ON THE VERANDA
What a luxurious, happy, sleepy time Jewel had that night in the pretty
rose-bower where her mother undressed her while her father and grandfather
went back downstairs.
It was very sweet to be helped and cuddled as if she were again a baby, and
as she lay in bed and watched her mother setting the flowers in the
bathroom and arranging everything, she tried to talk to her on some of the
subjects that were uppermost in her mind. Mrs. Evringham came at last and
lay down beside her. Jewel nestled into the loving arms and kissed her
cheek.
"I'm too happy to go to sleep," she declared, then sighed, and instantly
pretty room and pretty mother had disappeared.
Mrs. Evringham lay there on the luxurious bed, the sleeping child in her
arms, and her thoughts were rich with gratitude. Her life had never been
free from care: first as a young girl in her widowed mother's home, then as
wife of the easy-going and unprincipled youth, whose desertion of her and
her baby had filled her cup of bitterness, though she bravely struggled on.
Her mother had died; and soon afterward the light of Christian Science had
dawned upon her path. Strengthened by its support, she had grown into new
health and courage, and life was beginning to blossom for her when her
repentant husband returned.
For a time his wayward habits were a care to her; but he was sincerely
ashamed of himself, and the discovery of the development of character in
the pretty girl whom he had left six years before roused his manhood. To
her joy he began to take an interest in the faith which had wrought such
changes in her, and after that she had no doubts of the outcome. From the
moment when she obtained for him a business position, it became his
ambition to take his rightful place in the world and to guard her from
rough contact, and though as yet he still leaned upon her judgment, and she
knew herself to be the earthly mainspring of all their business affairs,
she knew, also, that his desire was right, and the knowledge sweetened her
days.
Here in this home which was, to her unaccustomed eyes, palatial in its
appointments, with her child again in her arms, she gave thanks for the joy
of the present hour. A day or two of pleasure in these surroundings, and
then she and Harry would relieve Mr. Evringham of the care they had imposed
upon him.
He had borne it nobly, there was no doubt about that. He had even
complicated existence by giving Jewel a pony. How a pony would fit into the
frugal, busy life of the Chicago apartment, Julia did not know; but her
child's dearest wish had been gratified, and there was nothing to do but
appreciate and enjoy the fact. After all, Harry's father must have more
paternal affection than her husband had ever given him credit for; for even
on the most superficial acquaintance one could see that any adaptation of
his life and tastes to those of a child would have to come with creaking
difficulty to the stock broker, and the fact of Jewel's ease with him told
an eloquent story of how far Mr. Evringham must have constrained himself
for Harry's sake.
Her thoughts flowed on and had passed to business and all that awaited them
in Chicago, when her husband rejoined her. She rose from the bed as he came
in, and hand in hand they stood and looked down at Jewel, asleep.
Harry stooped and kissed the flushed cheek.
"Don't wake her, dear," said Julia, smiling at the energy of the caress.
"Wake her? I don't believe a clap of thunder would have that effect. Why,
she and father have been painting the town; dining at the Waldorf, driving
in the park, riding in the swan boats, and then hanging around that dock.
Bless her little heart, I should think she'd sleep for twenty-four hours."
"How wonderfully kind of him!" returned Julia. "You need never tell me
again, Harry, that your father doesn't love you."
"Oh, loving hasn't been much in father's line, but we hope it will be,"
returned the young man as he slipped an arm around his wife. "Do you
remember the last time we stood watching Jewel asleep? I do. It was in that
beastly hotel the night before we sailed."
"Oh, Harry!" Julia buried her face a moment on his shoulder. "Shall you
ever forget our relief when her first letter came, showing that she was
happy? Do you remember the hornpipe you danced in our lodgings and how you
shocked the landlady? Your father may not _call_ it loving, but his care
and thoughtfulness have expressed that and he can't help my loving _him_
forever and forever for being kind to Jewel."
Harry gave his head a quick shake. "I'll be hanged if I can see how anybody
could be unkind to her," he remarked.
"Oh, well, you've never been an elderly man, set in your ways and used to
living alone. I'm sure it meant a great deal to him. Think of his doing all
that for her this afternoon."
"Oh, he had to pass the time somehow, and he couldn't very well refuse to
let her come in to meet us. Besides, she's on the eve of going away, and
father likes to do the handsome thing. He was doing it for other people,
though, when Lawrence and I were kids. He never took us in any swan boats."
"Poor little boys!" murmured Julia.
"Oh, not at all," returned Harry, laughing rather sardonically. "We took
ourselves in the swan boats and in a variety of other places not so
picturesque. Father's purse strings were always loose, and so long as we
kept out of his way he didn't care what we did. Nice old place, this,
Julia?"
"Oh, it's very fine. I had no idea how fine." Her tone was somewhat
awestruck.
"I used to know, absolutely, that father was through with me, and that
therefore I was through with Bel-Air; but I'm a new man," the speaker
smiled down at his wife and pressed her closer to him, "and I've been
telling father why, and how."
"Is that what you've been talking about?"
"Yes. He seemed interested to hear of my business and prospects and asked
me a lot of questions; so, as I only began to live less than a year ago, I
couldn't answer them without telling him who and what had set me on my
feet."
