A SERENADE
JACK TIVERTON stood in the lower hall one morning, and appeared as if
waiting for some one. In his hand was a short switch that he had cut
from a shrub that grew beside the driveway. Often he looked up the
staircase, and then, as no one appeared, he would continue to strike at
the flies that flew past the doorway.
At last he heard merry voices upon the landing, and then Dorothy and
Nancy came hurrying down the stairs.
"Good morning!" they called, but Jack, in his eagerness to ask
questions, forgot to return their greeting.
"Say!" he cried, "do you know that Mrs. Paxton and Floretta left this
morning before breakfast?"
No, the little girls did not know that.
"Well, they have. I saw them go, and I'm glad. Floretta was fun to play
with, but she wasn't fair. She'd get me to do things, and then if we got
caught, she'd always say I planned it," said Jack.
Dorothy tried to think of something kind to say of Floretta, but she
knew that what Jack said was true. Floretta truly was not in the habit
of playing "fair."
"Her mamma said something queer just as she was going off. She was
talking to a lady, I don't know what her name is, and Mrs. Paxton said:
"'Well, Dorothy Dainty has always seemed to be fond of Nancy, but now
that Nancy is to have a _fortune_, shell love her a deal more than she
ever did before.'"
And now Dorothy spoke, her blue eyes flashing, and her cheeks flushed.
"That's not true!" she cried. "That's not true! I've always loved Nancy,
and always will. I'd love her if she had just nothing at all! Nothing
could make any difference. I love her all I can. Nancy knows that. Every
one knows that."
How keenly she felt Mrs. Paxton's silly speech!
She was indignant that any one should think her love for Nancy so little
worth while that fortune could make it stronger.
How could she love Nancy more than she had always loved her?
Nancy threw her arms about her, and drew her closer.
"Don't you mind, Dorothy," she said, "_I_ know how truly you love me.
Mrs. Paxton didn't know, because I guess she couldn't understand it.
_She_ couldn't love the way you do."
Dorothy smiled through the tears that had filled her eyes.
"There's no one dearer than you, Nancy," she said.
Jack swung his switch at a dragon-fly that flew past the doorway.
"Did you see that darning-needle?" he asked.
"Well," he continued, without waiting for an answer, "I was down the
road a few days ago, trying to catch some of those big steel-colored
ones in my fly-net. I hadn't seen any one after I left this piazza, but
just as I swung my net round to catch the dragon-fly, somebody said:
'Look out, or you'll get bitten!' and I turned round, but no one was in
sight. I was just going to swing my net again, when some one giggled,
and then I saw a little skinny girl looking at me from between some
bushes."
"What was she doing?" Dorothy asked.
"You couldn't guess if you tried for a month!" said Jack.
"She was sitting on a big stone, beside a big puddle that was left there
after the shower. She said she was playing she was a frog, and when she
stared at me through her glasses, and smiled, no, _grinned_ at me, I
couldn't help thinking she looked like one. Say, she had on a green
cloak, a regular frog-color."
"It must have been _Arabella_!" said Nancy.
"I don't know what her name was. I didn't ask her, but while I watched
her she hopped off the stone into the puddle with both feet, and cried,
'po-dunk!' just like an old bullfrog. My! Weren't her shoes wet!"
"I wonder what her Aunt Matilda said when she went home with wet feet,"
said Dorothy.
Without noticing what she said, Jack continued.
"I never saw such a queer girl!" he said, in disgust, "for when I told
her dragonflies would never bite, she said: 'They will. They'll sew your
eyes, and nose, and mouth up. Po-dunk!' and she hopped back on to the
stone, and grinned at me just as she did at first. Say! She made me feel
queer to look at her, and I turned and ran away. I wasn't afraid of her,
of course, but she _did_ make me feel queer!"
"She'd make any one feel queer," said Nancy as they turned toward the
dining-room.
Jack wished that they might have stayed longer in the hall. He had
intended to ask them if they knew Arabella, and if she was always doing
queer things, but Mrs. Dainty and Aunt Charlotte joined them, and they
went in for breakfast.
Mrs. Tiverton, coming in from an early walk, took Jack with her to the
other side of the dining-room. He looked across at them, and wondered
what they could have told of Arabella if they had had a chance. He
decided to question them, whispering softly to himself:
"I'll _make_ them tell me all they know about that funny girl."
