"_Macbeth._ If we should fail--
"_Lady M._ We fail!
But screw your courage to the sticking place,
And we'll not fail."
--_Shakespeare._
Sunday morning came and our young friends met at the breakfast table,
not in their usual jesting, mirthful mood, but with cheerful gravity of
demeanor, suited to the sacredness of the day.
"There is no preaching, no sort of religious service within our reach
to-day," Edward remarked.
"Then shall we not have one of our own?" asked Mary. "I have a book of
sermons: one might be read aloud; then we can have three prayers and as
many hymns as we please; we all sing."
"And we might have a Bible reading also," suggested Ella. "And suppose
we take up the International Sunday-school Lesson and study it."
All these propositions were received with favor and eventually carried
out.
They did not think it wrong to stroll quietly along the shore, or to sit
there watching the play of the billows, and thus they ended their
afternoon.
The evening was pleasantly spent in serious talk and the singing of
hymns on the front porch, where they could feel the breeze and see the
foam-crested waves by the light of a young moon.
They retired early, feeling that they had had an enjoyable, restful day,
and rose betimes, full of life and vigor--except Amy; and even she felt
equal to a longer stroll than she had yet taken.
The days flew by on swift wings, each bringing its duties and enjoyments
with it, and so pleasant was the gay, free life they led that at times
they half regretted that it must come to an end.
Yet there were other times when some, if not all of them, anticipated,
with real satisfaction, the return to the more serious business of life.
There was a very frequent exchange of visits between their party and the
one to which Edward and Violet more properly belonged; sometimes by way
of the cars, at others by riding or driving; so that Violet was never
many days without sight and speech of her mother and some of the other
dear ones at home; and that reconciled her to a longer absence from it.
At length the younger Elsie was persuaded to come and spend a few days
with Mary and her party, the mother consenting to spare both daughters
for that length of time. The sweet girl's presence added much to the
enjoyment of all, especially her sister, for their mutual attachment had
always been very strong.
One day there was a large fishing party, composed principally of guests
from other houses, which both Elsie and Violet declined to attend; but
Vi, fired with a laudable ambition to emulate her cousin Mary's skill in
the culinary art, volunteered to get dinner, and have it ready by the
time the others returned.
Each one of them offered to stay and assist, but she would not hear of
it; laughingly asserting that "she wanted all the honor and glory, and
wouldn't have anybody with her but Elsie, who knew nothing about
cooking, but would keep her from being 'lone and lorn,' and perhaps help
a little in those things which were so easy that even the lads could do
them," she concluded, with a merry glance from one to the other.
Edward was not there, some errand having taken him home by the morning
train.
"Can you stand that insinuation, Donald?" asked Charlie. "I vote that
you and I stay at home to-morrow and get dinner, just to prove our skill
in that line."
"Agreed," said Donald; "but what's to be done with the lasses in the
meantime? We can't let them go off pleasuring alone."
"Oh, Edward can take care of them all for once; he's to be back by
dinner-time to-day, you know, so will be on hand here to-morrow."
"Thank you," said Ella, laughing, and with a mock courtesy, "but we are
entirely capable of taking care of ourselves, as perhaps we may prove to
you one of these days. But here's the carriage at the gate. Come, Amy,
I'll help you in. Let us show these lords of creation that they are of
not quite so great importance as they are pleased to imagine."
She ran gayly out, Amy following a little more slowly, with a regretful
good-bye to the two who were to remain at home.
The lads hurried after, in season to forestall Ella in assisting Amy
into the vehicle, which the former had hastily entered unaided, before
they could reach it.
Mary lingered behind a moment to say to Elsie and Violet that she did
not in the least care to go, indeed would prefer to stay with them.
"No, no, cousin Mary," they both said, "we would not have you miss the
sport, or deprive the rest of the pleasure of your society."
"Besides," added Violet, with a merry look and smile, "if you were here
I know very well I should miss the opportunity to distinguish myself as
a capable and accomplished cook. So away with you, fair lady! See, the
lads are waiting to hand you into the carriage."
"Good-bye then, but don't attempt an elaborate dinner," Mary returned,
as she hastened away.
The sisters stood on the little porch watching the departure till the
carriage was out of sight.
Just then a boy carrying a large basket opened the gate and came in.
