THE SPANISH COINS
Three weeks after Judy's exciting experience at the gipsy camp, an
interesting party of travellers were gathered on the platform at
Fairfax station.
There was a stately old man, imposing in spite of a tweed cap and sack
coat. By his side stood a slender girl in gray, who coughed now and
then, and near them, perched on a brand-new trunk, which bore the
initials "A. B." was a small maiden, resplendent in a modish blue
serge, a scarlet reefer, a stiff sailor hat of unquestionable
up-to-dateness, and tan shoes!
And the resplendent maiden was Anne!
"You must let her go to the seashore with us," the Judge had said to
Mrs. Batcheller. "Judy hasn't been well since she took that heavy cold
the night she stayed out in the pasture--and I know the child pines for
the sea, although she doesn't say a word. And I don't want her
separated from Anne. She needs young company."
The little grandmother consented reluctantly. She was very proud, and
although for years the Judge had tried to do something substantial to
help his old friend in her poverty, he had so far been unsuccessful in
breaking down the barrier of independence which she had set up.
One promise he had wrung from her, however, that when Anne was old
enough, he was to send her away to school, where she would be fitted to
take her place worthily in a long line of cultured people. This he had
demanded and obtained by virtue of his friendship for her father and
grandfather, and for the "sake of Auld Lang Syne."
"But Anne's things will do very well," said Mrs. Batcheller, when the
Judge tried tactfully to suggest that he be allowed to send Anne's
order with Judy's.
"No, they won't," the Judge had insisted, bluntly, "Judy's old home at
The Breakers is somewhat isolated, but there will be trips that the
girls will take together, and friends will call, and I can't have
little Anne unhappy because she hasn't a pretty gown to wear."
"Oh, well," sighed Mrs. Batcheller, "if you look at it that way. Now
in my day, if a girl had a sweet temper and nice manners, that was all
that was necessary."
"Hum--" mused the Judge. "But I remember somebody in a little white
gown with green sprigs, and a hat with pink roses under the brim."
"Judith and I had them just alike," smiled the blushing little
grandmother.
"And you looked like two sweet old-fashioned roses," said the old man,
"and you knew it, too. The world hasn't changed so very much, or girl
nature."
"Perhaps not," confessed the little grandmother, her eyes still bright
with the memories of youthful vanities; "perhaps not, and you may have
your way, Judge, only you mustn't spoil my little girl."
"She can't be spoiled," said the Judge promptly, and went away
triumphant.
And so it came about that in the trunk on which Anne sat were five
frocks--two white linen ones like Judy's; a soft gray for cool days, an
organdie all strewn with little pink roses, and an enchanting pale blue
mull for parties.
No wonder that Anne sat on that trunk!
It was a treasure casket of her dreams--and with the knowledge of what
it contained, she did not envy Cinderella her godmother, nor Aladdin
his lamp!
"Amelia and Nannie are coming to say 'good-bye,'" said Anne, as two
figures appeared far up the road, "they'd better hurry."
"Tommy is coming, too," said Judy. "I wish I could take them all with
me."
"Why not invite them all down to The Breakers," suggested the Judge,
who was eager to do anything for this fragile, big-eyed granddaughter,
who was creeping into his heart by gentle ways and loving
consideration, so that he sometimes wondered if the old, tempestuous
Judy were gone for ever.
"Not now," said Judy, thoughtfully. "I just want you and Anne for a
while, but I should love to have them some time--and Launcelot, too."
"Can you?" she asked Launcelot, as he came out of the baggage room with
their checks in his hand, followed by Perkins with the bags.
"Can I what?" he asked, standing before her with his hat in his hand, a
shabby figure in shabby corduroy, but a gentleman from the crown of his
well-brushed head to the soles of his shining boots.
"Will you come down to The Breakers sometime?--I am going to ask Amelia
and Nannie and Tommy, and I want you, too--"
"Will I come? Well, I should say I would--" but suddenly his smile
faded. "I am awfully afraid I can't, though. There is so much to do
around our place, and father isn't well."
Now in spite of the affectionate dutifulness with which of late Judy
treated her grandfather, she still showed her thorny side to Launcelot.
"Oh, well, of course, if you don't want to come"--she snapped, tartly,
and went forward to meet the young people, who were hurrying up, Amelia
puffing and out of breath, Nannie with her red curls flying, and Tommy
laden with a parting gift of apples, an added burden for the martyred
Perkins.
Far down the road the train whistled. Anne was surrounded by a little
circle of sorrowing friends. Even Launcelot was in the group, and Judy
and the Judge stood alone.
"How they love her," said Judy, with a little ache of envy in her heart.
"How she loves them," said the wise old Judge. "That is the secret,
Judy."
Amelia had brought Anne a box of fudge, Nannie a handkerchief made by
her own stubby and patient fingers, and Launcelot made her happy with a
book of fairy-tales, worn as to cover, but with rich things within--a
book of his that she had long coveted.
"By-by, little Anne," he said, with a brotherly pat on her shoulder.
Then he shook hands with the Judge. "I hope you will have a fine time,
sir," he said. Then as he and Judy stood together for a moment, he
handed her something wrapped carefully in tissue-paper.
"These are for you," he said, a little awkwardly.
She unwound the paper and gave a little cry of delight.
"Violets, oh, Launcelot--how did you know I loved them?"
"Guessed it--you had them on your hat, and I liked that violet colored
dress you wore."
"And they are so sweet and fragrant. Where could you get them this time
of year?"
"In my little hothouse. I forced them for you."
