HOW ELDORADO ANN WAS SCARED.
THE beginning of summer found "the flock" making other plans than their
usual ones; for Mrs. Lewis begged to retain the house in Roseville
another year. And since Archie could not be with them, it was decided
that they should all remain in or near New York till the very warm
weather, and then take two months at the sea-shore. This arrangement
pleased Mr. Smith mightily, and Archie, also; for Lyndehurst was easily
reached, and thither they all repaired very often until July came in
and drove them to a cooler place.
"We shall have to do something about Eldorado Ann," announced
Miss Nelson, one morning. "Mrs. Lewis writes that the child is so
disappointed at our failure to return that she is miserable, and
cannot be made to take an interest in her work, so that she is utterly
useless. What can we do?"
"She is your special 'protégée,' Theo," said Val; "lend auntie your
wits."
"I should not like to bring her here," replied Theo; "it is no place
for her; and we do not need her, living as we do. Help me out, Val."
Val looked thoughtfully out of the window; then she exclaimed, "I'll
ask the Colonel; perhaps Mrs. Barton can find her of use!"
"The Colonel" was always Val's refuge when all else failed, and the old
man repaid the confidence placed in him by always being equal to the
emergency, and by professing an interest in matters heretofore entirely
foreign to his taste. So, as often before, he now rose to the occasion
and promised to place Eldorado Ann under Mrs. Barton's wing. Tommy
Reed, Eldorado Ann's brother, was still in Mr. Smith's employ, and,
from being an utterly wild, uncontrolled urchin, was developing energy
and ability under the training of old David, the gardener.
"We will keep Eldorado Ann here for a few days and show her the city,"
said Theo. "We can take her up to Lyndehurst next Saturday when we go."
"Almost all the winter people have left the house," observed Val, one
morning. "There are some new people in the rooms below. I saw the
trunks going in as I came up-stairs yesterday."
"Doesn't it seem funny not to know your next-door neighbor?" said Theo.
"In Roseville we know every one,—from the oldest inhabitant down to the
newest baby. I think I like home best, auntie."
"Can't you see Eldorado Ann's round-eyed astonishment?" remarked Val.
"When will she come?"
"To-day, probably," replied Miss Nelson. "Mrs. Lewis wrote that an
opportunity would occur this week for sending her in old Mr. Collins's
care, in that case she may come at any time. Mr. Collins will deliver
her safely here. So we need not meet her; in fact, we could not very
well, unless they sent a despatch, for it is a little uncertain when
they will leave."
"And we are all going out to-day," said Theo.
"Never mind," returned Miss Nelson. "Mrs. Joy can let her into our
rooms, and she will be quite safe till we return."
That afternoon Eldorado Ann did arrive, and was ushered into the studio
to await the return of some of the family. The little girl, who was
about fourteen and quite small for her age, had never before been out
of her native village. The bustle and excitement of a big city had
already filled her with awe and amazement, so she was ready for all
sorts of surprises.
As the door of the studio closed behind her, she looked around, and,
seeing a figure seated at a little distance, she went timidly towards
it. Dropping a courtesy, she said "Howdy, ma'am?" but the figure did
not stir.
Eldorado Ann approached nearer. "Maybe she's deef," she said to
herself, and, raising her voice, she again said, "Howdy, ma'am?"
No response. Eldorado Ann stepped a little to one side to meet the
bland smile and fixed eyes of a lay figure which Nannie had borrowed
from an artist friend.
The little girl stood still for a moment, and then went off a step or
two. "Ef she ain't deef, she's blind with them starey eyes," she said.
"Lady, ma'am, where is Miss Theo?"
No answer reaching her, the little girl went up closer and laid a
finger on the cheek turned towards her. Then with a leap, she sprang
away and retreated to the farthest corner of the room, her astonished
eyes gazing at the serenely smiling face still turned immovably in her
direction.
"That beats me. I believe it's only a figgur," said Eldorado Ann,
and she sat down as far away as possible from the object of her
astonishment, not yet being quite sure whether it was alive or not.
At that moment, from the room below, came terrifying sounds, short
gasps of "Oh! Oh! Oh!" then long-drawn groans, next a voice rapidly
speaking, rising higher and higher till it reached a wail of agony. A
moment's pause,—then a shriek.
Eldorado Ann, with dilated eyes, faced the lay figure with its
unalterable regard fixed upon her.
Again from below came the agonized voice, and then Eldorado Ann could
stand it no longer. Opening the door, she rushed precipitately out into
the hall and down the stairs, crying, "Help! Help! Somebody's being
murdered!"
Fortunately, Theo, just coming up, met the excited child.
"Why, Eldorado Ann!" she exclaimed. "What is the matter?"
With her dear Miss Theo at hand, Eldorado Ann felt safe; but she burst
into tears.
