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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/24361-8.txt b/24361-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c25656a --- /dev/null +++ b/24361-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7499 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Teddy: Her Book, by Anna Chapin Ray + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Teddy: Her Book + A Story of Sweet Sixteen + +Author: Anna Chapin Ray + +Illustrator: Vesper L. George + +Release Date: January 19, 2008 [EBook #24361] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TEDDY: HER BOOK *** + + + + +Produced by David Edwards, Annie McGuire and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from scans of public domain material +produced by Microsoft for their Live Search Books site.) + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Book Cover] + + + + + TEDDY: HER BOOK + A Story of Sweet Sixteen + + BY + ANNA CHAPIN RAY + + ILLUSTRATED BY VESPER L. GEORGE + + [Illustration: Teddy] + + BOSTON + LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY + 1901 + + _Copyright, 1898_, + BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. + + University Press: + JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. + + + + + "_Spring's hands are always full of rosy flowers, + Unopened buds to deck each field and tree. + We love and watch them through the long, sweet hours, + Not for the buds, but what the buds will be._ + + "_Life's hands are full of buds. She comes on singing, + With radiant eyes, across Youth's golden gate; + We smile to see the burden she is bringing, + And for the Summer are content to wait._" + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + THEODORA'S FACE, ROSY WITH BLUSHES, APPEARED IN THE OPENING. 31 + + THEODORA WENT FLYING ACROSS THE ROAD. 69 + + "'WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS?' SHE DEMANDED." 100 + + "TEDDY, DEAR, THIS IS MY BROTHER ARCHIE, COME AT LAST." 129 + + "'GIVE ME MY FAN AND GLOVES, HU,' SHE SAID." 256 + + SOMETHING IN THE EXPRESSION OF THE BLUE EYES ABOVE + HER MADE HER OWN EYES DROOP. 272 + + + + +CHAPTER ONE + + +The five McAlisters were gathered in the dining-room, one rainy night in +late August. In view of the respective dimensions of the family circle +and the family income, servants were few in the McAlister household, and +division of labor was the order of the day. Old Susan had cleared away +the table and brought in the lamp; then she retired to the kitchen, +leaving the young people to themselves. + +Hope was darning stockings. She had one of Hubert's socks drawn on over +her hand, which showed, white and dainty, through the great, ragged +hole. Hubert sat near her with little Allyn on his knee, tiding over a +crisis in the young man's temper by showing him pictures in the +dilapidated Mother Goose which had done duty for successive McAlisters, +from seventeen-year-old Hope down. + +"Stop kicking brother," he commanded, as Allyn lifted up his voice and +his heels in vigorous protest against things in general, and the +approach of the sandman in particular. "Listen, Allyn,-- + + 'There was a little man, + And he had a little gun, + And his bullets were made of lead, lead, lead.'" + +Theodora appeared on the threshold of the great china closet, where she +was washing the cups and plates. She had a dish-cloth in one hand and +three or four spoons in the other. + +"You don't put enough emphasis into it, Hu," she said mockingly. "This +is the way it should sound, like this,-- + + 'There was a little cow, + And it had a little calf, + And it wouldn't ever go to bed, bed, bed.' + +Never mind, Allyn, sister will come in a few minutes and put your +nightie on. Oh, Babe, I wish you'd hurry and put away these dishes." + +But Babe, baptismally known as Phebe, was engaged in tickling Allyn's +toes, with the praiseworthy intention of making him kick the harder. +Accordingly, she was deaf to the voice of Theodora, who was forced to +put away the cups herself. She did it with a bumping impatience, +grumbling the while. + +"I do wish that everlasting old Susan would wash these things. The idea +of my being tied to a dish-pan, all my days, and Babe never will help a +bit! It's not fair." She set down a cup with a protesting whack which +threatened to wreck its handle. + +"Oh, Teddy?" Hubert called, from the next room. + +"Well?" Her face cleared, as it always did at the voice of her twin +brother. + +"Drop something?" + +"No. Wish I had. I'd like to throw this dish-pan into the street." + +"'Most through?" + +"Never shall be. Do put Allyn down and come to help me." + +He settled the child, book and all, in a corner of the old haircloth +sofa which ran across the end of the room, and, with his hands in his +pockets, he sauntered into the china closet and sat down on the little +step-ladder that stood there, ready to lead to an ascent to the upper +shelves. + +"What's the matter, to-night, Teddy?" he asked, sympathetically +tweaking the end of her long brown pigtail. + +"The weather, I think," she replied, as she threw a dish-towel at him. +"I don't like to wash dishes, and I don't like rainy days, and I don't +like--" + +"Nothin' nor nobody. Never mind filling up the list. You've a crick in +your temper, that's all. It will be gone in the morning. Here, give me a +towel, and I'll help wipe." + +It was a service he had often performed before. The twins were close +friends, and some of their most confidential talks had been held over +the steaming dish-water. They finished their task together; then Hubert +linked his arm in that of his sister and came out into the dining-room, +where Hope, with the stocking still drawn on over her hand, was vainly +trying to rescue Allyn from the torments imposed on him by Phebe. + +"Don't, Babe," she urged. "Don't you see how it makes him cry? Why can't +you let him alone? He is always cross at bedtime." + +"So are you," Phebe retorted defiantly. "When she comes, Hope McAlister, +I do hope she'll give it to you good." + +Hope flushed, and her sensitive chin quivered a little. + +"Let's hope not," she said gently. "Do be quiet, there's a dear Babe. It +is almost your bedtime." + +"But I sha'n't go to bed," proclaimed Phebe rebelliously. + +"Phebe!" + +Experience had taught her that Sister Hope, gentle as she was, must be +obeyed when she spoke in that tone, and Phebe sullenly yielded to the +inevitable and became quiet. + +Meanwhile, Theodora had pounced upon Allyn, caught him up in her strong +young arms, cuddled his fluffy yellow head against her cheek, and gone +away upstairs, whither Phebe followed them with a crushing dignity which +sought for no good-night kiss. Hubert cast himself down on the old sofa +and fell to rummaging his sister's basket. He smiled a little, as she +showed him the vast hole in the toe of his sock; but it was some minutes +before he spoke. Then he said slowly,-- + +"Never mind, Hope. It's in the air, and we all feel it." + +He was silent again. Upstairs, they could hear the _tap_, _tap_ of +Teddy's energetic heels, as she moved to and fro, settling the two +children for the night. Then she was still, while Allyn's shrill, +childish treble rose in his evening petition,-- + + "Now I lay me down a shleep, + I tray a Lo' la tol a teep, + I ta die afo' I wake, + Tray a Lo' la tol a take. + It I at a Jedu' shlake. A-nen!" + +Ten minutes later, she came back to the dining-room and threw herself +down on the sofa, with her head on Hubert's knee and her elbow in the +orderly work-basket. + +"Do you know," she said abruptly; "I think our venerable father is a +goose." + +"Teddy!" Hope's tone was remonstrant. + +"I can't help it, if it isn't respectful; I do. He's lived long enough +to know better, and he ought to be put to bed without his supper, even +if it is his wedding day." She started up, to add emphasis to her words; +but Hubert seized her two long braids of hair and drew her head down on +his knee again. + +"Calm yourself, Teddy," he said, bending forward to peer into her face. +"You are worse than the children. I told Hope that it was in the air, +to-night." + +"Why shouldn't it be?" she demanded. "Here are we, three grown-up +children, sitting in a row at home and knowing that, this very evening, +our own father is being married to a stranger. It's horrid." + +"It may not be so bad, Teddy," Hope said consolingly, as she rolled up +Hubert's socks in a ball and tossed them at her brother. "You know we +saw her once and we all liked her." + +"That was before we knew what was going on. You may think a person is +pretty and nice and all that; but that doesn't mean you want her for a +mother." + +"I don't believe she'll be so bad," Hubert observed judicially. "She's +been to college and she knows a good deal, and she's pretty and not +easily shocked. Don't you remember how she laughed at Babe's awful +speeches?" + +"I remember just how she looked," Hope said. "She must have been amused +at our innocence. I don't see why the reason never struck us that we +were all dragged over to the hotel to see her." + +"Because we had some respect for papa," Theodora said tartly. "I don't +see why he needs to go and get married again, and I won't say I'm glad +to see her, when she comes. There!" + +"Ted is afraid that Madame will make her toe the mark," Hubert said +teasingly. "You've had your own way too long, Miss Teddy, and now you +will have to come to terms. Isn't that about the truth of it?" + +The clock struck eight, and Hope raised her head. + +"Listen," she said. "Isn't it a strange feeling that now, in the middle +of the lights and the music and the wedding march, papa, our own father, +is being married, while we sit here just as we always do?" + +The three young faces grew grave at the thought, Hope's with the sweet +romance of her years, Hubert's with interest, and Theodora's with open +rebellion. For some time they sat there, silent. Then Hope spoke, with +the evident design of changing the subject. + +"Does anybody know about the new people on the corner?" + +"Only what papa said, that it's a woman and her son. She's a widow, her +husband was killed in the Massawan bridge accident, and the son terribly +hurt." + +"Have they come?" + +"Yes, I saw them yesterday," Hubert said. + +"What are they like?" Hope and Theodora asked in a breath. + +"They were driving past the post-office, when I went after the noon +mail. They went by so fast I couldn't see much, though." + +"How did you know who it was?" Theodora inquired, rolling over till she +could look up into her brother's face. + +"Mr. Saunders asked me if I knew they were our new neighbors. They came +Tuesday, but they stayed at the hotel till yesterday morning, while the +house was being put in order." + +"What did they look like?" Teddy demanded. + +"Like all the rest of the world, as far as I could see." + +"Stop teasing, Hu, and tell us," Hope urged. + +"Really, I don't know much about them," Hubert returned, with an air of +lazy indifference. "Look out, Ted, you're tipping over Hope's basket. +One would think we'd never had any new neighbors before, from the way +you act." + +"We haven't, for ages. Tell us, Hu, there's a dear, what are they like?" + +"I honestly didn't have a chance to see them, Ted. She's tall and +pretty, and has a lot of fuzzy light red hair." + +"Of course she was in mourning," Hope said. + +"Yes, I suppose so. At least, she had a pile of black stuff hanging down +her back. I don't see why women should pin a black shawl over their +heads, when somebody dies; but then--" + +"How old is the son?" Theodora interrupted. + +"About our ages, I should say." + +"Did he look ill?" Hope asked pitifully. + +"No; only pale." + +"What's the matter with him, anyway?" Theodora inquired, as she reached +out for her brother's hand and fell to playing with his slender brown +fingers. + +"Papa told me he was jammed into a corner, with a lot of stuff on top of +him, and his back is hurt so he can't walk." + +"Ugh!" Theodora wriggled. "How horrid! Won't he get over it?" + +"Sometime; but it will take a good while." + +"How did they happen to come here?" Hope said. + +"They wanted to move into the country. Dr. Parker is their regular +doctor, and he advised them to try papa, so they came here to be near +him. Papa told me, on the way to the station, the day he went. He had a +great, thick letter from Dr. Parker all about it." + +"And so they are really in the house. It has been empty so long that I +can't realize it," Hope observed thoughtfully. "Of course, if he were a +girl, it would make more difference to us." + +"I don't see why," Theodora said, as she pulled off the ribbon from one +of her braids, and untied the bow. + +"Why, because--Don't you see? He can't come to us, and we can't go +there; that is, none of us but Hu." + +"I don't see why," Theodora said again. + +"It wouldn't be proper," Hope said primly. "You can't go to call on a +boy, Teddy. Hu will go over, in a day or two, though." + +"Not if he knows himself," Hubert returned. "I don't like freaks. They +make me squirmy, and I never know what to say to them." + +"Then you're a pig," Theodora answered, with Saxon frankness. "It won't +be decent, if we don't try to make it pleasant for him. He's a stranger +to everybody, and shut up so he can't have any fun." + +"I really think you ought to go, Hu," Hope said gently. + +"I don't hanker to," he returned laughingly. "Let Ted go, if she wants +to." + +"But she is a girl--" Hope began. + +"Not more than half," Hubert interrupted, with a laughing grimace at his +twin sister, who stood by the sofa, looking scornfully down at them. + +"You can do as you like, you two," she said. "It isn't a question of +whether it's proper or not; it is simple human kindness, and as soon as +I can, Hope McAlister, I intend to get acquainted with him. You've got +to go over there, Hu, and take me with you, just as soon as papa comes +home." She tied her ribbon with a defiant jerk. + +Rather to her surprise, Hubert came to her support. + +"You're all right, Teddy; go ahead. If papa is willing, Hope, I don't +see why she can't go to see him whenever she feels like it. It isn't in +my line. I always feel as if people smashed up in that way ought to sing +hymns all the time, and talk about Heaven. That's the way they do in +Sunday-school books, you know, and they never have tempers and things. +I shouldn't know what to say to that kind of a fellow, and I should only +make a mess of it; but if Ted wants to play the good Samaritan to him, +let her. For my part, I like whole people, or none at all." He squared +his shoulders and took a deep, full breath, as he spoke, in all the +pride of his boyish strength. + +"We're bound to see a good deal of him anyway," Theodora urged, a shade +less hotly. "Right next door and a patient of papa's, it would be queer +not to pay any attention to him. He's all alone, too, and there are such +a lot of us. I don't want to do anything out-of-the-way, Hope, but I do +wish we could get acquainted with him." + +"Wait till papa comes home, dear," Hope said, with the gentleness which +had gained her so many victories over her tempestuous young sisters. +"That will only be two or three weeks, and he will know what is the best +thing to do." + +"Maybe, unless the new Madame is a prig," Theodora said restively. "She +may be worse than you are, Hope; but I doubt it. Never mind," she added +sagely to herself, as she left the room; "it is two weeks till then, and +there's plenty of chance for things to happen, before they get home." + + + + +CHAPTER TWO + + +Lying far at the side of the little suburban town, the McAlisters' +grounds were of a size and beauty which entitled them to be ranked as +one of the few so-called "places" that dominated the closely-built +streets of the town. The land ran all up and down hill, here coaxed into +a smooth-cropped lawn, there carpeted with the moss and partridge vines +which had been left to grow over the rocks in undisturbed possession. +Here and there, too, were outcrops of the rock, ragged, jutting ledges +full of the nooks and crannies which delight the souls of children from +one generation to another. The grounds had been, for the most part, left +as nature had made them, full of little curves and hillocks and dimples; +but the great glory of the place lay in its trees. No conventional elms +and maples were they, but the native trees of the forest, huge-bodied +chestnuts, tall, straight-limbed oaks, jagged hickories which blazed +bright gold in the autumn and shot back the sunlight from every leafy +twig, and an occasional cedar or two, from which came the name of the +place, The Savins. + +Less than a year after his first marriage, Dr. McAlister had bought the +place, going far out of the town for the purpose. At that time, he was +regarded as little short of a maniac, to prefer land on the ridge to the +smooth, conventional little lawns of the middle of the town, where one +house was so like another that the inhabitants might have followed the +example of the Mad Tea Party and moved up a place, without suffering any +inconvenience from the change. It was years before the townspeople +dropped the story of Mrs. McAlister's first attempt to choose a site for +the house, of her patiently sitting on top of the rail fence, while her +husband borrowed a hatchet and manfully whacked away at the underbrush, +to clear a path to admit her to her new domain. + +It was not till several years later that the house was built, and the +McAlisters actually took possession of their new home. Phebe was a baby +then, and the twins were so young that Theodora formed an abiding +impression that Indians were prone to lurk behind a certain trio of +great chestnut-trees at the far side of the grounds. The house was not +impressive. It stood on one of the three hills, and originally it had +been small, to match the income of the young doctor. Only a year later, +he had built on a new wing; and, from that time onward, the spirit of +reconstruction had entered into his soul. Hope was wont to describe the +house as a species of crazy patchwork, a patch for each year, and each +patch of a different style. From the outside point of view, the result +was not a success, and the large red house, low and rambling, had grown +beyond the limits of the hill and sprawled over the edge on a pile of +supporting piazzas and pillars. Inside, it was altogether delightful, +with odd windows and corners and lounging places, sunshine everywhere, +and the indescribable air of half-shabby, well-used cosiness which is so +dear to every one but the owners thereof. Strangers felt the charm as +soon as they crossed the threshold; the whole atmosphere of the place +was hospitable and unconventional and homelike. + +Taken all in all, it was an ideal spot for growing children, and the +young McAlisters had made the most of it. On rainy days, they adjourned +to the attic, where they bumped their heads against the low rafters of +the gables, or ventured on long, perilous expeditions upon the beams of +the unfloored extension over one of the wings. They were gifted with +good imaginations, these three older children, and this +carefully-trodden territory did service alternately as Africa, Fort +Ticonderoga, and a runaway locomotive. + +But that was only during stormy weather. The rest of the time they lived +out-of-doors, in winter coasting down the hills on sleds or on shingles, +according to the state of the crust; and in summer running riot among +the green things, like the very daisies which refused to be rooted out +of the lawn. A neighborhood had grown up around them; but they cared +little for other children. A wealth of imagination, and plenty of room +to let it work itself out had developed plays of long standing which +were as charming to them as they were incomprehensible to their young +neighbors. + +Then the change had come, and a cloud had fallen on the home. Baby Allyn +had been born, and on the same day the bright, happy young mother, boon +companion of her children in work and in play, had fallen asleep. The +shock had come so suddenly and unexpectedly that there had been no time +to plan for a reconstruction. Almost before they realized what had +occurred, they had settled back into their former routine, only with +Hope as the nominal, and old Susan, the American "help," as the actual, +head of things. In a larger community, such an arrangement would have +been out of the question; but Hope was a womanly child, and Susan had +been in the family for years, in a relation which unfortunately is fast +dying out. Accordingly, the doctor had been content to let the situation +go on from day to day, until the hour of his second marriage, two or +three years later. + +Back in a far corner of the grounds, close to the division fence towards +the garden of the long-unoccupied corner house, was an early apple-tree, +old and gnarly, which for years had been known as "Teddy's tree." No one +had ever been able to trace the beginning of her proprietorship in it; +but she had assumed it as her own and viewed with disfavor any +encroachments on the part of the others. It might have been a case of +squatter sovereignty; but it was a sovereignty which Theodora stoutly +maintained. Her scarlet hammock hung from the lower branches, and the +tree was full of comfortable crooks and crotches which she knew to the +least detail. Thither she was wont to retire to recover her lost temper, +to grieve over her girlish sorrows, to dream dreams of future glory, +and, often and often, to lie passive and watch the white clouds drift +this way and that in the great blue arch above her. No human being, not +even Hubert himself, could have told so much of Theodora's inner life as +this old apple-tree, if only the power of speech had been granted it. + +Three days later, Theodora was curled up in a fork of one of the topmost +branches of her tree. The apples were beginning to ripen, and she had +eaten until even her hearty young appetite was satisfied. Then she +crossed her feet, coiled one arm around the branch beside her, and fell +to planning, as she had so often done before, how she could fulfil her +two great ambitions, to go to college in the first place, and then to +become a famous author. It was always an absorbing subject and, losing +herself in it, she became totally oblivious of her surroundings. Nearly +an hour later, she was roused by the sound of approaching voices, and +she straightened herself and peered down through the branches. + +Just below her, on the other side of the fence, so close to it that it +had escaped her notice, was a light bamboo lounge, covered with a pile +of bright cushions. Across the garden, evidently towards it, came a +wheeled chair pushed by a sedate-looking person in green livery, and +occupied by a slight figure covered with a gay rug. Theodora gave a +little gasp of sheer delight. + +"It's the boy!" she exclaimed to herself. "Now is my chance to get a +look at him." + +Beside the lounge, the chair came to a halt, and the man, bending down, +lifted the boy from the chair. With pitiful eyes, Theodora noted the +limp helplessness of all the lower part of his body; but she also saw +that the boyish face was bright and manly, and that his blue eyes +flashed with a spirit equal to Hubert's own. She watched approvingly the +handy way in which the man settled the cushions. Then he turned to go +away. Half way across the garden, he was arrested by a call from the +lounge. + +"Hi, Patrick!" + +"Well, sir?" + +"Where's my book?" + +"What book?" + +"The one I was reading, the blue one." + +"I think you left it in the house." + +"But didn't I tell you to bring it along? Go and get it, and hurry up +about it." And a pillow flew after Patrick's retreating form with a +strength and an accuracy of aim which called forth an ill-suppressed +giggle from Theodora. + +Presently the man reappeared, book in hand, and the boy hailed him +jovially with an utter disregard of his passing ill-humor. Then the man +went away, and silence fell. The boy below was absorbed in his reading; +Theodora above in watching him and building up a detailed romance about +him, upon the slight foundation of her present impression. + +"I wonder what his name is," she said to herself. "I hope it's something +nice and interesting, like Valentine, or Geoffrey, or something." + +She had just reached the point in her romance where one of them, she was +not quite sure which, should rescue the other from a runaway horse, when +the boy suddenly called her back to the present by throwing his open +book on the ground, with a vigorous yawn. + +"Ha-um!" he remarked, and, turning his head slightly, he stared +aimlessly up into the tree above him. + +Theodora, high up among the branches, was screened from his view by the +light leafage, and the pale greenish tones of her cotton gown helped her +to escape notice. Accordingly, she bent forward and peeped through the +leaves, laughing to herself as she saw his eyes turned upward, quite +unconscious of her scrutiny. + +Yes, he was interesting, she told herself. He did not look in the least +like a pensive invalid as he lay there, and she nodded to herself in +girlish approval, as she took in every detail of his appearance. +Unfortunately that nod cost her her hiding-place. Without in the least +realizing it, she had leaned too far forward, and she slipped from her +perch. She saved herself by catching at a branch before her; but the +sudden jar sent a ripe apple crashing down through the leaves, and it +landed plump in one of the cushions, not two inches from the boy's head. + +"Oh, I say!" he exclaimed. + +[Illustration: THEODORA'S FACE, ROSY WITH BLUSHES, APPEARED IN THE +OPENING.] + +The words were addressed to empty space, merely as an expression of +surprise. The surprise was increased, as he saw the leaves pushed apart, +and Theodora's face, rosy with blushes, appear in the opening. + +"I'm so sorry! Did it hurt you?" + +"Not a bit. Besides, I was just getting hungry." + +As a proof of his statement, his teeth met in the apple. + +"Don't you want another?" Theodora inquired generously. + +"Thank you; not in that same way. You might aim better, next time." + +"Honestly, I didn't mean to do it. I slipped and jiggled it down. Wait a +minute, and I'll throw down some more, better ones." + +She scrambled about in the branches, tossing down the bright apples till +they lay thick on the ground about the lounge. The boy watched her, half +amused, half envious as he saw her lithe, agile motions. + +"You'll have to come down and pick them up now," he said composedly, +when the shower had ceased. "I can't reach them, you see." + +"Oh!" Theodora gave a little groan of annoyance. "How stupid I am!" + +"I don't see why. But come along down and talk to a fellow for a while." + +Glimpses of a rosy face, a pale green gown and a pair of tan-colored +shoes were beginning to whet his curiosity. He wanted to see what the +stranger was like, at shorter range. + +With a rustle and a slide and a bump, Theodora dropped lightly at his +side. She caught the placket of her skirt, on the way; but the sound of +rending garments was too common an occurrence in her career to call for +more than a passing attention. Strange to say, it had been much easier +to talk when she had been half-hidden in the apple-tree. A sudden +shyness came upon them both, as they looked in each other's eyes. There +was an interval of silence. Then Theodora dropped down on the turf by +the lounge, and held up a handful of apples. + +"Take one of these. They're ever so much better than the first one." + +"This is good enough, thank you." He took another from her outstretched +hand, however. "Do you usually inhabit trees like this? I didn't hear +you come." + +"I've been there all the morning," Theodora answered, while she told +herself that his bright blue eyes were almost as fine as Hubert's brown +ones. "That tree is my city of refuge. The others call it 'Teddy's +tree.'" + +"And you are--" he hesitated. + +She laughed, while she chose one of the apples that lay beside her, and +plunged her strong young teeth into it. + +"Yes, I'm Teddy," she said, with her mouth somewhat too full for +elegance. "My real name is Theodora," she added, speaking rather more +distinctly. + +"I think I like the other best," the boy replied, laughing in his turn. + +"I don't. Teddy is like a boy; but Theodora is stately and dignified. I +want to be called Theodora; but in a family like ours, there are bound +to be nicknames." + +"You aren't the only one, then?" + +"Mercy, no! There are five of us." + +"How jolly it must be! I'm the only one." The boy's tone was a bit +wishful. "Are they all like you?" + +"I hope not." Theodora's laugh rang out a second time, hearty and +infectious. "There are two good ones, and two bad ones, and a baby." + +"Which are you?" the boy asked mischievously. + +"What a question! I'm bad, of course, that is, in comparison with Hope. +She's the oldest, and we get worse as we go down the line. I shudder to +think what the baby may develop into." + +The boy nestled down contentedly among his cushions and watched her with +merry eyes. + +"Go on and tell about them," he urged. "It's such fun to hear about a +large family." + +Theodora's quick eye saw that one of the cushions was slipping to one +side. She replaced it with a deftness of touch natural to her, yet +seemingly incongruous with her harum-scarum ways. Then she settled +herself with her back against a tree, facing her new friend. + +"Hope is past seventeen and an angel," she said; "one of the good, quiet +kind with yellow hair and not any temper. She's had all the care of us, +since my mother died. Then there's Hubert, my twin brother. He's my boy, +and a splendid one. You'll like Hu. Phebe is ten, and a terror. Nobody +ever knows what she'll do or say next. We call her Babe, but Allyn is +the real baby. He's cunning and funny, except when Babe teases him, and +then he rages like a little monster. That's all there are of us." + +"And you live just over the fence?" + +"Yes, we've lived there always, grown up with the place. People used to +call it McAlister's Folly; but they're more respectful now." + +"McAlister?" + +"Yes. I'm Dr. McAlister's daughter. Didn't you know it?" + +"How should I? Remember, you came down out of a tree." + +They both laughed. + +"That's just like me," Theodora returned. "I never do the thing I ought. +Hu was coming over here in a few days; but Hope said I must wait to see +what papa said." + +"What for?" + +"Because you're a boy. She said girls don't go to see boys. I told her I +would wait, and here I am. I couldn't help it; but Hope will be +horrified. She never went to see a boy in her life; but then, she's used +to being horrified at me." Theodora appeared to be arguing out the +situation, much to her own frank amusement. + +"But don't you see it's different in this case?" the boy suggested. "I'm +only about half a boy, just now. Besides, Miss Teddy, if you'll only +come over again, I promise to make up for it, as soon as I'm able to go +to see you." + +Theodora's face brightened. + +"Do you honestly want me to come again?" + +"Of course. Else I shouldn't ask you. Come over the fence again. I shall +be up here, 'most every pleasant morning, and everybody else is busy, +fixing up the house. Come to-morrow," he urged. + +"I will, if I can. Sometimes I'm busy." + +"By the way," the boy added abruptly; "maybe I ought to tell you my +name. Probably you know it, though." + +"No." Theodora looked up expectantly. She had an appetite for +high-sounding names, and she had decided that Valentine Mortimer would +just suit the present instance. + +"Well, I'm Will Farrington; but everybody calls me Billy." + +"Oh." Then Theodora unexpectedly began to laugh. "We ought to be good +friends," she said; "for our names are about equally imposing. Billy and +Teddy! Could anything be more prosaic? Good-by," she added, as she rose. +"Truly, I must go home now." + +Billy held out his hand. It looked rather white and thin, as Theodora's +brown, strong fingers closed over it. + +"Good-by," he said reluctantly. "Do come again whenever you can. +Remember there are five of you and only one of me, and be as neighborly +as you can." + +Theodora mounted the fence. At the top, she paused and looked back. + +"I will come," she said. "I'll get round Hope in some way or other. +Good-by till to-morrow." She nodded brightly, and jumped down out of +sight, on the other side of the fence. + + + + +CHAPTER THREE + + +It was the first of September, and the sunshine lay yellow on the +fields. Phebe McAlister and her chief friend and crony, Isabel St. John, +sat side by side on a rough board fence, not far from the McAlister +grounds, feasting upon turnips. The turnips were unripe and raw, and +nothing but an innate spirit of perversity could have induced the girls +to eat them. Moreover, each had an abundant supply of exactly similar +vegetables in her own home garden, yet they had wandered away, to prey +upon the turnip patch of Mr. Elnathan Rogers. + +"Good, aren't they?" Phebe asked, as the corky, hard root cracked under +her jaws. + +"Fine." Isabel rolled her morsel under her tongue; then, when Phebe's +attention was distracted, she furtively threw it down back of the fence. +"I believe I like 'em better this way than I do cooked." This addition +was strictly true, for Isabel never touched turnips at home. + +"I want another." Phebe jumped down and helped herself to two more +turnips, carefully choosing the largest and best, and ruthlessly +sacrificing a half-dozen more in the process. "Here, Isabel, take your +pick." + +Isabel held out her hand, hesitated, then, with a radiant smile of +generosity, ostentatiously helped herself to the smaller. But Phebe held +firmly to its bunch of green leaves. + +"No, take the other, Isabel," she urged. + +"I'd rather leave it for you." + +"But I want you to have it." + +"And I want you to take it." + +"I've got ever so many more at home." + +"So've I." + +Reluctantly Phebe yielded her hold, and Isabel took the smaller one and +rubbed the earth away, before biting it. + +"It's not fair for me to take it, Phebe," she observed; "when you were +the one to get it." + +Phebe giggled. + +"Just s'pose Mr. Rogers should catch us here, Isabel St. John! What +would you do?" + +"I'd run," Isabel returned tersely. + +"I wouldn't; I'd tell him." + +Isabel stared at her friend in admiration. + +"Tell him what?" + +"Oh--things," Phebe answered, with sudden vagueness. "My papa and mamma +are coming home this afternoon." + +"Your stepmother," Isabel corrected. + +"Well, what's the difference?" + +"Lots." + +"What?" + +"Oh, stepmothers are always mean to you and abuse you." + +"How do you know? You haven't got any." + +"No; but I knew a girl that had." Isabel took advantage of Phebe's +interest in the subject, to slip the half-eaten turnip into her pocket. + +"What happened?" Phebe demanded. + +"Oh, everything. The stepmother used to take tucks in her dresses, and +whip her, and send her to bed, and even when there was company. And her +own mother used to stand by the bed and say,-- + + 'How is my baby and how is my fawn? + Once more will I come, and then vanish at dawn.'" + +Phebe turned around sharply. + +"What a fib! That's in a book of fairy stories, and you said you knew +the girl, Isabel St. John." + +"So I did. Her name was Eugenia Martha Smith." + +But Phebe refused to be convinced. + +"I don't believe one word of it, Isabel; and you needn't feel so smart, +even if you do have a mother of your own. I used to have; and I know my +stepmother will be nicer than your mother." + +"How do you know?" + +"She's prettier and she's younger. She gave me lots and lots of peaches, +too, and your mother wouldn't let us have a single one, so there now." + +"Do you know the reason why?" Isabel demanded, in hot indignation. + +"No, I don't, and I don't believe she does," Phebe answered recklessly. + +"She said, after you'd gone, that she'd have been willing to let you +have one, but you were so deceitful, you'd have taken a dozen, as soon +as her back was turned. Now what do you think?" + +Even between the friends, quarrels had been known to occur before now, +and one seemed imminent. An unexpected diversion intervened. + +"Little girls," a solemn voice sounded in their ears; "do you know you +are taking turnips that do not belong to you?" + +It was Mr. Elnathan Rogers. Isabel quaked, but Phebe faced him boldly. + +"Yes, sir." + +"But it is a sin to steal--" + +"A pin." Phebe unexpectedly capped his sentence for him. "These aren't +worth a pin, anyway, and I don't see the harm of hooking two or three." + +"But they are not your own," Mr. Rogers reiterated. He was more +accustomed to the phraseology of the prayer-meeting than of the public +school. + +"Ours aren't ripe yet," she answered, as she scrambled down from the +fence. "When they are, I'll bring some of them over, if you want them. +Yours aren't very good ones, either." + +Isabel also descended from the fence. As she did so, her skirt clung for +a moment, and the turnip rolled out from her pocket. Mr. Rogers eyed her +sternly. + +"Worse and worse," he said. "I would rather feel that you ate them here, +where temptation lurks, than that you carried them away to devour at +your ease. I shall surely have to speak to your parents, little girls. +Who are you?" + +Isabel looked to Phebe for support; but Phebe was far down the road, +running to meet her brother, who had just come in sight, with Mulvaney, +the old Irish setter, at his heels. + +"I--I'm Isabel St. John," she confessed. + +"Not the minister's girl?" + +She nodded. + +"Well, I swan!" And Mr. Rogers picked up his hoe, and fell to pondering +upon the problem of infant depravity, while Isabel turned and scuttled +after her friend. + +"What do you want, Hu?" Phebe was calling. + +"Hope says it's time for you to come home now, and get dressed." + +"Bother! I don't want to. Isabel and I are having fun." + +Hubert took her hand and turned it palm upward. + +"It must be a queer kind of fun, from the color of you," he observed. +"But come, Babe, Hope is waiting." + +Isabel had joined them and fallen into step at their side. + +"What a queer name Hope is!" she said critically, for she wished to +convince Phebe that she and all her family were under the ban of her +lasting displeasure. + +"It is only short for Hopestill, and it isn't any queerer name than +Isabel." + +"Hopestill! That's worse. Where did she ever get such a name?" + +But Hubert interposed. + +"It was mamma's name, Isabel; so we all like it. Let's not talk about it +any more." + +Towards noon of that day, Theodora, who had taken refuge in her tree, +heard Hope's voice calling her. Reluctantly she scrambled down from her +perch and presented herself. + +"There's so much to be done, Teddy," Hope said; "would you mind dusting +the parlor?" + +Theodora hated dusting. Her idea of that solemn household rite was to +stand in the middle of the room and flap a feather duster in all +directions. To-day, however, she took the cloth which Hope offered, +without pausing to argue over the need for its use. + +Once in the parlor, she moved slowly around the room, diligently wiping +the dust from exposed surfaces, without taking the trouble to move so +much as a vase. At the piano, she paused and looked up at her mother's +picture which hung there above it. It was a life-size crayon portrait, +copied from a photograph that had been taken only a few weeks before +Mrs. McAlister's death, and the sweet pictured face and the simple, +every-day gown were the face and gown which Theodora remembered so well. +The girl stood leaning on the piano, quite forgetful of the dusting, as +she stared up into the loving eyes above her, and, while she looked, two +great tears came into her eyes, and two more, and more yet. Then +Theodora suddenly bowed her head on her folded arms, and sobbed with the +intensity of such natures as hers. + +"Oh, Mamma McAlister," she cried; "come back to us! We do want you, and +we don't want her. Your Teddy is so lonely. I won't have that woman here +in your place. I won't! I won't!" + +She raised her head again to look at the smiling lips and the tender +eyes. Then abruptly she dragged forward a chair, climbed to the top of +the piano and took down the portrait which had hung there since the day +of its first entering the house. + +It was late, that afternoon, when the carriage stopped before the house, +and Dr. McAlister, with his bride on his arm, came up the walk. The +children were waiting to greet them, Phebe perched on the fence, Hope +on the steps with Allyn clinging to her hand, and the twins in the +doorway, while old Susan stood in the hall, ready to welcome her new +mistress. + +There was the little flurry of meeting, the swift buzz of talk. Then +Hope led the way into the great, airy parlor which she had not entered +before, that day. + +On the threshold, she paused, aghast. Directly facing her stood a large +easel which usually held a fine engraving of the Dolorosa. To-day, +however, the Dolorosa was displaced. It stood on the floor by the piano, +and in its place was the portrait of Hope's own mother, looking up to +greet the woman who had come to take her place in the home. Across the +corner of the frame lay a pile of white bride roses, tied with a heavy +purple ribbon. + +"Don't mind it, Jack," Mrs. McAlister said to her husband, as soon as +they were alone together. "I like the child's spirit. Leave it to me, +please. I think I can make friends with her before long." + +Theodora was standing before the mirror, that night, brush in hand, +while the wavy masses of her hair fell about her like a heavy cape. Her +eyes looked dull, and the corners of her mouth drooped dejectedly. She +started suddenly when an unexpected knock came at her door. + +"Come," she responded. + +The door swung open, and Mrs. McAlister stood on the threshold. In her +trailing blue wrapper with its little lace ruffles at the throat and +wrists, she looked younger than she had done in her travelling gown, and +the pure, deep color was not one bit deeper and purer than the color of +the eyes above it. + +"May I come in to say good-night?" she asked, pausing in the doorway, +for Theodora's face was slightly forbidding. + +"Of course." The girl drew forward a low willow chair. + +As she passed, Mrs. McAlister laid a caressing hand on the brown hair. + +"What a mass of it you have!" she said, seating herself and looking up +at her stepdaughter who stood before her, not knowing how to meet this +unexpected invasion. + +The remark seemed to call for no reply, and Theodora took up her brush +again. + +"Did you have a pleasant journey?" she asked, after a pause. + +"Very; but the home-coming was pleasantest of all. It was very sweet of +you all to be at the door to welcome me." + +"That was Hope's doing," Theodora said bluntly. "She told us we ought to +be there when you came." + +"It was good, whoever thought of it," Mrs. McAlister answered gently. +"Remember that it is years since I've known what it meant to come home." + +Theodora tossed aside her hair and turned to face her. + +"How do you mean?" she asked curiously. + +"My father and mother died when I was in college," her stepmother +replied. "There were only two of us left, my little brother and I, and +we never had a home, a real one, after that. I taught, and he was sent +away to school." + +"Where is he now?" + +"In Montana, a civil engineer. I find it hard to realize that my little +brother Archie is twenty-two, and a grown man." + +There was another pause. Then Mrs. McAlister suddenly drew a low +footstool to her side. + +"Theodora, child," she said; "sit down here and let me talk to you. You +seem so far off, standing there. Remember, I'm a stranger to you all, +and I want somebody to cuddle me a little, this first night." + +She had chanced to strike the right chord. Theodora never failed to +respond to an appeal to her sympathy and care. All enveloped in her +loosened hair, she dropped down at her stepmother's side. + +"You aren't homesick, I hope." + +"No; I couldn't be, with such a welcome home. But papa is down in the +office, and I needed somebody to talk to. I thought you'd understand, +dear. And then there were things I wanted to say to you." + +"What?" Theodora asked suspiciously. + +Mrs. McAlister rested her hand on the girl's shoulder. + +"About the flowers, for one thing. I know so well how you felt, +Theodora, when you put them there." + +"What do you mean?" Theodora faced her sharply. + +"My own mother died before I was seventeen, a year before my father did, +and I used to wake up in the night and cry, because I was so afraid he +would marry again." + +"But you married papa," Theodora said slowly. + +"I know I did. Since then, Theodora, I have come to see the other side +of it all. But I remember the way I used to feel about it; and I know +that you think I am an interloper here. Hope doesn't mind it so much, +nor Hubert; it is hardest of all for you." She paused and stroked the +brown hair again. + +Theodora sat silent, her eyes fixed on the floor. + +"I sha'n't mean to come between you and your father, Theodora," Mrs. +McAlister went on; "and I shall never expect to take your own mother's +place. And yet, in time I hope you can care for me a little, too." + +Suddenly the girl turned and laid her lithe young arm across her +stepmother's knee. + +"I think I can--in time," she said. "It takes me a good while to get +used to new things, some new things, that is, and I didn't want somebody +to come here and drive my own mother farther off. She was different from +everybody else, somehow. But your mother died, and you'll understand +about it." Her tone was quiet and dispassionate, yet, underneath, it +rang true, and Mrs. McAlister was satisfied. + +"Thank you, Teddy," she said gently. "Or would you rather I called you +Theodora?" + +"Theodora, please," the girl answered, flushing a little. "Teddy was my +baby name; but I'm not a baby any longer. The others have called me +Teddy so long that I can't break them of the habit; but I don't like the +name." + +"It suits you, though," Mrs. McAlister said, smiling as her eyes rested +on the intent young face beside her. "But I'll try to remember. And now +I wish you'd tell me a little about the younger ones, Phebe and Allyn. +Your father told me that Hope was the housekeeper, but that, in some +ways, you were the real mother of them all." + +Theodora's face lighted, and she laughed. + +"Did he truly say that? Hope has the real care of them, and she never +fights with them, as I do." + +There was an amusing, off-hand directness in Theodora's tone which +pleased her stepmother. Already she felt more at home and on cordial +terms with the outspoken girl than with the gentle, courteous Hope; yet +she realized that her own course was by no means open before her, that +it would be long before Theodora would accept her sway in the home. It +would be necessary to proceed slowly, but firmly. Little Allyn and +fractious Phebe would be less difficult for her to manage than their +older sister. She lingered for half an hour longer, talking with +Theodora until she heard Dr. McAlister's step upon the stairs; and when +at last she left the room, Theodora's good-night sounded quite as +cordial as her own. + + + + +CHAPTER FOUR + + +"I wish I could have all my wishes granted," Theodora said. + +She was sitting in her favorite position on the grass beside Billy's +lounge, with her elbows on her knees and her chin in her clasped hands. +Billy, propped up among his cushions, smiled back at her benignly. + +"You'd be most awfully disagreeable to live with," he returned. + +"Thank you for the compliment. I'd like to run the risk, though." + +"Let me move out of town first," the boy replied teasingly. "But you +needn't be greedy; I'd be satisfied to have one wish." + +"That's because you don't need so many things as I do." + +"It's because I have one thing I want so much more than I do the +others," he retorted. + +She looked up at him with a sudden flash of tenderness in her eyes. + +"I know," she said gently; "but it won't be long." + +"Months, though. How would you like it to take a year out of your life?" + +Theodora's brows contracted. + +"Don't you suppose I ever think about it, Billy Farrington? I should be +frantic, if I were in your place, and I don't see how you ever stand it. +It makes my wishes seem so small, in comparison. I'd rather be poorer +than Job's turkey than spend even one month on my back. Does it hurt; or +is it just that you can't do things? Either one is bad enough." + +"It hurts sometimes." + +"Now?" + +He nodded. + +"I thought you looked tired, as if something bothered you," Theodora +said penitently; "and here I've stayed talking to you, when you'd rather +have been by yourself." + +"Honestly, no. You make me forget things." He held out his hand in +protest, as she started to rise. "Sit down again." + +She obeyed him; but she fell silent, as she sat looking up at him. He +had more color than usual, she noticed; but there were fine lines +between his brows, and his red-gold hair was pushed back from his face, +as if its weight irritated him. + +"But what are the wishes?" he asked, restive under her scrutiny, and +seeking to divert her. + +"Oh, I have dozens and dozens; but there are three great big ones which +increase in greatness as they go on." + +"What are they?" he asked curiously. "You'll get them, if you wait long +enough. People always do." + +"I don't believe it. These are all impossible, and I never expect to get +them; but I want them, all the same. I want--" She hesitated, laughing +and blushing a little. "You'll make fun of me." + +"No, I won't. Go on and tell." + +"I want a bicycle first. Then I want to go to college." She hesitated +again and stuck fast. + +"And then?" + +She raised her head and spoke rapidly. + +"Don't laugh; but I want some day to be an author and write books." + +She started abruptly, for a white hand suddenly rested on her shoulder. + +"Bravo, Miss Teddy!--for it is Miss Teddy; isn't it? Will has told me +about you and I'm glad to get a glimpse of you at last. Your wishes are +good ones, all of them, and I hope you will get them, and get them +soon." + +As she spoke, Mrs. Farrington moved across and seated herself on the +edge of the lounge. + +"How is the pain, Will?" she asked, bending over to settle him more +comfortably. "I was sorry to leave you so long; but you were in good +hands. Miss Teddy, this boy of mine says that you have been very good to +him, since we came here." + +Theodora flushed a little. It was the first time she had been face to +face with Mrs. Farrington, and she found the slender figure in its +unrelieved black gown rather awe-inspiring. She began to wish that she +had taken Hope's advice and remained upon her own side of the fence. +During the past ten days, her neighborly calls had been frequent; but +she had always before now succeeded in making her escape before any one +else appeared. Hubert, in the meantime, had dutifully called on his new +neighbor; but he had called decorously and by way of the front gate, at +a time when Billy was out with his mother for their daily drive, so Mrs. +Farrington had caught no glimpse of their young neighbors who had it in +their power to make such a difference in her son's life. She had been +amused and interested in Billy's account of Theodora's erratic calls, +and she had felt an instant liking for the bright-faced, straightforward +young girl who was as free from self-consciousness as Billy himself. + +"When is your father coming back?" she asked, after a pause, during +which she became conscious of Theodora's searching scrutiny. + +"Day after to-morrow, I think. We had a letter from him, this morning." + +"I am so glad," Mrs. Farrington said. "I want him to see Will as soon as +he comes. Dr. Parker spoke so highly of him that I feel it is everything +for us to be so near him as we are." + +Theodora's color came. She was intensely loyal to her father, and praise +of him was sweet to her ears. + +"People say that papa is a good doctor," she replied frankly. "I hope +he'll be able to help Billy. Anyway, we're all so glad to have somebody +living here again. It's ages since the house has been occupied." + +Mrs. Farrington smiled. + +"I should judge so from the general air of mustiness I find. I rejoice +in all this bright, warm weather, so Will can live out of doors. The +house feels fairly clammy, and I don't like to have him in it, more than +I can help. I hope you are going to be very neighborly, all of you, this +coming winter." + +Theodora laughed. + +"All five of us? Remember, you aren't used to such a horde, and we may +overrun you entirely. You'd better arrange to take us on the instalment +plan." + +"We're not timid," Billy asserted. "Really, I think we can stand it, +Miss Teddy." + +Theodora shook her head. + +"You've not seen Babe yet, and you little realize what she is. In fact, +you've hardly seen any of us. I want you to know Hope. You'll adore her; +boys always do." + +"In the meantime," Mrs. Farrington interposed; "I want to know something +about--" she paused for the right word,--"about your new mother. Some +one told me she was at Vassar. That is my college, you know. What was +her maiden name?" + +"Holden. Elizabeth Holden." + +"Bess Holden!" Mrs. Farrington started up excitedly. "I wonder if it can +be Bess. What does she look like?" + +"I've only seen her once." + +"Was she tall and dark, with great blue eyes?" + +"Yes, I think so, and I remember that her eyebrows weren't just alike; +one was bent more than the other." + +"It must be Bess." Mrs. Farrington rose and moved to and fro across the +lawn. Theodora watched her admiringly, noticing her firm, free step and +the faultless lines of her tailor-made gown. She felt suddenly young and +crude and rather shabby. Then Mrs. Farrington paused beside her. "If it +is Bess Holden, Miss Teddy, your father is a happy man, and I am a happy +woman to have stumbled into this neighborhood. She was the baby of our +class, and one of the finest girls in it. When she comes, ask her--No, +don't ask her anything. It is eighteen years since we met, and I want to +see if she'll remember me. Don't tell her anything about me, please." + +A week later, the McAlisters were sitting under one of the trees on the +hill, a little away from the house. It was a bright golden day, and +Theodora had lured them outside, directly after dinner. The doctor had +been called away; but the others had strolled across the lawn and up the +hill as far as a great bed of green and gray moss, where they had +thrown themselves down under one of the great chestnut-trees. At their +right, an aged birch drooped nearly to the earth; behind them, a pile of +lichen-covered rocks cropped out from the moss, against which the twins +were resting in an indiscriminate pile. To Mrs. McAlister's mind, there +was something indescribably pleasant in this simple holiday-making, and +she gave herself up as unreservedly to the passing hour as did the young +people around her. + +All at once, Theodora pinched Hubert's arm, and laid her finger on her +lip. Her quick ear had caught the familiar sound of Billy's wheeled +chair, and, a moment later, Mrs. Farrington came in sight over the low +crest of the hill, followed by Patrick, whose face was flushed with the +exertion of pushing the chair along the pathless turf. + +Absorbed in listening to Hope, Mrs. McAlister heard no sound until Mrs. +Farrington paused just behind her. Then she rose abruptly, and turned to +face her unexpected guests. + +"This is rather an invasion," Mrs. Farrington was saying, with a little +air of apology; "but the maid said you were all out here, and she told +me to come in search of you." + +For an instant, Mrs. McAlister gazed at her guest, at the slender figure +and the small oval face crowned with its masses of red-gold hair. Then, +to the surprise of every one but Theodora, she gave a joyous outcry,-- + +"Jessie Everett!" + +"Bess!" + +Side by side on the moss, a little apart from the others, the two women +dropped down and talked incoherently and rapidly, with an +interjectional, fragmentary eagerness, trying to tell in detail the +story of eighteen years in as many minutes, breaking off, again and +again, to exclaim at the strangeness of the chance which had once more +brought them together. On one side, the tale was the monotonous record +of the successful teacher; on the other was the story of the brilliant +marriage, the years of happiness, of seeing the best of life, and the +swift tragedy of six months before, which had taken away the husband and +left the only son a physical wreck. The years had swept the two friends +far apart; their desultory correspondence had dropped; and in this one +afternoon of their first meeting, they could only sketch in the bare +outlines, and leave time to do the rest. + +"And this is my only child," Mrs. Farrington said at last. "You have so +many now, Bess, be generous with them, and let Will have as much good of +them as he can. Your Teddy has been very kind to him already." + +"Teddy?" + +"Yes, Theodora as she calls herself. She has been making neighborly +calls by way of the fence, and she and Will are excellent friends +already. What an unusual girl she is!" + +There came a little look of perplexity in Mrs. McAlister's eyes. + +"Yes; and yet I find her the hardest one of them all to get at. The fact +is, Jessie, I have two or three problems to deal with, and Theodora is +not the least of them. Hope and Hubert are conventional enough, and +Phebe is openly fractious; but Theodora is more complex. She's the most +interesting one to me, but she is decidedly elusive." + +"I wish she were mine," Mrs. Farrington said enviously. "I have so +longed for a daughter, and she would be so good for Will. He doesn't +know anybody here, and he is so handicapped that he can't get acquainted +easily. I know he gets horribly tired of me. Women aren't good for boys, +either; and now that he is so pitifully helpless, I have to watch +myself all the time not to coddle him to death. I hate a prig; you know +I always did, Bess, and I am in terror of turning my boy into one. I +shall borrow your Teddy, as often as I can, for she is the healthiest +companion that he can have." + +Billy, meanwhile, had promptly been made to feel at home among the young +people. With Theodora to act as mistress of ceremonies and introduce +him, it had been impossible for him to feel himself long a stranger. +Patrick had retired to a distant seat, and the McAlisters settled +themselves in a group around the chair, Theodora close at his side with +her hand resting on the wheel, as if to mark her proprietorship. She was +quick to see that both Hope and Hubert approved of Billy, and she felt a +certain pride in him, as being her discovery. Even Hubert's prejudice +against the crippled back and the wheeled chair appeared to have +vanished at the sight of the alert face and the sound of the gay laugh. +Billy was in one of his most jovial moods, and Theodora knew well enough +that at such times he was wellnigh irresistible. + +Phebe, awed to silence by the chair and the cushions, eyed the guest in +meditative curiosity; but Allyn was not so easily satisfied. From his +seat in Hope's lap, he lifted up his piping little voice. + +"What for you ride in a baby cäj?" + +No one heeded him, and he reiterated his query, this time accompanying +it with an explanatory forefinger. + +"What for you ride in a baby cäj?" + +"Hush, Allyn," Hope whispered. + +"Yes; but what for?" Allyn persisted. "Why doesn't you get up and say, +'Pretty well, fank you'?" + +Billy flushed and felt a momentary desire to hurl one of his cushions at +the child. For the most part, he was not sensitive about his temporary +helplessness; yet among all these strangers who had never seen him in +his strength, he was uncomfortably conscious of the difference between +himself and Hubert. + +Theodora saw the heightened color in his cheeks. Without a word, she +rose, picked up Allyn in her arms and bore him away to the house, +sternly regardless of the protesting shrieks which floated out behind +her. She was absent for some time. When she came back, it was to find +that Hope had moved into her old place, and that there was no room for +her beside the chair. Billy was talking eagerly to Hope, whose pretty, +gentle face was raised towards him. Theodora felt a momentary pleasure +in her pretty sister; but this was followed by an acute pang of jealousy +to find herself quite unnoticed. For an instant, she hesitated; then she +settled herself slightly at one side and back of the chair, in a +position where she could be addressed only with an effort. + +A little later, Billy turned and called her by name. She was sitting in +moody silence, her elbows on her knees, her chin in her hands. + +"What?" she asked indifferently. + +"Come over here, Teddy," Hope said. + +"Thank you, I like it better here." + +There was a crushing finality in her tone. For a moment, Billy's eyes +met those of Hope, and his lips curled into a smile. It was only for an +instant; but Theodora saw the glance, and it kindled all her smouldering +jealousy of her sister. For two weeks she had been giving all her odd +moments to her new neighbor, and now, because Hope was pretty and dainty +and quiet and all things that she was not, Billy had promptly turned his +back on her and devoted himself to Hope. In her passing vexation, she +quite forgot to take into account that she herself, not Billy, had been +the movable quantity, and that the time she had given him had been hours +of keen enjoyment to herself. Theodora was no saint. She was humanly +tempestuous, superhumanly jealous. She could love her friends to +distraction; she could give her time and strength and thought to them +unreservedly; but in return she demanded a soleness of affection which +should match her own. + +"Where are you going, Ted?" Hubert called after her. + +"Into the house." + +"What for?" + +"Because I want to. Besides, I must see to Allyn." + +"Coming back?" + +She turned her head and looked back. Billy was watching her curiously. + +"No; not now." + +Two hours later, she was searching her brain for an excuse for going +over to the Farringtons'. She felt an imperative need to see Billy +before bedtime, to assure herself that they were to meet on the old +terms. No excuse came into her mind, however; and she passed a restless +evening and a sleepless night. + + + + +CHAPTER FIVE + + +"H'sh!" Phebe said peremptorily. + +Isabel giggled again, a little ostentatiously, and covered her mouth +with the palm of her hand. + +"H'sh!" Phebe whispered. "She'll hear you, Isabel St. John. Wait till +she is hearing the first geography, and then we'll do it." + +It was at that hour of the afternoon when even the most industrious of +grammar-school pupils feels his zeal for learning grow less with every +tick of the clock. Isabel and Phebe, however, were never remarkable for +their zeal. In fact, their teachers had never been able to decide +whether they were more bright or more lazy. Both characteristics were so +well developed that the hours they spent in the schoolroom were chiefly +devoted to exploits of a most unscholastic nature. + +The schoolroom of Number Nine, Union School, was much like all other +schoolrooms, save in two essential particulars. The building was old and +was heated with stoves, which necessitated the use of two huge zinc +screens to keep the direct heat from the pupils near by; and the room +boasted, aside from the usual ranks of desks, one extra double desk +placed with its back against the window at the side of the room, and in +close proximity to the stoves and the sheltering screens. Two months +before, when promotion of classes had brought Phebe and Isabel to the +room, their quick eyes had taken in the inherent advantages of this +position. + +"Please, Miss Hulburt, may we sit here?" Phebe had asked. + +"What makes you choose that place?" Miss Hulburt had inquired. + +"Because the light is so good," Isabel had replied ingenuously. + +And Phebe had added,-- + +"And then, you know, we shall be away from the others, so we sha'n't be +able to whisper. Truly, Miss Hulburt, we've turned over a new leaf." + +Phebe neglected to state in which direction the leaf had been turned. +Miss Hulburt had eyed her distrustfully; then she had granted the favor. +Three days later, she had regretted her concession. + +The seat was so near the front corner of the room that the +schoolmistress was obliged to turn her head to see the children. She was +a bloodless, thin-necked, lackadaisical young person, in little-eyed +spectacles, who, in her youth, had been compared to a drooping lily. +From that time onward, she had given all her thought to the cultivation +of slow, graceful, lily-like motions, until it had become second nature +for her to ogle and smirk and roll her head gently this way and that. It +had not only rendered her intolerable to the unprejudiced observer, but +it had made her physically incapable of turning about quickly enough to +catch the culprits in the corner. Every disturbance in the room, and +they were not few nor slight, appeared to come from the one source; yet +by the time Miss Hulburt could focus her little spectacles upon them, +Phebe and Isabel were swaying to and fro and whispering their lessons to +themselves with an intentness which was almost religious. + +It was one of the warm, bright days of late October, and the children +had insisted on opening the window behind them, not so much for the sake +of the clear, soft air as for the furtherance of their nefarious +schemes. In the lap of each child lay a tiny china doll, a long string, +and a box of what, at first sight, appeared to be parti-colored rags. A +closer inspection, however, showed that the rags were all round and +pierced with three holes, one in the middle, the others slightly to one +side. + +When the first geography lesson was called, the girls propped their open +books before them, and abandoned themselves to the task in hand. +Selecting a circle of cloth from the box, each one of them proceeded to +clothe her doll by the simple process of thrusting the head and arms +through the holes and tying a string about the waist. Isabel's doll was +a negro and was decked in scarlet. Phebe's was of Caucasian extraction, +and preferred blue. The dolls were robed and the long strings were made +fast to their necks. Stealthily and slowly the girls poked them through +the crack of the open window and let them down, swinging them back and +forth until they heard them click against the window of the room below. +Then they jerked the strings sharply upward, and Isabel giggled again. +Phebe coughed to smother the sound, and then gave her friend a warning +pinch. + +Miss Hulburt was turning in their direction. Instantly Phebe raised her +hand, shaking it slightly and clearing her throat to attract attention. + +"Well? What is it, Phebe?" + +"Please, how do you pronounce p-h-t-h-i-s-i-c?" + +"Phthisic. Where do you find anything about it, Phebe?" Miss Hulburt +felt that she was developing in craftiness. + +"In my--geography." + +Miss Hulburt's smile showed that she believed she had caught the young +sinner napping. + +"But my book doesn't have any such word." + +Isabel raised her hand in support of her friend. + +"If you please, Miss Hulburt, we're reading in the back part, about the +South Sea Islands. It says it's very common there." + +"Phebe," Isabel whispered, a little later; "what is it?" + +"What's what?" + +"P-h-t-h-You know." + +"I d' know, something to eat, I guess. We had it in spelling, last term, +and I happened to think of it. Oh, Isabel!" For the door opened, and the +teacher of the room below came into the room. + +An hour later, Hubert and Theodora sat on the edge of the piazza, +discussing a coming entertainment to be given by the pupils of the high +school. The piazza came to the side of the driveway, and now they curled +up their toes to allow the doctor to pass them, driving his new and +favorite horse, Vigil. + +"What a beauty she is!" Hubert said, as the carriage passed them. + +"Isn't she? I'm dying to ride her." + +"Better not," Hubert cautioned her. "She wouldn't stand the things old +Prince does, and you wouldn't have any show at all, if you tried to +manage her." + +"I don't believe it," Theodora returned. "Papa said I was a good +horsewoman, and I mean to try Vigil, some day. 'Tisn't strength that +counts with a horse, anyway; it's gumption." + +"What'll you take for the word?" Hubert asked lazily. He was lounging in +the sun with his hands in his pockets and his back against a pillar, and +he felt too comfortable to be inclined for a discussion. + +"The word's all right." Theodora tossed her book into a chair behind +her. "It means exactly what I want. It isn't common sense, nor +knowledge, nor reasonableness; it's just gumption and nothing else. +It's what Miss Hulburt hasn't," she added, as she glanced up the street. +"Here she comes, Hu. How we used to hate her, when we were in her room! +Why, she's stopped papa, and he's coming back with her. Babe must be in +some fresh scrape." + +Hubert rose hastily. + +"That settles it. If she's coming here, I'm off." + +"Where going?" + +"I don't know. Over to the Farringtons', maybe, or else to the library." + +"Teddy," the doctor called; "I wish you'd come and see to Vigil. I +haven't any halter, and I sha'n't be long. Miss Hulburt wants to see me +about Phebe. Just let the reins lie loose on her back, and she'll be all +right." + +"On Miss Hulburt's back?" Theodora questioned, with a giggle. + +The doctor laughed, as he stepped out of the low, open buggy, handed the +lines to his daughter, and turned to speak to the teacher who stood +simpering at his side. + +Within ten minutes, Theodora was heartily tired of her position as +amateur groom. Miss Hulburt, always garrulously confidential, was +pouring into the doctor's impatient ears all her theory of Phebe's +temper and training. She was absorbed in her subject, but to the others +the time crept heavily by. Allyn came around the corner of the house, +and Theodora hailed him. + +"Come, Allyn; want to come and play go to ride with sister?" + +With childish clumsiness Allyn clambered into the buggy. For a time, he +was content to jounce rapturously on the cushion and snap the buckle of +the reins. Then he too wearied for change. + +"Make the horsey go, Teddy," he demanded. + +"Oh, no, Allyn; sister mustn't. We must wait for papa." + +"Make him go," Allyn persisted. + +Theodora hesitated. Like the immortal Toddie, Allyn's strength lay in +his power of endless iteration. She foresaw a coming crisis in his +temper, and, moreover, his wishes coincided with her own to a remarkable +degree. Vigil was becoming uneasy, and a belated gadfly was making +continued attacks upon her sensitive skin. Why not drive down the street +and around the block, and shake off the annoying guest? + +"Will you sit quite still, Allyn, if sister will drive just a little, +little way?" + +Allyn smiled rapturously. + +"Ess," he hissed. + +Theodora gave a hasty glance at the house, as she tightened the lines. + +"I know he'd think it was the best thing to do," she argued with her +conscience. "Vigil is so uneasy she wouldn't stand much longer, and this +will quiet her down. Besides, I've always been used to driving." + +The gadfly went too. Vigil was fretted by standing, and she quickened +her pace. Before she quite realized the change, Theodora was being +whirled down the street at a round trot. + +"Whoa!" she urged. "Whoa, Vigil! Sh-h-h!" + +But Vigil refused to _sh-h-h_. She felt an unfamiliar hand on the lines, +and her sensitive mouth assured her that the hand was shaking a little. +Accordingly, she dropped her ears back, gave an odd little kick with her +hind legs, and swung round a corner with the carriage on two wheels +behind her. + +"Allyn," Theodora said, when they had gone around another corner in the +same uncertain fashion; "now you must mind sister and do just what she +says." The girl's face was white to the lips; but her voice was steady +and brave. "Climb over the back of the seat, lie down flat in the bottom +of the carriage, and then roll out on the ground." + +"I don't want to," whined the child. "I wants to ride." + +"But you must, or sister won't take you again. You may be thrown out and +hurt, if you don't mind sister." + +"It hurts to roll out," he argued. + +"No; not a bit." Theodora felt herself a heartless liar; but she had +lost all control of Vigil, and she knew that this was the best chance of +safety for her baby brother. "Now hold on tight. I don't believe you can +climb over." + +All the boy nature inherent in Allyn responded to the challenge. Lithe +as a little monkey, he scrambled over the seat, lay down and took the +fateful roll. Vigil shied, just then, and Allyn landed in a ball, in a +bed of burdocks. His wails followed the flying horse; but they were +wails of temper, more than of physical injury, and Theodora's main +anxiety was relieved. + +[Illustration: THEODORA WENT FLYING ACROSS THE ROAD.] + +Two blocks farther down the street, the buggy collided with a hay wagon. +There was a crash, the horse broke free, and Theodora went flying +across the road, landing in an indiscriminate, dusty pile just in front +of the Farringtons' carriage. + +That evening, the doctor came into the library, where his wife sat alone +in the fire-light. He looked tired and worried, as he threw himself down +into an easy chair. His wife came forward to his side. + +"You poor old boy!" she said tenderly, as she stroked his hair. + +He smiled wearily. + +"I wouldn't have had it happen for any amount of money, Bess," he said, +as he reached up and took her hand. "It's smashed the buggy, and +demoralized my favorite horse, and bumped Allyn, and given us all a +scare." + +"How is Theodora?" + +"Badly frightened and very meek. Her bruises don't count; but I don't +think she'll do it again. I gave her a plain talk, while I was looking +over her wounds, and I think she knows I mean what I say. It is a +miracle that both children weren't killed; but Allyn is all right now, +and Teddy will be, in a day or two. She will be rather stiff, to-morrow, +but I'm not sure that I'm sorry." + +"Poor Teddy!" his wife said, laughing. + +"Poor me!" he answered. "And poor you! You will think I have brought you +into an undisciplined horde of savages, Bess. I feel like Job, myself, +for one thing follows another. I shouldn't have left the horse with +Teddy, in the first place, if Miss Hulburt hadn't come to me with a tale +of woe about Phebe." + +"What about Phebe?" In spite of herself, Mrs. McAlister laughed. + +"Some school scrape or other. Phebe is naughty as she can be, and, worst +of all, she is sly. That's not like Teddy. Ted hasn't a dishonorable +pore in her skin. She is headstrong and impetuous; but when she has done +wrong, she comes forward and tells the whole story and takes the +consequences. She has made me more trouble, one time and another, than +all the rest of them put together, and yet--" he hesitated, then he went +on; "and yet, I honestly think she's the flower of the flock." + +"A climbing rose, not a violet," Mrs. McAlister suggested. + +"A snapdragon, if you will. She has character and force and brains +enough for a dozen; and if we can provide a safe outlet for her extra +vitality, I think she will make us proud of her yet." + +"You're right, Jack," Mrs. McAlister answered heartily. "The girl has +splendid possibilities. As you say, she only needs some sort of an +outlet for her energy. She's a motherly, womanish child, too, as much so +as Hope, in her way. She's got to have something to love, and to fuss +over, and to fight for. I sometimes think that Will Farrington may +supply a certain something that she needs." + +The doctor rose and stood on the rug, facing his wife. Little by little, +his face had lost its anxiety and now, at her last words, he laughed +jovially. + +"Will Farrington! Then Heaven help him, Bess! 'Twill be six months at +least before the boy can walk to amount to anything, and helpless as he +is and energetic as Teddy is, she'll be sure to break his neck. If she +is going to devote herself to Will Farrington, I'll send for Dr. Parker +and a cord or two of extra splints." + + + + +CHAPTER SIX + + +"But where are you going, Hu?" + +"What?" + +"Where are you going?" + +Hubert crooked his hand at the back of his ear. + +"Speak a little louder, please. I'm deef." + +Phebe flew at him and caught his arm. + +"Hubert McAlister, tell me where you are going." + +"Oh, is that what you said?" + +"You knew it perfectly well. Where are you going to?" + +"Over to Billy's." + +"Then I'm going, too." + +"No, you aren't." + +"But I will. Why not?" + +"Because I don't want you. You're so noisy you tire Billy." + +"No, I don't. Boys don't get tired so easy. Besides, he asked me to +come." + +He shook himself free from her hands. She ran around him and danced down +the walk before him, laughing like a mocking elf. All at once, she found +herself in Hubert's strong arms. + +"Now, Babe, you must go back. I don't want you." + +"What can I do?" she whined. "Everybody's gone. Mamma has gone to ride +with Mrs. Farrington, Hope's away, Teddy's away, and you're going." + +"But mamma told you to stay and play with Allyn." + +"I don't like Allyn. I want to go with you." + +"You can't." + +"I will." + +She struggled to free herself. Hubert was tall and strong for his years, +so that his sister was powerless in his grasp. He stood for a moment, +holding her, while he pondered what to do; then a sudden amused light +came into his eyes. Turning, he went away to the barn where, still +holding Phebe with one hand, with the other he rolled an empty barrel +into the middle of the floor and brought out a bushel basket. Then, +before his astonished sister could fathom his intention or rebel, he +had popped her into the barrel, covered her with the basket which made +a firm, close lid, and walked away to the Farringtons' house. + +It was the last of the golden Indian summer, and cold weather was at +hand. By this time, the two households were living on a most informal, +friendly basis. Mrs. Farrington and Mrs. McAlister had dropped back into +the old intimacy of their college days, and the young McAlisters were +fast finding out that a boy was a boy, in spite of a crippled back and a +wheeled chair. Hubert and Billy were good friends, and Hope treated the +invalid with a gentle, serious kindness which won his heart as surely as +her dainty beauty appealed to his eyes. And yet, after all, it was Teddy +for whom he cared the most, Teddy who coddled him and squabbled with him +and ordered him about by turns. For the sake of her bright, breezy +companionship, of her original, ungirl-like way of looking at things, he +endured the ordering and the coddling, and, in spite of the halo of +sanctity which should have surrounded his semi-invalidism, it must be +confessed that he bore out his own part in the squabbles. + +Even the coddling, as time went on, came to be rather enjoyable. There +was nothing sentimental about it; it was only the natural result of the +strong instinct of motherhood which belongs to such natures as +Theodora's. Moreover, there were days and days when the old pain came +back to Billy and racked him until he was too weak for the wheeled +chair, and he could only lie on the sofa and endure the passing hours as +best he might. In those days, Theodora never failed him. She learned to +know the flush of his cheeks, the glitter in his eyes, and her brisk +step grew gentle, her clear, glad voice grew low. Strange to say, it was +on those days that Billy wanted her. He seemed to gain rest from her +exuberant strength; and Hope he regarded as the pleasant companion for +his better days, when he could laugh and talk with her, and treat her +with the chivalry which her delicate prettiness appeared to him to +demand. It mattered less about Theodora, he told himself. She was only +another fellow, and she could be treated accordingly. + +Hubert had made his call upon Billy and departed again, and Phebe had +freed herself by tipping over the barrel, turning herself about, and +kicking away the basket; and still Theodora sat in the Farringtons' cosy +library, beside the open fire. Billy delighted in reading aloud, and he +had been reading to her for an hour, while she sat dreamily watching the +fire. Then he dropped the book face downward on his knee, and little by +little their desultory conversation stopped. All at once, Theodora +started up. + +"Oh, dear, I forgot. I told papa I'd do an errand for him, and I must +go." + +Billy yawned. + +"Wish I could go, too." + +She looked at him suddenly. + +"Why don't you?" + +"As how?" + +"In your chair, of course. You needn't think you can walk yet, even if +papa does say you are gaining, every day." + +"Really, do you want me to go, too?" + +"Of course. Shall I call Patrick to bring the chair?" + +"I've my whistle, you know." He played with it irresolutely. "Are you +sure I won't be in the way?" + +"What nonsense!" + +She stood leaning on the mantel while Patrick made ready the chair. +Then, moved by some sudden sense of delicacy, she busied herself with +her own wraps when the man bent down and lifted his young master in his +strong arms. Since the first day of their meeting, she had never seen +Billy moved, and she was struck more keenly than at first with the +contrast between the utter limpness of his lower limbs and the bright +activity of the rest of the boy. For an instant, her heart gave a quick +thump, half of pity, half of loyalty and protecting affection. Then she +laid her hands on the bar of Billy's chair. + +"That's all, Patrick," she said, nodding up at the tall man beside her. + +Patrick surveyed her approvingly. He was critical by nature, and his +smiles were rare; but he liked Theodora for her kindness to his young +master, and he unbent something of his majesty before her, rather to the +surprise of Mrs. Farrington, who was quite accustomed to seeing her +guests quail before the glance of her serving-man. + +"Sha'n't I be going with you, Miss Theodora?" he asked. + +"Of course. What do you suppose I am going to do without you?" Billy +answered. + +But Theodora interposed. + +"You needn't come, Patrick. I am going to take Mr. Will, myself." + +"Oh, I say, Teddy!" Billy straightened up in his chair. + +"That's all right," she said gayly, as she pushed the chair away from +the steps. "Let me do it, Billy; it's much nicer to go by ourselves +without any Patrick, and I promise not to upset you." + +"But you oughtn't to do it; 'tisn't the sort of thing a girl ought to +do," he urged. "Truly, Teddy, I don't feel as if I could stand it, +somehow." + +Looking into his eyes, as he turned to face her, Theodora read his +sensitive reluctance to receive a service of this kind from a girl, and +a friend of but a few weeks' standing. She let go the handle of his +chair and came forward to his side, where she bent over him, under the +pretext of settling one of the cushions which had slipped aside. + +"I wish you'd let me do it for you, Billy," she said, looking honestly +down into his appealing eyes. "I know girls don't usually do this sort +of thing for boys; but it isn't for always, you know, and there isn't +much that I can do for you. If we're going to be real, true friends, you +oughtn't to mind it a bit. You'd do ten times as much for me. Please say +I can take you out often, till you are so you can run away from me. You +know you'd rather go with me than with Patrick." And she looked down at +him with a merry frankness which took away the last shade of +sensitiveness which Billy was ever to know in her company. + +It was the first of many similar expeditions. The chair was so light, +and Theodora was so strong for her years, that it never tired her, while +Billy soon discovered that "a walk" with Theodora was quite another +thing from the dull and decorous outings when Patrick tooled him along +through the town, in a solemnly respectful silence. With Teddy's hand on +the bar of his chair and Teddy's chatter in his ears, in a week he +learned more of the town than he had done in the past three months, and +he came home, hungry and eager as a boy could be, full of blithe gossip +and fun, to enliven his mother over the dinner-table. + +"Tell you what, it was a good day for us when we came here," he +remarked, one night in December, when he and his mother were settled by +the open fire in the library. + +His mother looked up from her book. + +"How do you mean?" + +"Everything, especially the Macs. There's Mrs. Mac for you, and Teddy +for me. What more can you want?" + +"What about Hope?" + +"Hope is a stunner, only there's a sort of Sundayfied flavor to her. +Theodora is better for every day. Hope goes with my best necktie; +'tisn't always that I am able to live up to her. Ted doesn't care +whether I am sick or well, dressed up or rolled in a blanket; she sticks +to me just the same. I say, mother?" + +"Well?" + +"Are we going down to New York, this winter?" + +"Not till later, unless you want to go. Aren't you feeling as well, +Will?" This time, Mrs. Farrington threw aside her book and came forward +to her son's side. + +Billy looked up at her with merry eyes which were the duplicate of her +own. + +"How you do worry about me, mother!" he said. "I'm gaining, every day, +and you ought to know it. I shall be walking soon. But you've been +saying that we'd go down, some time after Christmas, and I wondered why +we couldn't take Teddy along with us. I can't discover that she's ever +been anywhere, and it's time she had a chance. Don't you think so?" + +Mrs. Farrington looked thoughtful. + +"I don't know but you're right, Will. I've been thinking I'd like to +give her a little treat, if only because she has been so loyal to you. I +had thought of something else; but if you think she'd like this better, +we'll see about it. Would you rather have Teddy than Hubert?" + +"Yes, I like Ted better, even if she is a girl. Hubert has more variety, +too, and wouldn't care so much about it." + +"Very well; I will see about it," Mrs. Farrington repeated. + +Her son looked up at her gratefully. + +"What a trump you are!" he said. + + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN + + +"Well, let's see." Teddy curled one foot under her, in the depths of the +great easy-chair. "There must be two heroines, of course, and two,--no, +three heroes." + +"What'll you do with the odd one?" Billy asked. + +"Kill him, to be sure." Theodora smacked her lips. "When the girl, his +girl, you know, marries the wrong man, he will--" She paused and +meditatively twisted the end of one of her long pigtails. + +"Will what?" + +"That's what I'm thinking about. It must be something original, not +poison nor drowning. I know; I'll have him turn sleepless, and get +up--No, he'll be a sleep-walker. He must dream that her house is on +fire, and get up to save her, and walk into the barn and be kicked to +death by her pet horse. She'll find him there in the morning, when she +goes to give him sugar." In the triumph of her lurid ending, Theodora +made havoc of her pronouns. + +Billy pondered on the situation, clasping his hands under his head and +turning to face his friend. + +"Um-m. That's not so bad," he said at length. "It might possibly happen, +even if it isn't likely. I had an uncle that somnambulated, and he used +to hide the sheets in an old carriage in the barn. I suppose he might +just as well have gone into a stall. Well?" + +"And the other men would marry the girls. This one, the dead one, would +be dark and sallow, with high cheek-bones and a thin nose. The others +would be more commonplace. I think I'd have them something like Hu and +you." + +"Thanks." + +"Oh, I don't mean you are too common; but you aren't a bit like my ideal +hero," Theodora said bluntly. "I like the dead one best. I always do in +stories, if he's only hectic enough. I asked papa once what hectic +meant, and you ought to have heard him laugh when I told him the reason +I wanted to know." + +"Great shame I'm not hectic!" Billy commented. "What about the girls?" + +"One is light, with yellow hair and very much fun in her. She's the one +the dead man likes. The other is tall and still and stately, like a +lily, with soft, dark hair that droops and is caught up with rare old +combs." + +"How many?" + +"Oh, one at a time, of course, only she has ever so many, all of them of +old silver. Stop interrupting! She sways when she walks." + +"Gout or intoxication?" + +"Keep still, Billy, or I won't tell." Theodora's tone was impatient. +There were liberties which not even Billy was allowed to take, and this +story, the outcome of her girlish dreams, was a sacred subject to her. +She had pondered over it for months, and now that she felt the time had +come to begin the actual work of writing, she was revealing the secret +to Billy. Mrs. Farrington was spending a long rainy afternoon in her own +room, writing letters, and the two young people had the library to +themselves. For the most part, Billy was listening in respectful +silence; but his sense of humor would assert itself occasionally, and +Theodora, like all budding authors, was sensitive to ridicule. + +Her threat was enough. + +"I won't any more, Ted," Billy returned meekly; "only, if she wobbles +like that, I don't see what keeps her combs from tumbling out. Don't +make her too lop-sided, or else don't match her up to the man like me. I +want girls that are put together tight. That's one reason I like you." + +Theodora was only half appeased by the intended compliment. She had a +secret liking for the "sweet disorder in the dress," and, of late, she +had vainly attempted to achieve it. + +"That's all right," she said rather loftily; "only you know everybody +doesn't feel the way you do." + +"Of course," Billy assented hastily. "What are their names, Ted?" + +"The dark one is Violet Clementina Ascutney, and the little blond one is +Marianne--with a final _e_--Euphrosyne Blackiston. The men are Eugene +Vincent and Gerald Mortimer, and the dead one is Alessandro Stanley +Farrington." + +"Oh, great Cæsar, Ted! I can't stand that. Why can't you have a good +plain Jack?" + +"Jack is fearfully commonplace, and names do count for so much in a +story." + +Billy groaned. + +"Maybe. Anyhow, you've got to leave out the Farrington. I can't go that. +Which does Marianne-with-a-final-_e_ take?" + +"That's just it. She's left an orphan, rich as can be, and she asks +Violet to live with her. Violet is the only daughter of a decayed +Southern family, who had to teach for a living until she was rescued +from her life of toil by the generosity of Marianne." + +"With-a-final-_e_," Billy supplemented. His eyes were full of mischief, +for Theodora's tone matched the pomp of her words. + +"Then they live in this beautiful house," Theodora went on, sternly +regardless of his flippancy; "with an old housekeeper, and they have +beautiful times, parties and everything. One stormy night in summer, +when they are sitting by the fire, watching the blaze and seeing +pictures in it, the bell rings and a man in livery comes in to tell them +that there has been a runaway accident and a man hurt. That's +Alessandro, and I mean to get all this part out of papa's books." + +"Well?" + +"Well, he's there for weeks, and the housekeeper takes care of him and +the girls don't see him; they just make him broth and things, and send +them up to his room. One day, when he is pale and interesting, he leaves +his room and sees Marianne and falls in love with her; but she never +knows it. He is poor and too honorable to tell her his love, so he just +wastes away, and she never guesses. It's all terribly sad." + +"Well, yes, I should say so," Billy observed. "Are the others as +forlorn?" + +"No. Gerald is a student, and Marianne's cousin, who lives next door. +He's jolly, with yellow hair, and means to be a doctor. He loves Violet, +even if she is poor. He has a friend, Eugene, that isn't well,--not +hectic a bit, but has trouble with his eyes or something, so he can't +work, and comes to spend the summer there, and falls in love with +Marianne. They all have great times, and poor Alessandro, in bed +upstairs, can hear all their fun, when they sit on the piazza in the +moonlight, and he buries his head in the pillows and sobs. One night, +just in fun, Marianne makes her will and leaves all she has to Violet. +Then Marianne and Eugene get engaged. Then Marianne dies of a fever, and +they find the will and accuse Violet of killing her, and Eugene is so +sorrowful that he goes into a convent." + +"I thought men usually took to a monastery." + +"What's the difference? Well, they have a trial, and Gerald stops being +a doctor and studies law and makes a brilliant plea and saves her. +Then, right in the court-room before them all, he presses her hand to +his lips and cries, 'Mine! Mine forever!' and the whole room full of +people thunders applause." + +Theodora paused. Her cheeks were glowing with excitement. Billy had +turned away his head and his arm half shielded his face. + +"What do you think?" she demanded. + +"It's great," he answered, with an odd huskiness in his tone. + +"You really like it? You're not laughing at me?" Her tone was eager, yet +mistrustful. + +Billy's loyalty asserted itself. He took down his arm. + +"Honestly, Ted, it's a great thing," he said with perfect gravity. "It's +different, too; not just like all the others." + +Theodora drew a deep sigh of relief as she nestled back in the chair. + +"I'm so glad you like it, Billy, for I did want you to. You're the only +living soul I've ever told, and now, if you don't think it's too bad, +I'm going right to work on it." There was still a little note of +question in her voice. + +Billy held out his hand to her. + +"Do you know what I honestly think, Teddy? Some day, you'll get there. +If I were in your place, I'd go right to work on this, and I don't +believe you'll ever be sorry. This first one may not be the success; but +I'd try the chance, and keep on trying." + +He was only a boy, though developed and deepened in character by his +long illness until at times he spoke with the dignity and thoughtfulness +of a man. Now his words rang true, and Theodora, as she stood beside him +looking down into his eyes, was satisfied; and as she went home to begin +her great undertaking, she thanked Providence, as she had so often done +before during the past few weeks, for bringing her so loyal a friend. + +It was with a feeling of elated self-consciousness that Theodora took +her place in the family circle, that evening, with her little writing +tablet in her hand. As she seated herself near the light, she cast a +pitying glance at her family who were talking of trivial details, quite +unconscious of the fact that that evening would mark an epoch in the +literary history of America. They were used to her and to her tablet, +and beyond the slight shifting of the group needful to give her a place +by the table, she called forth no comment from anyone but Phebe, who, +bent on teasing, turned the fire of her questions upon her older sister. +Mrs. McAlister promptly quieted her by a suggestion of bedtime; and +Theodora, left to herself, paused to smile in anticipation of the day +when, book in hand, she could remind them all of that evening. Then she +launched forth into a description of the swaying figure and drooping +hair of Violet, too eagerly intent upon mustering the forces of her +adjectives to heed the scratching of her own pen, or the conversation of +the others. Once only she was roused from her writing to hear her father +say, as he entered the room,-- + +"Yes, I've just been over there, and Will is improving, every day. I +can't see why he won't be walking a little, in a week or so. I hope so, +for he's had a long pull of it, and he has shown splendid pluck." + +For an instant, Theodora was conscious of a jealous pang. Once on his +feet and independent, good-by to her good times with Billy. He would be +free to seek boy society and boy sports, and her company would cease to +interest him. Angry at herself for her selfishness, yet conscious of a +vague dissatisfaction with the future, she bent still closer over her +writing, while her stepmother answered,-- + +"Really, Jack? I had no idea of it's coming so soon. Did you know that +Jessie has asked us all to eat Thanksgiving dinner with her?" + +The talk strayed on, but Theodora had lost herself once more. She had +finished with Violet, and was now painting the horrors of the stormy +night outside the house where the two girls sat over the fire. Like most +girls of her age, Theodora had a natural talent for melodrama, and she +revelled in her description, as her pen raced over the paper. Pausing at +last to decide whether _lurid_ or _murky_ best described the night, she +caught Hope's eyes fixed on her steadily. + +"What is it?" she asked abruptly. + +"I was thinking it was about time you began to put up your hair," Hope +answered, rising and laying her hand upon Theodora's heavy braids. + +The transition was sudden and sharp. Theodora had been feeling as if she +trod on air. Now the clouds seemed to part and let her drop into the +common clay. She shook off her sister's hand. + +"I don't want to put up my hair," she said sharply. + +"But you're old enough, and you would look so much better. Don't you +think so?" Hope appealed to her stepmother. + +"I don't care how I look. I want to be comfortable." Theodora threw her +pen down on the table. + +"But you're almost a young lady," Hope urged, with a quiet persistency +which exasperated Theodora. "You are really too old to wear two tails, +any longer." + +"I don't care if I am!" Theodora exclaimed hotly. "It's neat, and it's +comfortable, and I intend to wear it like this till I get ready to put +it up. You can take care of your own hair, Hope McAlister, and I'll take +care of mine." + +At best, Theodora was hot-tempered. To-night, excited by her attempt at +writing and tired with the unwonted effort, she flashed like a train of +powder. She realized, even in the midst of it, that her annoyance was +out of all proportion to the cause. Before she could control herself, +Hubert gave a new direction to her thoughts. + +"If all you're after is comfort, Teddy," he drawled; "I'd advise you to +get a hair-cut. It's much the most comfortable thing you can find." + +For the moment, Theodora was too angry to see the humor of his +suggestion. + +"I will," she exclaimed. "Hope McAlister, if you say another word, I'll +have my hair cut off." + +"Oh, Teddy dear!" Hope's hand was very gentle, as it touched her hair. +"You wouldn't do anything so crazy. Just see how pretty I can make you +look." + +But Theodora jerked herself away, rushed out of the room and up to her +own room. + +"I won't! I won't!" she said fiercely. "I hate Hope. She's jealous +because my hair is better than hers. I won't put it up. I'd rather cut +it off, myself, short off." + +She paused to listen. Hope was coming up the stairs. She recognized the +slow, gentle footfall. It came nearer the door. Theodora took a quick +step to the table and caught up the scissors from her little +work-basket. + +"Come, Teddy," Hope called; "don't be silly and get cross about a little +thing like that." + +Theodora clashed her scissors ominously. Even in her anger, there came a +sudden wonder how Marianne would meet such a crisis, and her voice took +a higher, more incisive note, as she said,-- + +"Hope, unless you let me alone, I'm going to cut it off." + +"But, Teddy--" + +There came a snip and a long, grinding cut, followed by a light thud, as +one heavy braid fell to the floor. Startled at what she had done, +Theodora turned to the mirror. One side of her head was covered with +loose, shaggy locks standing out in wild disorder. As she looked, she +grew white and her lips quivered. She hesitated for a moment; then, +shutting her teeth, she sheared away the other braid. For a moment +longer, she stood staring at the white face and wide, terrified eyes +reflected in the mirror. Then, throwing aside the scissors, she cast +herself down on her bed and pulled the pillows over her head to smother +the sound of her sobs. + + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT + + + MY DEAR TEDDY,--If you haven't entirely forsaken us, can't you come + over and spend the afternoon and dine here? We both of us miss your + calls, Will especially, since he hasn't been so well; and we can't + think why you have turned the cold shoulder to us. I wanted to send + for you, yesterday; but Will wouldn't let me, for fear you had + something else to do. To-day, I haven't told him, so he won't be + disappointed. + + Come if you can, dear, and stay to dinner with us. Will is so blue + that he needs you to brighten him up, now he is on his back again. + + Sincerely, + JESSIE FARRINGTON. + +This was the note which Patrick had brought over, that morning, and +which Theodora now sat twisting in her fingers, while she anxiously +wondered what it all meant. She had not heard that Billy was worse, and +it was a week since she had seen him, for she still lacked courage to +show him her shorn head. She dreaded his teasing; most of all she +dreaded the questions he must inevitably ask. Her own family was bad +enough; she felt that she could not face him, if once he knew the secret +of her missing locks. + +Never was a hasty, hot-tempered act more thoroughly punished than this. +There had been little need for the doctor or his wife to add a word. +Theodora's sorrow and shame were intense; intense, too, was her power of +self-abasement. For a week, she spent most of the time in her own room, +as if she feared to meet the eyes of her family; and, in this +self-imposed isolation, it chanced that she had heard no mention of the +Farringtons. + +It had taken repeated calls to bring Theodora down to breakfast, the +morning after her outbreak. In all her after-life, she never forgot the +exclamations of horror and surprise which greeted her when she appeared, +half-defiant, half-sulky, and altogether shamefaced. For a few moments, +there was a babel of comment; then Mrs. McAlister rose and took her +hand. + +"Theodora, dear," she said gently; "come into my room, and tell me all +about it." + +The door closed behind them, and for two hours they were alone together. +What passed between them, no one else ever knew. When the long talk was +ended, and Theodora, clinging to her new mother just as she had been +wont to cling to her own mother, years ago, had sobbed till she could +sob no more, Mrs. McAlister left her and went to her husband. + +"She's punished enough, Jack," she said to him. "There wasn't much need +for me to say anything; but I think perhaps this has given me my +opportunity. I've come closer to the child than I ever dared to hope, +and, with Heaven's help, I mean to stay there." + +Her husband bent over her. + +"You're good to my naughty girl, Bess," he said gently. + +She smiled; but her eyes looked heavy. + +"She is worth it, Jack. At heart, she is sweet and sound as a girl can +be. It is only this ungovernable temper of hers. She is quick and +impulsive; but she is sorry enough now. I think she won't do anything +like this again. And I have promised that she sha'n't be teased about +it, and, above all, that no one shall speak of the affair to the +Farringtons. Can you see about it, Jack? A word from you will help me in +this." + +For the next few days, a spirit of heavy quiet rested on the McAlister +household. As a rule, Theodora was the life of the house, and now that +she moped in corners, hiding her shorn head as best she could, the +others were dull and listless in sympathy. + +"I hate everybody," Phebe said, coming into the dining-room where Hope +was arranging flowers, one morning. + +"Why, Babe, what's the matter?" Hope looked up in surprise. + +"Nothing, only I'm lonesome." + +"Where's Allyn?" + +"In the attic. He spoils everything, and I don't want to play with him. +Teddy's cross, and Hu won't do anything." + +There was a silence, while Hope filled a tall vase with late +chrysanthemums. + +"I wish I were a flower," Phebe said moodily; "only Allyn would tear it +to pieces. I'd rather be a vine; that's tougher." + +"What has Allyn done?" Hope asked. + +"I don't tell tales, Hope McAlister." And Phebe departed with her chin +in the air, leaving Hope to console herself for the rebuke with the +reflection that Phebe's code of honor, in such cases, varied according +to her own share of the blame. + +Half an hour later, Phebe appeared to Billy, who sat in an easy-chair +before a crackling fire in the library. + +"Hullo, Phebe!" he exclaimed. "How you was?" + +"All right. I thought I'd come over and see you, a while." + +"That's good. You don't often come. Sit down, won't you?" He waved his +book hospitably in the direction of a chair. "Where's Teddy? She hasn't +been over here for an age." + +"She's--busy." Phebe spoke with a tone of conscious mystery. + +"What do you mean?" Billy turned to look at his guest in astonishment. + +"Oh--nothing." + +"What is the matter? Is Teddy sick?" + +"No; she's all right." Phebe gave a hostile sniff. + +"Then why doesn't she come over?" + +"I s'pose because she doesn't want to." + +"Is she mad about anything?" + +Phebe shook her head mockingly. Then she rose and stood facing him, with +her back to the fire. + +"It's all Teddy, Teddy, Teddy!" she said complainingly. "Nobody takes +the trouble to talk to me, and you're just as bad as the rest of them. +You needn't think your old Teddy is perfect, for she isn't." + +"Maybe not; but she is a blamed sight better than you are," Billy +answered more bluntly than courteously. + +[Illustration: "'WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS?' SHE DEMANDED."] + +"Is she?" Phebe plunged her hand into her pocket. "What do you think of +this?" she demanded, pulling out a long brown pigtail and brandishing it +before Billy's astonished eyes. + +"What's that?" + +"Can't you tell? You've seen it often enough." + +"Let me see." Billy held out his hand. + +"Sha'n't. It's Teddy's. She cut it off." + +"I don't believe it. Let me take it, Babe." His tone was commanding. + +For her only answer, Phebe sprang back out of his reach, caught her heel +in the rug and fell. Her stiff white apron lay for an instant against +the grate; the next moment, it blazed above her head. + +With a swift exclamation, Billy struggled to move, to go to her +assistance. Again and again he tried to wrench himself from the chair; +then, with a groan, he fell back and blew a long, shrill note on the +silver whistle which never left him. + +In a moment, it was all over. Patrick had rushed in and wrapped Phebe in +a rug. Then, more frightened than hurt, the child had started for home, +concocting, as she went, a plausible story to account for her charred +apron. The maid came in to put the room to rights, and no one knew but +Billy, as he ordered Patrick to move him to the sofa, that the sudden +strain had done his invalid back a lasting injury. That was three days +before, and now Theodora sat twisting his mother's note in her hands and +wondering what it all meant. + +The doctor was away, that day, and Theodora was too proud to ask the +others any questions. She briefly explained to her mother that Mrs. +Farrington had invited her to spend the afternoon and dine there, and, +putting on her broadest hat, she went away across the lawn. + +Patrick admitted her, and, even in the momentary glimpse she had of him, +she saw that he looked unusually grave. As she entered the library, +however, she was reassured, for the room looked just as usual, with +Billy lying on the familiar lounge by the fire. It seemed so good to her +to get back there, after her self-imposed banishment, that, forgetful +of her cropped head, she sprang forward to his side. + +"Oh, Billy!" + +"Have you really come, Ted? I began to think you'd cut me. Where have +you been?" + +"At home. But what's the matter, Billy?" For, as she took his hand, she +was startled at his pallor and at the heavy shadows under his eyes. + +"Only this set-back," he answered. "My back's given out again, so I +can't move a bit." + +"What do you mean? When was it?" She dropped down beside him, and rested +her arm on the edge of the lounge. + +"Didn't you know it?" + +"No. When was it?" + +"How queer you didn't know! It was three days ago. I strained myself +somehow or other, and it kept getting worse, till it's about as bad as +it was at first." + +"Oh, Billy!" Theodora's overstrained nerves were giving way. After her +outbreak, after the shame which had followed and the week when she had +missed her friend daily and hourly, this last was too much. After all +her protestations of loyalty, he had been ill and suffering, and she +had not known it, nor been near him at all. + +"And you have to lie flat on your back, like this?" she demanded almost +fiercely. + +"Yes." + +"And it hurts?" + +"Yes." + +"Much?" + +"Some--yes, a good deal." + +"All the time?" + +He nodded. + +"And I didn't know it, and you wanted to see me, and I never came near +you." All at once, Theodora's head went down on her hands. "What did you +think, Billy?" + +"I thought you'd got sick of me," he answered frankly. "I couldn't see +any other reason you should go back on me just now. I did miss you like +fury, Ted." + +"Why didn't you send word to me?" + +He looked up at her with an odd little smile. + +"Wait till you are flat on your back and no special good, and you'll +know why." + +His smile hurt her. She laid her hand on his again. + +"Did you think that, Billy, really and truly?" + +"Yes; that is, sometimes, but I don't now. You've stuck to me pretty +well, Teddy." + +"Do you know what was the reason I didn't come?" she asked impulsively. + +"No." + +"It was this." She pulled off her hat and sat before him, a strange, +forlorn-looking Teddy, with her cropped head and tear-stained eyes. + +"Jove!" + +"Yes, I did it," she confessed bluntly. "I was mad at Hope and cut it +off." + +The boy lay staring at her in surprise. She drooped her head, unable to +meet the amused look in his eyes. + +"It's awful; isn't it?" she asked. + +"Why, no; I don't think it is so bad," he said consolingly. "It isn't +exactly pretty, and you look a good deal like a boy. When I get used to +it, though, I think I shall rather like it. It seems to suit you, +somehow." + +She looked up gratefully. + +"What a dear old fellow you are, Billy! That was the reason I didn't +come. I couldn't bear to have you see me, or to know about it. Now I +don't mind anybody else. I hated to have you know I was so horrid." + +"You are peppery, Teddy, for a fact. Don't get in a tantrum again, or +you will cut off your nose next, and that won't grow again." He tried +to laugh; but his color was coming and going, and Theodora saw that he +was suffering. + +She sprang up and stooped to arrange the cushions about him. + +"What is it?" she asked, startled at his changing color. + +"It's the old pain. It won't last but a minute." + +"What does papa say?" she asked, when he was easier again. + +"Nothing, except that it's a strain and that I must keep quiet." + +"How long?" + +"That's the worst of it." There was an utter dreariness in his tone +which Theodora had never heard before. "I didn't mean you to know; but I +was going to surprise you all by walking over to your house, +Thanksgiving morning, and now--" he hesitated, and, boy as he was and a +plucky boy, too, two great tears came and splashed down on Theodora's +fingers; "now he says it will be two or three weeks before I can even +sit up again." + +That night, when Theodora rose to go home, she turned back to the lounge +once more, after she had said good-by to Mrs. Farrington. + +"You must come in, every day," Mrs. Farrington said. "Will is better +already for your being here." + +Theodora herself saw the change, as she bent down to shake hands. He +looked brighter and better than when she had come, more animated and +eager, more like his old self. + +"Billy," she said steadily; "I want you to promise me something." + +"What's that?" + +"That, if the time ever comes again when you want me, or when I can help +you, you'll send for me, without waiting. I'm only a girl, I know; but +I'm better than nothing, and I never go back on my friends." + +Billy smiled up at her benignly. + +"No, Ted; I don't believe you ever do. And there are times when 'only a +girl' is about as good as anything you can find. Come again." + +"I will," she answered. + +She kept her word so well that, during all Billy's imprisonment, she +never failed to spend a part of each day with him. It did her good to +feel that some one counted on her coming and was the better for it. It +made her steadier, more reliable; and, in the long, dreary days that +followed, she gained a new gentleness from her constant association with +her suffering friend. There were days when he was irritable and +nervous, days when he was despondent, days when he was too weak with +pain to talk; but, during all this time, Theodora was loyal to him, +soothing him, cheering him up and bearing his ill-temper with a +gentleness which surprised even herself, ministering to his comfort and +content to an unmeasured degree, and at the same time gaining a quiet +womanliness which she had never known before. + +And the days passed on, and the youth and the maiden reaped from them +all a harvest of good, a mutual gain from their frank intimacy. + + + + +CHAPTER NINE + + +"And I want a horsey, and a wagon to hatchen on behind," Allyn shouted. + +"And I must have a new sled, and I want a set of furs and a canary +bird," Phebe clamored. + +"Is that all?" Hubert inquired blandly. "Why not ask for a wedding gown +and a pink elephant while you are about it, Babe? Don't be modest. I +know what Teddy is going to have." + +"Oh, what?" Theodora looked up from her game of euchre with Billy, who, +promoted to his chair again, was spending the evening with the +McAlisters. + +"She'd better have a chunk of ice, to cool her off when she gets mad," +suggested Phebe with sudden asperity, as she thought of a recent passage +at arms with her elder sister. + +"Phebe!" Mrs. McAlister's tone was ominous, and Phebe subsided, +grumbling, while her mother rose to put Allyn to bed. + +Allyn retreated to Hubert's knee and pressed his rosy cheek against that +of his brother. + +"No, mamma," he urged. "Can't Phebe be tendooed first?" + +"Allynesque for attended to," Theodora explained to Billy, while her +mother dislodged the child from his place of refuge and marched him out +of the room. "But does it seem possible that Christmas comes, next +week?" + +"Well, yes, I think it does. This year has been long enough to make over +into a dozen ordinary ones. Let's see, when is Christmas?" + +"Why, don't you know? Christmas is our great day of the year, and we +count the days for months ahead. This year, it will be an extra jolly +one, for we want to show mamma our ways." This from Hubert, who sat with +his elbow on the arm of Billy's chair, superintending his play. + +"What do you do?" + +"Just what everybody else does, I suppose; give presents and make a row +generally." + +"Hubert, what will Billy think of us?" Hope interposed. "It's this way: +mamma, our own mother, always said that Christmas was the day when we +all should be children together, and play plays and have a grand frolic. +Years ago, when Hu and Teddy and I were little bits of children, we +began having our basket, and we have kept it up ever since." + +"We do all the things, jokes and presents and all, in bundles," Theodora +said, taking up the story in her eagerness; "and we put them all in this +basket. It is an old clothes-basket, large as the house and broken, but +we never change it. And then we draw them out, one at a time." + +"It's covered, you know, and we just fish under the cover, so as not to +see what comes. They used to begin with me; but Allyn is the baby, and +has the first chance now." In her interest, Phebe quite forgot to resent +it when Theodora pulled her down into her lap. + +Billy sat looking from one to another of the group, wondering to see the +faces brighten and grow eager as the talk ran on. + +"It sounds good fun," he said rather wishfully, as soon as there was a +pause. "I suppose it's because there are such a lot of you." + +"The more the better, of course," Hope said. "We always have Susan and +James come in to look on, and even Mulvaney has his new ribbon and a +bone. He has learned to know the basket, and he lies down beside it as +soon as it is brought in to be filled." + +"When do you do it?" + +"Christmas eve," Hubert answered. "We never could stand it till +Christmas day. We always rush through supper, Christmas eve, to be ready +as soon as we can. You should see our house when we get everything out +of the basket." + +"I wish I could." + +"What do you do?" Phebe demanded. + +"Why, we give presents at breakfast; that's all. Of course it will be +different, this year. Papa was here, last Christmas. He gave me my watch +then." + +"Oh!" Phebe became round-eyed with admiration. "Did he give you that? I +should think you would miss him." + +Hope came to the rescue. + +"It will be lonely, this year. I remember how it was, after mamma died. +We didn't want to have any Christmas; but papa said she would rather we +kept up the old ways, so we did just as we always had done." + +"I wish we did things the way you do." Billy pushed his hair impatiently +away from his face. "You don't know how it seems to a fellow to be +alone. It is no sort of fun." + +"Adopt us," Theodora suggested, laughing. + +Billy flashed at her a swift glance which told, plainly as words, how +gladly he would carry out her suggestion. + +Passing through the hall, Mrs. McAlister had heard the children's talk. +A little later, she knocked at the door of her husband's office. The +doctor pushed aside the sheets of the essay he was writing for a medical +journal, and rose to greet his wife. + +"Well, Bess, the sanctum is glad to see you." + +"Am I interrupting?" she asked, as she sat down by the table. + +"Not a bit. You never do." + +"So glad, for I want to talk, Jack." + +"What now? Is Phebe in mischief, or is Teddy proving obstreperous?" + +"Neither; it's only this." And she repeated the substance of the +children's conversation. "Now are you ready to do some missionary work, +Jack?" + +"Of course; anything you like. What is it?" + +"May Jessie and Will come to your Christmas eve?" + +"Ours," he corrected gently. + +"No, yours. You know I've never been here for it, and it is all new to +me. I don't want to crowd your good time; but the boy is so lonely." + +"Have him, of course. The Savins is large enough to hold a few more, and +he needs all the fun he can get," the doctor said heartily. "There's +only one thing I am afraid of." + +His wife looked up quickly. + +"I thought that all over before I came to you, Jack; but I have known +Jessie longer than you have, and I know she won't misunderstand us. She +knows we can't give expensive presents, and she will care, as we do, for +the fun and the Christmas spirit. I know she will be glad to come, if +only for Billy's sake." + +But Mrs. Farrington demurred a little, the next day, when the plan was +suggested to her. + +"I have just promised Will to have you all over here," she said. "Still, +if you all will promise to come here for Christmas dinner and a bran pie +afterwards, Billy and I will come to your basket. We are so lonely that +it is a deed of charity to take us in." + +For the next week, mystery lurked in every corner of the McAlister +house. With three novices to be trained in their Christmas rite, Hope +and Theodora and Hubert felt that this basket must surpass all those of +previous years, and they ransacked their brains, their house, and the +shops for the jokes and nonsensical offerings which added spice to their +simple presents. If the Christmas spirit of happiness and good-will were +the true test, the McAlisters lived up to the full tradition of the day. +Gifts simple and elaborate, hoary jokes and brand-new ones, quips and +cranks of every description, were enclosed in the bundles which went +into the shabby old basket, and the only clue to the possible contents +of the bundles lay in the fact that, the older the joke, the more fresh +and dainty was its outward disguise. + +The basket stood in a deep bay-window; beside it on an easel was the +portrait of the children's own mother, placed there and wreathed in +Christmas greens by Mrs. McAlister's own hands. Old Susan had told her +that it had stood there in past years, and, that afternoon, the doctor +had come in, to find her bending over to wreathe it with holly and +trailing pine. + +"It's like you, Bess," he said. "The children will be so happy. They +felt that Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without this." + +Supper was a hurried meal that night, and it was still early when they +gathered in the parlor, with Mulvaney beside the basket and Susan in +the doorway, to wait for their guests. + +"Oh, I can't wait," Phebe wailed. "I know such lots of things in there. +I put in four bundles for Hu, and seven for Allyn, and two for papa, +only one's broken, and two for Teddy." + +"Let me see." Hubert counted on his fingers. "I put in six for Ted, no, +seven, and four for Hope, and nine for Allyn." + +"And me?" Phebe pranced impatiently. + +"Oh, Babe, I forgot you." + +"Hush, Babe; there's Billy's chair," Hope said, endeavoring to suppress +her young sister. + +"Did you know Patrick brought over a bundle, Hu?" Theodora whispered. "I +saw mamma slying it into the house. 