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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/31836-h.zip b/31836-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..807331d --- /dev/null +++ b/31836-h.zip diff --git a/31836-h/31836-h.htm b/31836-h/31836-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3bf447a --- /dev/null +++ b/31836-h/31836-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4886 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Better Than Play by Mabel Quiller-Couch</title> +<style type="text/css"> + body {background:#fdfdfd; + color:black; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + font-size: medium; + margin-top:100px; + margin-left:12%; + margin-right:12%; + text-align:justify; } + h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; } + p {text-indent: 4%; } + p.noindent {text-indent: 0%; } + hr.full { width: 100%; + height: 5px; } + hr.narrow { width: 40%; + text-align: center; } + blockquote.footnote { font-size: small; } + .caption { font-size: small; + font-weight: bold; } + .center { text-align: center; } + .ind1 {margin-left: 1em; } + .ind2 {margin-left: 2em; } + .ind3 {margin-left: 3em; } + .ind4 {margin-left: 4em; } + .ind5 {margin-left: 5em; } + .ind6 {margin-left: 6em; } + .ind7 {margin-left: 7em; } + .ind8 {margin-left: 8em; } + .ind9 {margin-left: 9em; } + .ind10 {margin-left: 10em; } + .ind11 {margin-left: 11em; } + .ind12 {margin-left: 12em; } + .ind13 {margin-left: 13em; } + .ind14 {margin-left: 14em; } + .ind15 {margin-left: 15em; } + .ind16 {margin-left: 16em; } + .ind17 {margin-left: 17em; } + .ind18 {margin-left: 18em; } + .ind19 {margin-left: 19em; } + .ind20 {margin-left: 20em; } + .large {font-size: large; } + table { font-size: medium; } + a:link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:red} +</style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Better than Play, by Mabel Quiller-Couch + +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: Better than Play + +Author: Mabel Quiller-Couch + +Release Date: April 1, 2010 [EBook #31836] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BETTER THAN PLAY *** + + + + +Produced by Lionel Sear + + + + + +</pre> + +<hr class="full" noshade> + +<center> +<img alt = "Fig 1." src = "images/fig1.jpg"><br> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + + + + + +<h2>BETTER THAN PLAY.</h2> + +<h4>By</h4> + +<h2>MABEL QUILLER-COUCH.</h2> + +<h5>Author of "A waif and a Welcome," "Zach and Debby," +"The Story of Jessie," etc.</h5> +<br><br><br> + + +<h5>1911</h5> +<h5> This etext prepared from a version published in 1911.</h5> +<br><br><br> +<h4>LONDON</h4> +<h4>THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY</h4> +<h4>4 Bouverie Street and 65 St. Paul's Churchyard, E.C.4</h4> + +<br><br><br> +<h3>CONTENTS</h3> + +<center> +<p> </p> +<table cellpadding= "2"> +<tr><td align="center" valign="top">Chapter</td><td> </td></tr> + + +<tr><td align= "right" valign= "top">I. </td><td><a href = "#1"> WASHING DAY TEMPERS.</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align= "right" valign= "top">II. </td><td><a href = "#2"> HOW THE DAY ENDED.</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align= "right" valign= "top">III. </td><td><a href = "#3"> THE LITTLE HERB-BED.</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align= "right" valign= "top">IV. </td><td><a href = "#4"> SAGE BUSHES AND ROSE BUSHES.</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align= "right" valign= "top">V. </td><td><a href = "#5"> WHAT AUNT MAGGIE SUGGESTED.</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">VI. </td><td><a href = "#6"> FIRST CUSTOMERS.</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align= "right" valign= "top">VII. </td><td><a href = "#7"> WHAT LAY BEYOND THE MILESTONE.</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align= "right" valign= "top">III. </td><td><a href = "#8"> ROCKET'S HELP IS REQUIRED.</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align= "right" valign= "top">IV. </td><td><a href = "#9"> HOME AGAIN.</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align= "right" valign= "top">V. </td><td><a href = "#10"> CHRISTMAS.</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">VI. </td><td><a href = "#11"> A STEP FORWARD.</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align= "right" valign= "top">VII. </td><td><a href = "#12"> SUCCESS.</a></td></tr> + + + + + +</table> +</center> + + + + + + + + + +<br><br> +<p><a name="1"></a> </p> +<br><br> +<h3>CHAPTER I.</h3> +<h3>WASHING DAY TEMPERS.</h3> +<br><br> +<p>Down at the Henders' cottage all was misery and discomfort; the house was +full of bad temper, steam, and the smell of soap-suds. It was +washing-day, and the children hated washing-day. For one thing, Aunt Emma +was always very cross, and for another, they never knew what to do with +themselves. They were not allowed indoors, for they "choked up the +place," she said, "and there wasn't room to move,"; so they had to stay +outside; but they must make no noise, for she could not bear it, and they +must not wander away to play, for they might be wanted at any minute, to +run an errand, or chop up a few sticks. Bella, too, the eldest of them +all, was needed every now and again to hang a few things on the bushes; +but that was all the break they had in the weary day.</p> + +<p>Bella often wished her aunt would let her do more to help her. She was +sure she could, and it would have been ever so much more pleasant than +standing around seeing everything go wrong, yet doing nothing.</p> + +<p>Her aunt was always scolding her for being idle, and grumbling at the +amount of work she herself had to do; yet, if Bella attempted to help in +any way, there was a great to-do, and her aunt grew so angry about it that +Bella soon gave up attempting. It grieved her dreadfully, though. +The home had been so different when her mother was alive, so neat and +pretty, and all of them so happy.</p> + +<p>There had rarely been any scolding, and certainly there was never any +grumbling about the work.</p> + +<p>"Why, work is pleasure, if you take it in the right spirit," Mrs. Hender +used to say, cheerfully; "it means life and happiness—but everything +depends, of course, on the spirit in which you take it."</p> + +<p>Certainly Aunt Emma did not take it in 'the right spirit.' She was always +grumbling, and never what you would call cheerful. If she had to go up +the few stairs to the bedrooms, she grumbled, and if she had to go to the +door to answer a knock, she grumbled. If the children used an extra cup, +or the windows got dirty, or the steps muddy, she complained bitterly of +the hardship it was to her. And few things are harder to bear than to +have to live with a perpetual grumbler, to listen to constant complaints, +—especially, too, if the grumbler will not let any one help her to do the +work she grumbles so much about. A grumbler spoils every one's pleasure, +and gets none herself; and the worst of it is, it is a disease that grows +on one terribly.</p> + +<p>In the Henders' case it was doing great harm, as Bella was old enough to +see. Her father had always, in the old days, come home after his work, +and, after they had all had a cosy meal together, had worked in the garden +through the summer evenings, or, in the winter, sat by the fire reading +the paper or a book to his wife while she sewed. He had long since ceased +all that, though, for one can't sit and read in any comfort in a kitchen +that's all of a muddle, and to a woman who is grumbling all the time; and +soon he found there was a cosy, quiet resting-place at the 'Red Lion,' +with plenty of cheerfulness and good temper, and no grumbling.</p> + +<p>The children, too, never came indoors if they could stay out, and as Aunt +Emma complained of their noise if they played in the garden, they +naturally went farther away, if they could manage to escape.</p> + +<p>But for Bella, this was not so easy. She was useful, though her aunt +would never admit it, and she liked to have her within call. There was +nowhere that Bella cared to go, except to Mrs. Langley's, farther down the +lane, and thither Miss Hender did not allow her to go very often, though +no one knew why.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Langley, or 'Aunt Maggie,' as the children had been taught to call +her, had been their mother's greatest friend and nearest neighbour, +and during their mother's lifetime they had felt almost as much at home in +her house as in their own. Little Margaret, indeed, had been called after +her.</p> + +<p>Altogether life was very, very different now, and to Bella's mind the +present seemed anything but a happy time.</p> + +<p>She sat on the step to-day, and looked soberly at the sky. The weather +was dull and gloomy, with a moisture in the air which would entirely keep +the clothes from drying; and a bad drying day is in itself enough to try +the temper of the most amiable of washerwomen.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I do wish the sun would shine," she thought anxiously; "it would make +such a difference." Bella spent her days in a state of mingled hope and +dread—hope that things would happen to please her aunt, and dread of +things happening to ruffle her.</p> + +<p>The baker's cart drew up at the gate, and the man, springing lightly down, +came up the garden-path with a basket of loaves. "Now she will be vexed +at having to answer the door," thought Bella. "I wish I knew what bread +to take in."</p> + +<p>That, however, was more than she dare do, so she contented herself with +going in, to warn her aunt of the baker's approach.</p> + +<p>"The baker is coming, Aunt Emma," she said quietly.</p> + +<p>"Well, s'posing he is! Surely you'm old enough to take the bread from +him; or do you want me to do it while you look on? It won't soil your +hands to touch a loaf of bread."</p> + +<p>"How many loaves shall I take in?" asked Bella patiently.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't know! I don't know what we've got, and I can't stay to see. +Three would do, I should hope."</p> + +<p>Bella looked at the baker's basket, and her spirit sank; there were pale +loaves and brown ones, and loaves of all shapes. Which should she take? +Which would please her aunt? At last she picked up what she thought was a +nice tempting-looking one. Surely that would do for one, she thought.</p> + +<p>The baker interposed. "Miss Hender don't like that shape," he said +shortly; "she thinks 'em too crusty. Most folks prefer 'em," he added +meaningly.</p> + +<p>Bella laid down the loaf and took up another.</p> + +<p>"Miss Hender don't——" the man began again, but stopped. What did it +matter to him, he thought, what the cross-grained woman liked or didn't +like? He had trouble enough when she came to the door herself; so he +hastily put two other loaves in Bella's hands, and left as quickly as he +could.</p> + +<p>Of course, when Aunt Emma caught sight of the loaves, there was a nagging +and a scolding. They were wrong in shape and colour and size, and +everything else. "I should have thought a great girl like you might have +known the kind of loaf we generally have, and not have taken in such +things as those!"</p> + +<p>"As you are always complaining of those we do have, I thought you'd like a +change," was the retort that trembled on Bella's lips, but she kept the +words back. "I thought these looked nice," was all she said.</p> + +<p>Indeed, they looked so nice and smelt so deliciously, she could have eaten +a large crust of one then and there. She was very hungry, poor child; but +on washing-days the children were not expected to be hungry, and, as a +rule, no meal was got for any one between breakfast and the evening one, +when their father came home. On washing-days nothing could be attended to +but the washing.</p> + +<p>Bella heard little Margery crying softly in the garden. The child was +hungry too, she knew. She was but four years old, and she needed +something. Bella's heart ached for her baby sister, the little one who +had been the pet and darling of the household during her mother's +lifetime. As she listened to the plaintive crying, the thought would come +into her mind, "What would her mother feel if she knew that her baby was +hungry, and neglected and unhappy?" and at last she could bear the thought +and the crying no longer. Summoning up all her courage, she went out to +the scullery, where her aunt was bustling about, grumbling to herself all +the time.</p> + +<p>"Aunt Emma," she said half-timidly, "may I give Margery something to eat? +She is so hungry. I hear her crying."</p> + +<p>Miss Hender did not answer. "Have you seen the poker?" she demanded, +impatiently. "One of those boys has walked off with it, I'll be bound! +and here is my fire going out for the want of a stirring up. How anybody +can be expected to get on where there's a parcel of children——"</p> + +<p>"I am sure the boys haven't had it, Aunt Emma," declared Bella patiently. +"I saw it here just now, and they haven't moved from the garden; they've +been reading all the morning."</p> + +<p>"Well, I can't waste any more time," cried the angry woman, "I'll take +this," and impetuously catching up the stick that she used for lifting the +clothes out of the copper, she thrust it into the fire.</p> + +<p>Bella stood by wondering and embarrassed. The fire burnt up the better +for its stirring, it is true, but the stick was ruined for its usual +purpose. Blackened and charred as it was, it was only fit for putting +back into the fire again as fuel. Even to Bella's childish mind the +foolishness and wickedness of such a hasty action was only too plain.</p> + +<p>A moment later, when the copper-stick itself was wanted, it was unusable, +and there was no other at hand. One would have to be bought, or made, +or found. While looking for something that would do in place of it, the +poker was found lying on the table, amongst the pans and things littered +there. This only made Miss Hender more irritable than before.</p> + +<p>"To think it should have been there all the time, and me wasting all that +time looking for it!" she exclaimed, as indignantly as though the poker +were actually to blame.</p> + +<p>In the corner of the scullery was a chair with one leg loose, waiting for +the father to find time to mend it. Miss Hender's flashing eye fell on +this, and seizing the leg and plunging it into the boiling copper, she +lifted out the clothes into the washing-tray with it. The chair leg was +dusty and it was covered with yellow varnish and paint, but in her foolish +and senseless rage she never stopped to think of this, and for months and +months after the stains on the clothing stood as a reminder and a +reproach, for not even time and frequent washings could remove them +altogether.</p> + +<p>Bella turned away miserable enough. The chair was ruined, of course, as +well as the clothes, and she was old enough to understand the wicked waste +such an outburst of temper may cause.</p> + +<p>"It was one of those mother saved up for and bought," she said to herself, +the tears welling up in her eyes, "and she was so proud of them. +I wish father had mended it at once, then it wouldn't have been lying +about in the scullery, in her way."</p> + +<p>A voice from the garden, though, drove the other thoughts from her mind; +it was Margery's calling softly to her, "Bella, I'm so hungry. Give +Margery something to eat, she's so hungry."</p> + +<p>Bella's misery deepened to anger against the cause of all this +wretchedness; the bad-tempered woman who was spoiling all their happiness.</p> + +<p>"It isn't her house," she argued to herself; "it's father's house, and +ours, and I am sure he wouldn't have Margery or any of us go hungry. +It is cruel to starve a little thing like that, and I've a good mind to go +to the larder and get her something to eat."</p> + +<p>But fear of the storm such an act would raise, and fear lest some of it +should fall on Margery, a feeling of respect too for her aunt's authority, +kept her from doing this, but did not lessen her determination to relieve +her little sister's wants, and an idea came to her that sent her quickly +to the garden with a brightened face.</p> + +<p>"Tom," she said softly to the elder of her two brothers, "Margery is so +hungry, and I believe there won't be any dinner at all to-day. +Aunt Emma hasn't said anything about it, and she's in an awful temper."</p> + +<p>Tom and Charlie groaned, "And we're starving!"</p> + +<p>"I shall go and pull up a turnip to eat," said Charlie defiantly. +"I wish the apples were big enough to be any good."</p> + +<p>"I wish I'd got a penny to buy some buns," said Tom.</p> + +<p>Bella's face grew thoughtful. She had four-pence of her own in her +money-box, that she had been saving to buy herself a pair of gloves for +Sundays. She had long wanted them, and twopence more would enable her to +get them, but——</p> + +<p>"I'll give you a penny each to buy some buns," she said impulsively, +"if you will do something first, and promise to be very careful."</p> + +<p>Of course they both promised vigorously.</p> + +<p>"Well, I want you to take Margery down the lane to Aunt Maggie, and ask +her if she will give her something to eat. I am sure she will, if she +knows how hungry she is. Then you can run and buy your buns, and you must +go back and fetch Margery again, and bring her home, without Aunt Emma's +knowing anything about it. It would only make her more angry."</p> + +<p>Of course the boys promised again to do their best. A whispered word +stopped Margery's wailing, the pennies were soon abstracted from the +money-box, and then the little trio made their way quietly down the +garden, and out at the gate into the lane. Once outside their pace, +spurred by hunger, quickened considerably, and famished little Margery was +very soon sitting perfectly happy in Aunt Maggie's kitchen, with a mug of +milk before her and a large slice of bread and butter and sugar.</p> + + +<br><br> +<p><a name="2"></a> </p> +<br><br> +<h3>CHAPTER II.</h3> +<h3>HOW THE DAY ENDED.</h3> +<br><br> +<p>Bella stood for a moment looking out at the cold grey sky and the +neglected garden, but her thoughts were with the children, and her ears +following the sounds of their retreating footsteps. Her mind was greatly +relieved by the thought that they would soon be having some food.</p> + +<p>For herself and her own hunger she did not care, and she would not let +herself think of the two pennies she had given up, and the gloves that she +had been so looking forward to possessing, but would now have to do +without.</p> + +<p>A thrill of dread passed through her at the thought of her aunt. +Would she be very angry, she wondered, if she found out what she had done? +Most probably she would, thought Bella, though there was no harm in it. +It never occurred to her that nothing could have been much more annoying +to Miss Hender than for a neighbour to be asked to feed the children +she was supposed to be there to look after. It was making public her +neglect and bad temper.</p> + +<p>It would have been far better to have done the straightforward thing, +without any deception; to have gone to her bravely and asked to be allowed +to give the children some food, and have borne patiently her annoyance and +angry words. Now Bella's great anxieties were that her aunt should not +find out that the children had gone, and that they should be back before +she should miss them. The thought of this sent her quickly into the +house.</p> + +<p>"Are there any more things for me to hang out, Aunt Emma?" she asked, +cheerfully. "There seems to be a little breeze springing up."</p> + +<p>Miss Hender, without replying, handed her a dish piled high with wet +clothes. "Hang them so that they'll catch the wind, if there is any." +And Bella went out, anxiously wondering how one did that, but not daring +to ask her aunt.</p> + +<p>In her perplexity she stood for a few moments looking at the garments +already on the lines, to see if some were blowing out more than others, +but, apparently, the little breeze had not power enough to stir them, and +Bella had to hang up her last load and trust to chance for its being +according to her aunt's pleasure. She had very little hope, though, of +such good fortune.</p> + +<p>When she got back to the kitchen again Miss Hender had emptied the tub she +had been washing at, and was preparing to dry her wrinkled, water-soaked +fingers.</p> + +<p>"I've finished the white clothes, so now I'll see about giving you +children something to eat, before I take the coloured things out of the +copper," she said, speaking less snappishly than before. She was, in +fact, somewhat ashamed of her recent display of temper over the missing +poker, and was anxious to make a better and more dignified impression on +Bella's mind.</p> + +<p>All Bella felt was a great sinking of her heart. What could she do? +What would be best? Would it be better to confess at once and tell +exactly what had happened, or should she let her aunt go on and get the +meal, and trust to the children's being back before it was prepared, +and to the incident of the buns and bread-and-butter meal never being +found out by her? After all, she had told them they would get no food +until the washing was all done, and no one could have guessed that she +would have changed her mind within so short a time; and there was no real +harm in Bella's putting them in the way of getting something to eat when +they were so very hungry.</p> + +<p>So poor Bella argued and argued with herself, her courage sinking lower +with every preparation her aunt made. If only Miss Hender had been a +little kinder to Bella, if only she had taught her to trust, and not to +fear, her, Bella would have explained then and there, and all would have +blown over.</p> + +<p>While Bella was thinking it all out and trying to make up her mind what +she should do, she was standing idle—and that, to begin with, was not the +way to please and pacify her aunt, tired as she was with long hours of +hard work, exhausted from want of food, with her back aching, and her feet +throbbing with long standing on the stone floor. If only Bella had made +her a cup of tea and got the simple meal ready while she sat and rested a +little, what a relief it would have been, and what good it would have done +her, but her own temper prevented that. For one thing, Bella would not +have dared to touch anything without being told she might, and, for +another, she was so frightened now at the thought of what she had done and +of her aunt's probable anger, that she stood absorbed and perplexed, +and did not even do the things she might have done.</p> + +<p>Naturally the weary woman grew irritated by such thoughtlessness. +"I don't know how long you expect me to wait on you!" she said tartly, +"while you stand by, too lazy even to do the little you know how to. +Go and draw a jug of water this minute, and tell the children to wash +their hands. I s'pose you're capable of doing that much."</p> + +<p>Bella, still without explaining, took the jug and went out to the pump. +By the time she came back her aunt had cut off several slices of cold +bacon and put some on four plates, one for each of them. Bella felt +perfectly ill with fear when she saw these preparations.</p> + +<p>"Aunt Emma!" she began, but so tremulously that her aunt did not hear her.</p> + +<p>"Where are the children? Didn't you tell them?" demanded Miss Hender +tartly.</p> + +<p>"They aren't there," stammered Bella nervously, "they haven't come +back——"</p> + +<p>"Back from where?"—Bella's manner struck Miss Hender more than her +words—it made what was apparently a trifling matter seem important.</p> + +<p>"I—they—they were so hungry, and—I didn't know there was going to be +any dinner, and—and I gave them money to go and get some buns."</p> + +<p>"And you trusted those two boys to take Margery right down to the +village——"</p> + +<p>"No," broke in Bella, anxious to explain; "they took her only as far as +Aunt Maggie's, and when they'd got their buns they were to come back there +for her, and——"</p> + +<p>"Couldn't she have waited here for her bun? Whatever made you send her to +Mrs. Langley's?"</p> + +<p>Bella grew more embarrassed than ever. "She—was so hungry," she began; +"she kept on crying for bread and butter, and I sent her to—to ask——" +but her words failed her altogether at the sight of the expression on her +aunt's face.</p> + +<p>"You didn't send and ask Mrs. Langley to give Margery something to eat, +did you?" she demanded slowly, dwelling on each word with an emphasis that +nearly drove Bella crazy.</p> + +<p>"I—I only—yes, I did!" the last words bursting from her as though she +could explain or justify herself no more.</p> + +<p>Miss Hender's eyes blazed. "You as good as told that woman that I kept +you hungry, that you hadn't food to eat, and were afraid to ask for it. +You as good as told her that I ill-treated and starved you!" her words +caught in her throat. Step by step she had been drawing nearer to the +frightened child, her mouth set, her eyes glowing with rage. Bella, for +the first time in her life, almost screamed with terror.</p> + +<p>"I—I didn't mean that!" she gasped.</p> + +<p>"You couldn't come and ask me! You couldn't be straightforward and +honest, oh no, you must go mischief-making to that woman down the lane, +when you know I hate her! Why," with a sudden clutch, at Bella's thin +arm, "couldn't you have come and asked me? Answer me that! Do you hear? +Answer me, I tell you!"</p> + +<p>"I was afraid," stammered Bella.</p> + +<p>"Afraid? I'll make you afraid of me yet, you young hussy! I'll give you +something to make you afraid of me. I s'pose you told her, too, that I +treated you so bad you were afraid of me. Did you tell her that, too? +Answer me!" giving Bella another shake.</p> + +<p>Bella's fear gave way to anger. "There was no need to," she said cruelly. +"Everybody knows it."</p> + +<p>The next minute she was staggering across the kitchen from a violent blow +on the side of her head, and then, before she could recover herself or +realise what had happened, her aunt was beside her again, raining down +blow after blow upon her thin shoulders.</p> + +<p>"Take that, and that, and that!" gasped the infuriated woman; "and now go +out and tell every one. And there's another to teach you to speak +properly to me, or you or I leave this house!"</p> + +<p>How long the blows would have continued to pour down on Bella no one +knows, had not scream upon scream suddenly rent the air, startling every +one near.</p> + +<p>They did not come from Bella herself, for, after the first startled cry, +she made no sound. They came from the three children who had reached home +just in time to be witnesses of the terrible scene, and were frightened +almost out of their senses.</p> + +<p>Miss Hender dropped her uplifted hand and sank exhausted and speechless +into a chair. Bella, white and almost fainting, lay on the floor +motionless. At sight of her Charlie began to scream again. +"You've killed our Bella! You've killed our Bella!" he cried, while +Margery ran over to the still heap on the floor. "Bella, look up, look +up! Bella, it's me, it's Margery; speak to Margery!" Tears poured down +her little white cheeks, and one, falling on Bella's, roused her. +Putting out one stiff, aching arm, she feebly drew her little sister to +her and kissed her.</p> + +<p>Margery was delighted, for she had really thought Bella was dead, and she +hugged her in an ecstasy of relief. "Can't you get up?" she asked. +"Oh, do get up, Bella."</p> + +<p>Bella made an effort but she was too exhausted, and falling back again, +she, for the first time, lost consciousness.</p> + +<p>And so, when Tom presently arrived with his father, whom he had rushed at +once to fetch, they found her, with Margery beside her weeping and +beseeching her to speak; Charlie standing at the door, too scared to go +nearer; and Miss Hender seated, white and frightened and ashamed, gazing +at her temper's handiwork, too ashamed to go near to render the child any +aid after reducing her to that, for in her heart of hearts she felt that +after the scene of that afternoon Bella would shrink from even a kindness +at her hands.</p> + +<p>Without a word the father strode across and picked his little daughter up. +"Get some water," he said, in a low, hoarse voice to Tom, and, still +holding her in his arms, he bathed the brow and the limp, lifeless hands, +and the pale cheeks, where the scarlet patch across one told its own tale.</p> + +<p>Emma Hender rose stiffly from her chair and handed him a soft cloth, but +he would not take it from her. "Keep away!" he said harshly; "don't you +dare to touch her again. You've done enough harm for one day, you and +that temper of yours!" Emma Hender shrank back without a word, then, +after a moment's struggle for self-control, dropped into a chair and +burying her face in her apron burst into violent weeping. She was so +tired, so faint, and so ashamed of herself, and no one cared, she thought +bitterly; no one cared for her, or believed her, or pitied her.</p> + +<p>She worked for them all, and looked after their home from morning till +night, but it was all nothing, she told herself bitterly, and felt herself +a very ill-used person. But what she did not tell herself, or perhaps did +not realise, was that it is not so much what we do for people but the +spirit in which it is done, that makes it a real kindness and wins their +affection.</p> + +<p>There was one tender little heart there, though, that bore her no +ill-will, that, indeed, forgot everything but that she was in trouble and +needed comforting.</p> + +<p>"Auntie Emma, don't cry! Bella'll be better soon. Don't cry, Auntie +Emma, or Margery'll cry too!" and two soft little hands tried to pull the +work-worn ones away, and a gentle baby voice tried to bring comfort and +cheer to the unhappy woman.</p> + +<p>Aunt Emma, in a burst of real feeling, let the little hands uncover and +gently pat her face, then, clasping the baby form to her, kissed her +passionately again and again.</p> + +<p>"You do care for your auntie, don't you, dear?" she sobbed, but softly and +sorrowfully now. "You always will care for your poor auntie, won't you, +dear?"</p> + +<p>"Oh yes," promised Margery readily, anxious only to comfort and cheer, +"when auntie isn't cross," she added innocently.</p> + +<p>Miss Hender's loving clasp loosened a little. "Everybody is cross +sometimes," she muttered excusingly. But many and many a time after that +the memory of Margery's words came back to her, and stayed the first angry +word or ill-natured act, and so averted a storm and hours of reproach.</p> + +<p>"Bella is better! Look, her eyes are open!" and Margery clambered +joyfully down from her aunt's lap and ran over to her sister's side.</p> + +<p>For a moment Bella looked about her in a dazed fashion, then, memory +returning, she raised herself and tried to stand.</p> + +<p>"I am all right, thank you," she said, but she was glad enough to drop on +to the old sofa and rest. Miss Hender rose too.</p> + +<p>"I—think she'll be better for a cup of tea," she said; "we all shall." +It cost her an effort to speak, for she felt awkward and embarrassed, and +her words were very faint and stumbling, but she went to the fire and +stirred it up to make the kettle boil. Then, by degrees, recovering +herself, she quietly cut some bread and butter for all, and made the tea.</p> + +<p>Bella shrank a little from her aunt when she handed her cup, and beyond +the faintest "Thank you," did not utter a word. She was still suffering +from the shock of the sudden assault and the blows. Her nerves were +quivering, her head throbbing, and the only feeling she as yet experienced +strongly was a kind of shame—shame for her aunt and for herself.</p> + +<p>It was a most uncomfortable meal that, in spite of Miss Hender's efforts. +William Hender sat morose and thoughtful; Bella, like her aunt, was +embarrassed and very silent. The two boys and Margery alone found +anything to say, or spirit to say it, and though all felt better and more +cheerful for the meal, no one was sorry when it was ended.</p> + +<p>Miss Hender was the first to rise. She returned to her washing-tub, +William Hender to his work, and the children went out to their play in the +garden. All went on as usual, and not a word more was said of the scene +that had brought them all together. Yet all felt that in that short hour +things had altered, and for ever. That something had happened which meant +changes, perhaps not great, but changes for them all, and that life would +never be quite the same again.</p> + + +<br><br> +<p><a name="3"></a> </p> +<br><br> +<h3>CHAPTER III.</h3> +<h3>THE LITTLE HERB-BED.</h3> +<br><br> +<p>For some days after that unhappy Monday Bella and her aunt scarcely +exchanged a word. It was not that Bella was sulky, or bore malice in her +heart; it was chiefly that she felt embarrassed and awkward still. +Indeed, they both felt so. That scene seemed to be for ever between them, +and neither could forget it.</p> + +<p>It was holiday time, too, so there was no school to take Bella away from +her home, and as she did not like to ask Miss Hender to give her something +to do, she wandered about, idle and unhappy, not knowing how to fill her +days. Consequently she wandered more than once down the lane to Mrs. +Langley's little cottage. The peace and the cheerfulness of that little +home drew her irresistibly.</p> + +<p>"Oh! if only our house was like this!" she exclaimed one day. "So quiet, +and tidy, and clean. I should like to live in a little house like this +all by myself when I grow up."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Langley looked at her with a shade of sadness in her gentle brown +eyes. "My dear, don't say that! It isn't from choice, you know, that I +live alone, and it is terribly lonely sometimes. If I had been allowed to +have my way, my home would have been as full and noisy as ever yours is; +but God saw fit to take them all first, and leave me to follow in His own +good time. I expect He has work for me to do first; in fact, I know He +has, for He has some special work for each of us, though we don't +understand at the time what it is."</p> + +<p>Bella felt vexed with herself, as soon as ever the words had left her +lips, for she knew quite well the story of the tragedy that had left that +home empty—of the fatal epidemic that had taken from it the husband and +four children, and left the poor mother alone and heart-broken. +Before she could say anything Mrs. Langley's last words arrested her +attention.</p> + +<p>"Has He got special work for me?" she asked eagerly, her interest +swallowing up her shyness for once. "Oh no, He couldn't have, I am so +young, and I don't see that there's anything I can do. I only wish there +was," she added hopelessly. "I don't seem to be wanted anywhere, and I +haven't got any money, and——"</p> + +<p>"Don't you make that mistake, dear. It isn't money that's most wanted, +it is the wish and the will. Children can do a very great deal, and you +especially have many fine opportunities right at your hand, in your own +home."</p> + +<p>"But Aunt Emma does everything, and she won't let me help."</p> + +<p>"I think she would, dear, if you went to work in the right way. +Either ask her boldly to give you some part of the work to do, for you +would like to help, and you feel you are old enough now; or bide your +time, and do all the little things you can, without making any fuss or +display. Then, if you do them well, you will find that in time they are +left to your care to do always. Even if your aunt will not let you do +that much, surely there is plenty to be done outside the house. +Your garden is not kept as it was in your mother's time."</p> + +<p>"Father doesn't stay at home in the evenings now, like he used to," said +Bella, sadly.</p> + +<p>"Well, can't you coax him to? Can't you help to make his home more +cheerful and comfortable? All this is part of the work God has for you to +do, Bella. It seems to me a lot. Can't you show an interest in the +garden, and ask your father to help you to make it neat and nice again? +I think he would; I am sure he would."</p> + +<p>Bella sat with a very thoughtful face, but not such a hopelessly depressed +one as she had been wearing. Suddenly, so it seemed to her, a bright +light had been flashed upon the road she had to travel, and so many things +stood out that she had not seen before, so many hills to climb, so many +pleasant valleys to cross, that for a moment she felt awed and silenced. +It was cheering and bracing to feel that she was needed, that, after all, +there was work for her to do. Lots of work!</p> + +<p>"And then there are the boys and Margery. You have many duties to them, +dear. They have no mother, and you are left to take her place, as far as +you can, and make their lives happy, and teach them to be good. Oh, there +is so much for you to do, child. I almost envy you, there is so much."</p> + +<p>Bella looked up with shining eyes and a flush on her cheeks. +"Aunt Maggie, I came to-day to ask if you would help me to get a little +place. I felt as if I couldn't go on living at home as it is now. +It is so uncomfortable, and I thought I would like to go out in service. +I know I am very young, but——"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Langley was looking at her with a grave face, but very kindly eyes. +"I know how you felt, dear; but it seems to me plain enough that your +place is at home. You see, you're the eldest, and the others are but +little things, and if you want Margery to know anything about her dear +mother, you must teach her, and 'tis you must help to train her up to be +what her mother would have wished her to be."</p> + +<p>Bella's bright, eager eyes filled with tears. "I wish mother was here," +she cried, "it's all so different now, and so miserable!"</p> + +<p>"I know, I know; but, child, you must try and remember how it would have +grieved your poor mother, if she could know that her children's home was +unhappy, and then tell yourself that it is going to be your work to make +it different—to make it what she would wish it to be."</p> + +<p>Bella's tears gradually ceased. "But how can I begin, and when?" she +asked hopelessly.</p> + +<p>"Begin to-day, and with the first chance you see. Be content to begin +with little things in a little way. Don't expect to make great changes, +and set all right at once. You have to take these words as your motto, +'Patience, Pluck, and Perseverance.'"</p> + +<p>Bella's face brightened. It cheered her heart to feel that she could do +something, and do, too, what her mother would have had her do. It was +with less reluctance than usual that she got up to go back to her home.</p> + +<p>"I often wish, Aunt Maggie," she said affectionately, "that I could live +with you, but it would never do, would it?"</p> + +<p>"I often wish so, too, dear. Good-bye now. Run home quickly, you may be +wanted."</p> + +<p>Bella ran up the lane with a very much lighter heart than she usually +bore. She was fired with the thought of her new endeavours, and anxious +to begin. She would keep her eyes always open to see things that she +could do,—and almost as the thought was passing through her mind her +chance came, for as she opened her own gate she saw that the fowl-house +door was standing wide, and that the hens were scattered all over the +garden, scratching up the beds.</p> + +<p>"Tom promised to put a nail in the latch of that door," she sighed, "and +he has never done it." Then the thought flashed through her mind that +here was a beginning! Here she could help. By the aid of a long +pea-stick she collected the greedy hens and drove them all into their run +again, and fastened them in securely; but it took her some time.</p> + +<p>"Wherever have you been?" demanded Aunt Emma coldly; "here's tea-time +nearly, and you've been out all the afternoon."</p> + +<p>"I was down at Aunt Maggie's part of the time, and when I got back I found +the hens all out and all over the garden, and I drove them in and shut +them up."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" Aunt Emma was visibly mollified. If there was one thing she +disliked more than another, it was struggling with stupid, obstinate hens, +as she called them, and she was really thankful now that she had been +spared the task of getting them out of the garden. In her relief at this +she forgot her annoyance at Bella's having been down at Mrs. Langley's.</p> + +<p>"If there's time before tea I'll go and put the nail in the latch,", said +Bella, "for it won't stay shut very long, unless the latch is mended."</p> + +<p>The hammer, though, was not to be found, and the only nail was a crooked +one, so the latch-mending was put off till after tea. The children came +in from the orchard, and went to the pump to wash their hands and faces. +Bella spread the cloth and arranged the cups and plates and mugs. +As a rule, she put them down in any haphazard fashion, but to-day she did +try to arrange the things nicely.</p> + +<p>Miss Hender was busily taking out cake and cutting bread and butter. +Bella knew it would be of no use to offer to do either of these, but she +did ask if she might put some water in the teapot to warm it, and, to her +astonishment, her aunt said, "Yes, you may if you like."</p> + +<p>The meal would have been a very silent one if it had not been for the +children, but with their chatter it passed off pleasantly enough, and when +it was over they all made a hunt for the lost hammer and another nail, and +then trooped out with Bella, to mend the latch of the hen-house door.</p> + +<p>"That's easy enough," exclaimed Tom, as he watched Bella; "I could have +done that."</p> + +<p>"Then why didn't you?" retorted his sister. "That bit of latch has been +hanging loose for weeks, and the hens were always getting out."</p> + +<p>"I didn't think about it. Why didn't you tell me?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't think about it, either," admitted Bella; "but I am going to try +and remember things better. Tom, if you want a job, there's one of the +palings of the pigsty broken away. If it isn't mended, the pig'll break +it away more, and get out, and there's no knowing what trouble we shall +have. You can mend that, I'm sure."</p> + +<p>Tom, well pleased, went off at once. It made him feel manly to be doing +real work. Charlie, of course, followed his brother. Bella was strolling +back through the untidy garden with Margery by her side, when a sudden +thought sent her hurrying back to the house.</p> + +<p>"Aunt Emma, can I help you wash up the tea-things?"</p> + +<p>She put her question rather nervously, and her cheeks were rosy red, but +she had broken through her shy reserve, and was glad of it.</p> + +<p>Miss Hender was standing at the table with a pan of water in front of her. +"I've nearly finished," she said shortly, in her usual ungenial tone, but +added, a moment later, "leastways I soon shall have." + +Bella had seen that although several cups and plates were washed, none of +them were wiped, so she took up the tea-cloth lying on the table, and +began to dry the things and put them away. She was very anxious to do it +all carefully and well, so that her aunt might have no cause for +complaining.</p> + +<p>It almost seemed as though Miss Hender did not want to find fault if she +could help it, for when Bella hung the cups on the wrong hooks on the +dressers, she only said, "I don't know that it matters;" which was so +unlike her usual self that Bella marvelled.</p> + +<p>"I s'pose you didn't see any sage in the garden when you were there just +now?" she asked presently. "I wanted some sage and onions to cook for +supper, and I don't believe we've got either. There doesn't seem to be +scarcely anything in the garden."</p> + +<p>"I'll go and see," said Bella, "but I don't believe there's any."</p> + +<p>She walked down the rambling old garden, and all over it, and looked in +all directions, but not a leaf of sage or any other herb could she see. +The herb-bed was empty and trampled flat, a few onions lay ungathered in +the onion-bed, and there were some potatoes, but that was all, except some +gooseberry bushes and roots of rhubarb.</p> + +<p>When Bella remembered what their garden used to be, and all that they used +to get out of it, she, young though she was, was startled. She was more +than startled, she was shocked too, for if this was the state of things +now, what were they going to do for vegetables all the rest of the year? +There was nothing to come on for the winter, no carrots or turnips, no +onions or cabbages, leeks or celery,—and they used to have all in +abundance. The difference between care and neglect, thrift and waste, +plenty and want, were brought home to her very plainly at that moment.</p> + +<p>She had always been so much with her father and mother and other grown-up +people, that she understood as well as a woman how much they depended on +the garden for food.</p> + +<p>Tom and Charlie came up and joined her, wondering what she was looking at +so solemnly.</p> + +<p>"What's wrong?" they asked. "What are you looking for?"</p> + +<p>"Sage," said Bella, gravely, "and there isn't a bit; there isn't anything. +Whatever we shall do all the winter, I don't know."</p> + +<p>"Where's the herb-bed?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>"Here, we're looking at it. Mother used to keep it nice and full, she +used to see how many kinds of herbs she could grow. Oh, you remember, +Tom, don't you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Tom; "she had thyme and lemon-thyme, parsley, and sage, and +endive and borage, and—oh, I forget. She used to make me say them over, +and tell her which was which. I wish we'd taken more care of it," he +added, with sudden shame for his neglect.</p> + +<p>A brilliant idea flashed into Bella's mind, filling her with pleasure, +"Oh!" she cried, excitedly, "I know what I'll do, I'll make it nice again, +I'll take care of it, and plant herbs in it, just as mother used to do. +Where's the fork, Tom? I want to begin."</p> + +<p>"I'll get it, but let me help. Let me dig it over the first time; shall +I, Bella?"</p> + +<p>Bella agreed, but reluctantly. She wanted to do it all herself. +"I wonder where I can get parsley seed, and all the rest of it. +Oh, I know, Aunt Maggie will give me a little sage-bush, she has lots; and +p'raps she'll be able to give me some lemon-thyme too!" and away she ran +through the garden and out of the gate and down May Lane as fleet as a +hare.</p> + +<p>Miss Hender saw her dash past the house, and pressed her lips tightly +together. "Forgotten all about what I sent her for, of course," she said +sourly. "I thought that new broom was sweeping too clean."</p> + +<p>When Bella returned in about ten minutes' time, carrying a basket full of +roots, and a sage-bush on the top, her aunt came to the door to greet her.</p> + +<p>"How about that sage I asked you to look for?" she began, but when her eye +fell on the basket the rest of her scolding died away,—"Oh, so you've got +some. Well, it isn't too late," she stammered, trying not to look +foolish, and to speak graciously. It was Bella's turn to colour now. +She had completely forgotten all about her aunt and the supper. +"There wasn't a bit, Aunt Emma, and—and I forgot to come in and tell you, +but I am going to plant some fresh things in the herb-bed. Tom's digging +it over, and I am going to look after it. I asked Aunt Maggie to give me +a root or two, and you can have some of the sage leaves before I plant it; +but "—and she put down her basket, and began to grope in the bottom of +it—"Aunt Maggie sent you a bottle of dried sage, and one of parsley. +She dried them herself. She said if you hadn't got any at any time, they +might be useful,"; and she put the two little bottles into her aunt's hand +with great joy, looking up at her to read her approval in her face.</p> + +<p>But Miss Hender's face showed nothing of the sort. "I don't believe in +such new-fangled notions," she said ungraciously; "here, give me a bit of +that," breaking off a sprig of sage, "I want something that's fit to eat, +and has got some goodness left in it!"</p> + +<p>The light and pleasure died out of Bella's face. It always hurt her to +hear her Aunt Maggie, or anything of Aunt Maggie's, spoken contemptuously +of, and sudden anger at such petty spitefulness swelled up in her heart, +for it was petty of her aunt, and it was spiteful, and Bella knew it. +Indeed, every one knew it, but no one dared say anything to the foolish +woman, for fear of making matters worse.</p> + +<p>In her pleasure, though, at the sight of the work Tom had done in her +absence, Bella recovered herself, and this time she did not forget her +aunt or the supper, but coming upon a few onions she gathered them into +her basket and sent them in by Margery.</p> + +<p>By the time Miss Hender came to the door again to call them all in to +supper and bed, the sage bushes and thyme, the roots of mint and borage, +were standing sturdily erect in the newly-turned bed, which was neatly +outlined by large stones. Bella went to bed that night very tired and +very happy, and dreamed of her mother.</p> + +<p>While the children lay asleep, their father, coming home late and taking a +turn round his neglected garden while he finished his pipe, drew up before +the little herb-bed with almost a startled look on his face. He stood +there minute after minute, gazing at the newly-turned earth and the sturdy +little bushes showing out so clearly in the moonlight; the one neat and +hopeful spot in the whole untidy waste, it seemed almost to speak +reproachingly to him.</p> + +<p>What his thoughts were no one knew, but he sighed deeply more than once, +and when at last he moved away his pipe had gone out, though it was not +empty.</p> + + +<br><br> +<p><a name="4"></a> </p> +<br><br> +<h3>CHAPTER IV.</h3> +<h3>SAGE BUSHES AND ROSE BUSHES.</h3> +<br><br> + +<p>The next morning William Hender was more than usually silent at breakfast, +and he went off to his work without making any reference to what he had +seen in the garden over-night. The children's thoughts, though, were full +of it. As soon as they were dressed in the morning they ran out to see +how everything looked, and how their new treasures had borne the night.</p> + +<p>"Bella, I am going to have a bit of garden too," cried Tom, as soon as he +saw her. "Father wouldn't mind, I'm sure. He doesn't seem to want it +now, and it'll be better for me to have a little bit than to let it all be +idle."</p> + +<p>Tom had thought of it in the night, and could hardly wait until daylight +to begin. And, of course, as soon as Charlie heard of the plan, he must +do the same. "So shall I," he cried sturdily. "I shall have a garden, +and grow strawberries and gooseberries, and—and all sorts of things. +Won't it be fine!"</p> + +<p>"Margery wants a garden too. Margery wants to grow fings." Margery was +tugging at Bella's skirt, and dancing with eagerness.</p> + +<p>"What can Margery do?" asked Bella gently. She was always gentle and kind +to her little sister. "Little girls like Margery can't dig up earth."</p> + +<p>"Margery'll grow flowers," urged the little one eagerly, "Margery wants to +grow flowers, woses and daisies, and pinks, and sweet peas, and—and +snowdrops, and—oh, all sorts. Do give Margery a little garden, please, +Bella, please. Only just a little tiny, weeny one."</p> + +<p>The baby voice was so urgent that Bella could not say 'No'; nor had she +any wish to. Anything that pleased Margery pleased her, and would, she +knew, please her father. "Come along, then, and choose which bit you will +have."</p> + +<p>"I want it next to yours."</p> + +<p>"Very well. I don't s'pose father will mind."</p> + +<p>"Let me dig it over for her the first time," urged Tom, and he left the +marking out of his own new bed to come and dig up Margery's.</p> + +<p>Charlie and Bella and Margery herself collected large stones to outline it +with, and by dinnertime there was a very neat and inviting-looking patch +beside Bella's herb-bed.</p> + +<p>"What'll you do for flowers to put in it, though?" laughed Charlie.</p> + +<p>"Have you got any?"</p> + +<p>"I've got the double daisy that Aunt Maggie gave me, and Chrissie Howard +is going to bring me a 'sturtium in a pot. She said it was to put on the +window-sill, but I shall put it in my garden."</p> + +<p>"I can get you a marigold the next time I go past Carter's, on my way to +Woodley. Billy Carter offered me one the other day; they're growing like +weeds in their garden."</p> + +<p>Margery danced with joy. "That'll be three flowers in my garden; I'll be +able to pick some soon, won't I?"</p> + +<p>That night William Hender came home earlier from his after-supper gossip +at the 'Red Lion,' and, as usual, strolled about outside the house while +he finished out his pipe. To-night his footsteps led him down his garden, +and instinctively he went in search of the herb-bed again. Before he +reached it he came upon fresh signs of digging and raking, and a larger +patch of newly-turned earth, with the tools still lying beside it.</p> + +<p>"This must be for one of the boys," he thought to himself, as he stooped +to look closer. He admired the thoroughness of the work, or as much of it +as he could see in the moonlight. On his way to the tool-shed with the +tools he passed Bella's herb-bed, and then the newly-turned piece beside +it caught his eye and brought him to a standstill.</p> + +<p>"That must be the little one's," he said to himself, as he looked down at +it. "Of course she must have what the others have! I wonder what she's +got planted in it?" He bent lower and lower, but in the uncertain light +he could not distinguish what the little clump of green was, and at last +he had to go down on his knee in the path and light a match.</p> + +<p>"One double daisy, bless her heart! It's that daisy root she has set so +much store on ever since Maggie Langley gave it to her. Bless her baby +heart!" he said once more and very tenderly, and as he rose from the +ground again he sighed heavily, and passed his hand across his eyes more +than once.</p> + +<p>"I'd like to give her a s'prise," he thought to himself. "I'd dearly love +to give her a s'prise, and I will too. It'll please her ever so much."</p> + +<p>The thought of it pleased him ever so much too, and he went in and went to +bed feeling in a happier mood than he had done for a long time. The mood +was on him the next morning too, when he came down to breakfast.</p> + +<p>"Where are the children?" he asked, as he went to the scullery for his +heavy working boots.</p> + +<p>"Oh, out in the garden. They are mad about the garden for the time," said +Aunt Emma, with a laugh. "Bella seemed troubled 'cause there was nothing +in it, so they're going to set matters right. She has planted a few +herbs, and Charlie is making a strawberry bed. I don't know how long +it'll last, I'm sure. They soon tires of most things."</p> + +<p>"Ay, ay, children mostly do," was all that their father answered, but as +soon as his boots were fastened he sauntered out into the garden in search +of them.</p> + +<p>"Breakfast's ready," called his sister after him. "Call the children, +will you?"</p> + +<p>"I'll go and fetch them," he said, and made his way to where he heard +their voices.