In a Strange Place
Rumple opened his eyes and stared about him in amazement. He was lying
in a room which had big pink vases on the mantelpiece, a blue
firescreen, and a green paper on the walls. There was a centre table,
too, which was piled with books and strewn with photographs. There was
one--the portrait of a man--which had a silver-gilt frame, and stood in
the place of honour, and Rumple gazed at it in amazement, wondering
where he had seen it before.
"Why, I do believe it is Mr. Melrose!" he cried in a shrill voice.
"Better, are you, dear?" asked a voice at his side, and he twisted his
head, to see a woman, not yet middle-aged, with a kindly face which
matched her voice.
"Have I been bad?" he asked in a wondering tone, and then, suddenly
remembering, he called out anxiously: "Why, where are the others?"
"Who are the others, dear? You were lying alone on the road when we
found you; and when we first picked you up we thought that you were
dead," said the woman.
"Just my luck!" cried Rumple, with a groan. "I sat at the back of the
wagon--on the rack behind, you know--so that I might have some quiet,
because I was turning out a little poem. Then I remember that I got
sleepy, and I suppose that I fell off; only I wonder that it did not
wake me up."
"We think that you must have stunned yourself with the fall, and we
should have sent for a doctor, only he lives fifteen miles away, and we
had no horse that could do the journey just then, and we had to wait for
a few hours to see if you would be better," said the woman; and then she
asked again: "But who were you with, dear, and how was it they went on
and left you lying all alone in the road, you poor child?"
"Why, that was because they did not know that I had fallen off, of
course," said Rumple hastily, for there was so much reproach for the
rest of the family in her tone that he was instantly on the defensive on
their behalf.
"Then I expect that your mother will be in a fine state of mind about
you," said his hostess, who was fussing round him much after the fashion
in which a motherly hen would fuss round a brood of chickens.
Rumple hastily explained then that he had no mother, and detailed the
journeyings of his family, while the good woman stood with her hands
uplifted in horrified amazement to think that a lot of irresponsible
children should be left to wander about the world in such an unprotected
fashion.
"We are used to looking after ourselves, and Nealie is nearly grown up.
She does not have her hair hanging down her back now, because it makes
her look so much more responsible, now that she wears it in a bunch on
the top of her head," explained Rumple.
"And you say that you have one of Peek & Wallis's wagons? Why, they are
most dreadful particular sort of people, and they always want money down
and no end of security besides; no blame to them either, seeing how bad
some people are about paying their just debts," said the woman, with so
much surprise in her tone that Rumple felt it necessary to explain a
little further.
"Oh, Mr. Melrose cabled from Cape Town to Mr. Wallis, saying that he
would be security for the paying of the wagon hire. Mr. Melrose is a
gentleman whom we met on board ship, a very nice person indeed; but it
seemed so funny to see his photograph here," and Rumple waved a languid
hand towards the portrait in the silver frame. His head was aching
furiously, and he felt very weak and shaken from the fall; but he had
to make some sort of explanation about himself, and it seemed almost
like a certificate of respectability to be able to claim acquaintance
with a person whose portrait had the place of honour in the house.
"So you know Cousin Tom, do you? I know he has been to Europe lately,
although we have not heard from him since he got back. But now that I
know where you have come from I must send off to the road and have a
notice stuck up, so that your sister may know where to find you;" and
the good woman was bustling out of the room, when Rumple stretched out
an imploring hand to stop her.
"If you please, can't I go with the somebody, and then Nealie will not
have to worry about me, and it will save such a lot of bother?" he said,
with so much entreaty that the woman hesitated; but seeing how pale and
shaken he looked she decided that his family would have to take a little
trouble on his behalf, and said so.
"You will have to lie still for a few hours, for you are more shaken
than you realize; but we will stick a notice up on the side of the road,
to let your people know where to find you, and then they can camp here
for the night, so as to be ready to start on again first thing to-morrow
morning," she said, and then hurried away to post a messenger off to the
main road, which was two or three miles away, while Rumple lay staring
about at his new surroundings, The ceiling and walls of the room were of
canvas, and the furniture was good of its kind, but dreadfully crowded.
There was a piano, too, but the dust lay so thickly on it that he
decided that the family were not very musical, or else that they were
too busy with other things to have much time for relaxation. There was a
deep veranda in front of the window and a lot of flowers planted in pots
and tins. Beyond the veranda he had glimpses of a gorgeous garden, with
sweetpeas, marguerites, queer-looking cactus plants, blazing-red
geraniums, and a coral tree in full bloom.
"I wonder if Father will have a garden like this at Hammerville?" he
muttered to himself, with a keen pleasure in all the riot of blossom
that was to be seen from his sofa, and then he lay quite still trying to
make some verses about the garden, and at the same time wondering lazily
what the others were doing, until he fell asleep and did not wake until
milking time. He felt so much better then, and he was so furiously
hungry, that he decided to go on a voyage of discovery to see for
himself what the outside of his haven of refuge was like.
