PLAYING GOOD SAMARITAN
February had passed and March was again rushing upon Severndale. A cold,
wild March, too. Perhaps because it was coming in like a lion it would
go out like a lamb. It is nearly a year since we first saw Peggy Stewart
seated in the crotch of the snake-fence talking with Shashai and
Tzaritza, and in that year her whole outlook upon life has changed. True
it was then later in the month and spring filled the air, but a few
weeks make vast changes in a Maryland springtide. And Daddy Neil was
coming home soon! Coming in time for an alumni meeting during June week
at the Academy, and Mr. Harold was coming also. These facts threw every
one at Severndale, as well as Mrs. Harold and Polly into a flutter of
anticipation. But several weeks--yes, three whole months in fact--must
elapse before they would arrive, for the ships were only just leaving
Guantanamo for Hampton Roads and then would follow target practice off
the Virginia Capes.
Mrs. Harold and Polly were going to run down to Hampton Roads for a
week, to meet Mr. Harold, but Commander Stewart's cruiser would not be
there. He was ordered to Nicaragua where one of the periodical
insurrections was taking place and Uncle Sam's sailor boys' presence
would probably prove salutary. At any rate, Neil Stewart could not be at
Hampton Roads, and consequently Peggy decided not to go down with her
friends, though urged to join them. Meanwhile she worked away with
Compadre and as March slipped by acquired for Severndale a most valuable
addition to its paddock.
It all came about in a very simple manner, as such things usually do.
All through Maryland are many small farms, some prosperous, some so
slack and forlorn that one wonders how the owners subsist at all. It
often depends upon the energy and industry of the individual. These
farmers drive into Annapolis with their produce, and when one sees the
animals driven, and vehicles to which they are harnessed, one often
wonders how the poor beasts have had strength to make the journey even
if the vehicle has managed to hold together. Often there is a lively
"swapping" of horses at the market-place and a horse may change owners
three or four times in the course of a morning.
It so happened that Peggy had driven into Annapolis upon one of these
market days, and having driven down to the dock to make inquiry for some
delayed freight, was on her way back when she noticed a pair of flea-
bitten gray horses harnessed to a ramshackle farm wagon. The wagon
wheels were inches thick with dry mud, for the wagon had probably never
been washed since it had become its present owner's property. The
harness was tied in a dozen places with bits of twine, and the horses
were so thin and apparently half-starved that Peggy's heart ached to see
them. Pulling up her own span she said to Jess:
"Oh, Jess, how CAN any one treat them so? They seem almost too weak to
stand, but they have splendid points. Those horses have seen better days
or I'm much mistaken and they come of good stock too."
"Dey sho' does, missie," answered Jess, pleased as Punch to see his
young mistress' quick eye for fine horseflesh, though it must be
admitted that the fine qualities of these horses were well disguised,
and only a connoisseur could have detected them.
As they stood looking at the horses the owner came up accompanied by
another man. They were in earnest conversation, the owner evidently
protesting and his companion expostulating. Something impelled Peggy to
tarry, and without seeming to do so, to listen. She soon grasped the
situation: The horses' owner owed the other man some money which he was
unable to pay. The argument grew heated. Peggy was unheeded. The upshot
was the transfer of ownership of one of the span of horses to the other
man, the new owner helping unharness the one chosen, its mate looking on
with surprised, questioning eyes, as though asking why he, too, was not
being unharnessed. The new owner did not seem over-pleased with his
bargain either (he lacked Peggy's discernment) and vented his ill-temper
upon the poor horse. Presently he led him away, the mate whinnying and
calling after his companion in a manner truly pathetic.
"Quick, Jess," ordered Peggy, "go and find out who that man is and where
he is taking that horse, but don't let him suspect why."
Jess scrambled out of the surrey, saying: "Yo' count on ME, Miss Peggy.
I's wise, I is; I ketches on all right."
Peggy continued to watch. The man sat down upon an upturned box near his
wagon, buried his face in his hands and seemed oblivious of all taking
place around him. Presently the horse turned toward him and nickered
questioningly. The man looked up and reaching out a work-hardened hand,
stroked the poor beast's nose, saying:
"'Taint no use, Pepper; he's done gone fer good. Everythin's gone, and I
wisht ter Gawd I was done gone too, fer 'taint no use. The fight's too
hard for us."