For several days he tried to catch Dorothy or Nancy at a time when he
could question them.
He chased Dorothy up the long stairway one morning, only to see her
disappear into her room. He had not told her that he had wished to talk
with her, and she, believing that he was only chasing her for fun, ran
from him, laughing as she went.
He found Nancy, a few minutes later, and coaxed her to wait on the
landing.
"Now, Nancy," he said, "you've got to tell me something about that queer
girl that you and Dorothy know."
"If you mean Arabella," said Nancy, "I don't see what I could tell you,
only that she _is_ queer, and you know that now."
"You'll better believe I know it!" cried Jack, "for I met her again
yesterday, and guess what she was doing!"
"Oh, I couldn't," said Nancy. "No one ever could guess what Arabella
Corryville would do."
"Well, she looked like a witch, and acted like one, too," Jack replied.
"It was yesterday that I saw her. I was going across the field, and had
nearly reached the wall, when I looked up, and saw her sitting on the
top bar of the--the--oh, the place where they take down the bars to let
the cattle through."
"I know where you mean," said Nancy, "but why was it strange that she
was sitting there?"
"It was what she was doing that was funny," Jack replied, "and because
you couldn't guess, I'll tell you.
"She didn't look toward me, though I'm sure she must have heard me
coming, for I was just tramping along, and whistling all the way. She
was looking up at the clouds, and counting, 'one--two--three--' very
slowly, and when I was close behind her, she said:
"'Hush--sh--sh! I'm charming the crows!'
"'How long does it take to do it?' I said, for it sounded like nonsense,
and I wanted to hurry. It was almost lunch time.
"'Hush--sh!' she said again. 'There comes one of them now!' and sure
enough a big, black crow did come flying right down, and perched on the
limb of an old tree near her."
"Why, Jack Tiverton," cried Nancy, "you don't believe Arabella really
_made_ him come down, do you?"
"Of course not," cried Jack, "but she wanted me to think so. Say! She
said she was saying a charm, and when I asked her what it was, she
wouldn't tell me. She said it would spoil the charm to tell it. She
looked funny sitting up there on the top rail, and staring at the crows
till her eyes watered. She didn't look like a 'charmer.' She looked
ever so much more like a scarecrow!"
"Oh, Jack, it's horrid to say that!" cried Nancy, at the same time
trying not to let him see how near she was to laughing.
"Well, she _did_!" Jack insisted, "and you're almost laughing now, Nancy
Ferris, and you'd have screamed if you'd seen her roosting there, and
calling herself a charmer! Why, that old crow just flopped down there
for fun, and when he saw the queer-looking girl, he cawed as if it made
him mad, and I didn't blame him. Say! She had a shoe on one foot, and a
slipper on the other. Her apron was put on back-side-to, and she had a
hen's feather in each hand, and she waved them up and down while she
mumbled some kind of a verse. She said her clothes were put on that way
to help the charm. Isn't she a _ninny_?"
Just at that moment, before Nancy could reply, Mrs. Tiverton called
Jack, and Nancy ran to tell the story of Arabella's latest freak to
Dorothy.
* * * * *
One afternoon, a number of little girls were sitting on the piazza at
the Cleverton, and their merry voices attracted Jack Tiverton, who
glanced up from the book that he was reading, and then, because he was
curious to know what so interested them, crossed the piazza, and joined
the group.
Dorothy and Nancy, in the big hammock, held the book of fairy tales,
Flossie Barnet sat near them, while the others, all little guests at the
hotel, sat upon the railing, or in the large rockers that stood near.
Jack joined the row perched upon the railing.
"Tell a fellow what you are all talking about, will you? Will you,
_please_, I mean?" he asked.
"Dorothy Dainty has been reading us a lovely story," said a little girl,
whose merry eyes showed that she had enjoyed it.
"What's it about?" Jack asked, and then, "Oh, _fairy_ tales!" he said.
"Don't you like fairy tales?" Flossie questioned, looking up at him.
No one liked to differ with dear little Flossie, least of all, Jack
Tiverton.
"Oh, I like them _some_," he said, awkwardly, "but,--are there any
stories about bandits or pirates in that book?"
"Oh, no," they cried, in a laughing chorus, "and there aren't any wild
Indians in it, either."
