FLORETTA'S RETURN
AT a far corner of the piazza sat Dorothy, her eyes terrified, and her
cheeks pale. Nancy, close beside her, wound her arms about her, and
sought, in every way, to comfort her.
"They'll find her soon, Dorothy, so don't you be frightened," she
whispered. "They'll _surely_ find her soon."
Dear little Nancy knew, better than any of Dorothy's other friends could
have known, how ready was her sympathy, how kind and loving was her
heart.
She had not loved Floretta, but with Dorothy, that did not count. It was
the dreadful fear that something had happened to a little girl, who, so
recently had been at play with them,--ah, that was what grieved sweet
Dorothy.
She was thinking of what Mrs. Dainty had said to Aunt Charlotte when the
mountain trip was first talked of.
"I think the long tramp is a rougher form of amusement than I can well
endure. I should be so weary long before it was time to return, that I
should derive but little pleasure from the trip. There is another
thought in connection with the picnic," she continued, "and that is an
element of danger. Not great danger perhaps, but such that I would not
join the party, nor would I permit Dorothy, or Nancy to do so. One
gentleman who was talking of the mountain path that they have chosen,
spoke of the great danger to the climbers from small, rolling stones,
and from places where the earth seems to crumble near the edge of the
narrow foot-path. A careless step might lead to a fall that would mean,
I hardly dare to say what!"
Dorothy and Nancy had been wishing to join the party, but upon hearing
this, they lost all interest in it, and had cheerfully taken the drive
behind gentle Romeo, instead. Now, as Dorothy sat with Nancy's arms
about her, she was glad that they had not been permitted to go, and she
heartily wished that Floretta had remained at the Cleverton.
"Had she rolled from the path, and fallen, fallen,--"
Dorothy covered her eyes with her hands, as if she almost saw the little
girl falling, down, down to the ravine so far below the path, and was
trying to shut out the picture. Nancy, still striving to quiet her
fear, heard some one telling what the scribbled note had said.
"Oh, Dorothy!" she whispered, eagerly, "Floretta is just where they know
how to find her, and they've promised to hurry, and bring her back."
"Are you _sure_?" Dorothy asked.
"Yes, _sure_!" said Nancy.
Then Nancy climbed into the big chair beside her, and the two little
girls sat, each tightly clasping the other's hands, while they waited
and watched for the first glimpse of the men who should return, bringing
Floretta with them.
Mrs. Dainty and Aunt Charlotte remained with Mrs. Paxton, who seemed to
have lost all control of herself.
One moment she would cry as if her heart would break, and then she
would spring up, threatening to follow the direction that the men had
taken, and try to reach the woods, thus to sooner see her little girl.
At last, after what seemed endless waiting, but was actually only an
hour, some one espied the men in the distance, and cried out:
"They're coming! They're coming!"
"Have they got Floretta? Oh, _have_ they found her?" shrieked Mrs.
Paxton.
"We can't see from here," said the one who had spoken, and the mother
rushed forward, shading her eyes with her hand, and straining to catch
the first glimpse of her child.
She would have rushed down the road to meet them, but Mrs. Dainty held
her back. She had seen that they were carrying Floretta, and she
thought, in case the child were injured, the mother would far better
save her strength.
Two of the men had clasped their hands to form an "arm-chair," and thus
they brought to the piazza, a very limp, tired Floretta, whose vivacity
was all gone, and whose face bore the trace of desperate weeping, while
her arms and hands were covered with cuts and bruises, and her little
frock was torn and tattered by her struggle with the tough and tightly
knotted vines.
She lay back against the shoulder of one man who supported her, and
looked as if her strength were spent.
She changed on the instant that they set her on her feet.
Rushing to her mother, she permitted her to clasp her for a moment to
her breast, then turning to the group that gathered around her, she
cried fiercely:
"Look! See my hands! See my arms! See the scratches, where I tried to
get away, and it was Sidney Cumston who tied me! He _did_ it, but the
other boys _let_ him. Not one tried to hinder him except Jack Tiverton,
the littlest one of them all. He tried to make them let me go, but they
wouldn't. Oh, somebody punish all but Jack! He _tried_, but he couldn't
help me."
