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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/38619-8.txt b/38619-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c867ddc --- /dev/null +++ b/38619-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9403 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Terrible Tomboy, by Angela Brazil + +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: A Terrible Tomboy + +Author: Angela Brazil + +Illustrator: N. Tenison + +Release Date: January 20, 2012 [EBook #38619] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A TERRIBLE TOMBOY *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +A TERRIBLE TOMBOY + + + + + STORIES FOR GIRLS + + _Illustrated in Colour._ + + THE STORY-BOOK GIRLS. By CHRISTINA G. WHYTE. 6/- and 3/6. + + NINA'S CAREER. By CHRISTINA G. WHYTE. 6/-. + + BRIDGET OF ALL WORK. By WINIFRED M. LETTS. 5/-. + + MISTRESS NANCIEBEL. By ELSIE J. OXENHAM. 5/-. + + A GIRL OF THE NORTHLAND. By BESSIE MARCHANT. 5/-. + + THE GIRL CRUSOES. By MRS. HERBERT STRANG. 3/6 and 2/6. + + THE GIRL SCOUT. By BRENDA GIRVIN. 3/6. + + DAUNTLESS PATTY. By E. L. HAVERFIELD. 3/6 and 2/6. + + THE CONQUEST OF CLAUDIA. By E. L. HAVERFIELD. 3/6. + + HENRY FROWDE and HODDER & STOUGHTON + + + + +[Illustration: "SEE, I'LL PUT IT JUST ON THE TOP IN FRONT." +[See page 44.] + + + + + A + TERRIBLE TOMBOY + + BY + ANGELA BRAZIL + + AUTHOR OF "FAIRY PLAYS FOR CHILDREN" + + NEW EDITION + + _ILLUSTRATED IN COLOUR BY N. TENISON_ + + LONDON + HENRY FROWDE + HODDER AND STOUGHTON + 1915 + + + + +CONTENTS + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I. PEGGY AT HOME 1 + + II. BIRDS'-NESTING 12 + + III. THE BLACK PUPPY 25 + + IV. A STORMY DAY 35 + + V. CONCERNING LILIAN 51 + + VI. SUNDAY 62 + + VII. MAUD MIDDLETON'S PARTY 72 + + VIII. THE HOLIDAYS 85 + + IX. A MOUNTAIN WALK 97 + + X. ON THE MOORS 109 + + XI. A NEW FRIEND 121 + + XII. IN THE RECTORY GARDEN 132 + + XIII. THE SMUGGLERS' CAVE 140 + + XIV. LILIAN'S HOUSEKEEPING 157 + + XV. THE BEGINNING OF A SHADOW 170 + + XVI. ARCHIE 180 + + XVII. DAME ELEANOR'S GHOST 193 + + XVIII. PLAY-ACTING 207 + + XIX. PEGGY AT WAR 219 + + XX. GORSWEN FAIR 231 + + XXI. ROLLO'S GRAVE 245 + + XXII. DEEPENING TROUBLE 256 + + XXIII. THE ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY 268 + + XXIV. CONCLUSION 280 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + _To face page_ + + "SEE, I'LL PUT IT JUST ON THE TOP IN FRONT" (_see page 44_) + _Frontispiece_ + + "MAKING A LONG ARM, SHE MANAGED TO SEIZE PUSS BY THE + SCRUFF OF HER NECK" 82 + + "BOBBY ACCOMPLISHED THE CROSSING IN SAFETY" 154 + + "HE FIRST SET TO WORK TO MAKE A SPIRAL STAIRCASE UP + THE TREE" 182 + + "IF YOU BREAK YOUR WORD, I'LL LET ALL WARFORD KNOW + THAT YOU'VE BEEN KNOCKED DOWN AND THRASHED BY + A GIRL" 226 + + "SEDGWICK, THIS IS AN EXTRAORDINARY DAY!" 276 + + + + +A TERRIBLE TOMBOY + + +CHAPTER I + +PEGGY AT HOME + + 'Good sooth! I know not be she wench or swain; + Her face proclaims her one, her deeds the other!' + + +'Peggy! Peggy! where are you? Peggy! Aunt Helen wants you! Oh, Peggy, do +be quick! Wherever are you hiding?' + +Getting no response to her calls, the speaker, a pretty fair-haired girl +of fifteen, flung her brown holland cooking-apron over her head, and ran +out across the farmyard into the lightly-falling rain. She peeped into +the cart-shed, where the hens were scratching about among the loose +straw. Certainly Peggy was not there. She searched in the kitchen +garden, but there was nothing to be seen except the daffodils nodding +their innocent heads under the gooseberry-bushes. Round through the +orchard she sped, bringing down a shower of cherry-blossom as she +brushed against the low-growing trees, and greatly disturbing a robin, +who was feeding a young family in a hole in the ivy, but without any +sign of the truant. Here and there Lilian ran, hunting in all Peggy's +favourite haunts--now peeping into a hollow yew-tree, now peering at the +top of a ladder, now rummaging in the tool-shed, then back through the +sand-quarry into the stack-yard, where there was a very good chance that +the young lady might be hidden away in some snug little hole among the +hay; but though Lilian got a tolerable amount of hay-seed into her hair, +her efforts were fruitless, and she was just turning away, hot and out +of breath, to give up the useless search, when the sound of a low, +chuckling laugh attracted her to the barn. + +The door was slightly ajar, and she peeped in. + +On the floor among the straw sat a little boy of between eight and nine +years old, gazing with rapturous delight into the rafters of the roof. +Following the direction of his eyes, Lilian glanced up, and beheld a +sight which made her gasp with horror. The barn was a very large one, +and was spanned by a great cross-beam, which ran across the whole length +from one end to another. Mounted on this, fully fifteen feet above the +ground, a small girl was slowly walking along, her gray eyes bright with +excitement, her brown curls flying in wild disorder, and her arms +stretched out on either side to balance herself as she went on her +perilous journey. + +Lilian gazed at her spellbound; she did not dare to speak or move, lest +by some mischance the frail little figure should lose its nerve and come +crashing down on to the stone floor below. + +The child herself, however, did not seem to be troubled with the +slightest fear, for she walked on as steadily as if the beam had been a +plain turnpike road, giving a shout of triumph as she reached the +cross-bar, and slid down the ladder on to the ground. + +'Hurrah! hurrah!' cried Bobby, clapping his hands in an ecstasy of +admiration. + +Peggy turned round with a radiant face. + +'It's perfectly easy!' she exclaimed; 'I could do it over again. Now, +Bobby, you come up and try!' + +But here Lilian's pent-up excitement and wrath burst forth. + +'For shame, Peggy!' she cried. 'If you want to break your own neck, you +shan't break Bobby's, at any rate! Don't you know what a horribly +dangerous thing you have been doing? And the idea of your walking along +there with your boot-lace dangling down in that way! You are really +getting too old for these silly tricks; one can't look after you like a +baby. Aunt Helen _would_ be angry if she heard of this!' + +Peggy sat down on the bottom rung of the ladder. The triumph had faded +from her face, and left something not nearly so pleasant to look at +behind. + +'All right,' she said defiantly; 'go along and tell Aunt Helen if you +like! I don't care!' + +'Peggy, how horrid you are! Do I ever tell? Didn't I wash and iron your +pinafore yesterday, when you fell into the pig-trough, and nobody even +suspected? I call you right-down mean to go saying things like that!' +And Lilian's pretty face flushed quite pink with righteous indignation. + +Peggy had the grace to look rather ashamed of herself. + +'No, Lil, you're a dear; you don't tell tales,' she said; 'and I haven't +forgotten about the pinafore.' + +'Promise me, then, that you won't go playing such mad pranks again, and +leading Bobby into them, too?' + +'All right--anything for a quiet life.' + +'But promise, properly.' + +'There! On my honour, I will never walk along that beam again, or let +Bobby do it either. Will that suit you?' + +Lilian heaved a sigh of relief, for whatever might be Peggy's sins and +misdeeds, her word, once given, was not lightly broken. + +'I've been looking for you everywhere,' she said. 'Aunt Helen sent me to +fetch you in at once, and I've been such a long time in finding you. I'm +afraid she'll be ever so cross.' + +'What does she want me for?' + +'To darn your stockings. Oh, Peggy, how could you go and hide all those +pairs away under the dressing-table? It was really silly, for you might +have known Aunt Helen would be sure to hunt them out; and now she's +fearfully angry about it, and says you'll have to sit and mend away till +they're all finished; and she won't let me help you, either.' + +Peggy sighed philosophically. + +'I suppose I shall have to come,' she said, getting up and shaking the +straw out of her hair. 'Never mind; I'd really rather mend them all in +one big heap than in a lot of little horrid pottering times; it spoils +one's Saturdays so!' + +'Aunt Helen said if I found Bobby he was to come in too, and learn his +Latin,' continued Lilian, looking round. But that youth had prudently +disappeared at the first hint of Saturday duties, and was nowhere to be +seen. + +Peggy chuckled. + +'I'm afraid you won't find him,' she remarked; 'and it's no use looking. +He's got the most lovely hiding-place in the world that he goes to when +he doesn't want to be told to come in. I only found it out by accident +myself, and I promised wild horses shouldn't wrench the secret from me. +Come along; we may as well go and get the scolding over.' + +And the young lady tossed back her tangled locks, shook her fist at the +anticipated pile of darning; then, putting on an air of chastened and +becoming meekness, as being most likely to soothe Aunt Helen's wrath, +she marched sturdily into the house. + +It was a beautiful old home into which Peggy entered, half castle, half +farmhouse, with an air of having seen better days about it. The quaint +timbered house, with its carved gables and red-tiled roof, was built in +at one end into a kind of square tower or keep, with tiny turret windows +and winding staircase, getting just a little ruinous in places, but held +firmly together by masses of ivy, which clung round it like a green +mantle. Beyond the tower lay the remains of an abbey, more ancient than +the keep. Most of it had been carried away to build the large barns and +stables, but the foundations could still be plainly traced, with here +and there part of a wall thickly covered with ivy, the ruins of a +shattered column, a delicate little piece of window tracery, or a few +steps of corkscrew staircase. There were rows and heaps of mossy stones +covered with nettles and elder-bushes, with patches of green grass in +between, where the cows grazed and the pigeons flew about, cooing +gently. In the ivy the jackdaws were always busy, and the children had +many a perilous climb trying to reach the coveted nests. The earliest +primroses grew here, and beds of sweet violets under the ruined walls, +and there were so many turns and corners and sheltered nooks that it +made the grandest play-place in the world for anyone who loved a game at +hide-and-seek. + +On the other side of the house stretched the garden--such a sweet, +old-fashioned garden, where roses, lilies, and gillyflowers were all +mixed up with the currants and gooseberries and cabbages. It was +somewhat neglected, it is true, but perhaps it looked none the less +picturesque for that, and certainly no one would be disposed to quarrel +with the beautiful ripe strawberries and the sweet little yellow +gooseberries with the hairy skins, or the big red plums that hung upon +the old brick walls. + +Inside the house was large and roomy, with rambling passages and odd +little windows in unexpected corners. There was a large oak staircase, +with wide, shallow steps, leading to a panelled gallery, where hung +swords, and rusty armour, and moth-eaten tapestry, and many an ancient +relic of the past; while in the best bedroom was a great carved +four-post bed, hung with faded yellow curtains, where Queen Elizabeth +herself was said to have slept in much state for two nights on her +journey from Shrewsbury to Wrexham. + +The big drawing-room had been shut up for many years; the Queen-Anne +chairs and china-cabinets were swathed in wrappers, and the ornaments +put away in boxes; but sometimes the children would steal in and open +the shutters to look at the portraits which hung upon the oak-panelled +walls--stately gentlemen with wigs and lace frills, whose eyes seemed to +follow you about the room; haughty dames with powdered hair and patches; +stiff little girls in hoops and mittens, and pretty young ladies attired +as shepherdesses or classic goddesses, with cupids and nymphs in the +background. + +The little blue drawing-room, which was always used instead, was a far +more cheery apartment, with its sunny French window and fresh muslin +curtains, and the blue chintz covers on the chairs. But of all the rooms +I think the quaintest was the kitchen. It was by far the oldest part of +the house; the great beams of the roof, roughly hewn out with an axe and +black with age, had been a portion of the ancient castle, and so had the +mullioned windows, with their deep, old-fashioned seats and diamond +panes, filled with green, uneven glass. It looked a cheerful place, with +its polished-oak dressers and shining brasses, and on a winter's +evening, when the shutters were closed and the settle drawn close to the +fire, it seemed the cosiest spot in the world; and Peggy and Bobby would +often escape from the sober atmosphere of the dining-room to pull their +little stools into the ingle nook, and listen to Nancy's wonderful tales +of ghosts and goblins, which seemed twice as thrilling when the wind was +howling like a banshee in the chimney, and rattling the doors till they +could fancy that spirit fingers were tapping on the panels, and only +waiting a chance to catch them in the dark passages, and sent such cold +shivers running down their backs that they grew almost too frightened to +go to bed. + +Below the house the meadow sloped down to a river, where a stone bridge +led to the village, with its pretty thatched cottages and Norman church, +whose square tower stood up like a beacon for the surrounding country; +and away in the distance, tier upon tier, rose the Welsh mountains, +fading from green to purple or from purple to misty mauve, till the last +were lost in the hazy blue of the sky. + +Gorswen Abbey, as Peggy's home was called, had been an important place +in its time, and an air of sleepy grandeur seemed still to hang about +the old walls, as if sometime it might rouse itself from its lethargy +and take its part in the world again. + +No one could remember when Vaughans had not lived at the Abbey. There +were tombs in memory of them in a side transept of the church--stalwart +Crusaders, lying with legs crossed and meek hands folded in prayer; +stout Elizabethan squires and their dames, with ruffs round their necks, +and rows of prim little kneeling children beneath them; full-faced +Jacobean worthies in curled wigs, with sculptured cherubs weeping over +extinguished torches; and there was a high old pew with a carved canopy +over it, and an escutcheon bearing a coat of arms with a dragon on it, +which, when Peggy was very little, she had always associated with the +dragon in the Book of Revelation, and had an uneasy feeling that its eye +was upon her all service time, and if she did not behave properly it +might come down in great wrath and devour her. + +There had been Vaughans who fought in the Wars of the Roses, Vaughans +who threw in their lot with King Charles and helped to beat Cromwell at +Atherton Moor, Vaughans who had joined the Young Pretender's force, and +had lost their heads as their reward. There was no end to the stories +which the children could sometimes cajole out of old David, the +farm-help, who had all the family history at his finger-ends. + +But they had been a happy-go-lucky, spendthrift race, loving to ride to +hounds and to entertain liberally better than to look after their +affairs. Little by little the fine property had been wasted away, till, +when Peggy's father succeeded to the estate, he found it to consist of +scarcely more than the old house with the surrounding farm and +woodlands, together with such a multitude of debts, mortgages, and other +encumbrances, that it was truly a barren heritage. Robert Vaughan, +however, was a man of strong will and much determination. Some of the +grit of the old Crusaders was left in his blood, and instead of taking +his solicitor's advice, and selling the place for what it would fetch, +he resolved to farm the land himself, and by using every care and +economy to free the property, and raise it to its former level in the +county. He worked in his own fields, ploughing, harvesting, and reaping, +toiling harder than any of his labourers, and living in as plain a +manner as possible. + +To those friends who thought he lost caste thereby he had always the +same argument--that he saw no reason why the cultivation of fields +should counteract the habits of refinement and good breeding to which he +had been reared; that in the colonies educated gentlemen set to work to +labour with their hands, and are thought none the worse of: so why not +in England, where land is good and markets are plentiful, especially +when it involved the keeping of a fine old property which had been in +the family for so many hundreds of years? + +Fortune, however, had been against him. Several bad seasons and a spell +of disease among the cattle had made all the difference between profit +and loss, and at the time this story begins Robert Vaughan realized that +any unusual run of ill luck might bring matters to a crisis, and render +vain the struggle of so many years. The children, however, knew little +of the shadow which haunted their home, for they lived as yet in that +happy thoughtless paradise which is the inheritance of true childhood, +where a new rabbit in the hutch or an extra treat on a holiday is of far +more importance than any grown-up affair. + +Their mother had faded so early from their young lives that she was +scarcely more than a tender memory, and her place had been taken by +dear, pretty Aunt Helen, father's younger sister, who did her best to +train them up in the way they should go. Aunt Helen fondly imagined +herself to be a great disciplinarian, but her own lively youth was still +such a recent remembrance that her eyes were wont to twinkle and the +corners of her mouth to twitch in the middle of her severest scoldings, +and the children always had a feeling that so long as they did not do +anything rude or wrong, or run into any very imminent danger, their +escapades were secretly condoned by their aunt, who admired pluck and +spirit, however much she might feel it incumbent upon her to lecture +them. + +Gentle Lilian gave little trouble, and Bobby, Aunt Helen often declared, +would be easy enough to manage alone; but where Peggy led he was always +sure to follow, and the end was generally mischief of some sort or +other. + +The worst of it was poor Peggy really did not mean to be naughty; she +was so eager, so active, so full of overflowing and impetuous life, with +such restless daring and abounding energy, that in the excitement of the +moment her wild spirits were apt to carry her away, simply because she +never stopped to think of consequences. She had always a hundred +projects on hand, each one of which she was ready to pursue with +unflagging zeal and that absorbing interest which is the secret of true +enjoyment. + +'Let her alone,' the Rector, who rejoiced in Peggy, was wont to say. +'Don't prune her too hard, for it is sometimes the side-shoots that bear +the best flowers, after all. She is like a young growing plant--a little +too much leaf at present, but I see a grand promise of blossom, and +she'll turn out a fine woman in the end.' + +Happily both her father and Aunt Helen shared his views, and, knowing +Peggy's generous, affectionate nature, were able to lead her more by +love than severity (for with human hearts it is often like the fable of +the sun and the wind: they will respond to a kindly touch, while +harshness will only make them sullen and obstinate), and they further +held the opinion that it is better for a child to have many interests +and much energy, even though these qualities prove a little +troublesome, than to grow up clipped to the prim pattern of those who +may have outlived their enthusiasms. + +Such natures as Peggy's taste life to the full; for them it is never a +stale or worthless draught. Each moment is so keenly lived that time +flies by on eager wings, and though there may be stormy troubles +sometimes, as a rule the spirit dwells, like the swallows, in an upper +region of joy, which is scarcely dreamt of by those who cannot soar so +high. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +BIRDS'-NESTING + + 'The busy birds with nice selection cull + Soft thistle-down, gray moss, and scattered wool; + Far from each prying eye the nest prepare, + Formed of warm moss and lined with softer hair.' + + +Peggy and Bobby sat at the top of a high apple-tree in a cunning little +seat just where one bough crossed another, and, bending up, formed a +kind of armchair with a back to it. Below them the pink apple-blossom +spread like a rosy cloud against the bluest of skies, and a blackbird in +a neighbouring bush was trilling his loudest. + +Easter had fallen late, so that the children's spring holidays were not +yet over when the first early delightful days of May brought a foretaste +of the coming summer. Peggy and Bobby were out the whole day long, +following their father about the farm, riding on the slow plough-horses, +helping to drive the sheep, or bringing home the cows from the pasture, +sowing seeds in their little gardens, and generally revelling in the +delicious freedom. + +Sometimes Lilian would join them, but more often she was busy indoors, +helping her aunt and Nancy, the maid, and learning the mysteries of +housekeeping and dairy-minding; for she was growing quite a nice little +companion to Aunt Helen, and becoming so useful that Nancy declared they +should scarcely know what to do without her when the term began again. + +'What shall we do this afternoon?' said Bobby, leaning back among the +branches in a way that would have brought Aunt Helen's heart to her +mouth if she had not long ago come to the conclusion that small boys +have nine lives, like a cat. + +'I don't know,' replied Peggy, idly picking off bits of twig, and +throwing them at the old gander, which had strayed underneath. + +'Then let's go birds'-nesting. You can't think how dreadfully I want to +find a cuckoo's egg. Arthur Hill has one at school, and he's so proud of +it, he wouldn't change it though a boy offered him five sticks of +mint-rock and a pea-shooter. I'm sure we ought to get one about here: +I've heard such lots of cuckoos lately. We'll look in every nest we +find.' + +'All right, we'll go down the meadows by the river into the hazel-wood.' + +'No, no! Up the hill, over the gorse common, and down the yew-tree +lane.' + +'You won't find any nests up there!' + +'Yes, I shall!' + +'I tell you you won't!' + +'And I tell you I shall!' + +'You were only eight last January, and I shall be twelve in November, so +I ought to know best!' said Peggy crushingly. + +'I don't care if you're a hundred!' replied Bobby with scorn. 'Joe was +up there last night, and he found twelve nests, and, what's more, he +told me just where they all are.' + +'Then, why couldn't you say so at first? Are you sure you can find +them?' + +'Certain; and one of them's a long-tailed tit's, with ever so many eggs +in it. Do you want to go down by the river now?' + +'No,' replied Peggy, giving in graciously. 'A bird in the hand is worth +two in the bush, and if Joe really found the nests up there, it's worth +while going to see.' + +Bobby climbed down in triumph, for Peggy so generally took the lead that +it was sweet for once to get his own way. He was rather a gentle little +boy, ready as a rule to follow at Peggy's bidding, and to make a lively +second to any scheme she might have in hand. Aunt Helen sometimes +thought the two must have got changed, and that Peggy should have been +the boy and Bobby the girl; for though the latter was not without +courage, it was certainly Peggy who had the most of that enterprising +spirit which is generally thought a characteristic of the masculine +mind. + +Though she would not have minded being a genuine boy, Peggy had the +greatest objection to be called a tomboy--a term of reproach that had +been hurled at her head from her earliest infancy by indiscriminating +friends. + +'If they meant anything nice by it, I shouldn't care,' she complained. +'But they don't, for a tomboy is a horrid, rough sort of creature who +isn't fit to be either a boy or a girl. It's too bad that I can't even +do useful things without people howling at me. Mrs. Davenport looked +perfectly shocked when I harnessed the pony, though I told her Joe was +milking, and there was no one else to come and do it; and when old Mr. +Cooper saw me help Father to drive cows down the pasture, he popped out +with "Miss Tomboy" at once, though he did say afterwards I was the right +sort of girl. People didn't call Joan of Arc and Grace Darling tomboys, +though they did other things besides stay at home and darn stockings. +Why can't I climb trees and jump fences, and enjoy myself like boys do, +and yet be a thorough girl all the same?' + +To do Peggy justice, I think she was right, for though she delighted in +outdoor life, she was in no sense a rough or ill-mannered child, and +loved pretty things and dainty ways as well as quieter Lilian; but it +was a case of a dog with a bad name, for however indignantly she might +remonstrate, people had got into the habit of dubbing her 'tomboy,' and +at that valuation she seemed likely to remain. + +The walk which Bobby had proposed this afternoon was somewhat of a +scramble, for the country rose behind the Abbey into undulating hills, +which were fairly steep, though not so high as the Welsh mountains, and +were covered for the most part with gorse and rough grass, where the +sheep and young bullocks were turned out to graze. It was rather a stiff +pull up to the common, but the Vaughans were as accustomed to climbing +as mountain goats, and would have thought it far more wearisome to walk +the length of a London street. + +Half-way up was a spot very dear to the children's hearts. At a turn of +the road a great slab of Welsh slatestone lay at a sloping angle, +shelving down for a distance of about twenty feet, and with its surface +so flat and even, and so smooth and polished by the weather, that it +made a natural sliding-board, down which it was delightful to toboggan +at full speed. It seemed expressly formed for the enjoyment of small +boys and girls, for as it lay across a corner, you had only to walk up +the road to get to the top, then settling yourself firmly with feet +straight in front, you let go, and slid like a bolt from an arrow +down--down--till you found your feet on the road again, and could climb +up once more and repeat the performance. + +Of course, it was not very nice for the backs of boots and +knickerbockers, and frocks and pinafores were apt to get sadly torn if +they caught on a projecting angle; but what child ever thought of +clothes when a twenty-foot slide might be enjoyed? Certainly not Peggy +or Bobby, whose well-worn garments were generally made of the stoutest +and most serviceable materials. + +They spent quite half an hour at this enthralling pastime, till a very +persistent cuckoo in a little copse over the hedge recalled them to the +principal object of their ramble. + +'Come along!' shouted Peggy. 'We're wasting time!' + +'Let's take the short cut,' cried Bobby, hopping nimbly over the fence +into the meadow, where the kingcups were lying, such a bright mass of +gold in the sunshine that you might have thought the stars had fallen +from the sky and were shining in the fields instead. Little rabbits +scuttled away before them into the hedgerows, and a cock pheasant, +disturbed in his afternoon nap, flew with a great whir into the coppice +close by. Two fields brought them out on to the common, where the gorse +was a blaze of colour and the bees were busy buzzing among the +sweet-smelling blossom. + +'Joe said there was a yellowhammer's nest just there, close by the +elder-bush,' said Bobby. + +'All right,' said Peggy; 'you take one side of the tree, and I'll take +the other.' + +A few minutes' search resulted in a delighted 'S'sh!' from Bobby, for on +a little ledge of rock under an overhanging tussock of grass was the +cosiest, cunningest nest in the world, and the yellowhammer herself sat +on it, looking at them with her bright little eyes, half undecided +whether to stay or to fly away in alarm. + +Peggy crept up as quietly as a mouse. Though the children were very +anxious to find nests, it was not in any spirit of ruthless robbery. Mr. +Vaughan was a keen naturalist, and had taught them to watch the birds in +their haunts, but disturb them as little as possible, taking an +occasional egg for their collection, but only when there were so many in +the nest that it would not be missed. + +'Isn't she stunning?' whispered Bobby. 'And how tight she sits!' + +But a human voice was too much for the yellowhammer, and she flew like a +dart into the gorse-bushes. + +'Five eggs,' said Peggy, 'but not one of them a cuckoo's. You don't want +one, do you, Bobby?' + +'No, I've got three at home. I had five, but I swopped two of them with +Frank Wilson for a redstart's.' + +'Come along, then; she'll soon fly back when we're gone; I believe she +is watching us out of the elder-tree. Where did Joe say the long-tailed +tits had built?' + +'Right in the middle of a gorse-bush, just on the top of the mound where +the goat was tethered last year. He calls them bottle-tits, but it's +just the same thing, Father says. Whew! isn't the grass scratchy on your +legs!' + +'Horrid! My boots are full of prickles. I shall have to take them off +soon. It's so deep here, it's scratching my very nose. Oh, look, Bobby! +There goes one of the tits! I saw just where she flew from. Oh, here it +is! See, isn't it just the prettiest little nest that ever was?' + +The tit's nest would certainly have gained the prize if all the birds +had been asked to take part in a building competition. It was made of +the softest moss and lichens, fashioned together in the shape of a +bottle with the neck downwards; for the tit must have some place in +which to bestow her long tail, and she builds her home to suit her +person. + +Peggy thrust a cautious finger through the tiny opening in the side. + +'It's full of eggs!' she exclaimed; 'I should think there must be seven +or eight. I'll take two, one for you and one for me. They're the +smallest you ever saw, and so warm. I hope they'll blow easily.' + +Bobby had brought a box full of sheep's wool in his pocket, to hold +anything they might find, so Peggy laid the eggs in with great pride, +for bottle-tits were rare in that neighbourhood, and they had long +wished to find such a treasure. Joe had certainly not misled them, and +Bobby's memory, though defective as regarded Latin declensions and +historical facts, was unerring where it was a case of locating +birds'-nests. + +He found three thrushes' nests low down in the elder-bushes, all filled +with gaping yellow mouths, the pretty little chaffinch's up in the +ivy-tree, with only two speckly eggs as yet, and Jenny Wren's household, +hidden away in a bank, full of so many children that she surely +resembled the old woman who lived in a shoe, and it was a marvel how she +could remember which little chirping atom she had fed last. The robin +had built early and her brood had flown and left the empty nest; but two +blackbirds were sitting in the hawthorn-hedge, and flew away with cries +of indignation and distress. + +The cuckoos were still calling loudly in the distance. + +'Tiresome things!' said Bobby; 'if they would only build nests like +other birds, one might have a chance of finding them.' + + '"In April the cuckoo comes, + In May she'll stay, + In June she changes her tune, + In July she prepares to fly, + Come August, go she must,"' + +quoted Peggy. + +'But you haven't said it all,' put in Bobby. + + '"And if the cuckoo stays till September, + It's as much as the oldest man can remember."' + +'I wish the rhymes would tell us where she lays her eggs,' said Peggy. + +She was poking about in the mossy bank as she spoke, when a +hedge-sparrow flew out from the low bushes above almost straight into +her face. It did not take Peggy long to find the neat little nest of +twisted twigs and grass woven into the fork of a branch. There were four +lovely blue eggs inside, and a slightly larger one of a greenish-gray +colour. Peggy flushed all over with excitement. + +'Bobby, Bobby!' she screamed, 'come here, quick! I do believe I have +found a cuckoo's egg!' + +There seemed little doubt about it, for the egg really looked quite +different to the others; so the treasured find was safely put away in +the small box, to be shown to Joe, who was wise in such lore, though he +only knew the birds by their country names, and had never heard of such +a science as ornithology. Quite elated with their success, the children +hunted down the lane, searching in every bush and hedgerow, but they +found nothing but a few last year's nests, full of acorns and dead +leaves. + +They came out by Betsy Owen's cottage--a little low, whitewashed, +tumble-down building, standing in the midst of a neglected garden, with +a very forlorn and deserted air about it. + +'Joe says no doubt there'd be lots of nests in the ivy there,' confided +Bobby, peeping through the hedge. 'But he wouldn't go in and see, not if +you gave him five pounds for it.' + +'Why not?' demanded Peggy. + +'Because old Betsy's a witch, and you never know what she might do if +you made her angry. John Parker and Evan Williams took some sticks from +her hedge last autumn, and she came out in a rage, and crossed her +fingers at them, and in six weeks John broke his leg, and Evan had sore +eyes all the winter. And once Joe and another boy were coming home very +late at night past the cottage, and they saw a bright light, and just as +they reached the gate it went out, and they heard a most fearful shriek, +and they were so frightened they ran all the way home.' + +'What nonsense!' said Peggy. 'I expect the old woman was blowing out her +candle to go to bed, and a screech-owl flew over their heads. Joe would +have run away from his own shadow. But if you're afraid, stay outside in +the lane, for I'm going in to see if there's a nest in that ivy; it +looks such a likely place. I don't believe anyone's in the cottage, +either, for the door's shut.' + +But Bobby much resented such a slur on his manly courage, and insisted +upon being the one to climb the ivy-covered chimney. He crept quietly +round to the back of the cottage, and swung himself up by the thick +stems, feeling in every little hole where he could lay his hand. The +large old chimney was so wide at the top that he found he could peep +right down it, as if he were looking into a well, and could see a good +piece of the hearth underneath, with a small fire of sticks burning +under a large, three-legged iron pot, and the old woman sitting close by +on a low stool, smoking a short clay pipe. + +Betsy Owen was a withered, cross-grained old dame, who by dint of the +knowledge of the uses of some simple herbs and a good deal of cunning, +had contrived to establish a reputation something between a witch and a +quack doctor. People came to her from remote farms to have warts charmed +away or the toothache cured; she dressed burns and wounds, and concocted +lotions for sore eyes and bad legs. Her one room was hung all round with +plants in various stages of drying, and she was always ready to +prescribe a remedy for an ailing cow or a sick child, generally at much +profit to herself, whatever might be the benefit to the sufferer. She +was bending over her iron pot now, stirring the concoction with a +long-handled spoon. Bobby could see her quite plainly in the fire light, +and could catch the curious aromatic smell which rose up from the +smouldering wood. I do not know what prompted him--probably the love of +mischief which dwells in all small boys--but he picked up a loose piece +of mortar which was lying on the roof, and dropped it suddenly down the +chimney. It fell plump into the iron pot with a loud, hissing sound. + +Out rushed Betsy from the cottage, scolding furiously. Down dropped +Bobby from the chimney, and was through a hole in the hedge and away +down the lane as fast as his sturdy legs could carry him. Peggy had been +waiting in the garden, and, before she could realize what had happened, +she found herself seized and shaken violently by the angry old woman. + +'I'll larn yer to come into other folk's places and drop stones down +decent body's chimleys!' shrieked Betsy. 'Be off with yer, yer +ill-mannered young good-for-naught; and if ever I catch yer here again, +yer'll get such a hidin' yer won't forget it for a month!' + +Peggy was so amazed by the suddenness of the attack that for the moment +she offered no resistance; but, finding a storm of blows descending on +her head like hail, she managed to squirm out of Betsy's ungentle grasp, +and fled after Bobby down the lane, followed by a shower of epithets +from the gate, where the old woman stood shaking her fist until long +after the children were out of sight. + +When they judged themselves to be at a safe distance the pair sat down +on a fence to get their breath, and talk over their adventure. + +'We're in for it now,' laughed Peggy. 'She was so fearfully angry I'm +sure Joe would say she'd bewitched us!' + +'Yes, he'll be in a great state of mind when we tell him. He'll quite +expect us to break our arms or legs or necks or something before long!' + +'You'll do that without her if you try to swing head downwards on one +leg like that,' said Peggy; for Bobby was executing some marvellous +gymnastics on the top rail of the fence. + +He came down feet foremost, however, and they sauntered off along the +road to the old water-mill, where the miller's man was slinging a sack +of flour on to a patient donkey who stood, with drooping ears, eyeing +the burden which he must carry up far into the mountains, while his +mistress, a little black-eyed Welshwoman, poured forth a torrent of +gossip in high-pitched tones. + +The wheel was standing idle, and the children went down the slippery +steps to the pool below. It was cool and dark there, for the trees grew +low over the stream, and the water, escaping from the race above, poured +down by the side of the wheel in a foaming cataract. A dipper was +hopping about from stone to stone in the centre of the stream, pruning +her sleek feathers, and calling her lively 'chit, chit' to her mate. +Peggy grasped Bobby by the arm. + +'Keep still,' she whispered. 'Let us watch her. Perhaps she may have a +nest somewhere close by.' + +All unconscious of her audience, the little bird jerked her short tail, +dived rapidly into the water, and, emerging at the other side of the +pool, flew suddenly into the green, moss-grown wall which overhung the +mill-wheel. + +'That's her nest,' cried Bobby. 'Oh, don't you see it? It looks just +like a great lump of moss; you can hardly tell it from the wall, only I +see a little round hole at the bottom. What a shame it's in such a +horrid place! We can never get it up there.' + +'Yes, we can,' replied Peggy stoutly. 'I'm going up.' + +'But how?' + +'Up the mill-wheel, of course, stupid! No, you're not coming too. You +climbed the chimney, and it's my turn. Just hold my hat, and I'll manage +all right, you'll see!' + +It was a slippery climb, for the wheel was green with slime, and it +needed a long step to get from one blade to the other; but Peggy was +utterly fearless, and she had soon pulled herself to the top. Balanced +there, she could easily reach to the nest, which was only a few feet +away from her. Out flew the dipper in a panic, and in went Peggy's +fingers. + +'Three eggs, Bobby--lovely white eggs! Look! I think I shall take this +one, at any rate.' + +She held out her hand to show her prize, but at that instant the +mill-wheel began to turn, and she was whirled from the dizzy summit +down--down--into the dark pool below. + +Bobby's agonized shrieks brought out the miller's man, who, dashing into +the stream, caught the child just as she rose to the surface, and +before she had drifted into the swifter current further on. It was a +very forlorn and draggled Peggy which he laid upon the bank, but she was +game to the last. + +'I haven't broken the egg,' she gasped out, with the water streaming +from her hair. + +'Better thank the Lord you're not drowned, miss,' said the miller's man, +looking ruefully at his own wet garments. 'Let me take you into the +house, and Mrs. Griffiths'll get you some dry clothes to your back; +you'll catch your death of cold sitting there.' + +Peggy essayed to get up and walk, but she was such a very water-logged +vessel that to hasten matters her rescuer picked her up in his arms, and +bore her off like a sack of flour. + +Stout old Mrs. Griffiths was sitting knitting in the chimney-corner, but +she jumped up in a hurry when John carried in his dripping burden. + +'Sakes alive!' she screamed, 'what is it? Is she dead? Lay her out on +the parlour sofa. Sarah Grace, run for the parish nurse and the +Rector--quick!' + +But Peggy's voluble tongue assuring her that she was very much alive, +and only in need of drying, she soon hustled that young lady upstairs, +and out of her wet clothes. Ten minutes later Peggy sat on the settle by +the kitchen fire, an odd little figure, attired in Sarah Grace's Sunday +jacket over Mrs. Griffiths' best red flannel petticoat, and a steaming +glass of hot elder wine in her hand. + +'Just to keep you from catching cold, miss; and Master Bobby must have +one too, bless his heart! He's as white as my apron, and small wonder, +after seeing his sister half drowned!' + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE BLACK PUPPY + + 'His eyes so brown, his winning ways, + His faithful heart, command our praise.' + + +After the adventure at the mill-wheel, Aunt Helen, judging wisely that +'Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do,' sent the +children into the fields with Lilian to gather cowslips to make cowslip +beer. It was pleasant work wandering among the green meadows picking the +sweet-smelling flowers, while the larks sang their loudest overhead, and +the little brook babbled by on its path to the river--more especially +pleasant when they remembered that by this time next week school would +have begun again, with its attendant woes of Latin grammar and French +composition. + +'I'm sure we must have enough now,' said Lilian, turning out her +sixteenth basket of blossoms into the ever-increasing pile in the +bakehouse. 'I'm almost tired of gathering them; I shall see nothing but +cowslips when I shut my eyes in bed to-night.' + +'It will take a fearfully long time to pick them all,' remarked Peggy, +starting bravely to work on her task of pulling the yellow pips away +from the green calyces. 'It seems almost a shame to put them into a +barrel, they look so pretty.' + +'You won't say so when you come to taste it,' said unromantic Bobby, +who was fond of cool, fizzy drinks in summer. + +'Be that you, miss?' said a voice from the region of the door; and the +good-natured, freckled face and sandy hair of Joe, the farm-boy, made +its appearance, followed by the rest of his lanky person, as he entered +slowly, bearing something mysteriously concealed under his coat. + +'Whatever have you got there, Joe?' cried three voices at once. + +'Well,' replied Joe, with an important air, 'it do be a present for Miss +Peggy, it be. She were that disappointed about the guinea-pig as Mrs. +Davenport promised to give her, and forgot all about, that I says to +myself, "I must make it up to her some ways, if I gets the chance." So I +walks over to my granny's at Marlow last night, and I begs a black pup +off her, and here it is.' + +Joe drew aside his jacket, and disclosed to the children's delighted +eyes the sweetest little round fuzzy ball of black fluff, just like a +tiny woolly bear, with tan chest and paws, and a wagging morsel of a +tail like a black tassel. It had the brightest of brown eyes, the +pinkest of tongues, and the shrillest of barks, and it was altogether +such a dear, enchanting, soft, curly morsel of puppyhood that Peggy took +it to her arms and her heart at the same moment. + +'Oh, thank you, Joe!' she exclaimed, almost too pleased to speak. + +'Granny has five of 'em, miss,' said Joe; 'but I picked out the best. +It'll make a grand dog, it will, when it's growed, and master was sayin' +only the other day as he could do with another collie to train in old +Rover's place.' + +'Let me have him a moment!' begged Bobby, hugging the wriggling burden, +which Peggy unwillingly relinquished. + +'What shall you call the darling?' inquired Lilian, kissing the funny +black nose that was smelling at her buttons. + +'I think Rollo would be a jolly name, and of course we can all have a +piece of him all the same, though he's mine,' announced Peggy +magnanimously, for the Vaughans always shared their good things with one +another. + +They had a perfect menagerie of pets at the Abbey. First there were the +rabbits, five white ones and two black, which lived in a little hutch +behind the stackyard. They did not do very much except nibble at bran +and lettuce-leaves, it is true, but they were pretty, soft creatures, +with long, silky ears, and it was fun sometimes to let them out for a +scamper on the granary floor. Then there was Prickles, a bright little +hedgehog, which Peggy had rescued from some village boys who were using +the poor little fellow as a football. She had brought him home, and fed +him on bread and milk, and he soon got to know her, and would come when +she called him, and allow her to scratch the end of his funny pink nose. +Prickles generally slept most of the day in a snug box lined with hay, +but in the evenings he woke up, and Peggy would carry him into the +kitchen, where he devoured black-beetles, much to his own delight and +Nancy's satisfaction. + +Jack, the magpie, had fallen from his nest in the fir-tree when still an +ugly little half-fledged creature with a wide, gaping mouth. The +children had made a nest of grass for him inside a basket, and fed him +on worms and scraps of raw meat until he was old enough to fly, when he +would follow them everywhere about the farmyard and outbuildings, +calling 'Jack, Jack!' which, with the mewing of a cat, the gobble of +the old turkey-cock, and a close imitation of David's winter cough, made +up the extent of his accomplishments. + +Nancy kept him sternly out of the kitchen, for he was terribly +mischievous, and seemed to take a positive delight in playing practical +jokes. He had purloined David's scarf from the saddle-room, and dropped +it into the horse-trough, had filled Bobby's hat with pebbles, and +devoured the queen-cakes which Lilian had placed on the kitchen +window-sill to cool; he had snatched Joe's breast-pin--a glittering +imitation diamond--from his Sunday tie, under the very nose of that +injured youth, and had stolen so many small articles that if anything +were missing the children would have a grand search for Master Jack's +hiding-place, and would generally turn out the lost treasure from among +an odd collection of trifles--scraps of bright-coloured rags, bits of +broken glass, hairpins, pen-nibs, pencil-ends, together with pieces of +bread and half-picked bones which the thief had concealed in some +cunning corner inside a manger or under the roof of the loft. + +Then there was Pixie, the pony, who would come whinnying up from the +further side of a field to poke her soft nose into the children's +pockets for pieces of bread or lumps of sugar; there were numerous cats +who lived in the barns and stables, and Tabbyskins, the stately gray +Persian, who usually sat sunning herself on the pigsty wall, keeping a +strict eye on naughty Jack, who was wont to harry her if he got the +chance. + +Bobby had a pretty set of bantams, whose small eggs afforded him much +delight and some slight profit, for Aunt Helen bought them from him at +threepence a dozen--a transaction which he always recorded in chalk upon +the hen-house door, the pennies being carefully put by towards the +purchase of a pair of fantail pigeons, which was at present the summit +of his ambition. + +This spring, too, there was a pet lamb called Daisy. David had found it +bleating beside its dead mother one bitter morning early in March, and +had carried the poor orphan into the kitchen, where Nancy had reared it +on a feeding-bottle like a baby. It returned her care by an affection +which was quite embarrassing to the worthy girl, for however attractive +a pet lamb may be, it becomes distinctly in the way when it insists upon +following you into the dining-room with the dinner, or presses its +attentions on you when you are engaged in cleaning the grate or +scrubbing the floors. + +It was not only outside that the children had treasures. Aunt Helen was +very long-suffering with respect to hobbies, for she rightly thought +that the more a child's life is filled with interests, the more chance +it has of growing up an intelligent and broad-minded individual, and of +escaping from that lethargy of boredom which swallows up the lives of +many young people who ought to know better how to amuse themselves in +God's beautiful world. 'I don't know what to do,' was an unknown +expression among the young Vaughans, who had always so many projects on +hand that the difficulty lay in finding time to carry them all out. + +The Rose Parlour, as it was called, from the tangle of pink roses which +framed the windows in summer-time, was especially given up to the +children's use. It was a bright, cheerful room, with a view over the +river to the sunset and the Welsh mountains, and had a French window +which opened into the garden. Here was the old piano on which they +practised, here the ink-pots and rulers for their home-lessons, with +their paint-boxes, crayons, and drawing-books. + +A cupboard in the corner was devoted to a kind of museum, where they +kept their collection of birds' eggs, a few butterflies, moths, and +beetles, Lilian's pressed wild-flowers, a box full of shells and fossils +which they had brought home from their one never-to-be-forgotten visit +to the seaside, a curious plaited basket filled with bone rings, shell +bracelets, and other curiosities, sent by a sailor cousin from the South +Sea Islands, and an odd assortment of stones, old coins, foreign stamps, +crests and postmarks, which represented landmarks in the history of past +fads. + +Lilian's canary hung in the sunniest window, Peggy's silkworms lay in a +box on the sideboard, and Bobby's white mice reposed in much comfort in +a cage on the chimneypiece. + +The walls were adorned with school drawings and prize maps, fastened up +with tacks; a bookcase of much-read volumes filled the space between the +fireplace and the window; and in the corner might be found a +miscellaneous collection of cricket-bats, fishing-rods, tennis-racquets, +bows and arrows, croquet-mallets, sticks, balls and ninepins, and other +articles very dear to the children's hearts, but which Nancy generally +classed impartially under the head of 'lumber.' + +The black puppy proved a delightful addition to the already long list of +pets. Lilian hunted up a piece of blue ribbon to tie round his fluffy +neck; but he objected to decorations, and soon clawed it off, and chewed +it into a soft, slimy pulp. He ran after the children with little short, +sharp barks, worrying at their heels till Aunt Helen declared there +would soon not be a whole stocking left in the establishment; he had a +fray at once with Jack, but was much worsted by that worthy, returning +to Peggy for protection with his scrap of a tail between his legs; he +tore Bobby's cricket-ball to pieces, licked the polish off Father's +boots, devoured Aunt Helen's goloshes, and nestled cosily down to sleep +on the top of Nancy's best Sunday hat, which that luckless damsel had +imprudently left in an open band-box on the kitchen settle. + +On the first night of his arrival he howled so piteously on being left +alone that Peggy insisted on taking him to bed with her. + +'He'll be no trouble, the darling!' she said. 'He'll just cuddle down on +the rug at the foot of my bed, and go to sleep like an angel; I know he +will!' + +She and Lilian made him a very snug little nest with the help of an old +pillow, and he settled himself with a sigh of much content. + +'He's _far_ better than a baby,' declared Peggy, 'for he doesn't want +hushing and rocking, and he won't cry in the night.' + +But his fond mistress had given her favourite his good character a +little too soon. About midnight the bright moonlight streaming in +through the window woke Master Rollo, who, having had a refreshing nap, +was now very wide awake, and ready for anything. He heaved himself out +of his wrappings, and with a delighted yelp fell upon Peggy's curls, +worrying them with little gasps of joy, till she had to dive beneath the +bedclothes to escape her too sportive pet. + +After that there was no more rest for Peggy or Lilian; Rollo was on the +war-path, and determined to make the most of his opportunities. It was +in vain that Lilian held him in her arms, and tried to soothe him to +sleep; he grunted and whined, and wriggled down on to the floor, where, +with a shrill bark, he unearthed a cardboard box full of old gloves, +which had been stored away under the bed. The chewing and tearing up of +these afforded him much sport, as did also the bare feet of his +mistress, when she attempted to interfere. Peggy was at her wits' end, +but she finally seized the tempestuous ball of fluff, and dropped him to +the bottom of the empty clothes-basket. + +'He can't do any harm in there, at any rate,' she said hopefully. + +He could make such a noise, however, that he effectually banished +slumber; he twisted and turned, he bit at the wickerwork, and scratched +with his claws, and after ten minutes of much commotion managed to tip +over the basket and crawl out in triumph, to renew his attacks upon the +shoes and other property of the despairing girls. + +'It's no use,' groaned Lilian at last, getting out of bed and catching +the small sinner; 'we shall just have to take it in turns to nurse him +till morning; he's as lively as a cricket, and if we leave him raging +about on the floor like that we shan't have a thing in the room left +unchewed!' + +Never had a night seemed so long; the only one who thoroughly enjoyed +himself was the puppy, who, delighted to receive so much attention, +pursued his diversions until the sun was well in at the window, when at +length he snuggled into Peggy's pillow, and composed himself to sleep, +leaving his weary guardians only time for a brief rest before Nancy's +unwelcome tap was heard at the door. + +After this experience Peggy was not so enthusiastic about having Rollo +for a bedfellow, and he slept in the stables, with the cats to bear him +company. + +He was an amusing little fellow, and soon learned to sit up and beg for +biscuits, and Peggy promised herself to teach him many more +accomplishments in course of time. As he grew older his pranks assumed +rather a more serious form. + +'Just look what that precious dog of yours has done, Peggy!' cried Mr. +Vaughan one day, bursting indignantly into the Rose Parlour with a dead +kitten in his hand. + +There was a howl of consternation and woe from the children, for the +poor gray kit had been rather a favourite, and an instant search was +made for the murderer. But Rollo had fled from the stern hand of +justice, and though they sought him far and near, it was of no avail, +and by bedtime he was still missing. + +'No doubt he's hiding somewhere about in the barns,' said Lilian. 'He +must be fearfully hungry; but it serves him right, the wretch!' + +The children had long ago gone to bed, and Mr. Vaughan was on the point +of following their example when he noticed a curious and most unusual +lump underneath his counterpane. + +'What on earth has that stupid Nancy given me a hot bottle for on such a +warm evening?' he exclaimed; and flinging down the clothes he disclosed +to view, not the expected earthenware bottle, but the shrinking and +apologetic form of Master Rollo, who, if ever a dog could be said to own +a conscience, surely showed he knew he had offended, and repented +heartily of his sins. + +Mr. Vaughan laughed so much that he had not the heart to thrash the +little rogue, but next morning he devised a punishment for him which +Peggy declared was far worse. The body of the dead kitten was securely +tied round his neck with a piece of rope, and, like the albatross in the +ballad of the 'Ancient Mariner,' it proved such a weight of shame that +the guilty dog did not dare to show his face to his friends, but slunk +away to hide his dishonoured head in dark corners of the barn or +stackyard. + +Mr. Vaughan was inflexible, and would not allow Rollo to be relieved +from his burden until the following evening. + +'We must teach him a lesson he is not likely to forget,' he said. 'I +cannot have him touching any of the animals on the farm, or we shall +have him killing the sheep when he is older.' + +So Rollo bore his punishment as best he could, and was fed behind the +pigsty by the sympathetic Peggy, who, while mourning for the departed +Ruffles, forgave her erring pet from the bottom of her heart when she +saw the depths of his unutterable woe. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +A STORMY DAY + + 'Alack-a-day, what tears we mingle! + For trouble ne'er, I wot, came single.' + + +Though Gorswen was the most quiet little country spot you could find, it +lay only four miles away from Warford, a rising inland watering-place, +which boasted not only a Mayor and Corporation, but a pump-room and +concert-hall, and had a large and fleeting population of visitors, and, +to judge by its growing suburbs, an ever-increasing number of residents. + +Lilian and Peggy attended the Warford High School, and Bobby the Grammar +School. It was not quite what Father would have wished for them, for he +had been a Rugby boy himself, but it was the best he could afford; and +certainly the education was excellent, though the pupils were decidedly +mixed. Still, as Aunt Helen said, 'You have no need to copy the manners +of the children you meet. You have been taught at home to behave like +gentlepeople, so please to remember you are Vaughans, and keep up the +credit of the family.' + +Every morning at eight o'clock the little governess-car and Pixie, the +steady black pony, stood ready at the side gate, and the trio jogged off +to school with their lesson-books and their luncheons in their +satchels. David could not be spared to go with them, but all the +children had been taught to drive, and even Bobby had a firm hand on the +reins, and knew the rules of the road as well as many a more experienced +coachman; and I think, too, that Pixie had a sense of her +responsibilities, and could be trusted not to get the wheel locked with +a passing waggon, or to race too furiously down a steep hill, whatever +feats her drivers might urge her to perform. The pony and trap were put +up for the day at a quiet little inn midway between the two schools, and +were always waiting for the children by a quarter past four, when, like +the traditional donkey, they joyfully turned their noses towards home +again. + +On one special Monday morning in May Peggy got out of bed in that +peculiar frame of mind which Father charitably called 'highly strung,' +and Nancy broadly defined as 'having black dog on your back.' To begin +with, it was wet. Not that Peggy minded rain in the least, but if it +were fine Mr. Vaughan had intended to go over to a great cattle fair +which was to be held that day at Shrewsbury, and had promised to bring +her home a guinea-pig. 'And now he won't go,' she thought dismally, 'and +I shan't have the chance of another until Warford Agricultural Show in +the autumn.' + +Peggy hated Monday mornings. After the delightful freedom of Saturday +and Sunday at home it was always doubly hard to return to school, and +the time until next Friday afternoon seemed an endless prospect. All the +nastiest lessons, Peggy thought, came on Mondays--grammar and +arithmetic, dates and French verbs, and all those horrid fussy things +which take a great deal of learning without being specially interesting +in themselves. + +On this particular morning the children were late for school, for Pixie +had cast a shoe upon the road, and Lilian had been obliged to drive so +slowly that the church clock was chiming a quarter past nine as Peggy +opened her classroom door. + +It is rather an ordeal to walk late into a schoolroom full of thirty +girls, and the slightly nervous feeling had the unfortunate effect of +making Peggy march in with a don't-care look on her face, and shut the +door with a bang. + +Miss Crossland glared at her through her eyeglasses. + +'If you are so careless as to be late, Margaret Vaughan,' she remarked, +'the least you can do is to come in quietly without disturbing the +class.' + +Rather crestfallen, Peggy threaded her way to her place, and took out +her arithmetic books. + +'Which sum are you doing?' she whispered to her desk-mate, Emily +Thompson; but Emily judiciously pretended not to hear, for she did not +wish to waste valuable time in giving Peggy information. She was rather +a pretty girl. Her light flaxen hair and pale, fair complexion gave her +a smooth, shining appearance, and somehow Peggy always thought her +manners were smooth and shining too, for she had a way of wriggling out +of any little difficulty and unpleasantness, so that the blame rested +upon other people, and was always ready to take a mean advantage, or +play some of those little underhand tricks which schoolgirls know only +too well. + +Peggy's frank, downright nature held Emily in much contempt, and, as she +made no effort to conceal her opinion, the dislike was mutual, and a +kind of undeclared war existed between the two. It was unfortunate for +Peggy that the third form classroom was furnished with double desks, for +as Miss Crossland would permit no changing of places, she was obliged +to sit by her enemy for the rest of the term, to their equal discomfort +and annoyance. + +The lesson dragged on wearily for awhile, till they were disturbed by a +tap at the door, and a small girl from one of the lower classes entered, +full of importance at her errand. + +'If you please, Miss Crossland,' she piped, 'Miss Martin would like to +speak to you for a moment in the library.' + +Miss Crossland looked annoyed; she disliked being interrupted in her +classes, but the head-mistress's request could not be disobeyed. + +'Very well, Gertrude,' she replied coldly; then, turning to her class: +'Girls, I must leave you for a few minutes. I trust you to continue your +arithmetic in silence during my absence. Not a word must be spoken while +I am out of the room.' + +For so long indeed as her footsteps echoed in the passage her pupils +obeyed her order, but the moment she might reasonably be believed to be +out of earshot a low murmur began among the little heads bent so +discreetly over the arithmetic books. No one attempted to do any work; +sweets and apples appeared mysteriously from within desks, and +surreptitious bites were offered to appreciative neighbours. One daring +spirit even mounted the platform, and waved the pointer in supposed +imitation of Miss Crossland's majestic style. + +'What made you so late, Peggy?' asked Nora Pemberton in the intervals of +ecstatic delight over a white mouse, hidden away in a desk-mate's +lunchbox. + +'Couldn't help it,' replied Peggy, with her mouth full of chocolate. +'Pixie lost a shoe, and we thought she would go lame, so we almost +crawled along; and when we got her in, we had to tell them to be sure +and have her shod by four o'clock, and of course it all takes time.' + +'I wish I drove to school every day,' said Sissie Wilson, a delicate +looking girl who lived in the heart of the town. + +'You wouldn't like it when it was wet,' said Peggy. 'And if it's frosty +one's hands get just numb holding the reins, though it's jolly enough in +summer. We have to start ever so early, too, to be here by nine.' + +'Well, I only wish I had the chance,' grumbled the envious Sissie; but +she was interrupted by a warning 'Hush! Miss Crossland!' + +In a moment thirty hair-ribbons were bent over thirty desks, and thirty +demure young ladies were adding up figures with the utmost care and +attention. + +Miss Crossland looked at them suspiciously; perhaps ten years of +teaching had caused her to mistrust such amazing diligence. + +'Has any girl spoken during my absence?' she inquired sharply. + +No one replied. Peggy's face flushed, and her conscience gave her a +sharp twinge. A Vaughan must never have anything to do with the least +little bit of an untruth, so she stood bravely up in her place. + +'I spoke, Miss Crossland,' she admitted. + +'And I too,' said Nora Pemberton. + +Nobody else followed Peggy's example. Sissie Wilson bit the end of her +pencil in abstruse calculation, Emily Thompson was deep in the pages of +her arithmetic, while most of the girls were adding up columns as if for +dear life. + +Miss Crossland looked grave. + +'Very well, Margaret and Nora,' she said, 'I must give you each a +bad-conduct mark, and shall expect you both to stay after four o'clock +this afternoon.' + +The tears rose to Peggy's eyes at the injustice. + +'What a mean set they are!' she said to herself. 'I'm sure Miss +Crossland might have known they had been talking too; but she is always +down upon me.' + +She opened her desk, and searched for a fresh pencil to hide her +tell-tale face, and somehow (she really did not mean it, but perhaps her +tears blinded her) the desk-lid slid from her fingers, and fell down +with an awful crash, which rang through the whole room. + +'Take another bad-conduct mark, Margaret Vaughan,' said the calm voice +of Miss Crossland. 'You must learn not to show temper when you are +reproved.' + +Poor Peggy groaned. Every bad-conduct mark meant six sums to be worked +out when school was over. She and Lilian had been very anxious to get +home early that afternoon, for they had meant to sow seeds in the +garden; and Father was always angry if they kept Bobby waiting, for he +did not like him to be loitering about the inn-yard listening to the +talk of the stable-boys. + +But Miss Crossland was writing a problem upon the blackboard in compound +proportion. 'If a hen and a half lay an egg and a half in a day and a +half, how many eggs can four hens lay in six days?' + +'What a stupid sum!' thought Peggy. 'How could there be a hen and a +half? I don't know the least how to state it. Is the answer to come out +in hens or eggs or days?' + +She put down a few random figures, then her thoughts wandered off to the +brown speckled hen at home, and she wondered if the little chicks would +hatch out to-day, and whether Nancy would remember to go and see, and +put the dear fluffy yellow things in a basket before the kitchen fire. + +'Your answer, Margaret?' said Miss Crossland. But Peggy's mind was so +far away in the Abbey barn that she did not at once hear her. + +Perhaps Emily Thompson really wished to recall Peggy's wandering +thoughts, or perhaps there was just a spice of malice in the action--at +any rate, she dug the point of her lead-pencil so sharply into poor +Peggy's hand that her astonished victim sat up with a yell. + +'_Margaret!_' exclaimed the outraged mistress. + +'I couldn't help it!' cried Peggy, grown desperate: 'Emily hurt me so!' + +'I'm very sorry, Miss Crossland,' said Emily sweetly. 'I didn't mean to +hurt Margaret, only to make her see you were speaking to her.' + +'Which would not have been necessary if she had been attending +properly,' replied the mistress. 'And I must say I think little of any +girl who cannot endure a moment's pain in silence. Read out your answer, +Emily, and I will then correct the home-work.' + +Peggy heaved a sigh of relief at that. She knew the sums which she had +worked at home on Saturday were correct, for Lilian had gone over them +carefully afterwards, so she opened her book and took up her pencil +ready to put a triumphant 'R' to each of them. + +'Miss Martin has borrowed my Blackie's Arithmetic,' said Miss Crossland, +'so I have not the answers here. But read out your results, Bertha Muir, +and I shall be able to judge from the general average whether they are +correct or not.' + +'Three hundred and nineteen pounds six and sevenpence,' read out +Bertha. + +'Hands up girls who have got that answer,' said Miss Crossland. + +At least twenty out of the thirty hands went up like lightning into the +air. + +'Right!' ventured the teacher. + +Peggy gazed at her sum in amazement. She differed from the answer by +several figures. Could both she and Lilian have made a mistake? It +seemed impossible, for Lilian was so splendid at arithmetic. But Bertha +was reading out the next sum, and the next. To each answer she gave a +crowd of uplifted hands agreed with her, and poor Peggy found, to her +chagrin, that in every case her figures were not the same. It could not +be that all the ten sums she had taken so much pains over were wrong. If +so, it meant a very bad mark for arithmetic. + +'Oh, Miss Crossland,' she burst out, 'it's not fair! I _know_ my answers +were right. If you would only work them out on the board, you'd soon +see.' + +'Margaret Vaughan,' said Miss Crossland sternly, 'I am the best judge in +this matter, and if I have any more trouble with you this morning I +shall send you straight to Miss Martin. I do not allow any girl to speak +to me in that tone.' + +Though inwardly raging, Peggy was forced to put on an outward appearance +of submission and good behaviour, and the lessons droned on somehow +until the morning was over. Most of the girls fled, as usual the moment +the class was dismissed; but Peggy stayed behind in the schoolroom to +tidy her desk and talk to Nora Pemberton, who just at present was her +particular friend among her schoolmates. + +'I can't think how it was my sums were all wrong,' she lamented, as she +put away the ill-fated home-lesson book. 'Did you get yours right, +Nora?' + +'No, wrong, every one; and I had worked them so carefully.' + +'Just let me look at your answers. Why, they are exactly like mine! I +know they are right. How is it all the other girls got the same as +Bertha?' + +'Oh, I can tell you that,' said Nora, 'They all copied her sums, for I +saw them doing it just before school began. You know it was the Military +Bazaar at the Assembly Rooms on Saturday, and I suppose most of the +girls were there, and had no time to do their home-work, so they just +scribbled down Bertha's figures before the bell rang.' + +'How unfair! How shamefully mean!' cried Peggy, with flaming cheeks. +'Miss Crossland ought to work out those sums.' + +'She won't, though. You made her so angry about it this morning, and +when once she says a thing she sticks to it.' + +'She's always hard on me somehow,' sighed Peggy. 'She's been perfectly +horrible to-day. Why, Nora, what's the matter?' + +For Nora had also had a tidy fit, and had been turning out her desk, and +she now drew forth a book with such a very blank and rueful face that +Peggy might well exclaim. + +'It's the Literature Notes,' said Nora in an awe-struck voice--'that +book Miss Martin lent us to copy from, and that vanished so mysteriously +a month ago. Don't you remember what a fearful fuss she made about it, +and we were all told to search in our desks? I thought I had looked +quite to the bottom of mine, but there it was, under a pile of old +exercise-books. Whatever shall I do? She will be so dreadfully angry +with me.' + +'Why, of course, you'll have to take it back,' said Peggy. 'But,' her +love of mischief getting the upper hand, 'I don't see why we shouldn't +have a little fun with it first. You won't find Miss Martin in the +library now, and it would do quite as well at four o'clock, so suppose +you put it inside Mary Hill's desk, just to give her a fright. She's +such a goose, she'll give a perfect howl of horror when she finds it, +and then we'll pretend to think she must have had it there all the time, +and get her into _such_ a state of mind before we tell her.' + +Nora laughed, for practical jokes were at a high tide of popularity in +the class, and many were the tricks which the girls played on one +another. + +'I owe Mary something,' she said, 'for she tied my hair-ribbon to the +back of the desk on Friday, and when I tried to get up I was held fast +by my pigtail.' + +'It will be a good way to pay her back, then,' said Peggy. 'See, I'll +put it just on the top in front, where she'll find it first thing; but +don't tell a soul till this afternoon, or you'll spoil all the fun.' + +The two conspirators ran downstairs laughing, and were soon romping in +the playground. After dinner one of the elder girls suggested rounders, +and the game grew so enthralling that time flew by until the bell, +ringing for afternoon school, sent the players, hot and rosy with their +exertions, hurrying up the great staircase to their classrooms. As Peggy +passed the door of Miss Martin's study she happened to notice Mary Hill +come out of it, with a particularly red and uncomfortable look upon her +face. + +'What has she been doing there?' thought Peggy; but there was neither +time to inquire Mary's errand nor to carry out her anticipated joke with +the note-book, for the girls were taking their places, and Miss +Crossland came in a moment afterwards. + +She mounted the platform and rang the bell for order, but, instead of +calling their names as usual, she announced: + +'Girls, Miss Martin desires that you should all be present in the +lecture-hall, where she wishes to address the whole school. File out in +order, beginning with the top desk on the right.' + +Full of astonishment, the girls marched down to the large lecture-hall, +where all the classes were assembling, marshalled by their teachers. It +was evidently a matter of some importance, for it was seldom indeed that +lessons were interrupted in this manner. The girls kept whispering to +each other under their breath: + +'Whatever can it all be about? Have you heard anything? Why does she +want us all here?' + +But their surmises were soon put an end to by the appearance of Miss +Martin herself, stately and commanding as usual, and with a grieved look +on her face. She mounted the platform, and with a little sigh turned to +her expectant audience. + +'Girls,' she began, with an air almost of tragedy, 'a very distressing +incident has happened to-day--a circumstance which in all the records of +this school has never occurred before. You see this book in my hand,' +and she held up (oh, luckless Peggy!) the missing note-book. 'This book +of manuscript notes, which I had compiled myself from various sources, +and valued greatly, I lent to be copied by the third form. It was lost, +and though I caused every search to be made, I could find no trace of +it. Girls, I regret to say that to-day this book has been brought back +to school, and _has been placed in another girl's desk_--in the desk, I +repeat, of an innocent girl, who had nothing to do with its loss.' + +Miss Martin paused, and a wave of horror passed over the school. As for +Peggy, her blood ran cold. It had never struck her before that the act +of placing the book in Mary's desk could be open to such a construction. +She had meant it all for a joke, and thought Mary would have been the +first to join in the fun, and then Nora would, of course, have taken it +back. She saw now that, while they had still been romping at rounders, +Mary must have gone up to the schoolroom, and finding the missing notes +in her desk, had carried them at once to the library. + +'Oh, why did we not come up sooner?' groaned Peggy. 'Who would ever have +thought of Miss Martin taking it like this?' + +'I feel,' continued the head-mistress sadly, 'that we have one girl +among us of so dishonourable a nature that she seeks to hide her fault +by throwing the blame on to the shoulders of another. Who that girl may +be I cannot tell, but her own conscience must surely convict her.' + +She paused again, and her glance passed slowly round the room. Peggy's +face grew burning hot. + +'I am determined,' Miss Martin went on, 'to probe this matter to the +bottom, and I now call upon any girl who may have any knowledge on the +subject to rise up and tell what she knows.' + +Peggy tried to look at Nora, but Nora was several rows behind her. For +one moment she hesitated, and in that moment she was lost. Emily +Thompson had risen in her place. + +'Well, Emily,' said Miss Martin gravely, 'do you know anything about +this unhappy affair?' + +'I do, Miss Martin,' replied Emily in a low voice. + +'Tell me at once, then,' commanded the head-mistress. + +'I would much rather not, please,' said Emily, casting down her eyes. +'I don't like getting another girl into trouble.' + +'Emily Thompson, this is not the time to shield a companion, and I order +you to say at once what you know.' + +'Well,' said Emily, twisting her slim hands nervously, 'if I must tell, +I went back to the schoolroom before dinner for my pencil-box, and,' +with a sidelong look at Peggy, 'I noticed Margaret Vaughan putting a +book inside Mary Hill's desk.' + +The bolt had fallen. Miss Martin turned to Peggy, who, with white and +quivering lips, sat as still as if she had been frozen on to the form. + +'Is this false or true, Margaret Vaughan?' she asked, in a voice that +was scarcely more than a whisper. + +There were nearly four hundred girls in the room, but you could have +heard a pin drop in the silence. Lilian had risen half up in her place, +and was looking at Peggy with eager, expectant face. As for Peggy, she +felt as if the end of the world had come. She could not in truth deny +the fact, though of the intention she was absolutely guiltless. She had +never in her life told a lie, and she summoned all the Vaughan spirit to +her aid. + +'It's true,' she faltered, trying to speak bravely, but wishing all the +time that she could sink through the floor. + +Miss Martin gazed at her for a moment as if dumbfounded. + +'That will do,' she said at last. 'I will inquire into this privately. +Miss Pope, will you kindly take Margaret Vaughan into the kindergarten +classroom, where she will wait until I come to her? Each form may now +leave the room in turn. We have wasted too much time already.' + +Peggy's head was in a whirl. She had a confused idea that Lilian was +trying to come to her across a row of benches, and was being held back +by a teacher; but otherwise she scarcely knew what was happening, except +that she seemed to be the centre for all the eight hundred eyes in the +room, till Miss Pope took her by the shoulder and marched her away like +a warder escorting a very small convict to gaol. The kindergarten babies +did not return to school in the afternoon, so their little classroom was +empty. Left alone, the poor child flung herself on to one of the low +seats and burst into a passion of tears. + +That it should come to this--that she, Peggy Vaughan, who, whatever +might be her faults, had always held such an unstained reputation for +honour and truthfulness, should be deemed capable of such a mean and +discreditable action seemed too hard to be borne. She felt as if she +could never explain the matter properly, and that the brand of this +horrible affair would remain on her for the rest of her life, bringing +disgrace upon the whole family for her sake. She worked herself up +nearly to the point of heartbreak when she thought of what Father and +Aunt Helen would think about it, and it seemed to her as though the very +Crusaders and the lady and gentleman in the Elizabethan ruffs would look +at her from their tombs in the church next Sunday with grave disapproval +in their eyes. + +'It's all my own fault, too,' she thought, 'for Nora wanted to take that +wretched book back at once, and she would have done so if it hadn't been +for me. I don't think Miss Martin will ever believe me now, when I tell +her how it was, and all the girls will think me a mean sneak for +evermore.' And her tears flowed down faster and faster as she pictured +herself a sort of social outcast in the school, shunned and avoided by +everyone. 'I wonder how long they're going to leave me here?' she +thought dismally, as the afternoon wore away and the clock chimed +half-past three. 'Miss Martin said she was coming after me at once. Oh, +if _only_ I could get home, I'd ask Father not to send me to school +again. Perhaps Aunt Helen would teach me lessons at home if I begged +hard. I can never bear to face anybody here after all this.' + +It really seemed too bad to leave the poor little culprit so long in +suspense, for to a child's mind the agony of waiting is often far worse +than the dreaded punishment, and childhood's sorrows are so overwhelming +and hopeless that they almost eclipse those of later years. + +Peggy's head was aching, her eyes were red and swollen with crying, and +dark despair was settling down upon her, when the door suddenly opened, +and Lilian burst in and caught her in a regular bear's hug, while Nora +followed like a perfect whirlwind only a yard behind. + +'There, darling! don't cry any more. I _knew_ you couldn't do such a +mean thing,' said Lilian between her kisses. 'I've been just longing to +come and comfort you, but they wouldn't let me. I rushed off at once to +tell Miss Martin I was sure it was all a horrible mistake, but she was +engaged with a tiresome caller who had just been shown into the library, +and I've been dodging about the corridor all this time waiting to see +her.' + +'And so have I,' cried Nora. 'I have been simply dancing with impatience +on the doormat. I know I ought to have told at once, but I was so +dreadfully taken aback at it all turning out like that, and you being +accused, that I could only stand and stare like an idiot while Miss Pope +marched you out of the room. Miss Martin's been ever so nice about it, +though. She talked a lot about my being careless and our wanting to play +tricks on Mary, but she said she was "glad to be able to think as highly +of Margaret Vaughan as she had always done," and we were to go at once +and set you free. She actually kissed us both before we went, didn't +she, Lilian? Do say you forgive me, Peggy, for I feel as if I had got +you into all this trouble.' + +'Of course I do,' said Peggy warmly, feeling ready to forgive even Emily +Thompson in her relief. + +'The girls all know about it,' said Nora. 'They're waiting outside in +the playground. They think Emily Thompson was a sneak to go telling +tales like that, without asking you first if you had really done it, and +they're so sorry for you that they say they'll give you a "hooray" when +you come out.' + +But, though all is well that ends well, Peggy was still so tear-stained +and upset that she did not feel equal to facing her school-fellows, +however sympathetic they might be, so she escaped with Lilian through +the side-door into the street, feeling she would never be really happy +or at ease again till she was back in that haven of home where she was +always appreciated and understood, and pouring out her troubles to Aunt +Helen in the sanctuary of the Rose Parlour. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +CONCERNING LILIAN + + 'Her life had many a hope and aim, + Duties enough, and little cares.' + + +This story is so much about Peggy and her satellite Bobby that we have +rather neglected Lilian, and she deserves a chapter all to herself; for +she was one of the sweetest, gentlest, most unselfish of girls, who +filled a quiet niche in the little world of her home which would have +been sadly empty without her. + +If anyone had asked Lilian what was her favourite study she would +promptly have replied: 'Music.' She practised away patiently at the old +piano, much to the delight of her German teacher, who was wont to hold +her up as his pattern pupil. + +'Mees Vaughan, she take pains, ver' great,' he would say to Miss Martin. +'As for ze ozer yong ladies, zey have no more musique in zem zan an old +hurdy-gurdy. All zat vill please zem is a tune to make dance, but for ze +vorks of ze best composers zey have no heart at all.' + +Lilian's secret ambition was to go to Germany to study at the Leipzig +Conservatoire, which Herr Frankenburg always described as the very home +and abode of the spirit of music, and made her sadly envious with +accounts of the wonderful concerts and operas which might be enjoyed in +that favoured city, where the very street vendors would not be tolerated +if they cried their wares out of tune. + +Lilian's experience of concerts was confined to an occasional afternoon +performance in the Warford Assembly Rooms, or the military band in the +Spa gardens; but she bravely hid her longings for better things, for she +knew that a musical education would be an utter impossibility in the +family circumstances, and that Father had strained a point already to +allow her to learn from Herr Frankenburg, who was the most expensive +teacher in the school. + +She had a sweet, true voice, though not of any great volume, and would +sing away with much delight when she got the Rose Parlour all to +herself, often composing little things of her own, which were really +quite pretty, though she was generally too modest to own to them. + +One Saturday towards the end of May six of Lilian's most particular +school-friends had been invited to spend the afternoon, and there were +great preparations at the Abbey. Rollo had been newly washed and combed, +the rabbits' hutch had been scrubbed, the arbour swept out, the museum +tidied, and Nancy had baked a supply of cakes and tarts calculated to +provide for the healthiest appetites. + +'Here they are!' cried Bobby, who, perched on the archway that +surmounted the gate, could command a view of the distant prospect, and +report progress, like Sister Anne in the story of Bluebeard. + +'All of them?' asked Lilian, hurriedly tying a pink ribbon round the +neck of the pet lamb, whose toilet had been forgotten among the many +arrangements. + +'Yes; I can see six bicycles coming along the road. One girl's got red +hair, so I'm sure it's Evelyn Proctor, and the two in the blue hats will +be Susie and Mary. Oh, it is really, for they're turning up from the +village over the bridge, and waving their hands.' + +And Bobby climbed down quickly from his point of vantage, so as not to +miss the interesting arrival. + +They were a very jolly set of schoolgirls whom Aunt Helen came out on to +the front steps to welcome. Kathleen O'Riley was a bright Irish girl, +with the prettiest suspicion of a brogue imaginable, and that winning +manner which seems specially to belong to the children of the Emerald +Isle. Susie and Mary Hirst were the daughters of a rising Warford +physician, and were pleasant and amusing, though they had not the racy +humour of Dorothy Gower. Evelyn Proctor was full of high spirits, while +shy Lucy Thorburn was perhaps Lilian's favourite among them all. + +'It must be stunning to have a bicycle,' said Bobby, regarding with +envious eye the row of bright machines neatly stacked against the wall, +and spinning the pedals with a not too gentle hand. + +'Yes, it is pretty good fun,' said Susie Hirst, good-naturedly giving +him a ride round the carriage sweep. 'But, you see, you have Pixie +instead, and I think a pony's really nicer.' + +'She can't go so fast,' complained Bobby, determined not to be consoled. + +'Perhaps not, but you couldn't bike to school in the pouring rain or +snow. It's no joke to get a side-slip, I can tell you.' + +'Come along, girls,' cried Lilian; 'I have such heaps to show you.' + +It was the first visit that some of the guests had paid to Gorswen, so +they were delighted to make a tour of inspection round the garden, +farmyard, and ruins. They duly admired the pet lamb, laughed at Jack, +stroked the rabbits, declared Rollo to be a black-and-tan angel, and +screamed with horror at Toby, a harmless grass snake, which was the very +latest addition to the menagerie. + +Tea was a lively meal, for Father was full of jokes and funny stories, +and Aunt Helen enjoyed schoolgirls' society almost as much as the +children themselves, while Nancy's delicacies melted away like snow in +summer. + +'Let us come to the Rose Parlour,' said Lilian, when cups were emptied +for the last time, and 'No, thank you's' began to be responded to +invitations to more cake and pastry. + +Peggy followed, feeling very grand and grown-up among so many elder +girls, and shut the door sternly in Bobby's face. + +'We don't want little boys in here,' she said crushingly. + +'I don't care,' shouted the indignant youth through the keyhole. 'I +don't want to play with a lot of stupid girls--so there! I shall go and +talk to Joe.' + +The museum proved a great fund of interest, for nearly every article had +a history, and the guests wandered round the room examining the maps and +various specimens of art which adorned the walls. Dorothy was trying the +piano, for she played well, though her touch had not half the firmness +of Lilian's. + +'What's this?' asked Mary, hunting through a pile of old music inside +the ottoman, and fishing out a manuscript page in Lilian's neat hand. + +'Oh, don't!' cried Lilian, blushing hotly. 'Let me have that, Mary, +please. I didn't know I had left it there.' + +'What is it?' exclaimed all the girls, whose curiosity was naturally +aroused. 'Peggy, you tell!' + +'If you dare, Peg!' said Lilian. + +But for once Peggy turned tell-tale, and disclosed the secret. + +'It's a coon song she's made up herself,' she declared stoutly. + +'Oh, do sing it!' cried Susie. 'I couldn't write a note of music if I +tried for a year.' + +'Yes, yes, you must!' echoed the others. + +Thus urged, the unwilling composer was hauled to the piano and pressed +on to the music-stool, where, with many protestations and much +bashfulness, she sang the following song: + +SHOO! PICCANINNIES. + +[Music: Shoo! Piccaninnies.] + + 1. 'Way down in Georgia where de sugar am grow, + All de piccaninnies want to suck de canes, you know! + An' dey're hidin' round an' peepin', like de 'possum all de day, + Till Uncle Sambo bring his stick an' chase 'em all away! + + Chorus. + + Shoo, shoo! piccaninnies mustn't come near! + Don't want no little piccaninnies 'way down here! + Ole mammy callin' you, de melon-beds among-- + Shoo! little piccaninnies, 'way! go 'long! + + 2. When de kitchen-fire am blazin', an' Aunt Dinah stews an' bakes, + All de piccaninnies gather just to smell her pies an' cakes; + An' dey cluster round de window like de bees upon a comb, + Till Auntie Dinah she get mad, an' turn an' drive 'em home! + Shoo, shoo! piccaninnies, etc. + + 3. When massa go a-drivin' in de carry-all and pair, + Little piccaninnies run behind to shout Hurrah! and stare; + Den de overseer he come up, and use his big, long lash, + And say de road was neber meant to harbour nigger trash! + Shoo, shoo! piccaninnies, etc. + +'It's lovely!' cried the admiring girls. 'Did you make up the words +too?' + +'Of course she did,' said Peggy, who was proud of her sister's talents. +'She has made lots of others, too. Lil, do let me find "Dinah's Baby" +and "Stealin' Melons 'neath de Moon"!' + +'No, no,' said Lilian; 'I've shown off quite enough for one day. It's +somebody else's turn now. Come along, Dorothy!' + +But Dorothy declared she had played everything she knew, with the +exception of scales or five-finger exercises, and none of the others +could remember anything without their notes, so the piano was closed +and the music put away. + +'There's your little brother outside, tapping on the glass,' said Susie. +'What a cherub he looks, with his pink cheeks and little tight brown +curls!' + +'Sure, I'll let him in, the darlint!' said Kathleen O'Riley, running to +open the French window and admit the smiling Bobby, who entered with an +expression of such angelic innocence that Peggy's suspicions were +instantly aroused. + +'I thought you might like some chocolates,' he said winningly, handing a +noble box to Mary Hirst with an air of much generosity. + +'Dear little fellow! How sweet of him!' murmured the girls as they +collected round with pleased anticipation. + +Mary opened the box, but dropped it with a howl of dismay, for in place +of the tempting sweetmeats she had expected lay a writhing mass of fat +green caterpillars, newly picked from the gooseberry-bushes, a subtle +revenge on Bobby's part for his expulsion from the sanctum. + +'You wretch!' cried Lilian, endeavouring to catch and chastise the +rejoicing offender, who was off through the window and over the wall +long before the girls had finished screaming and shaking their skirts. + +'He's a broth of a boy!' laughed Kathleen, who rather enjoyed the joke. +'Get out the fire-shovel, Peggy mavourneen, and we'll be after sweeping +them up from the carpet. They're too soft and juicy to be treading under +foot.' + +'What shall we do now?' asked Susie, sinking back luxuriously into the +basket-chair, when the contents of the chocolate-box had been +successfully removed. + +'Suppose we play at nonsense verses,' said Lilian, tearing a few pages +from an exercise-book, and hunting out a supply of pencils. 'You all +know the famous one about the lady of Riga: + + "There was a young lady of Riga, + Who smiled as she rode on the tiger; + They came home from their ride + With the lady inside, + And the smile on the face of the tiger." + +Well, the game is this. We each write down the name of a person we all +know on a slip of paper; they are folded up and shuffled, and everybody +draws one, and you must write a nonsense rhyme about the person whose +name you find upon your particular slip. Then we elect a president and +read them out.' + +'It sounds dreadfully difficult,' sighed Lucy. 'I'm not at all clever at +poetry.' + +'Oh, never mind, _do_ try;' said Peggy, dealing out the pencils. 'It's +ever such fun when once you begin.' + +The names were written out, the papers shuffled and drawn, and for ten +minutes or more the girls sat knitting their brows and biting their +pencils in all the agonies of composition. When everyone had finished +the slips were folded up and placed in a basket, and Lilian, who had +been chosen to read the effusions, shut her eyes and drew one out at a +venture. The name was 'Mademoiselle,' and the lines ran as follows: + + 'There once was a French mademoiselle + Who thought she knew English quite well. + When she meant "I am happy," + She said "I am snappy," + Which made us all laugh, I can tell.' + +The girls tittered, for Mademoiselle's mistakes in English were a +by-word all over the school. + +'I wonder who wrote that!' said Susie, with an innocent air. + +'Don't give yourself away, my dear,' answered Evelyn. 'We can all guess +now.' + +The next paper was headed 'Mary Hirst.' + + 'There was a wild schoolgirl named Hirst, + Who of all the bad pupils was worst, + Till she started to cram + For the Cambridge exam., + And, to everyone's surprise, came out first.' + +'I hope that's a true prophecy,' laughed Mary, who was studying hard for +the Senior Local. + +'This writing is not very clear,' said Lilian, unfolding another slip +and reading: 'Peggy.' + + 'There was a young lady named Peg, + Who was terribly strong in the leg: + With the boys in a race + She could set her own pace; + But pray do not name it, I beg.' + +'That's your own, Lilian,' said the astute Kathleen, 'for you said the +writing was hard to make out, and yet you read it straight off, quite +glibly.' + +'You may guess as you like, but I shan't tell,' replied the president +sternly. + +The fourth paper was described 'Herr Frühl.' + + 'There was an old German named Frühl, + Who a respirator wore as a rule. + When the weather was bad, + Oh, his temper was sad, + Till we wished he were muzzled in school.' + +This proved a favourite, for poor Herr Frühl, the German master, was +famous for his bronchitis and his bad temper, and the general opinion +ascribed the authorship to Dorothy, though she would not acknowledge her +laurels. + +'The next,' said Lilian, 'is on Kathleen.' + + 'There once lived a maid named Kath_leen_, + Who never a boat-race had seen; + When they brought her a bow + Of bright red, she said "No, + My national colour is green!"' + +The lines referred to a joke which was never forgotten against Kathleen. +When she first came to Warford High School, fresh from her native Erin, +she had been taken with the rest of her class to witness a grand +boat-race between the Grammar School and a rival college from Oswestry. +Many of the girls had brothers in the contest, and the Warford favours +were freely distributed on the bank. A little boy had come up to +Kathleen and politely begged her to accept the scarlet bow of the +Grammar School, and sport it as a token of goodwill towards the heroes +of the town. + +'Is it a red riband, then, ye'll be after askin' me to wear?' inquired +the indignant young Irishwoman. 'It's the shade of the tyrant, bad cess +to it! and don't suit me complexion neither. Sure it's nothing but green +favours ye'll see on Kathleen O'Riley.' + +'Miss James' was the subject of the sixth poem. + + 'A teacher there was called Miss James, + The most domineering of dames: + When she passed by their places, + All the girls made bad faces; + But she never found out, all the same!' + +'Same doesn't quite rhyme with James,' remarked Evelyn. + +'Well, I told you I was no good at poetry,' began poor Lucy, then +stopped in much embarrassment at having betrayed herself. + +'I think it's very nice,' said Lilian hurriedly; 'I like it one of the +best. Don't you want to hear this one about "Dorothy Gower"? + + 'A maiden named Dorothy Gower + Could never eat anything sour; + To plain biscuits or bread + A "No, thank you," she said, + But candy or cakes she'd devour.' + +'It's a slander!' cried Dorothy. 'A vile slander! And if I discover the +authorship, I'll bring an action for libel. Go on, Lilian dear, and give +us the last.' + +The final effort was on the theme of 'Joe.' + + 'There was a young fellow named Joe: + Who gave him that name I don't know, + But I do know that he + Gave a puppy to me, + And that's why I take to him so!' + +'That's Peggy's!' cried the girls in chorus. 'It couldn't belong to +anyone else. Well done, Peggy! You will have to show that to Joe; he'll +be quite flattered.' + +They sat laughing over the rhymes and chattering as only schoolgirls +know how until Aunt Helen came in to announce that a light repast of +cake and lemonade awaited them in the dining-room, and to gently hint +that, if Warford were to be reached before darkness had fallen, it was +getting time for the six bicycles to be set in motion. So there was a +grand collecting of hats and gloves, and pumping of tyres, and many +'good-byes' and 'thank you's,' and the merry party at last started off +on their homeward way, ringing their bells as a parting salute, and +declaring they would not soon forget their afternoon at the Abbey. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +SUNDAY + + 'A poor man served by thee shall make thee rich; + A sick man helped by thee shall make thee strong; + Thou shalt be served thyself by every sense + Of service which thou renderest.' + + +It was Sunday afternoon, and the children sat in the Rose Parlour, with +the windows wide open to let in all the sweet summer scents from the +garden. + +Patient Lilian was struggling to teach Bobby a Scripture lesson, for his +form-master had decreed that the names of the books of the Old Testament +must be repeated without a slip immediately after prayers on the ensuing +Monday morning. Poor Bobby had neither a retentive memory nor a great +disposition to learn. He fidgeted, and kicked the leg of the table, and +said it was 'a jolly shame for old Peters to give a fellow Sunday prep.' +He hopelessly confused Ezra and Esther, floundered at Ecclesiastes, and +the minor prophets filled him with despair. + +'Oh, Bobby, _do_ try again,' entreated Lilian. 'Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, +Nahum, Habakkuk.' + +'It's no use, Lil,' said the despondent Bobby. 'I may as well make up my +mind to take a caning and spare myself the trouble.' + +'Lilian dear, are you busy?' said Aunt Helen, putting her head round +the door. 'I thought you might have taken this jar of beef-tea to old +Ephraim. I hear he is not so well again, and he was not in church this +morning.' + +'Oh, Auntie, let me take it!' cried Peggy, glad of any excuse to +interrupt the study of her Collect and Catechism. + +'Be careful not to spill it, then, and be sure to bring back the basket. +And while you are there, I have no doubt he would be pleased if you read +to him for a little. He is getting so blind now, poor old man! and it is +dull for him, living all alone,' said Aunt Helen, who liked to teach the +children to help their neighbours. + +Old Ephraim was a quaint and original character. He had come to Gorswen +from the North country, and had been shepherd for forty years at the +Abbey. He was past work now, and lived in one of the village almshouses, +subsisting partly on the parish dole and partly on private charity; for +though Mr. Vaughan might practise rigid economy in his own private +expenses, he had never a grudging hand towards the poor. + +The little low whitewashed cottage was a humble enough place, but it +looked cheerful this Sunday afternoon, with the sunlight streaming in +through the tiny window, and a few early white roses shedding their +sweet perfume in the small garden in front. + +Peggy found the old man seated in his elbow-chair by the fireside, his +head enveloped in a huge flat oat-cake, tied on with a red cotton +pocket-handkerchief, so that he resembled some new species of mushroom. + +'Why, Ephraim!' she cried, stopping short in amazement; 'whatever is the +matter? And what have you got on your head?' + +'Headache, Miss Peggy,' replied Ephraim, shaking his gray locks +solemnly. 'There ain't nothink like a hot oat-cake for a bad head; it do +cure it wonderful, to be sure.' + +'Well, it seems a queer thing to put on, anyhow,' remarked Peggy, +wondering privately whether the old man would consume his remedy +afterwards for tea. 'How is the rheumatism?' + +'Better, Miss Peggy--gradely better since I've kept a potato in my +pocket. Ah, it's a fine thing for the rheumatics, is a potato. But,' +with a sly wink, 'it must be stolen, or it beant no use at all!' + +'Did you _steal_ it, then, Ephraim?' cried Peggy with thrilling +interest. + +'That's as may be,' replied the old man, willing to change the subject +now it was growing personal. 'Is your pa keepin' well these days?' + +'The Catechism says it's wrong to steal,' observed the righteous Peggy, +keeping sternly to the point, and anxious to improve the occasion. +'Haven't you got a Bible, Ephraim?' + +'Ay, ay,' returned the culprit evasively, 'there be one somewheres.' + +'Don't you know where it is?' said Peggy severely. + +'Oh ay! Hannah Jones was in a' Saturday, sidin' th' top o' th' cupboard, +and I see'd her wi' it in her hand. Oh, I reads the Bible, I does. It's +all about wars--them Israelites foightin' wi' the other heathen.' + +'It's about something else, too,' replied Peggy: 'miracles and parables +and epistles, and--oh! lots of things. Wouldn't you like me to read some +to you?' + +'Nay now, Miss Peggy,' said Ephraim, much alarmed lest she should expect +him to stir his rheumatic old bones in a search on the cupboard-top. 'I +reckon sometimes 'tis better to think on things nor to read 'em. I've +time to do a deal o' thinkin', settin' here.' + +'Perhaps I might read you something else, then?' volunteered Peggy, +determined to be a ministering angel, despite the evident unwillingness +of her protégé. + +'Yea,' said the old man, considerably relieved; 'there be a drawer full +o' books i' the dresser. Take your choice, miss--take your choice.' + +Peggy turned out the drawer by the simple process of emptying it on the +table, and disclosed a very miscellaneous collection of +literature--socialist pamphlets, agnostic newspapers, and radical tracts +were mixed up with teetotal treatises, missionary leaflets, and the +parish magazine. Sheets of ballads, which Ephraim had bought as a boy, +lay side by side with a tattered copy or two of Zadkiel's prophetic +almanac, some advertisements of patent medicines, a recipe for +sheep-dip, and a Wesleyan hymn-book. Peggy gazed eagerly at an ancient +chap-book, which set forth the stories of Dick Turpin and Jack Sheppard, +interspersed with rude woodcuts of the gallows and whipping-post; but +she heroically put it aside, as being unsuitable for the day. + +Finally, she settled upon a little worn volume bound in calf, with the +title, 'A Sigh of Sorrow for the Sinners of Zion, breathed by an Earthly +Vessel known among Men by the Name of Samuel Fish.' + +'I'm sure Aunt Helen would think this all right to read to him,' she +said to herself, as she drew a chair to the other side of the fire. + +It was not very easy reading, for the print had faded till it was almost +the colour of the yellow leaves, and the 's's' were all long, so that +Peggy found herself continually reading 'fins' instead of 'sins'; but +she did her best, conscientiously, and the old man nodded in his chair, +sitting up briskly, however, when he felt her reproachful eyes upon him. + +Peggy stopped, quite hot and weary, at the end of the first chapter. + +'Do you like it, Ephraim?' she inquired anxiously. + +'Ay, Miss Peggy, it be foine, it be, surely,' said the old man. + +'What does it all mean?' said the child. 'It is so hard to read, I can +scarcely understand it.' + +'Why, as to that, miss,' answered Ephraim, 'it seems to me as long as +it's pious words, there beant no call to understand 'em, let alone I'm +that deaf to-day, it seems naught but a buzzin' like when you read.' + +Peggy closed the book hurriedly. + +'I think I had better be going now,' she announced. 'I hope your +headache will be well soon. Can't I put the kettle on for you?' + +'Ay, miss, if you be so bountiful. My rheumatics be cruel bad when I +stir me.' + +Peggy filled the kettle from the pump in the back garden, and hung it on +its hook over the fire. She found the old man's cup and saucer, and set +out his tea on the little round table by his side, and finally took her +departure, feeling she had at least attended to his temporal wants, and +might leave the rest to older and wiser heads than hers. + +'I'll call and see Mrs. Davis; there'll be plenty of time before tea,' +she said to herself, as she came back up the village street, swinging +her empty basket. + +Mrs. Davis was a dear old Welshwoman, and a particular friend of +Peggy's. She was one of Nature's gentlewomen, for her kind heart +prompted those little gracious, courteous acts which in a higher class +we call good breeding. She made quite a picture in her short +linsey-woolsey petticoat, with the check apron, her plaid shawl crossed +over her cotton bodice, and the frilled white cap framing the kind old +face, with its apple cheeks and soft white hair. She was sitting among +her bees this Sunday afternoon, beating with an iron spoon upon an old +tin kettle. + +'They be swarming, indeed, Miss Peggy,' she said. 'And here I've had to +sit the whole of the day, beating this old tin--and Sunday, too! But we +can't expect the poor creatures to understand that, can we?' + +'I suppose not,' said Peggy, settling herself on a low wooden seat, at a +safe distance from the agitated hives, and letting her glance wander +round the little garden, where the tall yellow lilies reared their +stately heads over a mass of sweet cottage flowers, pinks and +forget-me-nots, poppies and double daisies, sweet-williams--loved of the +bees--pansies, lupins, and snap-dragons; over the cottage, where the +white roses climbed up the thatch to the very chimneys, and where +through the open doorway could be seen the neat kitchen, with its +red-brick floor, the settle placed by the fireside, the tall +grandfather's clock ticking away in the corner, and the oak dresser, +with its rows of blue willow-pattern plates; and back again at last to +where Mrs. Davis sat with her grandchild by her knee, a small round-eyed +boy, whose thumb was stuck perpetually, like a stopper, in his mouth, +and who stood watching the bees with stolid indifference. + +'Won't he get stung?' asked Peggy, who thought he looked far too near to +the swarming hives for safety. + +'No, dearie. I think they know me and Willie now, though they'd attack a +stranger as soon as not.' + +'I was dreadfully stung once,' confided Peggy. 'I lifted off the little +box on the top of one of the Rectory hives, just to see how the bees +were getting on, and they all came rushing out and settled on me. Mr. +Howell seized me, and put my head under the pump, and Father was ever so +cross, for he said I shouldn't have meddled with them.' + +'The bees don't like to be interfered with,' said Mrs. Davis. 'You +should never touch them in the daytime. Always take the honey at night.' + +'Joe says you must tell them if there's a death in the house, and tie a +piece of crape on the hive, or they'll all fly away.' + +'Well, I don't quite hold with all folks say about them, but they are +strange creatures, with queer ways of their own. They seem quiet just +now, so I think I might leave them for a few minutes. I have a pot of +honey I should like to send to your aunt, miss, if you would kindly take +it to her. I'll go inside and fetch it. No, Willie, my pretty, you can't +come. Granny's going up the ladder into the loft.' + +'I'll take care of him. Come with me, Willie dear--come and see the +pretty flowers.' + +And Peggy seized the stolid infant by his disengaged hand. + +Willie did not look enthusiastic about the attractions of the flowers, +but he allowed himself to be led away, staring at his new guardian with +round eyes of solemn distrust, and solacing himself with his thumb. + +'We'll build a little house,' said Peggy, anxious to prevent the +suspicious twitching of her charge's mouth from developing into a roar, +and taking up some bricks and loose stones which lay under the wall. +'See, we'll make a kitchen and parlour, and put down leaves for a +carpet. Here's a little round stone for a table, and the pansy-flowers +will do for dollies. They've such funny little faces. We'll make them +skirts out of laurel leaves, and put them to bed in the corner.' + +Peggy's well-meant efforts at entertainment were suddenly interrupted by +a loud sniff from the other side of the wall, and, looking up, she saw +the round, reproachful face of Polly Smith, a girl of about her own age, +who sometimes came up to the Abbey to help Nancy at busy times. + +'Why, it's you, miss, I do declare!' exclaimed Polly. 'And making +play-houses in Mrs. Davis's garden on Sunday, too! I _am_ surprised! +_I've_ been to Sunday-school!' + +Peggy felt rather caught, but she carried it off as well as she could. + +'I was only amusing Willie,' she said. 'He was going to cry because +Granny Davis went indoors and left him.' + +'Ay, she's been sittin' swarmin' her bees all day. I see her when I was +goin' to chapel, and I see her again when I come back, and when I goes +to Sunday-school she were still there. My dada says he don't hold with +folks as can't keep the Sabbath holy.' + +And Polly turned up her small nose in a distinctly aggravating manner. + +'How did you get on at Sunday-school?' asked Peggy, who did not like +insinuations against the moral worth of her dear Mrs. Davis. + +'Splendid, miss. I always does. Teacher gave me a prize for sayin' +hymns--such a nice book. Wouldn't you like to look at it?' + +'Are you sure it's a Sunday book?' inquired Peggy, who could not forbear +her revenge. + +'Oh yes, for I looked at the end chapter, and she dies beautiful, and +they plant snowdrops on her grave; and her big brother, what's so unkind +to her, gets drowned through goin' boatin' on Sunday,' replied Polly, +regarding Peggy as if she thought her courses might lead her to a +similar watery fate. + +'Here's Granny!' cried Willie, abandoning his thumb to seek the +protection of the friendly linsey-woolsey petticoat. + +'Ay, so it be. _My_ granny sits in the parlour on Sunday afternoons, +with her blinds drawn down, and reads her Bible. She's a godly old +woman, she is!' + +And Polly took her departure with a conscious sniff, as if deploring the +depravity of her neighbours. + +Peggy was very much upset. + +'Is it really wrong to look after the bees and amuse babies on Sunday?' +she asked Father afterwards. + +'No, dear, certainly not. The Pharisees came to our Lord with just such +a question, and you know He answered them that it was right to do well +on the Sabbath. God did not mean it to be a day of misery, but a +specially joyful and happy day, in which we were to think a good deal +about Him. Sometimes we can show our love for Him quite as well by +helping others as by reading our Bibles or going to church, though we +should not neglect that either. As for shutting ourselves up on Sundays, +and thinking it is wrong to look at the beautiful things around us, that +is mere ignorance, for Nature is like a wonderful book, written by God's +hand, and the birds and the bees and the flowers are all pages out of it +for those who have eyes to read them rightly.' + +Peggy thought of this as she sat among the ruins watching the sunset +that night. The sky, flaming in bands of crimson, violet and orange, +looked like the very gate of heaven, a golden city which you had only to +cross the hills to reach--surely another page in that book of which +Father had spoken. + +'It's like one of the pictures in the Interpreter's house in the +"Pilgrim's Progress,"' she said to herself; 'or Christian and Hopeful on +the Delectable Mountains, when they looked through the glass, and +thought they saw "something like the gate, and also some of the glory of +the place."' + +She stayed a long, long time among the crumbling old walls, watching the +gold fade gradually out of the sky. It was very still and peaceful in +there, and she liked to sit and think how the Abbey must have looked in +those strange, bygone days when the little steps had led to a dormitory, +and the broken pillars had held up the roof of a church, whose tinkling +bell had rung out at sunset, calling to prayer those old monks who slept +so quietly in their forgotten graves. + +An owl began to hoot in the woods beyond the river, a great stag-beetle +came droning by, and the bats flew over her head with their shrill +little cry, flitting here and there like night swallows. + +Peggy got up and brushed the dew from her dress, and walked slowly back +to the house in the gathering twilight. In the Rose Parlour Aunt Helen +sat turning out her little writing-desk, and wiping suspicious drops +from her eyes. + +'Don't keep old letters, child,' she said, as Peggy crept up to her with +silent sympathy. 'It opens so many wounds to re-read the tender words of +those who are estranged or gone away from us, and all the hopes and +expectations that have come to nothing.' + +'Don't read them, Auntie. Let's tear them up and burn them, if they make +you cry.' + +'No, no; I can't bear to part with them, after all! We'll lock them up +in the desk again. But, Peggy, take my advice, and if you quarrel with +anyone, go and fight it out at once, and get it over, and don't let +misunderstandings make the breach so wide that nothing can ever mend it +again.' + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MAUD MIDDLETON'S PARTY + + 'Methinks, good friend, to-day I scarce do know thee, + The fashion of thy manner hath so changed.' + + +'Oh, Aunt Helen!' cried Peggy, bursting into the dining-room one +afternoon, where her aunt was busy adding up accounts, 'can't we all go +to Maud Middleton's party?' + +'And who is Maud Middleton, I should like to know?' inquired Aunt Helen, +pausing in the midst of her butcher's bill. 'I have not heard you +mention her before. Is she one of your schoolfellows?' + +'Oh no, she's the _dearest_ girl! They have a French governess, but they +go to the dancing-class on Fridays, and Maud and I always dance +together, and I simply _love_ her!' said Peggy, who was apt to take up +friendships with enthusiasm. + +'But, my dear child, you have not yet told me who she is. I cannot have +you making friends with any shopkeeper's daughter from Warford.' + +'Oh, they're not at all like that!' declared Peggy. 'Maud's just lovely, +with long yellow curls right down to her waist, and Muriel's almost +grown up, though she's only as old as Lilian. She wears combs in her +hair, and has the sweetest blue dress, trimmed with pearl trimmings!' + +'That is no patent of good breeding, I am afraid,' said Aunt Helen, +smiling. 'Lilian, can't you tell me something more about this latest +idol of Peggy's?' + +'They really seem very nice girls, Auntie,' said Lilian. 'I think you +would like them. They have taken Redlands--that pretty house just beyond +the toll-bridge on the other side of Warford. Major Middleton has been +appointed Adjutant to the volunteers. They lived in India for a long +time, and then in London before they came here. Muriel plays the violin, +and they know ever so many musical people, and go to the concerts every +week at the Assembly Rooms. It is Maud's birthday on the thirteenth, and +they have invited us all three. Mrs. Middleton was at the dancing-class +to-day, and spoke to us herself. She said she "hoped so much that our +Aunt would allow us to accept." We should like to go immensely,' added +Lilian with a wistful sigh, as she remembered Muriel's accounts of the +grand piano, and the Stradivarius violin which was her latest +acquisition. + +'Go and ask Father, then,' said Aunt Helen. 'And if he says "Yes," I +suppose it will be all right.' + +'Oh, thank you!' cried Peggy, who knew that Father would not be likely +to resist the combined coaxings of the trio. 'We must write to Maud +to-night. She'll be as pleased as we are!' + +And she executed a little war-dance of delight out in the hall. Such a +thing as a party was a great event in the children's calendar. They had +few invitations, for there was little visiting now at the Abbey; the +anomaly of a country gentleman who ploughed his own fields was felt to +be too much for the neighbouring squires, and one by one the 'county' +had ceased to call. Truly adversity is a great winnower of friendships. +It is but the staunchest who will stick to us through our troubles, +while those who love us for what we have, instead of what we are, fall +away like chaff at the first breath of ill-fortune. + +Poor Lilian's anticipations, however, were doomed to sad disappointment, +for when the much-talked-of day arrived, it brought her such a bad +headache that she readily agreed with Aunt Helen's decree that she was +better at home. She took it very patiently, poor child! and came +downstairs to see the others start off in the little pony-trap, Bobby +resplendent in a clean white sailor suit, and Peggy in a pale-blue +sprigged muslin dress, which Aunt Helen had toiled hard to finish in +time. To be sure, it was only made out of the last summer's frock which +Lilian had outgrown, but it looked as good as new, and the colour suited +her. + +'How nice you look!' said Lilian, gazing with admiration at the gray +eyes and pretty brown curls under the little white hat, and thinking +that Peggy grew more and more like the Romney portrait which hung on the +drawing-room wall. + +'Mind you behave yourselves!' said Aunt Helen. 'And don't forget to +thank Mrs. Middleton when you say good-bye.' + +'Bless 'em!' said Nancy. 'There won't be any other folk's children there +that can beat 'em, to my mind!' + +Father was waving a good-bye from the stackyard. Joe held the gate open +with a grin of broadest appreciation, and even old David peeped out of +the stable door to witness the departure. So they started off in great +style, and in the very highest of spirits. It was a perfect day for a +party--warm enough to make it pleasant to be out of doors, yet not too +hot for comfort, and a blue sky without a hint of rain clouds. Pixie +was fresh, and kept up a fine pace, scarcely slacking for the hills, so +they soon got over the ground. They were within a mile of Warford, and +were going along at a quick trot, when, without any warning, a carriage +and pair came suddenly dashing up behind from a side road, and passed +them, giving such scant room that if Peggy had not been a clever little +driver, and turned Pixie smartly into the hedge, an accident could +scarcely have been avoided. Two little girls, the only occupants of the +carriage, turned round to stare, but neither the grand cockaded coachman +nor the tall footman on the box even looked back to see how the children +had fared. + +'How rude!' cried Peggy in great indignation. 'I should like to call +them back, and teach them good manners. They nearly grazed our wheel. I +don't think they were more than half an inch off!' + +'I wish they had,' declared Bobby, 'and then they would have spoilt +their own varnish. It would just have served them right!' + +'I wonder who they are?' said Peggy. 'I never remember seeing that +carriage before; but they seem to think the road belongs to them, +anyhow. If David had been with us I don't believe they would have done +it; but most people are so nice when they see children driving alone. +Never mind, we're nearly in Warford now.' + +It was exactly three o'clock when the children drove up the drive at +Redlands. A number of guests were already assembled on the lawn, both +grown-ups and children, a very smart company indeed, holding up such gay +parasols that they looked like a flock of bright butterflies. + +Maud came forward as Peggy drew up with a little prim company manner. + +'How d'you do, Peggy? How d'you do, Bobby?' she said. 'Lilian not come? +Oh, _so_ sorry! You've not brought your groom? George, just run into the +house, will you, and ring for Withers to take this trap to the stables. +Now, won't you come and speak to mother?' + +Mrs. Middleton was standing chatting with a number of elegantly-dressed +ladies, and for a moment she gazed at the children with blank +unrecognition. + +'Margaret Vaughan, Mother,' prompted Maud. + +'Of course--of course!' said Mrs. Middleton. 'I hope you have brought +your sisters, my dear. We were charmed with them at the dancing-class. +And your brother? Oh yes; the sweet little boy who looks exactly like a +Christmas-card!' + +Inwardly hugely indignant at such a description of his manly charms, +Bobby came forward politely to shake hands, and was marched off +afterwards by good-natured George Middleton to make up a cricket eleven. + +'Perhaps you will find somebody here you know, dear,' said Mrs. +Middleton to Peggy, as Maud turned away to welcome new guests. 'There +are several of your little friends from the dancing-class here this +afternoon.' + +Peggy walked slowly towards the group of children upon the lawn. There +were a few girls whom she knew, but they only nodded, and did not come +forward to speak to her. A sudden wave of shyness came over her, and she +stood apart, feeling somehow very much out of it, and longing for the +support of Lilian's presence. + +There were two little girls in charming lace frocks and white Tuscan +hats, with ostrich plumes, standing close by, whom Peggy recognised at +once as the occupants of the carriage which had nearly upset them on +the road. The recognition seemed to be mutual, for the elder child +nudged the younger, and Peggy could see that they were looking her up +and down, and evidently taking in all the details of her costume. The +Vaughans had not been brought up to think much about clothes, but Peggy +felt suddenly, with a little pang, that the muslin frock, which they had +all thought so pretty when she started off, looked hopelessly homemade +and unfashionable compared with the elaborate toilets of most of the +other guests. + +Somehow Maud, too, seemed quite a different person this afternoon to +what she had done before. She had put on a languid, affected manner, and +sailed about, shaking back her long curls, and trying to be very +grown-up and stylish, and she did not take any more notice of Peggy, nor +come up to introduce her to other people, and make her feel happy and at +home. There were a great many elder people present, but they all stood +laughing and talking together, and nobody seemed to think of amusing the +children, except Mademoiselle, the French governess, who was +endeavouring to make the young people talk to each other, instead of +standing about shyly on the grass. + +'Would you like a game of croquet, Margaret?' said Muriel, noticing at +last that Peggy stood unfriended and alone. 'Some of the others are +going to play. Do you know Phyllis and Marjorie Norton?' indicating the +owners of the lace frocks. 'Perhaps you will excuse my coming; I have so +many people to see to. Mademoiselle will act as umpire.' + +Marjorie gave Peggy a limp hand, but Phyllis only stared. Mademoiselle +was dealing out the mallets and arranging the sides with much energy, +estimating the players with a keen eye to their possible capacities. + +Peggy knew it was unreasonable of her to feel so bitterly disappointed. +It was all so different, somehow, to what she had expected. Accustomed +to little quiet schoolgirl parties, she had not thought there would be +such a large and fashionable assembly of guests, and had hoped that she +would have her dear Maud to herself for a short time, at any rate, and +be shown the doves, and the white pony, and the Indian cabinet, and the +other treasures which her friend had so often described to her during +the dancing-class. She tried to banish the rather chilled feeling. + +'Of course, I can't expect Maud to attend only to me,' she thought. +'There are such heaps of people here to-day. I wish they would let me +play with the boys. I should have liked it far better.' + +But the croquet had already begun, so Peggy threw her whole energy into +the game. She excelled in all outdoor sports, having a keen eye and a +true stroke, and was soon absorbed in making her hoops and helping on +her partners, two quiet little girls considerably younger than herself, +who seemed never to have played before, to judge by their absolute lack +of skill. Peggy was standing waiting for her turn, while the others +clustered round a rather difficult stroke of Marjorie Norton's, when she +saw Phyllis, whose ball had been left distinctly wired, hurriedly push +it with her foot into a better position. Peggy had been accustomed from +her babyhood to 'play fair,' so she opened her eyes wide to see such +deliberate cheating. Phyllis, who had thought herself unobserved, +happened at that moment to look up, and met Peggy's glance, which was +certainly not a flattering one. She flushed scarlet, and kicked the ball +back to its former place. + +'I only moved it by accident,' she said haughtily. 'You have no need to +glare at me like that!' + +Peggy dropped her eyes and strolled away. It was a little incident, and +she had not spoken a word, yet she had an unpleasant feeling that the +mere fact of having noticed the act had made her an enemy. + +'Ver' good!' Mademoiselle was saying. 'A splendide stroke! You shall +take two hoops, and send ze black ball avay. Tiens! You have missed! It +is zen ze turn of Mees Marguerite.' + +Peggy's next piece of play was so brilliant that it decided the game, +and, to the great delight of her little partners, they all pegged out, +amid the cold applause of their opponents and the ecstatic admiration of +Mademoiselle. + +All the guests were now summoned to tea, which was set out on little +tables under the trees, and showed a tempting display of cakes and +strawberries and cream, while attentive servants bustled about with cups +and plates. Much against her inclinations, Peggy found herself sitting +side by side with Phyllis Norton. Bobby was a long way off, among a +jolly set of boys, whose shouts of laughter Peggy listened to with +wistful ears, and her small partners had been borne away by an elder +sister. Phyllis sat for some time stealing glances at Peggy from under +her lashes. + +'I believe we passed you this afternoon, coming here,' she remarked at +last. 'Weren't you driving that queer little pony-cart?' + +'Yes; your coachman nearly ran over us. I don't think he's a very good +driver,' replied Peggy. + +'Oh, Wilkins always takes the middle of the road, and makes everyone +else get out of the way,' said Phyllis calmly. 'Do you live at this side +of Warford? I don't remember seeing you before.' + +'We live at Gorswen Abbey,' answered Peggy. + +'Oh, I know; that old farmhouse by the river. We've often passed it on +our way to Wyngates. Why, you're quite in the country! Do you go to +school, or have you a governess?' + +'I go to Warford High School. We drive in every day.' + +'To the _High_ School!' said Phyllis, with uplifted eyebrows. 'Well, I +suppose it's all right for farmer's daughters. Marjorie and I go to a +London boarding school.' + +Peggy was furious. If she could only have thought of a suitable retort, +she would have said something stinging; but usually our smartest remarks +occur to us when the occasion has long passed by, and perhaps it is all +the better, for we are saved from bitter words, which, once spoken, are +not easily forgotten by the hearers, however keenly we may regret them +ourselves. As it was, she could only walk away with what dignity she +could summon; for tea was over, the boys were rushing back to cricket, +and the girls collecting in little groups to arrange tennis sets. + +'Come and look round the garden, Peggy,' said Maud, at last taking some +notice of her friend. 'We've scarcely seen anything of you all the +afternoon!' + +Peggy forebore to remark that it was not her fault, and, cheering up a +little, she joined the select circle whom Maud was conducting through +the greenhouses and conservatories. The Middletons had a fine collection +of orchids and rare plants, which were much admired by the young +visitors, though simple Peggy could not help thinking they were not half +so pretty as the roses and lilies in the old garden at home, and +certainly the grand Scotch gardener was not nearly so nice as David or +Joe, for he seemed quite to resent their presence and followed them +about grimly, for fear they should disturb anything, or pluck any of +the fruit or flowers. + +'We're going to London next week,' drawled Maud, in her most grown-up +manner. 'We've taken a house in Mayfair. Mother always likes to go up +for a while during the season. We've so many friends, don't you know. I +expect we shall have a lovely time. We drive in the Park every day, and +father has promised to take us to "Lohengrin." Have you seen it, Linda?' + +Linda had not seen it, but she had been to other operas, and was only +too pleased to air her knowledge, so the conversation turned upon plays +and actors, and Peggy, who had never been inside a theatre in her life, +could only stand and listen. She felt so shy and stupid, and so apart +from the other girls, that she began to wish heartily that she had never +come, and long for the hour when it would be time to go home, and even +to wonder how she could ever have thought she liked Maud so +much--'though she was quite different to this at the dancing-lessons,' +she reflected. + +A welcome diversion came outside, however, in the shape of a beautiful +white Persian kitten, who submitted to pettings with gracious +condescension, arching her back and purring loudly. + +'I'll fetch Carlo,' said Maud, who was genuinely fond of her pets, and +liked to show them to an appreciative audience. + +And she returned in a moment, leading a fine St. Bernard by the collar. + +But Carlo's mistress had not calculated upon his love of sport, for no +sooner did the naughty dog see the white kitten than he simply went for +it, and puss only saved her life by springing up a yew-tree close by. +The poor little creature was so terrified that she leaped from bough to +bough, till suddenly losing her foothold, she fell with a crash, and +hung suspended by her neck in the fork of a branch. + +'Oh, look at her! She'll be hanged! Whatever shall I do?' shrieked Maud, +wringing her hands helplessly in an agony of alarm. + +'Call the gardener, or somebody,' suggested Linda. + +But an animal in trouble was a sight which flung Peggy's shyness to the +winds, and she sprang like a knight-errant to the rescue. She was up the +yew-tree in two leaps and a bound, and by crawling along an overhanging +bough, clinging to a branch, and making a long arm, she managed to seize +puss by the scruff of her neck, and release her from her dangerous +position. + +'Oh, thank you!' said Maud, as Peggy came down from the tree, with +grazed hands and rumpled frock. 'You're really too good! Withers might +have fetched her with a ladder. Look how you've torn your dress!' + +'Never mind my dress. She'd have been dead if I'd waited another +moment,' remarked Peggy dryly, feeling rather snubbed; for several of +the girls were smiling, as if they thought she had been a little too +enthusiastic. + +'Well done!' cried a voice from the background, and a tall, +brown-bearded man, who had been a silent spectator of the whole scene, +came forward to join the group. + +'Mr. Neville!' exclaimed Maud. 'Where did you spring from?' + +'Only arrived ten minutes ago, just in time to witness a most gallant +act. Please introduce me to the heroine, who, I think, is a true friend +in need. What, Miss Peggy Vaughan? Any relation to the Vaughans of +Gorswen Abbey? Then, my dear, I am very pleased to make your +acquaintance, for I knew your father long ago, and your grandfather +too.' + +[Illustration: "MAKING A LONG ARM, SHE MANAGED TO SEIZE PUSS BY THE +SCRUFF OF HER NECK."] + +Peggy liked her new friend at once; his twinkling blue eyes, his bronzed +face, his jovial voice, and rather unconventional dress, seemed to mark +him as distinct and different to other people. His arrival seemed to +alter the whole atmosphere. Maud's supercilious manner slipped away from +her like magic, and she became once more the pleasant Maud of the +dancing-class, and her friends, feeling the change, soon left off trying +to be poor little imitations of grown-up people, and began at last to +enjoy themselves; for true enjoyment does not consist in showing off, +but in being our simple, natural selves, if people would only believe +it. + +'Now then, what are you all doing?' cried Mr. Neville. 'The boys playing +cricket by themselves, and the girls mooning about, keeping their frocks +nice? Scandalous! Come along, all of you, and we'll get up some mixed +sports. I stopped in the town, and filled my pockets with prizes, when I +heard you were having a party. I am sure a young lady who can climb a +tree looks capable of doing a high jump!' + +After that the rest of the afternoon simply flew. Mr. Neville was a +capital organizer, and had such a delightful way with children that they +all made friends with him in five minutes. He impounded the grown-ups in +the sports, and his jolly, hearty good spirits seemed so infectious that +almost before they realized what they were doing, elegant ladies were +holding up skipping-ropes, and smart young gentlemen flung off their +coats, and forgot their high collars in the enthusiasm of the contests. +Even Phyllis Norton was shrieking in a potato-race, and only laughed +when she fell and soiled her immaculate lace frock. + +As for Peggy, she was quite in her element. Long jumps, high jumps, +handicaps, sack-races, three-legged races--she was ready to compete in +all, and, to her delight, won several prizes, while Bobby, too, gained +his share of laurels. + +The unfashionable muslin dress, with its long rent, was forgotten, and +several people asked who that charming little girl was, with the sweet +gray eyes and the pretty hair, who could run so splendidly. + +'Vaughan? I remember a Vaughan up at Brazenose in my first year at +Oxford. A fine-looking fellow he was, too!' said a heavily-moustached +officer, regarding Peggy with a critical eye. + +'Her father, no doubt. They're a very old family--quite one of the +county, in fact,' said Mrs. Middleton, gushing over her small guest, now +she found she was a success. + +Maud hugged Peggy when she said good-bye in quite her old affectionate +manner, and Muriel remembered to send her love to Lilian, and say she +was sorry for her absence, a fact she had scarcely seemed to notice +before. + +As for Mr. Neville, Peggy confided to Aunt Helen, when she got home, +that she liked him the best of any gentleman she had ever seen, next to +Father. + +'He's been out in India for ten years, Auntie--that's where he knew the +Middletons--but he says he lived in England once, and used to come to +Gorswen when grandfather was alive. Do you remember him?' + +'I think I do,' replied Aunt Helen shortly, with a flush on the cheek +that was still so smooth and pretty. + +'Then don't you think,' persisted Peggy, 'that he is _quite_ the nicest +man you've ever met?' + +'Go to bed, children,' said Aunt Helen. 'Here's Bobby so sleepy he can +scarcely keep his eyes open. You shall tell me all about the party +to-morrow.' + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE HOLIDAYS + + 'A little work, a little play, + To keep us going--and so, good-day!' + + +'No more Latin, no more Greek, no more cane to make me squeak!' sang +Bobby on the fifteenth of July, springing out of the pony-trap before +Pixie had stopped, and taking a flying leap over the pump-trough in the +exuberance of his spirits. + +'School is over, hooray!' shouted Peggy, banging down her books on the +mounting-block, and waltzing into the kitchen, where Aunt Helen and +Nancy were busy making jam. 'Don't you hear, Auntie? We've broken up for +eight weeks! Isn't it glorious?' + +'I hear fast enough; but I'm afraid it will be a doubtful pleasure for +Nancy and me if you are all going mad like this. My dear child, don't +you think you might choose a less juicy seat than a tray full of +raspberries?' + +Peggy jumped up in a hurry. + +'I really didn't see them,' she said. 'I'll go and help Lilian unharness +Pixie. Joe's away in the turnip-field. No home-lessons to-night, +hip-hip-hooray!' and she took herself off like a whirlwind. + +The holidays were indeed a delightful respite after the weary round of +examinations which generally makes life a burden at the end of the +summer term, and the children set to work to enjoy them thoroughly. +Bobby had taken to entomology, and panted over the hot pastures, chasing +butterflies with unflagging zeal. At dusk he would enlist Peggy's +services, and the pair went treacling for moths. A careful mixture of +gin and syrup was smeared upon the trees, which were afterwards visited +with a lantern, when the unfortunate insects could easily be taken in +the midst of their revels, falling sad victims to the sin of +intemperance. + +Caterpillars, too, were caught and kept in boxes, till the Rose Parlour +became so full of interesting specimens that Aunt Helen, for once, +rebelled, and ordered this new branch of the menagerie to be removed to +the loft. + +'I found one of your beasties inside my hat, and another in my teacup,' +she complained. 'So you had better keep them where it does not much +matter if they escape.' + +Lilian devoted herself to art, and sallied forth with her paint-box, +pencils, and sketch-block, in quite a professional manner, looking for +subjects. To be sure, the perspective of her cottages was apt to be +rather peculiar at times, and the Welsh mountains turned out a more +vivid shade of purple, and the fields a far more brilliant green than +Nature ever painted them; but it was all good practice, and the admiring +Peggy thought that no Royal Academician could have produced such +charming masterpieces. There was a little work, too, to make the +playtime all the sweeter--fruit to be picked, peas and beans to shell, +the garden to weed, and great piles of bread and cheese to be cut and +carried out into the fields for the harvesters' 'drinkings.' But, as +Bobby said, it was all play-work, and much nicer than lessons, anyhow. + +Peggy lay one afternoon at full length on the grass under the lime-tree, +deep in the pages of 'Treasure Island.' It was rather a grown-up book, +perhaps, for a little girl, but it was all about pirates, and sailors, +and hairbreadth escapes, of so wildly exciting a nature, that she read +on till she almost wept with disappointment to think she was not a boy +to go to sea and meet with such thrilling adventures. + +From the Rose Parlour came the strains of the piano, where Lilian was +wailing a melancholy little ditty with keen enjoyment. It is mostly when +we are very young that we take the greatest delight in the sad songs; +those who have felt the real bitterness of sorrow are glad to bury it +deeply away, and do not wish it wakened, as sailors' wives love a place +best where they cannot hear the sound of the sea. + +Lilian had always taken rather a delight in what Nancy called 'the +melancholics.' When quite a tiny child she had much preferred the +tragedy of Red Riding Hood to the brighter fate of the princesses who +lived happily ever afterwards, and, with the tears streaming down her +fat little cheeks, would quaver out 'Tell it again!' + +Her first efforts in poetry had been in a distinctly pensive strain. +When only about nine years old she had composed-- + + 'THE DYING CHILD'S LAST WORDS. + + 'Remember me when I am gone, + And me thou canst not see; + When I lie sleeping in my grave, + Dear friends, remember me. + + 'You'll keep my little garden neat, + My clothes you'll fold away; + My playthings in a drawer you'll put + With which I last did play.' + +There ought to have been more verses, but at this point Father had +unfortunately got hold of the paper, and persisted in treating the poem +in such a comic light that the indignant authoress had never found the +heart to finish it, though the fragment was considered very talented by +Aunt Helen, and carefully put away in an old work-box, with the first +specimens of Peggy's handwriting and one of Bobby's little baby-curls. + +Peggy came to the end of her book at last, and life seemed so stale and +flat anywhere out of the South Seas that she wandered down the garden +for a little diversion. Lilian's fresh young voice proclaiming that her +heart 'was breaking, breaking,' came wafted along the terrace, mingled +with the sound of the reaping-machine, and the indignant gobble of the +old turkey, which Bobby was chasing round the pasture. + +'Let him alone, you naughty boy! Whatever mischief will you be in next?' +cried Aunt Helen, flying to the rescue of the patriarch of her +poultry-yard, and enforcing her remarks by sounding raps on the +culprit's curly brown pate. Bobby was the apple of her eye, but she +considered wholesome chastisement to be necessary to his moral welfare. + +'Oh, Auntie, I've finished my book, and we've nothing much to do this +afternoon; don't you think we might take our tea out into the woods?' +said Peggy, swinging herself over the garden wall into the pasture. + +'You can if you like; only you must get the baskets ready yourselves, +and not worry Nancy. You may as well buy a loaf while you are out, too,' +said Aunt Helen, rummaging a shilling out of her pocket. 'We're baking +again to-day, but the harvesters take so much bread for the "drinkings." +Get some tea-cakes, too, if they have any.' + +'All right,' cried Peggy, rushing off with enthusiasm to rouse Lilian +from the piano and forage in the pantry for a supply of jam and butter. + +Half an hour later an interesting procession started off from the +kitchen door: Lilian first, with the basket of cups and provisions, +Peggy with the milk-can, and Bobby armed with the kettle, while Rollo +seemed to be everywhere at once, and as pleased as anybody. + +'I've got the matches,' said Peggy, 'and a newspaper. You're sure you +put in the spoons, Lilian? We forgot them last time.' + +The place where the children were going was a delightful spot for a +picnic. A rapid stream ran through the woods, dashing down over great +boulders, making little cascades and waterfalls as it went, with here +and there a deep, clear pool, where the trout lay snugly under the +stones; the rocks under the overhanging trees were carpeted with the +softest and greenest of moss, and tall ferns grew right down to the +water's edge, mingling with trailing ivy and creeping moneywort. A +grassy glade under a tall beech seemed intended by Nature for a +summer-house, for there was a large flat stone in the middle, which +served for a table, and a circle of little stones round, just high +enough for seats, so that you might imagine Queen Mab and her fairies +dined here on moonlight nights, with the squirrels for guests and the +bats and owls for waiters. + +The children put down their baskets, and ran about gathering dry sticks +to build their fire. There were plenty of dead branches strewn about in +the wood, so they soon had a goodly pile of fuel. Bobby filled the +kettle at the stream, and planted it firmly on Lilian's elaborate +erection of sticks. Peggy struck a match and set the paper alight; up +went the smoke, and in a few moments the bonfire was blazing grandly. +But unfortunately the picnic party had quite forgotten that burning wood +does not make a very substantial foundation, for the whole pile suddenly +collapsed, and over went the kettle, spilling all the water, and putting +out the fire with a hiss. + +'What a nuisance!' exclaimed Lilian. 'We must find something to hang the +kettle on, like the gipsies do.' + +'Suppose we make a kind of fireplace between two big stones, and then we +can put a thick branch across,' suggested Peggy. 'It will be easier to +lift the kettle off, too. I don't know how we should have seized it from +the middle of that blaze.' + +The second attempt proved a much greater success, and in a short time +the water was boiling bravely, while a very attractive feast was spread +out upon the mossy table. + +Lilian had filled the teapot, and the company was just about to sit down +and fall to with much relish, when the party was suddenly augmented by +an unexpected guest. Down the little path from the glen above solemnly +marched a very small girl indeed, so round and fat and chubby that she +looked nearly as broad as she was long. She was a pretty child, with +soft, dark eyes and pink cheeks, so plump and full that the little nose +seemed almost to be lost between them. A pair of stout brown legs showed +under the smocked holland pinafore, her white sun-hat hung upon her +back, and she clasped a dilapidated doll in her arms. + +She strolled up to the astonished children with the dignity of a +duchess. + +'I saw you lighting the fire,' she announced calmly, 'so I took +Isabella, and I've comed to tea.' + +'We're very glad to see you, I'm sure,' said Lilian. 'Is Isabella your +dolly?' + +'No; she's my child. I don't call her a dolly: it hurts her feelings, so +please don't say it again!' + +'I'm ever so sorry,' apologised Lilian, trying to repress Bobby's +giggles. 'Whose little girl are you?' + +'I'm Father's girl. Father's painting pictures up there in the wood. I +paint pictures, too, sometimes, when Isabella don't want me,' confided +the juvenile artist; and to judge from the smears of paint upon her +pinafore, she had evidently been pursuing that art with more vigour than +discretion. + +'Won't you come and sit on my lap?' said Peggy coaxingly, for she loved +small children. + +The chubby infant looked the slight figure up and down, as if appraising +the offered accommodation. + +'She hasn't got a lap to sit upon,' she remarked scornfully, settling +her stout legs on the grass. + +'You haven't told us your name yet,' said Lilian, trying to draw out the +interesting visitor. + +'My name's Matilda Christabel Wilkins, but they call me Matty for +short.' + +'Are you sure they don't call you Fatty?' inquired Bobby. + +'No; only rude people. Nice people call me Miss Wilkins. I don't like +boys. I was four last week, so I'm quite a big girl now. Will the doggie +hurt me? I think I will have some of that cake!' + +'Hadn't you better begin with bread-and-butter?' said Lilian. 'No, dear, +the doggie won't hurt you; it's only his play. Come here, Rollo! I'm +afraid I haven't a spare cup; but perhaps you won't mind having some +milk in a saucer. Are you staying about here?' + +'Yes, at the farmhouse. I help Mary to milk the cows. Mary sings to +them. I can sing, too. Would you like to hear me sing now?' + +'If it won't trouble you too much,' began Lilian. + +'No. I like it!' and Miss Wilkins crossed her short legs, turned up the +brown eyes, and broke forth into such a very extraordinary burst of +melody that the children were nearly in fits. It had neither time nor +tune, but the notes quavered about on the scale like a distant +representation of the bagpipes. From the words they supposed it must be +meant for a hymn, and it wound on through six or seven verses, till +Bobby grew quite hysterical. + +'Thank you,' said Lilian, stifling her mirth, when the youthful Madame +Patti had at length drawn to a close. 'Where did you learn that?' + +'I learn it on Sundays, out of a book. Shall I sing it for you over +again?' evidently thirsting for an encore. + +'Hadn't you better have some tea first?' suggested Peggy hastily. 'See, +I've put strawberry jam on your bread-and-butter.' + +The attractions of preserve seemed to outweigh the charms of music, for +Miss Wilkins ate stolidly for five minutes without volunteering any +further remarks. + +'You've got freckles on your nose,' she announced at length to Lilian. +'And _she's_ torn her dress!' with an eye on Peggy. 'What a lot that boy +eats! Nurse says it's very rude to fill your mouth so full!' pointing a +severe finger at Bobby, which so convulsed him that he nearly choked. + +'Perhaps you would like some cake now,' said Lilian, politely passing +the basket to the stranger. + +'Thank you. I'll take two pieces, because Isabella would like one. I +think I had better be going home now. Good-bye. I'll call again another +day;' and the young lady crammed one piece of cake into a diminutive +pocket, and, munching the other, strolled away up the glen, with the +luckless Isabella head downwards under her arm. + +'I hope she'll be all right; she's such a dot to wander about alone!' +said Lilian anxiously, peering through the trees, and much relieved at +seeing a tall figure in a brown velvet jacket catch up Miss Wilkins and +bear her off upon his shoulder. 'I suppose they're staying at Brown's +farm. I know they sometimes let rooms during the summer.' + +'She's a queer young customer, at any rate. I feel quite ill with +laughing,' said Bobby, swallowing down his fifth cup of tea and flinging +his crumbs for the robins. + +'Let's clear up, then. Suppose, instead of going straight down by the +village, we walk up through the woods to Pengarth, and buy the bread +there. We can leave our things here, under the tree, till we come back,' +said Peggy, hastily swilling the teacups in the stream and packing them +up in the basket. + +The others readily agreed, and they set off for a glorious scramble up +the steep hillside. The path was so narrow that in places they could +scarcely push through the thick, overhanging bushes and the trailing +brambles, where the blackberries were already turning red, and showing a +fine promise for the autumn. The trees were covered with nuts, which +Bobby cracked with persistent hope, and perpetual disappointment when he +found them all yet empty of kernels. + +They crossed the stream by a bridge roughly made of two pine-trees flung +from bank to bank, with a rope for a hand-rail, a somewhat dizzy +foothold for anyone who minded the rushing water beneath, but infinitely +to be preferred to stones and mortar in the children's opinion. + +Up the steep bank they trudged, through fields of bracken higher than +Bobby's head, getting out at last upon a white road that wound along the +top of a cliff, with a stream roaring below, till round a sudden turn +they came upon Pengarth, a prim little village, nestling in a hollow, +and consisting of a short street and a big chapel and school-house. + +There was a small general shop in Pengarth, where groceries and boots, +apples and red-herrings, seemed all mixed up with yards of print and +ribbon, penny ink-bottles, milk-cans, sun-bonnets, gingerbread, +pear-drops, and bull's-eyes, presided over by a funny old woman in a +black wig and horn spectacles, who seemed to find much enjoyment in +gossiping with her customers; for the children had to wait quite a long +time, while the chief points of last Sunday's sermon in chapel and the +new dress of the minister's wife were freely discussed. At length the +stout farmers' wives picked up their baskets and took their departure, +and old Mrs. Ellis was able to give her undivided attention to Lilian's +modest little voice, which had been striving to make itself heard, in a +vain request for bread and tea-cakes for the last ten minutes. + +'I say, Lil, couldn't we go straight down the wood here, and cross the +stream by the picnic place instead of the pine bridge? It would save +nearly a mile,' suggested Bobby, as they turned to go home. + +'I suppose we could get over the stepping-stones?' replied Lilian rather +doubtfully. 'I don't think there's a proper path through the wood, but +we could find our way somehow, and it is certainly much shorter.' + +So they plunged down through the thick tangle of trees which clothed the +side of the cliff. It was so steep that in places they were obliged to +sit down and slide, clutching at the trees as they passed, to save +themselves from falling, and bringing down such showers of small loose +stones and shale that it seemed as if the whole hillside were sliding +too, and Lilian was very relieved when they all got safely to the +bottom. Now that they were really close to the water the stepping-stones +looked much farther apart than they had imagined, and very slippery and +slimy, too, with a swift current flowing between. + +They all stopped and looked at it for a moment, each secretly wishing +that somebody else would offer to go first, but nobody liking to make +the plunge; even Rollo stood whimpering and whining on the bank, as if +he did not half like the adventure. + +'Here goes!' cried gallant Bobby at last, leading the way as though he +were charging at the enemy, and with four jumps and a long leap he +managed to get over dry-shod, with Rollo at his heels, barking loud and +furiously. + +Not to be outdone in pluck, Peggy essayed to follow with equal style, +but her foot slipped on a particularly green and moss-grown boulder, and +in a moment she had plunged, tea-cakes and all, into an impromptu bath. +Luckily, it was not deep, and she soon scrambled out, and fished up the +paper-bag as well; but she was a very wet and draggled object, and as +for the tea-cakes, they were a moist wreck! + +'Oh, I know I shall go in, too!' wailed Lilian from the other side. 'I'd +better try and save the bread, at any rate,' and she flung the loaf with +all the strength she could muster across the stream. It fell well on the +opposite bank, and Peggy made a desperate effort to catch it, but it +eluded her grasp, and rolling down the bank with a series of aggravating +bounds, descended with a splash to seek a watery grave. + +'There! It's gone! And it's in such a deep hole, too. We can't possibly +get it out. We shall have to leave it for the fishes,' said Peggy, +poking vainly into the depths with a long stick. 'Lil, you'll never get +over if you stand shivering on the brink like that. Do come along!' + +But Lilian popped down on the grass, and pulled off her shoes and +stockings as the most speedy way of solving the difficulty, and hustled +Miss Peggy home with all possible haste, to be dried; for the water was +very cold, and her teeth were chattering in her head, while her dripping +garments left such a moist track as she went that Bobby unfeelingly +compared her to a watering-cart. + +'What am I to do with such terrible children?' said poor Aunt Helen, as +the trio recounted their adventures round the supper-table. 'I can +scarcely let you out of my sight without you tear your clothes to +ribbons or come home half drowned.' + +'They're chips of the old block, Helen!' laughed Father. 'We Vaughans +have a natural love of adventure: it's in the blood, and bound to come +out somehow, so best let it have its fling while they are young, and +they'll sober down when they come to years of discretion. Eh, bairns? +Don't you agree with me?' + +And three hearty young pairs of lungs carried the resolution with a +unanimous 'Rather!' + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A MOUNTAIN WALK + + 'The mountains that infold + In their wide sweep the coloured landscape round, + Seem groups of giant kings, in purple and gold, + That guard the enchanted ground.' + + +'Father, where are you going?' cried Peggy one morning, sliding down the +banisters in her hurry to see why her father was pulling out his great +fishing-basket from the cupboard under the stairs. + +'Up to Llyn y Gaer, little woman, to look after the sheep. I shall stay +all night at the cottage, so you won't see me home again till to-morrow +evening.' + +'Oh, Father!' cried Peggy, flinging her arms round his neck in her most +beguiling manner, '_couldn't_ you take Bobby and me with you this time? +We have never been once yet, and you can't think how much we want to +go.' + +'Why, my dear child, I don't know whether you could manage it. Remember, +it is an eight-mile walk, and all uphill, and such a rough place when +you get there. I am afraid I should have you both crying for Aunt Helen +when bedtime came!' + +'Indeed we shouldn't; we're not babies!' insisted Peggy, greatly +indignant at such a suggestion. 'We can walk quite as well as grown-up +people, and carry our own baskets. Oh, Daddy, dear, do, _do_ please +take us just this once!' + +'The hut's hardly fit for a girl,' said Mr. Vaughan doubtfully, +beginning to relent to Peggy's coaxings. + +'Well, you've called me a tomboy often enough, so let me be a boy for +to-day. Oh, Auntie, do be a darling, and persuade Father to say yes!' + +Aunt Helen paused on her way from the pantry to the dining-room, with a +dish of ham in one hand and a pound of butter in the other. + +'I really think they might go,' she said, 'if you don't walk too fast +for them, Robert. The weather has been so hot that it must be quite dry +up there, so I hardly think they would catch cold in the cottage. But +they must promise to behave properly, and not to get into any mischief. +I can't spare Lilian to-day, or she might have gone to look after them.' + +'Oh, thank you! Of course we'll promise!' cried Peggy, clapping her +hands, and flying off in the seventh heaven of joy to inform Bobby of +the delightful prospect, nearly upsetting Nancy and the breakfast-tray +in her mad career, and causing that worthy girl to wish devoutly that +schools had no holidays. + +Mr. Vaughan owned some land high up on the mountains, across the border, +in Wales. He had a little rough shepherd's hut there, just sufficient to +form a shelter at night-time, and every now and then he would make an +expedition to look after his sheep, or the tiny shaggy ponies which were +turned out loose to wander almost wild upon the moors. + +To go with Father upon one of these mountain excursions had been the +dream of Peggy and Bobby's lives, so it was with very gay faces that, +their fishing-baskets full of provisions slung over their shoulders, and +old Rover trotting soberly behind, they started off on their eight-mile +tramp up the hillside. + +It was such a lovely summer morning, one of those brilliant, glorious +days when the world looks as if it had been newly created, and came to +us with a whiff of Paradise about it. Down in the village the cottage +gardens were ablaze with flowers, and even old Ephraim had forgotten his +rheumatism, and crawled out to bask in the hot sunshine on the low wall, +and called out a friendly 'Good-marnin'!' as the children went by. Past +the forge, whence the cheery chink, chink of the blacksmith's hammer +came mingled with the refrain of a stirring melody from a good bass +voice; under the spreading yew-trees of the churchyard, and out through +the lych-gate to the old mill, where the great wheel was turning slowly +round, its dripping blades gleaming bright in the sunshine; up the steep +path through the little hazel-wood, scrambling over the ladder-like +stile into the narrow lane that ran ever uphill towards the mountains, +which loomed before them, rugged in outline, and shaded in a mist of +purple blue. The hedgerows had given place to stone walls now, loosely +built without any mortar, and with green ferns and pennywort growing in +the crevices, and forget-me-nots in the ditch below. On and up, on and +up, with the great blue hills always rising higher before them, till at +length even the stone walls vanished, and they were on the bare +moorland, with only a slight foot-track for a road. + +Quite out of breath with scrambling after Father's long strides, the +children begged for mercy, and sat down to rest for a few minutes and +eat their lunch by the side of a little quick-running stream. + +'It is a good place for a halt,' said Father, 'for it is the boundary +between England and Wales. When we are over the border we shall all be +Taffies instead of John Bulls.' + +The air was sweet and cool up there, delightfully refreshing after the +hot climb uphill. Below them the country lay stretched out like a map, +the fields looking no larger than the squares of a chess-board, and the +village a pretty child's toy by the side of the river which wound, a +mere silver thread, along the valley. Far in the distance, among the +trees, the outline of the Abbey rose gray against the background of soft +beeches; a little dark cloud, the only one in the whole expanse of clear +blue sky, hung over it like a warning of distant danger, and Father +sighed as he looked, for to him it appeared as if the shadow of ruin +were already creeping near, and stretching a threatening hand over the +old home. + +But Peggy and Bobby were at the very high-tide of happiness. Children +live so entirely in the present, that so long as the existing day brings +joy, they literally take no thought for the morrow, and catching their +infectious spirits, Mr. Vaughan shook off his forebodings, and joined in +the delight of the moment as if he were a boy once more. He hunted in +the brook for sedges, captured a Red Admiral to grace Bobby's +collection, filled his pockets with sweet gale and asphodel for Lilian's +dried vases, and made himself such a delightful companion that the +children agreed that Father on a holiday was out and out the best +playmate they knew. + +'Come, we must be getting on!' he said at last, when the last piece of +bread-and-butter had vanished, and the remains had been scattered for +the fishes. 'Do you see that little farm nestling in the hollow, with +the fir-trees behind it? That is our last link with civilization. We +shall find no more human habitations until we reach our hut by the +lake, so we must make the most of our opportunity, and buy some milk as +we pass. They will lend us a can, and we can leave it as we return +to-morrow.' + +The farm proved, on a nearer acquaintance, to be a little one-storey +dwelling built of rough stones, with a roof so covered with a mass of +green polypody fern as to completely hide the slate underneath. There +was no garden, only a low wall on which the milk-cans and most of the +family crockery seemed to be taking an airing; but a patch of potatoes +and a scanty half-acre of oats lay beyond the little homestead, roughly +railed off to keep out the marauding sheep. + +Peggy, who always liked to be first and foremost, ran on before the +others to ask for the milk, and was greeted by a furious barking from a +collie-dog who guarded the doorstep, while a small, shock-headed girl +peeped shyly from behind the shelter of his rough back. At the sight of +a stranger she fled with a howl, for visitors were almost unknown on +these heights, and the child was as wild as a young rabbit. Her cry of +alarm brought out a woman, who kicked the dog yelping into the house, +and looked at Peggy with as much curiosity as if she were the inhabitant +of another world. + +'Please can you let us have some milk?' asked Peggy politely. + +'Dim Saesneg,' replied the woman, shaking her head, which, being +interpreted, means, 'I can't speak English.' + +For once Peggy was at a loss, but Father soon came to the rescue, for he +had picked up a little Welsh in his expeditions on the mountains, and +readily made the woman understand, in her native tongue, what they +required. + +The little black cow with the long horns looked strange to eyes +accustomed to the large red and white cows at the Abbey, but her milk +seemed sweet and good, and the woman sang a song in Welsh while she +milked it, to a strange, haunting kind of melody that, like most of the +Celtic music, had a touch of sadness and pathos about it. + +'Ask her if she ever comes down to Gorswen, and how they get food up +here,' whispered Peggy to Father, anxious to be initiated into the +mysteries of life among the moors. + +'We don't go down more than once a fortnight or so for flour and +groceries,' was the translated reply. 'Then we bring it up on the +donkey's back. Oh yes, we walk ourselves all the way. What do we live on +mostly? Bread and bacon, oatmeal and potatoes, and a few eggs. It's a +healthy life, but terribly cold in winter. No, I've never been inside +Gorswen Church. We go to a little chapel up here. A preacher walks over +from Llanelly when they can spare one. Lonely? Not a bit! When you have +the cows and the pigs and the hens and the children to see to you've no +time to feel lonely!' + +She looked pleased, however, to have had an opportunity for a chat, and +gave them a very hearty good-bye as they took the milk-can and set off +again on their long tramp. When the little farm was out of sight, they +seemed indeed to have left the world behind them, and to be all alone +among the hills. Oh, the boundless delight of those rolling miles of +heather, which looked like a crimson sea spreading onward towards the +horizon, and the delicious smell of the sweet-gale as they trod it +underfoot! Great flocks of plovers flew before them, screaming their +'pee-wit, pee-wit!' and here and there they roused a snipe or a +woodcock, while wild little ponies scampered off like the wind, +indignant at having their solitude disturbed. + +The path ran for fully a mile over a bog, and the children had to follow +very closely in Father's footsteps to keep a safe track over the soft, +spongy surface, for Joe had told them dark tales of pedlars, travelling +from Llanrhos to Gorswen, who had sunk into those treacherous brown +pools and been heard of no more. + +At last, coming over a little rise, they saw in the distance the +gleaming outline of a lake, looking like a patch of silver amongst the +heather. + +'Look!' cried Mr. Vaughan. 'That is Llyn y Gaer. We shall be there in +half an hour.' + +This was good news to Peggy and Bobby, who were beginning to think that +the fishing-baskets were very heavy on their backs, and that it was the +longest eight miles they had ever imagined, so they hurried after +Father, who made haste now, to make up for the many halts upon the road, +for the afternoon was wearing on, and there was much to be done before +night. Close beside the lake, on a flat piece of grass sheltered under a +high cliff, stood the shepherd's hut, a small one-roomed shanty of rough +stones piled up without either mortar or plaster, and roofed with a few +tree-trunks covered with turf and heather. The tiny window was hardly a +foot square, and had no glass in it, and a beautiful root of parsley +fern grew luxuriantly on the sill, while all the crevices of the walls +seemed full of lichens, bound together by the crimson stems of the +creeping pellitory. + +Father unlocked the weather-beaten door, and the children rushed in with +much excitement. They saw a low room with a raftered roof, rough +whitewashed walls, and an earthen floor. The whole of one side was +occupied by a great fireplace, with a chimney so wide that, looking up, +you could see the sky above. Grate there was none, and the fire must +burn on the hearth-stone, but a good stack of dry peat and heather stood +in the ingle nook, evidently left ready for use. A table, a chair, and +two boxes were all the furniture, while a few cups, plates, and knives, +together with a frying-pan, a kettle, and a pair of bellows, made up the +rest of the modest establishment. + +'Isn't it fun?' said Peggy, putting down her heavy basket with a sigh of +relief. + +'I should just think so!' replied Bobby, roaming round to explore, and +wondering whether it would be possible to climb up the wide chimney and +peep out through the top. + +'To work! To work!' cried Father. 'We have no time to be idle if you +want any tea! Bobby, take the kettle, and fill it from the stream +outside; and Peggy, you can get some of those peats, and help me to +light the fire.' + +Father had a newspaper and a box of matches in his pocket, so, with the +help of the dry heather, they soon had a glowing red blaze, and swung +the kettle on a hook, fastened to the end of a long chain, which hung, +in true Welsh fashion, from a great beam fixed across the chimney. + +'Now, while the water boils,' said Mr. Vaughan, 'we must go and pull +heather for our beds, before the dew begins to fall upon it. Come along, +my two subalterns, this is camp life, and you must learn to bivouac like +true soldiers.' + + '"The heath this night must be my bed, + The bracken's curtain for my head,"' + +sang Peggy, who had been studying the 'Lady of the Lake' at school, and +quoted it on all occasions. 'But we ought not to have a hut at all. We +should just wrap ourselves in our plaids, and lie under the "silent +stars."' + +'I prefer a roof over my head myself,' said Father dryly. 'But if you +are so anxious to taste the romantic you may sleep in the cold outside. +I'm afraid I haven't a plaidie to offer you.' + +'I'm sure a heather bed will be stunning!' declared Bobby. 'I don't +think I shall ever want sheets and nightshirts, and horrid things of +that sort, again. I'd like to be a hunter when I grow up, and always +live in tents, and caves, and jolly places, like the boys in books.' + +'It's just like the Swiss Family Robinson, only ever so much nicer,' +said Peggy. 'I wish we lived up here, and then we shouldn't need to go +to school, and darn stockings, and do all kinds of things we hate!' + +They pulled great armfuls of the delicious purple heather, and laid them +on the floor close to the fire, for Father said it was chilly at nights +after the sun had gone down, and they would need all the warmth they +could get. The kettle was boiling noisily by this time, so the children +hastened to set out the cups and plates. There was no table-cloth, but +that did not matter in the least, and the absence of teaspoons was +regarded as rather an advantage than otherwise. It was so quaint to sit +right inside the chimney corner, and smell the delicious blue peat smoke +that was curling its way to the turf roof overhead, and to look out +through the open doorway at the silver lake, sending gentle ripples over +the little sandy beach, and always the purple waste of heather beyond, +with the mountains rising up, tier after tier, into the dim distance. + +There never were such appetites. Peggy poured out, with a grand air, as +if she were officiating at some Court ceremony. Aunt Helen's +hard-boiled eggs and bread-and-butter disappeared like magic, and the +little teapot was filled again and again, till there was no more water +left in the kettle. + +'Bobby, you simply must stop!' said Father. 'Please to remember our +supplies have to last us for breakfast and lunch to-morrow. If we eat up +everything so fast, we shall be obliged to go hungry before we get home +again. Now I am going out to look after the sheep, and I shall leave you +to clear away and wash up. If I bring you camping out up here, you must +be my orderlies, and do the work. I generally put the cups into the pool +outside.' + +'All right,' said Peggy and Bobby, rattling the tea-things into the big +fishing-basket with a haste calculated to break anything but the stout +blue enamel ware which Aunt Helen had thoughtfully provided, and racing +outside to the little stream which flowed past the cottage into the +lake. + +The bank shelved in one place, so as to form a shallow basin, and here +the children tilted in their load, sitting down on the heather for a few +minutes to wait until the running water had washed them clean. + +'Take care they are not washed away into the lake!' shouted Father after +them. 'And keep up the fire while I am gone. I shall be in before dark.' + +And he went off for a weary tramp over the hills, with old Rover +following closely at his heels. + +'I wish we could have brought Rollo,' said Bobby. 'I don't believe he +would have driven the sheep all the wrong way, in spite of what Father +says. David had to tie him up in the stable, so that he shouldn't follow +us.' + +'I know he'll miss us dreadfully, poor darling!' said Peggy. 'I hope +Lilian won't forget to give him his biscuit to-night. I asked Nancy to +remember Prickles, and Joe promised to feed the rabbits; and if Jack +doesn't get his supper he'll scold so dreadfully outside the kitchen +door that someone is sure to hear him. Oh, Bobby! I saw a fish in the +pool just then. I have two pins in my jacket, and a long piece of string +in my pocket. Don't you think we could make hooks and lines, and catch +some to surprise Father when he comes back? There are lots of worms in +the bank.' + +The tea-things were hastily collected from the stream, and the amateur +anglers set to work with much enthusiasm but no success, for the fish +absolutely declined to bite, in spite of the tempting bait, and lay +sulkily under the stones at the bottom of the pool. It was growing quite +dark before Father returned, and I think, though neither of them would +have confessed it, the children were both rather relieved to hear his +cheery whistle outside the door, for it was just a little eerie sitting +by the peat fire in that lonely cottage, without a sound to break the +vast silence, and the knowledge that the nearest human habitation lay +fully three miles away; and Bobby had already asked Peggy if she +believed in ghosts, and whether it was true what Joe had told him that +the lights you sometimes see at night hovering over a bog are the souls +of children who have never been baptized; and though Peggy had professed +to laugh at the supernatural, she did not feel quite so brave as she +pretended, and found little cold shivers stealing down her back when the +wind rose suddenly, and began to wail round the cottage like a hungry +creature waiting to be let in. + +'I don't know what you young folks are,' said Mr. Vaughan, 'but I'm +dog-tired, and we had better go to bed, for I want to be up with the sun +to-morrow.' + +The children were disposed to agree with him, so, simply pulling off +their boots, they lay down in their clothes on the piles of fragrant +heather, while Father threw thick bundles of it over them to serve +instead of blankets. Heather makes one of the most delicious beds in the +world. It is so soft, and yet so springy, and the purple blossom smells +so sweet, that one could scarcely wish to lie easier. + +Father and Bobby were asleep in two minutes, but Peggy lay awake for a +long time, watching the shadows of the peat fire flicker upon the rough +beams of the roof, till at length fire and heather merged into a +dreamland kingdom, where she was walking with Rollo upon the clouds, and +fishing teacups out of a flowing sea below. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +ON THE MOORS + + 'No sound by night but the winds which blow, + No sound by day but the water's flow, + And the wild bird's screaming note.' + + +In spite of the best resolutions for early rising, nobody woke with the +sun after all, and that luminary had plenty of time to creep round and +peep in through the little window before Father sprang up from his bed +of heather, and exclaiming that they were late, set the children to blow +the peats into life again while he took his morning bath in the lake. + +Later on Peggy and Bobby followed his example. After sleeping all night +in their clothes the cool plunge in the clear water was delightfully +refreshing, and they sat about like mermaids on the rocks, basking in +the sunshine, and watching a ring-ousel teaching her three big babies to +fly, till Father called out that if they did not hurry up and come in at +once he should eat all the breakfast before they arrived. + +It was real fun frying rashers of bacon over the fire, especially when +Peggy nearly upset the pan in her excitement, and Bobby absentmindedly +sat upon the teapot, which he had put to keep warm among the peats. I am +afraid poor Father had rather a distracting meal, but he cheerfully ate +the smoky toast which the children provided, and did not even grumble +when Peggy, by mistake, put six lumps of sugar into his tea. + +'Rover and I must be off to work again this morning,' he said, taking a +shepherd's crook that lay in a corner of the room, and calling the old +dog from the fireside. 'You youngsters had better play about near the +cottage. Don't go wandering all round the lake, or you'll get so tired +you won't be able to walk home this afternoon.' + +Left alone, the children began to busy themselves with what the +Americans call 'chores.' First of all the breakfast things had to be +cleared away, and carried down to the stream, but, to Peggy's dismay, +the greasy bacon plates utterly refused to wash clean, however long they +were left to soak in the pool, and came up in the same smeary condition +in which she had put them in. + +'Whatever shall we do with them? We can't leave them dirty like this,' +she exclaimed, feeling as anxious for the credit of the establishment as +any full-grown housekeeper. + +'Tilt them up in a row against the cottage wall, and pour a kettleful of +boiling water over them,' said practical Bobby, who generally had some +suggestion to offer. + +I do not know what Nancy would have thought of such a method of washing +up, but it answered splendidly all the same, for the greasy water +drained away into the grass, and the fresh breeze dried the plates +without any need of a towel, and Peggy even managed to clean out the +frying-pan with the help of some fern-leaves and a wisp of grass, an +achievement of which she felt quite proud. + +'We can't make our beds,' she said, 'because there's nothing to make; +but we'll pile the heather up with the rest of the peat in the chimney +corner, and it will do to light the fire with next time. I mean to ask +Father to bring us, now, whenever he comes up.' + +They managed to construct a broom from some of the longest pieces of +heather, and swept the crumbs neatly out at the front-door; they hung up +the frying-pan, the kettle, and the bellows in their accustomed places, +and stacked the cups and plates in the old box which served as a +cupboard. + +'Doesn't it look nice?' said Peggy, gazing round with much satisfaction +on their handiwork. 'If only we could stay up here a good long time we'd +bring lots of things from home, and paint pictures for the walls, and +put them in cork frames, and I really believe, if I tried, I could make +up one of those hearthrugs out of little scraps of cloth all pinched up +and sewn on, like Nancy made last winter for her sister's wedding +present.' + +'Oh, bother the cottage!' said Bobby, who, boy-like, soon tired of +domestic duties. 