GIRLS AND BOYS.
BREAKING-UP day came quickly round, and a merry party assembled at the
railway station to go off to a small watering-place which went by the
name of St. Jude's, and was within three miles of Whitby. Even Matilda
was on her best behavior. To her relief, she discovered that Kate and
Cecil meant to treat her with an easy sort of good-nature until, as
they expressed it, she broke her compact.
"When you do that, we will boycott you," said Kate, in her frank way;
"as long as you keep it, we will do nothing to make you miserable. Now,
come along and take your seat in the carriage."
"But surely we are not going to travel third class?" began Matilda.
"Yes, we are," answered Kate; "because the majority of us prefer to
save our money. Now, hop in. No, you are not to take the corner, that
is Molly's seat; don't you see her umbrella there?"
Molly would have given up her coveted corner to Matilda, but a glance
from Kate prevented this. The four girls found themselves rather
crowded, and Matilda, under different circumstances, would have shown
a good deal of selfishness and ill-nature; but the infection of three
perfectly happy people was too much for her, and she found herself
joining in the mirth, and even adding her quota to the jokes, before
the journey had come to an end. Late in the evening the girls arrived
at Whitby, where they were met not only by the boys, but by a large,
roomy wagonette, into which they all tumbled helter-skelter. The
luggage was crowded up on the driver's seat, and squeezed into every
imaginable corner, and soon the happy party started on their way. It
wanted but three days to Christmas; the moon was at the full, the
stars shone brightly, there was a keen frosty feel in the air. It was
impossible on such an occasion to be anything but merry and cheerful;
the boys cracked jokes; Maurice sat close to Cecil with his arm round
her waist; Jimmy made himself comfortable by leaning against Molly,
and finally dropping his curly head on her shoulder; and Charlie and
Teddy, after a little demur, began to devote themselves to Matilda.
They did not much care for her look, but they thought it would be fun
to draw her out. Accordingly, they sat at each side of her, and regaled
her with false information with regard to the scenery and the country
generally. The boys were keen naturalists; Matilda had lived all her
life, except when at school, in London.
"Isn't the air delicious?" said Teddy. "Rather too warm, if anything."
"Why, I am perfectly shivering," answered Matilda. "I wish you could
feel my hands. Oh, this is much worse than London!" she continued.
"Fancy driving in an open conveyance in the month of December; my
chilblains will get much worse from this biting, frosty air."
"Do you suffer from chilblains?" asked Charlie, in a sympathetic voice.
"Did you ever have one on your nose?"
"No," said Matilda, with a little cry. "Oh, horrors! do people get them
on their noses in the country?"
"Well, I don't, because I'm acclimatized," said Charlie; "but one of
the fellows in my form generally gets one in the beginning of the
winter; it worries him a good bit. He used to live in London, and he
never suffered there--he says it is the change to the country. Is your
nose cold now? If it is, I'll get out and bring in a little snow. If
you rub it hard with snow, you may not suffer; if you don't----"
"Oh, what will happen?" asked Matilda.
"It may be frost-bitten; that's much more serious than chilblains.
Perhaps I'd better get the snow."
"Charlie, what are you talking about?" interrupted Maurice. "Please
don't mind a word he says, Miss Matthews; it isn't a bit colder here
than in London, and people don't get chilblains on their noses, if they
take exercise enough. Come along, Teddy and Charlie, you both change
places with me and talk to Cecil for a bit; she has no end of things to
tell you. I will sit near you, Miss Matthews, and point out some of the
beauties of the country."
The transfer was quickly made, and Matilda found her fears soothed
and her vanity agreeably tickled by Maurice's courteous attentions.
The short drive came quickly to an end; the lodgings were found to be
perfection; a boisterous supper ensued, after which Cecil, Kate, Molly,
and the boys ran down to the shore. Matilda, who was very nervous on
the subject of chilblains, elected to stay at home, and Maurice, with
a wistful glance at his sister and her friends, offered to remain with
her, but Molly put a stop to that.
"You are the grown-up one of the party," she said, with a smile at the
handsome lad; "we want you to protect us. I think, Matty, you will find
a book in my bag, if you like to open it."
"Thanks," said Matilda, "but I am so sleepy I shall go straight to bed;
I hope the servant has put a hot bottle in my bed. I suppose there is
no objection to my ordering a fire in my room, is there, Molly?"
"Oh, none whatever," replied Molly; "if Miss Pantry does not object to
the trouble."
"I can pay for what I require," said Matilda, in a gruff tone.
She walked deliberately to the bell and rang it. The servant, a
good-natured, round-cheeked girl, soon answered the summons.
"Will you light a fire in my bedroom directly?" said Matilda, "and have
the goodness to let me know when it has blazed up bright and cheerful."
"Well, girls, come on if you are coming," said Maurice.
The others left the house, and Matilda was alone.
"What in the world did you bring her for?" said Jimmy, the moment they
got outside.
"Now, look here, Jimmy," said Cecil, "we are not going to begin that
sort of conversation at the very commencement of our holidays. Matilda
is here, and we must make the best of her. But for Molly, we should
none of us be having this delightful treat; Matilda is Molly's guest,
and I expect her to be treated civilly."
"I wouldn't be rude to a lady for the world," said Teddy, drawing
himself up.
