NELLIE
"Shall I take my cart over to meet Nellie and Mrs. Manily, mother?"
Dorothy asked Mrs. Minturn, that afternoon, when the city train was
about due.
"Why, yes, daughter, I think that would be very nice," replied the
mother. "I intended to send the depot wagon, but the cart would be
very enjoyable."
Bert had the donkeys hitched up and at the door for Nan and Dorothy in
a very few minutes, and within a half-hour from that time Nan was
greeting Nellie at the station, and making her acquainted with
Dorothy.
If Dorothy had expected to find in the little cash girl a poor,
sickly, ill child, she must have been disappointed, for the girl that
came with Mrs. Manily had none of these failings. She was tall and
graceful, very pale, but nicely dressed, thanks to Mrs. Manily's
attention after she reached the city on the morning train. With a
gift from Mrs. Bobbsey, Nellie was "fitted up from head to foot," and
now looked quite as refined a little girl as might be met anywhere.
"You were so kind to invite me!" Nellie said to Dorothy, as she took
her seat in the cart. "This is such a lovely place!" and she nodded
toward the wonderful ocean, without giving a hint that she had never
before seen it.
"Yes, you are sure the air is so strong you must swallow strength all
the time," and Nellie knew from the remark that Dorothy was a jolly
girl, and would not talk sickness, like the people who visit poor
children at hospital tents.
Even Mrs. Manily, who knew Nellie to be a capable girl, was surprised
at the way she "fell in" with Nan and Dorothy, and Mrs. Manily was
quite charmed with her quiet, reserved manner. The fact was that
Nellie had met so many strangers in the big department store, she was
entirely at ease and accustomed to the little polite sayings of people
in the fashionable world.
When Nellie unpacked her bag she brought out something for Freddie.
It was a little milk wagon, with real cans, which Freddie could fill
up with "milk" and deliver to customers.
"That is to make you think of Meadow Brook," said Nellie, when she
gave him the little wagon.
"Yes, and when there's a fire," answered Freddie, "I can fill the cans
with water and dump it on the fire like they do in Meadow Brook, too."
Freddie always insisted on being a fireman and had a great idea of
putting fires out and climbing ladders.
There was still an hour to spare before dinner, and Nan proposed that
they take a walk down to the beach. Nellie went along, of course, but
when they got to the great stretch of white sand, near the waves, the
girls noticed Nellie was about to cry.
"Maybe she is too tired," Nan whispered to Dorothy, as they made some
excuse to go back home again. All along the way Nellie was very
quiet, almost in tears, and the other girls were disappointed, for
they had expected her to enjoy the ocean so much. As soon as they
reached home Nellie went to her room, and Nan and Dorothy told
Mrs. Minturn about their friend's sudden sadness. Mrs. Minturn of
course, went up to see if she could do anything for Nellie.
There she found the little stranger crying as if her heart would
break.
"Oh, I can't help it, Mrs. Minturn!" she sobbed. "It was the ocean.
Father must be somewhere in that big, wild sea!" and again she cried
almost hysterically.
"Tell me about it, dear," said Mrs. Minturn, with her arm around the
child. "Was your father drowned at sea?"
"Oh no; that is, we hope he wasn't." said Nellie, through her tears,
"but sometimes we feel he must be dead or he would write to poor
mother."
"Now dry your tears, dear, or you will have a headache," said
Mrs. Minturn, and Nellie soon recovered her composure.
"You see," she began, "we had such a nice home and father was always
so good. But a man came and asked him to go to sea. The man said
they would make lots of money in a short time. This man was a great
friend of father and he said he needed someone he could trust on this
voyage. First father said no, but when he talked it over with mother,
they, thought it would be best to go, if they could get so much money
in a short time, so he went."
Here Nellie stopped again and her dark eyes tried hard to keep back
the tears.
"When was that?" Mrs. Minturn asked.