'Let's go out and look for whinberries; there ought to +be heaps of them round there by the lake.' + +Peggy was more than willing, and relinquishing her schemes of household +improvement to hunt up the milk-can as a handy receptacle, followed him +out into the sunshine, to search among the heather for the little +low-growing, red-leaved shrubs with their crop of small purple berries. + +But the blackbirds and the ring-ousels had been before them, so it took +a long time to fill the can, especially as a good deal of the fruit +found its way into the children's mouths, leaving them with such purple +lips and stained fingers that they resembled the babes in the wood. + +'I say, Peggy,' cried Bobby suddenly, stooping down to examine more +closely the grassy bank where he was sitting, 'there's a whole swarm of +bees keeps coming in and out of this hole.' + +Peggy came hurrying up in great excitement, tripping as usual over her +dangling bootlace. + +'It's a wild bees' nest; I expect the bank is full of honey. Oh, +wouldn't it be fun to dig it out! I'm sure we could do it first-rate!' + +'But won't they all go for us when we start laying into their hive?' + +'We must smoke them out first, like the people do in the village when +they only have those straw hives. We'll bring some dry heather and light +a fire, so that the smoke will send them to sleep, and then we can get +the honey as easy as anything. I remember just how Mrs. Davis does.' + +Peggy spoke as if she knew all about it, though really she had never +seen any honey taken in her life, but she was a young lady who had much +confidence in her own powers, and Bobby was so accustomed to follow her +lead that he offered no further objections. They went back to the +cottage for the matches and a supply of dry heather, which they arranged +in a circle round the nest. + +'You stand ready with the matches,' commanded Peggy, 'and when I say +"Now!" strike a light. Then, as the smoke goes up, I shall poke a stick +into the hole, and you'll see they'll all fly out and tumble down +asleep.' + +Obedient Bobby stood at attention, match in hand. + +'Now!' cried Peggy breathlessly. + +Up went the smoke, the heather catching fire at once, in went the stick, +and out came the bees in an angry swarm; but something had gone wrong in +the calculations, for instead of falling stupefied on to the grass, +they flew unharmed through the smoke, and fell upon their tormentors +with a buzz of indignation. + +Away fled the children, racing over the moor as if the furies were at +their heels. They were both capital runners, having had plenty of +practice at cricket and rounders, but I do not think they ever ran so +fast in their lives as when they were chased by the bees. + +They had just reached the side of a little incline when Peggy's +bootlace, which she had neglected to fasten all the morning, tripped her +up, and over she went, rolling into a prickly gorse-bush, while Bobby, +who was so close behind that he could not stop himself, fell over her, +and collapsed into a boggy hollow, where he lay panting for breath until +Peggy picked herself up and hauled him out. + +'Oh, you _are_ in a mess!' she cried, trying to wipe the mud off his +coat with her pocket-handkerchief, and getting almost as grimy as he was +in the process. + +'I'm half stinged up!' moaned poor Bobby. 'I've a great place on my +cheek, and just look at my hands!' stretching out the wounded members +for sympathy. + +'They've stung me all round the back of my neck,' said Peggy. 'I expect +it'll hurt ever so when it begins to swell. We'd best go and bathe the +places in the lake.' + +The water relieved the smart considerably, and Peggy, happily +remembering she had a parcel of biscuits in her pockets, pulled them out +and suggested some lunch, for Bobby was looking doleful and injured, and +inclined to cast aspersions upon her knowledge of bee-keeping. + +There were three apiece, all thick arrow-root ones, and I grieve to say +this ill-behaved pair had a competition as to which could finish them +the quickest. Dry biscuits are choky things, and it is not very easy to +eat three off on end, in record time, without drinking. + +'I've won!' declared Bobby in triumph, hurriedly swallowing the last +morsel, and scooping up a delicious draught of water to wash it down. + +'Yes; but you simply bolted your last. You want Miss Wilkins here to +teach you manners. What a dear little fat dot she was! I wish we could +come across her again.' + +'She's gone home. I saw her the day before yesterday in a carriage, with +a lady and gentleman and a lot of boxes, and Mrs. Price at the +post-office said she had heard Sir Somebody Wilkins was a very great +artist in London, and had pictures in the Royal Something-or-other,' +explained Bobby lucidly. + +'Was it the Royal Academy?' + +'I believe it was; but I thought an academy meant a school.' + +'So it does sometimes, but I know the Academy is a place where people go +to see pictures, because Maud Middleton told me she had her portrait +there last year. Talking of Maud, we have never seen anything of Mr. +Neville since that party. I wish he would come over to Gorswen.' + +'So do I; he was a stunning chap! He could bowl better than the captain +of our eleven. Why don't Father and Aunt Helen write and ask him?' + +'I don't know. I asked Aunt Helen, but she was so funny and queer over +it, and wouldn't talk about him at all. I can't imagine why. Oh, Bobby, +look what I've found! A clump of real white heather! Isn't that lucky? +The first I've ever seen. I shall take it home for Aunt Helen; she'll be +so pleased.' + +'Joe says it means a wedding if you give it to anybody, and if you find +it in three places you'll be married three times. No, I don't want to +hunt for any, thank you! It's girls' stuff! I aren't going to bother +with marrying when I grow up; I mean to be a pirate, and live in a ship +with a black flag, and a lot of jolly fellows with pistols and +cutlasses, and we'll overhaul every merchantman we see, and string the +sailors up from the yard-arm!' and the future buccaneer swung his legs +over the rock, and put on a cut-throat expression, strangely at variance +with his cherubic cast of countenance. + +'Pooh! You're a silly little boy!' said Peggy scornfully, forgetting +that only last week she had regarded the adventures in 'Treasure Island' +as the beau-ideal of earthly bliss. 'There are no such things as pirates +now, so you couldn't be one, and I believe you'd be scared of the +pistols, too, if they were loaded!' + +Much offended at these remarks, Bobby stalked away in such aggrieved +majesty that, as the best means to restore peace, Peggy suggested that +they should walk on to a larger stream, which emptied itself into the +lake about half a mile lower down. Luckily Bobby's ill-humours were of a +short-lived nature, and after a few minutes of cutting silence, he +volunteered the rather ambiguous remark that there were 'lots of things +a fellow could do when he grew up, anyhow,' and was his smiling self +again. + +The new stream proved highly attractive. It was one of those noisy, +rushing mountain torrents, brown with flowing over the peat, and full of +great moss-grown boulders, with smooth round stones between. There were +foaming cataracts here and there among the rocks, just like Niagara on a +small scale, and there were dear little quiet pools at the edges, where +the still water was overhung by ferns and rushes, that sheltered +caddice-worms, and boat-flies, and whirligig water-beetles, and all +sorts of other delights for the collection. + +The children promptly pulled off their shoes and stockings and paddled +in the brown water like a couple of ducks. Peggy tied her boots together +by the laces, and putting her stockings inside, slung them over her back +in true fisher-boy fashion, while she sat dabbling her feet in a +waterfall, and watching Bobby's frantic efforts to catch a dragon-fly. + +'Oh, Peg, come quick! I believe I have him under my hat!' shouted the +enthusiastic collector, lying flat among the reeds on a grassy bank. + +Peggy jumped up in a hurry, and splashed her way to the rescue, but the +smooth round stones were slippery, and seemed to slide away from under +her feet. She gave a desperate clutch at a willow-stump on the bank to +save herself from falling, and somehow or other, in the struggle, her +bootlace broke, and away went the boots, sailing gaily down the stream, +over the waterfall and into the depths of the lake, before their +astonished owner had even realized their loss. Naturally, to secure the +dragon-fly and pin him on Bobby's hat was the first consideration, and +by the time the missing boots were thought of, they had utterly +disappeared, and though the children searched for fully half an hour +down the stream and on the bank of the lake, they were not to be found. + +'I'm afraid it's no use,' said Peggy at last. 'They must have gone down +into a hole, or been washed right into the middle of the lake. Someone +will fish them out a few hundred years hence, and put them into a museum +as great treasures. Well, it can't be helped. I suppose I shall have to +walk home without them,' pretending to look as if she did not care, +though really the prospect of a scolding from Father, and further +explanations with Aunt Helen on her return, made her somewhat uneasy. + +With spirits slightly damped she wended her way back to the cottage, +trying to think it did not hurt to walk on the scrubby heather-stems, +and privately wondering whether Scotch children's toes were made of +different material to her own. + +Mr. Vaughan came home at one o'clock, having counted the sheep to his +satisfaction, and found none missing. + +'I'm as hungry as a hunter,' he announced. 'We must eat up everything +that's left; it won't do to carry anything back in our baskets. Is the +kettle boiling? Come, Peggy, child, put on your shoes and stockings; you +look like the picture of an Irish peasant-girl.' + +Peggy had certainly expected a lecture when she made the painful +confession that her foot-gear was at the bottom of the lake, but, to her +great relief, Father took it all as a joke, and laughed so heartily that +he quite forgot to scold her. + +'But you can't walk eight miles home over a rough road with bare feet!' +he exclaimed, the practical side of the question suddenly striking him, +'and I certainly don't feel equal to carrying you. We must manage to +make you a pair of sandals of some kind. I suppose I shall have to +sacrifice my shooting-gaiters;' and he divested himself of his leather +leggings with rueful reluctance. 'Now, put your foot down upon that, and +I will draw a line round it; then, if I cut it out with my penknife it +will make quite a good sole--enough to save you from the stones, at any +rate.' + +Peggy sat on the box while Father tied on the improvised sandals with +her pocket-handkerchief and Bobby's. They were certainly ingenious, +though hardly elegant, and it did not comfort her much to be told that +she would be taken for a wounded soldier limping back from the wars; +indeed, Father made such fun of her that she grew quite indignant, and +began to think she would really rather have been scolded a little than +so very much laughed at. + +Peggy never forgot that walk home. The sandals were anything but +comfortable, and her feet hurt dreadfully on the stones, while every +gorse-bush she passed seemed to be stretching out spiky fingers to +scratch her bare legs; she was tired after her morning's adventures on +the moors, and the eight miles seemed to lengthen out to an interminable +vista, in spite of the way being downhill; sundry bumps and bruises, +which she had never noticed at the time, began to ache now, and the +bee-stings on her neck smarted, until she hardly knew how to bear the +pain. + +Poor Bobby was in scarcely better plight, and, to add to their misery, a +rain-cloud, blowing over from the west, broke on the mountain-top, and +drenched them almost to the skin. Mr. Vaughan was in such haste to get +home before post-time that he hurried them on, quite forgetting how much +shorter their legs were than his own, and he refused to listen to any +excuses for sitting down and resting, which, considering their wet +condition, was perhaps just as well. + +A more draggled and disreputable-looking pair of children it would have +been impossible to find. Bobby's sailor-suit was all stained with mud, +where he had fallen into the bog, and smears of the same material seemed +to have distributed themselves over his chubby face. There were several +rents in his stockings, while the brim and crown of his straw hat had +parted company, showing his crop of brown curls through the gap between. +As for Peggy, a young gipsy tramp would have looked more respectable, +for the brown holland dress, which had started out stiff and clean +yesterday morning, was smeared with whinberry juice, black smudges from +the kettle, and green stains from the mossy stones in the stream, and +clung around her bare legs in damp, clammy folds, while the drenching +rain had reduced the poppies in her hat to a scarlet pulp, which dripped +down in crimson tears upon her cheek. The sun, shining out brilliantly +as they reached civilization once more, seemed to make the forlorn +plight of the wayfarers look worse than ever. If there had been any +possible way home, except through the village, I think Peggy would have +begged Father to take it, and she wished that, like Lady Godiva, she +could have shut the people up in their cottages until she had passed by. + +'I know they'll all stand and stare at my bare legs and queer sandals,' +she groaned. 'Those horrid, rude Watkin boys are sure to see me, and +call names next time, when Father's not there, and Mrs. Price will come +fussing out of the post-office to ask if there has been an accident; she +always wants to poke her nose into everything!' + +The Watkin boys, however, were away, engaged in a raid for early apples +in the orchards of long-suffering neighbours, while Mrs. Price was +taking tea in her back-parlour, and indulging in such spicy gossip with +her particular friend Miss Jones that the children passed by unnoticed, +and Peggy began to congratulate herself that they were almost out of +danger. + +But alas! things rarely happen as we expect in this world. They had +crossed the bridge, and were turning away up the lane to the Abbey, when +the sound of wheels was heard behind them, and, in the smart carriage +which rolled by, whom should Peggy recognise but the supercilious faces +and elegant costumes of Phyllis and Marjorie Norton. Her cup of +humiliation was filled to the brim. + +'And they knew me at once, I'm sure,' she lamented to Lilian afterwards, +'for they both looked at each other, and Phyllis laughed in that horrid, +sneering way she has. I know she'll tell the Middletons, and they'll +think it so queer. I don't much mind Marjorie, but of all people in this +world I simply _detest_ Phyllis Norton!' + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A NEW FRIEND + + 'Good-morrow to the day so fair, + Good-morrow, sir, to you.' + + +One hot afternoon, when the holidays were about three weeks old, found +Peggy wandering disconsolately round the farmyard alone. Lilian was +away, spending a few days in Shrewsbury with a distant cousin; Father +had gone to Warford, and had taken Bobby with him; even Rollo had +disappeared on some mysterious errand not entirely disconnected with +bones, so the young lady was left for once to her own devices. + +Aunt Helen had broadly hinted that an hour's practice of much-neglected +pieces upon the piano in the Rose Parlour would be a profitable means of +employing the time, and the fear lest this threat should become an +actual command caused Peggy to shun the neighbourhood of the house with +elaborate care, and betake herself, with a selection of pets, to the +barn. + +But the rabbits were stupid and sleepy this afternoon. Even Jack, the +magpie, seemed to feel the heat, and refused to amuse his young +mistress, while Prickles snored on in his box of hay, oblivious to all +coaxings and blandishments. + +'Bother the creatures!' said Peggy at last, giving it up in despair. 'If +they want to go to sleep, I suppose they must! I wonder if it would be +worth while going down to the harvest field? I'm afraid David wouldn't +let me drive the reaper. No, I know what I'll do.' + +And she jumped up, full of a new idea which had suddenly flashed into +her mind. + +Down the pasture she pelted, her red hat looking like a new species of +poppy among the grass, and, taking a flying leap over the fence, made +her way along the dusty road to a place where a large willow overhung +the path. + +The tree was old, so old and decayed that the upper side of the trunk +had worn away altogether, leaving nothing but a hollow, crumbling shell, +as rotten and dry as matchwood. Into this cavity Miss Peggy proceeded to +creep, where, concealed by the new branches which had grown from the old +stump, she found she could lie at full length, quite hidden from sight, +while through a hole in the bark she could obtain an excellent view of +every one who passed in the road below. The first to come by was Mr. +Griffiths, the stout old miller, mounted on his equally fat horse, the +two jogging comfortably along, almost asleep in the sunshine. Peggy +allowed him to get well beneath her, then, taking a pebble from her +pocket, she let it fall plump in the middle of his white hat. The miller +sat up with a jump, and reined in the old horse, staring into the tree +with such blank amazement on his rubicund countenance that Peggy had to +stuff her fingers into her mouth to stifle her mirth. + +'Shoo! Hi!' cried Mr. Griffiths, clapping his hands. + +But, like Brer Rabbit, Peggy 'lay low and said nuffin',' and the old man +rode slowly on, turning round in his saddle for a last lingering look +as he went. + +Encouraged by this success, Peggy's next venture was on a pedlar, who +came down the road with a pack on his back and a thick stick in his +hand. I am afraid this time her stone was bigger, for it bounced with +such effect on his shoulder, that he turned round with a flow of +language far from elegant, shaking his fist at the tree with so much +fury that Peggy was in terror lest he should climb up to find the author +of the assault; but he evidently thought the day too hot for such +exercises, and with a final abusive epithet walked away muttering curses +on all the children in creation. + +'It's not safe to use stones,' thought Peggy. 'They know someone must be +up here to drop them. I'll try little pieces of wood instead, and then +they'll think it's a bird or a squirrel.' + +After that, she had excellent sport, for the women were beginning to +return from Warford Market with their empty baskets, and she was able to +cause wonder and mystification in many a rustic breast, without the +slightest chance of discovery. + +She was growing almost tired of the fun, when she heard a cheery +whistle, and a boy of about fourteen came sauntering slowly down the +road. He was rather a nice-looking boy, with merry brown eyes, a +freckled nose, and frizzy chestnut hair, which stood up like a mop all +over his head, and he had a particularly jolly, breezy air about him. + +Peggy had acquired such practice at her interesting occupation by this +time that she was able to drop her piece of wood neatly down the back of +his neck exactly at the moment he passed below. + +'Hello!' cried the boy, turning round, and flinging a stone into the +tree. 'A squirrel, I'll be bound! I guess it's no use you hiding 'way up +there, old fellow! I'll unearth you before you're much older!' And he +commenced such an onslaught of stones that, to avoid the descending +shower, Peggy tried to creep deeper into the hollow cavity where she was +lying. + +But the poor, rotten old tree could stand the strain no longer, and, +with an awful crash, down came the overhanging bough, bringing Peggy to +the ground with a good deal more speed than elegance. + +'I say! What the dickens! Great Scott! Are you hurt?' exclaimed the boy, +regarding with much astonishment the crumpled heap of sailor frock, +brown curls, and splinters of willow-wood that had suddenly descended at +his feet. + +Peggy got up, feeling tenderly at her shins, which had suffered most in +the fall. + +'I don't think I'm quite killed,' she replied slowly. 'But I've no doubt +there'll be heaps of bruises to-morrow.' + +'So you were the squirrel! It was rather a cute dodge, and well done. I +guess you're something of a tomboy, young lady, aren't you?' said the +boy, grinning appreciatively. + +'No, I'm not,' said Peggy, indignant at the old reproach; 'I'm only fond +of a little fun. I know who _you_ are. You're the boy who's staying with +Miss Forster at the Willows. I saw you in church on Sunday;' and she +nodded convincingly. + +'Why, I believe I saw you, too! You dropped your collection money, and +made a rabbit out of your pocket-handkerchief,' chuckling at the +remembrance. + +'Aren't you Miss Forster's nephew? What's your name? Why have you never +been to Gorswen before? Where is your home?' asked Peggy, wondering at +his slight American accent. + +The boy whistled. + +'Whew! what a catechism! My name's Archie, if you want to know, and my +godfathers and godmother gave it to me at my baptism. Yes, Miss Forster +is my aunt, and I haven't been to Gorswen before, because I was raised +in Colorado, and that's a little too far for chance visits; but I'm +going to locate here now most of the time, I guess. Is there anything +else you would like to ask?' + +And the brown eyes looked at her quizzically. + +'Yes, I should,' admitted Peggy frankly. 'I want to know what you're +doing in the corner of Miss Forster's garden. I can hear you sawing and +hammering there every morning.' + +'I wonder you don't come to see!' + +'Well, I would if anyone _invited_ me!' + +The boy laughed. + +'All right!' he said good-naturedly. 'Come along now, and I'll show you, +if you like. If we cut over the hedge here we can drop straight down +into the garden without going round by the road. I guess a girl who can +climb a tree to play squirrel won't shy at a fence. Eh, Miss Tomboy?' + +Peggy replied by lightly vaulting over the obstacle, and following her +new friend with much promptitude, giving him a condensed history of +herself and family as she ran to keep up with his long strides. + +'Here we are!' cried the boy, jumping over the little stream that +bounded the Willows garden, and watching Peggy's heroic leap after with +an eye of secret approval. 'There, now, if you want to see what I have +been doing, you can!' + +He put his hands in his pockets, and whistled carelessly, but it was +evident, all the same, that he was pleased to show off his handiwork, +even to a little girl. Peggy gave a gasp of astonishment and delight, +for by the side of the stream was fixed the prettiest little miniature +water-wheel, which was turning round as merrily as the miller's own. + +'Oh, how lovely!' she cried. 'You don't mean to say you made that +yourself?' + +For the efforts of Joe and Bobby at carpentry were generally of a very +rough description. + +'Of course I did. Do you reckon I'd get the village joiner to fix it? +Precious much good he'd be at a job like this, the clumsy old idiot! But +the wheel's nothing. Come over here, and you'll see what it turns!' + +'A grindstone! How splendid! Why, it's going round ever so fast when you +put on that catch!' + +'I can grind your pen-knife for you, if you like,' suggested Archie +magnanimously. 'I'd admire to do it.' + +'Haven't got one,' said Peggy sadly. 'I lost mine out of my pocket the +other day, when I fell into the stream.' + +'Ah! girls have such stupid pockets, they never can keep anything in +them. Never mind, perhaps this will be more in your line;' and lifting +up a lid, he showed a tiny churn, calculated to fill the feminine soul +with rapture. + +'You could put some cream in that, and make enough butter for your tea,' +he said, when Peggy had exhausted her list of admiring adjectives. 'I'll +let you do it some time, if you want. But if you like the churn, what do +you think of this, now?' And, stooping forward, he moved a switch, and +the strains of a little musical-box were heard playing 'The Last Rose of +Summer' with wonderfully correct time and tune. + +'You'll never persuade me you made that, too!' cried Peggy, turning upon +him with wide-open eyes. + +'Indeed I did!' laughed Archie. 'Oh, it's not so difficult, after all. +See, I'll show it to you. It's only made with pins set round in a circle +on a piece of board, with a nail on a pivot in the centre to revolve +round and strike them. The hard part of it was to set the pins just +right. You see, the shortness or longness of them makes the difference +in the notes, and the distance between gives the time. It took me a +jolly long while to puzzle it all out, I can tell you!' + +'I think you're a genius!' declared Peggy, who was absolutely steeped in +admiration. + +'Why, no!' said the boy. 'But I reckon to go in for engineering some +time, so it's all practice, you see. When I can get some more tools and +things I want to set up a hydraulic pump to water the garden. I believe +I could put electric light all over the house, if aunt would only let me +try.' + +'I'm afraid you might blow us all up, my dear boy!' exclaimed the +pleasant voice of Miss Forster, who had joined them unobserved. 'So you +have been making Peggy's acquaintance? She had better stay to tea, now +she is here. I will send a message up to the Abbey to say we are keeping +her.' + +Peggy beamed with delight, for she wanted to see more of Archie's +wonderful work, and also the cakes and jam at the Willows had a +reputation for excellence quite unsurpassed in the neighbourhood. + +Miss Forster was a little elderly lady, with a neat, bird-like +appearance, and a brisk, cheerful manner, who seemed to match the prim, +square house with its green door and brass knocker, and white sun-blinds +over the windows. Everything about the place was kept in the most +exquisite order--never a weed on the paths nor a daisy on the +lawns--while indoors the old-fashioned rooms were the very perfection of +neatness, and the polish on the Chippendale furniture was a thing to +wonder at. + +When Miss Forster had adopted her brother's youngest boy from Colorado, +her neighbours held up their hands in amazement, and suggested that one +of her London nieces would have proved a far more satisfactory +companion. But Miss Forster herself thought otherwise. + +'My nieces are dear girls,' she said, 'but they take all I say for +gospel, and have not an original idea among them. I want some fresh +young life in the place, to keep me from quite stagnating. Archie brings +a breath of the new world with him, and outside interests which I hope +may prevent me from falling into the narrow rut that is so often the +fate of elderly spinsters in retired villages. It is quite possible that +he may upset the house in some slight degree, but on the whole it is +good for me to have my little ways interfered with. One is apt to get +into the habit of thinking that the set of a curtain, or a speck of dust +on the mirror, are of more importance than the affairs of the universe.' + +Since his arrival, Archie had certainly done his best to preserve his +aunt from any danger of stagnation, for his fertile brain kept her in a +perpetual tremor as to what the 'dear boy' would do next. + +'We work everything by machinery out in America, you know, aunt,' he +explained. 'And it feels just terribly behind the times to come home and +find you jogging on in the same hum-drum way this old country has done +since the conquest. I guess if you could come out to Colorado, you'd get +an eye-opener!' + +Miss Forster opened her eyes wide enough, as it was, to see a neat +telephone, made of two empty cocoa-tins and a piece of waxed string, +fixed up between the house and the stables, while a small windmill on +the scullery roof turned the coffee-grinder in the kitchen, to the huge +amazement and delight of the cook. She had gasped a little at the +incubator, made of an old biscuit-tin, and placed on the greenhouse +pipes. + +'Would not a good sitting hen be really better, my dear boy?' she +suggested mildly. 'I don't see what you are going to do with the young +chicks when you hatch them out.' + +'Oh, I'll have fixed up a foster-mother before the three weeks are up,' +said Archie. 'I'm lining a shallow box with plaster of Paris, and +sticking it full of feathers while it's wet. Then, if I keep it on the +hot pipes, it will feel for all the world like an old hen, and I don't +believe there'll be a chick that'll find out the difference!' + +There seemed to be no end to Master Archie's wonderful inventions. The +boy had a great talent for mechanics, and was very painstaking in +carrying out all the minute details of his work. Most of his schemes +were really of use in the household, though occasionally some of them +were not attended with quite the success they deserved. He had hung the +great dinner-bell in the cherry-tree, and fastened a string from it to +his bed-post, so that he might scare the birds from the fruit in the +early morning; but unfortunately he had flung out his arms in his sleep +and set the bell ringing soon after midnight, bringing the neighbours +hurrying up to the Willows, thinking it was an alarm of fire. He had +manufactured a marvellous hat-grip, warranted to defy the windiest of +weather, and presented it to the housemaid; but when the poor girl tried +to take off her Sunday hat, she found it so tightly fixed to her hair +that it took the combined efforts of the other servants, aided by the +liberal use of a pair of scissors, to remove the construction from her +head. He had fixed a fire-escape to the landing window, and nearly +killed the trusting parlour-maid by letting her down in a blanket 'just +for practice,' while the cook was soaked through in a sudden application +of the hose-pipe to quench imaginary flames in the region of the +back-kitchen. + +But I think the crowning achievement was an automatic currying-brush, +which was to be wound up and fixed on to the horse's back, and was to do +the work 'in just half the time old Fleming takes pottering over it.' + +'Don't ee, now, Master Archie--don't ee, now!' remonstrated the poor old +coachman, with dismay in his soul. 'Horses is kittle cattle, and it +aren't right to play no tricks with 'em!' + +'Don't you be alarmed, Fleming. I guess Captain will like it just +first-rate. He'll find it sort of soothing, and it'll put such a gloss +on him you'll be able to see your face in his coat. If it works all +right, I'll rig up an arrangement to milk the cows next.' + +And the confident inventor wound up his little machine, and started it +on Captain's fat back. But the old horse would have nothing to say to +such a newfangled contrivance, and, with a snort of alarm, had nearly +kicked through the side of his stall, sending the currying-brush flying +in one direction and Master Archie head over heels in another. + +'I reckon he's rather too old to catch on to it,' said the boy, +determined not to own himself beaten, as he picked up the ruins of his +clock-work. 'It would be best to start on a colt, and put it in as part +of the training. Never mind, I can use the wheels to make an alarum, +and fix it up in the harness-room, to go off at any time you like, +Fleming!' + +But Fleming showed such a rooted distrust for anything that was intended +to 'go off,' and, indeed, such absolute abhorrence of any further +mechanical contrivance in the vicinity of the stables, that Archie had +transferred his attentions to the garden, where he was full of a scheme +for utilizing the water power of the little stream to irrigate the soil, +after the fashion of the Nile in Egypt, in a series of canals between +the beds, and had already made the hose-pipe work with capital effect by +means of a siphon and an old barrel. + +This was a form of amusement which appealed far more to Miss Forster's +mind, for her flowers suffered much from drought in summer time, and she +was a keen competitor at the local horticultural shows, exhibiting some +of the largest carnations and the roundest dahlias in the neighbourhood. +So she watched with delight the growth of the hydraulic pump, groaning a +little over the dirty boots and muddied clothes that ensued, but +assuring her friends that the 'dear boy' was a perfect genius, and would +make his mark in the world, and relating the story of his achievements +with most unbounded pride and satisfaction. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +IN THE RECTORY GARDEN + + 'A good man's life is like a fairest flower: + It casts a fragrant breath on all around.' + + +Though Miss Forster's pet flower-beds were a subject for modest +congratulation to their owner, they were not to be compared to those at +the Rectory, which were indeed a feast of scent and colour. The Rector +was worthily proud of his garden. It represented a considerable amount +of skill and artistic taste on the part of himself and his handy-man, +for the rare plants and exquisite groupings of contrasting blossoms +would have done credit to a more imposing establishment, and he had as +choice a collection of shrubs as could be grown anywhere in the county. + +It was almost sunset when Peggy, having seen the last of Archie's +contrivances, and bidden good-bye to kind Miss Forster, passed by the +Rectory hedge, and hearing the brisk sound of the mowing-machine, pushed +open the little gate and went in, knowing she was always sure of a +welcome. + +Peggy loved to get Mr. Howell sometimes quite to herself. Perhaps it was +because he was one of those rare characters in whose presence we can +feel certain of perfect sympathy, or perhaps it grew from a more subtle +and silent bond, felt keenly by the child, though never spoken of, for +Peggy could remember a time when the Rector's hair was raven black, and +there had been a little Raymond Howell playing about on the smooth lawns +of the old garden. Folks had said that the Rector, like many a man who +marries late in life, had made an idol of his motherless boy, and they +had said, again, that the father's heart was broken and the print of +death was on his face as he stood by his child's open grave. But they +judged wrong, for he had wrestled with his sorrow, like Jacob with the +angel of old, and came forth from the struggle with hair indeed as white +as snow, but a face so full of the glory of his conquest that those who +looked felt as if he, too, had died, and they saw his immortality. + +'Ah, he's a changed man!' said Ellen, the nurse, to Susan, the cook, as +they talked in whispers over the night-nursery fire when the children +were in bed. 'If he was a saint before, it's an angel he is now, and +nothing less. They say he takes no thought for himself at all. His +heart's been left in the grave with the poor boy, it's true, but, mark +my words, if there's a soul in trouble in all the parish it's no kinder +friend they'll find than Mr. Howell.' + +Little five-year-old Peggy, lying wide awake, straining her ears to +overhear the whispered conversation, sat up in bed with burning cheeks. + +'Oh, nurse!' she cried. '_Poor_ Mr. Howell! Have they lost his heart in +the churchyard, and can't anybody find it for him?' + +'Go to sleep at once, you naughty girl, or I'll call your aunt,' said +Ellen, putting out the candle to avoid further complications, for she +knew she ought not to have been talking within hearing of her charges, +and hoped Peggy would forget the matter by morning. + +But the child lay awake for a long time, puzzling her small brain. She +was not quite sure what a heart was, but she thought the Rector would +miss it, and that he was in some sort of trouble she realized well +enough. + +'Can people live without hearts?' she asked Lilian next day. + +'Of course not,' replied Lilian, with the superior wisdom of nine years +old, and dismissed the idea with scorn. + +But Peggy did not consider the question ended by any means. Like most +children, with the instinctive dread of being laughed at, she never +thought of confiding her difficulty to an older person, but solving the +problem according to her own quaint ideas, she dodged the vigilance of +Ellen, and trotted off alone to the churchyard. The lych-gate was +locked, but she toiled over the steep steps that spanned the wall, and +wading through the long grass under the yew-trees, found the spot, all +covered with flowers, which Lilian had pointed out on Sunday, where +'Mary, the wife of the Reverend Philip Howell,' slept, 'in sure and +certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life,' and where the +stonemason had been already busy with the newly-added line: 'Also +Raymond, only son of the above.' + +Who can tell all that goes on in the mind of a little child, or what it +understands of death? In a vague way Peggy knew that her playfellow had +'gone to heaven, where mother is,' but she did not think of that as any +cause for sorrow, nor did she connect him for an instant with the place +where she stood, but, with her nurse's words still troubling her, she +knelt down and searched among the white flowers that hid the bare earth +beneath. + +A step on the gravel walk startled her to her feet, but it was only the +Rector, coming slowly down the path from the church-door. + +'Don't go away, little Margaret,' he said quietly. 'God's acre is free +to all. We have both precious seed sown here that we hope to find +blooming some day in Paradise.' + +'Oh, Mr. Howell,' burst out Peggy, her gray eyes brimming over with +tears, 'is it really true that your heart is lost here? Don't you think, +if we were both to look, we might find it again?' + +The Rector stroked the brown curls with a tender hand. + +'Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. No, child, it's +not here, but up in the light beyond;' and he pointed where the sun, +breaking through the clouds, burst out in a flood of golden glory. 'We +make our plans for this world,' he said softly, speaking as much to +himself as to Peggy, 'and say we will do this or that, but sometimes God +takes it out of our hands and arranges it for us; but His ways are +better than our ways, and His thoughts than our thoughts, and, after +all, death is but the gate to life immortal.' + +Since then a great friendship had existed between these two, made all +the stronger, perhaps, by the fifty years that divided them, for old +folk have often more tolerance and sympathy for childhood than have +those whose eyes are still blinded by the bustle of life, and, whatever +Peggy might be to others, with Mr. Howell she was always at her highest +and best. + +'As welcome as the flowers in May, dear child,' said the Rector this +evening. 'I was just longing for an excuse to leave the lawn-mower, and +now I feel bound to give up work and entertain you. Come and look at my +carnations.' And taking a basket as a receptacle for any weeds that +might offend his eye, he led the way, Peggy trotting after him with her +little tongue wagging freely in a lively account of her latest +adventures, and the marvels which her new friend Archie was constructing +in Miss Forster's garden. + +'Yes, he's a clever lad,' said Mr. Howell, 'and likely to do well and be +a comfort to her, I hope. It's a grand thing when a boy can fill his +life with a hobby; it leaves him no time to get into mischief.' + +'I think flowers are your hobby, next to the parish,' said Peggy, as she +watched the Rector tying up his carnations, touching each blossom as +carefully as if it were a child, with a tender pride in its loveliness. + +'Flowers are such dear friends, you see, Peggy; they rarely disappoint +or deceive you. Treat them well, and they repay you a thousandfold; and +the best of it is they give so much pleasure to others as well as to +ourselves. By-the-by, how are Miss Forster's carnations getting on?' + +'Beautifully! She has a lovely apricot-coloured one she hopes may take a +prize, but I don't like it as well as your yellow. She says the show +will be bigger than ever this year; so many of the village people have +sent in entries.' + +'I'm glad of that. Gardening is the best hobby a working man can take +up. He won't want to think of the public-house when he's digging in his +patch of ground and watching the plants he's raised himself. I always +agree with good old Francis Bacon that "God Almighty first planted a +garden, and indeed it is the purest of human pleasures." I have given +away a great many roots in the village this spring, in the hope that the +flowers would find their way to the show in due course. People are +generally so pleased with them.' + +'I took a nice carnation plant down to old Mrs. Johnson at the smithy,' +said Peggy, 'but she didn't seem at all pleased. She said I might have +known she wanted a Bizarre, and not a Picotee, and I was bringing "coals +to Newcastle."' + +'But you left it for her, all the same?' + +'Oh yes; I believe she liked it really, for it was quite a new kind; but +she loves to grumble; she's a terribly cross old woman.' + +'Poor old soul! She's let her heart wither up instead of ripening! We +must all do one or the other, Peggy, child, as we grow older. It is only +the sunshine of God's presence that can mellow us thoroughly, and if +people wilfully turn away from that they are bound to become shrivelled +and sour. Worldly prosperity is like a strong electric light--it may +bring out flowers, but it will never ripen character; so don't forget +that, or ever exchange it for the true sunlight. Now come and help me to +choose out which flowers to specially train for the show, and we shall +just have time to stake them before dark.' + +The Rector never made the mistake of continually talking down to a +child's level. He spoke with Peggy exactly as he would have done with a +grown-up friend, and if she could not always follow his train of +thought, I think the mere effort to do so was good for her, and the +older she grew, the more truly she understood and appreciated him. + +It is not only when we try to amuse them that the children love us best +(who has not sometimes seen the look of almost contempt in the eyes of a +little one for the good-natured elder who plays the fool for his +benefit?), and often the companion most cared for and sought after by a +child is he who unconsciously raises the standard of the eager, growing +soul. + +For reasons of his own the Rector kept Peggy late that evening, and they +made a little tour of the garden, selecting what they called their +prize plants, putting indiarubber bands round carnation-buds to keep +them from bursting, and tying up the most promising stocks and asters +with a scrupulous care, working until the light had almost failed and +the sky stood out yellow against the outline of the cypress-trees. It +grew so dim and still in the twilight that Peggy cried out in alarm as a +tall figure seemed to rise from the shadows under the dark yew-hedge, +and came towards them; but peering through the gathering dusk, she +recognised the face of her old friend Mr. Neville. + +'John!' exclaimed the Rector, 'I thought you had been at the Abbey all +this time!' + +'I haven't found the courage yet,' returned the other huskily, picking a +prize dahlia to pieces with a recklessness that seemed wanton in Peggy's +eyes. + +'Oh, Mr. Neville, is it really you? However did you get here?' she +cried. + +'Mayn't I know the Rector, too, Peggy? He happens to be a very old +friend of mine, and I have come to see him.' + +'You said you knew Father and Aunt Helen, too, but you have never been +to see us,' said Peggy reproachfully. 'I'm afraid there's only Aunt +Helen in to-night, but I know she'd love you to come.' + +'I'm not so sure about that,' said Mr. Neville rather bitterly. 'I don't +know whether I should be welcome, Peggy dear. Aunt Helen and I +quarrelled once, long ago, and I doubt if she could forgive me.' + +'Oh, she would--I know she would!' exclaimed Peggy. 'She always forgives +us, however naughty we are; and she told me once--the night she was +crying over the old letters in her writing-desk--that if you quarrelled +with anyone it was better to make it up at once, and not let it go on +for ever. Do, please, try!' + +'Go, my boy,' said the Rector. 'Tell her the simple truth, and don't +spoil two lives for the sake of an old tale that is best forgotten.' + + * * * * * + +Peggy waited wide awake in bed for hours that night to catch Father's +step in the passage and call him in for a good-night kiss. + +'Oh, Daddy!' she cried, as she clasped him round the neck, 'is Aunt +Helen really and truly going to marry Mr. Neville?' + +'Really and truly, at last, dear; and I could not wish to see her in +better hands.' + +'But whatever _shall_ we do without her?' + +'We must manage as best we can, Peggy, and try and not spoil her +happiness by any selfish regrets. I have had terrible trouble to +persuade her to leave us all, for she was ready to sacrifice herself +bravely a second time, but that I would not allow. Aunt Helen has +thought for us, and worked for us, all these years, and now we must +learn to look after ourselves. You are getting big girls, and Lilian +must be my little housekeeper, and a mother to the rest of you. Aunt +Helen has taught you how to behave, so don't you think, little woman, it +is time to begin to settle down, and do your best to grow up what she +and I would like you to be?' + +'I'll try,' said Peggy, kissing him. 'We don't want to lose Aunt Helen, +but oh!'--as she nestled down among the bed-clothes--'what a delightful +uncle Mr. Neville will make!' + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE SMUGGLERS' CAVE + + 'Dark and dank, where the toad doth creep, + And the dusk-loving bat haunts the shadows deep.' + + +Great was the excitement in the family at the news of Aunt Helen's +engagement, and equal were the lamentations when it became known that, +instead of settling down near them as a pleasant and desirable uncle, +Mr. Neville intended to carry his bride back with him to India as soon +as matters could possibly be arranged, for he held a high position under +Government in an outlying province, and could only be spared on short +leave. Poor Aunt Helen was torn in two between the lover of her youth +and the children of her adoption; but I really believe, when she saw +Bobby's tears, that if Father had not put his foot down firmly, she +would have thrown up everything, and clung to her bairns. + +As it was, the house seemed entirely upset. Miss Jones, the village +dressmaker, was installed in the Rose Parlour, and appeared to be +stitching morning, noon, and night; the postman's bag was quite heavy +with patterns and catalogues of Indian outfits; while distant relations +and old acquaintances, who had neglected the Abbey for years, kept Nancy +in a state of perpetual agitation by turning up suddenly to pay +congratulatory calls. + +'If they'd only send a letter to say they'd be coming,' she complained, +'one would have a chance to be ready for 'em. But old Mrs. Osborne +arrived o' Monday, with me in the midst of my washing, and never a bit +of cake in the house; and there was Squire Henley and his lady o' +churning day, and I had to leave the butter half made to bring in tea; +and ten to one there'll be someone more o' Friday, when I'm cleaning my +kitchens. What with visitors all days of the week, and Miss Jones with +her snippings and mess in the parlour, I, for one, shall be glad when +the wedding is over, though how the house is to go on without Miss +Vaughan goodness only knows.' + +Peggy and Bobby liked the fun of the preparations, though they crept out +of the way of the visitors as much as possible, for to be shown up in +the drawing-room involved an amount of dressing and tidying which did +not fit in at all with their ideas of holiday enjoyment, and they much +preferred a picnic tea in the orchard, with Rollo and the rabbits for +company, to the more select charms of the best china and the stately +patronage of the neighbouring dowagers. + +Lilian was busy trying to grow up suddenly and be ready to take Aunt +Helen's place, for she was old enough now to realize how much +responsibility would rest with her when she must manage the reins of the +household alone, and she was determined that Father should feel as +little discomfort as possible from the change. + +So the younger ones were left more than ever to their own devices, to +amuse themselves as they liked, and to get into mischief or not, +according to the whim of the moment. I am afraid, if there was any +mischief in the case, the blame generally rested with Peggy, for it was +her enterprising mind which planned out the schemes of enjoyment. + +It was certainly Peggy who suggested sitting on the top of the haystack, +and making it sway backwards and forwards like a swing, a delightful +sensation while it lasted, but which ended suddenly in the collapse of +the whole top of the stack, much to Father's wrath, for it took David a +couple of hours to repair the damage, and certainly did not sweeten the +old man's already crusty temper. It was also Peggy's most inopportune +idea to ride the brown cow round the pasture on the very afternoon that +Mrs. Davenport was paying a stiff call in the drawing-room. She gave +Bobby a leg up on to Brindle's broad back, and had just succeeded in +scrambling inelegantly behind him, when the astonished quadruped paused +in her task of cropping the succulent grass and buttercups, and +realizing that something unusual was oppressing her, fled in mad career +over the meadow, with the delighted children clinging desperately to her +horns. + +'Hoop-la! Yoicks! Tally-ho! I believe she'll take the fence!' shouted +Peggy in anything but a quiet and young-lady-like tone of voice. + +'Gee up! Let her go! Hooray!' yelled Bobby, striking such a whack on +Brindle's heaving side that she settled the matter by suddenly lying +down to roll, and depositing her encumbrances in the miry ditch. + +The children jumped up in fits of laughter, but they sobered down +considerably at the sight of the shocked faces of Aunt Helen and Mrs. +Davenport, who were walking towards them over the pasture. + +Mrs. Davenport was a tall, majestic, long-nosed lady, the wife of a +clergyman in a neighbouring village. She ruled both the parish and her +meek little husband with a rod of iron, and her mission in life seemed +to be to find out that everybody else was wrong, and to try to set them +right again. She had five darlings of her own, in whom she could see no +fault, and whom she invariably held up as models of good behaviour to +all the children of her acquaintance. + +Peggy and Bobby loathed the little Davenports, who were mild, pale, +neat-looking little girls, so alike that each one seemed merely a copy +of the next, a size smaller, and who always wore gloves, even in the +garden, and never dreamed of tearing their pinafores, or using slang, +and went on prim little walks with their governess, instead of +scrambling over the fields; and, I grieve to say, that on the few +occasions when they met, they had taken such a positive pleasure in +leading their inoffensive companions into places which resulted in +soiled dresses and dirty boots, that Mrs. Davenport discouraged the +acquaintance as much as possible, never feeling easy even for the life +and limbs of her progeny when they were in the society of 'those +terrible young Vaughans,' and revenging herself by scathing remarks upon +manners and deportment, which were extremely trying to the feelings of +Aunt Helen, who naturally thought _her_ children superior in every way +to 'those mealy-faced little Davenports, who look as if they had not the +strength or spirits to enjoy themselves, even if they were allowed to +try.' + +Mrs. Davenport came up now, picking her way daintily over the pasture, +in her best dress, and expressing her disapproval in her usual emphatic +tones. + +'I hope you are not hurt,' she said, eyeing Peggy severely, and +distinctly hesitating before she accepted the grimy hand which that +young lady offered in the agitation of the moment. 'Such an accident +might have proved _most_ serious. I have known a child develop a spinal +complaint from a far less fall, and I should have thought you were old +enough, Margaret, to restrain your brother from such foolish feats, +instead of encouraging him. Dear me, you must be nearly twelve, I +believe--the same age as my Bertha, and she is already beginning to help +me with the parish accounts and spends all her spare time knitting for +the Deep Sea Missions. I am thankful to say none of my girls are +tomboys! If you will take my advice, Miss Vaughan, you will urge your +brother to see at once about getting a good, strict governess to take +charge of these children when you leave. A little wholesome discipline +is just what they require. Indeed, I know of a lady who would exactly +suit him; not too young, but still _most_ energetic. Lived seven years +with my cousin, the Hon. Mrs. Lyttleton at Bratherton Hall, and just +leaving, having prepared the youngest boy for school. And I can assure +you _their_ manners are everything that could be desired, and she is +able to impart a style and a finish which, living so wholly in the +country, is most important. A truly admirable housekeeper. Your dear +Lilian is, of course, young and inexperienced--and----' + +But here Mrs. Davenport's remarks, which had been wafted along in gusts, +died away in the distance as she departed down the pasture to inspect +the hen-coops, and hint broadly for the gift of a couple of young +pullets, 'for yours are such an excellent breed, dear Miss Vaughan, and +such capital winter layers. I shall only be too delighted to add them to +my stock, since you are so kind as to offer them, though really I am +afraid you will think I never come to the Abbey without taking something +away with me.' + +Which was exactly what Aunt Helen did think, though she was too polite +to say so, for Mrs. Davenport was well known to have an extreme +partiality for presents, perhaps considering them as only her due in +exchange for so much good advice. + +The children looked at one another with rather long faces. + +'I had no idea she was there,' said Bobby in an awe-struck whisper, 'or +we would have run away to the orchard. You don't think Father would +really be likely to get us that governess, do you?'--the horrible +possibility of the lady, still energetic, though no longer young, and +evidently capable of so much in the way of discipline, quite casting a +gloom over his youthful spirits. + +'No, no,' said Peggy hurriedly; 'he can't afford it. That's one comfort +in not being well off, at any rate. And you know he said Lilian was to +do the housekeeping. Oh, I don't think he would like that kind of a +governess any better than we should ourselves--' privately hoping that +Father's notions of self-sacrifice would not make him see fit to inflict +so great a penance on himself and his family. + +But the very idea that such a course had evidently been suggested made +the children uneasy, and kept them for several days at a pitch of sedate +behaviour calculated to calm down Aunt Helen's possible fears for their +future welfare, and to render unnecessary the criticism of the most +faithful and interfering of friends. + +Perhaps it was the natural reaction arising from this very unwonted +state of affairs, or merely the desire to keep as much as possible out +of the way of afternoon callers, that put it into Peggy's head one +close, sultry afternoon that they should go and explore a cave which lay +on the river at no great distance from the Abbey meadows. + +That such a cave existed the children knew well, for Joe had once been +inside, and had told them wonderful stories of smugglers in bygone days, +and of kegs of brandy, and bales of silk and lace, and boxes of tea and +tobacco, which were still supposed to be hidden in its depths, only +waiting for some enterprising spirit to discover their hiding-place and +bring them to light again. + +'And I don't see why _we_ shouldn't find them as well as anybody else,' +said Peggy with enthusiasm. 'Just think of yards and yards of silk as +stiff as paper, and old French lace, all yellow with age! We shouldn't +care about the brandy, but Father and David would like the tobacco, and +Mrs. Davis and old Ephraim should have some of the tea. And we might +find money, too. Smugglers always had bags of money--spade guineas, you +know, and Spanish doubloons, and all those kinds of things you read +about in books.' + +Having a very shrewd suspicion that Father and Aunt Helen might not +approve of such an escapade, Peggy took care not to mention her plans, +and the children started off, feeling like a pair of conspirators, with +the stable-lantern, a few extra pieces of candle, and a box of matches. + +At the bottom of the meadows which bounded the Abbey land the river took +a sharp turn past a few bold cliffs which rose almost sheer out of the +water, and by scrambling along the rocks at the base it was possible to +get round this headland and reach the low entrance of the cave, which +was raised only a few feet above the level of the river. + +The mouth was overgrown with hazel-bushes and brambles and long, +trailing twines of ivy, and it seemed to the children as if no foot but +theirs had disturbed it for a long time. Peggy looked at Bobby, and +Bobby looked at Peggy, and I think each felt just a little inclined to +hang back, though neither would have confessed it for worlds; then, with +the solemn air of a Guy Fawkes, Peggy lighted the lantern, and boldly +plunged into the darkness, with Bobby following particularly closely at +her elbow. At first the entrance was rather narrow and low, but it soon +broadened out until the roof was ten feet or more above their heads. The +sides of the rocky walls bulged out into irregular shelves, covered in +parts with moss, and moist and clammy with slowly-dripping water. + +'Those will be the smugglers' cupboards that Joe spoke about,' said +Peggy, flashing the lantern into every nook and cranny, but with no +success, for there was never a sign of a box of tea or a keg of brandy +to be seen. + +The air was close and damp, and their footsteps raised strange echoes as +they went, and loud voices seemed so out of place that, with one accord, +the children spoke in whispers. + +'O-o-gh! something soft flapped in my face then!' exclaimed Bobby. + +Peggy held up the lantern over her head, and a number of bats, disturbed +by the light, dropped from the roof where they had been suspended and +whirled round the cave, 'cheeping' angrily for some moments, and opening +their tiny jaws at the children in quite a threatening manner, till +Bobby clapped his hands, and they flew off to find their way into some +deeper retreat. + +'Come along,' said Peggy; 'let's go higher up. There's nothing to be +found here.' + +Clinging together, the two walked with some caution, and it was well +they did so, for the floor of the cave was suddenly interrupted by a +chasm, which seemed to have rent the earth in two, and was so deep that +they could not see to the bottom. It was spanned by a plank, green with +slime and rotten with age, placed there perhaps by the smugglers as a +means of retreating to a more secure hiding-place. + +Peggy flashed the light over the dark abyss to the still more gloomy +depths beyond, but even her foolhardiness did not prompt her to try so +perilous a bridge. + +'We'll get Joe to come some time with a new plank, and help us across, +and then perhaps we may find something,' she said rather hurriedly, in +case Bobby might expect her to continue the explorations. + +But that hero suggesting that it must be after teatime, she cordially +agreed with him, and they began to retrace their steps to the entrance, +feeling just a little disappointed, for somehow they had imagined a +smugglers' cave would be a jolly, dry sort of a place, with at least a +few remains of its former tenants strewn about--a pistol or two, +perhaps, or a coil of rope, or a rusty dagger, just sufficient to give +an air of romance to the adventure, even if the missing treasure were +not forthcoming. + +The air seemed to have grown more close and sultry while the children +were within the cave, and, just as they reached the mouth, a low, +grumbling sound, which they had heard for some time, but not taken much +notice of, broke into a crash of thunder that seemed to make the ground +shake beneath them, while at the same instant a brilliant streak of +lightning flashed zigzag across the sky, lighting up the gloom behind +them to its furthest recess. + +The storm had broken. Peal after peal of thunder rent the air, echoing +in the cavern till Peggy and Bobby clung to one another in terror, while +the rain came down in a perfect deluge, with such tropical fury that it +seemed as if the very sky were descending. Crouched down on the floor by +the entrance, the children waited for the storm to pass by, wondering +at the vivid pink flashes and the size of the hailstones which beat in +through the hazel-bushes. A little runnel of water, flowing +uncomfortably near, brought Peggy to her feet with a sudden cry. + +'Bobby! Bobby! the river is rising, and the rocks are covered. We cannot +get round the point to the meadow again!' + +It was but too true, for the sudden violence of the storm had swollen +the mountain-streams that fed the river, and the once-placid waters were +flowing past in a brown, turbulent flood, which seemed to sweep +everything along in its course. The stones over which they had scrambled +were completely covered, while waves were dashing against the face of +the cliff. Here and there a dead sheep or pig drifted by, or a portion +of a haystack; a hurdle floating like a raft bore on it a few +disconsolate fowls, clucking dismally; while an occasional wash-tub or +upturned table showed that the river must have already flooded some of +the low-lying cottages higher up on its course. + +The children looked at each other with blanched faces. + +'We must stay where we are for the present,' said Peggy, trying to speak +bravely, 'and perhaps the water will fall soon, and we shall be able to +get home.' + +But the water did not fall. Each moment it seemed to flow with even +swifter current, and to be rising with terrible sureness nearer and +nearer the mouth of the cave. It was already growing dusk, and distant +rumblings among the hills showed that the storm was still raging over +the Welsh border, and sending down its torrents of rain to swell the +already overflowing river. + +Hungry, and chilly from the damp moisture that oozed down the walls, the +poor children sat quietly huddled together watching the cold gray +surface of the water, which seemed like some cruel monster ever creeping +nearer and nearer to infold them in its treacherous grasp. + +'Perhaps Father will guess where we've gone, and come for us with a +boat,' suggested Bobby. 'I wish he would be quick. It's so cold and +horrid here, and I want my supper.' + +'Perhaps he will,' replied Peggy, as hopefully as she could, though in +her heart of hearts she knew that the cave was about the last place +anyone would dream of searching for them. + +There was a long silence; then, 'It's getting dark now,' said Bobby, +'and the water is beginning to wet my feet.' + +'We must go back into the cave,' said Peggy. 'We shall be quite dry +there, for the ground shelves up. See, I'm going to light the lantern +again. What a good thing we brought several pieces of candle!' + +The mere effort of having something to do cheered them up a little. They +hunted about to find as dry a spot as possible, and put the lantern up +upon one of the shelves of rock, so that it should cast as much light as +it could around the cave. Then they sat down to wait again, for what +seemed to them an eternity of time. + +The mouth of the cavern loomed like a great eye, growing gradually +fainter and fainter as the daylight faded and the darkness grew outside. +The river flowed by with a dull, roaring sound, and the little channel +had risen from the entrance, and began to lap gently on the floor. The +moisture dripped from the walls in loud-sounding drops, and the bats had +awakened again, and flew to and fro towards the lantern with a soft whir +of wings. When the last faint patch of light faded from the opening +Bobby's bravery gave way, and the poor little fellow's tears chased each +other down his cheeks as he crouched in a miserable heap on the damp +ground. + +'I want to go home!' he wailed. 'Why doesn't Father come to fetch us? +Don't you think they know where we are?' + +Peggy flung her arms round him in an agony of self-reproach. + +'Oh, Bobby darling! it's all my fault, for I made you come, and wouldn't +let you tell where we were going, though you said we ought to ask leave +first! Put your head on my shoulder, and try to go to sleep. Perhaps +Father may find us after all, or the river will have gone down by +morning, and we shall be able to scramble round by the rocks.' + +'I must say my prayers first. Aunt Helen always comes into my room and +hears them last thing before I get into bed.' + +'Say them with me to-night,' said Peggy, with a lump in her throat, as +she knelt by his side, thinking that perhaps Aunt Helen, too, was +praying at that moment that her dear ones might be safe. + +The old, familiar words seemed to have new meaning in them, said in the +midst of the darkness and the danger, and the children felt that, though +their earthly Father might be seeking far and wide for them in vain, +they were known and cared for by 'our Father which art in heaven,' to +whom the darkness is the same as daylight, and in whose sight not even a +sparrow falls to the ground unnoticed. + +Bobby fell asleep at last, with his head on Peggy's knee, the sound of +his regular breathing mingling strangely with the lap of the water which +crept nearer and ever nearer to them up the cave. Many thoughts came to +Peggy that night, as she sat watching the light of the lantern flicker +upon the rough walls. Father's reproachful face seemed to rise up out of +the darkness, asking 'Where is Bobby? What have you done with my little +boy?' Good resolutions made, and alas! too often forgotten, crowded in +now upon her remembrance, and as she listened to the roar of the river, +she thought how strange it would seem that they two, so full of life, +might in a few hours be floating very still and silent upon that flowing +stream, with the world only a memory behind them. But Peggy had been too +much with the Rector to have any fear of death. He, she knew, viewed +this life as merely the stepping-stone to a fuller and richer life +beyond, and the body as but the worthless husk of the soul, so with a +dreamy feeling that somehow Mr. Howell had set the gate of the next +world ajar, and allowed some of the glory to steal out and comfort her, +the child closed her tired eyes, and slept as quietly as if she had been +safe in her bed at home, and the storm and the rushing water nothing but +a vision of the night. + +She woke with the sound of little lapping waves, to find that the water +had risen higher, and now formed a deep pool on the floor of the cave, +reaching almost to their feet. The candle had burnt low in the lantern, +and even as she looked it gave a last flicker, and guttered out, leaving +her in utter darkness. With trembling fingers, Peggy felt in her pocket +for the remaining piece of candle and the box of matches. She tried to +strike a light, but the match was damp, and fizzled away without +igniting. A second and a third met with the same fate, and Peggy was in +a panic of despair, until she remembered that Father had once told her +to rub damp matches through her hair before striking them. This method +proved a success, and she was able to relight the lantern, laying Bobby +gently down on the floor, hoping he might not wake. + +But the movement disturbed him, and he sprang to his feet, calling: +'Father, is that you? We're here, in the cave!' + +'It's not Father yet, dear; only me lighting the lantern again.' + +'I was dreaming that it was morning,' said Bobby, rubbing his eyes, 'and +that Father had come to fetch us away in a boat.' + +'I think it will be morning soon,' said Peggy. 'We seem to have slept +for a long time. Bobby, dear, the water is rising so fast that I don't +think we shall be able to stay here much longer, but I have a plan which +I think we might perhaps carry out. Joe told me that people say the cave +was really only the entrance to a secret passage which runs to the +Abbey, and in the old days the smugglers used to carry their goods up +there, and hide them away amongst the ruins. We must try and cross by +that plank, and see if there is really any possible opening, except by +the river.' + +Anything seemed better than sitting still in the darkness watching the +growing water, so the children went up the cave again to where the chasm +lay yawning across their path. + +'We mustn't try to walk over it,' said Peggy, as she doubtfully examined +the slippery, shaky plank. 'I shall crawl over first with the lantern, +and then I'll hold the light for you, and you must follow in the same +way.' + +It felt a very insecure bridge to poor Peggy, as she crept over on her +hands and knees, trying not to look down into the dark gulf below, so +frail and insecure that she shuddered for Bobby, who seemed so unnerved +that she scarcely dared allow him to make the trial. + +'Wait a moment!' she cried. 'Don't start just yet!' + +And hurriedly taking off her pinafore, she tore it into strips, and +knotting them together in a kind of rope, threw one end of it across to +him. + +'Now tie that firmly to your arm before you set off, and then, if you +fall, I think I might be able to drag you up again.' + +But luckily Peggy's childish strength was not put to the test, for Bobby +accomplished the crossing in safety, and scrambled over the rocks which +rose at the other side. Holding up the lantern, the children found they +were in what seemed to be the entrance of a rough kind of passage. That +it was not altogether of natural origin was evident from the traces of +built-up stones, while here and there the walls showed the marks of the +pick. The air was stale and damp and difficult to breathe, and the +candle burnt so badly that several times Peggy feared it was going out +altogether. They went stumbling along over the irregular floor, +wondering whether their way was taking them to safety, or only into the +bowels of the earth. + +On and on the passage led them, sometimes through places so narrow they +could scarcely scramble through, or so low that, small as they were, +they were obliged to stoop; now up hill, now down, round many a sharp +curve, till it ended suddenly in a small cavern about ten feet square. + +Peggy lifted up the lantern high over her head, and looked anxiously +round. Apparently they were in nothing but a blind alley, for there +seemed no possible way out, except the path by which they had come. The +poor children stared at each other with hopeless horror. + +'We shall have to go back, and chance the river going down when it's +light,' faltered Peggy. + +[Illustration: "BOBBY ACCOMPLISHED THE CROSSING IN SAFETY."] + +'Oh, no, no! We can't go back over that hateful plank again and sit +watching the water come up! I would rather be drowned here than there! +Oh, Father, Father! do come and find us!' And Bobby sat down upon the +ground with such a wail of despair that Peggy at last lost her +self-control and found herself joining in his sobs. + +But she stopped suddenly, and laying a restraining hand on his shoulder, +put up her finger for silence, for it seemed to her that from the region +somewhere over their heads she had heard a distant shout. + +'Call again, Bobby, like you did before!' And both together the children +joined their voices in a wild shriek of 'Father!' + +This time there was an unmistakable shout of reply, and after what +seemed to them a long interval of calling they could hear Father's voice +from above quite plainly saying, 'Where are you?' + +'In a cave down below!' cried Peggy, trying to make her voice carry in +the hollow atmosphere. + +Now that help was near she was her brisk, capable self again, and, +seizing the lantern, searched round every foot of the cavern till she +discovered what seemed to be the beginning of a little staircase, long +since blocked by earth and stones. + +'Here, Father! Dig for us here!' she called, and taking up a stone, +began to tap like she had heard of imprisoned miners doing in the +coal-pits. + +There was silence for a few minutes, and then the children began to hear +the welcome sound of a pickaxe, and Father's voice every now and then, +shouting a word of encouragement to them. At length there was a rumbling +noise in the roof above, some loose stones and earth fell, and Father +called loudly: + +'Stand back! Keep out of the way!' + +Peggy clutched Bobby, and retreated into the passage, while a shower of +stones and soil came pouring down into the cave, till a great rent was +made in the roof, and Father dropped through the hole like Santa Claus +down the chimney, only no saint was ever so welcome, even at +Christmas-time. + +It did not take very long for the children to be hauled up by Joe at the +top, and they found themselves standing among the Abbey ruins in the +early gray of the dawn, with Aunt Helen rushing to catch them in her +arms, and Lilian hugging them and sobbing over them by turns, while +Nancy, her face all blotched and swollen with crying, kept hovering +round to put in a kiss whenever the others gave her a chance, and even +old David cleared his throat hard, and 'blessed the Lord they were +safe.' + +Very little was said until the children had been warmed and fed and +comforted by the dining-room fire, and then Mr. Vaughan would only allow +the briefest account of their adventures before they were put to bed to +sleep off the effects of their night of exposure. Nancy prophesied +quinsy and pleurisy and rheumatic fever, but the Vaughans were a hardy +race, and not even a cold resulted, in spite of her gloomy +prognostications. + +Peggy's quiet talk with Father next day was so entirely between +themselves that I shall not repeat it; but it is often incidents, and +not years, which help us to grow up, and somehow afterwards she always +found herself dating events from that night in the cave, and all the +part 'when I was little' came before, and the older and more sensible +part seemed to follow afterwards. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +LILIAN'S HOUSEKEEPING + + 'Thou wert working late, thou busy, busy bee! + After the fall of the cistus flower, + When the primrose-tree blossom was ready to burst, + I heard thee last, as I saw thee first; + In the silence of the evening hour + I heard thee, thou busy, busy bee.' + + +Aunt Helen was married in September, with the Rector to read the +service, and Father to give her away, and Lilian and Peggy for +bridesmaids, while the Sunday-school children strewed the path from the +church-door with flowers, and Bobby flung rice and old shoes after the +carriage, and all the village people came to watch, and say how sweet +and pretty she looked, and to wish health and happiness to 'Mrs. John +Neville.' + +Things felt very flat when the excitement was all over and the last of +the guests had left the Abbey, and the children found themselves wishing +that life could be a perpetual round of bouquets and favours and +wedding-cake, not forgetting presents to the bridesmaids, for Lilian and +Peggy were the proud possessors of charming gold lockets set with +turquoises, with portraits of Aunt Helen inside them, 'the gifts of the +bridegroom,' as the local paper described them, while a silver watch and +chain consoled Bobby for not taking a more prominent part in the +ceremony, and made him declare that his new uncle was 'a brick, and no +mistake.' + +After so much dissipation, it was quite hard to settle down to plain +prose again; but school had already re-opened, and the children had +stolen an extra week of holidays to join in the festivities, so it was +high time they were setting to work once more. It seemed strange to +start off every morning without Lilian, who only went into Warford once +a week now for music-lessons, and Mr. Vaughan had occasional qualms as +to the safety of allowing such youthful Jehus to drive about the country +unattended; but the little yellow pony-trap was so well known on the +road that it would have been rather difficult for anything to happen to +the children. People knew the time of their passing, and looked out for +them daily; kindly women would come to cottage doorways to nod and +smile; the inn-keeper at the Halfway Arms set his clock by their +arrival; they had struck up quite a friendship with the postman, two +milkmen, and the driver of a fish-cart, while the old man who broke +stones by the roadside always nodded and gave them 'Good-morning,' and +fired a facetious remark or two after them, which the children imagined +he must relieve the monotony of his work by composing during the +intervals of their coming and going. + +Left alone, Lilian tried to settle down in dead earnest to battle with +her task of housekeeping. It was a heavy burden for such young +shoulders, for in a farmhouse there is always a great deal of extra work +to be done. Pigs, poultry, and young animals had to be fed, and the eggs +gathered in daily; the dairy claimed constant attention, for the pans +must be scalded and the pails polished bright, and though Joe did the +milking and churning, it was Lilian's business to superintend the +making up of the butter, and to weigh each pound with her own hands and +print it with the Abbey stamp. + +Nancy, too, proved somewhat of a trial, for though a hard-working and +most kind-hearted girl, she had not been gifted by Providence with +either brains or a memory, and was capable of making the most +astonishing mistakes, which she invariably justified by declaring she +was sure she had done it so 'in Miss Vaughan's time.' + +'But, Nancy,' said poor, bewildered Lilian, 'I'm sure Aunt Helen never +told you to rub up the silver with paraffin and brickdust. You're +scratching it horribly. There's a packet of proper pink powder stuff to +do it with somewhere.' + +'There's naught like oil and brickdust for putting a polish on metals,' +observed Nancy, complacently scouring away at Bobby's christening mug. +'It beats all they rubbish that the pedlars brings round in boxes, and +tries hard to persuade you to buy, so it do for sure!' + +'I have no doubt about it's being very good for fenders and fire-irons, +and things of that sort, but not for the best teapot. Don't you think it +would be better, Nancy, if I were to clean the silver on Friday +mornings, and you could get on with your kitchen?' + +'As you wish, Miss Lilian,' said Nancy, relinquishing the +polishing-leather with no great sorrow. 'Miss Vaughan, she always did it +her own self, too. Was you going to do anything with that stock that has +been in the larder since Monday?' + +'Oh, Nancy, I had forgotten all about it!' cried Lilian, much +conscience-stricken at the reminder. 'And I had intended to make it into +soup. Do go and fetch it, and see if it is still good.' + +But the stock, alas! had accumulated a skim of green mould on the +surface, and generally betrayed such symptoms of distress that it was +fit for nothing but the pig-trough; and when Lilian, warned by its awful +example, visited her neglected shelves, she found so many forgotten +scraps put away into odd corners that she straightway formed the +excellent resolution of reviewing the larder daily after breakfast, +having an uneasy sensation that it was one of the golden rules which +Aunt Helen had particularly impressed upon her, but which, like many +others, had slidden into the background of her remembrance. + +It was certainly one thing to housekeep with Aunt Helen at her elbow to +advise, and quite another to puzzle it out with only her memory and the +cookery-book for assistance. The quantities required for a family of +five persons was a subject which took her some time to master. + +'There's the butcher's boy at the back-door, miss,' observed Nancy one +morning, a few days after the wedding, putting her head into the Rose +Parlour, and interrupting the 'Bridal March' from 'Lohengrin' which +Lilian was trying over on the piano. 'He's left his cart at the bottom +of the drive, but he'll fetch up anything you want.' + +The butcher only came round weekly at Gorswen, so Lilian abandoned her +music and sallied forth to give her first order. + +'We're quite tired of great sirloins of beef and legs of mutton,' she +announced. 'Haven't you anything else this morning?' + +'Nice bit of pork, mum,' suggested the man--'fillet of veal.' + +'I'm sure the veal would be a change; we haven't had any for a long +time.' + +'Very good, mum. How much may we send you?' + +'About a pound and a half, I should think,' said Lilian, knitting her +brows and trying in vain to remember the extent of Aunt Helen's weekly +order. 'Or suppose we say two pounds. I expect that would be right.' + +The meat arrived in due course, looking such a very small amount when +Nancy placed it on the kitchen-table that Lilian exclaimed in horror: + +'Why, Nancy, that will never last us for a week! It looks hardly enough +for one dinner!' + +Nancy shook her head doubtfully, but did not offer any assistance in the +dilemma. + +'Perhaps if we boiled it, it might swell out a little, and be enough for +twice, at any rate. I think you had better get a pan and put it on at +once. I believe things have to boil for a long time before they're +tender.' + +Nancy obeyed without question. + +'I suppose you can keep your eye on it, Miss Lilian?' she observed. 'I +shall be busy upstairs in the bedrooms this morning.' + +And she departed with broom and dustpan, leaving her young mistress in +charge of the kitchen. + +Lilian really did mean to look after that meat. She got it boiling +briskly, and filled up the pan several times with water; then, giving it +a final replenishing, she ran off to practise a few scales and +exercises. + +She was quite sure she had not been absent more than ten minutes, but +when she returned to the kitchen she was greeted by a strong smell of +burning, and rushing to her pan, found that every drop of water had +boiled out, and the veal was frizzling at the bottom into a hard black +mass. To take it off was her first act, and to call Nancy to the rescue +her second. + +'Well, it do be a pity, Miss Lilian,' said that sympathizing damsel. +'But there, don't take on so! We can cut off that black part at the +bottom, and put the rest down with some vegetables. Happen it'll turn +out all right after all. There'll be just time afore dinner,' chopping +away as she spoke in a vigorous onslaught on the carrots and onions. + +It was Saturday, so the children were at home, but even their healthy +appetites were not equal to the very untempting dish which was set +before them, for the unfortunate veal had boiled away to ribbons, and +all the goodness had gone into the lost gravy, while the pulpy remains +tasted so hopelessly burnt as to be perfectly uneatable. + +'The vegetables are quite nice, at any rate,' began Father cheerfully; +then seeing Lilian's swimming eyes: 'Never mind, little woman; +experience is always dearly bought, and a vegetarian dinner won't hurt +us for once in a way. We must make out with home produce until the +butcher comes again. There's a young cockerel that will do for Sunday, +and perhaps I can shoot you a rabbit; and we can always fall back upon +eggs and bacon, at any rate, if there is nothing else to be had. Cheer +up! I don't expect to find a full-fledged housekeeper in five minutes!' + +After this Lilian determined to provide more generously, and astonished +the grocer by ordering three pounds of cayenne pepper, and a like +quantity of mace (embarrassing possessions which lingered in the +spice-cupboard for years before they were eventually finished), and +generally running the household on so liberal a scale that Father had to +interfere and preach economy. Such very Spartan fare was the result of +his lecture that he wisely fixed her a weekly allowance, and left her to +manage as best she could upon it, and this plan answered far better, +for she had a natural aptitude for arithmetic, and soon learned to make +the various items fall into their proper places, balancing her little +account-book in quite a professional manner. + +About this time, too, Lilian took to poring over the 'Ladies' Column' in +the newspaper, and trying the various recipes which were given therein. +Some of them were very successful, and--especially the cakes--were much +appreciated by the children, though others did not turn out quite what +she had expected, in which case it is only charitable to suppose the +oven was at fault. + +'There's a splendid one here, Nancy,' she announced one day, 'under the +heading of "What to do with your Cold Mutton." You mince it all up with +herbs, and make it into a kind of pasty, and it sounds most delicious. +It says, "First take a couple of onions." By-the-by, did Joe bring in +any onions this morning? Those in the basket are all finished.' + +'No, Miss; Joe, he's never been near to-day, though there's master's +shooting-boots waiting for him to clean.' + +'Oh, then do run down, Nancy, please, and ask him to dig up a few, while +I put the meat through the mincing-machine. You'll very likely find him +in the orchard or the stackyard.' + +Nancy soon returned flushed and out of breath, with a full apron. + +'I couldn't find Joe nowheres,' she panted. 'But he'd put these down in +the harness-room, so I just took them. Shall I chop them up for you +now?' + +'Please do. But oh, Nancy, stop! Let me look! These are not onions; +they're the gladiolus bulbs that David has just taken up from the +garden! What a mercy you did not put them into the pasty! We might all +have been poisoned!' + +'Lor!' said Nancy, much abashed, 'I made so sure they was onions I never +thought to look at 'em. But if it's only a couple you're needing, miss, +there are two or three left in the larder that would do. Was it anything +else you'll be wanting?' + +'It says, "Take a little dried thyme, sage and sweet marjoram,"' read +Lilian, with her finger on the recipe, '"together with a few pieces of +lemon-peel." I wonder what it calls "a little." I haven't the slightest +idea, but I suppose we must put plenty in to make it a nice flavour, or +it won't taste of anything.' + +So, putting a very liberal interpretation on the words, she cut up a +goodly supply of those herbs, and mixed them in with the meat. + +The pasty came out of the oven baked to a turn, and smelling delicious, +and Lilian felt quite a thrill of satisfaction as it was placed on the +table, and Father began to cut it. But the 'Ladies' Column' should have +been a little more explicit as to the quantity of flavouring, for, when +it came to a matter of eating, the herbs so entirely predominated that +the mutton was utterly lost, and, as she had unfortunately cut up the +stalks as well as the leaves, the mixture bore a horrible resemblance to +chopped hay. It was distinctly galling, but, still, she learned by her +mistakes; for practice gives the best training, and there is no such +invaluable teacher as hard experience. + +Well-meaning friends were kind in their offers of help and advice, but, +as Lilian said: + +'You can't run down in the middle of mixing a pudding to ask Miss +Forster how much sugar to put into it, or send for the Rector's +housekeeper to tell you when the custard is thick enough. Mrs. +Davenport told me to write her a post-card if I got into a fix, and she +would come over and set me straight; but I don't think I should quite +like that, and I'm sure Nancy wouldn't.' + +Father did not encourage her to seek outside help, thinking it better +that the Abbey should manage its own affairs, even at the cost of a +little inconvenience, and kindly shut his eyes to many small +deficiencies, knowing that time was the best remedy, and that old heads +do not naturally grow on young shoulders. + +At first the cares of her new position were a terrible burden on the +poor child's mind, for she was, if anything, too conscientious, and +almost morbidly anxious to do right and fill the place which Aunt Helen +had left so empty. She would wake at four o'clock in the morning, and +not dare to close her eyes again, for fear Nancy should oversleep +herself, and the children be late for school. She would visit the dairy +ten times a day to see that the thunder had not turned the milk, nor the +cat crept in through the window. She counted and recounted the linen and +the silver, and sat worrying over her account-books at night till Father +threatened to burn them. + +I think her greatest trial, however, was on the few occasions when Mr. +Vaughan was obliged to stay away for the night, and leave her +responsible for the safe keeping of the whole establishment. She would +go round with Nancy and a candle, carefully locking all the doors and +securing the shutters, peering fearfully into cupboards and starting at +her own shadow on the wall; and, having finally retreated to her +bedroom, would barricade the door with a tin box, and place the poker +handy on a chair by her bedside. But in spite of these precautions, the +nights were misery all the same. Sleep refused to come, and she lay +awake hour after hour, imagining every sound to be a burglar breaking +into the premises, and wondering how Peggy could slumber so peacefully +in the other little white bed. It is amazing, when the house is +perfectly quiet, how many creaks and peculiar noises make themselves +heard which we never think of noticing in the daytime. The wind blowing +the ivy about would sound like a hand tapping upon the pane, the cattle +trampling in the fields suggested footsteps under the window, and a +mouse behind the wainscot would raise her to such a pitch of panic that +she would often be obliged to get up and light the candle to reassure +herself, and when she at last fell asleep it was generally with her +fingers stuffed in her ears, and her head buried under the bedclothes, +an uncomfortable proceeding, resulting in such white cheeks and heavy +eyes that Father, with some difficulty finding out the cause of the +trouble, never left in future without arranging for old David to sleep +in the house during his absence. + +I think, during those early struggles, her correspondence with Aunt +Helen was her greatest help and comfort, for to that dearest of friends +she could unburden all her worries and perplexities, and be sure of +sympathy. + +'It is so hard to do exactly right,' wrote Lilian--'to be generous +without being extravagant, and economical without being stingy. Father +says we must be careful, and spend as little as we can, but things to +eat seem to cost such a terrible amount all the same. I wish we could +live on porridge and potatoes, like the Irish do! Life would be far +simpler. + +'About going on with my education. You ask if I am keeping up my French +and German, but there really seems no time. The two hours' practising +for Herr Frankenburg is as much as I can possibly get in. I am busy +with Nancy all morning, the music takes the best part of the afternoon, +then the children come home, and after tea I must see that they learn +their lessons and go to bed, and Father likes someone to talk to in the +evenings. It is so dull for him if I am buried in a German exercise when +he wants to tell me about the farm. I try to attack a few "improving" +books when I can manage it, and I have begun to read Carlyle's "French +Revolution" to Father in the evenings, but I am sorry to say it +generally sends him to sleep. He is so tired with the threshing just +now, poor darling! and, as he said one night: "You see, my dear, I have +so many troubles of my own at present that the trials of the French +peasantry of a hundred years ago seem an affair of quite minor +importance."' + +Aunt Helen's letter back was just like a little piece of her dear self. + +'I can sympathize thoroughly with all your worries,' it ran, 'for I, +too, was left motherless at sixteen, to manage as best I could. Of +course, keep up our family standard of cleanliness and order as much as +you possibly can, but you will find it a mistake to be too particular +and exacting. Rather, let the children run in sometimes with dirty boots +than check their confidence by continual fault-finding. I am sorry that +the education must needs be somewhat neglected, but after all the other +is more important. There are plenty of "blue" Girton girls in the world +who do not seem to me to be of much use to anyone except themselves, +while as the "little mother" of your home you are filling a place that +is the sphere of every true woman. And because you have no time for +reading is not any reason why your thinking powers need rust away. There +is so much wisdom to be learnt from even the little ordinary incidents +of life if one knows how to appreciate them. People say one is apt to +grow narrow with living in the country, but I have generally found the +people who do so are those who have no interests outside the round of +society pleasures or social gossip, and to my mind they would be narrow +anywhere. When you know a little about botany and natural history, all +the common things on the farm have something to teach you. The quaint +sayings of the villagers are often as full of humour as those Scotch +books over which people rave so much, and many of their stories are such +interesting survivals of ancient folklore that I have often longed to +collect them in writing. While surely, to a thoughtful mind, the +constant sight of so much loveliness around tends to have a more +ennobling effect than an environment of bricks and mortar and smoky +chimneys, whatever the Londoners may say. + +'Do your household duties thoroughly, but don't let them absorb you +entirely, for Father does not want you to be a mere domestic drudge, +with no ideas beyond the potato-pan and the pepper-pot. When I was a +young girl I often tilted up a volume of Tennyson and read snatches +while I compounded a pudding, and found it had a wonderfully inspiring +effect, and did not spoil the cooking either, for my "Tennyson" puddings +generally turned out a great success. + +'You will find the housekeeping comes easier as you grow older, and in +the meantime remember you are not only educating yourself, but bringing +up the younger ones, who look to you now instead of to me for example, +and who will be far more influenced by what you do and what you are than +by any amount of good advice you may bestow upon them. It is hard to +write all this from a distance of so many thousand miles, when I am +longing to sit over the fire in the Rose Parlour, and have a good chat +with you, like we used to do sometimes when the children had gone to +bed. + +'I am afraid there seems very little festivity or party-going for you, +dear child, and I should have been glad to hear you had been asked out +rather more; but, after all, much society often means much rivalry and +heartburning. I have tried both, and find there is more real pleasure to +be had from the intellectual than from the social side of life, for +while the latter is apt to fail us just when we most require it, the +former is "warranted to wear well and improve with keeping," and, so far +from being affected by the changes and chances of this world, sticks by +us when health and wealth and even friends can fall away.' + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE BEGINNING OF A SHADOW + + 'Looking, I saw + Where sorrow, like a shadow grim, did rise + Betwixt me and the sun.' + + +Autumn had come, mellow and gorgeous. The trees were turning to russet +and amber and gold, and the swallows had long since flown away. The +plums hung ripe and yellow upon the kitchen garden wall, and the apples +were piled in rosy heaps in the orchard, ready for the cider-making. + +The hop-gathering was over, and the hoppers--a motley crew--had returned +to the slums of Stafford and Birmingham, the men not sorry to cease hard +work, but the poor, draggled women and the little children with a +wistful good-bye to the green fields, and all, I think, with a half sigh +of regret for the Rector, who had toiled unceasingly among them during +their brief stay, hoping, if by ever so little, to raise the hopeless +lives and the sodden minds to a knowledge of higher things. + +A band of gipsies was the next event. They arrived late one evening, +nobody knew from where, and encamped on a patch of ground by the +roadside, not very far from the Abbey (much too near, Father said, for +the safety of his hen-roosts), coming like a tribe of wandering +Israelites, with most of their worldly possessions on their backs. They +were real gipsies, too, not the fair-haired hybrid pretenders who go +about in neat caravans with muslin curtains to the windows, and wicker +baskets slung on the top, but a dark-eyed, Spanish-looking crew, who put +up a tent with a pole and a ragged blanket, and stewed their supper in a +black caldron hung from three sticks set in the ground. + +The children came across them suddenly, just as the sun was setting, and +the picturesque scene stirred Peggy's sense of romance--perhaps also her +budding artistic taste--to the core. The whole family was gathered +together on the grass round the wood fire, the smoke of which rose up +faintly blue against the russet of the beech-woods behind--handsome, +fierce-eyed men, lying slouching idly on the ground smoking short black +pipes; slatternly women with gay handkerchiefs tied round their black +hair, bustling about with something savoury inside tin cans; ragged +brown-skinned little children, gnawing at bones with savage haste; while +a few disreputable dogs waited eagerly for the scraps that were thrown +to them from time to time. A small cart, laden with brooms and coarse +crockery, was tilted up by the hedge, while a couple of worn-out old +donkeys, with clogs tied to their legs, cropped the grass close by, with +dejection in their drooping ears. + +'I'm sure they're talking Romany,' said Peggy, squeezing Bobby's arm +hard in her excitement, and drawing him behind a bush, so as to watch +the scene unobserved. 'What a queer life! Just think of getting up every +morning, and not knowing where you were going to be by night, and +sleeping under that dirty tent! I wonder what they have in that +caldron? It smells nice, at any rate, though rather too oniony.' + +'Pheasants, I should think, and rabbits that they have poached,' +whispered Bobby. 'The keepers will have a lively time to-night. I wonder +where they prigged the onions.' + +Low as the children had spoken, the sharp ears of the gipsies had heard +them, and a withered, witch-like old crone came hurrying up from the +group near the fire, with an eager glitter in her eye. + +'Tell your fortune, my little master? Tell your fortune, my pretty young +lady? Cross the poor gipsy's hand with a silver sixpence, that the +planets may work.' + +'We haven't any money,' said Peggy hurriedly, a little scared when it +came to meeting the tribe at such close quarters. + +'Ah, but no doubt the little lady's father is at home at the big house +yonder, and she can get a silver piece from him, and come back to the +poor old gipsy.' + +'He's gone to Warford this evening,' began innocent Bobby. 'There isn't +anybody at home at all.' + +But the more wary Peggy, seeing the folly of such revelations, gave him +a nudge, and the emphatic hint: 'Shut up!' + +'The pretty thing at the young lady's neck would do as well,' continued +the woman in a wheedling voice, eyeing Peggy's brooch, 'or the little +gentleman's silver chain. Oh, I won't keep them, missy; only hold them +in my hand for a minute to influence the stars! You trust the poor +gipsy, and she'll tell you what the future has in store for you.' + +But Peggy and Bobby were not so simple as to be taken in by such +palpable guile, and they walked on, with the old crone following +persistently in their wake, at first clamouring for some trifle and +then hurling curses at their heads. As she passed the encampment she +said something in Romany, and one of the men sprang to his feet with a +shrill whistle. The terrified children took to their heels, and I don't +really know what might have happened, only fortunately the familiar +figure of old Barlow, the village cobbler, appeared stumping down the +road in the distance. He was not generally a very attractive person, +being snuffy in appearance and crusty in temper, but to-night no fairy +prince could have been more appreciated, and they flew to him, each +seizing one of his horny hands with an enthusiasm which much surprised +him. They were ever afterwards fully persuaded that but for his timely +arrival they would have been robbed and murdered, and their bodies +hidden away from their sorrowing relatives, like Eugene Aram's victim, +or the little princes in the Tower, and they felt quite an affection for +Barlow in consequence, so much so that Bobby determined to wear out his +boots as fast as possible, that he might put some business in the old +man's way. + +Though Mr. Vaughan did not take quite such a serious view of the +episode, he thought the gipsies were certainly undesirable additions to +the countryside, and sent a hint to the local police, with the result +that, when Peggy and Bobby screwed up their courage, and dared each +other to go and have another peep at the encampment, they found the tent +struck and the wanderers flown, with nothing to mark their passing visit +but a few dirty pieces of paper and the ashes of the wood fire, though +loud complaints from neighbouring farmers as to missing ducks and geese, +and traces of snares found by the keepers in the preserves, showed that +they had not gone away empty-handed. + +The gipsies were soon forgotten in the excitement of cider-making, for +the ripe piles of apples had been gathered into the big barn, and the +children liked to watch the great press as its stone roller slowly +crushed the fruit into pulp, and let the juice escape into the trough +below. It always seemed a pity, Peggy thought, to make the nice apples +into such horrid stuff as cider, and she was glad David stored so many +away in the loft for winter use, and in the meantime she and Bobby +consumed such quantities that Father declared they would both be +breaking out into leaves and blossom in the springtime. + +The blackberries were ripe, too, and there were many expeditions in +search of them, mostly in their own fields, for the hedgerows abounded +in the purple fruit, and Lilian's housekeeping soul was at present bent +on jams and cordials. + +One Saturday afternoon Peggy had had a long scramble through copse and +bracken, over fences and along stubble fields, and had filled her big +basket almost full, somewhat to the detriment of her costume and +fingers, and she was now working her way home along the edge of the +pasture, picking as she went. She had climbed up the bank to reach a +particularly luscious looking cluster from the long, trailing brambles +overhead, when voices below attracted her attention, and, peeping +through the hedge, she saw two horsemen riding slowly along in the +bridle-path beneath. The first was a lean, spare man, with gray +side-whiskers and a slight stoop, whose rather sporting attire accorded +ill with his sharp, keen face; while the second, the one on the better +horse, was stout and ruddy of countenance, a man who looked as though he +would be more at home in a bar-parlour than in a drawing-room, and who +held himself with a complacent air, as one who is satisfied both with +the world in general and himself in particular. + +'That is the house,' said the first, reining in his horse just below +where Peggy was standing, and pointing with his riding-whip at the +Abbey. 'It's a fine old property, and has grand capabilities about it, +too.' + +'H'm, it would want a good deal of repairing,' remarked the other, +tugging at his sandy moustache. 'I should pull down that tower and the +older part, and throw out a billiard-room and a conservatory. I suppose +the stables would all want rebuilding, and no doubt that wood could be +cleared, and turned into pleasure-grounds. It would cost a sight of cash +to do it all shipshape--not that that's much odds to me if a thing takes +my fancy. This grass-land would be grand for a racer or two; I've my eye +on the Melton sweepstakes yet. When did you say it falls due?' + +'Next July,' returned the thin man, lowering his voice. 'Of course, they +will try every end up to meet it, but unless they can raise it +privately, which doesn't seem likely, there isn't a soul who would lend +more than two-thirds of the amount on the security, so the thing is as +good as done.' + +Eavesdropping was certainly not one of Peggy's besetting sins, but she +could not help overhearing all that was said, and as the pair rode on +down the path towards the gate, she picked up her basket and walked in +the same direction on her own side of the hedge, so as to get a good +look at them if possible. At the gate they paused, for it was shut, and +he of the gray whiskers, after fumbling at the latch with his whip, was +evidently preparing with much reluctance to dismount, when, spying +Peggy, he called to her, and asked her to open it. + +Peggy felt half inclined to refuse, and turn away, for she did not like +his tone, but her kindly country instinct prevailed, and she swung it +open wide. He rode through without even a 'Thank you!' but his companion +fumbled in his waistcoat pocket, and, scarcely stopping to look at her, +flung her a penny as he passed. All the proud Vaughan blood rushed into +Peggy's face. In a fury of wrath she seized the offending coin and flung +it after its donor, but, like many of our keenest shafts, it fell +harmless, for she missed her aim, and the horsemen rode on, sublimely +unconscious of the storm they had left behind them. + +'That they should dare!' said Peggy hotly to herself, flushing all over +with indignation. 'I suppose they took me for a village child. I'm +afraid I do look rather untidy with blackberrying, but all the same they +might have seen the difference. I wish I had never gone near the gate, +and let them open it for themselves. David,' she said to the old man, +who was coming across the field with a sack of potatoes, 'who are those +people riding along the pasture? I can't call them gentlemen.' + +'Who be they two, Miss Peggy?' said David, laboriously putting down the +sack and shading his eyes with his hand. 'Wheer did you say they be?' + +'In the pasture. Oh, look quick, or they'll be gone!' cried Peggy, +impatient at his slow ways. + +'Oh, I know they! Yes, I do for sure. I see'd 'em round t'other side o' +the field five minutes agone. The thin un in front be Mester Reade, the +lawyer fra' Warford, and a tight-fisted rascal he be, too, from all they +say. It's Heaven help them as Lawyer Reade gets his teeth into! And the +big, stout man be Mester Norton, the distiller, him as has those works +t'other side o' Warford, and runs half the drink-shops in the town, to +say naught o' the country publics he owns, too. The teetotalers calls +him "Old Blazes," partly to favour his red face and partly 'at he keeps +the whisky traffic going so briskly. He's worth a power o' money, he be, +but it all comes out o' poor folks' pockets, what ought to be put to a +better use.' + +So that was the father of Phyllis and Marjorie Norton, that vulgar man +with the loud voice and the coarse red face, and those pretty frocks and +handsome carriages were all paid for out of the ruin of poor people's +homes; for the lower parts of Warford had a bad character, and the +clergy waged ceaseless war against the terrible curse of drink. + +'What are they doing in our fields?' inquired Peggy, suddenly recalling +the conversation she had inadvertently overheard, the remembrance of +which had been lost in the heat of her wrath. + +'Why, there be a right-o'-way across the pasture, and through the +hazel-wood, though it's not a many as ever uses it. Wheer they could be +a'-goin' to passes me, for it don't lead to nowheer, except on to the +high-road agin, and it's not in sense that they should ride out o' their +way, just to come round by the Abbey.' + +Peggy thought privately that must have been exactly their reason, but +she said nothing to David on the subject, reserving further inquiries +for Lilian, to whom she ran home to give a full description of her +encounter. + +'Whatever could he mean, Lilian? He talked almost as if the Abbey were +his, and said he should pull down the tower, and do ever so many other +things. Do you think he can be mad?' + +To her surprise, Lilian took the matter only too seriously. + +'Oh, Peggy dear!' she said, putting down the pile of stockings she was +darning, 'I don't know whether I ought to tell you or not, but you seem +so much older now than you used, and I think I can trust you not to talk +about it to anybody. Poor Father is most dreadfully worried just at +present, for, you see, this Mr. Norton has a mortgage on the estate.' + +'What's that?' inquired Peggy. + +'I'm afraid I can't explain business things very clearly, but a lot of +money was lent on the understanding that if it was not paid back, the +Abbey should go instead of it.' + +'Did Father have the money?' + +'Oh no. I believe our great-grandfather had some, and then grandfather +and Uncle Charlie, who died, had the rest. It has been going on for +years and years, and Father has kept trying to pay it off, but he never +could manage it. Of course, it was not Mr. Norton who lent it at first, +but through this Mr. Reade, the lawyer, he has what is called "bought up +the mortgages," and now he claims all the money back, and I'm afraid, +from what you heard to-day, he will take the Abbey if he does not get +it.' + +Peggy was aghast. That it was possible for the Vaughans and the Abbey to +be ever dissevered had never before entered into her calculations, and +the prospect was so terrible that she thrust it from her with scorn. + +'It can't be!' she cried. 'They couldn't turn us out of the Abbey, when +we've always lived here! Father will get the money somehow! Perhaps Mr. +Neville or the Rector would lend it to him.' + +Lilian shook her head sadly. + +'They haven't got it to lend; they are neither of them really well off, +you know, and it is such a large sum. But I keep hoping all the time +that we may find some way out of the trouble. I don't know whether to +tell Father or not what you heard to-day. I'm afraid it will only worry +him.' + +'I think perhaps he ought to know,' said Peggy briefly, as she turned +and went out to hide a suspicious choking sensation in her throat. Then, +going into the ruins, she climbed up on to the old wall, from which the +best view of the house and its surroundings could be obtained, and gazed +with new eyes at the panorama of her home; and as her glance travelled +slowly from orchard to stackyard, from meadow to garden, back to the +ivy-clad tower and the red gabled roof, 'I think,' she said slowly, +'that if we had to leave the Abbey, it would break my heart!' + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +ARCHIE + + 'God wants the boys--the merry boys, + The noisy boys, the funny boys, + The jolly boys, with all their joys-- + God wants the boys.' + + +You must not suppose that all this time Peggy's acquaintance with Archie +Forster had been allowed to languish. That young gentleman had +introduced himself to the rest of the family, and had made himself very +much at home indeed at the Abbey. He kindly gave Father the benefit of +his experience of farming in Colorado (greatly to the latter's +edification); he amused Lilian with his funny stories, and was a source +of open-mouthed wonder to Nancy, who thought his achievements only +second to a conjurer she had once seen at Gorswen fair. Bobby naturally +regarded him with an admiration which bordered on worship, and trotted +about at his heels like an affectionate poodle, while Peggy found +herself living from Saturday to Saturday to continue the delightful +series of projects which her enterprising friend lost no time in +starting, and wondering sometimes how they had managed to exist before +they knew him. + +By good rights Master Archie ought to have been away at school, but a +too active brain in a fast-growing body had brought about such a +delicacy that the doctor forbade any severer study than a few hours' +daily reading with the curate, and recommended as much fresh air and +exercise as possible. Miss Forster was not sorry to find so plausible an +excuse for keeping her pet nephew at the Willows, and the young man +himself had no objections, being fuller than ever of ingenious schemes, +only he had transferred the seat of his operations to the Abbey, as +offering a wider scope in the way of material, and having the further +advantage of a number of appreciative assistants. The only person who +was not won over by Archie's friendly ways and frank American manners +was Joe, who gloomily prophesied broken necks and kindred evils as the +result of the children's association with 'the young master from furrin +parts'; but I fear there was a good deal of jealousy in this, for poor +Joe had been a hero to the children in his modest way, and it was hard +to find himself suddenly supplanted in their affections, especially by a +rival with whom it was quite impossible to compete. + +Incited by an account of the tree-dwellings in one of Miss Forster's +books of travel, Archie determined to emulate them, and construct such +an elevated establishment for themselves. The trees in his aunt's garden +were mostly ornamental shrubs, many of them clipped into quaint shapes, +and could not be thought of for the purpose, but a tall elm growing on +the borders of the Abbey stackyard seemed designed by Nature for his +requirements. He was a neat workman, and all his contrivances were +perfectly steady and durable, for, as he said: + +'When you're out West, you have to be your own chore-boy. Dad put an axe +into my hand, and taught me to chop kindling before I was out of +petticoats, and when we went up the Rockies shooting grizzlies we built +log-cabins, and I can tell you there was no carpenter to fetch there +nearer than a hundred miles, so I guess I ought to know how to handle a +saw and fix up a bit of lumber.' + +He first set to work to make a spiral staircase up the tree, which wound +round and round the trunk like the little turret stairs in the tower. +Every step was carefully nailed on and properly supported, and the +erection grew daily until he had reached four large boughs which +branched out twenty feet above the level of the ground. Here he arranged +a kind of platform, fixing pieces of wood across in the fashion of a +raft, and making a firm railing all round the edge. In the midst of this +platform a small hut gradually grew up, the walls of stout hazel-stakes +wattled across with branches and willow-withs, while the roof was neatly +thatched with reeds. The whole erection was so steady and well made +that, though Father, as chief inspector, stamped vigorously about, he +could not make it shake, and was able to pass it as perfectly safe, and +give his congratulations to the young architect, while even Joe +grudgingly admitted that 'Master Forster hadn't made half a bad job of +it neither.' + +If grown-up people found it satisfactory, you can imagine the delight of +the children at this wonderful bird's-nest. Their first thought each day +on coming home from school was to rush off to see how 'Sky Cottage,' as +they had christened it, had progressed in their absence, and their grief +was loud if anything hindered Archie from the prosecution of his labours +on Saturdays, while they quite envied Lilian being able to run out any +time she liked and take a peep at the operations. + +[Illustration: "HE FIRST SET TO WORK TO MAKE A SPIRAL STAIRCASE UP THE +TREE."] + +Naturally Sky Cottage, like Rome, was not built in a day, and though +Archie worked at it pretty constantly, it was November before the roof +was on and he considered the building complete. The question of +decorations was much discussed, for while Father suggested hanging the +walls with sacking, and Lilian voted for garlanding them with wild +flowers, both ideas were rejected, the one as too prosaic and the other +as not sufficiently durable, and it was not until Peggy conceived the +brilliant thought of lining their dwelling with moss that a satisfactory +solution was arrived at. + +So off went the little party to the woods, with a couple of sacks and a +coil of rope, to tear up the vivid green sheets which covered the rocks +like carpets of velvet. + +'All the thickest and best is on the other side of the stream, beyond +where we had our picnic in the summer,' said Peggy, leading the way with +the proud air of a pioneer. 'If only we can manage to cross, for the +water is rather full to-day,' she added, with a lively remembrance of +her former dipping. + +They found an unexpected help, however, for a recent storm had blown +down a large oak, which now stretched itself very conveniently over the +stream like a bridge, and by the aid of its branches it was quite easy +to hop across and climb up the bank at the other side. The woods were +thick here and damp, and the moss was of such superior quality that it +fully justified the extra labour involved in fetching it. They pulled it +up in pieces a yard or more square, and crammed it into the sacks, tying +the mouths with rope, so as to be able to drag them along, for the moss +was full of moisture, and the bags were dreadfully heavy. They were +rather at a loss how to convey their spoils over the bridge. Bobby +suggested floating them down the stream, but, as Lilian pointed out, +they would promptly sink to the bottom; so in the end Archie hoisted a +sack upon his back, and, with Lilian to steady it behind, managed to +stagger across in safety, coming back for the other when the first had +been successfully landed. + +It was hard work bumping the sacks over the rough, uneven ground, but +they got them home at last, safely conveyed to Sky Cottage, and emptied +out on to the platform. They were all busily engaged within the hut, +nailing sheets of moss over the wattled walls, when a curious squeaking +noise began to attract Peggy's attention. + +'What's that?' she inquired, pausing with the hammer suspended in her +hand. + +'A bird, most likely,' replied Lilian, with her mouth full of nails. + +'No, it isn't,' said Peggy, going out to investigate. 'It seems to come +from the moss at my feet. Archie, do come and look! Whatever can it be?' + +The noise grew louder and louder, so that it resembled the squealing of +a kitten, and all four began to turn over the moss with eager fingers, +till, with a cry, Archie drew out a small round ball of dried grass, +about the size of Bobby's fist, from which issued such crescendo squeaks +that there could be no mistake as to the locality of the sound. The +little ball was so beautifully made and so neatly rounded that there was +not the slightest aperture to be seen, and Archie turned it over and +over in his hand in some perplexity. + +'What can it be?' cried Peggy. + +'Do open it!' piped Bobby. + +'Oh, _do_ be careful! Suppose it's a viper!' shrieked Lilian. + +'You goose! Vipers don't squeal, at any rate,' said Archie, whose +friendship had reached a degree of intimacy that was distinctly +brotherly; and gingerly pulling asunder the neatly-woven grass, he +disclosed to view a plump yellow dormouse, whom they had evidently +disturbed in his winter quarters. + +The little fellow lay flat on his back in the midst of his snug little +nest. He had not taken the trouble to open his eyes, but his paws were +crossed, and his pink mouth was open, giving vent to loud disapproval of +the bumpings to which he had been rudely subjected unawares. + +'My! ain't he cunning?' said Archie, stroking the soft fur with his +finger, while the others crowded round to look. 'And so clean, too; he +looks as if you had just loaned him new from a store, and he's as fat as +butter. He's been feeding up for this, I reckon. What shall I do with +him?' + +'Oh! can't we keep him for a pet?' implored Peggy, with an eye on the +ever-increasing menagerie. 'We could get nuts and acorns and things for +him, and I've no doubt he would eat corn, too.' + +'I guess he'll want to sleep now right away till spring, like our +grizzlies do in the fall.' + +'Let's wrap him up again,' said Lilian. 'I'm sure he'll catch cold, poor +dear! and we'll put him in a snug corner of the orchard, where we can +look at him now and then, and in the spring perhaps he'll wake up.' + +As this seemed the most humane suggestion, Master Dormouse was tucked up +in bed once more, and, still protesting, was carried to a sunny bank +under an apple-tree, and stowed away under a protecting clump of leaves, +where his plaintive voice gradually subsided, and he settled down for +five months of oblivion, to ignore the winter frosts and storms until +the April sunshine should tempt him out of his lair. + +The moss lining to Sky Cottage was a great success, Archie arranged +willow withs in a neat pattern over it, to keep it from falling down, +and everyone agreed that it looked charming. Furnishing was the next +consideration, and the attics and lumber-room at the Abbey were +ransacked for any treasures they might afford. A few broken chairs, and +a rickety gate-legged table were soon mended by Archie's clever fingers. +Lilian hunted out an old piece of carpet and a tablecloth, and the place +looked so comfortable that the children, fired by Archie's accounts of +the log-cabins in the Rocky Mountains, longed to put in a cooking-stove +and emigrate there altogether. They decided to have quite a garden on +the platform next spring, and to grow seeds in pots, and persuade +nasturtiums and canary-creepers to climb up the walls, and they made a +beginning by hauling up a box of soil, and planting some ivy, which they +hoped in time would cover the whole roof. + +Peggy and Bobby would have been quite content to go on adding a nail +here or a shelf there, and further making improvements, but Archie, now +that the chief work was over, found his interest cooling, and having got +hold of a book on 'Balloons and Air-Ships,' proposed no less daring a +scheme than that he should construct a flying machine, and start it from +the platform. Father, however, getting to hear of the project, forbade +it so emphatically that the disgusted aeronaut was obliged to give way, +and consoled himself by constructing a fire-balloon out of gay strips of +pink and green tissue-paper, which, ignited by methylated spirits, was +to be set off with great effect on Peggy's birthday. + +As some slight amends for his disappointment, Lilian proposed that they +should have a grand housewarming at Sky Cottage on Saturday afternoon, +and invite Father to tea in the sanctum. The rest giving a hearty and +vigorous approval, she set to work to bake cakes in honour of the +occasion, preserving such a halo of mystery round her cookery that the +others were consumed with curiosity, and felt ready for any surprises. + +There were a great many preparations to be made when the eventful +afternoon arrived. The hut had to be swept and dusted, late flowers to +be gleaned from the garden to decorate the tea-table, cups and saucers +packed up and conveyed in baskets, together with the little tin kettle +and the methylated spirit lamp, as they could scarcely light a fire on +the platform like they did for picnic teas in the woods. Archie hung up +a Japanese lantern in the doorway, and fixed a Union-Jack on one side, +and the star-spangled banner of the United States on the other, and +Peggy found enough Michaelmas daisies and white asters to put a wreath +all round the railing of the veranda, which rather suggested harvest +decorations, but looked very festive all the same. + +They had brought a clean tablecloth from the kitchen drawer, and set the +table quite artistically, with a jam-pot full of flowers in the centre, +and little plates full of cakes grouped round it. Lilian put out a very +tempting looking selection of rock-buns and ginger-nuts, and Archie +produced a tin of real Scotch shortbread and some macaroons, a +contribution from his aunt; so with bread-and-butter, and a pot of the +newly-made blackberry jam, there was quite a noble display. But Lilian +had kept her surprise in the background, and it was only when all was +ready that she opened a basket, and proudly drew out her masterpiece, a +substantial-looking cake, with a cut-paper frill, and white icing on +the top, on which in pink sugary letters were inscribed the words: +'Success to Sky Cottage!' Certainly some of the capitals were a little +staggery, and the 'y' had strayed into the pink border round the edge, +but it was felt to be a triumph of culinary art all the same, and gave +quite a grace to the table. + +At the last minute Father had been obliged to send his regrets and +apologies, for the veterinary surgeon had arrived to doctor a sick +horse, and he could not possibly leave the stables, so the tea-party +must perforce begin without him, for the days were growing short now, +and there was no time to spare. + +It was a merry, not to say boisterous, party, for Archie was in one of +his funniest moods, and told 'tall' Yankee stories till the children +nearly rolled off their seats with laughter, and Lilian went on pouring +into her overflowing cup till the tray was swimming with tea. The cake +looked such a work of art that, as Mrs. Squeers remarked of her +Yorkshire pie, it seemed 'quite a pity to cut into it'; but, seizing the +knife, Peggy boldly severed the 's' and the 'u,' and with Aunt Helen's +wedding festivities fresh in their memories, the company drank the +health of Sky Cottage in tea, clinking their cups together over the +table in imitation of old Squire Henley. + +They were in the very midst of one of Archie's most comical adventures, +when a shout was heard underneath the tree, and going out on to the +veranda, they beheld Nancy struggling timorously up the staircase, her +evident anxiety to make some communication overcoming her natural +abhorrence of such an airy structure. + +'Oh, Miss Lilian,' she panted, 'if there isn't Mrs. Davenport just +arrived in her pony-shay, and she's put it up in the yard, and says +she's sure you'll give her a cup of tea! So I left her sittin' in the +drawing-room lookin' at the photo-albums, and rushed off to tell you +she's here!' + +'_What_ a nuisance!' groaned Lilian, who was not generally inhospitably +disposed. 'Run back, Nancy, quick, and be getting some tea ready, and +I'll follow you! I must bring these cakes; they're the only ones we +have!' + +She bundled the remains of the feast into her basket, and had just +descended the stairs, escorted by the sympathizing Peggy and Bobby, when +round the corner of the large haystack suddenly loomed the tall figure +and black alpaca skirts of Mrs. Davenport, who, finding herself left +longer in the drawing-room than she appreciated, had sallied forth in +search of her hostess. She stopped short now, quite thunderstruck at the +vision before her. + +'What do I see?' she exclaimed. 'What mad folly is this? Really, Lilian, +I am astonished that you countenance such wild proceedings! Peggy I knew +was a sad tomboy, but I thought you, at least, were the sensible member +of the family, and would try to train the younger ones into more +civilized habits. I had heard from Miss Forster that that very indulged +and unmanageable nephew of hers had been making some sort of place in a +tree at the Abbey, but I never imagined so much as this. Sheer waste of +good time, I call it; and a boy who can expend so much energy as to +raise such a construction must be only shamming ill-health, and would be +far better packed off to school. I shall tell his aunt so the next time +I see her, and I don't care who hears me!' she added, catching sight of +a grinning face on the veranda, for Archie had stolen out to see the +fun, and overflowed in such gurgles of delight at this sally that +Lilian trembled for the result. + +'You had better come down, Archibald,' said Mrs. Davenport in her most +majestic voice. But Master Archie evidently thought discretion the +better part of valour, for he dived through the doorway like a rabbit +into a burrow, his overwrought feelings so far overcoming him that he +exploded into a tremendous cock-crow as he sought the friendly shelter +of Sky Cottage. + +An embarrassing silence followed, broken at last by Lilian, who asked +Mrs. Davenport if she would not like to return to the house. Peggy and +Bobby tried, as Archie expressed it, to 'do a slope,' but in vain, for, +saying she had not seen them for a long time, and should like to talk to +them, their unwelcome visitor took the dismayed pair into custody like a +female policeman, and whirled them sternly along before her. + +It really was too bad that Mrs. Davenport, instead of coming upon a +Wednesday or Thursday, when all would have been neatness and order, and +Nancy in her best black dress and muslin apron, should have chosen this +particular Saturday afternoon, when there was no fire in the +drawing-room, a pile of mending on the dining-room table, and all the +family in somewhat dishevelled array. + +'But she always does manage to catch us, somehow,' lamented Lilian +afterwards. 'She calls it "taking us just as we are," but then we +_aren't_ generally in a muddle like this, so it doesn't seem quite fair. +She ought to come sometimes when we are tidy, to see both sides.' + +Once established in an armchair by the dining-room fire, Mrs. Davenport +took off her gloves, untied her veil, and enjoyed herself thoroughly. +She catechized Lilian freely about her housekeeping arrangements, hoped +Nancy did her duty, and did not neglect to sweep out corners, told Bobby +that his irrepressible curls looked girlish, and his hair ought to be +cropped close every week, plied Peggy with embarrassing questions on the +subject of fine needlework and stocking-darning, and drank four cups of +tea in the meantime, with the air of one conferring a favour thereby. + +'I hear you see a good deal of Miss Forster's nephew,' she remarked, her +eye wandering round the room, and taking in the pile of untidy music +scattered about on the window-seat and Father's dirty shooting-boots +under the sofa. + +'I suppose we do,' said Lilian meekly, wondering privately where Archie +was, and if he would go home without saying good-bye. + +'Not a very suitable companion for any of you, I consider. Young people +in America are brought up to have far too good an opinion of themselves, +and this lad is no exception. I was not at all pleased with his manner +when I met him at the Willows,' frowning slightly at the remembrance; +for Archie's cool and elaborately courteous treatment of her criticisms +on that occasion had completely baffled her. + +But luckily the growing dusk reminded Mrs. Davenport that country lanes +were unpleasant to drive along in the dark, so drawing on her gloves she +routed her groom, a small, depressed-looking boy, out of the +harness-room, where he was retailing his grievances to the awe-stricken +Joe, and tucked her black skirts safely into her pony-carriage, assuring +the children that it should not be long before she looked them up again, +as she had promised their aunt to keep an eye on them after they were +left alone. Half-way down the drive she met Mr. Vaughan, and stopped to +give him some good advice as to the general upbringing of his family, +even suggesting that Peggy--for a yearly consideration--should be +transplanted to Pendlefield Rectory, to share the studies and maternal +care of the five little Davenports, a proposal which he declined with a +haste that was perhaps more emphatic than polite. + +With a sigh of relief Lilian had adjourned with Peggy to the kitchen to +help Nancy to wash up, when the back-door was softly pushed ajar. + +'Is she gone?' said a cautious voice, and a fluffy red head appeared in +the opening, only followed by the rest of Archie's body on the full +assurance of the entire retreat of the enemy. 'I thought I should have +died with laughing,' announced that youth, sitting down easily among the +crockery on the table. 'My stars! Isn't she a terror? I shall have to +keep clear of the Willows every afternoon next week, for I know she'll +make a point of calling and telling poor Aunt Mary her candid opinion of +me. What a mercy we live at Gorswen instead of Pendlefield! Think of +exchanging the Rector for _her_ and little crushed Mr. Davenport! If she +came to live any nearer than four miles away, I declare I would pack my +boxes and beg to be sent off to school!' + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +DAME ELEANOR'S GHOST + + 'What see you there + That hath so cowarded and chased your blood + Out of appearance?' + + +The weather, which had been beautifully fine and mild for the time of +year during October and the first half of November, kept up for Peggy's +birthday on the twenty-first. By good luck that important occasion fell +on a Saturday, so there was no tiresome school to interfere with the +festivities. As the Vaughan family was more rich in goodwill than in +coin of the realm, the presents were mostly of a kind which I am afraid +either Maud Middleton or Phyllis and Marjorie Norton would have scorned, +but to Peggy they gave the utmost satisfaction. There was the +much-longed-for guinea-pig from Father, which had been smuggled up in a +hamper, and kept with elaborate care in a remote portion of the barn (a +secret which Bobby found the utmost difficulty in preserving); a +nightdress case worked by Lilian's neat fingers; a cork frame from +Bobby, made under Archie's supervision; a round pink-and-white wool mat, +which Nancy had crocheted at odd times during the evenings; and a little +mug from Joe, with a Welshwoman in a tall hat on one side, and 'A +present from Llandrindod' on the other, bought on a visit to the famous +wells which he had paid in company with the church choir. Archie came up +during the morning bearing a pretty writing-case, an offering from +himself and Miss Forster, while a parcel had arrived from India, +containing the loveliest carved sandal-wood box, inlaid with +mother-of-pearl, to show that Aunt Helen had not forgotten her little +niece. + +As the birthday was not so very long after the fifth of November, they +had decided to keep any Guy Fawkes celebrations until then, and had been +busy for some days collecting sticks for a bonfire. The party consisted +solely of themselves and Archie, for Father's suggestion of the five +Miss Davenports was received with howls of indignation; and Lilian and +Nancy's combined efforts had produced a cake with twelve tiny coloured +wax candles stuck into icing-sugar on the top, one for every year of +Peggy's life, and which had to be blown out in turns by the assembled +company for good luck. + +The bonfire was held in the stubble field beyond the stackyard, and +roared up like a fiery furnace, making quite a red glow in the sky, +while its red ashes roasted potatoes and chestnuts to a turn. Archie had +even contrived to manufacture a few fireworks, having shut himself up in +a room over the stables at the Willows, a combination of peculiar odours +and a singed eyebrow alone testifying to his occupation. To be sure, the +catherine-wheel stuck, and utterly refused to turn, in spite of all +pokings and proddings, and the rockets only fizzled off near the ground, +instead of shooting up as they ought to have done; but the squibs and +crackers were quite effective, and a train of gunpowder, laid down to +represent a fiery serpent, blazed away in fine style. The fire-balloon, +however, was the success of the evening, for it shot straight up, and +floated across the sky like a beautiful meteor, its pink and green sides +giving a charming effect, till at length it dwindled away and became a +mere speck in the distance, leaving the children more full of admiration +than ever for Archie's talents. + +After the birthday the weather broke and a foretaste of winter arrived, +with cold winds and gray, murky skies and occasional falls of snow. +Archie caught a severe chill hunting for microscopical specimens in the +pond, and was in bed for some weeks, nursed by his doting aunt, +consoling himself for his enforced idleness by planning such +improvements at both the Willows and the Abbey as were calculated to +make their owners' hair stand on end. + +As the long evenings closed in, Joe, ever timorous with regard to the +supernatural, became the prey of superstitious fears. He saw shrouds in +the candle and corpse-lights in the churchyard. Rollo's howling filled +him with forebodings, and a screech-owl flying over the orchard sent him +into a panic. He heard ghostly footfalls among the ruins and mysterious +taps on the stable-window when he was suppering the horses, which, in +spite of Lilian's reassurances, he persisted in regarding as a warning, +though for which of his numerous relatives it was intended kept him in a +state of perpetual doubt and uneasiness. The worst of it was that he +infected Nancy with his alarms to such an extent that she could scarcely +be persuaded to put her nose out at the back-door after dusk (except on +her evening out, when her sweetheart came to fetch her), which was +distinctly inconvenient if a pail of water were wanted during the +evening, or she happened to have left the coal-box standing in the yard. +The Abbey boasted the reputation of maintaining what Peggy called 'a +real, live, genuine ghost,' though none of the family had ever caught a +glimpse of it, it seeming to prefer to manifest itself to Joe and to +chance visitors from the village who came up to the house on dark +evenings. The washerwoman's little girl had heard footsteps behind her +on the drive and a distinct clanking as of chains, while old Betty +Carson swore on her Bible oath that she had seen something white moving +about among the ruins, which groaned as in the expression of the keenest +mental anguish; and when Mr. Vaughan suggested it might prove nothing +worse than a young bullock with indigestion, she had dismissed the idea +as almost profane. + +Beyond the fact that a lady in white was supposed to haunt both the +ruins and the oak-wood, weeping and wringing her hands in orthodox +ghostly fashion, the children had not been able to learn much of the +story, for there were so many and divergent accounts of it, all told +with uncertainty as to names and dates, and in that very oracular--not +to say muddled--style sometimes indulged in by rustic historians. But +one wet afternoon, finding David alone in the harness-room, where the +old man had lighted a fire to make some wonderful decoction of foxgloves +wherewith to doctor a cow with a strained leg, they seated themselves on +a sack of potatoes in front of the cheerful blaze, and with the aid of a +little judicious flattery and coaxing managed to cajole him into a true +and circumstantial account of the family ghost. + +Although he was somewhat crusty to begin with, old David, like all who +have the gift of narrative, enjoyed telling a story, and he soon warmed +to his work. + +'It were my father as told me,' he began, 'and he had it from his +father, and his'n afore him, for it be a powerful long time ago, it be. +Ay, time do pass by quick, for sure!' + +'When did it happen?' asked Peggy, hastily, hoping to nip in the bud one +of the old fellow's, rambling divergences from the point. + +'In the reign of King Henry the Sixth, so they say. Ay, it were Henry, +for it were the same name, I mind me, as the old Squire.' + +'Reigned 1422 to 1461, married Margaret of Anjou,' put in Bobby, who +liked to air his knowledge. + +'I don't know who he married; it weren't nothing to do with marryin'. It +were fightin' first in those days, though I suppose they married, too, +like other folk, when they found time.' + +'Who were fighting?' inquired Bobby. + +'Why, it was the Wars of the Roses, of course,' answered Peggy +crushingly. + +'Nay, it weren't no wars of roses, I can tell you. It was real bloody +battles they fought then, with swords and pikes and spears and the like; +for there was two Kings, both with a notion of reignin', and when Kings +falls out, it's their subjects has to do the fightin' for them, I takes +it.' + +'Henry VI. and Edward IV.,' put in Peggy. 'Please go on, David.' + +'There was Vaughans at the Abbey then, just as there is Vaughans at the +Abbey now,' continued the old man, staring meditatively into his +foxglove brew, as though he could see a mental picture in the pot. 'And +him as had it then was Sir Richard Vaughan, the one as lies under the +cracked old monument in the corner at church.' + +'With the dragon and the crooked arrows on it,' nodded the children. + +'Well, this Sir Richard Vaughan, he favoured King Henry of Lancaster, +and went out to fight for him with forty gentlemen and yeomen at his +back, to say naught of lesser folk. They met Duke Edward of York, him as +afterwards became King, at Mortimer's Cross, which ain't so far from +here, neither, for I went once myself when I were a lad with my aunt's +cousin, who drove a good horse and gig. Let me see: how many years will +it be agone?' + +'Oh, David, never mind! _Do_ go on with the story! What happened at the +battle?' + +'He were killed, for sure, were Sir Richard, and his head took by they +Yorkists, and kicked about like a football afore they nailed it up over +Hereford gate. You'd ne'er find his skull if you looked inside the old +monument--naught but the rest of his bones.' + +'How awful! Then is it _his_ ghost?' + +'Oh no, Bobby! It is the White _Lady_, you know!' + +David took advantage of these interruptions to lift his pot from the +fire and examine its contents, but finding them not yet to his liking, +put it on again, and continued: + +'It weren't enough for they Yorkists to get Sir Richard's head; they +wanted his lands along of it, and they marched across country (a set of +blood-thirsty ruffians they was) and laid siege to the Abbey. Dame +Eleanor, a widow new-made, as you might say, couldn't hold it above two +days, for the pick of the men had all gone with her husband, and the +best part of _they_ lay stretched out stiff at Mortimer's Cross. So she +lets them in at last, sore agin her will, and gives up the keys to Lord +Grey of Wigmore. You'd a' thought that would a' satisfied them, but they +wanted more.' + +'What did they want?' said Peggy, for David seemed disposed to rest from +his labours and attend to his cookery. + +'Sir Richard had left a son behind him, a young lad of nine or ten or +thereabouts, and he were the heir. It were him as Lord Grey wanted--told +a fine tale as how he'd take him up to London, and get him put as page +to the great Earl of Warwick, which were as good as makin' his fortune.' + +'Did he go?' + +'Nay, his mother were no fool, neither, and she knowed full well she'd +ne'er see him again, no more than you'd see a duck if you gave it in +charge of the fox. She'd sent him away safe out of the Abbey by that +passage to the cave, most like, where you very near lost your lives last +summer, and she weren't going to let on where he were, not to no one.' + +'Did she tell? Did he get off safe? What happened?' + +'Let me tell my tale in my own way,' said David testily. 'They was +brutes in those days, and had no respect for God or man, let alone +woman. So they clapped a thumbscrew on Dame Eleanor, to sharpen her +wits.' + +'Oh, poor thing! She didn't tell, did she?' cried the children, who +could not forbear comments. + +'Tell! Not she, though her thumb was crushed to a jelly. And when they +see'd it weren't no manner of use, they let her go. But that Lord Grey +of Wigmore was a disciple of Old Nick himself, and what does he do but +catch hold of Dame Eleanor's daughter, which weren't more' an a little +maid like Miss Peggy there, and put the screw on her thumb, thinkin' it +would loosen her mother's tongue to hear her shriek. There's things that +women can bear up to a certain pass, but touch their young uns, and +they'll let you know. At the first cry as was raised by that child Dame +Eleanor went clean off her head, and, breakin' away from them as held +her, she seized up a dagger and stabbed herself through the breast, with +a awful shout of laughter, shuttin' her lips for ever from them as would +wrest the secret from her.' + +'And what became of the poor little boy and girl?' + +'Lord Grey felt a bit 'shamed, like, when he see'd what were done, and +he sent the girl home to his wife, who brought her up kind. And the boy +had been took away by that time to them as was his friends. He grew up +to manhood and learned to fight, like everyone else in they times, and +then King Henry came to his own again, and he got back the Abbey.' + +'But King Henry didn't stay long on the throne, did he? I thought the +history-book said that "King Edward landed at Ravenspur and fought the +Battle of Barnet." We learnt it in our dates last Monday.' + +'I know naught of books. It's what my father told me, and his father +afore him. There have been a many Kings since then, I reckon, but the +Vaughans have held the Abbey in spite of 'em.' + +'But, David, you haven't told us about the ghost yet, and that's the +most important part of all.' + +'The ghost! Oh, that be Dame Eleanor, for sure. They say she walks round +the ruins of the Abbey and across to the oak-wood. Whiles she goes away, +and no one sees her for long enough, and whiles she comes back; and they +do say,' said David, lowering his voice, 'that if there's a death in the +family, or any evil hangin' over the Vaughans, that she be there +shriekin' and wringin' her hands to give warnin' of what be to come.' + +The children were beginning to feel quite delightfully creepy, and would +have liked a further continuation of the spirit portion of the story; +but David's decoction being now ready, his thoughts were with his +invalid in the cow-house, and nothing could bring them back to Dame +Eleanor's wraith. So, in spite of all entreaties for more, he departed, +bearing his steaming can with him, and declaring that one good cow was +worth all the ghosts and ghostesses in the kingdom, 'for you might do +some good to _she_, but as to _they_, they was naught but hearsay, after +all.' + +After this, Peggy and Bobby were determined to try and obtain a sight of +their ancestress, and with much screwing up of their courage stole out +one evening, and crept fearfully round the ruins, clutching each other's +hands very tightly, and jumping at every sound. There was a fitful moon, +and it was just light enough to see the outlines of the old walls and +the pieces of broken stair and column, with very dark places between, +where the shadows fell. It was an ideal spot for a ghost. It really +seemed as if these old relics of bygone days _must_ be haunted, so +strong were the cords which bound them to the past. A cloud had come +over the moon, and as they groped their way round the corner of what had +been the refectory, Peggy caught Bobby's arm. + +'Listen!' she said in a thrilling whisper. + +The children clung together tighter than ever and held their breath, for +there certainly was the most extraordinary noise to be heard--a kind of +mixture between groaning and sighing, with a rattling sound as of +dragging chains. It seemed coming in their direction, too, and they +shrank into a niche in the wall, with their hair almost standing on end. +Something gleamed white in the faint moonlight, and a terrific sound +suddenly boomed in their ears. Frightened almost out of their wits, the +children shrieked and ran, but stopped before they had gone twenty +yards, for the noise had developed into a very decided 'Hee-haw!' and +the moon, bursting through the clouds, revealed the long nose and +twirling ears of the tinker's broken-winded old donkey, who, dragging a +clog on his leg, was giving vent to his feelings in his own peculiar +fashion, his master having turned him into the ruins for a stolen feed +during the night, no doubt with the intention of fetching him in the +morning before anyone was up and about. It was such bathos after the +overwrought state of their feelings that they sat down and laughed till +the tears ran down their cheeks, treasuring the joke to tell to Archie +when he should be well enough to receive visitors, and holding it up as +a model to relieve Nancy's fears. + +But seeing how easy it was to imagine a ghost out of really every-day +materials, the children plotted mischief next Saturday, and determined +to give Joe a fright. About half a mile from the house lay the oak-wood, +which was also the supposed scene of Dame Eleanor's walk. Through this +wood ran a road, which was the shortest way to Middlehead, a little +market-town in the opposite direction to Warford. Knowing that Joe had +gone for a holiday, with some other lads from the village, to a fair +which was being held that day at Middlehead, they decided to construct a +ghost and fix it up in the wood, to alarm him and his companions as they +returned. They kept their secret to themselves, and retired to the barn +to fashion a figure of Dame Eleanor according to their own notions of +what a phantom should be. Taking a large turnip, they scooped out the +inside till there was nothing left but a hollow shell, cutting holes in +it for eyes, nose, and mouth, and fixing a candle inside, so that when +the light shone through it should resemble a horrible, grinning face. At +dusk they stole away with the rest of their materials to the oak-wood, +and set to work. The spot chosen was a grassy corner, where a gate +across the road formed an angle with the wall which bounded the wood +upon one side. It was a specially dark and shady place, for the tall +trees shut out the sky, and even in the daytime it looked gloomy and +still. They first planted a stout broomstick in the ground, and fixed +the turnip head firmly upon the top of it; two branches of trees tied on +like cross-bars made a pair of shoulders and arms, and when covered with +a sheet stolen from the linen-cupboard, it appeared as if the white +figure were stretching out its imploring hands in a vain appeal for +mercy. When Peggy lighted the candle inside the effect was so terrific +that the conspirators felt quite eerie themselves, and with a last look +to see that all was steady, and the candle not likely to fall over, they +left Dame Eleanor in her corner, and fled home over the fields with a +rather guilty feeling, wondering what would happen. + +To do Peggy justice, I do not think she would have tried to play such a +trick on poor Joe if she had imagined he were returning alone; but +knowing he would have the company of several of his friends to support +him, she thought he might rather enjoy the joke than otherwise. + +The dusk soon fell, and Peggy sat by the fire in the Rose Parlour +reading 'Ivanhoe' in much warmth and content. Lilian was playing +snatches of her favourite Chopin, but somehow the music did not go well +to-night, for the musician's heart was not in her fingers. + +'What's the matter, Lilian?' asked Peggy, tearing herself away from +Friar Tuck and the Black Knight to realize that her sister had got up +for the fifth time from the piano to peep out through the window into +the dark beyond. + +'I wish Father would come home, that's all. I always feel so uneasy when +he goes to Middlewood'--pacing restlessly round the room, and looking +again at the clock. + +'Why?' + +'Because he drives home through the oak-wood, and it's really so +dangerous. There's no fence on the side next to the river, and Prince is +so frisky, if he were to shy there by the wall nothing could save them +from going straight down the bank. I've often begged Father to have it +railed in, but he only laughs at me. Why, Peggy, where are you going?' + +For without a word of explanation Peggy had flung down her book and fled +from the room. Hatless, and in her thin house-shoes, she rushed out of +the house, and tore over the fields as fast as her shaking legs could +carry her. In her plan to give Joe a fright, she had never thought of +Father, who returned by the same road; and now that horrible white +object was stationed just in the very danger-spot where a plunging horse +might mean a matter of almost certain death, for the wall of the +five-acre field abutted the road on one side, and on the other there was +only a narrow patch of grass between the steep bank which shelved down +sheer into the river, while the closed gate stopped any chance of a dash +forward. Peggy's heart was beating like a sledge-hammer as she flew +through the wood. Already she heard a distant rumbling of wheels, and +putting on a last desperate spurt, she reached the gate. She could never +afterwards tell exactly what happened at that moment, except that the +gig-lamps flashed suddenly in her eyes, 'Whoa, my lad!' shouted Father's +voice, and Prince's rearing, kicking form loomed large before her as he +backed persistently towards the bank. It took Peggy just one instant to +open the gate, and catching up her ghost to hurl the whole wretched +thing over the wall, and in another she had seized the horse by the +rein, and, soothing him with her well-known voice, dragged him forward +with all the strength of her wiry little arms. She was barely in time, +for already one wheel was over the edge, but, the object of his fear +being removed, Prince allowed himself to be cajoled into the road again, +where he stood, panting and trembling in every limb. + +'Why, my little Peggy!' cried Father, leaning down to see where the +lamp-light flashed on the face of his rescuer. + +But the strain was too much for Peggy, and she plumped down on the dead +leaves by the roadside in such a tempest of tears that Father had to +climb out of the gig and pick her up to comfort her; but as he could not +get a word of sense, he popped her in the vacant place by his side and +drove on, while she clung to his arm, still shaking with sobs, till they +reached the Abbey, where he helped her down, such a miserable little +tear-stained picture of woe, gulping out the confession of her escapade, +that he had not the heart to scold her, though he had a word of warning +to say afterwards upon the danger of such heedless practical jokes. + +Dame Eleanor's remains were fished out of the corner of the five-acre +field on Monday morning by Joe himself, who kicked her turnip head as +ruthlessly as the Yorkists had used her husband's at Mortimer's Cross, +and brought back the broomstick to the stable and the sheet to Nancy's +wash-tub. In all the valour of daylight he assured the children that 'it +wouldn't have scared _he_, not it. He'd made a many o' they turnip +lanterns in his time, and knowed 'em too well to be took in so easy.' + +But his faith in the genuine phantom remained unshaken all the same, and +I do not think he would have ventured alone into the ruins after dark +for the amount of his weekly wages, and money meant a good deal to poor +hard-working Joe. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +PLAY-ACTING + + 'Therefore, they thought it good you hear a play, + And frame your mind to mirth and merriment, + Which bars a thousand harms, and lengthens life.' + + +The winter set in cold and frosty, and as Christmas drew near the snow +came down in real earnest, covering the fields with its white carpet, +and turning Sky Cottage into a very good imitation of a Swiss châlet. It +was chilly work getting up in the dark mornings by candle-light, and +driving off to school when the sun had scarcely risen; the four miles of +road seemed much longer than they had done in the summertime, and in +spite of woollen gloves, the hand which held the reins was apt to be +stiff and numb with the cold long before Warford was reached. + +'I wish I were a cat!' said Peggy one morning, quite roused to envy by +the contemplation of Tabbyskin's toilet, 'to have no trouble with +washing or dressing; only just to jump out of bed, hump up your back and +stretch yourself, drink your saucer of milk, and then lick yourself +comfortably on the hearthrug in front of the dining-room fire.' + +'I think the dormouse has the best of it,' said Lilian, 'for he sleeps +straight on, and never seems to feel the frost at all. It would be a +glorious plan to retire to bed for the winter. I'm sure Nature intended +me for a hibernating animal, for I hate the cold. It makes my fingers so +stiff I can't practise nicely one little bit.' + +'You'd say so if you were at school now,' grumbled Peggy. 'There is a +new housekeeper, and she manages so badly that sometimes they are only +just lighting the fires when we are going into the class-rooms. The +studio felt like an ice-house yesterday, and nobody was able to draw +properly. Some of the girls have the most dreadful chilblains on their +fingers. I'm sure one goes through a great deal to get one's education!' + +'Never mind, the holidays begin on Wednesday, and then you shall have a +lovely time. If only this frost keeps up, we ought to get some skating, +and that's warm work, at any rate!' + +But as regards skating, the children were doomed to disappointment, for, +with the usual perversity of the English climate, the weather changed, +and Christmas Eve brought a mild wind and drizzling rain. They trudged +through the half-melted snow to the church to help with the decorations, +for it was fun twisting holly and evergreens, and making garlands of ivy +to fasten round the pillars. Archie, who naturally was to the fore on +such an occasion, managed to climb up and hang wreaths round the heads +of the cherubs at the top of the Jacobean monument, which gave their +weeping faces quite a festive appearance for once. Each of the Crusaders +was accorded a cross of yew, and the Elizabethan lady and gentleman had +a special decoration all to themselves. Lilian transformed the pulpit +into a perfect bower, weaving in holly and laurels till the Rector hoped +she would leave room for him inside it; and Peggy and Bobby helped--or +hindered--the schoolmistress as she adorned the font with a wonderful +arrangement of cotton-wool and frosted leaves. + +Luckily Christmas Day was fine (for a wet Christmas is enough to damp +the stoutest spirits), but after that the weather indulged in such a +variety of changes, alternately freezing and thawing from day to day, +that there was no time for a safe crust of ice to form even on the +smallest and shallowest of ponds. At the first fall of deep snow Archie +had mounted both himself and the children on Canadian snow-shoes, for as +soon as his illness had allowed, he had persuaded his aunt to bring his +tool-chest into his bedroom, and had beguiled his convalescence with a +little carpentry. + +At first they had all floundered hopelessly about, and it had taken some +practice even to slide a few steps; but long before they had reached the +stage of skimming over the frozen surface at the rate of eight or ten +miles an hour, which had been their fond ambition, the snow had melted +into moist and dirty slush, which was particularly trying, as they had +just decided to make a sledge out of an old packing-case, and drag +Lilian round the pasture. + +As outdoor exercise was rather out of the question, amusement must +perforce be found indoors, and amateur theatricals became the order of +the day. Archie was full of enthusiasm over what Nancy called +'play-acting,' and had soon initiated his friends into all the mysteries +of drop-scenes, side-shifts, make-ups, cues, and footlights. Both +tragedy and comedy raged in the Rose Parlour, the company feeling +themselves equal to anything, from a representation of Hamlet to the +famous scene between Sir Peter and Lady Teasle. Like all their hobbies, +they rode it hard, or, as Archie elegantly expressed it, 'rolled up +their sleeves and went into it bald-headed.' I am afraid the +house-keeping languished while Lilian painted scenery on large sheets of +blue grocery paper. Nancy had to dry her washing as best she could, for +all the clothes-horses in the establishment were needed for side-wings, +and the dining-room tablecloth, being green, was generally missing, +having to do duty for such occasions as 'a grove,' 'a glade in the +forest,' or the garden scene in 'Much Ado about Nothing.' + +From such constant rehearsals the actors found themselves adopting a +very stilted kind of conversation. They addressed each other as 'Ho, +knave!' or 'Prithee, kind wench!' and would answer the simplest question +by 'Yea, certes!' or 'An't please thee, my lord.' Bobby took to carrying +about an old horse-pistol which he had found in the lumber-room, and +saying 'Oddsbodkins' on all occasions, and Peggy put on such a general +air of melodrama that it seemed scarcely possible for her to speak in +plain prose; Archie was impresario, stage-manager, scene-shifter, +dresser, maker-up, and principal actor all combined, while Lilian waxed +so enthusiastic that she even sacrificed the feathers out of her last +summer's best hat to adorn the slouched head-gear considered necessary +for a due representation of Romeo. + +One thing only the players felt to be missing in their entertainments, +and that was the very important feature of an audience; for what is the +use of learning up parts, and constructing scenery, if there is nobody +to come and watch you act? Peggy sounded Father on the subject of a +children's party, but he did not rise at all to the occasion. + +'We can't afford it, Peggy,' he said briefly; then, noticing her look of +disappointment: 'That's where the shoe pinches, my dear child. The plain +necessities of life we are bound to have, but the state of my purse +tells me not to indulge in any luxuries, and I am afraid we must +consider party-giving under that head.' + +Kind Miss Forster would probably have turned her house upside down for +Archie's gratification, but she herself was on the sick-list this +Christmas-time, so any gaieties at the Willows were equally out of the +question. Getting a hint of the dilemma, the Rector came to the rescue, +and invited the performers to give an exhibition of their skill and +talent on the occasion of the Sunday-school tea-party, which was to take +place early in the New Year. This gave quite a fresh aspect to affairs, +and great were the discussions as to what piece should be chosen, +everybody unfortunately wanting something different, and generally +utterly inappropriate, or impossible to act. + +Lilian, always fond of tragedy, had set her heart on the last scene in +'Romeo and Juliet.' + +'I should be Juliet, you know, stretched out on the bier, and Archie +would have to be Romeo, and come in, and think I was dead, and stab +himself, and then of course I should wake up and stab myself, too; and +Peggy and Bobby could be the Montagues and Capulets, getting reconciled +over our dead bodies.' + +Archie, however, having leanings towards comedy, was not at all willing +to play the rôle of the despairing lover. + +'We could never manage to fix up an Italian vault,' he objected, 'and I +don't see how Peggy and Bobby could represent a whole crowd of Montagues +and Capulets, however much noise they made. Why not do a scene from "The +Rivals"? You'd be grand as Lydia Languish, and Peggy would just enjoy +Mrs. Malaprop's mistakes. I, of course, should be Captain Absolute.' + +'Then who would be Sir Anthony?' + +'Why, Bobby would have to be Sir Anthony.' + +'He _couldn't_! Bobby your father! It would look perfectly ridiculous, +and people would only laugh! No, that won't do anyhow, and we shall have +to think of something else.' + +Bobby was vague as to any particular play, only bargaining he might be +allowed to bring in his pistol, and do as much fighting as possible, and +that his part should not require too much learning. + +Peggy had ambitions towards the trial scene in the 'Merchant of Venice,' +with herself as Portia, having a scarlet dressing-gown which she thought +would answer beautifully for the doctor's robes, and designing Archie +for the part of Shylock, while Lilian was to don male attire, and +represent the unfortunate merchant. + +'Then who is to take Bassanio and Gratiano and Salanio, and Salarino and +the Duke, to say nothing of Nerissa? Bobby can't very well act six parts +at once.' + +'Can't we leave them out?' + +'Leave them out! Might as well act "Hamlet" with the part of Hamlet +omitted!' said Archie with much scorn, and the problem seemed no nearer +being solved than ever. + +But here the Rector again stepped in, and limited the performance to +half an hour's duration, begging them to choose something appropriate +for a Sunday-school audience, and if possible with a moral, and further +reminding them that a platform consisting of tables hastily pushed +together after the tea was concluded would scarcely give facilities for +either footlights, drop-scenes, or side-shifts, a curtain being the +utmost he could undertake to manage in that direction. + +With wings very much clipped, the soaring actors had to throw aside +Shakespeare and Sheridan, and apply themselves to books of recitations +and dialogues for village schools. It was difficult to find anything of +the right length with exactly the right number of parts, but at last +Archie declared he had hit upon one which would do beautifully. + +'Just four characters. You and I could be John and Mary, Lilian; and +Peggy and Bobby would of course be the children.' + +'Why of course? I'm too old for a child!' said Peggy indignantly. + +'No, you're not. You're small for your age, and you won't look so very +much taller than Bobby, if you wear your shortest frock. It's a jolly +piece, and should go first-rate, so we'd better decide on this right +away, and let the Rector know.' + +Peggy flushed up to her eyes, and turned her back to hide her rising +tears. After all her aspirations it was a bitter humiliation to be put +down for the very minor part of 'a child,' especially by Archie. She had +been learning elocution at school this term, and knew she could both +recite and act well. Moreover, she loved to shine, and to be first and +foremost, and had looked forward to this occasion as likely to prove one +of much triumph. Very few of us are heroes when it really comes to the +point, and I grieve to say that she looked so glum, and was generally so +grumpy and discontented over the arrangement, that unselfish Lilian, +divining the cause, instantly proposed to give up her own part to Peggy, +and train a little village girl for the second 'child' instead. But this +Peggy would not allow, and rushed away to the barn to weep off her +ill-humour amongst the hay, returning in a much better frame of mind, +with several valuable suggestions for Lilian's make-up; for she was a +generous child at heart, though she could not give up her own way +without a struggle. + +The small piece chosen did not require much either in the way of +rehearsing, scenery, or costumes, which was just as well, for the time +was short, and the day of the tea-party seemed to arrive almost +directly. By four o'clock the school was full of impatient children, +dressed in their best, the girls with their heads such marvels of +frizzing and curling that you could well imagine their hair had been +screwed up in plaits and papers for several days previously, while the +boys were shiny with soap and hair-oil. Lilian and Peggy were soon hard +at work pouring out tea as if for dear life, while Archie and Bobby +distributed buns and ham-sandwiches with lightning speed, which seemed +to vanish with equal quickness, for many of the boys had dispensed with +dinner in order to enjoy their tea the more. + +'The big boy in the corner drank twelve cups!' declared Peggy, 'and +little Willie Jones had eight, or even nine, for I lost count; and the +boy from Monkend Farm ate at least fourteen buns. I believe he pocketed +a few, though I never could catch him!' + +Peggy was in her element; she was able to manage, or, as Archie called +it, 'boss around,' to her heart's content. She kept a severe eye on the +small children, patted them firmly on the back when they choked, and +refused to allow them to grab at the cake, regulating their tea +according to her own notions of what was good for them, and turning +stolen lumps of sugar out of their pockets with the cleverness of a +detective. + +Tea was over at last, and the crumby remains having been cleared away, +the tables were pushed to one side of the great schoolroom to form the +platform, while the benches were arranged in rows to accommodate the +audience, which at present was indulging in an amount of noise only to +be equalled by the Tower of Babel. Peggy, hard at work behind the +scenes, put her eye to a hole in the curtain, and surveyed the prospect +below, where children big and little were engaged in jumping over the +forms, chasing each other round the stove, and generally acting more +like monkeys at the Zoo than civilized human beings, while the Rector +strove in vain to collect them at the empty end of the room to play +games, and the curate, a shy young man fresh from Oxford, looked as if +he would have preferred to wrestle with a consignment of heathens from +the Cannibal Islands. + +'Come along, Bobby,' said Peggy; 'we ought to go and help. Archie and +Lilian can arrange the scenery quite well. The Rector is getting pulled +to pieces, and poor Mr. Wentworth has lost his glasses.' + +Mrs. Davenport would have approved of Peggy for once, for even the +pattern Bertha could not have displayed more energy in a parish +emergency. She promptly organized a game of 'Oranges and Lemons,' +herself leading the long tail of infants who passed under the Rector's +and Mr. Wentworth's upraised hands; she set the boys to swing +honey-pots, and the girls to play 'Drop the Handkerchief'; she boldly +interposed her small person between the fists of two fighting +hobbledehoys, and seized a little boy by the boot who had ventured to +climb up the stove-pipe; she welcomed some of the parents who had begun +to arrive for the entertainment, and found them comfortable places on +the benches, even nursing one of the babies while its mother went to the +rescue of an older child, who was being forcibly held down and sat upon +by several of its companions; and by the time the bell was rung, and the +audience requested to take their places, she was almost as hot and +pulled about as the Rector himself, but with a feeling of conscious +virtue that made up for everything. + +The first part of the entertainment was to be chiefly musical, so the +proceedings began with a waltz by Lilian, who was always the Rector's +mainstay in making up a programme, and had helped at most of his +Sunday-school concerts since she was ten years old. A violin solo +followed from the village tailor, who was much applauded, most of the +hearers being persuaded that not even the band in the Warford Public +Gardens could surpass 'Bill Evans and his fiddle.' Little Jimmy Carson +recited 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' in a high, thin, piping voice, +standing on tiptoe in his eagerness to give due effect to the famous +lines, flinging out his arms wildly to indicate where + + 'Cannon to right of them, + Cannon to left of them + Volleyed and thundered,' + +and getting so mixed up with his aspirates that he concluded with: + + '_H_onour the charge they made, + _H_onour the Light Brigade, + Noble six 'undred.' + +A selection of small boys and girls sang school glees and Christmas +carols, a trifle flat occasionally, but perhaps that was the fault of +the piano, which needed tuning. The two Miss Prices from the Post-Office +warbled a mild little duet, which gave unbounded satisfaction to their +fond mamma, if to nobody else; the blacksmith's assistant roared out a +sea song in a voice like a tempest; and a young man on a visit to the +miller gave a comic song, which quite took the company by storm. + +A five minutes' interval followed before the act, which was regarded as +the chief event of the evening. There was a good deal of giggling and +whispered conversation behind the scenes as the actors hastily concluded +their preparations, but at length, in response to the enthusiastic +clapping and stamping of the audience, the curtain was drawn aside by +two Sunday-school teachers, and the play began. Peggy, standing behind +one of the clothes-horses which served for a side-wing, could see the +two hundred eager faces turned towards the platform, and experienced +that peculiar sensation known as 'stage fright.' Instead of longing now +for a prominent part, she heaved a sigh of relief to think that Lilian +must begin instead, and trembled for the moment when she would be +obliged to face those watching eyes. + +The piece chosen turned upon a discussion between a man and his wife as +to the relative difficulties of their work, resulting in the husband +undertaking to do the morning's duties during the absence of the +housewife. Lilian, in a print dress, apron, and sun-bonnet, made a +charming little village mother, and trotted off with her basket, leaving +many injunctions for 'John' to follow. Archie, as the husband, in +corduroy trousers, his shirt-sleeves rolled up, and a short clay pipe in +his mouth, was a capital British workman, and his struggles in the +performance of his domestic duties were the subject of much mirth. When +he broke the china, and stirred up the washing with the poker, the +audience cheered, and it shouted with delight when he upset the kettle +and burnt the bread black in the oven. Peggy and Bobby as 'the +children,' with crumpled pinafores and smudged faces, were an equal +success, for in watching Archie Peggy had forgotten her sudden shyness, +and she now threw herself thoroughly into her part, howling most +realistically when her nose was scrubbed in the wash-tub, or her hair +combed with a fork; while Bobby stole jam and resisted medicine with +lifelike zeal. Lilian's face, when as 'Mary' she returned to find her +cottage a scene of confusion, was considered excellent, and the moral of +the story was enough to satisfy even the Rector. The audience 'hoorayed' +and thumped with their thick boots on the floor, and shouted 'encore'; +but as it was not possible to break the china, spill the medicine, and +upset the kettle twice over without a considerable amount of +preparation, they had to be content with the graceful bows which the +artistes bestowed upon them. + +'Say them "Little Orphaned Annie" instead of an encore,' whispered +Lilian to Peggy, as the stamping still went on, and nobody seemed +inclined to go. + +'Shall I?' said Peggy, flushing; for it was her best piece at the +elocution class, and she had been complimented on it by her teacher. + +'Yes, go on quick!' said Lilian, pushing her forward, and catching the +Rector's eye. + +Peggy was in good form that night, and I really think her recitation was +considered the star of the evening. Her gruesome voice as she recounted +what the goblins did to naughty boys made several small sinners in the +back benches shake in their shoes--many innocent infants felt they +should never dare to go to bed in the dark again; and the wild shriek +with which she ended her announcement that 'the goblins are about' quite +brought down the house, and the children shouted and yelled and cheered +as the Rector strove to get order once more, and wind up the proceedings +with the National Anthem. So Peggy had her triumph after all, even if it +were only a small one. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +PEGGY AT WAR + + 'By this good light, a lass of matchless mettle!' + + +The Christmas holidays being over, and Archie in the rudest of health, +Miss Forster had no more excuse for keeping that young gentleman at +home, and after much packing and preparation, he departed to school, +amid the fond regrets of his aunt and the lamentations of his friends at +the Abbey, to whom he promised to write as often as time and the +regulations of his house would allow him. + +After he had left, things seemed to jog on for some time in the same +way. Peggy was studying hard this term, for she was a clever girl, and +liked to take a high place in her class, so most of the evenings were +occupied with home-lessons, and it was only on Saturday that she had any +leisure for the many projects which Archie had begged her to continue in +his absence. Time steals on very quickly when we are fully occupied, and +winter seemed to slide into spring, and daffodils to replace the +snowdrops in the garden before they had realized the welcome change, and +Easter drew near once more, with all its delights of violets, young +lambs, and early blossom. + +It seemed a long while now to the children since Aunt Helen had gone +away, and Lilian had become so accustomed to the housekeeping that it +was not nearly so much of a care. She had taken up her neglected French +books again, and struggled manfully through 'Paul et Virginie' with the +aid of a dictionary; for Peggy was getting on so fast now that Lilian +felt she would soon be left behind unless she made some effort to keep +up what she had learnt. The evening readings, too, were continued, for +Mr. Howell had suggested 'The Vicar of Wakefield' as being less solid +for a tired mind than 'The French Revolution,' lending her his own +charmingly illustrated copy; and Father had forgotten the farm and all +his other worries in a hearty laugh over Moses and the spectacles, or +Mrs. Primrose's efforts at gentility, declaring that the philosophy of +the light-hearted Vicar exactly suited his own circumstances, and +christening Lilian and Peggy 'Olivia' and 'Sophia' on the spot. Finding +that a success, Lilian followed it up by 'Pride and Prejudice,' and the +'Pickwick Papers'; for she was glad to discover anything that would wipe +away the lines from Father's forehead, if only for an hour, and distract +his thoughts from those terrible deeds and account-books which were wont +to litter the dining-room table at nights. Peggy, too, had begged to sit +up a little later to listen, and I think she learned almost as much from +the readings as from her lessons; for our English classics are an +education in themselves, and those who love them young rarely care to +read much trash afterwards. + +As the days grew longer and lighter, the garden also claimed attention, +and the children were busy digging, raking, and planting, for this year +there were to be special classes in the flower-show for exhibitors under +fifteen, and both Peggy and Bobby had secret hopes of a prize. Then +there was Sky Cottage to be tidied and spring-cleaned, for Archie must +not come home at Easter to find it looking neglected, and there were +various little improvements which they wished to make in it to surprise +him on his return. + +It was well that they were all so full of resources for their own +amusement, for otherwise than school they saw almost nothing of the +outside world. The temporary attraction of Aunt Helen's engagement being +over, the neighbours had lapsed again into their customary neglect of +the Abbey, and visitors or invitations were as rare as if they had been +living in the wilds of Africa. It seemed rather hard that sweet, pretty +Lilian should be so entirely overlooked, and I think that somebody--not +to say Mrs. Davenport--might have seen that she had some share in the +merry-makings which went on in many of the country houses round about; +but nobody remembered, and the shy girl herself was quite content to +remain at home, busying herself, like Dame Durden, with her household +cares. Somehow her old school friends seemed to have drifted away from +her. They were full of their own interests, and, on the few occasions +when she happened to meet them, had talked so much of new teachers, new +pupils, and class topics of which she knew nothing, that she had felt a +little 'out of it,' and had an uneasy sensation that, if she spoke of +the quiet little episodes of her daily round they would vote her +housekeeping experiences as decidedly 'slow.' Miss Forster, one of their +kindest friends, had been unwell and confined to her room nearly all the +springtime, and the children had felt her a loss; for besides the bond +with Archie, she loved young people, and had always a word of help or +sympathy for their schemes. + +'I wonder what it feels like to be ill,' said Peggy one day, coming +back from the Willows, where she had been sent to inquire, after one of +Miss Forster's worst attacks. 