</p> + +<p>When she caught sight of him Margery left the others and ran towards him. +"Daddy! daddy! come and look at my garden. Bella says she thinks my daisy +has taken root! Now it'll soon have lots of daisies on it, won't it? and +I'll give you a piece of root. Wouldn't you like that? Daddy, won't you +have a garden too, and have flowers in it?"</p> + +<p>"Why, all the garden is father's," cried Charlie, laughing at her, and +with one accord they all turned and looked over the garden which was +'all father's,' and the untidiness, the look of neglect stamped upon +everything, brought a sense of shame to the father's heart.</p> + +<p>"But there aren't any flowers," sighed Margery.</p> + +<p>Aunt Emma's voice was heard calling them in to breakfast.</p> + +<p>"No, there ain't any now, but there will be," said her father gravely. +The words, though to Margery they sounded so simple, were a promise made +to himself and to his dead wife to do better in the future than in the +past. "By God's help!" he added, under his breath.</p> + +<p>That evening, when he came home from work, he made his way at once out +into the garden. He had brought home some bundles of young cabbage +plants, and was going to make a bed for them.</p> + +<p>"It's too late for most things, but I can do something with the ground," +he said to himself, as he went to the tool-shed for his fork and shovel.</p> + +<p>The children had gone into Woodley on an errand for their aunt, but might +be back at any moment now. The four tidy little patches of ground made +the rest of the garden look more wretchedly neglected than ever before; +they were to him like four reproaches from his four neglected children.</p> + +<p>He began to dig with almost feverish haste, in his desire to get some more +of the ground in order, and so absorbed did he become in the improvement +he soon made, that he forgot about time and tea, and everything else.</p> + +<p>A shout at last made him look up. It was a joyful shout from little +Margery, who, catching sight of him at once, came flying along the path to +him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, daddy's got a garden, too!" she cried delightedly. "Daddy is making +a garden too! Oh, how nice! What are you going to grow in your garden, +daddy? Flowers?"</p> + +<p>"Ay, I must try and have a few flowers here and there; but I've got to +have cabbages and leeks and potatoes, and all sorts of things in my +garden,—things that ain't so pretty as flowers, but are more useful."</p> + +<p>Margery stood for a moment looking very soberly at the newly-turned earth, +and holding tight a paper bag that she had been carrying very carefully +all the time.</p> + +<p>Suddenly she held the bag out to him. "I'll give you that for your +garden, daddy," she said, eagerly, "then you'll have a flower."</p> + +<p>Her father took the bag from her and began to open it. "What is it? +What have 'ee got there, little maid?"</p> + +<p>"It's a 'get-me-not root. Mr. Carter gave it to me for my garden; +but I'll give it to you, daddy, 'cause there isn't anything pretty in your +garden."</p> + +<p>The man's heart was very full as he looked in on the little root; then, +without speaking, he laid it gently down, and taking his little girl very +tenderly in his arms he kissed her.</p> + +<p>"Daddy'll plant it this very minute, little one;" and to himself he added, +"and I'll plant it where I can see it best—in case I should forget +again."</p> + +<p>A voice came calling down the path to them, "Father, supper's ready. +Margery, come in to supper;" but the little forget-me-not had to be +planted first, and Margery had to stay and help, of course. When it was +firmly placed in the ground in a nice little puddle of water, and the +earth pressed tightly about its roots, Margery stood back and gazed at it +contentedly.</p> + +<p>"I think it looks lovely there, don't you, daddy? and you see I've got my +daisy and a marigold in my garden, so I have plenty; and p'raps I'll get +something more 'nother day."</p> + +<p>That night, after supper was over and the children were in bed, William +Hender went softly down the garden again to Margery's very neat but very +bare little garden plot, and at the back of it, against the wall, he +carefully planted a fine rose bush. He had brought it home with him on +purpose for her, and, that the children might not see it, he had hidden it +in the hedge in the lane until he had an opportunity of planting it, for +he wanted it to be a surprise for the little maiden. All the time he was +planting it he was picturing to himself what she would say and do when she +first saw it; and he laughed to himself more than once, but very tenderly, +as he pictured the surprise on her face.</p> + +<p>In the morning he was up and dressed before any of them, and out in the +garden at work. He had a glance first at the forget-me-not, and then at +Margery's rose bush and daisy. All of which were looking very healthy and +happy in their new surroundings. Then he began to dig up a piece of +ground not far off, where, while pretending to be paying no heed to them, +he could hear all that they said and did.</p> + +<p>Then, as the minutes went by, he began to grow impatient for the children +to come, but his patience was not tried for long, before the house-door +was flung open, and a stampede along the path announced their coming.</p> + +<p>"Why, father is up already!" he heard Tom exclaim, "and just see what a +lot he's done."</p> + +<p>"How nice it looks! Doesn't it make a difference?" said another voice +that he guessed was Bella's. "Wait a minute; I've got to let out the +fowls, and give them their breakfast. Come along, Margery, if you want to +throw it to them."</p> + +<p>For once Margery was quite indifferent to the fowls. "Is your 'get-me-not +growing, daddy?" she shouted anxiously, as she raced up to him.</p> + +<p>"My dear life, yes! I should just think it is. You give it a look as you +go by. I think it is wonderful."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it is, isn't it? I think it's lovely. I am so glad I gave it to +you. Are you glad, daddy?"</p> + +<p>"Glad, I should think I am, and no mistake! Never was gladder of anything +in my life," said her father heartily.</p> + +<p>Margery's face was radiant with joy. "What are you going to plant in your +garden now, daddy?"</p> + +<p>"Cabbages."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" disappointedly, "I don't like cabbages, they haven't pretty flowers, +and they haven't a pretty smell."</p> + +<p>"Well, we can't have everything pretty, and glad enough we are of cabbages +for dinner sometimes. The hens like them better than any flower, don't +they?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, so they do. I'll be able to give some of the leaves to the fowls, +won't I?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, if you don't give them too many."</p> + +<p>"I must go now and see if my daisy is growing, and the marigold. +I'll be back again in a minute," and away she trotted.</p> + +<p>The others were sauntering slowly back from the fowl-house, and pausing to +look at Charlie's strawberry plants on their way, when suddenly the +silence was broken by a succession of squeals and shrieks and frantic +calls to each one by name.</p> + +<p>"Oh-h-h! oh-h! oh!! Bella! Daddy! Tom! Do come here. Charlie! oh, +look, do look! there's a lovely rose bush growed up in my garden through +the night, and it's got leaves on it! Oh, how did it come? Daddy, do +come and see it. You never saw anything so wonderful."</p> + +<p>They all ran, of course. Bella and the boys nearly as excited as Margery, +and full of curiosity, their father full of pleasure with the success of +his surprise.</p> + +<p>"Daddy, do come and look. It is a real one, isn't it?" Clutching him by +the hand to hurry him. "It isn't a fairy rose, is it?" anxiously.</p> + +<p>"It's a real one right enough, in my opinion," said her father, looking +very grave, and stooping down to inspect the little bush. "It's a real +one right enough," he assured her solemnly, as he straightened himself +again. "Looks healthy too."</p> + +<p>"Do you think the fairies put it there for me?" she asked, breathlessly, +watching her father closely and trying to read his face. "Or do you think +God sended it to me 'cause I've been a good girl?"</p> + +<p>"Have you been a good girl?" doubtfully. "Are you sure?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I think so," hesitatingly; "haven't I, Bella?" turning her anxious +little face from one to the other.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Bella loyally, "you've been very good."</p> + +<p>"That's it, then, I expect it has been sent to your garden because you've +been good."</p> + +<p>"P'raps God telled the fairies, and they put it there," and her little +face grew all bright again at this wonderful explanation.</p> + +<p>The beauty and wonder and mystery of it all took up so much of their time +and attention that there was no more work done that morning, for when Aunt +Emma's call to breakfast came sounding along the path they were still +gathered about Margery's little garden, gazing and marvelling at the +mysterious rose.</p> + +<p>"I must have one look at my herbs before I go in," said Bella to herself +as the call to breakfast reached her; "they are not as lovely as Margery's +rose, but my herb-bed was the beginning, and—and oh I do hope it is all +going to be nicer again, and as happy as it used to be. It really does +seem as if there was a difference already."</p> + + +<br><br> +<p><a name="5"></a> </p> +<br><br> +<h3>CHAPTER V.</h3> +<h3>WHAT AUNT MAGGIE SUGGESTED.</h3> +<br><br> +<p>Bella was right,—there really was a difference already, and, best of all, +the difference continued. Never again could any one say that the Henders' +garden was neglected and untidy. As of old, William Hender worked there +every evening, but now he usually had one or more of his children with +him, and the garden in time became a perfect picture.</p> + +<p>Bella had another and a larger piece of ground given her, in which to grow +flowers, and, as her father often remarked, she must have had the true +flower-lover's hand, for she had only to put in roots or seeds or cuttings +of any kind, for them to grow and blossom their best, and throughout the +spring, summer, and autumn her garden was a picture.</p> + +<p>A year passed by, and Charlie's strawberry bed had yielded its first crop, +and Tom's vegetables had provided more than one meal for the family, and, +of course, had tasted better than any others that were ever grown. +Over the wall at the back of Margery's garden the fairy rose had grown +rapidly, covering the old stones with clusters of snowy blossoms. +The whole of Margery's garden was well stocked by this time, for night +after night mysterious plants had been placed there,—planted, as she +firmly believed, by the fairies, who had 'been telled by God' to take it +to her because she had been good; and that must have been the reason, +she felt sure, for whenever she was very good, some new flower always +appeared.</p> + +<p>Another winter passed over the little household, a happy one, on the +whole, in spite of stormy scenes at times with Aunt Emma, sharp words and +sharp answers. The boys, as they grew older, found it harder to bear with +her short, cold answers, her sharp commands, and constant snubbings of +them in almost everything they said and did. Bella, who had never quite +recovered from the shock of the scene when her aunt had beaten her so +unmercifully, had an anxious time trying to stave off quarrels between +them, and soften harsh words and pert answers, which might lead to them.</p> + +<p>Bella had never forgotten that dreadful Monday, nor had she ever forgotten +the talk with Aunt Maggie after, and the aim she had set before herself to +do her best to make the house more comfortable and happy, and more what +her mother would have made it had she been alive. She often failed, very +often, in fact, and often despaired, but she never quite gave in, or, if +she did, it was for a little while only.</p> + +<p>There were many hills to climb on the road she had chosen, but there were +many pleasant valleys too, and if sometimes her feet faltered and +stumbled, and she felt weary and disheartened, and looked at the next hill +hopelessly, feeling that she never could mount it, there were also happy +hours, and sweet flowers and sunshine to cheer her, and sometimes there +was such a feeling of hope and joy over all as made her heart sing and her +spirits dance. For the house really was tidier and less neglected, her +father came home regularly now, and was with them more, and she herself +had something to do, some object in life, some work that she could do +herself, and take a pride in.</p> + +<p>Thus it was, when the spring came that was to bring such changes to their +lives, such steep hills to climb that they wondered sometimes if there was +any valley beyond, where they could rest a little, or any sunshine +anywhere, so heavy were the shadows.</p> + +<p>Bella's flower-beds were a picture that year, and her herb-bed too, with +its great sprays of curly parsley, and bushes of mint and thyme, sage and +borage. In fact, all the garden was a goodly sight, and no one would have +recognised it for the garden of a year ago. There were rows of peas and +beans, just coming to perfection, and every other kind of vegetable that +space could be found for. The fruit bushes were laden with promise of +supplies in store, and already Miss Hender was making jam of the rhubarb, +which filled up one corner of the garden with its handsome great leaves.</p> + +<p>"It does seem a pity sometimes that I can't do more with all my flowers," +said Bella one day. She had carried a glorious bunch of sweet peas and a +basket of vegetables to Mrs. Langley. "I give away a good many, but most +people have their own, and don't really want any more, and they just grow +and flower and fade, and nobody but ourselves see them. Aunt Emma won't +let me bring in more than one little bunch at a time, so they just waste, +and it does seem a pity when there's a lot, and all so pretty."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Langley looked at her lovely nosegay thoughtfully. "Child," she said +at last, "why don't you do up some bunches, and carry them into Norton on +a market day, or any other day, and try to sell them? Why, I've known my +missis, when I was in service, give shillings for flowers no better than +you bring me day after day, and not as fresh and strong either, by a long +way."</p> + +<p>"Sell my—flowers!" The suggestion, coming so suddenly, made Bella gasp. +"Oh, but, Aunt Maggie, how could I? I should have to go to people's +houses and ask them to buy, shouldn't I? I don't believe I'd ever be able +to make up my mind to." Bella looked alarmed at the mere idea, but though +alarmed she was also pleased with the daring suggestion, and her cheeks +grew rosy red with excitement. Mrs. Langley nodded thoughtfully, but she +did not reply at once. With many girls she would not have approved of +such a plan, but she thought Bella could be trusted.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said at last, "I think you could be trusted, child, not to grow +bold and rude and pushing, even if you had to ask people to buy your +flowers. You might, perhaps, be able to arrange with a florist to take +all you had every week. Of course, he would want to make a profit, so you +wouldn't get so much for them, but you would be saved a good deal of time +and trouble, maybe."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but, Aunt Maggie, do you think I could? Do you think I should ever +sell any?"</p> + +<p>Bella was still half bewildered by the suddenness and boldness of the new +proposal. There were so many sides to it, too, pleasant and unpleasant. +It would be splendid, she thought, to be able to turn her garden to +account, and to feel her lovely flowers were not wasted. It would be +splendid, too, to be able to put her money each week in her money-box. +She had been longing for some time past to be able to buy a glass frame to +protect some of her seedlings through the winter,—and who knew but what +her flowers would make this possible for her? The thought thrilled her.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, she did shrink shyly from the prospect of going up to +people and asking them to buy, and also from the thought of what her +father and Aunt Emma would say. She mentioned this last thought to Aunt +Maggie.</p> + +<p>"If you would really like me to," said Mrs. Langley, "I will speak of it +to your father before you do, and then, if he falls in with the plan, he +can talk to your aunt about it. You see, Bella, child, there is another +thing to bear in mind. You are nearly fourteen now, and before very long +you'll have to be thinking about earning your living, and you'll have to +go to service, or think of some way of earning it at home."</p> + +<p>"I've been thinking of that, Aunt Maggie;" and a moment later she added +sadly, "and if I went to service I'd have to leave all my flowers."</p> + +<p>"Of course you would, dear. It would be a great loss to you, wouldn't +it?"</p> + +<p>"Oh," sighed Bella, realising for a moment how great a loss it would be, +"I don't believe I could ever bear it."</p> + +<p>Aunt Maggie smiled sadly. "You could, dear. You will have far harder +trials than that to bear, I am afraid, or you will be more than +fortunate," and she added after a moment's silence, "We can make our +garden wherever we are, and plant our seeds, and raise our flowers."</p> + +<p>"Not in service, Aunt Maggie?" cried Bella, incredulously, "they wouldn't +give me a bit of ground, would they, anywhere I went?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Langley smiled. "They might in some places where the servant makes +it her home, and the mistress tries to make it a real home to her, they +let her have a little bit of ground to call her own. But I was thinking, +dear, of another kind of garden,—the garden of life, where we can sow +good seed or bad, and raise flowers, where we and others have to tread. +Flowers of patience and honesty, good-temper, willingness, and +cheerfulness. They are very precious flowers to most people, for few get +many such along the way they have to tread; and a sunny smile or a cheery +word, or a kind act will often lighten the whole of a dull, hard day. +Don't ever forget to grow those flowers, my dear, or to shed sunshine +wherever God may order you to dwell."</p> + +<p>"Does God order that, Aunt Maggie? Does He tell people where they must +go? and shall I have to do as He tells me, and go where He sends me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear, and you can trust Him. He will only send you where you are +needed, and where it is best for you to be."</p> + +<p>Bella went home in a very, very thoughtful mood that night. "I wonder +where God is going to send me, and what work He has for me to do?" +The idea filled her mind until, as she reached home, the thought suddenly +rushed into her head, "I wonder what father will say, when he hears what +Aunt Maggie wants to talk to him about!"</p> + +<p>What her father did say when first the plan was mooted, was a downright +"No! I can keep my children as long as I can work, and Bella can find +enough to do at home."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know," answered Aunt Maggie gently, when he had repeated this more +than once, and each time more emphatically. "And what about the time when +you can't work, William? or, if anything was to happen to you? +Do you think it is right or fair to bring up children without any +knowledge that'll earn them a decent, respectable living?"</p> + +<p>William Hender had no answer ready, and sat trying in vain to find one.</p> + +<p>"If she were to begin in a small way, such as I'm suggesting, who knows +but what, in time, she might work up a little business, and be able to +make quite a nice little living out of her flowers and things? She has a +wonderful gift for raising them and understanding them, and it does seem a +sin not to make use of it. Don't you think so?"</p> + +<p>William Hender nodded thoughtfully; this new way of looking at things +impressed him. He was proud, too, of Bella's skill with her garden, and +his thoughts flew beyond the present to the future, where in his mind's +eye he saw a tidy little shop well stocked with fruit and flowers and +vegetables, and Bella the prosperous owner of it all, and his heart +swelled with pride.</p> + +<p>"You are right, Maggie," he said, as he rose to go. "You always are, I +think. I'll talk to Emma about it, and I'll look about me the next time I +go to Norton, and see if there's any shop there that'll be likely to take +her flowers. It might be better for her to sell them that way. +Good-night."</p> + +<p>Bella's heart beat fast and furious when she heard that her father +approved of the scheme, and when the children were told about it they all +flew into a state of wild excitement. Of course they all wanted to be +market-gardeners at once. "Why can't we all go shares in a stall in +Norton Market?" cried Tom. "Bella can sell flowers and herbs, and me +vegetables, and Charlie fruit, and Margery——"</p> + +<p>"Fairy roses," said Margery eagerly. She always called her flowers that +had come so mysteriously 'fairy flowers.'</p> + +<p>"I was in Norton Market-house once," went on Tom, "and oh, it's a fine +place!"</p> + +<p>Norton, their nearest and largest market-town, was five miles off, and as +there was no railway to it, and they had no cart to take them, a visit to +the town was one of the rarest treats they knew.</p> + +<p>When the first excitement had worn off, and Aunt Emma had been talked to +and won over, and all that remained to be done was for their father to go +to Norton and look out for a florist, matters seemed to go no further. +He was at work on every day of the week except Saturday afternoons, and +then there was always so much to be done at home he never seemed able to +spare the time. Five miles to Norton and five miles back was a long +distance to cover, with no other means of covering it than one's own two +feet, or a chance 'lift'; and he kept on putting the matter off.</p> + +<p>"All my sweet-peas are passing," sighed Bella, when another Saturday had +come and gone, and her father had not again spoken of going to Norton. +"Tom, I've a good mind to go myself next Saturday, and take some flowers, +and try to sell them. Will you come with me? Do you think you could walk +so far?"</p> + +<p>Tom was indignant at this reflection on his manliness. "Walk it! I should +rather think so! I can if you can, anyhow!"</p> + +<p>"It's a good long way," said Bella reflectively; "p'raps we could get a +lift home. I wonder if Aunt Emma will let us go? Oh, Tom, I wish she +would. I shall hate it at first, but it does seem a pity to waste all my +flowers, and I do want to earn some money to buy a hotbed and some more +seeds; there's ever so many kinds I want to get."</p> + +<p>To their great surprise, Aunt Emma agreed quite willingly to the scheme as +soon as she was told of it. She saw nothing to object to in it, she said, +and it never entered her head to think that the walk might be too long for +either of them. "If Saturday turns out wet or rough, you needn't go," +she said cheerfully.</p> + +<p>"I should have to if I'd got customers waiting," thought Bella; but she did +not argue the point; she was thankful to have won the permission she +wanted, and too fearful of losing it, to run any risks.</p> + +<p>How the four children lived through the excitement of the next few days +they scarcely knew. For Charlie and Margery there was disappointment +mingled with the excitement,—disappointment that they could not go too; +but there was much that was thrilling, even for those who stayed at home, +and they were promised that they should walk out along the road to meet +the others at about the time they would be expected back.</p> + +<p>Tom, on the whole, got the most enjoyment out of it all, because for Bella +there was a good deal of nervous dread mingled with the excitement and +pleasure.</p> + +<p>"I do hope I meet with nice customers," she said to Aunt Maggie the day +before, when she went down to ask her to help her re-trim her rather +shabby Sunday hat for her. "I hope they don't speak sharp when they say +they don't want any flowers."</p> + +<p>"You generally find folks speak to you as you speak to them," said Aunt +Maggie consolingly. "If you are civil, you will most likely meet with +civility from others. Look, I've got a large shallow basket here that I +thought would do nicely to hold your flowers and show them off prettily. +The cover will help to keep them fresh. You'll have to be up early to +gather them, child. And do give them a drink of water before you start. +You'll find they'll last fresh twice as long. In fact, I believe it would +be even better to gather them the evening before, and let them stand in +water all night, then you would only have to arrange them in bunches +before you start."</p> + +<p>Bella thanked her delightedly, and ran off home with her new basket and +her old hat, feeling as proud and pleased as any child in the land.</p> + +<p>That night she went to bed early, but scarcely a wink did she sleep, and +glad enough she was when the old grandfather's clock in the kitchen at +last struck four. She got up then, and very quietly began to dress +herself, after which she called Tom. It was early, but not too early, +considering all that they had to do. For this once, at any rate, the +flowers had to be gathered and arranged in bunches and given a drink. +Bella and Tom had to dress themselves in their best, and make themselves +look as neat and nice as possible, and walk the five miles and be in +Norton in good time, for Aunt Maggie had told them that the ladies of the +place would most probably be the best and most pleasant customers, and +that as a rule they went out to do their shopping as soon as they could +after breakfast.</p> + +<p>"You ought to be there by ten at he latest," she had said, and Bella +promised not to be later.</p> + + +<br><br> +<p><a name="6"></a> </p> +<br><br> +<h3>CHAPTER VI.</h3> +<h3>FIRST CUSTOMERS.</h3> +<br><br> + +<p>On such a beautiful morning, before the sun had grown too hot, walking was +pleasant enough, and Bella and Tom, excited and very eager over their new +experience, did not feel tired; and if they did wish the distance shorter, +it was only that they might be on the scene of action more quickly.</p> + +<p>For the first part of the way they had the road mostly to themselves, +but as the morning advanced, and as they drew near to Norton, they were +constantly being overtaken by carts laden with all sorts of people and +things: live fowls in coops, calves, little pigs under nets, or a fat +sheep fastened in at the back of a market cart. Many of the market carts +had women seated in them, carrying large white baskets full of fowls and +ducks, or eggs and butter, all carefully tucked away under snow-white +cloths. There were smaller carts, too, full of vegetables and fruit; and +one which particularly roused Bella's interest was a florist's cart laden +with beautiful ferns and flowers in pots, and, alas! for her own little +supply, boxes of cut flowers.</p> + +<p>A wave of hot blood swept over her cheeks. Her pretty bunches, so +daintily and carefully arranged, seemed to her suddenly to become poor and +shabby and worthless beside that handsome show of hothouse geraniums and +roses, maidenhair and other ferns, and her step grew slow as her spirits +sank. How could she ever go on and face all the people, and show them her +poor little store?</p> + +<p>Tom looked round at last, to see what the matter was, but he only laughed +when Bella told him. "Oh, well," he said cheerfully, "I don't suppose he +began with a pony and trap, and who is to say that we shan't be driving +one some day! My eye, Bella, wouldn't it be fine to have a little +turn-out like that!" and he capered in the road with delight at the +thought.</p> + +<p>Bella's spirits rose again. "If I had a greenhouse," she said, "I dare +say we could grow maidenhair ferns, and roses too. Tom, do you think it +would cost a lot of money to build a greenhouse?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Tom sturdily; "I believe we could build one ourselves if we'd +got the stuff. Bella, I'm going to learn carpentering, you see if I +don't, and then I'll be able to make lots of things, hot-beds and +greenhouses, and hencoops, and wheelbarrows."</p> + +<p>Bella laughed. "We seem to be going to do a lot—some day, but I think we +shall be old men and women before that day comes." Tom's enthusiasm was +very cheering, though. "There are lots of lovely flowers I can grow +without a greenhouse," she said, more contentedly; "just think, Tom, of +stocks and carnations and roses, and—and lavender. Oh, Tom, won't we +have a load to bring, in time, if we can get people to buy them!"</p> + +<p>They had reached the town by this time, and all Tom's attention was taken +up by the busy crowds. "We'd better go to High Street first, hadn't we? +That's where all the shops are, and the Market-house, and most of the +people."</p> + +<p>"We'd better uncover our baskets first, and show what we've got to sell, +hadn't we? I don't think it's too soon, do you?"</p> + +<p>Bella rested hers against the railings of a church they were passing at +the moment, and lifting off the cover, and turning back the damp cloth, +she carefully raised her pretty bunches, and arranged them to what she +thought was the best advantage. Her spirits rose again at the sight of +them, for they certainly were very lovely, and so sweet! There were +bunches of sweet-peas of all colours, and some of white only, and pink +only, and some of every shade of violet, from the deepest to the palest. +There were roses too, and 'boy's love,' mignonette, stocks, and pinks.</p> + +<p>"Oh, they are sweet!" exclaimed Bella, as she drew in great breaths of +their fragrance. "I am sure I should want to buy them if I saw any one +else selling them."</p> + +<p>"Come on," said Tom impatiently; he could not see that it mattered much +how the bunches were arranged.</p> + +<p>They strolled slowly on again, Bella feeling very conscious now, and very +shy. She was wondering how she must begin. Must she go up to people and +stop them, and ask them to buy her flowers?</p> + +<p>Tom was so taken up with watching a sheepdog guiding a flock through the +busy street, he forgot all about his duties as a salesman.</p> + +<p>"Do stand still a minute and watch," he pleaded, and Bella stood.</p> + +<p>How long they had stood she never knew, when she was suddenly recalled to +the present, and her duty, by a voice saying, "What a perfectly lovely +show of flowers! and, oh, the scent!" and looking quickly round, she found +two ladies standing beside her gazing at her basket.</p> + +<p>"Are they for sale?" asked one of the ladies, looking at Bella with a +pleasant smile.</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, ma'am, miss, I mean," stammered poor, shy Bella, and, to hide her +blushing cheeks, she bent and lifted out some of her flowers that the +ladies might see them better.</p> + +<p>"How much a bunch are they?"</p> + +<p>"Tuppence each the big ones, ma'am, and a penny the little ones," +stammered Bella. She longed to give them to the lady, and ask her not to +pay any money at all for them. "Some are all shades of one colour, and +some are mixed."</p> + +<p>"It is wonderful," she heard one lady say softly to the other. "I gave a +shilling in London a day or two ago for a much smaller bunch than this."</p> + +<p>"Where do you get such beautiful flowers?" she asked, turning again to +Bella with her pleasant smile.</p> + +<p>"I grow them myself, ma'am," said Bella, with shy pride.</p> + +<p>"Do you really? Well, you must be a born gardener, I am sure, and you +deserve to get on. Mary,"—turning to her companion again,—"I will +have pink sweet-peas of different shades for the dinner-table to-night, +and then that point will be settled and off my mind. Nothing could be +prettier. Can you,"—to Bella—"give me six bunches of pink ones? +At least four of pink, and two of white?"</p> + +<p>Bella turned over her store eagerly, and found the number wanted.</p> + +<p>"I must have some of your mignonette," said the other lady, "for the sake +of the smell, and a bunch of those roses too. How much each are they?"</p> + +<p>"Tuppence the roses, and a penny the mignonette, ma'am," said Bella.</p> + +<p>"There is my money," said the sweet-pea lady, handing her a shilling.</p> + +<p>"And there is my threepence," said the mignonette lady. "Do you come +every week with flowers?"</p> + +<p>"I am going to try to, ma'am," said Bella. "This is the first time I've +been."</p> + +<p>"Well, if you will call at my house when you come, I dare say I shall +often be glad to have some of your flowers."</p> + +<p>Bella's face brightened. She was so glad she would have this kind, +friendly lady to go to; it would be splendid, too, to have a regular +customer. That was what Aunt Maggie had hoped she would get.</p> + +<p>"I live in the house next to the church. Do you remember passing a church +at the top of the street, just as you come in to Norton?"</p> + +<p>"Oh yes!" Bella and Tom exclaimed together. "We stopped by it to arrange +our flowers."</p> + +<p>"Well, the house next to it is mine. You won't forget, will you? +Mrs. Watson, No. I High Street."</p> + +<p>"Oh no, we shan't forget," they both answered her earnestly. "As if we +could," said Tom, as he watched their two customers disappearing down the +street. "I wish we could meet with some more customers like them."</p> + +<p>Half an hour went by without bringing them another of any kind. +The fact was, they were so shy they stood back in a quiet corner, where +they were hidden by the crowd from any likely customers.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid the flowers will begin to droop, if we don't sell them soon," +said Bella at last; and the thought spurred her into going up to a house +near by and knocking at the door.</p> + +<p>"Please, do you want any flowers?" she asked timidly of the rather +grim-looking woman who came to the door.</p> + +<p>"No, I don't," snapped the woman crossly. "The idea of bringing me to the +door for nothing! Anybody'd think I'd got nothing else to do!" +And the door was shut in Bella's face with a bang.</p> + +<p>"Doesn't it make a difference how anybody speaks?" said Tom, receiving +unconsciously a lesson in good manners and bad that he never forgot to the +end of his life. But the woman's bad manners and temper had affected +Bella so strongly that her eyes had filled with tears, and the little +courage she had had ebbed away.</p> + +<p>"I shall know now what it feels like to be spoken to so," she said in a +husky voice, as she hastily wiped her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Flowers, ma'am? Tuppence and a penny a bunch. Fresh this morning," said +Tom brightly.</p> + +<p>An old lady was peering closely into his basket, examining the contents.</p> + +<p>"Give me three of those that are smelling so sweet."</p> + +<p>Tom picked out one of stocks and 'boy's love,' and one of pinks and +mignonette, and a bunch of roses.</p> + +<p>"Have you got any lavender?"</p> + +<p>"No, ma'am."</p> + +<p>"I could bring you some in a week or two, ma'am," said Bella promptly, +forgetting the snub she had received in the old lady's enjoyment of her +flowers. "It isn't quite ready to cut yet."</p> + +<p>"Very well, bring me two shillings' worth. I make it up into cushions to +sell for Missions. If it is nice, I may order more."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, ma'am; I'll cut it fresh the morning I bring it," said Bella +delightedly.</p> + +<p>"Very well; I live in this house we are standing by," and she pointed to +the very one they had just been turned away from.</p> + +<p>Bella's face flushed at the mere thought of having to face the +bad-tempered servant again, but, as she remarked to Tom afterwards, they +were told to call, and they wouldn't have gone unless they had been.</p> + +<p>"That makes eighteenpence," said Tom, as Bella slipped the money into her +purse, "and an order for two shillings' worth for another week. +Ain't we getting on!"</p> + +<p>"If we can only sell a few more bunches we'll go and get something to +eat," said Bella. "I'm hungry; ain't you?"</p> + +<p>"Starving," said Tom, with emphasis. "Let's get into a better place, +where the people can see us."</p> + +<p>"Flowers, penny a bunch," he called to the people as they passed by, +and so many turned and looked, and then stopped, that they had soon sold +half a dozen of their big bunches and many of the small ones. +Their flowers were certainly very good and very cheap, and Norton people +had not had the chance of buying such before. The florist who had passed +the children on the road had a stall in the market-place, but he only sold +hothouse flowers, and charged very highly for them.</p> + +<p>"We have only six bunches left," said Bella joyfully; "we'll go and have +something to eat now. Where can we go for it, Tom?"</p> + +<p>"There's a stall in the market-house where they sell limpets and cockles, +and——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't want limpets and cockles! I want a glass of milk and some +buns. Don't you?"</p> + +<p>"Rather," said Tom; "let's buy some buns at that shop down there, and go +somewhere quiet to eat them. I wouldn't like to eat them in the shop, +with every one looking, would you?"</p> + +<p>"No; but we can't take milk away without something to carry it in."</p> + +<p>"Well, we'll drink water. There's sure to be a pump or a +drinking-fountain near."</p> + +<p>So they went to the shop, and very proud Bella felt as she took out her +purse and paid for the four buns the woman put in a bag for her.</p> + +<p>"Anything else, missie?"</p> + +<p>"No, thank you," said Bella, but rather regretfully, as her eyes fell on +the tarts and sausage-rolls, and the bottles of sweets, and on the glasses +of milk labelled 'Penny a glass.' A glass each would have cost twopence, +and that with the buns would amount to sixpence. "It would be a dreadful +lot out of what we've made," thought Bella, and bravely turned away.</p> + +<p>The smell of the new buns was very enticing to two hungry little people +who had had nothing to eat since their seven o'clock breakfast, and they +did not dawdle on their way back to the friendly shelter of the church +steps.</p> + +<p>"Won't Charlie and Margery be excited to hear all about it?" laughed +Bella, as she munched in placid content. "We ought to take something home +to them."</p> + +<p>"We'll take them one of those peppermint walking-sticks," said Tom, +"shall we? They love that. I had one once, and Charlie always wanted one +like it. I saw some in the market."</p> + +<p>"We'll take them one each. Isn't it lovely to have money, and be able to +buy things for people?"</p> + +<p>"Rather," agreed Tom heartily. "Bell, I'm going to bring something from +my garden next week. I've got French beans and marrows ready to cut."</p> + +<p>A lady passed, and looked hard at the children and at the baskets standing +beside them.</p> + +<p>"Flowers, ma'am?" said ready Tom.</p> + +<p>The lady paused. "I must see if I have any change," she said, and stood +still while she looked in her hand-bag. "Yes, I've just threepence," and +she went away carrying two of their remaining bunches.</p> + +<p>For a few minutes longer they sat on, loth to move. "My legs are aching a +bit, aren't yours?" asked Bella.</p> + +<p>Tom nodded. "I shouldn't be sorry if we were at the other end of the five +miles, should you?"</p> + +<p>"I wish we were," sighed Bella, "and just meeting Charlie and Margery. +I wonder if they've started yet?"</p> + +<p>A lady came along pushing an invalid carriage, on which a little girl was +lying. She lay perfectly flat, and looked very white and ill. As she +passed she looked with wistful, weary eyes at Tom and Bella. Bella had +picked up her basket to make room for the carriage to pass.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what lovely flowers!" cried the little girl. "Mummy darling, do buy +some. Are they for sale?" she added quickly, looking at Bella, a hot +blush passing swiftly over her pale face.</p> + +<p>"Yes, miss," said Bella, blushing too.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry, darling, but I came out without my purse. I haven't a penny +with me."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" there was deep disappointment in the little invalid's tone.</p> + +<p>Bella picked out the nicest bunch she had left. "Will you please to +accept one?" she asked, blushing again, but very prettily. "I grew them +myself. Will you take one, miss?"</p> + +<p>The lady looked pleased, yet embarrassed. "It is very, very kind of you," +she said, hesitating, "but I hardly like to. It seems almost like asking +for them, and I expect you wanted to sell them?"</p> + +<p>"We have sold a lot, nearly all we brought in. Please take them, ma'am;" +and the lady, feeling it would give Bella more pleasure to have them +accepted as a gift than paid for, did so with many thanks, and the little +lady's delight was the richest payment Bella had had that day.</p> + +<p>"Oh, thank you, thank you very much!" she cried delightedly, pressing the +flowers to her pale face and breathing in the scent. "Do you come here +often with flowers?"</p> + +<p>"This is the first time," said Bella; "but we want to have some to bring +every week. We've sold all we brought but these."</p> + +<p>The lady looked in her basket. "If only I had my purse with me I should +be glad to have those from you. Do you mind coming back to my house with +me? It is not very far."</p> + +<p>"No, ma'am, we'll come, but,"—Bella hesitated, wanting to say something, +yet hardly knowing how to—"but if you don't want to go back, and—and if +you like to take them, we'll trust—I mean, next week will do." It was +out at last, amid a great deal of blushing.</p> + +<p>The lady smiled. "Well, that is very thoughtful of you, and if you are +sure you don't mind trusting me I shall be much obliged to you, for I have +to be at my mother's house at one o'clock, and I think it must be that +now. Stella, darling, you would like to carry the flowers, wouldn't you? +That's it. Then I owe you fourpence for two twopenny bunches. I will not +forget. Perhaps I shall see you here at this same place at the same time +next week?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, ma'am."</p> + +<p>"Good-morning, and thank you."</p> + +<p>"Good-morning, ma'am," they both answered; and the little invalid called +back gratefully, "Good-bye, and thank you ever so much for my lovely +flowers."</p> + +<p>"Now," said Tom excitedly, "all we've got to do is to walk home."</p> + +<p>"When we've got the children's walking-sticks," corrected Bella, and they +both hurried down to the market-house to get them.</p> + +<p>"We'll take home some cinnamon rock to Aunt Emma," said Bella; "she likes +that better than anything."</p> + +<p>At last, with their baskets empty save for their purchases, they proudly +and joyfully turned their faces homewards, delighted in every way with +their day's experiences.</p> + +<p>The walk home certainly did seem rather long, far longer than the walk +out, but they were very tired, of course, for they had been on their feet, +with scarcely any rest, since four in the morning. The sun was hot too, +and the road dusty, and such a number of carriages and carts passed them +that the air all the time seemed full of a haze of dust—at least it did +until they had got a couple of miles or so away from Norton. After that +it grew less bustling and much pleasanter. And then by the last +milestone, which was a good mile from May Lane, they found their father +and Margery and Charlie waiting for them.</p> + +<p>All their tiredness vanished then in a trice, and the last mile was +covered and home reached almost before they had begun to tell all they had +to say.</p> + +<p>It was not much past four o'clock by the time they reached the cottage, +but Aunt Emma had finished all her scrubbing and cleaning, and had tidied +herself, and got tea all spread ready for them, and she actually came out +to meet them, seeming really glad to see them, and when they gave her the +cinnamon rock it was plain to see that she was really pleased that they +had thought of her.</p> + +<p>"Now come in and take off your boots, and put on your old slippers to rest +your feet; you must be tired out," she said kindly. They certainly looked +very tired, though they were too excited just then to feel so.</p> + +<p>"There's apple-tart for tea," whispered Margery, as she followed Bella +upstairs. "I saw Aunt Emma making it. It's for you and Tom!"</p> + +<p>Bella could hardly believe her ears, but when they sat down to table there +was the tart, sure enough; and as they sat there eating and talking over +their adventures and drinking their tea and laughing, Bella thought she +had never known such a perfectly happy, lovely day in all her life before.</p> + +<p>And how splendid it was to hear them all exclaim when Bella took out her +purse and counted out on the table the money she had earned that day! +"And there's sixpence owing, and four-pence we spent on buns, that would +make ten-pence more!" she said proudly.</p> + +<p>"You must put it in the Savings Bank towards buying your cold frame," said +her father; "and it won't be so very long either before you'll have enough +to get it with, if you do as well every week as you have to-day. +You can't always expect, though, to have such a lot of flowers as you've +got just now."</p> + +<p>"I think I shall take some bunches of herbs in with me next time," said +Bella. "Don't you think they'd sell, father?"</p> + +<p>"I should think most people grow their own," said her father; "still, you +can but try. The weight of them won't hurt you, even if you have to bring +them back again."</p> + +<p>"Bella, if I've got some flowers next Saturday, will you take in a bunch +and sell them for me?" asked Margery excitedly. "Then I'll have a penny +to put in the bank too."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yours are fairy flowers," teased Charlie; "they would die on the way, +or turn into something else."</p> + +<p>Margery was not going to be teased. "P'raps they'd turn into fairies," +she said, nodding her head wisely at her brother; "then they'd turn all +Bella's pennies into golden sov'rins, and make a little horse and carriage +to drive her home in."</p> + +<p>"I'll find you some sandwiches or cake or something to take with you next +week," said Aunt Emma; "it's a pity you should spend your money on buns +and things. It'll be better for you, and cheaper, to take your own with +you."</p> + +<p>Tom and Bella could scarcely believe their ears, but they felt very +pleased, and thanked her very gratefully.</p> + + +<br><br> +<p><a name="7"></a> </p> +<br><br> +<h3>CHAPTER VII.</h3> +<h3>WHAT LAY BEYOND THE MILESTONE.</h3> +<br><br> + +<p>The next week the children went off far more heavily laden than they had +been when they made their first venture. Bella had added a few bunches of +herbs to her large supply of flowers, and a bunch or two from Margery's +garden, and she had to carry both her baskets herself, for Tom's +vegetables proved load enough for him. He had wanted to take some +currants for Charlie, but his father would not allow that.</p> + +<p>"They ain't good enough," he said; "it won't do for to begin offering poor +stuff to your customers, or you'll lose those you've got and never get any +more, and you'll have all your load to carry for nothing. You learn to +grow better ones, Charlie, my boy, and then another year you'll be able to +make something by them."</p> + +<p>Charlie's face fell, but he had not given the time or care to his garden +that the others had, and he knew it, and that only made him more vexed. +Life was disappointing to Charlie just then. It seemed to him, and to +Margery too, hard that they also could not go to Norton every Saturday. +The ten-mile walk they forgot all about, they only thought of the pleasure +of being in the midst of all the people and the bustle, and the shops and +market-stalls, with their loads of fruit and sweets and buns. The great +aim of Margery's life then was to grow big enough to carry in a basketful +of flowers too, and sell them, and to possess a purse to put the money in, +and a Savings Bank book, just as Bella had. + +As the summer wore on and the days grew hotter and hotter, the eagerness +of both died down a good deal. It was far more pleasant, they found, to +stay at home and play in the cool lane or orchard, than to get up at four +in the morning and tramp about all day long under the weight of heavy +baskets. Some days they even found it too hot to walk with their father +as far as the milestone.</p> + +<p>Those were trying, tiring days for Tom and Bella, days that put their +courage to the test, and made their perseverance waver more than once. +The walk in the morning was lovely still, but the standing about in the +close, narrow streets, crowded with people and animals, without even a +rest at the end of their five-mile walk, was so wearying that Bella often +longed to sit down on the edge of the pavement to rest her aching feet.</p> + +<p>Her cheeks would grow scarlet, and her head throb, and her eyes ache with +the glare, and the heat and the weight of the baskets, but she could not +do anything to get relief. She had to stand or walk about, trying to sell +her flowers as quickly as possible. There was nothing else to be done. +The poor flowers suffered too, and hard work it was to keep them looking +fresh.</p> + +<p>Sometimes a farmer or carter would offer the two tired little +market-gardeners a 'lift' on their homeward way, but this did not happen +often, for, as a rule, they were all going in the opposite direction. +There were few besides Bella and Tom who left the town so early; and it +would have been cooler and pleasanter for them if they had waited until +the evening and the heat of the day was over, but they were always anxious +to get home, and they really did not know where to go or what to do with +themselves all the weary day until five or six o'clock.</p> + +<p>That was a very long, hot summer. The flowers opened and faded quickly, +in spite of the hours the whole family spent every evening watering them; +and more than once, if it had not been for the fruit from the orchard and +the vegetables, Bella and Tom would have had but a scanty supply to take +to their customers. As it was, they could not carry enough to make very +much profit, for fruit and vegetables are heavy, and to carry a load of +them for miles is no joke.</p> + +<p>Several times that summer, when she awoke after a hot, restless night to +another stifling, scorching day, Bella felt inclined to shirk her business +and remain at home. It would have been so jolly to have spent the day +lazily in the shady orchard, instead of tramping those long, dusty miles. +Tom felt the heat less, and his energy helped to keep her up.</p> + +<p>"We'll have a donkey before so very long," he said cheerfully. "If we can +have a good sowing and planting this autumn, and good crops next spring, +father and all of us, we'll have enough to carry in to make it worth while +to hire Mrs. Wintle's donkey."</p> + +<p>So with the thought of all they were going to do in the future to buoy +them up, off they would start again, hoping that before another Saturday +came the heat would have lessened, and some rain have fallen to refresh +the land and lay the dust.</p> + +<p>Yet, with all its weariness and hard work, that summer ever after stood +out in Bella's memory as a very happy one; and the evenings after their +return, and the Sundays, remained in her memory all her life through.</p> + +<p>Even if Charlie and Margery did not come to meet them, their father was +always there to carry their baskets home for them. And then there was the +change into cool, comfortable old garments, and the nice tea, and the long +rest in the orchard, or sitting about in the porch outside the door, +while they talked over all that had happened during the day.</p> + +<p>They all went to bed by daylight on those light nights, and Bella, as she +stretched out her weary body restfully on her little white bed, could see +through the open window the stars come up one by one in the deep +blue-black sky.</p> + +<p>She was always quite rested by the time Sunday came, and was up and out +early for a look at her garden before getting ready for Sunday-School. +She loved the Sunday-School, and she loved her teacher, and the service +after in the dear old creeper-covered church, where the leaves peeped in +at the open windows, and the birds came in and flew about overhead, and +all the people knew and greeted one another in a friendly spirit.</p> + +<p>On Sundays, too, it was an understood thing that Bella should go to tea +with Aunt Maggie, and this was to her, perhaps, one of the happiest hours +of the whole week, for Aunt Maggie had a little harmonium, to the music of +which they sang hymns. Sometimes, too, she told stories of the days when +she was young, and of people and places she had seen—told them so +interestingly, that to Bella the people and places seemed as real as +though she had known them herself. They had long talks, too, about all +that Bella was doing, and the things that puzzled her, and her plans for +the present and the future.</p> + +<p>"You never seem to be years and years older than me, Aunt Maggie," Bella +said one day, "for you always seem to understand and to like what I like."</p> + +<p>Aunt Maggie smiled. "Some people's hearts don't grow old as fast as their +bodies," she said thoughtfully. "I think it must be that which makes them +understand."</p> + +<p>"I hope my heart won't ever get old," said Bella seriously. "It must be +dreadful not to take any interest in people or anything."</p> + +<p>One Sunday, the last of this old life, so comparatively happy and free of +care, Mrs. Langley stopped Bella just as she was leaving.</p> + +<p>"I want you to come in to see me to-morrow," she said, "and bring Tom with +you. I am making a print frock for you, and a holland coat for him to +wear to market on Saturdays. They'll be much more comfortable for you +both than your thick cloth ones." Then, in answer to Bella's cry of +delight, "You must thank your Aunt Emma, too; 'twas she thought of it +first, and I told her that if she'd get the stuff I'd make the things. +There now, run away home, it is time you were putting Margery to bed. +No, I shall not tell you the colour," laughing, as she loosened Bella's +arms which she had flung round her in her delight; "you will know +to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"I hope it is pink," said Bella earnestly, eyeing her aunt closely, to see +if she could read anything from her face, but Mrs. Langley only smiled.</p> + +<p>"Well, you will know by this time to-morrow. Now, run away, or they will +be wondering what has become of you."</p> + +<p>"To-morrow is such a long way off," sighed Bella. "It'll never come!"