"Oh, Harry! You've really been talking about Science?"
"Yes, my dear, and about you; and I tell you, he wasn't bored. When I'd let
up a little he'd ask me another question; and at last he said, father did,
'Well, I believe she'll make a man of you yet, Harry!' Not too
complimentary, I admit, but I swallowed it and never flinched. I knew he
wasn't going to see enough of you in two days to half know you, so I just
thought I'd give him a few statistics, and they made an impression, I
assure you. After that if he wanted to set me down a little it was no more
than I deserved, and he was welcome."
For a long moment the two looked into one another's eyes, then Harry spoke
in a subdued tone:--
"You've done a lot for me, Julia; but the biggest thing of all, the thing
that is most wonderful and that means the most to me, and for which I'd
worship you through eternity if it was _all_ you'd done, is that you have
taught me of Christian Science and shown me how it has guarded that child's
love and respect for me, when I was forfeiting both every hour. I'll work
to my last day, my girl, to show you my gratitude for that."
"Darling boy!" she murmured.
Next morning at rising time Jewel was still wrapped in slumber. Her parents
looked at her before going downstairs.
"Do you know, I can't help feeling a bit relieved," laughed Julia softly,
"that she won't go down with us. The little thing is rather thoughtless
with her grandfather, and though he has evidently schooled himself to
endure her energetic ways, I can't help feeling a bit anxious all the time.
He has borne it so well this long that I want to get her away before she
breaks the camel's back. When do you think we can go, Harry?"
"To-morrow or next day. You might get things packed to-day. I really ought
to go, but I don't want to seem in a hurry."
"Oh, yes, do let us go to-morrow," returned Julia eagerly.
The Westminster clock on the stairs chimed as they passed down, and Mr.
Evringham was waiting for them in the dining-room. As he said good-morning
he looked beyond them, expectantly.
Mrs. Forbes greeted them respectfully and indicated their seats.
"Where is Jewel?" asked the host.
"In dreamland. You couldn't waken her with a volley of artillery," returned
Harry cheerfully.
"H'm," returned his father.
They all took their places at the table and Julia remarked on the charming
outlook from the windows.
"Yes," returned the host. "I'm sorry I can't stay at home this morning and
do the honors of the park. I shall leave that to Harry and Jewel. As we
were rather late last night I didn't take my canter this morning. If you
wish to have a turn on the mare, Harry, Zeke knows that the stables are in
your hands. No one but myself rides Essex Maid, but I'll make a shining
exception of you."
"I appreciate the honor," returned Harry lightly, but as a matter of fact
he did not at all grasp its extent.
"If you'd like to take your wife for a drive there's the Spider. The child
will want to show you her pony and will probably get you off on some
excursion. Tell her there is time enough and not to make you do two days'
work in one."
After breakfast the trio adjourned to the piazza and Julia looked out on
the thick, dewy grass and spreading trees.
"I believe the park improves, father," said Harry, smiling as he noted his
wife's delight in the charming landscape.
Deep armchairs and tables, rugs and a wicker divan furnished a portion of
the piazza. "How will little Jewel like the apartment after this?" Julia
could not help asking herself the question mentally. She no longer wondered
at the child's content here, even without the companionship of other
children. It must be an unimaginative little maid who, supported by Anna
Belle, could not weave a fairy-land in this fresh paradise.
"Won't you be seated?" said the broker, waving his hand toward the chairs.
The others obeyed as he took his place. "Let us know a little, now, what we
are doing. What did I understand you to say, Harry, is your limit for
time?"
"Well, I ought, really, to go west to-morrow, father."
Mr. Evringham nodded and turned his incisive glance upon his
daughter-in-law. "And you, Julia?"
She smiled brightly at him. He observed that her complexion bore the
sunlight well. "Oh, Jewel and I go with him, of course," she responded,
confident that her reply would convey satisfaction.
"H'm. Indeed! Now it seems to me that you would be the better for a
vacation."
"Why! Haven't I just had a trip to Europe?"
"Yes, I should think you had. From all that Harry tells me, I judge what
with hunting up fashions and fabrics and corset-makers and all the rest of
it, you have done the work, daily, of about two able-bodied men."
"That's right," averred Harry. "I was too much of a greenhorn to give her
much assistance."
"Still, you understand your own end of the business, I take it," said his
father, turning suddenly upon him.
"Yes, I do. I believe the firm will say I'm the square peg in the square
hole."
"Then why not take a vacation, Julia?" asked the broker again.
"Harry is doing splendidly," she returned gently, "but we can't live on the
salary he gets now. He needs my help for a while, yet. I'm going to be a
lady of leisure some day." The broker caught the glance of confidence she
sent his boy.
"I'm screwing up my courage now to strike them for more," said Harry. "It
frets me worse every day to see that girl delving away, and a great
strapping, hulking chap like me not able to prevent it."
His father looked gravely at the young wife. "Let him begin now," he said.
"He doesn't need your apron string any longer."
"What do you mean?" asked Julia, half timidly.
"Stay here with me a while and let Harry go west. I will take you and Jewel
to the seashore."