'We're such a healthy set, we haven't any +of us been a day in bed since we had measles five years ago. I should +think it would be quite fun to send for the doctor, and be fussed over.' + +'I suppose you _feel_ horrid,' replied Lilian. 'But all the same, I've +sometimes thought it must be rather nice to be an interesting invalid. I +wouldn't have minded being Margaret, for instance, in the "Daisy Chain," +to lie on a sofa, and just look beautiful, and set a good example to all +your family, and keep on telling somebody you couldn't marry him, while +he stalked about the room with an air of profound melancholy, and said +he couldn't take to anybody else.' + +'I've always thought I should like to be a foundling,' said Peggy. 'It +is so delightfully mysterious to be picked up from a wreck on the +sea-shore, or saved from a railway accident, and nobody to know who you +are, or anything about you. They always keep your beautiful +baby-clothes, and the gold locket round your neck with the portrait +inside, and then, when you're just grown up, you turn out to be the only +daughter of a duke, who has been mourning for you ever since you were +lost. Orphans, too, don't have half a bad time in books, though they +generally live with rich uncles, and have to wear the old dresses and +stop at home, while their cousins go to parties. They only look sweeter +than ever in the shabby clothes, and something nice always happens while +the others are out--like Mabel, you know, in "Sweet Seventeen." I think +it must be most romantic to be so beautiful and so despised.' + +'Will you try living with the Davenports for a while?' laughed Lilian. +'You'd have plenty of chance there of being sat upon, at any rate.' + +But Peggy declined with thanks, declaring the case did not apply at all, +for neither was Mrs. Davenport a rich relation nor was she herself in +the friendless condition necessary for the full requirements of fiction, +so she was afraid the round of amusements and social triumphs generally +enjoyed by the heroine would not fall to her share. + +'I wish we did go out just every now and then, though,' said Peggy, who +occasionally had ambitions after gaiety. 'I haven't been anywhere except +to Miss Forster's or the Rectory since I was at the Middletons last +year. The girls were all talking about parties at school, after the +Christmas holidays, and I hadn't been to a single one, or the pantomime +either, and we never get to any of the concerts at the Spa Gardens. The +Harpers have asked me to their dance next Wednesday, but Father won't +let me go. I wish he would, just for once. It seems so hard never to do +anything like other girls, doesn't it?' + +'It is so difficult, darling, to get you home. You would catch cold if +you came out of hot rooms and drove home at night in the open trap, and +it is dreadfully expensive to hire a cab from Warford. Besides, you +would want new shoes and gloves, and silk stockings, even if your +bridesmaid's dress would be smart enough. If only I had had that money +Aunt Helen sent me on my birthday, you should have gone, but I spent it +every penny on Bobby's cricket flannels, and I don't like to ask Father +for more. You see, we are trying to be so very careful just now. You and +Bobby are not learning dancing this term, and I have even given up my +music-lessons'--with a wistful sigh, for that had been a sore wrench to +poor Lilian. + +'So you have, Lily mine, and never growled at all over it! I'm a horrid +little wretch, and I wouldn't have taken Aunt Helen's present, even if +you had had it left. I don't really care about parties and things. We +have ever so much fun out here at the Abbey that the girls who live in +Warford never dream of, and it wouldn't be fair to expect both. Easter +will soon be here, and Archie will come home, and then we shall all have +glorious times again!' And Peggy's momentary discontent vanished like +snow in sunshine at the enthralling prospect of several new projects +which her ingenious friend intended carrying out, and of the picnics, +woodland scrambles, and other delights which the holidays would bring in +their train. + +But there was yet a month of the term to run, and the little pony-trap +must make many more journeys to and from Warford before either Pixie or +the children could take a rest, and lessons and school affairs were +still matters of the first importance. + +Accustomed to a daily account of the doings of both himself and his +class-mates, Peggy began to realize about this time that all was not +well with Bobby. Instead of being full of his usual fun on the homeward +journey, he had scarcely anything to tell her. He had been late for +several days at the inn-yard, and had arrived looking so flurried and +peculiar that, although he had laughed it off and made some excuse, she +was certain that things were not as they should be. The pair had never +had any secrets before, so Peggy waited at first for Bobby to tell her, +but as the confidence did not seem to be forthcoming, she one day boldly +taxed him with it. + +'Well,' said Bobby, plucking at the corners of his dog-eared Latin +grammar, 'if you really want to know, it's Jones minor. I didn't mean to +breathe a word, because I hate to be a sneak, and peach, and all that; +but after all, telling you isn't like telling any of the fellows, is +it?' anxious for his code of schoolboy honour. + +'Of course it's not. What about Jones minor?' + +'He bullies me so. He lies in wait for me every afternoon, and I have to +dodge ever so to get out of his way. I came round by five back streets +to-day, and climbed over a garden wall.' + +'How big a boy is he?' + +'Oh, he's a fellow of thirteen, I should think, for he's in the fourth +form. If he were anywhere near my own size I'd fight him, if I had to do +it every day till I licked him. I thrashed Moore last week for punching +little Barton's head.' + +'What does this Jones do to you?' + +'Pulls my ears, and bumps my head against the wall. He twists my arm +round, too, and hammers at it, and he keeps a buckle-strap in his pocket +specially for me, so he says. He's just generally a beast, that's what +he is!' + +'I don't quite know what we can do,' said Peggy. 'If only Archie were at +home he'd soon thrash him into a jelly, and enjoy it. I suppose there's +no one else at school who would champion you?' + +'No, there isn't. Never mind, Pegotty, don't you worry. I'm growing all +the time, and perhaps one day I'll be big enough to go for him, and +after all, a fellow ought to be able to stand a bit of bullying without +going whining home to his sister about it.' + +'Is there much of this sort of thing going on at the Grammar School?' +asked Peggy. + +'A fair amount. Not among the best end of the boys, but some of the +fellows are awful cads. They took Holmes major one day, and held him +upside down with his head in the lavatory basin till he nearly choked, +and they tied two others up as sparring-cocks to-day, and made them +fight all dinner-time. They're awfully rough on us little boys, too, at +games. We have to fag till we nearly drop sometimes. That great hulking +Taylor half kills young Ford now and then. I'm thankful he doesn't look +my way. It's only Jones minor who attends to me, and he's quite bad +enough.' + +'I only just wish I could catch him at it,' said Peggy reflectively; and +there for the present the matter ended. + +But a few days after this the pony-trap waited in vain, and Peggy, who +had walked leisurely three times from the inn-door to the end of the +street, grew tired of loitering about, and sallied forth to look for the +truant. It would be useless to try the highways, she knew, so +accordingly her search must be in the by-ways, and she made a little +tour of investigation round all the back streets between the inn and the +Grammar School, but without success, and she was just thinking she must +have missed him, and had better return to the inn-yard, when a fortunate +chance prompted her to turn up a retired avenue which lay between the +two main roads. It was a quiet spot, with long gardens leading to +old-fashioned houses on the one side, and the tall palings of a +cricket-field on the other--just the spot where nobody would be likely +to come along and make a disturbance, and so evidently Jones minor +seemed to think, for he held Bobby pinned against the wall with one +hand, while with the other he amused himself by tweaking his ears, +pulling his hair, and any other tortures which his ingenious mind could +suggest at the moment. + +At the sight of this edifying spectacle Peggy flew on to the scene like +Diana on the war-path. + +[Illustration: "IF YOU BREAK YOUR WORD, I'LL LET ALL WARFORD KNOW THAT +YOU'VE BEEN KNOCKED DOWN AND THRASHED BY A GIRL."] + +'Here,' she cried indignantly, 'you Jones! Just stop that, will you?' + +'Mind your own business, you--whoever you are!' cried the boy rudely. +'I'll do what I like!' + +Bobby tried to dodge away, but the bully caught him by the arm, and, +partly to show off, commenced such an excruciating twist that the tears +started to his victim's eyes, though he did not utter a sound. It was +too much for Peggy. She looked carefully round to see that no one was +near, flung down her books with a bang on the pavement, and--simply went +for Jones minor. + +The assault was so utterly unexpected that he rolled over like a +ninepin. Peggy might be small for her age, but she was strong and +muscular, and she had the spirit of a Coeur de Lion and the courage of +a Joan of Arc. Her method of boxing was certainly not scientific, but +she set to work to punish Jones minor according to her own ideas of +warfare. With two well-directed blows she nearly closed his eyes before +he had time even to see his assailant. She punched his head, tweaked his +ears, and hammered into the soft portions of his body until he roared +for mercy, for, like all bullies, he was a coward at heart, and had a +vague impression that some very superior force must suddenly have +descended upon him. + +'Have you had enough?' said Peggy at last, with her foot on her foe's +chest, and her fist at his swollen nose. + +'Yes, thanky!' faltered the snivelling Jones. + +'Then swear on your honour, if you have any, that you'll never lay a +finger on my brother again. If you'll promise that faithfully, we'll +neither of us tell, but if you break your word, I'll let all Warford +know that you've been knocked down and thrashed by a girl!' + +'Hooray! hooray!' cried two voices, and two tall boys in Grammar School +caps came clambering over the palings from the cricket-field, whence +they had been the delighted but unseen witnesses of the encounter. + +'By Jove! you're a girl worth knowing!' said the taller boy. 'The way +you rolled him flat was the funniest sight I've seen for many a year! +Get up, Jones, you sneaking, drivelling cur!'--kicking the prostrate +form of that fallen hero. 'And if ever I catch you at any of your tricks +with Vaughan again I'll settle you myself, I promise you, though I don't +know whether I could have done it any better than this, after all!' +glancing with an eye of admiration at the victorious Peggy, who, with +split gloves, scarlet cheeks, and wild-flying curls, stood panting after +the contest. + +'Golly! if you were _my_ sister, I'd be proud of you!' he continued, +while the other boy picked up her hat from the roadway, and collected +her scattered school-books. 'I like a girl with pluck, and you've got +enough for ten of 'em. I say, Vaughan, I'll try you to fag for me, if +you like. You're a good runner, I hear, and no butter-fingers. You can +begin to-morrow.' + +'And _he_ is the Captain of the school eleven!' said Bobby afterwards, +who would have felt it scarcely so great an honour to be noticed by the +Prince of Wales. 'There isn't a boy in my class who isn't yearning to be +Farrar's fag. They'll be just wild with envy! Peggy, you're about the +biggest trump on the face of the earth, and I'll never forget this day +if I live to be a hundred!' + +Jones minor found he also had good reason to remember the occasion, for +as Farrar and Henderson felt no obligation to observe secrecy, his life +at Warford Grammar School was for some time a burden to him. Constant +references as to his fondness for female society, offers to see him home +to protect him on the way, tender inquiries as to the state of his eyes +and the condition of his ears, filled him with confusion, while large +portraits of Jones in the clutches of an imaginary Amazon, executed with +schoolboy talent and vigour, adorned the walls of the playground and the +palings of the cricket-field. + +Peggy's onslaught really seemed to have done some good in the school, +for the attention of the older and better boys being called to the +subject of bullying, a stand was made, and public opinion ran high +against it, so that for a time, at any rate, the little boys had peace, +and Bobby was able to return daily by the ordinary high-road, instead of +seeking the shelter of side-paths and back alleys. + +Bobby's letter to Archie on the subject of the encounter, though hardly +a model of orthography, was as stirring as the ballad of Chevy Chase. + +'She lade the villin flat on the erth, and I just wish you cud have seen +her punch his hed,' he wrote. 'She nocked him about like a pottatoe. +Peggy is awful strong wen her blud is up, and she sez she wuld do it +agen to save my Life. Jones minor stopt at home two days arfter. He +cudunt stand the jeers of the other boys, and they still give it him +badly. Farrar is jolly good to me now. I like fagging for him better +than enything. Peggy won't tork about wot she has done at all. She sez +she is rather ashamed of it now, and that you wuld think her a bigger +tomboy than ever; but all the boys at skule call her a brick, and so do +I, and if she comes to see the bote race at Easter they mean to chear +her.' + +Archie wrote back at once to congratulate the heroine, and Peggy +treasured the letter for days, until the new pet lamb accidentally +chewed it up. It ran thus: + + 'MY DEAR PEGGY, + 'I think it was just elegant of you, and I won't call you + t..b.y any more if you don't like it. Instead I will christen + you Ta-ka-pun-ka, which in the language of the Chincowawas means + "Girl-afraid-of-nothing," for you are as good as one of our + Indian braves. I only wish you had taken his scalp, but I + suppose you hadn't time. When I come back at Easter I will teach + you to box, and then you will be ready for anybody, only please + don't tackle me. I shall have to be careful how I quarrel with + you now. If I am home in time for the boat-race I shall come and + cheer, too. I am longing to get back to Gorswen. Bobby never + said if the water-wheel was all right. I hope no one has touched + it while I have been away. Why don't you write and tell me about + it, and about Sky Cottage, too? I shall have heaps of school + news for you when I come home, and I have thought of several + fresh things we can make; but I shan't tell you what they are + till I see you, so curb your curiosity until the holidays. + + 'Hoping Prickles, and the rabbits, and all the other pets are + well, + 'Your affectionate friend, + 'ARCHIE FORSTER.' + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +GORSWEN FAIR + + 'Come, let us go while we are in our prime, + And take the harmless folly of the time.' + + +Easter was here at last, and down at the Willows Archie had come home +like the breath of spring, Miss Forster declaring that he did her more +good than all her medicine bottles, and that his lively ways would make +her almost her usual self again, while at the Abbey he had a royal +welcome. It was funny to see how the young American citizen was merging +into the British public schoolboy, for Archie was losing his Western +accent, which only cropped out now and then when he was excited, and +cricket and football were beginning to replace Indians and grizzlies in +his conversation; but he was totally unspoilt by his new life, and as +jolly and hearty as ever. + +The weather seemed to have conspired in his favour, for the biting March +winds and cutting hail-storms gave way to genial sunshine and April +showers. The hedgerows had burst into tender green, and the banks were +spangled with stitchwort and celandine stars. There had been quite a +spell of sickness in Gorswen at the end of the winter, for many of the +picturesque cottages were dark, unwholesome places inside, and lay low +on the damp fields by the river; but the invalids crept out now into +the sunlight, and the mild breezes blew roses into wan cheeks and +brightness into dull eyes, bringing back health, that most priceless of +gifts, to the village--to all, indeed, but the Rector, who had been +sick-nurse, doctor's assistant, family friend and chaplain combined +during the epidemic, and now that the strain was over broke down so +utterly that the physician insisted upon a complete rest and change of +air, ordering him off immediately to the high meadows of the Alps. He +went unwillingly. + +'I would rather worry on, Peggy,' he said, 'till I can take that last +long holiday of all. It is better to wear out than rust out, any day. +Still, our bodies were not given us to abuse, so you see I am obeying +orders, like a good soldier.' + +The village seemed strangely empty without Mr. Howell. Everyone had +become so accustomed to claim his help and sympathy upon every occasion +as a matter of course that it was only when he was gone they realized +how much they valued him, for many of our blessings are hardly +appreciated until we have lost them. The curate did his best, but as the +old dames remarked: 'He be a nice gentleman, and means well, for sure; +but what can a young lad like that have to say to we?' + +So they dusted their best chairs for him, and agreed with all his +remarks about the weather or the Prayer Book, but kept their doubts and +difficulties for the tried old friend who had stood the test of years. + +Most of the people had made haste to get well for Easter, for to the +good folk of Gorswen that festival meant but one event--the great fair +of the borders, which had been held in the village every Easter Tuesday +within the memory of even that wonderful person, the oldest inhabitant. +It was a kind of central pivot for the year to turn on, and 'five years +come fair-day,' or 'the last fair-day but one agone,' was the general +method of calculating time amongst the villagers. Everybody put on +something new for the fair, and to have appeared on that occasion in a +last year's hat would have been an offence against public taste, or a +confession of abject poverty scarcely removed above pauperism. Cousins +to the ninth and tenth degree turned up for the fair, distant relations +from remote districts or former inhabitants who had left the +neighbourhood and 'got on' in other places availed themselves of cheap +excursions, and visited their early home, partly for the holiday, and +partly for the sake of meeting everyone else. + +The wave of excitement which spread over the village as Easter drew near +could scarcely fail to send its ripples up to the Abbey. Nancy's +evenings for some time past had been absorbed in the construction of a +bright heliotrope gown with gilt buttons, and she had walked into +Warford on her day out, and spent a month's wages upon a hat, which was +such a marvellous erection of flowers and feathers combined with lace, +chiffon, and ribbons, that it was calculated to leave her rivals, like +the Queen of Sheba, with no more spirit in them. + +'Which fair-day only comes onst a year, so folks may as well do their +best,' she observed, as she tried it on before the kitchen mirror. 'And +I had heard as that Sally Pearson has got a hat all the way from +Shrewsbury. A squint-eyed baggage she be, too, who'd ne'er look aught, +whatever she might clap on her head. Tell me truly now, Miss Peggy dear, +does it suit me or not?' + +Knowing that Nancy was capable of starting immediately for Warford to +change the article in question for one yet more costly, Peggy hastened +to answer in the affirmative, and Bobby likewise assuring her that it +would 'take the cake, and no mistake,' it was carefully folded up again +in its sheets of white tissue-paper, and put by until the great day +should arrive. + +Nor was Nancy the only one who indulged in a little innocent vanity, for +Joe, too, had been so fastidious in his choice of a red-and-blue spotted +necktie and a walking-stick with an ivory handle that the children began +to suspect the blacksmith's rosy-cheeked daughter must be at the bottom +of it; and even David had taken a long-tailed coat and a beaver hat out +of the retirement of some mysterious bandboxes and had been quite snappy +and particular with Mrs. David on the subject of the proper starching +and ironing of his Sunday shirt. + +As early as Monday morning, caravans began to arrive from all parts of +the country, and encamp on the piece of green common opposite the mill. +Tired-looking men in dirty shirt-sleeves were soon busy setting up +swings and merry-go-rounds, theatres and shooting-galleries, while the +arrival of a travelling menagerie was the occasion for the collecting of +a whole crowd of small yokels, who studied the outside of the waggons +with breathless delight. + +'Hey, Billee! do 'ee hear the lion roar?' + +'Lion! That be a jackass brayin', thee fule!' + +'Jackass theeself! Don't I know a moke from a wild beast? I tell 'ee +'tis within the tent!' + +'Here be the fat woman arrivin', and it do take four horses to drag her, +for sure!' + +'And the wild man from Borneo. Ay, if he be like his picture outside, +I'll ne'er venture in reach of him!' + +'Thee's not got the penny, may be!' + +'Hain't I? Say that agin, and I'll let 'ee know!' + +'Way back there, ye young rascals! there's the giant and the dwarf +a-comin'!' + +And the youngsters scattered, to leave the green free, and to feast +their imaginations upon the gaudy representations of the various +attractions which adorned the sides of the yellow caravans that crept +slowly up the dusty road from Warford. This, however, was only to be the +pleasure part of the fair. Early on Tuesday morning the real business of +the day started, for then the shepherds began to bring down their flocks +of sheep from the surrounding mountains, the cattle-drovers came with +their sleek cows and long-horned young bullocks, and whole herds of +rough little Welsh ponies were driven with much noise and shouting from +the high moorlands over the border. + +Quiet, sleepy Gorswen seemed completely transformed. The village street +from end to end was an impassable block of charging bullocks, kicking +ponies, barking collies, and bawling drovers, which overflowed past the +Rectory and up to the Willows on the one hand, and nearly as far as the +Abbey gates on the other. Having tried in vain to edge a way through the +press, Peggy and Bobby tacked round by the fields, and scrambling over a +garden wall, found a temporary refuge in the churchyard, which stood +some height above the level of the road, and where, from the +vantage-ground of a convenient tombstone, they found they had an +excellent view of the fair below. The noise was deafening. Animals were +lowing, bellowing, bleating, whinnying, or squeaking in every note of +the octave; cocks crew, ducks quacked, dogs barked, and men talked and +shouted in Welsh and English till a chance comer might have imagined +himself in pandemonium. A cartful of little pigs drawn up beneath the +wall rent the air with their cries, and not the least funny incident was +to watch a stout farmer's wife, despairing of driving her bargain +through the crowd, wrap her squealing purchase in her mantle, and carry +him off in her arms, like 'Alice' with the Duchess's baby. Most of the +cows had been sold first thing, and were being driven away with much +forcible language on the part of their drovers, and it was now the turn +of the cart-horses, beautiful glossy creatures with tails tied up with +straw and manes plaited with ribbons as if for May-day. By good luck +their paces were tried just under the churchyard, so the children got +all the fun of the bargaining. + +'There's Jimmy Fowler selling his Black Bess,' cried Peggy, nearly +falling over the wall in her excitement. 'See that tall Welshman feeling +her knees and looking at her teeth. _Aren't_ they quarrelling over the +price? Oh, he's taken her, for they've both clapped their hands over it! +What a lot of sovereigns he's counting into Jimmy's hand! Now he's +leading her away. I hope she's got a good home; she's such a gentle old +thing!' + +'Here come the ponies!' shouted Bobby, as a wild stampede round the +inn-corner proclaimed the advent of one of the principal features of the +fair. + +It was a good thing that the children were in a place of safety, for +anyone down in the roadway below stood a very fair chance of being +trampled to death by the frightened, plunging herd which surged up the +street, scattering the spectators like leaves before a storm. Utterly +wild and unbroken, the little rough-coated things showed their +disapproval of this their first taste of civilization by every means in +their power, rearing, bucking, and kicking to the best of their +ability. Bargaining in that throng was no easy matter, but their owners +would dash in, seize a pony by the mane and tail, and by sheer force +drag it away from its companions, the very small size of the animals +rendering practicable what would have been impossible with a larger +breed. Dealers had come from all parts of England and Wales, for Gorswen +Fair was noted for its ponies, and a good deal of money changed hands +that day. It made Peggy quite sad to think that the little creatures +were mostly bought for the mines, and that, once broken and trained, +they would never see daylight again, but spend their lives drawing +trucks up and down the low galleries underground, having said good-bye +to their native moorlands for ever. + +Across the road, in the broad square by the inn, the sheep were huddled +in pens, each flock watched by its own clever collie, who seemed to +think it a cardinal virtue to get up a free fight with every other dog +in the fair. Barking, biting, and snarling, the combatants had +continually to be seized by the tails, forcibly separated, and kicked +yelping back to their duties, where they stood with bristling ears, +growling at each other through the hurdles, and showing their teeth like +a pack of wolves. But the buying and selling were over at last, and the +live-stock having been conveyed away, Gorswen turned its attention to +the side of pleasure. Small booths sprang up like magic under the church +wall, and cheap-jacks and travelling hucksters began to proclaim their +wares. The thrifty village housewives were doing a thriving business in +tea and ginger-pop, for a cattle fair is thirsty work, and the inn was +filled to overflowing. All the little gardens were set out with chairs +and tables, and the rattle of cups and the flying of corks made a brisk +accompaniment to the buzz of conversation. The crowd which surged along +the main street was a laughing, merry-making crowd, indulging in a flow +of broad chaff and humour, and bandying jokes with friends and strangers +alike. + +The children had returned after dinner to their point of vantage on the +churchyard wall, and found as much amusement in the sight below as in +the livelier scenes of the morning. + +'There's Joe!' cried Bobby with deep interest, as that worthy passed +sheepishly by, a posy of wall-flowers in his buttonhole and the +blacksmith's daughter hanging on his arm. 'He's got a tall collar and a +pair of tan shoes on. _Isn't_ he a swell!' + +Nancy's hat was a conspicuous object among the smart throng, for Lilian, +after one peep at the fair, had charitably kept house herself, and +allowed her hand-maiden to take a holiday, and the damsel seemed to have +collected so many admirers that the luckless Sally was entirely +eclipsed. Old David was there, quite smiling for once, with Mrs. David +in a new bonnet, and quite a swarm of small grandchildren around him. + +'He's actually buying them humbugs!' said Peggy. 'And he carried the +little one in the blue dress all down the street. I never saw David look +so pleasant in my life before. I think holidays agree with him!' + +Peggy was right there, for a little pleasure is good for most people, +and there were many bright faces and hearty greetings and handshakings +among the pushing crowd. + +'Hello! so this is where you're hiding!' cried a voice from the roadway +below; and Archie seized an overhanging branch of the big yew-tree, and +swung himself up into the churchyard. 'I have been looking for you +everywhere. Couldn't find you this morning for the jam. I've seen some +cute sights in my life, but this fair do beat 'em all! It's like +Barnum's and Mexican Joe flung together, with a cake-walk afterwards!' + +'It's bigger than ever this year, and prices are well up,' remarked +Bobby, with the air of a budding farmer. 'We sold our brown cow for a +pound more than we thought we should, and the ponies went off ever so +high. Did you watch them race round this corner? Didn't the people run?' + +'You should see us break in big horses wild out West. That would make +you stare, if you like. This is mere child's play to it. Where's +Lilian?' + +'Keeping house. Mrs. Davenport's there. She drove over to the fair with +her gardener, and she's bought two cows and four little pigs. They've +turned them all into the loose-box at the Abbey, and they're waiting +till the roads are quieter to take them home. She'll be there for some +time yet. No, we thought we wouldn't go back to tea just at present; +we're not hungry.' + +Divining the cause of this very unwonted lack of appetite on the part of +his friends, Archie proposed an adjournment to one of the numerous +stalls below. + +'Come along with me,' he said, 'and have some cakes and ginger-pop. +We'll do the shows afterwards, and have a real high old time. I'll stand +treat.' + +Nothing loth to have a share in the afternoon's fun, the children +dropped from the wall, and each accommodated with one of Archie's arms, +they went the round of the fair in true village fashion. They feasted +upon ginger-nuts at one stall and lemonade at another, and filled their +pockets with mint rock and caramels. Archie was determined to enter +every one of the gaudy shows which were drawn up in a line along the +green, and dealt out his pennies in princely fashion. + +'Here you are, sir, the fat woman! A most improvin' exhibition!' + +'The wild man from Borneo! Safe in an iron cage, and can't hurt yer!' + +'This way for the giant and dwarf! Come in, and open yer minds!' + +'Circassian beauty! Only a penny!' + +'All right, keep your hair on, old chaps!' cried Archie, nearly pulled +to pieces among the rival showmen. 'We calculate to work right down the +row in due course, and we'll take you all in turn. Let us start fair and +square with number one!' + +Number one proved to be the 'Wild Man from Borneo,' a half-human looking +creature with hairy arms ('Just monkey-skin stitched on to him,' Archie +assured the children), who sat jabbering in a corner of his cage, making +occasional ape-like grabs at the clothing of the passers-by. He was such +a palpable fraud that they soon left him, to gaze on the genuine charms +of the fat woman, who sat stolid and smiling on a sofa, displaying a +stout ankle to the best advantage. Peggy was rather fascinated, but +Archie made such very rude inquiries as to whether she were aspiring to +attain an equal bulk that she indignantly dragged him away to view the +living skeleton, a fearful, hollow-cheeked object, whose bones could +almost be counted. After that came the giant and dwarf, the former a +weedy specimen of unwholesome overgrowth, while the latter looked as if +he had been reared upon gin to keep him small. Then there was the +Circassian Beauty, with the strong suggestion of Whitechapel about her, +the bearded lady, the man with the expansive skin, the six-legged calf, +and the two-headed duck, to say nothing of the man who ate fire and +swallowed swords as if they constituted his usual diet. + +Archie insisted upon trying both the swing-boats and the merry-go-round, +and supported the drooping Peggy (who found the motion tend to +sea-sickness) with a firm arm, otherwise I fear she would have slipped +off her prancing steed altogether. They spent quite a long time in the +shooting-gallery, and won a cocoa-nut, which Bobby proudly carried round +the fair, and they had their photographs taken in a group, but some +air-bubbles having unfortunately got on to the plate, their countenances +came out speckled as though they were suffering from a virulent attack +of small-pox; but Peggy kept it, all the same, as a memento of the +occasion. Archie peeped into the cinematograph, but judging it not very +suitable for his little companions, marched them on to hear the +gramophone instead, which was winding out a rather indistinguishable +song. + +'I can't hear a single one of the words,' said Peggy, rather +disappointed. 'Something makes such a buzzing all the time.' + +'Yes, that's the machinery. I guess they've not got it set up quite +square. I'd soon fix it for them, if they'd let me. I took ours all to +pieces once at home'--and Archie glanced quite wistfully at the +instrument, almost ready to offer his services gratis, till a suggestive +pull from Peggy in the direction of the door caused him to remember that +his friends might prefer the superior attractions of the menagerie. + +Neither Peggy nor Bobby had ever seen a wild-beast show before, for +those visits to the Zoo, which are the joy of little Londoners, do not +fall to the share of country children, and Archie had quite a lively +time keeping them out of harm's way, for Peggy declared the leopard +looked so exactly like Tabbyskins at home that she must positively try +to stroke it, and was under the rope and up to the bars before Archie +could seize her by her skirts and drag her back, while Bobby's curiosity +on the subject of jackals and hyenas nearly led to the ejection of the +whole party from the tent. The small rodents and the mongoose delighted +Peggy, and they would have stopped for ever watching the monkeys, and +feeding them on nuts and biscuits, but Archie had other plans. + +'There's a circus down by the river, with Japanese acrobats, and +performing dogs, and a pig that stands on its head. I know you'd just +admire to see them; and it can't be late yet, so come right along!' + +Such an inducement sent even the attractions of the baby 'possum to the +winds, and feeling that Archie was indeed a friend worth having, they +trotted ecstatically under his wing to the great, flapping tent, where +the flaming posters set forth the attractions of 'The Brothers Amalfi,' +'Jingo, the Performing Pig,' and the 'Marvellous Flying Girl.' Being +well provided with pocket-money, and liking to do things in style, +Archie took reserved seats, and they sat in great state on a front bench +covered with faded scarlet cloth, and felt proudly that the man with the +drum kept his eye upon them, and the clown turned in their direction +when he let off his best jokes. + +It was all a whirl of delight to Peggy and Bobby, from the accomplished +dogs who danced skirt-dances to the little pig who dragged the clown in +a mail-cart and turned somersaults with amazing dexterity. The flying +lady fluttered across the tent so naturally that you quite forgot you +could see the wire that supported her airy form; the Japanese acrobats +climbed ropes, hung head downwards from poles, and suspended themselves +in a combination of marvellous attitudes, finally tying their agile +bodies together in a knot; a Hindoo conjuror performed marvels in the +way of canaries from under pocket-handkerchiefs, umbrellas out of +top-hats, even producing yards and yards of coloured ribbons out of his +own open mouth, much to Bobby's mystification; while the horses pounded +round the ring with quite commendable spirit, and a lady rider in gauze +and spangles jumped through hoops on to their backs with reckless +daring. + +'Oh, Archie, take me home!' cried Peggy at last, for a diet of +ginger-nuts, mint-rock, and lemonade is not exactly sustaining, and the +hobby-horses and swings, combined with the hot, stifling atmosphere of +the tent, made her suddenly feel as if the world were turning round her. + +'All right, old girl; you do look queer, certainly. Cling on to me, and +we'll fight our way out somehow. Come along, Bobby. Now then, make room +there, can't you? The lady's ill!' And pushing, edging, and struggling +through the crowd, Archie half carried her down the tent, and tugged her +through the doorway into the fresh air outside. + +They nearly fell into Father's arms. + +'Why, you naughty children! wherever have you been?' he exclaimed. 'I +have been hunting for you for hours. Lilian is almost distracted, +thinking you had been kidnapped in the fair; and Miss Forster has sent +up twice from the Willows. Don't you know it is nearly nine o'clock?' + +'They've been all right with me, sir,' said Archie. 'I've been taking +them round the shows, and time went so fast, I forgot to look at my +watch. But if aunt's in a stew, I'd better cut off home as fast as I +can, and ease her mind. Here, Peggy, take the rest of the mint-rock, +Bobby has the gingerbread!' + +But the remains of the revel, crammed generously into her arms, seemed +the last straw to poor Peggy, and Father took home such a very limp and +dejected young lady that he might well remark it was a good thing +fair-day only came once a year, an opinion in which a great many people +in Gorswen might feel disposed to agree with him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +ROLLO'S GRAVE + + 'Under the wide and starry sky + Dig the grave, and let him lie. + Glad did he live, and gladly die, + And he laid him down with a will.' + + +Rollo, now grown into a fine dog of a year old, remained Peggy's +favourite among all her numerous pets. Though she had not again tried +him for a bedfellow, he was still the companion of her walks, and the +most winsome playmate on wet days, and Peggy firmly believed that he +understood every word she said to him. He was growing clever with the +sheep, too, and Father hoped to be able to train him into a really +valuable collie, even hinting that he might in time gain a prize at the +annual sheep-dog contests which were held for the district of Gorswen +and the Welsh border. Peggy liked to see Rollo working with the sheep, +the tips of his ears twitching and his faithful brown eyes bright with +intelligence, as he cleverly sorted the lambs which Father had pointed +out from the rest of the flock, and drove them neatly into the +enclosure, coming up whimpering with pride for the praise which he knew +awaited his efforts. + +One lovely April morning Peggy started off alone, on the ostensible +errand of going to pay half a crown which was owing to old Williams, +the mole-catcher, but the more real one of gathering primroses and +hunting about for birds' nests. It was seldom that she was separated +from Bobby, who was as constant as her shadow, but to-day he had +preferred to stay and work in his garden, having many designs for its +improvement, while the holidays were waning only too fast. Peggy had +whistled for Rollo, but he was not to be found, and it was only when she +was more than half-way down the pasture that he came racing after her as +hard as he could tear, nearly knocking her down in the exuberance of his +joy. + +Instead of walking along the high-road, Peggy determined to take the +path through the fields which skirted the preserves belonging to Lord +Hazelford's estate, for the finest primroses grew at the edge of the +wood, and the earliest bluebells, and many a snug little nest might be +found hidden away in those quiet hedgerows. It was a glorious morning, +with the larks singing overhead and the thrushes trilling in the bushes, +and that delicious smell of the earth which we often notice in early +spring, and which makes the blood run through our veins like rising sap. +The trees were clothed with the pale, tender green of April, and a +cuckoo, the first of the year, flew out of the copse, and, cuckooing +loudly, sped over to where the larch-trees were bursting out into a +crowd of tassels. Peggy had no pocket in her dress, but she turned the +half-crown in her hand for good luck, and hoped it might answer the same +purpose. Rollo was almost as happy as his mistress. He poked his nose +into all the rabbit-burrows, he chased the birds, and dug holes for +rats, and generally behaved as if he were a puppy again, instead of a +sedate, grown-up dog, snapping at the flies, and standing over Peggy +wagging his tail in approval, while she gathered violets and +wood-anemones. + +The path which Peggy was following ran along a lane with the wood on one +side and a tall hedge on the other. It was a lonely spot, for there was +not even a farmhouse in sight, and as it was only a by-road it was very +seldom frequented, even by the country people. As she swung the gate +open, and passed from the field into the lane, she saw a sight which for +a moment made her hang back doubtfully, for a tramp lay stretched out +full length asleep in the sunshine, his tattered clothes and broken +boots a strange contrast to the bed of white daisies and celandine upon +which he lay. Peggy was not generally afraid of poor people, but even in +sleep this man had an evil, hang-dog look about his face, which might +have warned many an older person to give him a wide berth. She stood for +a little while with the gate in her hand, hesitating whether to go +forward or not, then, thinking she could probably pass him quietly +without waking him, she walked on, treading on tip-toe. But he could not +have been so fast asleep as she supposed, for he sprang up as she neared +him, and casting a swift glance round to see whether she were +accompanied or alone, held out his hand, and begged for money. + +'I have none to give you,' said Peggy, trying to pass him by; but he +stood over the path before her with a blustering air. + +'No money! What's that in your hand?' he said roughly. + +Peggy put her hand under her dress, and tried to beat a retreat to the +gate. + +'Now then!' cried the man, with a horrible oath, 'none of your slinking +off! You give me what you have there, or I'll break every bone in your +body, and worse! Here! Hand it over, quick!' + +He came a step nearer, but at that moment there was a rush and a rustle, +and Rollo bounded like an arrow through the gate, and flew at his +throat. The two rolled over together, and Peggy clung trembling to the +gatepost as she watched the confused heap at her feet, Rollo scratching, +snarling, and biting like a wild beast, and the tramp kicking, fighting, +and swearing in a way which made her blood go cold to hear. She was too +terrified to run away, and could only stand there, a breathless witness +of the scuffle. Now the dog had the mastery, and now the man, as each +panted and fought for his life; but at length something bright gleamed +in the sunlight, there was a cry of agony, and Rollo lay in a pool of +blood upon the grass. The tramp raised himself slowly up, and looked at +Peggy. Peggy shrieked, such a shriek of ghastly terror that it might +have been heard a mile away, and mercifully it _was_ heard, for there +was an answering call from the wood, followed by a rustle of branches +and dead leaves, and the keeper and his son burst through the thick +undergrowth, and came scrambling over the fence, almost before the echo +of her cry had died away. The tramp took to his heels, and was off down +the lane with sturdy Harry Adams racing after him, in less time than it +takes to tell it. + +'After him, Hal!' yelled his father. 'Don't let the villain escape! Send +a shot through his leg if he's gaining on you! Has the brute hurt you, +Miss Vaughan?'--looking Peggy tenderly over to see that no damage was +done. + +Peggy shook her head, for speech seemed almost impossible at that +moment, and she broke away from the keeper's eager inquiries to kneel +down by Rollo's side, trying vainly to staunch the crimson stream that +was draining his life away. But Rollo was beyond the reach of help now. +The poor beast made a feeble effort to raise himself up to greet his +loved little mistress; he whined, licked her hand, and with one last +affectionate glance from his rapidly-glazing eyes, rolled over on his +side--quite dead. + + * * * * * + +'He was a faithful friend, Peggy, for he laid down his life for you,' +said Father later on in the day, when poor Rollo's body had been carried +home to the stable, and the tramp safely lodged by Mr. Adams and Harry +in Warford Gaol, to await his trial for attempted highway robbery and +assault. + +Peggy had cried till her cheeks were purple and swollen and her eyes +were only two aching slits. She took her troubles hardly, and just at +present it seemed to her as if life could never be quite the same again. +Bobby, almost equally afflicted, had the added trial of trying to +conceal his grief, for he regarded tears as unmanly, and the result was +a peculiar shortness and roughness of manner, with frequent rushings +away to the barn when his feelings overcame him. Joe, whose sympathy +could not have been more genuine if Peggy had lost a parent, hovered +about all day, trying to console the bereaved pair, with small success, +till towards evening a sudden flash of genius inspired him to suggest a +funeral, perhaps his village experience teaching him that the bustle and +preparation necessary for such a ceremony was the best safety-valve to +work off sorrow. + +'We might bury him among the ruins, Miss Peggy. There's a fine place +round by the old abbot's house, where the ground is soft, and we could +dig easy; and I've a cousin in the slate-quarries at Bethogwen as has +promised many a time to cut me a little tombstone as a present, if ever +I was wantin' one, so I'll ask him to bring it next time he comes, and +put Rollo's name on it, and the day, and as how he died defendin' you; +and we'll fix it up nice, and plant flowers round, just as if it was the +churchyard.' + +Peggy sat up, and wiped her eyes with the corner of her damp +pocket-handkerchief. + +'He ought to be in the real churchyard,' she said chokily. 'If ever a +dog deserved the Victoria Cross and a military funeral, it's Rollo!' + +'Do you think he'll go to heaven?' asked Bobby, with a suspicious gulp. + +'Of course he will! I wonder you can ask such a question! Heaven +wouldn't be heaven unless we found Rollo there! We'll wrap his body in +the Union Jack, and pick all our best flowers to strew round him; and +you might fire off your old pistol over his grave, if Father will let +you have any gunpowder--a parting salute, you know, like they do for +officers,' said Peggy, cheering up a little at the thought of arranging +the obsequies. + +Just at sunset the melancholy procession started off from the stable +towards the ruins. Joe and Bobby were bearers, and carried between them +the packing-case lid, draped with all the available flags that could be +found, which bore what had once been poor Rollo. Peggy followed as chief +mourner, her arms full of wreaths and flowers, and a piece of black +crape, purloined from the scrap-bag, pinned conspicuously upon her hat. +The place chosen was among the most perfect part of the old Abbey, not +so much filled up with stones and rubbish as the great refectory or the +remains of the choir. Tradition pointed it out as the abbot's house, and +that name had clung to it through all the hundreds of years since the +busy monks had lived and worked there. + +'Suppose you dig just here, Joe,' cried Peggy, selecting a spot where a +blackthorn was bursting forth into a sheet of white blossom and the +primroses were yellowest and best. + +Joe moistened the palms of his hands in the orthodox fashion, and +seizing the spade began to shovel away at the loose, light soil. He had +dug about three feet deep when his spade struck against a smooth, flat +stone, which, instead of coming out easily amongst the rubbish, seemed +to extend for some way underneath the surface. + +'It looks like a paving-stone, for all the world,' he said, sweeping the +soil away from it with his hand. 'I'll dig out the earth all around it, +and see what it do be.' + +It took Joe a considerable time to clear the stone, though Bobby went to +his aid with a trowel; but he got it free at last, and Peggy stooped +down curiously to examine it. + +'There are marks on it, like letters and queer figures, but they're all +filled up with soil,' she said. 'It seems to me it's a kind of lid, and +if you dig round the edge a little more, Joe, we might lift it up. It's +rather like the cover of one of those old stone coffins in the +churchyard, only smaller. I wonder if there is anything inside?' + +Joe set to work again with a will, clearing out the earth well from +under the side of the stone; then, putting his fingers beneath it, he +gave a mighty jerk of his strong arms, and up it came, nearly upsetting +him with the force of the recoil. Three eager faces peered anxiously +down into what certainly looked like the inside of a small stone coffin, +but instead of containing mouldering bones, it held a good-sized chest +of oak, bound with iron, rather rusted and crumbling, but still holding +quite firmly together. + +'Lift it out, Joe!' cried Peggy, in such excitement that Rollo was +almost forgotten for the moment. 'Whatever can be inside it?' + +'It bean't no light weight, Miss Peggy, whatever it be,' groaned Joe, +for it was as much as he could manage to heave the heavy chest from its +resting-place on to the grass above. + +'There may be money and all sorts of treasures in it,' suggested Bobby. +'Perhaps the smugglers left it behind.' + +'Nay, this be older nor smugglers,' said Joe, with a glance at the solid +workmanship and the quaint carving on the old lid, 'unless they made use +of an old thing for their own purposes. Let be, Master Bobby, I can't do +nothing with you hangin' over me like this!' + +He had been fumbling with the ancient rusty lock while he spoke, and it +now broke away from the rotten woodwork. He flung back the heavy lid, +and revealed--neither gold nor jewels, nothing but a pile of +musty-looking old parchments and books. The children looked at each +other in blank disappointment. + +'There might be something underneath,' said Peggy, beginning to rummage +the chest to the very bottom; but her hopes were soon dashed, for a +further search did not bring anything more to light. + +'How disgusting! Who cares for old books?' exclaimed Bobby, whose heart +had been set on stolen jewels, smuggled valuables, or daggers and +firearms at the least. + +'They're very funny ones, at any rate,' said Peggy, picking up one of +the despised tomes. 'Just look at the backs. They're so thick and heavy. +They seem to be made of metal of some kind, with little bits of coloured +glass stuck into them; but they're terribly tarnished and dirty. I can't +read the writing inside at all, and there are the queerest little +pictures all round the edges of the pages.' + +'What be I to do with the box?' asked Joe, gazing at their find in some +perplexity. 'And be I to dig another hole for the burial, miss, or not?' + +Her thoughts recalled to the melancholy occasion, Peggy flung down the +book, and her grief broke forth anew. + +'We'll bury him in the old stone coffin,' she declared. 'We'll line it +with leaves and primroses, and then lay him in, and just drop on the lid +again. I'm glad he should have a real coffin, after all, and the Abbey's +almost as good as the churchyard, for Father says lots of the old monks +must have been buried here, if we could only find their graves.' + +Even Ophelia could not have chosen a more flowery resting-place, for the +children covered poor Rollo with violets, primroses, and white +sloe-blossom. Joe carefully replaced the lid, and shovelled on the soil +again, heaping it up, and smoothing it with the flat of his spade, in +imitation of the village sexton. + +Father had refused to allow gunpowder, so the pistol was useless, but +Peggy placed a wreath of white jonquils picked from her own garden upon +the grave, and dropped so many tears over it that I do not think any dog +could have been more truly mourned and regretted. + +'You won't forget about the tombstone, will you, Joe?' she said, finding +the prospect of a monument to her pet decidedly consoling. 'I mean to +make up a nice epitaph for him, in poetry if I can manage it--something +about his being such a beauty, and then dying doing his duty, because +that would rhyme.' + +'Miss Peggy,' declared Joe solemnly, 'you shall have that there little +tombstone, if I has to go without one myself. You write the words out +plain on a piece of paper, and I'll walk over to Bethogwen the very next +time I gets a holiday. You'll see my cousin will do it beautiful, havin' +worked a year in a stonemason's yard, and being fond of a dog, too. He +might even try his hand at a weepin' angel or a broken flower at the +top, but I can't promise that, not knowin' whether he's kept his tools.' + +The box containing the old manuscript was carried into the loft by Joe, +and examined by Father at his leisure. + +'I don't know much about this sort of thing, Peggy,' he said, 'but I +should imagine they would be mostly old records and deeds of the Abbey. +It is marvellous how well they are preserved, but the oak and the stone +combined must have kept out the air, and parchment does not decay like +paper. Valuable? Not from a money point of view, I am afraid; but no +doubt they would prove very interesting to some antiquarian who could +read them. We will keep them here until the Rector comes home again. I +expect he will be delighted to look over them some day, and will tell us +what they are all about.' + +Mr. Vaughan had intended to write an account of the find to the local +newspaper, but in the hurry and worry of his affairs he forgot. The +Rector was still away, and as nobody else took any interest in such +matters, the mysterious old chest stayed neglected among the corn-sacks. +Only Peggy sometimes stole up the stone staircase, and taking one of +the strange books from its hiding-place, would pore over the quaint +pictures which bordered the pages. They fascinated her with their crude +drawing and colours still vivid and bright--saints with halos round +their heads, kneeling rapt in prayer, with folded hands, in the midst of +green fields and flowers, while the Virgin, clothed in blue and gold, +appeared with a whole company of angels from the skies above; patient +martyrs, with wan faces upturned to heaven, while their persecutors +flung stones, or heaped on the burning brands; the blessed passing into +the joys of Paradise, with the wicked writhing in the tormenting flames +below; and round all a curious illuminated bordering, where strange +faces peered out of twisting foliage, and figures of birds and animals +were intertwined with patterns of flowers or the tail of a capital +letter. What patient fingers, she wondered, had toiled over these in +days gone by, working with paint-pots and palette of gold to put the +glory of paradise on his pages? Had the world altered much in all these +years? And how little did the old artist think that his work would be +found and marvelled at when he and his order were alike forgotten, and +the very Abbey where he had lived and laboured had long since crumbled +away! + +So the old chest remained in the loft, as hidden there as when it had +been buried in the earth, and Peggy came and went, never dreaming in the +time that followed that these ancient, musty relics could in any way be +bound up with the fate and fortunes of the Vaughans. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +DEEPENING TROUBLE + + 'The web of our life is a mingled yarn, + Good and ill together.' + + +As the year advanced, Mr. Vaughan found that his troubles by no means +decreased. Mr. Norton, urged on by his solicitor, was a hard creditor, +and would allow neither time nor mercy. He had taken a fancy to the +place, it seemed, and hearing that some of the neighbouring properties +would probably soon be on sale, wished to settle down at Gorswen and let +it form the nucleus of a large new estate. Unless the whole of the +mortgages could be paid up by the end of July, the property must fall +into his hands, and the black cloud which had hung for so long over the +Abbey seemed on the verge of breaking. + +Mr. Vaughan had tried by every means in his power to meet his +difficulties, but all the channels he had counted upon had failed him, +and as he sat over his account-books late into the night blank ruin +stared him in the face. So impossible did it seem in any way to raise so +large a sum of money that he began quietly to make arrangements to +realize what he could on the stock and furniture, to enable him to make +a fresh start in a fresh place. It would be too trying, he decided, to +settle down anywhere in the neighbourhood of his old home, and it would +be better for both himself and his children to seek their fortune in a +new country, where his practical knowledge of farming should stand him +in good stead. He had thought at first of Kansas or Nebraska, but having +a friend in Australia, who might help him considerably in the choice of +land, he determined to give the preference to the colonies, and to try +his luck under the Southern Cross. It would be impossible to take much +more than their personal belongings with them, so everything else would +have to be sold on previously. Already an auctioneer had been sent for +to the Abbey to inspect the furniture, and give some idea of what it +might be likely to realize. It made Lilian's blood boil to see him +appraising the old oak, examining the curtains and carpets, and taking +notes of the pictures and books. + +'There's grand stuff here for a sale,' he said to her enthusiastically, +rubbing his hands as if he expected her to share in his joy. 'We shall +have dealers from all over the kingdom. It's not often one gets the +chance of genuine antiques which have been known to be in one family for +such a length of time. I shouldn't wonder, now, if that Chippendale +suite were to run into three figures; it's a very scarce pattern, and +much sought after. There's some china, too, that will attract many of +the buyers, and should go for a fair price, and that Romney portrait +ought to be quite a catch. I think you will find that in our experienced +hands the very utmost will be made of everything. Of course, we shall +advertise the sale in good time, and have catalogues printed and +distributed in every likely quarter.' + +'It seems quite bad enough to have to sell the things at all,' said +Lilian afterwards. 'But to hear him talk of putting all our dear old +treasures down in a catalogue made me feel absolutely ill. I can't bear +to have the Romney picture go, either, because it's just like Peggy; it +might have been painted from her'--the vision of the family portraits +and the armour of her ancestors being turned over and valued by oily +gentlemen of the Hebrew persuasion adding a double sting to the trial. + +Bobby was still too young to fully understand everything that was taking +place, but to the two girls it was a time of bitter trouble and +humiliation. To Peggy, the mere fact that it should be Phyllis Norton +who would take her place at the Abbey seemed as hard as anything to +bear, and she knew her old home would pass to a family who would care +nothing for its ancient traditions and associations. Mr. Norton had +spoken freely of his plans in the neighbourhood, and it was well known +that he intended to almost rebuild the house, pulling down the ruins and +all the more early portion, and turning the whole into a handsome modern +residence. Of romance and respect for the past he possessed not a whit, +and valued the estate for its shooting and horse-rearing capabilities +alone. + +'All the things which we care for most will be done away with,' grieved +Peggy--'the dear old tower pulled down, the ruins destroyed, the garden +uprooted, and the woods cleared away. I should not have minded so much +if we could have given up the place to someone who would have kept it +just as it is. It seems so hard we should be turned out when we love it +so. I feel as if, when we leave the Abbey, there will be nothing left!' + +'We shall still have each other, Peggy,' said Father. 'And while our +little circle is unbroken, I think we shall be able to make a home again +somewhere. It is hard to be torn up by the roots, but you must not let +it spoil your young lives, at any rate. I hope my children may get on as +well in the new country as they would have done in this, though an old +fellow like I am may find it difficult to settle down again.' + +'You're not old, Father,' said Lilian, stroking the hair which had shown +tell-tale streaks of gray lately among the brown. + +'I feel old, my dear, after all I have gone through. It is worry, not +years, which ages people. But there's life in the old dog yet, and we'll +make a brave push for it in Australia.' + +'I wish Aunt Helen were here,' said Peggy. 'She would have been _such_ a +comfort in all this trouble!' + +'No, no!' cried Father hastily. 'Thank God she's out of it, at any rate! +I feel it one of my blessings to know she was safely settled before this +came upon us. Aunt Helen has had too much trouble in her life, without +taking any more upon her shoulders. She'll be grieved enough about it as +it is, even out there in India with her husband to console her.' + +In spite of all possible care, the secret of the state of affairs at the +Abbey soon leaked out in the neighbourhood, causing the utmost +consternation and regret, for the Vaughans were universally liked and +respected, while for Mr. Norton nobody could find a good word. The +matter was much discussed at the Bluebell Inn, where old Ephraim, having +served the family for forty years, was considered an authority on the +subject, and graciously allowed himself to be treated by the assembled +company while he gave voice to his opinions. + +'It's not as I holds by pride of birth,' he argued, 'and me a Radical +fifty year and more. When I were a lad, there were a talk o' choppin' up +th' land, an' givin' share and share alike to all, but they never done +it. It come up sure enough at election times, as regular as free trade +or the income-tax. "Three acres o' land and a cow," was what was +promised th' poor man if he'd give his vote to th' Liberal candidate; +but it weren't nothing but talk, and came to naught.' + +'They be mostly windbags, they candidates,' observed Tom Slater, the +village blacksmith, settling himself more easily in a corner of the +bench by the fireside, and holding up a stalwart finger for the pot-boy. + +'Ay, as empty as a glass wi' naught in it!' replied Ephraim, shaking his +head, and gazing reflectively at his empty tumbler. + +Taking the hint, Tom ordered gin-and-water hot for two, and gently +turned the conversation back to the Vaughans. + +'If there's to be property,' said the old man, 'let them have it, sez I, +as is used to it, and knows what's due to other folk. There's Mester +Vaughan would always do a good turn to a poor body if it lay in his way, +but this here Mester Norton's as tight-fisted a screw as ever looked at +a penny twice afore he parted with it.' + +'Ay, he be that, and scant honest,' cried the stout miller, with a +lively remembrance of sundry hard transactions with grain for the +distilleries, in which, to his chagrin, he had had distinctly the worst +side of the bargain. 'It be the same with all they that make haste to +get rich,' he added piously. 'But they'll take their place with Dives +when other folk has gone to Abraham's bosom.' + +'You hain't done badly yourself, Mester Griffiths,' suggested Tom +Slater, 'if it come to a matter o' that. Folks say you've a tidy sum +laid by in Warford Bank.' + +'Earned by the sweat o' my brow, Tom,' said the miller, puffing away at +his long churchwarden pipe. 'The work o' my hands has been blessed and +prospered. Ay, the Lord's been very good to me, and I've done Him +credit, too!' + +For Ebenezer Griffiths was deacon of Salem Chapel, and accustomed to +regard himself as the main bulwark and pillar of the religious and moral +welfare of the village. + +'I've not any grudge against them as has money,' observed old Ephraim +oracularly, 'but when it's used to turn them as hasn't out of their own, +it's time them Socialists had a innings and stepped in. There was Mester +Vaughan givin' interest fair on them mortgages, and I've heard as th' +lawyer hisself said as he were safe as th' bank to pay regular, and what +call had Mester Norton to buy 'em up, and ask for th' principal back, +when it weren't in reason as he could raise it?' + +'A case of Naboth's vineyard,' sighed the miller. 'He coveted the land, +and is using foul means to get it.' + +But Ephraim's knowledge of Scripture being limited, the allusion was +lost upon him. + +'Let th' Government take it up, sez I,' he declared, waxing excited, and +thumping his fist on the table. 'It 'ud be a sight better nor passing +land bills for Ireland, where no one's satisfied i' th' end, do what un +may. Let Mester Vaughan go up to Lunnon, and put it fair afore th' House +o' Commons, like th' deputations as th' newspapers tell on, and they'd +listen to un, and see un to his rights.' + +Tom Slater shook his head. He had little opinion of Parliament, having +supported the wrong candidate at the last election, and pinned his +faith to purely local measures. + +'We might boycott Norton, may be,' he observed thoughtfully, 'and mek +the place too hot to hold him.' + +'Ay, Tom, that be a good notion, surely,' put in little Sam Andrews, the +joiner. 'Send him a letter with a coffin drawed out at the top, or a +skull and cross-bones, to say as how that's what's waitin' for un, if he +comes to Gorswen.' + +'Ye'll be gettin' into trouble, Samuel,' said the miller. 'Norton would +put the police on your track, and clap you in Warford Gaol for +threatening his life.' + +'But it wouldn't be me alone if we made a round robin o' it,' said Sam +hastily, who had by no means anticipated carrying out the scheme on his +own responsibility. 'Or I'd send un wi'out puttin' a name to un--a +unanimous letter they calls un, I believe.' + +'Anomalous?' suggested Tom Slater. + +'Anonymous be the word,' said the miller. 'But it's agin the law, +Sam--agin the law. Nay, it's a case where the wicked do prosper. I be +main sorry for Mester Vaughan, I be, but the ways o' Providence be dark +and past findin' out.' + +If there was sympathy for Mr. Vaughan's trouble among the patrons of the +Bluebell Inn, nearer home it waxed both keen and practical. + +'Take me with you, sir,' begged poor Joe, dissolving into tears at the +thought of parting with the family to whom he was so much attached. 'I'd +serve you faithful, and never ask a penny of wages, but just my keep +till you got settled and started. I've got eight pound ten laid by in +the savings-bank, which would go towards my passage-money, and my granny +would lend me the rest. I'd be glad to try my luck over the seas, and +maybe it 'ud seem more homelike to Master Bobby and the young ladies to +find a face they knew about 'em in a place where all was strangers.' + +Warm-hearted Nancy was in a perpetual tempest of regret, and assured +Lilian that if she had not faithfully promised to marry Tom Higgins she +would have packed her box and insisted upon joining the party. + +'But he have took the farm, Miss Lilian, and bespoke three cows, and a +pig, and twelve hens, and he be such a fule he'd no more know what to do +with 'em than a babe, so I must have him, if it's for naught but the +sake of the poor beasts'--which certainly seemed a most convincing +reason. + +Perhaps to David the anticipated change meant as much as to anyone, for +he was growing too old to seek a new master, and dreaded the inevitable +time when he would be shelved from work, and placed on the parish list, +to the self-respecting poor always the bitterest sting of old age. The +day of possible emigration for him had long gone by, and his must be the +harder part of remaining to watch the Abbey pass into the hands of 'a +Pharaoh who knew not Joseph,' and who could not be counted upon for +either kindness or charity in his dealings with the poor around him. + +As it was such an open secret, Peggy did not feel she was betraying any +confidence by discussing their affairs with Archie when he came over for +his brief half-term holiday, and in the seclusion of the stack-yard she +poured out her troubles into his sympathetic ear. + +'Oh, I say, look here, you know,' cried the boy, ruffling up his +chestnut locks with both hands, which was a way he had when upset, 'if +you go out to Australia, I shall come too! I could persuade aunt to go +in a jiffey--the doctor said she'd be a million times better in a drier +climate--and we'd take the farm next to yours. Now my poor old dad's +gone, and my mother's married again, and the boys all trading off on +their own account, I don't want to go back to Colorado; but I like +colonial life, and farming would be a lot jollier than school, any way, +for the fellows in my house are awful Johnnies, they can talk of nothing +but games, and laugh at one for a crank if one tries to make things.' + +'It would be nice if you went too,' said Peggy, quite brightening at the +prospect, for not the least part of her trouble had been the thought of +leaving her friends. + +'Then we'll go. Cheer up, Pegsie; you'll see it won't be so bad as you +imagine. Australia's a fine place to get on in, and there'll be queer +trees and flowers, and kangaroos, and natives, and all sorts of new +things to see. Of course, I know it's an awful wrench leaving the Abbey; +but, after all, there are other places in the world to locate in. +There's no end of jolly fun going on on board ship, I can tell you, and +you'll have a real good time on the voyage out, and at the ports, +especially with me to show you around; and when we get fixed up on our +new ranches I guess you'll allow that things are pretty first-rate!' + +'It would never be the Abbey, though, however jolly it was. I had meant +to live here all my life, and be buried in the transept when I die. I +have a feeling as if the Crusaders and the Elizabethan lady and +gentleman on the monuments would miss us when we go away,' said Peggy, +relapsing into pensiveness once more. + +But Archie had been brought up in a democratic country, and had little +sympathy for the ties of race. + +'Oh, bother the ancient Crusaders, and the other folks under the +tombstones! If they could get up again and chop off old Norton's head, +and fight anyone who laid a finger on the Abbey, they'd be of some use +to you. I believe there are a pile of old Forsters lying under elaborate +tombs somewhere in Northumberland, but what have they ever done for me? +It's no use being sentimental about old times. I'll undertake there was +precious little sentiment about them in those days. Didn't they come +sailing over from Denmark and Normandy, and all sorts of places, to +settle down in England, which was a new country then, just as we're +thinking of going out to Australia? Five hundred years hence we shall be +quite ancient history ourselves, and folks can romance over our +tombstones if they feel inclined. And after all, why should one's +ancestors do everything for one? I guess I'd rather make my mark in the +world for myself,'--for the boy had all the enthusiasm of a pioneer +about him, added to a sturdy spirit of independence. + +This was quite a new gospel to Peggy, and though she could not +altogether reconcile it with her clinging love for the home of so many +generations of Vaughans, it did her good in that it gave her a fresh +aspect of life, for it is always wise to look at things from another +person's point of view, as well as your own, and she had a great respect +for Archie's opinions. + +In the meantime things went on at the Abbey just as though the family +were not, metaphorically speaking, sitting on the edge of a volcano. +Daily duties must be done, however sore your heart may be, and the work +of a farm can never be stopped for your private troubles. So Lilian +reared fluffy chickens and yellow ducklings which would probably never +grace her poultry-yard, and Father cultivated the fields, though he +might not be there to gather in the harvest. It seemed hard to Peggy to +think that the trees would bud and the flowers blossom, and the crops +grow, when they were not there to watch it all, for most of us have a +kind of feeling that we are the important centre around which Nature +turns, instead of only mere spectators of her varying moods, and +sometimes it felt so impossible that such an utter upheaval in their +lives could really come to pass that she would have to shake herself to +believe that it was not all a bad dream; but as she noticed the quiet +preparations that went on, and the added worry on Father's face, she +realized that it was only too true, and that every day was bringing them +nearer to that terrible twenty-fifth of July when the mortgages would +fall due. + +There is always a silver lining, however, to every cloud, and I think +this trouble, hard as it was to bear, made one of the stepping-stones in +Peggy's character. At first she had been inclined to grumble and repine, +and say that life was using them hardly, but something which the Rector +(always the family confidant) wrote to her in one of his frequent +letters made her stop and think. + +'If you are really anxious to be a help and comfort, Peggy, here is your +grand opportunity. Now that the sky is so overcast at home, suppose you +put your own part of the trouble quite on one side, and let your bright +ways make the family sunshine. One cheerful person in a sad house can +work wonders, and by being specially gentle and loving just now you can +make Father remember that his children are more to him than his old +home, and that, after all, love is the best thing in this life, and +worth more than houses, or lands, or any goods which the world may +offer us. A really bright, sunny disposition is as much a talent as any +other of God's good gifts, so be thankful, child, you possess it, and +make the best use you can of it in the Master's service.' + +Peggy put the letter by among the treasures in her work-box. She did not +speak about it, or show it to anyone, but after that not a further +grumble escaped her, and she managed to find such a bright side to the +question, and talked so often and so hopefully of the future, that +Father said she was as good as a tonic, and began to find his little +daughter such a comfort to him, and so different to the old thoughtless +Peggy of former days, that I scarcely know how he would have got through +that trying time without her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY + + 'Who comes to the ruin, the ivy-clad ruin, + With old shaking arches, all moss-overgrown?' + + +May drew to a close with a burst of warm weather, and the Whitsuntide +holidays promised to prove all that the heart of the cheap tripper might +desire, though beyond a chance cyclist or two that article was as +unknown as the dodo in quiet Gorswen, where fortunately the charms of +the scenery had not yet been spoilt by picnic parties leaving greasy +sandwich papers and ginger-beer bottles in the woods, and demanding +noisy entertainment in the village, nor the youth of the neighbourhood +corrupted into hanging round the public-house doors to listen to the +mirth and songs of the excursionists within, or offer faded bunches of +flowers in exchange for halfpence. Gorswen, having taken its annual +holiday at Easter, made no account of Whit-week, and went on with its +work as usual, for the agricultural labourer does not claim so much in +the way of pleasure as his brethren of the loom or the forge, and is +content with an occasional fair or village feast to break the monotony +of his daily life. + +Whit Monday was a holiday at school, however, and Peggy and Bobby, +having the day at home, took a sudden fit of industry, and started to +weed the shrubbery with the noble intention of having it raked over and +tidied by teatime, being put somewhat on their mettle by Father's +remarks on the subject of sustained labour, and his laughing incredulity +when they assured him he would find it all neatly finished when he +returned from Warford that evening. It was a warm day, and gardening is +particularly back-breaking work, but they toiled grimly away, neither +liking to be the first to give in, and soon began to make considerable +headway among the weeds. + +'Hello!' cried Bobby suddenly, pausing in his task of uprooting a giant +dock. 'Who on earth is all this crew coming up the drive? I say, Peggy, +do come and look!' + +Peggy was not sorry to find an excuse to fling down her hoe and basket, +and she came scrambling up the bank just in time to witness the strange +procession that was slowly straggling from the great gate towards the +front-door. There were gentlemen, young, old and middle-aged, some in +tourist tweeds, some in boating flannels, and some in sober black, most +of them with books or road-maps in their hands, while a sprinkling of +ladies, both grave and frivolous, in light summer costumes and with gay +parasols, completed the party. That they were on an errand of pleasure +was evident, for there was a tolerable amount of laughing and talking, +while all appeared to be taking stock of the house and surroundings with +considerable interest. + +'Whatever can they want?' said Peggy, who certainly had never seen the +Abbey invaded by such an alarming number of callers before. 'They look +as if they were going to take the place by storm!' + +After a short parley at the door, the visitors were conducted by Nancy +to the side-gate, where they all filed into the ruins, from whence a +lively hum of conversation could plainly be heard. + +'I vote we go and see what they're after,' said Bobby, his curiosity +getting the better of him; and, abandoning the weeds, the children ran +round by the kitchen garden into the house. + +'Did ye ever see the like?' said Nancy, as they catechized that giggling +maiden for information. 'They calls themselves "The Welsh Borders +Society of Antiquaries," so they sez. It's got the name on this little +paper as they've left, and they comes to the door wantin' master's +permission to look at the ruins. I sez he ain't in, but I asks Miss +Lilian, and she tells 'em "Yes," and there they all is, pokin' about +amongst the nettles, and grubbin' up stones, and stickin' bits of mortar +in their pockets, and dodgin' about with yard measures, for all the +world like a set of lunatics. What they can find to look at passes me, +for there's nought there but the walls and stones. And it seems they've +come all the way from Warford in waggonettes. Just think of that, now! +Only to look at a few old ruins, when they might 'a' spent Whit Monday +in the Spa Gardens, with the Grenadier Band, and the variety company +down from Lunnon, too!' + +'But the ruins are tremendously interesting, Nancy; I don't wonder +people want to come and look at them. Just think how old they are!' + +'Well, the gentry has queer tastes, I will allow. There's you and Master +Bobby, now, always a-collecting of stones and insects and like rubbish +to litter up the Rose Parlour, and I suppose some grown folk is as +foolish as children over such things. However, it's live and let live, +and if they care to take their pleasure that way, let 'em, although it +wouldn't be my taste if I was a lady born.' + +'Come along, Bobby,' said Peggy, 'we'll go into the ruins, and see what +these people are doing. Miss Crossland has often talked about the +Antiquarian Society in the history lessons at school, and I always +wanted to see one of the meetings.' + +'Ay, do,' said Nancy, 'and if you can make head or tail of their talk, +it's more than I can. One of 'em asked me if there was any sepulchral +slabs, and it turned out she only meant tombstones after all. She could +'a got plenty o' they in Warford Cemetery, without coming this distance, +I reckon.' + +Feeling rather shy, and not liking to intrude their presence upon +strangers, the children followed the party into the ruins, and creeping +under the protecting shelter of some bushes, found they could take quite +a good view of the proceeding unobserved. The antiquarians did not seem +to be discussing anything very learned just at present, for they had +drawn out flasks, and packets of sandwiches, and were engaged in +picnicking upon the stones in a truly modern fashion, while occasional +bursts of laughter were wafted along the air. + +'It looks jolly fun. I wish they'd ask us to join them!' whispered +Bobby. + +'I don't see Miss Crossland there,' returned Peggy. 'But perhaps she's +away for Whitsuntide. They certainly seem to be having a good time.' + +To enjoy an _al fresco_ meal, however, was evidently not the main +business of the society, for the members soon disposed of their +refreshments, and began to collect in little groups round a +learned-looking gentleman, who, with a bundle of papers in his hand, +seemed clearing his throat in preparation for giving an address. The +children could hear most of what he said, and a very interesting account +of the Abbey it proved to be, with a description of the size and extent +of the old buildings, and the life led by the ancient monks, which quite +delighted Peggy, who revelled in Scott's novels and historical stories, +and which made the past days rise up so clearly before her that she +could almost fancy the bell ringing for vespers, and hear the rustle of +the gray robes of the friars as they passed silently up the chancel to +their stalls in the choir. The members seemed to take copious notes in +pocket-books, and asked occasional questions, one literary-looking lady, +in spectacles and a large black hat with nodding feathers, being +particularly insistent, and volunteering so much information that she +threatened to usurp the place of the lecturer, and had to be gently +suppressed, while an old gentleman distributed pamphlets broadcast, +declaring he had had them specially printed for the occasion. The +speeches were over at length, and a last farewell round of the ruins +having been made, the society finally took its departure, with the +intention of viewing the church, and an injunction for all the members +to assemble for tea at the Bluebell Arms at half-past four precisely. + +As the last pink parasol and straw hat disappeared through the little +gate, Peggy and Bobby emerged from their retirement, somewhat stiff and +cramped, and were just about to give vent to a wild war-whoop as some +slight relief to their pent-up feelings when they noticed that after all +they were not alone. Two antiquarians had remained behind, so evidently +fascinated with their surroundings that they lingered about, measuring +the walls with a yard-tape, and putting down the items in well-worn +pocket-books. One of them was a singular-looking old gentleman, small +and thin, with a clean-shaven face and a scholarly stoop. Seemingly he +thought considerably more of his books than of such details as his +toilet, for there was a very large expanse of gray sock visible above +his dusty shoes, and his limp shirt-front looked guiltless of starch. In +spite of the heat of the day, he wore two overcoats, one above the +other, and the pockets of both were filled to overflowing with pamphlets +and papers. He kept a fragment of pencil continually in the corner of +his mouth, like a cigar, and Peggy noticed that when he accidentally +mislaid his pocket-book he jotted down notes upon his cuffs, as if it +were quite an ordinary occurrence to use them in lieu of paper. The +other old gentleman was stout and jovial-looking, with a full gray beard +and whiskers, and an amazingly juvenile suit of tweeds. It was evident +that his pitch of enthusiasm, or perhaps physical endurance, was not +equal to that of his companion, for he panted with heat as he held the +other end of the yard measure, and gave vent to occasional grunts of +disapprobation as he toiled painfully to the tops of mounds to get +bird's-eye views of the outlined cells, or take snap-shots of the +remains of the windows and columns. + +'Interesting, most interesting! Abounding at every yard with testimony +of the past, and in some ways unique, and a valuable contribution to our +list of early English abbeys. With your photographs, Sedgwick, we shall +have ample material for our projected treatise, which I trust should be +ready for the September issue of the _Archæologian_'--and the little old +gentleman sat down on a broken column, and pulled a sheaf of papers out +of one of his many pockets. + +'Warm work, though, Doctor,' replied the other, wiping his steaming +brow. 'I believe I would sell my birthright for a tumbler of water. I +wonder if they would give us some up at the house. There does not seem +to be a spring or anything about here.' + +'You will be having tea soon,' said he of the two overcoats +unsympathetically, 'and I am most anxious to compare your notes and +measurements with my own. This is such a favourable opportunity that I +think we had better seize the occasion while we are on the spot to make +fresh observations in case of any discrepancies in our descriptions.' + +The stout man seemed to comply unwillingly, and the friends were soon +immersed in calculations, quite unaware of the two pairs of watchful +eyes close by which had taken in the whole situation. + +'I'm sorry for that fat man,' whispered Bobby. 'He looks as if he were +ready to melt. The way he pounded up and down those mounds made me hot +to watch him.' + +'Poor old fellow! You'd think the other would be hot, too, in two +overcoats! I declare I shall go in and fetch them some milk!' cried +Peggy, starting up impulsively. 'You can stay, if you like, and tell +them I'm bringing it.' + +But bashful Bobby distinctly objected to accost strangers, and preferred +to follow her in the direction of the house, offering to act scout while +she did the foraging. Not being quite certain how her efforts at +hospitality might be received at headquarters, Peggy watched Nancy +successfully out of the way, and dashing into the dairy, emerged +presently with a jug of milk and two glasses perilously balanced on a +tray, which she nearly upset in her efforts to elude the returning deity +of the kitchen. + +'You can go first, Bobby,' she suggested, as she struggled with her +burden through the side-gate, 'and say "Good-afternoon," and "Would +they like some milk?" and then I can offer them the tray.' + +'Well, I like that, when it was your idea altogether! No, thank you, I +don't care to be in it!'--and meanly deserting at the last moment, Bobby +fled into the sanctuary of the garden, leaving Peggy to carry her +refreshments to the ruins alone. + +I think if it had not been for the fact that she knew Bobby was peeping +at her from over the wall, Peggy would have turned tail too, but as it +was, she felt bound to carry out her project, and under the fire of his +laughing eyes she walked sturdily towards the strangers. She had thought +of at least three pretty speeches to make for the occasion, but when it +came to the point she could not remember any of them, and could only +hold out the tray, blushing very much, and saying nothing at all. The +old gentlemen looked so surprised at the sudden apparition before them +that the numerous books and papers fell to the ground in wild confusion. + +'Hebe, surely!' said the stout gentleman, with a little bow. 'Is this +nectar which you are offering us, fair nymph? Doctor, this is indeed a +godsend! Allow me to pour you out a glass of this beverage. Ah! nectar +indeed!'--as he set down his empty tumbler. 'I feel refreshed and +invigorated. May I ask if it is the sprite of the ruins to whom we are +indebted for this bounty?' + +Rather taken aback by his bantering tone, Peggy was at a loss what to +answer, but the other old gentleman, noticing her confusion, came to the +rescue. + +'Many thanks, my dear, for your kindness,' he said, with stately, +old-fashioned courtesy. 'We have much enjoyed the examination of your +most interesting ruins, and if your Father had been at home to-day, I +should have given myself the pleasure of thanking him in person. I +shall make a point, however, of sending him a copy of my report in the +_Archæologian_, where I trust he will find many items of information +respecting the origin and history of the Abbey with which perchance he +may be unacquainted. By-the-by, may I ask if any curiosities have ever +been found while ploughing in these fields?' + +'Not when they were ploughing,' said Peggy, finding her voice at last. +'But when we were digging last Easter here in the ruins we found a funny +old box.' + +'_What!_' cried the old gentleman, bouncing up in his excitement like an +indiarubber ball. 'You actually found something _here_, in the Abbey, +when digging? Sedgwick, do you hear that?' + +The stout man smiled appreciatively. + +'Perhaps our fair nymph will kindly describe the nature of the +discovery,' he suggested. + +'There was a big old stone box first,' began Peggy. + +'A stone coffin!' gasped the old gentleman. + +'But there weren't any bones inside,' continued Peggy, rather enjoying +herself now that she had once broken the ice. 'It was something much +queerer than that--a wooden box full of old books, with writing you +can't read, and strange little pictures all round the pages.' + +'And what have you done with them? Where are they? Can you show them to +me?' cried the enthusiastic antiquarian, almost dancing with eagerness. + +'They're in the loft. I'll take you if you'd like to look at them.' + +'Come along, Sedgwick; I believe we may be on the verge of a valuable +discovery!'--and stuffing his papers into his capacious pockets, the old +gentleman started off with impatient strides, bearing his stout friend +in his wake like a little tug towing a steamer. + +[Illustration: "SEDGWICK, THIS IS AN EXTRAORDINARY DAY!"] + +Peggy often laughed afterwards when she remembered how she escorted the +pair up the rickety steps into the granary, and prevented them from +falling through the trap-door into the stable below, and guided them +between the sacks of grain in the dark loft, where, flinging open the +wooden shutter, she let in a stream of sunlight, and disclosed to view +the ancient chest. + +'A curious piece of workmanship, Sedgwick! Saxon undoubtedly, I should +say.' + +'I agree with you, Doctor. Shall I lift the lid?' + +'By all means. Ah! what have we here?'--and the little man squatted down +on a sack of oats, and lifted out one of the books with the reverent +touch of the true collector. + +'Unique! unique!' he cried, rubbing his hands with delight. 'Sedgwick, +this is indeed a find! If I do not mistake, this is a genuine portion of +the Saxon chronicle, and will make a sensation in the antiquarian +world.' + +'There is something here which looks like a copy of the Gospels,' +replied the other, who had been turning over the contents of the chest +with much interest. 'And there seem to be some exquisite breviaries and +"Hours of the Virgin." Just see this illuminated border. It reminds me +of the "Book of Kells."' + +'The same period, doubtless. Sedgwick, this is an extraordinary day! +Such a discovery only comes once in a lifetime!' + +'Some of the bindings are queer, too,' put in Peggy, hunting out one of +her favourites. 'Look at this. It seems as if it were made of lead, with +little pieces of coloured glass stuck in it.' + +'Lead! Coloured glass!' chuckled the old gentleman. 'My dear child, let +me tell you this is antique silver, set with jewels. Wait till you see +it cleaned!' + +'Jewels in the back of an old book!' gasped Peggy, astonished in her +turn. 'How did they get there? Is it really true?' + +'Certainly. Many of the books in old times had covers of enormous value. +The ancient Abbey no doubt was a rich one, and much of their wealth +would be devoted to their library.' + +'Then if these are really precious stones,' said Peggy, 'I suppose they +will be worth something. Father said he was afraid the old books were of +no value except to people who were fond of such things. We were waiting +till our Rector came home to look at them.' + +'They are of the utmost value, my dear, not only for the jewelled +covers, but for the rare contents and illuminations, which are of a type +most scarce and precious. I have not had time to go through the whole +contents of the chest, but I should say if these books were put up at +Christie's they would realize many thousands of pounds. With your +Father's permission, I should like to send down an expert from the +Bodleian to examine them.' + +'There will be keen bidding with the British Museum if they are put up +for sale,' remarked the stout gentleman. + +'It would be a most exciting occasion. I should make a point of being +present in person, and use all my influence to secure them for Oxford. +There would probably be representatives bidding from all the principal +libraries and museums in the kingdom, not to mention the United States +and the Continent.' + +'But, please, do the books really belong to Father?' asked Peggy, who +did not quite understand this conversation. + +'Certainly, if your Father is the legal owner of the property. No one +else can lay the slightest claim to them, and I congratulate him on the +value of his prize.' + +'Then--would it be--would it be possible for Father to get the money for +them--soon?' faltered Peggy, blushing scarlet at putting such a +question. + +'Without doubt it would. If he should wish to realize them at once, the +sale could be pushed on in a few weeks, only time should be allowed for +the Americans to hear of them, as they always run prices up. If +agreeable to your Father, I will call to-morrow morning and discuss the +subject with him, and in the meantime I can only beg that all possible +care will be taken of these priceless treasures. The chest seems secure +from any ravages of rats or mice. Still, I should advise its being +carried into the house without further delay. You agree with me, +Sedgwick?' + +'Certainly; it is wiser to run no risks. By-the-by'--looking at his +watch--'may I remind you, Doctor, that our waggonettes are due to start +at five o'clock, and it is already half-past. I fear the members of our +party will be awaiting us with some impatience at the Bluebell Arms.' + +'Dear me,' said the old gentleman, 'I fear I am sadly forgetful! In the +society of such enthralling interests I have no conception of the flight +of time. To-morrow morning, then, my dear, if your Father will be at +liberty, I shall give myself the pleasure of calling upon him;' and +regretfully closing the lid, he tore himself away from the old chest, +like a reluctant lover from his mistress, and took his departure, +leaving Peggy, nearly wild with excitement, to rush tumultuously into +the house with her wonderful piece of news. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +CONCLUSION + + 'We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; + In feelings, not in figures on a dial. + We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives + Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best.' + + +It was all perfectly true, that was the best part of it. The little old +gentleman turned out to be a very learned don from Oxford, with a +terrific list of letters at the end of his name, and in the course of a +few days a representative arrived from the Bodleian Library with a +request to be allowed to inspect the books (which by this time had been +removed to a corner of the big drawing-room), and after a considerable +amount of talking and writing it was arranged that they should be sent +to London at once to be sold by auction. As the old gentleman had +prophesied, the sale made quite a sensation among lovers of antiquities, +and realized a sum sufficient to put Mr. Vaughan at once out of his +difficulties. + +'It does not make me a rich man, children,' he said. 'But it is enough +to wipe off our debts, and keep the old roof together over our heads. We +shall still have to work hard and live carefully, but now that there +will not be the continual drain of the interest on the mortgages going +out, I shall be able to put more into the land, and carry out the +improvements I have been longing to make for years, and in time the +estate will pick up, so that I hope when I go to take my place among the +old Crusaders in the transept I shall hand it on to the next generation +of Vaughans in better condition than I found it.' + +To say that the children were delighted at this new turn of fortune's +wheel is a very poor way of expressing their rapture. Every corner of +the Abbey had to be revisited to feel again the joy of possession; all +the animals must be petted as a kind of apology for having even thought +of parting with them; and Peggy felt as though she would like to tell +the birds and the flowers that they were not going away after all, and +give them a chance of joining in the general rejoicings. Soft-hearted +Joe wept at the good news, but it was for joy this time; and so many +people sent kind messages of congratulation, and expressed such pleasure +at hearing they were to remain at the Abbey, that the Vaughans were +quite surprised to find how popular they were in the neighbourhood. + +The only person who seemed not altogether satisfied was Archie, who had +dwelt so much on a colonial future that he was quite disappointed at +having to give up the idea. + +'I had almost persuaded Aunt to go,' he declared. 'And it would have +been ripping fun out there on our ranches. No, I ain't going unless you +do! I guess I'll stay in England now, and take to engineering; but it +seems half a pity, for we should all have got on tip-top in the new +world.' + +As Mr. Vaughan had said, the change in his fortunes did not make him a +rich man, and though all anxiety was now removed, and even a few extra +comforts might be added, matters went on pretty much in the old way at +the Abbey. Peggy grew up without many of the luxuries which fall to the +lot of richer girls, but she was none the worse for that, and I think, +when she saw how bored and uninterested Maud Middleton was in the midst +of her round of London society and foreign travel, she felt that it is +sometimes better to have the capacity for enjoyment than to have the +means without the happy talent of being able to appreciate your good +things. + +Life was always so well worth living to Peggy, whether at work or play. +Her friendships were so keen and her affections so warm, that I think +she found the world a very pleasant place to be in, and made it better +and pleasanter for other people too (which is, after all, the grand +secret of happiness), and the energy and enterprising spirits which had +caused the tomboy pranks of her childhood were qualities which, turned +to good use, proved of the utmost service to her in after-years. + + * * * * * + +Do I make too much of a little girl who, after all, was no heroine, but +who tried her honest best, like many another, to fear God, tell the +truth, and love her neighbour as herself? If so, my love for her bright +ways and warm heart must be my excuse, for I have told Peggy's story +just as it happened. + +Many years have passed away since the children played round the old +apple-trees in the orchard, or scrambled among the ivy in the ruins, but +Gorswen is little changed. The picturesque old black-and-white houses +still stand in the village street, unspoilt by time or tourists; Mrs. +Price presides at the Post Office, rubicund and smiling; and old Ephraim +totters down from his cottage to the Bluebell Arms, a living testimony +to the healthfulness of the district. The flowers are as beautiful as +ever in the Rectory garden, but the Rector is not there to tend them. He +has gone where little Raymond went before, on that longest of holidays +from which there is no return to the lesson-books of this life. He is +deeply missed in the village, but he has a worthy successor in Mr. +Wentworth, who now holds the living in his stead, for years of +companionship with one who dwelt so continually at the gate of heaven +have changed the nervous young curate into a strong and earnest +character. He is much liked in Gorswen, and he has Lilian to help him. +Perhaps the fact of their mutual shyness first drew them together, but +they have much in common besides an enthusiasm for parish work. She +makes an excellent helpmeet, and an ideal clergyman's wife. She has no +children of her own, but in mothering the fragile little Indian cousins +who are sent home to gain rosy cheeks and sturdy limbs from the fresh +English breezes her warm heart finds its outlet, and she is able to pay +back to Aunt Helen some of the love and care which she owes her from +long ago. + +Bobby is a fine, tall young fellow, fresh from an agricultural college, +where he has learnt so much in the way of scientific farming that he +intends to make the fields yield the very highest pitch of production. +But already the Abbey has prospered to such an extent that little by +little the Vaughans are buying back some of the land which their +ancestors had squandered, and in time the estate may once more be of +some importance in the county. + +And Peggy? I think the Rector's prophecy is justified, and she has grown +in every sense into the fine woman which he hoped and expected. She +still loves the Abbey dearly, but I do not fancy she will spend all her +life there, after all, for Archie, who now owns a prosperous sheep-farm +in Australia, is still as anxious as ever for her to try colonial life, +and I think that the next time he comes home on a visit to Gorswen he +will be able to persuade her. + +Peggy does not feel the least little bit older than when she climbed +the water-wheel, or thrashed Jones minor behind the paling of the +cricket-field--if growing old means losing your ideals, and your keen +enthusiasm, and your hopefulness, and a certain appreciation of other +people's worth which is our birthright when we are young. She is still +capable of climbing a tree or scrambling over a hedge when no one is +looking, and pursues her hobbies with all her former vigour and energy. +She is sometimes almost ashamed of feeling, as she says, so ridiculously +young, but after all one's age should not always be measured by one's +years, and wherever she may go, or whatever she may do, Peggy will keep +that most priceless of possessions, the heart of a little child, without +which, equally in this world or the next, it is impossible to enter into +the Kingdom of Heaven. + + + + +THE END + + +_Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London and Bungay._ + + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + +Variations in spelling and hyphenation have been retained as they appear +in the original publication. Changes have been made as follows: + + Page 19 + In April the cuckoo comes, _changed to_ + '"In April the cuckoo comes, + + Page 143 + and went prim little walks _changed to_ + and went on prim little walks + + Page 164 + such invaluable etacher as _changed to_ + such invaluable teacher as + + Page 172 + were not so simply _changed to_ + were not so simple + + Page 197 + the old fellow's, rambling divergences + the old fellow's rambling divergences + + Page 240 + Safe in a iron cage _changed to_ + Safe in an iron cage + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Terrible Tomboy, by Angela Brazil + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A TERRIBLE TOMBOY *** + +***** This file should be named 38619-8.txt or 38619-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/6/1/38619/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +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: A Terrible Tomboy + +Author: Angela Brazil + +Illustrator: N. Tenison + +Release Date: January 20, 2012 [EBook #38619] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A TERRIBLE TOMBOY *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + +<hr /> + +<h1>A TERRIBLE TOMBOY</h1> + +<hr class="hr3" /> + +<div id="cover"> +<div class="figright" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="400" height="614" alt="Cover" /> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 167px;"> +<img src="images/spine.jpg" width="167" height="614" alt="Spine" /> +</div> +</div> + +<div id="books"> +<p class="center big">STORIES FOR GIRLS</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Illustrated in Colour.</i><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="hang">THE STORY-BOOK GIRLS. By <span class="smcap">Christina G. Whyte</span>. 6/- and 3/6.</p> + +<p class="hang">NINA'S CAREER. By <span class="smcap">Christina G. Whyte</span>. 6/-.</p> + +<p class="hang">BRIDGET OF ALL WORK. By <span class="smcap">Winifred M. Letts</span>. 5/-.</p> + +<p class="hang">MISTRESS NANCIEBEL. By <span class="smcap">Elsie J. Oxenham</span>. 5/-.</p> + +<p class="hang">A GIRL OF THE NORTHLAND. By <span class="smcap">Bessie Marchant</span>. 5/-.</p> + +<p class="hang">THE GIRL CRUSOES. By <span class="smcap">Mrs. Herbert Strang</span>. 3/6 and 2/6.</p> + +<p class="hang">THE GIRL SCOUT. By <span class="smcap">Brenda Girvin</span>. 3/6.</p> + +<p class="hang">DAUNTLESS PATTY. By <span class="smcap">E. L. Haverfield</span>. 3/6 and 2/6.</p> + +<p class="hang">THE CONQUEST OF CLAUDIA. By <span class="smcap">E. L. Haverfield</span>. 3/6.</p> + +<hr class="hr4" /> + +<p class="center"><strong>HENRY FROWDE and HODDER & STOUGHTON</strong></p> +</div> + + + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="front" id="front"></a> +<img src="images/col01.jpg" class="jpg" width="400" height="643" alt="" /> +<p class="caption center mb0">"SEE, I'LL PUT IT JUST ON THE TOP IN FRONT."</p> +<p class="caption right mt0">[See <a href="#see">page 44</a>.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> + +<p class="center"> +<span class="title">A<br /> +TERRIBLE TOMBOY</span><br /> +<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> +BY<br /> +<span class="author">ANGELA BRAZIL</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="book">AUTHOR OF "FAIRY PLAYS FOR CHILDREN"</span><br /> +<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> +<span class="illus">NEW EDITION<br /> +<br /> +<em>ILLUSTRATED IN COLOUR BY N. TENISON</em></span><br /> +<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> +<span class="pub">LONDON<br /> +HENRY FROWDE<br /> +HODDER AND STOUGHTON<br /> +1915</span></p> + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span> +<a name="contents" id="contents"></a>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table summary="Contents"> +<tr> +<th class="thr1">CHAP.</th> +<th class="thr2" colspan="2">PAGE</th> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr1">I.</td> +<td class="tdl">PEGGY AT HOME</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#i">1</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1">II.</td> +<td class="tdl">BIRDS'-NESTING</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#ii">12</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1">III.</td> +<td class="tdl">THE BLACK PUPPY</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#iii"> 25</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1">IV.</td> +<td class="tdl">A STORMY DAY</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#iv">35</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1">V.</td> +<td class="tdl">CONCERNING LILIAN</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#v">51</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1">VI.</td> +<td class="tdl">SUNDAY</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#vi">62</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1">VII.</td> +<td class="tdl">MAUD MIDDLETON'S PARTY</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#vii">72</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1">VIII.</td> +<td class="tdl">THE HOLIDAYS</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#viii">85</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1">IX.</td> +<td class="tdl">A MOUNTAIN WALK</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#ix">97</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1">X.</td> +<td class="tdl">ON THE MOORS</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#x">109</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1">XI.</td> +<td class="tdl">A NEW FRIEND</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xi">121</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1">XII.</td> +<td class="tdl">IN THE RECTORY GARDEN</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xii">132</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1">XIII.</td> +<td class="tdl">THE SMUGGLERS' CAVE</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xiii">140</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1">XIV.</td> +<td class="tdl">LILIAN'S HOUSEKEEPING</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xiv">157</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1">XV.</td> +<td class="tdl">THE BEGINNING OF A SHADOW</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xv">170</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1">XVI.</td> +<td class="tdl">ARCHIE</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xvi">180</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1">XVII.</td> +<td class="tdl">DAME ELEANOR'S GHOST</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xvii">193</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1">XVIII.</td> +<td class="tdl">PLAY-ACTING</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xviii">207</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span>XIX.</td> +<td class="tdl">PEGGY AT WAR</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xix">219</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1">XX.</td> +<td class="tdl">GORSWEN FAIR</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xx">231</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1">XXI.</td> +<td class="tdl">ROLLO'S GRAVE</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xxi">245</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1">XXII.</td> +<td class="tdl">DEEPENING TROUBLE</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xxii">256</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1">XXIII.</td> +<td class="tdl">THE ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xxiii">268</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1">XXIV.</td> +<td class="tdl">CONCLUSION</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xxiv">280</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span> +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + + +<table summary="Illustrations"> +<tr> +<th class="thr2" colspan="2"><i>To face page</i></th> +</tr> + + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">"SEE, I'LL PUT IT JUST ON THE TOP IN FRONT" +<span class="small">(<i>see <a href="#see">page 44</a></i>)</span><br /> +<p class="right mt0"><i><a href="#front">Frontispiece</a></i></p></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">"MAKING A LONG ARM, SHE MANAGED TO SEIZE PUSS +BY THE SCRUFF OF HER NECK"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#making">82</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">"BOBBY ACCOMPLISHED THE CROSSING IN SAFETY"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#bobby">154</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">"HE FIRST SET TO WORK TO MAKE A SPIRAL STAIRCASE +UP THE TREE"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#he">182</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">"IF YOU BREAK YOUR WORD, I'LL LET ALL WARFORD +KNOW THAT YOU'VE BEEN KNOCKED DOWN AND +THRASHED BY A GIRL"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#if">226</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">"SEDGWICK, THIS IS AN EXTRAORDINARY DAY!"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#sedgwick">276</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + + +<hr /> + +<h2 class="title"><a name="i" id="i"></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span> +A TERRIBLE TOMBOY</h2> + +<hr class="hr3" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER I<br /> +<br /> +<span class="sub">PEGGY AT HOME</span></h2> + +<div class="block30"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'Good sooth! I know not be she wench or swain;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Her face proclaims her one, her deeds the other!'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + + +<p class="noi">'<span class="smcap">Peggy</span>! Peggy! where are you? Peggy! Aunt Helen wants you! Oh, Peggy, do +be quick! Wherever are you hiding?'</p> + +<p>Getting no response to her calls, the speaker, a pretty fair-haired girl +of fifteen, flung her brown holland cooking-apron over her head, and ran +out across the farmyard into the lightly-falling rain. She peeped into +the cart-shed, where the hens were scratching about among the loose +straw. Certainly Peggy was not there. She searched in the kitchen +garden, but there was nothing to be seen except the daffodils nodding +their innocent heads under the gooseberry-bushes. Round through the +orchard she sped, bringing down a shower of cherry-blossom as she +brushed against the low-growing trees, and greatly disturbing a robin, +who was feeding a young family in a hole in the ivy, but without any +sign of the truant. Here and there Lilian ran, hunting in all Peggy's +favourite haunts—now peeping into a hollow yew-tree, now peering at the +top of a ladder, now rummaging in the tool-shed, then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> back through the +sand-quarry into the stack-yard, where there was a very good chance that +the young lady might be hidden away in some snug little hole among the +hay; but though Lilian got a tolerable amount of hay-seed into her hair, +her efforts were fruitless, and she was just turning away, hot and out +of breath, to give up the useless search, when the sound of a low, +chuckling laugh attracted her to the barn.</p> + +<p>The door was slightly ajar, and she peeped in.</p> + +<p>On the floor among the straw sat a little boy of between eight and nine +years old, gazing with rapturous delight into the rafters of the roof. +Following the direction of his eyes, Lilian glanced up, and beheld a +sight which made her gasp with horror. The barn was a very large one, +and was spanned by a great cross-beam, which ran across the whole length +from one end to another. Mounted on this, fully fifteen feet above the +ground, a small girl was slowly walking along, her gray eyes bright with +excitement, her brown curls flying in wild disorder, and her arms +stretched out on either side to balance herself as she went on her +perilous journey.</p> + +<p>Lilian gazed at her spellbound; she did not dare to speak or move, lest +by some mischance the frail little figure should lose its nerve and come +crashing down on to the stone floor below.</p> + +<p>The child herself, however, did not seem to be troubled with the +slightest fear, for she walked on as steadily as if the beam had been a +plain turnpike road, giving a shout of triumph as she reached the +cross-bar, and slid down the ladder on to the ground.</p> + +<p>'Hurrah! hurrah!' cried Bobby, clapping his hands in an ecstasy of +admiration.</p> + +<p>Peggy turned round with a radiant face.</p> + +<p>'It's perfectly easy!' she exclaimed; 'I could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> do it over again. Now, +Bobby, you come up and try!'</p> + +<p>But here Lilian's pent-up excitement and wrath burst forth.</p> + +<p>'For shame, Peggy!' she cried. 'If you want to break your own neck, you +shan't break Bobby's, at any rate! Don't you know what a horribly +dangerous thing you have been doing? And the idea of your walking along +there with your boot-lace dangling down in that way! You are really +getting too old for these silly tricks; one can't look after you like a +baby. Aunt Helen <em>would</em> be angry if she heard of this!'</p> + +<p>Peggy sat down on the bottom rung of the ladder. The triumph had faded +from her face, and left something not nearly so pleasant to look at +behind.</p> + +<p>'All right,' she said defiantly; 'go along and tell Aunt Helen if you +like! I don't care!'</p> + +<p>'Peggy, how horrid you are! Do I ever tell? Didn't I wash and iron your +pinafore yesterday, when you fell into the pig-trough, and nobody even +suspected? I call you right-down mean to go saying things like that!' +And Lilian's pretty face flushed quite pink with righteous indignation.</p> + +<p>Peggy had the grace to look rather ashamed of herself.</p> + +<p>'No, Lil, you're a dear; you don't tell tales,' she said; 'and I haven't +forgotten about the pinafore.'</p> + +<p>'Promise me, then, that you won't go playing such mad pranks again, and +leading Bobby into them, too?'</p> + +<p>'All right—anything for a quiet life.'</p> + +<p>'But promise, properly.'</p> + +<p>'There! On my honour, I will never walk along that beam again, or let +Bobby do it either. Will that suit you?'</p> + +<p>Lilian heaved a sigh of relief, for whatever might be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> Peggy's sins and +misdeeds, her word, once given, was not lightly broken.</p> + +<p>'I've been looking for you everywhere,' she said. 'Aunt Helen sent me to +fetch you in at once, and I've been such a long time in finding you. I'm +afraid she'll be ever so cross.'</p> + +<p>'What does she want me for?'</p> + +<p>'To darn your stockings. Oh, Peggy, how could you go and hide all those +pairs away under the dressing-table? It was really silly, for you might +have known Aunt Helen would be sure to hunt them out; and now she's +fearfully angry about it, and says you'll have to sit and mend away till +they're all finished; and she won't let me help you, either.'</p> + +<p>Peggy sighed philosophically.</p> + +<p>'I suppose I shall have to come,' she said, getting up and shaking the +straw out of her hair. 'Never mind; I'd really rather mend them all in +one big heap than in a lot of little horrid pottering times; it spoils +one's Saturdays so!'</p> + +<p>'Aunt Helen said if I found Bobby he was to come in too, and learn his +Latin,' continued Lilian, looking round. But that youth had prudently +disappeared at the first hint of Saturday duties, and was nowhere to be +seen.</p> + +<p>Peggy chuckled.</p> + +<p>'I'm afraid you won't find him,' she remarked; 'and it's no use looking. +He's got the most lovely hiding-place in the world that he goes to when +he doesn't want to be told to come in. I only found it out by accident +myself, and I promised wild horses shouldn't wrench the secret from me. +Come along; we may as well go and get the scolding over.'</p> + +<p>And the young lady tossed back her tangled locks, shook her fist at the +anticipated pile of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> darning; then, putting on an air of chastened and +becoming meekness, as being most likely to soothe Aunt Helen's wrath, +she marched sturdily into the house.</p> + +<p>It was a beautiful old home into which Peggy entered, half castle, half +farmhouse, with an air of having seen better days about it. The quaint +timbered house, with its carved gables and red-tiled roof, was built in +at one end into a kind of square tower or keep, with tiny turret windows +and winding staircase, getting just a little ruinous in places, but held +firmly together by masses of ivy, which clung round it like a green +mantle. Beyond the tower lay the remains of an abbey, more ancient than +the keep. Most of it had been carried away to build the large barns and +stables, but the foundations could still be plainly traced, with here +and there part of a wall thickly covered with ivy, the ruins of a +shattered column, a delicate little piece of window tracery, or a few +steps of corkscrew staircase. There were rows and heaps of mossy stones +covered with nettles and elder-bushes, with patches of green grass in +between, where the cows grazed and the pigeons flew about, cooing +gently. In the ivy the jackdaws were always busy, and the children had +many a perilous climb trying to reach the coveted nests. The earliest +primroses grew here, and beds of sweet violets under the ruined walls, +and there were so many turns and corners and sheltered nooks that it +made the grandest play-place in the world for anyone who loved a game at +hide-and-seek.</p> + +<p>On the other side of the house stretched the garden—such a sweet, +old-fashioned garden, where roses, lilies, and gillyflowers were all +mixed up with the currants and gooseberries and cabbages. It was +somewhat neglected, it is true, but perhaps it looked none the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> less +picturesque for that, and certainly no one would be disposed to quarrel +with the beautiful ripe strawberries and the sweet little yellow +gooseberries with the hairy skins, or the big red plums that hung upon +the old brick walls.</p> + +<p>Inside the house was large and roomy, with rambling passages and odd +little windows in unexpected corners. There was a large oak staircase, +with wide, shallow steps, leading to a panelled gallery, where hung +swords, and rusty armour, and moth-eaten tapestry, and many an ancient +relic of the past; while in the best bedroom was a great carved +four-post bed, hung with faded yellow curtains, where Queen Elizabeth +herself was said to have slept in much state for two nights on her +journey from Shrewsbury to Wrexham.</p> + +<p>The big drawing-room had been shut up for many years; the Queen-Anne +chairs and china-cabinets were swathed in wrappers, and the ornaments +put away in boxes; but sometimes the children would steal in and open +the shutters to look at the portraits which hung upon the oak-panelled +walls—stately gentlemen with wigs and lace frills, whose eyes seemed to +follow you about the room; haughty dames with powdered hair and patches; +stiff little girls in hoops and mittens, and pretty young ladies attired +as shepherdesses or classic goddesses, with cupids and nymphs in the +background.</p> + +<p>The little blue drawing-room, which was always used instead, was a far +more cheery apartment, with its sunny French window and fresh muslin +curtains, and the blue chintz covers on the chairs. But of all the rooms +I think the quaintest was the kitchen. It was by far the oldest part of +the house; the great beams of the roof, roughly hewn out with an axe and +black with age, had been a portion of the ancient castle, and so had the +mullioned windows, with their deep, old-fashioned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> seats and diamond +panes, filled with green, uneven glass. It looked a cheerful place, with +its polished-oak dressers and shining brasses, and on a winter's +evening, when the shutters were closed and the settle drawn close to the +fire, it seemed the cosiest spot in the world; and Peggy and Bobby would +often escape from the sober atmosphere of the dining-room to pull their +little stools into the ingle nook, and listen to Nancy's wonderful tales +of ghosts and goblins, which seemed twice as thrilling when the wind was +howling like a banshee in the chimney, and rattling the doors till they +could fancy that spirit fingers were tapping on the panels, and only +waiting a chance to catch them in the dark passages, and sent such cold +shivers running down their backs that they grew almost too frightened to +go to bed.</p> + +<p>Below the house the meadow sloped down to a river, where a stone bridge +led to the village, with its pretty thatched cottages and Norman church, +whose square tower stood up like a beacon for the surrounding country; +and away in the distance, tier upon tier, rose the Welsh mountains, +fading from green to purple or from purple to misty mauve, till the last +were lost in the hazy blue of the sky.</p> + +<p>Gorswen Abbey, as Peggy's home was called, had been an important place +in its time, and an air of sleepy grandeur seemed still to hang about +the old walls, as if sometime it might rouse itself from its lethargy +and take its part in the world again.</p> + +<p>No one could remember when Vaughans had not lived at the Abbey. There +were tombs in memory of them in a side transept of the church—stalwart +Crusaders, lying with legs crossed and meek hands folded in prayer; +stout Elizabethan squires and their dames, with ruffs round their necks, +and rows of prim little kneeling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> children beneath them; full-faced +Jacobean worthies in curled wigs, with sculptured cherubs weeping over +extinguished torches; and there was a high old pew with a carved canopy +over it, and an escutcheon bearing a coat of arms with a dragon on it, +which, when Peggy was very little, she had always associated with the +dragon in the Book of Revelation, and had an uneasy feeling that its eye +was upon her all service time, and if she did not behave properly it +might come down in great wrath and devour her.</p> + +<p>There had been Vaughans who fought in the Wars of the Roses, Vaughans +who threw in their lot with King Charles and helped to beat Cromwell at +Atherton Moor, Vaughans who had joined the Young Pretender's force, and +had lost their heads as their reward. There was no end to the stories +which the children could sometimes cajole out of old David, the +farm-help, who had all the family history at his finger-ends.</p> + +<p>But they had been a happy-go-lucky, spendthrift race, loving to ride to +hounds and to entertain liberally better than to look after their +affairs. Little by little the fine property had been wasted away, till, +when Peggy's father succeeded to the estate, he found it to consist of +scarcely more than the old house with the surrounding farm and +woodlands, together with such a multitude of debts, mortgages, and other +encumbrances, that it was truly a barren heritage. Robert Vaughan, +however, was a man of strong will and much determination. Some of the +grit of the old Crusaders was left in his blood, and instead of taking +his solicitor's advice, and selling the place for what it would fetch, +he resolved to farm the land himself, and by using every care and +economy to free the property, and raise it to its former level in the +county. He worked in his own fields, ploughing, harvesting, and reaping, +toiling harder<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> than any of his labourers, and living in as plain a +manner as possible.</p> + +<p>To those friends who thought he lost caste thereby he had always the +same argument—that he saw no reason why the cultivation of fields +should counteract the habits of refinement and good breeding to which he +had been reared; that in the colonies educated gentlemen set to work to +labour with their hands, and are thought none the worse of: so why not +in England, where land is good and markets are plentiful, especially +when it involved the keeping of a fine old property which had been in +the family for so many hundreds of years?</p> + +<p>Fortune, however, had been against him. Several bad seasons and a spell +of disease among the cattle had made all the difference between profit +and loss, and at the time this story begins Robert Vaughan realized that +any unusual run of ill luck might bring matters to a crisis, and render +vain the struggle of so many years. The children, however, knew little +of the shadow which haunted their home, for they lived as yet in that +happy thoughtless paradise which is the inheritance of true childhood, +where a new rabbit in the hutch or an extra treat on a holiday is of far +more importance than any grown-up affair.</p> + +<p>Their mother had faded so early from their young lives that she was +scarcely more than a tender memory, and her place had been taken by +dear, pretty Aunt Helen, father's younger sister, who did her best to +train them up in the way they should go. Aunt Helen fondly imagined +herself to be a great disciplinarian, but her own lively youth was still +such a recent remembrance that her eyes were wont to twinkle and the +corners of her mouth to twitch in the middle of her severest scoldings, +and the children always had a feeling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> that so long as they did not do +anything rude or wrong, or run into any very imminent danger, their +escapades were secretly condoned by their aunt, who admired pluck and +spirit, however much she might feel it incumbent upon her to lecture +them.</p> + +<p>Gentle Lilian gave little trouble, and Bobby, Aunt Helen often declared, +would be easy enough to manage alone; but where Peggy led he was always +sure to follow, and the end was generally mischief of some sort or +other.</p> + +<p>The worst of it was poor Peggy really did not mean to be naughty; she +was so eager, so active, so full of overflowing and impetuous life, with +such restless daring and abounding energy, that in the excitement of the +moment her wild spirits were apt to carry her away, simply because she +never stopped to think of consequences. She had always a hundred +projects on hand, each one of which she was ready to pursue with +unflagging zeal and that absorbing interest which is the secret of true +enjoyment.</p> + +<p>'Let her alone,' the Rector, who rejoiced in Peggy, was wont to say. +'Don't prune her too hard, for it is sometimes the side-shoots that bear +the best flowers, after all. She is like a young growing plant—a little +too much leaf at present, but I see a grand promise of blossom, and +she'll turn out a fine woman in the end.'</p> + +<p>Happily both her father and Aunt Helen shared his views, and, knowing +Peggy's generous, affectionate nature, were able to lead her more by +love than severity (for with human hearts it is often like the fable of +the sun and the wind: they will respond to a kindly touch, while +harshness will only make them sullen and obstinate), and they further +held the opinion that it is better for a child to have many interests +and much energy, even though these qualities prove a little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> +troublesome, than to grow up clipped to the prim pattern of those who +may have outlived their enthusiasms.</p> + +<p>Such natures as Peggy's taste life to the full; for them it is never a +stale or worthless draught. Each moment is so keenly lived that time +flies by on eager wings, and though there may be stormy troubles +sometimes, as a rule the spirit dwells, like the swallows, in an upper +region of joy, which is scarcely dreamt of by those who cannot soar so +high.</p> + + + + +<hr /> + + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> +<a name="ii" id="ii"></a>CHAPTER II<br /> +<br /> +<span class="sub">BIRDS'-NESTING</span></h2> + +<div class="block30"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'The busy birds with nice selection cull<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Soft thistle-down, gray moss, and scattered wool;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Far from each prying eye the nest prepare,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Formed of warm moss and lined with softer hair.'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Peggy</span> and Bobby sat at the top of a high apple-tree in a cunning little +seat just where one bough crossed another, and, bending up, formed a +kind of armchair with a back to it. Below them the pink apple-blossom +spread like a rosy cloud against the bluest of skies, and a blackbird in +a neighbouring bush was trilling his loudest.</p> + +<p>Easter had fallen late, so that the children's spring holidays were not +yet over when the first early delightful days of May brought a foretaste +of the coming summer. Peggy and Bobby were out the whole day long, +following their father about the farm, riding on the slow plough-horses, +helping to drive the sheep, or bringing home the cows from the pasture, +sowing seeds in their little gardens, and generally revelling in the +delicious freedom.</p> + +<p>Sometimes Lilian would join them, but more often she was busy indoors, +helping her aunt and Nancy, the maid, and learning the mysteries of +housekeeping and dairy-minding; for she was growing quite a nice little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> +companion to Aunt Helen, and becoming so useful that Nancy declared they +should scarcely know what to do without her when the term began again.</p> + +<p>'What shall we do this afternoon?' said Bobby, leaning back among the +branches in a way that would have brought Aunt Helen's heart to her +mouth if she had not long ago come to the conclusion that small boys +have nine lives, like a cat.</p> + +<p>'I don't know,' replied Peggy, idly picking off bits of twig, and +throwing them at the old gander, which had strayed underneath.</p> + +<p>'Then let's go birds'-nesting. You can't think how dreadfully I want to +find a cuckoo's egg. Arthur Hill has one at school, and he's so proud of +it, he wouldn't change it though a boy offered him five sticks of +mint-rock and a pea-shooter. I'm sure we ought to get one about here: +I've heard such lots of cuckoos lately. We'll look in every nest we +find.'</p> + +<p>'All right, we'll go down the meadows by the river into the hazel-wood.'</p> + +<p>'No, no! Up the hill, over the gorse common, and down the yew-tree +lane.'</p> + +<p>'You won't find any nests up there!'</p> + +<p>'Yes, I shall!'</p> + +<p>'I tell you you won't!'</p> + +<p>'And I tell you I shall!'</p> + +<p>'You were only eight last January, and I shall be twelve in November, so +I ought to know best!' said Peggy crushingly.</p> + +<p>'I don't care if you're a hundred!' replied Bobby with scorn. 'Joe was +up there last night, and he found twelve nests, and, what's more, he +told me just where they all are.'</p> + +<p>'Then, why couldn't you say so at first? Are you sure you can find +them?'</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>'Certain; and one of them's a long-tailed tit's, with ever so many eggs +in it. Do you want to go down by the river now?'</p> + +<p>'No,' replied Peggy, giving in graciously. 'A bird in the hand is worth +two in the bush, and if Joe really found the nests up there, it's worth +while going to see.'</p> + +<p>Bobby climbed down in triumph, for Peggy so generally took the lead that +it was sweet for once to get his own way. He was rather a gentle little +boy, ready as a rule to follow at Peggy's bidding, and to make a lively +second to any scheme she might have in hand. Aunt Helen sometimes +thought the two must have got changed, and that Peggy should have been +the boy and Bobby the girl; for though the latter was not without +courage, it was certainly Peggy who had the most of that enterprising +spirit which is generally thought a characteristic of the masculine +mind.</p> + +<p>Though she would not have minded being a genuine boy, Peggy had the +greatest objection to be called a tomboy—a term of reproach that had +been hurled at her head from her earliest infancy by indiscriminating +friends.</p> + +<p>'If they meant anything nice by it, I shouldn't care,' she complained. +'But they don't, for a tomboy is a horrid, rough sort of creature who +isn't fit to be either a boy or a girl. It's too bad that I can't even +do useful things without people howling at me. Mrs. Davenport looked +perfectly shocked when I harnessed the pony, though I told her Joe was +milking, and there was no one else to come and do it; and when old Mr. +Cooper saw me help Father to drive cows down the pasture, he popped out +with "Miss Tomboy" at once, though he did say afterwards I was the right +sort of girl. People didn't call Joan of Arc and Grace Darling tomboys,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> +though they did other things besides stay at home and darn stockings. +Why can't I climb trees and jump fences, and enjoy myself like boys do, +and yet be a thorough girl all the same?'</p> + +<p>To do Peggy justice, I think she was right, for though she delighted in +outdoor life, she was in no sense a rough or ill-mannered child, and +loved pretty things and dainty ways as well as quieter Lilian; but it +was a case of a dog with a bad name, for however indignantly she might +remonstrate, people had got into the habit of dubbing her 'tomboy,' and +at that valuation she seemed likely to remain.</p> + +<p>The walk which Bobby had proposed this afternoon was somewhat of a +scramble, for the country rose behind the Abbey into undulating hills, +which were fairly steep, though not so high as the Welsh mountains, and +were covered for the most part with gorse and rough grass, where the +sheep and young bullocks were turned out to graze. It was rather a stiff +pull up to the common, but the Vaughans were as accustomed to climbing +as mountain goats, and would have thought it far more wearisome to walk +the length of a London street.</p> + +<p>Half-way up was a spot very dear to the children's hearts. At a turn of +the road a great slab of Welsh slatestone lay at a sloping angle, +shelving down for a distance of about twenty feet, and with its surface +so flat and even, and so smooth and polished by the weather, that it +made a natural sliding-board, down which it was delightful to toboggan +at full speed. It seemed expressly formed for the enjoyment of small +boys and girls, for as it lay across a corner, you had only to walk up +the road to get to the top, then settling yourself firmly with feet +straight in front, you let go, and slid like a bolt from an arrow +down—down—till<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> you found your feet on the road again, and could climb +up once more and repeat the performance.</p> + +<p>Of course, it was not very nice for the backs of boots and +knickerbockers, and frocks and pinafores were apt to get sadly torn if +they caught on a projecting angle; but what child ever thought of +clothes when a twenty-foot slide might be enjoyed? Certainly not Peggy +or Bobby, whose well-worn garments were generally made of the stoutest +and most serviceable materials.</p> + +<p>They spent quite half an hour at this enthralling pastime, till a very +persistent cuckoo in a little copse over the hedge recalled them to the +principal object of their ramble.</p> + +<p>'Come along!' shouted Peggy. 'We're wasting time!'</p> + +<p>'Let's take the short cut,' cried Bobby, hopping nimbly over the fence +into the meadow, where the kingcups were lying, such a bright mass of +gold in the sunshine that you might have thought the stars had fallen +from the sky and were shining in the fields instead. Little rabbits +scuttled away before them into the hedgerows, and a cock pheasant, +disturbed in his afternoon nap, flew with a great whir into the coppice +close by. Two fields brought them out on to the common, where the gorse +was a blaze of colour and the bees were busy buzzing among the +sweet-smelling blossom.</p> + +<p>'Joe said there was a yellowhammer's nest just there, close by the +elder-bush,' said Bobby.</p> + +<p>'All right,' said Peggy; 'you take one side of the tree, and I'll take +the other.'</p> + +<p>A few minutes' search resulted in a delighted 'S'sh!' from Bobby, for on +a little ledge of rock under an overhanging tussock of grass was the +cosiest, cunningest nest in the world, and the yellowhammer herself sat +on it, looking at them with her bright little eyes,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> half undecided +whether to stay or to fly away in alarm.</p> + +<p>Peggy crept up as quietly as a mouse. Though the children were very +anxious to find nests, it was not in any spirit of ruthless robbery. Mr. +Vaughan was a keen naturalist, and had taught them to watch the birds in +their haunts, but disturb them as little as possible, taking an +occasional egg for their collection, but only when there were so many in +the nest that it would not be missed.</p> + +<p>'Isn't she stunning?' whispered Bobby. 'And how tight she sits!'</p> + +<p>But a human voice was too much for the yellowhammer, and she flew like a +dart into the gorse-bushes.</p> + +<p>'Five eggs,' said Peggy, 'but not one of them a cuckoo's. You don't want +one, do you, Bobby?'</p> + +<p>'No, I've got three at home. I had five, but I swopped two of them with +Frank Wilson for a redstart's.'</p> + +<p>'Come along, then; she'll soon fly back when we're gone; I believe she +is watching us out of the elder-tree. Where did Joe say the long-tailed +tits had built?'</p> + +<p>'Right in the middle of a gorse-bush, just on the top of the mound where +the goat was tethered last year. He calls them bottle-tits, but it's +just the same thing, Father says. Whew! isn't the grass scratchy on your +legs!'</p> + +<p>'Horrid! My boots are full of prickles. I shall have to take them off +soon. It's so deep here, it's scratching my very nose. Oh, look, Bobby! +There goes one of the tits! I saw just where she flew from. Oh, here it +is! See, isn't it just the prettiest little nest that ever was?'</p> + +<p>The tit's nest would certainly have gained the prize if all the birds +had been asked to take part in a building<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> competition. It was made of +the softest moss and lichens, fashioned together in the shape of a +bottle with the neck downwards; for the tit must have some place in +which to bestow her long tail, and she builds her home to suit her +person.</p> + +<p>Peggy thrust a cautious finger through the tiny opening in the side.</p> + +<p>'It's full of eggs!' she exclaimed; 'I should think there must be seven +or eight. I'll take two, one for you and one for me. They're the +smallest you ever saw, and so warm. I hope they'll blow easily.'</p> + +<p>Bobby had brought a box full of sheep's wool in his pocket, to hold +anything they might find, so Peggy laid the eggs in with great pride, +for bottle-tits were rare in that neighbourhood, and they had long +wished to find such a treasure. Joe had certainly not misled them, and +Bobby's memory, though defective as regarded Latin declensions and +historical facts, was unerring where it was a case of locating +birds'-nests.</p> + +<p>He found three thrushes' nests low down in the elder-bushes, all filled +with gaping yellow mouths, the pretty little chaffinch's up in the +ivy-tree, with only two speckly eggs as yet, and Jenny Wren's household, +hidden away in a bank, full of so many children that she surely +resembled the old woman who lived in a shoe, and it was a marvel how she +could remember which little chirping atom she had fed last. The robin +had built early and her brood had flown and left the empty nest; but two +blackbirds were sitting in the hawthorn-hedge, and flew away with cries +of indignation and distress.</p> + +<p>The cuckoos were still calling loudly in the distance.</p> + +<p>'Tiresome things!' said Bobby; 'if they would only build nests like +other birds, one might have a chance of finding them.'</p> + +<div class="block22"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> +<span class="io"><a name="quotes" id="quotes"></a><ins title="Quotation marks omitted in original">'"In</ins> April the cuckoo comes,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In May she'll stay,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In June she changes her tune,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In July she prepares to fly,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Come August, go she must,"'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p class="noi">quoted Peggy.</p> + +<p>'But you haven't said it all,' put in Bobby.</p> + +<div class="block28"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'"And if the cuckoo stays till September,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">It's as much as the oldest man can remember."'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p>'I wish the rhymes would tell us where she lays her eggs,' said Peggy.</p> + +<p>She was poking about in the mossy bank as she spoke, when a +hedge-sparrow flew out from the low bushes above almost straight into +her face. It did not take Peggy long to find the neat little nest of +twisted twigs and grass woven into the fork of a branch. There were four +lovely blue eggs inside, and a slightly larger one of a greenish-gray +colour. Peggy flushed all over with excitement.</p> + +<p>'Bobby, Bobby!' she screamed, 'come here, quick! I do believe I have +found a cuckoo's egg!'</p> + +<p>There seemed little doubt about it, for the egg really looked quite +different to the others; so the treasured find was safely put away in +the small box, to be shown to Joe, who was wise in such lore, though he +only knew the birds by their country names, and had never heard of such +a science as ornithology. Quite elated with their success, the children +hunted down the lane, searching in every bush and hedgerow, but they +found nothing but a few last year's nests, full of acorns and dead +leaves.</p> + +<p>They came out by Betsy Owen's cottage—a little low, whitewashed, +tumble-down building, standing in the midst of a neglected garden, with +a very forlorn and deserted air about it.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>'Joe says no doubt there'd be lots of nests in the ivy there,' confided +Bobby, peeping through the hedge. 'But he wouldn't go in and see, not if +you gave him five pounds for it.'</p> + +<p>'Why not?' demanded Peggy.</p> + +<p>'Because old Betsy's a witch, and you never know what she might do if +you made her angry. John Parker and Evan Williams took some sticks from +her hedge last autumn, and she came out in a rage, and crossed her +fingers at them, and in six weeks John broke his leg, and Evan had sore +eyes all the winter. And once Joe and another boy were coming home very +late at night past the cottage, and they saw a bright light, and just as +they reached the gate it went out, and they heard a most fearful shriek, +and they were so frightened they ran all the way home.'</p> + +<p>'What nonsense!' said Peggy. 'I expect the old woman was blowing out her +candle to go to bed, and a screech-owl flew over their heads. Joe would +have run away from his own shadow. But if you're afraid, stay outside in +the lane, for I'm going in to see if there's a nest in that ivy; it +looks such a likely place. I don't believe anyone's in the cottage, +either, for the door's shut.'</p> + +<p>But Bobby much resented such a slur on his manly courage, and insisted +upon being the one to climb the ivy-covered chimney. He crept quietly +round to the back of the cottage, and swung himself up by the thick +stems, feeling in every little hole where he could lay his hand. The +large old chimney was so wide at the top that he found he could peep +right down it, as if he were looking into a well, and could see a good +piece of the hearth underneath, with a small fire of sticks burning +under a large, three-legged iron pot, and the old woman sitting close by +on a low stool, smoking a short clay pipe.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>Betsy Owen was a withered, cross-grained old dame, who by dint of the +knowledge of the uses of some simple herbs and a good deal of cunning, +had contrived to establish a reputation something between a witch and a +quack doctor. People came to her from remote farms to have warts charmed +away or the toothache cured; she dressed burns and wounds, and concocted +lotions for sore eyes and bad legs. Her one room was hung all round with +plants in various stages of drying, and she was always ready to +prescribe a remedy for an ailing cow or a sick child, generally at much +profit to herself, whatever might be the benefit to the sufferer. She +was bending over her iron pot now, stirring the concoction with a +long-handled spoon. Bobby could see her quite plainly in the fire light, +and could catch the curious aromatic smell which rose up from the +smouldering wood. I do not know what prompted him—probably the love of +mischief which dwells in all small boys—but he picked up a loose piece +of mortar which was lying on the roof, and dropped it suddenly down the +chimney. It fell plump into the iron pot with a loud, hissing sound.</p> + +<p>Out rushed Betsy from the cottage, scolding furiously. Down dropped +Bobby from the chimney, and was through a hole in the hedge and away +down the lane as fast as his sturdy legs could carry him. Peggy had been +waiting in the garden, and, before she could realize what had happened, +she found herself seized and shaken violently by the angry old woman.</p> + +<p>'I'll larn yer to come into other folk's places and drop stones down +decent body's chimleys!' shrieked Betsy. 'Be off with yer, yer +ill-mannered young good-for-naught; and if ever I catch yer here again, +yer'll get such a hidin' yer won't forget it for a month!'</p> + +<p>Peggy was so amazed by the suddenness of the attack<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> that for the moment +she offered no resistance; but, finding a storm of blows descending on +her head like hail, she managed to squirm out of Betsy's ungentle grasp, +and fled after Bobby down the lane, followed by a shower of epithets +from the gate, where the old woman stood shaking her fist until long +after the children were out of sight.</p> + +<p>When they judged themselves to be at a safe distance the pair sat down +on a fence to get their breath, and talk over their adventure.</p> + +<p>'We're in for it now,' laughed Peggy. 'She was so fearfully angry I'm +sure Joe would say she'd bewitched us!'</p> + +<p>'Yes, he'll be in a great state of mind when we tell him. He'll quite +expect us to break our arms or legs or necks or something before long!'</p> + +<p>'You'll do that without her if you try to swing head downwards on one +leg like that,' said Peggy; for Bobby was executing some marvellous +gymnastics on the top rail of the fence.</p> + +<p>He came down feet foremost, however, and they sauntered off along the +road to the old water-mill, where the miller's man was slinging a sack +of flour on to a patient donkey who stood, with drooping ears, eyeing +the burden which he must carry up far into the mountains, while his +mistress, a little black-eyed Welshwoman, poured forth a torrent of +gossip in high-pitched tones.</p> + +<p>The wheel was standing idle, and the children went down the slippery +steps to the pool below. It was cool and dark there, for the trees grew +low over the stream, and the water, escaping from the race above, poured +down by the side of the wheel in a foaming cataract. A dipper was +hopping about from stone to stone in the centre of the stream, pruning +her sleek feathers, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> calling her lively 'chit, chit' to her mate. +Peggy grasped Bobby by the arm.</p> + +<p>'Keep still,' she whispered. 'Let us watch her. Perhaps she may have a +nest somewhere close by.'</p> + +<p>All unconscious of her audience, the little bird jerked her short tail, +dived rapidly into the water, and, emerging at the other side of the +pool, flew suddenly into the green, moss-grown wall which overhung the +mill-wheel.</p> + +<p>'That's her nest,' cried Bobby. 'Oh, don't you see it? It looks just +like a great lump of moss; you can hardly tell it from the wall, only I +see a little round hole at the bottom. What a shame it's in such a +horrid place! We can never get it up there.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, we can,' replied Peggy stoutly. 'I'm going up.'</p> + +<p>'But how?'</p> + +<p>'Up the mill-wheel, of course, stupid! No, you're not coming too. You +climbed the chimney, and it's my turn. Just hold my hat, and I'll manage +all right, you'll see!'</p> + +<p>It was a slippery climb, for the wheel was green with slime, and it +needed a long step to get from one blade to the other; but Peggy was +utterly fearless, and she had soon pulled herself to the top. Balanced +there, she could easily reach to the nest, which was only a few feet +away from her. Out flew the dipper in a panic, and in went Peggy's +fingers.</p> + +<p>'Three eggs, Bobby—lovely white eggs! Look! I think I shall take this +one, at any rate.'</p> + +<p>She held out her hand to show her prize, but at that instant the +mill-wheel began to turn, and she was whirled from the dizzy summit +down—down—into the dark pool below.</p> + +<p>Bobby's agonized shrieks brought out the miller's man, who, dashing into +the stream, caught the child<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> just as she rose to the surface, and +before she had drifted into the swifter current further on. It was a +very forlorn and draggled Peggy which he laid upon the bank, but she was +game to the last.</p> + +<p>'I haven't broken the egg,' she gasped out, with the water streaming +from her hair.</p> + +<p>'Better thank the Lord you're not drowned, miss,' said the miller's man, +looking ruefully at his own wet garments. 'Let me take you into the +house, and Mrs. Griffiths'll get you some dry clothes to your back; +you'll catch your death of cold sitting there.'</p> + +<p>Peggy essayed to get up and walk, but she was such a very water-logged +vessel that to hasten matters her rescuer picked her up in his arms, and +bore her off like a sack of flour.</p> + +<p>Stout old Mrs. Griffiths was sitting knitting in the chimney-corner, but +she jumped up in a hurry when John carried in his dripping burden.</p> + +<p>'Sakes alive!' she screamed, 'what is it? Is she dead? Lay her out on +the parlour sofa. Sarah Grace, run for the parish nurse and the +Rector—quick!'</p> + +<p>But Peggy's voluble tongue assuring her that she was very much alive, +and only in need of drying, she soon hustled that young lady upstairs, +and out of her wet clothes. Ten minutes later Peggy sat on the settle by +the kitchen fire, an odd little figure, attired in Sarah Grace's Sunday +jacket over Mrs. Griffiths' best red flannel petticoat, and a steaming +glass of hot elder wine in her hand.</p> + +<p>'Just to keep you from catching cold, miss; and Master Bobby must have +one too, bless his heart! He's as white as my apron, and small wonder, +after seeing his sister half drowned!'</p> + + + + +<hr /> + + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> +<a name="iii" id="iii"></a>CHAPTER III<br /> +<br /> +<span class="sub">THE BLACK PUPPY</span></h2> + +<div class="block24"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'His eyes so brown, his winning ways,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">His faithful heart, command our praise.'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">After</span> the adventure at the mill-wheel, Aunt Helen, judging wisely that +'Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do,' sent the +children into the fields with Lilian to gather cowslips to make cowslip +beer. It was pleasant work wandering among the green meadows picking the +sweet-smelling flowers, while the larks sang their loudest overhead, and +the little brook babbled by on its path to the river—more especially +pleasant when they remembered that by this time next week school would +have begun again, with its attendant woes of Latin grammar and French +composition.</p> + +<p>'I'm sure we must have enough now,' said Lilian, turning out her +sixteenth basket of blossoms into the ever-increasing pile in the +bakehouse. 'I'm almost tired of gathering them; I shall see nothing but +cowslips when I shut my eyes in bed to-night.'</p> + +<p>'It will take a fearfully long time to pick them all,' remarked Peggy, +starting bravely to work on her task of pulling the yellow pips away +from the green calyces. 'It seems almost a shame to put them into a +barrel, they look so pretty.'</p> + +<p>'You won't say so when you come to taste it,' said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> unromantic Bobby, +who was fond of cool, fizzy drinks in summer.</p> + +<p>'Be that you, miss?' said a voice from the region of the door; and the +good-natured, freckled face and sandy hair of Joe, the farm-boy, made +its appearance, followed by the rest of his lanky person, as he entered +slowly, bearing something mysteriously concealed under his coat.</p> + +<p>'Whatever have you got there, Joe?' cried three voices at once.</p> + +<p>'Well,' replied Joe, with an important air, 'it do be a present for Miss +Peggy, it be. She were that disappointed about the guinea-pig as Mrs. +Davenport promised to give her, and forgot all about, that I says to +myself, "I must make it up to her some ways, if I gets the chance." So I +walks over to my granny's at Marlow last night, and I begs a black pup +off her, and here it is.'</p> + +<p>Joe drew aside his jacket, and disclosed to the children's delighted +eyes the sweetest little round fuzzy ball of black fluff, just like a +tiny woolly bear, with tan chest and paws, and a wagging morsel of a +tail like a black tassel. It had the brightest of brown eyes, the +pinkest of tongues, and the shrillest of barks, and it was altogether +such a dear, enchanting, soft, curly morsel of puppyhood that Peggy took +it to her arms and her heart at the same moment.</p> + +<p>'Oh, thank you, Joe!' she exclaimed, almost too pleased to speak.</p> + +<p>'Granny has five of 'em, miss,' said Joe; 'but I picked out the best. +It'll make a grand dog, it will, when it's growed, and master was sayin' +only the other day as he could do with another collie to train in old +Rover's place.'</p> + +<p>'Let me have him a moment!' begged Bobby,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> hugging the wriggling burden, +which Peggy unwillingly relinquished.</p> + +<p>'What shall you call the darling?' inquired Lilian, kissing the funny +black nose that was smelling at her buttons.</p> + +<p>'I think Rollo would be a jolly name, and of course we can all have a +piece of him all the same, though he's mine,' announced Peggy +magnanimously, for the Vaughans always shared their good things with one +another.</p> + +<p>They had a perfect menagerie of pets at the Abbey. First there were the +rabbits, five white ones and two black, which lived in a little hutch +behind the stackyard. They did not do very much except nibble at bran +and lettuce-leaves, it is true, but they were pretty, soft creatures, +with long, silky ears, and it was fun sometimes to let them out for a +scamper on the granary floor. Then there was Prickles, a bright little +hedgehog, which Peggy had rescued from some village boys who were using +the poor little fellow as a football. She had brought him home, and fed +him on bread and milk, and he soon got to know her, and would come when +she called him, and allow her to scratch the end of his funny pink nose. +Prickles generally slept most of the day in a snug box lined with hay, +but in the evenings he woke up, and Peggy would carry him into the +kitchen, where he devoured black-beetles, much to his own delight and +Nancy's satisfaction.</p> + +<p>Jack, the magpie, had fallen from his nest in the fir-tree when still an +ugly little half-fledged creature with a wide, gaping mouth. The +children had made a nest of grass for him inside a basket, and fed him +on worms and scraps of raw meat until he was old enough to fly, when he +would follow them everywhere about the farmyard and outbuildings, +calling 'Jack, Jack!'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> which, with the mewing of a cat, the gobble of +the old turkey-cock, and a close imitation of David's winter cough, made +up the extent of his accomplishments.</p> + +<p>Nancy kept him sternly out of the kitchen, for he was terribly +mischievous, and seemed to take a positive delight in playing practical +jokes. He had purloined David's scarf from the saddle-room, and dropped +it into the horse-trough, had filled Bobby's hat with pebbles, and +devoured the queen-cakes which Lilian had placed on the kitchen +window-sill to cool; he had snatched Joe's breast-pin—a glittering +imitation diamond—from his Sunday tie, under the very nose of that +injured youth, and had stolen so many small articles that if anything +were missing the children would have a grand search for Master Jack's +hiding-place, and would generally turn out the lost treasure from among +an odd collection of trifles—scraps of bright-coloured rags, bits of +broken glass, hairpins, pen-nibs, pencil-ends, together with pieces of +bread and half-picked bones which the thief had concealed in some +cunning corner inside a manger or under the roof of the loft.</p> + +<p>Then there was Pixie, the pony, who would come whinnying up from the +further side of a field to poke her soft nose into the children's +pockets for pieces of bread or lumps of sugar; there were numerous cats +who lived in the barns and stables, and Tabbyskins, the stately gray +Persian, who usually sat sunning herself on the pigsty wall, keeping a +strict eye on naughty Jack, who was wont to harry her if he got the +chance.</p> + +<p>Bobby had a pretty set of bantams, whose small eggs afforded him much +delight and some slight profit, for Aunt Helen bought them from him at +threepence a dozen—a transaction which he always recorded in chalk upon +the hen-house door, the pennies being carefully put by towards the +purchase of a pair of fantail<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> pigeons, which was at present the summit +of his ambition.</p> + +<p>This spring, too, there was a pet lamb called Daisy. David had found it +bleating beside its dead mother one bitter morning early in March, and +had carried the poor orphan into the kitchen, where Nancy had reared it +on a feeding-bottle like a baby. It returned her care by an affection +which was quite embarrassing to the worthy girl, for however attractive +a pet lamb may be, it becomes distinctly in the way when it insists upon +following you into the dining-room with the dinner, or presses its +attentions on you when you are engaged in cleaning the grate or +scrubbing the floors.</p> + +<p>It was not only outside that the children had treasures. Aunt Helen was +very long-suffering with respect to hobbies, for she rightly thought +that the more a child's life is filled with interests, the more chance +it has of growing up an intelligent and broad-minded individual, and of +escaping from that lethargy of boredom which swallows up the lives of +many young people who ought to know better how to amuse themselves in +God's beautiful world. 'I don't know what to do,' was an unknown +expression among the young Vaughans, who had always so many projects on +hand that the difficulty lay in finding time to carry them all out.</p> + +<p>The Rose Parlour, as it was called, from the tangle of pink roses which +framed the windows in summer-time, was especially given up to the +children's use. It was a bright, cheerful room, with a view over the +river to the sunset and the Welsh mountains, and had a French window +which opened into the garden. Here was the old piano on which they +practised, here the ink-pots and rulers for their home-lessons, with +their paint-boxes, crayons, and drawing-books.</p> + +<p>A cupboard in the corner was devoted to a kind of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> museum, where they +kept their collection of birds' eggs, a few butterflies, moths, and +beetles, Lilian's pressed wild-flowers, a box full of shells and fossils +which they had brought home from their one never-to-be-forgotten visit +to the seaside, a curious plaited basket filled with bone rings, shell +bracelets, and other curiosities, sent by a sailor cousin from the South +Sea Islands, and an odd assortment of stones, old coins, foreign stamps, +crests and postmarks, which represented landmarks in the history of past +fads.</p> + +<p>Lilian's canary hung in the sunniest window, Peggy's silkworms lay in a +box on the sideboard, and Bobby's white mice reposed in much comfort in +a cage on the chimneypiece.</p> + +<p>The walls were adorned with school drawings and prize maps, fastened up +with tacks; a bookcase of much-read volumes filled the space between the +fireplace and the window; and in the corner might be found a +miscellaneous collection of cricket-bats, fishing-rods, tennis-racquets, +bows and arrows, croquet-mallets, sticks, balls and ninepins, and other +articles very dear to the children's hearts, but which Nancy generally +classed impartially under the head of 'lumber.'</p> + +<p>The black puppy proved a delightful addition to the already long list of +pets. Lilian hunted up a piece of blue ribbon to tie round his fluffy +neck; but he objected to decorations, and soon clawed it off, and chewed +it into a soft, slimy pulp. He ran after the children with little short, +sharp barks, worrying at their heels till Aunt Helen declared there +would soon not be a whole stocking left in the establishment; he had a +fray at once with Jack, but was much worsted by that worthy, returning +to Peggy for protection with his scrap of a tail between his legs; he +tore Bobby's cricket-ball to pieces, licked the polish off Father's +boots, devoured<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> Aunt Helen's goloshes, and nestled cosily down to sleep +on the top of Nancy's best Sunday hat, which that luckless damsel had +imprudently left in an open band-box on the kitchen settle.</p> + +<p>On the first night of his arrival he howled so piteously on being left +alone that Peggy insisted on taking him to bed with her.</p> + +<p>'He'll be no trouble, the darling!' she said. 'He'll just cuddle down on +the rug at the foot of my bed, and go to sleep like an angel; I know he +will!'</p> + +<p>She and Lilian made him a very snug little nest with the help of an old +pillow, and he settled himself with a sigh of much content.</p> + +<p>'He's <em>far</em> better than a baby,' declared Peggy, 'for he doesn't want +hushing and rocking, and he won't cry in the night.'</p> + +<p>But his fond mistress had given her favourite his good character a +little too soon. About midnight the bright moonlight streaming in +through the window woke Master Rollo, who, having had a refreshing nap, +was now very wide awake, and ready for anything. He heaved himself out +of his wrappings, and with a delighted yelp fell upon Peggy's curls, +worrying them with little gasps of joy, till she had to dive beneath the +bedclothes to escape her too sportive pet.</p> + +<p>After that there was no more rest for Peggy or Lilian; Rollo was on the +war-path, and determined to make the most of his opportunities. It was +in vain that Lilian held him in her arms, and tried to soothe him to +sleep; he grunted and whined, and wriggled down on to the floor, where, +with a shrill bark, he unearthed a cardboard box full of old gloves, +which had been stored away under the bed. The chewing and tearing up of +these afforded him much sport, as did also the bare feet of his +mistress, when she attempted to interfere.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> Peggy was at her wits' end, +but she finally seized the tempestuous ball of fluff, and dropped him to +the bottom of the empty clothes-basket.</p> + +<p>'He can't do any harm in there, at any rate,' she said hopefully.</p> + +<p>He could make such a noise, however, that he effectually banished +slumber; he twisted and turned, he bit at the wickerwork, and scratched +with his claws, and after ten minutes of much commotion managed to tip +over the basket and crawl out in triumph, to renew his attacks upon the +shoes and other property of the despairing girls.</p> + +<p>'It's no use,' groaned Lilian at last, getting out of bed and catching +the small sinner; 'we shall just have to take it in turns to nurse him +till morning; he's as lively as a cricket, and if we leave him raging +about on the floor like that we shan't have a thing in the room left +unchewed!'</p> + +<p>Never had a night seemed so long; the only one who thoroughly enjoyed +himself was the puppy, who, delighted to receive so much attention, +pursued his diversions until the sun was well in at the window, when at +length he snuggled into Peggy's pillow, and composed himself to sleep, +leaving his weary guardians only time for a brief rest before Nancy's +unwelcome tap was heard at the door.</p> + +<p>After this experience Peggy was not so enthusiastic about having Rollo +for a bedfellow, and he slept in the stables, with the cats to bear him +company.</p> + +<p>He was an amusing little fellow, and soon learned to sit up and beg for +biscuits, and Peggy promised herself to teach him many more +accomplishments in course of time. As he grew older his pranks assumed +rather a more serious form.</p> + +<p>'Just look what that precious dog of yours has done,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> Peggy!' cried Mr. +Vaughan one day, bursting indignantly into the Rose Parlour with a dead +kitten in his hand.</p> + +<p>There was a howl of consternation and woe from the children, for the +poor gray kit had been rather a favourite, and an instant search was +made for the murderer. But Rollo had fled from the stern hand of +justice, and though they sought him far and near, it was of no avail, +and by bedtime he was still missing.</p> + +<p>'No doubt he's hiding somewhere about in the barns,' said Lilian. 'He +must be fearfully hungry; but it serves him right, the wretch!'</p> + +<p>The children had long ago gone to bed, and Mr. Vaughan was on the point +of following their example when he noticed a curious and most unusual +lump underneath his counterpane.</p> + +<p>'What on earth has that stupid Nancy given me a hot bottle for on such a +warm evening?' he exclaimed; and flinging down the clothes he disclosed +to view, not the expected earthenware bottle, but the shrinking and +apologetic form of Master Rollo, who, if ever a dog could be said to own +a conscience, surely showed he knew he had offended, and repented +heartily of his sins.</p> + +<p>Mr. Vaughan laughed so much that he had not the heart to thrash the +little rogue, but next morning he devised a punishment for him which +Peggy declared was far worse. The body of the dead kitten was securely +tied round his neck with a piece of rope, and, like the albatross in the +ballad of the 'Ancient Mariner,' it proved such a weight of shame that +the guilty dog did not dare to show his face to his friends, but slunk +away to hide his dishonoured head in dark corners of the barn or +stackyard.</p> + +<p>Mr. Vaughan was inflexible, and would not allow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> Rollo to be relieved +from his burden until the following evening.</p> + +<p>'We must teach him a lesson he is not likely to forget,' he said. 'I +cannot have him touching any of the animals on the farm, or we shall +have him killing the sheep when he is older.'</p> + +<p>So Rollo bore his punishment as best he could, and was fed behind the +pigsty by the sympathetic Peggy, who, while mourning for the departed +Ruffles, forgave her erring pet from the bottom of her heart when she +saw the depths of his unutterable woe.</p> + + + + +<hr /> + + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> +<a name="iv" id="iv"></a>CHAPTER IV<br /> +<br /> +<span class="sub">A STORMY DAY</span></h2> + +<div class="block22"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'Alack-a-day, what tears we mingle!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For trouble ne'er, I wot, came single.'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Though</span> Gorswen was the most quiet little country spot you could find, it +lay only four miles away from Warford, a rising inland watering-place, +which boasted not only a Mayor and Corporation, but a pump-room and +concert-hall, and had a large and fleeting population of visitors, and, +to judge by its growing suburbs, an ever-increasing number of residents.</p> + +<p>Lilian and Peggy attended the Warford High School, and Bobby the Grammar +School. It was not quite what Father would have wished for them, for he +had been a Rugby boy himself, but it was the best he could afford; and +certainly the education was excellent, though the pupils were decidedly +mixed. Still, as Aunt Helen said, 'You have no need to copy the manners +of the children you meet. You have been taught at home to behave like +gentlepeople, so please to remember you are Vaughans, and keep up the +credit of the family.'</p> + +<p>Every morning at eight o'clock the little governess-car and Pixie, the +steady black pony, stood ready at the side gate, and the trio jogged off +to school with their lesson-books and their luncheons in their +satchels.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> David could not be spared to go with them, but all the +children had been taught to drive, and even Bobby had a firm hand on the +reins, and knew the rules of the road as well as many a more experienced +coachman; and I think, too, that Pixie had a sense of her +responsibilities, and could be trusted not to get the wheel locked with +a passing waggon, or to race too furiously down a steep hill, whatever +feats her drivers might urge her to perform. The pony and trap were put +up for the day at a quiet little inn midway between the two schools, and +were always waiting for the children by a quarter past four, when, like +the traditional donkey, they joyfully turned their noses towards home +again.</p> + +<p>On one special Monday morning in May Peggy got out of bed in that +peculiar frame of mind which Father charitably called 'highly strung,' +and Nancy broadly defined as 'having black dog on your back.' To begin +with, it was wet. Not that Peggy minded rain in the least, but if it +were fine Mr. Vaughan had intended to go over to a great cattle fair +which was to be held that day at Shrewsbury, and had promised to bring +her home a guinea-pig. 'And now he won't go,' she thought dismally, 'and +I shan't have the chance of another until Warford Agricultural Show in +the autumn.'</p> + +<p>Peggy hated Monday mornings. After the delightful freedom of Saturday +and Sunday at home it was always doubly hard to return to school, and +the time until next Friday afternoon seemed an endless prospect. All the +nastiest lessons, Peggy thought, came on Mondays—grammar and +arithmetic, dates and French verbs, and all those horrid fussy things +which take a great deal of learning without being specially interesting +in themselves.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>On this particular morning the children were late for school, for Pixie +had cast a shoe upon the road, and Lilian had been obliged to drive so +slowly that the church clock was chiming a quarter past nine as Peggy +opened her classroom door.</p> + +<p>It is rather an ordeal to walk late into a schoolroom full of thirty +girls, and the slightly nervous feeling had the unfortunate effect of +making Peggy march in with a don't-care look on her face, and shut the +door with a bang.</p> + +<p>Miss Crossland glared at her through her eyeglasses.</p> + +<p>'If you are so careless as to be late, Margaret Vaughan,' she remarked, +'the least you can do is to come in quietly without disturbing the +class.'</p> + +<p>Rather crestfallen, Peggy threaded her way to her place, and took out +her arithmetic books.</p> + +<p>'Which sum are you doing?' she whispered to her desk-mate, Emily +Thompson; but Emily judiciously pretended not to hear, for she did not +wish to waste valuable time in giving Peggy information. She was rather +a pretty girl. Her light flaxen hair and pale, fair complexion gave her +a smooth, shining appearance, and somehow Peggy always thought her +manners were smooth and shining too, for she had a way of wriggling out +of any little difficulty and unpleasantness, so that the blame rested +upon other people, and was always ready to take a mean advantage, or +play some of those little underhand tricks which schoolgirls know only +too well.</p> + +<p>Peggy's frank, downright nature held Emily in much contempt, and, as she +made no effort to conceal her opinion, the dislike was mutual, and a +kind of undeclared war existed between the two. It was unfortunate for +Peggy that the third form classroom was furnished with double desks, for +as Miss Crossland<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> would permit no changing of places, she was obliged +to sit by her enemy for the rest of the term, to their equal discomfort +and annoyance.</p> + +<p>The lesson dragged on wearily for awhile, till they were disturbed by a +tap at the door, and a small girl from one of the lower classes entered, +full of importance at her errand.</p> + +<p>'If you please, Miss Crossland,' she piped, 'Miss Martin would like to +speak to you for a moment in the library.'</p> + +<p>Miss Crossland looked annoyed; she disliked being interrupted in her +classes, but the head-mistress's request could not be disobeyed.</p> + +<p>'Very well, Gertrude,' she replied coldly; then, turning to her class: +'Girls, I must leave you for a few minutes. I trust you to continue your +arithmetic in silence during my absence. Not a word must be spoken while +I am out of the room.'</p> + +<p>For so long indeed as her footsteps echoed in the passage her pupils +obeyed her order, but the moment she might reasonably be believed to be +out of earshot a low murmur began among the little heads bent so +discreetly over the arithmetic books. No one attempted to do any work; +sweets and apples appeared mysteriously from within desks, and +surreptitious bites were offered to appreciative neighbours. One daring +spirit even mounted the platform, and waved the pointer in supposed +imitation of Miss Crossland's majestic style.</p> + +<p>'What made you so late, Peggy?' asked Nora Pemberton in the intervals of +ecstatic delight over a white mouse, hidden away in a desk-mate's +lunchbox.</p> + +<p>'Couldn't help it,' replied Peggy, with her mouth full of chocolate. +'Pixie lost a shoe, and we thought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> she would go lame, so we almost +crawled along; and when we got her in, we had to tell them to be sure +and have her shod by four o'clock, and of course it all takes time.'</p> + +<p>'I wish I drove to school every day,' said Sissie Wilson, a delicate +looking girl who lived in the heart of the town.</p> + +<p>'You wouldn't like it when it was wet,' said Peggy. 'And if it's frosty +one's hands get just numb holding the reins, though it's jolly enough in +summer. We have to start ever so early, too, to be here by nine.'