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diff --git a/40178.txt b/40178.txt deleted file mode 100644 index c968f8c..0000000 --- a/40178.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7221 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's The Carter Girls' Mysterious Neighbors, by Nell Speed - -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/license - - -Title: The Carter Girls' Mysterious Neighbors - -Author: Nell Speed - -Illustrator: A. O. Scott - -Release Date: July 10, 2012 [EBook #40178] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CARTER GIRLS' MYSTERIOUS *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan, -eagkw and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - [Illustration: The popovers had popped just right. - (_Frontis_) (_The Carter Girls' Mysterious Neighbors_)] - - - - - THE CARTER GIRLS' - MYSTERIOUS NEIGHBORS - - By NELL SPEED - - AUTHOR OF - - "The Molly Brown Series," "The Tucker - Twins Series," etc. - - [Illustration] - - A. L. BURT COMPANY - Publishers New York - Printed in U. S. A. - - - - - Copyright, 1931 - BY - HURST & COMPANY - - MADE IN U. S. A. - - - - -Contents - - - I. EN ROUTE TO THE FARM 7 - II. THE LANDLADIES AND A NEW ACQUAINTANCE 19 - III. THE COUNT 38 - IV. GRANTLY 56 - V. VALHALLA 63 - VI. CHLOE 76 - VII. BOBBY'S BLAME PAY 90 - VIII. SATURDAY 107 - IX. GOLDILOCKS' CHAIRS 118 - X. NOVEMBER 133 - XI. PARADISE 153 - XII. HERZ 167 - XIII. GOOSE STEPPING 189 - XIV. AN EIGHTEENTH BIRTHDAY 197 - XV. BLACK SOCIALISM 211 - XVI. DRESSING FOR THE BALL 221 - XVII. THE BALL 231 - XVIII. ANGEL'S FOOD 247 - XIX. A LITTLE LEARNING 255 - XX. IN THE MEANTIME 262 - XXI. THE FLAMING SWORD 272 - XXII. A NEAT TRICK 287 - XXIII. VISITORS AT PRESTON 294 - XXIV. THE CARRIER PIGEON 308 - - - - -The Carter Girls' Mysterious Neighbors - - - - -CHAPTER I - -EN ROUTE TO THE FARM - - -"How I hate being poor!" exclaimed Helen Carter, looking ruefully at her -darned glove. - -"Me, too!" echoed the younger sister, Lucy. - -"Shh! Father will hear you," admonished Douglas. - -"Nobody can hear above the rattle of this horrid old day coach," -declared Helen. "There is something about the odor of a common coach -that has spent its life hauling commuters from home to work--from work -to home, that sickens me," and Helen's sensitive nostrils quivered in -disgust. - -"I'm sorry, dear; I know it is all so hard on you," said Douglas. - -"Not a bit harder on me than it is on you." - -"Not a bit!" from Lucy. - -"I think it must be," smiled Douglas. "I have an idea Nature did not -intend me to ride in Pullmans. I am really just as comfortable in a -day coach and I think they are lots more airy and better ventilated. -What do you think about it, Nan?" - -"Oh, I like 'em--such interesting types," drawled Nan. "You get to your -destination sooner, too, as the Pullman is always hitched onto the back -end of the train." - -"I can't see anything very interesting in commuters, I must say," -laughed Helen, "but Nan was always easy to please." - -"Yes, Nan is our philosopher," said Douglas. - -"Well, since Lucy and I are to join the army of commuters it would be -foolish of us not to find them interesting. Don't you remember Mrs. -Doasyouwouldbedoneby? If we find them interesting maybe they will return -the compliment." - -"Yes, and I remember Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid, too," declared Douglas, -exchanging a sly glance with Helen. - -The two older sisters could not help seeing that a nice looking boy -sitting across the aisle had already found something to interest him in -the dreamy brown eyes of one courageous commuter to be. His own grey -eyes were twinkling with merriment. Evidently the rattle of the despised -coach had not drowned the conversation so far as he was concerned. He -had made some pretense of studying, but Latin Comp. was deadly dull in -comparison with the chatter of the Carter girls. - -The Carters were _en route_ to their winter quarters, chosen after much -discussion and misgivings as the best place they could find for all -concerned. The doctor had pronounced the ultimatum: Mr. Carter must be -in the country for another year at least and he must have no business -worries. He must live out-of-doors as much as possible and no matter -how perplexing the problems that in the natural course of events would -arise in a household, they were not to be brought to the master of that -household. As Mrs. Carter had determined many weeks before to play the -role of a lily of the field, announcing herself as a semi-invalid, who -was to be loved and cherished and waited on but not to be worried, it -meant that Douglas, as oldest child, must be mother and father as well. -Hers was the thankless task of telling her sisters what they must and -must not do, and curbing the extravagance that would break out now and -then in spots. Small wonder that it was the case, as, up to a few months -before this, lavish expenditure had been the rule in the Carter family -rather than the exception. - -They had spent a wonderful summer running a week-end boarding camp on -the side of a mountain in Albemarle County. It had been a remarkable -thing for these young girls to have undertaken and accomplished, all -untrained as they were. But when their father's nervous breakdown came -and the realization that there was no more money in the family till, and -none likely to be there unless they could earn it, right manfully they -put their young shoulders to the wheel and with a long push and a strong -push and a push all together they got their wagon, if not hitched to a -star, at least moving along the highroad of life and making some -progress. - -Dr. George Wright, the nerve specialist who had undertaken Mr. Carter's -cure, had been invaluable in their search for the proper place in which -to spend the winter, this winter that was to put the keystone in their -father's recovery. Such a place was not easy to find, as it must be near -enough to Richmond for Nan and Lucy to go to school. That was one time -when Douglas put her foot down most emphatically. The two younger girls -were quite willing to follow in their sister Helen's footsteps and -"quiturate," but Douglas knew that they must be held to their tasks. -She bitterly regretted her own inability to continue her education, as -college had been her dream, and she also deplored the fact that Helen -was not able to spend the one more year at school necessary for her -graduation. As for Helen, not having to go to school was the one bright -spot for her in the whole sordid business, at least she had boldly -declared such was the case. - -The winter was to be a busy one for Helen, as the home work was to fall -to her share. Douglas, by a great piece of good luck, had obtained a -place as teacher in a district school not far from the little farm that -had been selected as the abiding place for the Carter family during that -winter of 1916 and '17. The teacher who had been employed had been -called away by private affairs, and Douglas had fallen heir to the -position. - -The train rocked and swayed and bumped on the illy-laid road-bed as our -girls sped on to their destination. Mrs. Carter in a seat across the -aisle had placed her tired head on her husband's shoulder. The poor -little lady felt in her heart of hearts that all of this going to -out-of-the-way country places to spend winter months was really absurd, -but then it was absurd to be poor anyhow, something she had not -bargained for in her scheme of existence. She had said not a word, -however, but had let Douglas and that stern Dr. Wright manage -everything. She felt about as capable of changing the plans of her -family as her youngest child, Bobby, might. - -Bobby, who had spent the time on the train most advantageously, having -made friends with the brakeman and conductor, was now sitting in an -alert attitude, as his new friends had informed him that there were only -five minutes more before they would reach Grantly, their destination. -Going to the country was just what he wanted and he was preparing to -have a glorious time with no restrictions as to clean face and hands. To -be sure, he had heard that he was to go to school, but since Douglas was -to be the teacher this fact was not disturbing him much. - -The summer in the mountains had done much to develop this darling of the -Carters. He no longer looked so much like an angel as when we were first -introduced to the family. His curls were close cropped now and he was -losing teeth faster than he was gaining them. If there could be such a -thing as a snaggled tooth angel perhaps that celestial being would -resemble Bobby Carter; but I am sure if that angel could have thought up -as much mischief in a week as Bobby could execute in an hour, he would -have met the fate of Lucifer and been hurled from Heaven. It may be, -though, that if Lucifer had possessed such eyes as this little boy he -would have been forgiven and might still be in his happy home. It was an -impossibility to harbor wrath against Bobby if once you looked in his -eyes. They were like brown forest pools. His sister Nan had the same -eyes and the same long curling lashes. The shape and color of their eyes -were inherited from their beautiful little mother, but the soulful -expression that the children possessed was something that came from -within and is not controlled by laws of heredity. Mrs. Carter's eyes if -they reminded one of forest pools were certainly very shallow pools. - -"At last!" as the brakeman called out their station, came with a sigh of -relief from the whole family. - -The station consisted of a platform and a little three-sided shed -designed to shield the traveler from the weather, if the weather did not -happen to arrive on the unprotected fourth side. - -"They promised to meet us," said Douglas as she collected parcels and -umbrellas, "but I don't see a sign of them." - -"Maybe they are on the other side," suggested the hopeful Nan, peering -through the window. - -They weren't, however, nor anywhere in sight. Douglas and Helen looked -at each other askance. The two older girls were the only ones in the -family who had seen their future abode and they felt very responsible. -This hitch of not being met was most disconcerting. They had felt if -everything went off smoothly and well their choice of a home would be -smiled upon. First, the day they moved must be good, and this day in -October was surely perfect. The packing must be done without bustle -and confusion, and that had been accomplished. They must have a good -luncheon before leaving Richmond, and Miss Elizabeth Somerville, who had -invited them to her house, had feasted her cousins most royally, sending -them forth with well-nourished bodies and peaceful minds in consequence. -This was the first obstacle to their carefully laid plans. They were to -learn that no plan depending in any particular on the cooeperation of -their landladies, the Misses Grant, would go through safely. - -Miss Ella and Miss Louise Grant were joint owners of the small farm that -the glib real estate agent had persuaded Dr. Wright and our girls was -the one and only place in which the winter could be comfortably spent. - -"Excellent air and water; close to schools and churches; neighborhood as -good as to be found in Virginia, and what more could be said? House one -of the old landmarks of the county; the view from the front porch quite -a famous one; R. F. D. at yard gate; commuting distance from Richmond; -roads excellent, as we have found on our way here." They had motored out -and certainly the roads had seemed very good. - -The Misses Grant were all that was left of a large and at one time -influential family. They lived in a great old mansion erected in the -middle of what was at one time a vast estate but which had gradually -shrunk through generations of mortgages until now it comprised about two -thousand acres. The name of this old place was Grantly. - -The farm that Helen and Douglas had rented for the year was only called -a farm by courtesy, as it had in its holding only about ten acres. It -had at one time been the home of the overseer of Grantly when that -aristocratic estate could boast an overseer. It was too humble an abode -to have a name of its own, but our girls were determined to give it a -name when they found out what would suit it. Now they stood on the -platform of the tiny station and said in their hearts that such a place, -belonging to such unreliable persons, deserved no name at all. - -"Oh, I'm so sorry they haven't sent to meet us. They told me if I would -write to them they would have a carriage and a farm wagon here," wailed -Douglas. - -"Why not walk?" suggested Mr. Carter. "A quarter of a mile is nothing." - -"Oh, do let's walk!" exclaimed Lucy. "We can just leave the luggage -here and get someone to come back for it." - -"All of you can walk," came faintly from Mrs. Carter. "Just leave me -here alone. I don't fancy anything much will happen to me." - -"But Mumsy, only a quarter of a mile!" begged Lucy. - -"Why, my child, I never expect to walk more than a few blocks again as -long as I live." - -Mr. Carter looked pained and ended by staying with his wife while the -four girls and Bobby trooped off to find someone to send for them. - -"Why does Mother say she never expects to walk more than a few blocks -again as long as she lives?" blurted out Lucy. "Is she sick? She looks -to me like she's getting fat." - -"Tell her that," suggested Nan, "and I bet you she will find she can -walk a teensy little more than a few blocks." - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE LANDLADIES AND A NEW ACQUAINTANCE - - -"This is a long quarter of a mile," said Nan, trying to keep up with her -more athletic sisters. - -"The agent told us a quarter of a mile, but I reckon he meant as the -crow flies. He did not allow for all the twistings and turnings of this -lane," laughed Helen. - -"It is a very pretty walk, anyhow, and I'm glad we are not so close to -the track because of Bobby," said the philosophic Nan. - -"Shucks! You needn't be a-thinkin' I can't find my way back to that old -station," said that young hopeful. "I wisht it was barefoot time and I -would wade in that branch." - -They were crossing a pretty little stream that intersected the road. Of -course Bobby took occasion to slip off the stepping-stones and get his -foot wet. - -"S'long as one is wet I reckon I might as well get th' other one wet, -too," and he stepped boldly into the stream. "Sqush! Sqush! Ain't this a -grand and glorious feeling?" - -"Oh, Bobby!" chorused his sisters. - -"'Tain't gonter make no diffunce! My 'ployer says sech things as this -toughen kids." - -Bobby always called Dr. Wright his employer, as it had been his habit to -go with that young physician while he was making his professional calls, -his duties being to hold out his arm when they were turning corners or -preparing to stop; and to sit in the car and guard his 'ployer's -property from the depredations of hoodlums and micks. - -"I don't think some kids need toughening," said Nan, trying to look -severe. - -"Yes'n I gotter joke on you, too! They was a pretty near grown-up boy on -the train wanted to know what yo' name was. I was jawin' the inductor -an' the boy comed and plunked hissef down by me an' he axed me what was -my name and where I was a-gointer, an' was all'n you my aunts or what. -He was so busy a-findin' out he come near a-missing his gettin' off -place. He lives jus' befo' our gettin' off place." - -"Oh, that must have been the good-looking boy sitting opposite us, just -behind Mother and Father! You noticed him, Douglas, didn't you?" asked -Helen. - -"Well, he wasn't a-noticin' you much," proceeded the _enfant terrible_. -"He wanted mostly to know what was Nan's name an' where she went to -school." - -"Surely you didn't tell him!" blushed Nan. - -"Sho' nix! I told him yo' name was Lizajane an' you was a-clerkin' in -the five an' ten." - -"Oh, Bobby!" - -Nobody could help laughing at the saucy youngster, and his sisters were -ever inclined to find him amusing and altogether delightful in spite of -his outrageousness. Their laughter rang out clear and infectious. -First they laughed at Bobby and then they laughed for the pure joy of -laughing. Douglas forgot her burdens and responsibilities; Helen forgot -how she hated to be poor; Nan forgot that the quarter of a mile she was -going to have to trudge twice a day to join the army of commuters was -much nearer half a mile and she was not a very energetic girl; Lucy -had nothing to forget or regret, being only thirteen with a perfect -digestion. For the moment all of them forgot the nerve-worn father and -the hypochondriacal mother waiting so forlornly at the station with the -luggage piled so hopelessly at one end. - -In the midst of their gale of laughter they heard the hum of a motor and -the toot of a horn. A large touring car came swerving around the curve -in the road. - -"That's him now!" cried the delighted Bobby. - -It was no other than the boy on the train. He stopped his car and with -crimson face began to stammer forth unintelligible words. - -"Excuse me!--but--that is a--you see I---- Oh, hang it all! er--my name -is William--Will--Billy Sutton." - -"Oh, he's plum nutty an' thinks he's Billy Sunday--Billy Nut Sunday!" -and Bobby danced gleefully in his squshy shoes. - -"Bobby! Behave yourself!" said Douglas, trying to swallow the laugh she -was in the midst of. - -"We was jes' a-talkin' about you," said Bobby, with his most disarming -smile. - -"About me?" and the young fellow choked his engine. - -"Yes, I was a-tellin'----" - -But here Helen took her little brother in hand. Helen could usually -manage him better than any of the others. She whispered some mysterious -something to him which quickly sobered him. - -"I don't want you to think I am impertinent or interfering, but your -little brother told me on the train coming out that your mother and -father were both ill----" - -"Yes, I told him they were likely to die mos' any time." - -"And I heard at the post-office at Preston, where I live, that you have -rented the farm from the Misses Grant; also that those ladies were not -expecting you until tomorrow----" - -"But I wrote we would be there today, Wednesday!" exclaimed Douglas. - -"That doesn't make a bit of difference to Miss Ella and Miss Louise -Grant," laughed the boy. "They never get anything straight because they -discuss every subject so thoroughly that they are all mixed up before -they get through. Anyhow, they did not meet you, and if you don't think -I am pushing or forward or something----" - -"Butinsky!" suggested Bobby, but Helen slipped her hand over his pert -little mouth. - -"Thank you for that word--butinsky--why, I should like the privilege of -going after your mother and father and bringing all the luggage my car -will hold." - -"Oh, you are too kind!" chorused the girls. - -"Let me take all of you first to the farm." - -"We must go by Grantly to let the ladies know we are here," suggested -Douglas. - -"They are both of them at the farm. I saw them as I came by." - -"Did you tell them we had come?" - -"No! They were sure to let me know it was none of my business, and, as -I was fully aware of the fact, I just drove on by, hoping to be of more -service to you in this way." - -The girls and Bobby piled into the car assisted by the boy, who handed -them in with pleasing gallantry. By adroit manoeuvering he managed to -get Nan in front, although the irrepressible did squeeze in, too. - -"I must sit in front so I can poke out my arm. Maybe you is huntin' a -shover. I'm Dr. Wright's shover in town an' up'n the mountings. He don't -mind my having two jobs in off times when he ain't a-needin' me." - -"Well, then, I'll employ you right now," said Billy Sutton, solemnly. - -"I think maybe it is in order for us to introduce ourselves," said -Douglas. "This is Helen Carter; and this, Nan; and this, Lucy; I am -Douglas; and Bobby has already been noticed enough." - -Hands were shaken and then they started gaily off. - -"It seems a long quarter of a mile from the station to the farm, but -maybe it is because I am lazy," said Nan, who was unfeignedly glad of -a lift. - -"Who said it was only a quarter of a mile? It is exactly three -quarters." - -Two minutes brought them to the farm gate, where Billy deposited the -occupants of the back seat. It was decided that Nan and Bobby were to go -on to the station with their new friend and benefactor and explain him -to Mr. and Mrs. Carter. - -"Oh, Douglas, isn't the place sweet? Lucy, don't you like it?" asked -Helen as they opened the big gate that led from the road into the lawn -of their new abode. - -"Great! It looks so romantical." - -"I was so afraid it wasn't going to be as nice as we thought it was -because the real estate agent was so glib and rattled on so he confused -us. I was afraid he had hypnotized us into liking it. But it is lovely," -and Douglas breathed a great sigh of relief. - -Indeed it was lovely; lovelier, I fancy, than the real estate agent -dreamed. The lawn was spacious, with soft rolling contours and a few -great trees, some of them centuries old. In the front a mighty oak stood -guard at one corner and an elm at another. Nearer the house a straight -young ash and a willow oak divided the honors. At one side of the quaint -old house a great mock orange had established a precedent for mock -oranges and grown into a tree, just to show what a mock orange is -capable of when not confined to the limitations of a hedge. Its trunk -was gnarled and twisted and because of careful pruning of lower branches -it had grown like a huge umbrella with limbs curving out from the parent -stem and almost touching the ground all around. - -"What a grand place to play house and tell secrets!" thought Lucy, -regretting that thirteen years old, almost fourteen, was too great an -age to indulge in dolly tea parties. - -A grove of gum trees glorified the back yard with their brilliant -October foliage. There never was such a red as the gum tree boasts and -these huge specimens were one blaze of color. The trunks had taken on a -hoary tone that contrasted pleasantly with the warm tints of the leaves. - -The yard contained about four acres enclosed by a fence that had been -covered entirely by honeysuckle, and even then a few blossoms were -making the air fragrant. In the back there were several rather -tumble-down outhouses, but these, too, were covered with honeysuckle -as though by a mantle of charity. - -The house had been added to from time to time as the race of overseers -had felt the need. These additions had been made with no thought of -congruity or ornamentation, but since utility had been the ruling -thought the outcome was on the whole rather artistic. The original -house, built in the first years of the nineteenth century, had a -basement dining-room, a large chamber over this and two small, -low-ceilinged attic rooms. Later a shed room had been built at one -side in the back, then a two-story addition had reared itself next to -that with no apparent connection with the main house, not even a -family resemblance. This two-storied "lean-to" was known always as -"the new house," although it had been in existence some threescore -years. There were two rooms and two halls in this addition and it had -a front porch all its own. The old house also boasted a front porch, -with a floor of unplaned boards and posts of rough cedar. But who -minds cedar pillars when Washington's bower has done its best to cover -them up? As for unplaned boards with cracks between: what a good place -to sweep the dirt! - -The green blinds were open all over the house and windows were raised. -As our girls stood on the lawn drinking in the beauty and peace of the -scene they heard loud and angry voices proceeding from the basement -window. - -"Louise Grant, you are certainly foolish! Didn't I tell you they -wouldn't be coming down here yesterday? Here you have littered up this -place with flowers and they will all be faded by tomorrow. I have told -you a million times I read the letter that Douglas Carter wrote and she -said distinctly she was coming on Thursday." This in a loud, high, -commanding tone as though the speaker was determined to be heard. "You -needn't put your hands over your ears! I know you can hear me!" - -"That's all right, Ella Grant," came in full contralto notes; "just -because they didn't come yesterday is no sign they did not say they were -coming that day. I read the note, too, and if you hadn't have been so -quick to burn it I guess I could prove it. Those flowers are not doing -anybody any harm and I know one thing--they smell a sight better than -that old carbolic you are so fond of sprinkling around." - -"I thought I heard the three train stop at the crossing," broke in the -high, hard voice. - -"No such thing! I noticed particularly." - -"Nonsense! You were so busy watching that Sutton boy racing by in his -car that you didn't even know it was train time. What John Sutton means -by letting that boy drive that car I can't see. He isn't more than -fourteen----" - -"Fourteen! Ella Grant, you have lost your senses! He is twenty, if he -is a day. I remember perfectly well that he was born during the Spanish -war." - -"Certainly! That was just fourteen years ago." - -The girls couldn't help laughing. It happened that it was eighteen years -since the Spanish war, as our history scholar, Lucy, had just learned. -That seemed to be the way the sisters hit the mark: one shooting far in -front, one far behind. - -"We had better knock," whispered Helen, "or they will begin to break up -the china soon." - -She accordingly beat a rat-tat on the open front door of the old house. - -"Someone is knocking!" exclaimed the contralto. - -"Not at all! It's a woodpecker," put in the treble. - -One more application of Helen's knuckles and treble was convinced. - -"That time it was a knock," she conceded. - -There was a hurrying and scurrying, a sound of altercation on the -stairs leading from the basement to the front hall. - -"Why do you try to go first? You know perfectly well I can go faster -than you can, and here you have started up the steps and I can't get by. -You fat----" - -"If you can go so much faster, why didn't you start up the steps first?" -panted the contralto. - -"Don't talk or you'll never get up the steps! Save your wind for -climbing." - -The bulky form of Miss Louise hove in sight and over her shoulder the -girls could see the stern countenance of her long, slim sister. How -could two such different looking persons be born of one mother? Miss -Louise was all breadth and no height; Miss Ella, all height and no -breadth. Miss Louise was dark of complexion, with coal-black hair -streaked with grey; Miss Ella was a strawberry blonde with sandy hair -streaked with grey. Age that brought the grey hair seemed about the only -thing they had in common, except, of course, the estate of Grantly. That -had been willed to them by their father with a grim humor, as he must -have been well aware of their idiosyncrasies. They were to hold the -property together with no division, the one who survived to inherit -the whole. - -"Well!" said Miss Ella over the shoulder of her sister, who refused to -give her right of way but who was silenced for the moment by shortness -of breath. "Why did you come today when you wrote you were coming -to-morrow?" - -"I did not write I was coming tomorrow," said Douglas, smiling in spite -of herself. - -"There! What did I tell you?" panted Miss Louise. "You said Tuesday, -didn't you, honey?" with ingratiating sweetness. - -"No, Miss Grant, I said Wednesday." - -The incident was closed. The wrangling sisters had no more to say on the -subject except to apologize for not having them met. It was explained -that Billy Sutton had gone to get Mr. and Mrs. Carter, but the trunks -must be sent for. Quite humbly Miss Ella went to get her farmhand to -hitch up the mules to drive to the station, while Miss Louise showed -the girls over the house. - -Everything was in beautiful order and shining with cleanliness. The -white pine floors were scrubbed until they reminded the girls of biscuit -boards, and very lovely did the bright rag rugs look on these floors. -The furniture was very plain with the exception of an occasional bit of -fine old mahogany. A beautiful old highboy was not too proud to stay in -the same room with a cheap oak dresser, and in the basement dining-room -a handsome mahogany table democratically mingled with split-bottom -chairs. - -Miss Louise had put flowers everywhere for their reception the day -before and the whole house was redolent of late roses and mignonette -and citronella. An occasional whiff of carbolic acid and chloride of -lime gave evidence of the indomitable practicality of Miss Ella. - -Miss Louise proved very sweet and kindly when not in her sister's -presence and later on the girls found Miss Ella to be really very -agreeable. Both ladies seemed to be bent on showing kindness and -consideration to their tenants to make up for the mistake about their -day of arrival. - -Mr. and Mrs. Carter could not help thinking that the place their -daughters had chosen for them to spend the winter was pretty. As they -rolled up in Billy's car the quaint house and beautiful lawn certainly -presented a most pleasing aspect, and their handsome daughters were an -added loveliness to the landscape as they hurried to meet their parents. - -"Ah, this is great!" exclaimed Mr. Carter, taking a deep breath of the -pure fresh air. "I think I shall have to have a cow and some pigs and do -some fall plowing besides. Eh, Helen? You and I are to be the -stay-at-homes. What do you think?" - -"I think what you think, Daddy," answered Helen, smiling happily over -her father's show of enthusiasm. Dr. Wright had told her that with -returning healthy nerves would come the enthusiasm that before his -illness had seemed to be part of Robert Carter's make-up. - -"How do you like it, Mumsy?" asked Douglas as she drew her arm through -her mother's. - -"Very nice, I am sure, but I think it would be wiser for me to go to bed -now. I am not very strong and if I can give up before I drop it would be -less trouble for my family," and Mrs. Carter took on a most plaintive -accent. "A little tea and toast will be all I want for my supper." - -"Oh now, it will be too bad for you to go to bed," said Miss Ella. "We -were planning to have all of you come up to Grantly for supper." - -She and Miss Louise seemed to have agreed for once on the propriety of -having their tenants to supper. - -"The count is coming," said Miss Louise, with a sentimental note in her -full voice. - -"The count! Who is the count?" asked Mrs. Carter with some show of -animation and interest. - -"He is a nobleman who has settled in our neighborhood," said Miss Ella -in a matter-of-fact tone, as though noblemen were the rule rather than -the exception in her life. - -"Maybe it would be possible for me to take a short rest and come to -Grantly," said Mrs. Carter, with a quickening in her pretty eyes. - -At mention of the count, Billy Sutton pretended to be much occupied with -his engine, but Nan noticed a slight curl on his lip as he bent over the -wheel. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE COUNT - - -"Isn't it fine not to have to bother about supper?" said Helen, as she -and Douglas were attempting to get some order out of the chaos of trunks -that had been brought from the station and systematically put in the -wrong place by the good-natured, shambling, inefficient darky who served -as factotum to the Misses Grant. - -Helen and Douglas had decided to take one attic room in the old house -for their bedroom; Bobby was to have the other; the large chamber below -them was to serve as family sitting-room; Nan and Lucy were to have the -upstairs room in the new house; Mr. and Mrs. Carter the lower room; the -shed room was to serve as guest chamber when needed; the dining-room was -in the basement. Over the outside kitchen was another extremely low -attic room that was to be the servant's bedroom, when they got her. -This room was accessible from the kitchen by a flight of primitive -chicken steps, that is, accessible to the young and agile. - -The two servants the Carters had had at the week-end camp had been eager -to come with them to the country, but Douglas and Helen had decided that -they were expensive luxuries, and as much as they hated to part with -them, had determined to have a country girl, accustomed to less wages -than Susan, and to do without a manservant in place of the faithful, if -high-priced, Oscar. Dr. Wright had insisted that some chores were -indispensable for Mr. Carter, such as chopping wood, carrying water, -etc., and that gentleman was eager to assist wherever he could. - -"Surely you are not going to dress up to go out to supper this evening," -said Douglas, as Helen shook out a pretty little old-rose dinner gown, a -leftover from the time when the Carters purchased clothes for every -occasion and for every passing style and season. - -"I am going to dress suitably, but I don't call it dressing up," said -Helen, hunting for the stockings to match the gown. "I think Father is -well enough for me to wear silk stockings this evening," she said a -little wistfully. We all remember that in the first throes of agony over -her father's nervous breakdown Helen had taken an oath not to wear silk -stockings until he was well. "What do you think, Douglas?" - -"Of course, you goose, just so you don't have to buy the stockings," -laughed Douglas. "I am going to wear what I have on, I can tell you -that. There is a lot to do to get the beds made up and the house ready -to sleep in, and I have no idea of unpacking my own trunk until -tomorrow," and Douglas unlocked the trunk that held the bed linen. - -"Oh, Douglas, please put on your grey crepe de chine! I'll get it out -for you and find your stockings and everything," begged Helen. "I don't -think it is very respectful to our hostesses for you not to be suitably -dressed." - -"Is it altogether our hostesses you are thinking about?" teased Douglas. - -"Whom else should I consider?" - -"How about the count?" - -"Well, naturally I can't help thinking some about a nobleman," declared -Helen frankly. "Do you fancy he is young or old, rich or poor, handsome -or ugly? I am wild to see him." - -"I can't imagine. They didn't even say what he was a count of. I hope he -is not German. I must say I'd hate to put on my best dress for a German -count," laughed Douglas. - -"Why, Douglas, I wouldn't be so biased as all that. As long as our -country is neutral, I don't think it is fair for us to take such a -stand. I'd rather dress up for a German count than--than--a Russian -anarchist or maybe an Australian Bushman." - -"Well, I am not pining to dress up for anybody, but if I must, I must. -How about Mumsy?" - -"She has already got out her black lace and is going to wear her pearls. -She is trying to persuade Father into his tuxedo but I fancy he will -rebel." - -"Mercy on us! I thought we would never have to dress in this -out-of-the-way spot," sighed Douglas. - -"Well, I for one am glad to have a chance to dress. It seems to me we -have been khakied to death all summer, and I believe people deteriorate -when they stay in the same old clothes year in and year out. I could -wish my old-rose had another width in it. Skirts are much broader this -fall. The sleeves are quite right, though,--sleeves haven't changed -much." - -Poor Helen! It was a keen misery to her not to be in the latest style. -She had a natural taste for dress and the tendency to overrate the -importance of clothes had been fostered in her by her frivolous mother. -Douglas, on the other hand, had a tendency to underrate the value of -dress and her inclination was to be rather careless of her attire. - -After much scrabbling and stirring up of trunks the whole family was -dressed in what Mrs. Carter and Helen considered suitable garments, with -the exception of Mr. Carter, who could not be coerced into a dinner -coat. - -"I can't think that a quiet supper in the country with two old ladies -who are renting us the overseer's cottage could possibly call for formal -dressing. Of course, you women know best what you want to wear, and very -handsome all of you look I am sure, but you must excuse me." - -"That's what I say!" exclaimed Bobby, putting his hands in his pockets -and trying to balance himself with his feet very far apart. "Me'n Father -certainly do nachelly hate clean clothes. When I gits to be growed up, -I'm gonter be a barefoot tramp an' ain't never gonter wash nor nothin'." -Bobby was still smarting and indignant from the polishing Helen had -seemed to think the occasion demanded, especially concentrating on his -long-suffering ears. - -"Sometimes I wisht I hadn't never had my curls cut off. Folks weren't -near so 'ticular 'bout my yers when I had curls. They kinder hid 'em." - -"But, Bobby, when you are going to have supper with a count you must be -very carefully dressed," explained Lucy. "Counts are not just common -persons like us." - -"I thank you I'm no common person," drawled Nan. "I'm a good American -and fit to dine with any count living. That's the way Douglas and I -feel. We wouldn't have changed our dresses if Mother and Helen hadn't -made such a point of it." - -"Good for you, Nan!" and her father put his arm around