"That's right, you are just in good time," was Vi's greeting. "Please
carry them into the kitchen. Have you brought all I ordered?"
"Yes'm; potatoes, corn, beans, tomats, cabbage, lettuce, and young
beets. All right fresh and nice."
Violet paid him and he left.
"There, I shall have a sufficient variety of vegetables," she remarked,
viewing her purchase with satisfaction.
"O Vi," sighed Elsie, with a look of apprehension, "do you in the least
know what you are about?"
"Why of course, you dear old goosie! haven't I watched Cousin Mary's
cooking operations for over two weeks? Oh I assure you I'm going to have
a fine dinner! There's a chicken all ready for the oven--cousin showed
me how to make the stuffing and all that. I've engaged fresh fish and
oysters--they'll be coming in directly. I shall make an oyster pie and
broil the fish. I mean to make a boiled pudding and sauce for dessert,
and have bought nuts, raisins and almonds, oranges, bananas and candies
besides, and engaged ice cream and cake."
"Your bill of fare sounds very good, but what if you should fail in the
cooking?"
"Oh, no such word as fail for me!" laughed Vi. "I've screwed my courage
to the sticking place, and don't intend to fail. Now we must don our big
aprons and to work; you'll help me with the vegetables, I know."
"Willingly, if you'll show me how."
Violet felt very wise and important as she gave her older sister the
requested instruction, then went bustling about making her pudding and
pastry: for she decided to add tarts to her bill of fare, and the oyster
pie must have a very nice crust.
But as she proceeded with her preparations she discovered that her
knowledge was deficient in regard to many of the details of the business
in hand; she did not know exactly how much time to allow for the cooking
of each dish--how long it would take the chicken to roast, pie and tarts
to bake, pudding and vegetables to boil.
She grew anxious and nervous in her perplexity; there was no one to give
her the needed information, the cookery books did not supply it, and in
sheer desperation she filled her oven, her pots and kettles as fast as
possible, saying to Elsie it would surely be better to have food a
little overdone than not sufficiently cooked.
It proved an unfortunate decision, especially as the fishing party were
an hour later in returning than had been expected.
Poor Violet was too much mortified to eat when she discovered that there
was no sweetness left in the corn, that her potatoes were water-soaked,
her oysters tough as leather, the chicken scorched and very much
overdone, the fish burnt almost to a cinder, and--oh worst of all!
cooked with the scales on. She had forgotten they had any.
Her friends all comforted her, however, taking the blame on themselves.
"If they had not been so late, things would not have been so overdone;
it was their fault. And the lettuce, the cold-slaw, and bread and butter
were all very nice. The tarts too."
But as soon as she tasted them Violet knew she had forgotten the salt in
her crust and that it was tough compared to her Cousin Mary's.
And then the pudding! oh why did it turn out so heavy? Ah, she had made
it with sour milk and put in no soda.
"Oh what shall I do?" she said despairingly to Mary, who was helping her
to dish it up. "There's hardly anything fit to eat, and I know you are
all very hungry."
"Indeed, dear little coz, there is a great deal that's fit to eat,"
Mary said, glancing toward he table on which the last course was set
out--except the ice cream, which had not yet been taken out of the
freezer.
"Yes, those are nice, but the substantial of the meal--just what are
most needed--are all spoiled. Oh what's that?" with a sudden change of
tone as a man bearing a large hamper appeared at the open door;
"something from mamma, I do believe."
"Yes," said Edward, stepping in after the man as the latter set the
hamper down; "and as it's more than an hour past dinner time, I suppose
it's very well I didn't come empty handed."
"O Ned, Ned, you dear, good fellow!" cried Violet, springing to his side
and throwing her arms around his neck.
"Yes, you may well say that!" he returned, laughing, as he gave her a
kiss, then put her aside and stooped to open the basket, "for I told
mother what you were attempting to-day, and she said 'The poor, dear
child! she will surely fail, so I'll send some provisions with you when
you go.' And here they are, all of the best, of course, for mamma never
does anything by halves," he added, beginning to hand out the viands--a
pair of cold roast fowls, a boiled tongue, pickles, jellies, pies and
cakes in variety,--Mary and Vi receiving them with exclamations of
satisfaction, delight and thankfulness which quickly brought the others
upon the scene, just as the bearer of the hamper, who had gone out on
setting it down, re-entered with a basket of of beautiful, luscious
looking peaches and grapes.