</p> + +<p>'Well, I only wish I had the chance,' grumbled the envious Sissie; but +she was interrupted by a warning 'Hush! Miss Crossland!'</p> + +<p>In a moment thirty hair-ribbons were bent over thirty desks, and thirty +demure young ladies were adding up figures with the utmost care and +attention.</p> + +<p>Miss Crossland looked at them suspiciously; perhaps ten years of +teaching had caused her to mistrust such amazing diligence.</p> + +<p>'Has any girl spoken during my absence?' she inquired sharply.</p> + +<p>No one replied. Peggy's face flushed, and her conscience gave her a +sharp twinge. A Vaughan must never have anything to do with the least +little bit of an untruth, so she stood bravely up in her place.</p> + +<p>'I spoke, Miss Crossland,' she admitted.</p> + +<p>'And I too,' said Nora Pemberton.</p> + +<p>Nobody else followed Peggy's example. Sissie Wilson bit the end of her +pencil in abstruse calculation, Emily Thompson was deep in the pages of +her arithmetic, while most of the girls were adding up columns as if for +dear life.</p> + +<p>Miss Crossland looked grave.</p> + +<p>'Very well, Margaret and Nora,' she said, 'I must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> give you each a +bad-conduct mark, and shall expect you both to stay after four o'clock +this afternoon.'</p> + +<p>The tears rose to Peggy's eyes at the injustice.</p> + +<p>'What a mean set they are!' she said to herself. 'I'm sure Miss +Crossland might have known they had been talking too; but she is always +down upon me.'</p> + +<p>She opened her desk, and searched for a fresh pencil to hide her +tell-tale face, and somehow (she really did not mean it, but perhaps her +tears blinded her) the desk-lid slid from her fingers, and fell down +with an awful crash, which rang through the whole room.</p> + +<p>'Take another bad-conduct mark, Margaret Vaughan,' said the calm voice +of Miss Crossland. 'You must learn not to show temper when you are +reproved.'</p> + +<p>Poor Peggy groaned. Every bad-conduct mark meant six sums to be worked +out when school was over. She and Lilian had been very anxious to get +home early that afternoon, for they had meant to sow seeds in the +garden; and Father was always angry if they kept Bobby waiting, for he +did not like him to be loitering about the inn-yard listening to the +talk of the stable-boys.</p> + +<p>But Miss Crossland was writing a problem upon the blackboard in compound +proportion. 'If a hen and a half lay an egg and a half in a day and a +half, how many eggs can four hens lay in six days?'</p> + +<p>'What a stupid sum!' thought Peggy. 'How could there be a hen and a +half? I don't know the least how to state it. Is the answer to come out +in hens or eggs or days?'</p> + +<p>She put down a few random figures, then her thoughts wandered off to the +brown speckled hen at home, and she wondered if the little chicks would +hatch out to-day, and whether Nancy would remember to go<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> and see, and +put the dear fluffy yellow things in a basket before the kitchen fire.</p> + +<p>'Your answer, Margaret?' said Miss Crossland. But Peggy's mind was so +far away in the Abbey barn that she did not at once hear her.</p> + +<p>Perhaps Emily Thompson really wished to recall Peggy's wandering +thoughts, or perhaps there was just a spice of malice in the action—at +any rate, she dug the point of her lead-pencil so sharply into poor +Peggy's hand that her astonished victim sat up with a yell.</p> + +<p>'<em>Margaret!</em>' exclaimed the outraged mistress.</p> + +<p>'I couldn't help it!' cried Peggy, grown desperate: 'Emily hurt me so!'</p> + +<p>'I'm very sorry, Miss Crossland,' said Emily sweetly. 'I didn't mean to +hurt Margaret, only to make her see you were speaking to her.'</p> + +<p>'Which would not have been necessary if she had been attending +properly,' replied the mistress. 'And I must say I think little of any +girl who cannot endure a moment's pain in silence. Read out your answer, +Emily, and I will then correct the home-work.'</p> + +<p>Peggy heaved a sigh of relief at that. She knew the sums which she had +worked at home on Saturday were correct, for Lilian had gone over them +carefully afterwards, so she opened her book and took up her pencil +ready to put a triumphant 'R' to each of them.</p> + +<p>'Miss Martin has borrowed my Blackie's Arithmetic,' said Miss Crossland, +'so I have not the answers here. But read out your results, Bertha Muir, +and I shall be able to judge from the general average whether they are +correct or not.'</p> + +<p>'Three hundred and nineteen pounds six and sevenpence,' read out +Bertha.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>'Hands up girls who have got that answer,' said Miss Crossland.</p> + +<p>At least twenty out of the thirty hands went up like lightning into the +air.</p> + +<p>'Right!' ventured the teacher.</p> + +<p>Peggy gazed at her sum in amazement. She differed from the answer by +several figures. Could both she and Lilian have made a mistake? It +seemed impossible, for Lilian was so splendid at arithmetic. But Bertha +was reading out the next sum, and the next. To each answer she gave a +crowd of uplifted hands agreed with her, and poor Peggy found, to her +chagrin, that in every case her figures were not the same. It could not +be that all the ten sums she had taken so much pains over were wrong. If +so, it meant a very bad mark for arithmetic.</p> + +<p>'Oh, Miss Crossland,' she burst out, 'it's not fair! I <em>know</em> my answers +were right. If you would only work them out on the board, you'd soon +see.'</p> + +<p>'Margaret Vaughan,' said Miss Crossland sternly, 'I am the best judge in +this matter, and if I have any more trouble with you this morning I +shall send you straight to Miss Martin. I do not allow any girl to speak +to me in that tone.'</p> + +<p>Though inwardly raging, Peggy was forced to put on an outward appearance +of submission and good behaviour, and the lessons droned on somehow +until the morning was over. Most of the girls fled, as usual the moment +the class was dismissed; but Peggy stayed behind in the schoolroom to +tidy her desk and talk to Nora Pemberton, who just at present was her +particular friend among her schoolmates.</p> + +<p>'I can't think how it was my sums were all wrong,' she lamented, as she +put away the ill-fated home-lesson book. 'Did you get yours right, +Nora?'</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>'No, wrong, every one; and I had worked them so carefully.'</p> + +<p>'Just let me look at your answers. Why, they are exactly like mine! I +know they are right. How is it all the other girls got the same as +Bertha?'</p> + +<p>'Oh, I can tell you that,' said Nora, 'They all copied her sums, for I +saw them doing it just before school began. You know it was the Military +Bazaar at the Assembly Rooms on Saturday, and I suppose most of the +girls were there, and had no time to do their home-work, so they just +scribbled down Bertha's figures before the bell rang.'</p> + +<p>'How unfair! How shamefully mean!' cried Peggy, with flaming cheeks. +'Miss Crossland ought to work out those sums.'</p> + +<p>'She won't, though. You made her so angry about it this morning, and +when once she says a thing she sticks to it.'</p> + +<p>'She's always hard on me somehow,' sighed Peggy. 'She's been perfectly +horrible to-day. Why, Nora, what's the matter?'</p> + +<p>For Nora had also had a tidy fit, and had been turning out her desk, and +she now drew forth a book with such a very blank and rueful face that +Peggy might well exclaim.</p> + +<p>'It's the Literature Notes,' said Nora in an awe-struck voice—'that +book Miss Martin lent us to copy from, and that vanished so mysteriously +a month ago. Don't you remember what a fearful fuss she made about it, +and we were all told to search in our desks? I thought I had looked +quite to the bottom of mine, but there it was, under a pile of old +exercise-books. Whatever shall I do? She will be so dreadfully angry +with me.'</p> + +<p>'Why, of course, you'll have to take it back,' said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> Peggy. 'But,' her +love of mischief getting the upper hand, 'I don't see why we shouldn't +have a little fun with it first. You won't find Miss Martin in the +library now, and it would do quite as well at four o'clock, so suppose +you put it inside Mary Hill's desk, just to give her a fright. She's +such a goose, she'll give a perfect howl of horror when she finds it, +and then we'll pretend to think she must have had it there all the time, +and get her into <em>such</em> a state of mind before we tell her.'</p> + +<p>Nora laughed, for practical jokes were at a high tide of popularity in +the class, and many were the tricks which the girls played on one +another.</p> + +<p>'I owe Mary something,' she said, 'for she tied my hair-ribbon to the +back of the desk on Friday, and when I tried to get up I was held fast +by my pigtail.'</p> + +<p>'It will be a good way to pay her back, then,' said Peggy. '<a name="see" id="see"></a>See, I'll +put it just on the top in front, where she'll find it first thing; but +don't tell a soul till this afternoon, or you'll spoil all the fun.'</p> + +<p>The two conspirators ran downstairs laughing, and were soon romping in +the playground. After dinner one of the elder girls suggested rounders, +and the game grew so enthralling that time flew by until the bell, +ringing for afternoon school, sent the players, hot and rosy with their +exertions, hurrying up the great staircase to their classrooms. As Peggy +passed the door of Miss Martin's study she happened to notice Mary Hill +come out of it, with a particularly red and uncomfortable look upon her +face.</p> + +<p>'What has she been doing there?' thought Peggy; but there was neither +time to inquire Mary's errand nor to carry out her anticipated joke with +the note-book, for the girls were taking their places, and Miss +Crossland came in a moment afterwards.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>She mounted the platform and rang the bell for order, but, instead of +calling their names as usual, she announced:</p> + +<p>'Girls, Miss Martin desires that you should all be present in the +lecture-hall, where she wishes to address the whole school. File out in +order, beginning with the top desk on the right.'</p> + +<p>Full of astonishment, the girls marched down to the large lecture-hall, +where all the classes were assembling, marshalled by their teachers. It +was evidently a matter of some importance, for it was seldom indeed that +lessons were interrupted in this manner. The girls kept whispering to +each other under their breath:</p> + +<p>'Whatever can it all be about? Have you heard anything? Why does she +want us all here?'</p> + +<p>But their surmises were soon put an end to by the appearance of Miss +Martin herself, stately and commanding as usual, and with a grieved look +on her face. She mounted the platform, and with a little sigh turned to +her expectant audience.</p> + +<p>'Girls,' she began, with an air almost of tragedy, 'a very distressing +incident has happened to-day—a circumstance which in all the records of +this school has never occurred before. You see this book in my hand,' +and she held up (oh, luckless Peggy!) the missing note-book. 'This book +of manuscript notes, which I had compiled myself from various sources, +and valued greatly, I lent to be copied by the third form. It was lost, +and though I caused every search to be made, I could find no trace of +it. Girls, I regret to say that to-day this book has been brought back +to school, and <em>has been placed in another girl's desk</em>—in the desk, I +repeat, of an innocent girl, who had nothing to do with its loss.'</p> + +<p>Miss Martin paused, and a wave of horror passed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> over the school. As for +Peggy, her blood ran cold. It had never struck her before that the act +of placing the book in Mary's desk could be open to such a construction. +She had meant it all for a joke, and thought Mary would have been the +first to join in the fun, and then Nora would, of course, have taken it +back. She saw now that, while they had still been romping at rounders, +Mary must have gone up to the schoolroom, and finding the missing notes +in her desk, had carried them at once to the library.</p> + +<p>'Oh, why did we not come up sooner?' groaned Peggy. 'Who would ever have +thought of Miss Martin taking it like this?'</p> + +<p>'I feel,' continued the head-mistress sadly, 'that we have one girl +among us of so dishonourable a nature that she seeks to hide her fault +by throwing the blame on to the shoulders of another. Who that girl may +be I cannot tell, but her own conscience must surely convict her.'</p> + +<p>She paused again, and her glance passed slowly round the room. Peggy's +face grew burning hot.</p> + +<p>'I am determined,' Miss Martin went on, 'to probe this matter to the +bottom, and I now call upon any girl who may have any knowledge on the +subject to rise up and tell what she knows.'</p> + +<p>Peggy tried to look at Nora, but Nora was several rows behind her. For +one moment she hesitated, and in that moment she was lost. Emily +Thompson had risen in her place.</p> + +<p>'Well, Emily,' said Miss Martin gravely, 'do you know anything about +this unhappy affair?'</p> + +<p>'I do, Miss Martin,' replied Emily in a low voice.</p> + +<p>'Tell me at once, then,' commanded the head-mistress.</p> + +<p>'I would much rather not, please,' said Emily,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> casting down her eyes. +'I don't like getting another girl into trouble.'</p> + +<p>'Emily Thompson, this is not the time to shield a companion, and I order +you to say at once what you know.'</p> + +<p>'Well,' said Emily, twisting her slim hands nervously, 'if I must tell, +I went back to the schoolroom before dinner for my pencil-box, and,' +with a sidelong look at Peggy, 'I noticed Margaret Vaughan putting a +book inside Mary Hill's desk.'</p> + +<p>The bolt had fallen. Miss Martin turned to Peggy, who, with white and +quivering lips, sat as still as if she had been frozen on to the form.</p> + +<p>'Is this false or true, Margaret Vaughan?' she asked, in a voice that +was scarcely more than a whisper.</p> + +<p>There were nearly four hundred girls in the room, but you could have +heard a pin drop in the silence. Lilian had risen half up in her place, +and was looking at Peggy with eager, expectant face. As for Peggy, she +felt as if the end of the world had come. She could not in truth deny +the fact, though of the intention she was absolutely guiltless. She had +never in her life told a lie, and she summoned all the Vaughan spirit to +her aid.</p> + +<p>'It's true,' she faltered, trying to speak bravely, but wishing all the +time that she could sink through the floor.</p> + +<p>Miss Martin gazed at her for a moment as if dumbfounded.</p> + +<p>'That will do,' she said at last. 'I will inquire into this privately. +Miss Pope, will you kindly take Margaret Vaughan into the kindergarten +classroom, where she will wait until I come to her? Each form may now +leave the room in turn. We have wasted too much time already.'</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>Peggy's head was in a whirl. She had a confused idea that Lilian was +trying to come to her across a row of benches, and was being held back +by a teacher; but otherwise she scarcely knew what was happening, except +that she seemed to be the centre for all the eight hundred eyes in the +room, till Miss Pope took her by the shoulder and marched her away like +a warder escorting a very small convict to gaol. The kindergarten babies +did not return to school in the afternoon, so their little classroom was +empty. Left alone, the poor child flung herself on to one of the low +seats and burst into a passion of tears.</p> + +<p>That it should come to this—that she, Peggy Vaughan, who, whatever +might be her faults, had always held such an unstained reputation for +honour and truthfulness, should be deemed capable of such a mean and +discreditable action seemed too hard to be borne. She felt as if she +could never explain the matter properly, and that the brand of this +horrible affair would remain on her for the rest of her life, bringing +disgrace upon the whole family for her sake. She worked herself up +nearly to the point of heartbreak when she thought of what Father and +Aunt Helen would think about it, and it seemed to her as though the very +Crusaders and the lady and gentleman in the Elizabethan ruffs would look +at her from their tombs in the church next Sunday with grave disapproval +in their eyes.</p> + +<p>'It's all my own fault, too,' she thought, 'for Nora wanted to take that +wretched book back at once, and she would have done so if it hadn't been +for me. I don't think Miss Martin will ever believe me now, when I tell +her how it was, and all the girls will think me a mean sneak for +evermore.' And her tears flowed down faster and faster as she pictured +herself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> a sort of social outcast in the school, shunned and avoided by +everyone. 'I wonder how long they're going to leave me here?' she +thought dismally, as the afternoon wore away and the clock chimed +half-past three. 'Miss Martin said she was coming after me at once. Oh, +if <em>only</em> I could get home, I'd ask Father not to send me to school +again. Perhaps Aunt Helen would teach me lessons at home if I begged +hard. I can never bear to face anybody here after all this.'</p> + +<p>It really seemed too bad to leave the poor little culprit so long in +suspense, for to a child's mind the agony of waiting is often far worse +than the dreaded punishment, and childhood's sorrows are so overwhelming +and hopeless that they almost eclipse those of later years.</p> + +<p>Peggy's head was aching, her eyes were red and swollen with crying, and +dark despair was settling down upon her, when the door suddenly opened, +and Lilian burst in and caught her in a regular bear's hug, while Nora +followed like a perfect whirlwind only a yard behind.</p> + +<p>'There, darling! don't cry any more. I <em>knew</em> you couldn't do such a +mean thing,' said Lilian between her kisses. 'I've been just longing to +come and comfort you, but they wouldn't let me. I rushed off at once to +tell Miss Martin I was sure it was all a horrible mistake, but she was +engaged with a tiresome caller who had just been shown into the library, +and I've been dodging about the corridor all this time waiting to see +her.'</p> + +<p>'And so have I,' cried Nora. 'I have been simply dancing with impatience +on the doormat. I know I ought to have told at once, but I was so +dreadfully taken aback at it all turning out like that, and you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> being +accused, that I could only stand and stare like an idiot while Miss Pope +marched you out of the room. Miss Martin's been ever so nice about it, +though. She talked a lot about my being careless and our wanting to play +tricks on Mary, but she said she was "glad to be able to think as highly +of Margaret Vaughan as she had always done," and we were to go at once +and set you free. She actually kissed us both before we went, didn't +she, Lilian? Do say you forgive me, Peggy, for I feel as if I had got +you into all this trouble.'</p> + +<p>'Of course I do,' said Peggy warmly, feeling ready to forgive even Emily +Thompson in her relief.</p> + +<p>'The girls all know about it,' said Nora. 'They're waiting outside in +the playground. They think Emily Thompson was a sneak to go telling +tales like that, without asking you first if you had really done it, and +they're so sorry for you that they say they'll give you a "hooray" when +you come out.'</p> + +<p>But, though all is well that ends well, Peggy was still so tear-stained +and upset that she did not feel equal to facing her school-fellows, +however sympathetic they might be, so she escaped with Lilian through +the side-door into the street, feeling she would never be really happy +or at ease again till she was back in that haven of home where she was +always appreciated and understood, and pouring out her troubles to Aunt +Helen in the sanctuary of the Rose Parlour.</p> + + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> +<a name="v" id="v"></a>CHAPTER V<br /> +<br /> +<span class="sub">CONCERNING LILIAN</span></h2> + +<div class="block20"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'Her life had many a hope and aim,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Duties enough, and little cares.'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">This</span> story is so much about Peggy and her satellite Bobby that we have +rather neglected Lilian, and she deserves a chapter all to herself; for +she was one of the sweetest, gentlest, most unselfish of girls, who +filled a quiet niche in the little world of her home which would have +been sadly empty without her.</p> + +<p>If anyone had asked Lilian what was her favourite study she would +promptly have replied: 'Music.' She practised away patiently at the old +piano, much to the delight of her German teacher, who was wont to hold +her up as his pattern pupil.</p> + +<p>'Mees Vaughan, she take pains, ver' great,' he would say to Miss Martin. +'As for ze ozer yong ladies, zey have no more musique in zem zan an old +hurdy-gurdy. All zat vill please zem is a tune to make dance, but for ze +vorks of ze best composers zey have no heart at all.'</p> + +<p>Lilian's secret ambition was to go to Germany to study at the Leipzig +Conservatoire, which Herr Frankenburg always described as the very home +and abode of the spirit of music, and made her sadly envious with +accounts of the wonderful concerts and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> operas which might be enjoyed in +that favoured city, where the very street vendors would not be tolerated +if they cried their wares out of tune.</p> + +<p>Lilian's experience of concerts was confined to an occasional afternoon +performance in the Warford Assembly Rooms, or the military band in the +Spa gardens; but she bravely hid her longings for better things, for she +knew that a musical education would be an utter impossibility in the +family circumstances, and that Father had strained a point already to +allow her to learn from Herr Frankenburg, who was the most expensive +teacher in the school.</p> + +<p>She had a sweet, true voice, though not of any great volume, and would +sing away with much delight when she got the Rose Parlour all to +herself, often composing little things of her own, which were really +quite pretty, though she was generally too modest to own to them.</p> + +<p>One Saturday towards the end of May six of Lilian's most particular +school-friends had been invited to spend the afternoon, and there were +great preparations at the Abbey. Rollo had been newly washed and combed, +the rabbits' hutch had been scrubbed, the arbour swept out, the museum +tidied, and Nancy had baked a supply of cakes and tarts calculated to +provide for the healthiest appetites.</p> + +<p>'Here they are!' cried Bobby, who, perched on the archway that +surmounted the gate, could command a view of the distant prospect, and +report progress, like Sister Anne in the story of Bluebeard.</p> + +<p>'All of them?' asked Lilian, hurriedly tying a pink ribbon round the +neck of the pet lamb, whose toilet had been forgotten among the many +arrangements.</p> + +<p>'Yes; I can see six bicycles coming along the road. One girl's got red +hair, so I'm sure it's Evelyn Proctor, and the two in the blue hats will +be Susie and Mary.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> +Oh, it is really, for they're turning up from the village over the +bridge, and waving their hands.'</p> + +<p>And Bobby climbed down quickly from his point of vantage, so as not to +miss the interesting arrival.</p> + +<p>They were a very jolly set of schoolgirls whom Aunt Helen came out on to +the front steps to welcome. Kathleen O'Riley was a bright Irish girl, +with the prettiest suspicion of a brogue imaginable, and that winning +manner which seems specially to belong to the children of the Emerald +Isle. Susie and Mary Hirst were the daughters of a rising Warford +physician, and were pleasant and amusing, though they had not the racy +humour of Dorothy Gower. Evelyn Proctor was full of high spirits, while +shy Lucy Thorburn was perhaps Lilian's favourite among them all.</p> + +<p>'It must be stunning to have a bicycle,' said Bobby, regarding with +envious eye the row of bright machines neatly stacked against the wall, +and spinning the pedals with a not too gentle hand.</p> + +<p>'Yes, it is pretty good fun,' said Susie Hirst, good-naturedly giving +him a ride round the carriage sweep. 'But, you see, you have Pixie +instead, and I think a pony's really nicer.'</p> + +<p>'She can't go so fast,' complained Bobby, determined not to be consoled.</p> + +<p>'Perhaps not, but you couldn't bike to school in the pouring rain or +snow. It's no joke to get a side-slip, I can tell you.'</p> + +<p>'Come along, girls,' cried Lilian; 'I have such heaps to show you.'</p> + +<p>It was the first visit that some of the guests had paid to Gorswen, so +they were delighted to make a tour of inspection round the garden, +farmyard, and ruins. They duly admired the pet lamb, laughed at Jack, +stroked the rabbits, declared Rollo to be a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> black-and-tan angel, and +screamed with horror at Toby, a harmless grass snake, which was the very +latest addition to the menagerie.</p> + +<p>Tea was a lively meal, for Father was full of jokes and funny stories, +and Aunt Helen enjoyed schoolgirls' society almost as much as the +children themselves, while Nancy's delicacies melted away like snow in +summer.</p> + +<p>'Let us come to the Rose Parlour,' said Lilian, when cups were emptied +for the last time, and 'No, thank you's' began to be responded to +invitations to more cake and pastry.</p> + +<p>Peggy followed, feeling very grand and grown-up among so many elder +girls, and shut the door sternly in Bobby's face.</p> + +<p>'We don't want little boys in here,' she said crushingly.</p> + +<p>'I don't care,' shouted the indignant youth through the keyhole. 'I +don't want to play with a lot of stupid girls—so there! I shall go and +talk to Joe.'</p> + +<p>The museum proved a great fund of interest, for nearly every article had +a history, and the guests wandered round the room examining the maps and +various specimens of art which adorned the walls. Dorothy was trying the +piano, for she played well, though her touch had not half the firmness +of Lilian's.</p> + +<p>'What's this?' asked Mary, hunting through a pile of old music inside +the ottoman, and fishing out a manuscript page in Lilian's neat hand.</p> + +<p>'Oh, don't!' cried Lilian, blushing hotly. 'Let me have that, Mary, +please. I didn't know I had left it there.'</p> + +<p>'What is it?' exclaimed all the girls, whose curiosity was naturally +aroused. 'Peggy, you tell!'</p> + +<p>'If you dare, Peg!' said Lilian.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>But for once Peggy turned tell-tale, and disclosed the secret.</p> + +<p>'It's a coon song she's made up herself,' she declared stoutly.</p> + +<p>'Oh, do sing it!' cried Susie. 'I couldn't write a note of music if I +tried for a year.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, yes, you must!' echoed the others.</p> + +<p>Thus urged, the unwilling composer was hauled to the piano and pressed +on to the music-stool, where, with many protestations and much +bashfulness, she sang the following song:</p> + +<p class="center big">SHOO! PICCANINNIES.</p> + +<p class="center small"><a href="music/shoo.mid">Listen to the music—midi(1.76KB)</a><br /> +<a href="music/shoo.wav">Listen to the music—wav (2.66MB)</a></p> + +<div class="block38"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io2">1. 'Way down in Georgia where de sugar am grow,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">All de piccaninnies want to suck de canes, you know!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' dey're hidin' round an' peepin', like de 'possum all de day,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Till Uncle Sambo bring his stick an' chase 'em all away!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io2">Chorus.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Shoo, shoo! piccaninnies mustn't come near!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span><br /></span> +<span class="i0">Don't want no little piccaninnies 'way down here!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ole mammy callin' you, de melon-beds among—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Shoo! little piccaninnies, 'way! go 'long!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io2">2. When de kitchen-fire am blazin', an' Aunt Dinah stews an' bakes,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">All de piccaninnies gather just to smell her pies an' cakes;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' dey cluster round de window like de bees upon a comb,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Till Auntie Dinah she get mad, an' turn an' drive 'em home!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Shoo, shoo! piccaninnies, etc.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io2">3. When massa go a-drivin' in de carry-all and pair,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Little piccaninnies run behind to shout Hurrah! and stare;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Den de overseer he come up, and use his big, long lash,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And say de road was neber meant to harbour nigger trash!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Shoo, shoo! piccaninnies, etc.<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p>'It's lovely!' cried the admiring girls. 'Did you make up the words +too?'</p> + +<p>'Of course she did,' said Peggy, who was proud of her sister's talents. +'She has made lots of others, too. Lil, do let me find "Dinah's Baby" +and "Stealin' Melons 'neath de Moon"!'</p> + +<p>'No, no,' said Lilian; 'I've shown off quite enough for one day. It's +somebody else's turn now. Come along, Dorothy!'</p> + +<p>But Dorothy declared she had played everything she knew, with the +exception of scales or five-finger exercises, and none of the others +could remember any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>thing without their notes, so the piano was closed +and the music put away.</p> + +<p>'There's your little brother outside, tapping on the glass,' said Susie. +'What a cherub he looks, with his pink cheeks and little tight brown +curls!'</p> + +<p>'Sure, I'll let him in, the darlint!' said Kathleen O'Riley, running to +open the French window and admit the smiling Bobby, who entered with an +expression of such angelic innocence that Peggy's suspicions were +instantly aroused.</p> + +<p>'I thought you might like some chocolates,' he said winningly, handing a +noble box to Mary Hirst with an air of much generosity.</p> + +<p>'Dear little fellow! How sweet of him!' murmured the girls as they +collected round with pleased anticipation.</p> + +<p>Mary opened the box, but dropped it with a howl of dismay, for in place +of the tempting sweetmeats she had expected lay a writhing mass of fat +green caterpillars, newly picked from the gooseberry-bushes, a subtle +revenge on Bobby's part for his expulsion from the sanctum.</p> + +<p>'You wretch!' cried Lilian, endeavouring to catch and chastise the +rejoicing offender, who was off through the window and over the wall +long before the girls had finished screaming and shaking their skirts.</p> + +<p>'He's a broth of a boy!' laughed Kathleen, who rather enjoyed the joke. +'Get out the fire-shovel, Peggy mavourneen, and we'll be after sweeping +them up from the carpet. They're too soft and juicy to be treading under +foot.'</p> + +<p>'What shall we do now?' asked Susie, sinking back luxuriously into the +basket-chair, when the contents of the chocolate-box had been +successfully removed.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>'Suppose we play at nonsense verses,' said Lilian, tearing a few pages +from an exercise-book, and hunting out a supply of pencils. 'You all +know the famous one about the lady of Riga:</p> + +<div class="block26"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">"There was a young lady of Riga,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who smiled as she rode on the tiger;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">They came home from their ride<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With the lady inside,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the smile on the face of the tiger."<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p>Well, the game is this. We each write down the name of a person we all +know on a slip of paper; they are folded up and shuffled, and everybody +draws one, and you must write a nonsense rhyme about the person whose +name you find upon your particular slip. Then we elect a president and +read them out.'</p> + +<p>'It sounds dreadfully difficult,' sighed Lucy. 'I'm not at all clever at +poetry.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, never mind, <em>do</em> try;' said Peggy, dealing out the pencils. 'It's +ever such fun when once you begin.'</p> + +<p>The names were written out, the papers shuffled and drawn, and for ten +minutes or more the girls sat knitting their brows and biting their +pencils in all the agonies of composition. When everyone had finished +the slips were folded up and placed in a basket, and Lilian, who had +been chosen to read the effusions, shut her eyes and drew one out at a +venture. The name was 'Mademoiselle,' and the lines ran as follows:</p> + +<div class="block26"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'There once was a French mademoiselle<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who thought she knew English quite well.<br /></span> +<span class="i2">When she meant "I am happy,"<br /></span> +<span class="i2">She said "I am snappy,"<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which made us all laugh, I can tell.'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>The girls tittered, for Mademoiselle's mistakes in English were a +by-word all over the school.</p> + +<p>'I wonder who wrote that!' said Susie, with an innocent air.</p> + +<p>'Don't give yourself away, my dear,' answered Evelyn. 'We can all guess +now.'</p> + +<p>The next paper was headed 'Mary Hirst.'</p> + +<div class="block26"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'There was a wild schoolgirl named Hirst,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who of all the bad pupils was worst,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Till she started to cram<br /></span> +<span class="i2">For the Cambridge exam.,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And, to everyone's surprise, came out first.'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p>'I hope that's a true prophecy,' laughed Mary, who was studying hard for +the Senior Local.</p> + +<p>'This writing is not very clear,' said Lilian, unfolding another slip +and reading: 'Peggy.'</p> + +<div class="block24"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'There was a young lady named Peg,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who was terribly strong in the leg:<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With the boys in a race<br /></span> +<span class="i2">She could set her own pace;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But pray do not name it, I beg.'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p>'That's your own, Lilian,' said the astute Kathleen, 'for you said the +writing was hard to make out, and yet you read it straight off, quite +glibly.'</p> + +<p>'You may guess as you like, but I shan't tell,' replied the president +sternly.</p> + +<p>The fourth paper was described 'Herr Frühl.'</p> + +<div class="block26"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'There was an old German named Frühl,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who a respirator wore as a rule.<br /></span> +<span class="i2">When the weather was bad,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Oh, his temper was sad,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Till we wished he were muzzled in school.'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p>This proved a favourite, for poor Herr Frühl, the German master, was +famous for his bronchitis and his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> bad temper, and the general opinion +ascribed the authorship to Dorothy, though she would not acknowledge her +laurels.</p> + +<p>'The next,' said Lilian, 'is on Kathleen.'</p> + +<div class="block26"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'There once lived a maid named Kath<em>leen</em>,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who never a boat-race had seen;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">When they brought her a bow<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of bright red, she said "No,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My national colour is green!"'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p>The lines referred to a joke which was never forgotten against Kathleen. +When she first came to Warford High School, fresh from her native Erin, +she had been taken with the rest of her class to witness a grand +boat-race between the Grammar School and a rival college from Oswestry. +Many of the girls had brothers in the contest, and the Warford favours +were freely distributed on the bank. A little boy had come up to +Kathleen and politely begged her to accept the scarlet bow of the +Grammar School, and sport it as a token of goodwill towards the heroes +of the town.</p> + +<p>'Is it a red riband, then, ye'll be after askin' me to wear?' inquired +the indignant young Irishwoman. 'It's the shade of the tyrant, bad cess +to it! and don't suit me complexion neither. Sure it's nothing but green +favours ye'll see on Kathleen O'Riley.'</p> + +<p>'Miss James' was the subject of the sixth poem.</p> + +<div class="block24"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'A teacher there was called Miss James,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The most domineering of dames:<br /></span> +<span class="i2">When she passed by their places,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">All the girls made bad faces;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But she never found out, all the same!'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p>'Same doesn't quite rhyme with James,' remarked Evelyn.</p> + +<p>'Well, I told you I was no good at poetry,' began<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> poor Lucy, then +stopped in much embarrassment at having betrayed herself.</p> + +<p>'I think it's very nice,' said Lilian hurriedly; 'I like it one of the +best. Don't you want to hear this one about "Dorothy Gower"?</p> + +<div class="block22"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'A maiden named Dorothy Gower<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Could never eat anything sour;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To plain biscuits or bread<br /></span> +<span class="i2">A "No, thank you," she said,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But candy or cakes she'd devour.'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p>'It's a slander!' cried Dorothy. 'A vile slander! And if I discover the +authorship, I'll bring an action for libel. Go on, Lilian dear, and give +us the last.'</p> + +<p>The final effort was on the theme of 'Joe.'</p> + +<div class="block24"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'There was a young fellow named Joe:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who gave him that name I don't know,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">But I do know that he<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Gave a puppy to me,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And that's why I take to him so!'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p>'That's Peggy's!' cried the girls in chorus. 'It couldn't belong to +anyone else. Well done, Peggy! You will have to show that to Joe; he'll +be quite flattered.'</p> + +<p>They sat laughing over the rhymes and chattering as only schoolgirls +know how until Aunt Helen came in to announce that a light repast of +cake and lemonade awaited them in the dining-room, and to gently hint +that, if Warford were to be reached before darkness had fallen, it was +getting time for the six bicycles to be set in motion. So there was a +grand collecting of hats and gloves, and pumping of tyres, and many +'good-byes' and 'thank you's,' and the merry party at last started off +on their homeward way, ringing their bells as a parting salute, and +declaring they would not soon forget their afternoon at the Abbey.</p> + + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> +<a name="vi" id="vi"></a>CHAPTER VI<br /> +<br /> +<span class="sub">SUNDAY</span></h2> + +<div class="block30"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'A poor man served by thee shall make thee rich;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A sick man helped by thee shall make thee strong;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thou shalt be served thyself by every sense<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of service which thou renderest.'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">It</span> was Sunday afternoon, and the children sat in the Rose Parlour, with +the windows wide open to let in all the sweet summer scents from the +garden.</p> + +<p>Patient Lilian was struggling to teach Bobby a Scripture lesson, for his +form-master had decreed that the names of the books of the Old Testament +must be repeated without a slip immediately after prayers on the ensuing +Monday morning. Poor Bobby had neither a retentive memory nor a great +disposition to learn. He fidgeted, and kicked the leg of the table, and +said it was 'a jolly shame for old Peters to give a fellow Sunday prep.' +He hopelessly confused Ezra and Esther, floundered at Ecclesiastes, and +the minor prophets filled him with despair.</p> + +<p>'Oh, Bobby, <em>do</em> try again,' entreated Lilian. 'Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, +Nahum, Habakkuk.'</p> + +<p>'It's no use, Lil,' said the despondent Bobby. 'I may as well make up my +mind to take a caning and spare myself the trouble.'</p> + +<p>'Lilian dear, are you busy?' said Aunt Helen,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> putting her head round +the door. 'I thought you might have taken this jar of beef-tea to old +Ephraim. I hear he is not so well again, and he was not in church this +morning.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, Auntie, let me take it!' cried Peggy, glad of any excuse to +interrupt the study of her Collect and Catechism.</p> + +<p>'Be careful not to spill it, then, and be sure to bring back the basket. +And while you are there, I have no doubt he would be pleased if you read +to him for a little. He is getting so blind now, poor old man! and it is +dull for him, living all alone,' said Aunt Helen, who liked to teach the +children to help their neighbours.</p> + +<p>Old Ephraim was a quaint and original character. He had come to Gorswen +from the North country, and had been shepherd for forty years at the +Abbey. He was past work now, and lived in one of the village almshouses, +subsisting partly on the parish dole and partly on private charity; for +though Mr. Vaughan might practise rigid economy in his own private +expenses, he had never a grudging hand towards the poor.</p> + +<p>The little low whitewashed cottage was a humble enough place, but it +looked cheerful this Sunday afternoon, with the sunlight streaming in +through the tiny window, and a few early white roses shedding their +sweet perfume in the small garden in front.</p> + +<p>Peggy found the old man seated in his elbow-chair by the fireside, his +head enveloped in a huge flat oat-cake, tied on with a red cotton +pocket-handkerchief, so that he resembled some new species of mushroom.</p> + +<p>'Why, Ephraim!' she cried, stopping short in amazement; 'whatever is the +matter? And what have you got on your head?'</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>'Headache, Miss Peggy,' replied Ephraim, shaking his gray locks +solemnly. 'There ain't nothink like a hot oat-cake for a bad head; it do +cure it wonderful, to be sure.'</p> + +<p>'Well, it seems a queer thing to put on, anyhow,' remarked Peggy, +wondering privately whether the old man would consume his remedy +afterwards for tea. 'How is the rheumatism?'</p> + +<p>'Better, Miss Peggy—gradely better since I've kept a potato in my +pocket. Ah, it's a fine thing for the rheumatics, is a potato. But,' +with a sly wink, 'it must be stolen, or it beant no use at all!'</p> + +<p>'Did you <em>steal</em> it, then, Ephraim?' cried Peggy with thrilling +interest.</p> + +<p>'That's as may be,' replied the old man, willing to change the subject +now it was growing personal. 'Is your pa keepin' well these days?'</p> + +<p>'The Catechism says it's wrong to steal,' observed the righteous Peggy, +keeping sternly to the point, and anxious to improve the occasion. +'Haven't you got a Bible, Ephraim?'</p> + +<p>'Ay, ay,' returned the culprit evasively, 'there be one somewheres.'</p> + +<p>'Don't you know where it is?' said Peggy severely.</p> + +<p>'Oh ay! Hannah Jones was in a' Saturday, sidin' th' top o' th' cupboard, +and I see'd her wi' it in her hand. Oh, I reads the Bible, I does. It's +all about wars—them Israelites foightin' wi' the other heathen.'</p> + +<p>'It's about something else, too,' replied Peggy: 'miracles and parables +and epistles, and—oh! lots of things. Wouldn't you like me to read some +to you?'</p> + +<p>'Nay now, Miss Peggy,' said Ephraim, much alarmed lest she should expect +him to stir his rheumatic old bones in a search on the cupboard-top. 'I +reckon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> sometimes 'tis better to think on things nor to read 'em. I've +time to do a deal o' thinkin', settin' here.'</p> + +<p>'Perhaps I might read you something else, then?' volunteered Peggy, +determined to be a ministering angel, despite the evident unwillingness +of her protégé.</p> + +<p>'Yea,' said the old man, considerably relieved; 'there be a drawer full +o' books i' the dresser. Take your choice, miss—take your choice.'</p> + +<p>Peggy turned out the drawer by the simple process of emptying it on the +table, and disclosed a very miscellaneous collection of +literature—socialist pamphlets, agnostic newspapers, and radical tracts +were mixed up with teetotal treatises, missionary leaflets, and the +parish magazine. Sheets of ballads, which Ephraim had bought as a boy, +lay side by side with a tattered copy or two of Zadkiel's prophetic +almanac, some advertisements of patent medicines, a recipe for +sheep-dip, and a Wesleyan hymn-book. Peggy gazed eagerly at an ancient +chap-book, which set forth the stories of Dick Turpin and Jack Sheppard, +interspersed with rude woodcuts of the gallows and whipping-post; but +she heroically put it aside, as being unsuitable for the day.</p> + +<p>Finally, she settled upon a little worn volume bound in calf, with the +title, 'A Sigh of Sorrow for the Sinners of Zion, breathed by an Earthly +Vessel known among Men by the Name of Samuel Fish.'</p> + +<p>'I'm sure Aunt Helen would think this all right to read to him,' she +said to herself, as she drew a chair to the other side of the fire.</p> + +<p>It was not very easy reading, for the print had faded till it was almost +the colour of the yellow leaves, and the 's's' were all long, so that +Peggy found herself continually reading 'fins' instead of 'sins'; but +she did her best, conscientiously, and the old man nodded<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> in his chair, +sitting up briskly, however, when he felt her reproachful eyes upon him.</p> + +<p>Peggy stopped, quite hot and weary, at the end of the first chapter.</p> + +<p>'Do you like it, Ephraim?' she inquired anxiously.</p> + +<p>'Ay, Miss Peggy, it be foine, it be, surely,' said the old man.</p> + +<p>'What does it all mean?' said the child. 'It is so hard to read, I can +scarcely understand it.'</p> + +<p>'Why, as to that, miss,' answered Ephraim, 'it seems to me as long as +it's pious words, there beant no call to understand 'em, let alone I'm +that deaf to-day, it seems naught but a buzzin' like when you read.'</p> + +<p>Peggy closed the book hurriedly.</p> + +<p>'I think I had better be going now,' she announced. 'I hope your +headache will be well soon. Can't I put the kettle on for you?'</p> + +<p>'Ay, miss, if you be so bountiful. My rheumatics be cruel bad when I +stir me.'</p> + +<p>Peggy filled the kettle from the pump in the back garden, and hung it on +its hook over the fire. She found the old man's cup and saucer, and set +out his tea on the little round table by his side, and finally took her +departure, feeling she had at least attended to his temporal wants, and +might leave the rest to older and wiser heads than hers.</p> + +<p>'I'll call and see Mrs. Davis; there'll be plenty of time before tea,' +she said to herself, as she came back up the village street, swinging +her empty basket.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Davis was a dear old Welshwoman, and a particular friend of +Peggy's. She was one of Nature's gentlewomen, for her kind heart +prompted those little gracious, courteous acts which in a higher class +we call good breeding. She made quite a picture in her short<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> +linsey-woolsey petticoat, with the check apron, her plaid shawl crossed +over her cotton bodice, and the frilled white cap framing the kind old +face, with its apple cheeks and soft white hair. She was sitting among +her bees this Sunday afternoon, beating with an iron spoon upon an old +tin kettle.</p> + +<p>'They be swarming, indeed, Miss Peggy,' she said. 'And here I've had to +sit the whole of the day, beating this old tin—and Sunday, too! But we +can't expect the poor creatures to understand that, can we?'</p> + +<p>'I suppose not,' said Peggy, settling herself on a low wooden seat, at a +safe distance from the agitated hives, and letting her glance wander +round the little garden, where the tall yellow lilies reared their +stately heads over a mass of sweet cottage flowers, pinks and +forget-me-nots, poppies and double daisies, sweet-williams—loved of the +bees—pansies, lupins, and snap-dragons; over the cottage, where the +white roses climbed up the thatch to the very chimneys, and where +through the open doorway could be seen the neat kitchen, with its +red-brick floor, the settle placed by the fireside, the tall +grandfather's clock ticking away in the corner, and the oak dresser, +with its rows of blue willow-pattern plates; and back again at last to +where Mrs. Davis sat with her grandchild by her knee, a small round-eyed +boy, whose thumb was stuck perpetually, like a stopper, in his mouth, +and who stood watching the bees with stolid indifference.</p> + +<p>'Won't he get stung?' asked Peggy, who thought he looked far too near to +the swarming hives for safety.</p> + +<p>'No, dearie. I think they know me and Willie now, though they'd attack a +stranger as soon as not.'</p> + +<p>'I was dreadfully stung once,' confided Peggy. 'I lifted off the little +box on the top of one of the Rectory hives, just to see how the bees +were getting on, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> they all came rushing out and settled on me. Mr. +Howell seized me, and put my head under the pump, and Father was ever so +cross, for he said I shouldn't have meddled with them.'</p> + +<p>'The bees don't like to be interfered with,' said Mrs. Davis. 'You +should never touch them in the daytime. Always take the honey at night.'</p> + +<p>'Joe says you must tell them if there's a death in the house, and tie a +piece of crape on the hive, or they'll all fly away.'</p> + +<p>'Well, I don't quite hold with all folks say about them, but they are +strange creatures, with queer ways of their own. They seem quiet just +now, so I think I might leave them for a few minutes. I have a pot of +honey I should like to send to your aunt, miss, if you would kindly take +it to her. I'll go inside and fetch it. No, Willie, my pretty, you can't +come. Granny's going up the ladder into the loft.'</p> + +<p>'I'll take care of him. Come with me, Willie dear—come and see the +pretty flowers.'</p> + +<p>And Peggy seized the stolid infant by his disengaged hand.</p> + +<p>Willie did not look enthusiastic about the attractions of the flowers, +but he allowed himself to be led away, staring at his new guardian with +round eyes of solemn distrust, and solacing himself with his thumb.</p> + +<p>'We'll build a little house,' said Peggy, anxious to prevent the +suspicious twitching of her charge's mouth from developing into a roar, +and taking up some bricks and loose stones which lay under the wall. +'See, we'll make a kitchen and parlour, and put down leaves for a +carpet. Here's a little round stone for a table, and the pansy-flowers +will do for dollies. They've such funny little faces. We'll make them +skirts out of laurel leaves, and put them to bed in the corner.'</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>Peggy's well-meant efforts at entertainment were suddenly interrupted by +a loud sniff from the other side of the wall, and, looking up, she saw +the round, reproachful face of Polly Smith, a girl of about her own age, +who sometimes came up to the Abbey to help Nancy at busy times.</p> + +<p>'Why, it's you, miss, I do declare!' exclaimed Polly. 'And making +play-houses in Mrs. Davis's garden on Sunday, too! I <em>am</em> surprised! +<em>I've</em> been to Sunday-school!'</p> + +<p>Peggy felt rather caught, but she carried it off as well as she could.</p> + +<p>'I was only amusing Willie,' she said. 'He was going to cry because +Granny Davis went indoors and left him.'</p> + +<p>'Ay, she's been sittin' swarmin' her bees all day. I see her when I was +goin' to chapel, and I see her again when I come back, and when I goes +to Sunday-school she were still there. My dada says he don't hold with +folks as can't keep the Sabbath holy.'</p> + +<p>And Polly turned up her small nose in a distinctly aggravating manner.</p> + +<p>'How did you get on at Sunday-school?' asked Peggy, who did not like +insinuations against the moral worth of her dear Mrs. Davis.</p> + +<p>'Splendid, miss. I always does. Teacher gave me a prize for sayin' +hymns—such a nice book. Wouldn't you like to look at it?'</p> + +<p>'Are you sure it's a Sunday book?' inquired Peggy, who could not forbear +her revenge.</p> + +<p>'Oh yes, for I looked at the end chapter, and she dies beautiful, and +they plant snowdrops on her grave; and her big brother, what's so unkind +to her, gets drowned through goin' boatin' on Sunday,' replied Polly, +regarding Peggy as if she thought her courses might lead her to a +similar watery fate.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>'Here's Granny!' cried Willie, abandoning his thumb to seek the +protection of the friendly linsey-woolsey petticoat.</p> + +<p>'Ay, so it be. <em>My</em> granny sits in the parlour on Sunday afternoons, +with her blinds drawn down, and reads her Bible. She's a godly old +woman, she is!'</p> + +<p>And Polly took her departure with a conscious sniff, as if deploring the +depravity of her neighbours.</p> + +<p>Peggy was very much upset.</p> + +<p>'Is it really wrong to look after the bees and amuse babies on Sunday?' +she asked Father afterwards.</p> + +<p>'No, dear, certainly not. The Pharisees came to our Lord with just such +a question, and you know He answered them that it was right to do well +on the Sabbath. God did not mean it to be a day of misery, but a +specially joyful and happy day, in which we were to think a good deal +about Him. Sometimes we can show our love for Him quite as well by +helping others as by reading our Bibles or going to church, though we +should not neglect that either. As for shutting ourselves up on Sundays, +and thinking it is wrong to look at the beautiful things around us, that +is mere ignorance, for Nature is like a wonderful book, written by God's +hand, and the birds and the bees and the flowers are all pages out of it +for those who have eyes to read them rightly.'</p> + +<p>Peggy thought of this as she sat among the ruins watching the sunset +that night. The sky, flaming in bands of crimson, violet and orange, +looked like the very gate of heaven, a golden city which you had only to +cross the hills to reach—surely another page in that book of which +Father had spoken.</p> + +<p>'It's like one of the pictures in the Interpreter's house in the +"Pilgrim's Progress,"' she said to herself; 'or Christian and Hopeful on +the Delectable Mountains,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> when they looked through the glass, and +thought they saw "something like the gate, and also some of the glory of +the place."'</p> + +<p>She stayed a long, long time among the crumbling old walls, watching the +gold fade gradually out of the sky. It was very still and peaceful in +there, and she liked to sit and think how the Abbey must have looked in +those strange, bygone days when the little steps had led to a dormitory, +and the broken pillars had held up the roof of a church, whose tinkling +bell had rung out at sunset, calling to prayer those old monks who slept +so quietly in their forgotten graves.</p> + +<p>An owl began to hoot in the woods beyond the river, a great stag-beetle +came droning by, and the bats flew over her head with their shrill +little cry, flitting here and there like night swallows.</p> + +<p>Peggy got up and brushed the dew from her dress, and walked slowly back +to the house in the gathering twilight. In the Rose Parlour Aunt Helen +sat turning out her little writing-desk, and wiping suspicious drops +from her eyes.</p> + +<p>'Don't keep old letters, child,' she said, as Peggy crept up to her with +silent sympathy. 'It opens so many wounds to re-read the tender words of +those who are estranged or gone away from us, and all the hopes and +expectations that have come to nothing.'</p> + +<p>'Don't read them, Auntie. Let's tear them up and burn them, if they make +you cry.'</p> + +<p>'No, no; I can't bear to part with them, after all! We'll lock them up +in the desk again. But, Peggy, take my advice, and if you quarrel with +anyone, go and fight it out at once, and get it over, and don't let +misunderstandings make the breach so wide that nothing can ever mend it +again.'</p> + + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> +<a name="vii" id="vii"></a>CHAPTER VII<br /> +<br /> +<span class="sub">MAUD MIDDLETON'S PARTY</span></h2> + +<div class="block30"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'Methinks, good friend, to-day I scarce do know thee,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The fashion of thy manner hath so changed.'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + + +<p class="noi">'<span class="smcap">Oh</span>, Aunt Helen!' cried Peggy, bursting into the dining-room one +afternoon, where her aunt was busy adding up accounts, 'can't we all go +to Maud Middleton's party?'</p> + +<p>'And who is Maud Middleton, I should like to know?' inquired Aunt Helen, +pausing in the midst of her butcher's bill. 'I have not heard you +mention her before. Is she one of your schoolfellows?'</p> + +<p>'Oh no, she's the <em>dearest</em> girl! They have a French governess, but they +go to the dancing-class on Fridays, and Maud and I always dance +together, and I simply <em>love</em> her!' said Peggy, who was apt to take up +friendships with enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>'But, my dear child, you have not yet told me who she is. I cannot have +you making friends with any shopkeeper's daughter from Warford.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, they're not at all like that!' declared Peggy. 'Maud's just lovely, +with long yellow curls right down to her waist, and Muriel's almost +grown up, though she's only as old as Lilian. She wears combs in her +hair, and has the sweetest blue dress, trimmed with pearl trimmings!'</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>'That is no patent of good breeding, I am afraid,' said Aunt Helen, +smiling. 'Lilian, can't you tell me something more about this latest +idol of Peggy's?'</p> + +<p>'They really seem very nice girls, Auntie,' said Lilian. 'I think you +would like them. They have taken Redlands—that pretty house just beyond +the toll-bridge on the other side of Warford. Major Middleton has been +appointed Adjutant to the volunteers. They lived in India for a long +time, and then in London before they came here. Muriel plays the violin, +and they know ever so many musical people, and go to the concerts every +week at the Assembly Rooms. It is Maud's birthday on the thirteenth, and +they have invited us all three. Mrs. Middleton was at the dancing-class +to-day, and spoke to us herself. She said she "hoped so much that our +Aunt would allow us to accept." We should like to go immensely,' added +Lilian with a wistful sigh, as she remembered Muriel's accounts of the +grand piano, and the Stradivarius violin which was her latest +acquisition.</p> + +<p>'Go and ask Father, then,' said Aunt Helen. 'And if he says "Yes," I +suppose it will be all right.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, thank you!' cried Peggy, who knew that Father would not be likely +to resist the combined coaxings of the trio. 'We must write to Maud +to-night. She'll be as pleased as we are!'</p> + +<p>And she executed a little war-dance of delight out in the hall. Such a +thing as a party was a great event in the children's calendar. They had +few invitations, for there was little visiting now at the Abbey; the +anomaly of a country gentleman who ploughed his own fields was felt to +be too much for the neighbouring squires, and one by one the 'county' +had ceased to call. Truly adversity is a great winnower of friendships. +It is but the staunchest who will stick to us<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> through our troubles, +while those who love us for what we have, instead of what we are, fall +away like chaff at the first breath of ill-fortune.</p> + +<p>Poor Lilian's anticipations, however, were doomed to sad disappointment, +for when the much-talked-of day arrived, it brought her such a bad +headache that she readily agreed with Aunt Helen's decree that she was +better at home. She took it very patiently, poor child! and came +downstairs to see the others start off in the little pony-trap, Bobby +resplendent in a clean white sailor suit, and Peggy in a pale-blue +sprigged muslin dress, which Aunt Helen had toiled hard to finish in +time. To be sure, it was only made out of the last summer's frock which +Lilian had outgrown, but it looked as good as new, and the colour suited +her.</p> + +<p>'How nice you look!' said Lilian, gazing with admiration at the gray +eyes and pretty brown curls under the little white hat, and thinking +that Peggy grew more and more like the Romney portrait which hung on the +drawing-room wall.</p> + +<p>'Mind you behave yourselves!' said Aunt Helen. 'And don't forget to +thank Mrs. Middleton when you say good-bye.'</p> + +<p>'Bless 'em!' said Nancy. 'There won't be any other folk's children there +that can beat 'em, to my mind!'</p> + +<p>Father was waving a good-bye from the stackyard. Joe held the gate open +with a grin of broadest appreciation, and even old David peeped out of +the stable door to witness the departure. So they started off in great +style, and in the very highest of spirits. It was a perfect day for a +party—warm enough to make it pleasant to be out of doors, yet not too +hot for comfort, and a blue sky without a hint of rain clouds. Pixie<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> +was fresh, and kept up a fine pace, scarcely slacking for the hills, so +they soon got over the ground. They were within a mile of Warford, and +were going along at a quick trot, when, without any warning, a carriage +and pair came suddenly dashing up behind from a side road, and passed +them, giving such scant room that if Peggy had not been a clever little +driver, and turned Pixie smartly into the hedge, an accident could +scarcely have been avoided. Two little girls, the only occupants of the +carriage, turned round to stare, but neither the grand cockaded coachman +nor the tall footman on the box even looked back to see how the children +had fared.</p> + +<p>'How rude!' cried Peggy in great indignation. 'I should like to call +them back, and teach them good manners. They nearly grazed our wheel. I +don't think they were more than half an inch off!'</p> + +<p>'I wish they had,' declared Bobby, 'and then they would have spoilt +their own varnish. It would just have served them right!'</p> + +<p>'I wonder who they are?' said Peggy. 'I never remember seeing that +carriage before; but they seem to think the road belongs to them, +anyhow. If David had been with us I don't believe they would have done +it; but most people are so nice when they see children driving alone. +Never mind, we're nearly in Warford now.'</p> + +<p>It was exactly three o'clock when the children drove up the drive at +Redlands. A number of guests were already assembled on the lawn, both +grown-ups and children, a very smart company indeed, holding up such gay +parasols that they looked like a flock of bright butterflies.</p> + +<p>Maud came forward as Peggy drew up with a little prim company manner.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>'How d'you do, Peggy? How d'you do, Bobby?' she said. 'Lilian not come? +Oh, <em>so</em> sorry! You've not brought your groom? George, just run into the +house, will you, and ring for Withers to take this trap to the stables. +Now, won't you come and speak to mother?'</p> + +<p>Mrs. Middleton was standing chatting with a number of elegantly-dressed +ladies, and for a moment she gazed at the children with blank +unrecognition.</p> + +<p>'Margaret Vaughan, Mother,' prompted Maud.</p> + +<p>'Of course—of course!' said Mrs. Middleton. 'I hope you have brought +your sisters, my dear. We were charmed with them at the dancing-class. +And your brother? Oh yes; the sweet little boy who looks exactly like a +Christmas-card!'</p> + +<p>Inwardly hugely indignant at such a description of his manly charms, +Bobby came forward politely to shake hands, and was marched off +afterwards by good-natured George Middleton to make up a cricket eleven.</p> + +<p>'Perhaps you will find somebody here you know, dear,' said Mrs. +Middleton to Peggy, as Maud turned away to welcome new guests. 'There +are several of your little friends from the dancing-class here this +afternoon.'</p> + +<p>Peggy walked slowly towards the group of children upon the lawn. There +were a few girls whom she knew, but they only nodded, and did not come +forward to speak to her. A sudden wave of shyness came over her, and she +stood apart, feeling somehow very much out of it, and longing for the +support of Lilian's presence.</p> + +<p>There were two little girls in charming lace frocks and white Tuscan +hats, with ostrich plumes, standing close by, whom Peggy recognised at +once as the occu<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>pants of the carriage which had nearly upset them on +the road. The recognition seemed to be mutual, for the elder child +nudged the younger, and Peggy could see that they were looking her up +and down, and evidently taking in all the details of her costume. The +Vaughans had not been brought up to think much about clothes, but Peggy +felt suddenly, with a little pang, that the muslin frock, which they had +all thought so pretty when she started off, looked hopelessly homemade +and unfashionable compared with the elaborate toilets of most of the +other guests.</p> + +<p>Somehow Maud, too, seemed quite a different person this afternoon to +what she had done before. She had put on a languid, affected manner, and +sailed about, shaking back her long curls, and trying to be very +grown-up and stylish, and she did not take any more notice of Peggy, nor +come up to introduce her to other people, and make her feel happy and at +home. There were a great many elder people present, but they all stood +laughing and talking together, and nobody seemed to think of amusing the +children, except Mademoiselle, the French governess, who was +endeavouring to make the young people talk to each other, instead of +standing about shyly on the grass.</p> + +<p>'Would you like a game of croquet, Margaret?' said Muriel, noticing at +last that Peggy stood unfriended and alone. 'Some of the others are +going to play. Do you know Phyllis and Marjorie Norton?' indicating the +owners of the lace frocks. 'Perhaps you will excuse my coming; I have so +many people to see to. Mademoiselle will act as umpire.'</p> + +<p>Marjorie gave Peggy a limp hand, but Phyllis only stared. Mademoiselle +was dealing out the mallets and arranging the sides with much energy, +estimating the players with a keen eye to their possible capacities.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span>Peggy knew it was unreasonable of her to feel so bitterly disappointed. +It was all so different, somehow, to what she had expected. Accustomed +to little quiet schoolgirl parties, she had not thought there would be +such a large and fashionable assembly of guests, and had hoped that she +would have her dear Maud to herself for a short time, at any rate, and +be shown the doves, and the white pony, and the Indian cabinet, and the +other treasures which her friend had so often described to her during +the dancing-class. She tried to banish the rather chilled feeling.</p> + +<p>'Of course, I can't expect Maud to attend only to me,' she thought. +'There are such heaps of people here to-day. I wish they would let me +play with the boys. I should have liked it far better.'</p> + +<p>But the croquet had already begun, so Peggy threw her whole energy into +the game. She excelled in all outdoor sports, having a keen eye and a +true stroke, and was soon absorbed in making her hoops and helping on +her partners, two quiet little girls considerably younger than herself, +who seemed never to have played before, to judge by their absolute lack +of skill. Peggy was standing waiting for her turn, while the others +clustered round a rather difficult stroke of Marjorie Norton's, when she +saw Phyllis, whose ball had been left distinctly wired, hurriedly push +it with her foot into a better position. Peggy had been accustomed from +her babyhood to 'play fair,' so she opened her eyes wide to see such +deliberate cheating. Phyllis, who had thought herself unobserved, +happened at that moment to look up, and met Peggy's glance, which was +certainly not a flattering one. She flushed scarlet, and kicked the ball +back to its former place.</p> + +<p>'I only moved it by accident,' she said haughtily. 'You have no need to +glare at me like that!'</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>Peggy dropped her eyes and strolled away. It was a little incident, and +she had not spoken a word, yet she had an unpleasant feeling that the +mere fact of having noticed the act had made her an enemy.</p> + +<p>'Ver' good!' Mademoiselle was saying. 'A splendide stroke! You shall +take two hoops, and send ze black ball avay. Tiens! You have missed! It +is zen ze turn of Mees Marguerite.'</p> + +<p>Peggy's next piece of play was so brilliant that it decided the game, +and, to the great delight of her little partners, they all pegged out, +amid the cold applause of their opponents and the ecstatic admiration of +Mademoiselle.</p> + +<p>All the guests were now summoned to tea, which was set out on little +tables under the trees, and showed a tempting display of cakes and +strawberries and cream, while attentive servants bustled about with cups +and plates. Much against her inclinations, Peggy found herself sitting +side by side with Phyllis Norton. Bobby was a long way off, among a +jolly set of boys, whose shouts of laughter Peggy listened to with +wistful ears, and her small partners had been borne away by an elder +sister. Phyllis sat for some time stealing glances at Peggy from under +her lashes.</p> + +<p>'I believe we passed you this afternoon, coming here,' she remarked at +last. 'Weren't you driving that queer little pony-cart?'</p> + +<p>'Yes; your coachman nearly ran over us. I don't think he's a very good +driver,' replied Peggy.</p> + +<p>'Oh, Wilkins always takes the middle of the road, and makes everyone +else get out of the way,' said Phyllis calmly. 'Do you live at this side +of Warford? I don't remember seeing you before.'</p> + +<p>'We live at Gorswen Abbey,' answered Peggy.</p> + +<p>'Oh, I know; that old farmhouse by the river.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> We've often passed it on +our way to Wyngates. Why, you're quite in the country! Do you go to +school, or have you a governess?'</p> + +<p>'I go to Warford High School. We drive in every day.'</p> + +<p>'To the <em>High</em> School!' said Phyllis, with uplifted eyebrows. 'Well, I +suppose it's all right for farmer's daughters. Marjorie and I go to a +London boarding school.'</p> + +<p>Peggy was furious. If she could only have thought of a suitable retort, +she would have said something stinging; but usually our smartest remarks +occur to us when the occasion has long passed by, and perhaps it is all +the better, for we are saved from bitter words, which, once spoken, are +not easily forgotten by the hearers, however keenly we may regret them +ourselves. As it was, she could only walk away with what dignity she +could summon; for tea was over, the boys were rushing back to cricket, +and the girls collecting in little groups to arrange tennis sets.</p> + +<p>'Come and look round the garden, Peggy,' said Maud, at last taking some +notice of her friend. 'We've scarcely seen anything of you all the +afternoon!'</p> + +<p>Peggy forebore to remark that it was not her fault, and, cheering up a +little, she joined the select circle whom Maud was conducting through +the greenhouses and conservatories. The Middletons had a fine collection +of orchids and rare plants, which were much admired by the young +visitors, though simple Peggy could not help thinking they were not half +so pretty as the roses and lilies in the old garden at home, and +certainly the grand Scotch gardener was not nearly so nice as David or +Joe, for he seemed quite to resent their presence and followed them +about grimly, for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> fear they should disturb anything, or pluck any of +the fruit or flowers.</p> + +<p>'We're going to London next week,' drawled Maud, in her most grown-up +manner. 'We've taken a house in Mayfair. Mother always likes to go up +for a while during the season. We've so many friends, don't you know. I +expect we shall have a lovely time. We drive in the Park every day, and +father has promised to take us to "Lohengrin." Have you seen it, Linda?'</p> + +<p>Linda had not seen it, but she had been to other operas, and was only +too pleased to air her knowledge, so the conversation turned upon plays +and actors, and Peggy, who had never been inside a theatre in her life, +could only stand and listen. She felt so shy and stupid, and so apart +from the other girls, that she began to wish heartily that she had never +come, and long for the hour when it would be time to go home, and even +to wonder how she could ever have thought she liked Maud so +much—'though she was quite different to this at the dancing-lessons,' +she reflected.</p> + +<p>A welcome diversion came outside, however, in the shape of a beautiful +white Persian kitten, who submitted to pettings with gracious +condescension, arching her back and purring loudly.</p> + +<p>'I'll fetch Carlo,' said Maud, who was genuinely fond of her pets, and +liked to show them to an appreciative audience.</p> + +<p>And she returned in a moment, leading a fine St. Bernard by the collar.</p> + +<p>But Carlo's mistress had not calculated upon his love of sport, for no +sooner did the naughty dog see the white kitten than he simply went for +it, and puss only saved her life by springing up a yew-tree close by. +The poor little creature was so terrified that she leaped from bough to +bough, till suddenly losing her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> foothold, she fell with a crash, and +hung suspended by her neck in the fork of a branch.</p> + +<p>'Oh, look at her! She'll be hanged! Whatever shall I do?' shrieked Maud, +wringing her hands helplessly in an agony of alarm.</p> + +<p>'Call the gardener, or somebody,' suggested Linda.</p> + +<p>But an animal in trouble was a sight which flung Peggy's shyness to the +winds, and she sprang like a knight-errant to the rescue. She was up the +yew-tree in two leaps and a bound, and by crawling along an overhanging +bough, clinging to a branch, and making a long arm, she managed to seize +puss by the scruff of her neck, and release her from her dangerous +position.</p> + +<p>'Oh, thank you!' said Maud, as Peggy came down from the tree, with +grazed hands and rumpled frock. 'You're really too good! Withers might +have fetched her with a ladder. Look how you've torn your dress!'</p> + +<p>'Never mind my dress. She'd have been dead if I'd waited another +moment,' remarked Peggy dryly, feeling rather snubbed; for several of +the girls were smiling, as if they thought she had been a little too +enthusiastic.</p> + +<p>'Well done!' cried a voice from the background, and a tall, +brown-bearded man, who had been a silent spectator of the whole scene, +came forward to join the group.</p> + +<p>'Mr. Neville!' exclaimed Maud. 'Where did you spring from?'</p> + +<p>'Only arrived ten minutes ago, just in time to witness a most gallant +act. Please introduce me to the heroine, who, I think, is a true friend +in need. What, Miss Peggy Vaughan? Any relation to the Vaughans of +Gorswen Abbey? Then, my dear, I am very pleased to make your +acquaintance, for I knew your father long ago, and your grandfather +too.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="making" id="making"></a> +<img src="images/col02.jpg" class="jpg" width="400" height="607" alt="" /> +<span class="caption">"MAKING A LONG ARM, SHE MANAGED TO SEIZE PUSS BY THE +SCRUFF OF HER NECK."</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>Peggy liked her new friend at once; his twinkling blue eyes, his bronzed +face, his jovial voice, and rather unconventional dress, seemed to mark +him as distinct and different to other people. His arrival seemed to +alter the whole atmosphere. Maud's supercilious manner slipped away from +her like magic, and she became once more the pleasant Maud of the +dancing-class, and her friends, feeling the change, soon left off trying +to be poor little imitations of grown-up people, and began at last to +enjoy themselves; for true enjoyment does not consist in showing off, +but in being our simple, natural selves, if people would only believe +it.</p> + +<p>'Now then, what are you all doing?' cried Mr. Neville. 'The boys playing +cricket by themselves, and the girls mooning about, keeping their frocks +nice? Scandalous! Come along, all of you, and we'll get up some mixed +sports. I stopped in the town, and filled my pockets with prizes, when I +heard you were having a party. I am sure a young lady who can climb a +tree looks capable of doing a high jump!'</p> + +<p>After that the rest of the afternoon simply flew. Mr. Neville was a +capital organizer, and had such a delightful way with children that they +all made friends with him in five minutes. He impounded the grown-ups in +the sports, and his jolly, hearty good spirits seemed so infectious that +almost before they realized what they were doing, elegant ladies were +holding up skipping-ropes, and smart young gentlemen flung off their +coats, and forgot their high collars in the enthusiasm of the contests. +Even Phyllis Norton was shrieking in a potato-race, and only laughed +when she fell and soiled her immaculate lace frock.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>As for Peggy, she was quite in her element. Long jumps, high jumps, +handicaps, sack-races, three-legged races—she was ready to compete in +all, and, to her delight, won several prizes, while Bobby, too, gained +his share of laurels.</p> + +<p>The unfashionable muslin dress, with its long rent, was forgotten, and +several people asked who that charming little girl was, with the sweet +gray eyes and the pretty hair, who could run so splendidly.</p> + +<p>'Vaughan? I remember a Vaughan up at Brazenose in my first year at +Oxford. A fine-looking fellow he was, too!' said a heavily-moustached +officer, regarding Peggy with a critical eye.</p> + +<p>'Her father, no doubt. They're a very old family—quite one of the +county, in fact,' said Mrs. Middleton, gushing over her small guest, now +she found she was a success.</p> + +<p>Maud hugged Peggy when she said good-bye in quite her old affectionate +manner, and Muriel remembered to send her love to Lilian, and say she +was sorry for her absence, a fact she had scarcely seemed to notice +before.</p> + +<p>As for Mr. Neville, Peggy confided to Aunt Helen, when she got home, +that she liked him the best of any gentleman she had ever seen, next to +Father.</p> + +<p>'He's been out in India for ten years, Auntie—that's where he knew the +Middletons—but he says he lived in England once, and used to come to +Gorswen when grandfather was alive. Do you remember him?'</p> + +<p>'I think I do,' replied Aunt Helen shortly, with a flush on the cheek +that was still so smooth and pretty.</p> + +<p>'Then don't you think,' persisted Peggy, 'that he is <em>quite</em> the nicest +man you've ever met?'</p> + +<p>'Go to bed, children,' said Aunt Helen. 'Here's Bobby so sleepy he +can scarcely keep his eyes open. You shall tell me all about the party +to-morrow.'</p> + + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> +<a name="viii" id="viii"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br /> +<br /> +<span class="sub">THE HOLIDAYS</span></h2> + +<div class="block22"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'A little work, a little play,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To keep us going—and so, good-day!'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + + +<p class="noi">'<span class="smcap">No</span> more Latin, no more Greek, no more cane to make me squeak!' sang +Bobby on the fifteenth of July, springing out of the pony-trap before +Pixie had stopped, and taking a flying leap over the pump-trough in the +exuberance of his spirits.</p> + +<p>'School is over, hooray!' shouted Peggy, banging down her books on the +mounting-block, and waltzing into the kitchen, where Aunt Helen and +Nancy were busy making jam. 'Don't you hear, Auntie? We've broken up for +eight weeks! Isn't it glorious?'</p> + +<p>'I hear fast enough; but I'm afraid it will be a doubtful pleasure for +Nancy and me if you are all going mad like this. My dear child, don't +you think you might choose a less juicy seat than a tray full of +raspberries?'</p> + +<p>Peggy jumped up in a hurry.</p> + +<p>'I really didn't see them,' she said. 'I'll go and help Lilian unharness +Pixie. Joe's away in the turnip-field. No home-lessons to-night, +hip-hip-hooray!' and she took herself off like a whirlwind.</p> + +<p>The holidays were indeed a delightful respite after the weary round of +examinations which generally<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> makes life a burden at the end of the +summer term, and the children set to work to enjoy them thoroughly. +Bobby had taken to entomology, and panted over the hot pastures, chasing +butterflies with unflagging zeal. At dusk he would enlist Peggy's +services, and the pair went treacling for moths. A careful mixture of +gin and syrup was smeared upon the trees, which were afterwards visited +with a lantern, when the unfortunate insects could easily be taken in +the midst of their revels, falling sad victims to the sin of +intemperance.</p> + +<p>Caterpillars, too, were caught and kept in boxes, till the Rose Parlour +became so full of interesting specimens that Aunt Helen, for once, +rebelled, and ordered this new branch of the menagerie to be removed to +the loft.</p> + +<p>'I found one of your beasties inside my hat, and another in my teacup,' +she complained. 'So you had better keep them where it does not much +matter if they escape.'</p> + +<p>Lilian devoted herself to art, and sallied forth with her paint-box, +pencils, and sketch-block, in quite a professional manner, looking for +subjects. To be sure, the perspective of her cottages was apt to be +rather peculiar at times, and the Welsh mountains turned out a more +vivid shade of purple, and the fields a far more brilliant green than +Nature ever painted them; but it was all good practice, and the admiring +Peggy thought that no Royal Academician could have produced such +charming masterpieces. There was a little work, too, to make the +playtime all the sweeter—fruit to be picked, peas and beans to shell, +the garden to weed, and great piles of bread and cheese to be cut and +carried out into the fields for the harvesters' 'drinkings.' But, as +Bobby said, it was all play-work, and much nicer than lessons, anyhow.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>Peggy lay one afternoon at full length on the grass under the lime-tree, +deep in the pages of 'Treasure Island.' It was rather a grown-up book, +perhaps, for a little girl, but it was all about pirates, and sailors, +and hairbreadth escapes, of so wildly exciting a nature, that she read +on till she almost wept with disappointment to think she was not a boy +to go to sea and meet with such thrilling adventures.</p> + +<p>From the Rose Parlour came the strains of the piano, where Lilian was +wailing a melancholy little ditty with keen enjoyment. It is mostly when +we are very young that we take the greatest delight in the sad songs; +those who have felt the real bitterness of sorrow are glad to bury it +deeply away, and do not wish it wakened, as sailors' wives love a place +best where they cannot hear the sound of the sea.</p> + +<p>Lilian had always taken rather a delight in what Nancy called 'the +melancholics.' When quite a tiny child she had much preferred the +tragedy of Red Riding Hood to the brighter fate of the princesses who +lived happily ever afterwards, and, with the tears streaming down her +fat little cheeks, would quaver out 'Tell it again!'</p> + +<p>Her first efforts in poetry had been in a distinctly pensive strain. +When only about nine years old she had composed—</p> + +<div class="block22"> +<p class="center">'<span class="smcap ws2">The Dying Child's Last Words.</span></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Remember me when I am gone,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And me thou canst not see;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When I lie sleeping in my grave,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Dear friends, remember me.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'You'll keep my little garden neat,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">My clothes you'll fold away;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My playthings in a drawer you'll put<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With which I last did play.'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>There ought to have been more verses, but at this point Father had +unfortunately got hold of the paper, and persisted in treating the poem +in such a comic light that the indignant authoress had never found the +heart to finish it, though the fragment was considered very talented by +Aunt Helen, and carefully put away in an old work-box, with the first +specimens of Peggy's handwriting and one of Bobby's little baby-curls.</p> + +<p>Peggy came to the end of her book at last, and life seemed so stale and +flat anywhere out of the South Seas that she wandered down the garden +for a little diversion. Lilian's fresh young voice proclaiming that her +heart 'was breaking, breaking,' came wafted along the terrace, mingled +with the sound of the reaping-machine, and the indignant gobble of the +old turkey, which Bobby was chasing round the pasture.</p> + +<p>'Let him alone, you naughty boy! Whatever mischief will you be in next?' +cried Aunt Helen, flying to the rescue of the patriarch of her +poultry-yard, and enforcing her remarks by sounding raps on the +culprit's curly brown pate. Bobby was the apple of her eye, but she +considered wholesome chastisement to be necessary to his moral welfare.</p> + +<p>'Oh, Auntie, I've finished my book, and we've nothing much to do this +afternoon; don't you think we might take our tea out into the woods?' +said Peggy, swinging herself over the garden wall into the pasture.</p> + +<p>'You can if you like; only you must get the baskets ready yourselves, +and not worry Nancy. You may as well buy a loaf while you are out, too,' +said Aunt Helen, rummaging a shilling out of her pocket. 'We're baking +again to-day, but the harvesters take so much bread for the "drinkings." +Get some tea-cakes, too, if they have any.'</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>'All right,' cried Peggy, rushing off with enthusiasm to rouse Lilian +from the piano and forage in the pantry for a supply of jam and butter.</p> + +<p>Half an hour later an interesting procession started off from the +kitchen door: Lilian first, with the basket of cups and provisions, +Peggy with the milk-can, and Bobby armed with the kettle, while Rollo +seemed to be everywhere at once, and as pleased as anybody.</p> + +<p>'I've got the matches,' said Peggy, 'and a newspaper. You're sure you +put in the spoons, Lilian? We forgot them last time.'</p> + +<p>The place where the children were going was a delightful spot for a +picnic. A rapid stream ran through the woods, dashing down over great +boulders, making little cascades and waterfalls as it went, with here +and there a deep, clear pool, where the trout lay snugly under the +stones; the rocks under the overhanging trees were carpeted with the +softest and greenest of moss, and tall ferns grew right down to the +water's edge, mingling with trailing ivy and creeping moneywort. A +grassy glade under a tall beech seemed intended by Nature for a +summer-house, for there was a large flat stone in the middle, which +served for a table, and a circle of little stones round, just high +enough for seats, so that you might imagine Queen Mab and her fairies +dined here on moonlight nights, with the squirrels for guests and the +bats and owls for waiters.</p> + +<p>The children put down their baskets, and ran about gathering dry sticks +to build their fire. There were plenty of dead branches strewn about in +the wood, so they soon had a goodly pile of fuel. Bobby filled the +kettle at the stream, and planted it firmly on Lilian's elaborate +erection of sticks. Peggy struck a match and set the paper alight; up +went the smoke,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> and in a few moments the bonfire was blazing grandly. +But unfortunately the picnic party had quite forgotten that burning wood +does not make a very substantial foundation, for the whole pile suddenly +collapsed, and over went the kettle, spilling all the water, and putting +out the fire with a hiss.</p> + +<p>'What a nuisance!' exclaimed Lilian. 'We must find something to hang the +kettle on, like the gipsies do.'</p> + +<p>'Suppose we make a kind of fireplace between two big stones, and then we +can put a thick branch across,' suggested Peggy. 'It will be easier to +lift the kettle off, too. I don't know how we should have seized it from +the middle of that blaze.'</p> + +<p>The second attempt proved a much greater success, and in a short time +the water was boiling bravely, while a very attractive feast was spread +out upon the mossy table.</p> + +<p>Lilian had filled the teapot, and the company was just about to sit down +and fall to with much relish, when the party was suddenly augmented by +an unexpected guest. Down the little path from the glen above solemnly +marched a very small girl indeed, so round and fat and chubby that she +looked nearly as broad as she was long. She was a pretty child, with +soft, dark eyes and pink cheeks, so plump and full that the little nose +seemed almost to be lost between them. A pair of stout brown legs showed +under the smocked holland pinafore, her white sun-hat hung upon her +back, and she clasped a dilapidated doll in her arms.</p> + +<p>She strolled up to the astonished children with the dignity of a +duchess.</p> + +<p>'I saw you lighting the fire,' she announced calmly, 'so I took +Isabella, and I've comed to tea.'</p> + +<p>'We're very glad to see you, I'm sure,' said Lilian. 'Is Isabella your +dolly?'</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>'No; she's my child. I don't call her a dolly: it hurts her feelings, so +please don't say it again!'</p> + +<p>'I'm ever so sorry,' apologised Lilian, trying to repress Bobby's +giggles. 'Whose little girl are you?'</p> + +<p>'I'm Father's girl. Father's painting pictures up there in the wood. I +paint pictures, too, sometimes, when Isabella don't want me,' confided +the juvenile artist; and to judge from the smears of paint upon her +pinafore, she had evidently been pursuing that art with more vigour than +discretion.</p> + +<p>'Won't you come and sit on my lap?' said Peggy coaxingly, for she loved +small children.</p> + +<p>The chubby infant looked the slight figure up and down, as if appraising +the offered accommodation.</p> + +<p>'She hasn't got a lap to sit upon,' she remarked scornfully, settling +her stout legs on the grass.</p> + +<p>'You haven't told us your name yet,' said Lilian, trying to draw out the +interesting visitor.</p> + +<p>'My name's Matilda Christabel Wilkins, but they call me Matty for +short.'</p> + +<p>'Are you sure they don't call you Fatty?' inquired Bobby.</p> + +<p>'No; only rude people. Nice people call me Miss Wilkins. I don't like +boys. I was four last week, so I'm quite a big girl now. Will the doggie +hurt me? I think I will have some of that cake!'</p> + +<p>'Hadn't you better begin with bread-and-butter?' said Lilian. 'No, dear, +the doggie won't hurt you; it's only his play. Come here, Rollo! I'm +afraid I haven't a spare cup; but perhaps you won't mind having some +milk in a saucer. Are you staying about here?'</p> + +<p>'Yes, at the farmhouse. I help Mary to milk the cows. Mary sings to +them. I can sing, too. Would you like to hear me sing now?'</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>'If it won't trouble you too much,' began Lilian.</p> + +<p>'No. I like it!' and Miss Wilkins crossed her short legs, turned up the +brown eyes, and broke forth into such a very extraordinary burst of +melody that the children were nearly in fits. It had neither time nor +tune, but the notes quavered about on the scale like a distant +representation of the bagpipes. From the words they supposed it must be +meant for a hymn, and it wound on through six or seven verses, till +Bobby grew quite hysterical.</p> + +<p>'Thank you,' said Lilian, stifling her mirth, when the youthful Madame +Patti had at length drawn to a close. 'Where did you learn that?'</p> + +<p>'I learn it on Sundays, out of a book. Shall I sing it for you over +again?' evidently thirsting for an encore.</p> + +<p>'Hadn't you better have some tea first?' suggested Peggy hastily. 'See, +I've put strawberry jam on your bread-and-butter.'</p> + +<p>The attractions of preserve seemed to outweigh the charms of music, for +Miss Wilkins ate stolidly for five minutes without volunteering any +further remarks.</p> + +<p>'You've got freckles on your nose,' she announced at length to Lilian. +'And <em>she's</em> torn her dress!' with an eye on Peggy. 'What a lot that boy +eats! Nurse says it's very rude to fill your mouth so full!' pointing a +severe finger at Bobby, which so convulsed him that he nearly choked.</p> + +<p>'Perhaps you would like some cake now,' said Lilian, politely passing +the basket to the stranger.</p> + +<p>'Thank you. I'll take two pieces, because Isabella would like one. I +think I had better be going home now. Good-bye. I'll call again another +day;' and the young lady crammed one piece of cake into a diminutive +pocket, and, munching the other, strolled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> away up the glen, with the +luckless Isabella head downwards under her arm.</p> + +<p>'I hope she'll be all right; she's such a dot to wander about alone!' +said Lilian anxiously, peering through the trees, and much relieved at +seeing a tall figure in a brown velvet jacket catch up Miss Wilkins and +bear her off upon his shoulder. 'I suppose they're staying at Brown's +farm. I know they sometimes let rooms during the summer.'</p> + +<p>'She's a queer young customer, at any rate. I feel quite ill with +laughing,' said Bobby, swallowing down his fifth cup of tea and flinging +his crumbs for the robins.</p> + +<p>'Let's clear up, then. Suppose, instead of going straight down by the +village, we walk up through the woods to Pengarth, and buy the bread +there. We can leave our things here, under the tree, till we come back,' +said Peggy, hastily swilling the teacups in the stream and packing them +up in the basket.</p> + +<p>The others readily agreed, and they set off for a glorious scramble up +the steep hillside. The path was so narrow that in places they could +scarcely push through the thick, overhanging bushes and the trailing +brambles, where the blackberries were already turning red, and showing a +fine promise for the autumn. The trees were covered with nuts, which +Bobby cracked with persistent hope, and perpetual disappointment when he +found them all yet empty of kernels.</p> + +<p>They crossed the stream by a bridge roughly made of two pine-trees flung +from bank to bank, with a rope for a hand-rail, a somewhat dizzy +foothold for anyone who minded the rushing water beneath, but infinitely +to be preferred to stones and mortar in the children's opinion.</p> + +<p>Up the steep bank they trudged, through fields of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> bracken higher than +Bobby's head, getting out at last upon a white road that wound along the +top of a cliff, with a stream roaring below, till round a sudden turn +they came upon Pengarth, a prim little village, nestling in a hollow, +and consisting of a short street and a big chapel and school-house.</p> + +<p>There was a small general shop in Pengarth, where groceries and boots, +apples and red-herrings, seemed all mixed up with yards of print and +ribbon, penny ink-bottles, milk-cans, sun-bonnets, gingerbread, +pear-drops, and bull's-eyes, presided over by a funny old woman in a +black wig and horn spectacles, who seemed to find much enjoyment in +gossiping with her customers; for the children had to wait quite a long +time, while the chief points of last Sunday's sermon in chapel and the +new dress of the minister's wife were freely discussed. At length the +stout farmers' wives picked up their baskets and took their departure, +and old Mrs. Ellis was able to give her undivided attention to Lilian's +modest little voice, which had been striving to make itself heard, in a +vain request for bread and tea-cakes for the last ten minutes.</p> + +<p>'I say, Lil, couldn't we go straight down the wood here, and cross the +stream by the picnic place instead of the pine bridge? It would save +nearly a mile,' suggested Bobby, as they turned to go home.</p> + +<p>'I suppose we could get over the stepping-stones?' replied Lilian rather +doubtfully. 'I don't think there's a proper path through the wood, but +we could find our way somehow, and it is certainly much shorter.'</p> + +<p>So they plunged down through the thick tangle of trees which clothed the +side of the cliff. It was so steep that in places they were obliged to +sit down and slide, clutching at the trees as they passed, to save +themselves from falling, and bringing down such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> showers of small loose +stones and shale that it seemed as if the whole hillside were sliding +too, and Lilian was very relieved when they all got safely to the +bottom. Now that they were really close to the water the stepping-stones +looked much farther apart than they had imagined, and very slippery and +slimy, too, with a swift current flowing between.</p> + +<p>They all stopped and looked at it for a moment, each secretly wishing +that somebody else would offer to go first, but nobody liking to make +the plunge; even Rollo stood whimpering and whining on the bank, as if +he did not half like the adventure.</p> + +<p>'Here goes!' cried gallant Bobby at last, leading the way as though he +were charging at the enemy, and with four jumps and a long leap he +managed to get over dry-shod, with Rollo at his heels, barking loud and +furiously.</p> + +<p>Not to be outdone in pluck, Peggy essayed to follow with equal style, +but her foot slipped on a particularly green and moss-grown boulder, and +in a moment she had plunged, tea-cakes and all, into an impromptu bath. +Luckily, it was not deep, and she soon scrambled out, and fished up the +paper-bag as well; but she was a very wet and draggled object, and as +for the tea-cakes, they were a moist wreck!</p> + +<p>'Oh, I know I shall go in, too!' wailed Lilian from the other side. 'I'd +better try and save the bread, at any rate,' and she flung the loaf with +all the strength she could muster across the stream. It fell well on the +opposite bank, and Peggy made a desperate effort to catch it, but it +eluded her grasp, and rolling down the bank with a series of aggravating +bounds, descended with a splash to seek a watery grave.</p> + +<p>'There! It's gone! And it's in such a deep hole, too. We can't possibly +get it out. We shall have to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> leave it for the fishes,' said Peggy, +poking vainly into the depths with a long stick. 'Lil, you'll never get +over if you stand shivering on the brink like that. Do come along!'</p> + +<p>But Lilian popped down on the grass, and pulled off her shoes and +stockings as the most speedy way of solving the difficulty, and hustled +Miss Peggy home with all possible haste, to be dried; for the water was +very cold, and her teeth were chattering in her head, while her dripping +garments left such a moist track as she went that Bobby unfeelingly +compared her to a watering-cart.</p> + +<p>'What am I to do with such terrible children?' said poor Aunt Helen, as +the trio recounted their adventures round the supper-table. 'I can +scarcely let you out of my sight without you tear your clothes to +ribbons or come home half drowned.'</p> + +<p>'They're chips of the old block, Helen!' laughed Father. 'We Vaughans +have a natural love of adventure: it's in the blood, and bound to come +out somehow, so best let it have its fling while they are young, and +they'll sober down when they come to years of discretion. Eh, bairns? +Don't you agree with me?'</p> + +<p>And three hearty young pairs of lungs carried the resolution with a +unanimous 'Rather!'</p> + + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> +<a name="ix" id="ix"></a>CHAPTER IX<br /> +<br /> +<span class="sub">A MOUNTAIN WALK</span></h2> + +<div class="block30"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i12">'The mountains that infold<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In their wide sweep the coloured landscape round,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Seem groups of giant kings, in purple and gold,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That guard the enchanted ground.'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + + +<p class="noi">'<span class="smcap">Father</span>, where are you going?' cried Peggy one morning, sliding down the +banisters in her hurry to see why her father was pulling out his great +fishing-basket from the cupboard under the stairs.</p> + +<p>'Up to Llyn y Gaer, little woman, to look after the sheep. I shall stay +all night at the cottage, so you won't see me home again till to-morrow +evening.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, Father!' cried Peggy, flinging her arms round his neck in her most +beguiling manner, '<em>couldn't</em> you take Bobby and me with you this time? +We have never been once yet, and you can't think how much we want to +go.'</p> + +<p>'Why, my dear child, I don't know whether you could manage it. Remember, +it is an eight-mile walk, and all uphill, and such a rough place when +you get there. I am afraid I should have you both crying for Aunt Helen +when bedtime came!'</p> + +<p>'Indeed we shouldn't; we're not babies!' insisted Peggy, greatly +indignant at such a suggestion. 'We can walk quite as well as grown-up +people, and carry<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> our own baskets. Oh, Daddy, dear, do, <em>do</em> please +take us just this once!'</p> + +<p>'The hut's hardly fit for a girl,' said Mr. Vaughan doubtfully, +beginning to relent to Peggy's coaxings.</p> + +<p>'Well, you've called me a tomboy often enough, so let me be a boy for +to-day. Oh, Auntie, do be a darling, and persuade Father to say yes!'</p> + +<p>Aunt Helen paused on her way from the pantry to the dining-room, with a +dish of ham in one hand and a pound of butter in the other.</p> + +<p>'I really think they might go,' she said, 'if you don't walk too fast +for them, Robert. The weather has been so hot that it must be quite dry +up there, so I hardly think they would catch cold in the cottage. But +they must promise to behave properly, and not to get into any mischief. +I can't spare Lilian to-day, or she might have gone to look after them.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, thank you! Of course we'll promise!' cried Peggy, clapping her +hands, and flying off in the seventh heaven of joy to inform Bobby of +the delightful prospect, nearly upsetting Nancy and the breakfast-tray +in her mad career, and causing that worthy girl to wish devoutly that +schools had no holidays.</p> + +<p>Mr. Vaughan owned some land high up on the mountains, across the border, +in Wales. He had a little rough shepherd's hut there, just sufficient to +form a shelter at night-time, and every now and then he would make an +expedition to look after his sheep, or the tiny shaggy ponies which were +turned out loose to wander almost wild upon the moors.</p> + +<p>To go with Father upon one of these mountain excursions had been the +dream of Peggy and Bobby's lives, so it was with very gay faces that, +their fishing-baskets full of provisions slung over their shoulders, and +old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> Rover trotting soberly behind, they started off on their eight-mile +tramp up the hillside.</p> + +<p>It was such a lovely summer morning, one of those brilliant, glorious +days when the world looks as if it had been newly created, and came to +us with a whiff of Paradise about it. Down in the village the cottage +gardens were ablaze with flowers, and even old Ephraim had forgotten his +rheumatism, and crawled out to bask in the hot sunshine on the low wall, +and called out a friendly 'Good-marnin'!' as the children went by. Past +the forge, whence the cheery chink, chink of the blacksmith's hammer +came mingled with the refrain of a stirring melody from a good bass +voice; under the spreading yew-trees of the churchyard, and out through +the lych-gate to the old mill, where the great wheel was turning slowly +round, its dripping blades gleaming bright in the sunshine; up the steep +path through the little hazel-wood, scrambling over the ladder-like +stile into the narrow lane that ran ever uphill towards the mountains, +which loomed before them, rugged in outline, and shaded in a mist of +purple blue. The hedgerows had given place to stone walls now, loosely +built without any mortar, and with green ferns and pennywort growing in +the crevices, and forget-me-nots in the ditch below. On and up, on and +up, with the great blue hills always rising higher before them, till at +length even the stone walls vanished, and they were on the bare +moorland, with only a slight foot-track for a road.</p> + +<p>Quite out of breath with scrambling after Father's long strides, the +children begged for mercy, and sat down to rest for a few minutes and +eat their lunch by the side of a little quick-running stream.</p> + +<p>'It is a good place for a halt,' said Father, 'for it is the boundary +between England and Wales. When we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> are over the border we shall all be +Taffies instead of John Bulls.'</p> + +<p>The air was sweet and cool up there, delightfully refreshing after the +hot climb uphill. Below them the country lay stretched out like a map, +the fields looking no larger than the squares of a chess-board, and the +village a pretty child's toy by the side of the river which wound, a +mere silver thread, along the valley. Far in the distance, among the +trees, the outline of the Abbey rose gray against the background of soft +beeches; a little dark cloud, the only one in the whole expanse of clear +blue sky, hung over it like a warning of distant danger, and Father +sighed as he looked, for to him it appeared as if the shadow of ruin +were already creeping near, and stretching a threatening hand over the +old home.</p> + +<p>But Peggy and Bobby were at the very high-tide of happiness. Children +live so entirely in the present, that so long as the existing day brings +joy, they literally take no thought for the morrow, and catching their +infectious spirits, Mr. Vaughan shook off his forebodings, and joined in +the delight of the moment as if he were a boy once more. He hunted in +the brook for sedges, captured a Red Admiral to grace Bobby's +collection, filled his pockets with sweet gale and asphodel for Lilian's +dried vases, and made himself such a delightful companion that the +children agreed that Father on a holiday was out and out the best +playmate they knew.</p> + +<p>'Come, we must be getting on!' he said at last, when the last piece of +bread-and-butter had vanished, and the remains had been scattered for +the fishes. 'Do you see that little farm nestling in the hollow, with +the fir-trees behind it? That is our last link with civilization. We +shall find no more human habitations until<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> we reach our hut by the +lake, so we must make the most of our opportunity, and buy some milk as +we pass. They will lend us a can, and we can leave it as we return +to-morrow.'</p> + +<p>The farm proved, on a nearer acquaintance, to be a little one-storey +dwelling built of rough stones, with a roof so covered with a mass of +green polypody fern as to completely hide the slate underneath. There +was no garden, only a low wall on which the milk-cans and most of the +family crockery seemed to be taking an airing; but a patch of potatoes +and a scanty half-acre of oats lay beyond the little homestead, roughly +railed off to keep out the marauding sheep.</p> + +<p>Peggy, who always liked to be first and foremost, ran on before the +others to ask for the milk, and was greeted by a furious barking from a +collie-dog who guarded the doorstep, while a small, shock-headed girl +peeped shyly from behind the shelter of his rough back. At the sight of +a stranger she fled with a howl, for visitors were almost unknown on +these heights, and the child was as wild as a young rabbit. Her cry of +alarm brought out a woman, who kicked the dog yelping into the house, +and looked at Peggy with as much curiosity as if she were the inhabitant +of another world.</p> + +<p>'Please can you let us have some milk?' asked Peggy politely.</p> + +<p>'Dim Saesneg,' replied the woman, shaking her head, which, being +interpreted, means, 'I can't speak English.'</p> + +<p>For once Peggy was at a loss, but Father soon came to the rescue, for he +had picked up a little Welsh in his expeditions on the mountains, and +readily made the woman understand, in her native tongue, what they +required.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span>The little black cow with the long horns looked strange to eyes +accustomed to the large red and white cows at the Abbey, but her milk +seemed sweet and good, and the woman sang a song in Welsh while she +milked it, to a strange, haunting kind of melody that, like most of the +Celtic music, had a touch of sadness and pathos about it.</p> + +<p>'Ask her if she ever comes down to Gorswen, and how they get food up +here,' whispered Peggy to Father, anxious to be initiated into the +mysteries of life among the moors.</p> + +<p>'We don't go down more than once a fortnight or so for flour and +groceries,' was the translated reply. 'Then we bring it up on the +donkey's back. Oh yes, we walk ourselves all the way. What do we live on +mostly? Bread and bacon, oatmeal and potatoes, and a few eggs. It's a +healthy life, but terribly cold in winter. No, I've never been inside +Gorswen Church. We go to a little chapel up here. A preacher walks over +from Llanelly when they can spare one. Lonely? Not a bit! When you have +the cows and the pigs and the hens and the children to see to you've no +time to feel lonely!'</p> + +<p>She looked pleased, however, to have had an opportunity for a chat, and +gave them a very hearty good-bye as they took the milk-can and set off +again on their long tramp. When the little farm was out of sight, they +seemed indeed to have left the world behind them, and to be all alone +among the hills. Oh, the boundless delight of those rolling miles of +heather, which looked like a crimson sea spreading onward towards the +horizon, and the delicious smell of the sweet-gale as they trod it +underfoot! Great flocks of plovers flew before them, screaming their +'pee-wit, pee-wit!' and here and there they roused a snipe or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> a +woodcock, while wild little ponies scampered off like the wind, +indignant at having their solitude disturbed.</p> + +<p>The path ran for fully a mile over a bog, and the children had to follow +very closely in Father's footsteps to keep a safe track over the soft, +spongy surface, for Joe had told them dark tales of pedlars, travelling +from Llanrhos to Gorswen, who had sunk into those treacherous brown +pools and been heard of no more.</p> + +<p>At last, coming over a little rise, they saw in the distance the +gleaming outline of a lake, looking like a patch of silver amongst the +heather.</p> + +<p>'Look!' cried Mr. Vaughan. 'That is Llyn y Gaer. We shall be there in +half an hour.'</p> + +<p>This was good news to Peggy and Bobby, who were beginning to think that +the fishing-baskets were very heavy on their backs, and that it was the +longest eight miles they had ever imagined, so they hurried after +Father, who made haste now, to make up for the many halts upon the road, +for the afternoon was wearing on, and there was much to be done before +night. Close beside the lake, on a flat piece of grass sheltered under a +high cliff, stood the shepherd's hut, a small one-roomed shanty of rough +stones piled up without either mortar or plaster, and roofed with a few +tree-trunks covered with turf and heather. The tiny window was hardly a +foot square, and had no glass in it, and a beautiful root of parsley +fern grew luxuriantly on the sill, while all the crevices of the walls +seemed full of lichens, bound together by the crimson stems of the +creeping pellitory.</p> + +<p>Father unlocked the weather-beaten door, and the children rushed in with +much excitement. They saw a low room with a raftered roof, rough +whitewashed walls, and an earthen floor. The whole of one side was +occupied by a great fireplace, with a chimney so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> wide that, looking up, +you could see the sky above. Grate there was none, and the fire must +burn on the hearth-stone, but a good stack of dry peat and heather stood +in the ingle nook, evidently left ready for use. A table, a chair, and +two boxes were all the furniture, while a few cups, plates, and knives, +together with a frying-pan, a kettle, and a pair of bellows, made up the +rest of the modest establishment.</p> + +<p>'Isn't it fun?' said Peggy, putting down her heavy basket with a sigh of +relief.</p> + +<p>'I should just think so!' replied Bobby, roaming round to explore, and +wondering whether it would be possible to climb up the wide chimney and +peep out through the top.</p> + +<p>'To work! To work!' cried Father. 'We have no time to be idle if you +want any tea! Bobby, take the kettle, and fill it from the stream +outside; and Peggy, you can get some of those peats, and help me to +light the fire.'</p> + +<p>Father had a newspaper and a box of matches in his pocket, so, with the +help of the dry heather, they soon had a glowing red blaze, and swung +the kettle on a hook, fastened to the end of a long chain, which hung, +in true Welsh fashion, from a great beam fixed across the chimney.</p> + +<p>'Now, while the water boils,' said Mr. Vaughan, 'we must go and pull +heather for our beds, before the dew begins to fall upon it. Come along, +my two subalterns, this is camp life, and you must learn to bivouac like +true soldiers.'</p> + +<div class="block24"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'"The heath this night must be my bed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The bracken's curtain for my head,"'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p>sang Peggy, who had been studying the 'Lady of the Lake' at school, and +quoted it on all occasions. 'But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> we ought not to have a hut at all. We +should just wrap ourselves in our plaids, and lie under the "silent +stars."'</p> + +<p>'I prefer a roof over my head myself,' said Father dryly. 'But if you +are so anxious to taste the romantic you may sleep in the cold outside. +I'm afraid I haven't a plaidie to offer you.'</p> + +<p>'I'm sure a heather bed will be stunning!' declared Bobby. 'I don't +think I shall ever want sheets and nightshirts, and horrid things of +that sort, again. I'd like to be a hunter when I grow up, and always +live in tents, and caves, and jolly places, like the boys in books.'</p> + +<p>'It's just like the Swiss Family Robinson, only ever so much nicer,' +said Peggy. 'I wish we lived up here, and then we shouldn't need to go +to school, and darn stockings, and do all kinds of things we hate!'</p> + +<p>They pulled great armfuls of the delicious purple heather, and laid them +on the floor close to the fire, for Father said it was chilly at nights +after the sun had gone down, and they would need all the warmth they +could get. The kettle was boiling noisily by this time, so the children +hastened to set out the cups and plates. There was no table-cloth, but +that did not matter in the least, and the absence of teaspoons was +regarded as rather an advantage than otherwise. It was so quaint to sit +right inside the chimney corner, and smell the delicious blue peat smoke +that was curling its way to the turf roof overhead, and to look out +through the open doorway at the silver lake, sending gentle ripples over +the little sandy beach, and always the purple waste of heather beyond, +with the mountains rising up, tier after tier, into the dim distance.</p> + +<p>There never were such appetites. Peggy poured out, with a grand air, as +if she were officiating at some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> Court ceremony. Aunt Helen's +hard-boiled eggs and bread-and-butter disappeared like magic, and the +little teapot was filled again and again, till there was no more water +left in the kettle.</p> + +<p>'Bobby, you simply must stop!' said Father. 'Please to remember our +supplies have to last us for breakfast and lunch to-morrow. If we eat up +everything so fast, we shall be obliged to go hungry before we get home +again. Now I am going out to look after the sheep, and I shall leave you +to clear away and wash up. If I bring you camping out up here, you must +be my orderlies, and do the work. I generally put the cups into the pool +outside.'</p> + +<p>'All right,' said Peggy and Bobby, rattling the tea-things into the big +fishing-basket with a haste calculated to break anything but the stout +blue enamel ware which Aunt Helen had thoughtfully provided, and racing +outside to the little stream which flowed past the cottage into the +lake.</p> + +<p>The bank shelved in one place, so as to form a shallow basin, and here +the children tilted in their load, sitting down on the heather for a few +minutes to wait until the running water had washed them clean.</p> + +<p>'Take care they are not washed away into the lake!' shouted Father after +them. 'And keep up the fire while I am gone. I shall be in before dark.'</p> + +<p>And he went off for a weary tramp over the hills, with old Rover +following closely at his heels.</p> + +<p>'I wish we could have brought Rollo,' said Bobby. 'I don't believe he +would have driven the sheep all the wrong way, in spite of what Father +says. David had to tie him up in the stable, so that he shouldn't follow +us.'</p> + +<p>'I know he'll miss us dreadfully, poor darling!'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> said Peggy. 'I hope +Lilian won't forget to give him his biscuit to-night. I asked Nancy to +remember Prickles, and Joe promised to feed the rabbits; and if Jack +doesn't get his supper he'll scold so dreadfully outside the kitchen +door that someone is sure to hear him. Oh, Bobby! I saw a fish in the +pool just then. I have two pins in my jacket, and a long piece of string +in my pocket. Don't you think we could make hooks and lines, and catch +some to surprise Father when he comes back? There are lots of worms in +the bank.'</p> + +<p>The tea-things were hastily collected from the stream, and the amateur +anglers set to work with much enthusiasm but no success, for the fish +absolutely declined to bite, in spite of the tempting bait, and lay +sulkily under the stones at the bottom of the pool. It was growing quite +dark before Father returned, and I think, though neither of them would +have confessed it, the children were both rather relieved to hear his +cheery whistle outside the door, for it was just a little eerie sitting +by the peat fire in that lonely cottage, without a sound to break the +vast silence, and the knowledge that the nearest human habitation lay +fully three miles away; and Bobby had already asked Peggy if she +believed in ghosts, and whether it was true what Joe had told him that +the lights you sometimes see at night hovering over a bog are the souls +of children who have never been baptized; and though Peggy had professed +to laugh at the supernatural, she did not feel quite so brave as she +pretended, and found little cold shivers stealing down her back when the +wind rose suddenly, and began to wail round the cottage like a hungry +creature waiting to be let in.</p> + +<p>'I don't know what you young folks are,' said Mr. Vaughan, 'but I'm +dog-tired, and we had better go to bed, for I want to be up with the sun +to-morrow.'</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span>The children were disposed to agree with him, so, simply pulling off +their boots, they lay down in their clothes on the piles of fragrant +heather, while Father threw thick bundles of it over them to serve +instead of blankets. Heather makes one of the most delicious beds in the +world. It is so soft, and yet so springy, and the purple blossom smells +so sweet, that one could scarcely wish to lie easier.</p> + +<p>Father and Bobby were asleep in two minutes, but Peggy lay awake for a +long time, watching the shadows of the peat fire flicker upon the rough +beams of the roof, till at length fire and heather merged into a +dreamland kingdom, where she was walking with Rollo upon the clouds, and +fishing teacups out of a flowing sea below.</p> + + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> +<a name="x" id="x"></a>CHAPTER X<br /> +<br /> +<span class="sub">ON THE MOORS</span></h2> + +<div class="block26"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'No sound by night but the winds which blow,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No sound by day but the water's flow,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the wild bird's screaming note.'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">In</span> spite of the best resolutions for early rising, nobody woke with the +sun after all, and that luminary had plenty of time to creep round and +peep in through the little window before Father sprang up from his bed +of heather, and exclaiming that they were late, set the children to blow +the peats into life again while he took his morning bath in the lake.</p> + +<p>Later on Peggy and Bobby followed his example. After sleeping all night +in their clothes the cool plunge in the clear water was delightfully +refreshing, and they sat about like mermaids on the rocks, basking in +the sunshine, and watching a ring-ousel teaching her three big babies to +fly, till Father called out that if they did not hurry up and come in at +once he should eat all the breakfast before they arrived.</p> + +<p>It was real fun frying rashers of bacon over the fire, especially when +Peggy nearly upset the pan in her excitement, and Bobby absentmindedly +sat upon the teapot, which he had put to keep warm among the peats. I am +afraid poor Father had rather a distracting meal, but he cheerfully ate +the smoky toast which the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> children provided, and did not even grumble +when Peggy, by mistake, put six lumps of sugar into his tea.</p> + +<p>'Rover and I must be off to work again this morning,' he said, taking a +shepherd's crook that lay in a corner of the room, and calling the old +dog from the fireside. 'You youngsters had better play about near +the cottage. Don't go wandering all round the lake, or you'll get so +tired you won't be able to walk home this afternoon.'</p> + +<p>Left alone, the children began to busy themselves with what the +Americans call 'chores.' First of all the breakfast things had to be +cleared away, and carried down to the stream, but, to Peggy's dismay, +the greasy bacon plates utterly refused to wash clean, however long they +were left to soak in the pool, and came up in the same smeary condition +in which she had put them in.</p> + +<p>'Whatever shall we do with them? We can't leave them dirty like this,' +she exclaimed, feeling as anxious for the credit of the establishment as +any full-grown housekeeper.</p> + +<p>'Tilt them up in a row against the cottage wall, and pour a kettleful of +boiling water over them,' said practical Bobby, who generally had some +suggestion to offer.</p> + +<p>I do not know what Nancy would have thought of such a method of washing +up, but it answered splendidly all the same, for the greasy water +drained away into the grass, and the fresh breeze dried the plates +without any need of a towel, and Peggy even managed to clean out the +frying-pan with the help of some fern-leaves and a wisp of grass, an +achievement of which she felt quite proud.</p> + +<p>'We can't make our beds,' she said, 'because there's nothing to make; +but we'll pile the heather up with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> the rest of the peat in the chimney +corner, and it will do to light the fire with next time. I mean to ask +Father to bring us, now, whenever he comes up.'</p> + +<p>They managed to construct a broom from some of the longest pieces of +heather, and swept the crumbs neatly out at the front-door; they hung up +the frying-pan, the kettle, and the bellows in their accustomed places, +and stacked the cups and plates in the old box which served as a +cupboard.</p> + +<p>'Doesn't it look nice?' said Peggy, gazing round with much satisfaction +on their handiwork. 'If only we could stay up here a good long time we'd +bring lots of things from home, and paint pictures for the walls, and +put them in cork frames, and I really believe, if I tried, I could make +up one of those hearthrugs out of little scraps of cloth all pinched up +and sewn on, like Nancy made last winter for her sister's wedding +present.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, bother the cottage!' said Bobby, who, boy-like, soon tired of +domestic duties. 'Let's go out and look for whinberries; there ought to +be heaps of them round there by the lake.'</p> + +<p>Peggy was more than willing, and relinquishing her schemes of household +improvement to hunt up the milk-can as a handy receptacle, followed him +out into the sunshine, to search among the heather for the little +low-growing, red-leaved shrubs with their crop of small purple berries.</p> + +<p>But the blackbirds and the ring-ousels had been before them, so it took +a long time to fill the can, especially as a good deal of the fruit +found its way into the children's mouths, leaving them with such purple +lips and stained fingers that they resembled the babes in the wood.</p> + +<p>'I say, Peggy,' cried Bobby suddenly, stooping<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> down to examine more +closely the grassy bank where he was sitting, 'there's a whole swarm of +bees keeps coming in and out of this hole.'</p> + +<p>Peggy came hurrying up in great excitement, tripping as usual over her +dangling bootlace.</p> + +<p>'It's a wild bees' nest; I expect the bank is full of honey. Oh, +wouldn't it be fun to dig it out! I'm sure we could do it first-rate!'</p> + +<p>'But won't they all go for us when we start laying into their hive?'</p> + +<p>'We must smoke them out first, like the people do in the village when +they only have those straw hives. We'll bring some dry heather and light +a fire, so that the smoke will send them to sleep, and then we can get +the honey as easy as anything. I remember just how Mrs. Davis does.'</p> + +<p>Peggy spoke as if she knew all about it, though really she had never +seen any honey taken in her life, but she was a young lady who had much +confidence in her own powers, and Bobby was so accustomed to follow her +lead that he offered no further objections. They went back to the +cottage for the matches and a supply of dry heather, which they arranged +in a circle round the nest.</p> + +<p>'You stand ready with the matches,' commanded Peggy, 'and when I say +"Now!" strike a light. Then, as the smoke goes up, I shall poke a stick +into the hole, and you'll see they'll all fly out and tumble down +asleep.'</p> + +<p>Obedient Bobby stood at attention, match in hand.</p> + +<p>'Now!' cried Peggy breathlessly.</p> + +<p>Up went the smoke, the heather catching fire at once, in went the stick, +and out came the bees in an angry swarm; but something had gone wrong in +the calculations, for instead of falling stupefied on to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> grass, +they flew unharmed through the smoke, and fell upon their tormentors +with a buzz of indignation.</p> + +<p>Away fled the children, racing over the moor as if the furies were at +their heels. They were both capital runners, having had plenty of +practice at cricket and rounders, but I do not think they ever ran so +fast in their lives as when they were chased by the bees.</p> + +<p>They had just reached the side of a little incline when Peggy's +bootlace, which she had neglected to fasten all the morning, tripped her +up, and over she went, rolling into a prickly gorse-bush, while Bobby, +who was so close behind that he could not stop himself, fell over her, +and collapsed into a boggy hollow, where he lay panting for breath until +Peggy picked herself up and hauled him out.</p> + +<p>'Oh, you <em>are</em> in a mess!' she cried, trying to wipe the mud off his +coat with her pocket-handkerchief, and getting almost as grimy as he was +in the process.</p> + +<p>'I'm half stinged up!' moaned poor Bobby. 'I've a great place on my +cheek, and just look at my hands!' stretching out the wounded members +for sympathy.</p> + +<p>'They've stung me all round the back of my neck,' said Peggy. 'I expect +it'll hurt ever so when it begins to swell. We'd best go and bathe the +places in the lake.'</p> + +<p>The water relieved the smart considerably, and Peggy, happily +remembering she had a parcel of biscuits in her pockets, pulled them out +and suggested some lunch, for Bobby was looking doleful and injured, and +inclined to cast aspersions upon her knowledge of bee-keeping.</p> + +<p>There were three apiece, all thick arrow-root ones, and I grieve to say +this ill-behaved pair had a competition as to which could finish them +the quickest. Dry biscuits are choky things, and it is not very easy to +eat three off on end, in record time, without drinking.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>'I've won!' declared Bobby in triumph, hurriedly swallowing the last +morsel, and scooping up a delicious draught of water to wash it down.</p> + +<p>'Yes; but you simply bolted your last. You want Miss Wilkins here to +teach you manners. What a dear little fat dot she was! I wish we could +come across her again.'</p> + +<p>'She's gone home. I saw her the day before yesterday in a carriage, with +a lady and gentleman and a lot of boxes, and Mrs. Price at the +post-office said she had heard Sir Somebody Wilkins was a very great +artist in London, and had pictures in the Royal Something-or-other,' +explained Bobby lucidly.</p> + +<p>'Was it the Royal Academy?'</p> + +<p>'I believe it was; but I thought an academy meant a school.'</p> + +<p>'So it does sometimes, but I know the Academy is a place where people go +to see pictures, because Maud Middleton told me she had her portrait +there last year. Talking of Maud, we have never seen anything of Mr. +Neville since that party. I wish he would come over to Gorswen.'</p> + +<p>'So do I; he was a stunning chap! He could bowl better than the captain +of our eleven. Why don't Father and Aunt Helen write and ask him?'</p> + +<p>'I don't know. I asked Aunt Helen, but she was so funny and queer over +it, and wouldn't talk about him at all. I can't imagine why. Oh, Bobby, +look what I've found! A clump of real white heather! Isn't that lucky? +The first I've ever seen. I shall take it home for Aunt Helen; she'll be +so pleased.'</p> + +<p>'Joe says it means a wedding if you give it to anybody, and if you +find it in three places you'll be married three times. No, I don't want +to hunt for any, thank you! It's girls' stuff! I aren't going to bother +with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> marrying when I grow up; I mean to be a pirate, and live in a ship +with a black flag, and a lot of jolly fellows with pistols and +cutlasses, and we'll overhaul every merchantman we see, and string the +sailors up from the yard-arm!' and the future buccaneer swung his legs +over the rock, and put on a cut-throat expression, strangely at variance +with his cherubic cast of countenance.</p> + +<p>'Pooh! You're a silly little boy!' said Peggy scornfully, forgetting +that only last week she had regarded the adventures in 'Treasure Island' +as the beau-ideal of earthly bliss. 'There are no such things as pirates +now, so you couldn't be one, and I believe you'd be scared of the +pistols, too, if they were loaded!'</p> + +<p>Much offended at these remarks, Bobby stalked away in such aggrieved +majesty that, as the best means to restore peace, Peggy suggested that +they should walk on to a larger stream, which emptied itself into the +lake about half a mile lower down. Luckily Bobby's ill-humours were of a +short-lived nature, and after a few minutes of cutting silence, he +volunteered the rather ambiguous remark that there were 'lots of things +a fellow could do when he grew up, anyhow,' and was his smiling self +again.</p> + +<p>The new stream proved highly attractive. It was one of those noisy, +rushing mountain torrents, brown with flowing over the peat, and full of +great moss-grown boulders, with smooth round stones between. There were +foaming cataracts here and there among the rocks, just like Niagara on a +small scale, and there were dear little quiet pools at the edges, where +the still water was overhung by ferns and rushes, that sheltered +caddice-worms, and boat-flies, and whirligig water-beetles, and all +sorts of other delights for the collection.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>The children promptly pulled off their shoes and stockings and paddled +in the brown water like a couple of ducks. Peggy tied her boots together +by the laces, and putting her stockings inside, slung them over her back +in true fisher-boy fashion, while she sat dabbling her feet in a +waterfall, and watching Bobby's frantic efforts to catch a dragon-fly.</p> + +<p>'Oh, Peg, come quick! I believe I have him under my hat!' shouted the +enthusiastic collector, lying flat among the reeds on a grassy bank.</p> + +<p>Peggy jumped up in a hurry, and splashed her way to the rescue, but the +smooth round stones were slippery, and seemed to slide away from under +her feet. She gave a desperate clutch at a willow-stump on the bank to +save herself from falling, and somehow or other, in the struggle, her +bootlace broke, and away went the boots, sailing gaily down the stream, +over the waterfall and into the depths of the lake, before their +astonished owner had even realized their loss. Naturally, to secure the +dragon-fly and pin him on Bobby's hat was the first consideration, and +by the time the missing boots were thought of, they had utterly +disappeared, and though the children searched for fully half an hour +down the stream and on the bank of the lake, they were not to be found.</p> + +<p>'I'm afraid it's no use,' said Peggy at last. 'They must have gone down +into a hole, or been washed right into the middle of the lake. Someone +will fish them out a few hundred years hence, and put them into a museum +as great treasures. Well, it can't be helped. I suppose I shall have to +walk home without them,' pretending to look as if she did not care, +though really the prospect of a scolding from Father, and further +explanations with Aunt Helen on her return, made her somewhat uneasy.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span>With spirits slightly damped she wended her way back to the cottage, +trying to think it did not hurt to walk on the scrubby heather-stems, +and privately wondering whether Scotch children's toes were made of +different material to her own.</p> + +<p>Mr. Vaughan came home at one o'clock, having counted the sheep to his +satisfaction, and found none missing.</p> + +<p>'I'm as hungry as a hunter,' he announced. 'We must eat up everything +that's left; it won't do to carry anything back in our baskets. Is the +kettle boiling? Come, Peggy, child, put on your shoes and stockings; you +look like the picture of an Irish peasant-girl.'</p> + +<p>Peggy had certainly expected a lecture when she made the painful +confession that her foot-gear was at the bottom of the lake, but, to her +great relief, Father took it all as a joke, and laughed so heartily that +he quite forgot to scold her.</p> + +<p>'But you can't walk eight miles home over a rough road with bare feet!' +he exclaimed, the practical side of the question suddenly striking him, +'and I certainly don't feel equal to carrying you. We must manage to +make you a pair of sandals of some kind. I suppose I shall have to +sacrifice my shooting-gaiters;' and he divested himself of his leather +leggings with rueful reluctance. 'Now, put your foot down upon that, and +I will draw a line round it; then, if I cut it out with my penknife it +will make quite a good sole—enough to save you from the stones, at any +rate.'</p> + +<p>Peggy sat on the box while Father tied on the improvised sandals with +her pocket-handkerchief and Bobby's. They were certainly ingenious, +though hardly elegant, and it did not comfort her much to be told that +she would be taken for a wounded soldier<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> limping back from the wars; +indeed, Father made such fun of her that she grew quite indignant, and +began to think she would really rather have been scolded a little than +so very much laughed at.</p> + +<p>Peggy never forgot that walk home. The sandals were anything but +comfortable, and her feet hurt dreadfully on the stones, while every +gorse-bush she passed seemed to be stretching out spiky fingers to +scratch her bare legs; she was tired after her morning's adventures on +the moors, and the eight miles seemed to lengthen out to an interminable +vista, in spite of the way being downhill; sundry bumps and bruises, +which she had never noticed at the time, began to ache now, and the +bee-stings on her neck smarted, until she hardly knew how to bear the +pain.</p> + +<p>Poor Bobby was in scarcely better plight, and, to add to their misery, a +rain-cloud, blowing over from the west, broke on the mountain-top, and +drenched them almost to the skin. Mr. Vaughan was in such haste to get +home before post-time that he hurried them on, quite forgetting how much +shorter their legs were than his own, and he refused to listen to any +excuses for sitting down and resting, which, considering their wet +condition, was perhaps just as well.</p> + +<p>A more draggled and disreputable-looking pair of children it would have +been impossible to find. Bobby's sailor-suit was all stained with mud, +where he had fallen into the bog, and smears of the same material seemed +to have distributed themselves over his chubby face. There were several +rents in his stockings, while the brim and crown of his straw hat had +parted company, showing his crop of brown curls through the gap between. +As for Peggy, a young gipsy tramp would have looked more respectable, +for the brown holland dress, which had started out stiff and clean<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> +yesterday morning, was smeared with whinberry juice, black smudges from +the kettle, and green stains from the mossy stones in the stream, and +clung around her bare legs in damp, clammy folds, while the drenching +rain had reduced the poppies in her hat to a scarlet pulp, which dripped +down in crimson tears upon her cheek. The sun, shining out brilliantly +as they reached civilization once more, seemed to make the forlorn +plight of the wayfarers look worse than ever. If there had been any +possible way home, except through the village, I think Peggy would have +begged Father to take it, and she wished that, like Lady Godiva, she +could have shut the people up in their cottages until she had passed by.</p> + +<p>'I know they'll all stand and stare at my bare legs and queer sandals,' +she groaned. 'Those horrid, rude Watkin boys are sure to see me, and +call names next time, when Father's not there, and Mrs. Price will come +fussing out of the post-office to ask if there has been an accident; she +always wants to poke her nose into everything!'</p> + +<p>The Watkin boys, however, were away, engaged in a raid for early apples +in the orchards of long-suffering neighbours, while Mrs. Price was +taking tea in her back-parlour, and indulging in such spicy gossip with +her particular friend Miss Jones that the children passed by unnoticed, +and Peggy began to congratulate herself that they were almost out of +danger.</p> + +<p>But alas! things rarely happen as we expect in this world. They had +crossed the bridge, and were turning away up the lane to the Abbey, when +the sound of wheels was heard behind them, and, in the smart carriage +which rolled by, whom should Peggy recognise but the supercilious faces +and elegant costumes of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> Phyllis and Marjorie Norton. Her cup of +humiliation was filled to the brim.</p> + +<p>'And they knew me at once, I'm sure,' she lamented to Lilian afterwards, +'for they both looked at each other, and Phyllis laughed in that horrid, +sneering way she has. I know she'll tell the Middletons, and they'll +think it so queer. I don't much mind Marjorie, but of all people in this +world I simply <em>detest</em> Phyllis Norton!'</p> + + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> +<a name="xi" id="xi"></a>CHAPTER XI<br /> +<br /> +<span class="sub">A NEW FRIEND</span></h2> + +<div class="block18"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'Good-morrow to the day so fair,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Good-morrow, sir, to you.'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">One</span> hot afternoon, when the holidays were about three weeks old, found +Peggy wandering disconsolately round the farmyard alone. Lilian was +away, spending a few days in Shrewsbury with a distant cousin; Father +had gone to Warford, and had taken Bobby with him; even Rollo had +disappeared on some mysterious errand not entirely disconnected with +bones, so the young lady was left for once to her own devices.</p> + +<p>Aunt Helen had broadly hinted that an hour's practice of much-neglected +pieces upon the piano in the Rose Parlour would be a profitable means of +employing the time, and the fear lest this threat should become an +actual command caused Peggy to shun the neighbourhood of the house with +elaborate care, and betake herself, with a selection of pets, to the +barn.</p> + +<p>But the rabbits were stupid and sleepy this afternoon. Even Jack, the +magpie, seemed to feel the heat, and refused to amuse his young +mistress, while Prickles snored on in his box of hay, oblivious to all +coaxings and blandishments.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>'Bother the creatures!' said Peggy at last, giving it up in despair. 'If +they want to go to sleep, I suppose they must! I wonder if it would be +worth while going down to the harvest field? I'm afraid David wouldn't +let me drive the reaper. No, I know what I'll do.'</p> + +<p>And she jumped up, full of a new idea which had suddenly flashed into +her mind.</p> + +<p>Down the pasture she pelted, her red hat looking like a new species of +poppy among the grass, and, taking a flying leap over the fence, made +her way along the dusty road to a place where a large willow overhung +the path.</p> + +<p>The tree was old, so old and decayed that the upper side of the trunk +had worn away altogether, leaving nothing but a hollow, crumbling shell, +as rotten and dry as matchwood. Into this cavity Miss Peggy proceeded to +creep, where, concealed by the new branches which had grown from the old +stump, she found she could lie at full length, quite hidden from sight, +while through a hole in the bark she could obtain an excellent view of +every one who passed in the road below. The first to come by was Mr. +Griffiths, the stout old miller, mounted on his equally fat horse, the +two jogging comfortably along, almost asleep in the sunshine. Peggy +allowed him to get well beneath her, then, taking a pebble from her +pocket, she let it fall plump in the middle of his white hat. The miller +sat up with a jump, and reined in the old horse, staring into the tree +with such blank amazement on his rubicund countenance that Peggy had to +stuff her fingers into her mouth to stifle her mirth.</p> + +<p>'Shoo! Hi!' cried Mr. Griffiths, clapping his hands.</p> + +<p>But, like Brer Rabbit, Peggy 'lay low and said nuffin',' and the old man +rode slowly on, turning<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> round in his saddle for a last lingering look +as he went.</p> + +<p>Encouraged by this success, Peggy's next venture was on a pedlar, who +came down the road with a pack on his back and a thick stick in his +hand. I am afraid this time her stone was bigger, for it bounced with +such effect on his shoulder, that he turned round with a flow of +language far from elegant, shaking his fist at the tree with so much +fury that Peggy was in terror lest he should climb up to find the author +of the assault; but he evidently thought the day too hot for such +exercises, and with a final abusive epithet walked away muttering curses +on all the children in creation.</p> + +<p>'It's not safe to use stones,' thought Peggy. 'They know someone must be +up here to drop them. I'll try little pieces of wood instead, and then +they'll think it's a bird or a squirrel.'</p> + +<p>After that, she had excellent sport, for the women were beginning to +return from Warford Market with their empty baskets, and she was able to +cause wonder and mystification in many a rustic breast, without the +slightest chance of discovery.</p> + +<p>She was growing almost tired of the fun, when she heard a cheery +whistle, and a boy of about fourteen came sauntering slowly down the +road. He was rather a nice-looking boy, with merry brown eyes, a +freckled nose, and frizzy chestnut hair, which stood up like a mop all +over his head, and he had a particularly jolly, breezy air about him.</p> + +<p>Peggy had acquired such practice at her interesting occupation by this +time that she was able to drop her piece of wood neatly down the back of +his neck exactly at the moment he passed below.</p> + +<p>'Hello!' cried the boy, turning round, and flinging<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> a stone into the +tree. 'A squirrel, I'll be bound! I guess it's no use you hiding 'way up +there, old fellow! I'll unearth you before you're much older!' And he +commenced such an onslaught of stones that, to avoid the descending +shower, Peggy tried to creep deeper into the hollow cavity where she was +lying.</p> + +<p>But the poor, rotten old tree could stand the strain no longer, and, +with an awful crash, down came the overhanging bough, bringing Peggy to +the ground with a good deal more speed than elegance.</p> + +<p>'I say! What the dickens! Great Scott! Are you hurt?' exclaimed the boy, +regarding with much astonishment the crumpled heap of sailor frock, +brown curls, and splinters of willow-wood that had suddenly descended at +his feet.</p> + +<p>Peggy got up, feeling tenderly at her shins, which had suffered most in +the fall.</p> + +<p>'I don't think I'm quite killed,' she replied slowly. 'But I've no doubt +there'll be heaps of bruises to-morrow.'</p> + +<p>'So you were the squirrel! It was rather a cute dodge, and well done. I +guess you're something of a tomboy, young lady, aren't you?' said the +boy, grinning appreciatively.</p> + +<p>'No, I'm not,' said Peggy, indignant at the old reproach; 'I'm only fond +of a little fun. I know who <em>you</em> are. You're the boy who's staying with +Miss Forster at the Willows. I saw you in church on Sunday;' and she +nodded convincingly.</p> + +<p>'Why, I believe I saw you, too! You dropped your collection money, and +made a rabbit out of your pocket-handkerchief,' chuckling at the +remembrance.</p> + +<p>'Aren't you Miss Forster's nephew? What's your name? Why have you never +been to Gorswen before?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> Where is your home?' asked Peggy, wondering at +his slight American accent.</p> + +<p>The boy whistled.</p> + +<p>'Whew! what a catechism! My name's Archie, if you want to know, and my +godfathers and godmother gave it to me at my baptism. Yes, Miss Forster +is my aunt, and I haven't been to Gorswen before, because I was raised +in Colorado, and that's a little too far for chance visits; but I'm +going to locate here now most of the time, I guess. Is there anything +else you would like to ask?'</p> + +<p>And the brown eyes looked at her quizzically.</p> + +<p>'Yes, I should,' admitted Peggy frankly. 'I want to know what you're +doing in the corner of Miss Forster's garden. I can hear you sawing and +hammering there every morning.'</p> + +<p>'I wonder you don't come to see!'</p> + +<p>'Well, I would if anyone <em>invited</em> me!'</p> + +<p>The boy laughed.</p> + +<p>'All right!' he said good-naturedly. 'Come along now, and I'll show you, +if you like. If we cut over the hedge here we can drop straight down +into the garden without going round by the road. I guess a girl who can +climb a tree to play squirrel won't shy at a fence. Eh, Miss Tomboy?'</p> + +<p>Peggy replied by lightly vaulting over the obstacle, and following her +new friend with much promptitude, giving him a condensed history of +herself and family as she ran to keep up with his long strides.</p> + +<p>'Here we are!' cried the boy, jumping over the little stream that +bounded the Willows garden, and watching Peggy's heroic leap after with +an eye of secret approval. 'There, now, if you want to see what I have +been doing, you can!'</p> + +<p>He put his hands in his pockets, and whistled care<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>lessly, but it was +evident, all the same, that he was pleased to show off his handiwork, +even to a little girl. Peggy gave a gasp of astonishment and delight, +for by the side of the stream was fixed the prettiest little miniature +water-wheel, which was turning round as merrily as the miller's own.</p> + +<p>'Oh, how lovely!' she cried. 'You don't mean to say you made that +yourself?'</p> + +<p>For the efforts of Joe and Bobby at carpentry were generally of a very +rough description.</p> + +<p>'Of course I did. Do you reckon I'd get the village joiner to fix it? +Precious much good he'd be at a job like this, the clumsy old idiot! But +the wheel's nothing. Come over here, and you'll see what it turns!'</p> + +<p>'A grindstone! How splendid! Why, it's going round ever so fast when you +put on that catch!'</p> + +<p>'I can grind your pen-knife for you, if you like,' suggested Archie +magnanimously. 'I'd admire to do it.'</p> + +<p>'Haven't got one,' said Peggy sadly. 'I lost mine out of my pocket the +other day, when I fell into the stream.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! girls have such stupid pockets, they never can keep anything in +them. Never mind, perhaps this will be more in your line;' and lifting +up a lid, he showed a tiny churn, calculated to fill the feminine soul +with rapture.</p> + +<p>'You could put some cream in that, and make enough butter for your tea,' +he said, when Peggy had exhausted her list of admiring adjectives. 'I'll +let you do it some time, if you want. But if you like the churn, what do +you think of this, now?' And, stooping forward, he moved a switch, and +the strains of a little musical-box were heard playing 'The Last Rose of +Summer' with wonderfully correct time and tune.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>'You'll never persuade me you made that, too!' cried Peggy, turning upon +him with wide-open eyes.</p> + +<p>'Indeed I did!' laughed Archie. 'Oh, it's not so difficult, after all. +See, I'll show it to you. It's only made with pins set round in a circle +on a piece of board, with a nail on a pivot in the centre to revolve +round and strike them. The hard part of it was to set the pins just +right. You see, the shortness or longness of them makes the difference +in the notes, and the distance between gives the time. It took me a +jolly long while to puzzle it all out, I can tell you!'</p> + +<p>'I think you're a genius!' declared Peggy, who was absolutely steeped in +admiration.</p> + +<p>'Why, no!' said the boy. 'But I reckon to go in for engineering some +time, so it's all practice, you see. When I can get some more tools and +things I want to set up a hydraulic pump to water the garden. I believe +I could put electric light all over the house, if aunt would only let me +try.'</p> + +<p>'I'm afraid you might blow us all up, my dear boy!' exclaimed the +pleasant voice of Miss Forster, who had joined them unobserved. 'So you +have been making Peggy's acquaintance? She had better stay to tea, now +she is here. I will send a message up to the Abbey to say we are keeping +her.'</p> + +<p>Peggy beamed with delight, for she wanted to see more of Archie's +wonderful work, and also the cakes and jam at the Willows had a +reputation for excellence quite unsurpassed in the neighbourhood.</p> + +<p>Miss Forster was a little elderly lady, with a neat, bird-like +appearance, and a brisk, cheerful manner, who seemed to match the prim, +square house with its green door and brass knocker, and white sun-blinds +over the windows. Everything about the place was kept in the most +exquisite order—never a weed on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> paths nor a daisy on the +lawns—while indoors the old-fashioned rooms were the very perfection of +neatness, and the polish on the Chippendale furniture was a thing to +wonder at.</p> + +<p>When Miss Forster had adopted her brother's youngest boy from Colorado, +her neighbours held up their hands in amazement, and suggested that one +of her London nieces would have proved a far more satisfactory +companion. But Miss Forster herself thought otherwise.</p> + +<p>'My nieces are dear girls,' she said, 'but they take all I say for +gospel, and have not an original idea among them. I want some fresh +young life in the place, to keep me from quite stagnating. Archie brings +a breath of the new world with him, and outside interests which I hope +may prevent me from falling into the narrow rut that is so often the +fate of elderly spinsters in retired villages. It is quite possible that +he may upset the house in some slight degree, but on the whole it is +good for me to have my little ways interfered with. One is apt to get +into the habit of thinking that the set of a curtain, or a speck of dust +on the mirror, are of more importance than the affairs of the universe.'</p> + +<p>Since his arrival, Archie had certainly done his best to preserve his +aunt from any danger of stagnation, for his fertile brain kept her in a +perpetual tremor as to what the 'dear boy' would do next.</p> + +<p>'We work everything by machinery out in America, you know, aunt,' he +explained. 'And it feels just terribly behind the times to come home and +find you jogging on in the same hum-drum way this old country has done +since the conquest. I guess if you could come out to Colorado, you'd get +an eye-opener!'</p> + +<p>Miss Forster opened her eyes wide enough, as it was,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> to see a neat +telephone, made of two empty cocoa-tins and a piece of waxed string, +fixed up between the house and the stables, while a small windmill on +the scullery roof turned the coffee-grinder in the kitchen, to the huge +amazement and delight of the cook. She had gasped a little at the +incubator, made of an old biscuit-tin, and placed on the greenhouse +pipes.</p> + +<p>'Would not a good sitting hen be really better, my dear boy?' she +suggested mildly. 'I don't see what you are going to do with the young +chicks when you hatch them out.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, I'll have fixed up a foster-mother before the three weeks are up,' +said Archie. 'I'm lining a shallow box with plaster of Paris, and +sticking it full of feathers while it's wet. Then, if I keep it on the +hot pipes, it will feel for all the world like an old hen, and I don't +believe there'll be a chick that'll find out the difference!'</p> + +<p>There seemed to be no end to Master Archie's wonderful inventions. The +boy had a great talent for mechanics, and was very painstaking in +carrying out all the minute details of his work. Most of his schemes +were really of use in the household, though occasionally some of them +were not attended with quite the success they deserved. He had hung the +great dinner-bell in the cherry-tree, and fastened a string from it to +his bed-post, so that he might scare the birds from the fruit in the +early morning; but unfortunately he had flung out his arms in his sleep +and set the bell ringing soon after midnight, bringing the neighbours +hurrying up to the Willows, thinking it was an alarm of fire. He had +manufactured a marvellous hat-grip, warranted to defy the windiest of +weather, and presented it to the housemaid; but when the poor girl tried +to take off her Sunday hat, she found it so tightly fixed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> to her hair +that it took the combined efforts of the other servants, aided by the +liberal use of a pair of scissors, to remove the construction from her +head. He had fixed a fire-escape to the landing window, and nearly +killed the trusting parlour-maid by letting her down in a blanket 'just +for practice,' while the cook was soaked through in a sudden application +of the hose-pipe to quench imaginary flames in the region of the +back-kitchen.</p> + +<p>But I think the crowning achievement was an automatic currying-brush, +which was to be wound up and fixed on to the horse's back, and was to do +the work 'in just half the time old Fleming takes pottering over it.'</p> + +<p>'Don't ee, now, Master Archie—don't ee, now!' remonstrated the poor old +coachman, with dismay in his soul. 'Horses is kittle cattle, and it +aren't right to play no tricks with 'em!'</p> + +<p>'Don't you be alarmed, Fleming. I guess Captain will like it just +first-rate. He'll find it sort of soothing, and it'll put such a gloss +on him you'll be able to see your face in his coat. If it works all +right, I'll rig up an arrangement to milk the cows next.'</p> + +<p>And the confident inventor wound up his little machine, and started it +on Captain's fat back. But the old horse would have nothing to say to +such a newfangled contrivance, and, with a snort of alarm, had nearly +kicked through the side of his stall, sending the currying-brush flying +in one direction and Master Archie head over heels in another.</p> + +<p>'I reckon he's rather too old to catch on to it,' said the boy, +determined not to own himself beaten, as he picked up the ruins of his +clock-work. 'It would be best to start on a colt, and put it in as part +of the training. Never mind, I can use the wheels to make<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> an alarum, +and fix it up in the harness-room, to go off at any time you like, +Fleming!'</p> + +<p>But Fleming showed such a rooted distrust for anything that was intended +to 'go off,' and, indeed, such absolute abhorrence of any further +mechanical contrivance in the vicinity of the stables, that Archie had +transferred his attentions to the garden, where he was full of a scheme +for utilizing the water power of the little stream to irrigate the soil, +after the fashion of the Nile in Egypt, in a series of canals between +the beds, and had already made the hose-pipe work with capital effect by +means of a siphon and an old barrel.</p> + +<p>This was a form of amusement which appealed far more to Miss Forster's +mind, for her flowers suffered much from drought in summer time, and she +was a keen competitor at the local horticultural shows, exhibiting some +of the largest carnations and the roundest dahlias in the neighbourhood. +So she watched with delight the growth of the hydraulic pump, groaning a +little over the dirty boots and muddied clothes that ensued, but +assuring her friends that the 'dear boy' was a perfect genius, and would +make his mark in the world, and relating the story of his achievements +with most unbounded pride and satisfaction.</p> + + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> +<a name="xii" id="xii"></a>CHAPTER XII<br /> +<br /> +<span class="sub">IN THE RECTORY GARDEN</span></h2> + +<div class="block24"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'A good man's life is like a fairest flower:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">It casts a fragrant breath on all around.'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Though</span> Miss Forster's pet flower-beds were a subject for modest +congratulation to their owner, they were not to be compared to those at +the Rectory, which were indeed a feast of scent and colour. The Rector +was worthily proud of his garden. It represented a considerable amount +of skill and artistic taste on the part of himself and his handy-man, +for the rare plants and exquisite groupings of contrasting blossoms +would have done credit to a more imposing establishment, and he had as +choice a collection of shrubs as could be grown anywhere in the county.</p> + +<p>It was almost sunset when Peggy, having seen the last of Archie's +contrivances, and bidden good-bye to kind Miss Forster, passed by the +Rectory hedge, and hearing the brisk sound of the mowing-machine, pushed +open the little gate and went in, knowing she was always sure of a +welcome.</p> + +<p>Peggy loved to get Mr. Howell sometimes quite to herself. Perhaps it was +because he was one of those rare characters in whose presence we can +feel certain of perfect sympathy, or perhaps it grew from a more subtle +and silent bond, felt keenly by the child, though<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> never spoken of, for +Peggy could remember a time when the Rector's hair was raven black, and +there had been a little Raymond Howell playing about on the smooth lawns +of the old garden. Folks had said that the Rector, like many a man who +marries late in life, had made an idol of his motherless boy, and they +had said, again, that the father's heart was broken and the print of +death was on his face as he stood by his child's open grave. But they +judged wrong, for he had wrestled with his sorrow, like Jacob with the +angel of old, and came forth from the struggle with hair indeed as white +as snow, but a face so full of the glory of his conquest that those who +looked felt as if he, too, had died, and they saw his immortality.</p> + +<p>'Ah, he's a changed man!' said Ellen, the nurse, to Susan, the cook, as +they talked in whispers over the night-nursery fire when the children +were in bed. 'If he was a saint before, it's an angel he is now, and +nothing less. They say he takes no thought for himself at all. His +heart's been left in the grave with the poor boy, it's true, but, mark +my words, if there's a soul in trouble in all the parish it's no kinder +friend they'll find than Mr. Howell.'</p> + +<p>Little five-year-old Peggy, lying wide awake, straining her ears to +overhear the whispered conversation, sat up in bed with burning cheeks.</p> + +<p>'Oh, nurse!' she cried. '<em>Poor</em> Mr. Howell! Have they lost his heart in +the churchyard, and can't anybody find it for him?'</p> + +<p>'Go to sleep at once, you naughty girl, or I'll call your aunt,' said +Ellen, putting out the candle to avoid further complications, for she +knew she ought not to have been talking within hearing of her charges, +and hoped Peggy would forget the matter by morning.</p> + +<p>But the child lay awake for a long time, puzzling her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> small brain. She +was not quite sure what a heart was, but she thought the Rector would +miss it, and that he was in some sort of trouble she realized well +enough.</p> + +<p>'Can people live without hearts?' she asked Lilian next day.</p> + +<p>'Of course not,' replied Lilian, with the superior wisdom of nine years +old, and dismissed the idea with scorn.</p> + +<p>But Peggy did not consider the question ended by any means. Like most +children, with the instinctive dread of being laughed at, she never +thought of confiding her difficulty to an older person, but solving the +problem according to her own quaint ideas, she dodged the vigilance of +Ellen, and trotted off alone to the churchyard. The lych-gate was +locked, but she toiled over the steep steps that spanned the wall, and +wading through the long grass under the yew-trees, found the spot, all +covered with flowers, which Lilian had pointed out on Sunday, where +'Mary, the wife of the Reverend Philip Howell,' slept, 'in sure and +certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life,' and where the +stonemason had been already busy with the newly-added line: 'Also +Raymond, only son of the above.'</p> + +<p>Who can tell all that goes on in the mind of a little child, or what it +understands of death? In a vague way Peggy knew that her playfellow had +'gone to heaven, where mother is,' but she did not think of that as any +cause for sorrow, nor did she connect him for an instant with the place +where she stood, but, with her nurse's words still troubling her, she +knelt down and searched among the white flowers that hid the bare earth +beneath.</p> + +<p>A step on the gravel walk startled her to her feet, but it was only the +Rector, coming slowly down the path from the church-door.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span>'Don't go away, little Margaret,' he said quietly. 'God's acre is free +to all. We have both precious seed sown here that we hope to find +blooming some day in Paradise.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, Mr. Howell,' burst out Peggy, her gray eyes brimming over with +tears, 'is it really true that your heart is lost here? Don't you think, +if we were both to look, we might find it again?'</p> + +<p>The Rector stroked the brown curls with a tender hand.</p> + +<p>'Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. No, child, it's +not here, but up in the light beyond;' and he pointed where the sun, +breaking through the clouds, burst out in a flood of golden glory. 'We +make our plans for this world,' he said softly, speaking as much to +himself as to Peggy, 'and say we will do this or that, but sometimes God +takes it out of our hands and arranges it for us; but His ways are +better than our ways, and His thoughts than our thoughts, and, after +all, death is but the gate to life immortal.'</p> + +<p>Since then a great friendship had existed between these two, made all +the stronger, perhaps, by the fifty years that divided them, for old +folk have often more tolerance and sympathy for childhood than have +those whose eyes are still blinded by the bustle of life, and, whatever +Peggy might be to others, with Mr. Howell she was always at her highest +and best.</p> + +<p>'As welcome as the flowers in May, dear child,' said the Rector this +evening. 'I was just longing for an excuse to leave the lawn-mower, and +now I feel bound to give up work and entertain you. Come and look at my +carnations.' And taking a basket as a receptacle for any weeds that +might offend his eye, he led the way, Peggy trotting after him with her +little tongue<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> wagging freely in a lively account of her latest +adventures, and the marvels which her new friend Archie was constructing +in Miss Forster's garden.</p> + +<p>'Yes, he's a clever lad,' said Mr. Howell, 'and likely to do well and be +a comfort to her, I hope. It's a grand thing when a boy can fill his +life with a hobby; it leaves him no time to get into mischief.'</p> + +<p>'I think flowers are your hobby, next to the parish,' said Peggy, as she +watched the Rector tying up his carnations, touching each blossom as +carefully as if it were a child, with a tender pride in its loveliness.</p> + +<p>'Flowers are such dear friends, you see, Peggy; they rarely disappoint +or deceive you. Treat them well, and they repay you a thousandfold; and +the best of it is they give so much pleasure to others as well as to +ourselves. By-the-by, how are Miss Forster's carnations getting on?'</p> + +<p>'Beautifully! She has a lovely apricot-coloured one she hopes may take a +prize, but I don't like it as well as your yellow. She says the show +will be bigger than ever this year; so many of the village people have +sent in entries.'</p> + +<p>'I'm glad of that. Gardening is the best hobby a working man can take +up. He won't want to think of the public-house when he's digging in his +patch of ground and watching the plants he's raised himself. I always +agree with good old Francis Bacon that "God Almighty first planted a +garden, and indeed it is the purest of human pleasures." I have given +away a great many roots in the village this spring, in the hope that the +flowers would find their way to the show in due course. People are +generally so pleased with them.'</p> + +<p>'I took a nice carnation plant down to old Mrs. Johnson at the smithy,' +said Peggy, 'but she didn't<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> seem at all pleased. She said I might have +known she wanted a Bizarre, and not a Picotee, and I was bringing "coals +to Newcastle."'</p> + +<p>'But you left it for her, all the same?'</p> + +<p>'Oh yes; I believe she liked it really, for it was quite a new kind; but +she loves to grumble; she's a terribly cross old woman.'</p> + +<p>'Poor old soul! She's let her heart wither up instead of ripening! We +must all do one or the other, Peggy, child, as we grow older. It is only +the sunshine of God's presence that can mellow us thoroughly, and if +people wilfully turn away from that they are bound to become shrivelled +and sour. Worldly prosperity is like a strong electric light—it may +bring out flowers, but it will never ripen character; so don't forget +that, or ever exchange it for the true sunlight. Now come and help me to +choose out which flowers to specially train for the show, and we shall +just have time to stake them before dark.'</p> + +<p>The Rector never made the mistake of continually talking down to a +child's level. He spoke with Peggy exactly as he would have done with a +grown-up friend, and if she could not always follow his train of +thought, I think the mere effort to do so was good for her, and the +older she grew, the more truly she understood and appreciated him.</p> + +<p>It is not only when we try to amuse them that the children love us best +(who has not sometimes seen the look of almost contempt in the eyes of a +little one for the good-natured elder who plays the fool for his +benefit?), and often the companion most cared for and sought after by a +child is he who unconsciously raises the standard of the eager, growing +soul.</p> + +<p>For reasons of his own the Rector kept Peggy late that evening, and they +made a little tour of the garden,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> selecting what they called their +prize plants, putting indiarubber bands round carnation-buds to keep +them from bursting, and tying up the most promising stocks and asters +with a scrupulous care, working until the light had almost failed and +the sky stood out yellow against the outline of the cypress-trees. It +grew so dim and still in the twilight that Peggy cried out in alarm as +a tall figure seemed to rise from the shadows under the dark yew-hedge, +and came towards them; but peering through the gathering dusk, she +recognised the face of her old friend Mr. Neville.</p> + +<p>'John!' exclaimed the Rector, 'I thought you had been at the Abbey all +this time!'</p> + +<p>'I haven't found the courage yet,' returned the other huskily, picking a +prize dahlia to pieces with a recklessness that seemed wanton in Peggy's +eyes.</p> + +<p>'Oh, Mr. Neville, is it really you? However did you get here?' she +cried.</p> + +<p>'Mayn't I know the Rector, too, Peggy? He happens to be a very old +friend of mine, and I have come to see him.'</p> + +<p>'You said you knew Father and Aunt Helen, too, but you have never been +to see us,' said Peggy reproachfully. 'I'm afraid there's only Aunt +Helen in to-night, but I know she'd love you to come.'</p> + +<p>'I'm not so sure about that,' said Mr. Neville rather bitterly. 'I don't +know whether I should be welcome, Peggy dear. Aunt Helen and I +quarrelled once, long ago, and I doubt if she could forgive me.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, she would—I know she would!' exclaimed Peggy. 'She always forgives +us, however naughty we are; and she told me once—the night she was +crying over the old letters in her writing-desk—that if you quarrelled +with anyone it was better to make<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> it up at once, and not let it go on +for ever. Do, please, try!'</p> + +<p>'Go, my boy,' said the Rector. 'Tell her the simple truth, and don't +spoil two lives for the sake of an old tale that is best forgotten.'</p> + +<hr class="hr3" /> + +<p>Peggy waited wide awake in bed for hours that night to catch Father's +step in the passage and call him in for a good-night kiss.</p> + +<p>'Oh, Daddy!' she cried, as she clasped him round the neck, 'is Aunt +Helen really and truly going to marry Mr. Neville?'</p> + +<p>'Really and truly, at last, dear; and I could not wish to see her in +better hands.'</p> + +<p>'But whatever <em>shall</em> we do without her?'</p> + +<p>'We must manage as best we can, Peggy, and try and not spoil her +happiness by any selfish regrets. I have had terrible trouble to +persuade her to leave us all, for she was ready to sacrifice herself +bravely a second time, but that I would not allow. Aunt Helen has +thought for us, and worked for us, all these years, and now we must +learn to look after ourselves. You are getting big girls, and Lilian +must be my little housekeeper, and a mother to the rest of you. Aunt +Helen has taught you how to behave, so don't you think, little woman, it +is time to begin to settle down, and do your best to grow up what she +and I would like you to be?'</p> + +<p>'I'll try,' said Peggy, kissing him. 'We don't want to lose Aunt Helen, +but oh!'—as she nestled down among the bed-clothes—'what a delightful +uncle Mr. Neville will make!'</p> + + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> +<a name="xiii" id="xiii"></a>CHAPTER XIII<br /> +<br /> +<span class="sub">THE SMUGGLERS' CAVE</span></h2> + +<div class="block30"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'Dark and dank, where the toad doth creep,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the dusk-loving bat haunts the shadows deep.'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Great</span> was the excitement in the family at the news of Aunt Helen's +engagement, and equal were the lamentations when it became known that, +instead of settling down near them as a pleasant and desirable uncle, +Mr. Neville intended to carry his bride back with him to India as soon +as matters could possibly be arranged, for he held a high position under +Government in an outlying province, and could only be spared on short +leave. Poor Aunt Helen was torn in two between the lover of her youth +and the children of her adoption; but I really believe, when she saw +Bobby's tears, that if Father had not put his foot down firmly, she +would have thrown up everything, and clung to her bairns.</p> + +<p>As it was, the house seemed entirely upset. Miss Jones, the village +dressmaker, was installed in the Rose Parlour, and appeared to be +stitching morning, noon, and night; the postman's bag was quite heavy +with patterns and catalogues of Indian outfits; while distant relations +and old acquaintances, who had neglected the Abbey for years, kept Nancy +in a state of perpetual agitation by turning up suddenly to pay +congratulatory calls.