> +"A glorious night for a game of hide-and<b>-</b>seek,"</li> + +<li><a href="#page_85">Page 85</a>:<br /> +Little Ralph took Ernestine at once into his afleetions,<br /> +Little Ralph took Ernestine at once into his af<b>f</b>ections,</li> + +</ul> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Girl Warriors, by Adene Williams + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL WARRIORS *** + +***** This file should be named 44133-h.htm or 44133-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/1/3/44133/ + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +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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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Girl Warriors + A Book for Girls + +Author: Adene Williams + +Release Date: November 8, 2013 [EBook #44133] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL WARRIORS *** + + + + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + + +[Transcriber's Note: Underscores are used as delimiter for _italics_] + + + + + The Girl Warriors + + _A BOOK FOR GIRLS_ + + [Illustration] + + By ADENE WILLIAMS + + + David C. Cook Publishing Company + ELGIN, ILL.; OR + 36 WASHINGTON STREET, CHICAGO. + + + Copyright, 1901. + By David C. Cook Publishing Company. + + + + +The Girl Warriors. + +_A BOOK FOR GIRLS._ + +By ADENE WILLIAMS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE BURTONS. + + +Winnifred Burton sat all alone in the pleasant sitting-room, curled up +in an easy-chair so large that her little figure was almost lost in its +great depths. The fire in the open grate burned brightly, sending out +little tongues of flame which made dancing shadows on the walls and +ceiling, and flashed ever and anon on the bright hair and face and dress +of the little girl sitting so quiet before it. + +It was a dismal day near the close of January. Snow had been falling +steadily all day, and the window-sill was already piled so high with it +that by and by it would have to be brushed away in order to close the +shutters. But Winnifred was so absorbed in the book she was reading that +she knew nothing of all this. The book was a new edition of "The Giant +Killer; or, The Battle That All Must Fight." She was just reading how +the brave but tempted Fides lay in the dreadful Pit of Despair; of +how he had fallen back, bruised and bleeding, time after time, in his +endeavors to cut and climb his way out, before he found the little cord +of love which was strong enough to draw him out with scarcely an effort +of his own. + +Twilight was fast closing in around the little reader, and all the +letters on the page were beginning to dance up and down. Impatiently +shaking herself, Winnifred slipped down from her chair, gave the fire +a little poke, and settled herself on the floor in front of it, holding +the book so that she could see to read by the flickering light. But she +had scarcely begun to do so, when the door opened. She gave a little +jump, and turned quite red in the face. + +But it was only her little brother Ralph, who said: "'Innie, mamma says +if 'oo have 'oor lessons done, 'ou'se to come out and set the table for +supper." + +Her lessons done! Winnie glanced at the pile of books lying on the +table by the window. Yes, there they all were--her geography, history, +grammar, arithmetic. When now would she have time to learn those +lessons? And she felt that she had been dishonest, too, because her +mother would perhaps have had something else for her to do, if she had +not supposed she was studying hard. However, there was no help for it +now, and with a rueful face she left the room. + +Mrs. Burton was in the kitchen, so that Winnie escaped being questioned, +but just now she was taking herself to task, for she had a very guilty +conscience, and was wondering when she was going to begin fighting her +giants. She knew only too well what one of them was, and she knew +also that if she could not find time to learn those lessons, another +punishment beside the stings of her conscience would await her on the +morrow. + +But presently her father and older brother came home; little Ralph ran +to get their slippers, while they took off their wet boots; supper was +put on the table, and they all sat down to the cheerful meal. + +Mr. and Mrs. Burton had few rules for their household, but they had +one which was imperative: nothing but cheerful faces and cheerful +conversation was allowed at the table. Business or household worries +were kept for private conference, and the little griefs of the children +were not allowed to be mentioned. + +Winnie soon forgot her anxiety in listening to the things that her +father and brother Jack were saying, and, as the talk was about +politics, and the tariff, and the state of the market, other little +girls may not be so interested as Winnie tried to make herself believe +that she was. So this will be a good time to describe them all, as they +sit at the table. + +All of their acquaintances spoke of the Burtons as a very happy family, +and this opinion was undoubtedly correct, the reason for which will +appear later. + +Mr. Burton is a tall, handsome, young-looking man, with brown eyes +having a merry twinkle in them; his eyebrows and moustache are dark and +heavy, and his firm mouth and chin show character and decision. + +Mrs. Burton looks as young as her husband, and Winnie is always taken by +strangers to be her younger sister, which is a source of great delight +and comfort to the girl, as she is very proud of her dainty and stylish +mother. Mrs. Burton has soft brown hair, always prettily dressed; her +eyes are a deep, soft blue, shaded by long, curling lashes, and with +straight, delicate eyebrows above. Although she does much of the +household work, she manages, in some mysterious manner, to keep her +hands soft and white. Winnie sometimes steals up behind her mother and +puts her own little brown hands beside one of the soft white ones with +a little sigh--for she would like her own to be soft and white, too--but +more often with a merry laugh. + +Eighteen-year-old Jack, except that he gives promise of attaining his +father's noble inches, is much like his mother. He had been intended for +one of the professions, but all of his talents and inclinations having +pointed to business, his father finally yielded the point of having him +go through college, and, upon his graduation from high-school the year +previous, took him into his own real estate office. + +Winnie has eyes and hair like her father, but, in spite of her twelve +years, is so small and slight that she looks like a child of nine or +ten. + +Four-year-old Ralph is the pet and beauty of the family. His hair +curls in loose rings all over his head. His hazel eyes have such large, +dilating pupils, and such a way of shining when anything is given him, +that his young aunts and uncles, together with Winnie and Jack, are +always giving him something for the pleasure of seeing his wondering +look. + +"Well, my dear," said Mr. Burton to his wife, as they rose from the +table, "anything on the carpet for to-night?" + +"Yes, if you don't think the weather too bad, I'd like to call on Mrs. +Brown after Ralph is put to bed." + +"Winnie, I should like you to accompany Jack in one of his new violin +studies, while we are gone; but you must not forget that half past nine +is your bed-time." + +[Illustration: "Now for the new music," Jack said.--See page 6.] + +Poor Winnie! She dearly liked playing Jack's accompaniments, but the +unlearned lessons rose up before her, and she said, "Oh, mamma, I can't +to-night; I haven't done my lessons!" + +"Well, Winnie, this has happened three or four times within the last +week. If several study bells in school and two hours in the afternoon +are not sufficient for you to keep up with your classes, I'd rather +you'd go back a year. I want you to be educated thoroughly, but I can't +have you 'crammed,' and you're too young to do studying at night." + +"Mamma, that is time enough for me to do all my school work; but, like +the Little Women, I have something to ''fess,' and if you'll let +me study this time, I think that after this I'll get through in the +daytime." + +"Very well; but remember, if this is of frequent occurrence, I'll have +to consult Mr. Bowen and see if you are overworked." + +Jack and Mr. Burton had heard none of this conversation, having gone +into the sitting-room for a game of chess, and Mrs. Burton and Winnie +had remained in the dining-room. + +Mrs. Burton went into the kitchen to give her orders for breakfast +to Norah, and Winnie returned to the sitting-room with a strong +determination to work so hard that she would make up for her +self-indulgence of the afternoon. But little Ralph came running up to +her with: "Now, 'Innie, tell me a story." + +"Oh, Ralphie, Winnie can't to-night; see, she has to learn something out +of all these books;" and she pointed to the big pile of them that lay on +the table. + +"Well, den, me'll wead the newspaper;" and he sat down on a hassock with +a paper in his hand, and looked so cunning that Winnie had to go and +give him a little hug before she could get to work. + +She began with her greatest bugbear, United States History; not, +however, without having cast one longing look at "The Giant Killer," +as it stood temptingly on the edge of the book case. But, saying to +herself, "I'm bound to do it"--a phrase which had seemed to help her +over difficulties so many times that she almost felt as if it were the +phrase, and not the exertions which always followed the use of it, that +was helpful to her--she applied herself with such concentration that, +during the twenty minutes her mother remained out of the room, she +learned quite thoroughly the three pages describing the Battle of +Monmouth. In the meantime, Ralph had been put to bed, and Mrs. Burton +had come in, cloaked and bonneted. As soon as their father and mother +had gone, Jack said, "Now, Win, for the new music." + +"Oh, Jack, look here! There are two pages of descriptive geography, ten +map questions, and a short account of the exports and imports of India +to be learned, and I've six long problems in percentage to work." + +"Whew! Then my cake's dough! But how is it that you have all this to +do to-night? I thought we were to spend our evenings in helping and +entertaining each other; that was what I understood mother to say when +she changed your hour for bed from half past eight to half past nine. +Ah! Win, I know what it is; you've been at your old tricks, you little +bookworm!" + +"Don't tease, Jack. I'm sorry enough for it now, and I'll be ready to +help you to-morrow night." + +"To-morrow! Always to-morrow! But to-morrow our debating club meets, and +that settles that. I'll have to play without accompaniment, that's all." + +Winnie heaved a sigh. It was a disappointment to her, too, but she +resolutely forbore to say more about the matter. It took her, however, +until nearly nine o'clock to learn her geography lesson, and when her +bed-time came, she had but four of the problems solved. She would much +have liked to remain up an hour longer, but of direct disobedience Mrs. +Burton's children were seldom guilty, so Winnie gathered up her books, +ready to take to school in the morning, and went to her room. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +GOOD RESOLUTIONS. + + +Winnie was having a confused dream of a little dwarf, armed with a long +column of figures, which he waved threateningly in the air; but as she +advanced to seize them, thinking to use them for her lessons during +the day, the dwarf commenced to grow, and, as she stood amazed and +horror-struck, he attained the height of ten feet or so, and was +still growing when she heard the tinkling of a bell, and a voice said: +"Wizard, avaunt!" At this the giant disappeared, and the whole column of +figures fell on the floor in a confused heap. She stooped to pick them +up, when the bell rang again, this time louder, and she grasped--her +brother Ralph, who was ringing the breakfast bell violently in her ears. + +A little vexed, she was going to send him away and turn over for another +nap, when suddenly she remembered her good resolutions of the evening +before, and, to Ralph's surprise, sprang up at once. + +Having dressed herself, she turned the bedclothes back to air, and, with +the exception of making her bed, which was done by Norah later in the +day, put everything in her dainty pink room in nice order. Then she sat +down to select her verse, it being the custom of the family for each +to recite some passage from the Bible, about which they afterward had a +little talk. She chose part of the second verse of the sixth chapter of +2d Corinthians: "Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation." + +When the bell rang for the family to gather, Winnie was ready to go down +at once, without hurry or confusion, or being haunted by the thought +that she was but half dressed. If she received no other reward, her +mother's approving smile as her daughter entered, made her feel quite +happy. + +Mr. Burton and Jack were not yet down, but came in almost directly. +Her father read for that morning a part of the 107th Psalm, that most +beautiful psalm of praise and thanksgiving. Then they all recited their +verses. The mother had chosen hers from the chapter just read: "For he +satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness." +Jack had chosen: "Judge not, that ye be not judged." Ralph said, "Suffer +little children," which was his great standby. Mr. Burton had a few +words to say about all of them, but about Winnie's in particular; he +spoke about its spiritual and religions meaning, and went on to say that +it could be applied to all the affairs of life. He spoke of the folly as +well as the sin of procrastination, that great destroyer of so many +good deeds, which become utterly useless if done too late. He said +that duties are like bricks used in building a house; if the foundation +stones were left out, it would be impossible to make any use of those +remaining. After the talk was finished, the family gathered around the +piano, and sang a morning hymn. + +Winnie was in very good spirits that morning; an approving conscience is +a great help to cheerfulness and good temper. She cut Ralph's steak for +him, and pleased him very much by begging for one of his dollars, as +she called the tiny cakes which Norah fried for her pet. She amused the +others, also, by giving, in the phraseology of a school-girl of to-day, +a graphic account of the way she imagined the redoubtable Captain Molly +acted at the Battle of Monmouth. + +Everything seemed to go well with her, and at half past eight she had +her books in her arms, ready to take a leisurely stroll to school, +although the unfinished problems still troubled her. + +When she entered her room, three or four of the girls rushed up to +her with: "Come on into the dressing-room, Win; we're going to have a +meeting of the B. S. S." + +"Oh, I can't, girls!" said Winnie, it must be confessed very faintly, +"I've two more problems to work, and I'll just have time to do them +before the bell rings, and during the first study bell." + +"Oh, bother the problems!" said Miriam Douglass, striking an attitude. +"Let them go! What are problems, compared with the important business of +the B. S. S.?" + +But Winnie, collecting all her mental strength, and remembering her "I'm +bound to" of the night before, resolutely drew back, saying, "I can't, +girls; for I've a giant to kill." + +The girls looked at her in amaze. + +"A giant to kill! You look as if you'd kill a dozen, single-handed, you +midge!" laughed tall Miriam, for Winnie was the youngest and smallest +girl in the class. "Whatever do you mean?" + +"I can't stop to tell you now," said Winnie, "for if I do, I'll lose the +first blow; but I'll tell you about it at recess." + +"All right, since you're determined," said Fannie Allen; "and I say, +girls, let's postpone our meeting till then." + +"Agreed!" said the others; and each one, as they separated, went to +her own seat and busied herself at some study, so quickly does a little +leaven leaven the whole. + +When recess came, Winnie explained to the three girls, and Miriam +Douglass laughed at her and teased her not a little; but somehow no one +minded Miriam's teasing, she was so bright and good-natured with it all. + +"I suppose," said Miriam, munching her last piece of butterscotch--for +be it known that the mysterious initials, about which the other girls of +the class were "dancing crazy with curiosity," as Miriam said, signified +"Butter Scotch Society"--"you'll be wanting us to give up the B. S. S. +with all its sweet delights, and go about the world with drawn swords, +and 'front like Jove, to threaten or command,' neither giving nor +receiving quarter. I can see myself now, as I exclaim, 'Base spirit, +beware, lest with this trusty sword I hew thee in pieces!'" And she +flourished her ruler with such spirit that the girls all applauded. +Just then, however, the bell rang for the close of recess, and they were +obliged to go to their recitations. + +Thanks to Winnie's determination, and her vigorous use of the study +bells, she received a perfect mark in all her lessons for the day, but +she went home in the afternoon tired and jaded from the hard work. + +She found her mother in the sitting-room, sewing, and said, as she threw +down her books, "Now, mamma, I want to make my confession, and also +to thank you for allowing me to work last night. I know you have often +spoken to me about my bad habit of putting everything off till the last +minute, and it is almost always because I get hold of a story book and +cannot lay it down. Yesterday it was 'The Giant Killer,' and I was +so interested in Fides' battle with Giant Hate, that I forgot I was +neglecting my own faults to watch him conquer his. But now I'm going +to begin killing my own giants, and I'll commence with my worst, +procrastination; for indeed, as Miss Brownlow is always telling us, +it is the thief of time. And I want you to watch me and help me. As +to-morrow will be Saturday, I want to get every one of my lessons for +Monday, so that I can use the Monday study bells for Tuesday's lessons; +then I can always get through in the afternoon." + +"I think that will be a very good plan, Winnie; you will then feel at +ease each day about the work for the succeeding one, and an absence of +worry will keep your mental faculties in good condition, so that you can +do much more work with less strain of mind or body. And it will leave +your evenings for reading or such other recreation as may occur from +time to time, for you know I do not believe in all work and no play. I +want to run down to Shillito's now to do a little shopping, and I hope +you will be able, while I am gone, to resist your favorite temptation, +for I really believe that many of our temptations are favorites." + +As soon as Mrs. Burton, taking Ralph with her, had gone, Winnie settled +herself resolutely to work at her problems. She had just become quite +interested in finding out the "population of a certain village," which +increased a certain per cent, the first year, etc., when the bell rang, +and answering the call, she found Miriam Douglass. Here was a dilemma. +But she said: + +"Miriam, I'm just at work on my problems for Monday. Come right in, and +we'll work them together." + +"Oh, Winnie, we'll have all day to-morrow to get our lessons. Do let's +have a good time to-day." + +"I promised mamma that I would do all my lessons before Monday, but, +of course, Miriam, if you don't wish to, I'll stop. I do think, though, +that we'll enjoy ourselves just as well if we do this work." + +"All right, Winnie, go ahead," said Miriam laughing. "I guess my brain +can stand it if yours can." + +The two girls applied themselves so well, Miriam being particularly +bright in arithmetic, that by the time Mrs. Burton returned, they not +only had the whole set of problems solved, but neatly copied and ready +to "hand in." + +Mrs. Burton herself helped them with their analysis in grammar, and +that being Miriam's great stumbling block, she was delighted with the +assistance. She accepted Mrs. Burton's invitation to stay to supper, +after which, Mr. Burton and Jack both being out, Winnie's mother +proposed that the girls should take turns reading aloud to her from the +book Winnie had been telling them about. + +Both girls had been well taught, and it was a pleasure to listen to +their fresh, well modulated voices. Miriam, though far less imaginative +than Winnifred, enjoyed the book very much, and said, half in fun: + +"Why can't we turn our B. S. S. into a club to fight our giants? We +might then be a help instead of a drawback to each other, as I know we +are now, for we're always upsetting each other's attempts to do right." + +"I think that is a very good idea," said Mrs. Burton. "Union and +organization are such powers in this world, that I do not see why they +should not help four little girls to do right. You might have social +meetings occasionally to report progress, and you could have a good time +beside. Talk it over on Monday with Gretta and Fannie, and if you want +help, come to me." + +"Oh, Mrs. Burton, you always do think of the nicest things! That's just +what we will do, and we'll report a week from to-night. But now it is +time for me to go." + +As Miriam lived only a square away, Mrs. Burton and Winnie walked over +with her, and on their return Winnie went to bed happy and contented. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +STUMBLING BLOCKS. + + +On the following Monday at recess, Miriam called a meeting of the +B. S. S., and she and Winnie told the other two girls what they were +thinking of doing. But it was very hard work to make Gretta Berger +understand. + +"Giants!" said she, "what do we care for giants? We're no longer little +children, that we should believe in such things." + +"But don't you believe that we have faults that we ought to try to +conquer?" said Winnie. + +"Faults! You'd think I had a million, if you'd hear my mother lecture +me; and my sister Josephine seems to think I never did do anything +right. I never suit either of them. I'm scolded from Monday morning till +Saturday night, and I don't want all my play-time taken up in the same +way." + +"Oh, Gretta, who is going to scold you? I'm sure we'll all have enough +to do to watch over our own faults, without talking to you of yours." + +"Didn't you say we were to help each other? How can we do that, if we +don't say anything when one of us does wrong? No, let our teachers and +parents and big sisters do that. I'm sure they seem to enjoy it well +enough." + +"Enjoy it! Well, I'm sure we can't blame them. I don't know how else +they are to get even with you, when you never give in half your demerits +for the day, and sit and sulk for half an hour if you're told to stop +talking," said Miriam, with her usual heedlessness. + +"Well. I'm not so lazy that I can't pin my collar on straight and clean +my finger nails; and as for killing giants, I think we'd better be +eating fruit and taffy than getting into a fuss by meddling with other +folks' affairs!" And Gretta flounced off in high dudgeon. + +Winnie's eyes filled with tears. All this was so unlike anything she had +imagined, and now they had gotten into a quarrel the very first thing. + +"Let her go, Winnie," said Fannie; "she's always getting into the sulks, +and her father's nothing but a music teacher, anyhow. I never could see +why you girls liked her so much. I'm sure I never did." + +"No!" said Miriam sarcastically, "we can't all be the handsome daughter +of a wealthy and celebrated lawyer, more's the pity!" + +Winnie's heart sank lower. How she wished she had tried to do right +herself, and let the other girls alone! Now Fannie would be angry, too. + +But, to her surprise, Fannie laughed outright. "This is too absurd for +anything, girls. Here we were just about to sweep the world before us, +and now we've had our first quarrel for over a month. As for me, I +know I'm proud and vain, and I do like my friends to be rich and +distinguished. But papa says it isn't exactly well-bred to choose our +friends on such a basis, and he calls my pride silly, and tells me not +to be a--well, yes, he does--a snob. But I like to be proud. Perhaps, +though, someone else beside myself knows something, and I'll be glad to +join, and will try to like it when my toes are stepped on." + +"Well," said Miriam, "I'm sure I beg your pardon, if I hurt the toes. +But I think your good-nature got the best of it. As for Gretta, you all +know she'll sulk just so long, anyhow, and when she gets tired of +it, she'll be all right; and if she once gets this thing through her +somewhat thick head, she'll want to join, too." + +"My! but there's a lot of work before us! Do you know, girls, I actually +lay awake for an hour last night, wondering what faults I had, and now, +since this squabble, I've seen signs of half a dozen. It's taken all the +starch out of me. Don't I look limp?" And Miriam hung her hands and arms +so nervelessly and assumed such a vapid expression, that Fannie laughed +outright, and Winnie smiled through her tears. + +"Well, there's one bad habit that we all have," said she decidedly. +"We're always saying, 'in a minute,' or 'by and by,' or 'to-morrow.' I +don't believe we'll get angry with each other over that, for it isn't +what my father would call 'a personal peculiarity.'" Winnie did like to +use big words. + +"All right, Winnie, we'll all begin together, and you shall be the +captain of our first expedition against the foe." + +Winnie went home somewhat comforted, but still quite unhappy about +Gretta. She longed to tell her mother all that had happened, but Mrs. +Burton was entertaining callers, and she was therefore obliged to +restrain her impatience. + +On Tuesdays there were fewer recitations for her class than on other +days, and, having made good use of her study bells, she was quite +through before five o'clock, and concluded to take Ralph out for a +walk, so she called her mother to ask permission. Mrs. Burton was quite +willing, and said she might also go to the library and change her book. +Then she returned to her guests. + +Winnie ran to ask Norah if she would help get Ralph ready. She found +her in the wooden rocking-chair in the cheerful kitchen, reading the +"Commercial Gazette," and "taking it easy," as she called it. Winnie +made her request in a very peremptory manner. Norah looked at her a +minute, and then said: "So you want me to dress Ralph, do you? Well, I +guess that want will have to be your master, for I don't intend to break +my back over the wash-tub all day, and, when I'm snatching a moment for +rest, be at the beck and call of a sassy little girl." So saying, Norah +returned to her newspaper, completely ignoring Winnie's presence. + +Winnifred knew that it would be utterly useless to say anything more; +besides, she had been reproved by her mother more than once for her +way of speaking to Norah. But she was greatly disappointed, for now she +would either have to take Ralph dressed as he was, or leave him at home. +She finally concluded to do the former, so, hastily getting Ralph and +herself into their coats, they were soon in the street car. + +Ralph, as usual, had numberless questions to ask. When they reached +Fountain Square, they got out, and Winnie, as she invariably did when +down town, crossed to the Esplanade to look at the fountain, of which +she never wearied. Ralph said he liked to see the little boys and girls +sprinkling, and then he must have a drink from the little boy with a +shell in his hand. + +All this took up time, so that when they reached the public library it +was quite late. The delivery room, as usual at that hour, was crowded, +and, having handed in her card and list, Winnie sat down on one of the +benches to wait till her number was called. This took so long that Ralph +became restless and then sleepy, and when they were finally in the car +on their way home, he soon closed his eyes. Winnie knew that she would +have her hands full if he went to sleep, so she shook him, saying, +"Ralphie, Ralphie, don't you know that you mustn't go to sleep?" + +"Me isn't s'eepy!" said the little fellow, poking his chubby fingers +into his eyes to keep them open; but, finding it quite hard work, after +a minute's consideration he added, "But there's somefin in my eyes, +'ough." + +"Oh, Ralph, that's the Sandman; you mustn't let him throw sand in your +eyes in the street car!" + +"No, me 'on't," said Ralph, making a desperate effort. + +This little conversation seemed greatly to amuse an old gentleman +opposite. He took Ralph on his knee and let him play with his watch, and +kindly kept him awake until it was time for the children to get out. + +When they reached home they found the family, with the addition of their +grandma, Aunt Kitty and Uncle Fred, all at supper, laughing and talking +in the happiest manner imaginable. Winnie was delighted. Aunt Kitty +was the dearest to her of all her aunts. She was young and gay and +good-natured, always ready to join in a frolic, or to help with one's +lessons, or to take the children and the children's visitors to the +"zoo" or the park or some other place equally delightful. + +After supper they went into the sitting-room, and Winnie and Jack played +their last duet, which Aunt Kitty complimented quite highly. She said +to Mr. Burton, "Winnie does so nicely with her music that I hope you'll +allow her to make more of it soon. If she goes to the high-school next +year, she'll have more time to practice, won't she?" + +"Yes, I think so," interrupted Uncle Fred. "She'll be putting on long +dresses, and practicing the airs of a young lady before the glass. But +she won't imitate you, Kitty; your ways will be too youthful for her by +that time," and he gave Winnie's braid a pull. "Isn't it singular?" he +continued meditatively. "Here Winnie will be growing older every year, +and Kitty just the reverse. I don't think she'll have another birthday +in ten years." + +"Most assuredly not, if you'll tell me the way to avoid it. Winnie can +have my birthdays and her own, too," laughed Aunt Kitty. + +If there was one thing in the world that Winnie resented as an +indignity, it was having her ears tweaked, and now she burst out: + +"Grandma, do make Uncle Fred stop! I think he ought to have a good +scolding." + +"Why, he's my baby," said grandma; "you wouldn't have me scold my baby, +would you?" + +Winnie's expression at the novel idea of teasing Uncle Fred's being +anybody's baby was one of such amazement that they all laughed, though +Winnie herself hardly appreciated the joke. + +"Never mind," said Uncle Fred, slipping a bag of chocolates into her +hands as a peace-offering, "you know I must tease someone, and your Aunt +Kitty is more invulnerable than Achilles himself, for I think that even +her heel was dipped." + +"Oh, I have a vulnerable point," laughed Aunt Kitty, though a close +observer might have noticed a queer little sober look about her eyes +and mouth, "and it is this"--putting one of Winnifred's creams into +her mouth: "the absolute cruelty of giving someone else a paper of +chocolates while I'm present. By the way, Winnie, let's go into the +kitchen and make some taffy, while my mother instructs your mother how +to bring up children in the way they should go; for that she knows +how to do it, witness your Uncle Fred and myself as bright and shining +examples." + +But for once Winnie held back. At last she said: "Norah won't like it; +she's cross to-day. She wouldn't help me get Ralph ready to go down +town." + +"Oh, Winnie, I'm afraid you've been at your old tricks. But come on; +I'll manage Norah, and she has probably forgiven you before this." + +This proved to be the case, and Norah, who was very fond of Aunt Kitty, +was so good-natured, not even grumbling about the "muss," that Winnie +felt as if she were having coals of fire heaped on her head; and, not to +be outdone in generosity, contritely begged Norah's pardon for the way +she had spoken to her in the afternoon. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +A RAINY DAY. + + + "'One by one the sands are flowing,'--comma-- + One by one the moments fall;'--semicolon-- + 'Some are coming,'--comma; 'some are going;'--semicolon-- + 'Do not strive to grasp them all,'--period." + +dictated Miriam to a group of girls in the school-room, who were +"cramming" for the February examination, and who had hurried back at +dinner time for that purpose. + +"What a queer jumble that makes!" said Winnie. "I believe I'd rather +copy it from the book. Don't you think that last line's odd?--'Do not +strive to grasp them all.' I thought that was just what we ought to do, +isn't it?" + +"I asked Miss Brownlow that question yesterday," said Ernestine Alroy, a +tall, pale and thoughtful-looking girl, "and she said that Miss Procter +didn't mean that we were to let any of them go, but that we are not to +try to seize them all at once; that it would be like anything else--if +our hands were too full, we'd be sure to drop something. She said we +must take this 'Memory Gem' in connection with the motto on the board, +'Do the duty that lies nearest thee,' and that if we followed the advice +in both of them, we'd be sure not to let any of our duties go undone." + +"Ernestine, you always did like to preach," said Josie Thompson, making +a wry face over the pickle she was eating. "I think it's quite bad +enough to have to learn Memory Gems, with all the hideous punctuation, +and expect to stand an examination--and they always pick out the one you +know the least about--with five per cent. off for a comma left out or +put in the wrong place, ten for a misspelled word, and so on until, by +the time my 'Gems' are corrected, there's no per cent. left at all. I +say all this is bad enough, without having to understand and explain +them." And she stopped to take breath, quite exhausted by her long +speech. + +"Perhaps, if you troubled yourself a little more about the meaning, +you'd get higher marks occasionally," said Miriam. + +"Oh, who cares for marks anyhow? I'm getting sick of the eternal word +'Duty!' Miss Brownlow never misses an occasion to make use of it. Then +we're always learning some selection with the same word in it, and now +you girls have taken it up and there's no knowing if you will ever stop. +As for me, I'm going to enjoy myself while I'm young. I guess I'll live +just as long, if I don't worry myself to death." + +The brighter girls laughed, and Miriam said, with quick mimicry, "I +think you will live just as long, if you don't worry yourself to death. +What a speech! Well, I think you're right; you'll live forever, if worry +is the only thing that can kill." + +"Well, laugh as much as you please; you can all plod along, if you want +to. I'm going to have a good time." + +"It is hard, though," said Winnie, plaintively; "it's much nicer to do +the things we like to do than those we ought to do, especially when none +of us want to do things that are very wrong." + +"It's harder to catch up," said Ernestine, "than to keep straight on; +and I think if we'd all pray for help not to neglect our duties, we'd +find it easier." + +None of the girls laughed at this, for Ernestine was so devoted to her +ideas of religion, and so brave in the profession of them, that if +she thought it was her duty, she would have knelt down right there and +prayed aloud for them all. + +"Well, this isn't learning the 'Gem,'" said Fannie Allen decisively; and +then for a few moments nothing was heard but the scratching of pencils, +as Miriam went on dictating: + + "One by one thy duties wait thee, + Let thy whole strength go to each, + Let no future dreams elate thee, + Learn thou first what these can teach." + +After the bell had rung for school to commence, the afternoon wore +dismally away. A steady, drenching rain was pouring down as if it +intended never to stop. Under the circumstances there could be no +recess, which added to the general feeling of weariness, restlessness +and disgust. + +Each recitation was a recapitulation, which made the more studious or +those with the better memories feel as if there were "nothing new +under the sun," and gave to the triflers, or those to whom study was a +continual climbing of the "Hill Difficulty," a confused impression of +hearing something they had heard before, but failed to remember just +when or where or how. + +To add to the discomfort, there was much copying to be done from the +blackboard, and, as it was dark and gloomy, there was a complaint of +not being able to see, until the front seats were filled with a crowd of +tired, discontented girls, with their young faces puckered up into all +sorts of frowns and grimaces. Even the best-natured among the teachers +were conscious of an utter failure to keep from showing irritation, +and they were made to sigh for a royal road both to learning and to +teaching. It was with a general sigh of relief that the bell announcing +the hour of dismission was heard. + +But the discomfort was not yet over. The halls and dressing-rooms were +filled with an odor of wet wool and rubber; rain-cloaks and rubbers were +confusedly mixed, and Miss Brownlow reminded the complainers, in a most +irritating manner, of the number of times she had urged them all to mark +their gossamers and overshoes, and positively forbade them to expect any +interference from her if anything were lost. Then some of the girls +ran down stairs, and all were ordered back; and, it being impossible to +distinguish the culprits, the innocent suffered with the guilty, so that +it was nearly five o'clock before they were finally allowed to descend +the stairs, and they had been hearing the exasperating shouts of freedom +from the boys under the windows for a full half hour. + +Miriam and Winnie, walking home under the same umbrella, felt their +desire to be good and the courage to strive for it, at the lowest ebb. +Winnie said petulantly, "I wish there were no such thing as school! It's +dig, dig, dig, and then it's cram, cram, cram, until, at last, you don't +know whether you know anything or not! I'm just sick of it!" + +"You'd feel more disagreeable if you'd lost the third pair of rubbers +this winter, and had wet feet. I don't see why it is that it's always my +rubbers that are gone, anyway. Mamma will say that I grow more heedless +every day of my life; that I never will learn to take care of anything; +and will wonder if I think papa is a millionaire. I wish now that I'd +marked that last pair of rubbers." + +"Oh, dear! It's so hard to do right, and not to feel hateful and cross. +Everyone seems to get cross but Ernestine. But then, none of the rest +are as good as she is. I don't believe she ever feels like doing wrong; +and she always seems happy, too; not peevish or sulky like the rest of +us. Do you suppose--" + +But just then, too absorbed to notice where they were going, they ran +against an old gentleman, and their umbrella was knocked out of their +hands into the gutter, where, of course, it was soon all wet and muddy. + +[Illustration: Too absorbed to notice where they were going.] + +Then the old gentleman sputtered and scolded, and said he wished little +girls would look where they were going once in a while, and that they +were nothing but "giggling nuisances" anyhow. Then Miriam dropped her +books, and, as both she and Winnie stooped to pick them up, they knocked +their heads together with such force that tears sprang to the eyes of +both. + +As a usual thing, such occurrences would have made them laugh, but they +were far enough from being "giggling nuisances" on this occasion, and +when they turned the corner and separated, it would not have been easy +to find two muddier or crosser little girls, while both, I fear, had +forgotten all about the giants they were intending to fight. + +When Winnie reached home, she spoke to Ralph so crossly, when he ran up +to her for a kiss, that his lips trembled and he turned to Mrs. Burton, +saying, "Mamma, is me bad? 'Innie 'ouldn't tiss me!" + +Winnie, at sight of his grieved face, began to feel ashamed of herself, +but was still too cross to make any acknowledgments, and, without saying +a word, went up to her room to change her muddy dress. + +When she came down, Mrs. Burton looked at her searchingly, but asked +no questions, and it was not until after supper that Winnie felt +sufficiently herself to tell her mother about the disagreeable +afternoon. Mrs. Burton only said: "Well, Winnie,-- + + 'Into each life some rain must fall. + Some days be dark and dreary,' + +but I hope my daughter isn't going to grow up into one of those +unpleasant women who always make it disagreeable for other people when +things do not turn out just as they would like to have them." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE FIRST MEETING. + + +As a consequence of the lost rubbers and wet feet, Miriam caught such a +cold that she was not able to leave the house for the remainder of the +week. Gretta Burger was still sulking, and Fannie Allen was, as she +said, "reviewing odds and ends," so the meeting which was to have been +held on Friday of that week was postponed. + +But fickleness and inconstancy of purpose were not among the faults of +Winnifred, and although she made many failures, and the words "by and +by" and "in a minute" were frequently on her lips, she nevertheless made +some progress in conquering her great fault. + +Her greatest temptation, as is evident from what has already been seen +of her, was to let everything else go and slip off into some nook and +lose herself in what she called "a delicious read." And this habit was +all the harder for her to break because she had commenced it when she +was a very little girl, and it had then looked "so cunning" and studious +that injudicious friends and acquaintances of the family, unable +to distinguish between a love for study which costs hard work and +self-denial, and a mere love for narrative which is easily gratified, +had praised her when she was within hearing, and had told Mr. Burton +how much they envied him the possession of so studious and intelligent a +child. Not that all works of fiction are to be condemned, for they often +have a good and lasting influence, and become a decided factor in +the formation of a noble character. But like all things intended for +recreation, they should be used only at the proper time. Winnie was fast +finding out that the proper time was when her daily duties were over, +and that was reducing her two or three snatched hours a day to fifteen +or twenty minutes. She was also beginning to find out the close +connection between various bad habits. She saw that procrastination led +to carelessness, disobedience, and, in some natures, to untruthfulness +and dishonesty. + +But by the following Friday, the long-anticipated examination was over. +Our four little friends had reason to be well satisfied with the result, +so far as they were personally concerned. A mutual content had restored +harmony between Gretta and the other three, and they had decided to hold +their first meeting on that evening. + +Winnie was very anxious to have Ernestine come, too; but, although she +laughed at herself for her foolish pride, Fannie said: "Of course we +know Ernestine is a nice girl, but we don't know anything about her +family, and you know she never speaks of her father, although nobody +ever heard that he is dead. They may be very common people, for all we +know." + +Winnie was greatly troubled about this, for she did not like "common +people" very well herself. She had her own ideas about such things, and +she called Althea Browne "common." Althea wore brass jewelry, and was +always boasting about the fine things they had at home, and the grand +parties her aunt in Virginia gave. She was always willing to accept +fruits and sweetmeats from the other girls, but had been known, more +than once, to sneak off by herself and munch candies and apples which +she had brought. Winnie thought that if Ernestine's people were like +Althea, she did not want to have anything to do with them. + +As usual, she carried this perplexity to her mother, who said: "Let the +matter rest for the present, dear. While Fannie feels as she does about +it, it would not be pleasant for any of you to have her come, or for +Ernestine herself, and dissension will not help you to become better. In +the meantime I will consider the matter, and, if I conclude that it will +be best for Ernestine to join you, I hope to be able to arrange it." + +Mrs. Burton had invited the three girls to take supper with Winnie, +and, as school had closed early, and they had no lessons to prepare for +Monday, they had a nice, long afternoon together. Miriam read aloud the +account of the combat of Fides with the Giant Sloth, and when she was +through, said: "That is the giant Gretta pointed out to me; and a hard +one he will be for me to overcome, I can tell you." + +"What is my worst one?" asked Fannie, taking up the book which Miriam +had laid down. As she glanced through the pages she said, with a slight +blush, "Oh, yes; my father would tell me that I must conquer my pride, +and he tries to have me see how disagreeable it makes me, by telling me +that I will never be a perfect lady until I have done so. Here, Miriam, +read this aloud, too; you make it so plain that I almost feel as if I +were there." + +Gretta said very little, but she had a self-satisfied air about her, as +if it were as needless for anyone to be proud or untidy as for anyone to +steal, and she felt herself far removed from faults such as these. And +indeed she was neither indolent nor untidy. She rose at six--that magic +hour in which Fides was to strike his first blow at Giant Sloth--and +practiced two hours before school; she was neatness itself, both +in person and in all her belongings. Besides, she was neither so +conscientious as Winnie, so frank and outspoken as Fannie, nor so easily +influenced, either for right or wrong, as Miriam. So her conscience lay +dormant. + +She was, however, conscious that she, too, had a habit of not doing +things as soon as she ought, and to try to overcome that seemed to her +almost like a lesson to be learned, so she was willing to try to learn +it with the others. + +After Miriam had finished the chapter, Winnie said, "Oh, girls, I must +show you my autographs;" and, turning to Ralph, who sat by the window, +gazing intently at a couple of puppies which were having a romp +together, she said, "Ralphie, bring Winnie that book by the window." + +Without moving a muscle of his chubby little body, or even turning his +head, the child answered: "You just s'pect me to do evvyfing; I tan't do +evvyfing." + +"Oh, Ralph, my little partner in distress!" exclaimed Miriam, in her +most dramatic way, snatching him up and kissing him in spite of his +struggles. "You'll have to have a suit of armor, too. Who would have +thought that one so young could be so lazy!" + +The laugh was not yet over when Mrs. Burton came in, with her pleasant +smile, saying, "Girls, I've a short story to tell you--that is, if you +wish to hear it; and there'll just be time before supper." + +Of course they were delighted, and, Fannie having coaxed Ralph to her +lap, they all gathered around Mrs. Burton, making a pretty group +in their unconsciously graceful attitudes, as they listened to the +following narrative: + +"Constance van Orten was born in New York, a descendant of one of the +old Knickerbocker families, but of a branch which had preserved more of +the family pride than its estates. Money, however, was not altogether +lacking, and to many people their income would have seemed sumptuous; +but to them, in comparison with their more wealthy friends and +relatives, it seemed the merest pittance that necessity could demand. + +"But this comparative lack of money never troubled little Constance, and +fortune seemed to smile upon her. One might almost have believed that +all the beneficent fairies had presided at her birth, so many graces of +face and form and disposition were hers, and so many of the conditions +necessary to human happiness seemed fulfilled in her lot. + +"She was the youngest child and only daughter, and her four brothers +found her so charming a plaything, and later so agreeable a companion, +that they took pleasure in making her life a succession of pleasant +surprises, and her every wish was gratified almost before expressed. +Indeed, had she asked for the moon, it would have been a source of +genuine grief to them that they could not get it for her. + +"Pain seemed as far removed from her as anxiety or grief, for, although +she had an odd faculty of catching all the diseases incident to +childhood, they touched her so lightly that it was seldom necessary to +call in a physician. If she received a cut or a wound of any kind, so +pure was her blood and so perfect her physical condition that it healed +as if by magic. + +"Her willfulness was extreme, as might have been expected from the +almost total lack of restraint under which she grew up; but so winning +were her ways, and so ready her repentance for her little misdeeds, that +for the most part she escaped punishment and even reproof. + +"Almost without the power of application, she seemed to pick up external +evidences of education and culture without effort. She talked fluently, +sang charmingly, and, having almost marvelous tact, never failed to +please. + +"Being, as I have said, the only daughter, she entered society earlier +than most girls, and, in spite of her comparative lack of means, soon +became a reigning belle. During her first season she refused more than +one wealthy suitor, and that, too, to the intense satisfaction of her +parents and brothers, for she was a veritable sunbeam in the family, and +they looked forward with dread to the thought of losing her. + +"At last, however, there came, furnished with letters of introduction +to one of Constance's uncles, a young and wealthy cotton planter from +Louisiana. His seeming indifference to money and his prodigal use of +it, his pleasant speech and manner, his languid Southern movements, +so different from those of the brisk Northerners to whom they were +accustomed, and, above all, the very fact of his being a stranger, made +him most welcome to the girlish minds so fond of change and novelty. But +it was with the greatest regret that the Van Ortens began to notice his +marked attentions to Constance and the increasing pleasure she took in +them. It was not only that a marriage with him would separate her from +them all, but her father and brothers, constantly meeting the young +stranger at clubs and places where there were no ladies present, and +consequently where he was off his guard, found him capricious and +changeable in his opinions and actions, extremely self-indulgent, +selfishly indifferent to the comfort of others, and so fond of +intoxicating liquor that, on more than one occasion, he had been +directly and shamefully under its influence. + +"But Constance would not, perhaps could not, see him in the light in +which he was portrayed to her, and, in spite of all their warnings and +her mother's pleadings, she consented to become his wife. Immediately +after the marriage, they went to Louisiana, and for awhile all was to +Constance as her most ardent fancy had painted it. Their home was in +the beautiful Claiborne Parish, which has been named "the Eden of +Louisiana." Her winning ways and delicate beauty endeared her to the +new acquaintances she formed, and made her the idol of the slaves on the +plantation. Here two sons were born, and the mother felt her happiness +complete. But presently she found her husband less attentive to her. He +absented himself on long journeys, for which he scarcely had a pretext, +and when at home was either sullen or irritable. + +"Then the Civil War broke out and he lost much of his property, and +there were almost ceaseless and taunting allusions on his part to the +"plebeian Yankees" and the ruin they had brought him. After the close of +the war, however, he seemed to make an effort to do the best with what +property remained. He became a little more considerate, and sometimes +seemed to be almost what he had been in the early years of his married +life, and when Constance became the mother of a little girl, she began +to feel as if, after all, life might hold some good in store for her. + +"But alas! her husband's good behavior did not last long. He began to +drink constantly, and at last he left one morning, without saying a +word, and never returned. Then the two promising boys died of that +dreadful scourge, yellow fever, and Constance was almost heartbroken. + +"During the war, communication with her New York relatives had +been almost impossible, and since then, as is usual in interrupted +correspondence, even among those who love each other best, it +had assumed a desultory character; and now that Constance felt +overwhelmingly disgraced by her husband's desertion, and knowing that +all this sorrow had come upon her in consequence of her opposition to +the wishes of her family, she was too proud to turn to them for help +or comfort. But to remain where she was was likewise almost an +impossibility, for the scenes of sorrow through which she had passed +made the South a hated prison from which she felt that she must escape. +Besides, her husband's creditors had seized upon everything that was +left, and the once lovely, petted girl, destitute, bereaved, forsaken, +raised what money she could from the sale of her laces and jewelry, +and, taking passage in one of the Mississippi steamers, started for +Louisville. There, however, she remained but a few days, and finally +came to Cincinnati, hoping here to find some way to support herself and +her little daughter, without being obliged to appeal to her brothers for +help. + +"But for a woman reared as she had been, what was there to do? Her +slender means became still more slender, and it was only after having +been subjected to absolute privation, that she managed to obtain a place +in a store as saleswoman, and now she and her child are able to live +respectably, if not always comfortably. Her one joy and source of +happiness she finds in the companionship of her daughter Ernestine, a +girl of character so fine and religious principles so high that they +would be a credit to one of twice her years." + +"Why, that sounds like a description of Ernestine Alroy!" said Fannie. + +"And it is Ernestine of whom I am speaking, although I hope it is not +necessary for me to suggest that she would not like her mother's history +to be made public property. In fact, I must earnestly request you not to +mention it even in your own homes," said Mrs. Burton. "It was only by +a mere accident that I heard this narrative yesterday afternoon. But I +hear Mr. Burton and Jack in the hall, and, as supper will be served in +a very few minutes, I must leave you, with an apology for telling you a +sad story, and one which I would not have ventured upon had it not been +an 'o'er true tale.'" + +"How dreadful!" said Fannie. "And to think, girls, that her mother was +as happy and well reared--" + +Just then, however, supper was announced, and Fannie's sentence remained +unfinished. + +After supper, Jack brought out his violin, and he and Gretta played some +duets together, Gretta reading the piano part at sight, and so well that +Winnie felt her own poor little talent cast quite in the shade. + +Then Gretta played some pretty sonatinas with fine taste and expression, +and gave so much pleasure to her listeners that Fannie began to think +there might be worse things in the world than being a "music teacher's +daughter." + +After that, to the great delight of the girls, Mr. Burton sang, in his +fine bass voice, and with the merry twinkle in his eyes in accord with +his extravagant gestures, a comic song, ending with a little refrain +in which all the Burtons, not even excepting Ralph, joined, the +latter singing at the top of his voice, and clapping his hands for +accompaniment. + +They had hardly had time to feel weary of sitting still and listening, +when Mrs. Burton had them all in the dining-room playing the good +old game of "Puss in the Corner." Here, too, Mr. Burton distinguished +himself by his pathetic appeals for a "corner." The game left them all +breathless but happy, and they sat down for awhile to recover themselves +and "cool off," while Jack went to get on his overcoat preparatory to +seeing the girls home. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY. + + +The school which Winnie and her friends attended was in the habit +of selecting certain authors, whose birthday anniversaries they +commemorated. This year, however, the principal had concluded to +celebrate Washington's birthday by patriotic songs, declamations, and so +on. In consequence the pupils were all in a state of great excitement, +pleasurable to boyish and girlish hearts. + +Lessons were shortened, classes dismissed early, rehearsals conducted +morning, noon and night. From one end of the building to the other, +"spouting" was heard, gestures were being made in the most frantic +manner, the strains of "The Star Spangled Banner," "America," and "The +Red, White and Blue" rose upon the air; and, as the crowds of boys and +girls passed to and from school, their conversation contained allusions +to "The Father of our Country," or the fine way in which Harry or Tom or +Frank gave that declamation, or the sweetness of Mabel Gray's voice, or +why Mr. Bowen hadn't selected Clarence instead of Bob, etc., etc., etc., +until all the air around the school-house must have been as heavily +charged with patriotism as the air around Lexington on the morning of +that memorable battle which, too, was talked of, for there had been much +"brushing up" of United States history. + +The memorable day of the 21st of February arrived (there being no school +on the 22d), and found the rooms finely decorated with flags and swords +and battle relics, portraits of George and Martha Washington, and +flowers and living plants, while the blackboards were entirely filled +with ornamental scrolls containing patriotic mottoes. + +Two o'clock had been set for the beginning of the programme, but long +before that time visitors had begun to arrive and were shown to seats by +the two gentlemanly boy-ushers in quite an impressive manner. + +Among the visitors, our friends the Burtons, not excepting Ralph, were +represented. Ralph sat snuggled up to his mother, his big eyes having +their most pleased and wondering look. Mrs. Alroy, too, was there, +dressed quietly but tastefully, and looking a perfect lady; having +indeed so thoroughbred an air that even Fannie's somewhat haughty mamma +who sat next her, could scarcely equal her. + +Gretta Berger took her place at the piano, and soon the inspiring +strains of a patriotic medley were heard, while the boys and girls from +the various rooms marched into the hall and took their places with such +a fine idea of time and military precision of movement that to see them +was not the least pleasure of the afternoon. + +The next thing on the programme was a sketch of George Washington's +life, by Ernestine Alroy, read by her in a sweet, dignified way, in +a well-modulated voice, and an expression which showed a thorough +appreciation of the fine character and life she was describing. One of +the boys followed with a recitation of Drake's "American Flag." Next a +small choir of girls and boys (the girls dressed in the national colors +and the boys wearing flag badges) sang the "Star Spangled Banner." Then +Winnie went upon the stage, and recited the following, which is given in +full, as it is one of those fugitive things which seem to have no home. +It is entitled: + + +THE USED-TO-BE. + + The mother gathered her children together, + She folded them close to her heart in glee, + For the red sun had brought them rainy weather, + And what they should do, they never could see. + And they cried in querulous tones, "Mamma, + Now think back, ever and ever so far, + And see if _you_ ever had rainy days + That troubled the plans, and spoiled the plays, + And what you did in the Used-to-be." + + The mother laughed with low, soft laughter; + She was remembering, they could see. + "I see, you rogues, what you are all after; + I'll tell you a tale that happened to me. + I and some wee little bits of girls, + With hair as yellow as shaving-curls, + When it rained for a day and a night and a day, + And we thought it hard to go on that way, + As we were as tired as tired could be. + + "Up in the attic, in grandma's attic, + There's a chest of drawers--or there used to be; + Though we had many a charge emphatic, + Not to go near enough to see. + But one rainy day we opened them wide, + And strewed the contents on every side; + We dressed ourselves in the queer old caps, + The brass-buttoned coats, with long blue flaps. + And--but wait a minute; papa calls me." + + They waited and waited and waited and waited,-- + "Forty hours, it seems to me," + Said weary Kitty, with eyes dilated. + "Let's do it ourselves; I can find the key." + They climbed the stairs,--as still as a mouse. + You might have heard them all over the house. + They dressed themselves in the queer old dresses, + The powdered wigs and hempen tresses, + Just as they did in the Used-to-be. + + The warning stairs kept creaking and creaking,-- + There was no time to turn and flee. + "_What's all this!