"Hello!" exclaimed Charlie, in high glee, "what's all this? a second
dinner?"
"Yes," returned Violet, "my dear, good mother's atonement for her
conceited daughter's failure."
"No, no, we don't call it a failure, nor the cook conceited," cried a
chorus of voices; "some things are very nice, and others were spoiled by
our fault in coming home so late."
"Well, please come back to the table and we'll begin again," said
Violet, carrying the fowls into the dining-room, Mary following with the
tongue, Elsie and Ella with other edibles.
"Please, some of you, help me carry away dinner number one, to make room
for dinner number two," said Vi, replacing the dish containing her
unfortunate chicken with the one on which she had put the new arrivals.
Upon that everybody seized one or more of the dishes and hurried back to
the kitchen; and so with a great rushing to and fro and amid much
laughter and many merry jests they respread the board.
Violet's spirits and appetite had returned, and she joined the others in
making a hearty meal.
The next morning was cloudy and cool for the season. All agreed it was
just the day for a long stroll inland, and shortly after breakfast they
set out in a body--Mary, Ella and Edward leading the van, Donald and
Edward's two sisters coming next, Charlie and Amy bringing up the rear.
There seemed to be a tacit understanding that those two were always to
be together and no remark was ever made about it, but Charlie always
quietly took possession of the fragile little lady, just as if he had
entered into bonds to be her care-taker and entertainer, accommodating
his pace to hers, which was so much slower than that most natural to the
others that they often unintentionally left her far behind.
They presently met Mrs. Perkins, Fred and Susie, who were also starting
out for a walk, and the two parties joined their forces.
They passed through the village, and sat down for a little while on some
rustic benches under the trees on the river bank, to rest and enjoy the
pleasing prospect.
The village lay behind them; before, green slopes dotted here and there
with trees standing singly or in groups; then the sparkling river, to
the left, beyond the bridge, widening into a lake-like expanse, to the
right pouring its waters into the great ocean, on whose broad bosom many
ships, steamers and smaller craft could be seen, some near, others far
away in the distance.
The surface of the river too was enlivened by a number of small
sail-boats slowly moving before the wind, and skiffs that darted hither
and thither. On the further bank the scene was diversified by woods and
fields, with here and there a farm-house, then the sandy beach bordering
the wide blue sea.
"Are you quite tired out, Amy?" Charlie asked after a little.
"Oh no, I'm quite rested," she answered gayly, "and feel able to walk a
good deal farther. I am really surprised to find how strong and well I
am."
"The sea-shore's the place for you evidently," he said; then as she
sprang up nimbly to join the others as they rose and moved on again,
"But I don't know that it would be best to keep you here too long; you
might grow so strong as to feel capable of dispensing with any help from
other folks."
"Which would be very delightful indeed," she returned with an arch look
and smile as she accepted his offered arm.
They hastened on after the rest of their party, over a bridge and along
the roadside for some distance, then they all struck into a narrow
footpath on the farther side of the fence, the young men letting down
the bars to give the ladies easy ingress, and followed that through a
bit of woods, crossing a little stream by a broken bridge, where again
the lads had the pleasure of giving assistance to their companions of
the weaker sex; then across some cornfields; making a circuit that
brought them back to the river.
The path now ran along its bank, and still pursuing it they came at
length to a little inlet where was neither bridge nor boat.
There they stopped and held a consultation. No one wanted to go back by
the way they had come, it was too long and roundabout; if they could but
cross this inlet they could soon reach one of the life-saving stations
on the other side, and there probably find some one who would carry them
across the river in a boat, when a short walk along the beach would take
them to their temporary homes.
"The water is not deep, I think," said Donald. "I propose that we lads
strip off boots and stockings, wade through and carry the ladies over. I
will wade across first and try its depth."
He did so, spite of some protests from the more timid of the ladies, and
found it hardly knee-deep. All then agreed to his proposition.
"Edward and I will make a chair by clasping hands," he said gayly, "and
Fred and Charlie can do likewise if they will, and we will divide the
honor of carrying the ladies over dryshod."
Donald had a purpose in selecting Edward as his companion and helper in
the undertaking; feeling pretty certain that Elsie and Violet would
choose to be carried by their brother, which they did.