her. "Of course -you must dress as your mother sees fit, but don't, for goodness' sake, -think a man, because he is a count or even a king, must be treated -differently from any other gentleman of your acquaintance." - -They were on their way to Grantly, only about five minutes' walk from -the farmhouse. The sun had set in a blaze of glory but already the great -October moon was doing her best to take his place. There was a hint of -frost in the air and our Carters were bringing their appetites with them -to grace the board of their hospitable landladies. - -"I do hope Miss Ella and Miss Louise won't quarrel all the time," -whispered Helen as they approached the imposing mansion. - -"They remind me of the blue and white seidlitz powders," said Douglas: -"bound to sizzle when you mix 'em. They are so mild and gentle when they -are apart and the minute they get together--whiz!" - -Mrs. Carter cast a triumphant glance at her husband as they entered the -parlor at Grantly. The Misses Grant were dressed in rustling black silk -with old lace berthas and cuffs, and the gentleman who sprang to his -feet, bringing his heels together with a click as he bowed low, was -attired in a faultlessly fitting dress suit. - -Helen's questions were answered by one glance at this distinguished -stranger; certainly he was young and handsome; the chances were that he -was also not poor. That cut of dress suit did not go with poverty, nor -did the exquisite fineness of his linen. Douglas's question of his -nationality remained to be solved. "Count de Lestis" did not give the -girls a clue to the country from which this interesting person hailed. - -"He does not look German," Douglas said to herself. "He is too dark and -too graceful." - -She breathed a sigh of relief that her grey crepe de chine had not been -donned in honor of a German, count or no count. When she saw that the -Misses Grant evidently considered their suppers worthy to be dressed up -for, she was glad she had listened to the dictates of Helen. - -That young lady was looking especially charming in the old-rose gown, in -spite of the fact that the skirt did not flare quite enough. Helen had a -way of wearing her clothes and of arranging her hair that many a dame at -Palm Beach or Newport would have given her fortune to possess. - -Mrs. Carter always was at her best in a parlor and now her beauty shone -resplendent, framed in black lace and pearls. Her gracious manner and -bearing marked her as one whose natural place was in society. Her gift -was social and it did seem a great waste that such a talent should -have to be buried under the bushel of an overseer's cottage in an -out-of-the-way spot in the country, with a once prosperous husband to -do the chores and a maid-of-all-work, chosen because of her cheapness -and not her worth. - -The Misses Grant smiled their approval over the appearance of their -guests. The fact that they were two quarrelsome old sisters farming on -a dwindling estate did not lessen their importance in their own eyes, -and they always felt that the dignity of Grantly demanded ceremonial -dressing for the evening meal. - -The sisters showed no marks of having toiled through the entire -afternoon to prepare the feast that they were to set before their -guests. Disagreeing as they did on every subject, food was not exempt. -If Miss Ella decided to make an angel's food cake, Miss Louise must -make a devil's food cake; if one thought the whites of eggs left from -the frozen custard would be well to use in a silver cake, the other -simultaneously determined to have apple float, requiring whites of eggs, -and then the yolks must be converted into golden cake. The consequence -was that their supper table groaned with opposing dishes. Each one -pressed upon the guests her own specialty, and if it so happened that -Miss Ella had to serve some dish of Miss Louise's concocting, she would -do it with a deprecating air as though she were helping you to cold -poison; and if Miss Louise perforce must hand you one of Miss Ella's -muffins, she would shake her head mysteriously as though to warn you -against them. - -One thing was apparent from the beginning and that was that the count -was a good mixer. His English was perfect, except for an occasional -suggestion of an interchange of b and p, and also a too great stress on -his s. He was a brilliant conversationalist but had the wit not to be a -monologueist. He had done much traveling for a man under thirty and had -lived in so many places that it made him a real citizen of the world. -Evidently he had the Misses Grant charmed. From the moment that he -bought Weston, a fine old estate in the neighborhood, and came into -their county to settle, the old ladies had taken him to their hearts. -They seemed in danger of agreeing on the subject of this fascinating -young man's charms. However, they found something to quarrel about even -in this stranger: Miss Ella thought his mouth was his best feature, -while Miss Louise insisted that his eyes were. - -Of course the Carters were one and all dying to know more about him: Who -was he? What was his nationality? Why had he settled in America? Where -were his people? Did he have a family? - -He seemed to be equally curious about them. Why should city people of -such breeding and beauty come and live in a little tumbledown shack in -the country? He had merely been told by the Misses Grant that the -tenants who had just moved into the little farmhouse were to have supper -with them, when these visions of loveliness burst upon him. He couldn't -decide which one of the sisters was the most attractive. Douglas was the -most beautiful with her titian hair and clear complexion, not ruined by -the summer out-of-doors as her mother had feared. But Helen--there was -a piquancy about Helen that was certainly very fetching; her brown hair -was so beautifully arranged at exactly the right and becoming angle; her -little head was so gracefully set on her athletic shoulders; her bearing -was so gallant;--certainly Helen was very attractive. Then there was Nan -with her soft loveliness, her great eyes now shining with excitement and -now dreaming some entrancing dream. She was only sixteen but there was -something about her countenance that gave promise of great cleverness. -Lucy was growing more like Helen and much of Helen's charm was hers, -although the child had strong characteristics all her own. - -While Count de Lestis was deciding which one of the sisters was -most attractive, he did the extremely tactful and suitable thing of -addressing his remarks to their mother, not forgetting to give the -hostesses a full share of attention. Mr. Carter, who since his illness -had been inclined to be very quiet, was drawn into the conversation and -held his own with his old time power. Little wonder that his daughters -were grateful to this interesting stranger who had this effect on their -beloved father. - -The young man told them he was Hungarian and had bought the estate of -Weston with a view to entering into intensive farming. - -"Then you are not Prussian!" exclaimed Douglas. "Oh, I am so glad!" - -"Ah!" and his handsome eyes flashed for a moment. Then he looked amused. -"And why are you so glad?" - -"Why, of course anyone would be glad," and Douglas blushed. "Who would -want to have a Prussian for a neighbor?" - -"Do you dislike them so much then?" - -"I hate them!" - -"And you, too?" turning to Helen. - -"I am trying to remain neutral as our president has asked us to. I don't -feel so terribly Anglo-Saxon as my sister." - -Of course this started the question of the war, which was in the minds -of everybody. Count de Lestis rather surprised Mr. Carter by his frank -announcement concerning his connection with Berlin. - -"I, no doubt, would be fighting with the Central Powers if I had not -committed political suicide four years ago." - -"And how was that?" - -"I wrote a book in which I made a plea for a democratization of -Austria-Hungary. In it I intimated that the Hohenzollerns had no right -to dictate to the universe. I was requested to leave the country. I was -then living in Vienna, making short trips to my estate, which lies -partly in Austria and partly in Hungary. Now there is danger of my -entire possessions being confiscated." - -"Oh, but when Germany is finally whipped you can come into your own -again," asserted Douglas. "The outcome is merely a matter of time." - -"And so Germany is to be whipped?" his eyes flashing again. - -"Of course," said Douglas simply. - -"And why of course?" - -"'Because God's in his Heaven,'" whispered Nan, but the count heard her. - -"Yes, but whose God?" - -"The God of Justice and of Right." - -"How about the God of Might?" - -"There is no such God," and this time Douglas's eyes did some flashing. - -"I believe the United States will intervene before so very long," said -Mr. Carter as he and the count strolled out on the veranda to enjoy -their cigars. The older man was enjoying his talk with this young -foreigner. He looked forward with pleasure to seeing much of him, since -Weston was only about three miles from the farm. They made plans to do -some shooting together, as the open season was only a week off. - -When de Lestis learned that Mr. Carter was an architect he asked him to -visit him at his earliest convenience at Weston to advise with him -concerning the restoration of the old house to its original grandeur. - -"I'm not supposed to be doing any work for at least a year," sighed Mr. -Carter, "but I might look it over and tell you what I think and then -recommend a suitable architect to take it in hand." - -Douglas and Helen had a talk with Miss Louise on the subject of a -country girl to come to them as maid of all work. - -"They are all of them thoroughly trifling," declared that lady in her -soft round voice, "but this creature we have has a sister who could come -to you. I beg of you not to give her any more wages than ours receives, -as in that case we should have to go up." - -"Certainly not," said Douglas. "Just tell us what that is." But on -learning that it was only seven dollars a month, the girls felt that it -was no wonder the creatures were thoroughly trifling. - -"Did she cook this wonderful supper?" asked Helen. - -"No, indeed! Ella and I always cook everything we eat and this Tempy -washes the dishes and cleans." - -"But we want someone to cook. Do you think I might train the sister?" - -"Well, I have heard you can train monkeys but I have never seen it -done," laughed the fat old lady. "Come with me now and we can speak to -Tempy about her sister Chloe." - -They found Tempy in the pantry, peacefully sleeping in the midst of the -unwashed dishes. Not in the least abashed at being caught napping, she -waked up and told Helen that no doubt Chloe would be pleased fur ter -come. She promised to fetch her on the morrow. - -"I will pay her just what the Misses Grant pay you," said Helen. - -"Lawsamussy, missy, she ain't wuth what I is. She ain't nebber wucked -out ter say much. I done started at six and wucked up ter seben, an' if -Chloe gits now what I gits, she'll be too proudified. You jis' start her -at six same as Miss Ellanlouise done me." - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -GRANTLY - - -Since our girls were to become quite intimate with the peculiar old -sisters and their home, perhaps it would be just as well for me to give -my readers some idea of what Grantly was like. - -The first thing that struck a visitor was the wonderful box bushes in -the hedge enclosing the yard and in a labyrinth in the garden. These -bushes were so thick that one could really walk on the tops of them if -they were kept clipped, which they were not. In the labyrinth the -bushes met overhead and even after a heavy rain the paths between were -perfectly dry. It took days of soaking rain to make those winding paths -wet. Beyond the labyrinth was an old-fashioned garden, but now in -October chrysanthemums and late roses and cosmos were all that was left -of the riot of color that could be seen there during the spring and -summer. - -The house was of a very peculiar architectural design: a long, low body -with a tower at each end. In each tower was a square room with many -windows overlooking the country for miles around. Miss Ella claimed one -of these rooms as her own especial property; Miss Louise the other. To -approach Miss Ella's sanctum sanctorum it was necessary to climb a -narrow spiral stairway; Miss Louise's was more accessible by reason of -a broad stairway of many landings, but the ceilings at the landings -were so low that anyone of ordinary stature must stoop to ascend. - -These rooms were used only as sitting-rooms by the erratic sisters as, -strange to say, the two old ladies slept in the same room and in the -same great four-posted tester bed. There were many other bedrooms in the -mansion, but they both preferred the great chamber leading from the -parlor, and there they slept and no doubt quarreled in their sleep. - -"This is my sitting-room up here," said Miss Ella as she showed her -guests over the quaint old house. "You may come up if you like. I had -the steps made this way so Louise can't get up here and worry my soul -out of me with her eternal chatter. She's too fat for the spiral -stairway. Elephant!" - -"Yes, and my sitting-room is in the other tower, and thank goodness, -Ella would find it a back-breaking job to get up my steps," retaliated -Miss Louise. "Giraffe!" - -Those strange old ladies had actually had the original steps to the -towers changed to suit their particular grouches! They really spent very -little time in their tower fastnesses, however, as they were much -happier when together and quarreling. - -A tale was told in the neighborhood that once Miss Ella had neglected or -forgotten to contradict Miss Louise on some vital subject such as -whether it was or was not going to rain, and Miss Louise was so uneasy -that she sent post haste for Dr. Allison. - -"I was afraid it was a stroke or something," whimpered Miss Louise. She -worried herself into a sick headache before the doctor arrived, and -then the fat one had to go to bed and take the medicine and Miss Ella -was forced to repent of her misbehavior by nursing her sister. Dr. -Allison left strict injunctions that she was not to worry her poor -sister again by agreeing with her. - -Grantly was filled with fine old furniture and all kinds of curios. A -great-uncle had been a traveler in the Orient and many were the -teakwood cabinets and jade ornaments; curious Japanese prints; Chinese -embroidered fans and screens; bronze Buddhas; rare vases with inlaid -flowers and birds; Toby jugs and lacquered teapots; quaint armor, swords -and daggers; everything in fact that might be found in an old house that -a traveler had once called home. - -"Does Tempy dust all these beautiful things?" asked Mrs. Carter, who was -quite carried away by the wonders in her landladies' home. - -"Bless you, no! She doesn't dare to touch a one of them," laughed Miss -Louise. "Ella dusts the high ones, I dust the low." She said it quite -with the air of the song: - - "You take the high road, - I'll take the low." - -With all of its beauties, Grantly was undergoing a process of slow -decay. Lack of paint and neglected leaks were getting in their insidious -work. There never seemed to be money enough for the owners to afford the -needed repairs, and if there ever was any money at all, they could never -come to an agreement on which repairs were the most urgent. - -The overseer's house was suffering in the same way. A kind of dry rot -had attacked portions of it. Weather-boarding was so loose in places -that Bobby could pull it off. Steps groaned and floors creaked; shutters -had lost fastenings; putty had dropped from the window panes, which were -insecurely held in place with tacks; mop-boarding and floors had parted -company many years before. All of these little details had escaped the -inexperienced eyes of Douglas and Helen when they decided that this -was the place of all others to spend the winter. Dr. Wright, who had -accompanied them, had been more noticing, but had wisely decided to say -nothing, as he wanted his patient to become interested in tinkering at -small jobs, and he could see that this little farm would keep Mr. Carter -busy. - -The ladies of Grantly had promised to have everything in order before -the tenants should arrive, but disagreeing on which workman they should -employ, the time had slipped by and nothing had been done. - -The pump to the well had lost its sucker and had to be primed before -water could be got. This meant that the person who pumped must remember -to fill a can of water and leave it for the next pumper. The yard gate -shut with difficulty and opened with more. The stovepipe in the kitchen -had a large hole in one side and if the wind shifted, so did the smoke, -seeking an outlet through the nearest aperture. - -All of these disagreeable features dawned gradually on our girls. They -saw nothing to be complained of in those rare October days. Accustomed -as they had become to camp life, they made light of any inconveniences. -Their father was happy and getting better every day, so any small -hardships that might fall to their share were to be lightly borne. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -VALHALLA - - -That was the name Nan gave to the little winter home. - -"Valhalla is the place where the dead warriors go, and that is what we -all of us are after the day's work is done." - -Commuting at first was very tiring for both Nan and Lucy. Catching -trains was hard on their nerves and the trip seemed interminable, but in -a few weeks they fell into the attitude of mind of all commuters and -just accepted it as part of the daily routine. It became no more irksome -than doing one's hair or brushing one's teeth. - -The girls made many friends on the train and before the winter was over -really enjoyed the time spent going to and from school. Billy Sutton was -Nan's devoted cavalier. He managed, if possible, to sit by her and -together they would study. He helped her with her mathematics, and she, -quick at languages, would correct his French exercises. Those were sad -mornings for Billy when the seat by Nan was taken before they reached -Preston. He cursed his luck that Preston should not have been beyond -Grantly instead of a station nearer to town. Coming home he always saw -to it that no "fresh kid" got ahead of him in the choice of seats. He -would get to the station ahead of time and watch with eagle eye for -Nan's sedate little figure; then he would pounce on her like a veritable -eagle and possess himself of her books and parcels. Thereafter no power -could have separated him from her short of the brakeman who cruelly -called out: "P-errr-reston!" - -Billy's younger sister Mag was of great assistance to her big brother in -his manoeuvres. She struck up a warm friendship with Lucy, and since -the two younger girls were together, what more natural than that he and -Nan should be the same? - -"How would you like me to run you over to see Lucy for a while this -afternoon?" he would ask in the lordly and nonchalant manner of big -brothers, and Mag would be duly grateful, all the time laughing in her -sleeve, as is the way with small sisters. - -The only person who ever got ahead of Billy on the homeward voyage -was Count de Lestis. That man of the world with lordly condescension -permitted Billy to carry all the books and parcels and then quietly -appropriated the seat by Nan. That was hard enough, but what was harder -was to see how Nan dimpled under the compliments the count paid her, and -how gaily she laughed at his wit, and how easily she held her own in the -very interesting conversation into which they plunged. Billy, boiling -and raging, could not help catching bits of it. Actually Nan was quoting -poetry to the handsome foreigner. With wonder her schoolboy friend -heard her telling the count of how she had gone up in an aeroplane the -preceding summer and what her sensations were. She had never told him -all these things. - -"And why is it you like so much to fly?" the count asked. "Is it merely -the physical sensation?" - -"Oh no, there is something else. I'll tell you a little bit of poetry I -learned the other day from a magazine. That is the way I feel, somehow: - - "'Well, good-by! We're going! - Where? - Why there is no knowing - Where! - We've grown tired, we don't know why, - Of our section of the sky, - Of our little patch of air, - And we're going, going! - Where? - - "'Who would ever stop to care?-- - Far off land or farther sea - Where our feet again are free, - We shall fare all unafraid - Where no trail or furrow's made-- - Where there's room enough, room enough, room enough for laughter! - And we'll find our Land o' Dreaming at a long day's close, - We'll find our Land o' Dreaming--perhaps, who knows? - To-morrow--or the next day--or maybe the day after! - - "'So good-by! We're going! - Why? - O, there is no knowing - Why! - Something's singing in our veins, - Something that no book explains. - There's no magic in your air! - And we're going, going! - Where? - - "'Where there's magic and to spare! - So we break our chains and go. - Life? What is it but to know - Southern cross and Pleiades, - Sunny lands and windy seas; - Where there's time enough, time enough, time enough for laughter! - We'll find our Land o' Dreaming, so away! Away! - We'll find our Land o' Dreaming--or at least we may-- - Tomorrow, or the next day, or maybe the day after!'" - -Nan Carter was a very charming girl at any time, but Nan Carter reciting -poetry was irresistible. So the count found her. Her eyes looked more -like forest pools than ever and the trembling Billy was very much afraid -the handsome nobleman was going to fall into said pools. He gritted his -teeth with the determination to be on the spot ready to pull him out by -his aristocratic and well-shod heels if he should take such a tumble. - -"Ah, you have the wanderlust, too! I'd like to go with you to your Land -o' Dreaming." Fortunately Billy did not hear this remark, as the -brakeman opened the door at this juncture and shouted the name of a -station. - -For once Billy was glad when the brakeman finally called: -"P-err-reston!" If he had to get out, so had the hated count. He never -had taken as much of a fancy to de Lestis as the other members of the -neighborhood had, anyhow, and now he knew why he had never liked him. - -"He is a selfish, arrogant foreigner," he raged on in his boyish way. -"He might have let me sit with Nan part of the way, anyhow." - -Nan went home quite pleased with the interesting conversation she had -had on the train. The count was rapidly becoming a warm friend of the -family. Everybody liked him but Lucy, and she had no especial reason for -disliking him. - -"He's got no time for me and I guess that's the reason," she said when -questioned. "Mag doesn't cotton to him much, either." - -"Well, I should think you would be glad for Father to have somebody to -talk to," said Helen. "You and Mag are too young to have much in common -with a grown-up gentleman." - -"Pooh, Miss Grandmother! I'm most as old as Nan and he cottons to her -for fair. I know why he doesn't think much of Mag and me--it is because -he knows we know he is nothing but a Dutchman." - -"Dutchman! Nonsense! Dutchmen proper come from Holland and Count de -Lestis is a Hungarian." - -"Well, he can talk Dutch like a Prussian, anyhow. You oughter hear him -jabbering with that German family that live over near Preston. He brings -old Mr. Blitz newspapers all the time and they laugh and laugh over -jokes in them; at least, they must be jokes to make them laugh so." - -"Of course the count speaks German. He speaks a great many languages," -declared Helen with the dignified air that she thought necessary to -assume when she and Lucy got in a discussion. - -"Well, what's the reason he ain't fighting for his country? Tell me -that! Mag says that Billy says that if his country was at war you -wouldn't catch him buying farms in strange countries, like this de -Lestis. He says he'd be in the fight, if he couldn't do anything but -beat a drum." - -"But you see he is not in sympathy with the cause, child. All of the -Austrians and Hungarians are not on the Kaiser's side. A whole lot of -them believe in a more democratic form of government than Emperor -William wants. The count explained all that to Father. He says he -could not conscientiously fight with Prussia against democracy." - -"All that sounds mighty fine but I like men that fight," and Lucy -tossed her head. "Me and Mag both like men that fight." - -"Mag and I," admonished Helen. - -The gentleman in question had just been off on a business trip. He had -much business in New York and Washington and sometimes made flying -visits to Chicago. He was interested in a land agency and was hoping to -import some Hungarian and Serbian families to the United States. He had -bought up quite a tract of land in Virginia, making cash payments that -showed he had unlimited means. - -"They make excellent servants," he told the Misses Grant, "far superior -to your negroes. The Serbs are especially fine farmers. It is really a -nation of yeomen. They could make the barren tracts of Virginia blossom -like the rose." - -"Well, bring them over then." The sisters almost agreed about this but -they had a diverging point in that Miss Ella thought she would rather -have a family of Hungarians, since that was the count's nationality; -while Miss Louise fancied some Serbs, because they were at least -fighting on the side of the Allies. - -But to return to "Valhalla." - -Douglas did not at all approve of the name Nan had given the little -home. "I am not a dead warrior when the day is over nor do I mean to be -one ever," she declared. - -She started in on her winter of teaching with all the energy and vim of -the proverbial new broom. She gloried in the fact that she was able to -turn her education to some account; and while the remuneration of a -country school teacher is certainly not munificent, it helped a great -deal towards the family expenses. - -The rent from the Carters' pretty home in Richmond was all they had to -live on now, except for a small sum in bank left over from the camp -earnings. It would be possible to manage if no clothes had to be bought, -and one and all promised to do with last year's suits. - -Only a born teacher could make a real success of a country school where -thirty children must be taught in all grades up to high-school standing. -It took infinite patience, boundless good humor, and a systematic saving -of time, together with a keen sense of fun to get Douglas over each day. -She found the school in a state of insurrection, due to having proved -too much for the first teacher, who had found urgent business -elsewhere, and then for a series of substitutes until the present -incumbent, Miss Douglas Carter, was installed. - -She made a little speech the first morning, telling the pupils quite -frankly that this was her first year of teaching but that it was not -going to be her last; that she was determined to make good and she asked -their help; that she was willing to give them all she had in the way of -knowledge and strength but that they must meet her half-way and do their -best. She gave them to understand from the very first that she intended -to have good order and that obedience was to be the first lesson taught. - -Most of the children fell into her plans with enthusiasm. Of course -there were the reactionaries who had to be dealt with summarily. Bobby -was one of them. He was very difficult to manage in school. Never having -been under the least restraint before in all of his seven years, it was -hard on him to have to sit still and pretend to study, and he made it -harder on Douglas. The faction opposed to government in any form egged -him on. They laughed at his impertinent remarks to the teacher and -bribed him to do and say many outrageous things. - -Poor Douglas was tempted to confess herself beaten as far as her little -brother was concerned and give up trying to teach him. He was rather -young for school, she almost fooled herself into believing; but there -was a sturdiness and determination in Douglas Carter's make-up that -would not let her succumb to difficulties. - -"I will succeed! He shall learn! My pupils must respect me, and if I -can't make my own little brother obey me, how can I expect to control -the rest of them?" - -She asked herself what she would do with any other pupil, not her -brother, who gave her so much trouble. - -"Write a note to his mother or father, of course," she answered. - -"But I can't bear to bother Father, and Mother would blame me and no -doubt pet Bobby. I'll write a note to Dr. Wright and his disapproval -will hurt Bobby more than anything that could happen." - -And so she wrote the following letter to Bobby's employer: - - _Preston, Va., R. F. D. Route 1. - November 1, 1916._ - - DEAR DR. WRIGHT: - - I am sorry to inform you that your chauffeur, Robert Carter, Jr., - is misbehaving at school in such a way that his teacher is afraid - he will have to be expelled. She has done everything in her power - to make him be more considerate but he is very, very naughty and - tries to worry his teacher all the time. - - Very sincerely, - DOUGLAS CARTER. - -Dr. Wright telephoned that he would be down to see them on Saturday -after receiving Douglas's note; but the message was sent via Grantly, -as the Carters had no telephone, and Miss Ella and Miss Louise could -not agree just what his name was or when he said he was coming. So the -matter was lost sight of in the wrangle that ensued and the word was -not delivered until too late. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -CHLOE - - -To Helen had fallen the most difficult and trying part of the program: -training a cheap, country servant to the ways of civilization. Many -times did she think of Miss Louise's trained monkey as she labored with -Chloe, with whom she had to start all over every day. - -A seven o'clock breakfast must be ready for Nan and Lucy, and the one -morning that she left it to Chloe the girls had to go off with nothing -more comforting on their little insides than cold bread and milk. That -was when the new maid had first arrived and Helen had not sounded the -depths of her incompetence and ignorance. - -"What would you have done in your own home if you had had to have an -early breakfast for someone?" asked Helen, curious to know if the girl -knew how to do anything. - -"I'd 'a' done what I done this mornin': let 'um fill up on what col' -victuals they was lef' on de she'f." - -Helen endeavored to introduce Chloe to the mysteries of the fireless -cooker, which they had brought with them from camp, but the girl seemed -to think there was some kind of magic in a thing that cooked without -fire and would none of it. - -"I ain't a-goin' ter tetch no sich hoodoo doin's as dat 'ere box," she -asserted. "It mus' hab a kinder debble in it ter keep it hot 'thout a -piece er dry wood or nothin'." - -Helen was lifting out the pot full of steaming oatmeal that she had put -in the cooker the night before, determined that her sisters should not -have to go off again with such cold comfort. - -"All right, you keep up the wood fire and I'll attend to the fireless -cooker," laughed Helen. "What makes the stove smoke? It was burning all -right yesterday." - -"Smoking 'cause dat hoodoo debble done got in it," and Chloe rolled her -great eyes until nothing showed but the whites. - -"Smoking because you've got the damper turned down," and Helen righted -the appliance. "Have you set the table?" - -"Yassum!" - -"Put everything on it just as I showed you yesterday?" - -"Nom! I ain't put nothin' on it. I jes' sot the cheers up to it, but all -the gals is got ter do is jes' retch the things off'n the sidebo'd." - -That meant that Helen must run and get the table set as quickly as -possible as it was three minutes to seven. - -Chloe followed her meekly to the dining-room to do her bidding. - -"Run back to the kitchen, Chloe, and look at the biscuit, and see if -they are burning," cried Helen as she rapidly placed the silver on the -table. - -A few minutes later, having set the table she hastened to the kitchen. -An ominous odor greeted her. - -"Chloe, did you look at the biscuit?" - -"Yassum! They was gettin' ready to burn. I guess they is 'bout burned by -now." - -"Oh, Chloe, why didn't you take them out?" and poor Helen thought maybe -she was going to weep with exasperation. - -"You nebber tol' me ter do mo'n look at 'em. My maw an' Sis Tempy both -done caution me not to be too frisky 'bout doin' things 'til the white -folks tells me. Tempy says white folks laks ter boss 'bout ev'ything." - -"Oh, for a trained monkey!" thought Helen. "I could at least give one a -good switching." - -Chloe had only two characteristics to work on: one was perfect -good-nature, the other unbounded health and strength. Helen wondered -if she had enough material to go on to evolve even a passable servant. -Anyhow she meant to try. She determined to do the cooking herself for -a little while with Chloe as scullion, and also to have the girl do -the housework. - -Of course Mrs. Carter was of absolutely no assistance. She held to her -purpose of semi-invalidism. The family would not listen to her when -she offered the only sane suggestion for the winter: that they should -oust the tenant and move back into their own pretty, comfortable, -well-furnished home; Douglas to make her debut in Richmond society and -the other girls continue at school. As for money--why not just make -bills? They had perfectly good credit, and what was credit for but to -use? Dr. Wright had been so stern with her, and Douglas so severe and -unfilial, and they had intimated that she wanted to kill her dear -Robert, so she had just let them have their own way. She insisted she -had not the strength to cope with these changed conditions and took on -the habits of an invalid. - -Helen, remembering how Susan, who was supposed to help with the cooking -at the camp, had been kept busy waiting on her mistress, feared Chloe -would be pressed into lady's maid service, too. Indeed Mrs. Carter -attempted it, but Chloe proved too rough for the job, and that poor -lady was forced to run the ribbons in her lingerie herself. - -Chloe's cleaning was even worse than her cooking if such a thing was -possible. She spread up the beds, leaving great wrinkles and bumps, -which proved to be top sheets and blankets that she had not thought fit -to pull up. When Helen remonstrated and made her take all the covers off -to air before making the beds she obeyed, but put the covers back on -regardless of sequence, with counterpanes next to the mattress and -sheets on top, with blankets anywhere that her fancy dictated. She swept -the dirt safely under the rugs; wiped up the floor with bath towels; and -the crowning glory of her achievement was sticking all the tooth-brushes -together. - -Now when we remember that Helen herself had perhaps never made up a bed -in her whole life until about eight months before this time, we may -indeed have sympathy for her in her tribulations. Her days were full to -running over, beginning very early in the morning and ending only after -the family was fed at night. The cooking was not so difficult, as she -had a genius for it and consequently a liking. Chloe could wash dishes -after a fashion and clean the kitchen utensils, which was some comfort. - -Mr. Carter always carried his wife's breakfast tray to her room and -waited on her like a devoted slave. He would even have run the ribbons -in had she trusted him. All he could do for her now was wait on her and -spoil her, and this he did to perfection. She was the same lovely little -creature he had married and he was not unreasonable enough to expect her -to be anything else. He did not think it strange that his little canary -could not turn herself into a raven and feed him when he was hungry. -His tenderness to his wife was so great that his daughters took their -keynote from him and their patience towards their mother was wonderful. -They vied with one another in their attentions to the parent that they -would not let themselves call selfish. - -Helen cooked her little dainties; Nan kept her in light literature from -the circulating library in town; Lucy scoured the fields for mushrooms -that a late fall had made plentiful; Douglas always brought her the -choice fruit and flowers that her pupils showered on her; even Bobby did -his part by bringing her ripe persimmons that the frost had nipped just -enough to make delicious. Mr. Carter was often able to bring her in a -partridge or a young hare. On the whole life wasn't so bad. When one -felt perfectly well, semi-invalidism was a pretty pleasant state. As for -society: the count was a frequent visitor and the ladies from Grantly -most attentive. The Suttons had called, too, several times, and other -county families were finding the Carters out. It was easy to treat the -fact that they were living in the overseer's house as a kind of joke. Of -course, anyone could tell that they were not the kind of persons who -usually lived in overseers' houses. - -Chloe was the thorn in the flesh, the fly in the ointment for Mrs. -Carter. Chloe could not be laughed away,--Chloe was no joke. Accustomed -to trained, highly-paid