'Twas a big one, too." + +"Really?" Hubert tried to look as innocent as if Billy had not consulted +him about Theodora's Christmas gift. + +"Yes, I'm so glad now that I hemstitched that handkerchief. It is fairly +covered with my gore where I pricked myself; but he won't be critical, I +hope." + +The babel of greeting and chatter was hushed, as Hope took her seat at +the piano and the children gathered around her to sing their favorite +carol. The last note had scarcely died away when Allyn, at a signal from +Hubert, gave a joyous shriek and plunged upon the basket. + +"One at a time," Hope cautioned him; "and bring the bundle to sister, so +she can read the writing on it." + +The first package chanced to contain his much-desired horsey, and he +retired to a corner to embrace it, while Phebe and then Theodora took +their turns at drawing. + +"Draw for me, please," Billy asked Theodora, when his turn came. + +"Not a bit of it. You must do your part." And she had whisked him across +the room and landed him beside the basket, before he could realize her +intention. + +For two hours, the fun was fast and furious. Mulvaney, on the floor in a +nest of papers, was wrestling with a vast bone, Mrs. Farrington was +admiring a bit of Hope's dainty handiwork, and Hubert was trying hard to +realize that at last he was the proud owner of a watch. Everyone was +happy, and Hope and Theodora congratulated themselves upon the success +of their Christmas frolic. + +"It's your turn to draw, Billy." And Theodora rolled him across the +floor to the fast-emptying basket. + +"Bah! I can't reach it. Get the one in the corner, Ted. It's a big +square one." + +"Is this it?" + +"Yes." Billy took it and read the label. _Theodora, with love from +Babe._ + +"Why, Babe dear, you gave me the gloves." + +Phebe flushed. + +"It's probably some grind on you, Teddy," Hubert suggested, as his +sister tore away the wrappers. + +Inside was a box, then another. Phebe smiled in conscious satisfaction, +while Theodora opened one layer after another of the papers within and +at last drew out a long flexible bundle. + +"Phebe, you dear, it is the new belt I've been wanting," she said. + +Phebe began to look rather uneasy. + +"Wait and see," she advised. "It may not be as nice as you think it's +going to be." + +With eager hands, Theodora unrolled the tissue papers, while the others +gathered round to see what was inside. Then there came a sudden hush of +surprise and consternation. Out from the papers had slipped a long, +soft braid of brown hair, and, with a startled sob, Theodora had buried +her face in her hands. The next instant, Hubert's hand descended on +Phebe's cheek with a ringing blow. + +For a few moments, it seemed that the evening was to end in dismal +failure. Then Mrs. Farrington, with her arm about Theodora's waist, +marched her across the room to the basket to renew the drawing, and soon +the little incident was apparently forgotten. Later, when the merriment +was subsiding, Mrs. Farrington missed Theodora and went in search of +her. She found her in the library, standing alone before the open fire. + +"It was too bad, dear," Mrs. Farrington said. "Phebe didn't realize what +she was doing, of course; but it was hard for you. But I want to thank +you for the pleasant evening and for the pleasant months Billy has had +with you. This little package was to go in the pie, to-morrow; but I +wanted instead to give it to you when we were alone, so I could say to +you how I appreciate all you have done for my boy." + +And Theodora, as she looked at the little sapphire on her finger, felt +that not all the Phebes in creation could spoil her merry Christmas. + +A week later, she went racing across the lawn to the Farringtons', with +a long brown bundle over her shoulder. + +"Let me in quick, Patrick," she cried, as she dashed through the door. +"Happy New Year, Billy! I've brought you a New Year's present. I said I +must be the one to bring it, and papa is coming over in a few minutes to +teach you to use it." And, with a clatter and a bang, she cast a pair of +crutches on the floor at Billy's feet. + + + + +CHAPTER TEN + + +Billy sat in his chair before the McAlisters' front steps. Theodora sat +beside him on the steps, with her chin in her hands. Though it was late +in January, the midday sun was warm around them, and they were basking +in it like two young turtles. + +"I know," Theodora was saying restively; "but I want to do something +really and truly useful, something that will help on the world. Here I +am, sixteen years old, and I've never been of the least use to anybody." + +"How about me?" Billy suggested, luxuriously stretching and then +clasping his hands at the back of his head. + +"You? Oh, you don't count." + +"Thanks." + +Theodora sprang up and whirled the chair to the gate and back again to +the steps. + +"What a tease you are, Billy! Next time, if you don't behave, I'll tip +you out. You know what I mean. I get just as much fun out of this as +you do. What I want is to help on the masses." + +"Rats!" Billy remarked profanely. + +"Not rats at all. You don't need me; they do." + +"So do I. Who takes me all over town?" + +"That's selfish, Billy. They need me more than you do, then." + +"No, they don't either. Who'd take me?" + +"Patrick. Besides, you'll take yourself soon, and then you won't want me +any more." + +There was a little involuntary note of sadness in her tone, and Billy +smiled to himself, as he shifted his position to face her. + +"What's started you to talking all this flummery, Ted?" he asked +bluntly, heedless, in true boy fashion, of the vague aspirations and +aims of sweet sixteen. "I thought you had too good sense to get +sentimental." + +The word stung Theodora, and she started up abruptly. + +"Let's go to the shore," she said shortly. + +"Aren't you too tired? I am growing fat and heavy, you know." + +For a week, now, Billy had been installed at the doctor's, while his +mother had been called away by the illness of her only brother. The +arrangement suited them all, Billy and Theodora even more than the +others. The two friends never seemed to weary of the long hours they +spent together, never appeared to be at a loss for subjects of +conversation. For the most part, Hubert was with them; but there were +times, like the present, when his other friends demanded his whole +attention, and Billy and Theodora were left to each other's society. +Hope was absorbed in other interests, though she was always kind and +considerate of their guest; and, by a tacit consent, Phebe's company was +shunned rather than courted. + +The winter had been good to Billy. Day by day, his strength was coming +back to him, slowly and by almost imperceptible stages, it is true; but +by looking back from month to month, they could see his steady progress. +In his better days, he could walk about the rooms now, and even this +slight advance had put fresh life into him. + +"Some day, I may begin to have a little respect for myself again," he +had said to Hubert, the day after his first expedition across the +library. "I've been like a rag doll for so long that I began to think +I'd never stir alone any more. Now it looks more as if I might be +somebody in time, and I can wait." + +"Strikes me you've been waiting about long enough," Hubert returned +impatiently. "I wish you'd hurry up and come to life. There's fun enough +to be had, as soon as you're on your legs again." + +"I should think it would seem queer to you to see me walking," Billy +observed reflectively. + +"It does. I can't make it seem a part of you, somehow. I'm so used to +the chair," Theodora said, as she joined the group. "After all, Billy, I +think I shall miss it a little." + +Well she might, for by this time the chair had become a part of her +life. Leaving Patrick to his own devices, the two young people had +explored the town, wandering here and there as Billy's curiosity or +Theodora's whim took them. There were days when Billy was too weak for +his ride, there were days when Theodora was too busy with other things +to take him out during the warmer part of the day; but, as a rule, three +or four times a week they wandered away in search of fresh scenes and an +occasional adventure. + +"By the way, Ted, how comes on the story?" Billy asked, as they drew +near the steps once more and Mulvaney came forward to meet them. + +"Seventeen chapters are done," she answered, slackening her pace a +little. + +"Moses! How many do you expect to have?" + +"I don't know. They seem to count up awfully fast. I've only just come +to the first of the lovering. I can't seem to make much of that. I do +wish I knew how people make love." + +"Perhaps you'll find out, some day," Billy suggested. + +But Theodora frowned on him. + +"Don't be silly. I'm not that kind, nor you either. I wish you could +help me out on it. Don't people ever--" + +"Collaborate? Yes. When are you going to read it to me?" + +"Do you really want it?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, to-night, perhaps, if we can get away by ourselves." + +However, fate willed otherwise. + +"Theodora," the doctor said, as they were leaving the dinner-table, that +day; "there's an errand I'd like you to do for me, about four o'clock. I +promised to send some medicine down to a house in Water Street for a +sick baby. Can you take it down? It's nothing catching," he added +reassuringly to his wife. + +"I'll go. Can I take Billy?" + +"Better not. It's a wretched region for wheels, and you might have an +upset," the doctor advised. "Come to the office, soon after four, and +I'll have it ready. You're getting to be your father's right-hand man, +Teddy." And he rested his hand affectionately on her shoulder before he +left the room. + +A month before that time, Mrs. Farrington had received a visit from an +old college friend, one of the energetic workers in the university +settlements, and her stories of life in the slums had made a strong +impression upon Theodora's mind. For the time being, other interests +lost their charm. Theodora was content to sit by the hour and listen to +the experiences so remote from her own sheltered life. She was as +impressionable as most girls of her age; more than most girls, she +retained her impressions, dwelling upon them and magnifying them until +they seemed to become less a day-dream than a part of her actual +experience. + +For the past three weeks, she had been filled with vague, restless +longings to have a share in the vast work of social reform; most of all, +her warm young heart turned to the neglected children. It was the same +impulse of protection which had first roused her interest in Billy +Farrington, the helpless invalid; and now, had Billy been a less +well-tried friend, he might have found himself forsaken to make room for +this new hobby of Theodora. As it was, she merely used him for a +safety-valve, and poured into his ears mysterious hints of the career +for which she was temporarily yearning. + +The medicine was delivered, and, in the gathering dusk, Theodora's face +was turned towards home. It was a part of the town into which she rarely +penetrated,--a network of squalid streets near the water front; and, a +month ago, she would have swept through them with her nose in the air. +Now, however, she looked to the left and the right, as she walked +onward, hoping almost against hope that her secret prayers would be +answered, and that, even in this hasty progress, she might see some work +ready for her hand. Providence, always kind, was in a benign mood, and +her desire was fulfilled with unexpected promptness. + +Down the street towards her came a forlorn little figure. It was a +child of nine, a girl whose grimy face was streaked and swollen with +tears, whose red hood was faded to a dull yellowish shade, whose coarse +gray coat was so many sizes too large for her that the sleeves were +folded back to allow her blue, chapped hands to come forth to the light +of day and to their destined usefulness. Theodora's heart gave a quick +bound, and, stepping forward, she bent over the wailing child. + +"What is the matter?" she asked. + +The child stopped sobbing and blinked up at her, disclosing a face of +unmistakably Keltic ancestry. + +"What is the matter?" Theodora repeated. + +"Huh?" + +Theodora experienced a momentary shock. Not thus had her dreamed-of +foundlings answered to her imaginary queries. She rallied and reiterated +her question. The child's tears fell again. + +"I'm--I'm losted, and I'm tired and so hungry." + +Even in this woful climax, Theodora noted the gurgle of the child's +sobs. She told herself that it was like water bubbling from a bottle, a +large earthen bottle. Then she reproached herself for her misplaced +sense of humor. + +There followed a little question, a little answer, a little consolation. +Then, before she quite realized what she was doing, Theodora was walking +rapidly towards home, with brotherly love swelling in her heart, and the +child's smutty hand clasped in her woollen mitten. She had delayed +longer than she knew, the walk home was long, and before she reached +there, the twilight had quite fallen, the house was brightly lighted, +and the family were gathered in the dining-room. + +"Dear me, they're all at supper!" she said to herself, as she went up +the steps. "Never mind, little girl," she added, with a conscious +patronage which not even her sympathy could keep down. "They're having +their supper now. I'll take you up to my room, and, as soon as they're +through, I'll give you something to eat." + +Her feminine intuition told her that the child's welcome would not be so +warm if she were presented at the supper-table. For a moment, she +hesitated what disposition to make of her charge. Then, herself hungry +and eager to get to the table and tell the story of her adventure, +she led the way to her room and popped the child into her own dainty +bed. + +Mrs. McAlister looked up as Theodora entered the room. + +[Illustration: "TEDDY, DEAR, THIS IS MY BROTHER ARCHIE, COME AT LAST."] + +"You are late, Teddy, and I was just getting anxious about you. Archie, +this is my twin daughter, Theodora. Teddy dear, this is my dear brother +Archie, come at last." There was an exultant note in Mrs. McAlister's +voice which Theodora had never heard before. + +Theodora gave a quick glance at the stranger who sat between her +stepmother and Hope, and the first look told her that she had found a +friend, one who would be true and loyal as a man could be. There was +nothing especially distinctive about Archie Holden. He was tall and +blond and athletic, sufficiently good-looking, and with easy, off-hand +manners. But his keen blue eyes, the curve of his little blond mustache, +above all, the grip of his hand and the ring of his voice suited +Theodora, and, long before supper was over, she had forgotten her +protégée in the excitement of the unexpected addition to their family +circle. It was fortunate, perhaps, that the child, more tired than +hungry, had fallen asleep in the midst of Theodora's soft white bed. + +As they were leaving the table, Mrs. McAlister laid a detaining hand on +Theodora's arm. + +"Teddy, I've had to put Archie into your room, to-night. Can you sleep +in the little back chamber? I am sorry to turn you out, but Billy has +the spare room, and I didn't like to put Archie with him. Do you mind, +dear? It's only for one night; then we can make some other arrangement." + +"I don't care at all," Theodora answered readily. "It wouldn't do to put +him in with Billy. When did Mr. Holden come?" + +"At five. It was such a surprise, too. You know we didn't expect him for +a week; but the heavy snow sent the party in, and he is to have a +vacation till the middle of March. What do you think of my little +brother, Teddy?" + +"I think he's splendid," Theodora replied so emphatically that her +mother smiled. + +"Run along after him, then," she said. "I want you and Hope to see that +his visit is a good one. Hope took your things into the back room, +Teddy, so you'll find everything ready for you at bedtime." + +To Theodora's eager young mind, it seemed that the evening was the +shortest she had ever spent, and, when ten o'clock struck, she was +still sitting perched on the arm of Hope's chair, while she listened to +Archie's stirring tales of life in camp and field, in mountain and cañon +and desert. Then there was an interruption, for the bell rang and a +voice was heard asking for the doctor. Archie rose. + +"Another patient, doctor? I believe I'll go to bed. Three nights in a +sleeper are too much for me. No, don't come with me, Bess; I know the +way perfectly." + +However, Mrs. McAlister went to his door with him. As she came +downstairs, her husband met her in the hall. + +"I don't quite comprehend this mystery, Bess," he said, while an anxious +frown puckered his brows. "There's a policeman here that accuses me of +having abducted a child. There's one missing from Water Street, it +seems, and he claims that she is here in this house." + +"What?" + +"'Tis a remarkable story. I can't seem to get at the bottom of it. He +doesn't know me; and he says his orders are not to go away without the +child. I can't convince him that there's no child here." + +Just then they both started violently, for a double sound broke on +their ears, a long-drawn shriek as of a child in pain, followed by +Archie's voice, loud and remorseful,-- + +"Oh, by George!" + +An instant later, Theodora appeared on the landing, ejaculating,-- + +"Gracious me! I forgot her." + +"Theodora, what does this mean?" the doctor demanded breathlessly, as he +rushed up the stairs. Then, at the open door, he paused in sheer +amazement. In the middle of the floor stood Archie Holden, staring at +the bed with a face devoid of all expression. Sitting up in the bed and +staring back at him with a face of injured innocence and pain, was an +unwholesome child of Keltic extraction and unneat exterior, with a dingy +knitted hood in lieu of nightcap, and two chapped hands appearing from +two vast gray sleeves. + +Archie appeared to think that it devolved upon him to explain the +situation. + +"I'm sorry," he said meekly. "You see, I didn't turn up the gas at +first, but I just sat down on the edge of the bed to take off my shoes. +I didn't know this--this young person was here, and I suppose I sat on +her. But really I can't imagine where she came from. I didn't bring +her." + +"Theodora!" said the doctor, sternly. + +But Theodora had vanished, to hide her head from the sight of her +protégée, and from the merriment shining in Archie's blue eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN + + +"Do you often do that kind of thing, Miss Teddy?" + +Theodora, with her hands full of books, was passing through the lower +hall. At the sudden question, she glanced up to see Archie Holden +leaning on the banisters and looking down at her. + +"What thing?" she asked. + +"Oh, adopting stray babies. You gave me a fine fright, last night." + +Theodora blushed. Then, as she met his merry eyes, she burst out +laughing. + +"Wasn't it awful? I put the child to bed and promised her some supper, +and then I forgot her." + +"And I sat on her," Archie supplemented. "I don't know which of us was +the more astonished, she or I. What were you going to do with her?" + +"Why, you see," Theodora dropped her books on the seat by the staircase +and settled herself beside them; "you see, it was my first experience +with slumming." + +"With what?" + +"Don't you know? Or don't you have any slums in Montana? Everybody does +it here, and it's beautiful." + +"What's the usual _modus operandi_?" + +"The what? Talk English, please." + +"How do you go at it?" Archie sat down on the top step, to talk at his +ease. + +"Oh, they go to see poor people, and take them food and soap and +madonnas and fumigate them." + +"The madonnas?" + +"No, the people. It does them ever so much good. Mrs. Farrington, +Billy's mother, had a friend here that did it, and she told us all about +it." + +"I begin to comprehend," Archie said gravely, as he looked down at the +animated face below him. "And does it belong to the plan to bring them +home and hide them in the guests' beds?" + +"How was I to know you were here?" Theodora demanded. "Didn't you take +us all by surprise?" + +"I meant to surprise Bess, and I rather flatter myself I succeeded. I +say, Miss Teddy, what relation are we, anyhow?" + +"Hm-m." Theodora pondered on the matter. "Cousins? No; I suppose you're +my uncle. Uncle Archie. How respectful that sounds!" + +Archie made a grimace of disgust. + +"It suggests carpet slippers and an ivory-headed cane and a bandanna. I +don't believe I care to be related at all, if that's the way you're +going to work it." + +Theodora laughed wickedly. She was keen enough to see that the young man +was nettled by the implied addition to his years, and she was too much +of a tease to allow her opportunity to slip by, unheeded. She gave him a +mocking bow. + +"I'm sorry you don't care to claim us, Uncle Archie," she said, as she +rose. "Still, you can't expect us to call mamma's only brother Mr. +Holden." + +"Call me Archie, then." + +"How disrespectful! No, Uncle Archie is quite nice and proper." + +"I won't answer. Where are you going?" + +"To do my lessons with Billy. We have a tutor." Theodora spoke with a +sudden air of complacency. + +"What a bother! I wanted you. Do you do them, every day?" + +"Yes, every morning, only we're generally at Billy's. What did you +want?" + +"Nothing much; only I brought on some stuff for Bess and for--my new +nephews and nieces, and I thought, if you weren't busy, I'd bring it +down." + +"How lovely! I'll wait." + +"Oh, Ted-dy!" Billy's voice, though distant, was emphatic and distinct. +"Do hurry up!" + +She gave a longing glance back at the young man at the top of the +stairway. + +"I can't wait," she said regretfully. "I don't want to go; but--it's +Billy, you see." + +Archie liked her loyalty. + +"No matter; they can wait till noon. Farewell, my niece, and mind your +teacher." + +"I will, Uncle Archie." + +Two months before this time, soon after Billy had begun to rally from +the mysterious strain to his back, Mrs. Farrington had appeared in the +doctor's office, one evening. + +"As usual, I am asking a favor," she said. "At last, I have succeeded in +getting a really good tutor for Billy. The man was instructor in Yale +till his health failed, and he is highly recommended to me. Billy is +bright and well advanced for his age, so I think he and Hubert must be +doing about the same work. It is so lonely for him, do you suppose +Hubert, or Theodora, or both of them, would be willing to study with +him, to keep him company?" + +The matter was settled in family council, that same evening. Though it +seemed to Dr. McAlister too fine an opportunity to be lost, he left it +entirely to the choice of the children. Theodora accepted the new plan +with prompt delight. Hubert hesitated, chose the tutor, chose to stay in +school with his boy friends, dreaded to be separated from Theodora, and +finally decided to remain in the school. Two months later, Theodora was +reading the Anabasis, while Hubert was still toiling over the +intricacies of the irregular verb. + +The tutor proved to be a good one, and, from the start, it was a close +race between Theodora and Billy. He was eighteen months the older; she +was in perfect health, and her lithe young body held an equally active +mind. Moreover, she was determined not to be outdone by Billy, nor yet +be a drag upon him, so she fell to work with a will and accomplished +wonders, while Mr. Brown daily rejoiced that his lines had fallen in +such pleasant places. + +At dinner-time, Archie appeared, laden with his offerings for his +adopted family circle. + +"I shot this beast, myself, Bess," he said, as he threw a great rug at +her feet. "He was an eight-hundred-pound grizzly who liked the smell of +our supper. If you feel of his head, you can find the holes where I shot +him. Tom Keyes and I tracked him by the blood on the snow, and we +finally cornered him. I thought Hubert might like these antlers, and +here's some trumpery for the others." + +As he spoke, he tossed a handful of little packages about the group, +which quickly became clamorous in its joy. Theodora looked up from her +great nugget mounted on a slender pin, to discover that Billy too had +been included in the frolic, and she shot an approving glance at Archie +just as Allyn climbed to the young man's knee. + +"Fank you," the child said, with a sounding kiss. "I love you, and I +wish you'd come again and bring me nonner engine, Uncle Archie." + +Over Allyn's head, Archie made a gesture of defiance at Theodora. + +"That's your work, Miss Ted. I owe you one for that." + +"This one?" she asked, holding up the pin. "It's beautiful, Uncle +Archie, and I am in love with it already." + +For the next month a spirit of revelry appeared to fill the McAlister +household. It was an ideal New England winter, and plenty of snow and +cold weather kept the young people out of doors. The McAlisters taught +Archie to skate; he taught them to run on snowshoes; they had merry +coasting parties and long sleigh-rides by day. In the evenings, the +Farringtons usually joined them for games, chafing-dish suppers, +impromptu theatricals, and the thousand and one other amusements of a +winter evening. Strange to say, the closest intimacy sprang up between +the invalid and the energetic young engineer, and Billy, who at first +had jealously regretted Archie's coming, found that his own range of +sports was broadened by the strength and care of the young man's arm and +eye. + +They were all down on the ice, one moonlight evening, Archie and the +McAlisters taking turns in pushing the skating-chair in which Billy sat, +wrapped in furs. Hubert was at the back of the chair, leaning on the +bar, while the others stood gathered about, resting from a network of +figure eights. + +"To-morrow night, the moon will be full," Theodora said, as she rubbed +her nose with the back of her mitten. "I do so hope it will be good +skating, for it will be about our last chance. Next night, we have to go +to that stupid old party, and, the night after, we give our play." + +"I'm getting to the end of my nights," Archie said regretfully. "I had a +letter from the chief, to-day, and he wants me to report to him, the +first." + +"So soon as that?" Hope's tone was remonstrant, as she looked at him +with startled eyes. "You didn't mean to go so early." + +"No; I meant to stay till the fifteenth; but this will take me off, next +week." + +"Does mamma know?" Theodora asked. + +"Not yet. Don't tell her, please, till to-morrow. She always hates to +have me start off again, when I've been home." + +"No wonder," Theodora said impulsively. "You aren't half so bad as you +might be, Uncle Archie." + +He bowed low. + +"Thanks awfully. But I am freezing. I'll race you two girls to the dead +pine and back." + +"All right. You be umpire, Billy. What's the prize?" + +"A mate to your nugget. Come on." + +With a laughing word to Billy, they swept off up the pond, while the ice +rang hard under their long, swinging strokes. Archie led; but Hope and +Theodora were close behind him when he reached the old pine-tree. As +they turned to face the sheet of silver light reflected back from the +surface of the ice, Theodora gasped with the beauty of it all, and with +the tense physical excitement of the moment. For one instant, she seemed +possessed with the glorious madness of living, with the splendor of the +night, with the cold, sharp air and the exhilaration of the exercise. +The next moment, as she mustered all her strength to pass Archie, she +saw him stagger and fall. He had skated on a half-buried stick, and the +sudden check to his progress had thrown him headlong on the ice. + +There was an instantaneous hush, when it seemed to Theodora that all the +glory had died out of the universe. When she regained her scattered +senses, Hubert had whirled Billy up to the spot, while Hope, quiet and +dainty as ever, but a shade paler than usual, sat on the ice with +Archie's head resting in her lap and her handkerchief pressed against +the cut in his forehead. + +"Be quiet, Teddy," she said gently. "Archie isn't dead, dear. I think +it has only stunned him a little." + +With a gasp of shame, Theodora realized that she had been crying aloud +in her excitement, while the blurred scratches on the ice showed that +she had been flying about the group in a futile distraction. With a +groan of self-disgust, she dropped down on the footboard of Billy's +chair. + +"I didn't mean to," she said contritely. "How can you always know just +what to do, Hope? I wish I didn't act like an ape, whenever I'm +frightened. But do you think he's much hurt?" + +Archie answered the question by opening his eyes. He looked up at Hope +for a minute, first in wonder at his position, then with an expression +of infinite content, as he saw her pretty face bent over him and read +the anxiety in her eyes. Then his own eyes grew merry, as he glanced at +the tearful, dishevelled Theodora. + +"I'm not dead yet," he said. "You came near beating me; but you haven't +done it yet, my fair niece." He tried to rise as he spoke. + +Hope's hand on his forehead grew a shade heavier. + +"Wait a little," she said. "You've cut yourself, and I want it to stop +bleeding, first. Aren't you comfortable?" + +For a second time, Archie looked up into her eyes. + +"Perfectly," he answered briefly. + +The pause which followed was an expressive one. Hubert broke it. + +"Ye-es," he said critically, as he bent over Archie for a moment; "you +aren't looking your very prettiest, Archie. When you do get up, I advise +you to go in search of a mirror." + +"Hu!" + +But Hope's remonstrance came too late, for Archie had already sat up. + +Hubert helped him to take off his skates, and the little party started +for home. It was the same walk they had taken many times before; but +there was a difference now. Instead of going up the hill in a merry +group, with Archie pushing the chair and Theodora prancing along by his +side, Billy and the twins took the lead, and Archie and Hope, in the +shadow of the trees, followed along slowly, very slowly. + + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE + + +Slowly, very slowly, Theodora was turning about in front of her mirror +to inspect her new suit. It was her nearest approach to that glory of +modern womankind, the tailor-made gown, and Theodora's face was +expressive of unmitigated approval. The dark green cloth suited her +complexion to perfection, the jacket was edged with fur, and the dark +green hat, rolled sharply upwards, framed her eager young face in a soft +setting of velvet and feathers. Theodora looked her best, and, like a +true daughter of Eve, she was perfectly aware of the fact. With the aid +of a hand-glass, she studied her right side, her left side, her back, +petulantly brushed away the heavy masses of her short hair, made sure +that Archie's pin showed its gleam at her throat; then she descended the +stairs in search of admiration. + +She found Archie in the parlor, the symmetry of his face somewhat marred +by the patch of plaster on his right temple. + +"How do you like it, Uncle Arch?" she demanded, clasping her hands and +revolving before him like a teetotum. + +"It's good. You look warm and comfortable, and not a bit floppy," he +answered. "When do you go?" + +"Friday. I'd much rather wait till Tuesday, and see you off; but beggars +mustn't be choosers, and it was lovely of Mrs. Farrington to ask me." + +"You'll have a great time with them," Archie returned, privately +reflecting that Mrs. Farrington had no cause to be ashamed of her +charge. For the past three days, he had been devoting most of his spare +time to gentle Hope, yet he confessed to a hearty admiration for +off-hand, boyish Theodora, who had done so much to make his stay a +pleasant one. "Going to write to me, Ted?" he added persuasively. + +"I don't know. What for?" + +"To tell me the gossip, of course. When a fellow is away in camp, it's +good to get letters from friends at home." Archie's tone was charged +with the sentimentality of his years. He was sorry to turn his back upon +civilization once more, sorry to lose touch with his adopted nieces; +and, above all, most humanly sorry to find that Theodora was taking his +approaching departure in such a philosophical spirit. + +"Oh, I'd just as soon write, if you want me to," she answered, while she +settled her collar and gave a feminine tweak to her sleeves; "only I +don't see the use of it. Mamma will be sure to write, and there's no use +wasting stamps in telling you the news twice over." + +Assuredly Theodora was not inclined to sentiment, and Archie strolled +away to Hope, in search of appreciation, just as Phebe bounced into the +room. At sight of Theodora's new gown, she halted abruptly. + +"I suppose you think you look pretty well," she said crushingly. + +"Well, yes, I do," Theodora replied, with feigned indifference, for she +always shrank from Phebe's criticism. "How do you like it?" + +Phebe walked around her and inspected her from top to toe with provoking +deliberation. + +"It wouldn't be so bad," she remarked at length. "The coat isn't quite +right in the back, somehow; and isn't your hat a little mite one-sided?" + +"Oh, Babe, I wish anything ever suited you," Theodora broke out +impatiently. "You always find something wrong somewhere." + +But Phebe rebuked her. + +"Now, don't get cross, Teddy. Mrs. Farrington won't think you're a good +companion for Billy, if you are as cross as that." + +"Companion?" + +"Yes. Of course she wouldn't have taken you to New York, if she hadn't +wanted somebody to take care of Billy when she was busy." + +Phebe had a genius for aiming her shafts which was far in advance of her +years. Theodora winced; then she turned to her little sister with a sort +of fierceness. + +"Who said so?" she demanded. + +"I say so," Phebe returned calmly, as she settled herself on the sofa; +"and so does Isabel St. John." + +Theodora's exasperation reached a climax. + +"If you two children don't stop talking over my affairs, I'll tell +papa," she said in impotent rage, for the McAlister code of honor +scorned brute force, and she dared not give her young sister the shaking +she so richly deserved. + +"Tattle-tale!" Phebe replied in brief derision. + +Theodora fled to her room, for she felt that she was no match for her +composed young adversary. Hope found her, an hour later, sitting in a +heap on the side of her bed. + +"Don't mind, dear," she said gently. "I knew Babe had been saying +something hateful; but it's only her way. Mrs. Farrington wants you to +have a good time, and I'm so glad you are going. Three weeks in New York +will be good for you, and you will see ever so much. Just think how +lonely we are going to be without you and Archie!" Her voice broke a +little. + +Theodora kissed her impulsively. + +"Truly, are you going to miss me so much, Hope? I'll stay at home, if +you will. I really shouldn't mind." + +"Of course we shall miss you, Ted, you and Archie both. Hu and I are +going to be forlorn and dull enough; but that's no reason you are to +stay here, and lose such a chance. Archie has asked me to write to him," +she added a little inconsequently. + +Not even Phebe's cutting remarks could blunt the edge of Theodora's +happiness, three days later, as she went gliding into the vast babel of +the Grand Central Station. It had been her first real journey; it was +her first sight of New York, that Mecca of all true and loyal Americans, +and she gave a little gasp of sheer delight while she followed Mrs. +Farrington from the car and turned to wait for Patrick and Billy. She +watched it all with open-eyed content, the uniformed porters, the throng +of hungry-looking cabmen, the comfortable carriage, and the broad, +crowded streets through which they drove to reach the hotel. The hotel +itself completed her satisfaction. Mrs. Farrington liked luxury, both +for herself and for the sake of her invalid son, and Theodora could not +wonder enough at the greatness and glitter of it all, the halls and +parlors, the huge dining-room and their own cosy suite of rooms near by. +Strange to say, after the first night, she was quite at her ease, and +settled into her luxurious surroundings with an apparent unconsciousness +which was as gratifying to Mrs. Farrington as it was amusing. + +It was all old ground to Mrs. Farrington and Billy; but they enjoyed +exploring the city with their eager young guest, who revelled in it with +all the enthusiasm of her years. Wherever a carriage could go, wherever +the faithful Patrick could help his young master, there they went, until +Theodora, with the aid of her well-studied map, knew the city from the +Battery to the fastnesses of Harlem. It seemed to the young girl that +the ordinary laws of time and space had been suspended, and that she was +living in a gilded fairyland which would continue till the end of days. + +There was even one wonderful evening when Theodora, in a fresh, light +gown which had mysteriously appeared from one of Mrs. Farrington's +trunks, and Billy, in a brand-new suit and immaculate tie, went with +Mrs. Farrington to hear Calvé and the De Reszkés sing _Carmen_. After +that, the rest was rather of the nature of an anticlimax, and Theodora +spent the next day in a grove of paper, transporting Marianne and Violet +to the Metropolitan Opera House in a blaze of diamonds and yards of +white silk gowns. + +On the following morning, she was still deep in this pleasant task. The +rain was sweeping against the windows; yet, in imagination, Violet was +cantering through one of the bridle paths in the Park, with Gerald at +her side, when Mrs. Farrington came into the room. + +"May I interrupt you, Teddy?" she asked, with the gentle courtesy which +made Theodora feel so grown-up and elegant. + +Theodora threw aside her pen. + +"What is it?" she asked with alacrity. + +"Nothing very pleasant, for I shall have to send you out in this storm. +I've just taken Will down to Joe Everard's to spend the morning, and I +promised to call for him, this noon. When I came back, I found a note +from Mrs. Keith, asking me to come to lunch, to meet one of our +California cousins. Do you feel as if you could go down in the carriage +and come back with Will? I hate to have him alone, in case anything +happens." + +Theodora laughed contentedly. + +"What an idea! Of course I'll go. I always love to drive, you know. +Where's the place?" + +"Away down town, near Washington Square. You'd better go right down +Fifth Avenue. I'll dress, then, and go to Mrs. Keith's; and then send +the carriage back for you, if you'll be ready." + +Theodora went back to her writing, and the moments slid away only too +rapidly. Whatever was the result of her labors, she enjoyed them keenly. +All through the winter, though Phebe scolded and Allyn teased and the +world about her went awry, she had been able to forget it all in the +adventures of her imaginary friends, the tale of whose doings had come +to be bulky and dog's-eared from frequent readings. She was still busy +over her work, when Patrick came to the door. + +"The carriage is here, Miss Theodora." + +She quickly put on her hat and coat. Patrick banged the carriage door +behind her and mounted the box beside the driver, and they drove away. +It was the first time she had driven out in solitary splendor, and +Theodora felt very dignified and luxurious as she leaned back on the +cushions and idly watched the passing show which had grown so familiar +to her during the past two weeks. When they came to the lower end of the +Avenue, she sat up in quick attention, for she was passing window after +window full of books spread out in enticing array, and above the +doorways she read on the gilded signs the names which she had learned to +know were on the titlepages of the books within. At the sight, there +came into her mind a sudden recollection of her well-worn manuscript at +home, and of the tales she had read of young writers who had made their +way into the publisher's presence. + +With an impulsive movement, she tapped sharply on the window. + +"Stop, please," she said. "On this side." + +Obediently the driver drew up opposite the doorway of a firm of +international fame, and Theodora, secure in the consciousness of her new +gown and the unwonted luxury of the carriage and Patrick, entered the +store. It was a dreary day of a dull season, and with comparatively +little trouble she found herself in a quiet office on the third floor of +the building. Its occupant, a tall, thin man with iron-gray hair, looked +up at her approach, and a slight expression of wonder came into his eyes +as they rested on his girlish visitor. + +"What can I do for you?" he asked courteously. + +Theodora was breathing a little quickly, and the bright color came and +went in her cheeks. All unconsciously, she was looking her very best. + +"I came to ask you about publishing a book." + +"Mm. Is it one you have written?" + +"Yes." + +There was a pause, slight, yet perceptible. Then the man asked,-- + +"What sort of a book is it?" + +"It's a novel. Kind of a love story." + +"How long is it?" + +"There are thirty-seven chapters done." + +"Then it isn't finished?" + +"No; but I could end it off about any time, if you are in a hurry for +it." + +In spite of himself, the publisher smiled. Theodora's girlish naïveté +was refreshing to him. He liked her face and manner, and he was curious +to see more of this young aspirant for fame, so he pushed forward a +chair. + +"Sit down," he said genially; "and tell me more about it." + +With the off-hand, healthy directness of a boy, Theodora plunged into +the midst of her plot and unfolded all its intricacies. The publisher +listened till the end, always with the same little smile on his face. + +"How old are you?" he asked, when she paused for breath. + +"Sixteen." + +"And you want to write books?" + +"Awfully." Theodora's hand shut, as it lay in her lap. "I'm going to do +it, too, some day." + +"Good! I think perhaps you will. And you live in New York?" + +"No; I live in Massachusetts; but I'm here with Mrs. Farrington." + +"Mrs. Farrington? Mrs. William H. Farrington?" + +"Yes." + +"Is it possible! Did she send you to me?" + +"No; I came. Do you know her?" + +"Very well, and for ever so many years, since she was younger than you." + +"I never heard her say anything about you," Theodora said, with +unflattering directness. + +"Very likely not. But now, my dear little girl, I am going to give you +some advice. I am afraid we can't take your book. It isn't in our line; +but some day you may write something that is, and then I shall be glad +to see it. Now, if you really mean to write good books, you must read +good ones, the best ones that are written; you must study a great deal +and study all sorts of things, for you can never tell what will help you +most. Keep on writing, if you want to; but don't expect to have anything +published for ten years. By that time, you will just be ready to begin +your work. Sometime, we may meet again," he added, as he rose; "and then +you must tell me all you have done. I think I shall have reason to +congratulate you. Till then, good-by. Give my regards to Mrs. +Farrington, and tell her that I shall try to call on her before she +leaves the city." + +Theodora read her dismissal in the shrewd, kindly brown eyes. She went +away in a glorified dream of the future which lasted until she saw Billy +crossing the pavement, leaning on one crutch and with Patrick's strong +arm supporting his weight on the other side. He looked tired, and his +brave helplessness struck her in strong contrast to her own exuberant +happiness. It suddenly seemed to her that it would be selfish to boast +of her own hopes, in the face of his uncertain future, so she locked her +lips on the subject of her morning's adventure, and turned to greet him +with a bright interest which concerned itself with his doings alone. + + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN + + +"Spring has come, and the McAlisters are putting on their annual +addition," Hope wrote to Archie in April. "It is on the west side, a new +wing. Mother calls the upper room Archie's room. At present, the +downstairs room goes by the name of The Annex, because we have exhausted +our ingenuity in naming the other rooms, and have nothing left for +this." + +The name proved to be an enduring one, while the process of building was +more exciting than usual. Dr. McAlister had decided to have the cellar +extended for the wing; and the rocky ledge on which the house was +perched rendered blasting a necessity. For a week, they lived in a state +of alarm lest the house should be jarred down about their ears. For a +week, they heard the steady _clink_, _clink_ of the hammers on the +drills, the thud of the stone-laden hogsheads rolled over the boards +above the rock, and the thunder of the blast as it exploded. By the time +the week was ended, the noisy work of the carpenters seemed, in +comparison, like sweet music. + +Strange to say, it was Allyn who most gloried in the confusion, and, +from the first shovelful of earth to the last nail, he was always to be +found in the thick of the fray. No matter how often the workmen picked +him up and returned him to his mother, he invariably reappeared under +their feet again, five minutes later, to be alternately a target for +their profanity and a receptacle for choice morsels from their +luncheons. + +"No, Allyn," Hope said, with decision, when she found him investigating +the tip of a freshly-lighted fuse; "you mustn't go there again, ever. Do +you hear sister?" + +"Ess," lisped the culprit. "I hears; but it is so instering." + +"Too interesting for a baby like you," Hope said, laughing, in spite of +her pale cheeks. "If you do that again, Allyn, sister won't have any +little brother to cuddle." + +"Why for not?" + +"Because you'll be killed, dear." + +"And will I be a little boy angel?" + +"Yes." + +"And do little boy angels have stomachs?" was the next unexpected +question. + +"I don't know. Why?" + +"'Cause then I can have all the pieces of cake I want," he answered, +with a vengeful recollection of the angel cake forbidden the night +before. + +Since Theodora's visit to New York, there had been no fresh excitement +in the McAlister household, and the young people had settled down into +the peaceful routine of work and play which had preceded Archie's +coming. To be sure, it was never quite the same as in past years, for +their circle had been widened to admit Billy Farrington, and, moreover, +Archie's letters created a new interest for them all, for Hope more than +for the others, since to her they were more personal than to the rest, +and on her devolved the necessity of answering them. Mrs. McAlister used +to smile quietly to herself, at times, and she had even spoken of the +matter to the doctor, who nodded approvingly, even though there was no +actual thing to which he could give his assent. + +"Say, Hu," Theodora asked abruptly, one night; "wouldn't it be funny if +Archie married Hope?" + +Hubert stopped whistling and stared at his sister in surprise. + +"What an idea, Ted! Your brain must be 'way off, to think of such a +thing." + +"Stranger things than that have happened, Hu," Theodora said shrewdly. +"Just wait a few years and see." + +"Archie's no fusser," Hubert said, with some scorn. + +"Maybe not; but he likes Hope, and she thinks he is perfect. Of course, +they won't do it yet, but they may in time. Here we are. Come in." + +For the first time in their lives, the twins were on their way to a +temperance meeting. Dr. McAlister had always felt that such meetings +were no place for impressionable children, that the sensational methods +of oratory were not for young ears; and Hubert and Theodora had +experienced some difficulty in coaxing their father to give his consent +to their hearing a famous young Irish orator who was holding a series of +meetings in the town. It was a new experience for Theodora, who, from +the first moment, was swayed to and fro at the speaker's will, now +laughing at his broad humor, now winking away her tears at his pathos, +now thrilling through all her lithe young body at his stirring appeals +for help to raise the drink-sodden world around him. Hubert was more +sceptical. + +"What a fib!" he remarked, at the close of the story which ended the +lecture. "I know things never happened as pat as that. They don't, out +of books, I bet. What are you going to do, Ted?" + +Theodora, her face flushed and her eyes like stars, had started forward +to the stage. + +"I'm going to sign the pledge, Hu." + +"What for? You don't get drunk." + +"For my example. Oh, Hu, think of the saloons in the east end of town! +And we've never done anything to help them! It's terrible." + +She came back to him with her hands full of pamphlets. Hubert eyed her +askance. + +"I say, Ted, what are those?" + +"Tracts." + +"What for?" + +"I am going to take them to some of those people, to-morrow. It may wake +them up to what they are doing." + +"They're more likely to wake you up, Ted. Go easy. You know papa never +will let you." + +"I sha'n't ask him, then," she said proudly. "If it's right, it's right, +and nobody ought to stop me." + +Hubert whistled softly. + +"Look out, Ted. Remember the kid you stole? This may come out as your +slumming did, you know." + +But Theodora started out, the next morning, the tracts in her hand and +zeal in her heart. At the very first saloon, she was doomed to +disillusion. + +"It is a wicked life," she said firmly; "and you ought to be ashamed." + +For a wonder, the man knew neither Dr. McAlister nor his daughter, and +he was not moved to awe by this child. + +"Do you think it is any of your business, my fine lady?" he demanded +sharply. + +Theodora quailed. + +"N-n-no-o-o-o; I don't," she said faintly, and fled from the door into +the arms of her father, who chanced to be passing by. + +"Theodora!" he exclaimed. + +"Yes, sir." She hung her head guiltily, for she instinctively felt his +disapproval. + +"What are you doing here, in such a place?" he asked more sternly than +he was wont to speak. + +"I'm--I'm--I'm--" she faltered. + +He held out his hand for the tracts. She gave them up reluctantly, and +she saw him frown as he read their lurid headings. For a moment he +looked perplexed; then he said quietly,-- + +"Theodora, I wish you to go home at once, and to say nothing of this to +anyone. To-night, after supper, come to the office. I want to talk this +over with you." + +"Yes, papa." + +Her lip quivered, and he relaxed a little of his sternness. + +"I know you didn't mean to do wrong, my dear. I am not going to scold +you; but there are a good many things I want to say to you,--things we +can't say here. That is all." + +To Theodora's mind, the day dragged perceptibly. She was conscious of +her father's disapproval, conscious that, in her girlish impulsiveness, +she had gone where she had no business to go. It was a relief when +supper was over, and she followed her father into his office. + +He pulled out a great easy-chair and sat down. + +"Come here, my girlie, and cuddle in beside me, as you used to do," he +said, with an inviting gesture. "Now tell me all about it." + +Theodora poured forth her tale in an incoherent tide. Her father, +listening and stroking the brown head, smiled a little, from time to +time. When she had finished,-- + +"What is temperance, Teddy?" he asked abruptly. + +"Not to drink rum," she answered, with glib promptness. + +He smiled again. + +"That is only a tiny little part of it, my girl." + +"Of course. I mean whiskey, too, and beer, and--and--" + +"Never mind the rest of them now. It's a good long list, and the worst +of the drinking isn't always done in the saloons." + +"Where is it, then?" Theodora looked at him in astonishment. + +"At banquets and dinners and receptions. Too often at college suppers, +and by boys not much older than Hu." + +"Really?" + +"Yes, Ted. Now, my dear, I'm going to give you a lecture. It won't be +like the one you heard, last night, for I'm not a temperance orator, +only a plain old doctor. Temperance isn't signing the pledge, or keeping +it after it is signed; it is keeping one's self free from all kinds of +badness and excess, whether it's drinking or smoking, or too much +dancing, or tight shoes. It is taking all our pleasures moderately, so +that they can never hurt our bodies or our minds. Do you see what I +mean?" + +"But oughtn't all liquor to be taken away?" she urged, still mindful of +the orator's sounding periods. + +"Like any other powerful drug. It's one thing to use it, Ted, another to +abuse it, as we doctors know. There are times when it must be used, just +like any other medicine. Because I give you a dose, one day, you don't +need to go on taking it forever, dear." + +He paused for a minute, then he went on,-- + +"That is one side of it,--a side that we must look at. On the other is +the horrible danger of forming the habit of taking wine and such things +to excess. The suffering is terrible, and the poverty. That comes from +intemperance in drink more than from any other form of it; and the only +way that it is to be prevented is for us parents to teach our boys and +girls all the danger, teach them that, because they want it, there is no +excuse for their taking it. If you aren't strong enough to deny yourself +something you know is a sin, you haven't learned the first lesson of +good living. But it isn't drinking alone; there are other sins that are +as bad and as dangerous; and a man or woman, to be strong and pure and +good, must turn his back upon them all." + +"But I did want to help," Theodora said. "There ought to be something +that a girl can do." + +"So there is," her father answered quickly. + +"What?" + +"From now on, through all your young womanhood, be sure you stand on the +right side of things. Don't preach. That never does any good. Just frown +down any fastness in your friends. Let it be understood that you have +nothing to do with a man who drinks and swears, with a girl who is fast +or familiar, who laces till she can't breathe, and dances all night with +men whom she hardly knows. Let my Teddy, even if she must stand alone, +stand for all that is truest and best in women, and the young men and +women around her will respect her and try to pull themselves up to her +standard. You needn't be a prig, Ted. Be as full of fun as you can; the +more, the better, only choose your fun carefully. Your old father knows +what he's talking about, and he knows that girls have more influence +than most of them are willing to use." + +Theodora's cheek was resting against her father's shoulder, and her eyes +had drooped. + +"I will," she said humbly. + +"And remember this, my girlie; I am always here to talk things over with +you and advise you. When you are older, perhaps you can help me with my +poorer patients. Till then, Teddy, wait, and don't try to do too much. +You're only my little girl yet; and the world is too big for you to +understand. Good-night, dear. Now I must go." + +It was the last of the lecture; but, simple as it had been, Theodora +never lost the memory of the quiet hour in the office, and in after +years she learned to know the value of the lesson so gently given. + + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN + + +"Back again, at last?" Billy looked up with a smile, as Theodora came +flying into the room. + +"Yes. Have you missed me?" + +"Haven't I? You mustn't go off again, Ted. You are altogether too +frisky." + +"What could I do? Papa took me." + +"Had a good time?" + +"Beautiful. It's too much for one spring,--three weeks in New York, and +this lovely week of driving." + +"You had good weather, sure enough. Also, ma'am, you're brown as a +squaw. Also, I think your hair has grown." + +"Wish 't would; but that's a forbidden subject. I'll tell you one thing, +Billy Farrington: if I ever do get any hair again, I'll guard it like +the apple of my eye. But what about you?" + +"News." + +"Oh, what?" she questioned eagerly. + +"Well, we went down to see Dr. Parker, last Saturday." + +"What did he say?" + +"That I'm doing as well as could be expected." + +"What else? I know there's something good; you show it all over." + +Billy tried to draw down his face, failed, gave up the effort, and +laughed instead. + +"'Tis good, Ted. I told them not to tell you, for I wanted the fun of +it. He says I can plan to enter college, a year from this fall; he says +in three months I can walk as far as my crutches will take me, and he +says in a few years I'll be as well as ever. Isn't it fine? Why, Ted, +what's the matter?" + +"Nothing; only I'm a goose." And Theodora looked up, her eyes shining +with happy tears. "You know I'm glad, Billy; only I don't know how to +say it straight." + +"That's all right, Ted. It sort of took my own breath away at first. I +couldn't wait to tell you, for you've been the best friend I've had. +You've pulled me through lots of bad places." + +Theodora's face was very gentle; but she laughed. + +"The chair runs easily, Billy. It didn't take much pulling." + +"That's another thing." Billy's face was growing brighter with every +moment. "I've said good-by to the chair." + +"What do you mean? You can't walk yet?" + +"No; but I'm going to have a tricycle that runs with my hands, and I can +go wherever I choose. How will you like to have me running away from +you?" + +"You can't; I'll hang on behind, Billy. A tricycle? How splendid! I +believe I envy you more than ever." + +"I'll swap my tricycle for your back," he retorted. + +"I wish we could take turns. When is it coming?" + +"Friday, the letter said." + +"All right; I'll make the most of the time till then. After you get it, +there'll be no catching a glimpse of you." + +Billy laughed, and it seemed to Theodora that his laugh was a little +mocking. + +"I'll whistle to you, as I go by. Honestly, Ted, it does seem hard to +leave you alone, when we've had such great times together." + +His words were the echo of her thoughts. For a moment, Theodora +struggled with herself. Then her real love for her friend triumphed. + +"It will make ever so much difference, Billy; but I'm glad of it. We've +had our good times together, lots of them, and there'll always be our +lessons, you know. Truly and honestly, you've had about all the girl you +can stand, and it's time you were able to ride off with the boys." + +Billy leaned back in his chair and surveyed her through narrowed lids. + +"Girls aren't half bad, Teddy," he observed; "but I'm glad you take it +so philosophically." + +There was a long pause. Then Theodora spoke. + +"I've some news, too, Billy." + +"Good?" + +"I thought so, till I heard yours. Now it seems rather flat." + +"What is it?" + +"My story is done," she answered quietly, but with a little heightening +of her color. + +"Done? To the very end? Get it," he commanded. + +"No; not yet. I only finished it, last night, and I want time to look it +over, myself, before I show it to you. I may not let you see it, after +all." + +"Oh, come now, that's not square! Didn't I help you, I'd like to know?" + +Theodora cocked her head on one side, and meditated aloud. + +"He furnished hair and eyes for one hero, and a nose for the other. +There are seven of his speeches, not very bright ones, and he gave me +points for one love scene. I wonder if he's earned the right to see it." + +"'Course I have. Go and get it, and bring it over here." + +"Wait," she begged. "Truly, I'm not ready yet. I'm afraid you'll laugh." + +"Do I ever laugh at you,--in earnest, that is?" he demanded. + +"No," she confessed honestly; "you never do." + +"Then you ought to trust me with this." + +"You couldn't read it." + +"Read it to me, then." + +"Well, maybe." + +Late that same day, in the long May twilight, they were coming up town +together, Theodora pushing Billy in the familiar chair which was so soon +to be discarded. With Mulvaney trudging solemnly at their heels, they +had been loitering along in the sunset, while Billy gave himself up to +the bright companionship which he had so sorely missed during the past +ten days, and Theodora tried to talk as blithely as usual, while she +told herself again and again that her opportunities for such walks were +growing few. + +"Lessons to-morrow," Billy said at length. "I've got to grind in earnest +now, Ted, if I'm to be ready for Yale, next year. Old Brownie has +promised to put me through, though." + +"I wish I were going, too." + +"To Yale? But you'll do better; you'll write books and get famous, while +I'm racketing around New Haven. By the way, you're going to bring it +over, to-night." + +"It?" Theodora tried to look as if she failed to catch his meaning. + +"The great and only IT,--the novel. What's its name?" + +"I'm not sure. But I'll bring it, in a day or two," she answered. + +It was not until the following Saturday morning, however, that she +appeared at the Farringtons' with a bulky parcel of papers in her hands. + +"I knew your mother was going to be out, this morning," she said, as she +slid out of her dripping mackintosh; "so I thought I'd get it over +with." + +"That's good. Take the big chair. Wait a minute, though." + +He whistled for Patrick to put more wood on the fire, and to place a +glass of water within Theodora's reach. + +"There!" he said approvingly. "Now we're comfortable. Hold on a minute, +Patrick; just boost me over to the sofa, while you're about it. I may as +well take life easily." + +Theodora stuffed the cushions about him with the swift, sure touch he +knew so well, and he nodded blithely up at her, in thanks. + +"Oh, but it's good you're back, Ted!" he said gratefully. "I've missed +you like thunder. Now fire ahead. What are you going to call it?" + +Theodora blushed, and the name stuck in her throat. + +"I thought I should call it _In the Furnace of Affliction_," she said +hesitatingly. + +"Wow! How doleful!" + +"Don't you like it?" she asked. + +"It's rather taking, only it isn't exactly festive," he answered. + +"Neither is the story, I suspect," she said, laughing a little +nervously. + +"Go on," he said so imperatively that, with one long breath, Theodora +began to read. + +It was more than two hours before she finished her story, and during +that time Billy's attention and respect never failed her. There were +moments when his gravity was sorely tried, for, more mature than +Theodora, and, by stress of circumstances, far more at home in the world +of books, he realized all the unconscious humor of some of the overdrawn +scenes and melodramatic conversations. Still, his loyalty to Theodora +would not let him waver, and, in spite of its crudeness, he was honestly +surprised at some of the really telling points of the story. + +"It is good, Ted," he said, as she dropped the last page into her lap. +"It isn't quite up to _Treasure Island_ or _Ivanhoe_; but it's as good +as half the rubbish that gets published, and some of it is most awfully +fine. I like that scene where Violet and Marianne tell each other their +love affairs. Girls talk just like that, you know." + +"You really think it is worth publishing?" she questioned, while her +color came and went. + +"I most certainly do. Chop it down a little and copy it out, and then +send it to a man." + +"But I don't want to cut it," she protested. + +"It's too long," Billy urged, with more practicality than tact. + +"Not a bit. It's no longer than _Robert Elsmere_, and everybody has read +that." + +"Have you?" + +"No; but I counted the pages and words and things. This isn't long a +bit, Billy." + +The discussion was never ended, for just then Patrick came into the +room. + +"The expressman has been here, Mr. Will." + +"And has brought the tricycle? Hurray!" And Billy seized his crutches. +"Where is it? Help me up, Patrick! Come along, Ted!" + +"I had it taken into the kitchen. Shall I open it, sir?" + +"Of course. Hurry up about it, too. Did anything else come?" + +"Yes; but not here, sir." + +With a little feeling of envy, Theodora followed Billy to the kitchen +and stood by, while Patrick opened the crate and took out the light +tricycle so carefully packed within. + +"Isn't it a beauty? Isn't it fine? Oh, why does it have to be raining, +Ted, so I can't try it? Put me into the thing, Patrick. This floor is so +large that I can see how it is going to work." + +The story and even Theodora herself was forgotten, while the boy grasped +the handles and rolled himself up and down the floor. For the moment, +he was half beside himself with joy. It was as if his prison door +suddenly had opened, after having been closed and barred for more than a +year. After months of the stuffy couch, after months more of Patrick and +the chair, it was good to be able to move himself about, once more. But +he was weaker than he knew, and the excitement was more than he had the +strength to endure. Theodora, who had been watching him, saw him grow a +little white around the mouth. + +"Take me out, Patrick," he said wearily. "I sha'n't run away, to-day. I +think, if you don't mind, I'll get back on the lounge again." + +Theodora lingered beside him until he was his usual bright self once +more. Then she started for home. Allyn met her on the steps. + +"Tum in," he said imperiously. + +"What for?" + +"'Cause. Hope said I wasn't to tell." + +"Tell what?" + +"Sumfin's here." + +"What kind of a sumfin, Allyn? Wait till sister gets her mackintosh +off." + +"No; tum." He tugged at her hand. + +Laughing at his eagerness, she threw off her mackintosh, caught him in +her arms, and went in the direction of the voices which she heard in a +confused, excited murmur. As she opened the door, she was saluted with a +chorus. + +"Here she is!" + +"Oh, Ted, just look!" + +"Now she won't speak to the rest of us." + +"Teddy, do see here!" + +She looked and saw. Then, regardless of Allyn in her arms, she cast +herself into the middle of the group and seized upon something that +stood there,--something with a gleam of black enamel and a flash of +nickel and the lustre of polished wood. + +"Oh, Hu! Mamma! Hope! What is it? Where did it come from?" + +"The expressman left it here, addressed to you, Teddy; and here's a note +in Mrs. Farrington's writing, tied to the bar." + +Theodora snatched the note and broke the dainty seal, but it was a +moment before she could realize the meaning of what was written within. + + "MY DEAR TEDDY," it ran; "Will is so happy in his tricycle; but I + knew it wouldn't be quite perfect unless you had the mate to it. He + is so used to going with you, in his chair, that I am sure he would + miss you, now he can go alone. Will you accept this bicycle from + us both, dear, and remember that we give it to you, not because you + have been so kind to Will, but because we care so very much for + your dear little self? + + "Sincerely, + JESSIE FARRINGTON." + +"My!" Phebe commented, when Theodora folded up the note. "I wish I had +somebody to be good to, Teddy McAlister. I'd like to earn a bicycle as +easy as you have." + + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN + + +For a week, Theodora gave herself over to the most violent gymnastics +she had ever known. For a week, she toiled and perspired and suffered +and was strong. Day after day, she patiently indented the floor and +walls of the riding school with every possible variety of tumble known +to aspiring humanity. Night after night, she counted her bruises and +anointed them with liniments. She tore her clothes, and knocked the skin +off one side of her nose, and rasped her temper. At the end of the week +she emerged, chastened and humbled, yet triumphant. She could ride her +bicycle. + +The whole family came out on the lawn to see her mount. No one of them +but Hubert had ever mastered the intricacies of a wheel, and, in +consequence, they were loud in their advice. + +"Why don't you ride here on the grass?" Hope suggested. "Then it won't +be so hard, if you fall off." + +"I don't mean to fall," Theodora protested. "Besides, it's all down +hill." + +"Huh!" Phebe sniffed with scorn. "It's easy enough to ride down hill. I +should think anybody could do that; shouldn't you, Isabel?" + +But Isabel, who knew how to ride, prudently forbore to express an +opinion. + +"Where are you going, Theodora?" Mrs. McAlister called after her. + +"Out here, where the road is better." + +"But we want to see you start." + +"It's sandy here." + +"What difference does that make?" + +"Why, I can't push through such sand as that." + +"How strange! I always thought you were so strong." + +Theodora clashed her bell in a spirit of wild protest. + +"How can I do anything, with you all standing here to criticise me?" + +"Oh, Teddy, how selfish!" Hope's tone was rebuking. + +"I don't care. Do go in!" she said petulantly, as she started to mount. + +"Can't you mount any better than that, after all those lessons?" Phebe +asked, a moment later, as Theodora picked herself up from beneath her +wheel. "I know I could do better than that." + +"Try it, then." Theodora faced her little sister hotly. + +Phebe drew back. + +"I'm--I'm going to the post-office with Isabel, and her mother told us +to hurry." + +Allyn added his voice to the chorus. + +"Wait," he proclaimed; "I wants to talk. Phebe spokes so much, she takes +up all the room." + +"What now, Allyn?" Hope inquired. + +"Teddy tumbled over," he returned gravely. "I should fink she could ride +now, and not tumble over so much." + +There was a silence, while Theodora wrestled with her feelings and her +wheel. Then Hubert's voice rang down from an upper window, clear and +encouraging,-- + +"Try it again, Ted. You're all right, only you don't know it." + +She did try it again, and went reeling down the street and in at the +Farringtons' gate, where Billy met her with applause. The more stable +nature of his own machine had allowed him to master it at once, and now +he was only waiting for Theodora, that they might start forth together +and conquer the world. + +The days flew by, each one more perfect than the last. In the golden +May weather, when the world never looks more green and fresh and lovable +than in its yellow sunshine, they rode forth to take their places in the +young life about them. It was scarcely more new to Billy than to +Theodora. Everything wears a changed aspect when viewed from the saddle, +and the girl felt that never before had she seen in its full beauty the +miracle of the opening leaves. For a few days, Dr. McAlister watched +Billy with some degree of care, fearful lest he be led too far by his +new enthusiasm, and exhaust his strength. Then the doctor breathed a +sigh of relief. Billy throve under it as a true boy should do, and, from +week to week, he gained new vigor as fast as he gained new sunburn. + +Hubert, meanwhile, was passing through an ignominious experience. He was +having measles. Alone of all the McAlisters, he had contrived to escape +the epidemic of two years before. Even Allyn had had it, and Billy +Farrington counted his convalescence as among the golden memories of his +boyhood, no school and endless goodies. For Hubert, sixteen years old +and five feet, ten inches, in height, it was reserved to go through the +disease alone. He was not seriously ill; but his whole soul revolted at +the babyish nature of his complaint, and at the tedium of the darkened +room. + +"Where going, Ted?" he demanded, one day. + +"To ride with Billy." + +"Bother Billy! I hate him." + +"What for?" Theodora stared at her brother in open-eyed consternation. + +"Because he's always round in the way. You aren't good for anything, now +he's here, always running off with him," Hubert grumbled. + +"Poor Billy! How'd you like it not to be able to go out alone? He needs +me." + +"I can't go out at all." + +"But he's been so for more than a year," Theodora said sharply; "and you +have only been in the house four days. I should think you could stand +that." + +"I should think you could stay in, once in a while, with your own +brother," Hubert retorted. "Charity begins at home." + +"But I promised Billy--" + +"I don't want you. Do get out and let me alone." + +As a rule, Hubert was the most even-tempered of boys. Now, however, he +felt himself aggrieved and deserted, and his tone was not altogether +amicable. + +"How cross you are!" Theodora snapped. + +"Oh, get out!" And Hubert turned his back on his sister and yawned. + +The door closed with a bang, and he heard Theodora's feet descending the +stairway, with a vengeful thump on every step. Then he yawned again. +There was nothing on earth to do; he was not ill enough to make it +interesting, only a bore. Time was when Theodora would have stuck to him +like a burr, and they would have contrived to have some fun out of even +such untoward circumstances as this. Now she deserted him and went off +with that confounded Billy. At this point in his musings, he dropped to +sleep. + +In the mean time, Billy was having a bad afternoon of it. Never had he +seen Theodora in a more fractious mood. She scolded about the road and +the heat, snubbed all his sympathetic suggestions, and contradicted all +his efforts at conversation. Under such conditions, the ride was a short +one, and it was less than an hour from the time they had started that +they reappeared in the Farringtons' drive. Theodora refused all +invitation to stop. + +"Thanks; but I must get home," she said curtly, and she rode away with +her teeth set and her chin aggressively in the air, leaving Billy with +the impression that he had unintentionally stepped into a hornets' nest. + +Hope was spending the day with a friend, and Mrs. McAlister was +superintending some belated house-cleaning, so that Hubert was alone, as +when she had left him. She ran directly up to his room; but, when she +saw that he was asleep, her step softened, and she stealthily advanced +to his side and sat down on the edge of the bed. Something of the mood +in which he had gone to sleep still remained, and his boyish face, even +in his dreams, was dull and unhappy. Theodora reproached herself, as she +sat looking down at him. She reproached herself more, while she looked +about at the disorderly room and recalled her mother's words, as they +left the dinner-table, that noon. + +"I shall be busy, this afternoon, Teddy, so I shall leave Hu in your +care." + +A vase of fading flowers stood on the table, and beside it was a plate +of half-eaten fruit. Odds and ends of clothing lay about, and the bed on +which he had thrown himself looked tumbled and unattractive. It seemed +impossible that, since the morning, a room could get into such a state +of dire disorder. + +Rising, she crept softly about the room, setting things to rights and +giving the place the look of feminine daintiness which she knew so well +how to impart. Not even Hope had so much of the true home-making +instinct as Theodora, when she chose to turn her wayward interest in +that direction; and within a few moments the room looked a different +place altogether. + +Hubert stirred slightly, and Theodora whisked her duster out of sight +and went back to the bed. + +"Hu, I'm awfully sorry," she said, in explosive contrition. "I never +meant to be so piggable." + +The memory of their brief passage at arms had faded from Hubert's mind, +and he answered, with a yawn,-- + +"What do you mean?" + +"About leaving you and going off with Billy. Really, Hu, I didn't s'pose +you cared, and Billy was used to me, and--I rather guess I've been a +good deal selfish; but I won't, any more." + +"Why, Ted!" For her head had dropped on his shoulder, and he felt the +hot tears falling on his wrist. + +"I like you so much better, Hu. You're my twin, and there's nobody like +you, and to think I left you all alone!" In her excitement, the tears +came fast. + +"Ted, don't be silly! Look up, old girl! I don't want you hanging round +here with me. I'll be out of this in a week, anyway." + +"I know that, Hu." Theodora raised her head and spoke proudly. "But +you're my twin and my other half, better than all the Billys in +creation, and I ought to stay with you. What's more, I don't mean to go +off again till you can go with me. Billy is Billy, and good fun; but +you--" she cuddled her head against him with one of her rare +demonstrations of affection--"are my Hu." + +"I'm sorry, Billy," she said, that evening; "but I can't go out with +you, to-morrow. Hu's shut up in the house, and I don't think it is quite +fair to leave him, all the time." + +"Leave him, half the time, then," Billy suggested. + +Theodora shook her head. + +"Hu stands first, Billy; and I must look out for him when he's ill." + +Loyally she kept her word, and, for the next week, she was Hubert's +constant attendant and slave. He lorded it over her and played with her +by turns; but he appreciated the sacrifice she was making for him and, +more than he realized, he enjoyed the return to their old intimate +relation. It was not that he was jealous of Billy. It was not that Billy +had intentionally come between them. There had been a time, however, +when the twins were all in all to each other. Then Theodora's horizon +had suddenly broadened to admit Billy. Among his many boy friends, +Hubert had found no one with whom he could be on correspondingly +intimate terms. He frankly avowed that he liked no one else so well as +Teddy, and he had been a little hurt to find that he apparently no +longer occupied a similar place in her affections. But, whatever danger +there had been of their drifting apart, Hubert's opportune attack of +measles seemed to have vanquished it, and the twins stood more firmly +than ever before upon their old footing of mutual and unrivalled +intimacy. + +Two days after Hubert went out of doors for the first time, Billy +appeared at the McAlisters', demanding Theodora. She was long in +presenting herself; and, when she came down, her face was flushed and +her lips a little unsteady. + +"Hullo, Ted! Come for a ride?" + +"Don't feel like it." + +"Why not?" + +"My head aches." + +"The air will do it good. It's a fine day. Come on." + +"But I can't." + +Billy looked perplexed. + +"What's the row, Ted? Have I done anything?" + +"Of course not." + +"What is it? Something's wrong." + +She hesitated a moment. + +"Nothing, only my story has come back." + +"The mischief! When?" + +"To-day." + +"What for?" + +"He said 'twas crude and sensational, and the work of a child." + +"The old beast! Truly, Ted, I'm so sorry." + +"So am I; but crying won't mend matters." + +"Send it to mamma's friend in New York," he suggested kindly. + +"And be pulled through by force? Not much, Billy Farrington! If my story +won't go of itself, I won't have any friends at court helping me on. +Some day, I am going to write a novel that will be worth taking. Till +then, I won't be helped out on poor work. Wait a minute. I will go to +ride, after all." + +Billy sat looking after her, as she went away in search of her hat. + +"She has good grit," he observed to himself; "and I believe she'll get +there, some time or other." + + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN + + +"But it would be such fun, papa," Theodora said, with a suspicion of a +pout. + +"It's too far, Teddy. It must be twenty miles each way." + +"I rode thirty, yesterday." + +"I think that is too far for you." + +"Oh, please." + +"We could take the train back, if Ted should get used up," Hubert +suggested. + +"Yes, only it's going to be such lovely moonlight." + +"Then take the train over and ride back," Hubert amended. "Truly, papa, +I think Ted could do it. She rides like an Indian." + +"I didn't know that Indians had taken to bicycles," Mrs. McAlister said, +with a smile. + +"Like a tomboy, then." + +"That's not polite," Theodora protested. + +"Never mind; it's true. But can't we try it, papa? Aunt Alice is always +asking us to come over to see her, and this is such a splendid chance, +before I go back into school, or it gets too warm. We can ride over, +Friday morning, stay all day, and come back at night. The twilights are +long, at this season, and the moon will be full." + +Hubert's persuasion carried the day, and the doctor gave a reluctant +permission. Three days later, the twins set forth on their ride. +Theodora, in her spotless linen suit and with her pretty wheel, was +radiant with anticipations. It was her first all-day trip on her +bicycle, and she felt that it would be a much more enjoyable experience +than her shorter rides, which, for the most part, had been beside +Billy's tricycle. In some mysterious manner known only to boys, Hubert +had learned to ride without being taught, and an occasional spin on a +borrowed wheel was apparently all that was needed to keep him in perfect +training. + +The whole family assembled on the piazza to see them start. + +"You'd better not ride back," Mrs. McAlister called after them. "If you +are at all tired, Teddy, you must take the train." + +"Yes," Theodora said, with outward obedience and an inward resolve not +to be at all tired. + +"If you do ride, when shall you get home?" the doctor asked. "Give +yourselves plenty of time, only set some limit, so that we sha'n't be +anxious." + +"Hm," Theodora said thoughtfully. "Supper at five, start at six, two +hours to ride, and an hour for delays. We'll be at home at nine, at the +latest." + +"Very well. Say half-past nine, then. We won't worry till then. Take +care of yourselves and have a good time." And the doctor flourished his +napkin in farewell, and then went back to his breakfast. + +"Dear old Daddy!" Theodora said, while she turned in her saddle to look +back, and then waved a good-by to Billy on his piazza. "He didn't want +us to go. I do hope he won't be anxious." + +"Don't you suppose I can take care of you, ma'am?" Hubert asked, in mock +indignation, and Theodora smiled back at him contentedly. + +The day was hot and dusty, and the roads more sandy than they had +supposed possible, so that it was a very limp and demoralized Theodora +who landed, three hours later, on her aunt's piazza. Theodora was always +destructive to her toilets, and in some mysterious manner she had parted +with all of her starch and most of her neatness, in the course of the +last nineteen miles. Once inside the cool, dark house, with a glass of +lemonade in her hand, however, Theodora forgot the discomforts of the +road. + +"How goes it with you, Ted?" Hubert asked, late that afternoon. "Shall +we ride, or take the train?" + +She pointed up at the clear sky, broken only by a few fleecy masses of +cloud on the western horizon. + +"Think what that moon will be, and then ask me to take the train if you +dare." + +"Aren't you tired?" + +"Not a bit. Don't you think we can do it, Hu?" + +He laughed at her spirit. + +"All right. Don't blame me, though, if you are dead, to-morrow." + +She tossed her head proudly. + +"I don't die so easily; but, if you 're tired, we'll take the cars." + +They had planned to start for home at six; but callers delayed the +supper, and, when they finally mounted, the moon was standing out in the +eastern sky, like a thick, white vapor. There was a chorus of good-byes, +a clashing of two bells, and the twins started off upon their homeward +ride. + +For the first hour, it seemed to Theodora that she had never ridden more +easily. The fatigue of the morning had worn away, leaving only the +exhilaration; and, like most riders, she came to her best strength late +in the day. Slowly the twilight fell about them, and, as the golden +light of the sunset died away in the west, the silver lustre of the full +moon brightened the eastern sky. Theodora's gown was damp with the +falling dew, as they rolled quietly on between fields pale with sleepy +daisies and nodding buttercups. One by one, the cows in the pastures +stopped grazing and lay down to rest; while, above their heads, the +birds drowsily exchanged sweet good-nights. Then the last glow faded +from the west, and the world fell asleep. + +"I don't half like those clouds, Ted," Hubert said suddenly. "If they +come up much faster, they'll play the mischief with us before we get +home." + +"Oh, they won't do any harm," Theodora said easily. "It will be light +enough to ride to-night, even if it is cloudy." + +"But we have that long stretch of woods, you know." + +"I forgot that." Theodora spoke lower, and involuntarily glanced over +her shoulder. "How far is it?" + +"Five miles. That won't take us long, and we're almost there now." + +"Yes; but it's hilly and no track to speak of. Hurry, Hu! Let's ride +faster and get through it before that cloud gets over the moon. I wish +we had lanterns." + +It is exciting work to race with a cloud. Vapors are unreliable things +at best, and are prone to roll up the sky with fateful swiftness. As +Hubert and Theodora came under the first of the trees, the cloud came +above them, and the moon vanished. Theodora was as plucky as a girl +could be; but there was something rather fearful to her in this dark and +lonely road, where she and Hubert were the only moving objects, but +where unknown beings might lurk in every shadow, ready to spring out and +drag her down to the earth. The formless fear lent an unsteadiness to +her progress, and she began to wobble. + +"How dark it is!" she said, in an odd, constrained little voice. "It +must be very late, Hu. Can you see your watch?" + +"It's not light enough." + +"Haven't you a match?" + +"No." + +"I know we sha'n't get home at nine." + +"We have till half past, you know. Keep up your pluck, Ted. We're all +right. Let's ride a little faster." + +Half-way down the next hill, there came a clatter and a bump, followed +by a little moan from Theodora. Hubert sprang to the ground and ran to +her side. + +"I slipped in the sand and had a fall, a bad one. I've done something to +my ankle." + +"Is it sprained?" + +"I'm afraid so." + +Leaning heavily on his arm, she scrambled to her feet. + +"What is it, Ted? Shall we go back?" + +She shut her teeth for a moment. + +"No; what's the use?" + +"Sha'n't I go for somebody?" + +"Where's the nearest house?" + +"Two miles back." + +She gave a little sigh of pain. Then she said steadily,-- + +"Take the wheels, Hu, and let me walk a little. It's better to go on, +and perhaps I can ride, if I get quieted down a little. I'm sorry to be +a baby," she added piteously; "but it does hurt so." + +"Baby! You!" Hubert longed to pick his sister up in his arms and carry +her to a shelter; but it was impossible. Worst of all, he dared not +openly pity her. He knew that she was using all her self-control to keep +from crying with the pain, and that a single sympathetic word would +break down her courage. "Good for you, Ted! I knew you had the sand in +you," was all he ventured to say, as she limped slowly along at his +side. + +"I had too much sand under me," she answered, with a giggle which +threatened to become hysterical. + +The next mile was apparently endless, and Theodora, as she looked this +way and that with stealthy, fearful glances, felt that the terrors of +the darkness almost swallowed up the pain in her ankle. Underneath the +rest, moreover, was the anxiety in regard to the delay. She knew the +strictness of her father's discipline well enough to fear his +displeasure and alarm, when nine o'clock passed and half-past nine, and +still they did not appear. + +Strange to say, the pain in her foot grew less and less unbearable, as +she plodded along the sandy road. The sand was everywhere; it filled her +shoes and made each step drag more heavily. She felt as if they only +crawled along, as if the moments raced by them on wings. In sheer +desperation, she fell to counting the passing seconds, that she might +form some notion of their progress. Hubert was trudging on beside her, +whistling softly to himself. Like a true boy, he was totally oblivious +of every anxiety save for the pain which his sister was suffering, and +she had just assured him that that was better. + +"Let's mount, Hu," she said desperately, when it seemed to her that they +had walked for several miles. + +"Pretty bad here, Ted. Do you think you can ride?" + +"I will," she answered indomitably. + +She mounted, rode for a hundred yards, and fell again. + +"That slippery sand!" she said petulantly. "What shall we do, Hu? We +must ride, and I can't find the path." + +"You're rattled, dear; and I can't ride, myself, any too well. Follow +me." + +How patient he was! Even in her anxiety and alarm, Theodora realized all +the kindly care he gave her, all the generosity with which he tried to +prevent her feeling herself a drag upon his freedom. She was quite +unconscious that she had earned his patience by showing the one quality +which boys too rarely find in their girl companions, the lack of which +leads them to take their out-of-door pleasures alone. Theodora rarely +grumbled; in a real emergency, she never complained. + +It had seemed to the girl that all fun had died out of the universe, +that the mental outlook was as black as the physical one. Ten minutes +later, the woods echoed with shrieks of laughter,--laughter so +infectious that Hubert laughed in sympathy, without in the least knowing +the cause. The sounds came from some distance back of him. He dismounted +and ran along the road, unable to see his sister, and guided only by her +voice, which appeared to proceed from a bed of tall weeds by the +wayside. + +"I'm here, Hu," she gasped. + +"Where in thunder?" He parted the weeds at the edge of the road and +peered in. There on her back lay Theodora, with her bicycle on top of +her. + +"I lost my pedals and couldn't stop till I ran into these weeds," she +explained hysterically. "It was just as soft as a bed, and I went down, +down, down, and landed in about six inches of water. Pull me out, Hu. +I'm drowned." + +With the help of his hand, she struggled out and stood beside him in the +road, with the water dripping from her short skirt. Just then, the +clouds parted, and the moon, slanting down through the trees, fell upon +her bedraggled figure. The brother and sister looked at each other in +silence for a moment. Then they burst into a shout of laughter. It was +the best tonic they could have had, and Theodora's courage rose even as +she laughed. + +"I know where we are now," Hubert said, while he looked about him in the +growing light. "The good road is just ahead. It's as well 'tis, Ted, for +you'll have to ride like the dickens, to keep from taking cold." + +"It's a warm night," she answered as blithely as she had spoken to her +father, that morning; "and I never take cold. Come on, then. It's only +six miles more, and I'm ready to spin." + +As they turned in at the gate, the hands of the town clock marked ten +minutes after ten, and Theodora's spirits fell slightly. They found the +doctor and his wife playing cribbage. The doctor looked up with the +content born of that unwonted luxury, an evening quite to himself. + +"Home so early?" he said, with a smile. "Have you had a good time? I've +really envied you, enjoying all this superb moonlight, when we old folks +had to stay indoors." + + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN + + +"Come and ride with me this morning, Ted." + +"Can't." + +"Why not?" + +"I'm busy." + +"That's what you said, last Saturday, and week before. It's a fine +morning, and I do wish you'd come. I've a headache, and I want to ride +it off, if I can." Billy took off his cap, and brushed away his hair, +with a little weary gesture which went to Theodora's heart. She was not +discerning enough to discover that Billy's headache had developed under +the inspiration of the moment, so sure was he that this was the most +certain method of bringing his friend to do his will. + +"I'm so sorry, Billy," she said gently. "I do want to go; but I must go +somewhere else this morning." + +"Let me go, too," he suggested. "I'd as soon ride one way as another." + +"Oh, no," she said hastily; "and I'm not ready yet. Does your head ache +very badly, Billy?" + +"Very," answered the deceiver, assuming the look of a martyr. "And I +didn't sleep any, last night." + +"What a shame! Aren't you well?" Theodora sat down on the steps and +gazed so steadily at him that he blushed. + +"I believe you're shamming, Billy," she said sternly. "You've no more +headache than Mulvaney." + +He laughed, with conscious pleasure in his guilt. + +"Well, what if I haven't? I shall have, some day. Really, Ted, what is +the reason you won't ride with me?" + +"I can't, Billy; that's all there is about it. I've something else I +must do." + +"You might tell me what it is," he observed persuasively. + +"I might, but I won't." Then her heart smote her at sight of his +disappointed face, as he turned away. "Some day, Billy," she called +after him. + +He nodded, as he pulled off his cap. Then he left her. + +She stood looking after him, as he went rolling away down the street. It +was good to see him so independent with his new tricycle. He was growing +almost as independent in the use of his crutches, and his life was quite +another thing from the old limited existence when Theodora had first +known him. But through it all, in gray days and in bright, she had +always found him the same Billy, always ready to enter into her +interests, from which of necessity he had been shut out, ready to give +her a share in his own more luxurious existence. In a sense, he had been +a sort of fairy godfather to Theodora, and to him and to his mother she +owed a large part of her pleasures during the past few months. + +How would he take the news of this last venture of hers, she asked +herself. Still, he was responsible, indirectly at least, if not for the +fact itself, yet for the ambition which had led to the fact. Theodora's +brows puckered into an anxious frown for a moment. Then they cleared, +and she hummed lightly to herself, as she stood looking up the street +after her friend, who had long since disappeared from her view. It would +have been an ideal morning for a ride, she knew, and she wished she +might have gone off for a long spin over the country roads. Still, her +face wore a very contented expression as she turned away and entered the +house. + +Going up to her room, she dressed hastily and ran downstairs again to +the closet where her bicycle was kept. Fifteen minutes later, she +stopped at the door of a book store. There, instead of leaving her +bicycle outside, she coolly rolled it through the open doorway and on +into a room at the back of the shop, where she also left her hat. Then +she came back to the desk, mounted a lofty stool, drew a heavy book +towards her, and fell to work. + +She had gone to her father's office, one evening, a little more than a +week before. There chanced to be no patients, but Phebe sat reading +before the fire. + +"I want to talk to papa, Phebe," she said. + +"Talk away, then." And Phebe returned to her book. + +"But it's business." + +"I don't care. You won't disturb me any." + +"'Tisn't that I'm afraid of. I want to see papa alone." + +"You'll have to wait, then." + +"Please go, Phebe." + +"Sha'n't. I was here first." Phebe yawned, and nestled deeper into her +chair. + +"Babe, I think you will have to make way for Teddy," the doctor said, +laughing. "You can read just as well somewhere else, and if Teddy really +wants to talk--" + +"I do, papa," she urged eagerly. + +Phebe retired, grumbling. + +"What is it, my girl?" the doctor asked, as Theodora perched herself on +the arm of his chair. + +"I want my own way, as usual, papa, and I want you to stand up for me +when the others howl," she answered coaxingly. + +"Howl? Do they usually howl at you?" + +"Not literally, of course, and not half as much as I deserve. But then, +I want moral support." + +"What now?" + +"I want--" Theodora paused impressively--"I want to go to college, and I +want to go into business." + +The doctor smiled. + +"Well, my aspiring daughter, and which will be your choice?" + +"Both; one for the sake of the other. It is this way; I want to go to +Smith. It is the best place for me, and I do want to go more than you've +any idea. You don't disapprove, do you?" + +"Not if it can be arranged," he answered thoughtfully. "But what has +started you on this so suddenly, Teddy?" + +"It isn't so sudden as it seems; but I didn't want to talk about it too +soon. You see, mamma and Mrs. Farrington both are college women, and +their talk makes me half wild to go. Billy goes, next year, and I shall +be all ready to enter at the same time. Should you mind very much?" + +"I should hate to lose you for four long years, Ted." + +"That's only a little while, and there are vacations and things, you +know. That is only one side. The other is the expense, and that's what +worries me. Hubert will be ready, the year after, and you can't afford +to send us both." + +"It would be a tug; but it might be done," Dr. McAlister said +thoughtfully. "Besides, I'm not at all sure that Hu will care to go. If +you are more anxious for college than he, you ought to have the chance." + +"He must go if he wants to," she responded energetically. "I've set my +heart on his going. He's a boy, too, and should have first chance, if he +wants it. It is more necessary for a boy. But what if I were to begin to +save up my money for my expenses, so I could pay part? Then may I go?" + +"How? You don't seem to me to be rolling in wealth, Teddy." + +She shook her head gayly. + +"Oh, but you don't know. That's where the business part comes in." + +The doctor looked rather anxious. + +"What is it now, Ted?" + +"It's Mr. Huntington, down in the book store. He has sent off his +book-keeper, and he wants somebody to come in, every Saturday morning, +to write up his accounts and things. Every month, it's all day, and he +pays ever so much for it." + +"But can you do it? Will he take you?" + +She nodded. + +"You don't know how valuable I am, papa. Mr. Huntington is a dear old +man. I heard about it and went to see him. He made me write for him and +do some accounts in a hurry; and he told me to come back, last Saturday, +to try. To-day he told me I could have the place, if I'd only make my +_m_'s and _n_'s and _u_'s not so much alike." Theodora laughed gleefully +at her father's astonished face. + +There was a pause, while the doctor reflected rapidly. Theodora was +very young to enter into any such venture as this, and there was no real +need of her doing anything of the kind. On the other hand, her father +approved of business habits for women; he liked her independence and +spirit, and he felt that it would be well for her to learn the real +value of money. He knew Mr. Huntington well. His store was a quiet, +homelike place, where Theodora could be brought under no demoralizing +influences, where she would be likely to meet only refined, book-loving +people. If she must try her experiment, this would be an ideal place for +the attempt. + +Theodora eyed him askance, trying to read his thoughts. Even before he +spoke, she knew his decision, and she seized him by the beard and kissed +him rapturously. + +"Oh, you dear man!" + +"But I haven't said yes," he protested. + +"You are going to; your eyes show it. Oh, Papa McAlister, you are such a +dear!" + +"Am I? Well, my girl, you shall have your way. All in all, I think your +little plan has no harm in it. I was thinking of something else, +though." + +"Oh, what?" + +He smiled at her disappointed face. + +"Nothing bad. It is only this. If your courage holds out, and if you +cultivate that crazy handwriting of yours a little, perhaps when +Sullivan goes to Boston, next fall, I'll see what you can do with my +bills. I can't pay as well as Mr. Huntington; but it may help on a +little." + +"Oh, papa!" + +Ten minutes later, Theodora looked up into her father's face. Her own +face was flushed, and her lips were unsteady. + +"There's something else, papa." + +"What now, my girl?" + +She drew a letter from her pocket. + +"It's not much, only a little bit of a beginning. Nobody knows it, and I +wanted to tell you first." + +He took the letter, opened it with a feigned curiosity, more to gratify +her whim than from any real interest in what it could contain. He read +it, glanced at the slip of paper it enclosed, then bent over and kissed +her scarlet cheek. + +"My girlie, I congratulate you." + +It was a letter from a well-known magazine for children, accepting a +story from Miss Theodora McAlister, and suggesting that another story of +equal merit might find a welcome, later on in the season. + +For the next three weeks, Theodora kept the secret of her experiment to +herself. + +"It's all right. Papa knows," was all the reply she could be induced to +make to the questions which assailed her from all sides, in regard to +the way she was spending her Saturday mornings. + +It would be impossible to say how long the mystery would have been kept +up if she had had her own way. One Saturday noon, however, Phebe came +bouncing into the dining-room, her eyes blazing with righteous +indignation and injured pride. + +"Theodora McAlister, I'm ashamed of you, perfectly ashamed!" + +"You've said so before," Theodora answered tranquilly, while she went on +eating her dinner. "What is it, this time?" + +"You've gone into a store." Phebe's tone was one of scathing scorn. + +"Yes. What of it?" + +"My sister a clerk in a common store!" + +"Yes, in Huntington's." + +"But it might have been a grocery." + +"It might have been an undertaker's," Theodora answered sharply. "I +don't see what difference it makes to you." + +"Is this really true, Teddy?" Mrs. McAlister questioned. + +Theodora glanced about her at the astonished faces of her family. +Surprise and disapproval seemed to be meeting her on every hand. Even +Allyn stopped eating his bread and milk, and pointed his spoon at her +accusingly. Then she turned to her father, who was entering the room. + +"Phebe has just found out about Huntington's, papa," she said, with +brave dignity. "Are you willing to tell them how it happened, and why I +did it?" + + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN + + +"Ted! Teddy! Theodora McAlister!" + +Theodora was passing the Farringtons' grounds. At the third call, she +looked up. Billy, on the piazza, was waving his cap in one hand and +pounding the floor with one of his crutches with the other. + +"What's the matter?" she called, at a loss to account for these vigorous +demonstrations. + +"Come up, and I'll tell you," he shouted. "Hurry up about it, too." + +"Is the house on fire?" she demanded in feminine alarm, as she turned +and sped across the lawn. + +Billy laughed derisively. + +"If that isn't just like a girl! It's nothing of the kind, Ted; it's +good news." + +"What a scare you gave me, you sinner!" She dropped down on the step +below him and fanned herself with her hat, for it was noon of an August +day. "What is your great news, anyway?" + +"Uncle Frank is sick again." + +"But I thought you said it was good news," Theodora said, in some +perplexity. + +"So 'tis. Wait till you hear the rest of it. He isn't dangerous, only +comfortable; but the doctors say he'll die unless he goes up into the +mountains. He won't go unless mamma goes, and so she's going." + +"But for the life of me, I don't see anything so very good in all that," +Theodora said again. + +"It is very solemn and serious so far, for he's really awfully ill, and +mamma doesn't want to leave me, and she feels that it is her duty to +go," Billy answered, trying to subdue the rapture written in every line +of his face. "Now we're coming to the good part,--good for me, that is, +for I don't know what you'll say to it. She is going to be away for six +weeks, and I'm to be at your house." + +"Oh, Billy, how splendid!" Theodora's tone left no doubt of her +sincerity. "When are you coming?" + +"Day after to-morrow. Mamma had a letter, this morning, and she's been +in a great pickle about it. She felt she ought to go, for there isn't +anybody else; but she couldn't take me. I'm not up to mountain climbing +just yet, and she was bound she wouldn't leave me alone. Finally, I +suggested going to your house, and that struck her as a good scheme. +She's had a long session with your father and mother, and it's all +settled, unless you veto it." + +"I'll be likely to. Now we shall have a chance to work on our play." + +"And to develop our pictures," added Billy, who just now was suffering +from an attack of the photographic mania. + +"Yes, dozens of things. We can do so much in six weeks." + +"The worst of it is," Billy remarked pensively; "I'm sure to have such a +fine time of it at your house that I can't seem to get up much regret +over my mother's departure." + +"You'll be homesick enough," Theodora predicted. "Wait a week and see." + +Two days later, Mrs. Farrington took the morning train for New York, +where she was to meet her brother and go with him to the Adirondacks. +Billy stood on the steps to wave her a farewell; then he slowly crossed +the lawn towards the gate which had been cut through the fence under +"Teddy's tree." For the next week or two, he and Theodora were busy from +morning till night, revelling in the thousand and one interests for +which the days had been all too