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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9161048 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #65581 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65581) diff --git a/old/65581-0.txt b/old/65581-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index d51fe80..0000000 --- a/old/65581-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4214 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Jean Craig Finds Romance, by Kay -Lyttleton - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Jean Craig Finds Romance - -Author: Kay Lyttleton - -Release Date: June 9, 2021 [eBook #65581] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Stephen Hutcheson and the Online Distributed Proofreading - Team at https://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JEAN CRAIG FINDS -ROMANCE *** - - - - - -JEAN CRAIG FINDS ROMANCE - - - - -[Illustration: FALCON BOOKS] - -_Jean Craig Finds Romance_ - -BY KAY LYTTLETON - -Jean Craig had always wanted to be an artist. But when her family had -moved to Woodhow in Connecticut, she had given up her art lessons. -Later, when she was able to resume them, she realized how important a -career was to her. But then Ralph McRae came along, and Jean found -herself unable to make up her mind as to what she wanted most. And -while Jean was trying to come to a decision, her sister Kit was having -a fine adventure of her own out West. - -_Jean Craig Finds Romance_ is filled with gaiety and humor, another -charming story of the wonderful, courageous Craigs and their family -adventures. - -Other FALCON BOOKS for Girls: - - JEAN CRAIG GROWS UP - JEAN CRAIG IN NEW YORK - PATTY AND JO, DETECTIVES - - - - -[Illustration: A startling procession came from the river.] - - - - - _JEAN CRAIG - FINDS ROMANCE_ - - by KAY LYTTLETON - - [Illustration: FALCON BOOKS] - - THE WORLD PUBLISHING COMPANY - CLEVELAND AND NEW YORK - - - - - Falcon Books - _are published by_ THE WORLD PUBLISHING COMPANY - _2231 West 110th Street · Cleveland 2 · Ohio_ - - W - - COPYRIGHT 1948 BY THE WORLD PUBLISHING COMPANY - MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - - - - -Contents - - - 1. Kit Traps a Thief 9 - - 2. I Smell Smoke 21 - - 3. The Important Letter 29 - - 4. Kit’s Plan 36 - - 5. Farewell Party 47 - - 6. “The Boy’s” Arrival 55 - - 7. The House Under the Bluff 70 - - 8. A Square Deal 86 - - 9. Hope College 98 - - 10. The Surprise 109 - - 11. The Mysterious Guest 121 - - 12. Homesick 131 - - 13. Frank Apologizes 138 - - 14. The Secret in the Urn 150 - - 15. Home Again 168 - - 16. Visiting Celebrities 177 - - 17. Frank to the Rescue 195 - - 18. Jean’s Romance 206 - - - - -JEAN CRAIG FINDS ROMANCE - - - - -1. Kit Traps a Thief - - -Kit was on lookout duty, and had been for the past hour and a half. The -windows of one of the upstairs bedrooms commanded a view of a large -part of the countryside, and from here she had done sentry duty over -the huckleberry patch. - -It lay to the northeast of the house, a great, rambling, rocky, -ten-acre lot that straggled unevenly from the wood road down to the -river. To the casual onlooker, it seemed just a patch of underbrush. -There were half-grown-birches all over it, and now and then a little -dwarf spruce tree or cluster of hazel bushes. But to the Craig family -that ten-acre lot represented profit in the month of August when -huckleberries and blueberries were ripe. - -The Craig family were newcomers to the country, newcomers in the eyes -of the natives of Elmhurst, Connecticut, for they had moved there a -year and a half ago seeking peace and rest for Mr. Craig, who was -slowly recovering from a nervous breakdown. The family’s adventures and -problems in making their home in the country were told in _Jean Craig -Grows Up_. Jean, eighteen and ambitious for an artist’s career, had -spent part of the previous winter studying in a New York art school and -her experiences there were described in _Jean Craig in New York_. - -Sixteen-year-old Kit, in whom the spirit of adventure ran high, was -watching suspiciously a trim-looking, red-wheeled, black-bodied truck, -driven by a strange man, as it pulled up at the pasture bars and -stopped. The man took out of the truck not a burlap bag, but a tan -leather case and also something else that looked like a large box with -a handle on it. - -“Camouflage,” said Kit to herself, scornfully. “He’s going to fill them -with our berries, and then make believe he’s selling books.” - -Downstairs she tore with the news. Her twelve-year-old brother Tommy -and his pal Jack Davis, nine, were out in the barn negotiating peace -terms with a half-grown calf that they had been trying to tame for -days, and which still persisted in butting its head every time they -came near it with friendly overtures. Jack, whose mother had died and -whose father had not wanted to be bothered with him, had come to live -with the Craigs after Jean and Tommy had discovered him in Nantic a few -days before Christmas, lost and alone. Tommy had immediately assumed -responsibility for Jack and protected and bossed him as if Jack were -his special property. - -Jean and Doris, who was fourteen, had gone up to Norwich with Mrs. -Craig for the day, and Mr. Craig was out in the apple orchard with -Philip Weaver, spraying the trees against the attacks of the gypsy -moths. At least, Philip held to spraying, but Mr. Craig was anxious to -experiment with some of the newer methods advocated by the government. - -Kit called her news to Tommy and he and Jack started off after the -trespasser, while she went back to telephone Mr. Hicks, the constable. -The very last thing she had said to Tommy was to put the vandal in the -corncrib and stand guard over him until Mr. Hicks came. - -“Don’t you worry one bit, Miss Kit,” the Constable of Elmhurst Township -assured her over the phone. “I’ll be there in my car in less than -twenty minutes. You folks ain’t the only ones that’s suffering this -year from fruit thieves, and it’s time we taught these high fliers from -town that they can’t light anywhere they like and pick what they like. -I’ll take him right down to the judge this afternoon.” - -Kit sat by the open window and fanned herself with a feeling of -triumphant indignation. If Jean or Doris had been home, she knew -perfectly well they would have been soft-hearted and lenient, but -every berry on every bush was precious to Kit, and she felt that now -was the appointed hour to catch the thief. - -Inside of a few minutes Tommy and Jack came back hot and red-faced, but -filled with the pride of accomplishment. - -“We’ve got him,” Tommy said, happily, “safe and sound in the corncrib, -and it’s hotter than all get out in there. He can’t escape unless -he slips through a crack in the floor. We just caught him as he was -bending down right over the bushes, and what do you suppose he tried to -tell us, Kit? He said he was looking for caterpillars.” Tommy laughed. -“Did you call up Mr. Hicks?” - -Kit nodded, looking out at the corncrib. The midsummer sun beat down -upon it pitilessly, at the end of the lane behind the bar. - -“Gosh, do you suppose he’ll survive, Tommy? I’ll bet it’s a hundred and -six inside there.” - -“Aw, it’ll do him good,” put in Jack. “Don’t you worry about him. He’s -a strong man. It was all Tommy and I could do to keep a good hold on -him.” - -“Oh, kids,” exclaimed Kit. “I didn’t want you to touch him.” - -“How else were we to catch him?” demanded Tommy. “You and your bright -ideas. Come on, Jack, let’s go back and stand guard over him.” - -Kit watched them leave rather dubiously. It was one thing to act on -the impulse of the moment and quite another to face the consequences. -Now that the prisoner was safe in the corncrib, she wondered uneasily -just what her father would say when he found out what she had done to -protect the berry patch. But just now he was in the upper orchard with -old Mr. Weaver, deep in apple culture, and she thought she could get -rid of the trespasser before he returned. - -Mrs. Gorham was in the kitchen putting up peaches. She was humming and -the sound came through the screen door. Mrs. Gorham was Judge Ellis’s -housekeeper and helped out the Craigs occasionally when an extra hand -was needed. Now that Judge Ellis had married Becky Craig, Mr. Craig’s -cousin who had engineered the family’s move to Woodhow and was always -at hand in an emergency, Mrs. Gorham was not needed as much at the -Judge’s home. Billie, the Judge’s grandson who was sixteen and Doris’s -best friend, completed the Ellis household. - -Kit slipped around the drive behind the house out to the hill road. Mr. -Hicks would have to come from this direction, and here she sat on the -ground at the entrance to the driveway, thinking and waiting. - -The minutes passed and still Mr. Hicks failed to appear. If Kit could -have visualized his trip, she might have imagined him lingering here -and there along the country roads, stopping to tell the news to any -neighbor who might be nearby. Beside him sat Elvira, his youngest, -drinking in every word with tense appreciation of the novelty. It was -the first chance Mr. Hicks had had to make an arrest during his term -of office, and as a special test and reward of diligence, Elvira had -been permitted to come along and behold the climax with her own eyes. -But the twenty minutes stretched out into nearly forty, and Kit’s heart -sank when she saw her father strolling leisurely down the orchard path, -just as Mr. Hicks hove in sight. - -Mr. Weaver limped beside him, smiling contentedly. - -“Well, I guess we’ve got ’em licked this time, Tom,” he chuckled. “If -there’s a bug or a moth that can stand that dose of mine, I’ll eat the -whole apple crop myself.” - -“Still, I’ll feel better satisfied when Howard gets here, and gives an -expert opinion,” Mr. Craig replied. “He wrote he expected to be here -today without fail.” - -“Well, of course you’re entitled to your opinion, Tom,” Mr. Weaver -replied, doubtfully. “But I never did set any store at all by these -here government boys with their little satchels and tree doctor books. -I’d just as soon walk up to an apple tree and hand it a blue pill or a -shin plaster.” - -Kit stood up hastily as Mr. Hicks drove in from the road. - -“Hello,” he called out, “How are you, Tom? Howdy, Philip? Miss Kit here -tells me you’ve been harboring a fruit thief, and you’ve caught him.” - -Kit’s cheeks were bright red as she laid one hand on her father’s -shoulder. - -“Tommy’s got him right over in the corncrib, Mr. Hicks. I haven’t told -Dad yet, because it might worry him. It isn’t anything at all, Dad,” -she added, hurriedly. “We have been keeping a watch on the berry patch, -and today it was my turn. I just happened to see somebody over there -after the berries, so I told Tommy and Jack to go and get him, and I -called up Mr. Hicks.” - -Mr. Craig shook his head with a little smile. “I’m afraid Kit has been -overambitious, Mr. Hicks,” he said. “I don’t know anything about this, -but we’ll go over to the corncrib and find out what it’s all about.” - -Kit and Evie secured a good vantage point up on the porch while the -others skirted around the garden over to the old corncrib where Tommy -and Jack stood guard. - -“My, I like your place over here,” Evie exclaimed, wistfully. “You’ve -got so many flowers. Mom says she can’t even grow a nasturtium on our -place without the hens scratching it up.” - -Kit nodded, but could not answer. Already she felt that all was not as -it should be at the corncrib. She saw Tommy stealthily and cautiously -put back the wide wooden bars that held the door, then Mr. Hicks, fully -on the defensive with a stout hickory cane held in readiness for any -unseemly move on the part of the culprit, advanced into the corncrib. -Evie drew closer, her little freckled face full of curiosity. - -“Isn’t Pop brave?” she whispered, “and he never made but two arrests -before in all his life. One was over at Miss Hornaby’s when she -wouldn’t let Minnie and Myron go to school ’cause their shoes were all -out on the ground, and the other time he got that weaver over at Beacon -Hill for selling cider.” - -Still Kit had no answer, for over at the corncrib she saw the strangest -scene. Out stepped the prisoner as fearlessly and blithely as possible, -spoke to her father, and the two of them instantly shook hands, while -Tommy, Jack, Mr. Hicks, and Mr. Weaver stared with all their might. The -next the girls knew, the whole party came strolling back leisurely, and -Kit could see the stranger was regaling her father with a humorous view -of the whole affair. Tommy tried to signal to her behind his back some -mysterious warning, and even Mr. Hicks looked jocular. - -Kit leaned both hands on the railing, and stared hard at the -trespasser. He was a young man, dressed in a light gray suit with -high laced boots to protect him from briars. He was fair-skinned, -but tanned so deeply that his blond, curly hair seemed even lighter. -He smiled at Kit, with one foot on the lower step, while Mr. Craig -called up, “Kit, my dear, this is Mr. Howard, our fruit expert from -Washington, whom I was expecting.” - -And Kit nodded, blushing furiously and wishing with all her heart she -might have silenced Evie’s audible and disappointed remark, “Didn’t he -hook huckleberries after all?” - - - - -2. I Smell Smoke - - -“I was perfectly positive that if we went away and left you in charge -for one single day, Kit, you would manage to get into some kind of -trouble,” Jean said reproachfully that evening. “If you only wouldn’t -act on the impulse of the moment. Why on earth didn’t you tell Dad, and -ask his advice before you telephoned to Mr. Hicks?” - -“That’s a sensible thing for you to say,” retorted Kit, hotly, “after -you’ve all warned me not to worry Dad about anything. And I did not act -upon impulse,” she went on stiffly, “I made certain logical deductions -from certain facts. How was I to know he was hunting gypsy moths and -other winged beasts when I saw him bending over bushes in our berry -patch? Anyhow it would simplify matters if Dad would let us know when -he expected visitors. You should have seen old Mr. Hicks’s face and -Evie’s, too. They were so disappointed at not having a prisoner in tow -to exhibit to the Elmhurst populace on the way over to the jail.” - -Mrs. Gorham glanced up over her glasses at the circle of faces around -the dining-room table. The girls had volunteered to help her pick over -berries for canning the following day. It was a sacrifice to make, too, -with the midsummer evening calling to them--katydids and peep frogs, -the swish of the wind through the big Norway pines on the terraces, -and the sound of Jack’s harmonica from the back porch. It was Friday -evening, and Mr. and Mrs. Craig had driven over to the Judge’s for a -visit. Mr. Craig had invited the erstwhile prisoner to accompany them, -but he had decided instead to keep on his way to the old Inn on the -hill above the village, much to Jean and Doris’s disappointment. - -Doris had discovered that his first name was Frank, which relieved her -mind considerably. - -“If it had been Abijah or Silas, I know I could never have forgiven -him for getting in the berry patch,” she said, “but there is something -promising about Frank.” - -“Wonder if I turned out that stove,” Mrs. Gorham said thoughtfully. -“Seems like I smell something. Tommy,” she called raising her voice, -“will you see if I turned out that fire under the syrup? I smell smoke.” - -“OK,” called Tommy. - -He got up slowly from his seat on the back steps and sauntered into the -kitchen. The minute he walked in there poured out a spurt of flame and -smoke from the woodwork behind the stove, and Tommy slammed the kitchen -door and ran for a pail. - -It seemed incredible how fast the flames spread. Summoned by his -outcry, the girls opened the door leading into the kitchen from the -dining room and quickly shut it again when they saw the flames. Tommy -and Jack pulled the garden hose around to the back door and played the -stream of water on the fire. - -Mrs. Gorham made straight for the telephone, calling up the Judge, and -two or three of the nearest neighbors for help. The Peckham boys from -the sawmill were the first to respond, and five minutes later Matt was -on the spot, having seen the rising smoke and flare in the sky from -Maple Grove, Becky’s old home. - -“You’ll never save the place,” old Mr. Peckham told them flatly. -“Everything is dry as tinder and the water pressure is low. Better -start carrying things out, girls, because the best we can do is to keep -the roofs wet down and try to save the barn.” - -While the fire was confined to the kitchen, the two older Peckham boys -set to work upstairs, under Jean’s direction. Kit had made for her -father’s room the first thing. When Jean opened the door she found her -piling the contents of the desk and chest of drawers helter-skelter -into blankets. - -“It’s OK, Jean,” she called. “I’m not missing a thing. You tie the -corners up and have the boys carry these downstairs and bring back the -clothes basket and a couple of tubs for the books. Tell Doris to take -the cat out of here.” - -“All right,” answered Jean. “And Mrs. Gorham is getting all of the -preserves out of the cellar, and Mr. Peckham says he’s sure they’ll -save the piano and most of the best furniture, but, golly, Kit, just -think of how Mom and Dad will feel when they see the flames in the sky, -and know it’s Woodhow burning.” - -“You’d better start in at mother’s room and stop thinking, or we’ll be -sliding down a lightning rod to get out of here.” - -Nobody quite noticed Jack in the excitement, but later when all was -over, it was found that he had rescued all the treasures possible, the -pictures, all the linen and family silver, and the glassware. - -As the rising glow of the flames lighted up the sky help began to -arrive from all directions. Mrs. Gorham’s thoughtfulness in telephoning -immediately brought the Judge first, with all of the neighbors that had -been at his home for the evening. Becky was bareheaded, little curly -wisps of hair fluttering around her face. - -“I made your father stay up at our place,” she told them. “You’ll all -probably have to come back with me anyhow and excitement isn’t good -for him. Besides, he wouldn’t be a bit of help around here. Seems like -they’re getting the fire under pretty good control. I don’t believe all -the house will go. It was so old anyway, and it needed to be rebuilt if -you ever expect your great-grandchildren to live here.” - -Kit noticed an entirely new and unsuspected trait in Becky on this -night of excitement. It was the only time when she had not seen her -take command of the situation. But tonight she helped Mrs. Gorham pack -all the necessary household supplies into the trailer for Matt to drive -up to Maple Grove. As soon as she had seen the extent of the damage she -had said immediately that the family must move up the hill to her own -old home, where she had lived before her marriage to Judge Ellis. - -“It won’t take but a couple days to put it into shape for you, and -Matt’s right up there to look after things. You’ll be back here before -the snow flies, with a few modern improvements put in, and all of you -the better for the change. Jack, go bring the family treasures from -under that pine tree, and put them in the back of our car.” - -“You know, Becky,” Kit exclaimed, “I thought the minute you showed up -down here tonight you’d be the chief of the fire department.” - -Becky laughed. “Did you, dear? Well, I’ve always held that there are -times and seasons when you ought to let the men alone. After you’ve -lived a lifetime in these parts, you’ll know that every boy born and -bred around here is taught how to fight fire from the time he can tote -a water bucket. Did you save all the chickens, Tommy?” - -“Didn’t lose even a guinea hen!” Tommy assured her. “The barn wasn’t -touched, and so I’m going to sleep over the harness room and watch -the cow and her calf and the mare. Jack will stay too, and keep me -company.” - - - - -3. The Important Letter - - -The morning after the fire found the family at breakfast with the -Judge’s family. It was impossible as yet for the girls to feel the full -reaction over their loss. Kit and Billie rode down before breakfast to -look at the ruins, and came back with an encouraging report. The back -of the house was badly damaged, but the main building stood intact, -though the charred clapboards and wide vacant windows looked desolate -enough. - -“It was a good thing the wind was from the south and blew the flames -away from the pines,” said Kit, dropping into her chair at the table. -“Doesn’t it seem good to get some of Becky’s huckleberry pancakes -again? Oh, yes, we met my prisoner on the road. He was tapping chestnut -trees over on Peck’s Hill like a woodpecker. You needn’t laugh, Doris, -’cause Billie saw him too, didn’t you, Bill? And he’s got a sweet -forgiving nature. He waved to me and I smiled back just as though I’d -never caught him in our berry patch, and had Tommy lock him up in the -corncrib.” - -“Was he heading this way?” the Judge asked. “I want him to look at my -peach trees and tell me what ails them.” - -“Tom will be glad to go up with you to the peach orchard,” put in -Becky, “I want Jean and Kit and their mother to drive over and help fix -Maple Grove.” - -The family had taken up its new quarters at Maple Grove before a -week had passed, and two of the local carpenters, Mr. Horace Weaver, -Philip’s brother, and Mr. Delaplaine, had been persuaded to devote -a portion of their valuable time to rehabilitating Woodhow. It took -tact and persuasion to induce these men to desert their favorite -chairs on the sidewalk in front of Byers’ Grocery Store, and approach -anything resembling daily toil. There had been a Squire in the Weaver -family three generations back, and Horace held firmly to established -precedent. He might be landed gentry, but he was no tiller of the -soil, and he secretly looked down on his elder brother for personally -cultivating the family acres. - -Mr. Delaplaine was likewise addicted to reverie and historic -retrospect. Nothing delighted Billie and Doris so much as to ride down -to the store and get a chance to converse with both of the old men -on local history. Mr. Delaplaine’s mail, which consisted mostly of -catalogues, came addressed to N. L. Delaplaine, Esq., but to Elmhurst -he was just Niles Delaplaine. - -Every day that first week found the girls and Tommy down at the old -home prying around the ruins for any lost treasures. Frank Howard -struck up a friendship with both the Judge and Mr. Craig, and usually -drove by on his way from the village. He would stop and talk for a -few minutes with them, but Kit was elusive. Vaguely, she felt that the -proper thing for her to do was to offer an apology for even considering -him an unlawful trespasser. When Frank would drive away, Jean would -laugh at her teasingly. - -“Gosh, why do you act so high and mighty? He seems very nice and he’s -awfully good-looking, even if he does chase caterpillars for a living. -I never did see anyone but you, Kit, who hated to acknowledge herself -in the wrong. The rest of us all have the most peaceful, forgiving sort -of dispositions, but you can be a regular porcupine when you want to -be.” - -“It could come from Uncle Bart,” retorted Kit. “Did you hear them all -talking about him over at the Judge’s while we were there? Let’s sit -here under the pines a minute until the mailman goes by. I’m sick of -poking over cinders. Becky said he was the only notable in our family. -Dean Barton Cato Peabody. We ought to tell Mr. Delaplaine that.” - -“Sh-h,” warned Jean, “he might hear you and it would hurt his -feelings.” She glanced back over her shoulder to where Mr. Delaplaine -worked, taking off the outer layer of charred clapboards from the front -of the house. - -“Still it is nice to own a dean, almost as good as a squire,” repeated -Kit placidly. - -“I didn’t pay much attention to what they were saying about him,” said -Jean dreamily. “Is he still alive?” - -“He is, but I guess he might as well be dead as far as the rest of the -family is concerned. Becky said he’d never married, and he lived with -his sister out in the middle west somewhere. Not the real west--I mean -the interesting west like Saskatchewan and Saskatoon and--you know what -I mean, Jean?” - -Jean was particularly interested in Saskatoon for it was there that -Ralph McRae lived. Ralph, who was twenty-five, had been the owner of -Woodhow before the Craigs bought it and the first summer they were in -Elmhurst, he had come to visit them and was immediately attracted to -Jean. He had returned last spring with Buzzy Hancock, his cousin and -a great friend of Kit’s, who had spent the year with him. Then he had -gone West again, taking Buzzy’s sister, Sally, and Mrs. Hancock with -him to make their home in Saskatoon. Jean missed him very much, more -than she would admit to Kit or the others, and she looked forward to -his frequent letters. - -“There comes the mail,” called Jean, starting up and running down the -drive as the truck came in sight. The carrier waved a newspaper and -letter at them. - -“Nothing for you girls today, only a letter for your father and a -weekly newspaper for Matt. I’ll leave it up at the old place as I go -by.” He added as a happy afterthought to relieve any possible anxiety -on their part, “It’s from Delphi, Wisconsin.” - -Kit stood transfixed with wonder, as he passed on up the hill. “Jean,” -she said slowly, “there’s something awfully queer about me. That -letter was from Uncle Barton Cato Peabody.” - -“Well, what if it is?” asked Jean, shaking the needles from her blouse. - -“But, don’t you get the significance? I was just telling you about him -and now there’s a letter from him for Dad.” - - - - -4. Kit’s Plan - - -It appeared that Uncle Bart lived strictly up to tradition, for it had -been over fifteen years since any word had been received from him. The -letter which broke the long silence was read aloud several times that -day, the girls and Tommy especially searching between its lines for any -hidden sentiment or hint of family affection. - -“I don’t see why he tries to be generous when he doesn’t know how,” -Doris said musingly. “I wonder if he’s got bushy gray hair.” - -“Wait a minute while I read this thing over carefully again,” Kit said. -“I think while we’re alone we ought to discuss it freely. Mother just -took it as if it were of no consequence. It seems to me, since it -concerns us vitally, that we ought to have some selection in the matter -ourselves.” - -“But Kit, you didn’t read carefully,” Jean interrupted with a little -laugh. “See here,” she followed the writing with her fingertip. “He -says, ‘Send me the boy.’ That means Tommy.” - -“Yes, I know it does, but Mom said she didn’t want Tommy to go now. She -said he’s too young to go off alone.” - -“Well then, that scotches the deal as far as the rest of us are -concerned.” - -“I don’t see why I can’t go,” said Kit rather sadly. “I should have -been a boy anyway, I’m more like Dad than any of you.” - -“No matter what you say,” Jean replied, “I don’t think you’re -especially like Dad at all. He hasn’t a quick temper and he’s not the -least bit domineering.” - -Kit leaned over her tenderly. “Darling, am I domineering to you? Have -I crushed your spirit? I’m awfully sorry. I didn’t mean that my bad -habits were inherited from Dad. What I meant was my initiative and -craving for something new and different. Just at the moment I can’t -think of anything that would be more interesting or adventurous than -going out to Uncle Bart’s, and trying to fulfill all his expectations.” - -“Thought you wanted to go out to the Alameda Ranch with Uncle Hal more -than anything in the world, a little while ago. You’re forever changing -your mind, Kit.” - -“Golly, I wouldn’t give a darn for a person who couldn’t face new -emergencies and feel within them the surge of--of--” - -“We admit the surge, but would you really and truly be willing to go to -this place? I don’t even know what state it’s in.” - -There was a footstep in the long hallway, and Mr. Craig came into the -living room. - -“Dad,” called Doris, “were you ever in Delphi, where Uncle Bart lives?” - -Mr. Craig sat down on the arm of Jean’s chair and lit his pipe. - -“Just once, long ago when I was about eight years old. We, that is, my -mother and I, stayed for about a week at Delphi. It’s a little college -town on Lake Michigan, perhaps sixty miles north of Chicago on the big -bluffs that line the shore nearly all the way to Milwaukee. Uncle Bart -helped to establish Hope College there in Wisconsin. I don’t remember -so very much about it, though, it was so long ago. I seem to remember -Uncle Bart’s house was rather cheerless and formal. He was a good deal -of a scholar and antiquarian. Aunt Della seemed to me just a little -shadow that followed after him, and made life smooth.” - -Kit listened very closely to every word he said, and Jean was looking -up at him seriously. - -“I don’t think,” continued their father easily, “that it would be a -very cheerful or sympathetic home for any young person. Your mother is -right in not wanting to let Tommy go.” - -“Oh, but Dad, gee,” Kit burst out eagerly, “Think what a challenge it -would be to make them understand how much more interesting you can -make life if you only take the right point of view.” - -“Yes, but supposing what seemed to be the right point of view to you, -Kit, was not the right point of view to them at all. Everyone looks at -life from his own angle.” - -“Aldo always said that, too,” Jean put in. “Remember, the boy from -Italy I met when I was in New York last winter? I remember at our art -class each student would see the subject from a different angle and -sketch accordingly. Aldo said it was exactly like life, where each one -gets his own perspective.” - -“But you can’t get any perspective at all if you shut yourself up in -the dark,” Kit argued. She leaned her chin on her hands. “Now just -listen to this, and don’t all speak at once until I get through. You -went away, Jean, to New York, and though maybe I shouldn’t say this, -you came back home very much better satisfied and pleasanter to live -with. I think after you’ve stayed in one place too long you get fed -up and wish there were some way to get away somewhere. I haven’t any -special talent for art or anything like that, but I’d like to get away -and see something different for a change. And Dad darling, if you would -only consent to let me go for even two or three months, I will come -back to you a perfect angel, besides doing Uncle Bart and Aunt Della -oodles of good.” - -“It sounds right enough, dear,” Mr. Craig said, his gray eyes full of -amusement, “but we can’t very well disguise you as a boy, and Uncle -Bart is not the kind of person to trifle with.” - -Kit thought this over seriously. - -“Don’t tell them until I’ve started,” she suggested, “and be sure and -mail the letter so it will get there after I do, and send me quick, so -they won’t have any chance to change their minds. Jean will be here and -you really and truly don’t need me here at all.” - -“Well, I don’t know what to say, Kit. I’ll have to talk it over with -your mother first. I wonder why Uncle Bart wanted Tommy specially.” - -“Maybe he thought a boy would be more interested in antiques. Are they -Chinese porcelains and jewels, or just mummy things?” - -“Mostly ruins, as I remember,” laughed her father. “When he was young, -Uncle Bart used to be sent away by the Geographical Society to explore -buried cities in Chaldea and Egypt.” - -“I wish I could coax him to start in again, right now, and take me with -him,” Kit exclaimed, blithely. “Anyhow, I’m going to hope that it will -come right and I can go. Can I borrow your trunk Jean? Just write a -charming letter, Dad, sort of in the abstract, thanking him and calling -us ‘the children’ so he can’t detect just what we are, then when I -depart, you can wire them, ‘Kit arrives such and such a time.’ They’ll -probably expect a Christopher, and once I land there, and they realize -the treasure you have sent them, they will forgive me anything.” - -Uncle Bart’s letter was read over again carefully by Mrs. Craig. Kit -carried it out to the grape arbor where she was shelling peas for -dinner. - -“Just read that letter over, Mom, very, very carefully, and see if -there isn’t some way you can smuggle me out to Delphi, without hurting -Uncle Bart’s feelings.” - -Mrs. Craig took the letter and together they read it again-- - - My dear Thomas: - - I trust both you and Margaret are enjoying good health, and that this - finds you both facing a more prosperous time than when I heard last - from you. - - It has occurred to both Della and myself that we may be able to - relieve you of part of your responsibility and care, at least for - a short time. If the experiment should prove advantageous to all - concerned we might be able to arrange a longer stay. One suggestion, - however, I feel privileged to make. We would prefer that you would - send the boy, as you know this is a college town, and I am sure - it would broaden his views to come west, even for a short time. I - need hardly add that we will do all in our power to make his stay a - pleasant and profitable one. - - Another point to consider is this. I would like to interest him in a - few of my little hobbies, archaeology, geology, etc. I have delved - deeply into the mysteries of the past, and feel I should pass on what - I have learned as a heritage to youth. - - Trusting that you and Margaret will be able to coincide with our - views in the matter, I remain, - - Yours faithfully, - Barton C. Peabody. - -“You know, Mom,” here Kit slipped her arm persuasively around her -mother’s shoulder, “you’ve always said yourself that I was more like a -boy. And Buzzy says I’m an awfully good pal, and he’d much rather talk -to me than any of the boys around here because I understand what he’s -driving at.” - -“I don’t think it would matter, if you only visited them for a couple -of months, but supposing Uncle Bart took a fancy to you.” Mrs. Craig’s -eyes twinkled as she watched Kit’s grave face. - -“You mean,” she said, “supposing he decided that my brain measured up -to his expectation and they wanted me to stay all winter? Couldn’t I go -to school there, just as well as here? You ought to realize, Mom, that -I’m really not a child any longer. I’m sixteen.” - -“Reaching years of discretion, aren’t you,” smiled her mother. “I -suppose it would do you a lot of good in a broadening way to go through -a new experience like this.” - -“I’m not thinking about that.” Kit sent back an understanding gleam of -fun, “but I’m perfectly positive that it would do Uncle Bart and Aunt -Della an awful lot of good.” - -“Then we shouldn’t deprive them of the opportunity. Do you think so, -Matt?” - -Matt stuck his head through the vines and clustering leaves. “Couldn’t -do no harm either way, s’far as I can see,” he said. “And if the old -folks need any sort of discipline, I’d certainly start Miss Kit after -them.” - - - - -5. Farewell Party - - -That was the end of August. Becky approved of the plan, and said no -doubt the fire down at Woodhow had been a good thing after all. - -“You were all of you settling down into a rut before it happened, -and the old place needed a thorough going over anyhow. You know -you couldn’t have afforded it, Tom, if it hadn’t been for the fire -insurance money coming in so handy. Now, you’ll all move back the first -part of the winter, with the new furnace set up, and no cracks for the -wind to whistle through. Jean will be here and I don’t think Kit’s a -bit too young to be going off alone. Land alive, Margaret, you ought -to be so thankful that you’ve got children with any get-up to them in -this day and age. The Judge and I were saying just the other night it -seems as if most of the young people up around here haven’t got any -pluck or initiative at all. They’re born to feel that they’re heirs of -grace, and most of them are sure of having a farm or wood lot in their -own right, sooner or later.” - -So the trunk stood open most of the time, and Kit prepared for her trip -to Delphi. Mr. Craig was inclined to take it as rather a good joke on -the Dean, but Mrs. Craig could not get over a certain little feeling of -conscience in the matter. The rest of the family pinned its faith on -Kit’s persuasive adaptability. - -Tommy was a little disappointed at first not to be going, but then he -thought of leaving Jack behind. He knew that Jack would be sure to get -into trouble if he weren’t there to look after him and he was extremely -proud of his responsibility. Doris dreaded going back to school without -Kit. - -“Lucy Peckham will go over with you,” Kit told her cheerfully, “and -just think of the wonderful letters you’ll have from me, Doris. Miss -Cogswell says that I always shine best when I’m writing, and I’ll tell -you all the news of Hope College. By the way, Dad told me last night -that he’s pretty sure in those little family colleges they run a prep -department, which takes in the last two years of high school. Perhaps -I could persuade them that the great-grandniece of Barton Cato would -be a deserving object of their consideration. Don’t forget to pack my -skates, Doris. I let you have them last, and they’re hanging in your -closet.” - -Becky decided to have a farewell party, two nights before Kit left, -and the girls and Tommy were delighted. Any party launched by Becky -promised novelty and excitement. - -They danced in the living room to the tune of the records on the -phonograph. In the library, some of the younger ones were playing -forfeits. Abby Tucker was giving out forfeits, sitting blindfolded on a -chair. - -It happened that Doris’s little turquoise for-get-me-not ring was the -particular forfeit dangling over Abby’s head, when Billie stuck his -head in at the open window, and Abby lifted her chin at the sound of -his voice. - -“She must catch Billie Ellis, and bring him back to kneel at my feet, -and hand over his forfeit.” - -Billie had evaded this, whirling about in the driveway and speeding -down the long lane with Doris in fast pursuit. Overhead the mulberry -trees met in a leafy arcade, and out of the hazel thicket a -whippoorwill called, flying low down the lane after the two darting -forms, as if it were trying to find out what the excitement was about -at that time of night. At the turn of the lane there were three apple -trees, early Shepherd Sweetings, and here Billie slipped down and lay -breathing heavily, his hands hunting for windfalls in the tall grass. -Doris passed him by, speeding the full length of the lane and bringing -up at the end of the log run before the old mill. - -“Billie Ellis, you come out of there,” she called. “I’ve got my shoes -wet already chasing after you, and I’m not going to climb all over -those old timbers hunting for you.” - -Only the whippoorwill answered, calling now from a clump of elderberry -bushes close by the water’s edge, and while she stood listening, there -was the dull splash in the pond where some big bullfrog had taken alarm -at her coming. - -Billie gathered a goodly supply of apples, and stole after her in the -shadows. - -“Well, I’m not going to stay out here all night waiting for you,” Doris -said, addressing the wide dark entrance to the mill, when all at once -there came his voice, directly behind her shoulder. - -“Why didn’t you try to catch me? I was resting back under the apple -tree. Let’s sit down over the falls and eat some apples. If Abby’s -waiting for me to kneel in front of her, she’ll wait all night. I’d -like to see myself kneeling in front of a girl!” - -The words had hardly left his lips, before Doris played an old-time -schoolgirl trick on him. Catching him by his collar, she twirled him -about with an odd twist until he knelt in front of her. Although Billie -was older than she was, she had managed to catch him off guard. Billie -shook himself ruefully when he rose. - -“You always catch a guy when he’s not expecting anything,” he said. - -“Do you good,” she retorted serenely. “Ever since you went away to -school, you’ve had a high and mighty opinion of yourself. I hope you -get over it. Aren’t these apples swell, though? Do you suppose they’ll -mind very much if we stay just a few minutes? Don’t you love this old -pond, Bill? Remember your flat-bottomed boat that always leaked when we -used to go fishing in it. How I hated to take turns bailing it out.” - -“Yeah. Gee, I wish I didn’t have to go back to school so soon.” - -“Wouldn’t it be strange, Bill, if either of us were famous some day? I -know you’re going to be somebody special. Maybe it will be in natural -history.” - -Billie laughed comfortably, perching himself just below her on the -heavy timbers of the old sluice gate. “Grandfather says I have a great -responsibility on my shoulders, because I’m the last of the Ellis -family. He says there’s always been an Ellis in the State Legislature -at Hartford, ever since there was a legislature, and just as soon as -I’m old enough, he’s going to send me to law school. Gee, I wish he -wouldn’t. Think of being shut up all day long in an office.” - -Far down the lane they heard the others calling them and Doris sprang -up, scattering apples as she did so. - -“I’d forgotten all about the party,” she exclaimed. “Anyway, I’m -glad we had a chance to talk. If I were you, I’d just read and study -everything I could lay my hands on about insects and things, all the -time I was in school, and then when the Judge sees that you’re in dead -earnest about it, he’ll let you go on. I heard Dad say that Mr. Howard -knew more about insects than any man he’d ever met, and that he was -considered one of the coming experts in government work. Why, Bill, -it’s just like a great scientist or doctor, who is able to discover a -certain germ that can be used as a toxin, only you doctor plants and -things.” - -“I know,” Billie agreed enthusiastically. “There’s some man who -discovered the cause of the wheat blight in the south and somebody else -figuring out what was killing our chestnuts off. Doris, you’re a swell -pal. If it wasn’t for you, I don’t know whether I’d ever have seen a -chance to study what I want to, but you encourage me.” - -Doris laughed and tagged him on the shoulder as she broke into a run. -“You’re it. Don’t give anyone else the credit for starting you off in -the way you know you ought to go. Just take a deep breath and race for -it.” - - - - -6. “The Boy’s” Arrival - - -Mr. Craig had answered the first letter from Delphi, under Kit’s -careful supervision, and the acceptance was vague enough to please her. - -It aroused no suspicions whatever in the minds of Dean Peabody or Aunt -Della. The only question was, who was to meet the child in Chicago. The -through express would leave _him_ there, and in order to connect with -the Wisconsin trains it was necessary to make the change over to the -Northwestern Depot. - -Della was far more perturbed over it than her brother. Having set in -motion the coming guest, he believed firmly that an unfaltering Fate -would direct his footsteps safely to Delphi. Barton Cato Peabody had -been peculiar all his life. He had been a strange boy, unsettled, -studious, impractical. Miss Della was his younger sister, and ever -since her youth had tried to give him all the love and encouragement -that others refused. She had followed him faithfully and happily on all -of his exploring expeditions. Perhaps one reason why these had been so -successful was because she had always managed to surround him with home -comforts, even in the wilds of the upper Nile. - -And perhaps the quaintest thing about it all was that Della herself, -no matter on what particular point of the globe she had happened to -pitch her tent, had always retained her courage, although she had faced -dangers that the average woman would have fled from. - -Their house stood on the same hill as Hope College, the highest point -in the rising ridge of bluffs along the Lake Shore at Delphi. It was -built of dark red brick, a square house with long French windows. A -grove of pine trees almost hid it from view on its street side, the -stately Norway pines that Kit loved. The back of the house looked -directly out over the lake, and the land here was frankly left to -nature. Trees, grass, and underbrush rioted at will, until they -suddenly ended on the brow of the bluff, where there was a sheer drop -to the beach. Looking at it from below, Kit afterwards thought it was -like a miniature section of the Yosemite; the sand had hardened into -fantastic shapes, and the rock strata in places was plainly visible. - -Mrs. Craig’s telegram arrived the night before Kit herself. It was -brief and noncommittal. “Kit arrives Union Station, Chicago, Thursday, -10:22 A.M.” - -“Kit,” repeated the Dean. “Humph! Nickname. Superfluous and derogatory.” - -Della took the telegram from his desk with a little smile that was -almost tremulous with excitement. “It’s probably the diminutive for -Christopher, Bart,” she said. “I think it’s a nice name. I always liked -the legend of St. Christopher. Somebody’ll have to meet him down in -Chicago. He might lose his head and take the wrong train.” - -“He’s about sixteen, isn’t he? Old enough to change from one train -to another, and use his tongue if he’s in doubt. When I was sixteen, -Della, I was earning my own living working on a farm summers, and going -to a school in the winter where we all had to work for our board. Never -hurt us a bit. The greatest trait of character you can instill in a -child is self-reliance.” - -Della had a little way of appearing to listen while her brother -expounded on any of his favorite subjects. It had grown to be a -habit with her, and she had a way of answering absently, “Yes, dear, -I’m quite sure of it,” which always satisfied him that he had her -attention. But now, she sat looking out the window and thinking, a -perplexed expression on her face. - -It had not altogether been her desire that the coming child should be a -boy, although not one word had she breathed of this to Dean Peabody. -The determination to take one of the Craig children had been a sudden -one. The Dean had been reading somebody’s theory about the obligations -of age to youth. - -“Della, my dear,” he had remarked one evening, as the two sat quietly -in the old library, “we have been leading very narrow, selfish lives, -and we will suffer for it as we grow older. We have shut ourselves away -from youth. I am seventy-four now, and what heritage am I leaving to -the world beyond a few books of reference, and my collections? What I -should do is to take some child, still in the impressionable stage, and -impart to it all I know.” - -Della glanced up with a little amused twinkle in her eyes. “But, Bart, -what about the child? Surely you would require an exceptional child for -such an experiment. One who would have the mentality to grasp all that -you were trying to impart to it.” - -The Dean thought this over, pursing his lips and tapping his knuckles -with his rimless glasses. “Possibly,” he granted, “and yet, Della, -surely there would be far more credit attached to planting the seed of -knowledge where it needed much cultivating. It has surprised and amazed -me up at the college to find that usually the children who appreciate -an education are the farmer boys, and very often the foreign element.” - -Della rocked to and fro gently. She knew her brother well enough to -understand that this had become a fixed idea with him, and the easiest -way out was to find him an impressionable child. And then, it happened -that she thought of Thomas Craig, their nephew, and all his children. -She remembered having one letter after the breaking up of the home on -Long Island. - -“You know what I think, Bart,” began Della in the bright, abrupt way -she had, “I think it would be the right thing if we took one of the -Craig children. There are four or five of them--” - -“Boys or girls?” interrupted the Dean. - -“Well, now I’m not quite sure, but if my memory serves me, I think -there’s a boy among them. I know the eldest one is a girl. They’re all -of them over ten, I’m sure. Why don’t you just write to Thomas and make -known your willingness? I am sure they would take it in the spirit in -which it was offered.” - -So this was how it happened that the Dean’s letter went forth to -Elmhurst, and produced the hour when Kit stood on the platform of the -Union Station in Chicago, looking around her to discover anyone who -might appear to be seeking a small boy. - -Gradually the long platform that led up to the concourse cleared. Kit -went slowly on, following the porter who carried her suitcase. She was -looking for someone who might resemble either the Dean or Della from -her father’s description of them. - -“As I remember him,” Mr. Craig had said, “the Dean was very tall, -rather sparely built, but broad-shouldered and always with his head up -to the wind. His hair was gray and curly. Aunt Della was like a little -bird, a gentle, plump, busy woman, with bright brown eyes and a little -smile that never left her lips. I am sure you can’t mistake them, Kit, -for in their way they are very distinctive.” - -Yet Kit was positive now that neither the Dean nor his sister had -come to meet her. She stood in the waiting room wearing a dark brown -gabardine coat with a brown hat to match. There was about her an air -of buoyant and friendly