PINE BRANCHES
There were still many miles to cover before they reached their
destination, but there were no more railroad tracks to cross, and as
there was little danger of meeting anyone, Roger let the car fly along at
a high rate of speed. The storm continued and though the party
endeavoured to keep cheerful, yet the situation was depressing, and each
found it difficult not to show it.
Roger, of course, devoted his exclusive attention to driving the car, and
Patty scarcely dared to breathe, lest she should disturb him in some way.
The three on the back seat became rather silent also, and at last
everybody was rejoiced when Roger said, "Those lights ahead are at the
entrance gate of Pine Branches."
Then the whole party waxed cheerful again.
Mr. Farrington looked at his watch. "It's quarter of two," he said, "do
you suppose we can get in at this hour?"
"Indeed we will get in," declared Roger, "if I have to drive this car
smash through the gates, and _bang_ in at the front door!"
The strain was beginning to tell on the boy, who had really had a fearful
night of it, and he went dashing up to the large gates with a feeling of
great relief that the end of the journey was at hand.
When they reached the entrance, the rain was coming down in torrents.
Great lanterns hung either side of the portal, and disclosed the fact
that the gates were shut and locked.
Roger had expected this, for he felt sure the Warners had long ago given
up all thought of seeing their guests that night.
Repeated soundings of the horn failed to bring any response from the
lodge-keeper, and Roger was just about to get out of the car, and ring
the bell at the large door, when Patty's quick eye discerned a faint
light at one of the windows.
"Sure enough," said Roger, as she called his attention to this, and after
a few moments the large door was opened, and the porter gazed out into
the storm.
"All right, sir, all right," he called, seeing the car; and donning a
great raincoat, he came out to open the gates.
"Well, well, sir," he said, as Mr. Farrington leaned out to speak with
him, "this is a night, sure enough! Mr. Warner, sir, he gave up looking
for you at midnight."
"I don't wonder," said Mr. Farrington, "and now, my man, can you ring
your people up, and is there anybody to take care of the car?"
"Yes, sir, yes, sir," said the porter, "just you drive on up to the
house, and I'll go back to the lodge and ring up the chauffeur, and as
soon as he can get around he'll take care of your car. I'll ring up the
housekeeper too, but she's a slow old body, and you'd best sound your
horn all the way up the drive."
Roger acted on this advice and The Fact went tooting up the driveway, and
finally came to a standstill at the front entrance of Pine Branches.
They were under a _porte-cochère_, and as soon as they stopped, Elise
jumped out, and began a vigorous onslaught on the doorbell. Roger kept
the horn sounding, and after a few moments the door was opened by a
somewhat sleepy-looking butler. As they entered, Mr. Warner, whose
appearance gave evidence of a hasty toilet, came flying down the
staircase, three steps at a time.
"Well, well, my friends," he exclaimed, "I'm glad to see you, I am
overjoyed to see you! We were expecting you just at this particular
minute, and I am so glad that you arrived on time. How do you do, Mrs.
Farrington? And Elise, my dear child, how you've grown since I saw you
last! This is Patty Fairfield, is it? How do you do, Patty? I am very
glad to see you. Roger, my boy, you look exhausted. Has your car been
cutting up jinks?"
As Mr. Warner talked, he bustled around shaking hands with his guests,
assisting them out of their wraps, and disposing of them in comfortable
chairs.
Meantime the rest of the family appeared.
Bertha Warner, a merry-looking girl of about Patty's age, came flying
downstairs, pinning her collar as she ran.
"How jolly of you," she cried, "to come in the middle of the night! Such
fun! I'm so glad to see you, Elise; and this is Patty Fairfield? Patty, I
think you're lovely."
The impulsive Bertha kissed Patty on both cheeks, and then turned to make
way for her mother.
Mrs. Warner was as merry and as hearty in her welcome as the others. She
acted as if it were an ordinary occurrence to be wakened from sleep at
two o'clock in the morning, to greet newly arrived guests, and she
greeted Patty quite as warmly as the others.
