A NEWCOMER.
"If you please, Miss Margaret, the lady would like to speak to you, in
her room."
"Miss Montfort?" (Elizabeth never would call Miss Sophronia Miss
Montfort.) "Yes, Elizabeth, I will be up in a moment; tell her, please."
Hastily pinning her collar,--it was near breakfast-time, and she had
been longer than usual in dressing,--Margaret ran up to the Blue Room.
Miss Sophronia, in curl-papers and a long, yellow wrapper, was standing
near the window, apparently rigid with horror.
"What is it, Cousin Sophronia? What can I do for you?"
"Margaret, I told you,--I warned you. I warned John Montfort. No one can
say that I neglected my duty in this respect; my conscience is clear.
Now look,--I desire you, look out of that window, and tell me what you
think."
Margaret looked. At first she saw nothing but the clear glass, and,
beyond it, the blue sky and waving trees. But, looking again, she became
aware of two objects dangling over the upper part of the pane; a black
object, and a white object; two small legs, one bare, the other in
stocking and shoe. The legs were swinging back and forth, keeping time
to a clear and lively whistle, and now and then one of them gave a
little kick, as of pure content.
"Do you see?" demanded Miss Sophronia, in tragic tone.
"Yes, Cousin Sophronia, I see. I can't think--but I'll run up at once
and see what it means, and bring the child down. I--" Margaret waited to
say no more, but flew up-stairs, only pausing to cast a hasty glance
into Susan D.'s room, the door of which stood open. The room was empty;
so, when she reached the top of the stairs, was the nursery. She entered
a small room that was used as a storeroom; its one window looked
directly on the roof, and this window stood wide open. Running to look
out, Margaret saw Susan D., seated astride of a gable, dangling her legs
as aforesaid, and apparently enjoying herself immensely. The whistle
stopped when she saw her cousin, and the cheerful look gave place to one
of sullenness.
"Susan, my dear child, what are you doing here?"
"Looking for my other stocking," replied the child.
"Your stocking?"
"Yes. I dropped it out of the window, and I came up here to look for
it."
"She thought she could see better!" explained Basil, appearing suddenly
from behind the chimney. "I--good morning, Cousin Margaret. I slept very
well, thank you."
"So did I!" chimed in Susan D., with suspicious readiness. "I slept very
well. Good morning, Cousin Margaret, thank you!"
"That isn't right," said Basil, as Margaret looked in bewilderment from
one to the other; "you are such a stupid, Susan D. You see," he added,
turning to Margaret, "I've been telling her that she's got to have
better manners, and speak when she's spoken to; and, if she behaves
pretty well, she's going to get some hard stamps she wants; and if she
doesn't--"
"I am," said Susan D. "Amn't I, Cousin Margaret?"
It was the first time the child had addressed Margaret directly, and the
latter hastened to assure her that her morning greeting would do very
well indeed. "But, dear children," she cried, "I cannot let you stay
here. Indeed, you ought never to have come up; I don't believe Uncle
John would like to have you on the roof at all; and it is
breakfast-time, and Cousin Sophronia has been a good deal frightened,
Susie, at seeing your legs dangling over her window in this fashion."
"We aren't hurting the old roof!" cried boy and girl, in eager
self-defence.
"Oh, my dears! It isn't the roof, it's your precious necks, that you
might be breaking at this moment. How are you going to get back? Basil,
it makes me dizzy to look at you."
"Then I wouldn't look," said Basil, cheerfully. "I'm all right, Cousin
Margaret, just truly I am. Why, I just live on roofs, every chance I
get. And this is a bully roof to climb on."
Margaret covered her eyes with her hands, as the boy came tripping along
the ridge-pole towards her; but the next moment she put the hands down
resolutely. "Let me help you!" she said. "Susan, take my hand, dear, and
let me help you in."