"I see through you, young man," Charlie said to Donald in a laughing
aside while making ready for the trip, "but I don't care very much, if
you leave Miss Fletcher for me."
"All right," returned Donald, "I intended to, for I see which way the
wind blows. She's light too, my lad, and will be the better suited to
your strength."
"Strength, man! I'm as able to lift and carry as Lieutenant Keith, if
I'm not greatly mistaken," Charlie said with pretended wrath, "and to
prove it I speak for the carrying of Mrs. Perkins and Miss Neff, who
must be a trifle heavier than any of the other ladies."
"All right; but fortunately there isn't one in the party heavy enough to
be any great burden to either of us."
So amid a good deal of mirth and laughter and some timidity and
shrinking on the part of the younger girls, the short journey was made,
and that without mishap or loss.
Then a short, though toilsome walk through the soft yielding sand
brought them to the life-saving station, a small two-story frame
building standing high on the sandy beach, the restless billows of old
ocean tossing and tumbling not many rods away.
They were courteously treated by the brave fellows who make this their
abode during eight months of the year, were shown the room on the lower
floor where they cook and eat, the two above where they sleep, and also
all the apparatus for saving the shipwrecked and any others who may be
in danger of drowning within reach of their aid.
Our friends were all greatly interested in looking at these things--the
colored lamps and flags for signalling, the life-boat, the breeches-buoy
and the life-car--this last especially: it was of metal, shaped like a
row-boat, but covered in over the top, except a square opening large
enough to admit one passenger at a time, and having a sliding door, the
closing of which, after the passengers are in, makes the car completely
water-tight.
"How many will it hold?" asked Edward.
"Six or seven grown folks, if they are not very large sized."
"Oh, I should think they would smother!" cried Violet.
"It is only about three or four minutes they'd have to stay in it," said
the exhibitor.
Then he showed them the thick, strong rope or hawser on which it
runs, and the mortar by means of which they send a line to the
distressed vessel with a tally-board attached on which are printed
directions--English on one side, French on the other--for the proper
securing of the hawser to the wreck.
"The other end is made fast on shore, I suppose?" said Amy inquiringly.
"Yes, Miss."
"And when they have made their end fast and got into the car--"
"Then we pull 'em ashore."
"Not a particularly pleasant ride to take, I imagine," remarked Donald.
"Not so very sir; she's apt to be tossed about pretty roughly by the big
waves; turn over several times, liker than not."
"Yes, I suppose so."
"Oh," cried Amy, with a shudder, "I think I'd almost rather drown."
"No, Miss," said the man, "I guess you'd find even that better'n
drowning."
Having fully satisfied their curiosity, our friends inquired if there
was anybody about there who would take them across the river.
"Yes, sir, I'll row you across, half of you at a time," answered the
man, addressing Donald, who had acted as spokesman for the party. "All
of you at once would be too big a load for the boat."
It was but a short walk to the river, a few minutes' row across it, and
soon they were all on the farther side and walking along the beach
toward home.
"Dinner time!" exclaimed Ella, looking at her watch. "What's to be done
about it?"
Her question seemed to be addressed to Mary.
"Don't ask me," was the demure reply. "It's none of my concern to-day.
Didn't you hear the agreement between Charlie and Don yesterday?"
"There! Mr. Charles Perrine, see the scrape you have got yourself and me
into!" exclaimed Donald with a perplexed and rueful look.
"What in the world are we to do!" cried Charlie, stopping short with his
hand upon the gate and turning so as to face the others.
"Get in out of the sun for the first thing," replied his cousin.
"Yes, yes, of course!" and he stepped back and held the gate open for
the ladies to pass in.
"We are all hungry as bears, I suppose," he said when they were fairly
in the house. "Come, Mary, be good and tell us what to do. Shall we go
to one of the hotels?"
"No, make the fire, set the table, and grind some coffee," she answered,
laughing. "I foresaw that I'd have to come to the rescue, and am
prepared. We'll have coffee, stewed oysters, cold fowl left from
yesterday, plenty of good bread, rolls and butter, fruits and cake, and
it won't take many minutes to get it ready."
"Mary, you're a jewel!" Charlie returned, catching her about the waist
and kissing her on both cheeks.
"Begone, you impertinent fellow!" she said laughingly as she released
herself and pushed him away. "Even a cousin shouldn't take such
liberties."