</p> + +<p>To-morrow came, as all to-morrows do, and, to Bella's great delight, the +frock turned out to be as pretty a pink as she could possibly desire. +It was very simply made, with just a plain skirt and belted bodice, but +when she saw it finished, and with little white collar and cuffs added, +Bella thought it the prettiest frock she had ever seen in her life. +Perhaps it was the prettiest she had ever possessed, for Aunt Emma did not +understand that clothes could be pretty as well as serviceable, and most +of poor Bella's frocks had been of heavy brown or black stuff, made +without any trimming, and with never a vestige of white at neck or +wrists,—a dainty finish which Bella loved the look of.</p> + +<p>In spite of the heat and the long walk in it, Bella waited impatiently for +the following Saturday, and surely, she thought, never had a week been so +long in passing.</p> + +<p>It was September now, but the weather was as hot and stifling as it had +been in July. The days were shorter, and the sun went down earlier, but, +apart from the sun, the oppressive heat lasted on throughout the nights, +which were almost as trying as the day. The earlier summer flowers were +over, and the drought had prevented the later ones from coming on well, +so that it was difficult to get a good supply week by week.</p> + +<p>Bella and Tom no longer carried in the things from their own little +gardens only, or they would often have found they had not enough to make +it worth their while; but all contributed something that they had to sell, +and it was quite a serious business to make up the accounts and divide the +money when the little market-gardeners got home from market.</p> + +<p>Each one now had a money-box or Savings Bank account. Aunt Emma was +delighted. "It is ever so much better for them than wasting their time +playing," she said to Mrs. Langley one day. "Much better."</p> + +<p>"They ought to play, too," said Aunt Maggie quietly; "this is their +play-time. All the rest of their life will be taken up with trying to +earn a living. Let them play too, when they can."</p> + +<p>As Bella and Tom started off that morning in their nice new cool garments, +they thought that work would be ever so much nicer than play, if one could +only go about it dressed like that always. Tom felt quite grown-up and +business-like in his linen coat, and Bella felt another being, her frock +was so much lighter and so pretty, too, and cool and clean.</p> + +<p>"I think our new clothes have brought us good luck," she said, as long +before the morning was over they had sold out most of what they had +brought. The 'good luck' was that in their new garments, looking cool and +fresh, they attracted the notice of those who had overlooked them in their +heavier, uglier clothes.</p> + +<p>When the time came for them to have their meal, they had sold out +everything, to the very last apple.</p> + +<p>"We could start for home now," said Bella, who was suffering much less +from the heat than usual, "only that I've got some shopping to do for Aunt +Emma."</p> + +<p>"And we've got to buy the seeds," said Tom. "It wouldn't do to start back +too early; father wouldn't have time to get to the milestone to meet us."</p> + +<p>So they went and had their lunch in a leisurely, lazy way, talking all the +time they munched at their sandwiches and apples. "I've got four +shillings for father, and threepence for Margery," said Bella, counting up +her takings, "and two shillings for myself."</p> + +<p>"And I've got two shillings too," chimed in Tom.</p> + +<p>This was a large sum to children brought up in the country, where the +best-paid workmen earned only twelve and sixpence a week.</p> + +<p>Their meal ended, they went back to the shops and people again, and made +their purchases, and at last were able to turn their steps homeward.</p> + +<p>"Instead of being early, we're later than usual," said Tom. "Father will +have to wait a bit for us."</p> + +<p>"Never mind; I dare say we shall be able to walk a little faster to-day," +said Bella, "and make it up. Margery said she would come to meet us. +I wonder if she will. She's dying to wear her pink frock like mine, but I +don't s'pose Aunt Emma will let her. I shall be able to see as soon as we +turn the last bend of the road. The pink will show out fine against the +hedge. Oh dear, I wish we were there! I shall be glad to give these +baskets up to father, these groceries weigh heavy," and Bella sighed +wearily.</p> + +<p>"Only one more hill and two more bends, and we shall see him," said Tom +cheerfully, for one of the chief pleasures of their day was to catch sight +of the milestone where their father had never yet failed to meet them, +to take their baskets from them, and listen to their account of the day's +doings.</p> + +<p>"Only one more hill and two bends!" the thought sent them trudging on with +renewed spirit, and the hill was climbed before they realised it. +Then one bend in the road was rounded, then the other, and there in the +distance could be seen the milestone. But, except for the milestone, the +road was empty!</p> + +<p>"Why, father isn't there!" cried Bella disappointedly; "he is late."</p> + +<p>"P'raps somebody has met him, and kept him talking," suggested Tom; +"we shall see him hurrying along in a minute." So they finished the rest +of the distance with their eyes eagerly scanning the white road stretching +away before them.</p> + +<p>"We will have a rest here, shall we?" said Bella, placing her baskets on +the ground by the old grey stone; "he won't be more than a few minutes, +I expect. Oh, I am so tired, aren't you?"</p> + +<p>Tom, seated on the milestone, only nodded, his eyes never wandered from +the road along which their father was to come. It was very still and +quiet there, almost oppressively so. No one passed, and no sound, except +the voices of the birds and the distant mooing of a cow, broke the +silence.</p> + +<p>"P'raps after all we'd better go on," said Bella at last, after restlessly +fidgeting about, and staring along the dirty road until her eyes ached.</p> + +<p>"It doesn't seem to be much use waiting," said Tom quietly, and they +started on their way again, but far less cheerfully now. Indeed, for such +a trifling and easily explained incident, their spirits were strangely +cast down. A dozen simple things might have happened to prevent their +father's coming; he might have been detained at his work, or have met some +one, and be staying talking to them; or he might have been busy and have +forgotten the time.</p> + +<p>Perhaps it was because they were over-tired and hungry, and in the state +to look on the gloomy side of things, that they could not take a cheerful +view of the matter, or shake off the feeling of depression which filled +them.</p> + +<p>Whether this was so or not, they felt anxious and troubled, and all the +sunshine and pleasure seemed to have gone out of their day. It was almost +as though a foreboding of the truth had come to them—that when they left +the old milestone they were leaving their light-heartedness and childhood +behind them, never quite to find them again. Never, at any rate, the +same. When they left it they set their faces towards a long, dark road, +with many a weary hill and many a desolate space to cross, and with a +heavier burden to bear than any they had yet borne.</p> + +<p>Had they known, their hearts might have failed them altogether, perhaps, +though the way was not to be all as dark and stony for their tired feet, +as at first it had seemed to promise. There would be sunshine on the road +for them too, and pleasant resting-places.</p> + +<p>To them then, as they trudged along in silence, the road they had to tread +seemed hard and gloomy enough, even though it was the road towards home. +Every yard seemed as six, and never a glimpse did they catch of their +father, or Margery, or Charlie. Bella walked that mile often and often in +the years that followed, but never again without remembering that +afternoon.</p> + +<p>At last, as they drew near the top of 'their own lane,' as they called it, +they saw a woman standing; she had no hat on her head, and appeared to be +waiting and looking eagerly for some one. When she caught sight of the +children, she hurried forward to meet them. Bella soon recognised her, it +was Mrs. Carter, Billy Carter's mother, and she wondered why she was there +in her working-dress, and why her face was so white.</p> + +<p>"Where's father?" asked Bella sharply. She never could tell afterwards +why that question sprung to her lips, or why with a sharp thrill of fear +she knew what the answer would be, before it was spoken.</p> + +<p>"I've come to tell you, my dears,—your—your father's bad; there's been +an accident, and—and you've got to be very quiet."</p> + +<p>"What is it? What's happened? What accident, oh, do tell!" cried Bella +in an agony of alarm at once. It seemed to her then that she had known of +this all along, or expected it.</p> + +<p>"Is—he—dead?" gasped Tom, white and shaking.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Carter seized on the question with some relief. It was one she could +answer with some comfort for them. "No, he isn't dead. He is hurt very +bad, but the doctor thinks he'll get over it—in time—with care. +He's got to go to the hospital, though. Here, let me help you, dear." +She took Bella's baskets from her, and putting her strong arm about the +child's trembling body, helped her along.</p> + +<p>"What happened?" gasped Bella through her poor white, quivering lips.</p> + +<p>"A wall fell and crushed him."</p> + +<p>"Will he get well again?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear, oh yes, for certain. We must all hope for the best, you know, +and we must be as brave and cheerful as we can. He's hurt a good bit, and +some bones are broken, but they can't tell exactly what's wrong until they +get him to hospital. Oh yes, dear, he'll get well again, and come home as +right as ever he was,—only it'll be a long time first, perhaps."</p> + +<p>She was a capital person to have been sent to break the bad news to them, +for she herself was cheerful, and hopeful, and sympathetic, in spite of +the real dread at her heart. "We were hoping you would have got home +sooner," she added. "It seemed such a long time I had to wait for you. +He wants to see you before he starts."</p> + +<p>The fact of his being taken from them came home to Bella then with a rush. +"Oh, they mustn't take him away!" she cried, almost hysterically. +"Why can't they let him stay at home? We can nurse him. I know he'd +rather——"</p> + +<p>"Hush! hush!" said Mrs. Carter, "he'll hear you!" for they were nearly at +their own gate by that time. "Bella, dear, you want to do what's best for +your father, don't you, and you don't want to think about yourself? +Well, he has to be where he can have good nursing, and doctors night and +day, and lots of things he couldn't have at home; and if you want him to +get well at all, you must bear with his being taken away from you for a +bit. You mustn't mind it's being harder for you now, if it's going to be +better for him later."</p> + +<p>"But I want to help."</p> + +<p>"Help! My dear, there'll be plenty of ways for you to help! More than +you can reckon. I don't know, I'm sure, how,"—but Mrs. Carter broke off +abruptly. She did not want to add to their trouble now.</p> + +<p>Tom, who had been walking along silently all this time, guessed what she +meant. "We shall have plenty to do," he said gravely, "there'll be all of +us to keep while father is away, and you and me'll have to try to do it, +Bella."</p> + +<p>By this time they were inside the gate, and at the sight of the ambulance +standing in the garden Bella nearly broke down again. Her father had +already been brought out and laid in it, so they were spared that ordeal, +but at the sight of his grey-white face, and closed eyes, and bandaged +form, Bella almost fainted, and Tom had to clench his hands tight, to try +and stop their trembling.</p> + +<p>"He wants to speak to you," said the nurse, beckoning to them to come +forward; "he would not go until he had seen you."</p> + +<p>Almost timidly they drew close to his side and leaned over him. For a +moment he did not look or speak; then, very feebly, his eyelids fluttered +and opened, and the pallid lips moved, but the words that came through +them were so faint they could barely catch them.</p> + +<p>"You'll look after them—till—I come back?"</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, yes," sobbed Bella passionately.</p> + +<p>"We'll take care of them, father," said Tom, speaking very slowly and +distinctly, trying hard all the time to keep his lips steady and his eyes +from growing misty. "Don't you worry, we can manage. They shan't want +for anything, if we can help it. Shall they, Bella?"</p> + +<p>"No, no! only make haste and come back, father!" wept Bella.</p> + +<p>"God bless you both!" gasped the poor injured father. "Now kiss me, +Bella; you'll look after the little one? Tom, boy, take care of them +all."</p> + +<p>They both promised again, as they bent down and kissed him.</p> + +<p>"And you'll come and see me—in the hospital—Saturdays?"</p> + +<p>"Where is it you are going?" asked Bella hurriedly; she had forgotten that +in her excitement.</p> + +<p>"To Norton," he gasped, his strength fast failing.</p> + +<p>Then some one led them away, and the ambulance started on its slow +journey.</p> + + +<br><br> +<p><a name="8"></a> </p> +<br><br> +<h3>CHAPTER VIII.</h3> +<h3>ROCKET'S HELP IS REQUIRED.</h3> +<br><br> + +<p>"There will be plenty of ways for you to help."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Carter had never spoken more truly than when she said this, by way of +consoling and bracing up Bella. When the first shock and excitement and +grief had calmed down, the little family at 'Lane End' found themselves +faced with a problem which gave them enough to do and to think about. +This was, how were they all to be fed, and clothed, and warmed, and their +rent paid during the weeks that lay ahead of them?</p> + +<p>Fortunately, their poor father had received his week's wages just an hour +or so before he met with his accident, and fortunately the money was found +still safe in his pocket, when his clothes had to be cut off him. +This was something, but they all realised that it was the last that he +would earn for many a day, and that there were five of them to support, +and that money must be earned by some one to support them week by week.</p> + +<p>Miss Hender grew nearly crazy, and gave way to black despair. She was +always one for looking on the black side of things, and adding trouble and +depression where there was more than enough already.</p> + +<p>"It is a terrible thing to be left without a minute's warning, with four +children to support, and enough to do already, without having to earn a +living for them. I had better ask for parish relief; I don't see what +else I can do," she groaned.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Aunt Emma, don't do that!" cried Bella, horrified.</p> + +<p>"It's all very well to say 'don't do that,'" her aunt answered +impatiently. "I must do something. You wouldn't like to starve, I'm +thinking, and if I let you, I'd be had up for neglect and sent to prison!" +and she collapsed into tears and groans again.</p> + +<p>"Aunt Emma, don't go on like that! We'll get on somehow, and nobody shall +blame you. We can make enough out of the garden to keep us yet for a +bit," said Tom gravely.</p> + +<p>These last days had changed Tom from a child into a man. He had not said +much, but he had thought a great deal, and done more. After the Sunday, +that strange, quiet Sunday, when he had been into Norton with his aunt and +Bella to see the poor sufferer in the hospital, he had quietly set to work +in the garden with all the energy and determination he possessed, for he +had realised that the garden was likely to prove their great 'stand-by,' +and that to provide for the future, it must be cared for now.</p> + +<p>Aunt Emma, instead of thinking and acting, only sobbed and moaned and +despaired, and instead of comforting the children, left them to comfort +her. Perhaps in the end it was best for them, for it is only by helping +and comforting others that one grows strong oneself.</p> + +<p>"We made nine shillings on Saturday," went on Tom hopefully, "and that +wasn't one of our best days."</p> + +<p>"And you think that five of us can live on nine shillings a week!"</p> + +<p>"Couldn't we?" asked Tom disappointedly, "with the eggs and the apples and +the stuff out of the garden?"</p> + +<p>Aunt Emma sniffed scornfully. "With good management we might get along," +she said shortly. "There is no knowing what you can do till you're +brought to it."</p> + +<p>Bella began to lose her temper. "Why couldn't Aunt Emma try and make the +best of things?" she thought impatiently, "instead of making them all more +miserable than they were already. It was very unkind of her, and, after +all, it was harder for them than for her;—but it had never been Aunt +Emma's way to try and make the best of things."</p> + +<p>Yet in her inmost heart Miss Hender did not really think the outlook so +very black. At any rate, she realised that it was very much brighter than +it might have been, if there had been no garden, and the children had not +made that little start of their own; and in her own mind she was planning +how she would take in a little washing, to help them all along. +But poor Aunt Emma's fault was that she would never let people know she +saw any brightness in life at all. She was afraid they would not realise +how much she suffered, and how much she had to bear.</p> + +<p>With spirits greatly damped, Tom and Bella walked away out into the +garden, and there the sweet fresh autumn air and the sunshine soon cheered +them again.</p> + +<p>"What will there be to take in next week?" asked Bella, glancing about +her. "We must carry all we can, for Aunt Emma's sake."</p> + +<p>"There'll be apples," said Tom, "plenty of them hoarding pears, and +cabbages. I wish we had a hand-cart!" he broke out impetuously: +"for there's heaps of stuff, potatoes, and turnips, and carrots, if only +we could get them to Norton, but what we can carry hardly pays for the +time and trouble."</p> + +<p>"I shall have some early chrysanthemums," said Bella, looking lovingly at +her flowers, "and asters, and a few late roses. Oh, I ought to have +opened my hotbed," and away she darted, her face full of eagerness.</p> + +<p>It was only a few days before the accident that she had bought a nice +second-hand frame with her earnings, and her father had fixed it for her. +It was already full of pots of mignonette seeds and fairy-roses, cyclamen +and lilies of the valley, which she was hoping to bring on to sell through +the winter, when flowers would be scarce.</p> + +<p>For once Tom stood by, and paid no heed. He was absorbed in a new idea +that had come to him. "Bella," he said at last, "do you know what I've a +good mind to do?"</p> + +<p>Bella could see from his face that, whatever it was, he was pleased and +excited about it, so she was prepared to back him up. "What is it? +Do tell!"</p> + +<p>"I've a good mind to ask old Mrs. Wintle to let us have her donkey and +cart on Saturday; then we could carry in potatoes and vegetables enough to +make it worth while."</p> + +<p>"Wouldn't she charge a lot?" asked Bella doubtfully. "Doesn't she ask +half-a-crown a day and his food? That would be a lot out of what we make, +and Aunt Emma would grumble like anything!"</p> + +<p>"Of course it would cost something, but see what a lot more stuff we could +take in to sell. I believe it would pay, and I've a good mind to chance +it. I tell you what I'll do. I'll pay for the donkey for a week or two, +out of what I've saved, and then we shall see if it's worth it or not, and +if it isn't, well, Aunt Emma won't be any the worse off."</p> + +<p>"But you will!"</p> + +<p>"I am going to risk it; I'd rather spend my money on that than anything. +I believe it'll answer. Anyway, we shan't know till we try. Think of the +time we shall save too! We needn't start so early by an hour or two, and +we shall get back in time to do a bit of work out here too."</p> + +<p>"That would be fine," agreed Bella, "and we shouldn't be so dreadfully +tired either." The long walk had begun to be rather a trial to her. +"Will you tell Aunt Emma about it, Tom? She takes things better from +you."</p> + +<p>To the surprise of both of them, Miss Hender 'took the news' very well +indeed, and fell in with the plan at once instead of opposing it. +"You'll save ever so much in shoe leather," she said, "and any amount of +time and trouble. And look here," holding out her apron, in which were a +number of large brown eggs, "couldn't you carry in some of these and sell +them? There's some to go to your father, but there's a-plenty more, and +they're fine ones too."</p> + +<p>Bella's face brightened. "Why, of course we could! However didn't we +think of it before? It'll be fine, Aunt Emma," and she longed to skip for +joy.</p> + +<p>"If we'd had them, you couldn't have carried them, you'd got load enough +already; but with the donkey-cart it'll be different."</p> + +<p>When Saturday came, and they began to load up the cart, the wisdom of +Tom's plan was only too plain. There were baskets of flowers and herbs, +one of eggs, and one of pears, a large hamper of apples, a sack of +potatoes, and hampers of turnips and carrots, beets, and onions, leeks, +and parsnips; not to mention a box of celery and one of tomatoes.</p> + +<p>Bella laughed delightedly. "We shall be taking fowls and ducks too, some +day, perhaps!"</p> + +<p>"And why not?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>"Yes, why not?" said Miss Hender quickly. "What a good thing! Why didn't +you think of it before, Bella? I could see to all that, and I could make +pretty nearly as much by them as all the fruit and flowers put together. +If I'd only thought of it,"—growing more and more enthusiastic—"I might +have got a pair of fowls ready to send in to-day. Never mind, I'll be +ready another time!" And from that chance word of Bella's began what they +later on laughingly called 'Aunt Emma's Poultry Farm.'</p> + +<p>Charlie and Margery watched the proceedings that Saturday morning with +eyes full of envy and longing. They wanted so much to go too, and it did +seem hard to stay behind for the whole long, dull day.</p> + +<p>"You must come to meet us," whispered Bella, "and you shall have a drive +home. We shan't be any earlier, for we're going to the hospital to see +father; then, if he's better, you and Charlie are to come in with us next +week to see him; Aunt Emma says so."</p> + +<p>Bella in her pink frock, and Tom in his holland coat, clambered up into +the cart, and while Tom gathered up the reins Bella picked up the two most +precious of the baskets, and away they started.</p> + +<p>Once clear of the lane, and out on the level high road, Rocket broke into +a smart little trot, and carried them along in fine style. To Bella it +seemed the very height of luxury and enjoyment to be getting over the +ground so quickly, and with no heavy load to carry. The first milestone +seemed to be reached in no time, but when they came to it Bella had to +turn away her head and blink hard, to keep the tears out of her eyes, so +vividly did the sight of it bring back the happy meetings there, and the +thought that not for weeks and weeks, if ever, would they all meet there +again.</p> + +<p>It was a good thing for them both that they were not walking that day, +for the drive, the donkey, and the excitement of the new venture, helped +to lift their thoughts off their trouble, and helped them through. +Some of the people they met stared wonderingly at the little pair of +market-gardeners in the gay green cart. Some smiled and nodded +encouragingly, others called out cheerily, "Hello, young market-gardeners, +you're getting on! That's good, stick to it, and you'll do yet!"</p> + +<p>By this time the regular market-folk who arrived early in the day had come +to know the two children who were so regular and so punctual.</p> + +<p>They both felt very pleased with the attention they received, but they +felt very self-conscious indeed when they drew up at the house by the +church, where their first customer, Mrs. Watson, lived, and even more so +when they went on to Mrs. Adamson, whose little invalid daughter Joan had +bought flowers of them every week since that first meeting.</p> + +<p>Joan grew quite excited when she saw the donkey and cart, but when she +heard of the accident, and the trouble they were all in, she wept for +sympathy.</p> + +<p>"Oh, mummy," she cried, "we must do something to help!" and Mrs. Adamson, +who had been listening intently to the tale of trouble, decided that one +of the best ways of helping would be by buying as much as she could of +what they brought in to sell each week. So of eggs and vegetables, fruit +and flowers, she laid in quite a store, and the children went on their way +in high spirits. Just before they left, Joan called her mother aside for +a whispered consultation.</p> + +<p>"Mummy, darling, do let me send the poor man one of my bottles of +eau-de-Cologne. If his head aches, he will be so glad of it; shall I?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly, darling, and when he is better we will send him some +magazines. Shall we?"</p> + +<p>In a state of great delight Joan handed over the eau-de-Cologne to Bella. +"But we will have the cork drawn first, for he might be glad to use it at +once, and I'll leave the dear little corkscrew in. He'll like to have +that, won't he?"</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, miss," said Bella gratefully; "he's never seen one like that +before. Thank you, miss, I'll tell him you sent it."</p> + +<p>Then Joan had to be carried to the window to look at Rocket and the cart, +and see Tom and Bella start on again. "Do you think you will ever sell +all you've got there?" she asked, with wondering eyes.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I think so. I hope so, miss. I've got a good many regular +customers now, and p'raps we shall get some more. We're going to try it +for a week or two, anyway, just to see."</p> + +<p>Tom's courage was certainly rewarded, for long before the hour when +visiting-time at the hospital began, they had sold out all they had +brought, and were able to take good, patient Rocket to the stable and his +dinner. They had not counted up their takings yet, but Bella felt sure +that there was close on a sovereign in her purse; and they had besides an +order for half a sack of potatoes, a bushel of cooking apples, and a pair +of fowls. They scarcely knew what to do, they were so delighted.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Tom, won't father be glad!" Bella kept on saying; "and won't he be +surprised when he hears about Rocket! He'll think we are getting on fine, +and won't he be pleased about it!"</p> + +<p>"It'll help to get him better, I reckon," said Tom, with quiet delight.</p> + +<p>Tom both felt and acted as though he were ten years older than when he was +in Norton, a week ago. The shock and the responsibility, acting on his +thoughtful, steady nature, had changed him from a boy to a man. Not a sad +or too serious man, yet one who felt that he had to act now, not to play; +to think out what was for the best, and to do it, and not let things +slide, or take their chance, and he took up his responsibilities with a +brave and cheerful spirit. There was no self-pity about Tom; it never +entered his head to think he was ill-used or hard-worked.</p> + +<p>"'Tisn't any hardship, ma'am," he said brightly, when Mrs. Adamson +condoled with them on all they had to do, now they were left alone. +"I like work better than play. You feel then that you'm doing something. +I get tired of play. I like a game of cricket or football, but I mean the +other sort of play."</p> + +<p>Bella, who remembered only too well the dull, miserable years when Aunt +Emma did not like her to play, and would not let her work, agreed with Tom +heartily. "Yes, I like work better than play too," she said emphatically. +"I think it's fine to have a lot to do. There isn't anything makes you so +miserable as doing nothing."</p> + +<p>From two to four were the visitors' hours at the hospital, and long before +that hour had struck Tom and Bella were waiting anxiously for the doors of +the hospital to open. There was quite a little crowd of people besides +themselves, and every one had some little luxury they were taking to the +poor invalids inside. Tom and Bella had fresh eggs and flowers, and, best +of all, the good news of their success that day. They had actually earned +a whole sovereign and threepence!</p> + +<p>To poor William Hender this was good news indeed, for it meant that his +dear ones were not in want—at any rate for the present—and the knowledge +lifted a heavy load from his mind. "Thank God for sending me such help in +my trouble," he murmured gratefully. "I am blessed with good children, +and no mistake!"</p> + +<p>But Bella's happiness had almost vanished at the sight of the poor pale +face on the pillow, and the weak hands that he could scarcely raise. +She had, somehow, expected to see her father much better and more like +himself, but he looked so dreadfully, dreadfully ill and altered that an +awful fear swept over her and gripped her with an icy clutch. +In her anxiety she forgot her shyness, and went boldly up to one of the +nurses, who was standing a little way off. "Do you think father is really +better, miss?" she asked timidly, while every nerve quivered with dread of +the answer.</p> + +<p>"He is getting on," the nurse answered cautiously. "It will be a long +time before he will be well, of course. You mustn't expect to see much +difference for a good while yet."</p> + +<p>"You do think he will get well? You don't think he is—is——" Bella +could not finish her question, her lips quivered so. The nurse, who was +not supposed to talk about the patients to their friends, could not refuse +those frightened pleading eyes.</p> + +<p>"Oh no, no! you mustn't be thinking of such a thing. He is going to get +well presently, and you will have him home for Christmas. What you have +to do is to keep his spirits up, and cheer him all you can, and the doctor +will cure him, and we will take care of him and send him home in time to +eat his Christmas dinner."</p> + +<p>Bella smiled through her tears, and with the worst fear lifted from her +heart she turned to her father again. Till four o'clock they sat by him +and talked, and he listened contentedly. He was anxious to hear every +little detail of all they had been doing at home. He was too weak to talk +much, but he joined in now and then, and laughed a lot at the funny things +they told him. He was very much pleased when he heard about Rocket.</p> + +<p>"I'm thankful you thought of it, my boy. I've been troubling about +Bella's having that long walk in all weathers, and the mornings and +evenings getting darker and darker. Rocket's a good steady donkey too, +I remember him; 'twas I advised poor old Mother Wintle to buy him," and he +laughed at the recollection.</p> + +<p>The laugh raised Bella's spirits again, and their tongues wagged so fast +after that, that when the bell rang at four o'clock for the visitors to +leave, they felt sure there must have been a mistake. "It can't be more +than three!" said Bella, quite distressed. But all the clocks in the town +were striking four, and all the other visitors in the ward were preparing +to leave. Bella's spirits sank again, it seemed so dreadful to go away +and leave her father there, and it took all her courage to keep from +breaking down and weeping bitterly.</p> + +<p>"Never mind," said Tom, trying to be cheerful, "one week has gone, and the +worst one for father, I expect, and p'raps in two or three more he'll be +home again."</p> + +<p>"The nurse said he would be home for Christmas," said Bella dolefully; +"but I think she must have made a mistake, and meant Michaelmas, for +Christmas is more than three months off yet. He'll be sure to be back +before the Fair, won't he, Tom?"</p> + +<p>"Oh yes," said Tom decidedly, with never a doubt.</p> + +<p>The nurse had said Christmas, and she meant Christmas, though, mercifully +for the children, they continued for some time to feel sure she had made a +mistake, and hope burnt brightly in their hearts week after week, and +their spirits were never daunted.</p> + + +<br><br> +<p><a name="9"></a> </p> +<br><br> +<h3>CHAPTER IX.</h3> +<h3>HOME AGAIN.</h3> +<br><br> + +<p>The nurse had spoken truly enough. William Hender did not die, and he got +back to his home in time for Christmas. All through September and October +the children kept up their hopes, each week they felt sure the next would +bring the news that he was well enough to return to them; but the weeks +went by, September had slipped into October, and October into November, +and still he did not come.</p> + +<p>The heat had suddenly broken up at the end of September, and the weather +turned wet and stormy and depressing. Bella and Tom found the work in the +garden almost beyond their power, and they longed for their father's help +and advice; but week after week went by, and still he could not come, and +the work had to be done somehow, by somebody.</p> + +<p>Then, in November, the blow that some had feared all along fell on them. +The doctor told Miss Hender that her brother might return to his home in a +few weeks' time, but that he would never again be fit for hard work. +He would be able to walk about a little, but he would always be a cripple +and an invalid, and quite unable to carry on his old occupation.</p> + +<p>The news fell on them all with crushing force. Miss Hender fell into her +gloomiest mood, and drew the most miserable pictures of the future, with +six to feed and clothe, rent to pay, an invalid man to keep, and only the +children's earnings to do it all on.</p> + +<p>Bella saw only her poor father's sad fate—a helpless cripple for the rest +of his life, tied to the house, and with nothing to occupy his time, +he who had always been so strong and active, who had never been able to +stay patiently indoors for an hour, unless he had something to do. +And she felt that her heart would break with her sorrow and love for him.</p> + +<p>Little Margery realised only the joy of having him back, and instantly +became full of preparations for his coming. She had a new rose to show +him, and her Sunday-school prize, and she had five shillings in her +money-box, about the spending of which she wanted his advice.</p> + +<p>Tom, watching her plans to give their invalid a happy welcome, decided +that Margery, after all, was the one to imitate, and he tried to throw off +the sickening sense of misery which had overwhelmed him since he had heard +the stunning news, and to follow her example.</p> + +<p>"We've got to make the best of it for his sake," he said to Bella and +Charlie, as they worked away together, turning over an empty strip of +ground. "It is worst of all for him, and if he sees we are all miserable, +he'll feel it is his fault, and it will make it harder than ever for him."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe father'll be a cripple always," said Charlie sturdily; +"he's sure to get better some day, and there's certain to be something he +can do."</p> + +<p>"But the doctors say he mustn't do anything," said Bella despondently.</p> + +<p>"Doctors don't know everything! Everybody makes mistakes some time," +he added quickly, for the doctor at the hospital was one of his special +heroes.</p> + +<p>It was a comfort to the others even to be unable to contradict him.</p> + +<p>"Anyhow," said Tom, "we will go on as though we thought he was going to be +better soon, and he'll be able to tell us what to do in the garden, and +how to do it, and p'raps by degrees he'll find little things that he can +do without hurting himself." And so by making plans to help the poor +invalid to be happy and comfortable, they made themselves happier too.</p> + +<p>"I don't think we can do better than go on as we are," said Bella. "If I +was to go out to service, or Tom was to get work anywhere, it would be one +less to feed, but we shouldn't be able to earn as much for the rest as we +do now."</p> + +<p>They all agreed on that point, and Aunt Maggie, who was called in to talk +matters over, agreed with them. "I think you've got a good opening that +it would be a sin to waste," she said heartily. "I think the best thing +you can do is to try to increase your business all you can."</p> + +<p>"If I could have a bit more of the garden for a run, and could get the +money to put up a bigger house for my fowls," said Aunt Emma eagerly, +"I believe I could do very well with them."</p> + +<p>"I am sure you could," agreed Mrs. Langley warmly. She did not add that +this was just what she had been wanting to suggest, but was afraid to, +lest it should give offence.</p> + +<p>Emma Hender's face quite lit up with pleasure. "If it isn't too damp for +you, I wish you would come down the garden with me and see what I think +would be a good place to have a house."</p> + +<p>"I'd like to come," said Aunt Maggie warmly, only too glad to be friendly +if Miss Hender would let her. "Shall we go now?"</p> + +<p>Down the garden they all trooped, for, of course, Margery must be in +everything, and Charlie was more interested in ducks and fowls, or any +other live creature, than he was in flowers or fruit. They examined the +present poky fowl-house and run, and then they surveyed the land, and each +one gave an opinion on the matter.</p> + +<p>"I think if we were to put the new house next to the old one it would be +best, don't you?" said Aunt Emma.</p> + +<p>Aunt Maggie looked about her for a minute thoughtfully. "Well, no," she +said at last. "I think, if it was mine, I should have a new house close +there by the orchard, and give them a run that would go right through the +hedge, so that they could have the run of the orchard too. They would +enjoy that, and it would keep them healthy, and they could pick up so much +food you wouldn't need to feed them more than twice a day. What do you +think about it?"</p> + +<p>Miss Hender looked thoughtful for a minute. "Yes, I think it might be a +good plan," she said. She did not speak very heartily, but it was a +wonderful change for her to agree at all with any suggestion made by +Mrs. Langley. "But there," she sighed, dropping back into her usual +melancholy manner, "what does it matter? I don't suppose it will ever be +my lot to get it. I don't see where the money is to come from," and she +returned to the house with all the air of a much injured woman.</p> + +<p>That afternoon, as Tom and Bella went round shutting up the hot-beds, +Tom confided a new plan he had formed. "I am going to learn carpentering +this winter," he said eagerly, "just plain carpentering, you know. +I want to see if we can't build Aunt Emma her fowl-house by the spring. +I'm sure she'd make it pay, and I believe she'd be better-tempered if +she'd got something of her own to look after, and earn a little by."</p> + +<p>"I believe she would," said Bella soberly. "I know I was."</p> + +<p>It was only a few days later than this that William Hender came back once +more to the house he had been absent from for a quarter of a year. +The day before Christmas Eve was fixed on for his return, and in the +double joy of Christmas and of having their father back, the children +forgot for the time the trouble that hung over them all. To them his +return made the season seem a more than usually joyful one; but Aunt Emma +felt that, because of the trouble, Christmas should be ignored by them +that year, and not kept up in any way.</p> + +<p>"I am sure your poor father won't feel up to eating any Christmas dinner, +or having any fun, or anything," she said gloomily. "We'd better let +Christmas go by just like any other time. I've worries enough on my mind +to keep me from rejoicing, and your poor father the same."</p> + +<p>Bella felt her temper rising. "As if the trouble isn't more to me than it +is to her," she thought impatiently. "A fine thing it would be if all sat +down and groaned and cried!"</p> + +<p>Tom looked puzzled. He felt that they ought at any rate to try to seem +bright and cheerful for their father's sake, but he didn't want to seem +unfeeling; yet the trouble would not grow less by looking miserable about +it, and making every one else miserable too.</p> + +<p>"We shall have father back," he said quietly, "that'll be enough to be +glad about. I think we ought to keep it up a bit this year, just to show +how glad we are."</p> + +<p>"Can't you say you're glad when you see him? Won't that be enough?"</p> + +<p>Charlie put his own feelings quite plainly. "Oh, Aunt Emma, we've never +let Christmas go by yet; do let's keep it up this year! Let's have a nice +dinner and some fun! Aunt Emma, do. P'raps we shan't all be here by +another one."</p> + +<p>Charlie was Miss Hender's favourite, and, as a rule, got what he asked +for, though not, perhaps, the first time. Miss Hender was impressed by +his last words. "P'raps we shan't all be here by another, one."</p> + +<p>He had only meant that perhaps one of them might be out in service, but to +her mind came only the thought of a longer and a final parting, such as +they had so narrowly escaped, and the thought touched and awed her.</p> + +<p>"Very well," she said at last; "if you are all set on a Christmas dinner, +I'll cook it for you. I can't undertake more, my hands'll be full +'tending on your father."</p> + +<p>"I can 'tend on father," Bella was about to say, and sharply, but +fortunately she checked herself in time, as she remembered that there were +many hours and some whole days in each week when she could do nothing for +him, and he must be left entirely to Aunt Emma's care, and depend on her +for all his comfort. So she said nothing, and she and Tom went off to +their work, feeling thankful to Charlie for having gained so much for +them, and determined to think of some other way also in which to keep up +the happy season.</p> + +<p>This was on the Monday, and on the Wednesday the invalid was to return, +so that already there were great bustle and excitement at the cottage, +preparing and making ready, for there really was a great deal to do. +The room which had always been used as a parlour was now to be turned out +and whitewashed and papered, and turned into a bedroom for the invalid, +that he might not have to go up and down the stairs. Indeed, the whole +house was made sweet and bright inside and out, the garden rails and the +front door were given a coat of paint, and the garden itself made as neat +as a December garden could be, though it was robbed of some of Bella's +finest chrysanthemums to decorate the house on the longed-for day.</p> + +<p>Their father was to leave the hospital soon after the midday meal there, +reaching home early in the afternoon before the light began to wane, +but by one o'clock the four children had taken up their position at the +top of the lane to watch for the coming carriage.</p> + +<p>As the time drew near when it might be expected, Aunt Maggie came and +joined them, and further along the road they saw Mrs. Carter waiting to +wave a welcome to their invalid, and presently others came, until there +was quite a little gathering, anxious to show their neighbour how glad +they were to see him back.</p> + +<p>When the long-looked-for carriage came in sight, and Tom and the children +darted forward to meet it, Bella could not go with them. Such a lump rose +in her throat, such blinding tears to her eyes, such a feeling of love and +pity and sorrow welled up in her heart, she could scarcely restrain +herself from sobbing aloud, and turning quickly she walked stumblingly +back to the empty house.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Langley saw her go, but she did not follow, something in Bella's face +told her she would rather be alone; but when Tom and Margery, missing her, +ran back after her, Aunt Maggie did not stop them. She thought it best to +let them go.</p> + +<p>Charlie, as usual, went his own way, and when the carriage drove slowly +down the lane and drew up at the gate, he was riding triumphantly on the +step, the door-handle in his hand, ready to open it.</p> + +<p>Bella stood by, nervously dreading the alterations she might see. +Tom looked on, very grave and silent, but Margery, forgetting everything +but that her father was come back, rushed towards him with a glad cry of +welcome, "Oh, daddy, daddy! I'm so glad you've come back," and, flinging +her arms about him, drew his face down to be kissed.</p> + +<p>In spite of the suffering inseparable from it, it was a very happy +home-coming. The invalid was helped into the house and put in his chair +by the fire; but before they could begin to tell or hear all there was to +tell or hear, the carriage had to be unloaded and all his belongings +brought in; so, to get it done quickly and come back to him, they all +trooped out to help.</p> + +<p>And what a cry of excitement went up at the sight of what the carriage +contained! For, first and foremost, on the seat that had been facing him, +they found a real little Christmas-tree.</p> + +<p>"I saw it!" cried Charlie; "I saw it directly I got on the step."</p> + +<p>But no one paid any heed to Charlie's shouts, for they were bringing in +the tree in triumph. Tom flew off to get a big pot to stand it in, +and when he had planted it and brought it in and stood it in the place of +honour in the kitchen, how cheery it looked, and how fragrantly the scent +of it filled the cosy, warm room, and how excitedly they all discussed +what should be hung on its branches, until their father, sorting out one +box from the rest of his luggage, opened it and displayed little +glittering candlesticks and pretty glass ornaments which were for nothing +in the world but to hang on a Christmas-tree, and make it look perfectly +beautiful.</p> + +<p>There was a bright blue peacock with a spun-glass tail, and a top-knot of +the same on his head, a rosy apple and a yellow pear, a bunch of grapes, +and two balls that flashed and glittered, and all were as pretty as pretty +could be, as they caught the glow of the fire and flashed it back in +dozens of different lights.</p> + +<p>"The Sister gave them to me; they had a lot sent them for the hospital +tree—more than they could use, and she thought you would like some."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" sighed Margery, breathless with delight, "I wish it was to-morrow +now, and that there wasn't any night, for I'm afraid if I go to sleep I +shall wake up and find it is only a dream."</p> + +<p>Night came, though, and the next day, when Tom and Bella had to go to +Norton—for the market was to be held on the Thursday, Christmas Eve, +rather than on the Bank Holiday—and never, since they began, had the two +found it so hard to start off on their day's work. There was so much to +talk over and to do at home, so much to show their father; things they had +done in the garden, and things they meant to do. He consoled them a +little, though, by promising that he would not look at anything until they +were there to show him round; and then, to cheer them in their work, there +was his interest in the donkey and cart, and the packing up of their load, +and his astonishment at the number of different things they carried in it +now.</p> + +<p>To-day there were holly and ivy and mistletoe, as well as all the usual +things.</p> + +<p>The weather was ideal Christmas weather, and the drive in was so +beautiful, no one's spirits could go on remaining low. In the town, too, +all was bustle and excitement. Every one seemed to be pleased and full of +pleasant mysteries and nice secrets. The shop windows were full of lovely +things, and the shops full of people buying them.</p> + +<p>"I don't suppose we shall find any one at home," said Bella ruefully, as +she dismounted first, as usual, at Mrs. Watson's door, and, indeed, Mrs. +Watson was out 'shopping,' the maid said, but she had left an order for +some chrysanthemums, and two shillingsworth of holly, if they had any.</p> + +<p>Then, how glad Tom was that he and Charlie had spent that long day on +Monday gathering Christmas decorations! It was Charlie's suggestion, and +Charlie was to have half the profits.</p> + +<p>Bella rejoiced doubly at every branch of holly that was sold, for, in the +first place, it had been anything but pleasant as a travelling companion, +and, in the second, the money it sold for helped to fill up her purse, and +now, more than ever, were they anxious to earn every penny they could.</p> + +<p>The next place they stopped at was Mrs. Adamson's. Here they found Joan +and her mother both at home. Joan's face was full of excitement when +Bella was shown into her own little private room; but Bella thought it was +all on account of a pot of hyacinths that she was bringing her, to give to +her mother as a Christmas present. Joan had ordered them weeks before, +and Bella had taken special pains to bring them on nicely, and now they +were to be handed over to the little owner, and hidden until the next day.</p> + +<p>Bella soon found that it was not the hyacinths only that were causing +Joan's excitement. "I've got something for you, too," she said eagerly, +and she drew out from amongst her cushions and under her rug several +interesting-looking parcels.</p> + +<p>"They are secrets, and you mustn't look inside them until you get home," +she said firmly. "That one is for your father, and that is for your +aunt, and this is for you; that is for Tom, and that for Charlie, and this +one is for Margery. I can't help your seeing it is a dolly, for I can't +wrap it up any better, it is so big and bulgy."</p> + +<p>Bella tried her hardest to thank the kind little invalid as warmly as she +felt, but her surprise and delight nearly robbed her altogether of speech.</p> + +<p>"Oh, and they shall all go on father's tree!" she gasped delightedly, as +the idea suddenly came to her. Then, of course, Joan had to be told about +the little tree that their father had brought home with him, and she grew +almost as excited as Bella herself.</p> + +<p>"Do put my parcels on it, and don't, please, tell them anything about them +until the tree is lighted up. Have you got candles for it?"</p> + +<p>Bella shook her head. She had not thought about lighting up the tree.</p> + +<p>"Will you, please, pass me that box on the table?" asked Joan, and when +Bella had done so, she opened it and took from it six little Christmas +candles. "I have lots," she said; "do, please, have these."</p> + +<p>"I do think Christmas is the most lovely time of all the year!" said Bella +to Tom, as, with her parcels carefully hidden at the bottom of her big +basket, they drove on again, and Tom agreed.</p> + +<p>Inside the shops and outside the Christmas spirit reigned that day. +Buyers and sellers all seemed possessed with it, and so busy was every one +that there was no dawdling over the making of purchases, and the children, +though they had an even larger supply than usual, had sold out their store +quite early.</p> + +<p>"We could start for home at once," said Bella, as the clock struck one, +"but I would like to take home just one or two little things for the +Christmas tree, and some oranges and nuts—and oh, I wish we could get +some nice little present for father, and something for Aunt Emma. +Do you think we might, Tom?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Tom, without hesitation; "we'll spend the holly money—my +share of it, I mean. You see, it won't be like wasting it; we will get +them something useful."</p> + +<p>"Let's go and look at the shops," cried Bella delightedly. "Oh, won't it +be fine when they see the things on the tree! We won't let them know +anything about it till then, will we?"</p> + +<p>They went down the street, and up, and down again, looking in at every +shop window most intently, but quite unable to decide on what to lay out +their money. They wanted two things that must be cheap, and must be +useful, and must suit their father and aunt.</p> + +<p>At last Tom grew impatient. "Look here, we've got to make up our minds +and settle on something, for it's time we were getting home."</p> + +<p>They were standing outside a drapery store at that moment—the kind of +store where they sell not only drapery, but all kinds of things—and +almost as Tom spoke the shop and window burst into a blaze of light. +Being Christmas Eve, they were going to spare no expense in making the +place look attractive.</p> + +<p>Tom and Bella drew near for another look, and almost at the same moment +their eyes fell on the very thing they wanted, a pair of soft warm felt +slippers. "Those will do for father, they'll be splendid!" they exclaimed +in one breath; and the next moment Bella was in the shop, so afraid was +she that some one else would be before her in securing them.</p> + +<p>Having made sure of them, she was able to look about her, and, hanging +over the counter, she caught sight of some little grey woollen turnovers. +"One of those will be just the thing for Aunt Emma," she whispered to Tom, +"to put over her shoulders when she goes down to the fowls."</p> + +<p>So a shawl was purchased, too, and, almost too excited and pleased to know +what they were about, the children hurried off for Rocket and the cart, +and started for home.</p> + + +<br><br> +<p><a name="10"></a> </p> +<br><br> +<h3>CHAPTER X.</h3> +<h3>CHRISTMAS.</h3> +<br><br> + +<p>With the thought of the warm stable awaiting him at the other end of his +journey, little Rocket stepped out so briskly that they were home in good +time after all. Bella's thoughts and Tom's were far more perplexing ones, +for they had to decide how they were to get their mysterious parcels out +of the cart and out of sight without any one seeing them.</p> + +<p>"I can get them out of the cart easy enough," said Tom, "but to get them +into the house is another matter. Would it do to leave them in the shed +all night?"</p> + +<p>"It'll have to, it's my belief," said Bella perplexedly. "I think it's +the best we can do, and then I'll try to go down for them and hide them +upstairs before Margery wakes in the morning."</p> + +<p>So she put the precious parcels in one of the round hampers, and covered +them over with some of the waste cabbage leaves they had saved and brought +back for the fowls.</p> + +<p>"Are those for me?" Miss Hender asked, when she saw the leaves.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Tom calmly. "I'll carry them down and put basket and all in +the tool-house for the night;" and he was gone before any one could stop +him, and Bella, with a deep breath of relief, was able to think of other +things with an easy mind.</p> + +<p>It was splendid, they both thought, to come back and find their father +awaiting them once more, glad to welcome them, and eager to hear all their +doings. By the time Rocket had been taken home to his supper and bed, the +afternoon had gone and darkness fallen, and then they all had tea by the +light of the blazing fire in the kitchen, which was sweet with the mingled +scents of the little Christmas tree and one of Bella's pots of Roman +hyacinths, which she had given to her father. There was something of a +festive air, too, about the little gathering. Father was home, Christmas +was at hand, and they had earned enough that day to keep them all in +comfort for another week. They had got in a store of coal and wood, the +rent was ready in the rent-box, and their minds were free from debt or +pressing need.