"Yes, yes, although I had not meant to tell you, it is my little
contribution to the plan you all have made for helping the Rosas. I have
been wishing to do something, and it seemed better to give this now,
when the money was so much needed, rather than to wait until later, as
at one time I had thought of doing. Though I am sure," she continued
modestly, "that there would have been little trouble in raising the
money, only I thought that it was better for me to make my contribution
promptly now, while you were----"
"Then it was just to help me; so that there would not be so much fault
finding with me. Why you are a perfect angel, Julia," cried Brenda.
"Hardly," said Julia, laughing. "Hardly an angel, though if this makes
you feel more comfortable, I shall be very happy."
Brenda was on the point of asking her cousin how she happened to have
all this money, for the more she thought about it, the stranger it
seemed.
Before she could ask a question, Julia however had bidden her good-bye,
saying that she had an engagement with Edith, and Brenda was forced to
wait an opportunity for getting the information she wished from her
mother. After all, the explanation was fairly simple. Brenda and Belle
without good grounds had decided at the first that Julia was entirely
dependent on Mr. Barlow. Instead of this Julia had a good income of her
own, which when she came of age would be largely increased. The girls
had wrongly assumed that Julia was studying and working diligently
simply because she expected at some time to be obliged to earn her
living, whereas the real motive behind all her efforts was her genuine
love of study. Had circumstances made it necessary Julia would have
enjoyed the teacher's profession, as a means of earning her living. In
fact sometimes when she thought about her future she found herself
regretting that she could not adopt this profession. But she knew that
the ranks were already fairly crowded, and she felt that she would have
no right to enter a profession that could barely support those who
needed it as a means of livelihood. Brenda and Belle had made many
mistakes not only in their estimation of her fortune but in the reading
of her character.
Brenda was beginning to find out her own mistakes, and when once she was
convinced of a fault she was seldom slow to acknowledge it. In the end
she would have been fair to Julia even if her cousin had not established
a certain claim upon her by her generosity towards the Rosas. For really
by giving the money so promptly she had saved Brenda from a continuation
of annoying criticism. Two hundred dollars was not an extremely large
sum for a rich girl to give to a good cause, but Julia's delicacy and
thoughtfulness made Brenda her firm friend. Belle, naturally enough, was
not so ready to change her point of view. When she did permit herself to
show greater cordiality towards Julia, it was rather because she had a
full appreciation of what it would mean to her to have a girl of Julia's
wealth her friend. It was hard for Belle to take an impersonal view of
anything, and this, perhaps, was largely the reason why she became of
less consequence in the little set which had been called "The Four
Club." As the others of the quartette grew older, Belle's selfishness
became more and more disagreeable to them. Although there was still a
quartette of friends, Julia began to have the fourth place, while Belle
gradually withdrew to the more congenial society of Frances Pounder. But
in saying this I am anticipating a little, for Belle retained her
interest in the Rosas long enough to be one of those who helped move the
little family to the little house which had been chosen for them in
Shiloh.
XXXI
THE SHILOH PICNIC
Miss South and Julia were the leaders in the work of removing the Rosas
from the city. Julia showed remarkable ability, and the more she had to
do the better she seemed to do it. Nor did her lessons suffer because of
this outside interest. The day of removal was continually changing. It
was put off from week to week with one feeble excuse or another on the
part of Mrs. Rosa. Miss South was more patient with the poor woman than
were her young helpers. She realized that the poor woman could not be
expected to appreciate all the advantages to result from the change, and
she sympathized with Mrs. Rosa's reluctance to leave her old neighbors
to go among strangers. Indeed it was the end of May before they were
really off. On the Saturday before their departure The Four, and two or
three of the other girls who had been especially interested, went out to
Shiloh to see the little cottage which had been fitted up for the Rosas.
It had only six rooms, and these were not very large, but what fun the
girls had in exploring every nook and corner! Floors and walls had all
been newly painted,--some in rather bright colors. There were small mats
in front of each bed, and one in the centre of the room intended for
dining-room, but besides these, there were no floor coverings. The
bedsteads were iron, painted brown, and all the other furniture was of
the simplest possible style.
"I am afraid," said Julia, "that Angelina will be disappointed in not
finding a piano; she has an idea that we are considering her education
as much as her mother's health in making this change, and as she happens
to be very anxious to take music lessons she will expect some kind of a
musical instrument if not a piano."
"What nonsense!" cried Belle. "Angelina ought to be thankful that she
has not been sent away as a servant. She is certainly old enough to live
out."
"If it were not for her mother's being so weak, undoubtedly we should
make some effort to put her at service. But with all those younger
children, for the present Angelina will have sufficient practice in
house-work, and she is to work every day for a boarding-house keeper; if
the family stays out here I have a plan that will be of great value not
only to Angelina, but to the rest of them. In fact," concluded Miss
South, "Angelina, if she takes kindly to the scheme, may serve as a
model for a number of other girls at the North End, who stand sadly in
need of such training as she will be able to get in this comfortable
house."
"Oh, do tell us about it now," begged Nora, "I know that you have some
plan to carry out--Domestic Science--isn't that what you call it,--but I
haven't the least idea what you really intend to do."
