ONE OF ZEPHYR’S SUMMER HOMES
As Aida’s real summer home was in a lovely small city in one of the
more northern belts of the state, she would not go to the great city
for a month yet. So this country house, the Blake home, happened to be
Zephyr’s first stopping place. While mother and daughter, in the quiet
of the home garden, had many a talk under the trees about the friends
who had preceded them to that great city, which has always welcomed its
own people; and also the oppressed of all nations, and honored them
so long as the privileges of citizenship were appreciated. To those
who seemed to understand intuitively that the “Statue of Liberty,”
presented by a sister nation, meant more of friendship, loyalty, and
respect, than words could express, it was a most wonderful boon, and
at once the “Empire city” seemed to become law-abiding, by absorption,
under the leadership of the great souls who ruled both city and
country, and their appreciation of this new and lasting bond.
While Aida and her mother were happy in the garden and thinking “Big
thoughts,” Edwy’s pretty name for all he could not quite comprehend,
Aida, looking up, saw a shadow pass over her mother’s face.
“If Edwy were here, dearest, he would ask his friend, _why_? And he
would wait for you to answer his loving question, but I think I know.”
“How do any of us know, when our boys come to be grown men, what may
they not have to do to hold such liberty sacred? Can we be sure that
their beautiful lives might not have to pay the toll of enrollment for
their sacred trust--for their country?”
It was a thought she would not leave in a moment.
“If both boys were here, dear, they would remind you of the Shepherd’s
story, which you have so often told them.”
By way of taking her mind from life’s strange vicissitudes, Aida called
her attention to the fact of Zephyr’s disappearance. Where could it
have gone?
The little creature never seemed to have felt quite so much at home as
at the North. It had missed the lake, the boats and the merry voices
of the two boys, as they came between the two camps, with the sound of
beating oars. Sure enough, Zephyr had gone without even touching her
breakfast.
Just at that moment a little girl came along the garden walk, stepping
over the bank beside Aida’s lovely flowers, many of them still blooming
although so late in the autumn.
“I’ve brought your Kitty home,” she said gently. “But she loves to stay
right in my arms. I found her in the schoolroom, and I don’t believe
she would have been afraid of any of the boys for they all petted her,
but the teacher was having them say some dates in unison, and it made
such a racket that she came running to me, and I knew just who owned
her, for I had seen her in your garden.”
“O, thank you a thousand times! Zephyr shall know you as her little
friend.”
“May I take her to school again?”
“Every day if you wish, and play with her here, too, under the trees.”
“What were the dates that the scholars were saying in unison?” the
mother asked.
“One was the date on which the beautiful Statue of Liberty came from
France with its motto, ‘Liberty Enlightening the World.’”
“Just what we were talking about, dear,” said the mother thoughtfully.
“Ever since its arrival, it has been wreathed with loving, and often
poetic thought, and I am glad that our schools are asking you to
remember the dates of great events.
“While we are staying here she can go to school with you every day, and
you are welcome here, too, among Aida’s flowers!”