THE CLEARING OF THE WAY.
"MAURICE," said Cecil, when her brother came in to tea that evening, "I
have had a most astonishing visitor."
Maurice colored faintly. It darted through his mind that Danvers might
have called, but he scarcely thought that fact possible.
"No less a person," continued Cecil, "than your eccentric master, Mr.
Danvers. He came in here, and stood bolt upright on that spot on the
carpet, and looked as fierce as ever he could at me, and addressed me
as madam."
"Oh, nevermind!" said Maurice. "Danvers is the best old brick in
existence. The fact is, I thought he might call. What did he say,
Cecil? He came about something, of course?"
"I should rather think he did. Maurice, you wicked boy, there is a
mystery at the back of this, and you are in it. Oh, you bad, bad,
wicked boy, what does this mean?"
The other lads had not yet put in an appearance. Cecil and Maurice had
the parlor to themselves.
Maurice came up close to his sister, and put one of his big schoolboy
hands on her shoulder.
"Go on, Cecil," he remarked; "tell me what Danvers said."
"Why, this," said Cecil, "he told me that he would house you all.
'I'll give them house-room,' he said,--his language was so abrupt,
Maurice,--'beds to sleep in; plenty to eat and drink.' He repeated
twice that he was a dragon on boys, and that I'd be quit of you; he
said that I was to fix up things with you, and that you could all go to
him to-morrow. Now, what does this mean?"
"Exactly what he said," replied Maurice, "and didn't I tell you he was
a brick? Now it will be all right for you."
"What do you mean?"
"Why, of course, you can go to Redgarth."
"Maurice, did you know of this? Had you anything to do with it?"
"Had I anything to do with it?" repeated Maurice slowly. "Rather. Do
you think old Danvers _likes_ to have boys in his house, and that this
sort of offer was spontaneous? No, I put the screw on. I scrooged him
into a corner last night, and he had no help for it. He wriggled a good
bit, I can tell you, Ceci, but I had him on toast, and kept him there
until I knew he'd do what he did do. Now, it's all right, and you can
go to Redgarth."
"But, Maurice, dear, I don't understand."
"Well, you will understand in a minute. I'll put it to you straight
enough. You know we can't stay here, because of that blessed Mrs.
Rogers and her sleep; and you can't stay here, because you are wanted
at Redgarth. You are the future ornament of that place of learning,
and they can't do without you another day, so we fellows have to put
up somewhere, and Danvers' is the place. Danvers lives in a house six
times too big for him. The house was left to him by his old uncle, the
miser. Danvers is our classical master: he lives within a stone's-throw
of the Grammar School. As he says, he is a dragon, and we could not be
safer anywhere than with him. We can go to-morrow or the next day, or
any day you fancy. We'll be in the very lap of learning in Danvers'
house, and if we don't all turn out classical prodigies, it won't be
his fault. Now, Cecil, I see yielding on your face. I'm not going to
have it said that I bearded old Danvers in his den for nothing."
Cecil's heart was yielding already, but several questions were yet
to be asked and answered. Would Mr. Danvers see to the health of her
boys? Maurice assured her that her boys were in such a robust state of
existence that no seeing to was necessary. Would he feed her boys, and
make and mend for them? Maurice said that they must be great asses if
they could not manage that for themselves.
"In short, we're going," he said; "you can heap up obstacles as much as
you like in your own mind, Cecil; but we're going. Danvers has yielded;
that's the main point. He'll like us after a bit; he doesn't think so,
but I fancy we can do a good lot for the poor old chap. I know his
ways, I always could manage him, and I mean to go on doing so. What
about that letter you've got to write to Mrs. Lavender?"
"I have written it; it's there. I want you to post it when you go out."
"What have you said?"
"That I--Maurice, dear, I could not leave you."
"Where's the letter?" said Maurice.
"There," said Cecil, hesitation in her tone.
Maurice strode across the room, took the letter, and threw it into the
flames.
"You write over again, the minute you've finished your tea, and tell
her you're very much obliged, and accept like a good, grateful, little
girl," he said. "That letter has got to get into the post to-night, and
another to Miss Forester, asking her when she can have you, and your
darling Molly might have a line also. Now, then, I'm ravenous. Oh, I
say, cress and shrimps for tea!"