"Nor I," burst from Charlie's lips; "only she doesn't seem to be your
sort, Molly, nor yours, Cecil, nor yours, Miss O'Connor."
"Race me to the shore, Jimmy," said Kate suddenly.
The moonlight covered the wide white road, the smell of the sea came to
Kate's nostrils, the grand sound of the sea to her ears.
"Oh, I can almost believe myself back in Ireland again," she said, with
a sort of panting sigh. "I must run, or the delight of it all will be
too much for me. Come along, Jimmy, I see by the shape of your legs you
are a good runner. Now, one, two, and away."
Kate's running was almost as swift as the wind. Jimmy, Teddy, and
Charlie eagerly joined in the race; Molly, Cecil, and Maurice walked
behind.
"Oh," said Molly, "what good this will do Kate! she is a different
creature already. I do hope Matilda will go to bed early every night.
Perhaps she will if we make her room thoroughly comfortable."
"If I thought that----" said Maurice, with a smile.
"Why, what would you do, dear?" asked his sister.
"I'd see to the lighting of that fire myself; but look here, Ceci, the
boys must not tease her too much. You know Charlie and Teddy are little
imps of mischief, and Jimmy is so clever, there's no being up to him
when he is bent on sport, as he calls it. The best and the worst of it
is, that Matilda will never see when they are poking fun at her. Did
you hear them to-night about chilblains? I know perfectly well what
they'll do. They'll be as polite as little angels until they find out
all her weak points, and then, woe betide her, more especially if she
has a secret fear."
"You must talk to them," said Cecil. "Matilda is Molly Lavender's
guest, and it will be very shabby of us to give her a bad time."
"But you don't really like her, do you, Molly?" asked Maurice.
"Not really," answered Molly.
"She is the thorn in the rose," said Cecil, with a sigh. "You know we
can never expect perfection here, Maurice, old boy, and our holiday
would be too good were it not for Matilda. Well, now, let us talk of
something else; you must have a lot to tell me. How have you got on
with Mr. Danvers? Is the poor, good-natured man still in the land of
the living?"
"I should rather think he is! He's the best fellow going," said
Maurice, with enthusiasm. "I wish I could tell you half what he has
done for me, Cecil. He coaches me in Greek and Latin every evening
before he goes to bed, and I have got on like a house on fire. I shall
be in the sixth next term. In short, I am nearly safe to win that
scholarship."
"You must have worked very hard, Maurice," said Cecil.
"Well, I did put on the screw a good bit, but how could I help it when
I thought of you pegging away?"
"And how are the other boys doing?" asked Cecil.
"Jimmy and Charlie are doing famously; Teddy's idle. Mr. Danvers says
there's no real work in him; but then he is young yet, and you can't
expect us all to have old heads on young shoulders, can you, Cecil?"
"No, no; I'm perfectly content with you as you are," answered Cecil. "I
wish I could thank Mr. Danvers for what he has done for you."
"Well, you will have an opportunity, for he has actually promised to
come to St. Jude's before the new year--that is, provided you will
promise me beforehand never to invite him either to dinner or tea. He's
awfully shy of women, and we'll have to humor him with regard to all
his little pet weaknesses."
"But I want really to get to know him," said Cecil.
"Well, perhaps you will if you are careful. You must just make his
acquaintance without seeming to make it. If once he caught sight of a
girl like Matilda, he would fly the place--I know he would. Now, that
Irish girl, Kate--what do you call her?"
"Kate O'Connor."
"Kate O'Connor, well, she'd be just his sort; he'd compare her to
one of his Greek heroines, Iphigenia or Persephone. He doesn't mind
thinking of women, and even talking of them, if he can compare them to
Greeks, but the modern English sort! oh, we will try to keep him from
talking about them. He once saw you, Cecil; he said you had the patient
sort of look which Penelope used to wear--that was his sole remark
about you; he shut up his lips then, and rumpled his hair, and went to
the stove to cook some bacon. By the way, he's the best cook I ever
came across in all my life. I wish you could taste his toffee."
"Toffee!" cried Cecil. "Can Mr. Danvers stoop to toffee?"
"Oh, can't he? We were doing it up in the back bedroom. He caught
us over it one night with a saucepan with a hole in the bottom--the
smell was awful; the stuff was going through on to the fire. His whole
face got scarlet; he rushed downstairs, and brought up a china-lined
saucepan of his own. Teddy had to fly for half a pound of butter, a
pound of moist sugar, and a quarter of a pound of almonds. He stood
over that toffee until it was cooked to perfection, and then he poured
it out on to a large tin, and the next day, when it was cold, he cut it
up and gave it to us. He was more excited than any of us over it."
"I tell you what it is," said Molly; "Mr. Danvers shall make toffee for
us--yes, for us--when he comes to St. Jude's; we'll manage it somehow."
"You must look like a Greek goddess, or he won't," said Maurice; "and I
am not sure that you are quite the style."
"Oh, yes, she is," said Cecil, with a laugh; "she'd make a lovely
little Alcestis."
"No, I shouldn't," answered Molly, with a laugh. "I am much--much too
modern; I'll allow you, Cecil, and Kate, to do the Greek heroines to
perfection, but I shall stick to just being a modern English girl.
Who knows but that I may conquer Mr. Danvers' prejudices, and get him
to drop his dislike to the English girl of the latter half of the
century."