</p> + +<p>There was much to tell and much to hear as they lingered over their meal, +but Tom and Bella found it far from easy to talk of their day's doings +without bringing in any reference to the 'surprises' now lying in the +tool-shed, and more than once they were thankful that the light in the +room was flickering and uneven, for it helped to hide embarrassed looks +and quick blushes, which would certainly have roused suspicion if +Charlie's or Margery's quick eyes had seen them.</p> + +<p>Charlie was in a state of great delight with the three shillings, which +was his share of the holly money. "What shall you do with yours, Tom?" he +asked, but fortunately he did not wait for an answer. "Do you know what I +am going to do with mine?—But no, I shan't tell you yet; you'll know +soon, and then we shall have a fine time."</p> + +<p>"I know," said Margery, who was full of curiosity, and wanted to surprise +Charlie's secret from him, "Rabbits!"</p> + +<p>"Rabbits!" scornfully, "I wouldn't be bothered with them!"</p> + +<p>"Canaries?" asked Bella, "or bees, or pigeons?"</p> + +<p>"Never you mind," said Charlie, somewhat hastily. "It isn't any good for +you to go on guessing. You'll know when you see." And he pointedly +turned the conversation, and actually managed to go to bed with his secret +still kept.</p> + +<p>So did Bella and Tom, but theirs weighed on Bella's mind far more heavily +than did Charlie's on his, and she was never more glad to get up than she +was on that Christmas morning.</p> + +<p>It was still so dark that she could not see Margery in her little bed +across the room, but she heard her breathing steadily and deeply, and as +she did not speak when Bella moved about the room a little, Bella knew she +must be fast asleep. She did not even move when Bella struck a match and +lighted a candle, nor when she opened the bedroom door and crept +downstairs.</p> + +<p>It had become Bella's habit now to go down first and light the kitchen +fire, so if they heard her no one would take any notice, and, once +downstairs, it was easy enough to open the front door and slip out. +It was not so easy to grope one's way to the tool-house and find the +hamper and its contents. It was a bitterly cold morning, a keen wind +swept along the garden path, and every now and then something soft and +cold touched Bella's face, or rested on her hair.</p> + +<p>"I believe it is snowing," she said, as she held out her hand to try to +catch a flake. In the sky the stars were still twinkling, and suddenly +from somewhere in the distance the bells rang out their glad peal.</p> + +<p>To Bella out there alone with the stars and the snow and the bells, it all +seemed wonderfully beautiful and impressive. Her thoughts flew to her +mother, and the past Christmases when she had been with them, and, as she +turned her face up to the sky and the stars, it seemed to Bella as though +they must be looking straight into each other's eyes.</p> + +<p>"We don't forget you, mother," she whispered. "Even when we are talking +and laughing, we'll be thinking of you too, and wanting you;" and one +little star flashed and gleamed as though it understood and answered her.</p> + +<p>In the tool-house she found the hamper and its precious contents quite +safe, and gathering all the parcels in her apron, she replaced the cabbage +leaves, and scurried back to the house. How she got in and up the stairs +she scarcely knew.</p> + +<p>Margery stirred as she entered and spoke, "Is that you, Bella?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Bella, "I'm going down now to light the fire and get father +some tea. You go to sleep again; it is too early to wake up yet;" and +sleepy Margery turned over in her snug bed and was asleep almost before +Bella had ceased speaking.</p> + +<p>It was not easy to stow away a dozen paper-covered parcels in a small +space, and without making a sound. Bella found this the hardest part of +the whole task, until it entered her head to lay them flat under her bed. +"It's lucky I make my bed myself!" she thought, as she drew the bedclothes +straight again. "It is a splendid place, nothing shows a bit!" and she +hurried about her usual tasks full of excitement and relief.</p> + +<p>There was a Christmasy look about the world out of doors, and a Christmasy +feeling throughout the house indoors. The sun shone, and a few flakes of +snow fell in a lazy, casual way—enough to convince Margery that Christmas +had really come, but not enough to inconvenience anybody else. To Margery +snow was a part of Christmas, which was not complete without it, and as +soon as she stepped out of bed she ran to the window and looked out +anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Well," she said doubtfully, "there is snow, but very little. I hope it +doesn't mean that it is going to be a very little Christmas."</p> + +<p>Long before the day was over she admitted that, in spite of there being +only a very little snow, it was one of the nicest Christmases she had ever +known in all her life.</p> + +<p>Almost as soon as their father was dressed and settled in his arm-chair by +the fire, Aunt Maggie arrived with a big and heavy basket on her arm.</p> + +<p>"Happy Christmas to you all!" she cried cheerfully. "Isn't it good to be +together again? How are you feeling this morning, William?"</p> + +<p>"Pretty well, thank you, Maggie, and glad enough to be home again! +You are coming to dinner with us, of course?"</p> + +<p>"No, I am not, thank you," said Aunt Maggie; "an old friend of mine is +coming to dinner with me. She was alone, and I was alone, so I asked her. +I've brought you your plum-pudding, if you'll accept it instead of me, and +there's a little parcel for each of you."</p> + +<p>"Maggie, you've got to come to us! You knew we should expect you! +Whatever made you go and ask somebody in?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I knew you'd be better alone, as you ain't very strong yet, and +Miss Hender has got her hands full, I know. But if you'll let me come up +to tea, I will, and be glad to."</p> + +<p>"And bring your friend too," said Aunt Emma, quite genially.</p> + +<p>"Thank you; I am sure it is very kind of you, and she'll be delighted to +come, I know. I must run home now, for I've got my dinner to get ready."</p> + +<p>Bella and the children, who had disappeared soon after Aunt Maggie's +arrival, came running in again.</p> + +<p>"Aunt Maggie," said Bella, almost breathless with haste, "we were coming +down with these on our way to church, but—but we can't wait! That's with +my love. I've been bringing them on on purpose for you!" and she put down +before Aunt Maggie a pot of beautiful lily of the valley almost in full +bloom. The fragrance of them filled the room.</p> + +<p>"Lilies!" cried Mrs. Langley delightedly, "lilies? Why, however did you +get them now, child? I never saw anything lovelier in my life? +Old Mrs. Twining'll go crazy over them. I never knew anybody love flowers +as she does. Thank you, Bella, dear," and she kissed the little +flower-grower warmly.</p> + +<p>"I've made you a besom, Aunt Maggie, but it isn't very good, I am afraid," +said Tom shyly. "I ain't very clever at it yet."</p> + +<p>Aunt Maggie's pleasant face beamed. "Bless the boy!" she cried heartily, +"he always knows what I'm in want of. I shall find it ever so useful, +Tom."</p> + +<p>"And I've got an orange for you," broke in Margery, who could keep quiet +no longer.</p> + +<p>"And I've got some peppermints," said Charlie.</p> + +<p>"Now fancy you two remembering what I like! Thank you, dears, ever so +much. Well, I didn't expect to carry my basket back full, I can tell you. +I am sorry I've got to hurry away now, but I'll be up again about four +o'clock. I hope you'll have a comfortable day, William. If I can do +anything to help, I shall be only too pleased. You will tell me, Miss +Hender, won't you? Well, good-bye for the time, and a happy Christmas to +you all!" and Aunt Maggie ran off as fast as she could go.</p> + +<p>Then what excitement there was, as they all eagerly opened their parcels. +There was a warm muffler for their father, an apron for Miss Hender, a +pair of warm gloves for Bella and a thick pair for Tom for driving; for +Charlie there was a book, and for Margery a silver thimble.</p> + +<p>"Just the very things we want!" cried Bella delightedly, "I shall wear +my gloves to church presently; I wanted some to keep my hands warm."</p> + +<p>"I can't wear my fimble to church, I s'pose?" questioned Margery, looking +at it longingly.</p> + +<p>"Oh no!" said Bella, "and if you could it wouldn't show under your +gloves."</p> + +<p>"Could I carry it in my pocket?" pleaded Margery; she could not bear to be +parted from her new treasure so soon.</p> + +<p>"You would most likely drag it out with your handkerchief and lose it. +What would you do then? You leave your thimble at home with father, and I +will lend you my muff, to keep your hands warm—if you will promise to +take great care of it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'll be ever so careful," promised Margery eagerly, for one of the +ambitions of her life was to have a muff to carry. Bella had a little +old-fashioned black one that had belonged to her mother, and Margery +yearned for the time when she too should have one.</p> + +<p>They were all pleased with their presents, even Aunt Emma. "Well, I did +want an apron," she said, as she turned it over and examined it. +"It might have been a trifle longer, but it looks a nice one." +This from Aunt Emma was wonderful praise. "I must go and see about the +dinner now, and, Bella, it is time to get ready for church; you'll see +that they are all clean and tidy, won't you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," promised Bella; and when presently they all started on their walk +no one could have found fault with their appearance, not even Aunt Emma.</p> + +<p>The snowflakes had ceased falling now, the sun was shining brilliantly, +but a keen little breeze was rustling the dead leaves still clinging to +the bushes, and nipping the noses and fingers of those who faced it. +Across the fields sounded the peals of the church bells, and along the +roads and lanes came little groups of people stepping out briskly in the +frosty air. Every one had a greeting for every one, and almost every face +bore a brighter, more friendly look than usual.</p> + +<p>The service, with its hymns so heartily sung, was cheerful too, +particularly the part that the children loved so much, when carols were +sung in place of a sermon. This was a treat they would not have missed +for a good deal. They all waited eagerly for their own especial +favourites, and when the choir broke out with—</p> + +<blockquote><blockquote> +<p class = "noindent"> "Once in royal David's city<br> + Stood a lowly cattle shed."<br></p> +</blockquote></blockquote> + +<p>Margery looked up at Bella triumphantly. She had her favourite, at any +rate, so her anxiety was over.</p> + +<p>Charlie's favourite was, 'God rest you, merry gentlemen,' but he was +doomed to disappointment that day; and Tom did not get his—</p> + +<blockquote><blockquote> +<p class = "noindent"> "The holly and the ivy<br> + Now both were full well grown."<br></p> +</blockquote></blockquote> + +<p>Bella had so many favourite carols, she was almost sure of hearing one or +the other, and to-day her face lighted up with pleasure when the choir +began—</p> + +<blockquote><blockquote> +<p class = "noindent"> "It came upon the midnight clear,<br> +<span class = "ind3"> That glorious song of old,</span><br> + From angels bending near the earth,<br> +<span class = "ind3"> With news of joy foretold.</span><br> + Peace on the earth, goodwill to men,<br> +<span class = "ind3"> From heaven's all-gracious King,</span><br> + The world in solemn silence lay<br> +<span class = "ind3"> To hear the angels sing."</span><br></p> +</blockquote></blockquote> + +<p>As they walked home the air and the words still rang in her head:—</p> + +<blockquote><blockquote> +<p class = "noindent"> "And ye, beneath life's crushing load,<br> +<span class = "ind3"> Whose forms are bending low,</span><br> + Who toil along the arduous way,<br> +<span class = "ind3"> With painful steps and slow;</span><br> + Look now! for glad and joyous hours,<br> +<span class = "ind3"> God's messengers will bring.</span><br> + Oh, rest beside the weary road,<br> +<span class = "ind3"> And hear the angels sing."</span><br></p> +</blockquote></blockquote> + +<p>As she sang them her thoughts flew first to her father, and then they +travelled back over the past twelve months, and all the trials and changes +it had brought to them, and all the good things too. God had been very, +very good to them. He had given them their father back, they had wanted +for nothing, and He had enabled them to keep a home for their father to +come back to.</p> + +<p>It rested with them still to keep a roof to shelter him, to find food and +clothing, and everything that was needed, but Bella did not let herself +feel afraid.</p> + +<p>"I am not going to worry, God will help us," she thought, with childlike +faith in Him. "He has taken care of us so far, and I am sure He will go +on taking care of us."</p> + +<p>"How quiet you are! What are you thinking of?" cried Margery, tugging at +Bella's hand.</p> + +<blockquote><blockquote> +<p class = "noindent"> "Oh, rest beside the weary road,<br> +<span class = "ind3"> And hear the angels sing,"</span><br></p> +</blockquote></blockquote> + +<p>Sang Bella, softly, as they turned into May Lane, and Tom took up the +refrain.</p> + +<p>"Look! look! look! There's father, standing at the gate! Oh, do look!" +cried Margery excitedly, and, taking to her heels, she dashed to meet him, +followed by the others.</p> + +<p>Father had to hear all about the service, and the carols, of course, but +before he had heard a half, and admired the new gloves, and shown off his +own new muffler, Aunt Emma was out, to say he ought not to stand about in +the cold, and that dinner would soon be ready, and the children had better +come in and get their hats and coats off.</p> + +<p>Such a dinner it was, too, and such appetites they all had. There were +two roasted fowls, a piece of bacon, a suet pudding, and potatoes and +Brussels sprouts of their own growing; and after that there was Aunt +Maggie's Christmas pudding.</p> + +<p>"I think it has been a lovely dinner!" said Margery, with a deep sigh of +content; "and I s'pect presently I shan't feel as though I had eaten such +a 'normous lot. I think I'll be comfor'abler when I don't," and she was +surprised that the others all laughed.</p> + +<p>They sat a long time over their dinner, talking and enjoying themselves, +and the short December daylight was actually beginning to wane before they +made a move.</p> + +<p>"Now," said Aunt Emma, with a sigh, as she rose, "who is going to help me +with the dishes?"</p> + +<p>Bella looked at Tom, and Tom at Bella. "Well," said the latter, at last, +"I want to help you, but—but Tom and I have a big secret that we want +to—to arrange, and we want to be here by ourselves,—except father, of +course,—for a bit."</p> + +<p>"Is it a nice secret? a real one?" asked Charlie, "a s'prise?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, a very nice one."</p> + +<p>"We'll help Aunt Emma; come along, Margy."</p> + +<p>"I wish I knew what it was," said Margery, still lingering and looking +anxiously at Bella. "Shall I know by an' by?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," said Bella impatiently; "if you run away you will. +If you don't, you see, we shan't be able to attend to it——"</p> + +<p>"Oh!" gasped Margery, and the next moment she had disappeared, and was in +the scullery.</p> + +<p>Then, for nearly an hour Tom and Bella found so much to do, they scarcely +knew what to do first. Their father had to be told all about the secrets, +all the treasures had to be brought down from upstairs, the candles fixed +in the candlesticks, and the presents arranged on the tree or around it. +They never could have been ready in time, had not their father helped +them; and, as it was, darkness had fallen before they had done, and they +had to light the lamp. At last everything was really fixed and ready, all +but the lighting of the Christmas candles.</p> + +<p>"Now," said Bella, "we will put out the lamp, and stir up the fire to make +it blaze, for there mustn't be any other light but that and the candles. +Tom, you go out, and see if Aunt Emma and the others are ready. If they +are, they must wait till we call, and then we will light the candles at +once."</p> + +<p>"They are ready," said Tom, returning in a moment; "and you had better +hurry, for they won't wait much longer."</p> + +<p>One after another the yellow flames gleamed out against the green +branches. "You can call them now, Tom," Bella gasped, breathless with +excitement and haste.</p> + +<p>Tom, only too ready, put his head round the door. "Ahoy there!" he began, +at the top of his voice, and almost as if in answer came a knocking at the +door.</p> + +<p>"That's Aunt Maggie and Mrs. Twining," whispered Bella; "that's nice, now +they'll be able to see the tree too!"</p> + +<p>Tom ran out and opened the front door quickly, for it was not the weather +in which to keep people waiting, and so it happened that the little group +from the door and the little group from the scullery met in the passage, +and entered the room together.</p> + +<p>"Oh-h-h!" squealed Margery.</p> + +<p>"I say!" cried Charlie.</p> + +<p>"Well, I never! And to think that at my age I should see a Christmas-tree +for the first time!" exclaimed old Mrs. Twining. "It makes me sad to +think of what I've missed!"</p> + +<p>"However did you manage it? and where did you get all the things?" cried +Aunt Emma, amazed, for she had no suspicion of what was going on.</p> + +<p>For a while all was chatter and admiration and excitement, the elder ones +content to gaze and admire only, the younger ones eyeing the parcels with +eager, inquisitive eyes.</p> + +<p>"Whatever can be inside them all?" gasped Margery. "Oh, I don't know how +to wait until I know!" and Margery was not the only one who felt like +that. Indeed, to keep them waiting long was more than Bella or Tom could +do, and very soon the parcels were being handed round.</p> + +<p>That was a glorious moment for them all, but especially for Bella; she +alone knew all the secrets the tree held, and to whom each parcel +belonged, and she was pleased and proud, excited and nervous, but +supremely happy, all at the same time. There was something for every one, +even for old Mrs. Twining, for, when Bella realised that she would be +there, and heard how much she loved flowers, she had brought in one of her +precious pots of Roman hyacinths for her, and placed it under the boughs +of the tree in readiness for the old lady.</p> + +<p>"I s'pose I ought to keep it for market," she had sighed, as she picked +out the nicest she could see. But no price that could have been paid for +it could have been half as precious as the overwhelming delight of the +poor lonely old woman, and her joyful thanks.</p> + +<p>For Aunt Maggie there was a little vase that they had bought in Norton for +her; for their father the slippers, and for Aunt Emma the shawl, and they +all seemed quite overcome to think there were such nice presents lurking +in those branches for them.</p> + +<p>Then came what were surprises even to Bella,—Joan Adamson's presents, +which she had not even felt through the wrappings. The little lady must +have thought the matter out very carefully, for she had sent to each +exactly what they wanted. For Margery there was a doll, fully dressed, +even to the little laced boots that could be taken off and laced on again. +For Tom there was a fine big book with pictures of shipwrecks and fights +and wonderful adventures. For Charlie there was a strong clasp-knife, +which made him, for the first time, cease to envy his father. +While for Bella there was the prettiest little brooch she had ever seen. +It was only a little frosted silver daisy with a yellow eye, but to Bella, +who had never possessed but one brooch, and that an old one of her +mother's, which she was afraid to wear, it was perfect, and filled her +with rapture. For Aunt Emma there was a nice jet hat-pin, and for their +father two white handkerchiefs.</p> + +<p>No little Christmas-tree that ever existed could have given more pleasure +than that one did, and even after it was relieved of its burden of +presents, the children could not tear themselves away from gazing at it, +until the candles had burnt right down in their sockets, and there was no +light left to gaze by.</p> + +<p>With a sigh of regret that the joy of it was over, they all turned away, +but only to gather round the fire, as happy a little party as one could +find that Christmas Day. The mingled scent of the flowers and the +fir-tree made the kitchen sweet, the pretty glass toys on the little tree +caught the light of the fire and flashed back its glow. Father put on his +warm slippers, and Aunt Emma her apron and little shawl, Charlie dropped +on the rug before the fire to examine his knife again by its light, +and Margery sat at her father's feet hugging her doll in an ecstasy of +delight.</p> + +<p>"Let us have some carols, children, shall we?" said their father +presently. "Aunt Emma and I haven't heard any yet, and Christmas doesn't +seem perfect without a few carols."</p> + +<p>So on they sat in the firelight and sang all they could remember, +one after the other, until at last the fire died down, and the room grew +dark.</p> + +<p>"I think it is time now to light the lamp and see about having some tea," +said Aunt Emma, rising from her chair. "What does every one say to that?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know that I want any tea, but I should like the lamp to be +lighted," said Margery, with a deep sigh of pleasure; "for, though I know +what my doll feels like, I can't say I have seen her properly yet. +But I've been busy all the time, I've been thinking about a name for her, +and I've made up my mind that I'm going to call her 'Christmas.'"</p> + + +<br><br> +<p><a name="11"></a> </p> +<br><br> +<h3>CHAPTER XI.</h3> +<h3>A STEP FORWARD.</h3> +<br><br> + +<p>"Aunt Maggie," said Bella, "what does that line in the Carol mean, +'And hear the angels sing'?"</p> + +<p>It was the day after Christmas, and Bella was having tea with Mrs. +Langley. For a moment Aunt Maggie sat gazing thoughtfully into the fire. +"I ain't very clever at putting things into words," she said at last, +"but I think what it means is, that we must stop every now and then from +thinking only of the worries and troubles of life, and the hard work, and +the squabbles and disappointments, and let our thoughts dwell instead on +what is beautiful and good—on God, Who has done so much for us, and +Jesus, Who died for us. We must think of the beautiful things that God +gives us every day, the birds and the flowers, and the children, and our +homes and friends. If we do that, we shall be strong and hopeful, and +there will be many glad hours for us, when we shall hear the angels' +voices in our hearts."</p> + +<p>"I think I understand," said Bella gravely. "We have had lots of trouble, +but we have had lots of nice things too. I like to stop and think about +it all; don't you, Aunt Maggie? It makes one feel happy and glad."</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear, and it is always wonderful, when looking back over the past, +to see the way God has led us, and all the experiences we have been +through. If we could look ahead, we should be frightened and daunted, +probably, but if we put our hands in God's hand and let Him lead us, and +if we take each day as it comes, and each duty, content to do our best, +and to do without grumbling the work that He sets us, we shall come +through without fear or alarm, and find our way smoother for us than ever +we had dared to hope for."</p> + +<p>"I suppose every one has some work to do," said Bella; "but it seems as if +some people only play."</p> + +<p>"Most people have something to do, and a good many find their play harder +than work; but it doesn't matter to you or to me or to any one what others +have or haven't. God has given us certain work to do for Him and His +people. He can't give the same work to everybody. One has to fill one +post, and another another post. It doesn't make it any harder for us that +some have very little to do. We aren't any the worse off, are we?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Bella.</p> + +<p>"In fact, we are better off. If everybody worked, there would be nothing +left for those who want to live by their work. If everybody grew flowers, +nobody would want to buy yours. If you had to make your own boots and +clothes, you couldn't make your garden pay as you do. But I see the +kettle is boiling, and we'll have some tea, and we won't grumble because +we've got to get it ourselves, will we?"</p> + +<p>"I'd rather make it myself," said Bella, laughing. "Aunt Maggie, do you +know what is going to happen?"</p> + +<p>"No. Something nice, I hope, dear?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Father says we'll have a large fowl-house put up, there by the +orchard, and we'll keep a whole lot of fowls. Aunt Emma has done so well +with them this year. He says he will be able to help with them, chop up +their food and feed them, and collect the eggs and wash them and date +them."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that will be splendid! I know it will be a comfort to him to be +doing something, and it will be good for him too. Why, Bella, child, you +will be having a stall in the market soon."</p> + +<p>Bella coloured, and laughed shyly. "That is one of the things I wanted to +manage this year if we could, but perhaps we'll have to wait now. +The fowl-house will cost a good bit, and we must pay for that first."</p> + +<p>"Never mind, child. It will soon repay you again, and perhaps by the next +Christmas market you will have your stall."</p> + +<p>Bella's face was radiant. "Aunt Maggie, I wanted to ask you about +something else I want to do. Can't I bottle some of my herbs to sell? +I've got ever so much parsley and mint and sage, and it is only wasting."</p> + +<p>"Of course you could! Why ever didn't we think of it sooner?" cried Mrs. +Langley, vexed with herself. "It is the wrong time now; you must gather +it before it flowers, but we will take care we don't forget another +season, and in the meantime we must collect some nice bottles and corks."</p> + +<p>"A stall in the market," said Aunt Maggie to herself, when Bella had run +home. "It strikes me that before very long they'll be opening a shop of +their own, and right well they deserve to succeed too. It isn't many +children of their age could or would support a whole family, and be so +happy in their work too."</p> + +<p>Though the days were short now, and the hours few when they could work out +of doors, the fowl-house was built and tarred and roofed, and fitted with +perches before a couple of weeks were past, for the man they called in to +help them with the job had little else to do at that time of the year, and +there was so little to be done in the garden, the boys were able to help a +great deal; and never in their lives had they seen Aunt Emma so pleased as +she was with the new fowl-house and run. 'My poultry farm,' she called +it, and she was full of plans as to where the chickens were to be kept, +and how they were to be fed, and the different kinds she was going to +keep; but it is only fair to say that her greatest pleasure lay in the +interest her brother took in it all.</p> + +<p>The hens were soon installed in their new quarters, and every day the poor +invalid collected the scraps of the house and chopped them up, and every +night he put the pans of food in the oven to warm, and every day, unless +the weather was very bad, he managed to creep out to give the fowls their +food and drink, and to collect the eggs. He always washed and marked them +and arranged them for market, so that they should look most tempting, +putting all the dark brown ones together, and the light brown ones, and +the creamy white ones.</p> + +<p>"I don't see that there's any call to take all that trouble," Aunt Emma +remarked, rather scornfully. "If people want eggs they'll buy them, no +matter if they're clean or dirty, brown or white."</p> + +<p>"But very often they don't feel that they want them until they see them +looking clean and tempting," answered her brother quietly. +"A dirty-looking egg will take away some folks' appetites, whereas a clean +one will make them feel hungry. There was never anything but good done +yet by taking a little trouble over things."</p> + +<p>Aunt Emma looked unconvinced, but of one thing she could not help being +convinced, and that was the good that the work and the interest of it were +doing her brother. He no longer worried so cruelly at having to be idle; +he felt less depressed, and, as he grew more cheerful, so he grew +stronger, and by and by the pain he suffered lessened, and he was able to +walk better and do more.</p> + +<p>So the months wore away, and March came on them all too quickly, and with +each week the work in the garden grew heavier.</p> + +<p>"I do believe we shall have to have in a man to help us another year," +sighed Bella, pausing in her digging, and seating herself on an upturned +flower-pot for a rest.</p> + +<p>Tom groaned. "And he'll cost more than he earns, most likely," he said +soberly.</p> + +<p>"Not if——" began Bella; but what she was going on to say was never said, +and will never be known now, for at that moment Charlie burst through the +gate and along the path in a great state of excitement.</p> + +<p>"Guess what I've done! Guess what I've bought! Quick, quick, quick!"</p> + +<p>"Rabbits," said Bella; "and if you have, you must keep them shut up or +they'll eat everything."</p> + +<p>"'Tisn't rabbits. Guess again."</p> + +<p>"Pigeons?" guessed Tom.</p> + +<p>"A pair of shears?" said Bella.</p> + +<p>"A pig?" cried Tom.</p> + +<p>But Charlie only shook his head more and more emphatically.</p> + +<p>"Why, a swarm of bees," he burst out, unable to keep his secret any +longer, "bee-skip and all; and the man is bringing them almost at once."</p> + +<p>"Bees?" cried Tom. "What do you know about bees?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing; but I s'pose I can learn. Come and choose a place for the +bee-skip to stand. Where shall they go?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, not anywhere near me!" cried Bella; "I don't like bees."</p> + +<p>"P'raps you'll like the honey. The man says he had pounds and pounds of +honey last year. Come on, Bella. Come and help me choose a spot."</p> + +<p>Bella went, but not very joyfully, and Tom followed. "You won't expect me +to help you look after them, will you?" she asked nervously, "for I tell +you I am afraid of them."</p> + +<p>"Oh no," said Charlie seriously; "and when the honey is ready for market, +I'll walk behind the cart with it, for fear it should sting you."</p> + +<p>Bella laughed. "Tom," she called back, "can you paint a sign-board? +I'm sure we ought to have one over the gate to say 'Fruit, flowers, +vegetables, honey, eggs, fowls, porkers, and dried herbs sold here.'"</p> + +<p>The idea pleased the boys immensely. "Can't we sell anything else?" cried +Charlie. "Do try and think of something."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps Aunt Emma will sell cakes and apple-pasties, and provide tea and +coffee for twopence a cup."</p> + +<p>"And a penny more to watch Charlie's bees," laughed Bella. "Oh, here +comes Margery. Perhaps she has come to say she has bought a cow! +Wouldn't it be fun!"</p> + +<p>Charlie burst into a peal of laughter. "Hullo, Margery!" he shouted; +"what have you got? A cow?"</p> + +<p>Margery stood still in the path and stared at him, her blue eyes full of +puzzled surprise.</p> + +<p>"A cow?" she repeated, as though she could hardly believe her ears. +"How should I have a cow? What do you mean?" looking questioningly from +one to the other.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean to say you haven't brought home anything new?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes, I've got two of the dearest darling little white ducks you ever +saw in all your life. Bella, do come and see them! Mrs. Carter gave them +to me, and I've brought them home in a basket, but I've been a long time, +because I let them paddle in all the nice big puddles we came to, and oh, +they loved it. Do come, all of you. Oh, they are so pretty, and I think +they know me already. I've called one Snowdrop, and the other Daisy. +Hark!" she cried, as they hurried after her, "don't you hear them calling +to me?"</p> + +<p>"I should think I did," laughed Tom. "They were shouting, 'Mag, Mag, +Mag,' as plain as could be. I hope Charlie's bees won't begin shouting to +him, too, or we shan't be able to hear ourselves speak. I shouldn't be +surprised if we grew to love them best of all, because they are nice and +quiet."</p> + +<p>"You wait till they are angry," said Charlie knowingly, "or are +swarming——"</p> + +<p>"That's just what I shan't wait for," said Bella.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" cried Margery, as though her patience was exhausted, "don't keep on +talking so, please. I do want to hear my ducks. There!" as they suddenly +came on the little yellow, waddling, screaming creatures, "ain't they +lovely?"</p> + +<p>"Lovely?" cried Charlie. "Why, you said they were white."</p> + +<p>"Well, they will be," she explained eagerly. "Of course they are yellow +to begin with. All the best ones are. Look at their feathers beginning +to come already. Hush, hush, dears, don't cry so! I expect they were +frightened 'cause I went away," she explained, as she knelt down and took +them both in her arms.</p> + +<p>"Where are they going to sleep to-night?" asked Bella.</p> + +<p>Margery looked up with a troubled face. "I s'pose Aunt Emma wouldn't let +them sleep in my room, in a basket? They would be very good, I'm sure. +I wish she would." But Bella assured her there was no hope of that, and +that it would be better for the little ducks to be out of doors in the sun +and fresh air. So Snowdrop and Daisy were, to their great delight, turned +loose in the orchard, and at night a nice roomy chicken-coop was provided +for them, and there they grew plump and white, and were as happy as the +days were long.</p> + +<p>"Tom, you really must put up that sign," said Bella, laughing, as they all +trooped back to the house to get ready for dinner.</p> + +<p>"Well, if I don't do it soon," said Tom, "I shall have to have too, that's +certain."</p> + +<p>But there was no time for sign-painting for the next few months, +for already the work was almost more than they could get through. +All of them, even Aunt Emma, lent a hand with the digging and raking and +planting out; but, there was no doubt about it, they did seriously miss +their father's help. All the weariness, the aching backs and bones, and +galled hands were forgotten, though, when the hardest of the work was +over, and they began to see the results of all their toil.</p> + +<p>The long stretch of grey-green bushes in Bella's lavender-bed was a sight +that year, and her flower-beds were a picture. Charlie's bees soon +discovered them, and Bella often declared that except for the time when +the beans were in flower and drew the bees away, she had no peace or +pleasure with her flowers from the time they began to bloom until after +they were gathered and sold.</p> + +<p>"I am sure I ought to have half the profits from the honey," she laughed, +"for I nearly keep the bees!"</p> + +<p>That summer Rocket's loads grew so large that a pony had to be hired to +take his place sometimes, for Aunt Emma's fowls and eggs added +considerably to the weight and to the number of baskets they had to get +into the cart. So soon did they repay themselves for the cost of the +fowl-house, that before autumn was past Bella had begun once more to hope +that her dream of a stall in the market might yet be realised, and shortly +too.</p> + +<p>They had so much to sell now, and such a variety of things, that it took +them a very long time to find customers for all, and it was very, very, +tiring work, they found, to go round from house to house, all over the +hilly little town. It meant long, weary hours of tramping, and often they +could not get home till quite late. Then, quite suddenly, one day, when +they had got home late, and more than usually tired, the next and +long-hoped-for step was decided upon. They would rent a stall in the +market for the winter months, at any rate, and they would begin on the +very next Saturday as ever was.</p> + +<p>When once this great step was decided upon, preparations had to begin at +once, and in earnest, for long white cloths to cover the shelves had to be +bought and made, to make them look clean and dainty. In a state of great +excitement they all practised on the kitchen table how they would arrange +the things, and how they should be laid out to look their best and be most +attractive.</p> + +<p>Margery looked on with the keenest interest. "Oh, Aunt Emma, do let me go +with them on Saturday. Just this once," she pleaded eagerly. "I don't +weigh very heavy, and I'm sure the pony wouldn't mind me, and I'd be ever +so good. I wouldn't be a bit of trouble, not the very least little bit. +May I? Daddy, do say yes! Tom and Bella will take care of me."</p> + +<p>Aunt Emma looked at her doubtfully, but there was a smile at the corner of +her mouth. "Well, take care you don't get sold too," she said; +"if you do, I shan't buy you back, I promise you. I've a good mind to +walk in myself in the afternoon," she added, turning to her brother. +"I haven't seen Norton Market for years, and I've often felt I'd like to. +I little thought I should ever be helping to have a stall there. I really +think I must go in, William."</p> + +<p>"You could drive home," said Tom readily. "Bella can manage the pony, and +I'll walk."</p> + +<p>Bella was looking at her father, all her thoughts centred on him. +The only shadow on their day, the day when they would reach the height of +their ambition, was that he would not be there to see it. She knew that +he was feeling it too. It would have been such a pleasure to him, such a +grand break in the monotony of his life, if he could have gone too.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it must be managed somehow; some way must be found," she thought +desperately—and then inspiration came to her.</p> + +<p>"Father, you must come too," she cried, "or—or it won't be a bit right. +Aunt Emma, can't we manage like this, just for once? Suppose you drive in +with Tom and all the things in the morning,"—and she choked back her +disappointment that, after all her dreams and hopes and longings, she +would not be there herself to arrange her first market-stall,—"then I +will drive father in later in Mrs. Wintle's donkey-cart. Do you think you +could bear the drive, father?" she asked anxiously, her eyes alight with +excitement.</p> + +<p>"I believe it would do me good," he answered eagerly. His face had been +growing brighter and brighter all the time Bella had been speaking, and +his poor tired eyes were as full of a wistful longing, as were Margery's a +few moments before. "I've thought many a time how nice a little outing +would be, and I do want to see the children make their new venture," +he added, turning to his sister. "It's one I've been wanting for them +ever since the beginning."</p> + +<p>So it was all settled, and in her joy and pride at taking her father for +his first outing, she quite forgot her desire to arrange their first +stall.</p> + +<p>To Margery there was nothing wanting in her pleasure. To be allowed to go +to Norton and sit like a real market-woman behind a real stall with scales +and paper bags and measures; to see the people come up and buy, and open +their purses and hand money to Tom or Aunt Emma, and then to see Tom or +Aunt Emma go to the cash-box and put in the money and take out the change, +was all wonderful and lovely enough, but to have her father there too made +everything quite perfect; and her only trouble was that so many hours had +to be lived through, somehow, before these wonderful things could happen.</p> + +<p>After all, it was not so very long to wait. To the others the time was +all too short for all they had to do. There were fowls and ducks to pluck +and truss, and pack in the snow-white cloths in the big shallow baskets; +and eggs to pack; flowers to gather and tie up in tastefully arranged +bunches; vegetables to scrub and trim, and baskets of honey, bottles of +herbs, and home-made jams to pack. There was a great deal to do, but +their hearts were in the work, and all felt proud enough of their little +show when it was ready.</p> + +<p>To Margery's relief the great day came at last, and, as though it knew +what was expected of it, it dawned as bright and beautiful as any one +could desire. All were up early, but Charlie was the first to start, as +he was going to walk the whole distance. Tom and Aunt Emma and Margery +started an hour later, but Bella and her father did not leave until +eleven, when the day was at its warmest and brightest, and as they drove +along the sunny road with the beautiful fresh breeze blowing gently on +their faces, Bella thought she had never, never in her life before felt so +glad and proud.</p> + +<p>Whenever they passed a cottage the neighbours came out to tell the invalid +how good it was to see him as far as that again; indeed, every one they +met had a warm greeting of some kind for him. Then, when they had passed +all the people and the houses, and had the road to themselves, their minds +went back to the past.</p> + +<p>When they came to the old milestone where her father used to wait for +them, Bella almost stopped the donkey, and, for the first time since that +dreadful day when they had waited there in vain for him, she could bear to +look at the old grey stone. "I wonder when——" she began, but stopped +for fear of hurting him. He guessed what she had been going to say.</p> + +<p>"I b'lieve I shall walk again that far to meet you," he said cheerfully. +"You will find me standing there some day when you ain't expecting it;" +and if Bella could have been happier than she was before, she was then.</p> + +<p>When they reached Norton the town was already full, and the market in full +swing. Bella had never before arrived at this time, and to her it all +seemed new and strange, and most intensely interesting. But of course the +market-house was the goal they were making for, and they could not loiter +on the way. She was to put her father down there, and then drive on and +leave Rocket at the stable, so that she, the beginner of it all, the +founder of the market garden, would be the last to see this, the great +climax to their toil.</p> + +<p>For just a moment she did feel a sense of disappointment. Here was the +day half gone already, and she had not set eyes on their stall yet. +But the thought was soon followed by one of shame for her ingratitude, and +when she reached the market at last she felt she would not for all the +world have had things other than they were, or have come at any other +time. For there, behind the stall—now showing large empty spaces made by +many purchasers—sat her father, looking more perfectly happy and content +than she had ever remembered seeing him. And there, beside him, stood +Margery, looking on at everything with an intensely interested face. +Aunt Emma was hovering between the poultry and the flowers, trying hard to +serve two customers at once, while even Tom, though so much more +accustomed to it, seemed puzzled to know which customer to serve first, +so many were coming to him for fruit or vegetables, or to leave orders for +things to be delivered through the week, or to be brought there on the +following Saturday. Charlie was bustling around, lending every one a +hand.</p> + +<p>And then Bella noticed that her father was taking charge of the till, +and her eyes grew blurred with tears when she saw the pleasure on his face +as one after the other they went to him for change. He was helping them +again, he too was taking part, and at their first stall too, and his +evident joy in it was so pathetic that she had to turn away to recover +herself before she could go up and let them know that she had come.</p> + + +<br><br> +<p><a name="12"></a> </p> +<br><br> +<h3>CHAPTER XII.</h3> +<h3>SUCCESS.</h3> +<br><br> + +<p>Two years have passed away since William Hender drove in to see his +children open their first stall in Norton Market, and now, to-day, he is +waiting for them once more by the old milestone.</p> + +<p>Many a weary mile of life has he trodden painfully since last he stood +there, a strong, hale man. Many a Hill of Despair has he faced, and +Valley of Despondency; many a time has he wondered if he could ever reach +the top of the hill which rose before him, the hill of disappointed hopes. +It had seemed to him at times that as soon as he reached the top of one +another had sprung up beyond, sometimes whole ranges of hills of pain, +helplessness, weakness.</p> + +<p>There had been many pleasant miles too, when he had paused by the sunny +wayside 'To hear the angels sing,' and had gone on his way again refreshed +and thankful for all God's goodness to him. And now he had, for the first +time, walked to the old milestone again, to await his children's return— +walked it without help or pain; and as he stood there waiting his heart +was very full of gratitude to his Father above, who had cared for him so +tenderly, and led him back to health again, and had given him such good +children and friends.</p> + +<p>He had brought a little camp-stool with him to rest on till they came, +for he still had to save his strength and walk through life carefully. +A flush of excitement was on his thin cheeks, and his eyes were bright and +eager as they looked along the road; for this was a surprise he had +planned for them.</p> + +<p>"I always looked for you as we came round the last bend of the road," +Bella had told him, "and I always shall, I think. I never seem able to +give up expecting you."</p> + +<p>And to-day her expectation was not to be in vain, and the father knew +something of what their delight and excitement would be.</p> + +<p>At last, round the bend of the road came the cart, drawn by a sturdy horse +now—their own—and as he caught sight of them William Hender rose to his +feet, for he wanted them to see him, and to see him standing upright and +strong as of old. He had to rest his hand on the old granite stone, for +the excitement of the moment had left him trembling a little, and though +stronger than any one had ever thought possible, he would never again be +the strong man he used to be.</p> + +<p>On they came, jogging along comfortably enough. He could see their two +heads together, evidently discussing something very earnestly; he saw +Bella raise hers suddenly—he could almost hear her exclamation of +incredulity, of surprise; he saw her spring to her feet and throw out her +arms in delight. Then the horse's pace was quickened, and they were +beside him—and "Oh, father!" was all they could say, but Bella's eyes +were full of tears, and both their faces were radiant.</p> + +<p>"And I ain't tired," he said proudly, "though I think I will ask for a +lift home," he added, with a happy laugh.</p> + +<p>Scarcely knowing what they were doing from excitement, they helped him up +into the cart, and on they jogged again, with Tom on one side of him and +Bella on the other, but Bella turned more than once and glanced back +affectionately at the old milestone, for to her now it seemed an old +friend, so connected was it with the joys and sorrows, the struggles and +successes of their lives.</p> + +<p>"I am sure it understands," she was thinking to herself; "it really looks +as though it does," when her father's voice brought her thoughts back to +him.</p> + +<p>"Well, what about the shop?" he asked anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Oh, father! we've taken it!" and Bella gasped, as though alarmed at the +desperateness of the plunge they had taken. "I forgot everything else +when I saw you, but oh, there's such a lot to tell. Tom, where shall we +begin? You tell it all, will you?"</p> + +<p>"I—I seem to have so much in my head I can't get anything out," laughed +Tom.</p> + +<p>"We'll wait till we get home, then, p'raps it wouldn't be fair to hear it +all before Aunt Emma can. Charlie will be home, too, by the time we are. +He's been with the donkey-cart to take one of his pigs to Mr. Davis, and +he has taken a message about renting the little field. The rent is low, +and we could keep the horse there, and the pigs, too, sometimes. It would +be fine!"</p> + +<p>Bella laughed. "If we've got a field we shan't rest till one of us has a +cow to put in it, that's certain!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't know but what 'twould be a good investment," her father +answered, thoughtfully; "there's no getting milk enough anywhere +hereabouts."</p> + +<p>Bella laughed again. "I can see that cow already," she cried, "a nice +little Guernsey, and Aunt Emma milking it. Why, there is Aunt Emma +herself! Whatever is she doing? Nursing a chick?"</p> + +<p>They had reached their own gate by that time. "I wonder what she'll say +when she sees me?" chuckled their father.</p> + +<p>"Doesn't she know?" cried Bella. "Oh, Aunt Emma, Aunt Emma!" she called.</p> + +<p>"Aunt Emma!" shouted Tom, at the top of his voice. "Quick, come here!"</p> + +<p>Miss Hender hurried to the gate with the chicken in her arms still. +"He's hurt his foot——" she began, but the rest of her remark was lost in +her astonishment. "Why, William!" she cried, "where have you been? +I thought you were in the orchard!" and she stared at him as though she +did not trust her own eyes.</p> + +<p>"Orchard?" laughed Bella; "why, we picked him up by the first milestone, +and if we hadn't stopped him there's no knowing where he'd have been by +now. I believe he was so anxious to see his new shop he couldn't wait!"</p> + +<p>She was standing with her arm round her father's shoulder, looking from +one to the other with eyes full of love and gladness. They were all of +them, indeed, so excited and pleased they scarcely knew what they were +doing.</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, the shop!" cried Aunt Emma. "I'd forgotten that for the minute. +There are more surprises nowadays than I seem able to take in. Well, what +about it?"</p> + +<p>"We've taken it!" cried Tom and Bella in one breath; "we've actually taken +it. What do you think of that? Isn't it enough to frighten one to think +of? We are actually full-blown tradesmen, Aunt Emma. 'Hender and Co., +Florists and Market-Gardeners. Fresh eggs and poultry daily. Moderate +prices.' That is what is to be painted over the shop window. Oh, Aunt +Emma, can you believe it? I can't. It doesn't seem real a bit," and she +threw her arms round Aunt Emma too, and hugged her in her excitement.</p> + +<p>"Well!" gasped Miss Hender, really overcome. "Well!" and for a time she +could not find another word to say.</p> + +<p>"I can't believe it," she said later, as they sat around the tea-table. +"P'raps when I've seen the place and the name painted up I shall be able +to."</p> + +<p>"And when you see the brass scales——"</p> + +<p>"And have the cleaning of them," put in Aunt Emma, with a knowing nod. +"If you are all given up to growing things and selling them, somebody must +do the housework and the cleaning, and that'll be my part, I reckon."</p> + +<p>"Mine too, Aunt Emma; I'll keep the shop tidy."</p> + +<p>"You can help at any rate," said Aunt Emma, for Margery, strangely enough, +had, as she grew, shown a greater liking for housework than for gardening.</p> + +<p>"I would clean the shop, and polish the scales and things," said Bella +meekly.</p> + +<p>"Oh no, you couldn't," interrupted Aunt Emma, feeling that she had perhaps +been a little severe. "You can't do everything. If you help earn our +living for us all, it is our work to look after the house. You haven't +got time and strength for both. Don't you be trying to do too much, +Bella. You're barely seventeen yet, you know." Aunt Emma's voice +trembled a little, for she still found it hard to let any one see the +kindly feeling that was in her heart.</p> + +<p>"Will you have to live in Norton altogether?" asked Margery dolefully, for +she did not like the thought of losing Tom and Bella.</p> + +<p>Bella, who read her feelings, hastened to comfort her. "Oh no," she +cried; "we've only taken the shop and a room behind it. Such a nice +little room, Aunt Emma. You will have to come in and have tea there +sometimes. The top part of the house is let to some one else. We shall +drive in every day with the fresh things to sell, and come home at night. +I think florists and greengrocers—doesn't it sound grand, daddy?—don't +do much after the morning, and I should think we could shut the shop at +four or five in the afternoon every day but Saturdays. Don't you, +father?"</p> + +<p>"May I come in sometimes and serve the customers?" asked Maggie eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Of course you shall."</p> + +<p>"When I've got a pig to sell will you carry it in too and sell it for me?" +asked Charlie quite gravely. "You would put it in the window for me, +wouldn't you, so that people could see it?"</p> + +<p>"Of course," answered Tom, with equal gravity, "if you would sit there and +make it behave. We don't want the window broken, for we haven't insured +it yet, and we don't want all our things spoilt."</p> + +<p>"It would be a wonderful attraction," went on Charlie thoughtfully, as +though he had not heard his brother; "it would draw crowds, and give you +such a start-off. I think you'd have to pay me so much an hour, it would +be such a fine advertisement."</p> + +<p>"It would draw people to the window, but I don't know that it would bring +them inside," laughed Bella.</p> + +<p>"Of course people would think you were for sale too," said Margery; +"it would be awkward if they wouldn't buy the pig unless you went with +it——" But her sentence was never finished, for Charlie chased her out +of the kitchen, and they finished their dispute in the garden.</p> + +<p>"We'll begin tea; we won't wait for those harum-scarums," said Aunt Emma, +lifting a tart out of the oven; and the four drew cosily round the table.</p> + +<p>Bella always loved those evening meals at the end of the long day in +market, when they sat and enjoyed at their leisure the good things Aunt +Emma provided, while they talked over all that had happened at home and +abroad.</p> + +<p>To-day seemed a day set apart, a special day, for had not their father +walked to the milestone to meet them? This, in Bella's eyes, was a more +important event than the taking of the shop. From the garden came sounds +of laughter and screaming, the sober clucking of the hens, and the louder +calling of Margery's ducks.</p> + +<p>"We shall be very lonely, Emma, when these two are away all day, shan't +we? I don't know what we shall do, do you?"