While Maurice had been making these rapid arrangements with regard to
his own and Cecil's future, mysterious noises of a muffled character
had been heard outside the door; the handle had been tried several
times in vain, for Maurice had long ago taken the precaution to lock
himself in with his sister. Now he abruptly turned the key.
"Come in, you fellows," he said; "grace first, and then fall to."
The three boys entered with a certain amount of demureness, but the
sight of shrimps and water-cress was too much for their gravity.
Cecil's face was very pale; she was feeling too excited to eat. The
four boys rapidly cleared the board. When they had finished, Maurice
looked at his sister and spoke.
"I have a bit of news for you, lads," he said.
"Oh, Maurice! perhaps we had better not tell them to-night,"
interrupted Cecil.
"Well, we _did_ hear something through the keyhole," interrupted Jimmy,
in a modest tone. "We took the keyhole turn about, so it was a little
confusing. Perhaps you might as well finish, Maurice. I think I'm to go
to a place called Redgarth, but I'm not quite sure."
"You shut up, you rascal!" said Maurice. "You know it's very
dishonorable to listen through keyholes."
"Fudge!" said Jimmy; "we're all one family. What's good for the goose
is good for the gander. Now, am I to go to Redgarth? and where is
Redgarth? and what am I to do when I get there? Is it a holiday resort,
or a horrid place where they stuff you with books?"
"Don't take any notice of him, Cecil," said Maurice. "Now, it's just
this, boys--we four fellows are going to give our sister, the best
sister in all the world, a chance."
"Hip, hip, hurrah!" shouted Charlie.
"Oh, Charlie, for goodness' sake think of poor Mrs. Rogers!"
interrupted Cecil.
"I can't be thinking of that old beggar forever," muttered Charlie.
"Shut up, or I'll box you!" cried Teddy.
"Well," continued Maurice, when the din had a little ceased, "we are
going to give the best sister in the world a little chance."
"I should think so! fifty, if she'll have 'em," said Jimmy.
"Well, we can only do so by denying ourselves."
The three round, schoolboy faces assumed a blank expression.
"Of course we'll deny ourselves," said Maurice, springing to his feet;
"we're not such cads as to think of doing anything else, even for
a minute. Cecil is going to Redgarth, because she has got splendid
brains, and her brains must be trained and filled with the right sort
of stuff."
"That sounds like roley-poley pudding, and 'stuff' is the jam,"
muttered Jimmy, under his breath.
But the others were too eager to attend to him.
"Where do _we_ come in?" asked Teddy, in an anxious voice.
"Oh, we're all right," said Maurice, in a lofty tone; "we're going to
put up at old Danvers'."
This news was so absolutely astounding that the three boys were dumb
for a minute.
"I say, you're joking," said Jimmy then.
"Not a bit of it. Danvers can take us in; we go there next week."
"But he's so jolly--so jolly _queer_," said Charlie; "you can't mean
it, Maurice? Danvers hates boys, except in school, and then he's always
jacketing them. Danvers is a classic, and I've no turn for classics.
It--it'll kill me, Maurice."
"What a cad you are to think of yourself!" said Maurice; "it won't kill
you any more than the rest of us. I'm glad you've got more stuff in
you, Jimmy, and Teddy knows better than to stand in his sister's light.
Come along out, all three of you; we'll thrash the thing bare, and come
back prepared to help Cecil in every way. Ceci, see you get those three
letters written. Now, lads, out you come."
Maurice drove his boys in front of him, and was soon seen walking
quickly down the street with them. Teddy and Jimmy were in their hearts
just as miserable as Charlie, but as Maurice seemed to take it for
granted that they intended to behave in a very noble way, they thought
it as well to live up to their supposed characters.
Cecil, from her window, watched them as they went down the street.
Yes, she was going to Redgarth now, really going; the dream of her life
was to be fulfilled; the last obstacle had been rolled away. She would
acquire learning, she would gain certificates, she would win honors. By
and by, she could take her rightful place in that brilliant world of
letters and literature to which her exceptional talents entitled her.
Nevertheless, at this happy moment Cecil Ross shed the bitterest tears
of her whole life.
"Oh, my boys, my boys!" she moaned. "Oh, Maurice, darling, I do trust
you are not too good to live!"