self-possession, which always endeared her to -even casual acquaintances. Therefore it was no wonder that Rex Bellamy -glanced at her several times with interest, even while his gaze sought -through the crowd for a young New England boy, bound for Delphi, -Wisconsin. - -But Kit noticed Rex Bellamy. Noticed his alert anxiety as he walked -up and down, eyeing every newcomer. He was eighteen or nineteen, and -unmistakably looking for someone. Even while Kit watched, she saw a -girl of about her own age hurry up to him. Her voice reached Kit -plainly, as she said, “I’ve looked up and down that end, and I’m -positive he isn’t there. Oh, but the Dean will lecture you, Rex, if you -miss him.” - -At this identical moment, Rex’s eyes met a pair of dancing, mischievous -ones, and Kit crossed over to where they stood. - -“I do believe you must be looking for me,” she said. “I’m Kit Craig.” - -“Oh, but we were expecting your brother,” exclaimed the other girl, -eagerly. - -“I know, but you see my brother’s only twelve,” said Kit, “and the -family thought he was too young to come. I begged to come instead. I’m -afraid the Dean made a little mistake, didn’t he? Do you think he’ll -mind so very much when he sees me?” - -“Mind?” repeated Rex. “Why, I think he’ll be perfectly delighted. My -name is Rex Bellamy, Kit, and this is my sister, Anne. We’re next-door -neighbors of the Dean and Miss Della, and as we happened to be -coming in town today they asked us to be sure to meet your--” Here he -hesitated. - -“My brother,” laughed Kit. “Well, here I am, and I only hope that -Mother’s letter reached them this morning, explaining everything. Of -course, they did write for a boy, and it takes so long for a letter to -get out here and be answered, that I told Mom and Dad I knew it would -be perfectly all right for me to come instead. Don’t you think it will -be?” - -Anne’s blue eyes were full of merriment. “Oh, golly,” she exclaimed, “I -do wish I could go back with you, so I could see their faces when they -find out. Mother and I have been here in Chicago this summer and Rex -has been living at home alone. We’ll be back in a week, so I’ll see you -then, and anyway, we’re sure to visit back and forth. I’m awfully glad -you’re a girl.” - -“But I won’t be here all winter,” Kit answered. “I’ve only come for a -couple of months. On trial, you see. Maybe it’ll be only a couple of -days, if they’re terribly disappointed.” Anne exchanged quick glances -with her brother and he smiled as he led the way to the car. - -“You don’t know the elaborate plans the Dean has laid out for your -education,” he said. “It will take you all winter long to live up to -them, but I’m sure he won’t be disappointed.” - -Kit had her own opinion about this, still it was impossible for her -to feel apprehensive or unhappy, as the car sped over toward the Lake -Shore Drive. The newness of everything after two years up in the -Elmhurst hills was wonderfully stimulating. But it was not until they -had left the city and river behind and had reached Lincoln Park that -she really gave vent to her feelings. It was a wonderful day and the -lake lay in sparkling ripples beyond the long stretch of shore. - -“Are we going all the way in the car?” she asked. - -Rex shook his head. “No, only as far as Evanston. We’ll drop Anne off, -and have lunch with Mother and then catch the train to Delphi. I have -an errand for the Dean out at the University.” - -“Gee,” said Kit, “we lived right on the edge of Long Island Sound -before we moved up to Connecticut, and ever since I was small I can -remember going away somewhere to the seashore every summer, but I think -your lake is ever so much more interesting than the ocean. Somehow it -seems to belong to you more. I always felt with the ocean as if it just -condescended to come over to my special beach, after it had rambled all -over the world, and belonged to everybody.” - -“But you have all the shells and the seaweed, and we haven’t,” argued -Anne. “Before I ever went East, we had a couple of clam shells, just -plain everyday round clam shells that had come from Cape May, and I -used to think they were perfectly wonderful because they had belonged -in the real ocean.” - -After the rugged landscape of New England, Kit found this level land -very attractive. They passed through one suburb after another, with the -beautiful Drive following the curving shoreline out to Evanston. Here -she caught her first glimpse of Northwestern University, its buildings -showing picturesquely through the beautiful trees around the campus. - -They left Rex at the main entrance and drove on to where Mrs. Bellamy -was stopping. Mrs. Bellamy was filled with amusement when she heard -the story of Kit’s substitution of herself for her brother that the -Dean had asked for. She was a tall, slender woman with blonde hair and -gray eyes, who seemed almost like an older sister of Anne’s. They were -staying in a small apartment near the campus. - -Early in the afternoon Rex returned, and they caught the 2:45 local to -Delphi. Kit could hardly keep her eyes off the beautiful scenery they -were passing through. Every now and then the rich blueness of the lake -would flash through the trees in the distance, and to the west there -stretched long level fields of prairie-land, dipping ravines that -unexpectedly led into woodland. Gradually the bluffs heightened as they -neared the Wisconsin line above Waukegan, and just beyond the state -line, between the shore and the region of the small lakes, Oconomowoc -and Delevan, they came suddenly upon Delphi. It stood high upon the -bluff, its college dominating the shady serenity of its quiet avenues. - -“The Dean doesn’t keep a car,” said Rex as they walked through the gray -stone station. “Besides, he thought I was bringing a boy who would not -mind the hike up the hill.” - -“I don’t mind a bit,” replied Kit. “I like it. It seems good to find -real hills after all. I thought everything out here was just flat. I do -hope they won’t be watching for us. It will be ever so much easier if I -can just walk in before they get any kind of a shock, don’t you think?” - -Rex did not tell her which was the house until they came to the two -tall poplars at the entrance to the drive. Kit caught the murmur of -the waves as they broke on the shore below and lifted her chin eagerly. - -“Oh, I like it,” she cried. “This is it, isn’t it? Isn’t it dreamy? I -only hope they’ll let me stay.” - - - - -7. The House Under the Bluff - - - DEAR FAMILY, - - I can’t stop to write separate letters tonight to all of you, because - I’m so full of Delphi that I can hardly think of anything else. First - of all, Rex met me at the train with his sister Anne. They live next - door and Rex is Uncle Bart’s pet educational proposition next to me. - - Mother’s letter had not arrived and they were expecting Tommy any - moment, when Rex and I walked in on them, and right here I must - say they showed presence of mind. The Dean’s eyes twinkled as Rex - explained things, and then I kissed Aunt Della, and explained to her - too, and I’m sure that she was relieved. After Rex had gone, the Dean - took me into his study after dinner, and we had a long heart-to-heart - talk. I want you all to understand that he thinks I’m a good specimen - of the undeveloped female brain. - - I am going to enter the preparatory class at the college in October, - and take what the Dean calls supplementary lessons from him along - special lines. I don’t quite know all that this means, but I guess I - can weather it. It probably has to do with cosmic makings (those were - Rex’s words) of geology and all sorts of prehistoric stuff. I know - the Dean mentioned one thing that began with a ‘paleo’ but I have - forgotten the rest of it. I’ll let you know later. - - I have a perfectly darling room. It looks right out over Lake - Michigan. There’s a big square window to it that overhangs the edge - of the bluff like the balcony of a Spanish villa. Our garden just - topples right over into a ravine that ends up short on the shore. I - never saw such abrupt cliffs in my life. Uncle Bart was showing me - the layers of strata there that a little recent landslide had shown - up, and he says that the formation is just exactly like it is out in - Wyoming and Colorado. - - Aunt Della is darling. It’s more fun to hear her tell of how she - worried over a boy coming into the family. The whole house is filled - from one end to the other with Uncle Bart’s treasures that he’s - been collecting for years. You’re liable to stumble over a stuffed - armadillo or a petrified slice of some prehistoric monster anywhere - at all. I found a mummy case in the library closet, but there wasn’t - anything in it at all, and I was awfully disappointed. I don’t know - but what I like it after all, although I miss you dreadfully. I don’t - even dare to think there are about a thousand miles between us. - - So I won’t feel too out of touch with all of you, you must promise to - write me often. Jean, I want you to tell me all that you hear from - Ralph. I strongly suspect something is going on between you two, even - though you haven’t said anything about it to me. We always talked - things over together before, so now that I’m away we’ll have to do - the discussing by letter. - - Doris, be sure to keep me posted on all the things you are doing at - school, and, Tommy, you are to give me the details on the progress of - rebuilding Woodhow. - - If you will do this, I know I’ll feel as if I’m right there at home - and I won’t be homesick at all. - - This is all I can write to you tonight because I’m so sleepy I can - hardly keep my eyes open. Aunt Della was just in to say good night. - She told me again how glad she is that I’m not a boy. Uncle Bart - hasn’t committed himself yet, but I think he’s curious about me - anyway. Good night all, and write me oodles of news. - - Love, - Kit. - -At the same time that Kit was writing home, the Dean and Della stepped -out on the broad porch. Every evening about nine-thirty passersby might -have seen the flickering glow of the Dean’s good-night cigar. His -evening cigar was a sort of nocturnal ceremonial. It gave him an excuse -to step out into the fragrant darkness of the garden walk for a quiet -little stroll before bedtime, and usually Della joined him. - -So tonight they walked together, discussing the girl with the dark -curls who had come to them from far-off New England, instead of the boy -they had sent for. - -“There’s no reason,” remarked the Dean reflectively, “why the child -should not have a pleasant visit, since she is here. I have had a -long conversation with her, and while I could not say that she was -exceptionally--er--” - -“Bright,” suggested Della. - -“I should like to call it intellectual,” the Dean said kindly, “she -is keenly impressionable and self-reliant. I think I may be able to -interest her, at least in a simplified course of study. I have always -believed that boys were more able to accept routine discipline in -education than girls, but we shall see.” - -Della’s eyes, if he could only have seen them, held a twinkle of mirth, -and her smile was a little more pronounced than usual. - -“I think,” she said, softly, “that she is a very lovable, attractive -girl. I am quite relieved, Barton, not to have a boy in the house.” - -Kit woke up the following morning with the sunlight calling to her. It -was early, but back on the farm she usually got up about six. There -did not seem to be anyone stirring yet, so she dressed quietly, and -found her way downstairs. The Dean kept a cook and gardener. Kit heard -Carrie, the cook, singing in the dining room and went out at once to -make friends with her. - -“Is it very far down the bluff to the shore, Carrie?” she asked, -eagerly. “I’m dying to climb down there, if I have time before -breakfast.” - -“Sure, Miss, it’s as easy as rolling off a log. You take the roundabout -way through the garden, and the little path behind the tool shed, and -you just follow it until you can’t go any farther, and there’s the -bluff. I haven’t been down myself, but Dan says there’s a little path -you take to the shore if you don’t mind scrambling a bit.” - -Kit waved goodbye to her and went in search of the path. She found -Dan, the gardener, raking up leaves in the garden. He was a plump, -rosy-cheeked old Irishman, his face wrinkled like a winter apple, and -he lifted his cap at her approach with a smile of frank curiosity and -approval. - -A half-grown black retriever came bounding to meet her, his nose and -forepaws tipped with white. - -“That’s a welcome he’s giving you you wouldn’t have had if you’d been -a boy, Miss,” Dan said shrewdly. “I’m glad to meet you and hope you’ll -like it here.” - -Kit was stroking Sandy’s head. His real name, Dan told her, was -Lysander. Anything that the Dean had the naming of received the -benediction of ancient Greece, but Sandy, in his puppyhood, had managed -to acquire a happy nickname. - -“I don’t see,” Kit said laughing, “why you dreaded a boy coming. I know -some awfully nice boys back home, and there’s one especially, named -Buzzy. He’s out West now. I think he’s just the kind of a boy the Dean -expected to see, but perhaps he’ll get used to me. Do you think he -will?” - -“Sure he will,” answered Dan. “If you leave it to Sandy to find the -shore, he’ll take you the quickest way.” - -Everything was so different from the Connecticut countryside. Instead -of the thick, lush growth which came from richly watered black loam, -here one found sand cherries and dwarf willows and beeches springing -up from the sand. Tall sword grass waved almost like Becky’s striped -ribbon grass in her home garden, and wild sunflowers showed like golden -glow here and there. - -The beach was level and rockless, different entirely from the Eastern -Atlantic shores, but the sand was beautifully white and fine, and there -were great weatherbeaten, wave-washed boulders lying half-buried in -the sand, also trunks of trees, their roots sticking out grotesquely -like the heads of strange animals. Kit thought to herself how the Dean -might have added them with profit to his prehistoric collection. There -was no glimpse or hint of the town to be seen down here. Not even a -boathouse, only one long pier. About a mile and a half from shore was a -lighthouse, and farther out a dark freighter showed in perfect outline -against the blueness of the morning sky. - -Kit followed Sandy’s lead, hardly realizing the distance she was -covering, until he suddenly disappeared behind a headland. When she -rounded it, she saw a cottage built close under the shelter of the -bluff. The sand drifted like snow halfway up to its windows. It had -been painted red once, but now its old clapboards were the color of -sorrel, and weatherbeaten and wave-washed like the boulders. There -were fish nets drying on tall staples driven in behind a couple of -overturned rowboats, and at that first glimpse it seemed to her as -if there were children everywhere. Four strong boys from fourteen to -eighteen worked over the nets, mending them. Around the back door there -were four or five more, and sitting in the sunlight in a low rocking -chair was an old woman. - -Sandy seemed to greet them as old acquaintances, so Kit called good -morning in her friendly way. The boys eyed her, and all of the children -scurried like a flock of startled chickens as she came up the boardwalk -to the kitchen door, but the old grandmother kept serenely on paring -potatoes, calm-eyed and unembarrassed. - -“How do you do?” said Kit, and she smiled. “I’m Dean Peabody’s -grandniece. I just came here yesterday, and Sandy brought me here this -morning. I didn’t know where he was going, but he seemed to know the -way.” - -The old woman’s brown eyes followed the movement of the dog. “He’s very -fine, that dog,” she said deliberately. “He comes very often, I’ve -known him since he was _un petit chien_, very small pup--so big.” She -measured with her hand from the ground. - -“Do you know the Dean?” Kit asked, sitting down on the doorstep beside -her. “He lives up in the big house on the bluff, where the pine and -maples are.” - -The old woman shook her head placidly. “I not go up that bluff in -forty-eight years.” - -Kit’s eyes widened with quick interest. Just then a girl a little older -than herself came out of the kitchen door. Two pigtails of straight -brown hair hung to her shoulders, and her dress was gypsy-like. She -looked at Kit with quiet, steady scrutiny, and then questioningly over -at the boys. But Kit herself relieved the tension. - -“Hi,” she said. “I think you’ve got an awfully nice place down here. I -like it because it looks old like our houses back home. All the other -places I’ve seen since I came out here have looked so newly-painted.” - -“This isn’t new,” the girl told her slowly. “This place belonged to my -grandfather’s father, Charles Flambeau. There were Indians around here -then. Most of them Ojibways.” - -Kit’s curiosity was aroused by this entirely new field of adventure to -be uncovered. The wonderful old grandmother, basking in the sun with -memories of the past. The strong, tanned boys working at the nets, the -flock of dark-skinned youngsters, and the girl, Jeannette, whom she was -to know so well before her stay in Delphi was over. - -She hurried back, eager to ask questions about the Flambeaus, and -found herself late for breakfast the very first morning she was there. -The Dean’s face was a study as she entered, and Della’s fingers -fluttered nervously over the coffee pot and cups. Kit was out of -breath, and so full of excitement that she did not even notice the air -was chill. - -“I’ve had a perfectly wonderful time,” she began. “No coffee, Aunt -Della, please. It’s all Sandy’s fault. I just wanted to run down the -bluff to the shore, and he led me way around that headland to the -quaintest old house, half-sunken in the sand, and I got acquainted with -the old grandmother and Jeannette. The boys and the little kids seemed -half-scared to death at the sight of me, and so I didn’t bother to get -acquainted with them yet.” - -The Dean looked up at her over his glasses with a quizzical expression, -and Della fairly caught her breath. - -“The Flambeaus on the shore, my dear?” she asked. “Those half-breed -French Canadians?” - -“Well, I didn’t know just what they were,” answered Kit cheerfully, -“but I think they’re awfully interesting. Don’t you think that they -look like the Breton fishermen in some of the old French paintings?” - -“The Flambeaus have not a very good reputation, my dear,” the Dean -coughed slightly behind his hand as he spoke. “The present generation -may be law-abiding, but even within my memory, the Flambeaus had a -little habit of stealing.” - -“Stealing?” repeated Kit. - -“Yes, fishing tackle and that sort of thing. Besides, there is the -Indian strain in them, and they are squatters. There have been several -lawsuits against them, and they have persisted in staying there on the -shore when the property owners on the bluff distinctly purchased shore -rights.” - -“But, Bart, the Flambeaus won all their suits, didn’t they?” asked -Della pleasantly. “I’m sure the older boys are very industrious, and I -think the girl Jeanette is strikingly attractive. You’re not really -forbidding Kit to go down there, I’m sure.” - -The Dean said something that was lost in a murmur, for he had been one -of the property owners defeated in the lawsuits by the Flambeaus. After -breakfast Kit went upstairs with Della into her own little sitting -room. This looked toward the street, out over the maple and pine-shaded -lawn. Also, it commanded a good view of the college. This was built of -gray stone and was overgrown with woodbine just beginning to show a -tinge of crimson. - -“It seems awfully queer, Aunt Della,” Kit said as she leaned out of the -window, “to think that I’m going there into the prep class. Rex said on -the way up here--” - -She leaned suddenly farther out and waved. “Hi, Rex, are you coming -over?” - -Rex glanced up at the radiant face as he came along the hedge-bordered -drive between his home and the Dean’s and waved back in neighborly -fashion. - -“I’m going up to the campus now,” he said. “Ask Miss Della if she’d -let you be in the dramatic club. There’s a meeting this morning.” - -“Could I, Aunt Della? Please say yes. I’m dying to join something. I -haven’t joined anything in ages,” Kit begged. “I can meet everyone and -get acquainted. If you don’t need me this morning--” She hesitated, but -some of her enthusiasm had caught Della, and she immediately succumbed -to the whim of the moment. - -“Why, I don’t see why not. You go on down with Rex if you want to.” - -The Dean’s desk stood overlooking the driveway. He had settled down -to his morning’s portion of work and was blocking out a curriculum of -study for Kit, when he happened to glance up, and saw the two passing -gayly through the gates. Certainly he did not realize at that moment -that already the spirit of youth was at work in the old shadowy house -behind the pines. - - - - -8. A Square Deal - - -The first batch of family letters arrived the following week. Kit -nearly knocked the mailman over as he came up the walk, for she had -been watching anxiously at each delivery. After all, it was the first -time she had been away from home, and after the first excitement and -novelty had worn off, her heart ached for news from home. - -It seemed the Dean had written to her father on the night of her -arrival, and this was a surprise to Kit. - -“It is a great relief to us all to know that you have made such a -favorable impression,” Mr. Craig’s letter read. “After all, it was an -experiment, and I confess that I was rather skeptical of the result, -knowing the Dean as I do. Try to adapt yourself as much as possible -to their life there, Kit. You must be considerate of all the Dean’s -notions, and make yourself as useful as you can while you are with them. - -“The rebuilding of the house is going along splendidly, and we hope to -have our Christmas there. I have followed the old plan, but with some -improvements, I think, putting in a good furnace, and enlarging the -dining room and kitchen. There will be an outdoor fireplace on the west -side of the house also, and I know you will enjoy this.” - -Enjoy it? Kit stared ahead of her at the shady lawn. Della was bending -over nasturtium beds gathering black seeds, but instead, Kit saw in a -vision a great hickory fire burning brightly against a black sky. Her -mother’s letter came next. Kit read it with delight. She could tell -just exactly the mood her mother was in when she wrote, just how her -conscience pricked her for having been a party to Kit’s plan. - -“Of course, while the Dean’s letter was very nice, still I am sure he -felt put upon. I am ever so sorry that we did not write sooner, and -tell them that you were coming. It rests with you now, Kit, to make -yourself so adaptable that they will forget all about wanting a boy. I -have no objection to your staying for the winter term at Hope College. -Between ourselves, dear, our plans are a little unsettled. Dad is -certain that the house will be ready for us this winter, but you know -how slowly the carpenters work. - -“Make all the friends that you possibly can. You won’t realize it now, -but so many of these friendships become precious lifelong ones. Billie -is leaving this week for school. You remember Frank Howard, who came -to look after our trees? He has been staying up at the Judge’s, and -took a great interest in Billie. Instead of going back to the school -he went to last year, Billie is going on to a school in Virginia, not -far from Washington, that Frank suggested sending him to. He is a great -believer in the value of environment that is associated with historic -traditions.” - -Kit read this last over twice, but could not agree with it at all. She -had always liked the pioneer outlook, the longing to break new trails, -the starting of little colonies in clearings of one’s own making. If -there was an ivy around her castle, she wanted to plant it herself. - -“Historic tradition?” repeated Kit. “When all around here are the old -Indian trails, and the footprints left by the French explorers. I just -wish I could get Billie out here for a little while. He’ll settle down -in some old school that thinks it is wonderful because John Smith built -a campfire on its site once upon a time, or Pocahontas planted corn in -its football field.” - -Kit sighed, tucked her mother’s and father’s letters in her suit -pocket and started off for her favorite lookout point on the bluff. -Here, with Sandy crouching at her feet, she read the three letters -from Doris, Jean, and Tommy. Jean’s was full of plans for going to New -York again. Beth, their cousin with whom Jean had stayed the previous -winter, had promised her three months at the Art Academy. - -“I’m so excited to be going back to New York again. I had a letter -from Ralph today and he asked me again if I had decided on an art -career. I don’t know what to tell him, but I am going to study this -winter anyway. Maybe I’ll find out this year whether it is worthwhile -for me to go on or not. I do know that I love Ralph, but I still have -that ambition to do something really important with my life. With the -exception of my one trip to New York last year, I have never done -anything on my own. Perhaps what I mean is, I want to be independent. - -“I shall be coming home weekends this year so I can help Mother and Dad -with the rebuilding plans. Besides, I do like living in the country -more than the city and it’s more for the studying I’m going to do there -that I want to go back to New York.” - -Kit glanced over the rest of the letter hurriedly. Becky had given a -neighborhood party and Frank Howard had interested Jean considerably, -especially because he told her he was bound for France the first of -November. Jean was always so easily impressed just the first few times -she met a person. It took Kit a long time to really admit a stranger -to her circle of selected ones, although she made friends easily. And -she had never quite forgiven Frank Howard for trespassing in the berry -patch, even though it had been in the cause of science. Besides, the -last year, Jean had seemed to grow aloof from the others. Perhaps -it had been her trip away from home or her ambition. Kit could not -precisely define the change but it was there, and she felt that Jean -troubled herself altogether too much over things unseen. - -Doris’s letter was all about the opening of school, and Tommy asked -questions about Delphi. - -“When you write, do tell us about the things that happen there, and -just what you think about it. I don’t like descriptions in books, I -like the talk part. You know what I mean. Jack and I have been helping -the carpenters at Woodhow every day after school. The house is coming -along fine and the men say we help a lot. Has Uncle Bart got any pets -at all?” - -Kit laughed over this. If he could only have seen Uncle Bart’s pets. -His mummy and horned toads, the chimpanzee skull beaming at one from -a dark corner, and the Cambodian war mask from another. It seemed as -if every time she looked around the house she found something new, and -with each curio there went a story. Oddly enough, the Dean thawed more -under Kit’s persuasion when she begged for the stories than at any -other time. After each meal, it was his custom to take a few moments’ -relaxation in his study. Kit found at these times that he was in his -best mood. Relaxed and thoughtful, he would lean back in the deep -leather chair between the flat-topped desk and the fireplace, and smoke -leisurely. Even his pipe had come from Persia, its amber stem very -slender and beautifully curved, its bowl a marvel of carving. - -Kit sat pondering over her father’s and mother’s letters. School would -begin in another week, and she was to enter the third year in high -school. And yet, after what her father had written, she felt that she -was not giving the Dean a square deal. - -The odor of tobacco came through the study window, and acting on the -spur of the moment, she stepped around the corner of the porch and -perched herself on the window sill. - -“Are you busy, Uncle Bart?” Anybody who was well-acquainted with Kit -would have suspected the gentleness of her tone, but the Dean looked -over at her with a little pleased smile. Her coming was almost an -answer to his reverie. - -“Not at all, my dear, not at all. In fact, I was just thinking of you. -I am inclined to think after all that we will begin with the geological -periods. I wish you to get your data on prehistoric peoples assembled -in your mind before we take up any definite groups.” - -“That’s all right,” Kit answered, “I don’t mind one bit. I’ll do -anything you tell me to, Uncle Bart, because,” this very earnestly, “I -do feel as if I hadn’t played quite fair. I mean in coming out here, -and landing on you suddenly, without warning you I was a girl, and I -want to make up to you for it in every possible way. I’ll study bones -and ruins and rocks, and anything you tell me to, but I want to make -sure first that you really like me. Just as I am, I mean, before you -know for certain whether all this is going to take.” - -The Dean glanced up in a startled manner and looked at the face framed -by the window quite as if he had never really given it an interested -scrutiny before. Not being inclined to sentiment by nature, he had -regarded Kit so far solely from the experimental standpoint. Since she -had turned out to be a girl, he had decided to make the best of it, -and at least try the effect of the course of instruction upon her. The -personal equation had never entered into his calculation, and yet here -was Kit forcing it upon him, quite as plainly as though she had said, -“Do you like me or don’t you? If you don’t, I think I had better go -back home.” - -“Well, bless my heart,” he said, rubbing his head. “I thought that -we had settled all that. Of course, my dear, the reason I preferred -a boy was because, well--” the Dean floundered, “because scientists -hold a consensus of opinion that through--hem--through centuries of -cultivation, I may say, collegiate development--the male brain offers a -better soil, as it were, for the--er--er--” - -“The flower of genius?” suggested Kit. “I don’t think that’s so at all, -Uncle Bart, and I’ll tell you why. You take the farm at home. Dad says -that our land in Elmhurst is no good because it’s been worked over and -over, and it’s all worn out, but if you plow deep and strike a brand -new subsoil you get wonderful crops. Just think what a lovely time -you’ll have planting crops in my unplowed brain cells.” - -The first laugh she had ever heard came from the Dean’s lips, although -it was more of a chuckle. His next question was apparently irrelevant. - -“How do you think you’re going to like Hope College?” - -“All right,” Kit responded cheerfully. “I only hope it likes me. I’ve -met a few of the boys and girls through Rex and Aunt Della, and I like -them awfully well. At home they’re nice to you if they know who you -are, and all about your family. But here it seems as if they either -like you or not. Just when they first meet you, you’re taken right into -the fold on the strength of what you are yourself.” - -The door opened with a little, light, deprecating tap first from -Della’s fingertips. She glanced around the side of it cautiously to -be sure she was not disturbing the Dean, and smiled when she saw the -two. The Dean’s pipe had gone out, and he was leaning over the desk -listening as eagerly as though he had been a boy himself, while Kit, -with her hands clasped behind her head and leaning against the window -frame, chatted. Usually people conversed with the Dean, they never -chatted, and Della realized that Kit had already passed the outposts of -the Dean’s defenses. - - - - -9. Hope College - - -Hope College was built of gray fieldstone covered with climbing -woodbine and Virginia creeper, and it dominated the little town. There -were five buildings in the campus group, the main building, laboratory, -library and gymnasium, boys’ dormitory, and chapel. - -Kit never forgot the first morning when the classes met in Assembly -Hall, and the Dean addressed them on the work and aims of the coming -year. For the life of her, she could not keep her mind on all he was -saying or the solemnity of the moment, because just at the very last -minute when the chapel chimes stopped ringing, Jeannette Flambeau -entered through the heavy doors at the back of the big, crowded hall. -It seemed as though everyone’s eyes were watching the platform, but Kit -saw the slender, silent figure standing there alone. She was dressed -in black, a soft wool suit, and her brown hair, no longer in pigtails, -hung loosely to her shoulders. She waited there, it seemed to Kit, -expectant on the threshold of opportunity, not knowing which way to go, -and without a friendly hand extended to her in welcome or guidance. - -Georgia Riggs, who sat next to Kit, glanced back to see what had -attracted her attention, and made a funny little sound with her mouth. - -“I never thought she’d have the nerve to really do it,” she whispered. -“Isn’t she odd?” - -A quick impulsive wave of indignation swept over Kit and she rose from -her seat, passing straight down the aisle without even being aware of -the curious glances which followed her. She took Jeannette by storm. - -“You’re in my class, aren’t you?” she whispered quickly. “It’s right -over here, and there’s a seat beside me. I don’t know anyone either, -and I’m so glad to see you, so I’ll have someone to talk to.” - -Jeannette never answered, but smiled with a quick flash of -appreciation, the smile which always seemed to illumine her grave face. -She followed Kit back to her seat, and Georgia exchanged glances with -her right-hand neighbor, Amy Parker. Kit was altogether too new to -realize just exactly what she had done. Being the Dean’s grandniece, -she considered herself unconsciously a privileged person. As a matter -of course, Della had accompanied her that morning and introduced -her to four or five girls in the junior prep class, who came from -the representative best families of the town. Also, as a matter of -course, she had been welcomed as one of them, but Kit, with her inborn -democratic ideas, never even realized that she occupied one of the -seats of the mighty, in a circle of the favored few, and that she had -smashed all tradition by introducing into that circle a Flambeau. In -fact, even if she had known, she would probably have been thoroughly -indignant at any such spirit among the girls themselves. - -The whole morning was taken up with the assigning of students to -classes. Kit loved the curious bustle and excitement of it all. It was -so different from the small high school back home, and there were many -more boys and girls than she had expected to see. Almost, as she passed -from room to room, through the different buildings, she wished she -were staying there as a year pupil. Amy introduced her to her closest -friend, Peggy Barrows, a girl from South Dakota, who took them up to -her quarters in one of the dormitories. - -“Gee,” Kit said, looking around her, “I wish I were going to live here. -Peggy, you’ll have to entertain us often. It’s so kind of solitary and -restful, isn’t it, up here?” - -“Solitary,” scoffed Peggy. “I’ve been here four days getting settled, -and you might just as well call the side show of a circus solitary. -There isn’t even the ghost of privacy. I’m mobbed every time I try to -sit and collect my thoughts.” - -“Who wants to collect their thoughts, anyway?” asked Amy. - -“Have you seen Virginia’s room? Wait.” Peggy darted out of her door and -across the hall. On the door opposite a card bore the legend in large -black letters: - - KEEP OUT - STUDY HOUR - -“That’s absolutely ridiculous,” she said, tapping just the same. -“Nobody’s studying today. Let us in, Ginny.” - -A sound of scraping over the floor, and muffled giggles came to waiting -ones in the hall, then the door was thrown wide, and Kit caught her -first glimpse of Virginia Parks, the most popular girl at Hope. She was -about seventeen, but a short, pudgy type, with curly rumpled hair and -blue eyes. There were five other girls with her, and papers littered -the bed, chairs, and desk. - -“We’re terribly busy, kids,” Virginia said, “What do you want?” - -“Just to look at your room. Isn’t it pretty, Kit? This is Kit Craig, -Ginny.” - -“Hope you’ll like it here,” she said. “I’m from the East, too, only not -so far as you are, but we think Pennsylvania’s east, out here. How do -you like the color scheme?” - -Kit liked it and said so emphatically. The room was in aqua and coral. -The chairs were slipcovered in a coral print on an aqua background and -the walls were grey. Kit was invited to sit down on one of the beds. - -“I wish I stayed here all the time,” Kit exclaimed. “You miss the fun, -being a day student, don’t you?” - -“Never mind,” Virginia told her, “we’ll have some special celebrations -all for you. Now clear out, kids, because I’ve got a deadline to make.” - -“Ginny’s editor of the _Spirit_,” Peg said. “Do you have any -journalistic ability, Kit?” - -“I’ve been told I write pretty well, but I never did anything in the -newspaper line.” - -“I think she should have stayed out, she doesn’t belong here,” one of -the other girls was saying in another part of the room. “None of that -family has ever amounted to anything, except in the fishing industry--” - -But Kit overheard this and interrupted point-blank. She was sitting up -very straight on the bed, with a certain expression around her mouth, -and a very steady look in her eyes. - -“Just a minute,” she said quickly. “Do you mean Jeannette Flambeau? -Because if you do, I don’t think that’s fair.” - -Virginia quickly agreed with Kit, but Peg patted her in a conciliatory -manner. - -“Now, don’t take it to heart so,” she said, “why should it matter to -you? Forget it.” - -But Kit could not be diverted, and the color rose belligerently in -Amy’s cheeks, too. - -“I don’t see why you feel you have to take Jeannette Flambeau’s part,” -she said. “If you knew all about her the way we girls do, you’d let her -alone.” - -“I don’t see how she ever came up here anyway,” Georgia remarked. “It’s -just exactly as if one of her brothers tried to come in. Do you think -the boys would stand for that?” - -“Jeepers, why shouldn’t they?” demanded Kit hotly. “And I’d like to -know what they’ve got to say about it anyway. I don’t think that’s the -college spirit. Anyone who wants an education and is willing to work -for it should be admitted.” - -“Yes, but if they had any sense at all,” responded Georgia placidly, -“they wouldn’t put themselves into a position of being snubbed. You -can talk all you want to about the college spirit from the standpoint -of Deans and faculties, but when all’s said and done, it’s the student -spirit that rules. I’ll bet that she doesn’t stay here a month. She -hasn’t anyone to help her at home and can’t afford tutoring, so she’ll -just peter out.” - -The gong sounded in the hall below for afternoon classes, so the -discussion came to an abrupt end. Kit found herself watching Jeannette. -There was a peculiar aloofness about the girl which seemed to put -almost a wall of defense around her. She was intensely interested in -everything, one could see that plainly, except the other students, and -it seemed as if she simply overlooked them. When Kit came down the -stairs, she glanced into the library and saw Jeannette in there alone, -bending down before the long wall book shelves. Across the wide hall -there were groups of boys and girls in the two long lounges, laughing -and talking together, and every couch and chair in both rooms were -filled, but Jeannette was alone. - -Jeannette was holding a volume of _Treasure Island_, illustrated -in color. She turned in surprise at the touch of Kit’s hand on her -shoulder. - -“I thought we could walk down toward the bluff together, because we go -the same way,” suggested Kit. “How do you like it here?” - -“I like it,” responded Jeannette slowly, with a certain dignified -shyness that was characteristic of her. “My mother has told me all -about it. She liked the library when she was here. She told me where -her room was upstairs, too, but I didn’t want to go up while the girls -were there.” - -“Let’s go up now, while they’re all downstairs,” Kit said impulsively. -“I’ll take you. Which dorm was she in?” - -“Her name was Mary Douglas. It’s the Douglas Dormitory. Her father was -one of the founders here, Malcolm Douglas.” - -Kit listened in utter amazement and with a rising sense of joy. Here -was Jeannette Flambeau, flouted and disdained by the little crowd -of girls who happened to live in a certain district of Delphi, but -claiming her grandfather was a founder of the college. At that very -moment Kit planned her surprise on the girls. - -As they walked through the hall together, Georgia and the others -followed them with their glances and smiled. The two paused before a -big bronze tablet with the name of the founders on it. There it was, -third from the last, Malcolm Douglas. - -“He came from Canada,” said Jeannette, “and settled here. Later on he -went into Minnesota, and on into Dakota. The family was very poor after -he died, but my mother came here for two years, and even when I was a -little girl, seven or eight years old, before she died, she used to -tell me how she loved it, and that I must come here, too.” - -“Don’t any of your brothers want to come? They’re all older than you, -aren’t they.” - -Jeannette shook her head and smiled curiously. “They are all Flambeau, -every one. They eat, and sleep and fish, that’s all.” - -Kit led the way to the upper floor, where the dorms were, and meeting -Virginia, she asked the way to the Douglas. - -“Why, you were in that one today,” answered Virginia in surprise. “It’s -our dorm, didn’t you know?” - -“Oh, thanks a lot,” Kit said with suspicious alacrity, as she guided -Jeannette down the corridor. Virginia glanced back at them both, -speculatively, wondering just what special business could take two new -day students into the most exclusive dormitory at Hope. - - - - -10. The Surprise - - -Kit deliberately planned her campaign for the following week, and the -only girl she took into her confidence was Anne Bellamy. It had been -the greatest relief when Anne returned to Delphi for the fall term. -There was something good-natured and comfortably serene about Anne that -made her companionship a relief from that of the other girls. Jean -often said back home that Kit was such a bunch of fireworks herself, -she always needed the background of a calm silent night or a placid -temperament to set her off properly. - -“Golly, Anne,” Kit exclaimed, sinking with a luxurious sigh of content -down among the cushions on the broad couch in the Bellamy’s living -room, “I’d give anything, sometimes, if I’d been an only child. Of -course, you’ve got a brother, but you’re the only girl. You don’t know -what it is to be one of four. I share my room with Doris, back home, -and all honors with Jean. Then, of course, there’s Tommy, and while we -are all crazy about each other, still you do have to elbow your way -through a large family, if you want to keep on being yourself. Did you -ever read anything of old Joaquin Miller, the poet of the Sierras?” - -Anne shook her head. - -“No, I don’t suppose you have,” Kit went on happily, “that’s one reason -why you and I are going to be terribly good friends, ’cause you don’t -know everything in creation. It seems to me I can’t speak of anything -at all at home now that Jean doesn’t know more about it than I do, or -Doris thinks she does, which is worse. Don’t mind me this morning. I -just got a family letter, full of don’ts.” - -“Yes, and you’re just as likely as not going to be homesick tomorrow,” -laughed Anne. - -“That isn’t what I really came over for. You know Jeannette Flambeau. -The kids don’t like her going to Hope.” - -“Don’t they?” Anne asked mildly. “Well, what are they going to do about -it? I thought that’s what colleges were for. Who’s against her?” - -“I don’t think it’s exactly anything definite or violent, but you know -how awfully uncomfortable they can make her. There’s Amy Roberts and -Georgia Riggs and Peg Barrows and the Tony Conyers crowd.” - -“She won’t miss anything special, even if they do try to snub her,” -answered Anne laughingly. “This is my second year at Hope, and I want -to tell you right now that Ginny rules in the Douglas dorm. If you can -get her on Jeannette’s side, the other girls will follow right along -like sheep.” - -“Do you suppose,” Kit leaned forward impressively, as she sprang her -plan, “do you suppose Ginny would lend her room for a Founders’ Tea?” - -“A Founders’ Tea,” repeated Anne. “What’s that?” - -Kit spoke slowly and with great expression, “A tea in honor of Malcolm -Douglas, pioneer founder of Hope College, and grandfather of Jeannette -Flambeau.” - -Anne’s blue eyes widened in amazement, and she gasped, “How did you -find out? Does Jeannette know?” - -“Of course she knows. She told me all about it herself, but I don’t -think she realizes what a nice handy little club of defense it gives -her against the girls. I want to spring it on them at the tea, and -you’ve got to help me get it up. We’ll coax Ginny into lending us her -room first, and I’ll look up all about Malcolm Douglas, and write -something clever about the historic founding of Hope. Then we’ll send -out mysterious little invitations, and just say on them, ‘To meet a -Founder’s granddaughter.’” - -“When?” asked Anne reflectively. “You ought to do it soon, so if it -works they’ll take her into the different clubs right away. I think you -ought to try to see Virginia today after classes and get her advice. -Another thing, Kit, do you suppose Jeannette would have any things of -her grandfather’s we could kind of spring on them unexpectedly?” - -Kit’s eyes kindled with appreciation. “That’s a worthy thought. Sort of -corroborative evidence, as it were. Anne, you’re a genius.” She jumped -up from the couch and started to leave. “I think it’s up to me to go -and prepare Virginia. You make out a list of things that we’ll want for -the tea. You’d better be the refreshment chairman, and we’ll try and -make it a week from next Saturday.” - -“Too far off,” Anne warned. “Better do it while it’s fresh in your -mind, before you start lectures.” - -“I guess I’ll go over now. It’s only a little after five, and that’ll -keep me from answering the family letters until I’ve calmed down. If -you see anyone looking for me, tell them I’ll be right back. I’ll stop -in the library and look up Malcolm’s historic record, on my way, so you -may truthfully announce I’m doing research.” - -Kit went up the hill road buoyantly. She liked to set a goal for -herself this way. Delphi had appeared rather barren as a field for her -real endeavor, but now with the opening of school, she could see her -way ahead to starting something, which she sincerely hoped she could -finish. Coming along the sidewalk that bounded the campus on the south, -she met Ginny on her way back from the post office. - -“This is ever so-much better than going upstairs,” Kit said. “Let’s -walk around the campus twice, while I unburden my soul.” - -At the second lap, the whole plan had been matured by Virginia’s quick -sympathy and understanding. - -“And it will do them good, too,” she said as they parted. “That’s not -the college spirit by a long shot, and you’re perfectly right, Kit, -but just the same it’s easier to get it across to the girls in this way -with a nice friendly accompaniment of sandwiches, and iced tea. And -whatever you do, don’t breathe a single word to anybody. I wouldn’t -even tell Jeannette herself that she is to be the guest of honor. She’d -run like a deer, if she even suspected it.” - -The date of the Founders’ Tea was set for the following Saturday. Kit -composed the invitations herself and wrote them on small cards. - - Saturday, October Second, Three to Five. - You are invited to attend a Founders’ Tea, - Douglas Dormitory, Hope College, - Virginia Parks’s Study. - -“Diffident, modest, and correct,” said Kit, critically, when she showed -them to Anne. “Now, what are you going to have to eat, Anne? Isn’t -there something besides just plain tea? Couldn’t we fix up some kind of -glorified lemonade?” - -“I’ve got it all down,” answered Anne. “Grape juice, ginger ale and -lemons. Sound good? And six kinds of sandwiches and cookies.” - -“It’s perfectly swell,” exclaimed Kit. “Aunt Della told me when I first -started in that I could give a party for the girls, and this is it. -After it is all over I’ll tell her about Jeannette, and I know she’ll -enjoy it and approve.” - -“Is Ginny going to decorate the study for the occasion?” asked Anne. -“We ought to have something sort of different, don’t you think?” - -“Pioneer stuff would be the only thing, and I don’t know where we’d -scare that up.” - -“There’s a whole cabinet of them in the Dean’s room at the college.” - -The two girls looked at each other wisely. The subject really needed -no argument or discussion. Kit said briefly, “I’ll try. I think I can -get some of them anyway if I approach Uncle Bart as a humble student -seeking knowledge.” - -All unprepared for the onslaught, the Dean sat enjoying his -after-dinner smoke that evening when Kit came to the door and knocked. - -“Come in,” he called a little bit testily, looking