But Susan D. needed no helping hand; she scrambled up the slope of the
roof like a squirrel, and wriggled in at the window before Margaret
could lay hands on her. "I'm all right!" she said, shyly. "I didn't find
my stocking, though. I'll get another pair." But Margaret soon found the
stocking, and in due time could report to Cousin Sophronia that the
children were both safe on the ground, and more or less ready for
breakfast. Merton had not shared in the roof expedition; he had climbed
the great chestnut-tree instead, and appeared at breakfast with most of
the buttons off his jacket, and a large barn-door tear in his
knickerbockers.
Miss Sophronia greeted the children with firmness. "How do you do, my
dears?" she said. "I am your Cousin Sophronia, and I shall take the
place of a mamma to you while you are here. If you do as I tell you, we
shall get on very well, I dare say. You are Basil? Yes, you look like
your Uncle Reuben. You remember Reuben, John? What a troublesome boy he
was, to be sure! And this is Merton. H'm! Yes! The image of his father.
Anthony; to be sure! And what is your name, child? Susan D.? Ah, yes!
For your Aunt Susan, of course. And are you a good girl, Susan D.?"
Susan D. hung her head, and looked defiant.
"Always answer when you are spoken to," said the lady, with mild
severity. "I'm afraid your father has let you run wild; but we will
alter all that. Little boy--Merton, I mean, you are taking too much
sugar on your porridge. Too much sugar is very bad for children. Hand me
the bowl, if you please. I am obliged to take a good deal of sugar--the
doctor's orders! There are one--two--three buttons off your jacket. This
will never do!"
"I scraped 'em off, shinning up the tree," said Merton, sadly. "I barked
all my shins, too; but I found the squirrel's nest."
"Oh, Merton, you didn't meddle with it?" cried Margaret. "That little
squirrel is so tame, I should be very sorry to have him teased. You
didn't tease him, did you, dear?"
Merton looked injured. "I just put my hand into his old hole, and he bit
me, nasty thing! I'll kill him, first chance I get."
"You will do nothing of the kind," said Mr. Montfort, quietly. "You will
let the squirrel alone, Merton, or I shall have to stop the climbing
altogether. You understand?"
"Yes, sir," said Merton. "Ow! you stop that, now!"
"Did you speak to me, sir?" inquired Mr. Montfort, politely.
"Well, he kicked my sore shin," growled Merton, glaring savagely at
Basil. Basil chuckled gleefully. Mr. Montfort looked from one to the
other.
"Kick each other as much as you like out-of-doors," he said. "Here, you
can either behave yourselves or leave the table. Take your choice." He
spoke very quietly, and went on with his letter, without another glance
at the boys; indeed, no second glance was needed, for the children
behaved remarkably well through the rest of breakfast.
That morning was a trying time for Margaret. She tried hard to remember
her uncle's parting words, as he drove away: "Let them run, these first
few days, and don't worry; above all, don't worry!"
[Illustration: "MERTON WAS TEASING CHIQUITO."]
Yes, but how could she help worrying? If it had been only running! But
these children never seemed content to stay on their feet for ten
minutes together. Now they were turning somersaults round and round the
grass-plot, till her head grew dizzy, and Cousin Sophronia screamed
from the window that they would all be dead of apoplexy in less than ten
minutes. Now they were hanging by their heels from the lower branches of
the horse-chestnut tree, daring each other to turn a somersault in the
air and so descend. Now Merton was teasing Chiquito, and getting his
finger bitten, and howling, while Basil jeered at him, and wanted to
know whether a sixty-year-old bird was likely to stand "sauce" from a
ten-year-old monkey. Now Susan D. had caught her frock on a bramble, and
torn a long, jagged rent across the front breadth, that filled Margaret
with despair. Poor Susan D.! By afternoon, Miss Sophronia had taken her
into custody, and marched her off to her own room, to stay there till
bedtime.
"The child was rebellious, my dear Margaret; positively disrespectful. A
little discipline, my love, is what that child needs. It is my duty to
give it to her, and I shall do my duty cheerfully. At your age, it is
not to be expected that you should know anything about children. Leave
all to me, and you will be surprised at the result. A firm rein for a
few weeks,--I shall manage her, never fear!"
Margaret was humble-minded, and fully conscious of her total lack of
experience; still, she could not feel that a system of repression was
the one most likely to succeed with Susan D.