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>'If they'd only send a letter to say they'd be coming,' she complained, +'one would have a chance to be ready for 'em. But old Mrs. Osborne +arrived o' Monday, with me in the midst of my washing, and never a bit +of cake in the house; and there was Squire Henley and his lady o' +churning day, and I had to leave the butter half made to bring in tea; +and ten to one there'll be someone more o' Friday, when I'm cleaning my +kitchens. What with visitors all days of the week, and Miss Jones with +her snippings and mess in the parlour, I, for one, shall be glad when +the wedding is over, though how the house is to go on without Miss +Vaughan goodness only knows.'</p> + +<p>Peggy and Bobby liked the fun of the preparations, though they crept out +of the way of the visitors as much as possible, for to be shown up in +the drawing-room involved an amount of dressing and tidying which did +not fit in at all with their ideas of holiday enjoyment, and they much +preferred a picnic tea in the orchard, with Rollo and the rabbits for +company, to the more select charms of the best china and the stately +patronage of the neighbouring dowagers.</p> + +<p>Lilian was busy trying to grow up suddenly and be ready to take Aunt +Helen's place, for she was old enough now to realize how much +responsibility would rest with her when she must manage the reins of the +household alone, and she was determined that Father should feel as +little discomfort as possible from the change.</p> + +<p>So the younger ones were left more than ever to their own devices, to +amuse themselves as they liked, and to get into mischief or not, +according to the whim of the moment. I am afraid, if there was any +mischief in the case, the blame generally rested with Peggy, for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> it was +her enterprising mind which planned out the schemes of enjoyment.</p> + +<p>It was certainly Peggy who suggested sitting on the top of the haystack, +and making it sway backwards and forwards like a swing, a delightful +sensation while it lasted, but which ended suddenly in the collapse of +the whole top of the stack, much to Father's wrath, for it took David a +couple of hours to repair the damage, and certainly did not sweeten the +old man's already crusty temper. It was also Peggy's most inopportune +idea to ride the brown cow round the pasture on the very afternoon that +Mrs. Davenport was paying a stiff call in the drawing-room. She gave +Bobby a leg up on to Brindle's broad back, and had just succeeded in +scrambling inelegantly behind him, when the astonished quadruped paused +in her task of cropping the succulent grass and buttercups, and +realizing that something unusual was oppressing her, fled in mad career +over the meadow, with the delighted children clinging desperately to her +horns.</p> + +<p>'Hoop-la! Yoicks! Tally-ho! I believe she'll take the fence!' shouted +Peggy in anything but a quiet and young-lady-like tone of voice.</p> + +<p>'Gee up! Let her go! Hooray!' yelled Bobby, striking such a whack on +Brindle's heaving side that she settled the matter by suddenly lying +down to roll, and depositing her encumbrances in the miry ditch.</p> + +<p>The children jumped up in fits of laughter, but they sobered down +considerably at the sight of the shocked faces of Aunt Helen and Mrs. +Davenport, who were walking towards them over the pasture.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Davenport was a tall, majestic, long-nosed lady, the wife of a +clergyman in a neighbouring village. She ruled both the parish and her +meek little husband with a rod of iron, and her mission in life seemed +to be to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> find out that everybody else was wrong, and to try to set them +right again. She had five darlings of her own, in whom she could see no +fault, and whom she invariably held up as models of good behaviour to +all the children of her acquaintance.</p> + +<p>Peggy and Bobby loathed the little Davenports, who were mild, pale, +neat-looking little girls, so alike that each one seemed merely a copy +of the next, a size smaller, and who always wore gloves, even in the +garden, and never dreamed of tearing their pinafores, or using slang, +and went <a name="on" id="on"></a><ins title="Original omits on">on</ins> prim little walks with their governess, instead of scrambling +over the fields; and, I grieve to say, that on the few occasions when +they met, they had taken such a positive pleasure in leading their +inoffensive companions into places which resulted in soiled dresses and +dirty boots, that Mrs. Davenport discouraged the acquaintance as much as +possible, never feeling easy even for the life and limbs of her progeny +when they were in the society of 'those terrible young Vaughans,' and +revenging herself by scathing remarks upon manners and deportment, which +were extremely trying to the feelings of Aunt Helen, who naturally +thought <em>her</em> children superior in every way to 'those mealy-faced +little Davenports, who look as if they had not the strength or spirits +to enjoy themselves, even if they were allowed to try.'</p> + +<p>Mrs. Davenport came up now, picking her way daintily over the pasture, +in her best dress, and expressing her disapproval in her usual emphatic +tones.</p> + +<p>'I hope you are not hurt,' she said, eyeing Peggy severely, and +distinctly hesitating before she accepted the grimy hand which that +young lady offered in the agitation of the moment. 'Such an accident +might have proved <em>most</em> serious. I have known a child<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> develop a spinal +complaint from a far less fall, and I should have thought you were old +enough, Margaret, to restrain your brother from such foolish feats, +instead of encouraging him. Dear me, you must be nearly twelve, I +believe—the same age as my Bertha, and she is already beginning to help +me with the parish accounts and spends all her spare time knitting for +the Deep Sea Missions. I am thankful to say none of my girls are +tomboys! If you will take my advice, Miss Vaughan, you will urge your +brother to see at once about getting a good, strict governess to take +charge of these children when you leave. A little wholesome discipline +is just what they require. Indeed, I know of a lady who would exactly +suit him; not too young, but still <em>most</em> energetic. Lived seven years +with my cousin, the Hon. Mrs. Lyttleton at Bratherton Hall, and just +leaving, having prepared the youngest boy for school. And I can assure +you <em>their</em> manners are everything that could be desired, and she is +able to impart a style and a finish which, living so wholly in the +country, is most important. A truly admirable housekeeper. Your dear +Lilian is, of course, young and inexperienced—and——'</p> + +<p>But here Mrs. Davenport's remarks, which had been wafted along in gusts, +died away in the distance as she departed down the pasture to inspect +the hen-coops, and hint broadly for the gift of a couple of young +pullets, 'for yours are such an excellent breed, dear Miss Vaughan, and +such capital winter layers. I shall only be too delighted to add them to +my stock, since you are so kind as to offer them, though really I am +afraid you will think I never come to the Abbey without taking something +away with me.'</p> + +<p>Which was exactly what Aunt Helen did think, though she was too polite +to say so, for Mrs. Daven<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span>port was well known to have an extreme +partiality for presents, perhaps considering them as only her due in +exchange for so much good advice.</p> + +<p>The children looked at one another with rather long faces.</p> + +<p>'I had no idea she was there,' said Bobby in an awe-struck whisper, 'or +we would have run away to the orchard. You don't think Father would +really be likely to get us that governess, do you?'—the horrible +possibility of the lady, still energetic, though no longer young, and +evidently capable of so much in the way of discipline, quite casting a +gloom over his youthful spirits.</p> + +<p>'No, no,' said Peggy hurriedly; 'he can't afford it. That's one comfort +in not being well off, at any rate. And you know he said Lilian was to +do the housekeeping. Oh, I don't think he would like that kind of a +governess any better than we should ourselves—' privately hoping that +Father's notions of self-sacrifice would not make him see fit to inflict +so great a penance on himself and his family.</p> + +<p>But the very idea that such a course had evidently been suggested made +the children uneasy, and kept them for several days at a pitch of sedate +behaviour calculated to calm down Aunt Helen's possible fears for their +future welfare, and to render unnecessary the criticism of the most +faithful and interfering of friends.</p> + +<p>Perhaps it was the natural reaction arising from this very unwonted +state of affairs, or merely the desire to keep as much as possible out +of the way of afternoon callers, that put it into Peggy's head one +close, sultry afternoon that they should go and explore a cave which lay +on the river at no great distance from the Abbey meadows.</p> + +<p>That such a cave existed the children knew well,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> for Joe had once been +inside, and had told them wonderful stories of smugglers in bygone days, +and of kegs of brandy, and bales of silk and lace, and boxes of tea and +tobacco, which were still supposed to be hidden in its depths, only +waiting for some enterprising spirit to discover their hiding-place and +bring them to light again.</p> + +<p>'And I don't see why <em>we</em> shouldn't find them as well as anybody else,' +said Peggy with enthusiasm. 'Just think of yards and yards of silk as +stiff as paper, and old French lace, all yellow with age! We shouldn't +care about the brandy, but Father and David would like the tobacco, and +Mrs. Davis and old Ephraim should have some of the tea. And we might +find money, too. Smugglers always had bags of money—spade guineas, you +know, and Spanish doubloons, and all those kinds of things you read +about in books.'</p> + +<p>Having a very shrewd suspicion that Father and Aunt Helen might not +approve of such an escapade, Peggy took care not to mention her plans, +and the children started off, feeling like a pair of conspirators, with +the stable-lantern, a few extra pieces of candle, and a box of matches.</p> + +<p>At the bottom of the meadows which bounded the Abbey land the river took +a sharp turn past a few bold cliffs which rose almost sheer out of the +water, and by scrambling along the rocks at the base it was possible to +get round this headland and reach the low entrance of the cave, which +was raised only a few feet above the level of the river.</p> + +<p>The mouth was overgrown with hazel-bushes and brambles and long, +trailing twines of ivy, and it seemed to the children as if no foot but +theirs had disturbed it for a long time. Peggy looked at Bobby, and +Bobby looked at Peggy, and I think each felt just<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> a little inclined to +hang back, though neither would have confessed it for worlds; then, with +the solemn air of a Guy Fawkes, Peggy lighted the lantern, and boldly +plunged into the darkness, with Bobby following particularly closely at +her elbow. At first the entrance was rather narrow and low, but it soon +broadened out until the roof was ten feet or more above their heads. The +sides of the rocky walls bulged out into irregular shelves, covered in +parts with moss, and moist and clammy with slowly-dripping water.</p> + +<p>'Those will be the smugglers' cupboards that Joe spoke about,' said +Peggy, flashing the lantern into every nook and cranny, but with no +success, for there was never a sign of a box of tea or a keg of brandy +to be seen.</p> + +<p>The air was close and damp, and their footsteps raised strange echoes as +they went, and loud voices seemed so out of place that, with one accord, +the children spoke in whispers.</p> + +<p>'O-o-gh! something soft flapped in my face then!' exclaimed Bobby.</p> + +<p>Peggy held up the lantern over her head, and a number of bats, disturbed +by the light, dropped from the roof where they had been suspended and +whirled round the cave, 'cheeping' angrily for some moments, and opening +their tiny jaws at the children in quite a threatening manner, till +Bobby clapped his hands, and they flew off to find their way into some +deeper retreat.</p> + +<p>'Come along,' said Peggy; 'let's go higher up. There's nothing to be +found here.'</p> + +<p>Clinging together, the two walked with some caution, and it was well +they did so, for the floor of the cave was suddenly interrupted by a +chasm, which seemed to have rent the earth in two, and was so deep that +they could not see to the bottom. It was spanned by a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> plank, green with +slime and rotten with age, placed there perhaps by the smugglers as a +means of retreating to a more secure hiding-place.</p> + +<p>Peggy flashed the light over the dark abyss to the still more gloomy +depths beyond, but even her foolhardiness did not prompt her to try so +perilous a bridge.</p> + +<p>'We'll get Joe to come some time with a new plank, and help us across, +and then perhaps we may find something,' she said rather hurriedly, in +case Bobby might expect her to continue the explorations.</p> + +<p>But that hero suggesting that it must be after teatime, she cordially +agreed with him, and they began to retrace their steps to the entrance, +feeling just a little disappointed, for somehow they had imagined a +smugglers' cave would be a jolly, dry sort of a place, with at least a +few remains of its former tenants strewn about—a pistol or two, +perhaps, or a coil of rope, or a rusty dagger, just sufficient to give +an air of romance to the adventure, even if the missing treasure were +not forthcoming.</p> + +<p>The air seemed to have grown more close and sultry while the children +were within the cave, and, just as they reached the mouth, a low, +grumbling sound, which they had heard for some time, but not taken much +notice of, broke into a crash of thunder that seemed to make the ground +shake beneath them, while at the same instant a brilliant streak of +lightning flashed zigzag across the sky, lighting up the gloom behind +them to its furthest recess.</p> + +<p>The storm had broken. Peal after peal of thunder rent the air, echoing +in the cavern till Peggy and Bobby clung to one another in terror, while +the rain came down in a perfect deluge, with such tropical fury that it +seemed as if the very sky were descending. Crouched down on the floor by +the entrance, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> children waited for the storm to pass by, wondering +at the vivid pink flashes and the size of the hailstones which beat in +through the hazel-bushes. A little runnel of water, flowing +uncomfortably near, brought Peggy to her feet with a sudden cry.</p> + +<p>'Bobby! Bobby! the river is rising, and the rocks are covered. We cannot +get round the point to the meadow again!'</p> + +<p>It was but too true, for the sudden violence of the storm had swollen +the mountain-streams that fed the river, and the once-placid waters were +flowing past in a brown, turbulent flood, which seemed to sweep +everything along in its course. The stones over which they had +scrambled were completely covered, while waves were dashing against the +face of the cliff. Here and there a dead sheep or pig drifted by, or a +portion of a haystack; a hurdle floating like a raft bore on it a few +disconsolate fowls, clucking dismally; while an occasional wash-tub or +upturned table showed that the river must have already flooded some of +the low-lying cottages higher up on its course.</p> + +<p>The children looked at each other with blanched faces.</p> + +<p>'We must stay where we are for the present,' said Peggy, trying to speak +bravely, 'and perhaps the water will fall soon, and we shall be able to +get home.'</p> + +<p>But the water did not fall. Each moment it seemed to flow with even +swifter current, and to be rising with terrible sureness nearer and +nearer the mouth of the cave. It was already growing dusk, and distant +rumblings among the hills showed that the storm was still raging over +the Welsh border, and sending down its torrents of rain to swell the +already overflowing river.</p> + +<p>Hungry, and chilly from the damp moisture that oozed down the walls, the +poor children sat quietly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> huddled together watching the cold gray +surface of the water, which seemed like some cruel monster ever creeping +nearer and nearer to infold them in its treacherous grasp.</p> + +<p>'Perhaps Father will guess where we've gone, and come for us with a +boat,' suggested Bobby. 'I wish he would be quick. It's so cold and +horrid here, and I want my supper.'</p> + +<p>'Perhaps he will,' replied Peggy, as hopefully as she could, though in +her heart of hearts she knew that the cave was about the last place +anyone would dream of searching for them.</p> + +<p>There was a long silence; then, 'It's getting dark now,' said Bobby, +'and the water is beginning to wet my feet.'</p> + +<p>'We must go back into the cave,' said Peggy. 'We shall be quite dry +there, for the ground shelves up. See, I'm going to light the lantern +again. What a good thing we brought several pieces of candle!'</p> + +<p>The mere effort of having something to do cheered them up a little. They +hunted about to find as dry a spot as possible, and put the lantern up +upon one of the shelves of rock, so that it should cast as much light as +it could around the cave. Then they sat down to wait again, for what +seemed to them an eternity of time.</p> + +<p>The mouth of the cavern loomed like a great eye, growing gradually +fainter and fainter as the daylight faded and the darkness grew outside. +The river flowed by with a dull, roaring sound, and the little channel +had risen from the entrance, and began to lap gently on the floor. The +moisture dripped from the walls in loud-sounding drops, and the bats had +awakened again, and flew to and fro towards the lantern with a soft whir +of wings. When the last<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> faint patch of light faded from the opening +Bobby's bravery gave way, and the poor little fellow's tears chased each +other down his cheeks as he crouched in a miserable heap on the damp +ground.</p> + +<p>'I want to go home!' he wailed. 'Why doesn't Father come to fetch us? +Don't you think they know where we are?'</p> + +<p>Peggy flung her arms round him in an agony of self-reproach.</p> + +<p>'Oh, Bobby darling! it's all my fault, for I made you come, and wouldn't +let you tell where we were going, though you said we ought to ask leave +first! Put your head on my shoulder, and try to go to sleep. Perhaps +Father may find us after all, or the river will have gone down by +morning, and we shall be able to scramble round by the rocks.'</p> + +<p>'I must say my prayers first. Aunt Helen always comes into my room and +hears them last thing before I get into bed.'</p> + +<p>'Say them with me to-night,' said Peggy, with a lump in her throat, as +she knelt by his side, thinking that perhaps Aunt Helen, too, was +praying at that moment that her dear ones might be safe.</p> + +<p>The old, familiar words seemed to have new meaning in them, said in the +midst of the darkness and the danger, and the children felt that, though +their earthly Father might be seeking far and wide for them in vain, +they were known and cared for by 'our Father which art in heaven,' to +whom the darkness is the same as daylight, and in whose sight not even a +sparrow falls to the ground unnoticed.</p> + +<p>Bobby fell asleep at last, with his head on Peggy's knee, the sound of +his regular breathing mingling strangely with the lap of the water which +crept nearer and ever nearer to them up the cave. Many thoughts<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> came to +Peggy that night, as she sat watching the light of the lantern flicker +upon the rough walls. Father's reproachful face seemed to rise up out of +the darkness, asking 'Where is Bobby? What have you done with my little +boy?' Good resolutions made, and alas! too often forgotten, crowded in +now upon her remembrance, and as she listened to the roar of the river, +she thought how strange it would seem that they two, so full of life, +might in a few hours be floating very still and silent upon that flowing +stream, with the world only a memory behind them. But Peggy had been too +much with the Rector to have any fear of death. He, she knew, viewed +this life as merely the stepping-stone to a fuller and richer life +beyond, and the body as but the worthless husk of the soul, so with a +dreamy feeling that somehow Mr. Howell had set the gate of the next +world ajar, and allowed some of the glory to steal out and comfort her, +the child closed her tired eyes, and slept as quietly as if she had been +safe in her bed at home, and the storm and the rushing water nothing but +a vision of the night.</p> + +<p>She woke with the sound of little lapping waves, to find that the water +had risen higher, and now formed a deep pool on the floor of the cave, +reaching almost to their feet. The candle had burnt low in the lantern, +and even as she looked it gave a last flicker, and guttered out, leaving +her in utter darkness. With trembling fingers, Peggy felt in her pocket +for the remaining piece of candle and the box of matches. She tried to +strike a light, but the match was damp, and fizzled away without +igniting. A second and a third met with the same fate, and Peggy was in +a panic of despair, until she remembered that Father had once told her +to rub damp matches through her hair before striking them. This method +proved a success,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> and she was able to relight the lantern, laying Bobby +gently down on the floor, hoping he might not wake.</p> + +<p>But the movement disturbed him, and he sprang to his feet, calling: +'Father, is that you? We're here, in the cave!'</p> + +<p>'It's not Father yet, dear; only me lighting the lantern again.'</p> + +<p>'I was dreaming that it was morning,' said Bobby, rubbing his eyes, 'and +that Father had come to fetch us away in a boat.'</p> + +<p>'I think it will be morning soon,' said Peggy. 'We seem to have slept +for a long time. Bobby, dear, the water is rising so fast that I don't +think we shall be able to stay here much longer, but I have a plan which +I think we might perhaps carry out. Joe told me that people say the cave +was really only the entrance to a secret passage which runs to the +Abbey, and in the old days the smugglers used to carry their goods up +there, and hide them away amongst the ruins. We must try and cross by +that plank, and see if there is really any possible opening, except by +the river.'</p> + +<p>Anything seemed better than sitting still in the darkness watching the +growing water, so the children went up the cave again to where the chasm +lay yawning across their path.</p> + +<p>'We mustn't try to walk over it,' said Peggy, as she doubtfully examined +the slippery, shaky plank. 'I shall crawl over first with the lantern, +and then I'll hold the light for you, and you must follow in the same +way.'</p> + +<p>It felt a very insecure bridge to poor Peggy, as she crept over on her +hands and knees, trying not to look down into the dark gulf below, so +frail and insecure that she shuddered for Bobby, who seemed so unnerved +that she scarcely dared allow him to make the trial.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span>'Wait a moment!' she cried. 'Don't start just yet!'</p> + +<p>And hurriedly taking off her pinafore, she tore it into strips, and +knotting them together in a kind of rope, threw one end of it across to +him.</p> + +<p>'Now tie that firmly to your arm before you set off, and then, if you +fall, I think I might be able to drag you up again.'</p> + +<p>But luckily Peggy's childish strength was not put to the test, for Bobby +accomplished the crossing in safety, and scrambled over the rocks which +rose at the other side. Holding up the lantern, the children found they +were in what seemed to be the entrance of a rough kind of passage. That +it was not altogether of natural origin was evident from the traces of +built-up stones, while here and there the walls showed the marks of the +pick. The air was stale and damp and difficult to breathe, and the +candle burnt so badly that several times Peggy feared it was going out +altogether. They went stumbling along over the irregular floor, +wondering whether their way was taking them to safety, or only into the +bowels of the earth.</p> + +<p>On and on the passage led them, sometimes through places so narrow they +could scarcely scramble through, or so low that, small as they were, +they were obliged to stoop; now up hill, now down, round many a sharp +curve, till it ended suddenly in a small cavern about ten feet square.</p> + +<p>Peggy lifted up the lantern high over her head, and looked anxiously +round. Apparently they were in nothing but a blind alley, for there +seemed no possible way out, except the path by which they had come. The +poor children stared at each other with hopeless horror.</p> + +<p>'We shall have to go back, and chance the river going down when it's +light,' faltered Peggy.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="bobby" id="bobby"></a> +<img src="images/col03.jpg" class="jpg" width="400" height="620" alt="" /> +<span class="caption">"BOBBY ACCOMPLISHED THE CROSSING IN SAFETY."</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span>'Oh, no, no! We can't go back over that hateful plank again and sit +watching the water come up! I would rather be drowned here than there! +Oh, Father, Father! do come and find us!' And Bobby sat down upon the +ground with such a wail of despair that Peggy at last lost her +self-control and found herself joining in his sobs.</p> + +<p>But she stopped suddenly, and laying a restraining hand on his shoulder, +put up her finger for silence, for it seemed to her that from the region +somewhere over their heads she had heard a distant shout.</p> + +<p>'Call again, Bobby, like you did before!' And both together the children +joined their voices in a wild shriek of 'Father!'</p> + +<p>This time there was an unmistakable shout of reply, and after what +seemed to them a long interval of calling they could hear Father's voice +from above quite plainly saying, 'Where are you?'</p> + +<p>'In a cave down below!' cried Peggy, trying to make her voice carry in +the hollow atmosphere.</p> + +<p>Now that help was near she was her brisk, capable self again, and, +seizing the lantern, searched round every foot of the cavern till she +discovered what seemed to be the beginning of a little staircase, long +since blocked by earth and stones.</p> + +<p>'Here, Father! Dig for us here!' she called, and taking up a stone, +began to tap like she had heard of imprisoned miners doing in the +coal-pits.</p> + +<p>There was silence for a few minutes, and then the children began to hear +the welcome sound of a pickaxe, and Father's voice every now and then, +shouting a word of encouragement to them. At length there was a rumbling +noise in the roof above, some loose stones and earth fell, and Father +called loudly:</p> + +<p>'Stand back! Keep out of the way!'</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span>Peggy clutched Bobby, and retreated into the passage, while a shower of +stones and soil came pouring down into the cave, till a great rent was +made in the roof, and Father dropped through the hole like Santa Claus +down the chimney, only no saint was ever so welcome, even at +Christmas-time.</p> + +<p>It did not take very long for the children to be hauled up by Joe at the +top, and they found themselves standing among the Abbey ruins in the +early gray of the dawn, with Aunt Helen rushing to catch them in her +arms, and Lilian hugging them and sobbing over them by turns, while +Nancy, her face all blotched and swollen with crying, kept hovering +round to put in a kiss whenever the others gave her a chance, and even +old David cleared his throat hard, and 'blessed the Lord they were +safe.'</p> + +<p>Very little was said until the children had been warmed and fed and +comforted by the dining-room fire, and then Mr. Vaughan would only allow +the briefest account of their adventures before they were put to bed to +sleep off the effects of their night of exposure. Nancy prophesied +quinsy and pleurisy and rheumatic fever, but the Vaughans were a hardy +race, and not even a cold resulted, in spite of her gloomy +prognostications.</p> + +<p>Peggy's quiet talk with Father next day was so entirely between +themselves that I shall not repeat it; but it is often incidents, and +not years, which help us to grow up, and somehow afterwards she always +found herself dating events from that night in the cave, and all the +part 'when I was little' came before, and the older and more sensible +part seemed to follow afterwards.</p> + + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> +<a name="xiv" id="xiv"></a>CHAPTER XIV<br /> +<br /> +<span class="sub">LILIAN'S HOUSEKEEPING</span></h2> + +<div class="block32"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'Thou wert working late, thou busy, busy bee!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">After the fall of the cistus flower,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When the primrose-tree blossom was ready to burst,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I heard thee last, as I saw thee first;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In the silence of the evening hour<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I heard thee, thou busy, busy bee.'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Aunt</span> Helen was married in September, with the Rector to read the +service, and Father to give her away, and Lilian and Peggy for +bridesmaids, while the Sunday-school children strewed the path from the +church-door with flowers, and Bobby flung rice and old shoes after the +carriage, and all the village people came to watch, and say how sweet +and pretty she looked, and to wish health and happiness to 'Mrs. John +Neville.'</p> + +<p>Things felt very flat when the excitement was all over and the last of +the guests had left the Abbey, and the children found themselves wishing +that life could be a perpetual round of bouquets and favours and +wedding-cake, not forgetting presents to the bridesmaids, for Lilian and +Peggy were the proud possessors of charming gold lockets set with +turquoises, with portraits of Aunt Helen inside them, 'the gifts of the +bridegroom,' as the local paper described them, while a silver watch and +chain consoled Bobby for not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> taking a more prominent part in the +ceremony, and made him declare that his new uncle was 'a brick, and no +mistake.'</p> + +<p>After so much dissipation, it was quite hard to settle down to plain +prose again; but school had already re-opened, and the children had +stolen an extra week of holidays to join in the festivities, so it was +high time they were setting to work once more. It seemed strange to +start off every morning without Lilian, who only went into Warford once +a week now for music-lessons, and Mr. Vaughan had occasional qualms as +to the safety of allowing such youthful Jehus to drive about the country +unattended; but the little yellow pony-trap was so well known on the +road that it would have been rather difficult for anything to happen to +the children. People knew the time of their passing, and looked out for +them daily; kindly women would come to cottage doorways to nod and +smile; the inn-keeper at the Halfway Arms set his clock by their +arrival; they had struck up quite a friendship with the postman, two +milkmen, and the driver of a fish-cart, while the old man who broke +stones by the roadside always nodded and gave them 'Good-morning,' and +fired a facetious remark or two after them, which the children imagined +he must relieve the monotony of his work by composing during the +intervals of their coming and going.</p> + +<p>Left alone, Lilian tried to settle down in dead earnest to battle with +her task of housekeeping. It was a heavy burden for such young +shoulders, for in a farmhouse there is always a great deal of extra work +to be done. Pigs, poultry, and young animals had to be fed, and the eggs +gathered in daily; the dairy claimed constant attention, for the pans +must be scalded and the pails polished bright, and though Joe did the +milk<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span>ing and churning, it was Lilian's business to superintend the +making up of the butter, and to weigh each pound with her own hands and +print it with the Abbey stamp.</p> + +<p>Nancy, too, proved somewhat of a trial, for though a hard-working and +most kind-hearted girl, she had not been gifted by Providence with +either brains or a memory, and was capable of making the most +astonishing mistakes, which she invariably justified by declaring she +was sure she had done it so 'in Miss Vaughan's time.'</p> + +<p>'But, Nancy,' said poor, bewildered Lilian, 'I'm sure Aunt Helen never +told you to rub up the silver with paraffin and brickdust. You're +scratching it horribly. There's a packet of proper pink powder stuff to +do it with somewhere.'</p> + +<p>'There's naught like oil and brickdust for putting a polish on metals,' +observed Nancy, complacently scouring away at Bobby's christening mug. +'It beats all they rubbish that the pedlars brings round in boxes, and +tries hard to persuade you to buy, so it do for sure!'</p> + +<p>'I have no doubt about it's being very good for fenders and fire-irons, +and things of that sort, but not for the best teapot. Don't you think it +would be better, Nancy, if I were to clean the silver on Friday +mornings, and you could get on with your kitchen?'</p> + +<p>'As you wish, Miss Lilian,' said Nancy, relinquishing the +polishing-leather with no great sorrow. 'Miss Vaughan, she always did it +her own self, too. Was you going to do anything with that stock that has +been in the larder since Monday?'</p> + +<p>'Oh, Nancy, I had forgotten all about it!' cried Lilian, much +conscience-stricken at the reminder. 'And I had intended to make it into +soup. Do go and fetch it, and see if it is still good.'</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span>But the stock, alas! had accumulated a skim of green mould on the +surface, and generally betrayed such symptoms of distress that it was +fit for nothing but the pig-trough; and when Lilian, warned by its awful +example, visited her neglected shelves, she found so many forgotten +scraps put away into odd corners that she straightway formed the +excellent resolution of reviewing the larder daily after breakfast, +having an uneasy sensation that it was one of the golden rules which +Aunt Helen had particularly impressed upon her, but which, like many +others, had slidden into the background of her remembrance.</p> + +<p>It was certainly one thing to housekeep with Aunt Helen at her elbow to +advise, and quite another to puzzle it out with only her memory and the +cookery-book for assistance. The quantities required for a family of +five persons was a subject which took her some time to master.</p> + +<p>'There's the butcher's boy at the back-door, miss,' observed Nancy one +morning, a few days after the wedding, putting her head into the Rose +Parlour, and interrupting the 'Bridal March' from 'Lohengrin' which +Lilian was trying over on the piano. 'He's left his cart at the bottom +of the drive, but he'll fetch up anything you want.'</p> + +<p>The butcher only came round weekly at Gorswen, so Lilian abandoned her +music and sallied forth to give her first order.</p> + +<p>'We're quite tired of great sirloins of beef and legs of mutton,' she +announced. 'Haven't you anything else this morning?'</p> + +<p>'Nice bit of pork, mum,' suggested the man—'fillet of veal.'</p> + +<p>'I'm sure the veal would be a change; we haven't had any for a long +time.'</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span>'Very good, mum. How much may we send you?'</p> + +<p>'About a pound and a half, I should think,' said Lilian, knitting her +brows and trying in vain to remember the extent of Aunt Helen's weekly +order. 'Or suppose we say two pounds. I expect that would be right.'</p> + +<p>The meat arrived in due course, looking such a very small amount when +Nancy placed it on the kitchen-table that Lilian exclaimed in horror:</p> + +<p>'Why, Nancy, that will never last us for a week! It looks hardly enough +for one dinner!'</p> + +<p>Nancy shook her head doubtfully, but did not offer any assistance in the +dilemma.</p> + +<p>'Perhaps if we boiled it, it might swell out a little, and be enough for +twice, at any rate. I think you had better get a pan and put it on at +once. I believe things have to boil for a long time before they're +tender.'</p> + +<p>Nancy obeyed without question.</p> + +<p>'I suppose you can keep your eye on it, Miss Lilian?' she observed. 'I +shall be busy upstairs in the bedrooms this morning.'</p> + +<p>And she departed with broom and dustpan, leaving her young mistress in +charge of the kitchen.</p> + +<p>Lilian really did mean to look after that meat. She got it boiling +briskly, and filled up the pan several times with water; then, giving it +a final replenishing, she ran off to practise a few scales and +exercises.</p> + +<p>She was quite sure she had not been absent more than ten minutes, but +when she returned to the kitchen she was greeted by a strong smell of +burning, and rushing to her pan, found that every drop of water had +boiled out, and the veal was frizzling at the bottom into a hard black +mass. To take it off was her first act, and to call Nancy to the rescue +her second.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>'Well, it do be a pity, Miss Lilian,' said that sympathizing damsel. +'But there, don't take on so! We can cut off that black part at the +bottom, and put the rest down with some vegetables. Happen it'll turn +out all right after all. There'll be just time afore dinner,' chopping +away as she spoke in a vigorous onslaught on the carrots and onions.</p> + +<p>It was Saturday, so the children were at home, but even their healthy +appetites were not equal to the very untempting dish which was set +before them, for the unfortunate veal had boiled away to ribbons, and +all the goodness had gone into the lost gravy, while the pulpy remains +tasted so hopelessly burnt as to be perfectly uneatable.</p> + +<p>'The vegetables are quite nice, at any rate,' began Father cheerfully; +then seeing Lilian's swimming eyes: 'Never mind, little woman; +experience is always dearly bought, and a vegetarian dinner won't hurt +us for once in a way. We must make out with home produce until the +butcher comes again. There's a young cockerel that will do for Sunday, +and perhaps I can shoot you a rabbit; and we can always fall back upon +eggs and bacon, at any rate, if there is nothing else to be had. Cheer +up! I don't expect to find a full-fledged housekeeper in five minutes!'</p> + +<p>After this Lilian determined to provide more generously, and astonished +the grocer by ordering three pounds of cayenne pepper, and a like +quantity of mace (embarrassing possessions which lingered in the +spice-cupboard for years before they were eventually finished), and +generally running the household on so liberal a scale that Father had to +interfere and preach economy. Such very Spartan fare was the result of +his lecture that he wisely fixed her a weekly allowance, and left her to +manage as best she could upon it, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> this plan answered far better, +for she had a natural aptitude for arithmetic, and soon learned to make +the various items fall into their proper places, balancing her little +account-book in quite a professional manner.</p> + +<p>About this time, too, Lilian took to poring over the 'Ladies' Column' in +the newspaper, and trying the various recipes which were given therein. +Some of them were very successful, and—especially the cakes—were much +appreciated by the children, though others did not turn out quite what +she had expected, in which case it is only charitable to suppose the +oven was at fault.</p> + +<p>'There's a splendid one here, Nancy,' she announced one day, 'under the +heading of "What to do with your Cold Mutton." You mince it all up with +herbs, and make it into a kind of pasty, and it sounds most delicious. +It says, "First take a couple of onions." By-the-by, did Joe bring in +any onions this morning? Those in the basket are all finished.'</p> + +<p>'No, Miss; Joe, he's never been near to-day, though there's master's +shooting-boots waiting for him to clean.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, then do run down, Nancy, please, and ask him to dig up a few, while +I put the meat through the mincing-machine. You'll very likely find him +in the orchard or the stackyard.'</p> + +<p>Nancy soon returned flushed and out of breath, with a full apron.</p> + +<p>'I couldn't find Joe nowheres,' she panted. 'But he'd put these down in +the harness-room, so I just took them. Shall I chop them up for you +now?'</p> + +<p>'Please do. But oh, Nancy, stop! Let me look! These are not onions; +they're the gladiolus bulbs that David has just taken up from the +garden! What a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> mercy you did not put them into the pasty! We might all +have been poisoned!'</p> + +<p>'Lor!' said Nancy, much abashed, 'I made so sure they was onions I never +thought to look at 'em. But if it's only a couple you're needing, miss, +there are two or three left in the larder that would do. Was it anything +else you'll be wanting?'</p> + +<p>'It says, "Take a little dried thyme, sage and sweet marjoram,"' read +Lilian, with her finger on the recipe, '"together with a few pieces of +lemon-peel." I wonder what it calls "a little." I haven't the slightest +idea, but I suppose we must put plenty in to make it a nice flavour, or +it won't taste of anything.'</p> + +<p>So, putting a very liberal interpretation on the words, she cut up a +goodly supply of those herbs, and mixed them in with the meat.</p> + +<p>The pasty came out of the oven baked to a turn, and smelling delicious, +and Lilian felt quite a thrill of satisfaction as it was placed on the +table, and Father began to cut it. But the 'Ladies' Column' should have +been a little more explicit as to the quantity of flavouring, for, when +it came to a matter of eating, the herbs so entirely predominated that +the mutton was utterly lost, and, as she had unfortunately cut up the +stalks as well as the leaves, the mixture bore a horrible resemblance to +chopped hay. It was distinctly galling, but, still, she learned by her +mistakes; for practice gives the best training, and there is no such +invaluable <a name="teacher" id="teacher"></a><ins title="Original has etacher">teacher</ins> as hard experience.</p> + +<p>Well-meaning friends were kind in their offers of help and advice, but, +as Lilian said:</p> + +<p>'You can't run down in the middle of mixing a pudding to ask Miss +Forster how much sugar to put into it, or send for the Rector's +housekeeper to tell you when the custard is thick enough. Mrs. +Daven<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span>port told me to write her a post-card if I got into a fix, and she +would come over and set me straight; but I don't think I should quite +like that, and I'm sure Nancy wouldn't.'</p> + +<p>Father did not encourage her to seek outside help, thinking it better +that the Abbey should manage its own affairs, even at the cost of a +little inconvenience, and kindly shut his eyes to many small +deficiencies, knowing that time was the best remedy, and that old heads +do not naturally grow on young shoulders.</p> + +<p>At first the cares of her new position were a terrible burden on the +poor child's mind, for she was, if anything, too conscientious, and +almost morbidly anxious to do right and fill the place which Aunt Helen +had left so empty. She would wake at four o'clock in the morning, and +not dare to close her eyes again, for fear Nancy should oversleep +herself, and the children be late for school. She would visit the dairy +ten times a day to see that the thunder had not turned the milk, nor the +cat crept in through the window. She counted and recounted the linen and +the silver, and sat worrying over her account-books at night till Father +threatened to burn them.</p> + +<p>I think her greatest trial, however, was on the few occasions when Mr. +Vaughan was obliged to stay away for the night, and leave her +responsible for the safe keeping of the whole establishment. She would +go round with Nancy and a candle, carefully locking all the doors and +securing the shutters, peering fearfully into cupboards and starting at +her own shadow on the wall; and, having finally retreated to her +bedroom, would barricade the door with a tin box, and place the poker +handy on a chair by her bedside. But in spite of these precautions, the +nights were misery all the same. Sleep refused to come, and she lay +awake<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> hour after hour, imagining every sound to be a burglar breaking +into the premises, and wondering how Peggy could slumber so peacefully +in the other little white bed. It is amazing, when the house is +perfectly quiet, how many creaks and peculiar noises make themselves +heard which we never think of noticing in the daytime. The wind +blowing the ivy about would sound like a hand tapping upon the pane, the +cattle trampling in the fields suggested footsteps under the window, and +a mouse behind the wainscot would raise her to such a pitch of panic +that she would often be obliged to get up and light the candle to +reassure herself, and when she at last fell asleep it was generally with +her fingers stuffed in her ears, and her head buried under the +bedclothes, an uncomfortable proceeding, resulting in such white cheeks +and heavy eyes that Father, with some difficulty finding out the cause +of the trouble, never left in future without arranging for old David to +sleep in the house during his absence.</p> + +<p>I think, during those early struggles, her correspondence with Aunt +Helen was her greatest help and comfort, for to that dearest of friends +she could unburden all her worries and perplexities, and be sure of +sympathy.</p> + +<p>'It is so hard to do exactly right,' wrote Lilian—'to be generous +without being extravagant, and economical without being stingy. Father +says we must be careful, and spend as little as we can, but things to +eat seem to cost such a terrible amount all the same. I wish we could +live on porridge and potatoes, like the Irish do! Life would be far +simpler.</p> + +<p>'About going on with my education. You ask if I am keeping up my French +and German, but there really seems no time. The two hours' practising +for Herr Frankenburg is as much as I can possibly get in.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> I am busy +with Nancy all morning, the music takes the best part of the afternoon, +then the children come home, and after tea I must see that they learn +their lessons and go to bed, and Father likes someone to talk to in the +evenings. It is so dull for him if I am buried in a German exercise when +he wants to tell me about the farm. I try to attack a few "improving" +books when I can manage it, and I have begun to read Carlyle's "French +Revolution" to Father in the evenings, but I am sorry to say it +generally sends him to sleep. He is so tired with the threshing just +now, poor darling! and, as he said one night: "You see, my dear, I have +so many troubles of my own at present that the trials of the French +peasantry of a hundred years ago seem an affair of quite minor +importance."'</p> + +<p>Aunt Helen's letter back was just like a little piece of her dear self.</p> + +<p>'I can sympathize thoroughly with all your worries,' it ran, 'for I, +too, was left motherless at sixteen, to manage as best I could. Of +course, keep up our family standard of cleanliness and order as much as +you possibly can, but you will find it a mistake to be too particular +and exacting. Rather, let the children run in sometimes with dirty boots +than check their confidence by continual fault-finding. I am sorry that +the education must needs be somewhat neglected, but after all the other +is more important. There are plenty of "blue" Girton girls in the world +who do not seem to me to be of much use to anyone except themselves, +while as the "little mother" of your home you are filling a place that +is the sphere of every true woman. And because you have no time for +reading is not any reason why your thinking powers need rust away. There +is so much wisdom to be learnt from even the little ordinary incidents +of life if one knows how to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> appreciate them. People say one is apt to +grow narrow with living in the country, but I have generally found the +people who do so are those who have no interests outside the round of +society pleasures or social gossip, and to my mind they would be narrow +anywhere. When you know a little about botany and natural history, all +the common things on the farm have something to teach you. The quaint +sayings of the villagers are often as full of humour as those Scotch +books over which people rave so much, and many of their stories are such +interesting survivals of ancient folklore that I have often longed to +collect them in writing. While surely, to a thoughtful mind, the +constant sight of so much loveliness around tends to have a more +ennobling effect than an environment of bricks and mortar and smoky +chimneys, whatever the Londoners may say.</p> + +<p>'Do your household duties thoroughly, but don't let them absorb you +entirely, for Father does not want you to be a mere domestic drudge, +with no ideas beyond the potato-pan and the pepper-pot. When I was a +young girl I often tilted up a volume of Tennyson and read snatches +while I compounded a pudding, and found it had a wonderfully inspiring +effect, and did not spoil the cooking either, for my "Tennyson" puddings +generally turned out a great success.</p> + +<p>'You will find the housekeeping comes easier as you grow older, and in +the meantime remember you are not only educating yourself, but bringing +up the younger ones, who look to you now instead of to me for example, +and who will be far more influenced by what you do and what you are than +by any amount of good advice you may bestow upon them. It is hard to +write all this from a distance of so many thousand miles, when I am +longing to sit over the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> fire in the Rose Parlour, and have a good chat +with you, like we used to do sometimes when the children had gone to +bed.</p> + +<p>'I am afraid there seems very little festivity or party-going for you, +dear child, and I should have been glad to hear you had been asked out +rather more; but, after all, much society often means much rivalry and +heartburning. I have tried both, and find there is more real pleasure to +be had from the intellectual than from the social side of life, for +while the latter is apt to fail us just when we most require it, the +former is "warranted to wear well and improve with keeping," and, so far +from being affected by the changes and chances of this world, sticks by +us when health and wealth and even friends can fall away.'</p> + + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> +<a name="xv" id="xv"></a>CHAPTER XV<br /> +<br /> +<span class="sub">THE BEGINNING OF A SHADOW</span></h2> + +<div class="block26"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i11">'Looking, I saw<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where sorrow, like a shadow grim, did rise<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Betwixt me and the sun.'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Autumn</span> had come, mellow and gorgeous. The trees were turning to russet +and amber and gold, and the swallows had long since flown away. The +plums hung ripe and yellow upon the kitchen garden wall, and the apples +were piled in rosy heaps in the orchard, ready for the cider-making.</p> + +<p>The hop-gathering was over, and the hoppers—a motley crew—had returned +to the slums of Stafford and Birmingham, the men not sorry to cease hard +work, but the poor, draggled women and the little children with a +wistful good-bye to the green fields, and all, I think, with a half sigh +of regret for the Rector, who had toiled unceasingly among them during +their brief stay, hoping, if by ever so little, to raise the hopeless +lives and the sodden minds to a knowledge of higher things.</p> + +<p>A band of gipsies was the next event. They arrived late one evening, +nobody knew from where, and encamped on a patch of ground by the +roadside, not very far from the Abbey (much too near, Father said, for +the safety of his hen-roosts), coming like a tribe of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> wandering +Israelites, with most of their worldly possessions on their backs. They +were real gipsies, too, not the fair-haired hybrid pretenders who go +about in neat caravans with muslin curtains to the windows, and wicker +baskets slung on the top, but a dark-eyed, Spanish-looking crew, who put +up a tent with a pole and a ragged blanket, and stewed their supper in a +black caldron hung from three sticks set in the ground.</p> + +<p>The children came across them suddenly, just as the sun was setting, and +the picturesque scene stirred Peggy's sense of romance—perhaps also her +budding artistic taste—to the core. The whole family was gathered +together on the grass round the wood fire, the smoke of which rose up +faintly blue against the russet of the beech-woods behind—handsome, +fierce-eyed men, lying slouching idly on the ground smoking short black +pipes; slatternly women with gay handkerchiefs tied round their black +hair, bustling about with something savoury inside tin cans; ragged +brown-skinned little children, gnawing at bones with savage haste; while +a few disreputable dogs waited eagerly for the scraps that were thrown +to them from time to time. A small cart, laden with brooms and coarse +crockery, was tilted up by the hedge, while a couple of worn-out old +donkeys, with clogs tied to their legs, cropped the grass close by, with +dejection in their drooping ears.</p> + +<p>'I'm sure they're talking Romany,' said Peggy, squeezing Bobby's arm +hard in her excitement, and drawing him behind a bush, so as to watch +the scene unobserved. 'What a queer life! Just think of getting up every +morning, and not knowing where you were going to be by night, and +sleeping under that dirty tent! I wonder what they have in that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> +caldron? It smells nice, at any rate, though rather too oniony.'</p> + +<p>'Pheasants, I should think, and rabbits that they have poached,' +whispered Bobby. 'The keepers will have a lively time to-night. I wonder +where they prigged the onions.'</p> + +<p>Low as the children had spoken, the sharp ears of the gipsies had heard +them, and a withered, witch-like old crone came hurrying up from the +group near the fire, with an eager glitter in her eye.</p> + +<p>'Tell your fortune, my little master? Tell your fortune, my pretty young +lady? Cross the poor gipsy's hand with a silver sixpence, that the +planets may work.'</p> + +<p>'We haven't any money,' said Peggy hurriedly, a little scared when it +came to meeting the tribe at such close quarters.</p> + +<p>'Ah, but no doubt the little lady's father is at home at the big house +yonder, and she can get a silver piece from him, and come back to the +poor old gipsy.'</p> + +<p>'He's gone to Warford this evening,' began innocent Bobby. 'There isn't +anybody at home at all.'</p> + +<p>But the more wary Peggy, seeing the folly of such revelations, gave him +a nudge, and the emphatic hint: 'Shut up!'</p> + +<p>'The pretty thing at the young lady's neck would do as well,' continued +the woman in a wheedling voice, eyeing Peggy's brooch, 'or the little +gentleman's silver chain. Oh, I won't keep them, missy; only hold them +in my hand for a minute to influence the stars! You trust the poor +gipsy, and she'll tell you what the future has in store for you.'</p> + +<p>But Peggy and Bobby were not so <a name="simple" id="simple"></a><ins title="Original has simply">simple</ins> as to be taken in by +such palpable guile, and they walked on, with the old crone following +persistently in their wake,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> at first clamouring for some trifle and +then hurling curses at their heads. As she passed the encampment she +said something in Romany, and one of the men sprang to his feet with a +shrill whistle. The terrified children took to their heels, and I don't +really know what might have happened, only fortunately the familiar +figure of old Barlow, the village cobbler, appeared stumping down the +road in the distance. He was not generally a very attractive person, +being snuffy in appearance and crusty in temper, but to-night no fairy +prince could have been more appreciated, and they flew to him, each +seizing one of his horny hands with an enthusiasm which much surprised +him. They were ever afterwards fully persuaded that but for his timely +arrival they would have been robbed and murdered, and their bodies +hidden away from their sorrowing relatives, like Eugene Aram's victim, +or the little princes in the Tower, and they felt quite an affection for +Barlow in consequence, so much so that Bobby determined to wear out his +boots as fast as possible, that he might put some business in the old +man's way.</p> + +<p>Though Mr. Vaughan did not take quite such a serious view of the +episode, he thought the gipsies were certainly undesirable additions to +the countryside, and sent a hint to the local police, with the result +that, when Peggy and Bobby screwed up their courage, and dared each +other to go and have another peep at the encampment, they found the tent +struck and the wanderers flown, with nothing to mark their passing visit +but a few dirty pieces of paper and the ashes of the wood fire, though +loud complaints from neighbouring farmers as to missing ducks and geese, +and traces of snares found by the keepers in the preserves, showed that +they had not gone away empty-handed.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span>The gipsies were soon forgotten in the excitement of cider-making, for +the ripe piles of apples had been gathered into the big barn, and the +children liked to watch the great press as its stone roller slowly +crushed the fruit into pulp, and let the juice escape into the trough +below. It always seemed a pity, Peggy thought, to make the nice apples +into such horrid stuff as cider, and she was glad David stored so many +away in the loft for winter use, and in the meantime she and Bobby +consumed such quantities that Father declared they would both be +breaking out into leaves and blossom in the springtime.</p> + +<p>The blackberries were ripe, too, and there were many expeditions in +search of them, mostly in their own fields, for the hedgerows abounded +in the purple fruit, and Lilian's housekeeping soul was at present bent +on jams and cordials.</p> + +<p>One Saturday afternoon Peggy had had a long scramble through copse and +bracken, over fences and along stubble fields, and had filled her big +basket almost full, somewhat to the detriment of her costume and +fingers, and she was now working her way home along the edge of the +pasture, picking as she went. She had climbed up the bank to reach a +particularly luscious looking cluster from the long, trailing brambles +overhead, when voices below attracted her attention, and, peeping +through the hedge, she saw two horsemen riding slowly along in the +bridle-path beneath. The first was a lean, spare man, with gray +side-whiskers and a slight stoop, whose rather sporting attire accorded +ill with his sharp, keen face; while the second, the one on the better +horse, was stout and ruddy of countenance, a man who looked as though he +would be more at home in a bar-parlour than in a drawing-room, and who +held himself with a complacent air, as one who is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> satisfied both with +the world in general and himself in particular.</p> + +<p>'That is the house,' said the first, reining in his horse just below +where Peggy was standing, and pointing with his riding-whip at the +Abbey. 'It's a fine old property, and has grand capabilities about it, +too.'</p> + +<p>'H'm, it would want a good deal of repairing,' remarked the other, +tugging at his sandy moustache. 'I should pull down that tower and the +older part, and throw out a billiard-room and a conservatory. I suppose +the stables would all want rebuilding, and no doubt that wood could be +cleared, and turned into pleasure-grounds. It would cost a sight of cash +to do it all shipshape—not that that's much odds to me if a thing takes +my fancy. This grass-land would be grand for a racer or two; I've my eye +on the Melton sweepstakes yet. When did you say it falls due?'</p> + +<p>'Next July,' returned the thin man, lowering his voice. 'Of course, they +will try every end up to meet it, but unless they can raise it +privately, which doesn't seem likely, there isn't a soul who would lend +more than two-thirds of the amount on the security, so the thing is as +good as done.'</p> + +<p>Eavesdropping was certainly not one of Peggy's besetting sins, but she +could not help overhearing all that was said, and as the pair rode on +down the path towards the gate, she picked up her basket and walked in +the same direction on her own side of the hedge, so as to get a good +look at them if possible. At the gate they paused, for it was shut, and +he of the gray whiskers, after fumbling at the latch with his whip, was +evidently preparing with much reluctance to dismount, when, spying +Peggy, he called to her, and asked her to open it.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span>Peggy felt half inclined to refuse, and turn away, for she did not like +his tone, but her kindly country instinct prevailed, and she swung it +open wide. He rode through without even a 'Thank you!' but his companion +fumbled in his waistcoat pocket, and, scarcely stopping to look at her, +flung her a penny as he passed. All the proud Vaughan blood rushed into +Peggy's face. In a fury of wrath she seized the offending coin and flung +it after its donor, but, like many of our keenest shafts, it fell +harmless, for she missed her aim, and the horsemen rode on, sublimely +unconscious of the storm they had left behind them.</p> + +<p>'That they should dare!' said Peggy hotly to herself, flushing all over +with indignation. 'I suppose they took me for a village child. I'm +afraid I do look rather untidy with blackberrying, but all the same they +might have seen the difference. I wish I had never gone near the gate, +and let them open it for themselves. David,' she said to the old man, +who was coming across the field with a sack of potatoes, 'who are those +people riding along the pasture? I can't call them gentlemen.'</p> + +<p>'Who be they two, Miss Peggy?' said David, laboriously putting down the +sack and shading his eyes with his hand. 'Wheer did you say they be?'</p> + +<p>'In the pasture. Oh, look quick, or they'll be gone!' cried Peggy, +impatient at his slow ways.</p> + +<p>'Oh, I know they! Yes, I do for sure. I see'd 'em round t'other side o' +the field five minutes agone. The thin un in front be Mester Reade, the +lawyer fra' Warford, and a tight-fisted rascal he be, too, from all they +say. It's Heaven help them as Lawyer Reade gets his teeth into! And the +big, stout man be Mester Norton, the distiller, him as has those works +t'other side o' Warford, and runs half the drink-shops in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> town, to +say naught o' the country publics he owns, too. The teetotalers calls +him "Old Blazes," partly to favour his red face and partly 'at he keeps +the whisky traffic going so briskly. He's worth a power o' money, he be, +but it all comes out o' poor folks' pockets, what ought to be put to a +better use.'</p> + +<p>So that was the father of Phyllis and Marjorie Norton, that vulgar man +with the loud voice and the coarse red face, and those pretty frocks and +handsome carriages were all paid for out of the ruin of poor people's +homes; for the lower parts of Warford had a bad character, and the +clergy waged ceaseless war against the terrible curse of drink.</p> + +<p>'What are they doing in our fields?' inquired Peggy, suddenly recalling +the conversation she had inadvertently overheard, the remembrance of +which had been lost in the heat of her wrath.</p> + +<p>'Why, there be a right-o'-way across the pasture, and through the +hazel-wood, though it's not a many as ever uses it. Wheer they could be +a'-goin' to passes me, for it don't lead to nowheer, except on to the +high-road agin, and it's not in sense that they should ride out o' +their way, just to come round by the Abbey.'</p> + +<p>Peggy thought privately that must have been exactly their reason, but +she said nothing to David on the subject, reserving further inquiries +for Lilian, to whom she ran home to give a full description of her +encounter.</p> + +<p>'Whatever could he mean, Lilian? He talked almost as if the Abbey were +his, and said he should pull down the tower, and do ever so many other +things. Do you think he can be mad?'</p> + +<p>To her surprise, Lilian took the matter only too seriously.</p> + +<p>'Oh, Peggy dear!' she said, putting down the pile<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> of stockings she was +darning, 'I don't know whether I ought to tell you or not, but you seem +so much older now than you used, and I think I can trust you not to talk +about it to anybody. Poor Father is most dreadfully worried just at +present, for, you see, this Mr. Norton has a mortgage on the estate.'</p> + +<p>'What's that?' inquired Peggy.</p> + +<p>'I'm afraid I can't explain business things very clearly, but a lot of +money was lent on the understanding that if it was not paid back, the +Abbey should go instead of it.'</p> + +<p>'Did Father have the money?'</p> + +<p>'Oh no. I believe our great-grandfather had some, and then grandfather +and Uncle Charlie, who died, had the rest. It has been going on for +years and years, and Father has kept trying to pay it off, but he never +could manage it. Of course, it was not Mr. Norton who lent it at first, +but through this Mr. Reade, the lawyer, he has what is called "bought up +the mortgages," and now he claims all the money back, and I'm afraid, +from what you heard to-day, he will take the Abbey if he does not get +it.'</p> + +<p>Peggy was aghast. That it was possible for the Vaughans and the Abbey to +be ever dissevered had never before entered into her calculations, and +the prospect was so terrible that she thrust it from her with scorn.</p> + +<p>'It can't be!' she cried. 'They couldn't turn us out of the Abbey, when +we've always lived here! Father will get the money somehow! Perhaps Mr. +Neville or the Rector would lend it to him.'</p> + +<p>Lilian shook her head sadly.</p> + +<p>'They haven't got it to lend; they are neither of them really well off, +you know, and it is such a large sum. But I keep hoping all the time +that we may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> find some way out of the trouble. I don't know whether to +tell Father or not what you heard to-day. I'm afraid it will only worry +him.'</p> + +<p>'I think perhaps he ought to know,' said Peggy briefly, as she turned +and went out to hide a suspicious choking sensation in her throat. Then, +going into the ruins, she climbed up on to the old wall, from which the +best view of the house and its surroundings could be obtained, and gazed +with new eyes at the panorama of her home; and as her glance travelled +slowly from orchard to stackyard, from meadow to garden, back to the +ivy-clad tower and the red gabled roof, 'I think,' she said slowly, +'that if we had to leave the Abbey, it would break my heart!'</p> + + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> +<a name="xvi" id="xvi"></a>CHAPTER XVI<br /> +<br /> +<span class="sub">ARCHIE</span></h2> + +<div class="block24"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'God wants the boys—the merry boys,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The noisy boys, the funny boys,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The jolly boys, with all their joys—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">God wants the boys.'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">You</span> must not suppose that all this time Peggy's acquaintance with Archie +Forster had been allowed to languish. That young gentleman had +introduced himself to the rest of the family, and had made himself very +much at home indeed at the Abbey. He kindly gave Father the benefit of +his experience of farming in Colorado (greatly to the latter's +edification); he amused Lilian with his funny stories, and was a source +of open-mouthed wonder to Nancy, who thought his achievements only +second to a conjurer she had once seen at Gorswen fair. Bobby naturally +regarded him with an admiration which bordered on worship, and trotted +about at his heels like an affectionate poodle, while Peggy found +herself living from Saturday to Saturday to continue the delightful +series of projects which her enterprising friend lost no time in +starting, and wondering sometimes how they had managed to exist before +they knew him.</p> + +<p>By good rights Master Archie ought to have been away at school, but a +too active brain in a fast-growing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> body had brought about such a +delicacy that the doctor forbade any severer study than a few hours' +daily reading with the curate, and recommended as much fresh air and +exercise as possible. Miss Forster was not sorry to find so plausible an +excuse for keeping her pet nephew at the Willows, and the young man +himself had no objections, being fuller than ever of ingenious schemes, +only he had transferred the seat of his operations to the Abbey, as +offering a wider scope in the way of material, and having the further +advantage of a number of appreciative assistants. The only person who +was not won over by Archie's friendly ways and frank American manners +was Joe, who gloomily prophesied broken necks and kindred evils as the +result of the children's association with 'the young master from furrin +parts'; but I fear there was a good deal of jealousy in this, for poor +Joe had been a hero to the children in his modest way, and it was hard +to find himself suddenly supplanted in their affections, especially by a +rival with whom it was quite impossible to compete.</p> + +<p>Incited by an account of the tree-dwellings in one of Miss Forster's +books of travel, Archie determined to emulate them, and construct such +an elevated establishment for themselves. The trees in his aunt's garden +were mostly ornamental shrubs, many of them clipped into quaint shapes, +and could not be thought of for the purpose, but a tall elm growing on +the borders of the Abbey stackyard seemed designed by Nature for his +requirements. He was a neat workman, and all his contrivances were +perfectly steady and durable, for, as he said:</p> + +<p>'When you're out West, you have to be your own chore-boy. Dad put an axe +into my hand, and taught me to chop kindling before I was out of +petticoats,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> and when we went up the Rockies shooting grizzlies we built +log-cabins, and I can tell you there was no carpenter to fetch there +nearer than a hundred miles, so I guess I ought to know how to handle a +saw and fix up a bit of lumber.'</p> + +<p>He first set to work to make a spiral staircase up the tree, which wound +round and round the trunk like the little turret stairs in the tower. +Every step was carefully nailed on and properly supported, and the +erection grew daily until he had reached four large boughs which +branched out twenty feet above the level of the ground. Here he arranged +a kind of platform, fixing pieces of wood across in the fashion of a +raft, and making a firm railing all round the edge. In the midst of this +platform a small hut gradually grew up, the walls of stout hazel-stakes +wattled across with branches and willow-withs, while the roof was neatly +thatched with reeds. The whole erection was so steady and well made +that, though Father, as chief inspector, stamped vigorously about, he +could not make it shake, and was able to pass it as perfectly safe, and +give his congratulations to the young architect, while even Joe +grudgingly admitted that 'Master Forster hadn't made half a bad job of +it neither.'</p> + +<p>If grown-up people found it satisfactory, you can imagine the delight of +the children at this wonderful bird's-nest. Their first thought each day +on coming home from school was to rush off to see how 'Sky Cottage,' as +they had christened it, had progressed in their absence, and their grief +was loud if anything hindered Archie from the prosecution of his labours +on Saturdays, while they quite envied Lilian being able to run out any +time she liked and take a peep at the operations.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="he" id="he"></a> +<img src="images/col04.jpg" class="jpg" width="400" height="617" alt="" /> +<span class="caption">"HE FIRST SET TO WORK TO MAKE A SPIRAL STAIRCASE UP THE +TREE."</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span>Naturally Sky Cottage, like Rome, was not built in a day, and though +Archie worked at it pretty constantly, it was November before the roof +was on and he considered the building complete. The question of +decorations was much discussed, for while Father suggested hanging the +walls with sacking, and Lilian voted for garlanding them with wild +flowers, both ideas were rejected, the one as too prosaic and the other +as not sufficiently durable, and it was not until Peggy conceived the +brilliant thought of lining their dwelling with moss that a satisfactory +solution was arrived at.</p> + +<p>So off went the little party to the woods, with a couple of sacks and a +coil of rope, to tear up the vivid green sheets which covered the rocks +like carpets of velvet.</p> + +<p>'All the thickest and best is on the other side of the stream, beyond +where we had our picnic in the summer,' said Peggy, leading the way with +the proud air of a pioneer. 'If only we can manage to cross, for the +water is rather full to-day,' she added, with a lively remembrance of +her former dipping.</p> + +<p>They found an unexpected help, however, for a recent storm had blown +down a large oak, which now stretched itself very conveniently over the +stream like a bridge, and by the aid of its branches it was quite easy +to hop across and climb up the bank at the other side. The woods were +thick here and damp, and the moss was of such superior quality that it +fully justified the extra labour involved in fetching it. They pulled it +up in pieces a yard or more square, and crammed it into the sacks, tying +the mouths with rope, so as to be able to drag them along, for the moss +was full of moisture, and the bags were dreadfully heavy. They were +rather at a loss how to convey their spoils over the bridge. Bobby +suggested floating them down the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> stream, but, as Lilian pointed out, +they would promptly sink to the bottom; so in the end Archie hoisted a +sack upon his back, and, with Lilian to steady it behind, managed to +stagger across in safety, coming back for the other when the first had +been successfully landed.</p> + +<p>It was hard work bumping the sacks over the rough, uneven ground, but +they got them home at last, safely conveyed to Sky Cottage, and emptied +out on to the platform. They were all busily engaged within the hut, +nailing sheets of moss over the wattled walls, when a curious squeaking +noise began to attract Peggy's attention.</p> + +<p>'What's that?' she inquired, pausing with the hammer suspended in her +hand.</p> + +<p>'A bird, most likely,' replied Lilian, with her mouth full of nails.</p> + +<p>'No, it isn't,' said Peggy, going out to investigate. 'It seems to come +from the moss at my feet. Archie, do come and look! Whatever can it be?'</p> + +<p>The noise grew louder and louder, so that it resembled the squealing of +a kitten, and all four began to turn over the moss with eager fingers, +till, with a cry, Archie drew out a small round ball of dried grass, +about the size of Bobby's fist, from which issued such crescendo squeaks +that there could be no mistake as to the locality of the sound. The +little ball was so beautifully made and so neatly rounded that there was +not the slightest aperture to be seen, and Archie turned it over and +over in his hand in some perplexity.</p> + +<p>'What can it be?' cried Peggy.</p> + +<p>'Do open it!' piped Bobby.</p> + +<p>'Oh, <em>do</em> be careful! Suppose it's a viper!' shrieked Lilian.</p> + +<p>'You goose! Vipers don't squeal, at any rate,' said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> Archie, whose +friendship had reached a degree of intimacy that was distinctly +brotherly; and gingerly pulling asunder the neatly-woven grass, he +disclosed to view a plump yellow dormouse, whom they had evidently +disturbed in his winter quarters.</p> + +<p>The little fellow lay flat on his back in the midst of his snug little +nest. He had not taken the trouble to open his eyes, but his paws were +crossed, and his pink mouth was open, giving vent to loud disapproval of +the bumpings to which he had been rudely subjected unawares.</p> + +<p>'My! ain't he cunning?' said Archie, stroking the soft fur with his +finger, while the others crowded round to look. 'And so clean, too; he +looks as if you had just loaned him new from a store, and he's as fat as +butter. He's been feeding up for this, I reckon. What shall I do with +him?'</p> + +<p>'Oh! can't we keep him for a pet?' implored Peggy, with an eye on the +ever-increasing menagerie. 'We could get nuts and acorns and things for +him, and I've no doubt he would eat corn, too.'</p> + +<p>'I guess he'll want to sleep now right away till spring, like our +grizzlies do in the fall.'</p> + +<p>'Let's wrap him up again,' said Lilian. 'I'm sure he'll catch cold, poor +dear! and we'll put him in a snug corner of the orchard, where we can +look at him now and then, and in the spring perhaps he'll wake up.'</p> + +<p>As this seemed the most humane suggestion, Master Dormouse was tucked up +in bed once more, and, still protesting, was carried to a sunny bank +under an apple-tree, and stowed away under a protecting clump of leaves, +where his plaintive voice gradually subsided, and he settled down for +five months of oblivion, to ignore the winter frosts and storms until +the April sunshine should tempt him out of his lair.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span>The moss lining to Sky Cottage was a great success, Archie arranged +willow withs in a neat pattern over it, to keep it from falling down, +and everyone agreed that it looked charming. Furnishing was the next +consideration, and the attics and lumber-room at the Abbey were +ransacked for any treasures they might afford. A few broken chairs, and +a rickety gate-legged table were soon mended by Archie's clever fingers. +Lilian hunted out an old piece of carpet and a tablecloth, and the place +looked so comfortable that the children, fired by Archie's accounts of +the log-cabins in the Rocky Mountains, longed to put in a cooking-stove +and emigrate there altogether. They decided to have quite a garden on +the platform next spring, and to grow seeds in pots, and persuade +nasturtiums and canary-creepers to climb up the walls, and they made a +beginning by hauling up a box of soil, and planting some ivy, which they +hoped in time would cover the whole roof.</p> + +<p>Peggy and Bobby would have been quite content to go on adding a nail +here or a shelf there, and further making improvements, but Archie, now +that the chief work was over, found his interest cooling, and having got +hold of a book on 'Balloons and Air-Ships,' proposed no less daring a +scheme than that he should construct a flying machine, and start it from +the platform. Father, however, getting to hear of the project, forbade +it so emphatically that the disgusted aeronaut was obliged to give way, +and consoled himself by constructing a fire-balloon out of gay strips of +pink and green tissue-paper, which, ignited by methylated spirits, was +to be set off with great effect on Peggy's birthday.</p> + +<p>As some slight amends for his disappointment, Lilian proposed that they +should have a grand house<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span>warming at Sky Cottage on Saturday afternoon, +and invite Father to tea in the sanctum. The rest giving a hearty and +vigorous approval, she set to work to bake cakes in honour of the +occasion, preserving such a halo of mystery round her cookery that the +others were consumed with curiosity, and felt ready for any surprises.</p> + +<p>There were a great many preparations to be made when the eventful +afternoon arrived. The hut had to be swept and dusted, late flowers to +be gleaned from the garden to decorate the tea-table, cups and saucers +packed up and conveyed in baskets, together with the little tin kettle +and the methylated spirit lamp, as they could scarcely light a fire on +the platform like they did for picnic teas in the woods. Archie hung up +a Japanese lantern in the doorway, and fixed a Union-Jack on one side, +and the star-spangled banner of the United States on the other, and +Peggy found enough Michaelmas daisies and white asters to put a wreath +all round the railing of the veranda, which rather suggested harvest +decorations, but looked very festive all the same.</p> + +<p>They had brought a clean tablecloth from the kitchen drawer, and set the +table quite artistically, with a jam-pot full of flowers in the centre, +and little plates full of cakes grouped round it. Lilian put out a very +tempting looking selection of rock-buns and ginger-nuts, and Archie +produced a tin of real Scotch shortbread and some macaroons, a +contribution from his aunt; so with bread-and-butter, and a pot of the +newly-made blackberry jam, there was quite a noble display. But Lilian +had kept her surprise in the background, and it was only when all was +ready that she opened a basket, and proudly drew out her masterpiece, a +substantial-looking cake, with a cut-paper frill,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> and white icing on +the top, on which in pink sugary letters were inscribed the words: +'Success to Sky Cottage!' Certainly some of the capitals were a little +staggery, and the 'y' had strayed into the pink border round the edge, +but it was felt to be a triumph of culinary art all the same, and gave +quite a grace to the table.</p> + +<p>At the last minute Father had been obliged to send his regrets and +apologies, for the veterinary surgeon had arrived to doctor a sick +horse, and he could not possibly leave the stables, so the tea-party +must perforce begin without him, for the days were growing short now, +and there was no time to spare.</p> + +<p>It was a merry, not to say boisterous, party, for Archie was in one of +his funniest moods, and told 'tall' Yankee stories till the children +nearly rolled off their seats with laughter, and Lilian went on pouring +into her overflowing cup till the tray was swimming with tea. The cake +looked such a work of art that, as Mrs. Squeers remarked of her +Yorkshire pie, it seemed 'quite a pity to cut into it'; but, seizing the +knife, Peggy boldly severed the 's' and the 'u,' and with Aunt Helen's +wedding festivities fresh in their memories, the company drank the +health of Sky Cottage in tea, clinking their cups together over the +table in imitation of old Squire Henley.</p> + +<p>They were in the very midst of one of Archie's most comical adventures, +when a shout was heard underneath the tree, and going out on to the +veranda, they beheld Nancy struggling timorously up the staircase, her +evident anxiety to make some communication overcoming her natural +abhorrence of such an airy structure.</p> + +<p>'Oh, Miss Lilian,' she panted, 'if there isn't Mrs. Davenport just +arrived in her pony-shay, and she's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> put it up in the yard, and says +she's sure you'll give her a cup of tea! So I left her sittin' in the +drawing-room lookin' at the photo-albums, and rushed off to tell you +she's here!'</p> + +<p>'<em>What</em> a nuisance!' groaned Lilian, who was not generally inhospitably +disposed. 'Run back, Nancy, quick, and be getting some tea ready, and +I'll follow you! I must bring these cakes; they're the only ones we +have!'</p> + +<p>She bundled the remains of the feast into her basket, and had just +descended the stairs, escorted by the sympathizing Peggy and Bobby, when +round the corner of the large haystack suddenly loomed the tall figure +and black alpaca skirts of Mrs. Davenport, who, finding herself left +longer in the drawing-room than she appreciated, had sallied forth in +search of her hostess. She stopped short now, quite thunderstruck at +the vision before her.</p> + +<p>'What do I see?' she exclaimed. 'What mad folly is this? Really, Lilian, +I am astonished that you countenance such wild proceedings! Peggy I knew +was a sad tomboy, but I thought you, at least, were the sensible member +of the family, and would try to train the younger ones into more +civilized habits. I had heard from Miss Forster that that very indulged +and unmanageable nephew of hers had been making some sort of place in a +tree at the Abbey, but I never imagined so much as this. Sheer waste of +good time, I call it; and a boy who can expend so much energy as to +raise such a construction must be only shamming ill-health, and would be +far better packed off to school. I shall tell his aunt so the next time +I see her, and I don't care who hears me!' she added, catching sight of +a grinning face on the veranda, for Archie had stolen out to see the +fun, and overflowed in such gurgles of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> delight at this sally that +Lilian trembled for the result.</p> + +<p>'You had better come down, Archibald,' said Mrs. Davenport in her most +majestic voice. But Master Archie evidently thought discretion the +better part of valour, for he dived through the doorway like a rabbit +into a burrow, his overwrought feelings so far overcoming him that he +exploded into a tremendous cock-crow as he sought the friendly shelter +of Sky Cottage.</p> + +<p>An embarrassing silence followed, broken at last by Lilian, who asked +Mrs. Davenport if she would not like to return to the house. Peggy and +Bobby tried, as Archie expressed it, to 'do a slope,' but in vain, for, +saying she had not seen them for a long time, and should like to talk to +them, their unwelcome visitor took the dismayed pair into custody like a +female policeman, and whirled them sternly along before her.</p> + +<p>It really was too bad that Mrs. Davenport, instead of coming upon a +Wednesday or Thursday, when all would have been neatness and order, and +Nancy in her best black dress and muslin apron, should have chosen this +particular Saturday afternoon, when there was no fire in the +drawing-room, a pile of mending on the dining-room table, and all the +family in somewhat dishevelled array.</p> + +<p>'But she always does manage to catch us, somehow,' lamented Lilian +afterwards. 'She calls it "taking us just as we are," but then we +<em>aren't</em> generally in a muddle like this, so it doesn't seem quite fair. +She ought to come sometimes when we are tidy, to see both sides.'</p> + +<p>Once established in an armchair by the dining-room fire, Mrs. Davenport +took off her gloves, untied her veil, and enjoyed herself thoroughly. +She catechized<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> Lilian freely about her housekeeping arrangements, hoped +Nancy did her duty, and did not neglect to sweep out corners, told Bobby +that his irrepressible curls looked girlish, and his hair ought to be +cropped close every week, plied Peggy with embarrassing questions on the +subject of fine needlework and stocking-darning, and drank four cups of +tea in the meantime, with the air of one conferring a favour thereby.</p> + +<p>'I hear you see a good deal of Miss Forster's nephew,' she remarked, her +eye wandering round the room, and taking in the pile of untidy music +scattered about on the window-seat and Father's dirty shooting-boots +under the sofa.</p> + +<p>'I suppose we do,' said Lilian meekly, wondering privately where Archie +was, and if he would go home without saying good-bye.</p> + +<p>'Not a very suitable companion for any of you, I consider. Young people +in America are brought up to have far too good an opinion of themselves, +and this lad is no exception. I was not at all pleased with his manner +when I met him at the Willows,' frowning slightly at the remembrance; +for Archie's cool and elaborately courteous treatment of her criticisms +on that occasion had completely baffled her.</p> + +<p>But luckily the growing dusk reminded Mrs. Davenport that country lanes +were unpleasant to drive along in the dark, so drawing on her gloves she +routed her groom, a small, depressed-looking boy, out of the +harness-room, where he was retailing his grievances to the awe-stricken +Joe, and tucked her black skirts safely into her pony-carriage, assuring +the children that it should not be long before she looked them up again, +as she had promised their aunt to keep an eye on them after they were +left alone. Half-way down the drive she met Mr. Vaughan, and stopped to +give<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> him some good advice as to the general upbringing of his family, +even suggesting that Peggy—for a yearly consideration—should be +transplanted to Pendlefield Rectory, to share the studies and maternal +care of the five little Davenports, a proposal which he declined with a +haste that was perhaps more emphatic than polite.</p> + +<p>With a sigh of relief Lilian had adjourned with Peggy to the kitchen to +help Nancy to wash up, when the back-door was softly pushed ajar.</p> + +<p>'Is she gone?' said a cautious voice, and a fluffy red head appeared in +the opening, only followed by the rest of Archie's body on the full +assurance of the entire retreat of the enemy. 'I thought I should have +died with laughing,' announced that youth, sitting down easily among the +crockery on the table. 'My stars! Isn't she a terror? I shall have to +keep clear of the Willows every afternoon next week, for I know she'll +make a point of calling and telling poor Aunt Mary her candid opinion of +me. What a mercy we live at Gorswen instead of Pendlefield! Think of +exchanging the Rector for <em>her</em> and little crushed Mr. Davenport! If she +came to live any nearer than four miles away, I declare I would pack my +boxes and beg to be sent off to school!'</p> + + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> +<a name="xvii" id="xvii"></a>CHAPTER XVII<br /> +<br /> +<span class="sub">DAME ELEANOR'S GHOST</span></h2> + +<div class="block28"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i11">'What see you there<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That hath so cowarded and chased your blood<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Out of appearance?'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">The</span> weather, which had been beautifully fine and mild for the time of +year during October and the first half of November, kept up for Peggy's +birthday on the twenty-first. By good luck that important occasion fell +on a Saturday, so there was no tiresome school to interfere with the +festivities. As the Vaughan family was more rich in goodwill than in +coin of the realm, the presents were mostly of a kind which I am afraid +either Maud Middleton or Phyllis and Marjorie Norton would have scorned, +but to Peggy they gave the utmost satisfaction. There was the +much-longed-for guinea-pig from Father, which had been smuggled up in a +hamper, and kept with elaborate care in a remote portion of the barn (a +secret which Bobby found the utmost difficulty in preserving); a +nightdress case worked by Lilian's neat fingers; a cork frame from +Bobby, made under Archie's supervision; a round pink-and-white wool mat, +which Nancy had crocheted at odd times during the evenings; and a little +mug from Joe, with a Welshwoman in a tall hat on one side, and 'A +present from Llandrindod' on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span> other, bought on a visit to the famous +wells which he had paid in company with the church choir. Archie came up +during the morning bearing a pretty writing-case, an offering from +himself and Miss Forster, while a parcel had arrived from India, +containing the loveliest carved sandal-wood box, inlaid with +mother-of-pearl, to show that Aunt Helen had not forgotten her little +niece.</p> + +<p>As the birthday was not so very long after the fifth of November, they +had decided to keep any Guy Fawkes celebrations until then, and had been +busy for some days collecting sticks for a bonfire. The party consisted +solely of themselves and Archie, for Father's suggestion of the five +Miss Davenports was received with howls of indignation; and Lilian and +Nancy's combined efforts had produced a cake with twelve tiny coloured +wax candles stuck into icing-sugar on the top, one for every year of +Peggy's life, and which had to be blown out in turns by the assembled +company for good luck.</p> + +<p>The bonfire was held in the stubble field beyond the stackyard, and +roared up like a fiery furnace, making quite a red glow in the sky, +while its red ashes roasted potatoes and chestnuts to a turn. Archie had +even contrived to manufacture a few fireworks, having shut himself up in +a room over the stables at the Willows, a combination of peculiar odours +and a singed eyebrow alone testifying to his occupation. To be sure, the +catherine-wheel stuck, and utterly refused to turn, in spite of all +pokings and proddings, and the rockets only fizzled off near the ground, +instead of shooting up as they ought to have done; but the squibs and +crackers were quite effective, and a train of gunpowder, laid down to +represent a fiery serpent, blazed away in fine style. The fire-balloon,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> +however, was the success of the evening, for it shot straight up, and +floated across the sky like a beautiful meteor, its pink and green sides +giving a charming effect, till at length it dwindled away and became a +mere speck in the distance, leaving the children more full of admiration +than ever for Archie's talents.</p> + +<p>After the birthday the weather broke and a foretaste of winter +arrived, with cold winds and gray, murky skies and occasional falls of +snow. Archie caught a severe chill hunting for microscopical specimens +in the pond, and was in bed for some weeks, nursed by his doting aunt, +consoling himself for his enforced idleness by planning such +improvements at both the Willows and the Abbey as were calculated to +make their owners' hair stand on end.</p> + +<p>As the long evenings closed in, Joe, ever timorous with regard to the +supernatural, became the prey of superstitious fears. He saw shrouds in +the candle and corpse-lights in the churchyard. Rollo's howling filled +him with forebodings, and a screech-owl flying over the orchard sent him +into a panic. He heard ghostly footfalls among the ruins and mysterious +taps on the stable-window when he was suppering the horses, which, in +spite of Lilian's reassurances, he persisted in regarding as a warning, +though for which of his numerous relatives it was intended kept him in a +state of perpetual doubt and uneasiness. The worst of it was that he +infected Nancy with his alarms to such an extent that she could scarcely +be persuaded to put her nose out at the back-door after dusk (except on +her evening out, when her sweetheart came to fetch her), which was +distinctly inconvenient if a pail of water were wanted during the +evening, or she happened to have left the coal-box standing in the yard. +The Abbey boasted the reputation of maintaining what<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> Peggy called 'a +real, live, genuine ghost,' though none of the family had ever caught a +glimpse of it, it seeming to prefer to manifest itself to Joe and to +chance visitors from the village who came up to the house on dark +evenings. The washerwoman's little girl had heard footsteps behind her +on the drive and a distinct clanking as of chains, while old Betty +Carson swore on her Bible oath that she had seen something white moving +about among the ruins, which groaned as in the expression of the keenest +mental anguish; and when Mr. Vaughan suggested it might prove nothing +worse than a young bullock with indigestion, she had dismissed the idea +as almost profane.</p> + +<p>Beyond the fact that a lady in white was supposed to haunt both the +ruins and the oak-wood, weeping and wringing her hands in orthodox +ghostly fashion, the children had not been able to learn much of the +story, for there were so many and divergent accounts of it, all told +with uncertainty as to names and dates, and in that very oracular—not +to say muddled—style sometimes indulged in by rustic historians. But +one wet afternoon, finding David alone in the harness-room, where the +old man had lighted a fire to make some wonderful decoction of foxgloves +wherewith to doctor a cow with a strained leg, they seated themselves on +a sack of potatoes in front of the cheerful blaze, and with the aid of a +little judicious flattery and coaxing managed to cajole him into a true +and circumstantial account of the family ghost.</p> + +<p>Although he was somewhat crusty to begin with, old David, like all who +have the gift of narrative, enjoyed telling a story, and he soon warmed +to his work.</p> + +<p>'It were my father as told me,' he began, 'and he had it from his +father, and his'n afore him, for it be a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span> powerful long time ago, it be. +Ay, time do pass by quick, for sure!'</p> + +<p>'When did it happen?' asked Peggy, hastily, hoping to nip in the bud one +of the old <a name="fellow" id="fellow"></a><ins title="Original has comma">fellow's</ins> +rambling divergences from the point.</p> + +<p>'In the reign of King Henry the Sixth, so they say. Ay, it were Henry, +for it were the same name, I mind me, as the old Squire.'</p> + +<p>'Reigned 1422 to 1461, married Margaret of Anjou,' put in Bobby, who +liked to air his knowledge.</p> + +<p>'I don't know who he married; it weren't nothing to do with marryin'. It +were fightin' first in those days, though I suppose they married, too, +like other folk, when they found time.'</p> + +<p>'Who were fighting?' inquired Bobby.</p> + +<p>'Why, it was the Wars of the Roses, of course,' answered Peggy +crushingly.</p> + +<p>'Nay, it weren't no wars of roses, I can tell you. It was real bloody +battles they fought then, with swords and pikes and spears and the like; +for there was two Kings, both with a notion of reignin', and when Kings +falls out, it's their subjects has to do the fightin' for them, I takes +it.'</p> + +<p>'Henry VI. and Edward IV.,' put in Peggy. 'Please go on, David.'</p> + +<p>'There was Vaughans at the Abbey then, just as there is Vaughans at the +Abbey now,' continued the old man, staring meditatively into his +foxglove brew, as though he could see a mental picture in the pot. 'And +him as had it then was Sir Richard Vaughan, the one as lies under the +cracked old monument in the corner at church.'</p> + +<p>'With the dragon and the crooked arrows on it,' nodded the children.</p> + +<p>'Well, this Sir Richard Vaughan, he favoured King<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> Henry of Lancaster, +and went out to fight for him with forty gentlemen and yeomen at his +back, to say naught of lesser folk. They met Duke Edward of York, him as +afterwards became King, at Mortimer's Cross, which ain't so far from +here, neither, for I went once myself when I were a lad with my aunt's +cousin, who drove a good horse and gig. Let me see: how many years will +it be agone?'</p> + +<p>'Oh, David, never mind! <em>Do</em> go on with the story! What happened at the +battle?'</p> + +<p>'He were killed, for sure, were Sir Richard, and his head took by they +Yorkists, and kicked about like a football afore they nailed it up over +Hereford gate. You'd ne'er find his skull if you looked inside the old +monument—naught but the rest of his bones.'</p> + +<p>'How awful! Then is it <em>his</em> ghost?'</p> + +<p>'Oh no, Bobby! It is the White <em>Lady</em>, you know!'</p> + +<p>David took advantage of these interruptions to lift his pot from the +fire and examine its contents, but finding them not yet to his liking, +put it on again, and continued:</p> + +<p>'It weren't enough for they Yorkists to get Sir Richard's head; they +wanted his lands along of it, and they marched across country (a set of +blood-thirsty ruffians they was) and laid siege to the Abbey. Dame +Eleanor, a widow new-made, as you might say, couldn't hold it above two +days, for the pick of the men had all gone with her husband, and the +best part of <em>they</em> lay stretched out stiff at Mortimer's Cross. So she +lets them in at last, sore agin her will, and gives up the keys to Lord +Grey of Wigmore. You'd a' thought that would a' satisfied them, but they +wanted more.'</p> + +<p>'What did they want?' said Peggy, for David seemed disposed to rest from +his labours and attend to his cookery.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span>'Sir Richard had left a son behind him, a young lad of nine or ten or +thereabouts, and he were the heir. It were him as Lord Grey wanted—told +a fine tale as how he'd take him up to London, and get him put as page +to the great Earl of Warwick, which were as good as makin' his fortune.'</p> + +<p>'Did he go?'</p> + +<p>'Nay, his mother were no fool, neither, and she knowed full well she'd +ne'er see him again, no more than you'd see a duck if you gave it in +charge of the fox. She'd sent him away safe out of the Abbey by that +passage to the cave, most like, where you very near lost your lives last +summer, and she weren't going to let on where he were, not to no one.'</p> + +<p>'Did she tell? Did he get off safe? What happened?'</p> + +<p>'Let me tell my tale in my own way,' said David testily. 'They was +brutes in those days, and had no respect for God or man, let alone +woman. So they clapped a thumbscrew on Dame Eleanor, to sharpen her +wits.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, poor thing! She didn't tell, did she?' cried the children, who +could not forbear comments.</p> + +<p>'Tell! Not she, though her thumb was crushed to a jelly. And when they +see'd it weren't no manner of use, they let her go. But that Lord Grey +of Wigmore was a disciple of Old Nick himself, and what does he do but +catch hold of Dame Eleanor's daughter, which weren't more' an a little +maid like Miss Peggy there, and put the screw on her thumb, thinkin' it +would loosen her mother's tongue to hear her shriek. There's things that +women can bear up to a certain pass, but touch their young uns, and +they'll let you know. At the first cry as was raised by that child Dame +Eleanor went clean off her head, and, breakin' away from them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> as held +her, she seized up a dagger and stabbed herself through the breast, with +a awful shout of laughter, shuttin' her lips for ever from them as would +wrest the secret from her.'</p> + +<p>'And what became of the poor little boy and girl?'</p> + +<p>'Lord Grey felt a bit 'shamed, like, when he see'd what were done, and +he sent the girl home to his wife, who brought her up kind. And the boy +had been took away by that time to them as was his friends. He grew up +to manhood and learned to fight, like everyone else in they times, and +then King Henry came to his own again, and he got back the Abbey.'</p> + +<p>'But King Henry didn't stay long on the throne, did he? I thought the +history-book said that "King Edward landed at Ravenspur and fought the +Battle of Barnet." We learnt it in our dates last Monday.'</p> + +<p>'I know naught of books. It's what my father told me, and his father +afore him. There have been a many Kings since then, I reckon, but the +Vaughans have held the Abbey in spite of 'em.'</p> + +<p>'But, David, you haven't told us about the ghost yet, and that's the +most important part of all.'</p> + +<p>'The ghost! Oh, that be Dame Eleanor, for sure. They say she walks round +the ruins of the Abbey and across to the oak-wood. Whiles she goes away, +and no one sees her for long enough, and whiles she comes back; and they +do say,' said David, lowering his voice, 'that if there's a death in the +family, or any evil hangin' over the Vaughans, that she be there +shriekin' and wringin' her hands to give warnin' of what be to come.'</p> + +<p>The children were beginning to feel quite delightfully creepy, and would +have liked a further continuation of the spirit portion of the story; +but David's decoction being now ready, his thoughts were with his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> +invalid in the cow-house, and nothing could bring them back to Dame +Eleanor's wraith. So, in spite of all entreaties for more, he departed, +bearing his steaming can with him, and declaring that one good cow was +worth all the ghosts and ghostesses in the kingdom, 'for you might do +some good to <em>she</em>, but as to <em>they</em>, they was naught but hearsay, after +all.'</p> + +<p>After this, Peggy and Bobby were determined to try and obtain a sight of +their ancestress, and with much screwing up of their courage stole out +one evening, and crept fearfully round the ruins, clutching each other's +hands very tightly, and jumping at every sound. There was a fitful moon, +and it was just light enough to see the outlines of the old walls and +the pieces of broken stair and column, with very dark places between, +where the shadows fell. It was an ideal spot for a ghost. It really +seemed as if these old relics of bygone days <em>must</em> be haunted, so +strong were the cords which bound them to the past. A cloud had come +over the moon, and as they groped their way round the corner of what had +been the refectory, Peggy caught Bobby's arm.</p> + +<p>'Listen!' she said in a thrilling whisper.</p> + +<p>The children clung together tighter than ever and held their breath, for +there certainly was the most extraordinary noise to be heard—a kind of +mixture between groaning and sighing, with a rattling sound as of +dragging chains. It seemed coming in their direction, too, and they +shrank into a niche in the wall, with their hair almost standing on end. +Something gleamed white in the faint moonlight, and a terrific sound +suddenly boomed in their ears. Frightened almost out of their wits, the +children shrieked and ran, but stopped before they had gone twenty +yards, for the noise had developed into a very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> decided 'Hee-haw!' and +the moon, bursting through the clouds, revealed the long nose and +twirling ears of the tinker's broken-winded old donkey, who, dragging a +clog on his leg, was giving vent to his feelings in his own peculiar +fashion, his master having turned him into the ruins for a stolen feed +during the night, no doubt with the intention of fetching him in the +morning before anyone was up and about. It was such bathos after the +overwrought state of their feelings that they sat down and laughed till +the tears ran down their cheeks, treasuring the joke to tell to Archie +when he should be well enough to receive visitors, and holding it up as +a model to relieve Nancy's fears.</p> + +<p>But seeing how easy it was to imagine a ghost out of really every-day +materials, the children plotted mischief next Saturday, and determined +to give Joe a fright. About half a mile from the house lay the +oak-wood, which was also the supposed scene of Dame Eleanor's walk. +Through this wood ran a road, which was the shortest way to Middlehead, +a little market-town in the opposite direction to Warford. Knowing that +Joe had gone for a holiday, with some other lads from the village, to a +fair which was being held that day at Middlehead, they decided to +construct a ghost and fix it up in the wood, to alarm him and his +companions as they returned. They kept their secret to themselves, and +retired to the barn to fashion a figure of Dame Eleanor according to +their own notions of what a phantom should be. Taking a large turnip, +they scooped out the inside till there was nothing left but a hollow +shell, cutting holes in it for eyes, nose, and mouth, and fixing a +candle inside, so that when the light shone through it should resemble a +horrible, grinning face. At dusk they stole away with the rest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span> of their +materials to the oak-wood, and set to work. The spot chosen was a grassy +corner, where a gate across the road formed an angle with the wall which +bounded the wood upon one side. It was a specially dark and shady place, +for the tall trees shut out the sky, and even in the daytime it looked +gloomy and still. They first planted a stout broomstick in the ground, +and fixed the turnip head firmly upon the top of it; two branches of +trees tied on like cross-bars made a pair of shoulders and arms, and +when covered with a sheet stolen from the linen-cupboard, it appeared as +if the white figure were stretching out its imploring hands in a vain +appeal for mercy. When Peggy lighted the candle inside the effect was so +terrific that the conspirators felt quite eerie themselves, and with a +last look to see that all was steady, and the candle not likely to fall +over, they left Dame Eleanor in her corner, and fled home over the +fields with a rather guilty feeling, wondering what would happen.</p> + +<p>To do Peggy justice, I do not think she would have tried to play such a +trick on poor Joe if she had imagined he were returning alone; but +knowing he would have the company of several of his friends to support +him, she thought he might rather enjoy the joke than otherwise.</p> + +<p>The dusk soon fell, and Peggy sat by the fire in the Rose Parlour +reading 'Ivanhoe' in much warmth and content. Lilian was playing +snatches of her favourite Chopin, but somehow the music did not go well +to-night, for the musician's heart was not in her fingers.</p> + +<p>'What's the matter, Lilian?' asked Peggy, tearing herself away from +Friar Tuck and the Black Knight to realize that her sister had got up +for the fifth time<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> from the piano to peep out through the window into +the dark beyond.</p> + +<p>'I wish Father would come home, that's all. I always feel so uneasy when +he goes to Middlewood'—pacing restlessly round the room, and looking +again at the clock.</p> + +<p>'Why?'</p> + +<p>'Because he drives home through the oak-wood, and it's really so +dangerous. There's no fence on the side next to the river, and Prince is +so frisky, if he were to shy there by the wall nothing could save them +from going straight down the bank. I've often begged Father to have it +railed in, but he only laughs at me. Why, Peggy, where are you going?'</p> + +<p>For without a word of explanation Peggy had flung down her book and fled +from the room. Hatless, and in her thin house-shoes, she rushed out of +the house, and tore over the fields as fast as her shaking legs could +carry her. In her plan to give Joe a fright, she had never thought of +Father, who returned by the same road; and now that horrible white +object was stationed just in the very danger-spot where a plunging horse +might mean a matter of almost certain death, for the wall of the +five-acre field abutted the road on one side, and on the other there was +only a narrow patch of grass between the steep bank which shelved down +sheer into the river, while the closed gate stopped any chance of a dash +forward. Peggy's heart was beating like a sledge-hammer as she flew +through the wood. Already she heard a distant rumbling of wheels, and +putting on a last desperate spurt, she reached the gate. She could never +afterwards tell exactly what happened at that moment, except that the +gig-lamps flashed suddenly in her eyes, 'Whoa, my lad!' shouted Father's +voice, and Prince's rearing,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> kicking form loomed large before her as he +backed persistently towards the bank. It took Peggy just one instant to +open the gate, and catching up her ghost to hurl the whole wretched +thing over the wall, and in another she had seized the horse by the +rein, and, soothing him with her well-known voice, dragged him forward +with all the strength of her wiry little arms. She was barely in time, +for already one wheel was over the edge, but, the object of his fear +being removed, Prince allowed himself to be cajoled into the road again, +where he stood, panting and trembling in every limb.</p> + +<p>'Why, my little Peggy!' cried Father, leaning down to see where the +lamp-light flashed on the face of his rescuer.</p> + +<p>But the strain was too much for Peggy, and she plumped down on the dead +leaves by the roadside in such a tempest of tears that Father had to +climb out of the gig and pick her up to comfort her; but as he could not +get a word of sense, he popped her in the vacant place by his side and +drove on, while she clung to his arm, still shaking with sobs, till they +reached the Abbey, where he helped her down, such a miserable little +tear-stained picture of woe, gulping out the confession of her escapade, +that he had not the heart to scold her, though he had a word of warning +to say afterwards upon the danger of such heedless practical jokes.</p> + +<p>Dame Eleanor's remains were fished out of the corner of the five-acre +field on Monday morning by Joe himself, who kicked her turnip head as +ruthlessly as the Yorkists had used her husband's at Mortimer's Cross, +and brought back the broomstick to the stable and the sheet to Nancy's +wash-tub. In all the valour of daylight he assured the children that 'it +wouldn't<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span> have scared <em>he</em>, not it. He'd made a many o' they turnip +lanterns in his time, and knowed 'em too well to be took in so easy.'</p> + +<p>But his faith in the genuine phantom remained unshaken all the same, and +I do not think he would have ventured alone into the ruins after dark +for the amount of his weekly wages, and money meant a good deal to poor +hard-working Joe.</p> + + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> +<a name="xviii" id="xviii"></a>CHAPTER XVIII<br /> +<br /> +<span class="sub">PLAY-ACTING</span></h2> + +<div class="block30"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'Therefore, they thought it good you hear a play,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And frame your mind to mirth and merriment,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which bars a thousand harms, and lengthens life.'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">The</span> winter set in cold and frosty, and as Christmas drew near the snow +came down in real earnest, covering the fields with its white carpet, +and turning Sky Cottage into a very good imitation of a Swiss châlet. It +was chilly work getting up in the dark mornings by candle-light, and +driving off to school when the sun had scarcely risen; the four miles of +road seemed much longer than they had done in the summertime, and in +spite of woollen gloves, the hand which held the reins was apt to be +stiff and numb with the cold long before Warford was reached.</p> + +<p>'I wish I were a cat!' said Peggy one morning, quite roused to envy by +the contemplation of Tabbyskin's toilet, 'to have no trouble with +washing or dressing; only just to jump out of bed, hump up your back and +stretch yourself, drink your saucer of milk, and then lick yourself +comfortably on the hearthrug in front of the dining-room fire.'</p> + +<p>'I think the dormouse has the best of it,' said Lilian, 'for he sleeps +straight on, and never seems to feel the frost at all. It would be a +glorious plan to retire to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> bed for the winter. I'm sure Nature intended +me for a hibernating animal, for I hate the cold. It makes my fingers so +stiff I can't practise nicely one little bit.'</p> + +<p>'You'd say so if you were at school now,' grumbled Peggy. 'There is a +new housekeeper, and she manages so badly that sometimes they are only +just lighting the fires when we are going into the class-rooms. The +studio felt like an ice-house yesterday, and nobody was able to draw +properly. Some of the girls have the most dreadful chilblains on their +fingers. I'm sure one goes through a great deal to get one's education!'</p> + +<p>'Never mind, the holidays begin on Wednesday, and then you shall have a +lovely time. If only this frost keeps up, we ought to get some skating, +and that's warm work, at any rate!'</p> + +<p>But as regards skating, the children were doomed to disappointment, for, +with the usual perversity of the English climate, the weather changed, +and Christmas Eve brought a mild wind and drizzling rain. They trudged +through the half-melted snow to the church to help with the decorations, +for it was fun twisting holly and evergreens, and making garlands of ivy +to fasten round the pillars. Archie, who naturally was to the fore on +such an occasion, managed to climb up and hang wreaths round the heads +of the cherubs at the top of the Jacobean monument, which gave their +weeping faces quite a festive appearance for once. Each of the Crusaders +was accorded a cross of yew, and the Elizabethan lady and gentleman had +a special decoration all to themselves. Lilian transformed the pulpit +into a perfect bower, weaving in holly and laurels till the Rector hoped +she would leave room for him inside it; and Peggy and Bobby helped—or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> +hindered—the schoolmistress as she adorned the font with a wonderful +arrangement of cotton-wool and frosted leaves.</p> + +<p>Luckily Christmas Day was fine (for a wet Christmas is enough to damp +the stoutest spirits), but after that the weather indulged in such a +variety of changes, alternately freezing and thawing from day to day, +that there was no time for a safe crust of ice to form even on the +smallest and shallowest of ponds. At the first fall of deep snow Archie +had mounted both himself and the children on Canadian snow-shoes, for as +soon as his illness had allowed, he had persuaded his aunt to bring his +tool-chest into his bedroom, and had beguiled his convalescence with a +little carpentry.</p> + +<p>At first they had all floundered hopelessly about, and it had taken some +practice even to slide a few steps; but long before they had reached the +stage of skimming over the frozen surface at the rate of eight or ten +miles an hour, which had been their fond ambition, the snow had melted +into moist and dirty slush, which was particularly trying, as they had +just decided to make a sledge out of an old packing-case, and drag +Lilian round the pasture.</p> + +<p>As outdoor exercise was rather out of the question, amusement must +perforce be found indoors, and amateur theatricals became the order of +the day. Archie was full of enthusiasm over what Nancy called +'play-acting,' and had soon initiated his friends into all the mysteries +of drop-scenes, side-shifts, make-ups, cues, and footlights. Both +tragedy and comedy raged in the Rose Parlour, the company feeling +themselves equal to anything, from a representation of Hamlet to the +famous scene between Sir Peter and Lady Teasle. Like all their hobbies, +they rode it hard, or, as Archie elegantly expressed it, 'rolled up +their sleeves and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> went into it bald-headed.' I am afraid the +house-keeping languished while Lilian painted scenery on large sheets +of blue grocery paper. Nancy had to dry her washing as best she could, +for all the clothes-horses in the establishment were needed for +side-wings, and the dining-room tablecloth, being green, was generally +missing, having to do duty for such occasions as 'a grove,' 'a glade in +the forest,' or the garden scene in 'Much Ado about Nothing.'</p> + +<p>From such constant rehearsals the actors found themselves adopting a +very stilted kind of conversation. They addressed each other as 'Ho, +knave!' or 'Prithee, kind wench!' and would answer the simplest question +by 'Yea, certes!' or 'An't please thee, my lord.' Bobby took to carrying +about an old horse-pistol which he had found in the lumber-room, and +saying 'Oddsbodkins' on all occasions, and Peggy put on such a general +air of melodrama that it seemed scarcely possible for her to speak in +plain prose; Archie was impresario, stage-manager, scene-shifter, +dresser, maker-up, and principal actor all combined, while Lilian waxed +so enthusiastic that she even sacrificed the feathers out of her last +summer's best hat to adorn the slouched head-gear considered necessary +for a due representation of Romeo.</p> + +<p>One thing only the players felt to be missing in their entertainments, +and that was the very important feature of an audience; for what is the +use of learning up parts, and constructing scenery, if there is nobody +to come and watch you act? Peggy sounded Father on the subject of a +children's party, but he did not rise at all to the occasion.</p> + +<p>'We can't afford it, Peggy,' he said briefly; then, noticing her look of +disappointment: 'That's where the shoe pinches, my dear child. The plain +neces<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span>sities of life we are bound to have, but the state of my purse +tells me not to indulge in any luxuries, and I am afraid we must +consider party-giving under that head.'</p> + +<p>Kind Miss Forster would probably have turned her house upside down for +Archie's gratification, but she herself was on the sick-list this +Christmas-time, so any gaieties at the Willows were equally out of the +question. Getting a hint of the dilemma, the Rector came to the rescue, +and invited the performers to give an exhibition of their skill and +talent on the occasion of the Sunday-school tea-party, which was to take +place early in the New Year. This gave quite a fresh aspect to affairs, +and great were the discussions as to what piece should be chosen, +everybody unfortunately wanting something different, and generally +utterly inappropriate, or impossible to act.</p> + +<p>Lilian, always fond of tragedy, had set her heart on the last scene in +'Romeo and Juliet.'</p> + +<p>'I should be Juliet, you know, stretched out on the bier, and Archie +would have to be Romeo, and come in, and think I was dead, and stab +himself, and then of course I should wake up and stab myself, too; and +Peggy and Bobby could be the Montagues and Capulets, getting reconciled +over our dead bodies.'</p> + +<p>Archie, however, having leanings towards comedy, was not at all willing +to play the rôle of the despairing lover.</p> + +<p>'We could never manage to fix up an Italian vault,' he objected, 'and I +don't see how Peggy and Bobby could represent a whole crowd of Montagues +and Capulets, however much noise they made. Why not do a scene from "The +Rivals"? You'd be grand as Lydia Languish, and Peggy would just enjoy +Mrs. Malaprop's mistakes. I, of course, should be Captain Absolute.'</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span>'Then who would be Sir Anthony?'</p> + +<p>'Why, Bobby would have to be Sir Anthony.'</p> + +<p>'He <em>couldn't</em>! Bobby your father! It would look perfectly ridiculous, +and people would only laugh! No, that won't do anyhow, and we shall have +to think of something else.'</p> + +<p>Bobby was vague as to any particular play, only bargaining he might be +allowed to bring in his pistol, and do as much fighting as possible, and +that his part should not require too much learning.</p> + +<p>Peggy had ambitions towards the trial scene in the 'Merchant of Venice,' +with herself as Portia, having a scarlet dressing-gown which she thought +would answer beautifully for the doctor's robes, and designing Archie +for the part of Shylock, while Lilian was to don male attire, and +represent the unfortunate merchant.</p> + +<p>'Then who is to take Bassanio and Gratiano and Salanio, and Salarino and +the Duke, to say nothing of Nerissa? Bobby can't very well act six parts +at once.'</p> + +<p>'Can't we leave them out?'</p> + +<p>'Leave them out! Might as well act "Hamlet" with the part of Hamlet +omitted!' said Archie with much scorn, and the problem seemed no nearer +being solved than ever.</p> + +<p>But here the Rector again stepped in, and limited the performance to +half an hour's duration, begging them to choose something appropriate +for a Sunday-school audience, and if possible with a moral, and further +reminding them that a platform consisting of tables hastily pushed +together after the tea was concluded would scarcely give facilities for +either footlights, drop-scenes, or side-shifts, a curtain being the +utmost he could undertake to manage in that direction.</p> + +<p>With wings very much clipped, the soaring actors had to throw aside +Shakespeare and Sheridan, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> apply themselves to books of recitations +and dialogues for village schools. It was difficult to find anything of +the right length with exactly the right number of parts, but at last +Archie declared he had hit upon one which would do beautifully.</p> + +<p>'Just four characters. You and I could be John and Mary, Lilian; and +Peggy and Bobby would of course be the children.'</p> + +<p>'Why of course? I'm too old for a child!' said Peggy indignantly.</p> + +<p>'No, you're not. You're small for your age, and you won't look so very +much taller than Bobby, if you wear your shortest frock. It's a jolly +piece, and should go first-rate, so we'd better decide on this right +away, and let the Rector know.'</p> + +<p>Peggy flushed up to her eyes, and turned her back to hide her rising +tears. After all her aspirations it was a bitter humiliation to be put +down for the very minor part of 'a child,' especially by Archie. She had +been learning elocution at school this term, and knew she could both +recite and act well. Moreover, she loved to shine, and to be first and +foremost, and had looked forward to this occasion as likely to prove one +of much triumph. Very few of us are heroes when it really comes to the +point, and I grieve to say that she looked so glum, and was generally so +grumpy and discontented over the arrangement, that unselfish Lilian, +divining the cause, instantly proposed to give up her own part to Peggy, +and train a little village girl for the second 'child' instead. But this +Peggy would not allow, and rushed away to the barn to weep off her +ill-humour amongst the hay, returning in a much better frame of mind, +with several valuable suggestions for Lilian's make-up; for she was a +generous child at heart, though she could not give up her own way +without a struggle.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span>The small piece chosen did not require much either in the way of +rehearsing, scenery, or costumes, which was just as well, for the time +was short, and the day of the tea-party seemed to arrive almost +directly. By four o'clock the school was full of impatient children, +dressed in their best, the girls with their heads such marvels of +frizzing and curling that you could well imagine their hair had been +screwed up in plaits and papers for several days previously, while the +boys were shiny with soap and hair-oil. Lilian and Peggy were soon hard +at work pouring out tea as if for dear life, while Archie and Bobby +distributed buns and ham-sandwiches with lightning speed, which seemed +to vanish with equal quickness, for many of the boys had dispensed with +dinner in order to enjoy their tea the more.</p> + +<p>'The big boy in the corner drank twelve cups!' declared Peggy, 'and +little Willie Jones had eight, or even nine, for I lost count; and the +boy from Monkend Farm ate at least fourteen buns. I believe he pocketed +a few, though I never could catch him!'</p> + +<p>Peggy was in her element; she was able to manage, or, as Archie called +it, 'boss around,' to her heart's content. She kept a severe eye on the +small children, patted them firmly on the back when they choked, and +refused to allow them to grab at the cake, regulating their tea +according to her own notions of what was good for them, and turning +stolen lumps of sugar out of their pockets with the cleverness of a +detective.</p> + +<p>Tea was over at last, and the crumby remains having been cleared away, +the tables were pushed to one side of the great schoolroom to form the +platform, while the benches were arranged in rows to accommodate the +audience, which at present was indulging in an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> amount of noise only to +be equalled by the Tower of Babel. Peggy, hard at work behind the +scenes, put her eye to a hole in the curtain, and surveyed the prospect +below, where children big and little were engaged in jumping over the +forms, chasing each other round the stove, and generally acting more +like monkeys at the Zoo than civilized human beings, while the Rector +strove in vain to collect them at the empty end of the room to play +games, and the curate, a shy young man fresh from Oxford, looked as if +he would have preferred to wrestle with a consignment of heathens from +the Cannibal Islands.</p> + +<p>'Come along, Bobby,' said Peggy; 'we ought to go and help. Archie and +Lilian can arrange the scenery quite well. The Rector is getting pulled +to pieces, and poor Mr. Wentworth has lost his glasses.'</p> + +<p>Mrs. Davenport would have approved of Peggy for once, for even the +pattern Bertha could not have displayed more energy in a parish +emergency. She promptly organized a game of 'Oranges and Lemons,' +herself leading the long tail of infants who passed under the Rector's +and Mr. Wentworth's upraised hands; she set the boys to swing +honey-pots, and the girls to play 'Drop the Handkerchief'; she boldly +interposed her small person between the fists of two fighting +hobbledehoys, and seized a little boy by the boot who had ventured to +climb up the stove-pipe; she welcomed some of the parents who had begun +to arrive for the entertainment, and found them comfortable places on +the benches, even nursing one of the babies while its mother went to the +rescue of an older child, who was being forcibly held down and sat upon +by several of its companions; and by the time the bell was rung, and the +audience requested to take their places, she was almost as hot and +pulled about as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> the Rector himself, but with a feeling of conscious +virtue that made up for everything.</p> + +<p>The first part of the entertainment was to be chiefly musical, so the +proceedings began with a waltz by Lilian, who was always the Rector's +mainstay in making up a programme, and had helped at most of his +Sunday-school concerts since she was ten years old. A violin solo +followed from the village tailor, who was much applauded, most of the +hearers being persuaded that not even the band in the Warford Public +Gardens could surpass 'Bill Evans and his fiddle.' Little Jimmy Carson +recited 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' in a high, thin, piping voice, +standing on tiptoe in his eagerness to give due effect to the famous +lines, flinging out his arms wildly to indicate where</p> + +<div class="block22"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'Cannon to right of them,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Cannon to left of them<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Volleyed and thundered,'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p class="noi">and getting so mixed up with his aspirates that he concluded with:</p> + +<div class="block22"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'<em>H</em>onour the charge they made,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><em>H</em>onour the Light Brigade,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Noble six 'undred.'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p>A selection of small boys and girls sang school glees and Christmas +carols, a trifle flat occasionally, but perhaps that was the fault of +the piano, which needed tuning. The two Miss Prices from the Post-Office +warbled a mild little duet, which gave unbounded satisfaction to their +fond mamma, if to nobody else; the blacksmith's assistant roared out a +sea song in a voice like a tempest; and a young man on a visit to the +miller gave a comic song, which quite took the company by storm.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span>A five minutes' interval followed before the act, which was regarded as +the chief event of the evening. There was a good deal of giggling and +whispered conversation behind the scenes as the actors hastily concluded +their preparations, but at length, in response to the enthusiastic +clapping and stamping of the audience, the curtain was drawn aside by +two Sunday-school teachers, and the play began. Peggy, standing behind +one of the clothes-horses which served for a side-wing, could see the +two hundred eager faces turned towards the platform, and experienced +that peculiar sensation known as 'stage fright.' Instead of longing now +for a prominent part, she heaved a sigh of relief to think that Lilian +must begin instead, and trembled for the moment when she would be +obliged to face those watching eyes.</p> + +<p>The piece chosen turned upon a discussion between a man and his wife as +to the relative difficulties of their work, resulting in the husband +undertaking to do the morning's duties during the absence of the +housewife. Lilian, in a print dress, apron, and sun-bonnet, made a +charming little village mother, and trotted off with her basket, leaving +many injunctions for 'John' to follow. Archie, as the husband, in +corduroy trousers, his shirt-sleeves rolled up, and a short clay pipe in +his mouth, was a capital British workman, and his struggles in the +performance of his domestic duties were the subject of much mirth. When +he broke the china, and stirred up the washing with the poker, the +audience cheered, and it shouted with delight when he upset the kettle +and burnt the bread black in the oven. Peggy and Bobby as 'the +children,' with crumpled pinafores and smudged faces, were an equal +success, for in watching Archie Peggy had forgotten her sudden shyness, +and she now threw herself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span> thoroughly into her part, howling most +realistically when her nose was scrubbed in the wash-tub, or her hair +combed with a fork; while Bobby stole jam and resisted medicine with +lifelike zeal. Lilian's face, when as 'Mary' she returned to find her +cottage a scene of confusion, was considered excellent, and the moral of +the story was enough to satisfy even the Rector. The audience 'hoorayed' +and thumped with their thick boots on the floor, and shouted 'encore'; +but as it was not possible to break the china, spill the medicine, and +upset the kettle twice over without a considerable amount of +preparation, they had to be content with the graceful bows which the +artistes bestowed upon them.</p> + +<p>'Say them "Little Orphaned Annie" instead of an encore,' whispered +Lilian to Peggy, as the stamping still went on, and nobody seemed +inclined to go.</p> + +<p>'Shall I?' said Peggy, flushing; for it was her best piece at the +elocution class, and she had been complimented on it by her teacher.</p> + +<p>'Yes, go on quick!' said Lilian, pushing her forward, and catching the +Rector's eye.</p> + +<p>Peggy was in good form that night, and I really think her recitation was +considered the star of the evening. Her gruesome voice as she recounted +what the goblins did to naughty boys made several small sinners in the +back benches shake in their shoes—many innocent infants felt they +should never dare to go to bed in the dark again; and the wild shriek +with which she ended her announcement that 'the goblins are about' quite +brought down the house, and the children shouted and yelled and cheered +as the Rector strove to get order once more, and wind up the proceedings +with the National Anthem. So Peggy had her triumph after all, even if it +were only a small one.</p> + + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span> +<a name="xix" id="xix"></a>CHAPTER XIX<br /> +<br /> +<span class="sub">PEGGY AT WAR</span></h2> + +<div class="block28"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'By this good light, a lass of matchless mettle!'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">The</span> Christmas holidays being over, and Archie in the rudest of health, +Miss Forster had no more excuse for keeping that young gentleman at +home, and after much packing and preparation, he departed to school, +amid the fond regrets of his aunt and the lamentations of his friends at +the Abbey, to whom he promised to write as often as time and the +regulations of his house would allow him.</p> + +<p>After he had left, things seemed to jog on for some time in the same +way. Peggy was studying hard this term, for she was a clever girl, and +liked to take a high place in her class, so most of the evenings were +occupied with home-lessons, and it was only on Saturday that she had any +leisure for the many projects which Archie had begged her to continue in +his absence. Time steals on very quickly when we are fully occupied, and +winter seemed to slide into spring, and daffodils to replace the +snowdrops in the garden before they had realized the welcome change, and +Easter drew near once more, with all its delights of violets, young +lambs, and early blossom.</p> + +<p>It seemed a long while now to the children since Aunt Helen had gone +away, and Lilian had become<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span> so accustomed to the housekeeping that it +was not nearly so much of a care. She had taken up her neglected French +books again, and struggled manfully through 'Paul et Virginie' with the +aid of a dictionary; for Peggy was getting on so fast now that Lilian +felt she would soon be left behind unless she made some effort to keep +up what she had learnt. The evening readings, too, were continued, for +Mr. Howell had suggested 'The Vicar of Wakefield' as being less solid +for a tired mind than 'The French Revolution,' lending her his own +charmingly illustrated copy; and Father had forgotten the farm and all +his other worries in a hearty laugh over Moses and the spectacles, or +Mrs. Primrose's efforts at gentility, declaring that the philosophy of +the light-hearted Vicar exactly suited his own circumstances, and +christening Lilian and Peggy 'Olivia' and 'Sophia' on the spot. Finding +that a success, Lilian followed it up by 'Pride and Prejudice,' and the +'Pickwick Papers'; for she was glad to discover anything that would wipe +away the lines from Father's forehead, if only for an hour, and distract +his thoughts from those terrible deeds and account-books which were wont +to litter the dining-room table at nights. Peggy, too, had begged to sit +up a little later to listen, and I think she learned almost as much from +the readings as from her lessons; for our English classics are an +education in themselves, and those who love them young rarely care to +read much trash afterwards.</p> + +<p>As the days grew longer and lighter, the garden also claimed attention, +and the children were busy digging, raking, and planting, for this year +there were to be special classes in the flower-show for exhibitors under +fifteen, and both Peggy and Bobby had secret hopes of a prize. Then +there was Sky Cottage to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span> tidied and spring-cleaned, for Archie must +not come home at Easter to find it looking neglected, and there were +various little improvements which they wished to make in it to surprise +him on his return.</p> + +<p>It was well that they were all so full of resources for their own +amusement, for otherwise than school they saw almost nothing of the +outside world. The temporary attraction of Aunt Helen's engagement being +over, the neighbours had lapsed again into their customary neglect of +the Abbey, and visitors or invitations were as rare as if they had been +living in the wilds of Africa. It seemed rather hard that sweet, pretty +Lilian should be so entirely overlooked, and I think that somebody—not +to say Mrs. Davenport—might have seen that she had some share in the +merry-makings which went on in many of the country houses round about; +but nobody remembered, and the shy girl herself was quite content to +remain at home, busying herself, like Dame Durden, with her household +cares. Somehow her old school friends seemed to have drifted away from +her. They were full of their own interests, and, on the few occasions +when she happened to meet them, had talked so much of new teachers, new +pupils, and class topics of which she knew nothing, that she had felt a +little 'out of it,' and had an uneasy sensation that, if she spoke of +the quiet little episodes of her daily round they would vote her +housekeeping experiences as decidedly 'slow.' Miss Forster, one of their +kindest friends, had been unwell and confined to her room nearly all the +springtime, and the children had felt her a loss; for besides the bond +with Archie, she loved young people, and had always a word of help or +sympathy for their schemes.</p> + +<p>'I wonder what it feels like to be ill,' said Peggy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span> one day, coming +back from the Willows, where she had been sent to inquire, after one of +Miss Forster's worst attacks. 'We're such a healthy set, we haven't any +of us been a day in bed since we had measles five years ago. I should +think it would be quite fun to send for the doctor, and be fussed over.'</p> + +<p>'I suppose you <em>feel</em> horrid,' replied Lilian. 'But all the same, I've +sometimes thought it must be rather nice to be an interesting invalid. I +wouldn't have minded being Margaret, for instance, in the "Daisy Chain," +to lie on a sofa, and just look beautiful, and set a good example to all +your family, and keep on telling somebody you couldn't marry him, while +he stalked about the room with an air of profound melancholy, and said +he couldn't take to anybody else.'</p> + +<p>'I've always thought I should like to be a foundling,' said Peggy. 'It +is so delightfully mysterious to be picked up from a wreck on the +sea-shore, or saved from a railway accident, and nobody to know who you +are, or anything about you. They always keep your beautiful +baby-clothes, and the gold locket round your neck with the portrait +inside, and then, when you're just grown up, you turn out to be the only +daughter of a duke, who has been mourning for you ever since you were +lost. Orphans, too, don't have half a bad time in books, though they +generally live with rich uncles, and have to wear the old dresses and +stop at home, while their cousins go to parties. They only look sweeter +than ever in the shabby clothes, and something nice always happens while +the others are out—like Mabel, you know, in "Sweet Seventeen." I think +it must be most romantic to be so beautiful and so despised.'</p> + +<p>'Will you try living with the Davenports for a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> while?' laughed Lilian. +'You'd have plenty of chance there of being sat upon, at any rate.'</p> + +<p>But Peggy declined with thanks, declaring the case did not apply at all, +for neither was Mrs. Davenport a rich relation nor was she herself in +the friendless condition necessary for the full requirements of fiction, +so she was afraid the round of amusements and social triumphs generally +enjoyed by the heroine would not fall to her share.</p> + +<p>'I wish we did go out just every now and then, though,' said Peggy, who +occasionally had ambitions after gaiety. 'I haven't been anywhere except +to Miss Forster's or the Rectory since I was at the Middletons last +year. The girls were all talking about parties at school, after the +Christmas holidays, and I hadn't been to a single one, or the pantomime +either, and we never get to any of the concerts at the Spa Gardens. The +Harpers have asked me to their dance next Wednesday, but Father won't +let me go. I wish he would, just for once. It seems so hard never to do +anything like other girls, doesn't it?'</p> + +<p>'It is so difficult, darling, to get you home. You would catch cold if +you came out of hot rooms and drove home at night in the open trap, and +it is dreadfully expensive to hire a cab from Warford. Besides, you +would want new shoes and gloves, and silk stockings, even if your +bridesmaid's dress would be smart enough. If only I had had that money +Aunt Helen sent me on my birthday, you should have gone, but I spent it +every penny on Bobby's cricket flannels, and I don't like to ask Father +for more. You see, we are trying to be so very careful just now. You and +Bobby are not learning dancing this term, and I have even given up my +music-lessons'—with a wistful sigh, for that had been a sore wrench to +poor Lilian.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span>'So you have, Lily mine, and never growled at all over it! I'm a horrid +little wretch, and I wouldn't have taken Aunt Helen's present, even if +you had had it left. I don't really care about parties and things. We +have ever so much fun out here at the Abbey that the girls who live in +Warford never dream of, and it wouldn't be fair to expect both. Easter +will soon be here, and Archie will come home, and then we shall all have +glorious times again!' And Peggy's momentary discontent vanished like +snow in sunshine at the enthralling prospect of several new projects +which her ingenious friend intended carrying out, and of the picnics, +woodland scrambles, and other delights which the holidays would bring in +their train.</p> + +<p>But there was yet a month of the term to run, and the little pony-trap +must make many more journeys to and from Warford before either Pixie or +the children could take a rest, and lessons and school affairs were +still matters of the first importance.</p> + +<p>Accustomed to a daily account of the doings of both himself and his +class-mates, Peggy began to realize about this time that all was not +well with Bobby. Instead of being full of his usual fun on the homeward +journey, he had scarcely anything to tell her. He had been late for +several days at the inn-yard, and had arrived looking so flurried and +peculiar that, although he had laughed it off and made some excuse, she +was certain that things were not as they should be. The pair had never +had any secrets before, so Peggy waited at first for Bobby to tell her, +but as the confidence did not seem to be forthcoming, she one day boldly +taxed him with it.</p> + +<p>'Well,' said Bobby, plucking at the corners of his dog-eared Latin +grammar, 'if you really want to know, it's Jones minor. I didn't mean to +breathe a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span> word, because I hate to be a sneak, and peach, and all that; +but after all, telling you isn't like telling any of the fellows, is +it?' anxious for his code of schoolboy honour.</p> + +<p>'Of course it's not. What about Jones minor?'</p> + +<p>'He bullies me so. He lies in wait for me every afternoon, and I have to +dodge ever so to get out of his way. I came round by five back streets +to-day, and climbed over a garden wall.'</p> + +<p>'How big a boy is he?'</p> + +<p>'Oh, he's a fellow of thirteen, I should think, for he's in the fourth +form. If he were anywhere near my own size I'd fight him, if I had to do +it every day till I licked him. I thrashed Moore last week for punching +little Barton's head.'</p> + +<p>'What does this Jones do to you?'</p> + +<p>'Pulls my ears, and bumps my head against the wall. He twists my arm +round, too, and hammers at it, and he keeps a buckle-strap in his pocket +specially for me, so he says. He's just generally a beast, that's what +he is!'</p> + +<p>'I don't quite know what we can do,' said Peggy. 'If only Archie were at +home he'd soon thrash him into a jelly, and enjoy it. I suppose there's +no one else at school who would champion you?'</p> + +<p>'No, there isn't. Never mind, Pegotty, don't you worry. I'm growing all +the time, and perhaps one day I'll be big enough to go for him, and +after all, a fellow ought to be able to stand a bit of bullying without +going whining home to his sister about it.'</p> + +<p>'Is there much of this sort of thing going on at the Grammar School?' +asked Peggy.</p> + +<p>'A fair amount. Not among the best end of the boys, but some of the +fellows are awful cads. They took Holmes major one day, and held him +upside<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span> down with his head in the lavatory basin till he nearly choked, +and they tied two others up as sparring-cocks to-day, and made them +fight all dinner-time. They're awfully rough on us little boys, too, at +games. We have to fag till we nearly drop sometimes. That great hulking +Taylor half kills young Ford now and then. I'm thankful he doesn't look +my way. It's only Jones minor who attends to me, and he's quite bad +enough.'</p> + +<p>'I only just wish I could catch him at it,' said Peggy reflectively; and +there for the present the matter ended.</p> + +<p>But a few days after this the pony-trap waited in vain, and Peggy, who +had walked leisurely three times from the inn-door to the end of the +street, grew tired of loitering about, and sallied forth to look for the +truant. It would be useless to try the highways, she knew, so +accordingly her search must be in the by-ways, and she made a little +tour of investigation round all the back streets between the inn and the +Grammar School, but without success, and she was just thinking she must +have missed him, and had better return to the inn-yard, when a fortunate +chance prompted her to turn up a retired avenue which lay between the +two main roads. It was a quiet spot, with long gardens leading to +old-fashioned houses on the one side, and the tall palings of a +cricket-field on the other—just the spot where nobody would be likely +to come along and make a disturbance, and so evidently Jones minor +seemed to think, for he held Bobby pinned against the wall with one +hand, while with the other he amused himself by tweaking his ears, +pulling his hair, and any other tortures which his ingenious mind could +suggest at the moment.</p> + +<p>At the sight of this edifying spectacle Peggy flew on to the scene like +Diana on the war-path.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="if" id="if"></a> +<img src="images/col05.jpg" class="jpg" width="400" height="591" alt="" /> +<span class="caption">"IF YOU BREAK YOUR WORD, I'LL LET ALL WARFORD KNOW THAT +YOU'VE BEEN KNOCKED DOWN AND THRASHED BY A GIRL."</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span>'Here,' she cried indignantly, 'you Jones! Just stop that, will you?'</p> + +<p>'Mind your own business, you—whoever you are!' cried the boy rudely. +'I'll do what I like!'</p> + +<p>Bobby tried to dodge away, but the bully caught him by the arm, and, +partly to show off, commenced such an excruciating twist that the tears +started to his victim's eyes, though he did not utter a sound. It was +too much for Peggy. She looked carefully round to see that no one was +near, flung down her books with a bang on the pavement, and—simply went +for Jones minor.</p> + +<p>The assault was so utterly unexpected that he rolled over like a +ninepin. Peggy might be small for her age, but she was strong and +muscular, and she had the spirit of a Cœur de Lion and the courage of +a Joan of Arc. Her method of boxing was certainly not scientific, but +she set to work to punish Jones minor according to her own ideas of +warfare. With two well-directed blows she nearly closed his eyes before +he had time even to see his assailant. She punched his head, tweaked his +ears, and hammered into the soft portions of his body until he roared +for mercy, for, like all bullies, he was a coward at heart, and had a +vague impression that some very superior force must suddenly have +descended upon him.</p> + +<p>'Have you had enough?' said Peggy at last, with her foot on her foe's +chest, and her fist at his swollen nose.</p> + +<p>'Yes, thanky!' faltered the snivelling Jones.</p> + +<p>'Then swear on your honour, if you have any, that you'll never lay a +finger on my brother again. If you'll promise that faithfully, we'll +neither of us tell, but if you break your word, I'll let all Warford +know that you've been knocked down and thrashed by a girl!'</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span>'Hooray! hooray!' cried two voices, and two tall boys in Grammar School +caps came clambering over the palings from the cricket-field, whence +they had been the delighted but unseen witnesses of the encounter.</p> + +<p>'By Jove! you're a girl worth knowing!' said the taller boy. 'The way +you rolled him flat was the funniest sight I've seen for many a year! +Get up, Jones, you sneaking, drivelling cur!'—kicking the prostrate +form of that fallen hero. 'And if ever I catch you at any of your tricks +with Vaughan again I'll settle you myself, I promise you, though I don't +know whether I could have done it any better than this, after all!' +glancing with an eye of admiration at the victorious Peggy, who, with +split gloves, scarlet cheeks, and wild-flying curls, stood panting after +the contest.</p> + +<p>'Golly! if you were <em>my</em> sister, I'd be proud of you!' he continued, +while the other boy picked up her hat from the roadway, and collected +her scattered school-books. 'I like a girl with pluck, and you've got +enough for ten of 'em. I say, Vaughan, I'll try you to fag for me, if +you like. You're a good runner, I hear, and no butter-fingers. You can +begin to-morrow.'</p> + +<p>'And <em>he</em> is the Captain of the school eleven!' said Bobby afterwards, +who would have felt it scarcely so great an honour to be noticed by the +Prince of Wales. 'There isn't a boy in my class who isn't yearning to be +Farrar's fag. They'll be just wild with envy! Peggy, you're about the +biggest trump on the face of the earth, and I'll never forget this day +if I live to be a hundred!'</p> + +<p>Jones minor found he also had good reason to remember the occasion, for +as Farrar and Henderson<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span> felt no obligation to observe secrecy, his life +at Warford Grammar School was for some time a burden to him. Constant +references as to his fondness for female society, offers to see him home +to protect him on the way, tender inquiries as to the state of his eyes +and the condition of his ears, filled him with confusion, while large +portraits of Jones in the clutches of an imaginary Amazon, executed with +schoolboy talent and vigour, adorned the walls of the playground and the +palings of the cricket-field.</p> + +<p>Peggy's onslaught really seemed to have done some good in the school, +for the attention of the older and better boys being called to the +subject of bullying, a stand was made, and public opinion ran high +against it, so that for a time, at any rate, the little boys had peace, +and Bobby was able to return daily by the ordinary high-road, instead of +seeking the shelter of side-paths and back alleys.</p> + +<p>Bobby's letter to Archie on the subject of the encounter, though hardly +a model of orthography, was as stirring as the ballad of Chevy Chase.</p> + +<p>'She lade the villin flat on the erth, and I just wish you cud have seen +her punch his hed,' he wrote. 'She nocked him about like a pottatoe. +Peggy is awful strong wen her blud is up, and she sez she wuld do it +agen to save my Life. Jones minor stopt at home two days arfter. He +cudunt stand the jeers of the other boys, and they still give it him +badly. Farrar is jolly good to me now. I like fagging for him better +than enything. Peggy won't tork about wot she has done at all. She sez +she is rather ashamed of it now, and that you wuld think her a bigger +tomboy than ever; but all the boys at skule call her a brick, and so do +I, and if she comes to see the bote race at Easter they mean to chear +her.'</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span>Archie wrote back at once to congratulate the heroine, and Peggy +treasured the letter for days, until the new pet lamb accidentally +chewed it up. It ran thus:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="indent2em">'<span class="smcap">My dear Peggy</span>,</p> + +<p>'I think it was just elegant of you, and I won't call you t..b.y +any more if you don't like it. Instead I will christen you +Ta-ka-pun-ka, which in the language of the Chincowawas means +"Girl-afraid-of-nothing," for you are as good as one of our +Indian braves. I only wish you had taken his scalp, but I +suppose you hadn't time. When I come back at Easter I will teach +you to box, and then you will be ready for anybody, only please +don't tackle me. I shall have to be careful how I quarrel with +you now. If I am home in time for the boat-race I shall come and +cheer, too. I am longing to get back to Gorswen. Bobby never +said if the water-wheel was all right. I hope no one has touched +it while I have been away. Why don't you write and tell me about +it, and about Sky Cottage, too? I shall have heaps of school +news for you when I come home, and I have thought of several +fresh things we can make; but I shan't tell you what they are +till I see you, so curb your curiosity until the holidays.</p> + +<p>'Hoping Prickles, and the rabbits, and all the other pets are +well,</p> + +<p class="center">'Your affectionate friend,<br /> +<span class="smcap pl6">'Archie Forster</span>.'</p> +</blockquote> + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span> +<a name="xx" id="xx"></a>CHAPTER XX<br /> +<br /> +<span class="sub">GORSWEN FAIR</span></h2> + +<div class="block24"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'Come, let us go while we are in our prime,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And take the harmless folly of the time.'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Easter</span> was here at last, and down at the Willows Archie had come home +like the breath of spring, Miss Forster declaring that he did her more +good than all her medicine bottles, and that his lively ways would make +her almost her usual self again, while at the Abbey he had a royal +welcome. It was funny to see how the young American citizen was merging +into the British public schoolboy, for Archie was losing his Western +accent, which only cropped out now and then when he was excited, and +cricket and football were beginning to replace Indians and grizzlies in +his conversation; but he was totally unspoilt by his new life, and as +jolly and hearty as ever.</p> + +<p>The weather seemed to have conspired in his favour, for the biting March +winds and cutting hail-storms gave way to genial sunshine and April +showers. The hedgerows had burst into tender green, and the banks were +spangled with stitchwort and celandine stars. There had been quite a +spell of sickness in Gorswen at the end of the winter, for many of the +picturesque cottages were dark, unwholesome places inside, and lay low +on the damp fields by the river; but the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> invalids crept out now into +the sunlight, and the mild breezes blew roses into wan cheeks and +brightness into dull eyes, bringing back health, that most priceless of +gifts, to the village—to all, indeed, but the Rector, who had been +sick-nurse, doctor's assistant, family friend and chaplain combined +during the epidemic, and now that the strain was over broke down so +utterly that the physician insisted upon a complete rest and change of +air, ordering him off immediately to the high meadows of the Alps. He +went unwillingly.</p> + +<p>'I would rather worry on, Peggy,' he said, 'till I can take that last +long holiday of all. It is better to wear out than rust out, any day. +Still, our bodies were not given us to abuse, so you see I am obeying +orders, like a good soldier.'</p> + +<p>The village seemed strangely empty without Mr. Howell. Everyone had +become so accustomed to claim his help and sympathy upon every occasion +as a matter of course that it was only when he was gone they realized +how much they valued him, for many of our blessings are hardly +appreciated until we have lost them. The curate did his best, but as the +old dames remarked: 'He be a nice gentleman, and means well, for sure; +but what can a young lad like that have to say to we?'</p> + +<p>So they dusted their best chairs for him, and agreed with all his +remarks about the weather or the Prayer Book, but kept their doubts and +difficulties for the tried old friend who had stood the test of years.</p> + +<p>Most of the people had made haste to get well for Easter, for to the +good folk of Gorswen that festival meant but one event—the great fair +of the borders, which had been held in the village every Easter Tuesday +within the memory of even that wonderful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span> person, the oldest inhabitant. +It was a kind of central pivot for the year to turn on, and 'five years +come fair-day,' or 'the last fair-day but one agone,' was the general +method of calculating time amongst the villagers. Everybody put on +something new for the fair, and to have appeared on that occasion in a +last year's hat would have been an offence against public taste, or a +confession of abject poverty scarcely removed above pauperism. Cousins +to the ninth and tenth degree turned up for the fair, distant relations +from remote districts or former inhabitants who had left the +neighbourhood and 'got on' in other places availed themselves of cheap +excursions, and visited their early home, partly for the holiday, and +partly for the sake of meeting everyone else.</p> + +<p>The wave of excitement which spread over the village as Easter drew near +could scarcely fail to send its ripples up to the Abbey. Nancy's +evenings for some time past had been absorbed in the construction of a +bright heliotrope gown with gilt buttons, and she had walked into +Warford on her day out, and spent a month's wages upon a hat, which was +such a marvellous erection of flowers and feathers combined with lace, +chiffon, and ribbons, that it was calculated to leave her rivals, like +the Queen of Sheba, with no more spirit in them.</p> + +<p>'Which fair-day only comes onst a year, so folks may as well do their +best,' she observed, as she tried it on before the kitchen mirror. 'And +I had heard as that Sally Pearson has got a hat all the way from +Shrewsbury. A squint-eyed baggage she be, too, who'd ne'er look aught, +whatever she might clap on her head. Tell me truly now, Miss Peggy dear, +does it suit me or not?'</p> + +<p>Knowing that Nancy was capable of starting immedi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span>ately for Warford to +change the article in question for one yet more costly, Peggy hastened +to answer in the affirmative, and Bobby likewise assuring her that it +would 'take the cake, and no mistake,' it was carefully folded up again +in its sheets of white tissue-paper, and put by until the great day +should arrive.</p> + +<p>Nor was Nancy the only one who indulged in a little innocent vanity, for +Joe, too, had been so fastidious in his choice of a red-and-blue spotted +necktie and a walking-stick with an ivory handle that the children began +to suspect the blacksmith's rosy-cheeked daughter must be at the bottom +of it; and even David had taken a long-tailed coat and a beaver hat out +of the retirement of some mysterious bandboxes and had been quite snappy +and particular with Mrs. David on the subject of the proper starching +and ironing of his Sunday shirt.</p> + +<p>As early as Monday morning, caravans began to arrive from all parts of +the country, and encamp on the piece of green common opposite the mill. +Tired-looking men in dirty shirt-sleeves were soon busy setting up +swings and merry-go-rounds, theatres and shooting-galleries, while the +arrival of a travelling menagerie was the occasion for the collecting of +a whole crowd of small yokels, who studied the outside of the waggons +with breathless delight.</p> + +<p>'Hey, Billee! do 'ee hear the lion roar?'</p> + +<p>'Lion! That be a jackass brayin', thee fule!'</p> + +<p>'Jackass theeself! Don't I know a moke from a wild beast? I tell 'ee +'tis within the tent!'</p> + +<p>'Here be the fat woman arrivin', and it do take four horses to drag her, +for sure!'</p> + +<p>'And the wild man from Borneo. Ay, if he be like his picture outside, +I'll ne'er venture in reach of him!'</p> + +<p>'Thee's not got the penny, may be!'</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span>'Hain't I? Say that agin, and I'll let 'ee know!'</p> + +<p>'Way back there, ye young rascals! there's the giant and the dwarf +a-comin'!'</p> + +<p>And the youngsters scattered, to leave the green free, and to feast +their imaginations upon the gaudy representations of the various +attractions which adorned the sides of the yellow caravans that crept +slowly up the dusty road from Warford. This, however, was only to be the +pleasure part of the fair. Early on Tuesday morning the real business of +the day started, for then the shepherds began to bring down their flocks +of sheep from the surrounding mountains, the cattle-drovers came with +their sleek cows and long-horned young bullocks, and whole herds of +rough little Welsh ponies were driven with much noise and shouting from +the high moorlands over the border.</p> + +<p>Quiet, sleepy Gorswen seemed completely transformed. The village street +from end to end was an impassable block of charging bullocks, kicking +ponies, barking collies, and bawling drovers, which overflowed past the +Rectory and up to the Willows on the one hand, and nearly as far as the +Abbey gates on the other. Having tried in vain to edge a way through the +press, Peggy and Bobby tacked round by the fields, and scrambling over a +garden wall, found a temporary refuge in the churchyard, which stood +some height above the level of the road, and where, from the +vantage-ground of a convenient tombstone, they found they had an +excellent view of the fair below. The noise was deafening. Animals were +lowing, bellowing, bleating, whinnying, or squeaking in every note of +the octave; cocks crew, ducks quacked, dogs barked, and men talked and +shouted in Welsh and English till a chance comer might have imagined +him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span>self in pandemonium. A cartful of little pigs drawn up beneath the +wall rent the air with their cries, and not the least funny incident was +to watch a stout farmer's wife, despairing of driving her bargain +through the crowd, wrap her squealing purchase in her mantle, and carry +him off in her arms, like 'Alice' with the Duchess's baby. Most of the +cows had been sold first thing, and were being driven away with much +forcible language on the part of their drovers, and it was now the turn +of the cart-horses, beautiful glossy creatures with tails tied up with +straw and manes plaited with ribbons as if for May-day. By good luck +their paces were tried just under the churchyard, so the children got +all the fun of the bargaining.</p> + +<p>'There's Jimmy Fowler selling his Black Bess,' cried Peggy, nearly +falling over the wall in her excitement. 'See that tall Welshman feeling +her knees and looking at her teeth. <em>Aren't</em> they quarrelling over the +price? Oh, he's taken her, for they've both clapped their hands over it! +What a lot of sovereigns he's counting into Jimmy's hand! Now he's +leading her away. I hope she's got a good home; she's such a gentle old +thing!'</p> + +<p>'Here come the ponies!' shouted Bobby, as a wild stampede round the +inn-corner proclaimed the advent of one of the principal features of the +fair.</p> + +<p>It was a good thing that the children were in a place of safety, for +anyone down in the roadway below stood a very fair chance of being +trampled to death by the frightened, plunging herd which surged up the +street, scattering the spectators like leaves before a storm. Utterly +wild and unbroken, the little rough-coated things showed their +disapproval of this their first taste of civilization by every means in +their power, rearing, bucking, and kicking to the best of their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> +ability. Bargaining in that throng was no easy matter, but their owners +would dash in, seize a pony by the mane and tail, and by sheer force +drag it away from its companions, the very small size of the animals +rendering practicable what would have been impossible with a larger +breed. Dealers had come from all parts of England and Wales, for Gorswen +Fair was noted for its ponies, and a good deal of money changed hands +that day. It made Peggy quite sad to think that the little creatures +were mostly bought for the mines, and that, once broken and trained, +they would never see daylight again, but spend their lives drawing +trucks up and down the low galleries underground, having said good-bye +to their native moorlands for ever.</p> + +<p>Across the road, in the broad square by the inn, the sheep were huddled +in pens, each flock watched by its own clever collie, who seemed to +think it a cardinal virtue to get up a free fight with every other dog +in the fair. Barking, biting, and snarling, the combatants had +continually to be seized by the tails, forcibly separated, and kicked +yelping back to their duties, where they stood with bristling ears, +growling at each other through the hurdles, and showing their teeth like +a pack of wolves. But the buying and selling were over at last, and the +live-stock having been conveyed away, Gorswen turned its attention to +the side of pleasure. Small booths sprang up like magic under the church +wall, and cheap-jacks and travelling hucksters began to proclaim their +wares. The thrifty village housewives were doing a thriving business in +tea and ginger-pop, for a cattle fair is thirsty work, and the inn was +filled to overflowing. All the little gardens were set out with chairs +and tables, and the rattle of cups and the flying of corks<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span> made a brisk +accompaniment to the buzz of conversation. The crowd which surged along +the main street was a laughing, merry-making crowd, indulging in a flow +of broad chaff and humour, and bandying jokes with friends and strangers +alike.</p> + +<p>The children had returned after dinner to their point of vantage on the +churchyard wall, and found as much amusement in the sight below as in +the livelier scenes of the morning.</p> + +<p>'There's Joe!' cried Bobby with deep interest, as that worthy passed +sheepishly by, a posy of wall-flowers in his buttonhole and the +blacksmith's daughter hanging on his arm. 'He's got a tall collar and a +pair of tan shoes on. <em>Isn't</em> he a swell!'</p> + +<p>Nancy's hat was a conspicuous object among the smart throng, for Lilian, +after one peep at the fair, had charitably kept house herself, and +allowed her hand-maiden to take a holiday, and the damsel seemed to +have collected so many admirers that the luckless Sally was entirely +eclipsed. Old David was there, quite smiling for once, with Mrs. David +in a new bonnet, and quite a swarm of small grandchildren around him.</p> + +<p>'He's actually buying them humbugs!' said Peggy. 'And he carried the +little one in the blue dress all down the street. I never saw David look +so pleasant in my life before. I think holidays agree with him!'</p> + +<p>Peggy was right there, for a little pleasure is good for most people, +and there were many bright faces and hearty greetings and handshakings +among the pushing crowd.</p> + +<p>'Hello! so this is where you're hiding!' cried a voice from the roadway +below; and Archie seized an overhanging branch of the big yew-tree, and +swung himself up into the churchyard. 'I have been look<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span>ing for you +everywhere. Couldn't find you this morning for the jam. I've seen some +cute sights in my life, but this fair do beat 'em all! It's like +Barnum's and Mexican Joe flung together, with a cake-walk afterwards!'</p> + +<p>'It's bigger than ever this year, and prices are well up,' remarked +Bobby, with the air of a budding farmer. 'We sold our brown cow for a +pound more than we thought we should, and the ponies went off ever so +high. Did you watch them race round this corner? Didn't the people run?'</p> + +<p>'You should see us break in big horses wild out West. That would make +you stare, if you like. This is mere child's play to it. Where's +Lilian?'</p> + +<p>'Keeping house. Mrs. Davenport's there. She drove over to the fair with +her gardener, and she's bought two cows and four little pigs. They've +turned them all into the loose-box at the Abbey, and they're waiting +till the roads are quieter to take them home. She'll be there for some +time yet. No, we thought we wouldn't go back to tea just at present; +we're not hungry.'</p> + +<p>Divining the cause of this very unwonted lack of appetite on the part of +his friends, Archie proposed an adjournment to one of the numerous +stalls below.</p> + +<p>'Come along with me,' he said, 'and have some cakes and ginger-pop. +We'll do the shows afterwards, and have a real high old time. I'll stand +treat.'</p> + +<p>Nothing loth to have a share in the afternoon's fun, the children +dropped from the wall, and each accommodated with one of Archie's arms, +they went the round of the fair in true village fashion. They feasted +upon ginger-nuts at one stall and lemonade at another, and filled their +pockets with mint rock and caramels.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span> Archie was determined to enter +every one of the gaudy shows which were drawn up in a line along the +green, and dealt out his pennies in princely fashion.</p> + +<p>'Here you are, sir, the fat woman! A most improvin' exhibition!'</p> + +<p>'The wild man from Borneo! Safe in <a name="an" id="an"></a><ins title="Original has a">an</ins> iron cage, and can't hurt +yer!'</p> + +<p>'This way for the giant and dwarf! Come in, and open yer minds!'</p> + +<p>'Circassian beauty! Only a penny!'</p> + +<p>'All right, keep your hair on, old chaps!' cried Archie, nearly pulled +to pieces among the rival showmen. 'We calculate to work right down +the row in due course, and we'll take you all in turn. Let us start fair +and square with number one!'</p> + +<p>Number one proved to be the 'Wild Man from Borneo,' a half-human looking +creature with hairy arms ('Just monkey-skin stitched on to him,' Archie +assured the children), who sat jabbering in a corner of his cage, making +occasional ape-like grabs at the clothing of the passers-by. He was such +a palpable fraud that they soon left him, to gaze on the genuine charms +of the fat woman, who sat stolid and smiling on a sofa, displaying a +stout ankle to the best advantage. Peggy was rather fascinated, but +Archie made such very rude inquiries as to whether she were aspiring to +attain an equal bulk that she indignantly dragged him away to view the +living skeleton, a fearful, hollow-cheeked object, whose bones could +almost be counted. After that came the giant and dwarf, the former a +weedy specimen of unwholesome overgrowth, while the latter looked as if +he had been reared upon gin to keep him small. Then there was the +Circassian Beauty, with the strong suggestion of Whitechapel about her,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span> +the bearded lady, the man with the expansive skin, the six-legged calf, +and the two-headed duck, to say nothing of the man who ate fire and +swallowed swords as if they constituted his usual diet.</p> + +<p>Archie insisted upon trying both the swing-boats and the merry-go-round, +and supported the drooping Peggy (who found the motion tend to +sea-sickness) with a firm arm, otherwise I fear she would have slipped +off her prancing steed altogether. They spent quite a long time in the +shooting-gallery, and won a cocoa-nut, which Bobby proudly carried +round the fair, and they had their photographs taken in a group, but +some air-bubbles having unfortunately got on to the plate, their +countenances came out speckled as though they were suffering from a +virulent attack of small-pox; but Peggy kept it, all the same, as a +memento of the occasion. Archie peeped into the cinematograph, but +judging it not very suitable for his little companions, marched them on +to hear the gramophone instead, which was winding out a rather +indistinguishable song.</p> + +<p>'I can't hear a single one of the words,' said Peggy, rather +disappointed. 'Something makes such a buzzing all the time.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, that's the machinery. I guess they've not got it set up quite +square. I'd soon fix it for them, if they'd let me. I took ours all to +pieces once at home'—and Archie glanced quite wistfully at the +instrument, almost ready to offer his services gratis, till a suggestive +pull from Peggy in the direction of the door caused him to remember that +his friends might prefer the superior attractions of the menagerie.</p> + +<p>Neither Peggy nor Bobby had ever seen a wild-beast show before, for +those visits to the Zoo, which are the joy of little Londoners, do not +fall to the share<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span> of country children, and Archie had quite a lively +time keeping them out of harm's way, for Peggy declared the leopard +looked so exactly like Tabbyskins at home that she must positively try +to stroke it, and was under the rope and up to the bars before Archie +could seize her by her skirts and drag her back, while Bobby's curiosity +on the subject of jackals and hyenas nearly led to the ejection of the +whole party from the tent. The small rodents and the mongoose delighted +Peggy, and they would have stopped for ever watching the monkeys, and +feeding them on nuts and biscuits, but Archie had other plans.