BLUE BONNET'S BIRTHDAY
"SIXTEEN to-day!" was Blue Bonnet's first thought as she opened her
eyes next morning.
Could it be only a year since her last birthday? Less than a year
since she had first seen Grandmother? Why, it seemed now as if she
must have known Grandmother and Aunt Lucinda all her life! She tried
to remember how she used to feel before she ever left the ranch;
before she had ever seen Woodford, or the We are Sevens, or--but the
list seemed interminable; she gave up trying to recall how the Blue
Bonnet of that careless time had thought and felt and spent her days.
Was every year to bring as many new experiences, as many new faces
into her life? Surely not if she stayed on the ranch, and if she
went-- But Uncle Cliff had said that question was to be banished for
this day.
Rising and dressing noiselessly, she stole out of the nursery for one
of her usual early morning romps. Being sixteen should not rob her of
the right to be a child at this hour of the day!
"Wish me many happy returns, Solomon!" she cried as the dogs raced to
her across the yard. "Don, this is the fifth occasion of this sort
you've attended,--you're getting on in years, too. Come on, I'll race
you to the fence!"
Uncle Cliff watched her from the pasture, a chuckle of satisfaction
escaping him at this evidence of untamed tomboyism. He met her as she
came up flushed and breathless.
"Getting mighty dignified since you turned sixteen, aren't you?"
Her laughing face peered at him over the rough old logs. "Not so you'd
notice it!"
"I reckon I ought to thump you sixteen times and one to grow on. But
that would make it necessary to climb the fence. How would you like
kisses instead?"
"Give me the big one to grow on, anyway." She held up her lips. "And
now I must run in to Grandmother,--she must have the next."
She found the Señora waiting for her in the living-room.
"I'm so glad you're alone, Grandmother. I wanted you all to myself for
a minute or two." She went straight into the arms Grandmother held out
to her, was folded close for a moment and received a second kiss "to
grow on."
[Illustration: "IT WAS AN EXQUISITE MINIATURE, PAINTED ON IVORY."]
"While we're alone I want to tell you something," Blue Bonnet said
earnestly, "--about this last year, I mean. I never have said just
what I've felt. It has been the best of all years, Grandmother, and
the best of all the good things it has brought me--is you."
"Thank you, dear. And you must know, Blue Bonnet, without my telling
you how great a comfort you are to me."
"Truly, Grandmother,--a comfort?"
"Beyond words, dear." And Grandmother gave her another kiss to grow
on. "And now, Blue Bonnet, here is something for your birthday."
Blue Bonnet took the dainty package and unwrapped it with fingers that
trembled a little. Within the paper was a box, and inside that,
looking out from a frame of dull Roman gold, was her mother's face. It
was an exquisite miniature, painted on ivory. The rose-tints of the
flesh and the deep tender blue of the eyes that smiled up at her, made
the portrait seem a living thing. Blue Bonnet could not speak. She
gazed and gazed at the dear features until her eyes blurred and she
had to put up her hand to brush the tears away.
"Oh, Grandmother--!" Her lip quivered and she could say no more.
But Grandmother understood.
"Your aunt had it done from a photograph while she was in Rome. The
painter was a Boston woman--an old friend of ours who knew your
mother, Blue Bonnet. That is why the coloring is so true. The eyes are
your eyes--can't you see, dear?"
"Am I truly like her?"
"So like, Blue Bonnet, that sometimes it seems as if Elizabeth had
never left me."
"I'm glad, Grandmother. Oh, how I shall treasure this! How can I ever
thank you and Aunt Lucinda? There come the others,--I think I won't
show them this just now. I'd rather let them see it one at a time.
Somehow a crowd--"
"I understand, Blue Bonnet."
It was well that she and her grandmother had made the most of that
quiet five minutes before breakfast; for it was the last peaceful
moment that day.
As all the gay party trooped into the dining-room with its long table
looking like a real banquet board, a big floral decoration was the
first thing to greet all eyes. A long low basket of closely woven
fibres formed a centrepiece, and inside it, growing so densely that
only a vivid mass of blue showed above the brim, were blue bonnets in
bloom.
"How sweet! Where did they come from?" Blue Bonnet demanded, looking
from face to face.
"There's a card on the handle," some one suggested.
Blue Bonnet bent and read: "Blue Bonnet's namesakes wish her many
happy returns of the day." Looking up she caught Alec's eye. "You?"
she asked.