"If we could win the child's affection," she began, timidly. Miss
Sophronia pounced upon her.
"My love, you naturally think so! Believe me, I know what I am talking
about. I have practically brought up William's children; the result is
astonishing, everybody says so." (Everybody did, but their astonishment
was hardly what the good lady fancied it.) "Trust,--dearest Margaret,
simply confide absolutely in me! So important, I always say, for the
young to have entire confidence in their elders."
Margaret was thankful when dinner was over, and her cousin gone to take
her afternoon nap. Basil was in a lowering mood, the result of his
sister's imprisonment. He would do nothing but rage against Cousin
Sophronia, so Margaret was finally obliged to send him away, and sit
down with a sigh to her work, alone.
It was very pleasant and peaceful on the verandah. The garden was hot
and sunny at this hour, but here the shade lay cool and grateful, and
Margaret felt the silence like balm on her fretted spirit. It was all
wrong that she should be so fretted; she argued with herself, scolded,
tried to bring herself to a better frame of mind; but nature was too
strong for her, and the best she could do was to resolve that she would
try, and keep on trying, her very best; and that Uncle John should not
know how worried she was. That, surely, she could manage: to keep a
smiling face when he was at home, and to made light of all these hourly
pin-pricks that seemed to her sensitive nature like sword-thrusts.
So quiet! Only the sound of the soft wind in the great chestnut-trees,
and the clear notes of a bird in the upper branches. A rose-breasted
grosbeak! Her uncle had been teaching her something about birds, and she
knew this beautiful creature, and loved to watch him as he hovered
about the nest where his good wife sat. His song was almost like the
oriole's, Margaret thought. She laid down her embroidery, and watched
the flashes of crimson appear and disappear. What a wonderful, beautiful
thing! How good to live in the green country, where lovely sights and
sounds were one's own, all day long. Why should one let oneself be
distressed, even if things did not go just to one's mind?
A soft cloud seemed to be stealing over her spirit; it was not sleep,
but just a waking dream, of peace and beauty, and the love of all lovely
things in the green and blossoming world, where life floated by to the
music of birds,--
"I beg your pardon, Miss Margaret; were you asleep, miss?"
Margaret sat upright, and looked a little severe. It would never do even
to look as if she had been asleep, in the middle of the afternoon. "No,
Elizabeth," she said. "What is wanted?"
"Only miss, Frances was wishful to know whether she should keep Master
Merton's dinner any longer, or whether she'd cook something fresh for
him along with his supper."
No more dreaming for Margaret! She sprang to her feet, suddenly
conscious of the fact that Merton had not been seen for several hours.
It could not have been more than eleven o'clock when he was in her room;
now-- "What time is it, Elizabeth?"
"Going on five, Miss Margaret. Mr. Montfort'll soon be here, miss; maybe
Master Merton might have gone to meet him."
Margaret shook her head; that did not seem at all likely. She hailed
Basil, who came sauntering up the gravel walk, his brow still clouded,
kicking the pebbles before him.
"Oh, Basil, have you seen Merton? He has not been in the house since
this morning, and I am anxious about him."
Basil shrugged his shoulders. "Run away, most likely!" he said,
carelessly. "He's always running away, Mert is."
"Always running away! But where could he run to, Basil? He does not know
his way about here. He surely would not run away in a strange place."
Basil smiled superior. "That's just why he'd do it. He likes to find out
new places; we both do. I wouldn't leave Susan D., or I'd have gone,
too, bet I would. No use staying here, to be bossed round."
"Oh, Basil, don't talk so, but help me, like a dear boy, to find
Merton."
Basil stood uncertain. He raised a threatening glance towards Miss
Sophronia's window; but Margaret was beside him in a moment. "Basil, to
please me!" she said. She laid her hand on the boy's shoulder. He stood
still, and Margaret had a moment of painful doubt; but the next instant
he raised his face to her with his own enchanting smile. "All right!" he
said. "You are all right, Cousin Margaret, whatever other folks are, and
I'll help you every single bit I can."
