A SOCIAL CALL
The twins gladly obeyed their aunts’ summons, for it meant to get
ready to go to town to buy their flower seeds. Long before the ladies
were ready, Dick and Dolly, in trim attire, and with pretty spring coats
and hats, sat in the library waiting.
“I like this home a lot, don’t you, Dollums?” said Dick, as he
thoughtfully looked about him.
“Love it!” responded his twin promptly. “Chicago was nice, too, and
Auntie Helen was gay and pretty, but this is so country and all. And oh,
Dick, won’t our playground be splendiferous! Do you s’pose the arbor
will _ever_ get built and grown over with flowers and things?”
“’Course it will! And, Dolly, I’m going to make some rustic seats and
things myself. It tells how in my ‘Handy Book,’ and I’m sure I can do
it.”
“I’m sure you can too. And can’t you make some little seats for my
dolls?”
Dick had just agreed to do this when the two aunties came downstairs,
and they all went out to the carriage. Somehow it seemed very formal.
Aunt Rachel and Aunt Abbie, all dressed up in calling costume, with
gloves and parasols, didn’t seem so chummy as when they were all out
planting seeds together. And Michael, in his coachman’s livery, looked
so straight and unintelligent that it was hard to believe he was the
same man.
They all got into the big, open carriage, and the twins sat backward,
facing their aunts.
“First,” said Miss Rachel, who sat up very stiff and prim, “we will go
and buy the seeds and plants, and then we will pay some calls.”
This seemed very strange to Dick and Dolly, for they had never been
taken calling with Auntie Helen in Chicago; but they made no comment, as
none seemed to be expected.
The carriage stopped at a small shop, and the proprietor hurried out to
greet the ladies. He bowed with great deference, and asked what he might
show them.
Miss Rachel had a list of the seeds and plants they had decided on for
the children’s gardens, and the shopman said he would send them all the
next day.
“And have you some small garden implements?” asked Miss Abbie. “Some
little rakes and hoes, suitable for children’s use.”
The shopman said he would bring some out to show them.
“Oh, Auntie,” cried Dolly, impulsively, “can’t we go in the shop and
look at them?”
“No, indeed,” said Miss Rachel, as if Dolly had asked something highly
improper. “Stay where you are and make your selections.”
Dolly wondered why they couldn’t hop out, but it didn’t much matter, as
the man returned, followed by a youth who brought a lot of spades and
rakes and garden tools of many sorts.
The children were allowed to select all they wanted, and, guided by Aunt
Rachel’s advice, they chose quite a great many.
“You’re awful good to us,” exclaimed Dick as, after giving the order,
they drove away.
“Then you must be good to us,” said Aunt Rachel, smiling. “Now we are
going to call at Mrs. Fuller’s. She has a son Jack, about ten years old,
and I hope you will be good friends with him. There are no little girls
here, but, Dolly, we will find some girl friends for you later on.”
“Oh, I like boys,” said Dolly, agreeably. “I like Dick better than any
girl, so, of course, I like other boys too.”
At Mrs. Fuller’s they were ushered into a stiff, formal-looking parlour,
which had the effect of being rarely used. The half-drawn blinds gave
but a dim light, and the four guests took their seats in silence.
Dick and Dolly felt depressed without knowing just why. They secretly
wished they could clasp hands and make a dash for the door and run away,
but Aunt Rachel had asked them to be good, so they sat still, wondering
what would be expected of them.
After what seemed a long time, Mrs. Fuller came into the room. She was a
lady of very precise manners, and wore a rustling silk gown.
The ladies all shook hands quite stiffly, and inquired for each other’s
health, and then Miss Rachel presented the twins to Mrs. Fuller.
“How do you do, my dears?” said the lady, offering her finger-tips to
each in turn.
“I’m very well, thank you; how are you?” said Dolly, heartily, as she
cordially gave her hostess’s hand a vigorous shake. But the chagrin on
the Dana ladies’ faces, and the surprised glance of Mrs. Fuller, proved
at once that this wasn’t the right thing to do.
Quick to catch the hint, Dick offered his hand hesitatingly,—so much so
indeed, that it lay in Mrs. Fuller’s like a little limp fish, and as she
finally dropped it, it fell loosely to Dick’s side.
“How d’ do?” he murmured, uncertain what to say, and then, feeling very
uncomfortable, the two children sat down again.
For a time no attention was paid to them, and the ladies conversed in
short, elegant sentences, and high-pitched voices.
Then Mrs. Fuller turned again to the twins:
“How do you like Heatherton?” she asked.
The suddenness of the question took Dick unawares, and he said
enthusiastically:
“Out o’ sight!”