short, when they were obliged to take +their meals and to sleep in places six hundred feet apart. + +One golden September day, Billy and Theodora were out under the old +apple-tree, hard at work on the play which they had long been planning +to write. It was to be given on the following Christmas; and the parts, +written to order, included the three older McAlisters, Billy, and Archie +who had promised to come East in time for the holidays. There was need +for strict division of labor. Billy, more familiar with theatres, was +able to supply the stage craft and the plot, while Theodora padded the +skeleton and covered the dry bones of his outline with sonorous speeches +over which she was forced to pause, now and then, to smack her lips. + +"'Die, villain, die; and drink the cup of retribution for all your +sins!'" she read. "How does that go, Billy?" + +"All right. Do I say that, or does Hu?" + +"Hu. Poor Uncle Archie! Then he tumbles over with a whack and dies in +Hope's arms." + +"What kills him? You never do half kill people, Ted. You take too much +for granted." + +"Conscience. No; Hu, that is, Sir James, shoots him." + +"I remember now. I'd forgotten. I hope Hu's a safe shot." + +"He couldn't hit a church, if he tried." Theodora giggled. "What's the +matter, Hope?" For she saw Hope coming rapidly across the lawn towards +them. + +"Bad news, dear." Hope's eyes were full of tears. "Mamma has a letter +from Butte, and Archie is in the hospital there, with typhoid fever." + +"Hope! Not really?" + +"Do they think he'll die?" Billy asked anxiously, with boyish bluntness. + +Hope's tears began to fall on the letter in her hand. + +"They say he's very ill, and that they felt it was best to write. Papa +says typhoid is always uncertain, and he wants mamma to start West, +to-night." + +"Will she go?" + +"I don't know yet. She's half wild, for Archie is her only brother, and +she loves him so." + +"Don't we all?" Theodora questioned impulsively. + +Even in the midst of her tears, Hope blushed scarlet. + +"Not in the same way, Teddy," she said gently. "You know they were all +alone with each other for so long. I hope she will go." + +"It would be better if I weren't here," Billy said thoughtfully. + +"No; you're like one of us, Billy, and it's easier, with you here to be +sorry for us," Hope said gratefully, for she had been quick to realize +the sympathy in his look and tone. "Besides, it may not be so bad. +Mamma, if she goes, may find him better and able to come home with her." + +Back of Theodora, Billy stretched out his hand to Hope and pressed her +hand in silent token of understanding and pity. Nothing increases the +power of observation like suffering. Billy's long months of helpless +idleness had taught him to read the faces and moods of the people about +him as a strong, active boy could never have done. He had fathomed the +true state of affairs between Archie and Hope. He knew how much of +Hope's future happiness, unknown to herself even, was depending on the +outcome of that illness of Archie, and he saw her present pain, and the +brave self-control which helped her to master it. + +Mrs. McAlister left for the West, that night The days which followed +were gloomy ones to them all, anxious and busy ones to Hope in +particular, for upon her devolved the care of the housekeeping and much +of the responsibility over Allyn and Phebe who was as fractious as never +before and resented Hope's gentle rule. Two more letters came from the +hospital; but they reported no change. Until Mrs. McAlister could reach +her brother, they could know nothing definite. They could only wait and +hope. + +During all these weary, dreary days, it was a comfort to them all to +have Billy with them. It had long been impossible to think of him as an +outsider; but now he came closer to them than ever before, comforting +Hope, helping Theodora to pass the time of restless waiting, cajoling +Phebe into good humor, and entertaining Allyn by the hour. Blithe and +sunny-tempered himself, he kept them from becoming too blue, while the +little care and half-tender, half-playful coddling which the girls gave +him was a safety valve for their tensely-strung nerves. + +"I believe I love those old crutches of yours, Billy," Theodora said +impetuously, one night. + +He had been unusually weak, all that day. Even now, there were times +when his strength failed him and when, for the passing hour, the old +pain came back to give him a few twinges, as a reminder that he could +not afford to be too careless. He had been lying stretched out on the +sofa with Theodora sitting beside him, while the twilight dropped over +the room. At her words, he looked up abruptly. + +"I can't say that I do." + +"No; I suppose not. Still, I owe them a good deal." + +"I don't see why," he said vaguely, as his eyes rested on her bright +face, just now looking unusually dreamy and thoughtful, while she sat +staring at the long rosewood staff in her hand. + +"Perhaps it's selfish," she said, with a smile; "but I've an idea that +if, when I first knew you, you'd been strong and--just like other boys, +I should never have known you half so well. Do you know, Billy +Farrington, I'd just like a chance to fight for you, to do something to +show I'm not a friend just in talk and nothing else." + +He laughed at the sudden fierceness of her tone, little thinking how +soon her words would be put to the test. + +"I hope you won't have the chance, Ted; but I've an idea that, if ever I +were in a tight place, you'd help me out of it sooner than anyone +else." + +"Try me and see," she answered briefly. + +Good news came to them, only the next day. Mrs. McAlister had reached +her brother, to find that convalescence had already begun. The attack of +fever had been sudden and sharp; but Archie's fresh young strength had +held its own, and his recovery was likely to be a rapid one. + +"I shall bring him home with me," Mrs. McAlister wrote. "He oughtn't to +go back into camp, this fall; and the doctor says that the long rest +will be the best tonic he can have, for he's been working altogether too +hard. If he is able, we shall start for home, next week, and get there +by the twenty-fifth." + +Hope sang blithely to herself, all that day, and even Phebe was moved +into a more agreeable mood than was her wont. Allyn took a more +materialistic view of the situation. + +"Uncle Archie's going to get well," he remarked to Billy. "Now he can +bring me nonner engine." + +For two days, the McAlister household felt that it was living in an +atmosphere of perpetual sunshine. Then the clouds fell again. It was one +Saturday morning. Theodora was at her desk, straightening out the +account of Mr. Huntington's weekly sales, Hubert was playing football, +and Hope had gone to market, taking Allyn with her. Out on the lawn west +of the house, Phebe and Isabel St. John were playing tennis and +wrangling loudly over the score. Left to himself in the house, Billy +threw aside his book, took up his crutches, and went away to the barn, +where Dr. McAlister had given up an old harness closet for his use in +developing his pictures. It opened out of the barn not far from the +stalls where Vigil and Prince were kept; but it was easily accessible +and sufficiently roomy, and Billy had accepted the doctor's offer +eagerly. + +Once shut up in the dark in company with his ruby lantern, Billy fell to +work on a picture of Allyn, taken only the day before. So absorbed was +he that it was only vaguely that he heard the voices of Phebe and Isabel +in the barn close at hand. The murmur went on for some moments, broken +by girlish gigglings and little squeals of merriment. Suddenly there +came another squeal, louder, this time, and more earnest; there was an +interchange of swift, low words, and then silence fell, and Billy +dismissed the incident from his mind. + +The picture proved refractory and refused to come out. Then at length +Billy gave it up in despair, threw away the developing fluid, cast the +plate into a pile of similar failures, took up his crutches, and started +for the house again. On the way, he met Phebe and Isabel. They looked at +him furtively as he passed. + +"What's up, Phebe?" he asked. + +"Nothing. I only thought you looked tired," she replied, with unusual +thoughtfulness. + +"So I am, of doing nothing. Come in and play casino with me." + +"Can't," Phebe said hastily. "We'd like to, Billy; but there's something +else we've got to do." + +"All right." And he passed on. + +They were all seated at the dinner-table, that noon, when the doctor +came into the room. His face was white and very stern. + +"Vigil is dead," he said abruptly. "Do any of you children know anything +about it?" + +"I don't," said the twins, in a breath, and Hope echoed them; but Phebe +started and cast a swift glance at Billy. + +"Do you, Billy?" the doctor asked, for the glance was not lost on him. + +"No; of course not. When did she die?" + +"This noon, when I came in, I found her. She was groaning pitifully, +and very weak. I wonder that you didn't hear her." + +"She died?" Billy asked sympathetically, for the doctor's voice broke +over the last words. Vigil had been his favorite horse, and together, +man and beast, they had passed through many a tragic night and day. Such +friends cause bitter mourning. + +"I shot her, to put her out of her misery," he responded briefly. Then +he turned to Phebe. + +"Phebe, do you know anything about this?" + +She grew white. + +"No," she stammered. "At least, not exactly." + +"What do you mean? Do you know anything about Vigil?" + +"I--I'd rather not tell." + +"Answer me," he said sternly. + +For her only reply, she burst out crying, and cast another glance at +Billy. Her father took her hand and led her away to the office. + +"Now, Phebe, I want you to tell me about this," he said. + +"Oh, no." + +"Did you do anything to Vigil?" + +"No." + +"Do you know who did?" + +"N--no." + +"Phebe, this isn't a time to shield the culprit. Tell me what you know." + +"I don't know anything," she sobbed. + +"Were you at the barn, this morning?" + +"No." + +"Did you see any one go there?" + +"No--only Billy." + +"Was Billy there?" + +"Yes." + +"When?" + +"About ten o'clock." + +"You saw him?" + +"Yes; Isabel and I were playing tennis, and I saw him go. When he came +back, I met him, and he looked so queer that I asked him if anything was +the matter." + +"Queer? How?" + +"Dark, sort of, under his eyes, and--scared." + +"Phebe," the doctor looked at her steadily, searchingly; "is this all +true?" + +"Yes." + +He took a quick turn up and down the room. + +"And I thought the fellow was true as steel," he muttered to himself. +"Those eyes ought to be true. Poor fellow! I wish Bess were here to talk +to him." + +His face was very gentle as he went back to the dining-room. As soon as +the meal was over, he turned to Billy. + +"Come to the office a minute, Billy," he said. + +With a look of wonder on his face, Billy followed him to the door. When +they were alone, the doctor spoke. + +"Billy," he said quietly; "Phebe says you were at the barn, this +morning." + +"So I was," he answered. + +"That you were the only one who went there." + +"How does she know?" Billy asked easily, for as yet he did not see +whither the doctor's questions were leading. + +"Did you see Vigil?" + +Then, of a sudden, the truth burst on the boy, and he flushed with +anger. The doctor saw his heightened color, and mistook it for guilt. + +"And I trusted you so, Billy," he said sorrowfully. + +"Dr. McAlister, do you think I did anything to your horse?" + +"Who else?" + +"I don't know, and I don't care," the boy returned recklessly. Then, +with an effort, he regained his self-control. "Dr. McAlister," he said, +and his true, honest blue eyes met the doctor's eyes steadily; "Dr. +McAlister, on my honor, I have not been near Vigil, nor done anything to +hurt her. That is all I can say about it." + +There was a silence, long and tense. Then, as the doctor made no sign, +Billy turned away and went out of the office. + + + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN + + +The doctor was attempting to argue with Theodora. + +"But, Teddy, who else can have done it? Nobody else had been to the +barn." + +"How do you know?" + +"Because the only way to get in was through the front door. Phebe and +Isabel were in plain sight of that, all the morning, and they saw no one +but Billy go there." + +Theodora's lips closed stubbornly, and her eyes, as they met those of +her father, flashed with defiance. When at last she spoke, her manner +was respectful, but her voice had an odd, metallic ring. + +"And so Billy must have done it. What do you suppose he did to Vigil?" + +"She was poisoned," the doctor answered briefly, for the subject was as +painful to him as to his daughter. + +"Do you think he did it on purpose?" Theodora's tone was hostile. + +"Teddy!" + +"Well, I know," she said passionately, for her self-control had been +exhausted during the past half-hour; "but you might as well say he gave +the horse poison out of spite as to say he did it at all. It's so like +Billy to go meddling with what doesn't belong to him. It's so like him +to lie about it afterwards. Papa McAlister, Billy Farrington doesn't +lie, and he has said to you over and over again that he had nothing to +do with it!" + +"But Phebe says--" + +"Phebe!" Theodora's voice was expressive. "You believe her above Billy?" + +"Teddy, dear," the doctor's voice was very low and sorrowful; "don't +make it harder for me than you can help. I have loved Billy like my own +boy, and I have believed in his honor as I have in Hu's; but I have +found something that tells the story. Down in the hay in Vigil's manger, +I found this bottle." He held it up as he spoke, and Theodora read the +label. "It is what Billy uses for his pictures; no one else touches the +stuff." + +"And you think he put it there?" + +"Accidentally. He may have dropped it, you know, as he went in. Of +course, he didn't mean to be careless, and when I first spoke to him +about it, he probably didn't know. I could have forgiven the accident; +but when I showed him the bottle, and he lied about it to save +himself--" Dr. McAlister paused. + +At sight of the overwhelming testimony of the bottle, Theodora had +dropped down into a chair. Now she sprang up again. + +"I'll never believe it as long as I live, bottle or no bottle!" she said +violently. "It is mean and cruel and abominable to lay it to Billy +Farrington; and I will never believe he had anything to do with it till +he says he had. I never thought you'd treat a guest in your own house +like this, Papa McAlister. You can everyone of you go back on him, if +you want. I intend to stand by him." She gave a nod of emphasis to her +words; then, bursting into tears, she banged the door and rushed away to +Billy. + +She found him in his room, sitting by the window and trying to read. He +looked pale and worried, for it had been impossible for him to blind +himself to the attitude of the family towards him during the past three +days. Hope and Hubert were scrupulously polite, with a frigid, remote +courtesy which was worse than open hostility; Phebe avoided him as if he +had the plague; and Allyn showed a marked inclination to converse about +the present state of affairs which was scarcely soothing to Billy's +irritated nerves. After the first day, he had remained most of the time +in his own room, whither Theodora followed him and insisted upon +admission. + +"What do you care if they do act like idiots?" she demanded fiercely. +"I'm ashamed of them all, utterly ashamed; but I wouldn't care." + +"Yes, you would," he returned drearily. "It's no fun to be sent to +Coventry like this, Ted. I wish Hope and Hu would speak out, and have it +over with. I'd like a chance to defend myself; but, if this keeps on, I +shall begin to think I did do it." + +"Haven't you any idea?" she asked. + +He shook his head. + +"No." + +"Honestly? You're not trying to shield some one?" + +"I'm not in a Sunday-school book," he returned. "Besides, who is there?" + +"Somebody. You didn't do it. Oh, Billy, I wish I were good for +anything!" + +"You're pretty much all there is, Ted. Perhaps, when your mother comes, +it won't be so bad." + +She came, the next evening, escorted by Archie, who looked white and +thin, but otherwise appeared like his usual self. Theodora felt that his +coming brought a whiff of fresher air into the sultry life of the family +circle. He was so gay, so full of the breezy atmosphere of the western +mountains, that his coming seemed to scatter a little the clouds which +had gathered; while his honest, kindly face made her feel, as it had +done before, that he was a friend to be trusted. + +The doctor had met the travellers at the station, and Theodora knew that +they were in possession of the story long before they reached the house. +It was impossible from Mrs. McAlister's manner to read her decision in +regard to the rights of the case. She met Billy as cordially as ever, +when he came down to supper; and during the meal she forced him to take +an active part in the conversation. As soon as they left the table, +Billy turned away and went to his room. A moment later, she tapped on +his door. + +"Come in," he said, for he supposed it was Theodora. + +She came in and sat down beside him. + +"Billy, my boy," she said gently; "tell me all about it, as if I were +your own mother." + +He looked up, and something in the expression of his blue eyes reminded +her of a hunted animal. + +"What is there to tell?" + +"There ought to be a great deal," she said, smiling faintly. She was +startled at the change in the boy, at his pallor and at the listlessness +which pervaded his whole being. + +"But Dr. McAlister has told you." + +"Yes; but not all." She paused expectantly. + +He misunderstood the pause. As if goaded to desperation, he turned on +her. + +"Are you going back on me, too, Mrs. McAlister? I thought you would +stand my friend." + +"I do." + +"But you doubt my word?" + +She was silent, unable to say yes or no. + +He changed the form of his question. + +"Do you believe me?" + +"Billy, dear, I don't know what to think." + +He shook back his hair impatiently. + +"That's it. I'm not used to having my word doubted, and--it hurts." + +Meanwhile, Theodora and Hubert were in the hall. + +"Where are you going, Ted?" Hubert had asked, as they left the table. + +"To Billy." + +"I should think you might stay here, to-night, when Archie has just +come." + +"Archie has you and Hope." + +"But it's not decent, Ted, to leave him." + +"It's not decent to send Billy off by himself," she retorted. + +"Who sends him?" + +"All of you." + +"He needn't sulk like a baby." + +"It isn't sulking, Hu. I'd go off and not stay with people who doubt my +word." + +"Hm! He needn't lie, then." + +Theodora faced him angrily. + +"Shame, Hu! How do you know he lies? Is this the way you stand by your +friends?" + +"He is no friend of mine." + +"He was. He is my friend now, as much as ever." + +Hubert shrugged his shoulders. + +"Girls always are sentimental, and your head is full of yarns, Ted. You +are welcome to believe your Billy as much as you want to. Nobody else +does." + +"I do." And Archie came striding into the hall. "I didn't mean to listen +to you; but I couldn't help hearing. I know something of men. I haven't +roughed it all this time for nothing, and I've seen all kinds. You will +never make me believe that Will Farrington has lied to get himself out +of a scrape. I'd sooner think that Allyn himself did it. Billy is a good +fellow, and I'll stand by him and see fair play. Here's my hand on it, +Ted." + +There was a manly ring to Archie's words and a hearty grip of his hand, +and they sent Theodora to bed happier than she had been for days. It had +been impossible for her to throw off Billy's trouble. The whole +atmosphere of the house had seemed to be tainted by it. They all felt +the weight of uncertainty and gloom more or less; but for Theodora, +loyal to Billy as a girl could be, it amounted to a species of torture, +and she felt an Ishmael indeed, with every man's hand against her. She +never thought of swerving from her allegiance, however. Alone and +unaided, she would fight for Billy against the world. Still, it was very +good to find that Archie was upon her side. + +"If I could only go away somewhere!" Billy said disconsolately, the next +night. "I thought your mother would stand by me, but she doesn't. It's +awful to be here in your house, when you are all down on me like this." + +"I wish your mother would come home," Theodora responded. + +"She won't." + +"Not if she knew?" + +"She couldn't very well. Besides, what good could she do?" + +"Everything. She'd believe you." + +"Of course." + +"That's something, and she'd find out, somehow or other. Send for her, +Billy." + +"No; she'd only worry. She'll be home before long." + +"Not for two weeks. We shall all be dead by that time." + +"I wish I could go to her." + +"Why don't you?" she asked impulsively. + +His smile was very sad, as he pointed to his crutches. + +"I'm not up to a journey like that, Ted. I shouldn't make much of a +figure, travelling alone." + +"I'll go, myself, and bring her home." + +"You can't. You're too young to take such a journey alone, Ted. It's +good of you to think of it, but it wouldn't do. No; we'll stick it out +somehow. It isn't as bad as if you weren't here to stand up for me." + +She rose and stood beside him, resting her hand on his shoulder. + +"It's not much I can do, Billy; but I'm bound to do something. My whole +family appear to have gone mad over that old horse. I can't help their +stupidity; but maybe I can help you out a very little. Whatever I do, +remember what I said, only a few days ago, that I'd like the chance to +fight for you, to show that I'm a friend in something besides words." + +He looked up at her gratefully. + +"You are a plucky champion, Teddy. I wish I knew what to do, myself; but +they seem to have me on all sides. No matter; with you and Archie to +back me up, I'll manage to pull through somehow." + +She patted his shoulder encouragingly. + +"That's right. Keep up your pluck, Billy. Something can be done about +it, I know. You can furnish the brains and I the backbone. Good-night, +old boy." + +She went away to her own room, but not to bed. For two hours, she could +be heard moving stealthily to and fro, opening a closet door, closing a +bureau drawer. Once the floor creaked softly, and a door latch clicked. +Then silence fell again, and no one was the wiser for Theodora's +sleeplessness. + +She was late in appearing at the breakfast table, the next morning. Mrs. +McAlister rang the bell for a third time. Then she sent Phebe to call +her sister. A moment later, Phebe came flying back, with staring eyes. + +"Oh, mamma," she panted; "Teddy isn't anywhere! She didn't answer, so I +opened the door. The room is empty, and the bed hasn't been slept in at +all." + + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY + + + LAKE LODGE, 28 _September_. + To Dr. JOHN MCALISTER: + + Theodora reached here safely. My brother worse. Send for her. + + JESSIE FARRINGTON. + +This was the telegram which was delivered at the doctor's door, two days +later. It came in upon an anxious household, for up to that time they +had been able to gain no clue to Theodora's disappearance. Billy alone +had had an inkling of the truth, but he dared not hint it to the rest. +It was only an inkling, vague and groundless, and he felt that it would +do no good to speak of it. At best, he would be accused of urging his +friend to take the sudden journey, and he was unwilling to increase the +suspicion which already lay heavy upon him. + +He knew, however, that Theodora's departure had something to do with +himself. Her last words seemed to him, as he went back to them, to +convey no doubtful hint of her intentions. He had had no suspicion at +the time; but now he realized how like her impulsive loyalty it would +be to go flying off somewhere, anywhere, to get help for him, to find +some way of putting an end to the wretched situation. He was thoroughly +sorry for her absence, and uneasy about her; yet he felt little alarm, +for he was perfectly convinced of her ability to look out for herself. +Moreover, he was human enough to watch the distraction of the family +with a certain amusement. He was sure that Theodora would turn up soon, +alive and well, and full of entertaining stories of her adventure. +Meanwhile, it was their turn to be anxious. + +Then a new anxiety came into the household. Phebe, who had been nervous +and irritable, all the day after Theodora's disappearance, grew feverish +at night. Her father made a short examination, pronounced her to be +suffering from the epidemic of chicken pox which had infested the +schools of late, and ordered her to bed. She obeyed him by going to her +room, escaping by way of the back stairs and taking a long walk in the +twilight with Isabel St. John, with whom lately it had been necessary +for Phebe to hold many secret conferences. The next morning, the rash +had entirely disappeared, and Phebe lay tossing in delirium. + +It was into this household that Mrs. Farrington's telegram came, like a +message sent from Heaven. + +The doctor tore open the long yellow envelope. His face, already of a +dull grayish color, grew a shade more pale, and he shut his teeth +together, as one prepared for bad tidings. He read the few words; then +he drew his hand across his eyes. + +"Thank God!" he said brokenly. "Teddy is safe." + +The news went like wildfire through the house. There was a babel of +rejoicing and exclamation; but it was to Billy that the doctor had +turned. + +"My dear boy," he said, laying his hand on Billy's shoulder; "our +troubles are over now, if Phebe pulls through." + +Billy answered his handclasp. + +"We'll forget it ever happened," he said jovially. + +"One doesn't forget such things," the doctor said gravely; but Billy +laughed his old glad, clear laugh. + +"You've done enough for me, Dr. McAlister, to balance anything else. +Remember what I was when I came here, and look at me now." + +The family council which followed was short. Neither Dr. McAlister nor +his wife liked to leave Phebe while she was still so ill; Hubert was too +young, they felt, to go to his sister; so it was Archie who finally +volunteered to bring back the runaway. + +"Shall I scold her very hard?" he asked, laughing, as he took up his +dress-suit case, an hour later. + +"Leave that to me," the doctor replied, while he tried in vain to look +stern. + +As Archie passed him, Billy slipped a note into his hand. + +"Take that to Ted," he whispered, and Archie nodded. + +It was high noon, the next day, when Archie walked into the Lodge. +Theodora met him with a little, glad outcry. + +"Archie! Did you come for me?" + +"It looks like it. What's more, I've brought good news." + +"What?" + +"Billy is cleared, and I left the whole family munching humble pie." + +"Archie!" And Theodora cast herself into his arms and wept hysterically. + +The young man looked half abashed, half pleased, at his burden. + +"Go easy, now, Ted," he remonstrated. "Don't take all the starch out of +my collar, you know." + +"Who did it?" she demanded. + +"Phebe." + +"Archie Holden! The little wretch! And she let Billy bear the blame! +I--" + +"She's getting her come-uppance," Archie observed, with scant pity for +Phebe. "She's no end ill with chicken pox. That's the reason your father +couldn't come for you." + +"I don't care; she deserves it," Theodora said vengefully. "How did it +come out?" + +"Providence seemed to take a hand in it, Ted. 'Twas the queerest thing. +The night after you left, when the family were all half wild about you, +and no wonder, Babe took her hand in the game by coming down with hen +pox. She caught cold somehow, the rash went in and struck on the brain, +and she turned delirious. The first thing she did, she told the whole +story. I suppose she had been harping on it so much that it came out, +like murder." + +"What did she do?" + +"As nearly as we can piece it together, she and Isabel went into the +barn, that morning, and started to feed Vigil. Then in fun they began +firing things at each other, till at last Babe picked up a box of Paris +green and shied it at Isabel. It struck the manger and broke all to +pieces. They cleaned up what they could, and sneaked away. Whether Babe +started to throw the blame on Billy at first, they don't know; but, +after dinner, Babe hunted up the bottle and hid it in the manger. It +isn't a pretty story, Ted; but it's true." + +"Babe ought to be--" + +"Abolished," Archie supplemented, with a jovial laugh. "No matter, your +father will have something to say to her by and by. By Jove, Ted, I wish +you'd seen him go down on his knees to Billy! There was something grand +in it, to see him, with his gray hair and great brown eyes, apologizing +to a boy like that. Of course, he owed him an apology and a big one; but +not many men would have made it so generously before us all." + +"There aren't many men like him," Theodora said proudly. "And Billy? How +is he?" + +"Jolly as a sandpiper. He vows that there's no one quite like you, +though. You did stand by him like a good fellow, Ted, for a fact." + +"You too, Archie. You helped me out, when you came. I wish you were my +brother." + +Archie laughed a little consciously. + +"Maybe we can fix that up in time. Now go along and pack up your +trumpery." + +Theodora's face suddenly grew grave. + +"Are they very angry at me at home, Archie?" + +He laughed. + +"Horribly. Still, I've an idea that, if you're meek enough, you'll be in +a fair way to be forgiven." + +And she was forgiven. Her welcome home was hearty and loving from them +all, pathetically so from Billy, who tried in vain to cover his real +emotion under a boyish indifference. The last words were still to be +said, however; and it was not until Theodora sat alone in the office +with her father, that night, that she felt the incident was ended and +she stood among them on precisely the old ground. + +"I can't blame you, my girl," he said at last, as he drew his arm yet +more tightly about her waist. "You were rash and headstrong. You caused +us two days of terrible anxiety, and you might have run into serious +difficulties; but your purpose was a good one, even if it was too +impetuous and daring for a child like you. We were all blind, Teddy, +strangely blind; and I can never forgive myself for my unjust +suspicions, nor be glad enough that you stood by your old friend in the +face of all this evidence." There was a silence. Then he bent over and +kissed her forehead. "Teddy dear, if you can only tame down this +rashness of yours, and yet be the same loyal girl you are now, your +womanhood will be very big and beautiful. But remember this, dear, in +all this wilful, hasty end of the century, a true woman must be as +gentle as she is brave, as thoughtful as she is loving." + +"But I'm glad it's all over," Theodora said contentedly, the next day. + +She and Billy sat on the piazza, in the golden noon of an early October +day. Hope was in the hammock, with Allyn beside her and Archie on the +floor at her feet, while Hubert sat on the rail facing them all. +Theodora had been entertaining them with an account of her journey, and +she ended her story with these words. + +"It has been a terrible month," Hope said thoughtfully. "After our years +of placid existence, it seems as if a cyclone had struck us, all at +once. I should think you'd wish you had never set eyes on us, Billy." + +"I do," he replied tranquilly, as he stared at Theodora's bright face. + +"Poor old William!" she said, laughing. "It was a sorry day for you when +I descended on you from the apple-tree." + +"Adam and Eve never knew how well off they were, till the serpent came," +Archie suggested. "I have a notion we shall have a better time than +ever, now it's all over." + +"You can crow over it, if you like," Hubert said remorsefully. "You and +Ted were on the winning side of things. Billy, my friendship isn't good +for much; but I'll be hanged if I ever expected to go back on you and +make such a jay of myself." + +"Never mind, Hu; it's over now," Theodora said consolingly. + +"Yes, thanks to you," Hubert returned. "My share in it isn't much." + +Theodora laughed. + +"Thanks to Babe, you'd better say. We should still have been a divided +household, if Babe hadn't been benevolent enough to have chicken pox." + +"She didn't," Allyn objected suddenly. "The chicken didn't come out any. +I watched to see it, and I couldn't, and papa said so, too, and that's +what made her so wretchable." + +"But it's over, as Teddy says," Hope observed, breaking in on the laugh +that followed Allyn's contribution to medical science; "and I can't help +feeling that we are going to have a lovely winter, with Archie here, and +Billy to stay on till Thanksgiving. There's time to make up for all +we've lost now." + +"We'll make the most of it, then, for this will be my last winter here, +for ever so long," Billy said, rising. "If I enter college, next fall, +it will be a good while before I settle down at home again." + +"And I too," Theodora added, as she rose and stood beside him. + +He smiled down into her eyes for a moment, as they stood there. Then +together they turned and walked away. The world about them lay golden in +the sunlight and in the glow reflected back from the yellow leaves of +the hickories; but not one whit less golden was the future, as it +stretched away and away before their glad young eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE + + +It was commencement week at Smith College. To the alumna and the +student, the picture called up by those words is sufficiently definite +and demands no amplification. To them, is no prettier sight possible +than the broad campus dotted with buildings, and the knots of +daintily-dressed girls moving slowly to and fro along the winding paths. +The Meadow City always puts on her most festal array in honor of the +occasion; the very heavens seem to watch for that week, and to provide +for it the finest moon of the whole summer. + +Baccalaureate was over, and, early Monday evening, groups were already +gathering on the campus at the rear of College Hall, eager to secure +comfortable places for the glee club concert. It was one of the charming +pictures of the year, that concert, the cluster of girls on the steps +facing the long rows of well-filled benches below. Beyond the benches, +and extending far across the grass to the very steps of the old Dewey +House, was a moving, shifting crowd, changing in form and color, as the +brightly-dressed girls came and went, like the varying slides of a +kaleidoscope. Back of the glee club, again, the open windows of the +reading-room were filled with faces of old graduates who knew the place, +and who chose this point of vantage either to protect their gowns and +their elderly necks from the dampness outside, or to use their position +facing the crowd to discover returning classmates whom they had missed +in the throng. + +"There's the class president," one of them said to a friend who had +arrived, only that afternoon. + +"Which?" + +"That tall girl in pale green at the left. She's in the fourth, fifth, +sixth row; and a tall, gray-haired man is with her, and a young man the +other side." + +"Looking this way now?" + +"Yes. I don't see anything so remarkable about her; but they say she's +one of the most popular girls they've ever had here." + +"That is saying a good deal," her companion answered loyally, as she +raised her lorgnette. + +"They wanted her for ivy poet, but she couldn't be everything. She's +class poet, though, and was Portia in the dramatics, Saturday night." + +"What's her name?" + +"McAlister. Theodora McAlister. She looks it, too; but these soulless +girls all call her Teddy." + +"McAlister? That is the name of the girl who made such a record in +basket ball, when I was up here, last winter. They had a song in her +honor." + +"Probably it's the same one. My cousin says she is very all-round. All +the under-class girls adore her, and they say she'll be heard from, some +day. Did you say Edith Avery is back?" + +Theodora, meanwhile, had settled her guests comfortably to listen to the +concert. They were all there, Dr. McAlister and his wife, Hope and +Hubert, Phebe and Allyn, and the Farringtons. Among so many girls, Hope, +in her pretty pink gown, was quite capable of holding her own; and Billy +and Hubert were in such demand that, all that day, Theodora had scarcely +had a chance to exchange a word with them. It was just as well, however, +for the girl's hands were full, with the active part which her offices +had imposed upon her. + +During the whole week, she had borne her part admirably. When she came +out on the stage for the first time, on Saturday night, she had +faltered. For a moment, the sea of upturned faces had terrified her, and +she could distinguish nothing but a formless blur. Then, all at once, +Billy's red-gold hair and clear blue eyes had detached themselves and +caught her attention, and she flashed upon him one glance, half proud, +half appealing. He smiled back at her broadly and waved his programme. +An instant later, she was speaking her opening lines. + +She had led the baccalaureate procession; she had presided at the ivy +exercises, that morning; and to-night, at the reception which followed +the glee club concert, she was expected to show herself in her official +capacity. The next day, she would lead her class in the commencement +procession, and preside at the class supper. No wonder that she was +tired, and that dark circles were beginning to come beneath her eyes. +Popularity has its price, though it is a price well worth the paying. It +had come to her unsought, unexpected, and she enjoyed it. Still, she was +undeniably tired. She was glad for the moment to settle down on the +bench, unnoticed in the crowd, with her father's arm across her shoulder +and Hubert by her other side. + +"Tired out, Ted?" her father asked tenderly, as she nestled against him, +regardless of her finery. + +"Oh, no; only glad of a chance to see my people. I have been in such a +whirl, all the week, that I feel as if I had neglected you." + +"We haven't suffered, and you'll rest from the whirl. You can't be +graduated but once, my girl, and I want you to have the best of it," he +said proudly. "Next year, you will be with us again, so don't worry +about us now." + +"You'd better sit up straight, Teddy," Phebe said, bending forward and +speaking in an aggressively audible whisper. "You're leaning against +your dress, and that thin stuff crushes awfully. Do be careful." + +"Never mind," Theodora answered, with a lazy disregard of her fluffy sea +of pale green chiffon. "Papa and I shall never be here again just like +this, and I mean to have the good of him." + +They lingered there until the concert was over and the tide was turning +towards the Art Gallery. Then she rose reluctantly, and shook out her +gown. + +[Illustration: "'GIVE ME MY FAN AND GLOVES, HU,' SHE SAID."] + +"Give me my fan and my gloves, Hu," she said. "I must fly to my post. +I'd much rather stay here." + +As she turned away, a young man abruptly took leave of two juniors, +and went hurrying after her. He was tall and alert, yet he walked with a +certain stiffness, which gave an almost military erectness to his +carriage. + +"The Philistines be upon me, Ted! Do save me!" + +She turned back to meet him. + +"What is the matter, Billy? I thought you looked content while the +concert was going on." + +"Content! I'm distracted. I've been introduced to seven thousand girls. +They all look alike, and I can't tell 'em from those I don't know." + +"Smile on them all, Billy. You're equal to it." + +"But I don't want 'em. I came here to see you, not Miss Swift of +Chicago." + +"You don't appreciate your advantages, Billy," she said, laughing, as +they went together up the steps of the Art Gallery. + +"Maybe not. I appreciate you, though, and I sail, in ten days. When +shall you be off duty again?" + +She looked down at the throng already streaming up the steps behind +them. + +"Come and rescue me at half-past nine, Billy, unless you find Miss Swift +of Chicago a more potent attraction." + +"Trust me!" And he vanished. + +For more than an hour, the stream of people flowed past her. Everywhere +was the swish of countless gowns, the low murmur of countless voices. +Every one was there, not only the seniors and their friends, but the +girls of the under classes, with here and there a wide-eyed, wondering +sub-freshman. Faculty hobnobbed with sophomores, and the alumnæ pervaded +all things and were in their glory. It was a pretty picture, backed as +it was by the dull-hued walls and fine statuary of the gallery; and +Theodora glanced about her in contented pride, to see if any of her +friends were near and enjoying this crowning glory of her Alma Mater. + +Ten feet away, Mrs. McAlister was discussing football with the brother +of one of the seniors, a boy too young to have any real share in the +evening's pleasure. Not far off, Dr. McAlister was contentedly ruffling +up his hair, while he monopolized the attention of a prominent +professor, who appeared altogether unconscious of the passing moments +and of the crowd of alumnæ waiting for a word. Theodora smiled to +herself, as she caught an occasional phrase,-- + +"All the bromides--Grand antiseptic qualities--Your essay in the last +review." + +Out on the stairs, Hope was in the midst of a gay crowd; and, quite at +the other side of the building, Hubert sat on the pedestal of the Dying +Gaul, with one arm thrown across the neck of the statue, while he talked +to the pretty young girl perched at his side. + +Punctual to the moment, Billy appeared. + +"Now let's get out of this," he said abruptly. + +"Aren't you having a good time?" she questioned, with a little hurt +tone. + +"Yes, fine. I struck some Cleveland girls; they're always pretty. But +now I want a breath of fresh air and a little sensible conversation. +Come along." + +"Where?" + +"Anywhere, as long as it's quiet." + +She laughed, as she handed him her fan. + +"I believe you're tired before I am, Billy." + +"No; only I do want a little chance to see you. It's not as if I were +going to be at home, this summer." + +She glanced at him sharply. Then she bit her lip a little, as she +followed him through the crowd at the door, and out upon the campus. + +"This is pretty, for a fact, Ted," he said, breaking the silence. "Yale +can't show anything to beat this." + +"That's very generous of you, Billy," she answered; but her tone lacked +its usual vivacity, and her step dragged slightly, as they moved away +together among the Chinese lanterns which edged the walks in double +line. + +The crowd was here, too; but Billy steered her through it, past the +houses and the old gymnasium, and out to the far end of the campus. At +the steps of the observatory, he halted. + +"It's quiet here, and we can get some good of the moon," he said. "Let's +sit down here, unless you are afraid of taking cold." + +"The idea! I'm not an alum.; besides, it's a warm night." + +"How will you stand two commencements, Ted?" he asked, settling himself +at her feet and turning to look up at her. + +"Better than my gowns will," she said, showing him a long rent in her +skirt. + +He laughed. + +"You always were hard on your clothes, Teddy. I shall never forget the +sound of rending garments which heralded your first approach." + +"Out of the apple-tree? I remember. I also remember the lecture Hope +gave me." + +"Those were good old days," he said contentedly, as he opened and shut +her fan. + +"These are better," she answered, looking down at him, as he sat there +in the moonlight. "I can't make it seem as if you ever lived in a +chair." + +He looked up, shaking back his hair with a quick motion of his head. + +"It's over now, thank Heaven! Still, it brought us together, after all. +Teddy, I'm going to miss you. I wish I needn't go." + +"But you must," she said hastily, startled at something in his tone. "It +isn't everybody who has the double chance to study for his profession +and to be treated by Dr. Brunald, at the same time." + +"If it only finishes the cure! But two years is such a long time." + +"Yes. But I'm going down with your mother to see you off, you know; and +then you'll write often." + +"Of course. But so much can happen in two years." + +"I hope there can. Do you remember my three wishes?" + +"No. Yes. Seems to me I do. What were they?" + +"It was one day, under the trees in your grounds. I was in a +confidential mood, I remember, and I was moved to tell them to you. They +included a bicycle, a college course, and a successful career of +authorship." + +"I remember. You've two of them, Ted; and I believe you'll get the +other." + +"Wait till you come home. You may find me no nearer the end than I am +now." + +"I doubt it, Teddy. You've the stuff in you. Write and tell me, when you +make your first hit." + +"I will. I'm counting on your letters, Billy, for it's going to be very +lonely without you." Her lip quivered again, and in the moonlight he saw +an odd glitter in her eyes. + +He took her hand in his. + +"Ted," he said gently; "two years can't make any difference in such a +friendship as ours. We've stuck together through thick and thin, and +nothing can change us. Two years isn't a very long time to wait, and +then, please God, I shall come home to you all, a strong man. After +that, I shall never go away again--to leave you, dear." + +The last words were almost inaudible. Then the silence and the moonlight +closed in about them. + +The chapel was filled to overflowing, the next day, as the procession +filed up the middle aisle. Led by the white-gowned ushers, they came +slowly onward, faculty and trustees, alumnæ and seniors, while above and +around them, soft and full by turns, rose the sound of the organ under +the masterly touch they knew so well. It was an hour when even the most +heedless freshman felt the pain, the almost solemn sadness of the coming +parting, yet the full meaning of the commencement day can be realized +only by those who are leaving their Alma Mater for the last time. + +All too soon, the morning sped away and the president rose to confer the +degrees, while a hush, slight, but expectant, crept over the place. + +"_Quæ primum gradum accedunt._" + +At the well-known words, the seniors rose, with Theodora standing at +their head. The girl was very pale, and her eyes looked dark and liquid, +as she raised them to the president's face. From his seat in the south +transept, Billy watched her while she stood there, tall and straight and +noble in her young womanhood, a very daughter of to-day; and, as he +looked, within him there strengthened the belief which had been slowly +forming and guiding his life ever since the day, more than six years +before, when Theodora had come down to him from the old apple-tree. In +all those tedious, aching years, Theodora had been his best friend; and +now with health and with her before him, he could afford to work, and +wait, and hope. + + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO + + +Two years had passed away, and The Savins lay basking in the heat of an +August noon. Here and there, a broad calladium leaf swayed majestically +to and fro in a passing breeze, and the locusts sang shrilly in the +trees overhead. Upstairs in her own room, Theodora rocked lazily, +humming to herself while she darned her stockings. + +"Prosaic work!" she said aloud, half whimsically. "The sure forerunner +of a prosaic spinsterhood! My plans don't seem to materialize rapidly, +and I foresee that I shall go on darning stockings till the end of my +days. Bah! how I hate it!" She rolled up her stockings into a ball. "Two +years ago, and I was saying good-by to Billy in New York, and we were +making great plans for what we were to accomplish. Dear old Billy! I +hope he's quite strong by this time. It's almost time for another letter +from him, seems to me." + +She tossed the ball to the table beside her, and, clasping her hands +above her rumpled hair, fell to dreaming. Phebe interrupted her. + +"A letter for you, Teddy!" she proclaimed, opening the door and casting +the envelope across the room towards her sister. + +"From Billy?" + +"How should I know? I don't read your letters." + +It was the same Phebe, older and taller, but otherwise unchanged. Now +her tone was slightly toploftical. + +"I didn't suppose you did," Theodora answered, while she rose to pick up +the letter. "I can't say you are over-ceremonious with it, Babe." + +"Don't care." And Phebe vanished as abruptly as she had come. + +The letter was not from Billy. The handwriting was strange; and Theodora +turned it over and over nervously, before she ventured to open it. Then +of a sudden the color came into her cheeks, and her eyes flashed. +Seizing the letter, she opened the door and ran down the stairs. + +"Hope! Hu! Somebody!" she called, with a glad, exultant note in her +voice. + +She called again. Then she heard Phebe's voice from the lawn. + +"I am here. What do you want?" + +"Where is everybody?" Theodora asked, stepping out on the piazza. + +"I'm here." Phebe's accent suggested that her feelings were hurt at the +question. + +"Yes; but papa and mamma?" + +"Driving." + +"And Hope?" + +"Mooning round with Archie somewhere." + +"Where's Hu?" + +"Gone for a ride." + +"Then you'll be the first to hear my great news." + +"Needn't tell me, unless you want. I don't care to be taken +Jack-at-a-pinch." + +"I do want to tell you, Babe. I only thought I would wait till the +others were here; but I don't believe I can wait." + +"What is it?" Phebe asked, her curiosity overcoming her momentary pique +as she looked at Theodora's radiant face. + +"It's only that I've written a book and sent it to a publisher, and he +says it's good enough to publish." + +"Really? Really and truly?" Phebe's face expressed her incredulity. +"Will he pay you a lot for it?" + +"Something,--not a lot, though," Theodora answered, too much accustomed +to Phebe's lack of sympathy to be hurt by her words. "But that's not the +main thing, Babe. Think of the honor of it!" + +"Hm!" Phebe said slowly. "It's the money I'd care for, Teddy. Ever so +many people have written books before, and some of them younger than +you." + +Great was the rejoicing of the family, that day, when Theodora met them +at the dinner-table with her news. In the clamor of question and +congratulation, no word could be distinguished at first. Then Dr. +McAlister's voice, clear and quiet, hushed the others. + +"Teddy, dear," he said tenderly; "I couldn't love you more than I do; +but this makes your old father very proud of you. I wish your own mother +could have known it." + +And Mrs. McAlister added softly,-- + +"Perhaps she does, Jack." + +The clamor broke out again. + +"When did you--?" + +"How did you ever--?" + +"Why didn't you tell us that--?" + +"How long--?" + +"What will Billy Farrington say?" Hope asked at length. + +"He'll say, 'Didn't I always tell you so?'" Hubert answered, smiling +across the table at his twin sister. + +Afterwards they lingered on the piazza, talking and laughing, begging to +see the manuscript, teasing Theodora about her secretiveness, and +congratulating her again and again. It was an attractive group, Theodora +in the midst, a tall, handsome girl in the full ripeness of her maidenly +beauty, her arm linked in that of her twin brother, while pretty Hope +stood facing them, with Archie at her side. + +Allyn came up to them as they stood there. + +"Take these, Teddy," he said, holding out his hand. + +"What are they, Allyn?" she asked, loosing Hubert's arm as she bent down +over the child. + +"Clovers, four-leafed ones. They will bring you luck," he answered, with +childish superstition. + +"How many you find, Allyn! I never see any," she said, taking the +handful of green leaves. + +"Put them in your belt, and the first man you shake hands with, you'll +marry," Phebe suggested pertly. + +"Not I. I'm doomed to old-maidhood," she said, laughing. + +"Give them to Hope, then," Phebe said, careless of Hope's blushes. + +"Never. They are mine. You gave them to me, didn't you, Allyn?" + +"Yes," the child said gravely. "You'd better keep them and put them in +your belt. Hope doesn't need them as much as you do." + +In the midst of the laugh that followed, Theodora went away to her room +to write the momentous letter which should accept the publisher's offer. +It cost her some pains to write it, to attain the proper degree of +indifference, equally removed from coldness and from childish eagerness. +The clock beside her told that an hour had passed over her task, and a +little heap of torn papers lay on the desk before her when the maid came +to call her. + +"There's some one in the parlor to see you, Miss Theodora." + +"Who?" + +"He didn't tell me his name." + +"Bother take him!" Theodora remarked to herself. Then she added aloud, +"Well, I'll be right down." + +It was characteristic of Theodora that she delayed to give no glance at +the mirror. Just as she was, with her ruffled hair and in her simple +pink morning gown, she ran down the stairway and entered the cool, dark +parlor. As she crossed the threshold, the guest rose to greet her,--a +guest with a tall, athletic figure, a sunburned face, keen blue eyes, +and a mass of reddish golden hair. + +"Billy!" + +"Ted!" + +"Where did you come from?" + +"'The Ankworks package.'" + +"But really?" + +"I landed, yesterday afternoon. I was bound to give you a surprise, and +I think I've made it out. Glad to see me?" + +"You dear old boy! Have you any doubts about it? How well you're +looking, and how--how stunning!" + +"Ditto, ma'am. The years have agreed with you, I suspect." + +"Yes. And you? You've told so little about yourself. You do write horrid +letters, Billy." + +"Your old frankness, I observe," he said mischievously. + +"I know it; but when I am longing to hear if you're well and all about +you, you write reams of student gossip. I forgive you, though, now I see +you, for you look better than I ever supposed you could." + +"Not much like the flabby chunk of flesh that used to call itself Billy +Farrington?" he asked complacently. + +"Not a bit, you giant; but you're the same old Billy. Is it polite to +say you've grown? Walk off, and let me look at you." + +Turning, he made a few quick strides up and down the room, laughing, as +he did so, at the perfect satisfaction written on her face. Then he came +back and took her hand once more. + +"Will it pass, Teddy?" he asked, looking down at the tall girl beside +him. + +"Yes, in every way. You're sure you are as strong as ever?" + +"Sound as a nut. And, by Jove, Ted, after two years of Dutch Gretchens, +it is good to see you again." + +[Illustration: SOMETHING IN THE EXPRESSION OF THE BLUE EYES ABOVE HER +MADE HER OWN EYES DROOP.] + +Something in the expression of the blue eyes above her made her own eyes +droop. Then suddenly she flushed and drew away her hand, which, all +this time, had been lying in his two strong brown palms, for, as she +looked down, her glance had chanced to fall upon the bunch of withered +leaves which still clung in her belt. + +THE END + + + + + WANOLASSET + + THE-LITTLE-ONE-WHO-LAUGHS + + By MISS A. G. PLYMPTON + + _Author of "Dear Daughter Dorothy," etc._ + +[Illustration] + + _12mo. Cloth. With illustrations by the author._ $1.25. + +A story of colonial life in New England during King Philip's War, and of +the captivity of a little Medfield maid, to whom, on account of her +brave spirit and sunny temper, the Indians gave the name of +"Wanolasset"--meaning "The-little-one-who-laughs." Much historical +information is cleverly interwoven with the story, which is one of +absorbing interest. The author has invested her youthful characters with +much of that same sweetness which characterizes "Dear Daughter Dorothy," +the heroine of one of her earlier books; and their varying fortunes will +be eagerly followed.--_New England Magazine._ + +It is a story of boy and girl life in a Puritan colony, an historical +romance, indeed, for young people. Miss Plympton's stories are always +prime favorites, and she has never written quite so good a one as +this.--Providence News. + +The tale is of King Philip's War, and little Alse's capture and rescue +are given with an eye to historical accuracy and with a clearer sense of +justice to the captors than characterized the "Indian stories" of twenty +years ago. Out of all this careful study of facts, combined with +literary skill, the child of to-day ought to get a fair idea of pioneer +life.--_Los Angeles Express._ + +The story is such a one as children delight in, and is withal so simple, +sweet, and wholesome that no better gift could be chosen for any +child.--_Lexington (Ky.) Herald._ + + + + + THE CHICOPEE SERIES + + BY MYRA SAWYER HAMLIN + +[Illustration: "NAN."] + + NAN AT CAMP CHICOPEE; OR, NAN'S SUMMER WITH THE BOYS. + +The story is one of free, outdoor life, characterized by a deal of fine +descriptive writing and many bits of local color that invest the whole +book with an atmosphere which is actually fragrant; the entire story is +as fresh and as clear and as bright as if some of the breezes of "Lake +Chicopee" had blown straight through it from cover to cover and left +their odors of flowery pastures and pine woods and New Hampshire air on +every page.--_Bangor Commercial._ + + NAN IN THE CITY; OR, NAN'S WINTER WITH THE GIRLS. + +A bright story in which children and animals play an equal part.--_The +Outlook._ + +It is a charmingly entertaining book from cover to cover, and in every +way entitled to a wide constituency of young readers. The story is well +told and the atmosphere is healthful and uplifting, while there is a +plot to keep the interest aroused, and around the central figure of the +story the reader's affection and good-will is bound to cling, for the +heroine is a type of young girl such as makes the world brighter and +happier for her presence.--_Boston Budget._ + + NAN'S CHICOPEE CHILDREN. (_Completing The Chicopee Series._) + + _16mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Each,_ $1.25. + + + + + 'TWIXT YOU AND ME + + A STORY FOR GIRLS + + BY GRACE LE BARON + + _Author of "Little Miss Faith," "Little Daughter," "The + Rosebud Club," and "Queer Janet"_ + +[Illustration] + + _12mo. Cloth. With pictures by Ellen Bernard Thompson + and floral decorations by Katherine Pyle._ $1.50 + +This new book by an author whose other stories have been written for +younger children will win a warm place in the hearts of girl readers, +and its two principal characters, Rosemary and Daisy, are likely to be +very popular. The events of the story occur in two summers at the +seashore and in two terms at the "Misses Bagley's Fashionable +Boarding-School." The author has interwoven with the story a very +charming garland of poems of flowers. + + + + + BELLE + + _A New Book by the author of "Miss Toosey's Mission"_ + +[Illustration] + + _16mo. Cloth. Illustrated._ $1.00 + + + + + THE LITTLE RED SCHOOLHOUSE + + BY EVELYN RAYMOND + + _Author of "The Little Lady of the Horse," "Among + the Lindens," etc._ + +[Illustration] + + _12mo. Cloth. Illustrated by Victor A. Searles._ $1.50 + +As the title indicates, the country school is the feature of the book +which has suggested much of its plot, and the author has woven a +delightful narrative, sensible and practical, and at the same time +interesting and uplifting, which will be welcomed by the young +people.--_Congregationalist._ + + + + + AMONG THE LINDENS + + BY EVELYN RAYMOND + + _Author of "The Little Lady of the Horse," "A Cape May + Diamond," "The Mushroom Cave," "The + Little Red Schoolhouse," etc._ + +[Illustration] + + _12mo. Cloth. Illustrated by Victor A. Searles._ $1.50 + +The scene of Evelyn Raymond's new story is partly in New York and partly +in the country "among the lindens." A poor family is assisted by a +wealthy friend in the best possible way,--he helps them to help +themselves. The youngest boy is the life of the story, something of an +amusing and exceedingly lively nature happening to him every day of his +life. The children of the story have faults, but strive to correct them, +and have healthy and noble ideals of life and character. There is an +exceptionally pleasant, homelike atmosphere about the book. + + + + + THE YOUNG PURITANS IN KING PHILIP'S WAR + + _A sequel to "The Young Puritans of Old Hadley"_ + + BY MARY P. WELLS SMITH + + _Author of "The Jolly Good Times Series," etc._ + +[Illustration] + + _12mo. Cloth. Illustrated by L. J. Bridgman._ $1.25 + +This is the second volume in "The Young Puritans Series." The author has +made a very careful study of the Colonial life and history of the time. +Like the first volume of the series, her attempt to depict the life of +Puritan children for young people is closely based on historical facts. +These volumes should be read carefully and studied by the children of +to-day, recounting, as they do, the hardships endured by their +forefathers and foremothers in the settlement of this country, as well +as their devotion, high aims, and religious zeal. The third volume of +the series will be devoted to "The Young Puritans in Captivity." + + + + + HESTER STANLEY'S FRIENDS + + _A sequel to "Hester Stanley at St. Mark's"_ + + BY HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD + +[Illustration] + + _12mo. Cloth. Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill._ $1.25 + +Mrs. Spofford's new book includes the following stories, dealing with +the same characters as those of her delightful volume of schoolgirl life +entitled "Hester Stanley at St. Mark's": Bella's Choice; A Christmas +that was Christmas; Jule's Garden; April Showers; Rafe; The Little Black +Fiddle; Billy and his Grandmother; Remade; The Fourth at Marcia Meyer's; +Little Rosalie; At Old Benbow. + + A NEW EDITION OF "HESTER STANLEY AT ST. MARK'S" + + _Uniform with the above. Illustrated. 12mo. Cloth._ $1.25 + _The two volumes, in a box,_ $2.50 + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Teddy: Her Book, by Anna Chapin Ray + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TEDDY: HER BOOK *** + +***** This file should be named 24361-8.txt or 24361-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/3/6/24361/ + +Produced by David Edwards, Annie McGuire and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from scans of public domain material +produced by Microsoft for their Live Search Books site.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Teddy: Her Book + A Story of Sweet Sixteen + +Author: Anna Chapin Ray + +Illustrator: Vesper L. George + +Release Date: January 19, 2008 [EBook #24361] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TEDDY: HER BOOK *** + + + + +Produced by David Edwards, Annie McGuire and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from scans of public domain material +produced by Microsoft for their Live Search Books site.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 334px;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="334" height="500" alt="Book Cover" title="" /> +</div> + +<h1>TEDDY: HER BOOK</h1> + +<h2>A Story of Sweet Sixteen</h2> + +<h4>BY</h4> + +<h3>ANNA CHAPIN RAY</h3> + +<h4>ILLUSTRATED BY VESPER L. GEORGE</h4> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 99px;"> +<img src="images/titlepage.jpg" width="99" height="100" alt="Teddy" title="" /> +</div> + +<h4>BOSTON</h4> +<h4>LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY</h4> +<h4>1901</h4> +<h5><i>Copyright, 1898</i>,</h5> +<h5><span class="smcap">By Little, Brown, and Company</span>.</h5> +<h5>University Press:</h5> +<h5><span class="smcap">John Wilson and Son, Cambridge</span>, U.S.A.</h5> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 11em;">"<i>Spring's hands are always full of rosy flowers,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;"><i>Unopened buds to deck each field and tree.</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 11em;"><i>We love and watch them through the long, sweet hours,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;"><i>Not for the buds, but what the buds will be.</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 11em;">"<i>Life's hands are full of buds. She comes on singing,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;"><i>With radiant eyes, across Youth's golden gate;</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 11em;"><i>We smile to see the burden she is bringing,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;"><i>And for the Summer are content to wait.</i>"</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2> + +<p> +<a href="#List_of_Illustrations"><b>List of Illustrations</b></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_ONE"><b>CHAPTER ONE</b></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_TWO"><b>CHAPTER TWO</b></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_THREE"><b>CHAPTER THREE</b></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_FOUR"><b>CHAPTER FOUR</b></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_FIVE"><b>CHAPTER FIVE</b></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_SIX"><b>CHAPTER SIX</b></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_SEVEN"><b>CHAPTER SEVEN</b></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_EIGHT"><b>CHAPTER EIGHT</b></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_NINE"><b>CHAPTER NINE</b></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_TEN"><b>CHAPTER TEN</b></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_ELEVEN"><b>CHAPTER ELEVEN</b></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_TWELVE"><b>CHAPTER TWELVE</b></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_THIRTEEN"><b>CHAPTER THIRTEEN</b></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_FOURTEEN"><b>CHAPTER FOURTEEN</b></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_FIFTEEN"><b>CHAPTER FIFTEEN</b></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_SIXTEEN"><b>CHAPTER SIXTEEN</b></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_SEVENTEEN"><b>CHAPTER SEVENTEEN</b></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_EIGHTEEN"><b>CHAPTER EIGHTEEN</b></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_NINETEEN"><b>CHAPTER NINETEEN</b></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_TWENTY"><b>CHAPTER TWENTY</b></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_TWENTY-ONE"><b>CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE</b></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_TWENTY-TWO"><b>CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO</b></a><br /> +</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="List_of_Illustrations" id="List_of_Illustrations"></a><span class="smcap">List of Illustrations</span></h2> + +<p> +<a href="#FRONTISPIECE"><span class="smcap">Theodora's face, rosy with blushes, appeared in the opening.</span></a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#ILLO1"><span class="smcap">Theodora went flying across the road.</span></a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#ILLO2">"<span class="smcap">'What do you think of this?' she demanded.</span>"</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#ILLO3">"<span class="smcap">Teddy, dear, this is my brother Archie, come at last.</span>"</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#ILLO4">"<span class="smcap">'Give me my fan and gloves, Hu,' she said</span>."</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#ILLO5"><span class="smcap">Something in the expression of the blue eyes above +her made her own eyes droop</span></a><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_ONE" id="CHAPTER_ONE"></a>CHAPTER ONE</h2> + +<p>The five McAlisters were gathered in the dining-room, one rainy night in +late August. In view of the respective dimensions of the family circle +and the family income, servants were few in the McAlister household, and +division of labor was the order of the day. Old Susan had cleared away +the table and brought in the lamp; then she retired to the kitchen, +leaving the young people to themselves.</p> + +<p>Hope was darning stockings. She had one of Hubert's socks drawn on over +her hand, which showed, white and dainty, through the great, ragged +hole. Hubert sat near her with little Allyn on his knee, tiding over a +crisis in the young man's temper by showing him pictures in the +dilapidated Mother Goose which had done duty for successive McAlisters, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>from seventeen-year-old Hope down.</p> + +<p>"Stop kicking brother," he commanded, as Allyn lifted up his voice and +his heels in vigorous protest against things in general, and the +approach of the sandman in particular. "Listen, Allyn,—</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 17em;">'There was a little man,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 17.5em;">And he had a little gun,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 14em;">And his bullets were made of lead, lead, lead.'"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Theodora appeared on the threshold of the great china closet, where she +was washing the cups and plates. She had a dish-cloth in one hand and +three or four spoons in the other.</p> + +<p>"You don't put enough emphasis into it, Hu," she said mockingly. "This +is the way it should sound, like this,—</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 17em;">'There was a little cow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 17.5em;">And it had a little calf,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 14em;">And it wouldn't ever go to bed, bed, bed.'</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Never mind, Allyn, sister will come in a few minutes and put your +nightie on. Oh, Babe, I wish you'd hurry and put away these dishes."</p> + +<p>But Babe, baptismally known as Phebe, was engaged in tickling Allyn's +toes, with the praiseworthy intention of making him kick the harder. +Accordingly, she was deaf to the voice<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> of Theodora, who was forced to +put away the cups herself. She did it with a bumping impatience, +grumbling the while.</p> + +<p>"I do wish that everlasting old Susan would wash these things. The idea +of my being tied to a dish-pan, all my days, and Babe never will help a +bit! It's not fair." She set down a cup with a protesting whack which +threatened to wreck its handle.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Teddy?" Hubert called, from the next room.</p> + +<p>"Well?" Her face cleared, as it always did at the voice of her twin +brother.</p> + +<p>"Drop something?"</p> + +<p>"No. Wish I had. I'd like to throw this dish-pan into the street."</p> + +<p>"'Most through?"</p> + +<p>"Never shall be. Do put Allyn down and come to help me."</p> + +<p>He settled the child, book and all, in a corner of the old haircloth +sofa which ran across the end of the room, and, with his hands in his +pockets, he sauntered into the china closet and sat down on the little +step-ladder that stood there, ready to lead to an ascent to the upper +shelves.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, to-night, Teddy?" he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> asked, sympathetically +tweaking the end of her long brown pigtail.</p> + +<p>"The weather, I think," she replied, as she threw a dish-towel at him. +"I don't like to wash dishes, and I don't like rainy days, and I don't +like—"</p> + +<p>"Nothin' nor nobody. Never mind filling up the list. You've a crick in +your temper, that's all. It will be gone in the morning. Here, give me a +towel, and I'll help wipe."</p> + +<p>It was a service he had often performed before. The twins were close +friends, and some of their most confidential talks had been held over +the steaming dish-water. They finished their task together; then Hubert +linked his arm in that of his sister and came out into the dining-room, +where Hope, with the stocking still drawn on over her hand, was vainly +trying to rescue Allyn from the torments imposed on him by Phebe.</p> + +<p>"Don't, Babe," she urged. "Don't you see how it makes him cry? Why can't +you let him alone? He is always cross at bedtime."</p> + +<p>"So are you," Phebe retorted defiantly. "When she comes, Hope McAlister, +I do hope she'll give it to you good."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> + +<p>Hope flushed, and her sensitive chin quivered a little.</p> + +<p>"Let's hope not," she said gently. "Do be quiet, there's a dear Babe. It +is almost your bedtime."</p> + +<p>"But I sha'n't go to bed," proclaimed Phebe rebelliously.</p> + +<p>"Phebe!"</p> + +<p>Experience had taught her that Sister Hope, gentle as she was, must be +obeyed when she spoke in that tone, and Phebe sullenly yielded to the +inevitable and became quiet.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Theodora had pounced upon Allyn, caught him up in her strong +young arms, cuddled his fluffy yellow head against her cheek, and gone +away upstairs, whither Phebe followed them with a crushing dignity which +sought for no good-night kiss. Hubert cast himself down on the old sofa +and fell to rummaging his sister's basket. He smiled a little, as she +showed him the vast hole in the toe of his sock; but it was some minutes +before he spoke. Then he said slowly,—</p> + +<p>"Never mind, Hope. It's in the air, and we all feel it."</p> + +<p>He was silent again. Upstairs, they could hear the <i>tap</i>, <i>tap</i> of +Teddy's energetic heels,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> as she moved to and fro, settling the two +children for the night. Then she was still, while Allyn's shrill, +childish treble rose in his evening petition,—</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 15em;">"Now I lay me down a shleep,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 15em;">I tray a Lo' la tol a teep,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 15em;">I ta die afo' I wake,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 15em;">Tray a Lo' la tol a take.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 15em;">It I at a Jedu' shlake. A-nen!"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Ten minutes later, she came back to the dining-room and threw herself +down on the sofa, with her head on Hubert's knee and her elbow in the +orderly work-basket.</p> + +<p>"Do you know," she said abruptly; "I think our venerable father is a +goose."</p> + +<p>"Teddy!" Hope's tone was remonstrant.</p> + +<p>"I can't help it, if it isn't respectful; I do. He's lived long enough +to know better, and he ought to be put to bed without his supper, even +if it is his wedding day." She started up, to add emphasis to her words; +but Hubert seized her two long braids of hair and drew her head down on +his knee again.</p> + +<p>"Calm yourself, Teddy," he said, bending forward to peer into her face. +"You are worse than the children. I told Hope that it was in the air, +to-night."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Why shouldn't it be?" she demanded. "Here are we, three grown-up +children, sitting in a row at home and knowing that, this very evening, +our own father is being married to a stranger. It's horrid."</p> + +<p>"It may not be so bad, Teddy," Hope said consolingly, as she rolled up +Hubert's socks in a ball and tossed them at her brother. "You know we +saw her once and we all liked her."</p> + +<p>"That was before we knew what was going on. You may think a person is +pretty and nice and all that; but that doesn't mean you want her for a +mother."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe she'll be so bad," Hubert observed judicially. "She's +been to college and she knows a good deal, and she's pretty and not +easily shocked. Don't you remember how she laughed at Babe's awful +speeches?"</p> + +<p>"I remember just how she looked," Hope said. "She must have been amused +at our innocence. I don't see why the reason never struck us that we +were all dragged over to the hotel to see her."</p> + +<p>"Because we had some respect for papa," Theodora said tartly. "I don't +see why he needs to go and get married again, and I won't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> say I'm glad +to see her, when she comes. There!"</p> + +<p>"Ted is afraid that Madame will make her toe the mark," Hubert said +teasingly. "You've had your own way too long, Miss Teddy, and now you +will have to come to terms. Isn't that about the truth of it?"</p> + +<p>The clock struck eight, and Hope raised her head.</p> + +<p>"Listen," she said. "Isn't it a strange feeling that now, in the middle +of the lights and the music and the wedding march, papa, our own father, +is being married, while we sit here just as we always do?"</p> + +<p>The three young faces grew grave at the thought, Hope's with the sweet +romance of her years, Hubert's with interest, and Theodora's with open +rebellion. For some time they sat there, silent. Then Hope spoke, with +the evident design of changing the subject.</p> + +<p>"Does anybody know about the new people on the corner?"</p> + +<p>"Only what papa said, that it's a woman and her son. She's a widow, her +husband was killed in the Massawan bridge accident, and the son terribly +hurt."</p> + +<p>"Have they come?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, I saw them yesterday," Hubert said.</p> + +<p>"What are they like?" Hope and Theodora asked in a breath.</p> + +<p>"They were driving past the post-office, when I went after the noon +mail. They went by so fast I couldn't see much, though."</p> + +<p>"How did you know who it was?" Theodora inquired, rolling over till she +could look up into her brother's face.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Saunders asked me if I knew they were our new neighbors. They came +Tuesday, but they stayed at the hotel till yesterday morning, while the +house was being put in order."</p> + +<p>"What did they look like?" Teddy demanded.</p> + +<p>"Like all the rest of the world, as far as I could see."</p> + +<p>"Stop teasing, Hu, and tell us," Hope urged.</p> + +<p>"Really, I don't know much about them," Hubert returned, with an air of +lazy indifference. "Look out, Ted, you're tipping over Hope's basket. +One would think we'd never had any new neighbors before, from the way +you act."</p> + +<p>"We haven't, for ages. Tell us, Hu, there's a dear, what are they like?"</p> + +<p>"I honestly didn't have a chance to see them,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> Ted. She's tall and +pretty, and has a lot of fuzzy light red hair."</p> + +<p>"Of course she was in mourning," Hope said.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I suppose so. At least, she had a pile of black stuff hanging down +her back. I don't see why women should pin a black shawl over their +heads, when somebody dies; but then—"</p> + +<p>"How old is the son?" Theodora interrupted.</p> + +<p>"About our ages, I should say."</p> + +<p>"Did he look ill?" Hope asked pitifully.</p> + +<p>"No; only pale."</p> + +<p>"What's the matter with him, anyway?" Theodora inquired, as she reached +out for her brother's hand and fell to playing with his slender brown +fingers.</p> + +<p>"Papa told me he was jammed into a corner, with a lot of stuff on top of +him, and his back is hurt so he can't walk."</p> + +<p>"Ugh!" Theodora wriggled. "How horrid! Won't he get over it?"</p> + +<p>"Sometime; but it will take a good while."</p> + +<p>"How did they happen to come here?" Hope said.</p> + +<p>"They wanted to move into the country. Dr. Parker is their regular +doctor, and he advised them to try papa, so they came here to be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> near +him. Papa told me, on the way to the station, the day he went. He had a +great, thick letter from Dr. Parker all about it."</p> + +<p>"And so they are really in the house. It has been empty so long that I +can't realize it," Hope observed thoughtfully. "Of course, if he were a +girl, it would make more difference to us."</p> + +<p>"I don't see why," Theodora said, as she pulled off the ribbon from one +of her braids, and untied the bow.</p> + +<p>"Why, because—Don't you see? He can't come to us, and we can't go +there; that is, none of us but Hu."</p> + +<p>"I don't see why," Theodora said again.</p> + +<p>"It wouldn't be proper," Hope said primly. "You can't go to call on a +boy, Teddy. Hu will go over, in a day or two, though."</p> + +<p>"Not if he knows himself," Hubert returned. "I don't like freaks. They +make me squirmy, and I never know what to say to them."</p> + +<p>"Then you're a pig," Theodora answered, with Saxon frankness. "It won't +be decent, if we don't try to make it pleasant for him. He's a stranger +to everybody, and shut up so he can't have any fun."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I really think you ought to go, Hu," Hope said gently.</p> + +<p>"I don't hanker to," he returned laughingly. "Let Ted go, if she wants +to."</p> + +<p>"But she is a girl—" Hope began.</p> + +<p>"Not more than half," Hubert interrupted, with a laughing grimace at his +twin sister, who stood by the sofa, looking scornfully down at them.</p> + +<p>"You can do as you like, you two," she said. "It isn't a question of +whether it's proper or not; it is simple human kindness, and as soon as +I can, Hope McAlister, I intend to get acquainted with him. You've got +to go over there, Hu, and take me with you, just as soon as papa comes +home." She tied her ribbon with a defiant jerk.</p> + +<p>Rather to her surprise, Hubert came to her support.</p> + +<p>"You're all right, Teddy; go ahead. If papa is willing, Hope, I don't +see why she can't go to see him whenever she feels like it. It isn't in +my line. I always feel as if people smashed up in that way ought to sing +hymns all the time, and talk about Heaven. That's the way they do in +Sunday-school books, you know, and they never have tempers and things.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +I shouldn't know what to say to that kind of a fellow, and I should only +make a mess of it; but if Ted wants to play the good Samaritan to him, +let her. For my part, I like whole people, or none at all." He squared +his shoulders and took a deep, full breath, as he spoke, in all the +pride of his boyish strength.</p> + +<p>"We're bound to see a good deal of him anyway," Theodora urged, a shade +less hotly. "Right next door and a patient of papa's, it would be queer +not to pay any attention to him. He's all alone, too, and there are such +a lot of us. I don't want to do anything out-of-the-way, Hope, but I do +wish we could get acquainted with him."</p> + +<p>"Wait till papa comes home, dear," Hope said, with the gentleness which +had gained her so many victories over her tempestuous young sisters. +"That will only be two or three weeks, and he will know what is the best +thing to do."</p> + +<p>"Maybe, unless the new Madame is a prig," Theodora said restively. "She +may be worse than you are, Hope; but I doubt it. Never mind," she added +sagely to herself, as she left the room; "it is two weeks till then, and +there's plenty of chance for things to happen, before they get home."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_TWO" id="CHAPTER_TWO"></a>CHAPTER TWO</h2> + +<p>Lying far at the side of the little suburban town, the McAlisters' +grounds were of a size and beauty which entitled them to be ranked as +one of the few so-called "places" that dominated the closely-built +streets of the town. The land ran all up and down hill, here coaxed into +a smooth-cropped lawn, there carpeted with the moss and partridge vines +which had been left to grow over the rocks in undisturbed possession. +Here and there, too, were outcrops of the rock, ragged, jutting ledges +full of the nooks and crannies which delight the souls of children from +one generation to another. The grounds had been, for the most part, left +as nature had made them, full of little curves and hillocks and dimples; +but the great glory of the place lay in its trees. No conventional elms +and maples were they, but the native trees of the forest, huge-bodied +chestnuts, tall, straight-limbed oaks, jagged hickories which blazed +bright gold in the autumn and shot back<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> the sunlight from every leafy +twig, and an occasional cedar or two, from which came the name of the +place, The Savins.</p> + +<p>Less than a year after his first marriage, Dr. McAlister had bought the +place, going far out of the town for the purpose. At that time, he was +regarded as little short of a maniac, to prefer land on the ridge to the +smooth, conventional little lawns of the middle of the town, where one +house was so like another that the inhabitants might have followed the +example of the Mad Tea Party and moved up a place, without suffering any +inconvenience from the change. It was years before the townspeople +dropped the story of Mrs. McAlister's first attempt to choose a site for +the house, of her patiently sitting on top of the rail fence, while her +husband borrowed a hatchet and manfully whacked away at the underbrush, +to clear a path to admit her to her new domain.</p> + +<p>It was not till several years later that the house was built, and the +McAlisters actually took possession of their new home. Phebe was a baby +then, and the twins were so young that Theodora formed an abiding +impression that Indians were prone to lurk behind a certain trio of +great chestnut-trees at the far side of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> the grounds. The house was not +impressive. It stood on one of the three hills, and originally it had +been small, to match the income of the young doctor. Only a year later, +he had built on a new wing; and, from that time onward, the spirit of +reconstruction had entered into his soul. Hope was wont to describe the +house as a species of crazy patchwork, a patch for each year, and each +patch of a different style. From the outside point of view, the result +was not a success, and the large red house, low and rambling, had grown +beyond the limits of the hill and sprawled over the edge on a pile of +supporting piazzas and pillars. Inside, it was altogether delightful, +with odd windows and corners and lounging places, sunshine everywhere, +and the indescribable air of half-shabby, well-used cosiness which is so +dear to every one but the owners thereof. Strangers felt the charm as +soon as they crossed the threshold; the whole atmosphere of the place +was hospitable and unconventional and homelike.</p> + +<p>Taken all in all, it was an ideal spot for growing children, and the +young McAlisters had made the most of it. On rainy days, they adjourned +to the attic, where they bumped their heads against the low rafters of +the gables, or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> ventured on long, perilous expeditions upon the beams of +the unfloored extension over one of the wings. They were gifted with +good imaginations, these three older children, and this +carefully-trodden territory did service alternately as Africa, Fort +Ticonderoga, and a runaway locomotive.</p> + +<p>But that was only during stormy weather. The rest of the time they lived +out-of-doors, in winter coasting down the hills on sleds or on shingles, +according to the state of the crust; and in summer running riot among +the green things, like the very daisies which refused to be rooted out +of the lawn. A neighborhood had grown up around them; but they cared +little for other children. A wealth of imagination, and plenty of room +to let it work itself out had developed plays of long standing which +were as charming to them as they were incomprehensible to their young +neighbors.</p> + +<p>Then the change had come, and a cloud had fallen on the home. Baby Allyn +had been born, and on the same day the bright, happy young mother, boon +companion of her children in work and in play, had fallen asleep. The +shock had come so suddenly and unexpectedly that there had been no time +to plan for a recon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>struction. Almost before they realized what had +occurred, they had settled back into their former routine, only with +Hope as the nominal, and old Susan, the American "help," as the actual, +head of things. In a larger community, such an arrangement would have +been out of the question; but Hope was a womanly child, and Susan had +been in the family for years, in a relation which unfortunately is fast +dying out. Accordingly, the doctor had been content to let the situation +go on from day to day, until the hour of his second marriage, two or +three years later.</p> + +<p>Back in a far corner of the grounds, close to the division fence towards +the garden of the long-unoccupied corner house, was an early apple-tree, +old and gnarly, which for years had been known as "Teddy's tree." No one +had ever been able to trace the beginning of her proprietorship in it; +but she had assumed it as her own and viewed with disfavor any +encroachments on the part of the others. It might have been a case of +squatter sovereignty; but it was a sovereignty which Theodora stoutly +maintained. Her scarlet hammock hung from the lower branches, and the +tree was full of comfortable crooks and crotches which she knew to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> the +least detail. Thither she was wont to retire to recover her lost temper, +to grieve over her girlish sorrows, to dream dreams of future glory, +and, often and often, to lie passive and watch the white clouds drift +this way and that in the great blue arch above her. No human being, not +even Hubert himself, could have told so much of Theodora's inner life as +this old apple-tree, if only the power of speech had been granted it.</p> + +<p>Three days later, Theodora was curled up in a fork of one of the topmost +branches of her tree. The apples were beginning to ripen, and she had +eaten until even her hearty young appetite was satisfied. Then she +crossed her feet, coiled one arm around the branch beside her, and fell +to planning, as she had so often done before, how she could fulfil her +two great ambitions, to go to college in the first place, and then to +become a famous author. It was always an absorbing subject and, losing +herself in it, she became totally oblivious of her surroundings. Nearly +an hour later, she was roused by the sound of approaching voices, and +she straightened herself and peered down through the branches.</p> + +<p>Just below her, on the other side of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> fence, so close to it that it +had escaped her notice, was a light bamboo lounge, covered with a pile +of bright cushions. Across the garden, evidently towards it, came a +wheeled chair pushed by a sedate-looking person in green livery, and +occupied by a slight figure covered with a gay rug. Theodora gave a +little gasp of sheer delight.</p> + +<p>"It's the boy!" she exclaimed to herself. "Now is my chance to get a +look at him."</p> + +<p>Beside the lounge, the chair came to a halt, and the man, bending down, +lifted the boy from the chair. With pitiful eyes, Theodora noted the +limp helplessness of all the lower part of his body; but she also saw +that the boyish face was bright and manly, and that his blue eyes +flashed with a spirit equal to Hubert's own. She watched approvingly the +handy way in which the man settled the cushions. Then he turned to go +away. Half way across the garden, he was arrested by a call from the +lounge.</p> + +<p>"Hi, Patrick!"</p> + +<p>"Well, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Where's my book?"</p> + +<p>"What book?"</p> + +<p>"The one I was reading, the blue one."</p> + +<p>"I think you left it in the house."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But didn't I tell you to bring it along? Go and get it, and hurry up +about it." And a pillow flew after Patrick's retreating form with a +strength and an accuracy of aim which called forth an ill-suppressed +giggle from Theodora.</p> + +<p>Presently the man reappeared, book in hand, and the boy hailed him +jovially with an utter disregard of his passing ill-humor. Then the man +went away, and silence fell. The boy below was absorbed in his reading; +Theodora above in watching him and building up a detailed romance about +him, upon the slight foundation of her present impression.</p> + +<p>"I wonder what his name is," she said to herself. "I hope it's something +nice and interesting, like Valentine, or Geoffrey, or something."</p> + +<p>She had just reached the point in her romance where one of them, she was +not quite sure which, should rescue the other from a runaway horse, when +the boy suddenly called her back to the present by throwing his open +book on the ground, with a vigorous yawn.</p> + +<p>"Ha-um!" he remarked, and, turning his head slightly, he stared +aimlessly up into the tree above him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> + +<p>Theodora, high up among the branches, was screened from his view by the +light leafage, and the pale greenish tones of her cotton gown helped her +to escape notice. Accordingly, she bent forward and peeped through the +leaves, laughing to herself as she saw his eyes turned upward, quite +unconscious of her scrutiny.</p> + +<p>Yes, he was interesting, she told herself. He did not look in the least +like a pensive invalid as he lay there, and she nodded to herself in +girlish approval, as she took in every detail of his appearance. +Unfortunately that nod cost her her hiding-place. Without in the least +realizing it, she had leaned too far forward, and she slipped from her +perch. She saved herself by catching at a branch before her; but the +sudden jar sent a ripe apple crashing down through the leaves, and it +landed plump in one of the cushions, not two inches from the boy's head.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I say!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 311px;"><a name="FRONTISPIECE" title="FRONTISPIECE"></a> +<img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" width="311" height="500" alt="Theodora's face, rosy with blushes, appeared in the +opening." title="" /> +<span class="caption">Theodora's face, rosy with blushes, appeared in the +opening.</span> +</div> + +<p>The words were addressed to empty space, merely as an expression of +surprise. The surprise was increased, as he saw the leaves pushed apart, +and Theodora's face, rosy with blushes, appear in the opening.</p> + +<p>"I'm so sorry! Did it hurt you?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Not a bit. Besides, I was just getting hungry."</p> + +<p>As a proof of his statement, his teeth met in the apple.</p> + +<p>"Don't you want another?" Theodora inquired generously.</p> + +<p>"Thank you; not in that same way. You might aim better, next time."</p> + +<p>"Honestly, I didn't mean to do it. I slipped and jiggled it down. Wait a +minute, and I'll throw down some more, better ones."</p> + +<p>She scrambled about in the branches, tossing down the bright apples till +they lay thick on the ground about the lounge. The boy watched her, half +amused, half envious as he saw her lithe, agile motions.</p> + +<p>"You'll have to come down and pick them up now," he said composedly, +when the shower had ceased. "I can't reach them, you see."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" Theodora gave a little groan of annoyance. "How stupid I am!"</p> + +<p>"I don't see why. But come along down and talk to a fellow for a while."</p> + +<p>Glimpses of a rosy face, a pale green gown and a pair of tan-colored +shoes were beginning to whet his curiosity. He wanted to see what the +stranger was like, at shorter range.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> + +<p>With a rustle and a slide and a bump, Theodora dropped lightly at his +side. She caught the placket of her skirt, on the way; but the sound of +rending garments was too common an occurrence in her career to call for +more than a passing attention. Strange to say, it had been much easier +to talk when she had been half-hidden in the apple-tree. A sudden +shyness came upon them both, as they looked in each other's eyes. There +was an interval of silence. Then Theodora dropped down on the turf by +the lounge, and held up a handful of apples.</p> + +<p>"Take one of these. They're ever so much better than the first one."</p> + +<p>"This is good enough, thank you." He took another from her outstretched +hand, however. "Do you usually inhabit trees like this? I didn't hear +you come."</p> + +<p>"I've been there all the morning," Theodora answered, while she told +herself that his bright blue eyes were almost as fine as Hubert's brown +ones. "That tree is my city of refuge. The others call it 'Teddy's +tree.'"</p> + +<p>"And you are—" he hesitated.</p> + +<p>She laughed, while she chose one of the apples that lay beside her, and +plunged her strong young teeth into it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, I'm Teddy," she said, with her mouth somewhat too full for +elegance. "My real name is Theodora," she added, speaking rather more +distinctly.</p> + +<p>"I think I like the other best," the boy replied, laughing in his turn.</p> + +<p>"I don't. Teddy is like a boy; but Theodora is stately and dignified. I +want to be called Theodora; but in a family like ours, there are bound +to be nicknames."</p> + +<p>"You aren't the only one, then?"</p> + +<p>"Mercy, no! There are five of us."</p> + +<p>"How jolly it must be! I'm the only one." The boy's tone was a bit +wishful. "Are they all like you?"</p> + +<p>"I hope not." Theodora's laugh rang out a second time, hearty and +infectious. "There are two good ones, and two bad ones, and a baby."</p> + +<p>"Which are you?" the boy asked mischievously.</p> + +<p>"What a question! I'm bad, of course, that is, in comparison with Hope. +She's the oldest, and we get worse as we go down the line. I shudder to +think what the baby may develop into."</p> + +<p>The boy nestled down contentedly among his cushions and watched her with +merry eyes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Go on and tell about them," he urged. "It's such fun to hear about a +large family."</p> + +<p>Theodora's quick eye saw that one of the cushions was slipping to one +side. She replaced it with a deftness of touch natural to her, yet +seemingly incongruous with her harum-scarum ways. Then she settled +herself with her back against a tree, facing her new friend.</p> + +<p>"Hope is past seventeen and an angel," she said; "one of the good, quiet +kind with yellow hair and not any temper. She's had all the care of us, +since my mother died. Then there's Hubert, my twin brother. He's my boy, +and a splendid one. You'll like Hu. Phebe is ten, and a terror. Nobody +ever knows what she'll do or say next. We call her Babe, but Allyn is +the real baby. He's cunning and funny, except when Babe teases him, and +then he rages like a little monster. That's all there are of us."</p> + +<p>"And you live just over the fence?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, we've lived there always, grown up with the place. People used to +call it McAlister's Folly; but they're more respectful now."</p> + +<p>"McAlister?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I'm Dr. McAlister's daughter. Didn't you know it?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How should I? Remember, you came down out of a tree."</p> + +<p>They both laughed.</p> + +<p>"That's just like me," Theodora returned. "I never do the thing I ought. +Hu was coming over here in a few days; but Hope said I must wait to see +what papa said."</p> + +<p>"What for?"</p> + +<p>"Because you're a boy. She said girls don't go to see boys. I told her I +would wait, and here I am. I couldn't help it; but Hope will be +horrified. She never went to see a boy in her life; but then, she's used +to being horrified at me." Theodora appeared to be arguing out the +situation, much to her own frank amusement.</p> + +<p>"But don't you see it's different in this case?" the boy suggested. "I'm +only about half a boy, just now. Besides, Miss Teddy, if you'll only +come over again, I promise to make up for it, as soon as I'm able to go +to see you."</p> + +<p>Theodora's face brightened.</p> + +<p>"Do you honestly want me to come again?"</p> + +<p>"Of course. Else I shouldn't ask you. Come over the fence again. I shall +be up here, 'most every pleasant morning, and everybody<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> else is busy, +fixing up the house. Come to-morrow," he urged.</p> + +<p>"I will, if I can. Sometimes I'm busy."</p> + +<p>"By the way," the boy added abruptly; "maybe I ought to tell you my +name. Probably you know it, though."</p> + +<p>"No." Theodora looked up expectantly. She had an appetite for +high-sounding names, and she had decided that Valentine Mortimer would +just suit the present instance.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm Will Farrington; but everybody calls me Billy."</p> + +<p>"Oh." Then Theodora unexpectedly began to laugh. "We ought to be good +friends," she said; "for our names are about equally imposing. Billy and +Teddy! Could anything be more prosaic? Good-by," she added, as she rose. +"Truly, I must go home now."</p> + +<p>Billy held out his hand. It looked rather white and thin, as Theodora's +brown, strong fingers closed over it.</p> + +<p>"Good-by," he said reluctantly. "Do come again whenever you can. +Remember there are five of you and only one of me, and be as neighborly +as you can."</p> + +<p>Theodora mounted the fence. At the top, she paused and looked back.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I will come," she said. "I'll get round Hope in some way or other. +Good-by till to-morrow." She nodded brightly, and jumped down out of +sight, on the other side of the fence.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_THREE" id="CHAPTER_THREE"></a>CHAPTER THREE</h2> + +<p>It was the first of September, and the sunshine lay yellow on the +fields. Phebe McAlister and her chief friend and crony, Isabel St. John, +sat side by side on a rough board fence, not far from the McAlister +grounds, feasting upon turnips. The turnips were unripe and raw, and +nothing but an innate spirit of perversity could have induced the girls +to eat them. Moreover, each had an abundant supply of exactly similar +vegetables in her own home garden, yet they had wandered away, to prey +upon the turnip patch of Mr. Elnathan Rogers.</p> + +<p>"Good, aren't they?" Phebe asked, as the corky, hard root cracked under +her jaws.</p> + +<p>"Fine." Isabel rolled her morsel under her tongue; then, when Phebe's +attention was distracted, she furtively threw it down back of the fence. +"I believe I like 'em better this way than I do cooked." This addition +was strictly true, for Isabel never touched turnips at home.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I want another." Phebe jumped down and helped herself to two more +turnips, carefully choosing the largest and best, and ruthlessly +sacrificing a half-dozen more in the process. "Here, Isabel, take your +pick."</p> + +<p>Isabel held out her hand, hesitated, then, with a radiant smile of +generosity, ostentatiously helped herself to the smaller. But Phebe held +firmly to its bunch of green leaves.</p> + +<p>"No, take the other, Isabel," she urged.</p> + +<p>"I'd rather leave it for you."</p> + +<p>"But I want you to have it."</p> + +<p>"And I want you to take it."</p> + +<p>"I've got ever so many more at home."</p> + +<p>"So've I."</p> + +<p>Reluctantly Phebe yielded her hold, and Isabel took the smaller one and +rubbed the earth away, before biting it.</p> + +<p>"It's not fair for me to take it, Phebe," she observed; "when you were +the one to get it."</p> + +<p>Phebe giggled.</p> + +<p>"Just s'pose Mr. Rogers should catch us here, Isabel St. John! What +would you do?"</p> + +<p>"I'd run," Isabel returned tersely.</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't; I'd tell him."</p> + +<p>Isabel stared at her friend in admiration.</p> + +<p>"Tell him what?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh—things," Phebe answered, with sudden vagueness. "My papa and mamma +are coming home this afternoon."</p> + +<p>"Your stepmother," Isabel corrected.</p> + +<p>"Well, what's the difference?"</p> + +<p>"Lots."</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, stepmothers are always mean to you and abuse you."</p> + +<p>"How do you know? You haven't got any."</p> + +<p>"No; but I knew a girl that had." Isabel took advantage of Phebe's +interest in the subject, to slip the half-eaten turnip into her pocket.</p> + +<p>"What happened?" Phebe demanded.</p> + +<p>"Oh, everything. The stepmother used to take tucks in her dresses, and +whip her, and send her to bed, and even when there was company. And her +own mother used to stand by the bed and say,—</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 11em;">'How is my baby and how is my fawn?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 11em;">Once more will I come, and then vanish at dawn.'"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Phebe turned around sharply.</p> + +<p>"What a fib! That's in a book of fairy stories, and you said you knew +the girl, Isabel St. John."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p> + +<p>"So I did. Her name was Eugenia Martha Smith."</p> + +<p>But Phebe refused to be convinced.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe one word of it, Isabel; and you needn't feel so smart, +even if you do have a mother of your own. I used to have; and I know my +stepmother will be nicer than your mother."</p> + +<p>"How do you know?"</p> + +<p>"She's prettier and she's younger. She gave me lots and lots of peaches, +too, and your mother wouldn't let us have a single one, so there now."</p> + +<p>"Do you know the reason why?" Isabel demanded, in hot indignation.</p> + +<p>"No, I don't, and I don't believe she does," Phebe answered recklessly.</p> + +<p>"She said, after you'd gone, that she'd have been willing to let you +have one, but you were so deceitful, you'd have taken a dozen, as soon +as her back was turned. Now what do you think?"</p> + +<p>Even between the friends, quarrels had been known to occur before now, +and one seemed imminent. An unexpected diversion intervened.</p> + +<p>"Little girls," a solemn voice sounded in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> their ears; "do you know you +are taking turnips that do not belong to you?"</p> + +<p>It was Mr. Elnathan Rogers. Isabel quaked, but Phebe faced him boldly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"But it is a sin to steal—"</p> + +<p>"A pin." Phebe unexpectedly capped his sentence for him. "These aren't +worth a pin, anyway, and I don't see the harm of hooking two or three."</p> + +<p>"But they are not your own," Mr. Rogers reiterated. He was more +accustomed to the phraseology of the prayer-meeting than of the public +school.</p> + +<p>"Ours aren't ripe yet," she answered, as she scrambled down from the +fence. "When they are, I'll bring some of them over, if you want them. +Yours aren't very good ones, either."</p> + +<p>Isabel also descended from the fence. As she did so, her skirt clung for +a moment, and the turnip rolled out from her pocket. Mr. Rogers eyed her +sternly.</p> + +<p>"Worse and worse," he said. "I would rather feel that you ate them here, +where temptation lurks, than that you carried them away to devour at +your ease. I shall surely have to speak to your parents, little girls. +Who are you?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p> + +<p>Isabel looked to Phebe for support; but Phebe was far down the road, +running to meet her brother, who had just come in sight, with Mulvaney, +the old Irish setter, at his heels.</p> + +<p>"I—I'm Isabel St. John," she confessed.</p> + +<p>"Not the minister's girl?"</p> + +<p>She nodded.</p> + +<p>"Well, I swan!" And Mr. Rogers picked up his hoe, and fell to pondering +upon the problem of infant depravity, while Isabel turned and scuttled +after her friend.</p> + +<p>"What do you want, Hu?" Phebe was calling.</p> + +<p>"Hope says it's time for you to come home now, and get dressed."</p> + +<p>"Bother! I don't want to. Isabel and I are having fun."</p> + +<p>Hubert took her hand and turned it palm upward.</p> + +<p>"It must be a queer kind of fun, from the color of you," he observed. +"But come, Babe, Hope is waiting."</p> + +<p>Isabel had joined them and fallen into step at their side.</p> + +<p>"What a queer name Hope is!" she said critically, for she wished to +convince Phebe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> that she and all her family were under the ban of her +lasting displeasure.</p> + +<p>"It is only short for Hopestill, and it isn't any queerer name than +Isabel."</p> + +<p>"Hopestill! That's worse. Where did she ever get such a name?"</p> + +<p>But Hubert interposed.</p> + +<p>"It was mamma's name, Isabel; so we all like it. Let's not talk about it +any more."</p> + +<p>Towards noon of that day, Theodora, who had taken refuge in her tree, +heard Hope's voice calling her. Reluctantly she scrambled down from her +perch and presented herself.</p> + +<p>"There's so much to be done, Teddy," Hope said; "would you mind dusting +the parlor?"</p> + +<p>Theodora hated dusting. Her idea of that solemn household rite was to +stand in the middle of the room and flap a feather duster in all +directions. To-day, however, she took the cloth which Hope offered, +without pausing to argue over the need for its use.</p> + +<p>Once in the parlor, she moved slowly around the room, diligently wiping +the dust from exposed surfaces, without taking the trouble to move so +much as a vase. At the piano, she paused and looked up at her mother's +picture which hung there above it. It was a life-size<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> crayon portrait, +copied from a photograph that had been taken only a few weeks before +Mrs. McAlister's death, and the sweet pictured face and the simple, +every-day gown were the face and gown which Theodora remembered so well. +The girl stood leaning on the piano, quite forgetful of the dusting, as +she stared up into the loving eyes above her, and, while she looked, two +great tears came into her eyes, and two more, and more yet. Then +Theodora suddenly bowed her head on her folded arms, and sobbed with the +intensity of such natures as hers.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mamma McAlister," she cried; "come back to us! We do want you, and +we don't want her. Your Teddy is so lonely. I won't have that woman here +in your place. I won't! I won't!"</p> + +<p>She raised her head again to look at the smiling lips and the tender +eyes. Then abruptly she dragged forward a chair, climbed to the top of +the piano and took down the portrait which had hung there since the day +of its first entering the house.</p> + +<p>It was late, that afternoon, when the carriage stopped before the house, +and Dr. McAlister, with his bride on his arm, came up the walk. The +children were waiting to greet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> them, Phebe perched on the fence, Hope +on the steps with Allyn clinging to her hand, and the twins in the +doorway, while old Susan stood in the hall, ready to welcome her new +mistress.</p> + +<p>There was the little flurry of meeting, the swift buzz of talk. Then +Hope led the way into the great, airy parlor which she had not entered +before, that day.</p> + +<p>On the threshold, she paused, aghast. Directly facing her stood a large +easel which usually held a fine engraving of the Dolorosa. To-day, +however, the Dolorosa was displaced. It stood on the floor by the piano, +and in its place was the portrait of Hope's own mother, looking up to +greet the woman who had come to take her place in the home. Across the +corner of the frame lay a pile of white bride roses, tied with a heavy +purple ribbon.</p> + +<p>"Don't mind it, Jack," Mrs. McAlister said to her husband, as soon as +they were alone together. "I like the child's spirit. Leave it to me, +please. I think I can make friends with her before long."</p> + +<p>Theodora was standing before the mirror, that night, brush in hand, +while the wavy masses of her hair fell about her like a heavy cape. Her +eyes looked dull, and the corners<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> of her mouth drooped dejectedly. She +started suddenly when an unexpected knock came at her door.</p> + +<p>"Come," she responded.</p> + +<p>The door swung open, and Mrs. McAlister stood on the threshold. In her +trailing blue wrapper with its little lace ruffles at the throat and +wrists, she looked younger than she had done in her travelling gown, and +the pure, deep color was not one bit deeper and purer than the color of +the eyes above it.</p> + +<p>"May I come in to say good-night?" she asked, pausing in the doorway, +for Theodora's face was slightly forbidding.</p> + +<p>"Of course." The girl drew forward a low willow chair.</p> + +<p>As she passed, Mrs. McAlister laid a caressing hand on the brown hair.