MORNING TALKS
"Did anybody ever know such a succession of beautiful days?" asked
Helena, next morning, stepping out into a world full of bird-song and
sunshine. "And without doing anything extraordinary, nothing that
anybody in the world couldn't have done, what a happy time we're
having. Why, Dolly darling, you--what's wrong, honey? Are you in
trouble? Can I help you?"
Dorothy had been sitting on the broad piazza, waiting for her guests
and breakfast, a very sober, worried girl. But she now sprang up to
greet her friend and tossing back her dark curls seemed to toss away
anxiety also. A smile rose the more readily, too, for at that moment
there came around the corner Monty Stark and Danny Smith, kindred
spirits, each singing at the top of his voice:
"The elephant now goes round and round,
The band begins to play,
The little boys under the monkeys' cage
Had better get out of the way--
Better get out of the wa-a-a-ay!"
"Mornin' ladies! And let me assure you there'll be peanuts and pink
lemonade enough to go around; for Daniel, my friend here, has just
unearthed a quarter from one of his multitudinous pockets and I'll
agree--to-lay-it-out-for-him-to-the-best-possible-advantage--Right
this way, ladies and gentlemen, only ten cents to see the Double
Headed Woman and to witness the astonishing feat of an Anaconda
Swallowing his own Skin! Right this way, only ten----"
"Monty Stark, behave yourself! The place for you, young sir, is in the
monkeys' cage, not _under_ it! What have you horrid boys been doing
out there in the barn so early, waking tired little girls out of their
beauty-sleep?" demanded Molly B., appearing on the scene and
interrupting the boy's harangue.
"Oh! Just doing a few stunts. Practising, you know, against they call
on us to take part in the 'ceremonies.' But it's a pity about that
beauty-sleep. You needed it and I apologize! I mean I never saw you so
charming! Hooray for the circus!"
"Hooray!" answered Herbert, coming through the doorway, a twin on
either arm. "Say it, 'Nias! Say it, 'Phira!"
The youngsters squirmed to get away, to slide down out of the boy's
grasp, but he held them securely till, at last grown desperate, one of
them began gravely and distinctly to recite the doggerel which Monty
and Daniel had just sung.
The performance received great applause and amid the jests and
laughter all turned to follow the summons to breakfast; Herbert
restraining the little ones long enough to adjure them to: "Mind,
you've promised! And you know what happened to some folks you're named
for! No, I shouldn't have said that, poor innocents! I mean you must
do what I told you or you'll lose what I promised."
"Yep. We's do it, we's do it! I wants my brekkus!" answered one, while
the other echoed: "Brekkus, brekkus!"
Herbert placed them at a small low table in the corner where Dinah had
decided they must eat, or "take deir meals; fo' as fo' eatins, dey's
cwyin' fo' dem all de whole endu'in time! 'Peahs lak dem li'l ones
nebah would get filled up an' nebah had ernough yet in dis yere
world."
Yet once at table nobody could find fault with their behavior, except
for the extreme rapidity with which they stowed away their rations.
They seemed afraid to drop a crumb or mess themselves in any way and
the furtive looks they shot out from beneath their long lashes were
pitiful, as if they feared their food would be snatched from them and
themselves punished with blows. That many blows had been administered,
Dinah had early found out, since when bathing them she saw the scars
upon their poor little bodies.
This had been sufficient to reconcile her to the extra care and labor
their presence imposed upon her; for labor, indeed, they caused. For
instance: stealing into the kitchen where Aunt Malinda had set upon
the hearth a big pan of bread "sponge," to rise, they industriously
dotted its top with lumps of coal from the hod, in imitation of a
huckleberry pudding which had appeared at table. They even essayed to
eat the mixture; but finding this impracticable set to work to force
one another down into the pan of dough--with sufficient success to
ruin the new suits they wore as well as Aunt Malinda's "risin'."