Immediately he realised that he should have expressed himself more
formally, and the look of annoyance on Aunt Rachel’s face made him red
and embarrassed.
Loyal little Dolly tried, as always, to come to his rescue, and she said
politely:
“Yes, indeed, Mrs. Fuller; we like it awfully well so far, but of course
we haven’t been here very long yet.”
“And you think you won’t like it when you’ve been here longer! Is that
it?”
Mrs. Fuller meant only to be jocose, but Dolly didn’t understand, and
tried hard to explain.
“No ’m; I don’t mean that. I mean I think we’ll like it better after we
live here a while.”
“I trust you will,” said Mrs. Fuller. “You must be hard to please if you
don’t.”
Poor Dolly felt herself misunderstood, but she could think of nothing to
say, so she sat silent, but, it seemed, this was not the right thing to
do either.
“Speak up, child,” said Aunt Rachel, half playfully and half sharply;
“didn’t you hear Mrs. Fuller’s remark?”
“Yes ’m,” said Dolly, “but,—but I don’t know what to answer.”
“Strange child,” murmured Mrs. Fuller. “Is the boy any more civil?”
Dick, though embarrassed himself, was still more annoyed at Dolly’s
discomfiture, and spoke up decidedly:
“We don’t mean to be uncivil, Mrs. Fuller. But we’ve never made
fashionable calls before, and we don’t know quite how to talk. It’s so
different in Chicago.”
“Different in Chicago! I should hope so. My dear Miss Dana and Miss
Abbie, you’ll have your hands full with these little ones, won’t you?”
“At first,” said Miss Rachel with dignity. “But we hope to teach them.”
“And we want to learn,” put in Dolly, with an instinctive desire to
stand by her aunt against this disagreeable lady.
“Then there’ll be no trouble, I’m sure,” said Mrs. Fuller, but though
her words were all right, her tone was a little bit sarcastic, and the
twins were conscious of a feeling of defeat, which was far from
comfortable.
Then Jack Fuller came into the room.
He was a boy of ten, with fair hair, and a pale, girlish face. He,
apparently, had irreproachable manners, and gave his hand to the Dana
ladies with just the right degree of cordiality. Then, being introduced
to Dick and Dolly, he came and sat on the sofa between them.
Instinctively, Dick felt that he never could like that boy. Jack had
scarcely opened his mouth before Dick had dubbed him a “Miss Nancy.” He
didn’t believe Jack could run or jump, or do anything that a boy ought
to do.
“Do you like to live here?” said Jack at last, by way of opening
conversation.
“Yes, we do,” said Dolly; “we’re going to have splendid gardens,—we’ve
been digging all day. Don’t you love to do that?”
Jack looked at her with apparent surprise that a girl should care for
such vigorous pursuits.
“I never dig,” he answered. “Mamma thinks it isn’t good for me.”
“How funny!” said Dolly. “I should think it would do you good.”
“Do you like to run and jump?” asked Dick, for there had been a pause,
and he considered it his turn to “make talk.”
“Oh, not very much. I like quiet games. I play mostly by myself. Mamma
won’t let me associate with many children. But I’m to be allowed to play
with you. I know that, because you’re Danas.”
This was gratifying in a way, but somehow Dick wasn’t over-enchanted at
the prospect.
“I hope you will,” he said; “but I’m afraid,—when we’re playing, we’re
rather,—rather rampageous.”
“Rough, do you mean?” asked Jack, looking horrified.
“Well, we don’t mean to be rough exactly; but we’re sort of noisy and
lively.”
“Well, I shall visit you all the same,” said Jack, with a resigned air,
“for mamma said I should. I think I’m to go see you to-morrow afternoon
at four.”
This specified date amused the Dana children, but Dolly said politely:
“That will be very nice, and I’m sure we’ll have a good time.”
And then the aunties rose to take leave, and they all went home again.
“You children must learn better manners,” said Aunt Rachel, as they
drove homeward. “You horrified me to-day by your manner of speaking.”
“I saw we did,” said Dolly, humbly, “but I don’t see what we did that
was wrong. I’m sure we didn’t mean to be bad.”
“You weren’t bad,” said Abbie, smiling at them, “but we want you to
acquire a little more grace and elegance. You spoke, in Mrs. Fuller’s
parlour, just as you would at home.”
“Oh,” said Dick, “I begin to see; you want us to put on society airs.”
Aunt Rachel considered a moment.
“While I shouldn’t express it in just that way,” she said, “that is
about what I mean.”
“Well,” said Dick pleasantly, “we’ll try. But Aunty Helen always taught
us to be just as polite when alone at home as when we were visiting or
had company.”