Suddenly a wild whoop was heard, and Winthrop Warner, the son of the
house, came running downstairs.
"Jolly old crowd!" he cried, "you wouldn't let a little thing like a
tornado stop your progress, would you? I'm glad you persevered and
reached here, even though a trifle late."
Winthrop was a broad-shouldered, athletic young man, of perhaps
twenty-four, and though he chaffed Roger merrily, he greeted the ladies
with hospitable courtesy, and looked about to see what he could do for
their further comfort. They were still in the great square entrance hall,
which was one of the most attractive rooms at Pine Branches. A huge
corner fireplace showed the charred logs of a fire which had only
recently gone out, and Winthrop rapidly twisted up some paper, which he
lighted, and procuring a few small sticks, soon had a crackling blaze.
"You must be damp and chilly," he said, "and a little fire will thaw you
out. Mother, will you get something ready for a feast?"
"We should have waited dinner," began Mrs. Warner, "and we did wait until
after ten, and then we gave you up."
"It's nearer time for breakfast than for dinner," said Elise.
"I don't want breakfast," declared Roger, "I don't like that meal anyway.
No shredded whisk brooms for me."
"We'll have a nondescript meal," said Mrs. Warner, gaily, "and each one
may call it by whatever name he chooses."
In a short time they were all invited to the dining-room, and found the
table filled with a variety of delicious viands.
Such a merry tableful of people as partook of the feast! The Warners
seemed to enjoy the fact that their guests arrived at such an
unconventional hour, and the Farrington party were so glad to have
reached their destination safely that they were in the highest of
spirits.
Of course the details of the trip had to be explained, and Roger was
unmercifully chaffed by Winthrop and his father for having taken the
wrong road. But so good-naturedly did the boy take the teasing, and so
successfully did he pretend that he came around that way merely for the
purpose of extending a pleasant tour, that he got the best of them after
all.
At last Mrs. Warner declared that people who had been through such
thrilling experiences must be in immediate need of rest, and she gave
orders that they must all start for bed forthwith.
It is needless to say that breakfast was not early next morning. Nor did
it consist as Roger had intimated, of "shredded whisk brooms," but was a
delightful meal, at which Patty became better acquainted with the Warner
family, and confirmed the pleasant impressions she had received the night
before.
After breakfast Mrs. Warner announced that everybody was to do exactly as
he or she pleased until the luncheon hour, but she had plans herself for
their entertainment in the afternoon.
So Winthrop and Roger went off on some affairs of their own, and Bertha
devoted herself to the amusement of the two girls.
First, she suggested they should all walk around the place, and this
proved a delightful occupation.
Pine Branches was an immense estate, covering hundreds of acres, and
there was a brook, a grove, golf grounds, tennis court and everything
that could by any possibility add to the interest or pleasure of its
occupants.
"But my chief and dearest possession," said Bertha, smiling, "is Abiram."
"A dog?" asked Patty.
"No," said Bertha, "but come, and I will show him to you. He lives down
here, in this little house."
The little house was very like a large-sized dog-kennel, but when they
reached it, its occupant proved to be a woolly black bear cub.
"He's a perfect dear, Abiram is," said Bertha, as she opened the door,
and the fat little bear came waddling out. He was fastened to a long
chain, and his antics were funny beyond description.
"He's a real picture-bear," said Bertha; "see, his poses are just like
those of the bears in the funny papers."
And so they were. Patty and Elise laughed heartily to see Abiram sit up
and cross his paws over his fat little body.
"How old is he?" asked Patty.
"Oh, very young, he's just a cub. And of course, we can't keep him long.
Nobody wants a big bear around. At the end of the summer, Papa says,
he'll have to be sent to the Zoo. But we have lots of fun looking at him
now, and I take pictures of him with my camera. He's a dear old thing."