</p> + +<p>'There's a circus down by the river, with Japanese acrobats, and +performing dogs, and a pig that stands on its head. I know you'd just +admire to see them; and it can't be late yet, so come right along!'</p> + +<p>Such an inducement sent even the attractions of the baby 'possum to the +winds, and feeling that Archie was indeed a friend worth having, they +trotted ecstatically under his wing to the great, flapping tent, where +the flaming posters set forth the attractions of 'The Brothers Amalfi,' +'Jingo, the Performing Pig,' and the 'Marvellous Flying Girl.' Being +well provided with pocket-money, and liking to do things in style, +Archie took reserved seats, and they sat in great state on a front bench +covered with faded scarlet cloth, and felt proudly that the man with the +drum kept his eye upon them, and the clown turned in their direction +when he let off his best jokes.</p> + +<p>It was all a whirl of delight to Peggy and Bobby, from the accomplished +dogs who danced skirt-dances to the little pig who dragged the clown in +a mail-cart and turned somersaults with amazing dexterity. The flying +lady fluttered across the tent so naturally that you quite forgot you +could see the wire that supported<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span> her airy form; the Japanese acrobats +climbed ropes, hung head downwards from poles, and suspended themselves +in a combination of marvellous attitudes, finally tying their agile +bodies together in a knot; a Hindoo conjuror performed marvels in the +way of canaries from under pocket-handkerchiefs, umbrellas out of +top-hats, even producing yards and yards of coloured ribbons out of his +own open mouth, much to Bobby's mystification; while the horses pounded +round the ring with quite commendable spirit, and a lady rider in gauze +and spangles jumped through hoops on to their backs with reckless +daring.</p> + +<p>'Oh, Archie, take me home!' cried Peggy at last, for a diet of +ginger-nuts, mint-rock, and lemonade is not exactly sustaining, and the +hobby-horses and swings, combined with the hot, stifling atmosphere of +the tent, made her suddenly feel as if the world were turning round her.</p> + +<p>'All right, old girl; you do look queer, certainly. Cling on to me, and +we'll fight our way out somehow. Come along, Bobby. Now then, make room +there, can't you? The lady's ill!' And pushing, edging, and struggling +through the crowd, Archie half carried her down the tent, and tugged her +through the doorway into the fresh air outside.</p> + +<p>They nearly fell into Father's arms.</p> + +<p>'Why, you naughty children! wherever have you been?' he exclaimed. 'I +have been hunting for you for hours. Lilian is almost distracted, +thinking you had been kidnapped in the fair; and Miss Forster has sent +up twice from the Willows. Don't you know it is nearly nine o'clock?'</p> + +<p>'They've been all right with me, sir,' said Archie. 'I've been taking +them round the shows, and time went so fast, I forgot to look at my +watch. But if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span> aunt's in a stew, I'd better cut off home as fast as I +can, and ease her mind. Here, Peggy, take the rest of the mint-rock, +Bobby has the gingerbread!'</p> + +<p>But the remains of the revel, crammed generously into her arms, seemed +the last straw to poor Peggy, and Father took home such a very limp and +dejected young lady that he might well remark it was a good thing +fair-day only came once a year, an opinion in which a great many people +in Gorswen might feel disposed to agree with him.</p> + + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span> +<a name="xxi" id="xxi"></a>CHAPTER XXI<br /> +<br /> +<span class="sub">ROLLO'S GRAVE</span></h2> + +<div class="block20"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'Under the wide and starry sky<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dig the grave, and let him lie.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Glad did he live, and gladly die,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And he laid him down with a will.'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Rollo</span>, now grown into a fine dog of a year old, remained Peggy's +favourite among all her numerous pets. Though she had not again tried +him for a bedfellow, he was still the companion of her walks, and the +most winsome playmate on wet days, and Peggy firmly believed that he +understood every word she said to him. He was growing clever with the +sheep, too, and Father hoped to be able to train him into a really +valuable collie, even hinting that he might in time gain a prize at the +annual sheep-dog contests which were held for the district of Gorswen +and the Welsh border. Peggy liked to see Rollo working with the sheep, +the tips of his ears twitching and his faithful brown eyes bright with +intelligence, as he cleverly sorted the lambs which Father had pointed +out from the rest of the flock, and drove them neatly into the +enclosure, coming up whimpering with pride for the praise which he knew +awaited his efforts.</p> + +<p>One lovely April morning Peggy started off alone, on the ostensible +errand of going to pay half a crown<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span> which was owing to old Williams, +the mole-catcher, but the more real one of gathering primroses and +hunting about for birds' nests. It was seldom that she was separated +from Bobby, who was as constant as her shadow, but to-day he had +preferred to stay and work in his garden, having many designs for its +improvement, while the holidays were waning only too fast. Peggy had +whistled for Rollo, but he was not to be found, and it was only when she +was more than half-way down the pasture that he came racing after her as +hard as he could tear, nearly knocking her down in the exuberance of his +joy.</p> + +<p>Instead of walking along the high-road, Peggy determined to take the +path through the fields which skirted the preserves belonging to Lord +Hazelford's estate, for the finest primroses grew at the edge of the +wood, and the earliest bluebells, and many a snug little nest might be +found hidden away in those quiet hedgerows. It was a glorious morning, +with the larks singing overhead and the thrushes trilling in the bushes, +and that delicious smell of the earth which we often notice in early +spring, and which makes the blood run through our veins like rising sap. +The trees were clothed with the pale, tender green of April, and a +cuckoo, the first of the year, flew out of the copse, and, cuckooing +loudly, sped over to where the larch-trees were bursting out into a +crowd of tassels. Peggy had no pocket in her dress, but she turned the +half-crown in her hand for good luck, and hoped it might answer the same +purpose. Rollo was almost as happy as his mistress. He poked his nose +into all the rabbit-burrows, he chased the birds, and dug holes for +rats, and generally behaved as if he were a puppy again, instead of a +sedate, grown-up dog, snapping at the flies, and standing over Peggy +wagging his tail in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span> approval, while she gathered violets and +wood-anemones.</p> + +<p>The path which Peggy was following ran along a lane with the wood on one +side and a tall hedge on the other. It was a lonely spot, for there was +not even a farmhouse in sight, and as it was only a by-road it was very +seldom frequented, even by the country people. As she swung the gate +open, and passed from the field into the lane, she saw a sight which for +a moment made her hang back doubtfully, for a tramp lay stretched out +full length asleep in the sunshine, his tattered clothes and broken +boots a strange contrast to the bed of white daisies and celandine upon +which he lay. Peggy was not generally afraid of poor people, but even in +sleep this man had an evil, hang-dog look about his face, which might +have warned many an older person to give him a wide berth. She stood for +a little while with the gate in her hand, hesitating whether to go +forward or not, then, thinking she could probably pass him quietly +without waking him, she walked on, treading on tip-toe. But he could not +have been so fast asleep as she supposed, for he sprang up as she neared +him, and casting a swift glance round to see whether she were +accompanied or alone, held out his hand, and begged for money.</p> + +<p>'I have none to give you,' said Peggy, trying to pass him by; but he +stood over the path before her with a blustering air.</p> + +<p>'No money! What's that in your hand?' he said roughly.</p> + +<p>Peggy put her hand under her dress, and tried to beat a retreat to the +gate.</p> + +<p>'Now then!' cried the man, with a horrible oath, 'none of your slinking +off! You give me what you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span> have there, or I'll break every bone in your +body, and worse! Here! Hand it over, quick!'</p> + +<p>He came a step nearer, but at that moment there was a rush and a rustle, +and Rollo bounded like an arrow through the gate, and flew at his +throat. The two rolled over together, and Peggy clung trembling to the +gatepost as she watched the confused heap at her feet, Rollo scratching, +snarling, and biting like a wild beast, and the tramp kicking, fighting, +and swearing in a way which made her blood go cold to hear. She was too +terrified to run away, and could only stand there, a breathless witness +of the scuffle. Now the dog had the mastery, and now the man, as each +panted and fought for his life; but at length something bright gleamed +in the sunlight, there was a cry of agony, and Rollo lay in a pool of +blood upon the grass. The tramp raised himself slowly up, and looked at +Peggy. Peggy shrieked, such a shriek of ghastly terror that it might +have been heard a mile away, and mercifully it <em>was</em> heard, for there +was an answering call from the wood, followed by a rustle of branches +and dead leaves, and the keeper and his son burst through the thick +undergrowth, and came scrambling over the fence, almost before the echo +of her cry had died away. The tramp took to his heels, and was off down +the lane with sturdy Harry Adams racing after him, in less time than it +takes to tell it.</p> + +<p>'After him, Hal!' yelled his father. 'Don't let the villain escape! Send +a shot through his leg if he's gaining on you! Has the brute hurt you, +Miss Vaughan?'—looking Peggy tenderly over to see that no damage was +done.</p> + +<p>Peggy shook her head, for speech seemed almost impossible at that +moment, and she broke away from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span> the keeper's eager inquiries to kneel +down by Rollo's side, trying vainly to staunch the crimson stream that +was draining his life away. But Rollo was beyond the reach of help now. +The poor beast made a feeble effort to raise himself up to greet his +loved little mistress; he whined, licked her hand, and with one last +affectionate glance from his rapidly-glazing eyes, rolled over on his +side—quite dead.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>'He was a faithful friend, Peggy, for he laid down his life for you,' +said Father later on in the day, when poor Rollo's body had been carried +home to the stable, and the tramp safely lodged by Mr. Adams and Harry +in Warford Gaol, to await his trial for attempted highway robbery and +assault.</p> + +<p>Peggy had cried till her cheeks were purple and swollen and her eyes +were only two aching slits. She took her troubles hardly, and just at +present it seemed to her as if life could never be quite the same again. +Bobby, almost equally afflicted, had the added trial of trying to +conceal his grief, for he regarded tears as unmanly, and the result was +a peculiar shortness and roughness of manner, with frequent rushings +away to the barn when his feelings overcame him. Joe, whose sympathy +could not have been more genuine if Peggy had lost a parent, hovered +about all day, trying to console the bereaved pair, with small success, +till towards evening a sudden flash of genius inspired him to suggest a +funeral, perhaps his village experience teaching him that the bustle and +preparation necessary for such a ceremony was the best safety-valve to +work off sorrow.</p> + +<p>'We might bury him among the ruins, Miss Peggy. There's a fine place +round by the old abbot's house,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span> where the ground is soft, and we could +dig easy; and I've a cousin in the slate-quarries at Bethogwen as has +promised many a time to cut me a little tombstone as a present, if ever +I was wantin' one, so I'll ask him to bring it next time he comes, and +put Rollo's name on it, and the day, and as how he died defendin' you; +and we'll fix it up nice, and plant flowers round, just as if it was the +churchyard.'</p> + +<p>Peggy sat up, and wiped her eyes with the corner of her damp +pocket-handkerchief.</p> + +<p>'He ought to be in the real churchyard,' she said chokily. 'If ever a +dog deserved the Victoria Cross and a military funeral, it's Rollo!'</p> + +<p>'Do you think he'll go to heaven?' asked Bobby, with a suspicious gulp.</p> + +<p>'Of course he will! I wonder you can ask such a question! Heaven +wouldn't be heaven unless we found Rollo there! We'll wrap his body in +the Union Jack, and pick all our best flowers to strew round him; and +you might fire off your old pistol over his grave, if Father will let +you have any gunpowder—a parting salute, you know, like they do for +officers,' said Peggy, cheering up a little at the thought of arranging +the obsequies.</p> + +<p>Just at sunset the melancholy procession started off from the stable +towards the ruins. Joe and Bobby were bearers, and carried between them +the packing-case lid, draped with all the available flags that could be +found, which bore what had once been poor Rollo. Peggy followed as chief +mourner, her arms full of wreaths and flowers, and a piece of black +crape, purloined from the scrap-bag, pinned conspicuously upon her hat. +The place chosen was among the most perfect part of the old Abbey, not +so much filled up with stones and rubbish as the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span> great refectory or the +remains of the choir. Tradition pointed it out as the abbot's house, and +that name had clung to it through all the hundreds of years since the +busy monks had lived and worked there.</p> + +<p>'Suppose you dig just here, Joe,' cried Peggy, selecting a spot where a +blackthorn was bursting forth into a sheet of white blossom and the +primroses were yellowest and best.</p> + +<p>Joe moistened the palms of his hands in the orthodox fashion, and +seizing the spade began to shovel away at the loose, light soil. He had +dug about three feet deep when his spade struck against a smooth, flat +stone, which, instead of coming out easily amongst the rubbish, seemed +to extend for some way underneath the surface.</p> + +<p>'It looks like a paving-stone, for all the world,' he said, sweeping the +soil away from it with his hand. 'I'll dig out the earth all around it, +and see what it do be.'</p> + +<p>It took Joe a considerable time to clear the stone, though Bobby went to +his aid with a trowel; but he got it free at last, and Peggy stooped +down curiously to examine it.</p> + +<p>'There are marks on it, like letters and queer figures, but they're all +filled up with soil,' she said. 'It seems to me it's a kind of lid, and +if you dig round the edge a little more, Joe, we might lift it up. It's +rather like the cover of one of those old stone coffins in the +churchyard, only smaller. I wonder if there is anything inside?'</p> + +<p>Joe set to work again with a will, clearing out the earth well from +under the side of the stone; then, putting his fingers beneath it, he +gave a mighty jerk of his strong arms, and up it came, nearly upsetting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span> +him with the force of the recoil. Three eager faces peered anxiously +down into what certainly looked like the inside of a small stone coffin, +but instead of containing mouldering bones, it held a good-sized chest +of oak, bound with iron, rather rusted and crumbling, but still holding +quite firmly together.</p> + +<p>'Lift it out, Joe!' cried Peggy, in such excitement that Rollo was +almost forgotten for the moment. 'Whatever can be inside it?'</p> + +<p>'It bean't no light weight, Miss Peggy, whatever it be' groaned Joe, for +it was as much as he could manage to heave the heavy chest from its +resting-place on to the grass above.</p> + +<p>'There may be money and all sorts of treasures in it,' suggested Bobby. +'Perhaps the smugglers left it behind.'</p> + +<p>'Nay, this be older nor smugglers,' said Joe, with a glance at the solid +workmanship and the quaint carving on the old lid, 'unless they made use +of an old thing for their own purposes. Let be, Master Bobby, I can't do +nothing with you hangin' over me like this!'</p> + +<p>He had been fumbling with the ancient rusty lock while he spoke, and it +now broke away from the rotten woodwork. He flung back the heavy lid, +and revealed—neither gold nor jewels, nothing but a pile of +musty-looking old parchments and books. The children looked at each +other in blank disappointment.</p> + +<p>'There might be something underneath,' said Peggy, beginning to rummage +the chest to the very bottom; but her hopes were soon dashed, for a +further search did not bring anything more to light.</p> + +<p>'How disgusting! Who cares for old books?' exclaimed Bobby, whose heart +had been set on stolen jewels, smuggled valuables, or daggers and +firearms at the least.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span>'They're very funny ones, at any rate,' said Peggy, picking up one of +the despised tomes. 'Just look at the backs. They're so thick and heavy. +They seem to be made of metal of some kind, with little bits of coloured +glass stuck into them; but they're terribly tarnished and dirty. I can't +read the writing inside at all, and there are the queerest little +pictures all round the edges of the pages.'</p> + +<p>'What be I to do with the box?' asked Joe, gazing at their find in some +perplexity. 'And be I to dig another hole for the burial, miss, or not?'</p> + +<p>Her thoughts recalled to the melancholy occasion, Peggy flung down the +book, and her grief broke forth anew.</p> + +<p>'We'll bury him in the old stone coffin,' she declared. 'We'll line it +with leaves and primroses, and then lay him in, and just drop on the lid +again. I'm glad he should have a real coffin, after all, and the Abbey's +almost as good as the churchyard, for Father says lots of the old monks +must have been buried here, if we could only find their graves.'</p> + +<p>Even Ophelia could not have chosen a more flowery resting-place, for the +children covered poor Rollo with violets, primroses, and white +sloe-blossom. Joe carefully replaced the lid, and shovelled on the soil +again, heaping it up, and smoothing it with the flat of his spade, in +imitation of the village sexton.</p> + +<p>Father had refused to allow gunpowder, so the pistol was useless, but +Peggy placed a wreath of white jonquils picked from her own garden upon +the grave, and dropped so many tears over it that I do not think any dog +could have been more truly mourned and regretted.</p> + +<p>'You won't forget about the tombstone, will you, Joe?' she said, finding +the prospect of a monument<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span> to her pet decidedly consoling. 'I mean to +make up a nice epitaph for him, in poetry if I can manage it—something +about his being such a beauty, and then dying doing his duty, because +that would rhyme.'</p> + +<p>'Miss Peggy,' declared Joe solemnly, 'you shall have that there little +tombstone, if I has to go without one myself. You write the words out +plain on a piece of paper, and I'll walk over to Bethogwen the very next +time I gets a holiday. You'll see my cousin will do it beautiful, havin' +worked a year in a stonemason's yard, and being fond of a dog, too. He +might even try his hand at a weepin' angel or a broken flower at the +top, but I can't promise that, not knowin' whether he's kept his tools.'</p> + +<p>The box containing the old manuscript was carried into the loft by Joe, +and examined by Father at his leisure.</p> + +<p>'I don't know much about this sort of thing, Peggy,' he said, 'but I +should imagine they would be mostly old records and deeds of the Abbey. +It is marvellous how well they are preserved, but the oak and the stone +combined must have kept out the air, and parchment does not decay like +paper. Valuable? Not from a money point of view, I am afraid; but no +doubt they would prove very interesting to some antiquarian who could +read them. We will keep them here until the Rector comes home again. I +expect he will be delighted to look over them some day, and will tell us +what they are all about.'</p> + +<p>Mr. Vaughan had intended to write an account of the find to the local +newspaper, but in the hurry and worry of his affairs he forgot. The +Rector was still away, and as nobody else took any interest in such +matters, the mysterious old chest stayed neglected among the corn-sacks. +Only Peggy sometimes stole<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span> up the stone staircase, and taking one of +the strange books from its hiding-place, would pore over the quaint +pictures which bordered the pages. They fascinated her with their crude +drawing and colours still vivid and bright—saints with halos round +their heads, kneeling rapt in prayer, with folded hands, in the midst of +green fields and flowers, while the Virgin, clothed in blue and gold, +appeared with a whole company of angels from the skies above; patient +martyrs, with wan faces upturned to heaven, while their persecutors +flung stones, or heaped on the burning brands; the blessed passing into +the joys of Paradise, with the wicked writhing in the tormenting flames +below; and round all a curious illuminated bordering, where strange +faces peered out of twisting foliage, and figures of birds and animals +were intertwined with patterns of flowers or the tail of a capital +letter. What patient fingers, she wondered, had toiled over these in +days gone by, working with paint-pots and palette of gold to put the +glory of paradise on his pages? Had the world altered much in all these +years? And how little did the old artist think that his work would be +found and marvelled at when he and his order were alike forgotten, and +the very Abbey where he had lived and laboured had long since crumbled +away!</p> + +<p>So the old chest remained in the loft, as hidden there as when it had +been buried in the earth, and Peggy came and went, never dreaming in the +time that followed that these ancient, musty relics could in any way be +bound up with the fate and fortunes of the Vaughans.</p> + + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span> +<a name="xxii" id="xxii"></a>CHAPTER XXII<br /> +<br /> +<span class="sub">DEEPENING TROUBLE</span></h2> + +<p class="center">'The web of our life is a mingled yarn,<br /> +Good and ill together.'</p> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">As</span> the year advanced, Mr. Vaughan found that his troubles by no means +decreased. Mr. Norton, urged on by his solicitor, was a hard creditor, +and would allow neither time nor mercy. He had taken a fancy to the +place, it seemed, and hearing that some of the neighbouring properties +would probably soon be on sale, wished to settle down at Gorswen and let +it form the nucleus of a large new estate. Unless the whole of the +mortgages could be paid up by the end of July, the property must fall +into his hands, and the black cloud which had hung for so long over the +Abbey seemed on the verge of breaking.</p> + +<p>Mr. Vaughan had tried by every means in his power to meet his +difficulties, but all the channels he had counted upon had failed him, +and as he sat over his account-books late into the night blank ruin +stared him in the face. So impossible did it seem in any way to raise so +large a sum of money that he began quietly to make arrangements to +realize what he could on the stock and furniture, to enable him to make +a fresh start in a fresh place. It would be too trying, he decided, to +settle down anywhere in the neighbour<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span>hood of his old home, and it would +be better for both himself and his children to seek their fortune in a +new country, where his practical knowledge of farming should stand him +in good stead. He had thought at first of Kansas or Nebraska, but having +a friend in Australia, who might help him considerably in the choice of +land, he determined to give the preference to the colonies, and to try +his luck under the Southern Cross. It would be impossible to take much +more than their personal belongings with them, so everything else would +have to be sold on previously. Already an auctioneer had been sent for +to the Abbey to inspect the furniture, and give some idea of what it +might be likely to realize. It made Lilian's blood boil to see him +appraising the old oak, examining the curtains and carpets, and taking +notes of the pictures and books.</p> + +<p>'There's grand stuff here for a sale,' he said to her enthusiastically, +rubbing his hands as if he expected her to share in his joy. 'We shall +have dealers from all over the kingdom. It's not often one gets the +chance of genuine antiques which have been known to be in one family for +such a length of time. I shouldn't wonder, now, if that Chippendale +suite were to run into three figures; it's a very scarce pattern, and +much sought after. There's some china, too, that will attract many of +the buyers, and should go for a fair price, and that Romney portrait +ought to be quite a catch. I think you will find that in our experienced +hands the very utmost will be made of everything. Of course, we shall +advertise the sale in good time, and have catalogues printed and +distributed in every likely quarter.'</p> + +<p>'It seems quite bad enough to have to sell the things at all,' said +Lilian afterwards. 'But to hear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span> him talk of putting all our dear old +treasures down in a catalogue made me feel absolutely ill. I can't bear +to have the Romney picture go, either, because it's just like Peggy; it +might have been painted from her'—the vision of the family portraits +and the armour of her ancestors being turned over and valued by oily +gentlemen of the Hebrew persuasion adding a double sting to the trial.</p> + +<p>Bobby was still too young to fully understand everything that was taking +place, but to the two girls it was a time of bitter trouble and +humiliation. To Peggy, the mere fact that it should be Phyllis Norton +who would take her place at the Abbey seemed as hard as anything to +bear, and she knew her old home would pass to a family who would care +nothing for its ancient traditions and associations. Mr. Norton had +spoken freely of his plans in the neighbourhood, and it was well known +that he intended to almost rebuild the house, pulling down the ruins and +all the more early portion, and turning the whole into a handsome modern +residence. Of romance and respect for the past he possessed not a whit, +and valued the estate for its shooting and horse-rearing capabilities +alone.</p> + +<p>'All the things which we care for most will be done away with,' grieved +Peggy—'the dear old tower pulled down, the ruins destroyed, the garden +uprooted, and the woods cleared away. I should not have minded so much +if we could have given up the place to someone who would have kept it +just as it is. It seems so hard we should be turned out when we love it +so. I feel as if, when we leave the Abbey, there will be nothing left!'</p> + +<p>'We shall still have each other, Peggy,' said Father. 'And while our +little circle is unbroken, I think we shall be able to make a home again +somewhere. It is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span> hard to be torn up by the roots, but you must not let +it spoil your young lives, at any rate. I hope my children may get on as +well in the new country as they would have done in this, though an old +fellow like I am may find it difficult to settle down again.'</p> + +<p>'You're not old, Father,' said Lilian, stroking the hair which had shown +tell-tale streaks of gray lately among the brown.</p> + +<p>'I feel old, my dear, after all I have gone through. It is worry, not +years, which ages people. But there's life in the old dog yet, and we'll +make a brave push for it in Australia.'</p> + +<p>'I wish Aunt Helen were here,' said Peggy. 'She would have been <em>such</em> a +comfort in all this trouble!'</p> + +<p>'No, no!' cried Father hastily. 'Thank God she's out of it, at any rate! +I feel it one of my blessings to know she was safely settled before this +came upon us. Aunt Helen has had too much trouble in her life, without +taking any more upon her shoulders. She'll be grieved enough about it as +it is, even out there in India with her husband to console her.'</p> + +<p>In spite of all possible care, the secret of the state of affairs at the +Abbey soon leaked out in the neighbourhood, causing the utmost +consternation and regret, for the Vaughans were universally liked and +respected, while for Mr. Norton nobody could find a good word. The +matter was much discussed at the Bluebell Inn, where old Ephraim, having +served the family for forty years, was considered an authority on the +subject, and graciously allowed himself to be treated by the assembled +company while he gave voice to his opinions.</p> + +<p>'It's not as I holds by pride of birth,' he argued, 'and me a Radical +fifty year and more. When I were a lad, there were a talk o' choppin' up +th' land, an'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span> givin' share and share alike to all, but they never done +it. It come up sure enough at election times, as regular as free trade +or the income-tax. "Three acres o' land and a cow," was what was +promised th' poor man if he'd give his vote to th' Liberal candidate; +but it weren't nothing but talk, and came to naught.'</p> + +<p>'They be mostly windbags, they candidates,' observed Tom Slater, the +village blacksmith, settling himself more easily in a corner of the +bench by the fireside, and holding up a stalwart finger for the pot-boy.</p> + +<p>'Ay, as empty as a glass wi' naught in it!' replied Ephraim, shaking his +head, and gazing reflectively at his empty tumbler.</p> + +<p>Taking the hint, Tom ordered gin-and-water hot for two, and gently +turned the conversation back to the Vaughans.</p> + +<p>'If there's to be property,' said the old man, 'let them have it, sez I, +as is used to it, and knows what's due to other folk. There's Mester +Vaughan would always do a good turn to a poor body if it lay in his way, +but this here Mester Norton's as tight-fisted a screw as ever looked at +a penny twice afore he parted with it.'</p> + +<p>'Ay, he be that, and scant honest,' cried the stout miller, with a +lively remembrance of sundry hard transactions with grain for the +distilleries, in which, to his chagrin, he had had distinctly the worst +side of the bargain. 'It be the same with all they that make haste to +get rich,' he added piously. 'But they'll take their place with Dives +when other folk has gone to Abraham's bosom.'</p> + +<p>'You hain't done badly yourself, Mester Griffiths,' suggested Tom +Slater, 'if it come to a matter o' that.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span> Folks say you've a tidy sum +laid by in Warford Bank.'</p> + +<p>'Earned by the sweat o' my brow, Tom,' said the miller, puffing away at +his long churchwarden pipe. 'The work o' my hands has been blessed and +prospered. Ay, the Lord's been very good to me, and I've done Him +credit, too!'</p> + +<p>For Ebenezer Griffiths was deacon of Salem Chapel, and accustomed to +regard himself as the main bulwark and pillar of the religious and moral +welfare of the village.</p> + +<p>'I've not any grudge against them as has money,' observed old Ephraim +oracularly, 'but when it's used to turn them as hasn't out of their own, +it's time them Socialists had a innings and stepped in. There was Mester +Vaughan givin' interest fair on them mortgages, and I've heard as th' +lawyer hisself said as he were safe as th' bank to pay regular, and what +call had Mester Norton to buy 'em up, and ask for th' principal back, +when it weren't in reason as he could raise it?'</p> + +<p>'A case of Naboth's vineyard,' sighed the miller. 'He coveted the land, +and is using foul means to get it.'</p> + +<p>But Ephraim's knowledge of Scripture being limited, the allusion was +lost upon him.</p> + +<p>'Let th' Government take it up, sez I,' he declared, waxing excited, and +thumping his fist on the table. 'It 'ud be a sight better nor passing +land bills for Ireland, where no one's satisfied i' th' end, do what un +may. Let Mester Vaughan go up to Lunnon, and put it fair afore th' House +o' Commons, like th' deputations as th' newspapers tell on, and they'd +listen to un, and see un to his rights.'</p> + +<p>Tom Slater shook his head. He had little opinion of Parliament, having +supported the wrong candidate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span> at the last election, and pinned his +faith to purely local measures.</p> + +<p>'We might boycott Norton, may be,' he observed thoughtfully, 'and mek +the place too hot to hold him.'</p> + +<p>'Ay, Tom, that be a good notion, surely,' put in little Sam Andrews, the +joiner. 'Send him a letter with a coffin drawed out at the top, or a +skull and cross-bones, to say as how that's what's waitin' for un, if he +comes to Gorswen.'</p> + +<p>'Ye'll be gettin' into trouble, Samuel,' said the miller. 'Norton would +put the police on your track, and clap you in Warford Gaol for +threatening his life.'</p> + +<p>'But it wouldn't be me alone if we made a round robin o' it,' said Sam +hastily, who had by no means anticipated carrying out the scheme on his +own responsibility. 'Or I'd send un wi'out puttin' a name to un—a +unanimous letter they calls un, I believe.'</p> + +<p>'Anomalous?' suggested Tom Slater.</p> + +<p>'Anonymous be the word,' said the miller. 'But it's agin the law, +Sam—agin the law. Nay, it's a case where the wicked do prosper. I be +main sorry for Mester Vaughan, I be, but the ways o' Providence be dark +and past findin' out.'</p> + +<p>If there was sympathy for Mr. Vaughan's trouble among the patrons of the +Bluebell Inn, nearer home it waxed both keen and practical.</p> + +<p>'Take me with you, sir,' begged poor Joe, dissolving into tears at the +thought of parting with the family to whom he was so much attached. 'I'd +serve you faithful, and never ask a penny of wages, but just my keep +till you got settled and started. I've got eight pound ten laid by in +the savings-bank, which would go towards my passage-money, and my granny +would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span> lend me the rest. I'd be glad to try my luck over the seas, and +maybe it 'ud seem more homelike to Master Bobby and the young ladies to +find a face they knew about 'em in a place where all was strangers.'</p> + +<p>Warm-hearted Nancy was in a perpetual tempest of regret, and assured +Lilian that if she had not faithfully promised to marry Tom Higgins she +would have packed her box and insisted upon joining the party.</p> + +<p>'But he have took the farm, Miss Lilian, and bespoke three cows, and a +pig, and twelve hens, and he be such a fule he'd no more know what to do +with 'em than a babe, so I must have him, if it's for naught but the +sake of the poor beasts'—which certainly seemed a most convincing +reason.</p> + +<p>Perhaps to David the anticipated change meant as much as to anyone, for +he was growing too old to seek a new master, and dreaded the inevitable +time when he would be shelved from work, and placed on the parish list, +to the self-respecting poor always the bitterest sting of old age. The +day of possible emigration for him had long gone by, and his must be the +harder part of remaining to watch the Abbey pass into the hands of 'a +Pharaoh who knew not Joseph,' and who could not be counted upon for +either kindness or charity in his dealings with the poor around him.</p> + +<p>As it was such an open secret, Peggy did not feel she was betraying any +confidence by discussing their affairs with Archie when he came over for +his brief half-term holiday, and in the seclusion of the stack-yard she +poured out her troubles into his sympathetic ear.</p> + +<p>'Oh, I say, look here, you know,' cried the boy, ruffling up his +chestnut locks with both hands, which was a way he had when upset, 'if +you go out to Aus<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span>tralia, I shall come too! I could persuade aunt to go +in a jiffey—the doctor said she'd be a million times better in a drier +climate—and we'd take the farm next to yours. Now my poor old dad's +gone, and my mother's married again, and the boys all trading off on +their own account, I don't want to go back to Colorado; but I like +colonial life, and farming would be a lot jollier than school, any way, +for the fellows in my house are awful Johnnies, they can talk of nothing +but games, and laugh at one for a crank if one tries to make things.'</p> + +<p>'It would be nice if you went too,' said Peggy, quite brightening at the +prospect, for not the least part of her trouble had been the thought of +leaving her friends.</p> + +<p>'Then we'll go. Cheer up, Pegsie; you'll see it won't be so bad as you +imagine. Australia's a fine place to get on in, and there'll be queer +trees and flowers, and kangaroos, and natives, and all sorts of new +things to see. Of course, I know it's an awful wrench leaving the Abbey; +but, after all, there are other places in the world to locate in. +There's no end of jolly fun going on on board ship, I can tell you, and +you'll have a real good time on the voyage out, and at the ports, +especially with me to show you around; and when we get fixed up on our +new ranches I guess you'll allow that things are pretty first-rate!'</p> + +<p>'It would never be the Abbey, though, however jolly it was. I had meant +to live here all my life, and be buried in the transept when I die. I +have a feeling as if the Crusaders and the Elizabethan lady and +gentleman on the monuments would miss us when we go away,' said Peggy, +relapsing into pensiveness once more.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span>But Archie had been brought up in a democratic country, and had little +sympathy for the ties of race.</p> + +<p>'Oh, bother the ancient Crusaders, and the other folks under the +tombstones! If they could get up again and chop off old Norton's head, +and fight anyone who laid a finger on the Abbey, they'd be of some use +to you. I believe there are a pile of old Forsters lying under elaborate +tombs somewhere in Northumberland, but what have they ever done for me? +It's no use being sentimental about old times. I'll undertake there was +precious little sentiment about them in those days. Didn't they come +sailing over from Denmark and Normandy, and all sorts of places, to +settle down in England, which was a new country then, just as we're +thinking of going out to Australia? Five hundred years hence we shall be +quite ancient history ourselves, and folks can romance over our +tombstones if they feel inclined. And after all, why should one's +ancestors do everything for one? I guess I'd rather make my mark in the +world for myself,'—for the boy had all the enthusiasm of a pioneer +about him, added to a sturdy spirit of independence.</p> + +<p>This was quite a new gospel to Peggy, and though she could not +altogether reconcile it with her clinging love for the home of so many +generations of Vaughans, it did her good in that it gave her a fresh +aspect of life, for it is always wise to look at things from another +person's point of view, as well as your own, and she had a great respect +for Archie's opinions.</p> + +<p>In the meantime things went on at the Abbey just as though the family +were not, metaphorically speaking, sitting on the edge of a volcano. +Daily duties must be done, however sore your heart may be, and the work +of a farm can never be stopped for your private troubles. So Lilian +reared fluffy chickens and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span> yellow ducklings which would probably never +grace her poultry-yard, and Father cultivated the fields, though he +might not be there to gather in the harvest. It seemed hard to Peggy to +think that the trees would bud and the flowers blossom, and the crops +grow, when they were not there to watch it all, for most of us have a +kind of feeling that we are the important centre around which Nature +turns, instead of only mere spectators of her varying moods, and +sometimes it felt so impossible that such an utter upheaval in their +lives could really come to pass that she would have to shake herself to +believe that it was not all a bad dream; but as she noticed the quiet +preparations that went on, and the added worry on Father's face, she +realized that it was only too true, and that every day was bringing them +nearer to that terrible twenty-fifth of July when the mortgages would +fall due.</p> + +<p>There is always a silver lining, however, to every cloud, and I think +this trouble, hard as it was to bear, made one of the stepping-stones in +Peggy's character. At first she had been inclined to grumble and repine, +and say that life was using them hardly, but something which the Rector +(always the family confidant) wrote to her in one of his frequent +letters made her stop and think.</p> + +<p>'If you are really anxious to be a help and comfort, Peggy, here is your +grand opportunity. Now that the sky is so overcast at home, suppose you +put your own part of the trouble quite on one side, and let your bright +ways make the family sunshine. One cheerful person in a sad house can +work wonders, and by being specially gentle and loving just now you can +make Father remember that his children are more to him than his old +home, and that, after all, love is the best thing in this life, and +worth more than houses, or lands,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span> or any goods which the world may +offer us. A really bright, sunny disposition is as much a talent as any +other of God's good gifts, so be thankful, child, you possess it, and +make the best use you can of it in the Master's service.'</p> + +<p>Peggy put the letter by among the treasures in her work-box. She did not +speak about it, or show it to anyone, but after that not a further +grumble escaped her, and she managed to find such a bright side to the +question, and talked so often and so hopefully of the future, that +Father said she was as good as a tonic, and began to find his little +daughter such a comfort to him, and so different to the old thoughtless +Peggy of former days, that I scarcely know how he would have got through +that trying time without her.</p> + + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span> +<a name="xxiii" id="xxiii"></a>CHAPTER XXIII<br /> +<br /> +<span class="sub">THE ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY</span></h2> + +<div class="block28"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'Who comes to the ruin, the ivy-clad ruin,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With old shaking arches, all moss-overgrown?'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">May</span> drew to a close with a burst of warm weather, and the Whitsuntide +holidays promised to prove all that the heart of the cheap tripper might +desire, though beyond a chance cyclist or two that article was as +unknown as the dodo in quiet Gorswen, where fortunately the charms of +the scenery had not yet been spoilt by picnic parties leaving greasy +sandwich papers and ginger-beer bottles in the woods, and demanding +noisy entertainment in the village, nor the youth of the neighbourhood +corrupted into hanging round the public-house doors to listen to the +mirth and songs of the excursionists within, or offer faded bunches of +flowers in exchange for halfpence. Gorswen, having taken its annual +holiday at Easter, made no account of Whit-week, and went on with its +work as usual, for the agricultural labourer does not claim so much in +the way of pleasure as his brethren of the loom or the forge, and is +content with an occasional fair or village feast to break the monotony +of his daily life.</p> + +<p>Whit Monday was a holiday at school, however, and Peggy and Bobby, +having the day at home, took a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span> sudden fit of industry, and started to +weed the shrubbery with the noble intention of having it raked over and +tidied by teatime, being put somewhat on their mettle by Father's +remarks on the subject of sustained labour, and his laughing incredulity +when they assured him he would find it all neatly finished when he +returned from Warford that evening. It was a warm day, and gardening is +particularly back-breaking work, but they toiled grimly away, neither +liking to be the first to give in, and soon began to make considerable +headway among the weeds.</p> + +<p>'Hello!' cried Bobby suddenly, pausing in his task of uprooting a giant +dock. 'Who on earth is all this crew coming up the drive? I say, Peggy, +do come and look!'</p> + +<p>Peggy was not sorry to find an excuse to fling down her hoe and basket, +and she came scrambling up the bank just in time to witness the strange +procession that was slowly straggling from the great gate towards the +front-door. There were gentlemen, young, old and middle-aged, some in +tourist tweeds, some in boating flannels, and some in sober black, most +of them with books or road-maps in their hands, while a sprinkling of +ladies, both grave and frivolous, in light summer costumes and with gay +parasols, completed the party. That they were on an errand of pleasure +was evident, for there was a tolerable amount of laughing and talking, +while all appeared to be taking stock of the house and surroundings with +considerable interest.</p> + +<p>'Whatever can they want?' said Peggy, who certainly had never seen the +Abbey invaded by such an alarming number of callers before. 'They look +as if they were going to take the place by storm!'</p> + +<p>After a short parley at the door, the visitors were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span> conducted by Nancy +to the side-gate, where they all filed into the ruins, from whence a +lively hum of conversation could plainly be heard.</p> + +<p>'I vote we go and see what they're after,' said Bobby, his curiosity +getting the better of him; and, abandoning the weeds, the children ran +round by the kitchen garden into the house.</p> + +<p>'Did ye ever see the like?' said Nancy, as they catechized that giggling +maiden for information. 'They calls themselves "The Welsh Borders +Society of Antiquaries," so they sez. It's got the name on this little +paper as they've left, and they comes to the door wantin' master's +permission to look at the ruins. I sez he ain't in, but I asks Miss +Lilian, and she tells 'em "Yes," and there they all is, pokin' about +amongst the nettles, and grubbin' up stones, and stickin' bits of mortar +in their pockets, and dodgin' about with yard measures, for all the +world like a set of lunatics. What they can find to look at passes me, +for there's nought there but the walls and stones. And it seems they've +come all the way from Warford in waggonettes. Just think of that, now! +Only to look at a few old ruins, when they might 'a' spent Whit Monday +in the Spa Gardens, with the Grenadier Band, and the variety company +down from Lunnon, too!'</p> + +<p>'But the ruins are tremendously interesting, Nancy; I don't wonder +people want to come and look at them. Just think how old they are!'</p> + +<p>'Well, the gentry has queer tastes, I will allow. There's you and Master +Bobby, now, always a-collecting of stones and insects and like rubbish +to litter up the Rose Parlour, and I suppose some grown folk is as +foolish as children over such things. However, it's live and let live, +and if they care to take their pleasure<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span> that way, let 'em, although it +wouldn't be my taste if I was a lady born.'</p> + +<p>'Come along, Bobby,' said Peggy, 'we'll go into the ruins, and see what +these people are doing. Miss Crossland has often talked about the +Antiquarian Society in the history lessons at school, and I always +wanted to see one of the meetings.'</p> + +<p>'Ay, do,' said Nancy, 'and if you can make head or tail of their talk, +it's more than I can. One of 'em asked me if there was any sepulchral +slabs, and it turned out she only meant tombstones after all. She could +'a got plenty o' they in Warford Cemetery, without coming this distance, +I reckon.'</p> + +<p>Feeling rather shy, and not liking to intrude their presence upon +strangers, the children followed the party into the ruins, and creeping +under the protecting shelter of some bushes, found they could take quite +a good view of the proceeding unobserved. The antiquarians did not seem +to be discussing anything very learned just at present, for they had +drawn out flasks, and packets of sandwiches, and were engaged in +picnicking upon the stones in a truly modern fashion, while occasional +bursts of laughter were wafted along the air.</p> + +<p>'It looks jolly fun. I wish they'd ask us to join them!' whispered +Bobby.</p> + +<p>'I don't see Miss Crossland there,' returned Peggy. 'But perhaps she's +away for Whitsuntide. They certainly seem to be having a good time.'</p> + +<p>To enjoy an <em>al fresco</em> meal, however, was evidently not the main +business of the society, for the members soon disposed of their +refreshments, and began to collect in little groups round a +learned-looking gentleman, who, with a bundle of papers in his hand, +seemed clearing his throat in preparation for giving an address.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span> The +children could hear most of what he said, and a very interesting account +of the Abbey it proved to be, with a description of the size and extent +of the old buildings, and the life led by the ancient monks, which quite +delighted Peggy, who revelled in Scott's novels and historical stories, +and which made the past days rise up so clearly before her that she +could almost fancy the bell ringing for vespers, and hear the rustle of +the gray robes of the friars as they passed silently up the chancel to +their stalls in the choir. The members seemed to take copious notes in +pocket-books, and asked occasional questions, one literary-looking lady, +in spectacles and a large black hat with nodding feathers, being +particularly insistent, and volunteering so much information that she +threatened to usurp the place of the lecturer, and had to be gently +suppressed, while an old gentleman distributed pamphlets broadcast, +declaring he had had them specially printed for the occasion. The +speeches were over at length, and a last farewell round of the ruins +having been made, the society finally took its departure, with the +intention of viewing the church, and an injunction for all the members +to assemble for tea at the Bluebell Arms at half-past four precisely.</p> + +<p>As the last pink parasol and straw hat disappeared through the little +gate, Peggy and Bobby emerged from their retirement, somewhat stiff and +cramped, and were just about to give vent to a wild war-whoop as some +slight relief to their pent-up feelings when they noticed that after all +they were not alone. Two antiquarians had remained behind, so evidently +fascinated with their surroundings that they lingered about, measuring +the walls with a yard-tape, and putting down the items in well-worn +pocket-books. One of them was a singular-looking old gentleman, small +and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span> thin, with a clean-shaven face and a scholarly stoop. Seemingly he +thought considerably more of his books than of such details as his +toilet, for there was a very large expanse of gray sock visible above +his dusty shoes, and his limp shirt-front looked guiltless of starch. In +spite of the heat of the day, he wore two overcoats, one above the +other, and the pockets of both were filled to overflowing with pamphlets +and papers. He kept a fragment of pencil continually in the corner of +his mouth, like a cigar, and Peggy noticed that when he accidentally +mislaid his pocket-book he jotted down notes upon his cuffs, as if it +were quite an ordinary occurrence to use them in lieu of paper. The +other old gentleman was stout and jovial-looking, with a full gray beard +and whiskers, and an amazingly juvenile suit of tweeds. It was evident +that his pitch of enthusiasm, or perhaps physical endurance, was not +equal to that of his companion, for he panted with heat as he held the +other end of the yard measure, and gave vent to occasional grunts of +disapprobation as he toiled painfully to the tops of mounds to get +bird's-eye views of the outlined cells, or take snap-shots of the +remains of the windows and columns.</p> + +<p>'Interesting, most interesting! Abounding at every yard with testimony +of the past, and in some ways unique, and a valuable contribution to our +list of early English abbeys. With your photographs, Sedgwick, we shall +have ample material for our projected treatise, which I trust should be +ready for the September issue of the <em>Archæologian</em>'—and the little old +gentleman sat down on a broken column, and pulled a sheaf of papers out +of one of his many pockets.</p> + +<p>'Warm work, though, Doctor,' replied the other, wiping his steaming +brow. 'I believe I would sell my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span> birthright for a tumbler of water. I +wonder if they would give us some up at the house. There does not seem +to be a spring or anything about here.'</p> + +<p>'You will be having tea soon,' said he of the two overcoats +unsympathetically, 'and I am most anxious to compare your notes and +measurements with my own. This is such a favourable opportunity that I +think we had better seize the occasion while we are on the spot to make +fresh observations in case of any discrepancies in our descriptions.'</p> + +<p>The stout man seemed to comply unwillingly, and the friends were soon +immersed in calculations, quite unaware of the two pairs of watchful +eyes close by which had taken in the whole situation.</p> + +<p>'I'm sorry for that fat man,' whispered Bobby. 'He looks as if he were +ready to melt. The way he pounded up and down those mounds made me hot +to watch him.'</p> + +<p>'Poor old fellow! You'd think the other would be hot, too, in two +overcoats! I declare I shall go in and fetch them some milk!' cried +Peggy, starting up impulsively. 'You can stay, if you like, and tell +them I'm bringing it.'</p> + +<p>But bashful Bobby distinctly objected to accost strangers, and preferred +to follow her in the direction of the house, offering to act scout while +she did the foraging. Not being quite certain how her efforts at +hospitality might be received at headquarters, Peggy watched Nancy +successfully out of the way, and dashing into the dairy, emerged +presently with a jug of milk and two glasses perilously balanced on a +tray, which she nearly upset in her efforts to elude the returning deity +of the kitchen.</p> + +<p>'You can go first, Bobby,' she suggested, as she struggled with her +burden through the side-gate, 'and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span> say "Good-afternoon," and "Would +they like some milk?" and then I can offer them the tray.'</p> + +<p>'Well, I like that, when it was your idea altogether! No, thank you, I +don't care to be in it!'—and meanly deserting at the last moment, Bobby +fled into the sanctuary of the garden, leaving Peggy to carry her +refreshments to the ruins alone.</p> + +<p>I think if it had not been for the fact that she knew Bobby was peeping +at her from over the wall, Peggy would have turned tail too, but as it +was, she felt bound to carry out her project, and under the fire of his +laughing eyes she walked sturdily towards the strangers. She had thought +of at least three pretty speeches to make for the occasion, but when it +came to the point she could not remember any of them, and could only +hold out the tray, blushing very much, and saying nothing at all. The +old gentlemen looked so surprised at the sudden apparition before them +that the numerous books and papers fell to the ground in wild confusion.</p> + +<p>'Hebe, surely!' said the stout gentleman, with a little bow. 'Is this +nectar which you are offering us, fair nymph? Doctor, this is indeed a +godsend! Allow me to pour you out a glass of this beverage. Ah! nectar +indeed!'—as he set down his empty tumbler. 'I feel refreshed and +invigorated. May I ask if it is the sprite of the ruins to whom we are +indebted for this bounty?'</p> + +<p>Rather taken aback by his bantering tone, Peggy was at a loss what to +answer, but the other old gentleman, noticing her confusion, came to the +rescue.</p> + +<p>'Many thanks, my dear, for your kindness,' he said, with stately, +old-fashioned courtesy. 'We have much enjoyed the examination of your +most interesting ruins, and if your Father had been at home to-day, I +should<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span> have given myself the pleasure of thanking him in person. I +shall make a point, however, of sending him a copy of my report in the +<em>Archæologian</em>, where I trust he will find many items of information +respecting the origin and history of the Abbey with which perchance he +may be unacquainted. By-the-by, may I ask if any curiosities have ever +been found while ploughing in these fields?'</p> + +<p>'Not when they were ploughing,' said Peggy, finding her voice at last. +'But when we were digging last Easter here in the ruins we found a funny +old box.'</p> + +<p>'<em>What!</em>' cried the old gentleman, bouncing up in his excitement like an +indiarubber ball. 'You actually found something <em>here</em>, in the Abbey, +when digging? Sedgwick, do you hear that?'</p> + +<p>The stout man smiled appreciatively.</p> + +<p>'Perhaps our fair nymph will kindly describe the nature of the +discovery,' he suggested.</p> + +<p>'There was a big old stone box first,' began Peggy.</p> + +<p>'A stone coffin!' gasped the old gentleman.</p> + +<p>'But there weren't any bones inside,' continued Peggy, rather enjoying +herself now that she had once broken the ice. 'It was something much +queerer than that—a wooden box full of old books, with writing you +can't read, and strange little pictures all round the pages.'</p> + +<p>'And what have you done with them? Where are they? Can you show them to +me?' cried the enthusiastic antiquarian, almost dancing with eagerness.</p> + +<p>'They're in the loft. I'll take you if you'd like to look at them.'</p> + +<p>'Come along, Sedgwick; I believe we may be on the verge of a valuable +discovery!'—and stuffing his papers into his capacious pockets, the old +gentleman started off with impatient strides, bearing his stout friend +in his wake like a little tug towing a steamer.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="sedgwick" id="sedgwick"></a> +<img src="images/col06.jpg" class="jpg" width="400" height="606" alt="" /> +<span class="caption">"SEDGWICK, THIS IS AN EXTRAORDINARY DAY!"</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span>Peggy often laughed afterwards when she remembered how she escorted the +pair up the rickety steps into the granary, and prevented them from +falling through the trap-door into the stable below, and guided them +between the sacks of grain in the dark loft, where, flinging open the +wooden shutter, she let in a stream of sunlight, and disclosed to view +the ancient chest.</p> + +<p>'A curious piece of workmanship, Sedgwick! Saxon undoubtedly, I should +say.'</p> + +<p>'I agree with you, Doctor. Shall I lift the lid?'</p> + +<p>'By all means. Ah! what have we here?'—and the little man squatted down +on a sack of oats, and lifted out one of the books with the reverent +touch of the true collector.</p> + +<p>'Unique! unique!' he cried, rubbing his hands with delight. 'Sedgwick, +this is indeed a find! If I do not mistake, this is a genuine portion of +the Saxon chronicle, and will make a sensation in the antiquarian +world.'</p> + +<p>'There is something here which looks like a copy of the Gospels,' +replied the other, who had been turning over the contents of the chest +with much interest. 'And there seem to be some exquisite breviaries and +"Hours of the Virgin." Just see this illuminated border. It reminds me +of the "Book of Kells."'</p> + +<p>'The same period, doubtless. Sedgwick, this is an extraordinary day! +Such a discovery only comes once in a lifetime!'</p> + +<p>'Some of the bindings are queer, too,' put in Peggy, hunting out one of +her favourites. 'Look at this. It seems as if it were made of lead, with +little pieces of coloured glass stuck in it.'</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span>'Lead! Coloured glass!' chuckled the old gentleman. 'My dear child, let +me tell you this is antique silver, set with jewels. Wait till you see +it cleaned!'</p> + +<p>'Jewels in the back of an old book!' gasped Peggy, astonished in her +turn. 'How did they get there? Is it really true?'</p> + +<p>'Certainly. Many of the books in old times had covers of enormous value. +The ancient Abbey no doubt was a rich one, and much of their wealth +would be devoted to their library.'</p> + +<p>'Then if these are really precious stones,' said Peggy, 'I suppose they +will be worth something. Father said he was afraid the old books were of +no value except to people who were fond of such things. We were waiting +till our Rector came home to look at them.'</p> + +<p>'They are of the utmost value, my dear, not only for the jewelled +covers, but for the rare contents and illuminations, which are of a type +most scarce and precious. I have not had time to go through the whole +contents of the chest, but I should say if these books were put up at +Christie's they would realize many thousands of pounds. With your +Father's permission, I should like to send down an expert from the +Bodleian to examine them.'</p> + +<p>'There will be keen bidding with the British Museum if they are put up +for sale,' remarked the stout gentleman.</p> + +<p>'It would be a most exciting occasion. I should make a point of being +present in person, and use all my influence to secure them for Oxford. +There would probably be representatives bidding from all the principal +libraries and museums in the kingdom, not to mention the United States +and the Continent.'</p> + +<p>'But, please, do the books really belong to Father?'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span> asked Peggy, who +did not quite understand this conversation.</p> + +<p>'Certainly, if your Father is the legal owner of the property. No one +else can lay the slightest claim to them, and I congratulate him on the +value of his prize.'</p> + +<p>'Then—would it be—would it be possible for Father to get the money for +them—soon?' faltered Peggy, blushing scarlet at putting such a +question.</p> + +<p>'Without doubt it would. If he should wish to realize them at once, the +sale could be pushed on in a few weeks, only time should be allowed for +the Americans to hear of them, as they always run prices up. If +agreeable to your Father, I will call to-morrow morning and discuss the +subject with him, and in the meantime I can only beg that all possible +care will be taken of these priceless treasures. The chest seems secure +from any ravages of rats or mice. Still, I should advise its being +carried into the house without further delay. You agree with me, +Sedgwick?'</p> + +<p>'Certainly; it is wiser to run no risks. By-the-by'—looking at his +watch—'may I remind you, Doctor, that our waggonettes are due to start +at five o'clock, and it is already half-past. I fear the members of our +party will be awaiting us with some impatience at the Bluebell Arms.'</p> + +<p>'Dear me,' said the old gentleman, 'I fear I am sadly forgetful! In the +society of such enthralling interests I have no conception of the flight +of time. To-morrow morning, then, my dear, if your Father will be at +liberty, I shall give myself the pleasure of calling upon him;' and +regretfully closing the lid, he tore himself away from the old chest, +like a reluctant lover from his mistress, and took his departure, +leaving Peggy, nearly wild with excitement, to rush tumultuously into +the house with her wonderful piece of news.</p> + + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span> +<a name="xxiv" id="xxiv"></a>CHAPTER XXIV<br /> +<br /> +<span class="sub">CONCLUSION</span></h2> + +<div class="block32"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">'We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In feelings, not in figures on a dial.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best.'<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">It</span> was all perfectly true, that was the best part of it. The little old +gentleman turned out to be a very learned don from Oxford, with a +terrific list of letters at the end of his name, and in the course of a +few days a representative arrived from the Bodleian Library with a +request to be allowed to inspect the books (which by this time had been +removed to a corner of the big drawing-room), and after a considerable +amount of talking and writing it was arranged that they should be sent +to London at once to be sold by auction. As the old gentleman had +prophesied, the sale made quite a sensation among lovers of antiquities, +and realized a sum sufficient to put Mr. Vaughan at once out of his +difficulties.</p> + +<p>'It does not make me a rich man, children,' he said. 'But it is enough +to wipe off our debts, and keep the old roof together over our heads. We +shall still have to work hard and live carefully, but now that there +will not be the continual drain of the interest on the mortgages going +out, I shall be able to put more into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span> the land, and carry out the +improvements I have been longing to make for years, and in time the +estate will pick up, so that I hope when I go to take my place among the +old Crusaders in the transept I shall hand it on to the next generation +of Vaughans in better condition than I found it.'</p> + +<p>To say that the children were delighted at this new turn of fortune's +wheel is a very poor way of expressing their rapture. Every corner of +the Abbey had to be revisited to feel again the joy of possession; all +the animals must be petted as a kind of apology for having even thought +of parting with them; and Peggy felt as though she would like to tell +the birds and the flowers that they were not going away after all, and +give them a chance of joining in the general rejoicings. Soft-hearted +Joe wept at the good news, but it was for joy this time; and so many +people sent kind messages of congratulation, and expressed such pleasure +at hearing they were to remain at the Abbey, that the Vaughans were +quite surprised to find how popular they were in the neighbourhood.</p> + +<p>The only person who seemed not altogether satisfied was Archie, who had +dwelt so much on a colonial future that he was quite disappointed at +having to give up the idea.</p> + +<p>'I had almost persuaded Aunt to go,' he declared. 'And it would have +been ripping fun out there on our ranches. No, I ain't going unless you +do! I guess I'll stay in England now, and take to engineering; but it +seems half a pity, for we should all have got on tip-top in the new +world.'</p> + +<p>As Mr. Vaughan had said, the change in his fortunes did not make him a +rich man, and though all anxiety was now removed, and even a few extra +comforts might be added, matters went on pretty much in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span> old way at +the Abbey. Peggy grew up without many of the luxuries which fall to the +lot of richer girls, but she was none the worse for that, and I think, +when she saw how bored and uninterested Maud Middleton was in the midst +of her round of London society and foreign travel, she felt that it is +sometimes better to have the capacity for enjoyment than to have the +means without the happy talent of being able to appreciate your good +things.</p> + +<p>Life was always so well worth living to Peggy, whether at work or play. +Her friendships were so keen and her affections so warm, that I think +she found the world a very pleasant place to be in, and made it better +and pleasanter for other people too (which is, after all, the grand +secret of happiness), and the energy and enterprising spirits which had +caused the tomboy pranks of her childhood were qualities which, turned +to good use, proved of the utmost service to her in after-years.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Do I make too much of a little girl who, after all, was no heroine, but +who tried her honest best, like many another, to fear God, tell the +truth, and love her neighbour as herself? If so, my love for her bright +ways and warm heart must be my excuse, for I have told Peggy's story +just as it happened.</p> + +<p>Many years have passed away since the children played round the old +apple-trees in the orchard, or scrambled among the ivy in the ruins, but +Gorswen is little changed. The picturesque old black-and-white houses +still stand in the village street, unspoilt by time or tourists; Mrs. +Price presides at the Post Office, rubicund and smiling; and old Ephraim +totters down from his cottage to the Bluebell Arms, a living<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span> testimony +to the healthfulness of the district. The flowers are as beautiful as +ever in the Rectory garden, but the Rector is not there to tend them. He +has gone where little Raymond went before, on that longest of holidays +from which there is no return to the lesson-books of this life. He is +deeply missed in the village, but he has a worthy successor in Mr. +Wentworth, who now holds the living in his stead, for years of +companionship with one who dwelt so continually at the gate of heaven +have changed the nervous young curate into a strong and earnest +character. He is much liked in Gorswen, and he has Lilian to help him. +Perhaps the fact of their mutual shyness first drew them together, but +they have much in common besides an enthusiasm for parish work. She +makes an excellent helpmeet, and an ideal clergyman's wife. She has no +children of her own, but in mothering the fragile little Indian cousins +who are sent home to gain rosy cheeks and sturdy limbs from the fresh +English breezes her warm heart finds its outlet, and she is able to pay +back to Aunt Helen some of the love and care which she owes her from +long ago.</p> + +<p>Bobby is a fine, tall young fellow, fresh from an agricultural college, +where he has learnt so much in the way of scientific farming that he +intends to make the fields yield the very highest pitch of production. +But already the Abbey has prospered to such an extent that little by +little the Vaughans are buying back some of the land which their +ancestors had squandered, and in time the estate may once more be of +some importance in the county.</p> + +<p>And Peggy? I think the Rector's prophecy is justified, and she has grown +in every sense into the fine woman which he hoped and expected. She +still<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span> loves the Abbey dearly, but I do not fancy she will spend all her +life there, after all, for Archie, who now owns a prosperous sheep-farm +in Australia, is still as anxious as ever for her to try colonial life, +and I think that the next time he comes home on a visit to Gorswen he +will be able to persuade her.</p> + +<p>Peggy does not feel the least little bit older than when she climbed the +water-wheel, or thrashed Jones minor behind the paling of the +cricket-field—if growing old means losing your ideals, and your keen +enthusiasm, and your hopefulness, and a certain appreciation of other +people's worth which is our birthright when we are young. She is still +capable of climbing a tree or scrambling over a hedge when no one is +looking, and pursues her hobbies with all her former vigour and energy. +She is sometimes almost ashamed of feeling, as she says, so ridiculously +young, but after all one's age should not always be measured by one's +years, and wherever she may go, or whatever she may do, Peggy will keep +that most priceless of possessions, the heart of a little child, without +which, equally in this world or the next, it is impossible to enter into +the Kingdom of Heaven.</p> + +<hr /> + +<h3>THE END</h3> + + + + +<p class="center"><i>Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London and Bungay.</i></p> + + + + +<div id="tn"> +<p class="center">Transcriber's Note:</p> + +<p class="noi">Variations in spelling and hyphenation have been retained as they appear +in the original publication. Changes have been made as follows:</p> + +<p class="noi">Page 19<br /> +In April the cuckoo comes, <i>changed to</i><br /> +<a href="#quotes">'"In</a> April the cuckoo comes,</p> + +<p class="noi">Page 143<br /> +and went prim little walks <i>changed to</i><br /> +and went <a href="#on">on</a> prim little walks</p> + +<p class="noi">Page 164<br /> +such invaluable etacher as <i>changed to</i><br /> +such invaluable <a href="#teacher">teacher</a> as</p> + +<p class="noi">Page 172<br /> +were not so simply <i>changed to</i><br /> +were not so <a href="#simple">simple</a></p> + +<p class="noi">Page 197<br /> +the old fellow's, rambling divergences<br /> +the old <a href="#fellow">fellow's</a> rambling divergences</p> + +<p class="noi">Page 240<br /> +Safe in a iron cage <i>changed to</i><br /> +Safe in <a href="#an">an</a> iron cage</p> +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Terrible Tomboy, by Angela Brazil + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A TERRIBLE TOMBOY *** + +***** This file should be named 38619-h.htm or 38619-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/6/1/38619/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +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: A Terrible Tomboy + +Author: Angela Brazil + +Illustrator: N. Tenison + +Release Date: January 20, 2012 [EBook #38619] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A TERRIBLE TOMBOY *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +A TERRIBLE TOMBOY + + + + + STORIES FOR GIRLS + + _Illustrated in Colour._ + + THE STORY-BOOK GIRLS. By CHRISTINA G. WHYTE. 6/- and 3/6. + + NINA'S CAREER. By CHRISTINA G. WHYTE. 6/-. + + BRIDGET OF ALL WORK. By WINIFRED M. LETTS. 5/-. + + MISTRESS NANCIEBEL. By ELSIE J. OXENHAM. 5/-. + + A GIRL OF THE NORTHLAND. By BESSIE MARCHANT. 5/-. + + THE GIRL CRUSOES. By MRS. HERBERT STRANG. 3/6 and 2/6. + + THE GIRL SCOUT. By BRENDA GIRVIN. 3/6. + + DAUNTLESS PATTY. By E. L. HAVERFIELD. 3/6 and 2/6. + + THE CONQUEST OF CLAUDIA. By E. L. HAVERFIELD. 3/6. + + HENRY FROWDE and HODDER & STOUGHTON + + + + +[Illustration: "SEE, I'LL PUT IT JUST ON THE TOP IN FRONT." +[See page 44.] + + + + + A + TERRIBLE TOMBOY + + BY + ANGELA BRAZIL + + AUTHOR OF "FAIRY PLAYS FOR CHILDREN" + + NEW EDITION + + _ILLUSTRATED IN COLOUR BY N. TENISON_ + + LONDON + HENRY FROWDE + HODDER AND STOUGHTON + 1915 + + + + +CONTENTS + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I. PEGGY AT HOME 1 + + II. BIRDS'-NESTING 12 + + III. THE BLACK PUPPY 25 + + IV. A STORMY DAY 35 + + V. CONCERNING LILIAN 51 + + VI. SUNDAY 62 + + VII. MAUD MIDDLETON'S PARTY 72 + + VIII. THE HOLIDAYS 85 + + IX. A MOUNTAIN WALK 97 + + X. ON THE MOORS 109 + + XI. A NEW FRIEND 121 + + XII. IN THE RECTORY GARDEN 132 + + XIII. THE SMUGGLERS' CAVE 140 + + XIV. LILIAN'S HOUSEKEEPING 157 + + XV. THE BEGINNING OF A SHADOW 170 + + XVI. ARCHIE 180 + + XVII. DAME ELEANOR'S GHOST 193 + + XVIII. PLAY-ACTING 207 + + XIX. PEGGY AT WAR 219 + + XX. GORSWEN FAIR 231 + + XXI. ROLLO'S GRAVE 245 + + XXII. DEEPENING TROUBLE 256 + + XXIII. THE ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY 268 + + XXIV. CONCLUSION 280 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + _To face page_ + + "SEE, I'LL PUT IT JUST ON THE TOP IN FRONT" (_see page 44_) + _Frontispiece_ + + "MAKING A LONG ARM, SHE MANAGED TO SEIZE PUSS BY THE + SCRUFF OF HER NECK" 82 + + "BOBBY ACCOMPLISHED THE CROSSING IN SAFETY" 154 + + "HE FIRST SET TO WORK TO MAKE A SPIRAL STAIRCASE UP + THE TREE" 182 + + "IF YOU BREAK YOUR WORD, I'LL LET ALL WARFORD KNOW + THAT YOU'VE BEEN KNOCKED DOWN AND THRASHED BY + A GIRL" 226 + + "SEDGWICK, THIS IS AN EXTRAORDINARY DAY!" 276 + + + + +A TERRIBLE TOMBOY + + +CHAPTER I + +PEGGY AT HOME + + 'Good sooth! I know not be she wench or swain; + Her face proclaims her one, her deeds the other!' + + +'Peggy! Peggy! where are you? Peggy! Aunt Helen wants you! Oh, Peggy, do +be quick! Wherever are you hiding?' + +Getting no response to her calls, the speaker, a pretty fair-haired girl +of fifteen, flung her brown holland cooking-apron over her head, and ran +out across the farmyard into the lightly-falling rain. She peeped into +the cart-shed, where the hens were scratching about among the loose +straw. Certainly Peggy was not there. She searched in the kitchen +garden, but there was nothing to be seen except the daffodils nodding +their innocent heads under the gooseberry-bushes. Round through the +orchard she sped, bringing down a shower of cherry-blossom as she +brushed against the low-growing trees, and greatly disturbing a robin, +who was feeding a young family in a hole in the ivy, but without any +sign of the truant. Here and there Lilian ran, hunting in all Peggy's +favourite haunts--now peeping into a hollow yew-tree, now peering at the +top of a ladder, now rummaging in the tool-shed, then back through the +sand-quarry into the stack-yard, where there was a very good chance that +the young lady might be hidden away in some snug little hole among the +hay; but though Lilian got a tolerable amount of hay-seed into her hair, +her efforts were fruitless, and she was just turning away, hot and out +of breath, to give up the useless search, when the sound of a low, +chuckling laugh attracted her to the barn. + +The door was slightly ajar, and she peeped in. + +On the floor among the straw sat a little boy of between eight and nine +years old, gazing with rapturous delight into the rafters of the roof. +Following the direction of his eyes, Lilian glanced up, and beheld a +sight which made her gasp with horror. The barn was a very large one, +and was spanned by a great cross-beam, which ran across the whole length +from one end to another. Mounted on this, fully fifteen feet above the +ground, a small girl was slowly walking along, her gray eyes bright with +excitement, her brown curls flying in wild disorder, and her arms +stretched out on either side to balance herself as she went on her +perilous journey. + +Lilian gazed at her spellbound; she did not dare to speak or move, lest +by some mischance the frail little figure should lose its nerve and come +crashing down on to the stone floor below. + +The child herself, however, did not seem to be troubled with the +slightest fear, for she walked on as steadily as if the beam had been a +plain turnpike road, giving a shout of triumph as she reached the +cross-bar, and slid down the ladder on to the ground. + +'Hurrah! hurrah!' cried Bobby, clapping his hands in an ecstasy of +admiration. + +Peggy turned round with a radiant face. + +'It's perfectly easy!' she exclaimed; 'I could do it over again. Now, +Bobby, you come up and try!' + +But here Lilian's pent-up excitement and wrath burst forth. + +'For shame, Peggy!' she cried. 'If you want to break your own neck, you +shan't break Bobby's, at any rate! Don't you know what a horribly +dangerous thing you have been doing? And the idea of your walking along +there with your boot-lace dangling down in that way! You are really +getting too old for these silly tricks; one can't look after you like a +baby. Aunt Helen _would_ be angry if she heard of this!' + +Peggy sat down on the bottom rung of the ladder. The triumph had faded +from her face, and left something not nearly so pleasant to look at +behind. + +'All right,' she said defiantly; 'go along and tell Aunt Helen if you +like! I don't care!' + +'Peggy, how horrid you are! Do I ever tell? Didn't I wash and iron your +pinafore yesterday, when you fell into the pig-trough, and nobody even +suspected? I call you right-down mean to go saying things like that!' +And Lilian's pretty face flushed quite pink with righteous indignation. + +Peggy had the grace to look rather ashamed of herself. + +'No, Lil, you're a dear; you don't tell tales,' she said; 'and I haven't +forgotten about the pinafore.' + +'Promise me, then, that you won't go playing such mad pranks again, and +leading Bobby into them, too?' + +'All right--anything for a quiet life.' + +'But promise, properly.' + +'There! On my honour, I will never walk along that beam again, or let +Bobby do it either. Will that suit you?' + +Lilian heaved a sigh of relief, for whatever might be Peggy's sins and +misdeeds, her word, once given, was not lightly broken. + +'I've been looking for you everywhere,' she said. 'Aunt Helen sent me to +fetch you in at once, and I've been such a long time in finding you. I'm +afraid she'll be ever so cross.' + +'What does she want me for?' + +'To darn your stockings. Oh, Peggy, how could you go and hide all those +pairs away under the dressing-table? It was really silly, for you might +have known Aunt Helen would be sure to hunt them out; and now she's +fearfully angry about it, and says you'll have to sit and mend away till +they're all finished; and she won't let me help you, either.' + +Peggy sighed philosophically. + +'I suppose I shall have to come,' she said, getting up and shaking the +straw out of her hair. 'Never mind; I'd really rather mend them all in +one big heap than in a lot of little horrid pottering times; it spoils +one's Saturdays so!' + +'Aunt Helen said if I found Bobby he was to come in too, and learn his +Latin,' continued Lilian, looking round. But that youth had prudently +disappeared at the first hint of Saturday duties, and was nowhere to be +seen. + +Peggy chuckled. + +'I'm afraid you won't find him,' she remarked; 'and it's no use looking. +He's got the most lovely hiding-place in the world that he goes to when +he doesn't want to be told to come in. I only found it out by accident +myself, and I promised wild horses shouldn't wrench the secret from me. +Come along; we may as well go and get the scolding over.' + +And the young lady tossed back her tangled locks, shook her fist at the +anticipated pile of darning; then, putting on an air of chastened and +becoming meekness, as being most likely to soothe Aunt Helen's wrath, +she marched sturdily into the house. + +It was a beautiful old home into which Peggy entered, half castle, half +farmhouse, with an air of having seen better days about it. The quaint +timbered house, with its carved gables and red-tiled roof, was built in +at one end into a kind of square tower or keep, with tiny turret windows +and winding staircase, getting just a little ruinous in places, but held +firmly together by masses of ivy, which clung round it like a green +mantle. Beyond the tower lay the remains of an abbey, more ancient than +the keep. Most of it had been carried away to build the large barns and +stables, but the foundations could still be plainly traced, with here +and there part of a wall thickly covered with ivy, the ruins of a +shattered column, a delicate little piece of window tracery, or a few +steps of corkscrew staircase. There were rows and heaps of mossy stones +covered with nettles and elder-bushes, with patches of green grass in +between, where the cows grazed and the pigeons flew about, cooing +gently. In the ivy the jackdaws were always busy, and the children had +many a perilous climb trying to reach the coveted nests. The earliest +primroses grew here, and beds of sweet violets under the ruined walls, +and there were so many turns and corners and sheltered nooks that it +made the grandest play-place in the world for anyone who loved a game at +hide-and-seek. + +On the other side of the house stretched the garden--such a sweet, +old-fashioned garden, where roses, lilies, and gillyflowers were all +mixed up with the currants and gooseberries and cabbages. It was +somewhat neglected, it is true, but perhaps it looked none the less +picturesque for that, and certainly no one would be disposed to quarrel +with the beautiful ripe strawberries and the sweet little yellow +gooseberries with the hairy skins, or the big red plums that hung upon +the old brick walls. + +Inside the house was large and roomy, with rambling passages and odd +little windows in unexpected corners. There was a large oak staircase, +with wide, shallow steps, leading to a panelled gallery, where hung +swords, and rusty armour, and moth-eaten tapestry, and many an ancient +relic of the past; while in the best bedroom was a great carved +four-post bed, hung with faded yellow curtains, where Queen Elizabeth +herself was said to have slept in much state for two nights on her +journey from Shrewsbury to Wrexham. + +The big drawing-room had been shut up for many years; the Queen-Anne +chairs and china-cabinets were swathed in wrappers, and the ornaments +put away in boxes; but sometimes the children would steal in and open +the shutters to look at the portraits which hung upon the oak-panelled +walls--stately gentlemen with wigs and lace frills, whose eyes seemed to +follow you about the room; haughty dames with powdered hair and patches; +stiff little girls in hoops and mittens, and pretty young ladies attired +as shepherdesses or classic goddesses, with cupids and nymphs in the +background. + +The little blue drawing-room, which was always used instead, was a far +more cheery apartment, with its sunny French window and fresh muslin +curtains, and the blue chintz covers on the chairs. But of all the rooms +I think the quaintest was the kitchen. It was by far the oldest part of +the house; the great beams of the roof, roughly hewn out with an axe and +black with age, had been a portion of the ancient castle, and so had the +mullioned windows, with their deep, old-fashioned seats and diamond +panes, filled with green, uneven glass. It looked a cheerful place, with +its polished-oak dressers and shining brasses, and on a winter's +evening, when the shutters were closed and the settle drawn close to the +fire, it seemed the cosiest spot in the world; and Peggy and Bobby would +often escape from the sober atmosphere of the dining-room to pull their +little stools into the ingle nook, and listen to Nancy's wonderful tales +of ghosts and goblins, which seemed twice as thrilling when the wind was +howling like a banshee in the chimney, and rattling the doors till they +could fancy that spirit fingers were tapping on the panels, and only +waiting a chance to catch them in the dark passages, and sent such cold +shivers running down their backs that they grew almost too frightened to +go to bed. + +Below the house the meadow sloped down to a river, where a stone bridge +led to the village, with its pretty thatched cottages and Norman church, +whose square tower stood up like a beacon for the surrounding country; +and away in the distance, tier upon tier, rose the Welsh mountains, +fading from green to purple or from purple to misty mauve, till the last +were lost in the hazy blue of the sky. + +Gorswen Abbey, as Peggy's home was called, had been an important place +in its time, and an air of sleepy grandeur seemed still to hang about +the old walls, as if sometime it might rouse itself from its lethargy +and take its part in the world again. + +No one could remember when Vaughans had not lived at the Abbey. There +were tombs in memory of them in a side transept of the church--stalwart +Crusaders, lying with legs crossed and meek hands folded in prayer; +stout Elizabethan squires and their dames, with ruffs round their necks, +and rows of prim little kneeling children beneath them; full-faced +Jacobean worthies in curled wigs, with sculptured cherubs weeping over +extinguished torches; and there was a high old pew with a carved canopy +over it, and an escutcheon bearing a coat of arms with a dragon on it, +which, when Peggy was very little, she had always associated with the +dragon in the Book of Revelation, and had an uneasy feeling that its eye +was upon her all service time, and if she did not behave properly it +might come down in great wrath and devour her. + +There had been Vaughans who fought in the Wars of the Roses, Vaughans +who threw in their lot with King Charles and helped to beat Cromwell at +Atherton Moor, Vaughans who had joined the Young Pretender's force, and +had lost their heads as their reward. There was no end to the stories +which the children could sometimes cajole out of old David, the +farm-help, who had all the family history at his finger-ends. + +But they had been a happy-go-lucky, spendthrift race, loving to ride to +hounds and to entertain liberally better than to look after their +affairs. Little by little the fine property had been wasted away, till, +when Peggy's father succeeded to the estate, he found it to consist of +scarcely more than the old house with the surrounding farm and +woodlands, together with such a multitude of debts, mortgages, and other +encumbrances, that it was truly a barren heritage. Robert Vaughan, +however, was a man of strong will and much determination. Some of the +grit of the old Crusaders was left in his blood, and instead of taking +his solicitor's advice, and selling the place for what it would fetch, +he resolved to farm the land himself, and by using every care and +economy to free the property, and raise it to its former level in the +county. He worked in his own fields, ploughing, harvesting, and reaping, +toiling harder than any of his labourers, and living in as plain a +manner as possible. + +To those friends who thought he lost caste thereby he had always the +same argument--that he saw no reason why the cultivation of fields +should counteract the habits of refinement and good breeding to which he +had been reared; that in the colonies educated gentlemen set to work to +labour with their hands, and are thought none the worse of: so why not +in England, where land is good and markets are plentiful, especially +when it involved the keeping of a fine old property which had been in +the family for so many hundreds of years? + +Fortune, however, had been against him. Several bad seasons and a spell +of disease among the cattle had made all the difference between profit +and loss, and at the time this story begins Robert Vaughan realized that +any unusual run of ill luck might bring matters to a crisis, and render +vain the struggle of so many years. The children, however, knew little +of the shadow which haunted their home, for they lived as yet in that +happy thoughtless paradise which is the inheritance of true childhood, +where a new rabbit in the hutch or an extra treat on a holiday is of far +more importance than any grown-up affair. + +Their mother had faded so early from their young lives that she was +scarcely more than a tender memory, and her place had been taken by +dear, pretty Aunt Helen, father's younger sister, who did her best to +train them up in the way they should go. Aunt Helen fondly imagined +herself to be a great disciplinarian, but her own lively youth was still +such a recent remembrance that her eyes were wont to twinkle and the +corners of her mouth to twitch in the middle of her severest scoldings, +and the children always had a feeling that so long as they did not do +anything rude or wrong, or run into any very imminent danger, their +escapades were secretly condoned by their aunt, who admired pluck and +spirit, however much she might feel it incumbent upon her to lecture +them. + +Gentle Lilian gave little trouble, and Bobby, Aunt Helen often declared, +would be easy enough to manage alone; but where Peggy led he was always +sure to follow, and the end was generally mischief of some sort or +other. + +The worst of it was poor Peggy really did not mean to be naughty; she +was so eager, so active, so full of overflowing and impetuous life, with +such restless daring and abounding energy, that in the excitement of the +moment her wild spirits were apt to carry her away, simply because she +never stopped to think of consequences. She had always a hundred +projects on hand, each one of which she was ready to pursue with +unflagging zeal and that absorbing interest which is the secret of true +enjoyment. + +'Let her alone,' the Rector, who rejoiced in Peggy, was wont to say. +'Don't prune her too hard, for it is sometimes the side-shoots that bear +the best flowers, after all. She is like a young growing plant--a little +too much leaf at present, but I see a grand promise of blossom, and +she'll turn out a fine woman in the end.' + +Happily both her father and Aunt Helen shared his views, and, knowing +Peggy's generous, affectionate nature, were able to lead her more by +love than severity (for with human hearts it is often like the fable of +the sun and the wind: they will respond to a kindly touch, while +harshness will only make them sullen and obstinate), and they further +held the opinion that it is better for a child to have many interests +and much energy, even though these qualities prove a little +troublesome, than to grow up clipped to the prim pattern of those who +may have outlived their enthusiasms. + +Such natures as Peggy's taste life to the full; for them it is never a +stale or worthless draught. Each moment is so keenly lived that time +flies by on eager wings, and though there may be stormy troubles +sometimes, as a rule the spirit dwells, like the swallows, in an upper +region of joy, which is scarcely dreamt of by those who cannot soar so +high. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +BIRDS'-NESTING + + 'The busy birds with nice selection cull + Soft thistle-down, gray moss, and scattered wool; + Far from each prying eye the nest prepare, + Formed of warm moss and lined with softer hair.' + + +Peggy and Bobby sat at the top of a high apple-tree in a cunning little +seat just where one bough crossed another, and, bending up, formed a +kind of armchair with a back to it. Below them the pink apple-blossom +spread like a rosy cloud against the bluest of skies, and a blackbird in +a neighbouring bush was trilling his loudest. + +Easter had fallen late, so that the children's spring holidays were not +yet over when the first early delightful days of May brought a foretaste +of the coming summer. Peggy and Bobby were out the whole day long, +following their father about the farm, riding on the slow plough-horses, +helping to drive the sheep, or bringing home the cows from the pasture, +sowing seeds in their little gardens, and generally revelling in the +delicious freedom. + +Sometimes Lilian would join them, but more often she was busy indoors, +helping her aunt and Nancy, the maid, and learning the mysteries of +housekeeping and dairy-minding; for she was growing quite a nice little +companion to Aunt Helen, and becoming so useful that Nancy declared they +should scarcely know what to do without her when the term began again. + +'What shall we do this afternoon?' said Bobby, leaning back among the +branches in a way that would have brought Aunt Helen's heart to her +mouth if she had not long ago come to the conclusion that small boys +have nine lives, like a cat. + +'I don't know,' replied Peggy, idly picking off bits of twig, and +throwing them at the old gander, which had strayed underneath. + +'Then let's go birds'-nesting. You can't think how dreadfully I want to +find a cuckoo's egg. Arthur Hill has one at school, and he's so proud of +it, he wouldn't change it though a boy offered him five sticks of +mint-rock and a pea-shooter. I'm sure we ought to get one about here: +I've heard such lots of cuckoos lately. We'll look in every nest we +find.' + +'All right, we'll go down the meadows by the river into the hazel-wood.' + +'No, no! Up the hill, over the gorse common, and down the yew-tree +lane.' + +'You won't find any nests up there!' + +'Yes, I shall!' + +'I tell you you won't!' + +'And I tell you I shall!' + +'You were only eight last January, and I shall be twelve in November, so +I ought to know best!' said Peggy crushingly. + +'I don't care if you're a hundred!' replied Bobby with scorn. 'Joe was +up there last night, and he found twelve nests, and, what's more, he +told me just where they all are.' + +'Then, why couldn't you say so at first? Are you sure you can find +them?' + +'Certain; and one of them's a long-tailed tit's, with ever so many eggs +in it. Do you want to go down by the river now?' + +'No,' replied Peggy, giving in graciously. 'A bird in the hand is worth +two in the bush, and if Joe really found the nests up there, it's worth +while going to see.' + +Bobby climbed down in triumph, for Peggy so generally took the lead that +it was sweet for once to get his own way. He was rather a gentle little +boy, ready as a rule to follow at Peggy's bidding, and to make a lively +second to any scheme she might have in hand. Aunt Helen sometimes +thought the two must have got changed, and that Peggy should have been +the boy and Bobby the girl; for though the latter was not without +courage, it was certainly Peggy who had the most of that enterprising +spirit which is generally thought a characteristic of the masculine +mind. + +Though she would not have minded being a genuine boy, Peggy had the +greatest objection to be called a tomboy--a term of reproach that had +been hurled at her head from her earliest infancy by indiscriminating +friends. + +'If they meant anything nice by it, I shouldn't care,' she complained. +'But they don't, for a tomboy is a horrid, rough sort of creature who +isn't fit to be either a boy or a girl. It's too bad that I can't even +do useful things without people howling at me. Mrs. Davenport looked +perfectly shocked when I harnessed the pony, though I told her Joe was +milking, and there was no one else to come and do it; and when old Mr. +Cooper saw me help Father to drive cows down the pasture, he popped out +with "Miss Tomboy" at once, though he did say afterwards I was the right +sort of girl. People didn't call Joan of Arc and Grace Darling tomboys, +though they did other things besides stay at home and darn stockings. +Why can't I climb trees and jump fences, and enjoy myself like boys do, +and yet be a thorough girl all the same?' + +To do Peggy justice, I think she was right, for though she delighted in +outdoor life, she was in no sense a rough or ill-mannered child, and +loved pretty things and dainty ways as well as quieter Lilian; but it +was a case of a dog with a bad name, for however indignantly she might +remonstrate, people had got into the habit of dubbing her 'tomboy,' and +at that valuation she seemed likely to remain. + +The walk which Bobby had proposed this afternoon was somewhat of a +scramble, for the country rose behind the Abbey into undulating hills, +which were fairly steep, though not so high as the Welsh mountains, and +were covered for the most part with gorse and rough grass, where the +sheep and young bullocks were turned out to graze. It was rather a stiff +pull up to the common, but the Vaughans were as accustomed to climbing +as mountain goats, and would have thought it far more wearisome to walk +the length of a London street. + +Half-way up was a spot very dear to the children's hearts. At a turn of +the road a great slab of Welsh slatestone lay at a sloping angle, +shelving down for a distance of about twenty feet, and with its surface +so flat and even, and so smooth and polished by the weather, that it +made a natural sliding-board, down which it was delightful to toboggan +at full speed. It seemed expressly formed for the enjoyment of small +boys and girls, for as it lay across a corner, you had only to walk up +the road to get to the top, then settling yourself firmly with feet +straight in front, you let go, and slid like a bolt from an arrow +down--down--till you found your feet on the road again, and could climb +up once more and repeat the performance. + +Of course, it was not very nice for the backs of boots and +knickerbockers, and frocks and pinafores were apt to get sadly torn if +they caught on a projecting angle; but what child ever thought of +clothes when a twenty-foot slide might be enjoyed? Certainly not Peggy +or Bobby, whose well-worn garments were generally made of the stoutest +and most serviceable materials. + +They spent quite half an hour at this enthralling pastime, till a very +persistent cuckoo in a little copse over the hedge recalled them to the +principal object of their ramble. + +'Come along!' shouted Peggy. 'We're wasting time!' + +'Let's take the short cut,' cried Bobby, hopping nimbly over the fence +into the meadow, where the kingcups were lying, such a bright mass of +gold in the sunshine that you might have thought the stars had fallen +from the sky and were shining in the fields instead. Little rabbits +scuttled away before them into the hedgerows, and a cock pheasant, +disturbed in his afternoon nap, flew with a great whir into the coppice +close by. Two fields brought them out on to the common, where the gorse +was a blaze of colour and the bees were busy buzzing among the +sweet-smelling blossom. + +'Joe said there was a yellowhammer's nest just there, close by the +elder-bush,' said Bobby. + +'All right,' said Peggy; 'you take one side of the tree, and I'll take +the other.' + +A few minutes' search resulted in a delighted 'S'sh!' from Bobby, for on +a little ledge of rock under an overhanging tussock of grass was the +cosiest, cunningest nest in the world, and the yellowhammer herself sat +on it, looking at them with her bright little eyes, half undecided +whether to stay or to fly away in alarm. + +Peggy crept up as quietly as a mouse. Though the children were very +anxious to find nests, it was not in any spirit of ruthless robbery. Mr. +Vaughan was a keen naturalist, and had taught them to watch the birds in +their haunts, but disturb them as little as possible, taking an +occasional egg for their collection, but only when there were so many in +the nest that it would not be missed. + +'Isn't she stunning?' whispered Bobby. 'And how tight she sits!' + +But a human voice was too much for the yellowhammer, and she flew like a +dart into the gorse-bushes. + +'Five eggs,' said Peggy, 'but not one of them a cuckoo's. You don't want +one, do you, Bobby?' + +'No, I've got three at home. I had five, but I swopped two of them with +Frank Wilson for a redstart's.' + +'Come along, then; she'll soon fly back when we're gone; I believe she +is watching us out of the elder-tree. Where did Joe say the long-tailed +tits had built?' + +'Right in the middle of a gorse-bush, just on the top of the mound where +the goat was tethered last year. He calls them bottle-tits, but it's +just the same thing, Father says. Whew! isn't the grass scratchy on your +legs!' + +'Horrid! My boots are full of prickles. I shall have to take them off +soon. It's so deep here, it's scratching my very nose. Oh, look, Bobby! +There goes one of the tits! I saw just where she flew from. Oh, here it +is! See, isn't it just the prettiest little nest that ever was?' + +The tit's nest would certainly have gained the prize if all the birds +had been asked to take part in a building competition. It was made of +the softest moss and lichens, fashioned together in the shape of a +bottle with the neck downwards; for the tit must have some place in +which to bestow her long tail, and she builds her home to suit her +person. + +Peggy thrust a cautious finger through the tiny opening in the side. + +'It's full of eggs!' she exclaimed; 'I should think there must be seven +or eight. I'll take two, one for you and one for me. They're the +smallest you ever saw, and so warm. I hope they'll blow easily.' + +Bobby had brought a box full of sheep's wool in his pocket, to hold +anything they might find, so Peggy laid the eggs in with great pride, +for bottle-tits were rare in that neighbourhood, and they had long +wished to find such a treasure. Joe had certainly not misled them, and +Bobby's memory, though defective as regarded Latin declensions and +historical facts, was unerring where it was a case of locating +birds'-nests. + +He found three thrushes' nests low down in the elder-bushes, all filled +with gaping yellow mouths, the pretty little chaffinch's up in the +ivy-tree, with only two speckly eggs as yet, and Jenny Wren's household, +hidden away in a bank, full of so many children that she surely +resembled the old woman who lived in a shoe, and it was a marvel how she +could remember which little chirping atom she had fed last. The robin +had built early and her brood had flown and left the empty nest; but two +blackbirds were sitting in the hawthorn-hedge, and flew away with cries +of indignation and distress. + +The cuckoos were still calling loudly in the distance. + +'Tiresome things!' said Bobby; 'if they would only build nests like +other birds, one might have a chance of finding them.' + + '"In April the cuckoo comes, + In May she'll stay, + In June she changes her tune, + In July she prepares to fly, + Come August, go she must,"' + +quoted Peggy. + +'But you haven't said it all,' put in Bobby. + + '"And if the cuckoo stays till September, + It's as much as the oldest man can remember."' + +'I wish the rhymes would tell us where she lays her eggs,' said Peggy. + +She was poking about in the mossy bank as she spoke, when a +hedge-sparrow flew out from the low bushes above almost straight into +her face. It did not take Peggy long to find the neat little nest of +twisted twigs and grass woven into the fork of a branch. There were four +lovely blue eggs inside, and a slightly larger one of a greenish-gray +colour. Peggy flushed all over with excitement. + +'Bobby, Bobby!' she screamed, 'come here, quick! I do believe I have +found a cuckoo's egg!' + +There seemed little doubt about it, for the egg really looked quite +different to the others; so the treasured find was safely put away in +the small box, to be shown to Joe, who was wise in such lore, though he +only knew the birds by their country names, and had never heard of such +a science as ornithology. Quite elated with their success, the children +hunted down the lane, searching in every bush and hedgerow, but they +found nothing but a few last year's nests, full of acorns and dead +leaves. + +They came out by Betsy Owen's cottage--a little low, whitewashed, +tumble-down building, standing in the midst of a neglected garden, with +a very forlorn and deserted air about it. + +'Joe says no doubt there'd be lots of nests in the ivy there,' confided +Bobby, peeping through the hedge. 'But he wouldn't go in and see, not if +you gave him five pounds for it.' + +'Why not?' demanded Peggy. + +'Because old Betsy's a witch, and you never know what she might do if +you made her angry. John Parker and Evan Williams took some sticks from +her hedge last autumn, and she came out in a rage, and crossed her +fingers at them, and in six weeks John broke his leg, and Evan had sore +eyes all the winter. And once Joe and another boy were coming home very +late at night past the cottage, and they saw a bright light, and just as +they reached the gate it went out, and they heard a most fearful shriek, +and they were so frightened they ran all the way home.' + +'What nonsense!' said Peggy. 'I expect the old woman was blowing out her +candle to go to bed, and a screech-owl flew over their heads. Joe would +have run away from his own shadow. But if you're afraid, stay outside in +the lane, for I'm going in to see if there's a nest in that ivy; it +looks such a likely place. I don't believe anyone's in the cottage, +either, for the door's shut.' + +But Bobby much resented such a slur on his manly courage, and insisted +upon being the one to climb the ivy-covered chimney. He crept quietly +round to the back of the cottage, and swung himself up by the thick +stems, feeling in every little hole where he could lay his hand. The +large old chimney was so wide at the top that he found he could peep +right down it, as if he were looking into a well, and could see a good +piece of the hearth underneath, with a small fire of sticks burning +under a large, three-legged iron pot, and the old woman sitting close by +on a low stool, smoking a short clay pipe. + +Betsy Owen was a withered, cross-grained old dame, who by dint of the +knowledge of the uses of some simple herbs and a good deal of cunning, +had contrived to establish a reputation something between a witch and a +quack doctor. People came to her from remote farms to have warts charmed +away or the toothache cured; she dressed burns and wounds, and concocted +lotions for sore eyes and bad legs. Her one room was hung all round with +plants in various stages of drying, and she was always ready to +prescribe a remedy for an ailing cow or a sick child, generally at much +profit to herself, whatever might be the benefit to the sufferer. She +was bending over her iron pot now, stirring the concoction with a +long-handled spoon. Bobby could see her quite plainly in the fire light, +and could catch the curious aromatic smell which rose up from the +smouldering wood. I do not know what prompted him--probably the love of +mischief which dwells in all small boys--but he picked up a loose piece +of mortar which was lying on the roof, and dropped it suddenly down the +chimney. It fell plump into the iron pot with a loud, hissing sound. + +Out rushed Betsy from the cottage, scolding furiously. Down dropped +Bobby from the chimney, and was through a hole in the hedge and away +down the lane as fast as his sturdy legs could carry him. Peggy had been +waiting in the garden, and, before she could realize what had happened, +she found herself seized and shaken violently by the angry old woman. + +'I'll larn yer to come into other folk's places and drop stones down +decent body's chimleys!' shrieked Betsy. 'Be off with yer, yer +ill-mannered young good-for-naught; and if ever I catch yer here again, +yer'll get such a hidin' yer won't forget it for a month!' + +Peggy was so amazed by the suddenness of the attack that for the moment +she offered no resistance; but, finding a storm of blows descending on +her head like hail, she managed to squirm out of Betsy's ungentle grasp, +and fled after Bobby down the lane, followed by a shower of epithets +from the gate, where the old woman stood shaking her fist until long +after the children were out of sight. + +When they judged themselves to be at a safe distance the pair sat down +on a fence to get their breath, and talk over their adventure. + +'We're in for it now,' laughed Peggy. 'She was so fearfully angry I'm +sure Joe would say she'd bewitched us!' + +'Yes, he'll be in a great state of mind when we tell him. He'll quite +expect us to break our arms or legs or necks or something before long!' + +'You'll do that without her if you try to swing head downwards on one +leg like that,' said Peggy; for Bobby was executing some marvellous +gymnastics on the top rail of the fence. + +He came down feet foremost, however, and they sauntered off along the +road to the old water-mill, where the miller's man was slinging a sack +of flour on to a patient donkey who stood, with drooping ears, eyeing +the burden which he must carry up far into the mountains, while his +mistress, a little black-eyed Welshwoman, poured forth a torrent of +gossip in high-pitched tones. + +The wheel was standing idle, and the children went down the slippery +steps to the pool below. It was cool and dark there, for the trees grew +low over the stream, and the water, escaping from the race above, poured +down by the side of the wheel in a foaming cataract. A dipper was +hopping about from stone to stone in the centre of the stream, pruning +her sleek feathers, and calling her lively 'chit, chit' to her mate. +Peggy grasped Bobby by the arm. + +'Keep still,' she whispered. 'Let us watch her. Perhaps she may have a +nest somewhere close by.' + +All unconscious of her audience, the little bird jerked her short tail, +dived rapidly into the water, and, emerging at the other side of the +pool, flew suddenly into the green, moss-grown wall which overhung the +mill-wheel. + +'That's her nest,' cried Bobby. 'Oh, don't you see it? It looks just +like a great lump of moss; you can hardly tell it from the wall, only I +see a little round hole at the bottom. What a shame it's in such a +horrid place! We can never get it up there.' + +'Yes, we can,' replied Peggy stoutly. 'I'm going up.' + +'But how?' + +'Up the mill-wheel, of course, stupid! No, you're not coming too. You +climbed the chimney, and it's my turn. Just hold my hat, and I'll manage +all right, you'll see!' + +It was a slippery climb, for the wheel was green with slime, and it +needed a long step to get from one blade to the other; but Peggy was +utterly fearless, and she had soon pulled herself to the top. Balanced +there, she could easily reach to the nest, which was only a few feet +away from her. Out flew the dipper in a panic, and in went Peggy's +fingers. + +'Three eggs, Bobby--lovely white eggs! Look! I think I shall take this +one, at any rate.' + +She held out her hand to show her prize, but at that instant the +mill-wheel began to turn, and she was whirled from the dizzy summit +down--down--into the dark pool below. + +Bobby's agonized shrieks brought out the miller's man, who, dashing into +the stream, caught the child just as she rose to the surface, and +before she had drifted into the swifter current further on. It was a +very forlorn and draggled Peggy which he laid upon the bank, but she was +game to the last. + +'I haven't broken the egg,' she gasped out, with the water streaming +from her hair. + +'Better thank the Lord you're not drowned, miss,' said the miller's man, +looking ruefully at his own wet garments. 'Let me take you into the +house, and Mrs. Griffiths'll get you some dry clothes to your back; +you'll catch your death of cold sitting there.' + +Peggy essayed to get up and walk, but she was such a very water-logged +vessel that to hasten matters her rescuer picked her up in his arms, and +bore her off like a sack of flour. + +Stout old Mrs. Griffiths was sitting knitting in the chimney-corner, but +she jumped up in a hurry when John carried in his dripping burden. + +'Sakes alive!' she screamed, 'what is it? Is she dead? Lay her out on +the parlour sofa. Sarah Grace, run for the parish nurse and the +Rector--quick!' + +But Peggy's voluble tongue assuring her that she was very much alive, +and only in need of drying, she soon hustled that young lady upstairs, +and out of her wet clothes. Ten minutes later Peggy sat on the settle by +the kitchen fire, an odd little figure, attired in Sarah Grace's Sunday +jacket over Mrs. Griffiths' best red flannel petticoat, and a steaming +glass of hot elder wine in her hand. + +'Just to keep you from catching cold, miss; and Master Bobby must have +one too, bless his heart! He's as white as my apron, and small wonder, +after seeing his sister half drowned!' + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE BLACK PUPPY + + 'His eyes so brown, his winning ways, + His faithful heart, command our praise.' + + +After the adventure at the mill-wheel, Aunt Helen, judging wisely that +'Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do,' sent the +children into the fields with Lilian to gather cowslips to make cowslip +beer. It was pleasant work wandering among the green meadows picking the +sweet-smelling flowers, while the larks sang their loudest overhead, and +the little brook babbled by on its path to the river--more especially +pleasant when they remembered that by this time next week school would +have begun again, with its attendant woes of Latin grammar and French +composition. + +'I'm sure we must have enough now,' said Lilian, turning out her +sixteenth basket of blossoms into the ever-increasing pile in the +bakehouse. 'I'm almost tired of gathering them; I shall see nothing but +cowslips when I shut my eyes in bed to-night.' + +'It will take a fearfully long time to pick them all,' remarked Peggy, +starting bravely to work on her task of pulling the yellow pips away +from the green calyces. 'It seems almost a shame to put them into a +barrel, they look so pretty.' + +'You won't say so when you come to taste it,' said unromantic Bobby, +who was fond of cool, fizzy drinks in summer. + +'Be that you, miss?' said a voice from the region of the door; and the +good-natured, freckled face and sandy hair of Joe, the farm-boy, made +its appearance, followed by the rest of his lanky person, as he entered +slowly, bearing something mysteriously concealed under his coat. + +'Whatever have you got there, Joe?' cried three voices at once. + +'Well,' replied Joe, with an important air, 'it do be a present for Miss +Peggy, it be. She were that disappointed about the guinea-pig as Mrs. +Davenport promised to give her, and forgot all about, that I says to +myself, "I must make it up to her some ways, if I gets the chance." So I +walks over to my granny's at Marlow last night, and I begs a black pup +off her, and here it is.' + +Joe drew aside his jacket, and disclosed to the children's delighted +eyes the sweetest little round fuzzy ball of black fluff, just like a +tiny woolly bear, with tan chest and paws, and a wagging morsel of a +tail like a black tassel. It had the brightest of brown eyes, the +pinkest of tongues, and the shrillest of barks, and it was altogether +such a dear, enchanting, soft, curly morsel of puppyhood that Peggy took +it to her arms and her heart at the same moment. + +'Oh, thank you, Joe!' she exclaimed, almost too pleased to speak. + +'Granny has five of 'em, miss,' said Joe; 'but I picked out the best. +It'll make a grand dog, it will, when it's growed, and master was sayin' +only the other day as he could do with another collie to train in old +Rover's place.' + +'Let me have him a moment!' begged Bobby, hugging the wriggling burden, +which Peggy unwillingly relinquished. + +'What shall you call the darling?' inquired Lilian, kissing the funny +black nose that was smelling at her buttons. + +'I think Rollo would be a jolly name, and of course we can all have a +piece of him all the same, though he's mine,' announced Peggy +magnanimously, for the Vaughans always shared their good things with one +another. + +They had a perfect menagerie of pets at the Abbey. First there were the +rabbits, five white ones and two black, which lived in a little hutch +behind the stackyard. They did not do very much except nibble at bran +and lettuce-leaves, it is true, but they were pretty, soft creatures, +with long, silky ears, and it was fun sometimes to let them out for a +scamper on the granary floor. Then there was Prickles, a bright little +hedgehog, which Peggy had rescued from some village boys who were using +the poor little fellow as a football. She had brought him home, and fed +him on bread and milk, and he soon got to know her, and would come when +she called him, and allow her to scratch the end of his funny pink nose. +Prickles generally slept most of the day in a snug box lined with hay, +but in the evenings he woke up, and Peggy would carry him into the +kitchen, where he devoured black-beetles, much to his own delight and +Nancy's satisfaction. + +Jack, the magpie, had fallen from his nest in the fir-tree when still an +ugly little half-fledged creature with a wide, gaping mouth. The +children had made a nest of grass for him inside a basket, and fed him +on worms and scraps of raw meat until he was old enough to fly, when he +would follow them everywhere about the farmyard and outbuildings, +calling 'Jack, Jack!' which, with the mewing of a cat, the gobble of +the old turkey-cock, and a close imitation of David's winter cough, made +up the extent of his accomplishments. + +Nancy kept him sternly out of the kitchen, for he was terribly +mischievous, and seemed to take a positive delight in playing practical +jokes. He had purloined David's scarf from the saddle-room, and dropped +it into the horse-trough, had filled Bobby's hat with pebbles, and +devoured the queen-cakes which Lilian had placed on the kitchen +window-sill to cool; he had snatched Joe's breast-pin--a glittering +imitation diamond--from his Sunday tie, under the very nose of that +injured youth, and had stolen so many small articles that if anything +were missing the children would have a grand search for Master Jack's +hiding-place, and would generally turn out the lost treasure from among +an odd collection of trifles--scraps of bright-coloured rags, bits of +broken glass, hairpins, pen-nibs, pencil-ends, together with pieces of +bread and half-picked bones which the thief had concealed in some +cunning corner inside a manger or under the roof of the loft. + +Then there was Pixie, the pony, who would come whinnying up from the +further side of a field to poke her soft nose into the children's +pockets for pieces of bread or lumps of sugar; there were numerous cats +who lived in the barns and stables, and Tabbyskins, the stately gray +Persian, who usually sat sunning herself on the pigsty wall, keeping a +strict eye on naughty Jack, who was wont to harry her if he got the +chance. + +Bobby had a pretty set of bantams, whose small eggs afforded him much +delight and some slight profit, for Aunt Helen bought them from him at +threepence a dozen--a transaction which he always recorded in chalk upon +the hen-house door, the pennies being carefully put by towards the +purchase of a pair of fantail pigeons, which was at present the summit +of his ambition. + +This spring, too, there was a pet lamb called Daisy. David had found it +bleating beside its dead mother one bitter morning early in March, and +had carried the poor orphan into the kitchen, where Nancy had reared it +on a feeding-bottle like a baby. It returned her care by an affection +which was quite embarrassing to the worthy girl, for however attractive +a pet lamb may be, it becomes distinctly in the way when it insists upon +following you into the dining-room with the dinner, or presses its +attentions on you when you are engaged in cleaning the grate or +scrubbing the floors. + +It was not only outside that the children had treasures. Aunt Helen was +very long-suffering with respect to hobbies, for she rightly thought +that the more a child's life is filled with interests, the more chance +it has of growing up an intelligent and broad-minded individual, and of +escaping from that lethargy of boredom which swallows up the lives of +many young people who ought to know better how to amuse themselves in +God's beautiful world. 'I don't know what to do,' was an unknown +expression among the young Vaughans, who had always so many projects on +hand that the difficulty lay in finding time to carry them all out. + +The Rose Parlour, as it was called, from the tangle of pink roses which +framed the windows in summer-time, was especially given up to the +children's use. It was a bright, cheerful room, with a view over the +river to the sunset and the Welsh mountains, and had a French window +which opened into the garden. Here was the old piano on which they +practised, here the ink-pots and rulers for their home-lessons, with +their paint-boxes, crayons, and drawing-books. + +A cupboard in the corner was devoted to a kind of museum, where they +kept their collection of birds' eggs, a few butterflies, moths, and +beetles, Lilian's pressed wild-flowers, a box full of shells and fossils +which they had brought home from their one never-to-be-forgotten visit +to the seaside, a curious plaited basket filled with bone rings, shell +bracelets, and other curiosities, sent by a sailor cousin from the South +Sea Islands, and an odd assortment of stones, old coins, foreign stamps, +crests and postmarks, which represented landmarks in the history of past +fads. + +Lilian's canary hung in the sunniest window, Peggy's silkworms lay in a +box on the sideboard, and Bobby's white mice reposed in much comfort in +a cage on the chimneypiece. + +The walls were adorned with school drawings and prize maps, fastened up +with tacks; a bookcase of much-read volumes filled the space between the +fireplace and the window; and in the corner might be found a +miscellaneous collection of cricket-bats, fishing-rods, tennis-racquets, +bows and arrows, croquet-mallets, sticks, balls and ninepins, and other +articles very dear to the children's hearts, but which Nancy generally +classed impartially under the head of 'lumber.' + +The black puppy proved a delightful addition to the already long list of +pets. Lilian hunted up a piece of blue ribbon to tie round his fluffy +neck; but he objected to decorations, and soon clawed it off, and chewed +it into a soft, slimy pulp. He ran after the children with little short, +sharp barks, worrying at their heels till Aunt Helen declared there +would soon not be a whole stocking left in the establishment; he had a +fray at once with Jack, but was much worsted by that worthy, returning +to Peggy for protection with his scrap of a tail between his legs; he +tore Bobby's cricket-ball to pieces, licked the polish off Father's +boots, devoured Aunt Helen's goloshes, and nestled cosily down to sleep +on the top of Nancy's best Sunday hat, which that luckless damsel had +imprudently left in an open band-box on the kitchen settle. + +On the first night of his arrival he howled so piteously on being left +alone that Peggy insisted on taking him to bed with her. + +'He'll be no trouble, the darling!' she said. 'He'll just cuddle down on +the rug at the foot of my bed, and go to sleep like an angel; I know he +will!' + +She and Lilian made him a very snug little nest with the help of an old +pillow, and he settled himself with a sigh of much content. + +'He's _far_ better than a baby,' declared Peggy, 'for he doesn't want +hushing and rocking, and he won't cry in the night.' + +But his fond mistress had given her favourite his good character a +little too soon. About midnight the bright moonlight streaming in +through the window woke Master Rollo, who, having had a refreshing nap, +was now very wide awake, and ready for anything. He heaved himself out +of his wrappings, and with a delighted yelp fell upon Peggy's curls, +worrying them with little gasps of joy, till she had to dive beneath the +bedclothes to escape her too sportive pet. + +After that there was no more rest for Peggy or Lilian; Rollo was on the +war-path, and determined to make the most of his opportunities. It was +in vain that Lilian held him in her arms, and tried to soothe him to +sleep; he grunted and whined, and wriggled down on to the floor, where, +with a shrill bark, he unearthed a cardboard box full of old gloves, +which had been stored away under the bed. The chewing and tearing up of +these afforded him much sport, as did also the bare feet of his +mistress, when she attempted to interfere. Peggy was at her wits' end, +but she finally seized the tempestuous ball of fluff, and dropped him to +the bottom of the empty clothes-basket. + +'He can't do any harm in there, at any rate,' she said hopefully. + +He could make such a noise, however, that he effectually banished +slumber; he twisted and turned, he bit at the wickerwork, and scratched +with his claws, and after ten minutes of much commotion managed to tip +over the basket and crawl out in triumph, to renew his attacks upon the +shoes and other property of the despairing girls. + +'It's no use,' groaned Lilian at last, getting out of bed and catching +the small sinner; 'we shall just have to take it in turns to nurse him +till morning; he's as lively as a cricket, and if we leave him raging +about on the floor like that we shan't have a thing in the room left +unchewed!' + +Never had a night seemed so long; the only one who thoroughly enjoyed +himself was the puppy, who, delighted to receive so much attention, +pursued his diversions until the sun was well in at the window, when at +length he snuggled into Peggy's pillow, and composed himself to sleep, +leaving his weary guardians only time for a brief rest before Nancy's +unwelcome tap was heard at the door. + +After this experience Peggy was not so enthusiastic about having Rollo +for a bedfellow, and he slept in the stables, with the cats to bear him +company. + +He was an amusing little fellow, and soon learned to sit up and beg for +biscuits, and Peggy promised herself to teach him many more +accomplishments in course of time. As he grew older his pranks assumed +rather a more serious form. + +'Just look what that precious dog of yours has done, Peggy!' cried Mr. +Vaughan one day, bursting indignantly into the Rose Parlour with a dead +kitten in his hand. + +There was a howl of consternation and woe from the children, for the +poor gray kit had been rather a favourite, and an instant search was +made for the murderer. But Rollo had fled from the stern hand of +justice, and though they sought him far and near, it was of no avail, +and by bedtime he was still missing. + +'No doubt he's hiding somewhere about in the barns,' said Lilian. 'He +must be fearfully hungry; but it serves him right, the wretch!' + +The children had long ago gone to bed, and Mr. Vaughan was on the point +of following their example when he noticed a curious and most unusual +lump underneath his counterpane. + +'What on earth has that stupid Nancy given me a hot bottle for on such a +warm evening?' he exclaimed; and flinging down the clothes he disclosed +to view, not the expected earthenware bottle, but the shrinking and +apologetic form of Master Rollo, who, if ever a dog could be said to own +a conscience, surely showed he knew he had offended, and repented +heartily of his sins. + +Mr. Vaughan laughed so much that he had not the heart to thrash the +little rogue, but next morning he devised a punishment for him which +Peggy declared was far worse. The body of the dead kitten was securely +tied round his neck with a piece of rope, and, like the albatross in the +ballad of the 'Ancient Mariner,' it proved such a weight of shame that +the guilty dog did not dare to show his face to his friends, but slunk +away to hide his dishonoured head in dark corners of the barn or +stackyard. + +Mr. Vaughan was inflexible, and would not allow Rollo to be relieved +from his burden until the following evening. + +'We must teach him a lesson he is not likely to forget,' he said. 'I +cannot have him touching any of the animals on the farm, or we shall +have him killing the sheep when he is older.' + +So Rollo bore his punishment as best he could, and was fed behind the +pigsty by the sympathetic Peggy, who, while mourning for the departed +Ruffles, forgave her erring pet from the bottom of her heart when she +saw the depths of his unutterable woe. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +A STORMY DAY + + 'Alack-a-day, what tears we mingle! + For trouble ne'er, I wot, came single.' + + +Though Gorswen was the most quiet little country spot you could find, it +lay only four miles away from Warford, a rising inland watering-place, +which boasted not only a Mayor and Corporation, but a pump-room and +concert-hall, and had a large and fleeting population of visitors, and, +to judge by its growing suburbs, an ever-increasing number of residents. + +Lilian and Peggy attended the Warford High School, and Bobby the Grammar +School. It was not quite what Father would have wished for them, for he +had been a Rugby boy himself, but it was the best he could afford; and +certainly the education was excellent, though the pupils were decidedly +mixed. Still, as Aunt Helen said, 'You have no need to copy the manners +of the children you meet. You have been taught at home to behave like +gentlepeople, so please to remember you are Vaughans, and keep up the +credit of the family.' + +Every morning at eight o'clock the little governess-car and Pixie, the +steady black pony, stood ready at the side gate, and the trio jogged off +to school with their lesson-books and their luncheons in their +satchels. David could not be spared to go with them, but all the +children had been taught to drive, and even Bobby had a firm hand on the +reins, and knew the rules of the road as well as many a more experienced +coachman; and I think, too, that Pixie had a sense of her +responsibilities, and could be trusted not to get the wheel locked with +a passing waggon, or to race too furiously down a steep hill, whatever +feats her drivers might urge her to perform. The pony and trap were put +up for the day at a quiet little inn midway between the two schools, and +were always waiting for the children by a quarter past four, when, like +the traditional donkey, they joyfully turned their noses towards home +again. + +On one special Monday morning in May Peggy got out of bed in that +peculiar frame of mind which Father charitably called 'highly strung,' +and Nancy broadly defined as 'having black dog on your back.' To begin +with, it was wet. Not that Peggy minded rain in the least, but if it +were fine Mr. Vaughan had intended to go over to a great cattle fair +which was to be held that day at Shrewsbury, and had promised to bring +her home a guinea-pig. 'And now he won't go,' she thought dismally, 'and +I shan't have the chance of another until Warford Agricultural Show in +the autumn.' + +Peggy hated Monday mornings. After the delightful freedom of Saturday +and Sunday at home it was always doubly hard to return to school, and +the time until next Friday afternoon seemed an endless prospect. All the +nastiest lessons, Peggy thought, came on Mondays--grammar and +arithmetic, dates and French verbs, and all those horrid fussy things +which take a great deal of learning without being specially interesting +in themselves. + +On this particular morning the children were late for school, for Pixie +had cast a shoe upon the road, and Lilian had been obliged to drive so +slowly that the church clock was chiming a quarter past nine as Peggy +opened her classroom door. + +It is rather an ordeal to walk late into a schoolroom full of thirty +girls, and the slightly nervous feeling had the unfortunate effect of +making Peggy march in with a don't-care look on her face, and shut the +door with a bang. + +Miss Crossland glared at her through her eyeglasses. + +'If you are so careless as to be late, Margaret Vaughan,' she remarked, +'the least you can do is to come in quietly without disturbing the +class.' + +Rather crestfallen, Peggy threaded her way to her place, and took out +her arithmetic books. + +'Which sum are you doing?' she whispered to her desk-mate, Emily +Thompson; but Emily judiciously pretended not to hear, for she did not +wish to waste valuable time in giving Peggy information. She was rather +a pretty girl. Her light flaxen hair and pale, fair complexion gave her +a smooth, shining appearance, and somehow Peggy always thought her +manners were smooth and shining too, for she had a way of wriggling out +of any little difficulty and unpleasantness, so that the blame rested +upon other people, and was always ready to take a mean advantage, or +play some of those little underhand tricks which schoolgirls know only +too well. + +Peggy's frank, downright nature held Emily in much contempt, and, as she +made no effort to conceal her opinion, the dislike was mutual, and a +kind of undeclared war existed between the two. It was unfortunate for +Peggy that the third form classroom was furnished with double desks, for +as Miss Crossland would permit no changing of places, she was obliged +to sit by her enemy for the rest of the term, to their equal discomfort +and annoyance. + +The lesson dragged on wearily for awhile, till they were disturbed by a +tap at the door, and a small girl from one of the lower classes entered, +full of importance at her errand. + +'If you please, Miss Crossland,' she piped, 'Miss Martin would like to +speak to you for a moment in the library.' + +Miss Crossland looked annoyed; she disliked being interrupted in her +classes, but the head-mistress's request could not be disobeyed. + +'Very well, Gertrude,' she replied coldly; then, turning to her class: +'Girls, I must leave you for a few minutes. I trust you to continue your +arithmetic in silence during my absence. Not a word must be spoken while +I am out of the room.' + +For so long indeed as her footsteps echoed in the passage her pupils +obeyed her order, but the moment she might reasonably be believed to be +out of earshot a low murmur began among the little heads bent so +discreetly over the arithmetic books. No one attempted to do any work; +sweets and apples appeared mysteriously from within desks, and +surreptitious bites were offered to appreciative neighbours. One daring +spirit even mounted the platform, and waved the pointer in supposed +imitation of Miss Crossland's majestic style. + +'What made you so late, Peggy?' asked Nora Pemberton in the intervals of +ecstatic delight over a white mouse, hidden away in a desk-mate's +lunchbox. + +'Couldn't help it,' replied Peggy, with her mouth full of chocolate. +'Pixie lost a shoe, and we thought she would go lame, so we almost +crawled along; and when we got her in, we had to tell them to be sure +and have her shod by four o'clock, and of course it all takes time.' + +'I wish I drove to school every day,' said Sissie Wilson, a delicate +looking girl who lived in the heart of the town. + +'You wouldn't like it when it was wet,' said Peggy. 'And if it's frosty +one's hands get just numb holding the reins, though it's jolly enough in +summer. We have to start ever so early, too, to be here by nine.' + +'Well, I only wish I had the chance,' grumbled the envious Sissie; but +she was interrupted by a warning 'Hush! Miss Crossland!' + +In a moment thirty hair-ribbons were bent over thirty desks, and thirty +demure young ladies were adding up figures with the utmost care and +attention. + +Miss Crossland looked at them suspiciously; perhaps ten years of +teaching had caused her to mistrust such amazing diligence. + +'Has any girl spoken during my absence?' she inquired sharply. + +No one replied. Peggy's face flushed, and her conscience gave her a +sharp twinge. A Vaughan must never have anything to do with the least +little bit of an untruth, so she stood bravely up in her place. + +'I spoke, Miss Crossland,' she admitted. + +'And I too,' said Nora Pemberton. + +Nobody else followed Peggy's example. Sissie Wilson bit the end of her +pencil in abstruse calculation, Emily Thompson was deep in the pages of +her arithmetic, while most of the girls were adding up columns as if for +dear life. + +Miss Crossland looked grave. + +'Very well, Margaret and Nora,' she said, 'I must give you each a +bad-conduct mark, and shall expect you both to stay after four o'clock +this afternoon.' + +The tears rose to Peggy's eyes at the injustice. + +'What a mean set they are!' she said to herself. 'I'm sure Miss +Crossland might have known they had been talking too; but she is always +down upon me.' + +She opened her desk, and searched for a fresh pencil to hide her +tell-tale face, and somehow (she really did not mean it, but perhaps her +tears blinded her) the desk-lid slid from her fingers, and fell down +with an awful crash, which rang through the whole room. + +'Take another bad-conduct mark, Margaret Vaughan,' said the calm voice +of Miss Crossland. 'You must learn not to show temper when you are +reproved.' + +Poor Peggy groaned. Every bad-conduct mark meant six sums to be worked +out when school was over. She and Lilian had been very anxious to get +home early that afternoon, for they had meant to sow seeds in the +garden; and Father was always angry if they kept Bobby waiting, for he +did not like him to be loitering about the inn-yard listening to the +talk of the stable-boys. + +But Miss Crossland was writing a problem upon the blackboard in compound +proportion. 'If a hen and a half lay an egg and a half in a day and a +half, how many eggs can four hens lay in six days?' + +'What a stupid sum!' thought Peggy. 'How could there be a hen and a +half? I don't know the least how to state it. Is the answer to come out +in hens or eggs or days?' + +She put down a few random figures, then her thoughts wandered off to the +brown speckled hen at home, and she wondered if the little chicks would +hatch out to-day, and whether Nancy would remember to go and see, and +put the dear fluffy yellow things in a basket before the kitchen fire. + +'Your answer, Margaret?' said Miss Crossland. But Peggy's mind was so +far away in the Abbey barn that she did not at once hear her. + +Perhaps Emily Thompson really wished to recall Peggy's wandering +thoughts, or perhaps there was just a spice of malice in the action--at +any rate, she dug the point of her lead-pencil so sharply into poor +Peggy's hand that her astonished victim sat up with a yell. + +'_Margaret!_' exclaimed the outraged mistress. + +'I couldn't help it!' cried Peggy, grown desperate: 'Emily hurt me so!' + +'I'm very sorry, Miss Crossland,' said Emily sweetly. 'I didn't mean to +hurt Margaret, only to make her see you were speaking to her.' + +'Which would not have been necessary if she had been attending +properly,' replied the mistress. 'And I must say I think little of any +girl who cannot endure a moment's pain in silence. Read out your answer, +Emily, and I will then correct the home-work.' + +Peggy heaved a sigh of relief at that. She knew the sums which she had +worked at home on Saturday were correct, for Lilian had gone over them +carefully afterwards, so she opened her book and took up her pencil +ready to put a triumphant 'R' to each of them. + +'Miss Martin has borrowed my Blackie's Arithmetic,' said Miss Crossland, +'so I have not the answers here. But read out your results, Bertha Muir, +and I shall be able to judge from the general average whether they are +correct or not.' + +'Three hundred and nineteen pounds six and sevenpence,' read out +Bertha. + +'Hands up girls who have got that answer,' said Miss Crossland. + +At least twenty out of the thirty hands went up like lightning into the +air. + +'Right!' ventured the teacher. + +Peggy gazed at her sum in amazement. She differed from the answer by +several figures. Could both she and Lilian have made a mistake? It +seemed impossible, for Lilian was so splendid at arithmetic. But Bertha +was reading out the next sum, and the next. To each answer she gave a +crowd of uplifted hands agreed with her, and poor Peggy found, to her +chagrin, that in every case her figures were not the same. It could not +be that all the ten sums she had taken so much pains over were wrong. If +so, it meant a very bad mark for arithmetic. + +'Oh, Miss Crossland,' she burst out, 'it's not fair! I _know_ my answers +were right. If you would only work them out on the board, you'd soon +see.' + +'Margaret Vaughan,' said Miss Crossland sternly, 'I am the best judge in +this matter, and if I have any more trouble with you this morning I +shall send you straight to Miss Martin. I do not allow any girl to speak +to me in that tone.' + +Though inwardly raging, Peggy was forced to put on an outward appearance +of submission and good behaviour, and the lessons droned on somehow +until the morning was over. Most of the girls fled, as usual the moment +the class was dismissed; but Peggy stayed behind in the schoolroom to +tidy her desk and talk to Nora Pemberton, who just at present was her +particular friend among her schoolmates. + +'I can't think how it was my sums were all wrong,' she lamented, as she +put away the ill-fated home-lesson book. 'Did you get yours right, +Nora?' + +'No, wrong, every one; and I had worked them so carefully.' + +'Just let me look at your answers. Why, they are exactly like mine! I +know they are right. How is it all the other girls got the same as +Bertha?' + +'Oh, I can tell you that,' said Nora, 'They all copied her sums, for I +saw them doing it just before school began. You know it was the Military +Bazaar at the Assembly Rooms on Saturday, and I suppose most of the +girls were there, and had no time to do their home-work, so they just +scribbled down Bertha's figures before the bell rang.' + +'How unfair! How shamefully mean!' cried Peggy, with flaming cheeks. +'Miss Crossland ought to work out those sums.' + +'She won't, though. You made her so angry about it this morning, and +when once she says a thing she sticks to it.' + +'She's always hard on me somehow,' sighed Peggy. 'She's been perfectly +horrible to-day. Why, Nora, what's the matter?' + +For Nora had also had a tidy fit, and had been turning out her desk, and +she now drew forth a book with such a very blank and rueful face that +Peggy might well exclaim. + +'It's the Literature Notes,' said Nora in an awe-struck voice--'that +book Miss Martin lent us to copy from, and that vanished so mysteriously +a month ago. Don't you remember what a fearful fuss she made about it, +and we were all told to search in our desks? I thought I had looked +quite to the bottom of mine, but there it was, under a pile of old +exercise-books. Whatever shall I do? She will be so dreadfully angry +with me.' + +'Why, of course, you'll have to take it back,' said Peggy. 'But,' her +love of mischief getting the upper hand, 'I don't see why we shouldn't +have a little fun with it first. You won't find Miss Martin in the +library now, and it would do quite as well at four o'clock, so suppose +you put it inside Mary Hill's desk, just to give her a fright. She's +such a goose, she'll give a perfect howl of horror when she finds it, +and then we'll pretend to think she must have had it there all the time, +and get her into _such_ a state of mind before we tell her.' + +Nora laughed, for practical jokes were at a high tide of popularity in +the class, and many were the tricks which the girls played on one +another. + +'I owe Mary something,' she said, 'for she tied my hair-ribbon to the +back of the desk on Friday, and when I tried to get up I was held fast +by my pigtail.' + +'It will be a good way to pay her back, then,' said Peggy. 'See, I'll +put it just on the top in front, where she'll find it first thing; but +don't tell a soul till this afternoon, or you'll spoil all the fun.' + +The two conspirators ran downstairs laughing, and were soon romping in +the playground. After dinner one of the elder girls suggested rounders, +and the game grew so enthralling that time flew by until the bell, +ringing for afternoon school, sent the players, hot and rosy with their +exertions, hurrying up the great staircase to their classrooms. As Peggy +passed the door of Miss Martin's study she happened to notice Mary Hill +come out of it, with a particularly red and uncomfortable look upon her +face. + +'What has she been doing there?' thought Peggy; but there was neither +time to inquire Mary's errand nor to carry out her anticipated joke with +the note-book, for the girls were taking their places, and Miss +Crossland came in a moment afterwards. + +She mounted the platform and rang the bell for order, but, instead of +calling their names as usual, she announced: + +'Girls, Miss Martin desires that you should all be present in the +lecture-hall, where she wishes to address the whole school. File out in +order, beginning with the top desk on the right.' + +Full of astonishment, the girls marched down to the large lecture-hall, +where all the classes were assembling, marshalled by their teachers. It +was evidently a matter of some importance, for it was seldom indeed that +lessons were interrupted in this manner. The girls kept whispering to +each other under their breath: + +'Whatever can it all be about? Have you heard anything? Why does she +want us all here?' + +But their surmises were soon put an end to by the appearance of Miss +Martin herself, stately and commanding as usual, and with a grieved look +on her face. She mounted the platform, and with a little sigh turned to +her expectant audience. + +'Girls,' she began, with an air almost of tragedy, 'a very distressing +incident has happened to-day--a circumstance which in all the records of +this school has never occurred before. You see this book in my hand,' +and she held up (oh, luckless Peggy!) the missing note-book. 'This book +of manuscript notes, which I had compiled myself from various sources, +and valued greatly, I lent to be copied by the third form. It was lost, +and though I caused every search to be made, I could find no trace of +it. Girls, I regret to say that to-day this book has been brought back +to school, and _has been placed in another girl's desk_--in the desk, I +repeat, of an innocent girl, who had nothing to do with its loss.' + +Miss Martin paused, and a wave of horror passed over the school. As for +Peggy, her blood ran cold. It had never struck her before that the act +of placing the book in Mary's desk could be open to such a construction. +She had meant it all for a joke, and thought Mary would have been the +first to join in the fun, and then Nora would, of course, have taken it +back. She saw now that, while they had still been romping at rounders, +Mary must have gone up to the schoolroom, and finding the missing notes +in her desk, had carried them at once to the library. + +'Oh, why did we not come up sooner?' groaned Peggy. 'Who would ever have +thought of Miss Martin taking it like this?' + +'I feel,' continued the head-mistress sadly, 'that we have one girl +among us of so dishonourable a nature that she seeks to hide her fault +by throwing the blame on to the shoulders of another. Who that girl may +be I cannot tell, but her own conscience must surely convict her.' + +She paused again, and her glance passed slowly round the room. Peggy's +face grew burning hot. + +'I am determined,' Miss Martin went on, 'to probe this matter to the +bottom, and I now call upon any girl who may have any knowledge on the +subject to rise up and tell what she knows.' + +Peggy tried to look at Nora, but Nora was several rows behind her. For +one moment she hesitated, and in that moment she was lost. Emily +Thompson had risen in her place. + +'Well, Emily,' said Miss Martin gravely, 'do you know anything about +this unhappy affair?' + +'I do, Miss Martin,' replied Emily in a low voice. + +'Tell me at once, then,' commanded the head-mistress. + +'I would much rather not, please,' said Emily, casting down her eyes. +'I don't like getting another girl into trouble.' + +'Emily Thompson, this is not the time to shield a companion, and I order +you to say at once what you know.' + +'Well,' said Emily, twisting her slim hands nervously, 'if I must tell, +I went back to the schoolroom before dinner for my pencil-box, and,' +with a sidelong look at Peggy, 'I noticed Margaret Vaughan putting a +book inside Mary Hill's desk.' + +The bolt had fallen. Miss Martin turned to Peggy, who, with white and +quivering lips, sat as still as if she had been frozen on to the form. + +'Is this false or true, Margaret Vaughan?' she asked, in a voice that +was scarcely more than a whisper. + +There were nearly four hundred girls in the room, but you could have +heard a pin drop in the silence. Lilian had risen half up in her place, +and was looking at Peggy with eager, expectant face. As for Peggy, she +felt as if the end of the world had come. She could not in truth deny +the fact, though of the intention she was absolutely guiltless. She had +never in her life told a lie, and she summoned all the Vaughan spirit to +her aid. + +'It's true,' she faltered, trying to speak bravely, but wishing all the +time that she could sink through the floor. + +Miss Martin gazed at her for a moment as if dumbfounded. + +'That will do,' she said at last. 'I will inquire into this privately. +Miss Pope, will you kindly take Margaret Vaughan into the kindergarten +classroom, where she will wait until I come to her? Each form may now +leave the room in turn. We have wasted too much time already.' + +Peggy's head was in a whirl. She had a confused idea that Lilian was +trying to come to her across a row of benches, and was being held back +by a teacher; but otherwise she scarcely knew what was happening, except +that she seemed to be the centre for all the eight hundred eyes in the +room, till Miss Pope took her by the shoulder and marched her away like +a warder escorting a very small convict to gaol. The kindergarten babies +did not return to school in the afternoon, so their little classroom was +empty. Left alone, the poor child flung herself on to one of the low +seats and burst into a passion of tears. + +That it should come to this--that she, Peggy Vaughan, who, whatever +might be her faults, had always held such an unstained reputation for +honour and truthfulness, should be deemed capable of such a mean and +discreditable action seemed too hard to be borne. She felt as if she +could never explain the matter properly, and that the brand of this +horrible affair would remain on her for the rest of her life, bringing +disgrace upon the whole family for her sake. She worked herself up +nearly to the point of heartbreak when she thought of what Father and +Aunt Helen would think about it, and it seemed to her as though the very +Crusaders and the lady and gentleman in the Elizabethan ruffs would look +at her from their tombs in the church next Sunday with grave disapproval +in their eyes. + +'It's all my own fault, too,' she thought, 'for Nora wanted to take that +wretched book back at once, and she would have done so if it hadn't been +for me. I don't think Miss Martin will ever believe me now, when I tell +her how it was, and all the girls will think me a mean sneak for +evermore.' And her tears flowed down faster and faster as she pictured +herself a sort of social outcast in the school, shunned and avoided by +everyone. 'I wonder how long they're going to leave me here?' she +thought dismally, as the afternoon wore away and the clock chimed +half-past three. 'Miss Martin said she was coming after me at once. Oh, +if _only_ I could get home, I'd ask Father not to send me to school +again. Perhaps Aunt Helen would teach me lessons at home if I begged +hard. I can never bear to face anybody here after all this.' + +It really seemed too bad to leave the poor little culprit so long in +suspense, for to a child's mind the agony of waiting is often far worse +than the dreaded punishment, and childhood's sorrows are so overwhelming +and hopeless that they almost eclipse those of later years. + +Peggy's head was aching, her eyes were red and swollen with crying, and +dark despair was settling down upon her, when the door suddenly opened, +and Lilian burst in and caught her in a regular bear's hug, while Nora +followed like a perfect whirlwind only a yard behind. + +'There, darling! don't cry any more. I _knew_ you couldn't do such a +mean thing,' said Lilian between her kisses. 'I've been just longing to +come and comfort you, but they wouldn't let me. I rushed off at once to +tell Miss Martin I was sure it was all a horrible mistake, but she was +engaged with a tiresome caller who had just been shown into the library, +and I've been dodging about the corridor all this time waiting to see +her.' + +'And so have I,' cried Nora. 'I have been simply dancing with impatience +on the doormat. I know I ought to have told at once, but I was so +dreadfully taken aback at it all turning out like that, and you being +accused, that I could only stand and stare like an idiot while Miss Pope +marched you out of the room. Miss Martin's been ever so nice about it, +though. She talked a lot about my being careless and our wanting to play +tricks on Mary, but she said she was "glad to be able to think as highly +of Margaret Vaughan as she had always done," and we were to go at once +and set you free. She actually kissed us both before we went, didn't +she, Lilian? Do say you forgive me, Peggy, for I feel as if I had got +you into all this trouble.' + +'Of course I do,' said Peggy warmly, feeling ready to forgive even Emily +Thompson in her relief. + +'The girls all know about it,' said Nora. 'They're waiting outside in +the playground. They think Emily Thompson was a sneak to go telling +tales like that, without asking you first if you had really done it, and +they're so sorry for you that they say they'll give you a "hooray" when +you come out.' + +But, though all is well that ends well, Peggy was still so tear-stained +and upset that she did not feel equal to facing her school-fellows, +however sympathetic they might be, so she escaped with Lilian through +the side-door into the street, feeling she would never be really happy +or at ease again till she was back in that haven of home where she was +always appreciated and understood, and pouring out her troubles to Aunt +Helen in the sanctuary of the Rose Parlour. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +CONCERNING LILIAN + + 'Her life had many a hope and aim, + Duties enough, and little cares.' + + +This story is so much about Peggy and her satellite Bobby that we have +rather neglected Lilian, and she deserves a chapter all to herself; for +she was one of the sweetest, gentlest, most unselfish of girls, who +filled a quiet niche in the little world of her home which would have +been sadly empty without her. + +If anyone had asked Lilian what was her favourite study she would +promptly have replied: 'Music.' She practised away patiently at the old +piano, much to the delight of her German teacher, who was wont to hold +her up as his pattern pupil. + +'Mees Vaughan, she take pains, ver' great,' he would say to Miss Martin. +'As for ze ozer yong ladies, zey have no more musique in zem zan an old +hurdy-gurdy. All zat vill please zem is a tune to make dance, but for ze +vorks of ze best composers zey have no heart at all.' + +Lilian's secret ambition was to go to Germany to study at the Leipzig +Conservatoire, which Herr Frankenburg always described as the very home +and abode of the spirit of music, and made her sadly envious with +accounts of the wonderful concerts and operas which might be enjoyed in +that favoured city, where the very street vendors would not be tolerated +if they cried their wares out of tune. + +Lilian's experience of concerts was confined to an occasional afternoon +performance in the Warford Assembly Rooms, or the military band in the +Spa gardens; but she bravely hid her longings for better things, for she +knew that a musical education would be an utter impossibility in the +family circumstances, and that Father had strained a point already to +allow her to learn from Herr Frankenburg, who was the most expensive +teacher in the school. + +She had a sweet, true voice, though not of any great volume, and would +sing away with much delight when she got the Rose Parlour all to +herself, often composing little things of her own, which were really +quite pretty, though she was generally too modest to own to them. + +One Saturday towards the end of May six of Lilian's most particular +school-friends had been invited to spend the afternoon, and there were +great preparations at the Abbey. Rollo had been newly washed and combed, +the rabbits' hutch had been scrubbed, the arbour swept out, the museum +tidied, and Nancy had baked a supply of cakes and tarts calculated to +provide for the healthiest appetites. + +'Here they are!' cried Bobby, who, perched on the archway that +surmounted the gate, could command a view of the distant prospect, and +report progress, like Sister Anne in the story of Bluebeard. + +'All of them?' asked Lilian, hurriedly tying a pink ribbon round the +neck of the pet lamb, whose toilet had been forgotten among the many +arrangements. + +'Yes; I can see six bicycles coming along the road. One girl's got red +hair, so I'm sure it's Evelyn Proctor, and the two in the blue hats will +be Susie and Mary. Oh, it is really, for they're turning up from the +village over the bridge, and waving their hands.' + +And Bobby climbed down quickly from his point of vantage, so as not to +miss the interesting arrival. + +They were a very jolly set of schoolgirls whom Aunt Helen came out on to +the front steps to welcome. Kathleen O'Riley was a bright Irish girl, +with the prettiest suspicion of a brogue imaginable, and that winning +manner which seems specially to belong to the children of the Emerald +Isle. Susie and Mary Hirst were the daughters of a rising Warford +physician, and were pleasant and amusing, though they had not the racy +humour of Dorothy Gower. Evelyn Proctor was full of high spirits, while +shy Lucy Thorburn was perhaps Lilian's favourite among them all. + +'It must be stunning to have a bicycle,' said Bobby, regarding with +envious eye the row of bright machines neatly stacked against the wall, +and spinning the pedals with a not too gentle hand. + +'Yes, it is pretty good fun,' said Susie Hirst, good-naturedly giving +him a ride round the carriage sweep. 'But, you see, you have Pixie +instead, and I think a pony's really nicer.' + +'She can't go so fast,' complained Bobby, determined not to be consoled. + +'Perhaps not, but you couldn't bike to school in the pouring rain or +snow. It's no joke to get a side-slip, I can tell you.' + +'Come along, girls,' cried Lilian; 'I have such heaps to show you.' + +It was the first visit that some of the guests had paid to Gorswen, so +they were delighted to make a tour of inspection round the garden, +farmyard, and ruins. They duly admired the pet lamb, laughed at Jack, +stroked the rabbits, declared Rollo to be a black-and-tan angel, and +screamed with horror at Toby, a harmless grass snake, which was the very +latest addition to the menagerie. + +Tea was a lively meal, for Father was full of jokes and funny stories, +and Aunt Helen enjoyed schoolgirls' society almost as much as the +children themselves, while Nancy's delicacies melted away like snow in +summer. + +'Let us come to the Rose Parlour,' said Lilian, when cups were emptied +for the last time, and 'No, thank you's' began to be responded to +invitations to more cake and pastry. + +Peggy followed, feeling very grand and grown-up among so many elder +girls, and shut the door sternly in Bobby's face. + +'We don't want little boys in here,' she said crushingly. + +'I don't care,' shouted the indignant youth through the keyhole. 'I +don't want to play with a lot of stupid girls--so there! I shall go and +talk to Joe.' + +The museum proved a great fund of interest, for nearly every article had +a history, and the guests wandered round the room examining the maps and +various specimens of art which adorned the walls. Dorothy was trying the +piano, for she played well, though her touch had not half the firmness +of Lilian's. + +'What's this?' asked Mary, hunting through a pile of old music inside +the ottoman, and fishing out a manuscript page in Lilian's neat hand. + +'Oh, don't!' cried Lilian, blushing hotly. 'Let me have that, Mary, +please. I didn't know I had left it there.' + +'What is it?' exclaimed all the girls, whose curiosity was naturally +aroused. 'Peggy, you tell!' + +'If you dare, Peg!' said Lilian. + +But for once Peggy turned tell-tale, and disclosed the secret. + +'It's a coon song she's made up herself,' she declared stoutly. + +'Oh, do sing it!' cried Susie. 'I couldn't write a note of music if I +tried for a year.' + +'Yes, yes, you must!' echoed the others. + +Thus urged, the unwilling composer was hauled to the piano and pressed +on to the music-stool, where, with many protestations and much +bashfulness, she sang the following song: + +SHOO! PICCANINNIES. + +[Music: Shoo! Piccaninnies.] + + 1. 'Way down in Georgia where de sugar am grow, + All de piccaninnies want to suck de canes, you know! + An' dey're hidin' round an' peepin', like de 'possum all de day, + Till Uncle Sambo bring his stick an' chase 'em all away! + + Chorus. + + Shoo, shoo! piccaninnies mustn't come near! + Don't want no little piccaninnies 'way down here! + Ole mammy callin' you, de melon-beds among-- + Shoo! little piccaninnies, 'way! go 'long! + + 2. When de kitchen-fire am blazin', an' Aunt Dinah stews an' bakes, + All de piccaninnies gather just to smell her pies an' cakes; + An' dey cluster round de window like de bees upon a comb, + Till Auntie Dinah she get mad, an' turn an' drive 'em home! + Shoo, shoo! piccaninnies, etc. + + 3. When massa go a-drivin' in de carry-all and pair, + Little piccaninnies run behind to shout Hurrah! and stare; + Den de overseer he come up, and use his big, long lash, + And say de road was neber meant to harbour nigger trash! + Shoo, shoo! piccaninnies, etc. + +'It's lovely!' cried the admiring girls. 'Did you make up the words +too?' + +'Of course she did,' said Peggy, who was proud of her sister's talents. +'She has made lots of others, too. Lil, do let me find "Dinah's Baby" +and "Stealin' Melons 'neath de Moon"!' + +'No, no,' said Lilian; 'I've shown off quite enough for one day. It's +somebody else's turn now. Come along, Dorothy!' + +But Dorothy declared she had played everything she knew, with the +exception of scales or five-finger exercises, and none of the others +could remember anything without their notes, so the piano was closed +and the music put away. + +'There's your little brother outside, tapping on the glass,' said Susie. +'What a cherub he looks, with his pink cheeks and little tight brown +curls!' + +'Sure, I'll let him in, the darlint!' said Kathleen O'Riley, running to +open the French window and admit the smiling Bobby, who entered with an +expression of such angelic innocence that Peggy's suspicions were +instantly aroused. + +'I thought you might like some chocolates,' he said winningly, handing a +noble box to Mary Hirst with an air of much generosity. + +'Dear little fellow! How sweet of him!' murmured the girls as they +collected round with pleased anticipation. + +Mary opened the box, but dropped it with a howl of dismay, for in place +of the tempting sweetmeats she had expected lay a writhing mass of fat +green caterpillars, newly picked from the gooseberry-bushes, a subtle +revenge on Bobby's part for his expulsion from the sanctum. + +'You wretch!' cried Lilian, endeavouring to catch and chastise the +rejoicing offender, who was off through the window and over the wall +long before the girls had finished screaming and shaking their skirts. + +'He's a broth of a boy!' laughed Kathleen, who rather enjoyed the joke. +'Get out the fire-shovel, Peggy mavourneen, and we'll be after sweeping +them up from the carpet. They're too soft and juicy to be treading under +foot.' + +'What shall we do now?' asked Susie, sinking back luxuriously into the +basket-chair, when the contents of the chocolate-box had been +successfully removed. + +'Suppose we play at nonsense verses,' said Lilian, tearing a few pages +from an exercise-book, and hunting out a supply of pencils. 'You all +know the famous one about the lady of Riga: + + "There was a young lady of Riga, + Who smiled as she rode on the tiger; + They came home from their ride + With the lady inside, + And the smile on the face of the tiger." + +Well, the game is this. We each write down the name of a person we all +know on a slip of paper; they are folded up and shuffled, and everybody +draws one, and you must write a nonsense rhyme about the person whose +name you find upon your particular slip. Then we elect a president and +read them out.' + +'It sounds dreadfully difficult,' sighed Lucy. 'I'm not at all clever at +poetry.' + +'Oh, never mind, _do_ try;' said Peggy, dealing out the pencils. 'It's +ever such fun when once you begin.' + +The names were written out, the papers shuffled and drawn, and for ten +minutes or more the girls sat knitting their brows and biting their +pencils in all the agonies of composition. When everyone had finished +the slips were folded up and placed in a basket, and Lilian, who had +been chosen to read the effusions, shut her eyes and drew one out at a +venture. The name was 'Mademoiselle,' and the lines ran as follows: + + 'There once was a French mademoiselle + Who thought she knew English quite well. + When she meant "I am happy," + She said "I am snappy," + Which made us all laugh, I can tell.' + +The girls tittered, for Mademoiselle's mistakes in English were a +by-word all over the school. + +'I wonder who wrote that!' said Susie, with an innocent air. + +'Don't give yourself away, my dear,' answered Evelyn. 'We can all guess +now.' + +The next paper was headed 'Mary Hirst.' + + 'There was a wild schoolgirl named Hirst, + Who of all the bad pupils was worst, + Till she started to cram + For the Cambridge exam., + And, to everyone's surprise, came out first.' + +'I hope that's a true prophecy,' laughed Mary, who was studying hard for +the Senior Local. + +'This writing is not very clear,' said Lilian, unfolding another slip +and reading: 'Peggy.' + + 'There was a young lady named Peg, + Who was terribly strong in the leg: + With the boys in a race + She could set her own pace; + But pray do not name it, I beg.' + +'That's your own, Lilian,' said the astute Kathleen, 'for you said the +writing was hard to make out, and yet you read it straight off, quite +glibly.' + +'You may guess as you like, but I shan't tell,' replied the president +sternly. + +The fourth paper was described 'Herr Fruehl.' + + 'There was an old German named Fruehl, + Who a respirator wore as a rule. + When the weather was bad, + Oh, his temper was sad, + Till we wished he were muzzled in school.' + +This proved a favourite, for poor Herr Fruehl, the German master, was +famous for his bronchitis and his bad temper, and the general opinion +ascribed the authorship to Dorothy, though she would not acknowledge her +laurels. + +'The next,' said Lilian, 'is on Kathleen.' + + 'There once lived a maid named Kath_leen_, + Who never a boat-race had seen; + When they brought her a bow + Of bright red, she said "No, + My national colour is green!"' + +The lines referred to a joke which was never forgotten against Kathleen. +When she first came to Warford High School, fresh from her native Erin, +she had been taken with the rest of her class to witness a grand +boat-race between the Grammar School and a rival college from Oswestry. +Many of the girls had brothers in the contest, and the Warford favours +were freely distributed on the bank. A little boy had come up to +Kathleen and politely begged her to accept the scarlet bow of the +Grammar School, and sport it as a token of goodwill towards the heroes +of the town. + +'Is it a red riband, then, ye'll be after askin' me to wear?' inquired +the indignant young Irishwoman. 'It's the shade of the tyrant, bad cess +to it! and don't suit me complexion neither. Sure it's nothing but green +favours ye'll see on Kathleen O'Riley.' + +'Miss James' was the subject of the sixth poem. + + 'A teacher there was called Miss James, + The most domineering of dames: + When she passed by their places, + All the girls made bad faces; + But she never found out, all the same!' + +'Same doesn't quite rhyme with James,' remarked Evelyn. + +'Well, I told you I was no good at poetry,' began poor Lucy, then +stopped in much embarrassment at having betrayed herself. + +'I think it's very nice,' said Lilian hurriedly; 'I like it one of the +best. Don't you want to hear this one about "Dorothy Gower"? + + 'A maiden named Dorothy Gower + Could never eat anything sour; + To plain biscuits or bread + A "No, thank you," she said, + But candy or cakes she'd devour.' + +'It's a slander!' cried Dorothy. 'A vile slander! And if I discover the +authorship, I'll bring an action for libel. Go on, Lilian dear, and give +us the last.' + +The final effort was on the theme of 'Joe.' + + 'There was a young fellow named Joe: + Who gave him that name I don't know, + But I do know that he + Gave a puppy to me, + And that's why I take to him so!' + +'That's Peggy's!' cried the girls in chorus. 'It couldn't belong to +anyone else. Well done, Peggy! You will have to show that to Joe; he'll +be quite flattered.' + +They sat laughing over the rhymes and chattering as only schoolgirls +know how until Aunt Helen came in to announce that a light repast of +cake and lemonade awaited them in the dining-room, and to gently hint +that, if Warford were to be reached before darkness had fallen, it was +getting time for the six bicycles to be set in motion. So there was a +grand collecting of hats and gloves, and pumping of tyres, and many +'good-byes' and 'thank you's,' and the merry party at last started off +on their homeward way, ringing their bells as a parting salute, and +declaring they would not soon forget their afternoon at the Abbey. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +SUNDAY + + 'A poor man served by thee shall make thee rich; + A sick man helped by thee shall make thee strong; + Thou shalt be served thyself by every sense + Of service which thou renderest.' + + +It was Sunday afternoon, and the children sat in the Rose Parlour, with +the windows wide open to let in all the sweet summer scents from the +garden. + +Patient Lilian was struggling to teach Bobby a Scripture lesson, for his +form-master had decreed that the names of the books of the Old Testament +must be repeated without a slip immediately after prayers on the ensuing +Monday morning. Poor Bobby had neither a retentive memory nor a great +disposition to learn. He fidgeted, and kicked the leg of the table, and +said it was 'a jolly shame for old Peters to give a fellow Sunday prep.' +He hopelessly confused Ezra and Esther, floundered at Ecclesiastes, and +the minor prophets filled him with despair. + +'Oh, Bobby, _do_ try again,' entreated Lilian. 'Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, +Nahum, Habakkuk.' + +'It's no use, Lil,' said the despondent Bobby. 'I may as well make up my +mind to take a caning and spare myself the trouble.' + +'Lilian dear, are you busy?' said Aunt Helen, putting her head round +the door. 'I thought you might have taken this jar of beef-tea to old +Ephraim. I hear he is not so well again, and he was not in church this +morning.' + +'Oh, Auntie, let me take it!' cried Peggy, glad of any excuse to +interrupt the study of her Collect and Catechism. + +'Be careful not to spill it, then, and be sure to bring back the basket. +And while you are there, I have no doubt he would be pleased if you read +to him for a little. He is getting so blind now, poor old man! and it is +dull for him, living all alone,' said Aunt Helen, who liked to teach the +children to help their neighbours. + +Old Ephraim was a quaint and original character. He had come to Gorswen +from the North country, and had been shepherd for forty years at the +Abbey. He was past work now, and lived in one of the village almshouses, +subsisting partly on the parish dole and partly on private charity; for +though Mr. Vaughan might practise rigid economy in his own private +expenses, he had never a grudging hand towards the poor. + +The little low whitewashed cottage was a humble enough place, but it +looked cheerful this Sunday afternoon, with the sunlight streaming in +through the tiny window, and a few early white roses shedding their +sweet perfume in the small garden in front. + +Peggy found the old man seated in his elbow-chair by the fireside, his +head enveloped in a huge flat oat-cake, tied on with a red cotton +pocket-handkerchief, so that he resembled some new species of mushroom. + +'Why, Ephraim!' she cried, stopping short in amazement; 'whatever is the +matter? And what have you got on your head?' + +'Headache, Miss Peggy,' replied Ephraim, shaking his gray locks +solemnly. 'There ain't nothink like a hot oat-cake for a bad head; it do +cure it wonderful, to be sure.' + +'Well, it seems a queer thing to put on, anyhow,' remarked Peggy, +wondering privately whether the old man would consume his remedy +afterwards for tea. 'How is the rheumatism?' + +'Better, Miss Peggy--gradely better since I've kept a potato in my +pocket. Ah, it's a fine thing for the rheumatics, is a potato. But,' +with a sly wink, 'it must be stolen, or it beant no use at all!' + +'Did you _steal_ it, then, Ephraim?' cried Peggy with thrilling +interest. + +'That's as may be,' replied the old man, willing to change the subject +now it was growing personal. 'Is your pa keepin' well these days?' + +'The Catechism says it's wrong to steal,' observed the righteous Peggy, +keeping sternly to the point, and anxious to improve the occasion. +'Haven't you got a Bible, Ephraim?' + +'Ay, ay,' returned the culprit evasively, 'there be one somewheres.' + +'Don't you know where it is?' said Peggy severely. + +'Oh ay! Hannah Jones was in a' Saturday, sidin' th' top o' th' cupboard, +and I see'd her wi' it in her hand. Oh, I reads the Bible, I does. It's +all about wars--them Israelites foightin' wi' the other heathen.' + +'It's about something else, too,' replied Peggy: 'miracles and parables +and epistles, and--oh! lots of things. Wouldn't you like me to read some +to you?' + +'Nay now, Miss Peggy,' said Ephraim, much alarmed lest she should expect +him to stir his rheumatic old bones in a search on the cupboard-top. 'I +reckon sometimes 'tis better to think on things nor to read 'em. I've +time to do a deal o' thinkin', settin' here.' + +'Perhaps I might read you something else, then?' volunteered Peggy, +determined to be a ministering angel, despite the evident unwillingness +of her protege. + +'Yea,' said the old man, considerably relieved; 'there be a drawer full +o' books i' the dresser. Take your choice, miss--take your choice.' + +Peggy turned out the drawer by the simple process of emptying it on the +table, and disclosed a very miscellaneous collection of +literature--socialist pamphlets, agnostic newspapers, and radical tracts +were mixed up with teetotal treatises, missionary leaflets, and the +parish magazine. Sheets of ballads, which Ephraim had bought as a boy, +lay side by side with a tattered copy or two of Zadkiel's prophetic +almanac, some advertisements of patent medicines, a recipe for +sheep-dip, and a Wesleyan hymn-book. Peggy gazed eagerly at an ancient +chap-book, which set forth the stories of Dick Turpin and Jack Sheppard, +interspersed with rude woodcuts of the gallows and whipping-post; but +she heroically put it aside, as being unsuitable for the day. + +Finally, she settled upon a little worn volume bound in calf, with the +title, 'A Sigh of Sorrow for the Sinners of Zion, breathed by an Earthly +Vessel known among Men by the Name of Samuel Fish.' + +'I'm sure Aunt Helen would think this all right to read to him,' she +said to herself, as she drew a chair to the other side of the fire. + +It was not very easy reading, for the print had faded till it was almost +the colour of the yellow leaves, and the 's's' were all long, so that +Peggy found herself continually reading 'fins' instead of 'sins'; but +she did her best, conscientiously, and the old man nodded in his chair, +sitting up briskly, however, when he felt her reproachful eyes upon him. + +Peggy stopped, quite hot and weary, at the end of the first chapter. + +'Do you like it, Ephraim?' she inquired anxiously. + +'Ay, Miss Peggy, it be foine, it be, surely,' said the old man. + +'What does it all mean?' said the child. 