over his glasses at -the intruder. “I don’t think I can talk with you just now, my dear,” he -said, “I’m very busy working out a dynasty problem.” - -“Oh, but I’d love to help,” Kit pleaded, “and I did help before on the -aborigines of Japan, didn’t I? I even remember their names, the Ainos.” - -“This is early Egyptian. Something you know nothing whatever about.” - -“Just mummies?” inquired Kit. - -The Dean coughed, and turned back to the pamphlets before him. “Remains -have been discovered,” he began in quite the tone he used in Assembly, -“of the lost tribe of the Nemi. When the Greeks, my dear, obtained -a foothold in Carthage and along the Mediterranean coast, the Nemi -remained unconquered and retreated to the mountain fastnesses, west of -the source of the Nile.” - -“Well, I know all about that,” Kit answered, perching herself on the -arm of a chair, across from him. “Just see,” and she counted off on -her fingers, “Livingstone-Stanley--Victoria Falls--Zambesi--and Kipling -wrote all about the people in _Fuzzy-Wuzzy_.” - -“No, no, no, not a bit like it,” the Dean exclaimed. “My dear child, -learn to think in centuries and epochs. The long and short of it is, -there have been some very wonderful remains of the Nemi recently -discovered, and I have been honored by a commission from the Institute -to write a complete summary of the results of the expedition and its -historic significance.” - -“Don’t you wish you’d been there when they dug them up? That’s what I’d -love, the exploring part. I should think it would be dreadfully dry -trying to make bones sit up and talk, when you are so far away from it -all.” - -“They are not sending me bones,” replied the Dean with dignity, “but -they are sending me the Amenotaph urn, and a sitting image of Annui. -I believe with these two I shall be able to establish as a fact the -survival of the Greek influence in ancient Egypt. My dear, you have no -idea,” he added warmly, “how much this explains if it is true. There -may be even Phoenician data before I finish investigating.” - -“Phoenicians,” thought Kit, although she said nothing. “Yes, I do -remember about them, too. Tin--ancient Britain--and something about -Carthage.” Then she said aloud very positively and earnestly, “I know -I can help you a lot with this, Uncle Bart, if you will only let me, -because history is my favorite subject, and the reason I came to speak -to you tonight is this. We girls are going to have a Founders’ Tea, -Saturday afternoon. Just a little informal affair, but I’d like to -give it a--” She hesitated for the right word, and the Dean nodded -encouragingly, being in a better mood. - -“Semblance of verity? Are you preparing a treatise?” - -“No. I want something they can look at. And I knew if I told you about -it, you’d let us take a few of the old things out of that cabinet -in your room at the college. All I need would be--well, say a few -portraits of any of the founders of Hope, and any of the relics of the -Indians or French explorers.” - -The Dean graciously detached a key from the ring at one end of his -watch chain. - -Kit left with it as though she bore a trophy. The next day the last -preparations were completed for impressing on the girls of Hope College -the honor of having a Founder’s granddaughter in their midst. - - - - -11. The Mysterious Guest - - -“I think you ought to preside, Kit,” Virginia said as she arranged the -table. “It’s your party, and you ought to serve.” - -“Takes too much concentration,” Kit returned. “Anne’ll help you. I want -to have my mind perfectly clear to manage the thing. You see, Jeannette -doesn’t know a thing about it yet, and there’s no knowing how she’ll -take it. Wouldn’t it be funny if she got proud and haughty and marched -away from our Founders’ Tea?” - -“I don’t think you ought to spring it until after we’ve had -refreshments. Food has such a mellowing effect on people. It’s all -a question of tact, though. If I were you, I’d talk to them in an -intimate sort of way instead of lingering too much on the historic -value. Better straighten Malcolm, over there. He looks kind of topply.” - -Kit regarded the framed steel engraving of Malcolm Douglas almost -fondly. It occupied a prominent spot specially cleared for it in the -middle of the wall. - -Backed by Della’s approval and interest, Kit had called at several -homes where the descendants of other founders lived, and the results -were gratifying. Mrs. Peter Bradbury had contributed two Indian -blankets and a hunting bag, besides an old pair of saddle bags used by -an early missionary bishop in the Northwest. From the cabinet in the -Dean’s room had come mostly records, old documents carefully framed, -and several letters written by the founders themselves. - -“Golly,” Kit said as she gave a last touch to her exhibit, “of course -these are important, but I like the Indian and hunting things best. -I wish I could run away with that double pair of buffalo horns that -belonged to Dr. Gleason’s granduncle or somebody. I like them better -than anything.” - -A quick rap came on the door, and before Virginia could even call “come -in” Peggy entered with her usual galaxy behind her, Amy, Georgia, and a -newcomer from Iowa, Henrietta Jenkins. - -“Tony Conyers sent word she’d be ready in five minutes,” said Georgia. -“She’s got a lot of the girls in there with her. Ginny, I think this is -a perfectly stupendous idea of yours.” - -“’Tisn’t mine,” answered Virginia, “it’s Kit’s. This is her party. Her -coming-out party at Hope.” - -“Oh, are you the founder’s granddaughter?” Amy inquired, her eyes -opening wide. - -“No, I’m not,” replied Kit. “I wish this minute I could tell you about -my ancestors. I’ve got some beauts. Peggy, don’t sit on the almonds. -They’re right behind you in that glass dish.” - -The room filled up rapidly with people. Kit declared after she had been -the rounds four times that she felt exactly like the lecturer in a -museum, telling the history of the relics over and over again. Nobody -but Anne knew how anxious she was as the minutes slipped by and no -Jeannette appeared. It would never do to have a climax happen without -the surprise of her presence to carry it off. The refreshments had all -been served, and the clock on top of the bookshelves showed that it was -five, when Virginia called; “You’d better start in on your Founders’ -talk, Kit. We’ve only got about half an hour.” - -There was a baffled look in Kit’s eyes, as she picked up the challenge -and rose from her chair. Virginia must know perfectly well how untimely -it was to start to spring the surprise while there was a running chance -of Jeannette appearing. Still there was a hush, and the girls faced her -expectantly. - -“As you all know,” began Kit, “the old bronze tablet in the lower hall -carries names on its roll of honor which not only uphold the glory -of Hope College, but also of the entire town of Delphi, of the entire -state, I may say of Wisconsin. - -“There are few of us here today, if any,” continued Kit slowly, one eye -watching the concrete walk across the campus from the nearest window, -“who can boast of a Hope founder in her family.” - -“I can, almost,” interrupted Tony, “my sister Marie was engaged for a -little while to Bernard Giron. If she had only married him, we would -have had a ‘Founder’ in the family.” - -“Tony,” said Kit, severely, “I am dealing with facts, not prospects, -and you ought not reveal any family secrets, either. I say it is a -great honor to be a direct descendant of a ‘Founder,’ and we have one -in our class. A girl, too modest to take advantage of her grandfather’s -record.” She paused impressively, but with a quickening gleam in her -eyes, as there suddenly came in view a hurrying figure in a gray suit -on the campus walk. It was Jeannette herself, late, but in time to -create the desired sensation. - -Kit drew a deep breath, and plunged back to her subject, considering -exactly the time it would take for the belated guest to reach the study. - -“Since all the girls here belong to this dormitory, it seems -appropriate that the founder whose memory we honor should be Malcolm -Douglas. His portrait hangs on the wall, evidently taken from an old -likeness.” Oh, how she wished the family could hear her now! “There -is no more adventurous or thrilling career in the annals of historic -Delphi than that of the illustrious Scotchman. Making his way through -the perils of the wilderness, he came from Quebec with a party of fur -traders and pioneer explorers.” - -“Don’t hit too far back, Kit,” interrupted Peggy, alertly. “If he was -a founder, you can’t have him trotting over wilderness trails with -Marquette and Lasalle, you know.” - -“Nevertheless,” responded Kit, ignoring her, “he is one of the -founders of this college. He came here in his early twenties, and -married Lucia, the daughter of Captain Peter Morton. Their daughter -was Mary, and, girls, she was the mother of one of our classmates, the -very same Mary who went through Hope and graduated with high honors. -You’ll find her initials carved in Number 10 across the hall, and her -portrait--the only one I could find--is in this graduating group.” - -The girls all crowded forward to look at the group photograph which Kit -held out to them, just as a knock came at the door. For one dramatic -instant Kit held the knob, her back against the door as she announced -in almost a whisper, “The granddaughter of Malcolm Douglas.” - -The girls leaned forward, eagerly, every eye fixed upon the door. As -Kit said later to Anne, “Goodness knows who they expected to see, but -I almost felt as though I had promised them a two-headed man, and then -had sprung Jeannette. Wasn’t she marvelous, Anne? The way she stood -the introduction and the shock of finding herself the guest of honor. -As I looked at her, I thought to myself, you may be Douglas, and you -may be Morton, fine old Scotch and English stock, but if it wasn’t for -the dash of debonair Flambeau in you too, you could never carry this -off the way you’re doing.” - -Jeannette was not the only person present who had to fall back on -inherent caste for their manners of the moment, but Tony was the only -one that gave an audible gasp. Even Peggy and Georgia smiled, and -greeted the Founder’s granddaughter in the proper spirit. - -She was dressed in a plain gray suit, but Kit gloried in the way she -took her place beside Virginia at the table, and answered the questions -of the girls with laughing ease. - -“Of course,” she said, with the little slight accent she seemed to -have caught from her father and old Grandmother Flambeau, “I thought -everyone in Delphi knew. For myself, I am proud of him, and of all my -mother’s people, but I am also proud of being a Flambeau. You girls do -not know perhaps that some of my father’s people helped to found Fort -Dearborn, and they were very brave and courageous voyagers in the early -days of New France.” - -Peggy really rose to the occasion remarkably, Kit thought. Probably -the most jealously guarded membership in the prep classes was that of -the Portia Club, and yet, before the tea was over, she had invited -Jeannette to attend the next meeting and be proposed for membership. - -“We’re not going to try a whole play at first, just famous scenes, -and I know you’d fit in somewhere and enjoy it. Don’t you want to, -Jeannette?” - -Jeannette shrugged her shoulders, and said, “I shall be glad to help -always, if you wish to make me one of you.” - -“What do you think of that?” Anne said on the way home. “Kit, you -certainly have discovered a flower that was born to blush unseen.” - -“It will take her out of her shell, anyway,” Kit replied happily. “And -I do think the girls came up to the mark splendidly. How I’d like to -hear what they’re saying about us now, behind our backs, but they acted -their parts nobly when I swung that door open, and there stood, just -Jeannette!” - - - - -12. Homesick - - -No qualms of homesickness visited Kit the first two months after school -opened. Not even New England could eclipse the glory of autumn when it -swept in full splendor over this corner of the Lake States. Down east -there was a sort of middle-aged relaxation to this season of the year. - -But here autumn came as a gypsy. The stretches of forest that fringed -the ravines rioted in color. The lakes seemed to take on the very -deepest sapphire blue. No hush lay over the land as it did in the East, -but there were wild sudden storm flurries, a feeling in the air as if -there might be a regular tornado any minute. - -Hardly a Saturday passed but what Kit was included in some fall picnic -hike or else she was off to a football game. The Dean never joined -these, but occasionally Della did and thoroughly enjoyed them. And -once, toward the end of November, in the very last of Indian summer -weather, they took a weekend tour up to Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls. - -“I only wish,” Rex said, “that we could come up here next spring when -they have their big logging time. It’s one of the greatest sights you -ever saw, Kit. I have seen the logs jammed out there in the river until -they looked like a giant’s game of jackstraws. Maybe we could arrange a -trip, don’t you think so, Mom?” - -“I don’t see any reason why not,” replied Mrs. Bellamy. - -“But I won’t be here then,” protested Kit. - -“Oh, you’ll stay till the end of the spring term, dear,” Della -corrected, and right then Kit experienced her first pang of -homesickness. Would she really be away from home until next June? Even -with this novelty of recreation, backed by wealth, she felt suddenly as -though she could have slipped away from it all without a single regret, -just to find herself safely back home with the family. - -One weekend while Jean was home at Maple Grove, she and her mother -were talking together about Jean’s work. Doris and Tommy with Jack had -walked over to Woodhow to help Mr. Craig, so Jean and her mother were -alone. - -Each time Jean came home she found herself turning with a sigh of -relief and safety from the city life to the peace of the hills. It was -her comment on this to her mother that had prompted their talk. - -“Are you going to begin looking into job possibilities while you are in -New York, Jean?” asked her mother. “I think if you are really serious -about a career, you should begin getting interviews for a job next -year.” - -“No Mom,” replied Jean. “I think I have reached an important decision. -I wasn’t going to tell you until my course was over and I was positive -I was right, but I’ll tell you now since you asked. I love Ralph more -than I do a career and if he asks me to marry him, I’ll say yes. I’ve -learned to analyze my feelings and I am quite sure my love for art is -only a hobby. To have a happy marriage like yours and Dad’s is, is the -most important thing I want.” - -“You have made a wise and difficult decision, my dear,” said Mrs. Craig -tenderly. “Your father and I have felt all along that Ralph was ideally -suited for you, but we wanted you to make your own decisions first.” - -Just then, the mailman brought Kit’s next letter and Jean read it over -her mother’s shoulder. A little puzzled frown drew Jean’s straight dark -brows together. - -“She’s getting homesick, Mother. Kit never writes tenderly like that -unless she feels a heart throb. I never thought she’d last as long as -she has--” - -But Mrs. Craig looked dubious. - -“She seems to have made such a good impression. I hate to have her -spoil it by jumping back too soon. It’s such an opportunity for her.” - -Jean stopped washing the dishes and gazed out of the kitchen window -toward the fields, where none but the crows could find a living now. - -“I don’t blame her a bit if she wants to come back home before summer, -Mom. Money isn’t everything.” - -“That’s true,” sighed her mother. “But it’s a shame not to take -advantage of it when it comes your way.” - -“Just the same, if I were you, I’d write and tell Kit that she could -come home at the Christmas vacation if she wanted to.” - -But Becky took an entirely different view of the matter when she was -consulted. “Fiddlesticks,” she said. “No girl of Kit’s age knows what -she wants two minutes of the time. She isn’t needed here at all, -Margaret. Doris is getting plenty old enough to take hold and help.” - -So two letters went back to Kit, and in hers Mrs. Craig could not -resist slipping a hint that perhaps it would be a wise thing to ask the -Dean about ending her visit at Christmas time. - -But Jean added in hers, “Mother’s afraid you are homesick, or that they -may be tired of you by this time, but if I were in your place, I’d try -to stay until June. Dad thinks the house may be done in time for us to -go into it next month, but we’ve had lots of wet weather, and Becky -says it would be horribly unhealthful to move in before the plaster has -had a chance to thoroughly dry. Matt goes down every day with Dad, and -they’ve kept the fire going in the furnace, so I suppose that will help -some, but there isn’t a particle of need for your coming back, except -Mother’s dread that you may be homesick, and you’re getting too old to -mollycoddle yourself, where there’s a big interest at stake.” - -Kit read this with a frown. “It’s so nice to have been born Jean, and -speak on any subject as the oldest,” she said scornfully. “I know -perfectly well that Mom needs me when she is moving back into the new -house, and I never expected to stay so long when I came, anyway.” - -She stopped short, meditating on just what this queer, choky feeling -was that had swept over her. She knew that she would have given up -everything, the new friends she had made, and all the winter’s fun at -Hope College, just to be safely back home. - - - - -13. Frank Apologizes - - -Kit was doing some homework in the library one Saturday morning, when -all at once she was conscious of someone who stood at the west end of -the room, looking at her. For a moment Kit was absolutely speechless, -not believing the evidence of her own eyes. But the next minute -Billie’s own laugh, when he found out he had been discovered, startled -her with its reality. - -“Billie Ellis,” she exclaimed, springing to her feet and scattering -reference books and notepaper helter-skelter. “How on earth did you -ever get way out here?” - -Billie colored slightly, as he always did at any display of emotion, -and tried to act as if it were the most natural and ordinary thing in -the world for him to appear at Delphi, when he was supposed to be in -Washington in school. - -“We had our exams last week, and Frank had to come out to Minnesota for -the government, so he took me along to help him.” - -“Billie, are you really after bugs and things--I mean, are you going to -really be a naturalist?” - -“I guess you’d kind of call it being a business naturalist,” laughed -Billie. “I don’t think I’ll ever live in a shack on a mountainside, and -write beautiful things about them, now that I know Frank. You want to -roll up your sleeves and pitch in like he does.” - -“Is he here now?” asked Kit eagerly. - -“Yep.” Billie nodded out of the window toward Kemp Hall, the boys’ -dormitory. “After we found out that you didn’t live here, we were -going on down to the Dean’s to find you, but he looked over the boys’ -freshman class, and found he had a cousin or nephew or somebody on the -list, Clayton Diggs.” - -“I know him,” Kit said. “He’s awfully nice. I’ve got to be back for -lunch, and you’re coming down with me, of course. How long can you -stay?” - -“Just this afternoon. We’re going back on the five forty-five, and -catch the night express out of Chicago. If you wait here, I’ll chase -after Frank, ’cause he’ll want to have lunch with the Diggs boy, and he -can join us later.” - -Kit walked along the path which crossed the campus. The coming of -Billie unexpectedly, just at a time when she was feeling her first -homesickness, struck Kit as a rare piece of luck. But with only five -hours to visit with him, she knew it would be all the harder after he -had gone. He joined her on a run as she reached the sidewalk, and they -hurried down to the Dean’s just in time for lunch. Kit beamed when she -introduced her friend from the hills to Della and the Dean. - -“Don’t you remember, Uncle Bart,” she asked eagerly, “my talking about -Billie? Well, here he is.” - -The Dean’s gray eyes twinkled as he surveyed Billie over the tops of -his glasses. “You come highly recommended, young man,” he said. - -“You could have a lovely time studying over Uncle Bart’s Egyptian -Scarabs, Bill,” said Kit. “Weren’t you telling me something about -a place in China where they had a whole grove filled with sacred -silkworms, Aunt Della? You see, Billie’s main interest is insects and -birds.” - -Miss Peabody smiled and nodded, looking from one young face to the -other. Never before had youngsters sat lunching at that table with her -and her brother in quite such a way. The Dean usually took his meals -in absolute silence when they were alone together, for he held that -desultory conversation disturbed his train of thought. But since Kit’s -coming, it had been impossible to check her flow of talk, until now -the Dean actually missed it if she happened not to be there. - -After lunch they all went into the library to look over the Dean’s -newly arrived treasures, the Amenotaph urn and the statue of Annui. - -“Well, gol-lee,” exclaimed Kit, as she stood before the plain, squat, -terra-cotta urn, “is that the royal urn? I expected to see something -enormous, like everything else that is wonderful and ancient in Egypt.” - -“My dear,” the Dean replied happily as he bent down to trace the -curious, cuneiform markings that circled the urn. “This antedates the -time of the Captivity and Moses. I cannot tell positively, until I have -opened it and deciphered what I can of the papyrus rolls within. If it -should go back to Moses, it will be wonderful. I cannot believe that -it is contemporary with Nineveh. Della, you can recall how overjoyed I -was when we unearthed that library of precious clay under the Nineveh -mounds years ago. Think of reading something which was written by -living man several thousand years before that.” - -“What fun it must have been,” Billie remarked. “If you wanted to write -anything in those days, you just picked up a handful of mud and made a -little brick out of it, and wrote away with a stick, didn’t you?” - -“Stylus, my boy, stylus,” corrected the Dean absently. “Yes, it did -away with much of our modern detail.” - -“Where’s the statue, Uncle Bart?” Kit asked. - -“It’s just behind you, my dear. And it’s perfect. Perfect,” murmured -the Dean. - -Kit turned, expecting to face one of the usual blandly smiling Egyptian -pieces of art, with a few wings scattered over it here and there. But -instead, there stood in the center of the table a strangely attenuated -figure about three feet high. It had a head that was a cross between -an intelligent antelope and a rather toplofty baby rat. Its arms were -extended at sharp angles, and seemed to be pointing in arch accusation -at someone. Wings spread fanwise from the shoulders, and its feet were -like those of a griffin. - -“I never thought it would look just like that, did you, Billie?” Kit -asked confidentially, when they started back to the campus later. - -“Well, I knew what to expect, because we’ve been going to the -Smithsonian Institute pretty often,” replied Billie. “Some of them look -worse than that. But they can’t beat our own Alaskan and Mexican ones. -I wonder what people were thinking about back in those days to worship -that sort of thing?” - -But Kit caught sight of five of the girls just rounding the corner -and she waved to them to come over, much to Billie’s inward disgust. -While he thoroughly approved of Kit, he viewed the average girl with -indifference. But Kit introduced him in a casual manner which put him -at his ease, and when they started up the path, it was Tony Conyer who -had taken possession of Billie, and was interesting him by telling of -her father’s big stock farm in northern Wisconsin. - -They found Frank Howard waiting for them outside the boys’ dorm and -Clayton was with him. The girls got Kit aside and Amy faced her -accusingly. - -“You never told us a word about this boy,” she declared, “and all the -time you’ve had him up your sleeve. Explain please.” - -Kit laughed at them and said, “Well, he’s a relative, if you must know. -He’s my father’s first cousin’s husband’s grandson. Now what are you -going to do about it?” - -Rather mollified, the girls rejoined the boys on the steps in front -of the dorm. “I suppose Hope looks pretty small to you after the -universities back East,” Georgia said to Billie. - -“Looks swell to me,” returned Billie. “I think you can have lots more -fun in a place like this than you can at the big schools. But don’t get -the idea I’m going to college now, I’m just at prep school and taking -up a few extra courses outside with Frank.” - -“What kind of courses?” asked Georgia. - -“Science and physics, but specially entomology and forestry. He’s in -government service. I wish I knew all he does. It’s wonderful to have a -friend like Frank.” - -Kit was behind the others with Amy and Anne. Now that they had joined -the others, and the girls were talking about Frank also, she had become -strangely silent. - -“You don’t know him very well, do you?” Amy asked. “I mean, he isn’t -related to you.” - -Kit shook her head with bland indifference. - -“He’s a friend of Billie’s. I only met him at home when he came to -chase a gypsy moth in Elmhurst.” - -She did not add that with Tommy’s help and able cooperation, she had -managed to curtail the chase of the gypsy moth, temporarily, by holding -the chaser captive in the family corncrib, but she inwardly suspected -that Frank was remembering it. Every once in a while she caught him -looking at her, with a look of amused retrospection that made her -vaguely uncomfortable. - -As they left the campus, Georgia, leading with Billie, took the street -that led to the bluffs overlooking the lake, and somehow or other in -the scramble down the narrow pathways, Kit found Frank at her elbow. No -one could have been more dignified or distant in her manner than Kit, -but Frank refused to be frozen out. - -“I’ve just found out something, Kit,” he said genially. “I forgave you -long ago for locking me up in your corncrib and nearly landing me in -the local jail, but you don’t forgive me one bit for trespassing in -your berry patch.” - -Kit’s profile tilted ever so slightly upward. She had thoroughly -made up her mind that very day when Mr. Hicks made his memorable and -fruitless journey to Woodhow that not even government experts had any -right to climb over fences into people’s private property without first -asking permission. Perhaps the sudden popularity of the trespasser -with all the rest of the family had something to do with Kit’s stand -against him. Even Doris had remarked that she didn’t see how Kit could -ever have imagined that a person looking like Frank could be a berry -thief. - -“I don’t want you to forgive me,” she said calmly. “I’ve never been -one bit sorry for it. I think you ought to have come up to the house -and asked permission to go in there. And you never said that you -were sorry. It always seemed to me as if you rather acted as if you -thought it was a good joke”--she hesitated a moment, before adding -pointedly--“on me.” - -“Suppose I apologize now.” Frank’s tone was absolutely serious, but -Kit, with one quick look at the precipitous path ahead of them, laughed. - -“Not here, please. Wait until we hit the level shore. You do really -have to pay attention on this path, or you miss your footing and -toboggan all at once.” - -“Then, suppose,” he persisted, “we just consider that I have -apologized. And if you accept, you can raise your right hand at me.” - -Kit immediately raised her left one. Before he could say any more, she -had hurried ahead and caught up with the rest. - - - - -14. The Secret in the Urn - - -It was not until after they had gone, when Kit was by herself, that she -remembered all Billie had told her at the very last of his stay. - -They had walked along the lake shore together, a little behind the -others, after they had visited the Flambeau family. - -“You haven’t told me anything at all,” Kit said, “about home. When were -you in Elmhurst last?” - -“Just before we came here,” Billie answered. - -“Was everything all right?” Billie hesitated. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, -Billie, tell me if there is anything. You can’t give me any nervous -shocks at all, and I’m dying to find an excuse to get back home.” - -“Why, there isn’t anything the matter, exactly,” Billie said -cheerfully, but with a reservation in his tone that made Kit impatient. -“The only thing that I know about, I heard Grandfather telling Uncle -Tom. I don’t suppose I ought to repeat it either.” - -“Honestly, Billie, you make me so exasperated at times. How dare you -keep back any news of my family from me?” - -“It was something about losing some stocks or dividends or something -like that. I guess it hit Grandfather, too, but I heard him say that -there wasn’t a farm up there that couldn’t support itself, properly -run, and he guessed they’d all weather the storm.” - -Billie was inclined to take an optimistic view of the whole affair. -“Grandfather said that there was no cause for worry,” he went on. “It -was just a case of pitch in and get your living out of the farms again.” - -“Yes,” said Kit with scorn, “get your living out of the farms. That’s -all very well for him to say, when he’s got everything to do with, -and twenty of the best cows in the county, but we moved up there on -hope and a shoestring. And we’ve never really raised anything except -children and chickens.” - -“Frank says your place, if it was properly worked, would make one of -the finest fruit farms up there, ’cause your land all slopes to the -south as far as the river. He says if he had it he’d sell off the heavy -timber for cash and put the money right into hardy varieties of fruit -and hogs.” - -Kit laughed. “Can’t you see Doris’s face over the hogs, with all her -aristocratic ideas? Did he tell Dad that?” - -“I don’t know,” Billie said doubtfully. “Uncle Tom’s kind of hard to -get confidential with over his own affairs, but I wouldn’t worry, Kit, -if I were you. Things always come out all right.” - -“They do not,” returned Kit calmly. “Even so, thanks ever so much for -telling me, Billie. You may have changed the course of destiny, because -I can tell you now I’m going home.” - -After dinner that night Kit was out for a walk alone with only Sandy -for company. Kit was wondering whether it would be best to write first -to her mother or to Jean. Jean would be in New York anyway, so perhaps -she wouldn’t know any more about it than Kit did. How she wished to -know just exactly what the family’s plans were for the winter. - -Finally she decided to write to Becky. Even though her decision might -not be a favorable one, you always felt sure you were getting it -straight without any affectionate bias. - -Accordingly, a confidential appeal went East, and back came the reply -by return mail, as Kit had known it would. - - Dear Kit, - - I had been thinking about you when your letter came, so I suppose our - thoughts must have crossed. - - There’s no doubt at all but what your mother needs you badly right - here, especially with Jean in New York. What Billie told you was - about the truth. - - If I were you, I’d have a heart-to-heart talk with the Dean himself, - and I know your mother will be just as relieved as can be to hear - you’re homeward bound. - - Lovingly, - Becky. - -Kit was delighted over the letter, and went directly to the Dean with -its message. He was deeply engrossed in getting up his first notes and -commentaries on the urn and statue. It had not seemed for the past two -or three weeks as if he resided any longer in Delphi at all. Kit told -Della she was positive he was wandering through Egypt all the time, the -Egypt of five thousand years ago. And it was only the shadow of his -self that seemed to sit closeted for hours in the study. - -He hardly glanced up now as she came in, but smiled and nodded when he -saw who it was, keeping on with his writing. - -“Just hand me that volume on the second shelf to your right by the -door. Second volume, _Explorations in Upper Egypt_, look up Seti the -First in the index.” - -Kit found the place and laid it before him, perching herself on one -end of the desk, as she always did when she wanted to attract his -attention. The little statuette of Annui smiled grotesquely down upon -her from its pedestal. The urn stood in a handy place of honor upon the -desk itself as the Dean had been deciphering the inscriptions upon it. - -“I hate to disturb you, Uncle Bart,” Kit began, with the directness so -characteristic of her, “but I really think I ought to go back home. -You’ve been wonderful to give me such a long visit, and I’ve enjoyed -the school work immensely, but somehow I begin to feel like a soldier -who has been away on a furlough. It’s time for me to get back, because -Mother needs me.” - -The Dean glanced up in surprise; and came slowly out of his dream of -concentration as the meaning of her words dawned upon him. - -“Why, my dear child,” he exclaimed, “this is very sudden. There has -never been any question about your going back, at least--” He coughed. -“Not since we became acquainted with you. Has anything happened?” - -“Why, nothing special--I mean, nothing tragic. It’s only this, Dad’s -lost a lot of money all at once. He did have a little income, enough so -we never have had to depend on the farm entirely, but now, even that -has been swept away.” - -“Tom never had any head for business.” The Dean tapped one hand lightly -with his glasses in an absent-minded musing way that nearly drove Kit -frantic. “But what can you do about it, my dear? Surely by returning at -such a time you merely add to your father’s burdens.” - -“No, I won’t,” Kit answered. “Because I’ve got a plan that I’ve been -thinking about for ever and ever so long. I’m going to try and persuade -Dad to let us put in hogs.” - -“Hogs,” repeated the Dean in a baffled tone. “Hogs, my dear. Who ever -heard of raising hogs when they could raise anything else at all?” - -“Well, we’re going to if Dad will let me. I just can’t stay here in -this beautiful place with nothing to worry over, while the family are -all worried to death.” - -There was silence in the old study. The Dean was looking straight at -Annui as if for inspiration. He had laid out his own career himself, -and had carried every ambition to completion and reality. The last -twenty years had been years of fruition, of honors freely given, years -of fulfillment. He had not been, like Judge Ellis, intolerant of -other men’s failures; he had simply ignored them, never feeling any -responsibility toward the weaker ones who fell in the race. In his way, -he prided himself on a gentle, aloof philosophy of life which left him -the boundaries of the study as a horizon of happiness. - -Probably not until that moment had he realized the gradual -revolutionary process Kit had been putting him through ever since her -arrival. She had trained him into having an interest in other people -and things, until now it was impossible for him not to see the picture -of Woodhow as she did. He resolved to help Tom Craig out as well. - -“How did you find out about this, my dear?” he asked. - -“Well,” Kit replied, honestly, “partly from Billie and partly from a -letter from Becky. You know Becky, don’t you, Uncle Bart?” - -The Dean’s eyes twinkled reminiscently. “Oh, yes, I remember Rebecca -well. She used to bully me outrageously. But you’re perfectly right, my -dear. I can quite see why you feel that you are needed. You had better -start for home as soon as you can.” - -The next thing was to break the news gently and convincingly to -the family. Kit figured it out from all sides, and finally decided -to walk right up to the horns of the dilemma in a fearless attack. -Writing back a long, newsy letter to her mother, she simply tacked on -the postscript, “Don’t be at all surprised to see me arrive around -Christmas.” - -The girls took her coming departure with many objections, but Kit was -not to be persuaded to stay. The Saturday before she left the many -friends she had made came over in the afternoon to say goodbye. Late in -the day, Kit saw Jeannette Flambeau coming up the drive. - -“It was awfully nice of you to come, Jeannette,” she exclaimed. “I’ve -been watching for you.” - -“I tried to come earlier, but I couldn’t,” smiled Jeannette. “Will you -write to me when you are away?” - -“I’d love to. You know it’s a queer thing, Jeannette, but really and -truly, out of all the girls I have met here I feel better acquainted -with you than with any of them.” - -Kit said this rather slowly, as if it were a sort of self-revelation -which she had just discovered that minute. And yet it was true. She -had enjoyed the class friendships at Hope immensely, but Jeannette -had seemed to stand out from the rest of the girls as a distinctly -interesting personality. - -Jeannette smiled at Kit’s remark. - -“I have heard my grandmother say that in her girlhood her people of the -northern forests pledged their friendships by saying, ‘While the grass -grows and the waters run, so long shall we be friends.’” She turned and -smiled at Kit her grave-eyed slow smile. “I will say that to you now, -before you go.” - -Kit laid one arm around her shoulders. “Me too,” she answered, “sounds -like the blood-brother vow they used to take.” - -The next evening Kit was to leave Delphi. She found it hard to say -goodbye to her aunt and uncle. - -“We shall miss you, Kit,” said Della, “but if it gives you any -pleasure, my dear, I want to tell you it was your coming which opened -my eyes to the folly of sitting with empty hands while there was work -to be done. I don’t think I can ever belong to the rocking-chair squad -again, without a guilty conscience.” - -Kit hugged her fervently. “Oh, but you’re a dear, Aunt Della, to say -such things. I only wish I could stay right here and be in two places -at once. I’ll tell you what I’ve learned here, organization.” Kit said -this very firmly and earnestly. “Back home they say I know just what I -want to do, but I don’t know how to do it. Now, I know what I want to -do. I want to go back home and organize.” - -“The Dean wanted to have a little talk with you before dinner, dear. I -think you’d better go in now, because we want to reach the station in -plenty of time. Don’t talk too long. You know how he is when he gets -absorbed in anything.” - -Kit promised and joined the Dean. He had carried back the statue of -Annui and stood before it regarding it with perplexity. Kit slipped -her arm through his. It seemed as though there had sprung up a new -comradeship and understanding between them since their last talk. - -“Won’t he tell you his secrets, Uncle Bart?” she asked. “He has such an -aggravating smile, just as if he were amused at baffling you.” - -“I am baffled,” the Dean conceded genially. “I’ve reached a certain -point and there is a blank which no historic record seems to fill. I -thought when I had restored the inscription on the urn that it would -tell me several of the missing points, but it seems to be merely a sort -of sacred invocation. I am amazed at the urn being hollow. Every other -memorial urn which I found during our excavations in Egypt was sealed, -and upon being opened we always found rolls of papyrus within. I am -disappointed.” - -Kit lifted the urn very carefully and stared at it, reflectively. “What -does the inscription say?” Kit asked. - -“It merely traces the origin of King Amenotaph to the god Thoth,” said -the Dean, thoughtfully, “that is, the Egyptian Hermes, or Mercury, as -we know him, and it is extremely vague, being a curious mixture of the -Coptic and the ancient Aramaic.” - -“But what does it say?” asked Kit again. - -The Dean followed the curious markings on the urn with his fingertip, -bending forward as he did so. “It says, ‘Amenotaph, born of Thoth, -shall reign in wisdom. Kings shall serve at his foot stool. Ra shall -shine upon him. He shall lie in peace, encompassed by Ra.’” - -“Is that all?” - -“That is all,” sighed the Dean. “It seems merely a laudatory sentiment.” - -“Who was Ra?” asked Kit curiously, running her hand around the top of -the urn. - -“The Sun god. His symbol was the circle. You see it here.” - -Kit repeated again slowly, what her uncle had just read. Then she shook -the urn close to her ear. - -“My dear child, do be careful,” cried the Dean, “it’s priceless.” - -But Kit put it under one arm as though it had been a milk pail and -tapped around the inside with her knuckles, listening. - -“That’s a perfectly good hollow jug,” she said solemnly. “Just you tap -it, and listen, Uncle Bart. I’ll bet they’ve hidden something inside -the outside and that Ra has guarded it all these years.” - -“Just a moment, just a moment, my dear,” exclaimed the Dean, smiling -like a happy boy. “You’ve given me an idea. This may be a cryptogram, -or an ideographic cipher. Just a moment, now, don’t speak to me.” - -He sat down at the desk and figured laboriously for nearly twenty -minutes, working out the inscription in cipher, while Kit stared at -him delightedly. After all, it was gratifying, she thought, to have -somebody in the family who could take a little remark made thousands of -years ago in Egypt and make sense out of it today. She waited patiently -until he had finished. His hands were trembling as he reached for the -urn. - -“The circle,” he repeated, “the circle. ‘Ra in his circle shall guard -Amenotaph.’ The secret lies in the circle, Kit. Do you suppose it could -mean the rim of the urn?” - -Kit studied the urn again and with the fingertip she traced the -inscription and stopped when she came to a small circle in black and -red outline. - -“Do you suppose Ra lives here, Uncle Bart?” she asked, poking at it -thoughtfully. She peered on the inner side at the corresponding spot to -the circle, and gave a little cry of excitement. There was the faintest -sign of a circle here also. “See,” she cried, “when you push on this -side, the other gives a little bit.” - -The Dean could not speak. He took the urn from her over to the window -and carefully examined the inner circle through a microscope. - -“Yes,” he said, fervently, “you are perfectly right, my dear. The -circle moves. I think I shall have to send it to Washington. I would -not take the responsibility of trying to remove it myself.” - -“Oh, jeepers, it seems awful to have to wait so long,” Kit exclaimed -regretfully. “It seemed to me as if you could just press it through -with your thumb, like this.” - -She had not intended pressing so hard, but merely to show him what she -meant, and, under the pressure of her thumb, the circle of Ra depressed -and pushed slowly through. The Dean looked on in utter amazement, as -Kit lifted the urn and tested the inner section by shaking it. Then she -peered into the circular hole, about the size of a quarter. The urn was -fully two inches thick, and by inserting her finger into the space she -found that it was made in two sections, with enough room between for a -place of concealment. - -“There’s something in here like asbestos, Uncle Bart,” she began, -and turning the urn upside down, she tried shaking it, using a -little pressure on the circle to separate the two rims. Slowly they -gave, while the Dean hovered over her, cautioning and directing the -operation, until two complete urns lay before them. But it was not -these that the Dean snatched at. It was the curious cap-shaped mass -which fell out in the form of a cone. To Kit it appeared to be of no -significance whatever, but the Dean handled it as tenderly as a newborn -child, and under his deft and tender touch it unrolled in long scrolls -of papyrus. - -The Dean rose to his feet solemnly, and his voice was hushed, as -he said, “Kit, you do not know what you have done. Some day the -significance of this occasion will recur to you. All I can say is -that you have lifted the veil of the past, and revealed the secret of -Amenotaph.” - - - - -15. Home Again - - -Kit arrived in Nantic a little past noon in the middle of the first -snow storm of the winter. She was so glad to see Mr. Briggs’s smiling -face on the platform, that she almost threw her arms around him, as she -jumped from the platform of the train. - -“Well, well,” he said, “didn’t expect to see you around so soon, Kit.” - -“It’s good to be back, Mr. Briggs,” said Kit, as she looked around for -the one taxi that Nantic had. She had not told her family just when she -was arriving, so no one was there to meet her. She located the cab and -after a hurried goodbye to Mr. Briggs she got in and was soon on the -way up the familiar highway. - -There was none of the family in sight when they turned up the drive, -but suddenly Kit’s eager eyes saw a familiar figure out by the barn, -and leaning forward she gave a shrill whistle. - -Tommy turned in the direction of the whistle and when he saw who it -was he came along the drive at a dead run. Before Kit could catch her -breath, the big front door opened and there was the rest of the family. -The reunion was indeed a happy one, everyone laughing and talking at -once and deluging Kit with questions. It wasn’t until they were all -settled in the living-room that Kit obligingly answered all their -questions, telling them about Delphi, Hope College, the friends she had -made, and last of all, the secret she and Uncle Bart had discovered in -the Egyptian urn. - -After the Christmas holidays when Jean had gone back to New York again, -Kit found her opportunity of laying her summer plan before her mother -and father. She had discarded hogs for a new idea she had thought up -on the train coming home. Before Jean had left, Kit had told her about -her scheme and together they had worked out the details. With Jean’s -additional suggestions in mind, Kit felt she was ready to approach her -parents. - -“There are acres and acres here that we never use at all. All that -wonderful land on both sides of the river up through the valley, and -the two islands besides. What I thought we could do was this, if you -could just let us kids manage it. Couldn’t we start a regular summer -camp? You know those hunters’ cabins that are scattered along the -valley would be ideal. Jean was telling me before she left about an -artists’ colony up in the Catskills, where they have cabins fitted up -so that you can cook in them and everything. I’m sure we could do it -here.” - -It had taken much argument and figuring on paper before the consent of -both was won, but Becky approved of the scheme highly. - -“Land alive, Margaret,” she exclaimed, “don’t crush anything that -looks like budding initiative in your children. I’d let them put cabins -all over the place until it blossomed like the wilderness. There’s a -stack of old furniture up in the attic at Maple Grove and over at our -place, too, and they’re welcome to it. Get some cans of paint and go to -work, Kit.” - -Kit acted immediately on the suggestion and drove up with Tommy and -Jack to look over the collection of discarded furniture. What she liked -best of all were the three-drawer, old-fashioned chests and handmade -wooden chairs. There were several old single bedsteads, too. - -“We’re going to paint them all over, Mom, and Tommy and Jack promised -to put up any shelves or things like that we may need.” - -“Don’t forget that they’ll have to eat sometime,” Becky reminded. -“Get some two-burner oil stoves and folding tables. Lay in a stock of -candles and lamps. I’d make them bring up their own bedding if I were -you, because that would be the only nuisance you’d have to contend -with.” - -“It’s too bad,” Kit said, “that we’re so far away from any kind of -stores. There are eight cabins altogether, and there’ll be ever so -many things people will want to buy. Do you suppose, Mother, that Mr. -Peckham would let Lucy manage anything like that up here? She’s just -dying to do something besides housework all her life.” - -“But where would you put her, dear?” - -“I’ll bet the boys down there at the mill could throw together a -perfectly swell little shack. They could either have it down by the -mill or put it right here at the crossroads. Lucy could put in all -kinds of supplies, films for cameras and post cards and candy.” - -“Better put in a few canned goods, too, and staples,” add Becky. “I -declare, I’d kind of like to have a hand in that myself. Kit, I do -believe you’ve started something that may wake this town up.” - -Kit herself attacked the problem of winning over the Peckhams to her -idea of Lucy’s taking charge of a little store at the crossroads. Lucy -sat with wide anxious eyes on the extreme edge of her chair, while her -mother said over and over again it was utterly impossible. - -“Why, I couldn’t get along without Lucy, especially in the summer, with -all the fruit to put up and the young ones home from school.” - -“But, Mrs. Peckham,” pleaded Kit, “when you were our age, wasn’t there -ever anything that you wanted to do or be with all your heart and soul? -Didn’t you ever just want to get away from what you had been doing for -years, and start something new?” - -“Well, come to think of it now,” smiled Mrs. Peckham, “I’d have given -my eye-teeth to have left home and gone to be a teacher in some town.” - -“Then please let Lucy do this. Becky