</p> + +<p>"What a mass of it you have!" she said, seating herself and looking up +at her stepdaughter who stood before her, not knowing how to meet this +unexpected invasion.</p> + +<p>The remark seemed to call for no reply, and Theodora took up her brush +again.</p> + +<p>"Did you have a pleasant journey?" she asked, after a pause.</p> + +<p>"Very; but the home-coming was pleasantest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> of all. It was very sweet of +you all to be at the door to welcome me."</p> + +<p>"That was Hope's doing," Theodora said bluntly. "She told us we ought to +be there when you came."</p> + +<p>"It was good, whoever thought of it," Mrs. McAlister answered gently. +"Remember that it is years since I've known what it meant to come home."</p> + +<p>Theodora tossed aside her hair and turned to face her.</p> + +<p>"How do you mean?" she asked curiously.</p> + +<p>"My father and mother died when I was in college," her stepmother +replied. "There were only two of us left, my little brother and I, and +we never had a home, a real one, after that. I taught, and he was sent +away to school."</p> + +<p>"Where is he now?"</p> + +<p>"In Montana, a civil engineer. I find it hard to realize that my little +brother Archie is twenty-two, and a grown man."</p> + +<p>There was another pause. Then Mrs. McAlister suddenly drew a low +footstool to her side.</p> + +<p>"Theodora, child," she said; "sit down here and let me talk to you. You +seem so far off, standing there. Remember, I'm a stranger to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> you all, +and I want somebody to cuddle me a little, this first night."</p> + +<p>She had chanced to strike the right chord. Theodora never failed to +respond to an appeal to her sympathy and care. All enveloped in her +loosened hair, she dropped down at her stepmother's side.</p> + +<p>"You aren't homesick, I hope."</p> + +<p>"No; I couldn't be, with such a welcome home. But papa is down in the +office, and I needed somebody to talk to. I thought you'd understand, +dear. And then there were things I wanted to say to you."</p> + +<p>"What?" Theodora asked suspiciously.</p> + +<p>Mrs. McAlister rested her hand on the girl's shoulder.</p> + +<p>"About the flowers, for one thing. I know so well how you felt, +Theodora, when you put them there."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" Theodora faced her sharply.</p> + +<p>"My own mother died before I was seventeen, a year before my father did, +and I used to wake up in the night and cry, because I was so afraid he +would marry again."</p> + +<p>"But you married papa," Theodora said slowly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I know I did. Since then, Theodora, I have come to see the other side +of it all. But I remember the way I used to feel about it; and I know +that you think I am an interloper here. Hope doesn't mind it so much, +nor Hubert; it is hardest of all for you." She paused and stroked the +brown hair again.</p> + +<p>Theodora sat silent, her eyes fixed on the floor.</p> + +<p>"I sha'n't mean to come between you and your father, Theodora," Mrs. +McAlister went on; "and I shall never expect to take your own mother's +place. And yet, in time I hope you can care for me a little, too."</p> + +<p>Suddenly the girl turned and laid her lithe young arm across her +stepmother's knee.</p> + +<p>"I think I can—in time," she said. "It takes me a good while to get +used to new things, some new things, that is, and I didn't want somebody +to come here and drive my own mother farther off. She was different from +everybody else, somehow. But your mother died, and you'll understand +about it." Her tone was quiet and dispassionate, yet, underneath, it +rang true, and Mrs. McAlister was satisfied.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Teddy," she said gently. "Or would you rather I called you +Theodora?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Theodora, please," the girl answered, flushing a little. "Teddy was my +baby name; but I'm not a baby any longer. The others have called me +Teddy so long that I can't break them of the habit; but I don't like the +name."</p> + +<p>"It suits you, though," Mrs. McAlister said, smiling as her eyes rested +on the intent young face beside her. "But I'll try to remember. And now +I wish you'd tell me a little about the younger ones, Phebe and Allyn. +Your father told me that Hope was the housekeeper, but that, in some +ways, you were the real mother of them all."</p> + +<p>Theodora's face lighted, and she laughed.</p> + +<p>"Did he truly say that? Hope has the real care of them, and she never +fights with them, as I do."</p> + +<p>There was an amusing, off-hand directness in Theodora's tone which +pleased her stepmother. Already she felt more at home and on cordial +terms with the outspoken girl than with the gentle, courteous Hope; yet +she realized that her own course was by no means open before her, that +it would be long before Theodora would accept her sway in the home. It +would be necessary to proceed slowly, but firmly. Little Allyn and +fractious Phebe would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> be less difficult for her to manage than their +older sister. She lingered for half an hour longer, talking with +Theodora until she heard Dr. McAlister's step upon the stairs; and when +at last she left the room, Theodora's good-night sounded quite as +cordial as her own.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_FOUR" id="CHAPTER_FOUR"></a>CHAPTER FOUR</h2> + +<p>"I wish I could have all my wishes granted," Theodora said.</p> + +<p>She was sitting in her favorite position on the grass beside Billy's +lounge, with her elbows on her knees and her chin in her clasped hands. +Billy, propped up among his cushions, smiled back at her benignly.</p> + +<p>"You'd be most awfully disagreeable to live with," he returned.</p> + +<p>"Thank you for the compliment. I'd like to run the risk, though."</p> + +<p>"Let me move out of town first," the boy replied teasingly. "But you +needn't be greedy; I'd be satisfied to have one wish."</p> + +<p>"That's because you don't need so many things as I do."</p> + +<p>"It's because I have one thing I want so much more than I do the +others," he retorted.</p> + +<p>She looked up at him with a sudden flash of tenderness in her eyes.</p> + +<p>"I know," she said gently; "but it won't be long."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Months, though. How would you like it to take a year out of your life?"</p> + +<p>Theodora's brows contracted.</p> + +<p>"Don't you suppose I ever think about it, Billy Farrington? I should be +frantic, if I were in your place, and I don't see how you ever stand it. +It makes my wishes seem so small, in comparison. I'd rather be poorer +than Job's turkey than spend even one month on my back. Does it hurt; or +is it just that you can't do things? Either one is bad enough."</p> + +<p>"It hurts sometimes."</p> + +<p>"Now?"</p> + +<p>He nodded.</p> + +<p>"I thought you looked tired, as if something bothered you," Theodora +said penitently; "and here I've stayed talking to you, when you'd rather +have been by yourself."</p> + +<p>"Honestly, no. You make me forget things." He held out his hand in +protest, as she started to rise. "Sit down again."</p> + +<p>She obeyed him; but she fell silent, as she sat looking up at him. He +had more color than usual, she noticed; but there were fine lines +between his brows, and his red-gold hair was pushed back from his face, +as if its weight irritated him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But what are the wishes?" he asked, restive under her scrutiny, and +seeking to divert her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I have dozens and dozens; but there are three great big ones which +increase in greatness as they go on."</p> + +<p>"What are they?" he asked curiously. "You'll get them, if you wait long +enough. People always do."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe it. These are all impossible, and I never expect to get +them; but I want them, all the same. I want—" She hesitated, laughing +and blushing a little. "You'll make fun of me."</p> + +<p>"No, I won't. Go on and tell."</p> + +<p>"I want a bicycle first. Then I want to go to college." She hesitated +again and stuck fast.</p> + +<p>"And then?"</p> + +<p>She raised her head and spoke rapidly.</p> + +<p>"Don't laugh; but I want some day to be an author and write books."</p> + +<p>She started abruptly, for a white hand suddenly rested on her shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Bravo, Miss Teddy!—for it is Miss Teddy; isn't it? Will has told me +about you and I'm glad to get a glimpse of you at last. Your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> wishes are +good ones, all of them, and I hope you will get them, and get them +soon."</p> + +<p>As she spoke, Mrs. Farrington moved across and seated herself on the +edge of the lounge.</p> + +<p>"How is the pain, Will?" she asked, bending over to settle him more +comfortably. "I was sorry to leave you so long; but you were in good +hands. Miss Teddy, this boy of mine says that you have been very good to +him, since we came here."</p> + +<p>Theodora flushed a little. It was the first time she had been face to +face with Mrs. Farrington, and she found the slender figure in its +unrelieved black gown rather awe-inspiring. She began to wish that she +had taken Hope's advice and remained upon her own side of the fence. +During the past ten days, her neighborly calls had been frequent; but +she had always before now succeeded in making her escape before any one +else appeared. Hubert, in the meantime, had dutifully called on his new +neighbor; but he had called decorously and by way of the front gate, at +a time when Billy was out with his mother for their daily drive, so Mrs. +Farrington had caught no glimpse of their young neighbors who had it in +their power to make such a difference in her son's life.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> She had been +amused and interested in Billy's account of Theodora's erratic calls, +and she had felt an instant liking for the bright-faced, straightforward +young girl who was as free from self-consciousness as Billy himself.</p> + +<p>"When is your father coming back?" she asked, after a pause, during +which she became conscious of Theodora's searching scrutiny.</p> + +<p>"Day after to-morrow, I think. We had a letter from him, this morning."</p> + +<p>"I am so glad," Mrs. Farrington said. "I want him to see Will as soon as +he comes. Dr. Parker spoke so highly of him that I feel it is everything +for us to be so near him as we are."</p> + +<p>Theodora's color came. She was intensely loyal to her father, and praise +of him was sweet to her ears.</p> + +<p>"People say that papa is a good doctor," she replied frankly. "I hope +he'll be able to help Billy. Anyway, we're all so glad to have somebody +living here again. It's ages since the house has been occupied."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Farrington smiled.</p> + +<p>"I should judge so from the general air of mustiness I find. I rejoice +in all this bright, warm weather, so Will can live out of doors.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> The +house feels fairly clammy, and I don't like to have him in it, more than +I can help. I hope you are going to be very neighborly, all of you, this +coming winter."</p> + +<p>Theodora laughed.</p> + +<p>"All five of us? Remember, you aren't used to such a horde, and we may +overrun you entirely. You'd better arrange to take us on the instalment +plan."</p> + +<p>"We're not timid," Billy asserted. "Really, I think we can stand it, +Miss Teddy."</p> + +<p>Theodora shook her head.</p> + +<p>"You've not seen Babe yet, and you little realize what she is. In fact, +you've hardly seen any of us. I want you to know Hope. You'll adore her; +boys always do."</p> + +<p>"In the meantime," Mrs. Farrington interposed; "I want to know something +about—" she paused for the right word,—"about your new mother. Some +one told me she was at Vassar. That is my college, you know. What was +her maiden name?"</p> + +<p>"Holden. Elizabeth Holden."</p> + +<p>"Bess Holden!" Mrs. Farrington started up excitedly. "I wonder if it can +be Bess. What does she look like?"</p> + +<p>"I've only seen her once."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Was she tall and dark, with great blue eyes?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I think so, and I remember that her eyebrows weren't just alike; +one was bent more than the other."</p> + +<p>"It must be Bess." Mrs. Farrington rose and moved to and fro across the +lawn. Theodora watched her admiringly, noticing her firm, free step and +the faultless lines of her tailor-made gown. She felt suddenly young and +crude and rather shabby. Then Mrs. Farrington paused beside her. "If it +is Bess Holden, Miss Teddy, your father is a happy man, and I am a happy +woman to have stumbled into this neighborhood. She was the baby of our +class, and one of the finest girls in it. When she comes, ask her—No, +don't ask her anything. It is eighteen years since we met, and I want to +see if she'll remember me. Don't tell her anything about me, please."</p> + +<p>A week later, the McAlisters were sitting under one of the trees on the +hill, a little away from the house. It was a bright golden day, and +Theodora had lured them outside, directly after dinner. The doctor had +been called away; but the others had strolled across the lawn and up the +hill as far as a great bed of green and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> gray moss, where they had +thrown themselves down under one of the great chestnut-trees. At their +right, an aged birch drooped nearly to the earth; behind them, a pile of +lichen-covered rocks cropped out from the moss, against which the twins +were resting in an indiscriminate pile. To Mrs. McAlister's mind, there +was something indescribably pleasant in this simple holiday-making, and +she gave herself up as unreservedly to the passing hour as did the young +people around her.</p> + +<p>All at once, Theodora pinched Hubert's arm, and laid her finger on her +lip. Her quick ear had caught the familiar sound of Billy's wheeled +chair, and, a moment later, Mrs. Farrington came in sight over the low +crest of the hill, followed by Patrick, whose face was flushed with the +exertion of pushing the chair along the pathless turf.</p> + +<p>Absorbed in listening to Hope, Mrs. McAlister heard no sound until Mrs. +Farrington paused just behind her. Then she rose abruptly, and turned to +face her unexpected guests.</p> + +<p>"This is rather an invasion," Mrs. Farrington was saying, with a little +air of apology; "but the maid said you were all out here, and she told +me to come in search of you."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> + +<p>For an instant, Mrs. McAlister gazed at her guest, at the slender figure +and the small oval face crowned with its masses of red-gold hair. Then, +to the surprise of every one but Theodora, she gave a joyous outcry,—</p> + +<p>"Jessie Everett!"</p> + +<p>"Bess!"</p> + +<p>Side by side on the moss, a little apart from the others, the two women +dropped down and talked incoherently and rapidly, with an +interjectional, fragmentary eagerness, trying to tell in detail the +story of eighteen years in as many minutes, breaking off, again and +again, to exclaim at the strangeness of the chance which had once more +brought them together. On one side, the tale was the monotonous record +of the successful teacher; on the other was the story of the brilliant +marriage, the years of happiness, of seeing the best of life, and the +swift tragedy of six months before, which had taken away the husband and +left the only son a physical wreck. The years had swept the two friends +far apart; their desultory correspondence had dropped; and in this one +afternoon of their first meeting, they could only sketch in the bare +outlines, and leave time to do the rest.</p> + +<p>"And this is my only child," Mrs. Farring<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>ton said at last. "You have so +many now, Bess, be generous with them, and let Will have as much good of +them as he can. Your Teddy has been very kind to him already."</p> + +<p>"Teddy?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Theodora as she calls herself. She has been making neighborly +calls by way of the fence, and she and Will are excellent friends +already. What an unusual girl she is!"</p> + +<p>There came a little look of perplexity in Mrs. McAlister's eyes.</p> + +<p>"Yes; and yet I find her the hardest one of them all to get at. The fact +is, Jessie, I have two or three problems to deal with, and Theodora is +not the least of them. Hope and Hubert are conventional enough, and +Phebe is openly fractious; but Theodora is more complex. She's the most +interesting one to me, but she is decidedly elusive."</p> + +<p>"I wish she were mine," Mrs. Farrington said enviously. "I have so +longed for a daughter, and she would be so good for Will. He doesn't +know anybody here, and he is so handicapped that he can't get acquainted +easily. I know he gets horribly tired of me. Women aren't good for boys, +either; and now that he is so pitifully helpless, I have to watch +myself<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> all the time not to coddle him to death. I hate a prig; you know +I always did, Bess, and I am in terror of turning my boy into one. I +shall borrow your Teddy, as often as I can, for she is the healthiest +companion that he can have."</p> + +<p>Billy, meanwhile, had promptly been made to feel at home among the young +people. With Theodora to act as mistress of ceremonies and introduce +him, it had been impossible for him to feel himself long a stranger. +Patrick had retired to a distant seat, and the McAlisters settled +themselves in a group around the chair, Theodora close at his side with +her hand resting on the wheel, as if to mark her proprietorship. She was +quick to see that both Hope and Hubert approved of Billy, and she felt a +certain pride in him, as being her discovery. Even Hubert's prejudice +against the crippled back and the wheeled chair appeared to have +vanished at the sight of the alert face and the sound of the gay laugh. +Billy was in one of his most jovial moods, and Theodora knew well enough +that at such times he was wellnigh irresistible.</p> + +<p>Phebe, awed to silence by the chair and the cushions, eyed the guest in +meditative curiosity; but Allyn was not so easily satisfied.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> From his +seat in Hope's lap, he lifted up his piping little voice.</p> + +<p>"What for you ride in a baby cäj?"</p> + +<p>No one heeded him, and he reiterated his query, this time accompanying +it with an explanatory forefinger.</p> + +<p>"What for you ride in a baby cäj?"</p> + +<p>"Hush, Allyn," Hope whispered.</p> + +<p>"Yes; but what for?" Allyn persisted. "Why doesn't you get up and say, +'Pretty well, fank you'?"</p> + +<p>Billy flushed and felt a momentary desire to hurl one of his cushions at +the child. For the most part, he was not sensitive about his temporary +helplessness; yet among all these strangers who had never seen him in +his strength, he was uncomfortably conscious of the difference between +himself and Hubert.</p> + +<p>Theodora saw the heightened color in his cheeks. Without a word, she +rose, picked up Allyn in her arms and bore him away to the house, +sternly regardless of the protesting shrieks which floated out behind +her. She was absent for some time. When she came back, it was to find +that Hope had moved into her old place, and that there was no room for +her beside the chair. Billy was talking eagerly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> to Hope, whose pretty, +gentle face was raised towards him. Theodora felt a momentary pleasure +in her pretty sister; but this was followed by an acute pang of jealousy +to find herself quite unnoticed. For an instant, she hesitated; then she +settled herself slightly at one side and back of the chair, in a +position where she could be addressed only with an effort.</p> + +<p>A little later, Billy turned and called her by name. She was sitting in +moody silence, her elbows on her knees, her chin in her hands.</p> + +<p>"What?" she asked indifferently.</p> + +<p>"Come over here, Teddy," Hope said.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, I like it better here."</p> + +<p>There was a crushing finality in her tone. For a moment, Billy's eyes +met those of Hope, and his lips curled into a smile. It was only for an +instant; but Theodora saw the glance, and it kindled all her smouldering +jealousy of her sister. For two weeks she had been giving all her odd +moments to her new neighbor, and now, because Hope was pretty and dainty +and quiet and all things that she was not, Billy had promptly turned his +back on her and devoted himself to Hope. In her passing vexation, she +quite forgot to take into account that she her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>self, not Billy, had been +the movable quantity, and that the time she had given him had been hours +of keen enjoyment to herself. Theodora was no saint. She was humanly +tempestuous, superhumanly jealous. She could love her friends to +distraction; she could give her time and strength and thought to them +unreservedly; but in return she demanded a soleness of affection which +should match her own.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going, Ted?" Hubert called after her.</p> + +<p>"Into the house."</p> + +<p>"What for?"</p> + +<p>"Because I want to. Besides, I must see to Allyn."</p> + +<p>"Coming back?"</p> + +<p>She turned her head and looked back. Billy was watching her curiously.</p> + +<p>"No; not now."</p> + +<p>Two hours later, she was searching her brain for an excuse for going +over to the Farringtons'. She felt an imperative need to see Billy +before bedtime, to assure herself that they were to meet on the old +terms. No excuse came into her mind, however; and she passed a restless +evening and a sleepless night.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_FIVE" id="CHAPTER_FIVE"></a>CHAPTER FIVE</h2> + +<p>"H'sh!" Phebe said peremptorily.</p> + +<p>Isabel giggled again, a little ostentatiously, and covered her mouth +with the palm of her hand.</p> + +<p>"H'sh!" Phebe whispered. "She'll hear you, Isabel St. John. Wait till +she is hearing the first geography, and then we'll do it."</p> + +<p>It was at that hour of the afternoon when even the most industrious of +grammar-school pupils feels his zeal for learning grow less with every +tick of the clock. Isabel and Phebe, however, were never remarkable for +their zeal. In fact, their teachers had never been able to decide +whether they were more bright or more lazy. Both characteristics were so +well developed that the hours they spent in the schoolroom were chiefly +devoted to exploits of a most unscholastic nature.</p> + +<p>The schoolroom of Number Nine, Union School, was much like all other +schoolrooms, save in two essential particulars. The building was old and +was heated with stoves, which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> necessitated the use of two huge zinc +screens to keep the direct heat from the pupils near by; and the room +boasted, aside from the usual ranks of desks, one extra double desk +placed with its back against the window at the side of the room, and in +close proximity to the stoves and the sheltering screens. Two months +before, when promotion of classes had brought Phebe and Isabel to the +room, their quick eyes had taken in the inherent advantages of this +position.</p> + +<p>"Please, Miss Hulburt, may we sit here?" Phebe had asked.</p> + +<p>"What makes you choose that place?" Miss Hulburt had inquired.</p> + +<p>"Because the light is so good," Isabel had replied ingenuously.</p> + +<p>And Phebe had added,—</p> + +<p>"And then, you know, we shall be away from the others, so we sha'n't be +able to whisper. Truly, Miss Hulburt, we've turned over a new leaf."</p> + +<p>Phebe neglected to state in which direction the leaf had been turned. +Miss Hulburt had eyed her distrustfully; then she had granted the favor. +Three days later, she had regretted her concession.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p> + +<p>The seat was so near the front corner of the room that the +schoolmistress was obliged to turn her head to see the children. She was +a bloodless, thin-necked, lackadaisical young person, in little-eyed +spectacles, who, in her youth, had been compared to a drooping lily. +From that time onward, she had given all her thought to the cultivation +of slow, graceful, lily-like motions, until it had become second nature +for her to ogle and smirk and roll her head gently this way and that. It +had not only rendered her intolerable to the unprejudiced observer, but +it had made her physically incapable of turning about quickly enough to +catch the culprits in the corner. Every disturbance in the room, and +they were not few nor slight, appeared to come from the one source; yet +by the time Miss Hulburt could focus her little spectacles upon them, +Phebe and Isabel were swaying to and fro and whispering their lessons to +themselves with an intentness which was almost religious.</p> + +<p>It was one of the warm, bright days of late October, and the children +had insisted on opening the window behind them, not so much for the sake +of the clear, soft air as for the furtherance of their nefarious +schemes. In the lap of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> each child lay a tiny china doll, a long string, +and a box of what, at first sight, appeared to be parti-colored rags. A +closer inspection, however, showed that the rags were all round and +pierced with three holes, one in the middle, the others slightly to one +side.</p> + +<p>When the first geography lesson was called, the girls propped their open +books before them, and abandoned themselves to the task in hand. +Selecting a circle of cloth from the box, each one of them proceeded to +clothe her doll by the simple process of thrusting the head and arms +through the holes and tying a string about the waist. Isabel's doll was +a negro and was decked in scarlet. Phebe's was of Caucasian extraction, +and preferred blue. The dolls were robed and the long strings were made +fast to their necks. Stealthily and slowly the girls poked them through +the crack of the open window and let them down, swinging them back and +forth until they heard them click against the window of the room below. +Then they jerked the strings sharply upward, and Isabel giggled again. +Phebe coughed to smother the sound, and then gave her friend a warning +pinch.</p> + +<p>Miss Hulburt was turning in their direction.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> Instantly Phebe raised her +hand, shaking it slightly and clearing her throat to attract attention.</p> + +<p>"Well? What is it, Phebe?"</p> + +<p>"Please, how do you pronounce p-h-t-h-i-s-i-c?"</p> + +<p>"Phthisic. Where do you find anything about it, Phebe?" Miss Hulburt +felt that she was developing in craftiness.</p> + +<p>"In my—geography."</p> + +<p>Miss Hulburt's smile showed that she believed she had caught the young +sinner napping.</p> + +<p>"But my book doesn't have any such word."</p> + +<p>Isabel raised her hand in support of her friend.</p> + +<p>"If you please, Miss Hulburt, we're reading in the back part, about the +South Sea Islands. It says it's very common there."</p> + +<p>"Phebe," Isabel whispered, a little later; "what is it?"</p> + +<p>"What's what?"</p> + +<p>"P-h-t-h-You know."</p> + +<p>"I d' know, something to eat, I guess. We had it in spelling, last term, +and I happened to think of it. Oh, Isabel!" For the door opened, and the +teacher of the room below came into the room.</p> + +<p>An hour later, Hubert and Theodora sat on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> the edge of the piazza, +discussing a coming entertainment to be given by the pupils of the high +school. The piazza came to the side of the driveway, and now they curled +up their toes to allow the doctor to pass them, driving his new and +favorite horse, Vigil.</p> + +<p>"What a beauty she is!" Hubert said, as the carriage passed them.</p> + +<p>"Isn't she? I'm dying to ride her."</p> + +<p>"Better not," Hubert cautioned her. "She wouldn't stand the things old +Prince does, and you wouldn't have any show at all, if you tried to +manage her."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe it," Theodora returned. "Papa said I was a good +horsewoman, and I mean to try Vigil, some day. 'Tisn't strength that +counts with a horse, anyway; it's gumption."</p> + +<p>"What'll you take for the word?" Hubert asked lazily. He was lounging in +the sun with his hands in his pockets and his back against a pillar, and +he felt too comfortable to be inclined for a discussion.</p> + +<p>"The word's all right." Theodora tossed her book into a chair behind +her. "It means exactly what I want. It isn't common sense, nor +knowledge, nor reasonableness; it's just<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> gumption and nothing else. +It's what Miss Hulburt hasn't," she added, as she glanced up the street. +"Here she comes, Hu. How we used to hate her, when we were in her room! +Why, she's stopped papa, and he's coming back with her. Babe must be in +some fresh scrape."</p> + +<p>Hubert rose hastily.</p> + +<p>"That settles it. If she's coming here, I'm off."</p> + +<p>"Where going?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. Over to the Farringtons', maybe, or else to the library."</p> + +<p>"Teddy," the doctor called; "I wish you'd come and see to Vigil. I +haven't any halter, and I sha'n't be long. Miss Hulburt wants to see me +about Phebe. Just let the reins lie loose on her back, and she'll be all +right."</p> + +<p>"On Miss Hulburt's back?" Theodora questioned, with a giggle.</p> + +<p>The doctor laughed, as he stepped out of the low, open buggy, handed the +lines to his daughter, and turned to speak to the teacher who stood +simpering at his side.</p> + +<p>Within ten minutes, Theodora was heartily tired of her position as +amateur groom. Miss Hulburt, always garrulously confidential, was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> +pouring into the doctor's impatient ears all her theory of Phebe's +temper and training. She was absorbed in her subject, but to the others +the time crept heavily by. Allyn came around the corner of the house, +and Theodora hailed him.</p> + +<p>"Come, Allyn; want to come and play go to ride with sister?"</p> + +<p>With childish clumsiness Allyn clambered into the buggy. For a time, he +was content to jounce rapturously on the cushion and snap the buckle of +the reins. Then he too wearied for change.</p> + +<p>"Make the horsey go, Teddy," he demanded.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, Allyn; sister mustn't. We must wait for papa."</p> + +<p>"Make him go," Allyn persisted.</p> + +<p>Theodora hesitated. Like the immortal Toddie, Allyn's strength lay in +his power of endless iteration. She foresaw a coming crisis in his +temper, and, moreover, his wishes coincided with her own to a remarkable +degree. Vigil was becoming uneasy, and a belated gadfly was making +continued attacks upon her sensitive skin. Why not drive down the street +and around the block, and shake off the annoying guest?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Will you sit quite still, Allyn, if sister will drive just a little, +little way?"</p> + +<p>Allyn smiled rapturously.</p> + +<p>"Ess," he hissed.</p> + +<p>Theodora gave a hasty glance at the house, as she tightened the lines.</p> + +<p>"I know he'd think it was the best thing to do," she argued with her +conscience. "Vigil is so uneasy she wouldn't stand much longer, and this +will quiet her down. Besides, I've always been used to driving."</p> + +<p>The gadfly went too. Vigil was fretted by standing, and she quickened +her pace. Before she quite realized the change, Theodora was being +whirled down the street at a round trot.</p> + +<p>"Whoa!" she urged. "Whoa, Vigil! Sh-h-h!"</p> + +<p>But Vigil refused to <i>sh-h-h</i>. She felt an unfamiliar hand on the lines, +and her sensitive mouth assured her that the hand was shaking a little. +Accordingly, she dropped her ears back, gave an odd little kick with her +hind legs, and swung round a corner with the carriage on two wheels +behind her.</p> + +<p>"Allyn," Theodora said, when they had gone around another corner in the +same uncertain fashion; "now you must mind sister and do just what she +says." The girl's face was white<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> to the lips; but her voice was steady +and brave. "Climb over the back of the seat, lie down flat in the bottom +of the carriage, and then roll out on the ground."</p> + +<p>"I don't want to," whined the child. "I wants to ride."</p> + +<p>"But you must, or sister won't take you again. You may be thrown out and +hurt, if you don't mind sister."</p> + +<p>"It hurts to roll out," he argued.</p> + +<p>"No; not a bit." Theodora felt herself a heartless liar; but she had +lost all control of Vigil, and she knew that this was the best chance of +safety for her baby brother. "Now hold on tight. I don't believe you can +climb over."</p> + +<p>All the boy nature inherent in Allyn responded to the challenge. Lithe +as a little monkey, he scrambled over the seat, lay down and took the +fateful roll. Vigil shied, just then, and Allyn landed in a ball, in a +bed of burdocks. His wails followed the flying horse; but they were +wails of temper, more than of physical injury, and Theodora's main +anxiety was relieved.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 311px;"><a name="ILLO1" title="ILLO1"></a> +<img src="images/i001.jpg" width="311" height="500" alt="Theodora went flying across the road." title="" /> +<span class="caption">Theodora went flying across the road.</span> +</div> + +<p>Two blocks farther down the street, the buggy collided with a hay wagon. +There was a crash,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> the horse broke free, and Theodora went flying +across the road, landing in an indiscriminate, dusty pile just in front +of the Farringtons' carriage.</p> + +<p>That evening, the doctor came into the library, where his wife sat alone +in the fire-light. He looked tired and worried, as he threw himself down +into an easy chair. His wife came forward to his side.</p> + +<p>"You poor old boy!" she said tenderly, as she stroked his hair.</p> + +<p>He smiled wearily.</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't have had it happen for any amount of money, Bess," he said, +as he reached up and took her hand. "It's smashed the buggy, and +demoralized my favorite horse, and bumped Allyn, and given us all a +scare."</p> + +<p>"How is Theodora?"</p> + +<p>"Badly frightened and very meek. Her bruises don't count; but I don't +think she'll do it again. I gave her a plain talk, while I was looking +over her wounds, and I think she knows I mean what I say. It is a +miracle that both children weren't killed; but Allyn is all right now, +and Teddy will be, in a day or two. She will be rather stiff, to-morrow, +but I'm not sure that I'm sorry."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Poor Teddy!" his wife said, laughing.</p> + +<p>"Poor me!" he answered. "And poor you! You will think I have brought you +into an undisciplined horde of savages, Bess. I feel like Job, myself, +for one thing follows another. I shouldn't have left the horse with +Teddy, in the first place, if Miss Hulburt hadn't come to me with a tale +of woe about Phebe."</p> + +<p>"What about Phebe?" In spite of herself, Mrs. McAlister laughed.</p> + +<p>"Some school scrape or other. Phebe is naughty as she can be, and, worst +of all, she is sly. That's not like Teddy. Ted hasn't a dishonorable +pore in her skin. She is headstrong and impetuous; but when she has done +wrong, she comes forward and tells the whole story and takes the +consequences. She has made me more trouble, one time and another, than +all the rest of them put together, and yet—" he hesitated, then he went +on; "and yet, I honestly think she's the flower of the flock."</p> + +<p>"A climbing rose, not a violet," Mrs. McAlister suggested.</p> + +<p>"A snapdragon, if you will. She has character and force and brains +enough for a dozen; and if we can provide a safe outlet for her extra<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +vitality, I think she will make us proud of her yet."</p> + +<p>"You're right, Jack," Mrs. McAlister answered heartily. "The girl has +splendid possibilities. As you say, she only needs some sort of an +outlet for her energy. She's a motherly, womanish child, too, as much so +as Hope, in her way. She's got to have something to love, and to fuss +over, and to fight for. I sometimes think that Will Farrington may +supply a certain something that she needs."</p> + +<p>The doctor rose and stood on the rug, facing his wife. Little by little, +his face had lost its anxiety and now, at her last words, he laughed +jovially.</p> + +<p>"Will Farrington! Then Heaven help him, Bess! 'Twill be six months at +least before the boy can walk to amount to anything, and helpless as he +is and energetic as Teddy is, she'll be sure to break his neck. If she +is going to devote herself to Will Farrington, I'll send for Dr. Parker +and a cord or two of extra splints."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_SIX" id="CHAPTER_SIX"></a>CHAPTER SIX</h2> + +<p>"But where are you going, Hu?"</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"Where are you going?"</p> + +<p>Hubert crooked his hand at the back of his ear.</p> + +<p>"Speak a little louder, please. I'm deef."</p> + +<p>Phebe flew at him and caught his arm.</p> + +<p>"Hubert McAlister, tell me where you are going."</p> + +<p>"Oh, is that what you said?"</p> + +<p>"You knew it perfectly well. Where are you going to?"</p> + +<p>"Over to Billy's."</p> + +<p>"Then I'm going, too."</p> + +<p>"No, you aren't."</p> + +<p>"But I will. Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Because I don't want you. You're so noisy you tire Billy."</p> + +<p>"No, I don't. Boys don't get tired so easy. Besides, he asked me to +come."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p> + +<p>He shook himself free from her hands. She ran around him and danced down +the walk before him, laughing like a mocking elf. All at once, she found +herself in Hubert's strong arms.</p> + +<p>"Now, Babe, you must go back. I don't want you."</p> + +<p>"What can I do?" she whined. "Everybody's gone. Mamma has gone to ride +with Mrs. Farrington, Hope's away, Teddy's away, and you're going."</p> + +<p>"But mamma told you to stay and play with Allyn."</p> + +<p>"I don't like Allyn. I want to go with you."</p> + +<p>"You can't."</p> + +<p>"I will."</p> + +<p>She struggled to free herself. Hubert was tall and strong for his years, +so that his sister was powerless in his grasp. He stood for a moment, +holding her, while he pondered what to do; then a sudden amused light +came into his eyes. Turning, he went away to the barn where, still +holding Phebe with one hand, with the other he rolled an empty barrel +into the middle of the floor and brought out a bushel basket. Then, +before his astonished sister could fathom his intention or rebel, he +had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> popped her into the barrel, covered her with the basket which made +a firm, close lid, and walked away to the Farringtons' house.</p> + +<p>It was the last of the golden Indian summer, and cold weather was at +hand. By this time, the two households were living on a most informal, +friendly basis. Mrs. Farrington and Mrs. McAlister had dropped back into +the old intimacy of their college days, and the young McAlisters were +fast finding out that a boy was a boy, in spite of a crippled back and a +wheeled chair. Hubert and Billy were good friends, and Hope treated the +invalid with a gentle, serious kindness which won his heart as surely as +her dainty beauty appealed to his eyes. And yet, after all, it was Teddy +for whom he cared the most, Teddy who coddled him and squabbled with him +and ordered him about by turns. For the sake of her bright, breezy +companionship, of her original, ungirl-like way of looking at things, he +endured the ordering and the coddling, and, in spite of the halo of +sanctity which should have surrounded his semi-invalidism, it must be +confessed that he bore out his own part in the squabbles.</p> + +<p>Even the coddling, as time went on, came to be rather enjoyable. There +was nothing senti<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>mental about it; it was only the natural result of the +strong instinct of motherhood which belongs to such natures as +Theodora's. Moreover, there were days and days when the old pain came +back to Billy and racked him until he was too weak for the wheeled +chair, and he could only lie on the sofa and endure the passing hours as +best he might. In those days, Theodora never failed him. She learned to +know the flush of his cheeks, the glitter in his eyes, and her brisk +step grew gentle, her clear, glad voice grew low. Strange to say, it was +on those days that Billy wanted her. He seemed to gain rest from her +exuberant strength; and Hope he regarded as the pleasant companion for +his better days, when he could laugh and talk with her, and treat her +with the chivalry which her delicate prettiness appeared to him to +demand. It mattered less about Theodora, he told himself. She was only +another fellow, and she could be treated accordingly.</p> + +<p>Hubert had made his call upon Billy and departed again, and Phebe had +freed herself by tipping over the barrel, turning herself about, and +kicking away the basket; and still Theodora sat in the Farringtons' cosy +library, beside the open fire. Billy delighted in reading<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> aloud, and he +had been reading to her for an hour, while she sat dreamily watching the +fire. Then he dropped the book face downward on his knee, and little by +little their desultory conversation stopped. All at once, Theodora +started up.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear, I forgot. I told papa I'd do an errand for him, and I must +go."</p> + +<p>Billy yawned.</p> + +<p>"Wish I could go, too."</p> + +<p>She looked at him suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Why don't you?"</p> + +<p>"As how?"</p> + +<p>"In your chair, of course. You needn't think you can walk yet, even if +papa does say you are gaining, every day."</p> + +<p>"Really, do you want me to go, too?"</p> + +<p>"Of course. Shall I call Patrick to bring the chair?"</p> + +<p>"I've my whistle, you know." He played with it irresolutely. "Are you +sure I won't be in the way?"</p> + +<p>"What nonsense!"</p> + +<p>She stood leaning on the mantel while Patrick made ready the chair. +Then, moved by some sudden sense of delicacy, she busied herself with +her own wraps when the man bent down and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> lifted his young master in his +strong arms. Since the first day of their meeting, she had never seen +Billy moved, and she was struck more keenly than at first with the +contrast between the utter limpness of his lower limbs and the bright +activity of the rest of the boy. For an instant, her heart gave a quick +thump, half of pity, half of loyalty and protecting affection. Then she +laid her hands on the bar of Billy's chair.</p> + +<p>"That's all, Patrick," she said, nodding up at the tall man beside her.</p> + +<p>Patrick surveyed her approvingly. He was critical by nature, and his +smiles were rare; but he liked Theodora for her kindness to his young +master, and he unbent something of his majesty before her, rather to the +surprise of Mrs. Farrington, who was quite accustomed to seeing her +guests quail before the glance of her serving-man.</p> + +<p>"Sha'n't I be going with you, Miss Theodora?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Of course. What do you suppose I am going to do without you?" Billy +answered.</p> + +<p>But Theodora interposed.</p> + +<p>"You needn't come, Patrick. I am going to take Mr. Will, myself."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, I say, Teddy!" Billy straightened up in his chair.</p> + +<p>"That's all right," she said gayly, as she pushed the chair away from +the steps. "Let me do it, Billy; it's much nicer to go by ourselves +without any Patrick, and I promise not to upset you."</p> + +<p>"But you oughtn't to do it; 'tisn't the sort of thing a girl ought to +do," he urged. "Truly, Teddy, I don't feel as if I could stand it, +somehow."</p> + +<p>Looking into his eyes, as he turned to face her, Theodora read his +sensitive reluctance to receive a service of this kind from a girl, and +a friend of but a few weeks' standing. She let go the handle of his +chair and came forward to his side, where she bent over him, under the +pretext of settling one of the cushions which had slipped aside.</p> + +<p>"I wish you'd let me do it for you, Billy," she said, looking honestly +down into his appealing eyes. "I know girls don't usually do this sort +of thing for boys; but it isn't for always, you know, and there isn't +much that I can do for you. If we're going to be real, true friends, you +oughtn't to mind it a bit. You'd do ten times as much for me. Please say +I can take<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> you out often, till you are so you can run away from me. You +know you'd rather go with me than with Patrick." And she looked down at +him with a merry frankness which took away the last shade of +sensitiveness which Billy was ever to know in her company.</p> + +<p>It was the first of many similar expeditions. The chair was so light, +and Theodora was so strong for her years, that it never tired her, while +Billy soon discovered that "a walk" with Theodora was quite another +thing from the dull and decorous outings when Patrick tooled him along +through the town, in a solemnly respectful silence. With Teddy's hand on +the bar of his chair and Teddy's chatter in his ears, in a week he +learned more of the town than he had done in the past three months, and +he came home, hungry and eager as a boy could be, full of blithe gossip +and fun, to enliven his mother over the dinner-table.</p> + +<p>"Tell you what, it was a good day for us when we came here," he +remarked, one night in December, when he and his mother were settled by +the open fire in the library.</p> + +<p>His mother looked up from her book.</p> + +<p>"How do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Everything, especially the Macs. There's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> Mrs. Mac for you, and Teddy +for me. What more can you want?"</p> + +<p>"What about Hope?"</p> + +<p>"Hope is a stunner, only there's a sort of Sundayfied flavor to her. +Theodora is better for every day. Hope goes with my best necktie; +'tisn't always that I am able to live up to her. Ted doesn't care +whether I am sick or well, dressed up or rolled in a blanket; she sticks +to me just the same. I say, mother?"</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"Are we going down to New York, this winter?"</p> + +<p>"Not till later, unless you want to go. Aren't you feeling as well, +Will?" This time, Mrs. Farrington threw aside her book and came forward +to her son's side.</p> + +<p>Billy looked up at her with merry eyes which were the duplicate of her +own.</p> + +<p>"How you do worry about me, mother!" he said. "I'm gaining, every day, +and you ought to know it. I shall be walking soon. But you've been +saying that we'd go down, some time after Christmas, and I wondered why +we couldn't take Teddy along with us. I can't discover that she's ever +been anywhere, and it's time she had a chance. Don't you think so?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mrs. Farrington looked thoughtful.</p> + +<p>"I don't know but you're right, Will. I've been thinking I'd like to +give her a little treat, if only because she has been so loyal to you. I +had thought of something else; but if you think she'd like this better, +we'll see about it. Would you rather have Teddy than Hubert?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I like Ted better, even if she is a girl. Hubert has more variety, +too, and wouldn't care so much about it."</p> + +<p>"Very well; I will see about it," Mrs. Farrington repeated.</p> + +<p>Her son looked up at her gratefully.</p> + +<p>"What a trump you are!" he said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_SEVEN" id="CHAPTER_SEVEN"></a>CHAPTER SEVEN</h2> + +<p>"Well, let's see." Teddy curled one foot under her, in the depths of the +great easy-chair. "There must be two heroines, of course, and two,—no, +three heroes."</p> + +<p>"What'll you do with the odd one?" Billy asked.</p> + +<p>"Kill him, to be sure." Theodora smacked her lips. "When the girl, his +girl, you know, marries the wrong man, he will—" She paused and +meditatively twisted the end of one of her long pigtails.</p> + +<p>"Will what?"</p> + +<p>"That's what I'm thinking about. It must be something original, not +poison nor drowning. I know; I'll have him turn sleepless, and get +up—No, he'll be a sleep-walker. He must dream that her house is on +fire, and get up to save her, and walk into the barn and be kicked to +death by her pet horse. She'll find him there in the morning, when she +goes to give him sugar." In the triumph of her lurid ending, Theodora +made havoc of her pronouns.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> + +<p>Billy pondered on the situation, clasping his hands under his head and +turning to face his friend.</p> + +<p>"Um-m. That's not so bad," he said at length. "It might possibly happen, +even if it isn't likely. I had an uncle that somnambulated, and he used +to hide the sheets in an old carriage in the barn. I suppose he might +just as well have gone into a stall. Well?"</p> + +<p>"And the other men would marry the girls. This one, the dead one, would +be dark and sallow, with high cheek-bones and a thin nose. The others +would be more commonplace. I think I'd have them something like Hu and +you."</p> + +<p>"Thanks."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't mean you are too common; but you aren't a bit like my ideal +hero," Theodora said bluntly. "I like the dead one best. I always do in +stories, if he's only hectic enough. I asked papa once what hectic +meant, and you ought to have heard him laugh when I told him the reason +I wanted to know."</p> + +<p>"Great shame I'm not hectic!" Billy commented. "What about the girls?"</p> + +<p>"One is light, with yellow hair and very much fun in her. She's the one +the dead man<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> likes. The other is tall and still and stately, like a +lily, with soft, dark hair that droops and is caught up with rare old +combs."</p> + +<p>"How many?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, one at a time, of course, only she has ever so many, all of them of +old silver. Stop interrupting! She sways when she walks."</p> + +<p>"Gout or intoxication?"</p> + +<p>"Keep still, Billy, or I won't tell." Theodora's tone was impatient. +There were liberties which not even Billy was allowed to take, and this +story, the outcome of her girlish dreams, was a sacred subject to her. +She had pondered over it for months, and now that she felt the time had +come to begin the actual work of writing, she was revealing the secret +to Billy. Mrs. Farrington was spending a long rainy afternoon in her own +room, writing letters, and the two young people had the library to +themselves. For the most part, Billy was listening in respectful +silence; but his sense of humor would assert itself occasionally, and +Theodora, like all budding authors, was sensitive to ridicule.</p> + +<p>Her threat was enough.</p> + +<p>"I won't any more, Ted," Billy returned meekly; "only, if she wobbles +like that, I don't see what keeps her combs from tumbling out.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> Don't +make her too lop-sided, or else don't match her up to the man like me. I +want girls that are put together tight. That's one reason I like you."</p> + +<p>Theodora was only half appeased by the intended compliment. She had a +secret liking for the "sweet disorder in the dress," and, of late, she +had vainly attempted to achieve it.</p> + +<p>"That's all right," she said rather loftily; "only you know everybody +doesn't feel the way you do."</p> + +<p>"Of course," Billy assented hastily. "What are their names, Ted?"</p> + +<p>"The dark one is Violet Clementina Ascutney, and the little blond one is +Marianne—with a final <i>e</i>—Euphrosyne Blackiston. The men are Eugene +Vincent and Gerald Mortimer, and the dead one is Alessandro Stanley +Farrington."</p> + +<p>"Oh, great Cæsar, Ted! I can't stand that. Why can't you have a good +plain Jack?"</p> + +<p>"Jack is fearfully commonplace, and names do count for so much in a +story."</p> + +<p>Billy groaned.</p> + +<p>"Maybe. Anyhow, you've got to leave out the Farrington. I can't go that. +Which does Marianne-with-a-final-<i>e</i> take?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That's just it. She's left an orphan, rich as can be, and she asks +Violet to live with her. Violet is the only daughter of a decayed +Southern family, who had to teach for a living until she was rescued +from her life of toil by the generosity of Marianne."</p> + +<p>"With-a-final-<i>e</i>," Billy supplemented. His eyes were full of mischief, +for Theodora's tone matched the pomp of her words.</p> + +<p>"Then they live in this beautiful house," Theodora went on, sternly +regardless of his flippancy; "with an old housekeeper, and they have +beautiful times, parties and everything. One stormy night in summer, +when they are sitting by the fire, watching the blaze and seeing +pictures in it, the bell rings and a man in livery comes in to tell them +that there has been a runaway accident and a man hurt. That's +Alessandro, and I mean to get all this part out of papa's books."</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"Well, he's there for weeks, and the housekeeper takes care of him and +the girls don't see him; they just make him broth and things, and send +them up to his room. One day, when he is pale and interesting, he leaves +his room and sees Marianne and falls in love with her;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> but she never +knows it. He is poor and too honorable to tell her his love, so he just +wastes away, and she never guesses. It's all terribly sad."</p> + +<p>"Well, yes, I should say so," Billy observed. "Are the others as +forlorn?"</p> + +<p>"No. Gerald is a student, and Marianne's cousin, who lives next door. +He's jolly, with yellow hair, and means to be a doctor. He loves Violet, +even if she is poor. He has a friend, Eugene, that isn't well,—not +hectic a bit, but has trouble with his eyes or something, so he can't +work, and comes to spend the summer there, and falls in love with +Marianne. They all have great times, and poor Alessandro, in bed +upstairs, can hear all their fun, when they sit on the piazza in the +moonlight, and he buries his head in the pillows and sobs. One night, +just in fun, Marianne makes her will and leaves all she has to Violet. +Then Marianne and Eugene get engaged. Then Marianne dies of a fever, and +they find the will and accuse Violet of killing her, and Eugene is so +sorrowful that he goes into a convent."</p> + +<p>"I thought men usually took to a monastery."</p> + +<p>"What's the difference? Well, they have a trial, and Gerald stops being +a doctor and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> studies law and makes a brilliant plea and saves her. +Then, right in the court-room before them all, he presses her hand to +his lips and cries, 'Mine! Mine forever!' and the whole room full of +people thunders applause."</p> + +<p>Theodora paused. Her cheeks were glowing with excitement. Billy had +turned away his head and his arm half shielded his face.</p> + +<p>"What do you think?" she demanded.</p> + +<p>"It's great," he answered, with an odd huskiness in his tone.</p> + +<p>"You really like it? You're not laughing at me?" Her tone was eager, yet +mistrustful.</p> + +<p>Billy's loyalty asserted itself. He took down his arm.</p> + +<p>"Honestly, Ted, it's a great thing," he said with perfect gravity. "It's +different, too; not just like all the others."</p> + +<p>Theodora drew a deep sigh of relief as she nestled back in the chair.</p> + +<p>"I'm so glad you like it, Billy, for I did want you to. You're the only +living soul I've ever told, and now, if you don't think it's too bad, +I'm going right to work on it." There was still a little note of +question in her voice.</p> + +<p>Billy held out his hand to her.</p> + +<p>"Do you know what I honestly think, Teddy?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> Some day, you'll get there. +If I were in your place, I'd go right to work on this, and I don't +believe you'll ever be sorry. This first one may not be the success; but +I'd try the chance, and keep on trying."</p> + +<p>He was only a boy, though developed and deepened in character by his +long illness until at times he spoke with the dignity and thoughtfulness +of a man. Now his words rang true, and Theodora, as she stood beside him +looking down into his eyes, was satisfied; and as she went home to begin +her great undertaking, she thanked Providence, as she had so often done +before during the past few weeks, for bringing her so loyal a friend.</p> + +<p>It was with a feeling of elated self-consciousness that Theodora took +her place in the family circle, that evening, with her little writing +tablet in her hand. As she seated herself near the light, she cast a +pitying glance at her family who were talking of trivial details, quite +unconscious of the fact that that evening would mark an epoch in the +literary history of America. They were used to her and to her tablet, +and beyond the slight shifting of the group needful to give her a place +by the table, she called forth no comment from anyone but Phebe,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> who, +bent on teasing, turned the fire of her questions upon her older sister. +Mrs. McAlister promptly quieted her by a suggestion of bedtime; and +Theodora, left to herself, paused to smile in anticipation of the day +when, book in hand, she could remind them all of that evening. Then she +launched forth into a description of the swaying figure and drooping +hair of Violet, too eagerly intent upon mustering the forces of her +adjectives to heed the scratching of her own pen, or the conversation of +the others. Once only she was roused from her writing to hear her father +say, as he entered the room,—</p> + +<p>"Yes, I've just been over there, and Will is improving, every day. I +can't see why he won't be walking a little, in a week or so. I hope so, +for he's had a long pull of it, and he has shown splendid pluck."</p> + +<p>For an instant, Theodora was conscious of a jealous pang. Once on his +feet and independent, good-by to her good times with Billy. He would be +free to seek boy society and boy sports, and her company would cease to +interest him. Angry at herself for her selfishness, yet conscious of a +vague dissatisfaction with the future, she bent still closer over her +writing, while her stepmother answered,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>—</p> + +<p>"Really, Jack? I had no idea of it's coming so soon. Did you know that +Jessie has asked us all to eat Thanksgiving dinner with her?"</p> + +<p>The talk strayed on, but Theodora had lost herself once more. She had +finished with Violet, and was now painting the horrors of the stormy +night outside the house where the two girls sat over the fire. Like most +girls of her age, Theodora had a natural talent for melodrama, and she +revelled in her description, as her pen raced over the paper. Pausing at +last to decide whether <i>lurid</i> or <i>murky</i> best described the night, she +caught Hope's eyes fixed on her steadily.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" she asked abruptly.</p> + +<p>"I was thinking it was about time you began to put up your hair," Hope +answered, rising and laying her hand upon Theodora's heavy braids.</p> + +<p>The transition was sudden and sharp. Theodora had been feeling as if she +trod on air. Now the clouds seemed to part and let her drop into the +common clay. She shook off her sister's hand.</p> + +<p>"I don't want to put up my hair," she said sharply.</p> + +<p>"But you're old enough, and you would look<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> so much better. Don't you +think so?" Hope appealed to her stepmother.</p> + +<p>"I don't care how I look. I want to be comfortable." Theodora threw her +pen down on the table.</p> + +<p>"But you're almost a young lady," Hope urged, with a quiet persistency +which exasperated Theodora. "You are really too old to wear two tails, +any longer."</p> + +<p>"I don't care if I am!" Theodora exclaimed hotly. "It's neat, and it's +comfortable, and I intend to wear it like this till I get ready to put +it up. You can take care of your own hair, Hope McAlister, and I'll take +care of mine."</p> + +<p>At best, Theodora was hot-tempered. To-night, excited by her attempt at +writing and tired with the unwonted effort, she flashed like a train of +powder. She realized, even in the midst of it, that her annoyance was +out of all proportion to the cause. Before she could control herself, +Hubert gave a new direction to her thoughts.</p> + +<p>"If all you're after is comfort, Teddy," he drawled; "I'd advise you to +get a hair-cut. It's much the most comfortable thing you can find."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p> + +<p>For the moment, Theodora was too angry to see the humor of his +suggestion.</p> + +<p>"I will," she exclaimed. "Hope McAlister, if you say another word, I'll +have my hair cut off."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Teddy dear!" Hope's hand was very gentle, as it touched her hair. +"You wouldn't do anything so crazy. Just see how pretty I can make you +look."</p> + +<p>But Theodora jerked herself away, rushed out of the room and up to her +own room.</p> + +<p>"I won't! I won't!" she said fiercely. "I hate Hope. She's jealous +because my hair is better than hers. I won't put it up. I'd rather cut +it off, myself, short off."</p> + +<p>She paused to listen. Hope was coming up the stairs. She recognized the +slow, gentle footfall. It came nearer the door. Theodora took a quick +step to the table and caught up the scissors from her little +work-basket.</p> + +<p>"Come, Teddy," Hope called; "don't be silly and get cross about a little +thing like that."</p> + +<p>Theodora clashed her scissors ominously. Even in her anger, there came a +sudden wonder how Marianne would meet such a crisis, and her voice took +a higher, more incisive note, as she said,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>—</p> + +<p>"Hope, unless you let me alone, I'm going to cut it off."</p> + +<p>"But, Teddy—"</p> + +<p>There came a snip and a long, grinding cut, followed by a light thud, as +one heavy braid fell to the floor. Startled at what she had done, +Theodora turned to the mirror. One side of her head was covered with +loose, shaggy locks standing out in wild disorder. As she looked, she +grew white and her lips quivered. She hesitated for a moment; then, +shutting her teeth, she sheared away the other braid. For a moment +longer, she stood staring at the white face and wide, terrified eyes +reflected in the mirror. Then, throwing aside the scissors, she cast +herself down on her bed and pulled the pillows over her head to smother +the sound of her sobs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_EIGHT" id="CHAPTER_EIGHT"></a>CHAPTER EIGHT</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">My dear Teddy</span>,—If you haven't entirely forsaken us, can't you come +over and spend the afternoon and dine here? We both of us miss your +calls, Will especially, since he hasn't been so well; and we can't +think why you have turned the cold shoulder to us. I wanted to send +for you, yesterday; but Will wouldn't let me, for fear you had +something else to do. To-day, I haven't told him, so he won't be +disappointed.</p> + +<p>Come if you can, dear, and stay to dinner with us. Will is so blue +that he needs you to brighten him up, now he is on his back again.</p></div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 28em;">Sincerely,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 31em;"><span class="smcap">Jessie Farrington.</span></span><br /> +</p> + +<p>This was the note which Patrick had brought over, that morning, and +which Theodora now sat twisting in her fingers, while she anxiously +wondered what it all meant. She had not heard that Billy was worse, and +it was a week since she had seen him, for she still lacked courage to +show him her shorn head. She dreaded his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> teasing; most of all she +dreaded the questions he must inevitably ask. Her own family was bad +enough; she felt that she could not face him, if once he knew the secret +of her missing locks.</p> + +<p>Never was a hasty, hot-tempered act more thoroughly punished than this. +There had been little need for the doctor or his wife to add a word. +Theodora's sorrow and shame were intense; intense, too, was her power of +self-abasement. For a week, she spent most of the time in her own room, +as if she feared to meet the eyes of her family; and, in this +self-imposed isolation, it chanced that she had heard no mention of the +Farringtons.</p> + +<p>It had taken repeated calls to bring Theodora down to breakfast, the +morning after her outbreak. In all her after-life, she never forgot the +exclamations of horror and surprise which greeted her when she appeared, +half-defiant, half-sulky, and altogether shamefaced. For a few moments, +there was a babel of comment; then Mrs. McAlister rose and took her +hand.</p> + +<p>"Theodora, dear," she said gently; "come into my room, and tell me all +about it."</p> + +<p>The door closed behind them, and for two hours they were alone together. +What passed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> between them, no one else ever knew. When the long talk was +ended, and Theodora, clinging to her new mother just as she had been +wont to cling to her own mother, years ago, had sobbed till she could +sob no more, Mrs. McAlister left her and went to her husband.</p> + +<p>"She's punished enough, Jack," she said to him. "There wasn't much need +for me to say anything; but I think perhaps this has given me my +opportunity. I've come closer to the child than I ever dared to hope, +and, with Heaven's help, I mean to stay there."</p> + +<p>Her husband bent over her.</p> + +<p>"You're good to my naughty girl, Bess," he said gently.</p> + +<p>She smiled; but her eyes looked heavy.</p> + +<p>"She is worth it, Jack. At heart, she is sweet and sound as a girl can +be. It is only this ungovernable temper of hers. She is quick and +impulsive; but she is sorry enough now. I think she won't do anything +like this again. And I have promised that she sha'n't be teased about +it, and, above all, that no one shall speak of the affair to the +Farringtons. Can you see about it, Jack? A word from you will help me in +this."</p> + +<p>For the next few days, a spirit of heavy quiet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> rested on the McAlister +household. As a rule, Theodora was the life of the house, and now that +she moped in corners, hiding her shorn head as best she could, the +others were dull and listless in sympathy.</p> + +<p>"I hate everybody," Phebe said, coming into the dining-room where Hope +was arranging flowers, one morning.</p> + +<p>"Why, Babe, what's the matter?" Hope looked up in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Nothing, only I'm lonesome."</p> + +<p>"Where's Allyn?"</p> + +<p>"In the attic. He spoils everything, and I don't want to play with him. +Teddy's cross, and Hu won't do anything."</p> + +<p>There was a silence, while Hope filled a tall vase with late +chrysanthemums.</p> + +<p>"I wish I were a flower," Phebe said moodily; "only Allyn would tear it +to pieces. I'd rather be a vine; that's tougher."</p> + +<p>"What has Allyn done?" Hope asked.</p> + +<p>"I don't tell tales, Hope McAlister." And Phebe departed with her chin +in the air, leaving Hope to console herself for the rebuke with the +reflection that Phebe's code of honor, in such cases, varied according +to her own share of the blame.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p> + +<p>Half an hour later, Phebe appeared to Billy, who sat in an easy-chair +before a crackling fire in the library.</p> + +<p>"Hullo, Phebe!" he exclaimed. "How you was?"</p> + +<p>"All right. I thought I'd come over and see you, a while."</p> + +<p>"That's good. You don't often come. Sit down, won't you?" He waved his +book hospitably in the direction of a chair. "Where's Teddy? She hasn't +been over here for an age."</p> + +<p>"She's—busy." Phebe spoke with a tone of conscious mystery.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" Billy turned to look at his guest in astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Oh—nothing."</p> + +<p>"What is the matter? Is Teddy sick?"</p> + +<p>"No; she's all right." Phebe gave a hostile sniff.</p> + +<p>"Then why doesn't she come over?"</p> + +<p>"I s'pose because she doesn't want to."</p> + +<p>"Is she mad about anything?"</p> + +<p>Phebe shook her head mockingly. Then she rose and stood facing him, with +her back to the fire.</p> + +<p>"It's all Teddy, Teddy, Teddy!" she said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> complainingly. "Nobody takes +the trouble to talk to me, and you're just as bad as the rest of them. +You needn't think your old Teddy is perfect, for she isn't."</p> + +<p>"Maybe not; but she is a blamed sight better than you are," Billy +answered more bluntly than courteously.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 313px;"><a name="ILLO2" title="ILLO2"></a> +<img src="images/i002.jpg" width="313" height="500" alt=""'What do you think of this?' she demanded."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"'What do you think of this?' she demanded."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Is she?" Phebe plunged her hand into her pocket. "What do you think of +this?" she demanded, pulling out a long brown pigtail and brandishing it +before Billy's astonished eyes.</p> + +<p>"What's that?"</p> + +<p>"Can't you tell? You've seen it often enough."</p> + +<p>"Let me see." Billy held out his hand.</p> + +<p>"Sha'n't. It's Teddy's. She cut it off."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe it. Let me take it, Babe." His tone was commanding.</p> + +<p>For her only answer, Phebe sprang back out of his reach, caught her heel +in the rug and fell. Her stiff white apron lay for an instant against +the grate; the next moment, it blazed above her head.</p> + +<p>With a swift exclamation, Billy struggled to move, to go to her +assistance. Again and again he tried to wrench himself from the chair; +then, with a groan, he fell back and blew a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> long, shrill note on the +silver whistle which never left him.</p> + +<p>In a moment, it was all over. Patrick had rushed in and wrapped Phebe in +a rug. Then, more frightened than hurt, the child had started for home, +concocting, as she went, a plausible story to account for her charred +apron. The maid came in to put the room to rights, and no one knew but +Billy, as he ordered Patrick to move him to the sofa, that the sudden +strain had done his invalid back a lasting injury. That was three days +before, and now Theodora sat twisting his mother's note in her hands and +wondering what it all meant.</p> + +<p>The doctor was away, that day, and Theodora was too proud to ask the +others any questions. She briefly explained to her mother that Mrs. +Farrington had invited her to spend the afternoon and dine there, and, +putting on her broadest hat, she went away across the lawn.</p> + +<p>Patrick admitted her, and, even in the momentary glimpse she had of him, +she saw that he looked unusually grave. As she entered the library, +however, she was reassured, for the room looked just as usual, with +Billy lying on the familiar lounge by the fire. It seemed so good to her +to get back there, after her self-imposed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> banishment, that, forgetful +of her cropped head, she sprang forward to his side.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Billy!"</p> + +<p>"Have you really come, Ted? I began to think you'd cut me. Where have +you been?"</p> + +<p>"At home. But what's the matter, Billy?" For, as she took his hand, she +was startled at his pallor and at the heavy shadows under his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Only this set-back," he answered. "My back's given out again, so I +can't move a bit."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean? When was it?" She dropped down beside him, and rested +her arm on the edge of the lounge.</p> + +<p>"Didn't you know it?"</p> + +<p>"No. When was it?"</p> + +<p>"How queer you didn't know! It was three days ago. I strained myself +somehow or other, and it kept getting worse, till it's about as bad as +it was at first."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Billy!" Theodora's overstrained nerves were giving way. After her +outbreak, after the shame which had followed and the week when she had +missed her friend daily and hourly, this last was too much. After all +her protestations of loyalty, he had been ill and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> suffering, and she +had not known it, nor been near him at all.</p> + +<p>"And you have to lie flat on your back, like this?" she demanded almost +fiercely.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"And it hurts?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Much?"</p> + +<p>"Some—yes, a good deal."</p> + +<p>"All the time?"</p> + +<p>He nodded.</p> + +<p>"And I didn't know it, and you wanted to see me, and I never came near +you." All at once, Theodora's head went down on her hands. "What did you +think, Billy?"</p> + +<p>"I thought you'd got sick of me," he answered frankly. "I couldn't see +any other reason you should go back on me just now. I did miss you like +fury, Ted."</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you send word to me?"</p> + +<p>He looked up at her with an odd little smile.</p> + +<p>"Wait till you are flat on your back and no special good, and you'll +know why."</p> + +<p>His smile hurt her. She laid her hand on his again.</p> + +<p>"Did you think that, Billy, really and truly?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; that is, sometimes, but I don't now. You've stuck to me pretty +well, Teddy."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Do you know what was the reason I didn't come?" she asked impulsively.</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"It was this." She pulled off her hat and sat before him, a strange, +forlorn-looking Teddy, with her cropped head and tear-stained eyes.</p> + +<p>"Jove!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I did it," she confessed bluntly. "I was mad at Hope and cut it +off."</p> + +<p>The boy lay staring at her in surprise. She drooped her head, unable to +meet the amused look in his eyes.</p> + +<p>"It's awful; isn't it?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Why, no; I don't think it is so bad," he said consolingly. "It isn't +exactly pretty, and you look a good deal like a boy. When I get used to +it, though, I think I shall rather like it. It seems to suit you, +somehow."</p> + +<p>She looked up gratefully.</p> + +<p>"What a dear old fellow you are, Billy! That was the reason I didn't +come. I couldn't bear to have you see me, or to know about it. Now I +don't mind anybody else. I hated to have you know I was so horrid."</p> + +<p>"You are peppery, Teddy, for a fact. Don't get in a tantrum again, or +you will cut off your nose next, and that won't grow again." He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> tried +to laugh; but his color was coming and going, and Theodora saw that he +was suffering.</p> + +<p>She sprang up and stooped to arrange the cushions about him.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" she asked, startled at his changing color.</p> + +<p>"It's the old pain. It won't last but a minute."</p> + +<p>"What does papa say?" she asked, when he was easier again.</p> + +<p>"Nothing, except that it's a strain and that I must keep quiet."</p> + +<p>"How long?"</p> + +<p>"That's the worst of it." There was an utter dreariness in his tone +which Theodora had never heard before. "I didn't mean you to know; but I +was going to surprise you all by walking over to your house, +Thanksgiving morning, and now—" he hesitated, and, boy as he was and a +plucky boy, too, two great tears came and splashed down on Theodora's +fingers; "now he says it will be two or three weeks before I can even +sit up again."</p> + +<p>That night, when Theodora rose to go home, she turned back to the lounge +once more, after she had said good-by to Mrs. Farrington.</p> + +<p>"You must come in, every day," Mrs. Far<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>rington said. "Will is better +already for your being here."</p> + +<p>Theodora herself saw the change, as she bent down to shake hands. He +looked brighter and better than when she had come, more animated and +eager, more like his old self.</p> + +<p>"Billy," she said steadily; "I want you to promise me something."</p> + +<p>"What's that?"</p> + +<p>"That, if the time ever comes again when you want me, or when I can help +you, you'll send for me, without waiting. I'm only a girl, I know; but +I'm better than nothing, and I never go back on my friends."</p> + +<p>Billy smiled up at her benignly.</p> + +<p>"No, Ted; I don't believe you ever do. And there are times when 'only a +girl' is about as good as anything you can find. Come again."</p> + +<p>"I will," she answered.</p> + +<p>She kept her word so well that, during all Billy's imprisonment, she +never failed to spend a part of each day with him. It did her good to +feel that some one counted on her coming and was the better for it. It +made her steadier, more reliable; and, in the long, dreary days that +followed, she gained a new gentleness from her constant association with +her suffer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>ing friend. There were days when he was irritable and +nervous, days when he was despondent, days when he was too weak with +pain to talk; but, during all this time, Theodora was loyal to him, +soothing him, cheering him up and bearing his ill-temper with a +gentleness which surprised even herself, ministering to his comfort and +content to an unmeasured degree, and at the same time gaining a quiet +womanliness which she had never known before.</p> + +<p>And the days passed on, and the youth and the maiden reaped from them +all a harvest of good, a mutual gain from their frank intimacy.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_NINE" id="CHAPTER_NINE"></a>CHAPTER NINE</h2> + +<p>"And I want a horsey, and a wagon to hatchen on behind," Allyn shouted.</p> + +<p>"And I must have a new sled, and I want a set of furs and a canary +bird," Phebe clamored.</p> + +<p>"Is that all?" Hubert inquired blandly. "Why not ask for a wedding gown +and a pink elephant while you are about it, Babe? Don't be modest. I +know what Teddy is going to have."</p> + +<p>"Oh, what?" Theodora looked up from her game of euchre with Billy, who, +promoted to his chair again, was spending the evening with the +McAlisters.</p> + +<p>"She'd better have a chunk of ice, to cool her off when she gets mad," +suggested Phebe with sudden asperity, as she thought of a recent passage +at arms with her elder sister.</p> + +<p>"Phebe!" Mrs. McAlister's tone was ominous, and Phebe subsided, +grumbling, while her mother rose to put Allyn to bed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p> + +<p>Allyn retreated to Hubert's knee and pressed his rosy cheek against that +of his brother.</p> + +<p>"No, mamma," he urged. "Can't Phebe be tendooed first?"</p> + +<p>"Allynesque for attended to," Theodora explained to Billy, while her +mother dislodged the child from his place of refuge and marched him out +of the room. "But does it seem possible that Christmas comes, next +week?"</p> + +<p>"Well, yes, I think it does. This year has been long enough to make over +into a dozen ordinary ones. Let's see, when is Christmas?"</p> + +<p>"Why, don't you know? Christmas is our great day of the year, and we +count the days for months ahead. This year, it will be an extra jolly +one, for we want to show mamma our ways." This from Hubert, who sat with +his elbow on the arm of Billy's chair, superintending his play.</p> + +<p>"What do you do?"</p> + +<p>"Just what everybody else does, I suppose; give presents and make a row +generally."</p> + +<p>"Hubert, what will Billy think of us?" Hope interposed. "It's this way: +mamma, our own mother, always said that Christmas was the day when we +all should be children together, and play plays and have a grand frolic. +Years<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> ago, when Hu and Teddy and I were little bits of children, we +began having our basket, and we have kept it up ever since."</p> + +<p>"We do all the things, jokes and presents and all, in bundles," Theodora +said, taking up the story in her eagerness; "and we put them all in this +basket. It is an old clothes-basket, large as the house and broken, but +we never change it. And then we draw them out, one at a time."</p> + +<p>"It's covered, you know, and we just fish under the cover, so as not to +see what comes. They used to begin with me; but Allyn is the baby, and +has the first chance now." In her interest, Phebe quite forgot to resent +it when Theodora pulled her down into her lap.</p> + +<p>Billy sat looking from one to another of the group, wondering to see the +faces brighten and grow eager as the talk ran on.</p> + +<p>"It sounds good fun," he said rather wishfully, as soon as there was a +pause. "I suppose it's because there are such a lot of you."</p> + +<p>"The more the better, of course," Hope said. "We always have Susan and +James come in to look on, and even Mulvaney has his new ribbon and a +bone. He has learned to know the basket, and he lies down beside it as +soon as it is brought in to be filled."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p> + +<p>"When do you do it?"</p> + +<p>"Christmas eve," Hubert answered. "We never could stand it till +Christmas day. We always rush through supper, Christmas eve, to be ready +as soon as we can. You should see our house when we get everything out +of the basket."</p> + +<p>"I wish I could."</p> + +<p>"What do you do?" Phebe demanded.</p> + +<p>"Why, we give presents at breakfast; that's all. Of course it will be +different, this year. Papa was here, last Christmas. He gave me my watch +then."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" Phebe became round-eyed with admiration. "Did he give you that? I +should think you would miss him."</p> + +<p>Hope came to the rescue.</p> + +<p>"It will be lonely, this year. I remember how it was, after mamma died. +We didn't want to have any Christmas; but papa said she would rather we +kept up the old ways, so we did just as we always had done."</p> + +<p>"I wish we did things the way you do." Billy pushed his hair impatiently +away from his face. "You don't know how it seems to a fellow to be +alone. It is no sort of fun."</p> + +<p>"Adopt us," Theodora suggested, laughing.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p> + +<p>Billy flashed at her a swift glance which told, plainly as words, how +gladly he would carry out her suggestion.</p> + +<p>Passing through the hall, Mrs. McAlister had heard the children's talk. +A little later, she knocked at the door of her husband's office. The +doctor pushed aside the sheets of the essay he was writing for a medical +journal, and rose to greet his wife.</p> + +<p>"Well, Bess, the sanctum is glad to see you."</p> + +<p>"Am I interrupting?" she asked, as she sat down by the table.</p> + +<p>"Not a bit. You never do."</p> + +<p>"So glad, for I want to talk, Jack."</p> + +<p>"What now? Is Phebe in mischief, or is Teddy proving obstreperous?"</p> + +<p>"Neither; it's only this." And she repeated the substance of the +children's conversation. "Now are you ready to do some missionary work, +Jack?"</p> + +<p>"Of course; anything you like. What is it?"</p> + +<p>"May Jessie and Will come to your Christmas eve?"</p> + +<p>"Ours," he corrected gently.</p> + +<p>"No, yours. You know I've never been here for it, and it is all new to +me. I don't want<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> to crowd your good time; but the boy is so lonely."</p> + +<p>"Have him, of course. The Savins is large enough to hold a few more, and +he needs all the fun he can get," the doctor said heartily. "There's +only one thing I am afraid of."</p> + +<p>His wife looked up quickly.</p> + +<p>"I thought that all over before I came to you, Jack; but I have known +Jessie longer than you have, and I know she won't misunderstand us. She +knows we can't give expensive presents, and she will care, as we do, for +the fun and the Christmas spirit. I know she will be glad to come, if +only for Billy's sake."</p> + +<p>But Mrs. Farrington demurred a little, the next day, when the plan was +suggested to her.</p> + +<p>"I have just promised Will to have you all over here," she said. "Still, +if you all will promise to come here for Christmas dinner and a bran pie +afterwards, Billy and I will come to your basket. We are so lonely that +it is a deed of charity to take us in."</p> + +<p>For the next week, mystery lurked in every corner of the McAlister +house. With three novices to be trained in their Christmas rite, Hope +and Theodora and Hubert felt that this basket must surpass all those of +previous years,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> and they ransacked their brains, their house, and the +shops for the jokes and nonsensical offerings which added spice to their +simple presents. If the Christmas spirit of happiness and good-will were +the true test, the McAlisters lived up to the full tradition of the day. +Gifts simple and elaborate, hoary jokes and brand-new ones, quips and +cranks of every description, were enclosed in the bundles which went +into the shabby old basket, and the only clue to the possible contents +of the bundles lay in the fact that, the older the joke, the more fresh +and dainty was its outward disguise.</p> + +<p>The basket stood in a deep bay-window; beside it on an easel was the +portrait of the children's own mother, placed there and wreathed in +Christmas greens by Mrs. McAlister's own hands. Old Susan had told her +that it had stood there in past years, and, that afternoon, the doctor +had come in, to find her bending over to wreathe it with holly and +trailing pine.</p> + +<p>"It's like you, Bess," he said. "The children will be so happy. They +felt that Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without this."</p> + +<p>Supper was a hurried meal that night, and it was still early when they +gathered in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> parlor, with Mulvaney beside the basket and Susan in +the doorway, to wait for their guests.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can't wait," Phebe wailed. "I know such lots of things in there. +I put in four bundles for Hu, and seven for Allyn, and two for papa, +only one's broken, and two for Teddy."</p> + +<p>"Let me see." Hubert counted on his fingers. "I put in six for Ted, no, +seven, and four for Hope, and nine for Allyn."</p> + +<p>"And me?" Phebe pranced impatiently.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Babe, I forgot you."</p> + +<p>"Hush, Babe; there's Billy's chair," Hope said, endeavoring to suppress +her young sister.</p> + +<p>"Did you know Patrick brought over a bundle, Hu?" Theodora whispered. "I +saw mamma slying it into the house. 'Twas a big one, too."</p> + +<p>"Really?" Hubert tried to look as innocent as if Billy had not consulted +him about Theodora's Christmas gift.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'm so glad now that I hemstitched that handkerchief. It is fairly +covered with my gore where I pricked myself; but he won't be critical, I +hope."</p> + +<p>The babel of greeting and chatter was hushed, as Hope took her seat at +the piano and the chil<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>dren gathered around her to sing their favorite +carol. The last note had scarcely died away when Allyn, at a signal from +Hubert, gave a joyous shriek and plunged upon the basket.</p> + +<p>"One at a time," Hope cautioned him; "and bring the bundle to sister, so +she can read the writing on it."</p> + +<p>The first package chanced to contain his much-desired horsey, and he +retired to a corner to embrace it, while Phebe and then Theodora took +their turns at drawing.</p> + +<p>"Draw for me, please," Billy asked Theodora, when his turn came.</p> + +<p>"Not a bit of it. You must do your part." And she had whisked him across +the room and landed him beside the basket, before he could realize her +intention.</p> + +<p>For two hours, the fun was fast and furious. Mulvaney, on the floor in a +nest of papers, was wrestling with a vast bone, Mrs. Farrington was +admiring a bit of Hope's dainty handiwork, and Hubert was trying hard to +realize that at last he was the proud owner of a watch. Everyone was +happy, and Hope and Theodora congratulated themselves upon the success +of their Christmas frolic.</p> + +<p>"It's your turn to draw, Billy." And Theo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>dora rolled him across the +floor to the fast-emptying basket.</p> + +<p>"Bah! I can't reach it. Get the one in the corner, Ted. It's a big +square one."</p> + +<p>"Is this it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes." Billy took it and read the label. <i>Theodora, with love from +Babe.</i></p> + +<p>"Why, Babe dear, you gave me the gloves."</p> + +<p>Phebe flushed.</p> + +<p>"It's probably some grind on you, Teddy," Hubert suggested, as his +sister tore away the wrappers.</p> + +<p>Inside was a box, then another. Phebe smiled in conscious satisfaction, +while Theodora opened one layer after another of the papers within and +at last drew out a long flexible bundle.</p> + +<p>"Phebe, you dear, it is the new belt I've been wanting," she said.</p> + +<p>Phebe began to look rather uneasy.</p> + +<p>"Wait and see," she advised. "It may not be as nice as you think it's +going to be."</p> + +<p>With eager hands, Theodora unrolled the tissue papers, while the others +gathered round to see what was inside. Then there came a sudden hush of +surprise and consternation. Out from the papers had slipped a long, +soft<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> braid of brown hair, and, with a startled sob, Theodora had buried +her face in her hands. The next instant, Hubert's hand descended on +Phebe's cheek with a ringing blow.</p> + +<p>For a few moments, it seemed that the evening was to end in dismal +failure. Then Mrs. Farrington, with her arm about Theodora's waist, +marched her across the room to the basket to renew the drawing, and soon +the little incident was apparently forgotten. Later, when the merriment +was subsiding, Mrs. Farrington missed Theodora and went in search of +her. She found her in the library, standing alone before the open fire.</p> + +<p>"It was too bad, dear," Mrs. Farrington said. "Phebe didn't realize what +she was doing, of course; but it was hard for you. But I want to thank +you for the pleasant evening and for the pleasant months Billy has had +with you. This little package was to go in the pie, to-morrow; but I +wanted instead to give it to you when we were alone, so I could say to +you how I appreciate all you have done for my boy."</p> + +<p>And Theodora, as she looked at the little sapphire on her finger, felt +that not all the Phebes in creation could spoil her merry Christmas.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p> + +<p>A week later, she went racing across the lawn to the Farringtons', with +a long brown bundle over her shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Let me in quick, Patrick," she cried, as she dashed through the door. +"Happy New Year, Billy! I've brought you a New Year's present. I said I +must be the one to bring it, and papa is coming over in a few minutes to +teach you to use it." And, with a clatter and a bang, she cast a pair of +crutches on the floor at Billy's feet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_TEN" id="CHAPTER_TEN"></a>CHAPTER TEN</h2> + +<p>Billy sat in his chair before the McAlisters' front steps. Theodora sat +beside him on the steps, with her chin in her hands. Though it was late +in January, the midday sun was warm around them, and they were basking +in it like two young turtles.</p> + +<p>"I know," Theodora was saying restively; "but I want to do something +really and truly useful, something that will help on the world. Here I +am, sixteen years old, and I've never been of the least use to anybody."</p> + +<p>"How about me?" Billy suggested, luxuriously stretching and then +clasping his hands at the back of his head.</p> + +<p>"You? Oh, you don't count."</p> + +<p>"Thanks."</p> + +<p>Theodora sprang up and whirled the chair to the gate and back again to +the steps.</p> + +<p>"What a tease you are, Billy! Next time, if you don't behave, I'll tip +you out. You know what I mean. I get just as much fun out of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> this as +you do. What I want is to help on the masses."</p> + +<p>"Rats!" Billy remarked profanely.</p> + +<p>"Not rats at all. You don't need me; they do."</p> + +<p>"So do I. Who takes me all over town?"</p> + +<p>"That's selfish, Billy. They need me more than you do, then."</p> + +<p>"No, they don't either. Who'd take me?"</p> + +<p>"Patrick. Besides, you'll take yourself soon, and then you won't want me +any more."</p> + +<p>There was a little involuntary note of sadness in her tone, and Billy +smiled to himself, as he shifted his position to face her.</p> + +<p>"What's started you to talking all this flummery, Ted?" he asked +bluntly, heedless, in true boy fashion, of the vague aspirations and +aims of sweet sixteen. "I thought you had too good sense to get +sentimental."</p> + +<p>The word stung Theodora, and she started up abruptly.</p> + +<p>"Let's go to the shore," she said shortly.</p> + +<p>"Aren't you too tired? I am growing fat and heavy, you know."</p> + +<p>For a week, now, Billy had been installed at the doctor's, while his +mother had been called<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> away by the illness of her only brother. The +arrangement suited them all, Billy and Theodora even more than the +others. The two friends never seemed to weary of the long hours they +spent together, never appeared to be at a loss for subjects of +conversation. For the most part, Hubert was with them; but there were +times, like the present, when his other friends demanded his whole +attention, and Billy and Theodora were left to each other's society. +Hope was absorbed in other interests, though she was always kind and +considerate of their guest; and, by a tacit consent, Phebe's company was +shunned rather than courted.</p> + +<p>The winter had been good to Billy. Day by day, his strength was coming +back to him, slowly and by almost imperceptible stages, it is true; but +by looking back from month to month, they could see his steady progress. +In his better days, he could walk about the rooms now, and even this +slight advance had put fresh life into him.</p> + +<p>"Some day, I may begin to have a little respect for myself again," he +had said to Hubert, the day after his first expedition across the +library. "I've been like a rag doll for so long that I began to think +I'd never stir alone any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> more. Now it looks more as if I might be +somebody in time, and I can wait."</p> + +<p>"Strikes me you've been waiting about long enough," Hubert returned +impatiently. "I wish you'd hurry up and come to life. There's fun enough +to be had, as soon as you're on your legs again."</p> + +<p>"I should think it would seem queer to you to see me walking," Billy +observed reflectively.</p> + +<p>"It does. I can't make it seem a part of you, somehow. I'm so used to +the chair," Theodora said, as she joined the group. "After all, Billy, I +think I shall miss it a little."</p> + +<p>Well she might, for by this time the chair had become a part of her +life. Leaving Patrick to his own devices, the two young people had +explored the town, wandering here and there as Billy's curiosity or +Theodora's whim took them. There were days when Billy was too weak for +his ride, there were days when Theodora was too busy with other things +to take him out during the warmer part of the day; but, as a rule, three +or four times a week they wandered away in search of fresh scenes and an +occasional adventure.</p> + +<p>"By the way, Ted, how comes on the story?" Billy asked, as they drew +near the steps once<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> more and Mulvaney came forward to meet them.</p> + +<p>"Seventeen chapters are done," she answered, slackening her pace a +little.</p> + +<p>"Moses! How many do you expect to have?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. They seem to count up awfully fast. I've only just come +to the first of the lovering. I can't seem to make much of that. I do +wish I knew how people make love."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you'll find out, some day," Billy suggested.</p> + +<p>But Theodora frowned on him.</p> + +<p>"Don't be silly. I'm not that kind, nor you either. I wish you could +help me out on it. Don't people ever—"</p> + +<p>"Collaborate? Yes. When are you going to read it to me?"</p> + +<p>"Do you really want it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Well, to-night, perhaps, if we can get away by ourselves."</p> + +<p>However, fate willed otherwise.</p> + +<p>"Theodora," the doctor said, as they were leaving the dinner-table, that +day; "there's an errand I'd like you to do for me, about four o'clock. I +promised to send some medi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>cine down to a house in Water Street for a +sick baby. Can you take it down? It's nothing catching," he added +reassuringly to his wife.</p> + +<p>"I'll go. Can I take Billy?"</p> + +<p>"Better not. It's a wretched region for wheels, and you might have an +upset," the doctor advised. "Come to the office, soon after four, and +I'll have it ready. You're getting to be your father's right-hand man, +Teddy." And he rested his hand affectionately on her shoulder before he +left the room.</p> + +<p>A month before that time, Mrs. Farrington had received a visit from an +old college friend, one of the energetic workers in the university +settlements, and her stories of life in the slums had made a strong +impression upon Theodora's mind. For the time being, other interests +lost their charm. Theodora was content to sit by the hour and listen to +the experiences so remote from her own sheltered life. She was as +impressionable as most girls of her age; more than most girls, she +retained her impressions, dwelling upon them and magnifying them until +they seemed to become less a day-dream than a part of her actual +experience.</p> + +<p>For the past three weeks, she had been filled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> with vague, restless +longings to have a share in the vast work of social reform; most of all, +her warm young heart turned to the neglected children. It was the same +impulse of protection which had first roused her interest in Billy +Farrington, the helpless invalid; and now, had Billy been a less +well-tried friend, he might have found himself forsaken to make room for +this new hobby of Theodora. As it was, she merely used him for a +safety-valve, and poured into his ears mysterious hints of the career +for which she was temporarily yearning.</p> + +<p>The medicine was delivered, and, in the gathering dusk, Theodora's face +was turned towards home. It was a part of the town into which she rarely +penetrated,—a network of squalid streets near the water front; and, a +month ago, she would have swept through them with her nose in the air. +Now, however, she looked to the left and the right, as she walked +onward, hoping almost against hope that her secret prayers would be +answered, and that, even in this hasty progress, she might see some work +ready for her hand. Providence, always kind, was in a benign mood, and +her desire was fulfilled with unexpected promptness.</p> + +<p>Down the street towards her came a forlorn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> little figure. It was a +child of nine, a girl whose grimy face was streaked and swollen with +tears, whose red hood was faded to a dull yellowish shade, whose coarse +gray coat was so many sizes too large for her that the sleeves were +folded back to allow her blue, chapped hands to come forth to the light +of day and to their destined usefulness. Theodora's heart gave a quick +bound, and, stepping forward, she bent over the wailing child.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter?" she asked.</p> + +<p>The child stopped sobbing and blinked up at her, disclosing a face of +unmistakably Keltic ancestry.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter?" Theodora repeated.</p> + +<p>"Huh?"</p> + +<p>Theodora experienced a momentary shock. Not thus had her dreamed-of +foundlings answered to her imaginary queries. She rallied and reiterated +her question. The child's tears fell again.</p> + +<p>"I'm—I'm losted, and I'm tired and so hungry."</p> + +<p>Even in this woful climax, Theodora noted the gurgle of the child's +sobs. She told herself that it was like water bubbling from a bottle, a +large earthen bottle. Then she re<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>proached herself for her misplaced +sense of humor.</p> + +<p>There followed a little question, a little answer, a little consolation. +Then, before she quite realized what she was doing, Theodora was walking +rapidly towards home, with brotherly love swelling in her heart, and the +child's smutty hand clasped in her woollen mitten. She had delayed +longer than she knew, the walk home was long, and before she reached +there, the twilight had quite fallen, the house was brightly lighted, +and the family were gathered in the dining-room.</p> + +<p>"Dear me, they're all at supper!" she said to herself, as she went up +the steps. "Never mind, little girl," she added, with a conscious +patronage which not even her sympathy could keep down. "They're having +their supper now. I'll take you up to my room, and, as soon as they're +through, I'll give you something to eat."</p> + +<p>Her feminine intuition told her that the child's welcome would not be so +warm if she were presented at the supper-table. For a moment, she +hesitated what disposition to make of her charge. Then, herself hungry +and eager to get to the table and tell the story of her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> adventure, +she led the way to her room and popped the child into her own dainty +bed.</p> + +<p>Mrs. McAlister looked up as Theodora entered the room.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 312px;"><a name="ILLO3" title="ILLO3"></a> +<img src="images/i003.jpg" width="312" height="500" alt=""Teddy, dear, this is my brother Archie, come at last."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"Teddy, dear, this is my brother Archie, come at last."</span> +</div> + +<p>"You are late, Teddy, and I was just getting anxious about you. Archie, +this is my twin daughter, Theodora. Teddy dear, this is my dear brother +Archie, come at last." There was an exultant note in Mrs. McAlister's +voice which Theodora had never heard before.</p> + +<p>Theodora gave a quick glance at the stranger who sat between her +stepmother and Hope, and the first look told her that she had found a +friend, one who would be true and loyal as a man could be. There was +nothing especially distinctive about Archie Holden. He was tall and +blond and athletic, sufficiently good-looking, and with easy, off-hand +manners. But his keen blue eyes, the curve of his little blond mustache, +above all, the grip of his hand and the ring of his voice suited +Theodora, and, long before supper was over, she had forgotten her +protégée in the excitement of the unexpected addition to their family +circle. It was fortunate, perhaps, that the child, more tired than +hungry, had fallen asleep in the midst of Theodora's soft white bed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span></p> + +<p>As they were leaving the table, Mrs. McAlister laid a detaining hand on +Theodora's arm.</p> + +<p>"Teddy, I've had to put Archie into your room, to-night. Can you sleep +in the little back chamber? I am sorry to turn you out, but Billy has +the spare room, and I didn't like to put Archie with him. Do you mind, +dear? It's only for one night; then we can make some other arrangement."</p> + +<p>"I don't care at all," Theodora answered readily. "It wouldn't do to put +him in with Billy. When did Mr. Holden come?"</p> + +<p>"At five. It was such a surprise, too. You know we didn't expect him for +a week; but the heavy snow sent the party in, and he is to have a +vacation till the middle of March. What do you think of my little +brother, Teddy?"</p> + +<p>"I think he's splendid," Theodora replied so emphatically that her +mother smiled.</p> + +<p>"Run along after him, then," she said. "I want you and Hope to see that +his visit is a good one. Hope took your things into the back room, +Teddy, so you'll find everything ready for you at bedtime."</p> + +<p>To Theodora's eager young mind, it seemed that the evening was the +shortest she had ever spent, and, when ten o'clock struck, she was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> +still sitting perched on the arm of Hope's chair, while she listened to +Archie's stirring tales of life in camp and field, in mountain and cañon +and desert. Then there was an interruption, for the bell rang and a +voice was heard asking for the doctor. Archie rose.</p> + +<p>"Another patient, doctor? I believe I'll go to bed. Three nights in a +sleeper are too much for me. No, don't come with me, Bess; I know the +way perfectly."</p> + +<p>However, Mrs. McAlister went to his door with him. As she came +downstairs, her husband met her in the hall.</p> + +<p>"I don't quite comprehend this mystery, Bess," he said, while an anxious +frown puckered his brows. "There's a policeman here that accuses me of +having abducted a child. There's one missing from Water Street, it +seems, and he claims that she is here in this house."</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"'Tis a remarkable story. I can't seem to get at the bottom of it. He +doesn't know me; and he says his orders are not to go away without the +child. I can't convince him that there's no child here."</p> + +<p>Just then they both started violently, for a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> double sound broke on +their ears, a long-drawn shriek as of a child in pain, followed by +Archie's voice, loud and remorseful,—</p> + +<p>"Oh, by George!"</p> + +<p>An instant later, Theodora appeared on the landing, ejaculating,—</p> + +<p>"Gracious me! I forgot her."</p> + +<p>"Theodora, what does this mean?" the doctor demanded breathlessly, as he +rushed up the stairs. Then, at the open door, he paused in sheer +amazement. In the middle of the floor stood Archie Holden, staring at +the bed with a face devoid of all expression. Sitting up in the bed and +staring back at him with a face of injured innocence and pain, was an +unwholesome child of Keltic extraction and unneat exterior, with a dingy +knitted hood in lieu of nightcap, and two chapped hands appearing from +two vast gray sleeves.</p> + +<p>Archie appeared to think that it devolved upon him to explain the +situation.</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry," he said meekly. "You see, I didn't turn up the gas at +first, but I just sat down on the edge of the bed to take off my shoes. +I didn't know this—this young person was here, and I suppose I sat on +her. But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> really I can't imagine where she came from. I didn't bring +her."</p> + +<p>"Theodora!" said the doctor, sternly.</p> + +<p>But Theodora had vanished, to hide her head from the sight of her +protégée, and from the merriment shining in Archie's blue eyes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_ELEVEN" id="CHAPTER_ELEVEN"></a>CHAPTER ELEVEN</h2> + +<p>"Do you often do that kind of thing, Miss Teddy?"</p> + +<p>Theodora, with her hands full of books, was passing through the lower +hall. At the sudden question, she glanced up to see Archie Holden +leaning on the banisters and looking down at her.</p> + +<p>"What thing?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Oh, adopting stray babies. You gave me a fine fright, last night."</p> + +<p>Theodora blushed. Then, as she met his merry eyes, she burst out +laughing.</p> + +<p>"Wasn't it awful? I put the child to bed and promised her some supper, +and then I forgot her."</p> + +<p>"And I sat on her," Archie supplemented. "I don't know which of us was +the more astonished, she or I. What were you going to do with her?"</p> + +<p>"Why, you see," Theodora dropped her books on the seat by the staircase +and settled herself<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> beside them; "you see, it was my first experience +with slumming."</p> + +<p>"With what?"</p> + +<p>"Don't you know? Or don't you have any slums in Montana? Everybody does +it here, and it's beautiful."</p> + +<p>"What's the usual <i>modus operandi</i>?"</p> + +<p>"The what? Talk English, please."</p> + +<p>"How do you go at it?" Archie sat down on the top step, to talk at his +ease.</p> + +<p>"Oh, they go to see poor people, and take them food and soap and +madonnas and fumigate them."</p> + +<p>"The madonnas?"</p> + +<p>"No, the people. It does them ever so much good. Mrs. Farrington, +Billy's mother, had a friend here that did it, and she told us all about +it."</p> + +<p>"I begin to comprehend," Archie said gravely, as he looked down at the +animated face below him. "And does it belong to the plan to bring them +home and hide them in the guests' beds?"</p> + +<p>"How was I to know you were here?" Theodora demanded. "Didn't you take +us all by surprise?"</p> + +<p>"I meant to surprise Bess, and I rather flatter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> myself I succeeded. I +say, Miss Teddy, what relation are we, anyhow?"</p> + +<p>"Hm-m." Theodora pondered on the matter. "Cousins? No; I suppose you're +my uncle. Uncle Archie. How respectful that sounds!"</p> + +<p>Archie made a grimace of disgust.</p> + +<p>"It suggests carpet slippers and an ivory-headed cane and a bandanna. I +don't believe I care to be related at all, if that's the way you're +going to work it."</p> + +<p>Theodora laughed wickedly. She was keen enough to see that the young man +was nettled by the implied addition to his years, and she was too much +of a tease to allow her opportunity to slip by, unheeded. She gave him a +mocking bow.</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry you don't care to claim us, Uncle Archie," she said, as she +rose. "Still, you can't expect us to call mamma's only brother Mr. +Holden."</p> + +<p>"Call me Archie, then."</p> + +<p>"How disrespectful! No, Uncle Archie is quite nice and proper."</p> + +<p>"I won't answer. Where are you going?"</p> + +<p>"To do my lessons with Billy. We have a tutor." Theodora spoke with a +sudden air of complacency.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What a bother! I wanted you. Do you do them, every day?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, every morning, only we're generally at Billy's. What did you +want?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing much; only I brought on some stuff for Bess and for—my new +nephews and nieces, and I thought, if you weren't busy, I'd bring it +down."</p> + +<p>"How lovely! I'll wait."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Ted-dy!" Billy's voice, though distant, was emphatic and distinct. +"Do hurry up!"</p> + +<p>She gave a longing glance back at the young man at the top of the +stairway.