But he did not tell her of the hours he had spent over them.
She was silent for a moment. "It was lovely of you," she said, at
last, with a little flush and with a sweetness that she rarely
revealed. "It was lovely of you--and I was so hateful just now."
She reached out her hand to him, and his grasp was hearty, reassuring.
"It wouldn't seem natural if you and I didn't fuss a little, would it,
Judy?" and then the train pulled in.
"All aboard!" shouted the conductor.
Anne and Judy went through the Pullman, and came out on the observation
platform.
"Tell little grandmother to take good care of Belinda and Becky,"
called Anne, whose heart yearned for her pets.
"And all of you come and see me," cried Judy, hoping that she might win
some of the love that was extended to Anne.
"We will," they cried, "we will."
"We will," echoed Launcelot, with his eyes on the violets pinned on
Judy's gray coat, "we will if we have to sit up nights to do it."
A flutter of handkerchiefs, a blur of gray coat and red one, a trail of
blue smoke, and the train was gone, and life to those left in Fairfax
seemed suddenly a monotonous blank. As Launcelot turned away from the
station, he ran into Dr. Grennell, who was rushing breathlessly up the
steps.
"Has the train gone?" panted the minister.
"Yes."
Dr. Grennell wiped his heated forehead.
"I am sorry for that," he said, "I wanted especially to see the Judge."
He had a letter in his hand, and he stood looking at it perplexedly.
"To tell the truth, Launcelot," he began slowly, "I have something
strange to tell the Judge, and I didn't want him to get away before I
saw him. It isn't a thing to write about--and oh, why did I miss that
train--"
Launcelot waited while the minister stared wistfully down the shining
track.
"Look here, Launcelot," he asked, suddenly, "do you remember that
Spanish coin of Judy's?"
"Well, I should say I did," replied the boy.
"It's the strangest thing--the strangest thing--oh, I'm going to tell
you all about it, and see if you can help me out. Is there any place
that we can be quite alone? I want to read this letter to you."
"There isn't a soul in the waiting-room," said Lancelot, "we can go in
there. You'd better run on without me, Tommy," he called, "the doctor
wants me. You can catch up with the girls if you hurry," and Tommy,
who had eyed the pair with curiosity, departed crestfallen.
"I received this letter this morning," explained Dr. Grennell, as they
sat down in the stuffy little room. "Read it. It's from an old friend
of mine in Newfoundland--a physician."
The letter opened with personal matters, but the paragraph that the
minister pointed out to Lancelot read thus:
"We have had a rather unusual case here lately. You know how often we
have men brought to the hospital who have been shipwrecked, and as a
rule there is little that is interesting about them--most of them are
the type of ordinary seamen. Our latest case, however, was entered by
the captain of a sailing vessel, who reported that they had picked the
man up from a raft. That he was delirious then, and had never been
able to tell them who he was or whence he came. He is still very ill
and unconscious, and there is not a paper about him of identification.
He is a gentlemen--I am sure of that, for his broken sentences are
uttered in perfect English, and his hands tell it, too. As I have
said, there isn't a letter or a paper about him, but around his neck on
a silver chain we found the coin which I enclose. I know your fancy
for odd coins, and so I send it, thinking perhaps you may give us some
clue to our patient's identity."
Launcelot's eyes were bright with excitement as he finished reading.
"Let me see the coin," he begged, eagerly, and as the doctor handed it
to him, he jumped to his feet.
"I thought so," he shouted, "it's a Spanish coin, like Judy's."
"Well," said the minister, quietly, but his hand beating against his
knee showed that his agitation matched Launcelot's--"What then?"
"Why, the man must be Judy's father!" said Launcelot, and when he had
thus voiced the doctor's thought, the two stared at each other with
white faces.
"She always believed he was alive," said Launcelot at last.
"Pray God that it is really he?" said Dr. Grennell, reverently.
"And now what can we do?" asked the boy.
"We must not say a word to Judy yet. In fact I don't know whether we
ought to tell the Judge. We musn't raise false hopes."
"Have you ever seen Captain Jameson?"
"We were at college together," said Dr. Grennell; "that is the way I
happened to come to Fairfax. I got my appointment to this church
through Captain Jameson and his father."
"Then couldn't you go on and see if he is really Judy's father?"
"By George," said the doctor, "of course I can. I can make the excuse
that I want to visit my old friends. I need an outing, too."
"I wish I could go with you," said Launcelot, wistfully, as the two
walked down the road, after having perfected plans for the doctor's
trip. "I am getting awfully tired of this place, doctor. You see my
life abroad was so different, and I feel as if I ought to be doing
something worth while."
"Just now the thing that is worth while is for you to be a good son and
stay here," said Dr. Grennell. "You can be nothing greater than that.
And you are doing it like a hero," and his hand dropped affectionately
on the boy's shoulder.
"Well, it's deadly dull," said the hero resignedly, as he thought of
Anne and Judy speeding away to the coolness of the sea. But presently
he cheered up. "It will be great if it does happen to be Captain
Jameson," he said, "and just think if Judy hadn't run away we wouldn't
have seen her coin, and if I had waited that morning she wouldn't have
run away, and if I hadn't been cross I would have waited--how about
that for a moral, Doctor."
"There is no moral," said the minister, "but all bad tempers don't turn
out so well."
"It sounds like,
"'Fire, fire burn stick,
Stick, stick beat dog,
Dog, dog bite pig--'
doesn't it?" said Launcelot with a laugh, as they parted at the
crossroads.