says she’s willing to keep an eye -on everything, and one of us girls will probably be helping her out -most of the time, too. It would only be until the middle of September, -and Anne’s fifteen and Charlotte’s twelve. Why, it isn’t fair to -them to let them think all Lucy’s good for is to stay at home and do -housework. You will let her go, won’t you, Mrs. Peckham?” - -Mrs. Peckham sighed and smiled. “You’re a fearfully good pleader. I -don’t suppose it would hurt the other girls any to take hold and help. -I’m willing, and if her father is, why, she can go. Seems to me you are -starting something you can’t finish, but maybe you can.” - -The first part of April was unusually mild. A sort of balmy hush -seemed to lie over the barren land, as though spring had chosen to -steal upon it sleeping. On one of these warm spring days Kit, Doris, -Tommy, and Jack went out to inspect the cabins to see if they needed -repairing. Matt had promised to help them mend any leaking roofs and -replace rotten boards, but except for two of them, they seemed to -be in excellent condition. The furniture had all been scraped and -painted and almost daily something was added to the store of supplies -for the summer venture. The next problem to be solved was finding the -occupants for the cabins, and here it was Jean who helped out. - -“You don’t want to get a lot of people,” she wrote, “who will be -expecting all the comforts of a typical summer resort, so I suggest my -spreading the word among the art students here. They are sure to pass -it along to their friends.” - -When Jean came home to stay the end of May, the first thing she asked -was, “Who do you suppose wants to rent one of our cabins for the whole -summer?” - -“Ralph McRae,” Kit replied immediately. - -“But how did you know?” asked Jean. She had thought it would be a -surprise. - -“I knew he would be back this summer to see you,” she replied -knowingly. “Besides, Buzzy wrote me the news last week, and I’ve -reserved the pick of the cabins for him. You know the one down by -the river just above the Falls? And Becky told me yesterday that she -was positive Billie and Frank would come down for a while in July or -August.” - -“That’s wonderful,” Jean said, enthusiastically. - -“But that isn’t all,” Kit went on. “I had a letter from Uncle Bart. And -do you know what he said? He received a substantial sum of money from -the Archeological Research Foundation for his work in deciphering the -contents of the Amenotaph urn. He doesn’t need the money, he says, and -because I helped him open the urn, he sent it to me.” - -“Golly, what will you do with it?” Jean asked. - -“I wrote him last winter, just after I returned, about our plans for -running a camp this summer and he was terribly interested in it. He -wants me to pay Dad back the amount he gave us for repairing the cabins -and the paint and other things we had to buy. I did and now the camp is -really our own business venture. If we don’t make a go of it, it will -be our loss and not Dad’s.” - - - - -16. Visiting Celebrities - - -The first campers were due to arrive the second week in June, but -everything was in complete readiness long before that time. The girls -never wearied of making their tours of inspection to be sure nothing -had been overlooked, and each time it seemed as if they added a few -more finishing touches. - -Becky declared it was all so inviting that she felt like closing up the -big house and coaxing the Judge to camp out with her. - -Kit and Doris were in one of the cabins that was on a little jutting -point of land near the Peckham mill. Here, the river swept out in a -wide U-shaped curve that was crowned with gray rocks and pines. The -music of the falls reached it, and the road was only about a quarter of -a mile across the fields to the north, but apparently it was completely -isolated. - -All at once Tommy came tearing around the rock path, his eyes wide with -excitement, his whole manner full of mystery. - -“There’s a car just stopped in the road,” he exclaimed, “and the man in -it asked me who lived in the cabin over here.” - -“I never supposed anyone could see that cabin from the road.” Kit’s -tone held a distinct note of disappointment. “What did he want to sell -us, Tommy, lightning rods or sewing machines?” - -“Aw, Kit, quit it,” pleaded Tommy. “He’s really in earnest, and he’s -coming over here right now. I told him all about everything, and he -thinks he might want to rent one.” - -Kit’s face brightened up at this. “Lead me, Tommy, to this first paying -guest. Doris, don’t you dare to say anything to spoil the inviting -picture which I shall give him. I don’t see what more he could want.” -She hesitated a moment, surveying the river, almost directly below -the sloping rock. “Why, he could almost sit up in bed in the morning -and haul in his fishing line from that river with a fine catch for -breakfast on it.” - -“Oh, hurry, Kit, and stop wasting time,” Tommy begged. “He’s really -awfully nice, and he’s in earnest, I know he is.” - -So Kit followed Tommy across the fields to the road where the -automobile was waiting. The man must have been about forty years old, -but with his closely cut dark hair and alert smile he appeared much -younger. He wore no hat, and was deeply tanned. It seemed to Kit -at first glance as though she had never seen eyes so full of keen -curiosity and genial friendliness. - -“Hello,” he called as soon as she came within hearing distance. “Are -you the young lady in charge of renting these cabins which I see?” - -Kit admitted that she was. He nodded his head approvingly and smiled, -a broad pleasant smile which seemed to include the entire landscape. - -“I like it here,” he announced with emphasis. “It is sequestered and -silent. I have not met a single car on the road for miles.” - -“Oh, that happens often,” said Kit eagerly. “There are days when nobody -passes at all except the mailman.” - -“It suits me,” he exclaimed buoyantly. “I must have quiet and perfect -relaxation. I will rent one of your cabins and occupy it at once. I -have been touring this part of the country looking for a spot which -appealed to me.” - -“We have one on the hill over there,” Kit suggested. He seemed rather -peculiar, and perhaps it would be just as well to have him as far off -as possible. “It is right on the edge of the pines, and faces the west. -The sunsets are beautiful from there.” - -“No, no,” he repeated. “I like the sound of water. I hear falls below -here. I will take that cabin I see over there.” - -So the first cabin dweller came to Woodhow. Kit had still been in -doubt, and taking no chances on strangers within the gates, she had -guided Mr. Ormond up to her father to make the closing arrangements on -renting the waterfall cabin. The most amazing part was that he left a -check that first day for full rental for ten weeks. - -“I must not be interrupted or bothered by little things,” he told Mr. -Craig. “I must have perfect isolation or I cannot do my work.” - -He arrived promptly the following day and arranged to put up the car in -their garage. Tommy and Jack helped him move his things into the cabin. - -“Gosh, we’ve lugged down all his belongings to the cabin,” Jack said -when they were finished, “and I can’t find out what in the heck his -business is. He had a lot of heavy bundles, and we asked him a few -questions about them, but he didn’t seem to take kindly to it, so we -let him alone.” - -“Lucy says he’s made arrangements to buy eggs and chickens from them,” -said Kit, “so I see where our paying guests are going to scatter -prosperity around the neighborhood.” - -Ralph McRae arrived the seventeenth of June and took the Turtle Cove -Cabin. The Craigs saw quite a good deal of him, for he was always -dropping in on them. Doris suspected a budding romance, but she -contented herself with watching Jean and investing her with the glamor -of all her favorite heroines. - -The first fruits of Jean’s efforts to colonize the cabins came with a -letter from Peg Moffat. - -“You’re going to have four of the girls through July anyway, and August -if they like it. I’ve told them the scenery is perfectly gorgeous and -they can draw wherever they like, so be sure and give them the cabins -with the best view.” - -The next surprise was a letter from Billie. He could not reach home -before the middle of July, as he was going on another trip with Frank, -but there were five of the boys from his class who wanted to come up -and camp. - -“I’ve told them the fishing is swell around there, and they’re going to -make the trip from here in Jeff Saunders’s car. Jeff’s from Georgia, and -most of the guys have never been north. We’re going to join them later -on, so if you’ve got a bunch of cabins together, you better save us -three.” - -“We’ll put them all over in the glen, where they can do just as they -please,” Kit decided. “They won’t interfere with high art or our -mysterious stranger.” - -Lucy opened her general store the first of June. It stood exactly at -the crossroads, beside Woodhow. Her brothers had erected a little slab -shack, and Lucy had planted wild cucumber and morning glory vines -thickly around the outside, the last week in April, so that by June -they had climbed halfway up. - -Inside the store there were two counters, one on either side as you -entered, and these had been Mr. Peckham’s contribution to the good -cause. At first the stocking up of the store had been a problem, but -Becky helped out with the business plan, and by this time nearly -everyone in Elmhurst was taking a keen, personal interest in the -venture. - -It was Ma Parmalee who first suggested that Lucy sell on the commission -plan. “I’ve got thirty-five jars of the best kind of preserves and -canned goods in Elmhurst,” she announced one day, when she had stopped -on her way by the crossroads to look over the new establishment. “Most -of them are pints, and besides I’ve got--land, I don’t know how many -glasses of jelly and jam. I’d be willing to give you a good share of -whatever you could make on them, if you could sell them off for me down -here.” - -Lucy agreed gladly, and the fruit made a splendid showing along the -upper shelves behind the counters. Not only that, but it began to sell -at once. Mr. Ormond bought up all of the canned peaches after sampling -one jar, and Ralph said he was willing to become responsible for some -of the strawberry jam and spiced pears. Before long, Lucy was looking -around for more supplies. - -One morning, just after Tommy had gone whistling out to the barn, Doris -spied a familiar figure coming along the drive toward the house, and -leaned out of the dining room window, calling with all her heart, “Hi, -Billie!” - -Billie waved back and came up to the back steps where he found the -other girls. “The camp’s immense,” he said. “We got in late last night -and I knew the way down, so we didn’t disturb anybody. Even found the -old boat in the same place, Doris.” - -“Well, you wouldn’t have if I hadn’t hauled it there, where I knew you -could lay your hands on it.” - -Billie laughed. He knew from past experience that Doris’s scoldings -didn’t amount to much. He and Frank had brought up a load of supplies -with them but huckleberry pancakes with honey lured them both up -for breakfast that first morning. And even Kit was silent as Frank -related all of his adventures during the year. It seemed to her -that she had never really looked at him before, that is, to get the -best impression, without prejudice. Now, she realized he was quite -good-looking and she noted for the first time his curly yellow hair, -and long, half-closed blue eyes, that always seemed to be laughing at -you. He had dimples, too, and these Kit resented. - -“I can’t abide dimples in a boy’s face,” she declared privately to -Jean, when the latter was dwelling on Frank’s good looks. - -“But, Kit, Buzzy has dimples, and you always thought he was such a -swell guy.” - -“Well, he’s different,” Kit said lamely. “I don’t think I like blond, -curly hair, either.” - -They had walked down to the Peckham mill after supper to get some -supplies that Danny Peckham had promised to bring up from Nantic. Just -as they came to the turn of the road there came a strange sound from -the direction of the waterfall cabin, deep, rich strains of music, -almost as low-pitched and thrilling as the sound of the water itself. -Both girls stood still listening, until Jean whispered, “It must be Mr. -Ormond. He’s playing on a cello, isn’t he?” - -“Then, that’s what he does,” Kit’s tone held a touch of admiring awe as -she listened. “And we thought he might be anything from a counterfeiter -to an escaped convict hiding away up here. Oh, Jeannie, why do you -suppose he keeps away from everyone?” - -“Probably got a hidden sorrow,” Jean answered. “Still he’s got a -terrific appetite. Mrs. Gorham says she doesn’t see how he ever puts -away the amount of food he does. He buys whole roast chickens and eats -them all himself.” - -Just then the music ceased suddenly. The door opened and Mr. Ormond -spoke into the twilight gloom. - -“Is that you, Tommy?” - -“No, it’s just us girls,” answered Kit. “We’re going down to the mill.” - -“Would you mind so very much asking if anyone has telephoned a telegram -up for me from the station? I’m expecting one.” - -“There, you see,” Jean said, dubiously, as they went on down the road. -“We just get rid of one mystery, and he hands us another to solve. Who -would he be getting a telegram from?” - -Kit laughed and said, “You’re getting just as bad as everyone else -in Elmhurst, Jean. I thought only Mr. Ricketts took an interest in -telegrams and post cards.” - -Nevertheless, when Lucy told them that there had been a message phoned -up from Nantic, even Kit showed quick interest. - -It was signed “Concetta,” and the message read, “Arrive Nantic, -ten-two. Contract signed. All love and tenderness.” - -The girls returned after delivering the message, brimful of the news, -but Mr. Craig laughed at them. - -“Why, my goodness,” he said, “I could have told you long ago all about -Bryan Ormond. He’s one of the greatest cellists we have, and is married -to Madame Concetta Doria, the opera singer. He told me when he first -took the cabin for the summer, but as he was composing a new opera, he -wanted absolute solitude up here and asked me not to let anyone know -who he was.” - -“Talk about entertaining an angel unawares,” Jean exclaimed. “Now, -Doris, you’ll have your chance, if you can only get acquainted with -her. I can see you perched on their threshold drinking in trills and -quavers the rest of the summer.” - -Doris only smiled happily. It was she who had begged the hardest to -bring the piano with them when they moved to Elmhurst. She really -played quite well and had a pleasing voice. - -“Have you ever heard her sing, Mother?” she asked. - -“Yes, many times. She has a lovely voice and you will like her.” - -“And just to think of her coming to live in a cabin at Woodhow,” Doris -said, almost in a whisper. “It seems as if we ought to offer them the -best room in the house.” - -“If you did, they would run away. That’s just what they have come here -to escape from, all the fuss and publicity.” - -Jean, too, was eagerly expecting Madame Ormond. While not one of the -girls could have explained just exactly how they thought she would -look, still they held a blurred picture of someone unusual, who would -probably dress more or less eccentrically. - -Kit was in the kitchen making sandwiches for lunch, when a shadow fell -across the doorway. Jean sat on the edge of the table by the window -picking over blackberries, and the two stared at the intruder. She -was about the same age as Mr. Ormond, a large buoyant type of woman -with a mass of curly ash-blonde hair, sparkling black eyes, and a -wonderful complexion. Perhaps it was her smile that charmed the girls -most, though, at that first glance. It was such a radiant smile of good -fellowship when she peered into the shadowy interior of the kitchen. - -“Good morning. I have come for butter and eggs and milk.” She spied -the two-quart pail of berries on the table, and gave a little cry of -interest. “Where do you find those, my dear?” - -Jean told her politely that they came from the rock pasture on the hill -behind the house. - -“Will you come down to the cabin this afternoon and take me there? My -husband is very, very busy working on his new opera, and I must be -away and let him write in peace, so you and I will have to explore the -woods together, yes?” She smiled down into Jean’s face, and just at -that moment there came from the living room, where Doris was dusting, a -clear, sweet soprano voice. - -Madame Ormond laid her finger on her lips and listened, her eyes bright -with attention and interest. “It is still another one of you?” she -asked softly, when the song died away. “You shall bring her down to the -cabin to me and let my husband try her voice with the cello. It is his -big baby, that cello, but it is very wise, it never gives the wrong -decision on a voice, and she has a very beautiful one.” - -“Well,” Kit declared with a deep sigh, after Madame Ormond had gone on -down toward the road with her butter, eggs, and milk, “we’ve always -believed we were an exceptional family. We’ll have to begin our song of -triumph pretty soon. I’ll bet she’ll go up there in the pasture every -day and do her vocal practicing out of hearing of the cello, and Doris -will sit on the nearest rock and play echo.” - -Jean was telling Ralph about it that evening while they were sitting in -the cool high air on the front porch as they did almost every evening. -Although the others, with the exception of her mother and father, -didn’t know it yet, Jean was going to be engaged that summer. - -Not long after Ralph had come in June he had asked Jean if she had -reached a decision on her art career. “Are you going to go ahead and -get a job in that field and make it your career?” He asked a little -anxiously, after Jean had finished an enthusiastic description of her -previous year’s work in New York. - -“I’ve pretty much decided against it, Ralph. I know you’ll be pleased -because you never really wanted me to go through with it, I realize -now. I realize something else, too, and that is how much I really love -the country. How I missed it last winter. The noise of the city got on -my nerves so, that I could hardly wait to get on the train when I was -coming home weekends. Although I never told Mother, I almost dreaded -having to go back when Sunday came.” - -“Then you mean you wouldn’t mind living on the Canadian prairie?” Ralph -asked, eagerly. “Are you quite sure that is what you really want?” - -“Oh, of course, I’ll want to visit the city once in a while. I don’t -want to forego the opportunities of city life altogether--the plays and -concerts and exhibitions, I mean. As far as my career is concerned, art -is only a hobby, I think, and I’d like my real career to be with you.” - -Ralph kissed her tenderly, and together the next day they told Mr. and -Mrs. Craig of their plans. - -Jean’s mother and father were very pleased at the news, but were rather -relieved to know that the two did not plan to be married until Jean was -older. - -“It will take me quite a long time to get used to the idea of being -parted from my oldest daughter,” remarked Mrs. Craig. “I’m glad you’re -being sensible about it and are going to wait. You’re not completely -grown up yet, Jeannie.” - - - - -17. Frank to the Rescue - - -The first week in August, Jean, who had acted as treasurer of the cabin -fund, announced that it had proved a solid financial success. Every -cabin was full and booked up to the middle of September. The girls from -the Art School had persuaded two more batches to come, and Billie’s boy -friends had turned their cabins into headquarters for the club they -belonged to at school. - -Jeff Saunders had used his car back and forth until Kit declared she -was dizzy. “Jeff tears down to Richmond and takes back a couple of -boys, lays off himself for a couple of weeks, and then the car comes -back with three new ones, but I must say that they’re the best behaved -lot of boys I ever saw. You’d hardly know they were around at all, -except for the portable radios going at night. And they certainly have -kept us supplied with fish ever since they came. I think it’s done Dad -a world of good going away with them and kind of turning into a boy -again. Frank said the other day they were going out fishing all night -just as soon as the bass were running.” - -Mrs. Gorham was setting the table for lunch and stopped at the last -words, one hand on her hip, and a look of anxiety in her eyes. - -“They ain’t calculatin’ to fish over there beyond the dam, are they? -That’s where the Gaskell boy come near drowning a year ago, when his -boat upset. It’s just full of sunken snags for half a mile up the river -above the island.” - -“I guess that’s where they’re going just the same. Billie Ellis -thinks that he knows every foot of space on that upper lake and river -just because he’s poled around on it for years with that old leaky, -flat-bottomed boat of his.” - -“Well, it’s all right in the daytime,” Mrs. Gorham replied, “but I -wouldn’t give two cents for their safety fishing for bass on a dark -night among those snags.” - -It happened that the very next day Kit decided that it was high time -to garner in the crabapple crop and start making jelly. The best trees -around Woodhow were up on the old Cynthy Allen place. While the house -had burned down the year before, still Cynthy’s fruit trees were famous -all over Elmhurst and Mr. Craig had bought up the crop in advance from -her. - -It was only about a mile and a half to Cynthy’s place from the -crossroads, but Jean had taken the car to Nantic and Kit had no -inclination to carry several pecks of crabapples in a sack along -a dusty road. Doris and her mother were over at Becky’s for the -afternoon, so that Kit was left to her own devices. - -She stood on the porch undecided, a couple of grain sacks thrown over -her shoulder, and suddenly the sparkle of the river through the trees -in the distance caught her eye. Certainly, that was the answer. She -had not had a chance the whole summer to go out in the boat and bask -in idleness. Always before, she had managed to row a little during the -summer so she knew Little River all the way from the Fort Ned Falls -at the crossroads to where it slipped away in a shallow stream to the -upper hills. - -There were several old rowboats lying bottom-side-up on the shore above -the falls. Kit selected the newest of the lot, a slender green boat -that Billie rarely used, although she had never tried rowing anything -but a flat-bottomed boat. It was the very first time also that she had -been out in a boat alone, but this fact never daunted Kit. She rowed -up the river with a firm level stroke, thoroughly enjoying herself and -the novelty of solitude. When she passed the island, Frank was down on -the little stretch of beach cleaning a mess of fish for supper. She -called to him across the water, and he held up a string of pickerel -invitingly. There had been a thunderstorm and a quick midsummer rain -the early part of the afternoon, and the campers had been quick to take -advantage of the fishing. - -“I’ll stop for them on my way back,” Kit called. “Just going up after -crabapples at the Allen place.” She had swerved the boat toward the -bank on the opposite side of the island, without looking behind her, -when suddenly Frank sprang to his feet and shouted across the water, -“To the left, Kit--hard to the left, do you hear!” - -Instead of obeying without question, Kit turned her head to see what he -was warning her against, and before she could stop herself the rowboat -was caught in an eddy that formed a miniature maelstrom at this point, -caused by a large sunken tree that fell nearly to midstream from the -shore. The frail rowboat overturned like a crumpled leaf. It seemed -to Frank as long as he lived he would never forget the sight of her -upturned face, as it slipped down into the dark, swirling water. -She did not cry out, or even seem to make an attempt to swim, it all -happened so suddenly. There was only the horrible, warm silence of -the drowsy, midsummer landscape, and the dancing, pitching rowboat, -twirling around and around in circles. - -It seemed an hour to him before he had plunged into the river, and swam -across to the spot where she had disappeared. The gripping horror was -that she hadn’t come up at all. Even before he reached the spot where -he had seen her go under, Frank dove and swam under water with his eyes -open. The river bottom was a mass of swaying vegetation and gnarled, -sunken roots of old trees. It seemed for the moment like outreaching -fingers clutching upward. He could see the black trunk of the tree, -but there was no sign of Kit until he was fairly upon her, and then he -found her, her dress and hair held fast on the bare branches. - -Billie had been in the cabin, getting the potatoes on for dinner, and -otherwise performing his duties as assistant camp cook. He had heard -Frank’s voice calling to someone, but had not taken the trouble to look -out until he failed to find a favorite pot on its accustomed hook. -Sticking his head out the door, he called down to the beach, “Say, -Frank, where’s the aluminum pot with the big handle?” - -He listened for an answer but none came, and after a second call he -started to investigate. The sudden complete disappearance of Frank -mystified him. Their favorite boat lay in its accustomed place on the -shore with oars beside it, and there were the fish beside the cleaning -board just as he had left them a moment ago. - -“Well, I’ll be darned,” muttered Billie when there came a cry across -the river--Frank calling for help. - -Billie could just see him swimming with one long overhand stroke, and -holding up something on his other shoulder. Not stopping to figure it -out, Billie pushed the boat off to the rescue. - -There was no sign of life, at least to Billie’s fear-struck eyes, in -the limp, dripping figure which Frank laid so tenderly in the bottom -of the boat. - -“Quit shaking like that, Bill,” he ordered in husky sternness. “You row -to the island as fast as you can.” - -On the way across he knelt beside her, applying first-aid methods, -while Billie rowed blindly, trying to choke back the dry sobs that -would rise in his throat. It did not seem as if it could possibly be -Kit lying there so white and still. When they reached the shore of the -island, Frank carried her in his arms to his own cot. - -“Hadn’t I better go for help?” Billie asked. - -“There isn’t time,” Frank answered shortly. “Warm those blankets, get -me the bottle of spirits of ammonia, and unlace her shoes.” - -All the time he was talking, he worked over Kit as swiftly and tenderly -as any nurse, but it seemed hours to Billie before there came at last -a half-sobbing sigh from her lips, as the agonized lungs caught their -first breath of air, and she opened her eyes. - -Neither Frank nor Billie spoke as she stared from one to the other -in slow surprise, taking in the interior of the cabin, and Frank’s -dripping clothing. Then she said, crazily, “Billie, did I lose the -crabapples, or haven’t I gotten them yet?” - -“So that’s what you were after,” Billie cried, “poking up the river by -yourself in that beastly little boat that turns over if you look at it, -and you can swim about as well as a cat. If it hadn’t been for Frank -here, you’d be absolutely drowned dead by now.” - -The color stole back into Kit’s face. Perhaps if he had sympathized -with her, she might have broken down, but as it was, she looked up into -Frank’s eyes almost appealingly. - -“I’m awfully sorry,” she began, but Frank stopped her with a laugh, as -he rolled her up tighter in another blanket. - -“I’m the doctor here now,” he said, “and you’ll have to mind. I guess -if I carry you, we can get you home somehow. The sooner you’re in bed, -the better.” - -Mrs. Craig, Jean and Doris were just coming along the road when they -saw the startling procession coming up from the river bank, Frank -carrying the blanketed figure and Billie bringing up the rear. - -“Why, Mother,” Jean exclaimed, “someone’s been hurt.” - -“She’s all right,” called Frank, cheerily. “Just took a dip in the -river, Mrs. Craig. If you’ll go ahead, please, and get a bed ready, -I’ll bring her up.” - -Kit’s eyes were closed. He had told her to put her arms around his neck -so that he could carry her easier up the hill. Just as they got to the -porch steps he said, under his breath, “Are you OK, Kit?” - -She nodded her head slowly and opened her eyes. “Thank you for getting -me out,” she whispered, with a shyness absolutely new to her. “You -don’t know how I felt when I found myself caught down there, and -couldn’t get away. I thought that was just all.” - -“Bring her upstairs, Frank,” called Jean. “Mother’s telephoning to Dr. -Gallup, but I suppose the danger’s all past now. Kit, you big dope, -what did you ever go in that boat alone for? The minute you’re left -alone, you’re always up to something. Just like the day when she had -you locked up in the corncrib, Frank.” - -Frank smiled, a curious reminiscent smile, as he laid his burden down -on the bed. - -Probably only Kit heard his answer, for Jean had gone after hot tea, -and Doris was getting the heating pad, but Kit heard and smiled as he -said, “God bless the corncrib.” - - - - -18. Jean’s Romance - - -Probably the next three days were the longest Kit had ever spent in her -life. Under Dr. Gallup’s orders, she remained in bed to get over the -shock of her immersion. - -“When I don’t feel shocked a bit,” she argued, “I don’t see why I can’t -sit in a chair down on the porch.” - -“Yes, you just want to pose as an interesting invalid,” Jean laughed. -“Becky sent down a stack of books for you to read. Frank and Billie -call about six times a day to inquire after you, and Madame Ormond has -offered to come and sing for you.” - -“Jean, look at me,” said Kit suddenly. “Will you tell me something, -honest and true?” - -“I think Mom’s calling.” Jean’s voice was rather hurried, as she -started for the door. - -“No, she isn’t any such thing. I want to know if you and Ralph are -engaged. I don’t see why you should try to keep it a secret when -everybody thinks you are anyway. And a wedding in the family would be -so exciting.” - -“Well, all right, yes,” she conceded. “Ralph’s giving me a ring before -he leaves. We were going to keep it a surprise until then. We’re not -getting married for a long time yet, so don’t start getting excited -now.” With that she turned and hurried downstairs. - -Kit stared out of the window, rather resentfully. She would be -seventeen in November, and Jean was past nineteen. Nineteen loomed -ahead of her as a year of discretion, a time when you naturally came -into your heritage of mature reason and common sense. The Dean, she -remembered, had once remarked that the human brain did not reach its -full development until eighteen, and how at the time she resented it, -feeling absolutely sure at sixteen there was nothing under the sun she -could not understand fully. - -But the tumble in the river and peril to her life had left her -completely stranded on the unknown shore of indecision. Evidently it -was just what Billie had called it, a fool stunt for her to try and row -up that river alone. Kit had always gone rather jauntily along doing -as she thought best with an unshakable confidence that nothing could -happen to her. - -Another thing, she had a very uncomfortable sensation, for her enemy -had heaped coals of fire on her head and returned good for evil in such -an overwhelming measure that she never could repay him. Twenty-four -hours had made an enormous difference in her outlook on life. - -The afternoon of the third day she was allowed to sit down on the -porch. Doris and Jean hovered over her quite as if she was made of -glass, and nearly all the cabin colonists visited her in relays. -Billie came up last of all, but Frank did not appear. - -“He’s gone off up in the hills,” Billie told her, “chasing some kind of -a new moth. He said to tell you he would be back to see you later this -afternoon. You’d be awfully dead by now, Kit, if he hadn’t happened to -see you go down, because I was in the cabin and didn’t know anything -about it. But it was just like him to dash after you and pull you out.” - -Kit leaned her chin reflectively on her hand. “Heroes are such -uncomfortable people in everyday life, Bill,” she said. “Everybody, -even Dad and Mom, keep telling me how everlastingly grateful I must be -to him for saving my life. I don’t see what I can do except thank him, -and I’ve done that.” - -“Treat him decently,” Billie suggested, “even if you don’t like him. -Hide it.” - -“Oh, I like him well enough,” Kit answered, “only he’s never seemed -like Buzzy, and Ralph, and you. I guess I’ve always resented everyone -thinking he was so wonderful. It was as though he had had a sort of -sweet revenge on me for taking him for a berry thief.” - -True to his word, Frank came down to see Kit just before dinner with -some startling news. - -“I’ll be leaving for Europe in another month, Kit. I just received a -letter granting me a fellowship to go over there to examine European -species of insects. If you’ll be real good, Kit, and never call me a -berry thief again, I’ll write to you.” - -He was only joking, but there was no answering glint of humor in Kit’s -eyes as she said, “I’ll never, never even think of you as a berry thief -again, Frank. I didn’t know you were planning to go away off over -there, and I’m willing now to say I am sorry for the first day, and -Tommy locking you up, and Mr. Hicks coming to arrest you.” - -“I do believe you’re trying to forgive me, Kit,” Frank said teasingly. -“Is this a truce, or a lasting peace? You see, I want to know for -sure, because I haven’t any sisters, or mother, or anyone who cares a -rap whether I go or stay, and you’re the first person I’ve even told.” - -“It’s peace,” Kit answered, firmly. - -Frank was very busy pulling a small box out of his pocket. In it was a -silver bracelet on which was engraved a tree. “Keep this so you won’t -forget me. It’s an Indian bracelet I brought from New Mexico, and the -tree is alive and growing. It isn’t a sunken snag.” - -Kit was obviously very pleased and tried to thank him for it but she -stopped as Ralph and Jean came slowly up the drive together. - -Ralph came up the porch steps and sat down beside her. “Jean told me -you guessed our surprise. How do you like your new brother, Kit?” - -“I approve,” answered Kit, solemnly. “You know I’ve always liked you, -Ralph. Are you going to let her keep on painting?” - -“She can do anything she likes,” Ralph promised. “And if she can find -any more beautiful scenery than we have in Saskatchewan and through -Northwest Canada, she’ll have to show it to me.” - -Jean smiled happily but said nothing. She was looking out at the hills -but what she really saw was a ranch in Saskatoon. - - - - -Transcriber’s Note: - -Punctuation has been standardised. - - Falcon Books preliminary page - Ralph MacRae came along _changed to_ - Ralph McRae came along - - In the Contents - The Suprise _changed to_ - The Surprise - - Page 72 - wasn’t anything in itat _changed to_ - wasn’t anything in it at - - Page 117 - all abou tthat _changed to_ - all about that - - - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JEAN CRAIG FINDS ROMANCE *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<div style='display:table; margin-bottom:1em;'> - <div style='display:table-row'> - <div style='display:table-cell; padding-right:0.5em'>Title:</div> - <div style='display:table-cell'>Jean Craig Finds Romance</div> - </div> -</div> -<div style='display:table; margin-bottom:1em;'> -<div style='display:table-row'> - <div style='display:table-cell; padding-right:0.5em'>Author:</div> - <div style='display:table-cell'>Kay Lyttleton</div> -</div> -</div> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: June 9, 2021 [eBook #65581]</div> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> -<div style='display:table; margin-bottom:1em;'> - <div style='display:table-row'> - <div style='display:table-cell; padding-right:0.5em; white-space:nowrap;'>Produced by:</div> - <div style='display:table-cell'>Stephen Hutcheson and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net</div> - </div> -</div> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JEAN CRAIG FINDS ROMANCE ***</div> - -<hr class="divider" /> -<h1><cite>Jean Craig Finds Romance</cite></h1> -<hr class="divider2" /> - -<div class="x-ebookmaker-drop figcenter width500" id="cover2"> - <img src="images/cover2.jpg" width="500" height="720" alt="Cover" /> -</div> - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<p class="center">FALCON - <img class="width80 vertical-align" src="images/colophon-bw.png" width="80" height="75" alt="" /> - BOOKS</p> - -<p class="center p120"><cite>Jean Craig Finds Romance</cite></p> - -<p class="center">BY KAY LYTTLETON</p> - -<p class="noi">Jean Craig had always wanted to be an artist. But when her family had -moved to Woodhow in Connecticut, she had given up her art lessons. -Later, when she was able to resume them, she realized how important a -career was to her. But then Ralph -<a name="McRae" id="McRae"></a><ins title="Original has 'MacRae'">McRae</ins> -came along, and Jean found -herself unable to make up her mind as to what she wanted most. And -while Jean was trying to come to a decision, her sister Kit was having -a fine adventure of her own out West.</p> - -<p><cite>Jean Craig Finds Romance</cite> is filled with gaiety and humor, -another charming story of the wonderful, courageous Craigs and their -family adventures.</p> - -<p class="center mt3">Other FALCON BOOKS for Girls:</p> - -<p class="center">JEAN CRAIG GROWS UP<br /> -JEAN CRAIG IN NEW YORK<br /> -PATTY AND JO, DETECTIVES</p> -</div> - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<div class="figcenter width500" id="frontispiece"> - <img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" width="500" height="637" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"> - A startling procession came from the river. - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider2" /> -<p class="center p180"><cite>JEAN CRAIG<br /> -FINDS ROMANCE</cite></p> - -<p class="center">by KAY LYTTLETON</p> - -<div class="figcenter width80" id="colophon"> - <img src="images/colophon-bw.png" width="80" height="75" alt="Falcon Books Colophon" /> -</div> - -<p class="center">THE WORLD PUBLISHING COMPANY<br /> -<small>CLEVELAND AND NEW YORK</small></p> -</div> - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider2" /> -<p class="center">Falcon Books<br /> -<i>are published by</i> <span class="allsmcap">THE WORLD PUBLISHING COMPANY</span><br /> -<em>2231 West 110th Street · Cleveland 2 · Ohio</em></p> - -<p class="center mt3">W</p> - -<p class="center"><span class="allsmcap">COPYRIGHT</span> 1948 -<span class="allsmcap">BY THE WORLD PUBLISHING COMPANY</span></p> - -<p class="center allsmcap">MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA</p> -</div> - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider2" /> -<h2 id="Contents">Contents</h2> -</div> - -<table summary="Contents"> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">1.</td> -<td class="tdl">Kit Traps a Thief</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#i">9</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">2.</td> -<td class="tdl">I Smell Smoke</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#ii">21</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">3.</td> -<td class="tdl">The Important Letter</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#iii">29</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">4.</td> -<td class="tdl">Kit’s Plan</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#iv">36</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">5.</td> -<td class="tdl">Farewell Party</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#v">47</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">6.</td> -<td class="tdl">“The Boy’s” Arrival</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#vi">55</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">7.</td> -<td class="tdl">The House Under the Bluff</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#vii">70</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">8.</td> -<td class="tdl">A Square Deal</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#viii">86</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">9.</td> -<td class="tdl">Hope College</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#ix">98</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">10.</td> -<td class="tdl">The -<a name="Surprise" id="Surprise"></a><ins title="Original has 'Suprise'">Surprise</ins></td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#x">109</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">11.</td> -<td class="tdl">The Mysterious Guest</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xi">121</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">12.</td> -<td class="tdl">Homesick</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xii">131</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">13.</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank Apologizes</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xiii">138</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">14.</td> -<td class="tdl">The Secret in the Urn</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xiv">150</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">15.</td> -<td class="tdl">Home Again</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xv">168</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">16.</td> -<td class="tdl">Visiting Celebrities</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xvi">177</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">17.</td> -<td class="tdl">Frank to the Rescue</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xvii">195</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">18.</td> -<td class="tdl">Jean’s Romance</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xviii">206</a></td> -</tr> -</table> - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<p class="center p180">JEAN CRAIG FINDS ROMANCE</p> -</div> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider2 x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9"></a>9</span> -<h2 id="i">1. Kit Traps a Thief</h2> -</div> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Kit</span> was on lookout duty, and had been for the past hour and a half. The -windows of one of the upstairs bedrooms commanded a view of a large -part of the countryside, and from here she had done sentry duty over -the huckleberry patch.</p> - -<p>It lay to the northeast of the house, a great, rambling, rocky, -ten-acre lot that straggled unevenly from the wood road down to the -river. To the casual onlooker, it seemed just a patch of underbrush. -There were half-grown-birches all over it, and now and then a little -dwarf spruce tree or cluster of hazel bushes. But to the Craig family -that ten-acre lot represented<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10"></a>10</span> profit in the month of August when -huckleberries and blueberries were ripe.</p> - -<p>The Craig family were newcomers to the country, newcomers in the eyes -of the natives of Elmhurst, Connecticut, for they had moved there a -year and a half ago seeking peace and rest for Mr. Craig, who was -slowly recovering from a nervous breakdown. The family’s adventures and -problems in making their home in the country were told in <cite>Jean Craig -Grows Up</cite>. Jean, eighteen and ambitious for an artist’s career, had -spent part of the previous winter studying in a New York art school and -her experiences there were described in <cite>Jean Craig in New York</cite>.</p> - -<p>Sixteen-year-old Kit, in whom the spirit of adventure ran high, was -watching suspiciously a trim-looking, red-wheeled, black-bodied truck, -driven by a strange man, as it pulled up at the pasture bars and -stopped. The man took out of the truck not a burlap bag, but a tan -leather case and also something else that looked like a large box with -a handle on it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11"></a>11</span> -“Camouflage,” said Kit to herself, scornfully. “He’s going to fill them -with our berries, and then make believe he’s selling books.”</p> - -<p>Downstairs she tore with the news. Her twelve-year-old brother Tommy -and his pal Jack Davis, nine, were out in the barn negotiating peace -terms with a half-grown calf that they had been trying to tame for -days, and which still persisted in butting its head every time they -came near it with friendly overtures. Jack, whose mother had died and -whose father had not wanted to be bothered with him, had come to live -with the Craigs after Jean and Tommy had discovered him in Nantic a few -days before Christmas, lost and alone. Tommy had immediately assumed -responsibility for Jack and protected and bossed him as if Jack were -his special property.</p> - -<p>Jean and Doris, who was fourteen, had gone up to Norwich with Mrs. -Craig for the day, and Mr. Craig was out in the apple orchard with -Philip Weaver, spraying the trees against the attacks of the gypsy -moths. At least,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12"></a>12</span> Philip held to spraying, but Mr. Craig was anxious to -experiment with some of the newer methods advocated by the government.</p> - -<p>Kit called her news to Tommy and he and Jack started off after the -trespasser, while she went back to telephone Mr. Hicks, the constable. -The very last thing she had said to Tommy was to put the vandal in the -corncrib and stand guard over him until Mr. Hicks came.</p> - -<p>“Don’t you worry one bit, Miss Kit,” the Constable of Elmhurst Township -assured her over the phone. “I’ll be there in my car in less than -twenty minutes. You folks ain’t the only ones that’s suffering this -year from fruit thieves, and it’s time we taught these high fliers from -town that they can’t light anywhere they like and pick what they like. -I’ll take him right down to the judge this afternoon.”</p> - -<p>Kit sat by the open window and fanned herself with a feeling of -triumphant indignation. If Jean or Doris had been home, she knew -perfectly well they would have been soft-hearted<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13"></a>13</span> and lenient, but -every berry on every bush was precious to Kit, and she felt that now -was the appointed hour to catch the thief.</p> - -<p>Inside of a few minutes Tommy and Jack came back hot and red-faced, but -filled with the pride of accomplishment.</p> - -<p>“We’ve got him,” Tommy said, happily, “safe and sound in the corncrib, -and it’s hotter than all get out in there. He can’t escape unless -he slips through a crack in the floor. We just caught him as he was -bending down right over the bushes, and what do you suppose he tried to -tell us, Kit? He said he was looking for caterpillars.” Tommy laughed. -“Did you call up Mr. Hicks?”</p> - -<p>Kit nodded, looking out at the corncrib. The midsummer sun beat down -upon it pitilessly, at the end of the lane behind the bar.</p> - -<p>“Gosh, do you suppose he’ll survive, Tommy? I’ll bet it’s a hundred and -six inside there.”</p> - -<p>“Aw, it’ll do him good,” put in Jack. “Don’t you worry about him. He’s -a strong<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14"></a>14</span> man. It was all Tommy and I could do to keep a good hold on -him.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, kids,” exclaimed Kit. “I didn’t want you to touch him.”</p> - -<p>“How else were we to catch him?” demanded Tommy. “You and your bright -ideas. Come on, Jack, let’s go back and stand guard over him.”</p> - -<p>Kit watched them leave rather dubiously. It was one thing to act on -the impulse of the moment and quite another to face the consequences. -Now that the prisoner was safe in the corncrib, she wondered uneasily -just what her father would say when he found out what she had done to -protect the berry patch. But just now he was in the upper orchard with -old Mr. Weaver, deep in apple culture, and she thought she could get -rid of the trespasser before he returned.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Gorham was in the kitchen putting up peaches. She was humming and -the sound came through the screen door. Mrs. Gorham was Judge Ellis’s -housekeeper and helped out<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15"></a>15</span> the Craigs occasionally when an extra hand -was needed. Now that Judge Ellis had married Becky Craig, Mr. Craig’s -cousin who had engineered the family’s move to Woodhow and was always -at hand in an emergency, Mrs. Gorham was not needed as much at the -Judge’s home. Billie, the Judge’s grandson who was sixteen and Doris’s -best friend, completed the Ellis household.</p> - -<p>Kit slipped around the drive behind the house out to the hill road. Mr. -Hicks would have to come from this direction, and here she sat on the -ground at the entrance to the driveway, thinking and waiting.