Having discovered that sugar was sweet they emptied a jar of what
looked like it into a fine "floating island" and turned the custard to
brine. They hid Ephraim's glasses, and Dinah's bandana; they unloosed
the dogs, let the chains be fastened ever so securely; they opened the
gate to the "new meadow" and let the young cattle wander therein; and
with the most innocent, even angelic expressions, they plotted
mischief the livelong day. But they redeemed all their wickedness by
their entire truthfulness. Despite their handicap of names, they
acknowledged every misdemeanor and took every punishment without a
whimper.
"They're regular little imps! But, alanna, what'd this big house be
widout 'em and their pranks?" cried poor Norah, laughing and frowning
together, when called upon for the third time that morning to change
the youngsters' clothes; the last necessity arising from the fact that
they had filled the bathtub and taken a glorious dip without the
formality of removing their garments. "You're the plague of my life,
so you are; but poor motherless darlin's, I can't but love you! And
sorra the day, when him 't you belongs to comes for you again!"
When that morning's meal was over, the Master planned their day as had
become his habit. Said he:
"A circus day and the first day of the county fair, as this is, will
crowd the streets of the city with all sorts of teams and people. I've
decided not to risk Mrs. Calvert's horses in Newburgh to-day. We can
all go up by train and have no anxiety about anything. It's but a
down-hill walk, if a rather long one, from here to our own station,
and in town there'll be plenty of stages to carry us to the grounds.
Jim has consented to ride over on horseback early and secure our
places on the front row of seats, if this is possible. I've seen no
reserved seats advertised, but I don't like those insecure upper
benches--or boards--of the tiers of scaffolding, where a fellow has to
swing his feet in space or jab his toes into the back of the spectator
below. Besides, I always did like to be close to the 'ring' when I go
to the circus."
"O, Teacher! As if you ever went!" cried Alfaretta, giggling.
"Go? Of course I go every chance I get--to a real country
circus--which isn't often. There's nothing so convinces me that I am
still a little boy as the smell of tanbark and sawdust, and the sound
of the clown's squeaking voice!"
They laughed. It was so easy and so natural to laugh that morning.
Even Helena, who had enjoyed many superior entertainments, felt her
pulses thrill in anticipation of that day's amusement; and she meant
to let herself "go" for all the fun there might be, with as full--if
not as noisy an abandon--as any "mountain girl" among them.
Continued Mr. Seth, closely observing Dorothy who, alone of all the
company, was not smiling: "Now, for the morning. I suggest that you
pass it quietly at home; tennis, reading, lounging in hammocks--any
way to leave yourselves free from fatigue for the afternoon. Dinah
says 'Y'arly dinnah'; because all the 'help' want to go to the circus
and I want to have them. So we must get the dishes washed betimes, for
the 'Greatest Show On Earth' opens its afternoon performance at two
o'clock sharp precisely to the minute! and I, for one, cannot,
positively cannot, miss the Grand Entrance! Umm. I see them now, in
fancy's eye, the cream colored horses, the glittering spangles, the
acrobats in tights, the monkeys, the--the----"
"Oh! Don't say any more, dear Master, or I shall have to ride over
with Jim this morning and see the street parade!" cried Molly
Breckenridge clasping her plump hands in absurd entreaty, while every
lad present looked enviously upon the thus honored James.
"_I_ could buy circus tickets if I put my whole mind to it. How about
you, Littlejohn Smith?" observed Monty.
"Give me the cash and let me try!"
Danny said nothing but his eyes were wistfully fixed upon vacancy,
while Frazer Moore sadly stated:
"All I ever did see about a circus--so far--was the parade. I run away
to that--once."
"And got a lickin' for it afterwards, I remember," commented Mike
Martin.
This was too much for the discipline of that dear old "boy," Seth
Winters, and he cried:
"See here, lads! I can't stand for that. Nor need I be afraid of
fatigue for _you_. Nothing will tire a single boy of the lot, to-day,
except missing some part of this delectable Show! Scamper! Scatter!