"Guilty!" he confessed.
"You clever boy! You couldn't have given me anything I should love as
much. How did you ever do it?"
"Easy enough. Planted the seeds and took care of them,--had a bad
scare for fear they wouldn't bloom in time. I've had them back of
Marta's cabin and she's been sitting up nights with them!"
They all crowded about the table for a closer view.
"I'm so glad we can see some blue bonnets before leaving. That's been
the one thing necessary to complete Texas!" exclaimed Kitty.
"Sure you don't mean ivy?" asked Alec in an undertone.
She wilted. "Sh! Please don't remind me of that,--I was almost happy
again!"
"No symptoms yet?" he asked.
"None--yet. I live in hopes!"
"Let's wait till after breakfast before we give Blue Bonnet our
gifts," suggested Sarah. "She'll enjoy them more, I think."
"Not to mention our enjoyment!" laughed Kitty.
The suggestion was followed, and at the conclusion of the meal, Blue
Bonnet kept her seat and opened the rest of her packages with the eyes
of all the crowd upon her. Very simple were the gifts, as the Woodford
girls had slender purses; but the love and good will that went with
the presents made up for their lack of material value.
From Kitty there was a dainty sewing apron of muslin, with pretty blue
bows on the pockets; from Amanda, a fancy-work bag, and from Debby a
complicated needlecase. A silver thimble from Susy and Ruth completed
these very feminine accessories.
Alec's eyes twinkled as Blue Bonnet tried the thimble on her slender
finger-tip. "If you're not a model of industry after this, Blue
Bonnet, it will prove you're rather slow at taking a hint!"
The girls joined heartily in the laugh against them, though they
professed entire innocence of any such intention as Alec implied.
Sarah's gift provoked a chorus of exclamations. From the fine
drawn-work, the hand-made tucks, to the tiny irreproachable
buttonholes, the waist was a triumph of the needlewoman's art.
"It's the prettiest one I ever had!" Blue Bonnet declared. She would
have liked to jump up and kiss Sarah, the dear old thing! But with
eight boys looking on, such a demonstration might appear done for
effect, she concluded; and so reserved that mark of affection for a
future occasion.
When the girls had presented their offerings, Knight came up and
dropped a paper parcel into her lap. On the card tied to the blue
ribbon that decorated it was written: "To the Good Samaritan from the
One Who Fell by the Wayside." There was a laugh in Knight's eyes as he
watched her read the inscription and then unwrap the tissue-paper
that enclosed the object.
Blue Bonnet lifted the lid of the long narrow box, took one look, and
met Knight's eyes with an answering laugh in her own. Inside the box
was a shimmering red silk sash. Knight had kept his promise to himself
to buy Blue Bonnet the "fanciest thing in the sash line that Chicago
could boast"--even though it had taken the last penny of his pocket
money.
"It's a beauty!" she declared.
"Knight must expect another spill to-day," laughed Alec.
Blue Bonnet looked about the circle with a bright, quick glance. "I'm
not going to try to say 'thank you' to everybody,--those two words
would be quite worn out by the time I finished!"
"Come along, everybody," said Uncle Cliff, "it's time for the
festivities to begin."
As they left the dining-room, Carita slipped her arm about Blue Bonnet
and whispered regretfully: "I wish I had a present for you. I didn't
know in time or I could have made something."
Blue Bonnet gave her an impulsive squeeze. "Why, Carita, you're a
birthday present yourself!"
Blue Bonnet's promise to Ruth in regard to the steer-roping contest,
proved almost literally true. This was the great feature of the day to
the Mexicans, and their delight in the sport knew no bounds. They
made a brilliant picture as they stood or squatted about the corral
gate, the women in their bright yellow, red and purple calicoes; and
the men in their tight trousers, serapes rainbow hued, gay sashes and
enormous peaked hats. The scene was full of life, color and motion.
Ruth's thin cheeks grew pink with excitement. "What's going to happen
first?" she asked Blue Bonnet.
"You see those steers inside the gate? Well, Pancho will drive one out
and while it is running like mad, Josef--he has the first turn--will
lasso, throw it, and tie its feet together with that short rope he
has. Then, one after another, the rest of the cowboys will do the same
thing, and the one that does it in the shortest time will get the
prize and be declared champion of the Blue Bonnet ranch."
"The world's record is thirty-seven seconds," Knight added, "but it
has to be a hustler who can do it under a minute."