'It is so hard to read, I can +scarcely understand it.' + +'Why, as to that, miss,' answered Ephraim, 'it seems to me as long as +it's pious words, there beant no call to understand 'em, let alone I'm +that deaf to-day, it seems naught but a buzzin' like when you read.' + +Peggy closed the book hurriedly. + +'I think I had better be going now,' she announced. 'I hope your +headache will be well soon. Can't I put the kettle on for you?' + +'Ay, miss, if you be so bountiful. My rheumatics be cruel bad when I +stir me.' + +Peggy filled the kettle from the pump in the back garden, and hung it on +its hook over the fire. She found the old man's cup and saucer, and set +out his tea on the little round table by his side, and finally took her +departure, feeling she had at least attended to his temporal wants, and +might leave the rest to older and wiser heads than hers. + +'I'll call and see Mrs. Davis; there'll be plenty of time before tea,' +she said to herself, as she came back up the village street, swinging +her empty basket. + +Mrs. Davis was a dear old Welshwoman, and a particular friend of +Peggy's. She was one of Nature's gentlewomen, for her kind heart +prompted those little gracious, courteous acts which in a higher class +we call good breeding. She made quite a picture in her short +linsey-woolsey petticoat, with the check apron, her plaid shawl crossed +over her cotton bodice, and the frilled white cap framing the kind old +face, with its apple cheeks and soft white hair. She was sitting among +her bees this Sunday afternoon, beating with an iron spoon upon an old +tin kettle. + +'They be swarming, indeed, Miss Peggy,' she said. 'And here I've had to +sit the whole of the day, beating this old tin--and Sunday, too! But we +can't expect the poor creatures to understand that, can we?' + +'I suppose not,' said Peggy, settling herself on a low wooden seat, at a +safe distance from the agitated hives, and letting her glance wander +round the little garden, where the tall yellow lilies reared their +stately heads over a mass of sweet cottage flowers, pinks and +forget-me-nots, poppies and double daisies, sweet-williams--loved of the +bees--pansies, lupins, and snap-dragons; over the cottage, where the +white roses climbed up the thatch to the very chimneys, and where +through the open doorway could be seen the neat kitchen, with its +red-brick floor, the settle placed by the fireside, the tall +grandfather's clock ticking away in the corner, and the oak dresser, +with its rows of blue willow-pattern plates; and back again at last to +where Mrs. Davis sat with her grandchild by her knee, a small round-eyed +boy, whose thumb was stuck perpetually, like a stopper, in his mouth, +and who stood watching the bees with stolid indifference. + +'Won't he get stung?' asked Peggy, who thought he looked far too near to +the swarming hives for safety. + +'No, dearie. I think they know me and Willie now, though they'd attack a +stranger as soon as not.' + +'I was dreadfully stung once,' confided Peggy. 'I lifted off the little +box on the top of one of the Rectory hives, just to see how the bees +were getting on, and they all came rushing out and settled on me. Mr. +Howell seized me, and put my head under the pump, and Father was ever so +cross, for he said I shouldn't have meddled with them.' + +'The bees don't like to be interfered with,' said Mrs. Davis. 'You +should never touch them in the daytime. Always take the honey at night.' + +'Joe says you must tell them if there's a death in the house, and tie a +piece of crape on the hive, or they'll all fly away.' + +'Well, I don't quite hold with all folks say about them, but they are +strange creatures, with queer ways of their own. They seem quiet just +now, so I think I might leave them for a few minutes. I have a pot of +honey I should like to send to your aunt, miss, if you would kindly take +it to her. I'll go inside and fetch it. No, Willie, my pretty, you can't +come. Granny's going up the ladder into the loft.' + +'I'll take care of him. Come with me, Willie dear--come and see the +pretty flowers.' + +And Peggy seized the stolid infant by his disengaged hand. + +Willie did not look enthusiastic about the attractions of the flowers, +but he allowed himself to be led away, staring at his new guardian with +round eyes of solemn distrust, and solacing himself with his thumb. + +'We'll build a little house,' said Peggy, anxious to prevent the +suspicious twitching of her charge's mouth from developing into a roar, +and taking up some bricks and loose stones which lay under the wall. +'See, we'll make a kitchen and parlour, and put down leaves for a +carpet. Here's a little round stone for a table, and the pansy-flowers +will do for dollies. They've such funny little faces. We'll make them +skirts out of laurel leaves, and put them to bed in the corner.' + +Peggy's well-meant efforts at entertainment were suddenly interrupted by +a loud sniff from the other side of the wall, and, looking up, she saw +the round, reproachful face of Polly Smith, a girl of about her own age, +who sometimes came up to the Abbey to help Nancy at busy times. + +'Why, it's you, miss, I do declare!' exclaimed Polly. 'And making +play-houses in Mrs. Davis's garden on Sunday, too! I _am_ surprised! +_I've_ been to Sunday-school!' + +Peggy felt rather caught, but she carried it off as well as she could. + +'I was only amusing Willie,' she said. 'He was going to cry because +Granny Davis went indoors and left him.' + +'Ay, she's been sittin' swarmin' her bees all day. I see her when I was +goin' to chapel, and I see her again when I come back, and when I goes +to Sunday-school she were still there. My dada says he don't hold with +folks as can't keep the Sabbath holy.' + +And Polly turned up her small nose in a distinctly aggravating manner. + +'How did you get on at Sunday-school?' asked Peggy, who did not like +insinuations against the moral worth of her dear Mrs. Davis. + +'Splendid, miss. I always does. Teacher gave me a prize for sayin' +hymns--such a nice book. Wouldn't you like to look at it?' + +'Are you sure it's a Sunday book?' inquired Peggy, who could not forbear +her revenge. + +'Oh yes, for I looked at the end chapter, and she dies beautiful, and +they plant snowdrops on her grave; and her big brother, what's so unkind +to her, gets drowned through goin' boatin' on Sunday,' replied Polly, +regarding Peggy as if she thought her courses might lead her to a +similar watery fate. + +'Here's Granny!' cried Willie, abandoning his thumb to seek the +protection of the friendly linsey-woolsey petticoat. + +'Ay, so it be. _My_ granny sits in the parlour on Sunday afternoons, +with her blinds drawn down, and reads her Bible. She's a godly old +woman, she is!' + +And Polly took her departure with a conscious sniff, as if deploring the +depravity of her neighbours. + +Peggy was very much upset. + +'Is it really wrong to look after the bees and amuse babies on Sunday?' +she asked Father afterwards. + +'No, dear, certainly not. The Pharisees came to our Lord with just such +a question, and you know He answered them that it was right to do well +on the Sabbath. God did not mean it to be a day of misery, but a +specially joyful and happy day, in which we were to think a good deal +about Him. Sometimes we can show our love for Him quite as well by +helping others as by reading our Bibles or going to church, though we +should not neglect that either. As for shutting ourselves up on Sundays, +and thinking it is wrong to look at the beautiful things around us, that +is mere ignorance, for Nature is like a wonderful book, written by God's +hand, and the birds and the bees and the flowers are all pages out of it +for those who have eyes to read them rightly.' + +Peggy thought of this as she sat among the ruins watching the sunset +that night. The sky, flaming in bands of crimson, violet and orange, +looked like the very gate of heaven, a golden city which you had only to +cross the hills to reach--surely another page in that book of which +Father had spoken. + +'It's like one of the pictures in the Interpreter's house in the +"Pilgrim's Progress,"' she said to herself; 'or Christian and Hopeful on +the Delectable Mountains, when they looked through the glass, and +thought they saw "something like the gate, and also some of the glory of +the place."' + +She stayed a long, long time among the crumbling old walls, watching the +gold fade gradually out of the sky. It was very still and peaceful in +there, and she liked to sit and think how the Abbey must have looked in +those strange, bygone days when the little steps had led to a dormitory, +and the broken pillars had held up the roof of a church, whose tinkling +bell had rung out at sunset, calling to prayer those old monks who slept +so quietly in their forgotten graves. + +An owl began to hoot in the woods beyond the river, a great stag-beetle +came droning by, and the bats flew over her head with their shrill +little cry, flitting here and there like night swallows. + +Peggy got up and brushed the dew from her dress, and walked slowly back +to the house in the gathering twilight. In the Rose Parlour Aunt Helen +sat turning out her little writing-desk, and wiping suspicious drops +from her eyes. + +'Don't keep old letters, child,' she said, as Peggy crept up to her with +silent sympathy. 'It opens so many wounds to re-read the tender words of +those who are estranged or gone away from us, and all the hopes and +expectations that have come to nothing.' + +'Don't read them, Auntie. Let's tear them up and burn them, if they make +you cry.' + +'No, no; I can't bear to part with them, after all! We'll lock them up +in the desk again. But, Peggy, take my advice, and if you quarrel with +anyone, go and fight it out at once, and get it over, and don't let +misunderstandings make the breach so wide that nothing can ever mend it +again.' + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MAUD MIDDLETON'S PARTY + + 'Methinks, good friend, to-day I scarce do know thee, + The fashion of thy manner hath so changed.' + + +'Oh, Aunt Helen!' cried Peggy, bursting into the dining-room one +afternoon, where her aunt was busy adding up accounts, 'can't we all go +to Maud Middleton's party?' + +'And who is Maud Middleton, I should like to know?' inquired Aunt Helen, +pausing in the midst of her butcher's bill. 'I have not heard you +mention her before. Is she one of your schoolfellows?' + +'Oh no, she's the _dearest_ girl! They have a French governess, but they +go to the dancing-class on Fridays, and Maud and I always dance +together, and I simply _love_ her!' said Peggy, who was apt to take up +friendships with enthusiasm. + +'But, my dear child, you have not yet told me who she is. I cannot have +you making friends with any shopkeeper's daughter from Warford.' + +'Oh, they're not at all like that!' declared Peggy. 'Maud's just lovely, +with long yellow curls right down to her waist, and Muriel's almost +grown up, though she's only as old as Lilian. She wears combs in her +hair, and has the sweetest blue dress, trimmed with pearl trimmings!' + +'That is no patent of good breeding, I am afraid,' said Aunt Helen, +smiling. 'Lilian, can't you tell me something more about this latest +idol of Peggy's?' + +'They really seem very nice girls, Auntie,' said Lilian. 'I think you +would like them. They have taken Redlands--that pretty house just beyond +the toll-bridge on the other side of Warford. Major Middleton has been +appointed Adjutant to the volunteers. They lived in India for a long +time, and then in London before they came here. Muriel plays the violin, +and they know ever so many musical people, and go to the concerts every +week at the Assembly Rooms. It is Maud's birthday on the thirteenth, and +they have invited us all three. Mrs. Middleton was at the dancing-class +to-day, and spoke to us herself. She said she "hoped so much that our +Aunt would allow us to accept." We should like to go immensely,' added +Lilian with a wistful sigh, as she remembered Muriel's accounts of the +grand piano, and the Stradivarius violin which was her latest +acquisition. + +'Go and ask Father, then,' said Aunt Helen. 'And if he says "Yes," I +suppose it will be all right.' + +'Oh, thank you!' cried Peggy, who knew that Father would not be likely +to resist the combined coaxings of the trio. 'We must write to Maud +to-night. She'll be as pleased as we are!' + +And she executed a little war-dance of delight out in the hall. Such a +thing as a party was a great event in the children's calendar. They had +few invitations, for there was little visiting now at the Abbey; the +anomaly of a country gentleman who ploughed his own fields was felt to +be too much for the neighbouring squires, and one by one the 'county' +had ceased to call. Truly adversity is a great winnower of friendships. +It is but the staunchest who will stick to us through our troubles, +while those who love us for what we have, instead of what we are, fall +away like chaff at the first breath of ill-fortune. + +Poor Lilian's anticipations, however, were doomed to sad disappointment, +for when the much-talked-of day arrived, it brought her such a bad +headache that she readily agreed with Aunt Helen's decree that she was +better at home. She took it very patiently, poor child! and came +downstairs to see the others start off in the little pony-trap, Bobby +resplendent in a clean white sailor suit, and Peggy in a pale-blue +sprigged muslin dress, which Aunt Helen had toiled hard to finish in +time. To be sure, it was only made out of the last summer's frock which +Lilian had outgrown, but it looked as good as new, and the colour suited +her. + +'How nice you look!' said Lilian, gazing with admiration at the gray +eyes and pretty brown curls under the little white hat, and thinking +that Peggy grew more and more like the Romney portrait which hung on the +drawing-room wall. + +'Mind you behave yourselves!' said Aunt Helen. 'And don't forget to +thank Mrs. Middleton when you say good-bye.' + +'Bless 'em!' said Nancy. 'There won't be any other folk's children there +that can beat 'em, to my mind!' + +Father was waving a good-bye from the stackyard. Joe held the gate open +with a grin of broadest appreciation, and even old David peeped out of +the stable door to witness the departure. So they started off in great +style, and in the very highest of spirits. It was a perfect day for a +party--warm enough to make it pleasant to be out of doors, yet not too +hot for comfort, and a blue sky without a hint of rain clouds. Pixie +was fresh, and kept up a fine pace, scarcely slacking for the hills, so +they soon got over the ground. They were within a mile of Warford, and +were going along at a quick trot, when, without any warning, a carriage +and pair came suddenly dashing up behind from a side road, and passed +them, giving such scant room that if Peggy had not been a clever little +driver, and turned Pixie smartly into the hedge, an accident could +scarcely have been avoided. Two little girls, the only occupants of the +carriage, turned round to stare, but neither the grand cockaded coachman +nor the tall footman on the box even looked back to see how the children +had fared. + +'How rude!' cried Peggy in great indignation. 'I should like to call +them back, and teach them good manners. They nearly grazed our wheel. I +don't think they were more than half an inch off!' + +'I wish they had,' declared Bobby, 'and then they would have spoilt +their own varnish. It would just have served them right!' + +'I wonder who they are?' said Peggy. 'I never remember seeing that +carriage before; but they seem to think the road belongs to them, +anyhow. If David had been with us I don't believe they would have done +it; but most people are so nice when they see children driving alone. +Never mind, we're nearly in Warford now.' + +It was exactly three o'clock when the children drove up the drive at +Redlands. A number of guests were already assembled on the lawn, both +grown-ups and children, a very smart company indeed, holding up such gay +parasols that they looked like a flock of bright butterflies. + +Maud came forward as Peggy drew up with a little prim company manner. + +'How d'you do, Peggy? How d'you do, Bobby?' she said. 'Lilian not come? +Oh, _so_ sorry! You've not brought your groom? George, just run into the +house, will you, and ring for Withers to take this trap to the stables. +Now, won't you come and speak to mother?' + +Mrs. Middleton was standing chatting with a number of elegantly-dressed +ladies, and for a moment she gazed at the children with blank +unrecognition. + +'Margaret Vaughan, Mother,' prompted Maud. + +'Of course--of course!' said Mrs. Middleton. 'I hope you have brought +your sisters, my dear. We were charmed with them at the dancing-class. +And your brother? Oh yes; the sweet little boy who looks exactly like a +Christmas-card!' + +Inwardly hugely indignant at such a description of his manly charms, +Bobby came forward politely to shake hands, and was marched off +afterwards by good-natured George Middleton to make up a cricket eleven. + +'Perhaps you will find somebody here you know, dear,' said Mrs. +Middleton to Peggy, as Maud turned away to welcome new guests. 'There +are several of your little friends from the dancing-class here this +afternoon.' + +Peggy walked slowly towards the group of children upon the lawn. There +were a few girls whom she knew, but they only nodded, and did not come +forward to speak to her. A sudden wave of shyness came over her, and she +stood apart, feeling somehow very much out of it, and longing for the +support of Lilian's presence. + +There were two little girls in charming lace frocks and white Tuscan +hats, with ostrich plumes, standing close by, whom Peggy recognised at +once as the occupants of the carriage which had nearly upset them on +the road. The recognition seemed to be mutual, for the elder child +nudged the younger, and Peggy could see that they were looking her up +and down, and evidently taking in all the details of her costume. The +Vaughans had not been brought up to think much about clothes, but Peggy +felt suddenly, with a little pang, that the muslin frock, which they had +all thought so pretty when she started off, looked hopelessly homemade +and unfashionable compared with the elaborate toilets of most of the +other guests. + +Somehow Maud, too, seemed quite a different person this afternoon to +what she had done before. She had put on a languid, affected manner, and +sailed about, shaking back her long curls, and trying to be very +grown-up and stylish, and she did not take any more notice of Peggy, nor +come up to introduce her to other people, and make her feel happy and at +home. There were a great many elder people present, but they all stood +laughing and talking together, and nobody seemed to think of amusing the +children, except Mademoiselle, the French governess, who was +endeavouring to make the young people talk to each other, instead of +standing about shyly on the grass. + +'Would you like a game of croquet, Margaret?' said Muriel, noticing at +last that Peggy stood unfriended and alone. 'Some of the others are +going to play. Do you know Phyllis and Marjorie Norton?' indicating the +owners of the lace frocks. 'Perhaps you will excuse my coming; I have so +many people to see to. Mademoiselle will act as umpire.' + +Marjorie gave Peggy a limp hand, but Phyllis only stared. Mademoiselle +was dealing out the mallets and arranging the sides with much energy, +estimating the players with a keen eye to their possible capacities. + +Peggy knew it was unreasonable of her to feel so bitterly disappointed. +It was all so different, somehow, to what she had expected. Accustomed +to little quiet schoolgirl parties, she had not thought there would be +such a large and fashionable assembly of guests, and had hoped that she +would have her dear Maud to herself for a short time, at any rate, and +be shown the doves, and the white pony, and the Indian cabinet, and the +other treasures which her friend had so often described to her during +the dancing-class. She tried to banish the rather chilled feeling. + +'Of course, I can't expect Maud to attend only to me,' she thought. +'There are such heaps of people here to-day. I wish they would let me +play with the boys. I should have liked it far better.' + +But the croquet had already begun, so Peggy threw her whole energy into +the game. She excelled in all outdoor sports, having a keen eye and a +true stroke, and was soon absorbed in making her hoops and helping on +her partners, two quiet little girls considerably younger than herself, +who seemed never to have played before, to judge by their absolute lack +of skill. Peggy was standing waiting for her turn, while the others +clustered round a rather difficult stroke of Marjorie Norton's, when she +saw Phyllis, whose ball had been left distinctly wired, hurriedly push +it with her foot into a better position. Peggy had been accustomed from +her babyhood to 'play fair,' so she opened her eyes wide to see such +deliberate cheating. Phyllis, who had thought herself unobserved, +happened at that moment to look up, and met Peggy's glance, which was +certainly not a flattering one. She flushed scarlet, and kicked the ball +back to its former place. + +'I only moved it by accident,' she said haughtily. 'You have no need to +glare at me like that!' + +Peggy dropped her eyes and strolled away. It was a little incident, and +she had not spoken a word, yet she had an unpleasant feeling that the +mere fact of having noticed the act had made her an enemy. + +'Ver' good!' Mademoiselle was saying. 'A splendide stroke! You shall +take two hoops, and send ze black ball avay. Tiens! You have missed! It +is zen ze turn of Mees Marguerite.' + +Peggy's next piece of play was so brilliant that it decided the game, +and, to the great delight of her little partners, they all pegged out, +amid the cold applause of their opponents and the ecstatic admiration of +Mademoiselle. + +All the guests were now summoned to tea, which was set out on little +tables under the trees, and showed a tempting display of cakes and +strawberries and cream, while attentive servants bustled about with cups +and plates. Much against her inclinations, Peggy found herself sitting +side by side with Phyllis Norton. Bobby was a long way off, among a +jolly set of boys, whose shouts of laughter Peggy listened to with +wistful ears, and her small partners had been borne away by an elder +sister. Phyllis sat for some time stealing glances at Peggy from under +her lashes. + +'I believe we passed you this afternoon, coming here,' she remarked at +last. 'Weren't you driving that queer little pony-cart?' + +'Yes; your coachman nearly ran over us. I don't think he's a very good +driver,' replied Peggy. + +'Oh, Wilkins always takes the middle of the road, and makes everyone +else get out of the way,' said Phyllis calmly. 'Do you live at this side +of Warford? I don't remember seeing you before.' + +'We live at Gorswen Abbey,' answered Peggy. + +'Oh, I know; that old farmhouse by the river. We've often passed it on +our way to Wyngates. Why, you're quite in the country! Do you go to +school, or have you a governess?' + +'I go to Warford High School. We drive in every day.' + +'To the _High_ School!' said Phyllis, with uplifted eyebrows. 'Well, I +suppose it's all right for farmer's daughters. Marjorie and I go to a +London boarding school.' + +Peggy was furious. If she could only have thought of a suitable retort, +she would have said something stinging; but usually our smartest remarks +occur to us when the occasion has long passed by, and perhaps it is all +the better, for we are saved from bitter words, which, once spoken, are +not easily forgotten by the hearers, however keenly we may regret them +ourselves. As it was, she could only walk away with what dignity she +could summon; for tea was over, the boys were rushing back to cricket, +and the girls collecting in little groups to arrange tennis sets. + +'Come and look round the garden, Peggy,' said Maud, at last taking some +notice of her friend. 'We've scarcely seen anything of you all the +afternoon!' + +Peggy forebore to remark that it was not her fault, and, cheering up a +little, she joined the select circle whom Maud was conducting through +the greenhouses and conservatories. The Middletons had a fine collection +of orchids and rare plants, which were much admired by the young +visitors, though simple Peggy could not help thinking they were not half +so pretty as the roses and lilies in the old garden at home, and +certainly the grand Scotch gardener was not nearly so nice as David or +Joe, for he seemed quite to resent their presence and followed them +about grimly, for fear they should disturb anything, or pluck any of +the fruit or flowers. + +'We're going to London next week,' drawled Maud, in her most grown-up +manner. 'We've taken a house in Mayfair. Mother always likes to go up +for a while during the season. We've so many friends, don't you know. I +expect we shall have a lovely time. We drive in the Park every day, and +father has promised to take us to "Lohengrin." Have you seen it, Linda?' + +Linda had not seen it, but she had been to other operas, and was only +too pleased to air her knowledge, so the conversation turned upon plays +and actors, and Peggy, who had never been inside a theatre in her life, +could only stand and listen. She felt so shy and stupid, and so apart +from the other girls, that she began to wish heartily that she had never +come, and long for the hour when it would be time to go home, and even +to wonder how she could ever have thought she liked Maud so +much--'though she was quite different to this at the dancing-lessons,' +she reflected. + +A welcome diversion came outside, however, in the shape of a beautiful +white Persian kitten, who submitted to pettings with gracious +condescension, arching her back and purring loudly. + +'I'll fetch Carlo,' said Maud, who was genuinely fond of her pets, and +liked to show them to an appreciative audience. + +And she returned in a moment, leading a fine St. Bernard by the collar. + +But Carlo's mistress had not calculated upon his love of sport, for no +sooner did the naughty dog see the white kitten than he simply went for +it, and puss only saved her life by springing up a yew-tree close by. +The poor little creature was so terrified that she leaped from bough to +bough, till suddenly losing her foothold, she fell with a crash, and +hung suspended by her neck in the fork of a branch. + +'Oh, look at her! She'll be hanged! Whatever shall I do?' shrieked Maud, +wringing her hands helplessly in an agony of alarm. + +'Call the gardener, or somebody,' suggested Linda. + +But an animal in trouble was a sight which flung Peggy's shyness to the +winds, and she sprang like a knight-errant to the rescue. She was up the +yew-tree in two leaps and a bound, and by crawling along an overhanging +bough, clinging to a branch, and making a long arm, she managed to seize +puss by the scruff of her neck, and release her from her dangerous +position. + +'Oh, thank you!' said Maud, as Peggy came down from the tree, with +grazed hands and rumpled frock. 'You're really too good! Withers might +have fetched her with a ladder. Look how you've torn your dress!' + +'Never mind my dress. She'd have been dead if I'd waited another +moment,' remarked Peggy dryly, feeling rather snubbed; for several of +the girls were smiling, as if they thought she had been a little too +enthusiastic. + +'Well done!' cried a voice from the background, and a tall, +brown-bearded man, who had been a silent spectator of the whole scene, +came forward to join the group. + +'Mr. Neville!' exclaimed Maud. 'Where did you spring from?' + +'Only arrived ten minutes ago, just in time to witness a most gallant +act. Please introduce me to the heroine, who, I think, is a true friend +in need. What, Miss Peggy Vaughan? Any relation to the Vaughans of +Gorswen Abbey? Then, my dear, I am very pleased to make your +acquaintance, for I knew your father long ago, and your grandfather +too.' + +[Illustration: "MAKING A LONG ARM, SHE MANAGED TO SEIZE PUSS BY THE +SCRUFF OF HER NECK."] + +Peggy liked her new friend at once; his twinkling blue eyes, his bronzed +face, his jovial voice, and rather unconventional dress, seemed to mark +him as distinct and different to other people. His arrival seemed to +alter the whole atmosphere. Maud's supercilious manner slipped away from +her like magic, and she became once more the pleasant Maud of the +dancing-class, and her friends, feeling the change, soon left off trying +to be poor little imitations of grown-up people, and began at last to +enjoy themselves; for true enjoyment does not consist in showing off, +but in being our simple, natural selves, if people would only believe +it. + +'Now then, what are you all doing?' cried Mr. Neville. 'The boys playing +cricket by themselves, and the girls mooning about, keeping their frocks +nice? Scandalous! Come along, all of you, and we'll get up some mixed +sports. I stopped in the town, and filled my pockets with prizes, when I +heard you were having a party. I am sure a young lady who can climb a +tree looks capable of doing a high jump!' + +After that the rest of the afternoon simply flew. Mr. Neville was a +capital organizer, and had such a delightful way with children that they +all made friends with him in five minutes. He impounded the grown-ups in +the sports, and his jolly, hearty good spirits seemed so infectious that +almost before they realized what they were doing, elegant ladies were +holding up skipping-ropes, and smart young gentlemen flung off their +coats, and forgot their high collars in the enthusiasm of the contests. +Even Phyllis Norton was shrieking in a potato-race, and only laughed +when she fell and soiled her immaculate lace frock. + +As for Peggy, she was quite in her element. Long jumps, high jumps, +handicaps, sack-races, three-legged races--she was ready to compete in +all, and, to her delight, won several prizes, while Bobby, too, gained +his share of laurels. + +The unfashionable muslin dress, with its long rent, was forgotten, and +several people asked who that charming little girl was, with the sweet +gray eyes and the pretty hair, who could run so splendidly. + +'Vaughan? I remember a Vaughan up at Brazenose in my first year at +Oxford. A fine-looking fellow he was, too!' said a heavily-moustached +officer, regarding Peggy with a critical eye. + +'Her father, no doubt. They're a very old family--quite one of the +county, in fact,' said Mrs. Middleton, gushing over her small guest, now +she found she was a success. + +Maud hugged Peggy when she said good-bye in quite her old affectionate +manner, and Muriel remembered to send her love to Lilian, and say she +was sorry for her absence, a fact she had scarcely seemed to notice +before. + +As for Mr. Neville, Peggy confided to Aunt Helen, when she got home, +that she liked him the best of any gentleman she had ever seen, next to +Father. + +'He's been out in India for ten years, Auntie--that's where he knew the +Middletons--but he says he lived in England once, and used to come to +Gorswen when grandfather was alive. Do you remember him?' + +'I think I do,' replied Aunt Helen shortly, with a flush on the cheek +that was still so smooth and pretty. + +'Then don't you think,' persisted Peggy, 'that he is _quite_ the nicest +man you've ever met?' + +'Go to bed, children,' said Aunt Helen. 'Here's Bobby so sleepy he can +scarcely keep his eyes open. You shall tell me all about the party +to-morrow.' + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE HOLIDAYS + + 'A little work, a little play, + To keep us going--and so, good-day!' + + +'No more Latin, no more Greek, no more cane to make me squeak!' sang +Bobby on the fifteenth of July, springing out of the pony-trap before +Pixie had stopped, and taking a flying leap over the pump-trough in the +exuberance of his spirits. + +'School is over, hooray!' shouted Peggy, banging down her books on the +mounting-block, and waltzing into the kitchen, where Aunt Helen and +Nancy were busy making jam. 'Don't you hear, Auntie? We've broken up for +eight weeks! Isn't it glorious?' + +'I hear fast enough; but I'm afraid it will be a doubtful pleasure for +Nancy and me if you are all going mad like this. My dear child, don't +you think you might choose a less juicy seat than a tray full of +raspberries?' + +Peggy jumped up in a hurry. + +'I really didn't see them,' she said. 'I'll go and help Lilian unharness +Pixie. Joe's away in the turnip-field. No home-lessons to-night, +hip-hip-hooray!' and she took herself off like a whirlwind. + +The holidays were indeed a delightful respite after the weary round of +examinations which generally makes life a burden at the end of the +summer term, and the children set to work to enjoy them thoroughly. +Bobby had taken to entomology, and panted over the hot pastures, chasing +butterflies with unflagging zeal. At dusk he would enlist Peggy's +services, and the pair went treacling for moths. A careful mixture of +gin and syrup was smeared upon the trees, which were afterwards visited +with a lantern, when the unfortunate insects could easily be taken in +the midst of their revels, falling sad victims to the sin of +intemperance. + +Caterpillars, too, were caught and kept in boxes, till the Rose Parlour +became so full of interesting specimens that Aunt Helen, for once, +rebelled, and ordered this new branch of the menagerie to be removed to +the loft. + +'I found one of your beasties inside my hat, and another in my teacup,' +she complained. 'So you had better keep them where it does not much +matter if they escape.' + +Lilian devoted herself to art, and sallied forth with her paint-box, +pencils, and sketch-block, in quite a professional manner, looking for +subjects. To be sure, the perspective of her cottages was apt to be +rather peculiar at times, and the Welsh mountains turned out a more +vivid shade of purple, and the fields a far more brilliant green than +Nature ever painted them; but it was all good practice, and the admiring +Peggy thought that no Royal Academician could have produced such +charming masterpieces. There was a little work, too, to make the +playtime all the sweeter--fruit to be picked, peas and beans to shell, +the garden to weed, and great piles of bread and cheese to be cut and +carried out into the fields for the harvesters' 'drinkings.' But, as +Bobby said, it was all play-work, and much nicer than lessons, anyhow. + +Peggy lay one afternoon at full length on the grass under the lime-tree, +deep in the pages of 'Treasure Island.' It was rather a grown-up book, +perhaps, for a little girl, but it was all about pirates, and sailors, +and hairbreadth escapes, of so wildly exciting a nature, that she read +on till she almost wept with disappointment to think she was not a boy +to go to sea and meet with such thrilling adventures. + +From the Rose Parlour came the strains of the piano, where Lilian was +wailing a melancholy little ditty with keen enjoyment. It is mostly when +we are very young that we take the greatest delight in the sad songs; +those who have felt the real bitterness of sorrow are glad to bury it +deeply away, and do not wish it wakened, as sailors' wives love a place +best where they cannot hear the sound of the sea. + +Lilian had always taken rather a delight in what Nancy called 'the +melancholics.' When quite a tiny child she had much preferred the +tragedy of Red Riding Hood to the brighter fate of the princesses who +lived happily ever afterwards, and, with the tears streaming down her +fat little cheeks, would quaver out 'Tell it again!' + +Her first efforts in poetry had been in a distinctly pensive strain. +When only about nine years old she had composed-- + + 'THE DYING CHILD'S LAST WORDS. + + 'Remember me when I am gone, + And me thou canst not see; + When I lie sleeping in my grave, + Dear friends, remember me. + + 'You'll keep my little garden neat, + My clothes you'll fold away; + My playthings in a drawer you'll put + With which I last did play.' + +There ought to have been more verses, but at this point Father had +unfortunately got hold of the paper, and persisted in treating the poem +in such a comic light that the indignant authoress had never found the +heart to finish it, though the fragment was considered very talented by +Aunt Helen, and carefully put away in an old work-box, with the first +specimens of Peggy's handwriting and one of Bobby's little baby-curls. + +Peggy came to the end of her book at last, and life seemed so stale and +flat anywhere out of the South Seas that she wandered down the garden +for a little diversion. Lilian's fresh young voice proclaiming that her +heart 'was breaking, breaking,' came wafted along the terrace, mingled +with the sound of the reaping-machine, and the indignant gobble of the +old turkey, which Bobby was chasing round the pasture. + +'Let him alone, you naughty boy! Whatever mischief will you be in next?' +cried Aunt Helen, flying to the rescue of the patriarch of her +poultry-yard, and enforcing her remarks by sounding raps on the +culprit's curly brown pate. Bobby was the apple of her eye, but she +considered wholesome chastisement to be necessary to his moral welfare. + +'Oh, Auntie, I've finished my book, and we've nothing much to do this +afternoon; don't you think we might take our tea out into the woods?' +said Peggy, swinging herself over the garden wall into the pasture. + +'You can if you like; only you must get the baskets ready yourselves, +and not worry Nancy. You may as well buy a loaf while you are out, too,' +said Aunt Helen, rummaging a shilling out of her pocket. 'We're baking +again to-day, but the harvesters take so much bread for the "drinkings." +Get some tea-cakes, too, if they have any.' + +'All right,' cried Peggy, rushing off with enthusiasm to rouse Lilian +from the piano and forage in the pantry for a supply of jam and butter. + +Half an hour later an interesting procession started off from the +kitchen door: Lilian first, with the basket of cups and provisions, +Peggy with the milk-can, and Bobby armed with the kettle, while Rollo +seemed to be everywhere at once, and as pleased as anybody. + +'I've got the matches,' said Peggy, 'and a newspaper. You're sure you +put in the spoons, Lilian? We forgot them last time.' + +The place where the children were going was a delightful spot for a +picnic. A rapid stream ran through the woods, dashing down over great +boulders, making little cascades and waterfalls as it went, with here +and there a deep, clear pool, where the trout lay snugly under the +stones; the rocks under the overhanging trees were carpeted with the +softest and greenest of moss, and tall ferns grew right down to the +water's edge, mingling with trailing ivy and creeping moneywort. A +grassy glade under a tall beech seemed intended by Nature for a +summer-house, for there was a large flat stone in the middle, which +served for a table, and a circle of little stones round, just high +enough for seats, so that you might imagine Queen Mab and her fairies +dined here on moonlight nights, with the squirrels for guests and the +bats and owls for waiters. + +The children put down their baskets, and ran about gathering dry sticks +to build their fire. There were plenty of dead branches strewn about in +the wood, so they soon had a goodly pile of fuel. Bobby filled the +kettle at the stream, and planted it firmly on Lilian's elaborate +erection of sticks. Peggy struck a match and set the paper alight; up +went the smoke, and in a few moments the bonfire was blazing grandly. +But unfortunately the picnic party had quite forgotten that burning wood +does not make a very substantial foundation, for the whole pile suddenly +collapsed, and over went the kettle, spilling all the water, and putting +out the fire with a hiss. + +'What a nuisance!' exclaimed Lilian. 'We must find something to hang the +kettle on, like the gipsies do.' + +'Suppose we make a kind of fireplace between two big stones, and then we +can put a thick branch across,' suggested Peggy. 'It will be easier to +lift the kettle off, too. I don't know how we should have seized it from +the middle of that blaze.' + +The second attempt proved a much greater success, and in a short time +the water was boiling bravely, while a very attractive feast was spread +out upon the mossy table. + +Lilian had filled the teapot, and the company was just about to sit down +and fall to with much relish, when the party was suddenly augmented by +an unexpected guest. Down the little path from the glen above solemnly +marched a very small girl indeed, so round and fat and chubby that she +looked nearly as broad as she was long. She was a pretty child, with +soft, dark eyes and pink cheeks, so plump and full that the little nose +seemed almost to be lost between them. A pair of stout brown legs showed +under the smocked holland pinafore, her white sun-hat hung upon her +back, and she clasped a dilapidated doll in her arms. + +She strolled up to the astonished children with the dignity of a +duchess. + +'I saw you lighting the fire,' she announced calmly, 'so I took +Isabella, and I've comed to tea.' + +'We're very glad to see you, I'm sure,' said Lilian. 'Is Isabella your +dolly?' + +'No; she's my child. I don't call her a dolly: it hurts her feelings, so +please don't say it again!' + +'I'm ever so sorry,' apologised Lilian, trying to repress Bobby's +giggles. 'Whose little girl are you?' + +'I'm Father's girl. Father's painting pictures up there in the wood. I +paint pictures, too, sometimes, when Isabella don't want me,' confided +the juvenile artist; and to judge from the smears of paint upon her +pinafore, she had evidently been pursuing that art with more vigour than +discretion. + +'Won't you come and sit on my lap?' said Peggy coaxingly, for she loved +small children. + +The chubby infant looked the slight figure up and down, as if appraising +the offered accommodation. + +'She hasn't got a lap to sit upon,' she remarked scornfully, settling +her stout legs on the grass. + +'You haven't told us your name yet,' said Lilian, trying to draw out the +interesting visitor. + +'My name's Matilda Christabel Wilkins, but they call me Matty for +short.' + +'Are you sure they don't call you Fatty?' inquired Bobby. + +'No; only rude people. Nice people call me Miss Wilkins. I don't like +boys. I was four last week, so I'm quite a big girl now. Will the doggie +hurt me? I think I will have some of that cake!' + +'Hadn't you better begin with bread-and-butter?' said Lilian. 'No, dear, +the doggie won't hurt you; it's only his play. Come here, Rollo! I'm +afraid I haven't a spare cup; but perhaps you won't mind having some +milk in a saucer. Are you staying about here?' + +'Yes, at the farmhouse. I help Mary to milk the cows. Mary sings to +them. I can sing, too. Would you like to hear me sing now?' + +'If it won't trouble you too much,' began Lilian. + +'No. I like it!' and Miss Wilkins crossed her short legs, turned up the +brown eyes, and broke forth into such a very extraordinary burst of +melody that the children were nearly in fits. It had neither time nor +tune, but the notes quavered about on the scale like a distant +representation of the bagpipes. From the words they supposed it must be +meant for a hymn, and it wound on through six or seven verses, till +Bobby grew quite hysterical. + +'Thank you,' said Lilian, stifling her mirth, when the youthful Madame +Patti had at length drawn to a close. 'Where did you learn that?' + +'I learn it on Sundays, out of a book. Shall I sing it for you over +again?' evidently thirsting for an encore. + +'Hadn't you better have some tea first?' suggested Peggy hastily. 'See, +I've put strawberry jam on your bread-and-butter.' + +The attractions of preserve seemed to outweigh the charms of music, for +Miss Wilkins ate stolidly for five minutes without volunteering any +further remarks. + +'You've got freckles on your nose,' she announced at length to Lilian. +'And _she's_ torn her dress!' with an eye on Peggy. 'What a lot that boy +eats! Nurse says it's very rude to fill your mouth so full!' pointing a +severe finger at Bobby, which so convulsed him that he nearly choked. + +'Perhaps you would like some cake now,' said Lilian, politely passing +the basket to the stranger. + +'Thank you. I'll take two pieces, because Isabella would like one. I +think I had better be going home now. Good-bye. I'll call again another +day;' and the young lady crammed one piece of cake into a diminutive +pocket, and, munching the other, strolled away up the glen, with the +luckless Isabella head downwards under her arm. + +'I hope she'll be all right; she's such a dot to wander about alone!' +said Lilian anxiously, peering through the trees, and much relieved at +seeing a tall figure in a brown velvet jacket catch up Miss Wilkins and +bear her off upon his shoulder. 'I suppose they're staying at Brown's +farm. I know they sometimes let rooms during the summer.' + +'She's a queer young customer, at any rate. I feel quite ill with +laughing,' said Bobby, swallowing down his fifth cup of tea and flinging +his crumbs for the robins. + +'Let's clear up, then. Suppose, instead of going straight down by the +village, we walk up through the woods to Pengarth, and buy the bread +there. We can leave our things here, under the tree, till we come back,' +said Peggy, hastily swilling the teacups in the stream and packing them +up in the basket. + +The others readily agreed, and they set off for a glorious scramble up +the steep hillside. The path was so narrow that in places they could +scarcely push through the thick, overhanging bushes and the trailing +brambles, where the blackberries were already turning red, and showing a +fine promise for the autumn. The trees were covered with nuts, which +Bobby cracked with persistent hope, and perpetual disappointment when he +found them all yet empty of kernels. + +They crossed the stream by a bridge roughly made of two pine-trees flung +from bank to bank, with a rope for a hand-rail, a somewhat dizzy +foothold for anyone who minded the rushing water beneath, but infinitely +to be preferred to stones and mortar in the children's opinion. + +Up the steep bank they trudged, through fields of bracken higher than +Bobby's head, getting out at last upon a white road that wound along the +top of a cliff, with a stream roaring below, till round a sudden turn +they came upon Pengarth, a prim little village, nestling in a hollow, +and consisting of a short street and a big chapel and school-house. + +There was a small general shop in Pengarth, where groceries and boots, +apples and red-herrings, seemed all mixed up with yards of print and +ribbon, penny ink-bottles, milk-cans, sun-bonnets, gingerbread, +pear-drops, and bull's-eyes, presided over by a funny old woman in a +black wig and horn spectacles, who seemed to find much enjoyment in +gossiping with her customers; for the children had to wait quite a long +time, while the chief points of last Sunday's sermon in chapel and the +new dress of the minister's wife were freely discussed. At length the +stout farmers' wives picked up their baskets and took their departure, +and old Mrs. Ellis was able to give her undivided attention to Lilian's +modest little voice, which had been striving to make itself heard, in a +vain request for bread and tea-cakes for the last ten minutes. + +'I say, Lil, couldn't we go straight down the wood here, and cross the +stream by the picnic place instead of the pine bridge? It would save +nearly a mile,' suggested Bobby, as they turned to go home. + +'I suppose we could get over the stepping-stones?' replied Lilian rather +doubtfully. 'I don't think there's a proper path through the wood, but +we could find our way somehow, and it is certainly much shorter.' + +So they plunged down through the thick tangle of trees which clothed the +side of the cliff. It was so steep that in places they were obliged to +sit down and slide, clutching at the trees as they passed, to save +themselves from falling, and bringing down such showers of small loose +stones and shale that it seemed as if the whole hillside were sliding +too, and Lilian was very relieved when they all got safely to the +bottom. Now that they were really close to the water the stepping-stones +looked much farther apart than they had imagined, and very slippery and +slimy, too, with a swift current flowing between. + +They all stopped and looked at it for a moment, each secretly wishing +that somebody else would offer to go first, but nobody liking to make +the plunge; even Rollo stood whimpering and whining on the bank, as if +he did not half like the adventure. + +'Here goes!' cried gallant Bobby at last, leading the way as though he +were charging at the enemy, and with four jumps and a long leap he +managed to get over dry-shod, with Rollo at his heels, barking loud and +furiously. + +Not to be outdone in pluck, Peggy essayed to follow with equal style, +but her foot slipped on a particularly green and moss-grown boulder, and +in a moment she had plunged, tea-cakes and all, into an impromptu bath. +Luckily, it was not deep, and she soon scrambled out, and fished up the +paper-bag as well; but she was a very wet and draggled object, and as +for the tea-cakes, they were a moist wreck! + +'Oh, I know I shall go in, too!' wailed Lilian from the other side. 'I'd +better try and save the bread, at any rate,' and she flung the loaf with +all the strength she could muster across the stream. It fell well on the +opposite bank, and Peggy made a desperate effort to catch it, but it +eluded her grasp, and rolling down the bank with a series of aggravating +bounds, descended with a splash to seek a watery grave. + +'There! It's gone! And it's in such a deep hole, too. We can't possibly +get it out. We shall have to leave it for the fishes,' said Peggy, +poking vainly into the depths with a long stick. 'Lil, you'll never get +over if you stand shivering on the brink like that. Do come along!' + +But Lilian popped down on the grass, and pulled off her shoes and +stockings as the most speedy way of solving the difficulty, and hustled +Miss Peggy home with all possible haste, to be dried; for the water was +very cold, and her teeth were chattering in her head, while her dripping +garments left such a moist track as she went that Bobby unfeelingly +compared her to a watering-cart. + +'What am I to do with such terrible children?' said poor Aunt Helen, as +the trio recounted their adventures round the supper-table. 'I can +scarcely let you out of my sight without you tear your clothes to +ribbons or come home half drowned.' + +'They're chips of the old block, Helen!' laughed Father. 'We Vaughans +have a natural love of adventure: it's in the blood, and bound to come +out somehow, so best let it have its fling while they are young, and +they'll sober down when they come to years of discretion. Eh, bairns? +Don't you agree with me?' + +And three hearty young pairs of lungs carried the resolution with a +unanimous 'Rather!' + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A MOUNTAIN WALK + + 'The mountains that infold + In their wide sweep the coloured landscape round, + Seem groups of giant kings, in purple and gold, + That guard the enchanted ground.' + + +'Father, where are you going?' cried Peggy one morning, sliding down the +banisters in her hurry to see why her father was pulling out his great +fishing-basket from the cupboard under the stairs. + +'Up to Llyn y Gaer, little woman, to look after the sheep. I shall stay +all night at the cottage, so you won't see me home again till to-morrow +evening.' + +'Oh, Father!' cried Peggy, flinging her arms round his neck in her most +beguiling manner, '_couldn't_ you take Bobby and me with you this time? +We have never been once yet, and you can't think how much we want to +go.' + +'Why, my dear child, I don't know whether you could manage it. Remember, +it is an eight-mile walk, and all uphill, and such a rough place when +you get there. I am afraid I should have you both crying for Aunt Helen +when bedtime came!' + +'Indeed we shouldn't; we're not babies!' insisted Peggy, greatly +indignant at such a suggestion. 'We can walk quite as well as grown-up +people, and carry our own baskets. Oh, Daddy, dear, do, _do_ please +take us just this once!' + +'The hut's hardly fit for a girl,' said Mr. Vaughan doubtfully, +beginning to relent to Peggy's coaxings. + +'Well, you've called me a tomboy often enough, so let me be a boy for +to-day. Oh, Auntie, do be a darling, and persuade Father to say yes!' + +Aunt Helen paused on her way from the pantry to the dining-room, with a +dish of ham in one hand and a pound of butter in the other. + +'I really think they might go,' she said, 'if you don't walk too fast +for them, Robert. The weather has been so hot that it must be quite dry +up there, so I hardly think they would catch cold in the cottage. But +they must promise to behave properly, and not to get into any mischief. +I can't spare Lilian to-day, or she might have gone to look after them.' + +'Oh, thank you! Of course we'll promise!' cried Peggy, clapping her +hands, and flying off in the seventh heaven of joy to inform Bobby of +the delightful prospect, nearly upsetting Nancy and the breakfast-tray +in her mad career, and causing that worthy girl to wish devoutly that +schools had no holidays. + +Mr. Vaughan owned some land high up on the mountains, across the border, +in Wales. He had a little rough shepherd's hut there, just sufficient to +form a shelter at night-time, and every now and then he would make an +expedition to look after his sheep, or the tiny shaggy ponies which were +turned out loose to wander almost wild upon the moors. + +To go with Father upon one of these mountain excursions had been the +dream of Peggy and Bobby's lives, so it was with very gay faces that, +their fishing-baskets full of provisions slung over their shoulders, and +old Rover trotting soberly behind, they started off on their eight-mile +tramp up the hillside. + +It was such a lovely summer morning, one of those brilliant, glorious +days when the world looks as if it had been newly created, and came to +us with a whiff of Paradise about it. Down in the village the cottage +gardens were ablaze with flowers, and even old Ephraim had forgotten his +rheumatism, and crawled out to bask in the hot sunshine on the low wall, +and called out a friendly 'Good-marnin'!' as the children went by. Past +the forge, whence the cheery chink, chink of the blacksmith's hammer +came mingled with the refrain of a stirring melody from a good bass +voice; under the spreading yew-trees of the churchyard, and out through +the lych-gate to the old mill, where the great wheel was turning slowly +round, its dripping blades gleaming bright in the sunshine; up the steep +path through the little hazel-wood, scrambling over the ladder-like +stile into the narrow lane that ran ever uphill towards the mountains, +which loomed before them, rugged in outline, and shaded in a mist of +purple blue. The hedgerows had given place to stone walls now, loosely +built without any mortar, and with green ferns and pennywort growing in +the crevices, and forget-me-nots in the ditch below. On and up, on and +up, with the great blue hills always rising higher before them, till at +length even the stone walls vanished, and they were on the bare +moorland, with only a slight foot-track for a road. + +Quite out of breath with scrambling after Father's long strides, the +children begged for mercy, and sat down to rest for a few minutes and +eat their lunch by the side of a little quick-running stream. + +'It is a good place for a halt,' said Father, 'for it is the boundary +between England and Wales. When we are over the border we shall all be +Taffies instead of John Bulls.' + +The air was sweet and cool up there, delightfully refreshing after the +hot climb uphill. Below them the country lay stretched out like a map, +the fields looking no larger than the squares of a chess-board, and the +village a pretty child's toy by the side of the river which wound, a +mere silver thread, along the valley. Far in the distance, among the +trees, the outline of the Abbey rose gray against the background of soft +beeches; a little dark cloud, the only one in the whole expanse of clear +blue sky, hung over it like a warning of distant danger, and Father +sighed as he looked, for to him it appeared as if the shadow of ruin +were already creeping near, and stretching a threatening hand over the +old home. + +But Peggy and Bobby were at the very high-tide of happiness. Children +live so entirely in the present, that so long as the existing day brings +joy, they literally take no thought for the morrow, and catching their +infectious spirits, Mr. Vaughan shook off his forebodings, and joined in +the delight of the moment as if he were a boy once more. He hunted in +the brook for sedges, captured a Red Admiral to grace Bobby's +collection, filled his pockets with sweet gale and asphodel for Lilian's +dried vases, and made himself such a delightful companion that the +children agreed that Father on a holiday was out and out the best +playmate they knew. + +'Come, we must be getting on!' he said at last, when the last piece of +bread-and-butter had vanished, and the remains had been scattered for +the fishes. 'Do you see that little farm nestling in the hollow, with +the fir-trees behind it? That is our last link with civilization. We +shall find no more human habitations until we reach our hut by the +lake, so we must make the most of our opportunity, and buy some milk as +we pass. They will lend us a can, and we can leave it as we return +to-morrow.' + +The farm proved, on a nearer acquaintance, to be a little one-storey +dwelling built of rough stones, with a roof so covered with a mass of +green polypody fern as to completely hide the slate underneath. There +was no garden, only a low wall on which the milk-cans and most of the +family crockery seemed to be taking an airing; but a patch of potatoes +and a scanty half-acre of oats lay beyond the little homestead, roughly +railed off to keep out the marauding sheep. + +Peggy, who always liked to be first and foremost, ran on before the +others to ask for the milk, and was greeted by a furious barking from a +collie-dog who guarded the doorstep, while a small, shock-headed girl +peeped shyly from behind the shelter of his rough back. At the sight of +a stranger she fled with a howl, for visitors were almost unknown on +these heights, and the child was as wild as a young rabbit. Her cry of +alarm brought out a woman, who kicked the dog yelping into the house, +and looked at Peggy with as much curiosity as if she were the inhabitant +of another world. + +'Please can you let us have some milk?' asked Peggy politely. + +'Dim Saesneg,' replied the woman, shaking her head, which, being +interpreted, means, 'I can't speak English.' + +For once Peggy was at a loss, but Father soon came to the rescue, for he +had picked up a little Welsh in his expeditions on the mountains, and +readily made the woman understand, in her native tongue, what they +required. + +The little black cow with the long horns looked strange to eyes +accustomed to the large red and white cows at the Abbey, but her milk +seemed sweet and good, and the woman sang a song in Welsh while she +milked it, to a strange, haunting kind of melody that, like most of the +Celtic music, had a touch of sadness and pathos about it. + +'Ask her if she ever comes down to Gorswen, and how they get food up +here,' whispered Peggy to Father, anxious to be initiated into the +mysteries of life among the moors. + +'We don't go down more than once a fortnight or so for flour and +groceries,' was the translated reply. 'Then we bring it up on the +donkey's back. Oh yes, we walk ourselves all the way. What do we live on +mostly? Bread and bacon, oatmeal and potatoes, and a few eggs. It's a +healthy life, but terribly cold in winter. No, I've never been inside +Gorswen Church. We go to a little chapel up here. A preacher walks over +from Llanelly when they can spare one. Lonely? Not a bit! When you have +the cows and the pigs and the hens and the children to see to you've no +time to feel lonely!' + +She looked pleased, however, to have had an opportunity for a chat, and +gave them a very hearty good-bye as they took the milk-can and set off +again on their long tramp. When the little farm was out of sight, they +seemed indeed to have left the world behind them, and to be all alone +among the hills. Oh, the boundless delight of those rolling miles of +heather, which looked like a crimson sea spreading onward towards the +horizon, and the delicious smell of the sweet-gale as they trod it +underfoot! Great flocks of plovers flew before them, screaming their +'pee-wit, pee-wit!' and here and there they roused a snipe or a +woodcock, while wild little ponies scampered off like the wind, +indignant at having their solitude disturbed. + +The path ran for fully a mile over a bog, and the children had to follow +very closely in Father's footsteps to keep a safe track over the soft, +spongy surface, for Joe had told them dark tales of pedlars, travelling +from Llanrhos to Gorswen, who had sunk into those treacherous brown +pools and been heard of no more. + +At last, coming over a little rise, they saw in the distance the +gleaming outline of a lake, looking like a patch of silver amongst the +heather. + +'Look!' cried Mr. Vaughan. 'That is Llyn y Gaer. We shall be there in +half an hour.' + +This was good news to Peggy and Bobby, who were beginning to think that +the fishing-baskets were very heavy on their backs, and that it was the +longest eight miles they had ever imagined, so they hurried after +Father, who made haste now, to make up for the many halts upon the road, +for the afternoon was wearing on, and there was much to be done before +night. Close beside the lake, on a flat piece of grass sheltered under a +high cliff, stood the shepherd's hut, a small one-roomed shanty of rough +stones piled up without either mortar or plaster, and roofed with a few +tree-trunks covered with turf and heather. The tiny window was hardly a +foot square, and had no glass in it, and a beautiful root of parsley +fern grew luxuriantly on the sill, while all the crevices of the walls +seemed full of lichens, bound together by the crimson stems of the +creeping pellitory. + +Father unlocked the weather-beaten door, and the children rushed in with +much excitement. They saw a low room with a raftered roof, rough +whitewashed walls, and an earthen floor. The whole of one side was +occupied by a great fireplace, with a chimney so wide that, looking up, +you could see the sky above. Grate there was none, and the fire must +burn on the hearth-stone, but a good stack of dry peat and heather stood +in the ingle nook, evidently left ready for use. A table, a chair, and +two boxes were all the furniture, while a few cups, plates, and knives, +together with a frying-pan, a kettle, and a pair of bellows, made up the +rest of the modest establishment. + +'Isn't it fun?' said Peggy, putting down her heavy basket with a sigh of +relief. + +'I should just think so!' replied Bobby, roaming round to explore, and +wondering whether it would be possible to climb up the wide chimney and +peep out through the top. + +'To work! To work!' cried Father. 'We have no time to be idle if you +want any tea! Bobby, take the kettle, and fill it from the stream +outside; and Peggy, you can get some of those peats, and help me to +light the fire.' + +Father had a newspaper and a box of matches in his pocket, so, with the +help of the dry heather, they soon had a glowing red blaze, and swung +the kettle on a hook, fastened to the end of a long chain, which hung, +in true Welsh fashion, from a great beam fixed across the chimney. + +'Now, while the water boils,' said Mr. Vaughan, 'we must go and pull +heather for our beds, before the dew begins to fall upon it. Come along, +my two subalterns, this is camp life, and you must learn to bivouac like +true soldiers.' + + '"The heath this night must be my bed, + The bracken's curtain for my head,"' + +sang Peggy, who had been studying the 'Lady of the Lake' at school, and +quoted it on all occasions. 'But we ought not to have a hut at all. We +should just wrap ourselves in our plaids, and lie under the "silent +stars."' + +'I prefer a roof over my head myself,' said Father dryly. 'But if you +are so anxious to taste the romantic you may sleep in the cold outside. +I'm afraid I haven't a plaidie to offer you.' + +'I'm sure a heather bed will be stunning!' declared Bobby. 'I don't +think I shall ever want sheets and nightshirts, and horrid things of +that sort, again. I'd like to be a hunter when I grow up, and always +live in tents, and caves, and jolly places, like the boys in books.' + +'It's just like the Swiss Family Robinson, only ever so much nicer,' +said Peggy. 'I wish we lived up here, and then we shouldn't need to go +to school, and darn stockings, and do all kinds of things we hate!' + +They pulled great armfuls of the delicious purple heather, and laid them +on the floor close to the fire, for Father said it was chilly at nights +after the sun had gone down, and they would need all the warmth they +could get. The kettle was boiling noisily by this time, so the children +hastened to set out the cups and plates. There was no table-cloth, but +that did not matter in the least, and the absence of teaspoons was +regarded as rather an advantage than otherwise. It was so quaint to sit +right inside the chimney corner, and smell the delicious blue peat smoke +that was curling its way to the turf roof overhead, and to look out +through the open doorway at the silver lake, sending gentle ripples over +the little sandy beach, and always the purple waste of heather beyond, +with the mountains rising up, tier after tier, into the dim distance. + +There never were such appetites. Peggy poured out, with a grand air, as +if she were officiating at some Court ceremony. Aunt Helen's +hard-boiled eggs and bread-and-butter disappeared like magic, and the +little teapot was filled again and again, till there was no more water +left in the kettle. + +'Bobby, you simply must stop!' said Father. 'Please to remember our +supplies have to last us for breakfast and lunch to-morrow. If we eat up +everything so fast, we shall be obliged to go hungry before we get home +again. Now I am going out to look after the sheep, and I shall leave you +to clear away and wash up. If I bring you camping out up here, you must +be my orderlies, and do the work. I generally put the cups into the pool +outside.' + +'All right,' said Peggy and Bobby, rattling the tea-things into the big +fishing-basket with a haste calculated to break anything but the stout +blue enamel ware which Aunt Helen had thoughtfully provided, and racing +outside to the little stream which flowed past the cottage into the +lake. + +The bank shelved in one place, so as to form a shallow basin, and here +the children tilted in their load, sitting down on the heather for a few +minutes to wait until the running water had washed them clean. + +'Take care they are not washed away into the lake!' shouted Father after +them. 'And keep up the fire while I am gone. I shall be in before dark.' + +And he went off for a weary tramp over the hills, with old Rover +following closely at his heels. + +'I wish we could have brought Rollo,' said Bobby. 'I don't believe he +would have driven the sheep all the wrong way, in spite of what Father +says. David had to tie him up in the stable, so that he shouldn't follow +us.' + +'I know he'll miss us dreadfully, poor darling!' said Peggy. 'I hope +Lilian won't forget to give him his biscuit to-night. I asked Nancy to +remember Prickles, and Joe promised to feed the rabbits; and if Jack +doesn't get his supper he'll scold so dreadfully outside the kitchen +door that someone is sure to hear him. Oh, Bobby! I saw a fish in the +pool just then. I have two pins in my jacket, and a long piece of string +in my pocket. Don't you think we could make hooks and lines, and catch +some to surprise Father when he comes back? There are lots of worms in +the bank.' + +The tea-things were hastily collected from the stream, and the amateur +anglers set to work with much enthusiasm but no success, for the fish +absolutely declined to bite, in spite of the tempting bait, and lay +sulkily under the stones at the bottom of the pool. It was growing quite +dark before Father returned, and I think, though neither of them would +have confessed it, the children were both rather relieved to hear his +cheery whistle outside the door, for it was just a little eerie sitting +by the peat fire in that lonely cottage, without a sound to break the +vast silence, and the knowledge that the nearest human habitation lay +fully three miles away; and Bobby had already asked Peggy if she +believed in ghosts, and whether it was true what Joe had told him that +the lights you sometimes see at night hovering over a bog are the souls +of children who have never been baptized; and though Peggy had professed +to laugh at the supernatural, she did not feel quite so brave as she +pretended, and found little cold shivers stealing down her back when the +wind rose suddenly, and began to wail round the cottage like a hungry +creature waiting to be let in. + +'I don't know what you young folks are,' said Mr. Vaughan, 'but I'm +dog-tired, and we had better go to bed, for I want to be up with the sun +to-morrow.' + +The children were disposed to agree with him, so, simply pulling off +their boots, they lay down in their clothes on the piles of fragrant +heather, while Father threw thick bundles of it over them to serve +instead of blankets. Heather makes one of the most delicious beds in the +world. It is so soft, and yet so springy, and the purple blossom smells +so sweet, that one could scarcely wish to lie easier. + +Father and Bobby were asleep in two minutes, but Peggy lay awake for a +long time, watching the shadows of the peat fire flicker upon the rough +beams of the roof, till at length fire and heather merged into a +dreamland kingdom, where she was walking with Rollo upon the clouds, and +fishing teacups out of a flowing sea below. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +ON THE MOORS + + 'No sound by night but the winds which blow, + No sound by day but the water's flow, + And the wild bird's screaming note.' + + +In spite of the best resolutions for early rising, nobody woke with the +sun after all, and that luminary had plenty of time to creep round and +peep in through the little window before Father sprang up from his bed +of heather, and exclaiming that they were late, set the children to blow +the peats into life again while he took his morning bath in the lake. + +Later on Peggy and Bobby followed his example. After sleeping all night +in their clothes the cool plunge in the clear water was delightfully +refreshing, and they sat about like mermaids on the rocks, basking in +the sunshine, and watching a ring-ousel teaching her three big babies to +fly, till Father called out that if they did not hurry up and come in at +once he should eat all the breakfast before they arrived. + +It was real fun frying rashers of bacon over the fire, especially when +Peggy nearly upset the pan in her excitement, and Bobby absentmindedly +sat upon the teapot, which he had put to keep warm among the peats. I am +afraid poor Father had rather a distracting meal, but he cheerfully ate +the smoky toast which the children provided, and did not even grumble +when Peggy, by mistake, put six lumps of sugar into his tea. + +'Rover and I must be off to work again this morning,' he said, taking a +shepherd's crook that lay in a corner of the room, and calling the old +dog from the fireside. 'You youngsters had better play about near the +cottage. Don't go wandering all round the lake, or you'll get so tired +you won't be able to walk home this afternoon.' + +Left alone, the children began to busy themselves with what the +Americans call 'chores.' First of all the breakfast things had to be +cleared away, and carried down to the stream, but, to Peggy's dismay, +the greasy bacon plates utterly refused to wash clean, however long they +were left to soak in the pool, and came up in the same smeary condition +in which she had put them in. + +'Whatever shall we do with them? We can't leave them dirty like this,' +she exclaimed, feeling as anxious for the credit of the establishment as +any full-grown housekeeper. + +'Tilt them up in a row against the cottage wall, and pour a kettleful of +boiling water over them,' said practical Bobby, who generally had some +suggestion to offer. + +I do not know what Nancy would have thought of such a method of washing +up, but it answered splendidly all the same, for the greasy water +drained away into the grass, and the fresh breeze dried the plates +without any need of a towel, and Peggy even managed to clean out the +frying-pan with the help of some fern-leaves and a wisp of grass, an +achievement of which she felt quite proud. + +'We can't make our beds,' she said, 'because there's nothing to make; +but we'll pile the heather up with the rest of the peat in the chimney +corner, and it will do to light the fire with next time. I mean to ask +Father to bring us, now, whenever he comes up.' + +They managed to construct a broom from some of the longest pieces of +heather, and swept the crumbs neatly out at the front-door; they hung up +the frying-pan, the kettle, and the bellows in their accustomed places, +and stacked the cups and plates in the old box which served as a +cupboard. + +'Doesn't it look nice?' said Peggy, gazing round with much satisfaction +on their handiwork. 'If only we could stay up here a good long time we'd +bring lots of things from home, and paint pictures for the walls, and +put them in cork frames, and I really believe, if I tried, I could make +up one of those hearthrugs out of little scraps of cloth all pinched up +and sewn on, like Nancy made last winter for her sister's wedding +present.' + +'Oh, bother the cottage!' said Bobby, who, boy-like, soon tired of +domestic duties. 'Let's go out and look for whinberries; there ought to +be heaps of them round there by the lake.' + +Peggy was more than willing, and relinquishing her schemes of household +improvement to hunt up the milk-can as a handy receptacle, followed him +out into the sunshine, to search among the heather for the little +low-growing, red-leaved shrubs with their crop of small purple berries. + +But the blackbirds and the ring-ousels had been before them, so it took +a long time to fill the can, especially as a good deal of the fruit +found its way into the children's mouths, leaving them with such purple +lips and stained fingers that they resembled the babes in the wood. + +'I say, Peggy,' cried Bobby suddenly, stooping down to examine more +closely the grassy bank where he was sitting, 'there's a whole swarm of +bees keeps coming in and out of this hole.' + +Peggy came hurrying up in great excitement, tripping as usual over her +dangling bootlace. + +'It's a wild bees' nest; I expect the bank is full of honey. Oh, +wouldn't it be fun to dig it out! I'm sure we could do it first-rate!' + +'But won't they all go for us when we start laying into their hive?' + +'We must smoke them out first, like the people do in the village when +they only have those straw hives. We'll bring some dry heather and light +a fire, so that the smoke will send them to sleep, and then we can get +the honey as easy as anything. I remember just how Mrs. Davis does.' + +Peggy spoke as if she knew all about it, though really she had never +seen any honey taken in her life, but she was a young lady who had much +confidence in her own powers, and Bobby was so accustomed to follow her +lead that he offered no further objections. They went back to the +cottage for the matches and a supply of dry heather, which they arranged +in a circle round the nest. + +'You stand ready with the matches,' commanded Peggy, 'and when I say +"Now!" strike a light. Then, as the smoke goes up, I shall poke a stick +into the hole, and you'll see they'll all fly out and tumble down +asleep.' + +Obedient Bobby stood at attention, match in hand. + +'Now!' cried Peggy breathlessly. + +Up went the smoke, the heather catching fire at once, in went the stick, +and out came the bees in an angry swarm; but something had gone wrong in +the calculations, for instead of falling stupefied on to the grass, +they flew unharmed through the smoke, and fell upon their tormentors +with a buzz of indignation. + +Away fled the children, racing over the moor as if the furies were at +their heels. They were both capital runners, having had plenty of +practice at cricket and rounders, but I do not think they ever ran so +fast in their lives as when they were chased by the bees. + +They had just reached the side of a little incline when Peggy's +bootlace, which she had neglected to fasten all the morning, tripped her +up, and over she went, rolling into a prickly gorse-bush, while Bobby, +who was so close behind that he could not stop himself, fell over her, +and collapsed into a boggy hollow, where he lay panting for breath until +Peggy picked herself up and hauled him out. + +'Oh, you _are_ in a mess!' she cried, trying to wipe the mud off his +coat with her pocket-handkerchief, and getting almost as grimy as he was +in the process. + +'I'm half stinged up!' moaned poor Bobby. 'I've a great place on my +cheek, and just look at my hands!' stretching out the wounded members +for sympathy. + +'They've stung me all round the back of my neck,' said Peggy. 'I expect +it'll hurt ever so when it begins to swell. We'd best go and bathe the +places in the lake.' + +The water relieved the smart considerably, and Peggy, happily +remembering she had a parcel of biscuits in her pockets, pulled them out +and suggested some lunch, for Bobby was looking doleful and injured, and +inclined to cast aspersions upon her knowledge of bee-keeping. + +There were three apiece, all thick arrow-root ones, and I grieve to say +this ill-behaved pair had a competition as to which could finish them +the quickest. Dry biscuits are choky things, and it is not very easy to +eat three off on end, in record time, without drinking. + +'I've won!' declared Bobby in triumph, hurriedly swallowing the last +morsel, and scooping up a delicious draught of water to wash it down. + +'Yes; but you simply bolted your last. You want Miss Wilkins here to +teach you manners. What a dear little fat dot she was! I wish we could +come across her again.' + +'She's gone home. I saw her the day before yesterday in a carriage, with +a lady and gentleman and a lot of boxes, and Mrs. Price at the +post-office said she had heard Sir Somebody Wilkins was a very great +artist in London, and had pictures in the Royal Something-or-other,' +explained Bobby lucidly. + +'Was it the Royal Academy?' + +'I believe it was; but I thought an academy meant a school.' + +'So it does sometimes, but I know the Academy is a place where people go +to see pictures, because Maud Middleton told me she had her portrait +there last year. Talking of Maud, we have never seen anything of Mr. +Neville since that party. I wish he would come over to Gorswen.' + +'So do I; he was a stunning chap! He could bowl better than the captain +of our eleven. Why don't Father and Aunt Helen write and ask him?' + +'I don't know. I asked Aunt Helen, but she was so funny and queer over +it, and wouldn't talk about him at all. I can't imagine why. Oh, Bobby, +look what I've found! A clump of real white heather! Isn't that lucky? +The first I've ever seen. I shall take it home for Aunt Helen; she'll be +so pleased.' + +'Joe says it means a wedding if you give it to anybody, and if you find +it in three places you'll be married three times. No, I don't want to +hunt for any, thank you! It's girls' stuff! I aren't going to bother +with marrying when I grow up; I mean to be a pirate, and live in a ship +with a black flag, and a lot of jolly fellows with pistols and +cutlasses, and we'll overhaul every merchantman we see, and string the +sailors up from the yard-arm!' and the future buccaneer swung his legs +over the rock, and put on a cut-throat expression, strangely at variance +with his cherubic cast of countenance. + +'Pooh! You're a silly little boy!' said Peggy scornfully, forgetting +that only last week she had regarded the adventures in 'Treasure Island' +as the beau-ideal of earthly bliss. 'There are no such things as pirates +now, so you couldn't be one, and I believe you'd be scared of the +pistols, too, if they were loaded!' + +Much offended at these remarks, Bobby stalked away in such aggrieved +majesty that, as the best means to restore peace, Peggy suggested that +they should walk on to a larger stream, which emptied itself into the +lake about half a mile lower down. Luckily Bobby's ill-humours were of a +short-lived nature, and after a few minutes of cutting silence, he +volunteered the rather ambiguous remark that there were 'lots of things +a fellow could do when he grew up, anyhow,' and was his smiling self +again. + +The new stream proved highly attractive. It was one of those noisy, +rushing mountain torrents, brown with flowing over the peat, and full of +great moss-grown boulders, with smooth round stones between. There were +foaming cataracts here and there among the rocks, just like Niagara on a +small scale, and there were dear little quiet pools at the edges, where +the still water was overhung by ferns and rushes, that sheltered +caddice-worms, and boat-flies, and whirligig water-beetles, and all +sorts of other delights for the collection. + +The children promptly pulled off their shoes and stockings and paddled +in the brown water like a couple of ducks. Peggy tied her boots together +by the laces, and putting her stockings inside, slung them over her back +in true fisher-boy fashion, while she sat dabbling her feet in a +waterfall, and watching Bobby's frantic efforts to catch a dragon-fly. + +'Oh, Peg, come quick! I believe I have him under my hat!' shouted the +enthusiastic collector, lying flat among the reeds on a grassy bank. + +Peggy jumped up in a hurry, and splashed her way to the rescue, but the +smooth round stones were slippery, and seemed to slide away from under +her feet. She gave a desperate clutch at a willow-stump on the bank to +save herself from falling, and somehow or other, in the struggle, her +bootlace broke, and away went the boots, sailing gaily down the stream, +over the waterfall and into the depths of the lake, before their +astonished owner had even realized their loss. Naturally, to secure the +dragon-fly and pin him on Bobby's hat was the first consideration, and +by the time the missing boots were thought of, they had utterly +disappeared, and though the children searched for fully half an hour +down the stream and on the bank of the lake, they were not to be found. + +'I'm afraid it's no use,' said Peggy at last. 'They must have gone down +into a hole, or been washed right into the middle of the lake. Someone +will fish them out a few hundred years hence, and put them into a museum +as great treasures. Well, it can't be helped. I suppose I shall have to +walk home without them,' pretending to look as if she did not care, +though really the prospect of a scolding from Father, and further +explanations with Aunt Helen on her return, made her somewhat uneasy. + +With spirits slightly damped she wended her way back to the cottage, +trying to think it did not hurt to walk on the scrubby heather-stems, +and privately wondering whether Scotch children's toes were made of +different material to her own. + +Mr. Vaughan came home at one o'clock, having counted the sheep to his +satisfaction, and found none missing. + +'I'm as hungry as a hunter,' he announced. 'We must eat up everything +that's left; it won't do to carry anything back in our baskets. Is the +kettle boiling? Come, Peggy, child, put on your shoes and stockings; you +look like the picture of an Irish peasant-girl.' + +Peggy had certainly expected a lecture when she made the painful +confession that her foot-gear was at the bottom of the lake, but, to her +great relief, Father took it all as a joke, and laughed so heartily that +he quite forgot to scold her. + +'But you can't walk eight miles home over a rough road with bare feet!' +he exclaimed, the practical side of the question suddenly striking him, +'and I certainly don't feel equal to carrying you. We must manage to +make you a pair of sandals of some kind. I suppose I shall have to +sacrifice my shooting-gaiters;' and he divested himself of his leather +leggings with rueful reluctance. 'Now, put your foot down upon that, and +I will draw a line round it; then, if I cut it out with my penknife it +will make quite a good sole--enough to save you from the stones, at any +rate.' + +Peggy sat on the box while Father tied on the improvised sandals with +her pocket-handkerchief and Bobby's. They were certainly ingenious, +though hardly elegant, and it did not comfort her much to be told that +she would be taken for a wounded soldier limping back from the wars; +indeed, Father made such fun of her that she grew quite indignant, and +began to think she would really rather have been scolded a little than +so very much laughed at. + +Peggy never forgot that walk home. The sandals were anything but +comfortable, and her feet hurt dreadfully on the stones, while every +gorse-bush she passed seemed to be stretching out spiky fingers to +scratch her bare legs; she was tired after her morning's adventures on +the moors, and the eight miles seemed to lengthen out to an interminable +vista, in spite of the way being downhill; sundry bumps and bruises, +which she had never noticed at the time, began to ache now, and the +bee-stings on her neck smarted, until she hardly knew how to bear the +pain. + +Poor Bobby was in scarcely better plight, and, to add to their misery, a +rain-cloud, blowing over from the west, broke on the mountain-top, and +drenched them almost to the skin. Mr. Vaughan was in such haste to get +home before post-time that he hurried them on, quite forgetting how much +shorter their legs were than his own, and he refused to listen to any +excuses for sitting down and resting, which, considering their wet +condition, was perhaps just as well. + +A more draggled and disreputable-looking pair of children it would have +been impossible to find. Bobby's sailor-suit was all stained with mud, +where he had fallen into the bog, and smears of the same material seemed +to have distributed themselves over his chubby face. There were several +rents in his stockings, while the brim and crown of his straw hat had +parted company, showing his crop of brown curls through the gap between. +As for Peggy, a young gipsy tramp would have looked more respectable, +for the brown holland dress, which had started out stiff and clean +yesterday morning, was smeared with whinberry juice, black smudges from +the kettle, and green stains from the mossy stones in the stream, and +clung around her bare legs in damp, clammy folds, while the drenching +rain had reduced the poppies in her hat to a scarlet pulp, which dripped +down in crimson tears upon her cheek. The sun, shining out brilliantly +as they reached civilization once more, seemed to make the forlorn +plight of the wayfarers look worse than ever. If there had been any +possible way home, except through the village, I think Peggy would have +begged Father to take it, and she wished that, like Lady Godiva, she +could have shut the people up in their cottages until she had passed by. + +'I know they'll all stand and stare at my bare legs and queer sandals,' +she groaned. 'Those horrid, rude Watkin boys are sure to see me, and +call names next time, when Father's not there, and Mrs. Price will come +fussing out of the post-office to ask if there has been an accident; she +always wants to poke her nose into everything!' + +The Watkin boys, however, were away, engaged in a raid for early apples +in the orchards of long-suffering neighbours, while Mrs. Price was +taking tea in her back-parlour, and indulging in such spicy gossip with +her particular friend Miss Jones that the children passed by unnoticed, +and Peggy began to congratulate herself that they were almost out of +danger. + +But alas! things rarely happen as we expect in this world. They had +crossed the bridge, and were turning away up the lane to the Abbey, when +the sound of wheels was heard behind them, and, in the smart carriage +which rolled by, whom should Peggy recognise but the supercilious faces +and elegant costumes of Phyllis and Marjorie Norton. Her cup of +humiliation was filled to the brim. + +'And they knew me at once, I'm sure,' she lamented to Lilian afterwards, +'for they both looked at each other, and Phyllis laughed in that horrid, +sneering way she has. I know she'll tell the Middletons, and they'll +think it so queer. I don't much mind Marjorie, but of all people in this +world I simply _detest_ Phyllis Norton!' + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A NEW FRIEND + + 'Good-morrow to the day so fair, + Good-morrow, sir, to you.' + + +One hot afternoon, when the holidays were about three weeks old, found +Peggy wandering disconsolately round the farmyard alone. Lilian was +away, spending a few days in Shrewsbury with a distant cousin; Father +had gone to Warford, and had taken Bobby with him; even Rollo had +disappeared on some mysterious errand not entirely disconnected with +bones, so the young lady was left for once to her own devices. + +Aunt Helen had broadly hinted that an hour's practice of much-neglected +pieces upon the piano in the Rose Parlour would be a profitable means of +employing the time, and the fear lest this threat should become an +actual command caused Peggy to shun the neighbourhood of the house with +elaborate care, and betake herself, with a selection of pets, to the +barn. + +But the rabbits were stupid and sleepy this afternoon. Even Jack, the +magpie, seemed to feel the heat, and refused to amuse his young +mistress, while Prickles snored on in his box of hay, oblivious to all +coaxings and blandishments. + +'Bother the creatures!' said Peggy at last, giving it up in despair. 'If +they want to go to sleep, I suppose they must! I wonder if it would be +worth while going down to the harvest field? I'm afraid David wouldn't +let me drive the reaper. No, I know what I'll do.' + +And she jumped up, full of a new idea which had suddenly flashed into +her mind. + +Down the pasture she pelted, her red hat looking like a new species of +poppy among the grass, and, taking a flying leap over the fence, made +her way along the dusty road to a place where a large willow overhung +the path. + +The tree was old, so old and decayed that the upper side of the trunk +had worn away altogether, leaving nothing but a hollow, crumbling shell, +as rotten and dry as matchwood. Into this cavity Miss Peggy proceeded to +creep, where, concealed by the new branches which had grown from the old +stump, she found she could lie at full length, quite hidden from sight, +while through a hole in the bark she could obtain an excellent view of +every one who passed in the road below. The first to come by was Mr. +Griffiths, the stout old miller, mounted on his equally fat horse, the +two jogging comfortably along, almost asleep in the sunshine. Peggy +allowed him to get well beneath her, then, taking a pebble from her +pocket, she let it fall plump in the middle of his white hat. The miller +sat up with a jump, and reined in the old horse, staring into the tree +with such blank amazement on his rubicund countenance that Peggy had to +stuff her fingers into her mouth to stifle her mirth. + +'Shoo! Hi!' cried Mr. Griffiths, clapping his hands. + +But, like Brer Rabbit, Peggy 'lay low and said nuffin',' and the old man +rode slowly on, turning round in his saddle for a last lingering look +as he went. + +Encouraged by this success, Peggy's next venture was on a pedlar, who +came down the road with a pack on his back and a thick stick in his +hand. I am afraid this time her stone was bigger, for it bounced with +such effect on his shoulder, that he turned round with a flow of +language far from elegant, shaking his fist at the tree with so much +fury that Peggy was in terror lest he should climb up to find the author +of the assault; but he evidently thought the day too hot for such +exercises, and with a final abusive epithet walked away muttering curses +on all the children in creation. + +'It's not safe to use stones,' thought Peggy. 'They know someone must be +up here to drop them. I'll try little pieces of wood instead, and then +they'll think it's a bird or a squirrel.' + +After that, she had excellent sport, for the women were beginning to +return from Warford Market with their empty baskets, and she was able to +cause wonder and mystification in many a rustic breast, without the +slightest chance of discovery. + +She was growing almost tired of the fun, when she heard a cheery +whistle, and a boy of about fourteen came sauntering slowly down the +road. He was rather a nice-looking boy, with merry brown eyes, a +freckled nose, and frizzy chestnut hair, which stood up like a mop all +over his head, and he had a particularly jolly, breezy air about him. + +Peggy had acquired such practice at her interesting occupation by this +time that she was able to drop her piece of wood neatly down the back of +his neck exactly at the moment he passed below. + +'Hello!' cried the boy, turning round, and flinging a stone into the +tree. 'A squirrel, I'll be bound! I guess it's no use you hiding 'way up +there, old fellow! I'll unearth you before you're much older!' And he +commenced such an onslaught of stones that, to avoid the descending +shower, Peggy tried to creep deeper into the hollow cavity where she was +lying. + +But the poor, rotten old tree could stand the strain no longer, and, +with an awful crash, down came the overhanging bough, bringing Peggy to +the ground with a good deal more speed than elegance. + +'I say! What the dickens! Great Scott! Are you hurt?' exclaimed the boy, +regarding with much astonishment the crumpled heap of sailor frock, +brown curls, and splinters of willow-wood that had suddenly descended at +his feet. + +Peggy got up, feeling tenderly at her shins, which had suffered most in +the fall. + +'I don't think I'm quite killed,' she replied slowly. 'But I've no doubt +there'll be heaps of bruises to-morrow.' + +'So you were the squirrel! It was rather a cute dodge, and well done. I +guess you're something of a tomboy, young lady, aren't you?' said the +boy, grinning appreciatively. + +'No, I'm not,' said Peggy, indignant at the old reproach; 'I'm only fond +of a little fun. I know who _you_ are. You're the boy who's staying with +Miss Forster at the Willows. I saw you in church on Sunday;' and she +nodded convincingly. + +'Why, I believe I saw you, too! You dropped your collection money, and +made a rabbit out of your pocket-handkerchief,' chuckling at the +remembrance. + +'Aren't you Miss Forster's nephew? What's your name? Why have you never +been to Gorswen before? Where is your home?' asked Peggy, wondering at +his slight American accent. + +The boy whistled. + +'Whew! what a catechism! My name's Archie, if you want to know, and my +godfathers and godmother gave it to me at my baptism. Yes, Miss Forster +is my aunt, and I haven't been to Gorswen before, because I was raised +in Colorado, and that's a little too far for chance visits; but I'm +going to locate here now most of the time, I guess. Is there anything +else you would like to ask?' + +And the brown eyes looked at her quizzically. + +'Yes, I should,' admitted Peggy frankly. 'I want to know what you're +doing in the corner of Miss Forster's garden. I can hear you sawing and +hammering there every morning.' + +'I wonder you don't come to see!' + +'Well, I would if anyone _invited_ me!' + +The boy laughed. + +'All right!' he said good-naturedly. 'Come along now, and I'll show you, +if you like. If we cut over the hedge here we can drop straight down +into the garden without going round by the road. I guess a girl who can +climb a tree to play squirrel won't shy at a fence. Eh, Miss Tomboy?' + +Peggy replied by lightly vaulting over the obstacle, and following her +new friend with much promptitude, giving him a condensed history of +herself and family as she ran to keep up with his long strides. + +'Here we are!' cried the boy, jumping over the little stream that +bounded the Willows garden, and watching Peggy's heroic leap after with +an eye of secret approval. 'There, now, if you want to see what I have +been doing, you can!' + +He put his hands in his pockets, and whistled carelessly, but it was +evident, all the same, that he was pleased to show off his handiwork, +even to a little girl. Peggy gave a gasp of astonishment and delight, +for by the side of the stream was fixed the prettiest little miniature +water-wheel, which was turning round as merrily as the miller's own. + +'Oh, how lovely!' she cried. 'You don't mean to say you made that +yourself?' + +For the efforts of Joe and Bobby at carpentry were generally of a very +rough description. + +'Of course I did. Do you reckon I'd get the village joiner to fix it? +Precious much good he'd be at a job like this, the clumsy old idiot! But +the wheel's nothing. Come over here, and you'll see what it turns!' + +'A grindstone! How splendid! Why, it's going round ever so fast when you +put on that catch!' + +'I can grind your pen-knife for you, if you like,' suggested Archie +magnanimously. 'I'd admire to do it.' + +'Haven't got one,' said Peggy sadly. 'I lost mine out of my pocket the +other day, when I fell into the stream.' + +'Ah! girls have such stupid pockets, they never can keep anything in +them. Never mind, perhaps this will be more in your line;' and lifting +up a lid, he showed a tiny churn, calculated to fill the feminine soul +with rapture. + +'You could put some cream in that, and make enough butter for your tea,' +he said, when Peggy had exhausted her list of admiring adjectives. 'I'll +let you do it some time, if you want. But if you like the churn, what do +you think of this, now?' And, stooping forward, he moved a switch, and +the strains of a little musical-box were heard playing 'The Last Rose of +Summer' with wonderfully correct time and tune. + +'You'll never persuade me you made that, too!' cried Peggy, turning upon +him with wide-open eyes. + +'Indeed I did!' laughed Archie. 'Oh, it's not so difficult, after all. +See, I'll show it to you. It's only made with pins set round in a circle +on a piece of board, with a nail on a pivot in the centre to revolve +round and strike them. The hard part of it was to set the pins just +right. You see, the shortness or longness of them makes the difference +in the notes, and the distance between gives the time. It took me a +jolly long while to puzzle it all out, I can tell you!' + +'I think you're a genius!' declared Peggy, who was absolutely steeped in +admiration. + +'Why, no!' said the boy. 'But I reckon to go in for engineering some +time, so it's all practice, you see. When I can get some more tools and +things I want to set up a hydraulic pump to water the garden. I believe +I could put electric light all over the house, if aunt would only let me +try.' + +'I'm afraid you might blow us all up, my dear boy!' exclaimed the +pleasant voice of Miss Forster, who had joined them unobserved. 'So you +have been making Peggy's acquaintance? She had better stay to tea, now +she is here. I will send a message up to the Abbey to say we are keeping +her.' + +Peggy beamed with delight, for she wanted to see more of Archie's +wonderful work, and also the cakes and jam at the Willows had a +reputation for excellence quite unsurpassed in the neighbourhood. + +Miss Forster was a little elderly lady, with a neat, bird-like +appearance, and a brisk, cheerful manner, who seemed to match the prim, +square house with its green door and brass knocker, and white sun-blinds +over the windows. Everything about the place was kept in the most +exquisite order--never a weed on the paths nor a daisy on the +lawns--while indoors the old-fashioned rooms were the very perfection of +neatness, and the polish on the Chippendale furniture was a thing to +wonder at. + +When Miss Forster had adopted her brother's youngest boy from Colorado, +her neighbours held up their hands in amazement, and suggested that one +of her London nieces would have proved a far more satisfactory +companion. But Miss Forster herself thought otherwise. + +'My nieces are dear girls,' she said, 'but they take all I say for +gospel, and have not an original idea among them. I want some fresh +young life in the place, to keep me from quite stagnating. Archie brings +a breath of the new world with him, and outside interests which I hope +may prevent me from falling into the narrow rut that is so often the +fate of elderly spinsters in retired villages. It is quite possible that +he may upset the house in some slight degree, but on the whole it is +good for me to have my little ways interfered with. One is apt to get +into the habit of thinking that the set of a curtain, or a speck of dust +on the mirror, are of more importance than the affairs of the universe.' + +Since his arrival, Archie had certainly done his best to preserve his +aunt from any danger of stagnation, for his fertile brain kept her in a +perpetual tremor as to what the 'dear boy' would do next. + +'We work everything by machinery out in America, you know, aunt,' he +explained. 'And it feels just terribly behind the times to come home and +find you jogging on in the same hum-drum way this old country has done +since the conquest. I guess if you could come out to Colorado, you'd get +an eye-opener!' + +Miss Forster opened her eyes wide enough, as it was, to see a neat +telephone, made of two empty cocoa-tins and a piece of waxed string, +fixed up between the house and the stables, while a small windmill on +the scullery roof turned the coffee-grinder in the kitchen, to the huge +amazement and delight of the cook. She had gasped a little at the +incubator, made of an old biscuit-tin, and placed on the greenhouse +pipes. + +'Would not a good sitting hen be really better, my dear boy?' she +suggested mildly. 'I don't see what you are going to do with the young +chicks when you hatch them out.' + +'Oh, I'll have fixed up a foster-mother before the three weeks are up,' +said Archie. 'I'm lining a shallow box with plaster of Paris, and +sticking it full of feathers while it's wet. Then, if I keep it on the +hot pipes, it will feel for all the world like an old hen, and I don't +believe there'll be a chick that'll find out the difference!' + +There seemed to be no end to Master Archie's wonderful inventions. The +boy had a great talent for mechanics, and was very painstaking in +carrying out all the minute details of his work. Most of his schemes +were really of use in the household, though occasionally some of them +were not attended with quite the success they deserved. He had hung the +great dinner-bell in the cherry-tree, and fastened a string from it to +his bed-post, so that he might scare the birds from the fruit in the +early morning; but unfortunately he had flung out his arms in his sleep +and set the bell ringing soon after midnight, bringing the neighbours +hurrying up to the Willows, thinking it was an alarm of fire. He had +manufactured a marvellous hat-grip, warranted to defy the windiest of +weather, and presented it to the housemaid; but when the poor girl tried +to take off her Sunday hat, she found it so tightly fixed to her hair +that it took the combined efforts of the other servants, aided by the +liberal use of a pair of scissors, to remove the construction from her +head. He had fixed a fire-escape to the landing window, and nearly +killed the trusting parlour-maid by letting her down in a blanket 'just +for practice,' while the cook was soaked through in a sudden application +of the hose-pipe to quench imaginary flames in the region of the +back-kitchen. + +But I think the crowning achievement was an automatic currying-brush, +which was to be wound up and fixed on to the horse's back, and was to do +the work 'in just half the time old Fleming takes pottering over it.' + +'Don't ee, now, Master Archie--don't ee, now!' remonstrated the poor old +coachman, with dismay in his soul. 'Horses is kittle cattle, and it +aren't right to play no tricks with 'em!' + +'Don't you be alarmed, Fleming. I guess Captain will like it just +first-rate. He'll find it sort of soothing, and it'll put such a gloss +on him you'll be able to see your face in his coat. If it works all +right, I'll rig up an arrangement to milk the cows next.' + +And the confident inventor wound up his little machine, and started it +on Captain's fat back. But the old horse would have nothing to say to +such a newfangled contrivance, and, with a snort of alarm, had nearly +kicked through the side of his stall, sending the currying-brush flying +in one direction and Master Archie head over heels in another. + +'I reckon he's rather too old to catch on to it,' said the boy, +determined not to own himself beaten, as he picked up the ruins of his +clock-work. 'It would be best to start on a colt, and put it in as part +of the training. Never mind, I can use the wheels to make an alarum, +and fix it up in the harness-room, to go off at any time you like, +Fleming!' + +But Fleming showed such a rooted distrust for anything that was intended +to 'go off,' and, indeed, such absolute abhorrence of any further +mechanical contrivance in the vicinity of the stables, that Archie had +transferred his attentions to the garden, where he was full of a scheme +for utilizing the water power of the little stream to irrigate the soil, +after the fashion of the Nile in Egypt, in a series of canals between +the beds, and had already made the hose-pipe work with capital effect by +means of a siphon and an old barrel. + +This was a form of amusement which appealed far more to Miss Forster's +mind, for her flowers suffered much from drought in summer time, and she +was a keen competitor at the local horticultural shows, exhibiting some +of the largest carnations and the roundest dahlias in the neighbourhood. +So she watched with delight the growth of the hydraulic pump, groaning a +little over the dirty boots and muddied clothes that ensued, but +assuring her friends that the 'dear boy' was a perfect genius, and would +make his mark in the world, and relating the story of his achievements +with most unbounded pride and satisfaction. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +IN THE RECTORY GARDEN + + 'A good man's life is like a fairest flower: + It casts a fragrant breath on all around.' + + +Though Miss Forster's pet flower-beds were a subject for modest +congratulation to their owner, they were not to be compared to those at +the Rectory, which were indeed a feast of scent and colour. The Rector +was worthily proud of his garden. It represented a considerable amount +of skill and artistic taste on the part of himself and his handy-man, +for the rare plants and exquisite groupings of contrasting blossoms +would have done credit to a more imposing establishment, and he had as +choice a collection of shrubs as could be grown anywhere in the county. + +It was almost sunset when Peggy, having seen the last of Archie's +contrivances, and bidden good-bye to kind Miss Forster, passed by the +Rectory hedge, and hearing the brisk sound of the mowing-machine, pushed +open the little gate and went in, knowing she was always sure of a +welcome. + +Peggy loved to get Mr. Howell sometimes quite to herself. Perhaps it was +because he was one of those rare characters in whose presence we can +feel certain of perfect sympathy, or perhaps it grew from a more subtle +and silent bond, felt keenly by the child, though never spoken of, for +Peggy could remember a time when the Rector's hair was raven black, and +there had been a little Raymond Howell playing about on the smooth lawns +of the old garden. Folks had said that the Rector, like many a man who +marries late in life, had made an idol of his motherless boy, and they +had said, again, that the father's heart was broken and the print of +death was on his face as he stood by his child's open grave. But they +judged wrong, for he had wrestled with his sorrow, like Jacob with the +angel of old, and came forth from the struggle with hair indeed as white +as snow, but a face so full of the glory of his conquest that those who +looked felt as if he, too, had died, and they saw his immortality. + +'Ah, he's a changed man!' said Ellen, the nurse, to Susan, the cook, as +they talked in whispers over the night-nursery fire when the children +were in bed. 'If he was a saint before, it's an angel he is now, and +nothing less. They say he takes no thought for himself at all. His +heart's been left in the grave with the poor boy, it's true, but, mark +my words, if there's a soul in trouble in all the parish it's no kinder +friend they'll find than Mr. Howell.' + +Little five-year-old Peggy, lying wide awake, straining her ears to +overhear the whispered conversation, sat up in bed with burning cheeks. + +'Oh, nurse!' she cried. '_Poor_ Mr. Howell! Have they lost his heart in +the churchyard, and can't anybody find it for him?' + +'Go to sleep at once, you naughty girl, or I'll call your aunt,' said +Ellen, putting out the candle to avoid further complications, for she +knew she ought not to have been talking within hearing of her charges, +and hoped Peggy would forget the matter by morning. + +But the child lay awake for a long time, puzzling her small brain. She +was not quite sure what a heart was, but she thought the Rector would +miss it, and that he was in some sort of trouble she realized well +enough. + +'Can people live without hearts?' she asked Lilian next day. + +'Of course not,' replied Lilian, with the superior wisdom of nine years +old, and dismissed the idea with scorn. + +But Peggy did not consider the question ended by any means. Like most +children, with the instinctive dread of being laughed at, she never +thought of confiding her difficulty to an older person, but solving the +problem according to her own quaint ideas, she dodged the vigilance of +Ellen, and trotted off alone to the churchyard. The lych-gate was +locked, but she toiled over the steep steps that spanned the wall, and +wading through the long grass under the yew-trees, found the spot, all +covered with flowers, which Lilian had pointed out on Sunday, where +'Mary, the wife of the Reverend Philip Howell,' slept, 'in sure and +certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life,' and where the +stonemason had been already busy with the newly-added line: 'Also +Raymond, only son of the above.' + +Who can tell all that goes on in the mind of a little child, or what it +understands of death? In a vague way Peggy knew that her playfellow had +'gone to heaven, where mother is,' but she did not think of that as any +cause for sorrow, nor did she connect him for an instant with the place +where she stood, but, with her nurse's words still troubling her, she +knelt down and searched among the white flowers that hid the bare earth +beneath. + +A step on the gravel walk startled her to her feet, but it was only the +Rector, coming slowly down the path from the church-door. + +'Don't go away, little Margaret,' he said quietly. 'God's acre is free +to all. We have both precious seed sown here that we hope to find +blooming some day in Paradise.' + +'Oh, Mr. Howell,' burst out Peggy, her gray eyes brimming over with +tears, 'is it really true that your heart is lost here? Don't you think, +if we were both to look, we might find it again?' + +The Rector stroked the brown curls with a tender hand. + +'Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. No, child, it's +not here, but up in the light beyond;' and he pointed where the sun, +breaking through the clouds, burst out in a flood of golden glory. 'We +make our plans for this world,' he said softly, speaking as much to +himself as to Peggy, 'and say we will do this or that, but sometimes God +takes it out of our hands and arranges it for us; but His ways are +better than our ways, and His thoughts than our thoughts, and, after +all, death is but the gate to life immortal.' + +Since then a great friendship had existed between these two, made all +the stronger, perhaps, by the fifty years that divided them, for old +folk have often more tolerance and sympathy for childhood than have +those whose eyes are still blinded by the bustle of life, and, whatever +Peggy might be to others, with Mr. Howell she was always at her highest +and best. + +'As welcome as the flowers in May, dear child,' said the Rector this +evening. 'I was just longing for an excuse to leave the lawn-mower, and +now I feel bound to give up work and entertain you. Come and look at my +carnations.' And taking a basket as a receptacle for any weeds that +might offend his eye, he led the way, Peggy trotting after him with her +little tongue wagging freely in a lively account of her latest +adventures, and the marvels which her new friend Archie was constructing +in Miss Forster's garden. + +'Yes, he's a clever lad,' said Mr. Howell, 'and likely to do well and be +a comfort to her, I hope. It's a grand thing when a boy can fill his +life with a hobby; it leaves him no time to get into mischief.' + +'I think flowers are your hobby, next to the parish,' said Peggy, as she +watched the Rector tying up his carnations, touching each blossom as +carefully as if it were a child, with a tender pride in its loveliness. + +'Flowers are such dear friends, you see, Peggy; they rarely disappoint +or deceive you. Treat them well, and they repay you a thousandfold; and +the best of it is they give so much pleasure to others as well as to +ourselves. By-the-by, how are Miss Forster's carnations getting on?' + +'Beautifully! She has a lovely apricot-coloured one she hopes may take a +prize, but I don't like it as well as your yellow. She says the show +will be bigger than ever this year; so many of the village people have +sent in entries.' + +'I'm glad of that. Gardening is the best hobby a working man can take +up. He won't want to think of the public-house when he's digging in his +patch of ground and watching the plants he's raised himself. I always +agree with good old Francis Bacon that "God Almighty first planted a +garden, and indeed it is the purest of human pleasures." I have given +away a great many roots in the village this spring, in the hope that the +flowers would find their way to the show in due course. People are +generally so pleased with them.' + +'I took a nice carnation plant down to old Mrs. Johnson at the smithy,' +said Peggy, 'but she didn't seem at all pleased. She said I might have +known she wanted a Bizarre, and not a Picotee, and I was bringing "coals +to Newcastle."' + +'But you left it for her, all the same?' + +'Oh yes; I believe she liked it really, for it was quite a new kind; but +she loves to grumble; she's a terribly cross old woman.' + +'Poor old soul! She's let her heart wither up instead of ripening! We +must all do one or the other, Peggy, child, as we grow older. It is only +the sunshine of God's presence that can mellow us thoroughly, and if +people wilfully turn away from that they are bound to become shrivelled +and sour. Worldly prosperity is like a strong electric light--it may +bring out flowers, but it will never ripen character; so don't forget +that, or ever exchange it for the true sunlight. Now come and help me to +choose out which flowers to specially train for the show, and we shall +just have time to stake them before dark.' + +The Rector never made the mistake of continually talking down to a +child's level. He spoke with Peggy exactly as he would have done with a +grown-up friend, and if she could not always follow his train of +thought, I think the mere effort to do so was good for her, and the +older she grew, the more truly she understood and appreciated him. + +It is not only when we try to amuse them that the children love us best +(who has not sometimes seen the look of almost contempt in the eyes of a +little one for the good-natured elder who plays the fool for his +benefit?), and often the companion most cared for and sought after by a +child is he who unconsciously raises the standard of the eager, growing +soul. + +For reasons of his own the Rector kept Peggy late that evening, and they +made a little tour of the garden, selecting what they called their +prize plants, putting indiarubber bands round carnation-buds to keep +them from bursting, and tying up the most promising stocks and asters +with a scrupulous care, working until the light had almost failed and +the sky stood out yellow against the outline of the cypress-trees. It +grew so dim and still in the twilight that Peggy cried out in alarm as a +tall figure seemed to rise from the shadows under the dark yew-hedge, +and came towards them; but peering through the gathering dusk, she +recognised the face of her old friend Mr. Neville. + +'John!' exclaimed the Rector, 'I thought you had been at the Abbey all +this time!' + +'I haven't found the courage yet,' returned the other huskily, picking a +prize dahlia to pieces with a recklessness that seemed wanton in Peggy's +eyes. + +'Oh, Mr. Neville, is it really you? However did you get here?' she +cried. + +'Mayn't I know the Rector, too, Peggy? He happens to be a very old +friend of mine, and I have come to see him.' + +'You said you knew Father and Aunt Helen, too, but you have never been +to see us,' said Peggy reproachfully. 'I'm afraid there's only Aunt +Helen in to-night, but I know she'd love you to come.' + +'I'm not so sure about that,' said Mr. Neville rather bitterly. 'I don't +know whether I should be welcome, Peggy dear. Aunt Helen and I +quarrelled once, long ago, and I doubt if she could forgive me.' + +'Oh, she would--I know she would!' exclaimed Peggy. 'She always forgives +us, however naughty we are; and she told me once--the night she was +crying over the old letters in her writing-desk--that if you quarrelled +with anyone it was better to make it up at once, and not let it go on +for ever. Do, please, try!' + +'Go, my boy,' said the Rector. 'Tell her the simple truth, and don't +spoil two lives for the sake of an old tale that is best forgotten.' + + * * * * * + +Peggy waited wide awake in bed for hours that night to catch Father's +step in the passage and call him in for a good-night kiss. + +'Oh, Daddy!' she cried, as she clasped him round the neck, 'is Aunt +Helen really and truly going to marry Mr. Neville?' + +'Really and truly, at last, dear; and I could not wish to see her in +better hands.' + +'But whatever _shall_ we do without her?' + +'We must manage as best we can, Peggy, and try and not spoil her +happiness by any selfish regrets. I have had terrible trouble to +persuade her to leave us all, for she was ready to sacrifice herself +bravely a second time, but that I would not allow. Aunt Helen has +thought for us, and worked for us, all these years, and now we must +learn to look after ourselves. You are getting big girls, and Lilian +must be my little housekeeper, and a mother to the rest of you. Aunt +Helen has taught you how to behave, so don't you think, little woman, it +is time to begin to settle down, and do your best to grow up what she +and I would like you to be?' + +'I'll try,' said Peggy, kissing him. 'We don't want to lose Aunt Helen, +but oh!'--as she nestled down among the bed-clothes--'what a delightful +uncle Mr. Neville will make!' + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE SMUGGLERS' CAVE + + 'Dark and dank, where the toad doth creep, + And the dusk-loving bat haunts the shadows deep.' + + +Great was the excitement in the family at the news of Aunt Helen's +engagement, and equal were the lamentations when it became known that, +instead of settling down near them as a pleasant and desirable uncle, +Mr. Neville intended to carry his bride back with him to India as soon +as matters could possibly be arranged, for he held a high position under +Government in an outlying province, and could only be spared on short +leave. Poor Aunt Helen was torn in two between the lover of her youth +and the children of her adoption; but I really believe, when she saw +Bobby's tears, that if Father had not put his foot down firmly, she +would have thrown up everything, and clung to her bairns. + +As it was, the house seemed entirely upset. Miss Jones, the village +dressmaker, was installed in the Rose Parlour, and appeared to be +stitching morning, noon, and night; the postman's bag was quite heavy +with patterns and catalogues of Indian outfits; while distant relations +and old acquaintances, who had neglected the Abbey for years, kept Nancy +in a state of perpetual agitation by turning up suddenly to pay +congratulatory calls. + +'If they'd only send a letter to say they'd be coming,' she complained, +'one would have a chance to be ready for 'em. But old Mrs. Osborne +arrived o' Monday, with me in the midst of my washing, and never a bit +of cake in the house; and there was Squire Henley and his lady o' +churning day, and I had to leave the butter half made to bring in tea; +and ten to one there'll be someone more o' Friday, when I'm cleaning my +kitchens. What with visitors all days of the week, and Miss Jones with +her snippings and mess in the parlour, I, for one, shall be glad when +the wedding is over, though how the house is to go on without Miss +Vaughan goodness only knows.' + +Peggy and Bobby liked the fun of the preparations, though they crept out +of the way of the visitors as much as possible, for to be shown up in +the drawing-room involved an amount of dressing and tidying which did +not fit in at all with their ideas of holiday enjoyment, and they much +preferred a picnic tea in the orchard, with Rollo and the rabbits for +company, to the more select charms of the best china and the stately +patronage of the neighbouring dowagers. + +Lilian was busy trying to grow up suddenly and be ready to take Aunt +Helen's place, for she was old enough now to realize how much +responsibility would rest with her when she must manage the reins of the +household alone, and she was determined that Father should feel as +little discomfort as possible from the change. + +So the younger ones were left more than ever to their own devices, to +amuse themselves as they liked, and to get into mischief or not, +according to the whim of the moment. I am afraid, if there was any +mischief in the case, the blame generally rested with Peggy, for it was +her enterprising mind which planned out the schemes of enjoyment. + +It was certainly Peggy who suggested sitting on the top of the haystack, +and making it sway backwards and forwards like a swing, a delightful +sensation while it lasted, but which ended suddenly in the collapse of +the whole top of the stack, much to Father's wrath, for it took David a +couple of hours to repair the damage, and certainly did not sweeten the +old man's already crusty temper. It was also Peggy's most inopportune +idea to ride the brown cow round the pasture on the very afternoon that +Mrs. Davenport was paying a stiff call in the drawing-room. She gave +Bobby a leg up on to Brindle's broad back, and had just succeeded in +scrambling inelegantly behind him, when the astonished quadruped paused +in her task of cropping the succulent grass and buttercups, and +realizing that something unusual was oppressing her, fled in mad career +over the meadow, with the delighted children clinging desperately to her +horns. + +'Hoop-la! Yoicks! Tally-ho! I believe she'll take the fence!' shouted +Peggy in anything but a quiet and young-lady-like tone of voice. + +'Gee up! Let her go! Hooray!' yelled Bobby, striking such a whack on +Brindle's heaving side that she settled the matter by suddenly lying +down to roll, and depositing her encumbrances in the miry ditch. + +The children jumped up in fits of laughter, but they sobered down +considerably at the sight of the shocked faces of Aunt Helen and Mrs. +Davenport, who were walking towards them over the pasture. + +Mrs. Davenport was a tall, majestic, long-nosed lady, the wife of a +clergyman in a neighbouring village. She ruled both the parish and her +meek little husband with a rod of iron, and her mission in life seemed +to be to find out that everybody else was wrong, and to try to set them +right again. She had five darlings of her own, in whom she could see no +fault, and whom she invariably held up as models of good behaviour to +all the children of her acquaintance. + +Peggy and Bobby loathed the little Davenports, who were mild, pale, +neat-looking little girls, so alike that each one seemed merely a copy +of the next, a size smaller, and who always wore gloves, even in the +garden, and never dreamed of tearing their pinafores, or using slang, +and went on prim little walks with their governess, instead of +scrambling over the fields; and, I grieve to say, that on the few +occasions when they met, they had taken such a positive pleasure in +leading their inoffensive companions into places which resulted in +soiled dresses and dirty boots, that Mrs. Davenport discouraged the +acquaintance as much as possible, never feeling easy even for the life +and limbs of her progeny when they were in the society of 'those +terrible young Vaughans,' and revenging herself by scathing remarks upon +manners and deportment, which were extremely trying to the feelings of +Aunt Helen, who naturally thought _her_ children superior in every way +to 'those mealy-faced little Davenports, who look as if they had not the +strength or spirits to enjoy themselves, even if they were allowed to +try.' + +Mrs. Davenport came up now, picking her way daintily over the pasture, +in her best dress, and expressing her disapproval in her usual emphatic +tones. + +'I hope you are not hurt,' she said, eyeing Peggy severely, and +distinctly hesitating before she accepted the grimy hand which that +young lady offered in the agitation of the moment. 'Such an accident +might have proved _most_ serious. I have known a child develop a spinal +complaint from a far less fall, and I should have thought you were old +enough, Margaret, to restrain your brother from such foolish feats, +instead of encouraging him. Dear me, you must be nearly twelve, I +believe--the same age as my Bertha, and she is already beginning to help +me with the parish accounts and spends all her spare time knitting for +the Deep Sea Missions. I am thankful to say none of my girls are +tomboys! If you will take my advice, Miss Vaughan, you will urge your +brother to see at once about getting a good, strict governess to take +charge of these children when you leave. A little wholesome discipline +is just what they require. Indeed, I know of a lady who would exactly +suit him; not too young, but still _most_ energetic. Lived seven years +with my cousin, the Hon. Mrs. Lyttleton at Bratherton Hall, and just +leaving, having prepared the youngest boy for school. And I can assure +you _their_ manners are everything that could be desired, and she is +able to impart a style and a finish which, living so wholly in the +country, is most important. A truly admirable housekeeper. Your dear +Lilian is, of course, young and inexperienced--and----' + +But here Mrs. Davenport's remarks, which had been wafted along in gusts, +died away in the distance as she departed down the pasture to inspect +the hen-coops, and hint broadly for the gift of a couple of young +pullets, 'for yours are such an excellent breed, dear Miss Vaughan, and +such capital winter layers. I shall only be too delighted to add them to +my stock, since you are so kind as to offer them, though really I am +afraid you will think I never come to the Abbey without taking something +away with me.' + +Which was exactly what Aunt Helen did think, though she was too polite +to say so, for Mrs. Davenport was well known to have an extreme +partiality for presents, perhaps considering them as only her due in +exchange for so much good advice. + +The children looked at one another with rather long faces. + +'I had no idea she was there,' said Bobby in an awe-struck whisper, 'or +we would have run away to the orchard. You don't think Father would +really be likely to get us that governess, do you?'--the horrible +possibility of the lady, still energetic, though no longer young, and +evidently capable of so much in the way of discipline, quite casting a +gloom over his youthful spirits. + +'No, no,' said Peggy hurriedly; 'he can't afford it. That's one comfort +in not being well off, at any rate. And you know he said Lilian was to +do the housekeeping. Oh, I don't think he would like that kind of a +governess any better than we should ourselves--' privately hoping that +Father's notions of self-sacrifice would not make him see fit to inflict +so great a penance on himself and his family. + +But the very idea that such a course had evidently been suggested made +the children uneasy, and kept them for several days at a pitch of sedate +behaviour calculated to calm down Aunt Helen's possible fears for their +future welfare, and to render unnecessary the criticism of the most +faithful and interfering of friends. + +Perhaps it was the natural reaction arising from this very unwonted +state of affairs, or merely the desire to keep as much as possible out +of the way of afternoon callers, that put it into Peggy's head one +close, sultry afternoon that they should go and explore a cave which lay +on the river at no great distance from the Abbey meadows. + +That such a cave existed the children knew well, for Joe had once been +inside, and had told them wonderful stories of smugglers in bygone days, +and of kegs of brandy, and bales of silk and lace, and boxes of tea and +tobacco, which were still supposed to be hidden in its depths, only +waiting for some enterprising spirit to discover their hiding-place and +bring them to light again. + +'And I don't see why _we_ shouldn't find them as well as anybody else,' +said Peggy with enthusiasm. 'Just think of yards and yards of silk as +stiff as paper, and old French lace, all yellow with age! We shouldn't +care about the brandy, but Father and David would like the tobacco, and +Mrs. Davis and old Ephraim should have some of the tea. And we might +find money, too. Smugglers always had bags of money--spade guineas, you +know, and Spanish doubloons, and all those kinds of things you read +about in books.' + +Having a very shrewd suspicion that Father and Aunt Helen might not +approve of such an escapade, Peggy took care not to mention her plans, +and the children started off, feeling like a pair of conspirators, with +the stable-lantern, a few extra pieces of candle, and a box of matches. + +At the bottom of the meadows which bounded the Abbey land the river took +a sharp turn past a few bold cliffs which rose almost sheer out of the +water, and by scrambling along the rocks at the base it was possible to +get round this headland and reach the low entrance of the cave, which +was raised only a few feet above the level of the river. + +The mouth was overgrown with hazel-bushes and brambles and long, +trailing twines of ivy, and it seemed to the children as if no foot but +theirs had disturbed it for a long time. Peggy looked at Bobby, and +Bobby looked at Peggy, and I think each felt just a little inclined to +hang back, though neither would have confessed it for worlds; then, with +the solemn air of a Guy Fawkes, Peggy lighted the lantern, and boldly +plunged into the darkness, with Bobby following particularly closely at +her elbow. At first the entrance was rather narrow and low, but it soon +broadened out until the roof was ten feet or more above their heads. The +sides of the rocky walls bulged out into irregular shelves, covered in +parts with moss, and moist and clammy with slowly-dripping water. + +'Those will be the smugglers' cupboards that Joe spoke about,' said +Peggy, flashing the lantern into every nook and cranny, but with no +success, for there was never a sign of a box of tea or a keg of brandy +to be seen. + +The air was close and damp, and their footsteps raised strange echoes as +they went, and loud voices seemed so out of place that, with one accord, +the children spoke in whispers. + +'O-o-gh! something soft flapped in my face then!' exclaimed Bobby. + +Peggy held up the lantern over her head, and a number of bats, disturbed +by the light, dropped from the roof where they had been suspended and +whirled round the cave, 'cheeping' angrily for some moments, and opening +their tiny jaws at the children in quite a threatening manner, till +Bobby clapped his hands, and they flew off to find their way into some +deeper retreat. + +'Come along,' said Peggy; 'let's go higher up. There's nothing to be +found here.' + +Clinging together, the two walked with some caution, and it was well +they did so, for the floor of the cave was suddenly interrupted by a +chasm, which seemed to have rent the earth in two, and was so deep that +they could not see to the bottom. It was spanned by a plank, green with +slime and rotten with age, placed there perhaps by the smugglers as a +means of retreating to a more secure hiding-place. + +Peggy flashed the light over the dark abyss to the still more gloomy +depths beyond, but even her foolhardiness did not prompt her to try so +perilous a bridge. + +'We'll get Joe to come some time with a new plank, and help us across, +and then perhaps we may find something,' she said rather hurriedly, in +case Bobby might expect her to continue the explorations. + +But that hero suggesting that it must be after teatime, she cordially +agreed with him, and they began to retrace their steps to the entrance, +feeling just a little disappointed, for somehow they had imagined a +smugglers' cave would be a jolly, dry sort of a place, with at least a +few remains of its former tenants strewn about--a pistol or two, +perhaps, or a coil of rope, or a rusty dagger, just sufficient to give +an air of romance to the adventure, even if the missing treasure were +not forthcoming. + +The air seemed to have grown more close and sultry while the children +were within the cave, and, just as they reached the mouth, a low, +grumbling sound, which they had heard for some time, but not taken much +notice of, broke into a crash of thunder that seemed to make the ground +shake beneath them, while at the same instant a brilliant streak of +lightning flashed zigzag across the sky, lighting up the gloom behind +them to its furthest recess. + +The storm had broken. Peal after peal of thunder rent the air, echoing +in the cavern till Peggy and Bobby clung to one another in terror, while +the rain came down in a perfect deluge, with such tropical fury that it +seemed as if the very sky were descending. Crouched down on the floor by +the entrance, the children waited for the storm to pass by, wondering +at the vivid pink flashes and the size of the hailstones which beat in +through the hazel-bushes. A little runnel of water, flowing +uncomfortably near, brought Peggy to her feet with a sudden cry. + +'Bobby! Bobby! the river is rising, and the rocks are covered. We cannot +get round the point to the meadow again!' + +It was but too true, for the sudden violence of the storm had swollen +the mountain-streams that fed the river, and the once-placid waters were +flowing past in a brown, turbulent flood, which seemed to sweep +everything along in its course. The stones over which they had scrambled +were completely covered, while waves were dashing against the face of +the cliff. Here and there a dead sheep or pig drifted by, or a portion +of a haystack; a hurdle floating like a raft bore on it a few +disconsolate fowls, clucking dismally; while an occasional wash-tub or +upturned table showed that the river must have already flooded some of +the low-lying cottages higher up on its course. + +The children looked at each other with blanched faces. + +'We must stay where we are for the present,' said Peggy, trying to speak +bravely, 'and perhaps the water will fall soon, and we shall be able to +get home.' + +But the water did not fall. Each moment it seemed to flow with even +swifter current, and to be rising with terrible sureness nearer and +nearer the mouth of the cave. It was already growing dusk, and distant +rumblings among the hills showed that the storm was still raging over +the Welsh border, and sending down its torrents of rain to swell the +already overflowing river. + +Hungry, and chilly from the damp moisture that oozed down the walls, the +poor children sat quietly huddled together watching the cold gray +surface of the water, which seemed like some cruel monster ever creeping +nearer and nearer to infold them in its treacherous grasp. + +'Perhaps Father will guess where we've gone, and come for us with a +boat,' suggested Bobby. 'I wish he would be quick. It's so cold and +horrid here, and I want my supper.' + +'Perhaps he will,' replied Peggy, as hopefully as she could, though in +her heart of hearts she knew that the cave was about the last place +anyone would dream of searching for them. + +There was a long silence; then, 'It's getting dark now,' said Bobby, +'and the water is beginning to wet my feet.' + +'We must go back into the cave,' said Peggy. 'We shall be quite dry +there, for the ground shelves up. See, I'm going to light the lantern +again. What a good thing we brought several pieces of candle!' + +The mere effort of having something to do cheered them up a little. They +hunted about to find as dry a spot as possible, and put the lantern up +upon one of the shelves of rock, so that it should cast as much light as +it could around the cave. Then they sat down to wait again, for what +seemed to them an eternity of time. + +The mouth of the cavern loomed like a great eye, growing gradually +fainter and fainter as the daylight faded and the darkness grew outside. +The river flowed by with a dull, roaring sound, and the little channel +had risen from the entrance, and began to lap gently on the floor. The +moisture dripped from the walls in loud-sounding drops, and the bats had +awakened again, and flew to and fro towards the lantern with a soft whir +of wings. When the last faint patch of light faded from the opening +Bobby's bravery gave way, and the poor little fellow's tears chased each +other down his cheeks as he crouched in a miserable heap on the damp +ground. + +'I want to go home!' he wailed. 'Why doesn't Father come to fetch us? +Don't you think they know where we are?' + +Peggy flung her arms round him in an agony of self-reproach. + +'Oh, Bobby darling! it's all my fault, for I made you come, and wouldn't +let you tell where we were going, though you said we ought to ask leave +first! Put your head on my shoulder, and try to go to sleep. Perhaps +Father may find us after all, or the river will have gone down by +morning, and we shall be able to scramble round by the rocks.' + +'I must say my prayers first. Aunt Helen always comes into my room and +hears them last thing before I get into bed.' + +'Say them with me to-night,' said Peggy, with a lump in her throat, as +she knelt by his side, thinking that perhaps Aunt Helen, too, was +praying at that moment that her dear ones might be safe. + +The old, familiar words seemed to have new meaning in them, said in the +midst of the darkness and the danger, and the children felt that, though +their earthly Father might be seeking far and wide for them in vain, +they were known and cared for by 'our Father which art in heaven,' to +whom the darkness is the same as daylight, and in whose sight not even a +sparrow falls to the ground unnoticed. + +Bobby fell asleep at last, with his head on Peggy's knee, the sound of +his regular breathing mingling strangely with the lap of the water which +crept nearer and ever nearer to them up the cave. Many thoughts came to +Peggy that night, as she sat watching the light of the lantern flicker +upon the rough walls. Father's reproachful face seemed to rise up out of +the darkness, asking 'Where is Bobby? What have you done with my little +boy?' Good resolutions made, and alas! too often forgotten, crowded in +now upon her remembrance, and as she listened to the roar of the river, +she thought how strange it would seem that they two, so full of life, +might in a few hours be floating very still and silent upon that flowing +stream, with the world only a memory behind them. But Peggy had been too +much with the Rector to have any fear of death. He, she knew, viewed +this life as merely the stepping-stone to a fuller and richer life +beyond, and the body as but the worthless husk of the soul, so with a +dreamy feeling that somehow Mr. Howell had set the gate of the next +world ajar, and allowed some of the glory to steal out and comfort her, +the child closed her tired eyes, and slept as quietly as if she had been +safe in her bed at home, and the storm and the rushing water nothing but +a vision of the night. + +She woke with the sound of little lapping waves, to find that the water +had risen higher, and now formed a deep pool on the floor of the cave, +reaching almost to their feet. The candle had burnt low in the lantern, +and even as she looked it gave a last flicker, and guttered out, leaving +her in utter darkness. With trembling fingers, Peggy felt in her pocket +for the remaining piece of candle and the box of matches. She tried to +strike a light, but the match was damp, and fizzled away without +igniting. A second and a third met with the same fate, and Peggy was in +a panic of despair, until she remembered that Father had once told her +to rub damp matches through her hair before striking them. This method +proved a success, and she was able to relight the lantern, laying Bobby +gently down on the floor, hoping he might not wake. + +But the movement disturbed him, and he sprang to his feet, calling: +'Father, is that you? We're here, in the cave!' + +'It's not Father yet, dear; only me lighting the lantern again.' + +'I was dreaming that it was morning,' said Bobby, rubbing his eyes, 'and +that Father had come to fetch us away in a boat.' + +'I think it will be morning soon,' said Peggy. 'We seem to have slept +for a long time. Bobby, dear, the water is rising so fast that I don't +think we shall be able to stay here much longer, but I have a plan which +I think we might perhaps carry out. Joe told me that people say the cave +was really only the entrance to a secret passage which runs to the +Abbey, and in the old days the smugglers used to carry their goods up +there, and hide them away amongst the ruins. We must try and cross by +that plank, and see if there is really any possible opening, except by +the river.' + +Anything seemed better than sitting still in the darkness watching the +growing water, so the children went up the cave again to where the chasm +lay yawning across their path. + +'We mustn't try to walk over it,' said Peggy, as she doubtfully examined +the slippery, shaky plank. 'I shall crawl over first with the lantern, +and then I'll hold the light for you, and you must follow in the same +way.' + +It felt a very insecure bridge to poor Peggy, as she crept over on her +hands and knees, trying not to look down into the dark gulf below, so +frail and insecure that she shuddered for Bobby, who seemed so unnerved +that she scarcely dared allow him to make the trial. + +'Wait a moment!' she cried. 'Don't start just yet!' + +And hurriedly taking off her pinafore, she tore it into strips, and +knotting them together in a kind of rope, threw one end of it across to +him. + +'Now tie that firmly to your arm before you set off, and then, if you +fall, I think I might be able to drag you up again.' + +But luckily Peggy's childish strength was not put to the test, for Bobby +accomplished the crossing in safety, and scrambled over the rocks which +rose at the other side. Holding up the lantern, the children found they +were in what seemed to be the entrance of a rough kind of passage. That +it was not altogether of natural origin was evident from the traces of +built-up stones, while here and there the walls showed the marks of the +pick. The air was stale and damp and difficult to breathe, and the +candle burnt so badly that several times Peggy feared it was going out +altogether. They went stumbling along over the irregular floor, +wondering whether their way was taking them to safety, or only into the +bowels of the earth. + +On and on the passage led them, sometimes through places so narrow they +could scarcely scramble through, or so low that, small as they were, +they were obliged to stoop; now up hill, now down, round many a sharp +curve, till it ended suddenly in a small cavern about ten feet square. + +Peggy lifted up the lantern high over her head, and looked anxiously +round. Apparently they were in nothing but a blind alley, for there +seemed no possible way out, except the path by which they had come. The +poor children stared at each other with hopeless horror. + +'We shall have to go back, and chance the river going down when it's +light,' faltered Peggy. + +[Illustration: "BOBBY ACCOMPLISHED THE CROSSING IN SAFETY."] + +'Oh, no, no! We can't go back over that hateful plank again and sit +watching the water come up! I would rather be drowned here than there! +Oh, Father, Father! do come and find us!' And Bobby sat down upon the +ground with such a wail of despair that Peggy at last lost her +self-control and found herself joining in his sobs. + +But she stopped suddenly, and laying a restraining hand on his shoulder, +put up her finger for silence, for it seemed to her that from the region +somewhere over their heads she had heard a distant shout. + +'Call again, Bobby, like you did before!' And both together the children +joined their voices in a wild shriek of 'Father!' + +This time there was an unmistakable shout of reply, and after what +seemed to them a long interval of calling they could hear Father's voice +from above quite plainly saying, 'Where are you?' + +'In a cave down below!' cried Peggy, trying to make her voice carry in +the hollow atmosphere. + +Now that help was near she was her brisk, capable self again, and, +seizing the lantern, searched round every foot of the cavern till she +discovered what seemed to be the beginning of a little staircase, long +since blocked by earth and stones. + +'Here, Father! Dig for us here!' she called, and taking up a stone, +began to tap like she had heard of imprisoned miners doing in the +coal-pits. + +There was silence for a few minutes, and then the children began to hear +the welcome sound of a pickaxe, and Father's voice every now and then, +shouting a word of encouragement to them. At length there was a rumbling +noise in the roof above, some loose stones and earth fell, and Father +called loudly: + +'Stand back! Keep out of the way!' + +Peggy clutched Bobby, and retreated into the passage, while a shower of +stones and soil came pouring down into the cave, till a great rent was +made in the roof, and Father dropped through the hole like Santa Claus +down the chimney, only no saint was ever so welcome, even at +Christmas-time. + +It did not take very long for the children to be hauled up by Joe at the +top, and they found themselves standing among the Abbey ruins in the +early gray of the dawn, with Aunt Helen rushing to catch them in her +arms, and Lilian hugging them and sobbing over them by turns, while +Nancy, her face all blotched and swollen with crying, kept hovering +round to put in a kiss whenever the others gave her a chance, and even +old David cleared his throat hard, and 'blessed the Lord they were +safe.' + +Very little was said until the children had been warmed and fed and +comforted by the dining-room fire, and then Mr. Vaughan would only allow +the briefest account of their adventures before they were put to bed to +sleep off the effects of their night of exposure. Nancy prophesied +quinsy and pleurisy and rheumatic fever, but the Vaughans were a hardy +race, and not even a cold resulted, in spite of her gloomy +prognostications. + +Peggy's quiet talk with Father next day was so entirely between +themselves that I shall not repeat it; but it is often incidents, and +not years, which help us to grow up, and somehow afterwards she always +found herself dating events from that night in the cave, and all the +part 'when I was little' came before, and the older and more sensible +part seemed to follow afterwards. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +LILIAN'S HOUSEKEEPING + + 'Thou wert working late, thou busy, busy bee! + After the fall of the cistus flower, + When the primrose-tree blossom was ready to burst, + I heard thee last, as I saw thee first; + In the silence of the evening hour + I heard thee, thou busy, busy bee.' + + +Aunt Helen was married in September, with the Rector to read the +service, and Father to give her away, and Lilian and Peggy for +bridesmaids, while the Sunday-school children strewed the path from the +church-door with flowers, and Bobby flung rice and old shoes after the +carriage, and all the village people came to watch, and say how sweet +and pretty she looked, and to wish health and happiness to 'Mrs. John +Neville.' + +Things felt very flat when the excitement was all over and the last of +the guests had left the Abbey, and the children found themselves wishing +that life could be a perpetual round of bouquets and favours and +wedding-cake, not forgetting presents to the bridesmaids, for Lilian and +Peggy were the proud possessors of charming gold lockets set with +turquoises, with portraits of Aunt Helen inside them, 'the gifts of the +bridegroom,' as the local paper described them, while a silver watch and +chain consoled Bobby for not taking a more prominent part in the +ceremony, and made him declare that his new uncle was 'a brick, and no +mistake.' + +After so much dissipation, it was quite hard to settle down to plain +prose again; but school had already re-opened, and the children had +stolen an extra week of holidays to join in the festivities, so it was +high time they were setting to work once more. It seemed strange to +start off every morning without Lilian, who only went into Warford once +a week now for music-lessons, and Mr. Vaughan had occasional qualms as +to the safety of allowing such youthful Jehus to drive about the country +unattended; but the little yellow pony-trap was so well known on the +road that it would have been rather difficult for anything to happen to +the children. People knew the time of their passing, and looked out for +them daily; kindly women would come to cottage doorways to nod and +smile; the inn-keeper at the Halfway Arms set his clock by their +arrival; they had struck up quite a friendship with the postman, two +milkmen, and the driver of a fish-cart, while the old man who broke +stones by the roadside always nodded and gave them 'Good-morning,' and +fired a facetious remark or two after them, which the children imagined +he must relieve the monotony of his work by composing during the +intervals of their coming and going. + +Left alone, Lilian tried to settle down in dead earnest to battle with +her task of housekeeping. It was a heavy burden for such young +shoulders, for in a farmhouse there is always a great deal of extra work +to be done. Pigs, poultry, and young animals had to be fed, and the eggs +gathered in daily; the dairy claimed constant attention, for the pans +must be scalded and the pails polished bright, and though Joe did the +milking and churning, it was Lilian's business to superintend the +making up of the butter, and to weigh each pound with her own hands and +print it with the Abbey stamp. + +Nancy, too, proved somewhat of a trial, for though a hard-working and +most kind-hearted girl, she had not been gifted by Providence with +either brains or a memory, and was capable of making the most +astonishing mistakes, which she invariably justified by declaring she +was sure she had done it so 'in Miss Vaughan's time.' + +'But, Nancy,' said poor, bewildered Lilian, 'I'm sure Aunt Helen never +told you to rub up the silver with paraffin and brickdust. You're +scratching it horribly. There's a packet of proper pink powder stuff to +do it with somewhere.' + +'There's naught like oil and brickdust for putting a polish on metals,' +observed Nancy, complacently scouring away at Bobby's christening mug. +'It beats all they rubbish that the pedlars brings round in boxes, and +tries hard to persuade you to buy, so it do for sure!' + +'I have no doubt about it's being very good for fenders and fire-irons, +and things of that sort, but not for the best teapot. Don't you think it +would be better, Nancy, if I were to clean the silver on Friday +mornings, and you could get on with your kitchen?' + +'As you wish, Miss Lilian,' said Nancy, relinquishing the +polishing-leather with no great sorrow. 'Miss Vaughan, she always did it +her own self, too. Was you going to do anything with that stock that has +been in the larder since Monday?' + +'Oh, Nancy, I had forgotten all about it!' cried Lilian, much +conscience-stricken at the reminder. 'And I had intended to make it into +soup. Do go and fetch it, and see if it is still good.' + +But the stock, alas! had accumulated a skim of green mould on the +surface, and generally betrayed such symptoms of distress that it was +fit for nothing but the pig-trough; and when Lilian, warned by its awful +example, visited her neglected shelves, she found so many forgotten +scraps put away into odd corners that she straightway formed the +excellent resolution of reviewing the larder daily after breakfast, +having an uneasy sensation that it was one of the golden rules which +Aunt Helen had particularly impressed upon her, but which, like many +others, had slidden into the background of her remembrance. + +It was certainly one thing to housekeep with Aunt Helen at her elbow to +advise, and quite another to puzzle it out with only her memory and the +cookery-book for assistance. The quantities required for a family of +five persons was a subject which took her some time to master. + +'There's the butcher's boy at the back-door, miss,' observed Nancy one +morning, a few days after the wedding, putting her head into the Rose +Parlour, and interrupting the 'Bridal March' from 'Lohengrin' which +Lilian was trying over on the piano. 'He's left his cart at the bottom +of the drive, but he'll fetch up anything you want.' + +The butcher only came round weekly at Gorswen, so Lilian abandoned her +music and sallied forth to give her first order. + +'We're quite tired of great sirloins of beef and legs of mutton,' she +announced. 'Haven't you anything else this morning?' + +'Nice bit of pork, mum,' suggested the man--'fillet of veal.' + +'I'm sure the veal would be a change; we haven't had any for a long +time.' + +'Very good, mum. How much may we send you?' + +'About a pound and a half, I should think,' said Lilian, knitting her +brows and trying in vain to remember the extent of Aunt Helen's weekly +order. 'Or suppose we say two pounds. I expect that would be right.' + +The meat arrived in due course, looking such a very small amount when +Nancy placed it on the kitchen-table that Lilian exclaimed in horror: + +'Why, Nancy, that will never last us for a week! It looks hardly enough +for one dinner!' + +Nancy shook her head doubtfully, but did not offer any assistance in the +dilemma. + +'Perhaps if we boiled it, it might swell out a little, and be enough for +twice, at any rate. I think you had better get a pan and put it on at +once. I believe things have to boil for a long time before they're +tender.' + +Nancy obeyed without question. + +'I suppose you can keep your eye on it, Miss Lilian?' she observed. 'I +shall be busy upstairs in the bedrooms this morning.' + +And she departed with broom and dustpan, leaving her young mistress in +charge of the kitchen. + +Lilian really did mean to look after that meat. She got it boiling +briskly, and filled up the pan several times with water; then, giving it +a final replenishing, she ran off to practise a few scales and +exercises. + +She was quite sure she had not been absent more than ten minutes, but +when she returned to the kitchen she was greeted by a strong smell of +burning, and rushing to her pan, found that every drop of water had +boiled out, and the veal was frizzling at the bottom into a hard black +mass. To take it off was her first act, and to call Nancy to the rescue +her second. + +'Well, it do be a pity, Miss Lilian,' said that sympathizing damsel. +'But there, don't take on so! We can cut off that black part at the +bottom, and put the rest down with some vegetables. Happen it'll turn +out all right after all. There'll be just time afore dinner,' chopping +away as she spoke in a vigorous onslaught on the carrots and onions. + +It was Saturday, so the children were at home, but even their healthy +appetites were not equal to the very untempting dish which was set +before them, for the unfortunate veal had boiled away to ribbons, and +all the goodness had gone into the lost gravy, while the pulpy remains +tasted so hopelessly burnt as to be perfectly uneatable. + +'The vegetables are quite nice, at any rate,' began Father cheerfully; +then seeing Lilian's swimming eyes: 'Never mind, little woman; +experience is always dearly bought, and a vegetarian dinner won't hurt +us for once in a way. We must make out with home produce until the +butcher comes again. There's a young cockerel that will do for Sunday, +and perhaps I can shoot you a rabbit; and we can always fall back upon +eggs and bacon, at any rate, if there is nothing else to be had. Cheer +up! I don't expect to find a full-fledged housekeeper in five minutes!' + +After this Lilian determined to provide more generously, and astonished +the grocer by ordering three pounds of cayenne pepper, and a like +quantity of mace (embarrassing possessions which lingered in the +spice-cupboard for years before they were eventually finished), and +generally running the household on so liberal a scale that Father had to +interfere and preach economy. Such very Spartan fare was the result of +his lecture that he wisely fixed her a weekly allowance, and left her to +manage as best she could upon it, and this plan answered far better, +for she had a natural aptitude for arithmetic, and soon learned to make +the various items fall into their proper places, balancing her little +account-book in quite a professional manner. + +About this time, too, Lilian took to poring over the 'Ladies' Column' in +the newspaper, and trying the various recipes which were given therein. +Some of them were very successful, and--especially the cakes--were much +appreciated by the children, though others did not turn out quite what +she had expected, in which case it is only charitable to suppose the +oven was at fault. + +'There's a splendid one here, Nancy,' she announced one day, 'under the +heading of "What to do with your Cold Mutton." You mince it all up with +herbs, and make it into a kind of pasty, and it sounds most delicious. +It says, "First take a couple of onions." By-the-by, did Joe bring in +any onions this morning? Those in the basket are all finished.' + +'No, Miss; Joe, he's never been near to-day, though there's master's +shooting-boots waiting for him to clean.' + +'Oh, then do run down, Nancy, please, and ask him to dig up a few, while +I put the meat through the mincing-machine. You'll very likely find him +in the orchard or the stackyard.' + +Nancy soon returned flushed and out of breath, with a full apron. + +'I couldn't find Joe nowheres,' she panted. 'But he'd put these down in +the harness-room, so I just took them. Shall I chop them up for you +now?' + +'Please do. But oh, Nancy, stop! Let me look! These are not onions; +they're the gladiolus bulbs that David has just taken up from the +garden! What a mercy you did not put them into the pasty! We might all +have been poisoned!' + +'Lor!' said Nancy, much abashed, 'I made so sure they was onions I never +thought to look at 'em. But if it's only a couple you're needing, miss, +there are two or three left in the larder that would do. Was it anything +else you'll be wanting?' + +'It says, "Take a little dried thyme, sage and sweet marjoram,"' read +Lilian, with her finger on the recipe, '"together with a few pieces of +lemon-peel." I wonder what it calls "a little." I haven't the slightest +idea, but I suppose we must put plenty in to make it a nice flavour, or +it won't taste of anything.' + +So, putting a very liberal interpretation on the words, she cut up a +goodly supply of those herbs, and mixed them in with the meat. + +The pasty came out of the oven baked to a turn, and smelling delicious, +and Lilian felt quite a thrill of satisfaction as it was placed on the +table, and Father began to cut it. But the 'Ladies' Column' should have +been a little more explicit as to the quantity of flavouring, for, when +it came to a matter of eating, the herbs so entirely predominated that +the mutton was utterly lost, and, as she had unfortunately cut up the +stalks as well as the leaves, the mixture bore a horrible resemblance to +chopped hay. It was distinctly galling, but, still, she learned by her +mistakes; for practice gives the best training, and there is no such +invaluable teacher as hard experience. + +Well-meaning friends were kind in their offers of help and advice, but, +as Lilian said: + +'You can't run down in the middle of mixing a pudding to ask Miss +Forster how much sugar to put into it, or send for the Rector's +housekeeper to tell you when the custard is thick enough. Mrs. +Davenport told me to write her a post-card if I got into a fix, and she +would come over and set me straight; but I don't think I should quite +like that, and I'm sure Nancy wouldn't.' + +Father did not encourage her to seek outside help, thinking it better +that the Abbey should manage its own affairs, even at the cost of a +little inconvenience, and kindly shut his eyes to many small +deficiencies, knowing that time was the best remedy, and that old heads +do not naturally grow on young shoulders. + +At first the cares of her new position were a terrible burden on the +poor child's mind, for she was, if anything, too conscientious, and +almost morbidly anxious to do right and fill the place which Aunt Helen +had left so empty. She would wake at four o'clock in the morning, and +not dare to close her eyes again, for fear Nancy should oversleep +herself, and the children be late for school. She would visit the dairy +ten times a day to see that the thunder had not turned the milk, nor the +cat crept in through the window. She counted and recounted the linen and +the silver, and sat worrying over her account-books at night till Father +threatened to burn them. + +I think her greatest trial, however, was on the few occasions when Mr. +Vaughan was obliged to stay away for the night, and leave her +responsible for the safe keeping of the whole establishment. She would +go round with Nancy and a candle, carefully locking all the doors and +securing the shutters, peering fearfully into cupboards and starting at +her own shadow on the wall; and, having finally retreated to her +bedroom, would barricade the door with a tin box, and place the poker +handy on a chair by her bedside. But in spite of these precautions, the +nights were misery all the same. Sleep refused to come, and she lay +awake hour after hour, imagining every sound to be a burglar breaking +into the premises, and wondering how Peggy could slumber so peacefully +in the other little white bed. It is amazing, when the house is +perfectly quiet, how many creaks and peculiar noises make themselves +heard which we never think of noticing in the daytime. The wind blowing +the ivy about would sound like a hand tapping upon the pane, the cattle +trampling in the fields suggested footsteps under the window, and a +mouse behind the wainscot would raise her to such a pitch of panic that +she would often be obliged to get up and light the candle to reassure +herself, and when she at last fell asleep it was generally with her +fingers stuffed in her ears, and her head buried under the bedclothes, +an uncomfortable proceeding, resulting in such white cheeks and heavy +eyes that Father, with some difficulty finding out the cause of the +trouble, never left in future without arranging for old David to sleep +in the house during his absence. + +I think, during those early struggles, her correspondence with Aunt +Helen was her greatest help and comfort, for to that dearest of friends +she could unburden all her worries and perplexities, and be sure of +sympathy. + +'It is so hard to do exactly right,' wrote Lilian--'to be generous +without being extravagant, and economical without being stingy. Father +says we must be careful, and spend as little as we can, but things to +eat seem to cost such a terrible amount all the same. I wish we could +live on porridge and potatoes, like the Irish do! Life would be far +simpler. + +'About going on with my education. You ask if I am keeping up my French +and German, but there really seems no time. The two hours' practising +for Herr Frankenburg is as much as I can possibly get in. I am busy +with Nancy all morning, the music takes the best part of the afternoon, +then the children come home, and after tea I must see that they learn +their lessons and go to bed, and Father likes someone to talk to in the +evenings. It is so dull for him if I am buried in a German exercise when +he wants to tell me about the farm. I try to attack a few "improving" +books when I can manage it, and I have begun to read Carlyle's "French +Revolution" to Father in the evenings, but I am sorry to say it +generally sends him to sleep. He is so tired with the threshing just +now, poor darling! and, as he said one night: "You see, my dear, I have +so many troubles of my own at present that the trials of the French +peasantry of a hundred years ago seem an affair of quite minor +importance."' + +Aunt Helen's letter back was just like a little piece of her dear self. + +'I can sympathize thoroughly with all your worries,' it ran, 'for I, +too, was left motherless at sixteen, to manage as best I could. Of +course, keep up our family standard of cleanliness and order as much as +you possibly can, but you will find it a mistake to be too particular +and exacting. Rather, let the children run in sometimes with dirty boots +than check their confidence by continual fault-finding. I am sorry that +the education must needs be somewhat neglected, but after all the other +is more important. There are plenty of "blue" Girton girls in the world +who do not seem to me to be of much use to anyone except themselves, +while as the "little mother" of your home you are filling a place that +is the sphere of every true woman. And because you have no time for +reading is not any reason why your thinking powers need rust away. There +is so much wisdom to be learnt from even the little ordinary incidents +of life if one knows how to appreciate them. People say one is apt to +grow narrow with living in the country, but I have generally found the +people who do so are those who have no interests outside the round of +society pleasures or social gossip, and to my mind they would be narrow +anywhere. When you know a little about botany and natural history, all +the common things on the farm have something to teach you. The quaint +sayings of the villagers are often as full of humour as those Scotch +books over which people rave so much, and many of their stories are such +interesting survivals of ancient folklore that I have often longed to +collect them in writing. While surely, to a thoughtful mind, the +constant sight of so much loveliness around tends to have a more +ennobling effect than an environment of bricks and mortar and smoky +chimneys, whatever the Londoners may say. + +'Do your household duties thoroughly, but don't let them absorb you +entirely, for Father does not want you to be a mere domestic drudge, +with no ideas beyond the potato-pan and the pepper-pot. When I was a +young girl I often tilted up a volume of Tennyson and read snatches +while I compounded a pudding, and found it had a wonderfully inspiring +effect, and did not spoil the cooking either, for my "Tennyson" puddings +generally turned out a great success. + +'You will find the housekeeping comes easier as you grow older, and in +the meantime remember you are not only educating yourself, but bringing +up the younger ones, who look to you now instead of to me for example, +and who will be far more influenced by what you do and what you are than +by any amount of good advice you may bestow upon them. It is hard to +write all this from a distance of so many thousand miles, when I am +longing to sit over the fire in the Rose Parlour, and have a good chat +with you, like we used to do sometimes when the children had gone to +bed. + +'I am afraid there seems very little festivity or party-going for you, +dear child, and I should have been glad to hear you had been asked out +rather more; but, after all, much society often means much rivalry and +heartburning. I have tried both, and find there is more real pleasure to +be had from the intellectual than from the social side of life, for +while the latter is apt to fail us just when we most require it, the +former is "warranted to wear well and improve with keeping," and, so far +from being affected by the changes and chances of this world, sticks by +us when health and wealth and even friends can fall away.' + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE BEGINNING OF A SHADOW + + 'Looking, I saw + Where sorrow, like a shadow grim, did rise + Betwixt me and the sun.' + + +Autumn had come, mellow and gorgeous. The trees were turning to russet +and amber and gold, and the swallows had long since flown away. The +plums hung ripe and yellow upon the kitchen garden wall, and the apples +were piled in rosy heaps in the orchard, ready for the cider-making. + +The hop-gathering was over, and the hoppers--a motley crew--had returned +to the slums of Stafford and Birmingham, the men not sorry to cease hard +work, but the poor, draggled women and the little children with a +wistful good-bye to the green fields, and all, I think, with a half sigh +of regret for the Rector, who had toiled unceasingly among them during +their brief stay, hoping, if by ever so little, to raise the hopeless +lives and the sodden minds to a knowledge of higher things. + +A band of gipsies was the next event. They arrived late one evening, +nobody knew from where, and encamped on a patch of ground by the +roadside, not very far from the Abbey (much too near, Father said, for +the safety of his hen-roosts), coming like a tribe of wandering +Israelites, with most of their worldly possessions on their backs. They +were real gipsies, too, not the fair-haired hybrid pretenders who go +about in neat caravans with muslin curtains to the windows, and wicker +baskets slung on the top, but a dark-eyed, Spanish-looking crew, who put +up a tent with a pole and a ragged blanket, and stewed their supper in a +black caldron hung from three sticks set in the ground. + +The children came across them suddenly, just as the sun was setting, and +the picturesque scene stirred Peggy's sense of romance--perhaps also her +budding artistic taste--to the core. The whole family was gathered +together on the grass round the wood fire, the smoke of which rose up +faintly blue against the russet of the beech-woods behind--handsome, +fierce-eyed men, lying slouching idly on the ground smoking short black +pipes; slatternly women with gay handkerchiefs tied round their black +hair, bustling about with something savoury inside tin cans; ragged +brown-skinned little children, gnawing at bones with savage haste; while +a few disreputable dogs waited eagerly for the scraps that were thrown +to them from time to time. A small cart, laden with brooms and coarse +crockery, was tilted up by the hedge, while a couple of worn-out old +donkeys, with clogs tied to their legs, cropped the grass close by, with +dejection in their drooping ears. + +'I'm sure they're talking Romany,' said Peggy, squeezing Bobby's arm +hard in her excitement, and drawing him behind a bush, so as to watch +the scene unobserved. 'What a queer life! Just think of getting up every +morning, and not knowing where you were going to be by night, and +sleeping under that dirty tent! I wonder what they have in that +caldron? It smells nice, at any rate, though rather too oniony.' + +'Pheasants, I should think, and rabbits that they have poached,' +whispered Bobby. 'The keepers will have a lively time to-night. I wonder +where they prigged the onions.' + +Low as the children had spoken, the sharp ears of the gipsies had heard +them, and a withered, witch-like old crone came hurrying up from the +group near the fire, with an eager glitter in her eye. + +'Tell your fortune, my little master? Tell your fortune, my pretty young +lady? Cross the poor gipsy's hand with a silver sixpence, that the +planets may work.' + +'We haven't any money,' said Peggy hurriedly, a little scared when it +came to meeting the tribe at such close quarters. + +'Ah, but no doubt the little lady's father is at home at the big house +yonder, and she can get a silver piece from him, and come back to the +poor old gipsy.' + +'He's gone to Warford this evening,' began innocent Bobby. 'There isn't +anybody at home at all.' + +But the more wary Peggy, seeing the folly of such revelations, gave him +a nudge, and the emphatic hint: 'Shut up!' + +'The pretty thing at the young lady's neck would do as well,' continued +the woman in a wheedling voice, eyeing Peggy's brooch, 'or the little +gentleman's silver chain. Oh, I won't keep them, missy; only hold them +in my hand for a minute to influence the stars! You trust the poor +gipsy, and she'll tell you what the future has in store for you.' + +But Peggy and Bobby were not so simple as to be taken in by such +palpable guile, and they walked on, with the old crone following +persistently in their wake, at first clamouring for some trifle and +then hurling curses at their heads. As she passed the encampment she +said something in Romany, and one of the men sprang to his feet with a +shrill whistle. The terrified children took to their heels, and I don't +really know what might have happened, only fortunately the familiar +figure of old Barlow, the village cobbler, appeared stumping down the +road in the distance. He was not generally a very attractive person, +being snuffy in appearance and crusty in temper, but to-night no fairy +prince could have been more appreciated, and they flew to him, each +seizing one of his horny hands with an enthusiasm which much surprised +him. They were ever afterwards fully persuaded that but for his timely +arrival they would have been robbed and murdered, and their bodies +hidden away from their sorrowing relatives, like Eugene Aram's victim, +or the little princes in the Tower, and they felt quite an affection for +Barlow in consequence, so much so that Bobby determined to wear out his +boots as fast as possible, that he might put some business in the old +man's way. + +Though Mr. Vaughan did not take quite such a serious view of the +episode, he thought the gipsies were certainly undesirable additions to +the countryside, and sent a hint to the local police, with the result +that, when Peggy and Bobby screwed up their courage, and dared each +other to go and have another peep at the encampment, they found the tent +struck and the wanderers flown, with nothing to mark their passing visit +but a few dirty pieces of paper and the ashes of the wood fire, though +loud complaints from neighbouring farmers as to missing ducks and geese, +and traces of snares found by the keepers in the preserves, showed that +they had not gone away empty-handed. + +The gipsies were soon forgotten in the excitement of cider-making, for +the ripe piles of apples had been gathered into the big barn, and the +children liked to watch the great press as its stone roller slowly +crushed the fruit into pulp, and let the juice escape into the trough +below. It always seemed a pity, Peggy thought, to make the nice apples +into such horrid stuff as cider, and she was glad David stored so many +away in the loft for winter use, and in the meantime she and Bobby +consumed such quantities that Father declared they would both be +breaking out into leaves and blossom in the springtime. + +The blackberries were ripe, too, and there were many expeditions in +search of them, mostly in their own fields, for the hedgerows abounded +in the purple fruit, and Lilian's housekeeping soul was at present bent +on jams and cordials. + +One Saturday afternoon Peggy had had a long scramble through copse and +bracken, over fences and along stubble fields, and had filled her big +basket almost full, somewhat to the detriment of her costume and +fingers, and she was now working her way home along the edge of the +pasture, picking as she went. She had climbed up the bank to reach a +particularly luscious looking cluster from the long, trailing brambles +overhead, when voices below attracted her attention, and, peeping +through the hedge, she saw two horsemen riding slowly along in the +bridle-path beneath. The first was a lean, spare man, with gray +side-whiskers and a slight stoop, whose rather sporting attire accorded +ill with his sharp, keen face; while the second, the one on the better +horse, was stout and ruddy of countenance, a man who looked as though he +would be more at home in a bar-parlour than in a drawing-room, and who +held himself with a complacent air, as one who is satisfied both with +the world in general and himself in particular. + +'That is the house,' said the first, reining in his horse just below +where Peggy was standing, and pointing with his riding-whip at the +Abbey. 'It's a fine old property, and has grand capabilities about it, +too.' + +'H'm, it would want a good deal of repairing,' remarked the other, +tugging at his sandy moustache. 'I should pull down that tower and the +older part, and throw out a billiard-room and a conservatory. I suppose +the stables would all want rebuilding, and no doubt that wood could be +cleared, and turned into pleasure-grounds. It would cost a sight of cash +to do it all shipshape--not that that's much odds to me if a thing takes +my fancy. This grass-land would be grand for a racer or two; I've my eye +on the Melton sweepstakes yet. When did you say it falls due?' + +'Next July,' returned the thin man, lowering his voice. 