Just then he caught the eye of the young girl watching him. There was
something in her expression which seemed to spell hope: he felt utterly
hopeless. She smiled and beckoned to him. She was so used to being
obeyed that his response was as a matter of course to her. He moved
slowly toward the surrey, resting his hand upon the wheel and looking up
at her with listless eyes. "You want me, miss?" he asked.
Peggy said gently:
"I couldn't help seeing what happened; I was right here. Please don't
think me inquisitive, but would you mind telling me something about your
horses? I love them so, and--and--and--I think yours have good blood."
The furrowed, weatherbeaten face seemed transformed as he answered:
"Some of the best in the land, miss. Some of the best. How did ye guess
it?"
"I did not guess it; I knew it. I raise horses."
"Then you're Miss Stewart from Severndale, ain't ye?"
"Yes, and you?"
"I'm jist Jim Bolivar. I live 'bout five mile this side of Severndale.
Lived there nigh on ter twenty year, but YO' wouldn't never know me, o'
course, though I sometimes drives over to yo' place."
"But how do you expect to drive back all that distance with only one
horse? Did you sell the other, or only lend him?"
For a moment the man hesitated. Then looking into the clear, tender eyes
he said:
"He had ter go, miss. Everything's gone ag'in me for over a year; I owed
Steinberger fifty dollars; I couldn't pay him; I'd given Salt fer
s'curity."
"Salt?" repeated Peggy in perplexity.
"Yes'm, Pepper's mate. I named 'em Pepper 'n Salt when they was young
colts," and a faint smile curved the speaker's lips. Peggy nodded and
said:
"Oh, I see. That was clever. They DO look like pepper and salt."
"Did," corrected the man. "There ain't but one now. But Salt were worth
more 'n fifty dollars; yes, he were."
"He certainly was," acquiesced Peggy. "Do you want to sell Pepper too?"
"I'd sell my HEART, miss, if I could get things fer Nell."
"Who is Nell?"
"My girl, miss. Nigh 'bout yo' age, I reckons, but not big an' healthy
an' spry like yo'. She's ailin' most o' the time, but we's mighty po,'
miss, mighty po'. We ain't allers been, but things have gone agin us
pretty steady. Last year the hail spoilt the crops, an' oh well, yo'
don't want ter hear 'bout my troubles."
"I want to hear about any one's troubles if I can help them. How shall
you get back to your place?"
"Reckon I'll have ter onhitch an' ride Pepper back, on'y I jist
natchelly hate ter see Nell's face when I get thar 'thout Salt. She set
sich store by them horses, an' they'd foiler her anywheres. I sort ter
hate ter start, miss."
"Listen to me," said Peggy. "What does Nell most need?"
"Huh! MOST need? Most need? Well if I started in fer ter tell what she
MOST needs I reckon you'd be scart nigh ter death. She needs everythin'
an' seems like I can't git nothin'."
"Well what did you hope to get for her?" asked Peggy, making a random
shot.
"Why she needs some shoes pretty bad, an' the doctor said she ought ter
have nourishin' things ter eat, but, somehow, we can't seem ter git many
extras."
"Will you go into the market and get what you'd like from Mr. Bodwell?
Here, give him this and tell him Miss Stewart sent you," and hastily
taking a card from her case, Peggy wrote upon it:
"Please give bearer what is needed," and signed her name. "Get a good
thick steak and anything else Nell would like."
The man hesitated. "But I ain't askin' charity, miss."
"This is for NELL, and maybe I'll buy Pepper--if SHE will sell him,"
flashed Peggy, with a radiant smile.
"I'll do as yo' tell me, miss. Mebbe it's Providence. Nell always says:
'The good Lord'll tell us how, Dad,' an' mebbe she's right, mebbe she
is," and worn, weary, discouraged Jim Bolivar went toward the market.
During his absence Jess returned.
"Dat man's a no' 'count dead beat, Miss Peggy. Yas'm, he is fer a fac',
an' he gwine treat dat hawse scan'lous."
Peggy's eyes grew dark. "We'll see," was all she said, but Jess
chuckled. Most of the help at Severndale knew that look. "Jess,
unharness that horse and tie him behind the surrey," was her next
astonishing order.
