HER MOTHER'S HOME
At Albany, when Miss Hilliard and Janet descended from the train which
brought them from New York they started into the station but were met
at once by an obsequious colored man in livery, who inquired if they
were not the Van Meter guests and took their light bags. Inside, a
fine-looking woman, in a roomy coat of gray and a close hat, seemed to
have been watching for them, and came forward to meet them. "I am Mrs.
Holt, Miss Hilliard. This is our cousin Janet, I suppose. I am glad to
see you both. Allow me to present Mr. Andrew Van Meter, Miss
Hilliard,--Cousin Janet. Now we are hoping that you will come to the
farm with us, Miss Hilliard. My cousin Pieter begs pardon for not
having urged it, but until your last note came, he did not feel like
asking you to leave your girls."
"He would scarcely think that I could bring Janet myself, I know; but I
occasionally run away for a few days. However, I have business in New
York, and it is impossible for me to accept your kind invitation. It is
just as well for you to have Janet to yourselves, also. Perhaps Mr. Van
Meter and I may meet some time to talk over matters relating to this
little girl. She is anticipating this visit with much pleasure." Miss
Hilliard emphasized "visit" a little.
All this was said before and after shaking hands with Mr. Andrew Van
Meter and while he was exchanging a few words with Janet. Janet found
him interesting. She had noticed that he rose with some difficulty from
a seat near Mrs. Holt, when they first approached, and leaned a little
upon a light cane in his left hand, while he extended his right. He was
tall, thin, with a pale face and large, dark eyes. His nose was a
little long for beauty, but he had a pleasant mouth, which smiled a
little as he told Janet that he was her "Cousin Andy" and her Uncle
Pieter's son.
"I am so glad to have some family," she informed him. "Did you ever see
my mother?" she continued.
"Yes. You look like her."
But it was time to bid Miss Hilliard goodbye. She said that she had an
errand in Albany, but would take the next train back to New York. Janet
wondered what that errand was, but would not, of course, ask Miss
Hilliard. Then, too, she was anxious to reach the end of her journey,
and that anticipation, with the pleasant impression made by Mrs. Holt
and her cousin, helped very much to keep Janet from any regrets at
saying another goodbye. "Write to me very soon, Janet," said Miss
Hilliard, and Janet promised.
The car to which Janet was shown was a good one, but not new. It also
bore evidences of April weather, though the day was a bright one.
"There were some mud-holes, Janet, as you can see," said Mrs. Holt. "We
could have directed you to come farther by train, somewhat nearer the
Van Meter place, you know. But it seemed troublesome for Miss Hilliard
to arrange the change, and we wanted you to see the country. A motor
trip is much better for that. Our light truck is getting your baggage."
The three of them stepped within the car and waited for the colored
chauffeur, who was attending to the matter of Janet's trunk and a
suit-case with the driver of the light truck referred to. This waited
not far away.
"Now you are wondering, I know, who I am and how we are all related,"
said Mrs. Holt. "I could not tell everything in that little note that I
dashed off to put in the box. It is better to have your uncle Pieter
explain, perhaps,--"
"If he will," inserted Mr. Andrew Van Meter.
"Yes, if he will," laughed Mrs. Holt. "You will not find your uncle
very communicative, Janet, but he is very glad to have you here and it
is due to him that you are 'discovered.' As I was about to say, I am a
distant cousin and I am supposed to be the housekeeper at the place.
Really, old P'lina runs the house and I officiate at the show part of
it, though we have very little company just now. Uncle Pieter is
expecting me to coach you a little in your studies, and what I don't
know Andrew here can tell you."
"Oh, I'm glad that it is to be the family that teaches me," said Janet
with content. These were lovely people. But she did wonder what was the
matter with Cousin Andy. Oh, of course,--he would have been in the war!
He must have been injured,--poor Cousin Andy! She would not take any
notice, of course. Some one would tell her.
Little more was said about personal affairs. Mrs. Holt was kept busy
pointing out interesting spots, hills, places along the roads which
they took. It was a much longer ride than Janet had supposed. The New
York country was beautiful, she thought. She had been among the
Pennsylvania hills and mountains, but never in New York except in the
great city on her way to the seashore. Cousin Andy said little. There
was a delicious little lunch which they ate on the way, and in reply to
questions from Mrs. Holt--older people could ask questions, but never
girls,--Janet chatted about her life at the school, her dearest friends
and the funny farewell that she had had at the last. She did not,
however, repeat the "crazy" verse sung about "Uncle Pieter."