_" (It was grandma speaking.) + "I shall take every one of you over my knee." + And I regret to say that she did, + All except Kitty, who ran and hid. + And when they went and told mamma, + She only said, with a soft "ha! ha!" + "Just what your grandmamma did to me." + +The amusing little poem suited Winnie's childish face and figure, and +her mother had read between the lines for her, so that the picture was +plain to her mind. Winnie saw the pretty young mother playing the little +joke on the children, and the affected wrath of the grandmother as she +spanked each of the little ones--saw the picture so plainly herself that +it was easy for her to make her good-natured audience see it, too, and +her hearers laughed while they applauded. + +Of course they had "The Red, White and Blue" sung by the whole school; +and "America," which can never be old to any of us; and for further +recitations. "Independence Bell," and "The Blue and the Gray"--for what +patriotic celebration would be complete without these? + +The finest declamation of the day, given by the pride of the class, so +far as elocutionary ability was concerned, and with a drum accompaniment +by a corps of boys well drilled for the occasion, was the following +stirring + + +SONG OF THE DRUM. + + Rataplan! Rataplan! Rataplan! + Follow me, follow me, every true man! + Hark to the song of the rolling drum: + Come with me! Come with me! Come with me! Come! + Follow me! Follow me! Follow me now! + Come from the anvil, come from the plow. + Don't think of the danger which threatens your lives! + Leave home, leave friends, leave your children, your wives! + Hark to the sound of the rolling drum! + Come with me! Come with me! Come! + Follow me, follow me, every one, + To where the white camps shine in the sun. + + Rataplan! Rataplan! Rataplan! + Follow me, follow me, every true man! + From the crowded streets of the city, come! + Follow the drum, the drum, the drum! + From fields where the blithe birds chirp and sing, + From woods where your sturdy axes ring; + Leave the plow in the furrow to stand; + Grasp the musket firm in your hand: + There's a grander place in the world for you, + And nobler work for your hands to do. + + Come with me! Come with me! Come with me! Come! + Follow the drum, the drum, the drum! + Come with me where the camps shine white; + Hark to my shrill tattoo at night, + To my loud reveille when morning breaks. + And the golden eye of the dawn awakes. + Come with me out to the trenches then. + Where are gathered scores of your fellow-men + Beginning to dig with pick and with spade,-- + This is the way entrenchments are made. + + There's a puff of smoke, and now comes a shell; + See yonder, there, where its fragments fell; + Nobody hurt! and above on the hill, + Our batteries, until this moment still, + Now blaze away with a deafening noise, + And a shout goes up from our gallant boys. + Rataplan! Rataplan! Rataplan! + This is the life for every true man. + + Come with me now to the picket! Come! + Follow the drum, the drum, the drum! + That's a sharpshooter's rifle we hear, + And that was the bullet that sang so near; + There's another rifle, that shrill, sharp sound; + And yonder's a wounded man on the ground, + With the blood flowing out in a crimson tide + From a gaping hole in his quivering side. + Don't sicken and pale at the sight you see, + For this is where only men should be. + + Rataplan! Rataplan! Rataplan! + Follow me, follow me, every true man! + Come with me over the battle field, come! + Follow the drum, the drum, the drum! + Through the smoke and heat and the storm of lead, + Adown this gulley piled deep with dead; + And along the edge of this shattered wood, + Where the trees are splintered and dashed with blood; + Then on through this field of trampled corn, + Where the once broad leaves into shreds are torn; + Into the shadow of this ravine, + Where the dead and wounded are everywhere seen. + + Rataplan! Rataplan! Rataplan! + Follow me, follow me, every true man! + Follow me on through the fiery breath + Of the vengeful cannon, scattering death. + On through the battle's sound and glare, + Follow me, follow me, everywhere! + And hear the cries and the awful groans, + The piercing shrieks and the feeble moans-- + And the ringing shout which goes up to the sun, + When a work is stormed and a victory won. + Rataplan! Rataplan! Rataplan! + This is the death for every true man. + +[Illustration: Then Winnie recited.--See page 25.] + +But the crowning performance of the day, in the opinion of all the +girls and boys, was a little drama, written expressly for the occasion, +entitled, "Revolutionary Days." The characters represented were an +elderly lady, two young girls, two little children, a negro servant +girl, an elderly gentleman, a Tory, and two young men, Continental +soldiers. + +While the platform was being cleared and prepared, the girls and +boys who took part were having what they called "fine fun" in the +dressing-room, getting their hair powdered, caps and wigs adjusted, and +so on. + +When the curtain rose, Miriam was discovered, dressed as an elderly lady +of the eighteenth century, sitting in an old-fashioned chair beside a +spinning-wheel, and singing a song of Revolutionary days. As she ceased +singing, two little children, borrowed from the primary class in the +"Colony," came in, begging their grandmother to tell them something +about George Washington. She tells them that she is busy, but they +persist, and then tell her that they know some verses about him, +and each recites, alternately, a verse of four lines, descriptive +of Washington's childhood and school days, and, as seems inevitable, +winding up with the story of the hatchet. + +As they finish, a negro servant girl rushes in, in which burnt-cork +heroine it would be utterly impossible to discover the maiden of the +pickles and of the ardent desire to enjoy herself while young, had she +not been seen in the dressing-room "making up" for the occasion. She +informs Mrs. Grey that the cat or something has pulled all the yarn off +the reel, and of its consequent fearful state of entanglement. Mrs. +Grey rouses herself from her reverie, and asks the children if they know +anything about it. Each accusingly points to the other, whereupon their +grandmother looks at them sternly, when they say they "can't tell a +lie," that they did it with-- + +They are interrupted by Mrs. Grey, who tells Dinah to take them away +and put them to bed without their supper. They begin to howl, and +reproachfully tell their grandmother that she ought to say, "Come to +my arms, my precious children;" whereupon an audacious small boy in the +audience--a visitor, it is needless to say--shouts, "Chestnut!" and Mrs. +Grey's face hardens into a look of positive inflexibility, as if this +were the last straw, and the children, howling and struggling, are +carried away by Dinah. + +Quiet being thus restored, Mrs. Grey paces up and down, indulging in +a long soliloquy. She speaks of the long years of war, and the hope +deferred which maketh the heart sick. She regretfully recalls the bonnie +little island, with its green fields and blooming gardens, which had +been forsaken for these scenes of hardship. Then, however, she remembers +the days of oppression there, and bursts into a thanksgiving that they +had at last found a spot where they could worship God in peace according +to the dictates of their own conscience. Then she thinks of the +Declaration of Independence, and tries to remember the resolution of +Richard Henry Lee. Seeing the girls come in, she says that they will +remember. + +The two girls, Winnie and Fannie, attired in short-waisted dresses, big +poke bonnets, and immense outside pockets, are asked by Mrs. Grey +to recall the resolution which has for the moment slipped from her +recollection. One of them (Fannie), in answer, declaims the resolution, +and as she comments, in rather excited tones, "Glorious, mother, isn't +it?" Mr. Cranston, the Tory gentleman, enters. This was one of the boys +of the class, resplendent in hempen wig, frilled shirt front, and the +veritable "brass-buttoned coat, with long blue flaps," knee breeches, +and silver-buckled slippers. He tauntingly informs them that they will +find it "too glorious, when the rebellion is crushed, and they are all +sentenced to be executed as rebels." + +Whereupon he and the colonial young ladies enter into a heated argument, +with taunts on one side about the minute-men of Massachusetts and the +battles of Lexington and Concord, and retaliations from the Tory about +the battle of Long Island and the miseries at Valley Forge. They retort +with the news of the treaty of alliance with France, and he replies by +reminding them of the loss of their ports in the north. + +He is interrupted by the entrance of the children, who tell the group +that every one in the village is shouting "Hurrah!" that the bell in the +church is ringing, and that the big flag is waving over the roof. While +the patriots are exclaiming that "there must be good news," two young +men enter, carrying guns. All spring up in surprise, and the children +dance and caper about, with shouts of "Uncle Mark! Uncle John!" + +Mark and John inform Mrs. Grey and their sisters of the surrender of +Cornwallis. The Tory makes his way out as quietly as possible, with +a very evident desire to do so unobserved, saying, "Cornwallis +surrendered! Then this is no place for me!" The curtain falls, as Mrs. +Grey exclaims, with clasped hands and upraised eyes, "The morning has +dawned at last!" + +There was the usual applause, and soon visitors and children--the +entertained and the entertainers--were on their homeward way, and the +"exhibition" had become a part of the past. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE YOUNG WARRIOR MAIDS. + + +After the entertainment, things went on in their accustomed routine. +Winnie, Miriam, Gretta and Fannie became more intimate than ever, and +really tried, in spite of many discouragements, to conquer their bad +habits. + +For a couple of weeks the little band of "Giant Killers" had had no +meetings, but on the second week after the Washington celebration, the +four girls received a pretty invitation from Winnifred's Aunt Kitty to +take tea with her on the following Friday, and to consider themselves +invited to hold their next meeting at her home, bidding them tell their +mothers that the hostess would see that they arrived home safe not +later than half-past nine. Also, inclosed under cover to Winnie, was an +invitation for Ernestine Alroy, to be delivered only in case the other +three girls were willing. Upon Winnie's showing this, Fannie was the +first to propose that not only should the invitation be delivered, but +that Ernestine should be invited to join their society. + +The family of Winnie's grandmother was a small one, Mrs. Benton often +saying, with a sigh, that her children had all left her except Kitty and +Fred. Whereupon Kitty would take hold of her mother's hand and assure +her, in a serio-comic manner, that this daughter she would have ever +beside her, "to warn, to comfort, to command." Mrs. Benton was not +wealthy, but she had a comfortable income of her own, and as Fred +received a very good salary in one of the large railroad offices, they +always had means for the comforts of life and many of its luxuries. They +lived in a suite of rooms in one of the finest apartment houses of the +city. + +The "Arlington" was a very large building, and as the girls were not +accustomed to such immense houses, they had arranged with Winnie that +they should all go together at five o'clock. Accordingly that hour found +them all standing in the vestibule together, to the manifest amusement +of the janitor when he answered Winnie's ring. As Mrs. Benton's +apartment was only one flight up, they did not take the elevator, but +Winnie ran lightly up the stairs, the others following more slowly. +She knocked at the door at the right of the hall, which was immediately +opened by Miss Benton, to whom Winnie introduced the other girls, who +more or less timidly put their hands into the outstretched one of this +pleasant young lady, but found their timidity vanish almost as if by +magic when they felt her warm, cordial clasp as she drew them into the +parlor. + +And a very pretty parlor it was, with a quaint individuality of its +own--"just like Kitty Benton herself," as her friends were wont to say. +There were no two chairs alike, but they all agreed in one respect--that +of being exceedingly comfortable, from the high-backed willow to the low +chair upholstered in old gold and scarlet tapestry. + +On the walls were five or six oil paintings--a couple of marines, and +the others bright, summer landscapes. There was one, which Miss Benton +had herself painted, entirely different from the others. A cloudy sky, +with dim, gray mountains in the distance. In the foreground a single +grave under a willow, but lying in such vivid sunlight, which came from +a break in the clouds, that it had almost a jubilant look for so sad +a subject, as most people would have deemed it. On a low shelf stood +a beautifully engraved Madonna, and on a table near was a portfolio of +fine etchings. About the room were bits of bric-a-brac of various kinds, +among them a piece of genuine old Wedgwood. On the upright piano stood a +tall vase of Easter lilies. + +Miss Benton, having helped her young visitors to divest themselves of +their wraps, seated them close to the open fire, and then took down the +etchings to show them. These, however, proved a little beyond them, so +she took from the table a stereoscope and some views, every one of which +had been collected by her mother or herself during their various trips, +and about each one she told some incident, amusing or pathetic, so that +an hour had passed away almost before the girls knew it. + +Fred had been requested by his sister to take his supper downtown, +as she felt that the girls would feel more at their ease without his +presence. When the bright-faced maid announced supper, Miss Benton took +Gretta by the hand, and said, as they all entered the dining-room, "'We +are seven,' and, I presume, if Wordsworth were here, he would write a +poem about us." + +As the five friends took their places, they simultaneously burst into an +exclamation of delight. At each of their places was a bunch of flowers, +with a card on which was a pretty little painting in water-colors of a +young girl, with fair hair streaming over her shoulders, in full armor, +receiving from an angel a sword. Underneath were the words in old +English text, in scarlet and gold, "He that overcometh shall inherit all +things." + +The cards were exactly alike, but the flowers were different. Miriam had +a glorious red rose, with buds and leaves; Gretta, garden daisies +and primroses; Fannie, scarlet geraniums, a calla lily and a wild +jack-in-the-pulpit; Ernestine, lilies of the valley; Winnie, ferns +and mignonette. Mrs. Benton lifted caressingly to her face a bunch of +English violets, and their hostess pinned on her bodice a cluster of +yellow rosebuds. + +"Oh, Aunt Kitty, what a hunt you must have had among the florists and +markets for all these flowers!" said Winnie. + +"And how well you have suited us all!" cried Miriam. + +"What is this, Miss Benton?" asked Fannie, holding up the +jack-in-the-pulpit. + +"That is a wild-flower," replied Miss Benton, giving the blossom its +name, "which was sent me from Tennessee this week; it does not bloom +quite so early here. If you will examine it and compare it with your +calla, you will see many points of resemblance; indeed, they are of the +same family, although the splendid Egyptian calla has all the advantages +of climate, water and sun, which make it the handsome thing it is. But +our little American Jack, all the same, lifts its head out of its green +pulpit and preaches to us of the eternal kinship of all things. Put your +geraniums in your button hole, and after tea I'll put your calla and its +country cousin in water for you to keep fresh till you go home." + +"How did you know I was fond of lilies of the valley, Miss Benton?" +asked Ernestine. "It is my mother's favorite flower, too; she says they +used to grow in great clumps in the yard of her home when she was a +girl, and she never sees one without thinking of her childhood." + +"Of course I couldn't know that, my dear; I only thought that you would +like them. Although I had never met any of you I have heard Winnifred +talk about you, and her little tongue sometimes gives me queer ideas," +said Miss Benton, smiling at her niece with an air of good comradeship. + +"Mother, let Winnie serve the chocolate, while I attend to this end of +the table. You see, girls, we only have the maid bring in the dishes +from the kitchen, for we like to wait on each other," she said, helping +them to chicken croquettes, cold ham, and delicious muffins, as Winnie +passed around the chocolate in dainty china cups. + +How they all enjoyed that supper! They were just like girls in a book, +Miriam said. Everything seemed so different from ordinary occasions. +Even the orange jelly tasted so much better than at other times, because +of the orange baskets in which it was served. They sat at the table +a long time, for both Mrs. Benton and her daughter encouraged their +visitors to talk; and while they were eating their candy and nuts, they +played the game of rhymes and "yes and no." + +Then Miss Kitty sent them into the parlor with her mother, excusing +herself and Winnie for a few moments. When they entered the parlor, they +found Mrs. Benton with her silk socks in her hands, knitting as rapidly +as she was talking. She was giving them an account of the old turkey +gobbler that used to chase her when she was a little girl, and they were +all laughing heartily. + +This anecdote led to Miriam's giving an account of a goat which one of +her aunt's friends had presented to her little boy, and which was the +terror of the neighborhood. + +"My aunt and I," said Miriam, "were making an afternoon visit at Mrs. +Kincaid's, and, as it was warm and pleasant, we were invited into the +yard to look at the flowers. My aunt was very enthusiastically admiring +a fine Yucca which, for a wonder, was in bloom, when the goat was seen +peering through a gap in the fence which divided the front from the back +yard. + +"Mrs. Kincaid immediately took to her heels, and I was about to follow, +when Aunt Jennie said, 'Miriam, I am surprised that you should be afraid +of a goat. Even if he were to come near you, you would only have to +seize him by the horns; it is the easiest thing in the world to conquer +a goat.' + +"By this time Mrs. Kincaid was safe in the house, tapping loudly on the +window, from which she was viewing the scene, for us to come in, and +'dancing crazy' (as the girls say about things), because we were still +outside. + +"My aunt was walking in a leisurely and dignified manner toward the +house, holding her head a little higher than usual, and I was following +very meekly for me--for I hate to be thought a coward--when the goat +gave a sudden bound, broke another picket in the fence, and went +straight toward her with his head down, and his bob tail switching. + +"Well, Aunt Jennie did turn and face him, and she really did take the +vicious little beast by the horns. But was he conquered? You wouldn't +have thought so, had you been there; he just raised himself on his hind +legs and shook himself loose. Aunt Jennie suddenly dropped her dignity, +and flew, rather than ran, toward the house, the goat after her, and +she just escaped him by Mrs. Kincaid's pulling her inside the door and +slamming it shut. + +"As for me, I went through the hole in the fence to the back yard, +rushed pell-mell into the kitchen door, without stopping to knock, and +dropped into the nearest chair, where I sat and laughed till the tears +ran down my cheeks, to the astonishment of the kitchen girl and the +washerwoman, who were enjoying a cup of tea. + +"I was wicked enough to laugh afterward, for Aunt Jennie did not lecture +on courage or dignity for a month after that, and I notice now that when +we pass a livery stable she keeps a quiet but effective lookout for 'the +horned monarch of the livery stable,' as I once heard him called." + +"Well, I'm afraid of goats myself," said Miss Kitty, "and I think there +ought to be a law against their being allowed inside the city limits. +What with the small boy who torments the goat, and the goat which cannot +distinguish between his tormentor and any other member of the human +race, every passer-by is certain of being made ridiculous, if nothing +more serious occurs. But to change the subject, would you young +giant-killers like to hear a story that I have written for you?" + +Of course they were delighted, and, the softly-shaded lamp having +been adjusted, and Mrs. Benton seated so that the light fell upon her +knitting, Miss Benton took her seat at the other side of the table, and +read the following allegory: + + +GIANT PROCRASTINATION. + +Stretching off far as the eye can reach, lies a vast plain, intersected +by many roads of various widths, from the narrowest foot-path to those +wide enough for three or four vehicles to pass abreast. Pleasant roads +they seem to be, too; wild-flowers of brilliant hues grow along their +sides, birds of beautiful plumage twitter their varied notes, and pretty +little squirrels and rabbits dart here and there. But when the saunterer +along one of these by-paths plucks the blossoms, they fall to pieces +in his hands, and, on near approach, the birds circle for a few moments +about the head, and then fly away and are seen no more. + +These by-ways continually lead into and cross one another, but all at +last meet in one broad road, and this is the road of "By and By," which +leads to the castle of "Never." This castle stands at the entrance to +a dark and gloomy forest, through which no path has ever been cut, +and which is so dense and wild that one draws back in fear, finding it +impossible not to think of it as inhabited by beasts and serpents and +insects as wild and poisonous as those which infest the South American +forests or the jungles of India. + +At the right and left of the castle rise huge cliffs unscaled by mortal +foot during the lifetime of the present owner, and seldom attempted even +during the ages gone by, when his ancestors, in a more or less direct +line, held high orgies, while with demoniac laughter they tortured their +victims. + +The present owner and occupant of the castle is a giant, so skilled in +the art of metamorphosis that he is constantly deceiving and deluding +his victims, each of whom he approaches in a different manner. With some +he wears an air of haughty though courteous dignity, and gives them fair +and sweet promises of granting their every desire as soon as his plans +are perfected and he is ready. With others, he puts on a smiling, joyous +look, points out to them the birds and flowers along the roadside, +and tells them that to-morrow all these pleasures shall be theirs. A +different face and garb for every deluded follower, who ever ends in +becoming his victim; for, just at the entrance to the castle, still +covered by the seemingly fair flowers, is a frightful morass, out of +which the wanderer is helped only by the giant himself, and taken by him +thence into the castle, from which there is no escape. + +The dreadful Castle of Never! And yet, how fair it looks to those who +stand just outside its gates! Its battlemented towers, decorated with +flags and banners floating gayly in the air, its many windows, catching +and reflecting every ray of sunlight, its majestic proportions, make it +seem a dwelling much to be desired. And either because it is enchanted, +or from some strange property of the surrounding atmosphere, it often +appears to be raised high in the air, so that at a very great distance +it shows larger, if less distinct, than when viewed near by. + +It is early morning. The sun himself has not yet risen, although his +approach is heralded by lovely green and rose tints on the eastern +horizon. The great Giant Procrastination lies stretched upon his huge +bed, dreaming uneasily, for he groans and starts many times, but still +sleeps on. The inside of the far-famed castle shows not so fair as the +outside. There are many things lying about on tables and chairs, or +tucked away under articles of larger furniture; some of them are pretty, +some elegant, but all unfinished. + +The morning wind, rising as if it, too, had lain asleep during the +night, shrieks and whistles as if in wrath, or moans and sighs as though +in mortal anguish. And hush! What other sound is that which rises above +the roar of the wind and fills one's soul with terror? Alas! it is the +shrieks of despair from the prisoners in the dungeon, and one hears, +mingled with their groans, the dreadful words, "Too late! Too late!" + +But who are these descending the heretofore unscaled cliff? And how +comes it that thus unguided they have escaped the dangers of the forest, +and that, now stealing upon their sleeping foe from the unguarded rear, +they are not dashed into pieces as they make the steep and terrible +descent? Ah! they have an invisible Guide, who goes before and smooths +every difficulty; and their feet are shod with a divine determination +which leads them securely over the most dangerous places. + +And yet they move with caution. Clinging now to the bushes that grow +along the cliff, now stepping carefully on some jutting crag, they come +one by one. Now they have reached the bottom, and stop a moment to take +breath and consult as to the next movement. For behold! five little +maidens, scarcely in their teens, have come to give battle to one of the +strongest enemies of mankind, and to attack him in his own stronghold. +Brave as they are, however, and resolutely as they have nerved +themselves to the task ahead of them, they cannot repress a shudder as +they gaze upon the frowning mass before them. For, never dreaming of +attack in the rear, the giant's ancestors had taken no pains to make +that part of the castle beautiful or to endow it with the enchantment of +illusion, so all is dark and strong and terrible. + +Regaining courage, the five young warriors kneel upon the rocky path and +ask their invisible Guide for succor and strength. They rise encouraged +and hopeful, and each assists the other to readjust her armor. Wonderful +armor! light to wear, but stronger than mailed steel. + +They advance to the heavy door. It is all unguarded, and even stands +partly open, so that all their strength is saved to them for the combat. +One by one, and noiselessly, they climb the iron stairs, and, guided +by his snores, they find themselves at last in the presence of their +sleeping enemy. + +If they can but strike now! One blow from either of their swords, and +he would lie slain before them. But alas! they hesitate for one short +moment, and in that brief space of time the wind bangs a heavy shutter +against the iron casement, and, at its fearful clang, the giant awakes +and rises to his feet. He stares about him for a moment, stupefied, but +there is no mistaking the fact that he is in the presence of an enemy; +for their armor, their uplifted swords, their resolute mien, all +proclaim their errand to be one of war. Then, gazing upon their +diminutive forms, he laughs a horrid, blood-curdling laugh, as he gloats +over the prospect that he will soon have five more victims to languish +in his dungeons. + +He springs forward to seize the foremost of his youthful foes, but her +fear has vanished. Raising her shield for protection, she strikes +with her sword, and the giant receives a fearful gash in the hand +outstretched to grasp her, and starts back, howling with pain. The five +girls close around him at once, but so immense of stature is he, that +they soon perceive it will be impossible for them to reach a vital part +unless he can be thrown. + +Fast and furious they rain the blows upon him, and not in vain. He +has no armor on, his usual weapons are beyond his reach, and he knows +instinctively that his usual powers of metamorphosis are useless. One +blow, at last, inflicts a ghastly wound in his ankle; he clutches at +the bed for support, but misses it, and falls, groaning heavily, at full +length on the floor, where, taken at a disadvantage, a sword is thrust +into his heart, and with horrid struggles he dies. + +The maiden warriors embrace each other joyfully, and, kneeling together +in that moment of victory, give all the praise and glory to that +invisible Power which has enabled them, weak girls as they are, to +conquer. + +But their work is not yet done. Taking the keys from under the pillow +of the dead monster, they pass down a winding staircase, until they find +themselves so far beneath the surface of the earth, that not a ray of +light shines over their pathway. + +One of them lights a tiny lamp which she has brought with her, and they +proceed. At length they reach the foot of the stairs and find themselves +in a dark, narrow passage, with many windings and turnings. Along this +they proceed carefully, until they stand before the massive doors of +the dungeon. Trying one key after another, they find one that turns the +lock, and the door swings open. What a sight meets their sorrowful gaze! +Bones--human bones--lie scattered everywhere, and, as they become more +accustomed to the darkness, they distinguish human forms still living, +with haggard faces, and despair written on every feature. + +"Your enemy is dead!" say the maidens. "We have come to set you free, +and then we are going to burn the castle, for thus has our Guide +commanded us." + +As they all stand once more in the glad sunlight, they set fire to the +mighty structure, and see the leaping, victorious flames devour it, even +to the flags and banners which had so short a time before streamed gayly +from its towers. + + +"Thank you, Aunt Kitty," said Winnifred, as Miss Benton laid down the +manuscript. "I don't see how you ever thought of all that." + +"Well, Winnie, we all know that the idea is taken from the book you have +recently been reading, but where no pretense is made to originality, +imitation is not deception." + +"But do you really think, Miss Benton," said Ernestine, raising her +eyes, "that we can so completely conquer our faults?" + +"Alas, no! I'm afraid we never can completely conquer them, but by +striving constantly we can strike many a blow, each one of which leaves +the enemy weaker, and ourselves stronger. The great pity of it all is, +that we can kill only our own giants, and destroy their strongholds for +ourselves; we can never do it for others, dearly as we may love them." + +"Well," said Fannie, in her decided manner, "I wish that Procrastination +were the only giant to fight; but I have some enemies which are +still harder for me to conquer;" and she blushed slightly, as she +involuntarily glanced toward Ernestine. + +"It is a great gain, however," said Mrs. Benton, pausing in her +knitting, "when we have learned to do that which must be done, without +unnecessary delay. Procrastination, it is quite true, is the least +vicious and the least malicious of all the faults; but stronger, almost, +than any other, and holding more people, young and old, under its +control. If this be overcome, the struggle with the others grows easier. +Indeed, it is surprising how many little misdeeds are the outcome of +that one fault. Untidiness, fits of temper, disobedience, prevarication, +and sometimes even downright untruth, might often be avoided if things +were done in time." + +"But it is hard always to remember," sighed Miriam. "Ernestine, how do +you keep from forgetting?" + +"Oh, I forget oftener than you know," said Ernestine, flushing under +her delicate skin; "but I have had mamma to think of, and have tried to +please her and make her happy; then, too, I had a nurse in Louisiana who +taught me to remember that there is One 'who is a very present help in +time of trouble.'" + +"That is the best help of all, girls, and one that you can carry with +you always. I find mottoes and texts a great help, too, when I want +to succeed in any one particular thing. How would it do, at your next +meeting, for each one to contribute a text from the Bible, and, if +possible, a quotation from one of the poets, applicable to this same +wheedling fault?" said Miss Benton. + +"I should like that very much," replied Ernestine. + +"So would I!" "And I!" "And I!" replied Miriam, Fannie and Winnie. + +Gretta only was silent, but Miss Kitty judged it best to pass her +silence by without remark. + +At this moment, Mr. Fred Benton entered the parlor and was introduced to +the girls, and very soon they were all escorted to their homes by their +friend's uncle, who proved himself as good an entertainer of these +little women as was his sister. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +STRUGGLES. + + +"Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home," carolled Winnie, as +she descended the stairs the next morning, feeling happy and contented, +and as if the world were a pleasant place in which to live and love and +to succeed in being good. She felt at peace with everybody, and had such +a sense of security that she imagined her giants all conquered, and saw +in rosy hues a future of beautiful and pleasant right-doing. + +What was her surprise when she entered the dining-room, expecting to +find the usual tempting breakfast on the table, to see not the slightest +signs of it, and to find the room unoccupied except by little Ralph, who +was sitting in front of the empty grate in his night-clothes; and a very +cross little boy Winnie soon found him to be, for he set up a howl the +moment he saw her. + +"'Innie, I 'ants to be d'essed, and it's ugly izout any fire, and I +'ants my b'eakast." + +"Whatever is the matter?" said Winnie. But she received no answer except +the whining refrain, "I 'ants my b'eakast," until she began to feel so +irritated that she would have liked to shake the child. + +This, however, she did not do, simply because she did not dare. But +instead of attempting to soothe him, she went into the kitchen to find +out from Norah the reason for this unusual state of affairs. Instead of +Norah, she found her mother heating water and making mustard plasters, +with an anxious look on her face. + +"What is the matter, mamma?" asked Winnie; "and where are papa and +Jack?" + +"They had important business at the store and couldn't wait, but will +take breakfast downtown. Norah was taken very sick in the night, but +she said nothing about it, and came down as usual this morning to get +breakfast, and I found her in a dead faint on the kitchen floor. Your +father and I got her upstairs between us, and Jack went for the doctor. +He says it is nothing serious, but that Norah will have to keep still +for two or three days. Help me carry these things to Norah's room, and +then you will have to come downstairs and get some breakfast for us." + +Winnie took the pail of water which her mother handed to her, and +started upstairs, feeling a strange sense of resentment against Norah, +as if she were to blame for this unpleasant condition of affairs. + +When they reached Norah's room, her mother said, "Put down the pail, +Winnie, and make haste downstairs and see if you can't get things into +some kind of order; it's getting very late." + +Winnie put the water down so hurriedly that it splashed over the floor. +Then she went out, but instead of hurrying, went down clinging to the +balusters as if she could not and would not make any exertion. + +When she opened the dining-room door Ralph said: "I sink Norah's mean +to det sick; she dust did it a-purpose, so Ralph touldn't have any +b'eakast." + +"Why, Ralph," said Winnie, "you ought to be ashamed of yourself! Of +course it's no fun for Norah to be sick." But as she spoke to Ralph, her +conscience reproached her, for she knew in her heart that she had had +the same feeling, if not the same thought. This startled her, as if she +had suddenly had a mirror held up before her mind, and she spoke to the +little boy more pleasantly, telling him to come into the kitchen +with her and watch her make the coffee and cook some ham and eggs for +breakfast. + +But although aware that her conscience was speaking to her, Winnie had +not in the least succeeded in overcoming her irritable feelings. She +had made plans for such a pleasant day! She had intended to practice +faithfully, and get through all her little duties early in the +afternoon, so that she could take Ralph through market--something that +she particularly liked to do; it was always so exciting to her to see +the people jostling each other, to hear them haggling over the price of +something, to see the strange types and characters, and to imagine +the different motives which brought these different people together. +Besides, she had been saving her money to surprise her mother with a +pot of English violets from the flower market, which would be sure to +be particularly lovely this afternoon, for the sun shone out brightly, +giving promise of an unusually warm day for March. + +"How could people do their duty, if they never knew what it was going +to be?" she mused, as she measured out the coffee and put it into the +filter. But as she went to turn the water over it, she remembered that +her mother had emptied the hot water from the kettle into the pail. + +"I should think mamma might have taken the water out of the tank for +Norah!" she said, half aloud, although she knew very well that the water +in the tank was scarcely warm, as she proceeded to fill the kettle. + +She poked the fire viciously, feeling as if here she could give her +impatience some vent. + +The ham, fortunately, Norah had sliced the evening before, otherwise +in her present state of irritation Winnie would certainly have cut her +fingers. + +Now, when Winnie chose, she could be a very nice little housekeeper; +but this morning, as may well be imagined, everything went wrong, as she +said, never thinking that perhaps her own impatience might be at fault. +She burnt the ham, the eggs did not break open nicely, she cut her +finger in slicing the bread, and altogether it took her so long to +get breakfast that poor little Ralph, still running about in his +night-clothes, was, as he expressed it, "starved 'mos' to death." + +Mrs. Burton came down before Winnie had finished setting the table, and +a glance at the little girl's flushed face was sufficient to tell the +observant mother the true state of affairs. As usual in such cases, +however, she said nothing, but called Ralph and took him upstairs to +be dressed, telling Winnie that she would be down in ten minutes for +breakfast. + +When they came down, Mrs. Burton said: + +"This morning we will not say our verses till after breakfast, as I am +sure we are all of us too hungry to receive any benefit from them now;" +and she proceeded to pour the coffee. Then Winnie saw that she had +forgotten the cream and jumped up to get it. + +"Your coffee is very nice, Winnie," said her mother. + +"Oh, mamma, I didn't think anything would be nice! I had such a time! +The fire wouldn't burn, and I burnt my fingers and afterward cut them, +and everything was horrid generally." + +"I had a defful time gene'lly, too," said Ralph. "I was so hung'y I +toudn't wait, and 'Innie 'ouldn't div me a tracker, and said I'se a +bodder. Is I a bodder, mamma?" + +"Not when you're a good boy, my pet. Sister doesn't always think so, +either; but you see, this morning she had so much to do." + +"Did Norah det sick so 'Innie have to 'ork so hard? Poor 'Innie!" And +the little fellow stroked Winnie's hand, while she scarcely knew whether +to laugh or cry. + +Altogether it was quite an unusual breakfast. Ralph ate three eggs, and +more bread and butter than he had ever been known to eat before; and +Winnie felt her own impatience dying away to some extent, as her hunger +diminished, although she had not realized before that she was hungry. + +After breakfast Mrs. Burton gave her text, and then called upon Winnie +for hers. Up to that moment Winnie's text had entirely left her mind, +and she recited it with a feeling of shame as she remembered the +contrast between her morning conduct and the somewhat puffed-up feeling +with which she had selected it: "He that ruleth his own spirit is +greater than he that taketh a city." + +"Perhaps only the One above knows how hard it is for people to govern +their own spirits. The temptation to yield to self is so strong that it +sometimes seems as if there is nothing that will conquer it," commented +Mrs. Burton. + +"But mamma, everybody says, 'Do the duty that lies nearest thee.' How +are we to do this, when we never know what is going to happen from +one day to another? This morning I thought I was going to get my music +lesson, and now how can I do that?" + +"That is where we all make mistakes, Winnifred. We lay our plans, and +are annoyed and vexed when something occurs to change them. We are like +soldiers placed on the field of battle. Some of us would like an easy +place; some would rather stay behind and guard the rear; others, in +spite of danger, wish to press forward where 'glory waits them.' But we +cannot choose either our own places or the attending circumstances. All +we can do is to fall to 'with might and main.' God will take care of the +ordinary duties, but there are some things which brook no delay. Do we +not know how the Savior turned away from the chosen way to heal the sick +or comfort the afflicted? But I think that my present duty is to cut my +sermon short, for both you and I will have a great deal to do to-day. I +will attend to things upstairs, and will be down to do the baking by the +time you are through the work here." + +So saying, Mrs. Burton rose from the table and left the room. Winnie +still felt a sense of disappointment, but the little sermon, arising, as +it did, from the text she herself had selected, had been good for her, +and she went to work cheerfully and systematically, and the difficulties +which an hour ago had seemed so great, all disappeared. + +Ralph, too--who was so unlike most children of his age as not to be fond +of doing anything that appeared in the least like work--seemed animated +by the spirit of the occasion, and trotted back and forth between +the kitchen and dining-room carrying a plate or a cup and saucer, and +feeling that he was helping greatly. + +As for Winnie, she had none of the feeling of some girls who are ashamed +to be seen doing housework, for her mother had taught her, both by word +and example, the folly and sinfulness of such a notion, and that it is +the worker who degrades the work instead of the opposite; and as a very +little girl, Winnie had learned Herbert's fine lines: + + "Who sweeps a room as by God's laws, + Makes that and the action fine." + +Now that she was working cheerfully, she even found a pleasure in +dish-washing, as who should not, given plenty of hot water, clean +towels, a pleasant kitchen with the sun shining in, and a little cherub +of a brother chattering on with his cunning tongue, which finds so much +difficulty in pronouncing the consonants? + +So, when Mrs. Burton returned to the kitchen, everything was in fine +order, and a bright fire had prepared the oven to do its share in the +Saturday baking. + +When noon came, Winnie really felt that she had had a pleasant morning, +although it had been spent in beating eggs and grating lemons; besides, +she had for once had her mother all to herself, and she sat down to the +lunch she had prepared feeling quite happy. + +She did not get an opportunity to leave the house all that day, except +to do two or three errands in the neighborhood. She took Norah's toast +and tea up to her, and spent the greater part of the afternoon in her +room, trying to make amends for the morning's impatience by bathing the +sick girl's head, changing her pillows, and moistening her parched lips. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +RALPH'S BIRTHDAY. + + +A few days after the events narrated in the last chapter, a bright, +sunshiny morning ushered in Ralph's fourth birthday anniversary, and a +fine time he had receiving, in the first place, four little love taps +and then four kisses from each member of the family in turn. + +Norah had entirely recovered from her illness, and had baked a cake +especially for him, lighted by four wax candles, which was placed in +front of Ralph's plate at breakfast time. His father gave him that toy +most delightful to the average boy--a mechanical engine. Jack's gift +was a basket of fruit, his mother's a humming top, and Winnie's a little +autograph album, in which she had copied the following verse, written by +Aunt Kitty: + + "Many tiny sunbeams fill the world with light, + Tiny drops of water make the ocean's might; + Tiny bits of goodness, that tiny laddies do, + Fill our homes with gladness and make our hearts glad, too." + +Ralph was much pleased at having a little book all his own, with a verse +in it made on purpose for him, and he had Winnie read it over and over, +until presently he could say it himself. + +But the crowning gift of all was sent to the house just as they were +at dinner, labeled "From Grandma, Aunt Kitty and Uncle Fred." It was a +handsome velocipede, just the right height to fit the little short legs. +Strange to say, Ralph learned to manage it at once and rode right off on +it, and when Aunt Kitty came to take him and Winnie to the park, it +was with great difficulty that he could be prevailed upon to leave it +behind. Finally they effected a compromise by allowing him to take his +humming top, which he insisted on stopping to spin every few rods, +much to the amusement of Aunt Kitty and the intense though unexpressed +disgust and mortification of Winnie. + +When they reached the park they sat down on one of the benches to rest +awhile, and watched Ralph feed the swans with some crumbs from the cake +which he had brought. After that Aunt Kitty took them to the pretty +dock, and, having selected a boat, rowed them around the lake, to the +great interest of some boys, who called out to each other, "Come and see +a girl row a boat!" + +Suddenly Ralph gave one of his tremendous howls, and Winnie grasped him +just in time to keep him from pitching headlong into the water. He had +dropped his top in the lake, and was trying in vain to seize it before +it sank. + +It was some time before he could be pacified, and it was not till his +aunt had him sit beside her and take hold of one oar and help her row, +that he could be comforted. The remainder of the boat ride was very +pleasant, and they supposed the child had forgotten all about the loss +of his top. When they went home to supper, however, and Mr. Burton +asked: "Well, my little man, what have you done with your birthday?" + +"I took it to the park and lost it in the lake, papa!" was the +unexpected reply. + +"Fortunate child!" exclaimed Aunt Kitty, catching Ralph up, and +laughing. "How happy the rest of us would be if we could dispose of our +yearly reminders of the lapse of time in the same way! We might fancy +ourselves blessed with the gift of eternal youth if it were not for our +birthdays." + +But Ralph was not yet through celebrating. It was very seldom that Mrs. +Burton allowed him to go out in the evening, but this was a special +occasion, and as there was an opportunity for him to have a treat, she +thought it only right for them to take advantage of it. There was to be +a stereopticon entertainment at their Sunday-school, and they were all +going. Ralph had not been told until supper was over, and even then, +short as the time was until they should start out, he could hardly +restrain his impatience. + +[Illustration: They watched Ralph feed the swans.--See page 42.] + +Aunt Kitty took him on her lap and told him the story of Red Riding-Hood +and the Fair One with the Golden Locks, and repeated "Mother Goose" +jingles to him, and thus managed to keep him somewhat contented until +time to start. + +The walk through the lighted streets was a great pleasure to the +little fellow. They went down Central Avenue, and, all the stores being +lighted, it seemed to the child a different and mysterious world, more +full of lights and people than the one he had been accustomed to. + +"Now, Ralph," said his father, "we are going to see a great many +beautiful things to-night. But this is different from most times; for +generally, the more light we have, the better we can see; but these +pictures can be seen better in the dark, and they put out all the +lights. When that happens, some foolish boy or girl may cry, but I want +my little man to keep hold of papa's hand and not say one word till he +sees the beautiful pictures." + +"I doesn't twy, papa!" said Ralph, indignantly. "I'se a big boy now--not +a dreat big boy, but a little big boy. And I hasn't twied--oh, not for +twenty-ten days, I dess." + +"Very well," said papa, "be sure to remember that by and by." + +When they reached the church it was still quite early, and the few +people already there were laughing and chatting and having a pleasant +time. This was very much to Ralph's disapproval. He did not attend +church often, but when he did go, he had been talked to so much about +keeping still, particularly by Winnie, that he thought it very naughty +to make a noise in church, so now he said in a loud whisper: + +"Papa, I sink dose people is very naughty, to talk out loud in church." + +"But this isn't Sunday, Ralph," his father said; "you may talk, too, if +you like." + +Ralph was so surprised at this that he had nothing to say for some time. + +Presently some of the girls of Winnie's Sunday-school class came and she +went away with them, and Miss Benton stepped across the aisle to +speak to some friends. This secession grieved Ralph very much. "I sink +auntie's weal mean, to go and stay wiz dose ozzer people!" he said. + +"Aunt Kitty will come back in a few moments, Ralph," said mamma. + +By and by all the people stopped talking and took their seats, and Aunt +Kitty came back and sat down beside Ralph. Two men entered and placed a +big screen in the front part of the church. The organist began to play +something slow and sweet and solemn, which made one think of things sad +but not unhappy. + +The lights were suddenly turned out, and Ralph had just time to draw his +breath quickly, and seize his father's hand and snuggle up close to him, +when a picture appeared on the screen, and his father lifted him up that +he might see it better. + +On the screen they saw a lonely, desolate mountain, which two persons +were slowly ascending, one of them bearing an armful of wood. One +represented an old man; the other was a young, slender boy. The organ +was now giving forth minor strains, in queer, broken time, full of +heartache. + +The next picture showed Abraham binding Isaac on the altar, and the look +of surprise and terror on the face of the boy was equalled only by the +intense but submissive expression of sorrow on the face of the old man. + +The organ was still sounding its sad tones, when the picture changed +again, and this time the angel was staying Abraham's hand. And now the +organ pealed forth tones of joy and gladness. + +The next views thrown on the screen appeared to be scenes in +Switzerland. These Ralph did not seem to be at all interested in, until +they saw a representation of Lake Lucerne, showing some children rowing +a boat. This reminded Ralph of the loss of his humming-top, and he said, +quite loudly, "Do you sink, papa, that little boy lost his birfday, +too?" + +"If he did," said Aunt Kitty, "he will probably find another one to make +up for its loss." + +The next picture was that of Jacob's Dream; a tall ladder, reaching to +the sky, with the bright-winged "angels ascending and descending on +it," as the narrative so simply tells us. Jacob lay with his head on +its stony pillow, a wondering but happy look on his face, and his arms +outstretched as if he would fain seize the lovely vision. + +The dreamy tones of Schumann's "Traumerie" stole upon the air, and +changed from that, with skillful modulations, into a grand anthem, and +the big chorus choir, which till now had been silent, burst into joyful +but majestic strains: "The Lord reigneth; let the people tremble." + +Ralph knew this picture quite well. He had seen it many times in the big +family Bible, and it was always a favorite with him, and now he clapped +his little hands. This was an unintentional signal, and there was such a +round of applause that the whole thing was repeated. + +The next picture showed Jacob wrestling with the angel; and in the +following one, Jacob, kneeling, receives the desired blessing. Then came +a series of comic pictures, which made everybody laugh. Then the words +"Good-night" were thrown on the screen in immense letters, and it grew +light in the church as suddenly as it had before grown dark, making +everybody rub his eyes on account of the sudden glare. + +The people all began to hurry out as if it were necessary to reach home +without a moment's delay. Winnie soon joined her family, and in a short +time the "Green Line" had taken them all home. + +Ralph rubbed his sleepy eyes as he said his evening prayer, but was not +too sleepy to thank God for his nice birthday. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +ERNESTINE. + + +"Mamma," asked Ernestine Alroy, "may I ask the girls to have their next +meeting here and take tea with us?" + +Mrs. Alroy looked at her daughter with some hesitation as she +said: "Ernestine, you know I would like to please you, but have you +sufficiently considered the matter? All of your friends are very +comfortably situated, and it will be impossible for us to entertain them +as they do you. Besides, I cannot be at home until after six, and it +will make tea very late." + +"I know all that, mamma, but I am sure I can make them have a pleasant +time. I do not think we ought to be ashamed of being poor, when we think +of the One who 'had not where to lay His head.' For your sake, poor +mamma, I wish we had more money; but as for myself, I feel just as happy +as if we were worth millions. I don't care a bit whether my friends +have money or not, and I don't see why it should make any difference to +anybody." + +"My poor child!" said her mother, and she sighed as she remembered +that at Ernestine's age she had never even seen apartments so poorly +furnished as theirs, "you have much to learn; you will find that there +are many people in the world to whom it will make a great deal of +difference." + +"Well, mamma, we don't care for the Madame Mucklegrands of the world, +and Winnie Burton and all of her folks are as 'real folks' as any in +Mrs. Whitney's book. Do let us have them!" + +"Well, dear, I don't exactly like to have you accept hospitalities which +we are not willing to return, and if you think you can make it pleasant +for your friends, you shall do as you wish." + +The next day, therefore, Ernestine told the four girls that her mother +sent her compliments and would be much pleased to have them to tea on +Friday evening. In the afternoon the girls all accepted, and Fannie said +that if agreeable to Mrs. Alroy, her father would call for them at nine +o'clock and see them home. + +After school that day, as Fannie and Ernestine were walking down Court +Street together, they met a little girl, dirty and uncombed, carrying a +basket of soiled clothes. Two of the boys of their class, racing wildly +down the street, boy-fashion, ran against the child, upset the basket, +and the clothes, not being very tightly packed, fell out. There was +quite a strong wind, and some of the napkins and handkerchiefs lying +loose on top were caught up and sent blowing here, there and everywhere. + +The boys ran on, totally indifferent, if not unconscious. The child, +commencing to cry, gave chase to the wind-blown articles, and the basket +rolled entirely over, and nearly every article fell out. + +Fannie stood laughing, her sense of the ridiculous overcoming any pity +she might have felt for the girl. Ernestine hesitated a moment. She was +daintiness itself, and the sight of the soiled clothes, belonging to no +one knew whom, was not an attractive one. But for three years she had +been earnestly striving to follow the Golden Rule, so she righted the +basket, picked up the soiled clothes, rolled them together more tightly, +and replaced them in the basket by the time the child returned with the +recaptured napkins. She also helped put these in, and with a few kind +words sent the girl on her way far happier than she would have been if +obliged to struggle with her burden alone. + +Fannie had moved on some distance, much ashamed of being mixed up in +such a scene to even so slight a degree, and feeling inclined to +leave Ernestine entirely, for she knew that her mother would have +characterized the whole affair as "plebeian," and she felt half angry +with Ernestine. + +[Illustration: Ernestine righted the basket.--See page 46.] + +When the latter rejoined her, she said with some irritation, "However +could you touch those horrid, dirty clothes or go near that dirty +child?" + +"I didn't like to touch them," said Ernestine simply; "but Christ did a +great many things he did not like to do." + +"Well, you are a queer girl, Ernestine! I'm sure I can't make up my mind +that it is my duty to be pleasant to every dirty little beggar who comes +along. There might have been small-pox in those clothes!" + +Ernestine smiled at that, but made no reply, and the two walked on in +silence till they reached the corner where they separated. + +Fannie went on, swinging her books by the strap, and thinking that dirt +could not be so repulsive to Ernestine as to her; but if she could have +seen Ernestine go straight to the kitchen sink the minute she reached +home, before she stopped to touch anything, Fannie might have realized +something of the self-restraint her friend had exercised in the matter. +But few of us can be brought to believe that things we find unpleasant +are often quite as unpleasant to other people. + +Friday afternoon came, and five o'clock found the four girls entering a +side yard in a pleasant if not an aristocratic neighborhood. They went +up the stairs leading from a side hall, and were met at the top by +Ernestine, who was holding open the door. + +She led them into a tiny bedroom, not much larger than a closet, but +scrupulously dainty and clean, from the white spread and pillows on the +bed to the fresh towels hanging on the rack above the washstand. + +Here she helped the girls remove their wraps, and then they went into +the adjoining room, which was a pleasant surprise, particularly to +Fannie. So pretty and pleasant and homelike it appeared that, at first, +it almost seemed elegant, until one had time to observe that there was +not an expensive article in the room. The floor was covered with a blue +and white checked matting, the chairs and rockers were simply "cane," +and the only piece of upholstered furniture was the lounge. But there +were some engravings, plainly framed; hanging baskets at both of the +windows; a window-box of lilies-of-the-valley, just beginning to bloom, +and in the other window a similar box of mignonette, which filled the +whole room with its delicate fragrance. + +A bright fire blazed in the grate, and the four girls felt at home more +quickly than they had done at either of the two places of their previous +meetings, probably because Ernestine was their only hostess, her mother +not yet having returned from the store. + +A late magazine lay on the table, together with a copy of that charming +story, "Little Lord Fauntleroy," and Mrs. Whitney's "We Girls" and "Real +Folks." Winnie could not help picking them up to see what they were, and +it turned out that all of the girls except Gretta had read them, so they +immediately began talking about them. + +"Mamma and papa and brother Jack took turns in reading 'Fauntleroy' +aloud to us when it came out in the magazine," said Winnie, "and for a +day or two in each month we hardly talked of anything else." + +"I liked the scene of the dinner party best, when the little lord talked +to the guests, but stayed close beside the pretty lady and paid her such +cunning compliments," said Fannie. + +"I enjoyed reading about him in the grocery store with Mr. Hobbs," said +Miriam. "I can see them now; Hobbs was so funny! My sister said he was +more of a child than the little hero of the story." + +"I think I liked him best when he was with his grandfather," said +Ernestine; "it was lovely of him to think that wicked old man was so +good." + +"My mother says that every child in the land, and particularly every +boy, ought to read that story, if for no other reason than to learn +what it is to be a real gentleman and a real lady. She says no depths of +poverty could ever have made 'Dearest' and her son anything else." + +"I was just about frantic," said Fannie, "when I began to be afraid he +wasn't the heir after all. It seemed horrid to think that that rough +woman's son should own those fine lands and the title, and I felt almost +as glad when it turned out all right as if he had been one of my nearest +friends." + +"I wish I read more," said Gretta. "I do love my music; and if I didn't, +I'd have to keep it up all the same. But I would like to read the book +you are talking about." + +"You may take it," said Ernestine, "and keep it just as long as you +wish." + +"Speaking of borrowing books," said Miriam, "reminds me that I did the +most dreadful thing to-day. Miss Carter had lent me Mrs. Gaskel's 'Life +of Charlotte Bronte,' and I had just returned it yesterday, feeling very +grateful, for I think it is nice in Miss Carter to take an interest in +so many girls. I should think she would just get to hating us, for it is +the same thing year in and year out, and most of us are so trying. + +"But although I love her dearly, you know how angry she gets, and +she was giving Josie Thompson such a lecture about there being no +punctuation in her composition, and then she read a paragraph as it was +punctuated--just 'like commas and periods shaken out of a pepper-box,' +she said. The subject was 'Joan of Arc,' and Josie, as usual, had +rather a mixed idea of her character, and what Miss Carter read sounded +something like this: + +"'Joan of Arc, was a poor, girl who heard a great many, ghost stories +and these turned her head and she imagined, that, it would be a great +deal more fun to lead soldiers. To battle in the war. With England than +to be spending her time tending sheep? on the mountains she thought she +would enjoy herself better.' + +"That last was so much like Josie--who, as you know, is always