Trot! Vamoose! In short, run to the stables and see if there are
horses enough to go around, counting in the workers. There'll none of
them be needed at Deerhurst to-day. Then you can all ride to town with
our treasurer and put your horses up at the big livery on the High
Street back of the town. See to it that they are made perfectly safe
and comfortable for the day, and tell the proprietor that they are to
be looked after for me. Here, Jamie lad, is an extra ten dollar bill.
Use it judiciously, for anything needed, especially for luncheon for
eight hungry boys. Better get that at some reputable restaurant and
not on the grounds. Also, one of you meet the rest of us at the
station at one o'clock with the tickets. Our whole big Party will make
our own Grand Entrance!"
"Oh! thank you, thank you!"
With a simultaneous cry of rapture the lads sped stablewards, leaving
some rather downcast girlish faces behind them.
"I--I can ride horseback," said Molly B., with a sigh.
"So can I; and 'tain't far to our house. I guess Pa Martin'd have let
me have old Bess to ride on," responded the other Molly.
"Shucks! Molly M. How'd you look, rockin' along on that old mare?
Besides, you couldn't keep in sight, even, of the way them boys'll
tear along. Another besides; you know, well's I do, that Mr. Martin
wouldn't hold with no such nonsense as your trapesin' after a circus
parade. Who wants to, anyway? We're born girls and we can't be boys,
no matter how much we try. Since I ain't let to go I'd rather--I guess
I'd rather stay to home and crochet some lace," said practical
Alfaretta and pushed back from table.
"Wait a minute, Alfy. There's something else I've got to say. It has
been a secret between Dolly and me, but of course we can't keep it
always and I can't a minute longer. It's this: We two girls have
adopted for all their lives the two twins! We've adopted them with our
pocket-money," proudly stated Molly B.
"Molly! Molly!" cried Dorothy, her face aflame and her eyes swiftly
filling.
"Yes I shall tell, too. Secrets are the killingest things to bear. I
expect Papa will scold and Auntie Lu make fun but I'm doing it for
charity. I shall put away every bit of my allowance to educate my--my
son--and I shall call him Augustus Algernon Breckenridge. I thought
you might as well know," and with this startling statement the Judge's
daughter threw back her head and eyed the company defiantly.
The girls stared, all save Dorothy, and the Master laughed, while from
their corners the twins echoed a shrill cackle; then immediately began
to practice the somersaults which Herbert had been at such pains to
teach them. Then Molly rose, with what she considered great dignity,
and, forcing Ananias to stand upon his feet, said in a sweet maternal
tone:
"Come, my little boy. I want you to keep nice and rested till I take
you to the circus." Then she led him away, Sapphira tugging at her
skirts and Alfaretta remarking:
"Guess you'll have to adopt the pair, Molly Breckenridge. Them two
stick closer'n glue!"
In another moment all but the Master and Dorothy had left the room,
and seizing this opportunity he called her to him.
"Dolly Doodles, I want to talk with you a little. Let's go out to the
old barn--I mean the new one--and have a visit. We haven't had any
cosy confidence talks, remember, since this House Party began."
It was the very thing she craved. Frank and outspoken by nature, long
used to telling everything to this wise old friend, they had no sooner
settled themselves upon the straw divan, than out it came, with a
burst of sobs:
"Oh! dear Mr. Seth, I'm so unhappy!"
"Yes, child. I've seen it. Such a pity, too, on a circus day!"
"Please, please don't tease me now. Aunt Betty thinks--thinks--I
hardly know--only--read that!"
From the tiny pocket of her blouse she pulled the fateful telegram and
thrust it into his hand. He had some ado to smooth it out and decipher
the blurred writing, for it had been wet with many tears and
frequently handled.
"You have made me dangerously angry. You must find that money.
Heretofore there has been no thievery in my house." Signed, "Mrs.
Elisabeth Cecil Somerset-Calvert."
The farrier whistled softly, and slowly refolded the document; then
drew Dorothy's wet face to his shoulder and said:
"Yes, little girl, we must find that money. We must. There is no other
way."