</p> + +<p>"I can't wait," she said regretfully. "I don't want to go; but—it's +Billy, you see."</p> + +<p>Archie liked her loyalty.</p> + +<p>"No matter; they can wait till noon. Farewell, my niece, and mind your +teacher."</p> + +<p>"I will, Uncle Archie."</p> + +<p>Two months before this time, soon after Billy had begun to rally from +the mysterious strain to his back, Mrs. Farrington had appeared in the +doctor's office, one evening.</p> + +<p>"As usual, I am asking a favor," she said. "At last, I have succeeded in +getting a really good tutor for Billy. The man was instructor in Yale +till his health failed, and he is highly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> recommended to me. Billy is +bright and well advanced for his age, so I think he and Hubert must be +doing about the same work. It is so lonely for him, do you suppose +Hubert, or Theodora, or both of them, would be willing to study with +him, to keep him company?"</p> + +<p>The matter was settled in family council, that same evening. Though it +seemed to Dr. McAlister too fine an opportunity to be lost, he left it +entirely to the choice of the children. Theodora accepted the new plan +with prompt delight. Hubert hesitated, chose the tutor, chose to stay in +school with his boy friends, dreaded to be separated from Theodora, and +finally decided to remain in the school. Two months later, Theodora was +reading the Anabasis, while Hubert was still toiling over the +intricacies of the irregular verb.</p> + +<p>The tutor proved to be a good one, and, from the start, it was a close +race between Theodora and Billy. He was eighteen months the older; she +was in perfect health, and her lithe young body held an equally active +mind. Moreover, she was determined not to be outdone by Billy, nor yet +be a drag upon him, so she fell to work with a will and accomplished +wonders, while Mr. Brown daily rejoiced that his lines had fallen in +such pleasant places.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> + +<p>At dinner-time, Archie appeared, laden with his offerings for his +adopted family circle.</p> + +<p>"I shot this beast, myself, Bess," he said, as he threw a great rug at +her feet. "He was an eight-hundred-pound grizzly who liked the smell of +our supper. If you feel of his head, you can find the holes where I shot +him. Tom Keyes and I tracked him by the blood on the snow, and we +finally cornered him. I thought Hubert might like these antlers, and +here's some trumpery for the others."</p> + +<p>As he spoke, he tossed a handful of little packages about the group, +which quickly became clamorous in its joy. Theodora looked up from her +great nugget mounted on a slender pin, to discover that Billy too had +been included in the frolic, and she shot an approving glance at Archie +just as Allyn climbed to the young man's knee.</p> + +<p>"Fank you," the child said, with a sounding kiss. "I love you, and I +wish you'd come again and bring me nonner engine, Uncle Archie."</p> + +<p>Over Allyn's head, Archie made a gesture of defiance at Theodora.</p> + +<p>"That's your work, Miss Ted. I owe you one for that."</p> + +<p>"This one?" she asked, holding up the pin.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> "It's beautiful, Uncle +Archie, and I am in love with it already."</p> + +<p>For the next month a spirit of revelry appeared to fill the McAlister +household. It was an ideal New England winter, and plenty of snow and +cold weather kept the young people out of doors. The McAlisters taught +Archie to skate; he taught them to run on snowshoes; they had merry +coasting parties and long sleigh-rides by day. In the evenings, the +Farringtons usually joined them for games, chafing-dish suppers, +impromptu theatricals, and the thousand and one other amusements of a +winter evening. Strange to say, the closest intimacy sprang up between +the invalid and the energetic young engineer, and Billy, who at first +had jealously regretted Archie's coming, found that his own range of +sports was broadened by the strength and care of the young man's arm and +eye.</p> + +<p>They were all down on the ice, one moonlight evening, Archie and the +McAlisters taking turns in pushing the skating-chair in which Billy sat, +wrapped in furs. Hubert was at the back of the chair, leaning on the +bar, while the others stood gathered about, resting from a network of +figure eights.</p> + +<p>"To-morrow night, the moon will be full,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> Theodora said, as she rubbed +her nose with the back of her mitten. "I do so hope it will be good +skating, for it will be about our last chance. Next night, we have to go +to that stupid old party, and, the night after, we give our play."</p> + +<p>"I'm getting to the end of my nights," Archie said regretfully. "I had a +letter from the chief, to-day, and he wants me to report to him, the +first."</p> + +<p>"So soon as that?" Hope's tone was remonstrant, as she looked at him +with startled eyes. "You didn't mean to go so early."</p> + +<p>"No; I meant to stay till the fifteenth; but this will take me off, next +week."</p> + +<p>"Does mamma know?" Theodora asked.</p> + +<p>"Not yet. Don't tell her, please, till to-morrow. She always hates to +have me start off again, when I've been home."</p> + +<p>"No wonder," Theodora said impulsively. "You aren't half so bad as you +might be, Uncle Archie."</p> + +<p>He bowed low.</p> + +<p>"Thanks awfully. But I am freezing. I'll race you two girls to the dead +pine and back."</p> + +<p>"All right. You be umpire, Billy. What's the prize?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p> + +<p>"A mate to your nugget. Come on."</p> + +<p>With a laughing word to Billy, they swept off up the pond, while the ice +rang hard under their long, swinging strokes. Archie led; but Hope and +Theodora were close behind him when he reached the old pine-tree. As +they turned to face the sheet of silver light reflected back from the +surface of the ice, Theodora gasped with the beauty of it all, and with +the tense physical excitement of the moment. For one instant, she seemed +possessed with the glorious madness of living, with the splendor of the +night, with the cold, sharp air and the exhilaration of the exercise. +The next moment, as she mustered all her strength to pass Archie, she +saw him stagger and fall. He had skated on a half-buried stick, and the +sudden check to his progress had thrown him headlong on the ice.</p> + +<p>There was an instantaneous hush, when it seemed to Theodora that all the +glory had died out of the universe. When she regained her scattered +senses, Hubert had whirled Billy up to the spot, while Hope, quiet and +dainty as ever, but a shade paler than usual, sat on the ice with +Archie's head resting in her lap and her handkerchief pressed against +the cut in his forehead.</p> + +<p>"Be quiet, Teddy," she said gently. "Archie<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> isn't dead, dear. I think +it has only stunned him a little."</p> + +<p>With a gasp of shame, Theodora realized that she had been crying aloud +in her excitement, while the blurred scratches on the ice showed that +she had been flying about the group in a futile distraction. With a +groan of self-disgust, she dropped down on the footboard of Billy's +chair.</p> + +<p>"I didn't mean to," she said contritely. "How can you always know just +what to do, Hope? I wish I didn't act like an ape, whenever I'm +frightened. But do you think he's much hurt?"</p> + +<p>Archie answered the question by opening his eyes. He looked up at Hope +for a minute, first in wonder at his position, then with an expression +of infinite content, as he saw her pretty face bent over him and read +the anxiety in her eyes. Then his own eyes grew merry, as he glanced at +the tearful, dishevelled Theodora.</p> + +<p>"I'm not dead yet," he said. "You came near beating me; but you haven't +done it yet, my fair niece." He tried to rise as he spoke.</p> + +<p>Hope's hand on his forehead grew a shade heavier.</p> + +<p>"Wait a little," she said. "You've cut your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>self, and I want it to stop +bleeding, first. Aren't you comfortable?"</p> + +<p>For a second time, Archie looked up into her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Perfectly," he answered briefly.</p> + +<p>The pause which followed was an expressive one. Hubert broke it.</p> + +<p>"Ye-es," he said critically, as he bent over Archie for a moment; "you +aren't looking your very prettiest, Archie. When you do get up, I advise +you to go in search of a mirror."</p> + +<p>"Hu!"</p> + +<p>But Hope's remonstrance came too late, for Archie had already sat up.</p> + +<p>Hubert helped him to take off his skates, and the little party started +for home. It was the same walk they had taken many times before; but +there was a difference now. Instead of going up the hill in a merry +group, with Archie pushing the chair and Theodora prancing along by his +side, Billy and the twins took the lead, and Archie and Hope, in the +shadow of the trees, followed along slowly, very slowly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_TWELVE" id="CHAPTER_TWELVE"></a>CHAPTER TWELVE</h2> + +<p>Slowly, very slowly, Theodora was turning about in front of her mirror +to inspect her new suit. It was her nearest approach to that glory of +modern womankind, the tailor-made gown, and Theodora's face was +expressive of unmitigated approval. The dark green cloth suited her +complexion to perfection, the jacket was edged with fur, and the dark +green hat, rolled sharply upwards, framed her eager young face in a soft +setting of velvet and feathers. Theodora looked her best, and, like a +true daughter of Eve, she was perfectly aware of the fact. With the aid +of a hand-glass, she studied her right side, her left side, her back, +petulantly brushed away the heavy masses of her short hair, made sure +that Archie's pin showed its gleam at her throat; then she descended the +stairs in search of admiration.</p> + +<p>She found Archie in the parlor, the symmetry of his face somewhat marred +by the patch of plaster on his right temple.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How do you like it, Uncle Arch?" she demanded, clasping her hands and +revolving before him like a teetotum.</p> + +<p>"It's good. You look warm and comfortable, and not a bit floppy," he +answered. "When do you go?"</p> + +<p>"Friday. I'd much rather wait till Tuesday, and see you off; but beggars +mustn't be choosers, and it was lovely of Mrs. Farrington to ask me."</p> + +<p>"You'll have a great time with them," Archie returned, privately +reflecting that Mrs. Farrington had no cause to be ashamed of her +charge. For the past three days, he had been devoting most of his spare +time to gentle Hope, yet he confessed to a hearty admiration for +off-hand, boyish Theodora, who had done so much to make his stay a +pleasant one. "Going to write to me, Ted?" he added persuasively.</p> + +<p>"I don't know. What for?"</p> + +<p>"To tell me the gossip, of course. When a fellow is away in camp, it's +good to get letters from friends at home." Archie's tone was charged +with the sentimentality of his years. He was sorry to turn his back upon +civilization once more, sorry to lose touch with his adopted nieces; +and, above all, most humanly sorry to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> find that Theodora was taking his +approaching departure in such a philosophical spirit.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'd just as soon write, if you want me to," she answered, while she +settled her collar and gave a feminine tweak to her sleeves; "only I +don't see the use of it. Mamma will be sure to write, and there's no use +wasting stamps in telling you the news twice over."</p> + +<p>Assuredly Theodora was not inclined to sentiment, and Archie strolled +away to Hope, in search of appreciation, just as Phebe bounced into the +room. At sight of Theodora's new gown, she halted abruptly.</p> + +<p>"I suppose you think you look pretty well," she said crushingly.</p> + +<p>"Well, yes, I do," Theodora replied, with feigned indifference, for she +always shrank from Phebe's criticism. "How do you like it?"</p> + +<p>Phebe walked around her and inspected her from top to toe with provoking +deliberation.</p> + +<p>"It wouldn't be so bad," she remarked at length. "The coat isn't quite +right in the back, somehow; and isn't your hat a little mite one-sided?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Babe, I wish anything ever suited you," Theodora broke out +impatiently. "You always find something wrong somewhere."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p> + +<p>But Phebe rebuked her.</p> + +<p>"Now, don't get cross, Teddy. Mrs. Farrington won't think you're a good +companion for Billy, if you are as cross as that."</p> + +<p>"Companion?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Of course she wouldn't have taken you to New York, if she hadn't +wanted somebody to take care of Billy when she was busy."</p> + +<p>Phebe had a genius for aiming her shafts which was far in advance of her +years. Theodora winced; then she turned to her little sister with a sort +of fierceness.</p> + +<p>"Who said so?" she demanded.</p> + +<p>"I say so," Phebe returned calmly, as she settled herself on the sofa; +"and so does Isabel St. John."</p> + +<p>Theodora's exasperation reached a climax.</p> + +<p>"If you two children don't stop talking over my affairs, I'll tell +papa," she said in impotent rage, for the McAlister code of honor +scorned brute force, and she dared not give her young sister the shaking +she so richly deserved.</p> + +<p>"Tattle-tale!" Phebe replied in brief derision.</p> + +<p>Theodora fled to her room, for she felt that she was no match for her +composed young ad<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>versary. Hope found her, an hour later, sitting in a +heap on the side of her bed.</p> + +<p>"Don't mind, dear," she said gently. "I knew Babe had been saying +something hateful; but it's only her way. Mrs. Farrington wants you to +have a good time, and I'm so glad you are going. Three weeks in New York +will be good for you, and you will see ever so much. Just think how +lonely we are going to be without you and Archie!" Her voice broke a +little.</p> + +<p>Theodora kissed her impulsively.</p> + +<p>"Truly, are you going to miss me so much, Hope? I'll stay at home, if +you will. I really shouldn't mind."</p> + +<p>"Of course we shall miss you, Ted, you and Archie both. Hu and I are +going to be forlorn and dull enough; but that's no reason you are to +stay here, and lose such a chance. Archie has asked me to write to him," +she added a little inconsequently.</p> + +<p>Not even Phebe's cutting remarks could blunt the edge of Theodora's +happiness, three days later, as she went gliding into the vast babel of +the Grand Central Station. It had been her first real journey; it was +her first sight of New York, that Mecca of all true and loyal Americans, +and she gave a little gasp of sheer delight<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> while she followed Mrs. +Farrington from the car and turned to wait for Patrick and Billy. She +watched it all with open-eyed content, the uniformed porters, the throng +of hungry-looking cabmen, the comfortable carriage, and the broad, +crowded streets through which they drove to reach the hotel. The hotel +itself completed her satisfaction. Mrs. Farrington liked luxury, both +for herself and for the sake of her invalid son, and Theodora could not +wonder enough at the greatness and glitter of it all, the halls and +parlors, the huge dining-room and their own cosy suite of rooms near by. +Strange to say, after the first night, she was quite at her ease, and +settled into her luxurious surroundings with an apparent unconsciousness +which was as gratifying to Mrs. Farrington as it was amusing.</p> + +<p>It was all old ground to Mrs. Farrington and Billy; but they enjoyed +exploring the city with their eager young guest, who revelled in it with +all the enthusiasm of her years. Wherever a carriage could go, wherever +the faithful Patrick could help his young master, there they went, until +Theodora, with the aid of her well-studied map, knew the city from the +Battery to the fastnesses of Harlem. It seemed to the young<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> girl that +the ordinary laws of time and space had been suspended, and that she was +living in a gilded fairyland which would continue till the end of days.</p> + +<p>There was even one wonderful evening when Theodora, in a fresh, light +gown which had mysteriously appeared from one of Mrs. Farrington's +trunks, and Billy, in a brand-new suit and immaculate tie, went with +Mrs. Farrington to hear Calvé and the De Reszkés sing <i>Carmen</i>. After +that, the rest was rather of the nature of an anticlimax, and Theodora +spent the next day in a grove of paper, transporting Marianne and Violet +to the Metropolitan Opera House in a blaze of diamonds and yards of +white silk gowns.</p> + +<p>On the following morning, she was still deep in this pleasant task. The +rain was sweeping against the windows; yet, in imagination, Violet was +cantering through one of the bridle paths in the Park, with Gerald at +her side, when Mrs. Farrington came into the room.</p> + +<p>"May I interrupt you, Teddy?" she asked, with the gentle courtesy which +made Theodora feel so grown-up and elegant.</p> + +<p>Theodora threw aside her pen.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" she asked with alacrity.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Nothing very pleasant, for I shall have to send you out in this storm. +I've just taken Will down to Joe Everard's to spend the morning, and I +promised to call for him, this noon. When I came back, I found a note +from Mrs. Keith, asking me to come to lunch, to meet one of our +California cousins. Do you feel as if you could go down in the carriage +and come back with Will? I hate to have him alone, in case anything +happens."</p> + +<p>Theodora laughed contentedly.</p> + +<p>"What an idea! Of course I'll go. I always love to drive, you know. +Where's the place?"</p> + +<p>"Away down town, near Washington Square. You'd better go right down +Fifth Avenue. I'll dress, then, and go to Mrs. Keith's; and then send +the carriage back for you, if you'll be ready."</p> + +<p>Theodora went back to her writing, and the moments slid away only too +rapidly. Whatever was the result of her labors, she enjoyed them keenly. +All through the winter, though Phebe scolded and Allyn teased and the +world about her went awry, she had been able to forget it all in the +adventures of her imaginary friends, the tale of whose doings had come +to be bulky and dog's-eared from frequent read<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>ings. She was still busy +over her work, when Patrick came to the door.</p> + +<p>"The carriage is here, Miss Theodora."</p> + +<p>She quickly put on her hat and coat. Patrick banged the carriage door +behind her and mounted the box beside the driver, and they drove away. +It was the first time she had driven out in solitary splendor, and +Theodora felt very dignified and luxurious as she leaned back on the +cushions and idly watched the passing show which had grown so familiar +to her during the past two weeks. When they came to the lower end of the +Avenue, she sat up in quick attention, for she was passing window after +window full of books spread out in enticing array, and above the +doorways she read on the gilded signs the names which she had learned to +know were on the titlepages of the books within. At the sight, there +came into her mind a sudden recollection of her well-worn manuscript at +home, and of the tales she had read of young writers who had made their +way into the publisher's presence.</p> + +<p>With an impulsive movement, she tapped sharply on the window.</p> + +<p>"Stop, please," she said. "On this side."</p> + +<p>Obediently the driver drew up opposite the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> doorway of a firm of +international fame, and Theodora, secure in the consciousness of her new +gown and the unwonted luxury of the carriage and Patrick, entered the +store. It was a dreary day of a dull season, and with comparatively +little trouble she found herself in a quiet office on the third floor of +the building. Its occupant, a tall, thin man with iron-gray hair, looked +up at her approach, and a slight expression of wonder came into his eyes +as they rested on his girlish visitor.</p> + +<p>"What can I do for you?" he asked courteously.</p> + +<p>Theodora was breathing a little quickly, and the bright color came and +went in her cheeks. All unconsciously, she was looking her very best.</p> + +<p>"I came to ask you about publishing a book."</p> + +<p>"Mm. Is it one you have written?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>There was a pause, slight, yet perceptible. Then the man asked,—</p> + +<p>"What sort of a book is it?"</p> + +<p>"It's a novel. Kind of a love story."</p> + +<p>"How long is it?"</p> + +<p>"There are thirty-seven chapters done."</p> + +<p>"Then it isn't finished?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No; but I could end it off about any time, if you are in a hurry for +it."</p> + +<p>In spite of himself, the publisher smiled. Theodora's girlish naïveté +was refreshing to him. He liked her face and manner, and he was curious +to see more of this young aspirant for fame, so he pushed forward a +chair.</p> + +<p>"Sit down," he said genially; "and tell me more about it."</p> + +<p>With the off-hand, healthy directness of a boy, Theodora plunged into +the midst of her plot and unfolded all its intricacies. The publisher +listened till the end, always with the same little smile on his face.</p> + +<p>"How old are you?" he asked, when she paused for breath.</p> + +<p>"Sixteen."</p> + +<p>"And you want to write books?"</p> + +<p>"Awfully." Theodora's hand shut, as it lay in her lap. "I'm going to do +it, too, some day."</p> + +<p>"Good! I think perhaps you will. And you live in New York?"</p> + +<p>"No; I live in Massachusetts; but I'm here with Mrs. Farrington."</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Farrington? Mrs. William H. Farrington?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Is it possible! Did she send you to me?"</p> + +<p>"No; I came. Do you know her?"</p> + +<p>"Very well, and for ever so many years, since she was younger than you."</p> + +<p>"I never heard her say anything about you," Theodora said, with +unflattering directness.</p> + +<p>"Very likely not. But now, my dear little girl, I am going to give you +some advice. I am afraid we can't take your book. It isn't in our line; +but some day you may write something that is, and then I shall be glad +to see it. Now, if you really mean to write good books, you must read +good ones, the best ones that are written; you must study a great deal +and study all sorts of things, for you can never tell what will help you +most. Keep on writing, if you want to; but don't expect to have anything +published for ten years. By that time, you will just be ready to begin +your work. Sometime, we may meet again," he added, as he rose; "and then +you must tell me all you have done. I think I shall have reason to +congratulate you. Till then, good-by. Give my regards to Mrs. +Farrington, and tell her that I shall try to call on her before she +leaves the city."</p> + +<p>Theodora read her dismissal in the shrewd,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> kindly brown eyes. She went +away in a glorified dream of the future which lasted until she saw Billy +crossing the pavement, leaning on one crutch and with Patrick's strong +arm supporting his weight on the other side. He looked tired, and his +brave helplessness struck her in strong contrast to her own exuberant +happiness. It suddenly seemed to her that it would be selfish to boast +of her own hopes, in the face of his uncertain future, so she locked her +lips on the subject of her morning's adventure, and turned to greet him +with a bright interest which concerned itself with his doings alone.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_THIRTEEN" id="CHAPTER_THIRTEEN"></a>CHAPTER THIRTEEN</h2> + +<p>"Spring has come, and the McAlisters are putting on their annual +addition," Hope wrote to Archie in April. "It is on the west side, a new +wing. Mother calls the upper room Archie's room. At present, the +downstairs room goes by the name of The Annex, because we have exhausted +our ingenuity in naming the other rooms, and have nothing left for +this."</p> + +<p>The name proved to be an enduring one, while the process of building was +more exciting than usual. Dr. McAlister had decided to have the cellar +extended for the wing; and the rocky ledge on which the house was +perched rendered blasting a necessity. For a week, they lived in a state +of alarm lest the house should be jarred down about their ears. For a +week, they heard the steady <i>clink</i>, <i>clink</i> of the hammers on the +drills, the thud of the stone-laden hogsheads rolled over the boards +above the rock, and the thunder of the blast as it exploded. By the time +the week was ended, the noisy work of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> the carpenters seemed, in +comparison, like sweet music.</p> + +<p>Strange to say, it was Allyn who most gloried in the confusion, and, +from the first shovelful of earth to the last nail, he was always to be +found in the thick of the fray. No matter how often the workmen picked +him up and returned him to his mother, he invariably reappeared under +their feet again, five minutes later, to be alternately a target for +their profanity and a receptacle for choice morsels from their +luncheons.</p> + +<p>"No, Allyn," Hope said, with decision, when she found him investigating +the tip of a freshly-lighted fuse; "you mustn't go there again, ever. Do +you hear sister?"</p> + +<p>"Ess," lisped the culprit. "I hears; but it is so instering."</p> + +<p>"Too interesting for a baby like you," Hope said, laughing, in spite of +her pale cheeks. "If you do that again, Allyn, sister won't have any +little brother to cuddle."</p> + +<p>"Why for not?"</p> + +<p>"Because you'll be killed, dear."</p> + +<p>"And will I be a little boy angel?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"And do little boy angels have stomachs?" was the next unexpected +question.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I don't know. Why?"</p> + +<p>"'Cause then I can have all the pieces of cake I want," he answered, +with a vengeful recollection of the angel cake forbidden the night +before.</p> + +<p>Since Theodora's visit to New York, there had been no fresh excitement +in the McAlister household, and the young people had settled down into +the peaceful routine of work and play which had preceded Archie's +coming. To be sure, it was never quite the same as in past years, for +their circle had been widened to admit Billy Farrington, and, moreover, +Archie's letters created a new interest for them all, for Hope more than +for the others, since to her they were more personal than to the rest, +and on her devolved the necessity of answering them. Mrs. McAlister used +to smile quietly to herself, at times, and she had even spoken of the +matter to the doctor, who nodded approvingly, even though there was no +actual thing to which he could give his assent.</p> + +<p>"Say, Hu," Theodora asked abruptly, one night; "wouldn't it be funny if +Archie married Hope?"</p> + +<p>Hubert stopped whistling and stared at his sister in surprise.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What an idea, Ted! Your brain must be 'way off, to think of such a +thing."</p> + +<p>"Stranger things than that have happened, Hu," Theodora said shrewdly. +"Just wait a few years and see."</p> + +<p>"Archie's no fusser," Hubert said, with some scorn.</p> + +<p>"Maybe not; but he likes Hope, and she thinks he is perfect. Of course, +they won't do it yet, but they may in time. Here we are. Come in."</p> + +<p>For the first time in their lives, the twins were on their way to a +temperance meeting. Dr. McAlister had always felt that such meetings +were no place for impressionable children, that the sensational methods +of oratory were not for young ears; and Hubert and Theodora had +experienced some difficulty in coaxing their father to give his consent +to their hearing a famous young Irish orator who was holding a series of +meetings in the town. It was a new experience for Theodora, who, from +the first moment, was swayed to and fro at the speaker's will, now +laughing at his broad humor, now winking away her tears at his pathos, +now thrilling through all her lithe young body at his stirring appeals +for help to raise the drink-sodden<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> world around him. Hubert was more +sceptical.</p> + +<p>"What a fib!" he remarked, at the close of the story which ended the +lecture. "I know things never happened as pat as that. They don't, out +of books, I bet. What are you going to do, Ted?"</p> + +<p>Theodora, her face flushed and her eyes like stars, had started forward +to the stage.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to sign the pledge, Hu."</p> + +<p>"What for? You don't get drunk."</p> + +<p>"For my example. Oh, Hu, think of the saloons in the east end of town! +And we've never done anything to help them! It's terrible."</p> + +<p>She came back to him with her hands full of pamphlets. Hubert eyed her +askance.</p> + +<p>"I say, Ted, what are those?"</p> + +<p>"Tracts."</p> + +<p>"What for?"</p> + +<p>"I am going to take them to some of those people, to-morrow. It may wake +them up to what they are doing."</p> + +<p>"They're more likely to wake you up, Ted. Go easy. You know papa never +will let you."</p> + +<p>"I sha'n't ask him, then," she said proudly. "If it's right, it's right, +and nobody ought to stop me."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></p> + +<p>Hubert whistled softly.</p> + +<p>"Look out, Ted. Remember the kid you stole? This may come out as your +slumming did, you know."</p> + +<p>But Theodora started out, the next morning, the tracts in her hand and +zeal in her heart. At the very first saloon, she was doomed to +disillusion.</p> + +<p>"It is a wicked life," she said firmly; "and you ought to be ashamed."</p> + +<p>For a wonder, the man knew neither Dr. McAlister nor his daughter, and +he was not moved to awe by this child.</p> + +<p>"Do you think it is any of your business, my fine lady?" he demanded +sharply.</p> + +<p>Theodora quailed.</p> + +<p>"N-n-no-o-o-o; I don't," she said faintly, and fled from the door into +the arms of her father, who chanced to be passing by.</p> + +<p>"Theodora!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir." She hung her head guiltily, for she instinctively felt his +disapproval.</p> + +<p>"What are you doing here, in such a place?" he asked more sternly than +he was wont to speak.</p> + +<p>"I'm—I'm—I'm—" she faltered.</p> + +<p>He held out his hand for the tracts. She<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> gave them up reluctantly, and +she saw him frown as he read their lurid headings. For a moment he +looked perplexed; then he said quietly,—</p> + +<p>"Theodora, I wish you to go home at once, and to say nothing of this to +anyone. To-night, after supper, come to the office. I want to talk this +over with you."</p> + +<p>"Yes, papa."</p> + +<p>Her lip quivered, and he relaxed a little of his sternness.</p> + +<p>"I know you didn't mean to do wrong, my dear. I am not going to scold +you; but there are a good many things I want to say to you,—things we +can't say here. That is all."</p> + +<p>To Theodora's mind, the day dragged perceptibly. She was conscious of +her father's disapproval, conscious that, in her girlish impulsiveness, +she had gone where she had no business to go. It was a relief when +supper was over, and she followed her father into his office.</p> + +<p>He pulled out a great easy-chair and sat down.</p> + +<p>"Come here, my girlie, and cuddle in beside me, as you used to do," he +said, with an inviting gesture. "Now tell me all about it."</p> + +<p>Theodora poured forth her tale in an inco<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>herent tide. Her father, +listening and stroking the brown head, smiled a little, from time to +time. When she had finished,—</p> + +<p>"What is temperance, Teddy?" he asked abruptly.</p> + +<p>"Not to drink rum," she answered, with glib promptness.</p> + +<p>He smiled again.</p> + +<p>"That is only a tiny little part of it, my girl."</p> + +<p>"Of course. I mean whiskey, too, and beer, and—and—"</p> + +<p>"Never mind the rest of them now. It's a good long list, and the worst +of the drinking isn't always done in the saloons."</p> + +<p>"Where is it, then?" Theodora looked at him in astonishment.</p> + +<p>"At banquets and dinners and receptions. Too often at college suppers, +and by boys not much older than Hu."</p> + +<p>"Really?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Ted. Now, my dear, I'm going to give you a lecture. It won't be +like the one you heard, last night, for I'm not a temperance orator, +only a plain old doctor. Temperance isn't signing the pledge, or keeping +it after it is signed; it is keeping one's self free from all kinds of +badness and excess, whether it's drinking or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> smoking, or too much +dancing, or tight shoes. It is taking all our pleasures moderately, so +that they can never hurt our bodies or our minds. Do you see what I +mean?"</p> + +<p>"But oughtn't all liquor to be taken away?" she urged, still mindful of +the orator's sounding periods.</p> + +<p>"Like any other powerful drug. It's one thing to use it, Ted, another to +abuse it, as we doctors know. There are times when it must be used, just +like any other medicine. Because I give you a dose, one day, you don't +need to go on taking it forever, dear."</p> + +<p>He paused for a minute, then he went on,—</p> + +<p>"That is one side of it,—a side that we must look at. On the other is +the horrible danger of forming the habit of taking wine and such things +to excess. The suffering is terrible, and the poverty. That comes from +intemperance in drink more than from any other form of it; and the only +way that it is to be prevented is for us parents to teach our boys and +girls all the danger, teach them that, because they want it, there is no +excuse for their taking it. If you aren't strong enough to deny yourself +something you know is a sin, you haven't learned the first lesson of +good living. But it isn't drinking alone; there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> are other sins that are +as bad and as dangerous; and a man or woman, to be strong and pure and +good, must turn his back upon them all."</p> + +<p>"But I did want to help," Theodora said. "There ought to be something +that a girl can do."</p> + +<p>"So there is," her father answered quickly.</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"From now on, through all your young womanhood, be sure you stand on the +right side of things. Don't preach. That never does any good. Just frown +down any fastness in your friends. Let it be understood that you have +nothing to do with a man who drinks and swears, with a girl who is fast +or familiar, who laces till she can't breathe, and dances all night with +men whom she hardly knows. Let my Teddy, even if she must stand alone, +stand for all that is truest and best in women, and the young men and +women around her will respect her and try to pull themselves up to her +standard. You needn't be a prig, Ted. Be as full of fun as you can; the +more, the better, only choose your fun carefully. Your old father knows +what he's talking about, and he knows that girls have more influence +than most of them are willing to use."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p> + +<p>Theodora's cheek was resting against her father's shoulder, and her eyes +had drooped.</p> + +<p>"I will," she said humbly.</p> + +<p>"And remember this, my girlie; I am always here to talk things over with +you and advise you. When you are older, perhaps you can help me with my +poorer patients. Till then, Teddy, wait, and don't try to do too much. +You're only my little girl yet; and the world is too big for you to +understand. Good-night, dear. Now I must go."</p> + +<p>It was the last of the lecture; but, simple as it had been, Theodora +never lost the memory of the quiet hour in the office, and in after +years she learned to know the value of the lesson so gently given.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_FOURTEEN" id="CHAPTER_FOURTEEN"></a>CHAPTER FOURTEEN</h2> + +<p>"Back again, at last?" Billy looked up with a smile, as Theodora came +flying into the room.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Have you missed me?"</p> + +<p>"Haven't I? You mustn't go off again, Ted. You are altogether too +frisky."</p> + +<p>"What could I do? Papa took me."</p> + +<p>"Had a good time?"</p> + +<p>"Beautiful. It's too much for one spring,—three weeks in New York, and +this lovely week of driving."</p> + +<p>"You had good weather, sure enough. Also, ma'am, you're brown as a +squaw. Also, I think your hair has grown."</p> + +<p>"Wish 't would; but that's a forbidden subject. I'll tell you one thing, +Billy Farrington: if I ever do get any hair again, I'll guard it like +the apple of my eye. But what about you?"</p> + +<p>"News."</p> + +<p>"Oh, what?" she questioned eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Well, we went down to see Dr. Parker, last Saturday."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What did he say?"</p> + +<p>"That I'm doing as well as could be expected."</p> + +<p>"What else? I know there's something good; you show it all over."</p> + +<p>Billy tried to draw down his face, failed, gave up the effort, and +laughed instead.</p> + +<p>"'Tis good, Ted. I told them not to tell you, for I wanted the fun of +it. He says I can plan to enter college, a year from this fall; he says +in three months I can walk as far as my crutches will take me, and he +says in a few years I'll be as well as ever. Isn't it fine? Why, Ted, +what's the matter?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing; only I'm a goose." And Theodora looked up, her eyes shining +with happy tears. "You know I'm glad, Billy; only I don't know how to +say it straight."</p> + +<p>"That's all right, Ted. It sort of took my own breath away at first. I +couldn't wait to tell you, for you've been the best friend I've had. +You've pulled me through lots of bad places."</p> + +<p>Theodora's face was very gentle; but she laughed.</p> + +<p>"The chair runs easily, Billy. It didn't take much pulling."</p> + +<p>"That's another thing." Billy's face was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> growing brighter with every +moment. "I've said good-by to the chair."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean? You can't walk yet?"</p> + +<p>"No; but I'm going to have a tricycle that runs with my hands, and I can +go wherever I choose. How will you like to have me running away from +you?"</p> + +<p>"You can't; I'll hang on behind, Billy. A tricycle? How splendid! I +believe I envy you more than ever."</p> + +<p>"I'll swap my tricycle for your back," he retorted.</p> + +<p>"I wish we could take turns. When is it coming?"</p> + +<p>"Friday, the letter said."</p> + +<p>"All right; I'll make the most of the time till then. After you get it, +there'll be no catching a glimpse of you."</p> + +<p>Billy laughed, and it seemed to Theodora that his laugh was a little +mocking.</p> + +<p>"I'll whistle to you, as I go by. Honestly, Ted, it does seem hard to +leave you alone, when we've had such great times together."</p> + +<p>His words were the echo of her thoughts. For a moment, Theodora +struggled with herself. Then her real love for her friend triumphed.</p> + +<p>"It will make ever so much difference, Billy;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> but I'm glad of it. We've +had our good times together, lots of them, and there'll always be our +lessons, you know. Truly and honestly, you've had about all the girl you +can stand, and it's time you were able to ride off with the boys."</p> + +<p>Billy leaned back in his chair and surveyed her through narrowed lids.</p> + +<p>"Girls aren't half bad, Teddy," he observed; "but I'm glad you take it +so philosophically."</p> + +<p>There was a long pause. Then Theodora spoke.</p> + +<p>"I've some news, too, Billy."</p> + +<p>"Good?"</p> + +<p>"I thought so, till I heard yours. Now it seems rather flat."</p> + +<p>"What is it?"</p> + +<p>"My story is done," she answered quietly, but with a little heightening +of her color.</p> + +<p>"Done? To the very end? Get it," he commanded.</p> + +<p>"No; not yet. I only finished it, last night, and I want time to look it +over, myself, before I show it to you. I may not let you see it, after +all."</p> + +<p>"Oh, come now, that's not square! Didn't I help you, I'd like to know?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></p> + +<p>Theodora cocked her head on one side, and meditated aloud.</p> + +<p>"He furnished hair and eyes for one hero, and a nose for the other. +There are seven of his speeches, not very bright ones, and he gave me +points for one love scene. I wonder if he's earned the right to see it."</p> + +<p>"'Course I have. Go and get it, and bring it over here."</p> + +<p>"Wait," she begged. "Truly, I'm not ready yet. I'm afraid you'll laugh."</p> + +<p>"Do I ever laugh at you,—in earnest, that is?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>"No," she confessed honestly; "you never do."</p> + +<p>"Then you ought to trust me with this."</p> + +<p>"You couldn't read it."</p> + +<p>"Read it to me, then."</p> + +<p>"Well, maybe."</p> + +<p>Late that same day, in the long May twilight, they were coming up town +together, Theodora pushing Billy in the familiar chair which was so soon +to be discarded. With Mulvaney trudging solemnly at their heels, they +had been loitering along in the sunset, while Billy gave himself up to +the bright companionship which he had so sorely missed during the past +ten days, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> Theodora tried to talk as blithely as usual, while she +told herself again and again that her opportunities for such walks were +growing few.</p> + +<p>"Lessons to-morrow," Billy said at length. "I've got to grind in earnest +now, Ted, if I'm to be ready for Yale, next year. Old Brownie has +promised to put me through, though."</p> + +<p>"I wish I were going, too."</p> + +<p>"To Yale? But you'll do better; you'll write books and get famous, while +I'm racketing around New Haven. By the way, you're going to bring it +over, to-night."</p> + +<p>"It?" Theodora tried to look as if she failed to catch his meaning.</p> + +<p>"The great and only IT,—the novel. What's its name?"</p> + +<p>"I'm not sure. But I'll bring it, in a day or two," she answered.</p> + +<p>It was not until the following Saturday morning, however, that she +appeared at the Farringtons' with a bulky parcel of papers in her hands.</p> + +<p>"I knew your mother was going to be out, this morning," she said, as she +slid out of her dripping mackintosh; "so I thought I'd get it over +with."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That's good. Take the big chair. Wait a minute, though."</p> + +<p>He whistled for Patrick to put more wood on the fire, and to place a +glass of water within Theodora's reach.</p> + +<p>"There!" he said approvingly. "Now we're comfortable. Hold on a minute, +Patrick; just boost me over to the sofa, while you're about it. I may as +well take life easily."</p> + +<p>Theodora stuffed the cushions about him with the swift, sure touch he +knew so well, and he nodded blithely up at her, in thanks.</p> + +<p>"Oh, but it's good you're back, Ted!" he said gratefully. "I've missed +you like thunder. Now fire ahead. What are you going to call it?"</p> + +<p>Theodora blushed, and the name stuck in her throat.</p> + +<p>"I thought I should call it <i>In the Furnace of Affliction</i>," she said +hesitatingly.</p> + +<p>"Wow! How doleful!"</p> + +<p>"Don't you like it?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"It's rather taking, only it isn't exactly festive," he answered.</p> + +<p>"Neither is the story, I suspect," she said, laughing a little +nervously.</p> + +<p>"Go on," he said so imperatively that, with one long breath, Theodora +began to read.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was more than two hours before she finished her story, and during +that time Billy's attention and respect never failed her. There were +moments when his gravity was sorely tried, for, more mature than +Theodora, and, by stress of circumstances, far more at home in the world +of books, he realized all the unconscious humor of some of the overdrawn +scenes and melodramatic conversations. Still, his loyalty to Theodora +would not let him waver, and, in spite of its crudeness, he was honestly +surprised at some of the really telling points of the story.</p> + +<p>"It is good, Ted," he said, as she dropped the last page into her lap. +"It isn't quite up to <i>Treasure Island</i> or <i>Ivanhoe</i>; but it's as good +as half the rubbish that gets published, and some of it is most awfully +fine. I like that scene where Violet and Marianne tell each other their +love affairs. Girls talk just like that, you know."</p> + +<p>"You really think it is worth publishing?" she questioned, while her +color came and went.</p> + +<p>"I most certainly do. Chop it down a little and copy it out, and then +send it to a man."</p> + +<p>"But I don't want to cut it," she protested.</p> + +<p>"It's too long," Billy urged, with more practicality than tact.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Not a bit. It's no longer than <i>Robert Elsmere</i>, and everybody has read +that."</p> + +<p>"Have you?"</p> + +<p>"No; but I counted the pages and words and things. This isn't long a +bit, Billy."</p> + +<p>The discussion was never ended, for just then Patrick came into the +room.</p> + +<p>"The expressman has been here, Mr. Will."</p> + +<p>"And has brought the tricycle? Hurray!" And Billy seized his crutches. +"Where is it? Help me up, Patrick! Come along, Ted!"</p> + +<p>"I had it taken into the kitchen. Shall I open it, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Of course. Hurry up about it, too. Did anything else come?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; but not here, sir."</p> + +<p>With a little feeling of envy, Theodora followed Billy to the kitchen +and stood by, while Patrick opened the crate and took out the light +tricycle so carefully packed within.</p> + +<p>"Isn't it a beauty? Isn't it fine? Oh, why does it have to be raining, +Ted, so I can't try it? Put me into the thing, Patrick. This floor is so +large that I can see how it is going to work."</p> + +<p>The story and even Theodora herself was forgotten, while the boy grasped +the handles and rolled himself up and down the floor. For the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> moment, +he was half beside himself with joy. It was as if his prison door +suddenly had opened, after having been closed and barred for more than a +year. After months of the stuffy couch, after months more of Patrick and +the chair, it was good to be able to move himself about, once more. But +he was weaker than he knew, and the excitement was more than he had the +strength to endure. Theodora, who had been watching him, saw him grow a +little white around the mouth.</p> + +<p>"Take me out, Patrick," he said wearily. "I sha'n't run away, to-day. I +think, if you don't mind, I'll get back on the lounge again."</p> + +<p>Theodora lingered beside him until he was his usual bright self once +more. Then she started for home. Allyn met her on the steps.</p> + +<p>"Tum in," he said imperiously.</p> + +<p>"What for?"</p> + +<p>"'Cause. Hope said I wasn't to tell."</p> + +<p>"Tell what?"</p> + +<p>"Sumfin's here."</p> + +<p>"What kind of a sumfin, Allyn? Wait till sister gets her mackintosh +off."</p> + +<p>"No; tum." He tugged at her hand.</p> + +<p>Laughing at his eagerness, she threw off her mackintosh, caught him in +her arms, and went<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> in the direction of the voices which she heard in a +confused, excited murmur. As she opened the door, she was saluted with a +chorus.</p> + +<p>"Here she is!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Ted, just look!"</p> + +<p>"Now she won't speak to the rest of us."</p> + +<p>"Teddy, do see here!"</p> + +<p>She looked and saw. Then, regardless of Allyn in her arms, she cast +herself into the middle of the group and seized upon something that +stood there,—something with a gleam of black enamel and a flash of +nickel and the lustre of polished wood.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Hu! Mamma! Hope! What is it? Where did it come from?"</p> + +<p>"The expressman left it here, addressed to you, Teddy; and here's a note +in Mrs. Farrington's writing, tied to the bar."</p> + +<p>Theodora snatched the note and broke the dainty seal, but it was a +moment before she could realize the meaning of what was written within.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">My dear Teddy</span>," it ran; "Will is so happy in his tricycle; but I +knew it wouldn't be quite perfect unless you had the mate to it. He +is so used to going with you, in his chair, that I am sure he would +miss you, now he can go alone.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> Will you accept this bicycle from +us both, dear, and remember that we give it to you, not because you +have been so kind to Will, but because we care so very much for +your dear little self?</p></div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 28em;">"Sincerely,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 31em;"><span class="smcap">Jessie Farrington</span>."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"My!" Phebe commented, when Theodora folded up the note. "I wish I had +somebody to be good to, Teddy McAlister. I'd like to earn a bicycle as +easy as you have."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_FIFTEEN" id="CHAPTER_FIFTEEN"></a>CHAPTER FIFTEEN</h2> + +<p>For a week, Theodora gave herself over to the most violent gymnastics +she had ever known. For a week, she toiled and perspired and suffered +and was strong. Day after day, she patiently indented the floor and +walls of the riding school with every possible variety of tumble known +to aspiring humanity. Night after night, she counted her bruises and +anointed them with liniments. She tore her clothes, and knocked the skin +off one side of her nose, and rasped her temper. At the end of the week +she emerged, chastened and humbled, yet triumphant. She could ride her +bicycle.</p> + +<p>The whole family came out on the lawn to see her mount. No one of them +but Hubert had ever mastered the intricacies of a wheel, and, in +consequence, they were loud in their advice.</p> + +<p>"Why don't you ride here on the grass?" Hope suggested. "Then it won't +be so hard, if you fall off."</p> + +<p>"I don't mean to fall," Theodora protested. "Besides, it's all down +hill."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Huh!" Phebe sniffed with scorn. "It's easy enough to ride down hill. I +should think anybody could do that; shouldn't you, Isabel?"</p> + +<p>But Isabel, who knew how to ride, prudently forbore to express an +opinion.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going, Theodora?" Mrs. McAlister called after her.</p> + +<p>"Out here, where the road is better."</p> + +<p>"But we want to see you start."</p> + +<p>"It's sandy here."</p> + +<p>"What difference does that make?"</p> + +<p>"Why, I can't push through such sand as that."</p> + +<p>"How strange! I always thought you were so strong."</p> + +<p>Theodora clashed her bell in a spirit of wild protest.</p> + +<p>"How can I do anything, with you all standing here to criticise me?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Teddy, how selfish!" Hope's tone was rebuking.</p> + +<p>"I don't care. Do go in!" she said petulantly, as she started to mount.</p> + +<p>"Can't you mount any better than that, after all those lessons?" Phebe +asked, a moment later, as Theodora picked herself up from beneath her +wheel. "I know I could do better than that."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Try it, then." Theodora faced her little sister hotly.</p> + +<p>Phebe drew back.</p> + +<p>"I'm—I'm going to the post-office with Isabel, and her mother told us +to hurry."</p> + +<p>Allyn added his voice to the chorus.</p> + +<p>"Wait," he proclaimed; "I wants to talk. Phebe spokes so much, she takes +up all the room."</p> + +<p>"What now, Allyn?" Hope inquired.</p> + +<p>"Teddy tumbled over," he returned gravely. "I should fink she could ride +now, and not tumble over so much."</p> + +<p>There was a silence, while Theodora wrestled with her feelings and her +wheel. Then Hubert's voice rang down from an upper window, clear and +encouraging,—</p> + +<p>"Try it again, Ted. You're all right, only you don't know it."</p> + +<p>She did try it again, and went reeling down the street and in at the +Farringtons' gate, where Billy met her with applause. The more stable +nature of his own machine had allowed him to master it at once, and now +he was only waiting for Theodora, that they might start forth together +and conquer the world.</p> + +<p>The days flew by, each one more perfect than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> the last. In the golden +May weather, when the world never looks more green and fresh and lovable +than in its yellow sunshine, they rode forth to take their places in the +young life about them. It was scarcely more new to Billy than to +Theodora. Everything wears a changed aspect when viewed from the saddle, +and the girl felt that never before had she seen in its full beauty the +miracle of the opening leaves. For a few days, Dr. McAlister watched +Billy with some degree of care, fearful lest he be led too far by his +new enthusiasm, and exhaust his strength. Then the doctor breathed a +sigh of relief. Billy throve under it as a true boy should do, and, from +week to week, he gained new vigor as fast as he gained new sunburn.</p> + +<p>Hubert, meanwhile, was passing through an ignominious experience. He was +having measles. Alone of all the McAlisters, he had contrived to escape +the epidemic of two years before. Even Allyn had had it, and Billy +Farrington counted his convalescence as among the golden memories of his +boyhood, no school and endless goodies. For Hubert, sixteen years old +and five feet, ten inches, in height, it was reserved to go through the +disease alone. He was not seriously ill; but his whole soul revolted at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> +the babyish nature of his complaint, and at the tedium of the darkened +room.</p> + +<p>"Where going, Ted?" he demanded, one day.</p> + +<p>"To ride with Billy."</p> + +<p>"Bother Billy! I hate him."</p> + +<p>"What for?" Theodora stared at her brother in open-eyed consternation.</p> + +<p>"Because he's always round in the way. You aren't good for anything, now +he's here, always running off with him," Hubert grumbled.</p> + +<p>"Poor Billy! How'd you like it not to be able to go out alone? He needs +me."</p> + +<p>"I can't go out at all."</p> + +<p>"But he's been so for more than a year," Theodora said sharply; "and you +have only been in the house four days. I should think you could stand +that."</p> + +<p>"I should think you could stay in, once in a while, with your own +brother," Hubert retorted. "Charity begins at home."</p> + +<p>"But I promised Billy—"</p> + +<p>"I don't want you. Do get out and let me alone."</p> + +<p>As a rule, Hubert was the most even-tempered of boys. Now, however, he +felt himself aggrieved and deserted, and his tone was not altogether +amicable.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How cross you are!" Theodora snapped.</p> + +<p>"Oh, get out!" And Hubert turned his back on his sister and yawned.</p> + +<p>The door closed with a bang, and he heard Theodora's feet descending the +stairway, with a vengeful thump on every step. Then he yawned again. +There was nothing on earth to do; he was not ill enough to make it +interesting, only a bore. Time was when Theodora would have stuck to him +like a burr, and they would have contrived to have some fun out of even +such untoward circumstances as this. Now she deserted him and went off +with that confounded Billy. At this point in his musings, he dropped to +sleep.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, Billy was having a bad afternoon of it. Never had he +seen Theodora in a more fractious mood. She scolded about the road and +the heat, snubbed all his sympathetic suggestions, and contradicted all +his efforts at conversation. Under such conditions, the ride was a short +one, and it was less than an hour from the time they had started that +they reappeared in the Farringtons' drive. Theodora refused all +invitation to stop.</p> + +<p>"Thanks; but I must get home," she said curtly, and she rode away with +her teeth set<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> and her chin aggressively in the air, leaving Billy with +the impression that he had unintentionally stepped into a hornets' nest.</p> + +<p>Hope was spending the day with a friend, and Mrs. McAlister was +superintending some belated house-cleaning, so that Hubert was alone, as +when she had left him. She ran directly up to his room; but, when she +saw that he was asleep, her step softened, and she stealthily advanced +to his side and sat down on the edge of the bed. Something of the mood +in which he had gone to sleep still remained, and his boyish face, even +in his dreams, was dull and unhappy. Theodora reproached herself, as she +sat looking down at him. She reproached herself more, while she looked +about at the disorderly room and recalled her mother's words, as they +left the dinner-table, that noon.</p> + +<p>"I shall be busy, this afternoon, Teddy, so I shall leave Hu in your +care."</p> + +<p>A vase of fading flowers stood on the table, and beside it was a plate +of half-eaten fruit. Odds and ends of clothing lay about, and the bed on +which he had thrown himself looked tumbled and unattractive. It seemed +impossible that, since the morning, a room could get into such a state +of dire disorder.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p> + +<p>Rising, she crept softly about the room, setting things to rights and +giving the place the look of feminine daintiness which she knew so well +how to impart. Not even Hope had so much of the true home-making +instinct as Theodora, when she chose to turn her wayward interest in +that direction; and within a few moments the room looked a different +place altogether.</p> + +<p>Hubert stirred slightly, and Theodora whisked her duster out of sight +and went back to the bed.</p> + +<p>"Hu, I'm awfully sorry," she said, in explosive contrition. "I never +meant to be so piggable."</p> + +<p>The memory of their brief passage at arms had faded from Hubert's mind, +and he answered, with a yawn,—</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"About leaving you and going off with Billy. Really, Hu, I didn't s'pose +you cared, and Billy was used to me, and—I rather guess I've been a +good deal selfish; but I won't, any more."</p> + +<p>"Why, Ted!" For her head had dropped on his shoulder, and he felt the +hot tears falling on his wrist.</p> + +<p>"I like you so much better, Hu. You're my twin, and there's nobody like +you, and to think<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> I left you all alone!" In her excitement, the tears +came fast.</p> + +<p>"Ted, don't be silly! Look up, old girl! I don't want you hanging round +here with me. I'll be out of this in a week, anyway."</p> + +<p>"I know that, Hu." Theodora raised her head and spoke proudly. "But +you're my twin and my other half, better than all the Billys in +creation, and I ought to stay with you. What's more, I don't mean to go +off again till you can go with me. Billy is Billy, and good fun; but +you—" she cuddled her head against him with one of her rare +demonstrations of affection—"are my Hu."</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry, Billy," she said, that evening; "but I can't go out with +you, to-morrow. Hu's shut up in the house, and I don't think it is quite +fair to leave him, all the time."</p> + +<p>"Leave him, half the time, then," Billy suggested.</p> + +<p>Theodora shook her head.</p> + +<p>"Hu stands first, Billy; and I must look out for him when he's ill."</p> + +<p>Loyally she kept her word, and, for the next week, she was Hubert's +constant attendant and slave. He lorded it over her and played with her +by turns; but he appreciated the sacrifice she was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> making for him and, +more than he realized, he enjoyed the return to their old intimate +relation. It was not that he was jealous of Billy. It was not that Billy +had intentionally come between them. There had been a time, however, +when the twins were all in all to each other. Then Theodora's horizon +had suddenly broadened to admit Billy. Among his many boy friends, +Hubert had found no one with whom he could be on correspondingly +intimate terms. He frankly avowed that he liked no one else so well as +Teddy, and he had been a little hurt to find that he apparently no +longer occupied a similar place in her affections. But, whatever danger +there had been of their drifting apart, Hubert's opportune attack of +measles seemed to have vanquished it, and the twins stood more firmly +than ever before upon their old footing of mutual and unrivalled +intimacy.</p> + +<p>Two days after Hubert went out of doors for the first time, Billy +appeared at the McAlisters', demanding Theodora. She was long in +presenting herself; and, when she came down, her face was flushed and +her lips a little unsteady.</p> + +<p>"Hullo, Ted! Come for a ride?"</p> + +<p>"Don't feel like it."</p> + +<p>"Why not?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span></p> + +<p>"My head aches."</p> + +<p>"The air will do it good. It's a fine day. Come on."</p> + +<p>"But I can't."</p> + +<p>Billy looked perplexed.</p> + +<p>"What's the row, Ted? Have I done anything?"</p> + +<p>"Of course not."</p> + +<p>"What is it? Something's wrong."</p> + +<p>She hesitated a moment.</p> + +<p>"Nothing, only my story has come back."</p> + +<p>"The mischief! When?"</p> + +<p>"To-day."</p> + +<p>"What for?"</p> + +<p>"He said 'twas crude and sensational, and the work of a child."</p> + +<p>"The old beast! Truly, Ted, I'm so sorry."</p> + +<p>"So am I; but crying won't mend matters."</p> + +<p>"Send it to mamma's friend in New York," he suggested kindly.</p> + +<p>"And be pulled through by force? Not much, Billy Farrington! If my story +won't go of itself, I won't have any friends at court helping me on. +Some day, I am going to write a novel that will be worth taking. Till +then, I won't be helped out on poor work. Wait a minute. I will go to +ride, after all."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span></p> + +<p>Billy sat looking after her, as she went away in search of her hat.</p> + +<p>"She has good grit," he observed to himself; "and I believe she'll get +there, some time or other."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_SIXTEEN" id="CHAPTER_SIXTEEN"></a>CHAPTER SIXTEEN</h2> + +<p>"But it would be such fun, papa," Theodora said, with a suspicion of a +pout.</p> + +<p>"It's too far, Teddy. It must be twenty miles each way."</p> + +<p>"I rode thirty, yesterday."</p> + +<p>"I think that is too far for you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, please."</p> + +<p>"We could take the train back, if Ted should get used up," Hubert +suggested.</p> + +<p>"Yes, only it's going to be such lovely moonlight."</p> + +<p>"Then take the train over and ride back," Hubert amended. "Truly, papa, +I think Ted could do it. She rides like an Indian."</p> + +<p>"I didn't know that Indians had taken to bicycles," Mrs. McAlister said, +with a smile.</p> + +<p>"Like a tomboy, then."</p> + +<p>"That's not polite," Theodora protested.</p> + +<p>"Never mind; it's true. But can't we try it, papa? Aunt Alice is always +asking us to come over to see her, and this is such a splendid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> chance, +before I go back into school, or it gets too warm. We can ride over, +Friday morning, stay all day, and come back at night. The twilights are +long, at this season, and the moon will be full."</p> + +<p>Hubert's persuasion carried the day, and the doctor gave a reluctant +permission. Three days later, the twins set forth on their ride. +Theodora, in her spotless linen suit and with her pretty wheel, was +radiant with anticipations. It was her first all-day trip on her +bicycle, and she felt that it would be a much more enjoyable experience +than her shorter rides, which, for the most part, had been beside +Billy's tricycle. In some mysterious manner known only to boys, Hubert +had learned to ride without being taught, and an occasional spin on a +borrowed wheel was apparently all that was needed to keep him in perfect +training.</p> + +<p>The whole family assembled on the piazza to see them start.</p> + +<p>"You'd better not ride back," Mrs. McAlister called after them. "If you +are at all tired, Teddy, you must take the train."</p> + +<p>"Yes," Theodora said, with outward obedience and an inward resolve not +to be at all tired.</p> + +<p>"If you do ride, when shall you get home?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> the doctor asked. "Give +yourselves plenty of time, only set some limit, so that we sha'n't be +anxious."</p> + +<p>"Hm," Theodora said thoughtfully. "Supper at five, start at six, two +hours to ride, and an hour for delays. We'll be at home at nine, at the +latest."</p> + +<p>"Very well. Say half-past nine, then. We won't worry till then. Take +care of yourselves and have a good time." And the doctor flourished his +napkin in farewell, and then went back to his breakfast.</p> + +<p>"Dear old Daddy!" Theodora said, while she turned in her saddle to look +back, and then waved a good-by to Billy on his piazza. "He didn't want +us to go. I do hope he won't be anxious."</p> + +<p>"Don't you suppose I can take care of you, ma'am?" Hubert asked, in mock +indignation, and Theodora smiled back at him contentedly.</p> + +<p>The day was hot and dusty, and the roads more sandy than they had +supposed possible, so that it was a very limp and demoralized Theodora +who landed, three hours later, on her aunt's piazza. Theodora was always +destructive to her toilets, and in some mysterious manner she had parted +with all of her starch and most of her neat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>ness, in the course of the +last nineteen miles. Once inside the cool, dark house, with a glass of +lemonade in her hand, however, Theodora forgot the discomforts of the +road.</p> + +<p>"How goes it with you, Ted?" Hubert asked, late that afternoon. "Shall +we ride, or take the train?"</p> + +<p>She pointed up at the clear sky, broken only by a few fleecy masses of +cloud on the western horizon.</p> + +<p>"Think what that moon will be, and then ask me to take the train if you +dare."</p> + +<p>"Aren't you tired?"</p> + +<p>"Not a bit. Don't you think we can do it, Hu?"</p> + +<p>He laughed at her spirit.</p> + +<p>"All right. Don't blame me, though, if you are dead, to-morrow."</p> + +<p>She tossed her head proudly.</p> + +<p>"I don't die so easily; but, if you 're tired, we'll take the cars."</p> + +<p>They had planned to start for home at six; but callers delayed the +supper, and, when they finally mounted, the moon was standing out in the +eastern sky, like a thick, white vapor. There was a chorus of good-byes, +a clashing of two bells, and the twins started off upon their homeward +ride.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p> + +<p>For the first hour, it seemed to Theodora that she had never ridden more +easily. The fatigue of the morning had worn away, leaving only the +exhilaration; and, like most riders, she came to her best strength late +in the day. Slowly the twilight fell about them, and, as the golden +light of the sunset died away in the west, the silver lustre of the full +moon brightened the eastern sky. Theodora's gown was damp with the +falling dew, as they rolled quietly on between fields pale with sleepy +daisies and nodding buttercups. One by one, the cows in the pastures +stopped grazing and lay down to rest; while, above their heads, the +birds drowsily exchanged sweet good-nights. Then the last glow faded +from the west, and the world fell asleep.</p> + +<p>"I don't half like those clouds, Ted," Hubert said suddenly. "If they +come up much faster, they'll play the mischief with us before we get +home."</p> + +<p>"Oh, they won't do any harm," Theodora said easily. "It will be light +enough to ride to-night, even if it is cloudy."</p> + +<p>"But we have that long stretch of woods, you know."</p> + +<p>"I forgot that." Theodora spoke lower, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> involuntarily glanced over +her shoulder. "How far is it?"</p> + +<p>"Five miles. That won't take us long, and we're almost there now."</p> + +<p>"Yes; but it's hilly and no track to speak of. Hurry, Hu! Let's ride +faster and get through it before that cloud gets over the moon. I wish +we had lanterns."</p> + +<p>It is exciting work to race with a cloud. Vapors are unreliable things +at best, and are prone to roll up the sky with fateful swiftness. As +Hubert and Theodora came under the first of the trees, the cloud came +above them, and the moon vanished. Theodora was as plucky as a girl +could be; but there was something rather fearful to her in this dark and +lonely road, where she and Hubert were the only moving objects, but +where unknown beings might lurk in every shadow, ready to spring out and +drag her down to the earth. The formless fear lent an unsteadiness to +her progress, and she began to wobble.</p> + +<p>"How dark it is!" she said, in an odd, constrained little voice. "It +must be very late, Hu. Can you see your watch?"</p> + +<p>"It's not light enough."</p> + +<p>"Haven't you a match?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"I know we sha'n't get home at nine."</p> + +<p>"We have till half past, you know. Keep up your pluck, Ted. We're all +right. Let's ride a little faster."</p> + +<p>Half-way down the next hill, there came a clatter and a bump, followed +by a little moan from Theodora. Hubert sprang to the ground and ran to +her side.</p> + +<p>"I slipped in the sand and had a fall, a bad one. I've done something to +my ankle."</p> + +<p>"Is it sprained?"</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid so."</p> + +<p>Leaning heavily on his arm, she scrambled to her feet.</p> + +<p>"What is it, Ted? Shall we go back?"</p> + +<p>She shut her teeth for a moment.</p> + +<p>"No; what's the use?"</p> + +<p>"Sha'n't I go for somebody?"</p> + +<p>"Where's the nearest house?"</p> + +<p>"Two miles back."</p> + +<p>She gave a little sigh of pain. Then she said steadily,—</p> + +<p>"Take the wheels, Hu, and let me walk a little. It's better to go on, +and perhaps I can ride, if I get quieted down a little. I'm sorry to be +a baby," she added piteously; "but it does hurt so."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Baby! You!" Hubert longed to pick his sister up in his arms and carry +her to a shelter; but it was impossible. Worst of all, he dared not +openly pity her. He knew that she was using all her self-control to keep +from crying with the pain, and that a single sympathetic word would +break down her courage. "Good for you, Ted! I knew you had the sand in +you," was all he ventured to say, as she limped slowly along at his +side.</p> + +<p>"I had too much sand under me," she answered, with a giggle which +threatened to become hysterical.</p> + +<p>The next mile was apparently endless, and Theodora, as she looked this +way and that with stealthy, fearful glances, felt that the terrors of +the darkness almost swallowed up the pain in her ankle. Underneath the +rest, moreover, was the anxiety in regard to the delay. She knew the +strictness of her father's discipline well enough to fear his +displeasure and alarm, when nine o'clock passed and half-past nine, and +still they did not appear.</p> + +<p>Strange to say, the pain in her foot grew less and less unbearable, as +she plodded along the sandy road. The sand was everywhere; it filled her +shoes and made each step drag more heavily.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> She felt as if they only +crawled along, as if the moments raced by them on wings. In sheer +desperation, she fell to counting the passing seconds, that she might +form some notion of their progress. Hubert was trudging on beside her, +whistling softly to himself. Like a true boy, he was totally oblivious +of every anxiety save for the pain which his sister was suffering, and +she had just assured him that that was better.</p> + +<p>"Let's mount, Hu," she said desperately, when it seemed to her that they +had walked for several miles.</p> + +<p>"Pretty bad here, Ted. Do you think you can ride?"</p> + +<p>"I will," she answered indomitably.</p> + +<p>She mounted, rode for a hundred yards, and fell again.</p> + +<p>"That slippery sand!" she said petulantly. "What shall we do, Hu? We +must ride, and I can't find the path."</p> + +<p>"You're rattled, dear; and I can't ride, myself, any too well. Follow +me."</p> + +<p>How patient he was! Even in her anxiety and alarm, Theodora realized all +the kindly care he gave her, all the generosity with which he tried to +prevent her feeling herself a drag upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> his freedom. She was quite +unconscious that she had earned his patience by showing the one quality +which boys too rarely find in their girl companions, the lack of which +leads them to take their out-of-door pleasures alone. Theodora rarely +grumbled; in a real emergency, she never complained.</p> + +<p>It had seemed to the girl that all fun had died out of the universe, +that the mental outlook was as black as the physical one. Ten minutes +later, the woods echoed with shrieks of laughter,—laughter so +infectious that Hubert laughed in sympathy, without in the least knowing +the cause. The sounds came from some distance back of him. He dismounted +and ran along the road, unable to see his sister, and guided only by her +voice, which appeared to proceed from a bed of tall weeds by the +wayside.</p> + +<p>"I'm here, Hu," she gasped.</p> + +<p>"Where in thunder?" He parted the weeds at the edge of the road and +peered in. There on her back lay Theodora, with her bicycle on top of +her.</p> + +<p>"I lost my pedals and couldn't stop till I ran into these weeds," she +explained hysterically. "It was just as soft as a bed, and I went down, +down, down, and landed in about<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> six inches of water. Pull me out, Hu. +I'm drowned."</p> + +<p>With the help of his hand, she struggled out and stood beside him in the +road, with the water dripping from her short skirt. Just then, the +clouds parted, and the moon, slanting down through the trees, fell upon +her bedraggled figure. The brother and sister looked at each other in +silence for a moment. Then they burst into a shout of laughter. It was +the best tonic they could have had, and Theodora's courage rose even as +she laughed.</p> + +<p>"I know where we are now," Hubert said, while he looked about him in the +growing light. "The good road is just ahead. It's as well 'tis, Ted, for +you'll have to ride like the dickens, to keep from taking cold."</p> + +<p>"It's a warm night," she answered as blithely as she had spoken to her +father, that morning; "and I never take cold. Come on, then. It's only +six miles more, and I'm ready to spin."</p> + +<p>As they turned in at the gate, the hands of the town clock marked ten +minutes after ten, and Theodora's spirits fell slightly. They found the +doctor and his wife playing cribbage. The doctor looked up with the +content born<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> of that unwonted luxury, an evening quite to himself.</p> + +<p>"Home so early?" he said, with a smile. "Have you had a good time? I've +really envied you, enjoying all this superb moonlight, when we old folks +had to stay indoors."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_SEVENTEEN" id="CHAPTER_SEVENTEEN"></a>CHAPTER SEVENTEEN</h2> + +<p>"Come and ride with me this morning, Ted."</p> + +<p>"Can't."</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"I'm busy."</p> + +<p>"That's what you said, last Saturday, and week before. It's a fine +morning, and I do wish you'd come. I've a headache, and I want to ride +it off, if I can." Billy took off his cap, and brushed away his hair, +with a little weary gesture which went to Theodora's heart. She was not +discerning enough to discover that Billy's headache had developed under +the inspiration of the moment, so sure was he that this was the most +certain method of bringing his friend to do his will.</p> + +<p>"I'm so sorry, Billy," she said gently. "I do want to go; but I must go +somewhere else this morning."</p> + +<p>"Let me go, too," he suggested. "I'd as soon ride one way as another."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, no," she said hastily; "and I'm not ready yet. Does your head ache +very badly, Billy?"</p> + +<p>"Very," answered the deceiver, assuming the look of a martyr. "And I +didn't sleep any, last night."</p> + +<p>"What a shame! Aren't you well?" Theodora sat down on the steps and +gazed so steadily at him that he blushed.</p> + +<p>"I believe you're shamming, Billy," she said sternly. "You've no more +headache than Mulvaney."</p> + +<p>He laughed, with conscious pleasure in his guilt.</p> + +<p>"Well, what if I haven't? I shall have, some day. Really, Ted, what is +the reason you won't ride with me?"</p> + +<p>"I can't, Billy; that's all there is about it. I've something else I +must do."</p> + +<p>"You might tell me what it is," he observed persuasively.</p> + +<p>"I might, but I won't." Then her heart smote her at sight of his +disappointed face, as he turned away. "Some day, Billy," she called +after him.</p> + +<p>He nodded, as he pulled off his cap. Then he left her.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p> + +<p>She stood looking after him, as he went rolling away down the street. It +was good to see him so independent with his new tricycle. He was growing +almost as independent in the use of his crutches, and his life was quite +another thing from the old limited existence when Theodora had first +known him. But through it all, in gray days and in bright, she had +always found him the same Billy, always ready to enter into her +interests, from which of necessity he had been shut out, ready to give +her a share in his own more luxurious existence. In a sense, he had been +a sort of fairy godfather to Theodora, and to him and to his mother she +owed a large part of her pleasures during the past few months.</p> + +<p>How would he take the news of this last venture of hers, she asked +herself. Still, he was responsible, indirectly at least, if not for the +fact itself, yet for the ambition which had led to the fact. Theodora's +brows puckered into an anxious frown for a moment. Then they cleared, +and she hummed lightly to herself, as she stood looking up the street +after her friend, who had long since disappeared from her view. It would +have been an ideal morning for a ride, she knew, and she wished she +might have gone off for a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> long spin over the country roads. Still, her +face wore a very contented expression as she turned away and entered the +house.</p> + +<p>Going up to her room, she dressed hastily and ran downstairs again to +the closet where her bicycle was kept. Fifteen minutes later, she +stopped at the door of a book store. There, instead of leaving her +bicycle outside, she coolly rolled it through the open doorway and on +into a room at the back of the shop, where she also left her hat. Then +she came back to the desk, mounted a lofty stool, drew a heavy book +towards her, and fell to work.</p> + +<p>She had gone to her father's office, one evening, a little more than a +week before. There chanced to be no patients, but Phebe sat reading +before the fire.</p> + +<p>"I want to talk to papa, Phebe," she said.</p> + +<p>"Talk away, then." And Phebe returned to her book.</p> + +<p>"But it's business."</p> + +<p>"I don't care. You won't disturb me any."</p> + +<p>"'Tisn't that I'm afraid of. I want to see papa alone."</p> + +<p>"You'll have to wait, then."</p> + +<p>"Please go, Phebe."</p> + +<p>"Sha'n't. I was here first." Phebe yawned, and nestled deeper into her +chair.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Babe, I think you will have to make way for Teddy," the doctor said, +laughing. "You can read just as well somewhere else, and if Teddy really +wants to talk—"</p> + +<p>"I do, papa," she urged eagerly.</p> + +<p>Phebe retired, grumbling.</p> + +<p>"What is it, my girl?" the doctor asked, as Theodora perched herself on +the arm of his chair.</p> + +<p>"I want my own way, as usual, papa, and I want you to stand up for me +when the others howl," she answered coaxingly.</p> + +<p>"Howl? Do they usually howl at you?"</p> + +<p>"Not literally, of course, and not half as much as I deserve. But then, +I want moral support."</p> + +<p>"What now?"</p> + +<p>"I want—" Theodora paused impressively—"I want to go to college, and I +want to go into business."</p> + +<p>The doctor smiled.</p> + +<p>"Well, my aspiring daughter, and which will be your choice?"</p> + +<p>"Both; one for the sake of the other. It is this way; I want to go to +Smith. It is the best place for me, and I do want to go more than you've +any idea. You don't disapprove, do you?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Not if it can be arranged," he answered thoughtfully. "But what has +started you on this so suddenly, Teddy?"</p> + +<p>"It isn't so sudden as it seems; but I didn't want to talk about it too +soon. You see, mamma and Mrs. Farrington both are college women, and +their talk makes me half wild to go. Billy goes, next year, and I shall +be all ready to enter at the same time. Should you mind very much?"</p> + +<p>"I should hate to lose you for four long years, Ted."</p> + +<p>"That's only a little while, and there are vacations and things, you +know. That is only one side. The other is the expense, and that's what +worries me. Hubert will be ready, the year after, and you can't afford +to send us both."</p> + +<p>"It would be a tug; but it might be done," Dr. McAlister said +thoughtfully. "Besides, I'm not at all sure that Hu will care to go. If +you are more anxious for college than he, you ought to have the chance."</p> + +<p>"He must go if he wants to," she responded energetically. "I've set my +heart on his going. He's a boy, too, and should have first chance, if he +wants it. It is more necessary for a boy. But what if I were to begin to +save up my money<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> for my expenses, so I could pay part? Then may I go?"</p> + +<p>"How? You don't seem to me to be rolling in wealth, Teddy."</p> + +<p>She shook her head gayly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, but you don't know. That's where the business part comes in."</p> + +<p>The doctor looked rather anxious.</p> + +<p>"What is it now, Ted?"</p> + +<p>"It's Mr. Huntington, down in the book store. He has sent off his +book-keeper, and he wants somebody to come in, every Saturday morning, +to write up his accounts and things. Every month, it's all day, and he +pays ever so much for it."</p> + +<p>"But can you do it? Will he take you?"</p> + +<p>She nodded.</p> + +<p>"You don't know how valuable I am, papa. Mr. Huntington is a dear old +man. I heard about it and went to see him. He made me write for him and +do some accounts in a hurry; and he told me to come back, last Saturday, +to try. To-day he told me I could have the place, if I'd only make my +<i>m</i>'s and <i>n</i>'s and <i>u</i>'s not so much alike." Theodora laughed gleefully +at her father's astonished face.</p> + +<p>There was a pause, while the doctor reflected<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> rapidly. Theodora was +very young to enter into any such venture as this, and there was no real +need of her doing anything of the kind. On the other hand, her father +approved of business habits for women; he liked her independence and +spirit, and he felt that it would be well for her to learn the real +value of money. He knew Mr. Huntington well. His store was a quiet, +homelike place, where Theodora could be brought under no demoralizing +influences, where she would be likely to meet only refined, book-loving +people. If she must try her experiment, this would be an ideal place for +the attempt.</p> + +<p>Theodora eyed him askance, trying to read his thoughts. Even before he +spoke, she knew his decision, and she seized him by the beard and kissed +him rapturously.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you dear man!"</p> + +<p>"But I haven't said yes," he protested.</p> + +<p>"You are going to; your eyes show it. Oh, Papa McAlister, you are such a +dear!"</p> + +<p>"Am I? Well, my girl, you shall have your way. All in all, I think your +little plan has no harm in it. I was thinking of something else, +though."</p> + +<p>"Oh, what?"</p> + +<p>He smiled at her disappointed face.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Nothing bad. It is only this. If your courage holds out, and if you +cultivate that crazy handwriting of yours a little, perhaps when +Sullivan goes to Boston, next fall, I'll see what you can do with my +bills. I can't pay as well as Mr. Huntington; but it may help on a +little."</p> + +<p>"Oh, papa!"</p> + +<p>Ten minutes later, Theodora looked up into her father's face. Her own +face was flushed, and her lips were unsteady.</p> + +<p>"There's something else, papa."</p> + +<p>"What now, my girl?"</p> + +<p>She drew a letter from her pocket.</p> + +<p>"It's not much, only a little bit of a beginning. Nobody knows it, and I +wanted to tell you first."</p> + +<p>He took the letter, opened it with a feigned curiosity, more to gratify +her whim than from any real interest in what it could contain. He read +it, glanced at the slip of paper it enclosed, then bent over and kissed +her scarlet cheek.</p> + +<p>"My girlie, I congratulate you."</p> + +<p>It was a letter from a well-known magazine for children, accepting a +story from Miss Theodora McAlister, and suggesting that another story of +equal merit might find a welcome, later on in the season.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p> + +<p>For the next three weeks, Theodora kept the secret of her experiment to +herself.</p> + +<p>"It's all right. Papa knows," was all the reply she could be induced to +make to the questions which assailed her from all sides, in regard to +the way she was spending her Saturday mornings.</p> + +<p>It would be impossible to say how long the mystery would have been kept +up if she had had her own way. One Saturday noon, however, Phebe came +bouncing into the dining-room, her eyes blazing with righteous +indignation and injured pride.</p> + +<p>"Theodora McAlister, I'm ashamed of you, perfectly ashamed!"</p> + +<p>"You've said so before," Theodora answered tranquilly, while she went on +eating her dinner. "What is it, this time?"</p> + +<p>"You've gone into a store." Phebe's tone was one of scathing scorn.</p> + +<p>"Yes. What of it?"</p> + +<p>"My sister a clerk in a common store!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, in Huntington's."</p> + +<p>"But it might have been a grocery."</p> + +<p>"It might have been an undertaker's," Theodora answered sharply. "I +don't see what difference it makes to you."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Is this really true, Teddy?" Mrs. McAlister questioned.</p> + +<p>Theodora glanced about her at the astonished faces of her family. +Surprise and disapproval seemed to be meeting her on every hand. Even +Allyn stopped eating his bread and milk, and pointed his spoon at her +accusingly. Then she turned to her father, who was entering the room.</p> + +<p>"Phebe has just found out about Huntington's, papa," she said, with +brave dignity. "Are you willing to tell them how it happened, and why I +did it?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_EIGHTEEN" id="CHAPTER_EIGHTEEN"></a>CHAPTER EIGHTEEN</h2> + +<p>"Ted! Teddy! Theodora McAlister!"</p> + +<p>Theodora was passing the Farringtons' grounds. At the third call, she +looked up. Billy, on the piazza, was waving his cap in one hand and +pounding the floor with one of his crutches with the other.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" she called, at a loss to account for these vigorous +demonstrations.</p> + +<p>"Come up, and I'll tell you," he shouted. "Hurry up about it, too."</p> + +<p>"Is the house on fire?" she demanded in feminine alarm, as she turned +and sped across the lawn.</p> + +<p>Billy laughed derisively.</p> + +<p>"If that isn't just like a girl! It's nothing of the kind, Ted; it's +good news."</p> + +<p>"What a scare you gave me, you sinner!" She dropped down on the step +below him and fanned herself with her hat, for it was noon of an August +day. "What is your great news, anyway?"</p> + +<p>"Uncle Frank is sick again."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But I thought you said it was good news," Theodora said, in some +perplexity.</p> + +<p>"So 'tis. Wait till you hear the rest of it. He isn't dangerous, only +comfortable; but the doctors say he'll die unless he goes up into the +mountains. He won't go unless mamma goes, and so she's going."</p> + +<p>"But for the life of me, I don't see anything so very good in all that," +Theodora said again.</p> + +<p>"It is very solemn and serious so far, for he's really awfully ill, and +mamma doesn't want to leave me, and she feels that it is her duty to +go," Billy answered, trying to subdue the rapture written in every line +of his face. "Now we're coming to the good part,—good for me, that is, +for I don't know what you'll say to it. She is going to be away for six +weeks, and I'm to be at your house."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Billy, how splendid!" Theodora's tone left no doubt of her +sincerity. "When are you coming?"</p> + +<p>"Day after to-morrow. Mamma had a letter, this morning, and she's been +in a great pickle about it. She felt she ought to go, for there isn't +anybody else; but she couldn't take me. I'm not up to mountain climbing +just yet, and she was bound she wouldn't leave me alone.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> Finally, I +suggested going to your house, and that struck her as a good scheme. +She's had a long session with your father and mother, and it's all +settled, unless you veto it."</p> + +<p>"I'll be likely to. Now we shall have a chance to work on our play."</p> + +<p>"And to develop our pictures," added Billy, who just now was suffering +from an attack of the photographic mania.</p> + +<p>"Yes, dozens of things. We can do so much in six weeks."</p> + +<p>"The worst of it is," Billy remarked pensively; "I'm sure to have such a +fine time of it at your house that I can't seem to get up much regret +over my mother's departure."</p> + +<p>"You'll be homesick enough," Theodora predicted. "Wait a week and see."</p> + +<p>Two days later, Mrs. Farrington took the morning train for New York, +where she was to meet her brother and go with him to the Adirondacks. +Billy stood on the steps to wave her a farewell; then he slowly crossed +the lawn towards the gate which had been cut through the fence under +"Teddy's tree." For the next week or two, he and Theodora were busy from +morning till night, revelling in the thousand and one interests for +which the days had been all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> too short, when they were obliged to take +their meals and to sleep in places six hundred feet apart.</p> + +<p>One golden September day, Billy and Theodora were out under the old +apple-tree, hard at work on the play which they had long been planning +to write. It was to be given on the following Christmas; and the parts, +written to order, included the three older McAlisters, Billy, and Archie +who had promised to come East in time for the holidays. There was need +for strict division of labor. Billy, more familiar with theatres, was +able to supply the stage craft and the plot, while Theodora padded the +skeleton and covered the dry bones of his outline with sonorous speeches +over which she was forced to pause, now and then, to smack her lips.</p> + +<p>"'Die, villain, die; and drink the cup of retribution for all your +sins!'" she read. "How does that go, Billy?"</p> + +<p>"All right. Do I say that, or does Hu?"</p> + +<p>"Hu. Poor Uncle Archie! Then he tumbles over with a whack and dies in +Hope's arms."</p> + +<p>"What kills him? You never do half kill people, Ted. You take too much +for granted."</p> + +<p>"Conscience. No; Hu, that is, Sir James, shoots him."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I remember now. I'd forgotten. I hope Hu's a safe shot."</p> + +<p>"He couldn't hit a church, if he tried." Theodora giggled. "What's the +matter, Hope?" For she saw Hope coming rapidly across the lawn towards +them.</p> + +<p>"Bad news, dear." Hope's eyes were full of tears. "Mamma has a letter +from Butte, and Archie is in the hospital there, with typhoid fever."</p> + +<p>"Hope! Not really?"</p> + +<p>"Do they think he'll die?" Billy asked anxiously, with boyish bluntness.</p> + +<p>Hope's tears began to fall on the letter in her hand.</p> + +<p>"They say he's very ill, and that they felt it was best to write. Papa +says typhoid is always uncertain, and he wants mamma to start West, +to-night."</p> + +<p>"Will she go?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know yet. She's half wild, for Archie is her only brother, and +she loves him so."</p> + +<p>"Don't we all?" Theodora questioned impulsively.</p> + +<p>Even in the midst of her tears, Hope blushed scarlet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Not in the same way, Teddy," she said gently. "You know they were all +alone with each other for so long. I hope she will go."</p> + +<p>"It would be better if I weren't here," Billy said thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"No; you're like one of us, Billy, and it's easier, with you here to be +sorry for us," Hope said gratefully, for she had been quick to realize +the sympathy in his look and tone. "Besides, it may not be so bad. +Mamma, if she goes, may find him better and able to come home with her."</p> + +<p>Back of Theodora, Billy stretched out his hand to Hope and pressed her +hand in silent token of understanding and pity. Nothing increases the +power of observation like suffering. Billy's long months of helpless +idleness had taught him to read the faces and moods of the people about +him as a strong, active boy could never have done. He had fathomed the +true state of affairs between Archie and Hope. He knew how much of +Hope's future happiness, unknown to herself even, was depending on the +outcome of that illness of Archie, and he saw her present pain, and the +brave self-control which helped her to master it.</p> + +<p>Mrs. McAlister left for the West, that night<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> The days which followed +were gloomy ones to them all, anxious and busy ones to Hope in +particular, for upon her devolved the care of the housekeeping and much +of the responsibility over Allyn and Phebe who was as fractious as never +before and resented Hope's gentle rule. Two more letters came from the +hospital; but they reported no change. Until Mrs. McAlister could reach +her brother, they could know nothing definite. They could only wait and +hope.</p> + +<p>During all these weary, dreary days, it was a comfort to them all to +have Billy with them. It had long been impossible to think of him as an +outsider; but now he came closer to them than ever before, comforting +Hope, helping Theodora to pass the time of restless waiting, cajoling +Phebe into good humor, and entertaining Allyn by the hour. Blithe and +sunny-tempered himself, he kept them from becoming too blue, while the +little care and half-tender, half-playful coddling which the girls gave +him was a safety valve for their tensely-strung nerves.</p> + +<p>"I believe I love those old crutches of yours, Billy," Theodora said +impetuously, one night.</p> + +<p>He had been unusually weak, all that day. Even now, there were times +when his strength failed him and when, for the passing hour, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> old +pain came back to give him a few twinges, as a reminder that he could +not afford to be too careless. He had been lying stretched out on the +sofa with Theodora sitting beside him, while the twilight dropped over +the room. At her words, he looked up abruptly.</p> + +<p>"I can't say that I do."</p> + +<p>"No; I suppose not. Still, I owe them a good deal."</p> + +<p>"I don't see why," he said vaguely, as his eyes rested on her bright +face, just now looking unusually dreamy and thoughtful, while she sat +staring at the long rosewood staff in her hand.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it's selfish," she said, with a smile; "but I've an idea that +if, when I first knew you, you'd been strong and—just like other boys, +I should never have known you half so well. Do you know, Billy +Farrington, I'd just like a chance to fight for you, to do something to +show I'm not a friend just in talk and nothing else."</p> + +<p>He laughed at the sudden fierceness of her tone, little thinking how +soon her words would be put to the test.</p> + +<p>"I hope you won't have the chance, Ted; but I've an idea that, if ever I +were in a tight place,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> you'd help me out of it sooner than anyone +else."</p> + +<p>"Try me and see," she answered briefly.</p> + +<p>Good news came to them, only the next day. Mrs. McAlister had reached +her brother, to find that convalescence had already begun. The attack of +fever had been sudden and sharp; but Archie's fresh young strength had +held its own, and his recovery was likely to be a rapid one.</p> + +<p>"I shall bring him home with me," Mrs. McAlister wrote. "He oughtn't to +go back into camp, this fall; and the doctor says that the long rest +will be the best tonic he can have, for he's been working altogether too +hard. If he is able, we shall start for home, next week, and get there +by the twenty-fifth."</p> + +<p>Hope sang blithely to herself, all that day, and even Phebe was moved +into a more agreeable mood than was her wont. Allyn took a more +materialistic view of the situation.</p> + +<p>"Uncle Archie's going to get well," he remarked to Billy. "Now he can +bring me nonner engine."</p> + +<p>For two days, the McAlister household felt that it was living in an +atmosphere of perpetual sunshine. Then the clouds fell again. It was one +Saturday morning. Theodora was at her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> desk, straightening out the +account of Mr. Huntington's weekly sales, Hubert was playing football, +and Hope had gone to market, taking Allyn with her. Out on the lawn west +of the house, Phebe and Isabel St. John were playing tennis and +wrangling loudly over the score. Left to himself in the house, Billy +threw aside his book, took up his crutches, and went away to the barn, +where Dr. McAlister had given up an old harness closet for his use in +developing his pictures. It opened out of the barn not far from the +stalls where Vigil and Prince were kept; but it was easily accessible +and sufficiently roomy, and Billy had accepted the doctor's offer +eagerly.</p> + +<p>Once shut up in the dark in company with his ruby lantern, Billy fell to +work on a picture of Allyn, taken only the day before. So absorbed was +he that it was only vaguely that he heard the voices of Phebe and Isabel +in the barn close at hand. The murmur went on for some moments, broken +by girlish gigglings and little squeals of merriment. Suddenly there +came another squeal, louder, this time, and more earnest; there was an +interchange of swift, low words, and then silence fell, and Billy +dismissed the incident from his mind.</p> + +<p>The picture proved refractory and refused to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> come out. Then at length +Billy gave it up in despair, threw away the developing fluid, cast the +plate into a pile of similar failures, took up his crutches, and started +for the house again. On the way, he met Phebe and Isabel. They looked at +him furtively as he passed.</p> + +<p>"What's up, Phebe?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Nothing. I only thought you looked tired," she replied, with unusual +thoughtfulness.</p> + +<p>"So I am, of doing nothing. Come in and play casino with me."</p> + +<p>"Can't," Phebe said hastily. "We'd like to, Billy; but there's something +else we've got to do."</p> + +<p>"All right." And he passed on.</p> + +<p>They were all seated at the dinner-table, that noon, when the doctor +came into the room. His face was white and very stern.</p> + +<p>"Vigil is dead," he said abruptly. "Do any of you children know anything +about it?"</p> + +<p>"I don't," said the twins, in a breath, and Hope echoed them; but Phebe +started and cast a swift glance at Billy.</p> + +<p>"Do you, Billy?" the doctor asked, for the glance was not lost on him.</p> + +<p>"No; of course not. When did she die?"</p> + +<p>"This noon, when I came in, I found her.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> She was groaning pitifully, +and very weak. I wonder that you didn't hear her."</p> + +<p>"She died?" Billy asked sympathetically, for the doctor's voice broke +over the last words. Vigil had been his favorite horse, and together, +man and beast, they had passed through many a tragic night and day. Such +friends cause bitter mourning.</p> + +<p>"I shot her, to put her out of her misery," he responded briefly. Then +he turned to Phebe.</p> + +<p>"Phebe, do you know anything about this?"</p> + +<p>She grew white.</p> + +<p>"No," she stammered. "At least, not exactly."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean? Do you know anything about Vigil?"</p> + +<p>"I—I'd rather not tell."</p> + +<p>"Answer me," he said sternly.</p> + +<p>For her only reply, she burst out crying, and cast another glance at +Billy. Her father took her hand and led her away to the office.</p> + +<p>"Now, Phebe, I want you to tell me about this," he said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no."</p> + +<p>"Did you do anything to Vigil?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Do you know who did?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span></p> + +<p>"N—no."</p> + +<p>"Phebe, this isn't a time to shield the culprit. Tell me what you know."</p> + +<p>"I don't know anything," she sobbed.</p> + +<p>"Were you at the barn, this morning?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Did you see any one go there?"</p> + +<p>"No—only Billy."</p> + +<p>"Was Billy there?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"When?"</p> + +<p>"About ten o'clock."</p> + +<p>"You saw him?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; Isabel and I were playing tennis, and I saw him go. When he came +back, I met him, and he looked so queer that I asked him if anything was +the matter."</p> + +<p>"Queer? How?"</p> + +<p>"Dark, sort of, under his eyes, and—scared."</p> + +<p>"Phebe," the doctor looked at her steadily, searchingly; "is this all +true?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>He took a quick turn up and down the room.</p> + +<p>"And I thought the fellow was true as steel," he muttered to himself. +"Those eyes ought to be true. Poor fellow! I wish Bess were here to talk +to him."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span></p> + +<p>His face was very gentle as he went back to the dining-room. As soon as +the meal was over, he turned to Billy.</p> + +<p>"Come to the office a minute, Billy," he said.</p> + +<p>With a look of wonder on his face, Billy followed him to the door. When +they were alone, the doctor spoke.</p> + +<p>"Billy," he said quietly; "Phebe says you were at the barn, this +morning."</p> + +<p>"So I was," he answered.</p> + +<p>"That you were the only one who went there."</p> + +<p>"How does she know?" Billy asked easily, for as yet he did not see +whither the doctor's questions were leading.</p> + +<p>"Did you see Vigil?"</p> + +<p>Then, of a sudden, the truth burst on the boy, and he flushed with +anger. The doctor saw his heightened color, and mistook it for guilt.</p> + +<p>"And I trusted you so, Billy," he said sorrowfully.</p> + +<p>"Dr. McAlister, do you think I did anything to your horse?"</p> + +<p>"Who else?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know, and I don't care," the boy returned recklessly. Then, +with an effort, he regained his self-control. "Dr. McAlister," he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> said, +and his true, honest blue eyes met the doctor's eyes steadily; "Dr. +McAlister, on my honor, I have not been near Vigil, nor done anything to +hurt her. That is all I can say about it."</p> + +<p>There was a silence, long and tense. Then, as the doctor made no sign, +Billy turned away and went out of the office.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_NINETEEN" id="CHAPTER_NINETEEN"></a>CHAPTER NINETEEN</h2> + +<p>The doctor was attempting to argue with Theodora.</p> + +<p>"But, Teddy, who else can have done it? Nobody else had been to the +barn."</p> + +<p>"How do you know?"</p> + +<p>"Because the only way to get in was through the front door. Phebe and +Isabel were in plain sight of that, all the morning, and they saw no one +but Billy go there."</p> + +<p>Theodora's lips closed stubbornly, and her eyes, as they met those of +her father, flashed with defiance. When at last she spoke, her manner +was respectful, but her voice had an odd, metallic ring.</p> + +<p>"And so Billy must have done it. What do you suppose he did to Vigil?"</p> + +<p>"She was poisoned," the doctor answered briefly, for the subject was as +painful to him as to his daughter.</p> + +<p>"Do you think he did it on purpose?" Theodora's tone was hostile.</p> + +<p>"Teddy!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, I know," she said passionately, for her self-control had been +exhausted during the past half-hour; "but you might as well say he gave +the horse poison out of spite as to say he did it at all. It's so like +Billy to go meddling with what doesn't belong to him. It's so like him +to lie about it afterwards. Papa McAlister, Billy Farrington doesn't +lie, and he has said to you over and over again that he had nothing to +do with it!"</p> + +<p>"But Phebe says—"</p> + +<p>"Phebe!" Theodora's voice was expressive. "You believe her above Billy?"</p> + +<p>"Teddy, dear," the doctor's voice was very low and sorrowful; "don't +make it harder for me than you can help. I have loved Billy like my own +boy, and I have believed in his honor as I have in Hu's; but I have +found something that tells the story. Down in the hay in Vigil's manger, +I found this bottle." He held it up as he spoke, and Theodora read the +label. "It is what Billy uses for his pictures; no one else touches the +stuff."</p> + +<p>"And you think he put it there?"</p> + +<p>"Accidentally. He may have dropped it, you know, as he went in. Of +course, he didn't mean to be careless, and when I first spoke to him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> +about it, he probably didn't know. I could have forgiven the accident; +but when I showed him the bottle, and he lied about it to save +himself—" Dr. McAlister paused.</p> + +<p>At sight of the overwhelming testimony of the bottle, Theodora had +dropped down into a chair. Now she sprang up again.</p> + +<p>"I'll never believe it as long as I live, bottle or no bottle!" she said +violently. "It is mean and cruel and abominable to lay it to Billy +Farrington; and I will never believe he had anything to do with it till +he says he had. I never thought you'd treat a guest in your own house +like this, Papa McAlister. You can everyone of you go back on him, if +you want. I intend to stand by him." She gave a nod of emphasis to her +words; then, bursting into tears, she banged the door and rushed away to +Billy.</p> + +<p>She found him in his room, sitting by the window and trying to read. He +looked pale and worried, for it had been impossible for him to blind +himself to the attitude of the family towards him during the past three +days. Hope and Hubert were scrupulously polite, with a frigid, remote +courtesy which was worse than open hostility; Phebe avoided him as if he +had the plague; and Allyn showed a marked inclina<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>tion to converse about +the present state of affairs which was scarcely soothing to Billy's +irritated nerves. After the first day, he had remained most of the time +in his own room, whither Theodora followed him and insisted upon +admission.</p> + +<p>"What do you care if they do act like idiots?" she demanded fiercely. +"I'm ashamed of them all, utterly ashamed; but I wouldn't care."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you would," he returned drearily. "It's no fun to be sent to +Coventry like this, Ted. I wish Hope and Hu would speak out, and have it +over with. I'd like a chance to defend myself; but, if this keeps on, I +shall begin to think I did do it."</p> + +<p>"Haven't you any idea?" she asked.</p> + +<p>He shook his head.</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Honestly? You're not trying to shield some one?"</p> + +<p>"I'm not in a Sunday-school book," he returned. "Besides, who is there?"</p> + +<p>"Somebody. You didn't do it. Oh, Billy, I wish I were good for +anything!"</p> + +<p>"You're pretty much all there is, Ted. Perhaps, when your mother comes, +it won't be so bad."</p> + +<p>She came, the next evening, escorted by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> Archie, who looked white and +thin, but otherwise appeared like his usual self. Theodora felt that his +coming brought a whiff of fresher air into the sultry life of the family +circle. He was so gay, so full of the breezy atmosphere of the western +mountains, that his coming seemed to scatter a little the clouds which +had gathered; while his honest, kindly face made her feel, as it had +done before, that he was a friend to be trusted.</p> + +<p>The doctor had met the travellers at the station, and Theodora knew that +they were in possession of the story long before they reached the house. +It was impossible from Mrs. McAlister's manner to read her decision in +regard to the rights of the case. She met Billy as cordially as ever, +when he came down to supper; and during the meal she forced him to take +an active part in the conversation. As soon as they left the table, +Billy turned away and went to his room. A moment later, she tapped on +his door.</p> + +<p>"Come in," he said, for he supposed it was Theodora.</p> + +<p>She came in and sat down beside him.</p> + +<p>"Billy, my boy," she said gently; "tell me all about it, as if I were +your own mother."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></p> + +<p>He looked up, and something in the expression of his blue eyes reminded +her of a hunted animal.</p> + +<p>"What is there to tell?"</p> + +<p>"There ought to be a great deal," she said, smiling faintly. She was +startled at the change in the boy, at his pallor and at the listlessness +which pervaded his whole being.</p> + +<p>"But Dr. McAlister has told you."</p> + +<p>"Yes; but not all." She paused expectantly.</p> + +<p>He misunderstood the pause. As if goaded to desperation, he turned on +her.</p> + +<p>"Are you going back on me, too, Mrs. McAlister? I thought you would +stand my friend."</p> + +<p>"I do."</p> + +<p>"But you doubt my word?"</p> + +<p>She was silent, unable to say yes or no.</p> + +<p>He changed the form of his question.</p> + +<p>"Do you believe me?"</p> + +<p>"Billy, dear, I don't know what to think."</p> + +<p>He shook back his hair impatiently.</p> + +<p>"That's it. I'm not used to having my word doubted, and—it hurts."</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Theodora and Hubert were in the hall.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going, Ted?" Hubert had asked, as they left the table.