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diff --git a/43937-0.txt b/43937-0.txt index ce40e6c..157e850 100644 --- a/43937-0.txt +++ b/43937-0.txt @@ -1,34 +1,4 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Finding the Lost Treasure, by Helen M. Persons - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Finding the Lost Treasure - -Author: Helen M. Persons - -Release Date: October 12, 2013 [EBook #43937] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FINDING THE LOST TREASURE *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43937 *** _“Oh, it’s he!” cried Priscilla._ @@ -6419,360 +6389,4 @@ Jack was to go to college, and Desiré to high school. End of Project Gutenberg's Finding the Lost Treasure, by Helen M. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Finding the Lost Treasure - -Author: Helen M. Persons - -Release Date: October 12, 2013 [EBook #43937] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FINDING THE LOST TREASURE *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - _"Oh, it's he!" cried Priscilla._ - - - - - FINDING THE - LOST TREASURE - - - By HELEN M. PERSONS - - - THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY - AKRON, OHIO NEW YORK - - - Copyright MCMXXXIII - By The Saalfield Publishing Company - Printed in U.S.A. - - - - - CONTENTS - - - I A Mysterious Paper 5 - II Desir's Inspirations 11 - III Two Callers 17 - IV Out to Sea 28 - V A Midnight Walk 39 - VI The Pie Social 50 - VII A Fright 60 - VIII A Fight 66 - IX In Camp 72 - X A Night Prowler 82 - XI The Blue-covered Book 87 - XII A Search for Ren 102 - XIII Indians and Strawberries 107 - XIV Two Mishaps 119 - XV The Old Godet House 129 - XVI A New Friend 140 - XVII An Old Enemy 147 - XVIII A Collision 152 - XIX Poor Dolly! 157 - XX Good Samaritans 168 - XXI A Surprise 181 - XXII Caught by Storm 192 - XXIII Shelter 195 - XXIV Back to Yarmouth 205 - XXV Lobster Pots 215 - XXVI Hands Off! 222 - XXVII Jack's Jobs 225 - XXVIII A Find 235 - XXIX W-17^55--15x12--6754 245 - - - - - FINDING THE LOST TREASURE - - - - - CHAPTER I - A MYSTERIOUS PAPER - - -"W-17^55-15x12-6754," read Desir slowly. "What _does_ it mean?" - -"What does what mean, Dissy?" asked her younger sister, who was rolling a -ball across the floor to little Ren. - -"Just some figures on an old paper I found, dear. I must tell Jack about -them. Do you know where he is?" - -"Out there somewhere, I guess," replied the child, with a vague gesture -indicating the front yard. - -Desir flung back her short dark curls and crossed the room to a window -where sturdy geraniums raised their scarlet clusters to the very top of -the panes. It was the custom in that part of Nova Scotia to make a -regular screen of blossoming plants in all front windows, sometimes even -in those of the cellar. Peering between two thick stems, she could see -her older brother sitting on the doorstep, gazing out across St. Mary's -Bay which lay like a blue, blue flag along the shore. - -Crossing the narrow hall and opening the outside door, Desir dropped -down beside the boy and thrust a time-yellowed slip of paper into his -hands. - -"Did you ever see this?" - -"Yes," he replied slowly. "A few days before he died, _ntre pre_ went -over the contents of his tin box with me to make sure that I understood -all about the bills, and the mortgage on the farm and--" - -"Mortgage!" exclaimed Desir in shocked tones. "I never knew we had one." - -"I, either, until that day. You see _ntre mre_ was sick so long that -all our little savings were used up, and ready money was an absolute -necessity." - -"And what did he tell you about this?" continued the girl, after a -thoughtful pause, running her finger along the line of tantalizing -characters. - -"Nothing very definite. He said it was a memorandum of some kind that had -been handed down in our family for generations. The name of its writer, -and its meaning, have been lost in the past; but each father passed it on -to his eldest son, with a warning to preserve it most carefully, for it -was valuable." - -"And now it belongs to you," concluded Desir, half sadly, half proudly. - -Jack nodded, and for several moments neither spoke. - -John Wistmore, aged 18, Desir, 14, Priscilla, 9, and Ren, 5, were -direct descendants of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins, whose story the -poet Longfellow tells in _The Courtship of Miles Standish_. - -The little town of Sissiboo, an Indian corruption of _Six -Hiboux_[footnote: SIX OWLS.] where they lived, is one of those settled by -the Acadians upon their return to the land of their birth some years -after the expulsion. So closely, so ramblingly are the villages strung -along the shores of St. Mary's Bay on the northwest coast of Nova Scotia -that it is hard to tell where one ends and the next begins. Their -inhabitants live exactly as did their ancestors, speaking French and -preserving with care all the old habits and customs. - -The lives of the children had been simple, happy ones, until the recent -death of their father and mother, hardly three months apart. John -Wistmore, in whose veins flowed the blood of men of culture and ambition, -had been anxious to give his children greater educational advantages than -Sissiboo afforded. Jack, therefore, had been sent to Wolfville to school, -and was now ready for college; while Desir was looking forward to high -school in the autumn. Now all was changed. Without relatives, without -money, and without prospects, they faced the problem of supporting the -two younger children and themselves. - -"Where did you find this?" asked Jack, rousing himself. - -"On the floor in front of the cupboard." - -"It must have slipped from the box when I took out the mortgage. I went -over it with Nicolas Bouchard this morning." - -"Oh, does he hold it?" - -"Yes--and--" - -"He wants his money?" - -Jack nodded. - -"But what can we do? We can't possibly pay him." - -"Nothing, I guess, dear, except let him foreclose." - -"Would we get any money at all, then?" - -"Very little. Not enough to live on, certainly." - -"I wish I knew what these mean," she sighed wistfully, touching the paper -still between her brother's fingers. "If we could only find out, maybe -we'd get enough money to pay Nicolas." - -Jack laughed in spite of his anxiety. "I'm afraid we'd all starve before -they could be interpreted. Too bad, as things have gone, that I didn't -farm as soon as I was old enough--" - -"Don't say that! We'll hope and plan for your college course--" - -"Desir, dear," protested her brother, gently but firmly, "it is -absolutely out of the question, even to think of such a thing." - -"But, Jack, every one should have some special goal in life, as an -incentive if nothing else; and I'm _not_ going to give up planning for -our education. One never knows when good fortune is waiting just around -the next corner to complete one's own efforts." - -"I guess _our_ goal will be to provide food and clothing for the -children. I'm afraid it will be a hard pull for you and me to keep the -family together--" - -"Oh, but we _must_ stay together, Jack," she cried, grasping his arm. - -"As far as I can see," he continued slowly, "the only thing to be done is -to move to Halifax or Yarmouth, where I could get work of some kind. -Should you mind very much?" - -"Whatever you decide, I'll be willing to do," replied the girl bravely. - -"If it will make you any happier," continued Jack, giving her one of his -grave, sweet smiles, "we'll place higher education among our day dreams." - -"If you folks ain't hungry, we are!" announced Priscilla, opening the -door behind them so suddenly that both jumped. - -"You see?" laughed Jack, as he pulled Desir up from the low step. - -"I've just had a wonderful inspiration though," she whispered as they -entered the hall. - - - - - CHAPTER II - DESIR'S INSPIRATIONS - - -It was a quaint old room in which they settled down after supper had been -eaten and the children put to bed. The woodwork was painted a deep blue, -known as Acadian blue, and the floor was bare except for a couple of oval -braided rugs in which the same color predominated. In the center of the -room stood a hutch table, one that can be changed to a chest by reversing -its hinged top. Around it were half a dozen high-backed chairs, their -seats made of strips of deerskin woven in and out like the paper mats -made in kindergartens. A spinning wheel stood beside the fireplace, -before which sat Jack and Desir, with no other light except that of the -dancing flames. - -"Now Dissy," said the boy, laying his hand affectionately over hers, -"let's have the inspiration." - -"It's this: that we stay on here as tenants. Nicolas can't live in this -house and his own too!" - -"But one trouble with that plan is that Nicolas wants to sell the -property and get his money out." - -"Who'd buy it? Nobody ever moves into or out of this town." - -"He has a customer now. Andr Comeau's prospective father-in-law wants to -move here after the wedding. He can't bear to have Marie live so far away -from him. Sorry to spoil your inspiration, dear." - -Desir made no reply; for she was very close to tears, and she hated to -act like a baby instead of the good pal her brother had always called -her. - -"We're going to work on Andr's house again tomorrow," observed Jack -presently. "The roof's on, the floors laid, and by Saturday we should be -able to start the barn." - -In New Acadia all the relatives, friends, and neighbors of a man who is -about to be married join in building a new house for him. They clear a -piece of land, haul materials, and labor for weeks on the construction of -house, barn, and sheds. When these are finished, the garden is prepared, -the fields ploughed and planted, and the buildings furnished. The -bride-to-be contributes linens, and her people stock the farm with -animals. Some morning the whole countryside walks to church to see the -couple wedded, returning to the home of the bride's mother, where the day -is spent in feasting and merry-making. If the groom can afford it, he -then takes his bride to Yarmouth to spend a few days at the Grand Hotel. -That is the greatest ambition of every rustic pair. - -Jack talked on quietly about the house raising until he saw that his -sister had recovered her composure. She was smiling bravely as he kissed -her goodnight, but her sleep was broken by feverish dreams of the worn -slip of paper, and a long journey. - -When Jack returned at dusk the following evening, after a long day's work -on Andr's house, he found Desir waiting for him with sparkling eyes, -flushed face, and such an air of repressed excitement that he wondered -what had happened while he had been away. - -It was necessary to wait until the children had gone to bed before he -could question her. They had decided it was best to leave the younger -ones out of discussions of ways and means. "Let them be carefree as long -as they can," Desir had urged, and Jack had agreed. - -"Who do you suppose was here today?" she asked, perching on the arm of -his chair as soon as they were alone. - -"Never could guess," he replied, slipping his arm around her. - -"Old Simon." - -"Starting his spring trip early, isn't he?" - -"Rather. I made him stay to dinner, and we talked and talked." - -Simon drove one of the big covered wagons which are common in Nova -Scotia. They have double doors at the back, and are filled with all kinds -of groceries and notions, a regular general store on wheels. Many parts -of the country are so thinly settled that it would be impossible for -people to obtain certain supplies without the existence of these -interesting wagons. Some of them specialize in certain things, like -ready-to-wear clothing, but most of them carry a little of everything. - -"Did he have anything interesting to tell?" - -The proprietors of these odd stores act as relayers of bits of news, as -well as merchandise, and often bear messages from one part of the -peninsula to the other. - -"Why--why--I don't--really know," faltered Desir. - -"Don't know?" repeated her brother, turning to look at her in surprise; -for although she dearly loved her home, she was always eager for contacts -with the outside world. - -"Well, you see, we talked business all the time." - -"Business?" he queried, more and more puzzled. - -"Yes. Oh, Jack, let _us_ get a wagon!" - -"Desir, you must be crazy!" he exclaimed, startled out of his usual calm -of manner and speech. - -"No, I'm not really. Just listen a minute," telling off the points on her -fingers. "We'd be all together. We'd be earning an honest living, and -having a lot of fun, and seeing places; and it's healthful to be -out-of-doors, a lot; and--" she paused for breath. - -"But, Dissy," protested her brother gently, "we couldn't live in the -wagon." - -"Oh, yes, we could." - -"All of us? Day and night?" asked the boy, troubled at this odd notion -that had evidently so strongly taken possession of his hitherto sensible -sister. - -"We could have a little tent for you and Ren at night. Prissy and I -could easily sleep in the wagon. It would be no different from camping, -Jack; and lots of people do that." - -"What about winter?" - -"Well, of course we couldn't live that way after it gets real cold, but -winter's a long way off. Maybe we'd make enough by then to rent a couple -of rooms in some central place and take just day trips. Or perhaps we'll -find out what that paper means, and have--who knows what?" - -Jack shook his head. - -"Seriously, Desir, I don't see how we can make a living from a traveling -store. Simon does, of course; but there is only one of him, and four of -us." - -"But," resumed the girl, after a short pause, "we have no place to go if -Nicolas forecloses; we don't know how else to support ourselves; so -wouldn't traveling around the country all summer give us a chance to see -all kinds of places and people? Mightn't we get in touch with -possibilities for the future? Our living expenses would be small; for we -could gather wild things to eat--" - -"A few bears, or owls, I suppose," laughed her brother. - -"No, silly! Berries, and--and grapes, and things." - -"Heavy diet." - -"And fish," concluded Desir triumphantly. - -"Another thing," continued Jack, resuming his gravity, "you wouldn't want -to spoil old Simon's route by taking some of his customers." - -"Of course not, but there certainly must be sections where there is no -traveling store. We could take one of those." - -Just then a heavy knock on the front door startled them both. - - - - - CHAPTER III - TWO CALLERS - - -When Jack opened the door, Nicolas Bouchard stood frowning before him. - -"Oh, come in, Nicolas," he urged hospitably. - -"Can't; it's too late; but saw you were still up, and wanted to tell you -that I just had a message from Yves and he wants to take possession of -this place at once. Think you could be out by this day week?" - -"How do you know we aren't going to pay off the mortgage?" flashed -Desir, annoyed at the man for taking things so for granted. - -Nicolas gave a grunt. "What with? Don't get mad. We all know you haven't -got any money. Glad to have you pay if you could, for you've always been -good neighbors; but a man's got to take care of his pennies. They're not -so plentiful now as they were when I took that mortgage." - -"Certainly, Nicolas," said Jack, quietly laying a restraining hand on -Desir's arm. "You may have the house a week from today." - -The man lingered rather awkwardly. - -"Felice said she'd be willing to keep the two little ones, so as you and -this girl could go to Boston, and find work--" - -Desir started to speak, but Jack's hold on her arm tightened. - -"They pay good wages there, I'm told," the man went on. "Or, if you could -find some place for the rest, Yves said he'd be glad to have you stay on -here and help him farm." - -"We are indeed grateful for the kindness of our friends," replied Jack; -"but we have decided that we must all stick together, some way." - -Nicolas turned without another word, and strode down the shell-bordered -path to the road, and Jack closed the door. In silent dismay the brother -and sister faced each other; then the girl's courage reasserted itself. - -"Never mind, dear," she cried, putting both arms around him. "We'll -surely find something. As _ntre mre_ used to say so often, 'let's sleep -on it.' Things always look lots brighter in the morning." - -"You're such a good little pal, Dissy. We'll say an extra prayer tonight -for help, and tomorrow we'll try to decide upon something definite." - -Late the following afternoon Desir stood on the doorstep, watching -Priscilla hopping down the dusty road to see a little friend. Early that -morning Jack had gone to Meteghan to settle up affairs with Nicolas and -Yves, and, to please Desir, to price an outfit for a traveling store. -The sisters, greatly hindered by Ren, had spent the day going over -keepsakes and household belongings of all kinds, trying to decide what -they would keep and what they must dispose of. - -"Are you going to sell _all_ our things, Dissy? Even Mother's chair?" - -"I'm afraid so, dear. You see we can't carry furniture around with us -when we don't know where or how we are going to live. You have her little -silver locket for a keepsake, and I have her prayerbook. We really don't -need anything to remember her by." - -"No; and Jack has _ntre pre's_ watch. But, oh, I--I wish we weren't -going. I'm sort of afraid!" - -"Afraid!" chided Desir, although her own heart was filled with the -nameless dread which often accompanies a contemplated change. "With dear -old Jack to take care of us? I'm ashamed of you! We're going to have just -lots of good times together. Try not to let Jack know that you mind. -Remember, Prissy, it's far harder on him to be obliged to give up all his -own plans and hopes to take care of us, than it is for you and me to make -some little sacrifices and pretend we like them." - -"Ye-es," agreed Priscilla slowly, trying to measure up to what was -expected of her. - -"What's the matter with Prissy?" demanded Ren, deserting his play and -coming to stand in front of them. "Has she got a pain?" - -"A kind of one," replied Desir gently, "but it's getting better now; so -go on with what you were doing, darling." - -The child returned to the corner of the room where he had been making a -wagon from spools and a pasteboard box, while Priscilla murmured, "I'll -try not to fuss about things." - -"That's a brave girl," commended her sister. "Now, you've been in all -day; so suppose you run down to see Felice for a little while. Maybe -you'll meet Jack on the way home, but don't wait for him later than half -past five." - -The little girl was almost out of sight when Desir's attention was -diverted to the opposite direction by the sound of an automobile, -apparently coming from Digby. Motor cars were still sufficiently new in -Nova Scotia to excuse her waiting to see it pass. Only the well-to-do -people owned them, and she had never even had a ride in one. There were -rumors that possibly that very summer a bus line would be run to the -various interesting parts of the country for the convenience of tourists -from the States. Then she might be able to ride a little way, if it -didn't cost too much, just to see how it felt. - -A ramshackle Ford jerked to a sudden halt right in front of the house, -and a tall, thin man backed carefully out from the driver's seat and -ambled up the path toward her. - -"Mademoiselle Wistmore?" he inquired, bashfully removing his blue woolen -cap and thrusting it under his arm. - -"_Oui_, Monsieur." - -"My name's Pierre Boisdeau," he drawled, taking the cap out from under -his arm and rolling it nervously between his two big hands. - -"Yes?" replied Desir encouragingly. - -"I have a message for you," pushing the long-suffering cap into his -pocket as he spoke. - -The girl seated herself upon the broad stone step, and with a gesture -invited the stranger to do the same; but he merely placed one foot upon -the scraper beside the step, and began in halting embarrassed fashion to -deliver his message. - -After he had gone, Desir fairly raced through preparations for supper; -then went to look up the road again. If Jack would only come! Ren -trudged around from the back of the house where he had been playing, and -announced that he was hungry; so she took him in, gave him his supper, -and put him to bed. Before she had finished, Priscilla returned. - -"Jack must have been delayed somewhere. We might as well eat, and I'll -get his supper when he comes," decided the older girl. - -While they ate, Priscilla chattered on and on about her playmates, while -Desir said "Yes" and "No" rather absent-mindedly. Where could Jack be? - -"I'm going to bed," yawned Priscilla, about seven o'clock. "We ran so -much, I'm tired." - -"All right, dear." - -"Where are _you_ going?" inquired the child, stopping on the stairs as -she caught sight of her sister throwing a shawl around her shoulders. - -"Only out to the road to watch for Jack." - -"You won't go any farther, and leave us?" - -"Of course not. Have I ever left you alone at night?" - -"No-o-o." - -"Run along to bed then," reaching up to pat the brown hand which grasped -the stair railing. - -What was keeping Jack? - -For half an hour Desir shifted her weight from one foot to the other, -watching the darkening road. As soon as she spied his tall form, she ran -to meet him and fell into step at his side. - -"You must be nearly starved, dear," she began. - -"Not a bit. I happened to be at Henry Simard's at about supper time, and -nothing would do but I must stay and eat with them. I hope you weren't -worried," looking down at Desir anxiously. - -"I tried not to be; for I thought perhaps you had gone farther than you -intended." - -"Nicolas was ready when I got to his house, and Yves met us in Meteghan; -so we fixed everything up successfully. The money which came to us I put -into the bank for emergencies; for--I'm awfully sorry to have to tell -you--there isn't enough to buy and stock up a wagon, even if we decided -to adopt that way of living. So I looked around a bit for some kind of a -job." - -"Did you find anything?" asked Desir, a bit breathlessly. - -"Not yet; but I shall. We could--" - -"Now that I've heard your news," interrupted the girl eagerly, "just -listen to mine. A man named Pierre Boisdeau came in an auto from Digby -this afternoon with a message for us. Oh, Jack, the most wonderful thing! -When he took some salmon down to Yarmouth the other day, they told him at -the docks that old Simon had sent word to be sure to have anyone from up -this way go to see him. So he went, and found the poor old man all -crippled up with rheumatism. He will have to stay at his daughter's house -all summer. So he won't be able to peddle. And Jack! He wants _us_ to -take his wagon! Isn't that just glorious? He said that if we won't take -it and keep the route for him until he is well again, he'll likely have -to sell out. He doesn't want to do that. Isn't it just providential? This -will give us a chance to try the experiment without much expense, and -will provide for us for several months." - -"We are indeed very fortunate," replied Jack gravely. "We could hardly -take such an offer from anyone else, but Simon is such an old friend that -he would feel hurt if we refused. As you say, it will give us a chance to -find a place to settle in permanently. In the meantime, we shall be -holding the route for him." - -They entered the house and dropped down beside the table, still covered -with dishes, to finish their talk. - -"Simon wants an answer as soon as possible; for he hates to think of all -his customers being deserted for so long. You'd better write to him -tonight." - -"I wonder," said Jack slowly, after a few minutes' consideration during -which his sister scanned his serious, thoughtful face rather anxiously. -"I wonder if it would be better for me to go down alone to get the wagon -and pick you up on the way back; or, for all of us to ride to Yarmouth on -the train, and start the route from there. Which should you like better?" - -"To go to Yarmouth, of course; but won't it cost a lot more?" - -"Some, but--" - -"I can prepare enough food for us to carry two meals, and there must be -some place where we could camp just outside of the city." - -"Anxious to get started?" - -"Yes. I hate goodbyes. I'd like to steal out right away, without anybody -knowing it." - -"I'm afraid you can't leave our good neighbors like that. They have known -us all our lives; and think how hurt they would feel." - -"I suppose so; but they all want us to do something different, and -criticize _ntre pre_ for trying to educate us." - -"They don't understand, but they mean well and have been very kind to -us." - -"I know, and I do appreciate it; but--couldn't we start soon?" - -"Day after tomorrow, I should think. I'm afraid one trunk and the box in -the store room will be all we can take on our travels. Shall you be able -to manage that way?" - -"I'll try to; but what shall I do with the furniture?" - -"Give it away, or leave it for Yves. We'll just have to stifle all -sentimental affection for our household gods." - -"We'll have a house of our own again some day, and get new household -gods." - - * * * * * * * * - -Intense excitement prevailed in the Clare District on Wednesday -afternoon. Little groups of women and children were hurrying along the -dusty road. On every doorstep a man or woman too old, or a child too -young, to join the procession was sitting waiting to wave farewell to the -travelers when they passed. These good people were much disturbed at the -departure of the little Wistmore family. It was almost unheard of for any -of the Acadian families voluntarily to leave that peaceful section and -wander among strangers in unfamiliar parts of the country. Occasionally, -within their knowledge, an individual or two had decided to seek his -fortune elsewhere; but never before a whole family, and the Wistmores at -that! The neighbors had done their best, one and all, to dissuade the -children from following such a course; but since their words of advice -and warning had proved of no avail, they were now on their way, bearing -little gifts of good will, to bid the adventurers Godspeed. - -When Jack drove up with Andr Comeau who was going to take them to the -station, three miles away, the yard was filled with little groups of -neighbors; and inside the house still others were saying their reluctant -farewells. Shaking the hands held out to him on every side, Jack gently -pushed through the crowd; and, with Andr's help, loaded their one trunk -and box onto the wagon. Then he detached Desir and the children from the -weeping women, and helped them up to the seats which had been made of -rough planks laid across the wagon box. The crowd drew back, and amid a -chorus of "_Bon jour!_" "_Au revoir!_" the travelers started on their -journey. - -Desir and Priscilla, with tears rolling down their faces, waved as long -as they could see their old friends, and answered salutations from many a -doorstep; but Jack, with set face, did not look back at all. Even Ren -was unusually quiet, hardly knowing what to make of it all. The train -pulled into the tiny station just as they reached the platform, and there -was no time to be lost. Before the children, to whom a railroad was a -novelty, had time hardly to glance at the long train, its freight cars -placed ahead of the coaches, as is common in Nova Scotia, they were -hustled on board, the bell rang, and they were off. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - OUT TO SEA - - -The little party was very quiet during the ride, which took two hours. -The older members were occupied with their own thoughts, very serious -ones, and the young pair engrossed in looking out of the window. - -Rolling rocky land; woods where sombre and stately pines and firs made a -fitting background for the graceful slender white trunks of the birch -trees; miles of ferns close to the tracks; tiny stations; glimpses, -between the trees, of rustic dwellings and a few more pretentious summer -homes; flashes of wild flowers; rivers, down whose red mud banks still -trickled threads of water, although the tide was out; grey farm -buildings; all flowed rapidly past. Then--Yarmouth! - -"Stay right here," directed Jack, after they had alighted from the train, -leading the way to a pile of crates on the platform, "until I check our -baggage. I thought we'd keep only the night bag, and pick up the rest -after we get the wagon." - -Before the children had tired of watching the passers-by, he was back -again, and they walked slowly toward the centre of the city, not pausing -until they reached the tiny park facing the wharf. - -"You and the children had better sit here while I go to find out the -location of the street where Simon's daughter lives." - -"Is that the _Grand Hotel_, where Andr brought Marie after the wedding?" -asked Priscilla, looking up in admiration at the big building across the -street. - -"Yes," replied Jack. - -"Just think!" cried the child ecstatically, giving a little skip, "I'm -really looking at the place I've heard of so many times." - -"Well, your education has begun," said Jack. "See that you make the most -of all your opportunities." - -"What a very funny place," observed Priscilla, looking around her. - -"It is a park--" began Desir. - -"But look at those," interrupted the younger girl, pointing to several -graves. - -"It must have been used as a cemetery first," replied her sister, walking -over to read the inscription on a nearby stone, and closely followed by -Priscilla. That moment or two gave Ren the chance for which he had -longed, and he was off down the road and onto the wharf. Desir turned to -look for him just in time to see a little blue-clad figure dart across -the gang plank of the Boston steamer. - -"Ren!" she called in desperation, racing toward the dock. - -The tug which helped the steamer pull away from her slip was already out -in the harbor; bells were ringing, the whistle was blowing, dock hands -were running about. Across the gang plank ran Desir and Priscilla just -before it was withdrawn, and the ropes were cast off. As they looked -helplessly among the crowds of people and piles of luggage for the -truant, the tug was steadily pulling on the long tow line, and heading -the steamer out to sea. - -"My--little--brother," gasped Desir to an officer. - -"What about him?" demanded the busy man curtly. - -His brisk manner was just enough, in her distressed state of mind, to -reduce the girl immediately to tears. - -"He got away from us and is on this boat. That's what's about him," said -Priscilla, coming at once to her sister's aid. "Don't mind, Dissy; we'll -find him." - -An interested spectator of the scene, a tall, energetic type of woman, -now joined the group. - -"Let me help you look for him, my dear," she said briskly, putting a hand -on Desir's shoulder. "No need to worry; he's certainly safe." - -"But," choked the girl, now fully conscious that the boat was moving, "we -can't go on. My big brother is waiting for us in Yarmouth! What--what -will he think? What will he _do_?" She wrung her hands distractedly. - -"You could go back on the tug, if the boy's found before she leaves us," -suggested the officer, coming to the rescue as soon as he fully -understood the situation. - -"There he is!" shrieked Priscilla, darting to the side of the boat where -Ren was climbing up on a suitcase to look over the railing at the water. -Grasping him firmly by the tail of his jacket, she dragged him backward -across the salon, and brought him to a violent sitting posture at -Desir's feet. - -Meanwhile the officer had ordered the tug to be signalled, and she now -came alongside. No time for anything but hurried thanks to their -benefactors as the girls and Ren were helped over the side and onto the -tug. Noisily, fussily, she steamed away from the big boat, over whose -rails hung the interested passengers, and headed to Yarmouth. - -"What ever made you do such a naughty thing, Ren?" asked Desir, who had -recovered her outward composure. - -"Wanted to see big boat," replied the child, not at all impressed by the -gravity of his offense. Useless to say more now. - -"The young feller needs a good whaling," growled the pilot of the tug, as -he brought his boat alongside the wharf. - -"There's Jack!" cried Desir, in great relief, catching sight of him -striding rapidly along the street above the docks. "Jump out, quickly, -Prissy! Run up and tell him we're all right." - -The child sprang to the dock and ran up the incline at top speed, while -Desir lingered to thank the pilot. - -"Glad to do it, ma'moiselle. Better keep hold of him hereafter, though." - -"I shall," she promised, with a reproachful look at Ren. - -The reunited family met in the little park, and sat down on one of the -benches to readjust themselves. - -"I'm so sorry, dear," said Desir, putting her hand in Jack's. "You must -have been frantic." - -"I couldn't believe my eyes when I came back and found that you had all -disappeared. An old dock hand who saw me looking around said he'd seen a -boy, followed by two girls, go aboard the 'Yarmouth.' So, knowing Ren, I -came to a close solution of the mystery. I was just going up to the -steamship office to see what could be done when Prissy grabbed me from -behind. - -"Ren," he went on, placing the child directly in front of him so he -could look into his eyes, "you have been a _very_ bad boy; and only the -fact that we are out here in a public place prevents me from putting you -right across my knee, and giving you something to make you remember your -naughtiness. There is to be _no_ more running away. Do you understand -me?" - -The little boy, wiggling slightly as if he already felt the punishment, -nodded gravely, impressed by his brother's stern face and voice. - -"What did you find out, Jack?" asked Desir, when he had released Ren. - -"They told me," he began, turning toward her, "that Simon lives on a -street not so very far from here. I thought if you're ready, we might -walk down there; and perhaps he'd be able to tell us where we could spend -the night." - -"Aren't we going to the hotel?" inquired Priscilla, her face clouding. - -"No; we haven't enough money to stay there," answered Jack, starting -ahead with Ren. - -The little girl pouted, and shed a few quiet tears to which Desir wisely -paid no attention. Slowly they strolled along the main street, pausing to -look in the window of a stationer's where the books and English magazines -attracted Desir's eye; stopping to gaze admiringly at the jewelry, -china, pictures, and souvenirs attractively displayed in another shop. - -"Just see the lovely purple stones!" cried Priscilla, who had recovered -her good humor. - -"Those are amethysts," explained Jack. "They come from Cape Blomidon," -adding to Desir, "I heard that another vein split open this year." - -"Isn't it strange that the intense cold nearly every winter brings more -of the beautiful jewels to light?" commented the girl. - -"A kind of rough treatment which results in profit and beauty," mused -Jack. - -"Yes; and, Jack, maybe it will be like that with us. Things are hard now, -but perhaps soon we'll find--" - -"Some am'thysts?" asked Ren excitedly. - -"Perhaps," replied Jack, giving Desir one of his rare sweet smiles. - -The stores had been left behind now, and on every hand were green -tree-shaded lawns enclosed by carefully trimmed hedges of English -hawthorne in full bloom. Desir exclaimed with rapture over their beauty, -and the size and style of the houses beyond them. On a little side street -they paused before a small cottage, half hidden in vines. - -"This must be the place," decided Jack, opening the white gate which -squeaked loudly as if protesting against the entrance of strangers. The -sound brought a woman to the door. - -"I'm looking for Simon Denard," began Jack. - -"You've come to the right place to find him," she replied, smiling, as -she came toward them and put out one hand to pat Ren's head. "Simon -Denard is my father. I'm Mrs. Chaisson. Come right in." - -In the small living room to which she led them sat old Simon, propped up -with pillows in a big chair. - -"So here ye are," was his greeting, as the children dashed across the -floor to his side. - -"Be careful," warned Desir quickly. "You might hurt Simon." - -"Let 'em be! Let 'em be!" protested the old man, beaming upon his -visitors. "What's an extra stab of pain, or two?" - -"Father has told me about you people so often that I feel as if I knew -you," Mrs. Chaisson was saying to Jack, after he introduced Desir and -the children; "so I want you to stay here as long as you're in town; that -is, if you haven't made other plans." - -The expression on her kindly face indicated clearly that she hoped they -hadn't. - -"But there are so many of us," objected the boy. - -"It's perfectly all right, if you don't mind kind of camping out a bit." - -"That's what we expect to do all summer," said Desir; "and we'll surely -be glad of any arrangements you make for us, as long as we don't put you -about too much. You are very kind indeed." - -"Then it's all settled," said their hostess briskly; "I'll get supper -right away; for you must be hungry." - -The cottage boasted of a living room, dining room, kitchen, and two small -bedrooms; so stowing away four extra people was something of an -achievement. Immediately after they had finished the simple but delicious -meal that Mrs. Chaisson prepared, Desir shyly offered to help her -hostess in preparation for the night. - -"Thank you, my dear; if you will clear up the supper table and do the -dishes while I hunt up some bedding, it will be very nice." - -"Please don't trouble yourself about me," said Jack, detaining Mrs. -Chaisson on one of her many trips through the room; "I can sleep on the -porch, or anywhere." - -"I'll fix some place for you," she replied, putting her hand on his -shoulder. "Just go on with your business arrangements." He and Simon had -been discussing the route, customers, stock, and other details. - -Like so many childless women, Mrs. Chaisson had a passion for children; -and the thoughts of this little family starting out so bravely in search -of a living moved her strongly. - -"How I wish I could adopt them all," she thought as she hurried on. "If -only we had a little more money; but then, there's Father, too, now; it -couldn't be done, even with the help of that fine big boy. I don't wonder -that his sister almost worships him." - -Nine o'clock saw them all settled for a good sleep. Old Simon in his own -room, Mrs. Chaisson sharing hers with Priscilla, Desir on the couch in -the living room, and Jack and Ren in hammocks on the screened porch. It -had been decided before they slept that as soon as breakfast was over, -they would start out upon the great adventure. - -"There is no use in hanging around here," Jack had said to Desir in -their goodnight talk on the front steps. - -"Wouldn't it seem rather odd, or ungrateful, to hurry away so soon?" -suggested the girl. "Mrs. Chaisson has been so very good to us." - -"I know that," replied Jack quickly; "and for that very reason, we can't -take advantage of her. Then too, the longer we stay, the harder it will -be for both sides when we do go." - -The boy had immediately sensed the good woman's distress over their -undertaking, and felt that the kindest act would be their immediate -departure. - -"Of course I realize," he went on, "that it's nice for you to have a -little rest, and a woman's companionship; but--" - -"Don't worry over me, Jack dear," replied his sister, slipping her hand -into his. "Whatever you decide is all right. So we'll all be ready early -in the morning." - -"You're a good little soul," answered Jack, with an affectionate -goodnight kiss. "I don't know what I'd do without you." - -Completely happy at his words of commendation, Desir entered the house; -and soon everyone was fast asleep. Shortly after midnight, she was -suddenly awakened by the sound of a screen door closing, and steps -crossing the porch. - - - - - CHAPTER V - A MIDNIGHT WALK - - -The thought that perhaps Jack was ill immediately flashed across Desir's -mind. Throwing on a kimono, she hurried to the door. Down the walk which -led to the street, through the gate which had been left part way open, -and along the road walked--Priscilla! - -No mistaking, even in the shadows, that plump childish form. Where was -she going? Without stopping to do more than catch up the child's coat, -and her own which hung beside the door, Desir followed her. Not wanting -to call lest she should waken the neighborhood, she had to run to catch -up to her sister; for Priscilla had quickened her pace as she approached -the end of the road and turned onto the main street. Coming abreast with -her at last, Desir took the child's arm; and, stooping to look at her -face, was startled to see that her eyes, though open, were unseeing. -Shaking with fright, Desir asked softly-- - -"Where are you going, Prissy?" - -"To the Grand Hotel," was the prompt and surprising reply. - -"But, darling," protested the older girl, "it's night, and everybody is -in bed and asleep." - -"I'm going to sleep there. I've always wanted to." - -Then Desir realized in a flash that Priscilla must be walking in her -sleep. She remembered now that Mother had once spoken of her doing it -when she was a very little girl and had become greatly excited over -something. The splendors of the hotel must have been on her mind as she -went to sleep. - -How to get the child back without arousing her was a problem; she had -heard that sleepwalkers must not be wakened suddenly. - -"Well, dear," she said quietly, "it's getting cool. Let's put on our -coats before we go any farther." - -Priscilla stopped obediently, and, after both girls had put on their -coats, Desir took the little girl's arm and turned her gently around, -beginning a low monologue as she did so. - -"You're going in the wrong direction; we must go this way. Soon we'll be -there. Just down this street. We must be very quiet so no one will hear -us. Step softly. Quiet!" - -Leading, coaxing, hushing, Desir finally got her sister into the house -without waking any one, and settled her upon the living-room couch; for -she dared not trust her out of her sight again that night. - -"Now you're all right," she whispered, removing the child's coat. "Isn't -that a lovely bed?" - -"Yes," breathed Priscilla, curling up under the blanket. - -Noiselessly Desir drew a big rocking chair close to her sister's side, -propped her feet up on the edge of the couch, and with the two coats -spread over her, prepared to spend the rest of the night. No one must -know of this escapade. Mrs. Chaisson would be distressed at not having -awakened; Jack would be disturbed at having slept so soundly, and perhaps -disapprove of her not calling him; and old Simon would be troubled by the -idea of what might have happened. Also, Priscilla would probably be made -nervous. Too excited to sleep, she dozed, dreamed, started, and wakened -again until the first far-away call of a robin pierced the faint grey -dawn. Immediately one in a tree beside the cottage answered; then a cock -crowed; a song sparrow began its short sweet strains; and the day of the -great adventure had really begun. - -"Prissy," she whispered, a little later, bending over the child. - -The blue eyes opened lazily. - -"Let's get dressed, Prissy, and surprise Mrs. Chaisson by having the -table set and things started before she wakens." - -"All right," agreed the little girl, sitting up; "but--but--how did I get -here?" - -"You were rather restless; so I brought you out here with me--" began -Desir. - -"And you slept in the chair! Oh, you must be _so_ tired, Dissy. Why did -you do it?" - -"I'm all right, dear. Never mind about it. Don't say anything of it to -_any one_!" - -"Why?" asked Priscilla, wondering at her sister's earnestness. - -"Because Jack might be afraid I was too tired to start out today, and--" - -"Oh, are we really going this morning?" demanded Priscilla, her mind -immediately occupied with the exciting prospect. - -"Yes; and it's going to be a glorious day." - -The sound of their voices roused the others; and while breakfast was -being prepared, and the house set in order--for Desir would not leave -their hostess any extra work--Jack got the team and wagon ready for -departure. At nine o'clock, after reluctant and affectionate farewells -had been exchanged, Jack gathered up the reins. Beside him sat Desir, -and directly back of them on little stools were Priscilla and Ren. - -"Now, remember," repeated Mrs. Chaisson, handing a lunch basket to -Desir, "that this is your home whenever you are in Yarmouth, or any -other time you need one. And whenever you can, let me hear how you're -getting on. We'll be thinking of you all the time." - -"Thank you," said Desir, kissing Mrs. Chaisson affectionately, and -adding for the tenth time--"You've been so very good to us." - -"We shall never forget it," said Jack, tightening the reins; and Dolly -and Dapple, moving away from the gate, put an end to the farewells. - -No one saw, hidden away among the maple saplings, scrub pine, and -underbrush which covered the field beside the house, the bulky figure of -a man. Neither did they hear softly muttered words of anger and revenge. - -After they had left Yarmouth behind and were jogging along the road back -over the same route they had covered on the train the day before, Desir -turned sidewise in the seat to inspect once more the interior of their -"store." At the back was their trunk, and next to it their box; and on -either side, reaching to the very top of the wagon, shelves tightly -packed with jars, cans, rolls of material. The small tent which they had -bought on their way out of town was laid along the floor at one side. - -"I must get acquainted with all the stock," she observed; "so I'll be -able quickly to find what people want." - -"The first time we stop, you can look things over," replied Jack. "You'd -lose your balance and be rolling out if you tried to do it while we're -moving." - -The younger ones laughed hilariously. They were in high spirits now, and -even Jack felt a thrill of excitement under his sober, staid manner. - -Up and down the long hills they drove, past numberless lakes and ponds, -in and out of woods sweet with the odor of sun-warmed pine, and across -rivers whose red mud flats made a vivid splash of color on the landscape. - -"So many, many little bodies of water," murmured Desir. - -"The ground is so uneven," explained Jack, "that the water settles and -forms lakes." - -"Why are the river banks so wide, and so very muddy?" asked Priscilla, -leaning on the back of the seat. - -"Out there," answered Jack, waving his arm toward the West, "is the Bay -of Fundy, a big, windy, rough body of water, an arm of the Atlantic -Ocean. This bay has huge tides, rising in some places to a height of -fifty or seventy feet. When the tide is high, the water rushes into all -the rivers on this side of the country and fills them to overflowing; -then all these banks are covered up. The tide comes twice a day; so you -see the flats have no time to dry out." - -Through Brazil, Lake Annes, and Hectanooga they had passed without -stopping, and then the children began to get hungry. Jack drew up to the -side of the road in the open country, and stopped in the shade of a huge -oak tree. There they ate the lunch which Mrs. Chaisson had put up for -them, and rested a while, breathing in deep breaths of clover-scented -air. - -"See the chipmunk, Ren," said Jack, pointing to a little animal who was -regarding them doubtfully from the trunk of a nearby tree. "See the -stripes along his back? Well, once upon a time, many years ago, a -wonderful being called Glooscap lived up on Cape Blomidon. He was half -god and half man, and tried to make Nova Scotia a very happy, safe place -to live in. But there were wicked witches who lived here also, and they -wanted to do all kinds of harm. The strongest of them was called Gamona, -and any animal who was caught by her was killed or shut up in some cave -or hole. One day little Charlie Chipmunk disobeyed his mother and went -too far away from home. Suddenly, while he was nibbling at a most -delicious nut, he felt himself picked up in terrible sharp claws. What -was it his mother had told him to do if he ever got into danger? Alas! He -couldn't remember, and the creature, at whose face he dared not look, was -carrying him away so, so fast! Some name he should call. Whose name? Like -the lightning which sometimes made their hollow-tree home bright as day, -it flashed into his mind. - -"'Glooscap!' he squeaked. - -"Such a tiny, trembling cry reached nowhere at all in that great big -forest, yet Glooscap heard it and came to help the little fellow. - -"'Let my child go!' he ordered, in a voice which, though not very loud, -seemed to fill the whole land with its power. - -"Gamona ground her teeth with anger. She knew she must obey, yet how she -hated to let such a nice plump chipmunk go. Slowly she opened her hand -just a little bit, then a little bit more; but the space was not quite -wide enough for fat little Charlie. Her long sharp claws scraped his back -as he wiggled out, and made long dark scratches. Ever since that day the -chipmunk has worn those stripes down the middle of his back." - -"I c'n see 'em jes' as plain," observed Ren. - -"Come on," proposed Priscilla, "see if he'll eat these crusts." - -"Shouldn't we have stopped at some of the places we passed?" ventured -Desir, hesitatingly. She did not want to seem critical of Jack. - -"Simon had no names on his list before Saulnierville; and I thought he -probably knew the ropes better than we." - -"Shan't we take on any new customers, then?" Desir asked anxiously. She -was so eager to make a huge success of this strange business. - -"Surely, if we can; but the places we passed are so close to Yarmouth -that I felt the city would get all their trade," replied Jack, taking the -huge red clover top that Ren had presented him, and sticking it in -Desir's black curls. "I hope to get to Church Point in the morning." - -"Then we'd better get started now," decided Desir, getting up and -shaking off the grass and leaves which the children had thrown upon her -in their play. - -None of them were accustomed to constant riding, and the afternoon seemed -very long. The novelty of the situation and the scenery had worn off, and -they were acutely conscious of cramped muscles. - -"Can't I get out and walk for a while?" asked Priscilla, as they -approached Meteghan. - -"I'd thought we'd stop up here on the main street for a while to see if -anyone wants to buy anything," said Jack, in reply to Desir's -questioning look; "so if you will follow us _carefully_, you may get out -here. But be sure to keep us in close sight, and don't go wandering off." - -He stopped the horses, and Priscilla scrambled out amid clamors of Ren -to go with her. - -"No, Renny," said Desir, "you come and ride in front between Jack and -me. Won't that be fun?" pulling him across the back of the seat. But he -continued to fret and cry until Jack said sternly: - -"Ren, we've had enough of that. Stop it at once or go into the back of -the wagon by yourself. You're too big a boy to act like a baby." - -The child looked at his brother, and quickly recognizing the -determination and force in the serious gaze bent upon him, set about -controlling himself. Jack evidently meant business when he spoke in that -tone. In their anxiety to compose Ren before they entered the town -proper, they temporarily forgot about Priscilla. Like a flash, Desir -turned to look back. - -"Jack!" she gasped, "I don't see Prissy!" - -The boy stopped the horses at once, and for a moment scanned the empty -road in consternation. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - THE PIE SOCIAL - - -Turning the team, they started back. Dapple and Dolly lagged along, heads -down; they were tired, and it was close to supper time. - -Jack and Desir peered into the bushes and trees on either side of the -road for a glimpse of a red coat. Around a bend, among the trees far back -from the road, they finally saw what they sought. Stopping the wagon, -they watched for a moment to see what she was doing. Intently, apparently -without thought of anything else, she was stealthily following a small -black and white animal. Before they could shout a warning, she suddenly -darted forward and seized the little creature. Out of her hands it -twisted, filling the air with a strong, unpleasant odor; then it -disappeared into the dense woods. - -"Oh!" groaned Jack. - -"Priscilla!" called Desir sharply. - -The child looked up, and began coming toward them. - -"Stand right where you are," directed Jack, when she reached the edge of -the clearing. "Don't come any nearer. What on earth possessed you to -meddle with a wood pussy?" - -"I--I thought it was a kitten," faltered the little girl, thoroughly -frightened. - -"If you'd followed us closely, as Jack told you, you wouldn't have gotten -into trouble," said Desir severely. "What can we do with her, Jack?" - -"I'll get a pail of water from that pond, while you find fresh clothing; -then I'll carry the things over to the woods. She'll have to go behind -that clump of scrub pine and take off her clothing, make up the garments -into a bundle, throw it as far into the woods as she can, then bathe and -put on fresh things," replied Jack, taking a pail and starting down the -road toward a small, but deep, pool of water. - -"I'll go and help her," said Desir, when he returned. - -"Stay right where you are," he directed quietly but firmly. "She can -manage perfectly well by herself." - -He crossed the road; and Desir, though she could not quite distinguish -the words, listened to the brief, curt orders he issued to the -unfortunate little girl. Then he returned and stood leaning against the -side of the wagon. Ren had dozed off, and Desir laid him on the seat. - -"This is one phase of our adventure that we did not consider," began -Jack, after a pause. His face looked more serious, even, than usual. - -"What? Prissy getting mixed up with a wood pussy?" laughed Desir. - -"No. The problem of discipline. The free and lazy life is going to let -the youngsters get a bit out of hand, I'm afraid." - -"Ren's only a baby," said Desir reassuringly. "We should have no -trouble managing him. Of course Priscilla is rather difficult at times; -she goes from one extreme to another so quickly. You never know exactly -what she will do next. At home, I sometimes sent her to bed; but that -would be rather difficult in a wagon. But she's a good little thing, and -we'll do the best we can. You mustn't worry about it, Jack," concluded -Desir, bending over to touch his thick brown curls. - -He caught her hand in his and held it until Priscilla appeared from among -the trees, freshly clothed, and swinging the empty pail in her hand. - -Without a word Jack helped her into the wagon and they headed once more -for the town. The sun had sunk below the horizon; the woods were getting -dim; and the sky was a soft rose and gold when they entered Meteghan. -Surely the whole population must be abroad, so filled were the streets -with people all headed toward the church. - -"What do you suppose is going on?" asked Desir, viewing the scene rather -wistfully. - -"I don't know," replied Jack, pulling the wagon into a free space between -two other vehicles. Almost immediately a tall, awkward youth sauntered -over to them. - -"Where's old Simon?" - -Jack explained, adding, "What's doing here?" - -"Pie social," was the laconic reply. "Better go." - -"Where is it held?" asked Desir, leaning out and smiling down into his -keen grey eyes. - -"Church basement; it's for the benefit of the church. Costs you a pie to -get in." - -At this point, a companion called to the boy, and he strolled away. - -"Like to go?" asked Jack, who had not been unobservant of Desir's eager -interest. - -"How could we? We haven't any pies." - -"There must be some place to buy them. Surely some enterprising person -would foresee the market. Let's look around a bit." - -He tied the horses to a post and locked the doors. Ren was wide awake by -this time, and eager for new adventures; so the four, Priscilla still -silent, walked along the streets of the little town until they found a -place bearing a sign--"Pies for sale." Here they purchased four pies, and -turned their steps toward the church. At the door a pretty girl took -their donations, and they were allowed to enter. Along the sides of the -little basement were rough board counters loaded with pies of every size -and variety. One could buy whatever one desired, from a whole pie to a -small slice. - -"We're like the Chinese," smiled Jack, as they stood eating pieces of -custard pie; "dessert first, then more substantial food." - -The pretty girl who had been at the door now approached them, and smiling -at Jack, said--"We're going to dance here tonight after all the pies are -sold. Hope you will all stay." - -"I'm sorry, but we shall not be able to," he replied courteously. "I have -old Simon's wagon out there, and can't leave it so long." - -"Oh, we heard about the young man who was going to take Simon's route. My -folks know him real well. He often puts the wagon in our barn and stays -all night at our house. Why--wait a minute." - -She darted off, and returned almost immediately with a short, thick-set -man, who looked like a farmer. - -"This is my father, Jean Riboux," she said. "I'm Prudence." - -"My name is Wistmore," replied Jack, shaking hands; "and these are my -sisters, Desir and Priscilla; and my little brother Ren." - -"Pleased to know you, both for yourselves and for old Simon," responded -the man, with unmistakable cordiality. "You must make free at our place, -same as he did. Drive over, put up the team, and stay all night." - -Though Jack protested, the man would hear of no refusal, and ten minutes -later they turned into a nearby farmyard. Jean took the horses away from -Jack, and sent the Wistmores into the house to his wife who had come to -the door to meet them. - -"Your husband and daughter insisted upon our coming here for the night," -said Jack, after introductions had been made; "but I think it is entirely -too much. There are so many of us--" - -"There's always a welcome here for any friends of old Simon's," was Mrs. -Riboux's quiet reply; "and we have plenty of room. We were sorry to hear -of his bad luck; but then, it turned out well for you," looking at the -little family curiously. - -"Yes, the opportunity to take the route came just as we were looking for -something for the summer," said Desir, smiling shyly at their hostess. - -"Oh, then you're not goin' to keep it regular?" - -"That can not be decided," contributed Jack, "until we see how things -go." - -As they gathered around the table for supper, the boy who had told them -about the Pie Social slid into one of the chairs and grinned at Desir. - -"Didn't think you'd see me again so soon, did you?" - -"That's Ormand, Orrie for short," explained Prudence, who sat beside Jack -right across the table from them. - -"I guessed who you people were as soon as I laid eyes on Dapple and -Dolly; and I knew you'd turn up here finally." - -The conversation of the elders turned to crops, and continued throughout -the meal, while the younger people talked of the coming dance. - -"Now," said Mrs. Riboux to Desir, as they left the table, "why don't you -put the little fellow to bed and go to the dance with my boy and girl? -I'll watch out for him," as Desir hesitated and looked at Jack. "All -ages go to these socials, so your sister could go along too," she added, -as the Wistmores started up the long flight of stairs to their rooms. - -"I'll put Ren to bed while you dress up a bit," offered Jack, taking the -little boy by the hand, and preparing to leave Desir. - -She detained him, however, and asked in a low tone, "What about--?" -motioning toward the door of her room, which Priscilla had entered ahead -of her. - -"Trot on into that room across the hall, Renny," directed Jack, starting -him in the right direction; "and see how nearly ready for bed you can get -before I come." - -"Although she is far too young for dances," he continued, "since it is -the custom here for girls of her age to attend them, I should have -allowed her to go; but in the light of this afternoon's escapade, I think -she should be deprived of the pleasure. Don't you?" - -"Y--e--s; I suppose so; but I'm afraid she'll make a fuss, for she -expects to go. And I do hate to disappoint her." - -Without replying, Jack stepped into the room where his younger sister was -standing before an old-fashioned mirror combing her hair. - -"Priscilla," he began quietly, "you weren't counting on going to the -dance; were you?" - -"Yes, I am," she retorted quickly, turning to face him. "You heard Mrs. -Riboux say that girls of my age go." - -"That is not the point at all. What about this afternoon's disobedience?" - -"It wasn't my fault that I met that awful animal," she muttered, half -under her breath. - -"You are being purposely stupid, Priscilla. You know very well that you -were deliberately disobedient in not following the wagon as I told you -to. If you can't obey, we shall all have a miserable summer. To impress -that fact on your mind, you must stay right here in your room until we -come back; that is, unless Ren wants something." - -Jack crossed the hall to his own room, and Desir looked pityingly on her -sister, who had thrown herself into a chair beside the window and was -giving way to tears. There was no use trying to reason with Priscilla -when the child was in one of these moods; so she went about her own -preparations for the evening, in silence; but considerable of her own -pleasure was taken out of the prospect. - -Before leaving, she stooped over the big chair in which the little girl -crouched, put her arms around her, and kissed her affectionately without -speaking. Priscilla also said nothing, but she returned the kiss; and -Desir, recognizing the act as the beginning of a return to normal -conditions, felt happier about leaving her. - -Ormand and Prudence Riboux were evidently very popular among the young -folks of the country; and they introduced their guests to so many boys -and girls that the Wistmores were never at a loss for partners. - -"Wasn't it _fun_!" cried Desir joyously, as she said goodnight to Jack -in the dim upper hall, lighted only by their two candles. "Didn't you -have a good time?" - -"Yes, I did." - -"And just think, we've made some new friends already. I like the Riboux -family." - -"So do I; they're fine people," agreed Jack absentmindedly. He was -thinking about tomorrow's trip into the Clare District. That was going to -be the hardest part of the route, going through their old home and its -neighboring towns. - -"Jack!" cried Desir, as she entered her room. "Prissy's gone!" - - - - - CHAPTER VII - A FRIGHT - - -"Gone!" echoed Jack, staring blankly around the room. "Where could she -possibly go?" - -"I don't know; but you see she isn't here." - -There were few places to look. Jack peered under the big bed, while -Desir looked in the clothes press and a deep chest. - -"What shall we do?" she whispered, twisting her hands together and trying -to force back the tears. "Is Ren in your room?" as a sudden thought -occurred to her. - -With two steps, Jack crossed the hall and stuck his head into the room -opposite. - -"Yes; he's in bed." - -Mrs. Riboux, sensing that something was wrong, came out of her room, -followed by her husband. Their exclamations brought Prudence and Ormand -to join the group. A few minutes of excited consultation resulted in Mr. -Riboux going out to notify the authorities that a child was missing. - -While the women searched the house from top to bottom, Jack and Ormand, -aided by the feeble rays of a lantern, looked about the barns and yard. A -group of men and boys from the town were soon scouring the nearby woods, -and Desir, who had returned to her room after the fruitless trip through -the various rooms, could see the moving lights and hear occasional -shouts. - -The forced inaction maddened her. If there were only _something_ she -could do besides wait. What danger might not Priscilla be in while she -stood helpless here? - -After a long time Mr. Riboux, followed by Jack and Ormand, crossed the -yard, and she ran downstairs hoping for news. Her brother merely shook -his head gravely when they met in the kitchen where Mrs. Riboux was -making coffee and setting out a lunch for the men who were still in the -woods. One by one they straggled in, reporting no luck at all. - -Desir's own acute distress was increased every time she looked at Jack's -stern, set face. Well she knew by the deep lines between his eyes that he -was blaming himself for Priscilla's disappearance. - -Although it had been a great relief to have Ren sleep through the first -excitement, now it was a distinct pleasure to hear his voice from -upstairs and be able to run up and see what he wanted. At least it -provided something to _do_. - -"I'm coming," called Desir, stopping in her room to get a lamp. - -"Don't want you," replied Ren rudely, as she entered. "Want Prissy. She -was going to catch the mouse," he added. - -"The mouse," repeated his sister in bewilderment, feeling his head to see -if he were feverish. - -"Yes," said the little boy, jerking fretfully away from her and pointing -to the corner behind the bed. - -There lay Priscilla, curled up on the floor, fast asleep, with Polly, the -big grey house cat, clasped tightly in her arms. The animal blinked at -the light and uttered a loud "Me-o-w!" - -Desir, together with Jack who had by that time followed her, stood -speechless, looking down at the sleeping child. - -"I want to know if she caught that mouse," demanded Ren in positive -tones. - -At that moment Priscilla, aroused by the sound of voices, opened her -eyes, a bit bewildered by the sudden awakening. She looked blankly from -one to another, her gaze finally centering on Jack's face. - -"I didn't disobey you," she said. "Ren called me because he was -frightened of a mouse. You said I might leave the room if he wanted -anything." - -"But what are you doing down here on the floor, darling?" asked Desir -softly; for Jack could not speak. - -"I got Polly and sat down here by the mouse's hole so's she could catch -him when he came out again; and we all kept so quiet I guess we went to -sleep." - -Jack picked the little girl up, carried her to the room across the hall, -and held her close for a moment before laying her on the bed. - -"Both of you get to sleep as soon as you can," he directed. "I'll go down -and tell the family she's found." - -"Is Jack angry at me?" inquired Priscilla, sleepily. - -"Not a bit, dear. We thought you were lost. Everybody has been looking -all over for you, out in the barn, in the woods, and--" - -"And here I was all the time," giggled the child, wholly unconscious of -having been the cause of great anxiety and effort. - -Along the shore, the next morning, as the Wistmores started out after -parting reluctantly with the Riboux family, were hundreds of gulls -looking for food, and the air was filled with their harsh croaking cries. -Out on the blue waters floated others, at rest on the ripples. In the -meadows herds of black and white cows wandered about, cropping the grass -heavy with dew, their bells tinkling constantly as they sought for -choicer tidbits. - -"Before we get to Saulnierville we make our first stop," said Desir, -consulting the list she had taken from Jack's pocket. - -"We'll be there shortly." - -"Oh, I hope we sell just lots of stuff!" cried Priscilla, who was quite -herself again. - -"Yes, lots of stuff," echoed Ren, grabbing Jack around the neck. - -"Don't choke brother," laughed Desir, loosening the embracing arms. - -Before many minutes passed, they came in sight of a small grey house. An -immense grey barn stood behind it, its double doors freshly painted a -brilliant red. The farm was enclosed by a grey fence with double gates of -pure white. - -"Why don't the gates and the doors match, I wonder," remarked Priscilla, -who had an eye for color combinations. - -"I haven't the faintest idea," replied Jack, bringing the wagon to a stop -before a path bordered with clam shells. The path led up to the front -door, and another row of clam shells surrounded the house, which was -built, like so many others in Nova Scotia, with overlapped shingles on -one side and clapboards on the other three. - -"Let the youngsters run about a bit while I go in," directed Jack, -preparing to climb over the wheel. - -At this moment the sound of galloping horses on the road over which they -had just come made everyone turn; and they saw another wagon, the -counterpart of their own, swaying crazily from side to side as the driver -urged on his excited animals. - -"Runaway!" squealed Ren delightedly. - -"They'll hit us!" shrieked Priscilla. - -Jack deftly pushed off the road into a field, and jumped from the wagon -ready to be of assistance. His keen eye saw at once, however, that the -approaching team was not out of control. As soon as it came abreast of -the Wistmore "store" the driver pulled up with a suddenness which threw -the animals on their haunches; and, leaping from his seat, he faced Jack -belligerently. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - A FIGHT - - -"My territory!" growled the man, motioning toward the house. "What are -_you_ doing here?" - -"You're mistaken," responded Jack quickly. "I have old Simon's entire -route, and this is the first stop on the list he gave me." - -"It may have been his, but it ain't goin' to be yours!" - -"And who is going to prevent me?" inquired Jack, in even, quiet tones -which Desir knew meant that he was working hard to keep his temper under -control. - -"_I_ am. I made up my mind soon as I heard the old man was sick, that I -would take this route; and nobody's goin' to stop me. Least of all, -_you_," he added, looking Jack's slender form up and down contemptuously. - -"You great--big--" began Priscilla excitedly. - -"Be quiet, Prissy," said her brother. "You and the others stand over -there beside the wagon." - -As he spoke, he started in the direction of the farmhouse. Like a flash -the thick-set figure was in his pathway. - -"No, you don't!" he sneered. - -The two measured each other silently for a moment, standing as motionless -as dogs in that last tense moment just before they spring. - -Jack put out his foot to advance, and his opponent was upon him. They -fell heavily to the ground, the stranger on top. - -"He'll kill him!" sobbed Priscilla, while Ren added his wails to hers. - -"Don't kill Jack!" he cried. - -"Hush!" pleaded Desir, her eyes wide with fright. "Say a prayer that -Jack will come out all right." - -The terrified little group watched the two adversaries roll over and -over, pounding, grappling, struggling. Then Jack, with a quick twist, -loosened the grasp of the other and sprang to his feet. With surprising -swiftness, for a man so heavy, the enemy also righted himself and again -leaped upon Jack. Back and forth they swayed, locked in a close embrace, -each trying desperately to keep his own footing and trip the other. At -times they stood stock still waiting to get breath and strength for a -renewal of the contest. Then it began all over again. - -Finally Jack succeeded in twisting one of his long legs quickly around -one of his adversary's, thereby throwing him heavily to the ground. With -a leap, Jack was astride of him, pinning his arms to the earth. The man -tried to roll sufficiently to throw him off, but Jack was too well placed -to allow him very much motion. Weight, anger, and unskilled methods had -worked against him; now Jack had complete advantage. - -"Shall I give you what you deserve?" demanded Jack, after a moment's -pause. - -"Nough!" muttered the man sullenly. - -"Get off this route, then, and _stay_ off of it; or next time--" -threatened Jack, getting up. "Turn that team right around, and go back to -Yarmouth, or wherever you come from!" - -Slowly, keeping one eye on Jack the while, he obeyed. As soon as he was -on the way, Desir and the children ran toward their brother. - -"Oh, Jack, aren't you hurt somewhere?" demanded Desir anxiously. - -"Only a few bruises and scratches, thank God!" was the grateful response. -"I kept wondering what you would do, poor child, if I were smashed up." - -After a good brushing, and "first-aid" treatment of his scratches, Jack -pronounced himself as good as new. - -"Children," said Desir, "we begged so hard for Jack's safety. We mustn't -fail to say 'Thank You' for what we received. Let's each say a little -prayer of thanksgiving right now." - -After a moment of silence they again turned their attention to the -business in hand. Desir and the children stayed with the wagon, while -Jack started once more toward the house. - -At his knock, the inner door opened, a woman's head showed behind the -glass of the storm door, and then the outer door was pushed back. Almost -every dwelling, no matter how small and unpretentious, has its storm -door, and usually these are left on all summer. - -"I'm taking old Simon's route this summer," began Jack, using the words -he was to repeat so many times that season; "and I called to see if you -need anything." - -"Yes, I do," answered the plump little woman in the doorway, her black -eyes busily inspecting Jack, and traveling rapidly to the wagon, the -girl, and the children on the road. "I'm all out of thread, crackers, -kerosene, and--what else was it? Oh, yes, shoe laces. Where's old Simon? -I've been watching out for him for three weeks." - -"Sick, in Yarmouth," replied Jack, turning to go to the wagon to fill her -order. The woman followed him. - -"This your wife?" she asked, curiously staring at Desir. - -Jack flushed. - -"No, my sister; and that is another sister, and my kid brother," he -replied, talking more rapidly than usual to hold the woman's attention; -for Desir, overcome by laughter, had walked a few steps down the road to -recover her composure. - -"Where are your folks!" - -"Dead," was the brief reply. - -"Now that's too bad! You so young, and with three youngsters to keep. -Dear! Dear!" - -Desir returned just in time to hear the last remarks, and her face -twitched so in her efforts to control it that Jack himself had to bury -his head in the depths of the wagon while he looked for the cracker -boxes. - -"Come up to the house with me when this young man carries my things in," -she said to Desir, taking her by the arm. As if she were indeed a child, -she led her along the path to the doorstep. - -"Set here," she directed; and disappeared into the house. - -"Ready?" asked Jack, when he came out. - -"I don't know. I was told to 'set here'; and here I 'set,'" whispered -Desir. - -At that moment the woman returned with a pasteboard box which she thrust -into Desir's hands. - -"Here's a few cookies for your dinner. They always taste good to -children, I guess." - -"Oh, thank you so much. I'm sure we'll enjoy them," responded the girl. - -"Stop every time you come around," called the odd little woman, as they -closed the gate behind them. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - IN CAMP - - -"Well, our first sale wasn't so bad," observed Desir, as they drove -away. "But wasn't she funny?" - -"I thought you were going to disgrace us," said Jack, smiling. "If you -can't behave any better than that, I'll have to leave you beside the road -somewhere and pick you up later." - -"Oh--o--o!" shrieked Ren. - -"What's the matter?" demanded Jack, turning to look at the small boy -behind him. - -"Don't want Dissy left anywhere! Want her with us!" - -"Jack's only fooling, darling; don't cry," consoled Desir, reaching back -over the seat to pet the little boy. - -Peace and quiet having been restored, they jogged along the sunshiny -road, and soon were abreast of St. Mary's Bay, where flecks of white were -dancing over the blue surface. - -"White caps," observed Desir. "Fundy must be rough today." - -"Those are gulls," corrected Jack, "at least so the Indians used to -believe. The Spirit of the Sea was so fond of the birds that he caught a -lot one day and, with a long string, tied their legs together. He keeps -them down in his house under the water, and at times he lets the gulls -come up to swim on the top of the water for air and exercise." - -"Why don't they fly away then? _I_ would!" asserted Ren, big-eyed with -interest. - -"Because the Spirit holds fast to the string, and when he thinks they've -been out long enough, he pulls them all down under the water again." - -Between Saulnierville and Little Brook they made several stops and -substantial sales. The picnic dinner which good Mrs. Riboux had insisted -upon packing for them, they ate beside a shady stream in which many -little fish darted about among the weeds. Ren insisted upon trying to -catch some with his hands, but succeeded only in getting his clothing so -splashed that Desir had to stand him out in the sun to dry before they -could continue on their way. - -"There's Church Point," cried Desir, later in the afternoon, pointing to -the skyline ahead, where a tall spire topped with a cross rose proudly -against the blue. - -"How happy the sailors must be when they first catch sight of that -point," mused Jack. - -"Why?" asked Priscilla. - -"Because the spire can be seen for many miles out at sea, and the sailors -use it as a guide." - -The shadows were getting long, and the air was much cooler by the time -they drove into the little town. On St. Mary's Bay several fishing boats -had already been anchored near the sands, and farther out on the gilded -water others were heading for the shore. Over the slight rise near the -church they drove, and in and out among the ox teams and lines of -slow-moving cows. - -"Everybody's goin' home but us," remarked Ren rather plaintively, making -the tears spring to Desir's eyes, while the lines of Jack's mouth became -even more stern. - -"Silly!" observed Priscilla. "We _are_ home. Home's where Jack and Desir -are." - -Desir smiled up at Jack, and leaned back to squeeze her little sister's -arm. - -"Shall we try to make our sales before supper, and then camp outside of -town?" asked Jack; "or shall we eat, and then sell afterwards." - -"Sell first. Work before pleasure," Desir decided promptly. - -At a house far beyond the church they came to a halt, and Desir leaned -from the wagon to call to a small boy in blue overalls, who sat on the -gate watching them--"Tell your mother that old Simon's wagon is here, -please, and ask her if she wants anything." - -Without a word the little fellow slid down and ran into the house. Almost -immediately a tall, loose-jointed man, whose resemblance to the child was -marked, came out and crossed the yard. - -"The missus is sick," he explained, "but I know what she wants. She's -been talkin' of nothin' else for days. Buttons, five yards of calico, a -pencil for the boy, and a few pounds of sugar. Got old Simon's route for -good?" - -"I'm not sure. He's sick in Yarmouth now." - -"So? That's too bad. Are you going on up the Bay?" - -"Expect to," replied Jack, giving the man his purchases and counting out -change. - -"When you get to Digby would you tell the lady in the knickknack store -that I'll sell her the pitcher?" - -"Glad to, if you'll tell me how to find her." - -"Her store is the first one of its kind that you'll pass. She catches all -the tourists by a window full of trash, and a sign 'Souvenir Shoppe' or -something like that. She was out here a few weeks ago looking for stuff, -and wanted that pitcher, but the wife didn't want to sell it then. Since -she's been sick, though, she's more concerned about money than about old -pitchers." - -After several more stops, most of which resulted in sales, Jack pulled -off of the main road into a balsam grove, just before dusk. - -"You children scamper around and find some dried wood for a fire," he -directed, swinging Ren down, and going to unharness the horses. - -"Do you intend to build a fire in here, Jack?" asked Desir doubtfully. - -"No, on the sand across the road. Take some bacon and whatever else you -need from the stock while I feed Dapple and Dolly." - -By the time he had made several trips with great armfuls of grass which -he had pulled for the animals, Desir had gathered together her supplies, -and with the children's help made a fire on the beach and set out their -supper. When Jack appeared, he took charge of the frying of the bacon -himself. - -"Isn't this _fun_?" demanded Priscilla every few minutes. "Just like a -picnic; and lots nicer than eating in a house." - -"Lots nicer," echoed Ren, adding, "Now tell me a story." - -"Oliver Owl's mother had told him again and again that he must not go -anywhere near the big cave where the wicked witch Gamona lived," began -Jack slowly; "but Oliver was getting so big and strong that he thought he -knew how to take care of himself. He had never seen the old woman, of -whom all the forest folks spoke in whispers. So, early one evening, his -curiosity got the better of him; and while his mother was making the -beds--" - -"Jack!" interrupted Priscilla, patronizingly, "people don't make beds at -night!" - -"The owls do," he replied gravely, "because they sleep in them all day -and go out only at night. Around the big home tree he fluttered -carelessly a while; then, suddenly, off like a shot toward a big pile of -rocks whose top he could just see. Not a soul did he meet when he reached -them, not a sound did he hear except the murmuring of a little breeze in -the very top of the pines. So fast had he hurried that he was a very -tired bird, and besides the aching of his wings he felt just a little bit -doubtful about what would happen to him when he got home. So he alighted -on the very highest rock of the big pile to rest, and decided how he -would explain his absence to his mother. Hardly had he settled himself -comfortably when a huge claw-like hand shot up from below him and grabbed -his feet--" - -"Oh!" squealed Ren. - -"With a loud squawk he flapped his wings, and, bending and twisting as -well as he could, managed to run his sharp beak into the fingers which -grasped him. In the instant which was necessary for Gamona to get a fresh -grip, Oliver struggled free; and you may believe that he lost no time in -flying away from that dangerous spot. Instead of going right home, -however, he went to see Glooscap, and tell him what had happened. - -"'My eyes are so small, I can't see very well,' he complained, after he -had told the whole story. - -"'I'll fix that,' replied Glooscap, stroking the bird's eyes until they -became larger and larger and rounder and rounder. 'Now you'll be able to -see her wherever you are. Keep faithful watch of her, and notify all the -other creatures at night when she is near.' So that is why the owl has -such big eyes, and sits up in the trees crying 'Who-o-o!' all night long. - -"And now you must go to bed." - - -Leaving Priscilla to clear up and keep an eye on Ren, Jack and Desir -crossed to the grove to get things in order for the night. The tent was -small, and after several unsuccessful attempts they succeeded in getting -it up. Jack cut some balsam boughs for a mattress, and over them Desir -spread blankets, placing a couple of cushions for pillows. The floor of -the nearby wagon was fixed in like manner for the two girls. Ren and -Priscilla went to bed as soon as their quarters were ready for them, but -Jack and Desir, seated on a fallen log at the edge of the grove, -lingered to watch the moon rising over the Bay and turning its smooth -surface to silver. Fireflies flashed in the long grass at the edge of the -grove, and deeper in the woods were mysterious little rustles and -murmurs. - -"The old settlers," said Jack softly, "thought the fireflies were evil -spirits, and used to set out pails of milk to appease them, and thus keep -themselves and their property from all harm." - -"If they were as thick then as they are tonight," laughed Desir, "think -how many pails they must have had. You know so many things, Jack"; -adding, a moment later, something which had been on her mind all day. - -"Do you suppose that man will ever come back?" - -"You mean the one who disputed our rights?" - -Desir nodded, burying her face on her brother's shoulder, much as -Priscilla might have done. - -"I hardly think so, dear," replied Jack, stroking her curls. "He was -pretty well subdued." - -"But he might try to get even with you some way," shuddered the girl. - -"We'll keep a sharp lookout for him, but otherwise go on our way and try -not to worry about mere possibilities, little sister," decreed the boy -firmly. - -"If we could only find out what the paper means," she observed a little -later, her eyes on the shining waters of the Bay. - -"What paper?" asked Jack suddenly, roused from serious thoughts of his -own. - -"Why, the one _ntre pre_ gave you; the mysterious one." - -"We might stop in the center of each town, read it aloud, and ask the -inhabitants to interpret it for us," Jack suggested. "Or you and I could -take turns standing on top of the wagon and shouting it as we go along." - -Desir laughed at his absurdities, as he intended she should. - -"I don't care. I'm going to pretend that we're going to find out what it -means before the summer is over." - -"Pretend as much as you like, as long as you won't let yourself be -overcome with disappointment if your day dream should turn out to be only -a nightmare." - -A crash behind them made them spring to their feet in sudden fright, and -a child's shrieks rang through the woods. - - - - - CHAPTER X - A NIGHT PROWLER - - -"Ren!" gasped Desir, darting back toward the tent. - -Jack outstripped her, and when she reached the scene, he was just pulling -his small brother out from under a pile of canvas. - -"Not hurt," he breathed with relief; "only badly frightened." - -He put Ren in Desir's lap, and went to examine the wreckage. - -"One stake pulled right out," he reported. "Wonder how that happened. I -know I had it in tight, and there is practically no wind." - -"Could he have done it in any way?" asked Desir, motioning to the little -boy. - -"Ren," said Jack, stooping before the child, who was now quiet again, -"did you do anything to the rope of the tent to make it fall?" - -Ren glanced up into his brother's face upon which shone the rays of the -full moon, and, turning, burrowed deep into Desir's arms. - -"Guilty, I guess. Tell me exactly what you did," directed Jack. - -"Woke up. Played I was a gull; rope was my string. Hung on it; old thing -came down. Bang!" - -"Ren," said Jack, taking the child's face between his hands, and forcing -him to meet his eyes, "you must _never, never_ pull on the ropes of a -tent, or meddle with any part of it. If you do, you can't sleep in it -with me, but will have to stay in the wagon with the girls." - -He picked him up and set him on a nearby stump. - -"Now sit right here and think about what I have just said, while Desir -and I put the tent up again. Don't move from the place, and watch how -much extra work you have made for us when we are all so tired." - -After the tent was once more in place, Jack returned to Ren. - -"Well, are you going to sleep in the tent or in the wagon?" - -"In the tent. I won't touch no ropes, nor nothin' again, Jack," promised -the child, holding up his arms. "An' I'm sorry 'bout making you and Dissy -work when you're all tired, 'n' everything--" - -"That's a good boy," replied his brother, carrying him off to bed for a -second time. - -"Goodnight, Desir," he said, returning to kiss her after Ren was -disposed of. "If you're timid, call me." - -"Yes, but, Jack dear, _please_ don't lie awake to take care of us. We'll -be safe." - -Soon the grove was quiet. The moon rose higher and higher, and throughout -the night kept benevolent watch over the four children sleeping heavily -among the protective trunks of the old balsam trees. Little creatures of -the night moved noiselessly over the dried needles on the forest floor so -as not to waken the strangers within their midst; and a gentle breeze -stole quietly in from the Bay to waft its pungent coolness over the tired -travelers. - -A couple of hours passed, the moon had left the woods partly in shadow. A -dark figure was stealing carefully among the tree trunks, stopping every -few minutes to listen. - - -Beyond a band of moonlight stood the little tent from which could be -heard Jack's loud breathing. Nearby was the wagon where all was silent, -and from a dark spot beyond it the horses stamped restlessly. Skirting -the habitations of the human beings, the figure made its way silently -toward the animals. Then Dapple's loud whinny sounded through the quiet -wood, answered immediately by that of his mate. - -"Get away from our horses!" shrilled Priscilla's voice from the back of -the wagon. - -"What's the matter?" shouted Jack, roused at once by the child's cry. - -"Prissy!" cried Desir; "you--" - -"Somebody's bothering Dolly and Dapple, Jack!" called Priscilla. - -By that time Jack had lighted a couple of lanterns, and he and Desir -were out in the open. - -"Stay here and hold one of these," he directed, "while I see what is -wrong." - -The horses were straining at their tethers when he reached them, but -quieted at once under familiar hands. Following an impulse, Jack -presently led them out of the woods and into the little clearing where -the wagon and tent were placed. - -"Will they disturb you if I fasten them to this tree?" he asked Desir. - -"Not a bit--I--" - -"Did you find anyone?" demanded Priscilla. - -"Not a single person. I looked all around before I brought the horses -out." - -"You had a bad dream, dear," began Desir, "and--" - -"But I didn't. I heard Dapple and Dolly holler just as plain, and they -never do that unless somebody goes near 'em." - -Desir looked questioningly at her brother, but he was busy tying the -animals. - -"Now," he said firmly, when he had finished his task, "we'll all go back -to bed and right to sleep." - -He turned briskly into the tent where Ren still slept peacefully, and -quietness once more descended upon the forest. Jack, however, looped up -the flap of the tent and lay watching over his little family until the -soft grey light of the early morning began to filter through the trees. - - - - - CHAPTER XI - THE BLUE-COVERED BOOK - - -Several days later, one beautiful sunny morning, Dapple and Dolly were -trotting briskly along the Shore Road toward Digby. For more than two -miles this road winds along the shore of Digby Basin, formed by the Bay -of Fundy waters flowing through a mile wide break in the North Mountain -Range. - -"That," said Jack, pointing to the opening between the mountains, "is -Digby Gap, or, as the natives call it, 'Digby Gut.' In olden days all the -fishing boats used to stop there on their way home long enough for the -fishermen to clean their fish, and throw all the 'guts' or insides into -the water." - -"What a horrid name!" was Priscilla's comment. - -"It's lovely here, though," observed Desir, gazing across the sparkling -water to the hazy blue sides of the two big mountains opposite, and back -again to the forested slopes beside the wagon. - -"We must look out for the little shop the man told us about," remarked -Priscilla, to whom the scenery meant very little. - -"Well, you watch for it, Prissy," directed Jack. Then, turning to Desir, -"Didn't we get a royal welcome in Sissiboo?" - -"Yes; in spite of their disapproval, our old friends were wonderful to -us; between the sales we made, and their generous donations, we certainly -fared well." - -"Oh, Jack, there's a bus!" cried Desir delightedly a few minutes later. -A big blue monster bore down upon them, and they had a glimpse of -well-dressed people through its windows; then it was gone in a cloud of -dust. - -"Must be coming from the hotel," commented her brother. "I understand -there's a big one up here somewhere above the town." - -"I'd love to ride in one of those," said Priscilla, gazing longingly down -the road after the now distant bus. "Wouldn't you, Desir?" - -"Yes, I should. Perhaps some time we'll be able to, but not now." - -They drove into the little town, and soon spied the shop of which they -were in search. - -"You go in and give the lady the message, Desir," said Jack, pulling up -the team. - -Desir was inclined to be rather too retiring with strangers, and her -brother thought she should begin to overcome her diffidence. - -"Oh, Jack," she cried, running out again a couple of minutes later, after -delivering her message. "Who do you suppose keeps the shop? The lady who -helped me find Ren on the steamer! It's the most interesting place. Do -come in and see it. She says we can look around as much as we wish." - -"I was going on for some more stock--we're all out of crackers and a few -other things--but you stay, if you wish; I'll come back for you." - -"Don't you need me?" she asked doubtfully. - -"No; so look at as many things as you can before I get back." - -Desir, with a happy "Thanks a lot," ran back into the quaint little -shop, while Jack drove on, thinking how sweet she was and how little time -she had for herself or her own interests. - -The morning was not a busy one at the shop; so the proprietress, a -well-groomed New England woman, was free to devote her time to Desir, to -whom she had taken a fancy. Pleased to see that the girl was more -interested in the pictures and books than in the foolish toys made to -attract tourist trade, she took pains to call her attention to the best -that the little store possessed. - -"This is an interesting little account of the early history of this -country and some of its settlers," said Miss Robin, who was a teacher of -history in one of the Boston schools, and whose mind naturally centered -on her subject. - -Desir took the small blue-bound book in her hands and carefully turned -its pages, reading bits here and there. - -"Oh!" she suddenly exclaimed aloud. - -"What is it?" inquired Miss Robin, looking up from a pile of picture -postcards she was putting in order. - -"The story of our own ancestors is told here." - -Miss Robin came to look over her shoulder and read: - - "In the year 1744 when the question of Acadian loyalty to England - resulted in the Expulsion, Jean Godet with Marie, his wife, and Desir, - his little daughter, were driven as exiles from Wolfville to the - States. They settled near Boston, and some years later Desir married - one John Wistmore, a descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins. - When the Revolutionary War broke out, being loyal Royalists, they - returned to Nova Scotia and took up farming in Wilmot, later removing - to Sissiboo." - -"I have heard my father tell that same story so many, many times," said -Desir, looking up at Miss Robin. - -"They were really your ancestors, then?" asked that lady. "How very -interesting." - -"But this last part he never told us," continued the girl, indicating the -closing words of the article. - - "The ruins of the old Godet house near Wolfville may still be seen; for - the site was never occupied for any length of time after the family was - deported." - -"You must look it up if you ever go to Wolfville," said Miss Robin. - -"Oh, yes, indeed. We expect to get up there some time before winter -comes, and I'll surely hunt for the place." - -"Keep the little book," urged Miss Robin, when Desir, catching sight of -Jack, laid the volume on the counter; "and if you come back before I go -home, stop and tell me what success you had." - -"Maybe," began Desir, then stopped abruptly--she'd keep _that_ to -herself; so she merely thanked Miss Robin warmly, and ran out to the -wagon. - -"I thought we'd have dinner at one of the little restaurants here," said -Jack, after she had displayed her treasure, "and then push on." - -From the counter of the lunchroom which they selected, they could see the -long government pier with the lighthouse at the end; and beside it was -moored one of the steamers which cross the Bay of Fundy to St. John, New -Brunswick. Ren was greatly disappointed because they were not going -aboard. - -"The child's passion for boats is rivaled only by his passion for -Indians," observed Desir, as they left the lunchroom. - -"He'll see plenty of the latter at Bear River." - -Desir looked questioningly at her brother. - -"That is," he replied, "if we get there in time for the Cherry Festival, -day after tomorrow." - -"Oh, Jack, can we?" - -"Going to try hard to make it." - -Clouds had been slowly gathering since noon, and about five o'clock great -drops of rain hit the dusty road with little "plops." - -"Big drops; won't last long," prophesied Desir; but Jack let down the -curtains at the side of the seat, and drew out a rubber blanket to spread -over their laps. Before they had covered two miles, the rain was coming -down in earnest, and Jack turned off the road into the pine woods. - -"Wonder if we can keep dry here," he said, half to himself. "Can't -possibly get to the next town tonight." - -"We'll have supper right away before the rain begins to come through the -trees," decided Desir, jumping out. - -The pine-covered ground was still dry, and it was very cosy under the -thick boughs of the tall trees. The persistent patter of the rain and the -murmuring of a brisk little breeze in the tree tops added to their sense -of comfort and security. - -"If it doesn't rain any harder than this, we should be able to manage -pretty well," said Desir encouragingly, as Jack peered anxiously skyward -every little while. - -Conversation turned upon the book Miss Robin had given Desir, and then -drifted to Nova Scotian history. - -"I'm awfully stupid; but it seems to me such a hopeless jumble," sighed -Desir. - -"Maybe I can straighten it out for you by taking bare facts, and not -going into detail at all," said Jack. "Just think of it this way," he -went on. "About the year 1000 a man called Leif the Lucky came here from -Iceland, found the country in the possession of the Micmac Indians, and -left it to them. - -"John Cabot touched here in 1497, and claimed the land for England. In -1606 Samuel de Champlain and some other Frenchman settled at Annapolis -Royal, which they called Port Royal. A few years later the English -destroyed it, and some of the inhabitants fled to the shores of the Basin -of Minas and built the village of Grand Pr." - -"Oh, where Evangeline lived!" interrupted Priscilla. - -"Yes, and where they all lived until 1747, that is, the French who were -driven out of Port Royal." - -"And what made the English drive those people away from their homes?" -inquired Priscilla. "I don't mean from Port Royal, but from Grand Pr, -like Longfellow tells about in _Evangeline_?" - -"They thought the French people were not loyal to the British government; -for the country then belonged to England. To go back to our story, in -1629 the King of Scotland gave the entire country to a friend of his, and -the name was changed from Acadia to Nova Scotia, which means New -Scotland. From that time until 1710 the land was claimed by both France -and England, and was in possession of first one and then the other. -Finally Great Britain secured it for good. Is it any clearer now?" - -"Oh, yes, lots; you make everything so plain, I wish I knew as much as -you do," sighed Desir admiringly. - -"I hope some day you will know lots more," smiled Jack, adding, "I'm -afraid we're in for a wetting. I have felt several splashes of rain. The -trees are getting so heavy with water that it will shower down upon us -before long." - -"Then you simply can't sleep in the tent," said Desir decidedly. - -"Nothing else for it; there's no room in the wagon." - -"Let me think a minute," said Desir. "I have it! We'll push the trunk -and box side by side and put Ren on them, at our feet; and you can sleep -on the wagon seat. You'll have to double up, but it will be better than -getting so damp in the tent." - -"We didn't count on a pour like this while we were on the road," said -Jack. "Too bad we were not near enough to a town to get lodgings." - -"But we could hardly afford that; and besides, this is going to be lots -of fun. Priscilla, you and Ren run up and down in that dry path over -there while we fix things," directed Desir. - -"The boughs will be too wet to use for beds," said Jack, moving the trunk -close to the box at the very back of the wagon. - -"We'll just spread the blankets on the floor, then," declared Desir, -briskly. - -"But you'll be wretchedly uncomfortable," objected her brother. - -"Won't hurt us a bit once in a while. I'll hang this rubber blanket in -front of the seat, and a sheet back of it; and with the side curtains -down, and a blanket to spread over you, you'll be fairly well off, won't -you?" she asked, working rapidly as she talked. - -"I'll be fine. Don't bother about me." - -When everything was ready, they called the two children and settled down -for the night. - -"Don't be frightened if you hear a noise once in a while," said Jack, as -they settled down; "for I shall have to turn around occasionally to -stretch my legs." - -"Yes, poor boy; they are far too long for your bed tonight. I hope Renny -won't roll off the trunk; but if he does, he'll fall on top of us and -won't be hurt." - -"Oh, let's go--to--sleep--" yawned Priscilla. - -"An excellent idea," agreed Jack; and the little family lay quietly -listening to the drip of the rain until they fell asleep. - -All night long Desir dreamed of papering the old Godet house, inside and -out, with mysterious figures and letters, which fell off as fast as she -pasted them onto it. - -The sun was shining brightly as they drove down the hillside at Bear -River the second morning after, and into the ravine where dyked lands -border the river. Hundreds of cherry trees loaded with brilliant fruit -were on every side, and on the water was clustered the craft of those who -were to take part in the sports later in the day. - -"What funny river banks," commented Priscilla. - -"The ground is below the level of the river," explained Jack; "and the -banks have to be built up of interlaced tree trunks filled in with clay -to keep the water from running over the land. They are called dykes." - -"Indians!" cried Ren, full of excitement, pointing to a group nearby. - -Already great numbers of them had come from a neighboring reservation for -the games. Under the heavily loaded trees, people from far and wide -wandered about, tasting first one variety of fruit and then another. -Groups of tourists watched from the roadside, or took part in the -feasting. - -Jack found a safe place for the wagon, and, after locking it, took his -little family to obtain their share of the cherries which are free to all -on that particular day in mid-July each year. Shortly before noon, they -carried their lunch to a shady slope from which they had a good view of -the place where the sports were to be held. By two o'clock, the fun was -in full swing. All kinds of races, on both land and water; throwing -contests; log rolling tests; and games of skill or endurance. Anyone -could take part, and Desir urged Jack to enter some of them; but he -preferred to remain a spectator. He loved all kinds of sports, and was -perfectly fearless; but the chance of possible injury now, when he was -the head of the family, kept him from taking part. The Indians were the -most clever participants, and frequently won, much to Ren's delight. - -"The youngster sure likes the Indians," observed a man who sat next to -Jack. "Used to be scared of 'em when I was a kid. You ought to take him -to the St. Anne's celebration some time." - -"What's that?" inquired Jack. - -"Every year the Indians make a pilgrimage to the Island of the Holy -Family, round the 21st of July, and live up there in birch bark tepees -until after the feast, on the 26th." - -"What do they do?" asked Desir, leaning forward to look at the narrator. - -"Well, every morning they go to Mass and attend to all their religious -duties, and very often there are weddings and First Communions. If -there's been any quarreling or disputing during the year, the differences -are patched up. Then in the evenings they dance and play games." - -"What kind of games?" asked Ren, who was eagerly listening to every -word. - -"Oh, whinny, hatchet throwing, deer foot, wheel and stick, hunt the -button--" - -"Oh, I can play that," interrupted Ren, with just satisfaction. - -"It's a sight worth going a distance to see," concluded the man. - -"I imagine so," replied Jack; "but I'm afraid we won't get there this -year. I have old Simon's traveling store this summer, and--" - -"You have? Then you want to open it up when these games are over; for a -crowd like this is almost always in need of some kind of supplies. -Anyway, they're sure to buy something, whether they need it or not." - -Jack acted on the suggestion, and made so many sales that when the people -finally drifted homeward it was too late to go on that night. They put up -in a woods just outside of the town, and after supper Desir made a -discovery that did not altogether please her. - -"Did you know that some Indians are camped a little farther down the -road?" she asked Jack. - -"Yes. They may be on their way to the festival of St. Anne's that the man -spoke of this afternoon. I'm sure they're quite harmless." - -"Oh, I want to see them!" exclaimed Ren, starting up. - -With a quick move, Jack caught the end of the child's blouse and -prevented his departure. - -"You've seen plenty of Indians today to last you for one while, young -man. Besides, it's your bedtime." - -"No! No!" wailed Ren, twisting in his brother's grasp. - -"He's tired," murmured Desir sympathetically. - -"Can't act like this, even if he is," said Jack firmly. "Ren, behave -yourself or you'll have to be punished." - -The tantrum showed no signs of abating; so Jack promptly picked him up -and started for a nearby stream, much to his sister's distress; though -she never dreamed of interfering when Jack decided that disciplinary -measures were necessary. - -Upon reaching the brook, Jack held the boy securely and ducked him a -couple of times. Since the purpose of the procedure was punishment, it -was rather disconcerting to have the child's tantrum cries change -suddenly into squeals of delight. - -"Oh, Jack," he sputtered, "do it again. I _love_ the water." - -Even the serious Jack, in spite of his stern resolves, was quite overcome -by the humor of the situation; so he decided to say no more about -punishment. However, when he got back to the wagon, he rubbed the little -fellow down and put him to bed, refusing Desir's assistance. He and -Desir enjoyed a good laugh over the incident when the younger children -were safe in bed. - -"Well, this time tomorrow night, I hope we'll be in Annapolis Royal," he -said, shortly after; "and being a longish drive, I guess we'd better go -to bed now." - -That interesting old town was not to see them on the morrow, however. - -Jack was the first to waken on the following morning, much later than -usual, and was surprised to find his tent mate gone. Peering out toward -the wagon, he saw Desir getting out of the back of it. - -"Dissy," he called, using Ren's name for her. - -"Yes? I was just going to waken you. I'm awfully sorry, but we overslept -this morning--" - -"Have you seen Ren?" he interrupted. - -"No! Isn't he with you?" - -Desir stood still, letting the pan which she had in her hand fall to the -ground. - - - - - CHAPTER XII - A SEARCH FOR REN - - -"He was gone when I woke up," called Jack, who had been dressing rapidly. -He came out of the tent and began looking about the wagon, tent, and -surrounding woods in the persistent fashion of people, who, under like -circumstances, feel that although search is useless, action of some kind -is an immediate necessity. - -"What ever shall we do?" whispered Desir, tears streaming down her -cheeks, when Jack returned from a fruitless search of the nearby places. - -"Don't get excited, dear," he said, putting his arm around her shoulders. -"He could have come to no harm, and I'll find him all right." - -"But you must have help. Oh, I wish we were near the Riboux family!" - -"We'll drive back into the town to make inquiry, and then see what can be -done. I know he's not around here; for I've searched everywhere." - -"The--the brook?" faltered Desir. - -"Yes, I rather thought I might find him playing there. He enjoyed it so -much last night," he added, with a feeble effort at a smile, "but there's -no sign of him. Anyway, the water's not deep enough to drown a dog, much -less a hearty youngster." - -"Jack--the Indians--" - -"Now, Desir, don't let your imagination run away with you. They're -perfectly harmless." - -"What I mean is, could Renny be with them?" - -"The camp's gone. They must have pulled out at daybreak--" - -"Well, but he may have followed them," persisted Desir. "You know how -wild he was to go over there last night." - -"It's a possibility," replied Jack, thoughtfully. "Probably you're right. -If so, he is perfectly safe; and I'll find out in town how to reach them. -We'd better eat, and then drive back." - -They roused Priscilla, who began to cry as soon as she heard of her -brother's disappearance, and continued until Jack said gravely-- - -"Don't make matters worse, Prissy; you can help by being cheerful. Never -cry until you're _sure_ there is something to cry about. It's a waste of -good energy." - -"Now for town," he continued, as they at last climbed into the wagon -which seemed strangely empty without the little boy. Jack was assuming a -forced cheeriness, which he was far from feeling; for in spite of his -advice to Desir, he was consumed with anxiety. He felt relieved, now, at -the outcome of the "punishment" last night; if Ren _had_ minded, they -might think he had run away. But perhaps he had been wrong in adopting -this kind of a life, with the children. If anything happened to them! - -He was interrupted by hearing Desir say-- - -"Prissy, you sit in the back of the wagon and keep watch on the road to -see if you can discover any traces of Ren." - -"Jack, dear," she went on softly, as they drove into Bear River again, -"please don't blame yourself for what has happened. It surely wasn't your -fault, or anybody's for that matter. He might have wandered off, even if -we'd been at home; and I feel sure he is safe with the Indians." - -"You're a comfort, Dissy," replied her brother, managing a half smile. - -In front of the post office stood the very man who had given them the -information concerning the Indians' pilgrimage, on the preceding day; -and, pulling up, Jack told him in a few words what had happened. - -"Now that's too bad," replied the man with genuine concern, resting one -foot on the wheel hub; "if I was you--" - -"Is it far to the Island of the Holy Family?" interrupted Desir. - -"Oh, yes; and come to think on't, I don't suppose that band was goin' -there anyhow; they'd not get there in time. They're probably on their way -back to the reservation." - -"Then where could we look for them?" questioned Jack, his heart sinking -at the destruction of their hopes. - -"If I was you, I'd keep right along this road toward Annapolis Royal, and -perhaps you'll catch up with them. They don't travel fast, and you could -ask in every town if they'd been through. There's no real cause for you -to worry, friends, for the little chap will be well treated. The Indians -like little folks." - -Jack looked at Desir. - -"It's good advice, don't you think?" she asked. - -"Perhaps," he replied doubtfully, turning the team around, and thanking -the man for his help. - -"Good luck to you," he called, as they started off; and Priscilla, -leaning out of the back of the wagon, waved a goodbye. - -All day long they drove, almost in silence, stopping only for a hurried -lunch. Toward evening, when the hills had turned to red purple, they -drove across a quaint covered bridge--that is, one which has a roof and -solid sides of wood, like a house--over a stream whose sparkling, merry -water was as yellow as gold from the reflection of the setting sun. - -"I'm awfully hungry," sighed Priscilla. - -"I was just going to propose that we stop under these oaks for supper," -said Desir. "We can't live without eating." - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - INDIANS AND STRAWBERRIES - - -"Should you mind driving all night?" asked Jack, as they prepared to -start on after the meal and a short rest. - -"Not a bit, if you will take turns driving," replied Desir promptly. -"Priscilla can stretch out on the blankets, and you and I alternate at -the reins." - -"The Indians have such a start on us," went on Jack. "You see in the -first place they left earlier; and then we lost all the time of our -search, and going to Bear River and back; and it's important to catch up -as soon as possible, lest they should leave the road somewhere and take a -crosscut to the reservation." - -"Of course," assented Desir. - -Darkness fell; the stars came out; and the full moon gave them light -enough to follow the winding road. Several times during the night Desir -persuaded Jack to let her guide Dolly and Dapple while he rested and -dozed in the corner of the seat. - -On past dark farmhouses whose occupants were sound asleep; past somber, -solemn woods, so beautiful in the daylight, but so dense, mysterious, -almost terrifying at night; across murmuring black streams; up long hills -which made the tired horses breathe heavily, and down the other side -where one had to hold a tight rein to keep the faithful animals from -stumbling. Occasionally a bat swooped low enough to make Desir duck her -head with fright, and once, while Jack was napping, she caught sight of a -huge dark bulk near the edge of a woods; but it disappeared before the -snorting horses could be urged onward. - -At last the moonlight darkness faded to grey; then to a lighter grey; the -sky was slashed with faint rose, growing rapidly deeper and mingling with -gold streaks, until the sun climbed up to survey the land; and another -day had come. - -"Look, Jack!" cried Desir, elbowing her sleeping brother. - -"Where?" he asked, yawning. - -"In that hollow!" - -They were on the crest of a hill, from which they could look down into a -nearby valley. - -"Tents!" exclaimed the boy, now fully aroused. - -"Indians!" shouted Priscilla, who, wakened by their voices, had crept up -to look over their shoulders. - -"Prissy! How you scared me!" cried her sister, jumping violently. - -Jack took the reins, and, as fast as the team could travel, headed for -the encampment. They reached their objective just as the Indians were -beginning to break camp. Everything was in confusion; braves striding -here and there; squaws shouldering the big bundles; children crying; dogs -barking. Running back and forth from one group to another, they spied -Ren. - -Throwing the reins to Desir, Jack jumped down and approached an Indian -who seemed to be directing affairs. With some difficulty, he made the red -man understand his story. Partly by signs, partly by broken English, the -chief replied that "two suns ago they had found strange white child among -them. Where belong, they not know. Going on to reservation. Then send -back young brave who know English to find boy's people." - -At that moment, Ren caught sight of his brother, ran across the grass, -and threw himself into Jack's arms, crying: - -"I found Indians, Jack! I found Indians! Ain't they _fine_?" - -"Yes, I see you did, and they are fine," replied the boy gravely, handing -him over to Desir, who had left the team and hurried toward them. "Put -him in the wagon, and bring me all the candy we have." - -In a moment the girl was back again with several jars of candy. Jack -distributed the gaily colored sticks to all the little Indian children, -and tried to make the chief understand his gratitude for the care taken -of Ren. - -The tribe then struck out through the woods, away from the main road. - -"How lucky that we caught up to them right here," said Desir, watching -them, while Ren waved his hand and shouted goodbyes. - -"You're a bad, bad boy," declared Priscilla, "to run away like that and -frighten us all!" - -Ren gave her a look which was a compound of disgust and astonishment. - -"They were nice to me, and I had a good time. I bet you wish you'd been -along. When _you_ ran away, you didn't go with nice Indians, but a smelly -old cat who--" - -"Never mind, children," interrupted Jack, as he started the horses and -they drove up a slight elevation to a juniper grove. - -"We'll stay here for a while to let the team rest, and incidentally get -some ourselves," he decreed, turning in the shade. - -While he made Dolly and Dapple comfortable, Desir had been trying to -make Ren understand how much trouble he had caused. "You were very -naughty," she was saying, as Jack joined them. - -"Yes," agreed the older boy, "and he'll have to be punished to make him -remember it." - -Jack's tone made Desir give him an entreating look; but he pretended not -to see. - -"Come with me, Ren," he said quietly, breaking a small switch from a -nearby tree, and leading the child farther into the grove. - -A short silence, then a little boy's cries could be heard; another -silence, during which Desir worked madly at anything she could think of -to keep her mind off of what was going on within the woods. Although she -recognized the need of drastic punishment in this instance, yet she hated -to have the baby hurt. After what seemed like hours, really not more than -five or ten minutes, the brothers emerged from among the trees, hand in -hand. - -"I'm never, _never_ going to run away again, Dissy," promised the little -boy, grasping her around the neck as she stooped to put her arms around -him. - -"Angry?" asked Jack softly, as the child released himself and ran off to -join Priscilla who was playing quietly with a turtle she had discovered. - -"Of course not," replied Desir quickly. "How could you think such a -thing?" - -"I hated to do it, especially since I knew it hurt you so much; but he -really needed a lesson. We couldn't risk that sort of thing happening -again; it might not turn out so pleasantly another time." - -"I know you do your best for all of us, dear," she said, laying her head -against his arm for a moment; "and don't worry so much about what we may -or may not think about what you do." - -On blankets laid on the ground, Jack and Desir slept much of the -afternoon, while the children played all kinds of games with the turtle. - - -All the morning the young Wistmores had been driving along roads bordered -on either side by hundreds of apple trees. In the valley between the -North Mountain on the Bay of Fundy side, and the South Mountain, there -are seventy-five miles of orchards where are grown some of the choicest -varieties of apples, many barrels of which are shipped to the United -States every year. - -"This is the most celebrated apple district in the world," commented -Jack. - -"How gorgeous the trees must look when they are covered with blossoms," -Desir remarked. "I think apple trees in bloom are among the most -beautiful things in the world." - -"The whole section is famous," continued Jack. "The first ships built on -the American continent were launched down here on the Annapolis River; -and on Allen's Creek, which flows along one side of the fort, the first -mill was put up. That was in the days of Champlain." - -They reached Annapolis Royal by this time, and Jack drove up the hills to -see the remains of the fort, and point out the items of interest to the -members of his family. - -"Champlain sailed up the Bay of Fundy," he said, motioning toward that -body of water, "and when he saw the little inlet down there, entered by -means of it, into that broad calm body of water called Annapolis Basin. -The tree-covered sides of the hills which you see sloping gently to the -water's edge were dotted with lively waterfalls, and he thought it a fine -place for a settlement. - -"In those days," he continued, turning toward Ren, "Great Beaver, who -was an enemy of Glooscap, lived in Annapolis Basin with his best friend, -a wolf. Now the wolf liked to sail, and Great Beaver made a big raft for -him so he could go back and forth across the water. One day Mr. Wolf was -lying on the top of North Mountain, resting after his sail, and he saw -the Bay of Fundy. Right down to the Great Beaver he rushed, and asked him -to dig a canal between the two bodies of water in order that he might -have more room for his raft. Great Beaver didn't like salt water; so he -refused to spoil his own home by letting in the tide from Fundy. Clever -Mr. Wolf, who knew that Glooscap and the Beaver were not good friends, -went secretly to Glooscap and asked him to join the two pieces of water. -Glooscap sent the lightning to split open the North Mountain, and through -the narrow opening Mr. Wolf sailed gaily back and forth between the Bay -of Fundy and Annapolis Basin." - -"And what became of the poor Beaver?" asked Priscilla. - -"Oh, he had to go and build a new home in the Basin of Minas." - -"Poor Beaver," commented Ren, adding, "Jack, where is Glooscap _now_?" - -"He became angry at the number of white men coming to take possession of -the land; so he called a big whale to carry him away to some far-off -shore. The Indians think, though, that some day he will come back." - -"Oh, I wish he would," cried the little boy; "I wish he would right -_now_, so's I could see him." - -Going down the hill, they reached the shores of the Basin in time to see -the tide come in. Great masses of blue, green and silver water rushed in -the Gap to fill to overflowing the Basin and all its tributary streams. - -"What a wonderful sight!" exclaimed Desir. - -"I should think the Wolf would have been drowned," observed Ren, -watching the flood of water, his eyes open very wide. - -"Why, he'd go up on the mountain and watch it, not stay _in_ it," said -Priscilla in such a scornful tone that Jack and Desir smiled. - - -Several days later, they had passed through many little towns and stopped -in front of many an isolated house where they disposed of many or few of -their wares. The dooryards were gay with flowers, now; for no one was too -poor or too lazy to have a garden. Sometimes these gardens were elaborate -in shape, and of fair size, with colors and varieties blended -beautifully; sometimes only a clump of cheerful red or golden -nasturtiums, clustering around a stump or unsightly rock. - -"Just look at that field!" exclaimed Desir, suddenly. - -"What's the matter with it?" inquired Jack. - -"It's just red with strawberries!" - -"Oh, let's get out and pick some," proposed Priscilla. - -"Don't you think we might be able to sell them in the next town if we -gathered enough?" Desir asked Jack. - -"Perhaps. There is a hotel, and lots of boarding houses in Kentville; so -I'm told." - -They left the horses to graze in the shade of some trees, and the whole -family, armed with various sized dishes, scattered over the field. After -a couple of hours' steady work, they transferred the berries to a basket, -covered them with leaves, and continued on their way. - -"Who's going to sell them?" questioned Jack, when they were nearly to -Kentville. - -"Never thought of that," confessed Desir. - -"I will," offered Priscilla. "Let me!" - -"Me too," chimed Ren. "I can sell berries fine." - -"You're a bit young, Renny," said Jack with a smile; then, turning to -Priscilla, he said, "All right, if you want to." - -Desir looked a bit surprised at his willingness; but Jack just drew the -team up in front of one of the smaller boarding houses and suggested, -"Try here." - -The little girl took the basket which he handed down to her, walked -boldly up the path to the front door, and knocked. Through the screen -door they heard an annoyed voice say--"Now, I've told you--Oh, what is -it, child?" - -A low conversation ensued, and Priscilla flew out to the wagon again, -displaying proudly a couple of silver coins. - -"She'll take some any time, she says; and she knows other places where -they would." - -"How would it be," inquired Desir thoughtfully as they went on, "if we -took time for berry picking so long as they last; even if we don't cover -so much ground, it will be clear profit." - -"We could," said Jack slowly; "and it would be better for us all to be -out of the wagon for a while." - -"In that case," asked Desir, "hadn't we better camp nearby, since we -know we can find quantities of berries here, and Kentville is a pretty -good market." - -Jack agreed. - -A most delightful spot beside a noisy brook, just outside the town, was -selected as a camp site; and for two whole weeks they scoured the -surrounding country for berries, taking their harvest in to Kentville -once a day. - -"I guess these are the last," commented Desir rather regretfully, as -they climbed up a slope toward a bridge on their way home one afternoon. - -"Oh, I see a few down there," cried Priscilla, starting toward the edge -of the river bank. - -"Be careful," called Jack, as she put one foot part way down the bank to -reach some clusters beyond her, rather than walk a little farther. - -His warning came too late. Even as he spoke, her foot slipped on the mud; -and before she could save herself, she slid all the way down the soft -slope and rolled into the river. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - TWO MISHAPS - - -Fortunately the tide was out; so the water was not very deep, and while -Desir stood on the bridge and watched helplessly, and Jack was looking -for a place where he could go to her assistance, Priscilla managed to get -out of the water. - -"Don't come down," she called, "you'll fall too. I'll be up soon." - -But the mud was very slippery; and again and again she slid back, while -Ren shouted with laughter, and clapped his hands. Even Desir had to -smile; for Priscilla did look funny, plastered with red mud, and dripping -with water. Jack again started toward her, but Desir held him back. - -"There is no use in two of you getting in that state. She's in no danger, -and since she is lighter in weight than you, she stands a much better -chance of climbing up that bank. Prissy," she called, "crawl on your -hands and knees." - -The little girl obeyed, and finally reached the top, where Jack stretched -out a strong hand to pull her over the edge. - -"What shall I do?" she wailed, holding her sticky arms out straight from -her body, and half blinded by the wet, muddy hair hanging over her face. - -"I wish I knew," said Desir. "Can you walk home, do you think?" - -"I guess so. I'll try; but--but--I lost all my berries!" - -"You look like a big berry yourself, you're so red," gurgled Ren. - -At least one of the party was enjoying the incident to the utmost. - -It took a long time to scrape and wash the mud off poor Priscilla, and -when the task was accomplished they were exhausted. - -While the others were occupied, Ren had been playing about by himself. -Just as Priscilla looked once more like herself, the little boy ran -toward the group crying at the top of his voice. - -"What's happened?" demanded Jack, advancing to meet the child and picking -him up. - -"Bite!" he wailed, holding out his finger. - -"What bit you?" - -"Long, wiggly thing," sobbed the little fellow. "Ran away so fast." - -"Snake!" said Desir. "Oh, Jack! What shall we do?" - -"Don't be frightened," said the boy, calmly sitting down with the little -fellow on his lap, and examining the finger carefully. He found the bite, -and putting it to his lips, began to suck the blood from it while Desir -helped hold Ren still. - -"Jack, do be careful," she begged anxiously; "be sure not to swallow any -of it," as he paused to dispose of what he had drawn from the wound. "Be -quiet, Renny; brother is trying to make you well; so you mustn't mind if -he hurts you a little." - -Priscilla, with terrified eyes, stood looking on helplessly until Desir -sent her for a box of emergency supplies which she had prepared before -leaving Sissiboo. - -"I hardly think it was a poisonous snake," said Jack, when he had done -all he could; "but I suppose it is best to be on the safe side. I had -better take him in to Kentville to a doctor." - -"Oh, yes," breathed Desir, in great relief; "and let him see if you're -all right too." - -They hitched up the horses and drove into the town, and while Jack and -Desir took Ren to the physician's office, Priscilla took the berries -they had gathered that day to her first customer, Mrs. Auberge. They had -become good friends, and the little girl naturally told her of the recent -accidents. - -"There are no dangerous snakes right around here," she said soothingly; -"but it does no harm to have a doctor look the boy over. So you're going -on tomorrow? I'll miss you. How would you like to stay with me for the -rest of the summer and help me with the tourists? I'll pay you." - -"I'd have to ask Jack," replied the child slowly, after a minute's -thought. "I'll come back and let you know." - -She met the others just coming out of the doctor's house. - -"Renny and Jack are both all right," Desir cried joyfully to her little -sister. "Where have you been?" - -"I sold the berries to Mrs. Auberge; and--and--Jack--" - -"Yes?" - -"She wants me to stay here and help her for the rest of the summer, and -she'll pay me." - -Desir glanced quickly at Jack, who stood regarding Priscilla very -gravely. - -"Do you want to stay?" he inquired, finally. - -"It would bring in some money--I'd be glad--that is--" - -"That isn't what I asked you, Prissy. I said do you _want_ to stay." - -"Answer Jack, dear," urged Desir, as the child stood silent, hanging her -head. "Don't be afraid to say just what you feel." - -"She isn't afraid," said Jack gently. "Do you want to stay with Mrs. -Auberge, dear?" - -Priscilla shook her head. - -"All right," replied her brother; "that settles it." - -"I told her I'd let her know--" began the little girl. - -"Very well. Run back and thank her nicely for her offer, but say that -this summer we are all going to stay together. We'll walk on slowly, and -you can catch up with us." - -Before they had gone far, they heard running steps behind them; and -Priscilla came abreast, catching Jack by the hand. - -"See what she gave me," holding up a box as she spoke; "a game we can all -play; and any time I want to, I can stay and help her." - -"That's very nice of her," said Desir. "How wonderful people are to us -everywhere." - - -"It's a good thing," remarked Jack that night, "that tomorrow we shall -return to our regular occupation and way of living. I feel as if I had -had enough excitement today to last for the rest of the summer." - -"Oh, of that kind, perhaps," agreed Desir; "but there are other kinds; -and those I hope we'll meet. Did the doctor charge much?" - -"About half what we made on the berries," smiled Jack. - -"But we're still a little better off than when we came." - -"Yes, some; but not much." - -"Well, never mind; huckleberries are coming, and we'll make it up on -them," decided Desir hopefully. "Wasn't it dear of Prissy to be willing -to go to work?" - -"Yes, she spoke of it again when I bade her goodnight; but I said we -could support her until she is older. While it can be managed otherwise, -I hate to have her cooped up in a strange house doing all kinds of odd -jobs." - -"We haven't done so badly thus far, have we?" - -"No; but we haven't made anywhere near enough to settle down somewhere -and go to school." - -"But the summer isn't over yet; and who knows what will happen before -winter comes?" - -"You're a hopeful little pal, Dissy," he said, kissing her fondly. - -"Now we must begin to look for the Godet house," said Desir, pulling out -her little blue history the next morning, when they were on the way to -Wolfville. - -"I was sorry we could get no information, when we passed through Wilmot, -about the first Wistmore house in this country," said Jack. - -"They lived on a sheep farm when they came here from the States, and -probably the place looks like all others of its kind," replied Desir, -poring over the book. - -"I think the Godet house must be the other side of Grand Pr," observed -Jack, looking over her shoulder. "We'll go there first." - -So they turned off the main road and drove down the hill, through the -straggling village, its long street bordered by spreading trees and -scattered white houses far back from the road. The great marsh meadow, -which was the Grand Pr of Longfellow's poem _Evangeline_, has been set -apart as a park, and is surrounded by a fence. By going through a -gate-house, one enters the enclosure known as Acadian National Park. - -As the Wistmores descended the low broad step on the park side of the -gate-house, Ren, his eyes on the distant well of which he had heard his -sisters talking, put one foot right into a very small flower-bordered -pool at the left of the step. Everyone turned at the sound of the splash. - -"Renny!" exclaimed Priscilla severely, "I never saw such a child for -water." - -"You rolled right into the river," retorted the little boy, "and got all -red mud too!" - -Jack and Desir exchanged smiles. - -For an hour the children wandered over the interesting and beautiful -meadowland, dotted with large beds of gorgeous flowers. - -"What a sense of spaciousness, and of peace, the place gives one," -observed Desir, as they stood before the little chapel, gazing about -them. "Look, Ren, at the swallows' nests." - -On the walls, close to the buttress which supports the sharply slanting -roof, several nests were plastered. - -"And is this the very same church mentioned in _Evangeline_?" inquired -Priscilla, nearly breaking her neck to look up at the belfry, surmounted -by a tall four-sided spire. - -"No; but it is built on the site of that one, and the row of willows you -see down there to the right grew on the main street of Grand Pr. The -first settlers brought the shoots from Normandy. The well we passed on -our way up is the same one from which the inhabitants of the olden -village obtained their water supply. Just north of here is the Basin of -Minas, where the people embarked on the ship which carried them away at -the time of the Expulsion. This meadowland all around us was protected -from the high tides by dykes like you saw a few weeks ago in Bear River. -At one side of the Basin lies Cape Blomidon, where the amethysts are -found; and--" - -"Where Glooscap lived," interrupted Ren, always glad to contribute to -the narratives. - -"Yes," assented Jack, "where Glooscap lived. After the hay was cut from -the meadows," he continued, "cattle were turned in to graze until winter -came." - -"How queer it makes one feel to be here," observed Desir dreamily. - -They missed Priscilla at that moment, and looking around, saw her -standing in front of the large bronze statue of Evangeline, which is in -the centre of the park. - -"She doesn't look at all like I thought she would," commented the little -girl in disappointed tones, as the others joined her. They all gazed in -silence for a moment at the sorrowful figure, looking backward at the -land she was so reluctant to leave. - -"You probably like to think of her, as I do, in a happier mood," said -Desir; "but she must have been pretty sad when she went away." - -"We had better go on now," decided Jack. So they followed the little -stream which twists its way across the meadow; a mere thread in some -places, in others wide enough to be bridged with single planks. Once it -spread out into a fair-sized pond, covered with water lilies and guarded -by a family of ducks who regarded the visitors scornfully. - -"Now for _our_ house," cried Desir as they drove onto the main road -again. "Please go very slowly, Jack, so that we won't miss it." - -They all peered eagerly out of the wagon; and when they saw, up a little -lane, a dilapidated-looking building, they all exclaimed -together--"_That_ must be it!" - -Jack drove as close as the underbrush would allow, and they proceeded on -foot until they were standing before a small log cabin, windowless, -doorless, a huge flat stone for a doorstep, and a chimney built of -irregular stones. - - - - - CHAPTER XV - THE OLD GODET HOUSE - - -"No floors," observed Priscilla, peeking in. - -"It's a mere shell," said Jack; "everything rotted away but the walls and -the chimney." - -"But how stout they are!" exclaimed Desir, triumphantly. - -"We'll look at it again when we come back this way, if you like," -promised Jack presently; "but now I want to get on to Windsor." - -"There's the remains of a garden back of the cabin," commented Priscilla, -as they drove away. "I can see three or four flowers." - -"The first seeds of which were doubtless planted by our--how many times -great-grandmother, Jack?" asked Desir. - -"Don't know. The 'greats' always did puzzle me." - -"Oh!" cried Ren, "I always thought you knowed _everything_." - -"Sorry to disappoint you, my boy," laughed Jack; "but I don't." - -"And now," said Priscilla, "I want to see the place where you went to -school, Jack. Wasn't it here?" - -"Yes. I'll show it to you when we come back." - -"How strange," commented Desir to Jack, "that you never heard of or saw -the place when you were here." - -The boy smiled. "I was far too busy going to classes, preparing -assignments, and coaching some of the other fellows, to hunt up old -ruins." - -Desir was very quiet for the rest of the day, but the next day, when -they were camped near the river Avon just beyond the town of Wolfville, -she said rather timidly to Jack: - -"Do you suppose we could find out anywhere who owns the Godet house now?" - -"Possibly; but why?" - -"I'd just like to know." - -Her brother looked at her keenly before he said--"We can walk into town -and see what information we can get, if you like." - -"Do you suppose the children would be safe if we left them?" looking up -at him doubtfully. - -"I think so. Priscilla must begin to take a little responsibility now. -We'll have plenty of time to get back before dinner time." - -While Desir got ready, Jack issued instructions to the two children, -closing with--"Ren, you're to mind Priscilla; and Prissy, don't go away -from the wagon, or let Ren out of your sight." - -They had gone only a short distance when Desir, who had looked back -several times, said--"Jack, would you mind very much if I let you go on -alone, and I went back?" - -"No, of course not; don't you feel well?" he inquired anxiously. - -"Perfectly; but--Prissy _is_ pretty young to be left with the wagon and -the baby; and it isn't as if you really needed me along." - -"I think they're perfectly safe, but if you'd feel better about it, go -back by all means," said her brother kindly. - -So Desir returned to the children, and waited in a fever of suspense for -Jack to come back. With one eye on the long road, and the other on her -household, or rather wagonhold, duties, she was ready to drop everything -and go to meet him as soon as his tall form appeared in the distance. - -At full speed she dashed along the highway, raising quite a cloud of fine -white dust, and fell into Jack's arms outspread to stop her. - -"Good work, Dissy! All our riding hasn't made you forget how to run. -Remember the races you and I used to have when we were little, on that -smooth path running along the edge of the woods?" - -"And the day you fell over a stone and had such a terrible nosebleed? How -frightened I was!" - -"We had lots of good times together when we were kids, didn't we?" asked -Jack, laying his arm affectionately across her shoulders. - -"We surely did; but why say 'when we were kids?' We do now, too, only -they are a different kind of times." - -"And a different kind of race," added Jack, thoughtfully. - -"Well, what did you do in town?" asked the girl, unable to restrain her -curiosity any longer. - -"I rambled about a bit first, asking a question here and there, and -finally ended up at the house of Judge Herbine. He's a fine old man, -Desir; you'd like him. As he is quite a story-teller, and very much -interested in our affairs, it took some time to get the information I was -after; but at last I succeeded in finding out that the house apparently -belongs to no one. Some years ago a man from the States wanted to buy the -site for a summer home, but when he investigated and found that there -wasn't a clear title to the property, he decided not to take it. I don't -really understand it, but it's something about some papers that are -missing, have been for years and years back. Nobody else wanted it, so--" - -"We can take it ourselves," concluded Desir. - -The boy stood stock still in the road, and looked at his sister in frank -dismay. - -"What on earth do you mean!" he asked. - -"Just what I said. If it belongs to nobody, we, being the Godets' -descendants, can surely take it. Who'd have a better right?" - -Jack looked more and more puzzled, as he said--"What would you do with -it?" - -"_Do_ with it? Why, live in it, of course." - -The boy regarded her with such a worried look that she laughed outright. - -"I'm perfectly sane, Jack. My plan is this. We'll have to live somewhere -during the winter; and if we board, we'll use up all the money we make -this summer. With this as our headquarters, during unpleasant weather we -could make day trips as we planned, and send Prissy to school every day -in Wolfville. Or possibly you could get some kind of a job in Windsor for -the winter, and I could take charge of the wagon." - -"But nobody could possibly live in that cabin," objected Jack, brushing -away a persistently hovering bee. "It's hopeless." - -"Indeed it isn't hopeless. I agree with you that no one could live in it -the way it is now, but with new floors and a couple of partitions, it -would be fine. You admitted that the walls were stout, and the chimney -perfect." - -"With help, I could put down floors--" began Jack half to himself, after -a moment's consideration. "We'll have to think this out more carefully, -though, and talk it over again." And he added hurriedly as they got near -the wagon, and Priscilla dashed out to meet them, "Don't say anything yet -before the children." - -The same afternoon Jack went again to town, and did not return until -supper time. Priscilla was curious to know what he did there, but he gave -such absurd answers to her questions that she finally gave up. - -"I'm not _ever_ going to ask you another question," she announced. - -"Not until next time," teased Jack, ruffling up her hair. - -"I suppose you are as curious as Prissy," he said later on to Desir, -after the children were asleep. - -August had come in with a cool wind from over Fundy, and after darkness -fell, the chill was more noticeable; so Jack had built a small camp fire, -and he and Desir were sitting beside it on a pile of cedar boughs. - -"Well, yes," admitted Desir. "I must confess that I am." - -"I went to see a young carpenter that the judge recommended to me--" - -"About floors?" asked Desir eagerly, twisting around so quickly to look -directly into his face that the pile of boughs swayed threateningly. - -"Look out, Dissy!" warned her brother. "You'll have us both in the fire -if you don't sit still. Yes, about floors, and partitions." - -"What did he say?" - -"He's busy on one of the farms now, but when the crops are in he'll do -the work for us at a price that we can afford to pay. That is, I think we -can if we do well for the rest of the summer." - -"Then we'll just _have_ to," decreed Desir, tossing a couple of pine -cones into the fire. - -"The judge is a good old scout. Seemed so interested in us that I told -him what we were doing, or rather trying to do, and he was awfully keen -about seeing the rest of you. So he's coming out tomorrow to lunch--" - -"Tomorrow!" exclaimed Desir. "Why, I thought you were anxious to get on -to Windsor; and we've already lost a day." - -"Yes, I know; I don't know just why I hung around here, but it just -seemed as if we were meant to." - -"And to _lunch_, Jack," she added, in dire dismay. "What made you ask him -to a meal?" - -"I don't know. The invitation was out before I thought. But you would -have asked him, too. He seems so kind of lonely, and he says he dotes on -picnics. You can manage something simple; can't you?" the boy asked -anxiously. - -"I'll try hard, of course. Do you suppose you could catch a few fish in -the morning?" - -"Probably, and I saw some ripe huckleberries as I came along this -afternoon. The youngsters can gather some of those, and we'll get along -all right." - -The children were delighted at the prospect of "company," and immediately -after breakfast, Jack escorted them, armed with a tin pail and a couple -of cups, across a field to the berry bushes loaded with blue fruit. - -"When the pail is filled, go right back the way we came, and take the -berries to Desir," he instructed, as he set out in a different direction -for the river, with his fish pole. The banks of the sparkling stream were -pink with masses of wild roses, freshly opened and wet with dew. - -"Desir would be crazy over these," he thought. "Guess I'll take some to -her when I go back." - -An hour's fishing resulted in enough fish for a meal; and after cutting -an armful of roses, Jack returned to camp. The children had reached there -ahead of him, and were busy making things ready for the eagerly awaited -guest. - -Desir had laid on the ground, in a shady spot, a red-bordered -tablecloth, anchored it at each corner with a stone concealed by a pile -of pine cones. She greeted Jack's offering with enthusiasm--"Just what we -need for the centre of the table. Prissy, get an empty fruit can to put -them in, and lay some big ferns around it. I must attend to my biscuits." - -It was wonderful what good things Desir could cook on the little camp -stove, which they really had not felt able to afford when they saw it in -Yarmouth. "It will pay for itself very soon," she had argued; "for we -can't live on cold food all the time; and eating in restaurants is -awfully expensive." Jack had approved; so the stove and even a little -oven to set on top of it, when needed, had been added to old Simon's -outfit. - -About twelve o'clock a Ford coup was seen in the distance, and soon came -to a stop beside the Wistmores who, one and all, stood in a row in front -of the camp. A thin little man with heavy white hair got nimbly out of -the car. - -"This is my family, Judge Herbine," said Jack; "Desir, Priscilla, and -Ren." - -"Very glad, indeed, to know you all," replied the judge, bowing low with -old-fashioned courtesy, but gazing searchingly at each one over the tops -of the glasses which he wore so far out on his nose that it was a miracle -that they stayed on at all. Priscilla was so fascinated by them that she -could hardly keep her eyes off them. - -"We'll have lunch right away," announced Desir; "so please take your -places at the table. This is yours, Judge," indicating the side facing -the road, where a cushion had been placed. The others sat on the ground. - -The fish which Jack had fried over a camp fire, while Desir finished her -biscuits, were done to a turn; and the judge did full justice to them. - -"These biscuits are mighty fine," he commented, "and you say you made -them on that little gadget of a stove? Marvelous! Marvelous!" - -After the huckleberries and some wafers which Desir had taken from their -stock were disposed of, the guest insisted upon helping clear up. He was -a lively little man, and skipped hither and thither, carrying dishes, -picking up papers, and making himself generally useful. - -"Now for a visit," he said, settling himself beside a tall pine, leaning -back against its trunk, and stretching his legs, clad in cream-colored -crash, straight out in front of him. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - A NEW FRIEND - - -"So you're going to try to live in the old Godet house this winter--" - -"Oh, _are_ we?" cried Priscilla, throwing herself on Desir. - -"Oh! Oh!" shrieked Ren joyfully, not very clear as to what the rejoicing -was about, but determined to have his full share in it anyway. - -"Have I let the cat out of the bag?" inquired the judge, startled at the -effect of his question. - -"We had not yet told the children," replied Jack; "but it's quite all -right, for they would have known soon, anyway." - -"Sorry--sorry. You two youngsters just forget what I said." - -The man talked in a rapid, jerky fashion which reminded Desir of the way -a robin runs along, a few steps very fast, stops up short, and then -repeats the process. - -"Now, I was going to say, where do you expect to house your team this -winter?" - -Jack and Desir looked at each other in dismay. - -"I never thought of that," said the boy slowly. - -"Well, _I_ did. Got an empty barn at my place--no good to me--Ford is -lost in it--plenty of room for your horses and wagon--" - -"If you'll let--" - -"Now I know just what you're--going to say--and I _won't_. But if -you'd--feel better about it--let this good sister of yours--make me some -biscuits once in a while. Don't get this kind very often." - -"I'd just love to," replied Desir warmly, while Jack tried to express -his thanks, to which the old man refused to listen. - -"Where are you going from here?" continued the judge. - -"Right on to Halifax, then back again," replied Jack. - -"Now I was thinking--while we were eating--know how to make things out of -birch bark--and out of pine cones?" turning to Desir. "No? Then I'll -show you." - -Scrambling lightly to his feet, and followed by the young Wistmores, he -darted across the road to a large birch tree; and drawing a knife from -his pocket, showed them how to obtain strips of bark without injuring the -tree. Returning to the camp, he ordered the two children to gather up a -lot of cones. The rest of the afternoon was spent in learning to make -boxes, baskets, and picture frames. - -"There're lots of tourists in Halifax--always looking for souvenirs--at -railroad station, cab stands, and such. Wharf, too, is a good place to -offer this stuff. No reason why you two girls shouldn't do -that--perfectly safe." - -"Now I'm going home," he announced suddenly at about five o'clock. "Had a -good time. See you often this winter. I'll keep an eye on that boy who is -going to fix up your cabin--ready when you come back this way--if you -don't come too soon." - -"Isn't he _funny_?" commented Priscilla, as the Ford drove out of sight. - -"But charming," added Desir. - -"Oh, yes, I like him a lot." - -"Me, too, like him," echoed Ren. - -"Tomorrow," said Desir, "I want to gather lots of bark and cones, and -while we're on the road I can make up baskets and boxes. Then when we get -near enough to Halifax, we'll pick huckleberries to fill some of them, -and wild flowers for the rest--" - -"And we'll sell 'em and make heaps of money," finished the practical -Priscilla. - -"We'll get bunches of cat tails, too," continued Desir. - -"And later in the season, pretty berries," said Priscilla. - -"And wintergreen--" - -"And nuts--" - -"And soon you won't need my poor efforts at all," concluded Jack, with a -half smile. - -"Oh, don't, please, Jack, even in fun," begged Desir. - -"We'd need you even if you never earned a cent!" cried Priscilla, -throwing her arms around Jack's neck. - -Ren, attempting to imitate her, due to the wagon's passing over a rut, -succeeded only in falling violently on his brother's shoulder. The -combined assault nearly forced Jack forward out of the seat. - -"I'll take your word for it, hereafter," he gasped, when order was once -more restored. "Don't illustrate again, I beg of you!" - - -A week later the Wistmore family drove into Halifax. - -"I shall have to spend most of the day buying supplies," said Jack, as -they passed the citadel. "I'll put the wagon up somewhere, and you and -the children can look about while I'm busy." - -"But--" protested Desir, "the boxes of berries, and flowers--" - -She had carried out the plan formulated at Wolfville, and had a number of -really artistic boxes of choice fruit, partly covered with tiny ferns, -and several odd baskets in which dainty wild flowers were set in moss. - -"I hate to have you hanging around offering things for sale," objected -Jack. - -"But we can't afford to be proud that way, dear. It is a perfectly -respectable thing to do, and I do so want to be a help--" - -"As if you weren't always," ejaculated the boy. - -"I should think the station might be the best place to start; so drive us -over there like a good boy," urged Desir. - -So Jack kept Ren with him, and, with many misgivings, left the girls -standing near the steps which lead down from the station to the cab -platform. The taxi drivers were too busy trying to outdo one another in -securing fares to pay much attention to the girls; for a train had just -come in. The first few travelers who hurried through the station to -secure a taxi did not even see the little saleswomen. When another group -appeared, Desir stepped forward just as they were getting into a cab. - -"Wouldn't you like--" she began timidly. - -A haughty-looking elderly woman, who seemed to be the leader of the -party, brushed her aside with a curt "No!" - -Scarlet with embarrassment, Desir shrank back. - -"Don't mind her, Dissy," said Priscilla, hugging her sister's arm. "She's -ugly mean." - -"Hush!" was the only word Desir could utter just then. It took all the -courage she was able to muster to approach the next travelers, a fat man -and two women. - -"Would you care to buy a souvenir?" asked Desir, her heart beating very -fast. - -"Bless my soul, no!" replied the man, not unkindly but very definitely. -"Too much luggage now." - -Only the thoughts of helping Jack urged the girl to persevere. Trembling, -dripping with perspiration, she stopped a couple of women who shook their -heads before she could get a word out. Seeing the look of disappointment -on her face, the younger of the two held out a coin, saying--"I don't -want your wares, but take this." - -Stung to the quick, but realizing that no injury was intended, Desir -refused and walked away, ready to cry. - -"I'd have taken it if I'd been you," commented Priscilla. - -"Of course you wouldn't, Prissy. We do not _beg_. But I guess nobody -wants our souvenirs--and I thought them so pretty. We'd better try to -find the Public Gardens, where Jack told us to meet him." - -"I think the station is a bad place, anyway," said Priscilla. "The people -are in too much of a hurry, and they did all have a lot of baggage. Maybe -we can find somewhere else." - -By asking directions a number of times, they arrived at the Public -Gardens--the big iron gates opening into acres of gay flower beds, rare -and valuable trees, winding streams, artistic bridges. They were about to -enter, when a man who, at a safe distance, had been watching them in the -station, and who had followed them to the Gardens, now hurried forward. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - AN OLD ENEMY - - -Pushing rudely between the two girls, the stranger succeeded, by means of -a skillful bit of elbow play, in knocking the souvenirs out of their -hands. As if to avoid stepping on the scattered berries and flowers, he -took a couple of quick side steps, planting his huge feet directly upon -them, and thereby ruining them completely. It was all done so quickly -that the girls hardly realized what had happened until they stood looking -down at the remains of many days of labor. - -Desir was quite speechless, and seemed momentarily paralyzed. Not so -Priscilla, whose quick eyes followed the stranger, striding away over one -of the bridges in the Garden. - -"Dissy," she whispered, "it's that _same man_." - -"What _same man_?" - -"The one who fought Jack." - -"It does _look_ a lot like him, but--" - -"It's him all right! The mean old pig!" - -"Why, Prissy! It was an accident." - -"Wasn't either, and now we can't make any money to take to Jack." -Excitedly she burst into tears. - -"Don't, dear," begged Desir. "We mustn't act like babies every time -something goes wrong. We'll just start over again. These didn't cost -anything, and it will be easy to make new ones." - -"What's the trouble?" asked Jack, who had come up behind them. - -Both girls explained at once. - -"Where's the fellow now?" demanded the boy, his jaw set, his eyes -flashing. - -"He went over that bridge," pointed Priscilla. - -"Don't bother about him," urged Desir. "You might get arrested. Let's go -back to the wagon." - -Struggling between the wish to avenge the wrong to his little sisters, -and the conviction that it was perhaps wiser to avoid conflict in a -strange city, he turned abruptly away from the big iron gates. - -"Where are we going next?" asked Desir, as they walked along the street -toward the place where the wagon had been left. - -"I bought all the stock we need, and I thought, since Simon always did, -we'd go on down the South Shore a ways and then come back here to start -for--" - -"_Home!_" concluded Desir, "and what fun we'll have settling down in -it." - -"More fun in a wag'n," declared Ren. - -"You'd holler all right, when the snow blew in on you," said Priscilla. - -Jack hardly heard what they were saying, so puzzled and disturbed was he -over the reappearance of his enemy. Was the man following them, or was -the meeting purely accidental? Had he been tampering with the horses the -night Priscilla roused them? If the fellow were bent on revenge, they -were likely to suffer from the effects of his anger and jealousy almost -any time. - -The next morning they were following the very irregular South Shore line -along the Atlantic; past ragged points, around deep bays, through tangles -of woodland, then back beside the yellow sands again. Numerous offshore -islands looked so inviting that Priscilla was always wishing they could -drive out to them. As they rounded St. Margaret's Bay, the sunshine was -brilliant; but almost without warning, a mile farther on, they were -completely enveloped in fog which cut off all view of the ocean. - -"Do be very careful, Jack," pleaded Desir nervously, as they almost felt -their way around an especially blind curve. "Someone might run into us." - -They reached Chester in safety, and spent some time looking about that -busy little town. The souvenir shop up the hill above the Lovett House -especially attracted Priscilla, and it was with great reluctance that she -left it. - -"I'd like to have money enough to buy everything I wanted there," she -said, looking longingly back at it. - -In a few minutes they missed Ren, who had been lagging along behind -them. - -"That boy is hopeless," groaned Jack, as they retraced their steps to -look for him. - -Not very far back they discovered him, leaning over the edge of a -cobblestone well, trying to lower the heavy bucket. - -"I was thirsty," he explained, as Jack detached him. - -"But you might have fallen in!" said Desir severely. - -"I'll tell you what we can do," proposed Priscilla; "tie a rope to him, -like you do to a little dog, and I'll lead him. I saw a lady at Halifax -with a little boy fastened that way,--" - -The proposal called forth a howl from Ren. - -"Won't be tied like a dog! Won't have Prissy lead me!" - -"Well, let's go on now before we get into any more difficulties," said -Jack, starting for the shed where he had left the wagon. - -"That is Mahone Bay," he told them, as they gazed out over the large arm -of the ocean upon which Chester is located; "and all this section was -once a great retreat for pirates. There are so many islands where they -hid their booty, and so many little bays and inlets where they could take -refuge if pursued." - -"Want to go out there and see pirates," announced Ren, as Jack tightened -the reins, and Dolly and Dapple began to move. - -"There are no pirates there now," said Priscilla in a disgusted tone. - -"Go and see. _I'm_ going to be a pirate when I grow up. I think they're -_fine_." - -"It's a good thing you didn't give us that piece of information before, -Jack," laughed Desir, "or we should have been swimming out to find -Renny." - -Not very far beyond Chester, they ran into fog again. The road was -winding, and very much up and down hill; and as they were about to round -a curve near Lunenburg, a heavy automobile loomed up suddenly at their -left, out of the grey blanket which enfolded the landscape. - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - A COLLISION - - -Jack turned aside as quickly and as far as he dared, but the machine -struck the side of the wagon, ripped off a wheel, and disappeared into -the gloom. The children were thrown violently to the floor of the wagon, -and Desir against the side; but Jack managed to keep his seat. The -horses stopped instantly, and stood quiet like the intelligent, -well-mannered animals that they were. To the accompaniment of Ren's -cries, Jack got his little family out of the tilting wagon and took stock -of their injuries. Priscilla had a bad nosebleed, and Desir a bruised -arm. Ren was only badly frightened, and Jack himself entirely uninjured. - -"We certainly can be very thankful," breathed Desir with relief, after -first aid had been given. - -"We certainly can," agreed Jack fervently, going to examine the condition -of the wagon; "we were very lucky." - -"What can we do with it?" inquired Desir. - -"Fortunately we're not very far from Lunenburg," he replied, "and I -suppose I can get it fixed there; but it will mean quite a delay, I -imagine. If the fog would only lift so that we could see something." - -"Why not stay right here until it does?" proposed Desir. - -"Should you be afraid to stay here with the children while I walked to -town?" began Jack. "It would save time if I could get the work started -today--" - -"Not afraid for us, Jack; but for you. Something might hit you. Suppose -another automobile should come along!" She shuddered. - -"Well, then we'll try to get the wagon just off the road, and make -ourselves as comfortable as we can until the fog is gone." - -With much difficulty, and many pauses for rest, they succeeded in getting -the wagon off the road. - -It was a tiresome afternoon, and seemed many hours longer than it really -was. Just about six o'clock the grey blanket was whisked away as suddenly -as if someone had picked it up, and the land was flooded with late -afternoon sunshine. On one side of them were fields with groups of trees -here and there; on the other, a wide beach. - -"Why not camp in this field?" asked Desir, as the children darted across -to play in the sand. "If we're going to be held up for a day or two, this -is probably as good a place as any." - -Jack agreed. So after charging the children not to go into the water, -they set about making a permanent camp. It was too late to go to town -that night, but early the next morning Jack took the broken wheel and -started out. - -"I can have it the day after tomorrow," he announced upon his return, -which Desir assured him was "not so bad." - - -The two days passed very pleasantly. Twice a day, much to Ren's delight, -they all went in bathing. Playing in the sand became almost as much of a -joy to the older ones as to the children, and they laid out wonderful -towns across the beach. In the middle of the day, when it was too hot -near the water, they spent their time in the grove, and made friends with -the squirrels who were busy laying in their stores for the winter. The -little creatures got so tame that they would venture into the very laps -of the invaders of their domain. - -"Now for the road again!" cried Jack, on the evening of the second day, -as he put the new wheel on the wagon. "We'll go to bed early, and get -started as soon as it is light." - -Just after daybreak, he came to the wagon where Desir was collecting -supplies for their breakfast. - -"Dissy," he said, "Dolly is very sick!" - -"Sick! Oh, Jack, what _shall_ we do!" cried Desir in dismay. -Difficulties did seem to be coming too thick and fast. - -"I've made her as comfortable as I can, but I don't know what to do next. -I'll have to go to town for help. Give me a sandwich to eat on the way--I -can't wait for breakfast. You and the children keep away from her until I -get back." - -In a few minutes Jack disappeared down the road leading to Lunenburg, -puzzling over the finding of a pan half filled with bran mash which he -had discovered near Dolly. Since he could not arrive at a satisfactory -explanation, he wisely decided to keep the discovery to himself. - -Desir gave the children their breakfast, and sent them out on the sand, -she herself remaining where she could watch them and keep an eye on the -wagon. It seemed hours after Jack had gone when up the road she could see -the broad bulk of a team of oxen plodding slowly toward her. As they came -closer, she saw that they were pulling one of the flat wooden wagons used -for hauling stone. On the boards sat Jack and another man; the driver was -walking at the animals' heads. Jack got off and came hurriedly toward -her, after directing the driver to the end of the field where the sick -horse lay. - -"The doctor thinks he'll have to take Dolly to his place; so they brought -an ox team along," he explained. Then before Desir had time to reply, he -dashed off to join the other two men. - -Half an hour later poor Dolly, reclining on the ox cart, was ready for -her ride to Lunenburg. - -"I think she will get well; but not right off. She must have ate -something very bad," said Dr. Myers, a stout German, mopping his brow -with a big blue handkerchief. "You come see me--say--next day after -tomorrow; then I maybe can tell you how long." He ran clumsily down the -road to join his patient. - -Jack sat down beside Desir, and for a long moment they looked at each -other without speaking. The children, who had left their play to become -spectators of the moving, had returned to the beach at Desir's -direction, and were now so busy constructing a sea wall that they were -oblivious to all else. - -"What next, Jack?" asked Desir at last, laying her hand over his. - - - - - CHAPTER XIX - POOR DOLLY! - - -"I wish I knew," was the boy's sad reply to his sister's question. - -Fired by the sight of his deep depression, Desir put her wits to work to -find a way out of this latest catastrophe. - -"Perhaps I could get some work in the shipyards in town," began her -brother before she had arrived at any solution of the problem. - -"But if Dolly gets well in a few days, would that pay?" - -"I don't think she will--at least not so as to be ready for the road. You -see, Dissy, it's going to take an awful lot of what we've made so far to -pay the doctor; and while we're held up here, nothing is coming in, and -living expenses go on." - -"That's so." - -"If I could get a job in the yards for two or three weeks, it would mean -a lot to us." - -"We would stay here, and you'd go back and forth every day?" - -"Yes, that is if you wouldn't be afraid--" - -"Of course I shouldn't!" - -"It's only half an hour's walk, and we can camp down here cheaper than -living in town. In October we should settle down in Wolfville; for it -will be altogether too cold to camp after that time. If I could get work -for two or three weeks, then we'll start back for Halifax, and get to--" - -"_Our_ house just about in time," concluded Desir gaily. - -"How proudly you say that," smiled Jack. - -"I _am_ proud of it. Well, we'll follow out your plan then; and while I -get dinner you might tell the children what we've decided." - -"Better wait until we see whether I get the job or not," advised her -brother. "It will be hard on you, poor kid, having to manage everything -here while I'm gone all day long." - -"Not half so hard, dear, as your having to go to work at something you -don't know anything about. I'm used to my work." - -The following afternoon, Jack returned from town, and immediately sought -out Desir who was sitting under a clump of birches mending one of -Priscilla's dresses. - -"Good news, Dissy!" he cried, dropping down at her feet. "I've got a -job." - -"Oh, Jack, that's great! Tell me all about it." - -"When I first went into town, I stopped at Dr. Myers' and saw Dolly. -She's lots better, but Doc said she ought to stay there another week. -It's expensive, but it would be more so if we lost her; so I don't want -to take any chances." - -"Of course not." - -"When she's ready to come back, he'll bring her out here; and he said to -let her roam about the field for another week, and then drive her half a -day at a time for a while. After that, he says she'll be all right -again." - -"Well, that's better than we feared at first." - -"Yes indeed. I thought for a while that poor old Dolly was a goner. And -how hard it would have been to tell good old Simon!" - -"And what about your job?" For Jack's eyes were on the expanse of blue -ocean, where the sparkling ripples from a distance looked like silver -confetti tossed up into the air and then allowed to fall back upon the -restless surface of the water. - -"Oh, yes. I asked directions from the doctor, and went over to the -shipyard. My, but it's an interesting and busy place, Dissy! Ships just -begun, others with their ribs all showing and looking like the carcass of -a chicken used to when the kids got through with it; some being painted, -some out in the harbor waiting for masts, and others all ready for the -deep sea. I found the man who hires the help, and he didn't seem at all -interested in me--said he wasn't going to take anyone on at present. I'll -admit I was awfully disappointed--" - -"Poor old Jack!" murmured his sister sympathetically, laying down her -work to put her arms around him, much as she would have done to Ren. - -"Just as I was leaving, who should come lumbering into the office but Dr. -Myers. 'Did you get it?' he asked. When I said I did not, he grabbed my -arm, turned me around, and marched me back to the desk where Mr. -Libermann was sitting. 'I send you this boy to get a job,' he cried -angrily. 'For why you not gif him one? I know you haf extra work for -these few weeks.' Mr. Libermann seemed a bit taken back, and -stammered--'I did not know he was friend of yours. I'll see what I can do -if--' 'You'd better!' shouted the doctor, shaking his fist under Herr -Libermann's nose. He got up from the desk and disappeared into some -quarters at the back of the building, glad to escape, I think, for even a -few minutes. - -"'He owe me too many kindnesses,' grumbled the doctor, 'for him to refuse -what I ask.' Presently Mr. Libermann returned with the welcome news that -I was taken on as an extra hand for three weeks, and could start -tomorrow. So once more we are--" - -"On the road to prosperity!" finished Desir, giving him a hug and taking -up her sewing again. - -"Not exactly prosperity, I'm afraid; but at least the means of -existence," laughed Jack. - -"The funny part of the performance," he went on, "is that Dr. Myers did -not tell me to say to Mr. Libermann that he had sent me; and that -gentleman didn't have courage to remind him of the fact when he got so -excited over my being turned down." - -The children were delighted when they heard that another three weeks were -to be spent in that pleasant spot, but deplored the absence of their -playfellow, Jack. Unaccustomed to work of the heavy kind that was -required of him in the shipyard, he was naturally very tired when he -returned at night; and Desir tried to prevent the younger ones from -making any demands at all upon him. She was careful, too, to keep -unpleasant topics and worries from him. - -The days were lonely for her; their simple housekeeping was soon done, -and she could not play with the children all the time. So in desperation, -one day, she took the cover off the box of articles saved from their old -home, and hunted through until she found Jack's first year high school -books. - -"If I can't go to school," she decided, "I can at least study a little by -myself. I won't bother Jack now, but later he will help me over the -things I can't understand." - -After that, the days did not drag so slowly. - -The doctor kept an eye on Jack, and at unexpected times dropped into the -yards to see him. In spite of the difference in their ages, the two -became good friends; and both were genuinely sorry when the end of their -companionship arrived. - -"The doctor wants me to be on the lookout for a certain kind of ox on the -way back to Halifax," said Jack, the night before they broke camp. - -"Halifax?" said Priscilla. "I thought we were going to Bridgeriver." - -"Bridgewater," corrected Desir, laughing. - -"Well, a river is water," persisted Priscilla, who was always reluctant -to admit that she had made a mistake; and disliked very much to be -laughed at. - -"Sometimes it is red mud," suggested Jack mischievously. "Eh, Prissy?" -drawing a feathery grass blade across the back of her neck as she sat in -front of him sorting shells and stones. - -The children had gathered a bushel or more of beach treasures that they -"simply _must_ take with them," but Jack had decreed that only one small -box could be incorporated in their luggage. - -"I thought it best to get back to Wolfville as soon as possible," -explained her brother seriously when she did not respond to his -good-natured teasing. "It's not so very warm now nights." - -"What about the ox?" asked Desir. - -"A friend of the doctor's, in fact the man who came out here after Dolly, -has lost one of his--" - -"Lost!" exclaimed Priscilla disdainfully. "How on earth could one lose an -ox?" - -"The way we nearly lost Dolly," replied Jack briefly, before continuing -his explanation to Desir. "And naturally he wants to buy a perfect match -for the remaining one. He has been around the nearby country, but for -some reason--I believe his wife is ill, or something like that--he can't -go far to hunt one up. So the doctor is helping him, and he thought I -might just happen to see one on the way to Halifax." - -"How would you know if you did?" demanded Priscilla, with some scorn, -still annoyed at having to abandon so many of her marine souvenirs. - -"Dr. Myers took me to examine the surviving animal, and I looked him over -closely and wrote down a description besides." - -"Read it to us, Jack," suggested Desir; "and then we can all be on the -watch." - -So Jack read his notes, and when they went to bed they were all hopeful -of finding the required animal on their trip back to Halifax. - - -A couple of days later they were driving along the edge of St. Margaret's -Bay, when Desir clutched Jack's arm. - -"Look!" she cried. - -"Where, and at what?" - -"Away over there, in the far corner of that field. Aren't those oxen? And -so many of them." - -Jack stopped the horses and stood up, shading his eyes with his hand. - -"Yes, I think they are." - -"Hadn't you better go and look at them--that is, if they are for sale?" - -"Suppose I had, but I wonder how one gets there." - -"There must be a road." - -"I'll go and see," offered Priscilla. - -"Me too," chirped Ren. - -"No," said Jack, "we'll drive on a bit first." - -A little farther on, a narrow road led far back in the direction of the -field in which the oxen were located, and from that side, farm buildings -could be seen. - -"I don't believe I'll try to take the wagon in there," decided Jack, -surveying the road doubtfully. - -"You might make a sale," suggested Priscilla, always with an eye for -business. - -"And break an axle in one of those holes. No, I'll walk." - -The children clamored to go too, but Jack refused all company; so they -watched him pick his way carefully along until he reached the end of the -road which evidently terminated in a barnyard. It was tiresome waiting; -so Desir let the children get out to gather some cat tails which were -growing along the edge of a tiny roadside stream. - -They were so busy that Jack was right upon them before they were aware of -his approach. - -"Guess I've found what we're looking for," he announced jubilantly when -he came within earshot. - -"Really, Jack!" cried Desir, almost falling off the seat of the wagon in -her excitement, while the children threw themselves on him, flinging the -cat tails far and wide. - -"As far as I can see, he's a perfect match. The man raises them for sale. -I gave him the doctor's address, and he promised to get in touch with him -at once. However, I'll write a letter too, and mail it in the first town -we come to." - -"Isn't it nice," said Desir, when they were once more on their way, -"that you were able to do something for the doctor in return for his -kindness to you?" - -"Yes; and do you know, Dissy, people have been most awfully kind to us -all summer." - -"They surely have. I never dreamed we'd make so many friends." - -"Huh!" said Priscilla bluntly; "some of them weren't very nice. Those -folks in Halifax were just horrid!" - -"Hush!" ordered Desir severely; for she had never repeated to Jack her -unpleasant experiences in that city. - -Jack looked searchingly at her flushed face, but said nothing more about -it until they were alone that evening; then he insisted on hearing the -whole story. - -"Never again!" he decreed, "shall you or Prissy try to sell things on the -street." - -"But we're all peddlers, Jack dear; you can't get away from that fact." - -"Dissy," said her brother, smiling, "you'll get to be as much of an -arguer as Prissy if you're not careful." - - -Halifax was wrapped in a chilly grey fog when the Wistmores drove in a -couple of days later. The monotonous tones of the bell buoy in the harbor -sounded continuously through the city, and buildings and pavements -dripped with moisture. - -"Guess we'd better push right on," decided Jack, "and try to find before -night a spot where it is dry enough to camp." - -"_This_ certainly isn't a very pleasant place today," shivered Desir, -peering over his shoulder at the gloomy streets. - -After they got beyond the limits of the city, the fog lifted somewhat so -they could see the road quite clearly, and even some distance on either -side. About ten miles outside of Halifax they caught sight of something -dark under a tree ahead. - - - - - CHAPTER XX - GOOD SAMARITANS - - -"Maybe it's a bear!" exclaimed Ren hopefully. - -"Somebody's old ragbag," suggested Priscilla. - -"No," concluded Desir, "it's a man." - -"Must be sick, or dead tired to sit there on such a day," observed Jack. - -Just as he spoke the words, the interested watchers saw the man attempt -to get up, and fall heavily back upon the ground. Urging the horses to -greater speed, Jack soon brought the wagon abreast of the unfortunate -creature. Face down, he lay perfectly motionless. - -"Must be unconscious," said Jack, as they all got out and stumbled up the -bank upon which the man was stretched. - -Desir held her breath as her brother was rolling the figure carefully -over. There was something strangely familiar about that heavy form. No -mistake, it was their old enemy. - -Brother and sister faced each other across the quiet body. - -"Oh, it's _him_!" said Priscilla, in disgust. - -"He's the man Jack fought with!" squealed Ren. - -"Must be badly hurt," said Jack; "wonder what we can do for him." - -"Do! _Do!_" exclaimed Priscilla; "why, leave him here and go on as fast -as we can." - -"Prissy!" reproved Jack and Desir with one accord. - -"I'm afraid I can't carry him to the wagon," said Jack slowly. "He's so -heavy." - -"Don't want him in our nice wag'n," declared Ren vehemently. - -"I can help you," offered Desir, striving to conquer her aversion to the -man. - -At that moment, the object of their concern groaned and opened his eyes. -Unseeing, at first, they soon showed recognition of the faces above his. - -"What's the trouble with you?" asked Jack. - -"Cracked up somewhere," was the sullen response. - -"How did it happen?" - -"Fell over those stones in the fog." - -Desir turned to glance at the big pile of sharp rocks nearby, and felt -that a fall on those could do almost any damage in an unexpected -encounter. - -"Where can we take you, or what can we do for you?" asked Jack briskly. - -"Nothin'." - -"That's ridiculous! You can't stay here. Could you walk as far as the -wagon if we helped you?" - -"Can try." - -With the aid of Jack and Desir, one on either side, he managed to get -up. One or two promptly stifled groans broke from him, and he swayed -precariously as he tried to stand. - -"One foot's no good," he muttered, holding it up and throwing all his -weight on the other. - -"You two children go back and get into your places in the wagon," ordered -Jack. "Push your stools as close to the front seat as you can." - -Reluctantly they obeyed, hanging over the seat to watch the little -procession. Slowly, painfully, stopping often to rest, the injured man -was finally helped as far as the wagon. - -"Lean on the wheel a minute," directed Jack, "so my sister can get things -fixed for you." - -Desir opened the back doors, pushed the tent as far to the side as it -would go, and arranged a couple of blankets on the floor. - -"This is going to be the hardest bit," observed Jack, when all was ready, -"but we've got to make it some way." - -"Prissy and I can help him from the wagon, if you can manage out here," -suggested Desir. - -"All right, get in." - -The two girls, Priscilla under protest, grasped the man's shoulders and -pulled, while Jack eased his body and legs up from the ground to the -floor of the wagon. Half fainting with pain and exertion, the patient was -finally settled on the blankets. - -"Where are you going to take him?" asked Desir softly, as Jack took his -place and picked up the reins. - -"Back to Halifax, where he can get a doctor. I think his ribs as well as -his foot are injured; and Heaven only knows what else." - -They were all very quiet as they re-covered the ten miles to the city. -Priscilla was sullen; Ren somewhat awed; Desir compassionate, and Jack -thoughtful. - -As they entered Halifax, Jack turned toward their passenger and asked-- - -"Any special place here you want to be taken?" - -"Wharf. Pal there who'll look after me." - -Over the cobblestones, down the steep hill to the docks they rattled. - -"There he is. Tall fellow beside that pile of crates," said the man who -had been peering out the crack between the doors, which had been propped -partly open to give him more air. - -"Bill!" he shouted. - -The fisherman turned at the sound of his name, and Jack beckoned. With -three or four strides he was beside the wagon. - -"What's wanted?" - -Before the boy could reply, the injured man called out--"I'm in here, -Bill. Had a smash." - -The newcomer, without a word, stepped to the back of the wagon and stuck -his head in. After a short conversation, during which the Wistmores stood -beside the horses' heads, he slid the invalid part way out, put his -powerful arms under him, and picked him up like a child. - -"Much obliged to you for bringing him back," he said awkwardly to Jack; -then strode away down the wharf; but before they were out of earshot, the -injured man called back over the other one's shoulder--"You've won!" - -"Well, of all strange experiences," exclaimed Desir. - -"Whatever did he mean?" asked Priscilla. - -"Perhaps that he wouldn't bother us any more," replied Jack slowly. - -"An' he didn't give you any money, nor nothin'," grumbled Ren, as they -started out of Halifax for the second time that day. "I thought if -anybody helped anyone else they always gave 'em a--a--re--reward." - -"We _did_ get a reward," said Desir softly, "but not the kind you mean." - -"Where's his wagon?" demanded Priscilla. - -"Probably he left it in Halifax," replied Jack carelessly, as he wondered -just what harm to themselves the pile of stones might have thwarted. - - -Progress on the way back toward Wolfville was necessarily slow; for -housewives all along the route were preparing for the coming winter when -indoor occupations must replace the activities of the warm months. -Thread, wool, and notions of all kinds were in great demand; for the -women folk must keep busy with more feminine tasks, the hands that during -the summer had helped in gardens and farmyards, as well as in picking -blueberries to be shipped to the States. Daily great trucks stop at the -scattered houses along certain sections rich in that fruit to gather up -supplies and take their loads to the seaports where ships are waiting for -them. The average tourists en route from Nova Scotia to the States little -know, when they are pacing the decks of the comfortable steamers, that -far below are crates and crates of berries which will later be consumed -by themselves at home or in hotels. - -Several times Jack had to replenish his stock as best he could from some -town through which they passed; and Desir daily rejoiced at the steadily -increasing number of coins in their little iron bank. - -"We'll be rich yet!" she exulted, shaking it merrily as they drove away -from Mount Uniacke. - -"Sorry to destroy your hopes," said Jack, half under his breath, so as -not to be overheard by the two children on the floor behind them, playing -a hotly contested game on the board which Mrs. Auberge had given them. -"Had you thought that we'll have to get some kind of furniture for the -Godet house?" - -Desir looked at him wide-eyed with surprise and dismay. - -"Why, Jack, how stupid I am! I never once thought of it." - -"Nor I, until today. I don't know what was the matter with our brains." - -As if stunned by the discovery, they drove for some time in utter -silence. In the protection afforded by an upturned coat collar, and a hat -pulled far down over her curls, the girl let fall a few tears. Jack, -gazing fixedly ahead, half buried in a coat at least two sizes too large -for him, was apparently oblivious of her distress. - -The day was grey and cold, with a brisk wind whirling the golden leaves -of the birches in all directions, scattering the piles of brushwood -collected and left beside the road by some native for firewood; rolling -the pine cones merrily along in the dust, and making the great firs and -balsams toss their branches ceaselessly. Its chill warned of the near -approach of snow and ice. - -"Jack," began Desir at last. - -"Yes?" untangling himself from his problems with a start, and turning -toward her. - -"I've been thinking about expenses for the winter. Of course food will -cost more, because while we were on the road we had fish and berries to -help out; but in regard to the furniture, we could get only what is -absolutely necessary for now, and add other pieces as we were able to. We -could doubtless pick up used articles at low prices. Think how little we -got for our own things when we sold them." - -"But you and the children have got to be comfortable, and warm," said -Jack decidedly. "Camp life in the summer is all right; but too much -makeshift doesn't work in the winter time." - -"You must be comfortable, too," added Desir affectionately; "but we -_can_ do with a couple of mattresses on the floor, and a table and four -chairs for the present. Maybe we could buy those from someone in -Wolfville who had more than they needed, and get them cheaper that way." - -"We must have a stove, dishes, and bedding," added Jack. - -"The fireplace will do for heating; and I can cook on the camp stove. -We've had enough dishes and bedding for the summer; so a couple of extra -blankets will be all that we'll have to buy in that line." - -"But I don't want you to live like that," interrupted her brother; "we -should have been more comfortable if we'd stayed in Sissiboo--" - -"Oh, Jack! With you killing yourself trying to pay off a big debt, and no -prospects for years and years! As it is, at least we're not in debt; -we've had a lovely summer, in spite of a few unpleasant spots; we're all -healthy and together; and we're going to live in the Godet house this -winter." - -"You're a cheerful little partner, Dissy," said Jack, looking at her so -admiringly that she flushed with shame as she recalled the tears so -recently shed. - -"Of course we have money enough to get actual necessities for the -winter," he continued, shamed by his sister's courage into taking a more -hopeful view of their situation. "And I'm hoping that I'll be able to -pick up something steady in Wolfville, or even Windsor, for the winter." - -"Perhaps the judge will be able to help you." - -"He might." - -"So don't get all blue and discouraged again, Jack dear; we'll come out -all right." - - -Late in the afternoon of another dull day, they stopped in front of Judge -Herbine's house. - -"Guess we got here just in time," observed Jack, as he got out, pointing -to a few stray flakes of snow idling aimlessly through the air as if they -didn't care whether they stayed up or floated down. - -The judge himself opened the door. - -"So here you are at last!" was his pleasant greeting. "Come in--have a -cup of tea--before you go--to look at your own place. Work's all done." - -They were all cold and tired, and very glad to accept his invitation. His -housekeeper, Madam Lovemore--for the judge had never married--bustled -around preparing a substantial supper instead of "tea." She was a -sociable, motherly creature, who loved to have company at any time; but -the thoughts of these poor young things driving so many miles in the -cold, and going to live in that old house, so touched her heart that no -effort was too great, and no food too fine to be placed before them. - -"Favored--" remarked the judge, as he seated his guests at the dining -room table. "Best plum preserves--my housekeeper must like your looks." - -Madam Lovemore, who was just taking her accustomed place at the foot of -the table, smiled indulgently at him, as one might smile at an outspoken -child. - -The meal lasted a long time; for the judge wanted to hear all about their -summer. Once he excused himself and disappeared into the kitchen where he -held a lengthy conversation with some unseen person. - -"Right away!" they heard him say, as he was about to re-enter the dining -room. - -"We'll go over--with you," he said, when Jack proposed their departure, -saying that they counted on staying in the house that night, living camp -fashion until they had a chance to get the necessities. For an hour, Ren -had been asleep on the horse-hair sofa, and Priscilla's head kept -nodding. - -"They're tired, poor dears," said Madam Lovemore compassionately, as she -helped Desir put their wraps on. - -When they went outside, they discovered that the world had completely -changed its appearance. A thin layer of snow made the roads look like -strips of white cloth; each dried weed, seed pod, and knot of grass had a -spotless cap; and the outstretched arms of the firs held their light -burden so tenderly that not a flake was shaken off. - -The judge was to drive over in the Ford, Madam Lovemore holding the still -sleeping Ren in her lap. - -"He'll be awful mad tomorrow," volunteered Priscilla, who was now fully -awake, "when he hears that he's been riding in an automobile and didn't -know anything about it." - -The judge laughed, a sudden explosion, over almost before it began. - -"In that case--you'd better come in here too; so you can tell him--what -it felt like." - -The little girl's wistful look and tone had not been unnoticed by the -judge; and though they were somewhat crowded, both he and his housekeeper -gladly put up with the slight discomfort of an additional passenger. - -"Prissy is thrilled to death," said Desir to Jack, as they followed the -Ford with as much speed as the tired horses were able to make. - -"Yes, but I wish you could have had a ride, too. You've always wanted -one." - -"Oh, some day I shall." - -The headlights of the judge's car, which had just turned off the main -road into the lane leading to the Godet house, revealed the fact that all -underbrush had been cleared away, and the road filled in. So occupied -were they with the unexpected improvement, that not until they had -stopped in front of the cabin did they notice that it was lighted. - - - - - CHAPTER XXI - A SURPRISE - - -The judge, with Ren in his arms, ushered them inside. - -"Welcome--to Wolfville!" he cried, "and to the old Godet house." - -Jack and Desir stood quite speechless, and even the generally talkative -Priscilla could find no words. They could only look while the judge and -his housekeeper watched them smilingly, though very close to tears -themselves. - -Ren broke the spell. - -"Oh--o--o!" he wailed, digging his fists into his eyes, still half -asleep. - -"What's the matter--young fellow?" demanded the judge, who still held -him. - -"I didn't finish my piece of cake!" wailed the child. He had dozed off at -the table, before finishing his supper. - -They all laughed, while Madam Lovemore consoled Ren by promising him -another piece the next day. Then the young Wistmores inspected their -home. - -Partitions separated the cabin into three rooms: a large one, across one -end, which was to do duty as a general living room, with a place for -cooking at one end; and two small ones as sleeping quarters. The -partitions and floors were painted a soft blue, which was relieved by the -dark logs of the side walls and the beamed roof. Rag rugs lay upon the -floor, a table occupied the centre of the living room, and around it were -four ladder-back chairs. Beside the stone fireplace was a low wooden -rocker and a high-backed upholstered one. Each bedroom had a fully -furnished double wooden bed, and a wash stand. There was a bright fire in -the fireplace; simple muslin curtains were hung at the windows; and a few -pots of geraniums on a small stand added to the homelikeness of the -place. - -"But--the furniture--" began Desir, when she was able to put her -thoughts into words. Jack was still too dazed to speak. - -"Gifts from the people of Wolfville to the children of the ancient -Acadians," replied the judge pompously. - -"We can never repay them," faltered Jack. - -"Don't want you to. They were glad--to do it. Liked idea--descendants to -occupy old house--deserted for so long." - -"Such a welcome I never dreamed of," murmured Desir. "I don't see why -people are so kind to us." - -The judge and his good housekeeper exchanged smiles at her naive remark. - -"Why, don't you want them to be?" demanded Priscilla in astonishment. - -"Of course," answered her sister, attempting unsuccessfully to draw the -child to her side; but Priscilla was too bent on inspecting article by -article in her new home to have any time for cuddling just then. - -"Now you folks--had better--get to bed," said the judge, preparing for -departure. "You've had a hard day--lots of excitement. I'll lead the team -back with me. Will they follow--the Ford--do you think?" - -"I imagine so," replied Jack. "They're very gentle." - -He followed the judge outside to help him with the horses, while Madam -Lovemore bade an affectionate goodnight to her new friends. - -"Just run over any time anything bothers you, my dear," she said to -Desir. - -"'N' not no other time?" asked Ren, fearful of such an agreement working -to his disadvantage. - -"Whenever you like--" began the housekeeper. - -"Don't tell him that," advised Desir, "or you may see him oftener than -you wish." - -Meanwhile Jack was saying to the judge, "Of course I know that you are -really the one to be thanked for all that," waving his arm at the cozy, -lighted cabin. - -"Not at all," asserted the man stoutly. "The neighbors all helped. Liked -it. Lots of fun." - -"Yet they never would have known about us, or our needs, if you had not -told them, and made suggestions. I just can't express my very deep -gratitude, especially on account of my little sisters. Ren can rough it, -but I hate to have the girls deprived of ordinary comforts. Sometimes I -wonder if I have done the right thing--" - -"One always wonders that--no matter what one does. Go in, boy,--and send -my housekeeper out. Want to get home." - - -Housekeeping in the new home was a delight and a novelty, after the many -weeks of camp life; and the Wistmores were very happy. Jack took -Priscilla into Wolfville the second day after they arrived, and made -arrangements for her to attend school, much to her chagrin, for she had -hoped for a longer holiday. - -"No sense in her running about for days, and missing something which will -cause trouble for her later," Jack had said, when discussing the matter -with Desir. "While it is still pleasant, she can walk back and forth -morning and afternoon, and carry her lunch. In winter, we'll try to make -some different arrangements." - -After settling Priscilla, Jack consulted the judge about getting work for -himself. - -"See what I can do," he promised; and while he was waiting, Jack helped -Desir with the lessons she was trying to do by herself. - -The snow which had greeted them on their arrival disappeared almost -immediately, and the beautiful days of Indian summer hovered over the -valley of the Gaspereau. Jack and Desir, sometimes accompanied by Ren, -but oftener leaving him with his staunch admirer, Madam Lovemore, spent -many hours rambling around the country after their work was done. It was -a treat to both; for though they had much in common, they seldom had -opportunities for private companionship, due to the constant demands of -the younger members of the family. - -After a week of idling, Jack made some trips through the nearby country -with the wagon, but the day schedules were soon exhausted; and he began -to be anxious about a different job. Some of the nearer neighbors began -to drop in occasionally; so Desir could not be his constant companion, -and he grew restless. - -"The people within a day's drive are too near Wolfville for this to be a -very good place for a store like ours," he told Desir when he returned -one afternoon after a rather profitless day. "One does not sell enough to -pay for expenses. So I guess we'll decide to put up the wagon and team -for the winter. In the spring, as soon as the roads permit, I'll have to -take it back to old Simon at Yarmouth." - -"Don't you mean _we'll_ take it back, dear?" asked Desir. - -"Perhaps; we'll see when the time comes. I hope the judge will be able to -find a job for me pretty soon; my own efforts are fruitless." - -"Don't worry; if we have to use up all of our little nest egg, we'll do -it; that's all." - -Desir spoke bravely, but she felt sad to see Jack's prospects of -continuing his education retreat so far into the background as almost to -disappear. The succeeding days were anxious ones. Jack roamed about, -restless and worried, not having enough with which to occupy himself; for -the weather had changed, and outdoor rambles were over for that year. - -One afternoon a heavy rain began to fall, and it looked as if it meant to -continue indefinitely. - -"Poor Prissy will get soaked," said Desir, gazing out of the window for -the fifth time. - -"I'll go after her," offered Jack. - -"But what good would it do for you to get soaked, too?" - -"None, I suppose. The poor kid ought to have a raincoat and an umbrella," -he muttered, half to himself. - -"I've been thinking about clothes, Jack, and it seems to me that we'll -have to draw some of what we got for the farm--" - -"But that's in the bank at Yarmouth," objected Jack quickly, "and you -know we said it shouldn't be touched except for sickness or other -emergencies." - -"I know, but this is an emergency; isn't it? If we don't buy a few -necessary articles of clothing, we'll run the risk of sickness, and that -would be far more expensive." - -"You're right, of course. Make out a list of what we need, and then we'll -count the probable cost." - -"We'll do it together," said Desir, getting pencil and paper, and -sitting down at the table beside her brother. - -They were so engrossed in their problem that they both jumped violently -when there was a quick knock, and the judge stepped into the room, -closely followed by Priscilla. Ren, who had been amusing himself in the -corner with some toys which had been part of the "furnishings" of the -cabin, darted across the room to fling himself upon the caller. - -"This is a--terrible day!" exclaimed the judge. "Thought the girl -might--be drowned if--she tried to--walk home. So I hitched up the old -Ford--and went after her." - -Desir began to express her gratitude, but he brushed aside her attempts. - -"Nothing to it--wanted to see this boy--anyhow," taking the chair Jack -offered him, and glancing up at the tall, broad-shouldered fellow with a -smile which, as Priscilla said, made his face "all crinkled." - -"Guess I've got--a job for you," he continued. "Know old man Beaumont?" - -Jack shook his head gravely, though his heart rejoiced at the prospect of -finding employment at last. - -"He's been postman around here--for--I don't know how many years. Too old -now--but won't give up; been trying to fix things--so he'd have a helper. -Orders came couple of weeks ago--good job for you--if you want it." - -"_Want_ it!" repeated Jack. "You can't possibly imagine how much I want -it." - -"Government furnishes a little wagon--you'll use one of your own -horses--that is until snow gets too deep. Then you'll have to go on--on -snowshoes. Have to go to town--to get your orders--better go now in my -Ford." - -So, in an excited bustle, Jack got ready and departed with the judge. - -"Don't worry--about his getting wet," the judge leaned far out of the car -to call to Desir, who was standing in the doorway, "I'll bring him--back -again." - -It was supper time before they returned, and the rain had subsided for a -time; but the judge refused to come in although Desir ran out to the car -and urged him to stay. - -"I can't thank you enough," she added, leaning over the door after he had -started the engine, "for getting Jack the job. He was so restless and -worried, and _almost_ unhappy; and when Jack's upset, well--it just about -kills me." - -The judge's keen eyes softened, and he patted her hand kindly, saying, -"Run in, child--you'll catch cold. Hear all Jack has to tell you." - -He drove rapidly down the lane, and Desir returned to her family. They -spent a happy evening around the fire, making plans for the future. Now -there would be no need of drawing on the previous funds for clothing! - -The next day the sun came out, and as soon as breakfast was over the -whole family started out for Wolfville, picking their way carefully -around the big puddles. They left Priscilla at school, and then went on -to Judge Herbine's to clear out the wagon preparatory to putting it up -for the winter. - -"Where are you going to put all that?" asked Madam Lovemore, coming out -in the midst of their labors, to look at all the stock spread on papers -on the barn floor. - -"Some of it we'll use ourselves, and the rest store until spring," -answered Desir, who was busy sorting goods that would keep from those -which would not, while Jack, with pencil and paper, was taking inventory. - -"There's lots of room in the attic. Just take what you want to save up -there. No use carting it down to your house, where you need all the space -you have." - -The judge had ambled in while she was talking, and strolled around, -peering at first one pile and then another. - -"You've a day's job here," he observed. "When you hear the bell--come in -to dinner." - -By night the task was finished, and the wagon empty. The judge presented -Jack with a shovel and an axe, saying, "Can't travel without these in -these parts in the winter time. You'll want them--in the mail wagon. -They're going to send it down--in the morning." - -Desir looked at him in surprise. - -"Why will he need a shovel and an axe?" she asked. - -"Caught in storms sometimes--have to dig your way out--trees fall in high -winds--only way is to chop your way through." - -Throughout supper, to which the judge insisted upon their staying also, -Desir was very quiet; and on the way home she took little part in the -children's chatter. - -"What's the matter, Dissy?" inquired Jack, after the younger ones were in -bed. - -"Oh, Jack! I was so very glad when you got the appointment; and now I'm -so afraid for you," she whispered, dropping her head on his broad -shoulder. - -"But why?" he asked in surprise, slipping his arm around her. - -"Because of the storms--the falling trees," she choked. "I never thought -of that part of it." - -"But I'm strong and well, dear; and the work won't hurt me. And I promise -you that I'll be very careful, and take no foolish chances. I don't like -to think of you sitting at home, nervous and unhappy, all the time I'm -away. That would make the work much harder. So you'll try to be brave, -and not worry?" - -Desir made a desperate effort to put aside her fears, and promised to do -as Jack wished. - - - - - CHAPTER XXII - CAUGHT BY STORM - - -Jack had seen the storm approaching as he was driving along a lonely road -above a valley in the late afternoon, but it would have been about as far -to turn back to the nearest shelter as it would to go on as fast as he -could to the next. Urging the horses to do their best (for during the -severe weather he was using the team), he drew up the robe, turned down -the sides of his cap, and fastened up his coat collar. The snow came down -faster and faster. - -"Good thing there's no wind," he muttered; but even as he spoke a -spiteful gust snatched up an armful of snow, and whirled it into his -face. The horses did their best, but the road seemed endless; nothing -could be seen except limitless stretches of white country, and trees -whose branches sagged under their heavy loads. - -There was a sudden crash, and right across his way dropped a huge limb of -a birch tree, stretching from one side of the road to the other. The -horses stopped, snorting with fright, and when Jack had quieted them, he -reached into the back of the wagon for the axe, and got out to clear a -pathway. He dared not try to drive around it; for he could not tell, on -account of the snow, just where the ground began to slope sharply away -toward the valley; and he wasn't really anxious for a roll down those -hills. - -Chopping the way through was a hard task for one, and Jack had to stop -very often to rest; by the time he finished, it was dark. - -"Well, now we're going on," he said cheerily, giving a pat to either -horse as he passed their heads after dragging out the cut section of the -tree. The patient animals had stood quietly, heads dropped, bodies -relaxed, while he worked. He had thrown blankets across them, and the -rest had given them a chance to get their wind again. So they threw -themselves gallantly forward to their task, and soon pulled the wagon -down into the valley. - -Here the road was not so good; for the snow had blown down the sides of -the hills and settled in drifts, some small and fairly passable, others -most difficult to plough through. Several times Jack had to get out and -shovel before the horses were able to get the wagon any farther on its -way. The lanterns on the wagon gave a fair light, with the help of the -whiteness all about them, but the road became increasingly difficult to -follow; and at last Jack had to admit to himself that he was lost. He had -no idea which way to turn; but it was impossible to stand still for the -night--they would be buried before morning if the snow kept on, and the -horses would perish. Recalling various stories of the intelligence, or -instinct, of animals under like circumstances, he decided to give the -horses a loose rein and trust to Providence. The faithful beasts plodded -on and on, while Jack strained his eyes through the whirling snowflakes, -searching for signs of habitation. - -Some time during the night he saw a dim outline in front of him, and the -horses stopped. With an unspoken prayer of gratitude, he dropped down -from the seat, stiffly walked a few steps to the house, and knocked. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII - SHELTER - - -After an interval, a light appeared; the door opened a crack, and a gruff -voice demanded what was wanted. Jack, in a few words, explained his -presence and the man immediately threw wide the door, bidding him enter -and make himself at home. - -"But my team--" began Jack. - -The man cut him short. "I'll look after it. Go in and go to bed. The -missus will show you where." - -A big dim room, with one flickering lamp; a woman wrapped in a shawl, -standing in a doorway opening into another room; several figures, each -rolled in a blanket and lying near the fireplace--such a sight greeted -Jack as he entered. - -"Here's a blanket," said the woman. "You can lie wherever you like in -this room." - -She disappeared at once, and the boy spread the blanket on the floor a -little beyond the other dark, motionless figures. He rolled himself in -the blanket, and, using the mail bag for a pillow, tried to sleep. Being -exhausted, in spite of the hard bed he dropped off almost as soon as the -man came in from caring for the team. - -In the morning he felt stiff and sore, and his head ached, due to -sleeping on the floor, he supposed. His host and hostess greeted him as -casually as if he had been dropping in there every night, and offered him -breakfast. - -"My name's De Vigne," said the man, as they sat down to the table. - -The three dark figures of last night still lay rolled up beside the -hearth, and Jack kept looking at them as he gave his host a brief account -of his adventures. Finally, curiosity getting the better of him, he -ventured, "Those fellows sick?" - -"Yes," answered De Vigne, glancing carelessly at them. "Flu, I guess. One -of them is our hired man. The other fellows dropped in here last night a -few hours ahead of you." - -Jack was a brave boy, with no foolish dread of illness; but the flu! The -disease which had deprived them of their father, of that he was afraid; -not so much on his own account, but because of Desir. Poor girl, she -must be half frantic by now. If he'd only had some way of getting word to -her. He must lose no time in starting out again. - -Mr. De Vigne gave him the necessary directions for getting back on his -route again, and an hour later he was delivering the letters which had -taken him to that lonely section. Then he headed for home. - -The sun came out and the snowy fields became dazzling. If only his head -wouldn't ache so hard, and his stomach feel so queer. Probably when he -got some of Desir's good cooking, he'd be all right. Yesterday he hadn't -eaten much, and he had been able to swallow very little of the breakfast -provided this morning by the De Vignes. Encouraging himself in every way -he could, he managed to drive all the way back; and in the middle of the -afternoon, put the team in its place. As he was leaving the barn, he met -the judge who had hurried out as soon as he caught sight of the open -door. - -"By Jove, boy!" he began; then stopped. "You're sick! Come right in and -go to bed. We'll take care of you." - -"Desir," faltered Jack, swaying a little in the judge's grasp. - -"I'll get her--Jonas! Come here and help me!" - -With the aid of the hired man, the judge soon had Jack in bed in the room -next to his own, and had sent for the doctor. Madam Lovemore was rushing -around, heating bottles, and preparing broth. The trusty Ford never made -such good time as it did going down to the cabin and back. The snow flew -in all directions as the judge forced the machine through it. Desir, -worn and terrified by her night of fruitless watching, almost fainted -when the judge appeared and told her his story. Jack's needs, however, -forced her to make a desperate effort to be calm. In a very short time -the judge deposited her and the two children on his own doorstep. - -"We've plenty of room," he decreed, "and you must all stay here until the -boy's well." - -"He's asleep now, my dear," was Madam Lovemore's greeting as she kissed -Desir in the hall. "The doctor's been here; and while he's not positive, -yet he thinks it's just a heavy cold." - -All the hours of waiting, the anxiety, the shock, resulted in one wild -burst of tears when Desir peered in at Jack, sleeping heavily, his face -red, his lips drawn in tense lines. Madam Lovemore led her hastily into a -room on the opposite side of the hall, and closed the door. Sitting down -in a big rocker, she drew the girl into her lap as if she had been Ren, -and let her cry. - -"I'm--sorry--" gasped Desir presently. - -"It's only natural, you poor little girl. Have your cry out, and you'll -feel lots better. Then we'll make some plans." - -Jack slept most of the day, waking once to smile feebly at Desir who was -bending over him. She could not trust herself to speak, and only kissed -him tenderly. - -Under the care of good Dr. Caronne, and with the help of the delicious, -nourishing foods prepared by Madam Lovemore, and the combined nursing of -the entire household, Jack escaped the flu. After a couple of days he was -able to get up, and a week later the Wistmores returned to their own -home; and Jack went back to work. - -"We can never, never hope to repay what they have done for us," said Jack -gravely, when they were talking of the kindness of their host and hostess -that night. "You children must remember that, and do everything you can -for them, every little thing." - -"I will," announced Ren solemnly. "I'm goin' to marry Mad'm Lovemore -when I grow up." - -"I'm sure," said Jack, "that would be a wonderful way to repay her." - - -During the rest of the winter Jack used snowshoes for delivering the -mail, and Desir was so fascinated by them that she learned to use her -brother's when he did not need them. One day when he came from Windsor he -brought her a pair, and suggested that whenever he went on short trips, -she accompany him. She was delighted, and quite often after that she left -Ren at the judge's, and went skimming over the snow with her beloved -brother, dearer now than ever after the fear of losing him. - -"It's so mild out that I shouldn't be surprised if we had rain," -announced Jack, when he came in from his day's work one night late in the -winter. - -"Rain!" exclaimed Priscilla. "Why, it's still winter." - -However, Jack proved to be a good weather prophet; for when they woke up -the following morning, rain was falling steadily, and the snow looked -soft and dirty. That was the beginning of the break-up of winter. Each -day the sun rose higher and its rays became warmer; and each day more of -the snow melted, softening the ground and filling streams, large and -small, to the very brim. - -The winds were softer and warmer; the birds returned and began looking -for home sites; and the air was alive with their calls. From the new -green of the marshes came the continuous croaking of frogs. Then the -first wild flowers slipped quietly into bloom; the fruit trees pushed out -bud after bud until they were covered with fragrant blossoms. Nova Scotia -had come to active life again after the hard winter. - -The day Priscilla brought in a cluster of arbutus, there was a general -rejoicing. The delicate pink blossom is greatly prized by the people of -Nova Scotia, and has been made the national flower. - -"The darlings!" cried Desir, holding the tiny flowers close to her nose -in order to inhale their dainty fragrance. - -"Up in the woods of Prince Edward Island the Indians will be very busy -now that the Mayflower--for that is the other name for arbutus--has -come," observed Jack. - -"Why?" asked Priscilla, putting her bouquet carefully in water. - -"As soon as the flowers appear, the young Indian braves search carefully -for the finest specimens they can find to throw at the woman they want to -marry. It is one of their regular customs; so you can imagine how excited -the maidens are at this time of the year." - -"What a pretty custom," said Desir; but the practical, unromantic -Priscilla thought it very funny, and so expressed herself as she placed -the vase in the center of the table. - -"And where are the Indians?" demanded Ren. - -"Nowhere near here; so don't go looking for them," ordered his brother. - -Ren looked very serious for a moment, and said that he wouldn't. -Apparently he had some none too pleasant recollections of one escapade in -following Indians. - -The apple orchards around Wolfville had begun to drop their sweet pink -and white petals, and the countryside was streaked here and everywhere -with the deep blue of the iris, the fleur-de-lys of France, when Jack -commented to Desir one night that they'd better take old Simon's wagon -back to him. - -She laughed. "You _did_ say _we_ this time. When do you want to start?" - -"Could you manage it by Monday?" - -"This is Friday. Why, yes, I could. What will you do about your job while -you're gone?" - -"It goes back to its regular owner," replied Jack, trying to speak -lightly; adding, as Desir looked puzzled, "The old man can manage well -enough in pleasant weather. I was only a helper for the winter months, -you know. When we come back for the summer, if we decide to stay here, -I'll have to look for something else. I can probably get something either -here or at Windsor. We'll talk it over on the road." - -"Shall we take the children, or leave them with Madam Lovemore? When I -mentioned one day our having to go to Yarmouth, she offered to keep them -if we wished." - -"It would seem too much like imposing," objected Jack; "she has been so -very kind to us." - -"Yes," admitted Desir; "and yet I know she's very willing." - -"One thing," said Jack thoughtfully, "I hate to have Priscilla miss so -many days of school, and she would have to if we took her. How would it -do if we left her and took Ren? Do you think that would be a good idea?" - -"Yes; I think that would be fine, and it would even things up better. -Prissy can be quite a help to Madam Lovemore, while Ren always bears -watching. I suppose Prissy won't like being left behind, though." - -"Probably not; and it will seem queer to leave her. It will be the first -time we've been separated since--" - -"Yes," said Desir hurriedly, as Jack's voice faltered; "but we know that -she will be well cared for; and after we're once gone, she'll soon get -used to the new conditions." - -So it was settled, and although at first Priscilla was inclined to feel -injured, by the time Monday came she was quite resigned. - -"I'll have lots of automobile rides, I suppose," they overheard her -saying importantly to Ren. - -"And I'll see old Simon again!" boasted the small boy; "and go on a big -boat--and--and--everything," determined not to be outdone. - -The older ones smiled as they went about closing up the cabin. They -walked as far as the judge's; and although there was no one to see her, -Priscilla felt very important carrying the suitcase which held her -wardrobe. There was no chance for prolonged farewells; for when they -reached their destination it was so nearly time for school that Priscilla -could give them only a hasty hug and kiss apiece, before dashing down a -side road toward the schoolhouse. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV - BACK TO YARMOUTH - - -"I meant to give her a few directions," said Jack, picking up the -suitcase she had dropped at his feet, and gazing after the child. - -"We had a long talk last night after I went to bed," replied Desir; "and -I think she will do just as we should like to have her. Prissy is growing -up a bit, Jack; she really tried to be brave and generous about being -left behind on this trip." - -When they were ready to start, the judge and his housekeeper stood on the -steps to bid them goodbye and good luck. - -"Don't feel that you've got to hurry back," called Judge Herbine as the -horses started. "We'll take good care of the little girl, and keep an eye -on the cabin. Won't hurt you to have a bit of a vacation." - -"I've gotten awfully fond of him; haven't you, Jack?" asked Desir, -looking back to wave her hand at the judge. - -"Yes; he's a fine old fellow." - -After they had been riding an hour or two, Ren demanded suddenly--"When -are we goin' to sell somethin'?" - -"Not going to," replied Jack briefly. - -"You see," explained Desir, "if we stopped every little while it would -take too long to get to Yarmouth; and Jack is in a hurry." - -"I really should have started before, I suppose," remarked her brother; -"but I was afraid the roads might be in poor condition. Besides, it would -have been too cool and damp for camping, and I didn't want to give up the -job until I had to." - -"You'n me goin' to sleep in the tent again?" inquired Ren, poking the -roll of canvas. - -"Yes." - -"I'm glad. I like tents better'n houses." - -"You wouldn't in the winter," laughed Desir. "I'll miss Prissy. The -wagon will seem big for me after last year." - -"Are we goin' to give Simon the horses and wagon?" inquired Ren in -alarm, a new thought suddenly occurring to him. - -"We're going to give them _back_ to him," said Jack. "They belong to him, -you know. He only lent them to us." - -"Oh! Oh! But I never can walk all the way back again," he wailed. - -"Stop crying," ordered Jack; "and you won't have to walk all the way -back. You cry altogether too much. You're getting to be too big a boy to -act like a baby; you must learn to act like a man." - -"We're going back on the train, darling," said Desir softly. Somehow she -liked to think of Ren as a baby rather than as a "man." - -"On a train!" squealed Ren. "I'm awful glad I came." - - -The weather stayed pleasant, and no accidents of any kind befell the -Wistmores on their journey to Yarmouth; it seemed strangely uneventful by -contrast with the trip up the preceding summer. They had decided that it -was best to forego the pleasure of calling on old friends, even those in -Sissiboo, and get on to Yarmouth just as quickly as possible. It was -after dark when they passed their old home. Ren was asleep, and Jack and -Desir gazed at the familiar outlines in silence. The windows showed -squares of yellow light, and a few sparks floated out of the chimney. -Those were the only signs of life about the place; in fact the whole town -was deserted. All the people seemed to have withdrawn to their homes for -the night. - - -Shortly before noon one warm day they stopped in front of Mrs. Chaisson's -house in Yarmouth. Before they had a chance to get out, old Simon himself -came hurrying out from the back yard. - -"I knew it!" he exclaimed triumphantly, throwing open the gate. "As soon -as ever I heard hoofs on the street, I says to myself, 'There's Dolly and -Dapple.' How are ye all?" - -He stopped to speak affectionately to the horses, who responded in their -own fashion to his advances; and then he called his daughter. - -"Matty!" he shouted. "Here's the Wistmores." - -Mrs. Chaisson hurried out and greeted them warmly, inquiring for -Priscilla whom she missed at once. - -After embraces and explanations, Mrs. Chaisson invited them all to "come -right in to dinner," adding that she must have felt they were on the way, -for she cooked more than usual. - -After several days of camp fare, the meal tasted delicious to the hungry -travelers, and they spent a long time at the table. - -"You'll stay here, of course, while you're in town," said Mrs. Chaisson -decidedly. - -"It's most awfully kind of you," began Jack, "but it really seems too -much--" - -"Nonsense! There were four of you last time, and we had lots of fun. -Didn't we, Ren? And now we've got a dog for you to play with. Run out in -the back yard and make friends with Rex." - -The child departed joyfully; old Simon and Jack withdrew to the porch to -talk over the year's sales, and Desir helped with the dinner work. - -That evening after Ren had been put to bed--Mrs. Chaisson had decreed -the season too early for sleeping on the porch, and had placed a cot in -one corner of old Simon's room for the little boy--the rest of them -gathered around the air tight stove in the sitting room. The evenings -were likely to be cool, and even Rex crept in to lie at their feet and -enjoy the welcome heat of a wood fire. - -"Matty," began her father, "I was tellin' the young feller," laying his -hand on Jack's knee as he spoke, "he'd better stay on here until after -the lobsters are in." - -"A good idea, if he doesn't need to hurry back," agreed Mrs. Chaisson, -picking up her sewing. - -"You see," went on the old man, turning to Desir, "there's quite a bit -of profit in lobsters, and the boy says he has nothin' in sight for the -present; so why not pick up a few dollars?" - -She did not know how to reply on the spur of the moment, and looked at -Jack for inspiration. - -"I don't know a thing about the business," said the boy slowly. - -"Huh! I can teach ye all ye need to know in half a day," declared the old -man. - -"Yes, indeed. Father's a good hand at it, or was before he got the -rheumatism," said his daughter, biting off her thread. - -"Now I'll tell ye just what I thought," said Simon. "I've an old hut down -on the shore toward Lower Woods Harbor way, and pots and markers enough -for you. Many of them need mending, but I'll show you how to do that; and -I thought mebbe you'd take the outfit, if this girl don't mind roughing -it a bit--" - -"But--" began Jack. - -"Let her stay here," suggested Mrs. Chaisson. "I'm lonesome after you go -on the road." - -"Oh, you are very kind," said Desir quickly, "but I really couldn't -leave Jack." - -"But," began Jack again, "I couldn't deprive you of the lobster catching, -Simon. It was bad enough taking your store for a year, without--" - -"Takin' nothing!" interrupted the old man vehemently. "Didn't you keep my -horses from eating their heads off all year, and keep my trade from goin' -to some one else fer good? Besides, I can't catch lobsters any more. Doc -says that messin' in the water's bad for my rheumatiz. Goin' to give up -the hut after this year anyway; so if you want to stay and take it, -you're more'n welcome." - -They discussed the matter all the evening, until Simon got up to go to -bed, and his daughter withdrew to her room which Desir was to share. To -Jack fell the big sofa in the living room. He and Desir sat on beside -the fire for a few minutes after they were left alone. - -"What do you think of it, Dissy? Shall I take it or not?" - -"I hardly know what to say; but there's no reason I can think of why you -shouldn't, if it looks good to you." - -"Of course I have no other immediate prospects; but it would be rough and -lonesome for you, I'm afraid--" - -"Lonesome, with you around? As for being rough, it will be fun to try a -different way of living for a few weeks." - -Secretly Desir rather longed for the coziness of the Godet house, but -she thought Jack felt he should make the most of every opportunity for -earning money, and she wanted to make things as easy for him as possible. - -The next morning, with a big basket of lunch in the back of the wagon, -they all drove down to the hut, Ren wild with excitement. An hour's -drive brought them to the bleak, deserted coast. Nothing but sand, jagged -rocks, coarse grass, and scattered huts met their eyes. They left the -team just off the road beside a clump of juniper, and crossed the sand to -the hut. When Simon unlocked the door, the interior seemed to be a jumble -of lumber. - -"Get all these pots out in a jiffy," he said, picking up a couple of -crate-like objects and depositing them outside. - -They all helped, and soon the pots were piled up beside the hut. - -The rooms were tiny, only two in number, a bedroom and a general room; -and the furniture was scanty. - -"You can't possibly live here, Dissy," whispered Jack. - -"Go on and learn how to catch the beasts, and I'll attend to the house," -she replied with forced cheeriness. - -So Mrs. Chaisson and Desir cleaned and set in perfect order the tiny -wooden building, while Simon taught Jack how to make and repair lobster -pots. They look like oblong crates, and are made of narrow strips of wood -bent into a semi-circle and nailed onto a board. A couple of holes are -left for the lobsters to crawl in, and the whole is lined with coarse -net, and weighted with heavy stones. - -At noon they spread the lunch on a huge flat boulder on the beach. - -"Lots nicer than an old table," Ren pronounced it. - -"You'll have no trouble in roughing it as far as he's concerned," laughed -Mrs. Chaisson. - -"No; he's usually satisfied with what he has," replied Desir. - -"No, I ain't," contradicted the child. - -"Why, Renny," said Jack in surprise. - -"Well, Dissy said I was satisfied, and I ain't. I want a dog." - -"Maybe when we go home you can have one," said Jack, adding to Desir, -"It wouldn't be a bad plan at all, if we stay in Wolfville." - -Ren, as happy as if the desired pet were to be forthcoming on the -morrow, returned to his play in the sand. - -"Now," said Simon, when all traces of lunch had been cleared up, "we'll -all paint markers." - -The long stakes with big wooden knobs on the top were weather beaten, and -their bands of orange and green were dim. Each fisherman has a different -kind of marker, and sets one up beside each pot after it is sunk beneath -the water. They serve two purposes: mark the place where the pot is -located, and notify other fishermen of their ownership. It is a serious -matter for anyone to touch lobsters guarded by the markers of another -person. It is interesting to note the numberless varieties of color -combinations, styles of banding, and shapes of knobs. - -It was a tired crowd of workers that returned to Yarmouth that evening; -for although everything was ready in the hut for the new occupants, Mrs. -Chaisson insisted upon their going back for "one more really comfortable -sleep" as she expressed it. - -"How do we get back and forth from the huts?" inquired Desir, the -following morning. - -"I'll take ye out," answered Simon, "and when you want to come in, you'll -have to walk until you meet somebody who's goin' your way and who will -give you a lift." - - -Jack wrote to the judge, telling him of their plans and probable delay; -both he and Desir wrote short notes to Priscilla; and before noon they -were settled in their temporary home, Desir helping Jack get the lobster -pots ready to sink, while Ren lay at full length in the sand poking at a -jellyfish. None of them saw a figure walk along the road, stop, watch for -a while, then move silently across the grass and along the sand until it -stood directly back of the workers. - - - - - CHAPTER XXV - LOBSTER POTS - - -"What are you doing with those?" demanded a rough voice so suddenly that -Desir dropped the marker she held, and gave a little scream, while Ren -rolled over and lay with his head on the unfortunate jellyfish. Jack, the -only cool person of the group, replied quietly, "Getting them ready to -sink." - -"You get yourself ready to go along with me. These belong to Simon -Denard, and you've no right to touch 'em. So come along." - -The man laid a heavy hand on Jack's arm, and attempted to jerk him off -somewhere. - -"I know they belong to Simon," replied Jack. "We're friends of his, and -he has lent us the place for a few weeks. We're going to live here, my -sister and I." Jack gazed calmly into the dark, determined face and keen -black eyes confronting him. - -Desir was too frightened to utter a word, and stood at her brother's -other side, holding fast to his coat. Ren suddenly recovered his voice -and began to cry. - -"Hush your noise!" ordered the man, without turning his head; and so -great was the child's astonishment that he really _did_ stop. - -"There's no need of getting excited about this," said Jack. "You can -easily prove that I'm telling the truth if you'll ask Mrs. Chaisson, -Simon's daughter, and--" - -"I've no time to be running to Yarmouth; and it's a likely story anyway," -answered the man shortly. - -None of them saw Ren get up and run toward the road, where he saw a man -passing by; so when he now hurried across the sand as fast as his short -legs could move, dragging his captive by the arm, they all looked up in -astonishment. - -"Hullo!" cried the newcomer, "what's the matter here, Marvine?" - -"The young fellow claims old Simon lent him the outfit. Did you ever -hear--" - -"Maybe he did," interrupted the other man indifferently, his blue eyes -roaming from one face to another. "Saw all these folks here yesterday -with the old man and his daughter." - -"Did, eh? Well, maybe it's as he says then," letting go of Jack's arm as -he spoke. "How'd you happen to be stopping here?" - -"The kid dragged me off the road saying someone was going to carry away -his brother." - -"Well," said the man called Marvine, turning to Jack and Desir, "sorry -to have bothered you. No harm meant. Was only looking out for Simon's -things." - -"Quite all right," replied Jack. "I suppose you do have to be careful." - -The two strangers strode out to the road again without further farewell, -and were soon lost to sight. Desir sank down on the sand as if she could -not stand another minute. - -"I'm most awfully sorry you were so frightened, dear," said Jack, sitting -down beside her and taking her hand in his, while Ren piled on top of -his brother, crying exultantly, "I saved you, Jack; didn't I?" - -Desir soon recovered her composure and got up to continue her work; but -although he did not comment on the fact, Jack saw that her hands were -still a bit shaky. Presently he suggested--"Hadn't you better go in and -start supper, Dissy? Ren can help me finish here." - -"Sure," agreed the small boy importantly. "I can help Jack." - -Desir went in, and the two boys sank the pots and set the markers, Jack -of course doing most of the work, but Ren fully convinced that his -brother could never have managed without his aid. - -"There are some other pots right next to where Simon told me to put -ours," observed Jack, as they were finishing supper. - -Ren was so sleepy that he had left the table and curled himself up in an -old rocker to take a nap. - -"Oh, I do hope that they don't belong to either of those awful men who -were here this afternoon," said Desir with a shudder. - -"They're rough, of course, but they weren't really so bad, Desir. They -have to protect their interests, and of course were looking after -Simon's. I hardly think, though, that either of them is our next-door -neighbor. The hut beyond here looks deserted, but the pots and markers -are there all right." - -Desir took the tiny bedroom, and the boys had a couple of cots in the -other room. Everybody was tired out with the unaccustomed work and -excitement, and slept heavily until far later than usual. Jack, who was -the first to waken, looked across at the other cot to see if Ren was -still asleep, and was astonished to see that the cot was empty. - -"Now where is that rascal?" he thought, crossing the room to the outside -door, which was ajar. - -He glanced out and saw his brother calmly playing in the sand a short -distance from the hut. - -"Don't go any farther away, Renny," he called softly, hoping not to -disturb Desir. - -"No," replied the child, vigorously slapping the sand into shape. - -"What's the matter?" called Desir, who had wakened instantly at the -sound of his voice. - -"Nothing at all. Renny got up ahead of us and went out to play in the -sand. He's quite all right." - -"But what time is it?" - -"You'd never guess. It's eight o'clock." - -"Why, Jack, how dreadful!" - -"Not at all; it's quite all right. There's nothing to hurry us here. Take -your time. I'll set the coffee on." - -"We're certainly fashionable folk this morning," laughed Desir when, -half an hour later, the three sat down to breakfast. "Renny, your feet -are all wet," as the child's foot touched her under the table. "Let me -see." - -"No!" - -"Ren," ordered Jack, "turn and stick your feet out." - -Slowly, most reluctantly, the boy obeyed; and Desir exclaimed with -dismay. He was wet to the waist. Their backs had been turned when he came -in, and he had slid into his place at the table with all possible haste. - -"How did you get like that?" asked Jack, but Ren only hung his head. - -"Answer me, Renny." - -"Went in the water." - -"But haven't I told you _never_ to go into the water alone?" - -The child nodded. - -"You'll have to go back to bed," decreed his brother sternly, getting up -from the table. "Sit still," he directed Desir. "I'll attend to him." - -"Hadn't you better put him in my room?" she asked. - -"If you don't mind," replied Jack, leading the reluctant youngster from -the room. - -After a short interval he returned to resume his interrupted breakfast, -saying as he sat down, "After we finish I'll take him something. It will -do him no harm to wait a while. He's certainly always getting into -difficulties." - -"But it's quite a while now since he has done anything really bad," -objected Desir; "and he loves the water so, it must be quite a -temptation." - -"I know, but his going in like this by himself might result in serious -consequences; and I intend to keep him in bed most of the day. But you -don't need to stay in the house all the time. He's perfectly safe here -alone, and I'm sure he won't get up without permission. I laid heavy -penalties on such a procedure." - -At this point there was a sharp knock at the door, and when Jack opened -it, a short, grey-bearded man stood before them. Not liking the look in -the stranger's eyes, Desir crossed the room and stood beside her -brother. Were all the people they were to meet on this venture -undesirable? How she wished they had never heard of the lobster business! - - - - - CHAPTER XXVI - HANDS OFF! - - -"Good morning," said Jack pleasantly, but looking questioningly at their -caller. - -"I've a serious charge to make," answered the newcomer, without returning -the greeting. "You've been trying to steal my lobsters. You know the -penalty for that trick!" - -"I most certainly have not done any such thing," said Jack decidedly, -while Desir twisted her hands in dismay. - -"No use denying it; I can prove it. Mine are right next to yours, and -some of my markers have been pulled up and yours put in. Come out and see -for yourself." - -Jack and Desir followed the man quickly across the sand to the water. - -"See? Here are five of my markers hidden under this old crate on your -property, and five of your markers replacing those near-shore pots of -mine. Facts don't lie if folks do." - -"My brother never lies!" cried Desir angrily. Jack had never heard her -speak like that. - -"Easy, Dissy," he said softly. - -"I certainly admit that it looks bad," he said to the man; "but since I -know the rules governing these things, I should hardly have been fool -enough to do such a thing even if I had been so lacking in principle; -and--" - -"Jack!" interrupted Desir. "Ren! Could a small boy have done this?" she -asked, facing their neighbor eagerly. - -"Might; early in the morning, before the tide came in so far." - -"Jack, go and get him and we'll see if he knows anything about it." - -While Jack was gone, Desir explained to the man their presence in old -Simon's hut, and her reasons for suspecting that her younger brother had -been responsible for the morning's difficulties. Soon Jack returned, and -led Ren directly to the man, who regarded him gravely. - -"Tell this man, Ren," directed his brother, "just exactly what you did -when you were out here alone on the beach early this morning." - -"Pulled up dirty old markers and hid 'em, and pushed down nice ones we -painted." - -Ren was obviously rather proud of his achievement, and quite puzzled as -to the serious manner of his elders. - -"Why did you do that?" asked the man, the suggestion of a twinkle -appearing in his blue eyes. - -"Wanted Jack's lobster bed to look nice." - -"But those weren't his; they were mine." - -"_Everything's_ Jack's!" - -Their neighbor smiled, and held out his hand to Jack. - -"My mistake," he said. "I didn't know what a grasping partner you had." - -"He means well, but makes trouble sometimes. Take him back to bed; will -you, Dissy?" - -While Desir put the little boy in bed again, and tried to impress upon -him the seriousness of his mistake, Jack and his neighbor worked amiably -side by side. - -The days passed quickly, one very much like all the others which had -preceded it; and at last they found themselves on the train, bound for -home, with a fair sum of money in return for several weeks of hard work. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVII - JACK'S JOBS - - -The summer days which followed were delightful ones. Priscilla reminded -Jack of his promise to help her make a garden; so he worked hard, -clearing the ground back of the cabin, and spading up beds under her -directions. She planted very carefully the seeds given her by Madam -Lovemore, and waited impatiently for the first bits of green to appear. - -"Guess while I'm at it, I'll make a vegetable garden too," announced -Jack, after he had finished the flower beds. "A bit late, perhaps, but -we'll get something out of it." - -"A good idea," approved Desir. "I'll help you." - -She caught up the rake and followed him to the end of the property. - -"I love to work out-of-doors," she said, "and after you get a job I can -attend to the vegetables while Prissy takes care of her flowers." - -"An' I ain't got nuthin' to take care of," sighed Ren, feeling that he -had been left out of all these new plans. - -"Should you like a garden, darling?" asked Desir, her sympathy -immediately aroused by his mournful tones. - -"No, no old garden. Want a dog to take care of; 'n' Jack promised me one, -too." - -Desir glanced up at her older brother who was leaning on his spade -figuring out just where he would begin to dig. - -"You did promise him, Jack, or practically so," she said. - -"No chance of being allowed to forget anything in this family," he -smiled. "I'll see what I can do for you, Ren." - -The next day Jack went up alone to see Judge Herbine. "Don't worry if I -don't show up for dinner," he said to Desir before leaving. "The judge -told me yesterday that he had heard of two or three places where I might -get a job, and to come up and see him today. I'll keep going until I've -investigated all the possibilities." - -"All right, dear; and the best of luck." - -They had had many talks on the drive to Yarmouth, and on the beach in -front of the hut, as to the advisability of remaining in the Godet house. - -"It's simply living from hand to month," Jack had said gravely; "but -there seems to be nothing else in sight just now." - -"Even so, we're certainly some better off than we should have been in -Sissiboo," Desir said consolingly. - -"But what would you do," suggested Jack, "if somebody came along and -wanted the cabin some day?" - -"Let them have it, if they could prove they owned it; but Judge Herbine -seems to think such a thing most unlikely. He said, you know, that they -couldn't get a clear title when that American wanted to buy it. But why, -Jack, does somebody want it now?" - -"No, not that I know of; but one can never tell what might happen. The -bus line will run along the main road past our lane this summer, I -understand; and some tourist might take a fancy to the little cabin and -want to buy it. I suppose if enough money were spent on a search, it -might be possible to establish the title; or someone who wanted it badly -enough might be willing to take a chance. I don't mean to worry you -unduly, Desir, but we mustn't get so attached to the place that having -to give it up sometime will come as a great shock." - -Her brother's words came back to her mind many times that day as she went -about her household tasks. Of course they mightn't want to live right -here always. Jack must finish college, as they planned; but she wanted to -go through high school; and after that, the magical trip to the States, -where Jack might find his life-work. How many times they had gone over it -all! At the rate money had come in so far, however, it would take many -years to realize any of these day dreams, to say nothing of all of them. -It seemed, no matter how careful she tried to be, to take _so_ much money -to feed and clothe them; and if somebody _should_ claim the cabin--well, -she'd better not think about that any more just now. - -Late in the afternoon, when the lane was getting shadowy, the girls and -Ren were sitting on the broad stone step watching for Jack. The sound of -an approaching automobile broke the country stillness, and Judge -Herbine's Ford presently stopped. Jack got out, followed by a big, -awkward-looking brown dog. With one wild shriek, Ren dashed down the -lane and threw his arms around the animal's neck. The judge waved to the -girls, and drove away laughing. - -"I've got a dog! I've got a dog!" chanted Ren, dragging the big beast -toward the house. - -"He's perfectly gentle, for all his size," said Jack in reply to Desir's -questioning look. "But Ren, you must be kind to the dog, and never hurt -him." - -"Where in the world did you get him?" demanded Priscilla, who did not -like any dog very well, and especially a big one. - -"The judge found him somewhere off in the country," replied Jack, sitting -down on the step which was much too low for his long legs. - -"He is hardly a beauty," observed Desir, watching Ren mauling his new -friend. - -"No, but he's always been used to children, and the judge thought that a -good recommendation. Of course he's awkward, and probably mischievous; -for he's not yet full grown--" - -"_Don't_ tell me he will get bigger!" groaned Desir. "Where shall we -ever put him?" - -"I'll fix a place; don't worry about that part of it," Jack promised, -getting up to go into the cabin. - -The evening was a riot of small boy and dog. With much difficulty they -were separated at bedtime; for Ren insisted upon his new pal sleeping on -the foot of the bed, and wept copiously when the dog was banished. They -said _he_ mustn't ever hurt the dog, he moaned, and here they were -hurting him by taking him away! - -"If you're going to be unruly over the dog," said Jack, "I shall take him -right back, and you will never have another." - -"Jack will fix Rover up all nice somewhere," promised Desir, "and you'll -see him again in the morning." - -Quiet was restored, and after she had gotten Ren to bed, Desir went out -behind the cabin where Jack was preparing a place for the new member of -the family. He had turned on an end the box which had held their -belongings while they were on the road, and placed a bit of old carpet in -the bottom. - -"Behold the kennel!" he said proudly, with a wave of the hand. - -"But will he stay in it?" asked Desir, somewhat doubtfully. - -"Not without being tied, for a few nights," replied Jack, running a rope -from the dog's collar through a stout staple on the side of the box. -"Then he'll be used to the place." - -"You haven't told me anything yet about your job prospects," said Desir -rather reproachfully, as they walked around to the front door. - -"How could I, in all the noise and excitement?" laughed Jack. "Let's sit -out here for a while. Wait a minute; I'll get a couple of chairs." - -He brought out the rocker for his sister, and a straight chair for -himself, tilting it back against the side of the house to make it more -comfortable. - -"It's a great night," he commented, with a sigh of content. "Just see -that moon! Doesn't it look as if it were stuck in the top of the trees?" - -"Nights like this ought to make our gardens grow fast," replied Desir. -"Now what about the job?" - -"Well, I have a temporary one; will last about a week or two; and a -promise of a steady one for the rest of the summer. Isn't that great?" - -"Certainly is. Where, and what doing?" - -"You know we heard that there was to be a bus line through this part of -the country?" - -"Yes, but you can't drive a bus, Jack." - -"Hardly; but it seems that the company that is to run it is sending men -here from Boston who, though they know how to run busses, know nothing -about the country. So I'm to ride around with them, show them the best -roads, and tell them local history until they've learned the ropes. Of -course that won't take very long, but it's fair pay while it lasts. -They'll pick me up at the end of the lane here every day." - -"Priscilla and Ren will be desperately envious of you, I'm afraid." - -"Very likely. Maybe before the season is over I'll be able to take all of -you on a little trip, over part of the route at least." - -"That would be lovely, but don't mention it before the children. I feel -that if we have any extra money it ought to be put away." - -"I suppose you're right; but I'd like to be able to give you a little -pleasure sometimes." - -"I know, and I do have pleasure, Jack; and we'll just look forward to -more chance for such things in the future. And about the other job?" - -"Jim Rutland is going to open a kind of lunch stand in one end of his -general store; for tourists, you know. He wants me to run it." - -"But why does Jim need anyone? I should think he could attend to both -himself." - -"He has to be out of the store quite a lot. He sells everything from -chickens to farm machinery, has a gas station, and I don't know what -else. He thought his son would stay home and help him out this summer, as -he did last; but he had a chance to go to the States, and he's going." - -"Is it much of a job, Jack?" asked Desir, rather doubtfully. - -"Not so much, but there's pretty good money in it. He is going to let me -have a small commission on the tourist business, aside from a fair -salary. Makes it more interesting, and it will do very well indeed until -I have an opportunity at something better. It will keep us going until -fall--when I can have the mail again--and I hope will give us something -to add to the 'nest egg.'" - -They fell silent, Jack wondering how he could get something really worth -while to do, and Desir racking her brains to think of some way in which -she could contribute to their income. - -"Who's going to do the baking for the lunch room?" she asked suddenly, -"Jim hasn't a wife or mother, has he?" - -"No; but why do you want to know?" - -"I thought I might do it." - -"You! You have plenty to do now." - -"Not really, dear. The work here is very easy, and Prissy is getting to -be quite a help. It wouldn't be at all hard to bake some cookies and -tarts, make sandwiches, and things like that. I could make pies, using -wild berries which the children could gather. Oh, if Jim Rutland is -willing, say you'll let me try, Jack. I'll bet you'd have the most -popular lunch room in Nova Scotia! And think what it would mean, with -your commission!" - -"I've no doubt of its popularity after people had once tasted the good -things you can make." - -"I could spread my biscuits with jam, or serve them hot with honey; and, -oh, there would be no end to the nice little things, all ready to eat, -that you could sell or serve." - -Desir's imagination, fired by her enthusiasm, supplied her with numerous -ideas to be put into practice if only Jack wouldn't object. - -"Do let me try it, Jack." - -"I'm afraid that you would overwork." - -"Nonsense. Of course I won't. I promise to give it up if I feel that it's -too much. But I just _love_ to cook." - -"Well, I'll speak to Jim tomorrow, if I get a chance, and see what his -plans are. Meanwhile, I've got to be ready to meet the bus at -seven-thirty in the morning; so let's go in." - - -The big bus stopped at the end of the lane promptly at seven-thirty each -morning for a week; then Jack announced one night that tomorrow would be -his last day. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVIII - A FIND - - -"Sorry?" asked Desir, looking up from the lettuce she was preparing for -their supper. - -"It has been pleasant," replied her brother, selecting a radish from a -dish on the table, and beginning to eat it. "George, the driver, is a -nice fellow, and we've had some fun together; but it's a kind of a lazy -life, after all. Of course somebody has to do it, but I think I prefer -more activity." - -"Have you seen Jim yet about the baked goods?" - -Jack's hours had been so arranged that he had been unable to stop at the -Rutland General Store. - -"Ran across him this noon. He's tickled to death over your ideas, and -says he'll take everything you can make, starting Thursday." - -Desir was delighted. - -"You'll just have to get rid of that horrid dog," declared Priscilla, -coming in at that moment, about ready to cry. - -"Why, what's he done now?" asked Jack. - -"He went and dug up all my nasturtiums. He's always digging somewhere. -He's a perfect pest!" - -"I'll look after him," said her brother, going out to the garden. - -He punished Rover, and, leaving Priscilla replanting the remnants of her -flowers, returned to Desir. - -"I wouldn't say it before the children," said Desir, when Jack reported -the condition of Priscilla's garden, "but Rover _has_ a most unfortunate -passion for digging; and, as if he knew that Priscilla disapproved of -him, he usually selects some part of her garden. I've whipped him two or -three times, but back he goes the next time the fancy strikes him." - -Jack laughed. "I can imagine the kind of beatings you give him. But," he -added anxiously, "had you rather get rid of him?" - -"Oh, no; he's such a lovable animal that you can't help being attached to -him in spite of his faults; and then, too, Ren thinks the world of him. -It wouldn't be fair to take away his pet." - -The following morning, just as the big bus reached the lane, one of the -tires exploded with a loud report; and Jack had to help the driver make -repairs. The other Wistmores stood in the shade of the trees, watching; -even Desir could not resist the opportunity to see what had to be done. -There were a few passengers already on board, and two or three of them -got out to stroll up and down the road. - -"What a darling house!" exclaimed one young lady, peering down the lane. -"Come here, Dad; see!" - -The grey-haired man looked in the direction of her pointing finger, then -at the little group under the trees. - -"You live here?" he asked. - -"Oh, do you?" said the lady, before Desir had hardly finished her -affirmative reply; "then may we look at the house?" - -"Certainly," replied the girl politely, although she was far from willing -to show it. - -The man and woman examined the cabin both inside and out, with keen -interest; even the garden was included in the inspection. Occasionally -they talked together in such low tones that Desir could not distinguish -what they were saying. She felt a queer sinking dread as she followed -them around. The children had stayed near the bus, and it seemed as if -she were abandoned to these odd tourists. - -On the stone doorstep the man turned back, after they had gone over the -place for the second time. - -"Do you own this?" he asked. - -"No, sir." - -"Who does?" demanded the woman. - -"It doesn't belong to anybody, really," confessed poor Desir -reluctantly. "It's something about a title. We just live here." - -"Oh, Dad, buy it for me. I must have it!" exclaimed the young woman. - -"I'll make inquiries, and--" the man was saying, when a loud blast from -the horn summoned them to the bus. They hurried down the lane with a -careless goodbye to the girl in the doorway. - -"Oh, Dissy," called Priscilla, running toward her, closely followed by -Ren and Rover. "Why--what's the matter?" as she noticed her sister's -pale face and unnatural manner. - -"Just tired," Desir managed to reply, though such a storm of emotion -surged within her that she felt almost overcome by it. - -"Go and lie down, and I'll do the dishes and clean up," offered -Priscilla. "Ren, take the dog out to the garden and stay there until I -call you," she added importantly. "Dissy's going to take a nap." - -"Thank you, Priscilla dear," replied the girl gratefully. "I think I -shall lie down. Call me at eleven o'clock. I shan't need anything until -then." - -Desir kissed her little sister, escaped into her room as quickly as -possible, and closed the door. In the privacy and quiet which she felt -she must have at all costs, she gave way to tears. What would they do -now? For these rich people could get anything they set their hearts on. -Jack was right in warning her not to get too fond of the place. She -thought she hadn't, but now when it was slipping slowly but surely from -their grasp--Oh! and Desir hid her face in the pillow to drown her sobs. - -Presently she forced herself to grow calmer, and when Priscilla quietly -put her head in at eleven o'clock Desir, pale, but outwardly composed, -was bathing her face. - -"It was sweet of you to take care of things, Prissy dear," she said. -"I'll get dinner now; I'm quite all right. You run out-of-doors until -it's ready." - -After a searching look at her sister, the child obeyed; but all the -afternoon she kept making excuses to come to the front yard, where Desir -sat sewing, to see if she was all right. While her sister was getting -supper, Priscilla walked down the lane to meet Jack. - -"I'm afraid there's something awful the matter with Dissy, Jack," began -the child, slipping her hand into his. "She's not really sick--I don't -think--but she's not a bit like _her_." - -"Well," replied Jack quietly, for he had heard bits of conversation on -the bus that day, and they gave him an advance inkling of Desir's -trouble, "don't say anything to her, or let her know that you notice -anything. I'll talk to her tonight." - -"I didn't, Jack. I just helped all I could, and stayed where she could -call me." - -"That's a good girl; you're getting to be a great help to us," tightening -his grasp on her brown, plump little hand. - -Fortunately Ren had a silly fit at the table, and kept them all laughing -in spite of themselves; so the meal passed off without any constraint or -self-consciousness. After the children were in bed, and the cabin in -order for the night, Jack drew Desir out on the doorstep, and, sitting -down, beside her, put his arm around her. - -"Now tell me all about it," he suggested gently. - -"About what, Jack?" - -"Whatever's troubling you. It's not fair to keep me in the dark, you -know." - -Dropping her head on his broad shoulder, she related, in disjointed -sentences, the history of the morning. - -"I guessed as much," he commented, as she finished. "I overheard their -conversation on the bus." - -"Can't they take it, if they don't mind not having--having--" - -"A clear title? I don't know, dear; I'll see what I can find out from the -judge tomorrow. I should say, though, that we must not expect to keep it. -We talked of that possibility; don't you remember?" - -"Yes; but--such a thing seemed so--so very improbable," faltered Desir. -"The place had been deserted for so long." - -"If we have to give it up we can probably find something in town. There's -an old place near Judge Herbine's, and another one on the road to the -Basin. Don't take it so to heart, Dissy; we'll find a place somewhere, -even if we have to leave this; and we may not. It's not like you to look -on the dark side of things." - -Cheered by Jack's words and manner, Desir began to feel that she had -been foolish to let herself become so disturbed, and she made a heroic -effort to resume her natural manner. She succeeded so well that by -bedtime they were laughing over the discovery of Rover's latest escapade, -a hole dug beside the step on which they were sitting. Jack set his foot -in it as they rose to go in, thereby nearly upsetting himself and Desir -as well. - -"Oh, by the way, Dissy," remarked Jack after they had gone into the -house, "I almost forgot to tell you something. You'll never guess whom I -saw today." - -"Then tell me right away." - -"My old enemy." - -"Oh, Jack!" cried Desir fearfully. "Where?" - -"On the bus. He was on his way to work in the orchards around Annapolis. -He was rather friendly, for him, and just as he was leaving the bus, he -thrust these into my hand and told me to give them to you." - -Desir peered curiously at the round, brown things which her brother -pulled out of his pocket. - -"What are they?" - -"Some kind of bulbs. You'd better plant them tomorrow." - -"What's the use if we're going to lose the place?" she queried, rather -bitterly. - -Jack looked at her reprovingly. "That doesn't sound a bit like my -cheerful partner." - -"You're right, Jack. I'm sorry. I'll plant them tomorrow, and if we don't -see them bloom, perhaps they will give pleasure to someone else." - -The next morning she selected a lightly shaded spot where the soil looked -rich and promising, and began to dig. Before long, her spade struck a -large stone. - -"Wonder if I can get that out?" she thought. "This is the best place in -the yard for unknown plants; for they'll get a mixture of sun and shade." - -Vigorously she attacked the stone, and after much exertion succeeded in -getting it out. Rolling it carelessly to one side, she was busily trying -to smooth out the ragged, uneven earth with the spade, when there was a -sound of metal striking on metal. - -"Jack," she called to her brother, who was in the house reenforcing a -shelf. - -"What's wanted?" he responded, sticking his head out of the window. - -"Come here, quick!" - -Throwing his long legs over the sill, he dropped onto the ground and was -at her side in a moment. "What's the matter," he asked; "snake?" - -"Something's down there," pointing to the hole. - -Jack seized the spade and quickly uncovered an iron box. Desir was -trembling violently, and could only gaze silently at the strange object. - -"What have you got?" demanded Ren, appearing at that moment from the -front yard. "Prissy!" he shrieked, without waiting for an answer, "come -'n' see!" - -Priscilla appeared, viewed the find calmly, and proposed taking it into -the house to see what it contained. - -"Do you think we had better take it over to the judge's?" asked Desir, -finally finding her voice. "Perhaps we should not open it by ourselves." - -"I'll go right after him," declared Jack. "Just put some papers on the -table so I can carry the box in and set it down before I go." - - - - - CHAPTER XXIX - W-17^55--15x12--6754 - - -It seemed a long time before they heard the sound of the Ford, but it was -in reality only about half an hour; for Jack had covered the ground at -his best speed, and the judge lost no time in getting back with him. - -"Well," said Judge Herbine, darting into the room and up to the table, -"lots of excitement. Got anything to open it with, Jack? It's locked." - -With considerable difficulty they managed to force the lock, and pry up -the cover. Then everyone crowded around to peer inside. The box was -filled with gold and silver pieces. - -"Money!" gasped Jack. - -"Oh," cried Desir, "it must have been out there ever since the -Expulsion. I read in my little blue history that some of the Acadians -buried their savings in their gardens before they left the country, -because they expected to come back again very soon." - -"Then it probably belonged to our ancestors," said Jack slowly. - -"Let's tip it out," proposed the judge. "It looks to me like a goodly -sum." - -Tarnished and dull, it lay in a heap on the table; and as the judge -turned the box right side up again, he caught sight of some papers in the -bottom. - -"Documents of some kind!" he exclaimed, loosening them carefully. - -Stiff, yellow with age, the writing was dim but discernible. - -"That's a will, isn't it?" asked Jack, catching sight of a few words at -the top of the sheet, as the man unfolded it slowly. - -"Exactly. 'To my daughter, Desir Godet and her heirs forever--'" he -read. "6754-1755." - -"What?" gasped Desir, crowding closer to look at the paper. - -"This house and money; and here's the missing deed with the will. I -congratulate you--most heartily, children. This is evidently--a perfectly -legal will--and the long lost deed; and since you are Godet -survivors--the place and the money must belong to you." - -"Oh, Jack!" cried Desir, throwing herself into his arms, "now you can go -back to college, and nobody can ever take this house away from us. It is -really our _home_, now, just as I always felt it was." Desir was sobbing -in her delirium of joy. - -"'N' is all that money ours?" demanded Ren, staring at it with wide -eyes. - -"Guess it is, my boy," replied the judge, adding to Jack, "And some of -these are doubtless rare pieces--worth much more than their intrinsic -value." - -"Then we can have an automobile," pronounced Ren. - -Everybody laughed, and the tension was somewhat relieved. - -"Look, Jack," said Desir, "there are two of the numbers from that slip -of paper that was in Father's box." - -"What's that?" inquired the judge, whirling around like a top. - -Desir explained while Jack got the paper and they all examined it -carefully. - -"1755 is the year," decided the judge, "and 6754 the number of the deed; -but--Wait a minute; I have an idea." - -Out into the garden he hurried, followed by the whole family. With the -hole as a base, he measured and calculated, while the others watched -silently. - -"I have it!" he exclaimed at last. "_W_ means west of the house; _15_ is -the depth of the hole, and _12_ the distance from the edge of the lot." - -"The mystery is solved at last!" exulted Desir. - - -Several weeks later the ownership of the little cabin was formally handed -over to the Wistmores, under the guardianship of Judge Herbine, and their -little fortune duly deposited to their credit, ready for the fall when -Jack was to go to college, and Desir to high school. - - - The End - - - - - Transcriber's Notes - - ---Preserved the copyright notice from the printed edition, although this - book is in the public domain in the country of publication. - ---Silently corrected a few typos (but left nonstandard spelling and - dialect as is). - ---Rearranged front matter to a more-logical streaming order and added a - Table of Contents. - ---In the text versions, delimited text in italics by _underscores_. - ---In the text versions, preceded subscripted numbers by a ^ caret. - - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Finding the Lost Treasure, by Helen M. 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Persons</title> @@ -154,43 +154,7 @@ p.t15,div.t15,.t15 { margin-left:19em;text-indent:-3em; margin-top:0; margin-b </style> </head> <body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Finding the Lost Treasure, by Helen M. Persons - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Finding the Lost Treasure - -Author: Helen M. Persons - -Release Date: October 12, 2013 [EBook #43937] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FINDING THE LOST TREASURE *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43937 ***</div> <div class="img"> <img id="coverpage" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Finding the Lost Treasure" width="500" height="759" /> @@ -6993,380 +6957,6 @@ was to go to college, and Desiré to high school.