servants to do her bidding, this rough, uncouth -ourang-outang was more than the dainty little lady could stand. - -The very first time Count de Lestis called, Mrs. Carter happened to be -alone in the house except for Chloe, Mr. Carter having gone to Preston -for much-needed nails and Helen having run up to Grantly to ask the -advice of Miss Ella on the best way to preserve some late pears. A knock -and Chloe promptly fell down the steps in her eagerness to get to the -door. She had been up in Douglas's and Helen's room attempting to make -up the bed to suit Miss Helen. - -"Thank Gawd I fell down instidder up! If'n I had 'a' fell up I wouldn't -'a' got ma'ied dis year," and she picked herself up and dived at the -front door. - -"Are Mr. and Mrs. Carter and the young ladies at home?" Mrs. Carter -heard in the count's fine baritone. - -"Nawsir! The boss is done gone ter Preston ter fetch some nails ter try -ter bolster up this here ole shack, an' Miss Douglas is done gone ter -her teachin' job an' Miss Helen is done stepped up to see Miss -Ellanlouise 'bout 'zervin' some ole hard pears----" - -"And how about Mrs. Carter?" in an amused voice. - -"Oh, she is a-layin' on the sofy tryin' ter git sick." - -"Is she ill?" solicitously. - -"Naw! She is jes' plum lazy. She's too lazy ter chaw an' has ter have -all her victuals fixed soft like." - -"Well, will you please take her this card?" - -"That there ticket?" - -Imagine Mrs. Carter's mortification, when the grinning Chloe came -running into the sitting-room with the count's card crushed in her eager -hand, to discover that the wretched girl was in her stocking feet; -capless, with her wrapped plaits sticking out all over her head like -quills upon the fretful porcupine; her apron on hind part before. - -"Chloe! Where is your cap?" exclaimed that elegant lady. - -"Well, lawsamussy! I done forgot about it. It do make my haid eatch so -I done pulled it off." - -"And your shoes?" - -"I's savin' them fer big meetin' nex' year." - -"And why do you wear your apron in the back? Put it on right this -minute." - -"Well, Ole Miss, my dress was siled an' my ap'on was clean, so I jes' -slid it 'roun' behinst so it wouldn't git siled, too." - -Nothing but the fact that the count was cooling his heels on the front -porch kept Mrs. Carter from weeping outright. Old Miss, indeed! All she -could do was feebly tell Chloe to ask the gentleman in. - -If Count de Lestis had been ushered in by a butler in livery he could -not have entered in a more ceremonious manner. He bowed low over the -fair lady's hand, kissing her finger-tips lightly. Even the spectacle of -Chloe's walking off, with her clean apron on hind part before and her -shoeless condition disclosing large holes in the heels of her stockings, -did not upset his gravity. He, too, realized that Chloe was no joke. - -Afterwards Chloe said to Helen: - -"That sho' is a pretty man what comed ter see you alls. I ain't knowin' -yit what made him stoop over an' smell yo' ma's hand. Cose she mus' -smell pow'ful good with never put'n her hands in nothin' mo' than her -own victuals." Helen was weak with laughter. - -"What fer they call him a count, Miss Helen? Is it 'cause he spen' all -his time a-countin' out money? They do say he is pow'ful good an' kin' -ter the niggers. Some say he likes niggers better'n what he does white -folks, but I says that is plum foolish. Anyhow, he talks mighty sweet to -'em an' don't never call 'em low down triflin' black rascals whin they -gits kinder lop-sided with liquor, like some of the county gents does -whin hands gits so fur gone they can't git in the craps. He done started -a night school over at Weston what his secondary is teachin'." - -"I didn't know he had a secretary," exclaimed Helen, "but it certainly -is kind of him to try and help the poor colored people. I wish you could -go to night school, Chloe." - -"Lawd, Gawd, no! Miss Helen! I ain't got no call to larn." - -"Can't you read at all, Chloe?" - -"Well, I kin read whin they is picters ter go by. I done been ter school -mos' six months countin' the diffunt years what I started, but my ma, -she say my haid was too hard an' she 'fraid it might git cracked open -if'n teacher tried to put any mo' in it. She say some folks is got sof' -haids what kin stretch an' they ain't so ap' ter bus' open, haids kinder -like hog bladders what you kin keep on a-blowin' up." - -"Wouldn't you like me to teach you to read, Chloe?" asked Helen, feeling -rather ashamed that this foreigner should come to Virginia and take more -interest in the education of the negroes than she should ever have done. -"I believe I could teach you without breaking your head open." - -"Anything you says do I'll do, but I tell you now I ain't got no mo' -notion er readin' than a tarrapin. A tarrapin kin git his haid out'n the -shell an' you might git a little larnin' in it, but my haid is groun' -what you gotter break up with a grubbin' hoe." - -"I am willing to try. Let's begin now! First we will learn how to spell -things right here in the kitchen and then you can soon be reading -recipes," said Helen kindly. "Now we are making biscuit, so we will -begin with that. First take two cups of flour," and she wrote on the -whitewashed wall of the kitchen: "2 cups of flour." - -Chloe was delighted with this kind of school, very different from her -former experiences where she was made to sit for hours on a hard bench -saying the same thing over and over with no conception of what it was -all about. Now "2 cups of flour" had some sense in it, so had "2 spoons -of baking powder." "Lard the size of an egg" was a brilliant remark; -"1 spoon of salt" had a gleam of intelligence, too; "1 cup of milk" was -filled with gumption. In less than a week the girl could read and write -the recipe for biscuit and was eagerly waiting for her beloved Miss -Helen to advance her to cake. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -BOBBY'S BLAME DAY - - -Dr. George Wright was making a name for himself in his chosen -profession. Older men were beginning to look upon him as an authority on -nervous cases and now he had been asked to come in as partner in a -sanitarium starting in the capital city of Virginia. Certainly he had -been very successful in his treatment of Robert Carter's case, so -successful that even Mrs. Carter could not but admire him. She was still -very much in awe of him, but he had her respect and she depended upon -him. The daughters felt the same way without the awe. Douglas and Nan -and Lucy were openly extravagant in their praise of him. Helen was a -little more guarded in her expressions of admiration, but she had a -sincere liking for him and deep gratitude not only for what he had done -for her father but for his service to her. - -She could never forget that it was Dr. Wright who had brought her to her -senses when her father was first taken ill, making her see herself as a -selfish, extravagant, vain girl. It takes some generosity of spirit to -like the person who makes you see the error of your ways, but Helen -Carter had that generosity. There were times when her cheeks burned at -the memory of what Dr. Wright must have thought of her. How silly he -must have found her, how childish! - -After the experience in the mountains when the rattlesnake bit her on -the heel and Dr. Wright had come to her assistance with first aid to the -injured, which in the case of a snake bite means sucking the wound, -Helen began to realize that what the young physician thought of her made -a great deal of difference to her. His approval was something worth -gaining. - -Douglas had not told her she had written the letter to Dr. Wright as -Bobby's employer. She had a feeling that her dignity as teacher was -involved and she must not confide in her family. She was waiting, hoping -to hear from him, rather expecting him to write to Bobby and call him -to account for his misdemeanors. - -Bobby had been especially unruly all week. There was nothing he had not -thought of doing in the way of mischief, and thinking mischief was -almost identical with doing mischief where Bobby Carter was concerned. -The deed was no sooner conceived than accomplished and the other -children, who were inclined to be naughty, thought up extra things for -him to do. - -Putting a piece of rubber on the stove was certainly not Bobby's idea, -nor slipping chestnut burrs in the desk-seats while the girls were not -looking, causing howls of anguish when they inadvertently sat down on -the same. Bobby manfully took the blame for all of these things, -however, confidently certain that no punishment worth speaking of would -be meted out to him. - -"He is honest, at least," sighed Douglas, "and owns up every time." - -Friday afternoon on the way home she felt that maybe Nan's name for -their place was a good one. She was almost a dead warrior if not quite -one. - -"Oh, for a Valkyrie to bear me to Valhalla!" - -Bobby was trudging along by her side looking as though butter would not -melt in his mouth. What a sturdy little fellow he was growing to be! -Douglas looked down on his jaunty, erect figure. - -"Bobby, you are getting right fat." - -Bobby slapped his pockets. "That ain't fat, that's blame pay!" - -"Blame pay! What on earth?" - -"Oh, them is the gif's I gits fer saying I done it ev'y time you asks us -to hol' up our han's who done it." - -"Oh, Bobby!" - -"You see, the big fellers say you ain't man enough to whup 'em an' you -is too soft to whup me, so I don't run no risk nohow. This is a top -string I got for 'tendin' like I put the rubber on the stove,--this here -is a big apple I got for not fillin' the girls' desks with chestnut -burrs,--this here pile er oak balls I come mighty near not gettin'. I -sho' did want to turn the fleas loose on Minnie Brice but the big boys -was afraid I might not be able to open the little purse right and so one -of them done it." - -"Fleas on Minnie Brice?" - -"Yes, you never did fin' out about it, so I didn't have to own up. You -know what a funny thin neck Minnie's got, just like a mud turkle, and -how she wears a stiff collar kinder like a shell and it sets out all -around, fur out from her neck?" - -"Yes, I know," said Douglas, struggling with a laugh. - -"Well, the fellers caught some fleas off'n ol' Blitz's houn' dog an' -then they put 'em in a teensy money purse with a tight clasp, an' while -Minnie was leaning over studying her joggerfy, Tim Tenser dumped 'em all -down her back." - -"Poor Minnie! No wonder she missed all of her lessons today. I could not -imagine what was the matter with her. Bobby, you wouldn't have done such -a cruel thing as that surely!" - -"Shoo! That ain't nothin'. It might 'a' been toads, 'cep'n the little -ones is all growed up big now. We are a-savin' up the toad joke 'til -spring. First the fellers said I didn't 'serve no blame money 'cause -Minnie jes' cried when she missed her lessons an' didn't scratch none, -only wiggled, an' teacher never did ask us to hol' up our han's who done -it. But Ned Beatty said I was a dead game spo't an' I took the chanst -an' I mus' have my blood money, an' so I got all these here oak balls." - -"Bobby, do you realize that you must take all of these blame gifts back -to the boys?" - -"Blamed if I will!" - -"Please don't talk that way! Don't say: 'Blamed if you will.'" - -"Well, wasn't you a-talkin' that way? Didn't you say, 'blame gif's,' -with your own mouth? I'd like to know why I have to take them back." - -"Well, you got them for taking the blame and now you no longer take the -blame but have told on the ones who did the naughty things." - -"But I ain't a-tellin' teacher! I'm a-tellin' my own sister Douglas. -You ain't teacher 'cep'n when you is in school." - -"Oh, so that is the way you look at it! I suppose you think I am not -your own sister while I am teacher, either, and when you worry me sick -at school it is only teacher and not Douglas you are distressing so -much," and Douglas sat down on the roadside and burst out crying. - -Now Douglas Carter was no weeper. I doubt if her little brother had ever -seen her shed a tear in all of his seven years. And he, Robert Carter, -Jr., had done this thing! He had made his sister Douglas cry. When she -was playing teacher, she had feelings just as much as she did when she -turned into his sister Douglas again. And what was this thing she was -saying about his having to give back the blood money? Had he told on the -boys after having received pay for taking the blame? Why, that was a -low-down, sneaky trick! - -"Don't cry, Douglas, please don't cry! I'm a-gonter take back all the -things--'cep'n the apple--I done et into that a leetle bit." - -But the flood gates were opened and Douglas could not stop crying. Like -most persons who cry with difficulty, when she once began she kept it -up. Now she was crying for all the times she might have cried. She had -had enough to make her cry but had held in. She was crying now for all -the days and nights of anxiety she had spent in thinking of her sick -father; she was crying for the stern way in which she had been forced to -deal with her mother over extravagancies; she was crying for having to -make Helen understand that there was no money for clothes; she was -crying for having to be the adamant sister who forced Nan and Lucy to go -on to school; she was crying because her own dream of college was to -come to nothing; she was crying very little because of Bobby's -naughtiness, but he, of course, thought that it was all because of him. - -One of her biggest grievances was against herself: why had she been so -priggish with her cousin, Lewis Somerville? Last August he had come to -her on the eve of his enlistment to go with the troops to the Mexican -border and had plead so earnestly with her to try to love him just a -little bit and to let him go off engaged to her, and she had turned him -down with absurd talk of friendship and the like. He had astonished her -when he made love to her, but she knew perfectly well in her heart of -hearts that it would have astonished her a great deal more if he had -made love to someone else. - -No doubt that was what he was doing that minute: making love to someone -else. A young man who looked like a Greek god was not going to be turned -down by every girl. How good Lewis had always been to her and how well -he had understood her! He thought she was cold and unfeeling now, she -just knew he did. She had received no letters from him for weeks, at -least it seemed weeks. Oh well, if he wanted to make love to other -girls, why she wasn't going to be the one to care! - -"Douglas, I hear a auto a-comin'. If'n you don't stop bawlin' folks will -see you." - -A car was coming! She could hear its chug as it climbed the hill half a -mile off. - -"Please wet my handkerchief in that little branch so I can wash my -face," she begged Bobby, while she smoothed her ruffled hair and wished -she had one of Helen's precious dorines to powder her red nose. - -"Yo' hankcher is as wet as water already. I don't see what you want it -any wetter for," said Bobby, who might have quoted: "'Too much of water -hast thou, my poor Ophelia,'" had he known his Hamlet. - -"I ain't a-gonter be bad no mo', Douglas," declared Bobby as he brought -the little handkerchief back from the brook dripping wet. "You mos' -cried yo' face away, didn't you, Dug?" and with that Douglas had to -laugh. - -"Feel better now?" he said with quite the big brother air. "That there -car is jes' roun' the bend. I reckon if you turn yo' face away the folks -in it won't know you is been a-bawlin'." - -The car slowed up, then stopped when the driver recognized Douglas, and -Count de Lestis sprang out to greet her. The signs of the recent storm -were still visible on her pretty face in spite of all the water Bobby -had brought from the brook. Douglas tried to hold her head down so the -count could not see her disfigured countenance, but such floods of -weeping could not but be noticed. - -"My dear Miss Carter, you are in distress!" He looked so truly grieved -and anxious that already Douglas felt somewhat comforted. Sympathy is a -great balm. - -"It is nothing! I am a foolish, weak girl." - -"Not that! You are very intelligent and far from weak. Are you not the -staunch ally? The poor Kaiser would not find you weak." - -"I done it all! I made her cry!" declared Bobby. - -The count looked at the youngster, amused. "And so! Do little American -gentlemen make their sisters cry?" Bobby hung his head. "Well, come on -and let me take you home, and then I'll take your sister for a little -ride and wipe all the tears away with the wind." - -"Let me go riding, too. I don't want to go home." - -"No, not this time. My little red car doesn't like to take for long -rides boys who make their sisters cry." - -So Bobby had to climb meekly in to be ignominiously dumped at the yard -gate while Douglas was whisked off in the count's natty little red -roadster. - -"Now you are looking like your beautiful self," he declared, slowing -down his racer and turning to gaze into Douglas's face. "What is it that -made you weep so profusely? Not the little brother. Beautiful damsels do -not weep so much because of little brothers." - -Douglas smiled. - -"Ah, the sun has come out! Now I am happy. I am so distressed by tears -that I can hardly bear it." - -"You must have a very tender heart." - -"Yes, perhaps! Now tell me what caused your grief." - -How handsome this man was and how kind! He seemed like an old friend. He -really did care what was troubling her and it would be a relief to pour -out all of her foolish griefs. Douglas missed her father's sympathy. She -knew that he was as ready as ever with his love and solicitude for her, -but she felt that she must not add to his worries one iota. Her mother -was out of the question and Helen was too young. Before she knew it, she -was trying to tell Count de Lestis all about it, all but about Lewis -Somerville--somehow that was something she could not mention. Her -grievances sounded very small when she tried to put them into words. -Naturally she could not dwell upon her mother's extravagancies or this -man would think her poor little mother was selfish; Helen was such a -trump, the fact that she longed for stylish clothes certainly was not -enough to make a grown girl sit on the roadside and dissolve in tears; -while Nan and Lucy were commuting to school like little soldiers. It -ended by being a humorous account of Bobby and his blame pay. - -Of course the count knew perfectly well that that was not all that -had made this lovely girl give way so to grief. No doubt Bobby's -misbehavior was the last straw, but there had been a heavy load to -carry before Douglas's camel of endurance had got his back broken. He -laughed merrily over the fleas and Douglas forgot all about her worries -and laughed, too. - -"Poor little Minnie! She did squirm so, and think of her being too -ladylike to scratch, and how she must have disappointed those bad boys -by refraining!" - -"Yes, if all women would just squirm and not scratch it would take much -from the pleasure of teasing them," laughed de Lestis. "What amuses me -is how boys are alike all the world over. The discipline of my school -days was very strict, but a thing like that might have happened among -boys in Berlin as much as here in a rural school in Virginia." - -"Berlin! But you are Hungarian!" - -"So! So--but Hungarians can go to school in Berlin. Even Americans have -profited by the educational advantages offered there." - -Douglas thought her companion's tone sounded a little harsh. She bent -her candid gaze on him and met his glowing eyes. Blue eyes looked -unflinchingly into black until the steering of the red car forced him to -give his attention to the wheel. - -"I wish the count's moustache did not turn up quite so much at the -corners," thought the girl. "It makes him look a wee bit like the -Kaiser; of course, though, he is kind and the Kaiser is cruel." - -"Perhaps we had better turn around now," she suggested gently, contrite -that even for a moment she had thought this kind friend could resemble -the hated Kaiser. - -Certainly the wind had wiped away all traces of the emotional storm from -Douglas's countenance. The young man by her side could but admire the -pure profile presented to him, with its soft, girlish lines but withal a -look of strength and determination. Her loosened hair was like sunlight -and her cheeks had the pink of the Cherokee rose. Profiles were all well -enough, but he would like another look into those eyes as blue as summer -skies after a shower. - -"Of course, my dear Miss Carter, I know that the little rascal Bobby -must have been very annoying but I cannot but think that you have not -entrusted to me your real troubles." - -Douglas stiffened almost imperceptibly. - -"When one finds a beautiful damsel sitting by the roadside in such grief -that her charming face is convulsed with weeping, one cannot but divine -that some affair of the heart has touched her. Tell me, has some bold -cavalier trifled with her affections?" - -Douglas stiffened more perceptibly. - -"Your father told me of a young cousin, a Mr. Somerville, who is now on -the Mexican border----" - -"Father told you! I don't believe it." - -"My dear young lady, he only told me there was such a cousin; you have -told me the rest. Now! Now! Don't let your sweet eyes shed another tear -for him. He is not worth it! If he can find amusement in the ladies of -Mexico, who are, when all is told, an untidy lot, why should you worry? -There are other fish in the sea!" - -If the Count de Lestis wished to see something more of Douglas's eyes he -had his desire fulfilled now. She turned and once more blue eyes looked -unflinchingly into black. This time the black eyes had a mischievous -gleam and the blue ones looked more like winter ice than summer skies. - -"Now I have made you angry." Once more his car took his attention for -the moment. - -"Not at all!" icily. - -"You wish you had not come with me." - -"I appreciate your kindness in bringing me for the drive very much," -still cold and formal in tone. - -"I guessed too well, that is where I sinned." - -Douglas was silent, but she still looked at her companion. - -"She is like the little Minnie: she squirms but will not scratch." - -"I was just thinking," said Douglas, changing the subject with a -swiftness that disarmed the count, "your moustache certainly turns up -at the ends just like Emperor William's." - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -SATURDAY - - -"Isn't it glorious to be living and for it to be Saturday?" yawned Lucy. - -"Yes, and not to have to catch that old train," and Nan snuggled down -luxuriously under the bedclothes. "I used to think Saturday was a pretty -good institution when we lived in town, but now--Oh, ye gods! Now!" - -"Did you know that Saturday was decreed a half-holiday in the days of -the Saxon King Edgar 958 A. D.?" asked Lucy, who had a way of springing -historical facts on people. - -"No, but I know it's going to be a whole holiday for Nan Carter in the -year of grace 1916. I intend to do nothing but laze the whole day long, -laze and read." - -"I bet you won't. I bet you go nutting with Mag and me, because if we go -it means Billy goes along, and if he goes along he'll be in a terrible -grouch unless you go, too." - -October had delightfully spread over into November. The weather had -obligingly stayed good, and although our Carters had been at Valhalla -more than a month, they had experienced no real bad days. - -Nippy, frosty nights had put Mr. Carter wise to the many cracks that he -must stop up. Weather strips must be put on windows and doors, panes of -glass must be puttied in. Suspicious stains on walls and ceilings warned -him of leaks, but he had to wait for a rain to locate them. He found -himself almost as busy as he had been before his breakdown, but busy in -such a different way. - -"I'm glad it's Saturday! I think I won't work today," he had remarked to -his wife at about the same time Nan and Lucy were having their talk. -"Come and walk in the woods with me." - -That lady had graciously consented, if he promised not to go far and to -lift her over fences. - -"I think I'll wash my hair today; and darn the stockings; and go over -the accounts; and write some letters; and read the _Saturday Evening -Post_," said Douglas as she and Helen dressed hurriedly. Their little -attic room was hot in summer and cold in winter. - -Douglas had been thinking a great deal about her ride with the count. -Had he only meant to tease her? Was he trying to flirt with her? Did she -like him at all or did she in a way distrust him? She asked herself all -of these questions. Of course she liked him! Why should she distrust a -man because of the way his moustache grew? Of course he was teasing -her, and who could help teasing a silly goose of a girl who sat on the -roadside and bawled until her nose was disgracefully red, and then -insisted it was all because her little brother had aided and abetted in -the crime of putting fleas down a little girl's neck? He had made a good -guess about Lewis Somerville, because no doubt her father had told him -that she and Lewis had been chums from the time they were babies. - -"I only hope I will be able to make up to him for my discourtesy by -being very polite to him the next time I see him," she thought. - -"Count de Lestis is coming to lunch with us today," said Helen, almost -as though she had been reading her sister's mind. "Father asked him." - -"That's good! Isn't it nice for Father to have such a congenial friend?" - -"And Mumsy! She enjoys his visits so much. I am going to try and have a -scrumptious luncheon, but I tell you I am going to leave mighty little -of it to Chloe." - -"I think she is improving, Helen." - -"Of course she is improving. She is trying so hard to do what I want her -to and I am trying so hard to be patient. I think I am improving some -myself." - -"Oh, honey, you are simply splendid. I think you have the hardest job of -all and I think you are doing better than any of us." - -"Nonsense!" But Helen looked very happy over her sister's praise. "I'd -rather do general housework for six dollars a month than go every day -and teach thirty little nincompoops a-b, ab." - -"But the thing is you are doing general housework for nothing a month." - -"I am doing a little teaching of a-b, ab, too, only my methods are -different. I have evolved a very advanced style of teaching and Chloe, -too, is learning to spell. My method is somewhat that of Dotheboys' -Hall--you remember: 'W-i-n-d-o-w, window--Go wash them.' I make her -spell and write all the kitchen utensils. She learns while she is -working and it makes her take an interest in becoming educated." - -"Oh, Helen, you are so clever! You must let me help about the luncheon." - -"How about washing your head; and writing your letters; and casting up -the household accounts; and the _Saturday Evening Post_?" - -"Well, the letters and _Post_ will keep!" - -On Saturday the rule was that the dead warriors must make up their own -beds and clean their own rooms, so shortly after breakfast there -was a general scramble in process. Helen turned Chloe loose in the -dining-room to have it swept and garnished for their distinguished -visitor. - -What a pretty room it was, much the most attractive in the house, with -the exception of the sitting-room, perhaps! Low, rough-hewn rafters were -frankly exposed to view. The walls were sealed with pine boards. Walls -and ceiling were both painted a very soft, pleasing grey-green. On the -high mantel was an old-fashioned wooden clock with painted door, and -this was flanked on both sides by funny old vases with large raised -roses and gilt ears. Two high windows and a glass door, opening on a -covered passage leading to the kitchen, gave a soft and insufficient -light. - -Douglas had just put the finishing touch to the table: a bunch of cosmos -sent down by the Misses Grant. Nan had made the mayonnaise; and Lucy had -found a great basket of mushrooms and peeled them for Helen to cream. -Truly they were to have a scrumptious luncheon. The count had arrived -and was playing lady-come-to-see, so Lucy said, with Mrs. Carter. - -The whir of a motor drew the attention of all. - -"Who on earth!" exclaimed Helen. "Surely not callers at this hour, just -when my popovers are almost ready to eat!" - -"Mo' comply!" declared Chloe. "Dat ol' red rooster what yo' paw set so -much sto' by is been a-crowing halleluja all mornin'. I been a-tryin' -ter make him hesh, 'cause we ain't got no mo' cheers fer comply." - -"That's so, there aren't but eight dining-room chairs," laughed Helen. - -"My 'ployer done come and a soger is in with him!" cried Bobby, tearing -excitedly by the dining-room in his race to open the gate for his -beloved Dr. Wright. - -Helen ran out in her pink bungalow apron, first peeping into the oven, -not trusting Chloe yet to keep things from burning. - -"Douglas!" she called excitedly, but Douglas, with flushed cheeks, bent -over the bowl of cosmos. - -"A soldier with him! What soldier? Could it be Lewis?" she asked -herself. - -It was Lewis Somerville, looking very handsome and upstanding indeed in -his khaki uniform, with his face burned a deep bronze so that his eyes -looked very blue and his teeth very white. He clambered out over the -great basket of fruit Dr. Wright was bringing to Mrs. Carter, dropped -the boxes and parcels piled in around him and hugged and kissed all the -female cousins in sight, Helen, Nan and Lucy. He shook Bobby by the -hand, knowing full well that that youngster would sooner die than be -hugged and kissed. - -"Douglas, where is Douglas?" he whispered to Helen. - -"In the dining-room! You can get there around at the back of the -house--in the basement. We thought you were still in Mexico." - -Lewis did not wait to tell her that he wasn't, but doing double quick -time he streaked around the house, and finding the basement stairs -without any trouble, he was down them in one stride. - -"Douglas!" - -"Oh, Lewis!" - -Douglas forgot that not so very many months before this time she had -informed her cousin that she was too big to be kissed and that he was -not close enough kin to warrant indiscriminate hugging. Certainly she -was no younger than she had been eight months before and Lewis was no -closer kin, but now she submitted to his embraces and even clung to him -for a moment. - -It was so wonderful to have him back safe and sound. She could hardly -believe it was only yesterday that she had sat on the roadside and wept. -He was her same Lewis, too. She felt instinctively that the count's -suggestion in regard to Mexican beauties was ridiculous. - -"And Lewis, sergeant stripes on your sleeve, too! Why didn't you tell -me?" - -"I did! Didn't you get my letter?" - -"No, not for weeks and weeks!" - -"Strange! I must say I am not crazy about that letter's being lost." - -"Can't you tell me what was in it?" - -"Sure! I'm telling you now," and the young man caught her to him once -more, but Douglas suddenly remembered she was too old to be kissed by a -second cousin, once removed. "I'm not crazy about having anyone but you -read that letter, though, not only because of my telling you this," and -he took another for luck, "but," as Douglas recovered her maidenly -reserve and pushed him from her laughing, "I said some other things in -that letter that I wouldn't like anyone and everyone to see." - -"State secrets?" - -"Well, a newly-made sergeant would hardly have such things intrusted to -him! It was only my opinion concerning the state of affairs down there -on the border. I may be wrong about things, but a soldier has no right -to blab his conclusions about conditions in belligerent countries, -especially when the press is wary in its comments." - -"I wouldn't worry a moment about it. If you could see the road that our -R. F. D. has to come over you would not wonder that some of our letters -jolt out. There is one creek to cross that is like going down the Grand -Canyon." - -"If it only jolted out there and found watery oblivion, I shan't mind. -But what a bully little shack this is! Wright was afraid we would not -get here in time for luncheon, and he and I were determined to lie and -say we had eaten, but gee, I'm glad not to have to perjure my soul!" - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -GOLDILOCKS' CHAIRS - - -"Miss Hell-e-en! Miss Hell-e-en! Yo' popovers is done popped over!" -came in a wailing shriek from the kitchen. - -Helen went so fast her pink bungalow apron looked like a rosy streak. -Dr. Wright, fearing some dire calamity had befallen someone and his -"first aid to the injured" might be in demand, ran after her. The -popovers had popped just right, however, but must be devoured -immediately; so luncheon was served as quickly as possible. - -"Bring those two chairs from the kitchen, Chloe," commanded Douglas as -she deftly rearranged the table for ten persons instead of eight. - -"Now, Miss Douglas, don't you know 'bout dem cheers in de kitchen? Th' -ain't got no mo' seat to 'em dan a rabbit." - -"Bring them anyhow," laughed Douglas. "I can sit in one and Miss Helen -in the other." - -In the confusion of placing family and guests, Douglas forgot all about -the bottomless chairs. After everyone was seated she suddenly remembered -them with horror. - -"Suppose the count got one of them!" It made very little difference -about anyone else. But the count! All of that charm and elegance in a -chair with no seat! - -As soon as grace was said, Bobby, with a shriek of delight, suddenly -collapsed and disappeared. - -"One chair accounted for!" thought Douglas. - -Bobby's heels were sticking up and he peered saucily through his feet at -the astonished company. - -"I done got a Goldilocks' cheer," he announced. "'An' Goldilocks sat, -an' sat, an' sat, an' sat 'til she sat the bottom out of the little -bar's cheer.'" - -"Bobby, take your seat!" commanded Mr. Carter, trying to look stern. - -"I done took it!" - -"Get up!" - -Easier said than done! Bobby was fast stuck, "I reckon my 'ployer'll -have to op'rate on me," he said plaintively, "'fo' I kin eat." - -There was a roar of laughter at this and Dr. Wright, who was sitting -between Helen and Bobby, extricated the youngster and then changed -chairs with him, whereupon they proceeded to the business of eating -popovers and creamed mushrooms and the other good things that Helen had -planned for the repast. - -Douglas then laughingly told of their predicament in having only eight -whole straight chairs in the house and of her intention of sitting on -one of the decrepit ones herself and of having Helen sit on the other. - -"It is rather like playing 'Thimble, thimble! Who's got the thimble?'" -she laughed. "I hope whoever has it is comfortable." - -"Don't all speak at once!" said Lucy. "Of course some of the company's -got it, because home folks would put you out of misery at once." - -Still silence and Douglas was mortally certain the count had it and was -too polite to say so. - -"He certainly has beautiful manners," she said to herself, and turning -from Lewis, who was endeavoring to monopolize her, she smiled her -sweetest on the courteous foreigner. She felt she must make up to him -anyhow for telling him his moustache turned up like the Kaiser's. - -"Isn't it strange, Cousin Robert," said Lewis to Mr. Carter, "I wrote -Douglas I was coming and she never got my letter?" - -The count's manner was a little distrait. Evidently he was trying to -hear what Douglas was saying and to listen to the conversation between -Lewis and Mr. Carter at the same time. - -"Is that so? I am afraid our postman is careless. He seems to get the -mail mixed sometimes. Every now and then our letters get left at -Grantly." - -"But the ladies up there would send them down, I am sure," said Mrs. -Carter. - -"You got my telephone message all right, didn't you?" Dr. Wright asked -Douglas. - -"What message?" - -"Why, I telephoned Grantly I would be out today!" - -"No, they did not deliver it." - -"Perhaps they will send the letter with the message," suggested the -count in an amused tone. - -Just then Chloe fell down the steps into the dining-room with a plate of -hot popovers, which she adroitly caught before they reached the floor. - -"Miss Ellanlouise done sent Sis Tempy down with the news that you alls -is gonter hab some comply. They done dis'greed whether they is a-comin' -yesterday or tomorrow." - -"Who is it coming?" laughed Helen. - -"They done 'sputed whether it is a doctor or a lywer, an' they ain't -able t' agree what his name is, but Miss Ella thinks it is Stites an' -Miss Louise she holds that it is Bright. Both on 'em was a-tryin' ter -listen at the 'phome ter onct so they done got kinder twis'ed like." - -"When was the message sent?" asked Douglas. - -"Sis Tempy said Miss Ella said it come of a Chuseday an' Miss Louise -called her back an' tol' her not ter pay no 'tention ter Miss Ella, that -she knows it come of a Thursday." - -"Why, that must be my message I sent on Wednesday!" exclaimed Dr. -Wright. "I am either Lawyer Stites or Dr. Bright." - -"Of course!" and everyone laughed heartily over the mistake of the -peculiar old sisters. - -"Well, it doesn't make any real difference since you are here, does it?" -asked Helen. - -"Not a bit! Being here is what is important to me. Does it make any -difference to you?" - -Dr. Wright was able to say this