"Look--there comes one now!" screamed Kitty.
The contest was swift, breathless and soon over. The corral gate was
opened and through it driven a steer. Outside, mounted on a swift
cow-pony rode Josef, awaiting the signal to start in pursuit. On came
the steer with long frightened leaps, after him the vaquero with
lariat whirling around his head. Suddenly the rope whistled, hissed
through the air, dropped and coiled about the steer's front feet. A
quick movement on the part of both rider and horse; the lariat
tightened, and the steer pitched on to its side. Josef leaped from his
pony, bent over his victim, and, in far less time than it takes to
tell it, had tied three of the kicking hoofs together. The cowboy
rose, grinning, amid the cheers of the delighted audience; and
remounting his horse, coolly rolled a cigarette.
"Sixty-three seconds," said Knight, who was time-keeper.
One after another the cowboys took their turns, and every fraction of
a second shaved from Josef's record, sent the Mexicans wild with
excitement. It was Lupe who was finally declared champion, and
received from Blue Bonnet's hands the silver-braided Mexican sombrero
that was the prize.
"I wonder why Miguel didn't try," Blue Bonnet remarked, as Lupe walked
proudly away with his trophy. "He's always been able to beat Lupe."
"I asked Pancho where Miguel was," said Alec, "and he said no one had
seen him to-day. Maybe Juanita objects to steer-roping!" They smiled
with a secret understanding.
"How do you like the sport?" Blue Bonnet asked, turning to Ruth.
"It's exciting,--but isn't it cruel, Blue Bonnet?"
"I reckon the steer thinks so," Blue Bonnet confessed. "But the
cowboys have to practise, you know, for at the round-up that's the way
they have to throw the calves to brand them."
"Then I don't want to see a round-up!" Ruth declared.
Next came races in the pasture, and in these the girls and boys were
the contestants. Blue ribbons were the awards pinned on the winners by
Blue Bonnet herself, and the rivalry for them was intense. Leaning
against the pasture fence which formed the "grandstand" General Trent,
Uncle Cliff, Uncle Joe, Mrs. Clyde, Susy, Ruth and Blue Bonnet watched
and applauded; while the Mexicans, squatting about in characteristic
attitudes, chattered and laughed like a lot of children.
As Sarah swept by on Comanche to take her place at the starting-line,
Ruth and Susy turned amazed and questioning eyes on Blue Bonnet. She
laughed at their expressions of wonder.
"Keep your eye on Sarah!" she bade them. "Comanche is one of the
swiftest horses on the ranch, and he and our Sallykins are on the best
of terms."
To Blue Bonnet's secret delight Sarah won the first race. As she
pinned the blue ribbon to the winner's middy blouse, her own face
beamed the triumph that Sarah was too modest to betray.
"Aren't you going in for any others?" Ruth asked, as Sarah returned
on foot and dropped on the blanket beside her.
"No, I only rode in that race to keep the girls from calling me
'fraid-cat.' I'm sure Father wouldn't approve of horse-racing."
Ruth laughed. "You are the same old Sarah! I was beginning to believe
that the Blue Bonnet ranch had bewitched you."
"Don't say 'bewitched,'" Blue Bonnet interrupted, "locoed is the word
we use in Texas."
The birthday dinner, served early as was the custom at the ranch, was
the most animated of feasts, of which the birthday-cake with its
sixteen blazing candles was the grand climax. It was fat Lisa herself
who waddled in and deposited her masterpiece in front of the Señorita,
and then lingered to see how it looked after cutting.
"It's divine, Lisa,--a complete success!" Blue Bonnet cried, and the
cook grinned delightedly. As Lisa turned to leave the room, Blue
Bonnet detained her to whisper--"Why is Benita waiting on table
alone?--where's Juanita?"
"Who knows?" returned Lisa with a shrug of her massive shoulders.
"That _niña_ is run off and Gertrudis means to thrash her."
"Oh, Lisa, she mustn't!" Blue Bonnet said in genuine distress. "Tell
Gertrudis I'll come out and see her after dinner."
She found Gertrudis slamming about the dishes in a most reckless
fashion and muttering to herself angrily. To Blue Bonnet's plea in
behalf of the absent Juanita she returned only stormy answers.
"No, Señorita, she is spoiled for lack of thrashing. Run off on the
Señorita's birthday! With a horde to wait on! And enough work for
fifty lazy things like herself!"