"I don't care much about Indian stories," Jack replied, "but I do like
to read about pirates."
"But just hear what this one was about," said Nancy.
"The wandering prince had, for years, been searching for a lovely
princess, who should look like a beautiful picture that hung in his
father's palace. One day he came to a castle where the people told him a
handsome princess was imprisoned, and he asked why she was kept there.
They told him that she was enchanted, and that some day, a wandering
prince would sing beneath her window, and then the spell would be
broken, and she would be free."
Jack was interested.
"But s'posing he couldn't sing?" he asked.
"Oh, a prince could surely sing!" said Flossie.
"And p'raps he could sing under her window, if he couldn't anywhere
else," ventured a dreamy-eyed little girl who sat near Dorothy.
"And how would he know _what_ to sing?" a cheery voice questioned, and a
pair of merry eyes peered over the piazza railing.
"Oh, Uncle Harry!" cried Flossie, "what difference would it make?"
"All the difference in the world," declared Uncle Harry, "for while the
proper melody would set the princess free, how are we to know that the
wrong melody might not chain her closer than before!"
"Why, the story doesn't say that," said Nancy.
"Perhaps not, but the prince took an _awful_ risk when he chose what to
sing," declared Uncle Harry.
"You're laughing when you say it," said Dorothy.
"He is," agreed Flossie, "and what he says is funny, but I know this:
I'd love to hear some one singing under _my_ window!"
Some ladies, who sat near enough to hear the conversation, were amused
at the children's enthusiasm, and at Uncle Harry's evident interest.
"The prince had his guitar slung over his shoulder by a ribbon," said
Dorothy. "See the picture," and she slipped from the hammock, and
offered the book that he might see the illustration.
"I'm glad he carried his guitar instead of a banjo," he said.
"Why are you glad of that?" Flossie asked.
"Oh, because I really _am_, in fact, I might even say I am delighted,"
he replied.
"I do believe he intends to serenade those children," said a handsome
woman, to her friend who sat beside her; "he is a brilliant man, and one
who is blessed with many talents, and one of his greatest charms is his
love of children. He will go far out of his way to afford them a bit of
fun."
That evening, when nearly every one had left the piazza, and all of the
children were in their rooms, the soft twanging of guitar strings
floated up toward Flossie's window.
She was not yet asleep, and she sat up in bed, and listened.
Yes, it was a guitar! Was it Uncle Harry's?
A little prelude softly played, drew her toward the window.
She crept closer, and peeped out. Yes, there he was, looking right up
toward her window.
Now his fine voice was softly singing, and Flossie held her breath.
"Under thy window, my little lady,
Under thy window, Flossie dear,
Here where the moonbeams softly flicker,
Sing I this song that you may hear.
"Moonlight, and starlight weave enchantment,
Yet shall my song your freedom bring,
You shall be happy little lady,
Give me your love for the song I sing."
"Oh, Uncle Harry, you have it _now_!" cried Flossie. "I love you, when
you're singing, and _all_ the time."
"I know that, dear little girl, but I _must_ have my fun, so I came here
to sing the song I made for you," he said gently.
"Well, you're _dear_," she cried, "and I'll throw you a kiss," and she
did, reaching far out of the window that he might surely see her.
"I caught it!" he cried, and as he turned toward the porch, she heard
him softly strumming the prelude again.
Others had heard the pretty song, for Dorothy and Nancy had a room next
to Flossie's.
The next morning he was coaxed and teased to sing the song again, but he
declared that he could only sing it in the moonlight, that the daylight
would spoil its effect.
The sunny days sped on wings, and soon the guests began to think of
turning homeward.
Mrs. Dainty's party and the Barnets were to leave the hotel at the same
time, and Dorothy, Nancy, and Flossie were delighted that they were to
take the return trip together.
They were talking of the pleasures that they were looking forward to,
and telling of some delightful events that were already planned, when
Jack Tiverton gave them a genuine surprise.
"Mamma has just told me something fine," he said, "and I ran right down
to tell it to you."
"Oh, tell it quick!" said Flossie.
"We're going to live in Merrivale, and we'll be there soon after we
leave here. I'm glad. Are you, _all_ of you?" he asked.
"Of course we're glad," said Dorothy and Nancy; and Flossie hastened to
add:
"Every one of us is glad."
