"YOU AND YOUR RED BAG ARE AT THE BOTTOM OF IT ALL!"
Mona was looking out of the drawing-room window one fine bright frosty
afternoon, when she saw Jill tearing out of the stable-yard with the
large carriage-whip in her hand.
Her face was almost as red as her Tam o' Shanter, and Mona exclaimed to
Miss Webb--
"I wonder what is the matter! Jill is in one of her tempers. I hope she
is not going to wreak vengeance on any human being."
"Oh, let her alone," said Miss Webb. "She must have an explosion now
and then, for the way she bottles up her spirits now is marvellous.
Miss Falkner seems to have no complaint to find with any of them. It is
not natural."
Mona laughed lightly, but putting on a wrap she slipped out of the
house and crossed the lawn. Angry voices led her to the pine wood.
There before the trespassers' board she found Jill brandishing her whip
with fury in her face. Jack was by her side, armed with a stout stick;
and Bumps, well in the rear, was picking up fir cones, and throwing them
wildly at everybody.
Two workmen were the aggressors; the pile of stones was scattered on
the ground, and they seemed to be enjoying the children's wrath.
"Who put those stones up?" Jill was screaming. "_I_ did, and you're
thieves to touch them!"
"But they comed from that there wall," argued the younger of the men; "and
us have orders to build it up. 'Twasn't business of yours to take them
stones from the wall. Back they shall go, or my name isn't Jim Hall!"
"You dare to touch one!" shouted Jack. "Come on and try, we're ready
for you!"
"You're trespassers and thieves!" cried Jill. "Come on! I have my
whip ready!"
[Illustration: "YOU'RE TRESPASSERS AND THIEVES."]
It was at this juncture Mona stepped up. Directly she appeared, Jill
dashed forward.
"Look at these men, they've pulled down our stones! They did it on
purpose! They saw the board and they laughed at it. They are cheeking
us now."
"Hush!" said Mona. Then turning to the men she asked very quietly,
"Are you working for me?"
The elder touched his cap.
"Yes, ma'am--leastways for Mr. Courtney."
"What did Mr. Courtney tell you to do?"
"To make good that there stone wall, ma'am."
"Then why are you here?"
"We thought best to take what stones we could from here?"
"That was quite unnecessary. You had better put together that pile that
you have destroyed. I will wait here till you have done it."
But Jill objected.
"They shan't touch one of them with their dirty hands! I will do it
myself. Oh, Mona, it's a shame of them! They deserve a good thrashing.
If I were a man I would give it to them!"
Mona put her hand on Jill's shoulder.
"Gently, dear! I am sorry about it, but they did not understand. If you
don't want them here they can return to their work!"
"I never wish to see them again," was the vehement retort. "I--I--feel
like Elijah. I should like to call down fire from heaven to burn them up!"
Jill's passion was great. Mona wisely said nothing till the workmen had
disappeared, then she remarked--
"When you have put your pile of stones straight, Jill, you can run and
find Sam for me. I will tell him to make a little fence round this,
and then you will have no more trespassers."
She walked away, for she judged rightly that work would soon subdue
Jill's excitement. The idea of the fence delighted the children, and
they set to work with a will.
"Nobody dared to touch Jacob's stones, I know," said Jill; who could
not quite get over the act of sacrilege, as she considered it.
"Well," observed Jack, "the Bible mightn't tell about it, you see. He
had no fence."
"I know it was always there," persisted Jill, "because Miss Falkner told
me that Jacob went back there after, and made a proper altar."
"Yes," said Jack triumphantly; "because the other one had been knocked
down. Of course he did."
Jill pondered, as she tried to build up the stones in a tidy form.
"Then," she said, "we must have a proper altar, and I'll get some of the
mortar that those horrid men are using for their wall. We'll wait till
they have gone to their tea, and then we'll do it."
A resolve once taken by Jill was generally carried out. The three children
came in to their school-room tea triumphant.
"We've been building," announced Bumps, "and the thtones are all thtucked
together!"
"And Sam is going to make a fence round, and no one will be let in!" added
Jack:
"And if the clergyman that's coming isn't nice, I've thought of a lovely
plan for our bag; but it's a secret, and I'll tell you, Miss Falkner,
to-night when I'm in bed!"
Miss Falkner asked for an explanation of these fragmentary sentences,
and her little pupils gradually enlightened her.
When Jill was in bed, she made her governess stoop down, and putting
her arms round her neck, whispered--
"I've left a hole amongst the stones at the back, and I can cover it up by
fixing in a loose stone. So I thought my red bag would go in beautifully,
and then it would really be taken care of by God Himself. It couldn't be
in a nicer place, could it? It would be like the ark in the tabernacle--in
a holy place. And I'm not going to tell Bumps or Jack. Jack tells Bumps
everything, and Bumps tells everybody else!"
Miss Falkner looked rather doubtful over the wisdom of this, but Jill
seemed in such delight over the idea that she had not the heart to damp
her spirits.