</p> + +<p>Their father spoke half-jestingly, yet there was something in his tone +which was far removed from jesting. Tom looked from Bella to his father +and back again. With his eyebrows he seemed to be asking her a question, +and evidently she understood and signalled her answer.</p> + +<p>"Father," said Tom nervously, for he was always rather shy of speaking +before others, "we've thought out a plan, and we wondered if you'd fall in +with it, or—be able to, or——"</p> + +<p>"Well, my boy, I will if I can, if—well, if it isn't one to benefit me +only. It seems to me you're all thinking always what'll be best and +pleasantest for me, and I ain't going to have it; I ain't a poor invalid +any longer."</p> + +<p>"Well, it isn't to benefit you only, father," chimed in Bella eagerly; +"we think it will be best for all of us, and I think you'll think so too. +Go on, Tom."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Tom, "it's this,—that you go in to the shop every day with +Bella; you can keep accounts and do that sort of thing better than I can, +and——" he broke off suddenly, almost startled by the look of pleasure +which broke over his father's face, the sudden lightening of the sadness +which, unconsciously, always showed now in his eyes. To be at work again! +to be able to give real help, to be a working partner! To the man who had +for so long borne an enforced idleness, who had had to sit by and see +others work beyond their strength because he could do nothing to help—it +seemed too good to be true, a happiness almost too great. "Do the work?" +Of course he could do it. It would put new life into him to be a man +again and worker.</p> + +<p>"But what about you, Tom? It would be a bitter disappointment to give it +up, wouldn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Disappointment?" cried Tom; "why, there's nothing I'd like better. +You see, if you can be in the shop, I can stay at home and give all my +time to the garden, instead of having only the evenings after I get back. +Then Aunt Emma and Charlie and I can look after things here; and, if we +run this place, and you and Bella run the other, we ought to get on A1. +Don't you agree, everybody?"</p> + +<p>Tom gained courage as he went on, and, indeed, his father's undisguised +pleasure in the plan was enough to encourage any one. But Tom was +cautious too. He put all the arguments before his father, as though he +had shown reluctance, and had to be won over; for what they wanted, above +all things, was to make him feel that his help was really needed. +He succeeded in his aim, too, and without any help from Bella, for the +pathos of her father's joy brought a lump into her throat and a mist +before her eyes that prevented her speaking a word.</p> + +<p>"I think I'll go for a little stroll," she said quietly, when she rose +from the table, and something in her voice and face prevented any one from +hindering her. Out through the garden she went, and along the quiet road, +where the soft mist of evening was creeping up and the birds were calling +their last good-nights. On she went, and on, until she reached the old +grey church, standing so protectingly in the midst of the green graves, +which seemed to nestle about its sides as about a mother.</p> + +<p>Bella opened the churchyard gate and walked along the path to a far +corner, where a white headstone gleamed out distinctly from the dark holly +hedge behind it.</p> + +<p>"In loving memory of Isabella, wife of William Hender. Aged 29," ran the +inscription.</p> + +<p>Bella sat down on the curb which outlined the long, narrow grave, and +leaned her head against the stone. "Oh, mother, mother, if only you had +been here too, everything would have been just right!" She put her arm +around the little cross caressingly, and leaned her cheek against it, but +the coldness of it brought back to her memory the coldness of her mother's +brow when last she had kissed it, and she drew back quickly again. +It seemed so hard and unresponsive. "She knows, though she isn't here. +I am sure she knows," and she turned her face up to the darkening sky, +where already the stars were beginning to shine.</p> + +<blockquote><blockquote> +<p class = "noindent"> "Like silver lamps in a distant shrine,<br> + The stars are all shining bright,<br> + The bells of the City of God ring out,<br> + For the son of Mary is born to-night,<br> + The gloom is past, and the morn at last<br> + Is coming with Orient Light."<br></p> +</blockquote></blockquote> + +<p>The lines and the haunting air of the old carol came pouring into Bella's +mind. "It isn't Christmas, but all the rest fits to-night and—and every +time," and there in the gathering darkness she sang softly to herself—</p> + +<blockquote><blockquote> +<p class = "noindent"> "Faith sees no longer the stable floor,<br> + The pavement of sapphire is there,<br> + The clear light of heaven streams out to the world,<br> + And the angels of God are crowding the air,<br> + And heaven and earth, through the Spotless Birth,<br> + Are at peace on this night so fair."<br></p> +</blockquote></blockquote> + +<p>All the way home along the quiet road the lines still haunted her—</p> + +<blockquote><blockquote> +<p class = "noindent"> "And heaven and earth, through the Spotless Birth,<br> + Are at peace on this night so fair."<br></p> +</blockquote></blockquote> + +<p>She was singing softly as she reached her own gate. She did not see her +father standing inside and looking over it.</p> + +<p>"Lassie, that's what I was feeling, but didn't know how to put it into +words," he said, with an unusual gentleness in his tone.</p> + +<p>"Oh, father, are you here? Isn't it damp for you to be out?" she asked +anxiously, for Bella was always nervous for him.</p> + +<p>"I couldn't go in, child, till you were home. It seemed to me you weren't +happy about something."</p> + +<p>Bella, as she tucked her hand through his arm, reassured him. +"Why, father, I was too happy, that was all! I was so happy I had to go +away by myself for a bit, so that I—shouldn't make myself silly, and I've +come back happier than ever. There's Aunt Emma at the door calling to us. +There's such a lot to talk about, that if we don't go in and begin we +shan't have finished till morning;" and she led him back between the neat +flower-beds to the open door, where, in a glow of warm light from within, +Aunt Emma stood awaiting them.</p> + + +<h2>THE END.</h2> +<br><br><br> + +<h5>Printed by MORRISON & GIBB LIMITED, Edinburgh.</h5> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Better than Play, by Mabel Quiller-Couch + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BETTER THAN PLAY *** + +***** This file should be named 31836-h.htm or 31836-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/8/3/31836/ + +Produced by Lionel Sear + +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: Better than Play + +Author: Mabel Quiller-Couch + +Release Date: April 1, 2010 [EBook #31836] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BETTER THAN PLAY *** + + + + +Produced by Lionel Sear + + + + + + + +Illustration: "Flowers, Ma'am? Tuppence and a penny a bunch." +(Artist unattrib.) + + + + +BETTER THAN PLAY. + +By + +MABEL QUILLER-COUCH. + +Author of "A waif and a Welcome," "Zach and Debby," +"The Story of Jessie," etc. + + +LONDON +THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY +4 Bouverie Street and 65 St. Paul's Churchyard, E.C.4 + + + +CONTENTS. + +Chapter. + + +I. WASHING DAY TEMPERS. + +II. HOW THE DAY ENDED. + +III. THE LITTLE HERB-BED. + +IV. SAGE BUSHES AND ROSE BUSHES. + +V. WHAT AUNT MAGGIE SUGGESTED. + +VI. FIRST CUSTOMERS. + +VII. WHAT LAY BEYOND THE MILESTONE. + +VIII. ROCKET'S HELP IS REQUIRED. + +IX. HOME AGAIN. + +X. CHRISTMAS. + +XI. A STEP FORWARD. + +XII. SUCCESS. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +WASHING DAY TEMPERS. + + +Down at the Henders' cottage all was misery and discomfort; the house was +full of bad temper, steam, and the smell of soap-suds. It was +washing-day, and the children hated washing-day. For one thing, Aunt Emma +was always very cross, and for another, they never knew what to do with +themselves. They were not allowed indoors, for they "choked up the +place," she said, "and there wasn't room to move,"; so they had to stay +outside; but they must make no noise, for she could not bear it, and they +must not wander away to play, for they might be wanted at any minute, to +run an errand, or chop up a few sticks. Bella, too, the eldest of them +all, was needed every now and again to hang a few things on the bushes; +but that was all the break they had in the weary day. + +Bella often wished her aunt would let her do more to help her. She was +sure she could, and it would have been ever so much more pleasant than +standing around seeing everything go wrong, yet doing nothing. + +Her aunt was always scolding her for being idle, and grumbling at the +amount of work she herself had to do; yet, if Bella attempted to help in +any way, there was a great to-do, and her aunt grew so angry about it that +Bella soon gave up attempting. It grieved her dreadfully, though. +The home had been so different when her mother was alive, so neat and +pretty, and all of them so happy. + +There had rarely been any scolding, and certainly there was never any +grumbling about the work. + +"Why, work is pleasure, if you take it in the right spirit," Mrs. Hender +used to say, cheerfully; "it means life and happiness--but everything +depends, of course, on the spirit in which you take it." + +Certainly Aunt Emma did not take it in 'the right spirit.' She was always +grumbling, and never what you would call cheerful. If she had to go up +the few stairs to the bedrooms, she grumbled, and if she had to go to the +door to answer a knock, she grumbled. If the children used an extra cup, +or the windows got dirty, or the steps muddy, she complained bitterly of +the hardship it was to her. And few things are harder to bear than to +have to live with a perpetual grumbler, to listen to constant complaints, +--especially, too, if the grumbler will not let any one help her to do the +work she grumbles so much about. A grumbler spoils every one's pleasure, +and gets none herself; and the worst of it is, it is a disease that grows +on one terribly. + +In the Henders' case it was doing great harm, as Bella was old enough to +see. Her father had always, in the old days, come home after his work, +and, after they had all had a cosy meal together, had worked in the garden +through the summer evenings, or, in the winter, sat by the fire reading +the paper or a book to his wife while she sewed. He had long since ceased +all that, though, for one can't sit and read in any comfort in a kitchen +that's all of a muddle, and to a woman who is grumbling all the time; and +soon he found there was a cosy, quiet resting-place at the 'Red Lion,' +with plenty of cheerfulness and good temper, and no grumbling. + +The children, too, never came indoors if they could stay out, and as Aunt +Emma complained of their noise if they played in the garden, they +naturally went farther away, if they could manage to escape. + +But for Bella, this was not so easy. She was useful, though her aunt +would never admit it, and she liked to have her within call. There was +nowhere that Bella cared to go, except to Mrs. Langley's, farther down the +lane, and thither Miss Hender did not allow her to go very often, though +no one knew why. + +Mrs. Langley, or 'Aunt Maggie,' as the children had been taught to call +her, had been their mother's greatest friend and nearest neighbour, +and during their mother's lifetime they had felt almost as much at home in +her house as in their own. Little Margaret, indeed, had been called after +her. + +Altogether life was very, very different now, and to Bella's mind the +present seemed anything but a happy time. + +She sat on the step to-day, and looked soberly at the sky. The weather +was dull and gloomy, with a moisture in the air which would entirely keep +the clothes from drying; and a bad drying day is in itself enough to try +the temper of the most amiable of washerwomen. + +"Oh, I do wish the sun would shine," she thought anxiously; "it would make +such a difference." Bella spent her days in a state of mingled hope and +dread--hope that things would happen to please her aunt, and dread of +things happening to ruffle her. + +The baker's cart drew up at the gate, and the man, springing lightly down, +came up the garden-path with a basket of loaves. "Now she will be vexed +at having to answer the door," thought Bella. "I wish I knew what bread +to take in." + +That, however, was more than she dare do, so she contented herself with +going in, to warn her aunt of the baker's approach. + +"The baker is coming, Aunt Emma," she said quietly. + +"Well, s'posing he is! Surely you'm old enough to take the bread from +him; or do you want me to do it while you look on? It won't soil your +hands to touch a loaf of bread." + +"How many loaves shall I take in?" asked Bella patiently. + +"Oh, I don't know! I don't know what we've got, and I can't stay to see. +Three would do, I should hope." + +Bella looked at the baker's basket, and her spirit sank; there were pale +loaves and brown ones, and loaves of all shapes. Which should she take? +Which would please her aunt? At last she picked up what she thought was a +nice tempting-looking one. Surely that would do for one, she thought. + +The baker interposed. "Miss Hender don't like that shape," he said +shortly; "she thinks 'em too crusty. Most folks prefer 'em," he added +meaningly. + +Bella laid down the loaf and took up another. + +"Miss Hender don't----" the man began again, but stopped. What did it +matter to him, he thought, what the cross-grained woman liked or didn't +like? He had trouble enough when she came to the door herself; so he +hastily put two other loaves in Bella's hands, and left as quickly as he +could. + +Of course, when Aunt Emma caught sight of the loaves, there was a nagging +and a scolding. They were wrong in shape and colour and size, and +everything else. "I should have thought a great girl like you might have +known the kind of loaf we generally have, and not have taken in such +things as those!" + +"As you are always complaining of those we do have, I thought you'd like a +change," was the retort that trembled on Bella's lips, but she kept the +words back. "I thought these looked nice," was all she said. + +Indeed, they looked so nice and smelt so deliciously, she could have eaten +a large crust of one then and there. She was very hungry, poor child; but +on washing-days the children were not expected to be hungry, and, as a +rule, no meal was got for any one between breakfast and the evening one, +when their father came home. On washing-days nothing could be attended to +but the washing. + +Bella heard little Margery crying softly in the garden. The child was +hungry too, she knew. She was but four years old, and she needed +something. Bella's heart ached for her baby sister, the little one who +had been the pet and darling of the household during her mother's +lifetime. As she listened to the plaintive crying, the thought would come +into her mind, "What would her mother feel if she knew that her baby was +hungry, and neglected and unhappy?" and at last she could bear the thought +and the crying no longer. Summoning up all her courage, she went out to +the scullery, where her aunt was bustling about, grumbling to herself all +the time. + +"Aunt Emma," she said half-timidly, "may I give Margery something to eat? +She is so hungry. I hear her crying." + +Miss Hender did not answer. "Have you seen the poker?" she demanded, +impatiently. "One of those boys has walked off with it, I'll be bound! +and here is my fire going out for the want of a stirring up. How anybody +can be expected to get on where there's a parcel of children----" + +"I am sure the boys haven't had it, Aunt Emma," declared Bella patiently. +"I saw it here just now, and they haven't moved from the garden; they've +been reading all the morning." + +"Well, I can't waste any more time," cried the angry woman, "I'll take +this," and impetuously catching up the stick that she used for lifting the +clothes out of the copper, she thrust it into the fire. + +Bella stood by wondering and embarrassed. The fire burnt up the better +for its stirring, it is true, but the stick was ruined for its usual +purpose. Blackened and charred as it was, it was only fit for putting +back into the fire again as fuel. Even to Bella's childish mind the +foolishness and wickedness of such a hasty action was only too plain. + +A moment later, when the copper-stick itself was wanted, it was unusable, +and there was no other at hand. One would have to be bought, or made, +or found. While looking for something that would do in place of it, the +poker was found lying on the table, amongst the pans and things littered +there. This only made Miss Hender more irritable than before. + +"To think it should have been there all the time, and me wasting all that +time looking for it!" she exclaimed, as indignantly as though the poker +were actually to blame. + +In the corner of the scullery was a chair with one leg loose, waiting for +the father to find time to mend it. Miss Hender's flashing eye fell on +this, and seizing the leg and plunging it into the boiling copper, she +lifted out the clothes into the washing-tray with it. The chair leg was +dusty and it was covered with yellow varnish and paint, but in her foolish +and senseless rage she never stopped to think of this, and for months and +months after the stains on the clothing stood as a reminder and a +reproach, for not even time and frequent washings could remove them +altogether. + +Bella turned away miserable enough. The chair was ruined, of course, as +well as the clothes, and she was old enough to understand the wicked waste +such an outburst of temper may cause. + +"It was one of those mother saved up for and bought," she said to herself, +the tears welling up in her eyes, "and she was so proud of them. +I wish father had mended it at once, then it wouldn't have been lying +about in the scullery, in her way." + +A voice from the garden, though, drove the other thoughts from her mind; +it was Margery's calling softly to her, "Bella, I'm so hungry. Give +Margery something to eat, she's so hungry." + +Bella's misery deepened to anger against the cause of all this +wretchedness; the bad-tempered woman who was spoiling all their happiness. + +"It isn't her house," she argued to herself; "it's father's house, and +ours, and I am sure he wouldn't have Margery or any of us go hungry. +It is cruel to starve a little thing like that, and I've a good mind to go +to the larder and get her something to eat." + +But fear of the storm such an act would raise, and fear lest some of it +should fall on Margery, a feeling of respect too for her aunt's authority, +kept her from doing this, but did not lessen her determination to relieve +her little sister's wants, and an idea came to her that sent her quickly +to the garden with a brightened face. + +"Tom," she said softly to the elder of her two brothers, "Margery is so +hungry, and I believe there won't be any dinner at all to-day. +Aunt Emma hasn't said anything about it, and she's in an awful temper." + +Tom and Charlie groaned, "And we're starving!" + +"I shall go and pull up a turnip to eat," said Charlie defiantly. +"I wish the apples were big enough to be any good." + +"I wish I'd got a penny to buy some buns," said Tom. + +Bella's face grew thoughtful. She had four-pence of her own in her +money-box, that she had been saving to buy herself a pair of gloves for +Sundays. She had long wanted them, and twopence more would enable her to +get them, but---- + +"I'll give you a penny each to buy some buns," she said impulsively, +"if you will do something first, and promise to be very careful." + +Of course they both promised vigorously. + +"Well, I want you to take Margery down the lane to Aunt Maggie, and ask +her if she will give her something to eat. I am sure she will, if she +knows how hungry she is. Then you can run and buy your buns, and you must +go back and fetch Margery again, and bring her home, without Aunt Emma's +knowing anything about it. It would only make her more angry." + +Of course the boys promised again to do their best. A whispered word +stopped Margery's wailing, the pennies were soon abstracted from the +money-box, and then the little trio made their way quietly down the +garden, and out at the gate into the lane. Once outside their pace, +spurred by hunger, quickened considerably, and famished little Margery was +very soon sitting perfectly happy in Aunt Maggie's kitchen, with a mug of +milk before her and a large slice of bread and butter and sugar. + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +HOW THE DAY ENDED. + + +Bella stood for a moment looking out at the cold grey sky and the +neglected garden, but her thoughts were with the children, and her ears +following the sounds of their retreating footsteps. Her mind was greatly +relieved by the thought that they would soon be having some food. + +For herself and her own hunger she did not care, and she would not let +herself think of the two pennies she had given up, and the gloves that she +had been so looking forward to possessing, but would now have to do +without. + +A thrill of dread passed through her at the thought of her aunt. +Would she be very angry, she wondered, if she found out what she had done? +Most probably she would, thought Bella, though there was no harm in it. +It never occurred to her that nothing could have been much more annoying +to Miss Hender than for a neighbour to be asked to feed the children +she was supposed to be there to look after. It was making public her +neglect and bad temper. + +It would have been far better to have done the straightforward thing, +without any deception; to have gone to her bravely and asked to be allowed +to give the children some food, and have borne patiently her annoyance and +angry words. Now Bella's great anxieties were that her aunt should not +find out that the children had gone, and that they should be back before +she should miss them. The thought of this sent her quickly into the +house. + +"Are there any more things for me to hang out, Aunt Emma?" she asked, +cheerfully. "There seems to be a little breeze springing up." + +Miss Hender, without replying, handed her a dish piled high with wet +clothes. "Hang them so that they'll catch the wind, if there is any." +And Bella went out, anxiously wondering how one did that, but not daring +to ask her aunt. + +In her perplexity she stood for a few moments looking at the garments +already on the lines, to see if some were blowing out more than others, +but, apparently, the little breeze had not power enough to stir them, and +Bella had to hang up her last load and trust to chance for its being +according to her aunt's pleasure. She had very little hope, though, of +such good fortune. + +When she got back to the kitchen again Miss Hender had emptied the tub she +had been washing at, and was preparing to dry her wrinkled, water-soaked +fingers. + +"I've finished the white clothes, so now I'll see about giving you +children something to eat, before I take the coloured things out of the +copper," she said, speaking less snappishly than before. She was, in +fact, somewhat ashamed of her recent display of temper over the missing +poker, and was anxious to make a better and more dignified impression on +Bella's mind. + +All Bella felt was a great sinking of her heart. What could she do? +What would be best? Would it be better to confess at once and tell +exactly what had happened, or should she let her aunt go on and get the +meal, and trust to the children's being back before it was prepared, +and to the incident of the buns and bread-and-butter meal never being +found out by her? After all, she had told them they would get no food +until the washing was all done, and no one could have guessed that she +would have changed her mind within so short a time; and there was no real +harm in Bella's putting them in the way of getting something to eat when +they were so very hungry. + +So poor Bella argued and argued with herself, her courage sinking lower +with every preparation her aunt made. If only Miss Hender had been a +little kinder to Bella, if only she had taught her to trust, and not to +fear, her, Bella would have explained then and there, and all would have +blown over. + +While Bella was thinking it all out and trying to make up her mind what +she should do, she was standing idle--and that, to begin with, was not the +way to please and pacify her aunt, tired as she was with long hours of +hard work, exhausted from want of food, with her back aching, and her feet +throbbing with long standing on the stone floor. If only Bella had made +her a cup of tea and got the simple meal ready while she sat and rested a +little, what a relief it would have been, and what good it would have done +her, but her own temper prevented that. For one thing, Bella would not +have dared to touch anything without being told she might, and, for +another, she was so frightened now at the thought of what she had done and +of her aunt's probable anger, that she stood absorbed and perplexed, +and did not even do the things she might have done. + +Naturally the weary woman grew irritated by such thoughtlessness. +"I don't know how long you expect me to wait on you!" she said tartly, +"while you stand by, too lazy even to do the little you know how to. +Go and draw a jug of water this minute, and tell the children to wash +their hands. I s'pose you're capable of doing that much." + +Bella, still without explaining, took the jug and went out to the pump. +By the time she came back her aunt had cut off several slices of cold +bacon and put some on four plates, one for each of them. Bella felt +perfectly ill with fear when she saw these preparations. + +"Aunt Emma!" she began, but so tremulously that her aunt did not hear her. + +"Where are the children? Didn't you tell them?" demanded Miss Hender +tartly. + +"They aren't there," stammered Bella nervously, "they haven't come +back----" + +"Back from where?"--Bella's manner struck Miss Hender more than her +words--it made what was apparently a trifling matter seem important. + +"I--they--they were so hungry, and--I didn't know there was going to be +any dinner, and--and I gave them money to go and get some buns." + +"And you trusted those two boys to take Margery right down to the +village----" + +"No," broke in Bella, anxious to explain; "they took her only as far as +Aunt Maggie's, and when they'd got their buns they were to come back there +for her, and----" + +"Couldn't she have waited here for her bun? Whatever made you send her to +Mrs. Langley's?" + +Bella grew more embarrassed than ever. "She--was so hungry," she began; +"she kept on crying for bread and butter, and I sent her to--to ask----" +but her words failed her altogether at the sight of the expression on her +aunt's face. + +"You didn't send and ask Mrs. Langley to give Margery something to eat, +did you?" she demanded slowly, dwelling on each word with an emphasis that +nearly drove Bella crazy. + +"I--I only--yes, I did!" the last words bursting from her as though she +could explain or justify herself no more. + +Miss Hender's eyes blazed. "You as good as told that woman that I kept +you hungry, that you hadn't food to eat, and were afraid to ask for it. +You as good as told her that I ill-treated and starved you!" her words +caught in her throat. Step by step she had been drawing nearer to the +frightened child, her mouth set, her eyes glowing with rage. Bella, for +the first time in her life, almost screamed with terror. + +"I--I didn't mean that!" she gasped. + +"You couldn't come and ask me! You couldn't be straightforward and +honest, oh no, you must go mischief-making to that woman down the lane, +when you know I hate her! Why," with a sudden clutch, at Bella's thin +arm, "couldn't you have come and asked me? Answer me that! Do you hear? +Answer me, I tell you!" + +"I was afraid," stammered Bella. + +"Afraid? I'll make you afraid of me yet, you young hussy! I'll give you +something to make you afraid of me. I s'pose you told her, too, that I +treated you so bad you were afraid of me. Did you tell her that, too? +Answer me!" giving Bella another shake. + +Bella's fear gave way to anger. "There was no need to," she said cruelly. +"Everybody knows it." + +The next minute she was staggering across the kitchen from a violent blow +on the side of her head, and then, before she could recover herself or +realise what had happened, her aunt was beside her again, raining down +blow after blow upon her thin shoulders. + +"Take that, and that, and that!" gasped the infuriated woman; "and now go +out and tell every one. And there's another to teach you to speak +properly to me, or you or I leave this house!" + +How long the blows would have continued to pour down on Bella no one +knows, had not scream upon scream suddenly rent the air, startling every +one near. + +They did not come from Bella herself, for, after the first startled cry, +she made no sound. They came from the three children who had reached home +just in time to be witnesses of the terrible scene, and were frightened +almost out of their senses. + +Miss Hender dropped her uplifted hand and sank exhausted and speechless +into a chair. Bella, white and almost fainting, lay on the floor +motionless. At sight of her Charlie began to scream again. +"You've killed our Bella! You've killed our Bella!" he cried, while +Margery ran over to the still heap on the floor. "Bella, look up, look +up! Bella, it's me, it's Margery; speak to Margery!" Tears poured down +her little white cheeks, and one, falling on Bella's, roused her. +Putting out one stiff, aching arm, she feebly drew her little sister to +her and kissed her. + +Margery was delighted, for she had really thought Bella was dead, and she +hugged her in an ecstasy of relief. "Can't you get up?" she asked. +"Oh, do get up, Bella." + +Bella made an effort but she was too exhausted, and falling back again, +she, for the first time, lost consciousness. + +And so, when Tom presently arrived with his father, whom he had rushed at +once to fetch, they found her, with Margery beside her weeping and +beseeching her to speak; Charlie standing at the door, too scared to go +nearer; and Miss Hender seated, white and frightened and ashamed, gazing +at her temper's handiwork, too ashamed to go near to render the child any +aid after reducing her to that, for in her heart of hearts she felt that +after the scene of that afternoon Bella would shrink from even a kindness +at her hands. + +Without a word the father strode across and picked his little daughter up. +"Get some water," he said, in a low, hoarse voice to Tom, and, still +holding her in his arms, he bathed the brow and the limp, lifeless hands, +and the pale cheeks, where the scarlet patch across one told its own tale. + +Emma Hender rose stiffly from her chair and handed him a soft cloth, but +he would not take it from her. "Keep away!" he said harshly; "don't you +dare to touch her again. You've done enough harm for one day, you and +that temper of yours!" Emma Hender shrank back without a word, then, +after a moment's struggle for self-control, dropped into a chair and +burying her face in her apron burst into violent weeping. She was so +tired, so faint, and so ashamed of herself, and no one cared, she thought +bitterly; no one cared for her, or believed her, or pitied her. + +She worked for them all, and looked after their home from morning till +night, but it was all nothing, she told herself bitterly, and felt herself +a very ill-used person. But what she did not tell herself, or perhaps did +not realise, was that it is not so much what we do for people but the +spirit in which it is done, that makes it a real kindness and wins their +affection. + +There was one tender little heart there, though, that bore her no +ill-will, that, indeed, forgot everything but that she was in trouble and +needed comforting. + +"Auntie Emma, don't cry! Bella'll be better soon. Don't cry, Auntie +Emma, or Margery'll cry too!" and two soft little hands tried to pull the +work-worn ones away, and a gentle baby voice tried to bring comfort and +cheer to the unhappy woman. + +Aunt Emma, in a burst of real feeling, let the little hands uncover and +gently pat her face, then, clasping the baby form to her, kissed her +passionately again and again. + +"You do care for your auntie, don't you, dear?" she sobbed, but softly and +sorrowfully now. "You always will care for your poor auntie, won't you, +dear?" + +"Oh yes," promised Margery readily, anxious only to comfort and cheer, +"when auntie isn't cross," she added innocently. + +Miss Hender's loving clasp loosened a little. "Everybody is cross +sometimes," she muttered excusingly. But many and many a time after that +the memory of Margery's words came back to her, and stayed the first angry +word or ill-natured act, and so averted a storm and hours of reproach. + +"Bella is better! Look, her eyes are open!" and Margery clambered +joyfully down from her aunt's lap and ran over to her sister's side. + +For a moment Bella looked about her in a dazed fashion, then, memory +returning, she raised herself and tried to stand. + +"I am all right, thank you," she said, but she was glad enough to drop on +to the old sofa and rest. Miss Hender rose too. + +"I--think she'll be better for a cup of tea," she said; "we all shall." +It cost her an effort to speak, for she felt awkward and embarrassed, and +her words were very faint and stumbling, but she went to the fire and +stirred it up to make the kettle boil. Then, by degrees, recovering +herself, she quietly cut some bread and butter for all, and made the tea. + +Bella shrank a little from her aunt when she handed her cup, and beyond +the faintest "Thank you," did not utter a word. She was still suffering +from the shock of the sudden assault and the blows. Her nerves were +quivering, her head throbbing, and the only feeling she as yet experienced +strongly was a kind of shame--shame for her aunt and for herself. + +It was a most uncomfortable meal that, in spite of Miss Hender's efforts. +William Hender sat morose and thoughtful; Bella, like her aunt, was +embarrassed and very silent. The two boys and Margery alone found +anything to say, or spirit to say it, and though all felt better and more +cheerful for the meal, no one was sorry when it was ended. + +Miss Hender was the first to rise. She returned to her washing-tub, +William Hender to his work, and the children went out to their play in the +garden. All went on as usual, and not a word more was said of the scene +that had brought them all together. Yet all felt that in that short hour +things had altered, and for ever. That something had happened which meant +changes, perhaps not great, but changes for them all, and that life would +never be quite the same again. + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE LITTLE HERB-BED. + + +For some days after that unhappy Monday Bella and her aunt scarcely +exchanged a word. It was not that Bella was sulky, or bore malice in her +heart; it was chiefly that she felt embarrassed and awkward still. +Indeed, they both felt so. That scene seemed to be for ever between them, +and neither could forget it. + +It was holiday time, too, so there was no school to take Bella away from +her home, and as she did not like to ask Miss Hender to give her something +to do, she wandered about, idle and unhappy, not knowing how to fill her +days. Consequently she wandered more than once down the lane to Mrs. +Langley's little cottage. The peace and the cheerfulness of that little +home drew her irresistibly. + +"Oh! if only our house was like this!" she exclaimed one day. "So quiet, +and tidy, and clean. I should like to live in a little house like this +all by myself when I grow up." + +Mrs. Langley looked at her with a shade of sadness in her gentle brown +eyes. "My dear, don't say that! It isn't from choice, you know, that I +live alone, and it is terribly lonely sometimes. If I had been allowed to +have my way, my home would have been as full and noisy as ever yours is; +but God saw fit to take them all first, and leave me to follow in His own +good time. I expect He has work for me to do first; in fact, I know He +has, for He has some special work for each of us, though we don't +understand at the time what it is." + +Bella felt vexed with herself, as soon as ever the words had left her +lips, for she knew quite well the story of the tragedy that had left that +home empty--of the fatal epidemic that had taken from it the husband and +four children, and left the poor mother alone and heart-broken. +Before she could say anything Mrs. Langley's last words arrested her +attention. + +"Has He got special work for me?" she asked eagerly, her interest +swallowing up her shyness for once. "Oh no, He couldn't have, I am so +young, and I don't see that there's anything I can do. I only wish there +was," she added hopelessly. "I don't seem to be wanted anywhere, and I +haven't got any money, and----" + +"Don't you make that mistake, dear. It isn't money that's most wanted, +it is the wish and the will. Children can do a very great deal, and you +especially have many fine opportunities right at your hand, in your own +home." + +"But Aunt Emma does everything, and she won't let me help." + +"I think she would, dear, if you went to work in the right way. +Either ask her boldly to give you some part of the work to do, for you +would like to help, and you feel you are old enough now; or bide your +time, and do all the little things you can, without making any fuss or +display. Then, if you do them well, you will find that in time they are +left to your care to do always. Even if your aunt will not let you do +that much, surely there is plenty to be done outside the house. +Your garden is not kept as it was in your mother's time." + +"Father doesn't stay at home in the evenings now, like he used to," said +Bella, sadly. + +"Well, can't you coax him to? Can't you help to make his home more +cheerful and comfortable? All this is part of the work God has for you to +do, Bella. It seems to me a lot. Can't you show an interest in the +garden, and ask your father to help you to make it neat and nice again? +I think he would; I am sure he would." + +Bella sat with a very thoughtful face, but not such a hopelessly depressed +one as she had been wearing. Suddenly, so it seemed to her, a bright +light had been flashed upon the road she had to travel, and so many things +stood out that she had not seen before, so many hills to climb, so many +pleasant valleys to cross, that for a moment she felt awed and silenced. +It was cheering and bracing to feel that she was needed, that, after all, +there was work for her to do. Lots of work! + +"And then there are the boys and Margery. You have many duties to them, +dear. They have no mother, and you are left to take her place, as far as +you can, and make their lives happy, and teach them to be good. Oh, there +is so much for you to do, child. I almost envy you, there is so much." + +Bella looked up with shining eyes and a flush on her cheeks. +"Aunt Maggie, I came to-day to ask if you would help me to get a little +place. I felt as if I couldn't go on living at home as it is now. +It is so uncomfortable, and I thought I would like to go out in service. +I know I am very young, but----" + +Mrs. Langley was looking at her with a grave face, but very kindly eyes. +"I know how you felt, dear; but it seems to me plain enough that your +place is at home. You see, you're the eldest, and the others are but +little things, and if you want Margery to know anything about her dear +mother, you must teach her, and 'tis you must help to train her up to be +what her mother would have wished her to be." + +Bella's bright, eager eyes filled with tears. "I wish mother was here," +she cried, "it's all so different now, and so miserable!" + +"I know, I know; but, child, you must try and remember how it would have +grieved your poor mother, if she could know that her children's home was +unhappy, and then tell yourself that it is going to be your work to make +it different--to make it what she would wish it to be." + +Bella's tears gradually ceased. "But how can I begin, and when?" she +asked hopelessly. + +"Begin to-day, and with the first chance you see. Be content to begin +with little things in a little way. Don't expect to make great changes, +and set all right at once. You have to take these words as your motto, +'Patience, Pluck, and Perseverance.'" + +Bella's face brightened. It cheered her heart to feel that she could do +something, and do, too, what her mother would have had her do. It was +with less reluctance than usual that she got up to go back to her home. + +"I often wish, Aunt Maggie," she said affectionately, "that I could live +with you, but it would never do, would it?" + +"I often wish so, too, dear. Good-bye now. Run home quickly, you may be +wanted." + +Bella ran up the lane with a very much lighter heart than she usually +bore. She was fired with the thought of her new endeavours, and anxious +to begin. She would keep her eyes always open to see things that she +could do,--and almost as the thought was passing through her mind her +chance came, for as she opened her own gate she saw that the fowl-house +door was standing wide, and that the hens were scattered all over the +garden, scratching up the beds. + +"Tom promised to put a nail in the latch of that door," she sighed, "and +he has never done it." Then the thought flashed through her mind that +here was a beginning! Here she could help. By the aid of a long +pea-stick she collected the greedy hens and drove them all into their run +again, and fastened them in securely; but it took her some time. + +"Wherever have you been?" demanded Aunt Emma coldly; "here's tea-time +nearly, and you've been out all the afternoon." + +"I was down at Aunt Maggie's part of the time, and when I got back I found +the hens all out and all over the garden, and I drove them in and shut +them up." + +"Oh!" Aunt Emma was visibly mollified. If there was one thing she +disliked more than another, it was struggling with stupid, obstinate hens, +as she called them, and she was really thankful now that she had been +spared the task of getting them out of the garden. In her relief at this +she forgot her annoyance at Bella's having been down at Mrs. Langley's. + +"If there's time before tea I'll go and put the nail in the latch,", said +Bella, "for it won't stay shut very long, unless the latch is mended." + +The hammer, though, was not to be found, and the only nail was a crooked +one, so the latch-mending was put off till after tea. The children came +in from the orchard, and went to the pump to wash their hands and faces. +Bella spread the cloth and arranged the cups and plates and mugs. +As a rule, she put them down in any haphazard fashion, but to-day she did +try to arrange the things nicely. + +Miss Hender was busily taking out cake and cutting bread and butter. +Bella knew it would be of no use to offer to do either of these, but she +did ask if she might put some water in the teapot to warm it, and, to her +astonishment, her aunt said, "Yes, you may if you like." + +The meal would have been a very silent one if it had not been for the +children, but with their chatter it passed off pleasantly enough, and when +it was over they all made a hunt for the lost hammer and another nail, and +then trooped out with Bella, to mend the latch of the hen-house door. + +"That's easy enough," exclaimed Tom, as he watched Bella; "I could have +done that." + +"Then why didn't you?" retorted his sister. "That bit of latch has been +hanging loose for weeks, and the hens were always getting out." + +"I didn't think about it. Why didn't you tell me?" + +"I didn't think about it, either," admitted Bella; "but I am going to try +and remember things better. Tom, if you want a job, there's one of the +palings of the pigsty broken away. If it isn't mended, the pig'll break +it away more, and get out, and there's no knowing what trouble we shall +have. You can mend that, I'm sure." + +Tom, well pleased, went off at once. It made him feel manly to be doing +real work. Charlie, of course, followed his brother. Bella was strolling +back through the untidy garden with Margery by her side, when a sudden +thought sent her hurrying back to the house. + +"Aunt Emma, can I help you wash up the tea-things?" + +She put her question rather nervously, and her cheeks were rosy red, but +she had broken through her shy reserve, and was glad of it. + +Miss Hender was standing at the table with a pan of water in front of her. +"I've nearly finished," she said shortly, in her usual ungenial tone, but +added, a moment later, "leastways I soon shall have." + +Bella had seen that although several cups and plates were washed, none of +them were wiped, so she took up the tea-cloth lying on the table, and +began to dry the things and put them away. She was very anxious to do it +all carefully and well, so that her aunt might have no cause for +complaining. + +It almost seemed as though Miss Hender did not want to find fault if she +could help it, for when Bella hung the cups on the wrong hooks on the +dressers, she only said, "I don't know that it matters;" which was so +unlike her usual self that Bella marvelled. + +"I s'pose you didn't see any sage in the garden when you were there just +now?" she asked presently. "I wanted some sage and onions to cook for +supper, and I don't believe we've got either. There doesn't seem to be +scarcely anything in the garden." + +"I'll go and see," said Bella, "but I don't believe there's any." + +She walked down the rambling old garden, and all over it, and looked in +all directions, but not a leaf of sage or any other herb could she see. +The herb-bed was empty and trampled flat, a few onions lay ungathered in +the onion-bed, and there were some potatoes, but that was all, except some +gooseberry bushes and roots of rhubarb. + +When Bella remembered what their garden used to be, and all that they used +to get out of it, she, young though she was, was startled. She was more +than startled, she was shocked too, for if this was the state of things +now, what were they going to do for vegetables all the rest of the year? +There was nothing to come on for the winter, no carrots or turnips, no +onions or cabbages, leeks or celery,--and they used to have all in +abundance. The difference between care and neglect, thrift and waste, +plenty and want, were brought home to her very plainly at that moment. + +She had always been so much with her father and mother and other grown-up +people, that she understood as well as a woman how much they depended on +the garden for food. + +Tom and Charlie came up and joined her, wondering what she was looking at +so solemnly. + +"What's wrong?" they asked. "What are you looking for?" + +"Sage," said Bella, gravely, "and there isn't a bit; there isn't anything. +Whatever we shall do all the winter, I don't know." + +"Where's the herb-bed?" asked Tom. + +"Here, we're looking at it. Mother used to keep it nice and full, she +used to see how many kinds of herbs she could grow. Oh, you remember, +Tom, don't you?" + +"Yes," said Tom; "she had thyme and lemon-thyme, parsley, and sage, and +endive and borage, and--oh, I forget. She used to make me say them over, +and tell her which was which. I wish we'd taken more care of it," he +added, with sudden shame for his neglect. + +A brilliant idea flashed into Bella's mind, filling her with pleasure, +"Oh!" she cried, excitedly, "I know what I'll do, I'll make it nice again, +I'll take care of it, and plant herbs in it, just as mother used to do. +Where's the fork, Tom? I want to begin." + +"I'll get it, but let me help. Let me dig it over the first time; shall +I, Bella?" + +Bella agreed, but reluctantly. She wanted to do it all herself. +"I wonder where I can get parsley seed, and all the rest of it. +Oh, I know, Aunt Maggie will give me a little sage-bush, she has lots; and +p'raps she'll be able to give me some lemon-thyme too!" and away she ran +through the garden and out of the gate and down May Lane as fleet as a +hare. + +Miss Hender saw her dash past the house, and pressed her lips tightly +together. "Forgotten all about what I sent her for, of course," she said +sourly. "I thought that new broom was sweeping too clean." + +When Bella returned in about ten minutes' time, carrying a basket full of +roots, and a sage-bush on the top, her aunt came to the door to greet her. + +"How about that sage I asked you to look for?" she began, but when her eye +fell on the basket the rest of her scolding died away,--"Oh, so you've got +some. Well, it isn't too late," she stammered, trying not to look +foolish, and to speak graciously. It was Bella's turn to colour now. +She had completely forgotten all about her aunt and the supper. +"There wasn't a bit, Aunt Emma, and--and I forgot to come in and tell you, +but I am going to plant some fresh things in the herb-bed. Tom's digging +it over, and I am going to look after it. I asked Aunt Maggie to give me +a root or two, and you can have some of the sage leaves before I plant it; +but "--and she put down her basket, and began to grope in the bottom of +it--"Aunt Maggie sent you a bottle of dried sage, and one of parsley. +She dried them herself. She said if you hadn't got any at any time, they +might be useful,"; and she put the two little bottles into her aunt's hand +with great joy, looking up at her to read her approval in her face. + +But Miss Hender's face showed nothing of the sort. "I don't believe in +such new-fangled notions," she said ungraciously; "here, give me a bit of +that," breaking off a sprig of sage, "I want something that's fit to eat, +and has got some goodness left in it!" + +The light and pleasure died out of Bella's face. It always hurt her to +hear her Aunt Maggie, or anything of Aunt Maggie's, spoken contemptuously +of, and sudden anger at such petty spitefulness swelled up in her heart, +for it was petty of her aunt, and it was spiteful, and Bella knew it. +Indeed, every one knew it, but no one dared say anything to the foolish +woman, for fear of making matters worse. + +In her pleasure, though, at the sight of the work Tom had done in her +absence, Bella recovered herself, and this time she did not forget her +aunt or the supper, but coming upon a few onions she gathered them into +her basket and sent them in by Margery. + +By the time Miss Hender came to the door again to call them all in to +supper and bed, the sage bushes and thyme, the roots of mint and borage, +were standing sturdily erect in the newly-turned bed, which was neatly +outlined by large stones. Bella went to bed that night very tired and +very happy, and dreamed of her mother. + +While the children lay asleep, their father, coming home late and taking a +turn round his neglected garden while he finished his pipe, drew up before +the little herb-bed with almost a startled look on his face. He stood +there minute after minute, gazing at the newly-turned earth and the sturdy +little bushes showing out so clearly in the moonlight; the one neat and +hopeful spot in the whole untidy waste, it seemed almost to speak +reproachingly to him. + +What his thoughts were no one knew, but he sighed deeply more than once, +and when at last he moved away his pipe had gone out, though it was not +empty. + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +SAGE BUSHES AND ROSE BUSHES. + +The next morning William Hender was more than usually silent at breakfast, +and he went off to his work without making any reference to what he had +seen in the garden over-night. The children's thoughts, though, were full +of it. As soon as they were dressed in the morning they ran out to see +how everything looked, and how their new treasures had borne the night. + +"Bella, I am going to have a bit of garden too," cried Tom, as soon as he +saw her. "Father wouldn't mind, I'm sure. He doesn't seem to want it +now, and it'll be better for me to have a little bit than to let it all be +idle." + +Tom had thought of it in the night, and could hardly wait until daylight +to begin. And, of course, as soon as Charlie heard of the plan, he must +do the same. "So shall I," he cried sturdily. "I shall have a garden, +and grow strawberries and gooseberries, and--and all sorts of things. +Won't it be fine!" + +"Margery wants a garden too. Margery wants to grow fings." Margery was +tugging at Bella's skirt, and dancing with eagerness. + +"What can Margery do?" asked Bella gently. She was always gentle and kind +to her little sister. "Little girls like Margery can't dig up earth." + +"Margery'll grow flowers," urged the little one eagerly, "Margery wants to +grow flowers, woses and daisies, and pinks, and sweet peas, and--and +snowdrops, and--oh, all sorts. Do give Margery a little garden, please, +Bella, please. Only just a little tiny, weeny one." + +The baby voice was so urgent that Bella could not say 'No'; nor had she +any wish to. Anything that pleased Margery pleased her, and would, she +knew, please her father. "Come along, then, and choose which bit you will +have." + +"I want it next to yours." + +"Very well. I don't s'pose father will mind." + +"Let me dig it over for her the first time," urged Tom, and he left the +marking out of his own new bed to come and dig up Margery's. + +Charlie and Bella and Margery herself collected large stones to outline it +with, and by dinnertime there was a very neat and inviting-looking patch +beside Bella's herb-bed. + +"What'll you do for flowers to put in it, though?" laughed Charlie. + +"Have you got any?" + +"I've got the double daisy that Aunt Maggie gave me, and Chrissie Howard +is going to bring me a 'sturtium in a pot. She said it was to put on the +window-sill, but I shall put it in my garden." + +"I can get you a marigold the next time I go past Carter's, on my way to +Woodley. Billy Carter offered me one the other day; they're growing like +weeds in their garden." + +Margery danced with joy. "That'll be three flowers in my garden; I'll be +able to pick some soon, won't I?" + +That night William Hender came home earlier from his after-supper gossip +at the 'Red Lion,' and, as usual, strolled about outside the house while +he finished out his pipe. To-night his footsteps led him down his garden, +and instinctively he went in search of the herb-bed again. Before he +reached it he came upon fresh signs of digging and raking, and a larger +patch of newly-turned earth, with the tools still lying beside it. + +"This must be for one of the boys," he thought to himself, as he stooped +to look closer. He admired the thoroughness of the work, or as much of it +as he could see in the moonlight. On his way to the tool-shed with the +tools he passed Bella's herb-bed, and then the newly-turned piece beside +it caught his eye and brought him to a standstill. + +"That must be the little one's," he said to himself, as he looked down at +it. "Of course she must have what the others have! I wonder what she's +got planted in it?" He bent lower and lower, but in the uncertain light +he could not distinguish what the little clump of green was, and at last +he had to go down on his knee in the path and light a match. + +"One double daisy, bless her heart! It's that daisy root she has set so +much store on ever