There were bright days, and many pleasures in store for the little
friends, and those who would like also to enjoy them, and to know what
happened during the winter, may read of all this in
"Dorothy Dainty's Holidays."
THE DOROTHY DAINTY SERIES
By AMY BROOKS
* * * * *
Large 12mo Cloth Illustrated by the Author
Price, $1.00 each
[Illustration]
_Dorothy Dainty_
_Dorothy's Playmates_
_Dorothy Dainty at School_
_Dorothy Dainty at the Shore_
_Dorothy Dainty in the City_
_Dorothy Dainty at Home_
_Dorothy Dainty's Gay Times_
_Dorothy Dainty in the Country_
_Dorothy Dainty's Winter_
_Dorothy Dainty in the Mountains_
_Dorothy Dainty's Holidays_
_Dorothy Dainty's Vacation_
"LITTLE DOROTHY DAINTY is one of the most
generous-hearted of children. Selfishness is not
at all a trait of hers, and she knows the value of
making sunshine, not alone in her own heart, but
for her neighborhood and friends."--_Boston
Courier._
"DOROTHY DAINTY, a little girl, the only child of
wealthy parents, is an exceedingly interesting
character, and her earnest and interesting life is
full of action and suitable
adventure."--_Pittsburg Christian Advocate._
"No finer little lady than DOROTHY DAINTY was ever
placed in a book for children."--_Teachers'
Journal, Pittsburg._
[Illustration]
"MISS BROOKS is a popular writer for the very
little folks who can read. She has an immense
sympathy for the children, and her stories never
fail to be amusing."--_Rochester (N.Y.) Herald._
* * * * *
LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON
_THE PRUE BOOKS_
By AMY BROOKS
Illustrated by the Author 12mo Cloth Price, $1.00 each
* * * * *
[Illustration]
CUNNING little Prue, one of the most winsome little girls ever "put in a
book," has already been met in another series where she gave no small
part of the interest. She well deserved books of her own for little
girls of her age, and they are now ready with everything in the way of
large, clear type, and Miss Brooks's best pictures and her pleasing
cover designs to make them attractive.
_Little Sister Prue_
_Prue at School_
_Prue's Playmates_
_Prue's Merry Times_
_Prue's Little Friends_
_Prue's Jolly Winter_
[Illustration]
"Miss Brooks always brings out the best ways of
acting and living and provides a good deal of
humor in her original country
characters.--_Watchman, Boston._
"Few writers have ever possessed the faculty of
reaching the hearts and holding the interest of
little girl readers to the extent Miss Brooks
has."--_Kennebec Journal_, _Augusta, Me._
"To know Prue is to love her, for no more winsome
little girl was ever put in a book, and her keen
wit and unexpected drolleries make her doubly
attractive."--_Kindergarten Magazine._
* * * * *
_For sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt
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LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON
_THE RANDY BOOKS_
_By AMY BROOKS_
12mo CLOTH ARTISTIC COVER DESIGN IN GOLD AND COLORS
ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR PRICE $1.00 EACH
[Illustration]
The progress of the "Randy Books" has been one continual triumph over
the hearts of girls of all ages, for dear little fun-loving sister Prue
is almost as much a central figure as Randy, growing toward womanhood
with each book. The sterling good sense and simple naturalness of Randy,
and the total absence of slang and viciousness, make these books in the
highest degree commendable, while abundant life is supplied by the
doings of merry friends, and there is rich humor in the droll rural
characters.
_Randy's Summer_
_Randy's Winter_
_Randy and Her Friends_
_Randy and Prue_
_Randy's Good Times_
_Randy's Luck_
_Randy's Loyalty_
_Randy's Prince_
[Illustration]
"The Randy Books are among the very choicest books
for young people to make a beginning with."
--_Boston Courier._
"The Randy Books of Amy Brooks have had a deserved
popularity among young girls. They are wholesome
and moral without being goody-goody."
--_Chicago Post._
* * * * *
LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON
Only Dollie
By NINA RHOADES Illustrated by Bertha Davidson Square 12mo Cloth $1.00
[Illustration]
THIS is a brightly written story of a girl of twelve, who, when the
mystery of her birth is solved, like Cinderella, passes from drudgery to
better circumstances. There is nothing strained or unnatural at any
point. All descriptions or portrayals of character are life-like, and
the book has an indescribable appealing quality which wins sympathy and
secures success.