Janet did not forget to speak with enthusiasm of the box and its
contents. "I had never had one sent me in my life. Whoever baked that
cake certainly can cook! The girls thought it just wonderful."
Mrs. Holt laughed. "That was old P'lina herself, I think. You will find
her a bit difficult, perhaps, Janet, but you must remember that her
'bark' is considerably worse than her 'bite,' as they say."
What a funny name that was, P'lina. Janet wondered how they spelled it.
Was it a Dutch name, too?
In silence they drove into the drive of the Van Meter place. A grove of
trees in early spring beginnings of foliage had impeded the view of it
until they were almost at the entrance. Janet sat forward eagerly to
look.
It was not different from much of the country which she had already
seen, with its sweep of undulating valley and background of hills. It
was really a farm, then; but the land immediately surrounding the house
was laid out formally for beauty. The house stood behind some great oak
and elm trees upon an elevation which was terraced. Behind it were
hills. Janet wondered if the Catskill mountains could be seen from the
house. She had forgotten those, which she had seen from the train. She
was not far from Rip Van Winkle country anyhow.
"This is all different from when your mother was here," Cousin Andy
volunteered. "Father has made all this improvement in and about the
house, and the whole front of it is new. The old Dutch house still
stands, though."
"Yes," said Mrs. Holt, "and if you like, you may have the room that was
your mother's."
"Oh, I should like that above all things!"
"I wouldn't give her that one, Diana," said Andrew. "It may not turn
out as well as she thinks."
"We shall see," returned Mrs. Holt, and Janet wondered why Cousin Andy
had said that.
"Has the 'old Dutch house' stood since 'way back in 'Knickerbocker'
times?" asked Janet, looking curiously at the more modern front, made
in "Dutch Colonial" style, with its porch and two high-backed benches
one on each side. The house, in front of which the car now stopped, was
of red brick, its woodwork, in entrance and windows, painted white.
Janet had a slight feeling of disappointment to know that the place had
been so modernized, but common sense told her that it would be in all
probability much more comfortable. How big it was!
Andrew Van Meter answered Janet's question, as he slowly left the car
and stood leaning on his cane and stretching one hand to assist Mrs.
Holt and Janet. "The original house was burned by the Indians," he
said. "All this land was given by grant from the English government,
back in about sixteen hundred and seventy, to one of our ancestors, not
a Van Meter, however, if I remember correctly. It will please Father if
you care to ask him all about it. He will show you what we have on the
early history of New York and of our particular family."
"I will ask him," said Janet, whose study of American history was
recent.
Next, there she was inside of the big room, where a fire burned
brightly and a tall, stooped man rose from an armchair to meet her. It
was Uncle Pieter. Why, he must have been ever so much older than her
mother! His hair was quite white, though his face did not look so old.
Mr. Van Meter senior, took Janet's hand and shook it limply a little.
"I am glad that you are here," he said. "I expect it to be your home
from now on. While your mother had her share of the estate, her
daughter has some rights in the home of her ancestors."
Janet's uncle was looking at her rather tensely, while he spoke in a
deliberate way, as if he had thought beforehand what he intended to
say. "You look like your mother," he added, dropping her hand. "What
room has been made ready for her, Diana?"
"She may have either a room in the new part of the house, or her
mother's room in the old part," returned Mrs. Holt.
"I should prefer my mother's room," timidly Janet offered.
"Show her both of them," said Pieter Van Meter. "You will be more
comfortable in this part, I should say."
With this comment, Uncle Pieter resumed his seat, picking up the paper
which he had been reading, and apparently dismissing the matter, Janet
as well. But Mrs. Holt beckoned Janet to follow her.
Janet Eldon's feelings were indescribable, as Diana Holt conducted her
over the house of her forefathers. She kept thinking, "This place is
where my mother lived when she was a girl like me!"
The new part was large and beautiful, the whole arrangement a little
unusual. In order to preserve the front and appearance of the old
house, the new building was attached to it in such a way that it faced
a sort of court, which it helped to form.
Widely the new "Dutch Colonial" stretched across, facing the main road,
but at a great distance from it. There were large rooms here, parlors,
library and hall downstairs, and suites of smaller rooms upstairs for
Mr. Van Meter and his son.