</p> - -<p>The minutes passed and still Mr. Hicks failed to appear. If Kit could -have visualized his trip, she might have imagined him lingering here -and there along the country roads, stopping to tell the news to any -neighbor who might be nearby. Beside him sat Elvira, his youngest, -drinking in every word with tense appreciation of the novelty. It was -the first chance Mr. Hicks had had to make an arrest<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16"></a>16</span> during his term -of office, and as a special test and reward of diligence, Elvira had -been permitted to come along and behold the climax with her own eyes. -But the twenty minutes stretched out into nearly forty, and Kit’s heart -sank when she saw her father strolling leisurely down the orchard path, -just as Mr. Hicks hove in sight.</p> - -<p>Mr. Weaver limped beside him, smiling contentedly.</p> - -<p>“Well, I guess we’ve got ’em licked this time, Tom,” he chuckled. “If -there’s a bug or a moth that can stand that dose of mine, I’ll eat the -whole apple crop myself.”</p> - -<p>“Still, I’ll feel better satisfied when Howard gets here, and gives an -expert opinion,” Mr. Craig replied. “He wrote he expected to be here -today without fail.”</p> - -<p>“Well, of course you’re entitled to your opinion, Tom,” Mr. Weaver -replied, doubtfully. “But I never did set any store at all by these -here government boys with their little<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17"></a>17</span> satchels and tree doctor books. -I’d just as soon walk up to an apple tree and hand it a blue pill or a -shin plaster.”</p> - -<p>Kit stood up hastily as Mr. Hicks drove in from the road.</p> - -<p>“Hello,” he called out, “How are you, Tom? Howdy, Philip? Miss Kit here -tells me you’ve been harboring a fruit thief, and you’ve caught him.”</p> - -<p>Kit’s cheeks were bright red as she laid one hand on her father’s -shoulder.</p> - -<p>“Tommy’s got him right over in the corncrib, Mr. Hicks. I haven’t told -Dad yet, because it might worry him. It isn’t anything at all, Dad,” -she added, hurriedly. “We have been keeping a watch on the berry patch, -and today it was my turn. I just happened to see somebody over there -after the berries, so I told Tommy and Jack to go and get him, and I -called up Mr. Hicks.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Craig shook his head with a little smile. “I’m afraid Kit has been -overambitious, Mr.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18"></a>18</span> Hicks,” he said. “I don’t know anything about this, -but we’ll go over to the corncrib and find out what it’s all about.”</p> - -<p>Kit and Evie secured a good vantage point up on the porch while the -others skirted around the garden over to the old corncrib where Tommy -and Jack stood guard.</p> - -<p>“My, I like your place over here,” Evie exclaimed, wistfully. “You’ve -got so many flowers. Mom says she can’t even grow a nasturtium on our -place without the hens scratching it up.”</p> - -<p>Kit nodded, but could not answer. Already she felt that all was not as -it should be at the corncrib. She saw Tommy stealthily and cautiously -put back the wide wooden bars that held the door, then Mr. Hicks, fully -on the defensive with a stout hickory cane held in readiness for any -unseemly move on the part of the culprit, advanced into the corncrib. -Evie drew closer, her little freckled face full of curiosity.</p> - -<p>“Isn’t Pop brave?” she whispered, “and he<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19"></a>19</span> never made but two arrests -before in all his life. One was over at Miss Hornaby’s when she -wouldn’t let Minnie and Myron go to school ’cause their shoes were all -out on the ground, and the other time he got that weaver over at Beacon -Hill for selling cider.”</p> - -<p>Still Kit had no answer, for over at the corncrib she saw the strangest -scene. Out stepped the prisoner as fearlessly and blithely as possible, -spoke to her father, and the two of them instantly shook hands, while -Tommy, Jack, Mr. Hicks, and Mr. Weaver stared with all their might. The -next the girls knew, the whole party came strolling back leisurely, and -Kit could see the stranger was regaling her father with a humorous view -of the whole affair. Tommy tried to signal to her behind his back some -mysterious warning, and even Mr. Hicks looked jocular.</p> - -<p>Kit leaned both hands on the railing, and stared hard at the -trespasser. He was a young man, dressed in a light gray suit with -high laced boots to protect him from briars. He was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20"></a>20</span> fair-skinned, -but tanned so deeply that his blond, curly hair seemed even lighter. -He smiled at Kit, with one foot on the lower step, while Mr. Craig -called up, “Kit, my dear, this is Mr. Howard, our fruit expert from -Washington, whom I was expecting.”</p> - -<p>And Kit nodded, blushing furiously and wishing with all her heart she -might have silenced Evie’s audible and disappointed remark, “Didn’t he -hook huckleberries after all?”</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21"></a>21</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="ii">2. I Smell Smoke</h2> - -<p class="noi">“<span class="smcap">I was</span> perfectly positive that if we went away and left you in charge -for one single day, Kit, you would manage to get into some kind of -trouble,” Jean said reproachfully that evening. “If you only wouldn’t -act on the impulse of the moment. Why on earth didn’t you tell Dad, and -ask his advice before you telephoned to Mr. Hicks?”</p> - -<p>“That’s a sensible thing for you to say,” retorted Kit, hotly, “after -you’ve all warned me not to worry Dad about anything. And I did not act -upon impulse,” she went on stiffly, “I made certain logical deductions -from certain facts. How was I to know he was hunting<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22"></a>22</span> gypsy moths and -other winged beasts when I saw him bending over bushes in our berry -patch? Anyhow it would simplify matters if Dad would let us know when -he expected visitors. You should have seen old Mr. Hicks’s face and -Evie’s, too. They were so disappointed at not having a prisoner in tow -to exhibit to the Elmhurst populace on the way over to the jail.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Gorham glanced up over her glasses at the circle of faces around -the dining-room table. The girls had volunteered to help her pick over -berries for canning the following day. It was a sacrifice to make, too, -with the midsummer evening calling to them—katydids and peep frogs, -the swish of the wind through the big Norway pines on the terraces, -and the sound of Jack’s harmonica from the back porch. It was Friday -evening, and Mr. and Mrs. Craig had driven over to the Judge’s for a -visit. Mr. Craig had invited the erstwhile prisoner to accompany them, -but he had decided instead to keep on his way to the old<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23"></a>23</span> Inn on the -hill above the village, much to Jean and Doris’s disappointment.</p> - -<p>Doris had discovered that his first name was Frank, which relieved her -mind considerably.</p> - -<p>“If it had been Abijah or Silas, I know I could never have forgiven -him for getting in the berry patch,” she said, “but there is something -promising about Frank.”</p> - -<p>“Wonder if I turned out that stove,” Mrs. Gorham said thoughtfully. -“Seems like I smell something. Tommy,” she called raising her voice, -“will you see if I turned out that fire under the syrup? I smell smoke.”</p> - -<p>“OK,” called Tommy.</p> - -<p>He got up slowly from his seat on the back steps and sauntered into the -kitchen. The minute he walked in there poured out a spurt of flame and -smoke from the woodwork behind the stove, and Tommy slammed the kitchen -door and ran for a pail.</p> - -<p>It seemed incredible how fast the flames spread. Summoned by his -outcry, the girls opened the door leading into the kitchen from<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24"></a>24</span> the -dining room and quickly shut it again when they saw the flames. Tommy -and Jack pulled the garden hose around to the back door and played the -stream of water on the fire.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Gorham made straight for the telephone, calling up the Judge, and -two or three of the nearest neighbors for help. The Peckham boys from -the sawmill were the first to respond, and five minutes later Matt was -on the spot, having seen the rising smoke and flare in the sky from -Maple Grove, Becky’s old home.</p> - -<p>“You’ll never save the place,” old Mr. Peckham told them flatly. -“Everything is dry as tinder and the water pressure is low. Better -start carrying things out, girls, because the best we can do is to keep -the roofs wet down and try to save the barn.”</p> - -<p>While the fire was confined to the kitchen, the two older Peckham boys -set to work upstairs, under Jean’s direction. Kit had made for her -father’s room the first thing. When Jean opened the door she found her -piling the contents<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25"></a>25</span> of the desk and chest of drawers helter-skelter -into blankets.</p> - -<p>“It’s OK, Jean,” she called. “I’m not missing a thing. You tie the -corners up and have the boys carry these downstairs and bring back the -clothes basket and a couple of tubs for the books. Tell Doris to take -the cat out of here.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” answered Jean. “And Mrs. Gorham is getting all of the -preserves out of the cellar, and Mr. Peckham says he’s sure they’ll -save the piano and most of the best furniture, but, golly, Kit, just -think of how Mom and Dad will feel when they see the flames in the sky, -and know it’s Woodhow burning.”</p> - -<p>“You’d better start in at mother’s room and stop thinking, or we’ll be -sliding down a lightning rod to get out of here.”</p> - -<p>Nobody quite noticed Jack in the excitement, but later when all was -over, it was found that he had rescued all the treasures possible,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26"></a>26</span> the -pictures, all the linen and family silver, and the glassware.</p> - -<p>As the rising glow of the flames lighted up the sky help began to -arrive from all directions. Mrs. Gorham’s thoughtfulness in telephoning -immediately brought the Judge first, with all of the neighbors that had -been at his home for the evening. Becky was bareheaded, little curly -wisps of hair fluttering around her face.</p> - -<p>“I made your father stay up at our place,” she told them. “You’ll all -probably have to come back with me anyhow and excitement isn’t good -for him. Besides, he wouldn’t be a bit of help around here. Seems like -they’re getting the fire under pretty good control. I don’t believe all -the house will go. It was so old anyway, and it needed to be rebuilt if -you ever expect your great-grandchildren to live here.”</p> - -<p>Kit noticed an entirely new and unsuspected trait in Becky on this -night of excitement. It was the only time when she had not seen her -take command of the situation. But tonight<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27"></a>27</span> she helped Mrs. Gorham pack -all the necessary household supplies into the trailer for Matt to drive -up to Maple Grove. As soon as she had seen the extent of the damage she -had said immediately that the family must move up the hill to her own -old home, where she had lived before her marriage to Judge Ellis.</p> - -<p>“It won’t take but a couple days to put it into shape for you, and -Matt’s right up there to look after things. You’ll be back here before -the snow flies, with a few modern improvements put in, and all of you -the better for the change. Jack, go bring the family treasures from -under that pine tree, and put them in the back of our car.”</p> - -<p>“You know, Becky,” Kit exclaimed, “I thought the minute you showed up -down here tonight you’d be the chief of the fire department.”</p> - -<p>Becky laughed. “Did you, dear? Well, I’ve always held that there are -times and seasons when you ought to let the men alone. After you’ve -lived a lifetime in these parts, you’ll<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28"></a>28</span> know that every boy born and -bred around here is taught how to fight fire from the time he can tote -a water bucket. Did you save all the chickens, Tommy?”</p> - -<p>“Didn’t lose even a guinea hen!” Tommy assured her. “The barn wasn’t -touched, and so I’m going to sleep over the harness room and watch -the cow and her calf and the mare. Jack will stay too, and keep me -company.”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29"></a>29</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="iii">3. The Important Letter</h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">The</span> morning after the fire found the family at breakfast with the -Judge’s family. It was impossible as yet for the girls to feel the full -reaction over their loss. Kit and Billie rode down before breakfast to -look at the ruins, and came back with an encouraging report. The back -of the house was badly damaged, but the main building stood intact, -though the charred clapboards and wide vacant windows looked desolate -enough.</p> - -<p>“It was a good thing the wind was from the south and blew the flames -away from the pines,” said Kit, dropping into her chair at the table. -“Doesn’t it seem good to get some of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30"></a>30</span> Becky’s huckleberry pancakes -again? Oh, yes, we met my prisoner on the road. He was tapping chestnut -trees over on Peck’s Hill like a woodpecker. You needn’t laugh, Doris, -’cause Billie saw him too, didn’t you, Bill? And he’s got a sweet -forgiving nature. He waved to me and I smiled back just as though I’d -never caught him in our berry patch, and had Tommy lock him up in the -corncrib.”</p> - -<p>“Was he heading this way?” the Judge asked. “I want him to look at my -peach trees and tell me what ails them.”</p> - -<p>“Tom will be glad to go up with you to the peach orchard,” put in -Becky, “I want Jean and Kit and their mother to drive over and help fix -Maple Grove.”</p> - -<p>The family had taken up its new quarters at Maple Grove before a -week had passed, and two of the local carpenters, Mr. Horace Weaver, -Philip’s brother, and Mr. Delaplaine, had been persuaded to devote -a portion of their valuable time to rehabilitating Woodhow. It took -tact and persuasion to induce these men<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31"></a>31</span> to desert their favorite -chairs on the sidewalk in front of Byers’ Grocery Store, and approach -anything resembling daily toil. There had been a Squire in the Weaver -family three generations back, and Horace held firmly to established -precedent. He might be landed gentry, but he was no tiller of the -soil, and he secretly looked down on his elder brother for personally -cultivating the family acres.</p> - -<p>Mr. Delaplaine was likewise addicted to reverie and historic -retrospect. Nothing delighted Billie and Doris so much as to ride down -to the store and get a chance to converse with both of the old men -on local history. Mr. Delaplaine’s mail, which consisted mostly of -catalogues, came addressed to N. L. Delaplaine, Esq., but to Elmhurst -he was just Niles Delaplaine.</p> - -<p>Every day that first week found the girls and Tommy down at the old -home prying around the ruins for any lost treasures. Frank Howard -struck up a friendship with both the Judge and Mr. Craig, and usually -drove by on his way<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32"></a>32</span> from the village. He would stop and talk for a -few minutes with them, but Kit was elusive. Vaguely, she felt that the -proper thing for her to do was to offer an apology for even considering -him an unlawful trespasser. When Frank would drive away, Jean would -laugh at her teasingly.</p> - -<p>“Gosh, why do you act so high and mighty? He seems very nice and he’s -awfully good-looking, even if he does chase caterpillars for a living. -I never did see anyone but you, Kit, who hated to acknowledge herself -in the wrong. The rest of us all have the most peaceful, forgiving sort -of dispositions, but you can be a regular porcupine when you want to -be.”</p> - -<p>“It could come from Uncle Bart,” retorted Kit. “Did you hear them all -talking about him over at the Judge’s while we were there? Let’s sit -here under the pines a minute until the mailman goes by. I’m sick of -poking over cinders. Becky said he was the only notable in our family. -Dean Barton Cato Peabody. We ought to tell Mr. Delaplaine that.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33"></a>33</span> -“Sh-h,” warned Jean, “he might hear you and it would hurt his -feelings.” She glanced back over her shoulder to where Mr. Delaplaine -worked, taking off the outer layer of charred clapboards from the front -of the house.</p> - -<p>“Still it is nice to own a dean, almost as good as a squire,” repeated -Kit placidly.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t pay much attention to what they were saying about him,” said -Jean dreamily. “Is he still alive?”</p> - -<p>“He is, but I guess he might as well be dead as far as the rest of the -family is concerned. Becky said he’d never married, and he lived with -his sister out in the middle west somewhere. Not the real west—I mean -the interesting west like Saskatchewan and Saskatoon and—you know what -I mean, Jean?”</p> - -<p>Jean was particularly interested in Saskatoon for it was there that -Ralph McRae lived. Ralph, who was twenty-five, had been the owner of -Woodhow before the Craigs bought it and the first summer they were in -Elmhurst, he had come to visit them and was immediately<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34"></a>34</span> attracted to -Jean. He had returned last spring with Buzzy Hancock, his cousin and -a great friend of Kit’s, who had spent the year with him. Then he had -gone West again, taking Buzzy’s sister, Sally, and Mrs. Hancock with -him to make their home in Saskatoon. Jean missed him very much, more -than she would admit to Kit or the others, and she looked forward to -his frequent letters.</p> - -<p>“There comes the mail,” called Jean, starting up and running down the -drive as the truck came in sight. The carrier waved a newspaper and -letter at them.</p> - -<p>“Nothing for you girls today, only a letter for your father and a -weekly newspaper for Matt. I’ll leave it up at the old place as I go -by.” He added as a happy afterthought to relieve any possible anxiety -on their part, “It’s from Delphi, Wisconsin.”</p> - -<p>Kit stood transfixed with wonder, as he passed on up the hill. “Jean,” -she said slowly, “there’s something awfully queer about me.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35"></a>35</span> That -letter was from Uncle Barton Cato Peabody.”</p> - -<p>“Well, what if it is?” asked Jean, shaking the needles from her blouse.</p> - -<p>“But, don’t you get the significance? I was just telling you about him -and now there’s a letter from him for Dad.”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36"></a>36</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="iv">4. Kit’s Plan</h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">It</span> appeared that Uncle Bart lived strictly up to tradition, for it had -been over fifteen years since any word had been received from him. The -letter which broke the long silence was read aloud several times that -day, the girls and Tommy especially searching between its lines for any -hidden sentiment or hint of family affection.</p> - -<p>“I don’t see why he tries to be generous when he doesn’t know how,” -Doris said musingly. “I wonder if he’s got bushy gray hair.”</p> - -<p>“Wait a minute while I read this thing over carefully again,” Kit said. -“I think while we’re alone we ought to discuss it freely.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37"></a>37</span> Mother just -took it as if it were of no consequence. It seems to me, since it -concerns us vitally, that we ought to have some selection in the matter -ourselves.”</p> - -<p>“But Kit, you didn’t read carefully,” Jean interrupted with a little -laugh. “See here,” she followed the writing with her fingertip. “He -says, ‘Send me the boy.’ That means Tommy.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I know it does, but Mom said she didn’t want Tommy to go now. She -said he’s too young to go off alone.”</p> - -<p>“Well then, that scotches the deal as far as the rest of us are -concerned.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t see why I can’t go,” said Kit rather sadly. “I should have -been a boy anyway, I’m more like Dad than any of you.”</p> - -<p>“No matter what you say,” Jean replied, “I don’t think you’re -especially like Dad at all. He hasn’t a quick temper and he’s not the -least bit domineering.”</p> - -<p>Kit leaned over her tenderly. “Darling, am I domineering to you? Have -I crushed your<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38"></a>38</span> spirit? I’m awfully sorry. I didn’t mean that my bad -habits were inherited from Dad. What I meant was my initiative and -craving for something new and different. Just at the moment I can’t -think of anything that would be more interesting or adventurous than -going out to Uncle Bart’s, and trying to fulfill all his expectations.”</p> - -<p>“Thought you wanted to go out to the Alameda Ranch with Uncle Hal more -than anything in the world, a little while ago. You’re forever changing -your mind, Kit.”</p> - -<p>“Golly, I wouldn’t give a darn for a person who couldn’t face new -emergencies and feel within them the surge of—of—”</p> - -<p>“We admit the surge, but would you really and truly be willing to go to -this place? I don’t even know what state it’s in.”</p> - -<p>There was a footstep in the long hallway, and Mr. Craig came into the -living room.</p> - -<p>“Dad,” called Doris, “were you ever in Delphi, where Uncle Bart lives?”</p> - -<p>Mr. Craig sat down on the arm of Jean’s chair and lit his pipe.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39"></a>39</span> -“Just once, long ago when I was about eight years old. We, that is, my -mother and I, stayed for about a week at Delphi. It’s a little college -town on Lake Michigan, perhaps sixty miles north of Chicago on the big -bluffs that line the shore nearly all the way to Milwaukee. Uncle Bart -helped to establish Hope College there in Wisconsin. I don’t remember -so very much about it, though, it was so long ago. I seem to remember -Uncle Bart’s house was rather cheerless and formal. He was a good deal -of a scholar and antiquarian. Aunt Della seemed to me just a little -shadow that followed after him, and made life smooth.”</p> - -<p>Kit listened very closely to every word he said, and Jean was looking -up at him seriously.</p> - -<p>“I don’t think,” continued their father easily, “that it would be a -very cheerful or sympathetic home for any young person. Your mother is -right in not wanting to let Tommy go.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, but Dad, gee,” Kit burst out eagerly, “Think what a challenge it -would be to make them understand how much more interesting<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40"></a>40</span> you can -make life if you only take the right point of view.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, but supposing what seemed to be the right point of view to you, -Kit, was not the right point of view to them at all. Everyone looks at -life from his own angle.”</p> - -<p>“Aldo always said that, too,” Jean put in. “Remember, the boy from -Italy I met when I was in New York last winter? I remember at our art -class each student would see the subject from a different angle and -sketch accordingly. Aldo said it was exactly like life, where each one -gets his own perspective.”</p> - -<p>“But you can’t get any perspective at all if you shut yourself up in -the dark,” Kit argued. She leaned her chin on her hands. “Now just -listen to this, and don’t all speak at once until I get through. You -went away, Jean, to New York, and though maybe I shouldn’t say this, -you came back home very much better satisfied and pleasanter to live -with. I think after you’ve stayed in one place too long you get fed -up and wish there were some way to get<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41"></a>41</span> away somewhere. I haven’t any -special talent for art or anything like that, but I’d like to get away -and see something different for a change. And Dad darling, if you would -only consent to let me go for even two or three months, I will come -back to you a perfect angel, besides doing Uncle Bart and Aunt Della -oodles of good.”</p> - -<p>“It sounds right enough, dear,” Mr. Craig said, his gray eyes full of -amusement, “but we can’t very well disguise you as a boy, and Uncle -Bart is not the kind of person to trifle with.”</p> - -<p>Kit thought this over seriously.</p> - -<p>“Don’t tell them until I’ve started,” she suggested, “and be sure and -mail the letter so it will get there after I do, and send me quick, so -they won’t have any chance to change their minds. Jean will be here and -you really and truly don’t need me here at all.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I don’t know what to say, Kit. I’ll have to talk it over with -your mother first. I wonder why Uncle Bart wanted Tommy specially.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42"></a>42</span> -“Maybe he thought a boy would be more interested in antiques. Are they -Chinese porcelains and jewels, or just mummy things?”</p> - -<p>“Mostly ruins, as I remember,” laughed her father. “When he was young, -Uncle Bart used to be sent away by the Geographical Society to explore -buried cities in Chaldea and Egypt.”</p> - -<p>“I wish I could coax him to start in again, right now, and take me with -him,” Kit exclaimed, blithely. “Anyhow, I’m going to hope that it will -come right and I can go. Can I borrow your trunk Jean? Just write a -charming letter, Dad, sort of in the abstract, thanking him and calling -us ‘the children’ so he can’t detect just what we are, then when I -depart, you can wire them, ‘Kit arrives such and such a time.’ They’ll -probably expect a Christopher, and once I land there, and they realize -the treasure you have sent them, they will forgive me anything.”</p> - -<p>Uncle Bart’s letter was read over again carefully by Mrs. Craig. Kit -carried it out to the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43"></a>43</span> grape arbor where she was shelling peas for -dinner.</p> - -<p>“Just read that letter over, Mom, very, very carefully, and see if -there isn’t some way you can smuggle me out to Delphi, without hurting -Uncle Bart’s feelings.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Craig took the letter and together they read it again—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="noi">My dear Thomas:</p> - -<p>I trust both you and Margaret are enjoying good health, and that this -finds you both facing a more prosperous time than when I heard last -from you.</p> - -<p>It has occurred to both Della and myself that we may be able to -relieve you of part of your responsibility and care, at least for -a short time. If the experiment should prove advantageous to all -concerned we might be able to arrange a longer stay. One suggestion, -however, I feel privileged to make. We would prefer<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44"></a>44</span> that you would -send the boy, as you know this is a college town, and I am sure -it would broaden his views to come west, even for a short time. I -need hardly add that we will do all in our power to make his stay a -pleasant and profitable one.</p> - -<p>Another point to consider is this. I would like to interest him in a -few of my little hobbies, archaeology, geology, etc. I have delved -deeply into the mysteries of the past, and feel I should pass on what -I have learned as a heritage to youth.</p> - -<p>Trusting that you and Margaret will be able to coincide with our views -in the matter, I remain,</p> - -<p class="nmb right">Yours faithfully,</p> -<p class="nmt right2">Barton C. Peabody.</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>“You know, Mom,” here Kit slipped her arm persuasively around her -mother’s shoulder, “you’ve always said yourself that I was more like a -boy. And Buzzy says I’m an awfully good<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45"></a>45</span> pal, and he’d much rather talk -to me than any of the boys around here because I understand what he’s -driving at.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t think it would matter, if you only visited them for a couple -of months, but supposing Uncle Bart took a fancy to you.” Mrs. Craig’s -eyes twinkled as she watched Kit’s grave face.</p> - -<p>“You mean,” she said, “supposing he decided that my brain measured up -to his expectation and they wanted me to stay all winter? Couldn’t I go -to school there, just as well as here? You ought to realize, Mom, that -I’m really not a child any longer. I’m sixteen.”</p> - -<p>“Reaching years of discretion, aren’t you,” smiled her mother. “I -suppose it would do you a lot of good in a broadening way to go through -a new experience like this.”</p> - -<p>“I’m not thinking about that.” Kit sent back an understanding gleam of -fun, “but I’m perfectly positive that it would do Uncle Bart and Aunt -Della an awful lot of good.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46"></a>46</span> -“Then we shouldn’t deprive them of the opportunity. Do you think so, -Matt?”</p> - -<p>Matt stuck his head through the vines and clustering leaves. “Couldn’t -do no harm either way, s’far as I can see,” he said. “And if the old -folks need any sort of discipline, I’d certainly start Miss Kit after -them.”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47"></a>47</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="v">5. Farewell Party</h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">That</span> was the end of August. Becky approved of the plan, and said no -doubt the fire down at Woodhow had been a good thing after all.</p> - -<p>“You were all of you settling down into a rut before it happened, -and the old place needed a thorough going over anyhow. You know -you couldn’t have afforded it, Tom, if it hadn’t been for the fire -insurance money coming in so handy. Now, you’ll all move back the first -part of the winter, with the new furnace set up, and no cracks for the -wind to whistle through. Jean will be here and I don’t think Kit’s a -bit too young to be going off alone. Land alive, Margaret, you ought -to be<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48"></a>48</span> so thankful that you’ve got children with any get-up to them in -this day and age. The Judge and I were saying just the other night it -seems as if most of the young people up around here haven’t got any -pluck or initiative at all. They’re born to feel that they’re heirs of -grace, and most of them are sure of having a farm or wood lot in their -own right, sooner or later.”</p> - -<p>So the trunk stood open most of the time, and Kit prepared for her trip -to Delphi. Mr. Craig was inclined to take it as rather a good joke on -the Dean, but Mrs. Craig could not get over a certain little feeling of -conscience in the matter. The rest of the family pinned its faith on -Kit’s persuasive adaptability.</p> - -<p>Tommy was a little disappointed at first not to be going, but then he -thought of leaving Jack behind. He knew that Jack would be sure to get -into trouble if he weren’t there to look after him and he was extremely -proud of his responsibility. Doris dreaded going back to school without -Kit.</p> - -<p>“Lucy Peckham will go over with you,”<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49"></a>49</span> Kit told her cheerfully, “and -just think of the wonderful letters you’ll have from me, Doris. Miss -Cogswell says that I always shine best when I’m writing, and I’ll tell -you all the news of Hope College. By the way, Dad told me last night -that he’s pretty sure in those little family colleges they run a prep -department, which takes in the last two years of high school. Perhaps -I could persuade them that the great-grandniece of Barton Cato would -be a deserving object of their consideration. Don’t forget to pack my -skates, Doris. I let you have them last, and they’re hanging in your -closet.”</p> - -<p>Becky decided to have a farewell party, two nights before Kit left, -and the girls and Tommy were delighted. Any party launched by Becky -promised novelty and excitement.</p> - -<p>They danced in the living room to the tune of the records on the -phonograph. In the library, some of the younger ones were playing -forfeits. Abby Tucker was giving out forfeits, sitting blindfolded on a -chair.</p> - -<p>It happened that Doris’s little turquoise for-get-me-not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50"></a>50</span> ring was the -particular forfeit dangling over Abby’s head, when Billie stuck his -head in at the open window, and Abby lifted her chin at the sound of -his voice.</p> - -<p>“She must catch Billie Ellis, and bring him back to kneel at my feet, -and hand over his forfeit.”</p> - -<p>Billie had evaded this, whirling about in the driveway and speeding -down the long lane with Doris in fast pursuit. Overhead the mulberry -trees met in a leafy arcade, and out of the hazel thicket a -whippoorwill called, flying low down the lane after the two darting -forms, as if it were trying to find out what the excitement was about -at that time of night. At the turn of the lane there were three apple -trees, early Shepherd Sweetings, and here Billie slipped down and lay -breathing heavily, his hands hunting for windfalls in the tall grass. -Doris passed him by, speeding the full length of the lane and bringing -up at the end of the log run before the old mill.</p> - -<p>“Billie Ellis, you come out of there,” she<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51"></a>51</span> called. “I’ve got my shoes -wet already chasing after you, and I’m not going to climb all over -those old timbers hunting for you.”</p> - -<p>Only the whippoorwill answered, calling now from a clump of elderberry -bushes close by the water’s edge, and while she stood listening, there -was the dull splash in the pond where some big bullfrog had taken alarm -at her coming.</p> - -<p>Billie gathered a goodly supply of apples, and stole after her in the -shadows.</p> - -<p>“Well, I’m not going to stay out here all night waiting for you,” Doris -said, addressing the wide dark entrance to the mill, when all at once -there came his voice, directly behind her shoulder.</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t you try to catch me? I was resting back under the apple -tree. Let’s sit down over the falls and eat some apples. If Abby’s -waiting for me to kneel in front of her, she’ll wait all night. I’d -like to see myself kneeling in front of a girl!”</p> - -<p>The words had hardly left his lips, before<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52"></a>52</span> Doris played an old-time -schoolgirl trick on him. Catching him by his collar, she twirled him -about with an odd twist until he knelt in front of her. Although Billie -was older than she was, she had managed to catch him off guard. Billie -shook himself ruefully when he rose.</p> - -<p>“You always catch a guy when he’s not expecting anything,” he said.</p> - -<p>“Do you good,” she retorted serenely. “Ever since you went away to -school, you’ve had a high and mighty opinion of yourself. I hope you -get over it. Aren’t these apples swell, though? Do you suppose they’ll -mind very much if we stay just a few minutes? Don’t you love this old -pond, Bill? Remember your flat-bottomed boat that always leaked when we -used to go fishing in it. How I hated to take turns bailing it out.”</p> - -<p>“Yeah. Gee, I wish I didn’t have to go back to school so soon.”</p> - -<p>“Wouldn’t it be strange, Bill, if either of us were famous some day? I -know you’re going to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53"></a>53</span> be somebody special. Maybe it will be in natural -history.”</p> - -<p>Billie laughed comfortably, perching himself just below her on the -heavy timbers of the old sluice gate. “Grandfather says I have a great -responsibility on my shoulders, because I’m the last of the Ellis -family. He says there’s always been an Ellis in the State Legislature -at Hartford, ever since there was a legislature, and just as soon as -I’m old enough, he’s going to send me to law school. Gee, I wish he -wouldn’t. Think of being shut up all day long in an office.”</p> - -<p>Far down the lane they heard the others calling them and Doris sprang -up, scattering apples as she did so.</p> - -<p>“I’d forgotten all about the party,” she exclaimed. “Anyway, I’m -glad we had a chance to talk. If I were you, I’d just read and study -everything I could lay my hands on about insects and things, all the -time I was in school, and then when the Judge sees that you’re in dead -earnest about it, he’ll let you go on. I<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54"></a>54</span> heard Dad say that Mr. Howard -knew more about insects than any man he’d ever met, and that he was -considered one of the coming experts in government work. Why, Bill, -it’s just like a great scientist or doctor, who is able to discover a -certain germ that can be used as a toxin, only you doctor plants and -things.”</p> - -<p>“I know,” Billie agreed enthusiastically. “There’s some man who -discovered the cause of the wheat blight in the south and somebody else -figuring out what was killing our chestnuts off. Doris, you’re a swell -pal. If it wasn’t for you, I don’t know whether I’d ever have seen a -chance to study what I want to, but you encourage me.”</p> - -<p>Doris laughed and tagged him on the shoulder as she broke into a run. -“You’re it. Don’t give anyone else the credit for starting you off in -the way you know you ought to go. Just take a deep breath and race for -it.”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55"></a>55</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="vi">6. “The Boy’s” Arrival</h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Mr. Craig</span> had answered the first letter from Delphi, under Kit’s -careful supervision, and the acceptance was vague enough to please her.</p> - -<p>It aroused no suspicions whatever in the minds of Dean Peabody or Aunt -Della. The only question was, who was to meet the child in Chicago. The -through express would leave <em>him</em> there, and in order to connect -with the Wisconsin trains it was necessary to make the change over to -the Northwestern Depot.</p> - -<p>Della was far more perturbed over it than her brother. Having set in -motion the coming guest, he believed firmly that an unfaltering Fate -would direct his footsteps safely to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56"></a>56</span> Delphi. Barton Cato Peabody had -been peculiar all his life. He had been a strange boy, unsettled, -studious, impractical. Miss Della was his younger sister, and ever -since her youth had tried to give him all the love and encouragement -that others refused. She had followed him faithfully and happily on all -of his exploring expeditions. Perhaps one reason why these had been so -successful was because she had always managed to surround him with home -comforts, even in the wilds of the upper Nile.</p> - -<p>And perhaps the quaintest thing about it all was that Della herself, -no matter on what particular point of the globe she had happened to -pitch her tent, had always retained her courage, although she had faced -dangers that the average woman would have fled from.</p> - -<p>Their house stood on the same hill as Hope College, the highest point -in the rising ridge of bluffs along the Lake Shore at Delphi. It was -built of dark red brick, a square house with long French windows. A -grove of pine trees almost hid it from view on its street side, the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57"></a>57</span> -stately Norway pines that Kit loved. The back of the house looked -directly out over the lake, and the land here was frankly left to -nature. Trees, grass, and underbrush rioted at will, until they -suddenly ended on the brow of the bluff, where there was a sheer drop -to the beach. Looking at it from below, Kit afterwards thought it was -like a miniature section of the Yosemite; the sand had hardened into -fantastic shapes, and the rock strata in places was plainly visible.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Craig’s telegram arrived the night before Kit herself. It was -brief and noncommittal. “Kit arrives Union Station, Chicago, Thursday, -10:22 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span>”</p> - -<p>“Kit,” repeated the Dean. “Humph! Nickname. Superfluous and derogatory.”</p> - -<p>Della took the telegram from his desk with a little smile that was -almost tremulous with excitement. “It’s probably the diminutive for -Christopher, Bart,” she said. “I think it’s a nice name. I always liked -the legend of St. Christopher. Somebody’ll have to meet him<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58"></a>58</span> down in -Chicago. He might lose his head and take the wrong train.”</p> - -<p>“He’s about sixteen, isn’t he? Old enough to change from one train -to another, and use his tongue if he’s in doubt. When I was sixteen, -Della, I was earning my own living working on a farm summers, and going -to a school in the winter where we all had to work for our board. Never -hurt us a bit. The greatest trait of character you can instill in a -child is self-reliance.”</p> - -<p>Della had a little way of appearing to listen while her brother -expounded on any of his favorite subjects. It had grown to be a -habit with her, and she had a way of answering absently, “Yes, dear, -I’m quite sure of it,” which always satisfied him that he had her -attention. But now, she sat looking out the window and thinking, a -perplexed expression on her face.</p> - -<p>It had not altogether been her desire that the coming child should be a -boy, although not one word had she breathed of this to Dean<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59"></a>59</span> Peabody. -The determination to take one of the Craig children had been a sudden -one. The Dean had been reading somebody’s theory about the obligations -of age to youth.</p> - -<p>“Della, my dear,” he had remarked one evening, as the two sat quietly -in the old library, “we have been leading very narrow, selfish lives, -and we will suffer for it as we grow older. We have shut ourselves away -from youth. I am seventy-four now, and what heritage am I leaving to -the world beyond a few books of reference, and my collections? What I -should do is to take some child, still in the impressionable stage, and -impart to it all I know.”</p> - -<p>Della glanced up with a little amused twinkle in her eyes. “But, Bart, -what about the child? Surely you would require an exceptional child for -such an experiment. One who would have the mentality to grasp all that -you were trying to impart to it.”</p> - -<p>The Dean thought this over, pursing his lips and tapping his knuckles -with his rimless<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60"></a>60</span> glasses. “Possibly,” he granted, “and yet, Della, -surely there would be far more credit attached to planting the seed of -knowledge where it needed much cultivating. It has surprised and amazed -me up at the college to find that usually the children who appreciate -an education are the farmer boys, and very often the foreign element.”</p> - -<p>Della rocked to and fro gently. She knew her brother well enough to -understand that this had become a fixed idea with him, and the easiest -way out was to find him an impressionable child. And then, it happened -that she thought of Thomas Craig, their nephew, and all his children. -She remembered having one letter after the breaking up of the home on -Long Island.</p> - -<p>“You know what I think, Bart,” began Della in the bright, abrupt way -she had, “I think it would be the right thing if we took one of the -Craig children. There are four or five of them—”</p> - -<p>“Boys or girls?” interrupted the Dean.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61"></a>61</span> -“Well, now I’m not quite sure, but if my memory serves me, I think -there’s a boy among them. I know the eldest one is a girl. They’re all -of them over ten, I’m sure. Why don’t you just write to Thomas and make -known your willingness? I am sure they would take it in the spirit in -which it was offered.”</p> - -<p>So this was how it happened that the Dean’s letter went forth to -Elmhurst, and produced the hour when Kit stood on the platform of the -Union Station in Chicago, looking around her to discover anyone who -might appear to be seeking a small boy.</p> - -<p>Gradually the long platform that led up to the concourse cleared. Kit -went slowly on, following the porter who carried her suitcase. She was -looking for someone who might resemble either the Dean or Della from -her father’s description of them.</p> - -<p>“As I remember him,” Mr. Craig had said, “the Dean was very tall, -rather sparely built, but broad-shouldered and always with his head up -to the wind. His hair was gray and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62"></a>62</span> curly. Aunt Della was like a little -bird, a gentle, plump, busy woman, with bright brown eyes and a little -smile that never left her lips. I am sure you can’t mistake them, Kit, -for in their way they are very distinctive.”</p> - -<p>Yet Kit was positive now that neither the Dean nor his sister had -come to meet her. She stood in the waiting room wearing a dark brown -gabardine coat with a brown hat to match. There was about her an air -of buoyant and friendly self-possession, which always endeared her to -even casual acquaintances. Therefore it was no wonder that Rex Bellamy -glanced at her several times with interest, even while his gaze sought -through the crowd for a young New England boy, bound for Delphi, -Wisconsin.</p> - -<p>But Kit noticed Rex Bellamy. Noticed his alert anxiety as he walked -up and down, eyeing every newcomer. He was eighteen or nineteen, and -unmistakably looking for someone. Even while Kit watched, she saw a -girl of about her<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63"></a>63</span> own age hurry up to him. Her voice reached Kit -plainly, as she said, “I’ve looked up and down that end, and I’m -positive he isn’t there. Oh, but the Dean will lecture you, Rex, if you -miss him.”</p> - -<p>At this identical moment, Rex’s eyes met a pair of dancing, mischievous -ones, and Kit crossed over to where they stood.</p> - -<p>“I do believe you must be looking for me,” she said. “I’m Kit Craig.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, but we were expecting your brother,” exclaimed the other girl, -eagerly.</p> - -<p>“I know, but you see my brother’s only twelve,” said Kit, “and the -family thought he was too young to come. I begged to come instead. I’m -afraid the Dean made a little mistake, didn’t he? Do you think he’ll -mind so very much when he sees me?”</p> - -<p>“Mind?” repeated Rex. “Why, I think he’ll be perfectly delighted. My -name is Rex Bellamy, Kit, and this is my sister, Anne. We’re next-door -neighbors of the Dean and Miss<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64"></a>64</span> Della, and as we happened to be -coming in town today they asked us to be sure to meet your—” Here he -hesitated.</p> - -<p>“My brother,” laughed Kit. “Well, here I am, and I only hope that -Mother’s letter reached them this morning, explaining everything. Of -course, they did write for a boy, and it takes so long for a letter to -get out here and be answered, that I told Mom and Dad I knew it would -be perfectly all right for me to come instead. Don’t you think it will -be?”</p> - -<p>Anne’s blue eyes were full of merriment. “Oh, golly,” she exclaimed, “I -do wish I could go back with you, so I could see their faces when they -find out. Mother and I have been here in Chicago this summer and Rex -has been living at home alone. We’ll be back in a week, so I’ll see you -then, and anyway, we’re sure to visit back and forth. I’m awfully glad -you’re a girl.”</p> - -<p>“But I won’t be here all winter,” Kit answered. “I’ve only come for a -couple of months. On trial, you see. Maybe it’ll be only<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_65"></a>65</span> a couple of -days, if they’re terribly disappointed.” Anne exchanged quick glances -with her brother and he smiled as he led the way to the car.</p> - -<p>“You don’t know the elaborate plans the Dean has laid out for your -education,” he said. “It will take you all winter long to live up to -them, but I’m sure he won’t be disappointed.”</p> - -<p>Kit had her own opinion about this, still it was impossible for her -to feel apprehensive or unhappy, as the car sped over toward the Lake -Shore Drive. The newness of everything after two years up in the -Elmhurst hills was wonderfully stimulating. But it was not until they -had left the city and river behind and had reached Lincoln Park that -she really gave vent to her feelings. It was a wonderful day and the -lake lay in sparkling ripples beyond the long stretch of shore.</p> - -<p>“Are we going all the way in the car?” she asked.