Donna and Her Don
However, if none of the Camp Fire girls thought of a possible romance
between their new guardian and the young physician, now established as
the regular visiting doctor at the Sunrise cabin, when the month of March
was passing and the New Hampshire snows beginning to show every now and
then a tendency toward melting, indicating the return of the ever
romantic spring, there was a good deal of carefully whispered discussion
about the chief Camp Fire guardian, Miss Martha McMurtry. Their guardian
of the preceding summer liked best that the girls should call her by her
Camp Fire title, "The Madonna of the Hill," shortened for use into the
Italian "Donna." In the first weeks at camp the summer before, Miss
McMurtry had seemed to some of the Camp Fire girls a sort of
heaven-appointed old maid, a regular born and bred one. As she had lived
and worked through the outdoor months with such a variety of girls,
gradually this old-maidish appearance had worn off, until now there were
actually self-evident reasons for believing that Donna had a real _bona
fide_ admirer in the person of the poor German gentleman who had rescued
Betty and Esther on that memorable December evening in the snow and,
through their acquaintance, had since come to know every member of the
club.
It is but natural to suppose that the first breath of this suggestion may
have been introduced by Esther Clark, since she had best opportunities
for making observations. Yet actually it was Betty Ashton who first
whispered it to Esther, next to Polly, and afterward it traveled very
naturally about the select Camp Fire circle.
Esther had been continuing her lessons with the German professor once
every week since before Christmas. Not that he was a singing master, but
he proved to be a thoroughly trained musician who understood the piano
almost as well as the violin, so that he was able to give Esther splendid
assistance with her piano training so necessary to the singing later on.
And this he insisted on doing without payment in spite of his poverty,
showing a very decided interest in Esther's possible future. In spite of
her own seriously reduced income, however, Betty had at first suggested
that she be allowed to contribute a small sum for the lessons, but Esther
had positively refused to accept anything more than her singing lessons
from her friend. She explained that Herr Crippen said she rendered him
sufficient aid in his other work to pay for what he was doing for her,
and closing with the more truthful statement that, for a reason which he
could not now set forth, he felt particularly hopeful for _das gnädige
Fräulein_.
And yet notwithstanding the fact that Betty was extremely grateful to him
for his kindness to Esther, from their first acquaintance she had never
been able to resist the inclination to make fun of the poor gentleman on
every possible occasion, in the face of Esther's open protests, that is,
when it could be done without hurting his feelings. Under most
circumstances Esther felt that Betty could do no wrong, but her jokes at
the Herr Professor's expense made Esther suffer a variety of emotions
which she could not exactly explain even to herself. The poor man was so
shabby and shy, such an apparent failure in life, without money,
position, friends or family, none of the things which Betty still
considered absolutely essential. Though she never thought she had
betrayed herself, in a way it is just possible that Herr Crippen was all
that winter guessing what was going on in regard to him in the back of
Betty Ashton's mind. He had a pleading, almost apologetic expression as
he gazed into her lovely face as though vaguely asking her not to be too
hard in her judgment and to be kind to him if she could.
Once or twice it is just possible that he asked Miss McMurtry questions
about her in his semi-weekly visits to the older Camp Fire guardian, but
of this Betty of course had no knowledge.
It was on one Saturday night, when Miss McMurtry happened to be staying
at the cabin to afford Rose Dyer a holiday in town, that Betty's
suspicions of a possible romance were first aroused. Promptly at eight
o'clock that evening the Herr Professor, dressed in his best clothes,
made his appearance at the front door, wearing a large clean collar
considerably frayed at the ends and a flowing black silk necktie.
By chance there happened to be but a few of the Sunrise girls at home
that evening, for Mollie O'Neill was staying all night with Meg, Eleanor
Meade was to remain over Sunday with her mother and Nan had gone home to
take her father to church the next day as he had solemnly promised to be
her companion. So as Edith had not come out for her regular week-end
visit there were only the five girls in camp. However, Sylvia was so
busily engaged in seeing Faith to bed that when the Professor arrived
there were only Betty, Polly and Esther about to be in the way. Yet half
an hour or so after his arrival and in the midst of quite an interesting
general conversation Herr Crippen, seeming to be overwhelmed with
emotion, suddenly asked Miss McMurtry to take a walk outside with him and
this when it was not even a particularly warm or agreeable late March
evening.