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span></p> + +<p>"To Billy."</p> + +<p>"I should think you might stay here, to-night, when Archie has just +come."</p> + +<p>"Archie has you and Hope."</p> + +<p>"But it's not decent, Ted, to leave him."</p> + +<p>"It's not decent to send Billy off by himself," she retorted.</p> + +<p>"Who sends him?"</p> + +<p>"All of you."</p> + +<p>"He needn't sulk like a baby."</p> + +<p>"It isn't sulking, Hu. I'd go off and not stay with people who doubt my +word."</p> + +<p>"Hm! He needn't lie, then."</p> + +<p>Theodora faced him angrily.</p> + +<p>"Shame, Hu! How do you know he lies? Is this the way you stand by your +friends?"</p> + +<p>"He is no friend of mine."</p> + +<p>"He was. He is my friend now, as much as ever."</p> + +<p>Hubert shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>"Girls always are sentimental, and your head is full of yarns, Ted. You +are welcome to believe your Billy as much as you want to. Nobody else +does."</p> + +<p>"I do." And Archie came striding into the hall. "I didn't mean to listen +to you; but I couldn't help hearing. I know something of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> men. I haven't +roughed it all this time for nothing, and I've seen all kinds. You will +never make me believe that Will Farrington has lied to get himself out +of a scrape. I'd sooner think that Allyn himself did it. Billy is a good +fellow, and I'll stand by him and see fair play. Here's my hand on it, +Ted."</p> + +<p>There was a manly ring to Archie's words and a hearty grip of his hand, +and they sent Theodora to bed happier than she had been for days. It had +been impossible for her to throw off Billy's trouble. The whole +atmosphere of the house had seemed to be tainted by it. They all felt +the weight of uncertainty and gloom more or less; but for Theodora, +loyal to Billy as a girl could be, it amounted to a species of torture, +and she felt an Ishmael indeed, with every man's hand against her. She +never thought of swerving from her allegiance, however. Alone and +unaided, she would fight for Billy against the world. Still, it was very +good to find that Archie was upon her side.</p> + +<p>"If I could only go away somewhere!" Billy said disconsolately, the next +night. "I thought your mother would stand by me, but she doesn't. It's +awful to be here in your house, when you are all down on me like this."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I wish your mother would come home," Theodora responded.</p> + +<p>"She won't."</p> + +<p>"Not if she knew?"</p> + +<p>"She couldn't very well. Besides, what good could she do?"</p> + +<p>"Everything. She'd believe you."</p> + +<p>"Of course."</p> + +<p>"That's something, and she'd find out, somehow or other. Send for her, +Billy."</p> + +<p>"No; she'd only worry. She'll be home before long."</p> + +<p>"Not for two weeks. We shall all be dead by that time."</p> + +<p>"I wish I could go to her."</p> + +<p>"Why don't you?" she asked impulsively.</p> + +<p>His smile was very sad, as he pointed to his crutches.</p> + +<p>"I'm not up to a journey like that, Ted. I shouldn't make much of a +figure, travelling alone."</p> + +<p>"I'll go, myself, and bring her home."</p> + +<p>"You can't. You're too young to take such a journey alone, Ted. It's +good of you to think of it, but it wouldn't do. No; we'll stick it out +somehow. It isn't as bad as if you weren't here to stand up for me."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span></p> + +<p>She rose and stood beside him, resting her hand on his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"It's not much I can do, Billy; but I'm bound to do something. My whole +family appear to have gone mad over that old horse. I can't help their +stupidity; but maybe I can help you out a very little. Whatever I do, +remember what I said, only a few days ago, that I'd like the chance to +fight for you, to show that I'm a friend in something besides words."</p> + +<p>He looked up at her gratefully.</p> + +<p>"You are a plucky champion, Teddy. I wish I knew what to do, myself; but +they seem to have me on all sides. No matter; with you and Archie to +back me up, I'll manage to pull through somehow."</p> + +<p>She patted his shoulder encouragingly.</p> + +<p>"That's right. Keep up your pluck, Billy. Something can be done about +it, I know. You can furnish the brains and I the backbone. Good-night, +old boy."</p> + +<p>She went away to her own room, but not to bed. For two hours, she could +be heard moving stealthily to and fro, opening a closet door, closing a +bureau drawer. Once the floor creaked softly, and a door latch clicked. +Then silence fell again, and no one was the wiser for Theodora's +sleeplessness.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span></p> + +<p>She was late in appearing at the breakfast table, the next morning. Mrs. +McAlister rang the bell for a third time. Then she sent Phebe to call +her sister. A moment later, Phebe came flying back, with staring eyes.</p> + +<p>"Oh, mamma," she panted; "Teddy isn't anywhere! She didn't answer, so I +opened the door. The room is empty, and the bed hasn't been slept in at +all."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_TWENTY" id="CHAPTER_TWENTY"></a>CHAPTER TWENTY</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 28em;"><span class="smcap">Lake Lodge,</span> 28 <i>September</i>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To Dr. <span class="smcap">John McAlister</span>:</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Theodora reached here safely. My brother worse. Send for her.</p></div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 31em;"><span class="smcap">Jessie Farrington</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>This was the telegram which was delivered at the doctor's door, two days +later. It came in upon an anxious household, for up to that time they +had been able to gain no clue to Theodora's disappearance. Billy alone +had had an inkling of the truth, but he dared not hint it to the rest. +It was only an inkling, vague and groundless, and he felt that it would +do no good to speak of it. At best, he would be accused of urging his +friend to take the sudden journey, and he was unwilling to increase the +suspicion which already lay heavy upon him.</p> + +<p>He knew, however, that Theodora's departure had something to do with +himself. Her last words seemed to him, as he went back to them, to +convey no doubtful hint of her intentions. He had had no suspicion at +the time; but now he realized how like her impulsive loyalty it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> would +be to go flying off somewhere, anywhere, to get help for him, to find +some way of putting an end to the wretched situation. He was thoroughly +sorry for her absence, and uneasy about her; yet he felt little alarm, +for he was perfectly convinced of her ability to look out for herself. +Moreover, he was human enough to watch the distraction of the family +with a certain amusement. He was sure that Theodora would turn up soon, +alive and well, and full of entertaining stories of her adventure. +Meanwhile, it was their turn to be anxious.</p> + +<p>Then a new anxiety came into the household. Phebe, who had been nervous +and irritable, all the day after Theodora's disappearance, grew feverish +at night. Her father made a short examination, pronounced her to be +suffering from the epidemic of chicken pox which had infested the +schools of late, and ordered her to bed. She obeyed him by going to her +room, escaping by way of the back stairs and taking a long walk in the +twilight with Isabel St. John, with whom lately it had been necessary +for Phebe to hold many secret conferences. The next morning, the rash +had entirely disappeared, and Phebe lay tossing in delirium.</p> + +<p>It was into this household that Mrs. Farring<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>ton's telegram came, like a +message sent from Heaven.</p> + +<p>The doctor tore open the long yellow envelope. His face, already of a +dull grayish color, grew a shade more pale, and he shut his teeth +together, as one prepared for bad tidings. He read the few words; then +he drew his hand across his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Thank God!" he said brokenly. "Teddy is safe."</p> + +<p>The news went like wildfire through the house. There was a babel of +rejoicing and exclamation; but it was to Billy that the doctor had +turned.</p> + +<p>"My dear boy," he said, laying his hand on Billy's shoulder; "our +troubles are over now, if Phebe pulls through."</p> + +<p>Billy answered his handclasp.</p> + +<p>"We'll forget it ever happened," he said jovially.</p> + +<p>"One doesn't forget such things," the doctor said gravely; but Billy +laughed his old glad, clear laugh.</p> + +<p>"You've done enough for me, Dr. McAlister, to balance anything else. +Remember what I was when I came here, and look at me now."</p> + +<p>The family council which followed was short.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> Neither Dr. McAlister nor +his wife liked to leave Phebe while she was still so ill; Hubert was too +young, they felt, to go to his sister; so it was Archie who finally +volunteered to bring back the runaway.</p> + +<p>"Shall I scold her very hard?" he asked, laughing, as he took up his +dress-suit case, an hour later.</p> + +<p>"Leave that to me," the doctor replied, while he tried in vain to look +stern.</p> + +<p>As Archie passed him, Billy slipped a note into his hand.</p> + +<p>"Take that to Ted," he whispered, and Archie nodded.</p> + +<p>It was high noon, the next day, when Archie walked into the Lodge. +Theodora met him with a little, glad outcry.</p> + +<p>"Archie! Did you come for me?"</p> + +<p>"It looks like it. What's more, I've brought good news."</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"Billy is cleared, and I left the whole family munching humble pie."</p> + +<p>"Archie!" And Theodora cast herself into his arms and wept hysterically.</p> + +<p>The young man looked half abashed, half pleased, at his burden.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Go easy, now, Ted," he remonstrated. "Don't take all the starch out of +my collar, you know."</p> + +<p>"Who did it?" she demanded.</p> + +<p>"Phebe."</p> + +<p>"Archie Holden! The little wretch! And she let Billy bear the blame! +I—"</p> + +<p>"She's getting her come-uppance," Archie observed, with scant pity for +Phebe. "She's no end ill with chicken pox. That's the reason your father +couldn't come for you."</p> + +<p>"I don't care; she deserves it," Theodora said vengefully. "How did it +come out?"</p> + +<p>"Providence seemed to take a hand in it, Ted. 'Twas the queerest thing. +The night after you left, when the family were all half wild about you, +and no wonder, Babe took her hand in the game by coming down with hen +pox. She caught cold somehow, the rash went in and struck on the brain, +and she turned delirious. The first thing she did, she told the whole +story. I suppose she had been harping on it so much that it came out, +like murder."</p> + +<p>"What did she do?"</p> + +<p>"As nearly as we can piece it together, she and Isabel went into the +barn, that morning, and started to feed Vigil. Then in fun they began<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> +firing things at each other, till at last Babe picked up a box of Paris +green and shied it at Isabel. It struck the manger and broke all to +pieces. They cleaned up what they could, and sneaked away. Whether Babe +started to throw the blame on Billy at first, they don't know; but, +after dinner, Babe hunted up the bottle and hid it in the manger. It +isn't a pretty story, Ted; but it's true."</p> + +<p>"Babe ought to be—"</p> + +<p>"Abolished," Archie supplemented, with a jovial laugh. "No matter, your +father will have something to say to her by and by. By Jove, Ted, I wish +you'd seen him go down on his knees to Billy! There was something grand +in it, to see him, with his gray hair and great brown eyes, apologizing +to a boy like that. Of course, he owed him an apology and a big one; but +not many men would have made it so generously before us all."</p> + +<p>"There aren't many men like him," Theodora said proudly. "And Billy? How +is he?"</p> + +<p>"Jolly as a sandpiper. He vows that there's no one quite like you, +though. You did stand by him like a good fellow, Ted, for a fact."</p> + +<p>"You too, Archie. You helped me out, when you came. I wish you were my +brother."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span></p> + +<p>Archie laughed a little consciously.</p> + +<p>"Maybe we can fix that up in time. Now go along and pack up your +trumpery."</p> + +<p>Theodora's face suddenly grew grave.</p> + +<p>"Are they very angry at me at home, Archie?"</p> + +<p>He laughed.</p> + +<p>"Horribly. Still, I've an idea that, if you're meek enough, you'll be in +a fair way to be forgiven."</p> + +<p>And she was forgiven. Her welcome home was hearty and loving from them +all, pathetically so from Billy, who tried in vain to cover his real +emotion under a boyish indifference. The last words were still to be +said, however; and it was not until Theodora sat alone in the office +with her father, that night, that she felt the incident was ended and +she stood among them on precisely the old ground.</p> + +<p>"I can't blame you, my girl," he said at last, as he drew his arm yet +more tightly about her waist. "You were rash and headstrong. You caused +us two days of terrible anxiety, and you might have run into serious +difficulties; but your purpose was a good one, even if it was too +impetuous and daring for a child like you. We were all blind, Teddy, +strangely blind; and I can never forgive myself for my unjust +suspi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>cions, nor be glad enough that you stood by your old friend in the +face of all this evidence." There was a silence. Then he bent over and +kissed her forehead. "Teddy dear, if you can only tame down this +rashness of yours, and yet be the same loyal girl you are now, your +womanhood will be very big and beautiful. But remember this, dear, in +all this wilful, hasty end of the century, a true woman must be as +gentle as she is brave, as thoughtful as she is loving."</p> + +<p>"But I'm glad it's all over," Theodora said contentedly, the next day.</p> + +<p>She and Billy sat on the piazza, in the golden noon of an early October +day. Hope was in the hammock, with Allyn beside her and Archie on the +floor at her feet, while Hubert sat on the rail facing them all. +Theodora had been entertaining them with an account of her journey, and +she ended her story with these words.</p> + +<p>"It has been a terrible month," Hope said thoughtfully. "After our years +of placid existence, it seems as if a cyclone had struck us, all at +once. I should think you'd wish you had never set eyes on us, Billy."</p> + +<p>"I do," he replied tranquilly, as he stared at Theodora's bright face.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Poor old William!" she said, laughing. "It was a sorry day for you when +I descended on you from the apple-tree."</p> + +<p>"Adam and Eve never knew how well off they were, till the serpent came," +Archie suggested. "I have a notion we shall have a better time than +ever, now it's all over."</p> + +<p>"You can crow over it, if you like," Hubert said remorsefully. "You and +Ted were on the winning side of things. Billy, my friendship isn't good +for much; but I'll be hanged if I ever expected to go back on you and +make such a jay of myself."</p> + +<p>"Never mind, Hu; it's over now," Theodora said consolingly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, thanks to you," Hubert returned. "My share in it isn't much."</p> + +<p>Theodora laughed.</p> + +<p>"Thanks to Babe, you'd better say. We should still have been a divided +household, if Babe hadn't been benevolent enough to have chicken pox."</p> + +<p>"She didn't," Allyn objected suddenly. "The chicken didn't come out any. +I watched to see it, and I couldn't, and papa said so, too, and that's +what made her so wretchable."</p> + +<p>"But it's over, as Teddy says," Hope observed,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> breaking in on the laugh +that followed Allyn's contribution to medical science; "and I can't help +feeling that we are going to have a lovely winter, with Archie here, and +Billy to stay on till Thanksgiving. There's time to make up for all +we've lost now."</p> + +<p>"We'll make the most of it, then, for this will be my last winter here, +for ever so long," Billy said, rising. "If I enter college, next fall, +it will be a good while before I settle down at home again."</p> + +<p>"And I too," Theodora added, as she rose and stood beside him.</p> + +<p>He smiled down into her eyes for a moment, as they stood there. Then +together they turned and walked away. The world about them lay golden in +the sunlight and in the glow reflected back from the yellow leaves of +the hickories; but not one whit less golden was the future, as it +stretched away and away before their glad young eyes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_TWENTY-ONE" id="CHAPTER_TWENTY-ONE"></a>CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE</h2> + +<p>It was commencement week at Smith College. To the alumna and the +student, the picture called up by those words is sufficiently definite +and demands no amplification. To them, is no prettier sight possible +than the broad campus dotted with buildings, and the knots of +daintily-dressed girls moving slowly to and fro along the winding paths. +The Meadow City always puts on her most festal array in honor of the +occasion; the very heavens seem to watch for that week, and to provide +for it the finest moon of the whole summer.</p> + +<p>Baccalaureate was over, and, early Monday evening, groups were already +gathering on the campus at the rear of College Hall, eager to secure +comfortable places for the glee club concert. It was one of the charming +pictures of the year, that concert, the cluster of girls on the steps +facing the long rows of well-filled benches below. Beyond the benches, +and extending far across the grass to the very steps of the old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> Dewey +House, was a moving, shifting crowd, changing in form and color, as the +brightly-dressed girls came and went, like the varying slides of a +kaleidoscope. Back of the glee club, again, the open windows of the +reading-room were filled with faces of old graduates who knew the place, +and who chose this point of vantage either to protect their gowns and +their elderly necks from the dampness outside, or to use their position +facing the crowd to discover returning classmates whom they had missed +in the throng.</p> + +<p>"There's the class president," one of them said to a friend who had +arrived, only that afternoon.</p> + +<p>"Which?"</p> + +<p>"That tall girl in pale green at the left. She's in the fourth, fifth, +sixth row; and a tall, gray-haired man is with her, and a young man the +other side."</p> + +<p>"Looking this way now?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I don't see anything so remarkable about her; but they say she's +one of the most popular girls they've ever had here."</p> + +<p>"That is saying a good deal," her companion answered loyally, as she +raised her lorgnette.</p> + +<p>"They wanted her for ivy poet, but she couldn't be everything. She's +class poet,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> though, and was Portia in the dramatics, Saturday night."</p> + +<p>"What's her name?"</p> + +<p>"McAlister. Theodora McAlister. She looks it, too; but these soulless +girls all call her Teddy."</p> + +<p>"McAlister? That is the name of the girl who made such a record in +basket ball, when I was up here, last winter. They had a song in her +honor."</p> + +<p>"Probably it's the same one. My cousin says she is very all-round. All +the under-class girls adore her, and they say she'll be heard from, some +day. Did you say Edith Avery is back?"</p> + +<p>Theodora, meanwhile, had settled her guests comfortably to listen to the +concert. They were all there, Dr. McAlister and his wife, Hope and +Hubert, Phebe and Allyn, and the Farringtons. Among so many girls, Hope, +in her pretty pink gown, was quite capable of holding her own; and Billy +and Hubert were in such demand that, all that day, Theodora had scarcely +had a chance to exchange a word with them. It was just as well, however, +for the girl's hands were full, with the active part which her offices +had imposed upon her.</p> + +<p>During the whole week, she had borne her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> part admirably. When she came +out on the stage for the first time, on Saturday night, she had +faltered. For a moment, the sea of upturned faces had terrified her, and +she could distinguish nothing but a formless blur. Then, all at once, +Billy's red-gold hair and clear blue eyes had detached themselves and +caught her attention, and she flashed upon him one glance, half proud, +half appealing. He smiled back at her broadly and waved his programme. +An instant later, she was speaking her opening lines.</p> + +<p>She had led the baccalaureate procession; she had presided at the ivy +exercises, that morning; and to-night, at the reception which followed +the glee club concert, she was expected to show herself in her official +capacity. The next day, she would lead her class in the commencement +procession, and preside at the class supper. No wonder that she was +tired, and that dark circles were beginning to come beneath her eyes. +Popularity has its price, though it is a price well worth the paying. It +had come to her unsought, unexpected, and she enjoyed it. Still, she was +undeniably tired. She was glad for the moment to settle down on the +bench, unnoticed in the crowd, with her father's arm across her shoulder +and Hubert by her other side.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Tired out, Ted?" her father asked tenderly, as she nestled against him, +regardless of her finery.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no; only glad of a chance to see my people. I have been in such a +whirl, all the week, that I feel as if I had neglected you."</p> + +<p>"We haven't suffered, and you'll rest from the whirl. You can't be +graduated but once, my girl, and I want you to have the best of it," he +said proudly. "Next year, you will be with us again, so don't worry +about us now."</p> + +<p>"You'd better sit up straight, Teddy," Phebe said, bending forward and +speaking in an aggressively audible whisper. "You're leaning against +your dress, and that thin stuff crushes awfully. Do be careful."</p> + +<p>"Never mind," Theodora answered, with a lazy disregard of her fluffy sea +of pale green chiffon. "Papa and I shall never be here again just like +this, and I mean to have the good of him."</p> + +<p>They lingered there until the concert was over and the tide was turning +towards the Art Gallery. Then she rose reluctantly, and shook out her +gown.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 309px;"><a name="ILLO4" title="ILLO4"></a> +<img src="images/i004.jpg" width="309" height="500" alt=""'Give me my fan and gloves, Hu,' she said."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"'Give me my fan and gloves, Hu,' she said."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Give me my fan and my gloves, Hu," she said. "I must fly to my post. +I'd much rather stay here."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span></p><p>As she turned away, a young man abruptly took leave of two juniors, +and went hurrying after her. He was tall and alert, yet he walked with a +certain stiffness, which gave an almost military erectness to his +carriage.</p> + +<p>"The Philistines be upon me, Ted! Do save me!"</p> + +<p>She turned back to meet him.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter, Billy? I thought you looked content while the +concert was going on."</p> + +<p>"Content! I'm distracted. I've been introduced to seven thousand girls. +They all look alike, and I can't tell 'em from those I don't know."</p> + +<p>"Smile on them all, Billy. You're equal to it."</p> + +<p>"But I don't want 'em. I came here to see you, not Miss Swift of +Chicago."</p> + +<p>"You don't appreciate your advantages, Billy," she said, laughing, as +they went together up the steps of the Art Gallery.</p> + +<p>"Maybe not. I appreciate you, though, and I sail, in ten days. When +shall you be off duty again?"</p> + +<p>She looked down at the throng already streaming up the steps behind +them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Come and rescue me at half-past nine, Billy, unless you find Miss Swift +of Chicago a more potent attraction."</p> + +<p>"Trust me!" And he vanished.</p> + +<p>For more than an hour, the stream of people flowed past her. Everywhere +was the swish of countless gowns, the low murmur of countless voices. +Every one was there, not only the seniors and their friends, but the +girls of the under classes, with here and there a wide-eyed, wondering +sub-freshman. Faculty hobnobbed with sophomores, and the alumnæ pervaded +all things and were in their glory. It was a pretty picture, backed as +it was by the dull-hued walls and fine statuary of the gallery; and +Theodora glanced about her in contented pride, to see if any of her +friends were near and enjoying this crowning glory of her Alma Mater.</p> + +<p>Ten feet away, Mrs. McAlister was discussing football with the brother +of one of the seniors, a boy too young to have any real share in the +evening's pleasure. Not far off, Dr. McAlister was contentedly ruffling +up his hair, while he monopolized the attention of a prominent +professor, who appeared altogether unconscious of the passing moments +and of the crowd of alumnæ waiting for a word. Theodora smiled to +herself, as she caught an occasional phrase,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>—</p> + +<p>"All the bromides—Grand antiseptic qualities—Your essay in the last +review."</p> + +<p>Out on the stairs, Hope was in the midst of a gay crowd; and, quite at +the other side of the building, Hubert sat on the pedestal of the Dying +Gaul, with one arm thrown across the neck of the statue, while he talked +to the pretty young girl perched at his side.</p> + +<p>Punctual to the moment, Billy appeared.</p> + +<p>"Now let's get out of this," he said abruptly.</p> + +<p>"Aren't you having a good time?" she questioned, with a little hurt +tone.</p> + +<p>"Yes, fine. I struck some Cleveland girls; they're always pretty. But +now I want a breath of fresh air and a little sensible conversation. +Come along."</p> + +<p>"Where?"</p> + +<p>"Anywhere, as long as it's quiet."</p> + +<p>She laughed, as she handed him her fan.</p> + +<p>"I believe you're tired before I am, Billy."</p> + +<p>"No; only I do want a little chance to see you. It's not as if I were +going to be at home, this summer."</p> + +<p>She glanced at him sharply. Then she bit her lip a little, as she +followed him through the crowd at the door, and out upon the campus.</p> + +<p>"This is pretty, for a fact, Ted," he said,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> breaking the silence. "Yale +can't show anything to beat this."</p> + +<p>"That's very generous of you, Billy," she answered; but her tone lacked +its usual vivacity, and her step dragged slightly, as they moved away +together among the Chinese lanterns which edged the walks in double +line.</p> + +<p>The crowd was here, too; but Billy steered her through it, past the +houses and the old gymnasium, and out to the far end of the campus. At +the steps of the observatory, he halted.</p> + +<p>"It's quiet here, and we can get some good of the moon," he said. "Let's +sit down here, unless you are afraid of taking cold."</p> + +<p>"The idea! I'm not an alum.; besides, it's a warm night."</p> + +<p>"How will you stand two commencements, Ted?" he asked, settling himself +at her feet and turning to look up at her.</p> + +<p>"Better than my gowns will," she said, showing him a long rent in her +skirt.</p> + +<p>He laughed.</p> + +<p>"You always were hard on your clothes, Teddy. I shall never forget the +sound of rending garments which heralded your first approach."</p> + +<p>"Out of the apple-tree? I remember. I also remember the lecture Hope +gave me."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Those were good old days," he said contentedly, as he opened and shut +her fan.</p> + +<p>"These are better," she answered, looking down at him, as he sat there +in the moonlight. "I can't make it seem as if you ever lived in a +chair."</p> + +<p>He looked up, shaking back his hair with a quick motion of his head.</p> + +<p>"It's over now, thank Heaven! Still, it brought us together, after all. +Teddy, I'm going to miss you. I wish I needn't go."</p> + +<p>"But you must," she said hastily, startled at something in his tone. "It +isn't everybody who has the double chance to study for his profession +and to be treated by Dr. Brunald, at the same time."</p> + +<p>"If it only finishes the cure! But two years is such a long time."</p> + +<p>"Yes. But I'm going down with your mother to see you off, you know; and +then you'll write often."</p> + +<p>"Of course. But so much can happen in two years."</p> + +<p>"I hope there can. Do you remember my three wishes?"</p> + +<p>"No. Yes. Seems to me I do. What were they?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It was one day, under the trees in your grounds. I was in a +confidential mood, I remember, and I was moved to tell them to you. They +included a bicycle, a college course, and a successful career of +authorship."</p> + +<p>"I remember. You've two of them, Ted; and I believe you'll get the +other."</p> + +<p>"Wait till you come home. You may find me no nearer the end than I am +now."</p> + +<p>"I doubt it, Teddy. You've the stuff in you. Write and tell me, when you +make your first hit."</p> + +<p>"I will. I'm counting on your letters, Billy, for it's going to be very +lonely without you." Her lip quivered again, and in the moonlight he saw +an odd glitter in her eyes.</p> + +<p>He took her hand in his.</p> + +<p>"Ted," he said gently; "two years can't make any difference in such a +friendship as ours. We've stuck together through thick and thin, and +nothing can change us. Two years isn't a very long time to wait, and +then, please God, I shall come home to you all, a strong man. After +that, I shall never go away again—to leave you, dear."</p> + +<p>The last words were almost inaudible. Then the silence and the moonlight +closed in about them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span></p> + +<p>The chapel was filled to overflowing, the next day, as the procession +filed up the middle aisle. Led by the white-gowned ushers, they came +slowly onward, faculty and trustees, alumnæ and seniors, while above and +around them, soft and full by turns, rose the sound of the organ under +the masterly touch they knew so well. It was an hour when even the most +heedless freshman felt the pain, the almost solemn sadness of the coming +parting, yet the full meaning of the commencement day can be realized +only by those who are leaving their Alma Mater for the last time.</p> + +<p>All too soon, the morning sped away and the president rose to confer the +degrees, while a hush, slight, but expectant, crept over the place.</p> + +<p>"<i>Quæ primum gradum accedunt.</i>"</p> + +<p>At the well-known words, the seniors rose, with Theodora standing at +their head. The girl was very pale, and her eyes looked dark and liquid, +as she raised them to the president's face. From his seat in the south +transept, Billy watched her while she stood there, tall and straight and +noble in her young womanhood, a very daughter of to-day; and, as he +looked, within him there strengthened the belief which had been slowly +forming and guiding his life ever since the day,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> more than six years +before, when Theodora had come down to him from the old apple-tree. In +all those tedious, aching years, Theodora had been his best friend; and +now with health and with her before him, he could afford to work, and +wait, and hope.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_TWENTY-TWO" id="CHAPTER_TWENTY-TWO"></a>CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO</h2> + +<p>Two years had passed away, and The Savins lay basking in the heat of an +August noon. Here and there, a broad calladium leaf swayed majestically +to and fro in a passing breeze, and the locusts sang shrilly in the +trees overhead. Upstairs in her own room, Theodora rocked lazily, +humming to herself while she darned her stockings.</p> + +<p>"Prosaic work!" she said aloud, half whimsically. "The sure forerunner +of a prosaic spinsterhood! My plans don't seem to materialize rapidly, +and I foresee that I shall go on darning stockings till the end of my +days. Bah! how I hate it!" She rolled up her stockings into a ball. "Two +years ago, and I was saying good-by to Billy in New York, and we were +making great plans for what we were to accomplish. Dear old Billy! I +hope he's quite strong by this time. It's almost time for another letter +from him, seems to me."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span></p> + +<p>She tossed the ball to the table beside her, and, clasping her hands +above her rumpled hair, fell to dreaming. Phebe interrupted her.</p> + +<p>"A letter for you, Teddy!" she proclaimed, opening the door and casting +the envelope across the room towards her sister.</p> + +<p>"From Billy?"</p> + +<p>"How should I know? I don't read your letters."</p> + +<p>It was the same Phebe, older and taller, but otherwise unchanged. Now +her tone was slightly toploftical.</p> + +<p>"I didn't suppose you did," Theodora answered, while she rose to pick up +the letter. "I can't say you are over-ceremonious with it, Babe."</p> + +<p>"Don't care." And Phebe vanished as abruptly as she had come.</p> + +<p>The letter was not from Billy. The handwriting was strange; and Theodora +turned it over and over nervously, before she ventured to open it. Then +of a sudden the color came into her cheeks, and her eyes flashed. +Seizing the letter, she opened the door and ran down the stairs.</p> + +<p>"Hope! Hu! Somebody!" she called, with a glad, exultant note in her +voice.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span></p> + +<p>She called again. Then she heard Phebe's voice from the lawn.</p> + +<p>"I am here. What do you want?"</p> + +<p>"Where is everybody?" Theodora asked, stepping out on the piazza.</p> + +<p>"I'm here." Phebe's accent suggested that her feelings were hurt at the +question.</p> + +<p>"Yes; but papa and mamma?"</p> + +<p>"Driving."</p> + +<p>"And Hope?"</p> + +<p>"Mooning round with Archie somewhere."</p> + +<p>"Where's Hu?"</p> + +<p>"Gone for a ride."</p> + +<p>"Then you'll be the first to hear my great news."</p> + +<p>"Needn't tell me, unless you want. I don't care to be taken +Jack-at-a-pinch."</p> + +<p>"I do want to tell you, Babe. I only thought I would wait till the +others were here; but I don't believe I can wait."</p> + +<p>"What is it?" Phebe asked, her curiosity overcoming her momentary pique +as she looked at Theodora's radiant face.</p> + +<p>"It's only that I've written a book and sent it to a publisher, and he +says it's good enough to publish."</p> + +<p>"Really? Really and truly?" Phebe's face<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> expressed her incredulity. +"Will he pay you a lot for it?"</p> + +<p>"Something,—not a lot, though," Theodora answered, too much accustomed +to Phebe's lack of sympathy to be hurt by her words. "But that's not the +main thing, Babe. Think of the honor of it!"</p> + +<p>"Hm!" Phebe said slowly. "It's the money I'd care for, Teddy. Ever so +many people have written books before, and some of them younger than +you."</p> + +<p>Great was the rejoicing of the family, that day, when Theodora met them +at the dinner-table with her news. In the clamor of question and +congratulation, no word could be distinguished at first. Then Dr. +McAlister's voice, clear and quiet, hushed the others.</p> + +<p>"Teddy, dear," he said tenderly; "I couldn't love you more than I do; +but this makes your old father very proud of you. I wish your own mother +could have known it."</p> + +<p>And Mrs. McAlister added softly,—</p> + +<p>"Perhaps she does, Jack."</p> + +<p>The clamor broke out again.</p> + +<p>"When did you—?"</p> + +<p>"How did you ever—?"</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you tell us that—?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How long—?"</p> + +<p>"What will Billy Farrington say?" Hope asked at length.</p> + +<p>"He'll say, 'Didn't I always tell you so?'" Hubert answered, smiling +across the table at his twin sister.</p> + +<p>Afterwards they lingered on the piazza, talking and laughing, begging to +see the manuscript, teasing Theodora about her secretiveness, and +congratulating her again and again. It was an attractive group, Theodora +in the midst, a tall, handsome girl in the full ripeness of her maidenly +beauty, her arm linked in that of her twin brother, while pretty Hope +stood facing them, with Archie at her side.</p> + +<p>Allyn came up to them as they stood there.</p> + +<p>"Take these, Teddy," he said, holding out his hand.</p> + +<p>"What are they, Allyn?" she asked, loosing Hubert's arm as she bent down +over the child.</p> + +<p>"Clovers, four-leafed ones. They will bring you luck," he answered, with +childish superstition.</p> + +<p>"How many you find, Allyn! I never see any," she said, taking the +handful of green leaves.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Put them in your belt, and the first man you shake hands with, you'll +marry," Phebe suggested pertly.</p> + +<p>"Not I. I'm doomed to old-maidhood," she said, laughing.</p> + +<p>"Give them to Hope, then," Phebe said, careless of Hope's blushes.</p> + +<p>"Never. They are mine. You gave them to me, didn't you, Allyn?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," the child said gravely. "You'd better keep them and put them in +your belt. Hope doesn't need them as much as you do."</p> + +<p>In the midst of the laugh that followed, Theodora went away to her room +to write the momentous letter which should accept the publisher's offer. +It cost her some pains to write it, to attain the proper degree of +indifference, equally removed from coldness and from childish eagerness. +The clock beside her told that an hour had passed over her task, and a +little heap of torn papers lay on the desk before her when the maid came +to call her.</p> + +<p>"There's some one in the parlor to see you, Miss Theodora."</p> + +<p>"Who?"</p> + +<p>"He didn't tell me his name."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Bother take him!" Theodora remarked to herself. Then she added aloud, +"Well, I'll be right down."</p> + +<p>It was characteristic of Theodora that she delayed to give no glance at +the mirror. Just as she was, with her ruffled hair and in her simple +pink morning gown, she ran down the stairway and entered the cool, dark +parlor. As she crossed the threshold, the guest rose to greet her,—a +guest with a tall, athletic figure, a sunburned face, keen blue eyes, +and a mass of reddish golden hair.</p> + +<p>"Billy!"</p> + +<p>"Ted!"</p> + +<p>"Where did you come from?"</p> + +<p>"'The Ankworks package.'"</p> + +<p>"But really?"</p> + +<p>"I landed, yesterday afternoon. I was bound to give you a surprise, and +I think I've made it out. Glad to see me?"</p> + +<p>"You dear old boy! Have you any doubts about it? How well you're +looking, and how—how stunning!"</p> + +<p>"Ditto, ma'am. The years have agreed with you, I suspect."</p> + +<p>"Yes. And you? You've told so little about yourself. You do write horrid +letters, Billy."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Your old frankness, I observe," he said mischievously.</p> + +<p>"I know it; but when I am longing to hear if you're well and all about +you, you write reams of student gossip. I forgive you, though, now I see +you, for you look better than I ever supposed you could."</p> + +<p>"Not much like the flabby chunk of flesh that used to call itself Billy +Farrington?" he asked complacently.</p> + +<p>"Not a bit, you giant; but you're the same old Billy. Is it polite to +say you've grown? Walk off, and let me look at you."</p> + +<p>Turning, he made a few quick strides up and down the room, laughing, as +he did so, at the perfect satisfaction written on her face. Then he came +back and took her hand once more.</p> + +<p>"Will it pass, Teddy?" he asked, looking down at the tall girl beside +him.</p> + +<p>"Yes, in every way. You're sure you are as strong as ever?"</p> + +<p>"Sound as a nut. And, by Jove, Ted, after two years of Dutch Gretchens, +it is good to see you again."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 311px;"><a name="ILLO5" title="ILLO5"></a> +<img src="images/i005.jpg" width="311" height="500" alt="Something in the expression of the blue eyes above her +made her own eyes droop." title="" /> +<span class="caption">Something in the expression of the blue eyes above her +made her own eyes droop.</span> +</div> + +<p>Something in the expression of the blue eyes above her made her own eyes +droop. Then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> suddenly she flushed and drew away her hand, which, all +this time, had been lying in his two strong brown palms, for, as she +looked down, her glance had chanced to fall upon the bunch of withered +leaves which still clung in her belt.</p> + +<h4>THE END</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>WANOLASSET</h2> + +<h3>THE-LITTLE-ONE-WHO-LAUGHS</h3> + +<h3>By MISS A. G. PLYMPTON</h3> + +<h4><i>Author of "Dear Daughter Dorothy," etc.</i></h4> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> +<img src="images/ad01.jpg" width="300" height="284" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h4><i>12mo. Cloth. With illustrations by the author.</i> $1.25.</h4> + +<p>A story of colonial life in New England during King Philip's War, and of +the captivity of a little Medfield maid, to whom, on account of her +brave spirit and sunny temper, the Indians gave the name of +"Wanolasset"—meaning "The-little-one-who-laughs." Much historical +information is cleverly interwoven with the story, which is one of +absorbing interest. The author has invested her youthful characters with +much of that same sweetness which characterizes "Dear Daughter Dorothy," +the heroine of one of her earlier books; and their varying fortunes will +be eagerly followed.—<i>New England Magazine.</i></p> + +<p>It is a story of boy and girl life in a Puritan colony, an historical +romance, indeed, for young people. Miss Plympton's stories are always +prime favorites, and she has never written quite so good a one as +this.—Providence News.</p> + +<p>The tale is of King Philip's War, and little Alse's capture and rescue +are given with an eye to historical accuracy and with a clearer sense of +justice to the captors than characterized the "Indian stories" of twenty +years ago. Out of all this careful study of facts, combined with +literary skill, the child of to-day ought to get a fair idea of pioneer +life.—<i>Los Angeles Express.</i></p> + +<p>The story is such a one as children delight in, and is withal so simple, +sweet, and wholesome that no better gift could be chosen for any +child.—<i>Lexington (Ky.) Herald.</i></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE CHICOPEE SERIES</h2> + +<h3>BY MYRA SAWYER HAMLIN</h3> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> +<img src="images/ad02.jpg" width="300" height="300" alt=""NAN."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"NAN."</span> +</div> + +<h3>NAN AT CAMP CHICOPEE; OR, NAN'S SUMMER WITH THE BOYS.</h3> + +<p>The story is one of free, outdoor life, characterized by a deal of fine +descriptive writing and many bits of local color that invest the whole +book with an atmosphere which is actually fragrant; the entire story is +as fresh and as clear and as bright as if some of the breezes of "Lake +Chicopee" had blown straight through it from cover to cover and left +their odors of flowery pastures and pine woods and New Hampshire air on +every page.—<i>Bangor Commercial.</i></p> + +<h3>NAN IN THE CITY; OR, NAN'S WINTER WITH THE GIRLS.</h3> + +<p>A bright story in which children and animals play an equal part.—<i>The +Outlook.</i></p> + +<p>It is a charmingly entertaining book from cover to cover, and in every +way entitled to a wide constituency of young readers. The story is well +told and the atmosphere is healthful and uplifting, while there is a +plot to keep the interest aroused, and around the central figure of the +story the reader's affection and good-will is bound to cling, for the +heroine is a type of young girl such as makes the world brighter and +happier for her presence.—<i>Boston Budget.</i></p> + +<h3>NAN'S CHICOPEE CHILDREN. (<i>Completing The Chicopee Series.</i>)</h3> + +<h4><i>16mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Each,</i> $1.25.</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>'TWIXT YOU AND ME</h2> + +<h3>A STORY FOR GIRLS</h3> + +<h3>BY GRACE LE BARON</h3> + +<h4><i>Author of "Little Miss Faith," "Little Daughter," "The</i></h4> +<h4><i>Rosebud Club," and "Queer Janet"</i></h4> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 241px;"> +<img src="images/ad03.jpg" width="241" height="300" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h4><i>12mo. Cloth. With pictures by Ellen Bernard Thompson</i></h4> +<h4><i>and floral decorations by Katherine Pyle.</i> $1.50</h4> + +<p>This new book by an author whose other stories have been written for +younger children will win a warm place in the hearts of girl readers, +and its two principal characters, Rosemary and Daisy, are likely to be +very popular. The events of the story occur in two summers at the +seashore and in two terms at the "Misses Bagley's Fashionable +Boarding-School." The author has interwoven with the story a very +charming garland of poems of flowers.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>BELLE</h2> + +<h4><i>A New Book by the author of "Miss Toosey's Mission"</i></h4> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 180px;"> +<img src="images/ad04.jpg" width="180" height="300" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h4><i>16mo. Cloth. Illustrated.</i> $1.00</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE LITTLE RED SCHOOLHOUSE</h2> + +<h3>BY EVELYN RAYMOND</h3> + +<h4><i>Author of "The Little Lady of the Horse," "Among</i></h4> +<h4><i>the Lindens," etc.</i></h4> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 230px;"> +<img src="images/ad05.jpg" width="230" height="300" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h4><i>12mo. Cloth. Illustrated by Victor A. Searles.</i> $1.50</h4> + +<p>As the title indicates, the country school is the feature of the book +which has suggested much of its plot, and the author has woven a +delightful narrative, sensible and practical, and at the same time +interesting and uplifting, which will be welcomed by the young +people.—<i>Congregationalist.</i></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>AMONG THE LINDENS</h2> + +<h3>BY EVELYN RAYMOND</h3> + +<h4><i>Author of "The Little Lady of the Horse," "A Cape May</i></h4> +<h4><i>Diamond," "The Mushroom Cave," "The</i></h4> +<h4><i>Little Red Schoolhouse," etc.</i></h4> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 239px;"> +<img src="images/ad06.jpg" width="239" height="300" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h4><i>12mo. Cloth. Illustrated by Victor A. Searles.</i> $1.50</h4> + +<p>The scene of Evelyn Raymond's new story is partly in New York and partly +in the country "among the lindens." A poor family is assisted by a +wealthy friend in the best possible way,—he helps them to help +themselves. The youngest boy is the life of the story, something of an +amusing and exceedingly lively nature happening to him every day of his +life. The children of the story have faults, but strive to correct them, +and have healthy and noble ideals of life and character. There is an +exceptionally pleasant, homelike atmosphere about the book.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE YOUNG PURITANS IN KING PHILIP'S WAR</h2> + +<h4><i>A sequel to "The Young Puritans of Old Hadley"</i></h4> + +<h3>BY MARY P. WELLS SMITH</h3> + +<h4><i>Author of "The Jolly Good Times Series," etc.</i></h4> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 265px;"> +<img src="images/ad07.jpg" width="265" height="300" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h4><i>12mo. Cloth. Illustrated by L. J. Bridgman.</i> $1.25</h4> + +<p>This is the second volume in "The Young Puritans Series." The author has +made a very careful study of the Colonial life and history of the time. +Like the first volume of the series, her attempt to depict the life of +Puritan children for young people is closely based on historical facts. +These volumes should be read carefully and studied by the children of +to-day, recounting, as they do, the hardships endured by their +forefathers and foremothers in the settlement of this country, as well +as their devotion, high aims, and religious zeal. The third volume of +the series will be devoted to "The Young Puritans in Captivity."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>HESTER STANLEY'S FRIENDS</h2> + +<h4><i>A sequel to "Hester Stanley at St. Mark's"</i></h4> + +<h3>BY HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD</h3> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 239px;"> +<img src="images/ad08.jpg" width="239" height="300" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h4><i>12mo. Cloth. Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill.</i> $1.25</h4> + +<p>Mrs. Spofford's new book includes the following stories, dealing with +the same characters as those of her delightful volume of schoolgirl life +entitled "Hester Stanley at St. Mark's": Bella's Choice; A Christmas +that was Christmas; Jule's Garden; April Showers; Rafe; The Little Black +Fiddle; Billy and his Grandmother; Remade; The Fourth at Marcia Meyer's; +Little Rosalie; At Old Benbow.</p> + +<h3>A NEW EDITION OF "HESTER STANLEY AT ST. MARK'S"</h3> + +<h4><i>Uniform with the above. Illustrated. 12mo. Cloth.</i> $1.25</h4> +<h4><i>The two volumes, in a box,</i> $2.50</h4> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Teddy: Her Book, by Anna Chapin Ray + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TEDDY: HER BOOK *** + +***** This file should be named 24361-h.htm or 24361-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/3/6/24361/ + +Produced by David Edwards, Annie McGuire and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from scans of public domain material +produced by Microsoft for their Live Search Books site.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Teddy: Her Book + A Story of Sweet Sixteen + +Author: Anna Chapin Ray + +Illustrator: Vesper L. George + +Release Date: January 19, 2008 [EBook #24361] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TEDDY: HER BOOK *** + + + + +Produced by David Edwards, Annie McGuire and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from scans of public domain material +produced by Microsoft for their Live Search Books site.) + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Book Cover] + + + + + TEDDY: HER BOOK + A Story of Sweet Sixteen + + BY + ANNA CHAPIN RAY + + ILLUSTRATED BY VESPER L. GEORGE + + [Illustration: Teddy] + + BOSTON + LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY + 1901 + + _Copyright, 1898_, + BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. + + University Press: + JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. + + + + + "_Spring's hands are always full of rosy flowers, + Unopened buds to deck each field and tree. + We love and watch them through the long, sweet hours, + Not for the buds, but what the buds will be._ + + "_Life's hands are full of buds. She comes on singing, + With radiant eyes, across Youth's golden gate; + We smile to see the burden she is bringing, + And for the Summer are content to wait._" + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + THEODORA'S FACE, ROSY WITH BLUSHES, APPEARED IN THE OPENING. 31 + + THEODORA WENT FLYING ACROSS THE ROAD. 69 + + "'WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS?' SHE DEMANDED." 100 + + "TEDDY, DEAR, THIS IS MY BROTHER ARCHIE, COME AT LAST." 129 + + "'GIVE ME MY FAN AND GLOVES, HU,' SHE SAID." 256 + + SOMETHING IN THE EXPRESSION OF THE BLUE EYES ABOVE + HER MADE HER OWN EYES DROOP. 272 + + + + +CHAPTER ONE + + +The five McAlisters were gathered in the dining-room, one rainy night in +late August. In view of the respective dimensions of the family circle +and the family income, servants were few in the McAlister household, and +division of labor was the order of the day. Old Susan had cleared away +the table and brought in the lamp; then she retired to the kitchen, +leaving the young people to themselves. + +Hope was darning stockings. She had one of Hubert's socks drawn on over +her hand, which showed, white and dainty, through the great, ragged +hole. Hubert sat near her with little Allyn on his knee, tiding over a +crisis in the young man's temper by showing him pictures in the +dilapidated Mother Goose which had done duty for successive McAlisters, +from seventeen-year-old Hope down. + +"Stop kicking brother," he commanded, as Allyn lifted up his voice and +his heels in vigorous protest against things in general, and the +approach of the sandman in particular. "Listen, Allyn,-- + + 'There was a little man, + And he had a little gun, + And his bullets were made of lead, lead, lead.'" + +Theodora appeared on the threshold of the great china closet, where she +was washing the cups and plates. She had a dish-cloth in one hand and +three or four spoons in the other. + +"You don't put enough emphasis into it, Hu," she said mockingly. "This +is the way it should sound, like this,-- + + 'There was a little cow, + And it had a little calf, + And it wouldn't ever go to bed, bed, bed.' + +Never mind, Allyn, sister will come in a few minutes and put your +nightie on. Oh, Babe, I wish you'd hurry and put away these dishes." + +But Babe, baptismally known as Phebe, was engaged in tickling Allyn's +toes, with the praiseworthy intention of making him kick the harder. +Accordingly, she was deaf to the voice of Theodora, who was forced to +put away the cups herself. She did it with a bumping impatience, +grumbling the while. + +"I do wish that everlasting old Susan would wash these things. The idea +of my being tied to a dish-pan, all my days, and Babe never will help a +bit! It's not fair." She set down a cup with a protesting whack which +threatened to wreck its handle. + +"Oh, Teddy?" Hubert called, from the next room. + +"Well?" Her face cleared, as it always did at the voice of her twin +brother. + +"Drop something?" + +"No. Wish I had. I'd like to throw this dish-pan into the street." + +"'Most through?" + +"Never shall be. Do put Allyn down and come to help me." + +He settled the child, book and all, in a corner of the old haircloth +sofa which ran across the end of the room, and, with his hands in his +pockets, he sauntered into the china closet and sat down on the little +step-ladder that stood there, ready to lead to an ascent to the upper +shelves. + +"What's the matter, to-night, Teddy?" he asked, sympathetically +tweaking the end of her long brown pigtail. + +"The weather, I think," she replied, as she threw a dish-towel at him. +"I don't like to wash dishes, and I don't like rainy days, and I don't +like--" + +"Nothin' nor nobody. Never mind filling up the list. You've a crick in +your temper, that's all. It will be gone in the morning. Here, give me a +towel, and I'll help wipe." + +It was a service he had often performed before. The twins were close +friends, and some of their most confidential talks had been held over +the steaming dish-water. They finished their task together; then Hubert +linked his arm in that of his sister and came out into the dining-room, +where Hope, with the stocking still drawn on over her hand, was vainly +trying to rescue Allyn from the torments imposed on him by Phebe. + +"Don't, Babe," she urged. "Don't you see how it makes him cry? Why can't +you let him alone? He is always cross at bedtime." + +"So are you," Phebe retorted defiantly. "When she comes, Hope McAlister, +I do hope she'll give it to you good." + +Hope flushed, and her sensitive chin quivered a little. + +"Let's hope not," she said gently. "Do be quiet, there's a dear Babe. It +is almost your bedtime." + +"But I sha'n't go to bed," proclaimed Phebe rebelliously. + +"Phebe!" + +Experience had taught her that Sister Hope, gentle as she was, must be +obeyed when she spoke in that tone, and Phebe sullenly yielded to the +inevitable and became quiet. + +Meanwhile, Theodora had pounced upon Allyn, caught him up in her strong +young arms, cuddled his fluffy yellow head against her cheek, and gone +away upstairs, whither Phebe followed them with a crushing dignity which +sought for no good-night kiss. Hubert cast himself down on the old sofa +and fell to rummaging his sister's basket. He smiled a little, as she +showed him the vast hole in the toe of his sock; but it was some minutes +before he spoke. Then he said slowly,-- + +"Never mind, Hope. It's in the air, and we all feel it." + +He was silent again. Upstairs, they could hear the _tap_, _tap_ of +Teddy's energetic heels, as she moved to and fro, settling the two +children for the night. Then she was still, while Allyn's shrill, +childish treble rose in his evening petition,-- + + "Now I lay me down a shleep, + I tray a Lo' la tol a teep, + I ta die afo' I wake, + Tray a Lo' la tol a take. + It I at a Jedu' shlake. A-nen!" + +Ten minutes later, she came back to the dining-room and threw herself +down on the sofa, with her head on Hubert's knee and her elbow in the +orderly work-basket. + +"Do you know," she said abruptly; "I think our venerable father is a +goose." + +"Teddy!" Hope's tone was remonstrant. + +"I can't help it, if it isn't respectful; I do. He's lived long enough +to know better, and he ought to be put to bed without his supper, even +if it is his wedding day." She started up, to add emphasis to her words; +but Hubert seized her two long braids of hair and drew her head down on +his knee again. + +"Calm yourself, Teddy," he said, bending forward to peer into her face. +"You are worse than the children. I told Hope that it was in the air, +to-night." + +"Why shouldn't it be?" she demanded. "Here are we, three grown-up +children, sitting in a row at home and knowing that, this very evening, +our own father is being married to a stranger. It's horrid." + +"It may not be so bad, Teddy," Hope said consolingly, as she rolled up +Hubert's socks in a ball and tossed them at her brother. "You know we +saw her once and we all liked her." + +"That was before we knew what was going on. You may think a person is +pretty and nice and all that; but that doesn't mean you want her for a +mother." + +"I don't believe she'll be so bad," Hubert observed judicially. "She's +been to college and she knows a good deal, and she's pretty and not +easily shocked. Don't you remember how she laughed at Babe's awful +speeches?" + +"I remember just how she looked," Hope said. "She must have been amused +at our innocence. I don't see why the reason never struck us that we +were all dragged over to the hotel to see her." + +"Because we had some respect for papa," Theodora said tartly. "I don't +see why he needs to go and get married again, and I won't say I'm glad +to see her, when she comes. There!" + +"Ted is afraid that Madame will make her toe the mark," Hubert said +teasingly. "You've had your own way too long, Miss Teddy, and now you +will have to come to terms. Isn't that about the truth of it?" + +The clock struck eight, and Hope raised her head. + +"Listen," she said. "Isn't it a strange feeling that now, in the middle +of the lights and the music and the wedding march, papa, our own father, +is being married, while we sit here just as we always do?" + +The three young faces grew grave at the thought, Hope's with the sweet +romance of her years, Hubert's with interest, and Theodora's with open +rebellion. For some time they sat there, silent. Then Hope spoke, with +the evident design of changing the subject. + +"Does anybody know about the new people on the corner?" + +"Only what papa said, that it's a woman and her son. She's a widow, her +husband was killed in the Massawan bridge accident, and the son terribly +hurt." + +"Have they come?" + +"Yes, I saw them yesterday," Hubert said. + +"What are they like?" Hope and Theodora asked in a breath. + +"They were driving past the post-office, when I went after the noon +mail. They went by so fast I couldn't see much, though." + +"How did you know who it was?" Theodora inquired, rolling over till she +could look up into her brother's face. + +"Mr. Saunders asked me if I knew they were our new neighbors. They came +Tuesday, but they stayed at the hotel till yesterday morning, while the +house was being put in order." + +"What did they look like?" Teddy demanded. + +"Like all the rest of the world, as far as I could see." + +"Stop teasing, Hu, and tell us," Hope urged. + +"Really, I don't know much about them," Hubert returned, with an air of +lazy indifference. "Look out, Ted, you're tipping over Hope's basket. +One would think we'd never had any new neighbors before, from the way +you act." + +"We haven't, for ages. Tell us, Hu, there's a dear, what are they like?" + +"I honestly didn't have a chance to see them, Ted. She's tall and +pretty, and has a lot of fuzzy light red hair." + +"Of course she was in mourning," Hope said. + +"Yes, I suppose so. At least, she had a pile of black stuff hanging down +her back. I don't see why women should pin a black shawl over their +heads, when somebody dies; but then--" + +"How old is the son?" Theodora interrupted. + +"About our ages, I should say." + +"Did he look ill?" Hope asked pitifully. + +"No; only pale." + +"What's the matter with him, anyway?" Theodora inquired, as she reached +out for her brother's hand and fell to playing with his slender brown +fingers. + +"Papa told me he was jammed into a corner, with a lot of stuff on top of +him, and his back is hurt so he can't walk." + +"Ugh!" Theodora wriggled. "How horrid! Won't he get over it?" + +"Sometime; but it will take a good while." + +"How did they happen to come here?" Hope said. + +"They wanted to move into the country. Dr. Parker is their regular +doctor, and he advised them to try papa, so they came here to be near +him. Papa told me, on the way to the station, the day he went. He had a +great, thick letter from Dr. Parker all about it." + +"And so they are really in the house. It has been empty so long that I +can't realize it," Hope observed thoughtfully. "Of course, if he were a +girl, it would make more difference to us." + +"I don't see why," Theodora said, as she pulled off the ribbon from one +of her braids, and untied the bow. + +"Why, because--Don't you see? He can't come to us, and we can't go +there; that is, none of us but Hu." + +"I don't see why," Theodora said again. + +"It wouldn't be proper," Hope said primly. "You can't go to call on a +boy, Teddy. Hu will go over, in a day or two, though." + +"Not if he knows himself," Hubert returned. "I don't like freaks. They +make me squirmy, and I never know what to say to them." + +"Then you're a pig," Theodora answered, with Saxon frankness. "It won't +be decent, if we don't try to make it pleasant for him. He's a stranger +to everybody, and shut up so he can't have any fun." + +"I really think you ought to go, Hu," Hope said gently. + +"I don't hanker to," he returned laughingly. "Let Ted go, if she wants +to." + +"But she is a girl--" Hope began. + +"Not more than half," Hubert interrupted, with a laughing grimace at his +twin sister, who stood by the sofa, looking scornfully down at them. + +"You can do as you like, you two," she said. "It isn't a question of +whether it's proper or not; it is simple human kindness, and as soon as +I can, Hope McAlister, I intend to get acquainted with him. You've got +to go over there, Hu, and take me with you, just as soon as papa comes +home." She tied her ribbon with a defiant jerk. + +Rather to her surprise, Hubert came to her support. + +"You're all right, Teddy; go ahead. If papa is willing, Hope, I don't +see why she can't go to see him whenever she feels like it. It isn't in +my line. I always feel as if people smashed up in that way ought to sing +hymns all the time, and talk about Heaven. That's the way they do in +Sunday-school books, you know, and they never have tempers and things. +I shouldn't know what to say to that kind of a fellow, and I should only +make a mess of it; but if Ted wants to play the good Samaritan to him, +let her. For my part, I like whole people, or none at all." He squared +his shoulders and took a deep, full breath, as he spoke, in all the +pride of his boyish strength. + +"We're bound to see a good deal of him anyway," Theodora urged, a shade +less hotly. "Right next door and a patient of papa's, it would be queer +not to pay any attention to him. He's all alone, too, and there are such +a lot of us. I don't want to do anything out-of-the-way, Hope, but I do +wish we could get acquainted with him." + +"Wait till papa comes home, dear," Hope said, with the gentleness which +had gained her so many victories over her tempestuous young sisters. +"That will only be two or three weeks, and he will know what is the best +thing to do." + +"Maybe, unless the new Madame is a prig," Theodora said restively. "She +may be worse than you are, Hope; but I doubt it. Never mind," she added +sagely to herself, as she left the room; "it is two weeks till then, and +there's plenty of chance for things to happen, before they get home." + + + + +CHAPTER TWO + + +Lying far at the side of the little suburban town, the McAlisters' +grounds were of a size and beauty which entitled them to be ranked as +one of the few so-called "places" that dominated the closely-built +streets of the town. The land ran all up and down hill, here coaxed into +a smooth-cropped lawn, there carpeted with the moss and partridge vines +which had been left to grow over the rocks in undisturbed possession. +Here and there, too, were outcrops of the rock, ragged, jutting ledges +full of the nooks and crannies which delight the souls of children from +one generation to another. The grounds had been, for the most part, left +as nature had made them, full of little curves and hillocks and dimples; +but the great glory of the place lay in its trees. No conventional elms +and maples were they, but the native trees of the forest, huge-bodied +chestnuts, tall, straight-limbed oaks, jagged hickories which blazed +bright gold in the autumn and shot back the sunlight from every leafy +twig, and an occasional cedar or two, from which came the name of the +place, The Savins. + +Less than a year after his first marriage, Dr. McAlister had bought the +place, going far out of the town for the purpose. At that time, he was +regarded as little short of a maniac, to prefer land on the ridge to the +smooth, conventional little lawns of the middle of the town, where one +house was so like another that the inhabitants might have followed the +example of the Mad Tea Party and moved up a place, without suffering any +inconvenience from the change. It was years before the townspeople +dropped the story of Mrs. McAlister's first attempt to choose a site for +the house, of her patiently sitting on top of the rail fence, while her +husband borrowed a hatchet and manfully whacked away at the underbrush, +to clear a path to admit her to her new domain. + +It was not till several years later that the house was built, and the +McAlisters actually took possession of their new home. Phebe was a baby +then, and the twins were so young that Theodora formed an abiding +impression that Indians were prone to lurk behind a certain trio of +great chestnut-trees at the far side of the grounds. The house was not +impressive. It stood on one of the three hills, and originally it had +been small, to match the income of the young doctor. Only a year later, +he had built on a new wing; and, from that time onward, the spirit of +reconstruction had entered into his soul. Hope was wont to describe the +house as a species of crazy patchwork, a patch for each year, and each +patch of a different style. From the outside point of view, the result +was not a success, and the large red house, low and rambling, had grown +beyond the limits of the hill and sprawled over the edge on a pile of +supporting piazzas and pillars. Inside, it was altogether delightful, +with odd windows and corners and lounging places, sunshine everywhere, +and the indescribable air of half-shabby, well-used cosiness which is so +dear to every one but the owners thereof. Strangers felt the charm as +soon as they crossed the threshold; the whole atmosphere of the place +was hospitable and unconventional and homelike. + +Taken all in all, it was an ideal spot for growing children, and the +young McAlisters had made the most of it. On rainy days, they adjourned +to the attic, where they bumped their heads against the low rafters of +the gables, or ventured on long, perilous expeditions upon the beams of +the unfloored extension over one of the wings. They were gifted with +good imaginations, these three older children, and this +carefully-trodden territory did service alternately as Africa, Fort +Ticonderoga, and a runaway locomotive. + +But that was only during stormy weather. The rest of the time they lived +out-of-doors, in winter coasting down the hills on sleds or on shingles, +according to the state of the crust; and in summer running riot among +the green things, like the very daisies which refused to be rooted out +of the lawn. A neighborhood had grown up around them; but they cared +little for other children. A wealth of imagination, and plenty of room +to let it work itself out had developed plays of long standing which +were as charming to them as they were incomprehensible to their young +neighbors. + +Then the change had come, and a cloud had fallen on the home. Baby Allyn +had been born, and on the same day the bright, happy young mother, boon +companion of her children in work and in play, had fallen asleep. The +shock had come so suddenly and unexpectedly that there had been no time +to plan for a reconstruction. Almost before they realized what had +occurred, they had settled back into their former routine, only with +Hope as the nominal, and old Susan, the American "help," as the actual, +head of things. In a larger community, such an arrangement would have +been out of the question; but Hope was a womanly child, and Susan had +been in the family for years, in a relation which unfortunately is fast +dying out. Accordingly, the doctor had been content to let the situation +go on from day to day, until the hour of his second marriage, two or +three years later. + +Back in a far corner of the grounds, close to the division fence towards +the garden of the long-unoccupied corner house, was an early apple-tree, +old and gnarly, which for years had been known as "Teddy's tree." No one +had ever been able to trace the beginning of her proprietorship in it; +but she had assumed it as her own and viewed with disfavor any +encroachments on the part of the others. It might have been a case of +squatter sovereignty; but it was a sovereignty which Theodora stoutly +maintained. Her scarlet hammock hung from the lower branches, and the +tree was full of comfortable crooks and crotches which she knew to the +least detail. Thither she was wont to retire to recover her lost temper, +to grieve over her girlish sorrows, to dream dreams of future glory, +and, often and often, to lie passive and watch the white clouds drift +this way and that in the great blue arch above her. No human being, not +even Hubert himself, could have told so much of Theodora's inner life as +this old apple-tree, if only the power of speech had been granted it. + +Three days later, Theodora was curled up in a fork of one of the topmost +branches of her tree. The apples were beginning to ripen, and she had +eaten until even her hearty young appetite was satisfied. Then she +crossed her feet, coiled one arm around the branch beside her, and fell +to planning, as she had so often done before, how she could fulfil her +two great ambitions, to go to college in the first place, and then to +become a famous author. It was always an absorbing subject and, losing +herself in it, she became totally oblivious of her surroundings. Nearly +an hour later, she was roused by the sound of approaching voices, and +she straightened herself and peered down through the branches. + +Just below her, on the other side of the fence, so close to it that it +had escaped her notice, was a light bamboo lounge, covered with a pile +of bright cushions. Across the garden, evidently towards it, came a +wheeled chair pushed by a sedate-looking person in green livery, and +occupied by a slight figure covered with a gay rug. Theodora gave a +little gasp of sheer delight. + +"It's the boy!" she exclaimed to herself. "Now is my chance to get a +look at him." + +Beside the lounge, the chair came to a halt, and the man, bending down, +lifted the boy from the chair. With pitiful eyes, Theodora noted the +limp helplessness of all the lower part of his body; but she also saw +that the boyish face was bright and manly, and that his blue eyes +flashed with a spirit equal to Hubert's own. She watched approvingly the +handy way in which the man settled the cushions. Then he turned to go +away. Half way across the garden, he was arrested by a call from the +lounge. + +"Hi, Patrick!" + +"Well, sir?" + +"Where's my book?" + +"What book?" + +"The one I was reading, the blue one." + +"I think you left it in the house." + +"But didn't I tell you to bring it along? Go and get it, and hurry up +about it." And a pillow flew after Patrick's retreating form with a +strength and an accuracy of aim which called forth an ill-suppressed +giggle from Theodora. + +Presently the man reappeared, book in hand, and the boy hailed him +jovially with an utter disregard of his passing ill-humor. Then the man +went away, and silence fell. The boy below was absorbed in his reading; +Theodora above in watching him and building up a detailed romance about +him, upon the slight foundation of her present impression. + +"I wonder what his name is," she said to herself. "I hope it's something +nice and interesting, like Valentine, or Geoffrey, or something." + +She had just reached the point in her romance where one of them, she was +not quite sure which, should rescue the other from a runaway horse, when +the boy suddenly called her back to the present by throwing his open +book on the ground, with a vigorous yawn. + +"Ha-um!" he remarked, and, turning his head slightly, he stared +aimlessly up into the tree above him. + +Theodora, high up among the branches, was screened from his view by the +light leafage, and the pale greenish tones of her cotton gown helped her +to escape notice. Accordingly, she bent forward and peeped through the +leaves, laughing to herself as she saw his eyes turned upward, quite +unconscious of her scrutiny. + +Yes, he was interesting, she told herself. He did not look in the least +like a pensive invalid as he lay there, and she nodded to herself in +girlish approval, as she took in every detail of his appearance. +Unfortunately that nod cost her her hiding-place. Without in the least +realizing it, she had leaned too far forward, and she slipped from her +perch. She saved herself by catching at a branch before her; but the +sudden jar sent a ripe apple crashing down through the leaves, and it +landed plump in one of the cushions, not two inches from the boy's head. + +"Oh, I say!" he exclaimed. + +[Illustration: THEODORA'S FACE, ROSY WITH BLUSHES, APPEARED IN THE +OPENING.] + +The words were addressed to empty space, merely as an expression of +surprise. The surprise was increased, as he saw the leaves pushed apart, +and Theodora's face, rosy with blushes, appear in the opening. + +"I'm so sorry! Did it hurt you?" + +"Not a bit. Besides, I was just getting hungry." + +As a proof of his statement, his teeth met in the apple. + +"Don't you want another?" Theodora inquired generously. + +"Thank you; not in that same way. You might aim better, next time." + +"Honestly, I didn't mean to do it. I slipped and jiggled it down. Wait a +minute, and I'll throw down some more, better ones." + +She scrambled about in the branches, tossing down the bright apples till +they lay thick on the ground about the lounge. The boy watched her, half +amused, half envious as he saw her lithe, agile motions. + +"You'll have to come down and pick them up now," he said composedly, +when the shower had ceased. "I can't reach them, you see." + +"Oh!" Theodora gave a little groan of annoyance. "How stupid I am!" + +"I don't see why. But come along down and talk to a fellow for a while." + +Glimpses of a rosy face, a pale green gown and a pair of tan-colored +shoes were beginning to whet his curiosity. He wanted to see what the +stranger was like, at shorter range. + +With a rustle and a slide and a bump, Theodora dropped lightly at his +side. She caught the placket of her skirt, on the way; but the sound of +rending garments was too common an occurrence in her career to call for +more than a passing attention. Strange to say, it had been much easier +to talk when she had been half-hidden in the apple-tree. A sudden +shyness came upon them both, as they looked in each other's eyes. There +was an interval of silence. Then Theodora dropped down on the turf by +the lounge, and held up a handful of apples. + +"Take one of these. They're ever so much better than the first one." + +"This is good enough, thank you." He took another from her outstretched +hand, however. "Do you usually inhabit trees like this? I didn't hear +you come." + +"I've been there all the morning," Theodora answered, while she told +herself that his bright blue eyes were almost as fine as Hubert's brown +ones. "That tree is my city of refuge. The others call it 'Teddy's +tree.'" + +"And you are--" he hesitated. + +She laughed, while she chose one of the apples that lay beside her, and +plunged her strong young teeth into it. + +"Yes, I'm Teddy," she said, with her mouth somewhat too full for +elegance. "My real name is Theodora," she added, speaking rather more +distinctly. + +"I think I like the other best," the boy replied, laughing in his turn. + +"I don't. Teddy is like a boy; but Theodora is stately and dignified. I +want to be called Theodora; but in a family like ours, there are bound +to be nicknames." + +"You aren't the only one, then?" + +"Mercy, no! There are five of us." + +"How jolly it must be! I'm the only one." The boy's tone was a bit +wishful. "Are they all like you?" + +"I hope not." Theodora's laugh rang out a second time, hearty and +infectious. "There are two good ones, and two bad ones, and a baby." + +"Which are you?" the boy asked mischievously. + +"What a question! I'm bad, of course, that is, in comparison with Hope. +She's the oldest, and we get worse as we go down the line. I shudder to +think what the baby may develop into." + +The boy nestled down contentedly among his cushions and watched her with +merry eyes. + +"Go on and tell about them," he urged. "It's such fun to hear about a +large family." + +Theodora's quick eye saw that one of the cushions was slipping to one +side. She replaced it with a deftness of touch natural to her, yet +seemingly incongruous with her harum-scarum ways. Then she settled +herself with her back against a tree, facing her new friend. + +"Hope is past seventeen and an angel," she said; "one of the good, quiet +kind with yellow hair and not any temper. She's had all the care of us, +since my mother died. Then there's Hubert, my twin brother. He's my boy, +and a splendid one. You'll like Hu. Phebe is ten, and a terror. Nobody +ever knows what she'll do or say next. We call her Babe, but Allyn is +the real baby. He's cunning and funny, except when Babe teases him, and +then he rages like a little monster. That's all there are of us." + +"And you live just over the fence?" + +"Yes, we've lived there always, grown up with the place. People used to +call it McAlister's Folly; but they're more respectful now." + +"McAlister?" + +"Yes. I'm Dr. McAlister's daughter. Didn't you know it?" + +"How should I? Remember, you came down out of a tree." + +They both laughed. + +"That's just like me," Theodora returned. "I never do the thing I ought. +Hu was coming over here in a few days; but Hope said I must wait to see +what papa said." + +"What for?" + +"Because you're a boy. She said girls don't go to see boys. I told her I +would wait, and here I am. I couldn't help it; but Hope will be +horrified. She never went to see a boy in her life; but then, she's used +to being horrified at me." Theodora appeared to be arguing out the +situation, much to her own frank amusement. + +"But don't you see it's different in this case?" the boy suggested. "I'm +only about half a boy, just now. Besides, Miss Teddy, if you'll only +come over again, I promise to make up for it, as soon as I'm able to go +to see you." + +Theodora's face brightened. + +"Do you honestly want me to come again?" + +"Of course. Else I shouldn't ask you. Come over the fence again. I shall +be up here, 'most every pleasant morning, and everybody else is busy, +fixing up the house. Come to-morrow," he urged. + +"I will, if I can. Sometimes I'm busy." + +"By the way," the boy added abruptly; "maybe I ought to tell you my +name. Probably you know it, though." + +"No." Theodora looked up expectantly. She had an appetite for +high-sounding names, and she had decided that Valentine Mortimer would +just suit the present instance. + +"Well, I'm Will Farrington; but everybody calls me Billy." + +"Oh." Then Theodora unexpectedly began to laugh. "We ought to be good +friends," she said; "for our names are about equally imposing. Billy and +Teddy! Could anything be more prosaic? Good-by," she added, as she rose. +"Truly, I must go home now." + +Billy held out his hand. It looked rather white and thin, as Theodora's +brown, strong fingers closed over it. + +"Good-by," he said reluctantly. "Do come again whenever you can. +Remember there are five of you and only one of me, and be as neighborly +as you can." + +Theodora mounted the fence. At the top, she paused and looked back. + +"I will come," she said. "I'll get round Hope in some way or other. +Good-by till to-morrow." She nodded brightly, and jumped down out of +sight, on the other side of the fence. + + + + +CHAPTER THREE + + +It was the first of September, and the sunshine lay yellow on the +fields. Phebe McAlister and her chief friend and crony, Isabel St. John, +sat side by side on a rough board fence, not far from the McAlister +grounds, feasting upon turnips. The turnips were unripe and raw, and +nothing but an innate spirit of perversity could have induced the girls +to eat them. Moreover, each had an abundant supply of exactly similar +vegetables in her own home garden, yet they had wandered away, to prey +upon the turnip patch of Mr. Elnathan Rogers. + +"Good, aren't they?" Phebe asked, as the corky, hard root cracked under +her jaws. + +"Fine." Isabel rolled her morsel under her tongue; then, when Phebe's +attention was distracted, she furtively threw it down back of the fence. +"I believe I like 'em better this way than I do cooked." This addition +was strictly true, for Isabel never touched turnips at home. + +"I want another." Phebe jumped down and helped herself to two more +turnips, carefully choosing the largest and best, and ruthlessly +sacrificing a half-dozen more in the process. "Here, Isabel, take your +pick." + +Isabel held out her hand, hesitated, then, with a radiant smile of +generosity, ostentatiously helped herself to the smaller. But Phebe held +firmly to its bunch of green leaves. + +"No, take the other, Isabel," she urged. + +"I'd rather leave it for you." + +"But I want you to have it." + +"And I want you to take it." + +"I've got ever so many more at home." + +"So've I." + +Reluctantly Phebe yielded her hold, and Isabel took the smaller one and +rubbed the earth away, before biting it. + +"It's not fair for me to take it, Phebe," she observed; "when you were +the one to get it." + +Phebe giggled. + +"Just s'pose Mr. Rogers should catch us here, Isabel St. John! What +would you do?" + +"I'd run," Isabel returned tersely. + +"I wouldn't; I'd tell him." + +Isabel stared at her friend in admiration. + +"Tell him what?" + +"Oh--things," Phebe answered, with sudden vagueness. "My papa and mamma +are coming home this afternoon." + +"Your stepmother," Isabel corrected. + +"Well, what's the difference?" + +"Lots." + +"What?" + +"Oh, stepmothers are always mean to you and abuse you." + +"How do you know? You haven't got any." + +"No; but I knew a girl that had." Isabel took advantage of Phebe's +interest in the subject, to slip the half-eaten turnip into her pocket. + +"What happened?" Phebe demanded. + +"Oh, everything. The stepmother used to take tucks in her dresses, and +whip her, and send her to bed, and even when there was company. And her +own mother used to stand by the bed and say,-- + + 'How is my baby and how is my fawn? + Once more will I come, and then vanish at dawn.'" + +Phebe turned around sharply. + +"What a fib! That's in a book of fairy stories, and you said you knew +the girl, Isabel St. John." + +"So I did. Her name was Eugenia Martha Smith." + +But Phebe refused to be convinced. + +"I don't believe one word of it, Isabel; and you needn't feel so smart, +even if you do have a mother of your own. I used to have; and I know my +stepmother will be nicer than your mother." + +"How do you know?" + +"She's prettier and she's younger. She gave me lots and lots of peaches, +too, and your mother wouldn't let us have a single one, so there now." + +"Do you know the reason why?" Isabel demanded, in hot indignation. + +"No, I don't, and I don't believe she does," Phebe answered recklessly. + +"She said, after you'd gone, that she'd have been willing to let you +have one, but you were so deceitful, you'd have taken a dozen, as soon +as her back was turned. Now what do you think?" + +Even between the friends, quarrels had been known to occur before now, +and one seemed imminent. An unexpected diversion intervened. + +"Little girls," a solemn voice sounded in their ears; "do you know you +are taking turnips that do not belong to you?" + +It was Mr. Elnathan Rogers. Isabel quaked, but Phebe faced him boldly. + +"Yes, sir." + +"But it is a sin to steal--" + +"A pin." Phebe unexpectedly capped his sentence for him. "These aren't +worth a pin, anyway, and I don't see the harm of hooking two or three." + +"But they are not your own," Mr. Rogers reiterated. He was more +accustomed to the phraseology of the prayer-meeting than of the public +school. + +"Ours aren't ripe yet," she answered, as she scrambled down from the +fence. "When they are, I'll bring some of them over, if you want them. +Yours aren't very good ones, either." + +Isabel also descended from the fence. As she did so, her skirt clung for +a moment, and the turnip rolled out from her pocket. Mr. Rogers eyed her +sternly. + +"Worse and worse," he said. "I would rather feel that you ate them here, +where temptation lurks, than that you carried them away to devour at +your ease. I shall surely have to speak to your parents, little girls. +Who are you?" + +Isabel looked to Phebe for support; but Phebe was far down the road, +running to meet her brother, who had just come in sight, with Mulvaney, +the old Irish setter, at his heels. + +"I--I'm Isabel St. John," she confessed. + +"Not the minister's girl?" + +She nodded. + +"Well, I swan!" And Mr. Rogers picked up his hoe, and fell to pondering +upon the problem of infant depravity, while Isabel turned and scuttled +after her friend. + +"What do you want, Hu?" Phebe was calling. + +"Hope says it's time for you to come home now, and get dressed." + +"Bother! I don't want to. Isabel and I are having fun." + +Hubert took her hand and turned it palm upward. + +"It must be a queer kind of fun, from the color of you," he observed. +"But come, Babe, Hope is waiting." + +Isabel had joined them and fallen into step at their side. + +"What a queer name Hope is!" she said critically, for she wished to +convince Phebe that she and all her family were under the ban of her +lasting displeasure. + +"It is only short for Hopestill, and it isn't any queerer name than +Isabel." + +"Hopestill! That's worse. Where did she ever get such a name?" + +But Hubert interposed. + +"It was mamma's name, Isabel; so we all like it. Let's not talk about it +any more." + +Towards noon of that day, Theodora, who had taken refuge in her tree, +heard Hope's voice calling her. Reluctantly she scrambled down from her +perch and presented herself. + +"There's so much to be done, Teddy," Hope said; "would you mind dusting +the parlor?" + +Theodora hated dusting. Her idea of that solemn household rite was to +stand in the middle of the room and flap a feather duster in all +directions. To-day, however, she took the cloth which Hope offered, +without pausing to argue over the need for its use. + +Once in the parlor, she moved slowly around the room, diligently wiping +the dust from exposed surfaces, without taking the trouble to move so +much as a vase. At the piano, she paused and looked up at her mother's +picture which hung there above it. It was a life-size crayon portrait, +copied from a photograph that had been taken only a few weeks before +Mrs. McAlister's death, and the sweet pictured face and the simple, +every-day gown were the face and gown which Theodora remembered so well. +The girl stood leaning on the piano, quite forgetful of the dusting, as +she stared up into the loving eyes above her, and, while she looked, two +great tears came into her eyes, and two more, and more yet. Then +Theodora suddenly bowed her head on her folded arms, and sobbed with the +intensity of such natures as hers. + +"Oh, Mamma McAlister," she cried; "come back to us! We do want you, and +we don't want her. Your Teddy is so lonely. I won't have that woman here +in your place. I won't! I won't!" + +She raised her head again to look at the smiling lips and the tender +eyes. Then abruptly she dragged forward a chair, climbed to the top of +the piano and took down the portrait which had hung there since the day +of its first entering the house. + +It was late, that afternoon, when the carriage stopped before the house, +and Dr. McAlister, with his bride on his arm, came up the walk. The +children were waiting to greet them, Phebe perched on the fence, Hope +on the steps with Allyn clinging to her hand, and the twins in the +doorway, while old Susan stood in the hall, ready to welcome her new +mistress. + +There was the little flurry of meeting, the swift buzz of talk. Then +Hope led the way into the great, airy parlor which she had not entered +before, that day. + +On the threshold, she paused, aghast. Directly facing her stood a large +easel which usually held a fine engraving of the Dolorosa. To-day, +however, the Dolorosa was displaced. It stood on the floor by the piano, +and in its place was the portrait of Hope's own mother, looking up to +greet the woman who had come to take her place in the home. Across the +corner of the frame lay a pile of white bride roses, tied with a heavy +purple ribbon. + +"Don't mind it, Jack," Mrs. McAlister said to her husband, as soon as +they were alone together. "I like the child's spirit. Leave it to me, +please. I think I can make friends with her before long." + +Theodora was standing before the mirror, that night, brush in hand, +while the wavy masses of her hair fell about her like a heavy cape. Her +eyes looked dull, and the corners of her mouth drooped dejectedly. She +started suddenly when an unexpected knock came at her door. + +"Come," she responded. + +The door swung open, and Mrs. McAlister stood on the threshold. In her +trailing blue wrapper with its little lace ruffles at the throat and +wrists, she looked younger than she had done in her travelling gown, and +the pure, deep color was not one bit deeper and purer than the color of +the eyes above it. + +"May I come in to say good-night?" she asked, pausing in the doorway, +for Theodora's face was slightly forbidding. + +"Of course." The girl drew forward a low willow chair. + +As she passed, Mrs. McAlister laid a caressing hand on the brown hair. + +"What a mass of it you have!" she said, seating herself and looking up +at her stepdaughter who stood before her, not knowing how to meet this +unexpected invasion. + +The remark seemed to call for no reply, and Theodora took up her brush +again. + +"Did you have a pleasant journey?" she asked, after a pause. + +"Very; but the home-coming was pleasantest of all. It was very sweet of +you all to be at the door to welcome me." + +"That was Hope's doing," Theodora said bluntly. "She told us we ought to +be there when you came." + +"It was good, whoever thought of it," Mrs. McAlister answered gently. +"Remember that it is years since I've known what it meant to come home." + +Theodora tossed aside her hair and turned to face her. + +"How do you mean?" she asked curiously. + +"My father and mother died when I was in college," her stepmother +replied. "There were only two of us left, my little brother and I, and +we never had a home, a real one, after that. I taught, and he was sent +away to school." + +"Where is he now?" + +"In Montana, a civil engineer. I find it hard to realize that my little +brother Archie is twenty-two, and a grown man." + +There was another pause. Then Mrs. McAlister suddenly drew a low +footstool to her side. + +"Theodora, child," she said; "sit down here and let me talk to you. You +seem so far off, standing there. Remember, I'm a stranger to you all, +and I want somebody to cuddle me a little, this first night." + +She had chanced to strike the right chord. Theodora never failed to +respond to an appeal to her sympathy and care. All enveloped in her +loosened hair, she dropped down at her stepmother's side. + +"You aren't homesick, I hope." + +"No; I couldn't be, with such a welcome home. But papa is down in the +office, and I needed somebody to talk to. I thought you'd understand, +dear. And then there were things I wanted to say to you." + +"What?" Theodora asked suspiciously. + +Mrs. McAlister rested her hand on the girl's shoulder. + +"About the flowers, for one thing. I know so well how you felt, +Theodora, when you put them there." + +"What do you mean?" Theodora faced her sharply. + +"My own mother died before I was seventeen, a year before my father did, +and I used to wake up in the night and cry, because I was so afraid he +would marry again." + +"But you married papa," Theodora said slowly. + +"I know I did. Since then, Theodora, I have come to see the other side +of it all. But I remember the way I used to feel about it; and I know +that you think I am an interloper here. Hope doesn't mind it so much, +nor Hubert; it is hardest of all for you." She paused and stroked the +brown hair again. + +Theodora sat silent, her eyes fixed on the floor. + +"I sha'n't mean to come between you and your father, Theodora," Mrs. +McAlister went on; "and I shall never expect to take your own mother's +place. And yet, in time I hope you can care for me a little, too." + +Suddenly the girl turned and laid her lithe young arm across her +stepmother's knee. + +"I think I can--in time," she said. "It takes me a good while to get +used to new things, some new things, that is, and I didn't want somebody +to come here and drive my own mother farther off. She was different from +everybody else, somehow. But your mother died, and you'll understand +about it." Her tone was quiet and dispassionate, yet, underneath, it +rang true, and Mrs. McAlister was satisfied. + +"Thank you, Teddy," she said gently. "Or would you rather I called you +Theodora?" + +"Theodora, please," the girl answered, flushing a little. "Teddy was my +baby name; but I'm not a baby any longer. The others have called me +Teddy so long that I can't break them of the habit; but I don't like the +name." + +"It suits you, though," Mrs. McAlister said, smiling as her eyes rested +on the intent young face beside her. "But I'll try to remember. And now +I wish you'd tell me a little about the younger ones, Phebe and Allyn. +Your father told me that Hope was the housekeeper, but that, in some +ways, you were the real mother of them all." + +Theodora's face lighted, and she laughed. + +"Did he truly say that? Hope has the real care of them, and she never +fights with them, as I do." + +There was an amusing, off-hand directness in Theodora's tone which +pleased her stepmother. Already she felt more at home and on cordial +terms with the outspoken girl than with the gentle, courteous Hope; yet +she realized that her own course was by no means open before her, that +it would be long before Theodora would accept her sway in the home. It +would be necessary to proceed slowly, but firmly. Little Allyn and +fractious Phebe would be less difficult for her to manage than their +older sister. She lingered for half an hour longer, talking with +Theodora until she heard Dr. McAlister's step upon the stairs; and when +at last she left the room, Theodora's good-night sounded quite as +cordial as her own. + + + + +CHAPTER FOUR + + +"I wish I could have all my wishes granted," Theodora said. + +She was sitting in her favorite position on the grass beside Billy's +lounge, with her elbows on her knees and her chin in her clasped hands. +Billy, propped up among his cushions, smiled back at her benignly. + +"You'd be most awfully disagreeable to live with," he returned. + +"Thank you for the compliment. I'd like to run the risk, though." + +"Let me move out of town first," the boy replied teasingly. "But you +needn't be greedy; I'd be satisfied to have one wish." + +"That's because you don't need so many things as I do." + +"It's because I have one thing I want so much more than I do the +others," he retorted. + +She looked up at him with a sudden flash of tenderness in her eyes. + +"I know," she said gently; "but it won't be long." + +"Months, though. How would you like it to take a year out of your life?" + +Theodora's brows contracted. + +"Don't you suppose I ever think about it, Billy Farrington? I should be +frantic, if I were in your place, and I don't see how you ever stand it. +It makes my wishes seem so small, in comparison. I'd rather be poorer +than Job's turkey than spend even one month on my back. Does it hurt; or +is it just that you can't do things? Either one is bad enough." + +"It hurts sometimes." + +"Now?" + +He nodded. + +"I thought you looked tired, as if something bothered you," Theodora +said penitently; "and here I've stayed talking to you, when you'd rather +have been by yourself." + +"Honestly, no. You make me forget things." He held out his hand in +protest, as she started to rise. "Sit down again." + +She obeyed him; but she fell silent, as she sat looking up at him. He +had more color than usual, she noticed; but there were fine lines +between his brows, and his red-gold hair was pushed back from his face, +as if its weight irritated him. + +"But what are the wishes?" he asked, restive under her scrutiny, and +seeking to divert her. + +"Oh, I have dozens and dozens; but there are three great big ones which +increase in greatness as they go on." + +"What are they?" he asked curiously. "You'll get them, if you wait long +enough. People always do." + +"I don't believe it. These are all impossible, and I never expect to get +them; but I want them, all the same. I want--" She hesitated, laughing +and blushing a little. "You'll make fun of me." + +"No, I won't. Go on and tell." + +"I want a bicycle first. Then I want to go to college." She hesitated +again and stuck fast. + +"And then?" + +She raised her head and spoke rapidly. + +"Don't laugh; but I want some day to be an author and write books." + +She started abruptly, for a white hand suddenly rested on her shoulder. + +"Bravo, Miss Teddy!--for it is Miss Teddy; isn't it? Will has told me +about you and I'm glad to get a glimpse of you at last. Your wishes are +good ones, all of them, and I hope you will get them, and get them +soon." + +As she spoke, Mrs. Farrington moved across and seated herself on the +edge of the lounge. + +"How is the pain, Will?" she asked, bending over to settle him more +comfortably. "I was sorry to leave you so long; but you were in good +hands. Miss Teddy, this boy of mine says that you have been very good to +him, since we came here." + +Theodora flushed a little. It was the first time she had been face to +face with Mrs. Farrington, and she found the slender figure in its +unrelieved black gown rather awe-inspiring. She began to wish that she +had taken Hope's advice and remained upon her own side of the fence. +During the past ten days, her neighborly calls had been frequent; but +she had always before now succeeded in making her escape before any one +else appeared. Hubert, in the meantime, had dutifully called on his new +neighbor; but he had called decorously and by way of the front gate, at +a time when Billy was out with his mother for their daily drive, so Mrs. +Farrington had caught no glimpse of their young neighbors who had it in +their power to make such a difference in her son's life. She had been +amused and interested in Billy's account of Theodora's erratic calls, +and she had felt an instant liking for the bright-faced, straightforward +young girl who was as free from self-consciousness as Billy himself. + +"When is your father coming back?" she asked, after a pause, during +which she became conscious of Theodora's searching scrutiny. + +"Day after to-morrow, I think. We had a letter from him, this morning." + +"I am so glad," Mrs. Farrington said. "I want him to see Will as soon as +he comes. Dr. Parker spoke so highly of him that I feel it is everything +for us to be so near him as we are." + +Theodora's color came. She was intensely loyal to her father, and praise +of him was sweet to her ears. + +"People say that papa is a good doctor," she replied frankly. "I hope +he'll be able to help Billy. Anyway, we're all so glad to have somebody +living here again. It's ages since the house has been occupied." + +Mrs. Farrington smiled. + +"I should judge so from the general air of mustiness I find. I rejoice +in all this bright, warm weather, so Will can live out of doors. The +house feels fairly clammy, and I don't like to have him in it, more than +I can help. I hope you are going to be very neighborly, all of you, this +coming winter." + +Theodora laughed. + +"All five of us? Remember, you aren't used to such a horde, and we may +overrun you entirely. You'd better arrange to take us on the instalment +plan." + +"We're not timid," Billy asserted. "Really, I think we can stand it, +Miss Teddy." + +Theodora shook her head. + +"You've not seen Babe yet, and you little realize what she is. In fact, +you've hardly seen any of us. I want you to know Hope. You'll adore her; +boys always do." + +"In the meantime," Mrs. Farrington interposed; "I want to know something +about--" she paused for the right word,--"about your new mother. Some +one told me she was at Vassar. That is my college, you know. What was +her maiden name?" + +"Holden. Elizabeth Holden." + +"Bess Holden!" Mrs. Farrington started up excitedly. "I wonder if it can +be Bess. What does she look like?" + +"I've only seen her once." + +"Was she tall and dark, with great blue eyes?" + +"Yes, I think so, and I remember that her eyebrows weren't just alike; +one was bent more than the other." + +"It must be Bess." Mrs. Farrington rose and moved to and fro across the +lawn. Theodora watched her admiringly, noticing her firm, free step and +the faultless lines of her tailor-made gown. She felt suddenly young and +crude and rather shabby. Then Mrs. Farrington paused beside her. "If it +is Bess Holden, Miss Teddy, your father is a happy man, and I am a happy +woman to have stumbled into this neighborhood. She was the baby of our +class, and one of the finest girls in it. When she comes, ask her--No, +don't ask her anything. It is eighteen years since we met, and I want to +see if she'll remember me. Don't tell her anything about me, please." + +A week later, the McAlisters were sitting under one of the trees on the +hill, a little away from the house. It was a bright golden day, and +Theodora had lured them outside, directly after dinner. The doctor had +been called away; but the others had strolled across the lawn and up the +hill as far as a great bed of green and gray moss, where they had +thrown themselves down under one of the great chestnut-trees. At their +right, an aged birch drooped nearly to the earth; behind them, a pile of +lichen-covered rocks cropped out from the moss, against which the twins +were resting in an indiscriminate pile. To Mrs. McAlister's mind, there +was something indescribably pleasant in this simple holiday-making, and +she gave herself up as unreservedly to the passing hour as did the young +people around her. + +All at once, Theodora pinched Hubert's arm, and laid her finger on her +lip. Her quick ear had caught the familiar sound of Billy's wheeled +chair, and, a moment later, Mrs. Farrington came in sight over the low +crest of the hill, followed by Patrick, whose face was flushed with the +exertion of pushing the chair along the pathless turf. + +Absorbed in listening to Hope, Mrs. McAlister heard no sound until Mrs. +Farrington paused just behind her. Then she rose abruptly, and turned to +face her unexpected guests. + +"This is rather an invasion," Mrs. Farrington was saying, with a little +air of apology; "but the maid said you were all out here, and she told +me to come in search of you." + +For an instant, Mrs. McAlister gazed at her guest, at the slender figure +and the small oval face crowned with its masses of red-gold hair. Then, +to the surprise of every one but Theodora, she gave a joyous outcry,-- + +"Jessie Everett!" + +"Bess!" + +Side by side on the moss, a little apart from the others, the two women +dropped down and talked incoherently and rapidly, with an +interjectional, fragmentary eagerness, trying to tell in detail the +story of eighteen years in as many minutes, breaking off, again and +again, to exclaim at the strangeness of the chance which had once more +brought them together. On one side, the tale was the monotonous record +of the successful teacher; on the other was the story of the brilliant +marriage, the years of happiness, of seeing the best of life, and the +swift tragedy of six months before, which had taken away the husband and +left the only son a physical wreck. The years had swept the two friends +far apart; their desultory correspondence had dropped; and in this one +afternoon of their first meeting, they could only sketch in the bare +outlines, and leave time to do the rest. + +"And this is my only child," Mrs. Farrington said at last. "You have so +many now, Bess, be generous with them, and let Will have as much good of +them as he can. Your Teddy has been very kind to him already." + +"Teddy?" + +"Yes, Theodora as she calls herself. She has been making neighborly +calls by way of the fence, and she and Will are excellent friends +already. What an unusual girl she is!" + +There came a little look of perplexity in Mrs. McAlister's eyes. + +"Yes; and yet I find her the hardest one of them all to get at. The fact +is, Jessie, I have two or three problems to deal with, and Theodora is +not the least of them. Hope and Hubert are conventional enough, and +Phebe is openly fractious; but Theodora is more complex. She's the most +interesting one to me, but she is decidedly elusive." + +"I wish she were mine," Mrs. Farrington said enviously. "I have so +longed for a daughter, and she would be so good for Will. He doesn't +know anybody here, and he is so handicapped that he can't get acquainted +easily. I know he gets horribly tired of me. Women aren't good for boys, +either; and now that he is so pitifully helpless, I have to watch +myself all the time not to coddle him to death. I hate a prig; you know +I always did, Bess, and I am in terror of turning my boy into one. I +shall borrow your Teddy, as often as I can, for she is the healthiest +companion that he can have." + +Billy, meanwhile, had promptly been made to feel at home among the young +people. With Theodora to act as mistress of ceremonies and introduce +him, it had been impossible for him to feel himself long a stranger. +Patrick had retired to a distant seat, and the McAlisters settled +themselves in a group around the chair, Theodora close at his side with +her hand resting on the wheel, as if to mark her proprietorship. She was +quick to see that both Hope and Hubert approved of Billy, and she felt a +certain pride in him, as being her discovery. Even Hubert's prejudice +against the crippled back and the wheeled chair appeared to have +vanished at the sight of the alert face and the sound of the gay laugh. +Billy was in one of his most jovial moods, and Theodora knew well enough +that at such times he was wellnigh irresistible. + +Phebe, awed to silence by the chair and the cushions, eyed the guest in +meditative curiosity; but Allyn was not so easily satisfied. From his +seat in Hope's lap, he lifted up his piping little voice. + +"What for you ride in a baby caej?" + +No one heeded him, and he reiterated his query, this time accompanying +it with an explanatory forefinger. + +"What for you ride in a baby caej?" + +"Hush, Allyn," Hope whispered. + +"Yes; but what for?" Allyn persisted. "Why doesn't you get up and say, +'Pretty well, fank you'?" + +Billy flushed and felt a momentary desire to hurl one of his cushions at +the child. For the most part, he was not sensitive about his temporary +helplessness; yet among all these strangers who had never seen him in +his strength, he was uncomfortably conscious of the difference between +himself and Hubert. + +Theodora saw the heightened color in his cheeks. Without a word, she +rose, picked up Allyn in her arms and bore him away to the house, +sternly regardless of the protesting shrieks which floated out behind +her. She was absent for some time. When she came back, it was to find +that Hope had moved into her old place, and that there was no room for +her beside the chair. Billy was talking eagerly to Hope, whose pretty, +gentle face was raised towards him. Theodora felt a momentary pleasure +in her pretty sister; but this was followed by an acute pang of jealousy +to find herself quite unnoticed. For an instant, she hesitated; then she +settled herself slightly at one side and back of the chair, in a +position where she could be addressed only with an effort. + +A little later, Billy turned and called her by name. She was sitting in +moody silence, her elbows on her knees, her chin in her hands. + +"What?" she asked indifferently. + +"Come over here, Teddy," Hope said. + +"Thank you, I like it better here." + +There was a crushing finality in her tone. For a moment, Billy's eyes +met those of Hope, and his lips curled into a smile. It was only for an +instant; but Theodora saw the glance, and it kindled all her smouldering +jealousy of her sister. For two weeks she had been giving all her odd +moments to her new neighbor, and now, because Hope was pretty and dainty +and quiet and all things that she was not, Billy had promptly turned his +back on her and devoted himself to Hope. In her passing vexation, she +quite forgot to take into account that she herself, not Billy, had been +the movable quantity, and that the time she had given him had been hours +of keen enjoyment to herself. Theodora was no saint. She was humanly +tempestuous, superhumanly jealous. She could love her friends to +distraction; she could give her time and strength and thought to them +unreservedly; but in return she demanded a soleness of affection which +should match her own. + +"Where are you going, Ted?" Hubert called after her. + +"Into the house." + +"What for?" + +"Because I want to. Besides, I must see to Allyn." + +"Coming back?" + +She turned her head and looked back. Billy was watching her curiously. + +"No; not now." + +Two hours later, she was searching her brain for an excuse for going +over to the Farringtons'. She felt an imperative need to see Billy +before bedtime, to assure herself that they were to meet on the old +terms. No excuse came into her mind, however; and she passed a restless +evening and a sleepless night. + + + + +CHAPTER FIVE + + +"H'sh!" Phebe said peremptorily. + +Isabel giggled again, a little ostentatiously, and covered her mouth +with the palm of her hand. + +"H'sh!" Phebe whispered. "She'll hear you, Isabel St. John. Wait till +she is hearing the first geography, and then we'll do it." + +It was at that hour of the afternoon when even the most industrious of +grammar-school pupils feels his zeal for learning grow less with every +tick of the clock. Isabel and Phebe, however, were never remarkable for +their zeal. In fact, their teachers had never been able to decide +whether they were more bright or more lazy. Both characteristics were so +well developed that the hours they spent in the schoolroom were chiefly +devoted to exploits of a most unscholastic nature. + +The schoolroom of Number Nine, Union School, was much like all other +schoolrooms, save in two essential particulars. The building was old and +was heated with stoves, which necessitated the use of two huge zinc +screens to keep the direct heat from the pupils near by; and the room +boasted, aside from the usual ranks of desks, one extra double desk +placed with its back against the window at the side of the room, and in +close proximity to the stoves and the sheltering screens. Two months +before, when promotion of classes had brought Phebe and Isabel to the +room, their quick eyes had taken in the inherent advantages of this +position. + +"Please, Miss Hulburt, may we sit here?" Phebe had asked. + +"What makes you choose that place?" Miss Hulburt had inquired. + +"Because the light is so good," Isabel had replied ingenuously. + +And Phebe had added,-- + +"And then, you know, we shall be away from the others, so we sha'n't be +able to whisper. Truly, Miss Hulburt, we've turned over a new leaf." + +Phebe neglected to state in which direction the leaf had been turned. +Miss Hulburt had eyed her distrustfully; then she had granted the favor. +Three days later, she had regretted her concession. + +The seat was so near the front corner of the room that the +schoolmistress was obliged to turn her head to see the children. She was +a bloodless, thin-necked, lackadaisical young person, in little-eyed +spectacles, who, in her youth, had been compared to a drooping lily. +From that time onward, she had given all her thought to the cultivation +of slow, graceful, lily-like motions, until it had become second nature +for her to ogle and smirk and roll her head gently this way and that. It +had not only rendered her intolerable to the unprejudiced observer, but +it had made her physically incapable of turning about quickly enough to +catch the culprits in the corner. Every disturbance in the room, and +they were not few nor slight, appeared to come from the one source; yet +by the time Miss Hulburt could focus her little spectacles upon them, +Phebe and Isabel were swaying to and fro and whispering their lessons to +themselves with an intentness which was almost religious. + +It was one of the warm, bright days of late October, and the children +had insisted on opening the window behind them, not so much for the sake +of the clear, soft air as for the furtherance of their nefarious +schemes. In the lap of each child lay a tiny china doll, a long string, +and a box of what, at first sight, appeared to be parti-colored rags. A +closer inspection, however, showed that the rags were all round and +pierced with three holes, one in the middle, the others slightly to one +side. + +When the first geography lesson was called, the girls propped their open +books before them, and abandoned themselves to the task in hand. +Selecting a circle of cloth from the box, each one of them proceeded to +clothe her doll by the simple process of thrusting the head and arms +through the holes and tying a string about the waist. Isabel's doll was +a negro and was decked in scarlet. Phebe's was of Caucasian extraction, +and preferred blue. The dolls were robed and the long strings were made +fast to their necks. Stealthily and slowly the girls poked them through +the crack of the open window and let them down, swinging them back and +forth until they heard them click against the window of the room below. +Then they jerked the strings sharply upward, and Isabel giggled again. +Phebe coughed to smother the sound, and then gave her friend a warning +pinch. + +Miss Hulburt was turning in their direction. Instantly Phebe raised her +hand, shaking it slightly and clearing her throat to attract attention. + +"Well? What is it, Phebe?" + +"Please, how do you pronounce p-h-t-h-i-s-i-c?" + +"Phthisic. Where do you find anything about it, Phebe?" Miss Hulburt +felt that she was developing in craftiness. + +"In my--geography." + +Miss Hulburt's smile showed that she believed she had caught the young +sinner napping. + +"But my book doesn't have any such word." + +Isabel raised her hand in support of her friend. + +"If you please, Miss Hulburt, we're reading in the back part, about the +South Sea Islands. It says it's very common there." + +"Phebe," Isabel whispered, a little later; "what is it?" + +"What's what?" + +"P-h-t-h-You know." + +"I d' know, something to eat, I guess. We had it in spelling, last term, +and I happened to think of it. Oh, Isabel!" For the door opened, and the +teacher of the room below came into the room. + +An hour later, Hubert and Theodora sat on the edge of the piazza, +discussing a coming entertainment to be given by the pupils of the high +school. The piazza came to the side of the driveway, and now they curled +up their toes to allow the doctor to pass them, driving his new and +favorite horse, Vigil. + +"What a beauty she is!" Hubert said, as the carriage passed them. + +"Isn't she? I'm dying to ride her." + +"Better not," Hubert cautioned her. "She wouldn't stand the things old +Prince does, and you wouldn't have any show at all, if you tried to +manage her." + +"I don't believe it," Theodora returned. "Papa said I was a good +horsewoman, and I mean to try Vigil, some day. 