talking +about enjoying herself--that I could hardly keep in, and when Josie made +a mouth at Miss Carter the minute her back was turned, three or four of +us giggled out loud, and Miss Carter stopped lecturing Josie and turned +her wrath on us. + +"That was yesterday, but this morning the whole affair was still fresh +in my memory, and three or four of the girls in Miss Brownlow's room +happening to come about the same time that I did, I began to tell them +about it. I began in a high key, a great deal worse than Miss Carter +ever uses, although she does pitch her voice very high when she is +vexed. I said: + +"'Miss Thompson, I am surprised at you; in fact, I am more than +surprised. It almost passes belief that a girl should begin to study +punctuation almost as soon as her school life begins, as in our schools, +and after six or seven years should not be able even to use a period, to +say nothing of the more complicated marks; to know nothing, absolutely +nothing, of her own language.' + +"Here I interrupted myself to show them the kind of mouth Josie made, +and of course they all laughed, for they know how her mouth and nose go +up at every little thing. Then I went on. + +"Miss Carter didn't see the mouth that Josie made, and she caught us +laughing, and said, 'Can it be possible that there are girls in this +class, girls of good rank and standing, and of moderately good behavior, +who can laugh, yes, actually laugh, at the ignorance of one of their +school-mates? Something is wrong, radically wrong,'--and here I made the +gesture she always makes when she says 'radically wrong,' and--what do +you think? There she stood, right behind me!" + +"What did she do?" asked Fannie. + +"Do? She didn't do anything, and I half thought she was smiling. But I +felt as if I would like to sink through the floor, I was so mortified. +And only yesterday I was walking down the street with her, talking +to her as if I thought her my best friend! She'll think I'm a perfect +hypocrite." + +"Why don't you apologize?" asked Gretta. + +"I can't go and apologize to someone for making fun of her as soon as +her back is turned, can I? And I really didn't intend to make fun of +Miss Carter, either; it was only that the whole affair seemed amusing to +me." + +"She probably understands, and does not think any more about it," said +Ernestine. "But now, if you'll excuse me, I'll have to go into the +kitchen for a few minutes; or perhaps you'll come, too." + +"Oh, we'd like to come, if we won't be in the way," said Fannie. So they +all trooped into the kitchen. + +What a tiny box of a place it was, to be sure! When all five of the +girls were there, there was not room for anybody else. Fannie and Gretta +squeezed close to each other on the box beside the window, Miriam sat on +a chair in one corner, and Winnie stood in the doorway between the two +rooms, watching Ernestine, and thinking how cross she had been only +a week or two before because she had to do a little cooking in the +morning, while Ernestine had to do it every day and go to school beside. + +But Ernestine did everything so easily and pleasantly that it was a +pleasure to watch her. She did her cooking on a little oil stove, and +there seemed so little to be done--for Mrs. Alroy and Ernestine had +prepared things the day before--that her young visitors could not feel +as if it were a bit of trouble to entertain them. It was as nice as a +play, too, to see her cut the potatoes in delicate, thin slices and drop +them into the boiling fat, and see them come out delightfully crisp and +brown. + +Then the girls all followed her into the sitting-room, laughing and +chattering as only girls can, while Ernestine set the table. The table +linen was white and fine, and the cups and saucers were real old china, +these being about the only things which Mrs. Alroy had saved from her +past grandeur. + +Everything was ready and on the table, except the food which was to be +served hot, when Mrs. Alroy came in, looking tired and reserved. She +disappeared for a few moments into the bedroom, and when she came out, +seeming somewhat refreshed, they all sat down to the table. + +To the surprise of the girls, Ernestine, in her simple, unaffected +manner, asked a blessing on what was set before them. It seemed queer to +them that if it were to be done at all, it should not be by Mrs. Alroy. +But Ernestine's mother was not yet perfectly resigned to what had come +upon her, and it was that, perhaps--yes, certainly--which made her +burden so hard to bear; but at least she did not interfere with +Ernestine in these matters. + +The girls were hungry, and everything tasted delicious, from the sliced +cold ham and the potatoes which they had seen Ernestine frying, to the +dessert of ice-cream and cake. + +When supper was over, the girls begged to be allowed to clear off the +table, and Ernestine washed the dishes as they brought them out, while +Winnie wiped them. + +Mrs. Alroy sat down and glanced over the newspaper. Fannie watched +her curiously, and privately came to the conclusion that she was the +proudest woman she had ever seen. This conviction came to her with +something of a shock, for she had heretofore supposed that pride and +wealth and fine living belonged together. She furthermore came to +the conclusion that while pride might be fine, it was not especially +charming, for though Mrs. Alroy had been pleasant when the girls were +presented to her, her manner had been only polite, not interested. + +When the girls had finished washing and putting away the supper +things, she roused herself and talked with them about their school and +amusements, but as soon as Ernestine returned, excused herself and went +into the little room and closed the door. Ernestine followed her, with a +troubled look on her usually calm face. When she returned, she said: + +"Mamma has a severe headache, and begs to be excused for awhile, but +hopes to feel better before you go home." + +"We were all to have a text or a verse to-night, weren't we?" asked +Fannie. "The only thing I could find was our Golden Text for last +Sunday, 'Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.' I spoke to +papa about it, and, although he is not very religious, he said he didn't +believe there was any better way of remembering our Creator than by +trying to do what was right, and he was glad to see that I was thinking +about such things." + +"Mamma says there are very few things said in the Bible about the +dangers of delay," said Winnie, "but she gave me this one from Proverbs: +'Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may +bring forth.'" + +"I couldn't find anything in the Bible," said Miriam, "but I found a +poem by Adelaide Procter which I copied, thinking you might like to hear +it all, as I scarcely knew which verse to select. I will read it to you: + + "Rise! for the day is passing, + And you lie dreaming on; + The others have buckled their armor, + And forth to the fight are gone. + A place in the ranks awaits you, + Each man has some part to play; + The Past and the Future are nothing, + In the face of the stern To-day. + + "Rise from your dreams of the Future,-- + Of gaining some hard-fought field; + Of storming some airy fortress, + Or bidding some giant yield; + Your Future has deeds of glory, + Of honor (God grant it may)! + But your arm will never be stronger, + Or the need so great as To-day. + + "Rise! for the day is passing; + The sound that you scarcely hear, + Is the enemy marching to battle; + Arise! for the foe is here! + Stay not to sharpen your weapons, + Or the hour will strike at last, + When, from dreams of a coming battle, + You may wake to find it past!" + +"How much better we understand things than we did three months ago!" +said Winnie. "I used to dream of the grand things I was going to do +when I grew up." Then she added, blushing a little as she remembered +her cross Saturday morning, "I do yet, sometimes, but I don't think I +neglect quite so many things as I used to." + +"I never had much chance either to neglect things or to dream," said +Gretta, "for papa or mamma or my sister was always reminding me that +it was time to do this or that or the other. But I am beginning now to +think of some of my faults. I couldn't find anything for this afternoon, +except the Memory Gem we learned in the First Reader. You know I don't +read a great deal myself, and we all seem to have so much to do at our +house; when it isn't something else, it's practice, practice, practice! +Even this little verse I don't suppose I should have remembered if I +hadn't heard the children reciting it at the 'Colony': + + "One thing at a time, + And that done well, + Is a very good rule, + As many can tell." + +"Why, that's the very thing, Gretta! I'm surprised that none of the rest +of us thought of it. How queer that the same piece of advice, in one +form or another, has been given to us ever since we were little girls, +and that we have just begun to realize what it all means!" said Fannie. + +"What have you, Ernestine?" said Miriam. + +"I took mine from Ecclesiastes," was the reply. "'When thou vowest a vow +unto the Lord, defer not to pay it.'" + +"I like that, too," said Gretta; "but I think Miss Benton's pretty card +is helping me more than anything else." + +"I think that was lovely, too," said Fannie. "I liked the story ever +so much, but it will be nice for us to do as she suggested, and take +a motto this week. How would it do to take the one Winnie brought? It +seems the easiest for us to understand." + +So they all learned it, and, at Miriam's suggestion, added the verse +that Gretta had recited. + +Mrs. Alroy came back into the sitting-room just as the girls had +finished reading their mottoes, and, though her eyes looked heavy, as if +she were suffering, she joined the little band, and told them that she +thought they were adopting a very good plan to help them over the rough +places of life, and perhaps also enable them to make fewer mistakes than +they might otherwise do. + +While she was talking to them, footsteps were heard coming up the +stairs. + +"That's papa, I think," said Fannie, and she went with Ernestine to the +door. + +Ernestine had seen Mr. Allen often, for he was one of the trustees of +their school, but of course Mrs. Alroy had never met him, so the girls +led him through the narrow hall into the room beyond. + +Mrs. Alroy met him at the door and extended her hand, as Fannie said, +"My papa, Mrs. Alroy." + +Mr. Allen seated himself, at Mrs. Alroy's invitation, while the girls +went to get on their wraps. As they talked of the weather and the usual +subjects discussed by strangers, Mr. Allen looked at the lady in rather +a puzzled manner, as if wondering where he had seen her before. Finally +he said: + +"Excuse me, Mrs. Alroy, but may I ask what was your maiden name?" + +She told him, but rather coldly, as if she considered the question +impertinent. + +He read her thought well enough, but unhesitatingly continued: + +"The Van Ortons of New York?" + +"Of New York, yes." + +"I thought so; it must be one of your brothers whom you so strongly +resemble. I could not think whom you were like, the day of the +celebration over at the school-house, but that, I see, was what puzzled +me. I know your brother and his family quite well. I have had business +relations with him for years, which have been very pleasant ones." + +"I am glad to meet someone who has seen my brother recently. I have seen +no member of my family for years; it has been impossible for me to go +home, and my circumstances have been such that I have managed to prevent +their visiting me, for I had no desire to have them do so. Should you +have any communication with him, I ask as a favor that my name may not +be mentioned." + +"Your wishes, of course, will be respected, madam," the gentleman +replied courteously. + +The girls appeared at this moment, ready for the walk home, and Mr. +Allen rose, adding: + +"Permit me to thank you for the pleasure you have given my daughter, and +to express the wish that you will allow her to make a return soon." Then +they took their departure. + +Ernestine went into the little kitchen to prepare things for breakfast, +and when she came back she was shocked to find her mother sobbing +violently. It frightened her, too, for though her mother was never very +cheerful, the girl seldom saw her shed tears. + +"Mother dear, what is it?" she said. "Have I been selfish? Was the +evening too much for you?" + +"Selfish? No, dear," was the reply. "I am the selfish one, and I am +grateful to know that you have such perfect faith and hope that all is +well. Otherwise your young life would have been darkened long ago by +my constant sorrow and regret. Poor child! It is a hard life for one so +young." + +"But, mother, some day you will be happy again." + +"I hope so, dear," replied Mrs. Alroy. But she thought to herself that +there was nothing in this world that could make life endurable to her, +unless she could forget. And that, to her proud, sensitive nature, +seemed impossible. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +EASTER-TIDE. + + +"Well," said Mrs. Allen to her husband, after they had gone upstairs, "I +hope you're satisfied and have had enough of Fannie's visiting around at +tenement houses. Democratic ideas are all right enough, theoretically, +but I think it is impossible for people to dwell long in poverty without +losing refinement." + +"Some kinds of poverty, yes; and some kinds of people, yes. That comfort +and luxury are refining in their influence goes without saying; but just +as there are some people whom all the wealth in the world could never +raise above vulgarity, so there are others whom poverty could never +degrade. And the lady and her little girl whom Fannie has visited +to-night are of this type. They are the kind of people who will have the +refinements of life even at the expense of some of its comforts." + +"It seems to me that is queer talk. How can people have refinements +without comforts?" + +"Had you been at Mrs. Alroy's to-night, I think you would understand how +that could be. And as for the rest," Mr. Allen added dryly, "Mrs. Alroy +is one of the Van Ortons of New York." + +"The Van Ortons of New York!" and Mrs. Allen dropped into her chair in +astonishment, for the Van Ortons were people whom she was glad to visit. +"How do you know?" + +"Her resemblance to her brother puzzled me, and, wondering where I could +have met her, I asked her maiden name." + +"Why, I must call upon her soon." + +"I think you'd better not--" + +"Who's the aristocrat now, I wonder!" + +"--because," he added, as if he had not heard the interruption, "she +would consider it an intrusion. Her pride has been made as hard and cold +as ice by her misfortunes, and I'm afraid nothing will ever melt it." + +This was another new idea to Mrs. Allen. It seemed as if new things, +starting with the little folks, were destined to be contagious. That a +woman who lived in three small rooms and who supported herself and her +daughter by selling goods across a counter, should resent a visit from a +person so well known as herself, was somewhat startling to the lady. + +"Well," she said impatiently, "what are you and your philanthropy going +to do about it?" + +"I think it is a case which my philanthropy, as you choose to call it, +cannot reach. I know that her people would gladly have her come home, +and there is no reason why they should be ashamed of either her or her +daughter; but she manages to keep them in complete ignorance of her +circumstances, and also, I strongly suspect, of her whereabouts." + +"Why don't you write to them?" + +"She has forbidden it, and in such a way as to make me feel that it +would be a breach of honor to disregard her wishes. No, nothing can be +done at present. But she is as frail as a reed, and her body, in spite +of her will power, will break down under the pressure, and then----" + +"Well?" + +"Then she will die--that is all." + + * * * * * + +It seems hard, at first thought, to bring the sorrows of older +people--and sorrows, too, for which, as the words of Mr. Allen would +indicate the above to be, there seems no earthly cure--into a book for +girls; but perhaps it is, after all, a truer kindness to let them find +out, while there is yet time, that life is a thing of earnest and real +import, and that the impossible ideas of a romantic world where a few +sorrows come simply as contrast, and then vanish forever, leaving the +heroes and heroines surrounded by an everlasting halo of happiness +and prosperity--which so many of the lighter novels teach--are more +injurious than any statistics will ever show. They give views of life +which, if followed out, as in the case of Constance Van Orton, are apt +to end in sorrow and despair. + +But the saddest life must have some joy in it, and Mrs. Alroy probably +had many happy hours, when she enjoyed the sunshine, or, in more sober +moods, the gentle patter of the rain on the roof, her books (to which +the poorest of those who live in our large cities can have access +through the public libraries), and, above all, the companionship of her +daughter, who was really that most remarkable of characters, a child +good, and even pious, without priggishness or the slightest taint of +affectation. + +And when all is thought and felt and suffered, above earth's joys and +woes and hopes and dark despair is God, the eternal Good, and + + What to us is darkness, to Him is light, + And the end He knoweth." + +And so the days rolled on and brought the anniversary of Christ's +suffering and death and resurrection. The Burton family kept Easter with +great rejoicing. They exchanged presents of pots of flowers, ferns and +Easter lilies, mignonette and roses, which made the house fragrant and +beautiful. The children received from their parents and friends at a +distance Easter cards; and colored eggs, in which Ralph delighted, were +not forgotten. + +Mrs. Burton and Winnie, also, on the day previous, did their share +toward decorating the church they attended. There was always a big +pyramid of bouquets on the pulpit stand, which were taken down after +service and distributed to the children of the Sunday-school. It was a +great treat to the children to go to church on this day and join in the +responsive service and hear the joyful anthems. This Easter Day was no +exception to previous ones, in point of joy and thanksgiving. + +There were some little extra surprises at the Burton home, among them +being a panel of Easter lilies and maidenhair fern, painted in oil +for Mrs. Burton by her sister Kitty; and from the same source Winnie +received a smaller one of lilies-of-the-valley and wild violets, with +the motto below: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek +and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." In the +afternoon they held a service of their own in the sitting-room. Mrs. +Burton and Aunt Kitty sang Abt's duet, "Easter Day," and they had two or +three fine quartettes. + +Norah had not been forgotten, either, in the distribution of the +flowers, or in an invitation to join the family circle in the afternoon. +She was anxious to do something in return, and so had prepared another +surprise which greeted them at tea-time. On each plate lay an egg, +which, when examined, was found to be a wooden candy-box, full of +home-made candies. All were pleased, even to grandma and Mr. Burton, +and Norah's face shone with delight when she saw that her gifts were +appreciated. + +It had been a long day for Ralph, however, and Winnie and Jack stayed +at home with him while the other members of the family went to evening +service. The child was tired and restless, yet too much excited to be +sleepy, and was very unwilling to go to bed when the usual hour arrived. +Winnie was quite weary, too, but she dared not allow herself to be +impatient on a day like this, so she told him Bible stories and sang to +him, and at last the heavy eyelids closed, and she was at liberty to go +downstairs with her book. + +This time it was "Pilgrim's Progress," which she was reading for about +the dozenth time. She dropped, with a sense of luxury, into the same big +chair in which we have seen her on a former occasion. Jack also had an +interesting book, and they read on in perfect silence for half an hour, +when suddenly they heard a crash, and then Ralph's voice in a frightened +cry. + +Dropping their books, they ran upstairs. Jack turned up the gas, and +they found that poor little Ralph had rolled out of bed, and was lying +stretched on the floor, but far more frightened than hurt. He said he +had had bad dreams, and they could not quiet him nor induce him to go +back to bed. At last Jack wrapped him up in a shawl, and Winnie sat down +in the big chair and took the frightened child in her arms. + +Jack settled himself again with his book and forgot all about them +both, until his father and mother came home and found them asleep. Mrs. +Burton's face showed disapproval until Jack explained the circumstances, +and she could then enjoy the pretty picture they made, without feeling a +regret that it was the result of disobedience. + +Jack took Ralph in his arms and once more carried him, still sleeping +soundly, upstairs. They did not waken Winnie until it was time for them +all to go to bed, when she was gently roused by her mother. She looked +around in bewilderment, and it was some time before she could realize +what had happened. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +A VISIT TO THE ZOO. + + +The days were growing longer and pleasanter. The trees were all dressed +in green now, and the maples in front of the Burton home bent their +green boughs and shook their leaves at the invitation of every little +zephyr. + +The evening star shone over the western hills, followed closely by the +slender new moon. The sun sank to rest behind those same hills, some +nights gorgeously attended by crimson and gold and purple clouds; on +other evenings, dropping out of sight suddenly, as if in a hurry to get +to China, as Winnie was fond of telling Ralph. + +Winnie often sat with Ralph on the front steps these days, and showed +him the bright star and tried to explain to him that it was a big world, +perhaps full of people; or she would put on her roller skates and skate +up and down the flagged pavement, while he rode his velocipede. + +Winnie thought she had never known a spring so beautiful as this one. +She felt as if she could stay out of doors forever, and found it even +harder to keep her resolution of conquering self-indulgence and sticking +to her duties now than when she liked so much to sit by a bright fire +and read. + +She had her pretty card and her motto in the looking-glass in her room, +but she found it so hard to remember--or to want to remember, perhaps, +which every one knows is quite a different thing--that she pinned a +little piece of stiff paper with the word "Now" written on it, inside +her dress. On the whole, however, she kept pretty well to her resolution +of having a time for everything and doing everything in its time. + +But she had never before felt such a desire to be out of doors, and she +imagined she heard fairies beckoning to her from the woods and hills. So +one day, when Aunt Kitty came over and invited Ralph and herself and the +other four girls of her little band to go to the Zoological Garden the +next Saturday, the girl's delight was unbounded, and she was in a fever +lest something should happen to prevent their going. + +She delivered her message to the other girls. Miriam and Fannie at once +said they thought they could go, but Ernestine did not feel sure she +could arrange her Saturday duties so that no extra burden would fall on +her mother, while Gretta told them she would have to ask her father to +excuse her from the extra practice on Saturday, as they were to take +their lunches and stay all day. + +Fortunately Gretta found her father in very good humor. She had been +making excellent progress with her music, and he was very willing she +should have a holiday. Ernestine, also, had arranged with one of the +neighbors in the building to take care of her little children on +the succeeding Saturday, in return for her help in doing some extra +household work. + +Saturday turned out to be a warm, pleasant day, and in their eagerness +the girls arrived at the Burtons' a little ahead of time, and had to +wait till Miss Benton came, which she did soon, looking very happy. As +for Ralph, his eyes were as bright as stars, and he was the very picture +of joy and good humor. + +They walked up to Elm Street, and from there took the car to the Mt. +Bellevue inclined railway. When they entered the car of the latter, all +stood at the front end of it and looked out of the window, and had the +strange sensation, which no familiarity therewith seems quite to deaden, +of being lifted suddenly into another region, and of seeing the great +city sinking down, down, until one wonders where it is going. Then, all +at once, the car stopped with its usual jerk, and there they were, at +the top of the hill. + +There were very few people about the Bellevue House. They took a walk +around the grounds and through the building, and stood looking at the +city, covered with its workaday smoke from the many manufactories, till +it almost seemed as if it were seen through a cloud. + +"How strange it is," said Miriam, as they entered the street-car at the +top of the hill, "to see the houses just as close together here, and +to have it seem like a city of itself, and yet so different from the +business part of Cincinnati below that it is hard to imagine the two are +any part of each other!" + +"There is something strange about such things," said Miss Benton. "It is +just like people's lives. Their daily business, which brings them bread +and butter, and which is really the largest and most important part +of existence, seems to sink into insignificance or to be forgotten +altogether when social relations are taken up. But, after all, I like to +live in the city itself, where there is something of the past lingering +about. Everything seems so new here." + +"I don't know," said Ernestine. "I think I would like to live up here; +the air seems so much purer. But I would want a bigger yard than these, +where I might have a garden." + +"It's cleaner, too, up here," said practical Gretta, who was neatness +itself. "I visit my aunt on Vine Street Hill, and things always looks +so much nicer and newer at her house than the same ones at ours. And +it isn't because we don't try, for we do twice the amount of work; my +mother and sister are always going about with a duster." And Gretta, who +had made a long speech for her, finished with a sigh, at which they all +laughed. + +"Gretta would like a house where everything had a glass cover," said +Miriam. "As for me, I like things jolly and comfortable, and if they get +grimy and sooty, and nobody's to blame, what's the use of making one's +self unhappy about it? I'm afraid I'm a good deal like Josie Thompson, +for I do like to enjoy myself." + +"Well, no two of us are alike, and I don't think it was intended that we +should be," said Miss Benton. "That is what makes the charm of people's +houses--that they should all partake of the individuality of their +owners. When I enter even a little girl's room, I like to see some +signs of her ownership there, and not have it all as her mother or older +sister or the maid arranged it. I like to see something that looks as if +she had an object in life, if it is nothing more than a charm string of +buttons, (which, by the way, has gone out of fashion, I believe,) or a +scrapbook." + +"Well, then, Aunt Kitty," said Winnifred, smiling at her own thought, +"it must be a treat for you to go into Uncle Fred's room; for, if I were +to see such a room at the North Pole, I would think of him." + +"Well," said Miss Benton, with a smile, "I might enjoy it better if +it were in some other house. I think, in this case, it must be that +familiarity breeds contempt. The fact is, girls, my brother's room is +more of an old curiosity shop than a modern sleeping-room. He has always +had a sort of magpie-habit of storing things away, and is continually +having some new hobby; and as his hobbies are often changed, and each +hobby is apt to take the form of making some sort of collection, he has +queer things lying about. But from the time he was quite a little boy, +mother always said, 'Oh, let him have that,' or 'do the other, and he'll +be satisfied at home.'" + +"How many canes and walking-sticks has he, Aunt Kitty?" + +"Eight, I think, and each one has a history; and two or three of them a +mystery, which he refuses to divulge. But here we are at the end of our +journey, and Fannie hasn't had an opportunity to open her mouth." + +"It's probably very good for my tongue to get a rest; it works quite +steadily as a usual thing--at least so my father says. But if Ralph +hadn't been all eyes, this would have been dull for him." + +"I isn't all eyes!" said Ralph, indignantly. + +They now approached the entrance to the Zoological Garden, and the girls +once more took out their pocket books; but Miss Benton was ahead of them +again, and had settled for the party before there was time to demur. + +The first thing they spied were the mounds of the prairie dogs, and +they stood watching these a long time. It was such fun to see the little +animals running in and out of their holes and to hear their funny bark, +which Miriam said was "the best part of them, and probably very much +better than their bite." + +Our little party was fortunate enough to be at the cages of the +carnivora just at feeding time. The great lions lay basking in the sun +and looking so innocent and amiable that it was almost impossible to +imagine they could be at all dangerous, when suddenly the man who fed +them appeared with the raw meat. Then their roars were fairly appalling, +and made the whole crowd jump, while Ralph clung tight to the hand of +Aunt Kitty, who said: + +"I was just thinking how nice it would be to pat that quiet, majestic +fellow on the head, as I would my Angora cat; but I think I'll wait till +he's had his dinner." + +"Oh, Aunt Kitty," said Ralph, "I 'ouldn't let you; he'd eat you up!" + +It was an exciting but rather terrible pleasure to see the wild +creatures quarreling and growling and fighting over their dinners, and +was also a most effective object lesson on greediness. + +Like other visitors, although Miss Kitty laughed at them for it, our +little party followed the keeper around from one cage to another as he +fed the various animals. + +"I like the bears best," said Fannie. "They look like Eskimos when they +stand on their hind legs, and they stare up at us and the other people +as if we were here just for them to look at." + +"There is a something within me that, in spite of bears and all their +attractions, tells me it must be dinner time," said Miss Benton, taking +out her watch. "Yes, it is one o'clock; suppose we get our baskets." + +Ralph, in particular, manifested great approval of this part of the +programme, and, having selected a nice grassy spot, they disposed of +themselves as comfortably as possible, each with her basket at her side. + +As they opened the baskets, passing the thin sandwiches and pickles, +Winnie made a suggestion. + +"Aunt Kitty, let's play 'I have a thought.'" + +"Very well," replied the lady; and, after a short explanation of the +game, and a little time to think, she announced the fact that she had a +thought. + +"Why is it like the sky?" asked Winnie. + +"Because it is round." + +"Why is it like a bear?" asked Miriam, her thoughts still on the bear +pit. + +"Because--oh, Miriam, that is a hard one!