No, Juanita should be thrashed if ever she could lay hands on her.
Blue Bonnet could not sway her from her purpose, and finally gave up
arguing and left the kitchen, vowing mentally to prevent the angry old
woman from carrying out her threat. But in the excitement of the
evening's festivities, she forgot all about it.
What an evening it was! Not one of the boys and girls lucky enough to
be there would ever forget the scene. The broad verandas on which half
the furniture of the house had been brought to form cosy-corners and
lounging places; the soft gleam of Chinese lanterns strung among the
trees; the music of Shady's violin, augmented by a flute and cello
from Jonah, to which they danced on the croquet-ground; and everywhere
the We are Sevens, stately in trains and hair dressed high, tripping
and laughing and flirting their fans in the manner fondly believed to
be that of high-born Spanish dames.
Susy and Ruth had obligingly crammed their trunks with the attic
treasures of the various Woodford families, and the costumes, while
not strictly Spanish, were quite gorgeous and "partified" enough to
satisfy these finery-loving young folk. Among them they had managed to
fit out Carita too, and she, in a yellow gown with velvety
gold-of-Ophir roses in the dusky coils of her hair, looked like a real
maid of Andalusia. Blue Bonnet, in her red satin gown, which had not
seen the light since the night it had been worn for the benefit of the
Boston relatives, was a picture.
Alec came up to her in the middle of the evening and made a low bow.
"Señorita Blue Bonnetta, you look charming to-night, but it strikes me
you're carrying things with a high hand. Why, among all your humble
subjects, am I not favored with a dance or promenade? You've been
engaged three deep every time I've asked you."
For a minute Blue Bonnet toyed with her fan without speaking. She had
purposely avoided Alec for a reason she considered good and
sufficient. There was an explanation due her from him, and that also,
she was resolved, should be "good and sufficient" or she would not
accept it. And it seemed best, if there was to be any clash between
them, that it should not come on her birthday. She would not easily
forgive him for urging her to write that letter to the General.
As she hesitated and a surprised look crept into Alec's eyes, there
came a great outcry from the direction of Marta's cabin,--shouts,
cheers and bursts of laughter.
"The Mexicans must be doing stunts,--let's go and see," Alec
suggested.
Gathering up her train Blue Bonnet hurried with him to the Mexican
quarters, where the noisy crowd had assembled. Half way there they met
Gertrudis, also headed for the scene of merriment.
"It's that Juanita, they say," she cried, "come back after all the
work's done!" Her swarthy face was dark with anger; in her hand was a
willow switch.
"Hurry!" cried Blue Bonnet. "Let's get there first, Alec,--she means
to thrash Juanita!"
Running and tripping on her long dress Blue Bonnet reached the group
and at her appearance the Mexicans burst into renewed cheering.
"The Señorita!" they cried and parted to make room for her.
"What is it--what's all the noise about?" asked Alec.
But, as the circle parted, revealing a tableau in the centre, he and
Blue Bonnet needed no explanation. Standing hand in hand, in attitudes
expressing both embarrassment and triumph, were--Miguel and Juanita.
"Ran off to Jonah and got married!" chuckled Pinto Pete.
Blue Bonnet and Alec gazed at each other in stupefaction for a second,
then Blue Bonnet glanced hastily about for Gertrudis. The change in
the old woman was instantaneous. She turned to Blue Bonnet with a
grin.
"That Miguel makes good wages!" she cried. The anger had faded from
her face, and instead of the switch, Juanita received her blessing.
"What a mercenary old thing Gertrudis is!" exclaimed Blue Bonnet, as,
after congratulating the happy pair, she and Alec walked back to the
house.
"She's a sensible woman," Alec remarked provokingly. "Most of the
Mexicans are lazy old loafers,--but Miguel has a streak of real
American industry."
"Well," said Blue Bonnet, "I little expected my birthday party to be
turned into a wedding!"
When the last candle had been blown out and all was quiet except for
the echo of music and laughter from the Mexican quarters, where the
wedding festivities were continued almost till dawn, Blue Bonnet
slipped into her grandmother's room for a last word before retiring.
"The sixteenth has been the best birthday of all," she said happily.
"Are you quite tired out, Grandmother?"
And Mrs. Clyde, bending to kiss the glowing face upturned to her,
replied: "No, dear. It has been a beautiful party. But I'm glad for
all our sakes that Blue Bonnet Ashe has but one birthday a year!"