She was hysterical, and sank to the floor of the piazza, sobbing, and
crying, before her mother could catch her.
She scrambled to her feet, and was clasped in her mother's arms.
Old Mr. Cunningham surprised every one by speaking most kindly to her.
She had so often tormented him that it seemed generous that he should
offer a bit of comfort.
"I don't think we shall let those young rascals escape without a sharp
reprimand, and if I was to venture a guess about it, I should say that
little Jack, after all, managed to help you, Floretta," he said.
She turned in surprise to look at the old face, that now looked so
kindly at her.
"Come out here, Jack," said the old gentleman, "didn't you write the
note that sent us searching for this little girl?"
"Yes, sir," said Jack, "and I wrote it 'cause I thought the other big
fellows were mean, but if they find out I told, they'll--"
"No, they won't," said Mr. Cunningham. "You're no 'tell-tale.' You did
just right, and the men here will stand by you. Those big boys were the
cowards to torment a little girl. You're the best boy up here in the
mountains."
"Three cheers for young Tiverton!" shouted some one, and in the midst
of the excitement, Mrs. Paxton, with her little daughter, slipped away
to their room, after having thanked little Jack for his valuable
assistance.
Meanwhile old Mr. Cunningham had been searching in this pocket and that
for something which he seemed most anxious to find.
"Ah, I knew I had it! Come here, Jack!"
Blushing and diffident, Jack walked over to the big rocker.
"'Tisn't much, boy, but I think you ought to have a medal. Here's a
silver dollar I've been keeping for a pocket piece. I'll give it to you
for a medal, for being brave enough to tell what you knew _ought_ to be
told. That's not tale-bearing, and as you were afraid to tell, for fear
of those big bullies, it was a brave act. You're a lad that knows
_what_ to do, _when_ to do, and then _does_ it!"
"Hurrah for Jack Tiverton!" some one cried again, and this time they
were given with a will.
Mrs. Tiverton, returning from a long drive, wondered what all the
excitement meant, and why they were cheering her little son.
Jack, with his silver dollar tightly clasped, hung his head, and looked
as if overpowered by his conspicuous position.
Dorothy, now bright and happy, since Floretta was safe, saw that Jack
hesitated.
"Oh, Mrs. Tiverton," she said, "Jack has been truly the _best_ boy in
the world, but he can't speak just now. When he tells you what he's
done, you won't wonder why they cheered him!"
Mrs. Barnet and Flossie, with Uncle Harry and his wife, now arrived in
their big automobile from a three-days' trip that they had been
enjoying.
Of course Dorothy and Nancy tried to tell Flossie all about Floretta and
Jack, and they were both so excited that Flossie got a very twisted idea
of the affair.
Uncle Harry, not dreaming that the matter was at all serious, turned,
after greeting the children, to enter the house.
"Oh, Uncle Harry!" cried Flossie, "you ought to hear about it. There
were ever so many big boys, and only one little girl, and they tied her
so she couldn't get away, and Jack wrote a note, and when they found
her,--"
"Now, Flossie, dear, I'm perfectly willing to be scared half out of my
wits, but I _must_ know what I'm being scared about. You're getting me
so mixed up that I've not the least idea what this is all about. Have
you?" he asked.
"Oh, no," said Flossie, "I don't _half_ understand it, but it does sound
so frightful, that I'm so scared, I need to have you be scared, too."
"Well, then," Uncle Harry replied, "if it will help you to know it, I'll
admit that my teeth are chattering, and shivers are running up and down
my spine!
"I thought at first that it was the draft across this piazza, but
perhaps, after all, it was caused by what you were telling me."
When, at last, he had heard the story, he was full of disgust that any
boy, and his friends, should have been guilty of such a contemptible
act, and his sympathy for the little girl was deep and sincere.
"She will need rest and quiet to-morrow," he said, "and you three
little friends will be kind, I think, if you stay rather closely here,
and help, in some quiet way, to amuse her."
"We will," said Dorothy, "I'll let her read my new fairy book if she'd
like to. She could lie in the hammock, and do that."
