FAREWELL TO THE MERRY MAID
"Miss Jenny Ann, I can't get all these things packed in this barrel,"
protested Madge despairingly. "I don't see how they ever got in here
before."
Miss Jenny Ann laughed from the depths of a large box, where she was
folding sheets and placing them in neat piles. "Remember, we have
added a number of tin pans to our store since we came aboard the
houseboat. But don't worry, dear. We will get all the belongings
packed in time."
"Isn't it too awful that the houseboat has to be left to its poor dear
self for the rest of the summer? Just think, we have had over six
weeks' holiday, and, if it weren't for Madeleine, it would seem like
six days."
"I have something to tell you, Madge," announced Miss Jenny Ann,
raising a flushed face from her task. "Do you remember when you came
into the library, at school, and found me crying over a letter? I told
you that I was frightened at what my doctor had written me. I have a
different story to tell now. I am well as well can be. I have gained
ten pounds in six weeks; that is a record, isn't it?"
"I am so glad," bubbled Madge. "You've been the jolliest kind of a
chaperon, dear Miss Jenny Ann, and we love you. You know I am sorry I
used to be so disagreeable to you at school, and you do like me now,
don't you?"
Miss Jenny Ann and Madge desisted from their labors long enough to
embrace each other.
"Here, here, what is all this love-feast about?" demanded Tom Curtis
cheerfully. He had come quietly aboard the houseboat, and was standing
at the cabin door, smiling cheerfully at the little captain.
"Go away, Tom," returned Madge reproachfully. "I told you we couldn't
have any company to-day. I said good-bye to you last night. We are
getting things in shape to leave the houseboat. A man who has a
boat-house is going to take care of the 'Merry Maid' for us until we
come into another fortune and have another holiday."
"What time does your train leave?" inquired Tom coolly, picking up a
hammer and preparing to fasten the top on Madge's barrel.
"At four o'clock," sighed Madge. "We are going to Baltimore together,
and start home from there."
"It is all right, then," answered Tom Curtis placidly. "I have plenty
time to stay to luncheon."
"Tell him he can't, Miss Jenny Ann Jones," declared Madge inhospitably,
"we haven't a thing to eat except some crackers and stale bread, and a
few odd pieces of cold meat. And I am so dreadfully hungry that I can
eat them all myself."
"I am going to stay just the same," asserted Tom. "I am going to be
the busiest little worker on the 'Merry Maid'."
The houseboat party would never have finished its packing except for
their uninvited visitor. He sat on trunks, fastened locks and doors.
At one o'clock "The Merry Maid" was in order to be deserted.
"Let's go up to the farmhouse to get some food," suggested Tom. "I am
hungry as a bear, and I know they will give us some milk and bread."
Madge demurred, but the other three girls and Miss Jenny Ann were much
too hungry to stand on ceremony.
Tom led the way to the farmhouse as though he felt sure of his welcome.
At the old gate, however, they found Mrs. Curtis and Madeleine
apparently waiting for them. "We couldn't bear that yesterday should
be good-bye," explained Mrs. Curtis, putting her arm about Madge and
drawing her away from the others.
Madeleine held out her hands to Phyllis. She still looked white and
fragile from her illness, but she was so exquisitely lovely that people
turned about to gaze at her as she passed by them. Her face wore the
expression of a serious child. She could not immediately make up for
the lost years of her life, and she never left her mother or her
brother but for a short time. Still she was at ease with the girls and
talked a little with them. Her memory had come back to her, whether
from the second blow on her head, or from the quiet life--which, the
medical men could not say. After a while Madeleine would be able to
take the place in the gay world which her beauty and wealth made for
her. For the present she needed rest, quiet, and absolute peace of
mind.
"You haven't changed your mind, have you, Madge?" asked Mrs. Curtis, as
she and the little captain walked side by side to the farmhouse
together.
Madge shook her bead. "It isn't a case of changing my mind. I had not
decided. Now that you have found your real daughter you surely do not
wish to be burdened with an imitation one."
"But I still want you, my dear. A woman is richer with two daughters
than with one," replied Mrs. Curtis.
"No; you and Madeleine ought to be together," concluded Madge wisely.