"That's my good, helpful boy!" said Margaret, heartily. "Oh, Basil, you
and I together can do a great deal, but alone I feel rather helpless.
You shall be my little--no, not little--you shall be my brother, and
tell me how to manage Merton and Susan, and make them love me. But the
first thing is to find Merton. What can have become of the child? Where
shall we look for him?"
"I think perhaps down by the bog," said Basil, looking very important
and pleased with his new responsibility. "He said he was going down
there, first chance he got. I meant to go, too, but I won't if you don't
want me to, Cousin Margaret. There's a bully--"
"Basil!"
"There's a--a superb workman down there; do you know him, Cousin
Margaret? I guess he's the boss, or something. He wears blue overalls
and a blue jumper, and he can vault--oh my! how that fellow can vault!"
"Basil, I don't feel at all sure that your uncle would wish you to be
talking with strange workmen. At any rate, I think you ought to ask
leave, don't you?"
"Maybe I ought!" said Basil, cheerfully. "But it's too late now, you
see, 'cause I have talked to him, quite lots, and he's awfully jolly.
Oh, Jonah! I do believe there he is now; and--Cousin Margaret! I do
believe he's got Mert with him! Look!"
Margaret looked. A man was coming across the field that lay beyond the
garden wall; a workingman, from his blue overalls and jumper; a young
man, from the way he moved, and from his light, springy step. Margaret
could not see his face, but his hair was red; she could see that over
the burden that he carried in his arms.
Coming nearer, this burden was seen to be a child. A chimney-sweeper?
No, for chimney-sweepers are not necessarily wet; do not drip black mud
from head to foot; do not run streams of black bog water.
"Merton!" cried poor Margaret, who knew well the look of that mud and
water. "Oh, what has happened? Is--is he hurt?" she cried out, running
towards the wall.
The young workman raised a cheerful face, streaked with black, and
presenting the appearance of a light-hearted savage in trim for a
funeral.
"Not a bit hurt!" he called in return. "All right, only wet, and a
trifle muddy. Little chap's had a bath, that's all. Hope you haven't
been anxious about him."
"Oh, yes, I have been anxious--thank you! You are sure--he has not been
in danger?"
"Well," the stranger admitted, "just as well I was there, perhaps. It
isn't a safe place for children, you see. How are you now, old chap? He
was a bit dizzy when I picked him up, you see."
Merton lifted his black head, and looked ruefully at Margaret.
"You told me not to go!" he said. "I won't go again."
"Well, I guess you won't!" cried Basil, excitedly. "Why, you've been in
all over; it's all up to your chin, and some of it's on the back of your
head. I say, you must--"
The young man made him a sign quickly. "He's all right!" he said. "Mud
baths extremely hygienic; recommended by the medical fraternity;
a--where did you say I should put him?"
"Oh, I beg your pardon!" cried Margaret. "I am letting you hold him all
this time, and you are getting all wet, too."
"No consequence, not the least in the world. Besides,--past participle
perhaps more appropriate than present."
Margaret led the way to the verandah, and the stranger finally deposited
his burden on the steps. Looking down at himself, he seemed for the
first time aware of his singular appearance, for he blushed, and,
lifting his cap, was turning away with a muttered apology, in which the
word "clothes" was the only word Margaret could hear.
"Oh!" she cried, "you are not going yet! I--I have not thanked you! You
have saved the child's life, I know you have. I--I have seen something
of that bog," she shuddered. "Mr. Montfort will want to see you, and
thank you himself. Do at least tell me your name, so that we may know
who it is that has done us this great service."
But here the young man caught sight of his face, reflected in a
window-pane, and lost the last vestige of self-possession. "If--if
you'll excuse me," he cried, "I think I'll go before Mr. Montfort comes.
The costume of a Mohawk on the war-path--effective, but unusual;
a--call to-morrow if I may, to see if the little chap is all right. Mr.
Montfort kindly asked me--good day!"
"But you haven't told her your name!" Basil shouted after him.
"Oh! Of course!--a--Merryweather! Gerald Merryweather."