"Oh, Miss Theo," she cried, "take me away. This is an awful place.
There's crazy people here, or people getting murdered. And that lady
up-stairs. I don't know whether she's dead or not. I've looked at her
so steady, and oncet she looked like she winked."
[Illustration: Then, with a leap, she sprang away.]
For a moment, Theo was puzzled. But as she entered the room, she caught
sight of the lay figure, and partly understood the cause of the little
maid's excitement. Then, as she recognized the sounds coming from the
room below, she burst out laughing.
"I don't wonder you were scared, you poor child," she said. "I was
mystified myself at first. That is only some one practising elocution."
"What's that?" asked Eldorado Ann, now recovering from her fright.
"Why, some one learning to 'speak a piece,'" explained Theo. "It is
all right. You thought you had come to a dreadful place, didn't you,
Eldorado Ann? Never mind: it is nothing at all. Come here and see this
lady who has been staring at you." And Theo led the little girl up to
the lay figure, explaining its use, and showing Nannie's study of the
drapery worn by the "staring lady." "We call her ''Liza Jane,'" said
Theo. "She is very amiable; so don't be afraid any more."
Eldorado Ann was much amused. And when, one day, Theo pointed out
to her the gentle, meek-looking girl who had given such terrifying
shrieks, she was no longer alarmed at anything that went on in that
house, and enjoyed her stay hugely, while her remarks gave the girls
much amusement, they were so naïve and spontaneous.
"This is a great experience for Eldorado Ann," said Archie. "I wonder
what she will think of Tommy; he has grown so in the past four years."
Tommy proved himself to be an object of great admiration to Eldorado
Ann, who viewed him with intense pride.
"He's mos' a gentleman, ain't he, Miss Theo?" she said. "An' he says
some day me an' him'll keep house together."
That a member of her own family showed any real signs of respectability
gave the little maid more self-respect than she had ever known; and
that Tommy, the scapegrace, should give promise of amounting to
something delighted her beyond measure.
"Ma wouldn't know him, an' pop 'ud be ashamed of hisself, settin' there
doin' nothin'," she declared to Theo.
Theo had her own private views on the subject, and doubted if anything
could make "pop" ashamed of himself; since almost everything that could
have appealed to his lazy nature had come his way. As for poor Mrs.
Reed, though her intentions were good, her fulfilment of them failed
miserably, as the down-at-heel appearance of their dwelling indicated.
"I think we have the pick of the brood," said Archie, looking at Tommy
and Eldorado Ann happily talking together. "There comes a carriage,
Theo. Callers, do you suppose?"
"It is some of the Parkhursts," said Val, looking over his shoulder.
"Fanny and Jamie, and—no, that is all. I thought I saw Felix."
"The flock" had arrived at Lyndehurst on Friday evening, and this was
Saturday. The Parkhurst residence was not far away; it having been the
scene of Theo's first independent effort was more or less interesting
to them all, though the family was not a specially attractive one to
"the flock."
Since Felix had discovered that neither Val nor Theo were disposed to
regard him with distinct favor, he had turned his attention in other
directions, and the girls had seen little of him in the past few months.
"I shall be very glad to see Jamie," said Theo, as she watched the
carriage come up the drive; "and Fan, too, for that matter: naughty,
elfish little creature though she was. I think no one quite understood
her, and I believe she will yet develop into a fine woman.
"Why, bless you, Jamie, how you have grown," was her greeting to the
curly-headed little fellow who ran up the steps to meet her; "and Fan,
too," and she held out her hand to the tall, awkward girl. "I am so
glad to see you both."
"We came near not coming," announced Fan, in her old gruff way. "Felix
wanted the horses; he's a nasty, selfish wretch."
"Why, Fan!" and Theo felt herself blushing, just why she could not have
told. "Come, suppose we sit here," she suggested; "it is so lovely
out-of-doors these June days," and she drew the children to her side.
Jamie looked up fondly, and Fan allowed herself a caress.
"I told Felix I'd pay him back," Fan went on. "I told him, if he didn't
let us come with the horses, that I'd walk over here and tell you all
about him."
"Don't talk so," remonstrated Theo. "Since you did come with the
horses, it isn't fair; and besides, when he is not here to defend
himself, it is not nice of you."
"Oh, Miss Nelson," said Fan, "I believe I could be a good girl if I had
you with me. Won't you come back?"
Theo shook her head. "I'm afraid you mustn't expect it," she replied.
"Now, tell me all about everybody."
And the children launched forth into an account of their usual
proceedings. Fan's pranks were evidently as pronounced as ever, and her
wilfulness as decided a trait.
"I'm Miss Parkhurst, now that Leonore is married. You haven't seen
Leonore, have you, Miss Nelson, since she became Mrs. Tucker? I don't
see how she could marry such a sap-head. I don't like men, anyhow," Fan
declared. "Albert Tucker is a fool, and Felix is a conceited, selfish
pig. Eugene is going to be a dunderheaded yard-stick; he doesn't care
for anything but dollars and cents. Jamie is the only one I care for.