</p> - -<p>Rex shook his head. “No, only as far as<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_66"></a>66</span> Evanston. We’ll drop Anne off, -and have lunch with Mother and then catch the train to Delphi. I have -an errand for the Dean out at the University.”</p> - -<p>“Gee,” said Kit, “we lived right on the edge of Long Island Sound -before we moved up to Connecticut, and ever since I was small I can -remember going away somewhere to the seashore every summer, but I think -your lake is ever so much more interesting than the ocean. Somehow it -seems to belong to you more. I always felt with the ocean as if it just -condescended to come over to my special beach, after it had rambled all -over the world, and belonged to everybody.”</p> - -<p>“But you have all the shells and the seaweed, and we haven’t,” argued -Anne. “Before I ever went East, we had a couple of clam shells, just -plain everyday round clam shells that had come from Cape May, and I -used to think they were perfectly wonderful because they had belonged -in the real ocean.”</p> - -<p>After the rugged landscape of New England,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_67"></a>67</span> Kit found this level land -very attractive. They passed through one suburb after another, with the -beautiful Drive following the curving shoreline out to Evanston. Here -she caught her first glimpse of Northwestern University, its buildings -showing picturesquely through the beautiful trees around the campus.</p> - -<p>They left Rex at the main entrance and drove on to where Mrs. Bellamy -was stopping. Mrs. Bellamy was filled with amusement when she heard -the story of Kit’s substitution of herself for her brother that the -Dean had asked for. She was a tall, slender woman with blonde hair and -gray eyes, who seemed almost like an older sister of Anne’s. They were -staying in a small apartment near the campus.</p> - -<p>Early in the afternoon Rex returned, and they caught the 2:45 local to -Delphi. Kit could hardly keep her eyes off the beautiful scenery they -were passing through. Every now and then the rich blueness of the lake -would flash through the trees in the distance, and to the west there -stretched long level<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_68"></a>68</span> fields of prairie-land, dipping ravines that -unexpectedly led into woodland. Gradually the bluffs heightened as they -neared the Wisconsin line above Waukegan, and just beyond the state -line, between the shore and the region of the small lakes, Oconomowoc -and Delevan, they came suddenly upon Delphi. It stood high upon the -bluff, its college dominating the shady serenity of its quiet avenues.</p> - -<p>“The Dean doesn’t keep a car,” said Rex as they walked through the gray -stone station. “Besides, he thought I was bringing a boy who would not -mind the hike up the hill.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t mind a bit,” replied Kit. “I like it. It seems good to find -real hills after all. I thought everything out here was just flat. I do -hope they won’t be watching for us. It will be ever so much easier if I -can just walk in before they get any kind of a shock, don’t you think?”</p> - -<p>Rex did not tell her which was the house until they came to the two -tall poplars at the entrance to the drive. Kit caught the murmur<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69"></a>69</span> of -the waves as they broke on the shore below and lifted her chin eagerly.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I like it,” she cried. “This is it, isn’t it? Isn’t it dreamy? I -only hope they’ll let me stay.”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70"></a>70</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="vii">7. The House Under the Bluff</h2> - - -<blockquote> -<p class="noi smcap">Dear Family,</p> - -<p>I can’t stop to write separate letters tonight to all of you, because -I’m so full of Delphi that I can hardly think of anything else. First -of all, Rex met me at the train with his sister Anne. They live next -door and Rex is Uncle Bart’s pet educational proposition next to me.</p> - -<p>Mother’s letter had not arrived and they were expecting Tommy any -moment, when Rex and I walked in on them, and right here I must -say they showed presence of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_71"></a>71</span> mind. The Dean’s eyes twinkled as Rex -explained things, and then I kissed Aunt Della, and explained to her -too, and I’m sure that she was relieved. After Rex had gone, the Dean -took me into his study after dinner, and we had a long heart-to-heart -talk. I want you all to understand that he thinks I’m a good specimen -of the undeveloped female brain.</p> - -<p>I am going to enter the preparatory class at the college in October, -and take what the Dean calls supplementary lessons from him along -special lines. I don’t quite know all that this means, but I guess I -can weather it. It probably has to do with cosmic makings (those were -Rex’s words) of geology and all sorts of prehistoric stuff. I know -the Dean mentioned one thing that began with a ‘paleo’ but I have -forgotten the rest of it. I’ll let you know later.</p> - -<p>I have a perfectly darling room. It looks right out over Lake -Michigan. There’s a big square window to it that overhangs<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_72"></a>72</span> the edge -of the bluff like the balcony of a Spanish villa. Our garden just -topples right over into a ravine that ends up short on the shore. I -never saw such abrupt cliffs in my life. Uncle Bart was showing me -the layers of strata there that a little recent landslide had shown -up, and he says that the formation is just exactly like it is out in -Wyoming and Colorado.</p> - -<p>Aunt Della is darling. It’s more fun to hear her tell of how she -worried over a boy coming into the family. The whole house is filled -from one end to the other with Uncle Bart’s treasures that he’s -been collecting for years. You’re liable to stumble over a stuffed -armadillo or a petrified slice of some prehistoric monster anywhere -at all. I found a mummy case in the library closet, but there wasn’t -anything in <a name="it" id="it"></a><ins title="Original has 'itat'">it at</ins> all, -and I was awfully disappointed. I don’t -know but what I like it after all, although I miss you dreadfully. I -don’t even dare to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_73"></a>73</span> think there are about a thousand miles between us.</p> - -<p>So I won’t feel too out of touch with all of you, you must promise to -write me often. Jean, I want you to tell me all that you hear from -Ralph. I strongly suspect something is going on between you two, even -though you haven’t said anything about it to me. We always talked -things over together before, so now that I’m away we’ll have to do the -discussing by letter.</p> - -<p>Doris, be sure to keep me posted on all the things you are doing at -school, and, Tommy, you are to give me the details on the progress of -rebuilding Woodhow.</p> - -<p>If you will do this, I know I’ll feel as if I’m right there at home -and I won’t be homesick at all.</p> - -<p>This is all I can write to you tonight because I’m so sleepy I can -hardly keep my eyes open. Aunt Della was just in to say good night. -She told me again how glad<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_74"></a>74</span> she is that I’m not a boy. Uncle Bart -hasn’t committed himself yet, but I think he’s curious about me -anyway. Good night all, and write me oodles of news.</p> - -<p class="right nmb">Love,</p> -<p class="right2 nmt">Kit.</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>At the same time that Kit was writing home, the Dean and Della stepped -out on the broad porch. Every evening about nine-thirty passersby might -have seen the flickering glow of the Dean’s good-night cigar. His -evening cigar was a sort of nocturnal ceremonial. It gave him an excuse -to step out into the fragrant darkness of the garden walk for a quiet -little stroll before bedtime, and usually Della joined him.</p> - -<p>So tonight they walked together, discussing the girl with the dark -curls who had come to them from far-off New England, instead of the boy -they had sent for.</p> - -<p>“There’s no reason,” remarked the Dean reflectively, “why the child -should not have a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_75"></a>75</span> pleasant visit, since she is here. I have had a -long conversation with her, and while I could not say that she was -exceptionally—er—”</p> - -<p>“Bright,” suggested Della.</p> - -<p>“I should like to call it intellectual,” the Dean said kindly, “she -is keenly impressionable and self-reliant. I think I may be able to -interest her, at least in a simplified course of study. I have always -believed that boys were more able to accept routine discipline in -education than girls, but we shall see.”</p> - -<p>Della’s eyes, if he could only have seen them, held a twinkle of mirth, -and her smile was a little more pronounced than usual.</p> - -<p>“I think,” she said, softly, “that she is a very lovable, attractive -girl. I am quite relieved, Barton, not to have a boy in the house.”</p> - -<p>Kit woke up the following morning with the sunlight calling to her. It -was early, but back on the farm she usually got up about six. There -did not seem to be anyone stirring yet, so she dressed quietly, and -found her way downstairs. The Dean kept a cook and gardener.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_76"></a>76</span> Kit heard -Carrie, the cook, singing in the dining room and went out at once to -make friends with her.</p> - -<p>“Is it very far down the bluff to the shore, Carrie?” she asked, -eagerly. “I’m dying to climb down there, if I have time before -breakfast.”</p> - -<p>“Sure, Miss, it’s as easy as rolling off a log. You take the roundabout -way through the garden, and the little path behind the tool shed, and -you just follow it until you can’t go any farther, and there’s the -bluff. I haven’t been down myself, but Dan says there’s a little path -you take to the shore if you don’t mind scrambling a bit.”</p> - -<p>Kit waved goodbye to her and went in search of the path. She found -Dan, the gardener, raking up leaves in the garden. He was a plump, -rosy-cheeked old Irishman, his face wrinkled like a winter apple, and -he lifted his cap at her approach with a smile of frank curiosity and -approval.</p> - -<p>A half-grown black retriever came bounding<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_77"></a>77</span> to meet her, his nose and -forepaws tipped with white.</p> - -<p>“That’s a welcome he’s giving you you wouldn’t have had if you’d been -a boy, Miss,” Dan said shrewdly. “I’m glad to meet you and hope you’ll -like it here.”</p> - -<p>Kit was stroking Sandy’s head. His real name, Dan told her, was -Lysander. Anything that the Dean had the naming of received the -benediction of ancient Greece, but Sandy, in his puppyhood, had managed -to acquire a happy nickname.</p> - -<p>“I don’t see,” Kit said laughing, “why you dreaded a boy coming. I know -some awfully nice boys back home, and there’s one especially, named -Buzzy. He’s out West now. I think he’s just the kind of a boy the Dean -expected to see, but perhaps he’ll get used to me. Do you think he -will?”</p> - -<p>“Sure he will,” answered Dan. “If you leave it to Sandy to find the -shore, he’ll take you the quickest way.”</p> - -<p>Everything was so different from the Connecticut<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78"></a>78</span> countryside. Instead -of the thick, lush growth which came from richly watered black loam, -here one found sand cherries and dwarf willows and beeches springing -up from the sand. Tall sword grass waved almost like Becky’s striped -ribbon grass in her home garden, and wild sunflowers showed like golden -glow here and there.</p> - -<p>The beach was level and rockless, different entirely from the Eastern -Atlantic shores, but the sand was beautifully white and fine, and there -were great weatherbeaten, wave-washed boulders lying half-buried in -the sand, also trunks of trees, their roots sticking out grotesquely -like the heads of strange animals. Kit thought to herself how the Dean -might have added them with profit to his prehistoric collection. There -was no glimpse or hint of the town to be seen down here. Not even a -boathouse, only one long pier. About a mile and a half from shore was a -lighthouse, and farther out a dark freighter showed in perfect outline -against the blueness of the morning sky.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_79"></a>79</span> -Kit followed Sandy’s lead, hardly realizing the distance she was -covering, until he suddenly disappeared behind a headland. When she -rounded it, she saw a cottage built close under the shelter of the -bluff. The sand drifted like snow halfway up to its windows. It had -been painted red once, but now its old clapboards were the color of -sorrel, and weatherbeaten and wave-washed like the boulders. There -were fish nets drying on tall staples driven in behind a couple of -overturned rowboats, and at that first glimpse it seemed to her as -if there were children everywhere. Four strong boys from fourteen to -eighteen worked over the nets, mending them. Around the back door there -were four or five more, and sitting in the sunlight in a low rocking -chair was an old woman.</p> - -<p>Sandy seemed to greet them as old acquaintances, so Kit called good -morning in her friendly way. The boys eyed her, and all of the children -scurried like a flock of startled chickens as she came up the boardwalk -to the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_80"></a>80</span> kitchen door, but the old grandmother kept serenely on paring -potatoes, calm-eyed and unembarrassed.</p> - -<p>“How do you do?” said Kit, and she smiled. “I’m Dean Peabody’s -grandniece. I just came here yesterday, and Sandy brought me here this -morning. I didn’t know where he was going, but he seemed to know the -way.”</p> - -<p>The old woman’s brown eyes followed the movement of the dog. “He’s very -fine, that dog,” she said deliberately. “He comes very often, I’ve -known him since he was <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">un petit chien</i>, very small pup—so big.” -She measured with her hand from the ground.</p> - -<p>“Do you know the Dean?” Kit asked, sitting down on the doorstep beside -her. “He lives up in the big house on the bluff, where the pine and -maples are.”</p> - -<p>The old woman shook her head placidly. “I not go up that bluff in -forty-eight years.”</p> - -<p>Kit’s eyes widened with quick interest. Just then a girl a little older -than herself came out of the kitchen door. Two pigtails of straight<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_81"></a>81</span> -brown hair hung to her shoulders, and her dress was gypsy-like. She -looked at Kit with quiet, steady scrutiny, and then questioningly over -at the boys. But Kit herself relieved the tension.</p> - -<p>“Hi,” she said. “I think you’ve got an awfully nice place down here. I -like it because it looks old like our houses back home. All the other -places I’ve seen since I came out here have looked so newly-painted.”</p> - -<p>“This isn’t new,” the girl told her slowly. “This place belonged to my -grandfather’s father, Charles Flambeau. There were Indians around here -then. Most of them Ojibways.”</p> - -<p>Kit’s curiosity was aroused by this entirely new field of adventure to -be uncovered. The wonderful old grandmother, basking in the sun with -memories of the past. The strong, tanned boys working at the nets, the -flock of dark-skinned youngsters, and the girl, Jeannette, whom she was -to know so well before her stay in Delphi was over.</p> - -<p>She hurried back, eager to ask questions<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_82"></a>82</span> about the Flambeaus, and -found herself late for breakfast the very first morning she was there. -The Dean’s face was a study as she entered, and Della’s fingers -fluttered nervously over the coffee pot and cups. Kit was out of -breath, and so full of excitement that she did not even notice the air -was chill.</p> - -<p>“I’ve had a perfectly wonderful time,” she began. “No coffee, Aunt -Della, please. It’s all Sandy’s fault. I just wanted to run down the -bluff to the shore, and he led me way around that headland to the -quaintest old house, half-sunken in the sand, and I got acquainted with -the old grandmother and Jeannette. The boys and the little kids seemed -half-scared to death at the sight of me, and so I didn’t bother to get -acquainted with them yet.”</p> - -<p>The Dean looked up at her over his glasses with a quizzical expression, -and Della fairly caught her breath.</p> - -<p>“The Flambeaus on the shore, my dear?” she asked. “Those half-breed -French Canadians?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_83"></a>83</span> -“Well, I didn’t know just what they were,” answered Kit cheerfully, -“but I think they’re awfully interesting. Don’t you think that they -look like the Breton fishermen in some of the old French paintings?”</p> - -<p>“The Flambeaus have not a very good reputation, my dear,” the Dean -coughed slightly behind his hand as he spoke. “The present generation -may be law-abiding, but even within my memory, the Flambeaus had a -little habit of stealing.”</p> - -<p>“Stealing?” repeated Kit.</p> - -<p>“Yes, fishing tackle and that sort of thing. Besides, there is the -Indian strain in them, and they are squatters. There have been several -lawsuits against them, and they have persisted in staying there on the -shore when the property owners on the bluff distinctly purchased shore -rights.”</p> - -<p>“But, Bart, the Flambeaus won all their suits, didn’t they?” asked -Della pleasantly. “I’m sure the older boys are very industrious, and I -think the girl Jeanette is strikingly attractive.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_84"></a>84</span> You’re not really -forbidding Kit to go down there, I’m sure.”</p> - -<p>The Dean said something that was lost in a murmur, for he had been one -of the property owners defeated in the lawsuits by the Flambeaus. After -breakfast Kit went upstairs with Della into her own little sitting -room. This looked toward the street, out over the maple and pine-shaded -lawn. Also, it commanded a good view of the college. This was built of -gray stone and was overgrown with woodbine just beginning to show a -tinge of crimson.</p> - -<p>“It seems awfully queer, Aunt Della,” Kit said as she leaned out of the -window, “to think that I’m going there into the prep class. Rex said on -the way up here—”</p> - -<p>She leaned suddenly farther out and waved. “Hi, Rex, are you coming -over?”</p> - -<p>Rex glanced up at the radiant face as he came along the hedge-bordered -drive between his home and the Dean’s and waved back in neighborly -fashion.</p> - -<p>“I’m going up to the campus now,” he said.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_85"></a>85</span> “Ask Miss Della if she’d -let you be in the dramatic club. There’s a meeting this morning.”</p> - -<p>“Could I, Aunt Della? Please say yes. I’m dying to join something. I -haven’t joined anything in ages,” Kit begged. “I can meet everyone and -get acquainted. If you don’t need me this morning—” She hesitated, but -some of her enthusiasm had caught Della, and she immediately succumbed -to the whim of the moment.</p> - -<p>“Why, I don’t see why not. You go on down with Rex if you want to.”</p> - -<p>The Dean’s desk stood overlooking the driveway. He had settled down -to his morning’s portion of work and was blocking out a curriculum of -study for Kit, when he happened to glance up, and saw the two passing -gayly through the gates. Certainly he did not realize at that moment -that already the spirit of youth was at work in the old shadowy house -behind the pines.</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_86"></a>86</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="viii">8. A Square Deal</h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">The</span> first batch of family letters arrived the following week. Kit -nearly knocked the mailman over as he came up the walk, for she had -been watching anxiously at each delivery. After all, it was the first -time she had been away from home, and after the first excitement and -novelty had worn off, her heart ached for news from home.</p> - -<p>It seemed the Dean had written to her father on the night of her -arrival, and this was a surprise to Kit.</p> - -<p>“It is a great relief to us all to know that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87"></a>87</span> you have made such a -favorable impression,” Mr. Craig’s letter read. “After all, it was an -experiment, and I confess that I was rather skeptical of the result, -knowing the Dean as I do. Try to adapt yourself as much as possible -to their life there, Kit. You must be considerate of all the Dean’s -notions, and make yourself as useful as you can while you are with them.</p> - -<p>“The rebuilding of the house is going along splendidly, and we hope to -have our Christmas there. I have followed the old plan, but with some -improvements, I think, putting in a good furnace, and enlarging the -dining room and kitchen. There will be an outdoor fireplace on the west -side of the house also, and I know you will enjoy this.”</p> - -<p>Enjoy it? Kit stared ahead of her at the shady lawn. Della was bending -over nasturtium beds gathering black seeds, but instead, Kit saw in a -vision a great hickory fire burning brightly against a black sky. Her -mother’s letter came next. Kit read it with delight. She could tell -just exactly the mood her mother was in when<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_88"></a>88</span> she wrote, just how her -conscience pricked her for having been a party to Kit’s plan.</p> - -<p>“Of course, while the Dean’s letter was very nice, still I am sure he -felt put upon. I am ever so sorry that we did not write sooner, and -tell them that you were coming. It rests with you now, Kit, to make -yourself so adaptable that they will forget all about wanting a boy. I -have no objection to your staying for the winter term at Hope College. -Between ourselves, dear, our plans are a little unsettled. Dad is -certain that the house will be ready for us this winter, but you know -how slowly the carpenters work.</p> - -<p>“Make all the friends that you possibly can. You won’t realize it now, -but so many of these friendships become precious lifelong ones. Billie -is leaving this week for school. You remember Frank Howard, who came -to look after our trees? He has been staying up at the Judge’s, and -took a great interest in Billie. Instead of going back to the school -he went to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_89"></a>89</span> last year, Billie is going on to a school in Virginia, not -far from Washington, that Frank suggested sending him to. He is a great -believer in the value of environment that is associated with historic -traditions.”</p> - -<p>Kit read this last over twice, but could not agree with it at all. She -had always liked the pioneer outlook, the longing to break new trails, -the starting of little colonies in clearings of one’s own making. If -there was an ivy around her castle, she wanted to plant it herself.</p> - -<p>“Historic tradition?” repeated Kit. “When all around here are the old -Indian trails, and the footprints left by the French explorers. I just -wish I could get Billie out here for a little while. He’ll settle down -in some old school that thinks it is wonderful because John Smith built -a campfire on its site once upon a time, or Pocahontas planted corn in -its football field.”</p> - -<p>Kit sighed, tucked her mother’s and father’s letters in her suit -pocket and started off for her<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_90"></a>90</span> favorite lookout point on the bluff. -Here, with Sandy crouching at her feet, she read the three letters -from Doris, Jean, and Tommy. Jean’s was full of plans for going to New -York again. Beth, their cousin with whom Jean had stayed the previous -winter, had promised her three months at the Art Academy.</p> - -<p>“I’m so excited to be going back to New York again. I had a letter -from Ralph today and he asked me again if I had decided on an art -career. I don’t know what to tell him, but I am going to study this -winter anyway. Maybe I’ll find out this year whether it is worthwhile -for me to go on or not. I do know that I love Ralph, but I still have -that ambition to do something really important with my life. With the -exception of my one trip to New York last year, I have never done -anything on my own. Perhaps what I mean is, I want to be independent.</p> - -<p>“I shall be coming home weekends this year so I can help Mother and Dad -with the rebuilding<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_91"></a>91</span> plans. Besides, I do like living in the country -more than the city and it’s more for the studying I’m going to do there -that I want to go back to New York.”</p> - -<p>Kit glanced over the rest of the letter hurriedly. Becky had given a -neighborhood party and Frank Howard had interested Jean considerably, -especially because he told her he was bound for France the first of -November. Jean was always so easily impressed just the first few times -she met a person. It took Kit a long time to really admit a stranger -to her circle of selected ones, although she made friends easily. And -she had never quite forgiven Frank Howard for trespassing in the berry -patch, even though it had been in the cause of science. Besides, the -last year, Jean had seemed to grow aloof from the others. Perhaps -it had been her trip away from home or her ambition. Kit could not -precisely define the change but it was there, and she felt that Jean -troubled herself altogether too much over things unseen.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_92"></a>92</span> -Doris’s letter was all about the opening of school, and Tommy asked -questions about Delphi.</p> - -<p>“When you write, do tell us about the things that happen there, and -just what you think about it. I don’t like descriptions in books, I -like the talk part. You know what I mean. Jack and I have been helping -the carpenters at Woodhow every day after school. The house is coming -along fine and the men say we help a lot. Has Uncle Bart got any pets -at all?”</p> - -<p>Kit laughed over this. If he could only have seen Uncle Bart’s pets. -His mummy and horned toads, the chimpanzee skull beaming at one from -a dark corner, and the Cambodian war mask from another. It seemed as -if every time she looked around the house she found something new, and -with each curio there went a story. Oddly enough, the Dean thawed more -under Kit’s persuasion when she begged for the stories than at any -other time. After each meal,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_93"></a>93</span> it was his custom to take a few moments’ -relaxation in his study. Kit found at these times that he was in his -best mood. Relaxed and thoughtful, he would lean back in the deep -leather chair between the flat-topped desk and the fireplace, and smoke -leisurely. Even his pipe had come from Persia, its amber stem very -slender and beautifully curved, its bowl a marvel of carving.</p> - -<p>Kit sat pondering over her father’s and mother’s letters. School would -begin in another week, and she was to enter the third year in high -school. And yet, after what her father had written, she felt that she -was not giving the Dean a square deal.</p> - -<p>The odor of tobacco came through the study window, and acting on the -spur of the moment, she stepped around the corner of the porch and -perched herself on the window sill.</p> - -<p>“Are you busy, Uncle Bart?” Anybody who was well-acquainted with Kit -would have suspected the gentleness of her tone, but the Dean<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_94"></a>94</span> looked -over at her with a little pleased smile. Her coming was almost an -answer to his reverie.</p> - -<p>“Not at all, my dear, not at all. In fact, I was just thinking of you. -I am inclined to think after all that we will begin with the geological -periods. I wish you to get your data on prehistoric peoples assembled -in your mind before we take up any definite groups.”</p> - -<p>“That’s all right,” Kit answered, “I don’t mind one bit. I’ll do -anything you tell me to, Uncle Bart, because,” this very earnestly, “I -do feel as if I hadn’t played quite fair. I mean in coming out here, -and landing on you suddenly, without warning you I was a girl, and I -want to make up to you for it in every possible way. I’ll study bones -and ruins and rocks, and anything you tell me to, but I want to make -sure first that you really like me. Just as I am, I mean, before you -know for certain whether all this is going to take.”</p> - -<p>The Dean glanced up in a startled manner and looked at the face framed -by the window<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_95"></a>95</span> quite as if he had never really given it an interested -scrutiny before. Not being inclined to sentiment by nature, he had -regarded Kit so far solely from the experimental standpoint. Since she -had turned out to be a girl, he had decided to make the best of it, -and at least try the effect of the course of instruction upon her. The -personal equation had never entered into his calculation, and yet here -was Kit forcing it upon him, quite as plainly as though she had said, -“Do you like me or don’t you? If you don’t, I think I had better go -back home.”</p> - -<p>“Well, bless my heart,” he said, rubbing his head. “I thought that -we had settled all that. Of course, my dear, the reason I preferred -a boy was because, well—” the Dean floundered, “because scientists -hold a consensus of opinion that through—hem—through centuries of -cultivation, I may say, collegiate development—the male brain offers a -better soil, as it were, for the—er—er—”</p> - -<p>“The flower of genius?” suggested Kit. “I don’t think that’s so at all, -Uncle Bart, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_96"></a>96</span> I’ll tell you why. You take the farm at home. Dad says -that our land in Elmhurst is no good because it’s been worked over and -over, and it’s all worn out, but if you plow deep and strike a brand -new subsoil you get wonderful crops. Just think what a lovely time -you’ll have planting crops in my unplowed brain cells.”</p> - -<p>The first laugh she had ever heard came from the Dean’s lips, although -it was more of a chuckle. His next question was apparently irrelevant.</p> - -<p>“How do you think you’re going to like Hope College?”</p> - -<p>“All right,” Kit responded cheerfully. “I only hope it likes me. I’ve -met a few of the boys and girls through Rex and Aunt Della, and I like -them awfully well. At home they’re nice to you if they know who you -are, and all about your family. But here it seems as if they either -like you or not. Just when they first meet you, you’re taken right into -the fold on the strength of what you are yourself.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_97"></a>97</span> -The door opened with a little, light, deprecating tap first from -Della’s fingertips. She glanced around the side of it cautiously to -be sure she was not disturbing the Dean, and smiled when she saw the -two. The Dean’s pipe had gone out, and he was leaning over the desk -listening as eagerly as though he had been a boy himself, while Kit, -with her hands clasped behind her head and leaning against the window -frame, chatted. Usually people conversed with the Dean, they never -chatted, and Della realized that Kit had already passed the outposts of -the Dean’s defenses.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98"></a>98</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="ix">9. Hope College</h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Hope College</span> was built of gray fieldstone covered with climbing -woodbine and Virginia creeper, and it dominated the little town. There -were five buildings in the campus group, the main building, laboratory, -library and gymnasium, boys’ dormitory, and chapel.</p> - -<p>Kit never forgot the first morning when the classes met in Assembly -Hall, and the Dean addressed them on the work and aims of the coming -year. For the life of her, she could not keep her mind on all he was -saying or the solemnity of the moment, because just at the very last -minute when the chapel chimes stopped ringing, Jeannette Flambeau -entered<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_99"></a>99</span> through the heavy doors at the back of the big, crowded hall. -It seemed as though everyone’s eyes were watching the platform, but Kit -saw the slender, silent figure standing there alone. She was dressed -in black, a soft wool suit, and her brown hair, no longer in pigtails, -hung loosely to her shoulders. She waited there, it seemed to Kit, -expectant on the threshold of opportunity, not knowing which way to go, -and without a friendly hand extended to her in welcome or guidance.</p> - -<p>Georgia Riggs, who sat next to Kit, glanced back to see what had -attracted her attention, and made a funny little sound with her mouth.</p> - -<p>“I never thought she’d have the nerve to really do it,” she whispered. -“Isn’t she odd?”</p> - -<p>A quick impulsive wave of indignation swept over Kit and she rose from -her seat, passing straight down the aisle without even being aware of -the curious glances which followed her. She took Jeannette by storm.</p> - -<p>“You’re in my class, aren’t you?” she whispered quickly. “It’s right -over here, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_100"></a>100</span> there’s a seat beside me. I don’t know anyone either, -and I’m so glad to see you, so I’ll have someone to talk to.”</p> - -<p>Jeannette never answered, but smiled with a quick flash of -appreciation, the smile which always seemed to illumine her grave face. -She followed Kit back to her seat, and Georgia exchanged glances with -her right-hand neighbor, Amy Parker. Kit was altogether too new to -realize just exactly what she had done. Being the Dean’s grandniece, -she considered herself unconsciously a privileged person. As a matter -of course, Della had accompanied her that morning and introduced -her to four or five girls in the junior prep class, who came from -the representative best families of the town. Also, as a matter of -course, she had been welcomed as one of them, but Kit, with her inborn -democratic ideas, never even realized that she occupied one of the -seats of the mighty, in a circle of the favored few, and that she had -smashed all tradition by introducing into that circle a Flambeau. In -fact, even if she had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101"></a>101</span> known, she would probably have been thoroughly -indignant at any such spirit among the girls themselves.</p> - -<p>The whole morning was taken up with the assigning of students to -classes. Kit loved the curious bustle and excitement of it all. It was -so different from the small high school back home, and there were many -more boys and girls than she had expected to see. Almost, as she passed -from room to room, through the different buildings, she wished she -were staying there as a year pupil. Amy introduced her to her closest -friend, Peggy Barrows, a girl from South Dakota, who took them up to -her quarters in one of the dormitories.</p> - -<p>“Gee,” Kit said, looking around her, “I wish I were going to live here. -Peggy, you’ll have to entertain us often. It’s so kind of solitary and -restful, isn’t it, up here?”</p> - -<p>“Solitary,” scoffed Peggy. “I’ve been here four days getting settled, -and you might just as well call the side show of a circus solitary. -There isn’t even the ghost of privacy. I’m<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_102"></a>102</span> mobbed every time I try to -sit and collect my thoughts.”</p> - -<p>“Who wants to collect their thoughts, anyway?” asked Amy.</p> - -<p>“Have you seen Virginia’s room? Wait.” Peggy darted out of her door and -across the hall. On the door opposite a card bore the legend in large -black letters:</p> - -<blockquote class="avoid"> -<p class="center"><strong>KEEP OUT<br /> -STUDY HOUR</strong></p> -</blockquote> - -<p>“That’s absolutely ridiculous,” she said, tapping just the same. -“Nobody’s studying today. Let us in, Ginny.”</p> - -<p>A sound of scraping over the floor, and muffled giggles came to waiting -ones in the hall, then the door was thrown wide, and Kit caught her -first glimpse of Virginia Parks, the most popular girl at Hope. She was -about seventeen, but a short, pudgy type, with curly rumpled hair and -blue eyes. There were five other girls with her, and papers littered -the bed, chairs, and desk.</p> - -<p>“We’re terribly busy, kids,” Virginia said, “What do you want?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_103"></a>103</span> -“Just to look at your room. Isn’t it pretty, Kit? This is Kit Craig, -Ginny.”</p> - -<p>“Hope you’ll like it here,” she said. “I’m from the East, too, only not -so far as you are, but we think Pennsylvania’s east, out here. How do -you like the color scheme?”</p> - -<p>Kit liked it and said so emphatically. The room was in aqua and coral. -The chairs were slipcovered in a coral print on an aqua background and -the walls were grey. Kit was invited to sit down on one of the beds.</p> - -<p>“I wish I stayed here all the time,” Kit exclaimed. “You miss the fun, -being a day student, don’t you?”</p> - -<p>“Never mind,” Virginia told her, “we’ll have some special celebrations -all for you. Now clear out, kids, because I’ve got a deadline to make.”</p> - -<p>“Ginny’s editor of the <cite>Spirit</cite>,” Peg said. “Do you have any -journalistic ability, Kit?”</p> - -<p>“I’ve been told I write pretty well, but I never did anything in the -newspaper line.”</p> - -<p>“I think she should have stayed out, she doesn’t belong here,” one of -the other girls was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_104"></a>104</span> saying in another part of the room. “None of that -family has ever amounted to anything, except in the fishing industry—”</p> - -<p>But Kit overheard this and interrupted point-blank. She was sitting up -very straight on the bed, with a certain expression around her mouth, -and a very steady look in her eyes.</p> - -<p>“Just a minute,” she said quickly. “Do you mean Jeannette Flambeau? -Because if you do, I don’t think that’s fair.”</p> - -<p>Virginia quickly agreed with Kit, but Peg patted her in a conciliatory -manner.</p> - -<p>“Now, don’t take it to heart so,” she said, “why should it matter to -you? Forget it.”</p> - -<p>But Kit could not be diverted, and the color rose belligerently in -Amy’s cheeks, too.</p> - -<p>“I don’t see why you feel you have to take Jeannette Flambeau’s part,” -she said. “If you knew all about her the way we girls do, you’d let her -alone.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t see how she ever came up here anyway,” Georgia remarked. “It’s -just exactly as if one of her brothers tried to come in. Do you think -the boys would stand for that?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105"></a>105</span> -“Jeepers, why shouldn’t they?” demanded Kit hotly. “And I’d like to -know what they’ve got to say about it anyway. I don’t think that’s the -college spirit. Anyone who wants an education and is willing to work -for it should be admitted.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, but if they had any sense at all,” responded Georgia placidly, -“they wouldn’t put themselves into a position of being snubbed. You -can talk all you want to about the college spirit from the standpoint -of Deans and faculties, but when all’s said and done, it’s the student -spirit that rules. I’ll bet that she doesn’t stay here a month. She -hasn’t anyone to help her at home and can’t afford tutoring, so she’ll -just peter out.”</p> - -<p>The gong sounded in the hall below for afternoon classes, so the -discussion came to an abrupt end. Kit found herself watching Jeannette. -There was a peculiar aloofness about the girl which seemed to put -almost a wall of defense around her. She was intensely interested in -everything, one could see that plainly, except the other students, and -it seemed as if<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_106"></a>106</span> she simply overlooked them. When Kit came down the -stairs, she glanced into the library and saw Jeannette in there alone, -bending down before the long wall book shelves. Across the wide hall -there were groups of boys and girls in the two long lounges, laughing -and talking together, and every couch and chair in both rooms were -filled, but Jeannette was alone.</p> - -<p>Jeannette was holding a volume of <cite>Treasure Island</cite>, illustrated -in color. She turned in surprise at the touch of Kit’s hand on her -shoulder.</p> - -<p>“I thought we could walk down toward the bluff together, because we go -the same way,” suggested Kit. “How do you like it here?”</p> - -<p>“I like it,” responded Jeannette slowly, with a certain dignified -shyness that was characteristic of her. “My mother has told me all -about it. She liked the library when she was here. She told me where -her room was upstairs, too, but I didn’t want to go up while the girls -were there.”</p> - -<p>“Let’s go up now, while they’re all downstairs,” Kit said impulsively. -“I’ll take you. Which dorm was she in?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_107"></a>107</span> -“Her name was Mary Douglas. It’s the Douglas Dormitory. Her father was -one of the founders here, Malcolm Douglas.”</p> - -<p>Kit listened in utter amazement and with a rising sense of joy. Here -was Jeannette Flambeau, flouted and disdained by the little crowd -of girls who happened to live in a certain district of Delphi, but -claiming her grandfather was a founder of the college. At that very -moment Kit planned her surprise on the girls.</p> - -<p>As they walked through the hall together, Georgia and the others -followed them with their glances and smiled. The two paused before a -big bronze tablet with the name of the founders on it. There it was, -third from the last, Malcolm Douglas.</p> - -<p>“He came from Canada,” said Jeannette, “and settled here. Later on he -went into Minnesota, and on into Dakota. The family was very poor after -he died, but my mother came here for two years, and even when I was a -little girl, seven or eight years old, before she died, she used to -tell me how she loved it, and that I must come here, too.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_108"></a>108</span> -“Don’t any of your brothers want to come? They’re all older than you, -aren’t they.”</p> - -<p>Jeannette shook her head and smiled curiously. “They are all Flambeau, -every one. They eat, and sleep and fish, that’s all.”</p> - -<p>Kit led the way to the upper floor, where the dorms were, and meeting -Virginia, she asked the way to the Douglas.</p> - -<p>“Why, you were in that one today,” answered Virginia in surprise. “It’s -our dorm, didn’t you know?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, thanks a lot,” Kit said with suspicious alacrity, as she guided -Jeannette down the corridor. Virginia glanced back at them both, -speculatively, wondering just what special business could take two new -day students into the most exclusive dormitory at Hope.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_109"></a>109</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="x">10. The Surprise</h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Kit</span> deliberately planned her campaign for the following week, and the -only girl she took into her confidence was Anne Bellamy. It had been -the greatest relief when Anne returned to Delphi for the fall term. -There was something good-natured and comfortably serene about Anne that -made her companionship a relief from that of the other girls. Jean -often said back home that Kit was such a bunch of fireworks herself, -she always needed the background of a calm silent night or a placid -temperament to set her off properly.</p> - -<p>“Golly, Anne,” Kit exclaimed, sinking with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_110"></a>110</span> a luxurious sigh of content -down among the cushions on the broad couch in the Bellamy’s living -room, “I’d give anything, sometimes, if I’d been an only child. Of -course, you’ve got a brother, but you’re the only girl. You don’t know -what it is to be one of four. I share my room with Doris, back home, -and all honors with Jean. Then, of course, there’s Tommy, and while we -are all crazy about each other, still you do have to elbow your way -through a large family, if you want to keep on being yourself. Did you -ever read anything of old Joaquin Miller, the poet of the Sierras?”</p> - -<p>Anne shook her head.</p> - -<p>“No, I don’t suppose you have,” Kit went on happily, “that’s one reason -why you and I are going to be terribly good friends, ’cause you don’t -know everything in creation. It seems to me I can’t speak of anything -at all at home now that Jean doesn’t know more about it than I do, or -Doris thinks she does, which is worse. Don’t mind me this morning. I -just got a family letter, full of don’ts.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_111"></a>111</span> -“Yes, and you’re just as likely as not going to be homesick tomorrow,” -laughed Anne.</p> - -<p>“That isn’t what I really came over for. You know Jeannette Flambeau. -The kids don’t like her going to Hope.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t they?” Anne asked mildly. “Well, what are they going to do about -it? I thought that’s what colleges were for. Who’s against her?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t think it’s exactly anything definite or violent, but you know -how awfully uncomfortable they can make her. There’s Amy Roberts and -Georgia Riggs and Peg Barrows and the Tony Conyers crowd.”</p> - -<p>“She won’t miss anything special, even if they do try to snub her,” -answered Anne laughingly. “This is my second year at Hope, and I want -to tell you right now that Ginny rules in the Douglas dorm. If you can -get her on Jeannette’s side, the other girls will follow right along -like sheep.”</p> - -<p>“Do you suppose,” Kit leaned forward impressively, as she sprang her -plan, “do you<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_112"></a>112</span> suppose Ginny would lend her room for a Founders’ Tea?”</p> - -<p>“A Founders’ Tea,” repeated Anne. “What’s that?”</p> - -<p>Kit spoke slowly and with great expression, “A tea in honor of Malcolm -Douglas, pioneer founder of Hope College, and grandfather of Jeannette -Flambeau.”</p> - -<p>Anne’s blue eyes widened in amazement, and she gasped, “How did you -find out? Does Jeannette know?”</p> - -<p>“Of course she knows. She told me all about it herself, but I don’t -think she realizes what a nice handy little club of defense it gives -her against the girls. I want to spring it on them at the tea, and -you’ve got to help me get it up. We’ll coax Ginny into lending us her -room first, and I’ll look up all about Malcolm Douglas, and write -something clever about the historic founding of Hope. Then we’ll send -out mysterious little invitations, and just say on them, ‘To meet a -Founder’s granddaughter.’”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_113"></a>113</span> -“When?” asked Anne reflectively. “You ought to do it soon, so if it -works they’ll take her into the different clubs right away. I think you -ought to try to see Virginia today after classes and get her advice. -Another thing, Kit, do you suppose Jeannette would have any things of -her grandfather’s we could kind of spring on them unexpectedly?”</p> - -<p>Kit’s eyes kindled with appreciation. “That’s a worthy thought. Sort of -corroborative evidence, as it were. Anne, you’re a genius.” She jumped -up from the couch and started to leave. “I think it’s up to me to go -and prepare Virginia. You make out a list of things that we’ll want for -the tea. You’d better be the refreshment chairman, and we’ll try and -make it a week from next Saturday.”</p> - -<p>“Too far off,” Anne warned. “Better do it while it’s fresh in your -mind, before you start lectures.”</p> - -<p>“I guess I’ll go over now. It’s only a little after five, and that’ll -keep me from answering the family letters until I’ve calmed down. If<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114"></a>114</span> -you see anyone looking for me, tell them I’ll be right back. I’ll stop -in the library and look up Malcolm’s historic record, on my way, so you -may truthfully announce I’m doing research.”</p> - -<p>Kit went up the hill road buoyantly. She liked to set a goal for -herself this way. Delphi had appeared rather barren as a field for her -real endeavor, but now with the opening of school, she could see her -way ahead to starting something, which she sincerely hoped she could -finish. Coming along the sidewalk that bounded the campus on the south, -she met Ginny on her way back from the post office.</p> - -<p>“This is ever so-much better than going upstairs,” Kit said. “Let’s -walk around the campus twice, while I unburden my soul.”