</p> <li>In the text versions, delimited text in italics by _underscores_.</li> <li>In the text versions, preceded subscripted numbers by a ^ caret.</li></ul> - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Finding the Lost Treasure, by Helen M. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Finding the Lost Treasure - -Author: Helen M. Persons - -Release Date: October 12, 2013 [EBook #43937] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FINDING THE LOST TREASURE *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - _"Oh, it's he!" cried Priscilla._ - - - - - FINDING THE - LOST TREASURE - - - By HELEN M. PERSONS - - - THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY - AKRON, OHIO NEW YORK - - - Copyright MCMXXXIII - By The Saalfield Publishing Company - Printed in U.S.A. - - - - - CONTENTS - - - I A Mysterious Paper 5 - II Desire's Inspirations 11 - III Two Callers 17 - IV Out to Sea 28 - V A Midnight Walk 39 - VI The Pie Social 50 - VII A Fright 60 - VIII A Fight 66 - IX In Camp 72 - X A Night Prowler 82 - XI The Blue-covered Book 87 - XII A Search for Rene 102 - XIII Indians and Strawberries 107 - XIV Two Mishaps 119 - XV The Old Godet House 129 - XVI A New Friend 140 - XVII An Old Enemy 147 - XVIII A Collision 152 - XIX Poor Dolly! 157 - XX Good Samaritans 168 - XXI A Surprise 181 - XXII Caught by Storm 192 - XXIII Shelter 195 - XXIV Back to Yarmouth 205 - XXV Lobster Pots 215 - XXVI Hands Off! 222 - XXVII Jack's Jobs 225 - XXVIII A Find 235 - XXIX W-17^55--15x12--6754 245 - - - - - FINDING THE LOST TREASURE - - - - - CHAPTER I - A MYSTERIOUS PAPER - - -"W-17^55-15x12-6754," read Desire slowly. "What _does_ it mean?" - -"What does what mean, Dissy?" asked her younger sister, who was rolling a -ball across the floor to little Rene. - -"Just some figures on an old paper I found, dear. I must tell Jack about -them. Do you know where he is?" - -"Out there somewhere, I guess," replied the child, with a vague gesture -indicating the front yard. - -Desire flung back her short dark curls and crossed the room to a window -where sturdy geraniums raised their scarlet clusters to the very top of -the panes. It was the custom in that part of Nova Scotia to make a -regular screen of blossoming plants in all front windows, sometimes even -in those of the cellar. Peering between two thick stems, she could see -her older brother sitting on the doorstep, gazing out across St. Mary's -Bay which lay like a blue, blue flag along the shore. - -Crossing the narrow hall and opening the outside door, Desire dropped -down beside the boy and thrust a time-yellowed slip of paper into his -hands. - -"Did you ever see this?" - -"Yes," he replied slowly. "A few days before he died, _notre pere_ went -over the contents of his tin box with me to make sure that I understood -all about the bills, and the mortgage on the farm and--" - -"Mortgage!" exclaimed Desire in shocked tones. "I never knew we had one." - -"I, either, until that day. You see _notre mere_ was sick so long that -all our little savings were used up, and ready money was an absolute -necessity." - -"And what did he tell you about this?" continued the girl, after a -thoughtful pause, running her finger along the line of tantalizing -characters. - -"Nothing very definite. He said it was a memorandum of some kind that had -been handed down in our family for generations. The name of its writer, -and its meaning, have been lost in the past; but each father passed it on -to his eldest son, with a warning to preserve it most carefully, for it -was valuable." - -"And now it belongs to you," concluded Desire, half sadly, half proudly. - -Jack nodded, and for several moments neither spoke. - -John Wistmore, aged 18, Desire, 14, Priscilla, 9, and Rene, 5, were -direct descendants of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins, whose story the -poet Longfellow tells in _The Courtship of Miles Standish_. - -The little town of Sissiboo, an Indian corruption of _Six -Hiboux_[footnote: SIX OWLS.] where they lived, is one of those settled by -the Acadians upon their return to the land of their birth some years -after the expulsion. So closely, so ramblingly are the villages strung -along the shores of St. Mary's Bay on the northwest coast of Nova Scotia -that it is hard to tell where one ends and the next begins. Their -inhabitants live exactly as did their ancestors, speaking French and -preserving with care all the old habits and customs. - -The lives of the children had been simple, happy ones, until the recent -death of their father and mother, hardly three months apart. John -Wistmore, in whose veins flowed the blood of men of culture and ambition, -had been anxious to give his children greater educational advantages than -Sissiboo afforded. Jack, therefore, had been sent to Wolfville to school, -and was now ready for college; while Desire was looking forward to high -school in the autumn. Now all was changed. Without relatives, without -money, and without prospects, they faced the problem of supporting the -two younger children and themselves. - -"Where did you find this?" asked Jack, rousing himself. - -"On the floor in front of the cupboard." - -"It must have slipped from the box when I took out the mortgage. I went -over it with Nicolas Bouchard this morning." - -"Oh, does he hold it?" - -"Yes--and--" - -"He wants his money?" - -Jack nodded. - -"But what can we do? We can't possibly pay him." - -"Nothing, I guess, dear, except let him foreclose." - -"Would we get any money at all, then?" - -"Very little. Not enough to live on, certainly." - -"I wish I knew what these mean," she sighed wistfully, touching the paper -still between her brother's fingers. "If we could only find out, maybe -we'd get enough money to pay Nicolas." - -Jack laughed in spite of his anxiety. "I'm afraid we'd all starve before -they could be interpreted. Too bad, as things have gone, that I didn't -farm as soon as I was old enough--" - -"Don't say that! We'll hope and plan for your college course--" - -"Desire, dear," protested her brother, gently but firmly, "it is -absolutely out of the question, even to think of such a thing." - -"But, Jack, every one should have some special goal in life, as an -incentive if nothing else; and I'm _not_ going to give up planning for -our education. One never knows when good fortune is waiting just around -the next corner to complete one's own efforts." - -"I guess _our_ goal will be to provide food and clothing for the -children. I'm afraid it will be a hard pull for you and me to keep the -family together--" - -"Oh, but we _must_ stay together, Jack," she cried, grasping his arm. - -"As far as I can see," he continued slowly, "the only thing to be done is -to move to Halifax or Yarmouth, where I could get work of some kind. -Should you mind very much?" - -"Whatever you decide, I'll be willing to do," replied the girl bravely. - -"If it will make you any happier," continued Jack, giving her one of his -grave, sweet smiles, "we'll place higher education among our day dreams." - -"If you folks ain't hungry, we are!" announced Priscilla, opening the -door behind them so suddenly that both jumped. - -"You see?" laughed Jack, as he pulled Desire up from the low step. - -"I've just had a wonderful inspiration though," she whispered as they -entered the hall. - - - - - CHAPTER II - DESIRE'S INSPIRATIONS - - -It was a quaint old room in which they settled down after supper had been -eaten and the children put to bed. The woodwork was painted a deep blue, -known as Acadian blue, and the floor was bare except for a couple of oval -braided rugs in which the same color predominated. In the center of the -room stood a hutch table, one that can be changed to a chest by reversing -its hinged top. Around it were half a dozen high-backed chairs, their -seats made of strips of deerskin woven in and out like the paper mats -made in kindergartens. A spinning wheel stood beside the fireplace, -before which sat Jack and Desire, with no other light except that of the -dancing flames. - -"Now Dissy," said the boy, laying his hand affectionately over hers, -"let's have the inspiration." - -"It's this: that we stay on here as tenants. Nicolas can't live in this -house and his own too!" - -"But one trouble with that plan is that Nicolas wants to sell the -property and get his money out." - -"Who'd buy it? Nobody ever moves into or out of this town." - -"He has a customer now. Andre Comeau's prospective father-in-law wants to -move here after the wedding. He can't bear to have Marie live so far away -from him. Sorry to spoil your inspiration, dear." - -Desire made no reply; for she was very close to tears, and she hated to -act like a baby instead of the good pal her brother had always called -her. - -"We're going to work on Andre's house again tomorrow," observed Jack -presently. "The roof's on, the floors laid, and by Saturday we should be -able to start the barn." - -In New Acadia all the relatives, friends, and neighbors of a man who is -about to be married join in building a new house for him. They clear a -piece of land, haul materials, and labor for weeks on the construction of -house, barn, and sheds. When these are finished, the garden is prepared, -the fields ploughed and planted, and the buildings furnished. The -bride-to-be contributes linens, and her people stock the farm with -animals. Some morning the whole countryside walks to church to see the -couple wedded, returning to the home of the bride's mother, where the day -is spent in feasting and merry-making. If the groom can afford it, he -then takes his bride to Yarmouth to spend a few days at the Grand Hotel. -That is the greatest ambition of every rustic pair. - -Jack talked on quietly about the house raising until he saw that his -sister had recovered her composure. She was smiling bravely as he kissed -her goodnight, but her sleep was broken by feverish dreams of the worn -slip of paper, and a long journey. - -When Jack returned at dusk the following evening, after a long day's work -on Andre's house, he found Desire waiting for him with sparkling eyes, -flushed face, and such an air of repressed excitement that he wondered -what had happened while he had been away. - -It was necessary to wait until the children had gone to bed before he -could question her. They had decided it was best to leave the younger -ones out of discussions of ways and means. "Let them be carefree as long -as they can," Desire had urged, and Jack had agreed. - -"Who do you suppose was here today?" she asked, perching on the arm of -his chair as soon as they were alone. - -"Never could guess," he replied, slipping his arm around her. - -"Old Simon." - -"Starting his spring trip early, isn't he?" - -"Rather. I made him stay to dinner, and we talked and talked." - -Simon drove one of the big covered wagons which are common in Nova -Scotia. They have double doors at the back, and are filled with all kinds -of groceries and notions, a regular general store on wheels. Many parts -of the country are so thinly settled that it would be impossible for -people to obtain certain supplies without the existence of these -interesting wagons. Some of them specialize in certain things, like -ready-to-wear clothing, but most of them carry a little of everything. - -"Did he have anything interesting to tell?" - -The proprietors of these odd stores act as relayers of bits of news, as -well as merchandise, and often bear messages from one part of the -peninsula to the other. - -"Why--why--I don't--really know," faltered Desire. - -"Don't know?" repeated her brother, turning to look at her in surprise; -for although she dearly loved her home, she was always eager for contacts -with the outside world. - -"Well, you see, we talked business all the time." - -"Business?" he queried, more and more puzzled. - -"Yes. Oh, Jack, let _us_ get a wagon!" - -"Desire, you must be crazy!" he exclaimed, startled out of his usual calm -of manner and speech. - -"No, I'm not really. Just listen a minute," telling off the points on her -fingers. "We'd be all together. We'd be earning an honest living, and -having a lot of fun, and seeing places; and it's healthful to be -out-of-doors, a lot; and--" she paused for breath. - -"But, Dissy," protested her brother gently, "we couldn't live in the -wagon." - -"Oh, yes, we could." - -"All of us? Day and night?" asked the boy, troubled at this odd notion -that had evidently so strongly taken possession of his hitherto sensible -sister. - -"We could have a little tent for you and Rene at night. Prissy and I -could easily sleep in the wagon. It would be no different from camping, -Jack; and lots of people do that." - -"What about winter?" - -"Well, of course we couldn't live that way after it gets real cold, but -winter's a long way off. Maybe we'd make enough by then to rent a couple -of rooms in some central place and take just day trips. Or perhaps we'll -find out what that paper means, and have--who knows what?" - -Jack shook his head. - -"Seriously, Desire, I don't see how we can make a living from a traveling -store. Simon does, of course; but there is only one of him, and four of -us." - -"But," resumed the girl, after a short pause, "we have no place to go if -Nicolas forecloses; we don't know how else to support ourselves; so -wouldn't traveling around the country all summer give us a chance to see -all kinds of places and people? Mightn't we get in touch with -possibilities for the future? Our living expenses would be small; for we -could gather wild things to eat--" - -"A few bears, or owls, I suppose," laughed her brother. - -"No, silly! Berries, and--and grapes, and things." - -"Heavy diet." - -"And fish," concluded Desire triumphantly. - -"Another thing," continued Jack, resuming his gravity, "you wouldn't want -to spoil old Simon's route by taking some of his customers." - -"Of course not, but there certainly must be sections where there is no -traveling store. We could take one of those." - -Just then a heavy knock on the front door startled them both. - - - - - CHAPTER III - TWO CALLERS - - -When Jack opened the door, Nicolas Bouchard stood frowning before him. - -"Oh, come in, Nicolas," he urged hospitably. - -"Can't; it's too late; but saw you were still up, and wanted to tell you -that I just had a message from Yves and he wants to take possession of -this place at once. Think you could be out by this day week?" - -"How do you know we aren't going to pay off the mortgage?" flashed -Desire, annoyed at the man for taking things so for granted. - -Nicolas gave a grunt. "What with? Don't get mad. We all know you haven't -got any money. Glad to have you pay if you could, for you've always been -good neighbors; but a man's got to take care of his pennies. They're not -so plentiful now as they were when I took that mortgage." - -"Certainly, Nicolas," said Jack, quietly laying a restraining hand on -Desire's arm. "You may have the house a week from today." - -The man lingered rather awkwardly. - -"Felice said she'd be willing to keep the two little ones, so as you and -this girl could go to Boston, and find work--" - -Desire started to speak, but Jack's hold on her arm tightened. - -"They pay good wages there, I'm told," the man went on. "Or, if you could -find some place for the rest, Yves said he'd be glad to have you stay on -here and help him farm." - -"We are indeed grateful for the kindness of our friends," replied Jack; -"but we have decided that we must all stick together, some way." - -Nicolas turned without another word, and strode down the shell-bordered -path to the road, and Jack closed the door. In silent dismay the brother -and sister faced each other; then the girl's courage reasserted itself. - -"Never mind, dear," she cried, putting both arms around him. "We'll -surely find something. As _notre mere_ used to say so often, 'let's sleep -on it.' Things always look lots brighter in the morning." - -"You're such a good little pal, Dissy. We'll say an extra prayer tonight -for help, and tomorrow we'll try to decide upon something definite." - -Late the following afternoon Desire stood on the doorstep, watching -Priscilla hopping down the dusty road to see a little friend. Early that -morning Jack had gone to Meteghan to settle up affairs with Nicolas and -Yves, and, to please Desire, to price an outfit for a traveling store. -The sisters, greatly hindered by Rene, had spent the day going over -keepsakes and household belongings of all kinds, trying to decide what -they would keep and what they must dispose of. - -"Are you going to sell _all_ our things, Dissy? Even Mother's chair?" - -"I'm afraid so, dear. You see we can't carry furniture around with us -when we don't know where or how we are going to live. You have her little -silver locket for a keepsake, and I have her prayerbook. We really don't -need anything to remember her by." - -"No; and Jack has _notre pere's_ watch. But, oh, I--I wish we weren't -going. I'm sort of afraid!" - -"Afraid!" chided Desire, although her own heart was filled with the -nameless dread which often accompanies a contemplated change. "With dear -old Jack to take care of us? I'm ashamed of you! We're going to have just -lots of good times together. Try not to let Jack know that you mind. -Remember, Prissy, it's far harder on him to be obliged to give up all his -own plans and hopes to take care of us, than it is for you and me to make -some little sacrifices and pretend we like them." - -"Ye-es," agreed Priscilla slowly, trying to measure up to what was -expected of her. - -"What's the matter with Prissy?" demanded Rene, deserting his play and -coming to stand in front of them. "Has she got a pain?" - -"A kind of one," replied Desire gently, "but it's getting better now; so -go on with what you were doing, darling." - -The child returned to the corner of the room where he had been making a -wagon from spools and a pasteboard box, while Priscilla murmured, "I'll -try not to fuss about things." - -"That's a brave girl," commended her sister. "Now, you've been in all -day; so suppose you run down to see Felice for a little while. Maybe -you'll meet Jack on the way home, but don't wait for him later than half -past five." - -The little girl was almost out of sight when Desire's attention was -diverted to the opposite direction by the sound of an automobile, -apparently coming from Digby. Motor cars were still sufficiently new in -Nova Scotia to excuse her waiting to see it pass. Only the well-to-do -people owned them, and she had never even had a ride in one. There were -rumors that possibly that very summer a bus line would be run to the -various interesting parts of the country for the convenience of tourists -from the States. Then she might be able to ride a little way, if it -didn't cost too much, just to see how it felt. - -A ramshackle Ford jerked to a sudden halt right in front of the house, -and a tall, thin man backed carefully out from the driver's seat and -ambled up the path toward her. - -"Mademoiselle Wistmore?" he inquired, bashfully removing his blue woolen -cap and thrusting it under his arm. - -"_Oui_, Monsieur." - -"My name's Pierre Boisdeau," he drawled, taking the cap out from under -his arm and rolling it nervously between his two big hands. - -"Yes?" replied Desire encouragingly. - -"I have a message for you," pushing the long-suffering cap into his -pocket as he spoke. - -The girl seated herself upon the broad stone step, and with a gesture -invited the stranger to do the same; but he merely placed one foot upon -the scraper beside the step, and began in halting embarrassed fashion to -deliver his message. - -After he had gone, Desire fairly raced through preparations for supper; -then went to look up the road again. If Jack would only come! Rene -trudged around from the back of the house where he had been playing, and -announced that he was hungry; so she took him in, gave him his supper, -and put him to bed. Before she had finished, Priscilla returned. - -"Jack must have been delayed somewhere. We might as well eat, and I'll -get his supper when he comes," decided the older girl. - -While they ate, Priscilla chattered on and on about her playmates, while -Desire said "Yes" and "No" rather absent-mindedly. Where could Jack be? - -"I'm going to bed," yawned Priscilla, about seven o'clock. "We ran so -much, I'm tired." - -"All right, dear." - -"Where are _you_ going?" inquired the child, stopping on the stairs as -she caught sight of her sister throwing a shawl around her shoulders. - -"Only out to the road to watch for Jack." - -"You won't go any farther, and leave us?" - -"Of course not. Have I ever left you alone at night?" - -"No-o-o." - -"Run along to bed then," reaching up to pat the brown hand which grasped -the stair railing. - -What was keeping Jack? - -For half an hour Desire shifted her weight from one foot to the other, -watching the darkening road. As soon as she spied his tall form, she ran -to meet him and fell into step at his side. - -"You must be nearly starved, dear," she began. - -"Not a bit. I happened to be at Henry Simard's at about supper time, and -nothing would do but I must stay and eat with them. I hope you weren't -worried," looking down at Desire anxiously. - -"I tried not to be; for I thought perhaps you had gone farther than you -intended." - -"Nicolas was ready when I got to his house, and Yves met us in Meteghan; -so we fixed everything up successfully. The money which came to us I put -into the bank for emergencies; for--I'm awfully sorry to have to tell -you--there isn't enough to buy and stock up a wagon, even if we decided -to adopt that way of living. So I looked around a bit for some kind of a -job." - -"Did you find anything?" asked Desire, a bit breathlessly. - -"Not yet; but I shall. We could--" - -"Now that I've heard your news," interrupted the girl eagerly, "just -listen to mine. A man named Pierre Boisdeau came in an auto from Digby -this afternoon with a message for us. Oh, Jack, the most wonderful thing! -When he took some salmon down to Yarmouth the other day, they told him at -the docks that old Simon had sent word to be sure to have anyone from up -this way go to see him. So he went, and found the poor old man all -crippled up with rheumatism. He will have to stay at his daughter's house -all summer. So he won't be able to peddle. And Jack! He wants _us_ to -take his wagon! Isn't that just glorious? He said that if we won't take -it and keep the route for him until he is well again, he'll likely have -to sell out. He doesn't want to do that. Isn't it just providential? This -will give us a chance to try the experiment without much expense, and -will provide for us for several months." - -"We are indeed very fortunate," replied Jack gravely. "We could hardly -take such an offer from anyone else, but Simon is such an old friend that -he would feel hurt if we refused. As you say, it will give us a chance to -find a place to settle in permanently. In the meantime, we shall be -holding the route for him." - -They entered the house and dropped down beside the table, still covered -with dishes, to finish their talk. - -"Simon wants an answer as soon as possible; for he hates to think of all -his customers being deserted for so long. You'd better write to him -tonight." - -"I wonder," said Jack slowly, after a few minutes' consideration during -which his sister scanned his serious, thoughtful face rather anxiously. -"I wonder if it would be better for me to go down alone to get the wagon -and pick you up on the way back; or, for all of us to ride to Yarmouth on -the train, and start the route from there. Which should you like better?" - -"To go to Yarmouth, of course; but won't it cost a lot more?" - -"Some, but--" - -"I can prepare enough food for us to carry two meals, and there must be -some place where we could camp just outside of the city." - -"Anxious to get started?" - -"Yes. I hate goodbyes. I'd like to steal out right away, without anybody -knowing it." - -"I'm afraid you can't leave our good neighbors like that. They have known -us all our lives; and think how hurt they would feel." - -"I suppose so; but they all want us to do something different, and -criticize _notre pere_ for trying to educate us." - -"They don't understand, but they mean well and have been very kind to -us." - -"I know, and I do appreciate it; but--couldn't we start soon?" - -"Day after tomorrow, I should think. I'm afraid one trunk and the box in -the store room will be all we can take on our travels. Shall you be able -to manage that way?" - -"I'll try to; but what shall I do with the furniture?" - -"Give it away, or leave it for Yves. We'll just have to stifle all -sentimental affection for our household gods." - -"We'll have a house of our own again some day, and get new household -gods." - - * * * * * * * * - -Intense excitement prevailed in the Clare District on Wednesday -afternoon. Little groups of women and children were hurrying along the -dusty road. On every doorstep a man or woman too old, or a child too -young, to join the procession was sitting waiting to wave farewell to the -travelers when they passed. These good people were much disturbed at the -departure of the little Wistmore family. It was almost unheard of for any -of the Acadian families voluntarily to leave that peaceful section and -wander among strangers in unfamiliar parts of the country. Occasionally, -within their knowledge, an individual or two had decided to seek his -fortune elsewhere; but never before a whole family, and the Wistmores at -that! The neighbors had done their best, one and all, to dissuade the -children from following such a course; but since their words of advice -and warning had proved of no avail, they were now on their way, bearing -little gifts of good will, to bid the adventurers Godspeed. - -When Jack drove up with Andre Comeau who was going to take them to the -station, three miles away, the yard was filled with little groups of -neighbors; and inside the house still others were saying their reluctant -farewells. Shaking the hands held out to him on every side, Jack gently -pushed through the crowd; and, with Andre's help, loaded their one trunk -and box onto the wagon. Then he detached Desire and the children from the -weeping women, and helped them up to the seats which had been made of -rough planks laid across the wagon box. The crowd drew back, and amid a -chorus of "_Bon jour!_" "_Au revoir!_" the travelers started on their -journey. - -Desire and Priscilla, with tears rolling down their faces, waved as long -as they could see their old friends, and answered salutations from many a -doorstep; but Jack, with set face, did not look back at all. Even Rene -was unusually quiet, hardly knowing what to make of it all. The train -pulled into the tiny station just as they reached the platform, and there -was no time to be lost. Before the children, to whom a railroad was a -novelty, had time hardly to glance at the long train, its freight cars -placed ahead of the coaches, as is common in Nova Scotia, they were -hustled on board, the bell rang, and they were off. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - OUT TO SEA - - -The little party was very quiet during the ride, which took two hours. -The older members were occupied with their own thoughts, very serious -ones, and the young pair engrossed in looking out of the window. - -Rolling rocky land; woods where sombre and stately pines and firs made a -fitting background for the graceful slender white trunks of the birch -trees; miles of ferns close to the tracks; tiny stations; glimpses, -between the trees, of rustic dwellings and a few more pretentious summer -homes; flashes of wild flowers; rivers, down whose red mud banks still -trickled threads of water, although the tide was out; grey farm -buildings; all flowed rapidly past. Then--Yarmouth! - -"Stay right here," directed Jack, after they had alighted from the train, -leading the way to a pile of crates on the platform, "until I check our -baggage. I thought we'd keep only the night bag, and pick up the rest -after we get the wagon." - -Before the children had tired of watching the passers-by, he was back -again, and they walked slowly toward the centre of the city, not pausing -until they reached the tiny park facing the wharf. - -"You and the children had better sit here while I go to find out the -location of the street where Simon's daughter lives." - -"Is that the _Grand Hotel_, where Andre brought Marie after the wedding?" -asked Priscilla, looking up in admiration at the big building across the -street. - -"Yes," replied Jack. - -"Just think!" cried the child ecstatically, giving a little skip, "I'm -really looking at the place I've heard of so many times." - -"Well, your education has begun," said Jack. "See that you make the most -of all your opportunities." - -"What a very funny place," observed Priscilla, looking around her. - -"It is a park--" began Desire. - -"But look at those," interrupted the younger girl, pointing to several -graves. - -"It must have been used as a cemetery first," replied her sister, walking -over to read the inscription on a nearby stone, and closely followed by -Priscilla. That moment or two gave Rene the chance for which he had -longed, and he was off down the road and onto the wharf. Desire turned to -look for him just in time to see a little blue-clad figure dart across -the gang plank of the Boston steamer. - -"Rene!" she called in desperation, racing toward the dock. - -The tug which helped the steamer pull away from her slip was already out -in the harbor; bells were ringing, the whistle was blowing, dock hands -were running about. Across the gang plank ran Desire and Priscilla just -before it was withdrawn, and the ropes were cast off. As they looked -helplessly among the crowds of people and piles of luggage for the -truant, the tug was steadily pulling on the long tow line, and heading -the steamer out to sea. - -"My--little--brother," gasped Desire to an officer. - -"What about him?" demanded the busy man curtly. - -His brisk manner was just enough, in her distressed state of mind, to -reduce the girl immediately to tears. - -"He got away from us and is on this boat. That's what's about him," said -Priscilla, coming at once to her sister's aid. "Don't mind, Dissy; we'll -find him." - -An interested spectator of the scene, a tall, energetic type of woman, -now joined the group. - -"Let me help you look for him, my dear," she said briskly, putting a hand -on Desire's shoulder. "No need to worry; he's certainly safe." - -"But," choked the girl, now fully conscious that the boat was moving, "we -can't go on. My big brother is waiting for us in Yarmouth! What--what -will he think? What will he _do_?" She wrung her hands distractedly. - -"You could go back on the tug, if the boy's found before she leaves us," -suggested the officer, coming to the rescue as soon as he fully -understood the situation. - -"There he is!" shrieked Priscilla, darting to the side of the boat where -Rene was climbing up on a suitcase to look over the railing at the water. -Grasping him firmly by the tail of his jacket, she dragged him backward -across the salon, and brought him to a violent sitting posture at -Desire's feet. - -Meanwhile the officer had ordered the tug to be signalled, and she now -came alongside. No time for anything but hurried thanks to their -benefactors as the girls and Rene were helped over the side and onto the -tug. Noisily, fussily, she steamed away from the big boat, over whose -rails hung the interested passengers, and headed to Yarmouth. - -"What ever made you do such a naughty thing, Rene?" asked Desire, who had -recovered her outward composure. - -"Wanted to see big boat," replied the child, not at all impressed by the -gravity of his offense. Useless to say more now. - -"The young feller needs a good whaling," growled the pilot of the tug, as -he brought his boat alongside the wharf. - -"There's Jack!" cried Desire, in great relief, catching sight of him -striding rapidly along the street above the docks. "Jump out, quickly, -Prissy! Run up and tell him we're all right." - -The child sprang to the dock and ran up the incline at top speed, while -Desire lingered to thank the pilot. - -"Glad to do it, ma'moiselle. Better keep hold of him hereafter, though." - -"I shall," she promised, with a reproachful look at Rene. - -The reunited family met in the little park, and sat down on one of the -benches to readjust themselves. - -"I'm so sorry, dear," said Desire, putting her hand in Jack's. "You must -have been frantic." - -"I couldn't believe my eyes when I came back and found that you had all -disappeared. An old dock hand who saw me looking around said he'd seen a -boy, followed by two girls, go aboard the 'Yarmouth.' So, knowing Rene, I -came to a close solution of the mystery. I was just going up to the -steamship office to see what could be done when Prissy grabbed me from -behind. - -"Rene," he went on, placing the child directly in front of him so he -could look into his eyes, "you have been a _very_ bad boy; and only the -fact that we are out here in a public place prevents me from putting you -right across my knee, and giving you something to make you remember your -naughtiness. There is to be _no_ more running away. Do you understand -me?" - -The little boy, wiggling slightly as if he already felt the punishment, -nodded gravely, impressed by his brother's stern face and voice. - -"What did you find out, Jack?" asked Desire, when he had released Rene. - -"They told me," he began, turning toward her, "that Simon lives on a -street not so very far from here. I thought if you're ready, we might -walk down there; and perhaps he'd be able to tell us where we could spend -the night." - -"Aren't we going to the hotel?" inquired Priscilla, her face clouding. - -"No; we haven't enough money to stay there," answered Jack, starting -ahead with Rene. - -The little girl pouted, and shed a few quiet tears to which Desire wisely -paid no attention. Slowly they strolled along the main street, pausing to -look in the window of a stationer's where the books and English magazines -attracted Desire's eye; stopping to gaze admiringly at the jewelry, -china, pictures, and souvenirs attractively displayed in another shop. - -"Just see the lovely purple stones!" cried Priscilla, who had recovered -her good humor. - -"Those are amethysts," explained Jack. "They come from Cape Blomidon," -adding to Desire, "I heard that another vein split open this year." - -"Isn't it strange that the intense cold nearly every winter brings more -of the beautiful jewels to light?" commented the girl. - -"A kind of rough treatment which results in profit and beauty," mused -Jack. - -"Yes; and, Jack, maybe it will be like that with us. Things are hard now, -but perhaps soon we'll find--" - -"Some am'thysts?" asked Rene excitedly. - -"Perhaps," replied Jack, giving Desire one of his rare sweet smiles. - -The stores had been left behind now, and on every hand were green -tree-shaded lawns enclosed by carefully trimmed hedges of English -hawthorne in full bloom. Desire exclaimed with rapture over their beauty, -and the size and style of the houses beyond them. On a little side street -they paused before a small cottage, half hidden in vines. - -"This must be the place," decided Jack, opening the white gate which -squeaked loudly as if protesting against the entrance of strangers. The -sound brought a woman to the door. - -"I'm looking for Simon Denard," began Jack. - -"You've come to the right place to find him," she replied, smiling, as -she came toward them and put out one hand to pat Rene's head. "Simon -Denard is my father. I'm Mrs. Chaisson. Come right in." - -In the small living room to which she led them sat old Simon, propped up -with pillows in a big chair. - -"So here ye are," was his greeting, as the children dashed across the -floor to his side. - -"Be careful," warned Desire quickly. "You might hurt Simon." - -"Let 'em be! Let 'em be!" protested the old man, beaming upon his -visitors. "What's an extra stab of pain, or two?" - -"Father has told me about you people so often that I feel as if I knew -you," Mrs. Chaisson was saying to Jack, after he introduced Desire and -the children; "so I want you to stay here as long as you're in town; that -is, if you haven't made other plans." - -The expression on her kindly face indicated clearly that she hoped they -hadn't. - -"But there are so many of us," objected the boy. - -"It's perfectly all right, if you don't mind kind of camping out a bit." - -"That's what we expect to do all summer," said Desire; "and we'll surely -be glad of any arrangements you make for us, as long as we don't put you -about too much. You are very kind indeed." - -"Then it's all settled," said their hostess briskly; "I'll get supper -right away; for you must be hungry." - -The cottage boasted of a living room, dining room, kitchen, and two small -bedrooms; so stowing away four extra people was something of an -achievement. Immediately after they had finished the simple but delicious -meal that Mrs. Chaisson prepared, Desire shyly offered to help her -hostess in preparation for the night. - -"Thank you, my dear; if you will clear up the supper table and do the -dishes while I hunt up some bedding, it will be very nice." - -"Please don't trouble yourself about me," said Jack, detaining Mrs. -Chaisson on one of her many trips through the room; "I can sleep on the -porch, or anywhere." - -"I'll fix some place for you," she replied, putting her hand on his -shoulder. "Just go on with your business arrangements." He and Simon had -been discussing the route, customers, stock, and other details. - -Like so many childless women, Mrs. Chaisson had a passion for children; -and the thoughts of this little family starting out so bravely in search -of a living moved her strongly. - -"How I wish I could adopt them all," she thought as she hurried on. "If -only we had a little more money; but then, there's Father, too, now; it -couldn't be done, even with the help of that fine big boy. I don't wonder -that his sister almost worships him." - -Nine o'clock saw them all settled for a good sleep. Old Simon in his own -room, Mrs. Chaisson sharing hers with Priscilla, Desire on the couch in -the living room, and Jack and Rene in hammocks on the screened porch. It -had been decided before they slept that as soon as breakfast was over, -they would start out upon the great adventure. - -"There is no use in hanging around here," Jack had said to Desire in -their goodnight talk on the front steps. - -"Wouldn't it seem rather odd, or ungrateful, to hurry away so soon?" -suggested the girl. "Mrs. Chaisson has been so very good to us." - -"I know that," replied Jack quickly; "and for that very reason, we can't -take advantage of her. Then too, the longer we stay, the harder it will -be for both sides when we do go." - -The boy had immediately sensed the good woman's distress over their -undertaking, and felt that the kindest act would be their immediate -departure. - -"Of course I realize," he went on, "that it's nice for you to have a -little rest, and a woman's companionship; but--" - -"Don't worry over me, Jack dear," replied his sister, slipping her hand -into his. "Whatever you decide is all right. So we'll all be ready early -in the morning." - -"You're a good little soul," answered Jack, with an affectionate -goodnight kiss. "I don't know what I'd do without you." - -Completely happy at his words of commendation, Desire entered the house; -and soon everyone was fast asleep. Shortly after midnight, she was -suddenly awakened by the sound of a screen door closing, and steps -crossing the porch. - - - - - CHAPTER V - A MIDNIGHT WALK - - -The thought that perhaps Jack was ill immediately flashed across Desire's -mind. Throwing on a kimono, she hurried to the door. Down the walk which -led to the street, through the gate which had been left part way open, -and along the road walked--Priscilla! - -No mistaking, even in the shadows, that plump childish form. Where was -she going? Without stopping to do more than catch up the child's coat, -and her own which hung beside the door, Desire followed her. Not wanting -to call lest she should waken the neighborhood, she had to run to catch -up to her sister; for Priscilla had quickened her pace as she approached -the end of the road and turned onto the main street. Coming abreast with -her at last, Desire took the child's arm; and, stooping to look at her -face, was startled to see that her eyes, though open, were unseeing. -Shaking with fright, Desire asked softly-- - -"Where are you going, Prissy?" - -"To the Grand Hotel," was the prompt and surprising reply. - -"But, darling," protested the older girl, "it's night, and everybody is -in bed and asleep." - -"I'm going to sleep there. I've always wanted to." - -Then Desire realized in a flash that Priscilla must be walking in her -sleep. She remembered now that Mother had once spoken of her doing it -when she was a very little girl and had become greatly excited over -something. The splendors of the hotel must have been on her mind as she -went to sleep. - -How to get the child back without arousing her was a problem; she had -heard that sleepwalkers must not be wakened suddenly. - -"Well, dear," she said quietly, "it's getting cool. Let's put on our -coats before we go any farther." - -Priscilla stopped obediently, and, after both girls had put on their -coats, Desire took the little girl's arm and turned her gently around, -beginning a low monologue as she did so. - -"You're going in the wrong direction; we must go this way. Soon we'll be -there. Just down this street. We must be very quiet so no one will hear -us. Step softly. Quiet!" - -Leading, coaxing, hushing, Desire finally got her sister into the house -without waking any one, and settled her upon the living-room couch; for -she dared not trust her out of her sight again that night. - -"Now you're all right," she whispered, removing the child's coat. "Isn't -that a lovely bed?" - -"Yes," breathed Priscilla, curling up under the blanket. - -Noiselessly Desire drew a big rocking chair close to her sister's side, -propped her feet up on the edge of the couch, and with the two coats -spread over her, prepared to spend the rest of the night. No one must -know of this escapade. Mrs. Chaisson would be distressed at not having -awakened; Jack would be disturbed at having slept so soundly, and perhaps -disapprove of her not calling him; and old Simon would be troubled by the -idea of what might have happened. Also, Priscilla would probably be made -nervous. Too excited to sleep, she dozed, dreamed, started, and wakened -again until the first far-away call of a robin pierced the faint grey -dawn. Immediately one in a tree beside the cottage answered; then a cock -crowed; a song sparrow began its short sweet strains; and the day of the -great adventure had really begun. - -"Prissy," she whispered, a little later, bending over the child. - -The blue eyes opened lazily. - -"Let's get dressed, Prissy, and surprise Mrs. Chaisson by having the -table set and things started before she wakens." - -"All right," agreed the little girl, sitting up; "but--but--how did I get -here?" - -"You were rather restless; so I brought you out here with me--" began -Desire. - -"And you slept in the chair! Oh, you must be _so_ tired, Dissy. Why did -you do it?" - -"I'm all right, dear. Never mind about it. Don't say anything of it to -_any one_!" - -"Why?" asked Priscilla, wondering at her sister's earnestness. - -"Because Jack might be afraid I was too tired to start out today, and--" - -"Oh, are we really going this morning?" demanded Priscilla, her mind -immediately occupied with the exciting prospect. - -"Yes; and it's going to be a glorious day." - -The sound of their voices roused the others; and while breakfast was -being prepared, and the house set in order--for Desire would not leave -their hostess any extra work--Jack got the team and wagon ready for -departure. At nine o'clock, after reluctant and affectionate farewells -had been exchanged, Jack gathered up the reins. Beside him sat Desire, -and directly back of them on little stools were Priscilla and Rene. - -"Now, remember," repeated Mrs. Chaisson, handing a lunch basket to -Desire, "that this is your home whenever you are in Yarmouth, or any -other time you need one. And whenever you can, let me hear how you're -getting on. We'll be thinking of you all the time." - -"Thank you," said Desire, kissing Mrs. Chaisson affectionately, and -adding for the tenth time--"You've been so very good to us." - -"We shall never forget it," said Jack, tightening the reins; and Dolly -and Dapple, moving away from the gate, put an end to the farewells. - -No one saw, hidden away among the maple saplings, scrub pine, and -underbrush which covered the field beside the house, the bulky figure of -a man. Neither did they hear softly muttered words of anger and revenge. - -After they had left Yarmouth behind and were jogging along the road back -over the same route they had covered on the train the day before, Desire -turned sidewise in the seat to inspect once more the interior of their -"store." At the back was their trunk, and next to it their box; and on -either side, reaching to the very top of the wagon, shelves tightly -packed with jars, cans, rolls of material. The small tent which they had -bought on their way out of town was laid along the floor at one side. - -"I must get acquainted with all the stock," she observed; "so I'll be -able quickly to find what people want." - -"The first time we stop, you can look things over," replied Jack. "You'd -lose your balance and be rolling out if you tried to do it while we're -moving." - -The younger ones laughed hilariously. They were in high spirits now, and -even Jack felt a thrill of excitement under his sober, staid manner. - -Up and down the long hills they drove, past numberless lakes and ponds, -in and out of woods sweet with the odor of sun-warmed pine, and across -rivers whose red mud flats made a vivid splash of color on the landscape. - -"So many, many little bodies of water," murmured Desire. - -"The ground is so uneven," explained Jack, "that the water settles and -forms lakes." - -"Why are the river banks so wide, and so very muddy?" asked Priscilla, -leaning on the back of the seat. - -"Out there," answered Jack, waving his arm toward the West, "is the Bay -of Fundy, a big, windy, rough body of water, an arm of the Atlantic -Ocean. This bay has huge tides, rising in some places to a height of -fifty or seventy feet. When the tide is high, the water rushes into all -the rivers on this side of the country and fills them to overflowing; -then all these banks are covered up. The tide comes twice a day; so you -see the flats have no time to dry out." - -Through Brazil, Lake Annes, and Hectanooga they had passed without -stopping, and then the children began to get hungry. Jack drew up to the -side of the road in the open country, and stopped in the shade of a huge -oak tree. There they ate the lunch which Mrs. Chaisson had put up for -them, and rested a while, breathing in deep breaths of clover-scented -air. - -"See the chipmunk, Rene," said Jack, pointing to a little animal who was -regarding them doubtfully from the trunk of a nearby tree. "See the -stripes along his back? Well, once upon a time, many years ago, a -wonderful being called Glooscap lived up on Cape Blomidon. He was half -god and half man, and tried to make Nova Scotia a very happy, safe place -to live in. But there were wicked witches who lived here also, and they -wanted to do all kinds of harm. The strongest of them was called Gamona, -and any animal who was caught by her was killed or shut up in some cave -or hole. One day little Charlie Chipmunk disobeyed his mother and went -too far away from home. Suddenly, while he was nibbling at a most -delicious nut, he felt himself picked up in terrible sharp claws. What -was it his mother had told him to do if he ever got into danger? Alas! He -couldn't remember, and the creature, at whose face he dared not look, was -carrying him away so, so fast! Some name he should call. Whose name? Like -the lightning which sometimes made their hollow-tree home bright as day, -it flashed into his mind. - -"'Glooscap!' he squeaked. - -"Such a tiny, trembling cry reached nowhere at all in that great big -forest, yet Glooscap heard it and came to help the little fellow. - -"'Let my child go!' he ordered, in a voice which, though not very loud, -seemed to fill the whole land with its power. - -"Gamona ground her teeth with anger. She knew she must obey, yet how she -hated to let such a nice plump chipmunk go. Slowly she opened her hand -just a little bit, then a little bit more; but the space was not quite -wide enough for fat little Charlie. Her long sharp claws scraped his back -as he wiggled out, and made long dark scratches. Ever since that day the -chipmunk has worn those stripes down the middle of his back." - -"I c'n see 'em jes' as plain," observed Rene. - -"Come on," proposed Priscilla, "see if he'll eat these crusts." - -"Shouldn't we have stopped at some of the places we passed?" ventured -Desire, hesitatingly. She did not want to seem critical of Jack. - -"Simon had no names on his list before Saulnierville; and I thought he -probably knew the ropes better than we." - -"Shan't we take on any new customers, then?" Desire asked anxiously. She -was so eager to make a huge success of this strange business. - -"Surely, if we can; but the places we passed are so close to Yarmouth -that I felt the city would get all their trade," replied Jack, taking the -huge red clover top that Rene had presented him, and sticking it in -Desire's black curls. "I hope to get to Church Point in the morning." - -"Then we'd better get started now," decided Desire, getting up and -shaking off the grass and leaves which the children had thrown upon her -in their play. - -None of them were accustomed to constant riding, and the afternoon seemed -very long. The novelty of the situation and the scenery had worn off, and -they were acutely conscious of cramped muscles. - -"Can't I get out and walk for a while?" asked Priscilla, as they -approached Meteghan. - -"I'd thought we'd stop up here on the main street for a while to see if -anyone wants to buy anything," said Jack, in reply to Desire's -questioning look; "so if you will follow us _carefully_, you may get out -here. But be sure to keep us in close sight, and don't go wandering off." - -He stopped the horses, and Priscilla scrambled out amid clamors of Rene -to go with her. - -"No, Renny," said Desire, "you come and ride in front between Jack and -me. Won't that be fun?" pulling him across the back of the seat. But he -continued to fret and cry until Jack said sternly: - -"Rene, we've had enough of that. Stop it at once or go into the back of -the wagon by yourself. You're too big a boy to act like a baby." - -The child looked at his brother, and quickly recognizing the -determination and force in the serious gaze bent upon him, set about -controlling himself. Jack evidently meant business when he spoke in that -tone. In their anxiety to compose Rene before they entered the town -proper, they temporarily forgot about Priscilla. Like a flash, Desire -turned to look back. - -"Jack!" she gasped, "I don't see Prissy!" - -The boy stopped the horses at once, and for a moment scanned the empty -road in consternation. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - THE PIE SOCIAL - - -Turning the team, they started back. Dapple and Dolly lagged along, heads -down; they were tired, and it was close to supper time. - -Jack and Desire peered into the bushes and trees on either side of the -road for a glimpse of a red coat. Around a bend, among the trees far back -from the road, they finally saw what they sought. Stopping the wagon, -they watched for a moment to see what she was doing. Intently, apparently -without thought of anything else, she was stealthily following a small -black and white animal. Before they could shout a warning, she suddenly -darted forward and seized the little creature. Out of her hands it -twisted, filling the air with a strong, unpleasant odor; then it -disappeared into the dense woods. - -"Oh!" groaned Jack. - -"Priscilla!" called Desire sharply. - -The child looked up, and began coming toward them. - -"Stand right where you are," directed Jack, when she reached the edge of -the clearing. "Don't come any nearer. What on earth possessed you to -meddle with a wood pussy?" - -"I--I thought it was a kitten," faltered the little girl, thoroughly -frightened. - -"If you'd followed us closely, as Jack told you, you wouldn't have gotten -into trouble," said Desire severely. "What can we do with her, Jack?" - -"I'll get a pail of water from that pond, while you find fresh clothing; -then I'll carry the things over to the woods. She'll have to go behind -that clump of scrub pine and take off her clothing, make up the garments -into a bundle, throw it as far into the woods as she can, then bathe and -put on fresh things," replied Jack, taking a pail and starting down the -road toward a small, but deep, pool of water. - -"I'll go and help her," said Desire, when he returned. - -"Stay right where you are," he directed quietly but firmly. "She can -manage perfectly well by herself." - -He crossed the road; and Desire, though she could not quite distinguish -the words, listened to the brief, curt orders he issued to the -unfortunate little girl. Then he returned and stood leaning against the -side of the wagon. Rene had dozed off, and Desire laid him on the seat. - -"This is one phase of our adventure that we did not consider," began -Jack, after a pause. His face looked more serious, even, than usual. - -"What? Prissy getting mixed up with a wood pussy?" laughed Desire. - -"No. The problem of discipline. The free and lazy life is going to let -the youngsters get a bit out of hand, I'm afraid." - -"Rene's only a baby," said Desire reassuringly. "We should have no -trouble managing him. Of course Priscilla is rather difficult at times; -she goes from one extreme to another so quickly. You never know exactly -what she will do next. At home, I sometimes sent her to bed; but that -would be rather difficult in a wagon. But she's a good little thing, and -we'll do the best we can. You mustn't worry about it, Jack," concluded -Desire, bending over to touch his thick brown curls. - -He caught her hand in his and held it until Priscilla appeared from among -the trees, freshly clothed, and swinging the empty pail in her hand. - -Without a word Jack helped her into the wagon and they headed once more -for the town. The sun had sunk below the horizon; the woods were getting -dim; and the sky was a soft rose and gold when they entered Meteghan. -Surely the whole population must be abroad, so filled were the streets -with people all headed toward the church. - -"What do you suppose is going on?" asked Desire, viewing the scene rather -wistfully. - -"I don't know," replied Jack, pulling the wagon into a free space between -two other vehicles. Almost immediately a tall, awkward youth sauntered -over to them. - -"Where's old Simon?" - -Jack explained, adding, "What's doing here?" - -"Pie social," was the laconic reply. "Better go." - -"Where is it held?" asked Desire, leaning out and smiling down into his -keen grey eyes. - -"Church basement; it's for the benefit of the church. Costs you a pie to -get in." - -At this point, a companion called to the boy, and he strolled away. - -"Like to go?" asked Jack, who had not been unobservant of Desire's eager -interest. - -"How could we? We haven't any pies." - -"There must be some place to buy them. Surely some enterprising person -would foresee the market. Let's look around a bit." - -He tied the horses to a post and locked the doors. Rene was wide awake by -this time, and eager for new adventures; so the four, Priscilla still -silent, walked along the streets of the little town until they found a -place bearing a sign--"Pies for sale." Here they purchased four pies, and -turned their steps toward the church. At the door a pretty girl took -their donations, and they were allowed to enter. Along the sides of the -little basement were rough board counters loaded with pies of every size -and variety. One could buy whatever one desired, from a whole pie to a -small slice. - -"We're like the Chinese," smiled Jack, as they stood eating pieces of -custard pie; "dessert first, then more substantial food." - -The pretty girl who had been at the door now approached them, and smiling -at Jack, said--"We're going to dance here tonight after all the pies are -sold. Hope you will all stay." - -"I'm sorry, but we shall not be able to," he replied courteously. "I have -old Simon's wagon out there, and can't leave it so long." - -"Oh, we heard about the young man who was going to take Simon's route. My -folks know him real well. He often puts the wagon in our barn and stays -all night at our house. Why--wait a minute." - -She darted off, and returned almost immediately with a short, thick-set -man, who looked like a farmer. - -"This is my father, Jean Riboux," she said. "I'm Prudence." - -"My name is Wistmore," replied Jack, shaking hands; "and these are my -sisters, Desire and Priscilla; and my little brother Rene." - -"Pleased to know you, both for yourselves and for old Simon," responded -the man, with unmistakable cordiality. "You must make free at our place, -same as he did. Drive over, put up the team, and stay all night." - -Though Jack protested, the man would hear of no refusal, and ten minutes -later they turned into a nearby farmyard. Jean took the horses away from -Jack, and sent the Wistmores into the house to his wife who had come to -the door to meet them. - -"Your husband and daughter insisted upon our coming here for the night," -said Jack, after introductions had been made; "but I think it is entirely -too much. There are so many of us--" - -"There's always a welcome here for any friends of old Simon's," was Mrs. -Riboux's quiet reply; "and we have plenty of room. We were sorry to hear -of his bad luck; but then, it turned out well for you," looking at the -little family curiously. - -"Yes, the opportunity to take the route came just as we were looking for -something for the summer," said Desire, smiling shyly at their hostess. - -"Oh, then you're not goin' to keep it regular?" - -"That can not be decided," contributed Jack, "until we see how things -go." - -As they gathered around the table for supper, the boy who had told them -about the Pie Social slid into one of the chairs and grinned at Desire. - -"Didn't think you'd see me again so soon, did you?" - -"That's Ormand, Orrie for short," explained Prudence, who sat beside Jack -right across the table from them. - -"I guessed who you people were as soon as I laid eyes on Dapple and -Dolly; and I knew you'd turn up here finally." - -The conversation of the elders turned to crops, and continued throughout -the meal, while the younger people talked of the coming dance. - -"Now," said Mrs. Riboux to Desire, as they left the table, "why don't you -put the little fellow to bed and go to the dance with my boy and girl? -I'll watch out for him," as Desire hesitated and looked at Jack. "All -ages go to these socials, so your sister could go along too," she added, -as the Wistmores started up the long flight of stairs to their rooms. - -"I'll put Rene to bed while you dress up a bit," offered Jack, taking the -little boy by the hand, and preparing to leave Desire. - -She detained him, however, and asked in a low tone, "What about--?" -motioning toward the door of her room, which Priscilla had entered ahead -of her. - -"Trot on into that room across the hall, Renny," directed Jack, starting -him in the right direction; "and see how nearly ready for bed you can get -before I come." - -"Although she is far too young for dances," he continued, "since it is -the custom here for girls of her age to attend them, I should have -allowed her to go; but in the light of this afternoon's escapade, I think -she should be deprived of the pleasure. Don't you?" - -"Y--e--s; I suppose so; but I'm afraid she'll make a fuss, for she -expects to go. And I do hate to disappoint her." - -Without replying, Jack stepped into the room where his younger sister was -standing before an old-fashioned mirror combing her hair. - -"Priscilla," he began quietly, "you weren't counting on going to the -dance; were you?" - -"Yes, I am," she retorted quickly, turning to face him. "You heard Mrs. -Riboux say that girls of my age go." - -"That is not the point at all. What about this afternoon's disobedience?" - -"It wasn't my fault that I met that awful animal," she muttered, half -under her breath. - -"You are being purposely stupid, Priscilla. You know very well that you -were deliberately disobedient in not following the wagon as I told you -to. If you can't obey, we shall all have a miserable summer. To impress -that fact on your mind, you must stay right here in your room until we -come back; that is, unless Rene wants something." - -Jack crossed the hall to his own room, and Desire looked pityingly on her -sister, who had thrown herself into a chair beside the window and was -giving way to tears. There was no use trying to reason with Priscilla -when the child was in one of these moods; so she went about her own -preparations for the evening, in silence; but considerable of her own -pleasure was taken out of the prospect. - -Before leaving, she stooped over the big chair in which the little girl -crouched, put her arms around her, and kissed her affectionately without -speaking. Priscilla also said nothing, but she returned the kiss; and -Desire, recognizing the act as the beginning of a return to normal -conditions, felt happier about leaving her. - -Ormand and Prudence Riboux were evidently very popular among the young -folks of the country; and they introduced their guests to so many boys -and girls that the Wistmores were never at a loss for partners. - -"Wasn't it _fun_!" cried Desire joyously, as she said goodnight to Jack -in the dim upper hall, lighted only by their two candles. "Didn't you -have a good time?" - -"Yes, I did." - -"And just think, we've made some new friends already. I like the Riboux -family." - -"So do I; they're fine people," agreed Jack absentmindedly. He was -thinking about tomorrow's trip into the Clare District. That was going to -be the hardest part of the route, going through their old home and its -neighboring towns. - -"Jack!" cried Desire, as she entered her room. "Prissy's gone!" - - - - - CHAPTER VII - A FRIGHT - - -"Gone!" echoed Jack, staring blankly around the room. "Where could she -possibly go?" - -"I don't know; but you see she isn't here." - -There were few places to look. Jack peered under the big bed, while -Desire looked in the clothes press and a deep chest. - -"What shall we do?" she whispered, twisting her hands together and trying -to force back the tears. "Is Rene in your room?" as a sudden thought -occurred to her. - -With two steps, Jack crossed the hall and stuck his head into the room -opposite. - -"Yes; he's in bed." - -Mrs. Riboux, sensing that something was wrong, came out of her room, -followed by her husband. Their exclamations brought Prudence and Ormand -to join the group. A few minutes of excited consultation resulted in Mr. -Riboux going out to notify the authorities that a child was missing. - -While the women searched the house from top to bottom, Jack and Ormand, -aided by the feeble rays of a lantern, looked about the barns and yard. A -group of men and boys from the town were soon scouring the nearby woods, -and Desire, who had returned to her room after the fruitless trip through -the various rooms, could see the moving lights and hear occasional -shouts. - -The forced inaction maddened her. If there were only _something_ she -could do besides wait. What danger might not Priscilla be in while she -stood helpless here? - -After a long time Mr. Riboux, followed by Jack and Ormand, crossed the -yard, and she ran downstairs hoping for news. Her brother merely shook -his head gravely when they met in the kitchen where Mrs. Riboux was -making coffee and setting out a lunch for the men who were still in the -woods. One by one they straggled in, reporting no luck at all. - -Desire's own acute distress was increased every time she looked at Jack's -stern, set face. Well she knew by the deep lines between his eyes that he -was blaming himself for Priscilla's disappearance. - -Although it had been a great relief to have Rene sleep through the first -excitement, now it was a distinct pleasure to hear his voice from -upstairs and be able to run up and see what he wanted. At least it -provided something to _do_. - -"I'm coming," called Desire, stopping in her room to get a lamp. - -"Don't want you," replied Rene rudely, as she entered. "Want Prissy. She -was going to catch the mouse," he added. - -"The mouse," repeated his sister in bewilderment, feeling his head to see -if he were feverish. - -"Yes," said the little boy, jerking fretfully away from her and pointing -to the corner behind the bed. - -There lay Priscilla, curled up on the floor, fast asleep, with Polly, the -big grey house cat, clasped tightly in her arms. The animal blinked at -the light and uttered a loud "Me-o-w!" - -Desire, together with Jack who had by that time followed her, stood -speechless, looking down at the sleeping child. - -"I want to know if she caught that mouse," demanded Rene in positive -tones. - -At that moment Priscilla, aroused by the sound of voices, opened her -eyes, a bit bewildered by the sudden awakening. She looked blankly from -one to another, her gaze finally centering on Jack's face. - -"I didn't disobey you," she said. "Rene called me because he was -frightened of a mouse. You said I might leave the room if he wanted -anything." - -"But what are you doing down here on the floor, darling?" asked Desire -softly; for Jack could not speak. - -"I got Polly and sat down here by the mouse's hole so's she could catch -him when he came out again; and we all kept so quiet I guess we went to -sleep." - -Jack picked the little girl up, carried her to the room across the hall, -and held her close for a moment before laying her on the bed. - -"Both of you get to sleep as soon as you can," he directed. "I'll go down -and tell the family she's found." - -"Is Jack angry at me?" inquired Priscilla, sleepily. - -"Not a bit, dear. We thought you were lost. Everybody has been looking -all over for you, out in the barn, in the woods, and--" - -"And here I was all the time," giggled the child, wholly unconscious of -having been the cause of great anxiety and effort. - -Along the shore, the next morning, as the Wistmores started out after -parting reluctantly with the Riboux family, were hundreds of gulls -looking for food, and the air was filled with their harsh croaking cries. -Out on the blue waters floated others, at rest on the ripples. In the -meadows herds of black and white cows wandered about, cropping the grass -heavy with dew, their bells tinkling constantly as they sought for -choicer tidbits. - -"Before we get to Saulnierville we make our first stop," said Desire, -consulting the list she had taken from Jack's pocket. - -"We'll be there shortly." - -"Oh, I hope we sell just lots of stuff!" cried Priscilla, who was quite -herself again. - -"Yes, lots of stuff," echoed Rene, grabbing Jack around the neck. - -"Don't choke brother," laughed Desire, loosening the embracing arms. - -Before many minutes passed, they came in sight of a small grey house. An -immense grey barn stood behind it, its double doors freshly painted a -brilliant red. The farm was enclosed by a grey fence with double gates of -pure white. - -"Why don't the gates and the doors match, I wonder," remarked Priscilla, -who had an eye for color combinations. - -"I haven't the faintest idea," replied Jack, bringing the wagon to a stop -before a path bordered with clam shells. The path led up to the front -door, and another row of clam shells surrounded the house, which was -built, like so many others in Nova Scotia, with overlapped shingles on -one side and clapboards on the other three. - -"Let the youngsters run about a bit while I go in," directed Jack, -preparing to climb over the wheel. - -At this moment the sound of galloping horses on the road over which they -had just come made everyone turn; and they saw another wagon, the -counterpart of their own, swaying crazily from side to side as the driver -urged on his excited animals. - -"Runaway!" squealed Rene delightedly. - -"They'll hit us!" shrieked Priscilla. - -Jack deftly pushed off the road into a field, and jumped from the wagon -ready to be of assistance. His keen eye saw at once, however, that the -approaching team was not out of control. As soon as it came abreast of -the Wistmore "store" the driver pulled up with a suddenness which threw -the animals on their haunches; and, leaping from his seat, he faced Jack -belligerently. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - A FIGHT - - -"My territory!" growled the man, motioning toward the house. "What are -_you_ doing here?" - -"You're mistaken," responded Jack quickly. "I have old Simon's entire -route, and this is the first stop on the list he gave me." - -"It may have been his, but it ain't goin' to be yours!" - -"And who is going to prevent me?" inquired Jack, in even, quiet tones -which Desire knew meant that he was working hard to keep his temper under -control. - -"_I_ am. I made up my mind soon as I heard the old man was sick, that I -would take this route; and nobody's goin' to stop me. Least of all, -_you_," he added, looking Jack's slender form up and down contemptuously. - -"You great--big--" began Priscilla excitedly. - -"Be quiet, Prissy," said her brother. "You and the others stand over -there beside the wagon." - -As he spoke, he started in the direction of the farmhouse. Like a flash -the thick-set figure was in his pathway. - -"No, you don't!" he sneered. - -The two measured each other silently for a moment, standing as motionless -as dogs in that last tense moment just before they spring. - -Jack put out his foot to advance, and his opponent was upon him. They -fell heavily to the ground, the stranger on top. - -"He'll kill him!" sobbed Priscilla, while Rene added his wails to hers. - -"Don't kill Jack!" he cried. - -"Hush!" pleaded Desire, her eyes wide with fright. "Say a prayer that -Jack will come out all right." - -The terrified little group watched the two adversaries roll over and -over, pounding, grappling, struggling. Then Jack, with a quick twist, -loosened the grasp of the other and sprang to his feet. With surprising -swiftness, for a man so heavy, the enemy also righted himself and again -leaped upon Jack. Back and forth they swayed, locked in a close embrace, -each trying desperately to keep his own footing and trip the other. At -times they stood stock still waiting to get breath and strength for a -renewal of the contest. Then it began all over again. - -Finally Jack succeeded in twisting one of his long legs quickly around -one of his adversary's, thereby throwing him heavily to the ground. With -a leap, Jack was astride of him, pinning his arms to the earth. The man -tried to roll sufficiently to throw him off, but Jack was too well placed -to allow him very much motion. Weight, anger, and unskilled methods had -worked against him; now Jack had complete advantage. - -"Shall I give you what you deserve?" demanded Jack, after a moment's -pause. - -"Nough!" muttered the man sullenly. - -"Get off this route, then, and _stay_ off of it; or next time--" -threatened Jack, getting up. "Turn that team right around, and go back to -Yarmouth, or wherever you come from!" - -Slowly, keeping one eye on Jack the while, he obeyed. As soon as he was -on the way, Desire and the children ran toward their brother. - -"Oh, Jack, aren't you hurt somewhere?" demanded Desire anxiously. - -"Only a few bruises and scratches, thank God!" was the grateful response. -"I kept wondering what you would do, poor child, if I were smashed up." - -After a good brushing, and "first-aid" treatment of his scratches, Jack -pronounced himself as good as new. - -"Children," said Desire, "we begged so hard for Jack's safety. We mustn't -fail to say 'Thank You' for what we received. Let's each say a little -prayer of thanksgiving right now." - -After a moment of silence they again turned their attention to the -business in hand. Desire and the children stayed with the wagon, while -Jack started once more toward the house. - -At his knock, the inner door opened, a woman's head showed behind the -glass of the storm door, and then the outer door was pushed back. Almost -every dwelling, no matter how small and unpretentious, has its storm -door, and usually these are left on all summer. - -"I'm taking old Simon's route this summer," began Jack, using the words -he was to repeat so many times that season; "and I called to see if you -need anything." - -"Yes, I do," answered the plump little woman in the doorway, her black -eyes busily inspecting Jack, and traveling rapidly to the wagon, the -girl, and the children on the road. "I'm all out of thread, crackers, -kerosene, and--what else was it? Oh, yes, shoe laces. Where's old Simon? -I've been watching out for him for three weeks." - -"Sick, in Yarmouth," replied Jack, turning to go to the wagon to fill her -order. The woman followed him. - -"This your wife?" she asked, curiously staring at Desire. - -Jack flushed. - -"No, my sister; and that is another sister, and my kid brother," he -replied, talking more rapidly than usual to hold the woman's attention; -for Desire, overcome by laughter, had walked a few steps down the road to -recover her composure. - -"Where are your folks!" - -"Dead," was the brief reply. - -"Now that's too bad! You so young, and with three youngsters to keep. -Dear! Dear!" - -Desire returned just in time to hear the last remarks, and her face -twitched so in her efforts to control it that Jack himself had to bury -his head in the depths of the wagon while he looked for the cracker -boxes. - -"Come up to the house with me when this young man carries my things in," -she said to Desire, taking her by the arm. As if she were indeed a child, -she led her along the path to the doorstep. - -"Set here," she directed; and disappeared into the house. - -"Ready?" asked Jack, when he came out. - -"I don't know. I was told to 'set here'; and here I 'set,'" whispered -Desire. - -At that moment the woman returned with a pasteboard box which she thrust -into Desire's hands. - -"Here's a few cookies for your dinner. They always taste good to -children, I guess." - -"Oh, thank you so much. I'm sure we'll enjoy them," responded the girl. - -"Stop every time you come around," called the odd little woman, as they -closed the gate behind them. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - IN CAMP - - -"Well, our first sale wasn't so bad," observed Desire, as they drove -away. "But wasn't she funny?" - -"I thought you were going to disgrace us," said Jack, smiling. "If you -can't behave any better than that, I'll have to leave you beside the road -somewhere and pick you up later." - -"Oh--o--o!" shrieked Rene. - -"What's the matter?" demanded Jack, turning to look at the small boy -behind him. - -"Don't want Dissy left anywhere! Want her with us!" - -"Jack's only fooling, darling; don't cry," consoled Desire, reaching back -over the seat to pet the little boy. - -Peace and quiet having been restored, they jogged along the sunshiny -road, and soon were abreast of St. Mary's Bay, where flecks of white were -dancing over the blue surface. - -"White caps," observed Desire. "Fundy must be rough today." - -"Those are gulls," corrected Jack, "at least so the Indians used to -believe. The Spirit of the Sea was so fond of the birds that he caught a -lot one day and, with a long string, tied their legs together. He keeps -them down in his house under the water, and at times he lets the gulls -come up to swim on the top of the water for air and exercise." - -"Why don't they fly away then? _I_ would!" asserted Rene, big-eyed with -interest. - -"Because the Spirit holds fast to the string, and when he thinks they've -been out long enough, he pulls them all down under the water again." - -Between Saulnierville and Little Brook they made several stops and -substantial sales. The picnic dinner which good Mrs. Riboux had insisted -upon packing for them, they ate beside a shady stream in which many -little fish darted about among the weeds. Rene insisted upon trying to -catch some with his hands, but succeeded only in getting his clothing so -splashed that Desire had to stand him out in the sun to dry before they -could continue on their way. - -"There's Church Point," cried Desire, later in the afternoon, pointing to -the skyline ahead, where a tall spire topped with a cross rose proudly -against the blue. - -"How happy the sailors must be when they first catch sight of that -point," mused Jack. - -"Why?" asked Priscilla. - -"Because the spire can be seen for many miles out at sea, and the sailors -use it as a guide." - -The shadows were getting long, and the air was much cooler by the time -they drove into the little town. On St. Mary's Bay several fishing boats -had already been anchored near the sands, and farther out on the gilded -water others were heading for the shore. Over the slight rise near the -church they drove, and in and out among the ox teams and lines of -slow-moving cows. - -"Everybody's goin' home but us," remarked Rene rather plaintively, making -the tears spring to Desire's eyes, while the lines of Jack's mouth became -even more stern. - -"Silly!" observed Priscilla. "We _are_ home. Home's where Jack and Desire -are." - -Desire smiled up at Jack, and leaned back to squeeze her little sister's -arm. - -"Shall we try to make our sales before supper, and then camp outside of -town?" asked Jack; "or shall we eat, and then sell afterwards." - -"Sell first. Work before pleasure," Desire decided promptly. - -At a house far beyond the church they came to a halt, and Desire leaned -from the wagon to call to a small boy in blue overalls, who sat on the -gate watching them--"Tell your mother that old Simon's wagon is here, -please, and ask her if she wants anything." - -Without a word the little fellow slid down and ran into the house. Almost -immediately a tall, loose-jointed man, whose resemblance to the child was -marked, came out and crossed the yard. - -"The missus is sick," he explained, "but I know what she wants. She's -been talkin' of nothin' else for days. Buttons, five yards of calico, a -pencil for the boy, and a few pounds of sugar. Got old Simon's route for -good?" - -"I'm not sure. He's sick in Yarmouth now." - -"So? That's too bad. Are you going on up the Bay?" - -"Expect to," replied Jack, giving the man his purchases and counting out -change. - -"When you get to Digby would you tell the lady in the knickknack store -that I'll sell her the pitcher?" - -"Glad to, if you'll tell me how to find her." - -"Her store is the first one of its kind that you'll pass. She catches all -the tourists by a window full of trash, and a sign 'Souvenir Shoppe' or -something like that. She was out here a few weeks ago looking for stuff, -and wanted that pitcher, but the wife didn't want to sell it then. Since -she's been sick, though, she's more concerned about money than about old -pitchers." - -After several more stops, most of which resulted in sales, Jack pulled -off of the main road into a balsam grove, just before dusk. - -"You children scamper around and find some dried wood for a fire," he -directed, swinging Rene down, and going to unharness the horses. - -"Do you intend to build a fire in here, Jack?" asked Desire doubtfully. - -"No, on the sand across the road. Take some bacon and whatever else you -need from the stock while I feed Dapple and Dolly." - -By the time he had made several trips with great armfuls of grass which -he had pulled for the animals, Desire had gathered together her supplies, -and with the children's help made a fire on the beach and set out their -supper. When Jack appeared, he took charge of the frying of the bacon -himself. - -"Isn't this _fun_?" demanded Priscilla every few minutes. "Just like a -picnic; and lots nicer than eating in a house." - -"Lots nicer," echoed Rene, adding, "Now tell me a story." - -"Oliver Owl's mother had told him again and again that he must not go -anywhere near the big cave where the wicked witch Gamona lived," began -Jack slowly; "but Oliver was getting so big and strong that he thought he -knew how to take care of himself. He had never seen the old woman, of -whom all the forest folks spoke in whispers. So, early one evening, his -curiosity got the better of him; and while his mother was making the -beds--" - -"Jack!" interrupted Priscilla, patronizingly, "people don't make beds at -night!" - -"The owls do," he replied gravely, "because they sleep in them all day -and go out only at night. Around the big home tree he fluttered -carelessly a while; then, suddenly, off like a shot toward a big pile of -rocks whose top he could just see. Not a soul did he meet when he reached -them, not a sound did he hear except the murmuring of a little breeze in -the very top of the pines. So fast had he hurried that he was a very -tired bird, and besides the aching of his wings he felt just a little bit -doubtful about what would happen to him when he got home. So he alighted -on the very highest rock of the big pile to rest, and decided how he -would explain his absence to his mother. Hardly had he settled himself -comfortably when a huge claw-like hand shot up from below him and grabbed -his feet--" - -"Oh!" squealed Rene. - -"With a loud squawk he flapped his wings, and, bending and twisting as -well as he could, managed to run his sharp beak into the fingers which -grasped him. In the instant which was necessary for Gamona to get a fresh -grip, Oliver struggled free; and you may believe that he lost no time in -flying away from that dangerous spot. Instead of going right home, -however, he went to see Glooscap, and tell him what had happened. - -"'My eyes are so small, I can't see very well,' he complained, after he -had told the whole story. - -"'I'll fix that,' replied Glooscap, stroking the bird's eyes until they -became larger and larger and rounder and rounder. 'Now you'll be able to -see her wherever you are. Keep faithful watch of her, and notify all the -other creatures at night when she is near.' So that is why the owl has -such big eyes, and sits up in the trees crying 'Who-o-o!' all night long. - -"And now you must go to bed." - - -Leaving Priscilla to clear up and keep an eye on Rene, Jack and Desire -crossed to the grove to get things in order for the night. The tent was -small, and after several unsuccessful attempts they succeeded in getting -it up. Jack cut some balsam boughs for a mattress, and over them Desire -spread blankets, placing a couple of cushions for pillows. The floor of -the nearby wagon was fixed in like manner for the two girls. Rene and -Priscilla went to bed as soon as their quarters were ready for them, but -Jack and Desire, seated on a fallen log at the edge of the grove, -lingered to watch the moon rising over the Bay and turning its smooth -surface to silver. Fireflies flashed in the long grass at the edge of the -grove, and deeper in the woods were mysterious little rustles and -murmurs. - -"The old settlers," said Jack softly, "thought the fireflies were evil -spirits, and used to set out pails of milk to appease them, and thus keep -themselves and their property from all harm." - -"If they were as thick then as they are tonight," laughed Desire, "think -how many pails they must have had. You know so many things, Jack"; -adding, a moment later, something which had been on her mind all day. - -"Do you suppose that man will ever come back?" - -"You mean the one who disputed our rights?" - -Desire nodded, burying her face on her brother's shoulder, much as -Priscilla might have done. - -"I hardly think so, dear," replied Jack, stroking her curls. "He was -pretty well subdued." - -"But he might try to get even with you some way," shuddered the girl. - -"We'll keep a sharp lookout for him, but otherwise go on our way and try -not to worry about mere possibilities, little sister," decreed the boy -firmly. - -"If we could only find out what the paper means," she observed a little -later, her eyes on the shining waters of the Bay. - -"What paper?" asked Jack suddenly, roused from serious thoughts of his -own. - -"Why, the one _notre pere_ gave you; the mysterious one." - -"We might stop in the center of each town, read it aloud, and ask the -inhabitants to interpret it for us," Jack suggested. "Or you and I could -take turns standing on top of the wagon and shouting it as we go along." - -Desire laughed at his absurdities, as he intended she should. - -"I don't care. I'm going to pretend that we're going to find out what it -means before the summer is over." - -"Pretend as much as you like, as long as you won't let yourself be -overcome with disappointment if your day dream should turn out to be only -a nightmare." - -A crash behind them made them spring to their feet in sudden fright, and -a child's shrieks rang through the woods. - - - - - CHAPTER X - A NIGHT PROWLER - - -"Rene!" gasped Desire, darting back toward the tent. - -Jack outstripped her, and when she reached the scene, he was just pulling -his small brother out from under a pile of canvas. - -"Not hurt," he breathed with relief; "only badly frightened." - -He put Rene in Desire's lap, and went to examine the wreckage. - -"One stake pulled right out," he reported. "Wonder how that happened. I -know I had it in tight, and there is practically no wind." - -"Could he have done it in any way?" asked Desire, motioning to the little -boy. - -"Rene," said Jack, stooping before the child, who was now quiet again, -"did you do anything to the rope of the tent to make it fall?" - -Rene glanced up into his brother's face upon which shone the rays of the -full moon, and, turning, burrowed deep into Desire's arms. - -"Guilty, I guess. Tell me exactly what you did," directed Jack. - -"Woke up. Played I was a gull; rope was my string. Hung on it; old thing -came down. Bang!" - -"Rene," said Jack, taking the child's face between his hands, and forcing -him to meet his eyes, "you must _never, never_ pull on the ropes of a -tent, or meddle with any part of it. If you do, you can't sleep in it -with me, but will have to stay in the wagon with the girls." - -He picked him up and set him on a nearby stump. - -"Now sit right here and think about what I have just said, while Desire -and I put the tent up again. Don't move from the place, and watch how -much extra work you have made for us when we are all so tired." - -After the tent was once more in place, Jack returned to Rene. - -"Well, are you going to sleep in the tent or in the wagon?" - -"In the tent. I won't touch no ropes, nor nothin' again, Jack," promised -the child, holding up his arms. "An' I'm sorry 'bout making you and Dissy -work when you're all tired, 'n' everything--" - -"That's a good boy," replied his brother, carrying him off to bed for a -second time. - -"Goodnight, Desire," he said, returning to kiss her after Rene was -disposed of. "If you're timid, call me." - -"Yes, but, Jack dear, _please_ don't lie awake to take care of us. We'll -be safe." - -Soon the grove was quiet. The moon rose higher and higher, and throughout -the night kept benevolent watch over the four children sleeping heavily -among the protective trunks of the old balsam trees. Little creatures of -the night moved noiselessly over the dried needles on the forest floor so -as not to waken the strangers within their midst; and a gentle breeze -stole quietly in from the Bay to waft its pungent coolness over the tired -travelers. - -A couple of hours passed, the moon had left the woods partly in shadow. A -dark figure was stealing carefully among the tree trunks, stopping every -few minutes to listen. - - -Beyond a band of moonlight stood the little tent from which could be -heard Jack's loud breathing. Nearby was the wagon where all was silent, -and from a dark spot beyond it the horses stamped restlessly. Skirting -the habitations of the human beings, the figure made its way silently -toward the animals. Then Dapple's loud whinny sounded through the quiet -wood, answered immediately by that of his mate. - -"Get away from our horses!" shrilled Priscilla's voice from the back of -the wagon. - -"What's the matter?" shouted Jack, roused at once by the child's cry. - -"Prissy!" cried Desire; "you--" - -"Somebody's bothering Dolly and Dapple, Jack!" called Priscilla. - -By that time Jack had lighted a couple of lanterns, and he and Desire -were out in the open. - -"Stay here and hold one of these," he directed, "while I see what is -wrong." - -The horses were straining at their tethers when he reached them, but -quieted at once under familiar hands. Following an impulse, Jack -presently led them out of the woods and into the little clearing where -the wagon and tent were placed. - -"Will they disturb you if I fasten them to this tree?" he asked Desire. - -"Not a bit--I--" - -"Did you find anyone?" demanded Priscilla. - -"Not a single person. I looked all around before I brought the horses -out." - -"You had a bad dream, dear," began Desire, "and--" - -"But I didn't. I heard Dapple and Dolly holler just as plain, and they -never do that unless somebody goes near 'em." - -Desire looked questioningly at her brother, but he was busy tying the -animals. - -"Now," he said firmly, when he had finished his task, "we'll all go back -to bed and right to sleep." - -He turned briskly into the tent where Rene still slept peacefully, and -quietness once more descended upon the forest. Jack, however, looped up -the flap of the tent and lay watching over his little family until the -soft grey light of the early morning began to filter through the trees. - - - - - CHAPTER XI - THE BLUE-COVERED BOOK - - -Several days later, one beautiful sunny morning, Dapple and Dolly were -trotting briskly along the Shore Road toward Digby. For more than two -miles this road winds along the shore of Digby Basin, formed by the Bay -of Fundy waters flowing through a mile wide break in the North Mountain -Range. - -"That," said Jack, pointing to the opening between the mountains, "is -Digby Gap, or, as the natives call it, 'Digby Gut.' In olden days all the -fishing boats used to stop there on their way home long enough for the -fishermen to clean their fish, and throw all the 'guts' or insides into -the water." - -"What a horrid name!" was Priscilla's comment. - -"It's lovely here, though," observed Desire, gazing across the sparkling -water to the hazy blue sides of the two big mountains opposite, and back -again to the forested slopes beside the wagon. - -"We must look out for the little shop the man told us about," remarked -Priscilla, to whom the scenery meant very little. - -"Well, you watch for it, Prissy," directed Jack. Then, turning to Desire, -"Didn't we get a royal welcome in Sissiboo?" - -"Yes; in spite of their disapproval, our old friends were wonderful to -us; between the sales we made, and their generous donations, we certainly -fared well." - -"Oh, Jack, there's a bus!" cried Desire delightedly a few minutes later. -A big blue monster bore down upon them, and they had a glimpse of -well-dressed people through its windows; then it was gone in a cloud of -dust. - -"Must be coming from the hotel," commented her brother. "I understand -there's a big one up here somewhere above the town." - -"I'd love to ride in one of those," said Priscilla, gazing longingly down -the road after the now distant bus. "Wouldn't you, Desire?" - -"Yes, I should. Perhaps some time we'll be able to, but not now." - -They drove into the little town, and soon spied the shop of which they -were in search. - -"You go in and give the lady the message, Desire," said Jack, pulling up -the team. - -Desire was inclined to be rather too retiring with strangers, and her -brother thought she should begin to overcome her diffidence. - -"Oh, Jack," she cried, running out again a couple of minutes later, after -delivering her message. "Who do you suppose keeps the shop? The lady who -helped me find Rene on the steamer! It's the most interesting place. Do -come in and see it. She says we can look around as much as we wish." - -"I was going on for some more stock--we're all out of crackers and a few -other things--but you stay, if you wish; I'll come back for you." - -"Don't you need me?" she asked doubtfully. - -"No; so look at as many things as you can before I get back." - -Desire, with a happy "Thanks a lot," ran back into the quaint little -shop, while Jack drove on, thinking how sweet she was and how little time -she had for herself or her own interests. - -The morning was not a busy one at the shop; so the proprietress, a -well-groomed New England woman, was free to devote her time to Desire, to -whom she had taken a fancy. Pleased to see that the girl was more -interested in the pictures and books than in the foolish toys made to -attract tourist trade, she took pains to call her attention to the best -that the little store possessed. - -"This is an interesting little account of the early history of this -country and some of its settlers," said Miss Robin, who was a teacher of -history in one of the Boston schools, and whose mind naturally centered -on her subject. - -Desire took the small blue-bound book in her hands and carefully turned -its pages, reading bits here and there. - -"Oh!" she suddenly exclaimed aloud. - -"What is it?" inquired Miss Robin, looking up from a pile of picture -postcards she was putting in order. - -"The story of our own ancestors is told here." - -Miss Robin came to look over her shoulder and read: - - "In the year 1744 when the question of Acadian loyalty to England - resulted in the Expulsion, Jean Godet with Marie, his wife, and Desire, - his little daughter, were driven as exiles from Wolfville to the - States. They settled near Boston, and some years later Desire married - one John Wistmore, a descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins. - When the Revolutionary War broke out, being loyal Royalists, they - returned to Nova Scotia and took up farming in Wilmot, later removing - to Sissiboo." - -"I have heard my father tell that same story so many, many times," said -Desire, looking up at Miss Robin. - -"They were really your ancestors, then?" asked that lady. "How very -interesting." - -"But this last part he never told us," continued the girl, indicating the -closing words of the article. - - "The ruins of the old Godet house near Wolfville may still be seen; for - the site was never occupied for any length of time after the family was - deported." - -"You must look it up if you ever go to Wolfville," said Miss Robin. - -"Oh, yes, indeed. We expect to get up there some time before winter -comes, and I'll surely hunt for the place." - -"Keep the little book," urged Miss Robin, when Desire, catching sight of -Jack, laid the volume on the counter; "and if you come back before I go -home, stop and tell me what success you had." - -"Maybe," began Desire, then stopped abruptly--she'd keep _that_ to -herself; so she merely thanked Miss Robin warmly, and ran out to the -wagon. - -"I thought we'd have dinner at one of the little restaurants here," said -Jack, after she had displayed her treasure, "and then push on." - -From the counter of the lunchroom which they selected, they could see the -long government pier with the lighthouse at the end; and beside it was -moored one of the steamers which cross the Bay of Fundy to St. John, New -Brunswick. Rene was greatly disappointed because they were not going -aboard. - -"The child's passion for boats is rivaled only by his passion for -Indians," observed Desire, as they left the lunchroom. - -"He'll see plenty of the latter at Bear River." - -Desire looked questioningly at her brother. - -"That is," he replied, "if we get there in time for the Cherry Festival, -day after tomorrow." - -"Oh, Jack, can we?" - -"Going to try hard to make it." - -Clouds had been slowly gathering since noon, and about five o'clock great -drops of rain hit the dusty road with little "plops." - -"Big drops; won't last long," prophesied Desire; but Jack let down the -curtains at the side of the seat, and drew out a rubber blanket to spread -over their laps. Before they had covered two miles, the rain was coming -down in earnest, and Jack turned off the road into the pine woods. - -"Wonder if we can keep dry here," he said, half to himself. "Can't -possibly get to the next town tonight." - -"We'll have supper right away before the rain begins to come through the -trees," decided Desire, jumping out. - -The pine-covered ground was still dry, and it was very cosy under the -thick boughs of the tall trees. The persistent patter of the rain and the -murmuring of a brisk little breeze in the tree tops added to their sense -of comfort and security. - -"If it doesn't rain any harder than this, we should be able to manage -pretty well," said Desire encouragingly, as Jack peered anxiously skyward -every little while. - -Conversation turned upon the book Miss Robin had given Desire, and then -drifted to Nova Scotian history. - -"I'm awfully stupid; but it seems to me such a hopeless jumble," sighed -Desire. - -"Maybe I can straighten it out for you by taking bare facts, and not -going into detail at all," said Jack. "Just think of it this way," he -went on. "About the year 1000 a man called Leif the Lucky came here from -Iceland, found the country in the possession of the Micmac Indians, and -left it to them. - -"John Cabot touched here in 1497, and claimed the land for England. In -1606 Samuel de Champlain and some other Frenchman settled at Annapolis -Royal, which they called Port Royal. A few years later the English -destroyed it, and some of the inhabitants fled to the shores of the Basin -of Minas and built the village of Grand Pre." - -"Oh, where Evangeline lived!" interrupted Priscilla. - -"Yes, and where they all lived until 1747, that is, the French who were -driven out of Port Royal." - -"And what made the English drive those people away from their homes?" -inquired Priscilla. "I don't mean from Port Royal, but from Grand Pre, -like Longfellow tells about in _Evangeline_?" - -"They thought the French people were not loyal to the British government; -for the country then belonged to England. To go back to our story, in -1629 the King of Scotland gave the entire country to a friend of his, and -the name was changed from Acadia to Nova Scotia, which means New -Scotland. From that time until 1710 the land was claimed by both France -and England, and was in possession of first one and then the other. -Finally Great Britain secured it for good. Is it any clearer now?" - -"Oh, yes, lots; you make everything so plain, I wish I knew as much as -you do," sighed Desire admiringly. - -"I hope some day you will know lots more," smiled Jack, adding, "I'm -afraid we're in for a wetting. I have felt several splashes of rain. The -trees are getting so heavy with water that it will shower down upon us -before long." - -"Then you simply can't sleep in the tent," said Desire decidedly. - -"Nothing else for it; there's no room in the wagon." - -"Let me think a minute," said Desire. "I have it! We'll push the trunk -and box side by side and put Rene on them, at our feet; and you can sleep -on the wagon seat. You'll have to double up, but it will be better than -getting so damp in the tent." - -"We didn't count on a pour like this while we were on the road," said -Jack. "Too bad we were not near enough to a town to get lodgings." - -"But we could hardly afford that; and besides, this is going to be lots -of fun. Priscilla, you and Rene run up and down in that dry path over -there while we fix things," directed Desire. - -"The boughs will be too wet to use for beds," said Jack, moving the trunk -close to the box at the very back of the wagon. - -"We'll just spread the blankets on the floor, then," declared Desire, -briskly. - -"But you'll be wretchedly uncomfortable," objected her brother. - -"Won't hurt us a bit once in a while. I'll hang this rubber blanket in -front of the seat, and a sheet back of it; and with the side curtains -down, and a blanket to spread over you, you'll be fairly well off, won't -you?" she asked, working rapidly as she talked. - -"I'll be fine. Don't bother about me." - -When everything was ready, they called the two children and settled down -for the night. - -"Don't be frightened if you hear a noise once in a while," said Jack, as -they settled down; "for I shall have to turn around occasionally to -stretch my legs." - -"Yes, poor boy; they are far too long for your bed tonight. I hope Renny -won't roll off the trunk; but if he does, he'll fall on top of us and -won't be hurt." - -"Oh, let's go--to--sleep--" yawned Priscilla. - -"An excellent idea," agreed Jack; and the little family lay quietly -listening to the drip of the rain until they fell asleep. - -All night long Desire dreamed of papering the old Godet house, inside and -out, with mysterious figures and letters, which fell off as fast as she -pasted them onto it. - -The sun was shining brightly as they drove down the hillside at Bear -River the second morning after, and into the ravine where dyked lands -border the river. Hundreds of cherry trees loaded with brilliant fruit -were on every side, and on the water was clustered the craft of those who -were to take part in the sports later in the day. - -"What funny river banks," commented Priscilla. - -"The ground is below the level of the river," explained Jack; "and the -banks have to be built up of interlaced tree trunks filled in with clay -to keep the water from running over the land. They are called dykes." - -"Indians!" cried Rene, full of excitement, pointing to a group nearby. - -Already great numbers of them had come from a neighboring reservation for -the games. Under the heavily loaded trees, people from far and wide -wandered about, tasting first one variety of fruit and then another. -Groups of tourists watched from the roadside, or took part in the -feasting. - -Jack found a safe place for the wagon, and, after locking it, took his -little family to obtain their share of the cherries which are free to all -on that particular day in mid-July each year. Shortly before noon, they -carried their lunch to a shady slope from which they had a good view of -the place where the sports were to be held. By two o'clock, the fun was -in full swing. All kinds of races, on both land and water; throwing -contests; log rolling tests; and games of skill or endurance. Anyone -could take part, and Desire urged Jack to enter some of them; but he -preferred to remain a spectator. He loved all kinds of sports, and was -perfectly fearless; but the chance of possible injury now, when he was -the head of the family, kept him from taking part. The Indians were the -most clever participants, and frequently won, much to Rene's delight. - -"The youngster sure likes the Indians," observed a man who sat next to -Jack. "Used to be scared of 'em when I was a kid. You ought to take him -to the St. Anne's celebration some time." - -"What's that?" inquired Jack. - -"Every year the Indians make a pilgrimage to the Island of the Holy -Family, round the 21st of July, and live up there in birch bark tepees -until after the feast, on the 26th." - -"What do they do?" asked Desire, leaning forward to look at the narrator. - -"Well, every morning they go to Mass and attend to all their religious -duties, and very often there are weddings and First Communions. If -there's been any quarreling or disputing during the year, the differences -are patched up. Then in the evenings they dance and play games." - -"What kind of games?" asked Rene, who was eagerly listening to every -word. - -"Oh, whinny, hatchet throwing, deer foot, wheel and stick, hunt the -button--" - -"Oh, I can play that," interrupted Rene, with just satisfaction. - -"It's a sight worth going a distance to see," concluded the man. - -"I imagine so," replied Jack; "but I'm afraid we won't get there this -year. I have old Simon's traveling store this summer, and--" - -"You have? Then you want to open it up when these games are over; for a -crowd like this is almost always in need of some kind of supplies. -Anyway, they're sure to buy something, whether they need it or not." - -Jack acted on the suggestion, and made so many sales that when the people -finally drifted homeward it was too late to go on that night. They put up -in a woods just outside of the town, and after supper Desire made a -discovery that did not altogether please her. - -"Did you know that some Indians are camped a little farther down the -road?" she asked Jack. - -"Yes. They may be on their way to the festival of St. Anne's that the man -spoke of this afternoon. I'm sure they're quite harmless." - -"Oh, I want to see them!" exclaimed Rene, starting up. - -With a quick move, Jack caught the end of the child's blouse and -prevented his departure. - -"You've seen plenty of Indians today to last you for one while, young -man. Besides, it's your bedtime." - -"No! No!" wailed Rene, twisting in his brother's grasp. - -"He's tired," murmured Desire sympathetically. - -"Can't act like this, even if he is," said Jack firmly. "Rene, behave -yourself or you'll have to be punished." - -The tantrum showed no signs of abating; so Jack promptly picked him up -and started for a nearby stream, much to his sister's distress; though -she never dreamed of interfering when Jack decided that disciplinary -measures were necessary. - -Upon reaching the brook, Jack held the boy securely and ducked him a -couple of times. Since the purpose of the procedure was punishment, it -was rather disconcerting to have the child's tantrum cries change -suddenly into squeals of delight. - -"Oh, Jack," he sputtered, "do it again. I _love_ the water." - -Even the serious Jack, in spite of his stern resolves, was quite overcome -by the humor of the situation; so he decided to say no more about -punishment. However, when he got back to the wagon, he rubbed the little -fellow down and put him to bed, refusing Desire's assistance. He and -Desire enjoyed a good laugh over the incident when the younger children -were safe in bed. - -"Well, this time tomorrow night, I hope we'll be in Annapolis Royal," he -said, shortly after; "and being a longish drive, I guess we'd better go -to bed now." - -That interesting old town was not to see them on the morrow, however. - -Jack was the first to waken on the following morning, much later than -usual, and was surprised to find his tent mate gone. Peering out toward -the wagon, he saw Desire getting out of the back of it. - -"Dissy," he called, using Rene's name for her. - -"Yes? I was just going to waken you. I'm awfully sorry, but we overslept -this morning--" - -"Have you seen Rene?" he interrupted. - -"No! Isn't he with you?" - -Desire stood still, letting the pan which she had in her hand fall to the -ground. - - - - - CHAPTER XII - A SEARCH FOR RENE - - -"He was gone when I woke up," called Jack, who had been dressing rapidly. -He came out of the tent and began looking about the wagon, tent, and -surrounding woods in the persistent fashion of people, who, under like -circumstances, feel that although search is useless, action of some kind -is an immediate necessity. - -"What ever shall we do?" whispered Desire, tears streaming down her -cheeks, when Jack returned from a fruitless search of the nearby places. - -"Don't get excited, dear," he said, putting his arm around her shoulders. -"He could have come to no harm, and I'll find him all right." - -"But you must have help. Oh, I wish we were near the Riboux family!" - -"We'll drive back into the town to make inquiry, and then see what can be -done. I know he's not around here; for I've searched everywhere." - -"The--the brook?" faltered Desire. - -"Yes, I rather thought I might find him playing there. He enjoyed it so -much last night," he added, with a feeble effort at a smile, "but there's -no sign of him. Anyway, the water's not deep enough to drown a dog, much -less a hearty youngster." - -"Jack--the Indians--" - -"Now, Desire, don't let your imagination run away with you. They're -perfectly harmless." - -"What I mean is, could Renny be with them?" - -"The camp's gone. They must have pulled out at daybreak--" - -"Well, but he may have followed them," persisted Desire. "You know how -wild he was to go over there last night." - -"It's a possibility," replied Jack, thoughtfully. "Probably you're right. -If so, he is perfectly safe; and I'll find out in town how to reach them. -We'd better eat, and then drive back." - -They roused Priscilla, who began to cry as soon as she heard of her -brother's disappearance, and continued until Jack said gravely-- - -"Don't make matters worse, Prissy; you can help by being cheerful. Never -cry until you're _sure_ there is something to cry about. It's a waste of -good energy." - -"Now for town," he continued, as they at last climbed into the wagon -which seemed strangely empty without the little boy. Jack was assuming a -forced cheeriness, which he was far from feeling; for in spite of his -advice to Desire, he was consumed with anxiety. He felt relieved, now, at -the outcome of the "punishment" last night; if Rene _had_ minded, they -might think he had run away. But perhaps he had been wrong in adopting -this kind of a life, with the children. If anything happened to them! - -He was interrupted by hearing Desire say-- - -"Prissy, you sit in the back of the wagon and keep watch on the road to -see if you can discover any traces of Rene." - -"Jack, dear," she went on softly, as they drove into Bear River again, -"please don't blame yourself for what has happened. It surely wasn't your -fault, or anybody's for that matter. He might have wandered off, even if -we'd been at home; and I feel sure he is safe with the Indians." - -"You're a comfort, Dissy," replied her brother, managing a half smile. - -In front of the post office stood the very man who had given them the -information concerning the Indians' pilgrimage, on the preceding day; -and, pulling up, Jack told him in a few words what had happened. - -"Now that's too bad," replied the man with genuine concern, resting one -foot on the wheel hub; "if I was you--" - -"Is it far to the Island of the Holy Family?" interrupted Desire. - -"Oh, yes; and come to think on't, I don't suppose that band was goin' -there anyhow; they'd not get there in time. They're probably on their way -back to the reservation." - -"Then where could we look for them?" questioned Jack, his heart sinking -at the destruction of their hopes. - -"If I was you, I'd keep right along this road toward Annapolis Royal, and -perhaps you'll catch up with them. They don't travel fast, and you could -ask in every town if they'd been through. There's no real cause for you -to worry, friends, for the little chap will be well treated. The Indians -like little folks." - -Jack looked at Desire. - -"It's good advice, don't you think?" she asked. - -"Perhaps," he replied doubtfully, turning the team around, and thanking -the man for his help. - -"Good luck to you," he called, as they started off; and Priscilla, -leaning out of the back of the wagon, waved a goodbye. - -All day long they drove, almost in silence, stopping only for a hurried -lunch. Toward evening, when the hills had turned to red purple, they -drove across a quaint covered bridge--that is, one which has a roof and -solid sides of wood, like a house--over a stream whose sparkling, merry -water was as yellow as gold from the reflection of the setting sun. - -"I'm awfully hungry," sighed Priscilla. - -"I was just going to propose that we stop under these oaks for supper," -said Desire. "We can't live without eating." - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - INDIANS AND STRAWBERRIES - - -"Should you mind driving all night?" asked Jack, as they prepared to -start on after the meal and a short rest. - -"Not a bit, if you will take turns driving," replied Desire promptly. -"Priscilla can stretch out on the blankets, and you and I alternate at -the reins." - -"The Indians have such a start on us," went on Jack. "You see in the -first place they left earlier; and then we lost all the time of our -search, and going to Bear River and back; and it's important to catch up -as soon as possible, lest they should leave the road somewhere and take a -crosscut to the reservation." - -"Of course," assented Desire. - -Darkness fell; the stars came out; and the full moon gave them light -enough to follow the winding road. Several times during the night Desire -persuaded Jack to let her guide Dolly and Dapple while he rested and -dozed in the corner of the seat. - -On past dark farmhouses whose occupants were sound asleep; past somber, -solemn woods, so beautiful in the daylight, but so dense, mysterious, -almost terrifying at night; across murmuring black streams; up long hills -which made the tired horses breathe heavily, and down the other side -where one had to hold a tight rein to keep the faithful animals from -stumbling. Occasionally a bat swooped low enough to make Desire duck her -head with fright, and once, while Jack was napping, she caught sight of a -huge dark bulk near the edge of a woods; but it disappeared before the -snorting horses could be urged onward. - -At last the moonlight darkness faded to grey; then to a lighter grey; the -sky was slashed with faint rose, growing rapidly deeper and mingling with -gold streaks, until the sun climbed up to survey the land; and another -day had come. - -"Look, Jack!" cried Desire, elbowing her sleeping brother. - -"Where?" he asked, yawning. - -"In that hollow!" - -They were on the crest of a hill, from which they could look down into a -nearby valley. - -"Tents!" exclaimed the boy, now fully aroused. - -"Indians!" shouted Priscilla, who, wakened by their voices, had crept up -to look over their shoulders. - -"Prissy! How you scared me!" cried her sister, jumping violently. - -Jack took the reins, and, as fast as the team could travel, headed for -the encampment. They reached their objective just as the Indians were -beginning to break camp. Everything was in confusion; braves striding -here and there; squaws shouldering the big bundles; children crying; dogs -barking. Running back and forth from one group to another, they spied -Rene. - -Throwing the reins to Desire, Jack jumped down and approached an Indian -who seemed to be directing affairs. With some difficulty, he made the red -man understand his story. Partly by signs, partly by broken English, the -chief replied that "two suns ago they had found strange white child among -them. Where belong, they not know. Going on to reservation. Then send -back young brave who know English to find boy's people." - -At that moment, Rene caught sight of his brother, ran across the grass, -and threw himself into Jack's arms, crying: - -"I found Indians, Jack! I found Indians! Ain't they _fine_?" - -"Yes, I see you did, and they are fine," replied the boy gravely, handing -him over to Desire, who had left the team and hurried toward them. "Put -him in the wagon, and bring me all the candy we have." - -In a moment the girl was back again with several jars of candy. Jack -distributed the gaily colored sticks to all the little Indian children, -and tried to make the chief understand his gratitude for the care taken -of Rene. - -The tribe then struck out through the woods, away from the main road. - -"How lucky that we caught up to them right here," said Desire, watching -them, while Rene waved his hand and shouted goodbyes. - -"You're a bad, bad boy," declared Priscilla, "to run away like that and -frighten us all!" - -Rene gave her a look which was a compound of disgust and astonishment. - -"They were nice to me, and I had a good time. I bet you wish you'd been -along. When _you_ ran away, you didn't go with nice Indians, but a smelly -old cat who--" - -"Never mind, children," interrupted Jack, as he started the horses and -they drove up a slight elevation to a juniper grove. - -"We'll stay here for a while to let the team rest, and incidentally get -some ourselves," he decreed, turning in the shade. - -While he made Dolly and Dapple comfortable, Desire had been trying to -make Rene understand how much trouble he had caused. "You were very -naughty," she was saying, as Jack joined them. - -"Yes," agreed the older boy, "and he'll have to be punished to make him -remember it." - -Jack's tone made Desire give him an entreating look; but he pretended not -to see. - -"Come with me, Rene," he said quietly, breaking a small switch from a -nearby tree, and leading the child farther into the grove. - -A short silence, then a little boy's cries could be heard; another -silence, during which Desire worked madly at anything she could think of -to keep her mind off of what was going on within the woods. Although she -recognized the need of drastic punishment in this instance, yet she hated -to have the baby hurt. After what seemed like hours, really not more than -five or ten minutes, the brothers emerged from among the trees, hand in -hand. - -"I'm never, _never_ going to run away again, Dissy," promised the little -boy, grasping her around the neck as she stooped to put her arms around -him. - -"Angry?" asked Jack softly, as the child released himself and ran off to -join Priscilla who was playing quietly with a turtle she had discovered. - -"Of course not," replied Desire quickly. "How could you think such a -thing?" - -"I hated to do it, especially since I knew it hurt you so much; but he -really needed a lesson. We couldn't risk that sort of thing happening -again; it might not turn out so pleasantly another time." - -"I know you do your best for all of us, dear," she said, laying her head -against his arm for a moment; "and don't worry so much about what we may -or may not think about what you do." - -On blankets laid on the ground, Jack and Desire slept much of the -afternoon, while the children played all kinds of games with the turtle. - - -All the morning the young Wistmores had been driving along roads bordered -on either side by hundreds of apple trees. In the valley between the -North Mountain on the Bay of Fundy side, and the South Mountain, there -are seventy-five miles of orchards where are grown some of the choicest -varieties of apples, many barrels of which are shipped to the United -States every year. - -"This is the most celebrated apple district in the world," commented -Jack. - -"How gorgeous the trees must look when they are covered with blossoms," -Desire remarked. "I think apple trees in bloom are among the most -beautiful things in the world." - -"The whole section is famous," continued Jack. "The first ships built on -the American continent were launched down here on the Annapolis River; -and on Allen's Creek, which flows along one side of the fort, the first -mill was put up. That was in the days of Champlain." - -They reached Annapolis Royal by this time, and Jack drove up the hills to -see the remains of the fort, and point out the items of interest to the -members of his family. - -"Champlain sailed up the Bay of Fundy," he said, motioning toward that -body of water, "and when he saw the little inlet down there, entered by -means of it, into that broad calm body of water called Annapolis Basin. -The tree-covered sides of the hills which you see sloping gently to the -water's edge were dotted with lively waterfalls, and he thought it a fine -place for a settlement. - -"In those days," he continued, turning toward Rene, "Great Beaver, who -was an enemy of Glooscap, lived in Annapolis Basin with his best friend, -a wolf. Now the wolf liked to sail, and Great Beaver made a big raft for -him so he could go back and forth across the water. One day Mr. Wolf was -lying on the top of North Mountain, resting after his sail, and he saw -the Bay of Fundy. Right down to the Great Beaver he rushed, and asked him -to dig a canal between the two bodies of water in order that he might -have more room for his raft. Great Beaver didn't like salt water; so he -refused to spoil his own home by letting in the tide from Fundy. Clever -Mr. Wolf, who knew that Glooscap and the Beaver were not good friends, -went secretly to Glooscap and asked him to join the two pieces of water. -Glooscap sent the lightning to split open the North Mountain, and through -the narrow opening Mr. Wolf sailed gaily back and forth between the Bay -of Fundy and Annapolis Basin." - -"And what became of the poor Beaver?" asked Priscilla. - -"Oh, he had to go and build a new home in the Basin of Minas." - -"Poor Beaver," commented Rene, adding, "Jack, where is Glooscap _now_?" - -"He became angry at the number of white men coming to take possession of -the land; so he called a big whale to carry him away to some far-off -shore. The Indians think, though, that some day he will come back." - -"Oh, I wish he would," cried the little boy; "I wish he would right -_now_, so's I could see him." - -Going down the hill, they reached the shores of the Basin in time to see -the tide come in. Great masses of blue, green and silver water rushed in -the Gap to fill to overflowing the Basin and all its tributary streams. - -"What a wonderful sight!" exclaimed Desire. - -"I should think the Wolf would have been drowned," observed Rene, -watching the flood of water, his eyes open very wide. - -"Why, he'd go up on the mountain and watch it, not stay _in_ it," said -Priscilla in such a scornful tone that Jack and Desire smiled. - - -Several days later, they had passed through many little towns and stopped -in front of many an isolated house where they disposed of many or few of -their wares. The dooryards were gay with flowers, now; for no one was too -poor or too lazy to have a garden. Sometimes these gardens were elaborate -in shape, and of fair size, with colors and varieties blended -beautifully; sometimes only a clump of cheerful red or golden -nasturtiums, clustering around a stump or unsightly rock. - -"Just look at that field!" exclaimed Desire, suddenly. - -"What's the matter with it?" inquired Jack. - -"It's just red with strawberries!" - -"Oh, let's get out and pick some," proposed Priscilla. - -"Don't you think we might be able to sell them in the next town if we -gathered enough?" Desire asked Jack. - -"Perhaps. There is a hotel, and lots of boarding houses in Kentville; so -I'm told." - -They left the horses to graze in the shade of some trees, and the whole -family, armed with various sized dishes, scattered over the field. After -a couple of hours' steady work, they transferred the berries to a basket, -covered them with leaves, and continued on their way. - -"Who's going to sell them?" questioned Jack, when they were nearly to -Kentville. - -"Never thought of that," confessed Desire. - -"I will," offered Priscilla. "Let me!" - -"Me too," chimed Rene. "I can sell berries fine." - -"You're a bit young, Renny," said Jack with a smile; then, turning to -Priscilla, he said, "All right, if you want to." - -Desire looked a bit surprised at his willingness; but Jack just drew the -team up in front of one of the smaller boarding houses and suggested, -"Try here." - -The little girl took the basket which he handed down to her, walked -boldly up the path to the front door, and knocked. Through the screen -door they heard an annoyed voice say--"Now, I've told you--Oh, what is -it, child?" - -A low conversation ensued, and Priscilla flew out to the wagon again, -displaying proudly a couple of silver coins. - -"She'll take some any time, she says; and she knows other places where -they would." - -"How would it be," inquired Desire thoughtfully as they went on, "if we -took time for berry picking so long as they last; even if we don't cover -so much ground, it will be clear profit." - -"We could," said Jack slowly; "and it would be better for us all to be -out of the wagon for a while." - -"In that case," asked Desire, "hadn't we better camp nearby, since we -know we can find quantities of berries here, and Kentville is a pretty -good market." - -Jack agreed. - -A most delightful spot beside a noisy brook, just outside the town, was -selected as a camp site; and for two whole weeks they scoured the -surrounding country for berries, taking their harvest in to Kentville -once a day. - -"I guess these are the last," commented Desire rather regretfully, as -they climbed up a slope toward a bridge on their way home one afternoon. - -"Oh, I see a few down there," cried Priscilla, starting toward the edge -of the river bank. - -"Be careful," called Jack, as she put one foot part way down the bank to -reach some clusters beyond her, rather than walk a little farther. - -His warning came too late. Even as he spoke, her foot slipped on the mud; -and before she could save herself, she slid all the way down the soft -slope and rolled into the river. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - TWO MISHAPS - - -Fortunately the tide was out; so the water was not very deep, and while -Desire stood on the bridge and watched helplessly, and Jack was looking -for a place where he could go to her assistance, Priscilla managed to get -out of the water. - -"Don't come down," she called, "you'll fall too. I'll be up soon." - -But the mud was very slippery; and again and again she slid back, while -Rene shouted with laughter, and clapped his hands. Even Desire had to -smile; for Priscilla did look funny, plastered with red mud, and dripping -with water. Jack again started toward her, but Desire held him back. - -"There is no use in two of you getting in that state. She's in no danger, -and since she is lighter in weight than you, she stands a much better -chance of climbing up that bank. Prissy," she called, "crawl on your -hands and knees." - -The little girl obeyed, and finally reached the top, where Jack stretched -out a strong hand to pull her over the edge. - -"What shall I do?" she wailed, holding her sticky arms out straight from -her body, and half blinded by the wet, muddy hair hanging over her face. - -"I wish I knew," said Desire. "Can you walk home, do you think?" - -"I guess so. I'll try; but--but--I lost all my berries!" - -"You look like a big berry yourself, you're so red," gurgled Rene. - -At least one of the party was enjoying the incident to the utmost. - -It took a long time to scrape and wash the mud off poor Priscilla, and -when the task was accomplished they were exhausted. - -While the others were occupied, Rene had been playing about by himself. -Just as Priscilla looked once more like herself, the little boy ran -toward the group crying at the top of his voice. - -"What's happened?" demanded Jack, advancing to meet the child and picking -him up. - -"Bite!" he wailed, holding out his finger. - -"What bit you?" - -"Long, wiggly thing," sobbed the little fellow. "Ran away so fast." - -"Snake!" said Desire. "Oh, Jack! What shall we do?" - -"Don't be frightened," said the boy, calmly sitting down with the little -fellow on his lap, and examining the finger carefully. He found the bite, -and putting it to his lips, began to suck the blood from it while Desire -helped hold Rene still. - -"Jack, do be careful," she begged anxiously; "be sure not to swallow any -of it," as he paused to dispose of what he had drawn from the wound. "Be -quiet, Renny; brother is trying to make you well; so you mustn't mind if -he hurts you a little." - -Priscilla, with terrified eyes, stood looking on helplessly until Desire -sent her for a box of emergency supplies which she had prepared before -leaving Sissiboo. - -"I hardly think it was a poisonous snake," said Jack, when he had done -all he could; "but I suppose it is best to be on the safe side. I had -better take him in to Kentville to a doctor." - -"Oh, yes," breathed Desire, in great relief; "and let him see if you're -all right too." - -They hitched up the horses and drove into the town, and while Jack and -Desire took Rene to the physician's office, Priscilla took the berries -they had gathered that day to her first customer, Mrs. Auberge. They had -become good friends, and the little girl naturally told her of the recent -accidents. - -"There are no dangerous snakes right around here," she said soothingly; -"but it does no harm to have a doctor look the boy over. So you're going -on tomorrow? I'll miss you. How would you like to stay with me for the -rest of the summer and help me with the tourists? I'll pay you." - -"I'd have to ask Jack," replied the child slowly, after a minute's -thought. "I'll come back and let you know." - -She met the others just coming out of the doctor's house. - -"Renny and Jack are both all right," Desire cried joyfully to her little -sister. "Where have you been?" - -"I sold the berries to Mrs. Auberge; and--and--Jack--" - -"Yes?" - -"She wants me to stay here and help her for the rest of the summer, and -she'll pay me." - -Desire glanced quickly at Jack, who stood regarding Priscilla very -gravely. - -"Do you want to stay?" he inquired, finally. - -"It would bring in some money--I'd be glad--that is--" - -"That isn't what I asked you, Prissy. I said do you _want_ to stay." - -"Answer Jack, dear," urged Desire, as the child stood silent, hanging her -head. "Don't be afraid to say just what you feel." - -"She isn't afraid," said Jack gently. "Do you want to stay with Mrs. -Auberge, dear?" - -Priscilla shook her head. - -"All right," replied her brother; "that settles it." - -"I told her I'd let her know--" began the little girl. - -"Very well. Run back and thank her nicely for her offer, but say that -this summer we are all going to stay together. We'll walk on slowly, and -you can catch up with us." - -Before they had gone far, they heard running steps behind them; and -Priscilla came abreast, catching Jack by the hand. - -"See what she gave me," holding up a box as she spoke; "a game we can all -play; and any time I want to, I can stay and help her." - -"That's very nice of her," said Desire. "How wonderful people are to us -everywhere." - - -"It's a good thing," remarked Jack that night, "that tomorrow we shall -return to our regular occupation and way of living. I feel as if I had -had enough excitement today to last for the rest of the summer." - -"Oh, of that kind, perhaps," agreed Desire; "but there are other kinds; -and those I hope we'll meet. Did the doctor charge much?" - -"About half what we made on the berries," smiled Jack. - -"But we're still a little better off than when we came." - -"Yes, some; but not much." - -"Well, never mind; huckleberries are coming, and we'll make it up on -them," decided Desire hopefully. "Wasn't it dear of Prissy to be willing -to go to work?" - -"Yes, she spoke of it again when I bade her goodnight; but I said we -could support her until she is older. While it can be managed otherwise, -I hate to have her cooped up in a strange house doing all kinds of odd -jobs." - -"We haven't done so badly thus far, have we?" - -"No; but we haven't made anywhere near enough to settle down somewhere -and go to school." - -"But the summer isn't over yet; and who knows what will happen before -winter comes?" - -"You're a hopeful little pal, Dissy," he said, kissing her fondly. - -"Now we must begin to look for the Godet house," said Desire, pulling out -her little blue history the next morning, when they were on the way to -Wolfville. - -"I was sorry we could get no information, when we passed through Wilmot, -about the first Wistmore house in this country," said Jack. - -"They lived on a sheep farm when they came here from the States, and -probably the place looks like all others of its kind," replied Desire, -poring over the book. - -"I think the Godet house must be the other side of Grand Pre," observed -Jack, looking over her shoulder. "We'll go there first." - -So they turned off the main road and drove down the hill, through the -straggling village, its long street bordered by spreading trees and -scattered white houses far back from the road. The great marsh meadow, -which was the Grand Pre of Longfellow's poem _Evangeline_, has been set -apart as a park, and is surrounded by a fence. By going through a -gate-house, one enters the enclosure known as Acadian National Park. - -As the Wistmores descended the low broad step on the park side of the -gate-house, Rene, his eyes on the distant well of which he had heard his -sisters talking, put one foot right into a very small flower-bordered -pool at the left of the step. Everyone turned at the sound of the splash. - -"Renny!" exclaimed Priscilla severely, "I never saw such a child for -water." - -"You rolled right into the river," retorted the little boy, "and got all -red mud too!" - -Jack and Desire exchanged smiles. - -For an hour the children wandered over the interesting and beautiful -meadowland, dotted with large beds of gorgeous flowers. - -"What a sense of spaciousness, and of peace, the place gives one," -observed Desire, as they stood before the little chapel, gazing about -them. "Look, Rene, at the swallows' nests." - -On the walls, close to the buttress which supports the sharply slanting -roof, several nests were plastered. - -"And is this the very same church mentioned in _Evangeline_?" inquired -Priscilla, nearly breaking her neck to look up at the belfry, surmounted -by a tall four-sided spire. - -"No; but it is built on the site of that one, and the row of willows you -see down there to the right grew on the main street of Grand Pre. The -first settlers brought the shoots from Normandy. The well we passed on -our way up is the same one from which the inhabitants of the olden -village obtained their water supply. Just north of here is the Basin of -Minas, where the people embarked on the ship which carried them away at -the time of the Expulsion. This meadowland all around us was protected -from the high tides by dykes like you saw a few weeks ago in Bear River. -At one side of the Basin lies Cape Blomidon, where the amethysts are -found; and--" - -"Where Glooscap lived," interrupted Rene, always glad to contribute to -the narratives. - -"Yes," assented Jack, "where Glooscap lived. After the hay was cut from -the meadows," he continued, "cattle were turned in to graze until winter -came." - -"How queer it makes one feel to be here," observed Desire dreamily. - -They missed Priscilla at that moment, and looking around, saw her -standing in front of the large bronze statue of Evangeline, which is in -the centre of the park. - -"She doesn't look at all like I thought she would," commented the little -girl in disappointed tones, as the others joined her. They all gazed in -silence for a moment at the sorrowful figure, looking backward at the -land she was so reluctant to leave. - -"You probably like to think of her, as I do, in a happier mood," said -Desire; "but she must have been pretty sad when she went away." - -"We had better go on now," decided Jack. So they followed the little -stream which twists its way across the meadow; a mere thread in some -places, in others wide enough to be bridged with single planks. Once it -spread out into a fair-sized pond, covered with water lilies and guarded -by a family of ducks who regarded the visitors scornfully. - -"Now for _our_ house," cried Desire as they drove onto the main road -again. "Please go very slowly, Jack, so that we won't miss it." - -They all peered eagerly out of the wagon; and when they saw, up a little -lane, a dilapidated-looking building, they all exclaimed -together--"_That_ must be it!" - -Jack drove as close as the underbrush would allow, and they proceeded on -foot until they were standing before a small log cabin, windowless, -doorless, a huge flat stone for a doorstep, and a chimney built of -irregular stones. - - - - - CHAPTER XV - THE OLD GODET HOUSE - - -"No floors," observed Priscilla, peeking in. - -"It's a mere shell," said Jack; "everything rotted away but the walls and -the chimney." - -"But how stout they are!" exclaimed Desire, triumphantly. - -"We'll look at it again when we come back this way, if you like," -promised Jack presently; "but now I want to get on to Windsor." - -"There's the remains of a garden back of the cabin," commented Priscilla, -as they drove away. "I can see three or four flowers." - -"The first seeds of which were doubtless planted by our--how many times -great-grandmother, Jack?" asked Desire. - -"Don't know. The 'greats' always did puzzle me." - -"Oh!" cried Rene, "I always thought you knowed _everything_." - -"Sorry to disappoint you, my boy," laughed Jack; "but I don't." - -"And now," said Priscilla, "I want to see the place where you went to -school, Jack. Wasn't it here?" - -"Yes. I'll show it to you when we come back." - -"How strange," commented Desire to Jack, "that you never heard of or saw -the place when you were here." - -The boy smiled. "I was far too busy going to classes, preparing -assignments, and coaching some of the other fellows, to hunt up old -ruins." - -Desire was very quiet for the rest of the day, but the next day, when -they were camped near the river Avon just beyond the town of Wolfville, -she said rather timidly to Jack: - -"Do you suppose we could find out anywhere who owns the Godet house now?" - -"Possibly; but why?" - -"I'd just like to know." - -Her brother looked at her keenly before he said--"We can walk into town -and see what information we can get, if you like." - -"Do you suppose the children would be safe if we left them?" looking up -at him doubtfully. - -"I think so. Priscilla must begin to take a little responsibility now. -We'll have plenty of time to get back before dinner time." - -While Desire got ready, Jack issued instructions to the two children, -closing with--"Rene, you're to mind Priscilla; and Prissy, don't go away -from the wagon, or let Rene out of your sight." - -They had gone only a short distance when Desire, who had looked back -several times, said--"Jack, would you mind very much if I let you go on -alone, and I went back?" - -"No, of course not; don't you feel well?" he inquired anxiously. - -"Perfectly; but--Prissy _is_ pretty young to be left with the wagon and -the baby; and it isn't as if you really needed me along." - -"I think they're perfectly safe, but if you'd feel better about it, go -back by all means," said her brother kindly. - -So Desire returned to the children, and waited in a fever of suspense for -Jack to come back. With one eye on the long road, and the other on her -household, or rather wagonhold, duties, she was ready to drop everything -and go to meet him as soon as his tall form appeared in the distance. - -At full speed she dashed along the highway, raising quite a cloud of fine -white dust, and fell into Jack's arms outspread to stop her. - -"Good work, Dissy! All our riding hasn't made you forget how to run. -Remember the races you and I used to have when we were little, on that -smooth path running along the edge of the woods?" - -"And the day you fell over a stone and had such a terrible nosebleed? How -frightened I was!" - -"We had lots of good times together when we were kids, didn't we?" asked -Jack, laying his arm affectionately across her shoulders. - -"We surely did; but why say 'when we were kids?' We do now, too, only -they are a different kind of times." - -"And a different kind of race," added Jack, thoughtfully. - -"Well, what did you do in town?" asked the girl, unable to restrain her -curiosity any longer. - -"I rambled about a bit first, asking a question here and there, and -finally ended up at the house of Judge Herbine. He's a fine old man, -Desire; you'd like him. As he is quite a story-teller, and very much -interested in our affairs, it took some time to get the information I was -after; but at last I succeeded in finding out that the house apparently -belongs to no one. Some years ago a man from the States wanted to buy the -site for a summer home, but when he investigated and found that there -wasn't a clear title to the property, he decided not to take it. I don't -really understand it, but it's something about some papers that are -missing, have been for years and years back. Nobody else wanted it, so--" - -"We can take it ourselves," concluded Desire. - -The boy stood stock still in the road, and looked at his sister in frank -dismay. - -"What on earth do you mean!" he asked. - -"Just what I said. If it belongs to nobody, we, being the Godets' -descendants, can surely take it. Who'd have a better right?" - -Jack looked more and more puzzled, as he said--"What would you do with -it?" - -"_Do_ with it? Why, live in it, of course." - -The boy regarded her with such a worried look that she laughed outright. - -"I'm perfectly sane, Jack. My plan is this. We'll have to live somewhere -during the winter; and if we board, we'll use up all the money we make -this summer. With this as our headquarters, during unpleasant weather we -could make day trips as we planned, and send Prissy to school every day -in Wolfville. Or possibly you could get some kind of a job in Windsor for -the winter, and I could take charge of the wagon." - -"But nobody could possibly live in that cabin," objected Jack, brushing -away a persistently hovering bee. "It's hopeless." - -"Indeed it isn't hopeless. I agree with you that no one could live in it -the way it is now, but with new floors and a couple of partitions, it -would be fine. You admitted that the walls were stout, and the chimney -perfect." - -"With help, I could put down floors--" began Jack half to himself, after -a moment's consideration. "We'll have to think this out more carefully, -though, and talk it over again." And he added hurriedly as they got near -the wagon, and Priscilla dashed out to meet them, "Don't say anything yet -before the children." - -The same afternoon Jack went again to town, and did not return until -supper time. Priscilla was curious to know what he did there, but he gave -such absurd answers to her questions that she finally gave up. - -"I'm not _ever_ going to ask you another question," she announced. - -"Not until next time," teased Jack, ruffling up her hair. - -"I suppose you are as curious as Prissy," he said later on to Desire, -after the children were asleep. - -August had come in with a cool wind from over Fundy, and after darkness -fell, the chill was more noticeable; so Jack had built a small camp fire, -and he and Desire were sitting beside it on a pile of cedar boughs. - -"Well, yes," admitted Desire. "I must confess that I am." - -"I went to see a young carpenter that the judge recommended to me--" - -"About floors?" asked Desire eagerly, twisting around so quickly to look -directly into his face that the pile of boughs swayed threateningly. - -"Look out, Dissy!" warned her brother. "You'll have us both in the fire -if you don't sit still. Yes, about floors, and partitions." - -"What did he say?" - -"He's busy on one of the farms now, but when the crops are in he'll do -the work for us at a price that we can afford to pay. That is, I think we -can if we do well for the rest of the summer." - -"Then we'll just _have_ to," decreed Desire, tossing a couple of pine -cones into the fire. - -"The judge is a good old scout. Seemed so interested in us that I told -him what we were doing, or rather trying to do, and he was awfully keen -about seeing the rest of you. So he's coming out tomorrow to lunch--" - -"Tomorrow!" exclaimed Desire. "Why, I thought you were anxious to get on -to Windsor; and we've already lost a day." - -"Yes, I know; I don't know just why I hung around here, but it just -seemed as if we were meant to." - -"And to _lunch_, Jack," she added, in dire dismay. "What made you ask him -to a meal?" - -"I don't know. The invitation was out before I thought. But you would -have asked him, too. He seems so kind of lonely, and he says he dotes on -picnics. You can manage something simple; can't you?" the boy asked -anxiously. - -"I'll try hard, of course. Do you suppose you could catch a few fish in -the morning?" - -"Probably, and I saw some ripe huckleberries as I came along this -afternoon. The youngsters can gather some of those, and we'll get along -all right." - -The children were delighted at the prospect of "company," and immediately -after breakfast, Jack escorted them, armed with a tin pail and a couple -of cups, across a field to the berry bushes loaded with blue fruit. - -"When the pail is filled, go right back the way we came, and take the -berries to Desire," he instructed, as he set out in a different direction -for the river, with his fish pole. The banks of the sparkling stream were -pink with masses of wild roses, freshly opened and wet with dew. - -"Desire would be crazy over these," he thought. "Guess I'll take some to -her when I go back." - -An hour's fishing resulted in enough fish for a meal; and after cutting -an armful of roses, Jack returned to camp. The children had reached there -ahead of him, and were busy making things ready for the eagerly awaited -guest. - -Desire had laid on the ground, in a shady spot, a red-bordered -tablecloth, anchored it at each corner with a stone concealed by a pile -of pine cones. She greeted Jack's offering with enthusiasm--"Just what we -need for the centre of the table. Prissy, get an empty fruit can to put -them in, and lay some big ferns around it. I must attend to my biscuits." - -It was wonderful what good things Desire could cook on the little camp -stove, which they really had not felt able to afford when they saw it in -Yarmouth. "It will pay for itself very soon," she had argued; "for we -can't live on cold food all the time; and eating in restaurants is -awfully expensive." Jack had approved; so the stove and even a little -oven to set on top of it, when needed, had been added to old Simon's -outfit. - -About twelve o'clock a Ford coupe was seen in the distance, and soon came -to a stop beside the Wistmores who, one and all, stood in a row in front -of the camp. A thin little man with heavy white hair got nimbly out of -the car. - -"This is my family, Judge Herbine," said Jack; "Desire, Priscilla, and -Rene." - -"Very glad, indeed, to know you all," replied the judge, bowing low with -old-fashioned courtesy, but gazing searchingly at each one over the tops -of the glasses which he wore so far out on his nose that it was a miracle -that they stayed on at all. Priscilla was so fascinated by them that she -could hardly keep her eyes off them. - -"We'll have lunch right away," announced Desire; "so please take your -places at the table. This is yours, Judge," indicating the side facing -the road, where a cushion had been placed. The others sat on the ground. - -The fish which Jack had fried over a camp fire, while Desire finished her -biscuits, were done to a turn; and the judge did full justice to them. - -"These biscuits are mighty fine," he commented, "and you say you made -them on that little gadget of a stove? Marvelous! Marvelous!" - -After the huckleberries and some wafers which Desire had taken from their -stock were disposed of, the guest insisted upon helping clear up. He was -a lively little man, and skipped hither and thither, carrying dishes, -picking up papers, and making himself generally useful. - -"Now for a visit," he said, settling himself beside a tall pine, leaning -back against its trunk, and stretching his legs, clad in cream-colored -crash, straight out in front of him. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - A NEW FRIEND - - -"So you're going to try to live in the old Godet house this winter--" - -"Oh, _are_ we?" cried Priscilla, throwing herself on Desire. - -"Oh! Oh!" shrieked Rene joyfully, not very clear as to what the rejoicing -was about, but determined to have his full share in it anyway. - -"Have I let the cat out of the bag?" inquired the judge, startled at the -effect of his question. - -"We had not yet told the children," replied Jack; "but it's quite all -right, for they would have known soon, anyway." - -"Sorry--sorry. You two youngsters just forget what I said." - -The man talked in a rapid, jerky fashion which reminded Desire of the way -a robin runs along, a few steps very fast, stops up short, and then -repeats the process. - -"Now, I was going to say, where do you expect to house your team this -winter?" - -Jack and Desire looked at each other in dismay. - -"I never thought of that," said the boy slowly. - -"Well, _I_ did. Got an empty barn at my place--no good to me--Ford is -lost in it--plenty of room for your horses and wagon--" - -"If you'll let--" - -"Now I know just what you're--going to say--and I _won't_. But if -you'd--feel better about it--let this good sister of yours--make me some -biscuits once in a while. Don't get this kind very often." - -"I'd just love to," replied Desire warmly, while Jack tried to express -his thanks, to which the old man refused to listen. - -"Where are you going from here?" continued the judge. - -"Right on to Halifax, then back again," replied Jack. - -"Now I was thinking--while we were eating--know how to make things out of -birch bark--and out of pine cones?" turning to Desire. "No? Then I'll -show you." - -Scrambling lightly to his feet, and followed by the young Wistmores, he -darted across the road to a large birch tree; and drawing a knife from -his pocket, showed them how to obtain strips of bark without injuring the -tree. Returning to the camp, he ordered the two children to gather up a -lot of cones. The rest of the afternoon was spent in learning to make -boxes, baskets, and picture frames. - -"There're lots of tourists in Halifax--always looking for souvenirs--at -railroad station, cab stands, and such. Wharf, too, is a good place to -offer this stuff. No reason why you two girls shouldn't do -that--perfectly safe." - -"Now I'm going home," he announced suddenly at about five o'clock. "Had a -good time. See you often this winter. I'll keep an eye on that boy who is -going to fix up your cabin--ready when you come back this way--if you -don't come too soon." - -"Isn't he _funny_?" commented Priscilla, as the Ford drove out of sight. - -"But charming," added Desire. - -"Oh, yes, I like him a lot." - -"Me, too, like him," echoed Rene. - -"Tomorrow," said Desire, "I want to gather lots of bark and cones, and -while we're on the road I can make up baskets and boxes. Then when we get -near enough to Halifax, we'll pick huckleberries to fill some of them, -and wild flowers for the rest--" - -"And we'll sell 'em and make heaps of money," finished the practical -Priscilla. - -"We'll get bunches of cat tails, too," continued Desire. - -"And later in the season, pretty berries," said Priscilla. - -"And wintergreen--" - -"And nuts--" - -"And soon you won't need my poor efforts at all," concluded Jack, with a -half smile. - -"Oh, don't, please, Jack, even in fun," begged Desire. - -"We'd need you even if you never earned a cent!" cried Priscilla, -throwing her arms around Jack's neck. - -Rene, attempting to imitate her, due to the wagon's passing over a rut, -succeeded only in falling violently on his brother's shoulder. The -combined assault nearly forced Jack forward out of the seat. - -"I'll take your word for it, hereafter," he gasped, when order was once -more restored. "Don't illustrate again, I beg of you!" - - -A week later the Wistmore family drove into Halifax. - -"I shall have to spend most of the day buying supplies," said Jack, as -they passed the citadel. "I'll put the wagon up somewhere, and you and -the children can look about while I'm busy." - -"But--" protested Desire, "the boxes of berries, and flowers--" - -She had carried out the plan formulated at Wolfville, and had a number of -really artistic boxes of choice fruit, partly covered with tiny ferns, -and several odd baskets in which dainty wild flowers were set in moss. - -"I hate to have you hanging around offering things for sale," objected -Jack. - -"But we can't afford to be proud that way, dear. It is a perfectly -respectable thing to do, and I do so want to be a help--" - -"As if you weren't always," ejaculated the boy. - -"I should think the station might be the best place to start; so drive us -over there like a good boy," urged Desire. - -So Jack kept Rene with him, and, with many misgivings, left the girls -standing near the steps which lead down from the station to the cab -platform. The taxi drivers were too busy trying to outdo one another in -securing fares to pay much attention to the girls; for a train had just -come in. The first few travelers who hurried through the station to -secure a taxi did not even see the little saleswomen. When another group -appeared, Desire stepped forward just as they were getting into a cab. - -"Wouldn't you like--" she began timidly. - -A haughty-looking elderly woman, who seemed to be the leader of the -party, brushed her aside with a curt "No!" - -Scarlet with embarrassment, Desire shrank back. - -"Don't mind her, Dissy," said Priscilla, hugging her sister's arm. "She's -ugly mean." - -"Hush!" was the only word Desire could utter just then. It took all the -courage she was able to muster to approach the next travelers, a fat man -and two women. - -"Would you care to buy a souvenir?" asked Desire, her heart beating very -fast. - -"Bless my soul, no!" replied the man, not unkindly but very definitely. -"Too much luggage now." - -Only the thoughts of helping Jack urged the girl to persevere. Trembling, -dripping with perspiration, she stopped a couple of women who shook their -heads before she could get a word out. Seeing the look of disappointment -on her face, the younger of the two held out a coin, saying--"I don't -want your wares, but take this." - -Stung to the quick, but realizing that no injury was intended, Desire -refused and walked away, ready to cry. - -"I'd have taken it if I'd been you," commented Priscilla. - -"Of course you wouldn't, Prissy. We do not _beg_. But I guess nobody -wants our souvenirs--and I thought them so pretty. We'd better try to -find the Public Gardens, where Jack told us to meet him." - -"I think the station is a bad place, anyway," said Priscilla. "The people -are in too much of a hurry, and they did all have a lot of baggage. Maybe -we can find somewhere else." - -By asking directions a number of times, they arrived at the Public -Gardens--the big iron gates opening into acres of gay flower beds, rare -and valuable trees, winding streams, artistic bridges. They were about to -enter, when a man who, at a safe distance, had been watching them in the -station, and who had followed them to the Gardens, now hurried forward. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - AN OLD ENEMY - - -Pushing rudely between the two girls, the stranger succeeded, by means of -a skillful bit of elbow play, in knocking the souvenirs out of their -hands. As if to avoid stepping on the scattered berries and flowers, he -took a couple of quick side steps, planting his huge feet directly upon -them, and thereby ruining them completely. It was all done so quickly -that the girls hardly realized what had happened until they stood looking -down at the remains of many days of labor. - -Desire was quite speechless, and seemed momentarily paralyzed. Not so -Priscilla, whose quick eyes followed the stranger, striding away over one -of the bridges in the Garden. - -"Dissy," she whispered, "it's that _same man_." - -"What _same man_?" - -"The one who fought Jack." - -"It does _look_ a lot like him, but--" - -"It's him all right! The mean old pig!" - -"Why, Prissy! It was an accident." - -"Wasn't either, and now we can't make any money to take to Jack." -Excitedly she burst into tears. - -"Don't, dear," begged Desire. "We mustn't act like babies every time -something goes wrong. We'll just start over again. These didn't cost -anything, and it will be easy to make new ones." - -"What's the trouble?" asked Jack, who had come up behind them. - -Both girls explained at once. - -"Where's the fellow now?" demanded the boy, his jaw set, his eyes -flashing. - -"He went over that bridge," pointed Priscilla. - -"Don't bother about him," urged Desire. "You might get arrested. Let's go -back to the wagon." - -Struggling between the wish to avenge the wrong to his little sisters, -and the conviction that it was perhaps wiser to avoid conflict in a -strange city, he turned abruptly away from the big iron gates. - -"Where are we going next?" asked Desire, as they walked along the street -toward the place where the wagon had been left. - -"I bought all the stock we need, and I thought, since Simon always did, -we'd go on down the South Shore a ways and then come back here to start -for--" - -"_Home!_" concluded Desire, "and what fun we'll have settling down in -it." - -"More fun in a wag'n," declared Rene. - -"You'd holler all right, when the snow blew in on you," said Priscilla. - -Jack hardly heard what they were saying, so puzzled and disturbed was he -over the reappearance of his enemy. Was the man following them, or was -the meeting purely accidental? Had he been tampering with the horses the -night Priscilla roused them? If the fellow were bent on revenge, they -were likely to suffer from the effects of his anger and jealousy almost -any time. - -The next morning they were following the very irregular South Shore line -along the Atlantic; past ragged points, around deep bays, through tangles -of woodland, then back beside the yellow sands again. Numerous offshore -islands looked so inviting that Priscilla was always wishing they could -drive out to them. As they rounded St. Margaret's Bay, the sunshine was -brilliant; but almost without warning, a mile farther on, they were -completely enveloped in fog which cut off all view of the ocean. - -"Do be very careful, Jack," pleaded Desire nervously, as they almost felt -their way around an especially blind curve. "Someone might run into us." - -They reached Chester in safety, and spent some time looking about that -busy little town. The souvenir shop up the hill above the Lovett House -especially attracted Priscilla, and it was with great reluctance that she -left it. - -"I'd like to have money enough to buy everything I wanted there," she -said, looking longingly back at it. - -In a few minutes they missed Rene, who had been lagging along behind -them. - -"That boy is hopeless," groaned Jack, as they retraced their steps to -look for him. - -Not very far back they discovered him, leaning over the edge of a -cobblestone well, trying to lower the heavy bucket. - -"I was thirsty," he explained, as Jack detached him. - -"But you might have fallen in!" said Desire severely. - -"I'll tell you what we can do," proposed Priscilla; "tie a rope to him, -like you do to a little dog, and I'll lead him. I saw a lady at Halifax -with a little boy fastened that way,--" - -The proposal called forth a howl from Rene. - -"Won't be tied like a dog! Won't have Prissy lead me!" - -"Well, let's go on now before we get into any more difficulties," said -Jack, starting for the shed where he had left the wagon. - -"That is Mahone Bay," he told them, as they gazed out over the large arm -of the ocean upon which Chester is located; "and all this section was -once a great retreat for pirates. There are so many islands where they -hid their booty, and so many little bays and inlets where they could take -refuge if pursued." - -"Want to go out there and see pirates," announced Rene, as Jack tightened -the reins, and Dolly and Dapple began to move. - -"There are no pirates there now," said Priscilla in a disgusted tone. - -"Go and see. _I'm_ going to be a pirate when I grow up. I think they're -_fine_." - -"It's a good thing you didn't give us that piece of information before, -Jack," laughed Desire, "or we should have been swimming out to find -Renny." - -Not very far beyond Chester, they ran into fog again. The road was -winding, and very much up and down hill; and as they were about to round -a curve near Lunenburg, a heavy automobile loomed up suddenly at their -left, out of the grey blanket which enfolded the landscape. - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - A COLLISION - - -Jack turned aside as quickly and as far as he dared, but the machine -struck the side of the wagon, ripped off a wheel, and disappeared into -the gloom. The children were thrown violently to the floor of the wagon, -and Desire against the side; but Jack managed to keep his seat. The -horses stopped instantly, and stood quiet like the intelligent, -well-mannered animals that they were. To the accompaniment of Rene's -cries, Jack got his little family out of the tilting wagon and took stock -of their injuries. Priscilla had a bad nosebleed, and Desire a bruised -arm. Rene was only badly frightened, and Jack himself entirely uninjured. - -"We certainly can be very thankful," breathed Desire with relief, after -first aid had been given. - -"We certainly can," agreed Jack fervently, going to examine the condition -of the wagon; "we were very lucky." - -"What can we do with it?" inquired Desire. - -"Fortunately we're not very far from Lunenburg," he replied, "and I -suppose I can get it fixed there; but it will mean quite a delay, I -imagine. If the fog would only lift so that we could see something." - -"Why not stay right here until it does?" proposed Desire. - -"Should you be afraid to stay here with the children while I walked to -town?" began Jack. "It would save time if I could get the work started -today--" - -"Not afraid for us, Jack; but for you. Something might hit you. Suppose -another automobile should come along!" She shuddered. - -"Well, then we'll try to get the wagon just off the road, and make -ourselves as comfortable as we can until the fog is gone." - -With much difficulty, and many pauses for rest, they succeeded in getting -the wagon off the road. - -It was a tiresome afternoon, and seemed many hours longer than it really -was. Just about six o'clock the grey blanket was whisked away as suddenly -as if someone had picked it up, and the land was flooded with late -afternoon sunshine. On one side of them were fields with groups of trees -here and there; on the other, a wide beach. - -"Why not camp in this field?" asked Desire, as the children darted across -to play in the sand. "If we're going to be held up for a day or two, this -is probably as good a place as any." - -Jack agreed. So after charging the children not to go into the water, -they set about making a permanent camp. It was too late to go to town -that night, but early the next morning Jack took the broken wheel and -started out. - -"I can have it the day after tomorrow," he announced upon his return, -which Desire assured him was "not so bad." - - -The two days passed very pleasantly. Twice a day, much to Rene's delight, -they all went in bathing. Playing in the sand became almost as much of a -joy to the older ones as to the children, and they laid out wonderful -towns across the beach. In the middle of the day, when it was too hot -near the water, they spent their time in the grove, and made friends with -the squirrels who were busy laying in their stores for the winter. The -little creatures got so tame that they would venture into the very laps -of the invaders of their domain. - -"Now for the road again!" cried Jack, on the evening of the second day, -as he put the new wheel on the wagon. "We'll go to bed early, and get -started as soon as it is light." - -Just after daybreak, he came to the wagon where Desire was collecting -supplies for their breakfast. - -"Dissy," he said, "Dolly is very sick!" - -"Sick! Oh, Jack, what _shall_ we do!" cried Desire in dismay. -Difficulties did seem to be coming too thick and fast. - -"I've made her as comfortable as I can, but I don't know what to do next. -I'll have to go to town for help. Give me a sandwich to eat on the way--I -can't wait for breakfast. You and the children keep away from her until I -get back." - -In a few minutes Jack disappeared down the road leading to Lunenburg, -puzzling over the finding of a pan half filled with bran mash which he -had discovered near Dolly. Since he could not arrive at a satisfactory -explanation, he wisely decided to keep the discovery to himself. - -Desire gave the children their breakfast, and sent them out on the sand, -she herself remaining where she could watch them and keep an eye on the -wagon. It seemed hours after Jack had gone when up the road she could see -the broad bulk of a team of oxen plodding slowly toward her. As they came -closer, she saw that they were pulling one of the flat wooden wagons used -for hauling stone. On the boards sat Jack and another man; the driver was -walking at the animals' heads. Jack got off and came hurriedly toward -her, after directing the driver to the end of the field where the sick -horse lay. - -"The doctor thinks he'll have to take Dolly to his place; so they brought -an ox team along," he explained. Then before Desire had time to reply, he -dashed off to join the other two men. - -Half an hour later poor Dolly, reclining on the ox cart, was ready for -her ride to Lunenburg. - -"I think she will get well; but not right off. She must have ate -something very bad," said Dr. Myers, a stout German, mopping his brow -with a big blue handkerchief. "You come see me--say--next day after -tomorrow; then I maybe can tell you how long." He ran clumsily down the -road to join his patient. - -Jack sat down beside Desire, and for a long moment they looked at each -other without speaking. The children, who had left their play to become -spectators of the moving, had returned to the beach at Desire's -direction, and were now so busy constructing a sea wall that they were -oblivious to all else. - -"What next, Jack?" asked Desire at last, laying her hand over his. - - - - - CHAPTER XIX - POOR DOLLY! - - -"I wish I knew," was the boy's sad reply to his sister's question. - -Fired by the sight of his deep depression, Desire put her wits to work to -find a way out of this latest catastrophe. - -"Perhaps I could get some work in the shipyards in town," began her -brother before she had arrived at any solution of the problem. - -"But if Dolly gets well in a few days, would that pay?" - -"I don't think she will--at least not so as to be ready for the road. You -see, Dissy, it's going to take an awful lot of what we've made so far to -pay the doctor; and while we're held up here, nothing is coming in, and -living expenses go on." - -"That's so." - -"If I could get a job in the yards for two or three weeks, it would mean -a lot to us." - -"We would stay here, and you'd go back and forth every day?" - -"Yes, that is if you wouldn't be afraid--" - -"Of course I shouldn't!" - -"It's only half an hour's walk, and we can camp down here cheaper than -living in town. In October we should settle down in Wolfville; for it -will be altogether too cold to camp after that time. If I could get work -for two or three weeks, then we'll start back for Halifax, and get to--" - -"_Our_ house just about in time," concluded Desire gaily. - -"How proudly you say that," smiled Jack. - -"I _am_ proud of it. Well, we'll follow out your plan then; and while I -get dinner you might tell the children what we've decided." - -"Better wait until we see whether I get the job or not," advised her -brother. "It will be hard on you, poor kid, having to manage everything -here while I'm gone all day long." - -"Not half so hard, dear, as your having to go to work at something you -don't know anything about. I'm used to my work." - -The following afternoon, Jack returned from town, and immediately sought -out Desire who was sitting under a clump of birches mending one of -Priscilla's dresses. - -"Good news, Dissy!" he cried, dropping down at her feet. "I've got a -job." - -"Oh, Jack, that's great! Tell me all about it." - -"When I first went into town, I stopped at Dr. Myers' and saw Dolly. -She's lots better, but Doc said she ought to stay there another week. -It's expensive, but it would be more so if we lost her; so I don't want -to take any chances." - -"Of course not." - -"When she's ready to come back, he'll bring her out here; and he said to -let her roam about the field for another week, and then drive her half a -day at a time for a while. After that, he says she'll be all right -again." - -"Well, that's better than we feared at first." - -"Yes indeed. I thought for a while that poor old Dolly was a goner. And -how hard it would have been to tell good old Simon!" - -"And what about your job?" For Jack's eyes were on the expanse of blue -ocean, where the sparkling ripples from a distance looked like silver -confetti tossed up into the air and then allowed to fall back upon the -restless surface of the water. - -"Oh, yes. I asked directions from the doctor, and went over to the -shipyard. My, but it's an interesting and busy place, Dissy! Ships just -begun, others with their ribs all showing and looking like the carcass of -a chicken used to when the kids got through with it; some being painted, -some out in the harbor waiting for masts, and others all ready for the -deep sea. I found the man who hires the help, and he didn't seem at all -interested in me--said he wasn't going to take anyone on at present. I'll -admit I was awfully disappointed--" - -"Poor old Jack!" murmured his sister sympathetically, laying down her -work to put her arms around him, much as she would have done to Rene. - -"Just as I was leaving, who should come lumbering into the office but Dr. -Myers. 'Did you get it?' he asked. When I said I did not, he grabbed my -arm, turned me around, and marched me back to the desk where Mr. -Libermann was sitting. 'I send you this boy to get a job,' he cried -angrily. 'For why you not gif him one? I know you haf extra work for -these few weeks.' Mr. Libermann seemed a bit taken back, and -stammered--'I did not know he was friend of yours. I'll see what I can do -if--' 'You'd better!' shouted the doctor, shaking his fist under Herr -Libermann's nose. He got up from the desk and disappeared into some -quarters at the back of the building, glad to escape, I think, for even a -few minutes. - -"'He owe me too many kindnesses,' grumbled the doctor, 'for him to refuse -what I ask.' Presently Mr. Libermann returned with the welcome news that -I was taken on as an extra hand for three weeks, and could start -tomorrow. So once more we are--" - -"On the road to prosperity!" finished Desire, giving him a hug and taking -up her sewing again. - -"Not exactly prosperity, I'm afraid; but at least the means of -existence," laughed Jack. - -"The funny part of the performance," he went on, "is that Dr. Myers did -not tell me to say to Mr. Libermann that he had sent me; and that -gentleman didn't have courage to remind him of the fact when he got so -excited over my being turned down." - -The children were delighted when they heard that another three weeks were -to be spent in that pleasant spot, but deplored the absence of their -playfellow, Jack. Unaccustomed to work of the heavy kind that was -required of him in the shipyard, he was naturally very tired when he -returned at night; and Desire tried to prevent the younger ones from -making any demands at all upon him. She was careful, too, to keep -unpleasant topics and worries from him. - -The days were lonely for her; their simple housekeeping was soon done, -and she could not play with the children all the time. So in desperation, -one day, she took the cover off the box of articles saved from their old -home, and hunted through until she found Jack's first year high school -books. - -"If I can't go to school," she decided, "I can at least study a little by -myself. I won't bother Jack now, but later he will help me over the -things I can't understand." - -After that, the days did not drag so slowly. - -The doctor kept an eye on Jack, and at unexpected times dropped into the -yards to see him. In spite of the difference in their ages, the two -became good friends; and both were genuinely sorry when the end of their -companionship arrived. - -"The doctor wants me to be on the lookout for a certain kind of ox on the -way back to Halifax," said Jack, the night before they broke camp. - -"Halifax?" said Priscilla. "I thought we were going to Bridgeriver." - -"Bridgewater," corrected Desire, laughing. - -"Well, a river is water," persisted Priscilla, who was always reluctant -to admit that she had made a mistake; and disliked very much to be -laughed at. - -"Sometimes it is red mud," suggested Jack mischievously. "Eh, Prissy?" -drawing a feathery grass blade across the back of her neck as she sat in -front of him sorting shells and stones. - -The children had gathered a bushel or more of beach treasures that they -"simply _must_ take with them," but Jack had decreed that only one small -box could be incorporated in their luggage. - -"I thought it best to get back to Wolfville as soon as possible," -explained her brother seriously when she did not respond to his -good-natured teasing. "It's not so very warm now nights." - -"What about the ox?" asked Desire. - -"A friend of the doctor's, in fact the man who came out here after Dolly, -has lost one of his--" - -"Lost!" exclaimed Priscilla disdainfully. "How on earth could one lose an -ox?" - -"The way we nearly lost Dolly," replied Jack briefly, before continuing -his explanation to Desire. "And naturally he wants to buy a perfect match -for the remaining one. He has been around the nearby country, but for -some reason--I believe his wife is ill, or something like that--he can't -go far to hunt one up. So the doctor is helping him, and he thought I -might just happen to see one on the way to Halifax." - -"How would you know if you did?" demanded Priscilla, with some scorn, -still annoyed at having to abandon so many of her marine souvenirs. - -"Dr. Myers took me to examine the surviving animal, and I looked him over -closely and wrote down a description besides." - -"Read it to us, Jack," suggested Desire; "and then we can all be on the -watch." - -So Jack read his notes, and when they went to bed they were all hopeful -of finding the required animal on their trip back to Halifax. - - -A couple of days later they were driving along the edge of St. Margaret's -Bay, when Desire clutched Jack's arm. - -"Look!" she cried. - -"Where, and at what?" - -"Away over there, in the far corner of that field. Aren't those oxen? And -so many of them." - -Jack stopped the horses and stood up, shading his eyes with his hand. - -"Yes, I think they are." - -"Hadn't you better go and look at them--that is, if they are for sale?" - -"Suppose I had, but I wonder how one gets there." - -"There must be a road." - -"I'll go and see," offered Priscilla. - -"Me too," chirped Rene. - -"No," said Jack, "we'll drive on a bit first." - -A little farther on, a narrow road led far back in the direction of the -field in which the oxen were located, and from that side, farm buildings -could be seen. - -"I don't believe I'll try to take the wagon in there," decided Jack, -surveying the road doubtfully. - -"You might make a sale," suggested Priscilla, always with an eye for -business. - -"And break an axle in one of those holes. No, I'll walk." - -The children clamored to go too, but Jack refused all company; so they -watched him pick his way carefully along until he reached the end of the -road which evidently terminated in a barnyard. It was tiresome waiting; -so Desire let the children get out to gather some cat tails which were -growing along the edge of a tiny roadside stream. - -They were so busy that Jack was right upon them before they were aware of -his approach. - -"Guess I've found what we're looking for," he announced jubilantly when -he came within earshot. - -"Really, Jack!" cried Desire, almost falling off the seat of the wagon in -her excitement, while the children threw themselves on him, flinging the -cat tails far and wide. - -"As far as I can see, he's a perfect match. The man raises them for sale. -I gave him the doctor's address, and he promised to get in touch with him -at once. However, I'll write a letter too, and mail it in the first town -we come to." - -"Isn't it nice," said Desire, when they were once more on their way, -"that you were able to do something for the doctor in return for his -kindness to you?" - -"Yes; and do you know, Dissy, people have been most awfully kind to us -all summer." - -"They surely have. I never dreamed we'd make so many friends." - -"Huh!" said Priscilla bluntly; "some of them weren't very nice. Those -folks in Halifax were just horrid!" - -"Hush!" ordered Desire severely; for she had never repeated to Jack her -unpleasant experiences in that city. - -Jack looked searchingly at her flushed face, but said nothing more about -it until they were alone that evening; then he insisted on hearing the -whole story. - -"Never again!" he decreed, "shall you or Prissy try to sell things on the -street." - -"But we're all peddlers, Jack dear; you can't get away from that fact." - -"Dissy," said her brother, smiling, "you'll get to be as much of an -arguer as Prissy if you're not careful." - - -Halifax was wrapped in a chilly grey fog when the Wistmores drove in a -couple of days later. The monotonous tones of the bell buoy in the harbor -sounded continuously through the city, and buildings and pavements -dripped with moisture. - -"Guess we'd better push right on," decided Jack, "and try to find before -night a spot where it is dry enough to camp." - -"_This_ certainly isn't a very pleasant place today," shivered Desire, -peering over his shoulder at the gloomy streets. - -After they got beyond the limits of the city, the fog lifted somewhat so -they could see the road quite clearly, and even some distance on either -side. About ten miles outside of Halifax they caught sight of something -dark under a tree ahead. - - - - - CHAPTER XX - GOOD SAMARITANS - - -"Maybe it's a bear!" exclaimed Rene hopefully. - -"Somebody's old ragbag," suggested Priscilla. - -"No," concluded Desire, "it's a man." - -"Must be sick, or dead tired to sit there on such a day," observed Jack. - -Just as he spoke the words, the interested watchers saw the man attempt -to get up, and fall heavily back upon the ground. Urging the horses to -greater speed, Jack soon brought the wagon abreast of the unfortunate -creature. Face down, he lay perfectly motionless. - -"Must be unconscious," said Jack, as they all got out and stumbled up the -bank upon which the man was stretched. - -Desire held her breath as her brother was rolling the figure carefully -over. There was something strangely familiar about that heavy form. No -mistake, it was their old enemy. - -Brother and sister faced each other across the quiet body. - -"Oh, it's _him_!" said Priscilla, in disgust. - -"He's the man Jack fought with!" squealed Rene. - -"Must be badly hurt," said Jack; "wonder what we can do for him." - -"Do! _Do!_" exclaimed Priscilla; "why, leave him here and go on as fast -as we can." - -"Prissy!" reproved Jack and Desire with one accord. - -"I'm afraid I can't carry him to the wagon," said Jack slowly. "He's so -heavy." - -"Don't want him in our nice wag'n," declared Rene vehemently. - -"I can help you," offered Desire, striving to conquer her aversion to the -man. - -At that moment, the object of their concern groaned and opened his eyes. -Unseeing, at first, they soon showed recognition of the faces above his. - -"What's the trouble with you?" asked Jack. - -"Cracked up somewhere," was the sullen response. - -"How did it happen?" - -"Fell over those stones in the fog." - -Desire turned to glance at the big pile of sharp rocks nearby, and felt -that a fall on those could do almost any damage in an unexpected -encounter. - -"Where can we take you, or what can we do for you?" asked Jack briskly. - -"Nothin'." - -"That's ridiculous! You can't stay here. Could you walk as far as the -wagon if we helped you?" - -"Can try." - -With the aid of Jack and Desire, one on either side, he managed to get -up. One or two promptly stifled groans broke from him, and he swayed -precariously as he tried to stand. - -"One foot's no good," he muttered, holding it up and throwing all his -weight on the other. - -"You two children go back and get into your places in the wagon," ordered -Jack. "Push your stools as close to the front seat as you can." - -Reluctantly they obeyed, hanging over the seat to watch the little -procession. Slowly, painfully, stopping often to rest, the injured man -was finally helped as far as the wagon. - -"Lean on the wheel a minute," directed Jack, "so my sister can get things -fixed for you." - -Desire opened the back doors, pushed the tent as far to the side as it -would go, and arranged a couple of blankets on the floor. - -"This is going to be the hardest bit," observed Jack, when all was ready, -"but we've got to make it some way." - -"Prissy and I can help him from the wagon, if you can manage out here," -suggested Desire. - -"All right, get in." - -The two girls, Priscilla under protest, grasped the man's shoulders and -pulled, while Jack eased his body and legs up from the ground to the -floor of the wagon. Half fainting with pain and exertion, the patient was -finally settled on the blankets. - -"Where are you going to take him?" asked Desire softly, as Jack took his -place and picked up the reins. - -"Back to Halifax, where he can get a doctor. I think his ribs as well as -his foot are injured; and Heaven only knows what else." - -They were all very quiet as they re-covered the ten miles to the city. -Priscilla was sullen; Rene somewhat awed; Desire compassionate, and Jack -thoughtful. - -As they entered Halifax, Jack turned toward their passenger and asked-- - -"Any special place here you want to be taken?" - -"Wharf. Pal there who'll look after me." - -Over the cobblestones, down the steep hill to the docks they rattled. - -"There he is. Tall fellow beside that pile of crates," said the man who -had been peering out the crack between the doors, which had been propped -partly open to give him more air. - -"Bill!" he shouted. - -The fisherman turned at the sound of his name, and Jack beckoned. With -three or four strides he was beside the wagon. - -"What's wanted?" - -Before the boy could reply, the injured man called out--"I'm in here, -Bill. Had a smash." - -The newcomer, without a word, stepped to the back of the wagon and stuck -his head in. After a short conversation, during which the Wistmores stood -beside the horses' heads, he slid the invalid part way out, put his -powerful arms under him, and picked him up like a child. - -"Much obliged to you for bringing him back," he said awkwardly to Jack; -then strode away down the wharf; but before they were out of earshot, the -injured man called back over the other one's shoulder--"You've won!" - -"Well, of all strange experiences," exclaimed Desire. - -"Whatever did he mean?" asked Priscilla. - -"Perhaps that he wouldn't bother us any more," replied Jack slowly. - -"An' he didn't give you any money, nor nothin'," grumbled Rene, as they -started out of Halifax for the second time that day. "I thought if -anybody helped anyone else they always gave 'em a--a--re--reward." - -"We _did_ get a reward," said Desire softly, "but not the kind you mean." - -"Where's his wagon?" demanded Priscilla. - -"Probably he left it in Halifax," replied Jack carelessly, as he wondered -just what harm to themselves the pile of stones might have thwarted. - - -Progress on the way back toward Wolfville was necessarily slow; for -housewives all along the route were preparing for the coming winter when -indoor occupations must replace the activities of the warm months. -Thread, wool, and notions of all kinds were in great demand; for the -women folk must keep busy with more feminine tasks, the hands that during -the summer had helped in gardens and farmyards, as well as in picking -blueberries to be shipped to the States. Daily great trucks stop at the -scattered houses along certain sections rich in that fruit to gather up -supplies and take their loads to the seaports where ships are waiting for -them. The average tourists en route from Nova Scotia to the States little -know, when they are pacing the decks of the comfortable steamers, that -far below are crates and crates of berries which will later be consumed -by themselves at home or in hotels. - -Several times Jack had to replenish his stock as best he could from some -town through which they passed; and Desire daily rejoiced at the steadily -increasing number of coins in their little iron bank. - -"We'll be rich yet!" she exulted, shaking it merrily as they drove away -from Mount Uniacke. - -"Sorry to destroy your hopes," said Jack, half under his breath, so as -not to be overheard by the two children on the floor behind them, playing -a hotly contested game on the board which Mrs. Auberge had given them. -"Had you thought that we'll have to get some kind of furniture for the -Godet house?" - -Desire looked at him wide-eyed with surprise and dismay. - -"Why, Jack, how stupid I am! I never once thought of it." - -"Nor I, until today. I don't know what was the matter with our brains." - -As if stunned by the discovery, they drove for some time in utter -silence. In the protection afforded by an upturned coat collar, and a hat -pulled far down over her curls, the girl let fall a few tears. Jack, -gazing fixedly ahead, half buried in a coat at least two sizes too large -for him, was apparently oblivious of her distress. - -The day was grey and cold, with a brisk wind whirling the golden leaves -of the birches in all directions, scattering the piles of brushwood -collected and left beside the road by some native for firewood; rolling -the pine cones merrily along in the dust, and making the great firs and -balsams toss their branches ceaselessly. Its chill warned of the near -approach of snow and ice. - -"Jack," began Desire at last. - -"Yes?" untangling himself from his problems with a start, and turning -toward her. - -"I've been thinking about expenses for the winter. Of course food will -cost more, because while we were on the road we had fish and berries to -help out; but in regard to the furniture, we could get only what is -absolutely necessary for now, and add other pieces as we were able to. We -could doubtless pick up used articles at low prices. Think how little we -got for our own things when we sold them." - -"But you and the children have got to be comfortable, and warm," said -Jack decidedly. "Camp life in the summer is all right; but too much -makeshift doesn't work in the winter time." - -"You must be comfortable, too," added Desire affectionately; "but we -_can_ do with a couple of mattresses on the floor, and a table and four -chairs for the present. Maybe we could buy those from someone in -Wolfville who had more than they needed, and get them cheaper that way." - -"We must have a stove, dishes, and bedding," added Jack. - -"The fireplace will do for heating; and I can cook on the camp stove. -We've had enough dishes and bedding for the summer; so a couple of extra -blankets will be all that we'll have to buy in that line." - -"But I don't want you to live like that," interrupted her brother; "we -should have been more comfortable if we'd stayed in Sissiboo--" - -"Oh, Jack! With you killing yourself trying to pay off a big debt, and no -prospects for years and years! As it is, at least we're not in debt; -we've had a lovely summer, in spite of a few unpleasant spots; we're all -healthy and together; and we're going to live in the Godet house this -winter." - -"You're a cheerful little partner, Dissy," said Jack, looking at her so -admiringly that she flushed with shame as she recalled the tears so -recently shed. - -"Of course we have money enough to get actual necessities for the -winter," he continued, shamed by his sister's courage into taking a more -hopeful view of their situation. "And I'm hoping that I'll be able to -pick up something steady in Wolfville, or even Windsor, for the winter." - -"Perhaps the judge will be able to help you." - -"He might." - -"So don't get all blue and discouraged again, Jack dear; we'll come out -all right." - - -Late in the afternoon of another dull day, they stopped in front of Judge -Herbine's house. - -"Guess we got here just in time," observed Jack, as he got out, pointing -to a few stray flakes of snow idling aimlessly through the air as if they -didn't care whether they stayed up or floated down. - -The judge himself opened the door. - -"So here you are at last!" was his pleasant greeting. "Come in--have a -cup of tea--before you go--to look at your own place. Work's all done." - -They were all cold and tired, and very glad to accept his invitation. His -housekeeper, Madam Lovemore--for the judge had never married--bustled -around preparing a substantial supper instead of "tea." She was a -sociable, motherly creature, who loved to have company at any time; but -the thoughts of these poor young things driving so many miles in the -cold, and going to live in that old house, so touched her heart that no -effort was too great, and no food too fine to be placed before them. - -"Favored--" remarked the judge, as he seated his guests at the dining -room table. "Best plum preserves--my housekeeper must like your looks." - -Madam Lovemore, who was just taking her accustomed place at the foot of -the table, smiled indulgently at him, as one might smile at an outspoken -child. - -The meal lasted a long time; for the judge wanted to hear all about their -summer. Once he excused himself and disappeared into the kitchen where he -held a lengthy conversation with some unseen person. - -"Right away!" they heard him say, as he was about to re-enter the dining -room. - -"We'll go over--with you," he said, when Jack proposed their departure, -saying that they counted on staying in the house that night, living camp -fashion until they had a chance to get the necessities. For an hour, Rene -had been asleep on the horse-hair sofa, and Priscilla's head kept -nodding. - -"They're tired, poor dears," said Madam Lovemore compassionately, as she -helped Desire put their wraps on. - -When they went outside, they discovered that the world had completely -changed its appearance. A thin layer of snow made the roads look like -strips of white cloth; each dried weed, seed pod, and knot of grass had a -spotless cap; and the outstretched arms of the firs held their light -burden so tenderly that not a flake was shaken off. - -The judge was to drive over in the Ford, Madam Lovemore holding the still -sleeping Rene in her lap. - -"He'll be awful mad tomorrow," volunteered Priscilla, who was now fully -awake, "when he hears that he's been riding in an automobile and didn't -know anything about it." - -The judge laughed, a sudden explosion, over almost before it began. - -"In that case--you'd better come in here too; so you can tell him--what -it felt like." - -The little girl's wistful look and tone had not been unnoticed by the -judge; and though they were somewhat crowded, both he and his housekeeper -gladly put up with the slight discomfort of an additional passenger. - -"Prissy is thrilled to death," said Desire to Jack, as they followed the -Ford with as much speed as the tired horses were able to make. - -"Yes, but I wish you could have had a ride, too. You've always wanted -one." - -"Oh, some day I shall." - -The headlights of the judge's car, which had just turned off the main -road into the lane leading to the Godet house, revealed the fact that all -underbrush had been cleared away, and the road filled in. So occupied -were they with the unexpected improvement, that not until they had -stopped in front of the cabin did they notice that it was lighted. - - - - - CHAPTER XXI - A SURPRISE - - -The judge, with Rene in his arms, ushered them inside. - -"Welcome--to Wolfville!" he cried, "and to the old Godet house." - -Jack and Desire stood quite speechless, and even the generally talkative -Priscilla could find no words. They could only look while the judge and -his housekeeper watched them smilingly, though very close to tears -themselves. - -Rene broke the spell. - -"Oh--o--o!" he wailed, digging his fists into his eyes, still half -asleep. - -"What's the matter--young fellow?" demanded the judge, who still held -him. - -"I didn't finish my piece of cake!" wailed the child. He had dozed off at -the table, before finishing his supper. - -They all laughed, while Madam Lovemore consoled Rene by promising him -another piece the next day. Then the young Wistmores inspected their -home. - -Partitions separated the cabin into three rooms: a large one, across one -end, which was to do duty as a general living room, with a place for -cooking at one end; and two small ones as sleeping quarters. The -partitions and floors were painted a soft blue, which was relieved by the -dark logs of the side walls and the beamed roof. Rag rugs lay upon the -floor, a table occupied the centre of the living room, and around it were -four ladder-back chairs. Beside the stone fireplace was a low wooden -rocker and a high-backed upholstered one. Each bedroom had a fully -furnished double wooden bed, and a wash stand. There was a bright fire in -the fireplace; simple muslin curtains were hung at the windows; and a few -pots of geraniums on a small stand added to the homelikeness of the -place. - -"But--the furniture--" began Desire, when she was able to put her -thoughts into words. Jack was still too dazed to speak. - -"Gifts from the people of Wolfville to the children of the ancient -Acadians," replied the judge pompously. - -"We can never repay them," faltered Jack. - -"Don't want you to. They were glad--to do it. Liked idea--descendants to -occupy old house--deserted for so long." - -"Such a welcome I never dreamed of," murmured Desire. "I don't see why -people are so kind to us." - -The judge and his good housekeeper exchanged smiles at her naive remark. - -"Why, don't you want them to be?" demanded Priscilla in astonishment. - -"Of course," answered her sister, attempting unsuccessfully to draw the -child to her side; but Priscilla was too bent on inspecting article by -article in her new home to have any time for cuddling just then. - -"Now you folks--had better--get to bed," said the judge, preparing for -departure. "You've had a hard day--lots of excitement. I'll lead the team -back with me. Will they follow--the Ford--do you think?" - -"I imagine so," replied Jack. "They're very gentle." - -He followed the judge outside to help him with the horses, while Madam -Lovemore bade an affectionate goodnight to her new friends. - -"Just run over any time anything bothers you, my dear," she said to -Desire. - -"'N' not no other time?" asked Rene, fearful of such an agreement working -to his disadvantage. - -"Whenever you like--" began the housekeeper. - -"Don't tell him that," advised Desire, "or you may see him oftener than -you wish." - -Meanwhile Jack was saying to the judge, "Of course I know that you are -really the one to be thanked for all that," waving his arm at the cozy, -lighted cabin. - -"Not at all," asserted the man stoutly. "The neighbors all helped. Liked -it. Lots of fun." - -"Yet they never would have known about us, or our needs, if you had not -told them, and made suggestions. I just can't express my very deep -gratitude, especially on account of my little sisters. Rene can rough it, -but I hate to have the girls deprived of ordinary comforts. Sometimes I -wonder if I have done the right thing--" - -"One always wonders that--no matter what one does. Go in, boy,--and send -my housekeeper out. Want to get home." - - -Housekeeping in the new home was a delight and a novelty, after the many -weeks of camp life; and the Wistmores were very happy. Jack took -Priscilla into Wolfville the second day after they arrived, and made -arrangements for her to attend school, much to her chagrin, for she had -hoped for a longer holiday. - -"No sense in her running about for days, and missing something which will -cause trouble for her later," Jack had said, when discussing the matter -with Desire. "While it is still pleasant, she can walk back and forth -morning and afternoon, and carry her lunch. In winter, we'll try to make -some different arrangements." - -After settling Priscilla, Jack consulted the judge about getting work for -himself. - -"See what I can do," he promised; and while he was waiting, Jack helped -Desire with the lessons she was trying to do by herself. - -The snow which had greeted them on their arrival disappeared almost -immediately, and the beautiful days of Indian summer hovered over the -valley of the Gaspereau. Jack and Desire, sometimes accompanied by Rene, -but oftener leaving him with his staunch admirer, Madam Lovemore, spent -many hours rambling around the country after their work was done. It was -a treat to both; for though they had much in common, they seldom had -opportunities for private companionship, due to the constant demands of -the younger members of the family. - -After a week of idling, Jack made some trips through the nearby country -with the wagon, but the day schedules were soon exhausted; and he began -to be anxious about a different job. Some of the nearer neighbors began -to drop in occasionally; so Desire could not be his constant companion, -and he grew restless. - -"The people within a day's drive are too near Wolfville for this to be a -very good place for a store like ours," he told Desire when he returned -one afternoon after a rather profitless day. "One does not sell enough to -pay for expenses. So I guess we'll decide to put up the wagon and team -for the winter. In the spring, as soon as the roads permit, I'll have to -take it back to old Simon at Yarmouth." - -"Don't you mean _we'll_ take it back, dear?" asked Desire. - -"Perhaps; we'll see when the time comes. I hope the judge will be able to -find a job for me pretty soon; my own efforts are fruitless." - -"Don't worry; if we have to use up all of our little nest egg, we'll do -it; that's all." - -Desire spoke bravely, but she felt sad to see Jack's prospects of -continuing his education retreat so far into the background as almost to -disappear. The succeeding days were anxious ones. Jack roamed about, -restless and worried, not having enough with which to occupy himself; for -the weather had changed, and outdoor rambles were over for that year. - -One afternoon a heavy rain began to fall, and it looked as if it meant to -continue indefinitely. - -"Poor Prissy will get soaked," said Desire, gazing out of the window for -the fifth time. - -"I'll go after her," offered Jack. - -"But what good would it do for you to get soaked, too?" - -"None, I suppose. The poor kid ought to have a raincoat and an umbrella," -he muttered, half to himself. - -"I've been thinking about clothes, Jack, and it seems to me that we'll -have to draw some of what we got for the farm--" - -"But that's in the bank at Yarmouth," objected Jack quickly, "and you -know we said it shouldn't be touched except for sickness or other -emergencies." - -"I know, but this is an emergency; isn't it? If we don't buy a few -necessary articles of clothing, we'll run the risk of sickness, and that -would be far more expensive." - -"You're right, of course. Make out a list of what we need, and then we'll -count the probable cost." - -"We'll do it together," said Desire, getting pencil and paper, and -sitting down at the table beside her brother. - -They were so engrossed in their problem that they both jumped violently -when there was a quick knock, and the judge stepped into the room, -closely followed by Priscilla. Rene, who had been amusing himself in the -corner with some toys which had been part of the "furnishings" of the -cabin, darted across the room to fling himself upon the caller. - -"This is a--terrible day!" exclaimed the judge. "Thought the girl -might--be drowned if--she tried to--walk home. So I hitched up the old -Ford--and went after her." - -Desire began to express her gratitude, but he brushed aside her attempts. - -"Nothing to it--wanted to see this boy--anyhow," taking the chair Jack -offered him, and glancing up at the tall, broad-shouldered fellow with a -smile which, as Priscilla said, made his face "all crinkled." - -"Guess I've got--a job for you," he continued. "Know old man Beaumont?" - -Jack shook his head gravely, though his heart rejoiced at the prospect of -finding employment at last. - -"He's been postman around here--for--I don't know how many years. Too old -now--but won't give up; been trying to fix things--so he'd have a helper. -Orders came couple of weeks ago--good job for you--if you want it." - -"_Want_ it!" repeated Jack. "You can't possibly imagine how much I want -it." - -"Government furnishes a little wagon--you'll use one of your own -horses--that is until snow gets too deep. Then you'll have to go on--on -snowshoes. Have to go to town--to get your orders--better go now in my -Ford." - -So, in an excited bustle, Jack got ready and departed with the judge. - -"Don't worry--about his getting wet," the judge leaned far out of the car -to call to Desire, who was standing in the doorway, "I'll bring him--back -again." - -It was supper time before they returned, and the rain had subsided for a -time; but the judge refused to come in although Desire ran out to the car -and urged him to stay. - -"I can't thank you enough," she added, leaning over the door after he had -started the engine, "for getting Jack the job. He was so restless and -worried, and _almost_ unhappy; and when Jack's upset, well--it just about -kills me." - -The judge's keen eyes softened, and he patted her hand kindly, saying, -"Run in, child--you'll catch cold. Hear all Jack has to tell you." - -He drove rapidly down the lane, and Desire returned to her family. They -spent a happy evening around the fire, making plans for the future. Now -there would be no need of drawing on the previous funds for clothing! - -The next day the sun came out, and as soon as breakfast was over the -whole family started out for Wolfville, picking their way carefully -around the big puddles. They left Priscilla at school, and then went on -to Judge Herbine's to clear out the wagon preparatory to putting it up -for the winter. - -"Where are you going to put all that?" asked Madam Lovemore, coming out -in the midst of their labors, to look at all the stock spread on papers -on the barn floor. - -"Some of it we'll use ourselves, and the rest store until spring," -answered Desire, who was busy sorting goods that would keep from those -which would not, while Jack, with pencil and paper, was taking inventory. - -"There's lots of room in the attic. Just take what you want to save up -there. No use carting it down to your house, where you need all the space -you have." - -The judge had ambled in while she was talking, and strolled around, -peering at first one pile and then another. - -"You've a day's job here," he observed. "When you hear the bell--come in -to dinner." - -By night the task was finished, and the wagon empty. The judge presented -Jack with a shovel and an axe, saying, "Can't travel without these in -these parts in the winter time. You'll want them--in the mail wagon. -They're going to send it down--in the morning." - -Desire looked at him in surprise. - -"Why will he need a shovel and an axe?" she asked. - -"Caught in storms sometimes--have to dig your way out--trees fall in high -winds--only way is to chop your way through." - -Throughout supper, to which the judge insisted upon their staying also, -Desire was very quiet; and on the way home she took little part in the -children's chatter. - -"What's the matter, Dissy?" inquired Jack, after the younger ones were in -bed. - -"Oh, Jack! I was so very glad when you got the appointment; and now I'm -so afraid for you," she whispered, dropping her head on his broad -shoulder. - -"But why?" he asked in surprise, slipping his arm around her. - -"Because of the storms--the falling trees," she choked. "I never thought -of that part of it." - -"But I'm strong and well, dear; and the work won't hurt me. And I promise -you that I'll be very careful, and take no foolish chances. I don't like -to think of you sitting at home, nervous and unhappy, all the time I'm -away. That would make the work much harder. So you'll try to be brave, -and not worry?" - -Desire made a desperate effort to put aside her fears, and promised to do -as Jack wished. - - - - - CHAPTER XXII - CAUGHT BY STORM - - -Jack had seen the storm approaching as he was driving along a lonely road -above a valley in the late afternoon, but it would have been about as far -to turn back to the nearest shelter as it would to go on as fast as he -could to the next. Urging the horses to do their best (for during the -severe weather he was using the team), he drew up the robe, turned down -the sides of his cap, and fastened up his coat collar. The snow came down -faster and faster. - -"Good thing there's no wind," he muttered; but even as he spoke a -spiteful gust snatched up an armful of snow, and whirled it into his -face. The horses did their best, but the road seemed endless; nothing -could be seen except limitless stretches of white country, and trees -whose branches sagged under their heavy loads. - -There was a sudden crash, and right across his way dropped a huge limb of -a birch tree, stretching from one side of the road to the other. The -horses stopped, snorting with fright, and when Jack had quieted them, he -reached into the back of the wagon for the axe, and got out to clear a -pathway. He dared not try to drive around it; for he could not tell, on -account of the snow, just where the ground began to slope sharply away -toward the valley; and he wasn't really anxious for a roll down those -hills. - -Chopping the way through was a hard task for one, and Jack had to stop -very often to rest; by the time he finished, it was dark. - -"Well, now we're going on," he said cheerily, giving a pat to either -horse as he passed their heads after dragging out the cut section of the -tree. The patient animals had stood quietly, heads dropped, bodies -relaxed, while he worked. He had thrown blankets across them, and the -rest had given them a chance to get their wind again. So they threw -themselves gallantly forward to their task, and soon pulled the wagon -down into the valley. - -Here the road was not so good; for the snow had blown down the sides of -the hills and settled in drifts, some small and fairly passable, others -most difficult to plough through. Several times Jack had to get out and -shovel before the horses were able to get the wagon any farther on its -way. The lanterns on the wagon gave a fair light, with the help of the -whiteness all about them, but the road became increasingly difficult to -follow; and at last Jack had to admit to himself that he was lost. He had -no idea which way to turn; but it was impossible to stand still for the -night--they would be buried before morning if the snow kept on, and the -horses would perish. Recalling various stories of the intelligence, or -instinct, of animals under like circumstances, he decided to give the -horses a loose rein and trust to Providence. The faithful beasts plodded -on and on, while Jack strained his eyes through the whirling snowflakes, -searching for signs of habitation. - -Some time during the night he saw a dim outline in front of him, and the -horses stopped. With an unspoken prayer of gratitude, he dropped down -from the seat, stiffly walked a few steps to the house, and knocked. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII - SHELTER - - -After an interval, a light appeared; the door opened a crack, and a gruff -voice demanded what was wanted. Jack, in a few words, explained his -presence and the man immediately threw wide the door, bidding him enter -and make himself at home. - -"But my team--" began Jack. - -The man cut him short. "I'll look after it. Go in and go to bed. The -missus will show you where." - -A big dim room, with one flickering lamp; a woman wrapped in a shawl, -standing in a doorway opening into another room; several figures, each -rolled in a blanket and lying near the fireplace--such a sight greeted -Jack as he entered. - -"Here's a blanket," said the woman. "You can lie wherever you like in -this room." - -She disappeared at once, and the boy spread the blanket on the floor a -little beyond the other dark, motionless figures. He rolled himself in -the blanket, and, using the mail bag for a pillow, tried to sleep. Being -exhausted, in spite of the hard bed he dropped off almost as soon as the -man came in from caring for the team. - -In the morning he felt stiff and sore, and his head ached, due to -sleeping on the floor, he supposed. His host and hostess greeted him as -casually as if he had been dropping in there every night, and offered him -breakfast. - -"My name's De Vigne," said the man, as they sat down to the table. - -The three dark figures of last night still lay rolled up beside the -hearth, and Jack kept looking at them as he gave his host a brief account -of his adventures. Finally, curiosity getting the better of him, he -ventured, "Those fellows sick?" - -"Yes," answered De Vigne, glancing carelessly at them. "Flu, I guess. One -of them is our hired man. The other fellows dropped in here last night a -few hours ahead of you." - -Jack was a brave boy, with no foolish dread of illness; but the flu! The -disease which had deprived them of their father, of that he was afraid; -not so much on his own account, but because of Desire. Poor girl, she -must be half frantic by now. If he'd only had some way of getting word to -her. He must lose no time in starting out again. - -Mr. De Vigne gave him the necessary directions for getting back on his -route again, and an hour later he was delivering the letters which had -taken him to that lonely section. Then he headed for home. - -The sun came out and the snowy fields became dazzling. If only his head -wouldn't ache so hard, and his stomach feel so queer. Probably when he -got some of Desire's good cooking, he'd be all right. Yesterday he hadn't -eaten much, and he had been able to swallow very little of the breakfast -provided this morning by the De Vignes. Encouraging himself in every way -he could, he managed to drive all the way back; and in the middle of the -afternoon, put the team in its place. As he was leaving the barn, he met -the judge who had hurried out as soon as he caught sight of the open -door. - -"By Jove, boy!" he began; then stopped. "You're sick! Come right in and -go to bed. We'll take care of you." - -"Desire," faltered Jack, swaying a little in the judge's grasp. - -"I'll get her--Jonas! Come here and help me!" - -With the aid of the hired man, the judge soon had Jack in bed in the room -next to his own, and had sent for the doctor. Madam Lovemore was rushing -around, heating bottles, and preparing broth. The trusty Ford never made -such good time as it did going down to the cabin and back. The snow flew -in all directions as the judge forced the machine through it. Desire, -worn and terrified by her night of fruitless watching, almost fainted -when the judge appeared and told her his story. Jack's needs, however, -forced her to make a desperate effort to be calm. In a very short time -the judge deposited her and the two children on his own doorstep. - -"We've plenty of room," he decreed, "and you must all stay here until the -boy's well." - -"He's asleep now, my dear," was Madam Lovemore's greeting as she kissed -Desire in the hall. "The doctor's been here; and while he's not positive, -yet he thinks it's just a heavy cold." - -All the hours of waiting, the anxiety, the shock, resulted in one wild -burst of tears when Desire peered in at Jack, sleeping heavily, his face -red, his lips drawn in tense lines. Madam Lovemore led her hastily into a -room on the opposite side of the hall, and closed the door. Sitting down -in a big rocker, she drew the girl into her lap as if she had been Rene, -and let her cry. - -"I'm--sorry--" gasped Desire presently. - -"It's only natural, you poor little girl. Have your cry out, and you'll -feel lots better. Then we'll make some plans." - -Jack slept most of the day, waking once to smile feebly at Desire who was -bending over him. She could not trust herself to speak, and only kissed -him tenderly. - -Under the care of good Dr. Caronne, and with the help of the delicious, -nourishing foods prepared by Madam Lovemore, and the combined nursing of -the entire household, Jack escaped the flu. After a couple of days he was -able to get up, and a week later the Wistmores returned to their own -home; and Jack went back to work. - -"We can never, never hope to repay what they have done for us," said Jack -gravely, when they were talking of the kindness of their host and hostess -that night. "You children must remember that, and do everything you can -for them, every little thing." - -"I will," announced Rene solemnly. "I'm goin' to marry Mad'm Lovemore -when I grow up." - -"I'm sure," said Jack, "that would be a wonderful way to repay her." - - -During the rest of the winter Jack used snowshoes for delivering the -mail, and Desire was so fascinated by them that she learned to use her -brother's when he did not need them. One day when he came from Windsor he -brought her a pair, and suggested that whenever he went on short trips, -she accompany him. She was delighted, and quite often after that she left -Rene at the judge's, and went skimming over the snow with her beloved -brother, dearer now than ever after the fear of losing him. - -"It's so mild out that I shouldn't be surprised if we had rain," -announced Jack, when he came in from his day's work one night late in the -winter. - -"Rain!" exclaimed Priscilla. "Why, it's still winter." - -However, Jack proved to be a good weather prophet; for when they woke up -the following morning, rain was falling steadily, and the snow looked -soft and dirty. That was the beginning of the break-up of winter. Each -day the sun rose higher and its rays became warmer; and each day more of -the snow melted, softening the ground and filling streams, large and -small, to the very brim. - -The winds were softer and warmer; the birds returned and began looking -for home sites; and the air was alive with their calls. From the new -green of the marshes came the continuous croaking of frogs. Then the -first wild flowers slipped quietly into bloom; the fruit trees pushed out -bud after bud until they were covered with fragrant blossoms. Nova Scotia -had come to active life again after the hard winter. - -The day Priscilla brought in a cluster of arbutus, there was a general -rejoicing. The delicate pink blossom is greatly prized by the people of -Nova Scotia, and has been made the national flower. - -"The darlings!" cried Desire, holding the tiny flowers close to her nose -in order to inhale their dainty fragrance. - -"Up in the woods of Prince Edward Island the Indians will be very busy -now that the Mayflower--for that is the other name for arbutus--has -come," observed Jack. - -"Why?" asked Priscilla, putting her bouquet carefully in water. - -"As soon as the flowers appear, the young Indian braves search carefully -for the finest specimens they can find to throw at the woman they want to -marry. It is one of their regular customs; so you can imagine how excited -the maidens are at this time of the year." - -"What a pretty custom," said Desire; but the practical, unromantic -Priscilla thought it very funny, and so expressed herself as she placed -the vase in the center of the table. - -"And where are the Indians?" demanded Rene. - -"Nowhere near here; so don't go looking for them," ordered his brother. - -Rene looked very serious for a moment, and said that he wouldn't. -Apparently he had some none too pleasant recollections of one escapade in -following Indians. - -The apple orchards around Wolfville had begun to drop their sweet pink -and white petals, and the countryside was streaked here and everywhere -with the deep blue of the iris, the fleur-de-lys of France, when Jack -commented to Desire one night that they'd better take old Simon's wagon -back to him. - -She laughed. "You _did_ say _we_ this time. When do you want to start?" - -"Could you manage it by Monday?" - -"This is Friday. Why, yes, I could. What will you do about your job while -you're gone?" - -"It goes back to its regular owner," replied Jack, trying to speak -lightly; adding, as Desire looked puzzled, "The old man can manage well -enough in pleasant weather. I was only a helper for the winter months, -you know. When we come back for the summer, if we decide to stay here, -I'll have to look for something else. I can probably get something either -here or at Windsor. We'll talk it over on the road." - -"Shall we take the children, or leave them with Madam Lovemore? When I -mentioned one day our having to go to Yarmouth, she offered to keep them -if we wished." - -"It would seem too much like imposing," objected Jack; "she has been so -very kind to us." - -"Yes," admitted Desire; "and yet I know she's very willing." - -"One thing," said Jack thoughtfully, "I hate to have Priscilla miss so -many days of school, and she would have to if we took her. How would it -do if we left her and took Rene? Do you think that would be a good idea?" - -"Yes; I think that would be fine, and it would even things up better. -Prissy can be quite a help to Madam Lovemore, while Rene always bears -watching. I suppose Prissy won't like being left behind, though." - -"Probably not; and it will seem queer to leave her. It will be the first -time we've been separated since--" - -"Yes," said Desire hurriedly, as Jack's voice faltered; "but we know that -she will be well cared for; and after we're once gone, she'll soon get -used to the new conditions." - -So it was settled, and although at first Priscilla was inclined to feel -injured, by the time Monday came she was quite resigned. - -"I'll have lots of automobile rides, I suppose," they overheard her -saying importantly to Rene. - -"And I'll see old Simon again!" boasted the small boy; "and go on a big -boat--and--and--everything," determined not to be outdone. - -The older ones smiled as they went about closing up the cabin. They -walked as far as the judge's; and although there was no one to see her, -Priscilla felt very important carrying the suitcase which held her -wardrobe. There was no chance for prolonged farewells; for when they -reached their destination it was so nearly time for school that Priscilla -could give them only a hasty hug and kiss apiece, before dashing down a -side road toward the schoolhouse. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV - BACK TO YARMOUTH - - -"I meant to give her a few directions," said Jack, picking up the -suitcase she had dropped at his feet, and gazing after the child. - -"We had a long talk last night after I went to bed," replied Desire; "and -I think she will do just as we should like to have her. Prissy is growing -up a bit, Jack; she really tried to be brave and generous about being -left behind on this trip." - -When they were ready to start, the judge and his housekeeper stood on the -steps to bid them goodbye and good luck. - -"Don't feel that you've got to hurry back," called Judge Herbine as the -horses started. "We'll take good care of the little girl, and keep an eye -on the cabin. Won't hurt you to have a bit of a vacation." - -"I've gotten awfully fond of him; haven't you, Jack?" asked Desire, -looking back to wave her hand at the judge. - -"Yes; he's a fine old fellow." - -After they had been riding an hour or two, Rene demanded suddenly--"When -are we goin' to sell somethin'?" - -"Not going to," replied Jack briefly. - -"You see," explained Desire, "if we stopped every little while it would -take too long to get to Yarmouth; and Jack is in a hurry." - -"I really should have started before, I suppose," remarked her brother; -"but I was afraid the roads might be in poor condition. Besides, it would -have been too cool and damp for camping, and I didn't want to give up the -job until I had to." - -"You'n me goin' to sleep in the tent again?" inquired Rene, poking the -roll of canvas. - -"Yes." - -"I'm glad. I like tents better'n houses." - -"You wouldn't in the winter," laughed Desire. "I'll miss Prissy. The -wagon will seem big for me after last year." - -"Are we goin' to give Simon the horses and wagon?" inquired Rene in -alarm, a new thought suddenly occurring to him. - -"We're going to give them _back_ to him," said Jack. "They belong to him, -you know. He only lent them to us." - -"Oh! Oh! But I never can walk all the way back again," he wailed. - -"Stop crying," ordered Jack; "and you won't have to walk all the way -back. You cry altogether too much. You're getting to be too big a boy to -act like a baby; you must learn to act like a man." - -"We're going back on the train, darling," said Desire softly. Somehow she -liked to think of Rene as a baby rather than as a "man." - -"On a train!" squealed Rene. "I'm awful glad I came." - - -The weather stayed pleasant, and no accidents of any kind befell the -Wistmores on their journey to Yarmouth; it seemed strangely uneventful by -contrast with the trip up the preceding summer. They had decided that it -was best to forego the pleasure of calling on old friends, even those in -Sissiboo, and get on to Yarmouth just as quickly as possible. It was -after dark when they passed their old home. Rene was asleep, and Jack and -Desire gazed at the familiar outlines in silence. The windows showed -squares of yellow light, and a few sparks floated out of the chimney. -Those were the only signs of life about the place; in fact the whole town -was deserted. All the people seemed to have withdrawn to their homes for -the night. - - -Shortly before noon one warm day they stopped in front of Mrs. Chaisson's -house in Yarmouth. Before they had a chance to get out, old Simon himself -came hurrying out from the back yard. - -"I knew it!" he exclaimed triumphantly, throwing open the gate. "As soon -as ever I heard hoofs on the street, I says to myself, 'There's Dolly and -Dapple.' How are ye all?" - -He stopped to speak affectionately to the horses, who responded in their -own fashion to his advances; and then he called his daughter. - -"Matty!" he shouted. "Here's the Wistmores." - -Mrs. Chaisson hurried out and greeted them warmly, inquiring for -Priscilla whom she missed at once. - -After embraces and explanations, Mrs. Chaisson invited them all to "come -right in to dinner," adding that she must have felt they were on the way, -for she cooked more than usual. - -After several days of camp fare, the meal tasted delicious to the hungry -travelers, and they spent a long time at the table. - -"You'll stay here, of course, while you're in town," said Mrs. Chaisson -decidedly. - -"It's most awfully kind of you," began Jack, "but it really seems too -much--" - -"Nonsense! There were four of you last time, and we had lots of fun. -Didn't we, Rene? And now we've got a dog for you to play with. Run out in -the back yard and make friends with Rex." - -The child departed joyfully; old Simon and Jack withdrew to the porch to -talk over the year's sales, and Desire helped with the dinner work. - -That evening after Rene had been put to bed--Mrs. Chaisson had decreed -the season too early for sleeping on the porch, and had placed a cot in -one corner of old Simon's room for the little boy--the rest of them -gathered around the air tight stove in the sitting room. The evenings -were likely to be cool, and even Rex crept in to lie at their feet and -enjoy the welcome heat of a wood fire. - -"Matty," began her father, "I was tellin' the young feller," laying his -hand on Jack's knee as he spoke, "he'd better stay on here until after -the lobsters are in." - -"A good idea, if he doesn't need to hurry back," agreed Mrs. Chaisson, -picking up her sewing. - -"You see," went on the old man, turning to Desire, "there's quite a bit -of profit in lobsters, and the boy says he has nothin' in sight for the -present; so why not pick up a few dollars?" - -She did not know how to reply on the spur of the moment, and looked at -Jack for inspiration. - -"I don't know a thing about the business," said the boy slowly. - -"Huh! I can teach ye all ye need to know in half a day," declared the old -man. - -"Yes, indeed. Father's a good hand at it, or was before he got the -rheumatism," said his daughter, biting off her thread. - -"Now I'll tell ye just what I thought," said Simon. "I've an old hut down -on the shore toward Lower Woods Harbor way, and pots and markers enough -for you. Many of them need mending, but I'll show you how to do that; and -I thought mebbe you'd take the outfit, if this girl don't mind roughing -it a bit--" - -"But--" began Jack. - -"Let her stay here," suggested Mrs. Chaisson. "I'm lonesome after you go -on the road." - -"Oh, you are very kind," said Desire quickly, "but I really couldn't -leave Jack." - -"But," began Jack again, "I couldn't deprive you of the lobster catching, -Simon. It was bad enough taking your store for a year, without--" - -"Takin' nothing!" interrupted the old man vehemently. "Didn't you keep my -horses from eating their heads off all year, and keep my trade from goin' -to some one else fer good? Besides, I can't catch lobsters any more. Doc -says that messin' in the water's bad for my rheumatiz. Goin' to give up -the hut after this year anyway; so if you want to stay and take it, -you're more'n welcome." - -They discussed the matter all the evening, until Simon got up to go to -bed, and his daughter withdrew to her room which Desire was to share. To -Jack fell the big sofa in the living room. He and Desire sat on beside -the fire for a few minutes after they were left alone. - -"What do you think of it, Dissy? Shall I take it or not?" - -"I hardly know what to say; but there's no reason I can think of why you -shouldn't, if it looks good to you." - -"Of course I have no other immediate prospects; but it would be rough and -lonesome for you, I'm afraid--" - -"Lonesome, with you around? As for being rough, it will be fun to try a -different way of living for a few weeks." - -Secretly Desire rather longed for the coziness of the Godet house, but -she thought Jack felt he should make the most of every opportunity for -earning money, and she wanted to make things as easy for him as possible. - -The next morning, with a big basket of lunch in the back of the wagon, -they all drove down to the hut, Rene wild with excitement. An hour's -drive brought them to the bleak, deserted coast. Nothing but sand, jagged -rocks, coarse grass, and scattered huts met their eyes. They left the -team just off the road beside a clump of juniper, and crossed the sand to -the hut. When Simon unlocked the door, the interior seemed to be a jumble -of lumber. - -"Get all these pots out in a jiffy," he said, picking up a couple of -crate-like objects and depositing them outside. - -They all helped, and soon the pots were piled up beside the hut. - -The rooms were tiny, only two in number, a bedroom and a general room; -and the furniture was scanty. - -"You can't possibly live here, Dissy," whispered Jack. - -"Go on and learn how to catch the beasts, and I'll attend to the house," -she replied with forced cheeriness. - -So Mrs. Chaisson and Desire cleaned and set in perfect order the tiny -wooden building, while Simon taught Jack how to make and repair lobster -pots. They look like oblong crates, and are made of narrow strips of wood -bent into a semi-circle and nailed onto a board. A couple of holes are -left for the lobsters to crawl in, and the whole is lined with coarse -net, and weighted with heavy stones. - -At noon they spread the lunch on a huge flat boulder on the beach. - -"Lots nicer than an old table," Rene pronounced it. - -"You'll have no trouble in roughing it as far as he's concerned," laughed -Mrs. Chaisson. - -"No; he's usually satisfied with what he has," replied Desire. - -"No, I ain't," contradicted the child. - -"Why, Renny," said Jack in surprise. - -"Well, Dissy said I was satisfied, and I ain't. I want a dog." - -"Maybe when we go home you can have one," said Jack, adding to Desire, -"It wouldn't be a bad plan at all, if we stay in Wolfville." - -Rene, as happy as if the desired pet were to be forthcoming on the -morrow, returned to his play in the sand. - -"Now," said Simon, when all traces of lunch had been cleared up, "we'll -all paint markers." - -The long stakes with big wooden knobs on the top were weather beaten, and -their bands of orange and green were dim. Each fisherman has a different -kind of marker, and sets one up beside each pot after it is sunk beneath -the water. They serve two purposes: mark the place where the pot is -located, and notify other fishermen of their ownership. It is a serious -matter for anyone to touch lobsters guarded by the markers of another -person. It is interesting to note the numberless varieties of color -combinations, styles of banding, and shapes of knobs. - -It was a tired crowd of workers that returned to Yarmouth that evening; -for although everything was ready in the hut for the new occupants, Mrs. -Chaisson insisted upon their going back for "one more really comfortable -sleep" as she expressed it. - -"How do we get back and forth from the huts?" inquired Desire, the -following morning. - -"I'll take ye out," answered Simon, "and when you want to come in, you'll -have to walk until you meet somebody who's goin' your way and who will -give you a lift." - - -Jack wrote to the judge, telling him of their plans and probable delay; -both he and Desire wrote short notes to Priscilla; and before noon they -were settled in their temporary home, Desire helping Jack get the lobster -pots ready to sink, while Rene lay at full length in the sand poking at a -jellyfish. None of them saw a figure walk along the road, stop, watch for -a while, then move silently across the grass and along the sand until it -stood directly back of the workers. - - - - - CHAPTER XXV - LOBSTER POTS - - -"What are you doing with those?" demanded a rough voice so suddenly that -Desire dropped the marker she held, and gave a little scream, while Rene -rolled over and lay with his head on the unfortunate jellyfish. Jack, the -only cool person of the group, replied quietly, "Getting them ready to -sink." - -"You get yourself ready to go along with me. These belong to Simon -Denard, and you've no right to touch 'em. So come along." - -The man laid a heavy hand on Jack's arm, and attempted to jerk him off -somewhere. - -"I know they belong to Simon," replied Jack. "We're friends of his, and -he has lent us the place for a few weeks. We're going to live here, my -sister and I." Jack gazed calmly into the dark, determined face and keen -black eyes confronting him. - -Desire was too frightened to utter a word, and stood at her brother's -other side, holding fast to his coat. Rene suddenly recovered his voice -and began to cry. - -"Hush your noise!" ordered the man, without turning his head; and so -great was the child's astonishment that he really _did_ stop. - -"There's no need of getting excited about this," said Jack. "You can -easily prove that I'm telling the truth if you'll ask Mrs. Chaisson, -Simon's daughter, and--" - -"I've no time to be running to Yarmouth; and it's a likely story anyway," -answered the man shortly. - -None of them saw Rene get up and run toward the road, where he saw a man -passing by; so when he now hurried across the sand as fast as his short -legs could move, dragging his captive by the arm, they all looked up in -astonishment. - -"Hullo!" cried the newcomer, "what's the matter here, Marvine?" - -"The young fellow claims old Simon lent him the outfit. Did you ever -hear--" - -"Maybe he did," interrupted the other man indifferently, his blue eyes -roaming from one face to another. "Saw all these folks here yesterday -with the old man and his daughter." - -"Did, eh? Well, maybe it's as he says then," letting go of Jack's arm as -he spoke. "How'd you happen to be stopping here?" - -"The kid dragged me off the road saying someone was going to carry away -his brother." - -"Well," said the man called Marvine, turning to Jack and Desire, "sorry -to have bothered you. No harm meant. Was only looking out for Simon's -things." - -"Quite all right," replied Jack. "I suppose you do have to be careful." - -The two strangers strode out to the road again without further farewell, -and were soon lost to sight. Desire sank down on the sand as if she could -not stand another minute. - -"I'm most awfully sorry you were so frightened, dear," said Jack, sitting -down beside her and taking her hand in his, while Rene piled on top of -his brother, crying exultantly, "I saved you, Jack; didn't I?" - -Desire soon recovered her composure and got up to continue her work; but -although he did not comment on the fact, Jack saw that her hands were -still a bit shaky. Presently he suggested--"Hadn't you better go in and -start supper, Dissy? Rene can help me finish here." - -"Sure," agreed the small boy importantly. "I can help Jack." - -Desire went in, and the two boys sank the pots and set the markers, Jack -of course doing most of the work, but Rene fully convinced that his -brother could never have managed without his aid. - -"There are some other pots right next to where Simon told me to put -ours," observed Jack, as they were finishing supper. - -Rene was so sleepy that he had left the table and curled himself up in an -old rocker to take a nap. - -"Oh, I do hope that they don't belong to either of those awful men who -were here this afternoon," said Desire with a shudder. - -"They're rough, of course, but they weren't really so bad, Desire. They -have to protect their interests, and of course were looking after -Simon's. I hardly think, though, that either of them is our next-door -neighbor. The hut beyond here looks deserted, but the pots and markers -are there all right." - -Desire took the tiny bedroom, and the boys had a couple of cots in the -other room. Everybody was tired out with the unaccustomed work and -excitement, and slept heavily until far later than usual. Jack, who was -the first to waken, looked across at the other cot to see if Rene was -still asleep, and was astonished to see that the cot was empty. - -"Now where is that rascal?" he thought, crossing the room to the outside -door, which was ajar. - -He glanced out and saw his brother calmly playing in the sand a short -distance from the hut. - -"Don't go any farther away, Renny," he called softly, hoping not to -disturb Desire. - -"No," replied the child, vigorously slapping the sand into shape. - -"What's the matter?" called Desire, who had wakened instantly at the -sound of his voice. - -"Nothing at all. Renny got up ahead of us and went out to play in the -sand. He's quite all right." - -"But what time is it?" - -"You'd never guess. It's eight o'clock." - -"Why, Jack, how dreadful!" - -"Not at all; it's quite all right. There's nothing to hurry us here. Take -your time. I'll set the coffee on." - -"We're certainly fashionable folk this morning," laughed Desire when, -half an hour later, the three sat down to breakfast. "Renny, your feet -are all wet," as the child's foot touched her under the table. "Let me -see." - -"No!" - -"Rene," ordered Jack, "turn and stick your feet out." - -Slowly, most reluctantly, the boy obeyed; and Desire exclaimed with -dismay. He was wet to the waist. Their backs had been turned when he came -in, and he had slid into his place at the table with all possible haste. - -"How did you get like that?" asked Jack, but Rene only hung his head. - -"Answer me, Renny." - -"Went in the water." - -"But haven't I told you _never_ to go into the water alone?" - -The child nodded. - -"You'll have to go back to bed," decreed his brother sternly, getting up -from the table. "Sit still," he directed Desire. "I'll attend to him." - -"Hadn't you better put him in my room?" she asked. - -"If you don't mind," replied Jack, leading the reluctant youngster from -the room. - -After a short interval he returned to resume his interrupted breakfast, -saying as he sat down, "After we finish I'll take him something. It will -do him no harm to wait a while. He's certainly always getting into -difficulties." - -"But it's quite a while now since he has done anything really bad," -objected Desire; "and he loves the water so, it must be quite a -temptation." - -"I know, but his going in like this by himself might result in serious -consequences; and I intend to keep him in bed most of the day. But you -don't need to stay in the house all the time. He's perfectly safe here -alone, and I'm sure he won't get up without permission. I laid heavy -penalties on such a procedure." - -At this point there was a sharp knock at the door, and when Jack opened -it, a short, grey-bearded man stood before them. Not liking the look in -the stranger's eyes, Desire crossed the room and stood beside her -brother. Were all the people they were to meet on this venture -undesirable? How she wished they had never heard of the lobster business! - - - - - CHAPTER XXVI - HANDS OFF! - - -"Good morning," said Jack pleasantly, but looking questioningly at their -caller. - -"I've a serious charge to make," answered the newcomer, without returning -the greeting. "You've been trying to steal my lobsters. You know the -penalty for that trick!" - -"I most certainly have not done any such thing," said Jack decidedly, -while Desire twisted her hands in dismay. - -"No use denying it; I can prove it. Mine are right next to yours, and -some of my markers have been pulled up and yours put in. Come out and see -for yourself." - -Jack and Desire followed the man quickly across the sand to the water. - -"See? Here are five of my markers hidden under this old crate on your -property, and five of your markers replacing those near-shore pots of -mine. Facts don't lie if folks do." - -"My brother never lies!" cried Desire angrily. Jack had never heard her -speak like that. - -"Easy, Dissy," he said softly. - -"I certainly admit that it looks bad," he said to the man; "but since I -know the rules governing these things, I should hardly have been fool -enough to do such a thing even if I had been so lacking in principle; -and--" - -"Jack!" interrupted Desire. "Rene! Could a small boy have done this?" she -asked, facing their neighbor eagerly. - -"Might; early in the morning, before the tide came in so far." - -"Jack, go and get him and we'll see if he knows anything about it." - -While Jack was gone, Desire explained to the man their presence in old -Simon's hut, and her reasons for suspecting that her younger brother had -been responsible for the morning's difficulties. Soon Jack returned, and -led Rene directly to the man, who regarded him gravely. - -"Tell this man, Rene," directed his brother, "just exactly what you did -when you were out here alone on the beach early this morning." - -"Pulled up dirty old markers and hid 'em, and pushed down nice ones we -painted." - -Rene was obviously rather proud of his achievement, and quite puzzled as -to the serious manner of his elders. - -"Why did you do that?" asked the man, the suggestion of a twinkle -appearing in his blue eyes. - -"Wanted Jack's lobster bed to look nice." - -"But those weren't his; they were mine." - -"_Everything's_ Jack's!" - -Their neighbor smiled, and held out his hand to Jack. - -"My mistake," he said. "I didn't know what a grasping partner you had." - -"He means well, but makes trouble sometimes. Take him back to bed; will -you, Dissy?" - -While Desire put the little boy in bed again, and tried to impress upon -him the seriousness of his mistake, Jack and his neighbor worked amiably -side by side. - -The days passed quickly, one very much like all the others which had -preceded it; and at last they found themselves on the train, bound for -home, with a fair sum of money in return for several weeks of hard work. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVII - JACK'S JOBS - - -The summer days which followed were delightful ones. Priscilla reminded -Jack of his promise to help her make a garden; so he worked hard, -clearing the ground back of the cabin, and spading up beds under her -directions. She planted very carefully the seeds given her by Madam -Lovemore, and waited impatiently for the first bits of green to appear. - -"Guess while I'm at it, I'll make a vegetable garden too," announced -Jack, after he had finished the flower beds. "A bit late, perhaps, but -we'll get something out of it." - -"A good idea," approved Desire. "I'll help you." - -She caught up the rake and followed him to the end of the property. - -"I love to work out-of-doors," she said, "and after you get a job I can -attend to the vegetables while Prissy takes care of her flowers." - -"An' I ain't got nuthin' to take care of," sighed Rene, feeling that he -had been left out of all these new plans. - -"Should you like a garden, darling?" asked Desire, her sympathy -immediately aroused by his mournful tones. - -"No, no old garden. Want a dog to take care of; 'n' Jack promised me one, -too." - -Desire glanced up at her older brother who was leaning on his spade -figuring out just where he would begin to dig. - -"You did promise him, Jack, or practically so," she said. - -"No chance of being allowed to forget anything in this family," he -smiled. "I'll see what I can do for you, Rene." - -The next day Jack went up alone to see Judge Herbine. "Don't worry if I -don't show up for dinner," he said to Desire before leaving. "The judge -told me yesterday that he had heard of two or three places where I might -get a job, and to come up and see him today. I'll keep going until I've -investigated all the possibilities." - -"All right, dear; and the best of luck." - -They had had many talks on the drive to Yarmouth, and on the beach in -front of the hut, as to the advisability of remaining in the Godet house. - -"It's simply living from hand to month," Jack had said gravely; "but -there seems to be nothing else in sight just now." - -"Even so, we're certainly some better off than we should have been in -Sissiboo," Desire said consolingly. - -"But what would you do," suggested Jack, "if somebody came along and -wanted the cabin some day?" - -"Let them have it, if they could prove they owned it; but Judge Herbine -seems to think such a thing most unlikely. He said, you know, that they -couldn't get a clear title when that American wanted to buy it. But why, -Jack, does somebody want it now?" - -"No, not that I know of; but one can never tell what might happen. The -bus line will run along the main road past our lane this summer, I -understand; and some tourist might take a fancy to the little cabin and -want to buy it. I suppose if enough money were spent on a search, it -might be possible to establish the title; or someone who wanted it badly -enough might be willing to take a chance. I don't mean to worry you -unduly, Desire, but we mustn't get so attached to the place that having -to give it up sometime will come as a great shock." - -Her brother's words came back to her mind many times that day as she went -about her household tasks. Of course they mightn't want to live right -here always. Jack must finish college, as they planned; but she wanted to -go through high school; and after that, the magical trip to the States, -where Jack might find his life-work. How many times they had gone over it -all! At the rate money had come in so far, however, it would take many -years to realize any of these day dreams, to say nothing of all of them. -It seemed, no matter how careful she tried to be, to take _so_ much money -to feed and clothe them; and if somebody _should_ claim the cabin--well, -she'd better not think about that any more just now. - -Late in the afternoon, when the lane was getting shadowy, the girls and -Rene were sitting on the broad stone step watching for Jack. The sound of -an approaching automobile broke the country stillness, and Judge -Herbine's Ford presently stopped. Jack got out, followed by a big, -awkward-looking brown dog. With one wild shriek, Rene dashed down the -lane and threw his arms around the animal's neck. The judge waved to the -girls, and drove away laughing. - -"I've got a dog! I've got a dog!" chanted Rene, dragging the big beast -toward the house. - -"He's perfectly gentle, for all his size," said Jack in reply to Desire's -questioning look. "But Rene, you must be kind to the dog, and never hurt -him." - -"Where in the world did you get him?" demanded Priscilla, who did not -like any dog very well, and especially a big one. - -"The judge found him somewhere off in the country," replied Jack, sitting -down on the step which was much too low for his long legs. - -"He is hardly a beauty," observed Desire, watching Rene mauling his new -friend. - -"No, but he's always been used to children, and the judge thought that a -good recommendation. Of course he's awkward, and probably mischievous; -for he's not yet full grown--" - -"_Don't_ tell me he will get bigger!" groaned Desire. "Where shall we -ever put him?" - -"I'll fix a place; don't worry about that part of it," Jack promised, -getting up to go into the cabin. - -The evening was a riot of small boy and dog. With much difficulty they -were separated at bedtime; for Rene insisted upon his new pal sleeping on -the foot of the bed, and wept copiously when the dog was banished. They -said _he_ mustn't ever hurt the dog, he moaned, and here they were -hurting him by taking him away! - -"If you're going to be unruly over the dog," said Jack, "I shall take him -right back, and you will never have another." - -"Jack will fix Rover up all nice somewhere," promised Desire, "and you'll -see him again in the morning." - -Quiet was restored, and after she had gotten Rene to bed, Desire went out -behind the cabin where Jack was preparing a place for the new member of -the family. He had turned on an end the box which had held their -belongings while they were on the road, and placed a bit of old carpet in -the bottom. - -"Behold the kennel!" he said proudly, with a wave of the hand. - -"But will he stay in it?" asked Desire, somewhat doubtfully. - -"Not without being tied, for a few nights," replied Jack, running a rope -from the dog's collar through a stout staple on the side of the box. -"Then he'll be used to the place." - -"You haven't told me anything yet about your job prospects," said Desire -rather reproachfully, as they walked around to the front door. - -"How could I, in all the noise and excitement?" laughed Jack. "Let's sit -out here for a while. Wait a minute; I'll get a couple of chairs." - -He brought out the rocker for his sister, and a straight chair for -himself, tilting it back against the side of the house to make it more -comfortable. - -"It's a great night," he commented, with a sigh of content. "Just see -that moon! Doesn't it look as if it were stuck in the top of the trees?" - -"Nights like this ought to make our gardens grow fast," replied Desire. -"Now what about the job?" - -"Well, I have a temporary one; will last about a week or two; and a -promise of a steady one for the rest of the summer. Isn't that great?" - -"Certainly is. Where, and what doing?" - -"You know we heard that there was to be a bus line through this part of -the country?" - -"Yes, but you can't drive a bus, Jack." - -"Hardly; but it seems that the company that is to run it is sending men -here from Boston who, though they know how to run busses, know nothing -about the country. So I'm to ride around with them, show them the best -roads, and tell them local history until they've learned the ropes. Of -course that won't take very long, but it's fair pay while it lasts. -They'll pick me up at the end of the lane here every day." - -"Priscilla and Rene will be desperately envious of you, I'm afraid." - -"Very likely. Maybe before the season is over I'll be able to take all of -you on a little trip, over part of the route at least." - -"That would be lovely, but don't mention it before the children. I feel -that if we have any extra money it ought to be put away." - -"I suppose you're right; but I'd like to be able to give you a little -pleasure sometimes." - -"I know, and I do have pleasure, Jack; and we'll just look forward to -more chance for such things in the future. And about the other job?" - -"Jim Rutland is going to open a kind of lunch stand in one end of his -general store; for tourists, you know. He wants me to run it." - -"But why does Jim need anyone? I should think he could attend to both -himself." - -"He has to be out of the store quite a lot. He sells everything from -chickens to farm machinery, has a gas station, and I don't know what -else. He thought his son would stay home and help him out this summer, as -he did last; but he had a chance to go to the States, and he's going." - -"Is it much of a job, Jack?" asked Desire, rather doubtfully. - -"Not so much, but there's pretty good money in it. He is going to let me -have a small commission on the tourist business, aside from a fair -salary. Makes it more interesting, and it will do very well indeed until -I have an opportunity at something better. It will keep us going until -fall--when I can have the mail again--and I hope will give us something -to add to the 'nest egg.'" - -They fell silent, Jack wondering how he could get something really worth -while to do, and Desire racking her brains to think of some way in which -she could contribute to their income. - -"Who's going to do the baking for the lunch room?" she asked suddenly, -"Jim hasn't a wife or mother, has he?" - -"No; but why do you want to know?" - -"I thought I might do it." - -"You! You have plenty to do now." - -"Not really, dear. The work here is very easy, and Prissy is getting to -be quite a help. It wouldn't be at all hard to bake some cookies and -tarts, make sandwiches, and things like that. I could make pies, using -wild berries which the children could gather. Oh, if Jim Rutland is -willing, say you'll let me try, Jack. I'll bet you'd have the most -popular lunch room in Nova Scotia! And think what it would mean, with -your commission!" - -"I've no doubt of its popularity after people had once tasted the good -things you can make." - -"I could spread my biscuits with jam, or serve them hot with honey; and, -oh, there would be no end to the nice little things, all ready to eat, -that you could sell or serve." - -Desire's imagination, fired by her enthusiasm, supplied her with numerous -ideas to be put into practice if only Jack wouldn't object. - -"Do let me try it, Jack." - -"I'm afraid that you would overwork." - -"Nonsense. Of course I won't. I promise to give it up if I feel that it's -too much. But I just _love_ to cook." - -"Well, I'll speak to Jim tomorrow, if I get a chance, and see what his -plans are. Meanwhile, I've got to be ready to meet the bus at -seven-thirty in the morning; so let's go in." - - -The big bus stopped at the end of the lane promptly at seven-thirty each -morning for a week; then Jack announced one night that tomorrow would be -his last day. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVIII - A FIND - - -"Sorry?" asked Desire, looking up from the lettuce she was preparing for -their supper. - -"It has been pleasant," replied her brother, selecting a radish from a -dish on the table, and beginning to eat it. "George, the driver, is a -nice fellow, and we've had some fun together; but it's a kind of a lazy -life, after all. Of course somebody has to do it, but I think I prefer -more activity." - -"Have you seen Jim yet about the baked goods?" - -Jack's hours had been so arranged that he had been unable to stop at the -Rutland General Store. - -"Ran across him this noon. He's tickled to death over your ideas, and -says he'll take everything you can make, starting Thursday." - -Desire was delighted. - -"You'll just have to get rid of that horrid dog," declared Priscilla, -coming in at that moment, about ready to cry. - -"Why, what's he done now?" asked Jack. - -"He went and dug up all my nasturtiums. He's always digging somewhere. -He's a perfect pest!" - -"I'll look after him," said her brother, going out to the garden. - -He punished Rover, and, leaving Priscilla replanting the remnants of her -flowers, returned to Desire. - -"I wouldn't say it before the children," said Desire, when Jack reported -the condition of Priscilla's garden, "but Rover _has_ a most unfortunate -passion for digging; and, as if he knew that Priscilla disapproved of -him, he usually selects some part of her garden. I've whipped him two or -three times, but back he goes the next time the fancy strikes him." - -Jack laughed. "I can imagine the kind of beatings you give him. But," he -added anxiously, "had you rather get rid of him?" - -"Oh, no; he's such a lovable animal that you can't help being attached to -him in spite of his faults; and then, too, Rene thinks the world of him. -It wouldn't be fair to take away his pet." - -The following morning, just as the big bus reached the lane, one of the -tires exploded with a loud report; and Jack had to help the driver make -repairs. The other Wistmores stood in the shade of the trees, watching; -even Desire could not resist the opportunity to see what had to be done. -There were a few passengers already on board, and two or three of them -got out to stroll up and down the road. - -"What a darling house!" exclaimed one young lady, peering down the lane. -"Come here, Dad; see!" - -The grey-haired man looked in the direction of her pointing finger, then -at the little group under the trees. - -"You live here?" he asked. - -"Oh, do you?" said the lady, before Desire had hardly finished her -affirmative reply; "then may we look at the house?" - -"Certainly," replied the girl politely, although she was far from willing -to show it. - -The man and woman examined the cabin both inside and out, with keen -interest; even the garden was included in the inspection. Occasionally -they talked together in such low tones that Desire could not distinguish -what they were saying. She felt a queer sinking dread as she followed -them around. The children had stayed near the bus, and it seemed as if -she were abandoned to these odd tourists. - -On the stone doorstep the man turned back, after they had gone over the -place for the second time. - -"Do you own this?" he asked. - -"No, sir." - -"Who does?" demanded the woman. - -"It doesn't belong to anybody, really," confessed poor Desire -reluctantly. "It's something about a title. We just live here." - -"Oh, Dad, buy it for me. I must have it!" exclaimed the young woman. - -"I'll make inquiries, and--" the man was saying, when a loud blast from -the horn summoned them to the bus. They hurried down the lane with a -careless goodbye to the girl in the doorway. - -"Oh, Dissy," called Priscilla, running toward her, closely followed by -Rene and Rover. "Why--what's the matter?" as she noticed her sister's -pale face and unnatural manner. - -"Just tired," Desire managed to reply, though such a storm of emotion -surged within her that she felt almost overcome by it. - -"Go and lie down, and I'll do the dishes and clean up," offered -Priscilla. "Rene, take the dog out to the garden and stay there until I -call you," she added importantly. "Dissy's going to take a nap." - -"Thank you, Priscilla dear," replied the girl gratefully. "I think I -shall lie down. Call me at eleven o'clock. I shan't need anything until -then." - -Desire kissed her little sister, escaped into her room as quickly as -possible, and closed the door. In the privacy and quiet which she felt -she must have at all costs, she gave way to tears. What would they do -now? For these rich people could get anything they set their hearts on. -Jack was right in warning her not to get too fond of the place. She -thought she hadn't, but now when it was slipping slowly but surely from -their grasp--Oh! and Desire hid her face in the pillow to drown her sobs. - -Presently she forced herself to grow calmer, and when Priscilla quietly -put her head in at eleven o'clock Desire, pale, but outwardly composed, -was bathing her face. - -"It was sweet of you to take care of things, Prissy dear," she said. -"I'll get dinner now; I'm quite all right. You run out-of-doors until -it's ready." - -After a searching look at her sister, the child obeyed; but all the -afternoon she kept making excuses to come to the front yard, where Desire -sat sewing, to see if she was all right. While her sister was getting -supper, Priscilla walked down the lane to meet Jack. - -"I'm afraid there's something awful the matter with Dissy, Jack," began -the child, slipping her hand into his. "She's not really sick--I don't -think--but she's not a bit like _her_." - -"Well," replied Jack quietly, for he had heard bits of conversation on -the bus that day, and they gave him an advance inkling of Desire's -trouble, "don't say anything to her, or let her know that you notice -anything. I'll talk to her tonight." - -"I didn't, Jack. I just helped all I could, and stayed where she could -call me." - -"That's a good girl; you're getting to be a great help to us," tightening -his grasp on her brown, plump little hand. - -Fortunately Rene had a silly fit at the table, and kept them all laughing -in spite of themselves; so the meal passed off without any constraint or -self-consciousness. After the children were in bed, and the cabin in -order for the night, Jack drew Desire out on the doorstep, and, sitting -down, beside her, put his arm around her. - -"Now tell me all about it," he suggested gently. - -"About what, Jack?" - -"Whatever's troubling you. It's not fair to keep me in the dark, you -know." - -Dropping her head on his broad shoulder, she related, in disjointed -sentences, the history of the morning. - -"I guessed as much," he commented, as she finished. "I overheard their -conversation on the bus." - -"Can't they take it, if they don't mind not having--having--" - -"A clear title? I don't know, dear; I'll see what I can find out from the -judge tomorrow. I should say, though, that we must not expect to keep it. -We talked of that possibility; don't you remember?" - -"Yes; but--such a thing seemed so--so very improbable," faltered Desire. -"The place had been deserted for so long." - -"If we have to give it up we can probably find something in town. There's -an old place near Judge Herbine's, and another one on the road to the -Basin. Don't take it so to heart, Dissy; we'll find a place somewhere, -even if we have to leave this; and we may not. It's not like you to look -on the dark side of things." - -Cheered by Jack's words and manner, Desire began to feel that she had -been foolish to let herself become so disturbed, and she made a heroic -effort to resume her natural manner. She succeeded so well that by -bedtime they were laughing over the discovery of Rover's latest escapade, -a hole dug beside the step on which they were sitting. Jack set his foot -in it as they rose to go in, thereby nearly upsetting himself and Desire -as well. - -"Oh, by the way, Dissy," remarked Jack after they had gone into the -house, "I almost forgot to tell you something. You'll never guess whom I -saw today." - -"Then tell me right away." - -"My old enemy." - -"Oh, Jack!" cried Desire fearfully. "Where?" - -"On the bus. He was on his way to work in the orchards around Annapolis. -He was rather friendly, for him, and just as he was leaving the bus, he -thrust these into my hand and told me to give them to you." - -Desire peered curiously at the round, brown things which her brother -pulled out of his pocket. - -"What are they?" - -"Some kind of bulbs. You'd better plant them tomorrow." - -"What's the use if we're going to lose the place?" she queried, rather -bitterly. - -Jack looked at her reprovingly. "That doesn't sound a bit like my -cheerful partner." - -"You're right, Jack. I'm sorry. I'll plant them tomorrow, and if we don't -see them bloom, perhaps they will give pleasure to someone else." - -The next morning she selected a lightly shaded spot where the soil looked -rich and promising, and began to dig. Before long, her spade struck a -large stone. - -"Wonder if I can get that out?" she thought. "This is the best place in -the yard for unknown plants; for they'll get a mixture of sun and shade." - -Vigorously she attacked the stone, and after much exertion succeeded in -getting it out. Rolling it carelessly to one side, she was busily trying -to smooth out the ragged, uneven earth with the spade, when there was a -sound of metal striking on metal. - -"Jack," she called to her brother, who was in the house reenforcing a -shelf. - -"What's wanted?" he responded, sticking his head out of the window. - -"Come here, quick!" - -Throwing his long legs over the sill, he dropped onto the ground and was -at her side in a moment. "What's the matter," he asked; "snake?" - -"Something's down there," pointing to the hole. - -Jack seized the spade and quickly uncovered an iron box. Desire was -trembling violently, and could only gaze silently at the strange object. - -"What have you got?" demanded Rene, appearing at that moment from the -front yard. "Prissy!" he shrieked, without waiting for an answer, "come -'n' see!" - -Priscilla appeared, viewed the find calmly, and proposed taking it into -the house to see what it contained. - -"Do you think we had better take it over to the judge's?" asked Desire, -finally finding her voice. "Perhaps we should not open it by ourselves." - -"I'll go right after him," declared Jack. "Just put some papers on the -table so I can carry the box in and set it down before I go." - - - - - CHAPTER XXIX - W-17^55--15x12--6754 - - -It seemed a long time before they heard the sound of the Ford, but it was -in reality only about half an hour; for Jack had covered the ground at -his best speed, and the judge lost no time in getting back with him. - -"Well," said Judge Herbine, darting into the room and up to the table, -"lots of excitement. Got anything to open it with, Jack? It's locked." - -With considerable difficulty they managed to force the lock, and pry up -the cover. Then everyone crowded around to peer inside. The box was -filled with gold and silver pieces. - -"Money!" gasped Jack. - -"Oh," cried Desire, "it must have been out there ever since the -Expulsion. I read in my little blue history that some of the Acadians -buried their savings in their gardens before they left the country, -because they expected to come back again very soon." - -"Then it probably belonged to our ancestors," said Jack slowly. - -"Let's tip it out," proposed the judge. "It looks to me like a goodly -sum." - -Tarnished and dull, it lay in a heap on the table; and as the judge -turned the box right side up again, he caught sight of some papers in the -bottom. - -"Documents of some kind!" he exclaimed, loosening them carefully. - -Stiff, yellow with age, the writing was dim but discernible. - -"That's a will, isn't it?" asked Jack, catching sight of a few words at -the top of the sheet, as the man unfolded it slowly. - -"Exactly. 'To my daughter, Desire Godet and her heirs forever--'" he -read. "6754-1755." - -"What?" gasped Desire, crowding closer to look at the paper. - -"This house and money; and here's the missing deed with the will. I -congratulate you--most heartily, children. This is evidently--a perfectly -legal will--and the long lost deed; and since you are Godet -survivors--the place and the money must belong to you." - -"Oh, Jack!" cried Desire, throwing herself into his arms, "now you can go -back to college, and nobody can ever take this house away from us. It is -really our _home_, now, just as I always felt it was." Desire was sobbing -in her delirium of joy. - -"'N' is all that money ours?" demanded Rene, staring at it with wide -eyes. - -"Guess it is, my boy," replied the judge, adding to Jack, "And some of -these are doubtless rare pieces--worth much more than their intrinsic -value." - -"Then we can have an automobile," pronounced Rene. - -Everybody laughed, and the tension was somewhat relieved. - -"Look, Jack," said Desire, "there are two of the numbers from that slip -of paper that was in Father's box." - -"What's that?" inquired the judge, whirling around like a top. - -Desire explained while Jack got the paper and they all examined it -carefully. - -"1755 is the year," decided the judge, "and 6754 the number of the deed; -but--Wait a minute; I have an idea." - -Out into the garden he hurried, followed by the whole family. With the -hole as a base, he measured and calculated, while the others watched -silently. - -"I have it!" he exclaimed at last. "_W_ means west of the house; _15_ is -the depth of the hole, and _12_ the distance from the edge of the lot." - -"The mystery is solved at last!" exulted Desire. - - -Several weeks later the ownership of the little cabin was formally handed -over to the Wistmores, under the guardianship of Judge Herbine, and their -little fortune duly deposited to their credit, ready for the fall when -Jack was to go to college, and Desire to high school. - - - The End - - - - - Transcriber's Notes - - ---Preserved the copyright notice from the printed edition, although this - book is in the public domain in the country of publication. - ---Silently corrected a few typos (but left nonstandard spelling and - dialect as is). - ---Rearranged front matter to a more-logical streaming order and added a - Table of Contents. - ---In the text versions, delimited text in italics by _underscores_. - ---In the text versions, preceded subscripted numbers by a ^ caret. - - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Finding the Lost Treasure, by Helen M. 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