"But how can we? And why should she--she be so angry after having told
me I was all the world to her and that all she had was mine, or would
be."
"Well, dearie, 'would be' and 'is' are two widely differing
conditions. Besides, she is Betty Calvert and you are you."
"That's no answer, as I can see."
"It is all the answer there is. She is an old, old lady though she
doesn't realize it herself. All her life long she has been accustomed
to doing exactly what she wished and when she wished. She has
idealized you and you have idealized her. Neither of you is at all
perfect--though mighty nice, the pair of you!--and you've got to fit
yourselves to one another. Naturally, most of the fitting must be on
your part, since you're the younger. You will love each other dearly,
you do now, despite this temporary cloud, but you, my child, will have
to cultivate the grace of patience; cultivate it as if it were a
cherished rose in your own old garden. It will all come right, don't
fear."
"How can it come right? How ever in this world? I've promised to adopt
one of the twins and Molly trusts me in that and I haven't a cent. I'm
poorer than I used to be before I was an heiress. Molly will never
believe me again. Then there's all this expense you're paying--the
circus tickets and railway fares and all. It was to be _my_ House
Party, my very own, to celebrate my coming into my rightful name and
home and it isn't at all. It's yours and--Oh! dear! Oh! dear! Nothing
is right. I wish I could run away and hide somewhere before Aunt Betty
comes home. I shall never dare to look at her again after I've made
her 'dangerously angry.' What can that mean? I used to vex Mother
Martha, often, but never like that. Oh! I wish I was _her_ little girl
again and not this----"
Seth laid his finger on her lip and the wish she might have uttered
and bitterly regretted was never spoken. But the old man's face was
grave as he said:
"You did not know, but my Cousin Betty means that you have excited her
beyond physical safety. She has a weak heart and has always been
cautioned against undue agitation. It has been a sad business
altogether and I wish you had had more confidence in me and come to me
with that letter before you sent it. As for the 'expenses' of your
Party--it is yours, dear, entirely--they are slight and my
contribution to the general happiness. The only real thing that does
matter, that will be most difficult to set straight is--your suspicion
of old Ephraim. It was that I believe which angered Mrs. Calvert, far
more than the money loss, although she is exact enough to keep a cent
per cent account of all her own expenses--giving lavishly the
meanwhile to any purpose she elects. Poor Ephraim! His heart is
wellnigh broken, and old hearts are hard to mend!"
Dorothy was aghast.
"Does he know? Oh! has anybody told him that I suspected him?"
"Not in words; and at first he didn't dream it possible that his
honesty could be doubted. But--that's the horrible part of
suspicion--once started it's incurable. Side glances, inuendoes,
shrugged shoulders--Oh! by many a little channel the fact has come
home to him that he is connected in all our minds with the loss of
your one hundred dollars. Haven't you seen? How he goes about with
bowed head, with none of his quaint jests and 'darkyisms,' a sober,
astonished old man whose world is suddenly turned upside down. That's
why he refused my money this morning which I offered him for his
circus expenses. 'No, Massa Seth, I'se gwine bide ter home.' Yet of
all the family of Deerhurst, before this happened, he would have been
the most eager for the 'Show.' However, he refuses; and in a certain
way maybe it is as well. Otherwise the place would be left unguarded.
I should keep watch myself, if I didn't think my Dorothy and her mates
were better worth protecting than all Deerhurst.
"So now, shorten up that doleful countenance. The mischief that has
been done must be undone. Aunt Betty must come home to a loving,
forgiving child; old Ephraim must be reinstated in his own and
everybody's respect; and to do this--that money must be found! Now,
for our friends--and brighter thoughts!"
"That money _shall_ be found! I don't know how, I cannot guess--but it
shall!" answered Dorothy with great confidence, born of some sudden
inspiration. The talk with the Master had lightened her heart and it
was with a fine resolution to be everything that was dutiful and
tender toward Aunt Betty that she left the barn and rejoined her
mates.