since Maggie Langley gave it to her. Bless her baby +heart!" he said once more and very tenderly, and as he rose from the +ground again he sighed heavily, and passed his hand across his eyes more +than once. + +"I'd like to give her a s'prise," he thought to himself. "I'd dearly love +to give her a s'prise, and I will too. It'll please her ever so much." + +The thought of it pleased him ever so much too, and he went in and went to +bed feeling in a happier mood than he had done for a long time. The mood +was on him the next morning too, when he came down to breakfast. + +"Where are the children?" he asked, as he went to the scullery for his +heavy working boots. + +"Oh, out in the garden. They are mad about the garden for the time," said +Aunt Emma, with a laugh. "Bella seemed troubled 'cause there was nothing +in it, so they're going to set matters right. She has planted a few +herbs, and Charlie is making a strawberry bed. I don't know how long +it'll last, I'm sure. They soon tires of most things." + +"Ay, ay, children mostly do," was all that their father answered, but as +soon as his boots were fastened he sauntered out into the garden in search +of them. + +"Breakfast's ready," called his sister after him. "Call the children, +will you?" + +"I'll go and fetch them," he said, and made his way to where he heard +their voices. + +When she caught sight of him Margery left the others and ran towards him. +"Daddy! daddy! come and look at my garden. Bella says she thinks my daisy +has taken root! Now it'll soon have lots of daisies on it, won't it? and +I'll give you a piece of root. Wouldn't you like that? Daddy, won't you +have a garden too, and have flowers in it?" + +"Why, all the garden is father's," cried Charlie, laughing at her, and +with one accord they all turned and looked over the garden which was +'all father's,' and the untidiness, the look of neglect stamped upon +everything, brought a sense of shame to the father's heart. + +"But there aren't any flowers," sighed Margery. + +Aunt Emma's voice was heard calling them in to breakfast. + +"No, there ain't any now, but there will be," said her father gravely. +The words, though to Margery they sounded so simple, were a promise made +to himself and to his dead wife to do better in the future than in the +past. "By God's help!" he added, under his breath. + +That evening, when he came home from work, he made his way at once out +into the garden. He had brought home some bundles of young cabbage +plants, and was going to make a bed for them. + +"It's too late for most things, but I can do something with the ground," +he said to himself, as he went to the tool-shed for his fork and shovel. + +The children had gone into Woodley on an errand for their aunt, but might +be back at any moment now. The four tidy little patches of ground made +the rest of the garden look more wretchedly neglected than ever before; +they were to him like four reproaches from his four neglected children. + +He began to dig with almost feverish haste, in his desire to get some more +of the ground in order, and so absorbed did he become in the improvement +he soon made, that he forgot about time and tea, and everything else. + +A shout at last made him look up. It was a joyful shout from little +Margery, who, catching sight of him at once, came flying along the path to +him. + +"Oh, daddy's got a garden, too!" she cried delightedly. "Daddy is making +a garden too! Oh, how nice! What are you going to grow in your garden, +daddy? Flowers?" + +"Ay, I must try and have a few flowers here and there; but I've got to +have cabbages and leeks and potatoes, and all sorts of things in my +garden,--things that ain't so pretty as flowers, but are more useful." + +Margery stood for a moment looking very soberly at the newly-turned earth, +and holding tight a paper bag that she had been carrying very carefully +all the time. + +Suddenly she held the bag out to him. "I'll give you that for your +garden, daddy," she said, eagerly, "then you'll have a flower." + +Her father took the bag from her and began to open it. "What is it? +What have 'ee got there, little maid?" + +"It's a 'get-me-not root. Mr. Carter gave it to me for my garden; +but I'll give it to you, daddy, 'cause there isn't anything pretty in your +garden." + +The man's heart was very full as he looked in on the little root; then, +without speaking, he laid it gently down, and taking his little girl very +tenderly in his arms he kissed her. + +"Daddy'll plant it this very minute, little one;" and to himself he added, +"and I'll plant it where I can see it best--in case I should forget +again." + +A voice came calling down the path to them, "Father, supper's ready. +Margery, come in to supper;" but the little forget-me-not had to be +planted first, and Margery had to stay and help, of course. When it was +firmly placed in the ground in a nice little puddle of water, and the +earth pressed tightly about its roots, Margery stood back and gazed at it +contentedly. + +"I think it looks lovely there, don't you, daddy? and you see I've got my +daisy and a marigold in my garden, so I have plenty; and p'raps I'll get +something more 'nother day." + +That night, after supper was over and the children were in bed, William +Hender went softly down the garden again to Margery's very neat but very +bare little garden plot, and at the back of it, against the wall, he +carefully planted a fine rose bush. He had brought it home with him on +purpose for her, and, that the children might not see it, he had hidden it +in the hedge in the lane until he had an opportunity of planting it, for +he wanted it to be a surprise for the little maiden. All the time he was +planting it he was picturing to himself what she would say and do when she +first saw it; and he laughed to himself more than once, but very tenderly, +as he pictured the surprise on her face. + +In the morning he was up and dressed before any of them, and out in the +garden at work. He had a glance first at the forget-me-not, and then at +Margery's rose bush and daisy. All of which were looking very healthy and +happy in their new surroundings. Then he began to dig up a piece of +ground not far off, where, while pretending to be paying no heed to them, +he could hear all that they said and did. + +Then, as the minutes went by, he began to grow impatient for the children +to come, but his patience was not tried for long, before the house-door +was flung open, and a stampede along the path announced their coming. + +"Why, father is up already!" he heard Tom exclaim, "and just see what a +lot he's done." + +"How nice it looks! Doesn't it make a difference?" said another voice +that he guessed was Bella's. "Wait a minute; I've got to let out the +fowls, and give them their breakfast. Come along, Margery, if you want to +throw it to them." + +For once Margery was quite indifferent to the fowls. "Is your 'get-me-not +growing, daddy?" she shouted anxiously, as she raced up to him. + +"My dear life, yes! I should just think it is. You give it a look as you +go by. I think it is wonderful." + +"Oh, it is, isn't it? I think it's lovely. I am so glad I gave it to +you. Are you glad, daddy?" + +"Glad, I should think I am, and no mistake! Never was gladder of anything +in my life," said her father heartily. + +Margery's face was radiant with joy. "What are you going to plant in your +garden now, daddy?" + +"Cabbages." + +"Oh!" disappointedly, "I don't like cabbages, they haven't pretty flowers, +and they haven't a pretty smell." + +"Well, we can't have everything pretty, and glad enough we are of cabbages +for dinner sometimes. The hens like them better than any flower, don't +they?" + +"Yes, so they do. I'll be able to give some of the leaves to the fowls, +won't I?" + +"Yes, if you don't give them too many." + +"I must go now and see if my daisy is growing, and the marigold. +I'll be back again in a minute," and away she trotted. + +The others were sauntering slowly back from the fowl-house, and pausing to +look at Charlie's strawberry plants on their way, when suddenly the +silence was broken by a succession of squeals and shrieks and frantic +calls to each one by name. + +"Oh-h-h! oh-h! oh!! Bella! Daddy! Tom! Do come here. Charlie! oh, +look, do look! there's a lovely rose bush growed up in my garden through +the night, and it's got leaves on it! Oh, how did it come? Daddy, do +come and see it. You never saw anything so wonderful." + +They all ran, of course. Bella and the boys nearly as excited as Margery, +and full of curiosity, their father full of pleasure with the success of +his surprise. + +"Daddy, do come and look. It is a real one, isn't it?" Clutching him by +the hand to hurry him. "It isn't a fairy rose, is it?" anxiously. + +"It's a real one right enough, in my opinion," said her father, looking +very grave, and stooping down to inspect the little bush. "It's a real +one right enough," he assured her solemnly, as he straightened himself +again. "Looks healthy too." + +"Do you think the fairies put it there for me?" she asked, breathlessly, +watching her father closely and trying to read his face. "Or do you think +God sended it to me 'cause I've been a good girl?" + +"Have you been a good girl?" doubtfully. "Are you sure?" + +"Yes, I think so," hesitatingly; "haven't I, Bella?" turning her anxious +little face from one to the other. + +"Yes," said Bella loyally, "you've been very good." + +"That's it, then, I expect it has been sent to your garden because you've +been good." + +"P'raps God telled the fairies, and they put it there," and her little +face grew all bright again at this wonderful explanation. + +The beauty and wonder and mystery of it all took up so much of their time +and attention that there was no more work done that morning, for when Aunt +Emma's call to breakfast came sounding along the path they were still +gathered about Margery's little garden, gazing and marvelling at the +mysterious rose. + +"I must have one look at my herbs before I go in," said Bella to herself +as the call to breakfast reached her; "they are not as lovely as Margery's +rose, but my herb-bed was the beginning, and--and oh I do hope it is all +going to be nicer again, and as happy as it used to be. It really does +seem as if there was a difference already." + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +WHAT AUNT MAGGIE SUGGESTED. + +Bella was right,--there really was a difference already, and, best of all, +the difference continued. Never again could any one say that the Henders' +garden was neglected and untidy. As of old, William Hender worked there +every evening, but now he usually had one or more of his children with +him, and the garden in time became a perfect picture. + +Bella had another and a larger piece of ground given her, in which to grow +flowers, and, as her father often remarked, she must have had the true +flower-lover's hand, for she had only to put in roots or seeds or cuttings +of any kind, for them to grow and blossom their best, and throughout the +spring, summer, and autumn her garden was a picture. + +A year passed by, and Charlie's strawberry bed had yielded its first crop, +and Tom's vegetables had provided more than one meal for the family, and, +of course, had tasted better than any others that were ever grown. +Over the wall at the back of Margery's garden the fairy rose had grown +rapidly, covering the old stones with clusters of snowy blossoms. +The whole of Margery's garden was well stocked by this time, for night +after night mysterious plants had been placed there,--planted, as she +firmly believed, by the fairies, who had 'been telled by God' to take it +to her because she had been good; and that must have been the reason, +she felt sure, for whenever she was very good, some new flower always +appeared. + +Another winter passed over the little household, a happy one, on the +whole, in spite of stormy scenes at times with Aunt Emma, sharp words and +sharp answers. The boys, as they grew older, found it harder to bear with +her short, cold answers, her sharp commands, and constant snubbings of +them in almost everything they said and did. Bella, who had never quite +recovered from the shock of the scene when her aunt had beaten her so +unmercifully, had an anxious time trying to stave off quarrels between +them, and soften harsh words and pert answers, which might lead to them. + +Bella had never forgotten that dreadful Monday, nor had she ever forgotten +the talk with Aunt Maggie after, and the aim she had set before herself to +do her best to make the house more comfortable and happy, and more what +her mother would have made it had she been alive. She often failed, very +often, in fact, and often despaired, but she never quite gave in, or, if +she did, it was for a little while only. + +There were many hills to climb on the road she had chosen, but there were +many pleasant valleys too, and if sometimes her feet faltered and +stumbled, and she felt weary and disheartened, and looked at the next hill +hopelessly, feeling that she never could mount it, there were also happy +hours, and sweet flowers and sunshine to cheer her, and sometimes there +was such a feeling of hope and joy over all as made her heart sing and her +spirits dance. For the house really was tidier and less neglected, her +father came home regularly now, and was with them more, and she herself +had something to do, some object in life, some work that she could do +herself, and take a pride in. + +Thus it was, when the spring came that was to bring such changes to their +lives, such steep hills to climb that they wondered sometimes if there was +any valley beyond, where they could rest a little, or any sunshine +anywhere, so heavy were the shadows. + +Bella's flower-beds were a picture that year, and her herb-bed too, with +its great sprays of curly parsley, and bushes of mint and thyme, sage and +borage. In fact, all the garden was a goodly sight, and no one would have +recognised it for the garden of a year ago. There were rows of peas and +beans, just coming to perfection, and every other kind of vegetable that +space could be found for. The fruit bushes were laden with promise of +supplies in store, and already Miss Hender was making jam of the rhubarb, +which filled up one corner of the garden with its handsome great leaves. + +"It does seem a pity sometimes that I can't do more with all my flowers," +said Bella one day. She had carried a glorious bunch of sweet peas and a +basket of vegetables to Mrs. Langley. "I give away a good many, but most +people have their own, and don't really want any more, and they just grow +and flower and fade, and nobody but ourselves see them. Aunt Emma won't +let me bring in more than one little bunch at a time, so they just waste, +and it does seem a pity when there's a lot, and all so pretty." + +Mrs. Langley looked at her lovely nosegay thoughtfully. "Child," she said +at last, "why don't you do up some bunches, and carry them into Norton on +a market day, or any other day, and try to sell them? Why, I've known my +missis, when I was in service, give shillings for flowers no better than +you bring me day after day, and not as fresh and strong either, by a long +way." + +"Sell my--flowers!" The suggestion, coming so suddenly, made Bella gasp. +"Oh, but, Aunt Maggie, how could I? I should have to go to people's +houses and ask them to buy, shouldn't I? I don't believe I'd ever be able +to make up my mind to." Bella looked alarmed at the mere idea, but though +alarmed she was also pleased with the daring suggestion, and her cheeks +grew rosy red with excitement. Mrs. Langley nodded thoughtfully, but she +did not reply at once. With many girls she would not have approved of +such a plan, but she thought Bella could be trusted. + +"Yes," she said at last, "I think you could be trusted, child, not to grow +bold and rude and pushing, even if you had to ask people to buy your +flowers. You might, perhaps, be able to arrange with a florist to take +all you had every week. Of course, he would want to make a profit, so you +wouldn't get so much for them, but you would be saved a good deal of time +and trouble, maybe." + +"Oh, but, Aunt Maggie, do you think I could? Do you think I should ever +sell any?" + +Bella was still half bewildered by the suddenness and boldness of the new +proposal. There were so many sides to it, too, pleasant and unpleasant. +It would be splendid, she thought, to be able to turn her garden to +account, and to feel her lovely flowers were not wasted. It would be +splendid, too, to be able to put her money each week in her money-box. +She had been longing for some time past to be able to buy a glass frame to +protect some of her seedlings through the winter,--and who knew but what +her flowers would make this possible for her? The thought thrilled her. + +On the other hand, she did shrink shyly from the prospect of going up to +people and asking them to buy, and also from the thought of what her +father and Aunt Emma would say. She mentioned this last thought to Aunt +Maggie. + +"If you would really like me to," said Mrs. Langley, "I will speak of it +to your father before you do, and then, if he falls in with the plan, he +can talk to your aunt about it. You see, Bella, child, there is another +thing to bear in mind. You are nearly fourteen now, and before very long +you'll have to be thinking about earning your living, and you'll have to +go to service, or think of some way of earning it at home." + +"I've been thinking of that, Aunt Maggie;" and a moment later she added +sadly, "and if I went to service I'd have to leave all my flowers." + +"Of course you would, dear. It would be a great loss to you, wouldn't +it?" + +"Oh," sighed Bella, realising for a moment how great a loss it would be, +"I don't believe I could ever bear it." + +Aunt Maggie smiled sadly. "You could, dear. You will have far harder +trials than that to bear, I am afraid, or you will be more than +fortunate," and she added after a moment's silence, "We can make our +garden wherever we are, and plant our seeds, and raise our flowers." + +"Not in service, Aunt Maggie?" cried Bella, incredulously, "they wouldn't +give me a bit of ground, would they, anywhere I went?" + +Mrs. Langley smiled. "They might in some places where the servant makes +it her home, and the mistress tries to make it a real home to her, they +let her have a little bit of ground to call her own. But I was thinking, +dear, of another kind of garden,--the garden of life, where we can sow +good seed or bad, and raise flowers, where we and others have to tread. +Flowers of patience and honesty, good-temper, willingness, and +cheerfulness. They are very precious flowers to most people, for few get +many such along the way they have to tread; and a sunny smile or a cheery +word, or a kind act will often lighten the whole of a dull, hard day. +Don't ever forget to grow those flowers, my dear, or to shed sunshine +wherever God may order you to dwell." + +"Does God order that, Aunt Maggie? Does He tell people where they must +go? and shall I have to do as He tells me, and go where He sends me?" + +"Yes, dear, and you can trust Him. He will only send you where you are +needed, and where it is best for you to be." + +Bella went home in a very, very thoughtful mood that night. "I wonder +where God is going to send me, and what work He has for me to do?" +The idea filled her mind until, as she reached home, the thought suddenly +rushed into her head, "I wonder what father will say, when he hears what +Aunt Maggie wants to talk to him about!" + +What her father did say when first the plan was mooted, was a downright +"No! I can keep my children as long as I can work, and Bella can find +enough to do at home." + +"Yes, I know," answered Aunt Maggie gently, when he had repeated this more +than once, and each time more emphatically. "And what about the time when +you can't work, William? or, if anything was to happen to you? +Do you think it is right or fair to bring up children without any +knowledge that'll earn them a decent, respectable living?" + +William Hender had no answer ready, and sat trying in vain to find one. + +"If she were to begin in a small way, such as I'm suggesting, who knows +but what, in time, she might work up a little business, and be able to +make quite a nice little living out of her flowers and things? She has a +wonderful gift for raising them and understanding them, and it does seem a +sin not to make use of it. Don't you think so?" + +William Hender nodded thoughtfully; this new way of looking at things +impressed him. He was proud, too, of Bella's skill with her garden, and +his thoughts flew beyond the present to the future, where in his mind's +eye he saw a tidy little shop well stocked with fruit and flowers and +vegetables, and Bella the prosperous owner of it all, and his heart +swelled with pride. + +"You are right, Maggie," he said, as he rose to go. "You always are, I +think. I'll talk to Emma about it, and I'll look about me the next time I +go to Norton, and see if there's any shop there that'll be likely to take +her flowers. It might be better for her to sell them that way. +Good-night." + +Bella's heart beat fast and furious when she heard that her father +approved of the scheme, and when the children were told about it they all +flew into a state of wild excitement. Of course they all wanted to be +market-gardeners at once. "Why can't we all go shares in a stall in +Norton Market?" cried Tom. "Bella can sell flowers and herbs, and me +vegetables, and Charlie fruit, and Margery----" + +"Fairy roses," said Margery eagerly. She always called her flowers that +had come so mysteriously 'fairy flowers.' + +"I was in Norton Market-house once," went on Tom, "and oh, it's a fine +place!" + +Norton, their nearest and largest market-town, was five miles off, and as +there was no railway to it, and they had no cart to take them, a visit to +the town was one of the rarest treats they knew. + +When the first excitement had worn off, and Aunt Emma had been talked to +and won over, and all that remained to be done was for their father to go +to Norton and look out for a florist, matters seemed to go no further. +He was at work on every day of the week except Saturday afternoons, and +then there was always so much to be done at home he never seemed able to +spare the time. Five miles to Norton and five miles back was a long +distance to cover, with no other means of covering it than one's own two +feet, or a chance 'lift'; and he kept on putting the matter off. + +"All my sweet-peas are passing," sighed Bella, when another Saturday had +come and gone, and her father had not again spoken of going to Norton. +"Tom, I've a good mind to go myself next Saturday, and take some flowers, +and try to sell them. Will you come with me? Do you think you could walk +so far?" + +Tom was indignant at this reflection on his manliness. "Walk it! I should +rather think so! I can if you can, anyhow!" + +"It's a good long way," said Bella reflectively; "p'raps we could get a +lift home. I wonder if Aunt Emma will let us go? Oh, Tom, I wish she +would. I shall hate it at first, but it does seem a pity to waste all my +flowers, and I do want to earn some money to buy a hotbed and some more +seeds; there's ever so many kinds I want to get." + +To their great surprise, Aunt Emma agreed quite willingly to the scheme as +soon as she was told of it. She saw nothing to object to in it, she said, +and it never entered her head to think that the walk might be too long for +either of them. "If Saturday turns out wet or rough, you needn't go," +she said cheerfully. + +"I should have to if I'd got customers waiting," thought Bella; but she did +not argue the point; she was thankful to have won the permission she +wanted, and too fearful of losing it, to run any risks. + +How the four children lived through the excitement of the next few days +they scarcely knew. For Charlie and Margery there was disappointment +mingled with the excitement,--disappointment that they could not go too; +but there was much that was thrilling, even for those who stayed at home, +and they were promised that they should walk out along the road to meet +the others at about the time they would be expected back. + +Tom, on the whole, got the most enjoyment out of it all, because for Bella +there was a good deal of nervous dread mingled with the excitement and +pleasure. + +"I do hope I meet with nice customers," she said to Aunt Maggie the day +before, when she went down to ask her to help her re-trim her rather +shabby Sunday hat for her. "I hope they don't speak sharp when they say +they don't want any flowers." + +"You generally find folks speak to you as you speak to them," said Aunt +Maggie consolingly. "If you are civil, you will most likely meet with +civility from others. Look, I've got a large shallow basket here that I +thought would do nicely to hold your flowers and show them off prettily. +The cover will help to keep them fresh. You'll have to be up early to +gather them, child. And do give them a drink of water before you start. +You'll find they'll last fresh twice as long. In fact, I believe it would +be even better to gather them the evening before, and let them stand in +water all night, then you would only have to arrange them in bunches +before you start." + +Bella thanked her delightedly, and ran off home with her new basket and +her old hat, feeling as proud and pleased as any child in the land. + +That night she went to bed early, but scarcely a wink did she sleep, and +glad enough she was when the old grandfather's clock in the kitchen at +last struck four. She got up then, and very quietly began to dress +herself, after which she called Tom. It was early, but not too early, +considering all that they had to do. For this once, at any rate, the +flowers had to be gathered and arranged in bunches and given a drink. +Bella and Tom had to dress themselves in their best, and make themselves +look as neat and nice as possible, and walk the five miles and be in +Norton in good time, for Aunt Maggie had told them that the ladies of the +place would most probably be the best and most pleasant customers, and +that as a rule they went out to do their shopping as soon as they could +after breakfast. + +"You ought to be there by ten at he latest," she had said, and Bella +promised not to be later. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +FIRST CUSTOMERS. + +On such a beautiful morning, before the sun had grown too hot, walking was +pleasant enough, and Bella and Tom, excited and very eager over their new +experience, did not feel tired; and if they did wish the distance shorter, +it was only that they might be on the scene of action more quickly. + +For the first part of the way they had the road mostly to themselves, +but as the morning advanced, and as they drew near to Norton, they were +constantly being overtaken by carts laden with all sorts of people and +things: live fowls in coops, calves, little pigs under nets, or a fat +sheep fastened in at the back of a market cart. Many of the market carts +had women seated in them, carrying large white baskets full of fowls and +ducks, or eggs and butter, all carefully tucked away under snow-white +cloths. There were smaller carts, too, full of vegetables and fruit; and +one which particularly roused Bella's interest was a florist's cart laden +with beautiful ferns and flowers in pots, and, alas! for her own little +supply, boxes of cut flowers. + +A wave of hot blood swept over her cheeks. Her pretty bunches, so +daintily and carefully arranged, seemed to her suddenly to become poor and +shabby and worthless beside that handsome show of hothouse geraniums and +roses, maidenhair and other ferns, and her step grew slow as her spirits +sank. How could she ever go on and face all the people, and show them her +poor little store? + +Tom looked round at last, to see what the matter was, but he only laughed +when Bella told him. "Oh, well," he said cheerfully, "I don't suppose he +began with a pony and trap, and who is to say that we shan't be driving +one some day! My eye, Bella, wouldn't it be fine to have a little +turn-out like that!" and he capered in the road with delight at the +thought. + +Bella's spirits rose again. "If I had a greenhouse," she said, "I dare +say we could grow maidenhair ferns, and roses too. Tom, do you think it +would cost a lot of money to build a greenhouse?" + +"No," said Tom sturdily; "I believe we could build one ourselves if we'd +got the stuff. Bella, I'm going to learn carpentering, you see if I +don't, and then I'll be able to make lots of things, hot-beds and +greenhouses, and hencoops, and wheelbarrows." + +Bella laughed. "We seem to be going to do a lot--some day, but I think we +shall be old men and women before that day comes." Tom's enthusiasm was +very cheering, though. "There are lots of lovely flowers I can grow +without a greenhouse," she said, more contentedly; "just think, Tom, of +stocks and carnations and roses, and--and lavender. Oh, Tom, won't we +have a load to bring, in time, if we can get people to buy them!" + +They had reached the town by this time, and all Tom's attention was taken +up by the busy crowds. "We'd better go to High Street first, hadn't we? +That's where all the shops are, and the Market-house, and most of the +people." + +"We'd better uncover our baskets first, and show what we've got to sell, +hadn't we? I don't think it's too soon, do you?" + +Bella rested hers against the railings of a church they were passing at +the moment, and lifting off the cover, and turning back the damp cloth, +she carefully raised her pretty bunches, and arranged them to what she +thought was the best advantage. Her spirits rose again at the sight of +them, for they certainly were very lovely, and so sweet! There were +bunches of sweet-peas of all colours, and some of white only, and pink +only, and some of every shade of violet, from the deepest to the palest. +There were roses too, and 'boy's love,' mignonette, stocks, and pinks. + +"Oh, they are sweet!" exclaimed Bella, as she drew in great breaths of +their fragrance. "I am sure I should want to buy them if I saw any one +else selling them." + +"Come on," said Tom impatiently; he could not see that it mattered much +how the bunches were arranged. + +They strolled slowly on again, Bella feeling very conscious now, and very +shy. She was wondering how she must begin. Must she go up to people and +stop them, and ask them to buy her flowers? + +Tom was so taken up with watching a sheepdog guiding a flock through the +busy street, he forgot all about his duties as a salesman. + +"Do stand still a minute and watch," he pleaded, and Bella stood. + +How long they had stood she never knew, when she was suddenly recalled to +the present, and her duty, by a voice saying, "What a perfectly lovely +show of flowers! and, oh, the scent!" and looking quickly round, she found +two ladies standing beside her gazing at her basket. + +"Are they for sale?" asked one of the ladies, looking at Bella with a +pleasant smile. + +"Oh yes, ma'am, miss, I mean," stammered poor, shy Bella, and, to hide her +blushing cheeks, she bent and lifted out some of her flowers that the +ladies might see them better. + +"How much a bunch are they?" + +"Tuppence each the big ones, ma'am, and a penny the little ones," +stammered Bella. She longed to give them to the lady, and ask her not to +pay any money at all for them. "Some are all shades of one colour, and +some are mixed." + +"It is wonderful," she heard one lady say softly to the other. "I gave a +shilling in London a day or two ago for a much smaller bunch than this." + +"Where do you get such beautiful flowers?" she asked, turning again to +Bella with her pleasant smile. + +"I grow them myself, ma'am," said Bella, with shy pride. + +"Do you really? Well, you must be a born gardener, I am sure, and you +deserve to get on. Mary,"--turning to her companion again,--"I will +have pink sweet-peas of different shades for the dinner-table to-night, +and then that point will be settled and off my mind. Nothing could be +prettier. Can you,"--to Bella--"give me six bunches of pink ones? +At least four of pink, and two of white?" + +Bella turned over her store eagerly, and found the number wanted. + +"I must have some of your mignonette," said the other lady, "for the sake +of the smell, and a bunch of those roses too. How much each are they?" + +"Tuppence the roses, and a penny the mignonette, ma'am," said Bella. + +"There is my money," said the sweet-pea lady, handing her a shilling. + +"And there is my threepence," said the mignonette lady. "Do you come +every week with flowers?" + +"I am going to try to, ma'am," said Bella. "This is the first time I've +been." + +"Well, if you will call at my house when you come, I dare say I shall +often be glad to have some of your flowers." + +Bella's face brightened. She was so glad she would have this kind, +friendly lady to go to; it would be splendid, too, to have a regular +customer. That was what Aunt Maggie had hoped she would get. + +"I live in the house next to the church. Do you remember passing a church +at the top of the street, just as you come in to Norton?" + +"Oh yes!" Bella and Tom exclaimed together. "We stopped by it to arrange +our flowers." + +"Well, the house next to it is mine. You won't forget, will you? +Mrs. Watson, No. I High Street." + +"Oh no, we shan't forget," they both answered her earnestly. "As if we +could," said Tom, as he watched their two customers disappearing down the +street. "I wish we could meet with some more customers like them." + +Half an hour went by without bringing them another of any kind. +The fact was, they were so shy they stood back in a quiet corner, where +they were hidden by the crowd from any likely customers. + +"I'm afraid the flowers will begin to droop, if we don't sell them soon," +said Bella at last; and the thought spurred her into going up to a house +near by and knocking at the door. + +"Please, do you want any flowers?" she asked timidly of the rather +grim-looking woman who came to the door. + +"No, I don't," snapped the woman crossly. "The idea of bringing me to the +door for nothing! Anybody'd think I'd got nothing else to do!" +And the door was shut in Bella's face with a bang. + +"Doesn't it make a difference how anybody speaks?" said Tom, receiving +unconsciously a lesson in good manners and bad that he never forgot to the +end of his life. But the woman's bad manners and temper had affected +Bella so strongly that her eyes had filled with tears, and the little +courage she had had ebbed away. + +"I shall know now what it feels like to be spoken to so," she said in a +husky voice, as she hastily wiped her eyes. + +"Flowers, ma'am? Tuppence and a penny a bunch. Fresh this morning," said +Tom brightly. + +An old lady was peering closely into his basket, examining the contents. + +"Give me three of those that are smelling so sweet." + +Tom picked out one of stocks and 'boy's love,' and one of pinks and +mignonette, and a bunch of roses. + +"Have you got any lavender?" + +"No, ma'am." + +"I could bring you some in a week or two, ma'am," said Bella promptly, +forgetting the snub she had received in the old lady's enjoyment of her +flowers. "It isn't quite ready to cut yet." + +"Very well, bring me two shillings' worth. I make it up into cushions to +sell for Missions. If it is nice, I may order more." + +"Thank you, ma'am; I'll cut it fresh the morning I bring it," said Bella +delightedly. + +"Very well; I live in this house we are standing by," and she pointed to +the very one they had just been turned away from. + +Bella's face flushed at the mere thought of having to face the +bad-tempered servant again, but, as she remarked to Tom afterwards, they +were told to call, and they wouldn't have gone unless they had been. + +"That makes eighteenpence," said Tom, as Bella slipped the money into her +purse, "and an order for two shillings' worth for another week. +Ain't we getting on!" + +"If we can only sell a few more bunches we'll go and get something to +eat," said Bella. "I'm hungry; ain't you?" + +"Starving," said Tom, with emphasis. "Let's get into a better place, +where the people can see us." + +"Flowers, penny a bunch," he called to the people as they passed by, +and so many turned and looked, and then stopped, that they had soon sold +half a dozen of their big bunches and many of the small ones. +Their flowers were certainly very good and very cheap, and Norton people +had not had the chance of buying such before. The florist who had passed +the children on the road had a stall in the market-place, but he only sold +hothouse flowers, and charged very highly for them. + +"We have only six bunches left," said Bella joyfully; "we'll go and have +something to eat now. Where can we go for it, Tom?" + +"There's a stall in the market-house where they sell limpets and cockles, +and----" + +"Oh, I don't want limpets and cockles! I want a glass of milk and some +buns. Don't you?" + +"Rather," said Tom; "let's buy some buns at that shop down there, and go +somewhere quiet to eat them. I wouldn't like to eat them in the shop, +with every one looking, would you?" + +"No; but we can't take milk away without something to carry it in." + +"Well, we'll drink water. There's sure to be a pump or a +drinking-fountain near." + +So they went to the shop, and very proud Bella felt as she took out her +purse and paid for the four buns the woman put in a bag for her. + +"Anything else, missie?" + +"No, thank you," said Bella, but rather regretfully, as her eyes fell on +the tarts and sausage-rolls, and the bottles of sweets, and on the glasses +of milk labelled 'Penny a glass.' A glass each would have cost twopence, +and that with the buns would amount to sixpence. "It would be a dreadful +lot out of what we've made," thought Bella, and bravely turned away. + +The smell of the new buns was very enticing to two hungry little people +who had had nothing to eat since their seven o'clock breakfast, and they +did not dawdle on their way back to the friendly shelter of the church +steps. + +"Won't Charlie and Margery be excited to hear all about it?" laughed +Bella, as she munched in placid content. "We ought to take something home +to them." + +"We'll take them one of those peppermint walking-sticks," said Tom, +"shall we? They love that. I had one once, and Charlie always wanted one +like it. I saw some in the market." + +"We'll take them one each. Isn't it lovely to have money, and be able to +buy things for people?" + +"Rather," agreed Tom heartily. "Bell, I'm going to bring something from +my garden next week. I've got French beans and marrows ready to cut." + +A lady passed, and looked hard at the children and at the baskets standing +beside them. + +"Flowers, ma'am?" said ready Tom. + +The lady paused. "I must see if I have any change," she said, and stood +still while she looked in her hand-bag. "Yes, I've just threepence," and +she went away carrying two of their remaining bunches. + +For a few minutes longer they sat on, loth to move. "My legs are aching a +bit, aren't yours?" asked Bella. + +Tom nodded. "I shouldn't be sorry if we were at the other end of the five +miles, should you?" + +"I wish we were," sighed Bella, "and just meeting Charlie and Margery. +I wonder if they've started yet?" + +A lady came along pushing an invalid carriage, on which a little girl was +lying. She lay perfectly flat, and looked very white and ill. As she +passed she looked with wistful, weary eyes at Tom and Bella. Bella had +picked up her basket to make room for the carriage to pass. + +"Oh, what lovely flowers!" cried the little girl. "Mummy darling, do buy +some. Are they for sale?" she added quickly, looking at Bella, a hot +blush passing swiftly over her pale face. + +"Yes, miss," said Bella, blushing too. + +"I am sorry, darling, but I came out without my purse. I haven't a penny +with me." + +"Oh!" there was deep disappointment in the little invalid's tone. + +Bella picked out the nicest bunch she had left. "Will you please to +accept one?" she asked, blushing again, but very prettily. "I grew them +myself. Will you take one, miss?" + +The lady looked pleased, yet embarrassed. "It is very, very kind of you," +she said, hesitating, "but I hardly like to. It seems almost like asking +for them, and I expect you wanted to sell them?" + +"We have sold a lot, nearly all we brought in. Please take them, ma'am;" +and the lady, feeling it would give Bella more pleasure to have them +accepted as a gift than paid for, did so with many thanks, and the little +lady's delight was the richest payment Bella had had that day. + +"Oh, thank you, thank you very much!" she cried delightedly, pressing the +flowers to her pale face and breathing in the scent. "Do you come here +often with flowers?" + +"This is the first time," said Bella; "but we want to have some to bring +every week. We've sold all we brought but these." + +The lady looked in her basket. "If only I had my purse with me I should +be glad to have those from you. Do you mind coming back to my house with +me? It is not very far." + +"No, ma'am, we'll come, but,"--Bella hesitated, wanting to say something, +yet hardly knowing how to--"but if you don't want to go back, and--and if +you like to take them, we'll trust--I mean, next week will do." It was +out at last, amid a great deal of blushing. + +The lady smiled. "Well, that is very thoughtful of you, and if you are +sure you don't mind trusting me I shall be much obliged to you, for I have +to be at my mother's house at one o'clock, and I think it must be that +now. Stella, darling, you would like to carry the flowers, wouldn't you? +That's it. Then I owe you fourpence for two twopenny bunches. I will not +forget. Perhaps I shall see you here at this same place at the same time +next week?" + +"Yes, ma'am." + +"Good-morning, and thank you." + +"Good-morning, ma'am," they both answered; and the little invalid called +back gratefully, "Good-bye, and thank you ever so much for my lovely +flowers." + +"Now," said Tom excitedly, "all we've got to do is to walk home." + +"When we've got the children's walking-sticks," corrected Bella, and they +both hurried down to the market-house to get them. + +"We'll take home some cinnamon rock to Aunt Emma," said Bella; "she likes +that better than anything." + +At last, with their baskets empty save for their purchases, they proudly +and joyfully turned their faces homewards, delighted in every way with +their day's experiences. + +The walk home certainly did seem rather long, far longer than the walk +out, but they were very tired, of course, for they had been on their feet, +with scarcely any rest, since four in the morning. The sun was hot too, +and the road dusty, and such a number of carriages and carts passed them +that the air all the time seemed full of a haze of dust--at least it did +until they had got a couple of miles or so away from Norton. After that +it grew less bustling and much pleasanter. And then by the last +milestone, which was a good mile from May Lane, they found their father +and Margery and Charlie waiting for them. + +All their tiredness vanished then in a trice, and the last mile was +covered and home reached almost before they had begun to tell all they had +to say. + +It was not much past four o'clock by the time they reached the cottage, +but Aunt Emma had finished all her scrubbing and cleaning, and had tidied +herself, and got tea all spread ready for them, and she actually came out +to meet them, seeming really glad to see them, and when they gave her the +cinnamon rock it was plain to see that she was really pleased that they +had thought of her. + +"Now come in and take off your boots, and put on your old slippers to rest +your feet; you must be tired out," she said kindly. They certainly looked +very tired, though they were too excited just then to feel so. + +"There's apple-tart for tea," whispered Margery, as she followed Bella +upstairs. "I saw Aunt Emma making it. It's for you and Tom!" + +Bella could hardly believe her ears, but when they sat down to table there +was the tart, sure enough; and as they sat there eating and talking over +their adventures and drinking their tea and laughing, Bella thought she +had never known such a perfectly happy, lovely day in all her life before. + +And how splendid it was to hear them all exclaim when Bella took out her +purse and counted out on the table the money she had earned that day! +"And there's sixpence owing, and four-pence we spent on buns, that would +make ten-pence more!" she said proudly. + +"You must put it in the Savings Bank towards buying your cold frame," said +her father; "and it won't be so very long either before you'll have enough +to get it with, if you do as well every week as you have to-day. +You can't always expect, though, to have such a lot of flowers as you've +got just now." + +"I think I shall take some bunches of herbs in with me next time," said +Bella. "Don't you think they'd sell, father?" + +"I should think most people grow their own," said her father; "still, you +can but try. The weight of them won't hurt you, even if you have to bring +them back again." + +"Bella, if I've got some flowers next Saturday, will you take in a bunch +and sell them for me?" asked Margery excitedly. "Then I'll have a penny +to put in the bank too." + +"Oh, yours are fairy flowers," teased Charlie; "they would die on the way, +or turn into something else." + +Margery was not going to be teased. "P'raps they'd turn into fairies," +she said, nodding her head wisely at her brother; "then they'd turn all +Bella's pennies into golden sov'rins, and make a little horse and carriage +to drive her home in." + +"I'll find you some sandwiches or cake or something to take with you next +week," said Aunt Emma; "it's a pity you should spend your money on buns +and things. It'll be better for you, and cheaper, to take your own with +you." + +Tom and Bella could scarcely believe their ears, but they felt very +pleased, and thanked her very gratefully. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +WHAT LAY BEYOND THE MILESTONE. + +The next week the children went off far more heavily laden than they had +been when they made their first venture. Bella had added a few bunches of +herbs to her large supply of flowers, and a bunch or two from Margery's +garden, and she had to carry both her baskets herself, for Tom's +vegetables proved load enough for him. He had wanted to take some +currants for Charlie, but his father would not allow that. + +"They ain't good enough," he said; "it won't do for to begin offering poor +stuff to your customers, or you'll lose those you've got and never get any +more, and you'll have all your load to carry for nothing. You learn to +grow better ones, Charlie, my boy, and then another year you'll be able to +make something by them." + +Charlie's face fell, but he had not given the time or care to his garden +that the others had, and he knew it, and that only made him more vexed. +Life was disappointing to Charlie just then. It seemed to him, and to +Margery too, hard that they also could not go to Norton every Saturday. +The ten-mile walk they forgot all about, they only thought of the pleasure +of being in the midst of all the people and the bustle, and the shops and +market-stalls, with their loads of fruit and sweets and buns. The great +aim of Margery's life then was to grow big enough to carry in a basketful +of flowers too, and sell them, and to possess a purse to put the money in, +and a Savings Bank book, just as Bella had. + +As the summer wore on and the days grew hotter and hotter, the eagerness +of both died down a good deal. It was far more pleasant, they found, to +stay at home and play in the cool lane or orchard, than to get up at four +in the morning and tramp about all day long under the weight of heavy +baskets. Some days they even found it too hot to walk with their father +as far as the milestone. + +Those were trying, tiring days for Tom and Bella, days that put their +courage to the test, and made their perseverance waver more than once. +The walk in the morning was lovely still, but the standing about in the +close, narrow streets, crowded with people and animals, without even a +rest at the end of their five-mile walk, was so wearying that Bella often +longed to sit down on the edge of the pavement to rest her aching feet. + +Her cheeks would grow scarlet, and her head throb, and her eyes ache with +the glare, and the heat and the weight of the baskets, but she could not +do anything to get relief. She had to stand or walk about, trying to sell +her flowers as quickly as possible. There was nothing else to be done. +The poor flowers suffered too, and hard work it was to keep them looking +fresh. + +Sometimes a farmer or carter would offer the two tired little +market-gardeners a 'lift' on their homeward way, but this did not happen +often, for, as a rule, they were all going in the opposite direction. +There were few besides Bella and Tom who left the town so early; and it +would have been cooler and pleasanter for them if they had waited until +the evening and the heat of the day was over, but they were always anxious +to get home, and they really did not know where to go or what to do with +themselves all the weary day until five or six o'clock. + +That was a very long, hot summer. The flowers opened and faded quickly, +in spite of the hours the whole family spent every evening watering them; +and more than once, if it had not been for the fruit from the orchard and +the vegetables, Bella and Tom would have had but a scanty supply to take +to their customers. As it was, they could not carry enough to make very +much profit, for fruit and vegetables are heavy, and to carry a load of +them for miles is no joke. + +Several times that summer, when she awoke after a hot, restless night to +another stifling, scorching day, Bella felt inclined to shirk her business +and remain at home. It would have been so jolly to have spent the day +lazily in the shady orchard, instead of tramping those long, dusty miles. +Tom felt the heat less, and his energy helped to keep her up. + +"We'll have a donkey before so very long," he said cheerfully. "If we can +have a good sowing and planting this autumn, and good crops next spring, +father and all of us, we'll have enough to carry in to make it worth while +to hire Mrs. Wintle's donkey." + +So with the thought of all they were going to do in the future to buoy +them up, off they would start again, hoping that before another Saturday +came the heat would have lessened, and some rain have fallen to refresh +the land and lay the dust. + +Yet, with all its weariness and hard work, that summer ever after stood +out in Bella's memory as a very happy one; and the evenings after their +return, and the Sundays, remained in her memory all her life through. + +Even if Charlie and Margery did not come to meet them, their father was +always there to carry their baskets home for them. And then there was the +change into cool, comfortable old garments, and the nice tea, and the long +rest in the orchard, or sitting about in the porch outside the door, +while they talked over all that had happened during the day. + +They all went to bed by daylight on those light nights, and Bella, as she +stretched out her weary body restfully on her little white bed, could see +through the open window the stars come up one by one in the deep +blue-black sky. + +She was always quite rested by the time Sunday came, and was up and out +early for a look at her garden before getting ready for Sunday-School. +She loved the Sunday-School, and she loved her teacher, and the service +after in the dear old creeper-covered church, where the leaves peeped in +at the open windows, and the birds came in and flew about overhead, and +all the people knew and greeted one another in a friendly spirit. + +On Sundays, too, it was an understood thing that Bella should go to tea +with Aunt Maggie, and this was to her, perhaps, one of the happiest hours +of the whole week, for Aunt Maggie had a little harmonium, to the music of +which they sang hymns. Sometimes, too, she told stories of the days when +she was young, and of people and places she had seen--told them so +interestingly, that to Bella the people and places seemed as real as +though she had known them herself. They had long talks, too, about all +that Bella was doing, and the things that puzzled her, and her plans for +the present and the future. + +"You never seem to be years and years older than me, Aunt Maggie," Bella +said one day, "for you always seem to understand and to like what I like." + +Aunt Maggie smiled. "Some people's hearts don't grow old as fast as their +bodies," she said thoughtfully. "I think it must be that which makes them +understand." + +"I hope my heart won't ever get old," said Bella seriously. "It must be +dreadful not to take any interest in people or anything." + +One Sunday, the last of this old life, so comparatively happy and free of +care, Mrs. Langley stopped Bella just as she was leaving. + +"I want you to come in to see me to-morrow," she said, "and bring Tom with +you. I am making a print frock for you, and a holland coat for him to +wear to market on Saturdays. They'll be much more comfortable for you +both than your thick cloth ones." Then, in answer to Bella's cry of +delight, "You must thank your Aunt Emma, too; 'twas she thought of it +first, and I told her that if she'd get the stuff I'd make the things. +There now, run away home, it is time you were putting Margery to bed. +No, I shall not tell you the colour," laughing, as she loosened Bella's +arms which she had flung round her in her delight; "you will know +to-morrow." + +"I hope it is pink," said Bella earnestly, eyeing her aunt closely, to see +if she could read anything from her face, but Mrs. Langley only smiled. + +"Well, you will know by this time to-morrow. Now, run away, or they will +be wondering what has become of you." + +"To-morrow is such a long way off," sighed Bella. "It'll never come!" + +To-morrow came, as all to-morrows do, and, to Bella's great delight, the +frock turned out to be as pretty a pink as she could possibly desire. +It was very simply made, with just a plain skirt and belted bodice, but +when she saw it finished, and with little white collar and cuffs added, +Bella thought it the prettiest frock she had ever seen in her life. +Perhaps it was the prettiest she had ever possessed, for Aunt Emma did not +understand that clothes could be pretty as well as serviceable, and most +of poor Bella's frocks had been of heavy brown or black stuff, made +without any trimming, and with never a vestige of white at neck or +wrists,--a dainty finish which Bella loved the look of. + +In spite of the heat and the long walk in it, Bella waited impatiently for +the following Saturday, and surely, she thought, never had a week been so +long in passing. + +It was September now, but the weather was as hot and stifling as it had +been in July. The days were shorter, and the sun went down earlier, but, +apart from the sun, the oppressive heat lasted on throughout the nights, +which were almost as trying as the day. The earlier summer flowers were +over, and the drought had prevented the later ones from coming on well, +so that it was difficult to get a good supply week by week. + +Bella and Tom no longer carried in the things from their own little +gardens only, or they would often