"It is delightful reading at all times."--_Cedar
Rapids (Ia.) Republican._
"It is well written, the story runs smoothly, the
idea is good, and it is handled with
ability.--_Chicago Journal._
The Little Girl Next Door
By NINA RHOADES Large 12mo Cloth Illustrated by Bertha Davidson $1.00
A DELIGHTFUL story of true and genuine friendship between an impulsive
little girl in a fine New York home and a little blind girl in an
apartment next door. The little girl's determination to cultivate the
acquaintance, begun out of the window during a rainy day, triumphs over
the barriers of caste, and the little blind girl proves to be in every
way a worthy companion. Later a mystery of birth is cleared up, and the
little blind girl proves to be of gentle birth as well as of gentle
manners.
Winifred's Neighbors
By NINA RHOADES Illustrated by Bertha G. Davidson Large 12mo Cloth $1.00
[Illustration]
LITTLE Winifred's efforts to find some children of whom she reads in a
book lead to the acquaintance of a neighbor of the same name, and this
acquaintance proves of the greatest importance to Winifred's own family.
Through it all she is just such a little girl as other girls ought to
know, and the story will hold the interest of all ages.
* * * * *
_For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt
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LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD Co., BOSTON
The Children on the Top Floor
By NINA RHOADES Large 12mo Cloth Illustrated by Bertha Davidson $1.00
[Illustration]
IN this book little Winifred Hamilton, the child heroine of "Winifred's
Neighbors," reappears, living in the second of the four stories of a New
York apartment house. On the top floor are two very interesting
children, Betty, a little older than Winifred, who is now ten, and Jack,
a brave little cripple, who is a year younger. In the end comes a glad
reunion, and also other good fortune for crippled Jack, and Winifred's
kind little heart has once more indirectly caused great happiness to
others.
How Barbara Kept Her Promise
By NINA RHOADES Large 12mo Cloth Illustrated by Bertha Davidson $1.00
TWO orphan sisters, Barbara, aged twelve, and little Hazel, who is "only
eight," are sent from their early home in London to their mother's
family in New York. Faithful Barbara has promised her father that she
will take care of pretty, petted, mischievous Hazel, and how she tries
to do this, even in the face of great difficulties, forms the story
which has the happy ending which Miss Rhoades wisely gives to all her
stories.
Little Miss Rosamond
By NINA RHOADES Illustrated by Bertha G. Davidson Large 12mo Cloth $1.00
[Illustration]
ROSAMOND lives in Richmond, Va., with her big brother, who cannot give
her all the comfort that she needs in the trying hot weather, and she
goes to the seaside cottage of an uncle whose home is in New York. Here
she meets Gladys and Joy, so well known in a previous book, "The Little
Girl Next Door," and after some complications are straightened out,
bringing Rosamond's honesty and kindness of heart into prominence, all
are made very happy.
* * * * *
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"_Brick House Books_"
_By NINA RHOADES_
_Cloth 12 mo Illustrated $1.00 each_
* * * * *
=Priscilla of the Doll Shop=
[Illustration]
THE "Brick House Books," as they are called from their well-known cover
designs, are eagerly sought by children all over the country. There are
three good stories in this book, instead of one, and it is hard to say
which little girls, and boys, too, for that matter, will like the best.
=Brave Little Peggy=
PEGGY comes from California to New Jersey to live with a brother and
sister whom she has not known since very early childhood. She is so
democratic in her social ideas that many amusing scenes occur, and it is
hard for her to understand many things that she must learn. But her good
heart carries her through, and her conscientiousness and moral courage
win affection and happiness.
=The Other Sylvia=
[Illustration]
EIGHT-year-old Sylvia learns that girls who are "Kings' Daughters"
pledge themselves to some kind act or service, and that one little girl
named Mary has taken it upon herself to be helpful to all the Marys of
her acquaintance. This is such an interesting way of doing good that she
adopts it in spite of her unusual name, and really finds not only "the
other Sylvia," but great happiness.
* * * * *
_For sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of
price by the publishers_
LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
End of Project Gutenberg's Dorothy Dainty at the Mountains, by Amy Brooks