Betty was a little vexed, for they had just been talking of the old-time
history of Woodford, of the names of some of the old families in the town
and the immediate neighborhood. This was always a subject of keen
interest to Betty, as her own family, the Ashtons, had been among the
first settlers in the village and through each generation had furnished
some of its most distinguished men and women. Indeed, it was Betty's
grandfather who had built the orphan asylum where Esther had lived as a
child. Consequently, she felt an interest in it for her own as well as
Esther's sake when Herr Crippen asked Miss McMurtry if she had not once
taught some of the children at the asylum as a kind of practice work
before graduating at the Normal School. And directly after this question
when Miss McMurtry had quietly answered, "yes," she and her Professor had
disappeared out into the moonlight.
Then immediately after this, Esther had slipped over to the piano and
presently begun playing over a new Camp Fire song, which Frank Wharton
had just sent his sister from headquarters in New York, hearing that the
girls were particularly anxious for the latest Camp Fire music. Polly,
who had been rather annoyed at the interruption of a visitor, returned
once more to the reading of her book, so that it was left to Betty, who
was in an idle mood, to wander over casually to the window and there,
without the least intention of spying, behold what certainly looked like
a very interesting scene.
Instead of walking up and down outside as the Professor had suggested,
Herr Crippen's hands were clasped imploringly together and his face wore
a strangely beseeching expression. Indeed, if Betty had been near enough
she might have seen actual tears in his eyes as there had been on the
Christmas eve when he had his conversation with Esther. The very next
instant Betty had of course turned hurriedly away, feeling ashamed of
herself for having even innocently seen what was so plainly not intended
for her eyes. And yet at the same moment she could not restrain a giggle,
a giggle which grew later on into a confession of what she had witnessed.
Still as she explained it was merely a suspicion, nothing more, for Betty
had not seen how Donna had received the Professor's suit nor did she
really know what kind of a question he had asked.
However, when a few days later Miss McMurtry actually asked for a leave
of absence from school in order to have a quiet talk alone with Rose Dyer
at the cabin, what had been an idle suspicion now looked as though it
might be a reality.
Notwithstanding, the girls had to suffer for some time with ungratified
curiosity, since Rose made no mention even of having had an unexpected
visit from the older woman. Indeed, she tried to go about her regular
Camp Fire work from day to day as though nothing had happened, as though
there were nothing of special interest or importance on her mind, but
this she did not quite succeed in doing, at least not to the watchful
eyes of Betty, Esther and Polly, who were the most interested of the
girls. For Rose's face, when she supposed that no one was looking, wore
an expression of surprise, of uncertainty and even of worry and
uneasiness.
It was odd, Betty thought, why Rose should take Miss McMurtry's love
affair so seriously and what could there be in it to trouble over,
anyhow? Either Miss Martha did or did not care for the funny old German
who must have been fifteen years her senior, and who certainly was not a
desirable catch from a worldly point of view. It never occurred to Betty
that there could be any possibility of love not running smoothly with two
such elderly persons.
However, as Rose made no confidences, after a week had passed the whole
subject vanished into the background of everybody's minds and most of the
girls believed that the whole idea had been a mistaken one from the
beginning.
And then one afternoon in the early part of April, Rose called Betty
aside and asked her if on the following afternoon she and Esther could
meet Miss McMurtry, Herr Crippen and herself in the drawing room at the
Ashton house in Woodford. There was a question which had to be discussed
and it was not possible to have any privacy at the cabin. Miss Dyer's own
house was closed, but a caretaker had been left in charge of the Ashton
home, as it was too beautiful a place to remain for so many months
unguarded.