Bertha was sitting down by the bear, playing with him as with a puppy,
and indeed the soft little creature showed no trace of wild animal
habits, or even of mischievous intent.
"He's just like a big baby," said Patty. "Wouldn't it be fun to dress him
up as one?"
"Let's do it," cried Bertha, gleefully. "Come on, girls, let's fly up to
the house, and get the things."
Leaving Abiram sitting in the sun, the three girls scampered back to the
house. Bertha procured two large white aprons and declared they would
make a lovely baby dress.
And so they did. By sewing the sides together nearly to the top, and
tying the strings in great bows to answer as shoulder straps, the dress
was declared perfect. A dainty sunbonnet, with a wide fluffy ruffle,
which was a part of Bertha's own wardrobe, was taken also, and with a
string of large blue beads, and an enormous baby's rattle which Bertha
unearthed from her treasure-chest, the costume was complete.
Bertha got her camera, and giving Elise a small, light chair to carry,
they all ran back to Abiram's kennel.
They found the little bear peacefully sleeping in the sun, and when
Bertha shook him awake he showed no resentment, and graciously allowed
himself to be put into the clothes they had brought. His forepaws were
thrust through the openings left for the purpose, and the stiff white
bows sticking up from his black shoulders, made the girls scream with
laughter. The ruffled sunbonnet was put on his head, and coquettishly
tied on one side, and the string of blue beads was clasped around his fat
neck.
Although Abiram seemed willing to submit to the greatness that was being
thrust upon him, he experienced some difficulty in sitting up in the
chair in the position which Bertha insisted upon.
However, by dint of Patty's holding his head up from behind, she herself
being screened from view by a tree trunk, they induced Abiram to hold the
rattle long enough for Bertha to get a picture.
[Illustration: "Although a successful snapshot was only achieved after
many attempts"]
Although a successful snapshot was only achieved after many attempts, yet
the girls had great fun, and so silly and ridiculous did the little bear
behave that Patty afterward declared she had never laughed so much in all
her life.
After luncheon Mrs. Warner took her guests for a drive, declaring that
after their automobile tour she felt sure that a carriage drive would be
a pleasant change.
After the drive there was afternoon tea in the library, when the men
appeared, and everybody chatted gaily over the events of the day.
Then they all dispersed to dress for dinner, and Patty suddenly realised
that she was living in a very grown-up atmosphere, greatly in contrast to
her schoolgirl life.
Bertha was a year or two older than Patty, and though as merry and full
of fun as a child, she seemed to have the ways and effects of a grown-up
young lady.
Elise also had lived a life which had accustomed her to formality and
ceremony, and though only a year older than Patty in reality, she was far
more advanced in worldly wisdom and ceremonious observances.
But Patty was adaptable by nature, and when in Rome she was quite ready
to do as the Romans did.
So she put on one of her prettiest frocks for dinner, and allowed Bertha
to do her hair in a new way which seemed to add a year or so to her
appearance.
There were a few other guests at dinner, and as Patty always enjoyed
meeting strangers, she took great interest in all the details of
entertainment at Pine Branches.
At the table she found herself seated between Bertha and Winthrop. This
pleased her, for she was glad of an opportunity to get better acquainted
with the young man, of whom she had seen little during the day.
Although frank and boyish in some ways, Winthrop Warner gave her the
impression of being very wise and scholarly.
She said as much to him, whereupon he explained that he was a student,
and was making a specialty of certain branches of scientific lore. These
included ethnology and anthropology, which names caused Patty to feel a
sudden awe of the young man beside her.
But Winthrop only laughed, and said, "Don't let those long words frighten
you. I assure you that they stand for most interesting subjects, and some
day if you will come to my study, I will promise to prove that to you.
Meantime we will ignore my scientific side, and just consider that we are
two gay young people enjoying a summer holiday."
The young man's affable manner and kind smile put Patty quite at her
ease, and she chatted so merrily that when the dinner hour was over she
and Winthrop had become good friends and comrades.