'Tisn't strength that +counts with a horse, anyway; it's gumption." + +"What'll you take for the word?" Hubert asked lazily. He was lounging in +the sun with his hands in his pockets and his back against a pillar, and +he felt too comfortable to be inclined for a discussion. + +"The word's all right." Theodora tossed her book into a chair behind +her. "It means exactly what I want. It isn't common sense, nor +knowledge, nor reasonableness; it's just gumption and nothing else. +It's what Miss Hulburt hasn't," she added, as she glanced up the street. +"Here she comes, Hu. How we used to hate her, when we were in her room! +Why, she's stopped papa, and he's coming back with her. Babe must be in +some fresh scrape." + +Hubert rose hastily. + +"That settles it. If she's coming here, I'm off." + +"Where going?" + +"I don't know. Over to the Farringtons', maybe, or else to the library." + +"Teddy," the doctor called; "I wish you'd come and see to Vigil. I +haven't any halter, and I sha'n't be long. Miss Hulburt wants to see me +about Phebe. Just let the reins lie loose on her back, and she'll be all +right." + +"On Miss Hulburt's back?" Theodora questioned, with a giggle. + +The doctor laughed, as he stepped out of the low, open buggy, handed the +lines to his daughter, and turned to speak to the teacher who stood +simpering at his side. + +Within ten minutes, Theodora was heartily tired of her position as +amateur groom. Miss Hulburt, always garrulously confidential, was +pouring into the doctor's impatient ears all her theory of Phebe's +temper and training. She was absorbed in her subject, but to the others +the time crept heavily by. Allyn came around the corner of the house, +and Theodora hailed him. + +"Come, Allyn; want to come and play go to ride with sister?" + +With childish clumsiness Allyn clambered into the buggy. For a time, he +was content to jounce rapturously on the cushion and snap the buckle of +the reins. Then he too wearied for change. + +"Make the horsey go, Teddy," he demanded. + +"Oh, no, Allyn; sister mustn't. We must wait for papa." + +"Make him go," Allyn persisted. + +Theodora hesitated. Like the immortal Toddie, Allyn's strength lay in +his power of endless iteration. She foresaw a coming crisis in his +temper, and, moreover, his wishes coincided with her own to a remarkable +degree. Vigil was becoming uneasy, and a belated gadfly was making +continued attacks upon her sensitive skin. Why not drive down the street +and around the block, and shake off the annoying guest? + +"Will you sit quite still, Allyn, if sister will drive just a little, +little way?" + +Allyn smiled rapturously. + +"Ess," he hissed. + +Theodora gave a hasty glance at the house, as she tightened the lines. + +"I know he'd think it was the best thing to do," she argued with her +conscience. "Vigil is so uneasy she wouldn't stand much longer, and this +will quiet her down. Besides, I've always been used to driving." + +The gadfly went too. Vigil was fretted by standing, and she quickened +her pace. Before she quite realized the change, Theodora was being +whirled down the street at a round trot. + +"Whoa!" she urged. "Whoa, Vigil! Sh-h-h!" + +But Vigil refused to _sh-h-h_. She felt an unfamiliar hand on the lines, +and her sensitive mouth assured her that the hand was shaking a little. +Accordingly, she dropped her ears back, gave an odd little kick with her +hind legs, and swung round a corner with the carriage on two wheels +behind her. + +"Allyn," Theodora said, when they had gone around another corner in the +same uncertain fashion; "now you must mind sister and do just what she +says." The girl's face was white to the lips; but her voice was steady +and brave. "Climb over the back of the seat, lie down flat in the bottom +of the carriage, and then roll out on the ground." + +"I don't want to," whined the child. "I wants to ride." + +"But you must, or sister won't take you again. You may be thrown out and +hurt, if you don't mind sister." + +"It hurts to roll out," he argued. + +"No; not a bit." Theodora felt herself a heartless liar; but she had +lost all control of Vigil, and she knew that this was the best chance of +safety for her baby brother. "Now hold on tight. I don't believe you can +climb over." + +All the boy nature inherent in Allyn responded to the challenge. Lithe +as a little monkey, he scrambled over the seat, lay down and took the +fateful roll. Vigil shied, just then, and Allyn landed in a ball, in a +bed of burdocks. His wails followed the flying horse; but they were +wails of temper, more than of physical injury, and Theodora's main +anxiety was relieved. + +[Illustration: THEODORA WENT FLYING ACROSS THE ROAD.] + +Two blocks farther down the street, the buggy collided with a hay wagon. +There was a crash, the horse broke free, and Theodora went flying +across the road, landing in an indiscriminate, dusty pile just in front +of the Farringtons' carriage. + +That evening, the doctor came into the library, where his wife sat alone +in the fire-light. He looked tired and worried, as he threw himself down +into an easy chair. His wife came forward to his side. + +"You poor old boy!" she said tenderly, as she stroked his hair. + +He smiled wearily. + +"I wouldn't have had it happen for any amount of money, Bess," he said, +as he reached up and took her hand. "It's smashed the buggy, and +demoralized my favorite horse, and bumped Allyn, and given us all a +scare." + +"How is Theodora?" + +"Badly frightened and very meek. Her bruises don't count; but I don't +think she'll do it again. I gave her a plain talk, while I was looking +over her wounds, and I think she knows I mean what I say. It is a +miracle that both children weren't killed; but Allyn is all right now, +and Teddy will be, in a day or two. She will be rather stiff, to-morrow, +but I'm not sure that I'm sorry." + +"Poor Teddy!" his wife said, laughing. + +"Poor me!" he answered. "And poor you! You will think I have brought you +into an undisciplined horde of savages, Bess. I feel like Job, myself, +for one thing follows another. I shouldn't have left the horse with +Teddy, in the first place, if Miss Hulburt hadn't come to me with a tale +of woe about Phebe." + +"What about Phebe?" In spite of herself, Mrs. McAlister laughed. + +"Some school scrape or other. Phebe is naughty as she can be, and, worst +of all, she is sly. That's not like Teddy. Ted hasn't a dishonorable +pore in her skin. She is headstrong and impetuous; but when she has done +wrong, she comes forward and tells the whole story and takes the +consequences. She has made me more trouble, one time and another, than +all the rest of them put together, and yet--" he hesitated, then he went +on; "and yet, I honestly think she's the flower of the flock." + +"A climbing rose, not a violet," Mrs. McAlister suggested. + +"A snapdragon, if you will. She has character and force and brains +enough for a dozen; and if we can provide a safe outlet for her extra +vitality, I think she will make us proud of her yet." + +"You're right, Jack," Mrs. McAlister answered heartily. "The girl has +splendid possibilities. As you say, she only needs some sort of an +outlet for her energy. She's a motherly, womanish child, too, as much so +as Hope, in her way. She's got to have something to love, and to fuss +over, and to fight for. I sometimes think that Will Farrington may +supply a certain something that she needs." + +The doctor rose and stood on the rug, facing his wife. Little by little, +his face had lost its anxiety and now, at her last words, he laughed +jovially. + +"Will Farrington! Then Heaven help him, Bess! 'Twill be six months at +least before the boy can walk to amount to anything, and helpless as he +is and energetic as Teddy is, she'll be sure to break his neck. If she +is going to devote herself to Will Farrington, I'll send for Dr. Parker +and a cord or two of extra splints." + + + + +CHAPTER SIX + + +"But where are you going, Hu?" + +"What?" + +"Where are you going?" + +Hubert crooked his hand at the back of his ear. + +"Speak a little louder, please. I'm deef." + +Phebe flew at him and caught his arm. + +"Hubert McAlister, tell me where you are going." + +"Oh, is that what you said?" + +"You knew it perfectly well. Where are you going to?" + +"Over to Billy's." + +"Then I'm going, too." + +"No, you aren't." + +"But I will. Why not?" + +"Because I don't want you. You're so noisy you tire Billy." + +"No, I don't. Boys don't get tired so easy. Besides, he asked me to +come." + +He shook himself free from her hands. She ran around him and danced down +the walk before him, laughing like a mocking elf. All at once, she found +herself in Hubert's strong arms. + +"Now, Babe, you must go back. I don't want you." + +"What can I do?" she whined. "Everybody's gone. Mamma has gone to ride +with Mrs. Farrington, Hope's away, Teddy's away, and you're going." + +"But mamma told you to stay and play with Allyn." + +"I don't like Allyn. I want to go with you." + +"You can't." + +"I will." + +She struggled to free herself. Hubert was tall and strong for his years, +so that his sister was powerless in his grasp. He stood for a moment, +holding her, while he pondered what to do; then a sudden amused light +came into his eyes. Turning, he went away to the barn where, still +holding Phebe with one hand, with the other he rolled an empty barrel +into the middle of the floor and brought out a bushel basket. Then, +before his astonished sister could fathom his intention or rebel, he +had popped her into the barrel, covered her with the basket which made +a firm, close lid, and walked away to the Farringtons' house. + +It was the last of the golden Indian summer, and cold weather was at +hand. By this time, the two households were living on a most informal, +friendly basis. Mrs. Farrington and Mrs. McAlister had dropped back into +the old intimacy of their college days, and the young McAlisters were +fast finding out that a boy was a boy, in spite of a crippled back and a +wheeled chair. Hubert and Billy were good friends, and Hope treated the +invalid with a gentle, serious kindness which won his heart as surely as +her dainty beauty appealed to his eyes. And yet, after all, it was Teddy +for whom he cared the most, Teddy who coddled him and squabbled with him +and ordered him about by turns. For the sake of her bright, breezy +companionship, of her original, ungirl-like way of looking at things, he +endured the ordering and the coddling, and, in spite of the halo of +sanctity which should have surrounded his semi-invalidism, it must be +confessed that he bore out his own part in the squabbles. + +Even the coddling, as time went on, came to be rather enjoyable. There +was nothing sentimental about it; it was only the natural result of the +strong instinct of motherhood which belongs to such natures as +Theodora's. Moreover, there were days and days when the old pain came +back to Billy and racked him until he was too weak for the wheeled +chair, and he could only lie on the sofa and endure the passing hours as +best he might. In those days, Theodora never failed him. She learned to +know the flush of his cheeks, the glitter in his eyes, and her brisk +step grew gentle, her clear, glad voice grew low. Strange to say, it was +on those days that Billy wanted her. He seemed to gain rest from her +exuberant strength; and Hope he regarded as the pleasant companion for +his better days, when he could laugh and talk with her, and treat her +with the chivalry which her delicate prettiness appeared to him to +demand. It mattered less about Theodora, he told himself. She was only +another fellow, and she could be treated accordingly. + +Hubert had made his call upon Billy and departed again, and Phebe had +freed herself by tipping over the barrel, turning herself about, and +kicking away the basket; and still Theodora sat in the Farringtons' cosy +library, beside the open fire. Billy delighted in reading aloud, and he +had been reading to her for an hour, while she sat dreamily watching the +fire. Then he dropped the book face downward on his knee, and little by +little their desultory conversation stopped. All at once, Theodora +started up. + +"Oh, dear, I forgot. I told papa I'd do an errand for him, and I must +go." + +Billy yawned. + +"Wish I could go, too." + +She looked at him suddenly. + +"Why don't you?" + +"As how?" + +"In your chair, of course. You needn't think you can walk yet, even if +papa does say you are gaining, every day." + +"Really, do you want me to go, too?" + +"Of course. Shall I call Patrick to bring the chair?" + +"I've my whistle, you know." He played with it irresolutely. "Are you +sure I won't be in the way?" + +"What nonsense!" + +She stood leaning on the mantel while Patrick made ready the chair. +Then, moved by some sudden sense of delicacy, she busied herself with +her own wraps when the man bent down and lifted his young master in his +strong arms. Since the first day of their meeting, she had never seen +Billy moved, and she was struck more keenly than at first with the +contrast between the utter limpness of his lower limbs and the bright +activity of the rest of the boy. For an instant, her heart gave a quick +thump, half of pity, half of loyalty and protecting affection. Then she +laid her hands on the bar of Billy's chair. + +"That's all, Patrick," she said, nodding up at the tall man beside her. + +Patrick surveyed her approvingly. He was critical by nature, and his +smiles were rare; but he liked Theodora for her kindness to his young +master, and he unbent something of his majesty before her, rather to the +surprise of Mrs. Farrington, who was quite accustomed to seeing her +guests quail before the glance of her serving-man. + +"Sha'n't I be going with you, Miss Theodora?" he asked. + +"Of course. What do you suppose I am going to do without you?" Billy +answered. + +But Theodora interposed. + +"You needn't come, Patrick. I am going to take Mr. Will, myself." + +"Oh, I say, Teddy!" Billy straightened up in his chair. + +"That's all right," she said gayly, as she pushed the chair away from +the steps. "Let me do it, Billy; it's much nicer to go by ourselves +without any Patrick, and I promise not to upset you." + +"But you oughtn't to do it; 'tisn't the sort of thing a girl ought to +do," he urged. "Truly, Teddy, I don't feel as if I could stand it, +somehow." + +Looking into his eyes, as he turned to face her, Theodora read his +sensitive reluctance to receive a service of this kind from a girl, and +a friend of but a few weeks' standing. She let go the handle of his +chair and came forward to his side, where she bent over him, under the +pretext of settling one of the cushions which had slipped aside. + +"I wish you'd let me do it for you, Billy," she said, looking honestly +down into his appealing eyes. "I know girls don't usually do this sort +of thing for boys; but it isn't for always, you know, and there isn't +much that I can do for you. If we're going to be real, true friends, you +oughtn't to mind it a bit. You'd do ten times as much for me. Please say +I can take you out often, till you are so you can run away from me. You +know you'd rather go with me than with Patrick." And she looked down at +him with a merry frankness which took away the last shade of +sensitiveness which Billy was ever to know in her company. + +It was the first of many similar expeditions. The chair was so light, +and Theodora was so strong for her years, that it never tired her, while +Billy soon discovered that "a walk" with Theodora was quite another +thing from the dull and decorous outings when Patrick tooled him along +through the town, in a solemnly respectful silence. With Teddy's hand on +the bar of his chair and Teddy's chatter in his ears, in a week he +learned more of the town than he had done in the past three months, and +he came home, hungry and eager as a boy could be, full of blithe gossip +and fun, to enliven his mother over the dinner-table. + +"Tell you what, it was a good day for us when we came here," he +remarked, one night in December, when he and his mother were settled by +the open fire in the library. + +His mother looked up from her book. + +"How do you mean?" + +"Everything, especially the Macs. There's Mrs. Mac for you, and Teddy +for me. What more can you want?" + +"What about Hope?" + +"Hope is a stunner, only there's a sort of Sundayfied flavor to her. +Theodora is better for every day. Hope goes with my best necktie; +'tisn't always that I am able to live up to her. Ted doesn't care +whether I am sick or well, dressed up or rolled in a blanket; she sticks +to me just the same. I say, mother?" + +"Well?" + +"Are we going down to New York, this winter?" + +"Not till later, unless you want to go. Aren't you feeling as well, +Will?" This time, Mrs. Farrington threw aside her book and came forward +to her son's side. + +Billy looked up at her with merry eyes which were the duplicate of her +own. + +"How you do worry about me, mother!" he said. "I'm gaining, every day, +and you ought to know it. I shall be walking soon. But you've been +saying that we'd go down, some time after Christmas, and I wondered why +we couldn't take Teddy along with us. I can't discover that she's ever +been anywhere, and it's time she had a chance. Don't you think so?" + +Mrs. Farrington looked thoughtful. + +"I don't know but you're right, Will. I've been thinking I'd like to +give her a little treat, if only because she has been so loyal to you. I +had thought of something else; but if you think she'd like this better, +we'll see about it. Would you rather have Teddy than Hubert?" + +"Yes, I like Ted better, even if she is a girl. Hubert has more variety, +too, and wouldn't care so much about it." + +"Very well; I will see about it," Mrs. Farrington repeated. + +Her son looked up at her gratefully. + +"What a trump you are!" he said. + + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN + + +"Well, let's see." Teddy curled one foot under her, in the depths of the +great easy-chair. "There must be two heroines, of course, and two,--no, +three heroes." + +"What'll you do with the odd one?" Billy asked. + +"Kill him, to be sure." Theodora smacked her lips. "When the girl, his +girl, you know, marries the wrong man, he will--" She paused and +meditatively twisted the end of one of her long pigtails. + +"Will what?" + +"That's what I'm thinking about. It must be something original, not +poison nor drowning. I know; I'll have him turn sleepless, and get +up--No, he'll be a sleep-walker. He must dream that her house is on +fire, and get up to save her, and walk into the barn and be kicked to +death by her pet horse. She'll find him there in the morning, when she +goes to give him sugar." In the triumph of her lurid ending, Theodora +made havoc of her pronouns. + +Billy pondered on the situation, clasping his hands under his head and +turning to face his friend. + +"Um-m. That's not so bad," he said at length. "It might possibly happen, +even if it isn't likely. I had an uncle that somnambulated, and he used +to hide the sheets in an old carriage in the barn. I suppose he might +just as well have gone into a stall. Well?" + +"And the other men would marry the girls. This one, the dead one, would +be dark and sallow, with high cheek-bones and a thin nose. The others +would be more commonplace. I think I'd have them something like Hu and +you." + +"Thanks." + +"Oh, I don't mean you are too common; but you aren't a bit like my ideal +hero," Theodora said bluntly. "I like the dead one best. I always do in +stories, if he's only hectic enough. I asked papa once what hectic +meant, and you ought to have heard him laugh when I told him the reason +I wanted to know." + +"Great shame I'm not hectic!" Billy commented. "What about the girls?" + +"One is light, with yellow hair and very much fun in her. She's the one +the dead man likes. The other is tall and still and stately, like a +lily, with soft, dark hair that droops and is caught up with rare old +combs." + +"How many?" + +"Oh, one at a time, of course, only she has ever so many, all of them of +old silver. Stop interrupting! She sways when she walks." + +"Gout or intoxication?" + +"Keep still, Billy, or I won't tell." Theodora's tone was impatient. +There were liberties which not even Billy was allowed to take, and this +story, the outcome of her girlish dreams, was a sacred subject to her. +She had pondered over it for months, and now that she felt the time had +come to begin the actual work of writing, she was revealing the secret +to Billy. Mrs. Farrington was spending a long rainy afternoon in her own +room, writing letters, and the two young people had the library to +themselves. For the most part, Billy was listening in respectful +silence; but his sense of humor would assert itself occasionally, and +Theodora, like all budding authors, was sensitive to ridicule. + +Her threat was enough. + +"I won't any more, Ted," Billy returned meekly; "only, if she wobbles +like that, I don't see what keeps her combs from tumbling out. Don't +make her too lop-sided, or else don't match her up to the man like me. I +want girls that are put together tight. That's one reason I like you." + +Theodora was only half appeased by the intended compliment. She had a +secret liking for the "sweet disorder in the dress," and, of late, she +had vainly attempted to achieve it. + +"That's all right," she said rather loftily; "only you know everybody +doesn't feel the way you do." + +"Of course," Billy assented hastily. "What are their names, Ted?" + +"The dark one is Violet Clementina Ascutney, and the little blond one is +Marianne--with a final _e_--Euphrosyne Blackiston. The men are Eugene +Vincent and Gerald Mortimer, and the dead one is Alessandro Stanley +Farrington." + +"Oh, great Caesar, Ted! I can't stand that. Why can't you have a good +plain Jack?" + +"Jack is fearfully commonplace, and names do count for so much in a +story." + +Billy groaned. + +"Maybe. Anyhow, you've got to leave out the Farrington. I can't go that. +Which does Marianne-with-a-final-_e_ take?" + +"That's just it. She's left an orphan, rich as can be, and she asks +Violet to live with her. Violet is the only daughter of a decayed +Southern family, who had to teach for a living until she was rescued +from her life of toil by the generosity of Marianne." + +"With-a-final-_e_," Billy supplemented. His eyes were full of mischief, +for Theodora's tone matched the pomp of her words. + +"Then they live in this beautiful house," Theodora went on, sternly +regardless of his flippancy; "with an old housekeeper, and they have +beautiful times, parties and everything. One stormy night in summer, +when they are sitting by the fire, watching the blaze and seeing +pictures in it, the bell rings and a man in livery comes in to tell them +that there has been a runaway accident and a man hurt. That's +Alessandro, and I mean to get all this part out of papa's books." + +"Well?" + +"Well, he's there for weeks, and the housekeeper takes care of him and +the girls don't see him; they just make him broth and things, and send +them up to his room. One day, when he is pale and interesting, he leaves +his room and sees Marianne and falls in love with her; but she never +knows it. He is poor and too honorable to tell her his love, so he just +wastes away, and she never guesses. It's all terribly sad." + +"Well, yes, I should say so," Billy observed. "Are the others as +forlorn?" + +"No. Gerald is a student, and Marianne's cousin, who lives next door. +He's jolly, with yellow hair, and means to be a doctor. He loves Violet, +even if she is poor. He has a friend, Eugene, that isn't well,--not +hectic a bit, but has trouble with his eyes or something, so he can't +work, and comes to spend the summer there, and falls in love with +Marianne. They all have great times, and poor Alessandro, in bed +upstairs, can hear all their fun, when they sit on the piazza in the +moonlight, and he buries his head in the pillows and sobs. One night, +just in fun, Marianne makes her will and leaves all she has to Violet. +Then Marianne and Eugene get engaged. Then Marianne dies of a fever, and +they find the will and accuse Violet of killing her, and Eugene is so +sorrowful that he goes into a convent." + +"I thought men usually took to a monastery." + +"What's the difference? Well, they have a trial, and Gerald stops being +a doctor and studies law and makes a brilliant plea and saves her. +Then, right in the court-room before them all, he presses her hand to +his lips and cries, 'Mine! Mine forever!' and the whole room full of +people thunders applause." + +Theodora paused. Her cheeks were glowing with excitement. Billy had +turned away his head and his arm half shielded his face. + +"What do you think?" she demanded. + +"It's great," he answered, with an odd huskiness in his tone. + +"You really like it? You're not laughing at me?" Her tone was eager, yet +mistrustful. + +Billy's loyalty asserted itself. He took down his arm. + +"Honestly, Ted, it's a great thing," he said with perfect gravity. "It's +different, too; not just like all the others." + +Theodora drew a deep sigh of relief as she nestled back in the chair. + +"I'm so glad you like it, Billy, for I did want you to. You're the only +living soul I've ever told, and now, if you don't think it's too bad, +I'm going right to work on it." There was still a little note of +question in her voice. + +Billy held out his hand to her. + +"Do you know what I honestly think, Teddy? Some day, you'll get there. +If I were in your place, I'd go right to work on this, and I don't +believe you'll ever be sorry. This first one may not be the success; but +I'd try the chance, and keep on trying." + +He was only a boy, though developed and deepened in character by his +long illness until at times he spoke with the dignity and thoughtfulness +of a man. Now his words rang true, and Theodora, as she stood beside him +looking down into his eyes, was satisfied; and as she went home to begin +her great undertaking, she thanked Providence, as she had so often done +before during the past few weeks, for bringing her so loyal a friend. + +It was with a feeling of elated self-consciousness that Theodora took +her place in the family circle, that evening, with her little writing +tablet in her hand. As she seated herself near the light, she cast a +pitying glance at her family who were talking of trivial details, quite +unconscious of the fact that that evening would mark an epoch in the +literary history of America. They were used to her and to her tablet, +and beyond the slight shifting of the group needful to give her a place +by the table, she called forth no comment from anyone but Phebe, who, +bent on teasing, turned the fire of her questions upon her older sister. +Mrs. McAlister promptly quieted her by a suggestion of bedtime; and +Theodora, left to herself, paused to smile in anticipation of the day +when, book in hand, she could remind them all of that evening. Then she +launched forth into a description of the swaying figure and drooping +hair of Violet, too eagerly intent upon mustering the forces of her +adjectives to heed the scratching of her own pen, or the conversation of +the others. Once only she was roused from her writing to hear her father +say, as he entered the room,-- + +"Yes, I've just been over there, and Will is improving, every day. I +can't see why he won't be walking a little, in a week or so. I hope so, +for he's had a long pull of it, and he has shown splendid pluck." + +For an instant, Theodora was conscious of a jealous pang. Once on his +feet and independent, good-by to her good times with Billy. He would be +free to seek boy society and boy sports, and her company would cease to +interest him. Angry at herself for her selfishness, yet conscious of a +vague dissatisfaction with the future, she bent still closer over her +writing, while her stepmother answered,-- + +"Really, Jack? I had no idea of it's coming so soon. Did you know that +Jessie has asked us all to eat Thanksgiving dinner with her?" + +The talk strayed on, but Theodora had lost herself once more. She had +finished with Violet, and was now painting the horrors of the stormy +night outside the house where the two girls sat over the fire. Like most +girls of her age, Theodora had a natural talent for melodrama, and she +revelled in her description, as her pen raced over the paper. Pausing at +last to decide whether _lurid_ or _murky_ best described the night, she +caught Hope's eyes fixed on her steadily. + +"What is it?" she asked abruptly. + +"I was thinking it was about time you began to put up your hair," Hope +answered, rising and laying her hand upon Theodora's heavy braids. + +The transition was sudden and sharp. Theodora had been feeling as if she +trod on air. Now the clouds seemed to part and let her drop into the +common clay. She shook off her sister's hand. + +"I don't want to put up my hair," she said sharply. + +"But you're old enough, and you would look so much better. Don't you +think so?" Hope appealed to her stepmother. + +"I don't care how I look. I want to be comfortable." Theodora threw her +pen down on the table. + +"But you're almost a young lady," Hope urged, with a quiet persistency +which exasperated Theodora. "You are really too old to wear two tails, +any longer." + +"I don't care if I am!" Theodora exclaimed hotly. "It's neat, and it's +comfortable, and I intend to wear it like this till I get ready to put +it up. You can take care of your own hair, Hope McAlister, and I'll take +care of mine." + +At best, Theodora was hot-tempered. To-night, excited by her attempt at +writing and tired with the unwonted effort, she flashed like a train of +powder. She realized, even in the midst of it, that her annoyance was +out of all proportion to the cause. Before she could control herself, +Hubert gave a new direction to her thoughts. + +"If all you're after is comfort, Teddy," he drawled; "I'd advise you to +get a hair-cut. It's much the most comfortable thing you can find." + +For the moment, Theodora was too angry to see the humor of his +suggestion. + +"I will," she exclaimed. "Hope McAlister, if you say another word, I'll +have my hair cut off." + +"Oh, Teddy dear!" Hope's hand was very gentle, as it touched her hair. +"You wouldn't do anything so crazy. Just see how pretty I can make you +look." + +But Theodora jerked herself away, rushed out of the room and up to her +own room. + +"I won't! I won't!" she said fiercely. "I hate Hope. She's jealous +because my hair is better than hers. I won't put it up. I'd rather cut +it off, myself, short off." + +She paused to listen. Hope was coming up the stairs. She recognized the +slow, gentle footfall. It came nearer the door. Theodora took a quick +step to the table and caught up the scissors from her little +work-basket. + +"Come, Teddy," Hope called; "don't be silly and get cross about a little +thing like that." + +Theodora clashed her scissors ominously. Even in her anger, there came a +sudden wonder how Marianne would meet such a crisis, and her voice took +a higher, more incisive note, as she said,-- + +"Hope, unless you let me alone, I'm going to cut it off." + +"But, Teddy--" + +There came a snip and a long, grinding cut, followed by a light thud, as +one heavy braid fell to the floor. Startled at what she had done, +Theodora turned to the mirror. One side of her head was covered with +loose, shaggy locks standing out in wild disorder. As she looked, she +grew white and her lips quivered. She hesitated for a moment; then, +shutting her teeth, she sheared away the other braid. For a moment +longer, she stood staring at the white face and wide, terrified eyes +reflected in the mirror. Then, throwing aside the scissors, she cast +herself down on her bed and pulled the pillows over her head to smother +the sound of her sobs. + + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT + + + MY DEAR TEDDY,--If you haven't entirely forsaken us, can't you come + over and spend the afternoon and dine here? We both of us miss your + calls, Will especially, since he hasn't been so well; and we can't + think why you have turned the cold shoulder to us. I wanted to send + for you, yesterday; but Will wouldn't let me, for fear you had + something else to do. To-day, I haven't told him, so he won't be + disappointed. + + Come if you can, dear, and stay to dinner with us. Will is so blue + that he needs you to brighten him up, now he is on his back again. + + Sincerely, + JESSIE FARRINGTON. + +This was the note which Patrick had brought over, that morning, and +which Theodora now sat twisting in her fingers, while she anxiously +wondered what it all meant. She had not heard that Billy was worse, and +it was a week since she had seen him, for she still lacked courage to +show him her shorn head. She dreaded his teasing; most of all she +dreaded the questions he must inevitably ask. Her own family was bad +enough; she felt that she could not face him, if once he knew the secret +of her missing locks. + +Never was a hasty, hot-tempered act more thoroughly punished than this. +There had been little need for the doctor or his wife to add a word. +Theodora's sorrow and shame were intense; intense, too, was her power of +self-abasement. For a week, she spent most of the time in her own room, +as if she feared to meet the eyes of her family; and, in this +self-imposed isolation, it chanced that she had heard no mention of the +Farringtons. + +It had taken repeated calls to bring Theodora down to breakfast, the +morning after her outbreak. In all her after-life, she never forgot the +exclamations of horror and surprise which greeted her when she appeared, +half-defiant, half-sulky, and altogether shamefaced. For a few moments, +there was a babel of comment; then Mrs. McAlister rose and took her +hand. + +"Theodora, dear," she said gently; "come into my room, and tell me all +about it." + +The door closed behind them, and for two hours they were alone together. +What passed between them, no one else ever knew. When the long talk was +ended, and Theodora, clinging to her new mother just as she had been +wont to cling to her own mother, years ago, had sobbed till she could +sob no more, Mrs. McAlister left her and went to her husband. + +"She's punished enough, Jack," she said to him. "There wasn't much need +for me to say anything; but I think perhaps this has given me my +opportunity. I've come closer to the child than I ever dared to hope, +and, with Heaven's help, I mean to stay there." + +Her husband bent over her. + +"You're good to my naughty girl, Bess," he said gently. + +She smiled; but her eyes looked heavy. + +"She is worth it, Jack. At heart, she is sweet and sound as a girl can +be. It is only this ungovernable temper of hers. She is quick and +impulsive; but she is sorry enough now. I think she won't do anything +like this again. And I have promised that she sha'n't be teased about +it, and, above all, that no one shall speak of the affair to the +Farringtons. Can you see about it, Jack? A word from you will help me in +this." + +For the next few days, a spirit of heavy quiet rested on the McAlister +household. As a rule, Theodora was the life of the house, and now that +she moped in corners, hiding her shorn head as best she could, the +others were dull and listless in sympathy. + +"I hate everybody," Phebe said, coming into the dining-room where Hope +was arranging flowers, one morning. + +"Why, Babe, what's the matter?" Hope looked up in surprise. + +"Nothing, only I'm lonesome." + +"Where's Allyn?" + +"In the attic. He spoils everything, and I don't want to play with him. +Teddy's cross, and Hu won't do anything." + +There was a silence, while Hope filled a tall vase with late +chrysanthemums. + +"I wish I were a flower," Phebe said moodily; "only Allyn would tear it +to pieces. I'd rather be a vine; that's tougher." + +"What has Allyn done?" Hope asked. + +"I don't tell tales, Hope McAlister." And Phebe departed with her chin +in the air, leaving Hope to console herself for the rebuke with the +reflection that Phebe's code of honor, in such cases, varied according +to her own share of the blame. + +Half an hour later, Phebe appeared to Billy, who sat in an easy-chair +before a crackling fire in the library. + +"Hullo, Phebe!" he exclaimed. "How you was?" + +"All right. I thought I'd come over and see you, a while." + +"That's good. You don't often come. Sit down, won't you?" He waved his +book hospitably in the direction of a chair. "Where's Teddy? She hasn't +been over here for an age." + +"She's--busy." Phebe spoke with a tone of conscious mystery. + +"What do you mean?" Billy turned to look at his guest in astonishment. + +"Oh--nothing." + +"What is the matter? Is Teddy sick?" + +"No; she's all right." Phebe gave a hostile sniff. + +"Then why doesn't she come over?" + +"I s'pose because she doesn't want to." + +"Is she mad about anything?" + +Phebe shook her head mockingly. Then she rose and stood facing him, with +her back to the fire. + +"It's all Teddy, Teddy, Teddy!" she said complainingly. "Nobody takes +the trouble to talk to me, and you're just as bad as the rest of them. +You needn't think your old Teddy is perfect, for she isn't." + +"Maybe not; but she is a blamed sight better than you are," Billy +answered more bluntly than courteously. + +[Illustration: "'WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS?' SHE DEMANDED."] + +"Is she?" Phebe plunged her hand into her pocket. "What do you think of +this?" she demanded, pulling out a long brown pigtail and brandishing it +before Billy's astonished eyes. + +"What's that?" + +"Can't you tell? You've seen it often enough." + +"Let me see." Billy held out his hand. + +"Sha'n't. It's Teddy's. She cut it off." + +"I don't believe it. Let me take it, Babe." His tone was commanding. + +For her only answer, Phebe sprang back out of his reach, caught her heel +in the rug and fell. Her stiff white apron lay for an instant against +the grate; the next moment, it blazed above her head. + +With a swift exclamation, Billy struggled to move, to go to her +assistance. Again and again he tried to wrench himself from the chair; +then, with a groan, he fell back and blew a long, shrill note on the +silver whistle which never left him. + +In a moment, it was all over. Patrick had rushed in and wrapped Phebe in +a rug. Then, more frightened than hurt, the child had started for home, +concocting, as she went, a plausible story to account for her charred +apron. The maid came in to put the room to rights, and no one knew but +Billy, as he ordered Patrick to move him to the sofa, that the sudden +strain had done his invalid back a lasting injury. That was three days +before, and now Theodora sat twisting his mother's note in her hands and +wondering what it all meant. + +The doctor was away, that day, and Theodora was too proud to ask the +others any questions. She briefly explained to her mother that Mrs. +Farrington had invited her to spend the afternoon and dine there, and, +putting on her broadest hat, she went away across the lawn. + +Patrick admitted her, and, even in the momentary glimpse she had of him, +she saw that he looked unusually grave. As she entered the library, +however, she was reassured, for the room looked just as usual, with +Billy lying on the familiar lounge by the fire. It seemed so good to her +to get back there, after her self-imposed banishment, that, forgetful +of her cropped head, she sprang forward to his side. + +"Oh, Billy!" + +"Have you really come, Ted? I began to think you'd cut me. Where have +you been?" + +"At home. But what's the matter, Billy?" For, as she took his hand, she +was startled at his pallor and at the heavy shadows under his eyes. + +"Only this set-back," he answered. "My back's given out again, so I +can't move a bit." + +"What do you mean? When was it?" She dropped down beside him, and rested +her arm on the edge of the lounge. + +"Didn't you know it?" + +"No. When was it?" + +"How queer you didn't know! It was three days ago. I strained myself +somehow or other, and it kept getting worse, till it's about as bad as +it was at first." + +"Oh, Billy!" Theodora's overstrained nerves were giving way. After her +outbreak, after the shame which had followed and the week when she had +missed her friend daily and hourly, this last was too much. After all +her protestations of loyalty, he had been ill and suffering, and she +had not known it, nor been near him at all. + +"And you have to lie flat on your back, like this?" she demanded almost +fiercely. + +"Yes." + +"And it hurts?" + +"Yes." + +"Much?" + +"Some--yes, a good deal." + +"All the time?" + +He nodded. + +"And I didn't know it, and you wanted to see me, and I never came near +you." All at once, Theodora's head went down on her hands. "What did you +think, Billy?" + +"I thought you'd got sick of me," he answered frankly. "I couldn't see +any other reason you should go back on me just now. I did miss you like +fury, Ted." + +"Why didn't you send word to me?" + +He looked up at her with an odd little smile. + +"Wait till you are flat on your back and no special good, and you'll +know why." + +His smile hurt her. She laid her hand on his again. + +"Did you think that, Billy, really and truly?" + +"Yes; that is, sometimes, but I don't now. You've stuck to me pretty +well, Teddy." + +"Do you know what was the reason I didn't come?" she asked impulsively. + +"No." + +"It was this." She pulled off her hat and sat before him, a strange, +forlorn-looking Teddy, with her cropped head and tear-stained eyes. + +"Jove!" + +"Yes, I did it," she confessed bluntly. "I was mad at Hope and cut it +off." + +The boy lay staring at her in surprise. She drooped her head, unable to +meet the amused look in his eyes. + +"It's awful; isn't it?" she asked. + +"Why, no; I don't think it is so bad," he said consolingly. "It isn't +exactly pretty, and you look a good deal like a boy. When I get used to +it, though, I think I shall rather like it. It seems to suit you, +somehow." + +She looked up gratefully. + +"What a dear old fellow you are, Billy! That was the reason I didn't +come. I couldn't bear to have you see me, or to know about it. Now I +don't mind anybody else. I hated to have you know I was so horrid." + +"You are peppery, Teddy, for a fact. Don't get in a tantrum again, or +you will cut off your nose next, and that won't grow again." He tried +to laugh; but his color was coming and going, and Theodora saw that he +was suffering. + +She sprang up and stooped to arrange the cushions about him. + +"What is it?" she asked, startled at his changing color. + +"It's the old pain. It won't last but a minute." + +"What does papa say?" she asked, when he was easier again. + +"Nothing, except that it's a strain and that I must keep quiet." + +"How long?" + +"That's the worst of it." There was an utter dreariness in his tone +which Theodora had never heard before. "I didn't mean you to know; but I +was going to surprise you all by walking over to your house, +Thanksgiving morning, and now--" he hesitated, and, boy as he was and a +plucky boy, too, two great tears came and splashed down on Theodora's +fingers; "now he says it will be two or three weeks before I can even +sit up again." + +That night, when Theodora rose to go home, she turned back to the lounge +once more, after she had said good-by to Mrs. Farrington. + +"You must come in, every day," Mrs. Farrington said. "Will is better +already for your being here." + +Theodora herself saw the change, as she bent down to shake hands. He +looked brighter and better than when she had come, more animated and +eager, more like his old self. + +"Billy," she said steadily; "I want you to promise me something." + +"What's that?" + +"That, if the time ever comes again when you want me, or when I can help +you, you'll send for me, without waiting. I'm only a girl, I know; but +I'm better than nothing, and I never go back on my friends." + +Billy smiled up at her benignly. + +"No, Ted; I don't believe you ever do. And there are times when 'only a +girl' is about as good as anything you can find. Come again." + +"I will," she answered. + +She kept her word so well that, during all Billy's imprisonment, she +never failed to spend a part of each day with him. It did her good to +feel that some one counted on her coming and was the better for it. It +made her steadier, more reliable; and, in the long, dreary days that +followed, she gained a new gentleness from her constant association with +her suffering friend. There were days when he was irritable and +nervous, days when he was despondent, days when he was too weak with +pain to talk; but, during all this time, Theodora was loyal to him, +soothing him, cheering him up and bearing his ill-temper with a +gentleness which surprised even herself, ministering to his comfort and +content to an unmeasured degree, and at the same time gaining a quiet +womanliness which she had never known before. + +And the days passed on, and the youth and the maiden reaped from them +all a harvest of good, a mutual gain from their frank intimacy. + + + + +CHAPTER NINE + + +"And I want a horsey, and a wagon to hatchen on behind," Allyn shouted. + +"And I must have a new sled, and I want a set of furs and a canary +bird," Phebe clamored. + +"Is that all?" Hubert inquired blandly. "Why not ask for a wedding gown +and a pink elephant while you are about it, Babe? Don't be modest. I +know what Teddy is going to have." + +"Oh, what?" Theodora looked up from her game of euchre with Billy, who, +promoted to his chair again, was spending the evening with the +McAlisters. + +"She'd better have a chunk of ice, to cool her off when she gets mad," +suggested Phebe with sudden asperity, as she thought of a recent passage +at arms with her elder sister. + +"Phebe!" Mrs. McAlister's tone was ominous, and Phebe subsided, +grumbling, while her mother rose to put Allyn to bed. + +Allyn retreated to Hubert's knee and pressed his rosy cheek against that +of his brother. + +"No, mamma," he urged. "Can't Phebe be tendooed first?" + +"Allynesque for attended to," Theodora explained to Billy, while her +mother dislodged the child from his place of refuge and marched him out +of the room. "But does it seem possible that Christmas comes, next +week?" + +"Well, yes, I think it does. This year has been long enough to make over +into a dozen ordinary ones. Let's see, when is Christmas?" + +"Why, don't you know? Christmas is our great day of the year, and we +count the days for months ahead. This year, it will be an extra jolly +one, for we want to show mamma our ways." This from Hubert, who sat with +his elbow on the arm of Billy's chair, superintending his play. + +"What do you do?" + +"Just what everybody else does, I suppose; give presents and make a row +generally." + +"Hubert, what will Billy think of us?" Hope interposed. "It's this way: +mamma, our own mother, always said that Christmas was the day when we +all should be children together, and play plays and have a grand frolic. +Years ago, when Hu and Teddy and I were little bits of children, we +began having our basket, and we have kept it up ever since." + +"We do all the things, jokes and presents and all, in bundles," Theodora +said, taking up the story in her eagerness; "and we put them all in this +basket. It is an old clothes-basket, large as the house and broken, but +we never change it. And then we draw them out, one at a time." + +"It's covered, you know, and we just fish under the cover, so as not to +see what comes. They used to begin with me; but Allyn is the baby, and +has the first chance now." In her interest, Phebe quite forgot to resent +it when Theodora pulled her down into her lap. + +Billy sat looking from one to another of the group, wondering to see the +faces brighten and grow eager as the talk ran on. + +"It sounds good fun," he said rather wishfully, as soon as there was a +pause. "I suppose it's because there are such a lot of you." + +"The more the better, of course," Hope said. "We always have Susan and +James come in to look on, and even Mulvaney has his new ribbon and a +bone. He has learned to know the basket, and he lies down beside it as +soon as it is brought in to be filled." + +"When do you do it?" + +"Christmas eve," Hubert answered. "We never could stand it till +Christmas day. We always rush through supper, Christmas eve, to be ready +as soon as we can. You should see our house when we get everything out +of the basket." + +"I wish I could." + +"What do you do?" Phebe demanded. + +"Why, we give presents at breakfast; that's all. Of course it will be +different, this year. Papa was here, last Christmas. He gave me my watch +then." + +"Oh!" Phebe became round-eyed with admiration. "Did he give you that? I +should think you would miss him." + +Hope came to the rescue. + +"It will be lonely, this year. I remember how it was, after mamma died. +We didn't want to have any Christmas; but papa said she would rather we +kept up the old ways, so we did just as we always had done." + +"I wish we did things the way you do." Billy pushed his hair impatiently +away from his face. "You don't know how it seems to a fellow to be +alone. It is no sort of fun." + +"Adopt us," Theodora suggested, laughing. + +Billy flashed at her a swift glance which told, plainly as words, how +gladly he would carry out her suggestion. + +Passing through the hall, Mrs. McAlister had heard the children's talk. +A little later, she knocked at the door of her husband's office. The +doctor pushed aside the sheets of the essay he was writing for a medical +journal, and rose to greet his wife. + +"Well, Bess, the sanctum is glad to see you." + +"Am I interrupting?" she asked, as she sat down by the table. + +"Not a bit. You never do." + +"So glad, for I want to talk, Jack." + +"What now? Is Phebe in mischief, or is Teddy proving obstreperous?" + +"Neither; it's only this." And she repeated the substance of the +children's conversation. "Now are you ready to do some missionary work, +Jack?" + +"Of course; anything you like. What is it?" + +"May Jessie and Will come to your Christmas eve?" + +"Ours," he corrected gently. + +"No, yours. You know I've never been here for it, and it is all new to +me. I don't want to crowd your good time; but the boy is so lonely." + +"Have him, of course. The Savins is large enough to hold a few more, and +he needs all the fun he can get," the doctor said heartily. "There's +only one thing I am afraid of." + +His wife looked up quickly. + +"I thought that all over before I came to you, Jack; but I have known +Jessie longer than you have, and I know she won't misunderstand us. She +knows we can't give expensive presents, and she will care, as we do, for +the fun and the Christmas spirit. I know she will be glad to come, if +only for Billy's sake." + +But Mrs. Farrington demurred a little, the next day, when the plan was +suggested to her. + +"I have just promised Will to have you all over here," she said. "Still, +if you all will promise to come here for Christmas dinner and a bran pie +afterwards, Billy and I will come to your basket. We are so lonely that +it is a deed of charity to take us in." + +For the next week, mystery lurked in every corner of the McAlister +house. With three novices to be trained in their Christmas rite, Hope +and Theodora and Hubert felt that this basket must surpass all those of +previous years, and they ransacked their brains, their house, and the +shops for the jokes and nonsensical offerings which added spice to their +simple presents. If the Christmas spirit of happiness and good-will were +the true test, the McAlisters lived up to the full tradition of the day. +Gifts simple and elaborate, hoary jokes and brand-new ones, quips and +cranks of every description, were enclosed in the bundles which went +into the shabby old basket, and the only clue to the possible contents +of the bundles lay in the fact that, the older the joke, the more fresh +and dainty was its outward disguise. + +The basket stood in a deep bay-window; beside it on an easel was the +portrait of the children's own mother, placed there and wreathed in +Christmas greens by Mrs. McAlister's own hands. Old Susan had told her +that it had stood there in past years, and, that afternoon, the doctor +had come in, to find her bending over to wreathe it with holly and +trailing pine. + +"It's like you, Bess," he said. "The children will be so happy. They +felt that Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without this." + +Supper was a hurried meal that night, and it was still early when they +gathered in the parlor, with Mulvaney beside the basket and Susan in +the doorway, to wait for their guests. + +"Oh, I can't wait," Phebe wailed. "I know such lots of things in there. +I put in four bundles for Hu, and seven for Allyn, and two for papa, +only one's broken, and two for Teddy." + +"Let me see." Hubert counted on his fingers. "I put in six for Ted, no, +seven, and four for Hope, and nine for Allyn." + +"And me?" Phebe pranced impatiently. + +"Oh, Babe, I forgot you." + +"Hush, Babe; there's Billy's chair," Hope said, endeavoring to suppress +her young sister. + +"Did you know Patrick brought over a bundle, Hu?" Theodora whispered. "I +saw mamma slying it into the house. 'Twas a big one, too." + +"Really?" Hubert tried to look as innocent as if Billy had not consulted +him about Theodora's Christmas gift. + +"Yes, I'm so glad now that I hemstitched that handkerchief. It is fairly +covered with my gore where I pricked myself; but he won't be critical, I +hope." + +The babel of greeting and chatter was hushed, as Hope took her seat at +the piano and the children gathered around her to sing their favorite +carol. The last note had scarcely died away when Allyn, at a signal from +Hubert, gave a joyous shriek and plunged upon the basket. + +"One at a time," Hope cautioned him; "and bring the bundle to sister, so +she can read the writing on it." + +The first package chanced to contain his much-desired horsey, and he +retired to a corner to embrace it, while Phebe and then Theodora took +their turns at drawing. + +"Draw for me, please," Billy asked Theodora, when his turn came. + +"Not a bit of it. You must do your part." And she had whisked him across +the room and landed him beside the basket, before he could realize her +intention. + +For two hours, the fun was fast and furious. Mulvaney, on the floor in a +nest of papers, was wrestling with a vast bone, Mrs. Farrington was +admiring a bit of Hope's dainty handiwork, and Hubert was trying hard to +realize that at last he was the proud owner of a watch. Everyone was +happy, and Hope and Theodora congratulated themselves upon the success +of their Christmas frolic. + +"It's your turn to draw, Billy." And Theodora rolled him across the +floor to the fast-emptying basket. + +"Bah! I can't reach it. Get the one in the corner, Ted. It's a big +square one." + +"Is this it?" + +"Yes." Billy took it and read the label. _Theodora, with love from +Babe._ + +"Why, Babe dear, you gave me the gloves." + +Phebe flushed. + +"It's probably some grind on you, Teddy," Hubert suggested, as his +sister tore away the wrappers. + +Inside was a box, then another. Phebe smiled in conscious satisfaction, +while Theodora opened one layer after another of the papers within and +at last drew out a long flexible bundle. + +"Phebe, you dear, it is the new belt I've been wanting," she said. + +Phebe began to look rather uneasy. + +"Wait and see," she advised. "It may not be as nice as you think it's +going to be." + +With eager hands, Theodora unrolled the tissue papers, while the others +gathered round to see what was inside. Then there came a sudden hush of +surprise and consternation. Out from the papers had slipped a long, +soft braid of brown hair, and, with a startled sob, Theodora had buried +her face in her hands. The next instant, Hubert's hand descended on +Phebe's cheek with a ringing blow. + +For a few moments, it seemed that the evening was to end in dismal +failure. Then Mrs. Farrington, with her arm about Theodora's waist, +marched her across the room to the basket to renew the drawing, and soon +the little incident was apparently forgotten. Later, when the merriment +was subsiding, Mrs. Farrington missed Theodora and went in search of +her. She found her in the library, standing alone before the open fire. + +"It was too bad, dear," Mrs. Farrington said. "Phebe didn't realize what +she was doing, of course; but it was hard for you. But I want to thank +you for the pleasant evening and for the pleasant months Billy has had +with you. This little package was to go in the pie, to-morrow; but I +wanted instead to give it to you when we were alone, so I could say to +you how I appreciate all you have done for my boy." + +And Theodora, as she looked at the little sapphire on her finger, felt +that not all the Phebes in creation could spoil her merry Christmas. + +A week later, she went racing across the lawn to the Farringtons', with +a long brown bundle over her shoulder. + +"Let me in quick, Patrick," she cried, as she dashed through the door. +"Happy New Year, Billy! I've brought you a New Year's present. I said I +must be the one to bring it, and papa is coming over in a few minutes to +teach you to use it." And, with a clatter and a bang, she cast a pair of +crutches on the floor at Billy's feet. + + + + +CHAPTER TEN + + +Billy sat in his chair before the McAlisters' front steps. Theodora sat +beside him on the steps, with her chin in her hands. Though it was late +in January, the midday sun was warm around them, and they were basking +in it like two young turtles. + +"I know," Theodora was saying restively; "but I want to do something +really and truly useful, something that will help on the world. Here I +am, sixteen years old, and I've never been of the least use to anybody." + +"How about me?" Billy suggested, luxuriously stretching and then +clasping his hands at the back of his head. + +"You? Oh, you don't count." + +"Thanks." + +Theodora sprang up and whirled the chair to the gate and back again to +the steps. + +"What a tease you are, Billy! Next time, if you don't behave, I'll tip +you out. You know what I mean. I get just as much fun out of this as +you do. What I want is to help on the masses." + +"Rats!" Billy remarked profanely. + +"Not rats at all. You don't need me; they do." + +"So do I. Who takes me all over town?" + +"That's selfish, Billy. They need me more than you do, then." + +"No, they don't either. Who'd take me?" + +"Patrick. Besides, you'll take yourself soon, and then you won't want me +any more." + +There was a little involuntary note of sadness in her tone, and Billy +smiled to himself, as he shifted his position to face her. + +"What's started you to talking all this flummery, Ted?" he asked +bluntly, heedless, in true boy fashion, of the vague aspirations and +aims of sweet sixteen. "I thought you had too good sense to get +sentimental." + +The word stung Theodora, and she started up abruptly. + +"Let's go to the shore," she said shortly. + +"Aren't you too tired? I am growing fat and heavy, you know." + +For a week, now, Billy had been installed at the doctor's, while his +mother had been called away by the illness of her only brother. The +arrangement suited them all, Billy and Theodora even more than the +others. The two friends never seemed to weary of the long hours they +spent together, never appeared to be at a loss for subjects of +conversation. For the most part, Hubert was with them; but there were +times, like the present, when his other friends demanded his whole +attention, and Billy and Theodora were left to each other's society. +Hope was absorbed in other interests, though she was always kind and +considerate of their guest; and, by a tacit consent, Phebe's company was +shunned rather than courted. + +The winter had been good to Billy. Day by day, his strength was coming +back to him, slowly and by almost imperceptible stages, it is true; but +by looking back from month to month, they could see his steady progress. +In his better days, he could walk about the rooms now, and even this +slight advance had put fresh life into him. + +"Some day, I may begin to have a little respect for myself again," he +had said to Hubert, the day after his first expedition across the +library. "I've been like a rag doll for so long that I began to think +I'd never stir alone any more. Now it looks more as if I might be +somebody in time, and I can wait." + +"Strikes me you've been waiting about long enough," Hubert returned +impatiently. "I wish you'd hurry up and come to life. There's fun enough +to be had, as soon as you're on your legs again." + +"I should think it would seem queer to you to see me walking," Billy +observed reflectively. + +"It does. I can't make it seem a part of you, somehow. I'm so used to +the chair," Theodora said, as she joined the group. "After all, Billy, I +think I shall miss it a little." + +Well she might, for by this time the chair had become a part of her +life. Leaving Patrick to his own devices, the two young people had +explored the town, wandering here and there as Billy's curiosity or +Theodora's whim took them. There were days when Billy was too weak for +his ride, there were days when Theodora was too busy with other things +to take him out during the warmer part of the day; but, as a rule, three +or four times a week they wandered away in search of fresh scenes and an +occasional adventure. + +"By the way, Ted, how comes on the story?" Billy asked, as they drew +near the steps once more and Mulvaney came forward to meet them. + +"Seventeen chapters are done," she answered, slackening her pace a +little. + +"Moses! How many do you expect to have?" + +"I don't know. They seem to count up awfully fast. I've only just come +to the first of the lovering. I can't seem to make much of that. I do +wish I knew how people make love." + +"Perhaps you'll find out, some day," Billy suggested. + +But Theodora frowned on him. + +"Don't be silly. I'm not that kind, nor you either. I wish you could +help me out on it. Don't people ever--" + +"Collaborate? Yes. When are you going to read it to me?" + +"Do you really want it?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, to-night, perhaps, if we can get away by ourselves." + +However, fate willed otherwise. + +"Theodora," the doctor said, as they were leaving the dinner-table, that +day; "there's an errand I'd like you to do for me, about four o'clock. I +promised to send some medicine down to a house in Water Street for a +sick baby. Can you take it down? It's nothing catching," he added +reassuringly to his wife. + +"I'll go. Can I take Billy?" + +"Better not. It's a wretched region for wheels, and you might have an +upset," the doctor advised. "Come to the office, soon after four, and +I'll have it ready. You're getting to be your father's right-hand man, +Teddy." And he rested his hand affectionately on her shoulder before he +left the room. + +A month before that time, Mrs. Farrington had received a visit from an +old college friend, one of the energetic workers in the university +settlements, and her stories of life in the slums had made a strong +impression upon Theodora's mind. For the time being, other interests +lost their charm. Theodora was content to sit by the hour and listen to +the experiences so remote from her own sheltered life. She was as +impressionable as most girls of her age; more than most girls, she +retained her impressions, dwelling upon them and magnifying them until +they seemed to become less a day-dream than a part of her actual +experience. + +For the past three weeks, she had been filled with vague, restless +longings to have a share in the vast work of social reform; most of all, +her warm young heart turned to the neglected children. It was the same +impulse of protection which had first roused her interest in Billy +Farrington, the helpless invalid; and now, had Billy been a less +well-tried friend, he might have found himself forsaken to make room for +this new hobby of Theodora. As it was, she merely used him for a +safety-valve, and poured into his ears mysterious hints of the career +for which she was temporarily yearning. + +The medicine was delivered, and, in the gathering dusk, Theodora's face +was turned towards home. It was a part of the town into which she rarely +penetrated,--a network of squalid streets near the water front; and, a +month ago, she would have swept through them with her nose in the air. +Now, however, she looked to the left and the right, as she walked +onward, hoping almost against hope that her secret prayers would be +answered, and that, even in this hasty progress, she might see some work +ready for her hand. Providence, always kind, was in a benign mood, and +her desire was fulfilled with unexpected promptness. + +Down the street towards her came a forlorn little figure. It was a +child of nine, a girl whose grimy face was streaked and swollen with +tears, whose red hood was faded to a dull yellowish shade, whose coarse +gray coat was so many sizes too large for her that the sleeves were +folded back to allow her blue, chapped hands to come forth to the light +of day and to their destined usefulness. Theodora's heart gave a quick +bound, and, stepping forward, she bent over the wailing child. + +"What is the matter?" she asked. + +The child stopped sobbing and blinked up at her, disclosing a face of +unmistakably Keltic ancestry. + +"What is the matter?" Theodora repeated. + +"Huh?" + +Theodora experienced a momentary shock. Not thus had her dreamed-of +foundlings answered to her imaginary queries. She rallied and reiterated +her question. The child's tears fell again. + +"I'm--I'm losted, and I'm tired and so hungry." + +Even in this woful climax, Theodora noted the gurgle of the child's +sobs. She told herself that it was like water bubbling from a bottle, a +large earthen bottle. Then she reproached herself for her misplaced +sense of humor. + +There followed a little question, a little answer, a little consolation. +Then, before she quite realized what she was doing, Theodora was walking +rapidly towards home, with brotherly love swelling in her heart, and the +child's smutty hand clasped in her woollen mitten. She had delayed +longer than she knew, the walk home was long, and before she reached +there, the twilight had quite fallen, the house was brightly lighted, +and the family were gathered in the dining-room. + +"Dear me, they're all at supper!" she said to herself, as she went up +the steps. "Never mind, little girl," she added, with a conscious +patronage which not even her sympathy could keep down. "They're having +their supper now. I'll take you up to my room, and, as soon as they're +through, I'll give you something to eat." + +Her feminine intuition told her that the child's welcome would not be so +warm if she were presented at the supper-table. For a moment, she +hesitated what disposition to make of her charge. Then, herself hungry +and eager to get to the table and tell the story of her adventure, +she led the way to her room and popped the child into her own dainty +bed. + +Mrs. McAlister looked up as Theodora entered the room. + +[Illustration: "TEDDY, DEAR, THIS IS MY BROTHER ARCHIE, COME AT LAST."] + +"You are late, Teddy, and I was just getting anxious about you. Archie, +this is my twin daughter, Theodora. Teddy dear, this is my dear brother +Archie, come at last." There was an exultant note in Mrs. McAlister's +voice which Theodora had never heard before. + +Theodora gave a quick glance at the stranger who sat between her +stepmother and Hope, and the first look told her that she had found a +friend, one who would be true and loyal as a man could be. There was +nothing especially distinctive about Archie Holden. He was tall and +blond and athletic, sufficiently good-looking, and with easy, off-hand +manners. But his keen blue eyes, the curve of his little blond mustache, +above all, the grip of his hand and the ring of his voice suited +Theodora, and, long before supper was over, she had forgotten her +protegee in the excitement of the unexpected addition to their family +circle. It was fortunate, perhaps, that the child, more tired than +hungry, had fallen asleep in the midst of Theodora's soft white bed. + +As they were leaving the table, Mrs. McAlister laid a detaining hand on +Theodora's arm. + +"Teddy, I've had to put Archie into your room, to-night. Can you sleep +in the little back chamber? I am sorry to turn you out, but Billy has +the spare room, and I didn't like to put Archie with him. Do you mind, +dear? It's only for one night; then we can make some other arrangement." + +"I don't care at all," Theodora answered readily. "It wouldn't do to put +him in with Billy. When did Mr. Holden come?" + +"At five. It was such a surprise, too. You know we didn't expect him for +a week; but the heavy snow sent the party in, and he is to have a +vacation till the middle of March. What do you think of my little +brother, Teddy?" + +"I think he's splendid," Theodora replied so emphatically that her +mother smiled. + +"Run along after him, then," she said. "I want you and Hope to see that +his visit is a good one. Hope took your things into the back room, +Teddy, so you'll find everything ready for you at bedtime." + +To Theodora's eager young mind, it seemed that the evening was the +shortest she had ever spent, and, when ten o'clock struck, she was +still sitting perched on the arm of Hope's chair, while she listened to +Archie's stirring tales of life in camp and field, in mountain and canon +and desert. Then there was an interruption, for the bell rang and a +voice was heard asking for the doctor. Archie rose. + +"Another patient, doctor? I believe I'll go to bed. Three nights in a +sleeper are too much for me. No, don't come with me, Bess; I know the +way perfectly." + +However, Mrs. McAlister went to his door with him. As she came +downstairs, her husband met her in the hall. + +"I don't quite comprehend this mystery, Bess," he said, while an anxious +frown puckered his brows. "There's a policeman here that accuses me of +having abducted a child. There's one missing from Water Street, it +seems, and he claims that she is here in this house." + +"What?" + +"'Tis a remarkable story. I can't seem to get at the bottom of it. He +doesn't know me; and he says his orders are not to go away without the +child. I can't convince him that there's no child here." + +Just then they both started violently, for a double sound broke on +their ears, a long-drawn shriek as of a child in pain, followed by +Archie's voice, loud and remorseful,-- + +"Oh, by George!" + +An instant later, Theodora appeared on the landing, ejaculating,-- + +"Gracious me! I forgot her." + +"Theodora, what does this mean?" the doctor demanded breathlessly, as he +rushed up the stairs. Then, at the open door, he paused in sheer +amazement. In the middle of the floor stood Archie Holden, staring at +the bed with a face devoid of all expression. Sitting up in the bed and +staring back at him with a face of injured innocence and pain, was an +unwholesome child of Keltic extraction and unneat exterior, with a dingy +knitted hood in lieu of nightcap, and two chapped hands appearing from +two vast gray sleeves. + +Archie appeared to think that it devolved upon him to explain the +situation. + +"I'm sorry," he said meekly. "You see, I didn't turn up the gas at +first, but I just sat down on the edge of the bed to take off my shoes. +I didn't know this--this young person was here, and I suppose I sat on +her. But really I can't imagine where she came from. I didn't bring +her." + +"Theodora!" said the doctor, sternly. + +But Theodora had vanished, to hide her head from the sight of her +protegee, and from the merriment shining in Archie's blue eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN + + +"Do you often do that kind of thing, Miss Teddy?" + +Theodora, with her hands full of books, was passing through the lower +hall. At the sudden question, she glanced up to see Archie Holden +leaning on the banisters and looking down at her. + +"What thing?" she asked. + +"Oh, adopting stray babies. You gave me a fine fright, last night." + +Theodora blushed. Then, as she met his merry eyes, she burst out +laughing. + +"Wasn't it awful? I put the child to bed and promised her some supper, +and then I forgot her." + +"And I sat on her," Archie supplemented. "I don't know which of us was +the more astonished, she or I. What were you going to do with her?" + +"Why, you see," Theodora dropped her books on the seat by the staircase +and settled herself beside them; "you see, it was my first experience +with slumming." + +"With what?" + +"Don't you know? Or don't you have any slums in Montana? Everybody does +it here, and it's beautiful." + +"What's the usual _modus operandi_?" + +"The what? Talk English, please." + +"How do you go at it?" Archie sat down on the top step, to talk at his +ease. + +"Oh, they go to see poor people, and take them food and soap and +madonnas and fumigate them." + +"The madonnas?" + +"No, the people. It does them ever so much good. Mrs. Farrington, +Billy's mother, had a friend here that did it, and she told us all about +it." + +"I begin to comprehend," Archie said gravely, as he looked down at the +animated face below him. "And does it belong to the plan to bring them +home and hide them in the guests' beds?" + +"How was I to know you were here?" Theodora demanded. "Didn't you take +us all by surprise?" + +"I meant to surprise Bess, and I rather flatter myself I succeeded. I +say, Miss Teddy, what relation are we, anyhow?" + +"Hm-m." Theodora pondered on the matter. "Cousins? No; I suppose you're +my uncle. Uncle Archie. How respectful that sounds!" + +Archie made a grimace of disgust. + +"It suggests carpet slippers and an ivory-headed cane and a bandanna. I +don't believe I care to be related at all, if that's the way you're +going to work it." + +Theodora laughed wickedly. She was keen enough to see that the young man +was nettled by the implied addition to his years, and she was too much +of a tease to allow her opportunity to slip by, unheeded. She gave him a +mocking bow. + +"I'm sorry you don't care to claim us, Uncle Archie," she said, as she +rose. "Still, you can't expect us to call mamma's only brother Mr. +Holden." + +"Call me Archie, then." + +"How disrespectful! No, Uncle Archie is quite nice and proper." + +"I won't answer. Where are you going?" + +"To do my lessons with Billy. We have a tutor." Theodora spoke with a +sudden air of complacency. + +"What a bother! I wanted you. Do you do them, every day?" + +"Yes, every morning, only we're generally at Billy's. What did you +want?" + +"Nothing much; only I brought on some stuff for Bess and for--my new +nephews and nieces, and I thought, if you weren't busy, I'd bring it +down." + +"How lovely! I'll wait." + +"Oh, Ted-dy!" Billy's voice, though distant, was emphatic and distinct. +"Do hurry up!" + +She gave a longing glance back at the young man at the top of the +stairway. + +"I can't wait," she said regretfully. "I don't want to go; but--it's +Billy, you see." + +Archie liked her loyalty. + +"No matter; they can wait till noon. Farewell, my niece, and mind your +teacher." + +"I will, Uncle Archie." + +Two months before this time, soon after Billy had begun to rally from +the mysterious strain to his back, Mrs. Farrington had appeared in the +doctor's office, one evening. + +"As usual, I am asking a favor," she said. "At last, I have succeeded in +getting a really good tutor for Billy. The man was instructor in Yale +till his health failed, and he is highly recommended to me. Billy is +bright and well advanced for his age, so I think he and Hubert must be +doing about the same work. It is so lonely for him, do you suppose +Hubert, or Theodora, or both of them, would be willing to study with +him, to keep him company?" + +The matter was settled in family council, that same evening. Though it +seemed to Dr. McAlister too fine an opportunity to be lost, he left it +entirely to the choice of the children. Theodora accepted the new plan +with prompt delight. Hubert hesitated, chose the tutor, chose to stay in +school with his boy friends, dreaded to be separated from Theodora, and +finally decided to remain in the school. Two months later, Theodora was +reading the Anabasis, while Hubert was still toiling over the +intricacies of the irregular verb. + +The tutor proved to be a good one, and, from the start, it was a close +race between Theodora and Billy. He was eighteen months the older; she +was in perfect health, and her lithe young body held an equally active +mind. Moreover, she was determined not to be outdone by Billy, nor yet +be a drag upon him, so she fell to work with a will and accomplished +wonders, while Mr. Brown daily rejoiced that his lines had fallen in +such pleasant places. + +At dinner-time, Archie appeared, laden with his offerings for his +adopted family circle. + +"I shot this beast, myself, Bess," he said, as he threw a great rug at +her feet. "He was an eight-hundred-pound grizzly who liked the smell of +our supper. If you feel of his head, you can find the holes where I shot +him. Tom Keyes and I tracked him by the blood on the snow, and we +finally cornered him. I thought Hubert might like these antlers, and +here's some trumpery for the others." + +As he spoke, he tossed a handful of little packages about the group, +which quickly became clamorous in its joy. Theodora looked up from her +great nugget mounted on a slender pin, to discover that Billy too had +been included in the frolic, and she shot an approving glance at Archie +just as Allyn climbed to the young man's knee. + +"Fank you," the child said, with a sounding kiss. "I love you, and I +wish you'd come again and bring me nonner engine, Uncle Archie." + +Over Allyn's head, Archie made a gesture of defiance at Theodora. + +"That's your work, Miss Ted. I owe you one for that." + +"This one?" she asked, holding up the pin. "It's beautiful, Uncle +Archie, and I am in love with it already." + +For the next month a spirit of revelry appeared to fill the McAlister +household. It was an ideal New England winter, and plenty of snow and +cold weather kept the young people out of doors. The McAlisters taught +Archie to skate; he taught them to run on snowshoes; they had merry +coasting parties and long sleigh-rides by day. In the evenings, the +Farringtons usually joined them for games, chafing-dish suppers, +impromptu theatricals, and the thousand and one other amusements of a +winter evening. Strange to say, the closest intimacy sprang up between +the invalid and the energetic young engineer, and Billy, who at first +had jealously regretted Archie's coming, found that his own range of +sports was broadened by the strength and care of the young man's arm and +eye. + +They were all down on the ice, one moonlight evening, Archie and the +McAlisters taking turns in pushing the skating-chair in which Billy sat, +wrapped in furs. Hubert was at the back of the chair, leaning on the +bar, while the others stood gathered about, resting from a network of +figure eights. + +"To-morrow night, the moon will be full," Theodora said, as she rubbed +her nose with the back of her mitten. "I do so hope it will be good +skating, for it will be about our last chance. Next night, we have to go +to that stupid old party, and, the night after, we give our play." + +"I'm getting to the end of my nights," Archie said regretfully. "I had a +letter from the chief, to-day, and he wants me to report to him, the +first." + +"So soon as that?" Hope's tone was remonstrant, as she looked at him +with startled eyes. "You didn't mean to go so early." + +"No; I meant to stay till the fifteenth; but this will take me off, next +week." + +"Does mamma know?" Theodora asked. + +"Not yet. Don't tell her, please, till to-morrow. She always hates to +have me start off again, when I've been home." + +"No wonder," Theodora said impulsively. "You aren't half so bad as you +might be, Uncle Archie." + +He bowed low. + +"Thanks awfully. But I am freezing. I'll race you two girls to the dead +pine and back." + +"All right. You be umpire, Billy. What's the prize?" + +"A mate to your nugget. Come on." + +With a laughing word to Billy, they swept off up the pond, while the ice +rang hard under their long, swinging strokes. Archie led; but Hope and +Theodora were close behind him when he reached the old pine-tree. As +they turned to face the sheet of silver light reflected back from the +surface of the ice, Theodora gasped with the beauty of it all, and with +the tense physical excitement of the moment. For one instant, she seemed +possessed with the glorious madness of living, with the splendor of the +night, with the cold, sharp air and the exhilaration of the exercise. +The next moment, as she mustered all her strength to pass Archie, she +saw him stagger and fall. He had skated on a half-buried stick, and the +sudden check to his progress had thrown him headlong on the ice. + +There was an instantaneous hush, when it seemed to Theodora that all the +glory had died out of the universe. When she regained her scattered +senses, Hubert had whirled Billy up to the spot, while Hope, quiet and +dainty as ever, but a shade paler than usual, sat on the ice with +Archie's head resting in her lap and her handkerchief pressed against +the cut in his forehead. + +"Be quiet, Teddy," she said gently. "Archie isn't dead, dear. I think +it has only stunned him a little." + +With a gasp of shame, Theodora realized that she had been crying aloud +in her excitement, while the blurred scratches on the ice showed that +she had been flying about the group in a futile distraction. With a +groan of self-disgust, she dropped down on the footboard of Billy's +chair. + +"I didn't mean to," she said contritely. "How can you always know just +what to do, Hope? I wish I didn't act like an ape, whenever I'm +frightened. But do you think he's much hurt?" + +Archie answered the question by opening his eyes. He looked up at Hope +for a minute, first in wonder at his position, then with an expression +of infinite content, as he saw her pretty face bent over him and read +the anxiety in her eyes. Then his own eyes grew merry, as he glanced at +the tearful, dishevelled Theodora. + +"I'm not dead yet," he said. "You came near beating me; but you haven't +done it yet, my fair niece." He tried to rise as he spoke. + +Hope's hand on his forehead grew a shade heavier. + +"Wait a little," she said. "You've cut yourself, and I want it to stop +bleeding, first. Aren't you comfortable?" + +For a second time, Archie looked up into her eyes. + +"Perfectly," he answered briefly. + +The pause which followed was an expressive one. Hubert broke it. + +"Ye-es," he said critically, as he bent over Archie for a moment; "you +aren't looking your very prettiest, Archie. When you do get up, I advise +you to go in search of a mirror." + +"Hu!" + +But Hope's remonstrance came too late, for Archie had already sat up. + +Hubert helped him to take off his skates, and the little party started +for home. It was the same walk they had taken many times before; but +there was a difference now. Instead of going up the hill in a merry +group, with Archie pushing the chair and Theodora prancing along by his +side, Billy and the twins took the lead, and Archie and Hope, in the +shadow of the trees, followed along slowly, very slowly. + + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE + + +Slowly, very slowly, Theodora was turning about in front of her mirror +to inspect her new suit. It was her nearest approach to that glory of +modern womankind, the tailor-made gown, and Theodora's face was +expressive of unmitigated approval. The dark green cloth suited her +complexion to perfection, the jacket was edged with fur, and the dark +green hat, rolled sharply upwards, framed her eager young face in a soft +setting of velvet and feathers. Theodora looked her best, and, like a +true daughter of Eve, she was perfectly aware of the fact. With the aid +of a hand-glass, she studied her right side, her left side, her back, +petulantly brushed away the heavy masses of her short hair, made sure +that Archie's pin showed its gleam at her throat; then she descended the +stairs in search of admiration. + +She found Archie in the parlor, the symmetry of his face somewhat marred +by the patch of plaster on his right temple. + +"How do you like it, Uncle Arch?" she demanded, clasping her hands and +revolving before him like a teetotum. + +"It's good. You look warm and comfortable, and not a bit floppy," he +answered. "When do you go?" + +"Friday. I'd much rather wait till Tuesday, and see you off; but beggars +mustn't be choosers, and it was lovely of Mrs. Farrington to ask me." + +"You'll have a great time with them," Archie returned, privately +reflecting that Mrs. Farrington had no cause to be ashamed of her +charge. For the past three days, he had been devoting most of his spare +time to gentle Hope, yet he confessed to a hearty admiration for +off-hand, boyish Theodora, who had done so much to make his stay a +pleasant one. "Going to write to me, Ted?" he added persuasively. + +"I don't know. What for?" + +"To tell me the gossip, of course. When a fellow is away in camp, it's +good to get letters from friends at home." Archie's tone was charged +with the sentimentality of his years. He was sorry to turn his back upon +civilization once more, sorry to lose touch with his adopted nieces; +and, above all, most humanly sorry to find that Theodora was taking his +approaching departure in such a philosophical spirit. + +"Oh, I'd just as soon write, if you want me to," she answered, while she +settled her collar and gave a feminine tweak to her sleeves; "only I +don't see the use of it. Mamma will be sure to write, and there's no use +wasting stamps in telling you the news twice over." + +Assuredly Theodora was not inclined to sentiment, and Archie strolled +away to Hope, in search of appreciation, just as Phebe bounced into the +room. At sight of Theodora's new gown, she halted abruptly. + +"I suppose you think you look pretty well," she said crushingly. + +"Well, yes, I do," Theodora replied, with feigned indifference, for she +always shrank from Phebe's criticism. "How do you like it?" + +Phebe walked around her and inspected her from top to toe with provoking +deliberation. + +"It wouldn't be so bad," she remarked at length. "The coat isn't quite +right in the back, somehow; and isn't your hat a little mite one-sided?" + +"Oh, Babe, I wish anything ever suited you," Theodora broke out +impatiently. "You always find something wrong somewhere." + +But Phebe rebuked her. + +"Now, don't get cross, Teddy. Mrs. Farrington won't think you're a good +companion for Billy, if you are as cross as that." + +"Companion?" + +"Yes. Of course she wouldn't have taken you to New York, if she hadn't +wanted somebody to take care of Billy when she was busy." + +Phebe had a genius for aiming her shafts which was far in advance of her +years. Theodora winced; then she turned to her little sister with a sort +of fierceness. + +"Who said so?" she demanded. + +"I say so," Phebe returned calmly, as she settled herself on the sofa; +"and so does Isabel St. John." + +Theodora's exasperation reached a climax. + +"If you two children don't stop talking over my affairs, I'll tell +papa," she said in impotent rage, for the McAlister code of honor +scorned brute force, and she dared not give her young sister the shaking +she so richly deserved. + +"Tattle-tale!" Phebe replied in brief derision. + +Theodora fled to her room, for she felt that she was no match for her +composed young adversary. Hope found her, an hour later, sitting in a +heap on the side of her bed. + +"Don't mind, dear," she said gently. "I knew Babe had been saying +something hateful; but it's only her way. Mrs. Farrington wants you to +have a good time, and I'm so glad you are going. Three weeks in New York +will be good for you, and you will see ever so much. Just think how +lonely we are going to be without you and Archie!" Her voice broke a +little. + +Theodora kissed her impulsively. + +"Truly, are you going to miss me so much, Hope? I'll stay at home, if +you will. I really shouldn't mind." + +"Of course we shall miss you, Ted, you and Archie both. Hu and I are +going to be forlorn and dull enough; but that's no reason you are to +stay here, and lose such a chance. Archie has asked me to write to him," +she added a little inconsequently. + +Not even Phebe's cutting remarks could blunt the edge of Theodora's +happiness, three days later, as she went gliding into the vast babel of +the Grand Central Station. It had been her first real journey; it was +her first sight of New York, that Mecca of all true and loyal Americans, +and she gave a little gasp of sheer delight while she followed Mrs. +Farrington from the car and turned to wait for Patrick and Billy. She +watched it all with open-eyed content, the uniformed porters, the throng +of hungry-looking cabmen, the comfortable carriage, and the broad, +crowded streets through which they drove to reach the hotel. The hotel +itself completed her satisfaction. Mrs. Farrington liked luxury, both +for herself and for the sake of her invalid son, and Theodora could not +wonder enough at the greatness and glitter of it all, the halls and +parlors, the huge dining-room and their own cosy suite of rooms near by. +Strange to say, after the first night, she was quite at her ease, and +settled into her luxurious surroundings with an apparent unconsciousness +which was as gratifying to Mrs. Farrington as it was amusing. + +It was all old ground to Mrs. Farrington and Billy; but they enjoyed +exploring the city with their eager young guest, who revelled in it with +all the enthusiasm of her years. Wherever a carriage could go, wherever +the faithful Patrick could help his young master, there they went, until +Theodora, with the aid of her well-studied map, knew the city from the +Battery to the fastnesses of Harlem. It seemed to the young girl that +the ordinary laws of time and space had been suspended, and that she was +living in a gilded fairyland which would continue till the end of days. + +There was even one wonderful evening when Theodora, in a fresh, light +gown which had mysteriously appeared from one of Mrs. Farrington's +trunks, and Billy, in a brand-new suit and immaculate tie, went with +Mrs. Farrington to hear Calve and the De Reszkes sing _Carmen_. After +that, the rest was rather of the nature of an anticlimax, and Theodora +spent the next day in a grove of paper, transporting Marianne and Violet +to the Metropolitan Opera House in a blaze of diamonds and yards of +white silk gowns. + +On the following morning, she was still deep in this pleasant task. The +rain was sweeping against the windows; yet, in imagination, Violet was +cantering through one of the bridle paths in the Park, with Gerald at +her side, when Mrs. Farrington came into the room. + +"May I interrupt you, Teddy?" she asked, with the gentle courtesy which +made Theodora feel so grown-up and elegant. + +Theodora threw aside her pen. + +"What is it?" she asked with alacrity. + +"Nothing very pleasant, for I shall have to send you out in this storm. +I've just taken Will down to Joe Everard's to spend the morning, and I +promised to call for him, this noon. When I came back, I found a note +from Mrs. Keith, asking me to come to lunch, to meet one of our +California cousins. Do you feel as if you could go down in the carriage +and come back with Will? I hate to have him alone, in case anything +happens." + +Theodora laughed contentedly. + +"What an idea! Of course I'll go. I always love to drive, you know. +Where's the place?" + +"Away down town, near Washington Square. You'd better go right down +Fifth Avenue. I'll dress, then, and go to Mrs. Keith's; and then send +the carriage back for you, if you'll be ready." + +Theodora went back to her writing, and the moments slid away only too +rapidly. Whatever was the result of her labors, she enjoyed them keenly. +All through the winter, though Phebe scolded and Allyn teased and the +world about her went awry, she had been able to forget it all in the +adventures of her imaginary friends, the tale of whose doings had come +to be bulky and dog's-eared from frequent readings. She was still busy +over her work, when Patrick came to the door. + +"The carriage is here, Miss Theodora." + +She quickly put on her hat and coat. Patrick banged the carriage door +behind her and mounted the box beside the driver, and they drove away. +It was the first time she had driven out in solitary splendor, and +Theodora felt very dignified and luxurious as she leaned back on the +cushions and idly watched the passing show which had grown so familiar +to her during the past two weeks. When they came to the lower end of the +Avenue, she sat up in quick attention, for she was passing window after +window full of books spread out in enticing array, and above the +doorways she read on the gilded signs the names which she had learned to +know were on the titlepages of the books within. At the sight, there +came into her mind a sudden recollection of her well-worn manuscript at +home, and of the tales she had read of young writers who had made their +way into the publisher's presence. + +With an impulsive movement, she tapped sharply on the window. + +"Stop, please," she said. "On this side." + +Obediently the driver drew up opposite the doorway of a firm of +international fame, and Theodora, secure in the consciousness of her new +gown and the unwonted luxury of the carriage and Patrick, entered the +store. It was a dreary day of a dull season, and with comparatively +little trouble she found herself in a quiet office on the third floor of +the building. Its occupant, a tall, thin man with iron-gray hair, looked +up at her approach, and a slight expression of wonder came into his eyes +as they rested on his girlish visitor. + +"What can I do for you?" he asked courteously. + +Theodora was breathing a little quickly, and the bright color came and +went in her cheeks. All unconsciously, she was looking her very best. + +"I came to ask you about publishing a book." + +"Mm. Is it one you have written?" + +"Yes." + +There was a pause, slight, yet perceptible. Then the man asked,-- + +"What sort of a book is it?" + +"It's a novel. Kind of a love story." + +"How long is it?" + +"There are thirty-seven chapters done." + +"Then it isn't finished?" + +"No; but I could end it off about any time, if you are in a hurry for +it." + +In spite of himself, the publisher smiled. Theodora's girlish naivete +was refreshing to him. He liked her face and manner, and he was curious +to see more of this young aspirant for fame, so he pushed forward a +chair. + +"Sit down," he said genially; "and tell me more about it." + +With the off-hand, healthy directness of a boy, Theodora plunged into +the midst of her plot and unfolded all its intricacies. The publisher +listened till the end, always with the same little smile on his face. + +"How old are you?" he asked, when she paused for breath. + +"Sixteen." + +"And you want to write books?" + +"Awfully." Theodora's hand shut, as it lay in her lap. "I'm going to do +it, too, some day." + +"Good! I think perhaps you will. And you live in New York?" + +"No; I live in Massachusetts; but I'm here with Mrs. Farrington." + +"Mrs. Farrington? Mrs. William H. Farrington?" + +"Yes." + +"Is it possible! Did she send you to me?" + +"No; I came. Do you know her?" + +"Very well, and for ever so many years, since she was younger than you." + +"I never heard her say anything about you," Theodora said, with +unflattering directness. + +"Very likely not. But now, my dear little girl, I am going to give you +some advice. I am afraid we can't take your book. It isn't in our line; +but some day you may write something that is, and then I shall be glad +to see it. Now, if you really mean to write good books, you must read +good ones, the best ones that are written; you must study a great deal +and study all sorts of things, for you can never tell what will help you +most. Keep on writing, if you want to; but don't expect to have anything +published for ten years. By that time, you will just be ready to begin +your work. Sometime, we may meet again," he added, as he rose; "and then +you must tell me all you have done. I think I shall have reason to +congratulate you. Till then, good-by. Give my regards to Mrs. +Farrington, and tell her that I shall try to call on her before she +leaves the city." + +Theodora read her dismissal in the shrewd, kindly brown eyes. She went +away in a glorified dream of the future which lasted until she saw Billy +crossing the pavement, leaning on one crutch and with Patrick's strong +arm supporting his weight on the other side. He looked tired, and his +brave helplessness struck her in strong contrast to her own exuberant +happiness. It suddenly seemed to her that it would be selfish to boast +of her own hopes, in the face of his uncertain future, so she locked her +lips on the subject of her morning's adventure, and turned to greet him +with a bright interest which concerned itself with his doings alone. + + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN + + +"Spring has come, and the McAlisters are putting on their annual +addition," Hope wrote to Archie in April. "It is on the west side, a new +wing. Mother calls the upper room Archie's room. At present, the +downstairs room goes by the name of The Annex, because we have exhausted +our ingenuity in naming the other rooms, and have nothing left for +this." + +The name proved to be an enduring one, while the process of building was +more exciting than usual. Dr. McAlister had decided to have the cellar +extended for the wing; and the rocky ledge on which the house was +perched rendered blasting a necessity. For a week, they lived in a state +of alarm lest the house should be jarred down about their ears. For a +week, they heard the steady _clink_, _clink_ of the hammers on the +drills, the thud of the stone-laden hogsheads rolled over the boards +above the rock, and the thunder of the blast as it exploded. By the time +the week was ended, the noisy work of the carpenters seemed, in +comparison, like sweet music. + +Strange to say, it was Allyn who most gloried in the confusion, and, +from the first shovelful of earth to the last nail, he was always to be +found in the thick of the fray. No matter how often the workmen picked +him up and returned him to his mother, he invariably reappeared under +their feet again, five minutes later, to be alternately a target for +their profanity and a receptacle for choice morsels from their +luncheons. + +"No, Allyn," Hope said, with decision, when she found him investigating +the tip of a freshly-lighted fuse; "you mustn't go there again, ever. Do +you hear sister?" + +"Ess," lisped the culprit. "I hears; but it is so instering." + +"Too interesting for a baby like you," Hope said, laughing, in spite of +her pale cheeks. "If you do that again, Allyn, sister won't have any +little brother to cuddle." + +"Why for not?" + +"Because you'll be killed, dear." + +"And will I be a little boy angel?" + +"Yes." + +"And do little boy angels have stomachs?" was the next unexpected +question. + +"I don't know. Why?" + +"'Cause then I can have all the pieces of cake I want," he answered, +with a vengeful recollection of the angel cake forbidden the night +before. + +Since Theodora's visit to New York, there had been no fresh excitement +in the McAlister household, and the young people had settled down into +the peaceful routine of work and play which had preceded Archie's +coming. To be sure, it was never quite the same as in past years, for +their circle had been widened to admit Billy Farrington, and, moreover, +Archie's letters created a new interest for them all, for Hope more than +for the others, since to her they were more personal than to the rest, +and on her devolved the necessity of answering them. Mrs. McAlister used +to smile quietly to herself, at times, and she had even spoken of the +matter to the doctor, who nodded approvingly, even though there was no +actual thing to which he could give his assent. + +"Say, Hu," Theodora asked abruptly, one night; "wouldn't it be funny if +Archie married Hope?" + +Hubert stopped whistling and stared at his sister in surprise. + +"What an idea, Ted! Your brain must be 'way off, to think of such a +thing." + +"Stranger things than that have happened, Hu," Theodora said shrewdly. +"Just wait a few years and see." + +"Archie's no fusser," Hubert said, with some scorn. + +"Maybe not; but he likes Hope, and she thinks he is perfect. Of course, +they won't do it yet, but they may in time. Here we are. Come in." + +For the first time in their lives, the twins were on their way to a +temperance meeting. Dr. McAlister had always felt that such meetings +were no place for impressionable children, that the sensational methods +of oratory were not for young ears; and Hubert and Theodora had +experienced some difficulty in coaxing their father to give his consent +to their hearing a famous young Irish orator who was holding a series of +meetings in the town. It was a new experience for Theodora, who, from +the first moment, was swayed to and fro at the speaker's will, now +laughing at his broad humor, now winking away her tears at his pathos, +now thrilling through all her lithe young body at his stirring appeals +for help to raise the drink-sodden world around him. Hubert was more +sceptical. + +"What a fib!" he remarked, at the close of the story which ended the +lecture. "I know things never happened as pat as that. They don't, out +of books, I bet. What are you going to do, Ted?" + +Theodora, her face flushed and her eyes like stars, had started forward +to the stage. + +"I'm going to sign the pledge, Hu." + +"What for? You don't get drunk." + +"For my example. Oh, Hu, think of the saloons in the east end of town! +And we've never done anything to help them! It's terrible." + +She came back to him with her hands full of pamphlets. Hubert eyed her +askance. + +"I say, Ted, what are those?" + +"Tracts." + +"What for?" + +"I am going to take them to some of those people, to-morrow. It may wake +them up to what they are doing." + +"They're more likely to wake you up, Ted. Go easy. You know papa never +will let you." + +"I sha'n't ask him, then," she said proudly. "If it's right, it's right, +and nobody ought to stop me." + +Hubert whistled softly. + +"Look out, Ted. Remember the kid you stole? This may come out as your +slumming did, you know." + +But Theodora started out, the next morning, the tracts in her hand and +zeal in her heart. At the very first saloon, she was doomed to +disillusion. + +"It is a wicked life," she said firmly; "and you ought to be ashamed." + +For a wonder, the man knew neither Dr. McAlister nor his daughter, and +he was not moved to awe by this child. + +"Do you think it is any of your business, my fine lady?" he demanded +sharply. + +Theodora quailed. + +"N-n-no-o-o-o; I don't," she said faintly, and fled from the door into +the arms of her father, who chanced to be passing by. + +"Theodora!" he exclaimed. + +"Yes, sir." She hung her head guiltily, for she instinctively felt his +disapproval. + +"What are you doing here, in such a place?" he asked more sternly than +he was wont to speak. + +"I'm--I'm--I'm--" she faltered. + +He held out his hand for the tracts. She gave them up reluctantly, and +she saw him frown as he read their lurid headings. For a moment he +looked perplexed; then he said quietly,-- + +"Theodora, I wish you to go home at once, and to say nothing of this to +anyone. To-night, after supper, come to the office. I want to talk this +over with you." + +"Yes, papa." + +Her lip quivered, and he relaxed a little of his sternness. + +"I know you didn't mean to do wrong, my dear. I am not going to scold +you; but there are a good many things I want to say to you,--things we +can't say here. That is all." + +To Theodora's mind, the day dragged perceptibly. She was conscious of +her father's disapproval, conscious that, in her girlish impulsiveness, +she had gone where she had no business to go. It was a relief when +supper was over, and she followed her father into his office. + +He pulled out a great easy-chair and sat down. + +"Come here, my girlie, and cuddle in beside me, as you used to do," he +said, with an inviting gesture. "Now tell me all about it." + +Theodora poured forth her tale in an incoherent tide. Her father, +listening and stroking the brown head, smiled a little, from time to +time. When she had finished,-- + +"What is temperance, Teddy?" he asked abruptly. + +"Not to drink rum," she answered, with glib promptness. + +He smiled again. + +"That is only a tiny little part of it, my girl." + +"Of course. I mean whiskey, too, and beer, and--and--" + +"Never mind the rest of them now. It's a good long list, and the worst +of the drinking isn't always done in the saloons." + +"Where is it, then?" Theodora looked at him in astonishment. + +"At banquets and dinners and receptions. Too often at college suppers, +and by boys not much older than Hu." + +"Really?" + +"Yes, Ted. Now, my dear, I'm going to give you a lecture. It won't be +like the one you heard, last night, for I'm not a temperance orator, +only a plain old doctor. Temperance isn't signing the pledge, or keeping +it after it is signed; it is keeping one's self free from all kinds of +badness and excess, whether it's drinking or smoking, or too much +dancing, or tight shoes. It is taking all our pleasures moderately, so +that they can never hurt our bodies or our minds. Do you see what I +mean?" + +"But oughtn't all liquor to be taken away?" she urged, still mindful of +the orator's sounding periods. + +"Like any other powerful drug. It's one thing to use it, Ted, another to +abuse it, as we doctors know. There are times when it must be used, just +like any other medicine. Because I give you a dose, one day, you don't +need to go on taking it forever, dear." + +He paused for a minute, then he went on,-- + +"That is one side of it,--a side that we must look at. On the other is +the horrible danger of forming the habit of taking wine and such things +to excess. The suffering is terrible, and the poverty. That comes from +intemperance in drink more than from any other form of it; and the only +way that it is to be prevented is for us parents to teach our boys and +girls all the danger, teach them that, because they want it, there is no +excuse for their taking it. If you aren't strong enough to deny yourself +something you know is a sin, you haven't learned the first lesson of +good living. But it isn't drinking alone; there are other sins that are +as bad and as dangerous; and a man or woman, to be strong and pure and +good, must turn his back upon them all." + +"But I did want to help," Theodora said. "There ought to be something +that a girl can do." + +"So there is," her father answered quickly. + +"What?" + +"From now on, through all your young womanhood, be sure you stand on the +right side of things. Don't preach. That never does any good. Just frown +down any fastness in your friends. Let it be understood that you have +nothing to do with a man who drinks and swears, with a girl who is fast +or familiar, who laces till she can't breathe, and dances all night with +men whom she hardly knows. Let my Teddy, even if she must stand alone, +stand for all that is truest and best in women, and the