in a whisper to Helen. It seemed very -difficult for him to have many words in private with this girl, who -seemed to him to become more charming every day. Certainly adversity had -improved her in his eyes. The character and determination she had shown -when once the gravity of her father's condition had been explained to -her were really remarkable in one so young, and one who had up to that -time never done a single thing she had not wanted to do. Tete-a-tetes -with Helen were made difficult for him by reason of his popularity with -the whole Carter family. Mr. Carter had various questions to discuss -with him; Mrs. Carter must always tell him her symptoms; Douglas wanted -his advice about many things; Nan found him very sympathetic and always -had something to confide in him; Lucy, realizing that Helen no longer -looked upon him as an enemy to the family, had come over to his camp and -now considered him her company just as much as anybody's and demanded -his attention accordingly. Of course Bobby knew he belonged exclusively -to him. Was he not his 'ployer? - -"Does it make any difference to you?" he repeated. - -Helen was on the point of answering him very kindly when Count de Lestis -leaned over and engaged her attention. - -"Miss Helen, do not forget the promise you made me to come to Weston -some morning with your father. There are many things I want to show -you. I want your advice, too, about some pantry arrangements I am -contemplating. What does mere man know of pantry shelves?" - -"Oh, I'd love to come!" exclaimed Helen, and the kind answer she was -preparing to give Dr. Wright never was spoken. - -That young physician looked at the Hungarian count as though he would -cheerfully throttle him. Helen's advice about pantry shelves, indeed! -What business had this foreigner to draw Helen into his household -arrangements? - -During that luncheon de Lestis managed to antagonize both Lewis -Somerville and George Wright. Douglas had smiled entirely too many times -on this stranger to suit Lewis, and Helen had been much too eager to -pass on the housekeeping arrangements to accord with George's ideas of -United States' relations with Hungary. - -"Why is he not fighting with his country?" each young man asked himself. - -Chloe was waiting on the table remarkably well, much to Helen's -gratification. Only once had she fallen down the steps, and, thanks to -her teacher's vigilance, she usually remembered to pass things to the -left. - -"You must try to show the Count de Lestis how much you have learned," -Helen had told her while she was preparing the lunch; "remember how -interested he is in educating colored people." - -Helen, seated at the head of the table, was pouring the tea, Mrs. Carter -having resigned her place to her daughter when she resigned herself to -be a semi-invalid. - -"Hand this to Count de Lestis," Helen said, having put in sugar to his -taste. - -"Here's yo' C-U-P, CUP of T-E, TEA," shouted Chloe, as she balanced the -cup precariously on the tray. - -"Beg pardon!" exclaimed the honored guest in amazement. - -"C-U-P, CUP! H-O-T, HOT! T-E, TEA!" - -The count took the tea with a puzzled look on his handsome countenance -and Chloe fled from the room, not in embarrassment but to impart to Sis -Tempy how she had done made Miss Helen proud by showing the count how -much she done learned her to spell. - -Everybody roared, even Mrs. Carter, who had come to the realization that -the most dignified way to treat Chloe was to recognize her as a joke. - -"It is this way," said Helen when she could speak. "You see, I have been -trying to teach the poor thing to read and spell. She told me of the -wonderful work you are doing," to the count. - -"I am doing?" - -"Yes, in your night school at Weston! It made me ashamed to think you, -a foreigner, should be doing so much for the colored race, and I doing -nothing, so I determined to do what I could with my own servant at -least. I can't tell you how splendid I think it is of you and your -secretary to give so much time to the poor country darkies." - -The count flushed a dark red. He seemed actually confused by this girl's -praise. - -"All of us think it is fine," said Nan. - -"Speak for yourself!" whispered Lucy. "Mag and I think it is smart Alec -of him and we bet he does it 'cause he wants to, not to help the colored -people." - -"I beg your pardon! Did you speak to me?" asked the count, recovering -himself from the evident confusion into which Helen's and Nan's -approbration seemed to have plunged him. - -"I--I--said--er--I said you and your kind secretary must enjoy the -work," stammered Lucy. - -"Do you find they learn easily?" asked Dr. Wright, trying to hide his -feelings and wishing he had put in his spare time in altruistic work -among the colored brethren. - -"The truth of the matter is I do no teaching myself. This night school -is a fad of Herz, my secretary." - -"Ah, but I know you do some, because Chloe tells me of how kindly you -speak to the darkies," insisted Helen. "She says you make beautiful -talks to them sometimes and they are crazy about you." - -"They exaggerate!" shrugged the count. "They seem a simple, kindly folk, -grateful for any crumb of learning." - -"Aren't there any district schools here for the colored people?" asked -George Wright. - -"Yes, but no place for the older ones to learn. It is quite pathetic how -they yearn for knowledge,--so Herz tells me." - -"Well, my opinion is that too much learning is bad for them," blurted -out Lewis. - -"Oh, Lewis!" exclaimed Douglas. "How can you say such a thing? Too much -learning can't be bad for anybody." - -"What I mean is too much and not enough. They get just enough to make -them big-headed and not enough to give them any balance." - - "'A little learning is a dangerous thing-- - Drink deep or taste not the Pierian Spring,'" - -murmured Nan. - -"Exactly!" said Lewis gratefully. "I don't want to hold the darky down, -but I do think he should be taught very carefully or he will get wrong -notions in his head, social equality with the whites and such stuff." - -"I find Americans very strange when one gets them on the subject of -social equality," and de Lestis suddenly seemed very superior and quite -conscious of his own station in life. "There is much talk of being -democratic but not so much practice. Your Declaration of Independence -plainly states that all men shall be free and equal, and still, while -you grant the black race freedom, you deny it equality." - -"I reckon you don't understand the South very well," answered Lewis, his -blue eyes flashing. - -"Ah!" was all the count said, but he said it with a toploftical manner -that irritated Lewis. - -"The colored soldiers are excellent, so I have heard," put in Douglas, -hoping to get the subject changed, if not too abruptly. - -"Yes, they are good," said Lewis, "but that is because they are trained -well. That is drinking deep of Nan's Pierian Spring. I think a military -training in colored schools is almost more important than in the white -ones. It gives them the kind of balance they don't get in any other -way." - -"Why don't you give the pupils in your night school some drilling?" -asked Helen. - -"Thank you for the suggestion!" and the count bowed low over Helen's -hand as they arose from the table at a signal from Mrs. Carter, who -began to think the conversation was getting entirely too serious and not -at all social. "I shall profit by it immediately and introduce a kind of -setting-up exercise at least." - -"Now we'll find out who had the other busted cheer!" cried Bobby. - -It was the count, and his tact and good manners in patiently sitting -through the meal on what must have been a rather uncomfortable perch -made the females of the party, excepting Lucy, admire him just that much -more, but it did not make George Wright and Lewis Somerville think any -more highly of the good-looking foreigner. - -"He had much better be fighting for his country," grumbled Lewis to his -companion in misery, "even if it would be on the wrong side." Which was -not the proper remark for a soldier in the army of a neutral nation. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -NOVEMBER - - -The mystery that will never be solved for the human race is why some -days must be dark and dreary and why those days sometimes stretch -themselves into weeks. - -The weather that had been so perfect when our Carters first came to -Valhalla had held for a long time. Frosty, crisp autumn mornings that -made the blood tingle in one's veins, followed by warmer days and then -cold bracing nights when a fire in the great chimney of the living-room -was most acceptable, had become so much the rule that when the exception -occurred no one was prepared to accept it. - -Morning after morning Nan and Lucy had trudged cheerfully over the -fields and through the lane to Grantly Station to catch the early train, -enjoying the walk and not minding at all that the quarter of a mile was -really three-quarters. Coming home was happy, too. The train reached -Grantly by half-past three, the pleasantest time in an autumn afternoon, -and the girls would loiter along the road, stopping to eat wild grapes -or to crack walnuts or maybe to get some persimmons, delicious and -shriveled from the hard frosts. Sometimes Billy and Mag would have the -good news for them that the Suttons' car was to be at Preston and that -meant that our girls were to get out at that station and be run home by -Billy. - -They were great favorites with both Mr. and Mrs. Sutton who encouraged -the intimacy with their son and daughter. Suitable companions are not -always to be found in rural communities and the coming of the Carters -to the neighborhood was recognized by that worthy couple as a great -advantage to their children. - -"Nan is a charming girl, William," Mrs. Sutton had said to her husband, -"and even if Billy fancies himself to be in love with her it will do him -no harm, only good, since she has such good sense and breeding." - -"Of course it will do him good and maybe it is not just fancy on his -part. We Suttons have a way of deciding early and sticking to it. Eh, -Margaret? I remember you had your hair in a plait and wore quite short -skirts when I began to scheme how best to get a permanent seat by you on -the train, and here I've got it!" and Mr. Sutton gave his portly wife a -comfortable hug. - -"And Mag is having a splendid time with Lucy," continued that lady, -accepting the hug with a smile. "Lucy is so quick and clever, no one -could help liking her. I, for one, am glad the Carters have come." - -"What do you think is the matter with their mother? They always speak of -her as an invalid. She looks well enough to me, although of course not -robust like one beautiful lady I know." Mr. Sutton admired his wife so -much that the flesh she was taking on just made her that much more -beautiful in his eyes. He thought there could not be too much of a good -thing. - -"Invalid indeed! She is just spoiled and lazy," declared Mrs. Sutton who -was all energy and industry. "She is attractive enough but I should -hate to be her daughter." - -"Yes, and I'd hate to be her husband, too!" - -The Suttons had been most pleasant and hospitable to their new -neighbors, although there could not have been two women brought together -so dissimilar as Mrs. Sutton and Mrs. Carter. Mrs. Carter considered her -mission in life to be as beautiful as possible and also charming. Mrs. -Sutton had never had time to think what her mission in life was, she was -so busy doing the things it seemed important to do. She was first of all -the wife of a successful farmer and that meant eternal vigilance on her -part, as the success of a farm depends so much on the management of -women. Next she was the mother of two healthy, normal children who must -be trained in the way they should go. After that she was an important -member of a community where her progressive spirit was needed and -appreciated. Her home, Preston, was where the Ladies' Aid met and worked -and kept the little church out of debt; there was headquarters for the -Traveling Library; there the Magazine Club read and swapped periodicals. -She was president of the Preston Equal Suffrage League, a struggling but -valorous band, and now that work of organizations was sorely needed for -suffering humanity, this same league was rolling bandages and making -comfort kits for the Allies, showing that votes for women was not the -only thing it could work for. Truly Mrs. Sutton was a busy and happy -woman. - -But we are forgetting that the weather seemed destined to become our -topic! Certainly the Suttons are a more agreeable subject than the -weather our girls were fated to endure. Of course the sun can't shine -all the time and in the natural course of events October days must -shorten into November days and they in turn into December, with nights -growing longer and longer and days shorter and shorter and both of them -colder and colder. Drizzling rains must fall, even if a trusting family -has taken its abode in a weather-beaten old house, up a muddy lane that -must be walked through to reach the station. - - "'In winter I get up at night - And dress by early candle light,'" - -yawned Nan one morning as the alarm went off, warning her it was time to -rouse herself and Lucy. Lucy had curled up in a little ball, having gone -to bed without quite enough cover. It had turned cold and damp during -the night, a heavy rain had kept up for hours and now at six in the -morning it was drizzling dismally. - -"I don't see how we can go to town to-day," sighed Nan, peering out of -the window. "It is so dark and gloomy." - -"I reckon the lane will be awfully muddy," said Lucy, reluctantly -uncurling herself, "and I believe I left my rubbers at school that time -I took them in when I thought it was going to rain and it didn't." - -"You'll have to borrow Helen's." - -"Gee! Isn't it cold?" and Lucy drew back the foot she had tentatively -poked out of bed. "I wish we could live in a steam-heated house again." - -Valhalla was heated by open fireplaces, drum stoves and the Grace of -God, according to Chloe. There was a small stove in the younger girls' -room, but up to this time they had not felt the necessity of having a -fire. - -It seemed difficult on that rainy morning for everyone to awaken. -Chloe's feet and then her reluctant legs came through the trap-door of -her attic room and slowly down the chicken steps leading into the -kitchen long after Helen had started the kerosene stove and put on the -kettle. - -"I ain't slep' none," she declared when Helen remonstrated with her -because of her tardiness. "The rain done leaked in on my haid an' I -reckon I's gonter die er the ammonia." - -"Oh, I fancy not! A little water won't hurt you," said Helen, flying -around the kitchen like a demented hen trying to scratch up a breakfast -for her brood. "Hurry up and set the table, it is so late." - -"Won't hurt me! Lawsamussy, Miss Helen! Don't you know that niggers -can't wash they haids in winter time? They do say they wool has deeper -roots than what white folks' hair is got an' the water what touches they -haids dreens plum down inter they brains." - -"Brains, did you say?" said Helen, but her sarcasm was lost on Chloe. -"If it leaked on your head why didn't you move your bed? It leaked on -Miss Douglas and me, too, but we moved the bed." - -"Well, I was in a kinder stupid an' looks like I couldn't raise han' or -foot." - -"I can well believe it," muttered Helen. "Please set the table as fast -as you can!" - -"Helen," cried Lucy, hurrying into the dining-room, "you'll have to lend -me your rubbers! I left mine in town." - -"Have to?" - -"Well, please to!" - -"I hate for you to stretch my rubbers all out of shape." - -"Stretch 'em much! Your feet are bigger than mine." - -"That being the case I certainly won't lend them to be dropped off in -the mud." - -"Children! Children!" admonished Douglas, hurrying to breakfast. "What -are you quarreling about?" - -"Who shall be Cinderella!" drawled Nan. "And it seems a strange subject -to dispute about on such a morning. For my part, I wish my feet were a -quarter of a mile long and I could take three steps and land at the -station." - -"It leaked in our room last night," said Lucy. - -"And ours!" chorused Helen and Douglas. - -"Mine, too! But I ain't a-keerin'," from Bobby. - -"My haid is done soaked up with leaks," grinned Chloe. - -"I really think Miss Ella and Miss Louise should have had the roof -mended before we came," said Douglas. - -"Well, tonight we can go to bed with our umbrellas up," suggested Nan. - -"Yes! An' wake up a corp!" said Chloe dismally, as she handed the -certainly not overdone biscuit. "It am sho' death ter hist a umbrell in -the house." - -Nan and Lucy were finally off, forlorn little figures with raincoats and -rubbers and dripping umbrellas. Helen's rubbers were a bit too small, -much to that young lady's satisfaction and to Lucy's chagrin. - -"My feet will slim down some as I grow older, the shoe man told me. I -betcher when I am as old as you are my feet will be smaller," said Lucy -as she paddled off with the rubbers pulled on as far as she could get -them. - -The road was passable until they got within a hundred yards of the -station and then they struck a soft stretch of red clay that was the -consistency of molasses candy about to be pulled. Nan clambered up an -embankment, balancing herself on a very precarious path that hung over -the road, but Lucy kept to the middle of the pike. - -"I hear the train!" cried Nan. "We must hurry!" - -"Hurry, indeed! How can anyone hurry through fudge?" and poor Lucy gave -a wail of agony. She was stuck and stuck fast. - -"Come on!" begged Nan, but Lucy with an agonized countenance looked at -her sister. - -"I'm stuck!" - -"If I come pull you out, I'll get stuck, too! What on earth are we to -do?" - -"Throw me a plank," wailed Lucy in the tones of a drowning man. Her feet -were going in deeper and deeper. Helen's rubbers were almost submerged -and there seemed to be nothing to keep Lucy's shoes and finally Lucy -from going the way of the rubbers. - -Nan dropped her books, umbrella and lunch on the bank and pulled a rail -from the fence. Lucy clutched it and with a great pull and a sudden -lurch which sent Nan backwards into the blackberry bushes, the younger -girl came hurtling from what had threatened to become her muddy grave. - -The train was whistling, so they had to forego the giggling fit that -was upon them and run for the station. The small branch that they -must pass before they got there, was swollen beyond recognition, but -one stepping-stone obligingly projected above water and with a mighty -leap they were over. The accommodating accommodation train reached -the station of Grantly before they did, but the kindly engineer and -conductor waited patiently while the girls, puffing and panting, raced -up the hill. - -They had hardly recovered their breath when Billy and Mag boarded the -train at Preston. - -"Well, if you girls aren't spunky!" cried Billy admiringly as he sank in -the seat by Nan, which Lucy had tactfully vacated, sharing the one with -Mag. "Mag and I were betting you couldn't make it this morning." - -"We just did and that is all," laughed Nan, recounting the perils of the -way. - -"And only look at my boots! Did you ever see such sights?" cried Lucy. -"Oh, Heavens! One of Helen's rubbers is gone!" - -"That must have happened when I fished you out with the fence rail. I -heard a terrible sough but didn't realize what it meant. They were so -much too small for you," said Nan. - -"Small, indeed! They were too big. Their coming off proves they were too -big," insisted Lucy. - -"I'm glad your feet didn't come off too, then," teased Nan. "At one time -I thought they were going to." - -Billy produced a very shady handkerchief from a hip pocket and proceeded -to wipe off the girls' shoes, while he sang the sad song of the Three -Flies: - - "'There were three flies inclined to roam, - They thought they were tired of staying at home, - So away they went with a skip and a hop - Till they came to the door of a grocer-ri shop. - - "'Away they went with a merry, merry buz-zz, - Till they came to a tub of mo-las-i-uz, - They never stopped a minute - But plunged right in it - And rubbed their noses and their pretty wings in it. - - "'And there they stuck, and stuck, and stuck, - And there they cussed their miserable luck, - With nobody by - But a greenbottle fly - Who didn't give a darn for their miser-ri.'" - -"But what I am worrying about," he continued when his song had been -applauded, "is how you are going to get home. Our car has been put out -of commission for the winter. Mag and I had to foot it over the hill -this morning, but our path is high and dry, while the road to Grantly is -something fierce. If you get off at Preston and go home with us, I'll -get a rig and drive you over." - -"No, indeed, we couldn't think of it," objected Nan. "This is only the -beginning of winter and we can't get off at Preston every day and impose -on you and your father's horses to get us home. We shall just have to -get some top boots and get through the mud somehow." - -"But you don't know that stream. If it was high this morning, by -afternoon it will be way up. The Misses Grant should have told you what -you were to expect. They should have a bridge there, but it seems Miss -Ella wants a rustic bridge and Miss Louise thinks a stone bridge would -be better, so they go a century with nothing but a ford." - -"Going home I mean to pull another rail off the fence and do some pole -vaulting," declared Lucy. "I hope I can find Helen's big old rubber I -left sticking in the mud." - -"It may stay there until the spring thawing," said Mag. "You had better -stick to the path going home. It is better to stick than get stuck." - -"I wish I had some stilts," sighed Nan. "They would carry me over like -seven league boots." - -"Can you walk on them?" asked Billy. - -"Sure! Walking on stilts is my one athletic stunt," laughed Nan. "I -haven't tried for years but I used to do it with extreme grace." - -That afternoon Billy had a mysterious package that he stowed under the -seats in the coach. - -"What on earth is that?" demanded Mag. - -"Larroes to catch meddlers!" - -"Please, Billy!" - -"Well, it's nothing but some fence rails to help Nan and Lucy get home. -I'm afraid the Misses Grant will object if they pull down a fence every -time they get stuck in the mud." - -The parcel proved to contain two pairs of bright red stilts found at a -gentleman's furnishing store. They had been used to advertise a certain -grade of very reliable trousers, of an English cut. Just before the -train reached Preston Billy unearthed them and presented Nan and Lucy -each with a pair. - -"Here are some straps, too, to put on your books to sling them over your -shoulders. You can't walk on stilts and carry things in your hands at -the same time. Tie your umbrellas to the stilts! So long!" and Billy -fled from the coach before the delighted girls could thank him. - -Going home over the muddy road was very different from the walk they had -taken that morning. In the first place it had stopped raining and their -umbrellas could be closed and tied to the stilts. The air was cold and -crisp now and there was a hint of snow. They stopped in the little -station long enough to strap their books securely and get their packs on -their backs, and then, mounting their steeds, they started on their way -rejoicing. - -"I wonder if I can walk," squealed Nan. "It has been years and years -since I tried," and she balanced herself daintily on the great long red -legs. - -"Of course you can! Once a stilt walker, always a stilt walker!" cried -Lucy, starting bravely off. - -Nan found the art was not lost and followed her sister down the muddy -hill to the branch. Billy was right: it had been high in the morning but -was much higher in the afternoon. The one stepping-stone that had kept -its nose above water on their trip to town was now completely submerged. - -"Ugggh!" exclaimed Lucy. "My legs are floating!" And indeed it was a -difficult feat to walk through deep rushing water on stilts. They have a -way of floating off unless you put them down with a most determined push -and bear your whole weight on them as you step. - -"Look at me! I can get through the water if I goose step!" cried Nan. - -"Isn't this the best fun ever? Oh, Nan, I pretty near love Billy for -thinking of such a thing. Don't you?" - -"Well, I wouldn't say love exactly." - -"I would! I can't see the use in beating 'round the bush about such -matters. He is certainly the nicest person we know and does more kind -things for us." - -"He is nice and I do like him a lot," confessed Nan. - -"Better than the count and Mr. Tom Smith?" - -"I don't see what they have to do with it," and Nan got rosy from her -exertion of goose stepping through the water and up the muddy hill. - -"Well, the old count talked about taking a trip with you to the land of -dreaming, wherever that is, and Tom Smith took you on fine flying bats, -but Billy here, he gets some stilts for you and lets you help yourself -through the mud. I say, give me Billy every time!" - -"Billy is a nice boy; but Count de Lestis is an elegant, cultured -gentleman; and Tom Smith--Tom Smith--he--he----" - -"I guess you are right--Tom Smith, Tom Smith he he! But flying machines -wouldn't do much good here in the mud, and stilts will get us over the -branch dry shod. There's Helen's rubber!" and Lucy adroitly lifted the -little muddy shoe out of the mire on the end of one of her stilts and -with a skillful twist of the wrist flopped it onto dry ground. - -When they reached the top of the hill where the road became better they -hid their stilts in the bushes, up close to the fence, carefully -covering them with dry leaves and brush. - -"Our flamingo legs," Nan called them. During that winter many times the -girls crossed the swollen stream on those red stilts and truly thanked -the kind Billy Sutton who had thought of them. They would cache them -under the little station, there patiently and safely to await their -return. - -It was always hard to walk through the water and on one dire occasion -when the stream was outdoing itself, having burst all bounds and spread -far up on the road, poor Nan goose stepped too far and fell backwards in -the water. Fortunately it was on her homeward journey and she could get -to Valhalla and change her dripping garments. She came across the -following limerick of Frost's which she gleefully learned, feeling that -it suited her case exactly: - - "'There was once a gay red flamingo - Who said: By the Great Jumping Jingo! - I've been in this clime - An uncommon long time - But have not yet mastered their lingo.'" - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -PARADISE - - -It was astonishing how quickly that winter of 1916 and '17 passed for -those sojourners in Valhalla in spite of the fact that they were at -times thoroughly uncomfortable. It is not an easy matter for persons, -brought up in a modern, steam-heated house with three bath rooms, every -form of convenience and plenty of trained servants, to adapt themselves -to the simplicity of country life and that in its most primitive state. - -Hard as the life was it agreed with them, one and all. Douglas and Bobby -walked to school, rain or shine, but their road lay in the uplands where -the mud rarely got more than ankle deep. Nan and Lucy had to contend -with much more serious conditions, but thanks to their flamingo legs -they got by. - -The weather wasn't always bad by any means. There were wonderful clear -sparkling days with the ground frozen hard, and then came the snow that -meant sleigh rides with the Suttons and grand coasting parties. - -Mr. Carter was growing very robust from his labors of stopping up cracks -and cutting fire wood. He gradually mended the leaks in the roof; -puttied in the window panes; replaced the broken hinges and fastenings -to doors and shutters; propped up sagging porch floors; and patched the -cracked and fallen plastering. - -The Misses Grant viewed his efforts with mingled satisfaction and -embarrassment. - -"We have intended to do all this for you, Mr. Carter, but Ella was so -stubborn about the carpenter. She never would agree to having that new -man at Preston, who is really quite capable," Miss Louise would explain. - -"Certainly not! We knew nothing about him and have always employed Dave -Trigg----" - -"But you know perfectly well that Dave Trigg is doubled up with -rheumatism," snapped Miss Louise. - -"Yes, and you know perfectly well, too, that that man at Preston has -moved away," retaliated her tall sister, and so on would they wrangle. - -"I enjoy doing it," Mr. Carter would assure them. "My only fear is that -I will get the place in such good order that you will raise our rent." - -Which sally would delight the souls of the ladies who were in danger of -agreeing about one more thing, and that was the altogether desirability -of the Carters and the especial desirability of Mr. Carter. - -Accepting Mrs. Carter at the extremely high valuation of her patient -family, they were ever kind and considerate of her. Many were the dainty -little dishes they sent to Valhalla from the great house to tempt the -palate of their semi-invalid tenant, vying with each other in their -attentions. - -"An' she jes' sets back an' takes it," Chloe would mutter. "Mis' Carter -done set back so much that settin' back come nachel ter her now. - - "'My name is Jimmie - An' I take all yer gimme.' - -"That's my ol' Mis'." - -Chloe and Helen had continued the lessons in reading and writing. The -whitewashed kitchen walls bore evidence to much hard work on part of -both teacher and pupil. Chloe had learned to cook many simple dishes and -to write and spell all she cooked. By slow stages, so slow they were -almost imperceptible, the girl was becoming an efficient servant. Her -wages were raised to eight dollars a month in spite of the remonstrances -of her sister Tempy, who thought she must serve as long as she had -before she could make as much. - -"Sis Tempy been a-goin' over ter night school at the count's ev'y time -she gits a chanst but she ain't ter say larned nothin'." - -Helen and Chloe were engaged in the delectable task of making mince pies -for Christmas. Chloe had just electrified Helen by writing on the wall -of her own accord: "Reseat fer miCe Pize." - -"What does she learn?" asked Helen, smiling as she deftly rolled the -pastry. - -"She say they done started a kinder 'batin' siety an' ain't ter say -foolin' much with readin' an' writin' an' sich. The secondary ain't so -patient as what you is, an' he uster git kinder worked up whin the -niggers wint ter sleep in school." - -"I fancy that would be trying." - -"They's drillin' 'em now an' they likes that 'cause the secondary done -promised them from the count that some day he'll gib 'em uniforms. -Niggers is allus keen on begalia." - -"Does Tempy drill, too?" - -"Lawsamussy, no! Women folks jes' sets an' watches. Tempy say she -done march aroun' enough fer Miss Ellanlouise, an' as fer flingin' -broomsticks--she does enough of that 'thout no German gemmun a-showin' -her nothin' 'bout how ter do it." - -"Do they drill with broomsticks?" - -"Yassum, that's what they tell me, but they do say----" - -"Say what?" asked Helen as the colored girl hesitated. - -"They don't say nothin'!" - -"You started to tell me something they say about broomsticks." - -"I ain't started ter tell a thing!" and Chloe shut her mouth very tight -and rolled her eyes back in a way she had that made you think she was -going to turn herself inside out. - -"What do they debate about?" asked Helen amused at Chloe's sudden -reserve. - -"They 'spute 'bout the pros an' cons of racin'." - -"Horse racing?" - -"I ain't so sho', but from what Sis Tempy done tol' me it mought be an' -agin it moughtn't." - -"Does Tempy debate?" - -"Sis Tempy! Yi! Yi!" and Chloe went off in peals of laughter. "Sis Tempy -can't argyfy with nothin' but a rollin' pin. She done put up a right -good argymint only las' Sunday with her beau, that big slue-footed -nigger, Jeemes Hanks." - -"What was the argument about?" - -"Jeemes he done say he's jes' as good as any white folks an' some -better'n a heap er them. He say his vote don't count none an' he ain't -able ter buy no good lan' jes' 'cause de white folks won't sell him none -up clost ter they homes,--an' Sis Tempy ups an' tells him that his vote -ain't no count 'cause he ain't no count hisse'f. She tells him that -buzzards lays buzzard eggs an' buzzard eggs hatches out mo' buzzards; -an' that made him hoppin' mad 'cause that nigger Jeemes sho' do set -great sto' by hisse'f." - -"Does James feel that white people ought to sell him land whether they -want to or not?" - -"'Zactly! He been wantin' ter buy a strip from Miss Ellanlouise up -yander by the clarin', not so fur from the great house. They's glad -enough ter sell some er that rocky lan' off over by the gravel pit, but -they don't want no niggers fer clost neighbors." - -"And what did Tempy say?" - -"She never said nothin'. She jes' up'n driv him out'n the cabin with the -rollin' pin. She tells him while she's a-lickin' him, though, that he's -a-larnin' his a-b-c's upside down at the count's school an' fer her part -she ain't a-goin' back." - -"Do you think the count is responsible for James's nonsense?" asked -Helen. "I can't see how he got such notions from a gentleman like the -count." - -"I ain't a-sayin'! I ain't a-sayin'!" and once more Chloe's mouth went -shut with a determined click and she rolled her great eyes. - -Helen thought no more about it. Darkies were funny creatures, anyhow. Of -course it was hard on James Hanks if he wanted to buy good ground and no -one would sell it to him, but on the other hand one could hardly expect -the Misses Grant to sell off their ancestral acres just to accommodate -the slue-footed beau of their cook. - -Miss Ella and Louise were entirely unreconstructed as far as the colored -people were concerned. They were kind to them when they were ill and -helped them in many ways, but they never for an instant lost sight of -the fact that they were of an inferior race nor did they let the darkies -lose sight of the fact. They were not very popular with their negro -neighbors although they were mutually dependent. Grantly had to depend -on colored labor and many families among them got their entire living -from Grantly. - -The medicine chest at the great house furnished castor oil and paregoric -for all the sick pickaninnies for miles around; Miss Louise had to make -up great jars of her wintergreen ointment so that the aching joints of -many an old aunty or uncle might find some ease; while Miss Ella's -willow bark and wild cherry tonic warded off chills and fevers from the -mosquito infested districts down in the settlement in the swamps. - -The older members of the community of negroes appreciated the real -goodness and kindness of the two old ladies and overlooked their -overbearing ways, but the younger generation, who cared not for the -ointment or tonic, could see nothing but arrogance in the really -harmless old spinsters. - -Most of the former slaves, who had at one time belonged to Grantly, had -passed away. The few who remained were old and feeble and these had -many arguments with the younger ones, trying to make them see the real -kindness and goodness of Miss Ellanlouise. - -"You done got fat on castor ile out'n the chist at Grantly whin you was -a sickly baby," old Uncle Abe Hanks would say to his refractory grandson -Jeemes. "An' you an' yo' paw befo' you was pulled from the grabe by -parrygoric from dat same chist, an' now you set up here an' say: 'Down -with southe'n 'ristocrats!' Humph! You'd better be a-sayin': 'Down with -the castor ile an' parrygoric!' 