"I'll keep the hammock swinging," said Nancy.
"And I'll give her my new box of candy I just brought home," said
Flossie.
"That's right," said Uncle Harry, "and for your sweet promises of
kindness toward the child who has suffered so much to-day I'll remind
you that on day after to-morrow I shall give myself the pleasure of
taking you all to the fair. I promise you a _fine_ time."
He turned to look over his shoulder, and laugh at their wild little
cries of delight.
He was anticipating the pleasure quite as much as they.
* * * * *
Dorothy, Nancy, and Flossie kept the promise that they had made, and
Floretta fully enjoyed their kindness. She seemed unusually gentle, and
Mrs. Paxton thanked them for so sweetly helping to amuse her, and thus
make her willing to spend the day quietly.
The day set for the visit to the village fair dawned bright and sunny, a
light breeze making it just cool enough to be delightful.
The barge was waiting for its gay little passengers.
The children stood with impatient feet on the piazza, waiting for their
host, merry, handsome Uncle Harry.
At last a firm tread caused them to turn, and there he was, looking
gayer than ever, a picture of health, strength, and kindliness, and
clad in a most becoming outing suit of light gray serge.
The blue of his tie was not bluer than his fine eyes, and no one could
have glanced at him without knowing that he possessed a generous, loving
nature, a kind and merry heart.
"Come, little friends!" he cried. "Is every young lady that I invited
here?" he added, looking anxiously lest some child be late, and thus by
chance, be left behind.
"Every one is here!" said Flossie. "I know because I've counted."
"Then we'll start at once, unless some one would rather wait 'til
to-morrow?" he said, his eyes twinkling.
"Oh, no! No!" they cried. "We just _couldn't_ wait!"
"In that case we'll go now!" he said, with a droll expression, as if he
started at once, merely as an accommodation.
"Why, Uncle Harry! You're only joking," cried Flossie. "You wouldn't be
willing to wait until to-morrow. I heard you tell Aunt Vera to hurry and
find your tie, because you were in such a rush to start!"
"To think that my own little niece would tell tales like that, and thus
let out the secret. What chance have I now, of making them think that I
was really very shy about riding with such a large party of girls?"
Shouts of laughter greeted this speech, and Uncle Harry waited until it
had subsided, then he said:
"Oh, well, if no one _believes_ that I am shy or diffident, it's waste
of time to try to appear so, so I shall not try. Instead, I shall be
very bold. Come, dears, let me help you in!"
And amid shouts of laughter from the children, he lifted each high in
air, and placed her in the barge, thus saving her the trouble of
mounting the steps.
Then taking his seat in the middle of the laughing, chattering little
party, he called to the driver to start.
The long whip cracked, Jack Tiverton, from the piazza, blew loudly on a
tin trumpet, and they were off over the road, the happiest party that
ever filled a barge.
Uncle Harry told some amusing stories, then, led by his fine voice, they
sang some gay little songs, and before they dreamed that they had
arrived at the fair, the driver shouted:
"Here we are!" and sure enough, they had reached the fair grounds.
"Why, I didn't suppose we were more than half-way here," said Dorothy,
"and the reason is that the ride has been so jolly."
"That's just it," agreed Nancy.
"The reason _I_ enjoyed the ride," said Uncle Harry, "is because I was
so charmed with my little guests."
"And the reason why we had such a fine ride," said Flossie, "is because
we had the _best_ man in the world taking care of us."
Uncle Harry bowed low.
"This must be a wedding party, if I'm the 'best man,'" he said with a
laugh, "so we'll not fuss because there's no musician to play a march
for us, but we'll play you are all bridesmaids, and we'll hurry right
along. The entrance is this way, I think, and under that evergreen
arch."
A large tent had been pitched for the display of the various wares and
numerous attractions; a smaller tent near it serving as fortune teller's
booth.
"We'll coax Uncle Harry to have his fortune told," whispered Flossie to
Dorothy, when, to their great surprise, he said:
"Oh, Flossie, you little witch! Uncle Harry heard what you said, and not
only is he going to have his fortune told, but he's going to make every
one of you little girls have yours told, also!"