have found they had not enough to make +it worth their while; but all contributed something that they had to sell, +and it was quite a serious business to make up the accounts and divide the +money when the little market-gardeners got home from market. + +Each one now had a money-box or Savings Bank account. Aunt Emma was +delighted. "It is ever so much better for them than wasting their time +playing," she said to Mrs. Langley one day. "Much better." + +"They ought to play, too," said Aunt Maggie quietly; "this is their +play-time. All the rest of their life will be taken up with trying to +earn a living. Let them play too, when they can." + +As Bella and Tom started off that morning in their nice new cool garments, +they thought that work would be ever so much nicer than play, if one could +only go about it dressed like that always. Tom felt quite grown-up and +business-like in his linen coat, and Bella felt another being, her frock +was so much lighter and so pretty, too, and cool and clean. + +"I think our new clothes have brought us good luck," she said, as long +before the morning was over they had sold out most of what they had +brought. The 'good luck' was that in their new garments, looking cool and +fresh, they attracted the notice of those who had overlooked them in their +heavier, uglier clothes. + +When the time came for them to have their meal, they had sold out +everything, to the very last apple. + +"We could start for home now," said Bella, who was suffering much less +from the heat than usual, "only that I've got some shopping to do for Aunt +Emma." + +"And we've got to buy the seeds," said Tom. "It wouldn't do to start back +too early; father wouldn't have time to get to the milestone to meet us." + +So they went and had their lunch in a leisurely, lazy way, talking all the +time they munched at their sandwiches and apples. "I've got four +shillings for father, and threepence for Margery," said Bella, counting up +her takings, "and two shillings for myself." + +"And I've got two shillings too," chimed in Tom. + +This was a large sum to children brought up in the country, where the +best-paid workmen earned only twelve and sixpence a week. + +Their meal ended, they went back to the shops and people again, and made +their purchases, and at last were able to turn their steps homeward. + +"Instead of being early, we're later than usual," said Tom. "Father will +have to wait a bit for us." + +"Never mind; I dare say we shall be able to walk a little faster to-day," +said Bella, "and make it up. Margery said she would come to meet us. +I wonder if she will. She's dying to wear her pink frock like mine, but I +don't s'pose Aunt Emma will let her. I shall be able to see as soon as we +turn the last bend of the road. The pink will show out fine against the +hedge. Oh dear, I wish we were there! I shall be glad to give these +baskets up to father, these groceries weigh heavy," and Bella sighed +wearily. + +"Only one more hill and two more bends, and we shall see him," said Tom +cheerfully, for one of the chief pleasures of their day was to catch sight +of the milestone where their father had never yet failed to meet them, +to take their baskets from them, and listen to their account of the day's +doings. + +"Only one more hill and two bends!" the thought sent them trudging on with +renewed spirit, and the hill was climbed before they realised it. +Then one bend in the road was rounded, then the other, and there in the +distance could be seen the milestone. But, except for the milestone, the +road was empty! + +"Why, father isn't there!" cried Bella disappointedly; "he is late." + +"P'raps somebody has met him, and kept him talking," suggested Tom; +"we shall see him hurrying along in a minute." So they finished the rest +of the distance with their eyes eagerly scanning the white road stretching +away before them. + +"We will have a rest here, shall we?" said Bella, placing her baskets on +the ground by the old grey stone; "he won't be more than a few minutes, +I expect. Oh, I am so tired, aren't you?" + +Tom, seated on the milestone, only nodded, his eyes never wandered from +the road along which their father was to come. It was very still and +quiet there, almost oppressively so. No one passed, and no sound, except +the voices of the birds and the distant mooing of a cow, broke the +silence. + +"P'raps after all we'd better go on," said Bella at last, after restlessly +fidgeting about, and staring along the dirty road until her eyes ached. + +"It doesn't seem to be much use waiting," said Tom quietly, and they +started on their way again, but far less cheerfully now. Indeed, for such +a trifling and easily explained incident, their spirits were strangely +cast down. A dozen simple things might have happened to prevent their +father's coming; he might have been detained at his work, or have met some +one, and be staying talking to them; or he might have been busy and have +forgotten the time. + +Perhaps it was because they were over-tired and hungry, and in the state +to look on the gloomy side of things, that they could not take a cheerful +view of the matter, or shake off the feeling of depression which filled +them. + +Whether this was so or not, they felt anxious and troubled, and all the +sunshine and pleasure seemed to have gone out of their day. It was almost +as though a foreboding of the truth had come to them--that when they left +the old milestone they were leaving their light-heartedness and childhood +behind them, never quite to find them again. Never, at any rate, the +same. When they left it they set their faces towards a long, dark road, +with many a weary hill and many a desolate space to cross, and with a +heavier burden to bear than any they had yet borne. + +Had they known, their hearts might have failed them altogether, perhaps, +though the way was not to be all as dark and stony for their tired feet, +as at first it had seemed to promise. There would be sunshine on the road +for them too, and pleasant resting-places. + +To them then, as they trudged along in silence, the road they had to tread +seemed hard and gloomy enough, even though it was the road towards home. +Every yard seemed as six, and never a glimpse did they catch of their +father, or Margery, or Charlie. Bella walked that mile often and often in +the years that followed, but never again without remembering that +afternoon. + +At last, as they drew near the top of 'their own lane,' as they called it, +they saw a woman standing; she had no hat on her head, and appeared to be +waiting and looking eagerly for some one. When she caught sight of the +children, she hurried forward to meet them. Bella soon recognised her, it +was Mrs. Carter, Billy Carter's mother, and she wondered why she was there +in her working-dress, and why her face was so white. + +"Where's father?" asked Bella sharply. She never could tell afterwards +why that question sprung to her lips, or why with a sharp thrill of fear +she knew what the answer would be, before it was spoken. + +"I've come to tell you, my dears,--your--your father's bad; there's been +an accident, and--and you've got to be very quiet." + +"What is it? What's happened? What accident, oh, do tell!" cried Bella +in an agony of alarm at once. It seemed to her then that she had known of +this all along, or expected it. + +"Is--he--dead?" gasped Tom, white and shaking. + +Mrs. Carter seized on the question with some relief. It was one she could +answer with some comfort for them. "No, he isn't dead. He is hurt very +bad, but the doctor thinks he'll get over it--in time--with care. +He's got to go to the hospital, though. Here, let me help you, dear." +She took Bella's baskets from her, and putting her strong arm about the +child's trembling body, helped her along. + +"What happened?" gasped Bella through her poor white, quivering lips. + +"A wall fell and crushed him." + +"Will he get well again?" + +"Yes, dear, oh yes, for certain. We must all hope for the best, you know, +and we must be as brave and cheerful as we can. He's hurt a good bit, and +some bones are broken, but they can't tell exactly what's wrong until they +get him to hospital. Oh yes, dear, he'll get well again, and come home as +right as ever he was,--only it'll be a long time first, perhaps." + +She was a capital person to have been sent to break the bad news to them, +for she herself was cheerful, and hopeful, and sympathetic, in spite of +the real dread at her heart. "We were hoping you would have got home +sooner," she added. "It seemed such a long time I had to wait for you. +He wants to see you before he starts." + +The fact of his being taken from them came home to Bella then with a rush. +"Oh, they mustn't take him away!" she cried, almost hysterically. +"Why can't they let him stay at home? We can nurse him. I know he'd +rather----" + +"Hush! hush!" said Mrs. Carter, "he'll hear you!" for they were nearly at +their own gate by that time. "Bella, dear, you want to do what's best for +your father, don't you, and you don't want to think about yourself? +Well, he has to be where he can have good nursing, and doctors night and +day, and lots of things he couldn't have at home; and if you want him to +get well at all, you must bear with his being taken away from you for a +bit. You mustn't mind it's being harder for you now, if it's going to be +better for him later." + +"But I want to help." + +"Help! My dear, there'll be plenty of ways for you to help! More than +you can reckon. I don't know, I'm sure, how,"--but Mrs. Carter broke off +abruptly. She did not want to add to their trouble now. + +Tom, who had been walking along silently all this time, guessed what she +meant. "We shall have plenty to do," he said gravely, "there'll be all of +us to keep while father is away, and you and me'll have to try to do it, +Bella." + +By this time they were inside the gate, and at the sight of the ambulance +standing in the garden Bella nearly broke down again. Her father had +already been brought out and laid in it, so they were spared that ordeal, +but at the sight of his grey-white face, and closed eyes, and bandaged +form, Bella almost fainted, and Tom had to clench his hands tight, to try +and stop their trembling. + +"He wants to speak to you," said the nurse, beckoning to them to come +forward; "he would not go until he had seen you." + +Almost timidly they drew close to his side and leaned over him. For a +moment he did not look or speak; then, very feebly, his eyelids fluttered +and opened, and the pallid lips moved, but the words that came through +them were so faint they could barely catch them. + +"You'll look after them--till--I come back?" + +"Oh yes, yes," sobbed Bella passionately. + +"We'll take care of them, father," said Tom, speaking very slowly and +distinctly, trying hard all the time to keep his lips steady and his eyes +from growing misty. "Don't you worry, we can manage. They shan't want +for anything, if we can help it. Shall they, Bella?" + +"No, no! only make haste and come back, father!" wept Bella. + +"God bless you both!" gasped the poor injured father. "Now kiss me, +Bella; you'll look after the little one? Tom, boy, take care of them +all." + +They both promised again, as they bent down and kissed him. + +"And you'll come and see me--in the hospital--Saturdays?" + +"Where is it you are going?" asked Bella hurriedly; she had forgotten that +in her excitement. + +"To Norton," he gasped, his strength fast failing. + +Then some one led them away, and the ambulance started on its slow +journey. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +ROCKET'S HELP IS REQUIRED. + +"There will be plenty of ways for you to help." + +Mrs. Carter had never spoken more truly than when she said this, by way of +consoling and bracing up Bella. When the first shock and excitement and +grief had calmed down, the little family at 'Lane End' found themselves +faced with a problem which gave them enough to do and to think about. +This was, how were they all to be fed, and clothed, and warmed, and their +rent paid during the weeks that lay ahead of them? + +Fortunately, their poor father had received his week's wages just an hour +or so before he met with his accident, and fortunately the money was found +still safe in his pocket, when his clothes had to be cut off him. +This was something, but they all realised that it was the last that he +would earn for many a day, and that there were five of them to support, +and that money must be earned by some one to support them week by week. + +Miss Hender grew nearly crazy, and gave way to black despair. She was +always one for looking on the black side of things, and adding trouble and +depression where there was more than enough already. + +"It is a terrible thing to be left without a minute's warning, with four +children to support, and enough to do already, without having to earn a +living for them. I had better ask for parish relief; I don't see what +else I can do," she groaned. + +"Oh, Aunt Emma, don't do that!" cried Bella, horrified. + +"It's all very well to say 'don't do that,'" her aunt answered +impatiently. "I must do something. You wouldn't like to starve, I'm +thinking, and if I let you, I'd be had up for neglect and sent to prison!" +and she collapsed into tears and groans again. + +"Aunt Emma, don't go on like that! We'll get on somehow, and nobody shall +blame you. We can make enough out of the garden to keep us yet for a +bit," said Tom gravely. + +These last days had changed Tom from a child into a man. He had not said +much, but he had thought a great deal, and done more. After the Sunday, +that strange, quiet Sunday, when he had been into Norton with his aunt and +Bella to see the poor sufferer in the hospital, he had quietly set to work +in the garden with all the energy and determination he possessed, for he +had realised that the garden was likely to prove their great 'stand-by,' +and that to provide for the future, it must be cared for now. + +Aunt Emma, instead of thinking and acting, only sobbed and moaned and +despaired, and instead of comforting the children, left them to comfort +her. Perhaps in the end it was best for them, for it is only by helping +and comforting others that one grows strong oneself. + +"We made nine shillings on Saturday," went on Tom hopefully, "and that +wasn't one of our best days." + +"And you think that five of us can live on nine shillings a week!" + +"Couldn't we?" asked Tom disappointedly, "with the eggs and the apples and +the stuff out of the garden?" + +Aunt Emma sniffed scornfully. "With good management we might get along," +she said shortly. "There is no knowing what you can do till you're +brought to it." + +Bella began to lose her temper. "Why couldn't Aunt Emma try and make the +best of things?" she thought impatiently, "instead of making them all more +miserable than they were already. It was very unkind of her, and, after +all, it was harder for them than for her;--but it had never been Aunt +Emma's way to try and make the best of things." + +Yet in her inmost heart Miss Hender did not really think the outlook so +very black. At any rate, she realised that it was very much brighter than +it might have been, if there had been no garden, and the children had not +made that little start of their own; and in her own mind she was planning +how she would take in a little washing, to help them all along. +But poor Aunt Emma's fault was that she would never let people know she +saw any brightness in life at all. She was afraid they would not realise +how much she suffered, and how much she had to bear. + +With spirits greatly damped, Tom and Bella walked away out into the +garden, and there the sweet fresh autumn air and the sunshine soon cheered +them again. + +"What will there be to take in next week?" asked Bella, glancing about +her. "We must carry all we can, for Aunt Emma's sake." + +"There'll be apples," said Tom, "plenty of them hoarding pears, and +cabbages. I wish we had a hand-cart!" he broke out impetuously: +"for there's heaps of stuff, potatoes, and turnips, and carrots, if only +we could get them to Norton, but what we can carry hardly pays for the +time and trouble." + +"I shall have some early chrysanthemums," said Bella, looking lovingly at +her flowers, "and asters, and a few late roses. Oh, I ought to have +opened my hotbed," and away she darted, her face full of eagerness. + +It was only a few days before the accident that she had bought a nice +second-hand frame with her earnings, and her father had fixed it for her. +It was already full of pots of mignonette seeds and fairy-roses, cyclamen +and lilies of the valley, which she was hoping to bring on to sell through +the winter, when flowers would be scarce. + +For once Tom stood by, and paid no heed. He was absorbed in a new idea +that had come to him. "Bella," he said at last, "do you know what I've a +good mind to do?" + +Bella could see from his face that, whatever it was, he was pleased and +excited about it, so she was prepared to back him up. "What is it? +Do tell!" + +"I've a good mind to ask old Mrs. Wintle to let us have her donkey and +cart on Saturday; then we could carry in potatoes and vegetables enough to +make it worth while." + +"Wouldn't she charge a lot?" asked Bella doubtfully. "Doesn't she ask +half-a-crown a day and his food? That would be a lot out of what we make, +and Aunt Emma would grumble like anything!" + +"Of course it would cost something, but see what a lot more stuff we could +take in to sell. I believe it would pay, and I've a good mind to chance +it. I tell you what I'll do. I'll pay for the donkey for a week or two, +out of what I've saved, and then we shall see if it's worth it or not, and +if it isn't, well, Aunt Emma won't be any the worse off." + +"But you will!" + +"I am going to risk it; I'd rather spend my money on that than anything. +I believe it'll answer. Anyway, we shan't know till we try. Think of the +time we shall save too! We needn't start so early by an hour or two, and +we shall get back in time to do a bit of work out here too." + +"That would be fine," agreed Bella, "and we shouldn't be so dreadfully +tired either." The long walk had begun to be rather a trial to her. +"Will you tell Aunt Emma about it, Tom? She takes things better from +you." + +To the surprise of both of them, Miss Hender 'took the news' very well +indeed, and fell in with the plan at once instead of opposing it. +"You'll save ever so much in shoe leather," she said, "and any amount of +time and trouble. And look here," holding out her apron, in which were a +number of large brown eggs, "couldn't you carry in some of these and sell +them? There's some to go to your father, but there's a-plenty more, and +they're fine ones too." + +Bella's face brightened. "Why, of course we could! However didn't we +think of it before? It'll be fine, Aunt Emma," and she longed to skip for +joy. + +"If we'd had them, you couldn't have carried them, you'd got load enough +already; but with the donkey-cart it'll be different." + +When Saturday came, and they began to load up the cart, the wisdom of +Tom's plan was only too plain. There were baskets of flowers and herbs, +one of eggs, and one of pears, a large hamper of apples, a sack of +potatoes, and hampers of turnips and carrots, beets, and onions, leeks, +and parsnips; not to mention a box of celery and one of tomatoes. + +Bella laughed delightedly. "We shall be taking fowls and ducks too, some +day, perhaps!" + +"And why not?" asked Tom. + +"Yes, why not?" said Miss Hender quickly. "What a good thing! Why didn't +you think of it before, Bella? I could see to all that, and I could make +pretty nearly as much by them as all the fruit and flowers put together. +If I'd only thought of it,"--growing more and more enthusiastic--"I might +have got a pair of fowls ready to send in to-day. Never mind, I'll be +ready another time!" And from that chance word of Bella's began what they +later on laughingly called 'Aunt Emma's Poultry Farm.' + +Charlie and Margery watched the proceedings that Saturday morning with +eyes full of envy and longing. They wanted so much to go too, and it did +seem hard to stay behind for the whole long, dull day. + +"You must come to meet us," whispered Bella, "and you shall have a drive +home. We shan't be any earlier, for we're going to the hospital to see +father; then, if he's better, you and Charlie are to come in with us next +week to see him; Aunt Emma says so." + +Bella in her pink frock, and Tom in his holland coat, clambered up into +the cart, and while Tom gathered up the reins Bella picked up the two most +precious of the baskets, and away they started. + +Once clear of the lane, and out on the level high road, Rocket broke into +a smart little trot, and carried them along in fine style. To Bella it +seemed the very height of luxury and enjoyment to be getting over the +ground so quickly, and with no heavy load to carry. The first milestone +seemed to be reached in no time, but when they came to it Bella had to +turn away her head and blink hard, to keep the tears out of her eyes, so +vividly did the sight of it bring back the happy meetings there, and the +thought that not for weeks and weeks, if ever, would they all meet there +again. + +It was a good thing for them both that they were not walking that day, +for the drive, the donkey, and the excitement of the new venture, helped +to lift their thoughts off their trouble, and helped them through. +Some of the people they met stared wonderingly at the little pair of +market-gardeners in the gay green cart. Some smiled and nodded +encouragingly, others called out cheerily, "Hello, young market-gardeners, +you're getting on! That's good, stick to it, and you'll do yet!" + +By this time the regular market-folk who arrived early in the day had come +to know the two children who were so regular and so punctual. + +They both felt very pleased with the attention they received, but they +felt very self-conscious indeed when they drew up at the house by the +church, where their first customer, Mrs. Watson, lived, and even more so +when they went on to Mrs. Adamson, whose little invalid daughter Joan had +bought flowers of them every week since that first meeting. + +Joan grew quite excited when she saw the donkey and cart, but when she +heard of the accident, and the trouble they were all in, she wept for +sympathy. + +"Oh, mummy," she cried, "we must do something to help!" and Mrs. Adamson, +who had been listening intently to the tale of trouble, decided that one +of the best ways of helping would be by buying as much as she could of +what they brought in to sell each week. So of eggs and vegetables, fruit +and flowers, she laid in quite a store, and the children went on their way +in high spirits. Just before they left, Joan called her mother aside for +a whispered consultation. + +"Mummy, darling, do let me send the poor man one of my bottles of +eau-de-Cologne. If his head aches, he will be so glad of it; shall I?" + +"Certainly, darling, and when he is better we will send him some +magazines. Shall we?" + +In a state of great delight Joan handed over the eau-de-Cologne to Bella. +"But we will have the cork drawn first, for he might be glad to use it at +once, and I'll leave the dear little corkscrew in. He'll like to have +that, won't he?" + +"Oh yes, miss," said Bella gratefully; "he's never seen one like that +before. Thank you, miss, I'll tell him you sent it." + +Then Joan had to be carried to the window to look at Rocket and the cart, +and see Tom and Bella start on again. "Do you think you will ever sell +all you've got there?" she asked, with wondering eyes. + +"Yes, I think so. I hope so, miss. I've got a good many regular +customers now, and p'raps we shall get some more. We're going to try it +for a week or two, anyway, just to see." + +Tom's courage was certainly rewarded, for long before the hour when +visiting-time at the hospital began, they had sold out all they had +brought, and were able to take good, patient Rocket to the stable and his +dinner. They had not counted up their takings yet, but Bella felt sure +that there was close on a sovereign in her purse; and they had besides an +order for half a sack of potatoes, a bushel of cooking apples, and a pair +of fowls. They scarcely knew what to do, they were so delighted. + +"Oh, Tom, won't father be glad!" Bella kept on saying; "and won't he be +surprised when he hears about Rocket! He'll think we are getting on fine, +and won't he be pleased about it!" + +"It'll help to get him better, I reckon," said Tom, with quiet delight. + +Tom both felt and acted as though he were ten years older than when he was +in Norton, a week ago. The shock and the responsibility, acting on his +thoughtful, steady nature, had changed him from a boy to a man. Not a sad +or too serious man, yet one who felt that he had to act now, not to play; +to think out what was for the best, and to do it, and not let things +slide, or take their chance, and he took up his responsibilities with a +brave and cheerful spirit. There was no self-pity about Tom; it never +entered his head to think he was ill-used or hard-worked. + +"'Tisn't any hardship, ma'am," he said brightly, when Mrs. Adamson +condoled with them on all they had to do, now they were left alone. +"I like work better than play. You feel then that you'm doing something. +I get tired of play. I like a game of cricket or football, but I mean the +other sort of play." + +Bella, who remembered only too well the dull, miserable years when Aunt +Emma did not like her to play, and would not let her work, agreed with Tom +heartily. "Yes, I like work better than play too," she said emphatically. +"I think it's fine to have a lot to do. There isn't anything makes you so +miserable as doing nothing." + +From two to four were the visitors' hours at the hospital, and long before +that hour had struck Tom and Bella were waiting anxiously for the doors of +the hospital to open. There was quite a little crowd of people besides +themselves, and every one had some little luxury they were taking to the +poor invalids inside. Tom and Bella had fresh eggs and flowers, and, best +of all, the good news of their success that day. They had actually earned +a whole sovereign and threepence! + +To poor William Hender this was good news indeed, for it meant that his +dear ones were not in want--at any rate for the present--and the knowledge +lifted a heavy load from his mind. "Thank God for sending me such help in +my trouble," he murmured gratefully. "I am blessed with good children, +and no mistake!" + +But Bella's happiness had almost vanished at the sight of the poor pale +face on the pillow, and the weak hands that he could scarcely raise. +She had, somehow, expected to see her father much better and more like +himself, but he looked so dreadfully, dreadfully ill and altered that an +awful fear swept over her and gripped her with an icy clutch. +In her anxiety she forgot her shyness, and went boldly up to one of the +nurses, who was standing a little way off. "Do you think father is really +better, miss?" she asked timidly, while every nerve quivered with dread of +the answer. + +"He is getting on," the nurse answered cautiously. "It will be a long +time before he will be well, of course. You mustn't expect to see much +difference for a good while yet." + +"You do think he will get well? You don't think he is--is----" Bella +could not finish her question, her lips quivered so. The nurse, who was +not supposed to talk about the patients to their friends, could not refuse +those frightened pleading eyes. + +"Oh no, no! you mustn't be thinking of such a thing. He is going to get +well presently, and you will have him home for Christmas. What you have +to do is to keep his spirits up, and cheer him all you can, and the doctor +will cure him, and we will take care of him and send him home in time to +eat his Christmas dinner." + +Bella smiled through her tears, and with the worst fear lifted from her +heart she turned to her father again. Till four o'clock they sat by him +and talked, and he listened contentedly. He was anxious to hear every +little detail of all they had been doing at home. He was too weak to talk +much, but he joined in now and then, and laughed a lot at the funny things +they told him. He was very much pleased when he heard about Rocket. + +"I'm thankful you thought of it, my boy. I've been troubling about +Bella's having that long walk in all weathers, and the mornings and +evenings getting darker and darker. Rocket's a good steady donkey too, +I remember him; 'twas I advised poor old Mother Wintle to buy him," and he +laughed at the recollection. + +The laugh raised Bella's spirits again, and their tongues wagged so fast +after that, that when the bell rang at four o'clock for the visitors to +leave, they felt sure there must have been a mistake. "It can't be more +than three!" said Bella, quite distressed. But all the clocks in the town +were striking four, and all the other visitors in the ward were preparing +to leave. Bella's spirits sank again, it seemed so dreadful to go away +and leave her father there, and it took all her courage to keep from +breaking down and weeping bitterly. + +"Never mind," said Tom, trying to be cheerful, "one week has gone, and the +worst one for father, I expect, and p'raps in two or three more he'll be +home again." + +"The nurse said he would be home for Christmas," said Bella dolefully; +"but I think she must have made a mistake, and meant Michaelmas, for +Christmas is more than three months off yet. He'll be sure to be back +before the Fair, won't he, Tom?" + +"Oh yes," said Tom decidedly, with never a doubt. + +The nurse had said Christmas, and she meant Christmas, though, mercifully +for the children, they continued for some time to feel sure she had made a +mistake, and hope burnt brightly in their hearts week after week, and +their spirits were never daunted. + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +HOME AGAIN. + +The nurse had spoken truly enough. William Hender did not die, and he got +back to his home in time for Christmas. All through September and October +the children kept up their hopes, each week they felt sure the next would +bring the news that he was well enough to return to them; but the weeks +went by, September had slipped into October, and October into November, +and still he did not come. + +The heat had suddenly broken up at the end of September, and the weather +turned wet and stormy and depressing. Bella and Tom found the work in the +garden almost beyond their power, and they longed for their father's help +and advice; but week after week went by, and still he could not come, and +the work had to be done somehow, by somebody. + +Then, in November, the blow that some had feared all along fell on them. +The doctor told Miss Hender that her brother might return to his home in a +few weeks' time, but that he would never again be fit for hard work. +He would be able to walk about a little, but he would always be a cripple +and an invalid, and quite unable to carry on his old occupation. + +The news fell on them all with crushing force. Miss Hender fell into her +gloomiest mood, and drew the most miserable pictures of the future, with +six to feed and clothe, rent to pay, an invalid man to keep, and only the +children's earnings to do it all on. + +Bella saw only her poor father's sad fate--a helpless cripple for the rest +of his life, tied to the house, and with nothing to occupy his time, +he who had always been so strong and active, who had never been able to +stay patiently indoors for an hour, unless he had something to do. +And she felt that her heart would break with her sorrow and love for him. + +Little Margery realised only the joy of having him back, and instantly +became full of preparations for his coming. She had a new rose to show +him, and her Sunday-school prize, and she had five shillings in her +money-box, about the spending of which she wanted his advice. + +Tom, watching her plans to give their invalid a happy welcome, decided +that Margery, after all, was the one to imitate, and he tried to throw off +the sickening sense of misery which had overwhelmed him since he had heard +the stunning news, and to follow her example. + +"We've got to make the best of it for his sake," he said to Bella and +Charlie, as they worked away together, turning over an empty strip of +ground. "It is worst of all for him, and if he sees we are all miserable, +he'll feel it is his fault, and it will make it harder than ever for him." + +"I don't believe father'll be a cripple always," said Charlie sturdily; +"he's sure to get better some day, and there's certain to be something he +can do." + +"But the doctors say he mustn't do anything," said Bella despondently. + +"Doctors don't know everything! Everybody makes mistakes some time," +he added quickly, for the doctor at the hospital was one of his special +heroes. + +It was a comfort to the others even to be unable to contradict him. + +"Anyhow," said Tom, "we will go on as though we thought he was going to be +better soon, and he'll be able to tell us what to do in the garden, and +how to do it, and p'raps by degrees he'll find little things that he can +do without hurting himself." And so by making plans to help the poor +invalid to be happy and comfortable, they made themselves happier too. + +"I don't think we can do better than go on as we are," said Bella. "If I +was to go out to service, or Tom was to get work anywhere, it would be one +less to feed, but we shouldn't be able to earn as much for the rest as we +do now." + +They all agreed on that point, and Aunt Maggie, who was called in to talk +matters over, agreed with them. "I think you've got a good opening that +it would be a sin to waste," she said heartily. "I think the best thing +you can do is to try to increase your business all you can." + +"If I could have a bit more of the garden for a run, and could get the +money to put up a bigger house for my fowls," said Aunt Emma eagerly, +"I believe I could do very well with them." + +"I am sure you could," agreed Mrs. Langley warmly. She did not add that +this was just what she had been wanting to suggest, but was afraid to, +lest it should give offence. + +Emma Hender's face quite lit up with pleasure. "If it isn't too damp for +you, I wish you would come down the garden with me and see what I think +would be a good place to have a house." + +"I'd like to come," said Aunt Maggie warmly, only too glad to be friendly +if Miss Hender would let her. "Shall we go now?" + +Down the garden they all trooped, for, of course, Margery must be in +everything, and Charlie was more interested in ducks and fowls, or any +other live creature, than he was in flowers or fruit. They examined the +present poky fowl-house and run, and then they surveyed the land, and each +one gave an opinion on the matter. + +"I think if we were to put the new house next to the old one it would be +best, don't you?" said Aunt Emma. + +Aunt Maggie looked about her for a minute thoughtfully. "Well, no," she +said at last. "I think, if it was mine, I should have a new house close +there by the orchard, and give them a run that would go right through the +hedge, so that they could have the run of the orchard too. They would +enjoy that, and it would keep them healthy, and they could pick up so much +food you wouldn't need to feed them more than twice a day. What do you +think about it?" + +Miss Hender looked thoughtful for a minute. "Yes, I think it might be a +good plan," she said. She did not speak very heartily, but it was a +wonderful change for her to agree at all with any suggestion made by +Mrs. Langley. "But there," she sighed, dropping back into her usual +melancholy manner, "what does it matter? I don't suppose it will ever be +my lot to get it. I don't see where the money is to come from," and she +returned to the house with all the air of a much injured woman. + +That afternoon, as Tom and Bella went round shutting up the hot-beds, +Tom confided a new plan he had formed. "I am going to learn carpentering +this winter," he said eagerly, "just plain carpentering, you know. +I want to see if we can't build Aunt Emma her fowl-house by the spring. +I'm sure she'd make it pay, and I believe she'd be better-tempered if +she'd got something of her own to look after, and earn a little by." + +"I believe she would," said Bella soberly. "I know I was." + +It was only a few days later than this that William Hender came back once +more to the house he had been absent from for a quarter of a year. +The day before Christmas Eve was fixed on for his return, and in the +double joy of Christmas and of having their father back, the children +forgot for the time the trouble that hung over them all. To them his +return made the season seem a more than usually joyful one; but Aunt Emma +felt that, because of the trouble, Christmas should be ignored by them +that year, and not kept up in any way. + +"I am sure your poor father won't feel up to eating any Christmas dinner, +or having any fun, or anything," she said gloomily. "We'd better let +Christmas go by just like any other time. I've worries enough on my mind +to keep me from rejoicing, and your poor father the same." + +Bella felt her temper rising. "As if the trouble isn't more to me than it +is to her," she thought impatiently. "A fine thing it would be if all sat +down and groaned and cried!" + +Tom looked puzzled. He felt that they ought at any rate to try to seem +bright and cheerful for their father's sake, but he didn't want to seem +unfeeling; yet the trouble would not grow less by looking miserable about +it, and making every one else miserable too. + +"We shall have father back," he said quietly, "that'll be enough to be +glad about. I think we ought to keep it up a bit this year, just to show +how glad we are." + +"Can't you say you're glad when you see him? Won't that be enough?" + +Charlie put his own feelings quite plainly. "Oh, Aunt Emma, we've never +let Christmas go by yet; do let's keep it up this year! Let's have a nice +dinner and some fun! Aunt Emma, do. P'raps we shan't all be here by +another one." + +Charlie was Miss Hender's favourite, and, as a rule, got what he asked +for, though not, perhaps, the first time. Miss Hender was impressed by +his last words. "P'raps we shan't all be here by another, one." + +He had only meant that perhaps one of them might be out in service, but to +her mind came only the thought of a longer and a final parting, such as +they had so narrowly escaped, and the thought touched and awed her. + +"Very well," she said at last; "if you are all set on a Christmas dinner, +I'll cook it for you. I can't undertake more, my hands'll be full +'tending on your father." + +"I can 'tend on father," Bella was about to say, and sharply, but +fortunately she checked herself in time, as she remembered that there were +many hours and some whole days in each week when she could do nothing for +him, and he must be left entirely to Aunt Emma's care, and depend on her +for all his comfort. So she said nothing, and she and Tom went off to +their work, feeling thankful to Charlie for having gained so much for +them, and determined to think of some other way also in which to keep up +the happy season. + +This was on the Monday, and on the Wednesday the invalid was to return, +so that already there were great bustle and excitement at the cottage, +preparing and making ready, for there really was a great deal to do. +The room which had always been used as a parlour was now to be turned out +and whitewashed and papered, and turned into a bedroom for the invalid, +that he might not have to go up and down the stairs. Indeed, the whole +house was made sweet and bright inside and out, the garden rails and the +front door were given a coat of paint, and the garden itself made as neat +as a December garden could be, though it was robbed of some of Bella's +finest chrysanthemums to decorate the house on the longed-for day. + +Their father was to leave the hospital soon after the midday meal there, +reaching home early in the afternoon before the light began to wane, +but by one o'clock the four children had taken up their position at the +top of the lane to watch for the coming carriage. + +As the time drew near when it might be expected, Aunt Maggie came and +joined them, and further along the road they saw Mrs. Carter waiting to +wave a welcome to their invalid, and presently others came, until there +was quite a little gathering, anxious to show their neighbour how glad +they were to see him back. + +When the long-looked-for carriage came in sight, and Tom and the children +darted forward to meet it, Bella could not go with them. Such a lump rose +in her throat, such blinding tears to her eyes, such a feeling of love and +pity and sorrow welled up in her heart, she could scarcely restrain +herself from sobbing aloud, and turning quickly she walked stumblingly +back to the empty house. + +Mrs. Langley saw her go, but she did not follow, something in Bella's face +told her she would rather be alone; but when Tom and Margery, missing her, +ran back after her, Aunt Maggie did not stop them. She thought it best to +let them go. + +Charlie, as usual, went his own way, and when the carriage drove slowly +down the lane and drew up at the gate, he was riding triumphantly on the +step, the door-handle in his hand, ready to open it. + +Bella stood by, nervously dreading the alterations she might see. +Tom looked on, very grave and silent, but Margery, forgetting everything +but that her father was come back, rushed towards him with a glad cry of +welcome, "Oh, daddy, daddy! I'm so glad you've come back," and, flinging +her arms about him, drew his face down to be kissed. + +In spite of the suffering inseparable from it, it was a very happy +home-coming. The invalid was helped into the house and put in his chair +by the fire; but before they could begin to tell or hear all there was to +tell or hear, the carriage had to be unloaded and all his belongings +brought in; so, to get it done quickly and come back to him, they all +trooped out to help. + +And what a cry of excitement went up at the sight of what the carriage +contained! For, first and foremost, on the seat that had been facing him, +they found a real little Christmas-tree. + +"I saw it!" cried Charlie; "I saw it directly I got on the step." + +But no one paid any heed to Charlie's shouts, for they were bringing in +the tree in triumph. Tom flew off to get a big pot to stand it in, +and when he had planted it and brought it in and stood it in the place of +honour in the kitchen, how cheery it looked, and how fragrantly the scent +of it filled the cosy, warm room, and how excitedly they all discussed +what should be hung on its branches, until their father, sorting out one +box from the rest of his luggage, opened it and displayed little +glittering candlesticks and pretty glass ornaments which were for nothing +in the world but to hang on a Christmas-tree, and make it look perfectly +beautiful. + +There was a bright blue peacock with a spun-glass tail, and a top-knot of +the same on his head, a rosy apple and a yellow pear, a bunch of grapes, +and two balls that flashed and glittered, and all were as pretty as pretty +could be, as they caught the glow of the fire and flashed it back in +dozens of different lights. + +"The Sister gave them to me; they had a lot sent them for the hospital +tree--more than they could use, and she thought you would like some." + +"Oh!" sighed Margery, breathless with delight, "I wish it was to-morrow +now, and that there wasn't any night, for I'm afraid if I go to sleep I +shall wake up and find it is only a dream." + +Night came, though, and the next day, when Tom and Bella had to go to +Norton--for the market was to be held on the Thursday, Christmas Eve, +rather than on the Bank Holiday--and never, since they began, had the two +found it so hard to start off on their day's work. There was so much to +talk over and to do at home, so much to show their father; things they had +done in the garden, and things they meant to do. He consoled them a +little, though, by promising that he would not look at anything until they +were there to show him round; and then, to cheer them in their work, there +was his interest in the donkey and cart, and the packing up of their load, +and his astonishment at the number of different things they carried in it +now. + +To-day there were holly and ivy and mistletoe, as well as all the usual +things. + +The weather was ideal Christmas weather, and the drive in was so +beautiful, no one's spirits could go on remaining low. In the town, too, +all was bustle and excitement. Every one seemed to be pleased and full of +pleasant mysteries and nice secrets. The shop windows were full of lovely +things, and the shops full of people buying them. + +"I don't suppose we shall find any one at home," said Bella ruefully, as +she dismounted first, as usual, at Mrs. Watson's door, and, indeed, Mrs. +Watson was out 'shopping,' the maid said, but she had left an order for +some chrysanthemums, and two shillingsworth of holly, if they had any. + +Then, how glad Tom was that he and Charlie had spent that long day on +Monday gathering Christmas decorations! It was Charlie's suggestion, and +Charlie was to have half the profits. + +Bella rejoiced doubly at every branch of holly that was sold, for, in the +first place, it had been anything but pleasant as a travelling companion, +and, in the second, the money it sold for helped to fill up her purse, and +now, more than ever, were they anxious to earn every penny they could. + +The next place they stopped at was Mrs. Adamson's. Here they found Joan +and her mother both at home. Joan's face was full of excitement when +Bella was shown into her own little private room; but Bella thought it was +all on account of a pot of hyacinths that she was bringing her, to give to +her mother as a Christmas present. Joan had ordered them weeks before, +and Bella had taken special pains to bring them on nicely, and now they +were to be handed over to the little owner, and hidden until the next day. + +Bella soon found that it was not the hyacinths only that were causing +Joan's excitement. "I've got something for you, too," she said eagerly, +and she drew out from amongst her cushions and under her rug several +interesting-looking parcels. + +"They are secrets, and you mustn't look inside them until you get home," +she said firmly. "That one is for your father, and that is for your +aunt, and this is for you; that is for Tom, and that for Charlie, and this +one is for Margery. I can't help your seeing it is a dolly, for I can't +wrap it up any better, it is so big and bulgy." + +Bella tried her hardest to thank the kind little invalid as warmly as she +felt, but her surprise and delight nearly robbed her altogether of speech. + +"Oh, and they shall all go on father's tree!" she gasped delightedly, as +the idea suddenly came to her. Then, of course, Joan had to be told about +the little tree that their father had brought home with him, and she grew +almost as excited as Bella herself. + +"Do put my parcels on it, and don't, please, tell them anything about them +until the tree is lighted up. Have you got candles for it?" + +Bella shook her head. She had not thought about lighting up the tree. + +"Will you, please, pass me that box on the table?" asked Joan, and when +Bella had done so, she opened it and took from it six little Christmas +candles. "I have lots," she said; "do, please, have these." + +"I do think Christmas is the most lovely time of all the year!" said Bella +to Tom, as, with her parcels carefully hidden at the bottom of her big +basket, they drove on again, and Tom agreed. + +Inside the shops and outside the Christmas spirit reigned that day. +Buyers and sellers all seemed possessed with it, and so busy was every one +that there was no dawdling over the making of purchases, and the children, +though they had an even larger supply than usual, had sold out their store +quite early. + +"We could start for home at once," said Bella, as the clock struck one, +"but I would like to take home just one or two little things for the +Christmas tree, and some oranges and nuts--and oh, I wish we could get +some nice little present for father, and something for Aunt Emma. +Do you think we might, Tom?" + +"Yes," said Tom, without hesitation; "we'll spend the holly money--my +share of it, I mean. You see, it won't be like wasting it; we will get +them something useful." + +"Let's go and look at the shops," cried Bella delightedly. "Oh, won't it +be fine when they see the things on the tree! We won't let them know +anything about it till then, will we?" + +They went down the street, and up, and down again, looking in at every +shop window most intently, but quite unable to decide on what to lay out +their money. They wanted two things that must be cheap, and must be +useful, and must suit their father and aunt. + +At last Tom grew impatient. "Look here, we've got to make up our minds +and settle on something, for it's time we were getting home." + +They were standing outside a drapery store at that moment--the kind of +store where they sell not only drapery, but all kinds of things--and +almost as Tom spoke the shop and window burst into a blaze of light. +Being Christmas Eve, they were going to spare no expense in making the +place look attractive. + +Tom and Bella drew near for another look, and almost at the same moment +their eyes fell on the very thing they wanted, a pair of soft warm felt +slippers. "Those will do for father, they'll be splendid!" they exclaimed +in one breath; and the next moment Bella was in the shop, so afraid was +she that some one else would be before her in securing them. + +Having made sure of them, she was able to look about her, and, hanging +over the counter, she caught sight of some little grey woollen turnovers. +"One of those will be just the thing for Aunt Emma," she whispered to Tom, +"to put over her shoulders when she goes down to the fowls." + +So a shawl was purchased, too, and, almost too excited and pleased to know +what they were about, the children hurried off for Rocket and the cart, +and started for home. + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +CHRISTMAS. + +With the thought of the warm stable awaiting him at the other end of his +journey, little Rocket stepped out so briskly that they were home in good +time after all. Bella's thoughts and Tom's were far more perplexing ones, +for they had to decide how they were to get their mysterious parcels out +of the cart and out of sight without any one seeing them. + +"I can get them out of the cart easy enough," said Tom, "but to get them +into the house is another matter. Would it do to leave them in the shed +all night?" + +"It'll have to, it's my belief," said Bella perplexedly. "I think it's +the best we can do, and then I'll try to go down for them and hide them +upstairs before Margery wakes in the morning." + +So she put the precious parcels in one of the round hampers, and covered +them over with some of the waste cabbage leaves they had saved and brought +back for the fowls. + +"Are those for me?" Miss Hender asked, when she saw the leaves. + +"Yes," said Tom calmly. "I'll carry them down and put basket and all in +the tool-house for the night;" and he was gone before any one could stop +him, and Bella, with a deep breath of relief, was able to think of other +things with an easy mind. + +It was splendid, they both thought, to come back and find their father +awaiting them once more, glad to welcome them, and eager to hear all their +doings. By the time Rocket had been taken home to his supper and bed, the +afternoon had gone and darkness fallen, and then they all had tea by the +light of the blazing fire in the kitchen, which was sweet with the mingled +scents of the little Christmas tree and one of Bella's pots of Roman +hyacinths, which she had given to her father. There was something of a +festive air, too, about the little gathering. Father was home, Christmas +was at hand, and they had earned enough that day to keep them all in +comfort for another week. They had got in a store of coal and wood, the +rent was ready in the rent-box, and their minds were free from debt or +pressing need. + +There was much to tell and much to hear as they lingered over their meal, +but Tom and Bella found it far from easy to talk of their day's doings +without bringing in any reference to the 'surprises' now lying in the +tool-shed, and more than once they were thankful that the light in the +room was flickering and uneven, for it helped to hide embarrassed looks +and quick blushes, which would certainly have roused suspicion if +Charlie's or Margery's quick eyes had seen them. + +Charlie was in a state of great delight with the three shillings, which +was his share of the holly money. "What shall you do with yours, Tom?" he +asked, but fortunately he did not wait for an answer. "Do you know what I +am going to do with mine?