"Fo' de Lawd's sake, Miss Peggy, what yo' bown' fer ter do? Yo' gwine
start hawsestealin'?" Jess didn't know whether to laugh or take it
seriously. When Jim Bolivar returned Pepper was trying to reason out the
wherefor of being hitched behind such a handsome vehicle as Peggy's
surrey, and Jess was protesting:
"But--but--butter," stammered Jess, "Miss Peggy, yo' am' never in de
roun' worl' gwine ter drive from de town an' clar out ter Severndale wid
dat disrep'u'ble ol' hawse towin' 'long behime WE ALL?"
"I certainly am, and what is more, Jim Bolivar is going to sit on the
back seat and hold the leader. He has got to get HOME and he can't
without help. Mr. Bolivar, please do as I say," Peggy's voice held a
merry note but her little nod of authority meant "business."
"But look at me, miss," protested Bolivar. "I ain't fit ter ride with
yo', no how."
"I am not afraid of criticism," replied Peggy, with the little up-
tilting of the head which told of her Stewart ancestry. "When I know a
thing is right I DO it. Steady, Comet. Quiet, Meteor," for the horses
had been standing some time and seemed inclined to proceed upon two legs
instead of four. "We'll stop at Brooks' for the shoes, then we'll go
around to Dove's; I've a little commission for him."
"Yas'm, yas'm," nodded Jess.
The shoes were bought, Peggy selecting them and giving them to Bolivar
with the words: "It will soon be Easter and this is my Easter gift to
Nellie, with my love," she added with a smile which made the shoes a
hundred-fold more valuable.
Then off to the livery stable.
"Mr. Dove, do you know a man named Steinberger?"
"I know an old skinflint by that name," corrected Dove.
"Well, you are to buy a horse from him. Seventy-five dollars OUGHT to be
the price, but a hundred is available if necessary. But do your best.
The horse's name is Salt--yes--that is right," as Dove looked
incredulous, "and he is a flea-bitten gray--mate to this one behind us.
Steinberger bought him today, and I want you to beat him at his own game
if you can, for he has certainly beaten a better man."
"You count on me, Miss Stewart, you count on me. Whatever YOU say goes
with me."
"Thank you, I'll wait and see what happens."
Their homeward progress was slower than usual, for poor half-starved
Pepper could not keep pace with Comet and Meteor. About four miles from
Annapolis Bolivar directed them into a by-road which led to an isolated
farm, as poor, forlorn a specimen as one could find. But in spite of its
disrepair there was something of home in its atmosphere and the dooryard
was carefully brushed. Turkey red curtains at the lower windows gave an
air of cheeriness to the lonely place. As they drew near a hound came
bounding out to greet them with a deep-throated bark, and a moment later
a girl about Peggy's age appeared at the door. Peggy thought she had
never seen a sweeter or a sadder face. She was fair to transparency with
great questioning blue eyes, masses of golden hair waving softly back
from her face and gathered into a thick braid. She walked with a slight
limp, and looked in surprise at the strange visitors, and her big blue
eyes were full of a vague doubt.
"It's all right, honey. It's all right," called Bolivar. "'Aint nothin'
but Providence a-workin' out, I reckon, jist like yo' say.
"We have brought your father and Pepper home. Salt is all right, Nelly.
You will see him again pretty soon."
"Oh, has anything happened to Salt, Dad?" asked the girl quickly.
"Well, not anything, so-to-speak. Jist let Miss Stewart, here, run it
and it'll come out all right. I'm bankin' on that, judgin' from the way
she's done so far. She's got a head a mile long, honey, she has, an' has
mine beat ter a frazzle. Mine's kind o' wore out I reckon, an' no
'count, no more. Come long out an' say howdy."
Nelly Bolivar came to the surrey and smiling up into Peggy's face, said:
"Of course I know who you are, everybody does, but I never expected to
really, truly know you, and I'm a right proud girl to shake hands with
you," and a thin hand, showing marks of toil, was held to Peggy. There
was a sweet dignity in the act and words.
Peggy took it in her gloved one, saying:
"I didn't suspect I was so well known. For a quiet girl I'm beginning to
know a lot of people. But I must go now, it is getting very late. Your
father is going to bring Pepper over to see me soon and maybe he will
bring you, too. He has such a lot to tell you that I'll not delay it a
bit longer. Good-bye, and remember a lot of pleasant things are going to
happen," and with the smile which won all who knew her, Peggy drove
away.
If people's right ears burn when others are speaking kindly of them,
Peggy's should have burned hard that evening, for Nelly Bolivar listened
eagerly as her father told of the afternoon's experiences and Peggy's
part in them.