Pinkey is a stuck-up little minx, and—"
"Fan! Fan!" Theo kept interrupting, trying in vain to stop the tirade,
and finally she placed her hand gently over Fan's lips. "I cannot allow
myself to listen to you," she said.
"Oh, do let me," begged Fan, possessing herself of the hand. "I am kept
so bottled up. I have to let out my feelings sometimes, and 'you' never
thought I was wicked to want to run and romp, and 'you' never called
fairy tales silly stuff."
Theo laid her hand softly on Fan's thick hair, for Fan had thrown aside
her hat and was sitting on a lower step, leaning her head against
Theo's knee.
"Shall I tell you a story?" asked Theo.
"Oh, please, just as you used to do: just a real, little old-fashioned
fairy tale, the kind I used to love."
And Theo began,—
"Once there was a little princess who lived in a big castle. She was
half blind and half dumb and half deaf, and had a hump on her back that
made it very hard for her to get along; so she was very unhappy, and
there seemed to be no way for her to be relieved from all this trouble.
But one day there came a poor little fairy to her, not a very wise nor
a powerful fairy, but just a plain little creature whom we will call
Apple-Blossom."
Why did there come a little catch in Theo's voice as she remembered
a Sabbath-day, years before, when she had stood looking up into the
apple-trees, drifting their blossoms down upon her?
"Go on," came Jamie's voice, as Theo paused.
"Well," continued Theo, "the little apple-tree fairy said to the
princess, 'You need not be always half blind and half deaf and half
dumb, and you may one day be rid of that hump you wear, for there will
come a little prince to help you; he is very near you now, only you do
not see him nor hear him.'
"Then the fairy flew away and whispered to the little prince, who was
not far off, 'Go and stand at the right side of the Princess Fancy,
and show her how beautiful the world is. Teach her to look up instead
of down, show her the sky and the trees and the flowers instead of the
worms and the mud and the thorns, then her right eye will open, and she
will be able to see so much that has been invisible to her. Then take
this little book, and sing these songs into her right ear, and, after
a while, instead of the discords she now imagines she hears, she will
hear sweet sounds. Then kiss her softly on the right side of her mouth,
and she will speak as she ought, not in stammering, broken words, but
clearly, as a free creature. Then, when you have done all this, walk
before her, so courageously, in such a straight, upright way, that she
will gain strength from seeing you. Then put your shoulder under the
hump she wears, and, after a while, it will fall off.'"
Theo stopped. Jamie was regarding her wistfully, and Fan was knitting
her brows in an earnest endeavor to puzzle out the story.
"Do you understand, little prince?" whispered Theo, leaning down to the
child at her side.
Jamie's arms clasped her neck, and he whispered back, "Am I the little
prince? Am I, Miss Theo?"
"You can be," she returned, very softly; "and I will give you the
little book to read to the princess."
"Fairy Apple-Blossom? I am beginning to understand," said Fan; "but he
is a very little prince," she continued, whimsically, regarding her
small brother.
"He has a big heart," answered Theo, "and he has found out many, many
beautiful secrets. I discovered that long ago. I am sure he can help
you to see what a fair world it is, and you can love each other and
live for each other, so you will always be able to find sympathy and
affection. Don't pity yourself too much Fan; you have so much to live
for, and if you will try to do everything you can for Jamie, and if
Jamie will try to do everything he can for you, I am sure you can be
very happy in each other."
"There is one thing, Miss Fairy Apple-Blossom," said Fan; "one thing
that I wish you would do. I wish you would see mamma, and tell her that
it doesn't hurt me to play boys' plays, and to run and romp. I shall
go raving crazy if I have to sit still the rest of my life. I will try
very hard to be a lady in company; but, Miss Theo, it won't hurt me to
play ball, and to skate, and to go about like the boys, will it?"
"I think it is just the thing for you. I will try to help you in
that way, if you will try to help your mother by not being rude and
boisterous in the house. I think I can, perhaps, make her understand."
"I'll promise, I will, indeed, Miss Theo; and if she will only let
Jamie and me be 'pards,' instead of insisting upon Jamie and Eugene
always playing together, I know I could be better. I don't care if
Jamie is so little and I am so big; we can go off by ourselves, and I
don't care who makes fun of it."
"And Jamie?" said Theo, smiling down at him.
"When Fan doesn't tease me, I love to be with her," he answered.
"Eugene would rather play with Bobby Cole anyhow, and they never want
me."
So Theo agreed to drive over and see Mrs. Parkhurst, and the result was
that Fan and Jamie became "pards," and from that time Fan's improvement
dated.
[Illustration]