“Auntie Helen isn’t teaching you now,” said Miss Rachel, grimly; “and I
trust you’ll consider my wishes in the matter.”
“We will, Aunt Rachel, we truly will,” broke in Dolly, whose rôle was
often that of pacificator. “You’re terribly good to us, and we want to
do ’zackly as you want us to, but, you see, fashionable calls are new to
us. We’ll do better next time.”
Dolly’s cheerful smile was infectious, and Aunt Rachel smiled back, and
dropped the subject of manners for the present.
The next afternoon, promptly at four o’clock, Jack Fuller came to see
Dick and Dolly. The twins had been grubbing in their gardens all day,
and had been radiantly happy.
They loved flowers and learned quickly the elements of gardening that
Pat taught them. And with their new garden tools of suitable size, they
did real work after the most approved fashion. But at three o’clock they
were called in to get ready for the expected guest. Dick grumbled a
little, for it seemed hard to leave the gardens to get all dressed up
just because a _boy_ was coming!
“But you want to make friends in Heatherton, don’t you?” asked Aunt
Rachel.
“Yes ’m; but I like boys who come over and play in every-day clothes;
not rig up like a party.”
As for Dolly, she didn’t see why she had to leave the garden at all.
Jack Fuller wasn’t her company.
But the aunts decreed that both twins should receive the guest properly,
and so at quarter to four, two spick and span, but not very merry
children sat in the library, waiting.
Jack came in, at last, and greeted the twins with the same formality he
had shown in his own home. He responded politely to the elder ladies’
remarks and Dick and Dolly tried to be polite and do exactly as the
others did.
After nearly half an hour of this stiff and uncomfortable conversation,
Miss Rachel proposed that the twins take Jack out and show him their
gardens. Glad to get out of doors, Dick and Dolly ran for their hats and
the three children started out.
To the twins’ astonishment, as soon as he was out of the presence of the
elder ladies, Jack turned into quite a different boy. His formal manner
fell away, and he was chummy and full of fun.
“Let’s throw stones,” he cried. “See me hit that stone bird on the
fountain.”
He flung a pebble with such true aim that it hit the stone bird on the
wing, and roused Dick’s exceeding admiration, for he was not himself a
superior marksman.
“Want to play knife?” asked Jack, pulling a new knife from his pocket;
“or no, let’s go see your gardens first. Must be gay ones, from the fuss
you make over ’em.”
But when he saw the playground that was planned, he was appreciative
enough to satisfy the twins’ love of enthusiasm.
“It’s great!” he cried; “that’s what it is, great! I wish I had one like
it.”
“Yes, won’t it be fine!” agreed Dick; “there’ll be a table in the
arbour, and chairs, or benches, and we can have tea-parties, and
everything.”
“Plant gourds on your arbour,” advised Jack. “All kinds are good, but
the dipper and cucumber gourd grow the fastest. They’ll cover your
arbour in a few weeks, I guess. Hercules club is a good fellow for that,
too. Pat’ll know about ’em.”
Dick and Dolly felt their admiration rising for this boy, who knew so
much about climbing gourds and flowers of all sorts. It was strange that
he could throw stones so straight, and also have such fine parlour
manners. So very strange indeed that Dick felt he must inquire into it.
“Say,” he began; “you’re awful different out here from what you are in
the parlour.”
“Sure,” returned Jack. “In parlours, with ladies, a fellow has to be
polite and proper. You don’t want me to be like that out here with you,
do you?”
Jack’s face expressed such a willingness to do what was required of him
that Dick exclaimed hastily:
“Not on your life! But I don’t see how you manage those fine airs when
you have to.”
“Pooh, it’s dead easy. Anyway, I’ve always done it. Mamma wouldn’t like
it if I didn’t.”
“I s’pose we’ll have to learn,” said Dolly, sighing a little; “but don’t
let’s bother about it now.”
As the afternoon wore on, and they became better acquainted, they both
began to like Jack very much. He was not a strong boy, and couldn’t run
or jump as they could, but he was clever at games, and could beat them
easily at “knife,” or “hop-scotch,” or almost any game of muscular skill
that did not call for violent exercise.
“He’s all right,” said Dick to Dolly as they sat on the veranda steps a
few minutes after Jack went home. “But I hope we won’t always have to
dress up, and sit in the parlour at first every time he comes.”
“Let’s ask Aunt Rachel,” said Dolly.
“Why, no,” said Miss Rachel in surprise. “Of course you won’t. To-day
was his first visit, as you called on him yesterday. After this, you can
go to play with each other in your every-day clothes, whenever you
like.”
Dick and Dolly were satisfied with this, and gave up trying to fathom
the strange requirements of etiquette at Heatherton.