--because it is sometimes +white." + +"Why is it like me?" said Ralph. + +"Because everybody likes it when it is good." And Ralph wondered why +they all laughed. + +"Why is it like the grass?" asked Ernestine. + +"Because it is greenest in the spring." + +Then the questions poured upon Miss Benton rapidly, as the girls began +to see how the game was played. + +"Why is it like music?" asked Gretta. + +"Because it suggests pleasant thoughts." + +"Why is it like a novel?" + +"It is often highly flavored." + +"Why is it like an egg?" + +"Because it is an article of food." + +"Why is it like a cream-puff?" + +"Because the best part is inside." + +"Why is it like cheese?" said Fannie, putting a piece in her mouth. + +"Because it comes on with the dessert." + +"Why is it like a book?" + +"Because the best part is usually between the covers." + +"Why is it like a ring?" + +"Because people like to have a finger in it." + +At which there was a general shout, and they all said: "A pie, of +course!" + +"But what kind of a pie, Miss Benton?" asked Miriam. + +"That you must find out, too," was the laughing answer; and the +questions went on. + +"It can't be lemon or custard or pumpkin," said Fannie, "because we know +it has two covers." + +"Why is it like a flower?" + +"Because it has various colors." + +"And is greenest in the spring," said Winnie, musingly. "Oh, it is an +apple pie! And Miss Benton acknowledged that she had guessed correctly. + +Then Ernestine and Gretta consulted, and took a thought together. Their +thought was a geography lesson, and of course the resemblances were most +absurd, and it required all the ingenuity the two girls possessed to +answer the questions. + +They were all so occupied with the game and their dinner that no one +noticed Miss Benton had not yet opened her basket, and great was their +surprise and delight when she passed around to each of them a grocer's +thin platter filled with strawberries, for they were still very scarce, +as it was early in the season. + +After dinner, Miss Benton took out a book and said she was going to read +for a while, so the girls walked around, taking Ralph with them, and +greatly enjoying the admiration he excited by his pretty dress, +his beauty and his cunning speeches. They too, however, soon found +themselves somewhat tired, so they went back to Miss Benton, and, +sitting down for a rest, amused themselves by hunting for four-leaved +clovers. In this Winnie and Miriam proved themselves the lucky ones. +Fannie had not the slightest success, till finally she gave a little cry +and held up a clover. + +But Miss Benton's quick eyes noticed a twinkle in Fannie's, and saying, +"Oh, Fannie, I'm afraid you're a little cheat!" she reached over and +adroitly separated one of the leaves from another, leaving only a common +clover leaf. + +"Well," said Fannie, laughing at being discovered so soon, "if I don't +have good luck, I'm not going to let everyone know it. My father tells +me to make up my mind that lots of things will happen to me in this +world which I'll best conquer by grinning and bearing them. And that's +what I'm going to do." + +"A very good plan, my dear," said Miss Benton, "for even if the grin is +a sickly one, it's better than a frown or a whine." + +"I guess I don't do that way," said Gretta, whose tongue and conscience +both seemed to be awaking. "I'm afraid I go away and pout." + +"The worst of habits," said Miss Benton, with intentional decision. +"That is the habit which is most disagreeable to everyone around, +most full of unhappiness to the one who indulges in it, and the most +difficult to break. I am afraid that ill-temper is as powerful a giant +as procrastination, because it, too, assumes so many forms; there +are pouting and whining, storming and scolding, and the various other +manifestations which we all, more or less, indulge in. I do not think +many people cling to the powerful Giant Hate, but it is 'the little +foxes that spoil the vines,' and little fits of temper, long indulged +in, might at last lead even to that. But, girls, I didn't inveigle you +out here this lovely day to lecture you. So come, let's be moving on." + +They next went to the aviary. Here, although they enjoyed looking at +the birds, they became more interested in a party of children, boys +and girls, each one looking like the others, so far as clothes were +concerned. Of course they must be from some charitable institution, but +the girls did not know which one. Afterward, when our little company +had gone to the monkey house and found a number of the same uniformed +children, Miss Benton said to one of them, "What school is this, my +dear?" + +The child looked at her a moment in surprise, and then replied: "Why, +this is the monkey school, I think." + +"Where is the teacher?" asked Ralph, who mistook both question and +answer, as the child herself had done. + +Miriam and Fannie were delighted at this, and, going up pretty close +to one of the cages, Fannie, who had yellow bangs, said, pointing to a +great monkey which was watching them in a very observant manner: + +"I think this must be the teacher." + +Just as she made the remark, the monkey stretched out his long arms, +grabbed her bangs, and pulled out several hairs, which he smelled, and +then threw down with an air of disgust. + +Fannie was somewhat startled at first, but, recovering herself, she said +the monkey must have thought her hair was wisps of hay. + +Miss Benton did not seem very fond of the "monkey school," as they +dubbed it for the remainder of the afternoon, and she proposed going to +the pony track. This gave general satisfaction. Here, too, they found +the uniformed children, all of them having a lovely time. Miss Benton +found out, by conversing with one of the attendants, that they were from +one of the city orphan asylums, and that the whole lovely day was a gift +to them from one of its patrons--admission into the garden and a ride +for each child on one of the ponies. + +[Illustration: Ralph was not in the least frightened.] + +They stood watching the orphan children for awhile, as they rode around +the track, and Miss Benton asked if her guests would not like a ride, +too. Fannie, Winnie and Miriam said that they would, and each selected a +pony; Fannie, who had attended a riding-school, riding very gracefully. +Ralph thought he would like a ride, too, so the riding-master brought +his smallest pony, and two of the little orphan boys came up and begged +permission to lead it around the track. + +Miss Benton consented, and, Ralph having been lifted into the saddle, +they started off, a boy on each side of him. But the little pony started +to run, and one of the boys was soon left behind; the other, who had +hold of the bridle, kept up manfully for a time, but before the pony had +gone round the track, he, too, was left behind. Ralph, however, held on +to the bridle himself, and, not in the least frightened, kept his seat +in the saddle as if it had been his velocipede. And the by-standers +seemed to think it as cunning as did his partial aunt and the rest of +her party. However, in spite of the courage he had shown, Ralph was +quite willing to get off. + +They remained at the track a little longer, watching the other children +riding, and feeling glad that, if children were left alone in the world, +there were people noble and good and with means enough to gather the +little waifs together, and that they, too, had happy holidays. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +DREAMS AND REALITIES. + + +The following Friday Gretta and Winnifred were dismissed at recess, the +Friday afternoon privilege of those who had had perfect marks for the +week. As they passed out through the yard together, Gretta said: + +"I'm going to church to practice my organ lesson. Come go with me, Win." + +Winnifred hesitated. "If I had spoken to mamma about it this morning--" + +"Well, let's go and ask her now." + +"No, she won't be at home. She was going out to Walnut Hills to make +several calls." + +"Then I don't see what's to keep you from going with me. No one will +know whether you are with me or at school." + +Winnie knew very well that she had no right to be away without anyone +at home knowing where she was, but she hesitated--and was lost. The +temptation was too great; and beside, she reasoned, "What difference can +it possibly make whether I am at school or at the church? If I had not +had good marks I couldn't have gone home, anyway." + +So the two girls passed on up the street together. Winnifred soon forgot +her scruples, and laughed and chattered away as usual. She had been +reading Grimm's story of the boy who could not understand what it was +to shiver. She had thought it very amusing, and now she narrated it at +length to Gretta as they went along, so that they reached the church +before Gretta had stopped laughing at the absurd climax. + +They went up the flight of steep stone steps and tried the side door +that led to the choir gallery, but it was locked, and Gretta said, +"We'll have to go the back way; come on, Win." So they descended the +stairs again and went through the narrow side yard at the right of the +church. + +At the back were two rooms which at this time were occupied by the +janitor and his wife. Gretta knocked, and when the door was opened by +a smiling woman, walked in with an I-have-a-right-to manner, simply +saying, "I've come to practice." Winnifred followed somewhat bashfully, +but recovered her sense of being herself when the door of the little +living-room closed upon them. The two girls crossed a narrow passage and +opened a door leading to a stairway. It was very dark here, but Gretta +had traveled up and down these stairs so many times that she went +swiftly now, while Winnifred, unaccustomed to them, groped her way along +through the darkness very slowly. + +When she reached the top Gretta opened another door which led into the +church itself, always filled with people when Winnifred had seen it +before, but now empty and mysterious, with the light dimmed and deepened +and transformed as it made its way through the stained-glass windows. +She breathed a little heavily as she glanced up at the pulpit on the +left, and almost felt as if she would hear a voice rise from the empty +air and chide them for their boldness in entering so sacred a place +on workaday business. But Gretta, entirely accustomed to independent +errands connected with musical matters, passed on up the narrow side +aisle, Winnifred following slowly. + +Then came another narrow staircase leading to the choir gallery, which +faced the pulpit. When they reached the top they found the shades all +down and the place quite dark except for a long, narrow beam of light +which streamed through a crevice in one of the blinds. Winnifred stopped +on the threshold with something like fear, which was yet pleasing +because of the sense of mystery and romance which was blended with it in +her imaginative young mind. Gretta, however, stepped in at once and went +quickly toward the back of the gallery. Here she suddenly pulled up a +shade, and Winnifred saw numbers of music books piled up on one of the +long benches. + +Gretta opened the organ and sat down. She reached the pedals with some +difficulty, being obliged to stretch her legs somewhat in order to do +so; but this, like everything else with her, was a part of the musical +education which was the chief business of her life and of all the +lives nearest to her. She began to play a voluntary, softly, slowly and +reverently, yet clearly, and with wonderful appreciation for a child +just entering her teens. + +Winnifred climbed into the darkest corner she could find and gave +herself up to enjoyment of the music and all the unusual surroundings. +Forgetting all else, she began to weave herself and Gretta into a little +story of a world separate and apart from the world she had always known: +a world filled with visionary forms and faces, and in which there was no +sound but that of music. + +"Over there in that pew just under the stained-glass window," she +thought, "is a little girl who cannot see, but who has never missed her +eyesight, because she does not need it. She lives only in this world, +where there is nothing but sweet sounds. She will grow up some day and +go out into the other world where Gretta and I lived yesterday, but she +will be a poet like Milton, whose picture, when he was such a beautiful +boy, I saw yesterday; but she will not be sad like him, because she +knows only the world of poetry and music. + +"Over in that other pew," Winnie's dreams ran on, "is that poor, little, +blind beggar girl I saw on the street yesterday afternoon. She isn't +hungry now, for this is the fairyland of music where people do not need +to eat. The music has gone straight to her heart--and see! she creeps +softly over to the opposite pew--how did she know that the other little +blind girl was there?--she creeps softly to the other pew, and they +clasp hands and feel as happy as if they had looked into each other's +eyes. + +"And who is that sweet-faced girl in the pew just in front of the +pulpit? She is beautiful. She looks like Nydia, the blind girl in 'The +Last Days of Pompeii,' but she can't be Nydia, for Nydia lived and died +hundreds of years ago. But she listens to the music just as Nydia might +do if she were here now. It is not so sad to be blind in a world of +music. And yet--how would I know where they were sitting if I were +blind, too?" + +And Winnie closed her eyes to try how it would seem not to be able to +see. The music floated out upon the air; it grew softer and softer and +sounded farther and farther away, and at last Winnie ceased to hear it, +for the darkness and the gentle sounds had so soothed her senses that +she went straight from day-dreamland to slumberland. + +Gretta all unconsciously played on until she had finished her allotted +task, forgetting the existence of Winnifred as completely as the latter +had forgotten hers. But by and by she had finished the last bar, and +jumped up from her seat with a feeling of satisfaction. She looked +around in surprise for a moment when she realized that Winnifred had +gone to sleep. The next thing the latter knew Gretta was shouting into +her ear: "Wake up! Wake up, Winnie! I'm all through my practice and +ready to go home. Let's hurry! It must be late." + +They gathered up their school books, the sense of haste taking away all +the feeling of mystery and romance. When they looked at the clock in +the little room downstairs on their way out, Winnifred was dismayed and +realized suddenly that she ought to have been at home an hour ago. She +had a very uncomfortable walk home, particularly after she had parted +from Gretta, but, as it happened, her mother had not yet returned and +her absence had been unnoticed. + +She told her mother about it in the evening--of how sweetly Gretta +had played, and how she had imagined a world made on purpose for blind +people. + +Mrs. Burton only said, "I am glad you had such a nice afternoon, dear. +It is one you will always remember. You were fortunate that nothing +happened to spoil the pleasure of it. I am glad I was not at home, +however, for I fear I would have been very uneasy about you." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +ARBOR DAY. + + +In nearly every household of the big city the children were astir early, +all wearing an air of excitement, from the six-year-old in the primary +school to the "big brother" or sister in the intermediate, for there was +at last something new under the sun--the celebration of "Arbor Day" for +the first time in their city and State. + +It was a day to be devoted to the trees and their planting. Every school +in the city had had a plot of ground set aside for its use, and every +school had had at least one tree planted, beside those in memory of the +teachers who had passed away to the unknown land. + +There was no set time for departure and no special gathering place, so +that at almost any hour after nine o'clock on that lovely May morning +groups of children might have been seen wending their way toward the +eastern hills. Those in the vicinity of Eden Park walked, a few drove +over with their parents or friends, but the great majority filled the +street cars to overflowing, laughing and chattering and enjoying a +holiday as only school children can. + +Forming a portion of the last class were the pupils of the "First +Intermediate," that old landmark which has guided so many embryo +citizens of our great Republic through the intricate paths of fractions, +decimals, and so on, to the crowning difficulty of cube root; through +grammar and history and geography, before bidding them "Godspeed" as +they entered the high-school or took up the story of their lives in some +other direction. + +Among these last, lunch baskets in hand, were the five young warriors, +but with their armor off and as great an air of being on pleasure bent +as though they had never thought of anything more serious. Miriam as +usual had the floor, and the entire car-load of girls and boys, nearly +all of them her classmates, were laughing at her remarks. + +There was a change of cars at Fountain Square and again at the foot of +the Mt. Adams incline, but the five girls managed to keep from being +separated. Arrived at the top of the hill, they stopped to breathe in +the fresh air and admire the beautiful landscape--the Kentucky hills far +away in the distance, with the beautiful Ohio flowing placidly at their +feet; Cincinnati, in its hill-encircled cup, making, with Covington +and Newport and the various smaller villages, part of one great whole, +linked by the bridges across the Ohio and the Licking. + +"This reminds me," said Ernestine, who was the historian of the little +company, "of the name first chosen for our city--Losantiville, the town +opposite the mouth of the Licking; 'ville,' town; 'anti,' opposite; +'os,' mouth; 'L,' initial of Licking." + +"Dreadful!" said Miriam. "Imagine this great city designated as a town +across the way from that little stream! It would be like the immense +woman I saw the other day. I know she weighed over two hundred. There +was a little man walking beside her, and he called her 'Birdie!' Indeed +he did, and she called him 'Horatio!'" + +"Our city started about here," said Ernestine, after the girls had +stopped laughing, "or just at the foot of the hill, and grew first along +the river. Later on it spread northward, and Fourth Street was one of +its aristocratic streets." + +"There comes Josie Thompson," said Fannie. "She's evidently bent on +having a good time, and she's gotten up regardless. See that chain +around her neck; plated, I'm sure." + +"Don't look so sober, Ernestine," said Miriam. "There wouldn't be any +use in living if you could not make fun of people once in a while." + +"But perhaps Josie has never been taught any better at home," said +Winnifred, suddenly thinking of the giants. + +"She has eyes, hasn't she?" said Gretta. "But it seems to me she can't +have ears, or else she couldn't help hearing that dress she has on. I +know that's what my father would say." + +Just then Josie came up to them. "Hello, girls! Going to have a good +time? I tell you I am! Glad to have one day with no lessons to learn!" +And she passed on with her friends, leaving the girls, even Ernestine, +convulsed. + +"Let's go on to the park," said Ernestine. + +Accordingly they gathered up their baskets and other belongings. It was +but a short walk, and they soon reached the spot where many of their +schoolmates had already assembled. + +At twelve o'clock the schools had a few simple exercises. The children +sang, "My Country, 'Tis of Thee," one of the girls of their grade +recited "Woodman, Spare that Tree," and Fannie's father made a brief +address. He talked to them of the part the forests play in helping to +prevent drouths and disastrous floods. He told of the old Italian poet +who called the trees "my brothers," and said that everyone, whether +poet or not, should have especial tenderness and affection for these +beautiful and useful bits of nature which grow up around us, relieving +our eyes from the glare of day, shading us from the noonday sun, and +giving us pleasure in many ways, so that their useless and wanton +destruction becomes a sin against mankind. + +After the conclusion of this little talk (for it was that rather than +a set speech), the children gathered up their lunch baskets and boxes, +each party sought the spot that pleased it best, and soon the hillside +was dotted with groups of boys and girls engaged in disposing of +sandwiches, pickles, pies, cakes, fruit, and so on, with great enjoyment +and good appetites. + +The afternoon was passed most pleasantly by Winnifred and her own +special friends, reinforced by many of the girls and boys of her class. +Games of all sorts were indulged in with unflagging energy and good +spirits for two or three hours. + +About four o'clock Fannie's parents came for her in a carriage. Soon +after Winnifred's mother arrived on the scene with little Ralph, and +they were shown the trees which had just been planted and told about +all the events of the day. By this time nearly every one was making +preparations to leave, and by five o'clock the park was almost deserted +and the happy day had become only a memory. But the seeds of thought +planted there fell not altogether on stony ground, and were destined to +bear fruit at some future day. + +Indeed, the very next morning Ralph insisted on having an Arbor Day of +his own, and he put in the ground a branch of willow, which took root +and thrived, growing so rapidly that in a few years it was taller than +himself; and each spring, when it put forth its delicate gray-green +foliage, it recalled to Winnifred that most delightful Arbor Day. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +GRETCHEN'S KAFFEEKLATCH. + + +Another year of Gretta's life had rolled around and brought with it her +thirteenth birthday. The little club of "warriors" had not been without +its influence upon her behavior, and she had become so ready to enter +upon her duties, so cheerful in performing them, and so much less +resentful in accepting the reproof which was perhaps too frequent in +that busy and overworked household, that her elder sister--whom she +had so complained of when the subject of forming their club was first +mentioned--had decided that Gretta must have a little birthday party, +and asked her whom she wished to invite. + +Gretta was greatly delighted, for she had long been wishing to have a +meeting of the club at her home, but had hardly known how to broach the +subject. She immediately gave her sister the list, and while the latter +was somewhat surprised that it should be so small, it was something of +a relief to find what she had thought would be quite an undertaking so +greatly simplified. It was decided that the girls should be invited to +come at four o'clock and that supper should be served at half past five. + +Promptly at the hour named Winnifred and Miriam appeared, followed +soon after by Fannie, and then by Ernestine. The door was opened by the +smiling-faced, German maid-of-all-work, and the girls were met at the +foot of the stairs by Gretta, who took them up to the library on the +second floor. "Here we will have no one to bother us," said Gretta. "My +mother is out of the city on a visit to my uncle, and my sister has a +music pupil in the parlor, so we'll have the library all to ourselves." + +"How jolly!" said Miriam, looking around. "Oh, here is a big +reclining-chair! We'll call it the president's chair, and Winnifred +shall occupy it, because she was the first one to think of this club." + +"Yes! yes!" they all insisted, so Winnifred climbed into the big chair, +and the other girls ranged themselves in various attitudes around her. + +"Do you know," said Miriam, with a half laugh and a half sigh, "I don't +find fighting such easy work as I thought I would. I like to dress up my +'little observations,' as my brother calls them, just as much as I ever +did, and I almost got into a temper this morning because my hair pulled +when I began to comb it out." + +"And I have been wishing we were richer," said Ernestine, whose great +ambition it was to be contented with all that came to her. "You know we +had such a hot spell last week, and mamma ought to go away this summer. +She is getting thinner and thinner, and she has those awful headaches +more and more often lately." + +"I don't see why everybody can't have the things they want," said +Fannie, feeling guilty to think she ever had a cross minute. + +"I said that to mamma last week," said Ernestine, "when I felt uneasy +about her, and she said it all comes from something in ourselves. That +didn't make it any easier for me; nothing did, until I thought of the +One who had not where to lay His head. Then I felt ashamed." + +For a minute the girls were silent. Then Winnie said, "Well, I, for one, +don't think I have quite killed that ugly old Hate. I can't bear to stop +doing what I like, to please other people. I was reading 'Grandfather's +Chair' last night, and I just hated to stop and tell Ralph his story +before he went to bed. You know he always expects a story from some one +of us, and last night nobody had the time but me." + +"I'll tell you what upsets me more than anything else," said their +little hostess; "that is, to have to jump up from the piano to answer +the bell. And there's never a day that I don't have to do it; sometimes +three or four times." + +"What is your bugaboo, Fannie?" said Miriam; "or don't you have any?" + +"Don't I? I believe I have more than any of you," was the answer. "But +the thing that grieves me most is that I can't wear prettier and more +expensive dresses to school. You know, lots of the girls who haven't +half as much money as we dress a great deal better. Mamma would not care +so much, but papa won't hear of such a thing." + +"What awful troubles we all do have!" said Miriam, laughing. + +"Miss Embry would say you shouldn't use 'awful,'" said Winnie from the +depths of the big chair. + +"There, you've hit it exactly!" said Miriam. "There is my bugaboo in a +nut shell, and it really is an awful one. You know I like to make things +sound strong, so I use all the strong-sounding words I can find; and I +suppose I do exaggerate. Although I am reproved on all sides, it hasn't +the slightest effect on me, except to make me wish that all the people +who reprove me, or remind me of someone who does reprove,"--here she +made big eyes at Winnie--"were hard of hearing when I am about. No, no; +my motto is: + + "'Tameness and slowness can't stay with me; + They and I will never agree.'" + +"And yet," said Ernestine, "there are a great many very interesting +things told in very simple language and without getting away from the +white truth." + +"Well," said Miriam, "to tell the white truth myself just this once. I +don't know whether I want to conquer this or not. I don't believe it is +really much relation to the Giant Untruth. I think it's only a little +dwarfish imp, a Brownie, who simply 'growed,' like Topsy, and to me is +just about as interesting." + +"And yet even you couldn't call Topsy beautiful," said Ernestine +readily. + +"Hardly," laughed Miriam. "But now we've all owned up, let's parade +rest, as we say in our broom drills;" and she threw herself back on the +sofa, where she sat as if indeed resting from a hard-fought battle. + +The five formed a group of American girls good to look upon in their +sweet springtime. Ernestine, with serious gray eyes, fair, slender, +and tall for her fifteen years, sat erect but graceful in a straight, +high-backed chair, her very pose denoting a peaceful courage. Fannie, +with skin soft and rosy and eyes of a rare violet hue, occupied a +low seat, her arms resting on the sofa against which she was leaning. +Miriam, with dark, sparkling eyes and long, thick hair, looking brimful +of life in spite of her present lazy attitude, sat just behind Fannie. +Next came Winnie, small even for her twelve years, brown-eyed and +dainty, looking fond of luxury, as she undoubtedly was and always would +be, and yet good and high-minded. Last Gretta herself, a true German, +with blue eyes and thick, light braids, a trim and compact little +maiden. She sat near a table, her chin in her hand, with its flexible, +square-tipped fingers--the fingers of the born and made pianist--for +Gretta had "begun," as her mates used to tell, at the age of four. + +It was a pleasant room in which they sat; it had many books, German and +English and a few in other languages, and where no book-cases rested, +the walls were hung with pictures of musicians--Mozart and Bach and +Mendelssohn and many others as companions; and on a pedestal stood +a bust of Beethoven, whom--so Gretta told the girls as they looked +around--her father considered the greatest of them all. + +Just then Winnie glanced up at the clock and saw that it was fifteen +minutes past five. She made a motion to the girls, at which they all +jumped up, and, joining hands, formed a circle around Gretta. Before she +had had time to do anything but look astonished, Miriam stopped behind +her, and, holding something over her head, said, "Heavy, heavy hangs +over your head. What shall the owner do to redeem it?" + +Before Gretta had a chance to answer, Miriam had dropped into her lap +a box of pretty note-paper, and replied to her own question by saying, +"The owner shall redeem it by writing to the giver this summer a letter +for each week they are separated." + +Then the girls circled about again, and this time Winnifred stopped +behind Gretta, saying: + + "Open your mouth and shut your eyes, + And I'll give you something to make you wise." + +Gretta did as she was bidden, and Winnie popped a big marshmallow into +her mouth, depositing the remainder of the box in her lap. + +They circled about her for the third time, and Fannie stopped behind +her, saying, as Miriam had done, "Heavy, heavy hangs over your head. +What shall the owner do to redeem it?" and continued, "Read every word +of it and enjoy it," and placed in Gretta's hand a copy of "Little Lord +Fauntleroy." + +Yet again they circled about her, singing: + + "A rosy wreath I twine for thee, + Of Flora's richest treasures; + Take, oh, take, this rosy, rosy crown, + Flora's richest treasures, + Flora's richest treasures,"-- + +and Ernestine placed a crown of flowers on Gretta's brow. + +Gretta was quite overcome with pleasure and surprise, for the girls had +so skillfully hidden their little gifts that she had not even caught a +glimpse of them. + +Just then the door opened, and the hostess' sister appeared at the door, +saying, "Tea is ready, Gretta." Before they did anything else, however, +Gretta had to exhibit her presents. They were duly admired, and then +Miss Josephine said, "Come on, now; I'll head the procession. Keep +step." + +Through the open door came the sound of a lively march, which even +Gretta had never heard before. + +"That is a new march which father composed in honor of your birthday. He +calls it 'Gretchen's March.'" + +[Illustration: Winnifred popped a big marshmallow into her mouth.