'Of course, they +will try every end up to meet it, but unless they can raise it +privately, which doesn't seem likely, there isn't a soul who would lend +more than two-thirds of the amount on the security, so the thing is as +good as done.' + +Eavesdropping was certainly not one of Peggy's besetting sins, but she +could not help overhearing all that was said, and as the pair rode on +down the path towards the gate, she picked up her basket and walked in +the same direction on her own side of the hedge, so as to get a good +look at them if possible. At the gate they paused, for it was shut, and +he of the gray whiskers, after fumbling at the latch with his whip, was +evidently preparing with much reluctance to dismount, when, spying +Peggy, he called to her, and asked her to open it. + +Peggy felt half inclined to refuse, and turn away, for she did not like +his tone, but her kindly country instinct prevailed, and she swung it +open wide. He rode through without even a 'Thank you!' but his companion +fumbled in his waistcoat pocket, and, scarcely stopping to look at her, +flung her a penny as he passed. All the proud Vaughan blood rushed into +Peggy's face. In a fury of wrath she seized the offending coin and flung +it after its donor, but, like many of our keenest shafts, it fell +harmless, for she missed her aim, and the horsemen rode on, sublimely +unconscious of the storm they had left behind them. + +'That they should dare!' said Peggy hotly to herself, flushing all over +with indignation. 'I suppose they took me for a village child. I'm +afraid I do look rather untidy with blackberrying, but all the same they +might have seen the difference. I wish I had never gone near the gate, +and let them open it for themselves. David,' she said to the old man, +who was coming across the field with a sack of potatoes, 'who are those +people riding along the pasture? I can't call them gentlemen.' + +'Who be they two, Miss Peggy?' said David, laboriously putting down the +sack and shading his eyes with his hand. 'Wheer did you say they be?' + +'In the pasture. Oh, look quick, or they'll be gone!' cried Peggy, +impatient at his slow ways. + +'Oh, I know they! Yes, I do for sure. I see'd 'em round t'other side o' +the field five minutes agone. The thin un in front be Mester Reade, the +lawyer fra' Warford, and a tight-fisted rascal he be, too, from all they +say. It's Heaven help them as Lawyer Reade gets his teeth into! And the +big, stout man be Mester Norton, the distiller, him as has those works +t'other side o' Warford, and runs half the drink-shops in the town, to +say naught o' the country publics he owns, too. The teetotalers calls +him "Old Blazes," partly to favour his red face and partly 'at he keeps +the whisky traffic going so briskly. He's worth a power o' money, he be, +but it all comes out o' poor folks' pockets, what ought to be put to a +better use.' + +So that was the father of Phyllis and Marjorie Norton, that vulgar man +with the loud voice and the coarse red face, and those pretty frocks and +handsome carriages were all paid for out of the ruin of poor people's +homes; for the lower parts of Warford had a bad character, and the +clergy waged ceaseless war against the terrible curse of drink. + +'What are they doing in our fields?' inquired Peggy, suddenly recalling +the conversation she had inadvertently overheard, the remembrance of +which had been lost in the heat of her wrath. + +'Why, there be a right-o'-way across the pasture, and through the +hazel-wood, though it's not a many as ever uses it. Wheer they could be +a'-goin' to passes me, for it don't lead to nowheer, except on to the +high-road agin, and it's not in sense that they should ride out o' their +way, just to come round by the Abbey.' + +Peggy thought privately that must have been exactly their reason, but +she said nothing to David on the subject, reserving further inquiries +for Lilian, to whom she ran home to give a full description of her +encounter. + +'Whatever could he mean, Lilian? He talked almost as if the Abbey were +his, and said he should pull down the tower, and do ever so many other +things. Do you think he can be mad?' + +To her surprise, Lilian took the matter only too seriously. + +'Oh, Peggy dear!' she said, putting down the pile of stockings she was +darning, 'I don't know whether I ought to tell you or not, but you seem +so much older now than you used, and I think I can trust you not to talk +about it to anybody. Poor Father is most dreadfully worried just at +present, for, you see, this Mr. Norton has a mortgage on the estate.' + +'What's that?' inquired Peggy. + +'I'm afraid I can't explain business things very clearly, but a lot of +money was lent on the understanding that if it was not paid back, the +Abbey should go instead of it.' + +'Did Father have the money?' + +'Oh no. I believe our great-grandfather had some, and then grandfather +and Uncle Charlie, who died, had the rest. It has been going on for +years and years, and Father has kept trying to pay it off, but he never +could manage it. Of course, it was not Mr. Norton who lent it at first, +but through this Mr. Reade, the lawyer, he has what is called "bought up +the mortgages," and now he claims all the money back, and I'm afraid, +from what you heard to-day, he will take the Abbey if he does not get +it.' + +Peggy was aghast. That it was possible for the Vaughans and the Abbey to +be ever dissevered had never before entered into her calculations, and +the prospect was so terrible that she thrust it from her with scorn. + +'It can't be!' she cried. 'They couldn't turn us out of the Abbey, when +we've always lived here! Father will get the money somehow! Perhaps Mr. +Neville or the Rector would lend it to him.' + +Lilian shook her head sadly. + +'They haven't got it to lend; they are neither of them really well off, +you know, and it is such a large sum. But I keep hoping all the time +that we may find some way out of the trouble. I don't know whether to +tell Father or not what you heard to-day. I'm afraid it will only worry +him.' + +'I think perhaps he ought to know,' said Peggy briefly, as she turned +and went out to hide a suspicious choking sensation in her throat. Then, +going into the ruins, she climbed up on to the old wall, from which the +best view of the house and its surroundings could be obtained, and gazed +with new eyes at the panorama of her home; and as her glance travelled +slowly from orchard to stackyard, from meadow to garden, back to the +ivy-clad tower and the red gabled roof, 'I think,' she said slowly, +'that if we had to leave the Abbey, it would break my heart!' + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +ARCHIE + + 'God wants the boys--the merry boys, + The noisy boys, the funny boys, + The jolly boys, with all their joys-- + God wants the boys.' + + +You must not suppose that all this time Peggy's acquaintance with Archie +Forster had been allowed to languish. That young gentleman had +introduced himself to the rest of the family, and had made himself very +much at home indeed at the Abbey. He kindly gave Father the benefit of +his experience of farming in Colorado (greatly to the latter's +edification); he amused Lilian with his funny stories, and was a source +of open-mouthed wonder to Nancy, who thought his achievements only +second to a conjurer she had once seen at Gorswen fair. Bobby naturally +regarded him with an admiration which bordered on worship, and trotted +about at his heels like an affectionate poodle, while Peggy found +herself living from Saturday to Saturday to continue the delightful +series of projects which her enterprising friend lost no time in +starting, and wondering sometimes how they had managed to exist before +they knew him. + +By good rights Master Archie ought to have been away at school, but a +too active brain in a fast-growing body had brought about such a +delicacy that the doctor forbade any severer study than a few hours' +daily reading with the curate, and recommended as much fresh air and +exercise as possible. Miss Forster was not sorry to find so plausible an +excuse for keeping her pet nephew at the Willows, and the young man +himself had no objections, being fuller than ever of ingenious schemes, +only he had transferred the seat of his operations to the Abbey, as +offering a wider scope in the way of material, and having the further +advantage of a number of appreciative assistants. The only person who +was not won over by Archie's friendly ways and frank American manners +was Joe, who gloomily prophesied broken necks and kindred evils as the +result of the children's association with 'the young master from furrin +parts'; but I fear there was a good deal of jealousy in this, for poor +Joe had been a hero to the children in his modest way, and it was hard +to find himself suddenly supplanted in their affections, especially by a +rival with whom it was quite impossible to compete. + +Incited by an account of the tree-dwellings in one of Miss Forster's +books of travel, Archie determined to emulate them, and construct such +an elevated establishment for themselves. The trees in his aunt's garden +were mostly ornamental shrubs, many of them clipped into quaint shapes, +and could not be thought of for the purpose, but a tall elm growing on +the borders of the Abbey stackyard seemed designed by Nature for his +requirements. He was a neat workman, and all his contrivances were +perfectly steady and durable, for, as he said: + +'When you're out West, you have to be your own chore-boy. Dad put an axe +into my hand, and taught me to chop kindling before I was out of +petticoats, and when we went up the Rockies shooting grizzlies we built +log-cabins, and I can tell you there was no carpenter to fetch there +nearer than a hundred miles, so I guess I ought to know how to handle a +saw and fix up a bit of lumber.' + +He first set to work to make a spiral staircase up the tree, which wound +round and round the trunk like the little turret stairs in the tower. +Every step was carefully nailed on and properly supported, and the +erection grew daily until he had reached four large boughs which +branched out twenty feet above the level of the ground. Here he arranged +a kind of platform, fixing pieces of wood across in the fashion of a +raft, and making a firm railing all round the edge. In the midst of this +platform a small hut gradually grew up, the walls of stout hazel-stakes +wattled across with branches and willow-withs, while the roof was neatly +thatched with reeds. The whole erection was so steady and well made +that, though Father, as chief inspector, stamped vigorously about, he +could not make it shake, and was able to pass it as perfectly safe, and +give his congratulations to the young architect, while even Joe +grudgingly admitted that 'Master Forster hadn't made half a bad job of +it neither.' + +If grown-up people found it satisfactory, you can imagine the delight of +the children at this wonderful bird's-nest. Their first thought each day +on coming home from school was to rush off to see how 'Sky Cottage,' as +they had christened it, had progressed in their absence, and their grief +was loud if anything hindered Archie from the prosecution of his labours +on Saturdays, while they quite envied Lilian being able to run out any +time she liked and take a peep at the operations. + +[Illustration: "HE FIRST SET TO WORK TO MAKE A SPIRAL STAIRCASE UP THE +TREE."] + +Naturally Sky Cottage, like Rome, was not built in a day, and though +Archie worked at it pretty constantly, it was November before the roof +was on and he considered the building complete. The question of +decorations was much discussed, for while Father suggested hanging the +walls with sacking, and Lilian voted for garlanding them with wild +flowers, both ideas were rejected, the one as too prosaic and the other +as not sufficiently durable, and it was not until Peggy conceived the +brilliant thought of lining their dwelling with moss that a satisfactory +solution was arrived at. + +So off went the little party to the woods, with a couple of sacks and a +coil of rope, to tear up the vivid green sheets which covered the rocks +like carpets of velvet. + +'All the thickest and best is on the other side of the stream, beyond +where we had our picnic in the summer,' said Peggy, leading the way with +the proud air of a pioneer. 'If only we can manage to cross, for the +water is rather full to-day,' she added, with a lively remembrance of +her former dipping. + +They found an unexpected help, however, for a recent storm had blown +down a large oak, which now stretched itself very conveniently over the +stream like a bridge, and by the aid of its branches it was quite easy +to hop across and climb up the bank at the other side. The woods were +thick here and damp, and the moss was of such superior quality that it +fully justified the extra labour involved in fetching it. They pulled it +up in pieces a yard or more square, and crammed it into the sacks, tying +the mouths with rope, so as to be able to drag them along, for the moss +was full of moisture, and the bags were dreadfully heavy. They were +rather at a loss how to convey their spoils over the bridge. Bobby +suggested floating them down the stream, but, as Lilian pointed out, +they would promptly sink to the bottom; so in the end Archie hoisted a +sack upon his back, and, with Lilian to steady it behind, managed to +stagger across in safety, coming back for the other when the first had +been successfully landed. + +It was hard work bumping the sacks over the rough, uneven ground, but +they got them home at last, safely conveyed to Sky Cottage, and emptied +out on to the platform. They were all busily engaged within the hut, +nailing sheets of moss over the wattled walls, when a curious squeaking +noise began to attract Peggy's attention. + +'What's that?' she inquired, pausing with the hammer suspended in her +hand. + +'A bird, most likely,' replied Lilian, with her mouth full of nails. + +'No, it isn't,' said Peggy, going out to investigate. 'It seems to come +from the moss at my feet. Archie, do come and look! Whatever can it be?' + +The noise grew louder and louder, so that it resembled the squealing of +a kitten, and all four began to turn over the moss with eager fingers, +till, with a cry, Archie drew out a small round ball of dried grass, +about the size of Bobby's fist, from which issued such crescendo squeaks +that there could be no mistake as to the locality of the sound. The +little ball was so beautifully made and so neatly rounded that there was +not the slightest aperture to be seen, and Archie turned it over and +over in his hand in some perplexity. + +'What can it be?' cried Peggy. + +'Do open it!' piped Bobby. + +'Oh, _do_ be careful! Suppose it's a viper!' shrieked Lilian. + +'You goose! Vipers don't squeal, at any rate,' said Archie, whose +friendship had reached a degree of intimacy that was distinctly +brotherly; and gingerly pulling asunder the neatly-woven grass, he +disclosed to view a plump yellow dormouse, whom they had evidently +disturbed in his winter quarters. + +The little fellow lay flat on his back in the midst of his snug little +nest. He had not taken the trouble to open his eyes, but his paws were +crossed, and his pink mouth was open, giving vent to loud disapproval of +the bumpings to which he had been rudely subjected unawares. + +'My! ain't he cunning?' said Archie, stroking the soft fur with his +finger, while the others crowded round to look. 'And so clean, too; he +looks as if you had just loaned him new from a store, and he's as fat as +butter. He's been feeding up for this, I reckon. What shall I do with +him?' + +'Oh! can't we keep him for a pet?' implored Peggy, with an eye on the +ever-increasing menagerie. 'We could get nuts and acorns and things for +him, and I've no doubt he would eat corn, too.' + +'I guess he'll want to sleep now right away till spring, like our +grizzlies do in the fall.' + +'Let's wrap him up again,' said Lilian. 'I'm sure he'll catch cold, poor +dear! and we'll put him in a snug corner of the orchard, where we can +look at him now and then, and in the spring perhaps he'll wake up.' + +As this seemed the most humane suggestion, Master Dormouse was tucked up +in bed once more, and, still protesting, was carried to a sunny bank +under an apple-tree, and stowed away under a protecting clump of leaves, +where his plaintive voice gradually subsided, and he settled down for +five months of oblivion, to ignore the winter frosts and storms until +the April sunshine should tempt him out of his lair. + +The moss lining to Sky Cottage was a great success, Archie arranged +willow withs in a neat pattern over it, to keep it from falling down, +and everyone agreed that it looked charming. Furnishing was the next +consideration, and the attics and lumber-room at the Abbey were +ransacked for any treasures they might afford. A few broken chairs, and +a rickety gate-legged table were soon mended by Archie's clever fingers. +Lilian hunted out an old piece of carpet and a tablecloth, and the place +looked so comfortable that the children, fired by Archie's accounts of +the log-cabins in the Rocky Mountains, longed to put in a cooking-stove +and emigrate there altogether. They decided to have quite a garden on +the platform next spring, and to grow seeds in pots, and persuade +nasturtiums and canary-creepers to climb up the walls, and they made a +beginning by hauling up a box of soil, and planting some ivy, which they +hoped in time would cover the whole roof. + +Peggy and Bobby would have been quite content to go on adding a nail +here or a shelf there, and further making improvements, but Archie, now +that the chief work was over, found his interest cooling, and having got +hold of a book on 'Balloons and Air-Ships,' proposed no less daring a +scheme than that he should construct a flying machine, and start it from +the platform. Father, however, getting to hear of the project, forbade +it so emphatically that the disgusted aeronaut was obliged to give way, +and consoled himself by constructing a fire-balloon out of gay strips of +pink and green tissue-paper, which, ignited by methylated spirits, was +to be set off with great effect on Peggy's birthday. + +As some slight amends for his disappointment, Lilian proposed that they +should have a grand housewarming at Sky Cottage on Saturday afternoon, +and invite Father to tea in the sanctum. The rest giving a hearty and +vigorous approval, she set to work to bake cakes in honour of the +occasion, preserving such a halo of mystery round her cookery that the +others were consumed with curiosity, and felt ready for any surprises. + +There were a great many preparations to be made when the eventful +afternoon arrived. The hut had to be swept and dusted, late flowers to +be gleaned from the garden to decorate the tea-table, cups and saucers +packed up and conveyed in baskets, together with the little tin kettle +and the methylated spirit lamp, as they could scarcely light a fire on +the platform like they did for picnic teas in the woods. Archie hung up +a Japanese lantern in the doorway, and fixed a Union-Jack on one side, +and the star-spangled banner of the United States on the other, and +Peggy found enough Michaelmas daisies and white asters to put a wreath +all round the railing of the veranda, which rather suggested harvest +decorations, but looked very festive all the same. + +They had brought a clean tablecloth from the kitchen drawer, and set the +table quite artistically, with a jam-pot full of flowers in the centre, +and little plates full of cakes grouped round it. Lilian put out a very +tempting looking selection of rock-buns and ginger-nuts, and Archie +produced a tin of real Scotch shortbread and some macaroons, a +contribution from his aunt; so with bread-and-butter, and a pot of the +newly-made blackberry jam, there was quite a noble display. But Lilian +had kept her surprise in the background, and it was only when all was +ready that she opened a basket, and proudly drew out her masterpiece, a +substantial-looking cake, with a cut-paper frill, and white icing on +the top, on which in pink sugary letters were inscribed the words: +'Success to Sky Cottage!' Certainly some of the capitals were a little +staggery, and the 'y' had strayed into the pink border round the edge, +but it was felt to be a triumph of culinary art all the same, and gave +quite a grace to the table. + +At the last minute Father had been obliged to send his regrets and +apologies, for the veterinary surgeon had arrived to doctor a sick +horse, and he could not possibly leave the stables, so the tea-party +must perforce begin without him, for the days were growing short now, +and there was no time to spare. + +It was a merry, not to say boisterous, party, for Archie was in one of +his funniest moods, and told 'tall' Yankee stories till the children +nearly rolled off their seats with laughter, and Lilian went on pouring +into her overflowing cup till the tray was swimming with tea. The cake +looked such a work of art that, as Mrs. Squeers remarked of her +Yorkshire pie, it seemed 'quite a pity to cut into it'; but, seizing the +knife, Peggy boldly severed the 's' and the 'u,' and with Aunt Helen's +wedding festivities fresh in their memories, the company drank the +health of Sky Cottage in tea, clinking their cups together over the +table in imitation of old Squire Henley. + +They were in the very midst of one of Archie's most comical adventures, +when a shout was heard underneath the tree, and going out on to the +veranda, they beheld Nancy struggling timorously up the staircase, her +evident anxiety to make some communication overcoming her natural +abhorrence of such an airy structure. + +'Oh, Miss Lilian,' she panted, 'if there isn't Mrs. Davenport just +arrived in her pony-shay, and she's put it up in the yard, and says +she's sure you'll give her a cup of tea! So I left her sittin' in the +drawing-room lookin' at the photo-albums, and rushed off to tell you +she's here!' + +'_What_ a nuisance!' groaned Lilian, who was not generally inhospitably +disposed. 'Run back, Nancy, quick, and be getting some tea ready, and +I'll follow you! I must bring these cakes; they're the only ones we +have!' + +She bundled the remains of the feast into her basket, and had just +descended the stairs, escorted by the sympathizing Peggy and Bobby, when +round the corner of the large haystack suddenly loomed the tall figure +and black alpaca skirts of Mrs. Davenport, who, finding herself left +longer in the drawing-room than she appreciated, had sallied forth in +search of her hostess. She stopped short now, quite thunderstruck at the +vision before her. + +'What do I see?' she exclaimed. 'What mad folly is this? Really, Lilian, +I am astonished that you countenance such wild proceedings! Peggy I knew +was a sad tomboy, but I thought you, at least, were the sensible member +of the family, and would try to train the younger ones into more +civilized habits. I had heard from Miss Forster that that very indulged +and unmanageable nephew of hers had been making some sort of place in a +tree at the Abbey, but I never imagined so much as this. Sheer waste of +good time, I call it; and a boy who can expend so much energy as to +raise such a construction must be only shamming ill-health, and would be +far better packed off to school. I shall tell his aunt so the next time +I see her, and I don't care who hears me!' she added, catching sight of +a grinning face on the veranda, for Archie had stolen out to see the +fun, and overflowed in such gurgles of delight at this sally that +Lilian trembled for the result. + +'You had better come down, Archibald,' said Mrs. Davenport in her most +majestic voice. But Master Archie evidently thought discretion the +better part of valour, for he dived through the doorway like a rabbit +into a burrow, his overwrought feelings so far overcoming him that he +exploded into a tremendous cock-crow as he sought the friendly shelter +of Sky Cottage. + +An embarrassing silence followed, broken at last by Lilian, who asked +Mrs. Davenport if she would not like to return to the house. Peggy and +Bobby tried, as Archie expressed it, to 'do a slope,' but in vain, for, +saying she had not seen them for a long time, and should like to talk to +them, their unwelcome visitor took the dismayed pair into custody like a +female policeman, and whirled them sternly along before her. + +It really was too bad that Mrs. Davenport, instead of coming upon a +Wednesday or Thursday, when all would have been neatness and order, and +Nancy in her best black dress and muslin apron, should have chosen this +particular Saturday afternoon, when there was no fire in the +drawing-room, a pile of mending on the dining-room table, and all the +family in somewhat dishevelled array. + +'But she always does manage to catch us, somehow,' lamented Lilian +afterwards. 'She calls it "taking us just as we are," but then we +_aren't_ generally in a muddle like this, so it doesn't seem quite fair. +She ought to come sometimes when we are tidy, to see both sides.' + +Once established in an armchair by the dining-room fire, Mrs. Davenport +took off her gloves, untied her veil, and enjoyed herself thoroughly. +She catechized Lilian freely about her housekeeping arrangements, hoped +Nancy did her duty, and did not neglect to sweep out corners, told Bobby +that his irrepressible curls looked girlish, and his hair ought to be +cropped close every week, plied Peggy with embarrassing questions on the +subject of fine needlework and stocking-darning, and drank four cups of +tea in the meantime, with the air of one conferring a favour thereby. + +'I hear you see a good deal of Miss Forster's nephew,' she remarked, her +eye wandering round the room, and taking in the pile of untidy music +scattered about on the window-seat and Father's dirty shooting-boots +under the sofa. + +'I suppose we do,' said Lilian meekly, wondering privately where Archie +was, and if he would go home without saying good-bye. + +'Not a very suitable companion for any of you, I consider. Young people +in America are brought up to have far too good an opinion of themselves, +and this lad is no exception. I was not at all pleased with his manner +when I met him at the Willows,' frowning slightly at the remembrance; +for Archie's cool and elaborately courteous treatment of her criticisms +on that occasion had completely baffled her. + +But luckily the growing dusk reminded Mrs. Davenport that country lanes +were unpleasant to drive along in the dark, so drawing on her gloves she +routed her groom, a small, depressed-looking boy, out of the +harness-room, where he was retailing his grievances to the awe-stricken +Joe, and tucked her black skirts safely into her pony-carriage, assuring +the children that it should not be long before she looked them up again, +as she had promised their aunt to keep an eye on them after they were +left alone. Half-way down the drive she met Mr. Vaughan, and stopped to +give him some good advice as to the general upbringing of his family, +even suggesting that Peggy--for a yearly consideration--should be +transplanted to Pendlefield Rectory, to share the studies and maternal +care of the five little Davenports, a proposal which he declined with a +haste that was perhaps more emphatic than polite. + +With a sigh of relief Lilian had adjourned with Peggy to the kitchen to +help Nancy to wash up, when the back-door was softly pushed ajar. + +'Is she gone?' said a cautious voice, and a fluffy red head appeared in +the opening, only followed by the rest of Archie's body on the full +assurance of the entire retreat of the enemy. 'I thought I should have +died with laughing,' announced that youth, sitting down easily among the +crockery on the table. 'My stars! Isn't she a terror? I shall have to +keep clear of the Willows every afternoon next week, for I know she'll +make a point of calling and telling poor Aunt Mary her candid opinion of +me. What a mercy we live at Gorswen instead of Pendlefield! Think of +exchanging the Rector for _her_ and little crushed Mr. Davenport! If she +came to live any nearer than four miles away, I declare I would pack my +boxes and beg to be sent off to school!' + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +DAME ELEANOR'S GHOST + + 'What see you there + That hath so cowarded and chased your blood + Out of appearance?' + + +The weather, which had been beautifully fine and mild for the time of +year during October and the first half of November, kept up for Peggy's +birthday on the twenty-first. By good luck that important occasion fell +on a Saturday, so there was no tiresome school to interfere with the +festivities. As the Vaughan family was more rich in goodwill than in +coin of the realm, the presents were mostly of a kind which I am afraid +either Maud Middleton or Phyllis and Marjorie Norton would have scorned, +but to Peggy they gave the utmost satisfaction. There was the +much-longed-for guinea-pig from Father, which had been smuggled up in a +hamper, and kept with elaborate care in a remote portion of the barn (a +secret which Bobby found the utmost difficulty in preserving); a +nightdress case worked by Lilian's neat fingers; a cork frame from +Bobby, made under Archie's supervision; a round pink-and-white wool mat, +which Nancy had crocheted at odd times during the evenings; and a little +mug from Joe, with a Welshwoman in a tall hat on one side, and 'A +present from Llandrindod' on the other, bought on a visit to the famous +wells which he had paid in company with the church choir. Archie came up +during the morning bearing a pretty writing-case, an offering from +himself and Miss Forster, while a parcel had arrived from India, +containing the loveliest carved sandal-wood box, inlaid with +mother-of-pearl, to show that Aunt Helen had not forgotten her little +niece. + +As the birthday was not so very long after the fifth of November, they +had decided to keep any Guy Fawkes celebrations until then, and had been +busy for some days collecting sticks for a bonfire. The party consisted +solely of themselves and Archie, for Father's suggestion of the five +Miss Davenports was received with howls of indignation; and Lilian and +Nancy's combined efforts had produced a cake with twelve tiny coloured +wax candles stuck into icing-sugar on the top, one for every year of +Peggy's life, and which had to be blown out in turns by the assembled +company for good luck. + +The bonfire was held in the stubble field beyond the stackyard, and +roared up like a fiery furnace, making quite a red glow in the sky, +while its red ashes roasted potatoes and chestnuts to a turn. Archie had +even contrived to manufacture a few fireworks, having shut himself up in +a room over the stables at the Willows, a combination of peculiar odours +and a singed eyebrow alone testifying to his occupation. To be sure, the +catherine-wheel stuck, and utterly refused to turn, in spite of all +pokings and proddings, and the rockets only fizzled off near the ground, +instead of shooting up as they ought to have done; but the squibs and +crackers were quite effective, and a train of gunpowder, laid down to +represent a fiery serpent, blazed away in fine style. The fire-balloon, +however, was the success of the evening, for it shot straight up, and +floated across the sky like a beautiful meteor, its pink and green sides +giving a charming effect, till at length it dwindled away and became a +mere speck in the distance, leaving the children more full of admiration +than ever for Archie's talents. + +After the birthday the weather broke and a foretaste of winter arrived, +with cold winds and gray, murky skies and occasional falls of snow. +Archie caught a severe chill hunting for microscopical specimens in the +pond, and was in bed for some weeks, nursed by his doting aunt, +consoling himself for his enforced idleness by planning such +improvements at both the Willows and the Abbey as were calculated to +make their owners' hair stand on end. + +As the long evenings closed in, Joe, ever timorous with regard to the +supernatural, became the prey of superstitious fears. He saw shrouds in +the candle and corpse-lights in the churchyard. Rollo's howling filled +him with forebodings, and a screech-owl flying over the orchard sent him +into a panic. He heard ghostly footfalls among the ruins and mysterious +taps on the stable-window when he was suppering the horses, which, in +spite of Lilian's reassurances, he persisted in regarding as a warning, +though for which of his numerous relatives it was intended kept him in a +state of perpetual doubt and uneasiness. The worst of it was that he +infected Nancy with his alarms to such an extent that she could scarcely +be persuaded to put her nose out at the back-door after dusk (except on +her evening out, when her sweetheart came to fetch her), which was +distinctly inconvenient if a pail of water were wanted during the +evening, or she happened to have left the coal-box standing in the yard. +The Abbey boasted the reputation of maintaining what Peggy called 'a +real, live, genuine ghost,' though none of the family had ever caught a +glimpse of it, it seeming to prefer to manifest itself to Joe and to +chance visitors from the village who came up to the house on dark +evenings. The washerwoman's little girl had heard footsteps behind her +on the drive and a distinct clanking as of chains, while old Betty +Carson swore on her Bible oath that she had seen something white moving +about among the ruins, which groaned as in the expression of the keenest +mental anguish; and when Mr. Vaughan suggested it might prove nothing +worse than a young bullock with indigestion, she had dismissed the idea +as almost profane. + +Beyond the fact that a lady in white was supposed to haunt both the +ruins and the oak-wood, weeping and wringing her hands in orthodox +ghostly fashion, the children had not been able to learn much of the +story, for there were so many and divergent accounts of it, all told +with uncertainty as to names and dates, and in that very oracular--not +to say muddled--style sometimes indulged in by rustic historians. But +one wet afternoon, finding David alone in the harness-room, where the +old man had lighted a fire to make some wonderful decoction of foxgloves +wherewith to doctor a cow with a strained leg, they seated themselves on +a sack of potatoes in front of the cheerful blaze, and with the aid of a +little judicious flattery and coaxing managed to cajole him into a true +and circumstantial account of the family ghost. + +Although he was somewhat crusty to begin with, old David, like all who +have the gift of narrative, enjoyed telling a story, and he soon warmed +to his work. + +'It were my father as told me,' he began, 'and he had it from his +father, and his'n afore him, for it be a powerful long time ago, it be. +Ay, time do pass by quick, for sure!' + +'When did it happen?' asked Peggy, hastily, hoping to nip in the bud one +of the old fellow's, rambling divergences from the point. + +'In the reign of King Henry the Sixth, so they say. Ay, it were Henry, +for it were the same name, I mind me, as the old Squire.' + +'Reigned 1422 to 1461, married Margaret of Anjou,' put in Bobby, who +liked to air his knowledge. + +'I don't know who he married; it weren't nothing to do with marryin'. It +were fightin' first in those days, though I suppose they married, too, +like other folk, when they found time.' + +'Who were fighting?' inquired Bobby. + +'Why, it was the Wars of the Roses, of course,' answered Peggy +crushingly. + +'Nay, it weren't no wars of roses, I can tell you. It was real bloody +battles they fought then, with swords and pikes and spears and the like; +for there was two Kings, both with a notion of reignin', and when Kings +falls out, it's their subjects has to do the fightin' for them, I takes +it.' + +'Henry VI. and Edward IV.,' put in Peggy. 'Please go on, David.' + +'There was Vaughans at the Abbey then, just as there is Vaughans at the +Abbey now,' continued the old man, staring meditatively into his +foxglove brew, as though he could see a mental picture in the pot. 'And +him as had it then was Sir Richard Vaughan, the one as lies under the +cracked old monument in the corner at church.' + +'With the dragon and the crooked arrows on it,' nodded the children. + +'Well, this Sir Richard Vaughan, he favoured King Henry of Lancaster, +and went out to fight for him with forty gentlemen and yeomen at his +back, to say naught of lesser folk. They met Duke Edward of York, him as +afterwards became King, at Mortimer's Cross, which ain't so far from +here, neither, for I went once myself when I were a lad with my aunt's +cousin, who drove a good horse and gig. Let me see: how many years will +it be agone?' + +'Oh, David, never mind! _Do_ go on with the story! What happened at the +battle?' + +'He were killed, for sure, were Sir Richard, and his head took by they +Yorkists, and kicked about like a football afore they nailed it up over +Hereford gate. You'd ne'er find his skull if you looked inside the old +monument--naught but the rest of his bones.' + +'How awful! Then is it _his_ ghost?' + +'Oh no, Bobby! It is the White _Lady_, you know!' + +David took advantage of these interruptions to lift his pot from the +fire and examine its contents, but finding them not yet to his liking, +put it on again, and continued: + +'It weren't enough for they Yorkists to get Sir Richard's head; they +wanted his lands along of it, and they marched across country (a set of +blood-thirsty ruffians they was) and laid siege to the Abbey. Dame +Eleanor, a widow new-made, as you might say, couldn't hold it above two +days, for the pick of the men had all gone with her husband, and the +best part of _they_ lay stretched out stiff at Mortimer's Cross. So she +lets them in at last, sore agin her will, and gives up the keys to Lord +Grey of Wigmore. You'd a' thought that would a' satisfied them, but they +wanted more.' + +'What did they want?' said Peggy, for David seemed disposed to rest from +his labours and attend to his cookery. + +'Sir Richard had left a son behind him, a young lad of nine or ten or +thereabouts, and he were the heir. It were him as Lord Grey wanted--told +a fine tale as how he'd take him up to London, and get him put as page +to the great Earl of Warwick, which were as good as makin' his fortune.' + +'Did he go?' + +'Nay, his mother were no fool, neither, and she knowed full well she'd +ne'er see him again, no more than you'd see a duck if you gave it in +charge of the fox. She'd sent him away safe out of the Abbey by that +passage to the cave, most like, where you very near lost your lives last +summer, and she weren't going to let on where he were, not to no one.' + +'Did she tell? Did he get off safe? What happened?' + +'Let me tell my tale in my own way,' said David testily. 'They was +brutes in those days, and had no respect for God or man, let alone +woman. So they clapped a thumbscrew on Dame Eleanor, to sharpen her +wits.' + +'Oh, poor thing! She didn't tell, did she?' cried the children, who +could not forbear comments. + +'Tell! Not she, though her thumb was crushed to a jelly. And when they +see'd it weren't no manner of use, they let her go. But that Lord Grey +of Wigmore was a disciple of Old Nick himself, and what does he do but +catch hold of Dame Eleanor's daughter, which weren't more' an a little +maid like Miss Peggy there, and put the screw on her thumb, thinkin' it +would loosen her mother's tongue to hear her shriek. There's things that +women can bear up to a certain pass, but touch their young uns, and +they'll let you know. At the first cry as was raised by that child Dame +Eleanor went clean off her head, and, breakin' away from them as held +her, she seized up a dagger and stabbed herself through the breast, with +a awful shout of laughter, shuttin' her lips for ever from them as would +wrest the secret from her.' + +'And what became of the poor little boy and girl?' + +'Lord Grey felt a bit 'shamed, like, when he see'd what were done, and +he sent the girl home to his wife, who brought her up kind. And the boy +had been took away by that time to them as was his friends. He grew up +to manhood and learned to fight, like everyone else in they times, and +then King Henry came to his own again, and he got back the Abbey.' + +'But King Henry didn't stay long on the throne, did he? I thought the +history-book said that "King Edward landed at Ravenspur and fought the +Battle of Barnet." We learnt it in our dates last Monday.' + +'I know naught of books. It's what my father told me, and his father +afore him. There have been a many Kings since then, I reckon, but the +Vaughans have held the Abbey in spite of 'em.' + +'But, David, you haven't told us about the ghost yet, and that's the +most important part of all.' + +'The ghost! Oh, that be Dame Eleanor, for sure. They say she walks round +the ruins of the Abbey and across to the oak-wood. Whiles she goes away, +and no one sees her for long enough, and whiles she comes back; and they +do say,' said David, lowering his voice, 'that if there's a death in the +family, or any evil hangin' over the Vaughans, that she be there +shriekin' and wringin' her hands to give warnin' of what be to come.' + +The children were beginning to feel quite delightfully creepy, and would +have liked a further continuation of the spirit portion of the story; +but David's decoction being now ready, his thoughts were with his +invalid in the cow-house, and nothing could bring them back to Dame +Eleanor's wraith. So, in spite of all entreaties for more, he departed, +bearing his steaming can with him, and declaring that one good cow was +worth all the ghosts and ghostesses in the kingdom, 'for you might do +some good to _she_, but as to _they_, they was naught but hearsay, after +all.' + +After this, Peggy and Bobby were determined to try and obtain a sight of +their ancestress, and with much screwing up of their courage stole out +one evening, and crept fearfully round the ruins, clutching each other's +hands very tightly, and jumping at every sound. There was a fitful moon, +and it was just light enough to see the outlines of the old walls and +the pieces of broken stair and column, with very dark places between, +where the shadows fell. It was an ideal spot for a ghost. It really +seemed as if these old relics of bygone days _must_ be haunted, so +strong were the cords which bound them to the past. A cloud had come +over the moon, and as they groped their way round the corner of what had +been the refectory, Peggy caught Bobby's arm. + +'Listen!' she said in a thrilling whisper. + +The children clung together tighter than ever and held their breath, for +there certainly was the most extraordinary noise to be heard--a kind of +mixture between groaning and sighing, with a rattling sound as of +dragging chains. It seemed coming in their direction, too, and they +shrank into a niche in the wall, with their hair almost standing on end. +Something gleamed white in the faint moonlight, and a terrific sound +suddenly boomed in their ears. Frightened almost out of their wits, the +children shrieked and ran, but stopped before they had gone twenty +yards, for the noise had developed into a very decided 'Hee-haw!' and +the moon, bursting through the clouds, revealed the long nose and +twirling ears of the tinker's broken-winded old donkey, who, dragging a +clog on his leg, was giving vent to his feelings in his own peculiar +fashion, his master having turned him into the ruins for a stolen feed +during the night, no doubt with the intention of fetching him in the +morning before anyone was up and about. It was such bathos after the +overwrought state of their feelings that they sat down and laughed till +the tears ran down their cheeks, treasuring the joke to tell to Archie +when he should be well enough to receive visitors, and holding it up as +a model to relieve Nancy's fears. + +But seeing how easy it was to imagine a ghost out of really every-day +materials, the children plotted mischief next Saturday, and determined +to give Joe a fright. About half a mile from the house lay the oak-wood, +which was also the supposed scene of Dame Eleanor's walk. Through this +wood ran a road, which was the shortest way to Middlehead, a little +market-town in the opposite direction to Warford. Knowing that Joe had +gone for a holiday, with some other lads from the village, to a fair +which was being held that day at Middlehead, they decided to construct a +ghost and fix it up in the wood, to alarm him and his companions as they +returned. They kept their secret to themselves, and retired to the barn +to fashion a figure of Dame Eleanor according to their own notions of +what a phantom should be. Taking a large turnip, they scooped out the +inside till there was nothing left but a hollow shell, cutting holes in +it for eyes, nose, and mouth, and fixing a candle inside, so that when +the light shone through it should resemble a horrible, grinning face. At +dusk they stole away with the rest of their materials to the oak-wood, +and set to work. The spot chosen was a grassy corner, where a gate +across the road formed an angle with the wall which bounded the wood +upon one side. It was a specially dark and shady place, for the tall +trees shut out the sky, and even in the daytime it looked gloomy and +still. They first planted a stout broomstick in the ground, and fixed +the turnip head firmly upon the top of it; two branches of trees tied on +like cross-bars made a pair of shoulders and arms, and when covered with +a sheet stolen from the linen-cupboard, it appeared as if the white +figure were stretching out its imploring hands in a vain appeal for +mercy. When Peggy lighted the candle inside the effect was so terrific +that the conspirators felt quite eerie themselves, and with a last look +to see that all was steady, and the candle not likely to fall over, they +left Dame Eleanor in her corner, and fled home over the fields with a +rather guilty feeling, wondering what would happen. + +To do Peggy justice, I do not think she would have tried to play such a +trick on poor Joe if she had imagined he were returning alone; but +knowing he would have the company of several of his friends to support +him, she thought he might rather enjoy the joke than otherwise. + +The dusk soon fell, and Peggy sat by the fire in the Rose Parlour +reading 'Ivanhoe' in much warmth and content. Lilian was playing +snatches of her favourite Chopin, but somehow the music did not go well +to-night, for the musician's heart was not in her fingers. + +'What's the matter, Lilian?' asked Peggy, tearing herself away from +Friar Tuck and the Black Knight to realize that her sister had got up +for the fifth time from the piano to peep out through the window into +the dark beyond. + +'I wish Father would come home, that's all. I always feel so uneasy when +he goes to Middlewood'--pacing restlessly round the room, and looking +again at the clock. + +'Why?' + +'Because he drives home through the oak-wood, and it's really so +dangerous. There's no fence on the side next to the river, and Prince is +so frisky, if he were to shy there by the wall nothing could save them +from going straight down the bank. I've often begged Father to have it +railed in, but he only laughs at me. Why, Peggy, where are you going?' + +For without a word of explanation Peggy had flung down her book and fled +from the room. Hatless, and in her thin house-shoes, she rushed out of +the house, and tore over the fields as fast as her shaking legs could +carry her. In her plan to give Joe a fright, she had never thought of +Father, who returned by the same road; and now that horrible white +object was stationed just in the very danger-spot where a plunging horse +might mean a matter of almost certain death, for the wall of the +five-acre field abutted the road on one side, and on the other there was +only a narrow patch of grass between the steep bank which shelved down +sheer into the river, while the closed gate stopped any chance of a dash +forward. Peggy's heart was beating like a sledge-hammer as she flew +through the wood. Already she heard a distant rumbling of wheels, and +putting on a last desperate spurt, she reached the gate. She could never +afterwards tell exactly what happened at that moment, except that the +gig-lamps flashed suddenly in her eyes, 'Whoa, my lad!' shouted Father's +voice, and Prince's rearing, kicking form loomed large before her as he +backed persistently towards the bank. It took Peggy just one instant to +open the gate, and catching up her ghost to hurl the whole wretched +thing over the wall, and in another she had seized the horse by the +rein, and, soothing him with her well-known voice, dragged him forward +with all the strength of her wiry little arms. She was barely in time, +for already one wheel was over the edge, but, the object of his fear +being removed, Prince allowed himself to be cajoled into the road again, +where he stood, panting and trembling in every limb. + +'Why, my little Peggy!' cried Father, leaning down to see where the +lamp-light flashed on the face of his rescuer. + +But the strain was too much for Peggy, and she plumped down on the dead +leaves by the roadside in such a tempest of tears that Father had to +climb out of the gig and pick her up to comfort her; but as he could not +get a word of sense, he popped her in the vacant place by his side and +drove on, while she clung to his arm, still shaking with sobs, till they +reached the Abbey, where he helped her down, such a miserable little +tear-stained picture of woe, gulping out the confession of her escapade, +that he had not the heart to scold her, though he had a word of warning +to say afterwards upon the danger of such heedless practical jokes. + +Dame Eleanor's remains were fished out of the corner of the five-acre +field on Monday morning by Joe himself, who kicked her turnip head as +ruthlessly as the Yorkists had used her husband's at Mortimer's Cross, +and brought back the broomstick to the stable and the sheet to Nancy's +wash-tub. In all the valour of daylight he assured the children that 'it +wouldn't have scared _he_, not it. He'd made a many o' they turnip +lanterns in his time, and knowed 'em too well to be took in so easy.' + +But his faith in the genuine phantom remained unshaken all the same, and +I do not think he would have ventured alone into the ruins after dark +for the amount of his weekly wages, and money meant a good deal to poor +hard-working Joe. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +PLAY-ACTING + + 'Therefore, they thought it good you hear a play, + And frame your mind to mirth and merriment, + Which bars a thousand harms, and lengthens life.' + + +The winter set in cold and frosty, and as Christmas drew near the snow +came down in real earnest, covering the fields with its white carpet, +and turning Sky Cottage into a very good imitation of a Swiss chalet. It +was chilly work getting up in the dark mornings by candle-light, and +driving off to school when the sun had scarcely risen; the four miles of +road seemed much longer than they had done in the summertime, and in +spite of woollen gloves, the hand which held the reins was apt to be +stiff and numb with the cold long before Warford was reached. + +'I wish I were a cat!' said Peggy one morning, quite roused to envy by +the contemplation of Tabbyskin's toilet, 'to have no trouble with +washing or dressing; only just to jump out of bed, hump up your back and +stretch yourself, drink your saucer of milk, and then lick yourself +comfortably on the hearthrug in front of the dining-room fire.' + +'I think the dormouse has the best of it,' said Lilian, 'for he sleeps +straight on, and never seems to feel the frost at all. It would be a +glorious plan to retire to bed for the winter. I'm sure Nature intended +me for a hibernating animal, for I hate the cold. It makes my fingers so +stiff I can't practise nicely one little bit.' + +'You'd say so if you were at school now,' grumbled Peggy. 'There is a +new housekeeper, and she manages so badly that sometimes they are only +just lighting the fires when we are going into the class-rooms. The +studio felt like an ice-house yesterday, and nobody was able to draw +properly. Some of the girls have the most dreadful chilblains on their +fingers. I'm sure one goes through a great deal to get one's education!' + +'Never mind, the holidays begin on Wednesday, and then you shall have a +lovely time. If only this frost keeps up, we ought to get some skating, +and that's warm work, at any rate!' + +But as regards skating, the children were doomed to disappointment, for, +with the usual perversity of the English climate, the weather changed, +and Christmas Eve brought a mild wind and drizzling rain. They trudged +through the half-melted snow to the church to help with the decorations, +for it was fun twisting holly and evergreens, and making garlands of ivy +to fasten round the pillars. Archie, who naturally was to the fore on +such an occasion, managed to climb up and hang wreaths round the heads +of the cherubs at the top of the Jacobean monument, which gave their +weeping faces quite a festive appearance for once. Each of the Crusaders +was accorded a cross of yew, and the Elizabethan lady and gentleman had +a special decoration all to themselves. Lilian transformed the pulpit +into a perfect bower, weaving in holly and laurels till the Rector hoped +she would leave room for him inside it; and Peggy and Bobby helped--or +hindered--the schoolmistress as she adorned the font with a wonderful +arrangement of cotton-wool and frosted leaves. + +Luckily Christmas Day was fine (for a wet Christmas is enough to damp +the stoutest spirits), but after that the weather indulged in such a +variety of changes, alternately freezing and thawing from day to day, +that there was no time for a safe crust of ice to form even on the +smallest and shallowest of ponds. At the first fall of deep snow Archie +had mounted both himself and the children on Canadian snow-shoes, for as +soon as his illness had allowed, he had persuaded his aunt to bring his +tool-chest into his bedroom, and had beguiled his convalescence with a +little carpentry. + +At first they had all floundered hopelessly about, and it had taken some +practice even to slide a few steps; but long before they had reached the +stage of skimming over the frozen surface at the rate of eight or ten +miles an hour, which had been their fond ambition, the snow had melted +into moist and dirty slush, which was particularly trying, as they had +just decided to make a sledge out of an old packing-case, and drag +Lilian round the pasture. + +As outdoor exercise was rather out of the question, amusement must +perforce be found indoors, and amateur theatricals became the order of +the day. Archie was full of enthusiasm over what Nancy called +'play-acting,' and had soon initiated his friends into all the mysteries +of drop-scenes, side-shifts, make-ups, cues, and footlights. Both +tragedy and comedy raged in the Rose Parlour, the company feeling +themselves equal to anything, from a representation of Hamlet to the +famous scene between Sir Peter and Lady Teasle. Like all their hobbies, +they rode it hard, or, as Archie elegantly expressed it, 'rolled up +their sleeves and went into it bald-headed.' I am afraid the +house-keeping languished while Lilian painted scenery on large sheets of +blue grocery paper. Nancy had to dry her washing as best she could, for +all the clothes-horses in the establishment were needed for side-wings, +and the dining-room tablecloth, being green, was generally missing, +having to do duty for such occasions as 'a grove,' 'a glade in the +forest,' or the garden scene in 'Much Ado about Nothing.' + +From such constant rehearsals the actors found themselves adopting a +very stilted kind of conversation. They addressed each other as 'Ho, +knave!' or 'Prithee, kind wench!' and would answer the simplest question +by 'Yea, certes!' or 'An't please thee, my lord.' Bobby took to carrying +about an old horse-pistol which he had found in the lumber-room, and +saying 'Oddsbodkins' on all occasions, and Peggy put on such a general +air of melodrama that it seemed scarcely possible for her to speak in +plain prose; Archie was impresario, stage-manager, scene-shifter, +dresser, maker-up, and principal actor all combined, while Lilian waxed +so enthusiastic that she even sacrificed the feathers out of her last +summer's best hat to adorn the slouched head-gear considered necessary +for a due representation of Romeo. + +One thing only the players felt to be missing in their entertainments, +and that was the very important feature of an audience; for what is the +use of learning up parts, and constructing scenery, if there is nobody +to come and watch you act? Peggy sounded Father on the subject of a +children's party, but he did not rise at all to the occasion. + +'We can't afford it, Peggy,' he said briefly; then, noticing her look of +disappointment: 'That's where the shoe pinches, my dear child. The plain +necessities of life we are bound to have, but the state of my purse +tells me not to indulge in any luxuries, and I am afraid we must +consider party-giving under that head.' + +Kind Miss Forster would probably have turned her house upside down for +Archie's gratification, but she herself was on the sick-list this +Christmas-time, so any gaieties at the Willows were equally out of the +question. Getting a hint of the dilemma, the Rector came to the rescue, +and invited the performers to give an exhibition of their skill and +talent on the occasion of the Sunday-school tea-party, which was to take +place early in the New Year. This gave quite a fresh aspect to affairs, +and great were the discussions as to what piece should be chosen, +everybody unfortunately wanting something different, and generally +utterly inappropriate, or impossible to act. + +Lilian, always fond of tragedy, had set her heart on the last scene in +'Romeo and Juliet.' + +'I should be Juliet, you know, stretched out on the bier, and Archie +would have to be Romeo, and come in, and think I was dead, and stab +himself, and then of course I should wake up and stab myself, too; and +Peggy and Bobby could be the Montagues and Capulets, getting reconciled +over our dead bodies.' + +Archie, however, having leanings towards comedy, was not at all willing +to play the role of the despairing lover. + +'We could never manage to fix up an Italian vault,' he objected, 'and I +don't see how Peggy and Bobby could represent a whole crowd of Montagues +and Capulets, however much noise they made. Why not do a scene from "The +Rivals"? You'd be grand as Lydia Languish, and Peggy would just enjoy +Mrs. Malaprop's mistakes. I, of course, should be Captain Absolute.' + +'Then who would be Sir Anthony?' + +'Why, Bobby would have to be Sir Anthony.' + +'He _couldn't_! Bobby your father! It would look perfectly ridiculous, +and people would only laugh! No, that won't do anyhow, and we shall have +to think of something else.' + +Bobby was vague as to any particular play, only bargaining he might be +allowed to bring in his pistol, and do as much fighting as possible, and +that his part should not require too much learning. + +Peggy had ambitions towards the trial scene in the 'Merchant of Venice,' +with herself as Portia, having a scarlet dressing-gown which she thought +would answer beautifully for the doctor's robes, and designing Archie +for the part of Shylock, while Lilian was to don male attire, and +represent the unfortunate merchant. + +'Then who is to take Bassanio and Gratiano and Salanio, and Salarino and +the Duke, to say nothing of Nerissa? Bobby can't very well act six parts +at once.' + +'Can't we leave them out?' + +'Leave them out! Might as well act "Hamlet" with the part of Hamlet +omitted!' said Archie with much scorn, and the problem seemed no nearer +being solved than ever. + +But here the Rector again stepped in, and limited the performance to +half an hour's duration, begging them to choose something appropriate +for a Sunday-school audience, and if possible with a moral, and further +reminding them that a platform consisting of tables hastily pushed +together after the tea was concluded would scarcely give facilities for +either footlights, drop-scenes, or side-shifts, a curtain being the +utmost he could undertake to manage in that direction. + +With wings very much clipped, the soaring actors had to throw aside +Shakespeare and Sheridan, and apply themselves to books of recitations +and dialogues for village schools. It was difficult to find anything of +the right length with exactly the right number of parts, but at last +Archie declared he had hit upon one which would do beautifully. + +'Just four characters. You and I could be John and Mary, Lilian; and +Peggy and Bobby would of course be the children.' + +'Why of course? I'm too old for a child!' said Peggy indignantly. + +'No, you're not. You're small for your age, and you won't look so very +much taller than Bobby, if you wear your shortest frock. It's a jolly +piece, and should go first-rate, so we'd better decide on this right +away, and let the Rector know.' + +Peggy flushed up to her eyes, and turned her back to hide her rising +tears. After all her aspirations it was a bitter humiliation to be put +down for the very minor part of 'a child,' especially by Archie. She had +been learning elocution at school this term, and knew she could both +recite and act well. Moreover, she loved to shine, and to be first and +foremost, and had looked forward to this occasion as likely to prove one +of much triumph. Very few of us are heroes when it really comes to the +point, and I grieve to say that she looked so glum, and was generally so +grumpy and discontented over the arrangement, that unselfish Lilian, +divining the cause, instantly proposed to give up her own part to Peggy, +and train a little village girl for the second 'child' instead. But this +Peggy would not allow, and rushed away to the barn to weep off her +ill-humour amongst the hay, returning in a much better frame of mind, +with several valuable suggestions for Lilian's make-up; for she was a +generous child at heart, though she could not give up her own way +without a struggle. + +The small piece chosen did not require much either in the way of +rehearsing, scenery, or costumes, which was just as well, for the time +was short, and the day of the tea-party seemed to arrive almost +directly. By four o'clock the school was full of impatient children, +dressed in their best, the girls with their heads such marvels of +frizzing and curling that you could well imagine their hair had been +screwed up in plaits and papers for several days previously, while the +boys were shiny with soap and hair-oil. Lilian and Peggy were soon hard +at work pouring out tea as if for dear life, while Archie and Bobby +distributed buns and ham-sandwiches with lightning speed, which seemed +to vanish with equal quickness, for many of the boys had dispensed with +dinner in order to enjoy their tea the more. + +'The big boy in the corner drank twelve cups!' declared Peggy, 'and +little Willie Jones had eight, or even nine, for I lost count; and the +boy from Monkend Farm ate at least fourteen buns. I believe he pocketed +a few, though I never could catch him!' + +Peggy was in her element; she was able to manage, or, as Archie called +it, 'boss around,' to her heart's content. She kept a severe eye on the +small children, patted them firmly on the back when they choked, and +refused to allow them to grab at the cake, regulating their tea +according to her own notions of what was good for them, and turning +stolen lumps of sugar out of their pockets with the cleverness of a +detective. + +Tea was over at last, and the crumby remains having been cleared away, +the tables were pushed to one side of the great schoolroom to form the +platform, while the benches were arranged in rows to accommodate the +audience, which at present was indulging in an amount of noise only to +be equalled by the Tower of Babel. Peggy, hard at work behind the +scenes, put her eye to a hole in the curtain, and surveyed the prospect +below, where children big and little were engaged in jumping over the +forms, chasing each other round the stove, and generally acting more +like monkeys at the Zoo than civilized human beings, while the Rector +strove in vain to collect them at the empty end of the room to play +games, and the curate, a shy young man fresh from Oxford, looked as if +he would have preferred to wrestle with a consignment of heathens from +the Cannibal Islands. + +'Come along, Bobby,' said Peggy; 'we ought to go and help. Archie and +Lilian can arrange the scenery quite well. The Rector is getting pulled +to pieces, and poor Mr. Wentworth has lost his glasses.' + +Mrs. Davenport would have approved of Peggy for once, for even the +pattern Bertha could not have displayed more energy in a parish +emergency. She promptly organized a game of 'Oranges and Lemons,' +herself leading the long tail of infants who passed under the Rector's +and Mr. Wentworth's upraised hands; she set the boys to swing +honey-pots, and the girls to play 'Drop the Handkerchief'; she boldly +interposed her small person between the fists of two fighting +hobbledehoys, and seized a little boy by the boot who had ventured to +climb up the stove-pipe; she welcomed some of the parents who had begun +to arrive for the entertainment, and found them comfortable places on +the benches, even nursing one of the babies while its mother went to the +rescue of an older child, who was being forcibly held down and sat upon +by several of its companions; and by the time the bell was rung, and the +audience requested to take their places, she was almost as hot and +pulled about as the Rector himself, but with a feeling of conscious +virtue that made up for everything. + +The first part of the entertainment was to be chiefly musical, so the +proceedings began with a waltz by Lilian, who was always the Rector's +mainstay in making up a programme, and had helped at most of his +Sunday-school concerts since she was ten years old. A violin solo +followed from the village tailor, who was much applauded, most of the +hearers being persuaded that not even the band in the Warford Public +Gardens could surpass 'Bill Evans and his fiddle.' Little Jimmy Carson +recited 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' in a high, thin, piping voice, +standing on tiptoe in his eagerness to give due effect to the famous +lines, flinging out his arms wildly to indicate where + + 'Cannon to right of them, + Cannon to left of them + Volleyed and thundered,' + +and getting so mixed up with his aspirates that he concluded with: + + '_H_onour the charge they made, + _H_onour the Light Brigade, + Noble six 'undred.' + +A selection of small boys and girls sang school glees and Christmas +carols, a trifle flat occasionally, but perhaps that was the fault of +the piano, which needed tuning. The two Miss Prices from the Post-Office +warbled a mild little duet, which gave unbounded satisfaction to their +fond mamma, if to nobody else; the blacksmith's assistant roared out a +sea song in a voice like a tempest; and a young man on a visit to the +miller gave a comic song, which quite took the company by storm. + +A five minutes' interval followed before the act, which was regarded as +the chief event of the evening. There was a good deal of giggling and +whispered conversation behind the scenes as the actors hastily concluded +their preparations, but at length, in response to the enthusiastic +clapping and stamping of the audience, the curtain was drawn aside by +two Sunday-school teachers, and the play began. Peggy, standing behind +one of the clothes-horses which served for a side-wing, could see the +two hundred eager faces turned towards the platform, and experienced +that peculiar sensation known as 'stage fright.' Instead of longing now +for a prominent part, she heaved a sigh of relief to think that Lilian +must begin instead, and trembled for the moment when she would be +obliged to face those watching eyes. + +The piece chosen turned upon a discussion between a man and his wife as +to the relative difficulties of their work, resulting in the husband +undertaking to do the morning's duties during the absence of the +housewife. Lilian, in a print dress, apron, and sun-bonnet, made a +charming little village mother, and trotted off with her basket, leaving +many injunctions for 'John' to follow. Archie, as the husband, in +corduroy trousers, his shirt-sleeves rolled up, and a short clay pipe in +his mouth, was a capital British workman, and his struggles in the +performance of his domestic duties were the subject of much mirth. When +he broke the china, and stirred up the washing with the poker, the +audience cheered, and it shouted with delight when he upset the kettle +and burnt the bread black in the oven. Peggy and Bobby as 'the +children,' with crumpled pinafores and smudged faces, were an equal +success, for in watching Archie Peggy had forgotten her sudden shyness, +and she now threw herself thoroughly into her part, howling most +realistically when her nose was scrubbed in the wash-tub, or her hair +combed with a fork; while Bobby stole jam and resisted medicine with +lifelike zeal. Lilian's face, when as 'Mary' she returned to find her +cottage a scene of confusion, was considered excellent, and the moral of +the story was enough to satisfy even the Rector. The audience 'hoorayed' +and thumped with their thick boots on the floor, and shouted 'encore'; +but as it was not possible to break the china, spill the medicine, and +upset the kettle twice over without a considerable amount of +preparation, they had to be content with the graceful bows which the +artistes bestowed upon them. + +'Say them "Little Orphaned Annie" instead of an encore,' whispered +Lilian to Peggy, as the stamping still went on, and nobody seemed +inclined to go. + +'Shall I?' said Peggy, flushing; for it was her best piece at the +elocution class, and she had been complimented on it by her teacher. + +'Yes, go on quick!' said Lilian, pushing her forward, and catching the +Rector's eye. + +Peggy was in good form that night, and I really think her recitation was +considered the star of the evening. Her gruesome voice as she recounted +what the goblins did to naughty boys made several small sinners in the +back benches shake in their shoes--many innocent infants felt they +should never dare to go to bed in the dark again; and the wild shriek +with which she ended her announcement that 'the goblins are about' quite +brought down the house, and the children shouted and yelled and cheered +as the Rector strove to get order once more, and wind up the proceedings +with the National Anthem. So Peggy had her triumph after all, even if it +were only a small one. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +PEGGY AT WAR + + 'By this good light, a lass of matchless mettle!' + + +The Christmas holidays being over, and Archie in the rudest of health, +Miss Forster had no more excuse for keeping that young gentleman at +home, and after much packing and preparation, he departed to school, +amid the fond regrets of his aunt and the lamentations of his friends at +the Abbey, to whom he promised to write as often as time and the +regulations of his house would allow him. + +After he had left, things seemed to jog on for some time in the same +way. Peggy was studying hard this term, for she was a clever girl, and +liked to take a high place in her class, so most of the evenings were +occupied with home-lessons, and it was only on Saturday that she had any +leisure for the many projects which Archie had begged her to continue in +his absence. Time steals on very quickly when we are fully occupied, and +winter seemed to slide into spring, and daffodils to replace the +snowdrops in the garden before they had realized the welcome change, and +Easter drew near once more, with all its delights of violets, young +lambs, and early blossom. + +It seemed a long while now to the children since Aunt Helen had gone +away, and Lilian had become so accustomed to the housekeeping that it +was not nearly so much of a care. She had taken up her neglected French +books again, and struggled manfully through 'Paul et Virginie' with the +aid of a dictionary; for Peggy was getting on so fast now that Lilian +felt she would soon be left behind unless she made some effort to keep +up what she had learnt. The evening readings, too, were continued, for +Mr. Howell had suggested 'The Vicar of Wakefield' as being less solid +for a tired mind than 'The French Revolution,' lending her his own +charmingly illustrated copy; and Father had forgotten the farm and all +his other worries in a hearty laugh over Moses and the spectacles, or +Mrs. Primrose's efforts at gentility, declaring that the philosophy of +the light-hearted Vicar exactly suited his own circumstances, and +christening Lilian and Peggy 'Olivia' and 'Sophia' on the spot. Finding +that a success, Lilian followed it up by 'Pride and Prejudice,' and the +'Pickwick Papers'; for she was glad to discover anything that would wipe +away the lines from Father's forehead, if only for an hour, and distract +his thoughts from those terrible deeds and account-books which were wont +to litter the dining-room table at nights. Peggy, too, had begged to sit +up a little later to listen, and I think she learned almost as much from +the readings as from her lessons; for our English classics are an +education in themselves, and those who love them young rarely care to +read much trash afterwards. + +As the days grew longer and lighter, the garden also claimed attention, +and the children were busy digging, raking, and planting, for this year +there were to be special classes in the flower-show for exhibitors under +fifteen, and both Peggy and Bobby had secret hopes of a prize. Then +there was Sky Cottage to be tidied and spring-cleaned, for Archie must +not come home at Easter to find it looking neglected, and there were +various little improvements which they wished to make in it to surprise +him on his return. + +It was well that they were all so full of resources for their own +amusement, for otherwise than school they saw almost nothing of the +outside world. The temporary attraction of Aunt Helen's engagement being +over, the neighbours had lapsed again into their customary neglect of +the Abbey, and visitors or invitations were as rare as if they had been +living in the wilds of Africa. It seemed rather hard that sweet, pretty +Lilian should be so entirely overlooked, and I think that somebody--not +to say Mrs. Davenport--might have seen that she had some share in the +merry-makings which went on in many of the country houses round about; +but nobody remembered, and the shy girl herself was quite content to +remain at home, busying herself, like Dame Durden, with her household +cares. Somehow her old school friends seemed to have drifted away from +her. They were full of their own interests, and, on the few occasions +when she happened to meet them, had talked so much of new teachers, new +pupils, and class topics of which she knew nothing, that she had felt a +little 'out of it,' and had an uneasy sensation that, if she spoke of +the quiet little episodes of her daily round they would vote her +housekeeping experiences as decidedly 'slow.' Miss Forster, one of their +kindest friends, had been unwell and confined to her room nearly all the +springtime, and the children had felt her a loss; for besides the bond +with Archie, she loved young people, and had always a word of help or +sympathy for their schemes. + +'I wonder what it feels like to be ill,' said Peggy one day, coming +back from the Willows, where she had been sent to inquire, after one of +Miss Forster's worst attacks. 'We're such a healthy set, we haven't any +of us been a day in bed since we had measles five years ago. I should +think it would be quite fun to send for the doctor, and be fussed over.' + +'I suppose you _feel_ horrid,' replied Lilian. 'But all the same, I've +sometimes thought it must be rather nice to be an interesting invalid. I +wouldn't have minded being Margaret, for instance, in the "Daisy Chain," +to lie on a sofa, and just look beautiful, and set a good example to all +your family, and keep on telling somebody you couldn't marry him, while +he stalked about the room with an air of profound melancholy, and said +he couldn't take to anybody else.' + +'I've always thought I should like to be a foundling,' said Peggy. 'It +is so delightfully mysterious to be picked up from a wreck on the +sea-shore, or saved from a railway accident, and nobody to know who you +are, or anything about you. They always keep your beautiful +baby-clothes, and the gold locket round your neck with the portrait +inside, and then, when you're just grown up, you turn out to be the only +daughter of a duke, who has been mourning for you ever since you were +lost. Orphans, too, don't have half a bad time in books, though they +generally live with rich uncles, and have to wear the old dresses and +stop at home, while their cousins go to parties. They only look sweeter +than ever in the shabby clothes, and something nice always happens while +the others are out--like Mabel, you know, in "Sweet Seventeen." I think +it must be most romantic to be so beautiful and so despised.' + +'Will you try living with the Davenports for a while?' laughed Lilian. +'You'd have plenty of chance there of being sat upon, at any rate.' + +But Peggy declined with thanks, declaring the case did not apply at all, +for neither was Mrs. Davenport a rich relation nor was she herself in +the friendless condition necessary for the full requirements of fiction, +so she was afraid the round of amusements and social triumphs generally +enjoyed by the heroine would not fall to her share. + +'I wish we did go out just every now and then, though,' said Peggy, who +occasionally had ambitions after gaiety. 'I haven't been anywhere except +to Miss Forster's or the Rectory since I was at the Middletons last +year. The girls were all talking about parties at school, after the +Christmas holidays, and I hadn't been to a single one, or the pantomime +either, and we never get to any of the concerts at the Spa Gardens. The +Harpers have asked me to their dance next Wednesday, but Father won't +let me go. I wish he would, just for once. It seems so hard never to do +anything like other girls, doesn't it?' + +'It is so difficult, darling, to get you home. You would catch cold if +you came out of hot rooms and drove home at night in the open trap, and +it is dreadfully expensive to hire a cab from Warford. Besides, you +would want new shoes and gloves, and silk stockings, even if your +bridesmaid's dress would be smart enough. If only I had had that money +Aunt Helen sent me on my birthday, you should have gone, but I spent it +every penny on Bobby's cricket flannels, and I don't like to ask Father +for more. You see, we are trying to be so very careful just now. You and +Bobby are not learning dancing this term, and I have even given up my +music-lessons'--with a wistful sigh, for that had been a sore wrench to +poor Lilian. + +'So you have, Lily mine, and never growled at all over it! I'm a horrid +little wretch, and I wouldn't have taken Aunt Helen's present, even if +you had had it left. I don't really care about parties and things. We +have ever so much fun out here at the Abbey that the girls who live in +Warford never dream of, and it wouldn't be fair to expect both. Easter +will soon be here, and Archie will come home, and then we shall all have +glorious times again!' And Peggy's momentary discontent vanished like +snow in sunshine at the enthralling prospect of several new projects +which her ingenious friend intended carrying out, and of the picnics, +woodland scrambles, and other delights which the holidays would bring in +their train. + +But there was yet a month of the term to run, and the little pony-trap +must make many more journeys to and from Warford before either Pixie or +the children could take a rest, and lessons and school affairs were +still matters of the first importance. + +Accustomed to a daily account of the doings of both himself and his +class-mates, Peggy began to realize about this time that all was not +well with Bobby. Instead of being full of his usual fun on the homeward +journey, he had scarcely anything to tell her. He had been late for +several days at the inn-yard, and had arrived looking so flurried and +peculiar that, although he had laughed it off and made some excuse, she +was certain that things were not as they should be. The pair had never +had any secrets before, so Peggy waited at first for Bobby to tell her, +but as the confidence did not seem to be forthcoming, she one day boldly +taxed him with it. + +'Well,' said Bobby, plucking at the corners of his dog-eared Latin +grammar, 'if you really want to know, it's Jones minor. I didn't mean to +breathe a word, because I hate to be a sneak, and peach, and all that; +but after all, telling you isn't like telling any of the fellows, is +it?' anxious for his code of schoolboy honour. + +'Of course it's not. What about Jones minor?' + +'He bullies me so. He lies in wait for me every afternoon, and I have to +dodge ever so to get out of his way. I came round by five back streets +to-day, and climbed over a garden wall.' + +'How big a boy is he?' + +'Oh, he's a fellow of thirteen, I should think, for he's in the fourth +form. If he were anywhere near my own size I'd fight him, if I had to do +it every day till I licked him. I thrashed Moore last week for punching +little Barton's head.' + +'What does this Jones do to you?' + +'Pulls my ears, and bumps my head against the wall. He twists my arm +round, too, and hammers at it, and he keeps a buckle-strap in his pocket +specially for me, so he says. He's just generally a beast, that's what +he is!' + +'I don't quite know what we can do,' said Peggy. 'If only Archie were at +home he'd soon thrash him into a jelly, and enjoy it. I suppose there's +no one else at school who would champion you?' + +'No, there isn't. Never mind, Pegotty, don't you worry. I'm growing all +the time, and perhaps one day I'll be big enough to go for him, and +after all, a fellow ought to be able to stand a bit of bullying without +going whining home to his sister about it.' + +'Is there much of this sort of thing going on at the Grammar School?' +asked Peggy. + +'A fair amount. Not among the best end of the boys, but some of the +fellows are awful cads. They took Holmes major one day, and held him +upside down with his head in the lavatory basin till he nearly choked, +and they tied two others up as sparring-cocks to-day, and made them +fight all dinner-time. They're awfully rough on us little boys, too, at +games. We have to fag till we nearly drop sometimes. That great hulking +Taylor half kills young Ford now and then. I'm thankful he doesn't look +my way. It's only Jones minor who attends to me, and he's quite bad +enough.' + +'I only just wish I could catch him at it,' said Peggy reflectively; and +there for the present the matter ended. + +But a few days after this the pony-trap waited in vain, and Peggy, who +had walked leisurely three times from the inn-door to the end of the +street, grew tired of loitering about, and sallied forth to look for the +truant. It would be useless to try the highways, she knew, so +accordingly her search must be in the by-ways, and she made a little +tour of investigation round all the back streets between the inn and the +Grammar School, but without success, and she was just thinking she must +have missed him, and had better return to the inn-yard, when a fortunate +chance prompted her to turn up a retired avenue which lay between the +two main roads. It was a quiet spot, with long gardens leading to +old-fashioned houses on the one side, and the tall palings of a +cricket-field on the other--just the spot where nobody would be likely +to come along and make a disturbance, and so evidently Jones minor +seemed to think, for he held Bobby pinned against the wall with one +hand, while with the other he amused himself by tweaking his ears, +pulling his hair, and any other tortures which his ingenious mind could +suggest at the moment. + +At the sight of this edifying spectacle Peggy flew on to the scene like +Diana on the war-path. + +[Illustration: "IF YOU BREAK YOUR WORD, I'LL LET ALL WARFORD KNOW THAT +YOU'VE BEEN KNOCKED DOWN AND THRASHED BY A GIRL."] + +'Here,' she cried indignantly, 'you Jones! Just stop that, will you?' + +'Mind your own business, you--whoever you are!' cried the boy rudely. +'I'll do what I like!' + +Bobby tried to dodge away, but the bully caught him by the arm, and, +partly to show off, commenced such an excruciating twist that the tears +started to his victim's eyes, though he did not utter a sound. It was +too much for Peggy. She looked carefully round to see that no one was +near, flung down her books with a bang on the pavement, and--simply went +for Jones minor. + +The assault was so utterly unexpected that he rolled over like a +ninepin. Peggy might be small for her age, but she was strong and +muscular, and she had the spirit of a Coeur de Lion and the courage of +a Joan of Arc. Her method of boxing was certainly not scientific, but +she set to work to punish Jones minor according to her own ideas of +warfare. With two well-directed blows she nearly closed his eyes before +he had time even to see his assailant. She punched his head, tweaked his +ears, and hammered into the soft portions of his body until he roared +for mercy, for, like all bullies, he was a coward at heart, and had a +vague impression that some very superior force must suddenly have +descended upon him. + +'Have you had enough?' said Peggy at last, with her foot on her foe's +chest, and her fist at his swollen nose. + +'Yes, thanky!' faltered the snivelling Jones. + +'Then swear on your honour, if you have any, that you'll never lay a +finger on my brother again. If you'll promise that faithfully, we'll +neither of us tell, but if you break your word, I'll let all Warford +know that you've been knocked down and thrashed by a girl!' + +'Hooray! hooray!' cried two voices, and two tall boys in Grammar School +caps came clambering over the palings from the cricket-field, whence +they had been the delighted but unseen witnesses of the encounter. + +'By Jove! you're a girl worth knowing!' said the taller boy. 'The way +you rolled him flat was the funniest sight I've seen for many a year! +Get up, Jones, you sneaking, drivelling cur!'--kicking the prostrate +form of that fallen hero. 'And if ever I catch you at any of your tricks +with Vaughan again I'll settle you myself, I promise you, though I don't +know whether I could have done it any better than this, after all!' +glancing with an eye of admiration at the victorious Peggy, who, with +split gloves, scarlet cheeks, and wild-flying curls, stood panting after +the contest. + +'Golly! if you were _my_ sister, I'd be proud of you!' he continued, +while the other boy picked up her hat from the roadway, and collected +her scattered school-books. 'I like a girl with pluck, and you've got +enough for ten of 'em. I say, Vaughan, I'll try you to fag for me, if +you like. You're a good runner, I hear, and no butter-fingers. You can +begin to-morrow.' + +'And _he_ is the Captain of the school eleven!' said Bobby afterwards, +who would have felt it scarcely so great an honour to be noticed by the +Prince of Wales. 'There isn't a boy in my class who isn't yearning to be +Farrar's fag. They'll be just wild with envy! Peggy, you're about the +biggest trump on the face of the earth, and I'll never forget this day +if I live to be a hundred!' + +Jones minor found he also had good reason to remember the occasion, for +as Farrar and Henderson felt no obligation to observe secrecy, his life +at Warford Grammar School was for some time a burden to him. Constant +references as to his fondness for female society, offers to see him home +to protect him on the way, tender inquiries as to the state of his eyes +and the condition of his ears, filled him with confusion, while large +portraits of Jones in the clutches of an imaginary Amazon, executed with +schoolboy talent and vigour, adorned the walls of the playground and the +palings of the cricket-field. + +Peggy's onslaught really seemed to have done some good in the school, +for the attention of the older and better boys being called to the +subject of bullying, a stand was made, and public opinion ran high +against it, so that for a time, at any rate, the little boys had peace, +and Bobby was able to return daily by the ordinary high-road, instead of +seeking the shelter of side-paths and back alleys. + +Bobby's letter to Archie on the subject of the encounter, though hardly +a model of orthography, was as stirring as the ballad of Chevy Chase. + +'She lade the villin flat on the erth, and I just wish you cud have seen +her punch his hed,' he wrote. 'She nocked him about like a pottatoe. +Peggy is awful strong wen her blud is up, and she sez she wuld do it +agen to save my Life. Jones minor stopt at home two days arfter. He +cudunt stand the jeers of the other boys, and they still give it him +badly. Farrar is jolly good to me now. I like fagging for him better +than enything. Peggy won't tork about wot she has done at all. She sez +she is rather ashamed of it now, and that you wuld think her a bigger +tomboy than ever; but all the boys at skule call her a brick, and so do +I, and if she comes to see the bote race at Easter they mean to chear +her.' + +Archie wrote back at once to congratulate the heroine, and Peggy +treasured the letter for days, until the new pet lamb accidentally +chewed it up. It ran thus: + + 'MY DEAR PEGGY, + 'I think it was just elegant of you, and I won't call you + t..b.y any more if you don't like it. Instead I will christen + you Ta-ka-pun-ka, which in the language of the Chincowawas means + "Girl-afraid-of-nothing," for you are as good as one of our + Indian braves. I only wish you had taken his scalp, but I + suppose you hadn't time. When I come back at Easter I will teach + you to box, and then you will be ready for anybody, only please + don't tackle me. I shall have to be careful how I quarrel with + you now. If I am home in time for the boat-race I shall come and + cheer, too. I am longing to get back to Gorswen. Bobby never + said if the water-wheel was all right. I hope no one has touched + it while I have been away. Why don't you write and tell me about + it, and about Sky Cottage, too? I shall have heaps of school + news for you when I come home, and I have thought of several + fresh things we can make; but I shan't tell you what they are + till I see you, so curb your curiosity until the holidays. + + 'Hoping Prickles, and the rabbits, and all the other pets are + well, + 'Your affectionate friend, + 'ARCHIE FORSTER.' + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +GORSWEN FAIR + + 'Come, let us go while we are in our prime, + And take the harmless folly of the time.' + + +Easter was here at last, and down at the Willows Archie had come home +like the breath of spring, Miss Forster declaring that he did her more +good than all her medicine bottles, and that his lively ways would make +her almost her usual self again, while at the Abbey he had a royal +welcome. It was funny to see how the young American citizen was merging +into the British public schoolboy, for Archie was losing his Western +accent, which only cropped out now and then when he was excited, and +cricket and football were beginning to replace Indians and grizzlies in +his conversation; but he was totally unspoilt by his new life, and as +jolly and hearty as ever. + +The weather seemed to have conspired in his favour, for the biting March +winds and cutting hail-storms gave way to genial sunshine and April +showers. The hedgerows had burst into tender green, and the banks were +spangled with stitchwort and celandine stars. There had been quite a +spell of sickness in Gorswen at the end of the winter, for many of the +picturesque cottages were dark, unwholesome places inside, and lay low +on the damp fields by the river; but the invalids crept out now into +the sunlight, and the mild breezes blew roses into wan cheeks and +brightness into dull eyes, bringing back health, that most priceless of +gifts, to the village--to all, indeed, but the Rector, who had been +sick-nurse, doctor's assistant, family friend and chaplain combined +during the epidemic, and now that the strain was over broke down so +utterly that the physician insisted upon a complete rest and change of +air, ordering him off immediately to the high meadows of the Alps. He +went unwillingly. + +'I would rather worry on, Peggy,' he said, 'till I can take that last +long holiday of all. It is better to wear out than rust out, any day. +Still, our bodies were not given us to abuse, so you see I am obeying +orders, like a good soldier.' + +The village seemed strangely empty without Mr. Howell. Everyone had +become so accustomed to claim his help and sympathy upon every occasion +as a matter of course that it was only when he was gone they realized +how much they valued him, for many of our blessings are hardly +appreciated until we have lost them. The curate did his best, but as the +old dames remarked: 'He be a nice gentleman, and means well, for sure; +but what can a young lad like that have to say to we?' + +So they dusted their best chairs for him, and agreed with all his +remarks about the weather or the Prayer Book, but kept their doubts and +difficulties for the tried old friend who had stood the test of years. + +Most of the people had made haste to get well for Easter, for to the +good folk of Gorswen that festival meant but one event--the great fair +of the borders, which had been held in the village every Easter Tuesday +within the memory of even that wonderful person, the oldest inhabitant. +It was a kind of central pivot for the year to turn on, and 'five years +come fair-day,' or 'the last fair-day but one agone,' was the general +method of calculating time amongst the villagers. Everybody put on +something new for the fair, and to have appeared on that occasion in a +last year's hat would have been an offence against public taste, or a +confession of abject poverty scarcely removed above pauperism. Cousins +to the ninth and tenth degree turned up for the fair, distant relations +from remote districts or former inhabitants who had left the +neighbourhood and 'got on' in other places availed themselves of cheap +excursions, and visited their early home, partly for the holiday, and +partly for the sake of meeting everyone else. + +The wave of excitement which spread over the village as Easter drew near +could scarcely fail to send its ripples up to the Abbey. Nancy's +evenings for some time past had been absorbed in the construction of a +bright heliotrope gown with gilt buttons, and she had walked into +Warford on her day out, and spent a month's wages upon a hat, which was +such a marvellous erection of flowers and feathers combined with lace, +chiffon, and ribbons, that it was calculated to leave her rivals, like +the Queen of Sheba, with no more spirit in them. + +'Which fair-day only comes onst a year, so folks may as well do their +best,' she observed, as she tried it on before the kitchen mirror. 'And +I had heard as that Sally Pearson has got a hat all the way from +Shrewsbury. A squint-eyed baggage she be, too, who'd ne'er look aught, +whatever she might clap on her head. Tell me truly now, Miss Peggy dear, +does it suit me or not?' + +Knowing that Nancy was capable of starting immediately for Warford to +change the article in question for one yet more costly, Peggy hastened +to answer in the affirmative, and Bobby likewise assuring her that it +would 'take the cake, and no mistake,' it was carefully folded up again +in its sheets of white tissue-paper, and put by until the great day +should arrive. + +Nor was Nancy the only one who indulged in a little innocent vanity, for +Joe, too, had been so fastidious in his choice of a red-and-blue spotted +necktie and a walking-stick with an ivory handle that the children began +to suspect the blacksmith's rosy-cheeked daughter must be at the bottom +of it; and even David had taken a long-tailed coat and a beaver hat out +of the retirement of some mysterious bandboxes and had been quite snappy +and particular with Mrs. David on the subject of the proper starching +and ironing of his Sunday shirt. + +As early as Monday morning, caravans began to arrive from all parts of +the country, and encamp on the piece of green common opposite the mill. +Tired-looking men in dirty shirt-sleeves were soon busy setting up +swings and merry-go-rounds, theatres and shooting-galleries, while the +arrival of a travelling menagerie was the occasion for the collecting of +a whole crowd of small yokels, who studied the outside of the waggons +with breathless delight. + +'Hey, Billee! do 'ee hear the lion roar?' + +'Lion! That be a jackass brayin', thee fule!' + +'Jackass theeself! Don't I know a moke from a wild beast? I tell 'ee +'tis within the tent!' + +'Here be the fat woman arrivin', and it do take four horses to drag her, +for sure!' + +'And the wild man from Borneo. Ay, if he be like his picture outside, +I'll ne'er venture in reach of him!' + +'Thee's not got the penny, may be!' + +'Hain't I? Say that agin, and I'll let 'ee know!' + +'Way back there, ye young rascals! there's the giant and the dwarf +a-comin'!' + +And the youngsters scattered, to leave the green free, and to feast +their imaginations upon the gaudy representations of the various +attractions which adorned the sides of the yellow caravans that crept +slowly up the dusty road from Warford. This, however, was only to be the +pleasure part of the fair. Early on Tuesday morning the real business of +the day started, for then the shepherds began to bring down their flocks +of sheep from the surrounding mountains, the cattle-drovers came with +their sleek cows and long-horned young bullocks, and whole herds of +rough little Welsh ponies were driven with much noise and shouting from +the high moorlands over the border. + +Quiet, sleepy Gorswen seemed completely transformed. The village street +from end to end was an impassable block of charging bullocks, kicking +ponies, barking collies, and bawling drovers, which overflowed past the +Rectory and up to the Willows on the one hand, and nearly as far as the +Abbey gates on the other. Having tried in vain to edge a way through the +press, Peggy and Bobby tacked round by the fields, and scrambling over a +garden wall, found a temporary refuge in the churchyard, which stood +some height above the level of the road, and where, from the +vantage-ground of a convenient tombstone, they found they had an +excellent view of the fair below. The noise was deafening. Animals were +lowing, bellowing, bleating, whinnying, or squeaking in every note of +the octave; cocks crew, ducks quacked, dogs barked, and men talked and +shouted in Welsh and English till a chance comer might have imagined +himself in pandemonium. A cartful of little pigs drawn up beneath the +wall rent the air with their cries, and not the least funny incident was +to watch a stout farmer's wife, despairing of driving her bargain +through the crowd, wrap her squealing purchase in her mantle, and carry +him off in her arms, like 'Alice' with the Duchess's baby. Most of the +cows had been sold first thing, and were being driven away with much +forcible language on the part of their drovers, and it was now the turn +of the cart-horses, beautiful glossy creatures with tails tied up with +straw and manes plaited with ribbons as if for May-day. By good luck +their paces were tried just under the churchyard, so the children got +all the fun of the bargaining. + +'There's Jimmy Fowler selling his Black Bess,' cried Peggy, nearly +falling over the wall in her excitement. 'See that tall Welshman feeling +her knees and looking at her teeth. _Aren't_ they quarrelling over the +price? Oh, he's taken her, for they've both clapped their hands over it! +What a lot of sovereigns he's counting into Jimmy's hand! Now he's +leading her away. I hope she's got a good home; she's such a gentle old +thing!' + +'Here come the ponies!' shouted Bobby, as a wild stampede round the +inn-corner proclaimed the advent of one of the principal features of the +fair. + +It was a good thing that the children were in a place of safety, for +anyone down in the roadway below stood a very fair chance of being +trampled to death by the frightened, plunging herd which surged up the +street, scattering the spectators like leaves before a storm. Utterly +wild and unbroken, the little rough-coated things showed their +disapproval of this their first taste of civilization by every means in +their power, rearing, bucking, and kicking to the best of their +ability. Bargaining in that throng was no easy matter, but their owners +would dash in, seize a pony by the mane and tail, and by sheer force +drag it away from its companions, the very small size of the animals +rendering practicable what would have been impossible with a larger +breed. Dealers had come from all parts of England and Wales, for Gorswen +Fair was noted for its ponies, and a good deal of money changed hands +that day. It made Peggy quite sad to think that the little creatures +were mostly bought for the mines, and that, once broken and trained, +they would never see daylight again, but spend their lives drawing +trucks up and down the low galleries underground, having said good-bye +to their native moorlands for ever. + +Across the road, in the broad square by the inn, the sheep were huddled +in pens, each flock watched by its own clever collie, who seemed to +think it a cardinal virtue to get up a free fight with every other dog +in the fair. Barking, biting, and snarling, the combatants had +continually to be seized by the tails, forcibly separated, and kicked +yelping back to their duties, where they stood with bristling ears, +growling at each other through the hurdles, and showing their teeth like +a pack of wolves. But the buying and selling were over at last, and the +live-stock having been conveyed away, Gorswen turned its attention to +the side of pleasure. Small booths sprang up like magic under the church +wall, and cheap-jacks and travelling hucksters began to proclaim their +wares. The thrifty village housewives were doing a thriving business in +tea and ginger-pop, for a cattle fair is thirsty work, and the inn was +filled to overflowing. All the little gardens were set out with chairs +and tables, and the rattle of cups and the flying of corks made a brisk +accompaniment to the buzz of conversation. The crowd which surged along +the main street was a laughing, merry-making crowd, indulging in a flow +of broad chaff and humour, and bandying jokes with friends and strangers +alike. + +The children had returned after dinner to their point of vantage on the +churchyard wall, and found as much amusement in the sight below as in +the livelier scenes of the morning. + +'There's Joe!' cried Bobby with deep interest, as that worthy passed +sheepishly by, a posy of wall-flowers in his buttonhole and the +blacksmith's daughter hanging on his arm. 'He's got a tall collar and a +pair of tan shoes on. _Isn't_ he a swell!' + +Nancy's hat was a conspicuous object among the smart throng, for Lilian, +after one peep at the fair, had charitably kept house herself, and +allowed her hand-maiden to take a holiday, and the damsel seemed to have +collected so many admirers that the luckless Sally was entirely +eclipsed. Old David was there, quite smiling for once, with Mrs. David +in a new bonnet, and quite a swarm of small grandchildren around him. + +'He's actually buying them humbugs!' said Peggy. 'And he carried the +little one in the blue dress all down the street. I never saw David look +so pleasant in my life before. I think holidays agree with him!' + +Peggy was right there, for a little pleasure is good for most people, +and there were many bright faces and hearty greetings and handshakings +among the pushing crowd. + +'Hello! so this is where you're hiding!' cried a voice from the roadway +below; and Archie seized an overhanging branch of the big yew-tree, and +swung himself up into the churchyard. 'I have been looking for you +everywhere. Couldn't find you this morning for the jam. I've seen some +cute sights in my life, but this fair do beat 'em all! It's like +Barnum's and Mexican Joe flung together, with a cake-walk afterwards!' + +'It's bigger than ever this year, and prices are well up,' remarked +Bobby, with the air of a budding farmer. 'We sold our brown cow for a +pound more than we thought we should, and the ponies went off ever so +high. Did you watch them race round this corner? Didn't the people run?' + +'You should see us break in big horses wild out West. That would make +you stare, if you like. This is mere child's play to it. Where's +Lilian?' + +'Keeping house. Mrs. Davenport's there. She drove over to the fair with +her gardener, and she's bought two cows and four little pigs. They've +turned them all into the loose-box at the Abbey, and they're waiting +till the roads are quieter to take them home. She'll be there for some +time yet. No, we thought we wouldn't go back to tea just at present; +we're not hungry.' + +Divining the cause of this very unwonted lack of appetite on the part of +his friends, Archie proposed an adjournment to one of the numerous +stalls below. + +'Come along with me,' he said, 'and have some cakes and ginger-pop. +We'll do the shows afterwards, and have a real high old time. I'll stand +treat.' + +Nothing loth to have a share in the afternoon's fun, the children +dropped from the wall, and each accommodated with one of Archie's arms, +they went the round of the fair in true village fashion. They feasted +upon ginger-nuts at one stall and lemonade at another, and filled their +pockets with mint rock and caramels. Archie was determined to enter +every one of the gaudy shows which were drawn up in a line along the +green, and dealt out his pennies in princely fashion. + +'Here you are, sir, the fat woman! A most improvin' exhibition!' + +'The wild man from Borneo! Safe in an iron cage, and can't hurt yer!' + +'This way for the giant and dwarf! Come in, and open yer minds!' + +'Circassian beauty! Only a penny!' + +'All right, keep your hair on, old chaps!' cried Archie, nearly pulled +to pieces among the rival showmen. 'We calculate to work right down the +row in due course, and we'll take you all in turn. Let us start fair and +square with number one!' + +Number one proved to be the 'Wild Man from Borneo,' a half-human looking +creature with hairy arms ('Just monkey-skin stitched on to him,' Archie +assured the children), who sat jabbering in a corner of his cage, making +occasional ape-like grabs at the clothing of the passers-by. He was such +a palpable fraud that they soon left him, to gaze on the genuine charms +of the fat woman, who sat stolid and smiling on a sofa, displaying a +stout ankle to the best advantage. Peggy was rather fascinated, but +Archie made such very rude inquiries as to whether she were aspiring to +attain an equal bulk that she indignantly dragged him away to view the +living skeleton, a fearful, hollow-cheeked object, whose bones could +almost be counted. After that came the giant and dwarf, the former a +weedy specimen of unwholesome overgrowth, while the latter looked as if +he had been reared upon gin to keep him small. Then there was the +Circassian Beauty, with the strong suggestion of Whitechapel about her, +the bearded lady, the man with the expansive skin, the six-legged calf, +and the two-headed duck, to say nothing of the man who ate fire and +swallowed swords as if they constituted his usual diet. + +Archie insisted upon trying both the swing-boats and the merry-go-round, +and supported the drooping Peggy (who found the motion tend to +sea-sickness) with a firm arm, otherwise I fear she would have slipped +off her prancing steed altogether. They spent quite a long time in the +shooting-gallery, and won a cocoa-nut, which Bobby proudly carried round +the fair, and they had their photographs taken in a group, but some +air-bubbles having unfortunately got on to the plate, their countenances +came out speckled as though they were suffering from a virulent attack +of small-pox; but Peggy kept it, all the same, as a memento of the +occasion. Archie peeped into the cinematograph, but judging it not very +suitable for his little companions, marched them on to hear the +gramophone instead, which was winding out a rather indistinguishable +song. + +'I can't hear a single one of the words,' said Peggy, rather +disappointed. 'Something makes such a buzzing all the time.' + +'Yes, that's the machinery. I guess they've not got it set up quite +square. I'd soon fix it for them, if they'd let me. I took ours all to +pieces once at home'--and Archie glanced quite wistfully at the +instrument, almost ready to offer his services gratis, till a suggestive +pull from Peggy in the direction of the door caused him to remember that +his friends might prefer the superior attractions of the menagerie. + +Neither Peggy nor Bobby had ever seen a wild-beast show before, for +those visits to the Zoo, which are the joy of little Londoners, do not +fall to the share of country children, and Archie had quite a lively +time keeping them out of harm's way, for Peggy declared the leopard +looked so exactly like Tabbyskins at home that she must positively try +to stroke it, and was under the rope and up to the bars before Archie +could seize her by her skirts and drag her back, while Bobby's curiosity +on the subject of jackals and hyenas nearly led to the ejection of the +whole party from the tent. The small rodents and the mongoose delighted +Peggy, and they would have stopped for ever watching the monkeys, and +feeding them on nuts and biscuits, but Archie had other plans. + +'There's a circus down by the river, with Japanese acrobats, and +performing dogs, and a pig that stands on its head. I know you'd just +admire to see them; and it can't be late yet, so come right along!' + +Such an inducement sent even the attractions of the baby 'possum to the +winds, and feeling that Archie was indeed a friend worth having, they +trotted ecstatically under his wing to the great, flapping tent, where +the flaming posters set forth the attractions of 'The Brothers Amalfi,' +'Jingo, the Performing Pig,' and the 'Marvellous Flying Girl.' Being +well provided with pocket-money, and liking to do things in style, +Archie took reserved seats, and they sat in great state on a front bench +covered with faded scarlet cloth, and felt proudly that the man with the +drum kept his eye upon them, and the clown turned in their direction +when he let off his best jokes. + +It was all a whirl of delight to Peggy and Bobby, from the accomplished +dogs who danced skirt-dances to the little pig who dragged the clown in +a mail-cart and turned somersaults with amazing dexterity. The flying +lady fluttered across the tent so naturally that you quite forgot you +could see the wire that supported her airy form; the Japanese acrobats +climbed ropes, hung head downwards from poles, and suspended themselves +in a combination of marvellous attitudes, finally tying their agile +bodies together in a knot; a Hindoo conjuror performed marvels in the +way of canaries from under pocket-handkerchiefs, umbrellas out of +top-hats, even producing yards and yards of coloured ribbons out of his +own open mouth, much to Bobby's mystification; while the horses pounded +round the ring with quite commendable spirit, and a lady rider in gauze +and spangles jumped through hoops on to their backs with reckless +daring. + +'Oh, Archie, take me home!' cried Peggy at last, for a diet of +ginger-nuts, mint-rock, and lemonade is not exactly sustaining, and the +hobby-horses and swings, combined with the hot, stifling atmosphere of +the tent, made her suddenly feel as if the world were turning round her. + +'All right, old girl; you do look queer, certainly. Cling on to me, and +we'll fight our way out somehow. Come along, Bobby. Now then, make room +there, can't you? The lady's ill!' And pushing, edging, and struggling +through the crowd, Archie half carried her down the tent, and tugged her +through the doorway into the fresh air outside. + +They nearly fell into Father's arms. + +'Why, you naughty children! wherever have you been?' he exclaimed. 'I +have been hunting for you for hours. Lilian is almost distracted, +thinking you had been kidnapped in the fair; and Miss Forster has sent +up twice from the Willows. Don't you know it is nearly nine o'clock?' + +'They've been all right with me, sir,' said Archie. 'I've been taking +them round the shows, and time went so fast, I forgot to look at my +watch. But if aunt's in a stew, I'd better cut off home as fast as I +can, and ease her mind. Here, Peggy, take the rest of the mint-rock, +Bobby has the gingerbread!' + +But the remains of the revel, crammed generously into her arms, seemed +the last straw to poor Peggy, and Father took home such a very limp and +dejected young lady that he might well remark it was a good thing +fair-day only came once a year, an opinion in which a great many people +in Gorswen might feel disposed to agree with him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +ROLLO'S GRAVE + + 'Under the wide and starry sky + Dig the grave, and let him lie. + Glad did he live, and gladly die, + And he laid him down with a will.' + + +Rollo, now grown into a fine dog of a year old, remained Peggy's +favourite among all her numerous pets. Though she had not again tried +him for a bedfellow, he was still the companion of her walks, and the +most winsome playmate on wet days, and Peggy firmly believed that he +understood every word she said to him. He was growing clever with the +sheep, too, and Father hoped to be able to train him into a really +valuable collie, even hinting that he might in time gain a prize at the +annual sheep-dog contests which were held for the district of Gorswen +and the Welsh border. Peggy liked to see Rollo working with the sheep, +the tips of his ears twitching and his faithful brown eyes bright with +intelligence, as he cleverly sorted the lambs which Father had pointed +out from the rest of the flock, and drove them neatly into the +enclosure, coming up whimpering with pride for the praise which he knew +awaited his efforts. + +One lovely April morning Peggy started off alone, on the ostensible +errand of going to pay half a crown which was owing to old Williams, +the mole-catcher, but the more real one of gathering primroses and +hunting about for birds' nests. It was seldom that she was separated +from Bobby, who was as constant as her shadow, but to-day he had +preferred to stay and work in his garden, having many designs for its +improvement, while the holidays were waning only too fast. Peggy had +whistled for Rollo, but he was not to be found, and it was only when she +was more than half-way down the pasture that he came racing after her as +hard as he could tear, nearly knocking her down in the exuberance of his +joy. + +Instead of walking along the high-road, Peggy determined to take the +path through the fields which skirted the preserves belonging to Lord +Hazelford's estate, for the finest primroses grew at the edge of the +wood, and the earliest bluebells, and many a snug little nest might be +found hidden away in those quiet hedgerows. It was a glorious morning, +with the larks singing overhead and the thrushes trilling in the bushes, +and that delicious smell of the earth which we often notice in early +spring, and which makes the blood run through our veins like rising sap. +The trees were clothed with the pale, tender green of April, and a +cuckoo, the first of the year, flew out of the copse, and, cuckooing +loudly, sped over to where the larch-trees were bursting out into a +crowd of tassels. Peggy had no pocket in her dress, but she turned the +half-crown in her hand for good luck, and hoped it might answer the same +purpose. Rollo was almost as happy as his mistress. He poked his nose +into all the rabbit-burrows, he chased the birds, and dug holes for +rats, and generally behaved as if he were a puppy again, instead of a +sedate, grown-up dog, snapping at the flies, and standing over Peggy +wagging his tail in approval, while she gathered violets and +wood-anemones. + +The path which Peggy was following ran along a lane with the wood on one +side and a tall hedge on the other. It was a lonely spot, for there was +not even a farmhouse in sight, and as it was only a by-road it was very +seldom frequented, even by the country people. As she swung the gate +open, and passed from the field into the lane, she saw a sight which for +a moment made her hang back doubtfully, for a tramp lay stretched out +full length asleep in the sunshine, his tattered clothes and broken +boots a strange contrast to the bed of white daisies and celandine upon +which he lay. Peggy was not generally afraid of poor people, but even in +sleep this man had an evil, hang-dog look about his face, which might +have warned many an older person to give him a wide berth. She stood for +a little while with the gate in her hand, hesitating whether to go +forward or not, then, thinking she could probably pass him quietly +without waking him, she walked on, treading on tip-toe. But he could not +have been so fast asleep as she supposed, for he sprang up as she neared +him, and casting a swift glance round to see whether she were +accompanied or alone, held out his hand, and begged for money. + +'I have none to give you,' said Peggy, trying to pass him by; but he +stood over the path before her with a blustering air. + +'No money! What's that in your hand?' he said roughly. + +Peggy put her hand under her dress, and tried to beat a retreat to the +gate. + +'Now then!' cried the man, with a horrible oath, 'none of your slinking +off! You give me what you have there, or I'll break every bone in your +body, and worse! Here! Hand it over, quick!' + +He came a step nearer, but at that moment there was a rush and a rustle, +and Rollo bounded like an arrow through the gate, and flew at his +throat. The two rolled over together, and Peggy clung trembling to the +gatepost as she watched the confused heap at her feet, Rollo scratching, +snarling, and biting like a wild beast, and the tramp kicking, fighting, +and swearing in a way which made her blood go cold to hear. She was too +terrified to run away, and could only stand there, a breathless witness +of the scuffle. Now the dog had the mastery, and now the man, as each +panted and fought for his life; but at length something bright gleamed +in the sunlight, there was a cry of agony, and Rollo lay in a pool of +blood upon the grass. The tramp raised himself slowly up, and looked at +Peggy. Peggy shrieked, such a shriek of ghastly terror that it might +have been heard a mile away, and mercifully it _was_ heard, for there +was an answering call from the wood, followed by a rustle of branches +and dead leaves, and the keeper and his son burst through the thick +undergrowth, and came scrambling over the fence, almost before the echo +of her cry had died away. The tramp took to his heels, and was off down +the lane with sturdy Harry Adams racing after him, in less time than it +takes to tell it. + +'After him, Hal!' yelled his father. 'Don't let the villain escape! Send +a shot through his leg if he's gaining on you! Has the brute hurt you, +Miss Vaughan?'--looking Peggy tenderly over to see that no damage was +done. + +Peggy shook her head, for speech seemed almost impossible at that +moment, and she broke away from the keeper's eager inquiries to kneel +down by Rollo's side, trying vainly to staunch the crimson stream that +was draining his life away. But Rollo was beyond the reach of help now. +The poor beast made a feeble effort to raise himself up to greet his +loved little mistress; he whined, licked her hand, and with one last +affectionate glance from his rapidly-glazing eyes, rolled over on his +side--quite dead. + + * * * * * + +'He was a faithful friend, Peggy, for he laid down his life for you,' +said Father later on in the day, when poor Rollo's body had been carried +home to the stable, and the tramp safely lodged by Mr. Adams and Harry +in Warford Gaol, to await his trial for attempted highway robbery and +assault. + +Peggy had cried till her cheeks were purple and swollen and her eyes +were only two aching slits. She took her troubles hardly, and just at +present it seemed to her as if life could never be quite the same again. +Bobby, almost equally afflicted, had the added trial of trying to +conceal his grief, for he regarded tears as unmanly, and the result was +a peculiar shortness and roughness of manner, with frequent rushings +away to the barn when his feelings overcame him. Joe, whose sympathy +could not have been more genuine if Peggy had lost a parent, hovered +about all day, trying to console the bereaved pair, with small success, +till towards evening a sudden flash of genius inspired him to suggest a +funeral, perhaps his village experience teaching him that the bustle and +preparation necessary for such a ceremony was the best safety-valve to +work off sorrow. + +'We might bury him among the ruins, Miss Peggy. There's a fine place +round by the old abbot's house, where the ground is soft, and we could +dig easy; and I've a cousin in the slate-quarries at Bethogwen as has +promised many a time to cut me a little tombstone as a present, if ever +I was wantin' one, so I'll ask him to bring it next time he comes, and +put Rollo's name on it, and the day, and as how he died defendin' you; +and we'll fix it up nice, and plant flowers round, just as if it was the +churchyard.' + +Peggy sat up, and wiped her eyes with the corner of her damp +pocket-handkerchief. + +'He ought to be in the real churchyard,' she said chokily. 'If ever a +dog deserved the Victoria Cross and a military funeral, it's Rollo!' + +'Do you think he'll go to heaven?' asked Bobby, with a suspicious gulp. + +'Of course he will! I wonder you can ask such a question! Heaven +wouldn't be heaven unless we found Rollo there! We'll wrap his body in +the Union Jack, and pick all our best flowers to strew round him; and +you might fire off your old pistol over his grave, if Father will let +you have any gunpowder--a parting salute, you know, like they do for +officers,' said Peggy, cheering up a little at the thought of arranging +the obsequies. + +Just at sunset the melancholy procession started off from the stable +towards the ruins. Joe and Bobby were bearers, and carried between them +the packing-case lid, draped with all the available flags that could be +found, which bore what had once been poor Rollo. Peggy followed as chief +mourner, her arms full of wreaths and flowers, and a piece of black +crape, purloined from the scrap-bag, pinned conspicuously upon her hat. +The place chosen was among the most perfect part of the old Abbey, not +so much filled up with stones and rubbish as the great refectory or the +remains of the choir. Tradition pointed it out as the abbot's house, and +that name had clung to it through all the hundreds of years since the +busy monks had lived and worked there. + +'Suppose you dig just here, Joe,' cried Peggy, selecting a spot where a +blackthorn was bursting forth into a sheet of white blossom and the +primroses were yellowest and best. + +Joe moistened the palms of his hands in the orthodox fashion, and +seizing the spade began to shovel away at the loose, light soil. He had +dug about three feet deep when his spade struck against a smooth, flat +stone, which, instead of coming out easily amongst the rubbish, seemed +to extend for some way underneath the surface. + +'It looks like a paving-stone, for all the world,' he said, sweeping the +soil away from it with his hand. 'I'll dig out the earth all around it, +and see what it do be.' + +It took Joe a considerable time to clear the stone, though Bobby went to +his aid with a trowel; but he got it free at last, and Peggy stooped +down curiously to examine it. + +'There are marks on it, like letters and queer figures, but they're all +filled up with soil,' she said. 'It seems to me it's a kind of lid, and +if you dig round the edge a little more, Joe, we might lift it up. It's +rather like the cover of one of those old stone coffins in the +churchyard, only smaller. I wonder if there is anything inside?' + +Joe set to work again with a will, clearing out the earth well from +under the side of the stone; then, putting his fingers beneath it, he +gave a mighty jerk of his strong arms, and up it came, nearly upsetting +him with the force of the recoil. Three eager faces peered anxiously +down into what certainly looked like the inside of a small stone coffin, +but instead of containing mouldering bones, it held a good-sized chest +of oak, bound with iron, rather rusted and crumbling, but still holding +quite firmly together. + +'Lift it out, Joe!' cried Peggy, in such excitement that Rollo was +almost forgotten for the moment. 'Whatever can be inside it?' + +'It bean't no light weight, Miss Peggy, whatever it be,' groaned Joe, +for it was as much as he could manage to heave the heavy chest from its +resting-place on to the grass above. + +'There may be money and all sorts of treasures in it,' suggested Bobby. +'Perhaps the smugglers left it behind.' + +'Nay, this be older nor smugglers,' said Joe, with a glance at the solid +workmanship and the quaint carving on the old lid, 'unless they made use +of an old thing for their own purposes. Let be, Master Bobby, I can't do +nothing with you hangin' over me like this!' + +He had been fumbling with the ancient rusty lock while he spoke, and it +now broke away from the rotten woodwork. He flung back the heavy lid, +and revealed--neither gold nor jewels, nothing but a pile of +musty-looking old parchments and books. The children looked at each +other in blank disappointment. + +'There might be something underneath,' said Peggy, beginning to rummage +the chest to the very bottom; but her hopes were soon dashed, for a +further search did not bring anything more to light. + +'How disgusting! Who cares for old books?' exclaimed Bobby, whose heart +had been set on stolen jewels, smuggled valuables, or daggers and +firearms at the least. + +'They're very funny ones, at any rate,' said Peggy, picking up one of +the despised tomes. 'Just look at the backs. They're so thick and heavy. +They seem to be made of metal of some kind, with little bits of coloured +glass stuck into them; but they're terribly tarnished and dirty. I can't +read the writing inside at all, and there are the queerest little +pictures all round the edges of the pages.' + +'What be I to do with the box?' asked Joe, gazing at their find in some +perplexity. 'And be I to dig another hole for the burial, miss, or not?' + +Her thoughts recalled to the melancholy occasion, Peggy flung down the +book, and her grief broke forth anew. + +'We'll bury him in the old stone coffin,' she declared. 'We'll line it +with leaves and primroses, and then lay him in, and just drop on the lid +again. I'm glad he should have a real coffin, after all, and the Abbey's +almost as good as the churchyard, for Father says lots of the old monks +must have been buried here, if we could only find their graves.' + +Even Ophelia could not have chosen a more flowery resting-place, for the +children covered poor Rollo with violets, primroses, and white +sloe-blossom. Joe carefully replaced the lid, and shovelled on the soil +again, heaping it up, and smoothing it with the flat of his spade, in +imitation of the village sexton. + +Father had refused to allow gunpowder, so the pistol was useless, but +Peggy placed a wreath of white jonquils picked from her own garden upon +the grave, and dropped so many tears over it that I do not think any dog +could have been more truly mourned and regretted. + +'You won't forget about the tombstone, will you, Joe?' she said, finding +the prospect of a monument to her pet decidedly consoling. 'I mean to +make up a nice epitaph for him, in poetry if I can manage it--something +about his being such a beauty, and then dying doing his duty, because +that would rhyme.' + +'Miss Peggy,' declared Joe solemnly, 'you shall have that there little +tombstone, if I has to go without one myself. You write the words out +plain on a piece of paper, and I'll walk over to Bethogwen the very next +time I gets a holiday. You'll see my cousin will do it beautiful, havin' +worked a year in a stonemason's yard, and being fond of a dog, too. He +might even try his hand at a weepin' angel or a broken flower at the +top, but I can't promise that, not knowin' whether he's kept his tools.' + +The box containing the old manuscript was carried into the loft by Joe, +and examined by Father at his leisure. + +'I don't know much about this sort of thing, Peggy,' he said, 'but I +should imagine they would be mostly old records and deeds of the Abbey. +It is marvellous how well they are preserved, but the oak and the stone +combined must have kept out the air, and parchment does not decay like +paper. Valuable? Not from a money point of view, I am afraid; but no +doubt they would prove very interesting to some antiquarian who could +read them. We will keep them here until the Rector comes home again. I +expect he will be delighted to look over them some day, and will tell us +what they are all about.' + +Mr. Vaughan had intended to write an account of the find to the local +newspaper, but in the hurry and worry of his affairs he forgot. The +Rector was still away, and as nobody else took any interest in such +matters, the mysterious old chest stayed neglected among the corn-sacks. +Only Peggy sometimes stole up the stone staircase, and taking one of +the strange books from its hiding-place, would pore over the quaint +pictures which bordered the pages. They fascinated her with their crude +drawing and colours still vivid and bright--saints with halos round +their heads, kneeling rapt in prayer, with folded hands, in the midst of +green fields and flowers, while the Virgin, clothed in blue and gold, +appeared with a whole company of angels from the skies above; patient +martyrs, with wan faces upturned to heaven, while their persecutors +flung stones, or heaped on the burning brands; the blessed passing into +the joys of Paradise, with the wicked writhing in the tormenting flames +below; and round all a curious illuminated bordering, where strange +faces peered out of twisting foliage, and figures of birds and animals +were intertwined with patterns of flowers or the tail of a capital +letter. What patient fingers, she wondered, had toiled over these in +days gone by, working with paint-pots and palette of gold to put the +glory of paradise on his pages? Had the world altered much in all these +years? And how little did the old artist think that his work would be +found and marvelled at when he and his order were alike forgotten, and +the very Abbey where he had lived and laboured had long since crumbled +away! + +So the old chest remained in the loft, as hidden there as when it had +been buried in the earth, and Peggy came and went, never dreaming in the +time that followed that these ancient, musty relics could in any way be +bound up with the fate and fortunes of the Vaughans. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +DEEPENING TROUBLE + + 'The web of our life is a mingled yarn, + Good and ill together.' + + +As the year advanced, Mr. Vaughan found that his troubles by no means +decreased. Mr. Norton, urged on by his solicitor, was a hard creditor, +and would allow neither time nor mercy. He had taken a fancy to the +place, it seemed, and hearing that some of the neighbouring properties +would probably soon be on sale, wished to settle down at Gorswen and let +it form the nucleus of a large new estate. Unless the whole of the +mortgages could be paid up by the end of July, the property must fall +into his hands, and the black cloud which had hung for so long over the +Abbey seemed on the verge of breaking. + +Mr. Vaughan had tried by every means in his power to meet his +difficulties, but all the channels he had counted upon had failed him, +and as he sat over his account-books late into the night blank ruin +stared him in the face. So impossible did it seem in any way to raise so +large a sum of money that he began quietly to make arrangements to +realize what he could on the stock and furniture, to enable him to make +a fresh start in a fresh place. It would be too trying, he decided, to +settle down anywhere in the neighbourhood of his old home, and it would +be better for both himself and his children to seek their fortune in a +new country, where his practical knowledge of farming should stand him +in good stead. He had thought at first of Kansas or Nebraska, but having +a friend in Australia, who might help him considerably in the choice of +land, he determined to give the preference to the colonies, and to try +his luck under the Southern Cross. It would be impossible to take much +more than their personal belongings with them, so everything else would +have to be sold on previously. Already an auctioneer had been sent for +to the Abbey to inspect the furniture, and give some idea of what it +might be likely to realize. It made Lilian's blood boil to see him +appraising the old oak, examining the curtains and carpets, and taking +notes of the pictures and books. + +'There's grand stuff here for a sale,' he said to her enthusiastically, +rubbing his hands as if he expected her to share in his joy. 'We shall +have dealers from all over the kingdom. It's not often one gets the +chance of genuine antiques which have been known to be in one family for +such a length of time. I shouldn't wonder, now, if that Chippendale +suite were to run into three figures; it's a very scarce pattern, and +much sought after. There's some china, too, that will attract many of +the buyers, and should go for a fair price, and that Romney portrait +ought to be quite a catch. I think you will find that in our experienced +hands the very utmost will be made of everything. Of course, we shall +advertise the sale in good time, and have catalogues printed and +distributed in every likely quarter.' + +'It seems quite bad enough to have to sell the things at all,' said +Lilian afterwards. 'But to hear him talk of putting all our dear old +treasures down in a catalogue made me feel absolutely ill. I can't bear +to have the Romney picture go, either, because it's just like Peggy; it +might have been painted from her'--the vision of the family portraits +and the armour of her ancestors being turned over and valued by oily +gentlemen of the Hebrew persuasion adding a double sting to the trial. + +Bobby was still too young to fully understand everything that was taking +place, but to the two girls it was a time of bitter trouble and +humiliation. To Peggy, the mere fact that it should be Phyllis Norton +who would take her place at the Abbey seemed as hard as anything to +bear, and she knew her old home would pass to a family who would care +nothing for its ancient traditions and associations. Mr. Norton had +spoken freely of his plans in the neighbourhood, and it was well known +that he intended to almost rebuild the house, pulling down the ruins and +all the more early portion, and turning the whole into a handsome modern +residence. Of romance and respect for the past he possessed not a whit, +and valued the estate for its shooting and horse-rearing capabilities +alone. + +'All the things which we care for most will be done away with,' grieved +Peggy--'the dear old tower pulled down, the ruins destroyed, the garden +uprooted, and the woods cleared away. I should not have minded so much +if we could have given up the place to someone who would have kept it +just as it is. It seems so hard we should be turned out when we love it +so. I feel as if, when we leave the Abbey, there will be nothing left!' + +'We shall still have each other, Peggy,' said Father. 'And while our +little circle is unbroken, I think we shall be able to make a home again +somewhere. It is hard to be torn up by the roots, but you must not let +it spoil your young lives, at any rate. I hope my children may get on as +well in the new country as they would have done in this, though an old +fellow like I am may find it difficult to settle down again.' + +'You're not old, Father,' said Lilian, stroking the hair which had shown +tell-tale streaks of gray lately among the brown. + +'I feel old, my dear, after all I have gone through. It is worry, not +years, which ages people. But there's life in the old dog yet, and we'll +make a brave push for it in Australia.' + +'I wish Aunt Helen were here,' said Peggy. 'She would have been _such_ a +comfort in all this trouble!' + +'No, no!' cried Father hastily. 'Thank God she's out of it, at any rate! +I feel it one of my blessings to know she was safely settled before this +came upon us. Aunt Helen has had too much trouble in her life, without +taking any more upon her shoulders. She'll be grieved enough about it as +it is, even out there in India with her husband to console her.' + +In spite of all possible care, the secret of the state of affairs at the +Abbey soon leaked out in the neighbourhood, causing the utmost +consternation and regret, for the Vaughans were universally liked and +respected, while for Mr. Norton nobody could find a good word. The +matter was much discussed at the Bluebell Inn, where old Ephraim, having +served the family for forty years, was considered an authority on the +subject, and graciously allowed himself to be treated by the assembled +company while he gave voice to his opinions. + +'It's not as I holds by pride of birth,' he argued, 'and me a Radical +fifty year and more. When I were a lad, there were a talk o' choppin' up +th' land, an' givin' share and share alike to all, but they never done +it. It come up sure enough at election times, as regular as free trade +or the income-tax. "Three acres o' land and a cow," was what was +promised th' poor man if he'd give his vote to th' Liberal candidate; +but it weren't nothing but talk, and came to naught.' + +'They be mostly windbags, they candidates,' observed Tom Slater, the +village blacksmith, settling himself more easily in a corner of the +bench by the fireside, and holding up a stalwart finger for the pot-boy. + +'Ay, as empty as a glass wi' naught in it!' replied Ephraim, shaking his +head, and gazing reflectively at his empty tumbler. + +Taking the hint, Tom ordered gin-and-water hot for two, and gently +turned the conversation back to the Vaughans. + +'If there's to be property,' said the old man, 'let them have it, sez I, +as is used to it, and knows what's due to other folk. There's Mester +Vaughan would always do a good turn to a poor body if it lay in his way, +but this here Mester Norton's as tight-fisted a screw as ever looked at +a penny twice afore he parted with it.' + +'Ay, he be that, and scant honest,' cried the stout miller, with a +lively remembrance of sundry hard transactions with grain for the +distilleries, in which, to his chagrin, he had had distinctly the worst +side of the bargain. 'It be the same with all they that make haste to +get rich,' he added piously. 'But they'll take their place with Dives +when other folk has gone to Abraham's bosom.' + +'You hain't done badly yourself, Mester Griffiths,' suggested Tom +Slater, 'if it come to a matter o' that. Folks say you've a tidy sum +laid by in Warford Bank.' + +'Earned by the sweat o' my brow, Tom,' said the miller, puffing away at +his long churchwarden pipe. 'The work o' my hands has been blessed and +prospered. Ay, the Lord's been very good to me, and I've done Him +credit, too!' + +For Ebenezer Griffiths was deacon of Salem Chapel, and accustomed to +regard himself as the main bulwark and pillar of the religious and moral +welfare of the village. + +'I've not any grudge against them as has money,' observed old Ephraim +oracularly, 'but when it's used to turn them as hasn't out of their own, +it's time them Socialists had a innings and stepped in. There was Mester +Vaughan givin' interest fair on them mortgages, and I've heard as th' +lawyer hisself said as he were safe as th' bank to pay regular, and what +call had Mester Norton to buy 'em up, and ask for th' principal back, +when it weren't in reason as he could raise it?' + +'A case of Naboth's vineyard,' sighed the miller. 'He coveted the land, +and is using foul means to get it.' + +But Ephraim's knowledge of Scripture being limited, the allusion was +lost upon him. + +'Let th' Government take it up, sez I,' he declared, waxing excited, and +thumping his fist on the table. 'It 'ud be a sight better nor passing +land bills for Ireland, where no one's satisfied i' th' end, do what un +may. Let Mester Vaughan go up to Lunnon, and put it fair afore th' House +o' Commons, like th' deputations as th' newspapers tell on, and they'd +listen to un, and see un to his rights.' + +Tom Slater shook his head. He had little opinion of Parliament, having +supported the wrong candidate at the last election, and pinned his +faith to purely local measures. + +'We might boycott Norton, may be,' he observed thoughtfully, 'and mek +the place too hot to hold him.' + +'Ay, Tom, that be a good notion, surely,' put in little Sam Andrews, the +joiner. 'Send him a letter with a coffin drawed out at the top, or a +skull and cross-bones, to say as how that's what's waitin' for un, if he +comes to Gorswen.' + +'Ye'll be gettin' into trouble, Samuel,' said the miller. 'Norton would +put the police on your track, and clap you in Warford Gaol for +threatening his life.' + +'But it wouldn't be me alone if we made a round robin o' it,' said Sam +hastily, who had by no means anticipated carrying out the scheme on his +own responsibility. 'Or I'd send un wi'out puttin' a name to un--a +unanimous letter they calls un, I believe.' + +'Anomalous?' suggested Tom Slater. + +'Anonymous be the word,' said the miller. 'But it's agin the law, +Sam--agin the law. Nay, it's a case where the wicked do prosper. I be +main sorry for Mester Vaughan, I be, but the ways o' Providence be dark +and past findin' out.' + +If there was sympathy for Mr. Vaughan's trouble among the patrons of the +Bluebell Inn, nearer home it waxed both keen and practical. + +'Take me with you, sir,' begged poor Joe, dissolving into tears at the +thought of parting with the family to whom he was so much attached. 'I'd +serve you faithful, and never ask a penny of wages, but just my keep +till you got settled and started. I've got eight pound ten laid by in +the savings-bank, which would go towards my passage-money, and my granny +would lend me the rest. I'd be glad to try my luck over the seas, and +maybe it 'ud seem more homelike to Master Bobby and the young ladies to +find a face they knew about 'em in a place where all was strangers.' + +Warm-hearted Nancy was in a perpetual tempest of regret, and assured +Lilian that if she had not faithfully promised to marry Tom Higgins she +would have packed her box and insisted upon joining the party. + +'But he have took the farm, Miss Lilian, and bespoke three cows, and a +pig, and twelve hens, and he be such a fule he'd no more know what to do +with 'em than a babe, so I must have him, if it's for naught but the +sake of the poor beasts'--which certainly seemed a most convincing +reason. + +Perhaps to David the anticipated change meant as much as to anyone, for +he was growing too old to seek a new master, and dreaded the inevitable +time when he would be shelved from work, and placed on the parish list, +to the self-respecting poor always the bitterest sting of old age. The +day of possible emigration for him had long gone by, and his must be the +harder part of remaining to watch the Abbey pass into the hands of 'a +Pharaoh who knew not Joseph,' and who could not be counted upon for +either kindness or charity in his dealings with the poor around him. + +As it was such an open secret, Peggy did not feel she was betraying any +confidence by discussing their affairs with Archie when he came over for +his brief half-term holiday, and in the seclusion of the stack-yard she +poured out her troubles into his sympathetic ear. + +'Oh, I say, look here, you know,' cried the boy, ruffling up his +chestnut locks with both hands, which was a way he had when upset, 'if +you go out to Australia, I shall come too! I could persuade aunt to go +in a jiffey--the doctor said she'd be a million times better in a drier +climate--and we'd take the farm next to yours. Now my poor old dad's +gone, and my mother's married again, and the boys all trading off on +their own account, I don't want to go back to Colorado; but I like +colonial life, and farming would be a lot jollier than school, any way, +for the fellows in my house are awful Johnnies, they can talk of nothing +but games, and laugh at one for a crank if one tries to make things.' + +'It would be nice if you went too,' said Peggy, quite brightening at the +prospect, for not the least part of her trouble had been the thought of +leaving her friends. + +'Then we'll go. Cheer up, Pegsie; you'll see it won't be so bad as you +imagine. Australia's a fine place to get on in, and there'll be queer +trees and flowers, and kangaroos, and natives, and all sorts of new +things to see. Of course, I know it's an awful wrench leaving the Abbey; +but, after all, there are other places in the world to locate in. +There's no end of jolly fun going on on board ship, I can tell you, and +you'll have a real good time on the voyage out, and at the ports, +especially with me to show you around; and when we get fixed up on our +new ranches I guess you'll allow that things are pretty first-rate!' + +'It would never be the Abbey, though, however jolly it was. I had meant +to live here all my life, and be buried in the transept when I die. I +have a feeling as if the Crusaders and the Elizabethan lady and +gentleman on the monuments would miss us when we go away,' said Peggy, +relapsing into pensiveness once more. + +But Archie had been brought up in a democratic country, and had little +sympathy for the ties of race. + +'Oh, bother the ancient Crusaders, and the other folks under the +tombstones! If they could get up again and chop off old Norton's head, +and fight anyone who laid a finger on the Abbey, they'd be of some use +to you. I believe there are a pile of old Forsters lying under elaborate +tombs somewhere in Northumberland, but what have they ever done for me? +It's no use being sentimental about old times. I'll undertake there was +precious little sentiment about them in those days. Didn't they come +sailing over from Denmark and Normandy, and all sorts of places, to +settle down in England, which was a new country then, just as we're +thinking of going out to Australia? Five hundred years hence we shall be +quite ancient history ourselves, and folks can romance over our +tombstones if they feel inclined. And after all, why should one's +ancestors do everything for one? I guess I'd rather make my mark in the +world for myself,'--for the boy had all the enthusiasm of a pioneer +about him, added to a sturdy spirit of independence. + +This was quite a new gospel to Peggy, and though she could not +altogether reconcile it with her clinging love for the home of so many +generations of Vaughans, it did her good in that it gave her a fresh +aspect of life, for it is always wise to look at things from another +person's point of view, as well as your own, and she had a great respect +for Archie's opinions. + +In the meantime things went on at the Abbey just as though the family +were not, metaphorically speaking, sitting on the edge of a volcano. +Daily duties must be done, however sore your heart may be, and the work +of a farm can never be stopped for your private troubles. So Lilian +reared fluffy chickens and yellow ducklings which would probably never +grace her poultry-yard, and Father cultivated the fields, though he +might not be there to gather in the harvest. It seemed hard to Peggy to +think that the trees would bud and the flowers blossom, and the crops +grow, when they were not there to watch it all, for most of us have a +kind of feeling that we are the important centre around which Nature +turns, instead of only mere spectators of her varying moods, and +sometimes it felt so impossible that such an utter upheaval in their +lives could really come to pass that she would have to shake herself to +believe that it was not all a bad dream; but as she noticed the quiet +preparations that went on, and the added worry on Father's face, she +realized that it was only too true, and that every day was bringing them +nearer to that terrible twenty-fifth of July when the mortgages would +fall due. + +There is always a silver lining, however, to every cloud, and I think +this trouble, hard as it was to bear, made one of the stepping-stones in +Peggy's character. At first she had been inclined to grumble and repine, +and say that life was using them hardly, but something which the Rector +(always the family confidant) wrote to her in one of his frequent +letters made her stop and think. + +'If you are really anxious to be a help and comfort, Peggy, here is your +grand opportunity. Now that the sky is so overcast at home, suppose you +put your own part of the trouble quite on one side, and let your bright +ways make the family sunshine. One cheerful person in a sad house can +work wonders, and by being specially gentle and loving just now you can +make Father remember that his children are more to him than his old +home, and that, after all, love is the best thing in this life, and +worth more than houses, or lands, or any goods which the world may +offer us. A really bright, sunny disposition is as much a talent as any +other of God's good gifts, so be thankful, child, you possess it, and +make the best use you can of it in the Master's service.' + +Peggy put the letter by among the treasures in her work-box. She did not +speak about it, or show it to anyone, but after that not a further +grumble escaped her, and she managed to find such a bright side to the +question, and talked so often and so hopefully of the future, that +Father said she was as good as a tonic, and began to find his little +daughter such a comfort to him, and so different to the old thoughtless +Peggy of former days, that I scarcely know how he would have got through +that trying time without her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY + + 'Who comes to the ruin, the ivy-clad ruin, + With old shaking arches, all moss-overgrown?' + + +May drew to a close with a burst of warm weather, and the Whitsuntide +holidays promised to prove all that the heart of the cheap tripper might +desire, though beyond a chance cyclist or two that article was as +unknown as the dodo in quiet Gorswen, where fortunately the charms of +the scenery had not yet been spoilt by picnic parties leaving greasy +sandwich papers and ginger-beer bottles in the woods, and demanding +noisy entertainment in the village, nor the youth of the neighbourhood +corrupted into hanging round the public-house doors to listen to the +mirth and songs of the excursionists within, or offer faded bunches of +flowers in exchange for halfpence. Gorswen, having taken its annual +holiday at Easter, made no account of Whit-week, and went on with its +work as usual, for the agricultural labourer does not claim so much in +the way of pleasure as his brethren of the loom or the forge, and is +content with an occasional fair or village feast to break the monotony +of his daily life. + +Whit Monday was a holiday at school, however, and Peggy and Bobby, +having the day at home, took a sudden fit of industry, and started to +weed the shrubbery with the noble intention of having it raked over and +tidied by teatime, being put somewhat on their mettle by Father's +remarks on the subject of sustained labour, and his laughing incredulity +when they assured him he would find it all neatly finished when he +returned from Warford that evening. It was a warm day, and gardening is +particularly back-breaking work, but they toiled grimly away, neither +liking to be the first to give in, and soon began to make considerable +headway among the weeds. + +'Hello!' cried Bobby suddenly, pausing in his task of uprooting a giant +dock. 'Who on earth is all this crew coming up the drive? I say, Peggy, +do come and look!' + +Peggy was not sorry to find an excuse to fling down her hoe and basket, +and she came scrambling up the bank just in time to witness the strange +procession that was slowly straggling from the great gate towards the +front-door. There were gentlemen, young, old and middle-aged, some in +tourist tweeds, some in boating flannels, and some in sober black, most +of them with books or road-maps in their hands, while a sprinkling of +ladies, both grave and frivolous, in light summer costumes and with gay +parasols, completed the party. That they were on an errand of pleasure +was evident, for there was a tolerable amount of laughing and talking, +while all appeared to be taking stock of the house and surroundings with +considerable interest. + +'Whatever can they want?' said Peggy, who certainly had never seen the +Abbey invaded by such an alarming number of callers before. 'They look +as if they were going to take the place by storm!' + +After a short parley at the door, the visitors were conducted by Nancy +to the side-gate, where they all filed into the ruins, from whence a +lively hum of conversation could plainly be heard. + +'I vote we go and see what they're after,' said Bobby, his curiosity +getting the better of him; and, abandoning the weeds, the children ran +round by the kitchen garden into the house. + +'Did ye ever see the like?' said Nancy, as they catechized that giggling +maiden for information. 'They calls themselves "The Welsh Borders +Society of Antiquaries," so they sez. It's got the name on this little +paper as they've left, and they comes to the door wantin' master's +permission to look at the ruins. I sez he ain't in, but I asks Miss +Lilian, and she tells 'em "Yes," and there they all is, pokin' about +amongst the nettles, and grubbin' up stones, and stickin' bits of mortar +in their pockets, and dodgin' about with yard measures, for all the +world like a set of lunatics. What they can find to look at passes me, +for there's nought there but the walls and stones. And it seems they've +come all the way from Warford in waggonettes. Just think of that, now! +Only to look at a few old ruins, when they might 'a' spent Whit Monday +in the Spa Gardens, with the Grenadier Band, and the variety company +down from Lunnon, too!' + +'But the ruins are tremendously interesting, Nancy; I don't wonder +people want to come and look at them. Just think how old they are!' + +'Well, the gentry has queer tastes, I will allow. There's you and Master +Bobby, now, always a-collecting of stones and insects and like rubbish +to litter up the Rose Parlour, and I suppose some grown folk is as +foolish as children over such things. However, it's live and let live, +and if they care to take their pleasure that way, let 'em, although it +wouldn't be my taste if I was a lady born.' + +'Come along, Bobby,' said Peggy, 'we'll go into the ruins, and see what +these people are doing. Miss Crossland has often talked about the +Antiquarian Society in the history lessons at school, and I always +wanted to see one of the meetings.' + +'Ay, do,' said Nancy, 'and if you can make head or tail of their talk, +it's more than I can. One of 'em asked me if there was any sepulchral +slabs, and it turned out she only meant tombstones after all. She could +'a got plenty o' they in Warford Cemetery, without coming this distance, +I reckon.' + +Feeling rather shy, and not liking to intrude their presence upon +strangers, the children followed the party into the ruins, and creeping +under the protecting shelter of some bushes, found they could take quite +a good view of the proceeding unobserved. The antiquarians did not seem +to be discussing anything very learned just at present, for they had +drawn out flasks, and packets of sandwiches, and were engaged in +picnicking upon the stones in a truly modern fashion, while occasional +bursts of laughter were wafted along the air. + +'It looks jolly fun. I wish they'd ask us to join them!' whispered +Bobby. + +'I don't see Miss Crossland there,' returned Peggy. 'But perhaps she's +away for Whitsuntide. They certainly seem to be having a good time.' + +To enjoy an _al fresco_ meal, however, was evidently not the main +business of the society, for the members soon disposed of their +refreshments, and began to collect in little groups round a +learned-looking gentleman, who, with a bundle of papers in his hand, +seemed clearing his throat in preparation for giving an address. The +children could hear most of what he said, and a very interesting account +of the Abbey it proved to be, with a description of the size and extent +of the old buildings, and the life led by the ancient monks, which quite +delighted Peggy, who revelled in Scott's novels and historical stories, +and which made the past days rise up so clearly before her that she +could almost fancy the bell ringing for vespers, and hear the rustle of +the gray robes of the friars as they passed silently up the chancel to +their stalls in the choir. The members seemed to take copious notes in +pocket-books, and asked occasional questions, one literary-looking lady, +in spectacles and a large black hat with nodding feathers, being +particularly insistent, and volunteering so much information that she +threatened to usurp the place of the lecturer, and had to be gently +suppressed, while an old gentleman distributed pamphlets broadcast, +declaring he had had them specially printed for the occasion. The +speeches were over at length, and a last farewell round of the ruins +having been made, the society finally took its departure, with the +intention of viewing the church, and an injunction for all the members +to assemble for tea at the Bluebell Arms at half-past four precisely. + +As the last pink parasol and straw hat disappeared through the little +gate, Peggy and Bobby emerged from their retirement, somewhat stiff and +cramped, and were just about to give vent to a wild war-whoop as some +slight relief to their pent-up feelings when they noticed that after all +they were not alone. Two antiquarians had remained behind, so evidently +fascinated with their surroundings that they lingered about, measuring +the walls with a yard-tape, and putting down the items in well-worn +pocket-books. One of them was a singular-looking old gentleman, small +and thin, with a clean-shaven face and a scholarly stoop. Seemingly he +thought considerably more of his books than of such details as his +toilet, for there was a very large expanse of gray sock visible above +his dusty shoes, and his limp shirt-front looked guiltless of starch. In +spite of the heat of the day, he wore two overcoats, one above the +other, and the pockets of both were filled to overflowing with pamphlets +and papers. He kept a fragment of pencil continually in the corner of +his mouth, like a cigar, and Peggy noticed that when he accidentally +mislaid his pocket-book he jotted down notes upon his cuffs, as if it +were quite an ordinary occurrence to use them in lieu of paper. The +other old gentleman was stout and jovial-looking, with a full gray beard +and whiskers, and an amazingly juvenile suit of tweeds. It was evident +that his pitch of enthusiasm, or perhaps physical endurance, was not +equal to that of his companion, for he panted with heat as he held the +other end of the yard measure, and gave vent to occasional grunts of +disapprobation as he toiled painfully to the tops of mounds to get +bird's-eye views of the outlined cells, or take snap-shots of the +remains of the windows and columns. + +'Interesting, most interesting! Abounding at every yard with testimony +of the past, and in some ways unique, and a valuable contribution to our +list of early English abbeys. With your photographs, Sedgwick, we shall +have ample material for our projected treatise, which I trust should be +ready for the September issue of the _Archaeologian_'--and the little old +gentleman sat down on a broken column, and pulled a sheaf of papers out +of one of his many pockets. + +'Warm work, though, Doctor,' replied the other, wiping his steaming +brow. 'I believe I would sell my birthright for a tumbler of water. I +wonder if they would give us some up at the house. There does not seem +to be a spring or anything about here.' + +'You will be having tea soon,' said he of the two overcoats +unsympathetically, 'and I am most anxious to compare your notes and +measurements with my own. This is such a favourable opportunity that I +think we had better seize the occasion while we are on the spot to make +fresh observations in case of any discrepancies in our descriptions.' + +The stout man seemed to comply unwillingly, and the friends were soon +immersed in calculations, quite unaware of the two pairs of watchful +eyes close by which had taken in the whole situation. + +'I'm sorry for that fat man,' whispered Bobby. 'He looks as if he were +ready to melt. The way he pounded up and down those mounds made me hot +to watch him.' + +'Poor old fellow! You'd think the other would be hot, too, in two +overcoats! I declare I shall go in and fetch them some milk!' cried +Peggy, starting up impulsively. 'You can stay, if you like, and tell +them I'm bringing it.' + +But bashful Bobby distinctly objected to accost strangers, and preferred +to follow her in the direction of the house, offering to act scout while +she did the foraging. Not being quite certain how her efforts at +hospitality might be received at headquarters, Peggy watched Nancy +successfully out of the way, and dashing into the dairy, emerged +presently with a jug of milk and two glasses perilously balanced on a +tray, which she nearly upset in her efforts to elude the returning deity +of the kitchen. + +'You can go first, Bobby,' she suggested, as she struggled with her +burden through the side-gate, 'and say "Good-afternoon," and "Would +they like some milk?" and then I can offer them the tray.' + +'Well, I like that, when it was your idea altogether! No, thank you, I +don't care to be in it!'--and meanly deserting at the last moment, Bobby +fled into the sanctuary of the garden, leaving Peggy to carry her +refreshments to the ruins alone. + +I think if it had not been for the fact that she knew Bobby was peeping +at her from over the wall, Peggy would have turned tail too, but as it +was, she felt bound to carry out her project, and under the fire of his +laughing eyes she walked sturdily towards the strangers. She had thought +of at least three pretty speeches to make for the occasion, but when it +came to the point she could not remember any of them, and could only +hold out the tray, blushing very much, and saying nothing at all. The +old gentlemen looked so surprised at the sudden apparition before them +that the numerous books and papers fell to the ground in wild confusion. + +'Hebe, surely!' said the stout gentleman, with a little bow. 'Is this +nectar which you are offering us, fair nymph? Doctor, this is indeed a +godsend! Allow me to pour you out a glass of this beverage. Ah! nectar +indeed!'--as he set down his empty tumbler. 'I feel refreshed and +invigorated. May I ask if it is the sprite of the ruins to whom we are +indebted for this bounty?' + +Rather taken aback by his bantering tone, Peggy was at a loss what to +answer, but the other old gentleman, noticing her confusion, came to the +rescue. + +'Many thanks, my dear, for your kindness,' he said, with stately, +old-fashioned courtesy. 'We have much enjoyed the examination of your +most interesting ruins, and if your Father had been at home to-day, I +should have given myself the pleasure of thanking him in person. I +shall make a point, however, of sending him a copy of my report in the +_Archaeologian_, where I trust he will find many items of information +respecting the origin and history of the Abbey with which perchance he +may be unacquainted. By-the-by, may I ask if any curiosities have ever +been found while ploughing in these fields?' + +'Not when they were ploughing,' said Peggy, finding her voice at last. +'But when we were digging last Easter here in the ruins we found a funny +old box.' + +'_What!_' cried the old gentleman, bouncing up in his excitement like an +indiarubber ball. 'You actually found something _here_, in the Abbey, +when digging? Sedgwick, do you hear that?' + +The stout man smiled appreciatively. + +'Perhaps our fair nymph will kindly describe the nature of the +discovery,' he suggested. + +'There was a big old stone box first,' began Peggy. + +'A stone coffin!' gasped the old gentleman. + +'But there weren't any bones inside,' continued Peggy, rather enjoying +herself now that she had once broken the ice. 'It was something much +queerer than that--a wooden box full of old books, with writing you +can't read, and strange little pictures all round the pages.' + +'And what have you done with them? Where are they? Can you show them to +me?' cried the enthusiastic antiquarian, almost dancing with eagerness. + +'They're in the loft. I'll take you if you'd like to look at them.' + +'Come along, Sedgwick; I believe we may be on the verge of a valuable +discovery!'--and stuffing his papers into his capacious pockets, the old +gentleman started off with impatient strides, bearing his stout friend +in his wake like a little tug towing a steamer. + +[Illustration: "SEDGWICK, THIS IS AN EXTRAORDINARY DAY!"] + +Peggy often laughed afterwards when she remembered how she escorted the +pair up the rickety steps into the granary, and prevented them from +falling through the trap-door into the stable below, and guided them +between the sacks of grain in the dark loft, where, flinging open the +wooden shutter, she let in a stream of sunlight, and disclosed to view +the ancient chest. + +'A curious piece of workmanship, Sedgwick! Saxon undoubtedly, I should +say.' + +'I agree with you, Doctor. Shall I lift the lid?' + +'By all means. Ah! what have we here?'--and the little man squatted down +on a sack of oats, and lifted out one of the books with the reverent +touch of the true collector. + +'Unique! unique!' he cried, rubbing his hands with delight. 'Sedgwick, +this is indeed a find! If I do not mistake, this is a genuine portion of +the Saxon chronicle, and will make a sensation in the antiquarian +world.' + +'There is something here which looks like a copy of the Gospels,' +replied the other, who had been turning over the contents of the chest +with much interest. 'And there seem to be some exquisite breviaries and +"Hours of the Virgin." Just see this illuminated border. It reminds me +of the "Book of Kells."' + +'The same period, doubtless. Sedgwick, this is an extraordinary day! +Such a discovery only comes once in a lifetime!' + +'Some of the bindings are queer, too,' put in Peggy, hunting out one of +her favourites. 'Look at this. It seems as if it were made of lead, with +little pieces of coloured glass stuck in it.' + +'Lead! Coloured glass!' chuckled the old gentleman. 'My dear child, let +me tell you this is antique silver, set with jewels. Wait till you see +it cleaned!' + +'Jewels in the back of an old book!' gasped Peggy, astonished in her +turn. 'How did they get there? Is it really true?' + +'Certainly. Many of the books in old times had covers of enormous value. +The ancient Abbey no doubt was a rich one, and much of their wealth +would be devoted to their library.' + +'Then if these are really precious stones,' said Peggy, 'I suppose they +will be worth something. Father said he was afraid the old books were of +no value except to people who were fond of such things. We were waiting +till our Rector came home to look at them.' + +'They are of the utmost value, my dear, not only for the jewelled +covers, but for the rare contents and illuminations, which are of a type +most scarce and precious. I have not had time to go through the whole +contents of the chest, but I should say if these books were put up at +Christie's they would realize many thousands of pounds. With your +Father's permission, I should like to send down an expert from the +Bodleian to examine them.' + +'There will be keen bidding with the British Museum if they are put up +for sale,' remarked the stout gentleman. + +'It would be a most exciting occasion. I should make a point of being +present in person, and use all my influence to secure them for Oxford. +There would probably be representatives bidding from all the principal +libraries and museums in the kingdom, not to mention the United States +and the Continent.' + +'But, please, do the books really belong to Father?' asked Peggy, who +did not quite understand this conversation. + +'Certainly, if your Father is the legal owner of the property. No one +else can lay the slightest claim to them, and I congratulate him on the +value of his prize.' + +'Then--would it be--would it be possible for Father to get the money for +them--soon?' faltered Peggy, blushing scarlet at putting such a +question. + +'Without doubt it would. If he should wish to realize them at once, the +sale could be pushed on in a few weeks, only time should be allowed for +the Americans to hear of them, as they always run prices up. If +agreeable to your Father, I will call to-morrow morning and discuss the +subject with him, and in the meantime I can only beg that all possible +care will be taken of these priceless treasures. The chest seems secure +from any ravages of rats or mice. Still, I should advise its being +carried into the house without further delay. You agree with me, +Sedgwick?' + +'Certainly; it is wiser to run no risks. By-the-by'--looking at his +watch--'may I remind you, Doctor, that our waggonettes are due to start +at five o'clock, and it is already half-past. I fear the members of our +party will be awaiting us with some impatience at the Bluebell Arms.' + +'Dear me,' said the old gentleman, 'I fear I am sadly forgetful! In the +society of such enthralling interests I have no conception of the flight +of time. To-morrow morning, then, my dear, if your Father will be at +liberty, I shall give myself the pleasure of calling upon him;' and +regretfully closing the lid, he tore himself away from the old chest, +like a reluctant lover from his mistress, and took his departure, +leaving Peggy, nearly wild with excitement, to rush tumultuously into +the house with her wonderful piece of news. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +CONCLUSION + + 'We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; + In feelings, not in figures on a dial. + We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives + Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best.' + + +It was all perfectly true, that was the best part of it. The little old +gentleman turned out to be a very learned don from Oxford, with a +terrific list of letters at the end of his name, and in the course of a +few days a representative arrived from the Bodleian Library with a +request to be allowed to inspect the books (which by this time had been +removed to a corner of the big drawing-room), and after a considerable +amount of talking and writing it was arranged that they should be sent +to London at once to be sold by auction. As the old gentleman had +prophesied, the sale made quite a sensation among lovers of antiquities, +and realized a sum sufficient to put Mr. Vaughan at once out of his +difficulties. + +'It does not make me a rich man, children,' he said. 'But it is enough +to wipe off our debts, and keep the old roof together over our heads. We +shall still have to work hard and live carefully, but now that there +will not be the continual drain of the interest on the mortgages going +out, I shall be able to put more into the land, and carry out the +improvements I have been longing to make for years, and in time the +estate will pick up, so that I hope when I go to take my place among the +old Crusaders in the transept I shall hand it on to the next generation +of Vaughans in better condition than I found it.' + +To say that the children were delighted at this new turn of fortune's +wheel is a very poor way of expressing their rapture. Every corner of +the Abbey had to be revisited to feel again the joy of possession; all +the animals must be petted as a kind of apology for having even thought +of parting with them; and Peggy felt as though she would like to tell +the birds and the flowers that they were not going away after all, and +give them a chance of joining in the general rejoicings. Soft-hearted +Joe wept at the good news, but it was for joy this time; and so many +people sent kind messages of congratulation, and expressed such pleasure +at hearing they were to remain at the Abbey, that the Vaughans were +quite surprised to find how popular they were in the neighbourhood. + +The only person who seemed not altogether satisfied was Archie, who had +dwelt so much on a colonial future that he was quite disappointed at +having to give up the idea. + +'I had almost persuaded Aunt to go,' he declared. 'And it would have +been ripping fun out there on our ranches. No, I ain't going unless you +do! I guess I'll stay in England now, and take to engineering; but it +seems half a pity, for we should all have got on tip-top in the new +world.' + +As Mr. Vaughan had said, the change in his fortunes did not make him a +rich man, and though all anxiety was now removed, and even a few extra +comforts might be added, matters went on pretty much in the old way at +the Abbey. Peggy grew up without many of the luxuries which fall to the +lot of richer girls, but she was none the worse for that, and I think, +when she saw how bored and uninterested Maud Middleton was in the midst +of her round of London society and foreign travel, she felt that it is +sometimes better to have the capacity for enjoyment than to have the +means without the happy talent of being able to appreciate your good +things. + +Life was always so well worth living to Peggy, whether at work or play. +Her friendships were so keen and her affections so warm, that I think +she found the world a very pleasant place to be in, and made it better +and pleasanter for other people too (which is, after all, the grand +secret of happiness), and the energy and enterprising spirits which had +caused the tomboy pranks of her childhood were qualities which, turned +to good use, proved of the utmost service to her in after-years. + + * * * * * + +Do I make too much of a little girl who, after all, was no heroine, but +who tried her honest best, like many another, to fear God, tell the +truth, and love her neighbour as herself? If so, my love for her bright +ways and warm heart must be my excuse, for I have told Peggy's story +just as it happened. + +Many years have passed away since the children played round the old +apple-trees in the orchard, or scrambled among the ivy in the ruins, but +Gorswen is little changed. The picturesque old black-and-white houses +still stand in the village street, unspoilt by time or tourists; Mrs. +Price presides at the Post Office, rubicund and smiling; and old Ephraim +totters down from his cottage to the Bluebell Arms, a living testimony +to the healthfulness of the district. The flowers are as beautiful as +ever in the Rectory garden, but the Rector is not there to tend them. He +has gone where little Raymond went before, on that longest of holidays +from which there is no return to the lesson-books of this life. He is +deeply missed in the village, but he has a worthy successor in Mr. +Wentworth, who now holds the living in his stead, for years of +companionship with one who dwelt so continually at the gate of heaven +have changed the nervous young curate into a strong and earnest +character. He is much liked in Gorswen, and he has Lilian to help him. +Perhaps the fact of their mutual shyness first drew them together, but +they have much in common besides an enthusiasm for parish work. She +makes an excellent helpmeet, and an ideal clergyman's wife. She has no +children of her own, but in mothering the fragile little Indian cousins +who are sent home to gain rosy cheeks and sturdy limbs from the fresh +English breezes her warm heart finds its outlet, and she is able to pay +back to Aunt Helen some of the love and care which she owes her from +long ago. + +Bobby is a fine, tall young fellow, fresh from an agricultural college, +where he has learnt so much in the way of scientific farming that he +intends to make the fields yield the very highest pitch of production. +But already the Abbey has prospered to such an extent that little by +little the Vaughans are buying back some of the land which their +ancestors had squandered, and in time the estate may once more be of +some importance in the county. + +And Peggy? I think the Rector's prophecy is justified, and she has grown +in every sense into the fine woman which he hoped and expected. She +still loves the Abbey dearly, but I do not fancy she will spend all her +life there, after all, for Archie, who now owns a prosperous sheep-farm +in Australia, is still as anxious as ever for her to try colonial life, +and I think that the next time he comes home on a visit to Gorswen he +will be able to persuade her. + +Peggy does not feel the least little bit older than when she climbed +the water-wheel, or thrashed Jones minor behind the paling of the +cricket-field--if growing old means losing your ideals, and your keen +enthusiasm, and your hopefulness, and a certain appreciation of other +people's worth which is our birthright when we are young. She is still +capable of climbing a tree or scrambling over a hedge when no one is +looking, and pursues her hobbies with all her former vigour and energy. +She is sometimes almost ashamed of feeling, as she says, so ridiculously +young, but after all one's age should not always be measured by one's +years, and wherever she may go, or whatever she may do, Peggy will keep +that most priceless of possessions, the heart of a little child, without +which, equally in this world or the next, it is impossible to enter into +the Kingdom of Heaven. + + + + +THE END + + +_Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London and Bungay._ + + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + +Variations in spelling and hyphenation have been retained as they appear +in the original publication. Changes have been made as follows: + + Page 19 + In April the cuckoo comes, _changed to_ + '"In April the cuckoo comes, + + Page 143 + and went prim little walks _changed to_ + and went on prim little walks + + Page 164 + such invaluable etacher as _changed to_ + such invaluable teacher as + + Page 172 + were not so simply _changed to_ + were not so simple + + Page 197 + the old fellow's, rambling divergences + the old fellow's rambling divergences + + Page 240 + Safe in a iron cage _changed to_ + Safe in an iron cage + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Terrible Tomboy, by Angela Brazil + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A TERRIBLE TOMBOY *** + +***** This file should be named 38619.txt or 38619.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/6/1/38619/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +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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