At the left, an extension, which contained a large dining-room and
kitchen downstairs, and bedrooms upstairs, ran back for some distance,
to connect at its right by corridors only with the old house, which
thus formed the third side of the court and in width equalled the new
front; for even in its time the old Van Meter home had been more or
less imposing, the connecting corridors now supplying the difference in
extent. By this arrangement the old house received almost as much light
in all its rooms as of yore. Beautiful trees and a pergola with a
concrete floor, rustic seats and a swing were at the right of the court
and the house walls, which made the court more or less retired. Wings
that had been built upon the old house with the growth of the family
had been removed and stood as small buildings for stores, some distance
back from the now fairly symmetrical home.
"John says that the only reason your uncle Pieter did not take down the
old house was that he did not want to disturb the 'ha'nts,'" said Mrs.
Holt, with a slight laugh of amusement. "But that can not be true, for
Pieter took great pains to fix the old kitchen in the most accurate
representation of an old colonial kitchen, and he has left some old
paintings, which would grace the new parlors very well, for the old
ones, just because they always hung there. He made quite a show place
of it at first, P'lina tells me."
"It's a real 'haunted house,' then?" Janet inquired, as they stepped
from a rear door of the new part to the green spaces of the court. With
interest she looked at the well preserved front of the aged dwelling,
approached by a walk of flat stones sunk in the turf. It was all very
quaint and beautiful, Janet thought.
"Yes, it has the reputation of being haunted, Janet, but of course that
is all nonsense. However, if you are timid, you'd better stay in the
new part."
"I'd love to have it haunted by my mother," smiled Janet. "She would
make a lovely ghost, I'm sure."
"She would," said Mrs. Holt, unlocking the front door. "I thought that
it would interest you more to enter here, Janet. Step over the
threshold, now, where all your ancestors before you have trod! No,--the
first house was burned by Indians. But this has stood for many a long
year."
Thoughtfully Janet entered the door and stood looking about the central
hall. There they had placed the old spinning wheel. The antlers of a
large deer's head stretched from the wall above her.
As they went from room to room, Janet was almost confused. There were
the big fireplaces. Some of them, Mrs. Holt explained, had been boarded
up and stoves used, but these Mr. Van Meter had restored to their
original appearance, with old andirons, found in the attic, and other
ancient appurtenances, like the queer old leather bellows, used to
create a blaze, and the long-handled brass warming-pan that stood, or
hung, in a corner of the kitchen. Old dishes, the cranes, and old iron
kettles, even an old gun, hung above the plain mantel, were a
revelation of the antique to Janet. She could scarcely have lived in
Philadelphia without knowing something about such things, but she had
never had any personal interest before. Although she said little, Mrs.
Holt saw that her young companion was interested.
"Friends from New York, Albany and Troy often visit us, Janet, and are
brought here to admire. We sometimes have a house full in the summer."
"Who is John, Cousin Diana?" asked Janet suddenly, "John that spoke of
the 'ha'nts'?"
"Oh, yes. I haven't told you about my son, Janet. He will be here in a
few days, for his spring vacation begins, late this year, on account of
a contagious disease that some of them had, and the boys were not
allowed to leave. He was christened Jan, but prefers to be called John."
"I wouldn't," said Janet. "From now on, I'm going to spell my name with
two n's."
"You think so now," said Mrs. Holt with an indulgent smile.
From room to room they went, Mrs. Holt pointing out the old highboys,
claw-footed mahogany tables and desks, and telling Janet whose were the
faces in the pictures upon the walls. At last they went up the
beautiful old staircase, through bedrooms made comfortable with modern
springs upon the old four posters, and Mrs. Holt stopped before one of
the doors, drawing a key from her pocket.
"This, Janet, is your mother's room. Your uncle gave direction to have
it kept locked and to permit no one to enter on any tour of inspection.
So you may be sure that it has not been looked at with curious eyes.
Only P'lina and I are ever supposed to enter it, though I think that
your uncle has a key, and it is possible that he comes in occasionally.
"You see how this corridor runs over to the new part, where my bedroom
opens directly upon the hall there. Old P'lina sleeps near you, if you
decide to take this room. You will see a picture of your mother that
will give you great pleasure, I think, and I'm leaving you alone now,
child,--to go in by yourself. You will find me in my bedroom for a
while, but if you want to stay here, I will see that you are called for
supper. It will be late, I think. We have supper, not dinner, at night,
except when we have guests. May you be happy, my dear, to find your
mother's room at last."