'Down with the good strong soup an' fat -back Miss Ellanlouise done sent yo' ol' gran'pap las' winter whin there -warn't hide or har er his own flesh an' blood come nigh him!' Yes! They -went down all right--down the red lane. You free niggers is got the -notion you kin live 'thout the 'ristocrats. Why don't you go an' live -'thout 'em then? Nobody ain't a-holdin' you. As fer me--gib me -'ristocrats ev'y time!" - -"The Count de Lestis is as 'ristocratical as those ol' tabbies," the -grandson would reply sullenly, "and he doesn't treat a colored gemman -like he was a houn' dog." - -"'Ristocratical much! That furrener? You ain't got good sinse, boy. That -there pretty little count didn't even come from Virginny an' all the -'ristocrats done come from Virginny one time er anudder. I done hear Ol' -Marster say dat time an' time agin." - -"The count say he gonter sell us all the lan' we want. An' he say he -gonter fetch over some nice, kind white folks ter live neighbors to us; -white folks what is jes' as good as these white folks 'roun' here but -who ain't a-gonter hol' theyselves so proudified like." - -"Yes! I kin see him now tu'nnin' loose a lot er po' white Guinnies what -will take the bread out'n the mouth er the nigger. Them po' white -furreners kin live on buzzard meat, an' dey don' min' wuckin' day in an' -day out, an' if'n dey gits a holt in the lan' the nigger'll hab ter go. -As fer a-livin' long side er niggers,--I tell you now, son, that the -white folks what don't min' a-livin' long side er niggers is wuss'n -niggers, an' I can't say no mo' scurrilous thing about them than -that--wuss'n niggers!" - -A strong discontent was certainly brewing among the younger generation -of negroes. Conversations similar to the one between Uncle Abe Hanks -and James were not uncommon in the settlement that lay midway between -Grantly and Weston. This settlement was known by the exceedingly -appropriate name of Paradise. There were about a dozen cabins there, -some of them quite comfortable and neat, others very poor and forlorn. - -There was a church, the pride of their simple hearts because it was -built of brick; also a ramshackled old building known as "The Club." -This club had originally been a tobacco barn, built, of course, without -windows, for the curing of tobacco. In converting it into a club house, -windows had been cut in the sides but with no fixed plan. Wherever a -member decided it would be nice to have a window, a window was cut. No -two were the same size or on the same level. Most of them were more or -less on the slant, giving the building the appearance of having survived -an earthquake. - -In this club house the secret societies met to hold their mysterious -rites. Here they had their festivals and bazaars and sometimes, when the -effects of protracted meetings had worn off and the ungodly were again -to the fore, they would have dances that threatened to bring down the -walls and roof of the rickety building. It was whispered through the -county that a blind tiger was also operated there but this was not -proven. Certainly there was much drunkenness at times in Paradise, -considering the state was dry. - -Count de Lestis was very popular in Paradise. He always had a kind word -for old and young. Then, too, he had work for them and paid them well. -His fame spread and actually there was a boom in Paradise. Other negroes -in settlements near by were anxious to move to Paradise. Town lots were -in demand and the club had a waiting list for membership. The church was -full to overflowing when on Sunday Brother Si took his stand in the -little pulpit. - -Night school at Weston was something new and something to do, so the -darkies flocked to it. Herz, the secretary, had his hands full trying to -teach the mob that congregated three times a week to sit at the feet of -learning. He did get angry occasionally when his pupils, tired out no -doubt after a hard day's work, would fall asleep with audible -attestations. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -HERZ - - -Herz was in such strong contrast to his employer, the count, that he -gave Helen and Douglas quite a shock when they first met him. They had -walked over to Weston with their father, who had been prevailed upon to -take the order for the restoration of the old mansion. Dr. Wright had -been consulted as to the advisability of his trying to do this work and -had approved of it as being something to occupy his patient without -making him nervous. It meant many trips to Weston on the part of Mr. -Carter and equally many to Valhalla on the part of the count. - -De Lestis had done very little talking about Herz, mentioning him -usually rather in the tone of one speaking of a servant, but Helen -came to the opinion the moment she looked at him that there was -nothing servile about him; on the contrary, he was evidently the more -intellectual of the two men. He was a little younger than the count, -much taller, with broad spare shoulders and a back as straight as a -board. His blue eyes were very near sighted, necessitating the wearing -of very thick lenses in his large gold-rimmed spectacles. His hair was -yellow and grew straight up on his head like wheat stubble. His brow was -broad and high and well shaped. He really was a handsome man except that -his mouth was too full lipped and so very red. His English was perfect -with no touch of accent as with the count. He said he had been born in -Cincinnati and his father was a naturalized American, so even Douglas, -the strong pro ally, had to accept him as German in name only. - -Weston was a good three miles from Grantly by the road, but much closer -if one took a path through the woods, skirting Paradise and approaching -the old house from the rear. Truly it had been a grand estate in its day -and de Lestis was determined to restore it to its pristine glory. He had -owned the place about a year and had accomplished much in that time. -The fences and gates were in perfect repair; the fields showed that good -farming theories had already been put into practice; the woods, that -some knowledge of forestry had been applied, as the undergrowth had been -cleared away and useless timber been cut down to give room to valuable -trees. - -"What a lot of money must have been spent here," said Douglas, noting -the new fencing and well-built barns as they approached the house. - -"Yes, de Lestis seems to have unlimited supplies of cash. I fancy he is -a man of great wealth," said Mr. Carter. "I have ordered a Delco light -to be installed in his house. He spares no expense in restoring the old -place. I was rather opposed to having the new lighting system. It seems -such an anomaly in a colonial mansion." - -"But, Daddy, you wouldn't want the count to grope his way around with -tallow dips," laughed Helen. "I fancy that was what was used when Weston -was first built." - -"I'd have him do it rather than ruin the architectural effect of such a -wonderful old house; but de Lestis has his own ideas about things and -all he wants of me, after all, is to do the work of a contractor. As for -Herz,--he has better taste than de Lestis, I believe." - -"Tell us about Herz, Daddy. You never have told us what he is like," -demanded Helen. - -"You judge for yourselves," answered the father. - -The truth was that Mr. Carter had not known just what to make of Herz. -Clever he was certainly and no underling, as they had gathered from de -Lestis. - -This was the girls' first visit to Weston although the count had -urged their coming many times. Douglas's school was dismissed for the -Christmas holidays and she felt like a bird out of the cage: two whole -weeks of delightful freedom ahead of her! - -Teaching had come easy to her and she had conquered Bobby and the other -unruly pupils and felt that she was in a way getting on top of her -work. The days passed rapidly and her school was in a fine condition, -enthusiastic pupils and eager students. Nevertheless it was great to be -having a holiday and she meant to make the most of it. She and Helen -were planning a trip to Richmond after Christmas to visit Cousin -Elizabeth Somerville. Lewis was stationed there with his company and his -duties not being so very arduous, he hoped to spend much time with his -favorite cousin. Valhalla was very lovely and the girls had grown very -fond of it. Their plans for their father were working out and they knew -they had done right in taking the place and moving the family to the -country, but nevertheless they were looking forward with pleasure to the -visit to Richmond and release from all of their duties for a few days. - -What glowing girls they were! Robert Carter looked at them with -pardonable pride as they tramped through the woods, their cheeks crimson -with the exercise in the cold air. How they had shown the "mettle of -their pasture" when the time came for them to take hold! He had always -known that Douglas had a certain bulldog tenacity that would make her -keep her grip no matter what happened, but Helen had astonished him. -When something had snapped in his tired brain he had instinctively -turned to Douglas as the person to decide for the family welfare, but -Helen had shown herself capable far beyond his hopes. He well knew that -her part of the work was most difficult, and he saw with wonder her -patience with her mother and with the seemingly impossible Chloe. - -"I'll make it all up to them," he said to himself. - -The doctor's prescription of country life and freedom from care with -plenty of occupation for his hands was working wonders. This work he had -been doing for de Lestis was not taxing his mind at all, and he suddenly -realized that it was not because it was so easy but because his mind was -in working order again. He felt his old power coming back to him, the -power of concentration, of initiative. Sometimes he would try to lie -awake at night just for the pleasure of feeling himself to be well. - -His illness had been a blessing in disguise since it had brought out all -this latent fineness in his girls. It had somehow made them more -beautiful, too, at least they seemed so in the eyes of their doting -father. - -Approaching Weston from the rear, no one was in sight. Smoke arising -from the kitchen chimney gave evidence of a servant's being somewhere. -The yard was in perfect order, with no unsightly ash pile or tin cans to -offend the eye. To one side Mr. Carter pointed out the rose garden that -the count had taken much care of, spending hundreds of dollars on -every known variety that would flourish in that latitude. Beyond were -greenhouses and hot beds that furnished lettuce and cauliflower and -spinach through the winter for the master's delicate palate. - -"Isn't it lovely?" gasped Helen. "It must be splendid to be rich." - -Mounting the broad steps leading to the pillared gallery they heard -voices speaking in some foreign language, they could not tell whether -it was German or not, and then a loud laugh and "Ach Gott!" in the -count's unmistakable baritone. Through the window they saw the two men, -de Lestis and Herz, bending over a table spread with papers. Herz was -pointing out something to his employer which seemed to delight him, as -he was laughing heartily. This was gathered only by one glance, as -immediately the Carters passed beyond the angle through which they could -view the interior of the room and Mr. Carter knocked on the front door. - -The door was not opened for several minutes. Evidently the count -employed servants for such tasks and did not believe in opening doors -with his own august hands. Helen gave an impatient rat tat again. She -was not fond of waiting. The door was opened suddenly and by the count. - -"Ah! My good friends!" he exclaimed enthusiastically. "I did not expect -you until tomorrow, my dear Mr. Carter." - -"I came a day sooner because my daughters could come with me." - -"And what an honor!" - -He ushered them into the room where they had viewed him for the moment -in passing. There were no papers on the table now and everything was in -perfect order. The secretary was standing at attention, awaiting an -introduction to the ladies. - -He bowed from his waist up, shutting up like a jack-knife. He had not -the easy, graceful manners of the count, but seemed much blunter and -less polished. One could not fancy his kissing the hand of a lady as -the count was famous for doing. - -Love at first sight is supposed to happen only in books but it does -happen sometimes in real life, and on that frosty day in December it -came to pass in the library at Weston, came like a flash of lightning, -came without warning and without being wanted. Certainly the secretary -had not wanted to stop the work he was engaged in that seemed to be so -engrossing; he did not even want to meet these Carter girls but had -been forced into it by his employer. What good would it do him to -fall in love? He cared not a whit for women, anyhow, despised them in -fact. But the little blind god, Cupid, took none of these things -into consideration. He simply let fly his dart and as Adolph Herz -straightened himself up after making his stiff, jack-knife bow, the -arrow hit him square in his heart. - -It was a toss of the penny which sister it should be; both of them -were lovely, both of them rosy and charming. He looked at Douglas -first, however, and never saw Helen at all, at least, seemed not to. -He did not take his eyes from Douglas's face during the entire call. - -"Has the lighting system come yet?" asked Mr. Carter. "It should have -been here by now." - -"Did you order one?" asked the count. "I understood I was to send the -order and have done so. You sent it off, did you not, Herz?" - -"Certainly! A week ago!" - -"But you told me to order it," insisted Mr. Carter. "I am sure you did." - -"Why, that is all right, my dear fellow," said the count very kindly. -"If both of them come it will make no difference. I can install one of -them in the barn and garage." - -"Oh, but I cannot let you have the expense of both if I was at fault," -and Mr. Carter looked distressed. Was his head not behaving as it -should, after all? - -"Why, my dear Mr. Carter, it might easily have been my mistake and I -cannot have you bothered about it. The expense is trifling. Miss Helen, -help me to persuade your father that it is nothing." - -The count's manner was so kindly and he seemed so anxious to make Mr. -Carter feel that if any mistake had been made he, the count, had made -it that Helen was deeply grateful. How much she liked this foreign -nobleman, anyhow. He was always so gracious, so suave, so elegant. His -heart must be tender, his disposition good, or how could he make all of -the poor colored people like him so much? Helen was fully aware of the -fact that the count was attracted by her, but there had been times when -she was sure he was equally taken with Douglas, and certainly his -manner to Nan on several occasions had been one of devotion. He always -seemed to be coming out on the train with Nan and Lucy, and Lucy had -intimated that he had caused Billy Sutton many sad hours by "hogging" -the seat by Nan. Could he be a flirt? Helen put the thought from her. -She hated a male flirt. Nevertheless she was conscious of the fact that -she had a little tiny twinge of jealousy, so tiny that it was only a -speck, but it was there. - -"It's Douglas's hair and Nan's eyes," she thought. "I believe he thinks -I'm more interesting than they are, though," and then she took herself -to task for a foolish, vain girl. "What difference does it make to me, -anyhow? What do we know of this stranger and what is he to us?" - -Now the girls gave their attention to the estate, for they were -naturally interested in the work their father had undertaken. The -workmen were through, carpenters, plasterers and painters, and the place -had been turned over to Count de Lestis. Very beautiful it was and one -for any owner to be proud of. The spacious hall, with its waxed floor -and beautiful stairway with mahogany treads and bannisters, was as -fine an example of southern colonial as one could find in the whole of -Virginia. The furnishings were in keeping with the general plan of the -house, as at Mr. Carter's suggestion an antique dealer and decorator -from Richmond had had his finger in the pie. Much of the furniture had -been bought with the house, being old mahogany that had been at Weston -for more than a century. - -"How lovely it is!" gasped Helen as the doors to the great dining-room -were thrown open. - -"I am so glad you like it," whispered the count in a very meaning tone. -"I have your father to thank for its being so complete. Never have I -seen work carried on so rapidly. I was afraid I would be living in the -discomfort of shavings and mortar beds for months to come." - -"Daddy is always like that," said Helen smiling. Nothing pleased Helen -so much as praise of her father. "He can always make workmen work. They -say in Richmond that not even plumbers disappoint him. He always turns -over his houses on time unless there is something absolutely unforeseen, -like a strike or something." - -"I am indeed fortunate in having prevailed upon him to do this for me." - -"But he has enjoyed doing it so much. You see Daddy has not been able to -work for so long and I think he had begun to feel that maybe he had lost -out, and this proves that he hasn't. He does not know how to be idle. -Why last summer when he was supposed to do nothing but rest he drew the -plans and built bird houses for Bobby." - -"Ah, indeed! I am so glad you reminded me of something. Mr. Carter," he -called to that gentleman who was critically examining some electric -wiring recently put in ready for the Delco batteries which were on the -way, "I want now some plans for bird houses if such trivial work is not -beneath you. I want bird houses for every kind of feathered songster -that can be attracted and persuaded to live at Weston." - -"How wonderful!" cried Helen and Douglas in chorus. Douglas had been -engaged in conversation by the secretary, who was limbering up in an -amazing manner. He was most attentive, showing her into every nook and -cranny of the old house. He opened sideboards and cabinets to reveal the -exquisite finish of the satinwood drawers and shelves; he took down bits -of rare old china from the plate rack in the dining-room, explaining the -marks on the bottoms. He was so kind that Douglas almost liked him, but -not quite. - -"Adolph Herz is too German in sound," the Anglo-Saxon in her cried out. -"And then his mouth! It is so red!" - -"Certainly I'll enjoy drawing plans for bird houses," laughed Mr. -Carter. "I shall even take pleasure in carpentering them. They are -really lots of fun to make." - -"I agree with you," said Herz. "Simply drawing a design is never so much -pleasure as carrying it out. How a sculptor can be willing to do only -the clay modeling of his statue and then let someone else carve the -marble is more than I can understand. When I think of something to be -done, I must do it myself--trust it to no one." - -"Well, I am a lazy bones myself and anyone can do my work," laughed the -count. "Now Adolph here has drawn the plan for a pigeon house and he -wants to build it himself. I tell him it is absurd, that any carpenter -can carry out his ideas, but he will not listen to me. Adolph is a very -stubborn man, Miss Carter." He addressed this remark to Douglas who -smiled at the young secretary. He was frowning heavily and his full lips -were drawn into a hard red line. The count caught his eye and gave him a -bantering look in return. - -"Come on, Adolph, and show Mr. Carter your plans for the pigeon house!" - -"They are not completed," he answered sullenly. - -"I am quite a pigeon fancier," went on the master of Weston. "They are -charming birds to raise and one can make much money on squabs. We are -going into pigeon raising quite seriously. I think we shall build a very -large house. Eh, Adolph?" - -"Where will you put the pigeon house?" asked Mr. Carter. - -"Right there on the roof, about in the centre of the house," said the -count, pointing to the top of the mansion. - -"Not there! Surely you would not do such a thing!" cried Helen -incredulously. - -"Why not?" - -"It would ruin the architectural effect of Weston," declared Mr. Carter. - -"I think not!" - -"Well, I know it would," maintained the architect stoutly. "Why, de -Lestis, all of my work would be as nothing if you should put a pigeon -house there. I beg of you not to!" - -"But, my dear Mr. Carter, I am a pigeon fancier and want my pigeons at a -point where I can watch them twirling and dipping. I love their cooing, -too." - -"All right! It is your house and you can do as you choose with it, but -please do not mention me as the architect who restored the place. I -cannot stand for such a piece of Philistinism." Mr. Carter laughed as he -made the above remark, but his daughters knew by a certain look in his -eyes that he was angry. - -"Are you to have carrier pigeons?" asked Douglas, hoping to relieve the -company of an embarrassment that seemed to have fallen upon it. - -The secretary still had his mouth drawn in a stern line although he had -smoothed his frowning brow. Helen was plainly put out at the count's -daring to go against her father's artistic taste, while Count de Lestis -seemed to be taking a kind of delight in teasing everybody. - -"If you will promise to send me a message, I will," he answered -gallantly. - -"Oh, that would be great fun! I have never seen a carrier pigeon." - -The count then devoted himself to Douglas for the rest of the visit, -showing her the pantry shelves that he had on one occasion expressed -himself as desirous for Helen to pass on. - -"All we need now is a lady of the manor," he said in a low tone. "It is -not meet for man to live alone." - -Douglas looked at him quite frankly, her blue eyes steady as she gazed -into his black ones. "Can't your mother come and keep house for you?" -she asked quite simply. - -There was no flirting in Douglas Carter's make-up. Herz, who refused to -go far from her in spite of the count's sudden devoted attentions, -relaxed his grim expression that he had held ever since the pigeon house -had been the subject of conversation. His mouth broke into a smile and -his easy manner returned. - -The Carters soon took their departure, although the master of the house -was insistent that they should stay to tea with them. - -"We must get back to Valhalla," declared Douglas. - -"Valhalla! Is that the name of your place?" asked Herz. - -"That is the name my sister Nan gave it. She says we are all more or -less dead warriors when the day is over. I don't like giving it such a -German name myself, but Nan says poetry is universal and---- Oh! I beg -your pardon!" The girl had forgotten that her companion was of German -birth. - -"Do you dislike the Germans so much?" he asked. - -"Not the German people----" she stammered. "Just the Imperial -Government!" - -"But aren't the people the Government?" - -"I hope not." - -"Ah, so Miss Carter has opened fire on you, too, has she?" laughed de -Lestis. "If there were more fighters like her among the Allies, poor -Germany would have her banners trailing in the dust by now." - -"I did not mean to be rude to Mr. Herz," said Douglas. "I am too -prejudiced in favor of France and England to remember my manners. If I -have injured you, I beg your pardon," and she gave the secretary her -hand in good-by. - -He blushed like a schoolgirl and stammered out some unintelligible -something. - -De Lestis renewed his attentions to Helen just as though he had not been -hovering over her sister with tender nothings. - -"He is a flirt!" thought Helen. "I think I can give him as good as he -sends, but I am beginning to hate him." She dimpled to his remarks, -however, and as she bade him good-by at the door she smiled saucily into -his eyes. - -"To think of that man's being willing to ruin his roof line," sighed Mr. -Carter as he and his daughters started on their homeward walk. "Just -look how beautiful it is," pointing to the old chimneys where the roof -melted into the sky. - -"It is a shame," cried Helen. "But how cold it is! There now, I left my -gloves on the library table." - -"Run back and get them, honey; Douglas and I will wait for you here by -the stile." - -Helen ran back. Once more she glanced into the library where on their -arrival they had caught a glimpse of the two men bending over the -papers. Now what was her astonishment to see the secretary actually -shaking the count, who was laughing heartily. The secretary's eyes were -flashing as he blurted out the words: - -"Fool! Fool!" - -The count opened the door quickly this time at her knock. - -"Your gloves! I found them and almost hoped you would leave them with -me, but the little hands would have been so cold. Indeed, they are so -cold," and he gallantly kissed them. - -Helen seized her gloves and with glowing cheeks raced back to her father -and sister. She gave her hands a vigorous rubbing on her grey corduroy -skirt before she put on her gloves as though she might rub off the kiss. -In the excitement over the denouement of the visit she forgot for the -time being that she had caught the secretary shaking his employer and -calling him a fool. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -GOOSE STEPPING - - -The winter wore on. Our warriors were fighting the good fight and each -night as they gathered round the cheerful fire in the great chimney in -the living-room at Valhalla they had tales to tell of difficulties -overcome. Of course there were failures, many of them, but each failure -meant a lesson learned and better luck next time. - -Douglas had days when the little ideas refused to shoot and her pupils -seemed to be just so many wooden dolls, but she learned the rare lesson, -that teachers must learn if they are to be successful: when a class -won't learn, and can't learn, and doesn't want to learn, there is -something the matter with the teacher. When she came to this realization -she took herself to task, and the dark days came farther and farther -apart. - -The letter she had written Dr. Wright had had a most salutary effect on -Bobby. That young physician had taken the naughty boy for a long ride -and had given him a man to man talk, first temporarily dismissing him -from his employ and sternly forbidding him to hold out his hand when -they were going around corners. He was not allowed to blow the horn at -dangerous curves and all of his honors were stripped from him. - -"It nearly killed me to do it," George Wright confessed to Helen. "I -couldn't look him in the eye for fear of weakening, but he took it like -the little man he is. I fancy Douglas will have no more trouble with him -for a while. I am glad she asked me to help her out. It is no joke to -teach your own flesh and blood. Bobby says he thought that Douglas was -just playing school and he didn't know he was really bothering her. He -knows now and is even prepared to lick any boy not twice his size who -disturbs his sister." - -Count de Lestis seemed to have much business that took him away from -Weston. Sometimes he was gone for several weeks at a time, but when he -returned he would drop in at Valhalla as though he had not been away at -all. He was always a welcome visitor. Mrs. Carter greeted him as a long -lost friend. He seemed to be the incarnation of the social world to the -poor little lady, destined to spend her days out of her element. Mr. -Carter had almost forgiven him the pigeon house, but not quite. - -"There is something lacking, somehow, in a man who would do such a -thing," he had declared to Helen. - -The pigeon house was built by the secretary, according to his own plans -and specifications, and placed on the roof, where it loomed an eyesore -to the artistic. Truly they seemed to be going into pigeon raising in -good earnest. It was a huge affair, large enough to accommodate many -pigeons; and then, with the careless expenditure of money that seemed to -characterize the master of Weston, crates of pigeons arrived and were -installed in their new quarters. - -"The carrier pigeons have not come, but when they do I'll bring one to -you," the count said to Douglas, "and you must promise to send me a -message." The girl laughingly promised. - -The count was still doing what Helen called "browsing." He flitted from -sister to sister, whispering his tender nothings and for the moment -seeming all devotion to the one with whom he happened to be. - -"Thank goodness, I found out in time what a flirt he is!" Helen -whispered to her inmost self. "Once, for just a fraction of a second, I -was jealous of Douglas and of Nan, too. His house is so lovely and he is -so rich and handsome and so fascinating, and I do so hate to be poor! -But I can't abide a male flirt!" - -Nevertheless, Helen was very glad to see the count when he called at -Valhalla and she was very successful in hiding her real feelings -from that gentleman, who twirled his saucy moustache in masculine -satisfaction when he thought of the attractive girl who so courteously -received his attentions. Douglas's indifference rather piqued him and -he was constantly trying to break through it, but no matter what -flattering remarks he made to her she never seemed to know they were -intended for her, Douglas Carter. - -"That young soldier is at the bottom of it!" he would exclaim to -himself after trying his best to get an answering spark from this -girl who appeared so altogether lovely in his eyes, more lovely and -desirable because of her indifference, and then, too, because he knew -instinctively that Herz was hopelessly in love with her; and many men -are like sheep and go where others lead. - -The secretary was becoming a real nuisance to Douglas, who in a way -liked him, but who never got over his very German name and his red, red -mouth. He so often seemed to know exactly the moment when she was to -dismiss school and would appear as she locked the schoolhouse door and -quietly join her on the walk home. He was very interesting and Douglas -much preferred him to the count, who could not be with any female for -more than a few moments without bordering on love-making of some kind. -Herz had a great deal of information and this he would impart to -Douglas in quite the manner of a professor as he walked stiffly by her -side. - -Bobby was not at all in favor of sharing the walks home with this tall, -stiff stranger. Ever since Dr. Wright's talk with him he had considered -himself Douglas's protector, and he liked to pretend that as they went -along the lonesome road and skirted the dark pine woods he was going to -shoot imaginary bandits who infested their path. He couldn't play any -such game with this matter-of-fact man stalking along by their side, -explaining to Douglas some intricate point in philosophy. - -"Say, kin you goose step?" he asked one day when Herz was especially -irritating to him. Bobby had a "bowanarrow" hid in the bushes by the -branch, with which he had intended to kill many Indians on their -homeward walk. - -"Yes, of course!" came rather impatiently from Herz, who thought -children should be seen and not heard and that this especial child would -be well neither seen nor heard. - -"Well, do it!" - -"Bobby, don't bother Mr. Herz," Douglas admonished. - -"He kin talk an' goose step at the same time," Bobby insisted. - -Herz began solemnly to goose step, expounding his philosophy as he went. -Bobby shrieked with delight. This wasn't such a bad companion, after -all. It was so ridiculous that Douglas could hardly refrain from -shouting as loud as Bobby. - -"Is that the way the German soldiers really walk?" asked Bobby. - -"So I am told." - -"Where did you learn to do it?" asked Douglas. - -"I--I--at a school where I was educated." - -"Oh, but you are an American, so the count told me." - -"I am an American." This was uttered in a very dead tone. The man -suddenly turned on his heel and with a muttered good-by disappeared. - -"Ain't he a nut, though?" exclaimed Bobby. - -"He is peculiar," agreed Douglas. - -"Do you like for him to walk home with you, Dug?" - -"I don't know whether I do or not." - -"Well, I don't like it a bit, 'cep'n, of co'se, when he goose steps an' -then it's great. I seen a colored fellow a-goose steppin' the other day, -an' he says he learned it at the count's school what Mr. Herz is -a-teachin'. He says they call it settin' up exercises, but he would like -to do some settin' down exercise. I reckon he was tryin' to make a -kinder joke." - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -AN EIGHTEENTH BIRTHDAY - - -Every American will always remember that winter of 1917 as being one of -extreme unrest. Would we or would we not be plunged into the World War? -Should we get in the game or should we sit quietly by and see Germany -overrun land and sea? - -Valhalla was not too much out of the world to share in the excitement, -and like most of the world was divided in its opinions. Douglas and her -father were for the sword and no more pens. Helen and Mrs. Carter felt -it was a pity to mix up in a row that was not ours, although in her -secret soul Helen knew full well that the row was ours and if war was to -be declared she would be as good a fighter as the next. Nan was an out -and out pacifist and declared the world was too beautiful to mar with -all of this bloodshed. Lucy insisted that Nan got her sentiments from -Count de Lestis, who had been "hogging" a seat by her sister quite often -in the weeks before that day in March when diplomatic relations with -Germany were broken off by our country. As for Lucy: she could tell you -all about the causes of the war and was quite up on Bismarck's policy, -etc. She delighted her father with her knowledge of history and her -logical views of the present situation. She and Mag were determined to -go as Red Cross nurses if we did declare war, certain that if they -tucked up their hair and let down their dresses no one would dream they -were only fourteen. Bobby walked on his toes and held his head very -high, trying to look tall, hoping he could go as a drummer boy or -something if he could only stretch himself a bit. - -"Good news, girls!" cried Helen one evening in February when they had -drawn their seats around the roaring fire piled high with wood cut by -Mr. Carter, whose muscles were getting as hard as iron from his outdoor -work. - -"What?" in a chorus from the girls, always ready for any kind of news, -good or bad. - -"The count is going to have a ball!" - -"Really? When?" - -"On the twenty-second of February! He says if he gives a party on -Washington's birthday nobody can doubt his patriotism." - -"Humph! I don't see what business he has with patriotism about our -Washington," muttered Lucy. - -"But he does feel patriotic about the United States, he told me he did," -said Nan. - -"I think he means to take out his naturalization papers in the near -future," said Mr. Carter. - -"He tells me he feels very lonesome now that he is in a way debarred -from his own country," sighed Mrs. Carter. "That book he wrote has made -the Kaiser very angry." - -"Well, after the war is over that book will raise him in the estimation -of all democracies," suggested Douglas. - -"Mag says that Billy wrote to Brentano's to try and get him that book -and they say they can't find it; never heard of it," blurted out Lucy. - -"It has perhaps not been translated into English," said Helen loftily. - -"Mag says that that's no matter. Brentano will get you any old book in -any old language if it is in existence." - -"How can they when a book has been suppressed? I reckon the Kaiser is -about as efficient about suppressing as he is about everything else. -Well, book or no book, I'm glad to be going to a ball. He says we must -ask our friends from Richmond and he is going to invite everybody in the -county and have a great big splendid affair, music from Richmond, and -supper, too." - -"Kin I go?" asked Bobby, curling up in Helen's lap, a way he had of -doing when there was no company to see him and sleep was getting the -better of him. - -"Of course you can, if you take a good nap in the daytime." - -"Daddy and Mumsy, you will go, surely," said Douglas. - -"Yes, indeed, if your mother wants to! I'm not much of a dancer these -days, but I bet she can outdance any of you girls. Eh, Mother?" - -"Not as delicate as I am now; but of course I shall go to the ball to -chaperone my girls," said the little lady plaintively. "I doubt my -dancing, however." - -"He says we must ask Dr. Wright and Lewis and any other people we want. -He says he is really giving this ball to us because we have been so -hospitable to him," continued Helen. - -"We haven't been any nicer to him than Miss Ella and Miss Louise," said -Lucy, who seemed bent on obstructing. - -"But they are too old to have balls given to them," laughed Helen. "They -are going, though. I went to see them this afternoon with Count de -Lestis and they are just as much interested as I am. They asked the -privilege of making the cakes for the supper and he was so tactful that -he did not tell them he was to have a grand caterer to do the whole -thing. The old ladies just love to do it, and one is to make angel's -food and one devil's food. - -"The Suttons are going," and Helen held the floor without interruptions -because of the subject that was interesting to all the family. "Mr. -Sutton says if the roads permit he will send his big car to take our -whole family, and if the roads are too bum he will have the carriage out -for Mrs. Sutton and Mumsy, and all of us can go in the hay wagon." - -"Grand! I hope the roads will be muddy up to the hubs!" cried Lucy. "Hay -wagons are lots more fun than automobiles." - -"Hard on one's clothes, though," and Helen looked a little rueful. The -question of dress was important when one had nothing but old last year's -things that were so much too narrow. - -"What are you going to wear to the ball?" asked Douglas that night when -she and Helen were snuggling down in their bed in the little room up -under the roof. - -"I haven't anything but my rose chiffon. It is pretty faded looking and -hopelessly out of style, but I am going to try to freshen it up a bit. -Ah me! I don't mind working, but I do wish I were not an unproductive -consumer. I'd like to make some money myself and sometimes buy -something." - -Douglas patted her sister consolingly. "Poor old Helen! I do feel so bad -about you." - -"Well, you needn't! But I did see such a love of a dancing frock when we -were down town that day with Cousin Elizabeth: white tulle over a silver -cloth with silver girdle and trimmings. It was awfully simple but so -effective. I could just see myself in it. I ought to be ashamed to let -clothes make so much difference with me, but I can't help it. I am -better about it than I was at first, don't you think?" - -"I think you are splendid and I also think you have the hardest job of -all to do: working all the time and never