"A year ago," Nellie replied, "and he was only to be away six months
at the most."
"And that was why you had to leave school, wasn't it?" Mrs. Minturn
questioned further.
"Yes, we had not much money saved, and mother got sick from worrying,
so I did not mind going to work. I'm going back to the store again as
soon as the doctor says I can," and the little girl showed how anxious
she was to help her mother.
"But your father may come back," said Mrs. Minturn; "sailors are often
out drifting about for months, and come in finally. I would not be
discouraged--you cannot tell what day your father may come back with
all the money, and even more than he expected."
"Oh, I know," said Nellie. "I won't feel like that again. It was
only because it was the first time I saw the ocean. I'm never
homesick or blue. I don't believe in making people pity you all the
time." And the brave little girl jumped up, dried her eyes, and
looked as if she would never cry again as long as she lived--like one
who had cried it out and done with it.
"Yes, you must have a good time with the girls," said Mrs. Minturn.
"I guess you need fun more than any medicine."
That evening at dinner Nellie was her bright happy self again, and the
three girls chatted merrily about all the good times they would have
at the seashore.
There was a ride to the depot after dinner, for Mrs. Manily insisted
that she had to leave for the city that evening, and after a game of
ball on the lawn, in which everybody, even Flossie and Freddie, had a
hand, the children prepared to retire. There was to be a shell hunt
very early in the morning (that was a long walk on the beach, looking
for choice shells), so the girls wanted to go to bed an hour before
the usual time.
"Wait till the clock strikes, Nellie," sang Dorothy, as they went
upstairs, and, of course, no one but Nan knew what she meant.
Two hours after this the house was all quiet, when suddenly, there was
the buzz of an alarm clock.
"What was that?" asked Mrs. Minturn, coming out in the hall.
"An alarm clock," called Nellie, in whose room the disturbance was.
"I found it under my pillow," she added innocently, never suspecting
that Dorothy had put it there purposely.
By and by everything was quiet again, when another gong went off.
"Well, I declare!" said Mrs. Minturn. "I do believe Dorothy has been
up to some pranks."
_"Ding--a-ling--a-long--a-ling!"_ went the clock, and Nellie was
laughing outright, as she searched about the room for the newest
alarm. She had a good hunt, too, for the clock was in the shoe box in
the farthest corner of the room.
After that there was quite an intermission, as Dorothy expressed it.
Even Nellie had stopped laughing and felt very sleepy, when another
clock started.
This was the big gong that belonged in Susan's room, and at the sound
of it Freddie rushed out in the hall, yelling.
"That's a fire bell! Fire! fire! fire!" he shouted, while everybody
else came out this time to investigate the disturbance.
"Now, Dorothy!" said Mrs. Minturn, "I know you have done this. Where
did you put those clocks?"
Dorothy only laughed in reply, for the big bell was ringing furiously
all the time. Nellie had her dressing robe on, and opened the door to
those outside her room.
"I guess it's ghosts," she laughed. "They are all over."
"A serenade," called Bert, from his door.
"What ails dem der clocks?" shouted Dinah. "'Pears like as if dey had
a fit, suah. Nebber heard such clockin' since we was in de country,"
and Susan, who had discovered the loss of her clock, laughed heartily,
knowing very well who had taken the alarm away.
When the fifteen minutes were up that clock stopped, and another
started. Then there was a regularly cannonading, Bert said, for there
was scarcely a moment's quiet until every one of the six clocks had
gone off "bing, bang, biff," as Freddie said.
There was no use trying to locate them, for they went off so rapidly
that Nellie knew they would go until they were "all done," so she just
sat down and waited.
"Think you'll wake up in time?" asked Dorothy, full of mischief as she
came into the clock corner.
"I guess so," Nellie answered, laughing. "We surely were alarmed
to-night." Then aside to Nan, Nellie whispered: "Wait, we'll get even
with her, won't we?" And Nan nodded with a sparkle in her eyes.