--But no, I shan't tell you yet; you'll know +soon, and then we shall have a fine time." + +"I know," said Margery, who was full of curiosity, and wanted to surprise +Charlie's secret from him, "Rabbits!" + +"Rabbits!" scornfully, "I wouldn't be bothered with them!" + +"Canaries?" asked Bella, "or bees, or pigeons?" + +"Never you mind," said Charlie, somewhat hastily. "It isn't any good for +you to go on guessing. You'll know when you see." And he pointedly +turned the conversation, and actually managed to go to bed with his secret +still kept. + +So did Bella and Tom, but theirs weighed on Bella's mind far more heavily +than did Charlie's on his, and she was never more glad to get up than she +was on that Christmas morning. + +It was still so dark that she could not see Margery in her little bed +across the room, but she heard her breathing steadily and deeply, and as +she did not speak when Bella moved about the room a little, Bella knew she +must be fast asleep. She did not even move when Bella struck a match and +lighted a candle, nor when she opened the bedroom door and crept +downstairs. + +It had become Bella's habit now to go down first and light the kitchen +fire, so if they heard her no one would take any notice, and, once +downstairs, it was easy enough to open the front door and slip out. +It was not so easy to grope one's way to the tool-house and find the +hamper and its contents. It was a bitterly cold morning, a keen wind +swept along the garden path, and every now and then something soft and +cold touched Bella's face, or rested on her hair. + +"I believe it is snowing," she said, as she held out her hand to try to +catch a flake. In the sky the stars were still twinkling, and suddenly +from somewhere in the distance the bells rang out their glad peal. + +To Bella out there alone with the stars and the snow and the bells, it all +seemed wonderfully beautiful and impressive. Her thoughts flew to her +mother, and the past Christmases when she had been with them, and, as she +turned her face up to the sky and the stars, it seemed to Bella as though +they must be looking straight into each other's eyes. + +"We don't forget you, mother," she whispered. "Even when we are talking +and laughing, we'll be thinking of you too, and wanting you;" and one +little star flashed and gleamed as though it understood and answered her. + +In the tool-house she found the hamper and its precious contents quite +safe, and gathering all the parcels in her apron, she replaced the cabbage +leaves, and scurried back to the house. How she got in and up the stairs +she scarcely knew. + +Margery stirred as she entered and spoke, "Is that you, Bella?" + +"Yes," said Bella, "I'm going down now to light the fire and get father +some tea. You go to sleep again; it is too early to wake up yet;" and +sleepy Margery turned over in her snug bed and was asleep almost before +Bella had ceased speaking. + +It was not easy to stow away a dozen paper-covered parcels in a small +space, and without making a sound. Bella found this the hardest part of +the whole task, until it entered her head to lay them flat under her bed. +"It's lucky I make my bed myself!" she thought, as she drew the bedclothes +straight again. "It is a splendid place, nothing shows a bit!" and she +hurried about her usual tasks full of excitement and relief. + +There was a Christmasy look about the world out of doors, and a Christmasy +feeling throughout the house indoors. The sun shone, and a few flakes of +snow fell in a lazy, casual way--enough to convince Margery that Christmas +had really come, but not enough to inconvenience anybody else. To Margery +snow was a part of Christmas, which was not complete without it, and as +soon as she stepped out of bed she ran to the window and looked out +anxiously. + +"Well," she said doubtfully, "there is snow, but very little. I hope it +doesn't mean that it is going to be a very little Christmas." + +Long before the day was over she admitted that, in spite of there being +only a very little snow, it was one of the nicest Christmases she had ever +known in all her life. + +Almost as soon as their father was dressed and settled in his arm-chair by +the fire, Aunt Maggie arrived with a big and heavy basket on her arm. + +"Happy Christmas to you all!" she cried cheerfully. "Isn't it good to be +together again? How are you feeling this morning, William?" + +"Pretty well, thank you, Maggie, and glad enough to be home again! +You are coming to dinner with us, of course?" + +"No, I am not, thank you," said Aunt Maggie; "an old friend of mine is +coming to dinner with me. She was alone, and I was alone, so I asked her. +I've brought you your plum-pudding, if you'll accept it instead of me, and +there's a little parcel for each of you." + +"Maggie, you've got to come to us! You knew we should expect you! +Whatever made you go and ask somebody in?" + +"Well, I knew you'd be better alone, as you ain't very strong yet, and +Miss Hender has got her hands full, I know. But if you'll let me come up +to tea, I will, and be glad to." + +"And bring your friend too," said Aunt Emma, quite genially. + +"Thank you; I am sure it is very kind of you, and she'll be delighted to +come, I know. I must run home now, for I've got my dinner to get ready." + +Bella and the children, who had disappeared soon after Aunt Maggie's +arrival, came running in again. + +"Aunt Maggie," said Bella, almost breathless with haste, "we were coming +down with these on our way to church, but--but we can't wait! That's with +my love. I've been bringing them on on purpose for you!" and she put down +before Aunt Maggie a pot of beautiful lily of the valley almost in full +bloom. The fragrance of them filled the room. + +"Lilies!" cried Mrs. Langley delightedly, "lilies? Why, however did you +get them now, child? I never saw anything lovelier in my life? +Old Mrs. Twining'll go crazy over them. I never knew anybody love flowers +as she does. Thank you, Bella, dear," and she kissed the little +flower-grower warmly. + +"I've made you a besom, Aunt Maggie, but it isn't very good, I am afraid," +said Tom shyly. "I ain't very clever at it yet." + +Aunt Maggie's pleasant face beamed. "Bless the boy!" she cried heartily, +"he always knows what I'm in want of. I shall find it ever so useful, +Tom." + +"And I've got an orange for you," broke in Margery, who could keep quiet +no longer. + +"And I've got some peppermints," said Charlie. + +"Now fancy you two remembering what I like! Thank you, dears, ever so +much. Well, I didn't expect to carry my basket back full, I can tell you. +I am sorry I've got to hurry away now, but I'll be up again about four +o'clock. I hope you'll have a comfortable day, William. If I can do +anything to help, I shall be only too pleased. You will tell me, Miss +Hender, won't you? Well, good-bye for the time, and a happy Christmas to +you all!" and Aunt Maggie ran off as fast as she could go. + +Then what excitement there was, as they all eagerly opened their parcels. +There was a warm muffler for their father, an apron for Miss Hender, a +pair of warm gloves for Bella and a thick pair for Tom for driving; for +Charlie there was a book, and for Margery a silver thimble. + +"Just the very things we want!" cried Bella delightedly, "I shall wear +my gloves to church presently; I wanted some to keep my hands warm." + +"I can't wear my fimble to church, I s'pose?" questioned Margery, looking +at it longingly. + +"Oh no!" said Bella, "and if you could it wouldn't show under your +gloves." + +"Could I carry it in my pocket?" pleaded Margery; she could not bear to be +parted from her new treasure so soon. + +"You would most likely drag it out with your handkerchief and lose it. +What would you do then? You leave your thimble at home with father, and I +will lend you my muff, to keep your hands warm--if you will promise to +take great care of it." + +"Oh, I'll be ever so careful," promised Margery eagerly, for one of the +ambitions of her life was to have a muff to carry. Bella had a little +old-fashioned black one that had belonged to her mother, and Margery +yearned for the time when she too should have one. + +They were all pleased with their presents, even Aunt Emma. "Well, I did +want an apron," she said, as she turned it over and examined it. +"It might have been a trifle longer, but it looks a nice one." +This from Aunt Emma was wonderful praise. "I must go and see about the +dinner now, and, Bella, it is time to get ready for church; you'll see +that they are all clean and tidy, won't you?" + +"Yes," promised Bella; and when presently they all started on their walk +no one could have found fault with their appearance, not even Aunt Emma. + +The snowflakes had ceased falling now, the sun was shining brilliantly, +but a keen little breeze was rustling the dead leaves still clinging to +the bushes, and nipping the noses and fingers of those who faced it. +Across the fields sounded the peals of the church bells, and along the +roads and lanes came little groups of people stepping out briskly in the +frosty air. Every one had a greeting for every one, and almost every face +bore a brighter, more friendly look than usual. + +The service, with its hymns so heartily sung, was cheerful too, +particularly the part that the children loved so much, when carols were +sung in place of a sermon. This was a treat they would not have missed +for a good deal. They all waited eagerly for their own especial +favourites, and when the choir broke out with-- + + "Once in royal David's city + Stood a lowly cattle shed." + +Margery looked up at Bella triumphantly. She had her favourite, at any +rate, so her anxiety was over. + +Charlie's favourite was, 'God rest you, merry gentlemen,' but he was +doomed to disappointment that day; and Tom did not get his-- + + "The holly and the ivy + Now both were full well grown." + +Bella had so many favourite carols, she was almost sure of hearing one or +the other, and to-day her face lighted up with pleasure when the choir +began-- + + "It came upon the midnight clear, + That glorious song of old, + From angels bending near the earth, + With news of joy foretold. + Peace on the earth, goodwill to men, + From heaven's all-gracious King, + The world in solemn silence lay + To hear the angels sing." + +As they walked home the air and the words still rang in her head:-- + + "And ye, beneath life's crushing load, + Whose forms are bending low, + Who toil along the arduous way, + With painful steps and slow; + Look now! for glad and joyous hours, + God's messengers will bring. + Oh, rest beside the weary road, + And hear the angels sing." + +As she sang them her thoughts flew first to her father, and then they +travelled back over the past twelve months, and all the trials and changes +it had brought to them, and all the good things too. God had been very, +very good to them. He had given them their father back, they had wanted +for nothing, and He had enabled them to keep a home for their father to +come back to. + +It rested with them still to keep a roof to shelter him, to find food and +clothing, and everything that was needed, but Bella did not let herself +feel afraid. + +"I am not going to worry, God will help us," she thought, with childlike +faith in Him. "He has taken care of us so far, and I am sure He will go +on taking care of us." + +"How quiet you are! What are you thinking of?" cried Margery, tugging at +Bella's hand. + + "Oh, rest beside the weary road, + And hear the angels sing," + +Sang Bella, softly, as they turned into May Lane, and Tom took up the +refrain. + +"Look! look! look! There's father, standing at the gate! Oh, do look!" +cried Margery excitedly, and, taking to her heels, she dashed to meet him, +followed by the others. + +Father had to hear all about the service, and the carols, of course, but +before he had heard a half, and admired the new gloves, and shown off his +own new muffler, Aunt Emma was out, to say he ought not to stand about in +the cold, and that dinner would soon be ready, and the children had better +come in and get their hats and coats off. + +Such a dinner it was, too, and such appetites they all had. There were +two roasted fowls, a piece of bacon, a suet pudding, and potatoes and +Brussels sprouts of their own growing; and after that there was Aunt +Maggie's Christmas pudding. + +"I think it has been a lovely dinner!" said Margery, with a deep sigh of +content; "and I s'pect presently I shan't feel as though I had eaten such +a 'normous lot. I think I'll be comfor'abler when I don't," and she was +surprised that the others all laughed. + +They sat a long time over their dinner, talking and enjoying themselves, +and the short December daylight was actually beginning to wane before they +made a move. + +"Now," said Aunt Emma, with a sigh, as she rose, "who is going to help me +with the dishes?" + +Bella looked at Tom, and Tom at Bella. "Well," said the latter, at last, +"I want to help you, but--but Tom and I have a big secret that we want +to--to arrange, and we want to be here by ourselves,--except father, of +course,--for a bit." + +"Is it a nice secret? a real one?" asked Charlie, "a s'prise?" + +"Yes, a very nice one." + +"We'll help Aunt Emma; come along, Margy." + +"I wish I knew what it was," said Margery, still lingering and looking +anxiously at Bella. "Shall I know by an' by?" + +"Yes, yes," said Bella impatiently; "if you run away you will. +If you don't, you see, we shan't be able to attend to it----" + +"Oh!" gasped Margery, and the next moment she had disappeared, and was in +the scullery. + +Then, for nearly an hour Tom and Bella found so much to do, they scarcely +knew what to do first. Their father had to be told all about the secrets, +all the treasures had to be brought down from upstairs, the candles fixed +in the candlesticks, and the presents arranged on the tree or around it. +They never could have been ready in time, had not their father helped +them; and, as it was, darkness had fallen before they had done, and they +had to light the lamp. At last everything was really fixed and ready, all +but the lighting of the Christmas candles. + +"Now," said Bella, "we will put out the lamp, and stir up the fire to make +it blaze, for there mustn't be any other light but that and the candles. +Tom, you go out, and see if Aunt Emma and the others are ready. If they +are, they must wait till we call, and then we will light the candles at +once." + +"They are ready," said Tom, returning in a moment; "and you had better +hurry, for they won't wait much longer." + +One after another the yellow flames gleamed out against the green +branches. "You can call them now, Tom," Bella gasped, breathless with +excitement and haste. + +Tom, only too ready, put his head round the door. "Ahoy there!" he began, +at the top of his voice, and almost as if in answer came a knocking at the +door. + +"That's Aunt Maggie and Mrs. Twining," whispered Bella; "that's nice, now +they'll be able to see the tree too!" + +Tom ran out and opened the front door quickly, for it was not the weather +in which to keep people waiting, and so it happened that the little group +from the door and the little group from the scullery met in the passage, +and entered the room together. + +"Oh-h-h!" squealed Margery. + +"I say!" cried Charlie. + +"Well, I never! And to think that at my age I should see a Christmas-tree +for the first time!" exclaimed old Mrs. Twining. "It makes me sad to +think of what I've missed!" + +"However did you manage it? and where did you get all the things?" cried +Aunt Emma, amazed, for she had no suspicion of what was going on. + +For a while all was chatter and admiration and excitement, the elder ones +content to gaze and admire only, the younger ones eyeing the parcels with +eager, inquisitive eyes. + +"Whatever can be inside them all?" gasped Margery. "Oh, I don't know how +to wait until I know!" and Margery was not the only one who felt like +that. Indeed, to keep them waiting long was more than Bella or Tom could +do, and very soon the parcels were being handed round. + +That was a glorious moment for them all, but especially for Bella; she +alone knew all the secrets the tree held, and to whom each parcel +belonged, and she was pleased and proud, excited and nervous, but +supremely happy, all at the same time. There was something for every one, +even for old Mrs. Twining, for, when Bella realised that she would be +there, and heard how much she loved flowers, she had brought in one of her +precious pots of Roman hyacinths for her, and placed it under the boughs +of the tree in readiness for the old lady. + +"I s'pose I ought to keep it for market," she had sighed, as she picked +out the nicest she could see. But no price that could have been paid for +it could have been half as precious as the overwhelming delight of the +poor lonely old woman, and her joyful thanks. + +For Aunt Maggie there was a little vase that they had bought in Norton for +her; for their father the slippers, and for Aunt Emma the shawl, and they +all seemed quite overcome to think there were such nice presents lurking +in those branches for them. + +Then came what were surprises even to Bella,--Joan Adamson's presents, +which she had not even felt through the wrappings. The little lady must +have thought the matter out very carefully, for she had sent to each +exactly what they wanted. For Margery there was a doll, fully dressed, +even to the little laced boots that could be taken off and laced on again. +For Tom there was a fine big book with pictures of shipwrecks and fights +and wonderful adventures. For Charlie there was a strong clasp-knife, +which made him, for the first time, cease to envy his father. +While for Bella there was the prettiest little brooch she had ever seen. +It was only a little frosted silver daisy with a yellow eye, but to Bella, +who had never possessed but one brooch, and that an old one of her +mother's, which she was afraid to wear, it was perfect, and filled her +with rapture. For Aunt Emma there was a nice jet hat-pin, and for their +father two white handkerchiefs. + +No little Christmas-tree that ever existed could have given more pleasure +than that one did, and even after it was relieved of its burden of +presents, the children could not tear themselves away from gazing at it, +until the candles had burnt right down in their sockets, and there was no +light left to gaze by. + +With a sigh of regret that the joy of it was over, they all turned away, +but only to gather round the fire, as happy a little party as one could +find that Christmas Day. The mingled scent of the flowers and the +fir-tree made the kitchen sweet, the pretty glass toys on the little tree +caught the light of the fire and flashed back its glow. Father put on his +warm slippers, and Aunt Emma her apron and little shawl, Charlie dropped +on the rug before the fire to examine his knife again by its light, +and Margery sat at her father's feet hugging her doll in an ecstasy of +delight. + +"Let us have some carols, children, shall we?" said their father +presently. "Aunt Emma and I haven't heard any yet, and Christmas doesn't +seem perfect without a few carols." + +So on they sat in the firelight and sang all they could remember, +one after the other, until at last the fire died down, and the room grew +dark. + +"I think it is time now to light the lamp and see about having some tea," +said Aunt Emma, rising from her chair. "What does every one say to that?" + +"I don't know that I want any tea, but I should like the lamp to be +lighted," said Margery, with a deep sigh of pleasure; "for, though I know +what my doll feels like, I can't say I have seen her properly yet. +But I've been busy all the time, I've been thinking about a name for her, +and I've made up my mind that I'm going to call her 'Christmas.'" + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +A STEP FORWARD. + +"Aunt Maggie," said Bella, "what does that line in the Carol mean, +'And hear the angels sing'?" + +It was the day after Christmas, and Bella was having tea with Mrs. +Langley. For a moment Aunt Maggie sat gazing thoughtfully into the fire. +"I ain't very clever at putting things into words," she said at last, +"but I think what it means is, that we must stop every now and then from +thinking only of the worries and troubles of life, and the hard work, and +the squabbles and disappointments, and let our thoughts dwell instead on +what is beautiful and good--on God, Who has done so much for us, and +Jesus, Who died for us. We must think of the beautiful things that God +gives us every day, the birds and the flowers, and the children, and our +homes and friends. If we do that, we shall be strong and hopeful, and +there will be many glad hours for us, when we shall hear the angels' +voices in our hearts." + +"I think I understand," said Bella gravely. "We have had lots of trouble, +but we have had lots of nice things too. I like to stop and think about +it all; don't you, Aunt Maggie? It makes one feel happy and glad." + +"Yes, dear, and it is always wonderful, when looking back over the past, +to see the way God has led us, and all the experiences we have been +through. If we could look ahead, we should be frightened and daunted, +probably, but if we put our hands in God's hand and let Him lead us, and +if we take each day as it comes, and each duty, content to do our best, +and to do without grumbling the work that He sets us, we shall come +through without fear or alarm, and find our way smoother for us than ever +we had dared to hope for." + +"I suppose every one has some work to do," said Bella; "but it seems as if +some people only play." + +"Most people have something to do, and a good many find their play harder +than work; but it doesn't matter to you or to me or to any one what others +have or haven't. God has given us certain work to do for Him and His +people. He can't give the same work to everybody. One has to fill one +post, and another another post. It doesn't make it any harder for us that +some have very little to do. We aren't any the worse off, are we?" + +"No," said Bella. + +"In fact, we are better off. If everybody worked, there would be nothing +left for those who want to live by their work. If everybody grew flowers, +nobody would want to buy yours. If you had to make your own boots and +clothes, you couldn't make your garden pay as you do. But I see the +kettle is boiling, and we'll have some tea, and we won't grumble because +we've got to get it ourselves, will we?" + +"I'd rather make it myself," said Bella, laughing. "Aunt Maggie, do you +know what is going to happen?" + +"No. Something nice, I hope, dear?" + +"Yes. Father says we'll have a large fowl-house put up, there by the +orchard, and we'll keep a whole lot of fowls. Aunt Emma has done so well +with them this year. He says he will be able to help with them, chop up +their food and feed them, and collect the eggs and wash them and date +them." + +"Oh, that will be splendid! I know it will be a comfort to him to be +doing something, and it will be good for him too. Why, Bella, child, you +will be having a stall in the market soon." + +Bella coloured, and laughed shyly. "That is one of the things I wanted to +manage this year if we could, but perhaps we'll have to wait now. +The fowl-house will cost a good bit, and we must pay for that first." + +"Never mind, child. It will soon repay you again, and perhaps by the next +Christmas market you will have your stall." + +Bella's face was radiant. "Aunt Maggie, I wanted to ask you about +something else I want to do. Can't I bottle some of my herbs to sell? +I've got ever so much parsley and mint and sage, and it is only wasting." + +"Of course you could! Why ever didn't we think of it sooner?" cried Mrs. +Langley, vexed with herself. "It is the wrong time now; you must gather +it before it flowers, but we will take care we don't forget another +season, and in the meantime we must collect some nice bottles and corks." + +"A stall in the market," said Aunt Maggie to herself, when Bella had run +home. "It strikes me that before very long they'll be opening a shop of +their own, and right well they deserve to succeed too. It isn't many +children of their age could or would support a whole family, and be so +happy in their work too." + +Though the days were short now, and the hours few when they could work out +of doors, the fowl-house was built and tarred and roofed, and fitted with +perches before a couple of weeks were past, for the man they called in to +help them with the job had little else to do at that time of the year, and +there was so little to be done in the garden, the boys were able to help a +great deal; and never in their lives had they seen Aunt Emma so pleased as +she was with the new fowl-house and run. 'My poultry farm,' she called +it, and she was full of plans as to where the chickens were to be kept, +and how they were to be fed, and the different kinds she was going to +keep; but it is only fair to say that her greatest pleasure lay in the +interest her brother took in it all. + +The hens were soon installed in their new quarters, and every day the poor +invalid collected the scraps of the house and chopped them up, and every +night he put the pans of food in the oven to warm, and every day, unless +the weather was very bad, he managed to creep out to give the fowls their +food and drink, and to collect the eggs. He always washed and marked them +and arranged them for market, so that they should look most tempting, +putting all the dark brown ones together, and the light brown ones, and +the creamy white ones. + +"I don't see that there's any call to take all that trouble," Aunt Emma +remarked, rather scornfully. "If people want eggs they'll buy them, no +matter if they're clean or dirty, brown or white." + +"But very often they don't feel that they want them until they see them +looking clean and tempting," answered her brother quietly. +"A dirty-looking egg will take away some folks' appetites, whereas a clean +one will make them feel hungry. There was never anything but good done +yet by taking a little trouble over things." + +Aunt Emma looked unconvinced, but of one thing she could not help being +convinced, and that was the good that the work and the interest of it were +doing her brother. He no longer worried so cruelly at having to be idle; +he felt less depressed, and, as he grew more cheerful, so he grew +stronger, and by and by the pain he suffered lessened, and he was able to +walk better and do more. + +So the months wore away, and March came on them all too quickly, and with +each week the work in the garden grew heavier. + +"I do believe we shall have to have in a man to help us another year," +sighed Bella, pausing in her digging, and seating herself on an upturned +flower-pot for a rest. + +Tom groaned. "And he'll cost more than he earns, most likely," he said +soberly. + +"Not if----" began Bella; but what she was going on to say was never said, +and will never be known now, for at that moment Charlie burst through the +gate and along the path in a great state of excitement. + +"Guess what I've done! Guess what I've bought! Quick, quick, quick!" + +"Rabbits," said Bella; "and if you have, you must keep them shut up or +they'll eat everything." + +"'Tisn't rabbits. Guess again." + +"Pigeons?" guessed Tom. + +"A pair of shears?" said Bella. + +"A pig?" cried Tom. + +But Charlie only shook his head more and more emphatically. + +"Why, a swarm of bees," he burst out, unable to keep his secret any +longer, "bee-skip and all; and the man is bringing them almost at once." + +"Bees?" cried Tom. "What do you know about bees?" + +"Nothing; but I s'pose I can learn. Come and choose a place for the +bee-skip to stand. Where shall they go?" + +"Oh, not anywhere near me!" cried Bella; "I don't like bees." + +"P'raps you'll like the honey. The man says he had pounds and pounds of +honey last year. Come on, Bella. Come and help me choose a spot." + +Bella went, but not very joyfully, and Tom followed. "You won't expect me +to help you look after them, will you?" she asked nervously, "for I tell +you I am afraid of them." + +"Oh no," said Charlie seriously; "and when the honey is ready for market, +I'll walk behind the cart with it, for fear it should sting you." + +Bella laughed. "Tom," she called back, "can you paint a sign-board? +I'm sure we ought to have one over the gate to say 'Fruit, flowers, +vegetables, honey, eggs, fowls, porkers, and dried herbs sold here.'" + +The idea pleased the boys immensely. "Can't we sell anything else?" cried +Charlie. "Do try and think of something." + +"Perhaps Aunt Emma will sell cakes and apple-pasties, and provide tea and +coffee for twopence a cup." + +"And a penny more to watch Charlie's bees," laughed Bella. "Oh, here +comes Margery. Perhaps she has come to say she has bought a cow! +Wouldn't it be fun!" + +Charlie burst into a peal of laughter. "Hullo, Margery!" he shouted; +"what have you got? A cow?" + +Margery stood still in the path and stared at him, her blue eyes full of +puzzled surprise. + +"A cow?" she repeated, as though she could hardly believe her ears. +"How should I have a cow? What do you mean?" looking questioningly from +one to the other. + +"Do you mean to say you haven't brought home anything new?" + +"Why, yes, I've got two of the dearest darling little white ducks you ever +saw in all your life. Bella, do come and see them! Mrs. Carter gave them +to me, and I've brought them home in a basket, but I've been a long time, +because I let them paddle in all the nice big puddles we came to, and oh, +they loved it. Do come, all of you. Oh, they are so pretty, and I think +they know me already. I've called one Snowdrop, and the other Daisy. +Hark!" she cried, as they hurried after her, "don't you hear them calling +to me?" + +"I should think I did," laughed Tom. "They were shouting, 'Mag, Mag, +Mag,' as plain as could be. I hope Charlie's bees won't begin shouting to +him, too, or we shan't be able to hear ourselves speak. I shouldn't be +surprised if we grew to love them best of all, because they are nice and +quiet." + +"You wait till they are angry," said Charlie knowingly, "or are +swarming----" + +"That's just what I shan't wait for," said Bella. + +"Oh!" cried Margery, as though her patience was exhausted, "don't keep on +talking so, please. I do want to hear my ducks. There!" as they suddenly +came on the little yellow, waddling, screaming creatures, "ain't they +lovely?" + +"Lovely?" cried Charlie. "Why, you said they were white." + +"Well, they will be," she explained eagerly. "Of course they are yellow +to begin with. All the best ones are. Look at their feathers beginning +to come already. Hush, hush, dears, don't cry so! I expect they were +frightened 'cause I went away," she explained, as she knelt down and took +them both in her arms. + +"Where are they going to sleep to-night?" asked Bella. + +Margery looked up with a troubled face. "I s'pose Aunt Emma wouldn't let +them sleep in my room, in a basket? They would be very good, I'm sure. +I wish she would." But Bella assured her there was no hope of that, and +that it would be better for the little ducks to be out of doors in the sun +and fresh air. So Snowdrop and Daisy were, to their great delight, turned +loose in the orchard, and at night a nice roomy chicken-coop was provided +for them, and there they grew plump and white, and were as happy as the +days were long. + +"Tom, you really must put up that sign," said Bella, laughing, as they all +trooped back to the house to get ready for dinner. + +"Well, if I don't do it soon," said Tom, "I shall have to have too, that's +certain." + +But there was no time for sign-painting for the next few months, +for already the work was almost more than they could get through. +All of them, even Aunt Emma, lent a hand with the digging and raking and +planting out; but, there was no doubt about it, they did seriously miss +their father's help. All the weariness, the aching backs and bones, and +galled hands were forgotten, though, when the hardest of the work was +over, and they began to see the results of all their toil. + +The long stretch of grey-green bushes in Bella's lavender-bed was a sight +that year, and her flower-beds were a picture. Charlie's bees soon +discovered them, and Bella often declared that except for the time when +the beans were in flower and drew the bees away, she had no peace or +pleasure with her flowers from the time they began to bloom until after +they were gathered and sold. + +"I am sure I ought to have half the profits from the honey," she laughed, +"for I nearly keep the bees!" + +That summer Rocket's loads grew so large that a pony had to be hired to +take his place sometimes, for Aunt Emma's fowls and eggs added +considerably to the weight and to the number of baskets they had to get +into the cart. So soon did they repay themselves for the cost of the +fowl-house, that before autumn was past Bella had begun once more to hope +that her dream of a stall in the market might yet be realised, and shortly +too. + +They had so much to sell now, and such a variety of things, that it took +them a very long time to find customers for all, and it was very, very, +tiring work, they found, to go round from house to house, all over the +hilly little town. It meant long, weary hours of tramping, and often they +could not get home till quite late. Then, quite suddenly, one day, when +they had got home late, and more than usually tired, the next and +long-hoped-for step was decided upon. They would rent a stall in the +market for the winter months, at any rate, and they would begin on the +very next Saturday as ever was. + +When once this great step was decided upon, preparations had to begin at +once, and in earnest, for long white cloths to cover the shelves had to be +bought and made, to make them look clean and dainty. In a state of great +excitement they all practised on the kitchen table how they would arrange +the things, and how they should be laid out to look their best and be most +attractive. + +Margery looked on with the keenest interest. "Oh, Aunt Emma, do let me go +with them on Saturday. Just this once," she pleaded eagerly. "I don't +weigh very heavy, and I'm sure the pony wouldn't mind me, and I'd be ever +so good. I wouldn't be a bit of trouble, not the very least little bit. +May I? Daddy, do say yes! Tom and Bella will take care of me." + +Aunt Emma looked at her doubtfully, but there was a smile at the corner of +her mouth. "Well, take care you don't get sold too," she said; +"if you do, I shan't buy you back, I promise you. I've a good mind to +walk in myself in the afternoon," she added, turning to her brother. +"I haven't seen Norton Market for years, and I've often felt I'd like to. +I little thought I should ever be helping to have a stall there. I really +think I must go in, William." + +"You could drive home," said Tom readily. "Bella can manage the pony, and +I'll walk." + +Bella was looking at her father, all her thoughts centred on him. +The only shadow on their day, the day when they would reach the height of +their ambition, was that he would not be there to see it. She knew that +he was feeling it too. It would have been such a pleasure to him, such a +grand break in the monotony of his life, if he could have gone too. + +"Oh, it must be managed somehow; some way must be found," she thought +desperately--and then inspiration came to her. + +"Father, you must come too," she cried, "or--or it won't be a bit right. +Aunt Emma, can't we manage like this, just for once? Suppose you drive in +with Tom and all the things in the morning,"--and she choked back her +disappointment that, after all her dreams and hopes and longings, she +would not be there herself to arrange her first market-stall,--"then I +will drive father in later in Mrs. Wintle's donkey-cart. Do you think you +could bear the drive, father?" she asked anxiously, her eyes alight with +excitement. + +"I believe it would do me good," he answered eagerly. His face had been +growing brighter and brighter all the time Bella had been speaking, and +his poor tired eyes were as full of a wistful longing, as were Margery's a +few moments before. "I've thought many a time how nice a little outing +would be, and I do want to see the children make their new venture," +he added, turning to his sister. "It's one I've been wanting for them +ever since the beginning." + +So it was all settled, and in her joy and pride at taking her father for +his first outing, she quite forgot her desire to arrange their first +stall. + +To Margery there was nothing wanting in her pleasure. To be allowed to go +to Norton and sit like a real market-woman behind a real stall with scales +and paper bags and measures; to see the people come up and buy, and open +their purses and hand money to Tom or Aunt Emma, and then to see Tom or +Aunt Emma go to the cash-box and put in the money and take out the change, +was all wonderful and lovely enough, but to have her father there too made +everything quite perfect; and her only trouble was that so many hours had +to be lived through, somehow, before these wonderful things could happen. + +After all, it was not so very long to wait. To the others the time was +all too short for all they had to do. There were fowls and ducks to pluck +and truss, and pack in the snow-white cloths in the big shallow baskets; +and eggs to pack; flowers to gather and tie up in tastefully arranged +bunches; vegetables to scrub and trim, and baskets of honey, bottles of +herbs, and home-made jams to pack. There was a great deal to do, but +their hearts were in the work, and all felt proud enough of their little +show when it was ready. + +To Margery's relief the great day came at last, and, as though it knew +what was expected of it, it dawned as bright and beautiful as any one +could desire. All were up early, but Charlie was the first to start, as +he was going to walk the whole distance. Tom and Aunt Emma and Margery +started an hour later, but Bella and her father did not leave until +eleven, when the day was at its warmest and brightest, and as they drove +along the sunny road with the beautiful fresh breeze blowing gently on +their faces, Bella thought she had never, never in her life before felt so +glad and proud. + +Whenever they passed a cottage the neighbours came out to tell the invalid +how good it was to see him as far as that again; indeed, every one they +met had a warm greeting of some kind for him. Then, when they had passed +all the people and the houses, and had the road to themselves, their minds +went back to the past. + +When they came to the old milestone where her father used to wait for +them, Bella almost stopped the donkey, and, for the first time since that +dreadful day when they had waited there in vain for him, she could bear to +look at the old grey stone. "I wonder when----" she began, but stopped +for fear of hurting him. He guessed what she had been going to say. + +"I b'lieve I shall walk again that far to meet you," he said cheerfully. +"You will find me standing there some day when you ain't expecting it;" +and if Bella could have been happier than she was before, she was then. + +When they reached Norton the town was already full, and the market in full +swing. Bella had never before arrived at this time, and to her it all +seemed new and strange, and most intensely interesting. But of course the +market-house was the goal they were making for, and they could not loiter +on the way. She was to put her father down there, and then drive on and +leave Rocket at the stable, so that she, the beginner of it all, the +founder of the market garden, would be the last to see this, the great +climax to their toil. + +For just a moment she did feel a sense of disappointment. Here was the +day half gone already, and she had not set eyes on their stall yet. +But the thought was soon followed by one of shame for her ingratitude, and +when she reached the market at last she felt she would not for all the +world have had things other than they were, or have come at any other +time. For there, behind the stall--now showing large empty spaces made by +many purchasers--sat her father, looking more perfectly happy and content +than she had ever remembered seeing him. And there, beside him, stood +Margery, looking on at everything with an intensely interested face. +Aunt Emma was hovering between the poultry and the flowers, trying hard to +serve two customers at once, while even Tom, though so much more +accustomed to it, seemed puzzled to know which customer to serve first, +so many were coming to him for fruit or vegetables, or to leave orders for +things to be delivered through the week, or to be brought there on the +following Saturday. Charlie was bustling around, lending every one a +hand. + +And then Bella noticed that her father was taking charge of the till, +and her eyes grew blurred with tears when she saw the pleasure on his face +as one after the other they went to him for change. He was helping them +again, he too was taking part, and at their first stall too, and his +evident joy in it was so pathetic that she had to turn away to recover +herself before she could go up and let them know that she had come. + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +SUCCESS. + +Two years have passed away since William Hender drove in to see his +children open their first stall in Norton Market, and now, to-day, he is +waiting for them once more by the old milestone. + +Many a weary mile of life has he trodden painfully since last he stood +there, a strong, hale man. Many a Hill of Despair has he faced, and +Valley of Despondency; many a time has he wondered if he could ever reach +the top of the hill which rose before him, the hill of disappointed hopes. +It had seemed to him at times that as soon as he reached the top of one +another had sprung up beyond, sometimes whole ranges of hills of pain, +helplessness, weakness. + +There had been many pleasant miles too, when he had paused by the sunny +wayside 'To hear the angels sing,' and had gone on his way again refreshed +and thankful for all God's goodness to him. And now he had, for the first +time, walked to the old milestone again, to await his children's return-- +walked it without help or pain; and as he stood there waiting his heart +was very full of gratitude to his Father above, who had cared for him so +tenderly, and led him back to health again, and had given him such good +children and friends. + +He had brought a little camp-stool with him to rest on till they came, +for he still had to save his strength and walk through life carefully. +A flush of excitement was on his thin cheeks, and his eyes were bright and +eager as they looked along the road; for this was a surprise he had +planned for them. + +"I always looked for you as we came round the last bend of the road," +Bella had told him, "and I always shall, I think. I never seem able to +give up expecting you." + +And to-day her expectation was not to be in vain, and the father knew +something of what their delight and excitement would be. + +At last, round the bend of the road came the cart, drawn by a sturdy horse +now--their own--and as he caught sight of them William Hender rose to his +feet, for he wanted them to see him, and to see him standing upright and +strong as of old. He had to rest his hand on the old granite stone, for +the excitement of the moment had left him trembling a little, and though +stronger than any one had ever thought possible, he would never again be +the strong man he used to be. + +On they came, jogging along comfortably enough. He could see their two +heads together, evidently discussing something very earnestly; he saw +Bella raise hers suddenly--he could almost hear her exclamation of +incredulity, of surprise; he saw her spring to her feet and throw out her +arms in delight. Then the horse's pace was quickened, and they were +beside him--and "Oh, father!" was all they could say, but Bella's eyes +were full of tears, and both their faces were radiant. + +"And I ain't tired," he said proudly, "though I think I will ask for a +lift home," he added, with a happy laugh. + +Scarcely knowing what they were doing from excitement, they helped him up +into the cart, and on they jogged again, with Tom on one side of him and +Bella on the other, but Bella turned more than once and glanced back +affectionately at the old milestone, for to her now it seemed an old +friend, so connected was it with the joys and sorrows, the struggles and +successes of their lives. + +"I am sure it understands," she was thinking to herself; "it really looks +as though it does," when her father's voice brought her thoughts back to +him. + +"Well, what about the shop?" he asked anxiously. + +"Oh, father! we've taken it!" and Bella gasped, as though alarmed at the +desperateness of the plunge they had taken. "I forgot everything else +when I saw you, but oh, there's such a lot to tell. Tom, where shall we +begin? You tell it all, will you?" + +"I--I seem to have so much in my head I can't get anything out," laughed +Tom. + +"We'll wait till we get home, then, p'raps it wouldn't be fair to hear it +all before Aunt Emma can. Charlie will be home, too, by the time we are. +He's been with the donkey-cart to take one of his pigs to Mr. Davis, and +he has taken a message about renting the little field. The rent is low, +and we could keep the horse there, and the pigs, too, sometimes. It would +be fine!" + +Bella laughed. "If we've got a field we shan't rest till one of us has a +cow to put in it, that's certain!" + +"Well, I don't know but what 'twould be a good investment," her father +answered, thoughtfully; "there's no getting milk enough anywhere +hereabouts." + +Bella laughed again. "I can see that cow already," she cried, "a nice +little Guernsey, and Aunt Emma milking it. Why, there is Aunt Emma +herself! Whatever is she doing? Nursing a chick?" + +They had reached their own gate by that time. "I wonder what she'll say +when she sees me?" chuckled their father. + +"Doesn't she know?" cried Bella. "Oh, Aunt Emma, Aunt Emma!" she called. + +"Aunt Emma!" shouted Tom, at the top of his voice. "Quick, come here!" + +Miss Hender hurried to the gate with the chicken in her arms still. +"He's hurt his foot----" she began, but the rest of her remark was lost in +her astonishment. "Why, William!" she cried, "where have you been? +I thought you were in the orchard!" and she stared at him as though she +did not trust her own eyes. + +"Orchard?" laughed Bella; "why, we picked him up by the first milestone, +and if we hadn't stopped him there's no knowing where he'd have been by +now. I believe he was so anxious to see his new shop he couldn't wait!" + +She was standing with her arm round her father's shoulder, looking from +one to the other with eyes full of love and gladness. They were all of +them, indeed, so excited and pleased they scarcely knew what they were +doing. + +"Oh yes, the shop!" cried Aunt Emma. "I'd forgotten that for the minute. +There are more surprises nowadays than I seem able to take in. Well, what +about it?" + +"We've taken it!" cried Tom and Bella in one breath; "we've actually taken +it. What do you think of that? Isn't it enough to frighten one to think +of? We are actually full-blown tradesmen, Aunt Emma. 'Hender and Co., +Florists and Market-Gardeners. Fresh eggs and poultry daily. Moderate +prices.' That is what is to be painted over the shop window. Oh, Aunt +Emma, can you believe it? I can't. It doesn't seem real a bit," and she +threw her arms round Aunt Emma too, and hugged her in her excitement. + +"Well!" gasped Miss Hender, really overcome. "Well!" and for a time she +could not find another word to say. + +"I can't believe it," she said later, as they sat around the tea-table. +"P'raps when I've seen the place and the name painted up I shall be able +to." + +"And when you see the brass scales----" + +"And have the cleaning of them," put in Aunt Emma, with a knowing nod. +"If you are all given up to growing things and selling them, somebody must +do the housework and the cleaning, and that'll be my part, I reckon." + +"Mine too, Aunt Emma; I'll keep the shop tidy." + +"You can help at any rate," said Aunt Emma, for Margery, strangely enough, +had, as she grew, shown a greater liking for housework than for gardening. + +"I would clean the shop, and polish the scales and things," said Bella +meekly. + +"Oh no, you couldn't," interrupted Aunt Emma, feeling that she had perhaps +been a little severe. "You can't do everything. If you help earn our +living for us all, it is our work to look after the house. You haven't +got time and strength for both. Don't you be trying to do too much, +Bella. You're barely seventeen yet, you know." Aunt Emma's voice +trembled a little, for she still found it hard to let any one see the +kindly feeling that was in her heart. + +"Will you have to live in Norton altogether?" asked Margery dolefully, for +she did not like the thought of losing Tom and Bella. + +Bella, who read her feelings, hastened to comfort her. "Oh no," she +cried; "we've only taken the shop and a room behind it. Such a nice +little room, Aunt Emma. You will have to come in and have tea there +sometimes. The top part of the house is let to some one else. We shall +drive in every day with the fresh things to sell, and come home at night. +I think florists and greengrocers--doesn't it sound grand, daddy?--don't +do much after the morning, and I should think we could shut the shop at +four or five in the afternoon every day but Saturdays. Don't you, +father?" + +"May I come in sometimes and serve the customers?" asked Maggie eagerly. + +"Of course you shall." + +"When I've got a pig to sell will you carry it in too and sell it for me?" +asked Charlie quite gravely. "You would put it in the window for me, +wouldn't you, so that people could see it?" + +"Of course," answered Tom, with equal gravity, "if you would sit there and +make it behave. We don't want the window broken, for we haven't insured +it yet, and we don't want all our things spoilt." + +"It would be a wonderful attraction," went on Charlie thoughtfully, as +though he had not heard his brother; "it would draw crowds, and give you +such a start-off. I think you'd have to pay me so much an hour, it would +be such a fine advertisement." + +"It would draw people to the window, but I don't know that it would bring +them inside," laughed Bella. + +"Of course people would think you were for sale too," said Margery; +"it would be awkward if they wouldn't buy the pig unless you went with +it----" But her sentence was never finished, for Charlie chased her out +of the kitchen, and they finished their dispute in the garden. + +"We'll begin tea; we won't wait for those harum-scarums," said Aunt Emma, +lifting a tart out of the oven; and the four drew cosily round the table. + +Bella always loved those evening meals at the end of the long day in +market, when they sat and enjoyed at their leisure the good things Aunt +Emma provided, while they talked over all that had happened at home and +abroad. + +To-day seemed a day set apart, a special day, for had not their father +walked to the milestone to meet them? This, in Bella's eyes, was a more +important event than the taking of the shop. From the garden came sounds +of laughter and screaming, the sober clucking of the hens, and the louder +calling of Margery's ducks. + +"We shall be very lonely, Emma, when these two are away all day, shan't +we? I don't know what we shall do, do you?" + +Their father spoke half-jestingly, yet there was something in his tone +which was far removed from jesting. Tom looked from Bella to his father +and back again. With his eyebrows he seemed to be asking her a question, +and evidently she understood and signalled her answer. + +"Father," said Tom nervously, for he was always rather shy of speaking +before others, "we've thought out a plan, and we wondered if you'd fall in +with it, or--be able to, or----" + +"Well, my boy, I will if I can, if--well, if it isn't one to benefit me +only. It seems to me you're all thinking always what'll be best and +pleasantest for me, and I ain't going to have it; I ain't a poor invalid +any longer." + +"Well, it isn't to benefit you only, father," chimed in Bella eagerly; +"we think it will be best for all of us, and I think you'll think so too. +Go on, Tom." + +"Well," said Tom, "it's this,--that you go in to the shop every day with +Bella; you can keep accounts and do that sort of thing better than I can, +and----" he broke off suddenly, almost startled by the look of pleasure +which broke over his father's face, the sudden lightening of the sadness +which, unconsciously, always showed now in his eyes. To be at work again! +to be able to give real help, to be a working partner! To the man who had +for so long borne an enforced idleness, who had had to sit by and see +others work beyond their strength because he could do nothing to help--it +seemed too good to be true, a happiness almost too great. "Do the work?" +Of course he could do it. It would put new life into him to be a man +again and worker. + +"But what about you, Tom? It would be a bitter disappointment to give it +up, wouldn't it?" + +"Disappointment?" cried Tom; "why, there's nothing I'd like better. +You see, if you can be in the shop, I can stay at home and give all my +time to the garden, instead of having only the evenings after I get back. +Then Aunt Emma and Charlie and I can look after things here; and, if we +run this place, and you and Bella run the other, we ought to get on A1. +Don't you agree, everybody?" + +Tom gained courage as he went on, and, indeed, his father's undisguised +pleasure in the plan was enough to encourage any one. But Tom was +cautious too. He put all the arguments before his father, as though he +had shown reluctance, and had to be won over; for what they wanted, above +all things, was to make him feel that his help was really needed. +He succeeded in his aim, too, and without any help from Bella, for the +pathos of her father's joy brought a lump into her throat and a mist +before her eyes that prevented her speaking a word. + +"I think I'll go for a little stroll," she said quietly, when she rose +from the table, and something in her voice and face prevented any one from +hindering her. Out through the garden she went, and along the quiet road, +where the soft mist of evening was creeping up and the birds were calling +their last good-nights. On she went, and on, until she reached the old +grey church, standing so protectingly in the midst of the green graves, +which seemed to nestle about its sides as about a mother. + +Bella opened the churchyard gate and walked along the path to a far +corner, where a white headstone gleamed out distinctly from the dark holly +hedge behind it. + +"In loving memory of Isabella, wife of William Hender. Aged 29," ran the +inscription. + +Bella sat down on the curb which outlined the long, narrow grave, and +leaned her head against the stone. "Oh, mother, mother, if only you had +been here too, everything would have been just right!" She put her arm +around the little cross caressingly, and leaned her cheek against it, but +the coldness of it brought back to her memory the coldness of her mother's +brow when last she had kissed it, and she drew back quickly again. +It seemed so hard and unresponsive. "She knows, though she isn't here. +I am sure she knows," and she turned her face up to the darkening sky, +where already the stars were beginning to shine. + + "Like silver lamps in a distant shrine, + The stars are all shining bright, + The bells of the City of God ring out, + For the son of Mary is born to-night, + The gloom is past, and the morn at last + Is coming with Orient Light." + +The lines and the haunting air of the old carol came pouring into Bella's +mind. "It isn't Christmas, but all the rest fits to-night and--and every +time," and there in the gathering darkness she sang softly to herself-- + + "Faith sees no longer the stable floor, + The pavement of sapphire is there, + The clear light of heaven streams out to the world, + And the angels of God are crowding the air, + And heaven and earth, through the Spotless Birth, + Are at peace on this night so fair." + +All the way home along the quiet road the lines still haunted her-- + + "And heaven and earth, through the Spotless Birth, + Are at peace on this night so fair." + +She was singing softly as she reached her own gate. She did not see her +father standing inside and looking over it. + +"Lassie, that's what I was feeling, but didn't know how to put it into +words," he said, with an unusual gentleness in his tone. + +"Oh, father, are you here? Isn't it damp for you to be out?" she asked +anxiously, for Bella was always nervous for him. + +"I couldn't go in, child, till you were home. It seemed to me you weren't +happy about something." + +Bella, as she tucked her hand through his arm, reassured him. +"Why, father, I was too happy, that was all! I was so happy I had to go +away by myself for a bit, so that I--shouldn't make myself silly, and I've +come back happier than ever. There's Aunt Emma at the door calling to us. +There's such a lot to talk about, that if we don't go in and begin we +shan't have finished till morning;" and she led him back between the neat +flower-beds to the open door, where, in a glow of warm light from within, +Aunt Emma stood awaiting them. + +The End + + + +Printed by MORRISON & GIBB LIMITED, Edinburgh. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Better than Play, by Mabel Quiller-Couch + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BETTER THAN PLAY *** + +***** This file should be named 31836.txt or 31836.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/8/3/31836/ + +Produced by Lionel Sear + +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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