making any money." - -The next morning Douglas held a whispered conversation with Nan before -they got off to their respective schools. - -"See what it costs but don't let Helen know. She will be eighteen -tomorrow, and if it isn't worth a million, I am going to take some of my -last month's salary and get it for her." - -When Nan, who was not much of a shopper, approached the great windows of -Richmond's leading department store, what was her joy to see the very -gown that Douglas had described to her displayed on Broad Street and -marked down to a sum in the reach of a district school teacher. - -"It looks so like Helen, somehow, that I can almost see her wearing it -in place of the wax dummy," exclaimed Nan. - -"Must I charge it, Miss Carter?" asked the pleasant saleswoman as she -took the precious dress out of the show-window. - -"Please, Miss Luly, somehow I'd rather not charge it, but I haven't the -money today. Couldn't you fix it up somehow so I could take it with me -and bring you the money tomorrow? We don't charge any more, but if I -don't buy it right now I'm so afraid somebody else might get it." - -The smiling saleswoman, who had been waiting on the Carters ever since -the pretty Annette Sevier came a bride to Richmond, held a conference -with the head of the firm on how this could be managed. - -"Miss Nan Carter is very anxious not to charge, but can't pay until -tomorrow." - -"Ummm! A little irregular! What Carter is it?" - -"Mr. Robert Carter's daughter!" - -"Let her have it and anything else she wants on any terms she wishes. -Robert Carter's name on a firm's books is the same as money in the bank. -I have wondered why his account has been withdrawn from our store," and -the head of the firm immediately dictated a letter to his former patron, -requesting in polite terms that he should run up as big a bill as he -wished and that he could pay whenever he got ready. So very polite was -the letter that one almost gathered he need not pay at all. - -Mr. Carter laughed aloud when he read the letter, remembering those days -not yet a year gone by when the bills used to pile in on the first of -every month and he would feel that they must be paid immediately and the -only way to do it was redouble his energy and work far into the night. - -The flat box with the precious dancing dress was not an easy thing to -carry on stilts, but the lane was muddy and Nan had to do it somehow. -With much juggling she got safely over the dangers of the road and -smuggled it into the house without Helen's seeing it. - -"I got it!" Nan whispered to Douglas when she could get her alone. - -"But you didn't have the money! I asked you to find out the price -first," said Douglas, fearing Nan, in her zeal, had overstepped the -limit in price. "I didn't want anything charged. I am so afraid we might -get started to doing it again." - -"Never! I just kind of borrowed it until tomorrow. You see I struck a -sale and they couldn't save it for me because there were only a few of -them. I told them I couldn't charge but would bring the money tomorrow, -and Miss Luly fixed it up for me, somehow, and told me I could have the -whole department store on any terms I saw fit to dictate." - -Morning dawned on Helen's eighteenth birthday but found her in not very -jubilant spirits. It isn't much fun to have an eighteenth birthday when -you have to bounce out of bed and rush into your clothes to see that a -poor ignorant country servant doesn't make the toast and scramble the -eggs before she even puts a kettle of water on for coffee. Chloe always -progressed backwards unless Helen was there to do the head work. - -Helen found Chloe had already descended her perilous ladder and had the -stove hot and the kettle on as a birthday present to her beloved -mistress. Chloe really adored Helen and did her best to learn and -remember. The breakfast table was set, too, and Chloe's eyes were -shining as though she had something to say but wild horses would not -make her say it. - -The sisters came in at the first tap of the bell and her father was in -his place, too. Helen started to seat herself at her accustomed place, -but at a shout from Lucy looked before she sat. Her chair was piled high -with parcels. - -"Happy birthday, honey!" said Douglas. - -"Happy birthday, daughter!" from Mr. Carter. - -"Happy birthday! Happy birthday!" shouted all of them in chorus. - -"Why, I didn't know anybody remembered!" cried Helen. - -"Not remember your eighteenth birthday! Well, rather!" said Mr. Carter. - -Then began the opening of the boxes while Chloe stood in the corner -grinning for dear life. - -A pearl pin from Mrs. Carter, one she had worn when she first met her -husband, was in the small box on top. An old-fashioned filigree gold -bracelet was Mr. Carter's gift. It had belonged to his mother, for whom -Helen was named. - -"It will look very lovely on your arm, my dear," he said when Helen -kissed him in thanks. - -Cousin Elizabeth Somerville had sent her ten dollars in gold; Lewis, -some new gloves; there was a vanity box from Lucy with a saucy message -about always powdering her nose; a little thread lace collar from Nan, -made by her own hands; and to balance all was a five-pound box of candy -from Dr. Wright. - -"I had a big marble for you, but it done slipt out'n my pocket," said -Bobby, and then he had to give a big hug and a kiss, which Helen -declared was better than even a marble. - -"But you haven't opened your big box, the one at the bottom," insisted -Nan. It had got covered up with papers and Helen had overlooked it. -"Please hurry up and open it because Lucy and I have to beat it. It will -be train time before we know it." - -As Helen untied the strings and unwrapped the tissue paper that was -packed around the contents of the big box you could have heard a pin -drop in that dining-room at Valhalla. She eagerly pulled aside the -papers and then shook out the glimmering gown. - -"Oh, Douglas! Douglas! You shouldn't have done it! It is even prettier -than I remembered it to be!" - -"Mind out, don't splash on it," warned Nan just in time to keep the two -great tears that welled up into Helen's eyes from spotting the exquisite -creation. - -"My Miss Helen's gwinter look like a angel whin she goes ter de count's -jamboree," declared Chloe. - -"Well, your Miss Douglas is the angel and she's going to have to have a -new dress with slits in the shoulder-blades to let her wings come -through," sobbed Helen, laughing at the same time as she held the dress -up in front of her and danced around the table. She had thought nobody -remembered her eighteenth birthday and now found nobody had forgotten -it. - -"You shouldn't have afforded it, Douglas. I can't keep it. It would be -too selfish of me." - -"Marked down goods not sent on approval," drawled Nan. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -BLACK SOCIALISM - - -Sergeant Somerville and Private Tinsley accepted the invitation to the -count's ball with alacrity. Their company had been mustered out just in -the nick of time for them to obtain indefinite leave. It was rumored -that they were to be taken in again, this time as regulars, but the -certainty of having no military duties to perform for the time being was -very pleasant to our two young men. - -The Carter girls had taken the count at his word and invited several -friends from Richmond to stay at Valhalla and attend the ball. Dr. -Wright was eager to come and with the recklessness of physicians who use -their cars for business and not for pleasure, he made the trip in his -automobile. He had a new five-seated car, taking the place of his former -runabout. - -"M. D.'s and R. F. D.'s have to travel whether roads are good or bad," -he had declared. - -The two young soldiers and Tillie Wingo had the hardihood to risk their -necks with him, and at the last minute he picked up Skeeter Halsey and -Frank Maury, who had been invited by Lucy so that she and Mag would not -have to be wall flowers. Six persons in a five-passenger car insures -them from much jolting, as there is no room to bounce. - -Tillie was in her element with five pairs of masculine ears to chatter -in. She and Bill were still engaged "in a way," as she expressed it, -although neither one of them seemed to regard it very seriously. Tillie -insisted upon making a secret of it as much as she was capable, so that -in Bill's absence she might not be laid on the shelf. - -"The fellows don't think much of an engaged girl," she said frankly, -"and I have no idea of taking a back seat yet awhile." - -The recklessness of the guests in coming over Virginia roads in an -automobile in the month of February was nothing to the recklessness of -the Carters in inviting six persons to spend the night with them when -they possessed but one small guest chamber. - -"We can manage somehow," Helen declared, "and, besides, we will be out -so late dancing there won't be much use in having a place to sleep, -because we won't have any time to sleep." - -"Only think of all of those bedrooms at Grantly with nobody in them!" -exclaimed Lucy. "Those old ladies might just as well ask some of us up -there, but they will never think of it, I know." - -"If they do, they will disagree about which ones to ask and which rooms -to put them in, and we will never get the invitation," laughed Helen. -"Anyhow, they are dear old ladies and I am mighty fond of them." Helen -often ran up to the great house to ask advice from the Misses Grant -about household affairs and was ever welcome to the lonely old women. - -"They are certainly going to the ball, aren't they?" asked Douglas. - -"They wouldn't miss it for worlds. They are having a time just now, -though, because Tempy has left them. They can't find out what her reason -is and feel sure she didn't really want to go; now her sister Chloe is -so near she seemed quite content, but for weeks she has been in a -peculiar frame of mind and the last few days they have caught her in -tears again and again. They sent for Dr. Allison, who lives miles and -miles from here, but Miss Ella and Miss Louise will trust no other -doctor. He says as far as he can tell she is not ill. Anyhow, she has -gone home, and today their man-servant departed, also. Of course they -might draw on the field hands for servants, but they hate to do it -because they are so very rough. They have had this man-servant for years -and years, ever since he was a little boy, and they can't account for -his going, either. He had a face as long as a ham when he left them and -gave absolutely no excuse except that his maw was sick, and as Miss Ella -says, 'His mother has been dead for ten years, and she ought to know, -since she furnished the clothes in which she was buried.' Miss Louise -said she had only been dead eight, and they were her clothes, but they -agree that she is dead at least, and can't account for Sam's excuse." - -"Poor old ladies, I am sorry for them," said Douglas. - -On the day of the ball, there was much furbishing up of finery at -Valhalla. Mr. Carter's dress suit had to be pressed and his seldom used -dress studs unearthed. Mrs. Carter forgot all about being an invalid and -was as busy and happy as possible, trying dresses on her daughters to -see that their underskirts were exactly the right length and even -running tucks in with her own helpless little hands. - -"It is a good thing I don't have to think about my own outsides," said -Helen, "as all of my time must be spent in planning for our guests' -insides. I tell you, six more mouths to fill is going to keep Chloe and -me hustling." - -"It sho' is an' all them dishes ter wash is goin' ter keep me hustlin' -some mo'," grumbled Chloe. "An' then I gotter go ter the count's an' -stir my stumps." - -"I am sorry, but I am going to give you a nice holiday after it is all -over," said her young mistress kindly. The count had asked Helen to -bring Chloe to look after the ladies in the dressing-room. - -"I ain't a-mindin' 'bout dishes. I's jes' a-foolin'---- Say, Miss Helen, -what does potatriotic mean?" - -"Patriotic? That means loving your country and being willing to give up -things for it and help save it. Everybody should be patriotic." - -"But s'posin' yer ain't got no country?" - -"Why, Chloe, everybody has a country, either the place where you were -born or the place where you have been living long enough to love and -feel that it is yours." - -"But niggers is been livin' here foreveraneveramen, an' still they ain't -ter say got no country." - -"Why, you have! Don't you think Uncle Sam would look after you and fight -for you if you needed his help?" - -"I ain't got no Uncle Sam, but I hear tell that he wouldn't raise his -han' ter save a nigger, but yit if'n they's a war that he'll 'spec' the -niggers ter go git shot up fer him." - -"Why, Chloe! How can you say such a thing?" - -"I ain't er sayin' it--I's jes' a-sayin' I hears tell." - -"Who told it to you?" - -"Nobody ain't tol' it ter me. I jes' hearn it." - -"Well, it's not true." - -"I hearn, too, that they's plenty er money ter go 'roun' in this -country, but some folks what thinks they's better'n other folks has -hoarded an' hoarded 'til po' folks can't git they han's on a nickel. An' -I hearn that they's gonter be distress an' misery, an' wailin' an' -snatchin' er teeth 'til some strong man arouses an' makes these here -rich folks gib up they tin. Nobody ain't a-gonter know who dat leader -will be, he mought be white an' thin agin he mought be black, but he's -a-gonter be a kinder sabior." - -"How is he going to manage?" asked Helen, amused at what sounded like a -sermon the girl might have heard from the rickety pulpit of the brick -church. - -"I ain't hearn, but I done gib out ter all these niggers that my white -folks ain't got no tin put away here in this Hogwallow or whatever Miss -Nan done named it. They keeps their money hot a-spendin' it, I tells 'em -all." - -Helen laughed, and with a final touch at the supper table and a last -peep at the sally lunn muffins, which were rising as they should, she -started to go help her mother with the dancing frocks and their -petticoats that would show discrepancies. - -"Say, Miss Helen, is you sho' Miss Ellanlouise is goin' ternight?" asked -Chloe, following her up the steps. - -"Yes, Chloe, I'm sure." - -"An', Miss Helen, if'n folks ain't got no country ter love what ought -they do?" - -"Why, love one another, I reckon. Love the people of their own race, and -try to help them." - -"Oughtn't folks ter love they own color better'n any other?" - -"Why, certainly!" - -"If'n some of yo' folks got into trouble, what would you do?" - -"Why, I'd help them out if I could." - -"Even if'n they done wrong?" - -"Of course! They would still be my own people." - -"If they ain't ter say done it but is a-gonter do it, thin what would -you do?" - -"I'd try to stop them." - -"Would you tell on 'em?" - -"I'd try to stop them first. Who has done wrong or is going to do it, -Chloe?" - -"Nobody ain't done wrong an' I ain't a-never said they is. I ain't said -a word. This talk was jes' some foolishness I done made up out'n my -haid. But say, Miss Helen,--I'd kinder like ter stop at Mammy's cabin -over to Paradise befo' I gits ter de count's. I kin take my foot in my -han' an' strike through the woods an' beat the hay wagin thar, it goin' -roun' by the road." - -"All right, Chloe!" - -Helen rather fancied that Chloe wanted to see her sister, who was -evidently contemplating some imprudence. She had been threatening to -marry James Hanks, but her people had shown themselves very much opposed -to it. Perhaps the girl was on the eve of an elopement which had called -forth all of the above conversation from her sister. Where did she get -all of those strange socialistic ideas? Was Lewis Somerville right and -was the little learning a dangerous thing for these poor colored people? -Surely she had helped Chloe by the little teaching she had given her. -The girl was like another creature. She seemed now to have self-respect, -and Helen felt instinctively that her loyalty to her and her family was -almost a religion with her. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -DRESSING FOR THE BALL - - -"How are Miss Ella and Louise going?" asked Douglas, as she stooped for -a parting glance in the mirror which the sloping ceiling necessitated -hanging so low that a girl as tall as Douglas could not see above her -nose without bending double. - -"In their phaeton," answered Helen. "They don't mind driving themselves. -I asked them. You see with Sam gone they can't get out the big old -rockaway." - -"They must keep along near the hay wagon. Such old ladies should not be -alone on the road," said Douglas. - -"I dare you to tell them that! They have no fear of anything or anybody. -They say they have lived alone in this county for so many, many years -that they are sure nobody will ever harm them." - -"Well, I am sure nobody ever would," said Nan. - -The girls had decided that the only way to take care of so many guests -was to double up "in layers," as Lucy called it. Bobby was sent over -into the new house with Lewis and Bill, his old tent mates, for whom Nan -and Lucy had vacated their room while they came over to the old house -and brought Tillie Wingo with them. - -"Three in a double bed and two in a single bed wouldn't be so bad after -a ball," Nan had declared. - -Dressing for the ball was the more difficult feat, however. The ceiling -was so low and sloping and Tillie Wingo did take up so much room with -her fluffy ruffles. The Carter girls were glad to see the voluble -Tillie. She was such a gay, good-natured person and seemed so pleased to -be included in this pleasure party. She looked as pretty as a pink in a -much beruffled painted chiffon; and while they were dressing, she -obligingly showed Helen the very latest steps in dancing. - -Helen was charming in her birthday present dress. Nan declared she -looked like the princess in the fairy tale with the dress like the -moonlight. - -"With all my finery, I don't look nearly so well as you do, Douglas," -Helen declared. - -Indeed Douglas was beautiful. She had on the graduating dress, the price -of which had caused her so much concern the spring before. With careful -ripping out of sleeves and snipping down of neck, Mrs. Carter had -converted it into an evening dress with the help of a wonderful lace -fichu, something left over from her own former splendor. - -The sight of her eldest daughter all dressed in the ball gown brought -tears of regret to poor Mrs. Carter's eyes. - -"What a debutante you would have made!" she sighed. "You have a queenly -something about you that is quite rare in a debutante and might have -made the hit of the season." - -"Oh, Mumsy, I'm a much better district school teacher!" and Douglas -blushed with pleasure at her mother's rare praise. - -The girl had seen a subtle difference in her mother's manner to her ever -since she had felt it her duty to take a stand about their affairs. Mrs. -Carter was ever gentle, ever courteous, but Douglas knew that she looked -upon her no longer as her daughter somehow,--rather as a kind of -taskmistress that Fate had set over her. - -The young men were gathered in the living-room waiting for the girls and -when they burst upon them in all the glory of ball gowns they quite -dazzled them. - -"Douglas!" gasped Lewis in an ill-concealed whisper, "you somehow make -me think of an Easter lily." - -"Well, I don't feel like one a bit. I can't fancy an Easter lily's -dancing, and I mean to dance every dance I get a chance and all the -others, too." - -"I reckon I can promise you that," grinned her cousin. - -Bill Tinsley made no ado of taking the pretty Tillie in his arms and -opening the ball with a whistled fox trot. - -"I'm going to get the first dance with you, and to make sure I'll just -take it now, please." - -"Don't you like my dress?" asked Helen, twirling around on her toe -before Dr. Wright, whose eyes plainly showed that he not only liked the -dress but what was in the dress rather more than was good for the peace -of mind of a rising young nerve specialist. - -"Lovely!" he exclaimed, not looking at the dress at all, but at the -charming face above the dress. - -"Douglas gave it to me for a birthday present,--it was her extravagance, -not mine. I think she is about the sweetest thing in all the world. The -only thing that worries me is mashing it all up in the Suttons' hay -wagon." - -"Are the roads so very bad? Why not go in my car?" - -"They are pretty bad, but no worse than the road from Richmond. It -certainly is strange how that road changes. It was fine when the agent -brought us out here to see the place. Wasn't it?" - -"It was, but I don't think it is such a very bad road now. It may be -because I like to travel on it. But come on and go with me in my car. If -you will trust your dress and neck to me." - -"I will, since you put my dress first! Somehow that makes me feel you -will be careful of it and respect it." - -A rattle of wheels and Billy Sutton came driving up in a great hay wagon -filled with nice, clean straw, and close on his heels were Mr. and Mrs. -Sutton in their carriage, which was to take Mr. and Mrs. Carter sedately -to the ball. - -"Helen and I are going in my car. Does anyone want to occupy the back -seat?" asked George Wright, hoping he would be paid for his politeness -by a refusal. - -"No indeed, I adore a hay wagon! It's so nice and informal," cried -Tillie. - -Douglas did want to go, but felt perhaps it was up to her to chaperone -the youngsters in the hay wagon, so for once Dr. Wright thought he was -to get Helen for a few moments to himself. - -"Chloe must go with us," declared Helen. "She wants to stop in Paradise -to see her mother." - -Dr. Wright cracked a grim joke to himself which concerned Chloe and the -antipodes of Paradise, but he smothered his feelings and opened the door -for the delighted colored girl, who had never been in an automobile -before. - -What a gay crowd they were in that hay wagon! Billy Sutton had contrived -to get Nan on the front seat with him, where she was enthroned high -above the others, looking down on the horses' backs as they strained and -pulled the great wagon through the half-frozen mud. Billy had some -friends out from town who immediately attached themselves to Tillie -Wingo, who was to beaux just as a honey-pot to bees. They stopped and -picked up two families of young folks on the way to the count's, and by -the time they got them all in, the wagon was quite full. - -"I am glad Helen didn't trust her new dress to this," Douglas whispered -to Lewis. - -"Well, I am glad you didn't have on such fine clothes and came this -way," he whispered back. "Wright is too reckless for me on these country -roads. Not that I am afraid myself, but I certainly should hate to see -you turned over." - -"Whar Miss Ellanlouise?" asked Chloe, when she could get her breath -after the first mad plunge into the delights of motoring. - -"Oh, there! How selfish of me! I should have thought of it and asked -them to go with us," said Helen. - -"We can go back for them," suggested the doctor, who had begun to feel -that he never would have a chance to see Helen alone. - -"Oh, no, we needn't mind. They are coming in their phaeton, and no doubt -have started long before this. They are so good to me, I should have -thought of them." - -Chloe was put out at Paradise, assuring her mistress she would come up -through the woods in a few moments and no doubt be at her post in the -dressing-room before the guests should arrive. - -Paradise was very dark and lonesome. The few scattered cabins showed -not a gleam. There was a dim light trickling from the windows of the -club, but as they approached that rickety building, that disappeared. -Helen saw some dark forms up close to the wall when she looked back -after passing that place of entertainment. - -"I reckon they are going to initiate someone tonight," she thought. - -"Chloe had such a strange talk with me today," she told her companion -and then repeated the conversation she had had with the colored girl. "I -can't quite understand her." - -"Perhaps this count is instilling some kind of silly socialistic notions -in their heads," suggested the doctor, who held the same opinion Lewis -Somerville did of the gentleman who was to be their host for the -evening. Indeed, he so cordially mistrusted him that only the fact he -was to be with Helen had reconciled him to spending an evening under his -roof. - -"Oh, no, I can hardly think that, and besides, the count does not do the -teaching. That is done by a Mr. Herz, his secretary. He is an American, -born in Cincinnati. He seems to be very intelligent and certainly has -taken a shine to Douglas. I don't know just what she thinks of him, but -she lets him walk home from school with her every now and then." - -"I don't like the name much!" - -"Well, the poor man can't help his name. You speak as though we were -already at war with Germany. I am trying to preserve our neutrality -until war is declared." - -"My neutrality has been nothing but a farce since I have realized that -Germany is at war with us." - -"You sound just like Douglas and Father. Will you go to war if it -comes?" - -"Why, of course! Would you have me do otherwise?" - -"I--I--don't know," and Helen wished she had not asked the question that -had called forth this query. This night was to be one of pleasure, -feasting and dancing. War had no place in her thoughts when she had on -her new dress and the music was coming from Richmond. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -THE BALL - - -"Music and lights put me all in a flutter!" exclaimed Helen as they -approached the broad and hospitable mansion. - -Already there were several buggies and carriages in the gravelled -driveway. The guests were arriving early, as sensible country people -should. Let the city folks wait until far in the night to begin their -revels, but those living in the country as a rule feel that balls should -start early and break up early. - -"Do you care so much for parties?" - -"I think I must. I have not been to very many balls, because you see I -am not out in society yet. I reckon I'll never make my debut now," and -Helen gave a little sigh. - -"Does it make so very much difference to you?" - -"Well, not so much as it would have a year ago. I used to feel that -making one's debut was a goal that was of the utmost importance, but -somehow now I do feel that there are things a little bit more worth -while." - -"What for instance?" - -"Getting Father well, and--and----" - -"And what?" - -"You might think I am silly if I tell you,--silly to talk about it." - -"I promise to think you are you no matter what else it is, and you -are--well, never mind what you are." - -"Well, somehow I have begun to feel that helping people to be gay is -important, like cheering up Miss Ella and Miss Louise. They have such -stupid times. I really believe they quarrel just to make life a little -gayer. I go to see them every day and it makes me feel good all over to -know how much they like to have me come." - -"And you were afraid I'd think that was silly?" asked George Wright as -he halted his car down under a great willow oak, well away from the -other vehicles. How he wished they were to stay out under that tree all -evening! Music and dancing were nothing to him compared to the pleasure -he obtained from talking to this girl. - -"Let's sit here until the others come," he suggested. - -"And waste all that good music!" - -Dr. Wright began to envy the Misses Grant whom Helen wanted to make -happy. - -"Of course not! I forgot how seldom you have a chance to dance." - -Weston was wonderfully beautiful. The electric lights may have been an -anomaly, but they certainly helped to make the old house show what it -was capable of. The dead and gone colonials who had built the place -had been forced either to have their balls by daylight or to content -themselves with flickering candles, which no doubt dropped wax or even -tallow on the handsome gowns of the beauties and belles. The broad hall -with the great rooms on each side seemed to be made for dancing. The -floor was polished to a dangerous point for the unwary, but the unwary -had no business on a ballroom floor. - -The count seemed in his element as he received his guests, but Herz -looked thoroughly out of place and ill at ease. - -"Ah, Miss Helen! I am so glad to welcome you--and Dr. Wright--it is -indeed kind of you to come! I am depending upon you, Miss Helen, to -help me entertain these people who have come so promptly. They neither -dance nor speak. Herz is about as much use to me on this occasion as a -porcupine would be. Only look around the room at my guests!" - -They did indeed look most forlorn. One old farmer was almost asleep -while his wife sat bolt upright by his side with a long sad face and a -deep regret in her eyes. No doubt, she was regretting the comfortable -grey wrapper she had discarded for the stiff, best, green silk, and -the broad easy slippers that had been replaced by the creaking shoes. -Several girls with shining eyes and alert expressions were evidently -wondering what ailed the young men who stood against the wall as though -it might fall down if they budged an inch. - -"Why are they wasting all this good music?" demanded Helen. - -"As you say in America: 'Seek me!'" laughed the host. - -"Search me, you mean." - -"Ah, but is it not almost the same? What do you say, Dr. Wright?" - -"Well, I'd rather someone would seek me than search me." - -"So! And now, Miss Helen, if you will discard your wraps and return -quickly and help me I shall be most grateful. If these poor people do -not get started they will go to sleep." - -Helen flew up to the dressing-room which, sure enough, Chloe had reached -before her. The girl was huddled down in a corner of the room looking -the picture of woe. - -"Did you see Tempy?" asked Helen, taking for granted that Chloe had been -speaking of her sister when she had asked about one's duty to one's own -people. - -"No'm!" - -"Wasn't she at your mother's?" - -"I don't know, 'm!" - -"Was your mother there?" - -"Yassum!" - -There was never any use in trying to make Chloe talk when she had -decided not to, so Helen threw off her wraps and with a peep in the -mirror where one could see from top to toe, she hastened to the aid of -Count de Lestis. - -"Mother will be along soon and she can do wonders with people who are -bashful," declared Helen, "but I'll try my hand at it until she comes. -They must dance, then they will thaw out." - -"Certainly, and will you dance with me to show them how?" - -Helen forgot all about the fact that she had come with Dr. Wright and he -might reasonably expect to claim the first dance. - -"Yes, but you must introduce me to all these people and I'll ask some of -the girls to dance while you go get the young men to come fall in the -breach." - -The shiny-eyed girls were willing enough and the young men seemed to -think if the count didn't mind his walls falling down, far be it from -them to hold them up, so in a few moments the sad crowd were in a gale -of good humor. The old farmer waked up and his wife looked as though she -might try her new creaky shoes on the waxed floor if anyone would only -ask her. - -Dr. Wright looked on rather grimly as Helen was whisked from under his -very nose. He might have stood it better if the count had not been such -a perfect dancer and so very handsome. He had a way of whispering to his -partner during the dance that was also a sore trial to the young -physician. - -"What could he be saying to Helen to make her dimple and blush?" - -The arrival of the carriage containing Mrs. Sutton and Mrs. Carter with -their rather bored husbands was a welcome interruption to the poor young -man. Soon came the lumbering hay wagon with its giggling, chattering -load, and then Helen was at liberty to dance with him, since the count -perforce must again play the gracious host. - -"Isn't it perfect?" she exclaimed. "The floor, the music, and -everything!" - -"Not quite so perfect now as when you had the count for a partner, I am -afraid," he muttered, bending over to make her hear. He was too tall to -converse while dancing with Helen. He had never regretted his inches -before. - -"Nonsense! You dance just as well as he does, and he talks so much while -he is dancing. I hate to dance and talk, too,--just dancing is enough -for me." - -"Me, too, then!" and once more he felt the satisfaction that a man who -measures over six feet can't help feeling. - -Helen was right. Mrs. Carter was a born entertainer and she had hardly -taken the social reins in her hands before the ball was running -smoothly. Even Bobby found a partner, a funny little girl with such -bushy hair that anyone could tell at a glance it had been put up in -curl papers for several days. She looked like a pink hollyhock in her -starched book-muslin that stood out like a paper lamp shade. Her round -black eyes seemed very lovely to the gallant Bobby, who took her into -the back hall where they turned round and round in imitation of the -dance, and when dancing palled on them they showed each other how to -make rabbits out of their handkerchiefs. - -"This is the kind of party I like," said the wholesome Mrs. Sutton. -"Every Jill has her Jack and there are some Jacks to spare. Deliver me -from parties where girls must sit against the wall and wait for partners -to be released." - -"When you get the vote you can do the asking, and then parties where the -females predominate will be more popular," teased her husband. - -"Nonsense! We can still do the asking if we care to. Come on and dance -with me, sir!" and Mr. Sutton delightedly complied. - -Mrs. Carter did not have to spend all the evening making other people -have a good time. She was asked to dance by the count and her pretty -little figure and graceful bearing attracted other partners, and she -was soon tripping the light fantastic toe as untiringly as any of her -daughters. Tillie Wingo herself did not get broken in on oftener. - -Herz stood in corners, looking like one of the men out of Noah's ark, -Nan declared, so stiff and wooden. - -"I don't know which one he resembles most, Shem, Ham, or Japheth," she -whispered to Billy Sutton, "but I wonder if you licked him if the paint -would come off." - -"I don't know, but I'd like to try. I can't abide that Dutchman. I -believe he thinks he is superior to all of us, even his precious count. -Jehoshaphat! I believe he is asking Douglas to dance." - -So he was. The secretary was stalking across the room, determination on -his noble brow and his full mouth drawn together in a tight red line. He -stopped in front of Douglas and placing one hand on his breast and the -other one on his waist line in the back, he shut up like a jack-knife. - -Douglas looked a little astonished, not knowing exactly what the young -man wanted, and then the memory of the early days at dancing school came -to her when the little boys were forced to bow to the little girls -before they danced with them. - -"Certainly," she said, excusing herself from Lewis, who looked a little -sullen, having expected to claim this particular waltz with his cousin, -but who had neglected to do so, being too intent on gazing at her pretty -flushed face. - -Herz clasped her around the waist and began to twirl in a most -astonishing manner. She could hardly keep her footing and very early -lost her breath. Skilful guiding was not necessary, although when they -arose to dance the floor was well filled with other couples, but these, -knowing full well that discretion was the better part of valor, gave the -spinning pair the right of way. The man never lost his gravity or -dignity, but his mouth broke from the hard red line to its usual -full-lipped curve. Douglas felt as though that dance would never end. -His strong arm held her like an iron ring as round and round they went. - - "'Hi! Lee! Hi! Low! - Hi! Lee! Hi! Low! - I jus' come over, - I jus' come over-- - Hi! Lee! Hi! Low! - Hi! Lee! Hi! Low! - I jus' come over the sea,'" - -sang Billy Sutton, as he and Nan watched the gyrations of their host's -secretary. "Did you ever see such a proof of foreign blood in any man -who pretends to be American born?" - -"Why, Billy, he is American born. The count says he was born and raised -in Cincinnati." - -"Yes, and the count says he himself was born and raised in Hungary, but -I bet you anything they may have been born where they say they were but -they were raised in Berlin. Look at that fellow and tell me if he -doesn't dance like Old Heidelberg." - -"The count doesn't, anyhow. I never saw such divine dancing as the -count's." - -As though he had heard her, the handsome smiling de Lestis came to claim -her for the rest of the dance. - -"Aren't these foreigners the limit?" said the boy, seeking the -disconsolate Lewis. "I know I oughtn't to say anything about a fellow -when I am in his house, but somehow that count gets my goat." - -"Mine, too! Who is this Herz?" - -"Oh, he is a kind of lady's maid or secretary or something for his nibs. -Says he is an American, but I have my doubts. I don't see how Miss -Douglas Carter can stand for him, but she lets him walk home from school -with her any time, so I hear," announced Billy, absolutely unconscious -of the fact he was retailing very unwelcome news to his companion. - -"Humph!" was all Lewis could say, but that monosyllable had a world of -meaning in it. And so although the music was gay and the lights were -bright and the laughter was merry in that ballroom, there were several -sore hearts, and the little green-eyed monster was waltzing or fox -trotting or one stepping every dance. - -"I wonder why Miss Ella and Louise don't get here," Helen said to Dr. -Wright, who had at last persuaded her to sit out one dance with him. -"They have had plenty of time even with their slow old horse." - -They had found a sofa in the back hall behind a clump of palms. There -were many plants artistically grouped by the florist from town, who had -tastefully decorated the whole mansion. - -"The telephone has been ringing a great deal since we came. Could they -be trying to get the count? I always feel like jumping when the 'phone -rings, feeling that it must be for me." - -"Oh, no! The ring for Weston is two long and three short rings. These -country 'phones are hard to learn, but I often answer the one at Grantly -for my old friends." - -"Listen, there goes the bell again! Goodness! I believe one of these -'phones that rings everybody's number would send me crazy." - -"They say you get used to them. That is four shorts and a long. That's -for Dr. Allison, who lives miles and miles from here. Don't you remember -Page Allison, that lovely girl who came to Greendale with the Tucker -twins? It is her father." - -"Of course I do, and I know Dr. Allison, too! A delightful gentleman!" - -"I believe I'll call up Miss Ella and see what is the matter,--why they -don't come on." - -George Wright sighed. There always seemed to be something to keep Helen -from talking to him tete-a-tete. Still, he felt glad to think that Helen -was so fond of these old ladies and so thoughtful of them. - -The telephone was under the stairway, quite near their retired nook. -Helen rang the number for Grantly and there was a quick response. - -"Hello!" came in Miss Louise's contralto notes. - -"Miss Louise, this is Helen Carter! Why haven't you started yet? Don't -you know the count can't give a ball without you and Miss Ella?" - -"Oh, my dear, my sister is ill, very ill,--fainted just as we were -getting ready to leave. You see she would make that cake, that angel's -food, although I told her I was going to make a fruit cake, but you -know Ella---- Oh, but how can I rattle along this way? I have been -trying so hard to get Dr. Allison and he doesn't answer." - -"Wait a minute, Miss Louise," and Helen put her hand over the receiver -and turned to Dr. Wright. - -"Dr. Wright, will you take me to Grantly? Miss Ella has had a fainting -fit--a stroke, I am afraid it is." - -"Take you! My dear, I'll take you anywhere you want to go." - -"Miss Louise, Dr. Wright is going to bring me to Grantly in his -automobile immediately. Don't worry; we will be there soon." - -She rang off quickly and flew upstairs for her wraps. Chloe was not in -the dressing-room, but she quickly unearthed her cape and hood from the -bed where the many shawls and cloaks had been piled. On the way out she -whispered to Nan where she was going, but told her not to tell the -others, as she did not want to break up the ball or to cast a shadow -on the happiness of the dancers. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -ANGEL'S FOOD - - -Not a sound or glimmer of light in Paradise as they speeded silently -through the settlement! The club, too, was deserted. - -"I think you are splendid to be willing to give up this ball to go to -the aid of these old ladies," said Dr. Wright, drawing the rug more -closely around Helen, as the air was quite nipping. - -"Why, the idea of my not doing it! You must think I'm nothing but a -heartless butterfly." - -"I think you are anything but one. You love dancing, though, so much. -I should have come alone. Somehow I couldn't make up my mind to forego -the ride alone with you. Isn't it a beautiful night?" - -The stars were shining brightly but the lazy moon had not yet gotten up. - -"If we find the poor old lady not too ill, I'll take you back to the -dance after we have made her comfortable. There will be a moon to light -our way later on." - -"That will be fine! Maybe they won't even miss us. But somehow I have a -feeling that Miss Ella is very ill." - -"Five minutes more will decide the question. Hasn't my new car eaten up -distance, though? Just think, in old days what a time sick persons had -to wait for a physician without telephones and without cars!" - -"Dr. Allison still drives a fast horse to a light buggy. Page says he -will none of horseless carriages. I believe it is only recently that he -has submitted to a telephone." - -"It is a good thing his medical theories have not kept pace with his -means of locomotion, or he would be a back number sure." - -Valhalla was very quiet, peacefully sleeping under the stars. What a -haven of refuge it had been to the Carters! Helen looked lovingly at the -picturesque roof lines as the car glided rapidly past. - -"Do you know, I think that must be the most restful place in all the -world? I have grown so attached to the little tumbledown house, leaks -and cracks, smoking stove and all." - -"Hasn't it been awfully hard on you?" - -"Not any harder on me than on the others!" - -"I can't tell you what I think of all of you Carter girls for the way -you have grappled with the winter in the country. I think you have had -the hot end of it, too." - -There flashed through Helen's mind a picture of the first time she saw -the young doctor, in the library of their pretty home in Richmond. There -had been no approval in his cold glance then, nothing but censure and -severity. She had deserved it all. Did she deserve the praise he gave -her now? - -"The hot end is better than the cold end during the winter months," she -laughed. "At least I can stay snugly in the kitchen and not have to go -out in all weathers like poor Douglas and the other girls." - -Miss Louise met them at the door, tears rolling down her fat cheeks. -She still was dressed in her stiff black silk but had tied on a great -gingham apron over her best dress. - -"How good of you to come to us!" was all she could sob out. - -"You should have sent for us immediately," said Helen, putting her arms -around the trembling old woman. - -"Ella always wants Dr. Allison, and I hated so to break up the pleasure -of the young people." - -"Where is your sister?" asked Dr. Wright, taking off his gloves and -great coat, and extracting a small leather case from its pocket. - -"I got her to bed after she came to." - -"She is conscious then?" - -"Yes, but very low, very low. She has been so docile I am afraid she is -going to die," and the poor lady began to weep anew. - -"Let me go in with the doctor," insisted Helen. "I can do what is -necessary and you might scare Miss Ella. She mustn't be made to think -she is so ill." - -The tall form of Miss Ella was stretched on the great four-posted bed, -and so still was it that for a moment Helen was afraid to go near. - -"She might be dead! She might be dead!" her heart cried out, but she -shut her mouth very tight and advanced bravely up to the bedside. - -"Miss Ella, Dr. Wright has come to see you. Dr. Allison will be here -later on perhaps." - -"I'll be better in a few moments. I must have fainted," she said weakly. -"I ought not to have tried the angel food cake. It is so tedious. Louise -told me not to, but I was very headstrong." - -Helen looked up apprehensively at the doctor, who was feeling the -patient's pulse. It did seem rather ominous for Miss Ella to be so -humble and to confess that Louise's judgment was of any importance. - -"What did you eat for dinner?" asked the doctor. - -"I--I--don't remember." - -"Think!" - -"I reckon I ate some bread." - -"Nothing else?" - -"I can't remember." - -At a nod from the doctor Helen went out to seek this information from -Miss Louise, whom she found huddled up on the hall sofa. - -"Eat for dinner! I am sure I don't know. She wouldn't eat when I did and -I do believe she didn't eat anything." - -"How about supper?" - -"Oh, we neither one of us ate any supper. We felt it would be -discourteous to the count after all the trouble and expense he must -have gone to, with caterers from Richmond and all." - -Helen flew back to the bedside of Miss Ella. - -"She ate no dinner that Miss Louise can remember and neither one of them -ate any supper," she cried. - -"Well, of course she fainted then. Can you take the matter in hand and -get some toast and tea for both of them? Miss Louise will be toppling -over next." - -Helen was intimate enough with the old sisters to know just where they -kept everything and in short order she had a tray ready for poor -half-starved Miss Ella. - -"It was not a stroke at all," Dr. Wright assured the anxious sister. -"Nothing but hunger." - -"I told her to eat," and Miss Louise looked venomously at the invalid. - -"I came to get my dinner and you had taken all the breast of the -chicken. I wasn't going to eat your leavings," declared Miss Ella, color -coming back into her wan cheeks and the fire of battle to her faded -eyes. Helen laughed happily. The sisters were quarreling again and -everything was assuming a more normal aspect. - -"Now both of you ladies must get to bed," insisted the doctor, after -Miss Louise had been persuaded to eat some of Helen's good toast. - -"I think you have had ball enough for tonight." He looked at his watch. -"I will take you back to Weston," he whispered to Helen. - -Helen would not go until both of her old friends were tucked peacefully -in their great bed and then, kissing them good-night, she stole quietly -from the room. She was greatly relieved that things had turned out so -well and delighted that she was to be taken back to the ball. - -"It's pretty nice to do your duty and still have a good time," she said -to herself. - -Dr. Wright was waiting in the hall for her. He silently bundled her up -in her cape and hood and together they stepped on the gallery. - -The lazy moon was up now and outshining the faithful stars. The great -box bushes and thick hedge cast deep shadows across the lawn. The two -stood for a moment in silence, drinking in the beauty of the scene. - -"We can't lock the front door," said Dr. Wright finally. "I see it has -an old-fashioned great brass key and the only way to lock it is to -fasten the old ladies in the house." - -"Why, nothing will ever hurt those dear old folks," laughed Helen. -"There are as safe as can be. They tell me they often go to bed without -locking doors. They usually have a quarrel about whether the front door -has been locked or not, and get so excited they both forget to do it." - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -A LITTLE LEARNING - - -"Listen! What is that?" - -A low rumble of voices was heard, coming from the rear of Grantly. - -"Could it be the dancers coming home?" suggested Helen. - -"No, not from that direction!" - -The rumble increased to a roar, low but continuous. Evidently a great -many persons were talking or muttering and they were getting closer and -closer. - -"Let's have a light, so we kin see!" said a voice louder and clearer -than the rest, and then there was a guffaw from many throats. - -"A lot of darkies!" gasped Helen. "What can they be doing here?" - -"You go inside and I'll see," commanded the young man. - -"I'll do no such thing! I'll go with you and see. If I go in the house -again I'll wake Miss Ella and Miss Louise up, and you said yourself that -it was most important for them to have a night of unbroken rest." - -"Helen, I insist!" - -"But I'm not going to be sent back in the house while you go get shot up -or something, so there!" - -"Shot up! The idea! It is nothing but some late revelers going home. -Perhaps the darkies have been having a ball somewhere, too." - -"Perhaps, but they have no business coming through Grantly." - -There was a hoarse shout from the rear and suddenly a light shot up into -the sky. - -"The straw stack! They are burning the straw stack!" cried Helen. - -George Wright quietly opened the great front door and picking Helen up -in his arms, carried her into the hall. He put her down and hastily -closed the door. Helen heard the great brass key turn in the lock. - -It was very dark in the hall. She groped her way along the wall. It was -all she could do to keep from screaming, but remembering her two old -friends, now no doubt peacefully snoozing, she held herself in check. -Suddenly she bumped square into the telephone. - -"I'll give a hurry call for the whole neighborhood," she cried, and no -sooner thought than done. It was said afterwards that no such ringing of -a 'phone had ever been heard before in the county. - -"_Grantly on fire and a great crowd of negro brutes in the yard!_" was -the message that was sent abroad. - -The two old ladies slept peacefully on. Helen could hear the deep -stertorous snore, Miss Louise's specialty, and the high steam-whistle -pipe that Miss Ella was given to. - -"I can't stand this!" cried the girl. "They may be killing him this -minute; and he expects me to stay shut up in this house while he gets -shot to death!" - -She felt her way back to the kitchen where she could see well enough, -thanks to the fire that the desperadoes had kindled. She cautiously -unlocked the door and stepped out on the back porch. - -The negroes were dancing around the burning stack, led by a tall -gangling man whom Helen recognized as Tempy's slue-footed admirer, James -Hanks. Some of them seemed to be rather the worse for drink, and all of -them were wild-eyed and excited-looking. - -"Come on, gent'men!" cried the leader. "Let's git our loot while we's -got light a-plenty. The ol' tabbies is safe at the count's ball, safe -an' stuffin'." - -There was a shout of laughter at this witticism. Helen was trembling -with fright, but not fright for herself. The dear old ladies were -uppermost in her mind, and the doctor! Her doctor! Where was he? Would -he tackle all of those crazy, half-drunk brutes single-handed and not -even armed? - -A sudden thought came to her. She slipped back into the kitchen. -Remembering the box tacked to the wall, just over the kerosene stove -where the matches were kept, she felt along the wall until her hand -touched it. Then armed with these matches she crept back through the -house to the great parlor where the trophies of the dead and gone -great-uncle, the traveler in the Orient, were. She cautiously struck a -match, thankful that the parlor was on the other side of the house from -the fire, and seized at random what old arms she could lay her hands on: -a great sword, that Richard the Lion-Hearted might have wielded, an -Arabian scimiter and a light, curiously wrought shield. The sword was -heavy but she managed to stagger along the hall with her load. - -"Now remember, friends an' citizens!" James Hanks was saying as he -harangued the crowd. "This here prop'ty by rights b'longs to us. Ain't -we an' our fo'bars done worked this here lan' from time in memoriam? -Ain't we tilled the sile an' hoed the craps fur these ol' tabbies an' -what is we got to show fur it? Nothin'! Nothin', I say! All we is -a-doin' on this sacred night is takin' what is ourn. 'Tain't meet nor -right fur two ol' women to hab control of all these fair lands, livin' -in luxry, wallowin' in honey an' rollin' in butter, while we colored -ladies an' gent'men is fo'ced to habit pig stys an' thankful to git -sorghum an' drippin's. Don't none of you go into this here undertakin' -'thout you is satisfied you is actin' up to principles. All what -considers it they bounden duty to git back what is by rights theirn, -jes' step forward." - -Helen counted fifteen men as they reeled forward. - -Where was Dr. Wright? Was he hearing the speech that the perfidious -James was making? And the old ladies--were they still sleeping? The back -porch was littered up with various barrels and boxes, and behind these -Helen crouched. Of course she realized that the darkies thought that -Grantly was empty and that they intended to break in and take what -treasures they could find. Would they be scared off when they found -someone was in the house, or would they feel that they had gone too -far to retreat in their infamous undertaking? Whatever was to be the -outcome, she must find the doctor and help him, die by his side if -necessary. - -What an ending to the ball, the ball where she had danced so gaily and -happily! Had they missed them yet? She had not been able to tell what -'phones had answered her hurry call. She had only known that several -persons got on the line and that her message had reached some ears, but -whose she could not say. - -The mob had started towards the front. - -"Yes, we'll go in the front way, now an' ever after," growled the -leader. "Only las' week that ol' skinny Ella done driv me to the back -do'. I come up the front way jes' to tes' her an' she sent me roun' to -the back jes' lak some dog. Whin we gits through, I reckon she'll be -glad enough if she's got a back do' to go in." - -Helen waited to hear no more but streaked around the opposite side of -the house, bearing her ancient weapons. Peeping through the railing of -the great gallery in front she espied George Wright calmly standing in -the doorway which was flooded with moonlight. - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -IN THE MEANTIME - - -Nan and Billy Sutton were the only persons at Weston who knew that Helen -and Dr. Wright had left the house, and they, according to instructions, -had kept mum. - -"I hate for Helen to miss one teensy bit of the ball," Nan said. "She -does so adore dancing." - -"I should think she would. Anybody who can dance like that ought to like -it. I think she is a ripper to go to those old grouches." - -"Now, Billy, that is no way to talk! Those old ladies are really lovely. -You would have gone to them in a minute." - -"Well, maybe! But I wouldn't have enjoyed leaving this to go." - -"Perhaps they will be able to come back. Miss Louise is an awful -alarmist." - -Supper was served, the waiters from Richmond taking affairs into their -own hands, so that the untrained country servants at Weston were pushed -into the background. - -"Miss Helen done said I's got quite a el'gant air in serving," grumbled -Chloe, when she was not allowed to bear in the trays of dainties to the -hungry guests. "I reckon these here town niggers thinks they is the king -bees. I don't care what they says, I's gonter git a sicond hep ter my -Miss Helen." - -The girl filled a tray with salad, croquettes, sandwiches and what not -and made her way into the parlors. She peered around for her young -mistress. The rooms were well filled with the country guests and many -couples were having their supper in the nooks made by the skilful -decorators of clumps of palms and evergreens. Chloe peeped behind them -all and not finding her Miss Helen she went to Douglas. - -"Whar Miss Helen?" - -"Why, I don't know, Chloe! What do you want?" - -"I want my Miss Helen ter git her fill er victuals she ain't had ter -mess in." - -"I haven't seen her," laughed Douglas. "Ask Miss Nan." - -"Miss Nan, whar Miss Helen?" - -"Why, Chloe, she has gone away but may be back later." - -"Whar she gone?" - -"She told me not to tell, because she doesn't want to disturb the -others, but she has gone with Dr. Wright to see Miss Ella Grant, who is -ill." - -"Miss Ellanlouise is here to the ball, ain't they?" - -"No, they didn't come." - -"Miss Helen ain't gone ter Grantly, is she?" - -"Of course!" - -Then poor Chloe dropped her tray, laden with goodies for her beloved -mistress, and a mixture of salad and croquettes and sandwiches rolled -over the floor. - -"My Gawd! My Gawd!" shrieked the girl. "Whar the count? Whar Mr. Carter? -Whar that secondary?" - -"What is it?" demanded the count sternly, as he stepped over the -debris. - -"My Miss Helen done gone ter Grantly!" - -"Is that so? Why did she leave?" - -His calm tones quieted the girl a little. - -"She done gone with Dr. Wright----" - -"Miss Ella Grant is ill and Helen went with Dr. Wright to look after -her," put in Nan. "I don't know why Chloe is so excited." - -By this time the guests were crowding around the corner where Nan and -Billy had ensconced themselves for what they thought was to be a quiet -little supper. - -"'Cited! I tell you, you'd better git a move on you, you count and you -secondary. The niggers is planning no good fur Grantly this night." - -"What negroes?" asked the count. - -"'Tain't no diffunce what niggers! You git out that little red devil of -a mobile an' you licksplit ter Grantly as fas' as you kin, an' you take -mo'n one gun." - -If everybody had not been wrought up to a high pitch of excitement, they -would have been amused to see this ignorant country black girl handing -out orders to the Count de Lestis as though she were a duchess and he a -stable boy. - -The count motioned to Herz and they turned and left the room. - -"I get in on this!" cried Lewis Somerville. - -"And I! And I!" from every male throat in the room. - -Many of the farmers had pistols with them, deeming it more prudent to go -armed on midnight drives through the lonely districts. Mrs. Carter -fainted when it was explained to her where her daughter had gone and -what the danger was. For once in her life, however, her husband had no -thought for her. He left her to the ministrations of the farmer's wife -in the stiff green silk, and hastened out to climb on the running-board -of the count's little car, which was already under way. - -In what seemed like a moment since the poor Chloe had dropped her tray, -there was not a single white male left at Weston, except Bobby Carter -and he was only left because Lucy held him, scratching and fighting to -go to the rescue of his precious sister. Even the musicians from -Richmond had joined the posse. The negro waiters stepped gingerly around -with many superior airs, congratulating themselves that they were as -they were and not as the ignorant country blacks. - -Chloe sat on the floor and rocked and moaned, refusing to be comforted. - -"I done what she tol' me was right!" was her cryptic remark which none -understood. - -"Why do we wait here?" asked Douglas, who was pale as death. - -Mrs. Carter had been revived and was lying on a sofa. - -"Why, indeed! Let's get in the hay wagon and go," said Nan. - -"Who can drive it?" - -"I!" cried the redoubtable Mrs. Sutton. - -Almost all of the carriages and buggies had been requisitioned by the -masculine element but the hay wagon remained and a few other vehicles. -The horses were quickly unblanketed by the women with the help of the -waiters. Mrs. Carter and Douglas were the last to leave the house, as -the poor nervous lady was kept quiet until they were ready to start. - -Just as they were going out the door Douglas heard a violent ringing of -the telephone. Knowing the peculiarities of a country connection and its -way of ringing at every house, and also knowing that the long, violent, -protracted ringing meant emergency of some sort, Douglas ran to answer -it. She distinctly heard Helen's voice crying the alarm: - -"_Grantly on fire and a great crowd of negro brutes in the yard!_" - -"What is it, my dear?" feebly asked Mrs. Carter. - -"Nothing at all!" said Douglas calmly. She felt that such a message -would only upset her poor mother more, and it was best to keep it locked -within her own panting breast. - -If any of the persons in that hay wagon should live to be a thousand -years old they could never forget that terrible ride over the rough, -muddy roads on that twenty-second of February, 1917. - -"Look, the moon is up!" whispered Lucy to Mag, both of them remembering -the gay ride to the ball only a few hours before and how they had -remarked that it would be so jolly going back because the moon would be -up. - -"Something's on fire!" someone cried, and then the heavens were lit by -the burning straw stack. A straw stack can make more light in the sky -than a Woolworth building if both should be set afire; but the straw -burns out so quickly that it is little more than a flash in the pan. - -Mrs. Sutton proved a famous Jehu. She managed her team quite as well as -Billy. Nan sat up on the high seat by her, looking with admiration at -the strong, capable hands. - -"Do you think they will be in time?" Nan whispered to her valiant -companion. - -"Sure they will, my dear! They are there by this time and I believe that -fire is nothing but a straw stack. Look, even now how it is dying down! -Poor Miss Ella and Miss Louise! They seem to have the faculty of not -getting along with the darkies. They are as kind as can be to them when -they are sick or in want, but they always have an overbearing manner -with them when they are well. I wonder what that girl meant by saying -she had done just as Helen had told her." - -"I don't know. Helen has been so patient with Chloe and has really made -a pretty good cook of her. She simply adores Helen. She comes to her -with all kinds of questions to answer and problems of life to solve. Do -you think these colored men would want to kill Helen just because they -are angry with the Misses Grant?" - -"No, my dear, I don't think these colored men would want to kill -anybody. God grant they are not drunk! That is the only danger I am -fearing. I am not afraid of any sober negro alive, but a drunken one is -to be avoided like a rattlesnake." - -"Well, Mrs. Sutton, I just feel somehow that God and Dr. Wright are -going to take care of Helen,--and Miss Ella and Miss Louise, too." - -"I am sure of it, my dear. I am so sure of it that I am thanking God for -having sent Dr. Wright and Helen to Grantly,--otherwise the poor, -foolish old ladies might have been found there by the darkies when they -expected the house to be empty, with everyone gone to the ball, and then -there is no telling what would have happened." Mrs. Sutton shuddered as -though she were cold. - -"I keep on thinking of Dr. Wright's face,--his keen blue eyes and his -jaw,--somehow, I believe that jaw will pull them out safely." - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -THE FLAMING SWORD - - -And what a time we have had to keep Helen peeping through the railings -at Dr. Wright as he stood in the brilliant moonlight on the gallery at -Grantly, while the crazed mob of darkies advanced jauntily to the front -of the old mansion! It was their intention to enter and claim the spoils -thereof: treasures that they had begun to think belonged to them by -reason of their long service and the service of their fathers and -fathers' fathers. - -Confident that the mansion was empty, they made no endeavor to be quiet. -All the white folks for miles and miles around were feasting at the -count's ball; as for the burning rick,--they had not thought that the -fire would do more than warm things up for their deed. - -"Now fur the loot!" cried James Hanks. "An' we mus' hurry up, 'cause -whin the ol' tabbies gits home from the ball they mus'n't be hide or har -of the house lef' standin'." - -"Bus' open the bar'l er coal ile!" suggested one black brute, "so's we -can pour her on." - -"They keep the coal ile in the woodshed," a little bandy-legged man -remarked. - -"Now see hyar! Befo' we enter this here domicyle, they's to be a reg'lar -understandin' 'bout the findin's," continued James Hanks. "The money is -to be 'vided ekal an' the silvo and chino an' other little value bowles -is to be portioned out 'cordin' to they valubility." - -"Sho'! Sho'! We's all 'greed to that!" came in a chorus. - -"I goes fust, as the man 'pinted by Gawd as yo' leader." - -As James Hanks started up the broad steps he was dumfounded when Dr. -Wright came forward. He retreated down the steps and the crowd of -darkies behind him surged backward. - -"What is it you want?" asked the young physician quite simply, in a -voice as cool and natural as though he were a soda clerk dealing out -soft drinks. - -"We--er--we--we didn't know any of the white folks was in." - -"Exactly!" and Dr. Wright came closer to the nonplussed darky. "Perhaps -God has appointed me to defend this home." - -"We is hyar fur our rights," came from the extreme edge of the crowd in -a growling voice. - -"Your rights!" - -"Yessah!" and James Hanks spoke up more bravely, emboldened by the -support he felt the crowd was able to give him. - -"Aw go on, Jeemes! He ain't even armed," cried the black brute who had -been so free in his suggestions about breaking open the barrel of -kerosene. "Gawd wouldn't send nobody 'thout even a razor." - -Helen saw the crowd pushing forward. She felt a choking in her throat -and loosened the cord that fastened her evening wrap. The heavy cape -and hood fell to the ground. She was over the railing in a twinkling -of an eye, dragging her ancient weapons of offense and defense with -her. The hood had loosened her hairpins and now her hair fell around -her shoulders in a heavy shower. She ran along the gallery, dragging -the sword with one hand and with the other clutching the shield and -scimiter. Without a word she thrust the great sword in the -outstretched hand of the young man. - -He looked at her in astonishment and terror. Having locked her in the -hall he had thought of course she would remain there. At least, he had -so devoutly hoped so that he had made himself believe that was where he -would find her when this wretched affair was over. - -His face blanched and his knees trembled visibly. The fear that he had -not felt for himself was intense for this girl, but he grasped the sword -and waved it over the crowd. - -At sight of Helen the crowd set up a groan. They sank on their knees -or fell prone to the earth. God had sent an angel of vengeance with a -flaming sword for their undoing. Indeed less superstitious persons than -those poor darkies might have been startled by the sudden appearance of -Helen Carter. Her dress, that Nan had described as like the moon, might -well have been the garb of an angel. Her long light brown hair, usually -so carefully coiffed but now falling below her waist, added to the -make-up, as did also the ancient shield and the crescent scimiter. - -With the shield held forward, as though to guard the doctor, and the -scimiter raised aloft, she stood gazing on the trembling crowd. - -"Gawd save this nigger! Gawd save this nigger!" cried the abject one -with the bandy legs. - -"A angel of destruction, carryin' a flamin' sword! Lemme git out'n -this!" wailed another. - -"'Twas Jeemes Hanks set fire to the straw stack! Not me! Not me!" from -one who knelt and rocked himself back and forth. - -"I ain't teched a thing what don't b'long to me!" - -"I jes' come along to see the fun! I ain't nebber had no idee er harmin' -Miss Ellanlouise!" - -"Me neither! Me neither!" - -"Jeemes Hanks, He's the one, good Gawd! He's the one!" - -James Hanks, goaded to desperation by the backslidings of his followers, -turned on them in fury: - -"You low down sneaks! Can't you see that this ain't no angel of the -Lawd? This is one of them gals come to live in the ol' tumble-down -overseer's house, jes' a play actin' to scare you. If'n we can't down -them we ain't worth of the name of Loyal Af'cans. Come on, boys, an' -let's finish 'em an' thin we can git our loot. I ain't afraid of them. A -flamin' sword ain't in it with a gun." He reached for his hip pocket. - -Dr. Wright grabbed the angel of the Lord most unceremoniously and held -her behind him. The kneeling and groveling mob was divided in its -feelings as to whether Helen was or was not a celestial visitor, but -they were one and all anxious to be through with the night's work -without bloodshed. This was an outcome they had not bargained for. To -go to Grantly and get all the money that they ignorantly supposed the -old ladies to possess, to steal the silver and whatever else they -fancied and then to set fire to the ancient pile, thereby destroying -all trace of their burglary, so that when the white folks came home -from the count's fine ball there would be naught to tell the tale, was -a very different matter from this thing of having to get rid of two -persons, perhaps kill them and then be found out. - -"Jeemes, you is foolish in de haid," spoke up Bandy-Legs. - -"Indeed you are!" came in clear ringing tones from Helen as she waved -her scimiter, the moonlight flashing on it. "This minute the whole -county knows that Grantly is on fire and that all of you are here." - -"Oh, rats! Whatcher tryin' ter give us?" from the scornful, incredulous -leader. - -"I am telling you what is so. As soon as I heard you in the yard and saw -the light from the straw stack, I gave a hurry call and got the -neighbors on the 'phone." - -"An' what was you an' the young man a-doin' of in Grantly?" sneered -James, coming up quite close to Helen. "Looks like whin Miss Ellanlouise -is to the ball, it's a strange place----" but James was not allowed to -finish what he had to say. Dr. Wright's powerful fist shot out and the -darky received a scientifically dealt blow square on his jaw bone that -sent him backwards down the steps, where he lay in a huddled heap and -like the Heathen Chinee: - -"Subsequent proceedings interested him no more"--at least, not for a -while. - -Their leader down and out, the crowd began to melt away, but in a tone -that commanded instant obedience George Wright bade them to halt. - -"Listen, you fools! If one of you budges from this spot until I give -him permission I will lick him to within an inch of his life. Miss Ella -Grant had a fainting spell and could not go to the ball, and Miss Carter -and I came over here from Weston when her sister telephoned us the -trouble she was in. We were just leaving the house when you arrived." - -"Is Miss Ellanlouise in dar now?" asked a trembling old man. - -"Yes!" - -"Praise be ter Gawd fer stayin' our han'! Praise be ter Gawd!" - -"Yes, you had better give praise. I am not going to tell you what I -think of you for attempting this terrible thing. You know yourselves how -wicked and foolish you are." - -Just then a light shot across the yard and in a moment the red car -belonging to the count came whizzing into view. - -"Now you may go, all but you, and you, and you!" indicating the ones who -had been so glib about the kerosene and their rights, and the one who -had known so well that God would not have sent an angel without even a -razor. - -The men pointed out tremblingly obeyed, coming up to the steps as though -drawn by a magnet. The rest of the mob simply disappeared, dodging -behind the box bushes and losing themselves in the convenient labyrinth. - -That little red car had brought over six men: the count and his -secretary, Mr. Carter, Mr. Sutton, Lewis Somerville and Bill Tinsley. -Hardly a word had been spoken on that ride. The count had pushed the -powerful engine to its utmost ability and it had taken the car through -heavy mud, up hills and down dales, through mire and ruts with a speed -truly remarkable. - -"Some car!" remarked Lewis. - -"Some!" grunted Bill. - -Mr. Carter's mouth was close set and his eyes looked like steel points. -All of his girls were dear to him but Helen had always seemed closer for -some reason; perhaps her very wilfulness was the reason. And now as he -thought of her in danger, it seemed as though he could single-handed -tackle any number of foes. He prayed continuously as he stood on the -running-board of that speeding car, but his prayer was perhaps not very -devout: - -"Oh, God, let me get at them! Let me get at them!" - -The relief of finding his dear girl alive and unharmed was so great -that Mr. Carter sobbed. When Helen saw him jump from the car, she flew -down the box-bordered walk and threw herself into his arms. - -"Daddy! Daddy! We saved Miss Ella and Miss Louise!" - -"And who saved you?" - -"Dr. Wright saved me and I saved him." - -Mr. Sutton, who was magistrate for the district, made short order in -arresting James Hanks and his companions. As the vehicles arrived with -the other members of the posse there was some whisper of a lynching, but -Mr. Sutton downed the whisper with contempt. - -"There hasn't been a lynching in Virginia for eighteen years and I -should hate our county to be the one to break the record. It will have a -much more salutary effect to have these poor fools locked up in jail and -be brought to trial with all of their deviltry exposed and aired in the -papers. After all, the only real harm done is the burning of an old -rotting straw stack that was not fit for bedding, as I remember." - -The count and Herz were most solicitous in their endeavors to help in -any possible way. It was decided that Grantly must be patrolled for the -rest of the night, as it was feared that some of the darkies might -return. Dr. Wright smiled at the suggestion. He knew full well that the -poor negroes who had been allowed to depart would not be seen or heard -of for many a day. He had seen too great and abject a fear in their -rolling eyes to have any apprehension of danger from them. - -James Hanks showed signs of returning life. The young physician leaned -over him and felt his pulse. - -"Umm hum! You had better be glad I didn't break your jaw. You'll be all -right in a few days and in the meantime the quiet of the lock-up will be -very good for your nerves." - -"Ah, then that is some work that Herz and I can do," cried the count. -"These men must be taken to jail, and why should not we attend to it? -Eh, Adolph!" - -"Certainly!" Herz had been looking very grim ever since Chloe had -dropped the tray of second helpings for Helen. - -"I wish we had handcuffs," said Mr. Sutton. - -"Why, that is hardly necessary. I should think Herz and I with pistols -could take four poor devils, unarmed, to jail. Especially since one of -those devils has been already put out of business by this skilful -surgeon," laughed the count. - -"Yes, and I'll go along with you," sighed Mr. Sutton who was accustomed -to early retiring. This midnight rioting was not much to his taste, but -he was determined as magistrate of the district to see the matter safely -through. - -"Why, my dear man, there is not a bit of use in your going. You can -trust Herz and me to land them safely." - -"Well, all right, but I feel responsible for the good of the community -and these black devils must be locked up in the court-house jail before -many hours." - -"You had better take my car," suggested Dr. Wright. "It will hold the -six of you more comfortably." - -"Oh, not at all! Mine brought six of us over here from Weston and can -take six away. The prisoners can stand on the running-boards, all but -the injured one, and he can sit by me. If any of them attempts to escape -we can wing him quite easily." - -Dr. Wright felt rather relieved that his offer was turned down. No man -would relish his perfectly new car being used to carry four bad darkies -to jail over roads that were quite as vile as the prisoners. - -Everyone felt grateful to the count for his unselfish offer, everyone -but Skeeter Halsey and Frank Maury. They had fondly hoped to have a hand -in the undertaking. The night had been a thrilling one for the two boys. -They bitterly regretted that they had not got there in time to rush in -and save Miss Helen. - -"I felt like I could 'a' killed at least six niggers," Skeeter said to -Lucy and Mag. - -"Humph! Only six? I could have put a dozen out of business," scoffed -Frank; and Lucy and Mag were sure they could. - -The boys were allowed to divide the patrol duties with Lewis and Bill, -and very proud they were as they stalked up and down in front of the -mansion and around the barnyard, keeping a sharp lookout for skulking -blacks. - -Almost everything has an amusing side if one can see it. Witness: the -jokes that are cracked by the men in the trenches in the midst of the -tremendous world tragedy. The amusing thing about that night's -happenings was that Miss Ella and Miss Louise slept right through it. -Worn out by their cake making and wrangling, intensely relieved that it -was nothing but hunger and not a stroke that had befallen one of them, -they had slept like two children. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -A NEAT TRICK - - -The court-house was due south of Grantly and towards it the count turned -his powerful little car. After running about two miles, he made a -deviation to the west and then to the north. - -"How much gasoline have we?" he asked Herz. - -"The tank is full." - -"Good! I take it you grasp my intentions." - -"Of course! I'm no fool. It would never do to have these idiots testify -in court. Where to?" - -"Richmond! There we can turn them loose with money enough to get north." - -"Boss, ain't yer gonter han' us over?" asked James Hanks, who was -rapidly recovering. - -"Naturally not! You can thank your stars that you are too big a fool to -be trusted to face a judge," snarled Herz. - -The three negroes who were hanging to the car were jubilant at the -news. - -"I sho' is lucky," said one. "I ain't nebber had no sinse an' it looks -lak it done he'p me out a heap ter be so foolish lak." - -"It would be much easier to shoot them all and testify that they -endeavored to escape," suggested Herz with a humorous twist to his ugly -mouth. - -"Oh, boss! Please don't do no sich a deed," whined James Hanks. "I ain't -never a-goin' ter let on that you----" - -"I know you are not!" and Herz put a cold revolver against the negro's -temple. "You are not even going to let on anything here in this car. Now -you keep your mouth shut, and shut tight or I'll blow your head off. -We've got no use for people who fail." - -"Heavens! What a Prussian you are, Herz!" laughed the count. - -Richmond was reached in safety. Money was handed out to each one of the -grateful negroes with instructions to take the first train north and -then to separate. - -"They'll catch you sure if you stick together. But if they do catch -you, you keep your black mouths shut about anything connected with the -Count de Lestis or me,--do you understand?" - -They understood and made off as quickly as they could. - -"Ain't he a tur'ble slave driver, though?" said the bandy-legged one, -and the others agreed. - -No time for rest for the occupants of the little red car. Back they went -over the muddy roads as fast as the wonderful engine could take them. It -was just dawn when they reached a certain spot in the road on the way to -the court-house where they considered it most likely they could work -their machinations. - -There was a sharp curve with a steep embankment on the outer edge. The -car was carefully steered until two wheels were almost over the -precipice. Then the count alighted, first turning off his engine. With -shoulders to the wheel, the two men pushed until the machine toppled -over into the ditch. - -"There, my darling! I hated to do it. I hope you are not much hurt," -said the count whimsically. - -"Now roll on after her," and Herz pushed his employer over the -embankment. Then he jumped down himself and wallowed in the mud. - -"Here's blood a-plenty for both of us. You can furnish blue blood but I -have good red blood for two." - -He deliberately gashed his arm with his penknife and smeared his face -with blood, and then rubbed it all over the countenance of the laughing -count, who seemed to look upon the whole affair as a kind of college -boy's prank. - -"Now your ankle is sprained and you can't walk, so I'll go to the -nearest farmhouse for assistance and there telephone Mr. Sutton that his -prisoners have escaped. You were pinioned under the car and I had to dig -you out,--remember!" - -"All right, but I wish you would have the sprained ankle and let me go -for aid. I'm beastly hungry and besides I don't want to be laid up just -now. I rather wanted to take a walk with Miss Douglas Carter this -afternoon. Heavens! Wasn't she beautiful last night?" - -"Humph!" - -"Much more beautiful than her sister, although I tell you that that -Helen was very wonderful, especially after her hair came down and she -had played angel. I wish I could have taken that stupid doctor's car -instead of my own little red devil. I should have enjoyed ditching his -car, but we needed the endurance and speed of my own darling." - -"You had better be having some pain now in case a traveler comes along -the road. I'll get help as soon as possible;" and Herz went off without -any comment on the comparative beauty of the two Misses Carter. Douglas -was to him the most beautiful person in all the world, but he hated -himself for loving her, feeling instinctively that his love was -hopeless. His very name was against him and should she ever know the -truth--but pshaw! These stupid people never would find out things. They -were as easy to hoodwink as the darkies themselves. - -Mr. Sutton's fury knew no bounds when he got the message from Herz that -the prisoners had escaped. It was with difficulty that he composed -himself sufficiently to ask after the welfare of the two gentlemen who -had undertaken the job of landing the negroes safely in jail. - -"The Count de Lestis has sprained his ankle and his face is all smeared -with blood,--I could not tell how great were his injuries," lied the -unblushing one over the telephone. "I spent hours getting him from under -the car. Fortunately the mud was soft and deep and he is not seriously -injured." - -"Just where was the accident?" - -"At that sharp curve in the road about two miles this side of the -court-house,--just beyond the bridge." - -"Umhum! Do you need any assistance?" - -"No, I thank you. I'll get some mules to right the car. I think I am -mechanic enough to repair the engine." - -"How about a doctor for your friend? Dr. Wright is still with the -Carters." - -"Oh--er--ah--I think he can get along very well without calling in a -physician. I have bandaged his ankle." - -"You did a good deal before you gave warning as to the escape of the -prisoners." - -There was no answer to this remark, so without further ceremony Mr. -Sutton hung up the receiver. - -There was to be no rest for the weary, it seemed. A search party must be -called and the country scoured for the missing men. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -VISITORS AT PRESTON - - -Dr. Wright was pretty sure that James Hanks would not have been able to -travel very far after the knockout blow he had received, so when they -could not find him in the woods near by it was decided he must be in -hiding in some cabin. The search continued but no trace was found of the -missing men. - -"Sounds shady to me," declared Lewis Somerville. - -"The idea! You can't mean that the count and Mr. Herz deliberately let -the men get away!" exclaimed Douglas. - -"I believe they are capable of it." - -"Lewis! How can you?" - -"I tell you I mistrust them both. I don't like their names--I don't like -their looks--I don't like their actions." - -"Nor do I," declared Billy Sutton, who had dropped in that morning to -have a chat after the ball. Everybody was too exhausted to think of -going on with any very arduous work. - -"Well, I think that after you accepted the count's hospitality you have -no right to say things about him," broke in Nan. - -"Well, hasn't he accepted the hospitality of this country, and what is -he doing? Don't you know it is that fool darky school that got all those -poor nigs thinking that Grantly belonged to them? I bet Miss Helen -agrees with me." - -"I--I--don't know," said Helen faintly. "I am all mixed up about the -whole thing. Why should the count want to make trouble?" - -The matter was discussed up and down by the young people. The males for -the most part sided against the count and his secretary, the females, -with the exception of Lucy and Mag, taking up for them. Mrs. Carter was -most indignant that anyone should say anything disagreeable about a -gentleman of such fine presence and engaging manners as the Count de -Lestis, one who knew so well how to entertain and who was so lavish. As -for the other man, that Herz, no doubt he was fully capable of any -mischief. He could not dance, had no small talk, and held his fork in a -very awkward way when at the table. - -The count's ankle did not keep him in very long. He was soon around, -although he limped quite painfully. His only difficulty was in -remembering which foot was injured. He renewed his attentions towards -the ladies at Valhalla. His protestations of concern for the Misses -Grant were warm and convincing. He offered to come stay with them or let -Herz come until they were sure that the county had settled down into its -usual state of safety and peace. - -Those ladies were not in the least afraid, however, but still declared -that nobody would ever hurt them. It turned out that on the night of -what came so near being such a tragedy they had had in the house exactly -three dollars and twenty cents. What an angry crowd it would have been -when they began the division! - -Now came stirring news in the daily papers. - -Diplomatic relations were broken with Germany and the declaration of -war imminent! Excitement and unrest were on every hand. Sometimes Nan -and Lucy would come home laden with extras with headlines of terror and -bloodshed. Mr. Carter occasionally went to town with them. - -"I feel as though I must find out what people are saying and thinking," -he would declare. - -The truth of the matter was that Mr. Carter was well,--as well as ever, -and the mere chopping of wood and stopping of cracks was not enough to -occupy him. It had seemed to him as he went on that mad ride to the -rescue of his beloved Helen that he was absolutely himself again. No -longer could he let people plan his life for him. He was a man and meant -to take the reins into his own hands. Not that his girls had not driven -the family coach excellently well. They were wonderful, but he was able -to do it for himself now and he intended to start. - -He consulted Dr. Wright: - -"I tell you, Wright, I am as fit as a fiddle and can get to work now." - -"Of course you are! Didn't I give you a year? You have not taken quite a -year but the time is almost up. The shock that night of the ball helped -you on to a complete recovery a little ahead of time. Sometimes a -nervous patient gets a shock that does more than rest. The trouble is, -one can't tell whether it will kill or cure." - -"Well, this one cured all right. Why, man, I could build a cathedral -tomorrow!" - -"Good!" - -"I never can thank you enough for your kindness to me and my family. If -there is ever anything I can do for you----" - -"No doubt there will be," was the doctor's cryptic remark. - -Herz kept up his walks with Douglas, although the girl did nothing to -encourage him. She did everything to discourage him, in fact, except -actually ask him to let her alone. She would find him waiting on the -road after school. Sometimes he would even come to the school door for -her if for any reason she was detained. These walks were usually taken -when the count was off on one of his many business trips. - -In Virginia, March means spring, although sometimes a very blustering -spring. If one wanders in the woods it is quite usual to find hepatica -and arbutus making their way up through the leaves. The tender green -begins to make its appearance on hedge and tree, and in the old gardens -jonquils and daffodils and crocuses pop up their saucy heads, defying -possible late snows and frosts. - -The roads were still muddy but not quite so bad as in the winter, and -now, more than ever, Douglas with her faithful protector, Bobby, could -enjoy the walks to and from school. The stilts did not have to be used -nearly so often, although Nan and Lucy had become such adepts on their -flamingo legs that they often mounted them merely for the pleasure and -not because of the mud. - -Valhalla was growing lovelier day by day. The gaunt trees had taken on a -veil of green. The nations were at war. The United States was being -forced into the game in spite of her attempts at neutrality; but Mother -Nature's slogan was: "Business as usual!" and she was attending to it -exactly as she had from the beginning and as she will until the end of -time. - -Spring had come in good earnest, and with her the myriads of little -creatures who must work so hard for a mere existence. Strange -scratchings had begun in the chimneys at Valhalla. The swallows were -back and gave the Carters to understand that they had been tenants in -that old overseer's house long before those city folks ever thought of -such a thing as spending the winter in such a place. The robins were -hopping about the lawn, trying to decide where they would build, while -the mocking-birds were already busy in the honeysuckle hedge. - -One Saturday, the Saturday before war was actually declared, the Count -de Lestis came to call, bringing with him in a lovely wicker cage a -carrier pigeon for Douglas. - -"You promised that sometimes you would send me a message, remember," he -said with the sentimental glance that Douglas refused to respond to. - -"Certainly I will. I'll send a note asking you to come to dinner. Would -that do?" - -"Anything you send will do," he sighed. - -The pigeon was a beautiful little creature with glossy plumage and -dainty red legs. - -"He will come back straight to Weston because he has young in the nest. -He is not like some men who are up and away at the smallest excuse." - -"But how cruel to take him away from his young!" - -"Ah, but the hausfrau is there! She will see that no harm befalls the -babies. And, too, she will remain faithful until her lord returns. As -faithful as a pigeon means true unto death." - -The pigeon house had continued to be a thorn in the flesh to Mr. Carter. -It was painted white, as that is what the pigeons like, and it was so -large and so out of tone with the fine lines of the roof that Mr. Carter -declared he could not bear to go to Weston any more. - -No trace of the lost negroes was found, although Mr. Sutton had -detectives from Richmond to work on the case. They had evidently got -away and well away. The farmer who had been so nearly asleep when Helen -and Dr. Wright arrived at the ball, the farmer whose wife wore the -stiff, green silk, declared he had passed that road on the way home that -night and he had seen no sign of a red car turned turtle down a ditch. -Of course the neighbors all said he had been driving in his sleep. - -Mr. Sutton made a trip into Richmond and had a conference with the -governor. He told him that the bloodhounds employed to trace the darkies -had never left the scene of the accident, although they had had many -things belonging to the escaped men as a clue to tracing them. The -governor told Mr. Sutton something that made him open his honest eyes -very wide. At the same time he was cautioned to keep his honest mouth -shut very tight. He came back to Preston with an air of mystery about -him that disconcerted his good wife greatly. - -"Margaret, could you accommodate a guest just now?" - -"Why, certainly, if it is necessary, but who is the guest?" - -"A gentleman I have never met, maybe there will be two of them,--but we -must pretend they are our very good friends." - -"Why, William, are you crazy?" - -"No, ma'am!" and then he whispered something to her, although they were -alone, and she, too, opened her eyes very wide but promised to keep her -mouth shut. - -The visitors came, two quiet gentlemen with good manners and simple -habits. Mr. and Mrs. Sutton decided they should be some long lost -cousins from the west who were in the country for their health. Thus -they explained their visitors to Billy and Mag and their neighbors. They -brought a small Ford runabout which they used a great deal. - -Mr. Sutton had a long conference with Mr. Carter. There was some more -opening of eyes and shutting of mouths. - -"What a fool I have been!" cried that gentleman. "I can see it all now. -Lewis Somerville tried to make me see but I was quite hard on the boy. -Well! Well! What is to be done?" - -"Nothing! Just bide our time." - -"See here, Sutton, I believe there was method in that man's madness when -he got two electric light systems. He told me to order one and then said -his secretary had ordered one, too. Pretended he had not told me to, and -then was tremendously kind and magnanimous about it. I began to think -maybe I had not understood,--you see my head hadn't been very clear for -business for many months and I mistrusted myself. I'll wager anything -that that extra battery is running a wireless station at Weston." - -"Geewhilikins!" exclaimed the elder Sutton in very much the same tone -his son might have used. "This business is growing very exciting." - -Sometimes the two quiet gentlemen visitors at Preston would go out for -an airing in their little car, and finding a secluded spot in a pine -woods, one of them would cleverly convert himself into an Armenian -pedlar with a pack filled with cheap lace and jewelry. Then he would -make the rounds of the cabins. He could speak almost no English when -doing this part and seemed not to understand any at all. He visited -every house in Paradise and from there made his way to Weston. His -heavy, blue-black beard and long straggling hair so completely disguised -him that the count never dreamed the man he saw at his kitchen door -haggling with his colored cook over some coarse pillow shams was the -same smooth-faced gentleman he had met that morning driving with his -neighbor Sutton. - -As a book agent, the clever detective gained access to the count's -library and actually sold him a set of Ruskin. As telephone inspector, -he got much information desired, and as a government agricultural -expert, he was favored with a long, intimate talk with the owner of -Weston. - -Old Blitz, the German farmer near Preston, came in for his share of -visits, too, from pedlars and book agents, etc. The mills of the -government were grinding slowly but they were grinding exceeding small. - -The neighborhood was in absolute ignorance of the fact that their -delightful count was being watched. His comings and goings were known. -He had few secrets. It was learned by the detectives that he was not a -Hungarian at all but his father was Austrian, his mother Prussian. He -had been sent to this country by his government to make trouble among -the negroes and to buy up tracts of land for future emigration. When the -world was to be Prussianized, fair Virginia was not to be neglected. - -The raid on Grantly was traced absolutely to his lectures and the -teachings of Herz, the so-called secretary. The only thing that had gone -wrong was that the negroes had acted sooner than their masters had -planned. Their object had been to have a general uprising and they -wanted it to be timed about when war was declared. Their schemes had not -been directed against poor old Grantly especially, but against all the -whites, with a view of keeping the darkies out of the army. - -Herz turned out to be a full-blooded Prussian, who had lived in -Cincinnati for about five years. He was a trusted spy of his government -and had done wonderful work for them in Mexico. He was really the brains -of the partnership and de Lestis the mixer. When de Lestis went off on -his long business trips to Chicago and New York it developed he had been -across the water several times, bearing with him maps and information -that must be personally conducted. - -A wireless station was suspected but it was difficult to locate. - -"Look in the pigeon house," suggested Mr. Carter, still bearing a grudge -against the atrocity that had ruined his beloved roof line. - -There it was, as neatly installed an instrument as one could find with -the extra batteries doing the work perfectly. The telephone inspector -found it quite easily. The pigeon house was a hollow sham. There was a -reason for making it so large since the wireless was to have an inner -chamber. - -The net was drawing more closely around the two men but they, scornful -of the intelligence of the stupid Americans, went unconcernedly on, -laying their plans and hatching their deviltries. Many a laugh they had -over the automobile accident. - -"Those darkies before a clever lawyer would have been our undoing," they -admitted to one another. - -The night school was discontinued for the time being and the poor -colored people got back into their one time rut. Tempy resumed her -labors at Grantly, a sadder and wiser girl. She no longer slept amidst -the unwashed dishes but seemed anxious to become as good a servant as -her sister Chloe. Sam, the factotum, returned in time to put in the -garden. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV - -THE CARRIER PIGEON - - -There came a day in mid-April that will always be remembered by the -dwellers in Valhalla. Herz had walked home from school with Douglas, -and contrary to his custom, had come in when they reached the house. He -was in a strange, fierce humor and it seemed to Douglas as though his -near-sighted eyes were boring holes in her. She could not keep her mind -and talk off the war and whenever war was mentioned he became very glum. - -"Now that we are at war, will you not enlist?" she asked. "If you are a -true American, I do not see how you can help it." - -"My eyes would debar me. Near-sighted men can't always serve where they -would like to," he answered rather bitterly. "You see good in no one but -a soldier." - -"Why, not at all!" blushed Douglas. "Of course, when my country is at -war I want our young men to be willing to fight. Being a girl is all -that keeps me here. You might work in a munition factory and help that -way." - -"Ah, I should like that! Would you think more of me if I could help your -country in some way?" - -"Your country, too!" - -Herz had come so close to her as they stood in the middle of the quaint -old living-room that Douglas felt a desire to run away. She welcomed -the sight of Helen running across the lawn from the direction of -Grantly. - -"Guess!" panted Helen, bursting in on them. "I have seen James Hanks! He -was sneaking out of the kitchen at Grantly. Had been in to see Tempy, I -reckon. The man is crazy about her. Miss Louise saw him, too, and has -'phoned Mr. Sutton. I fancy he is on the way over here now with those -western cousins of his. Funny men, aren't they? Miss Ella says she never -heard of either Mr. or Mrs. Sutton's having any western kin, and she has -known them and all their people for pretty near a century. I believe -they are detectives myself, trying to find those runaway darkies." - -While Helen was giving out this information, Herz stood as though he had -turned to stone. His face was white with a red spot on each high cheek -bone. - -"Where is your carrier pigeon?" he asked Douglas abruptly. - -"The cage hangs on the porch." - -He drew from his pocket a small note-book and wrote rapidly in it. -Tearing out the sheet, he strode to the porch, and with a small rubber -band he quickly attached the note to the foot of the docile bird that he -had grabbed from the cage without even a "by your leave." - -"What are you doing?" demanded Douglas. Was the man crazy? - -"Stop!" cried Helen. "Count de Lestis gave that bird to my sister." - -"Yes, and she was to send him a message. This is the message. It is as -he would have it, I am sure. You remember he told you he would rather -someone would seek him than search him. He shall have his choice." - -He carried the pigeon out on the lawn and freed it. The clever bird rose -in a spiral flight and then started straight towards Weston and its -mate. Without a word, Herz left the girls and started towards Weston, -too, taking a line almost as straight as the one the pigeon had chosen. - -"Is he crazy, Douglas?" - -"I think he is something worse. I believe he is afraid of detectives." - -The count and his confederate got away,--although they were captured -later on in North Carolina. The faithful red car carried them off -rapidly. De Lestis was waiting for his one time secretary at the cross -roads by Paradise. - -"Did you destroy the papers and maps?" gasped that gentleman as he -sprang into the car. - -"How could I when your call was so urgent? I brought all the money, -though. Those fools will never find the wireless. They have no -imagination. And I have the grey paint to put my darling here in her -uniform." - -That night, after having speeded for hours, the two men drew the little -red car into the woods where they painted her a dingy grey. The count -had purchased the paint only the day before at the country store. - -"In case of an emergency!" he had told Herz. - -Little did he dream that one of the visitors at Mr. Sutton's found out -before night that he had bought the paint, and that when messages were -sent in every direction to look out for two German spies, information -was also given that they would be in a red car that had more than likely -been painted grey. - -When Weston was thoroughly searched, many things besides the wireless -station were brought to light. One of the detectives brought to Douglas -a letter addressed in Lewis Somerville's writing. - -"Where did you find it?" blushed Douglas. - -"In the count's desk! I am sorry to have to tell you that it was my duty -to read it before giving it to you." - -It was the letter Lewis had written from the Mexican border and no -wonder Douglas blushed. He had made most violent love to her in this -letter and had also spoken quite openly of the situation in Mexico from -a soldier's standpoint. - -"Nothing is too small for them!" cried Douglas. - -"But what an escape we have made!" exclaimed Helen. "I bet you that man -has made love to every one of us except Lucy." - -"He had better not say anything sweet to me," said that young lady. "Mag -and I never could abide him." - -"Well, I liked him a whole lot," sighed Nan. "He appreciated poetry so -thoroughly." - -There were three young men who were secretly glad when the count and -Herz were caught: Dr. Wright, Lewis Somerville and Billy Sutton. They -did not wish to be ungenerous, but it _was_ hard to have your especial -girl monopolized on every occasion. - -The Misses Grant never could be made to understand that their precious -count was a spy. "He was a charming gentleman and we want to hear -nothing unkind about him," they actually agreed. - -Mrs. Carter insisted it was all the doings of that common Herz, who did -not know how to conduct himself in a ballroom and who held his fork so -awkwardly at the table. And Mr. Carter, true to his professional -instinct, declared he had had his doubts about de Lestis from the moment -he sacrificed his roof line to the pigeon house. - -But whatever the opinion held by the various members of the Carter -family, all agreed that the surprising summer at Valhalla was one -long to be remembered. Fascinating as had been its mysteries, its -uncertainties, its new friendships and responsibilities however, not one -of the family was sorry to return to Richmond. There, as fall advanced -into winter, new doors of opportunity were opened and old associations -renewed. Once more there were numbered among the city's happily busy -people "The Carter Girls of Carter House." - - -THE END - - - - -[Illustration] - - The - Girl Scouts - Series - -BY EDITH LAVELL - - -A new copyright series of Girl Scouts stories by an author of wide -experience in Scouts' craft, as Director of Girl Scouts of Philadelphia. - -Clothbound, with Attractive Color Designs. - -PRICE, 65 CENTS EACH. - - THE GIRL SCOUTS AT MISS ALLEN'S SCHOOL - THE GIRL SCOUTS AT CAMP - THE GIRL SCOUTS' GOOD TURN - THE GIRL SCOUTS' CANOE TRIP - THE GIRL SCOUTS' RIVALS - THE GIRL SCOUTS ON THE RANCH - THE GIRL SCOUTS' VACATION ADVENTURES - THE GIRL SCOUTS' MOTOR TRIP - -For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the -Publishers - - A. L. 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Copyright Titles. - -PRICE, 65 CENTS EACH. - - MARJORIE DEAN, COLLEGE FRESHMAN - MARJORIE DEAN, COLLEGE SOPHOMORE - MARJORIE DEAN, COLLEGE JUNIOR - MARJORIE DEAN, COLLEGE SENIOR - -For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the -Publishers. - - A. L. BURT COMPANY - 114-120 East 23rd Street, New York - - - - -[Illustration] - - The Camp Fire - Girls Series - -By HILDEGARD G. FREY - - -A Series of Outdoor Stories for Girls 12 to 16 Years. - - All Cloth Bound Copyright Titles - -PRICE, 65 CENTS EACH - - THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS IN THE MAINE WOODS; or, The Winnebagos go - Camping. - THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS AT SCHOOL; or, The Wohelo Weavers. - THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS AT ONOWAY HOUSE; or, The Magic Garden. - THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS GO MOTORING; or, Along the Road That Leads - the Way. - THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS' LARKS AND PRANKS; or, The House of the Open - Door. - THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS ON ELLEN'S ISLE; or, The Trail of the Seven - Cedars. - THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS ON THE OPEN ROAD; or, Glorify Work. - THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS DO THEIR BIT; or, Over the Top with the - Winnebagos. - THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS SOLVE A MYSTERY; or, The Christmas Adventure at - Carver House. - THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS AT CAMP KEEWAYDIN; or, Down Paddles. - -For sale by booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the -Publishers - - A. L. BURT COMPANY - 114-120 EAST 23rd STREET NEW YORK - - - - -[Illustration] - - The Blue Grass - Seminary Girls Series - -BY CAROLYN JUDSON BURNETT - - -For Girls 12 to 16 Years - - All Cloth Bound Copyright Titles - -PRICE, 65 CENTS EACH - -Splendid stories of the Adventures of a Group of Charming Girls. - - THE BLUE GRASS SEMINARY GIRLS' VACATION ADVENTURES; or, Shirley - Willing to the Rescue. - THE BLUE GRASS SEMINARY GIRLS' CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS; or, A Four - Weeks' Tour with the Glee Club. - THE BLUE GRASS SEMINARY GIRLS IN THE MOUNTAINS; or, Shirley Willing - on a Mission of Peace. - THE BLUE GRASS SEMINARY GIRLS ON THE WATER; or, Exciting Adventures - on a Summer's Cruise Through the Panama Canal. - - -[Illustration] - -The Mildred Series - -BY MARTHA FINLEY - -For Girls 12 to 16 Years. - - All Cloth Bound Copyright Titles - -PRICE, 65 CENTS EACH - -A Companion Series to the famous "Elsie" books by the same author. - - MILDRED KEITH MILDRED'S MARRIED LIFE - MILDRED AT ROSELAND MILDRED AT HOME - MILDRED AND ELSIE MILDRED'S BOYS AND GIRLS - MILDRED'S NEW DAUGHTER - -For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the -Publishers - - A. L. BURT COMPANY - 114-120 EAST 23rd STREET NEW YORK - - - - -[Illustration] - -The Radio Boys Series - -BY GERALD BRECKENRIDGE - -A new series of copyright titles for boys of all ages. - -Cloth Bound, with Attractive Cover Designs - -PRICE, 65 CENTS EACH - - THE RADIO BOYS ON THE MEXICAN BORDER - THE RADIO BOYS ON SECRET SERVICE DUTY - THE RADIO BOYS WITH THE REVENUE GUARDS - THE RADIO BOYS' SEARCH FOR THE INCA'S TREASURE - THE RADIO BOYS RESCUE THE LOST ALASKA EXPEDITION - THE RADIO BOYS IN DARKEST AFRICA - THE RADIO BOYS SEEK THE LOST ATLANTIS - -For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the -Publishers - - A. L. BURT COMPANY - 114-120 EAST 23rd STREET NEW YORK - - - - -[Illustration] - -The Golden Boys Series - -BY L. P. WYMAN, PH.D. - -Dean of Pennsylvania Military College. - -A new series of instructive copyright stories for boys of High School -Age. - -Handsome Cloth Binding. - -PRICE, 65 CENTS EACH. - - THE GOLDEN BOYS AND THEIR NEW ELECTRIC CELL - THE GOLDEN BOYS AT THE FORTRESS - THE GOLDEN BOYS IN THE MAINE WOODS - THE GOLDEN BOYS WITH THE LUMBER JACKS - THE GOLDEN BOYS RESCUED BY RADIO - THE GOLDEN BOYS ALONG THE RIVER ALLAGASH - THE GOLDEN BOYS AT THE HAUNTED CAMP - -For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the -Publishers - - A. L. BURT COMPANY - 114-120 EAST 23rd STREET NEW YORK - - - - -[Illustration] - -The Ranger Boys Series - -BY CLAUDE H. LA BELLE - -A new series of copyright titles telling of the adventures of three boys -with the Forest Rangers in the state of Maine. - -Handsome Cloth Binding. - -PRICE, 65 CENTS EACH. - - THE RANGER BOYS TO THE RESCUE - THE RANGER BOYS FIND THE HERMIT - THE RANGER BOYS AND THE BORDER SMUGGLERS - THE RANGER BOYS OUTWIT THE TIMBER THIEVES - THE RANGER BOYS AND THEIR REWARD - -For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the -Publishers. - - A. L. BURT COMPANY - 114-120 East 23rd Street, New York - - - - -[Illustration] - -The Boy Troopers Series - -BY CLAIR W. HAYES - -Author of the Famous "Boy Allies" Series. - -The adventures of two boys with the Pennsylvania State Police. - -All Copyrighted Titles. - -Cloth Bound, with Attractive Cover Designs. - -PRICE, 65 CENTS EACH. - - THE BOY TROOPERS ON THE TRAIL - THE BOY TROOPERS IN THE NORTHWEST - THE BOY TROOPERS ON STRIKE DUTY - THE BOY TROOPERS AMONG THE WILD MOUNTAINEERS - -For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the -Publishers. - - A. L. BURT COMPANY - 114-120 East 23rd Street, New York - - - - -[Illustration] - -The Jack Lorimer Series - -BY WINN STANDISH - -For Boys 12 to 16 Years. - - All Cloth Bound Copyright Titles - -PRICE, 65 CENTS EACH - - -CAPTAIN JACK LORIMER; or, The Young Athlete of Millvale High. - - Jack Lorimer is a fine example of the all-around American - high-school boys. His fondness for clean, honest sport of all kinds - will strike a chord of sympathy among athletic youths. - -JACK LORIMER'S CHAMPIONS; or, Sports on Land and Lake. - - There is a lively story woven in with the athletic achievements, - which are all right, since the book has been O. K'd. by Chadwick, - the Nestor of American Sporting journalism. - -JACK LORIMER'S HOLIDAYS; or, Millvale High in Camp. - - It would be well not to put this book into a boy's hands until the - chores are finished, otherwise they might be neglected. - -JACK LORIMER'S SUBSTITUTE; or, The Acting Captain of the Team. - - On the sporting side, this book takes up football, wrestling, and - tobogganing. There is a good deal of fun in this book and plenty of - action. - -JACK LORIMER, FRESHMAN; or, From Millvale High to Exmouth. - - Jack and some friends he makes crowd innumerable happenings into an - exciting freshman year at one of the leading Eastern colleges. The - book is typical of the American college boy's life, and there is a - lively story, interwoven with feats on the gridiron, hockey, - basketball and other clean honest sports for which Jack Lorimer - stands. - -For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the -Publishers - - A. L. BURT COMPANY - 114-120 EAST 23rd STREET NEW YORK - - - - -Transcriber's Note - -In this text-version italics has been indicated with _italics_ and -bold with =bold=. Small capitals has been changed to all capitals. - -A few obvious printer's errors have been corrected. 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