--See +page 72.] + +They all felt very important as they marched down the stairs, headed by +Miss Berger, who led them out into the long parlor and twice around it, +while her father at the piano, with a merry twinkle in his eyes, kept on +playing, and then out into the dining-room. + +The table was set for five only, and the girls, directed by Miss +Josephine, took their seats, with Gretta at the head, to the inspiring +strains of the lively march. + +It proved a most enjoyable little feast. Miss Berger left the room as +soon as they were all seated, and then the same smiling-faced maid +who had opened the door for them, also departed, and gave them an +opportunity to look about. + +At Gretta's place was a set of cunning china cups and saucers, which had +been sent her from Germany when she was quite a little child. The cups +were just about the size of after-dinner coffees, and the smiling Mina +had insisted on calling the little party "Gretchen's Kaffeeklatch." +Miss Berger had been so amused that she fell in with the idea, and +had decided that they really should have coffee and some of Mina's +coffee-cake on the bill of fare. + +As Gretta filled the little cups, and the coffee and its delicious +adjunct were passed around, five tongues chattered as fast as those of +their elders might have done on a similar occasion. + +When the coffee-cake and sandwiches and chicken salad had been disposed +of, Gretta touched the bell at her place, and Mina appeared. After +clearing the table, she brought in a great cake with thirteen little +candles on it burning away merrily, and a great bowl of lemonade. Miss +Josephine came in and cut the cake and served the lemonade, and was as +entertaining and companionable as any of them could have desired. + +They sat at the table a long time, then they went into the parlor and +were introduced to Gretta's father. They shook hands with him timidly, +for they had been so impressed by his strictness with Gretta in regard +to her musical studies that they were a little afraid of him. Though +they felt vaguely conscious that he was looking at them quizzically, +he threw off the yoke of business entirely and entered into their games +like a boy. + +Among the other enjoyable things they played "Magic Music." It was +really the game of "Hunt the Slipper," and when the music was soft they +were "cold," and when it was loud they were "hot." Mr. Berger played for +them, and never before had these girls played this game to such music. + +The four girls walked home together in the Late twilight, declaring to +each other that they had never had such a delightful time; and Fannie, +who had once spoken so contemptuously of Gretta as a "music teacher's +daughter," was loudest in her praise. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE BOAT-RIDE. + + +A few evenings after the meeting at Gretta's, Uncle Fred came in, and, +pulling Winnie's ears according to his custom, said: + +"I think it's my turn to treat, Winnifred; at least Kitty says it is. +She and I were out boating yesterday, and she suggests that I take you +and the other Joans for a row Friday evening." + +"Oh, Uncle Fred," cried Winnie, "that will be grand! I'll tell the girls +about it to-morrow. Who all are to be invited?" + +"'You-all,' as our Southern friends say, and your Aunt Kitty; us seven, +and no more, as the poet expresses it." + +The girls accepted with eagerness. But on Thursday Ernestine did not +come to school. Winnie went around Friday noon to learn the reason of +such an unusual occurrence, and found that Mrs. Alroy was sick in bed, +and although she had protested against her daughter's staying at home, +Ernestine could not be prevailed upon to leave her. + +The other girls were, of course, very sorry not to have her go, but +soon forgot their disappointment in the excitement of anticipation. At a +quarter past six, the hour agreed upon, Fannie was ringing Mrs. Burton's +door bell, while Gretta and Miriam were just entering the gate. Winnie +and her uncle and aunt were quite ready, so they all started out. After +a short ride in the "Green Line," they were transferred to the Covington +and Newport cars on their way to the river. None of the girls had been +in that neighborhood often enough to be familiar with it, and everything +they saw had the interest of novelty for them. When they reached the +bridge, Mr. Fred helped them out of the car and they went on down the +bank of the river. They stood there for awhile watching the many boats, +large and small, the people going and coming, none of whom seemed to be +in the same hurry as those farther up in the city, and most of whom were +men sauntering leisurely along with their hands in their pockets. + +Mr. Fred, who had left the girls for a few minutes, now came back, and, +on his giving the command, they followed him to a pretty little dock +where there were several row-boats. In one of these the five girls were +soon seated, Winnie in the bow, Gretta and Fannie in the stern, while +Miriam and Miss Kitty--who could both row--sat together where each could +handle an oar, declaring that they meant to help provide some of the +power. Uncle Fred took his place in the seat of "the crack oarsman," as +he said, the smiling boatman on the wharf pushed them off, and soon +they found themselves afloat. Fannie held the rudder and handled it +very skillfully, although Mr. Fred kept a sharp lookout himself, for +the river at this point was full of craft of all descriptions, from the +large steamboats whose journey continues through the beautiful Ohio down +through "The Father of Waters;" the ferry boats crossing between Ohio +and Kentucky; little steam launches and row-boats, just starting out for +pleasure; and fishing-boats returning laden from the day's work. + +At first Miss Kitty and Miriam splashed about a little, but soon they +became accustomed to each other and pulled such a steady, even +stroke that Mr. Fred was obliged to stop laughing at them, and even +acknowledged that they were helping to make the boat go. + +All along the shores of the river were numbers of shanty boats, and as +they approached the mouth of the Licking they saw more of these. Winnie, +especially, was much interested in them, and enjoyed her seat in the +bow as giving a good opportunity to catch a glimpse of some of their +inmates--little boys with bare feet, girls with bright-colored dresses, +many barking dogs, and an occasional cat, all of whom, in her eyes, were +invested with a peculiar fascination. + +But soon they entered the mouth of the Licking, and, gradually leaving +all these sights and sounds behind them, passed into an enchanted +country, the domain of Nature herself. Miss Kitty started up softly, +"My country, 'tis of thee," and the girls joined in, Miriam's contralto +adding richness to the voices as they rose and fell on the still air. +Miss Kitty and Miriam had already drawn their oars up into the boat, and +Mr. Fred let his trail idly in the water as he listened. + +When they had finished the last stanza, Winnie said, "Aunt Kitty, won't +you and Uncle Fred sing 'Juanita' for us? The moon is just rising behind +those trees, and this is the very time for that duet." + +"What a romantic little thing it is!" said Fred, teasingly; but he +joined his sister in the pretty duet, which has been sung on the water +so many times as almost to be considered a boating song. After this they +took to their oars again, and, pulling hard against the stream, advanced +silently but rapidly. + +Presently Mr. Fred, with a strong pull on his left oar, turned the boat, +in spite of Fannie's hold on the rudder, and it shot suddenly in toward +the right bank, where was a little beach in a sheltered cove under an +immense willow tree. Here Mr. Fred jumped out, and, after making the +boat fast to the tree, assisted the other members of the party to +disembark. + +"Follow me!" he commanded, starting up the bank, which here sloped +gradually to the water's edge. + +The little company soon reached the top of the bank. The moon, nearly +full, had just risen, and by its light, struggling with that of the +dying day, they saw a little path leading up the green hillside. Along +this they went, single file, wondering where Mr. Fred and Miss Kitty +were taking them, when suddenly they were startled by the bark of a +dog, and in a second a great mastiff jumped up almost to Mr. Fred's +shoulders, and nearly knocked him down by the force of the spring. + +Winnie was struck dumb with fear, and the other girls screamed, but Mr. +Fred said, in a tone which quite reassured them: + +"Down, down, Jasper! Don't let your joy make you forget your manners." + +Jasper wagged his tail as if to say, "All right, sir," and trotted along +the path, with Mr. Fred's hand on his head. + +The path wound about through the trees, and when they reached the top +of the hill they saw a large white house, and coming towards them a tall +young man, who called out cheerily: + +"We've been looking for you for the last half hour. Come right along. +Nellie and Rob can hardly contain themselves, they have been so afraid +you wouldn't come." + +He led the way around the house, and soon had ushered the new-comers +into a large, square parlor with long windows opening on a broad +veranda. + +"Nellie, Rob," he said, "here are the 'Warrior Maidens,' of whom you +have heard so much." + +The two children, Nellie about fourteen, and Rob a few years younger, +bowed bashfully, and then looked appealingly at their elder brother, as +they sat down on the two chairs farthest removed from those occupied by +their guests. The moon was now above the tree tops, and shone into the +room brightly through the long windows. + +[Illustration: They passed unto an enchanted country.--See page 75.] + +"A glorious night for a game of hide-and-seek," said the older brother +suggestively, in answer to an unspoken appeal of the younger ones. + +"And this would be a grand place for it," said Miss Kitty. "I used +to think a game of I-spy on a moonlight night the finest thing in the +world. Suppose we try it now?" + +"Yes! yes!" they all exclaimed; and, headed by their young hosts, rushed +out of doors, and for half an hour made the hills echo with their shouts +of merriment. + +Such places as there were in which to hide!--a dark corner in the +grape arbor, a nook in the vine-covered summer-house, a deep-shadowed +projection from the stable or house or veranda: such chances to "make +home" around the house, which stood in the center of the yard! Miss +Kitty generally came in first, but once, after long searching, she +was found in the hollow of a tree into which she had crawled, and from +which, being caught in her own trap, she had to be pulled out by the +united efforts of her brother and niece. + +Then Miss Kitty declared that it was high time they should start for +home. But when they went into the house to get their wraps, they found +the smiling mother of their hosts waiting for them with a great bowl of +strawberries, picked, she said, just before the sun went down, and which +they must really try. It was not a difficult task to persuade the guests +to do this, and after they had all done full justice to the berries and +the accompanying cake and rich, sweet milk, they set forth to embark for +home, escorted to the river by the entire family of their new friends. + +The row home was enjoyed even more, if that were possible, than the one +thither. The moon was now high in the sky, and hill and tree and rock +and dimpling wave were beautified by its enchanting glamour. + +They all felt either too tired, or too happy, or both perhaps, to talk, +and the trip was made almost in silence, although Miss Kitty stopped +rowing once, and quoted softly: + + "And the cares that infest the day, + Shall fold their tents like the Arab, + And as silently steal away." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +SAD NEWS. + + +The next morning Winnie wakened early and lay for some time thinking +over the pleasure of the evening before and the events of the past six +months. It seemed to her as if a long time had elapsed since the evening +on which she began to look upon life as something of a battle-field. +She felt older, and yet light-hearted, as the gentle air of late May, +stealing in through the open window, lightly stirred the thin curtains +and brushed her face "like the breeze from an angel's wing," she +thought. + +"How happy we all have been!" she said aloud. "And Ernestine--I wish she +had been with us last night--is the happiest of all, because she is the +best." + +Then she dozed off again, and did not awake until she heard little Ralph +calling at her door: "Hurry up, 'Innie! B'eakast is 'most weady!" + +She sprang out of bed in haste then, and was in the dining-room in time +to take her seat with the rest. + +"'He maketh the storm a calm, and the waves thereof are still,'" she +quoted when it came her turn to give her selection. She had chosen this +one for its gentle beauty. + +How pleasant it all was! How full of life and joy everything seemed, +even to the carnations in the center of the table, with their spicy +odor! + +She performed her Saturday morning duties cheerfully, and after lunch +asked permission to take her books and go to Ernestine's to look over +the lessons for Monday, for the end of the year--their last year in the +Intermediate--was rapidly approaching, and, their course being almost +completed, they would soon begin the heavy review in preparation for the +high-school examination. + +Permission was readily granted, and Winnifred started off with a light +heart. When she reached Ernestine's home, a gentleman came down the +steps and passed out of the door just as she was about to enter the +hall, so, somewhat surprised, she went up the stairs more slowly than +usual and knocked softly. It was opened by a strange lady, who, in +answer to Winnifred's inquiry for Ernestine, said: "Ernestine is with +her mother, who is so ill that the doctor says she must either have a +trained nurse or go to the hospital." + +"Oh, I must go right home and tell mamma!" said Winnie, and she went +away without another word. + +When she reached home, she found her mother in the sitting-room doing +the week's mending. On hearing her daughter's sad news she hurriedly +changed her dress and set out at once for Mrs. Alroy's. + +She was gone an hour--an age, it seemed to Winnifred, unsuccessfully +struggling to keep her mind on her lessons. When Mrs. Burton returned, +her face was very grave, and she drew Winnie toward her with a warm +embrace as she said: + +"Mrs. Alroy has decided to have a nurse; she says she has saved a little +money for just such an emergency and prefers to be at home where she can +have Ernestine with her. She asked me to send for Mr. Allen." + +"Fannie's father?" said Winnifred, surprised. + +"Yes, and I want you to go there now and leave a note for him." And +seating herself at her desk, Mrs. Burton wrote a short note while Winnie +was getting on her hat. + +Winnie felt very sober--and, it must be confessed, also somewhat +important--as she hurried away to deliver the note. She found Mr. Allen +at home, and, having sent up the note by the servant who answered the +bell, she asked for Fannie, for she longed to talk the matter over with +one of her mates. But Fannie, from her room at the head of the stairs, +had heard Winnifred's voice, and now came running down to meet her. + +"What is it, Win?" she said. + +"Oh, Fannie," was the reply, "I'm afraid something awful is going to +happen at Ernestine's house! Her mother is very, very sick. I went there +this morning just as the doctor was coming away, and he said she must +either go to the hospital or have a trained nurse. Mamma went over right +away, and now Mrs. Alroy has sent for your father." + +"For papa! Isn't that strange? Come up to my room, Winnie, and stay +awhile, can't you?" + +"I don't know," said Winnie, hesitatingly. "Mamma didn't say for me to +hurry--" + +"Well, come on then," said Fannie, leading the way up the softly +carpeted stairs. + +Winnie followed with scarcely a glance around. Although Fannie's father +was much wealthier than her own, and his house finer in every way, her +heart was too full for much interest in fine ornamentation; and besides, +child though she was, she instinctively felt that culture and true +refinement are at home anywhere. + +But it was the first time she had ever been in Fannie's own room, and +this she found interesting in spite of the emotions which had troubled +her heart during the day. It certainly was a charming nook, with its +pink-curtained bed half hidden behind a large four-fold screen with the +Seasons painted in oil upon its panels; the pretty white dressing-table, +draped to match the bed, and filled with the dainty accessories of +a girl's toilet; a low, well-filled book case and desk combined; the +pretty matting and rugs; and the many pictures and other ornaments here +and there. + +The girls sat down on a little willow seat, large enough for two, and +Winnie had to begin all over again and tell what she knew about Mrs. +Alroy's illness. In the meantime they heard Mr. Allen descend the stairs +and go out of the street door before Fannie had time to call to him. + +"I wonder if papa has gone to Mrs. Alroy's now," said she. "Whatever can +she want of him? Perhaps she is going to have him make her will." + +"But why should she do that?" said Winnie. "She can't have much to leave +to anybody; and, if she had, Ernestine would be the only one to get it, +wouldn't she? But what would Ernestine do if her mother should die? Who +would take care of her? You know she has always said she would teach +when she had finished school, and it will be years before she does that. +Do you know, if the worst should happen, I'd love to have her stay with +us, and I almost believe mamma would be willing." + +"I think that would be a good deal for your family to do," was the +answer, "but maybe papa would help." + +"I don't believe Ernestine would be helped by anyone unless she did +something in return. But how long I am staying! I must go right away." + +"Oh, stay just a minute longer," said Fannie. "I want to show you my +hanging garden;" and she threw up the long window and stepped out to +a little balcony, almost filled with flowers in pots and boxes, and +baskets full of vines drooping over all. + +"Oh, how lovely!" exclaimed Winnie. + +"Yes, isn't it? I care more for this than anything else I have," Fannie +replied, breaking off a bunch of heliotrope and pinning it to her +friend's dress. + +"Oh, thank you!" said Winnie. "But now I must go." + +"Yes, I suppose you must," said Fannie, reluctantly. "I'll put on my hat +and go a ways with you." + +They went down the stairs and out into the street together, talking +alternately--as people do under such circumstances--of trivial things +and of that which filled their hearts. + +When Winnifred reached home, she found her mother seated at the open +window of the sitting-room, darning a pair of stockings--a homely enough +occupation, but to Winnie's eyes her mother had never looked so dear or +so beautiful, and she went and put her arms about her neck. Her mother +returned the embrace, holding her close for a moment, and then she said +gently: + +"Have you your lessons for Monday, dear?" + +"Oh, mamma," said Winnie, "it does not seem to me as if I can ever study +again!" + +"Is there any nearer duty, Winnie?" + +"I don't know--I suppose not. But, mamma, I can't put my mind on my +lessons, when Ernestine's mother is so sick." + +"Can you help Ernestine any by neglecting your own duties, dear? You +do not recognize Giant Despair when he comes in the guise of love and +sympathy for your friends, but he it is who comes at these times. You +know in Whose hands are the issues of life and death, of health and +sickness. You cannot help Ernestine's future by worrying over her +present; but you may mar a portion of your own by neglecting your +present." + +Winnie could not help knowing that her mother was right. She took out +her books, and was soon so hard at work that her disturbed emotions +were quieted, and by supper time, though still full of sympathy for her +friend, she was quite herself again, and ready to play the accompaniment +to the new piece her brother was learning. And when she went to bed, +it was to sleep peacefully, rather than to lie awake fighting unseen +terrors, as Mrs. Burton well knew would have been the case with her +high-strung child had she been allowed to brood over the events of the +day. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW. + + +The next day at breakfast Mrs. Burton announced her intention of going +to see Mrs. Alroy instead of attending church, and said that if she +were not home to dinner they might know she had thought it necessary to +remain. + +"Mayn't I go with you, mamma?" asked Winnifred. + +"I think it would not be best for either Ernestine or yourself, Winnie, +and certainly not for Mrs. Alroy." + +Winnie at once saw that her mother was right, and instead of demurring, +she went and gathered some beautiful clusters of lilacs for Ernestine, +and cut the one white rose in bloom on her window-sill to send to Mrs. +Alroy. + +Mrs. Burton set off, taking a basket of fruit and the flowers, but she +sighed as she turned the corner leading to Mrs. Alroy's, for she felt +that the fruit would never refresh the world-weary woman for whom it was +intended. + +When she reached her destination she glanced apprehensively up to the +second-story windows, for, although she said nothing about it to Winnie, +she had on the previous day given up all hope of Mrs. Alroy's recovery. +But the sorrowful banner which she had dreaded to see was not there, and +she breathed more freely as she passed up the stairs. + +In answer to her low knock the door was opened by Ernestine, who smiled +as Mrs. Burton took her hand, a sad little smile of welcome which went +to her visitor's heart. + +"Mamma is resting quite easily now, but she passed a painful night. I +will tell the nurse you are here. How beautiful the flowers and fruit +are!" she said, as Mrs. Burton handed the basket to her. + +"Yes, dear; the lilacs are for you--you know their odor is too strong +for a sick-room--but Winnie sent this rose from her own little monthly +to your mother." + +Ernestine's lips quivered, as she took the rose without speaking, and +went into the little bedroom, closing the door gently behind her. + +Mrs. Burton found a vase, which she filled with water to put the lilacs +in, and sat down to await the nurse's coming. She had not long to wait. +The nurse, entering, closed the door behind her as softly as Ernestine +had done, and motioned Mrs. Burton to follow her into the little +kitchen. + +"There is not the slightest hope," said she, in answer to Mrs. Burton's +anxious inquiry. "The doctor says it may be a matter of hours only, +although she may live for some days yet. It is neuralgia of the heart +and she has been suffering exceedingly. However, she is resting easier +now--which is not a good sign, you know--and wants to see you. She has +asked me to send her daughter on some little errand, because she wants +to see you alone." + +They entered Mrs. Alroy's room together, and Ernestine, at a sign from +the nurse, followed her out of the room. Mrs. Alroy took Mrs. Burton's +outstretched hand, and for a moment neither spoke. Then the former said +quietly: + +"Please sit down, Mrs. Burton, for I have much to say to you. And I +cannot speak long at a time, so you will have to be patient with me. You +are not in a hurry?" + +"My dear Mrs. Alroy, I have the day at your disposal. Do not hesitate to +command me." + +"You know something of my past life--so I found out yesterday. I need +not touch upon it further. It is past now and I no longer regret it. But +it is of the future I wish to speak. Not my own--that lies beyond our +knowing--but of my daughter's--" + +The sick woman put her hand over her eyes a moment, and Mrs. Burton +walked to the window to fight back the tears which were fast rising to +her eyes. Mrs. Alroy was the first to regain control of herself, and as +Mrs. Burton resumed her seat, she went on: + +"I had a long talk with Mr. Allen yesterday. He knows my family and I +have placed my affairs in his hands. I have no doubt that Ernestine +will be taken care of, but it is of her immediate future that I wish to +speak. I would not have her go among strangers at once, and I am about +to ask a great favor of you. The child loves you next to myself; your +daughter is her dearest friend--" + +"Winnifred feels it an honor to be thought so. Nothing would please both +of us, all of us, better than to have Ernestine make her home with us +for as long a time as she may desire." + +"You give me courage to die. You could almost give me courage to +live--but not quite. Yes, that is what I wish to ask of you, but only +for the remainder of the school year. Preparing for the high-school +examination will occupy my little girl's mind and help her to bear the +separation, and after that--in the shadow of death pride vanishes, and +I have requested Mr. Allen to write to my brother. They will settle +everything else." She sank back on her pillows and closed her eyes +wearily. + +Mrs. Burton could not immediately command her voice, but laid her hand +gently on that of the sick woman. The latter, without opening her eyes, +continued: + +"I shall not last long; this pain has too constantly been hovering about +my heart; it cannot be driven back again; it must soon strike its last +blow. But I do not fear it; it will be sharp but quick. Nor do I wish to +live. Even my little daughter's wonderful love for me can no longer hold +me. Besides, I know that from a material point of view she will only +profit by my departure. She does not know that, and I am all she +has--and I have not had the courage to tell her. This hard task I must +ask you to do for me. I have only a hope--to you that hope is certainty. +Your views are different; you can soften the blow as I cannot do. You +will stay here awhile?" + +"Anything I can do for you is too little." + +"I have been loquacious, but I had long restrained myself. What time is +it?" + +"Half past eleven." + +"Ernestine will soon be here, and I will tell her to make a cup of tea +for you." + +"Oh, no--" + +"Yes, it will give her occupation and relieve the strain. There she is +now." + +Ernestine came in with soft footsteps. "How do you feel now, mamma?" she +asked gently. + +"Quite easy, dear. I think I shall sleep for a little while. Mrs. Burton +will stay to lunch, and you may make a cup of tea for her and yourself. +The nurse will stay with me now; you can call her." + +The nurse came, and Mrs. Burton and Ernestine left the room together. + +After the sad little lunch Mrs. Burton, summoning up all her courage, +spoke. + +"Ernestine," she said, "your mother has asked me to tell you something +which she would gladly spare you knowledge of, but which you must know. +She is going on a long journey, from which she can no more return to +you. But you will one day go to her." + +Ernestine's great eyes dilated wildly. "You mean that my mother is +going--" + +"My dear, my dear! Your mother walks in the valley of the shadow of +death, yet she fears no evil. You--and I and all who love you and +her--are enveloped in its gloom, but if she fears not passing to the +Unknown, shall we fear for her or for ourselves?" + +"I cannot do without my mother, Mrs. Burton! I cannot! I cannot! She is +all I have--all I want!" and the girl burst into a tempest of tears. + +Mrs. Burton gathered her up in her arms and let her weep undisturbed for +some minutes. Then she said gently: + +"Your mother wants to go. If she could live longer, she would seldom be +free from pain. Besides, it is God's will." + +"Oh, my mother! my mother!" And Ernestine dropped upon her knees. + +Mrs. Burton went out and left her, knowing that the stricken child's +hope was in a Comforter greater than herself. + +When Ernestine went in later, pale but quiet, her mother turned toward +her with a smile. + +"Kiss me, my daughter, my baby!" she said, "and be at peace, as I am." + +The windows of the little bedroom faced the west, and toward evening +Mrs. Alroy asked the nurse to draw back the curtains. "It has been a +stormy day," she said, "but the sun is setting clear. I think I will go +to sleep." + +And she closed her tired eyes, and "fell on sleep" without being touched +by the dreaded pain. + +When they knew that it was indeed all over, they led Ernestine away, and +she allowed them to put on her hat and went submissively home with Mrs. +Burton. + +When she returned to her own home again, the little room had been +transformed into a bower of flowers, and Mrs. Alroy slept under their +fragrant covering, beautiful and serene, with a smile on her lips. +Ernestine was met on the threshold by a tall, handsome man, who put his +arms about her and said how glad he was to see his little niece. He had +come at once in response to Mr. Allen's telegram. + +All was quiet and beautiful. A dozen or so friends gathered to listen +to the sweet words of farewell to the dead and of benediction to the +living; and then Mr. Van Orten took his sister home with him, that she +might lie beside her kindred in the little old village on the banks of +the Hudson. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +A BUSY MONTH. + + +Mr. Van Orten left his niece behind him reluctantly, but Mr. Allen had +convinced him that his sister had decided wisely, and that nothing +could be better for Ernestine during the coming month than the calm and +cheerful atmosphere of Mrs. Burton's home. Ernestine's own cot had been +brought and placed in Winnie's room, and the two girls were tucked in +every night by the same motherly hands. Little Ralph took Ernestine +at once into his affections, made her smile at his quaint fancies and +cunning little tongue, and his father and brother treated her as if she +had always been one of them. + +The end of the school year was rapidly approaching, and there was a +great deal of work to be done. Ernestine and Winnie were both anxious +to do honor to their school and to the teachers who had worked with +them hard and patiently, so every minute was occupied in some way, and +Ernestine had no time for unhealthy grieving. + +On Saturday afternoons Fannie and Miriam and Gretta came to Mrs. +Burton's, and they all went over the week's work together. Sometimes +Mr. Allen and Fannie came and took Winnifred and Ernestine for a drive +through the beautiful suburbs, and one evening they had another row on +the river with Uncle Fred and Aunt Kitty. + +And so the weeks wore away and brought the bright June day when they +all walked together to the high-school to take their examination +seats. Their hearts beat high with hope and courage, and swelled with +self-importance not altogether to be made light of; for it had been +their aim for many months to gain this last fight of their school year +on the very field on which they would plant their banners of occupation +if they won. And win they felt sure they would, for this was but the +supreme test to prove the force and earnestness of what had gone before. + +"On, on to victory!" laughed Miriam each morning, waving her hands high +above her head. And "On, on to victory!" laughed the four other girls, +echoing her cry. + +How they worked that week, their young heads bent over their papers, +while their young eyes carefully perused those wonderful "printed +questions"! The five, so different in manner, but so alike in aim and +purpose--Ernestine, calm, deliberate, direct; Fannie, thoughtful but +rapid; Gretta, neat, painstaking, and a little anxious; Miriam, dashing +ahead impulsively, scratching out a word here or inserting one there, +doing twice to thinking once, but thinking that once well; and Winnie, +absorbed, thorough and confident--were noted with interest by the +stranger teachers watching them, for they had learned to work with a +definite aim which showed itself in their very attitudes. + +They took the questions home with them, and each day the five might +be seen at the home of one or the other, again going over the work, +replying one at a time and sometimes all at once to the oft-repeated +query, "How did you answer this?" or "Did you prove that?" + +Sometimes the group was joined by one or more of their other classmates, +and once Josie Thompson, wearing her brightest dress and biggest pin, +called to them as she passed: "Isn't this a horrid old examination? I +know I won't pass, and I don't care if I don't. My mother says if I fail +she'll take me out of school, and I'll be glad of it. I can't see any +fun in digging every minute, and what's the use of all this high-school +stuff anyhow! I can have a better time without it." + +And on the last day she waved her hands to them across the street and +shouted: "Good-by, girls! I know it's all up with me!" + +"Poor Josie!" said Ernestine, after they had gone home; "trying so hard +to have a good time, and missing it after all." + +"Yes," said Mrs. Burton, laying her hand gently on the girl's head, +"like the dog in the fable, she is losing the substance to grasp at the +shadow." + +"Tell me about the dog in the table, Ernie," said Ralph, pulling at +Ernestine's dress to attract her attention. + +"I don't think I know, you little dear!" she said, laughing gently at +his mistake. "We must ask your mamma to tell us both." + +"Then 'Innie must hear, too!" said the child, running to the door to +call his sister. + +It was what Miriam called a "delicious" evening, and after tea she and +Fannie and Gretta came strolling over to talk about the events of the +week and reassure each other that "all was well." Ralph looked upon each +of them as his own particular friend and in a sense his charge, and +so he now proceeded to enlighten them on the subject of the dog in the +fable as follows: + +"There was a dog and a table," he said, "but I don't know what the table +was for, because he didn't eat on a table, you know, 'cause he was on'y +a dog; but he stealed a bone, and he was wunning away wid it over some +watah, and saw his shadow looking like anudder dog wid a bone, an' he +was so greedy dat he dropped his bone to get de bone of de odder dog +in de ribber, and so he lost his own bone and didn't get any odder, and +Josie Thompson didn't get any bone eider." + +"Oh, Ralph," said Winnie, "you tell everything you know, besides much +that you don't!" + +How the girls laughed when Winnie explained! And all the more as +laughter came easy to them, with hearts light from the consciousness of +a well-spent year which had brought its reward. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +A TRIP TO MAMMOTH CAVE. + + +One evening, shortly after the examination, Fannie said to her father: +"Papa, I want to invite the club for a last meeting before Ernestine +leaves us. I wish I could have something in the way of a treat different +from anything we have had." + +"I don't know about that. Your mother is so busy getting ready for the +summer, and we are going away so soon, that I hardly see how we can +arrange it." + +Fannie looked at her father in blank dismay. But he went on unmoved: + +"In fact, Fannie, I have been thinking that these meetings, as you call +them, are becoming somewhat monotonous." (Fannie's eyes opened wide.) +"No, I don't think we can have it at all." + +This was too much, and Fannie's speechless indignation found voice: +"Papa Allen, I didn't think this of you!" Then, seeing the well-known +twinkle in his eyes, she perched herself on his knee and said, "Now, +papa, what are you up to?" + +"Well, as the immortal Peter Pindar says, as reported by McGuffey, +'I love to please good children,' and as you have all been 'kind and +civil,' I have concluded to give you what I call a grand treat. So +prepare for a shock." + +"Go ahead, papa. I'm not afraid of it at all; what I was afraid of +was--none." + +"Well, what do you say to my taking all of you, the whole company of +warriors, to Mammoth Cave?" + +Fannie sprang from his knee and fairly danced around the room for joy. +Then she quieted herself and said, "When, papa?" + +"Just before the Fourth, I think. Your mother and I will go, and +possibly Ernestine's uncle, who will be here by that time; and I thought +we might invite 'Miss Kitty,' of whom I have heard so much." + +So it came about that on a warm afternoon in July, a party of eight, +escorted to the boat by several friends, ascended the narrow staircase +of the steamboat, and made themselves comfortable on deck until the +"All aboard!" was heard, when the escort hurried down the stairs to the +wharf. + +When the boat had floated entirely out of sight of the waving +handkerchiefs of their friends, the party, taking their hand luggage, +went into the cabin to find their staterooms and deposit their +belongings. They had four staterooms in all. Fannie and Miriam occupied +one communicating with that of Fannie's parents; and Ernestine, Gretta, +Winnie and her Aunt Kitty had another similar suite. This duty over, +they went on deck to enjoy the sweet, fresh air from the river and the +beautiful scenery along its banks. + +Just after the short landing which had been made at Lawrenceburg, supper +was called, and they were all ready to respond. The colored waiters were +delighted to find such a party of young girls, and served them with the +utmost alacrity, anticipating every want in a delightful manner. + +After supper they sat on deck till long after dark. Mr. Allen and Mr. +Van Orten were exchanging reminiscences of their college days; and +later, joined by Mrs. Allen, of summers passed at beautiful Lake George +and in the White Mountains. To all of this the remainder of the party +listened with absorbing interest. However, the air, which had first +given them so good an appetite for supper, now made them sleepy, so that +by ten o'clock the girls had all climbed into their narrow berths and +were soon sound asleep. + +They had breakfast on the boat, so were ready to continue their +journey by rail without interruption. After a pleasant ride through a +picturesque country they reached Cave City, where they were transferred +to a tram--an engine and one coach--which took them first up and then +down hill over a road cut right through the woods, so that in some +places the trees almost interlaced over the top of the coach. It was +most delightful to all the party, and would have been only too short had +it not been for what was to follow. It formed a fit introduction to the +sublime and wonderful results of Nature's long and patient work which +they were to see. Therefore, in spite of the novelty and beauty, they +were glad to reach the hotel, a long, rambling, wooden building, so +unlike anything the girls had ever before seen that the short stay +within its quaint rooms, with their bare floors and whitewashed walls, +was in itself an experience long to be remembered. + +After a night's refreshing sleep they were ready to start out bright +and early for the first day's adventures. With many girlish giggles they +arrayed themselves in the costumes provided by the Cave management--the +short woolen skirts and loose blouses carrying with them a delightfully +free and unconventional feeling--and then, at the sound of the gong, +set forth with their guide; Mr. and Mrs. Allen in the lead, close behind +them Miss Kitty and Miriam, next Fannie and Gretta, then Ernestine +with one hand locked in that of her uncle and the other tightly holding +Winnie's fingers, while the interesting and friendly dog, "Brigham,"--so +called, the guide explained, because he was no longer young--divided his +attentions between them, but seemed most inclined to make friends with +Miss Kitty, who was accused of having a piece of meat in her pocket as +the only way to account for her mysterious fascination for his dogship. + +They had a short but beautiful walk through the fern-decorated woods, +down a steep path, over a little bridge, till they found themselves on +a stone platform directly in front of an enormous opening in the hill, a +natural arch overhung with trees, rocks, ferns and wild-flowers--a sight +never to be forgotten, so wonderfully beautiful and grand was it--and +the party stepped back to admire it. + +When they went forward again in order to enter, they saw that what was +an arch above was a gaping chasm below, which looked ready to swallow +them, and down which there seemed no way to go except to fall headlong. +Their guide watched their dismay with amusement, but presently Miriam +discovered a narrow flight of steps cut out of the solid rock. Down +these they went, shaded by the trees, under the sparkling cascade, +beneath the black, overhanging rock, winding their way along to where +the last bit of daylight is swallowed up, and then, with various kinds +of sensations, watched the guide unlock the iron gate through which they +were to pass on their way to the mysterious region of the nether world. +As they took their lamps and the gate closed behind them with a clang, +Miriam confided to Miss Kitty that she felt little shivers running up +and down her back. + +As the darkness became more intense, Winnie slipped away from Ernestine +to her Aunt Kitty, whose hand she seized with a breath of relief, as if +feeling safer there; and Gretta and Fannie clung closely together. + +As they advanced, the sense of mystery increased, and for a minute +the girls huddled together in a bunch. Brigham, however, sniffed once +more--a little contemptuously, according to Miss Kitty--and then ran +ahead on side trips of his own, returning to the party from time to +time as if to reassure them that everything was all right and they +might place implicit confidence in his knowledge of the Cave and his +friendship for them. + +Their first stop was made in the Rotunda in order to examine the +saltpeter vats, in which Ernestine, in keeping with her liking for +history, was much interested when she heard that the saltpeter made here +was taken to Philadelphia to be used in the manufacture of gunpowder +during the war of 1812. + +Presently they entered Methodist Hall--so named, as they were assured +by their guide, "because it's a heap too dry for the Baptis'." In this +place was the natural pulpit from which--so tradition says--Booth once +delivered Hamlet's soliloquy. + +Next they came to Gothic Avenue, where their way lay along piles of +stone erected by admirers of famous men, States, and so on. There was +one little pile which seemed to have been neglected, and Miss Kitty +asked whose it was. On being told that it was the Old Maid's Monument, +she exclaimed: "I shall find nothing nearer my heart!" and, picking up a +stone, carefully balanced it on the top of the pile. But in spite of her +care, it rolled off. "That's a shore sign, Miss, that you ain't gwine to +be a ole maid." + +"Can it be!" she said, as the elders of the company laughingly +congratulated her. "Once more I feel a breath of hope." + +By and by they reached Register Hall, which has been aptly described as +a huge autograph album, for on its ceiling, smoked by burning candles, +can be found names and addresses from all parts of the world, while +address cards are placed in numberless nooks and crevices. Here Gretta +sat in the arm-chair in which, so it is said, Jenny Lind once sat and +sang. + +The next thing which pleased all of them, and particularly Fannie, was +the water clock--a tick-tock sound made by the dropping of a little +stream of water into a pool below--and they all laughed at William when +he said, "But it ain't a eight-day clock, because it runs down every +twenty-four hours." + +When they saw the Giant's Coffin they looked upon it with awe--for it +was a gruesome sight enough--until Mr. Allen said in a loud aside to Mr. +Van Orten: + +"This is the coffin in which the Warrior Maidens deposit the bodies of +their victims." + +Mrs. Allen smiled faintly, but Miss Kitty--more at Mr. Van Orten's +puzzled expression than at the speech itself--laughed outright. Winnie +and Ernestine had not heard, and Gretta hardly knew whether to laugh or +be offended, until Fannie and Miriam, catching the joke, re-echoed Miss +Kitty's laugh. + +From a crevice behind the Giant's Coffin they went slipping and sliding +down an incline, and then up and down, till they came to a small, round +opening in what seemed to be a solid wall. "Stay here," said the guide; +and he disappeared through the hole with his lights. Then he called to +them, and, peering through the aperture, they found it to be a natural +window opening into a great, beautiful chamber--Gorin's Dome, considered +by many, said the guide, to be the finest room in the Cave, with its +immense extent, measuring two hundred feet from floor to ceiling, and +covering an entire acre of space. + +From here they went to the pits, and, standing on the Bridge of Sighs, a +lowered ball of flame showed them that they were directly suspended over +the deepest, known as the Bottomless Pit. Winnie and Gretta caught +their breath quickly, and Ernestine's hand tightened on her uncle's arm; +indeed, the whole party was glad to get away from that dangerous spot. + +The next place visited, however, made up to them for any amount of hard +travel or moment of terror. Having retraced their steps till they came +to the original passage, they went on for some distance until told by +their guide to rest for a moment on a convenient stone seat, and wait +there until he called to them. He then took away all of their lamps and +disappeared. For a moment they felt the darkness something frightful, +but before it had lasted long enough to be painful, they saw a vision +overhead of numberless stars shining down upon them from a cloudless +dome. + +That which for one moment in the darkness had almost provoked a cry of +terror from more than one of the party, became a cry of delight; and +then Mrs. Allen wondered aloud how they could see the stars so far below +the surface of the earth. But even as she spoke, the scene changed. +They no longer saw a clear sky, but the stars disappeared behind heavy +clouds, and then they were again in that indescribably awful darkness. +But gradually a soft light was seen, and they heard the bleating +of sheep and the lowing of cattle as they wake in the early dawn. +"Beautiful! Beautiful!" they said, and were almost sorry when they found +out that these sounds were produced by their guide, who turned out to be +something of a ventriloquist, and that the stars and rosy dawn are but +optical illusions called forth by skillful manipulation of the light +thrown on the crystals which sparkle in the dome with its coating of +black oxide of manganese. + +From here they wended their way back, followed by Brigham, who had +waited for them on the road to the Star Chamber, feeling that they had +experienced and seen enough for one day. + +They rested all that day and the next, doing nothing that required more +exertion than short walks through the woods or promenades along the wide +galleries which surrounded both stories of the hotel. Here they swung +hammocks, and rested in the open air between their little walks. + +But on the third day all the members of the party again set out for +the Cave, starting in the morning, for they were warned that going and +returning it would be a sixteen-mile walk. Presently they found that +the road they had taken on the previous day diverged, and soon they were +going through the Valley of Humility leading into Fat Man's Misery, a +place but eighteen inches wide, five feet high, and changing direction +eight times. Through the one hundred and five yards of this place they +twisted and crawled, until they reached Great Relief. Here they stopped +to congratulate Mrs. Allen, the stoutest of the party, and Mr. Van +Orten, the tallest, on having successfully passed this ordeal. + +On again, now ascending a flight of stairs to a higher gallery, now +descending to one below, always surprised at finding the immense columns +piercing through from the highest galleries down to the very lowest of +the five levels of the Cave. They passed through Bacon Chamber--which +Winnie did not think at all "romantic"--and through various winding +passages, to River Hall, where all the waters of the Cave collect, and +where they gazed with awe on the deep lakes. Then they came to the +Dead Sea, surrounded on all sides by massive cliffs, from which they +descended by means of a stairway to the banks of the River Styx, which +the party crossed by a natural bridge to Lake Lethe; then along the +Great Walk, with its fine, yellow sand, to Echo River. Here they found a +boat waiting for them, and, embarking, were paddled along over the clear +water--thirty feet deep--singing, whistling, and shouting to waken the +echoes from the rocky walls on either side, until it seemed--so Miss +Kitty said--as if "Echo had been transferred from her former mountain +home, with all her nymphs." + +But no, it was not the Mountain Echo, but her unknown sister who dwelt +in these underground regions, as their guide proved to them by striking +the long vault with his cane; for it had its own keynote, which excited +harmonies of wonderful depth and sweetness, each sound being prolonged +many seconds. + +Here, too, they saw the eyeless fish, and Gretta even went the length +of pitying them, until Miss Kitty told her that, as they were not "fish +with little lanterns on their tails,"--which she had once heard given as +an explanation of some phosphorescent phenomenon on an ocean trip--and +so could not see in those dark waters even if they had eyes, she need +not waste her pity. + +Soon they reached Washington Hall, and perceived a waiter, who had been +following them at a distance, emerge from the gloom, bringing with him +a great basket of lunch. This was a pleasant surprise, and they +partook heartily of the generous repast, unmoved for the time by their +gnome-like surroundings in the semi-darkness of this great chamber, so +dimly lighted by the various lanterns and torches. + +Beyond this place they found the crystalline gardens, where the crystals +take the form of flowers and vines, and even grapes--as in Mary's +Vineyard--and later they came upon a snowstorm in a chamber so thickly +covered with snowy crystals that they were made to fall like flakes by a +loud concussion of the air. + +And so they proceeded on their journey and came to the Corkscrew. After +a brief consultation, they decided to take this short cut out of the +Cave, instead of going over what is now somewhat familiar ground. So up +they climbed, partly by means of the three ladders, now through cracks, +again over huge boulders scattered here and there in wild confusion, now +twisting up through round holes--five hundred feet of climbing, although +they were assured by their guide that the vertical distance was only one +hundred and fifty feet. + +At last they emerged on the edge of a cliff just over the main cave, +and, as they stopped to take breath, wondered for a moment if they were +in another Star Chamber, for the stars were shining bright above them! +But no; this time it was no illusion, for though they had left the +bright sunlight behind them when they made the descent into the +lantern-lighted darkness, they had been all day in the cave, and were +indeed glad that they had saved the mile and a half walk by their ascent +through the Corkscrew. + +Altogether it was a trip long to be remembered; the more so that, at its +close, when they were all back in "dear, old, smoky Cincinnati," as +Miss Kitty fondly called it, came the first parting of the ways for the +Warrior Maidens. Not the ordinary summer parting, but one which entirely +changed the parallel grooves in which their lives had been running, at +least for one of them, for Ernestine was to go home with her uncle to +New York. The whole Burton family had become so attached to her that +they would gladly have kept her with them as a much-loved member +of their circle, necessary not only to their happiness but to their +comfort, and Ralph expressed his opinion that Ernie's uncle was a bad, +bad man. + +But, while in compliance with his sister's wish, expressed to Mr. Allen +on that day on which Mrs. Alroy had sent for him, he had waited for the +end of the school year before coming for his niece, he was now only too +impatient to take to her kindred the lovely child--the last living link +between their family and the sister whom he and his brothers had so +loved and so mourned. + +And so, one bright morning in July, the little company, each wearing her +badge of warriorhood, went to the station to see their dear friend start +on her journey. There were tearful faces on the outside of the car, and +a pale but earnest and loving face hidden behind a handkerchief on the +inside, as the train slowly moved out of the station. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +AN EXCHANGE OF LETTERS. + + +_Ernestine to Winnifred._ + + New York, Sept. 12. + +Dearest Winnifred: + +It seems a long time since I left you standing in the station, the +afternoon I said good-by to the city which had been my home. I can never +forget you nor the dear schoolmates who made my life there so pleasant, +nor the friends who took me to their hearts in my great sorrow. + +I was happy and contented in my little home, so happy with my precious +mother's care and companionship, that nothing can ever come into my life +to bring greater happiness, or greater desire to do and be good, and our +little society helped me. + +And yet, dear Winnie, I would not have my mother back to suffer. How +much she must have suffered in her isolation from her people, I never +knew until I came among them. Never could orphan have found more lovely +relatives. I inclose in this my letter to the club, to be read at your +next meeting. With my heart full of gratitude to your mother and all the +rest, I am, + + Your loving friend, + + Ernestine. + + * * * * * + +_Ernestine to the Warrior Maidens._ + +Dear Girls: + +When you read this you will all be together at Miriam's and I know +you will wish, as I do, that I could be with you. I am here at my +grandmother's home, and a beautiful place it is, with its large rooms +and fine, old-fashioned furniture. It is in a very quiet neighborhood, +which will seem strange to you when I say that it is but a few minutes' +walk from Broadway, with its crowds of people, who always seem in a +hurry. + +When Uncle Morris and I first reached New York, we went straight to +his home. His wife received me very kindly, and my cousins (one a young +lady, another a girl about my own age, and two boys younger,) were kind, +too, and they all wanted me to stay with them. But my grandparents said +they must have me, and I was glad to come, for I felt strange with so +many new cousins, and was afraid I would find it hard to fall into their +ways. + +I have such a beautiful room, all my own. It has east windows which open +over a little court, where the first thing I see when I throw back +my shutters in the morning, is a fountain sparkling in the sun, with +rainbows in its spray, and birds flying about and bathing in the pool. + +At first there was some talk of sending me to a school to prepare for +Vassar, but my grandmother said she had just found me and could not give +me up, and my grandfather--with tears in his eyes, which nearly broke my +heart, for I knew what he was thinking of--said the same thing; so I am +to have teachers right here at home, and have already commenced music +and French. + +I am sure I shall be very happy; but, for all that, I imagine you all +seated at your desks at school, or chatting with each other over your +lunch, and that makes me feel very lonely. But I mean to make the best +of my opportunities, and shall keep in mind our watchword, "Now," which +means much more to me than when we first chose it. + +I hope we will all meet again sometime, and that you will always think +of me with love, as + + Your loving + + Ernestine. + + * * * * * + +_Gretta to Ernestine._ + +Dear Friend: + +We all miss you very much, and it seems hard to wait for the "sometime" +to come when we shall see you again. + +You remember the idea of "fighting giants" seemed silly to me at first, +but I can see now that it did me a great deal of good, especially about +my school work. I never stood so well in any other examination as in the +last one for the high-school; and I never blamed myself, but always my +"music." Now I see, though, that two things may be well done as well as +one, if only we go about it in the right way. + + Good-by, + + Gretta. + + * * * * * + +_Miriam to Ernestine._ + +Dearest Ernestine: + +How we did miss you the first day of school, particularly when your name +was read as having the highest per cent. in the whole city! And after +the classes were formed, every teacher inquired for you, and all looked +disappointed when they found that you had moved away. + +Our little Winnifred was only five behind you, and not one of us stood +less than ninety. We went back to see Miss Brownlow one day last week, +and she said she was proud of us. She asked for you and sent her love. + +We are struggling with x, y, z, and in Latin have reached "uterque, +utraque, utrumque," which sounds about as sensible as onery, twoery, +etc. I feel sorry for those people who must have found it no laughing +matter to put a different ending to every word for every case, gender +and number, and I must say that for myself I like plain English. + +I saw Josie Thompson the other day, and I laughed to myself when I +thought of her trying to fight her way through such things as these. She +said she was "enjoying herself gorgeously!" + +We mean to keep up with the record of last year if we can, especially +the record of good times. + + With lots of love, + + Miriam. + + * * * * * + +_Fannie to Ernestine._ + +My Dear, Dear Ernestine: + +How strange it seems that your uncle and my father are friends, and have +almost always been friends, and that just as you and I began to know +each other you should have to go so far away! But papa says he means to +take me with him to New York during the holidays, and then I will see +you again. + +It seems strange to think that we really go to the high-school, and +it makes me feel quite grown-up and as if I ought to be dignified; but +Winnie is the same demure little puss and looks very small and childish +among so many big girls, some of whom actually wear long dresses. + +Miriam is as lively as ever, and keeps us all laughing at lunch time. +You know it isn't what she says so much as the way she says it that is +so very funny. + +But it is time for me to get my algebra lesson, so I will close now. + + Au revoir, + + Fannie. + + * * * * * + +_Winnie to Ernestine._ + +Dear Ernestine: + +We had the first meeting for this year at Miriam's last Friday evening, +and the first thing we did was to go up to Miriam's room and read your +letter. I read it out loud first, but that wasn't enough, and it passed +from hand to hand, each one reading it for herself. + +We had such a nice little meeting, and while we didn't talk quite so +much as we did a year ago about fighting giants, I think we all felt +that those we had been able to fight had made it easier for us to see +and do our duties as they came to us. + +After we had read your letter and our business meeting was over, we +went down into Miriam's yard and had a regular frolic. It was a bright +moonlight night, and we had games and told stories and old riddles and +tried to make up new ones--but didn't succeed very well--and by and by +Miriam's brother came out with an enormous watermelon on a great, big +tray. It was a warm night--you know how warm it is sometimes here in +September--and I don't know which we enjoyed most, eating the cool, +refreshing fruit or snapping the seeds at each other. + +We all miss you very much. Ralph still asks when you are coming back, +and no one's paper dolls please him so much as yours did. Sometimes I +feel very lonely without you, but Aunt Kitty says she is sure you will +come to visit us some time, and that we are only twenty-four hours +apart, which does not seem so very far, does it? So I shall look forward + + Till we meet, + + Winnie. + + +THE END. + + + + +[Transcriber's Note + +The following modifications have been made: + + page + original text + modified text + + Page 6 + She began with her greatest bugbear. United States History; + She began with her greatest bugbear, United States History; + + Page 35 + their uplifted swords, their resolute mein, + their uplifted swords, their resolute mien, + + Page 44 + "you may talk, too, if you like" + "you may talk, too, if you like." + + Page 46 + She also helped put these in. and with a few kind words + She also helped put these in, and with a few kind words + + Page 77 + "A glorious night for a game of hide-and seek," + "A glorious night for a game of hide-and-seek," + + Page 85 + Little Ralph took Ernestine at once into his afleetions, + Little Ralph took Ernestine at once into his affections, +] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Girl Warriors, by Adene Williams + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL WARRIORS *** + +***** This file should be named 44133.txt or 44133.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/1/3/44133/ + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +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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