young men and +women around her will respect her and try to pull themselves up to her +standard. You needn't be a prig, Ted. Be as full of fun as you can; the +more, the better, only choose your fun carefully. Your old father knows +what he's talking about, and he knows that girls have more influence +than most of them are willing to use." + +Theodora's cheek was resting against her father's shoulder, and her eyes +had drooped. + +"I will," she said humbly. + +"And remember this, my girlie; I am always here to talk things over with +you and advise you. When you are older, perhaps you can help me with my +poorer patients. Till then, Teddy, wait, and don't try to do too much. +You're only my little girl yet; and the world is too big for you to +understand. Good-night, dear. Now I must go." + +It was the last of the lecture; but, simple as it had been, Theodora +never lost the memory of the quiet hour in the office, and in after +years she learned to know the value of the lesson so gently given. + + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN + + +"Back again, at last?" Billy looked up with a smile, as Theodora came +flying into the room. + +"Yes. Have you missed me?" + +"Haven't I? You mustn't go off again, Ted. You are altogether too +frisky." + +"What could I do? Papa took me." + +"Had a good time?" + +"Beautiful. It's too much for one spring,--three weeks in New York, and +this lovely week of driving." + +"You had good weather, sure enough. Also, ma'am, you're brown as a +squaw. Also, I think your hair has grown." + +"Wish 't would; but that's a forbidden subject. I'll tell you one thing, +Billy Farrington: if I ever do get any hair again, I'll guard it like +the apple of my eye. But what about you?" + +"News." + +"Oh, what?" she questioned eagerly. + +"Well, we went down to see Dr. Parker, last Saturday." + +"What did he say?" + +"That I'm doing as well as could be expected." + +"What else? I know there's something good; you show it all over." + +Billy tried to draw down his face, failed, gave up the effort, and +laughed instead. + +"'Tis good, Ted. I told them not to tell you, for I wanted the fun of +it. He says I can plan to enter college, a year from this fall; he says +in three months I can walk as far as my crutches will take me, and he +says in a few years I'll be as well as ever. Isn't it fine? Why, Ted, +what's the matter?" + +"Nothing; only I'm a goose." And Theodora looked up, her eyes shining +with happy tears. "You know I'm glad, Billy; only I don't know how to +say it straight." + +"That's all right, Ted. It sort of took my own breath away at first. I +couldn't wait to tell you, for you've been the best friend I've had. +You've pulled me through lots of bad places." + +Theodora's face was very gentle; but she laughed. + +"The chair runs easily, Billy. It didn't take much pulling." + +"That's another thing." Billy's face was growing brighter with every +moment. "I've said good-by to the chair." + +"What do you mean? You can't walk yet?" + +"No; but I'm going to have a tricycle that runs with my hands, and I can +go wherever I choose. How will you like to have me running away from +you?" + +"You can't; I'll hang on behind, Billy. A tricycle? How splendid! I +believe I envy you more than ever." + +"I'll swap my tricycle for your back," he retorted. + +"I wish we could take turns. When is it coming?" + +"Friday, the letter said." + +"All right; I'll make the most of the time till then. After you get it, +there'll be no catching a glimpse of you." + +Billy laughed, and it seemed to Theodora that his laugh was a little +mocking. + +"I'll whistle to you, as I go by. Honestly, Ted, it does seem hard to +leave you alone, when we've had such great times together." + +His words were the echo of her thoughts. For a moment, Theodora +struggled with herself. Then her real love for her friend triumphed. + +"It will make ever so much difference, Billy; but I'm glad of it. We've +had our good times together, lots of them, and there'll always be our +lessons, you know. Truly and honestly, you've had about all the girl you +can stand, and it's time you were able to ride off with the boys." + +Billy leaned back in his chair and surveyed her through narrowed lids. + +"Girls aren't half bad, Teddy," he observed; "but I'm glad you take it +so philosophically." + +There was a long pause. Then Theodora spoke. + +"I've some news, too, Billy." + +"Good?" + +"I thought so, till I heard yours. Now it seems rather flat." + +"What is it?" + +"My story is done," she answered quietly, but with a little heightening +of her color. + +"Done? To the very end? Get it," he commanded. + +"No; not yet. I only finished it, last night, and I want time to look it +over, myself, before I show it to you. I may not let you see it, after +all." + +"Oh, come now, that's not square! Didn't I help you, I'd like to know?" + +Theodora cocked her head on one side, and meditated aloud. + +"He furnished hair and eyes for one hero, and a nose for the other. +There are seven of his speeches, not very bright ones, and he gave me +points for one love scene. I wonder if he's earned the right to see it." + +"'Course I have. Go and get it, and bring it over here." + +"Wait," she begged. "Truly, I'm not ready yet. I'm afraid you'll laugh." + +"Do I ever laugh at you,--in earnest, that is?" he demanded. + +"No," she confessed honestly; "you never do." + +"Then you ought to trust me with this." + +"You couldn't read it." + +"Read it to me, then." + +"Well, maybe." + +Late that same day, in the long May twilight, they were coming up town +together, Theodora pushing Billy in the familiar chair which was so soon +to be discarded. With Mulvaney trudging solemnly at their heels, they +had been loitering along in the sunset, while Billy gave himself up to +the bright companionship which he had so sorely missed during the past +ten days, and Theodora tried to talk as blithely as usual, while she +told herself again and again that her opportunities for such walks were +growing few. + +"Lessons to-morrow," Billy said at length. "I've got to grind in earnest +now, Ted, if I'm to be ready for Yale, next year. Old Brownie has +promised to put me through, though." + +"I wish I were going, too." + +"To Yale? But you'll do better; you'll write books and get famous, while +I'm racketing around New Haven. By the way, you're going to bring it +over, to-night." + +"It?" Theodora tried to look as if she failed to catch his meaning. + +"The great and only IT,--the novel. What's its name?" + +"I'm not sure. But I'll bring it, in a day or two," she answered. + +It was not until the following Saturday morning, however, that she +appeared at the Farringtons' with a bulky parcel of papers in her hands. + +"I knew your mother was going to be out, this morning," she said, as she +slid out of her dripping mackintosh; "so I thought I'd get it over +with." + +"That's good. Take the big chair. Wait a minute, though." + +He whistled for Patrick to put more wood on the fire, and to place a +glass of water within Theodora's reach. + +"There!" he said approvingly. "Now we're comfortable. Hold on a minute, +Patrick; just boost me over to the sofa, while you're about it. I may as +well take life easily." + +Theodora stuffed the cushions about him with the swift, sure touch he +knew so well, and he nodded blithely up at her, in thanks. + +"Oh, but it's good you're back, Ted!" he said gratefully. "I've missed +you like thunder. Now fire ahead. What are you going to call it?" + +Theodora blushed, and the name stuck in her throat. + +"I thought I should call it _In the Furnace of Affliction_," she said +hesitatingly. + +"Wow! How doleful!" + +"Don't you like it?" she asked. + +"It's rather taking, only it isn't exactly festive," he answered. + +"Neither is the story, I suspect," she said, laughing a little +nervously. + +"Go on," he said so imperatively that, with one long breath, Theodora +began to read. + +It was more than two hours before she finished her story, and during +that time Billy's attention and respect never failed her. There were +moments when his gravity was sorely tried, for, more mature than +Theodora, and, by stress of circumstances, far more at home in the world +of books, he realized all the unconscious humor of some of the overdrawn +scenes and melodramatic conversations. Still, his loyalty to Theodora +would not let him waver, and, in spite of its crudeness, he was honestly +surprised at some of the really telling points of the story. + +"It is good, Ted," he said, as she dropped the last page into her lap. +"It isn't quite up to _Treasure Island_ or _Ivanhoe_; but it's as good +as half the rubbish that gets published, and some of it is most awfully +fine. I like that scene where Violet and Marianne tell each other their +love affairs. Girls talk just like that, you know." + +"You really think it is worth publishing?" she questioned, while her +color came and went. + +"I most certainly do. Chop it down a little and copy it out, and then +send it to a man." + +"But I don't want to cut it," she protested. + +"It's too long," Billy urged, with more practicality than tact. + +"Not a bit. It's no longer than _Robert Elsmere_, and everybody has read +that." + +"Have you?" + +"No; but I counted the pages and words and things. This isn't long a +bit, Billy." + +The discussion was never ended, for just then Patrick came into the +room. + +"The expressman has been here, Mr. Will." + +"And has brought the tricycle? Hurray!" And Billy seized his crutches. +"Where is it? Help me up, Patrick! Come along, Ted!" + +"I had it taken into the kitchen. Shall I open it, sir?" + +"Of course. Hurry up about it, too. Did anything else come?" + +"Yes; but not here, sir." + +With a little feeling of envy, Theodora followed Billy to the kitchen +and stood by, while Patrick opened the crate and took out the light +tricycle so carefully packed within. + +"Isn't it a beauty? Isn't it fine? Oh, why does it have to be raining, +Ted, so I can't try it? Put me into the thing, Patrick. This floor is so +large that I can see how it is going to work." + +The story and even Theodora herself was forgotten, while the boy grasped +the handles and rolled himself up and down the floor. For the moment, +he was half beside himself with joy. It was as if his prison door +suddenly had opened, after having been closed and barred for more than a +year. After months of the stuffy couch, after months more of Patrick and +the chair, it was good to be able to move himself about, once more. But +he was weaker than he knew, and the excitement was more than he had the +strength to endure. Theodora, who had been watching him, saw him grow a +little white around the mouth. + +"Take me out, Patrick," he said wearily. "I sha'n't run away, to-day. I +think, if you don't mind, I'll get back on the lounge again." + +Theodora lingered beside him until he was his usual bright self once +more. Then she started for home. Allyn met her on the steps. + +"Tum in," he said imperiously. + +"What for?" + +"'Cause. Hope said I wasn't to tell." + +"Tell what?" + +"Sumfin's here." + +"What kind of a sumfin, Allyn? Wait till sister gets her mackintosh +off." + +"No; tum." He tugged at her hand. + +Laughing at his eagerness, she threw off her mackintosh, caught him in +her arms, and went in the direction of the voices which she heard in a +confused, excited murmur. As she opened the door, she was saluted with a +chorus. + +"Here she is!" + +"Oh, Ted, just look!" + +"Now she won't speak to the rest of us." + +"Teddy, do see here!" + +She looked and saw. Then, regardless of Allyn in her arms, she cast +herself into the middle of the group and seized upon something that +stood there,--something with a gleam of black enamel and a flash of +nickel and the lustre of polished wood. + +"Oh, Hu! Mamma! Hope! What is it? Where did it come from?" + +"The expressman left it here, addressed to you, Teddy; and here's a note +in Mrs. Farrington's writing, tied to the bar." + +Theodora snatched the note and broke the dainty seal, but it was a +moment before she could realize the meaning of what was written within. + + "MY DEAR TEDDY," it ran; "Will is so happy in his tricycle; but I + knew it wouldn't be quite perfect unless you had the mate to it. He + is so used to going with you, in his chair, that I am sure he would + miss you, now he can go alone. Will you accept this bicycle from + us both, dear, and remember that we give it to you, not because you + have been so kind to Will, but because we care so very much for + your dear little self? + + "Sincerely, + JESSIE FARRINGTON." + +"My!" Phebe commented, when Theodora folded up the note. "I wish I had +somebody to be good to, Teddy McAlister. I'd like to earn a bicycle as +easy as you have." + + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN + + +For a week, Theodora gave herself over to the most violent gymnastics +she had ever known. For a week, she toiled and perspired and suffered +and was strong. Day after day, she patiently indented the floor and +walls of the riding school with every possible variety of tumble known +to aspiring humanity. Night after night, she counted her bruises and +anointed them with liniments. She tore her clothes, and knocked the skin +off one side of her nose, and rasped her temper. At the end of the week +she emerged, chastened and humbled, yet triumphant. She could ride her +bicycle. + +The whole family came out on the lawn to see her mount. No one of them +but Hubert had ever mastered the intricacies of a wheel, and, in +consequence, they were loud in their advice. + +"Why don't you ride here on the grass?" Hope suggested. "Then it won't +be so hard, if you fall off." + +"I don't mean to fall," Theodora protested. "Besides, it's all down +hill." + +"Huh!" Phebe sniffed with scorn. "It's easy enough to ride down hill. I +should think anybody could do that; shouldn't you, Isabel?" + +But Isabel, who knew how to ride, prudently forbore to express an +opinion. + +"Where are you going, Theodora?" Mrs. McAlister called after her. + +"Out here, where the road is better." + +"But we want to see you start." + +"It's sandy here." + +"What difference does that make?" + +"Why, I can't push through such sand as that." + +"How strange! I always thought you were so strong." + +Theodora clashed her bell in a spirit of wild protest. + +"How can I do anything, with you all standing here to criticise me?" + +"Oh, Teddy, how selfish!" Hope's tone was rebuking. + +"I don't care. Do go in!" she said petulantly, as she started to mount. + +"Can't you mount any better than that, after all those lessons?" Phebe +asked, a moment later, as Theodora picked herself up from beneath her +wheel. "I know I could do better than that." + +"Try it, then." Theodora faced her little sister hotly. + +Phebe drew back. + +"I'm--I'm going to the post-office with Isabel, and her mother told us +to hurry." + +Allyn added his voice to the chorus. + +"Wait," he proclaimed; "I wants to talk. Phebe spokes so much, she takes +up all the room." + +"What now, Allyn?" Hope inquired. + +"Teddy tumbled over," he returned gravely. "I should fink she could ride +now, and not tumble over so much." + +There was a silence, while Theodora wrestled with her feelings and her +wheel. Then Hubert's voice rang down from an upper window, clear and +encouraging,-- + +"Try it again, Ted. You're all right, only you don't know it." + +She did try it again, and went reeling down the street and in at the +Farringtons' gate, where Billy met her with applause. The more stable +nature of his own machine had allowed him to master it at once, and now +he was only waiting for Theodora, that they might start forth together +and conquer the world. + +The days flew by, each one more perfect than the last. In the golden +May weather, when the world never looks more green and fresh and lovable +than in its yellow sunshine, they rode forth to take their places in the +young life about them. It was scarcely more new to Billy than to +Theodora. Everything wears a changed aspect when viewed from the saddle, +and the girl felt that never before had she seen in its full beauty the +miracle of the opening leaves. For a few days, Dr. McAlister watched +Billy with some degree of care, fearful lest he be led too far by his +new enthusiasm, and exhaust his strength. Then the doctor breathed a +sigh of relief. Billy throve under it as a true boy should do, and, from +week to week, he gained new vigor as fast as he gained new sunburn. + +Hubert, meanwhile, was passing through an ignominious experience. He was +having measles. Alone of all the McAlisters, he had contrived to escape +the epidemic of two years before. Even Allyn had had it, and Billy +Farrington counted his convalescence as among the golden memories of his +boyhood, no school and endless goodies. For Hubert, sixteen years old +and five feet, ten inches, in height, it was reserved to go through the +disease alone. He was not seriously ill; but his whole soul revolted at +the babyish nature of his complaint, and at the tedium of the darkened +room. + +"Where going, Ted?" he demanded, one day. + +"To ride with Billy." + +"Bother Billy! I hate him." + +"What for?" Theodora stared at her brother in open-eyed consternation. + +"Because he's always round in the way. You aren't good for anything, now +he's here, always running off with him," Hubert grumbled. + +"Poor Billy! How'd you like it not to be able to go out alone? He needs +me." + +"I can't go out at all." + +"But he's been so for more than a year," Theodora said sharply; "and you +have only been in the house four days. I should think you could stand +that." + +"I should think you could stay in, once in a while, with your own +brother," Hubert retorted. "Charity begins at home." + +"But I promised Billy--" + +"I don't want you. Do get out and let me alone." + +As a rule, Hubert was the most even-tempered of boys. Now, however, he +felt himself aggrieved and deserted, and his tone was not altogether +amicable. + +"How cross you are!" Theodora snapped. + +"Oh, get out!" And Hubert turned his back on his sister and yawned. + +The door closed with a bang, and he heard Theodora's feet descending the +stairway, with a vengeful thump on every step. Then he yawned again. +There was nothing on earth to do; he was not ill enough to make it +interesting, only a bore. Time was when Theodora would have stuck to him +like a burr, and they would have contrived to have some fun out of even +such untoward circumstances as this. Now she deserted him and went off +with that confounded Billy. At this point in his musings, he dropped to +sleep. + +In the mean time, Billy was having a bad afternoon of it. Never had he +seen Theodora in a more fractious mood. She scolded about the road and +the heat, snubbed all his sympathetic suggestions, and contradicted all +his efforts at conversation. Under such conditions, the ride was a short +one, and it was less than an hour from the time they had started that +they reappeared in the Farringtons' drive. Theodora refused all +invitation to stop. + +"Thanks; but I must get home," she said curtly, and she rode away with +her teeth set and her chin aggressively in the air, leaving Billy with +the impression that he had unintentionally stepped into a hornets' nest. + +Hope was spending the day with a friend, and Mrs. McAlister was +superintending some belated house-cleaning, so that Hubert was alone, as +when she had left him. She ran directly up to his room; but, when she +saw that he was asleep, her step softened, and she stealthily advanced +to his side and sat down on the edge of the bed. Something of the mood +in which he had gone to sleep still remained, and his boyish face, even +in his dreams, was dull and unhappy. Theodora reproached herself, as she +sat looking down at him. She reproached herself more, while she looked +about at the disorderly room and recalled her mother's words, as they +left the dinner-table, that noon. + +"I shall be busy, this afternoon, Teddy, so I shall leave Hu in your +care." + +A vase of fading flowers stood on the table, and beside it was a plate +of half-eaten fruit. Odds and ends of clothing lay about, and the bed on +which he had thrown himself looked tumbled and unattractive. It seemed +impossible that, since the morning, a room could get into such a state +of dire disorder. + +Rising, she crept softly about the room, setting things to rights and +giving the place the look of feminine daintiness which she knew so well +how to impart. Not even Hope had so much of the true home-making +instinct as Theodora, when she chose to turn her wayward interest in +that direction; and within a few moments the room looked a different +place altogether. + +Hubert stirred slightly, and Theodora whisked her duster out of sight +and went back to the bed. + +"Hu, I'm awfully sorry," she said, in explosive contrition. "I never +meant to be so piggable." + +The memory of their brief passage at arms had faded from Hubert's mind, +and he answered, with a yawn,-- + +"What do you mean?" + +"About leaving you and going off with Billy. Really, Hu, I didn't s'pose +you cared, and Billy was used to me, and--I rather guess I've been a +good deal selfish; but I won't, any more." + +"Why, Ted!" For her head had dropped on his shoulder, and he felt the +hot tears falling on his wrist. + +"I like you so much better, Hu. You're my twin, and there's nobody like +you, and to think I left you all alone!" In her excitement, the tears +came fast. + +"Ted, don't be silly! Look up, old girl! I don't want you hanging round +here with me. I'll be out of this in a week, anyway." + +"I know that, Hu." Theodora raised her head and spoke proudly. "But +you're my twin and my other half, better than all the Billys in +creation, and I ought to stay with you. What's more, I don't mean to go +off again till you can go with me. Billy is Billy, and good fun; but +you--" she cuddled her head against him with one of her rare +demonstrations of affection--"are my Hu." + +"I'm sorry, Billy," she said, that evening; "but I can't go out with +you, to-morrow. Hu's shut up in the house, and I don't think it is quite +fair to leave him, all the time." + +"Leave him, half the time, then," Billy suggested. + +Theodora shook her head. + +"Hu stands first, Billy; and I must look out for him when he's ill." + +Loyally she kept her word, and, for the next week, she was Hubert's +constant attendant and slave. He lorded it over her and played with her +by turns; but he appreciated the sacrifice she was making for him and, +more than he realized, he enjoyed the return to their old intimate +relation. It was not that he was jealous of Billy. It was not that Billy +had intentionally come between them. There had been a time, however, +when the twins were all in all to each other. Then Theodora's horizon +had suddenly broadened to admit Billy. Among his many boy friends, +Hubert had found no one with whom he could be on correspondingly +intimate terms. He frankly avowed that he liked no one else so well as +Teddy, and he had been a little hurt to find that he apparently no +longer occupied a similar place in her affections. But, whatever danger +there had been of their drifting apart, Hubert's opportune attack of +measles seemed to have vanquished it, and the twins stood more firmly +than ever before upon their old footing of mutual and unrivalled +intimacy. + +Two days after Hubert went out of doors for the first time, Billy +appeared at the McAlisters', demanding Theodora. She was long in +presenting herself; and, when she came down, her face was flushed and +her lips a little unsteady. + +"Hullo, Ted! Come for a ride?" + +"Don't feel like it." + +"Why not?" + +"My head aches." + +"The air will do it good. It's a fine day. Come on." + +"But I can't." + +Billy looked perplexed. + +"What's the row, Ted? Have I done anything?" + +"Of course not." + +"What is it? Something's wrong." + +She hesitated a moment. + +"Nothing, only my story has come back." + +"The mischief! When?" + +"To-day." + +"What for?" + +"He said 'twas crude and sensational, and the work of a child." + +"The old beast! Truly, Ted, I'm so sorry." + +"So am I; but crying won't mend matters." + +"Send it to mamma's friend in New York," he suggested kindly. + +"And be pulled through by force? Not much, Billy Farrington! If my story +won't go of itself, I won't have any friends at court helping me on. +Some day, I am going to write a novel that will be worth taking. Till +then, I won't be helped out on poor work. Wait a minute. I will go to +ride, after all." + +Billy sat looking after her, as she went away in search of her hat. + +"She has good grit," he observed to himself; "and I believe she'll get +there, some time or other." + + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN + + +"But it would be such fun, papa," Theodora said, with a suspicion of a +pout. + +"It's too far, Teddy. It must be twenty miles each way." + +"I rode thirty, yesterday." + +"I think that is too far for you." + +"Oh, please." + +"We could take the train back, if Ted should get used up," Hubert +suggested. + +"Yes, only it's going to be such lovely moonlight." + +"Then take the train over and ride back," Hubert amended. "Truly, papa, +I think Ted could do it. She rides like an Indian." + +"I didn't know that Indians had taken to bicycles," Mrs. McAlister said, +with a smile. + +"Like a tomboy, then." + +"That's not polite," Theodora protested. + +"Never mind; it's true. But can't we try it, papa? Aunt Alice is always +asking us to come over to see her, and this is such a splendid chance, +before I go back into school, or it gets too warm. We can ride over, +Friday morning, stay all day, and come back at night. The twilights are +long, at this season, and the moon will be full." + +Hubert's persuasion carried the day, and the doctor gave a reluctant +permission. Three days later, the twins set forth on their ride. +Theodora, in her spotless linen suit and with her pretty wheel, was +radiant with anticipations. It was her first all-day trip on her +bicycle, and she felt that it would be a much more enjoyable experience +than her shorter rides, which, for the most part, had been beside +Billy's tricycle. In some mysterious manner known only to boys, Hubert +had learned to ride without being taught, and an occasional spin on a +borrowed wheel was apparently all that was needed to keep him in perfect +training. + +The whole family assembled on the piazza to see them start. + +"You'd better not ride back," Mrs. McAlister called after them. "If you +are at all tired, Teddy, you must take the train." + +"Yes," Theodora said, with outward obedience and an inward resolve not +to be at all tired. + +"If you do ride, when shall you get home?" the doctor asked. "Give +yourselves plenty of time, only set some limit, so that we sha'n't be +anxious." + +"Hm," Theodora said thoughtfully. "Supper at five, start at six, two +hours to ride, and an hour for delays. We'll be at home at nine, at the +latest." + +"Very well. Say half-past nine, then. We won't worry till then. Take +care of yourselves and have a good time." And the doctor flourished his +napkin in farewell, and then went back to his breakfast. + +"Dear old Daddy!" Theodora said, while she turned in her saddle to look +back, and then waved a good-by to Billy on his piazza. "He didn't want +us to go. I do hope he won't be anxious." + +"Don't you suppose I can take care of you, ma'am?" Hubert asked, in mock +indignation, and Theodora smiled back at him contentedly. + +The day was hot and dusty, and the roads more sandy than they had +supposed possible, so that it was a very limp and demoralized Theodora +who landed, three hours later, on her aunt's piazza. Theodora was always +destructive to her toilets, and in some mysterious manner she had parted +with all of her starch and most of her neatness, in the course of the +last nineteen miles. Once inside the cool, dark house, with a glass of +lemonade in her hand, however, Theodora forgot the discomforts of the +road. + +"How goes it with you, Ted?" Hubert asked, late that afternoon. "Shall +we ride, or take the train?" + +She pointed up at the clear sky, broken only by a few fleecy masses of +cloud on the western horizon. + +"Think what that moon will be, and then ask me to take the train if you +dare." + +"Aren't you tired?" + +"Not a bit. Don't you think we can do it, Hu?" + +He laughed at her spirit. + +"All right. Don't blame me, though, if you are dead, to-morrow." + +She tossed her head proudly. + +"I don't die so easily; but, if you 're tired, we'll take the cars." + +They had planned to start for home at six; but callers delayed the +supper, and, when they finally mounted, the moon was standing out in the +eastern sky, like a thick, white vapor. There was a chorus of good-byes, +a clashing of two bells, and the twins started off upon their homeward +ride. + +For the first hour, it seemed to Theodora that she had never ridden more +easily. The fatigue of the morning had worn away, leaving only the +exhilaration; and, like most riders, she came to her best strength late +in the day. Slowly the twilight fell about them, and, as the golden +light of the sunset died away in the west, the silver lustre of the full +moon brightened the eastern sky. Theodora's gown was damp with the +falling dew, as they rolled quietly on between fields pale with sleepy +daisies and nodding buttercups. One by one, the cows in the pastures +stopped grazing and lay down to rest; while, above their heads, the +birds drowsily exchanged sweet good-nights. Then the last glow faded +from the west, and the world fell asleep. + +"I don't half like those clouds, Ted," Hubert said suddenly. "If they +come up much faster, they'll play the mischief with us before we get +home." + +"Oh, they won't do any harm," Theodora said easily. "It will be light +enough to ride to-night, even if it is cloudy." + +"But we have that long stretch of woods, you know." + +"I forgot that." Theodora spoke lower, and involuntarily glanced over +her shoulder. "How far is it?" + +"Five miles. That won't take us long, and we're almost there now." + +"Yes; but it's hilly and no track to speak of. Hurry, Hu! Let's ride +faster and get through it before that cloud gets over the moon. I wish +we had lanterns." + +It is exciting work to race with a cloud. Vapors are unreliable things +at best, and are prone to roll up the sky with fateful swiftness. As +Hubert and Theodora came under the first of the trees, the cloud came +above them, and the moon vanished. Theodora was as plucky as a girl +could be; but there was something rather fearful to her in this dark and +lonely road, where she and Hubert were the only moving objects, but +where unknown beings might lurk in every shadow, ready to spring out and +drag her down to the earth. The formless fear lent an unsteadiness to +her progress, and she began to wobble. + +"How dark it is!" she said, in an odd, constrained little voice. "It +must be very late, Hu. Can you see your watch?" + +"It's not light enough." + +"Haven't you a match?" + +"No." + +"I know we sha'n't get home at nine." + +"We have till half past, you know. Keep up your pluck, Ted. We're all +right. Let's ride a little faster." + +Half-way down the next hill, there came a clatter and a bump, followed +by a little moan from Theodora. Hubert sprang to the ground and ran to +her side. + +"I slipped in the sand and had a fall, a bad one. I've done something to +my ankle." + +"Is it sprained?" + +"I'm afraid so." + +Leaning heavily on his arm, she scrambled to her feet. + +"What is it, Ted? Shall we go back?" + +She shut her teeth for a moment. + +"No; what's the use?" + +"Sha'n't I go for somebody?" + +"Where's the nearest house?" + +"Two miles back." + +She gave a little sigh of pain. Then she said steadily,-- + +"Take the wheels, Hu, and let me walk a little. It's better to go on, +and perhaps I can ride, if I get quieted down a little. I'm sorry to be +a baby," she added piteously; "but it does hurt so." + +"Baby! You!" Hubert longed to pick his sister up in his arms and carry +her to a shelter; but it was impossible. Worst of all, he dared not +openly pity her. He knew that she was using all her self-control to keep +from crying with the pain, and that a single sympathetic word would +break down her courage. "Good for you, Ted! I knew you had the sand in +you," was all he ventured to say, as she limped slowly along at his +side. + +"I had too much sand under me," she answered, with a giggle which +threatened to become hysterical. + +The next mile was apparently endless, and Theodora, as she looked this +way and that with stealthy, fearful glances, felt that the terrors of +the darkness almost swallowed up the pain in her ankle. Underneath the +rest, moreover, was the anxiety in regard to the delay. She knew the +strictness of her father's discipline well enough to fear his +displeasure and alarm, when nine o'clock passed and half-past nine, and +still they did not appear. + +Strange to say, the pain in her foot grew less and less unbearable, as +she plodded along the sandy road. The sand was everywhere; it filled her +shoes and made each step drag more heavily. She felt as if they only +crawled along, as if the moments raced by them on wings. In sheer +desperation, she fell to counting the passing seconds, that she might +form some notion of their progress. Hubert was trudging on beside her, +whistling softly to himself. Like a true boy, he was totally oblivious +of every anxiety save for the pain which his sister was suffering, and +she had just assured him that that was better. + +"Let's mount, Hu," she said desperately, when it seemed to her that they +had walked for several miles. + +"Pretty bad here, Ted. Do you think you can ride?" + +"I will," she answered indomitably. + +She mounted, rode for a hundred yards, and fell again. + +"That slippery sand!" she said petulantly. "What shall we do, Hu? We +must ride, and I can't find the path." + +"You're rattled, dear; and I can't ride, myself, any too well. Follow +me." + +How patient he was! Even in her anxiety and alarm, Theodora realized all +the kindly care he gave her, all the generosity with which he tried to +prevent her feeling herself a drag upon his freedom. She was quite +unconscious that she had earned his patience by showing the one quality +which boys too rarely find in their girl companions, the lack of which +leads them to take their out-of-door pleasures alone. Theodora rarely +grumbled; in a real emergency, she never complained. + +It had seemed to the girl that all fun had died out of the universe, +that the mental outlook was as black as the physical one. Ten minutes +later, the woods echoed with shrieks of laughter,--laughter so +infectious that Hubert laughed in sympathy, without in the least knowing +the cause. The sounds came from some distance back of him. He dismounted +and ran along the road, unable to see his sister, and guided only by her +voice, which appeared to proceed from a bed of tall weeds by the +wayside. + +"I'm here, Hu," she gasped. + +"Where in thunder?" He parted the weeds at the edge of the road and +peered in. There on her back lay Theodora, with her bicycle on top of +her. + +"I lost my pedals and couldn't stop till I ran into these weeds," she +explained hysterically. "It was just as soft as a bed, and I went down, +down, down, and landed in about six inches of water. Pull me out, Hu. +I'm drowned." + +With the help of his hand, she struggled out and stood beside him in the +road, with the water dripping from her short skirt. Just then, the +clouds parted, and the moon, slanting down through the trees, fell upon +her bedraggled figure. The brother and sister looked at each other in +silence for a moment. Then they burst into a shout of laughter. It was +the best tonic they could have had, and Theodora's courage rose even as +she laughed. + +"I know where we are now," Hubert said, while he looked about him in the +growing light. "The good road is just ahead. It's as well 'tis, Ted, for +you'll have to ride like the dickens, to keep from taking cold." + +"It's a warm night," she answered as blithely as she had spoken to her +father, that morning; "and I never take cold. Come on, then. It's only +six miles more, and I'm ready to spin." + +As they turned in at the gate, the hands of the town clock marked ten +minutes after ten, and Theodora's spirits fell slightly. They found the +doctor and his wife playing cribbage. The doctor looked up with the +content born of that unwonted luxury, an evening quite to himself. + +"Home so early?" he said, with a smile. "Have you had a good time? I've +really envied you, enjoying all this superb moonlight, when we old folks +had to stay indoors." + + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN + + +"Come and ride with me this morning, Ted." + +"Can't." + +"Why not?" + +"I'm busy." + +"That's what you said, last Saturday, and week before. It's a fine +morning, and I do wish you'd come. I've a headache, and I want to ride +it off, if I can." Billy took off his cap, and brushed away his hair, +with a little weary gesture which went to Theodora's heart. She was not +discerning enough to discover that Billy's headache had developed under +the inspiration of the moment, so sure was he that this was the most +certain method of bringing his friend to do his will. + +"I'm so sorry, Billy," she said gently. "I do want to go; but I must go +somewhere else this morning." + +"Let me go, too," he suggested. "I'd as soon ride one way as another." + +"Oh, no," she said hastily; "and I'm not ready yet. Does your head ache +very badly, Billy?" + +"Very," answered the deceiver, assuming the look of a martyr. "And I +didn't sleep any, last night." + +"What a shame! Aren't you well?" Theodora sat down on the steps and +gazed so steadily at him that he blushed. + +"I believe you're shamming, Billy," she said sternly. "You've no more +headache than Mulvaney." + +He laughed, with conscious pleasure in his guilt. + +"Well, what if I haven't? I shall have, some day. Really, Ted, what is +the reason you won't ride with me?" + +"I can't, Billy; that's all there is about it. I've something else I +must do." + +"You might tell me what it is," he observed persuasively. + +"I might, but I won't." Then her heart smote her at sight of his +disappointed face, as he turned away. "Some day, Billy," she called +after him. + +He nodded, as he pulled off his cap. Then he left her. + +She stood looking after him, as he went rolling away down the street. It +was good to see him so independent with his new tricycle. He was growing +almost as independent in the use of his crutches, and his life was quite +another thing from the old limited existence when Theodora had first +known him. But through it all, in gray days and in bright, she had +always found him the same Billy, always ready to enter into her +interests, from which of necessity he had been shut out, ready to give +her a share in his own more luxurious existence. In a sense, he had been +a sort of fairy godfather to Theodora, and to him and to his mother she +owed a large part of her pleasures during the past few months. + +How would he take the news of this last venture of hers, she asked +herself. Still, he was responsible, indirectly at least, if not for the +fact itself, yet for the ambition which had led to the fact. Theodora's +brows puckered into an anxious frown for a moment. Then they cleared, +and she hummed lightly to herself, as she stood looking up the street +after her friend, who had long since disappeared from her view. It would +have been an ideal morning for a ride, she knew, and she wished she +might have gone off for a long spin over the country roads. Still, her +face wore a very contented expression as she turned away and entered the +house. + +Going up to her room, she dressed hastily and ran downstairs again to +the closet where her bicycle was kept. Fifteen minutes later, she +stopped at the door of a book store. There, instead of leaving her +bicycle outside, she coolly rolled it through the open doorway and on +into a room at the back of the shop, where she also left her hat. Then +she came back to the desk, mounted a lofty stool, drew a heavy book +towards her, and fell to work. + +She had gone to her father's office, one evening, a little more than a +week before. There chanced to be no patients, but Phebe sat reading +before the fire. + +"I want to talk to papa, Phebe," she said. + +"Talk away, then." And Phebe returned to her book. + +"But it's business." + +"I don't care. You won't disturb me any." + +"'Tisn't that I'm afraid of. I want to see papa alone." + +"You'll have to wait, then." + +"Please go, Phebe." + +"Sha'n't. I was here first." Phebe yawned, and nestled deeper into her +chair. + +"Babe, I think you will have to make way for Teddy," the doctor said, +laughing. "You can read just as well somewhere else, and if Teddy really +wants to talk--" + +"I do, papa," she urged eagerly. + +Phebe retired, grumbling. + +"What is it, my girl?" the doctor asked, as Theodora perched herself on +the arm of his chair. + +"I want my own way, as usual, papa, and I want you to stand up for me +when the others howl," she answered coaxingly. + +"Howl? Do they usually howl at you?" + +"Not literally, of course, and not half as much as I deserve. But then, +I want moral support." + +"What now?" + +"I want--" Theodora paused impressively--"I want to go to college, and I +want to go into business." + +The doctor smiled. + +"Well, my aspiring daughter, and which will be your choice?" + +"Both; one for the sake of the other. It is this way; I want to go to +Smith. It is the best place for me, and I do want to go more than you've +any idea. You don't disapprove, do you?" + +"Not if it can be arranged," he answered thoughtfully. "But what has +started you on this so suddenly, Teddy?" + +"It isn't so sudden as it seems; but I didn't want to talk about it too +soon. You see, mamma and Mrs. Farrington both are college women, and +their talk makes me half wild to go. Billy goes, next year, and I shall +be all ready to enter at the same time. Should you mind very much?" + +"I should hate to lose you for four long years, Ted." + +"That's only a little while, and there are vacations and things, you +know. That is only one side. The other is the expense, and that's what +worries me. Hubert will be ready, the year after, and you can't afford +to send us both." + +"It would be a tug; but it might be done," Dr. McAlister said +thoughtfully. "Besides, I'm not at all sure that Hu will care to go. If +you are more anxious for college than he, you ought to have the chance." + +"He must go if he wants to," she responded energetically. "I've set my +heart on his going. He's a boy, too, and should have first chance, if he +wants it. It is more necessary for a boy. But what if I were to begin to +save up my money for my expenses, so I could pay part? Then may I go?" + +"How? You don't seem to me to be rolling in wealth, Teddy." + +She shook her head gayly. + +"Oh, but you don't know. That's where the business part comes in." + +The doctor looked rather anxious. + +"What is it now, Ted?" + +"It's Mr. Huntington, down in the book store. He has sent off his +book-keeper, and he wants somebody to come in, every Saturday morning, +to write up his accounts and things. Every month, it's all day, and he +pays ever so much for it." + +"But can you do it? Will he take you?" + +She nodded. + +"You don't know how valuable I am, papa. Mr. Huntington is a dear old +man. I heard about it and went to see him. He made me write for him and +do some accounts in a hurry; and he told me to come back, last Saturday, +to try. To-day he told me I could have the place, if I'd only make my +_m_'s and _n_'s and _u_'s not so much alike." Theodora laughed gleefully +at her father's astonished face. + +There was a pause, while the doctor reflected rapidly. Theodora was +very young to enter into any such venture as this, and there was no real +need of her doing anything of the kind. On the other hand, her father +approved of business habits for women; he liked her independence and +spirit, and he felt that it would be well for her to learn the real +value of money. He knew Mr. Huntington well. His store was a quiet, +homelike place, where Theodora could be brought under no demoralizing +influences, where she would be likely to meet only refined, book-loving +people. If she must try her experiment, this would be an ideal place for +the attempt. + +Theodora eyed him askance, trying to read his thoughts. Even before he +spoke, she knew his decision, and she seized him by the beard and kissed +him rapturously. + +"Oh, you dear man!" + +"But I haven't said yes," he protested. + +"You are going to; your eyes show it. Oh, Papa McAlister, you are such a +dear!" + +"Am I? Well, my girl, you shall have your way. All in all, I think your +little plan has no harm in it. I was thinking of something else, +though." + +"Oh, what?" + +He smiled at her disappointed face. + +"Nothing bad. It is only this. If your courage holds out, and if you +cultivate that crazy handwriting of yours a little, perhaps when +Sullivan goes to Boston, next fall, I'll see what you can do with my +bills. I can't pay as well as Mr. Huntington; but it may help on a +little." + +"Oh, papa!" + +Ten minutes later, Theodora looked up into her father's face. Her own +face was flushed, and her lips were unsteady. + +"There's something else, papa." + +"What now, my girl?" + +She drew a letter from her pocket. + +"It's not much, only a little bit of a beginning. Nobody knows it, and I +wanted to tell you first." + +He took the letter, opened it with a feigned curiosity, more to gratify +her whim than from any real interest in what it could contain. He read +it, glanced at the slip of paper it enclosed, then bent over and kissed +her scarlet cheek. + +"My girlie, I congratulate you." + +It was a letter from a well-known magazine for children, accepting a +story from Miss Theodora McAlister, and suggesting that another story of +equal merit might find a welcome, later on in the season. + +For the next three weeks, Theodora kept the secret of her experiment to +herself. + +"It's all right. Papa knows," was all the reply she could be induced to +make to the questions which assailed her from all sides, in regard to +the way she was spending her Saturday mornings. + +It would be impossible to say how long the mystery would have been kept +up if she had had her own way. One Saturday noon, however, Phebe came +bouncing into the dining-room, her eyes blazing with righteous +indignation and injured pride. + +"Theodora McAlister, I'm ashamed of you, perfectly ashamed!" + +"You've said so before," Theodora answered tranquilly, while she went on +eating her dinner. "What is it, this time?" + +"You've gone into a store." Phebe's tone was one of scathing scorn. + +"Yes. What of it?" + +"My sister a clerk in a common store!" + +"Yes, in Huntington's." + +"But it might have been a grocery." + +"It might have been an undertaker's," Theodora answered sharply. "I +don't see what difference it makes to you." + +"Is this really true, Teddy?" Mrs. McAlister questioned. + +Theodora glanced about her at the astonished faces of her family. +Surprise and disapproval seemed to be meeting her on every hand. Even +Allyn stopped eating his bread and milk, and pointed his spoon at her +accusingly. Then she turned to her father, who was entering the room. + +"Phebe has just found out about Huntington's, papa," she said, with +brave dignity. "Are you willing to tell them how it happened, and why I +did it?" + + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN + + +"Ted! Teddy! Theodora McAlister!" + +Theodora was passing the Farringtons' grounds. At the third call, she +looked up. Billy, on the piazza, was waving his cap in one hand and +pounding the floor with one of his crutches with the other. + +"What's the matter?" she called, at a loss to account for these vigorous +demonstrations. + +"Come up, and I'll tell you," he shouted. "Hurry up about it, too." + +"Is the house on fire?" she demanded in feminine alarm, as she turned +and sped across the lawn. + +Billy laughed derisively. + +"If that isn't just like a girl! It's nothing of the kind, Ted; it's +good news." + +"What a scare you gave me, you sinner!" She dropped down on the step +below him and fanned herself with her hat, for it was noon of an August +day. "What is your great news, anyway?" + +"Uncle Frank is sick again." + +"But I thought you said it was good news," Theodora said, in some +perplexity. + +"So 'tis. Wait till you hear the rest of it. He isn't dangerous, only +comfortable; but the doctors say he'll die unless he goes up into the +mountains. He won't go unless mamma goes, and so she's going." + +"But for the life of me, I don't see anything so very good in all that," +Theodora said again. + +"It is very solemn and serious so far, for he's really awfully ill, and +mamma doesn't want to leave me, and she feels that it is her duty to +go," Billy answered, trying to subdue the rapture written in every line +of his face. "Now we're coming to the good part,--good for me, that is, +for I don't know what you'll say to it. She is going to be away for six +weeks, and I'm to be at your house." + +"Oh, Billy, how splendid!" Theodora's tone left no doubt of her +sincerity. "When are you coming?" + +"Day after to-morrow. Mamma had a letter, this morning, and she's been +in a great pickle about it. She felt she ought to go, for there isn't +anybody else; but she couldn't take me. I'm not up to mountain climbing +just yet, and she was bound she wouldn't leave me alone. Finally, I +suggested going to your house, and that struck her as a good scheme. +She's had a long session with your father and mother, and it's all +settled, unless you veto it." + +"I'll be likely to. Now we shall have a chance to work on our play." + +"And to develop our pictures," added Billy, who just now was suffering +from an attack of the photographic mania. + +"Yes, dozens of things. We can do so much in six weeks." + +"The worst of it is," Billy remarked pensively; "I'm sure to have such a +fine time of it at your house that I can't seem to get up much regret +over my mother's departure." + +"You'll be homesick enough," Theodora predicted. "Wait a week and see." + +Two days later, Mrs. Farrington took the morning train for New York, +where she was to meet her brother and go with him to the Adirondacks. +Billy stood on the steps to wave her a farewell; then he slowly crossed +the lawn towards the gate which had been cut through the fence under +"Teddy's tree." For the next week or two, he and Theodora were busy from +morning till night, revelling in the thousand and one interests for +which the days had been all too short, when they were obliged to take +their meals and to sleep in places six hundred feet apart. + +One golden September day, Billy and Theodora were out under the old +apple-tree, hard at work on the play which they had long been planning +to write. It was to be given on the following Christmas; and the parts, +written to order, included the three older McAlisters, Billy, and Archie +who had promised to come East in time for the holidays. There was need +for strict division of labor. Billy, more familiar with theatres, was +able to supply the stage craft and the plot, while Theodora padded the +skeleton and covered the dry bones of his outline with sonorous speeches +over which she was forced to pause, now and then, to smack her lips. + +"'Die, villain, die; and drink the cup of retribution for all your +sins!'" she read. "How does that go, Billy?" + +"All right. Do I say that, or does Hu?" + +"Hu. Poor Uncle Archie! Then he tumbles over with a whack and dies in +Hope's arms." + +"What kills him? You never do half kill people, Ted. You take too much +for granted." + +"Conscience. No; Hu, that is, Sir James, shoots him." + +"I remember now. I'd forgotten. I hope Hu's a safe shot." + +"He couldn't hit a church, if he tried." Theodora giggled. "What's the +matter, Hope?" For she saw Hope coming rapidly across the lawn towards +them. + +"Bad news, dear." Hope's eyes were full of tears. "Mamma has a letter +from Butte, and Archie is in the hospital there, with typhoid fever." + +"Hope! Not really?" + +"Do they think he'll die?" Billy asked anxiously, with boyish bluntness. + +Hope's tears began to fall on the letter in her hand. + +"They say he's very ill, and that they felt it was best to write. Papa +says typhoid is always uncertain, and he wants mamma to start West, +to-night." + +"Will she go?" + +"I don't know yet. She's half wild, for Archie is her only brother, and +she loves him so." + +"Don't we all?" Theodora questioned impulsively. + +Even in the midst of her tears, Hope blushed scarlet. + +"Not in the same way, Teddy," she said gently. "You know they were all +alone with each other for so long. I hope she will go." + +"It would be better if I weren't here," Billy said thoughtfully. + +"No; you're like one of us, Billy, and it's easier, with you here to be +sorry for us," Hope said gratefully, for she had been quick to realize +the sympathy in his look and tone. "Besides, it may not be so bad. +Mamma, if she goes, may find him better and able to come home with her." + +Back of Theodora, Billy stretched out his hand to Hope and pressed her +hand in silent token of understanding and pity. Nothing increases the +power of observation like suffering. Billy's long months of helpless +idleness had taught him to read the faces and moods of the people about +him as a strong, active boy could never have done. He had fathomed the +true state of affairs between Archie and Hope. He knew how much of +Hope's future happiness, unknown to herself even, was depending on the +outcome of that illness of Archie, and he saw her present pain, and the +brave self-control which helped her to master it. + +Mrs. McAlister left for the West, that night The days which followed +were gloomy ones to them all, anxious and busy ones to Hope in +particular, for upon her devolved the care of the housekeeping and much +of the responsibility over Allyn and Phebe who was as fractious as never +before and resented Hope's gentle rule. Two more letters came from the +hospital; but they reported no change. Until Mrs. McAlister could reach +her brother, they could know nothing definite. They could only wait and +hope. + +During all these weary, dreary days, it was a comfort to them all to +have Billy with them. It had long been impossible to think of him as an +outsider; but now he came closer to them than ever before, comforting +Hope, helping Theodora to pass the time of restless waiting, cajoling +Phebe into good humor, and entertaining Allyn by the hour. Blithe and +sunny-tempered himself, he kept them from becoming too blue, while the +little care and half-tender, half-playful coddling which the girls gave +him was a safety valve for their tensely-strung nerves. + +"I believe I love those old crutches of yours, Billy," Theodora said +impetuously, one night. + +He had been unusually weak, all that day. Even now, there were times +when his strength failed him and when, for the passing hour, the old +pain came back to give him a few twinges, as a reminder that he could +not afford to be too careless. He had been lying stretched out on the +sofa with Theodora sitting beside him, while the twilight dropped over +the room. At her words, he looked up abruptly. + +"I can't say that I do." + +"No; I suppose not. Still, I owe them a good deal." + +"I don't see why," he said vaguely, as his eyes rested on her bright +face, just now looking unusually dreamy and thoughtful, while she sat +staring at the long rosewood staff in her hand. + +"Perhaps it's selfish," she said, with a smile; "but I've an idea that +if, when I first knew you, you'd been strong and--just like other boys, +I should never have known you half so well. Do you know, Billy +Farrington, I'd just like a chance to fight for you, to do something to +show I'm not a friend just in talk and nothing else." + +He laughed at the sudden fierceness of her tone, little thinking how +soon her words would be put to the test. + +"I hope you won't have the chance, Ted; but I've an idea that, if ever I +were in a tight place, you'd help me out of it sooner than anyone +else." + +"Try me and see," she answered briefly. + +Good news came to them, only the next day. Mrs. McAlister had reached +her brother, to find that convalescence had already begun. The attack of +fever had been sudden and sharp; but Archie's fresh young strength had +held its own, and his recovery was likely to be a rapid one. + +"I shall bring him home with me," Mrs. McAlister wrote. "He oughtn't to +go back into camp, this fall; and the doctor says that the long rest +will be the best tonic he can have, for he's been working altogether too +hard. If he is able, we shall start for home, next week, and get there +by the twenty-fifth." + +Hope sang blithely to herself, all that day, and even Phebe was moved +into a more agreeable mood than was her wont. Allyn took a more +materialistic view of the situation. + +"Uncle Archie's going to get well," he remarked to Billy. "Now he can +bring me nonner engine." + +For two days, the McAlister household felt that it was living in an +atmosphere of perpetual sunshine. Then the clouds fell again. It was one +Saturday morning. Theodora was at her desk, straightening out the +account of Mr. Huntington's weekly sales, Hubert was playing football, +and Hope had gone to market, taking Allyn with her. Out on the lawn west +of the house, Phebe and Isabel St. John were playing tennis and +wrangling loudly over the score. Left to himself in the house, Billy +threw aside his book, took up his crutches, and went away to the barn, +where Dr. McAlister had given up an old harness closet for his use in +developing his pictures. It opened out of the barn not far from the +stalls where Vigil and Prince were kept; but it was easily accessible +and sufficiently roomy, and Billy had accepted the doctor's offer +eagerly. + +Once shut up in the dark in company with his ruby lantern, Billy fell to +work on a picture of Allyn, taken only the day before. So absorbed was +he that it was only vaguely that he heard the voices of Phebe and Isabel +in the barn close at hand. The murmur went on for some moments, broken +by girlish gigglings and little squeals of merriment. Suddenly there +came another squeal, louder, this time, and more earnest; there was an +interchange of swift, low words, and then silence fell, and Billy +dismissed the incident from his mind. + +The picture proved refractory and refused to come out. Then at length +Billy gave it up in despair, threw away the developing fluid, cast the +plate into a pile of similar failures, took up his crutches, and started +for the house again. On the way, he met Phebe and Isabel. They looked at +him furtively as he passed. + +"What's up, Phebe?" he asked. + +"Nothing. I only thought you looked tired," she replied, with unusual +thoughtfulness. + +"So I am, of doing nothing. Come in and play casino with me." + +"Can't," Phebe said hastily. "We'd like to, Billy; but there's something +else we've got to do." + +"All right." And he passed on. + +They were all seated at the dinner-table, that noon, when the doctor +came into the room. His face was white and very stern. + +"Vigil is dead," he said abruptly. "Do any of you children know anything +about it?" + +"I don't," said the twins, in a breath, and Hope echoed them; but Phebe +started and cast a swift glance at Billy. + +"Do you, Billy?" the doctor asked, for the glance was not lost on him. + +"No; of course not. When did she die?" + +"This noon, when I came in, I found her. She was groaning pitifully, +and very weak. I wonder that you didn't hear her." + +"She died?" Billy asked sympathetically, for the doctor's voice broke +over the last words. Vigil had been his favorite horse, and together, +man and beast, they had passed through many a tragic night and day. Such +friends cause bitter mourning. + +"I shot her, to put her out of her misery," he responded briefly. Then +he turned to Phebe. + +"Phebe, do you know anything about this?" + +She grew white. + +"No," she stammered. "At least, not exactly." + +"What do you mean? Do you know anything about Vigil?" + +"I--I'd rather not tell." + +"Answer me," he said sternly. + +For her only reply, she burst out crying, and cast another glance at +Billy. Her father took her hand and led her away to the office. + +"Now, Phebe, I want you to tell me about this," he said. + +"Oh, no." + +"Did you do anything to Vigil?" + +"No." + +"Do you know who did?" + +"N--no." + +"Phebe, this isn't a time to shield the culprit. Tell me what you know." + +"I don't know anything," she sobbed. + +"Were you at the barn, this morning?" + +"No." + +"Did you see any one go there?" + +"No--only Billy." + +"Was Billy there?" + +"Yes." + +"When?" + +"About ten o'clock." + +"You saw him?" + +"Yes; Isabel and I were playing tennis, and I saw him go. When he came +back, I met him, and he looked so queer that I asked him if anything was +the matter." + +"Queer? How?" + +"Dark, sort of, under his eyes, and--scared." + +"Phebe," the doctor looked at her steadily, searchingly; "is this all +true?" + +"Yes." + +He took a quick turn up and down the room. + +"And I thought the fellow was true as steel," he muttered to himself. +"Those eyes ought to be true. Poor fellow! I wish Bess were here to talk +to him." + +His face was very gentle as he went back to the dining-room. As soon as +the meal was over, he turned to Billy. + +"Come to the office a minute, Billy," he said. + +With a look of wonder on his face, Billy followed him to the door. When +they were alone, the doctor spoke. + +"Billy," he said quietly; "Phebe says you were at the barn, this +morning." + +"So I was," he answered. + +"That you were the only one who went there." + +"How does she know?" Billy asked easily, for as yet he did not see +whither the doctor's questions were leading. + +"Did you see Vigil?" + +Then, of a sudden, the truth burst on the boy, and he flushed with +anger. The doctor saw his heightened color, and mistook it for guilt. + +"And I trusted you so, Billy," he said sorrowfully. + +"Dr. McAlister, do you think I did anything to your horse?" + +"Who else?" + +"I don't know, and I don't care," the boy returned recklessly. Then, +with an effort, he regained his self-control. "Dr. McAlister," he said, +and his true, honest blue eyes met the doctor's eyes steadily; "Dr. +McAlister, on my honor, I have not been near Vigil, nor done anything to +hurt her. That is all I can say about it." + +There was a silence, long and tense. Then, as the doctor made no sign, +Billy turned away and went out of the office. + + + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN + + +The doctor was attempting to argue with Theodora. + +"But, Teddy, who else can have done it? Nobody else had been to the +barn." + +"How do you know?" + +"Because the only way to get in was through the front door. Phebe and +Isabel were in plain sight of that, all the morning, and they saw no one +but Billy go there." + +Theodora's lips closed stubbornly, and her eyes, as they met those of +her father, flashed with defiance. When at last she spoke, her manner +was respectful, but her voice had an odd, metallic ring. + +"And so Billy must have done it. What do you suppose he did to Vigil?" + +"She was poisoned," the doctor answered briefly, for the subject was as +painful to him as to his daughter. + +"Do you think he did it on purpose?" Theodora's tone was hostile. + +"Teddy!" + +"Well, I know," she said passionately, for her self-control had been +exhausted during the past half-hour; "but you might as well say he gave +the horse poison out of spite as to say he did it at all. It's so like +Billy to go meddling with what doesn't belong to him. It's so like him +to lie about it afterwards. Papa McAlister, Billy Farrington doesn't +lie, and he has said to you over and over again that he had nothing to +do with it!" + +"But Phebe says--" + +"Phebe!" Theodora's voice was expressive. "You believe her above Billy?" + +"Teddy, dear," the doctor's voice was very low and sorrowful; "don't +make it harder for me than you can help. I have loved Billy like my own +boy, and I have believed in his honor as I have in Hu's; but I have +found something that tells the story. Down in the hay in Vigil's manger, +I found this bottle." He held it up as he spoke, and Theodora read the +label. "It is what Billy uses for his pictures; no one else touches the +stuff." + +"And you think he put it there?" + +"Accidentally. He may have dropped it, you know, as he went in. Of +course, he didn't mean to be careless, and when I first spoke to him +about it, he probably didn't know. I could have forgiven the accident; +but when I showed him the bottle, and he lied about it to save +himself--" Dr. McAlister paused. + +At sight of the overwhelming testimony of the bottle, Theodora had +dropped down into a chair. Now she sprang up again. + +"I'll never believe it as long as I live, bottle or no bottle!" she said +violently. "It is mean and cruel and abominable to lay it to Billy +Farrington; and I will never believe he had anything to do with it till +he says he had. I never thought you'd treat a guest in your own house +like this, Papa McAlister. You can everyone of you go back on him, if +you want. I intend to stand by him." She gave a nod of emphasis to her +words; then, bursting into tears, she banged the door and rushed away to +Billy. + +She found him in his room, sitting by the window and trying to read. He +looked pale and worried, for it had been impossible for him to blind +himself to the attitude of the family towards him during the past three +days. Hope and Hubert were scrupulously polite, with a frigid, remote +courtesy which was worse than open hostility; Phebe avoided him as if he +had the plague; and Allyn showed a marked inclination to converse about +the present state of affairs which was scarcely soothing to Billy's +irritated nerves. After the first day, he had remained most of the time +in his own room, whither Theodora followed him and insisted upon +admission. + +"What do you care if they do act like idiots?" she demanded fiercely. +"I'm ashamed of them all, utterly ashamed; but I wouldn't care." + +"Yes, you would," he returned drearily. "It's no fun to be sent to +Coventry like this, Ted. I wish Hope and Hu would speak out, and have it +over with. I'd like a chance to defend myself; but, if this keeps on, I +shall begin to think I did do it." + +"Haven't you any idea?" she asked. + +He shook his head. + +"No." + +"Honestly? You're not trying to shield some one?" + +"I'm not in a Sunday-school book," he returned. "Besides, who is there?" + +"Somebody. You didn't do it. Oh, Billy, I wish I were good for +anything!" + +"You're pretty much all there is, Ted. Perhaps, when your mother comes, +it won't be so bad." + +She came, the next evening, escorted by Archie, who looked white and +thin, but otherwise appeared like his usual self. Theodora felt that his +coming brought a whiff of fresher air into the sultry life of the family +circle. He was so gay, so full of the breezy atmosphere of the western +mountains, that his coming seemed to scatter a little the clouds which +had gathered; while his honest, kindly face made her feel, as it had +done before, that he was a friend to be trusted. + +The doctor had met the travellers at the station, and Theodora knew that +they were in possession of the story long before they reached the house. +It was impossible from Mrs. McAlister's manner to read her decision in +regard to the rights of the case. She met Billy as cordially as ever, +when he came down to supper; and during the meal she forced him to take +an active part in the conversation. As soon as they left the table, +Billy turned away and went to his room. A moment later, she tapped on +his door. + +"Come in," he said, for he supposed it was Theodora. + +She came in and sat down beside him. + +"Billy, my boy," she said gently; "tell me all about it, as if I were +your own mother." + +He looked up, and something in the expression of his blue eyes reminded +her of a hunted animal. + +"What is there to tell?" + +"There ought to be a great deal," she said, smiling faintly. She was +startled at the change in the boy, at his pallor and at the listlessness +which pervaded his whole being. + +"But Dr. McAlister has told you." + +"Yes; but not all." She paused expectantly. + +He misunderstood the pause. As if goaded to desperation, he turned on +her. + +"Are you going back on me, too, Mrs. McAlister? I thought you would +stand my friend." + +"I do." + +"But you doubt my word?" + +She was silent, unable to say yes or no. + +He changed the form of his question. + +"Do you believe me?" + +"Billy, dear, I don't know what to think." + +He shook back his hair impatiently. + +"That's it. I'm not used to having my word doubted, and--it hurts." + +Meanwhile, Theodora and Hubert were in the hall. + +"Where are you going, Ted?" Hubert had asked, as they left the table. + +"To Billy." + +"I should think you might stay here, to-night, when Archie has just +come." + +"Archie has you and Hope." + +"But it's not decent, Ted, to leave him." + +"It's not decent to send Billy off by himself," she retorted. + +"Who sends him?" + +"All of you." + +"He needn't sulk like a baby." + +"It isn't sulking, Hu. I'd go off and not stay with people who doubt my +word." + +"Hm! He needn't lie, then." + +Theodora faced him angrily. + +"Shame, Hu! How do you know he lies? Is this the way you stand by your +friends?" + +"He is no friend of mine." + +"He was. He is my friend now, as much as ever." + +Hubert shrugged his shoulders. + +"Girls always are sentimental, and your head is full of yarns, Ted. You +are welcome to believe your Billy as much as you want to. Nobody else +does." + +"I do." And Archie came striding into the hall. "I didn't mean to listen +to you; but I couldn't help hearing. I know something of men. I haven't +roughed it all this time for nothing, and I've seen all kinds. You will +never make me believe that Will Farrington has lied to get himself out +of a scrape. I'd sooner think that Allyn himself did it. Billy is a good +fellow, and I'll stand by him and see fair play. Here's my hand on it, +Ted." + +There was a manly ring to Archie's words and a hearty grip of his hand, +and they sent Theodora to bed happier than she had been for days. It had +been impossible for her to throw off Billy's trouble. The whole +atmosphere of the house had seemed to be tainted by it. They all felt +the weight of uncertainty and gloom more or less; but for Theodora, +loyal to Billy as a girl could be, it amounted to a species of torture, +and she felt an Ishmael indeed, with every man's hand against her. She +never thought of swerving from her allegiance, however. Alone and +unaided, she would fight for Billy against the world. Still, it was very +good to find that Archie was upon her side. + +"If I could only go away somewhere!" Billy said disconsolately, the next +night. "I thought your mother would stand by me, but she doesn't. It's +awful to be here in your house, when you are all down on me like this." + +"I wish your mother would come home," Theodora responded. + +"She won't." + +"Not if she knew?" + +"She couldn't very well. Besides, what good could she do?" + +"Everything. She'd believe you." + +"Of course." + +"That's something, and she'd find out, somehow or other. Send for her, +Billy." + +"No; she'd only worry. She'll be home before long." + +"Not for two weeks. We shall all be dead by that time." + +"I wish I could go to her." + +"Why don't you?" she asked impulsively. + +His smile was very sad, as he pointed to his crutches. + +"I'm not up to a journey like that, Ted. I shouldn't make much of a +figure, travelling alone." + +"I'll go, myself, and bring her home." + +"You can't. You're too young to take such a journey alone, Ted. It's +good of you to think of it, but it wouldn't do. No; we'll stick it out +somehow. It isn't as bad as if you weren't here to stand up for me." + +She rose and stood beside him, resting her hand on his shoulder. + +"It's not much I can do, Billy; but I'm bound to do something. My whole +family appear to have gone mad over that old horse. I can't help their +stupidity; but maybe I can help you out a very little. Whatever I do, +remember what I said, only a few days ago, that I'd like the chance to +fight for you, to show that I'm a friend in something besides words." + +He looked up at her gratefully. + +"You are a plucky champion, Teddy. I wish I knew what to do, myself; but +they seem to have me on all sides. No matter; with you and Archie to +back me up, I'll manage to pull through somehow." + +She patted his shoulder encouragingly. + +"That's right. Keep up your pluck, Billy. Something can be done about +it, I know. You can furnish the brains and I the backbone. Good-night, +old boy." + +She went away to her own room, but not to bed. For two hours, she could +be heard moving stealthily to and fro, opening a closet door, closing a +bureau drawer. Once the floor creaked softly, and a door latch clicked. +Then silence fell again, and no one was the wiser for Theodora's +sleeplessness. + +She was late in appearing at the breakfast table, the next morning. Mrs. +McAlister rang the bell for a third time. Then she sent Phebe to call +her sister. A moment later, Phebe came flying back, with staring eyes. + +"Oh, mamma," she panted; "Teddy isn't anywhere! She didn't answer, so I +opened the door. The room is empty, and the bed hasn't been slept in at +all." + + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY + + + LAKE LODGE, 28 _September_. + To Dr. JOHN MCALISTER: + + Theodora reached here safely. My brother worse. Send for her. + + JESSIE FARRINGTON. + +This was the telegram which was delivered at the doctor's door, two days +later. It came in upon an anxious household, for up to that time they +had been able to gain no clue to Theodora's disappearance. Billy alone +had had an inkling of the truth, but he dared not hint it to the rest. +It was only an inkling, vague and groundless, and he felt that it would +do no good to speak of it. At best, he would be accused of urging his +friend to take the sudden journey, and he was unwilling to increase the +suspicion which already lay heavy upon him. + +He knew, however, that Theodora's departure had something to do with +himself. Her last words seemed to him, as he went back to them, to +convey no doubtful hint of her intentions. He had had no suspicion at +the time; but now he realized how like her impulsive loyalty it would +be to go flying off somewhere, anywhere, to get help for him, to find +some way of putting an end to the wretched situation. He was thoroughly +sorry for her absence, and uneasy about her; yet he felt little alarm, +for he was perfectly convinced of her ability to look out for herself. +Moreover, he was human enough to watch the distraction of the family +with a certain amusement. He was sure that Theodora would turn up soon, +alive and well, and full of entertaining stories of her adventure. +Meanwhile, it was their turn to be anxious. + +Then a new anxiety came into the household. Phebe, who had been nervous +and irritable, all the day after Theodora's disappearance, grew feverish +at night. Her father made a short examination, pronounced her to be +suffering from the epidemic of chicken pox which had infested the +schools of late, and ordered her to bed. She obeyed him by going to her +room, escaping by way of the back stairs and taking a long walk in the +twilight with Isabel St. John, with whom lately it had been necessary +for Phebe to hold many secret conferences. The next morning, the rash +had entirely disappeared, and Phebe lay tossing in delirium. + +It was into this household that Mrs. Farrington's telegram came, like a +message sent from Heaven. + +The doctor tore open the long yellow envelope. His face, already of a +dull grayish color, grew a shade more pale, and he shut his teeth +together, as one prepared for bad tidings. He read the few words; then +he drew his hand across his eyes. + +"Thank God!" he said brokenly. "Teddy is safe." + +The news went like wildfire through the house. There was a babel of +rejoicing and exclamation; but it was to Billy that the doctor had +turned. + +"My dear boy," he said, laying his hand on Billy's shoulder; "our +troubles are over now, if Phebe pulls through." + +Billy answered his handclasp. + +"We'll forget it ever happened," he said jovially. + +"One doesn't forget such things," the doctor said gravely; but Billy +laughed his old glad, clear laugh. + +"You've done enough for me, Dr. McAlister, to balance anything else. +Remember what I was when I came here, and look at me now." + +The family council which followed was short. Neither Dr. McAlister nor +his wife liked to leave Phebe while she was still so ill; Hubert was too +young, they felt, to go to his sister; so it was Archie who finally +volunteered to bring back the runaway. + +"Shall I scold her very hard?" he asked, laughing, as he took up his +dress-suit case, an hour later. + +"Leave that to me," the doctor replied, while he tried in vain to look +stern. + +As Archie passed him, Billy slipped a note into his hand. + +"Take that to Ted," he whispered, and Archie nodded. + +It was high noon, the next day, when Archie walked into the Lodge. +Theodora met him with a little, glad outcry. + +"Archie! Did you come for me?" + +"It looks like it. What's more, I've brought good news." + +"What?" + +"Billy is cleared, and I left the whole family munching humble pie." + +"Archie!" And Theodora cast herself into his arms and wept hysterically. + +The young man looked half abashed, half pleased, at his burden. + +"Go easy, now, Ted," he remonstrated. "Don't take all the starch out of +my collar, you know." + +"Who did it?" she demanded. + +"Phebe." + +"Archie Holden! The little wretch! And she let Billy bear the blame! +I--" + +"She's getting her come-uppance," Archie observed, with scant pity for +Phebe. "She's no end ill with chicken pox. That's the reason your father +couldn't come for you." + +"I don't care; she deserves it," Theodora said vengefully. "How did it +come out?" + +"Providence seemed to take a hand in it, Ted. 'Twas the queerest thing. +The night after you left, when the family were all half wild about you, +and no wonder, Babe took her hand in the game by coming down with hen +pox. She caught cold somehow, the rash went in and struck on the brain, +and she turned delirious. The first thing she did, she told the whole +story. I suppose she had been harping on it so much that it came out, +like murder." + +"What did she do?" + +"As nearly as we can piece it together, she and Isabel went into the +barn, that morning, and started to feed Vigil. Then in fun they began +firing things at each other, till at last Babe picked up a box of Paris +green and shied it at Isabel. It struck the manger and broke all to +pieces. They cleaned up what they could, and sneaked away. Whether Babe +started to throw the blame on Billy at first, they don't know; but, +after dinner, Babe hunted up the bottle and hid it in the manger. It +isn't a pretty story, Ted; but it's true." + +"Babe ought to be--" + +"Abolished," Archie supplemented, with a jovial laugh. "No matter, your +father will have something to say to her by and by. By Jove, Ted, I wish +you'd seen him go down on his knees to Billy! There was something grand +in it, to see him, with his gray hair and great brown eyes, apologizing +to a boy like that. Of course, he owed him an apology and a big one; but +not many men would have made it so generously before us all." + +"There aren't many men like him," Theodora said proudly. "And Billy? How +is he?" + +"Jolly as a sandpiper. He vows that there's no one quite like you, +though. You did stand by him like a good fellow, Ted, for a fact." + +"You too, Archie. You helped me out, when you came. I wish you were my +brother." + +Archie laughed a little consciously. + +"Maybe we can fix that up in time. Now go along and pack up your +trumpery." + +Theodora's face suddenly grew grave. + +"Are they very angry at me at home, Archie?" + +He laughed. + +"Horribly. Still, I've an idea that, if you're meek enough, you'll be in +a fair way to be forgiven." + +And she was forgiven. Her welcome home was hearty and loving from them +all, pathetically so from Billy, who tried in vain to cover his real +emotion under a boyish indifference. The last words were still to be +said, however; and it was not until Theodora sat alone in the office +with her father, that night, that she felt the incident was ended and +she stood among them on precisely the old ground. + +"I can't blame you, my girl," he said at last, as he drew his arm yet +more tightly about her waist. "You were rash and headstrong. You caused +us two days of terrible anxiety, and you might have run into serious +difficulties; but your purpose was a good one, even if it was too +impetuous and daring for a child like you. We were all blind, Teddy, +strangely blind; and I can never forgive myself for my unjust +suspicions, nor be glad enough that you stood by your old friend in the +face of all this evidence." There was a silence. Then he bent over and +kissed her forehead. "Teddy dear, if you can only tame down this +rashness of yours, and yet be the same loyal girl you are now, your +womanhood will be very big and beautiful. But remember this, dear, in +all this wilful, hasty end of the century, a true woman must be as +gentle as she is brave, as thoughtful as she is loving." + +"But I'm glad it's all over," Theodora said contentedly, the next day. + +She and Billy sat on the piazza, in the golden noon of an early October +day. Hope was in the hammock, with Allyn beside her and Archie on the +floor at her feet, while Hubert sat on the rail facing them all. +Theodora had been entertaining them with an account of her journey, and +she ended her story with these words. + +"It has been a terrible month," Hope said thoughtfully. "After our years +of placid existence, it seems as if a cyclone had struck us, all at +once. I should think you'd wish you had never set eyes on us, Billy." + +"I do," he replied tranquilly, as he stared at Theodora's bright face. + +"Poor old William!" she said, laughing. "It was a sorry day for you when +I descended on you from the apple-tree." + +"Adam and Eve never knew how well off they were, till the serpent came," +Archie suggested. "I have a notion we shall have a better time than +ever, now it's all over." + +"You can crow over it, if you like," Hubert said remorsefully. "You and +Ted were on the winning side of things. Billy, my friendship isn't good +for much; but I'll be hanged if I ever expected to go back on you and +make such a jay of myself." + +"Never mind, Hu; it's over now," Theodora said consolingly. + +"Yes, thanks to you," Hubert returned. "My share in it isn't much." + +Theodora laughed. + +"Thanks to Babe, you'd better say. We should still have been a divided +household, if Babe hadn't been benevolent enough to have chicken pox." + +"She didn't," Allyn objected suddenly. "The chicken didn't come out any. +I watched to see it, and I couldn't, and papa said so, too, and that's +what made her so wretchable." + +"But it's over, as Teddy says," Hope observed, breaking in on the laugh +that followed Allyn's contribution to medical science; "and I can't help +feeling that we are going to have a lovely winter, with Archie here, and +Billy to stay on till Thanksgiving. There's time to make up for all +we've lost now." + +"We'll make the most of it, then, for this will be my last winter here, +for ever so long," Billy said, rising. "If I enter college, next fall, +it will be a good while before I settle down at home again." + +"And I too," Theodora added, as she rose and stood beside him. + +He smiled down into her eyes for a moment, as they stood there. Then +together they turned and walked away. The world about them lay golden in +the sunlight and in the glow reflected back from the yellow leaves of +the hickories; but not one whit less golden was the future, as it +stretched away and away before their glad young eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE + + +It was commencement week at Smith College. To the alumna and the +student, the picture called up by those words is sufficiently definite +and demands no amplification. To them, is no prettier sight possible +than the broad campus dotted with buildings, and the knots of +daintily-dressed girls moving slowly to and fro along the winding paths. +The Meadow City always puts on her most festal array in honor of the +occasion; the very heavens seem to watch for that week, and to provide +for it the finest moon of the whole summer. + +Baccalaureate was over, and, early Monday evening, groups were already +gathering on the campus at the rear of College Hall, eager to secure +comfortable places for the glee club concert. It was one of the charming +pictures of the year, that concert, the cluster of girls on the steps +facing the long rows of well-filled benches below. Beyond the benches, +and extending far across the grass to the very steps of the old Dewey +House, was a moving, shifting crowd, changing in form and color, as the +brightly-dressed girls came and went, like the varying slides of a +kaleidoscope. Back of the glee club, again, the open windows of the +reading-room were filled with faces of old graduates who knew the place, +and who chose this point of vantage either to protect their gowns and +their elderly necks from the dampness outside, or to use their position +facing the crowd to discover returning classmates whom they had missed +in the throng. + +"There's the class president," one of them said to a friend who had +arrived, only that afternoon. + +"Which?" + +"That tall girl in pale green at the left. She's in the fourth, fifth, +sixth row; and a tall, gray-haired man is with her, and a young man the +other side." + +"Looking this way now?" + +"Yes. I don't see anything so remarkable about her; but they say she's +one of the most popular girls they've ever had here." + +"That is saying a good deal," her companion answered loyally, as she +raised her lorgnette. + +"They wanted her for ivy poet, but she couldn't be everything. She's +class poet, though, and was Portia in the dramatics, Saturday night." + +"What's her name?" + +"McAlister. Theodora McAlister. She looks it, too; but these soulless +girls all call her Teddy." + +"McAlister? That is the name of the girl who made such a record in +basket ball, when I was up here, last winter. They had a song in her +honor." + +"Probably it's the same one. My cousin says she is very all-round. All +the under-class girls adore her, and they say she'll be heard from, some +day. Did you say Edith Avery is back?" + +Theodora, meanwhile, had settled her guests comfortably to listen to the +concert. They were all there, Dr. McAlister and his wife, Hope and +Hubert, Phebe and Allyn, and the Farringtons. Among so many girls, Hope, +in her pretty pink gown, was quite capable of holding her own; and Billy +and Hubert were in such demand that, all that day, Theodora had scarcely +had a chance to exchange a word with them. It was just as well, however, +for the girl's hands were full, with the active part which her offices +had imposed upon her. + +During the whole week, she had borne her part admirably. When she came +out on the stage for the first time, on Saturday night, she had +faltered. For a moment, the sea of upturned faces had terrified her, and +she could distinguish nothing but a formless blur. Then, all at once, +Billy's red-gold hair and clear blue eyes had detached themselves and +caught her attention, and she flashed upon him one glance, half proud, +half appealing. He smiled back at her broadly and waved his programme. +An instant later, she was speaking her opening lines. + +She had led the baccalaureate procession; she had presided at the ivy +exercises, that morning; and to-night, at the reception which followed +the glee club concert, she was expected to show herself in her official +capacity. The next day, she would lead her class in the commencement +procession, and preside at the class supper. No wonder that she was +tired, and that dark circles were beginning to come beneath her eyes. +Popularity has its price, though it is a price well worth the paying. It +had come to her unsought, unexpected, and she enjoyed it. Still, she was +undeniably tired. She was glad for the moment to settle down on the +bench, unnoticed in the crowd, with her father's arm across her shoulder +and Hubert by her other side. + +"Tired out, Ted?" her father asked tenderly, as she nestled against him, +regardless of her finery. + +"Oh, no; only glad of a chance to see my people. I have been in such a +whirl, all the week, that I feel as if I had neglected you." + +"We haven't suffered, and you'll rest from the whirl. You can't be +graduated but once, my girl, and I want you to have the best of it," he +said proudly. "Next year, you will be with us again, so don't worry +about us now." + +"You'd better sit up straight, Teddy," Phebe said, bending forward and +speaking in an aggressively audible whisper. "You're leaning against +your dress, and that thin stuff crushes awfully. Do be careful." + +"Never mind," Theodora answered, with a lazy disregard of her fluffy sea +of pale green chiffon. "Papa and I shall never be here again just like +this, and I mean to have the good of him." + +They lingered there until the concert was over and the tide was turning +towards the Art Gallery. Then she rose reluctantly, and shook out her +gown. + +[Illustration: "'GIVE ME MY FAN AND GLOVES, HU,' SHE SAID."] + +"Give me my fan and my gloves, Hu," she said. "I must fly to my post. +I'd much rather stay here." + +As she turned away, a young man abruptly took leave of two juniors, +and went hurrying after her. He was tall and alert, yet he walked with a +certain stiffness, which gave an almost military erectness to his +carriage. + +"The Philistines be upon me, Ted! Do save me!" + +She turned back to meet him. + +"What is the matter, Billy? I thought you looked content while the +concert was going on." + +"Content! I'm distracted. I've been introduced to seven thousand girls. +They all look alike, and I can't tell 'em from those I don't know." + +"Smile on them all, Billy. You're equal to it." + +"But I don't want 'em. I came here to see you, not Miss Swift of +Chicago." + +"You don't appreciate your advantages, Billy," she said, laughing, as +they went together up the steps of the Art Gallery. + +"Maybe not. I appreciate you, though, and I sail, in ten days. When +shall you be off duty again?" + +She looked down at the throng already streaming up the steps behind +them. + +"Come and rescue me at half-past nine, Billy, unless you find Miss Swift +of Chicago a more potent attraction." + +"Trust me!" And he vanished. + +For more than an hour, the stream of people flowed past her. Everywhere +was the swish of countless gowns, the low murmur of countless voices. +Every one was there, not only the seniors and their friends, but the +girls of the under classes, with here and there a wide-eyed, wondering +sub-freshman. Faculty hobnobbed with sophomores, and the alumnae pervaded +all things and were in their glory. It was a pretty picture, backed as +it was by the dull-hued walls and fine statuary of the gallery; and +Theodora glanced about her in contented pride, to see if any of her +friends were near and enjoying this crowning glory of her Alma Mater. + +Ten feet away, Mrs. McAlister was discussing football with the brother +of one of the seniors, a boy too young to have any real share in the +evening's pleasure. Not far off, Dr. McAlister was contentedly ruffling +up his hair, while he monopolized the attention of a prominent +professor, who appeared altogether unconscious of the passing moments +and of the crowd of alumnae waiting for a word. Theodora smiled to +herself, as she caught an occasional phrase,-- + +"All the bromides--Grand antiseptic qualities--Your essay in the last +review." + +Out on the stairs, Hope was in the midst of a gay crowd; and, quite at +the other side of the building, Hubert sat on the pedestal of the Dying +Gaul, with one arm thrown across the neck of the statue, while he talked +to the pretty young girl perched at his side. + +Punctual to the moment, Billy appeared. + +"Now let's get out of this," he said abruptly. + +"Aren't you having a good time?" she questioned, with a little hurt +tone. + +"Yes, fine. I struck some Cleveland girls; they're always pretty. But +now I want a breath of fresh air and a little sensible conversation. +Come along." + +"Where?" + +"Anywhere, as long as it's quiet." + +She laughed, as she handed him her fan. + +"I believe you're tired before I am, Billy." + +"No; only I do want a little chance to see you. It's not as if I were +going to be at home, this summer." + +She glanced at him sharply. Then she bit her lip a little, as she +followed him through the crowd at the door, and out upon the campus. + +"This is pretty, for a fact, Ted," he said, breaking the silence. "Yale +can't show anything to beat this." + +"That's very generous of you, Billy," she answered; but her tone lacked +its usual vivacity, and her step dragged slightly, as they moved away +together among the Chinese lanterns which edged the walks in double +line. + +The crowd was here, too; but Billy steered her through it, past the +houses and the old gymnasium, and out to the far end of the campus. At +the steps of the observatory, he halted. + +"It's quiet here, and we can get some good of the moon," he said. "Let's +sit down here, unless you are afraid of taking cold." + +"The idea! I'm not an alum.; besides, it's a warm night." + +"How will you stand two commencements, Ted?" he asked, settling himself +at her feet and turning to look up at her. + +"Better than my gowns will," she said, showing him a long rent in her +skirt. + +He laughed. + +"You always were hard on your clothes, Teddy. I shall never forget the +sound of rending garments which heralded your first approach." + +"Out of the apple-tree? I remember. I also remember the lecture Hope +gave me." + +"Those were good old days," he said contentedly, as he opened and shut +her fan. + +"These are better," she answered, looking down at him, as he sat there +in the moonlight. "I can't make it seem as if you ever lived in a +chair." + +He looked up, shaking back his hair with a quick motion of his head. + +"It's over now, thank Heaven! Still, it brought us together, after all. +Teddy, I'm going to miss you. I wish I needn't go." + +"But you must," she said hastily, startled at something in his tone. "It +isn't everybody who has the double chance to study for his profession +and to be treated by Dr. Brunald, at the same time." + +"If it only finishes the cure! But two years is such a long time." + +"Yes. But I'm going down with your mother to see you off, you know; and +then you'll write often." + +"Of course. But so much can happen in two years." + +"I hope there can. Do you remember my three wishes?" + +"No. Yes. Seems to me I do. What were they?" + +"It was one day, under the trees in your grounds. I was in a +confidential mood, I remember, and I was moved to tell them to you. They +included a bicycle, a college course, and a successful career of +authorship." + +"I remember. You've two of them, Ted; and I believe you'll get the +other." + +"Wait till you come home. You may find me no nearer the end than I am +now." + +"I doubt it, Teddy. You've the stuff in you. Write and tell me, when you +make your first hit." + +"I will. I'm counting on your letters, Billy, for it's going to be very +lonely without you." Her lip quivered again, and in the moonlight he saw +an odd glitter in her eyes. + +He took her hand in his. + +"Ted," he said gently; "two years can't make any difference in such a +friendship as ours. We've stuck together through thick and thin, and +nothing can change us. Two years isn't a very long time to wait, and +then, please God, I shall come home to you all, a strong man. After +that, I shall never go away again--to leave you, dear." + +The last words were almost inaudible. Then the silence and the moonlight +closed in about them. + +The chapel was filled to overflowing, the next day, as the procession +filed up the middle aisle. Led by the white-gowned ushers, they came +slowly onward, faculty and trustees, alumnae and seniors, while above and +around them, soft and full by turns, rose the sound of the organ under +the masterly touch they knew so well. It was an hour when even the most +heedless freshman felt the pain, the almost solemn sadness of the coming +parting, yet the full meaning of the commencement day can be realized +only by those who are leaving their Alma Mater for the last time. + +All too soon, the morning sped away and the president rose to confer the +degrees, while a hush, slight, but expectant, crept over the place. + +"_Quae primum gradum accedunt._" + +At the well-known words, the seniors rose, with Theodora standing at +their head. The girl was very pale, and her eyes looked dark and liquid, +as she raised them to the president's face. From his seat in the south +transept, Billy watched her while she stood there, tall and straight and +noble in her young womanhood, a very daughter of to-day; and, as he +looked, within him there strengthened the belief which had been slowly +forming and guiding his life ever since the day, more than six years +before, when Theodora had come down to him from the old apple-tree. In +all those tedious, aching years, Theodora had been his best friend; and +now with health and with her before him, he could afford to work, and +wait, and hope. + + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO + + +Two years had passed away, and The Savins lay basking in the heat of an +August noon. Here and there, a broad calladium leaf swayed majestically +to and fro in a passing breeze, and the locusts sang shrilly in the +trees overhead. Upstairs in her own room, Theodora rocked lazily, +humming to herself while she darned her stockings. + +"Prosaic work!" she said aloud, half whimsically. "The sure forerunner +of a prosaic spinsterhood! My plans don't seem to materialize rapidly, +and I foresee that I shall go on darning stockings till the end of my +days. Bah! how I hate it!" She rolled up her stockings into a ball. "Two +years ago, and I was saying good-by to Billy in New York, and we were +making great plans for what we were to accomplish. Dear old Billy! I +hope he's quite strong by this time. It's almost time for another letter +from him, seems to me." + +She tossed the ball to the table beside her, and, clasping her hands +above her rumpled hair, fell to dreaming. Phebe interrupted her. + +"A letter for you, Teddy!" she proclaimed, opening the door and casting +the envelope across the room towards her sister. + +"From Billy?" + +"How should I know? I don't read your letters." + +It was the same Phebe, older and taller, but otherwise unchanged. Now +her tone was slightly toploftical. + +"I didn't suppose you did," Theodora answered, while she rose to pick up +the letter. "I can't say you are over-ceremonious with it, Babe." + +"Don't care." And Phebe vanished as abruptly as she had come. + +The letter was not from Billy. The handwriting was strange; and Theodora +turned it over and over nervously, before she ventured to open it. Then +of a sudden the color came into her cheeks, and her eyes flashed. +Seizing the letter, she opened the door and ran down the stairs. + +"Hope! Hu! Somebody!" she called, with a glad, exultant note in her +voice. + +She called again. Then she heard Phebe's voice from the lawn. + +"I am here. What do you want?" + +"Where is everybody?" Theodora asked, stepping out on the piazza. + +"I'm here." Phebe's accent suggested that her feelings were hurt at the +question. + +"Yes; but papa and mamma?" + +"Driving." + +"And Hope?" + +"Mooning round with Archie somewhere." + +"Where's Hu?" + +"Gone for a ride." + +"Then you'll be the first to hear my great news." + +"Needn't tell me, unless you want. I don't care to be taken +Jack-at-a-pinch." + +"I do want to tell you, Babe. I only thought I would wait till the +others were here; but I don't believe I can wait." + +"What is it?" Phebe asked, her curiosity overcoming her momentary pique +as she looked at Theodora's radiant face. + +"It's only that I've written a book and sent it to a publisher, and he +says it's good enough to publish." + +"Really? Really and truly?" Phebe's face expressed her incredulity. +"Will he pay you a lot for it?" + +"Something,--not a lot, though," Theodora answered, too much accustomed +to Phebe's lack of sympathy to be hurt by her words. "But that's not the +main thing, Babe. Think of the honor of it!" + +"Hm!" Phebe said slowly. "It's the money I'd care for, Teddy. Ever so +many people have written books before, and some of them younger than +you." + +Great was the rejoicing of the family, that day, when Theodora met them +at the dinner-table with her news. In the clamor of question and +congratulation, no word could be distinguished at first. Then Dr. +McAlister's voice, clear and quiet, hushed the others. + +"Teddy, dear," he said tenderly; "I couldn't love you more than I do; +but this makes your old father very proud of you. I wish your own mother +could have known it." + +And Mrs. McAlister added softly,-- + +"Perhaps she does, Jack." + +The clamor broke out again. + +"When did you--?" + +"How did you ever--?" + +"Why didn't you tell us that--?" + +"How long--?" + +"What will Billy Farrington say?" Hope asked at length. + +"He'll say, 'Didn't I always tell you so?'" Hubert answered, smiling +across the table at his twin sister. + +Afterwards they lingered on the piazza, talking and laughing, begging to +see the manuscript, teasing Theodora about her secretiveness, and +congratulating her again and again. It was an attractive group, Theodora +in the midst, a tall, handsome girl in the full ripeness of her maidenly +beauty, her arm linked in that of her twin brother, while pretty Hope +stood facing them, with Archie at her side. + +Allyn came up to them as they stood there. + +"Take these, Teddy," he said, holding out his hand. + +"What are they, Allyn?" she asked, loosing Hubert's arm as she bent down +over the child. + +"Clovers, four-leafed ones. They will bring you luck," he answered, with +childish superstition. + +"How many you find, Allyn! I never see any," she said, taking the +handful of green leaves. + +"Put them in your belt, and the first man you shake hands with, you'll +marry," Phebe suggested pertly. + +"Not I. I'm doomed to old-maidhood," she said, laughing. + +"Give them to Hope, then," Phebe said, careless of Hope's blushes. + +"Never. They are mine. You gave them to me, didn't you, Allyn?" + +"Yes," the child said gravely. "You'd better keep them and put them in +your belt. Hope doesn't need them as much as you do." + +In the midst of the laugh that followed, Theodora went away to her room +to write the momentous letter which should accept the publisher's offer. +It cost her some pains to write it, to attain the proper degree of +indifference, equally removed from coldness and from childish eagerness. +The clock beside her told that an hour had passed over her task, and a +little heap of torn papers lay on the desk before her when the maid came +to call her. + +"There's some one in the parlor to see you, Miss Theodora." + +"Who?" + +"He didn't tell me his name." + +"Bother take him!" Theodora remarked to herself. Then she added aloud, +"Well, I'll be right down." + +It was characteristic of Theodora that she delayed to give no glance at +the mirror. Just as she was, with her ruffled hair and in her simple +pink morning gown, she ran down the stairway and entered the cool, dark +parlor. As she crossed the threshold, the guest rose to greet her,--a +guest with a tall, athletic figure, a sunburned face, keen blue eyes, +and a mass of reddish golden hair. + +"Billy!" + +"Ted!" + +"Where did you come from?" + +"'The Ankworks package.'" + +"But really?" + +"I landed, yesterday afternoon. I was bound to give you a surprise, and +I think I've made it out. Glad to see me?" + +"You dear old boy! Have you any doubts about it? How well you're +looking, and how--how stunning!" + +"Ditto, ma'am. The years have agreed with you, I suspect." + +"Yes. And you? You've told so little about yourself. You do write horrid +letters, Billy." + +"Your old frankness, I observe," he said mischievously. + +"I know it; but when I am longing to hear if you're well and all about +you, you write reams of student gossip. I forgive you, though, now I see +you, for you look better than I ever supposed you could." + +"Not much like the flabby chunk of flesh that used to call itself Billy +Farrington?" he asked complacently. + +"Not a bit, you giant; but you're the same old Billy. Is it polite to +say you've grown? Walk off, and let me look at you." + +Turning, he made a few quick strides up and down the room, laughing, as +he did so, at the perfect satisfaction written on her face. Then he came +back and took her hand once more. + +"Will it pass, Teddy?" he asked, looking down at the tall girl beside +him. + +"Yes, in every way. You're sure you are as strong as ever?" + +"Sound as a nut. And, by Jove, Ted, after two years of Dutch Gretchens, +it is good to see you again." + +[Illustration: SOMETHING IN THE EXPRESSION OF THE BLUE EYES ABOVE HER +MADE HER OWN EYES DROOP.] + +Something in the expression of the blue eyes above her made her own eyes +droop. Then suddenly she flushed and drew away her hand, which, all +this time, had been lying in his two strong brown palms, for, as she +looked down, her glance had chanced to fall upon the bunch of withered +leaves which still clung in her belt. + +THE END + + + + + WANOLASSET + + THE-LITTLE-ONE-WHO-LAUGHS + + By MISS A. G. PLYMPTON + + _Author of "Dear Daughter Dorothy," etc._ + +[Illustration] + + _12mo. Cloth. With illustrations by the author._ $1.25. + +A story of colonial life in New England during King Philip's War, and of +the captivity of a little Medfield maid, to whom, on account of her +brave spirit and sunny temper, the Indians gave the name of +"Wanolasset"--meaning "The-little-one-who-laughs." Much historical +information is cleverly interwoven with the story, which is one of +absorbing interest. The author has invested her youthful characters with +much of that same sweetness which characterizes "Dear Daughter Dorothy," +the heroine of one of her earlier books; and their varying fortunes will +be eagerly followed.--_New England Magazine._ + +It is a story of boy and girl life in a Puritan colony, an historical +romance, indeed, for young people. Miss Plympton's stories are always +prime favorites, and she has never written quite so good a one as +this.--Providence News. + +The tale is of King Philip's War, and little Alse's capture and rescue +are given with an eye to historical accuracy and with a clearer sense of +justice to the captors than characterized the "Indian stories" of twenty +years ago. Out of all this careful study of facts, combined with +literary skill, the child of to-day ought to get a fair idea of pioneer +life.--_Los Angeles Express._ + +The story is such a one as children delight in, and is withal so simple, +sweet, and wholesome that no better gift could be chosen for any +child.--_Lexington (Ky.) Herald._ + + + + + THE CHICOPEE SERIES + + BY MYRA SAWYER HAMLIN + +[Illustration: "NAN."] + + NAN AT CAMP CHICOPEE; OR, NAN'S SUMMER WITH THE BOYS. + +The story is one of free, outdoor life, characterized by a deal of fine +descriptive writing and many bits of local color that invest the whole +book with an atmosphere which is actually fragrant; the entire story is +as fresh and as clear and as bright as if some of the breezes of "Lake +Chicopee" had blown straight through it from cover to cover and left +their odors of flowery pastures and pine woods and New Hampshire air on +every page.--_Bangor Commercial._ + + NAN IN THE CITY; OR, NAN'S WINTER WITH THE GIRLS. + +A bright story in which children and animals play an equal part.--_The +Outlook._ + +It is a charmingly entertaining book from cover to cover, and in every +way entitled to a wide constituency of young readers. The story is well +told and the atmosphere is healthful and uplifting, while there is a +plot to keep the interest aroused, and around the central figure of the +story the reader's affection and good-will is bound to cling, for the +heroine is a type of young girl such as makes the world brighter and +happier for her presence.--_Boston Budget._ + + NAN'S CHICOPEE CHILDREN. (_Completing The Chicopee Series._) + + _16mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Each,_ $1.25. + + + + + 'TWIXT YOU AND ME + + A STORY FOR GIRLS + + BY GRACE LE BARON + + _Author of "Little Miss Faith," "Little Daughter," "The + Rosebud Club," and "Queer Janet"_ + +[Illustration] + + _12mo. Cloth. With pictures by Ellen Bernard Thompson + and floral decorations by Katherine Pyle._ $1.50 + +This new book by an author whose other stories have been written for +younger children will win a warm place in the hearts of girl readers, +and its two principal characters, Rosemary and Daisy, are likely to be +very popular. The events of the story occur in two summers at the +seashore and in two terms at the "Misses Bagley's Fashionable +Boarding-School." The author has interwoven with the story a very +charming garland of poems of flowers. + + + + + BELLE + + _A New Book by the author of "Miss Toosey's Mission"_ + +[Illustration] + + _16mo. Cloth. Illustrated._ $1.00 + + + + + THE LITTLE RED SCHOOLHOUSE + + BY EVELYN RAYMOND + + _Author of "The Little Lady of the Horse," "Among + the Lindens," etc._ + +[Illustration] + + _12mo. Cloth. Illustrated by Victor A. Searles._ $1.50 + +As the title indicates, the country school is the feature of the book +which has suggested much of its plot, and the author has woven a +delightful narrative, sensible and practical, and at the same time +interesting and uplifting, which will be welcomed by the young +people.--_Congregationalist._ + + + + + AMONG THE LINDENS + + BY EVELYN RAYMOND + + _Author of "The Little Lady of the Horse," "A Cape May + Diamond," "The Mushroom Cave," "The + Little Red Schoolhouse," etc._ + +[Illustration] + + _12mo. Cloth. Illustrated by Victor A. Searles._ $1.50 + +The scene of Evelyn Raymond's new story is partly in New York and partly +in the country "among the lindens." A poor family is assisted by a +wealthy friend in the best possible way,--he helps them to help +themselves. The youngest boy is the life of the story, something of an +amusing and exceedingly lively nature happening to him every day of his +life. The children of the story have faults, but strive to correct them, +and have healthy and noble ideals of life and character. There is an +exceptionally pleasant, homelike atmosphere about the book. + + + + + THE YOUNG PURITANS IN KING PHILIP'S WAR + + _A sequel to "The Young Puritans of Old Hadley"_ + + BY MARY P. WELLS SMITH + + _Author of "The Jolly Good Times Series," etc._ + +[Illustration] + + _12mo. Cloth. Illustrated by L. J. Bridgman._ $1.25 + +This is the second volume in "The Young Puritans Series." The author has +made a very careful study of the Colonial life and history of the time. +Like the first volume of the series, her attempt to depict the life of +Puritan children for young people is closely based on historical facts. +These volumes should be read carefully and studied by the children of +to-day, recounting, as they do, the hardships endured by their +forefathers and foremothers in the settlement of this country, as well +as their devotion, high aims, and religious zeal. The third volume of +the series will be devoted to "The Young Puritans in Captivity." + + + + + HESTER STANLEY'S FRIENDS + + _A sequel to "Hester Stanley at St. Mark's"_ + + BY HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD + +[Illustration] + + _12mo. Cloth. Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill._ $1.25 + +Mrs. Spofford's new book includes the following stories, dealing with +the same characters as those of her delightful volume of schoolgirl life +entitled "Hester Stanley at St. Mark's": Bella's Choice; A Christmas +that was Christmas; Jule's Garden; April Showers; Rafe; The Little Black +Fiddle; Billy and his Grandmother; Remade; The Fourth at Marcia Meyer's; +Little Rosalie; At Old Benbow. + + A NEW EDITION OF "HESTER STANLEY AT ST. MARK'S" + + _Uniform with the above. Illustrated. 12mo. Cloth._ $1.25 + _The two volumes, in a box,_ $2.50 + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Teddy: Her Book, by Anna Chapin Ray + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TEDDY: HER BOOK *** + +***** This file should be named 24361.txt or 24361.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/3/6/24361/ + +Produced by David Edwards, Annie McGuire and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from scans of public domain material +produced by Microsoft for their Live Search Books site.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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