"Hurray!" cried Harry, his face radiant. "Julia, why, you won't know
yourself strolling on the sands with a parasol while your poor delicate
husband is toiling and moiling away in the dingy city. Good for you,
father! You lift that pretty nose of hers up from the grindstone where
she's held it so many years that she doesn't know anything different.
Hurray, Julia!" In his enthusiasm the speaker rose and leaned over the
chair of his astonished wife. "You wake up in the morning and read a novel
instead of your appointment book for a while," he went on. "The Chicago
women's summer clothes are all made by this time, anyway. Play lady for
once and come back to me the color of mahogany. Go ahead!"
"Why, Harry, how can I? What would you do?"
"I'm hanged if I don't show you what I'd do, and do it well, too," he
returned.
"But I ought to go home first," faltered the bewildered woman.
"Not a bit of it. I'll tackle the firm and the apartment, all right; and to
be plain, we can't afford the needless car fare."
"But, father," Julia appealed to him, "is it right to make Harry get on
still longer without Jewel?"
"Perfectly right. Entirely so," rejoined the broker decidedly.
"Of course he doesn't realize how we feel about Jewel," thought Julia.
Here a large brown horse and brougham came around the driveway into sight.
Zeke's eyes turned curiously toward the guests, but he sat stiffly
immovable.
The broker rose. "I must go now or I shall miss my train. Think it over.
There's only one way to think about it. It is quite evidently the thing to
do. The break has been made, and now is the time for Julia to take her
vacation before going into harness again. Moreover, perhaps Harry will get
his raise and she won't have to go into harness. Good-morning. I shall try
to come out early. I hope you will make yourselves comfortable."
Mrs. Evringham looked at Zeke. He was the glass of fashion and the mould of
form, but there was no indication in his smooth-shaven, wooden countenance
of the comrade to whom Jewel had referred in her fragmentary letters.
"Well, Harry!" she exclaimed breathlessly, as the carriage rolled away. Her
expression elicited a hearty laugh from her husband. "I _never_ was so
surprised. How unselfish he is! Harry, is it possible that we don't know
your father at _all_? Think of his proposing to keep, still longer, a
disturbing element like our lively little girl!"
"Oh, I've never believed he bothered himself very much about Jewel,"
returned Harry lightly. "You make a mountain out of that. All a child needs
is a ten acre lot to let off steam in, and she's had it here. He knows
you'll keep her out from under foot. Let's accept this pleasure. He
probably takes a lot of stock in you after all I told him last night. It's
a relief to his pride and everything else that I'm not going to disgrace
the name. He wants to do something for you. That's the whole thing in a
nutshell; and you let him do it, Julia." In an exuberance of spirits, aided
by the fresh, inspiring morning, the speaker took his wife in his arms, as
they stood there on the wide veranda, and hugged her heartily.
"Do you think I shall get over my awe of him?" She half laughed, but her
tone was sincere. "I'm so unused to people who never smile and seem to be
enduring me. Oh, if you were only going to stay, too, Harry, then it would
be a vacation indeed!"
"Here, here! Where are your principles? Who's afraid now?"
"But he's so stately and forbidding, and I shall feel such a responsibility
of keeping Jewel from troubling him."
Harry laughed again. "She seems entirely capable of paddling her own canoe.
She didn't seem troubled by doubts or compunctions in the carriage last
night; and up there in the bedroom when she flew at him! How was that for a
case of _lèse majesté_? Gad, at her age I'd sooner have tackled a lighted
fuse! What do you suppose it was she whispered to him?"
"I've no idea, and I must say I was curious enough to ask her while I was
putting her to bed; but do you know, she wouldn't say!" The mother laughed.
"She sidled about,--you know how she does when she is reluctant to speak,
and seemed so embarrassed that I have to laugh when I think of it."
"Perhaps it concerned some surprise she has persuaded father to give us."
"No, it couldn't be that, because she answered at last that she'd tell me
when she was a young lady."
They both laughed. "Well," said Harry, "she isn't afraid of him so you'd
notice it; and you can give her a few pointers so she needn't get in
father's way now that she has you again. He has evidently been mighty
considerate of the little orphan."
"How good he has been!" returned Julia fervently. "If we could only go home
with you, Harry," she added wistfully, "while there's so much good feeling,
and before anything happens to alter it!"
"Where are your principles?" asked Harry again. "You know better than to
think anything will happen to alter it."
"Yes, I do, I do; but I always have to meet my shyness of strangers, and it
makes my heart beat to think of your going off and leaving me here. Being
tête-à-tête with your father is appalling, I must confess."
"Oh, well, it wouldn't do to slight his offer, and it will do you a world
of good."
"You'll have to send me my summer gowns."
"I will."
"Dear me, am I really going to _do_ it?" asked Julia incredulously.
"Certainly you are. We'd be imbecile not to accept such an opportunity."
"Then," she answered resignedly, "if it is fact and not a wild fancy, we
have a lot of business to talk over, Harry. Let us make the most of our
time while Jewel is asleep."
She led the way back to the chairs, and they were soon immersed in
memoranda and discussion.