Miss South smiled at the eagerness which Nora displayed, smiled
indulgently, but in reply, said merely,
"I am afraid that there will hardly be time now, but in the early
autumn, if there is no opportunity before you go away, I am going to
have a special meeting to which you will all be invited, at which I will
tell you of a scheme which with your cooperation as well as that of some
other interested persons I hope to carry out next season. There really
is not time to say much about it now, for Philip and his friends will
soon be here and we must all go to work to prepare our tea."
Then the girls set to work with a will, and in addition to the delicious
things sent out in hampers, they prepared several dainty dishes. Many of
these delicacies were the result of the practice they had had in the
cooking class of the past two seasons. Julia set the table with the new
dishes that filled Mrs. Rosa's corner closet,--the closet, that is, that
was to be Mrs. Rosa's. No one criticised the thickness of the cups, nor
the crudeness of the colors with which the cups and plates were
decorated, for by the time the boys came they were all so hungry that
they could have eaten and drunk from plates and cups of tin.
It was rather a picnic supper on the whole, as the table was not large
enough for the group of merry young people who wished to gather around
it. Some of them, therefore, sat out on the steps, and on the tiny
little piazza at the corner, and laughed and talked in at the top of
their voices in the intervals between courses. Though each course
consisted of little more than a sandwich, or a stuffed egg, or a salad,
those who in turn took the part of waiters and waitresses served them
with all the pomp that might have had its proper place at a great feast.
It was all in fun, and the fun was of the heartiest kind. Then when the
supper was over, boys and girls--the dignified Philip, the serious Will,
as well as fun loving Brenda and Nora, set to work with energy, and
washed and wiped dishes, and put things in order, so that the little
house showed not the slightest trace of "invasion of the Goths and
Vandals," as Brenda said, with an unusual correctness of historical
allusion. There was a delightful drive, to wind up the evening, around
the borders of the lake which forms one of the attractions of Shiloh,
and when just at dark they stepped aboard the train they all declared
that it was the pleasantest expedition that they had known for--well for
a long, long time.
"If Mrs. Rosa were to take summer boarders, I am sure that I should love
to come out here for a month," said Ruth, "I mean if she only hadn't so
many children to fill up the house, so completely."
"If you were to come," said Will, in an undertone, "I am sure that I
should wish to spend the summer in Shiloh, too. I made friends with the
owner of the omnibus that brought us up, and I rather think that I could
get him to take me in."
Ruth blushed as Will made this speech, for even she could not help
noticing the decided preference that he showed for her society. It had
been his actions rather than his words that had attracted the attention
of the others, for he seemed in no way afraid of having his preference
known. Ruth was neither foolish, nor vain, but she had to admit to
herself that Will's little attentive ways were rather gratifying.
In the cars on the way home, Philip and Julia happened to sit together.
Philip was still somewhat conscious in his manner, for he could not
forget that he was a sophomore. Yet with Julia he always got on
capitally, and they had really become very good friends.
"Do you see much of Madame Du Launy now?" he asked. "I hear that you and
she were great friends for a time."
"Oh, we are now," answered Julia, "only naturally since she and Miss
South have discovered their relationship, I do not go there as often as
I did earlier in the spring."
"Then this story about Miss South is really true, she actually _is_ the
old lady's granddaughter!" said Philip. "I heard a lot about it just
after the Bazaar, but in some way I thought that it would prove to be a
mistake. You know that things like that do not often happen out of
books."
"Oh, this is perfectly true," answered Julia, "and the whole thing is
just as interesting as it can be. It seems very sad that Madame Du Launy
should have lived a lonely life for so long when here was a
granddaughter close at hand, and a grandson not so very far away. She
could have been such a help to them, and they to her."
"It shows that an old lady can't afford not to know who her
grandchildren are, and where they live," responded Philip, "especially
if one of them is as pretty and clever as Miss South."
"Oh, well, there were special reasons in this case," answered Julia.
"Then doesn't it seem queer," continued Philip, "that you yourself
should have had the credit all winter of being a poor dependent--isn't
that what they say in novels? How do you feel now when you know that
every one knows that you are an heiress?" he concluded, mischievously.
"Oh, pretty well, I thank you," answered Julia, adopting his tone. "You
see I never imagined for a moment that people attached any importance to
my having or not having money. Indeed, to be perfectly fair, I cannot
see any change in any one since the discovery was made."
"Whew!" whistled Philip, "not even in Belle?"
After a moment of silence, Julia replied, "I do not suppose that under
any circumstances Belle and I could ever have been great friends. Our
tastes are so unlike. In the early winter many little things troubled
me. I often felt neglected when The Four left me out of their plans,
especially while they were working for the Bazaar. But at length I
decided that I ought not to expect Brenda to treat me at once like an
intimate friend. I knew that in time she would understand me better, and
this is what has really happened. But Nora and Edith were always so kind
to me that I had a delightful winter."
"Then pity," said Philip, with a smile, "would be utterly wasted on
Brenda's cousin?"
"It would be utterly wasted on her," replied Julia, cheerfully,
"especially since she has been permitted to make a fifth in Brenda's
Four Club."
THE END
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End of Project Gutenberg's Brenda, Her School and Her Club, by Helen Leah Reed