The yard outside was a scene of pretty lively activity. The cows were
just being fastened for milking, that is to say they were tied by the
head, each one to her stall, and then the hind leg was strapped so that
there could be no danger of the animal kicking the pail over.
There were several people moving about, and just at first Rumple did not
see his hostess; but presently he heard a shrill voice cry out: "Mother,
there is the little boy out and running about!"
Rumple felt considerably ruffled by this remark, which was not strictly
true, for he was not really a little boy now, at least not compared with
Don and Billykins, and he certainly could not be accused of running
about when he was merely leaning against the garden fence and looking
into the cowyard.
Then the elderly woman detached herself from a group of cows and came
bustling up to the fence, exclaiming at sight of him: "Well, well, you
look a sight better than before you went to sleep. How are you feeling
now, dear?"
"I am dreadfully hungry," admitted Rumple, looking up into her kindly
face with a smile, and thinking how much better she would look if she
did her hair like Nealie, instead of dragging it into a knot at the back
of her head; but really her face was so kind that her hair did not
matter very much either way.
"Hungry are you? That is right. Here, come into the kitchen with me and
have something to eat straight away, for we shan't have supper until the
milking is done and the creatures seen to for the night. It will take
another hour or more, and you have had no dinner."
Rumple followed his hostess into the kitchen, which was canvas-walled
like the best parlour, but many sizes larger and so much more
comfortable that Rumple decided it looked really beautiful, while the
smell of new-baked bread and cakes made a fragrance very delightful to a
hungry boy.
There was a wood fire smouldering on a great open fireplace, and raking
the embers open the good woman put a toasting fork into Rumple's hands
and bade him toast scones for himself. He was invited to put the butter
on for himself also, and there was milk to drink in a big mug close
beside him. So the next half-hour passed pleasantly enough.
But when his hunger was satisfied Rumple began to worry about the others
and started for the cowyard once more in order to see if any news of the
wagon had arrived. Truth to tell, he was feeling very guilty because of
all the trouble he was giving, for he knew that Rupert and Nealie would
be very worried and anxious concerning him, and the journey would be
delayed also.
He had discovered that the woman who had found him lying in the road and
had brought him home was a Mrs. Warner, that her husband was away from
home that day on business, and that all the people moving about the
cowyard were the sons and daughters of the house, with the exception of
an old black fellow who had only one eye.
The milking was over and the cows had all been turned into the home
paddock for the night, but now a strange humming noise made itself heard
on the quiet air.
"Why, what is that?" asked Rumple as one of the young Warners passed
him, bowed under the weight of two heavy pails of sour milk for the
poultry.
"That is the separator. Do you want to see it at work?" asked the boy,
with a friendly grin. He was a few years older than Rumple and scorched
to a berry-brown by the sun.
"What is a separator?" demanded Rumple, whose knowledge of farming was
of a rather antiquated description, Beechleigh being about twenty years
behind the times.
"It is the thing that parts the cream from the milk. Go into the dairy
and have a look at it," said the youth, nodding his head in the
direction of a long, low shed that had been built into the side of the
hill, and which was so covered with creepers that it looked almost like
a part of the bank.
Away went Rumple, nothing loath. Something fresh always appealed to him,
and in this new land fresh things were meeting him at every turn.
Fascinated, he stood watching the machine, the cream pouring from one
spout and the milk from the other, while a rosy-faced Miss Warner turned
the handle, and another Miss Warner, with pale cheeks and quite a
stylish air, bustled about the dairy putting things straight for the
night.
"If you please, have you seen or heard anything of our wagon?" asked
Rumple, when at length the separating was done for the night and both
girls were busy clearing up.
"No, we haven't; but Bella and a friend are going to walk out to the
road after work to see if they can find out anything for you," said the
stylish sister, and Bella, the red-cheeked one, gurgled and choked with
amazing enjoyment, and said:
"My friend indeed! La, Amy, how neatly you always put things!"
They all went in to supper after that, but Rumple, who had eaten so many
scones and so much butter that he would not be hungry for a long time to
come, sat on the step of the veranda and stared out at the darkening
night, feeling a little homesick for the others.
Then away in the distance he heard the slow rumble of wagon wheels, and
a moment later a clear voice rang out on the still air:
"Steady, Rocky, steady, old fellow, or you will upset the whole show
into the ditch!"
"It is Nealie!" yelled Rumple in an ecstasy of joy. "Mrs. Warner, our
wagon is coming, for I can hear my sister Nealie calling to the horse."
"Now that is downright good news. Come, bustle about, girls, and get
some more supper ready, for the poor things will be nearly starved by
this time, I should think!" cried the hospitable mistress of the farm.