</p> - -<p>At the second lap, the whole plan had been matured by Virginia’s quick -sympathy and understanding.</p> - -<p>“And it will do them good, too,” she said as they parted. “That’s not -the college spirit by a long shot, and you’re perfectly right, Kit,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115"></a>115</span> -but just the same it’s easier to get it across to the girls in this way -with a nice friendly accompaniment of sandwiches, and iced tea. And -whatever you do, don’t breathe a single word to anybody. I wouldn’t -even tell Jeannette herself that she is to be the guest of honor. She’d -run like a deer, if she even suspected it.”</p> - -<p>The date of the Founders’ Tea was set for the following Saturday. Kit -composed the invitations herself and wrote them on small cards.</p> - -<p class="center mt1 mb1"> -Saturday, October Second, Three to Five.<br /> -You are invited to attend a Founders’ Tea,<br /> -Douglas Dormitory, Hope College,<br /> -Virginia Parks’s Study.</p> - -<p>“Diffident, modest, and correct,” said Kit, critically, when she showed -them to Anne. “Now, what are you going to have to eat, Anne? Isn’t -there something besides just plain tea? Couldn’t we fix up some kind of -glorified lemonade?”</p> - -<p>“I’ve got it all down,” answered Anne.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116"></a>116</span> “Grape juice, ginger ale and -lemons. Sound good? And six kinds of sandwiches and cookies.”</p> - -<p>“It’s perfectly swell,” exclaimed Kit. “Aunt Della told me when I first -started in that I could give a party for the girls, and this is it. -After it is all over I’ll tell her about Jeannette, and I know she’ll -enjoy it and approve.”</p> - -<p>“Is Ginny going to decorate the study for the occasion?” asked Anne. -“We ought to have something sort of different, don’t you think?”</p> - -<p>“Pioneer stuff would be the only thing, and I don’t know where we’d -scare that up.”</p> - -<p>“There’s a whole cabinet of them in the Dean’s room at the college.”</p> - -<p>The two girls looked at each other wisely. The subject really needed -no argument or discussion. Kit said briefly, “I’ll try. I think I can -get some of them anyway if I approach Uncle Bart as a humble student -seeking knowledge.”</p> - -<p>All unprepared for the onslaught, the Dean sat enjoying his -after-dinner smoke that evening when Kit came to the door and knocked.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117"></a>117</span> -“Come in,” he called a little bit testily, looking over his glasses at -the intruder. “I don’t think I can talk with you just now, my dear,” he -said, “I’m very busy working out a dynasty problem.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, but I’d love to help,” Kit pleaded, “and I did help before on the -aborigines of Japan, didn’t I? I even remember their names, the Ainos.”</p> - -<p>“This is early Egyptian. Something you know nothing whatever about.”</p> - -<p>“Just mummies?” inquired Kit.</p> - -<p>The Dean coughed, and turned back to the pamphlets before him. “Remains -have been discovered,” he began in quite the tone he used in Assembly, -“of the lost tribe of the Nemi. When the Greeks, my dear, obtained -a foothold in Carthage and along the Mediterranean coast, the Nemi -remained unconquered and retreated to the mountain fastnesses, west of -the source of the Nile.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I know all -<a name="about" id="about"></a><ins title="Original has 'abou tthat'">about that</ins>,” Kit answered, perching -herself on the arm of a chair,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_118"></a>118</span> across from him. “Just see,” and -she counted off on her fingers, “Livingstone-Stanley—Victoria -Falls—Zambesi—and Kipling wrote all about the people in -<cite>Fuzzy-Wuzzy</cite>.”</p> - -<p>“No, no, no, not a bit like it,” the Dean exclaimed. “My dear child, -learn to think in centuries and epochs. The long and short of it is, -there have been some very wonderful remains of the Nemi recently -discovered, and I have been honored by a commission from the Institute -to write a complete summary of the results of the expedition and its -historic significance.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you wish you’d been there when they dug them up? That’s what I’d -love, the exploring part. I should think it would be dreadfully dry -trying to make bones sit up and talk, when you are so far away from it -all.”</p> - -<p>“They are not sending me bones,” replied the Dean with dignity, “but -they are sending me the Amenotaph urn, and a sitting image of Annui. -I believe with these two I shall be able to establish as a fact the -survival of the Greek<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119"></a>119</span> influence in ancient Egypt. My dear, you have no -idea,” he added warmly, “how much this explains if it is true. There -may be even Phoenician data before I finish investigating.”</p> - -<p>“Phoenicians,” thought Kit, although she said nothing. “Yes, I do -remember about them, too. Tin—ancient Britain—and something about -Carthage.” Then she said aloud very positively and earnestly, “I know -I can help you a lot with this, Uncle Bart, if you will only let me, -because history is my favorite subject, and the reason I came to speak -to you tonight is this. We girls are going to have a Founders’ Tea, -Saturday afternoon. Just a little informal affair, but I’d like to -give it a—” She hesitated for the right word, and the Dean nodded -encouragingly, being in a better mood.</p> - -<p>“Semblance of verity? Are you preparing a treatise?”</p> - -<p>“No. I want something they can look at. And I knew if I told you about -it, you’d let us take a few of the old things out of that cabinet -in your room at the college. All I need would<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120"></a>120</span> be—well, say a few -portraits of any of the founders of Hope, and any of the relics of the -Indians or French explorers.”</p> - -<p>The Dean graciously detached a key from the ring at one end of his -watch chain.</p> - -<p>Kit left with it as though she bore a trophy. The next day the last -preparations were completed for impressing on the girls of Hope College -the honor of having a Founder’s granddaughter in their midst.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_121"></a>121</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="xi">11. The Mysterious Guest</h2> - -<p class="noi">“<span class="smcap">I think</span> you ought to preside, Kit,” Virginia said as she arranged the -table. “It’s your party, and you ought to serve.”</p> - -<p>“Takes too much concentration,” Kit returned. “Anne’ll help you. I want -to have my mind perfectly clear to manage the thing. You see, Jeannette -doesn’t know a thing about it yet, and there’s no knowing how she’ll -take it. Wouldn’t it be funny if she got proud and haughty and marched -away from our Founders’ Tea?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t think you ought to spring it until after we’ve had -refreshments. Food has such a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_122"></a>122</span> mellowing effect on people. It’s all -a question of tact, though. If I were you, I’d talk to them in an -intimate sort of way instead of lingering too much on the historic -value. Better straighten Malcolm, over there. He looks kind of topply.”</p> - -<p>Kit regarded the framed steel engraving of Malcolm Douglas almost -fondly. It occupied a prominent spot specially cleared for it in the -middle of the wall.</p> - -<p>Backed by Della’s approval and interest, Kit had called at several -homes where the descendants of other founders lived, and the results -were gratifying. Mrs. Peter Bradbury had contributed two Indian -blankets and a hunting bag, besides an old pair of saddle bags used by -an early missionary bishop in the Northwest. From the cabinet in the -Dean’s room had come mostly records, old documents carefully framed, -and several letters written by the founders themselves.</p> - -<p>“Golly,” Kit said as she gave a last touch to her exhibit, “of course -these are important,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123"></a>123</span> but I like the Indian and hunting things best. -I wish I could run away with that double pair of buffalo horns that -belonged to Dr. Gleason’s granduncle or somebody. I like them better -than anything.”</p> - -<p>A quick rap came on the door, and before Virginia could even call “come -in” Peggy entered with her usual galaxy behind her, Amy, Georgia, and a -newcomer from Iowa, Henrietta Jenkins.</p> - -<p>“Tony Conyers sent word she’d be ready in five minutes,” said Georgia. -“She’s got a lot of the girls in there with her. Ginny, I think this is -a perfectly stupendous idea of yours.”</p> - -<p>“’Tisn’t mine,” answered Virginia, “it’s Kit’s. This is her party. Her -coming-out party at Hope.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, are you the founder’s granddaughter?” Amy inquired, her eyes -opening wide.</p> - -<p>“No, I’m not,” replied Kit. “I wish this minute I could tell you about -my ancestors. I’ve got some beauts. Peggy, don’t sit on the almonds. -They’re right behind you in that glass dish.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_124"></a>124</span> -The room filled up rapidly with people. Kit declared after she had been -the rounds four times that she felt exactly like the lecturer in a -museum, telling the history of the relics over and over again. Nobody -but Anne knew how anxious she was as the minutes slipped by and no -Jeannette appeared. It would never do to have a climax happen without -the surprise of her presence to carry it off. The refreshments had all -been served, and the clock on top of the bookshelves showed that it was -five, when Virginia called; “You’d better start in on your Founders’ -talk, Kit. We’ve only got about half an hour.”</p> - -<p>There was a baffled look in Kit’s eyes, as she picked up the challenge -and rose from her chair. Virginia must know perfectly well how untimely -it was to start to spring the surprise while there was a running chance -of Jeannette appearing. Still there was a hush, and the girls faced her -expectantly.</p> - -<p>“As you all know,” began Kit, “the old bronze tablet in the lower hall -carries names<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_125"></a>125</span> on its roll of honor which not only uphold the glory -of Hope College, but also of the entire town of Delphi, of the entire -state, I may say of Wisconsin.</p> - -<p>“There are few of us here today, if any,” continued Kit slowly, one eye -watching the concrete walk across the campus from the nearest window, -“who can boast of a Hope founder in her family.”</p> - -<p>“I can, almost,” interrupted Tony, “my sister Marie was engaged for a -little while to Bernard Giron. If she had only married him, we would -have had a ‘Founder’ in the family.”</p> - -<p>“Tony,” said Kit, severely, “I am dealing with facts, not prospects, -and you ought not reveal any family secrets, either. I say it is a -great honor to be a direct descendant of a ‘Founder,’ and we have one -in our class. A girl, too modest to take advantage of her grandfather’s -record.” She paused impressively, but with a quickening gleam in her -eyes, as there suddenly came in view a hurrying figure in a gray suit -on the campus walk. It was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_126"></a>126</span> Jeannette herself, late, but in time to -create the desired sensation.</p> - -<p>Kit drew a deep breath, and plunged back to her subject, considering -exactly the time it would take for the belated guest to reach the study.</p> - -<p>“Since all the girls here belong to this dormitory, it seems -appropriate that the founder whose memory we honor should be Malcolm -Douglas. His portrait hangs on the wall, evidently taken from an old -likeness.” Oh, how she wished the family could hear her now! “There -is no more adventurous or thrilling career in the annals of historic -Delphi than that of the illustrious Scotchman. Making his way through -the perils of the wilderness, he came from Quebec with a party of fur -traders and pioneer explorers.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t hit too far back, Kit,” interrupted Peggy, alertly. “If he was -a founder, you can’t have him trotting over wilderness trails with -Marquette and Lasalle, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Nevertheless,” responded Kit, ignoring<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_127"></a>127</span> her, “he is one of the -founders of this college. He came here in his early twenties, and -married Lucia, the daughter of Captain Peter Morton. Their daughter -was Mary, and, girls, she was the mother of one of our classmates, the -very same Mary who went through Hope and graduated with high honors. -You’ll find her initials carved in Number 10 across the hall, and her -portrait—the only one I could find—is in this graduating group.”</p> - -<p>The girls all crowded forward to look at the group photograph which Kit -held out to them, just as a knock came at the door. For one dramatic -instant Kit held the knob, her back against the door as she announced -in almost a whisper, “The granddaughter of Malcolm Douglas.”</p> - -<p>The girls leaned forward, eagerly, every eye fixed upon the door. As -Kit said later to Anne, “Goodness knows who they expected to see, but -I almost felt as though I had promised them a two-headed man, and then -had sprung Jeannette. Wasn’t she marvelous, Anne? The<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_128"></a>128</span> way she stood -the introduction and the shock of finding herself the guest of honor. -As I looked at her, I thought to myself, you may be Douglas, and you -may be Morton, fine old Scotch and English stock, but if it wasn’t for -the dash of debonair Flambeau in you too, you could never carry this -off the way you’re doing.”</p> - -<p>Jeannette was not the only person present who had to fall back on -inherent caste for their manners of the moment, but Tony was the only -one that gave an audible gasp. Even Peggy and Georgia smiled, and -greeted the Founder’s granddaughter in the proper spirit.</p> - -<p>She was dressed in a plain gray suit, but Kit gloried in the way she -took her place beside Virginia at the table, and answered the questions -of the girls with laughing ease.</p> - -<p>“Of course,” she said, with the little slight accent she seemed to -have caught from her father and old Grandmother Flambeau, “I thought -everyone in Delphi knew. For myself,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_129"></a>129</span> I am proud of him, and of all my -mother’s people, but I am also proud of being a Flambeau. You girls do -not know perhaps that some of my father’s people helped to found Fort -Dearborn, and they were very brave and courageous voyagers in the early -days of New France.”</p> - -<p>Peggy really rose to the occasion remarkably, Kit thought. Probably -the most jealously guarded membership in the prep classes was that of -the Portia Club, and yet, before the tea was over, she had invited -Jeannette to attend the next meeting and be proposed for membership.</p> - -<p>“We’re not going to try a whole play at first, just famous scenes, -and I know you’d fit in somewhere and enjoy it. Don’t you want to, -Jeannette?”</p> - -<p>Jeannette shrugged her shoulders, and said, “I shall be glad to help -always, if you wish to make me one of you.”</p> - -<p>“What do you think of that?” Anne said on<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_130"></a>130</span> the way home. “Kit, you -certainly have discovered a flower that was born to blush unseen.”</p> - -<p>“It will take her out of her shell, anyway,” Kit replied happily. “And -I do think the girls came up to the mark splendidly. How I’d like to -hear what they’re saying about us now, behind our backs, but they acted -their parts nobly when I swung that door open, and there stood, just -Jeannette!”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_131"></a>131</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="xii">12. Homesick</h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">No</span> qualms of homesickness visited Kit the first two months after school -opened. Not even New England could eclipse the glory of autumn when it -swept in full splendor over this corner of the Lake States. Down east -there was a sort of middle-aged relaxation to this season of the year.</p> - -<p>But here autumn came as a gypsy. The stretches of forest that fringed -the ravines rioted in color. The lakes seemed to take on the very -deepest sapphire blue. No hush lay over the land as it did in the East, -but there were wild sudden storm flurries, a feeling in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_132"></a>132</span> the air as if -there might be a regular tornado any minute.</p> - -<p>Hardly a Saturday passed but what Kit was included in some fall picnic -hike or else she was off to a football game. The Dean never joined -these, but occasionally Della did and thoroughly enjoyed them. And -once, toward the end of November, in the very last of Indian summer -weather, they took a weekend tour up to Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls.</p> - -<p>“I only wish,” Rex said, “that we could come up here next spring when -they have their big logging time. It’s one of the greatest sights you -ever saw, Kit. I have seen the logs jammed out there in the river until -they looked like a giant’s game of jackstraws. Maybe we could arrange a -trip, don’t you think so, Mom?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t see any reason why not,” replied Mrs. Bellamy.</p> - -<p>“But I won’t be here then,” protested Kit.</p> - -<p>“Oh, you’ll stay till the end of the spring term, dear,” Della -corrected, and right then Kit experienced her first pang of -homesickness.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_133"></a>133</span> Would she really be away from home until next June? Even -with this novelty of recreation, backed by wealth, she felt suddenly as -though she could have slipped away from it all without a single regret, -just to find herself safely back home with the family.</p> - -<p>One weekend while Jean was home at Maple Grove, she and her mother -were talking together about Jean’s work. Doris and Tommy with Jack had -walked over to Woodhow to help Mr. Craig, so Jean and her mother were -alone.</p> - -<p>Each time Jean came home she found herself turning with a sigh of -relief and safety from the city life to the peace of the hills. It was -her comment on this to her mother that had prompted their talk.</p> - -<p>“Are you going to begin looking into job possibilities while you are in -New York, Jean?” asked her mother. “I think if you are really serious -about a career, you should begin getting interviews for a job next -year.”</p> - -<p>“No Mom,” replied Jean. “I think I have<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_134"></a>134</span> reached an important decision. -I wasn’t going to tell you until my course was over and I was positive -I was right, but I’ll tell you now since you asked. I love Ralph more -than I do a career and if he asks me to marry him, I’ll say yes. I’ve -learned to analyze my feelings and I am quite sure my love for art is -only a hobby. To have a happy marriage like yours and Dad’s is, is the -most important thing I want.”</p> - -<p>“You have made a wise and difficult decision, my dear,” said Mrs. Craig -tenderly. “Your father and I have felt all along that Ralph was ideally -suited for you, but we wanted you to make your own decisions first.”</p> - -<p>Just then, the mailman brought Kit’s next letter and Jean read it over -her mother’s shoulder. A little puzzled frown drew Jean’s straight dark -brows together.</p> - -<p>“She’s getting homesick, Mother. Kit never writes tenderly like that -unless she feels a heart throb. I never thought she’d last as long as -she has—”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_135"></a>135</span> -But Mrs. Craig looked dubious.</p> - -<p>“She seems to have made such a good impression. I hate to have her -spoil it by jumping back too soon. It’s such an opportunity for her.”</p> - -<p>Jean stopped washing the dishes and gazed out of the kitchen window -toward the fields, where none but the crows could find a living now.</p> - -<p>“I don’t blame her a bit if she wants to come back home before summer, -Mom. Money isn’t everything.”</p> - -<p>“That’s true,” sighed her mother. “But it’s a shame not to take -advantage of it when it comes your way.”</p> - -<p>“Just the same, if I were you, I’d write and tell Kit that she could -come home at the Christmas vacation if she wanted to.”</p> - -<p>But Becky took an entirely different view of the matter when she was -consulted. “Fiddlesticks,” she said. “No girl of Kit’s age knows what -she wants two minutes of the time. She<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_136"></a>136</span> isn’t needed here at all, -Margaret. Doris is getting plenty old enough to take hold and help.”</p> - -<p>So two letters went back to Kit, and in hers Mrs. Craig could not -resist slipping a hint that perhaps it would be a wise thing to ask the -Dean about ending her visit at Christmas time.</p> - -<p>But Jean added in hers, “Mother’s afraid you are homesick, or that they -may be tired of you by this time, but if I were in your place, I’d try -to stay until June. Dad thinks the house may be done in time for us to -go into it next month, but we’ve had lots of wet weather, and Becky -says it would be horribly unhealthful to move in before the plaster has -had a chance to thoroughly dry. Matt goes down every day with Dad, and -they’ve kept the fire going in the furnace, so I suppose that will help -some, but there isn’t a particle of need for your coming back, except -Mother’s dread that you may be homesick, and you’re getting too old to -mollycoddle yourself, where there’s a big interest at stake.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_137"></a>137</span> -Kit read this with a frown. “It’s so nice to have been born Jean, and -speak on any subject as the oldest,” she said scornfully. “I know -perfectly well that Mom needs me when she is moving back into the new -house, and I never expected to stay so long when I came, anyway.”</p> - -<p>She stopped short, meditating on just what this queer, choky feeling -was that had swept over her. She knew that she would have given up -everything, the new friends she had made, and all the winter’s fun at -Hope College, just to be safely back home.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_138"></a>138</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="xiii">13. Frank Apologizes</h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Kit</span> was doing some homework in the library one Saturday morning, when -all at once she was conscious of someone who stood at the west end of -the room, looking at her. For a moment Kit was absolutely speechless, -not believing the evidence of her own eyes. But the next minute -Billie’s own laugh, when he found out he had been discovered, startled -her with its reality.</p> - -<p>“Billie Ellis,” she exclaimed, springing to her feet and scattering -reference books and notepaper helter-skelter. “How on earth did you -ever get way out here?”</p> - -<p>Billie colored slightly, as he always did at<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_139"></a>139</span> any display of emotion, -and tried to act as if it were the most natural and ordinary thing in -the world for him to appear at Delphi, when he was supposed to be in -Washington in school.</p> - -<p>“We had our exams last week, and Frank had to come out to Minnesota for -the government, so he took me along to help him.”</p> - -<p>“Billie, are you really after bugs and things—I mean, are you going to -really be a naturalist?”</p> - -<p>“I guess you’d kind of call it being a business naturalist,” laughed -Billie. “I don’t think I’ll ever live in a shack on a mountainside, and -write beautiful things about them, now that I know Frank. You want to -roll up your sleeves and pitch in like he does.”</p> - -<p>“Is he here now?” asked Kit eagerly.</p> - -<p>“Yep.” Billie nodded out of the window toward Kemp Hall, the boys’ -dormitory. “After we found out that you didn’t live here, we were -going on down to the Dean’s to find you, but he looked over the boys’ -freshman<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_140"></a>140</span> class, and found he had a cousin or nephew or somebody on the -list, Clayton Diggs.”</p> - -<p>“I know him,” Kit said. “He’s awfully nice. I’ve got to be back for -lunch, and you’re coming down with me, of course. How long can you -stay?”</p> - -<p>“Just this afternoon. We’re going back on the five forty-five, and -catch the night express out of Chicago. If you wait here, I’ll chase -after Frank, ’cause he’ll want to have lunch with the Diggs boy, and he -can join us later.”</p> - -<p>Kit walked along the path which crossed the campus. The coming of -Billie unexpectedly, just at a time when she was feeling her first -homesickness, struck Kit as a rare piece of luck. But with only five -hours to visit with him, she knew it would be all the harder after he -had gone. He joined her on a run as she reached the sidewalk, and they -hurried down to the Dean’s just in time for lunch. Kit beamed when she -introduced her friend from the hills to Della and the Dean.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_141"></a>141</span> -“Don’t you remember, Uncle Bart,” she asked eagerly, “my talking about -Billie? Well, here he is.”</p> - -<p>The Dean’s gray eyes twinkled as he surveyed Billie over the tops of -his glasses. “You come highly recommended, young man,” he said.</p> - -<p>“You could have a lovely time studying over Uncle Bart’s Egyptian -Scarabs, Bill,” said Kit. “Weren’t you telling me something about -a place in China where they had a whole grove filled with sacred -silkworms, Aunt Della? You see, Billie’s main interest is insects and -birds.”</p> - -<p>Miss Peabody smiled and nodded, looking from one young face to the -other. Never before had youngsters sat lunching at that table with her -and her brother in quite such a way. The Dean usually took his meals -in absolute silence when they were alone together, for he held that -desultory conversation disturbed his train of thought. But since Kit’s -coming, it had been impossible to check her flow of talk, until now<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_142"></a>142</span> -the Dean actually missed it if she happened not to be there.</p> - -<p>After lunch they all went into the library to look over the Dean’s -newly arrived treasures, the Amenotaph urn and the statue of Annui.</p> - -<p>“Well, gol-lee,” exclaimed Kit, as she stood before the plain, squat, -terra-cotta urn, “is that the royal urn? I expected to see something -enormous, like everything else that is wonderful and ancient in Egypt.”</p> - -<p>“My dear,” the Dean replied happily as he bent down to trace the -curious, cuneiform markings that circled the urn. “This antedates the -time of the Captivity and Moses. I cannot tell positively, until I have -opened it and deciphered what I can of the papyrus rolls within. If it -should go back to Moses, it will be wonderful. I cannot believe that -it is contemporary with Nineveh. Della, you can recall how overjoyed I -was when we unearthed that library of precious clay under the Nineveh -mounds years ago. Think of reading something which was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_143"></a>143</span> written by -living man several thousand years before that.”</p> - -<p>“What fun it must have been,” Billie remarked. “If you wanted to write -anything in those days, you just picked up a handful of mud and made a -little brick out of it, and wrote away with a stick, didn’t you?”</p> - -<p>“Stylus, my boy, stylus,” corrected the Dean absently. “Yes, it did -away with much of our modern detail.”</p> - -<p>“Where’s the statue, Uncle Bart?” Kit asked.</p> - -<p>“It’s just behind you, my dear. And it’s perfect. Perfect,” murmured -the Dean.</p> - -<p>Kit turned, expecting to face one of the usual blandly smiling Egyptian -pieces of art, with a few wings scattered over it here and there. But -instead, there stood in the center of the table a strangely attenuated -figure about three feet high. It had a head that was a cross between -an intelligent antelope and a rather toplofty baby rat. Its arms were -extended at sharp angles, and seemed to be pointing in arch<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_144"></a>144</span> accusation -at someone. Wings spread fanwise from the shoulders, and its feet were -like those of a griffin.</p> - -<p>“I never thought it would look just like that, did you, Billie?” Kit -asked confidentially, when they started back to the campus later.</p> - -<p>“Well, I knew what to expect, because we’ve been going to the -Smithsonian Institute pretty often,” replied Billie. “Some of them look -worse than that. But they can’t beat our own Alaskan and Mexican ones. -I wonder what people were thinking about back in those days to worship -that sort of thing?”</p> - -<p>But Kit caught sight of five of the girls just rounding the corner -and she waved to them to come over, much to Billie’s inward disgust. -While he thoroughly approved of Kit, he viewed the average girl with -indifference. But Kit introduced him in a casual manner which put him -at his ease, and when they started up the path, it was Tony Conyer who -had taken possession of Billie, and was interesting him<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_145"></a>145</span> by telling of -her father’s big stock farm in northern Wisconsin.</p> - -<p>They found Frank Howard waiting for them outside the boys’ dorm and -Clayton was with him. The girls got Kit aside and Amy faced her -accusingly.</p> - -<p>“You never told us a word about this boy,” she declared, “and all the -time you’ve had him up your sleeve. Explain please.”</p> - -<p>Kit laughed at them and said, “Well, he’s a relative, if you must know. -He’s my father’s first cousin’s husband’s grandson. Now what are you -going to do about it?”</p> - -<p>Rather mollified, the girls rejoined the boys on the steps in front -of the dorm. “I suppose Hope looks pretty small to you after the -universities back East,” Georgia said to Billie.</p> - -<p>“Looks swell to me,” returned Billie. “I think you can have lots more -fun in a place like this than you can at the big schools. But don’t get -the idea I’m going to college now, I’m just at prep school and taking -up a few<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_146"></a>146</span> extra courses outside with Frank.”</p> - -<p>“What kind of courses?” asked Georgia.</p> - -<p>“Science and physics, but specially entomology and forestry. He’s in -government service. I wish I knew all he does. It’s wonderful to have a -friend like Frank.”</p> - -<p>Kit was behind the others with Amy and Anne. Now that they had joined -the others, and the girls were talking about Frank also, she had become -strangely silent.</p> - -<p>“You don’t know him very well, do you?” Amy asked. “I mean, he isn’t -related to you.”</p> - -<p>Kit shook her head with bland indifference.</p> - -<p>“He’s a friend of Billie’s. I only met him at home when he came to -chase a gypsy moth in Elmhurst.”</p> - -<p>She did not add that with Tommy’s help and able cooperation, she had -managed to curtail the chase of the gypsy moth, temporarily, by holding -the chaser captive in the family corncrib, but she inwardly suspected -that Frank was remembering it. Every once in a while she caught him -looking at her, with a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_147"></a>147</span> look of amused retrospection that made her -vaguely uncomfortable.</p> - -<p>As they left the campus, Georgia, leading with Billie, took the street -that led to the bluffs overlooking the lake, and somehow or other in -the scramble down the narrow pathways, Kit found Frank at her elbow. No -one could have been more dignified or distant in her manner than Kit, -but Frank refused to be frozen out.</p> - -<p>“I’ve just found out something, Kit,” he said genially. “I forgave you -long ago for locking me up in your corncrib and nearly landing me in -the local jail, but you don’t forgive me one bit for trespassing in -your berry patch.”</p> - -<p>Kit’s profile tilted ever so slightly upward. She had thoroughly -made up her mind that very day when Mr. Hicks made his memorable and -fruitless journey to Woodhow that not even government experts had any -right to climb over fences into people’s private property without first -asking permission. Perhaps<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_148"></a>148</span> the sudden popularity of the trespasser -with all the rest of the family had something to do with Kit’s stand -against him. Even Doris had remarked that she didn’t see how Kit could -ever have imagined that a person looking like Frank could be a berry -thief.</p> - -<p>“I don’t want you to forgive me,” she said calmly. “I’ve never been -one bit sorry for it. I think you ought to have come up to the house -and asked permission to go in there. And you never said that you -were sorry. It always seemed to me as if you rather acted as if you -thought it was a good joke”—she hesitated a moment, before adding -pointedly—“on me.”</p> - -<p>“Suppose I apologize now.” Frank’s tone was absolutely serious, but -Kit, with one quick look at the precipitous path ahead of them, laughed.</p> - -<p>“Not here, please. Wait until we hit the level shore. You do really -have to pay attention on this path, or you miss your footing and -toboggan all at once.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_149"></a>149</span> -“Then, suppose,” he persisted, “we just consider that I have -apologized. And if you accept, you can raise your right hand at me.”</p> - -<p>Kit immediately raised her left one. Before he could say any more, she -had hurried ahead and caught up with the rest.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_150"></a>150</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="xiv">14. The Secret in the Urn</h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">It</span> was not until after they had gone, when Kit was by herself, that she -remembered all Billie had told her at the very last of his stay.</p> - -<p>They had walked along the lake shore together, a little behind the -others, after they had visited the Flambeau family.</p> - -<p>“You haven’t told me anything at all,” Kit said, “about home. When were -you in Elmhurst last?”</p> - -<p>“Just before we came here,” Billie answered.</p> - -<p>“Was everything all right?” Billie hesitated. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, -Billie, tell me if there is anything. You can’t give me any nervous -shocks at all, and I’m dying to find an excuse to get back home.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_151"></a>151</span> -“Why, there isn’t anything the matter, exactly,” Billie said -cheerfully, but with a reservation in his tone that made Kit impatient. -“The only thing that I know about, I heard Grandfather telling Uncle -Tom. I don’t suppose I ought to repeat it either.”</p> - -<p>“Honestly, Billie, you make me so exasperated at times. How dare you -keep back any news of my family from me?”</p> - -<p>“It was something about losing some stocks or dividends or something -like that. I guess it hit Grandfather, too, but I heard him say that -there wasn’t a farm up there that couldn’t support itself, properly -run, and he guessed they’d all weather the storm.”</p> - -<p>Billie was inclined to take an optimistic view of the whole affair. -“Grandfather said that there was no cause for worry,” he went on. “It -was just a case of pitch in and get your living out of the farms again.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Kit with scorn, “get your living out of the farms. That’s -all very well for him to say, when he’s got everything to do with,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_152"></a>152</span> -and twenty of the best cows in the county, but we moved up there on -hope and a shoestring. And we’ve never really raised anything except -children and chickens.”</p> - -<p>“Frank says your place, if it was properly worked, would make one of -the finest fruit farms up there, ’cause your land all slopes to the -south as far as the river. He says if he had it he’d sell off the heavy -timber for cash and put the money right into hardy varieties of fruit -and hogs.”</p> - -<p>Kit laughed. “Can’t you see Doris’s face over the hogs, with all her -aristocratic ideas? Did he tell Dad that?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” Billie said doubtfully. “Uncle Tom’s kind of hard to -get confidential with over his own affairs, but I wouldn’t worry, Kit, -if I were you. Things always come out all right.”</p> - -<p>“They do not,” returned Kit calmly. “Even so, thanks ever so much for -telling me, Billie. You may have changed the course of destiny, because -I can tell you now I’m going home.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_153"></a>153</span> -After dinner that night Kit was out for a walk alone with only Sandy -for company. Kit was wondering whether it would be best to write first -to her mother or to Jean. Jean would be in New York anyway, so perhaps -she wouldn’t know any more about it than Kit did. How she wished to -know just exactly what the family’s plans were for the winter.</p> - -<p>Finally she decided to write to Becky. Even though her decision might -not be a favorable one, you always felt sure you were getting it -straight without any affectionate bias.</p> - -<p>Accordingly, a confidential appeal went East, and back came the reply -by return mail, as Kit had known it would.</p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="noi">Dear Kit,</p> - -<p>I had been thinking about you when your letter came, so I suppose our -thoughts must have crossed.</p> - -<p>There’s no doubt at all but what your mother needs you badly right -here, especially with Jean in New York. What Billie told you was about -the truth.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_154"></a>154</span> -If I were you, I’d have a heart-to-heart talk with the Dean himself, -and I know your mother will be just as relieved as can be to hear -you’re homeward bound.</p> - -<p class="right nmb">Lovingly,</p> -<p class="right2 nmt">Becky.</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>Kit was delighted over the letter, and went directly to the Dean with -its message. He was deeply engrossed in getting up his first notes and -commentaries on the urn and statue. It had not seemed for the past two -or three weeks as if he resided any longer in Delphi at all. Kit told -Della she was positive he was wandering through Egypt all the time, the -Egypt of five thousand years ago. And it was only the shadow of his -self that seemed to sit closeted for hours in the study.</p> - -<p>He hardly glanced up now as she came in, but smiled and nodded when he -saw who it was, keeping on with his writing.</p> - -<p>“Just hand me that volume on the second shelf to your right by the -door. Second volume,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_155"></a>155</span> -<cite>Explorations in Upper Egypt</cite>, look up Seti -the First in the index.”</p> - -<p>Kit found the place and laid it before him, perching herself on one -end of the desk, as she always did when she wanted to attract his -attention. The little statuette of Annui smiled grotesquely down upon -her from its pedestal. The urn stood in a handy place of honor upon the -desk itself as the Dean had been deciphering the inscriptions upon it.</p> - -<p>“I hate to disturb you, Uncle Bart,” Kit began, with the directness so -characteristic of her, “but I really think I ought to go back home. -You’ve been wonderful to give me such a long visit, and I’ve enjoyed -the school work immensely, but somehow I begin to feel like a soldier -who has been away on a furlough. It’s time for me to get back, because -Mother needs me.”</p> - -<p>The Dean glanced up in surprise; and came slowly out of his dream of -concentration as the meaning of her words dawned upon him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_156"></a>156</span> -“Why, my dear child,” he exclaimed, “this is very sudden. There has -never been any question about your going back, at least—” He coughed. -“Not since we became acquainted with you. Has anything happened?”</p> - -<p>“Why, nothing special—I mean, nothing tragic. It’s only this, Dad’s -lost a lot of money all at once. He did have a little income, enough so -we never have had to depend on the farm entirely, but now, even that -has been swept away.”</p> - -<p>“Tom never had any head for business.” The Dean tapped one hand lightly -with his glasses in an absent-minded musing way that nearly drove Kit -frantic. “But what can you do about it, my dear? Surely by returning at -such a time you merely add to your father’s burdens.”</p> - -<p>“No, I won’t,” Kit answered. “Because I’ve got a plan that I’ve been -thinking about for ever and ever so long. I’m going to try and persuade -Dad to let us put in hogs.”</p> - -<p>“Hogs,” repeated the Dean in a baffled tone.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_157"></a>157</span> “Hogs, my dear. Who ever -heard of raising hogs when they could raise anything else at all?”</p> - -<p>“Well, we’re going to if Dad will let me. I just can’t stay here in -this beautiful place with nothing to worry over, while the family are -all worried to death.”</p> - -<p>There was silence in the old study. The Dean was looking straight at -Annui as if for inspiration. He had laid out his own career himself, -and had carried every ambition to completion and reality. The last -twenty years had been years of fruition, of honors freely given, years -of fulfillment. He had not been, like Judge Ellis, intolerant of -other men’s failures; he had simply ignored them, never feeling any -responsibility toward the weaker ones who fell in the race. In his way, -he prided himself on a gentle, aloof philosophy of life which left him -the boundaries of the study as a horizon of happiness.</p> - -<p>Probably not until that moment had he realized the gradual -revolutionary process Kit<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_158"></a>158</span> had been putting him through ever since her -arrival. She had trained him into having an interest in other people -and things, until now it was impossible for him not to see the picture -of Woodhow as she did. He resolved to help Tom Craig out as well.</p> - -<p>“How did you find out about this, my dear?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“Well,” Kit replied, honestly, “partly from Billie and partly from a -letter from Becky. You know Becky, don’t you, Uncle Bart?”</p> - -<p>The Dean’s eyes twinkled reminiscently. “Oh, yes, I remember Rebecca -well. She used to bully me outrageously. But you’re perfectly right, my -dear. I can quite see why you feel that you are needed. You had better -start for home as soon as you can.”</p> - -<p>The next thing was to break the news gently and convincingly to -the family. Kit figured it out from all sides, and finally decided -to walk right up to the horns of the dilemma in a fearless attack. -Writing back a long, newsy letter to her mother, she simply tacked on -the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_159"></a>159</span> postscript, “Don’t be at all surprised to see me arrive around -Christmas.”</p> - -<p>The girls took her coming departure with many objections, but Kit was -not to be persuaded to stay. The Saturday before she left the many -friends she had made came over in the afternoon to say goodbye. Late in -the day, Kit saw Jeannette Flambeau coming up the drive.</p> - -<p>“It was awfully nice of you to come, Jeannette,” she exclaimed. “I’ve -been watching for you.”</p> - -<p>“I tried to come earlier, but I couldn’t,” smiled Jeannette. “Will you -write to me when you are away?”</p> - -<p>“I’d love to. You know it’s a queer thing, Jeannette, but really and -truly, out of all the girls I have met here I feel better acquainted -with you than with any of them.”</p> - -<p>Kit said this rather slowly, as if it were a sort of self-revelation -which she had just discovered that minute. And yet it was true. She -had enjoyed the class friendships at Hope immensely,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_160"></a>160</span> but Jeannette -had seemed to stand out from the rest of the girls as a distinctly -interesting personality.</p> - -<p>Jeannette smiled at Kit’s remark.</p> - -<p>“I have heard my grandmother say that in her girlhood her people of the -northern forests pledged their friendships by saying, ‘While the grass -grows and the waters run, so long shall we be friends.’” She turned and -smiled at Kit her grave-eyed slow smile. “I will say that to you now, -before you go.”</p> - -<p>Kit laid one arm around her shoulders. “Me too,” she answered, “sounds -like the blood-brother vow they used to take.”</p> - -<p>The next evening Kit was to leave Delphi. She found it hard to say -goodbye to her aunt and uncle.</p> - -<p>“We shall miss you, Kit,” said Della, “but if it gives you any -pleasure, my dear, I want to tell you it was your coming which opened -my eyes to the folly of sitting with empty hands while there was work -to be done. I don’t<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_161"></a>161</span> think I can ever belong to the rocking-chair squad -again, without a guilty conscience.”</p> - -<p>Kit hugged her fervently. “Oh, but you’re a dear, Aunt Della, to say -such things. I only wish I could stay right here and be in two places -at once. I’ll tell you what I’ve learned here, organization.” Kit said -this very firmly and earnestly. “Back home they say I know just what I -want to do, but I don’t know how to do it. Now, I know what I want to -do. I want to go back home and organize.”</p> - -<p>“The Dean wanted to have a little talk with you before dinner, dear. I -think you’d better go in now, because we want to reach the station in -plenty of time. Don’t talk too long. You know how he is when he gets -absorbed in anything.”</p> - -<p>Kit promised and joined the Dean. He had carried back the statue of -Annui and stood before it regarding it with perplexity. Kit slipped -her arm through his. It seemed as though there had sprung up a new -comradeship<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_162"></a>162</span> and understanding between them since their last talk.</p> - -<p>“Won’t he tell you his secrets, Uncle Bart?” she asked. “He has such an -aggravating smile, just as if he were amused at baffling you.”</p> - -<p>“I am baffled,” the Dean conceded genially. “I’ve reached a certain -point and there is a blank which no historic record seems to fill. I -thought when I had restored the inscription on the urn that it would -tell me several of the missing points, but it seems to be merely a sort -of sacred invocation. I am amazed at the urn being hollow. Every other -memorial urn which I found during our excavations in Egypt was sealed, -and upon being opened we always found rolls of papyrus within. I am -disappointed.”</p> - -<p>Kit lifted the urn very carefully and stared at it, reflectively. “What -does the inscription say?” Kit asked.</p> - -<p>“It merely traces the origin of King Amenotaph to the god Thoth,” said -the Dean, thoughtfully, “that is, the Egyptian Hermes,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_163"></a>163</span> or Mercury, as -we know him, and it is extremely vague, being a curious mixture of the -Coptic and the ancient Aramaic.”</p> - -<p>“But what does it say?” asked Kit again.</p> - -<p>The Dean followed the curious markings on the urn with his fingertip, -bending forward as he did so. “It says, ‘Amenotaph, born of Thoth, -shall reign in wisdom. Kings shall serve at his foot stool. Ra shall -shine upon him. He shall lie in peace, encompassed by Ra.’”</p> - -<p>“Is that all?”</p> - -<p>“That is all,” sighed the Dean. “It seems merely a laudatory sentiment.”</p> - -<p>“Who was Ra?” asked Kit curiously, running her hand around the top of -the urn.</p> - -<p>“The Sun god. His symbol was the circle. You see it here.”</p> - -<p>Kit repeated again slowly, what her uncle had just read. Then she shook -the urn close to her ear.</p> - -<p>“My dear child, do be careful,” cried the Dean, “it’s priceless.”</p> - -<p>But Kit put it under one arm as though it<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_164"></a>164</span> had been a milk pail and -tapped around the inside with her knuckles, listening.</p> - -<p>“That’s a perfectly good hollow jug,” she said solemnly. “Just you tap -it, and listen, Uncle Bart. I’ll bet they’ve hidden something inside -the outside and that Ra has guarded it all these years.”</p> - -<p>“Just a moment, just a moment, my dear,” exclaimed the Dean, smiling -like a happy boy. “You’ve given me an idea. This may be a cryptogram, -or an ideographic cipher. Just a moment, now, don’t speak to me.”</p> - -<p>He sat down at the desk and figured laboriously for nearly twenty -minutes, working out the inscription in cipher, while Kit stared at -him delightedly. After all, it was gratifying, she thought, to have -somebody in the family who could take a little remark made thousands of -years ago in Egypt and make sense out of it today. She waited patiently -until he had finished. His hands were trembling as he reached for the -urn.