"You are awfully good, and I shall always feel that you are the best
friend I have. But I had not been able to make up my mind to leave my
own people and the girls, so, of course, everything has turned out for
the best, and I am so happy for you and Tom and Madeleine. It is as
good as playing a part in a fairy story to see one come true before
your very eyes. Have you seen Captain Mike?" Madge lowered her voice,
so that Madeleine could not overhear her.
Mrs. Curtis flushed. "Once, and for always. I hope never to look upon
the dreadful man again. Tom felt that he and I must go to this Mike to
ask him something of my little girl's history. He claims to have
picked her up and, thinking her dead, left her for a few hours
unnoticed in his sailboat. The man had done something reprehensible
while in Florida, and was sailing for the Atlantic Ocean to flee from
justice, so he did not stop to inquire about my child, or to give her
more than a passing thought. His first wife was evidently a better
woman than this second one. She worked with my Madeleine, brought her
back to life and must have been good to her. But my baby could never
remember her name, nor tell anything about herself. Captain Mike was
on the ocean for two weeks, and too ignorant to study the papers
afterward. The first wife wished to keep the child. After a short
time she died, and then----" Mrs. Curtis stopped abruptly.
"We won't ever mention it again," said Madge tactfully. "I can only
say I am so glad you found her."
Mrs. Watson, the farmer's wife, met the houseboat party with a smiling
face. She conducted them into the dining room. Miss Jenny Ann and the
four girls sighed with satisfaction for they were very hungry. The
great mahogany table was weighted down with food--roast chicken, ham,
salad, doughnuts.
"This is Tom's party," smiled Mrs. Curtis, in answer to a look of
delighted astonishment from Madge. "It was his idea to say a last
good-bye to our houseboat friends, and to see them safely started on
their journey toward home. But, Miss Jenny Ann, I have something to
say. I wish to tell you a story and I wish you to tell me what you
think without any reference to anybody or anything at this table."
"Of course I will," answered Miss Jenny Ann lightly, not dreaming what
Mrs. Curtis intended to say.
"Suppose, once upon a time you had lost something very precious,"
continued Mrs. Curtis. "Say it was a mine of precious stones. Suppose
you had hunted for years but could never find it. After a while some
friends discover the treasure for you, and give it back to you? Don't
you believe you would like to do something to show your gratitude?"
"Certainly I should," replied Miss Jenny Ann promptly, falling into the
trap.
"Then why not let me have a houseboat party this fall?" proposed Mrs.
Curtis. "Madeleine and I will be staying near Old Point Comfort. Tom
will be camping with some boy friends near Cape Charles. I am going to
count on your bringing the houseboat down the shore to pay us a visit
and you are to be my guests from the moment you set foot on the boat."
The four chums looked at Mrs. Curtis, their eyes shining with delight.
Another holiday on their beloved houseboat! But ought they accept so
great a gift from Mrs. Curtis. They understood that it was her
intention to finance the trip.
Tom looked at his watch. "It's a pity to break up the party. But as
we are to drive to the village we must soon be off. The expressman has
already taken the trunks. You'd better accept mother's invitation."
"We thank you," said Madge slowly, "but will you give us a few days in
which to decide? Then we will write you at Old Point Comfort."
"Very well," replied Mrs. Curtis, "but let us hope that your answer
will be 'yes.' I wish you would look upon the trip as a love offering
from Madeleine."
Mrs. Curtis looked wistfully at the circle of girlish faces. Her eyes,
mute with pleading, met Madge's. They seemed to say, "Why not decide
now, and make us happy?"
Their appeal was too strong for Madge. "Girls, I think we ought to
accept Mrs. Curtis's gift to us. It is right and she wishes us to do
so. Of what use is it to wait three days. Let us say 'yes' now and
then we shall all he happy. All together! Is it 'yes'?"
"'Yes,'" chorused four voices.
Madge turned to Mrs. Curtis. "We must say good-bye this minute, but
we'll write you, and one of these days you'll find our 'Ship of Dreams'
anchored on your beach."
How Madge kept her promise and what happened during their visit to Old
Point Comfort is fully set forth in "MADGE MORTON'S SECRET," a story no
wide-awake girl can afford to miss.
THE END.