Two days later Salt was delivered at Severndale. Dove had been as good
as his word. Shelby gave him one glance and said:
"Well, if some men knew a HOSS as quick as that thar girl does, there'd
be fewer no 'count beasts in the world. Put him in a stall and tell Jim
Jarvis I want him to take care of him as if he was the Emperor. I know
what I'm sayin', an' Miss Peggy knows what she's a-doin', an' that's
more 'n I kin say for MOST women-folks."
So Salt found himself in the lap of luxury and one week of it so
transformed him that at the end of it poor Pepper would hardly have
known his mate. Yet with all the care bestowed upon him the poor horse
grieved for his mate, and never did hoof-beat fall upon the ground
without his questioning neigh.
Peggy visited him every day and was touched by his response to her
petting; it showed what Nelly had done for him. But she was quick to
understand the poor creature's nervous watching for his lost mate, and
evident loneliness. At length she had him turned into the paddock with
the other horses, but even this failed to console him. He stood at the
paling looking down the road, again and again neighing his call for the
companion which failed to answer. Peggy began to wonder what had become
of Jim Bolivar. Two more weeks passed. Mrs. Harold and Polly had
returned from Old Point and upon a beautiful April afternoon Polly and
Peggy were out on the little training track where Polly, mounted upon
Silver Star, was taking her first lesson in hurdles; a branch of her
equestrian education which thus far had not been taken up.
Star was beautifully trained, and took the low hurdles like a lapwing,
though it must be confessed that Polly felt as though her head had
snapped off short the first time he rose and landed.
"My gracious, Peggy, do you nearly break your neck every time you take a
fence?" she cried, settling her hat which had flopped down over her
face.
"Not quite," laughed Peggy, skimming over a five-barred hurdle as though
it were five inches. "But, oh, Polly, look at Salt! Look at him! He acts
as though he'd gone crazy," she cried, for the horse had come to the
fence which divided his field from the track and was neighing and pawing
in the most excited manner, now and again making feints of springing
over.
"Why I believe he would jump if he only knew how," answered Polly
eagerly.
"And I believe he DOES know how already," and Peggy slipped from Shashai
to go to the fence. Just then, however, the sound of an approaching
vehicle caught her ears, and the next instant Salt was tearing away
across the field like a wild thing, neighing loudly with every bound,
and from the roadway came the answering neigh for which he had waited so
long, and Pepper came plodding along, striving his best to hasten toward
the call he knew and loved. But Pepper had not been full-fed with oats,
corn and bran-mashes, doctored by a skilled hand, or groomed by Jim
Jarvis, as Salt had been for nearly four blissful weeks, and an empty
stomach is a poor spur. But he could come to the fence and rub noses
with Salt, and Peggy and Polly nearly fell into each other's arms with
delight.
"Oh, doesn't it make you just want to cry to see them?" said Polly, half
tearfully.
"They shan't be separated again," was Peggy's positive assertion. "How
do you do, Mr. Bolivar? Why, Nelly, have you been ill?" for the girl
looked almost too sick to sit up.
"Yes, Miss Peggy, that's why Dad couldn't come sooner. He had to take
care of me. He has fretted terribly over it too, because--"
"Now, now! Tut, tut, honey. Never mind, Miss Peggy don't want to hear
nothin' 'bout--"
"Yes she does, too, and Nelly will tell us, She is coming right up to
the house with us--this is my friend Miss Polly Howland, Nelly--Nelly
Bolivar, Polly--and while you go find Shelby, Mr. Bolivar, and tell him
I say to take--oh, here you are, Shelby. This is Mr. Bolivar. Please
take him up to your cottage and take GOOD care of him, and give Pepper
the very best feed he ever had. Then turn him out in the pasture with
Salt. "We will be back again in an hour to talk horse just as fast as we
can, and DON'T FORGET WHAT I TOLD YOU ABOUT PEPPER'S POINTS."
"I won't, Miss Peggy, but I ain't got to open more'n HALF an eye no
how."
Peggy laughed, then slipping her arm through Nelly's, said:
"Come up to the house with us. Mammy will know what you need to make you
feel stronger, and you are going to be Polly's and my girl this
afternoon."
Quick to understand, Polly slipped to Nelly's other side, and the two
strong, robust girls, upon whom fortune and Nature had smiled so kindly,
led their less fortunate little sister to the great house.