</p> - -<p>“The circle,” he repeated, “the circle. ‘Ra<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_165"></a>165</span> in his circle shall guard -Amenotaph.’ The secret lies in the circle, Kit. Do you suppose it could -mean the rim of the urn?”</p> - -<p>Kit studied the urn again and with the fingertip she traced the -inscription and stopped when she came to a small circle in black and -red outline.</p> - -<p>“Do you suppose Ra lives here, Uncle Bart?” she asked, poking at it -thoughtfully. She peered on the inner side at the corresponding spot to -the circle, and gave a little cry of excitement. There was the faintest -sign of a circle here also. “See,” she cried, “when you push on this -side, the other gives a little bit.”</p> - -<p>The Dean could not speak. He took the urn from her over to the window -and carefully examined the inner circle through a microscope.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” he said, fervently, “you are perfectly right, my dear. The -circle moves. I think I shall have to send it to Washington. I would -not take the responsibility of trying to remove it myself.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_166"></a>166</span> -“Oh, jeepers, it seems awful to have to wait so long,” Kit exclaimed -regretfully. “It seemed to me as if you could just press it through -with your thumb, like this.”</p> - -<p>She had not intended pressing so hard, but merely to show him what she -meant, and, under the pressure of her thumb, the circle of Ra depressed -and pushed slowly through. The Dean looked on in utter amazement, as -Kit lifted the urn and tested the inner section by shaking it. Then she -peered into the circular hole, about the size of a quarter. The urn was -fully two inches thick, and by inserting her finger into the space she -found that it was made in two sections, with enough room between for a -place of concealment.</p> - -<p>“There’s something in here like asbestos, Uncle Bart,” she began, -and turning the urn upside down, she tried shaking it, using a -little pressure on the circle to separate the two rims. Slowly they -gave, while the Dean hovered over her, cautioning and directing the -operation, until two complete urns lay before them.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_167"></a>167</span> But it was not -these that the Dean snatched at. It was the curious cap-shaped mass -which fell out in the form of a cone. To Kit it appeared to be of no -significance whatever, but the Dean handled it as tenderly as a newborn -child, and under his deft and tender touch it unrolled in long scrolls -of papyrus.</p> - -<p>The Dean rose to his feet solemnly, and his voice was hushed, as -he said, “Kit, you do not know what you have done. Some day the -significance of this occasion will recur to you. All I can say is -that you have lifted the veil of the past, and revealed the secret of -Amenotaph.”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_168"></a>168</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="xv">15. Home Again</h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Kit</span> arrived in Nantic a little past noon in the middle of the first -snow storm of the winter. She was so glad to see Mr. Briggs’s smiling -face on the platform, that she almost threw her arms around him, as she -jumped from the platform of the train.</p> - -<p>“Well, well,” he said, “didn’t expect to see you around so soon, Kit.”</p> - -<p>“It’s good to be back, Mr. Briggs,” said Kit, as she looked around for -the one taxi that Nantic had. She had not told her family just when she -was arriving, so no one was there to meet her. She located the cab and -after a hurried<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_169"></a>169</span> goodbye to Mr. Briggs she got in and was soon on the -way up the familiar highway.</p> - -<p>There was none of the family in sight when they turned up the drive, -but suddenly Kit’s eager eyes saw a familiar figure out by the barn, -and leaning forward she gave a shrill whistle.</p> - -<p>Tommy turned in the direction of the whistle and when he saw who it -was he came along the drive at a dead run. Before Kit could catch her -breath, the big front door opened and there was the rest of the family. -The reunion was indeed a happy one, everyone laughing and talking at -once and deluging Kit with questions. It wasn’t until they were all -settled in the living-room that Kit obligingly answered all their -questions, telling them about Delphi, Hope College, the friends she had -made, and last of all, the secret she and Uncle Bart had discovered in -the Egyptian urn.</p> - -<p>After the Christmas holidays when Jean had gone back to New York again, -Kit found her opportunity of laying her summer plan before<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_170"></a>170</span> her mother -and father. She had discarded hogs for a new idea she had thought up -on the train coming home. Before Jean had left, Kit had told her about -her scheme and together they had worked out the details. With Jean’s -additional suggestions in mind, Kit felt she was ready to approach her -parents.</p> - -<p>“There are acres and acres here that we never use at all. All that -wonderful land on both sides of the river up through the valley, and -the two islands besides. What I thought we could do was this, if you -could just let us kids manage it. Couldn’t we start a regular summer -camp? You know those hunters’ cabins that are scattered along the -valley would be ideal. Jean was telling me before she left about an -artists’ colony up in the Catskills, where they have cabins fitted up -so that you can cook in them and everything. I’m sure we could do it -here.”</p> - -<p>It had taken much argument and figuring on paper before the consent of -both was won, but Becky approved of the scheme highly.</p> - -<p>“Land alive, Margaret,” she exclaimed,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_171"></a>171</span> “don’t crush anything that -looks like budding initiative in your children. I’d let them put cabins -all over the place until it blossomed like the wilderness. There’s a -stack of old furniture up in the attic at Maple Grove and over at our -place, too, and they’re welcome to it. Get some cans of paint and go to -work, Kit.”</p> - -<p>Kit acted immediately on the suggestion and drove up with Tommy and -Jack to look over the collection of discarded furniture. What she liked -best of all were the three-drawer, old-fashioned chests and handmade -wooden chairs. There were several old single bedsteads, too.</p> - -<p>“We’re going to paint them all over, Mom, and Tommy and Jack promised -to put up any shelves or things like that we may need.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t forget that they’ll have to eat sometime,” Becky reminded. -“Get some two-burner oil stoves and folding tables. Lay in a stock of -candles and lamps. I’d make them bring up their own bedding if I were -you, because that would be the only nuisance you’d have to contend -with.”</p> - -<p>“It’s too bad,” Kit said, “that we’re so far<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_172"></a>172</span> away from any kind of -stores. There are eight cabins altogether, and there’ll be ever so -many things people will want to buy. Do you suppose, Mother, that Mr. -Peckham would let Lucy manage anything like that up here? She’s just -dying to do something besides housework all her life.”</p> - -<p>“But where would you put her, dear?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll bet the boys down there at the mill could throw together a -perfectly swell little shack. They could either have it down by the -mill or put it right here at the crossroads. Lucy could put in all -kinds of supplies, films for cameras and post cards and candy.”</p> - -<p>“Better put in a few canned goods, too, and staples,” add Becky. “I -declare, I’d kind of like to have a hand in that myself. Kit, I do -believe you’ve started something that may wake this town up.”</p> - -<p>Kit herself attacked the problem of winning over the Peckhams to her -idea of Lucy’s taking charge of a little store at the crossroads. Lucy<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_173"></a>173</span> -sat with wide anxious eyes on the extreme edge of her chair, while her -mother said over and over again it was utterly impossible.</p> - -<p>“Why, I couldn’t get along without Lucy, especially in the summer, with -all the fruit to put up and the young ones home from school.”</p> - -<p>“But, Mrs. Peckham,” pleaded Kit, “when you were our age, wasn’t there -ever anything that you wanted to do or be with all your heart and soul? -Didn’t you ever just want to get away from what you had been doing for -years, and start something new?”</p> - -<p>“Well, come to think of it now,” smiled Mrs. Peckham, “I’d have given -my eye-teeth to have left home and gone to be a teacher in some town.”</p> - -<p>“Then please let Lucy do this. Becky says she’s willing to keep an eye -on everything, and one of us girls will probably be helping her out -most of the time, too. It would only be until the middle of September, -and Anne’s fifteen and Charlotte’s twelve. Why, it isn’t fair to -them<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_174"></a>174</span> to let them think all Lucy’s good for is to stay at home and do -housework. You will let her go, won’t you, Mrs. Peckham?”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Peckham sighed and smiled. “You’re a fearfully good pleader. I -don’t suppose it would hurt the other girls any to take hold and help. -I’m willing, and if her father is, why, she can go. Seems to me you are -starting something you can’t finish, but maybe you can.”</p> - -<p>The first part of April was unusually mild. A sort of balmy hush -seemed to lie over the barren land, as though spring had chosen to -steal upon it sleeping. On one of these warm spring days Kit, Doris, -Tommy, and Jack went out to inspect the cabins to see if they needed -repairing. Matt had promised to help them mend any leaking roofs and -replace rotten boards, but except for two of them, they seemed to -be in excellent condition. The furniture had all been scraped and -painted and almost daily something was added to the store of supplies -for the summer venture. The next problem to be solved was finding the -occupants<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_175"></a>175</span> for the cabins, and here it was Jean who helped out.</p> - -<p>“You don’t want to get a lot of people,” she wrote, “who will be -expecting all the comforts of a typical summer resort, so I suggest my -spreading the word among the art students here. They are sure to pass -it along to their friends.”</p> - -<p>When Jean came home to stay the end of May, the first thing she asked -was, “Who do you suppose wants to rent one of our cabins for the whole -summer?”</p> - -<p>“Ralph McRae,” Kit replied immediately.</p> - -<p>“But how did you know?” asked Jean. She had thought it would be a -surprise.</p> - -<p>“I knew he would be back this summer to see you,” she replied -knowingly. “Besides, Buzzy wrote me the news last week, and I’ve -reserved the pick of the cabins for him. You know the one down by -the river just above the Falls? And Becky told me yesterday that she -was positive Billie and Frank would come down for a while in July or -August.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_176"></a>176</span> -“That’s wonderful,” Jean said, enthusiastically.</p> - -<p>“But that isn’t all,” Kit went on. “I had a letter from Uncle Bart. And -do you know what he said? He received a substantial sum of money from -the Archeological Research Foundation for his work in deciphering the -contents of the Amenotaph urn. He doesn’t need the money, he says, and -because I helped him open the urn, he sent it to me.”</p> - -<p>“Golly, what will you do with it?” Jean asked.</p> - -<p>“I wrote him last winter, just after I returned, about our plans for -running a camp this summer and he was terribly interested in it. He -wants me to pay Dad back the amount he gave us for repairing the cabins -and the paint and other things we had to buy. I did and now the camp is -really our own business venture. If we don’t make a go of it, it will -be our loss and not Dad’s.”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_177"></a>177</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="xvi">16. Visiting Celebrities</h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">The</span> first campers were due to arrive the second week in June, but -everything was in complete readiness long before that time. The girls -never wearied of making their tours of inspection to be sure nothing -had been overlooked, and each time it seemed as if they added a few -more finishing touches.</p> - -<p>Becky declared it was all so inviting that she felt like closing up the -big house and coaxing the Judge to camp out with her.</p> - -<p>Kit and Doris were in one of the cabins that was on a little jutting -point of land near the Peckham mill. Here, the river swept out in a -wide U-shaped curve that was crowned with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_178"></a>178</span> gray rocks and pines. The -music of the falls reached it, and the road was only about a quarter of -a mile across the fields to the north, but apparently it was completely -isolated.</p> - -<p>All at once Tommy came tearing around the rock path, his eyes wide with -excitement, his whole manner full of mystery.</p> - -<p>“There’s a car just stopped in the road,” he exclaimed, “and the man in -it asked me who lived in the cabin over here.”</p> - -<p>“I never supposed anyone could see that cabin from the road.” Kit’s -tone held a distinct note of disappointment. “What did he want to sell -us, Tommy, lightning rods or sewing machines?”</p> - -<p>“Aw, Kit, quit it,” pleaded Tommy. “He’s really in earnest, and he’s -coming over here right now. I told him all about everything, and he -thinks he might want to rent one.”</p> - -<p>Kit’s face brightened up at this. “Lead me, Tommy, to this first paying -guest. Doris, don’t you dare to say anything to spoil the inviting -picture which I shall give him. I don’t see<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_179"></a>179</span> what more he could want.” -She hesitated a moment, surveying the river, almost directly below -the sloping rock. “Why, he could almost sit up in bed in the morning -and haul in his fishing line from that river with a fine catch for -breakfast on it.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, hurry, Kit, and stop wasting time,” Tommy begged. “He’s really -awfully nice, and he’s in earnest, I know he is.”</p> - -<p>So Kit followed Tommy across the fields to the road where the -automobile was waiting. The man must have been about forty years old, -but with his closely cut dark hair and alert smile he appeared much -younger. He wore no hat, and was deeply tanned. It seemed to Kit -at first glance as though she had never seen eyes so full of keen -curiosity and genial friendliness.</p> - -<p>“Hello,” he called as soon as she came within hearing distance. “Are -you the young lady in charge of renting these cabins which I see?”</p> - -<p>Kit admitted that she was. He nodded his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_180"></a>180</span> head approvingly and smiled, -a broad pleasant smile which seemed to include the entire landscape.</p> - -<p>“I like it here,” he announced with emphasis. “It is sequestered and -silent. I have not met a single car on the road for miles.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, that happens often,” said Kit eagerly. “There are days when nobody -passes at all except the mailman.”</p> - -<p>“It suits me,” he exclaimed buoyantly. “I must have quiet and perfect -relaxation. I will rent one of your cabins and occupy it at once. I -have been touring this part of the country looking for a spot which -appealed to me.”</p> - -<p>“We have one on the hill over there,” Kit suggested. He seemed rather -peculiar, and perhaps it would be just as well to have him as far off -as possible. “It is right on the edge of the pines, and faces the west. -The sunsets are beautiful from there.”</p> - -<p>“No, no,” he repeated. “I like the sound of water. I hear falls below -here. I will take that cabin I see over there.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_181"></a>181</span> -So the first cabin dweller came to Woodhow. Kit had still been in -doubt, and taking no chances on strangers within the gates, she had -guided Mr. Ormond up to her father to make the closing arrangements on -renting the waterfall cabin. The most amazing part was that he left a -check that first day for full rental for ten weeks.</p> - -<p>“I must not be interrupted or bothered by little things,” he told Mr. -Craig. “I must have perfect isolation or I cannot do my work.”</p> - -<p>He arrived promptly the following day and arranged to put up the car in -their garage. Tommy and Jack helped him move his things into the cabin.</p> - -<p>“Gosh, we’ve lugged down all his belongings to the cabin,” Jack said -when they were finished, “and I can’t find out what in the heck his -business is. He had a lot of heavy bundles, and we asked him a few -questions about them, but he didn’t seem to take kindly to it, so we -let him alone.”</p> - -<p>“Lucy says he’s made arrangements to buy<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_182"></a>182</span> eggs and chickens from them,” -said Kit, “so I see where our paying guests are going to scatter -prosperity around the neighborhood.”</p> - -<p>Ralph McRae arrived the seventeenth of June and took the Turtle Cove -Cabin. The Craigs saw quite a good deal of him, for he was always -dropping in on them. Doris suspected a budding romance, but she -contented herself with watching Jean and investing her with the glamor -of all her favorite heroines.</p> - -<p>The first fruits of Jean’s efforts to colonize the cabins came with a -letter from Peg Moffat.</p> - -<p>“You’re going to have four of the girls through July anyway, and August -if they like it. I’ve told them the scenery is perfectly gorgeous and -they can draw wherever they like, so be sure and give them the cabins -with the best view.”</p> - -<p>The next surprise was a letter from Billie. He could not reach home -before the middle of July, as he was going on another trip with Frank, -but there were five of the boys from his class who wanted to come up -and camp.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_183"></a>183</span> -“I’ve told them the fishing is swell around there, and they’re going to -make the trip from here in Jeff Saunders’s car. Jeff’s from Georgia, and -most of the guys have never been north. We’re going to join them later -on, so if you’ve got a bunch of cabins together, you better save us -three.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll put them all over in the glen, where they can do just as they -please,” Kit decided. “They won’t interfere with high art or our -mysterious stranger.”</p> - -<p>Lucy opened her general store the first of June. It stood exactly at -the crossroads, beside Woodhow. Her brothers had erected a little slab -shack, and Lucy had planted wild cucumber and morning glory vines -thickly around the outside, the last week in April, so that by June -they had climbed halfway up.</p> - -<p>Inside the store there were two counters, one on either side as you -entered, and these had been Mr. Peckham’s contribution to the good -cause. At first the stocking up of the store had been a problem, but -Becky helped out with the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_184"></a>184</span> business plan, and by this time nearly -everyone in Elmhurst was taking a keen, personal interest in the -venture.</p> - -<p>It was Ma Parmalee who first suggested that Lucy sell on the commission -plan. “I’ve got thirty-five jars of the best kind of preserves and -canned goods in Elmhurst,” she announced one day, when she had stopped -on her way by the crossroads to look over the new establishment. “Most -of them are pints, and besides I’ve got—land, I don’t know how many -glasses of jelly and jam. I’d be willing to give you a good share of -whatever you could make on them, if you could sell them off for me down -here.”</p> - -<p>Lucy agreed gladly, and the fruit made a splendid showing along the -upper shelves behind the counters. Not only that, but it began to sell -at once. Mr. Ormond bought up all of the canned peaches after sampling -one jar, and Ralph said he was willing to become responsible for some -of the strawberry jam and spiced pears. Before long, Lucy was looking -around for more supplies.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_185"></a>185</span> -One morning, just after Tommy had gone whistling out to the barn, Doris -spied a familiar figure coming along the drive toward the house, and -leaned out of the dining room window, calling with all her heart, “Hi, -Billie!”</p> - -<p>Billie waved back and came up to the back steps where he found the -other girls. “The camp’s immense,” he said. “We got in late last night -and I knew the way down, so we didn’t disturb anybody. Even found the -old boat in the same place, Doris.”</p> - -<p>“Well, you wouldn’t have if I hadn’t hauled it there, where I knew you -could lay your hands on it.”</p> - -<p>Billie laughed. He knew from past experience that Doris’s scoldings -didn’t amount to much. He and Frank had brought up a load of supplies -with them but huckleberry pancakes with honey lured them both up -for breakfast that first morning. And even Kit was silent as Frank -related all of his adventures during the year. It seemed to her -that she had never really looked at him before, that is, to get the -best<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_186"></a>186</span> impression, without prejudice. Now, she realized he was quite -good-looking and she noted for the first time his curly yellow hair, -and long, half-closed blue eyes, that always seemed to be laughing at -you. He had dimples, too, and these Kit resented.</p> - -<p>“I can’t abide dimples in a boy’s face,” she declared privately to -Jean, when the latter was dwelling on Frank’s good looks.</p> - -<p>“But, Kit, Buzzy has dimples, and you always thought he was such a -swell guy.”</p> - -<p>“Well, he’s different,” Kit said lamely. “I don’t think I like blond, -curly hair, either.”</p> - -<p>They had walked down to the Peckham mill after supper to get some -supplies that Danny Peckham had promised to bring up from Nantic. Just -as they came to the turn of the road there came a strange sound from -the direction of the waterfall cabin, deep, rich strains of music, -almost as low-pitched and thrilling as the sound of the water itself. -Both girls stood still listening, until Jean whispered, “It must be Mr. -Ormond. He’s playing on a cello, isn’t he?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_187"></a>187</span> -“Then, that’s what he does,” Kit’s tone held a touch of admiring awe as -she listened. “And we thought he might be anything from a counterfeiter -to an escaped convict hiding away up here. Oh, Jeannie, why do you -suppose he keeps away from everyone?”</p> - -<p>“Probably got a hidden sorrow,” Jean answered. “Still he’s got a -terrific appetite. Mrs. Gorham says she doesn’t see how he ever puts -away the amount of food he does. He buys whole roast chickens and eats -them all himself.”</p> - -<p>Just then the music ceased suddenly. The door opened and Mr. Ormond -spoke into the twilight gloom.</p> - -<p>“Is that you, Tommy?”</p> - -<p>“No, it’s just us girls,” answered Kit. “We’re going down to the mill.”</p> - -<p>“Would you mind so very much asking if anyone has telephoned a telegram -up for me from the station? I’m expecting one.”</p> - -<p>“There, you see,” Jean said, dubiously, as they went on down the road. -“We just get rid of one mystery, and he hands us another to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_188"></a>188</span> solve. Who -would he be getting a telegram from?”</p> - -<p>Kit laughed and said, “You’re getting just as bad as everyone else -in Elmhurst, Jean. I thought only Mr. Ricketts took an interest in -telegrams and post cards.”</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, when Lucy told them that there had been a message phoned -up from Nantic, even Kit showed quick interest.</p> - -<p>It was signed “Concetta,” and the message read, “Arrive Nantic, -ten-two. Contract signed. All love and tenderness.”</p> - -<p>The girls returned after delivering the message, brimful of the news, -but Mr. Craig laughed at them.</p> - -<p>“Why, my goodness,” he said, “I could have told you long ago all about -Bryan Ormond. He’s one of the greatest cellists we have, and is married -to Madame Concetta Doria, the opera singer. He told me when he first -took the cabin for the summer, but as he was composing a new opera, he -wanted absolute solitude up here and asked me not to let anyone know -who he was.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_189"></a>189</span> -“Talk about entertaining an angel unawares,” Jean exclaimed. “Now, -Doris, you’ll have your chance, if you can only get acquainted with -her. I can see you perched on their threshold drinking in trills and -quavers the rest of the summer.”</p> - -<p>Doris only smiled happily. It was she who had begged the hardest to -bring the piano with them when they moved to Elmhurst. She really -played quite well and had a pleasing voice.</p> - -<p>“Have you ever heard her sing, Mother?” she asked.</p> - -<p>“Yes, many times. She has a lovely voice and you will like her.”</p> - -<p>“And just to think of her coming to live in a cabin at Woodhow,” Doris -said, almost in a whisper. “It seems as if we ought to offer them the -best room in the house.”</p> - -<p>“If you did, they would run away. That’s just what they have come here -to escape from, all the fuss and publicity.”</p> - -<p>Jean, too, was eagerly expecting Madame Ormond. While not one of the -girls could have<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_190"></a>190</span> explained just exactly how they thought she would -look, still they held a blurred picture of someone unusual, who would -probably dress more or less eccentrically.</p> - -<p>Kit was in the kitchen making sandwiches for lunch, when a shadow fell -across the doorway. Jean sat on the edge of the table by the window -picking over blackberries, and the two stared at the intruder. She -was about the same age as Mr. Ormond, a large buoyant type of woman -with a mass of curly ash-blonde hair, sparkling black eyes, and a -wonderful complexion. Perhaps it was her smile that charmed the girls -most, though, at that first glance. It was such a radiant smile of good -fellowship when she peered into the shadowy interior of the kitchen.</p> - -<p>“Good morning. I have come for butter and eggs and milk.” She spied -the two-quart pail of berries on the table, and gave a little cry of -interest. “Where do you find those, my dear?”</p> - -<p>Jean told her politely that they came from the rock pasture on the hill -behind the house.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_191"></a>191</span> -“Will you come down to the cabin this afternoon and take me there? My -husband is very, very busy working on his new opera, and I must be -away and let him write in peace, so you and I will have to explore the -woods together, yes?” She smiled down into Jean’s face, and just at -that moment there came from the living room, where Doris was dusting, a -clear, sweet soprano voice.</p> - -<p>Madame Ormond laid her finger on her lips and listened, her eyes bright -with attention and interest. “It is still another one of you?” she -asked softly, when the song died away. “You shall bring her down to the -cabin to me and let my husband try her voice with the cello. It is his -big baby, that cello, but it is very wise, it never gives the wrong -decision on a voice, and she has a very beautiful one.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” Kit declared with a deep sigh, after Madame Ormond had gone on -down toward the road with her butter, eggs, and milk, “we’ve always -believed we were an exceptional family. We’ll have to begin our song of -triumph<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_192"></a>192</span> pretty soon. I’ll bet she’ll go up there in the pasture every -day and do her vocal practicing out of hearing of the cello, and Doris -will sit on the nearest rock and play echo.”</p> - -<p>Jean was telling Ralph about it that evening while they were sitting in -the cool high air on the front porch as they did almost every evening. -Although the others, with the exception of her mother and father, -didn’t know it yet, Jean was going to be engaged that summer.</p> - -<p>Not long after Ralph had come in June he had asked Jean if she had -reached a decision on her art career. “Are you going to go ahead and -get a job in that field and make it your career?” He asked a little -anxiously, after Jean had finished an enthusiastic description of her -previous year’s work in New York.</p> - -<p>“I’ve pretty much decided against it, Ralph. I know you’ll be pleased -because you never really wanted me to go through with it, I realize -now. I realize something else, too, and that is how much I really love -the country. How I missed it last winter. The noise of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_193"></a>193</span> city got on -my nerves so, that I could hardly wait to get on the train when I was -coming home weekends. Although I never told Mother, I almost dreaded -having to go back when Sunday came.”</p> - -<p>“Then you mean you wouldn’t mind living on the Canadian prairie?” Ralph -asked, eagerly. “Are you quite sure that is what you really want?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, of course, I’ll want to visit the city once in a while. I don’t -want to forego the opportunities of city life altogether—the plays and -concerts and exhibitions, I mean. As far as my career is concerned, art -is only a hobby, I think, and I’d like my real career to be with you.”</p> - -<p>Ralph kissed her tenderly, and together the next day they told Mr. and -Mrs. Craig of their plans.</p> - -<p>Jean’s mother and father were very pleased at the news, but were rather -relieved to know that the two did not plan to be married until Jean was -older.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_194"></a>194</span> -“It will take me quite a long time to get used to the idea of being -parted from my oldest daughter,” remarked Mrs. Craig. “I’m glad you’re -being sensible about it and are going to wait. You’re not completely -grown up yet, Jeannie.”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_195"></a>195</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="xvii">17. Frank to the Rescue</h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">The</span> first week in August, Jean, who had acted as treasurer of the cabin -fund, announced that it had proved a solid financial success. Every -cabin was full and booked up to the middle of September. The girls from -the Art School had persuaded two more batches to come, and Billie’s boy -friends had turned their cabins into headquarters for the club they -belonged to at school.</p> - -<p>Jeff Saunders had used his car back and forth until Kit declared she -was dizzy. “Jeff tears down to Richmond and takes back a couple of -boys, lays off himself for a couple of weeks,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_196"></a>196</span> and then the car comes -back with three new ones, but I must say that they’re the best behaved -lot of boys I ever saw. You’d hardly know they were around at all, -except for the portable radios going at night. And they certainly have -kept us supplied with fish ever since they came. I think it’s done Dad -a world of good going away with them and kind of turning into a boy -again. Frank said the other day they were going out fishing all night -just as soon as the bass were running.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Gorham was setting the table for lunch and stopped at the last -words, one hand on her hip, and a look of anxiety in her eyes.</p> - -<p>“They ain’t calculatin’ to fish over there beyond the dam, are they? -That’s where the Gaskell boy come near drowning a year ago, when his -boat upset. It’s just full of sunken snags for half a mile up the river -above the island.”</p> - -<p>“I guess that’s where they’re going just the same. Billie Ellis -thinks that he knows every foot of space on that upper lake and river -just<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_197"></a>197</span> because he’s poled around on it for years with that old leaky, -flat-bottomed boat of his.”</p> - -<p>“Well, it’s all right in the daytime,” Mrs. Gorham replied, “but I -wouldn’t give two cents for their safety fishing for bass on a dark -night among those snags.”</p> - -<p>It happened that the very next day Kit decided that it was high time -to garner in the crabapple crop and start making jelly. The best trees -around Woodhow were up on the old Cynthy Allen place. While the house -had burned down the year before, still Cynthy’s fruit trees were famous -all over Elmhurst and Mr. Craig had bought up the crop in advance from -her.</p> - -<p>It was only about a mile and a half to Cynthy’s place from the -crossroads, but Jean had taken the car to Nantic and Kit had no -inclination to carry several pecks of crabapples in a sack along -a dusty road. Doris and her mother were over at Becky’s for the -afternoon, so that Kit was left to her own devices.</p> - -<p>She stood on the porch undecided, a couple<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_198"></a>198</span> of grain sacks thrown over -her shoulder, and suddenly the sparkle of the river through the trees -in the distance caught her eye. Certainly, that was the answer. She -had not had a chance the whole summer to go out in the boat and bask -in idleness. Always before, she had managed to row a little during the -summer so she knew Little River all the way from the Fort Ned Falls -at the crossroads to where it slipped away in a shallow stream to the -upper hills.</p> - -<p>There were several old rowboats lying bottom-side-up on the shore above -the falls. Kit selected the newest of the lot, a slender green boat -that Billie rarely used, although she had never tried rowing anything -but a flat-bottomed boat. It was the very first time also that she had -been out in a boat alone, but this fact never daunted Kit. She rowed -up the river with a firm level stroke, thoroughly enjoying herself and -the novelty of solitude. When she passed the island, Frank was down on -the little stretch of beach cleaning a mess of fish for supper. She -called to him across the water, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_199"></a>199</span> he held up a string of pickerel -invitingly. There had been a thunderstorm and a quick midsummer rain -the early part of the afternoon, and the campers had been quick to take -advantage of the fishing.</p> - -<p>“I’ll stop for them on my way back,” Kit called. “Just going up after -crabapples at the Allen place.” She had swerved the boat toward the -bank on the opposite side of the island, without looking behind her, -when suddenly Frank sprang to his feet and shouted across the water, -“To the left, Kit—hard to the left, do you hear!”</p> - -<p>Instead of obeying without question, Kit turned her head to see what he -was warning her against, and before she could stop herself the rowboat -was caught in an eddy that formed a miniature maelstrom at this point, -caused by a large sunken tree that fell nearly to midstream from the -shore. The frail rowboat overturned like a crumpled leaf. It seemed -to Frank as long as he lived he would never forget the sight of her -upturned face, as it slipped down<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_200"></a>200</span> into the dark, swirling water. -She did not cry out, or even seem to make an attempt to swim, it all -happened so suddenly. There was only the horrible, warm silence of -the drowsy, midsummer landscape, and the dancing, pitching rowboat, -twirling around and around in circles.</p> - -<p>It seemed an hour to him before he had plunged into the river, and swam -across to the spot where she had disappeared. The gripping horror was -that she hadn’t come up at all. Even before he reached the spot where -he had seen her go under, Frank dove and swam under water with his eyes -open. The river bottom was a mass of swaying vegetation and gnarled, -sunken roots of old trees. It seemed for the moment like outreaching -fingers clutching upward. He could see the black trunk of the tree, -but there was no sign of Kit until he was fairly upon her, and then he -found her, her dress and hair held fast on the bare branches.</p> - -<p>Billie had been in the cabin, getting the potatoes on for dinner, and -otherwise performing his duties as assistant camp cook. He<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_201"></a>201</span> had heard -Frank’s voice calling to someone, but had not taken the trouble to look -out until he failed to find a favorite pot on its accustomed hook. -Sticking his head out the door, he called down to the beach, “Say, -Frank, where’s the aluminum pot with the big handle?”</p> - -<p>He listened for an answer but none came, and after a second call he -started to investigate. The sudden complete disappearance of Frank -mystified him. Their favorite boat lay in its accustomed place on the -shore with oars beside it, and there were the fish beside the cleaning -board just as he had left them a moment ago.</p> - -<p>“Well, I’ll be darned,” muttered Billie when there came a cry across -the river—Frank calling for help.</p> - -<p>Billie could just see him swimming with one long overhand stroke, and -holding up something on his other shoulder. Not stopping to figure it -out, Billie pushed the boat off to the rescue.</p> - -<p>There was no sign of life, at least to Billie’s fear-struck eyes, in -the limp, dripping figure<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_202"></a>202</span> which Frank laid so tenderly in the bottom -of the boat.</p> - -<p>“Quit shaking like that, Bill,” he ordered in husky sternness. “You row -to the island as fast as you can.”</p> - -<p>On the way across he knelt beside her, applying first-aid methods, -while Billie rowed blindly, trying to choke back the dry sobs that -would rise in his throat. It did not seem as if it could possibly be -Kit lying there so white and still. When they reached the shore of the -island, Frank carried her in his arms to his own cot.</p> - -<p>“Hadn’t I better go for help?” Billie asked.</p> - -<p>“There isn’t time,” Frank answered shortly. “Warm those blankets, get -me the bottle of spirits of ammonia, and unlace her shoes.”</p> - -<p>All the time he was talking, he worked over Kit as swiftly and tenderly -as any nurse, but it seemed hours to Billie before there came at last -a half-sobbing sigh from her lips, as the agonized lungs caught their -first breath of air, and she opened her eyes.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_203"></a>203</span> -Neither Frank nor Billie spoke as she stared from one to the other -in slow surprise, taking in the interior of the cabin, and Frank’s -dripping clothing. Then she said, crazily, “Billie, did I lose the -crabapples, or haven’t I gotten them yet?”</p> - -<p>“So that’s what you were after,” Billie cried, “poking up the river by -yourself in that beastly little boat that turns over if you look at it, -and you can swim about as well as a cat. If it hadn’t been for Frank -here, you’d be absolutely drowned dead by now.”</p> - -<p>The color stole back into Kit’s face. Perhaps if he had sympathized -with her, she might have broken down, but as it was, she looked up into -Frank’s eyes almost appealingly.</p> - -<p>“I’m awfully sorry,” she began, but Frank stopped her with a laugh, as -he rolled her up tighter in another blanket.</p> - -<p>“I’m the doctor here now,” he said, “and you’ll have to mind. I guess -if I carry you, we can get you home somehow. The sooner you’re in bed, -the better.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_204"></a>204</span> -Mrs. Craig, Jean and Doris were just coming along the road when they -saw the startling procession coming up from the river bank, Frank -carrying the blanketed figure and Billie bringing up the rear.</p> - -<p>“Why, Mother,” Jean exclaimed, “someone’s been hurt.”</p> - -<p>“She’s all right,” called Frank, cheerily. “Just took a dip in the -river, Mrs. Craig. If you’ll go ahead, please, and get a bed ready, -I’ll bring her up.”</p> - -<p>Kit’s eyes were closed. He had told her to put her arms around his neck -so that he could carry her easier up the hill. Just as they got to the -porch steps he said, under his breath, “Are you OK, Kit?”</p> - -<p>She nodded her head slowly and opened her eyes. “Thank you for getting -me out,” she whispered, with a shyness absolutely new to her. “You -don’t know how I felt when I found myself caught down there, and -couldn’t get away. I thought that was just all.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_205"></a>205</span> -“Bring her upstairs, Frank,” called Jean. “Mother’s telephoning to Dr. -Gallup, but I suppose the danger’s all past now. Kit, you big dope, -what did you ever go in that boat alone for? The minute you’re left -alone, you’re always up to something. Just like the day when she had -you locked up in the corncrib, Frank.”</p> - -<p>Frank smiled, a curious reminiscent smile, as he laid his burden down -on the bed.</p> - -<p>Probably only Kit heard his answer, for Jean had gone after hot tea, -and Doris was getting the heating pad, but Kit heard and smiled as he -said, “God bless the corncrib.”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_206"></a>206</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="xviii">18. Jean’s Romance</h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Probably</span> the next three days were the longest Kit had ever spent in her -life. Under Dr. Gallup’s orders, she remained in bed to get over the -shock of her immersion.</p> - -<p>“When I don’t feel shocked a bit,” she argued, “I don’t see why I can’t -sit in a chair down on the porch.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, you just want to pose as an interesting invalid,” Jean laughed. -“Becky sent down a stack of books for you to read. Frank and Billie -call about six times a day to inquire after you, and Madame Ormond has -offered to come and sing for you.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_207"></a>207</span> -“Jean, look at me,” said Kit suddenly. “Will you tell me something, -honest and true?”</p> - -<p>“I think Mom’s calling.” Jean’s voice was rather hurried, as she -started for the door.</p> - -<p>“No, she isn’t any such thing. I want to know if you and Ralph are -engaged. I don’t see why you should try to keep it a secret when -everybody thinks you are anyway. And a wedding in the family would be -so exciting.”</p> - -<p>“Well, all right, yes,” she conceded. “Ralph’s giving me a ring before -he leaves. We were going to keep it a surprise until then. We’re not -getting married for a long time yet, so don’t start getting excited -now.” With that she turned and hurried downstairs.</p> - -<p>Kit stared out of the window, rather resentfully. She would be -seventeen in November, and Jean was past nineteen. Nineteen loomed -ahead of her as a year of discretion, a time when you naturally came -into your heritage of mature reason and common sense. The Dean, she -remembered, had once remarked that the human brain did not reach its -full development<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_208"></a>208</span> until eighteen, and how at the time she resented it, -feeling absolutely sure at sixteen there was nothing under the sun she -could not understand fully.</p> - -<p>But the tumble in the river and peril to her life had left her -completely stranded on the unknown shore of indecision. Evidently it -was just what Billie had called it, a fool stunt for her to try and row -up that river alone. Kit had always gone rather jauntily along doing -as she thought best with an unshakable confidence that nothing could -happen to her.</p> - -<p>Another thing, she had a very uncomfortable sensation, for her enemy -had heaped coals of fire on her head and returned good for evil in such -an overwhelming measure that she never could repay him. Twenty-four -hours had made an enormous difference in her outlook on life.</p> - -<p>The afternoon of the third day she was allowed to sit down on the -porch. Doris and Jean hovered over her quite as if she was made of -glass, and nearly all the cabin colonists<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_209"></a>209</span> visited her in relays. -Billie came up last of all, but Frank did not appear.</p> - -<p>“He’s gone off up in the hills,” Billie told her, “chasing some kind of -a new moth. He said to tell you he would be back to see you later this -afternoon. You’d be awfully dead by now, Kit, if he hadn’t happened to -see you go down, because I was in the cabin and didn’t know anything -about it. But it was just like him to dash after you and pull you out.”</p> - -<p>Kit leaned her chin reflectively on her hand. “Heroes are such -uncomfortable people in everyday life, Bill,” she said. “Everybody, -even Dad and Mom, keep telling me how everlastingly grateful I must be -to him for saving my life. I don’t see what I can do except thank him, -and I’ve done that.”</p> - -<p>“Treat him decently,” Billie suggested, “even if you don’t like him. -Hide it.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I like him well enough,” Kit answered, “only he’s never seemed -like Buzzy, and Ralph, and you. I guess I’ve always resented everyone<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_210"></a>210</span> -thinking he was so wonderful. It was as though he had had a sort of -sweet revenge on me for taking him for a berry thief.”</p> - -<p>True to his word, Frank came down to see Kit just before dinner with -some startling news.</p> - -<p>“I’ll be leaving for Europe in another month, Kit. I just received a -letter granting me a fellowship to go over there to examine European -species of insects. If you’ll be real good, Kit, and never call me a -berry thief again, I’ll write to you.”</p> - -<p>He was only joking, but there was no answering glint of humor in Kit’s -eyes as she said, “I’ll never, never even think of you as a berry thief -again, Frank. I didn’t know you were planning to go away off over -there, and I’m willing now to say I am sorry for the first day, and -Tommy locking you up, and Mr. Hicks coming to arrest you.”</p> - -<p>“I do believe you’re trying to forgive me, Kit,” Frank said teasingly. -“Is this a truce, or a lasting peace? You see, I want to know for<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_211"></a>211</span> -sure, because I haven’t any sisters, or mother, or anyone who cares a -rap whether I go or stay, and you’re the first person I’ve even told.”</p> - -<p>“It’s peace,” Kit answered, firmly.</p> - -<p>Frank was very busy pulling a small box out of his pocket. In it was a -silver bracelet on which was engraved a tree. “Keep this so you won’t -forget me. It’s an Indian bracelet I brought from New Mexico, and the -tree is alive and growing. It isn’t a sunken snag.”</p> - -<p>Kit was obviously very pleased and tried to thank him for it but she -stopped as Ralph and Jean came slowly up the drive together.</p> - -<p>Ralph came up the porch steps and sat down beside her. “Jean told me -you guessed our surprise. How do you like your new brother, Kit?”</p> - -<p>“I approve,” answered Kit, solemnly. “You know I’ve always liked you, -Ralph. Are you going to let her keep on painting?”</p> - -<p>“She can do anything she likes,” Ralph promised. “And if she can find -any more beautiful scenery than we have in Saskatchewan<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_212"></a>212</span> and through -Northwest Canada, she’ll have to show it to me.”</p> - -<p>Jean smiled happily but said nothing. She was looking out at the hills -but what she really saw was a ranch in Saskatoon.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="endpaper"> - <img src="images/endpaper.jpg" width="800" height="573" alt="Endpaper" /> -</div> - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="tn"> -<p class="center">Transcriber’s Note:</p> - -<p class="noi">Punctuation has been standardised.</p> - -<ul> -<li>Falcon Books preliminary page<br /> -Ralph MacRae came along <i>changed to</i> -Ralph <a href="#McRae">McRae</a> came along</li> - -<li>In the Contents<br /> -The Suprise <i>changed to</i><br /> -The <a href="#Surprise">Surprise</a></li> - - -<li>Page 72<br /> -wasn’t anything in itat <i>changed to</i><br /> -wasn’t anything in <a href="#it">it at</a></li> - -<li>Page 117<br /> -all abou tthat <i>changed to</i><br /> -all <a href="#about">about that</a></li> -</ul> -</div></div> - -<hr class="divider2 x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JEAN CRAIG FINDS ROMANCE ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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